MULTI-CONNECTIVITY COORDINATION

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIO S

[0001] This application claims priority to U. S. Provisional Patent

Application No.62/510,650, filed May 24, 2017 and entitled "BSS (BASIC SERVICE SET) TRANSITION MANAGEMENT (BTM) REQUEST AND NEIGHBOR REPORT ENHANCEM ENT S FOR DUAL-CONNECTIVITY." The contents of this prior application is considered part of this application, and hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] Embodiments p ertain to wireless networks and wireless communications. Some embodiments relate to wireless local area networks

(WLANs) and Wi-Fi networks including networks operating in accordance with the IEEE 802.11 family of standards. Some embodiments relate to IEEE

802.1 lax. Some embodiments relate to methods, computer readable media, and apparatus for BSS (basic service set) transition management (BTM) request and neighbor report enhancements for multi-connectivity .

BACKGROUND

[0003] Efficient use of the resources of a wireless local-area network

(WLAN) is imp ortant top rovide bandwidth and accep table resp onse 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. Moreover, wireless devices may need to operate with both newer protocols and with legacy device protocols. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

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

[0005] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a radio architecture, in accordance with some embodiments;

[0006] FIG.2 illustrates a front-end module circuitry for use in the radio architecture of FIG. 1, in accordance with some embodiments;

[0007] FIG.3 illustrates a radio IC circuitry for use in the radio architecture of FIG. 1, in accordance with some embodiments;

[0008] FIG.4 illustrates a baseband processing circuitry for use in the radio architecture of FIG.1, in accordance with some embodiments;

[0009] FIG. 5 illustrates a WLAN, in accordance with some

embodiments;

[0010] FIG.6 illustrates a block diagram of an example machine upon which any one or more of thetechniques (e.g, methodologies) discussed herein may perform;

[0011] FIG.7 illustrates a block diagram of an example wireless device upon which any one or more of thetechniques (e.g, methodologies or operations) discussed herein may perform;

[0012] FIG. 8 A shows a wireless network including an access point controller, two access points, and two stations;

[0013] FIG. 8B is a message sequence diagram that may be implemented in at least some of the disclosed embodiments;

[0014] FIG.9 shows an example format of an association request message;

[0015] FIG. 10 shows an example format of an association response message;

[0016] FIG. 11 A shows an example format of a Multi Band Operations (M BO) information element;

[0017] FIG. 11 B shows an embodiment of an op erating classes information element that may be implemented in some of the disclosed embodiments; [0018] FIG. 12 shows an example format of a multi-connectivity setup request message or a multi-connectivity setup response message;

[0019] FIG. 13 shows an example information element that may communicate a list of APs to a station;

[0020] FIG. 14 shows an example portion of a per-stream BSS transition request frame;

[0021] FIG. IS shows a table describing reason codes that may be utilized in one or more of the disclosed embodiments;

[0022] FIG. 16 is an example portion of a multi-connectivity setup response message 1600;

[0023] FIG. 17 is a flowchart of a method for transitioning a stream from one access point to another; and

[0024] FIG. 18 is a flowchart for transitioning a station from a first access point to a second access point. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] 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.

[0026] Some of the disclosed embodiments may be employed as part of a next generation of Wi-Fi Alliance (WF A) multi-band operations (MBO) program. In these aspects, a station may maintain at least two associations with two different access points. The station may transmit and/or receive data with these at least two different access points while simultaneously associated with both of the at least two access points. This capability for a station to utilize communication services of at least two access points "simultaneously" is referred to throughout this disclosure as a multi-connectivity capability. The access points may be physically integrated or co-located. In other embodiments, the access points may be physically separate or non co-located. The disclosed embodiments provide for steering individual traffic streams to particular APs of the multiple APs associated with a station independent from other streams maintained by a particular station.

[0027] In some embodiments, a co-located multiband AP may employ a fast session transfer (F ST) mechanism to implement multi-connectivity. A station ( ST A) and one or more AP(s) may negotiate how the streams can be assigned to particular bands and how the streams are managed and/or switched between multiple access points with which the STA is associated.

[0028] In the co-located and non co-located multiband AP scenarios, some of the disclosed embodiments may extend multi-band operations (MBO) mechanisms to provide for multi-connectivity without theFST solution. Some of the disclosed embodiments may establish two or more concurrent associations with access points using separate bands and the station may determine, independent of any direction from an access point, to use a particular access point to service a particular stream. With such a multi-connectivity solution, the station may determine whether to switch a stream from one access point to another.

[0029] Other embodiment s may p rovide network op erators with improved control of how streams are serviced over their networks and across bands. Thus, there is a need for a standards based mechanism to enable such capability.

[0030] Some of the disclosed embodiments define message exchanges between AP(s) and an STA that perform one or more of the following a) exchange multi-band capabilities in support of concurrent streaming operations in different bands, b) allow the APto advise/request an STA to switch streams from one access p oint to another.

[0031] Messages described by this disclosure include messages to exchange capability information between an access point and a station. For example, disclosed herein are information elements that may indicate whether a station or an access point sup ports multi-connectivity solutions. In some aspects, these information elements (IEs) may be included in a management frame, such as (re) association request and (re) association response frames. In some aspects, an access point's multi-connectivity capabilities may be indicated in a beacon frame. In some aspects, the capabilities may be indicated in an operating classes information element (IE) or in a multi-band operation (M BO) information element. In some embodiments, a new information element may be defined, having an element id with a predetermined number that identifies the information element as a multi-connectivity IE. The multi-connectivity IE may indicate the station's multi-connectivity capabilities.

[0032] A station may indicate, when associating with an access point, whether the station supports multi-connectivity capability . When responding to the association request, the access point may also indicate whether it supports multi-connectivity capabilities. Each of the station and access point may then configure their communication between these two devices based on the exchanged capabilities. In some aspects, capabilities advertised by the AP may include a capability to exchange in a distribution sy stem (DS) with other access points. This may facilitate collaboration between APs with regard toper-stream steering decisions.

[0033] Another message exchange disclosed herein may provide for an

AP to make per-stream steering recommendations to a ST A. A new per-stream BSS transition request action frame (e.g possibly of the type wireless network management (WNM)) may be sent from an APto a STA supportingmulti- connectivity. Other aspects may extend the existing BSS transition management (BTM ) frame in sup p ort of steering the streams top articular bands .

[0034] In some embodiments, once an STA is associated with a second

AP, the STA may indicate to the first AP that it is now associated with the second AP by sending an IE to the first AP. The IE may indicate information on the second AP's BSS. This process may be repeated when and if the STA transitions to a third, fourth, or fifth AP. In each of these cases, the new AP information may be provided to the first AP in another band by sending this attribute in an information element (e.g aMBO IE).

[0035] Some of the disclosed embodiments describe an access point that may provide a list of access points to a station. The APs in the list may support multi-connectivity and may be candidates for the station to associate with for communication services. In some embodiments, this list of APs may be provided in a neighbor report information element, or by defining a new element. In some embodiments, new action frames (e.g multi-connectivity setup request/response) can be defined or the BTM query and BTM response messages can be reused and modified.

[0036] In some embodiments, a request can be sent by the ST A to request the AP to provide a list of BSSs with which to do multi-connectivity. The response sent by the AP may include a neighbor report IE, identifying the list of candidate BSSs with which the ST A can establish multi-connectivity. The IE may further indicate which specific streams are recommended for transition.

[0037] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a radio architecture 100, in accordance with some embodiments. Radio architecture 100 may include radio front-end module (FEM) circuitry 104, radio IC circuitry 106 and baseband processing circuitry 108. Radio architecture 100 as shown includes both wireless local area network (WLAN) functionality and Bluetooth (BT) functionality although embodiments are not so limited. In this disclosure, "WLAN" and "Wi-Fi" are used interchangeably.

[0038] FEM circuitry 104 may include a WLAN or Wi-Fi FEM circuitry

104A and a Bluetooth (BT)FEM circuitry 104B. The WLAN FEM circuitry 104A may include a receive signal path comprising circuitry configured to operate on WLAN RF signals received from one or more antennas 101, to amplify the received signals and to provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the WLAN radio IC circuitry 106A for further processing The BT FEM circuitry 104B may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry configured to operate on BT RF signals received from one or more antennas 101, to amplify the received signals and to provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the BT radio IC circuitry 106B for further processing FEM circuitry 104 A may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry configured to amplify WLAN signals provided by the radio IC circuitry 106 A for wireless transmission by one or more of the antennas 101. In addition, FEM circuitry 104B may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry configured to amplify BT signals provided by the radio IC circuitry 106B for wireless transmission by the one or more antennas 101. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, although FEM 104 A and FEM 104B are shown as being distinct from one another, embodiments are not so limited, and include within their scope the use of an FEM (not shown) that includes a transmit p ath and/or a receive p ath for both WLAN and BT signals, or the use of one or more FEM circuitries 104 where at least some of the FEM circuitries 104 share transmit and/or receive signal paths for both WLAN and BT signals.

[0039] Radio IC circuitry 106 as shown may include WLAN radio IC circuitry 106A and BT radio IC circuitry 106B. The WLAN radio IC circuitry 106 A may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry to down- convert WLAN RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 104 A and provide baseband signals to WLAN baseband processing circuitry 108A. BT radio IC circuitry 106B may in turn include a receive signal path which may include circuitry to down-convert BT RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 104B and provide baseband signals toBT baseband processing circuitry 108B.

WLAN radio IC circuitry 106A may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry to up -convert WLAN baseband signals provided by the WLAN baseband processing circuitry 108 A and provide WLAN RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 104A for subsequent wireless transmission by the one or more antennas 101. BT radio IC circuitry 106B may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry to up -convert BT baseband signals provided by the BT baseband processing circuitry 108B and provide BT RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 104B for subsequent wireless

transmission by the one or more antennas 101. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, although radio IC circuitries 106 A and 106B are shown as being distinct from one another, embodiments are not so limited, and include within their scope the use of a radio IC circuitry (not shown) that includes a transmit signal path and/or a receive signal path for both WLAN and BT signals, or the use of one or more radio IC circuitries where at least some of the radio IC circuitries share transmit and/or receive signal paths for both WLAN and BT signals.

[0040] Baseband processing circuity 108 may include a WLAN baseband processing circuitry 108 A and a BT baseband processing circuitry 108B. The WLAN baseband processing circuitry 108A may include a memory, such as, for example, a set of RAM array s in a fast Fourier transform or inverse Ffast Fourier transform block (not shown) of the WLAN baseband processing circuitry 108 A. Each of the WLAN baseband circuitry 108A and the BT baseband circuitry 108B may further include one or more processors and control logic to process the signals received from the corresponding WLAN or BT receive signal path of the radio IC circuitry 106, and to also generate

corresponding WLAN or BT baseband signals for the transmit signal path of the radio IC circuitry 106. Each of the baseband processing circuitries 108A and 108B may further include phy sicallayer (PHY) and medium access control layer (MAC) circuitry, and may further interface with application processor 111 for generation and processing of the baseband signals and for controlling operations of the radio IC circuitry 106.

[0041] Referring still to FIG. 1, according to the shown embodiment, WLAN-BT coexistence circuitry 113 may include logic providing an interface between the WLAN baseband circuitry 108 A and the BT baseband circuitry 108B to enable use cases requiring WLAN and BT coexistence. In addition, a switch 103 may be provided between the WLAN FEM circuitry 104 A and the BT FEM circuitry 104B to allow switching between the WLAN and BT radios according to application needs. In addition, although the antennas 101 are depicted as being respectively connected to the WLAN FEM circuitry 104A and the BT FEM circuitry 104B, embodiments include within their scope the sharing of one or more antennas 101 as between the WLAN and BT FEMs 104, or the provision of more than one antenna 101 connected to each of FEM 104 A or 104B.

[0042] In some embodiments, the front -end module circuitry 104, the radio IC circuitry 106, and baseband processing circuitry 108 may be provided on a single radio card, such as wireless circuit card 102. In some other embodiments, the one or more antennas 101, the FEM circuitry 104 and the radio IC circuitry 106 may be provided on a single radio card. In some other embodiments, the radio IC circuitry 106 and the baseband processing circuitry 108 may be provided on a single chip or integrated circuit (IC), such as IC 112.

[0043] In some embodiments, the wireless circuit card 102 may include a

WLAN radio card and may be configured for Wi-Fi communications, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some of these embodiments, the radio architecture 100 may be configured to receive and transmit orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) or orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDM A) communication signals over a multicarrier communication channel. The OFDM or OFDM A signals may comprise a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers.

[0044] In some of these multicarrier embodiments, radio architecture 100 may be part of a Wi-Fi communication station (ST A) such as a wireless access point (AP), a base station or a mobile device including a Wi-Fi device. In some of these embodiments, radio architecture 100 may be configured to transmit and receive signals in accordance with specific communication standards and/or protocols, such as any of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standards including TKRF. 802.1 ln-2009, IEEE 802.11-2012, IEEE 802.11-2016, TKKR 802.1 lac, and/or IEEE 802.1 lax standards and/or proposed specifications for WLANs, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. Radio architecture 100 may also be suitable to transmit and/or receive communications in accordance with other techniques and standards.

[0045] In some embodiments, the radio architecture 100 may be configured for high-efficiency (HE) Wi-Fi (HEW) communications in accordance with the IEEE 802.1 lax standard. In these embodiments, the radio architecture 100 may be configured to communicate in accordance with an OFDM A technique, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0046] In some other embodiments, the radio architecture 100 may be configured to transmit and receive signals transmitted using one or more other modulation techniques such as spread spectrum modulation (e.g, direct sequence code division multiple access (DS-CDM A) and/or frequency hopping code division multiple access (FH-CDMA)), time-division multiplexing (TDM) modulation, and/or frequency -division multiplexing (FDM) modulation, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0047] In some embodiments, as further shown in FIG. 1, theBT baseband circuitry 108B may be compliant with a Bluetooth (BT) connectivity standard such as Bluetooth, Bluetooth 4.0 or Bluetooth 5.0, or any other iteration of the Bluetooth Standard. In embodiments that include BT functionality, as shown for example in Fig 1, the radio architecture 100 may be configured to establish a BT synchronous connection oriented (SCO) link and/or a BT low energy (BT LE) link. In some of the embodiments that include functionality, the radio architecture 100 may be configured to establish an extended SCO (eSCO) link for BT communications, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some of these embodiments that include a BT functionality, the radio architecture 100 may be configured to engage in a BT Asynchronous Connection-Less (ACL) communications, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 1, the functions of a BT radio card and WLAN radio card may be combined on a single wireless radio card, such as single wireless circuit card 102, although embodiments are not so limited, and include within their scope discrete WLAN and BT radio cards.

[0048] In some embodiments, the radio architecture 100 may include other radio cards, such as a cellular radio card configured for cellular (e.g, 3GPP such as LTE, LTE-Advanced or 5G) communications.

[0049] In some i κκκ 802.11 embodiments, the radio architecture 100 may be configured for communication over various channel bandwidths including bandwidths having center frequencies of about 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and bandwidths of about 1 MHz, 2 MHz, 2.5 MHz, 4 MHz, 5MHz, 8 MHz, 10 MHz, 16 MHz, 20 MHz, 40MHz, 80MHz(with contiguous bandwidths) or 80+80MHz (160MHz) (with non-contiguous bandwidths). In some embodiments, a 320 MHz channel bandwidth may be used. The scope of the embodiments is not limited with respect to the above center frequencies.

[0050] FIG.2 illustrates FEM circuitry 200 in accordance with some embodiments. The FEM circuitry 200 is one example of circuitry that may be suitable for use as the WLAN and/or BT FEM circuitry 104A/104B (FIG. 1), although other circuitry configurations may also be suitable.

[0051] In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 200 may include a

TX/RX switch 202 to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuitry 200 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry 200 may include a low-noise amplifier (LNA) 206 to amplify received RF signals 203 and provide the amplified received RF signals 207 as an output (e.g, to the radio IC circuitry 106 (FIG. 1)). The transmit signal path of the circuitry 200 may include a power amplifier (PA) 210 to amplify input RF signals 209 (e.g, provided by the radio IC circuitry 106), and one or more filters 212, such as band-pass filters (BPFs), low-pass filters (LPFs) or other types of filters, to generate RF signals 215 for subsequent transmission (e.g, by one or more of the antennas 101 (FIG. 1)).

[0052] In some dual-mode embodiments for Wi-Fi communication, the

FEM circuitry 200 may be configured to operate in either the 2.4 GHz frequency spectrum or the 5 GHz frequency spectrum. In these embodiments, the receive signal path of the FEM circuitry 200 may include a receive signal path dup lexer 204 to separate the signals from each spectrum as well as provide a separate LNA 206 for each spectrum as shown. In these embodiments, the transmit signal path of the FEM circuitry 200 may also include a power amplifier 210 and a filter 212, such as a BPF, a LPF or another typeof filter for each frequency spectrum and a transmit signal path dup lexer 214 to provide the signals of one of the different spectrums onto a single transmit path for subsequent transmission by the one or more of the antennas 101 (FIG. 1). In some embodiments, BT communications may utilize the 2.4 GHZ signal paths and may utilize the same FEM circuitry 200 as the one used for WLAN communications.

[0053] FIG. 3 illustrates radio IC circuitry 300, in accordance with some embodiments. The radio IC circuitry 300 is one example of circuitry that may be suitable for use as the WLAN or BT radio IC circuitry 106 A/106B (FIG. 1 ), although other circuitry configurations may also be suitable.

[0054] In some embodiments, the radio IC circuitry 300 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the radio IC circuitry 300 may include at least mixer circuitry 302, such as, for example, down-conversion mixer circuitry, amplifier circuitry 306 and filter circuitry 308. The transmit signal path of the radio IC circuitry 300 may include at least filter circuitry 312 and mixer circuitry 314, such as, for example, up- conversion mixer circuitry. Radio IC circuitry 300 may also include synthesizer circuitry 304 for sy nthesizinga frequency 305 for use by the mixer circuitry 302 and the mixer circuitry 314. The mixer circuitry 302 and/or 314 may each, according to some embodiments, be configured to provide direct conversion functionality . The latter type of circuitry presents a much simpler architecture as compared with standard super-heterodyne mixer circuitries, and any flicker noise brought about by the same may be alleviated, for example, through the use of OFDM modulation. Fig 3 illustrates only a simplified version of a radio IC circuitry 300, and may include, although not shown, embodiments where each of the depicted circuitries may include more than one component. For instance, mixer circuitry 302 and/or 314 may each include one or more mixers, and filter circuitries 308 and/or 312 may each include one or more filters, 212 such as one or more BPFs and/or LPFs, according to application needs. For example, when mixer circuitries 302, 314 are of the direct-conversion type, they may each include two or more mixers.

[0055] In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 302 may be configured to down-convert RF signals 207 received from theFEM circuitry 104 (FIG. 1) based on the synthesized frequency 305 provided by synthesizer circuitry 304. The amplifier circuitry 306 may be configured to amplify the down-converted signals and the filter circuitry 308 may include an LPF configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signals to generate output baseband signals 307. Output baseband signals 307 may be provided to the baseband processing circuitry 108 (FIG. 1) for further processing In some embodiments, the output baseband signals 307 may be zero-frequency baseband signals, although this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 302 may comprise passive mixers, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0056] In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 314 may be configured to up -convert input baseband signals 311 based on the synthesized frequency 305 provided by the synthesizer circuitry 304 to generate RF output signals 209 for the FEM circuitry 104. The baseband signals 311 may be provided by the baseband processing circuitry 108 and may be filtered by filter circuitry 312. The filter circuitry 312 may include a LPF or aBPF, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0057] In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 302 and the mixer circuitry 314 may each include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature down-conversion and/or up -conversion respectively with the help of synthesizer 304. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 302 and the mixer circuitry 314 may each include two or more mixers each configured for image rejection (e.g, Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 302 and the mixer circuitry 314 may be arranged for direct down- conversion and/or direct up -conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 302 and the mixer circuitry 314 may be configured for super- heterody ne op erat ion, although this i s not a requirement .

[0058] Mixer circuitry 302 may comprise, according to one embodiment: quadrature passive mixers (e.g, for the in-phase (I) and quadrature phase (Q) paths). In such an embodiment, RF input signal 207 from Fig 3 may be down- converted to provide I and Q baseband output signals to be sent to the baseband processor

[0059] Quadrature passive mixers may be driven by zero and ninety - degree time-varying local oscillator (LO) switching signals provided by a quadrature circuitry which may be configured to receive a LO frequency (fLo) from a local oscillator or a synthesizer, such as LO frequency 305 of synthesizer 304 (FIG.3). In some embodiments, the LO frequency 305 may be the carrier frequency, while in other embodiments, the LO frequency 305 may be a fraction of the carrier frequency (e.g, one-half the carrier frequency, one-third the carrier frequency). In some embodiments, the zero and ninety -degree time-varying switching signals may be generated by the synthesizer 304, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0060] In some embodiments, the LO signals may differ in duty cycle

(the percentage of one period in which the LO signal is high) and/or offset (the difference between start points of the period). In some embodiments, the LO signals may have a 25% duty cycle and a 50% offset. In some embodiments, each branch of the mixer circuitry 302 (e.g, the in-phase (I) and quadrature p hase (Q) p ath) may op erate at a 25% duty cy cle, which may result in a significant reduction is power consumption.

[0061] The RF input signal 207 (FIG.2) may comprise a balanced signal, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. The I and Q baseband output signals may be provided to a low-nose amplifier, such as amplifier circuitry 306 (FIG.3) or to filter circuitry 308 (FIG. 3).

[0062] In some embodiments, the output baseband signals 307 and the input baseband signals 311 may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternate

embodiments, the output baseband signals 307 and the input baseband signals 311 may be digital baseband signals. In these alternate embodiments, the radio IC circuitry 300 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digit al-to- analog converter (DAC) circuitry.

[0063] In some dual-mode embodiments, a separate radio IC circuitry

300 may be provided for processing signals for each spectrum, or for other spectrums not mentioned here, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0064] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 304 may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+l synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other types of frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuitry 304 may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider. According to some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 304 may include digital synthesizer circuitry. An advantage of using a digital synthesizer circuitry is that, although it may still include some analog components, its footprint may be scaled down much more than the footprint of an analog synthesizer circuitry. In some embodiments, frequency input into synthesizer circuity 304 may be provided by a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement. A divider control input may further be provided by either the baseband processing circuitry 108 (FIG. 1) or the application processor 111 (FIG. 1) depending on the desired output frequency 305. In some embodiments, a divider control input (e.g, N) may be determined from a look-up table (e.g, within a Wi-Fi card) based on a channel number and a channel center frequency as determined or indicated by the application processor 111.

[0065] In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 304 may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency 305, while in other embodiments, the output frequency 305 may be a fraction of the carrier frequency (e.g, one-half the carrier frequency, one-third the carrier frequency). In some embodiments, the output frequency 305 may be a LO frequency (fLo). [0066] FIG.4 illustrates a functional block diagram of baseband processing circuitry 400, in accordance with some embodiments. The baseband processing circuitry 400 is one example of circuitry that may be suitable for use as the baseband processing circuitry 108 (FIG. 1), although other circuitry configurations may also be suitable. The baseband processing circuitry 400 may include a receive baseband processor (RX BBP)402 for processing receive baseband signals 309 provided by the radio IC circuitry 106 (FIG. 1) and a transmit baseband processor (TXBBP) 404 for generating transmit baseband signals 311 for the radio IC circuitry 106. The baseband processing circuitry 400 may also include control logic 406 for coordinating the operations of the baseband processing circuitry 400.

[0067] In some embodiments (e.g, when analog baseband signals are exchanged between the baseband processing circuitry 400 and the radio IC circuitry 106), the baseband processing circuitry 400 may include ADC 410 to convert analog baseband signals received from the radio IC circuitry 106 to digital baseband signals for processing by the RXBBP 402. In these embodiments, the baseband processing circuitry 400 may also include DAC 412 to convert digital baseband signals from the TXBBP 404 to analog baseband signals.

[0068] In some embodiments that communicate OFDM signals or

OFDM A signals, such as through baseband processor 108A, the transmit baseband processor 404 may be configured to generate OFDM or OFDM A signals as appropriatefortransmission by performing an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT). The receive baseband processor 402 may be configured to process received OFDM signals or OFDM A signals by performing an FFT. In some embodiments, the receive baseband processor 402 may be configured to detect the presence of an OFDM signal or OFDMA signal by performing an autocorrelation, to detect a preamble, such as a short preamble, and by performing a cross-correlation, to detect a long preamble. The preambles may be p art of a predetermined frame structure for Wi-Fi communication.

[0069] Referring back to FIG. 1, in some embodiments, the antennas 101

(FIG. 1) may each comprise 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 203, 207, 209, 215. In some multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) embodiments, the antennas 101 may be effectively separated to take advantage of spatial diversity and the different channel characteristics that may result. Antennas 101 may each include a set of phased- array antennas, although embodiments are not so limited.

[0070] Although the radio architecture 100 is illustrated as having several separate functional elements, one 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 comprise 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 may refer to one or more processes operating on one or more processing elements.

[0071] FIG. 5 illustrates a WLAN 500 in accordance with some embodiments. The WLAN 500 may comprise a basic service set (BSS) that may include a HE access point (AP) 502, which may be an AP, a plurality of high- efficiency wireless (e.g, IEEE 802.1 lax) (HE) stations 504, and a plurality of legacy (e.g, IEEE 802.11n/ac) devices 506.

[0072] The HE AP 502 may be an AP using the TERR 802.11 protocol to transmit and receive. The HE AP 502 may be a base station. The HE AP 502 may use other communications protocols as well as the IEEE 802.11 protocol. The TRRR 802.11 protocol may be TRRR 802.1 lax. The IEEE 802.11 protocol may include using orthogonal frequency division multiple-access (OFDM A), time division multiple access (TDMA), and/or code division multiple access (CDMA). The IEEE 802.11 protocol may include a multiple access technique. For example, the i κκκ 802.11 protocol may include space-division multiple access (SDM A) and/or multiple-user multiple-input multiple-output (MUNI IMO). There may be more than one HE AP 502 that is part of an extended service set (ESS). A controller (not illustrated) may store information that is common to the more than one HE APs 502.

[0073] The legacy devices 506 may operate in accordance with one or more of IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ad/af/ah/aj/ay, or another legacy wireless communication standard. The legacy devices 506 may be ST As or IEEE ST As. The HE ST As 504 may be wireless transmit and receive devices such as cellular telephones, portable electronic wireless communication devices, smart telephones, handheld wireless devices, wireless glasses, wireless watches, wireless personal devices, tablets, or other devices that may be transmitting and receiving using the IEEE 802.11 protocol such as i κκκ 802.1 lax or another wireless protocol. In some embodiments, the HE ST As 504 may be termed high efficiency (HE) stations.

[0074] The HE AP 502 may communicate with legacy devices 506 in accordance with legacy IEEE 802.11 communication techniques. In example embodiments, the HE AP 502 may also be configured to communicate with HE ST As 504 in accordance with legacy IEEE 802.11 communication techniques.

[0075] In some embodiments, a HE frame may be configurable to have the same bandwidth as a channel. The HE frame may be a phy sical lay er convergence procedure (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU). In some

embodiments, there may be different types of PPDUs that may have different fields and different phy sical layers and/or different media access control (MAC) layers.

[0076] The bandwidth of a channel may be 20MHz, 40MHz, or 80MHz,

160MHz, 320MHz contiguous bandwidths or an 80+80MHz (160MHz) non- contiguous bandwidth. In some embodiments, the bandwidth of a channel may be 1 MHz, 1.25MHz, 2.03MHz, 2.5MHz, 4.06 MHz, 5MHzand 10MHz, or a combination thereof or another bandwidth that is less or equal to the available bandwidth may also be used. In some embodiments, the bandwidth of the channels may be based on a number of active data subcarriers. In some embodiments, the bandwidth of the channels is based on 26, 52, 106, 242, 484, 996, or 2x996 active data subcarriers or tones that are spaced by 20 MHz. In some embodiments, the bandwidth of the channels is 256 tones spaced by 20 MHz. In some embodiments, the channels are multiple of 26 tones or a multiple of 20 MHz. In some embodiments, a 20 MHz channel may comprise 242 active data subcarriers or tones, which may determine the size of a fast Fourier transform (FFT). An allocation of a bandwidth or a number of tones or sub- carriers may be termed a resource unit (RU) allocation, in accordance with some embodiments.

[0077] In some embodiments, the 26-subcarrier RU and 52-subcarrier

RU are used in the 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz and 80+80 MHz OFDM A HE PPDU formats. In some embodiments, the 106-sub carrier RU is used in the 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz and 80+80 MHz OFDMA and MU-MIMOHEPPDU formats. In some embodiments, the242-subcarrier RU is used in the 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160MHz and 80+80 MHz OFDMA andMU- MIMO HE PPDU formats. In some embodiments, the 484-subcarrier RU is used in the 80 MHz, 160 MHz and 80+80 MHz OFDM Aand MU-MIMO HE PPDU formats. In some embodiments, the 996-subcarrier RU is used in the 160 MHz and 80+80 MHz OFDMA and MU-MIMO HE PPDU formats.

[0078] A HE frame may be configjred for transmitting a number of spatial streams, which may be in accordance with MU-MIMO and may be in accordance with OFDMA. In other embodiments, the HE AP 502, HE ST A 504, and/or legacy device 506 may also implement different technologies such as code division multiple access (CDMA)2000, CDMA2000 IX, CDMA 2000 Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO), Interim Standard 2000 (IS-2000), Interim Standard 95 (IS-95), Interim Standard 856 (IS-856), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), GSM EDGE (GERAN), IEEE 802.16 (e.g, Worldwide Interop erability for Microwave Access (WiM AX)), BlueTooth®, or other technologies.

[0079] Some embodiments relate to HE communications. In accordance with some TF.EE 802.11 embodiments, e.g, IEEE 802.1 lax embodiments, a HE AP 502 may operate as a master station which may be arranged to contend for a wireless medium (e.g, during a contention period) to receive exclusive control of the medium for an HE control period. In some embodiments, the HE control period may be termed a transmission opportunity (TXOP). The HE AP 502 may transmit a HE master-sync transmission, which may be a trigger frame or HE control and schedule transmission, at the beginning of the HE control period. The HE AP 502 may transmit a time duration of theTXOP and sub-channel information. During the HE control period, HE ST As 504 may communicate with the HE AP 502 in accordance with a non-contention based multiple access technique such as OFDMA orMU-MIMO. This is unlike conventional WLAN communications in which devices communicate in accordance with a contention-based communication technique, rather than a multiple access technique. During the HE control period, the HE AP 502 may communicate with HE stations 504 using one or more HE frames. During the HE control period, the HE ST As 504 may operate on a sub-channel smaller than the operating range of the HE AP 502. During the HE control period, legacy stations refrain from communicating The legacy stations may need to receive the communication from the HE AP 502 to defer from communicating

[0080] In accordance with some embodiments, during theTXOP the HE ST As 504 may contend for the wireless medium with the legacy devices 506 being excluded from contending for the wireless medium during the master-sync transmission. In some embodiments, the trigger frame may indicate an uplink (UL) UL-MU-MIMO and/or UL OFDM A TXOP. In some embodiments, the trigger frame may include a DL UL-MU-MIMO and/or DL OFDM A with a schedule indicated in a preamble portion of trigger frame.

[0081] In some embodiments, the multiple-access technique used during the HE TXOP may be a scheduled OFDM A technique, although this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, the multiple access technique may be a time-division multiple access (TDMA) technique or a frequency division multiple access (FDM A) technique. In some embodiments, the multiple access technique may be a space-division multiple access (SDM A) technique. In some embodiments, the multiple access technique may be Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA).

[0082] The HE AP 502 may also communicate with legacy stations 506 and/or HE stations 504 in accordance with legacy IEEE 802.11 communication techniques. In some embodiments, the HE AP 502 may also be configurable to communicate with HE stations 504 outside the HE TXOP in accordance with legacy IEEE 802.11 communication techniques, although this is not a requirement.

[0083] In some embodiments, the HE station 504 may be a "group owner" (GO) for peer-to-peer modes of operation. A wireless device may be a HE station 502 or a HE AP 502.

[0084] In some embodiments, the HE station 504 and/or HE AP 502 may be configured to operate in accordance with IEEE 802.1 lmc. In example embodiments, the radio architecture 100 of FIG. 1 is configured to implement the HE station 504 and/or the HE AP 502. In example embodiments, the front - end module 200 circuitry of FIG.2 is configured to implement the HE station 504 and/or theHE AP 502. In example embodiments, the radio IC circuitry 300 of FIG.3 is configured to implement the HE station 504 and/or the HE AP 502. In example embodiments, the base-band processing circuitry 400 of FIG.4 is configured to implement theHE station 504 and/or the HE AP 502.

[0085] In examp le embodiments, the HE stations 504, HE AP 502, an apparatus of the HE stations 504, and/or an apparatus of the HE AP 502 may include one or more of the following the radio architecture 100 of FIG. 1, the front-end module circuitry 200 of FIG. 2, the radio IC circuitry 300 of FIG. 3, and/or the base-band processing circuitry 400 of FIG.4.

[0086] In example embodiments, the radio architecture 100 of FIG. 1, the front-end module circuitry 200 of FIG.2, the radio IC circuitry 300 of FIG. 3, and/or the base-band processing circuitry 400 of FIG.4 may be configured to perform the methods and operations/functions herein described in conjunction withFIGS. 1-8.

[0087] In examp le embodiments, the HE station 504 and/or the HE AP

502 are configured to perform the methods and operations/functions described herein in conjunction withFIGS. 1-8. In example embodiments, an apparatus of the HE station 504 and/or an apparatus of theHE AP 502 are configured to perform the methods and functions described herein in conjunction withFIGS. 1-8. The term Wi-Fi may refer to one or more of the IEEE 802.11

communication standards. AP and STAmay refer to HE access point 502 and/or HE station 504 as well as legacy devices 506. [0088] In some embodiments, a HE AP ST A may refer to a HE AP 502 and a HE ST As 504 that is operating a HE APs 502. In some embodiments, when an HE ST A 504 is not operating as a HE AP 502, it may be referred to as a HE non-AP STA or HE non-AP. In some embodiments, HE STA 504 may be referred to as either a HE AP STA or a HE non-AP.

[0089] FIG.6 illustrates a block diagram of an example machine 600 upon which any one or more of the techniques (e.g, methodologies) discussed herein may perform. In alternative embodiments, the machine 600 may operate as a standalone device or may be connected (e.g, networked) to other machines. In a networked dep loy ment, the machine 600 may op erate in the cap acity of a server machine, a client machine, or both in server-client network environments. In an example, the machine 600 may act as a peer machine in peer-to-peer (P2P) (or other distributed) network environment. The machine 600 may be a HE AP 502, HE station 504, personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box(STB), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable communications device, a mobile telephone, a smart phone, a web appliance, a network router, switch 103 or bridge, or any machine capable of executing instructions (sequential or otherwise) that sp ecify actions to be taken by that machine. Further, while only a single machine 600 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 p erform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, such as cloud computing, software as a service (SaaS), other computer cluster configurations.

[0090] Machine (e.g, computer system) 600 may include a hardware processor 602 (e.g, a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a hardware processor core, or any combination thereof), a main memory 604 and a static memory 606, some or all of which may communicate with each other via an interlink (e.g, bus) 608.

[0091] Specific examples of main memory 604 include random access memory (RAM), and semiconductor memory devices, which may include, in some embodiments, storage locations in semiconductors such as registers.

Specific examples of static memory 606 include non-volatile memory, such as semiconductor memory devices (e.g, electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM)) and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; RAM; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks.

[0092] The machine 600 may further include a display device 610, an input device 612 (e.g, a keyboard), and a user interface (UI) navigation device 614 (e.g, a mouse). In an example, the display device 610, input device 612 and UI navigation device 614 may be a touch screen display. The machine 600 may additionally include amass storage (e.g, drive unit) 616, a signal generation device 618 (e.g, a speaker), a network interface device 620, and one or more sensors 621, such as a Global Positioning System (GPS) sensor, compass, accelerometer, or other sensor. The machine 600 may include an output controller 628, 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 or control one or more peripheral devices (e.g, a printer, card reader, etc.). In some embodiments, the processor 602 and/or instructions 624 may comprise processing circuitry and/or transceiver circuitry.

[0093] The storage device 616 may include a machine readable medium

622 on which is stored one or more sets of data structures or instructions 624 (e.g, software) embodying or utilized by any one or more of the techniques or functions described herein. The instructions 624 may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 604, within static memory 606, or within the hardware processor 602 during execution thereof by the machine 600. In an example, one or any combination of the hardware processor 602, the main memory 604, the static memory 606, or the storage device 616 may constitute machine readable media 622.

[0094] Specific examples of machine readable media may include: nonvolatile memory, such as semiconductor memory devices (e.g, EPROM or EEPROM) and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; RAM; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks.

[0095] While the machine readable medium 622 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 624.

[0096] An apparatus of the machine 600 may be one or more of a hardware processor 602 (e.g, a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a hardware processor core, or any combination thereof), amain memory 604 and a static memory 606, sensors 621, network interface device 620, antennas 660, a display device 610, an input device 612, aUI navigation device 614, amass storage 616, instructions 624, a signal generation device 618, and an output controller 628. The apparatus may be configured to perform one or more of the methods and/or operations disclosed herein. The apparatus may be intended as a component of the machine 600 to perform one or more of the methods and/or operations disclosed herein, and/or to perform a portion of one or more of the methods and/or operations disclosed herein. In some embodiments, the apparatus may include a pin or other means to receive p ower. In some embodiment s, the ap p aratus may include p ower conditioning hardware.

[0097] The term "machine readable medium" may include any medium that is capable of storing encoding or carrying instructions 624 for execution by the machine 600 and that cause the machine 600 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 624. Non- limiting machine readable medium 622 examples may include solid-state memories, and optical and magnetic media. Specific examples of machine readable media 622 may include: non-volatile memory, such as semiconductor memory devices (e.g, electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM)) and flash memory devices; magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; random access memory (RAM); and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. In some examples, machine readable media 622 may include non-transitory machine readable media. In some examples, machine readable media 622 may include machine readable media that is not a transitory propagating signal. [0098] The instructions 624 may further be transmitted or received over a communications network 626 using a transmission medium via the network interface device 620 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 communication 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, and wireless data networks (e.g, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 family of standards known as Wi-Fi®, TRRF. 802.16 family of standards known as WiMax®), IEEE 802.15.4 family of standards, a Long Term Evolution (LTE) family of standards, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications Sy stem (UM T S) family of standards, p eer-to-p eer (P2P) networks, among others.

[0099] In an example, the network interface device 620 may include one or more physical jacks (e.g, Ethernet, coaxial, or phone jacks) or one or more antennas 660 to connect to the communications network 626. In an example, the network interface device 620 may include one or more antennas 660 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. In some examples, the network interface device 620 may wirelessly communicate using multiple user MIMO techniques. Theterm "transmission medium" shall be taken to include any intangible medium that is capable of storing encoding or carrying instructions 624 for execution by the machine 600, and includes digital or analog communications signals or other intangible medium to facilitate communication of such software.

[00100] 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 and may be configured or arranged in a certain manner. In an example, circuits may be arranged (e.g, internally or with respect to external entities such as other circuits) in a specified manner as a module. In an example, the whole or part of one or more computer systems (e.g, a standalone, client or server computer system) or one or more hardware processors 602 may be configjred by firmware or software (e.g, instructions 624, an application portion, or an application) as a module that operates to perform specified operations. In an example, the software may reside on a machine readable medium 622. In an example, the software, when executed by the underlying hardware of the module, causes the hardware to perform the specified operations.

[00101] Accordingly, the term "module" is understood to encompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physically constructed, specifically configured (e.g, hardwired), or temporarily (e.g, transitorily ) configured (e.g, programmed) to operate in a specified manner or to perform part or all of any operation described herein. Considering examples in which modules are temporarily configured, each of the modules need not be instantiated at any one moment in time. For example, where the modules comprise a general-purpose hardware processor 602 configured using software, the general-purpose hardware processor 602 may be configured as respective different modules at different times. Software may accordingly configure a hardware processor 602, for example, to constitute a p articular module at one instance of time and to constitute a different module at a different instance of time.

[00102] Some embodiments may be implemented fully or partially in software and/or firmware. This software and/or firmware may take the form of instructions 624 contained in or on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium 622. Those instructions 624 may then be read and executed by one or more processors 602 to enable performance of the operations described herein. The instructions 624 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; flash memory, etc.

[00103] FIG.7 illustrates a block diagram of an example wireless device 700 upon which any one or more of the techniques (e.g, methodologies or operations) discussed herein may perform. The wireless device 700 may be a HE device. The wireless device 700 may be a HE STA 504 and/or HE AP 502 (e.g, FIG. 5). A HE STA 504 and/or HE AP 502 may include some or all of the components shownin FIGS. 1-7. Thewireless device 700 may be an example machine 600 as disclosed in conjunction with FIG.6.

[00104] The wireless device 700 may include processing circuitry 708. The processing circuitry 708 may include a transceiver 702, physical layer circuitry (PHY circuitry) 704, and MAC layer circuitry (MAC circuitry) 706, one or more of which may enable transmission and reception of signals to and from other wireless devices 700 (e.g, HE AP 502, HE STA 504, and/or legacy devices 506) using one or more antennas 712. As an example, the PHY circuitry 704 may perform various encoding and decoding functions that may include formation of baseband signals for transmission and decoding of received signals. As another example, the transceiver 702 may perform various transmission and reception functions such as conversion of signals between a baseband range and a radio frequency (RF) range.

[00105] Accordingly, the PHY circuitry 704 and the transceiver 702 may be separate components or may be part of a combined component, e.g, processing circuitry 708. In addition, some of the described functionality related to transmission and reception of signals may be performed by a combination that may include one, any or all of the PHY circuitry 704 the transceiver 702, MAC circuitry 706, memory 710, and other components or layers. The MAC circuitry 706 may control access to thewireless medium. The wireless device 700 may also include memory 710 arranged to perform the operations described herein, e.g, some of the operations described herein may be performed by instructions 624 stored in the memory 710.

[00106] The antennas 712 (some embodiments may include only one antenna) may comprise 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 203, 207, 209, 215. In some multiple-input multiple- output (MIMO) embodiments, the antennas 712 may be effectively separated to take advantage of spatial diversity and the different channel characteristics that may result. [00107] One or more of the memory 710, the transceiver 702, the PHY circuitry 704, the MAC circuitry 706, the antennas 712, and/or theprocessing circuitry 708 may be coupled with one another. Moreover, although memory 710, the transceiver 702, the PHY circuitry 704, theM AC circuitry 706, the antennas 712 are illustrated as separate components, one or more of memory 710, the transceiver 702, the PHY circuitry 704, the MAC circuitry 706, the antennas 712 may be integrated in an electronic package or chip.

[00108] In some embodiments, the wireless device 700 may be a mobile device as described in conjunction with FIG.6. In some embodiments, the wireless device 700 may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more wireless communication standards as described herein (e.g, as described in conjunction with FIGS. 1-6, IEEE 802.11). In some embodiments, the wireless device 700 may include one or more of the components as described in conjunction withFIG.6 (e.g, display device 610, input device 612, etc.) Although the wireless device 700 is illustrated as having several separate functional elements, one 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 comprise one or more microprocessors, DSPs, field-programmable gate array s (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 may refer to one or more processes operating on one or more processing elements.

[00109] In some embodiments, an apparatus of or used by the wireless device 700 may include various components of the wireless device 700 as shown in FIG. 7 and/or components from FIGS. 1-6. Accordingly, techniques and operations described herein that refer to the wireless device 700 may be applicable to an apparatus for a wireless device 700 (e.g, HE AP 502 and/or HE STA 504), in some embodiments. In some embodiments, the wireless device 700 is configured to decode and/or encode signals, packets, and/or frames as described herein, e.g, PPDUs. [00110] In some embodiments, the MAC circuitry 706 may be arranged to contend for a wireless medium during a contention period to receive control of the medium for a HE TXOP and encode or decode an HE PPDU. In some embodiments, the MAC circuitry 706 may be arranged to contend for the wireless medium based on channel contention settings, a transmitting power level, and a clear channel assessment level (e.g, an energy detect level).

[00111] The PHY circuitry 704 may be arranged to transmit signals in accordance with one or more communication standards described herein. For example, the PHY circuitry 704 may be configured to transmit an HE PPDU. The PHY circuitry 704 may include circuitry for modulation/demodulation, upconversion/downconversion, filtering amplification, etc. In some

embodiments, the processing circuitry 708 may include one or more processors. The processing circuitry 708 may be configured to perform functions based on instructions 624 being stored in a RAM or ROM, or based on special purpose circuitry. Theprocessing circuitry 708 may include a processor602 such as a general purposeprocessororspecial purpose processor. Theprocessing circuitry 708 may implement one or more functions associated with antennas 712, the transceiver 702, the PHY circuitry 704, theM AC circuitry 706, and/or the memory 710. In some embodiments, theprocessing circuitry 708 may be configured to p erform one or more of the functions/op erations and/or methods described herein.

[00112] In mmWave technology, communication between a station (e.g, the HE stations 504 of FIG. 5 or wireless device 700) and an access point (e.g, the HE AP 502 of FIG. 5 or wireless device 700) may use associated effective wireless channels that are highly directionally dependent. To accommodate the directionality, beamforming techniques may be utilized to radiate energy in a certain direction with certain beamwidth to communicate between two devices. The directed propagation concentrates transmitted energy toward a target device in order to compensate for significant energy loss in the channel between the two communicating devices. Using directed transmission may extend the range of the millimeter-wave communication versus utilizing the same transmitted energy in omni-directional propagation. [00113] FIG. 8 A shows a wireless network which includes an access point controller 852, two access points 502a and 502b, and two stations 504a and 504b. The AP controller 852 may communicate a first set of streams of data 854 to the AP 502a and a second set of streams of data 858 to the AP 502b. The AP controller 852 may maintain a stream mapping table 857. The stream mapping table 857 may map combinations of stations and streams to APs servicing the streams in columns 870a, 870b, and 870c respectively. Using the stream mapping table 857, the AP controller 852 may determine where to route a particular stream. In some cases, a route for a stream may be changed by modifying the AP stored in column 870c for the stream. The AP controller 852 may also maintain an IP mapping table 859. The IP mapping table 859 may store IP addresses assigned to each of the stations within the AP controller 852' s management domain.

[00114] FIG. 8 A also shows that the station 504a is associated with the access point 504a. The station 504b is associated with both the access point

502a and 502b. In some aspects, the station 504b may communicate a first set of streams 860 via the AP 502a and a second set of streams 862 using the AP 502b. Embodiments of the present disclosure may provide for transitioning a particular stream included in the third set of streams 860 to the fourth set of streams 862. In other words, the disclosed embodiments may provide for transitioning of a specific stream from a first access point (e.g 502a) to a second access point (e.g 502b), while maintaining other streams with the first access point 502a. In other words, a station (e.g 504b) may remain associated with two or more access points simultaneously, and transition a portion of its active streams from one of the access points to another. In some cases, the transitioning is performed in response to a message received by the station 504b from the AP currently providing data services for the stream being transitioned.

[00115] For example, the AP controller 852 may determine that stream "3" is to transition from AP 504a to AP 504b. The AP controller 852 may transmit a control signal to the AP 502b indicating same. The AP 502b may then transmit a per- stream BSS transition request message to the STA 504b, indicating that the stream "3" be transitioned away from the AP 502b. In some aspects, theper-stream BSS transition request message may identify another AP to service the stream, such as the AP 502a. After the transition has been accomplished, the ST A 504b may notify the AP 502b. The AP 502b may then notify theAP controller 852 that he stream "3" has been successfully

transitioned. TheAP 502b may up date the stream mapping table 857 such that stream 3 is marked as being allocated to AP 502a.

[00116] FIG. 8 A shows a configuration in which a station, such as the station 504b, maintains a constant IP address despite transitioning of a stream from one access point (e.g 502b) to another (e.g 502a). In embodiments using this configuration, the AP controller 852 maintains a mapping of station to IP address, which may not change when transitioning a link level of, for example, a TCP connection or UDP packet stream. Thus, when a link level connection transitions from using the AP 502b to AP 502a, TCP connections and UDP data exchanges may continue, largely unaffected, except perhaps experiencing a delay in packet delivery resulting from the transition. Thus, in this

configuration, theAP controller 852 may encapsulate data coming from a station, such as the station 504b, in an IP packet using a constant IP address. When a packet arrives at the controller 852 from outside the network, the controller 852 may consult its IP mapping table 859 to determine to which station the packet is addressed, based on a destination IP address specified in the packet. The controller 852 may then consult the stream mapping table 857 to determine which AP is servicing the particular stream for the addressed station.

[00117] In another embodiment, the AP controller 852 may maintain multiple IP addresses for a single station. In these embodiments, each station may maintain a separate IP address for each AP to which it is associated. Thus, p ackets destined for a p articular station via a p articular AP may use a first destination address, while other packets destined for the particular station via a different AP may use a different destination IP address. While FIG. 8A shows the AP controller 852 and the access points 502a-b as separate devices, in some aspects, theAP controller 852 may be physically integrated with at least one of the access points 502a-b.

[00118] FIG. 8B is a message sequence diagram that may be implemented in at least some of the disclosed embodiments. FIG. 8B shows theAP 502a and STA 504. The ST A 504b may transmit an association request message 802 to the AP 502a. The AP 502 may then transmit an association response message 804 to the ST A 504b. One or more of the association request message 802 and/or association response message 804 may be management frames. In some aspects, the association request message 802 and/or the association response message 804 may include an information element, such as a multi-band operations (MBO) information element (IE) or an operating classes IE. The IE may, in some aspects, provide one or more indications of whether the

transmitting device (i.e. either the AP 502a or ST A 804b) supports amulti- connectivity capability. In other words, the IE may signal whether the transmitting device provides support for a station to be associated with multiple access points simultaneously. Such a capability may provide for improved flexibility in station communication.

[00119] If the association response message 804 indicates the AP 502a supports multi-connectivity functions, the STA 504b may transmit a multi- connectivity setup request 806 to the AP 502a. The multi-connectivity setup request 806 may request that the AP 502a provide the STA 504b with a list of one or more other access points that the STA 504b may associate with. In some aspects, the list may indicate one or more other access points that the STA 504b may simultaneously associate with, along with the AP 502a. The AP 502a may transmit a multi-connectivity setup response message 808, providing the list of APs requested by the multi-connectivity information request 806. In some aspects, the list of APs may be included in a neighbor report information element. In some other aspects, the list of APs may be included in a MBO IE. In some other aspects, the list of APs may be included in a multi-connectivity IE.

[00120] The AP 502a may also transmit a p er-stream B SS transition request message 810 to the STA 504b. The message 810 may indicate that the STA 504b is to transition a stream from the AP 502a to a different AP, such as the AP 502b. In some aspects, the message 810 may require the transition to occur. In other embodiments, the message 810 may request thetransition occur, as is explained further below. The station 504b may transmit a per-streamBSS transition response message 812. The message 812 may indicate a status or result of thetransition. [00121] FIG.9 shows an example format of an association request message 802. In some aspects, the association request message 802 may include one or more of the fields of the association request message 900 of FIG. 9. The association request message 900 includes a frame control field 902, duration field 904, receiver address field 906, transmitter address field 908, basic service set identifier field 910, a sequence control field 912, a capability info field 914, a listen interval field 916, a SSID field 918, a supported rates field 920, an information element field 922, and a frame check sequence field 924. The information element 922 may indicate whether a station transmitting the association request message 900 sup p orts multi-connectivity cap ability .

[00122] The frame control field 902 may include a type field 932 and a subtypefield934. In some embodiments, the association request message 900 may be identified as an association request message via a combination of defined values in each of thetypefield932 and subtypefield934. For example, the type field 932 may indicate the association request message 900 is a management frame, while the subtype field 934 may indicate the message, in combination with the type field 932, is an association request message 900.

[00123] FIG. 10 shows an example format of an association response message 804. In some aspects, the association response message 804 may include one or more of the fields of the association response message 1000 of FIG. 10. The association response message 1000 includes a frame control field 1002, duration field 1004, receiver address field 1006, transmitter address field 1008, basic service set identifier field 1010, a sequence control field 1012, a capability info field 1014, a status code field 1016, an association identifier field 1018, a supported rates field 1020, an information element field 1022, and a frame check sequence field 1024. The information element 1022 may indicate whether an AP transmitting the association response message 1000 supports multi-connectivity capability.

[00124] The frame control field 1002 may include a type field 1032 and a subtype field 1034. In some embodiments, the association response message 1000 may be identified as an association response message 804 via a

combination of defined values in each of the type field 1032 and subtype field 1034. For example, the type field 1032 may indicate the association response message 1000 is a management frame, while the subtype field 1034 may indicate the message, in combination with the type field 1032, is an association response message 804.

[00125] FIG. 11 A shows an example format of an MBO information element. In some aspects, the information element 922 and/or 1022 may include one or more of the fields discussed below with respect to FIGs. 11 A-B. The MBO information element 1100 shown in FIG. 11 includes an element identifier field 1102, a length field 1104, an OUIfield 1106, an OUI type field 1108, an MBO attributes field 1110, and an AP list field 1112. The element identifier field 1102 may include a defined value indicating the information element 1100 is an MBO information element.

[00126] FIG. 11 A also shows possible values of the MBO attributes field 1110. As shown, in some aspects, bit positions in the MBO attributes field 1110 may be defined to have particular meanings when set and when clear. Some aspects of this disclosure may set one or more of bits 4-7 of the MBO attributes field 1110 to indicate that the transmitting device supports multi-connectivity capabilities. In other words, if an AP is transmitting the information element 1100 and one or more of bits 4-7 are set, it indicates, in some aspects, that the AP can provide support to a ST A connecting to multiple APs simultaneously . In some aspects, the indication may be provided by any one of bits 4, 5, 6, or 7. In some other aspects, any combination of two bits from bits 4, 5, 6, or 7 may be used to provide the indication.

[00127] FIG. 1 IB shows an embodiment of an operating classes information element that may be implemented in some of the disclosed embodiments. The information element 1150 includes an element id field 1152, length field 1154, current operating class field 1156, operating classes field 1158, current operating class extension sequence field 1160, and an operating class duple sequence field 1162. The element id field 1152 may identify the information element 1150 as an operating classes IE. In other embodiments, the element id field 1152 may identify the information element 1150 as a different, new type of IE. For example, a defined value in the element ID field 1152 may identify the information element 1150 as a multi-connectivity operating classes IE. [00128] The operating classes field 1158 lists, in descending order, or preference, single-octet operating classes that an ST A is capable of operating with. For example, FIG. 11B shows operating class field 1182 and 1186, but there could be any variable number of operating class fields. The operating classes field 1158 also includes a multi-connectivity indicator for each operating class listed. For example, FIG. 11B shows multi-connectivity indicators 1184 and 11984, for each of operating classes 1182 and 1186 respectively. More or fewer multi-connectivity indicators could be included in the operating classes field 1158. The operating classes field 1158 terminates before a

oneHundredandThirty Delimiter field 1190.

[00129] FIG. 12 shows an example format of a multi-connectivity setup request message 806 or a multi-connectivity setup response message 808. In some aspects, one or more of the multi-connectivity setup request message 806 and/or the multi-connectivity setup response message 808 may include one or more of the fields discussed below with respect to the example message 1200. The example message 1200 includes a frame control field 1202, duration field 1204, receiver address field 1206, transmitter address field 1208, basic service set identifier field 1210, a sequence control field 1212, a category field 1214, an action field 1216, zero or more information elements 1218, and a frame check sequence field 1220. When the example message 1200 is a multi-connectivity setup response message 808, the information elements field 1218 may include an MBO information element, such as the MBO information element 1100, discussed above with respect to FIG. 11 A.

[00130] The frame control field 1202 may include a type field 1222 and a subtype field 1224. In some embodiments, the example message 1200 may be identified as a multi-connectivity setup request message 806 or multi- connectivity response setup message 808 via a combination of defined values in each of the typefield 1222 and subtypefield 1224. For example, the typefield 1222 may indicate the example message 1200 is a management frame, while the subtypefield 1224 may indicate the message, in combination with the typefield 1222, is an action frame. In some aspects, the action field 1216 may indicate the message 1200 is a multi-connectivity setup request message 806 (e.g, via a first defined value) or a multi-connectivity setup response message 808 (e.g, via a second defined value).

[00131] Some aspects may reuse existing BSS transition management (BTM) frames to provide a multi-connectivity setup request message 806 and/or a multi-connectivity setup response message 808. For example, a BTM request message is an action frame having an action field 1216 with a value of seven (7). In some aspects, the multi-connectivity setup request message 806 may be equivalent to a BTM request message. In these aspects, one or more bits in the BTM request message may be used to indicate whether the message is a traditional BTM message or is requesting multi-connectivity access point information (e.g, a multi-connectivity setup request message).

[00132] In some aspects, the information elements field 1218 may include an information element to provide a list of APs with which a station may associate, and p erform multi-connectivity . An example of such an information element is described below with resp ect to FIG. 13.

[00133] FIG. 13 shows an example information element that may communicate a list of APs to a station. The list may indicate APs that the station may associate with. The example information element 1300 includes an element id 1302, length field 1304, and a AP list field 1306. The AP list field 1306 may include a number of APs field 1310, and then zero or more BSS ID fields 1312i- n. In some aspects, the element id 1302 may be set to a predefined value that indicates the information element 1300 is a neighbor report information element. In some aspects, the element id 1302 may be set to a second predefined value, indicating the information element 1300 includes an AP list for a multi- connectivity setup response message (e.g 808). In other words, in some aspects, the neighbor report information element may be reused to communicate the AP list. In other aspects, a new IE may be defined for this purpose.

[00134] The length field 1304 may indicate a length of the information element 1300. The AP list field 1306 may indicate one or more APs with which a STA may associate. In some aspects, the information element 1300 may be used by embodiments of this disclosure to communicate the list of APs with which an STA may associate. In some aspects, the information element 1300 may be included in a multi-connectivity setup response message 808, for example, the information element 1300 may be included in the information elements field 1218 of a multi-connectivity setup response message 808.

[00135] FIG. 14 shows an example portion of a per-stream BSS transition request frame. In some aspects, the per-stream BSS transition request frame may be an action frame, such as the action frame discussed above with respect to FIG. 12. In some aspects, the example portion 1400 illustrated with respect to FIG. 14 may be included in the action details 1240 portion of the action frame. For example, in some aspects, the portion 1400 may be included between the action field 1216 and the information elements field 1218, in some aspects.

[00136] The portion 1400 includes a traffic identifier field 1402, a reason field 1404, an AP list field 1406, and a required field 1408. The traffic identifier field 1402 identifies a stream that is to be transitioned to a different access point based on the request in which the portion 1400 is included. In some aspects, the field 1402 may indicate an access category of the stream. In some aspects, the field 1402 may also indicate other information, such as information indicated in a TSPEC field. The reason field 1404 may indicate one of the reasons indicated in table 9-176 of the 802.11-2016 specification. This table is reproduced in FIG. 15.

[00137] The AP list field 1406 indicates one or more access points that are candidates to service the stream identified by the TID field 1402. The AP list field 1406 includes a number of APs field 1420, and zero or more BSS IDs of identified access points. Thenumber of APs field 1420 indicates a number of BSS IDs indicated in the AP list 1406. In some aspects, only one (second) AP may be indicated by the AP list field 1406. In some aspects, a station receiving the portion 1400 may already be associated with the second AP indicated by the APlist field 1406. For example, the station may have previously indicated to the (first)AP sending the portion 1400 that it was associated with the second AP. The required field 1408 may indicate whether transition of the stream is required or not. For example, if the required field 1408 has a non-zero value (e.g one), then this may indicate that the station must transition the identified stream.

Otherwise, the station may or may not transition the identified stream. In some aspects, the portion 1400 may be included in a BSS transition management (BTM) request frame. In some aspects, the embodiments of this disclosure may utilize a new value in the action field 1216 to indicate the action frame includes the portion 1400. In some aspects, the traffic identifier stored in the TID field 1402 may be mapped to an Ethernet traffic class. Thus, the TID may remain the same when moving a stream from a first access point to a second access point, such that the mapping to Ethernet data (for example, Ethernet data sent or received by the AP cluster controller over the back haul network in support of the stream) is preserved.

[00138] FIG. 16 is an example portion of a multi-connectivity setup response message 1600. The portion 1600 includes a traffic identifier field 1602, a status field 1604, and a new BSS field 1606. The traffic identifier field 1602 may indicate a stream for which the portion 1600 pertains. For example, in some aspects, a per-stream BSS transition request message (e.g, message 810 including portion 1400) may first be received by a station. After the station determines how to process the message 810, the station may transmit a per- stream BSS transition response message 812 including the portion 1600. A value of the TID field 1402 included in the message 810 may correspond to a value included in the TID field 1602. In some aspects, the TID field 1602 may indicate an access category, traffic identifier, and/or other information. The status field 1604 may indicate whether the stream identified by the TID field 1602 was transitioned to a new access p oint or not. For examp le, a first predetermined value may indicate no transition was performed. A second predetermined value may indicate a transition was made. The new BSS field 1606 may indicate, if the stream was transitioned, a BSS ID of an access point that is now servicing the stream identified by the TID field 1602.

[00139] FIG. 17 is a flowchart of a method for transitioning a stream from one access point to another. In some aspects, one or more of the functions discussed below with respect to FIG. 17 may be performed by the application processor 111 or the control logic 406. In some aspects, process 1700, discussed below with respect to FIG. 17, may be performed by a station, such as the station 504b, discussed above with respect to FIG. 8A-B.

[00140] In operation 1710, multi-connectivity capability information for a first access point is decoded from an information element 1300. The

information element 1300 may have been received by the station from an access point. The information element 1300 may be decoded from a management frame, such as an association response frame. The multi-connectivity capability information may indicate whether the first access point supports per- stream BSS transition request messages 810 or not. For example, some access points may include a capability to transition a stream from one access point to another. As discussed above with respect to FIG. 8 A, in some embodiments, an access point controller 852 may determine that a particular access point may better service a stream of data to a station than another access point currently servicing the stream. The AP controller 852 may notify the access point currently servicing the stream, and request the access p oint transition the stream to another access point. In turn, the access point may then notify the station of same. In some cases, the notification includes identification of the new access point which is to service the stream.

[00141] In some aspects, operation 1710 may include encoding a multi- connectivity setup request message 806. In some aspects, the multi-connectivity setup request message 806 may be encoded as an action frame or may be encoded as a BSS transition management message (BTM). The multi- connectivity setup request message 806 may request a list of access points to which the transmitting device may associate and/or communicate with. The op eration 1710 may also include configuring the station to transmit the multi- connectivity setup request message 806 to the first access point. The operation 1710 may also include receiving a multi-connectivity setup response message 808 indicating the list of access points. In some aspects, the multi-connectivity setup response message 808 may include a neighbor report information element 1300 including a list of access points to which the station may associate and/or communicate. In some other aspects, a different type of IE may include the list of APs. In some aspects, the list of access points may be used to transition a stream to a different access point at a later time.

[00142] In block 1720, the station decodes a p er stream B SS transition request message. The per stream BSS transition request message may be received from the first access point. The per stream BSS transition request message may include one or more of the fields discussed above with respect to FIG. 14. For example, one or more of a traffic identifier, access category, reason code, AP list, and a required indication may be decoded from theBSS transition request message in various aspects.

[00143] In resp onse to receiving the p er stream B SS transition request message, the station may first determine whether to transition the stream in decision operation 1725. For example, in some aspects, if the required indication in the per-streamBSS transition request message 810 indicates the transition is required, the decision is straight forward, and the station determines to transition the identified stream. Otherwise, the station may evaluate whether it is advantageous to transition the stream to another access point. For example, one or more of signal strength indications, throughput indications, and latency indications of multiple access points may be compared to determine whether a better configuration for the stream is likely to be achieved by transitioning the stream to a different access point. If the station determines not to transition the stream, process 1700 moves to operation 1735, where the station may encode a per-streamBSS transition resp onse message 812, including a status code (e.g, 1604) indicating the transition will not be performed. Process 1700 then moves from operation 1735 to operation 1750.

[00144] If the station determines, in decision operation 1725 that it will perform the transition, process 1700 moves from decision operation 1725 to op eration 1730, which transitions the stream from the first access p oint to a second access point. In some aspects, operation 1730 may include associating withthe second access point. In some aspects, the station may store parameters for communicating withthe second access point based on information received in either a management frame (an M BO IE or operating class IE) or a multi- connectivity setup resp onse message 808. Transitioning the stream to the second access point may include configuring the station to transmit data associated with the traffic id and/or access category (AC) decoded from the per-stream BSS transition request message 810 to the second access point, and /or decoding data from the second access point to determine the data is associated with the traffic id and/or access category (AC). After the transition is performed, process 1700 moves from operation 1730 to operation 1740, which encodes a per-stream BSS transition resp onse message 812. The encoded message may include a status indicating the transition was accomplished. Process 1700 then moves to operation 1750.

[00145] In op eration 1750, the station is configured to transmit the p er- stream BDD transition response message. For example, operation 1750 may include initiating a portion of memory 710 with data values representing at least a portion of the per-streamBSS transition response message 812. Operation 1750 may then include having the application processor 111 notify baseband processing circuitry 108 that the message is available for transmission.

Alternatively, control logic 406 may notify baseband processor 404 that the message is available for transmission.

[00146] FIG. 18 is a flowchart for transitioning a station from a first access point to a second access point. In some aspects, process 1800, discussed below with respect to FIG. 18, may be performed by the application processor 111 or the control logic 406. For example, in some aspects, a non-transitory computer readable storage medium 622, such as a hardware memory 710 or stable disk storage device, may store instructions 624 that configure processing circuitry, such as one or more hardware processors 602, to perform one or more of the functions discussed below with respect to FIG. 18. In some aspects, process 1800 may be performed by an MBO access point, such as access point 502a discussed above with resp ect to FIGs. 8 A-B .

[00147] In op eration 1810, multi-connectivity cap ability information for a first MBO station is decoded from an information element (e.g, 1100) by a first MBO access point. In some aspects, the information element is decoded from a management frame, such as an association request or re-association request. The multi-connectivity capability information indicates whether the first MBO station supports a multi-connect capability, or an ability to be associated with two access points simultaneously and transmit/receive data via the two access points while associated with both access points. In some aspects, the

information element is an MBO IE (e.g, 1100). In other aspects, the

information element may be an operating classes IE (e.g, 1150). For example, in some aspects, an operating classes IE may be decoded to determine whether the station sup ports multi-connect capability on a plurality of different operating classes (e.g, 1182, 1186). The first MBO station may support multi-connect capabilities for some operating classes (e.g, 1182, 1186) of traffic and not for other operating classes (e.g, 1182, 1186).

[00148] Decision operation 1820 determines whether the first MBO station supports multi-connect capability, and in particular, per- stream BSS transitions. If the station does not, processing continues to the right.

[00149] Otherwise, process 1800 moves from decision operation 1820 to operation 1830, in which the first MBO access point encodes a per-stream BSS transition request message (e.g 810) for transmission to the first MBO station. In some aspects, the per-stream BSS transition request message is encoded as an action frame. In some aspects, an action field (e.g, 1216) indicates the message is a per-stream BSS transition request message. In some aspects, the per-stream BSS transition request message is a BTM action frame. In some aspects, the per-stream BSS transition request message includes one or more of the fields discussed above with respect to the message portion 1400. In some aspects, operation 1820 includes determining that a particular stream should transition from the first MBO access point to a second MBO access point. For example, the AP controller 852, discussed above with respect to FIG. 8 A, may determine that the transition should occur, and this information may be communicated to the first MBO access point. The stream may be identified via a traffic identifier and/or an access class, which may be included in a field of the per-stream BSS transition request message (e.g, 1402). Operation 1830 may also indicate whether the transition is required or not (e.g, via 1408). For example, the transition may be required if the first MBO access p oint is shutting down or will otherwise be unavailable to support station communication. In some aspects, the per-stream BSS transition request message may be encoded to identify a second MBO access point. The second MBO access point may be a device to which the identified stream is to be transitioned. In some aspects, the second MBO access point may be identified via an information element included in the per-stream BSS transition request message. For example, the second MBO access point may be identified in a neighbor report information element (e.g, 1300).

[00150] Op eration 1840 configures the first access p oint to transmit the per-stream BSS transition request message to the first MBO station. For example, the application processor 111 or the control logic 406 may initialize a portion of memory (e.g, 710) to include values that represent at least a portion of the p er- stream BSS transition request message. The application processor 111 may then notify the baseband processor 108 to transmit the message.

Alternatively, the control logic 406 may notify the baseband processor 404 to transmit the message.

[00151] Op eration 1850 decodes a p er-stream B SS transition resp onse message (e.g 812) from the first MBO station. The per stream BSS transition resp onse message may indicate a status of the transmission. For example, the status may indicate whether the transition is completed or was not performed. In some asp ects, the first MBO access p oint may then notify an access p oint controller (e.g, 852) of the result of the transition. Notifying the controller that, for example, the transition was successful, may cause the access point controller to stop sending data for the transitioned stream to the first MBO access point and instead send data for the transitioned stream to the second MBO access point. In some asp ects, during process 1800, association with the first MBO station is maintained by the first MBO access point, even after the transition of the stream is completed. For example, the first MBO access point may complete the transition of a first stream served by the first MBO station to the second MBO access point, while maintaining service for other streams with the first MBO station.

[00152] 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 and may be configured or arranged in a certain manner. In an example, circuits may be arranged (e.g, internally or with respect to external entities such as other circuits) in a specified manner as a module. In an example, the whole or part of one or more computer systems (e.g, a standalone, client, or server computer system) or one or more hardware processors 602 may be configured by firmware or software (e.g, instructions 624, an application portion, or an application) as a module that operates to perform specified operations. In an example, the software may reside on a machine-readable medium 622. In an example, the software, when executed by the underlying hardware of the module, causes the hardware to perform the specified operations. [00153] Example 1 is an apparatus of a multi-band operations (MBO) station, the apparatus comprising memory and processing circuitry, the processing circuitry configured to: decode a per-stream steering recommendation message from a first MBO access point to identify a stream to be transitioned from the first MBO access p oint to a second M BO access p oint; transition the stream from the first MBO access point to the second MBO access point in response to the decoding while maintaining an association with the first MBO access point; encode a per-stream steering response message for transmission to the first MBO access point, the per-stream steering response message encoded to indicate a result of the transitioning and configure the M BO station to transmit the per-stream steering response message.

[00154] In Example 2, the subject matter of Example 1 optionally includes the processing circuitry further configured to decode one or more of a traffic identifier and an access category (AC) from the per-stream steering recommendation message to identify the stream.

[00155] In Example 3, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 1-2 optionally include the processing circuitry further configured to decode an information element (IE) from a management frame received from the first MBO access point to determine whether the first MBO access point provides per-stream steering recommendations to MBO stations.

[00156] In Example 4, the subject matter of Example 3 optionally includes wherein the information element is decoded as a multi-band operations (MBO) information element or an operating classes information element.

[00157] In Example 5, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 1-4 optionally include the processing circuitry further configured to: encode an information element in a management frame to indicate whether the station supports per-stream steering recommendations; and configure the station to transmit the management frame to the first MBO access point.

[00158] In Example 6, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 1-5 optionally include the processing circuitry further configured to: encode a multi-connectivity setup request message requesting from the first MBO AP, a list of access points for association by the MBO station; and decode a multi- connectivity setup response message from the first MBO AP to identify the second access point.

[001S9] In Example 7, the subject matter of Example 6 optionally includes the processing circuitry further configured to decode a neighbor report information element from the multi-connectivity setup response message to identify the second access point.

[00160] In Example 8, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 1-7 optionally include the processing circuitry further configured to decode the per- st ream steering recommendation message to determine whether the transitioning of the stream is required and transition the stream based, at least in part, on whether transitioning the stream is required.

[00161] In Example 9, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 1-8 optionally include transceiver circuitry coupled to the processing circuitry.

[00162] In Example 10, the subject matter of Example 9 optionally includes one or more antennas coupled to the transceiver circuitry .

[00163] Example 11 is an apparatus of a multi-band operations (MBO) station, the apparatus comprising means for decoding a per- stream steering recommendation message from a first MBO access p oint to identify a stream to be transitioned from the first MBO access point to a second MBO access point; means for transitioning the stream from the first M BO access p oint to the second MBO access point in response to the decoding while maintaining an association with the first MBO access point; means for encoding a per- stream steering response message for transmission to the first MBO access point, theper-stream steering response message encoded to indicate a result of the transitioning and means for configuring the MBO station to transmit the p er-stream steering response message.

[00164] In Example 12, the subject matter of Example 11 optionally includes means for decoding one or more of a traffic identifier and an access category (AC) from the per-stream steering recommendation message to identify the stream.

[00165] In Example 13, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 11-12 optionally include means for decoding an information element (IE) from a management frame received from the first MBO access point to deteimine whether the first MBO access point provides per-stream steering recommendations to MBO stations.

[00166] In Example 14, the subject matter of Example 13 optionally includes wherein the information element is decoded as a multi-band operations (MBO) information element or an operating classes information element.

[00167] In Example 15, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 11-14 optionally include means for encoding an information element in a management frame to indicate whether the station sup ports per-stream steering recommendations; and means for configuring the station to transmit the management frame to the first MBO access point.

[00168] In Example 16, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 11-15 optionally include means for encoding a multi-connectivity setup request message requesting from the first MBO AP, a list of access points for association by the MBO station; and means for decoding a multi-connectivity setup resp onse message from the first MBO AP to identify the second access point.

[00169] In Example 17, the subject matter of Example 16 optionally includes means for decoding a neighbor report information element from the multi-connectivity setup resp onse message to identify the second access point.

[00170] In Example 18, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 11-17 optionally include means for decoding the per-stream steering recommendation message to determine whether the transitioning of the stream is required and means for transitioning the stream based, at least in part, on whether transitioning the stream is required.

[00171] Example 19 is a method for transitioning a stream of a multi-band operations (MBO) station, the method comprising: decoding a per-stream steering recommendation message from a first MBO access point to identify a stream to be transitioned from the first MBO access point to a second MBO access point; transitioning the stream from the first MBO access point to the second MBO access point in responseto the decoding while maintaining an association with the first MBO access point; encoding a per-stream steering resp onse message for transmission to the first MBO access point, the per-stream steering resp onse message encoded to indicate a result of the transitioning and configuring the M BO station to transmit the per- stream steering response message.

[00172] In Example 20, the subject matter of Example 19 optionally includes decoding one or more of a traffic identifier and an access category (AC) from the p er- stream steering recommendation message to identify the stream.

[00173] In Example 21, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 19-20 optionally include decoding an information element (IE) from a management frame received from the first MBO access point to determine whether the first MBO access point provides p er- stream steering

recommendations to MBO stations.

[00174] In Example 22, the subject matter of Example 21 optionally includes wherein the information element is decoded as a multi-band operations (MBO) information element or an operating classes information element.

[0017S] In Example 23, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 19-22 optionally include encoding an information element in a management frame to indicate whether the station supports per- stream steering recommendations; and configuring the station to transmit the management frame to the first MBO access point.

[00176] In Example 24, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 19-23 optionally include encoding a multi-connectivity setup request message requesting from the first MBO AP, a list of access points for association by the MBO station; and decoding a multi-connectivity setup response message from the first MBO AP to identify the second access point.

[00177] In Example 25, the subject matter of Example 24 optionally includes decoding a neighbor report information element from the multi- connectivity setup response message to identify the second access point.

[00178] In Example 26, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 19-25 optionally include decoding the per-st ream steering

recommendation message to determine whether the transitioning of the stream is required and means for transitioning the stream based, at least in part, on whether transitioning the stream is required.

[00179] Example 27 is a non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that when executed cause hardware processing circuitry to p erform op erations for transitioning a stream of a multi-band operations (MBO) station, the operations comprising: decoding a per- stream steering recommendation message from a first MBO access point to identify a stream to be transitioned from the first MBO access point to a second MBO access p oint; transitioning the stream from the first MBO access p oint to the second MBO access point in response to the decoding while maintaining an association with the first MBO access point; encoding a per- stream steering response message for transmission to the first MBO access point, the per- stream steering response message encoded to indicate a result of the transitioning; and configuring the MBO station to transmit the p er-stream steering resp onse message.

[00180] In Example 28, the subject matter of Example 27 optionally includes the operations further comprising decoding one or more of a traffic identifier and an access category (AC) from the p er-stream steering

recommendation message to identify the stream.

[00181] In Example 29, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 27-28 optionally include the operations further comprising decoding an information element (IE) from a management frame received from the first MBO access point to determine whether the first MBO access point provides p er-stream steering recommendations to MBO stations.

[00182] In Example 30, the subject matter of Example 29 optionally includes wherein the information element is decoded as a multi-band operations (MBO) information element or an operating classes information element.

[00183] In Example 31, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 27-30 optionally include the operations further comprising: encoding an information element in a management frame to indicate whether the station supports per-stream steering recommendations; and configuring the station to transmit the management frame to the first MBO access point.

[00184] In Example 32, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 27-31 optionally include the operations further comprising encoding a multi-connectivity setup request message requesting from the first MBO AP, a list of access points for association by the MBO station; and decoding a multi- connectivity setup response message from the first MBO AP to identify the second access point.

[00185] In Example 33, the subject matter of Example 32 optionally includes the operations further comprising decoding a neighbor report information element from the multi-connectivity setup response message to identify the second access point.

[00186] In Example 34, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 27-33 optionally include the operations further comprising decoding the per-stream steering recommendation message to determine whether the transitioning of the stream is required and means for transitioning the stream based, at least in part, on whether transitioning the stream is required.

[00187] Example 35 is an apparatus of a first multi-band operations (MBO) access point, the apparatus comprising: memory and processing circuitry, theprocessing circuitry configured to: encode a per-stream steering recommendation message for transmission to a first MBO station, the p er-stream steering recommendation message encoded to identify a stream to be

transitioned from the first MBO access point to a second MBO access point; configure the first MBO access point to transmit the per-stream steering recommendation message; decode a per-stream steering response message from the first MBO station, the p er-stream steering resp onse message decoded to determine a result of the per-stream steering recommendation; and communicate the result to an access point controller.

[00188] In Example 36, the subject matter of Example 35 optionally includes the processing circuitry further configured to encode one or more of a traffic identifier and an access category (AC) in the per-stream steering recommendation message to identify the stream.

[00189] In Example 37, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 35-36 optionally include the processing circuitry further configured to encode an information element (IE) in a management frame to indicate whether the first MBO access p oint provides p er-stream steering recommendations to MBO stations; and configure the first MBO access point to transmit the management frame. [00190] In Example 38, the subject matter of Example 37 optionally includes wherein the information element is encoded as a multi-band operations (M BO) information element or an operating classes information element.

[00191] In Example 39, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 35-38 optionally include the processing circuitry further configured to: decode an information element from a management frame received from the first MBO station to determine whether the first MBO station supports per- stream steering recommendations; and configure the first MBO access point to transmit the management frame to the first MBO station.

[00192] In Example 40, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 35-39 optionally include the processing circuitry further configured to: decode a multi-connectivity setup request message from the first MBO station requesting, from the first MBO AP, a list of access points for association by the first MBO station; encode a multi-connectivity setup response message to identify the second access p oint; and configure the first MBO AP to transmit the multi-connectivity setup response message.

[00193] In Example 41, the subject matter of Example 40 optionally includes the processing circuitry further configured to encode the multi- connectivity setup response message to include a neighbor report information element identifying the second access point.

[00194] In Example 42, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 35-41 optionally include the processing circuitry further configured to encode the per-stream steering recommendation message to indicate whether the transitioning of the stream is required.

[00195] In Example 43, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 35-42 optionally include transceiver circuitry coupled to the processing circuitry .

[00196] In Example 44, the subject matter of Example 43 optionally includes one or more antennas coupled to the transceiver circuitry.

[00197] Example 45 is an apparatus of a first multi-band operations

(MBO) access point, the apparatus comprising means for encoding a per-stream steering recommendation message for transmission to a first MBO station, the per-stream steering recommendation message encoded to identify a stream to be transitioned from the first MBO access point to a second MBO access point; means for configuring the first MBO access point to transmit the pa-- stream steering recommendation message; means for decoding a p er-stream steering resp onse message from the first MBO station, the p er-stream steering resp onse message decoded to determine a result of the p er-stream steering

recommendation; and means for communicating the result to an access point controller.

[00198] In Example 46, the subject matter of Example 45 optionally includes means for encoding one or more of a traffic identifier and an access category (AC) in the p er-stream steering recommendation message to identify the stream.

[00199] In Example 47, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 45-46 optionally include means for encoding an information element (IE) in a management frame to indicate whether the first MBO access point provides p er-stream steering recommendations to MBO stations; and means for configuring the first MBO access point to transmit the management frame.

[00200] In Example 48, the subject matter of Example 47 optionally includes wherein the information element is encoded as a multi-band operations (MBO) information element or an operating classes information element.

[00201] In Example 49, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 45-48 optionally include means for decoding an information element from a management frame received from the first MBO station to determine whether the first MBO station supports p er-stream steering recommendations; and means for configuring the first MBO access point to transmit the management frame to the first MBO station.

[00202] In Example 50, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 45-49 optionally include means for decoding a multi-connectivity setup request message from the first MBO station requesting from the first MBO AP, a list of access points for association by the first MBO station; means for encoding a multi-connectivity setup resp onse message to identify the second access point; and means for configuring the first MBO AP to transmit the multi- connectivity setup resp onse message. [00203] In Example 51, the subject matter of Example 50 optionally includes means for encoding the multi-connectivity setup response message to include a neighbor report information element identifying the second access point.

[00204] In Example 52, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 45-51 optionally include means for encoding the per-stream steering recommendation message to indicate whether the transitioning of the stream is required.

[00205] Example 53 is a method for transitioning a stream from first multi-band operations (MBO) access point, the method comprising: encoding a per-stream steering recommendation message for transmission to a first MBO station, the per-stream steering recommendation message encoded to identify a stream to be transitioned from the first MBO access point to a second MBO access point; configuring the first MBO access point to transmit the per-stream steering recommendation message; decoding a per-stream steering response message from the first MBO station, the per-stream steering response message decoded to determine a result of the per-stream steering recommendation; and communicating the result to an access point controller.

[00206] In Example 54, the subject matter of Example 53 optionally includes encoding one or more of a traffic identifier and an access category (AC) in the per-stream steering recommendation message to identify the stream.

[00207] In Example 55, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 53-54 optionally include encoding an information element (IE) in a management frame to indicate whether the first MBO access point provides per- stream steering recommendations to MBO stations; and configuring the first MBO access point to transmit the management frame.

[00208] In Example 56, the subject matter of Example 55 optionally includes wherein the information element is encoded as a multi-band operations (MBO) information element or an operating classes information element.

[00209] In Example 57, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 53-56 optionally include decoding an information element from a management frame received from the first MBO station to determine whether the first MBO station supports per-stream steering recommendations; and configuring the first MBO access point to transmit the management frame to the first MBO station.

[00210] In Example 58, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 53-57 optionally include decoding a multi-connectivity setup request message from the first MBO station requesting, from the first MBO AP, a list of access points for association by the first MBO station; encoding a multi- connectivity setup response message to identify the second access point; and configuring the first MBO AP to transmit the multi-connectivity setup response message.

[00211] In Example 59, the subject matter of Example 58 optionally includes encoding the multi-connectivity setup response message to include a neighbor report information element identifying the second access point.

[00212] In Example 60, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 53-59 optionally include encoding the per- stream steering recommendation message to indicate whether the transitioning of the stream is required.

[00213] Example 61 is a non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that when executed cause hardware processing circuitry to p erform op erations for transitioning a stream from first multi-band operations (MBO) access point, the operations comprising: encoding a per- stream steering recommendation message for transmission to a first MBO station, the p er- stream steering recommendation message encoded to identify a stream to be transitioned from the first MBO access p oint to a second MBO access point; configuring the first MBO access point to transmit the per- stream steering recommendation message; decoding a per-st ream steering response message from the first MBO station, theper-stream steering response message decoded to determine a result of the per-st ream steering recommendation; and communicating the result to an access point controller.

[00214] In Example 62, the subject matter of Example 61 optionally includes the operations further comprising encoding one or more of a traffic identifier and an access category (AC) in theper-stream steering

recommendation message to identify the stream. [0021S] In Example 63, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 61-62 optionally include the operations further comprising encoding an information element (IE) in a management frame to indicate whether the first MBO access point provides per- stream steering recommendations toMBO stations; and configuring the first MBO access p oint to transmit the management frame.

[00216] In Example 64, the subject matter of Example 63 optionally includes wherein the information element is encoded as a multi-band operations (MBO) information element or an operating classes information element.

[00217] In Example 65, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 61-64 optionally include the operations further comprising: decoding an information element from a management frame received from the first MBO station to determine whether the first MBO station supports per-stream steering recommendations; and configuring the first MBO access point to transmit the management frame to the first MBO station.

[00218] In Example 66, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 61-65 optionally include the operations further comprising decoding a multi-connectivity setup request message from the first MBO station requesting from the first MBO AP, a list of access points for association by the first MBO station; encoding a multi-connectivity setup resp onse message to identify the second access point; and configuring the first MBO AP to transmit the multi-connectivity setup resp onse message.

[00219] In Example 67, the subject matter of Example 66 optionally includes the operations further comprising encoding the multi-connectivity setup resp onse message to include a neighbor report information element identifying the second access point.

[00220] In Example 68, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 61-67 optionally include the operations further comprising encoding the per-stream steering recommendation message to indicate whether the transitioning of the stream is required.

[00221] Accordingly, the term "module" is understood to encompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physically constructed, specifically configured (e.g, hardwired), or temporarily (e.g, transitorily) configured (e.g, programmed) to operate in a specified manner or to perform part or all of any operation described herein. Considering examples in which modules are temporarily configured, each of the modules need not be instantiated at any one moment in time. For example, where themodules comprise a general-purpose hardware processor 602 configured using software, the general-purp ose hardware processor 602 may be configured as respective different modules at different times. Software may accordingly configure a hardware processor 602, for example, to constitute a p articular module at one instance of time and to constitute a different module at a different instance of time.

[00222] Various embodiments may be implemented fully or partially in software and/or firmware. This software and/or firmware may take the form of instructions 624 contained in or on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium 622. Those instructions 624 may then be read and executed by one or more processors 602 to enable performance of the operations described herein. The instructions 624 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 622 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; flash memory; etc.