# US 12,016,045 B2 · Multi link TXOP aggregation

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- Number: US 12,016,045 B2
- Document ID: US12016045B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/735,808
- Filed: 2022-05-03
- Published: 2022-08-18
- Granted: 2024-06-18
- Earliest claimed: 2019-09-10
- Assignees: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
- Applicants: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
- Inventors: Sharan Naribole; Srinivas Kandala; Wook Bong Lee; Ashok Ranganath
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12016045B2

## CPC

- H04W 72/535: {based on resource usage policies}
- H04W 74/0816: with collision avoidance
- H04W 24/08: Testing, {supervising or monitoring} using real traffic
- H04W 84/12: WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
- H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72)

## Abstract

A method of providing multi-link operation channel access in a multi-link network includes initiating a first backoff countdown and a second backoff countdown associated with a first link and a second link of the multi-link network, respectively, and in response to the first backoff countdown reaching zero, determining whether the second backoff countdown is less than or equal to an aggregation threshold, and in response to determining that the second backoff countdown is less than or equal to the aggregation threshold, transmitting a first frame and a second frame on the first and second links.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method of providing multi-link operation channel access in a multi-link network, the method comprising:
determining that a first backoff countdown associated with a first link of the multi-link network has ended;
in response, determining whether a second backoff countdown associated with a second link of the multi-link network is less than or equal to a threshold; and
in response to determining that the second backoff countdown is less than or equal to the threshold:
suspending the second backoff countdown;
transmitting a frame on at least one of the first and second links; and
resuming the second backoff countdown.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising:
determining that the first and second links are idle.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising:
maintaining a contention window of the second link that is based on a time period prior to transmitting the frame.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising initiating the first backoff countdown and the second backoff countdown.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the threshold is an aggregation threshold.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The method of claim 5, further comprising:
receiving the aggregated threshold from an access point of the multi-link network.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the second backoff countdown is resumed after completion of transmission of the frame.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein:
the frame is a first frame transmitted on the first link;
the method further comprises transmitting a second frame on the second link; and
the first and second frames have time-aligned start and end times.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The method of claim 8, further comprising:
padding a shorter of the first and second frames to equalize frame durations of the first and second frames.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the frame comprises an encapsulation of a physical header, one or more MAC headers, and one or more data payloads.

### Claim 11

A method of providing multi-link operation channel access in a multi-link network, the method comprising:
determining that a first backoff countdown associated with a first link of the multi-link network has ended;
in response, determining whether a second backoff countdown associated with a second link of the multi-link network is less than or equal to a threshold; and
in response to determining that the second backoff countdown is less than or equal to the threshold:
suspending the second backoff countdown at a first value;
transmitting a frame on at least one of the first and second links; and
generating a second start value for the second backoff countdown that is less than the first value.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The method of claim 11, further comprising initiating the first backoff countdown and the second backoff countdown.

### Claim 13 (depends on 11)

The method of claim 11, wherein the second start value is a random value less than a contention window of the second link.

### Claim 14 (depends on 11)

The method of claim 11, wherein the second start value is based on a contention window of the second link.

### Claim 15 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising initiating the first backoff countdown and the second backoff countdown.

### Claim 16

A method of providing multi-link operation channel access in a multi-link network, the method comprising:
determining that a first backoff countdown associated with a first link of the multi-link network has ended;
in response, determining whether a second backoff countdown associated with a second link of the multi-link network is less than or equal to a threshold; and
in response to determining that the second backoff countdown is less than or equal to the threshold:
suspending the second backoff countdown; and
in response to determining that the second backoff countdown is greater than the threshold,
transmitting a frame on one of the first and second link.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The method of claim 16, further comprising initiating the first backoff countdown and the second backoff countdown.

### Claim 18 (depends on 16)

The method of claim 16, wherein the threshold is an aggregation threshold.

### Claim 19 (depends on 16)

The method of claim 16, wherein the frame is not transmitted on an other link of the first and second link.

### Claim 20 (depends on 19)

The method of claim 19, wherein the frame is transmitted on the first link and not on the second link.