User station (STA) and access point (AP) and method for random access contention using cascaded trigger frames

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by one or more processors of a high-efficiency (HE) station, the instructions to configure the one or more processors to:

• decode a beacon frame or management frame from a HE access point (AP), the beacon frame or the management frame comprising an information element, the information element comprising a start time for a first trigger frame (TF) with random access allocations;
• enter a doze state until the start time;
• decode the first TF, the first TF comprising a cascade indication field and an indication of uplink (UL) allocations, the UL allocations comprising one or more random access allocations, wherein the one or more random access allocations are indicated by values of association identifications (AIDs);
• determine whether the one or more random access allocations are accessible to transmit a packet, wherein the determination is based on the values of the AIDs being zero to indicate a random access allocation;
• if the determination is the one or more random access allocations are accessible, select a random access allocation of the one or more random access allocations, and configure the HE station to transmit the packet in accordance with the selected random access allocation, wherein the memory is configured to store the beacon frame or the management frame.

A method performed by an apparatus of a high-efficiency (HE) station, the method comprising:

• decoding a beacon frame or management frame from a HE access point (AP), the beacon frame or the management frame comprising an information element, the information element comprising a start time for a first trigger frame (TF) with random access allocations;
• entering a doze state until the start time;
• decoding the first TF, the first TF comprising a cascade indication field and an indication of uplink (UL) allocations, the UL allocations comprising one or more random access allocations, wherein the one or more random access allocations are indicated by values of association identifications (AIDs);
• determining whether the one or more random access allocations are accessible to transmit a packet, wherein the determination is based on the values of the AIDs being zero to indicate a random access allocation;
• and
• if the determination is the one or more random access allocations are accessible, selecting a random access allocation of the one or more random access allocations, and configure the HE station to transmit the packet in accordance with the selected random access allocation, wherein the memory is configured to store the beacon frame or the management frame.

An apparatus of an access point, the apparatus comprising:

• memory;
• and processing circuitry coupled to the memory, the processing circuitry configured to:
• encode a beacon frame or management frame, the beacon frame or the management frame comprising an information element, the information element comprising a start time for a first trigger frame (TF) with random access allocations;
• encode the first TF with random access allocations, the first TF with random access allocations comprising a cascade indication field and an indication of uplink (UL) allocations, the UL allocations comprising one or more random access allocations, wherein the one or more random access allocation are indicated by values of association identifications (AIDs), and wherein a value of an AID of the AIDs being zero indicates a random access allocation;
• configure the access point to transmit the first TF with random access allocations at the start time;
• if the cascade indication field is encoded with a 1, encode a second TF with random access allocations, the second TF with random access allocations comprising a second cascade indication field and one or more second random access allocations, and configure the access point to transmit the second TF with random access allocations after a transmission period for the first TF with random access allocations is completed;
• and
• if the cascade indication field is encoded with a 0, refrain from encoding and configuring the access point to transmit a second TF with random access allocations as a next frame to transmit, wherein the memory is configured to store the beacon frame and the management frame.