Method and apparatus for coordinated multi-access point channel access in a wireless network

A wireless access point (AP) comprising:

• a processor;
• a wireless transceiver;
• and
• a memory coupled to the processor and comprising instructions that when executed by the processor perform a method using the wireless transceiver to coordinate transmission with a coordinated wireless AP, the method comprising:
• obtaining a transmission opportunity (TXOP) at the AP;
• sending a frame from the AP to the coordinated wireless AP, the frame comprising an uplink (UL) transmission time and a downlink (DL) transmission time;
• signaling the coordinated AP using the AP to grant a portion of a bandwidth allocated by the TXOP to the AP;
• and
• performing an RTS/CTS handshake with the first wireless AP, wherein the RTS/CTS handshake comprises a CTS-to-self frame, and the CTS-to-self frame comprises a CTS type field and a user info field that identifies a non-AP wireless station (STA) serviced by the first wireless AP,
• wherein the coordinated AP schedules UL transmissions using the portion of the bandwidth according to the UL transmission time, and wherein the coordinated AP schedules DL transmissions using the portion of the bandwidth according to the DL transmission time.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having embedded therein program instructions, which when executed by one or more processors of a device, cause the device to execute a process for coordinating transmissions of a first wireless access point (AP) using a second wireless AP, the method comprising:

• obtaining a transmission opportunity (TXOP) at the second wireless AP;
• sending a frame from the second wireless AP to the first wireless AP, the frame comprising an uplink (UL) transmission time and a downlink (DL) transmission time;
• signaling the first wireless AP using the second wireless AP to grant a portion of a bandwidth allocated by the TXOP to the first wireless AP;
• and
• performing an RTS/CTS handshake with the first wireless AP, wherein the RTS/CTS handshake comprises a CTS-to-self frame, and the CTS-to-self frame comprises a CTS type field and a user info field that identifies a non-AP wireless station (STA) serviced by the first wireless AP,
• wherein the first wireless AP schedules UL transmissions using the portion of the bandwidth according to the UL transmission time, and wherein the first wireless AP schedules DL transmissions using the portion of the bandwidth according to the DL transmission time.