Uplink and downlink data and context handling for roaming

An access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD) of a seamless mobility domain (SMD), comprising:

• a processor;
• two or more affiliated APs, each affiliated AP operative to establish a corresponding link with an affiliated station of a non-AP MLD, and
• a memory communicatively coupled to the processor, wherein the memory comprises a Multi-Link Operation (MLO) management logic configured to perform operations comprising:
• establishing, by the AP MLD, an association between a seamless mobility domain (SMD) and a non-AP MLD, wherein the SMD comprises the AP MLD and a second AP MLD, wherein the second AP MLD comprises two or more affiliated APs and the non-AP MLD comprises two or more stations (STAs), and wherein the association comprises at least one link between a first affiliated AP of the AP MLD and a first STA of the non-AP MLD;
• receiving, by the AP MLD, uplink (UL) data media access control (MAC) protocol data units (MPDUs) from the non-AP MLD, each UL data MPDU having a corresponding sequence number (SN);
• transmitting content of the UL data MPDUs received from the non-AP MLD to a distribution system;
• maintaining, by the AP MLD, UL context information of the association, the UL context information comprising data indicating a SN of a last UL data MPDU received from, and acknowledged to, the non-AP MLD and forwarded to the distribution system;
• receiving, by the AP MLD, a roaming request from the non-AP MLD, the roaming request indicating intent to roam to the second AP MLD;
• transferring, by the AP MLD, uplink (UL) context information to the second AP MLD, the UL context information comprising a SN of the last UL data MPDU received from, and acknowledged to, the non-AP MLD and forwarded to the distribution system;
• and
• transmitting a roaming response to the non-AP MLD, the roaming response comprising an indication of the SN of the last UL data MPDU received from, and acknowledged to, the non-AP MLD and forwarded to the distribution system.

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that when executed configure one or more processors of an access point (AP) multi-link device (MLD) to perform operations comprising:

• establishing, by the AP MLD, an association between a seamless mobility domain (SMD) and a non-AP MLD, wherein the SMD comprises the AP MLD and a second AP MLD, and wherein the association comprises at least one link between a first affiliated AP of the AP MLD and a first STA of the non-AP MLD;
• receiving, by the AP MLD, uplink (UL) data media access control (MAC) protocol data units (MPDUs) from the non-AP MLD, each UL data MPDU having a corresponding sequence number (SN);
• transmitting content of the UL data MPDUs received from the non-AP MLD to a distribution system;
• maintaining, by the AP MLD, UL context information of the association, the UL context information comprising data indicating a SN of a last UL data MPDU received from, and acknowledged to, the non-AP MLD and forwarded to the distribution system;
• receiving, by the AP MLD, a roaming request from the non-AP MLD, the roaming request indicating intent to roam to the second AP MLD;
• transferring, by the AP MLD, uplink (UL) context information to the second AP MLD, the UL context information comprising a SN of the last UL data MPDU received from, and acknowledged to, the non-AP MLD and forwarded to the distribution system;
• and
• transmitting a roaming response to the non-AP MLD, the roaming response comprising an indication of the SN of the last UL data MPDU received from, and acknowledged to, the non-AP MLD and forwarded to the distribution system.