WO2025051163A1

WO2025051163A1 - Method for extending bandwidth of wireless communication device and associated wireless communication device

Info

Publication number: WO2025051163A1
Application number: PCT/CN2024/116914
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hao-Hua Kang; Chien-Fang Hsu; Chih-Chun Kuo
Original assignee: Mediatek Inc.
Priority date: 2023-09-04
Filing date: 2024-09-04
Publication date: 2025-03-13

Abstract

A method for extending a bandwidth of a first wireless communication device includes: receiving a frame carrying transmission opportunity (TXOP) information from a second wireless communication device through a first channel with a first bandwidth of the first wireless communication device, wherein the TXOP information indicates that a TXOP is shared or transferred from the second wireless communication device to the first wireless communication device; performing a clear channel assessment (CCA) detection upon a second channel with a second bandwidth of the first wireless communication device, in order to generate a CCA detection result; and in response to reception of the frame and the CCA detection result indicating that the idle time of the second channel is not less than a predetermined time, starting to access an extended bandwidth, wherein the extended bandwidth comprises the first bandwidth and the second bandwidth.

Description

METHOD FOR EXTENDING BANDWIDTH OF WIRELESS COMMUNICATION DEVICE AND ASSOCIATED WIRELESS COMMUNICATION DEVICE

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/580,400, filed on September 4th, 2023. The content of the application is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is related to wireless communication, and more particularly, to a method that can extend a bandwidth of a wireless communication device with better channel usage when a transmission opportunity (TXOP) is shared/transferred from another wireless communication device to the wireless communication device, and an associated wireless communication device.

2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

For a wireless communication device supporting Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineer (IEEE) 802.11 standards, under a condition that a wireless communication device (e.g., a station) is a TXOP responder and another wireless communication device (e.g., an access point (AP) ) is a TXOP holder , the another wireless communication device can share the TXOP to the wireless communication device. However, the wireless communication device only can access the same bandwidth as it could access before obtaining the TXOP. As a result, a novel method that can extend a bandwidth of a wireless communication device with better channel usage when a TXOP is shared from another wireless communication device to the wireless communication device, and an associated wireless communication device, are urgently needed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore one of the objectives of the present invention to provide a method that can extend a bandwidth of a wireless communication device with better channel usage when a TXOP is shared/transferred from another wireless communication device to the wireless communication device, and an associated wireless communication device.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a method for extending a bandwidth of a first wireless communication device is provided. The method comprises: receiving a frame carrying TXOP information from a second wireless communication device through a first channel with a first bandwidth of the first wireless communication device, wherein the TXOP information indicates that a TXOP is shared or transferred from the second wireless communication device to the first wireless communication device; performing a clear channel assessment (CCA) detection upon a second channel with a second bandwidth of the first wireless communication device, in order to generate a CCA detection result; and in response to reception of the frame and the CCA detection result indicating that an idle time of the second channel is not less than a predetermined time, starting to access an extended bandwidth, wherein the extended bandwidth comprises the first bandwidth and the second bandwidth, and is an extended version of the bandwidth.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a method is provided. The method comprises: transmitting a frame carrying TXOP information to a second wireless communication device through a first channel with a first bandwidth of a first wireless communication device, wherein the TXOP information indicates that a TXOP is shared from the first wireless communication device to the second wireless communication device; determining an extended bandwidth used by the second wireless communication device during a time period of the shared TXOP, wherein the extended bandwidth comprises the first bandwidth and a second bandwidth of a second channel; and accessing the extended bandwidth or the first bandwidth after the time period of the shared TXOP is ended.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a wireless communication device is provided. The wireless communication device comprises a wireless transceiver and a processor. The processor is coupled to the wireless transceiver, wherein the processor performs operations comprising: receiving a frame carrying TXOP information from another wireless communication device through a first channel with a first bandwidth of the wireless communication device via the wireless transceiver, wherein the TXOP information indicates that a TXOP is shared or transferred from the another wireless communication device to the wireless communication device; performing a CCA detection upon a second channel with a second bandwidth of the wireless communication device, in order to generate a CCA detection result; and in response to reception of the frame and the CCA detection result indicating that an idle time of the second channel is not less than a predetermined time, starting to access an extended bandwidth via the wireless transceiver, wherein the extended bandwidth comprises the first bandwidth and the second bandwidth, and is an extended version of the bandwidth.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a wireless communication device is provided. The wireless communication device comprises a wireless transceiver and a processor. The processor is coupled to the wireless transceiver, wherein the processor performs operations comprising: transmitting a frame carrying transmission opportunity (TXOP) information to another wireless communication device through a first channel with a first bandwidth of the wireless communication device via the wireless transceiver, wherein the TXOP information indicates that a TXOP is shared from the wireless communication device to the another wireless communication device; determining an extended bandwidth used by the another wireless communication device during a period when the TXOP is shared, wherein the extended bandwidth comprises the first bandwidth and a second bandwidth of a second channel of the wireless communication device; and accessing the extended bandwidth or the first bandwidth after the sharing of TXOP is ended.

One of the benefits of the present invention is that, by the method and the associated wireless communication device of the present invention, under a condition that a TXOP holder transfers or shares a TXOP to a TXOP responder, the TXOP responder can access an additional secondary channel and perform subsequent TRX operations through a channel with an extended bandwidth, wherein an additional backoff procedure is not re-performed during the process of sharing/transferring the TXOP. In addition, for a first type of AP proposed by the present invention, before reception of a frame carrying TXOP information is completed, a CCA detection can be performed upon the secondary channel. Under an ideal situation, a time interval between a time point where the frame carrying TXOP information is received and a time point where a frame or a corresponding response frame is transmitted through the channel with the extended bandwidth is only an SIFS, so that additional adjustment is not required to be performed.

These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a diagram illustrating a wireless communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1B is a diagram illustrating another wireless communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a first control scheme of extending a bandwidth of a wireless communication device by shared/transferred TXOP according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a second control scheme of extending a bandwidth of a wireless communication device by shared/transferred TXOP according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating TXOP sharing for a wireless communication device involved in the first control scheme shown in FIG. 2 according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating TXOP sharing for a wireless communication device involved in the first control scheme shown in FIG. 2 according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating TXOP sharing for a wireless communication device involved in the second control scheme shown in FIG. 3 according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating TXOP transferring for a wireless communication device involved in the first control scheme shown in FIG. 2 according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating TXOP transferring for a wireless communication device involved in the first control scheme shown in FIG. 2 according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of a method for extending a bandwidth of a wireless communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart of a method for extending a bandwidth of a wireless communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Certain terms are used throughout the following description and claims, which refer to particular components. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, electronic equipment manufacturers may refer to a component by different names. This document does not intend to distinguish between components that differ in name but not in function. In the following description and in the claims, the terms "include" and "comprise" are used in an open-ended fashion, and thus should be interpreted to mean "include, but not limited to ... " .

FIG. 1A is a diagram illustrating a wireless communication device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The wireless communication device 100 may operate according to communication protocols specified by IEEE 802.11 standards. In addition, the wireless communication device 100 may be implemented as an access point (AP) , and may also be implemented as a station, depending upon actual design requirements. As shown in FIG. 1A, the wireless communication device 100 may include a wireless transceiver circuit 102, an antenna 104, and a processor 106. The wireless transceiver circuit 102 may receive a wireless signal from a wireless transmission channel via the antenna 104, and may process the wireless signal in order to obtain a received frame/packet. The wireless transceiver circuit 102 may also process a frame/packet to be transmitted in order to obtain a corresponding signal as a wireless signal, and may transmit the wireless signal via the antenna 104.

For example, the wireless transceiver circuit 102 may receive a frame carrying transmission opportunity (TXOP) information from another wireless communication device via the antenna 104, wherein the TXOP information indicates that a TXOP is shared or transferred from the another wireless communication device to the wireless communication device 100. In the following descriptions, for better comprehension, the wireless communication device 100 is implemented as an AP, and the another wireless communication device is implemented as a station (i.e., the TXOP is shared or transferred from a station to an AP) , but the present invention is not limited thereto. In some embodiments, the wireless communication device 100 may be implemented as a station, and the another wireless communication device may be implemented as an AP (i.e., the TXOP is shared or transferred from an AP to a station) ; both the wireless communication device 100 and the another wireless communication device may be implemented as stations (i.e., the TXOP is shared or transferred from a station to another station) ; or both the wireless communication device 100 and the another wireless communication device may be implemented as APs (i.e., the TXOP is shared or transferred from an AP to another AP) . These alternative designs all fall within the scope of the present invention. The meaning of sharing a TXOP from one device to another device may be that the device may allocate a part of the TXOP to another device and may only transmit a PPDU carrying an immediate response that is solicited by the another device during the part of the TXOP until a condition is met. The condition may be that the time allocated for the part of the TXOP expires or the part of the TXOP is returned to the device.

According to relevant specifications of European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) , when a device obtains a right to access a primary channel, if it needs to access a secondary channel, a clear channel assessment (CCA) detection result for the secondary channel is required to indicate that no energy is detected with a level above an Energy Detection Threshold (EDT) for at least 23 microseconds (μs) . According to the IEEE standard, if a device needs to access a secondary channel, the CCA detection result for the secondary channel is required to indicate that no energy is detected with the level above the EDT for at least one Point Coordination Function (PCF) Inter-Frame Space (PIFS) . Assume that the wireless communication device 100 has a primary channel with a bandwidth of 80 MHz (denoted by P80) and a secondary channel with a bandwidth of 80 MHz (denoted by S80) . When the wireless communication device 100 receives a frame carrying TXOP information from the another communication device through the primary channel P80, if the wireless communication device 100 desires to access the secondary channel S80, the wireless communication device 100 requires a CCA detection result for the secondary channel S80 indicating that an idle time of the secondary channel S80 is not less than a predetermined time. The predetermined time may be 23 microseconds (μs) specified by ETSI, a value larger than 23μs, or a value smaller than 23μs. The predetermined time may be one PIFS. The idle time of the secondary channel S80 is a continuous detected time period during which no energy is detected with a level above the Energy Detection Threshold (EDT) . In one embodiment, the CCA detection does not comprise a Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) packet detection. In another embodiment, the CCA detection comprises a Wi-Fi packet detection, and the idle time of the secondary channel S80 is a continuous detected time period during which no energy is detected with a level above the Energy Detection Threshold (EDT) and no Wi-Fi packet is detected.

The processor 106 may be arranged to control operations of the wireless communication device 100, and may include a plurality of sub-circuits or functional modules implemented by any or a combination of hardware, firmware, and software, in order to perform required signal processing functions. For example, the processor 106 may perform a CCA detection upon the secondary channel S80. In response to reception of the frame carrying TXOP information and CCA detection result indicating that the idle time of the second channel S80 is not less than the predetermined time, start to access an extended bandwidth, wherein the predetermined time may be equal to a sum of T and a short inter-frame space (SIFS; i.e., DET_TP = T + SIFS) , “T” is a time variable, and the extended bandwidth is a sum of 80 MHz of the primary channel P80 and 80 MHz of the secondary channel S80 (i.e., the extended bandwidth = 80 MHz + 80 MHz = 160 MHz) .

In this embodiment, based on the detection ability of an AP for performing the CCA detection, two types of APs are defined (e.g., APs AP_TYPE1 and AP_TYPE2) . For the AP AP_TYPE1, when a frame (for example, physical-layer protocol data unit (PPDU) packet) is received through a channel (e.g., the primary channel P80) , the AP AP_TYPE1 is capable of simultaneously performing a CCA detection upon another channel (e.g., the secondary channel S80) . For the AP AP_TYPE2, when a frame/PPDU packet is received through the primary channel P80, the AP AP_TYPE2 is unable to simultaneously perform a CCA detection upon the secondary channel S80. That is, the AP AP_TYPE2 is limited to perform the CCA detection upon the secondary channel S80 after reception of the frame is completed.

It should be noted that, after the AP has a right to access an extended bandwidth and completes subsequent transmission and reception (TRX) operations in TXOP duration, the shared TXOP can be returned to the station. In one embodiment, the AP may communicate with another station which is not an original station transmitting the TXOP information, and may not communicate with the original station during TXOP duration. The AP may transmit an indication to the original station for indicating the extended bandwidth used by the AP. In another embodiment, the AP may communicate with the original station during the shared TXOP duration, so the original station may know the extended bandwidth used by the AP. Under a condition that a bandwidth capacity of the original station is sufficient, the original station may access the extended bandwidth used by the AP; otherwise, the original station may only access an original bandwidth.

FIG. 1B is a diagram illustrating another wireless communication device 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The wireless communication device 200 may operate according to communication protocols specified by IEEE 802.11 standards.

As shown in FIG. 1B, the wireless communication device 200 may include a wireless transceiver circuit 202, an antenna 204, and a processor 206. The processor 206 is coupled to the transceiver circuit202, and performs operations comprising: transmitting a frame carrying transmission opportunity (TXOP) information to another wireless communication device through a first channel with a first bandwidth of the wireless communication device via the wireless transceiver circuit 202, wherein the TXOP information indicates that a TXOP is shared from the wireless communication device to the another wireless communication device; determining an extended bandwidth used by the another wireless communication device during a time period of the shared TXOP, wherein the extended bandwidth comprises the first bandwidth and a second bandwidth of a second channel of the wireless communication device; and accessing the extended bandwidth or the first bandwidth after the time period of the shared TXOP is ended.

In addition, the present invention proposes two control schemes for extending a bandwidth of a wireless communication device by shared/transferred TXOP. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a first control scheme of extending a bandwidth of a wireless communication device (e.g., an AP) by shared/transferred TXOP according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, before accessing the secondary channel S80, the AP receives a PPDU packet (or a frame) carrying the TXOP information from another wireless communication device (e.g., a station) through the primary channel P80.

For the AP AP_TYPE1, when receiving a PPDU packet/frame carrying the TXOP information from the station through the primary channel P80 (labeled as “RX P80 PPDU” in FIG. 2) , the AP AP_TYPE1 may simultaneously perform a CCA detection upon the secondary channel S80, wherein a time interval between a time point where the reception of the PPDU packet/frame is completed and a time point where the extended bandwidth is started to be accessed may be a sum of X and an SIFS, wherein “X” is a time variable and is greater than or equal to zero. That is, the time interval is at least an SIFS. Under an ideal situation, after the AP AP_TYPE1 receives the PPDU packet/frame carrying the TXOP information from the station through the primary channel P80, it only needs to go through an SIFS for the AP AP_TYPE1 to transmit a PPDU packet via a channel with the extend bandwidth (P80 + S80; labeled as “TX P160 PPDU” in FIG. 2) .

For the AP AP_TYPE2, the AP AP_TYPE2 performs a CCA detection upon the secondary channel S80 after the reception of the PPDU packet/frame carrying the TXOP information (labeled as “RX P80 PPDU” in FIG. 2) is completed, wherein a time interval between a time point where the reception of the PPDU packet/frame is completed and a time point where the extended bandwidth (P80 + S80) is started to be accessed may be a sum of Y and an SIFS, wherein “Y” is a time variable and is greater than or equal to the above-mentioned time variable “T” . That is, the time interval is at least “T + SIFS” . Under an ideal situation, after the AP AP_TYPE2 receives the PPDU packet/frame carrying the TXOP information from the station through the primary channel P80, it needs to go through a time period of “T + SIFS” for the AP AP_TYPE2 to transmit another PPDU packet via a channel with the extend bandwidth (labeled as “TX P160 PPDU” in FIG. 2) .

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a second control scheme of extending a bandwidth of a wireless communication device (e.g., an AP) by shared/transferred TXOP according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, before accessing the secondary channel S80, the AP transmits a PPDU packet (or a frame, such as a response frame for responding to a control frame carrying the TXOP information) to another wireless communication device (e.g., a station) through the primary channel P80 (labeled as “TX P80 PPDU” in FIG. 3) . For both APs AP_TYPE1 and AP_TYPE2, a time interval between a time point where the transmission of the PPDU packet (or the frame) is completed and a time point where the extended bandwidth (P80 + S80) is started to be accessed may be a sum of Z and an SIFS, wherein “Z” is a time variable and is greater than or equal to the above-mentioned time variable “T” . That is, the time interval is at least “T + SIFS” . Under an ideal situation, after the AP AP_TYPE1/AP_TYPE2 transmits the PPDU packet/frame (e.g., the response frame) to the station through the primary channel P80, it needs to go through a time period of “T + SIFS” for the AP AP_TYPE1/AP_TYPE2 to transmit a PPDU packet via a channel with the extend bandwidth (labeled as “TX P160 PPDU” in FIG. 3) .

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating TXOP sharing for the wireless communication device 100 according to a first embodiment of the present invention, wherein the wireless communication device 100 is implemented by the AP AP_TYPE1 and is involved in the first control scheme shown in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 4, the AP AP_TYPE1 has the primary channel P80 and the secondary channel S80, and a station (labeled as “STA” in FIG. 4) only has the primary channel P80. In the beginning, both the AP AP_TYPE1 and the station perform a backoff procedure. After the station completes the backoff procedure, the station may transmit a control frame CON_F to the AP AP_TYPE1 (labeled as “TX CON_F” in FIG. 4) , wherein the control frame CON_F may carry the TXOP information (e.g., TXOP sharing indication, such as triggered TXOP sharing (TXS) ) for indicating that a TXOP is shared from the station to the AP AP_TYPE1. In addition, the control frame CON_F may further carry TXOP time information indicating an allocated time period (e.g., an allocated time ALLO_TIME) for the shared TXOP, wherein the allocated time ALLO_TIME may be associated with a net allocation vector (NAV) of the station, and a period during which the AP uses the shared TXOP cannot exceed the allocated time ALLO_TIME. When the AP AP_TYPE1 receives the control frame CON_F through the primary channel P80 (labeled as “RX CON_F” in FIG. 4) , the AP AP_TYPE1 may be notified that the station desires to share the TXOP.

Before the reception of the control frame CON_F is completed, the AP AP_TYPE1 may perform a CCA detection upon the secondary channel S80. In response to the CCA detection result indicating that the idle time of the secondary channel S80 is not less than the predetermined time, the AP AP_TYPE1 may start to access an extended bandwidth (P80 + S80) for occupying a channel with 160 MHz, and transmit a response frame RES_F to the station through the channel (labeled as “TX RES_F” in FIG. 4) , and the station may receive the response frame RES_F through its primary channel P80 (labeled as “RX RES_F” in FIG. 4) . The predetermined time may be 23 μs specified by ETSI, a value larger than 23μs or a value smaller than 23μs. The predetermined time may be one PIFS. After waiting for an SIFS, the AP AP_TYPE1 may perform some TRX operations (e.g., multi-user (MU) operation and multi-AP (M-AP) operation) through the channel with the extended bandwidth (P80 + S80) . Alternatively, because AP has obtained TXOP, the AP can determine when to start to perform TRX operations. It is not mandatory for the AP to start TX/RX operations after the SIFS following the response frame RES_F. In one embodiment, during a time interval between a time point where the reception of the control frame CON_F is completed and a time point where the extended bandwidth (P80 + S80) is started to be accessed, a backoff procedure is prevented from being performed.

After the AP AP_TYPE1 completes the TRX operations, the shared TXOP may be returned from the AP AP_TYPE1 to the station. In FIG. 4, before the allocated time period (e.g., the allocated time ALLO_TIME) for the shared TXOP expires, the AP AP_TYPE1 may transmit a frame for indicating that the TXOP is returned to the station. In this embodiment, assume that a bandwidth capacity of the station is insufficient, and the station may only access an original bandwidth (80 MHz of the primary channel P80) , and perform TRX operations through the primary channel P80. For example, the station and the AP AP_TYPE1 may transmit and receive a data frame and a corresponding response frame through respective primary channels with the original bandwidth.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating TXOP sharing for the wireless communication device 100 according to a second embodiment of the present invention, wherein the wireless communication device 100 is implemented by the AP AP_TYPE1 and is involved in the first control scheme shown in FIG. 2. The difference between embodiments of FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 is that, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the station has both the primary channel P80 and the secondary channel S80, and the bandwidth capacity of the station is sufficient enough to access the extended bandwidth of the AP AP_TYPE1. In addition, there is initially some interference in the secondary channel S80 of the station, causing the station to transmit the control frame CON_F and receive the response frame RES_F only through the primary channel P80. After the shared TXOP is returned from the AP AP_TYPE1 to the station, the interference does not exist in the secondary channel S80, and the station may access the extended bandwidth (P80 + S80) gained by the AP AP_TYPE1 for performing subsequent TRX operations. That is, the bandwidth of the station follows that of the AP AP_TYPE1 after the return of the shared TXOP (labeled as “STA BW follows AP BW” in FIG. 5 for brevity) . In addition, since the subsequent frame exchanging for the data frame and the corresponding response frame in FIG. 5 is similar to that in FIG. 4, further descriptions are omitted here for brevity.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating TXOP sharing for the wireless communication device 100 according to a third embodiment of the present invention. The difference between embodiments of FIG. 4 and FIG. 6 is that, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the wireless communication device 100 may be implemented by any AP among the APs AP_TYPE1 and AP_TYPE2, and the wireless communication device 100 is involved in the second control scheme shown in FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 6, in the beginning, both the AP and the station perform a backoff procedure. After the station completes the backoff procedure, the station may transmit the control frame CON_F carrying the TXOP information to the AP (labeled as “TX CON_F” in FIG. 6) . When the AP receives the control frame CON_F through the primary channel P80 (labeled as “RX CON_F” in FIG. 6) , the AP may be notified that the station desires to share the TXOP, and start to perform subsequent processing.

In response to reception of the control frame CON_F, the AP may transmit the response frame RES_F to the station through its primary channel P80 (labeled as “TX RES_F” in FIG. 6) , and the station may receive the response frame RES_F through its primary channel P80 (labeled as “RX RES_F” in FIG. 6) . After the transmission of the response frame RES_F is completed, the AP may start to perform a CCA detection upon the secondary channel S80. In response to the CCA detection result indicating that the idle time of the secondary channel S80 is not less than the predetermined time, the AP may start to access an extended bandwidth (P80 + S80) for occupying a channel with 160 MHz, and transmit a PPDU packet (e.g., a multi-user request to send (MU-RTS) frame) to the station through the channel (labeled as “TX 160MHz PPDU” in FIG. 6) , wherein The predetermined time may be 23μs specified by ETSI, a value larger than 23μs or a value smaller than 23μs. The predetermined time may be one PIFS. After waiting for an SIFS, the AP may perform some TRX operations (e.g., MU operation and M-AP operation) through the channel with the extended bandwidth (P80 + S80) . In one embodiment, during a time interval between a time point where the transmission of the response frame RES_F is completed and a time point where the extended bandwidth (P80 + S80) is started to be accessed, a backoff procedure is prevented from being performed. In addition, since the subsequent frame exchanging for the data frame and the corresponding response frame in FIG. 6 is similar to that in FIG. 4, further descriptions are omitted here for brevity.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating TXOP transferring for the wireless communication device 100 according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention, wherein the wireless communication device 100 is implemented by the AP AP_TYPE1 and is involved in the first control scheme shown in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 7, the AP AP_TYPE1 has the primary channel P80 and the secondary channel S80, and a station (labeled as “STA” in FIG. 7) only has the primary channel P80. In the beginning, both the AP AP_TYPE1 and the station perform a backoff procedure. After the backoff procedure is completed, frame exchanging may be performed between the AP AP_TYPE1 and the station (e.g., transmission and reception of the control frame CON_F and the response frame RES_F) , until a data frame carrying the TXOP information is transmitted from the station to the AP AP_TYPE1 (labeled as “TX data frame” in FIG. 7) , wherein the data frame is the last data frame transmitted by the station, and the TXOP information may include TXOP transfer indication for indicating that a TXOP is transferred from the station to the AP AP_TYPE1.

In addition, the data frame may further carry TXOP time information indicating an allocated time period (e.g., an allocated time ALLO_TIME) of the transferred TXOP, wherein the allocated time period may be associated with a NAV of the station, and a period during which the AP uses the transferred TXOP cannot exceed the allocated time period. When the AP AP_TYPE1 receives the data frame through the primary channel P80 (labeled as “RX data frame” in FIG. 7) , the AP AP_TYPE1 may be notified that the station desires to transfer the TXOP.

Before the reception of the data frame is completed, the AP AP_TYPE1 may start to perform a CCA detection upon the secondary channel S80. In response to the CCA detection result indicating that the idle time of the secondary channel S80 is not less than the predetermined time, the AP AP_TYPE1 may start to access an extended bandwidth (P80 + S80) for occupying a channel with 160 MHz, and transmit a response frame RES_FD corresponding to the data frame to the station through the channel (labeled as “TX RES_FD” in FIG. 7) , wherein the predetermined time may be 23μs specified by ETSI, a value larger than 23μs or a value smaller than 23μs. The predetermined time may be one PIFS. The station may receive the response frame RES_FD through its primary channel P80 (labeled as “RX RES_FD” in FIG. 7) . After waiting for an SIFS, the AP AP_TYPE1 may perform some TRX operations (e.g., MU operation and M-AP operation) through the channel with the extended bandwidth (P80 + S80) . In one embodiment, during a time interval between a time point where the reception of the data frame is completed and a time point where the extended bandwidth (P80 + S80) is started to be accessed, a backoff procedure is prevented from being performed.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating TXOP transferring for the wireless communication device 100 according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention, wherein the wireless communication device 100 is implemented by the AP AP_TYPE1 and is involved in the first control scheme shown in FIG. 2. The difference between embodiments of FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 is that, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the data frame shown in FIG. 7 is replaced by an announce frame carrying the TXOP information, wherein the TXOP information may include TXOP transfer indication for indicating that a TXOP is transferred from the station to the AP AP_TYPE1. In addition, the announce frame may further carry TXOP time information indicating an allocated time period (e.g., the allocated time ALLO_TIME) of the transferred TXOP, wherein the allocated time period may be associated with a NAV of the station, and a period during which the AP uses the transferred TXOP cannot exceed the allocated time period. It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the announcement frame comprises a field, which indicates that an acknowledge (ACK) is not required. Thus, the AP AP_TYPE1 has no need to respond with the ACK to the station.

Before the reception of the announce frame is completed, the AP AP_TYPE1 may start to perform a CCA detection upon the secondary channel S80. In response to the CCA detection indicating that the idle time of the secondary channel S80 is not less than the predetermined time, the AP AP_TYPE1 may start to access an extended bandwidth (P80 + S80) for occupying a channel with 160 MHz, and transmit a PPDU packet (e.g., an MU-RTS frame) through the channel (labeled as “TX 160MHz PPDU” in FIG. 8) . The predetermined time may be 23μs specified by ETSI, a value larger than 23μs or a value smaller than 23μs. The predetermined time may be one PIFS. After waiting for an SIFS, the AP may perform some TRX operations (e.g., MU operation and M-AP operation) through the channel with the extended bandwidth (P80 + S80) .

For embodiments show in FIGs. 4-8, the TXOP is shared/transferred from the station to the AP, but the present invention is not limited thereto. In some embodiments, the method of the present invention may also be applied to a case where both the TXOP holder and the TXOP responder are APs (i.e., the TXOP is shared/transferred from an AP to another AP) , a case where both the TXOP holder and the TXOP responder are stations (i.e., the TXOP is shared/transferred from a station to another station) , or a case where the TXOP holder is an AP and the TXOP responder is a station (i.e., the TXOP is shared/transferred from an AP to a station) . These alternative designs all fall within the scope of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of a method for extending a bandwidth of a wireless communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Provided that the result is substantially the same, the steps are not required to be executed in the exact order shown in FIG. 9. For example, the method shown in FIG. 9 may be employed by the wireless communication device 100 shown in FIG. 1A.

In Step S900, a frame carrying the TXOP information is received from another wireless communication device through a first channel of the wireless communication device 100, wherein the TXOP information indicates that a TXOP is shared or transferred from another wireless communication device to the wireless communication device 100. The first channel may be a primary channel.

The wireless communication device may be a first wireless communication device. Another wireless communication device may be a second wireless communication device.

In Step S902, a CCA detection is performed upon a second channel of the wireless communication device 100, in order to generate a CCA detection result. The second channel may be a secondary channel.

In Step S904, in response to reception of the frame and the CCA detection result indicating that an idle time of the second channel is not less than a predetermined time, an extended bandwidth is started to be accessed.

In this step, in response to reception of the frame and the CCA detection result indicating that the idle time of the second channel is not less than the predetermined time, the wireless communication device 100 has a right to access the second channel. Starting to access the extended bandwidth denotes transmitting a frame (e.g., the PPDU) on the extended bandwidth.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart of a method for extending a bandwidth of another wireless communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Provided that the result is substantially the same, the steps are not required to be executed in the exact order shown in FIG. 10. For example, the method shown in FIG. 10 may be employed by the wireless communication device 200 shown in FIG. 1B.

In Step S1000, a frame carrying transmission opportunity (TXOP) information is transmitted from the wireless communication device to another wireless communication device through a first channel with a first bandwidth of the wireless communication device, wherein the TXOP information indicates that a TXOP is shared from the wireless communication device to another wireless communication device. The another wireless communication device may receive the frame through a first channel with a first bandwidth of the another wireless communication device. The first channel may be a primary channel.

In Step S1020, an extended bandwidth used by another wireless communication device during a time period of the shared TXOP is determined, wherein the extended bandwidth comprises the first bandwidth and a second bandwidth of a second channel. The second channel may be a secondary channel.

In Step S1040, the extended bandwidth or the first bandwidth is accessed after the time period of the shared TXOP is ended.

After the TXOP is returned to the wireless communication device from another wireless communication device, under a condition that a bandwidth capacity of the wireless communication device is sufficient, the wireless communication device may access the extended bandwidth gained by another wireless communication device; otherwise, the wireless communication device may only access an original bandwidth.

Since a person skilled in the pertinent art can readily understand details of the steps after reading above paragraphs, further description is omitted here for brevity.

In summary, by the method and the associated wireless communication device of the present invention, under a condition that a TXOP holder transfers or shares a TXOP to a TXOP responder, the TXOP responder can access an additional secondary channel and perform subsequent TRX operations through a channel with an extended bandwidth, wherein an additional backoff procedure is not re-performed during the process of sharing/transferring the TXOP. In addition, for the AP AP_TYPE1, before reception of a frame carrying TXOP information is completed, a CCA detection can be performed upon the secondary channel when the frame carrying TXOP information is being received. Under an ideal situation, a time interval between a time point where the frame carrying TXOP information is received and a time point where a corresponding response frame is transmitted through a channel with the extended bandwidth is only an SIFS, so that additional adjustment is not required to be performed.

Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.

Claims

A method for extending a bandwidth of a first wireless communication device, comprising:

receiving a frame carrying transmission opportunity (TXOP) information from a second wireless communication device through a first channel with a first bandwidth of the first wireless communication device, wherein the TXOP information indicates that a TXOP is shared or transferred from the second wireless communication device to the first wireless communication device;

performing a clear channel assessment (CCA) detection upon a second channel with a second bandwidth of the first wireless communication device, in order to generate a CCA detection result; and

in response to reception of the frame and the CCA detection result indicating that an idle time of the second channel is not less than a predetermined time, starting to access an extended bandwidth, wherein the extended bandwidth comprises the first bandwidth and the second bandwidth.
The method of claim 1, wherein the idle time of the second channel is a continuous detected time period during which no energy is detected with a level above an Energy Detection Threshold (EDT) .
The method of claim 1, wherein the CCA detection does not comprise a Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) packet detection.
The method of claim 1, wherein the idle time of the second channel is a continuous detected time period during which no energy is detected with a level above an Energy Detection Threshold (EDT) and no Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) packet is detected.
The method of claim 1, wherein the step of performing the CCA detection upon the second channel with the second bandwidth of the first wireless communication device comprises:

before the reception of the frame is completed, performing the CCA detection upon the second channel with the second bandwidth of the first wireless communication device.
The method of claim 1, wherein the step of performing the CCA detection upon the second channel with the second bandwidth of the first wireless communication device comprises:

after the reception of the frame is completed, starting to perform the CCA detection upon the second channel with the second bandwidth of the first wireless communication device.
The method of claim 1, wherein the step of performing the CCA detection upon the second channel with the second bandwidth of the first wireless communication device comprises:

after transmission of a response frame through the first channel is completed, starting to perform the CCA detection upon the second channel with the second bandwidth of the first wireless communication device, wherein the response frame is transmitted to the second wireless communication device in response to reception of the frame carrying TXOP information.
The method of claim 1, wherein the step of in response to the reception of the frame and the CCA detection result indicating that the idle time of the second channel is not less than the predetermined time, starting to access the extended bandwidth comprises:

transmitting a frame on the extended bandwidth, wherein the frame is a first frame transmitted after the frame carrying TXOP information is received.
The method of claim 1, wherein the frame further carries TXOP time information, and the TXOP time information indicates an allocated time period of a shared TXOP or an allocated time period of a transferred TXOP.
The method of claim 1, wherein during a time interval between a time point where the reception of the frame is completed and a time point where the extended bandwidth is started to be accessed, a backoff procedure is prevented from being performed.
A method, comprising:

transmitting a frame carrying transmission opportunity (TXOP) information to a second wireless communication device through a first channel with a first bandwidth of a first wireless communication device, wherein the TXOP information indicates that a TXOP is shared from the first wireless communication device to the second wireless communication device;

determining an extended bandwidth used by the second wireless communication device during a time period of the shared TXOP, wherein the extended bandwidth comprises the first bandwidth and a second bandwidth of a second channel; and

accessing the extended bandwidth or the first bandwidth after the time period of the shared TXOP is ended.
The method of claim 11, wherein the step of determining an extended bandwidth used by the second wireless communication device during the time period of the shared TXOP comprises: receiving an indication from the second wireless communication device for indicating the extended bandwidth.
A wireless communication device, comprising:

a wireless transceiver; and

a processor, coupled to the wireless transceiver, wherein the processor performs operations comprising:

receiving a frame carrying transmission opportunity (TXOP) information from another wireless communication device through a first channel with a first bandwidth of the wireless communication device via the wireless transceiver, wherein the TXOP information indicates that a TXOP is shared or transferred from the another wireless communication device to the wireless communication device;

performing a clear channel assessment (CCA) detection upon a second channel with a second bandwidth of the wireless communication device, in order to generate a CCA detection result; and

in response to reception of the frame and the CCA detection result indicating that an idle time of the second channel is not less than a predetermined time, starting to access an extended bandwidth via the wireless transceiver, wherein the extended bandwidth comprises the first bandwidth and the second bandwidth.
The wireless communication device of claim 13, wherein the step of performing the CCA detection upon the second channel with the second bandwidth of the wireless communication device comprises:

before the reception of the frame is completed, performing the CCA detection upon the second channel with the second bandwidth of the wireless communication device.
The wireless communication device of claim 13, wherein the step of performing the CCA detection upon the second channel with the second bandwidth of the wireless communication device comprises:

after the reception of the frame is completed, starting to perform the CCA detection upon the second channel with the second bandwidth of the wireless communication device.
The wireless communication device of claim 13, wherein the step of performing the CCA detection upon the second channel with the second bandwidth of the wireless communication device comprises:

after transmission of a response frame through the first channel is completed, starting to perform the CCA detection upon the second channel with the second bandwidth of the wireless communication device, wherein the response frame is transmitted to another wireless communication device in response to reception of the frame carrying TXOP information.
The wireless communication device of claim 13, wherein the step of in response to the reception of the frame and the CCA detection result indicating that the idle time of the second channel is not less than the predetermined time, starting to access the extended bandwidth via the wireless transceiver comprises:

transmitting a frame on the extended bandwidth, wherein the frame is a first frame transmitted after the frame carrying TXOP information is received.
The wireless communication device of claim 13, wherein the frame further carries TXOP time information, the TXOP time information indicates an allocated time period of a shared TXOP or a transferred TXOP.
The wireless communication device of claim 13, wherein during a time interval between a time point where the reception of the frame is completed and a time point where the extended bandwidth is started to be accessed, a backoff procedure is prevented from being performed.