# US 12,604,246 B2 · Channel switching for multi-link devices

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- Number: US 12,604,246 B2
- Document ID: US12604246B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 18/523,818
- Filed: 2023-11-29
- Published: 2024-09-05
- Granted: 2026-04-14
- Earliest claimed: 2023-03-03
- Assignees: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
- Applicants: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
- Inventors: Rubayet Shafin; Boon Loong Ng; Vishnu Vardhan Ratnam; Yue Qi
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12604246B2

## CPC

- H04W 36/06: Reselecting a communication resource in the serving access point
- H04W 72/0453: Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA
- 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 performed by a non-AP MLD that comprises STAs, the method comprising: communicating, via a first STA, with a corresponding AP of an AP MLD; receiving information associated with a channel switching operation from the AP MLD, the information based on data associated with a moving average of one or more parameters that are associated with channel congestion or link quality; determining to initiate the channel switching operation, wherein a first STA will switch from a first channel to a second channel on a first link; instructing the first STA to communicate with a first AP on the second channel when communication over the second channel would be improved compared to communication over the first channel; and instructing the first STA to continue communicating with the first AP on the first channel when communication over the second channel would not be improved compared to communication over the first channel.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD) (AP MLD), comprising:
access points (APs), each comprising a transceiver configured to communicate over a link with a corresponding station (STA) of a non-AP MLD; and
a processor operably coupled to the transceiver, the processor configured to:
obtain information associated with a channel switching operation, the information including data associated with a moving average of one or more parameters that are associated with channel congestion or link quality;
determine, based on the information, to initiate the channel switching operation, wherein a first AP of the AP MLD will switch from a first channel to a second channel on a first link;
instruct the first AP of the AP MLD to communicate with a first STA of the non-AP MLD on the second channel over the first link when communication over the second channel would be improved compared to communication over the first channel; and
instruct the first AP of the AP MLD to continue communicating with the first STA of the non-AP MLD on the first channel over the first link when communication over the second channel would not be improved compared to communication over the first channel.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The AP MLD of claim 1, wherein the one or more parameters comprises channel utilization, contention ratio, packet failure ratio, downlink throughput, uplink throughput, received signal strength indicator, average packet latency, or average user perceived throughput.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The AP MLD of claim 1, wherein the channel switching operation includes a channel selection procedure associated with neighborhood channels of the AP MLD.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The AP MLD of claim 3, wherein the channel selection procedure includes overlapping basic service set scanning.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The AP MLD of claim 1, wherein the channel switching operation comprises both an extended channel switching (ECS) procedure and a channel switching (CS) procedure when:
there is at least one second AP associated with the first AP and operating on the first channel such that the second AP does not support the ECS procedure, and
there is at least one third AP associated with the first AP and operating on the first channel such that the third AP supports the ECS procedure.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The AP MLD of claim 1, wherein the information includes channel selection information associated with a channel that is supported by a largest number of APs of the AP MLD operating on a link whose channel is impending to be changed via the channel switching operation.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The AP MLD of claim 6, wherein the processor is configured to prioritize a power saving state of one or more STAs of the non-AP MLD over power saving states of STAs other than STAs of the non-AP MLD.

### Claim 8

A non-access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD) (non-AP MLD), comprising:
stations (STAs), each comprising a transceiver configured to communicate over a link with a corresponding AP of an AP MLD; and
a processor operably coupled to the transceiver, the processor configured to:
receive, via at least one of the transceivers, information associated with a channel switching operation from the AP MLD, the information based on data associated with a moving average of one or more parameters that are associated with channel congestion or link quality;
determine, based on the information, to initiate the channel switching operation, wherein a first STA of the non-AP MLD will switch from a first channel to a second channel on a first link;
instruct the first STA of the non-AP MLD to communicate with a first AP of the AP MLD on the second channel over the first link when communication over the second channel would be improved compared to communication over the first channel; and
instruct the first STA of the non-AP MLD to continue communicating with the first AP of the AP MLD on the first channel over the first link when communication over the second channel would not be improved compared to communication over the first channel.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The non-AP MLD of claim 8, wherein the one or more parameters comprises channel utilization, contention ratio, packet failure ratio, downlink throughput, uplink throughput, received signal strength indicator, average packet latency, or average user perceived throughput.

### Claim 10 (depends on 8)

The non-AP MLD of claim 8, wherein the channel switching operation is based on a channel selection procedure associated with neighborhood channels of the AP MLD.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The non-AP MLD of claim 10, wherein the channel selection procedure is based on overlapping basic service set scanning.

### Claim 12 (depends on 8)

The non-AP MLD of claim 8, wherein the channel switching operation is based on both an extended channel switching (ECS) procedure and a channel switching (CS) procedure when:
there is at least one second AP of the AP MLD associated with the first AP of the AP MLD and operating on the first channel such that the second AP of the AP MLD does not support the ECS procedure, and
there is at least one third AP of the AP MLD associated with the first AP of the AP MLD and operating on the first channel such that the third AP of the AP MLD supports the ECS procedure.

### Claim 13 (depends on 8)

The non-AP MLD of claim 8, wherein the information is based on channel selection information associated with a channel that is supported by a largest number of APs of the AP MLD operating on a link whose channel is impending to be changed via the channel switching operation.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The non-AP MLD of claim 13, wherein a power saving state of one or more STAs of the non-AP MLD is prioritized over power saving states of STAs other than STAs of the non-AP MLD.

### Claim 15

A method for wireless communication performed by a non-access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD) that comprises stations (STAs), the method comprising:
communicating, via a first STA, over a link with a corresponding AP of an AP MLD;
receiving information associated with a channel switching operation from the AP MLD, the information based on data associated with a moving average of one or more parameters that are associated with channel congestion or link quality;
determining, based on the information, to initiate the channel switching operation, wherein a first STA of the non-AP MLD will switch from a first channel to a second channel on a first link;
instructing the first STA of the non-AP MLD to communicate with a first AP of the AP MLD on the second channel over the first link when communication over the second channel would be improved compared to communication over the first channel; and
instructing the first STA of the non-AP MLD to continue communicating with the first AP of the AP MLD on the first channel over the first link when communication over the second channel would not be improved compared to communication over the first channel.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The method of claim 15, wherein the one or more parameters comprises channel utilization, contention ratio, packet failure ratio, downlink throughput, uplink throughput, received signal strength indicator, average packet latency, or average user perceived throughput.

### Claim 17 (depends on 15)

The method of claim 15, wherein the channel switching operation is based on a channel selection procedure associated with neighborhood channels of the AP MLD.

### Claim 18 (depends on 17)

The method of claim 17, wherein the channel selection procedure is based on overlapping basic service set scanning.

### Claim 19 (depends on 15)

The method of claim 15, wherein the channel switching operation is based on both an extended channel switching (ECS) procedure and a channel switching (CS) procedure when:
there is at least one second AP of the AP MLD associated with the first AP of the AP MLD and operating on the first channel such that the second AP of the AP MLD does not support the ECS procedure, and
there is at least one third AP of the AP MLD associated with the first AP of the AP MLD and operating on the first channel such that the third AP of the AP MLD supports the ECS procedure.

### Claim 20 (depends on 15)

The method of claim 15, wherein the information is based on channel selection information associated with a channel that is supported by a largest number of APs of the AP MLD operating on a link whose channel is impending to be changed via the channel switching operation.