CN111133825B

CN111133825B - Enhanced time-sensitive network coordination for wireless transmissions

Info

Publication number: CN111133825B
Application number: CN201780095118.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 戴夫·卡瓦尔坎蒂; 劳伦特·卡里乌; 穆罕默德·马姆努·拉希德; 卡洛斯·科尔迪鲁
Original assignee: Intel Corp
Current assignee: Intel Corp
Priority date: 2017-12-26
Filing date: 2017-12-26
Publication date: 2024-09-13
Anticipated expiration: 2037-12-26
Also published as: WO2019132861A1; CN111133825A

Abstract

Systems, methods, and apparatus related to wireless time-sensitive network coordination are described. A device may determine a transmission schedule. The device may transmit a first data frame. The device may identify a second data frame. The device may send a measurement report.

Description

Enhanced time-sensitive network coordination for wireless transmissions

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates generally to systems, methods, and devices for wireless communications, and more particularly to enhanced time-sensitive network coordination for wireless communications.

Background

Wireless devices are becoming widely popular and increasingly requesting access to wireless channels. The increasing density of wireless deployments requires increased network and spectrum availability.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example network environment in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 2 depicts an illustrative transmission schedule for a plurality of access points in a wireless time-sensitive networking domain in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 depicts an illustrative distributed time-sensitive coordination architecture in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 4A depicts an illustrative timing diagram of scheduling data flows in an enhanced time-sensitive network in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 4B depicts an illustrative timing diagram of a management frame flow in an enhanced time-sensitive network in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating an enhanced time-sensitive network environment in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6A illustrates a flowchart of an illustrative process for enhanced time-sensitive networking coordination in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6B illustrates a flowchart of an illustrative process for enhanced time-sensitive networking coordination in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 7 illustrates a functional diagram of an example communication station that may be suitable for use as a user device in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 8 illustrates a block diagram of an example machine on which any of one or more techniques (e.g., methods) may be performed, in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

Example embodiments described herein provide certain systems, methods, and devices for enhanced time-sensitive network coordination for wireless communications. The following description and the drawings sufficiently illustrate specific embodiments to enable those skilled in the art to practice them. Other embodiments may incorporate structural, logical, electrical, process, and other changes. Portions and features of some embodiments may be included in, or substituted for, those of others. The embodiments recited in the claims encompass all available equivalents of those claims.

Reliable and deterministic communication between devices may be required in some cases. One example may be time sensitive networking (TIME SENSITIVE networking, TSN). TSN applications may require very low and bounded transmission delays and require high availability, and TSN applications may include a mix of traffic patterns and requirements, from synchronous data flows (e.g., from sensors to controllers in a closed loop control system), to asynchronous events (e.g., sensors detect anomalies in the monitored processes and send reports immediately), to video streaming for remote asset monitoring, and background IT/office traffic. Many TSN applications may also require communication between devices across multiple links/hops (e.g., in a mesh topology) with ultra-low latency on the order of tens of microseconds.

Time-synchronized scheduled access modes for Wi-Fi may be enabled in existing and/or future frequency bands (e.g., 6-7 GHz) and in controlled deployments where it may be feasible to dedicate a channel to time-sensitive operations.

The green light zone mode (GREENFIELD MODE) may refer to one of: the device assumes that no legacy Stations (STAs) (e.g., operating under previous protocol rules) are using the same channel. Thus, a device operating in green light zone mode may operate under the following assumptions: all other STAs follow the same (e.g., up-to-date) protocol and no legacy STAs contend for the same channel access. In some examples, STAs operating in green light zone mode may at least assume that any legacy STAs that may be present may be managed to operate in separate channels and/or times. However, operation with multiple Access Points (APs) may experience interference, latency, and/or other performance issues. For example, an AP may not know everything other APs and STAs may be doing. Thus, it may be desirable to define green light zone Wi-Fi operation in the 6-7GHz band or another frequency band, enabling time synchronized scheduling access modes for multiple APs in the 6-7GHz band or other existing frequency bands of the future Wi-Fi generation (e.g., 2.4GHz, 5 GHz).

The IEEE802.11 family of wireless communication standards defines a number of wireless communication parameters and protocols. However, latency and reliability performance guarantees may be improved in some IEEE802.11 embodiments. For example, the IEEE802.11ac standard may improve peak user throughput, and the IEEE802.11 ax standard may improve efficiency, but the additional ability to control user latency may allow for other improvements. For example, time synchronization/scheduling operations may improve control over latency and reliability, which may be useful in supporting emerging time-sensitive operations such as smart factories, professional audio/video, and mobile virtual reality.

Example embodiments of the present disclosure relate to systems, methods, and devices for enhanced time-sensitive network coordination for wireless communications.

In one or more embodiments, network architecture and protocols may enable coordination of time-sensitive control and data channels among multiple Access Points (APs).

In one or more embodiments, the network architecture may include a central entity, such as a wireless TSN controller (e.g., controller), responsible for configuring and scheduling time-sensitive control and data operations among multiple APs. A Wireless TSN (WTSN) management protocol may be defined for coordination between multiple APs (e.g., WTSN management clients) and controllers to enable admission control, joint scheduling, and network measurements.

In one or more embodiments, multiple APs may synchronize and align control and data transmissions to allow deterministic latency with high reliability for time sensitive applications on a shared time sensitive data channel, while also allowing coexistence with non-time sensitive traffic that may be in the same network. Time sensitive applications may take precedence over non-time sensitive applications, meaning that the transmission schedule may need to be updated to accommodate time sensitive requirements.

In one or more embodiments, enhanced time-sensitive network coordination may be employed for new frequency bands (e.g., 6-7 GHz) in the future Wi-Fi standards, where additional requirements for time synchronization and scheduling operations may be introduced. Enhanced time-sensitive network coordination may be used in managed Wi-Fi deployments (e.g., enterprise, industrial, managed home networks, etc.), where time-sensitive traffic may be directed to dedicated channels in existing as well as new frequency bands.

In one or more embodiments, it may be assumed that Wi-Fi networks may be managed and that there are no nearby Wi-Fi STAs/networks that are not managed.

In one or more embodiments, it may be assumed that the AP and STA may synchronize their clocks to a master reference time (e.g., the STA may synchronize to a beacon and/or may use a time synchronization protocol defined in the IEEE 802.1AS standard).

In one or more embodiments, it may be assumed that the AP and STA may operate according to a time-synchronized scheduling mode, which may also be applicable to a new frequency band (e.g., 6-7 GHz). For these new frequency bands, new access protocols and requirements may also apply.

In one or more embodiments, the controller may make scheduling decisions, collect measurements, and may interact with the AP through a backhaul (backhaul), which may be a Wi-Fi based wireless connection or a wired connection. Control messages from the controller may use two or more propagation "hops" to reach the STA (e.g., controller to AP, AP to STA). The APs may exchange air control information with STAs, and such exchanges may be coordinated among multiple APs to address potential interference.

In one or more embodiments, when the controller is implemented in the same hardware as the AP, communication with the STA may only require a single propagation hop to reach the STA.

In one or more embodiments, a framework may allow dual connectivity and multi-band operation, where multi-band STAs may be associated with multiple APs to achieve specific multi-band features, such as separation of data and control planes, in order to facilitate data traffic in the data plane and control traffic in the control plane (e.g., different frequency bands or sub-bands).

In one or more embodiments, an enhanced mechanism may enable direct and indirect connections between a controller and STAs to manage time-sensitive traffic scheduling over one or more frequency bands. For example, time-sensitive traffic scheduling may use one frequency band, while data traffic may use another frequency band or channel (e.g., through a connection with the nearest AP).

In one or more embodiments, an Extended Service Set (ESS) wireless controller (e.g., controller) may operate in a particular frequency band or channel associated with an AP in the ESS.

In one or more embodiments, APs in the same ESS may operate in the same frequency band or another frequency band, the same channel, or another channel, and/or each AP may have its own Basic Service Set (BSS) SERVICE SET.

In one or more embodiments, the controller may operate in a frequency band that may allow long coverage (e.g., may cover the entire area spanned by the STA). The APs may operate in frequency bands that may allow shorter coverage (e.g., small cells) and may be uniformly dispersed to enable carpet coverage for areas with a particular frequency plan.

In one or more embodiments, the STA may perform a dual connection, one with the controller BSS and one with the best serving AP.

In one or more embodiments, the STA may implement multi-band separation of data and control planes over two connections by interacting with the controller with respect to control exchanges (which may involve configuration of operations on the control plane frequency bands), and may interact with the serving AP for the data plane.

In one or more embodiments, the controller may collect measurements directly from the STA through the control interface and may provide scheduling information directly to the STA through the control interface.

In one or more embodiments, the controller may also provide scheduling information to the serving AP through the backhaul or through the control plane interface.

In one or more embodiments, the STA and the AP may apply scheduling information for data plane transmissions and the data plane may be on a frequency band connected with the serving AP.

In one or more embodiments, multi-hop transmissions may be used or replaced by direct interactions (e.g., direct controller-to-STA connections), and overall network efficiency may be improved.

The above description is intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive. Many other examples, configurations, processes, etc. may exist, some of which are described in detail below. Example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example network environment in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure. The wireless network 100 may include one or more user devices 120 and one or more Access Points (APs) 102 that may communicate in accordance with and in compliance with various communication standards and protocols, such as Wi-Fi, TSN, wireless USB, P2P, bluetooth, NFC, or any other communication standard. User device(s) 120 may be a non-stationary (e.g., mobile device without a stationary location) or may be a stationary device.

In some embodiments, user device 120 and AP 102 (e.g., which may include AP 104 and AP 106) may include one or more computer systems similar to the functional diagram of fig. 7 and/or the example machine/system of fig. 8.

One or more illustrative user devices 120 and/or APs 102 may be operated by one or more users 108. It should be noted that any addressable unit may be a Station (STA). STAs may exhibit a number of different characteristics, each of which shapes their function. For example, a single addressable unit may be a portable STA, a quality-of-service (QoS) STA, a dependent STA, and a hidden STA at the same time. One or more of the illustrative user devices 120 and the AP 102 may be STAs. One or more of the illustrative user devices 120 and/or APs 102 may operate as personal basic service set SERVICE SET (PBSS) control point/access point (PCP/AP). User device(s) 120 (e.g., 124, 126, or 128) and/or AP 102 may include any suitable processor-driven device, including but not limited to mobile devices or non-mobile (e.g., static) devices. For example, user device(s) 120 and/or AP 102 may include: user Equipment (UE), station (STA), access Point (AP), software enabled AP (SoftAP), personal computer (personal computer, PC), wearable wireless device (e.g., bracelets, watches, glasses, rings, etc.), desktop computer, mobile computer, laptop computer, ultrabook ^tm computer, Notebook computers, tablet computers, server computers, handheld devices, internet of things (internet of things, ioT) devices, sensor devices, robotic devices, actuators, robotic arms, industrial robotic devices, programmable logic controllers (programmable logic controller, PLCs), security controllers and monitoring devices, PDA devices, handheld PDA devices, onboard devices, off-board devices, hybrid devices (e.g., combining cellular phone functionality with PDA device functionality), consumer devices, in-vehicle devices, off-vehicle devices, mobile or portable devices, non-mobile or portable devices, mobile phones, cellular phones, PCS devices, PDA devices including wireless communication devices, mobile or portable GPS devices, DVB devices, relatively small computing devices, non-desktop computers, "light-load-on-array living" (CARRY SMALL LIVE LARGE, CSLL) devices, ultra mobile devices (ultra mobile device, UMD), ultra Mobile PCS (UMPC), mobile internet devices (mobile INTERNET DEVICE, MID), "origami" devices or computing devices, devices supporting dynamic composable computing (DYNAMICALLY COMPOSABLE COMPUTING, DCC), context aware devices, video devices, audio devices, a/V devices, set-top-boxes (STBs), blu-ray disc (BD) players, BD recorders, digital video disc (digital video disc, DVD) players, high definition (high definition, HD) DVD player, DVD recorder, HD DVD recorder, personal video recorder (personal video recorder, PVR), broadcast HD receiver, video source, audio source, video sink (sink), audio sink, stereo tuner, broadcast radio receiver, flat panel display, personal media player (personal video recorder, PMP), digital video camera (digital video camera, DVC), digital audio player, speaker, audio receiver, Audio amplifiers, gaming devices, data sources, data sinks, digital still cameras (DIGITAL STILL CAMERA, DSC), media players, smart phones, televisions, music players, etc. other devices, including smart devices such as lights, climate controls, vehicle components, home components, appliances, and the like, may also be included in this list.

Any of the user device(s) 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128, 130, and 132) and AP 102 may be configured to communicate with each other wirelessly or by wire via one or more communication networks 135 and/or 140. User device(s) 120 may also communicate peer-to-peer with each other or directly with or without AP 102. Any of communication networks 135 and/or 140 may include, but is not limited to, any of a combination of different types of suitable communication networks, such as a broadcast network, a cable network, a public network (e.g., the internet), a private network, a wireless network, a cellular network, or any other suitable private and/or public network. In addition, any of communication networks 135 and/or 140 may have any suitable communication range associated therewith and may include, for example, a global network (e.g., the Internet), a metropolitan area network (metropolitan area network, MAN), a wide area network (wide area network, WAN), a local area network (local area network, LAN), or a personal area network (personal area network, PAN). Further, any of communication networks 135 and/or 140 may include any type of medium upon which network traffic may be carried, including, but not limited to, coaxial cable, twisted pair, fiber optics, hybrid fiber-optic coaxial (hybrid fiber coaxial, HFC) medium, microwave terrestrial transceiver, radio frequency communication medium, white space communication medium, ultra-high frequency communication medium, satellite communication medium, or any combination of these.

Any of user device(s) 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128, 130, and 132) and AP 102 may include one or more communication antennas. The one or more communication antennas may be any suitable type of antennas corresponding to the communication protocols used by user device(s) 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128, 130, and 132) and AP 102. Some non-limiting examples of suitable communication antennas include Wi-Fi antennas, institute of electrical and electronics engineers (IEEE 802.11) standards family compatible antennas, directional antennas, non-directional antennas, dipole antennas, folded dipole antennas, patch antennas, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antennas, omni-directional antennas, quasi-omni-directional antennas, and so forth. One or more communication antennas may be communicatively coupled to the radio to transmit and/or receive signals, e.g., to and/or from user device 120 and/or AP 102.

Any of the user device(s) 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128, 130, and 132) and AP 102 may be configured to perform directional transmission and/or directional reception in connection with wireless communication in a wireless network. Any of user device(s) 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128, 130, and 132) and AP 102 may be configured to perform such directional transmission and/or reception using a set of multiple antenna arrays (e.g., DMG antenna arrays, etc.). Each of the plurality of antenna arrays may be used for transmission and/or reception in a particular respective direction or range of directions. Any of user device(s) 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128, 130, and 132) and AP 102 may be configured to perform any given directional transmission toward one or more defined transmission sectors. Any of user device(s) 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128, 130, and 132) and AP 102 may be configured to perform any given directional reception from one or more defined reception sectors.

MIMO beamforming in a wireless network may be implemented using RF beamforming and/or digital beamforming. In some embodiments, in performing a given MIMO transmission, user device 120 and/or AP 102 may be configured to perform MIMO beamforming using all or a subset of its one or more communication antennas.

Any of the user devices 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128, 130, and 132) and the AP102 may include any suitable radio and/or transceiver to transmit and/or receive Radio Frequency (RF) signals in bandwidths and/or channels corresponding to communication protocols used by any of the user device(s) 120 and the AP102 to communicate with each other. The radio component may include hardware and/or software for modulating and/or demodulating the communication signal according to a pre-established transmission protocol. The radio may also have hardware and/or software instructions for communicating via one or more communication standards and protocols (e.g., wi-Fi, TSN, wireless USB, wi-Fi P2P, bluetooth, NFC, or any other communication standard). In certain example embodiments, the radio component in cooperation with the communication antenna may be configured to communicate via a 2.4GHz channel (e.g., 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11 ax), a 5GHz channel (e.g., 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11 ax), or a 60GHz channel (e.g., 802.11ad, 802.11 ay). In some embodiments, non-Wi-Fi protocols may be used for communication between devices, such as bluetooth, dedicated short range communication (DEDICATED SHORT-range communication, DSRC), ultra-High Frequency (UHF) (e.g., IEEE 802.11af, IEEE 802.22), white space Frequency (e.g., white space), or other packetized radio communication. The radio component may include any known receiver and baseband suitable for communication via a communication protocol. The radio component may also include a low noise amplifier (low noise amplifier, LNA), additional signal amplifiers, analog-to-digital (a/D) converters, one or more buffers, and digital baseband.

When an AP (e.g., AP 102) establishes communication with one or more user devices 120 (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128, 130, and/or 132), by transmitting frames in either direction, AP102 may communicate in the downlink direction and user device 120 may communicate with AP102 in the uplink direction. User devices 120 may also communicate peer-to-peer with each other or directly with or without AP 102. The data frame may be preceded by one or more preambles, which may be part of one or more headers. These preambles may be used to allow a device (e.g., AP102 and/or user device 120) to detect new incoming data frames from another device. The preamble may be a signal used in network communications to synchronize transmission timing between two or more devices (e.g., between an AP and a user device).

In one or more embodiments, referring to fig. 1, the ap 102 may communicate with the user device 120. User device 120 may include one or more wireless devices (e.g., user devices 124, 128, 130) and one or more wireless TSN devices (e.g., user devices 126 and 132). The user device may access the channel according to medium access control (medium access control, MAC) protocol rules or any other access rules (e.g., wi-Fi, bluetooth, NFC, etc.). It should be noted that reserving dedicated TSN channels and controlling access thereto may also be applicable to cellular/3 GPP systems, such as LTE, 5G or any other wireless network. Wireless TSN devices may also access channels according to the same or modified protocol rules. However, AP 102 may dedicate certain channels or sub-channels to TSN applications that may be needed by one or more wireless TSN devices (e.g., user devices 126 and 132) and may allocate other channels or sub-channels to non-TSN devices (e.g., user devices 124, 128, and 130).

In one or more embodiments, AP 102 may also define one or more access rules associated with the dedicated channel. Channels may be dedicated to TSN transmissions, TSN applications, and TSN devices. For example, user device 126 may access a dedicated TSN channel for TSN transmission. TSN transmissions may include transmissions with very low transmission latency and high availability requirements. Additionally, the TSN transmission may include synchronized TSN data streams between sensors, actuators, controllers, robots in a closed loop control system. TSN transmission requires reliable and deterministic communication. The channel may be accessed by the user equipment 126 for several TSN message streams and is not limited to only one TSN message stream. The TSN message flow may depend on the type of application message being transmitted between the AP 102 and the user device 126.

In one or more embodiments, the efficiency and feasibility of reserving multiple non-overlapping data channels for time-sensitive applications may be improved while frequency planning and channel management may be used to allow neighboring APs (e.g., AP 104 and AP 106) to operate in different channels. It may be desirable to limit the amount of resources reserved for time sensitive data by efficient channel re-use. If multiple APs (e.g., AP 104 and AP 106) share a dedicated channel for time-sensitive data transmission, interference between the multiple transmissions may be reduced through enhanced coordination between the APs. For example, overlapping and interference of control transmissions (e.g., beacons), downlink data transmissions, and uplink data transmissions may be reduced by enhanced coordination. This enhanced coordination for multiple APs may enable more efficient channel usage while also meeting latency and reliability requirements for time sensitive applications. For example, if the control transmission is not properly received and interpreted, time sensitive operations may not be properly scheduled and/or other transmissions may be interfered with, possibly causing operational errors.

In one or more embodiments, the controller 110 (e.g., a wireless TSN controller) may facilitate enhanced coordination among multiple APs (e.g., AP 104 and AP 106). The controller 110 may be a central entity or another AP and may be responsible for configuring and scheduling time-sensitive control and data operations among the APs. A Wireless TSN (WTSN) management protocol may be used to facilitate enhanced coordination between APs, which may be referred to in this context as WTSN management clients. The controller 110 may enable device admission control (e.g., control directed to admission devices to join WTSN), joint scheduling, network measurements, and other operations. The AP may be configured to follow WTSN protocols.

In one or more embodiments, the use of controller 110 may facilitate AP synchronization and alignment for control and data transmissions to ensure latency for time sensitive sensing on a shared time sensitive data channel with high reliability while enabling coexistence with non-time sensitive traffic in the same network.

In one or more embodiments, the controller 110 and its coordination may be employed in future Wi-Fi standards for new frequency bands (e.g., 6-7 GHz), where additional requirements for time synchronization and scheduling operations may be used. Such an application of the controller 110 may be used in a managed Wi-Fi deployment (e.g., enterprise, industry, managed home network, etc.), where time-sensitive traffic may be directed to dedicated channels in existing frequency bands as well as new frequency bands.

In one or more embodiments, the controller 110 may include WTSN management clients 112 and switches 114.WTSN the administration client 112 may facilitate execution of the WTSN protocol. Switch 114 may allow different signals to be transmitted between the AP and the STA (e.g., the motion controller and the virtual reality server may both send signals to STAs associated with different APs, and switch 114 may allow control of such communications).

In one or more embodiments, it may be assumed that the AP and STA may operate according to a time-synchronized scheduling mode, which may also be applicable to a new frequency band (e.g., 6-7 GHz). For this new frequency band, new access protocols and requirements may also be proposed.

In one or more embodiments, the WTSN domain may be defined as a set of APs (e.g., AP 104 and AP 106) and STAs (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128, 130, and 132) that may share dedicated radio resources and thus may need to operate in close coordination at the level of control and time sensitive data scheduling to ensure latency and reliability guarantees. Different APs in the same network may form different WTSN domains (e.g., AP 104 may form a first WTSN domain and AP 106 may form a second WTSN domain).

In one or more embodiments, the AP 104 and the AP 106 may communicate with the controller 110 via WTSN management protocols. The WTSN management protocol may be performed over a wired (e.g., ethernet) TSN infrastructure that may provide TSN level time synchronization accuracy and latency guarantees. The WTSN management protocol may also be performed using a wireless link (e.g., a wireless backhaul, which may include Wi-Fi or WiGig links over one or more hops). The ethernet TSN interface may be replaced by a wireless interface (e.g., an 802.11MAC and/or physical layer PHY). The operation of the second wireless interface may also be managed by the controller 110 to avoid interfering with the interface used to communicate with time sensitive user STAs (e.g., user devices 126 and 132). The use of the controller 110 may reduce the workload of the AP by facilitating coordination with other devices, which may be more resource intensive and time consuming if done by the AP itself.

In one or more embodiments, the controller 110 may perform admission control and scheduling tasks. To complete the association process for STAs (e.g., user equipment 132) having time-sensitive data flows, an AP (e.g., AP 104) may request admission from the controller 110. For example, the AP 104 may forward an admission control request frame for each STA to the controller 110, or the AP 104 may combine admission requests from multiple STAs into one or more admission requests to send to the controller 110. The controller 110 may define which APs may be in the WTSN domain and may determine the admission of new time-sensitive data streams based on, for example, available resources and user requirements. Controller 110 may create and/or update a transmission schedule that may include time sensitive operations and/or non-time sensitive operations and that may be provided to the requesting AP. The AP may be responsible for performing scheduling according to a time sensitive protocol defined, for example, at the 802.11MAC/PHY layer.

In one or more embodiments, the controller 110 may perform transmission schedule updates. The controller 110 may update the transmission schedule for the time sensitive data and may send the transmission schedule to the AP and/or STA during network operation. The transmission schedule update may be triggered by a change in wireless channel conditions at different APs and/or STAs within the common WTSN domain. The condition changes may include increased interference, new user traffic requests, and other network and/or operational changes that may affect the WTSN domain.

In one or more embodiments, the controller 110 may collect measurement data from other devices in the WTSN domain. The measurement data may be collected from time sensitive and/or non-time sensitive devices. The controller 110 may maintain detailed network statistics, such as network statistics related to latency, packet error rate, retransmissions, channel access delay, etc. Network statistics may be collected via measurement reports sent from APs and/or STAs. The controller 110 may use network statistics to proactively manage wireless channel usage to allow target latency requirements to be met. For example, the measurements may be used to determine potential channel congestion and trigger a change from a joint transmission scheduling mode to the following mode: in this mode, the AP may allocate the same time slot to multiple non-interfering STAs that may be utilizing spatial reuse capabilities.

In one or more embodiments, one or more of the APs 102 may act as relay nodes for data frames transmitted from a source device (e.g., controller 110) to a destination device (e.g., user devices 124, 126, 128, 130, 132). For example, the AP 102 may be a relay device configured to transmit a TSN synchronization data stream from a wireless communication device to a PLC to perform one or more operations in an industrial setting.

It is to be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive.

Fig. 2 depicts an illustrative transmission schedule 200 for a plurality of APs in a wireless TSN domain in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

In one or more embodiments, one or more APs 202 (e.g., AP 204 and AP 206) can be associated with one or more user devices 210 (e.g., user device 212 and user device 214). AP 202 may communicate with user device 120 during a beacon interval 216 (e.g., a beacon period), which beacon interval 216 may be a time period (e.g., 110x period time). Beacon interval 216 may be divided into slots 218 (e.g., slot 228, slot 230, slot 232, slot 234, slot 236) during which beacon, uplink, and downlink transmissions may occur. Some of the slots 218 may not be allocated for transmission.

In one or more embodiments, the transmission schedule 200 may be a joint time-sensitive schedule defined by a controller (e.g., the controller 110 of fig. 1) for the WTSN domains. To avoid interference and improve the efficiency of control frame transmissions, the controller may configure the AP 202 to schedule beacon transmissions within the same period (e.g., beacon interval 216) with different transmission offsets.

In one or more embodiments, time sensitive data transmissions may be scheduled in non-overlapping time slots 218 to avoid interference.

In one or more embodiments, time sensitive data transmissions may share one or more time slots, but may be separated in the frequency and/or code domain.

In one or more embodiments, detailed interference information between STAs may not be necessary to establish joint (e.g., interference-free) scheduling, but such information may be useful to enhance overall network capacity.

In one or more embodiments, a first beacon 220 may be transmitted from one of the APs 202 (e.g., AP 204) during a time slot 218 of the beacon interval 216. During the same time slot 218 in which the first beacon 220 was transmitted in the beacon interval 216, the second beacon 222 may be transmitted from one of the APs 202 (e.g., AP 206). However, the first beacon 220 may be transmitted after a first transmission offset 224, the first transmission offset 224 beginning at the beginning of the time slot 218 in which the first beacon 220 is transmitted, and the second beacon 222 may be transmitted after a second transmission offset 226, the second transmission offset 226 may begin at the beginning of the time slot 218 in which the second beacon 222 is transmitted, but the second transmission offset 226 may span beyond the first beacon 220 such that there is a time buffer between the first beacon 220 and the second beacon 222.

In one or more embodiments, the one or more transmissions may be uplink or downlink transmissions and may include data frames. Transmissions may be allocated for time sensitive devices (e.g., user device 214) and/or non-time sensitive devices (e.g., user device 212). Any combination of scheduled transmissions may be associated with any of the APs 202. For example, any combination of slots 218 (e.g., slots 228, 230, 232, 234, 236) may be allocated for uplink or downlink transmissions to/from time sensitive and/or non-time sensitive devices.

Fig. 3 depicts an illustrative distributed time-sensitive coordination architecture 300 in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

In one or more embodiments, the network may include one or more controllers 302 (e.g., controller 304, controller 306), which may form a hierarchical management structure. The lowest level controller (e.g., controller 304) may be responsible for coordination within the first WTSN domain 308, and the next level WTSN controller (e.g., controller 306) may be responsible for coordination of multiple WTSN domains (e.g., the first WTSN domain 308, the second WTSN domain 310). When APs have their respective controllers, these controllers may exchange scheduling and/or other control information with each other.

In one or more embodiments, the level and/or granularity of coordination between WTSN domains (e.g., first WTSN domain 308, second WTSN domain 310) may decrease as layers increase. The controllers (e.g., controller 304, controller 306) may communicate according to WTSN management layers, and the controllers may be connected via wired or wireless links. Such a hierarchical management architecture may be useful in a large Wi-Fi deployment scenario (e.g., enterprise, industrial space, etc.), and may be used to manage operations on multiple unlicensed frequencies.

However, in one or more embodiments, implementing a centrally located coordination architecture may not be feasible, but may still be desirable to enable enhanced control of latency for time sensitive applications (e.g., wireless virtual reality, wireless audio, and other applications). In such a scenario, coordination may be achieved through a distributed time-sensitive coordination architecture 300 that may use a coordination protocol.

In one or more embodiments, the coordination protocol may include neighbor AP time sensitive operation discovery. The APs (e.g., AP 312, AP 314) may include information in their respective beacons (e.g., first beacon 220 and second beacon 222 of fig. 2) that may indicate whether the AP supports TSN mode. The TSN element may be included in a beacon and/or other control frame to provide an indication that the AP may support TSN mode. By scanning for beacons from other devices, the AP may discover neighboring APs that may operate in TSN mode. The TSN mode information may include dedicated channels for time sensitive data, time synchronization, and scheduling (e.g., reserved slot bitmap). Depending on the network deployment, the AP may not be in range of all other neighboring APs. In this case, STAs (e.g., STA316, STA 318, STA 320, STA 322) may be utilized to support discovery by other devices. One or more STAs may relay TSN mode information to a neighboring AP (e.g., STA 318 may notify AP 314 of the TSN operation associated with AP 312). Communication of TSN mode information may be scheduled by an AP without interfering with, for example, time sensitive data transmissions.

In one or more embodiments, the coordination protocol may include time-sensitive scheduling adaptations. If no other TSN-capable APs are detected, the AP may begin TSN operation in the selected channel (e.g., the channel that detected the least amount of activity). If another TSN-capable AP is detected in the same area (e.g., directly or through a relay STA), the TSN-capable AP may need to ensure that it is synchronized with an existing AP (e.g., the AP may be synchronized with a master AP on multiple hops) and may identify a clean, non-overlapping channel in which to use to initiate TSN operations. If no other channels are available, the AP may define a joint transmission schedule to coexist with control transmissions (e.g., beacons) and time-sensitive data transmissions of another AP. Once the AP has defined a joint time-sensitive transmission schedule or has updated an existing transmission schedule, the AP may broadcast scheduling information within one or more beacons to enable the transmission schedule to be implemented between other neighboring APs. The transmission schedule may be valid after a predetermined future time to allow the schedule to be propagated and the device configured to implement the schedule. Because time sensitive applications may have known traffic patterns, these traffic patterns may facilitate scheduling updates. For example, the scheduling update may be performed when the TSN application has no data to send.

In one or more embodiments, the coordination protocol may include distributed time-sensitive negotiations. The neighboring AP may implement WTSN a management layer (e.g., WTSN management client 112 of fig. 1) on top of the MAC/PHY stack of the AP to enable time synchronization and explicit negotiations between the APs to allow fair utilization of dedicated time-sensitive channels. For example, a token-based protocol may be used to determine the proportion of resources (e.g., channel time) that each AP may be allowed to reserve resources. The amount of resources to be reserved may be defined based on the number of time-sensitive flows managed by each AP. The token redistribution algorithm may be used to adapt several available tokens for each AP to achieve a fair distribution of resources once a new time-sensitive flow is admitted by a neighboring AP.

In one or more embodiments, in distributed time-sensitive coordination architecture 300, WTSN management protocols may include a cluster formation protocol, where an AP may take the role of a "cluster leader (clusterhead)", e.g., initializing the first AP of a cluster, and other APs may join the cluster or create other clusters. The decision to join a cluster or create a new cluster may be implementation dependent. In addition, the size of the clusters may be limited to ensure enhanced performance. The cluster leader may be responsible for scheduling and coordinating transmissions within the cluster. Cluster leaders from neighboring clusters may coordinate on behalf of cluster members according to a management protocol (e.g., as shown in fig. 4B).

Fig. 4A depicts an illustrative timing diagram of a scheduled data flow 400 in an enhanced TSN in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

In one or more embodiments, the AP 402 may be in communication with a controller 404. The AP 402 may include WTSN a management client (e.g., WTSN management client 112 of fig. 1), and the controller 404 may be a WTSN controller (e.g., controller 110 of fig. 1).

In one or more embodiments, the AP 402 may send an admission request 406 to the controller 404. Admission request 406 may include an admission request (e.g., STA admission request) for a STA associated with the AP. The STA may be a time sensitive device or a non-time sensitive device.

In one or more embodiments, the controller 404 may send an admission response 408 to the AP 402. The admission response 408 may include a transmission Schedule, which may include a time-sensitive transmission Schedule (e.g., ts_sp_schedule).

In one or more embodiments, the controller 404 may send a transmission schedule update 410 to the AP 402. The transmission schedule update may include one or more additional scheduled transmission slots or changes to an existing transmission schedule. The AP 402 may send an acknowledgement 412 to the controller 404 to acknowledge receipt of the transmission scheduling update 410.

In one or more embodiments, the AP 402 may send a measurement report 414 to the controller 404. The measurement report 414 may include measurements regarding time sensitive devices associated with the AP 402.

Fig. 4B depicts an illustrative timing diagram of a management frame stream 450 in an enhanced TSN in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

In one or more embodiments, AP 452 may communicate with AP 454. These communications may include management frame exchanges. For example, the AP 452 and the AP 454 may exchange TSN information through beacons.

In one or more embodiments, the AP 452 may send a first TSN information element 456 to the AP 454 indicating the TSN capabilities of the AP 452. The AP 454 may send a second TSN information element 458 indicating the TSN capabilities of the AP 454.

In one or more embodiments, the AP 454 may initiate negotiation of the time-sensitive data Schedule by sending a transmission Schedule Update Request 460 (e.g., ts_sp_schedule_update_request) to the AP 452, which transmission Schedule Update Request 460 may include a number of resources requested based on a number of TS tokens available at the AP 454. The AP 452 may respond by sending a proposed new Schedule to the AP 454, such as a Schedule Update Response 462 (e.g., ts_sp_schedule_update_response). Once the AP 454 has received the schedule update response 462, the AP 454 may send a schedule acknowledgement 464 to the AP 452 to confirm receipt of the schedule update response 462.

Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating an enhanced time-sensitive network environment 500 in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

In one or more embodiments, the AP 502 and the AP 504 may exist in one or more WTSN domains. AP 502 may communicate with STA 506 and STA 508, while AP 504 may communicate with STA510 and STA 512. The controller 514 may operate within one of the APs in the ESS or each of the APs (e.g., AP 502, AP 504) in a particular frequency band/channel, or may operate outside the APs.

In one or more embodiments, APs in the same ESS (e.g., AP 502, AP 504) may operate in the same frequency band or in another frequency band, in the same channel, or in another channel, and each may have their own BSS. The controller 514 may operate in a frequency band that allows long coverage (e.g., covers the entire area where the STA is located). The APs 502 and 504 may operate in frequency bands that allow for shorter coverage (e.g., small cells) and may be uniformly dispersed to allow for carpet coverage for areas with a particular frequency plan.

In one or more embodiments, STAs (e.g., STA 506, STA 508, STA510, STA 512) may use dual connectivity, one with the BSS of controller 514 and the other with the best serving AP (e.g., AP 502, AP 504). For example, STA 508 may be a time-sensitive device that communicates directly with controller 514 via channel 516, which channel 516 may be wireless or wired. STA 506 may be a non-time sensitive device or legacy device (e.g., a device that does not have multi-band capability to communicate with controller) that may communicate indirectly with controller 514 via AP 502, and AP 502 may communicate with controller 514 via channel 518, which channel 518 may be wireless or wired. STA510 may be a non-time sensitive device that communicates indirectly with controller 514 via AP 504, and AP 504 may communicate with controller 514 via channel 520, which channel 520 may be wireless or wired. STA 512 may be a time-sensitive device that communicates directly with controller 514 via channel 522, which channel 522 may be wireless or wired.

It may be desirable to avoid multiple propagation hops between the controller and the STA in the WTSN domain. It may also be desirable for APs to independently exchange over-the-air control information with STAs, but coordination between APs may be useful because these independent exchanges may cause interference.

In one or more embodiments, a dual connectivity framework may be used for communication between devices in the WTSN domains. For example, in multi-band operation, a multi-band STA may be associated with multiple APs and may implement multi-band features with separate data and control planes. Data traffic may occur on the data plane and control traffic may occur on the control plane.

In one or more embodiments, non-time sensitive devices (e.g., STA 506) may communicate with controller 514. Even if the device does not have time sensitive requirements, it may be desirable to enable communication with the controller 514.

In one or more embodiments, STAs (e.g., STA 506, STA 508, STA510, STA 512) may implement multi-band separation of the data plane and the control plane over two connections of the dual connection by interacting with controller 514 for control exchanges that may involve configuring operations on the control plane. In addition, STAs may interact with APs (e.g., AP502, AP 504) for data transmissions on the data plane. For example, channels 516, 518, 520, and/or 522 may each include two planes in one or more frequency bands, one for data transmission and one for control transmission. In addition, channel 516, channel 518, channel 520, and channel 522 may act as control channels for control transmissions in one or more frequency bands, while channel 524, channel 526, channel 528, and channel 530 may act as data channels for data transmissions.

In one or more embodiments, channel 516 and channel 518 may be implemented in a single logical/physical control channel that may be shared by all STAs (e.g., STA 506, STA 508, STA 510, STA 512). For example, channel 516 and channel 518 may be implemented in a single channel within the same frequency band. In this way, the data plane and the control plane may be implemented in the same logical/physical channel facilitated by the control plane interface 501 and the data plane interface 507 of the controller 514.

In one or more embodiments, some data transmissions may be multiplexed with control information in a control channel (e.g., channel 516, channel 522).

In one or more embodiments, controller 514 may collect measurements directly from STAs (e.g., STA 506, STA 508, STA 510, STA 512) over a control plane (e.g., a control interface) and may provide scheduling information directly to the STAs over the control plane. For example, rather than sending control signals to an AP (e.g., AP 502 and/or AP 504) for delivery to a STA, the controller 514 may bypass the AP and send control signals directly to the STA, thereby eliminating propagation hops that may occur when sending control signals through the AP. The controller 514 may transmit control signals to STA 508 via channel 516 and may transmit control signals to STA 512 via channel 522.

In one or more embodiments, controller 514 may provide transmission scheduling information to AP 502 and/or AP 504 via a backhaul or via a control plane. In this manner, even though controller 514 communicates wirelessly with STAs associated with AP 502 and/or AP 504 (e.g., via channel 516 and/or channel 522), controller 514 may use a wireless connection with AP 502 and/or AP 504, or may use a wired backhaul (e.g., channel 518 and/or channel 520 may be a wired backhaul or a wireless connection).

In one or more embodiments, STAs (e.g., STA 506, STA 508, STA510, STA 512) and APs (e.g., AP 502 and/or AP 504) may apply the scheduling information provided by controller 514 for data plane transmissions. The data plane may be on a frequency band connected to the AP.

In one or more embodiments, the controller 514 may include a control plane interface 501 that may have a large coverage area (e.g., 2.4GHz, 900MHz, or other frequency bands that may be more advantageous for longer range communications). Control plane interface 501 may be used to facilitate the exchange of control information between controller 514 and STAs (e.g., STA 506, STA 508, STA 510, STA 512) in the ESS. For example, control frames may be transmitted over channel 516 and/or channel 522, which may include one or more control planes. For example, STA 508 may have a control plane interface 503 to facilitate communication of control frames over the control plane of channel 516. STA 512 may have a control plane interface 505 to facilitate communication of control frames over the control plane of channel 522.

Communication between the controller 514 and the AP 502 and/or the AP 504 in the ESS may take place using a backhaul (e.g., the channel 518 and/or the channel 520 may comprise ethernet, ethernet TSN, coaxial cable based multimedia, etc.), and/or a control plane may be used to facilitate communication between the controller 514 and the AP 502 and/or the AP 504 (e.g., the channel 518 and/or the channel 520 may comprise a control plane). The control information sent over the control plane may include network discovery, synchronization, device association/authentication, admission control, scheduling information, and other control data. The AP 502 may have a control plane interface 509 to facilitate communication of control frames. The AP 504 may have a control plane interface 511 to facilitate communication of control frames.

In one or more embodiments, the controller 514 may have a data plane interface 507, which data plane interface 507 may be used for data plane communications with other APs over a backhaul. The data plane interface 507 may operate in one or more frequency bands. For example, channel 518 and/or channel 520 may be part of a backhaul through which controller 514 may communicate with AP 502 and/or AP 504 via a data plane. AP 502 may have a data plane interface 517 to facilitate communication of data frames with STAs 508 over a channel 524, which channel 524 may include a data plane. STA 508 may include a data plane interface 513 to facilitate data communications. The AP 504 may have a data plane interface 519 to facilitate communication of data frames with the STAs 512 over a channel 528, which channel 528 may include a data plane. STA 512 may include a data plane interface 515 to facilitate data communications. AP 502 may transmit data and/or control frames to STA 506 via channel 526, which channel 526 may include data and/or control planes. AP 504 may transmit data and/or control frames to STA 510 via channel 530, which channel 530 may include a data and/or control plane.

In one or more embodiments, the control plane interface may be used to collect measurements from STAs and manage interference and coordination of data channel allocation/planning among multiple APs. For example, the controller 514 may use the control plane interface 501 (e.g., including channel 516 and/or channel 522) to transmit control frames to STAs. The control frames may allow coordination on AP 502 and/or AP 504 to mitigate interference and facilitate data transmission.

In one or more embodiments, a STA may have two communication interfaces, one dedicated to the control plane and one dedicated to the data plane communications. For example, channel 516 and/or channel 522 may be included in a control plane and channel 518 and/or channel 520 may be included in a data plane.

In one or more embodiments, the STA may have only one configurable interface that may be used for both control and data communications. For example, control plane interface 503 and data plane interface 513 of STA 508 may be a single interface capable of communicating over the control plane and data plane in separate channels or with the control plane and data plane over a common channel.

In one or more embodiments, the controller 514 may schedule all control and feedback (e.g., reporting) information exchanges in the control channel in a periodic or deterministic pattern.

In one or more embodiments, the controller 514 can perform a central scheduler for all data plane communications in each data channel (e.g., channel 524, channel 526, channel 528, and/or channel 530). The schedule may be communicated to each AP (e.g., AP 502 and AP 504). The AP may perform scheduling locally (e.g., by enabling trigger-based multi-user transmissions). The controller 514 may coordinate all control and data transmissions to avoid collisions and interference.

In one or more embodiments, the wired backhaul may be replaced by a wireless backhaul. For example, channel 518 and/or channel 520 may be wireless connections. Control information may be exchanged over a control plane interface and particular AP-related control information may be exchanged over a wireless backhaul that may include channel 518 and/or channel 520.

In one or more embodiments, a dedicated control beacon (not shown) may be transmitted by the controller 514. The dedicated control beacon may be a modified beacon (e.g., modified according to another beacon defined in the IEEE 802.11 family of standards) and may include an information element advertising availability of the dedicated BSS and a corresponding channel for exchange of control information.

In one or more embodiments, the dedicated control beacon may include a control Basic Service Set Identifier (BSSID) field, a control information pattern, and a control channel medium access configuration. The control BSSID field may indicate that control BSS capabilities are supported. The control information pattern may indicate which communication pattern may be used for the exchange of control information. The control information modes may include a broadcast mode, a request mode, and/or a schedule mode. Multiple communication modes may be used simultaneously, depending on the configuration of the controller 514. The broadcast mode may include periodic advertisements (e.g., the controller 514 periodically broadcasts control information). In the request mode, the STA may request control information updates on dedicated control channels (e.g., channel 516 and/or channel 522). In the scheduling mode, the controller 514 may provide scheduling of dedicated control information for a single STA (e.g., unicast transmission) or for a group of STAs (e.g., multicast transmission).

In one or more embodiments, the control channel medium access configuration may include parameters for configuring the controller 514 or a controller in another AP (e.g., AP 502 or AP 504) and how STAs may access the control channels (e.g., channel 516 and/or channel 522). For example, contention-based enhanced distributed channel access (enhanced distributed CHANNEL ACCESS, EDCA) parameters and associated parameters for the control channel may be included. In addition, scheduling or trigger-based access (e.g., time-division or orthogonal frequency/code division multiple access-based) parameters may be included.

In one or more embodiments, the private BSS control channel beacon may be transmitted from the controller 514 to the AP 502 and/or the AP 504, or by a controller implemented by the AP 502 or the AP 504. The BSS control information element may be included in a conventional beacon frame (e.g., the first beacon 220 or the second beacon 222 of fig. 2) transmitted from an AP lacking the controller function. Conventional beacon frames may be transmitted within the ESS to announce the availability of dedicated control channels.

In one or more embodiments, a control channel association procedure may be implemented. The STA may perform a legacy association procedure through a conventional AP and may discover the dedicated control BSS through passive scanning on the control channel or as part of the association procedure. For example, STA 506, STA 508, STA 510, and/or STA 512 may use legacy association procedures to establish association with AP 502 and/or AP 504.

In one or more embodiments, the STA may include a capability information element to indicate the capability to use the dedicated BSS control channel as part of the association procedure. STA capabilities (e.g., capability information elements) may be forwarded by an associated AP (e.g., AP 502 or AP 504) to controller 514 via a backhaul (e.g., via channel 518 and/or channel 520).

In one or more embodiments, the simplified control BSS association request may be sent by the STA in a control channel to indicate the ability of the STA to use the control channel to receive information directly from the controller 514 (e.g., the STA 508 may send a control BSS association request to the controller 514 via channel 516). The association procedure may include an association request to the controller 514 followed by an association response from the controller 514 and may include other configuration parameters to enable particular control channel operations (e.g., transmission scheduling). The simplified association procedure using the control channel may take advantage of the security features already configured in the conventional association procedure, avoiding the need for a significant amount of additional security overhead.

In one or more embodiments, other frame types may be modified for exchanges in the control channel, including admission control frames, measurement request/response frames, scheduling/trigger frames, and other types of frames.

In one or more embodiments, enhanced time-sensitive network coordination may be implemented in next generation standards, such as another version of IEEE802.11ax, and enhancements to IEEE802.11ax for the 6GHz band.

Fig. 6A illustrates a flowchart of an illustrative process 600 for enhanced time-sensitive networking coordination in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

At block 602, one or more processors of a device (e.g., AP 104, AP 106 of fig. 1) may determine a transmission schedule. The transmission schedule may be received from a controller device (e.g., controller 110 of fig. 1) over a control plane interface. The controller device may be within an AP or may operate as a separate device controlling one or more APs in the ESS. The transmission schedule may include transmission times of time-sensitive and/or non-time-sensitive devices associated with the AP and one or more other APs that may be associated with the controller. The time-sensitive device's transmission time may support time-sensitive operations, while the non-time-sensitive device's transmission time may support non-time-sensitive operations. Time sensitive operations may be prioritized over non-time sensitive operations (e.g., when a time sensitive transmission is required, it may be scheduled before the non-time sensitive transmission).

At block 604, one or more processors of the device may cause the device to transmit a first data frame. The first data frame may be transmitted to the STA according to a transmission schedule and may be transmitted through a data plane interface. The control plane interface may be a separate channel/frequency band from the data plane interface or the control plane interface and the data plane interface may be within the same physical channel. The data frames may be distinguished from the control frames. For example, the control frames may include frames like beacons, trigger frames, measurement requests/reports, and other control/instruction frames that may facilitate transmission of data frames, while the data frames may include data that is viewable by a device user (e.g., data from a higher layer than the control frames). The first data frame may be a downlink transmission.

At block 606, the one or more processors of the device may identify a second data frame. The second data frame may be received over the data plane interface according to a transmission schedule. The second data frame may be an uplink transmission.

At block 608, the one or more processors of the device may cause the device to send a measurement report to the controller device over the control plane interface. The measurement report may include measurements regarding time sensitive devices associated with the AP. The measurement report may include information that may allow the controller to proactively manage wireless channel usage using network statistics to allow target latency requirements to be met.

FIG. 6B illustrates a flowchart of an illustrative process 650 for enhanced time-sensitive networking coordination in accordance with one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure.

At block 652, one or more processors of a device (e.g., controller 110 of fig. 1) may determine an admission request. The admission request may be received from a STA (e.g., user equipment 120) or an AP (e.g., AP 102) and may be received over a control plane interface.

At block 654, the one or more processors of the device may cause the device to send an admission response. An admission response may be sent to the device that sent the admission request. In one example, the admission request may be sent from the STA to an associated AP, and the AP may send the admission request to the device on behalf of the STA. In another example, the STA may send the admission request directly to the device. Similarly, the admission response may be sent to the STA via an AP that forwards the admission request, or may be sent directly to the STA.

At block 656, one or more processors of the device may determine a measurement report. The measurement report may be received over the control plane interface from the device sending the admission request. The measurement report may include measurements regarding time sensitive devices associated with the AP. The measurement report may include information that may allow the controller to proactively manage wireless channel usage using network statistics to allow target latency requirements to be met.

At block 658, the one or more processors of the device may cause the device to transmit a data frame. The data frame may be sent to the device that sent the admission request. The data frames may be sent over a data plane interface. The data plane interface may be on a different channel/frequency band than the control plane interface or may be in the same physical channel as the control plane interface.

Fig. 7 illustrates a functional diagram of an exemplary communication station 700, in accordance with some embodiments. In one embodiment, fig. 7 illustrates a functional block diagram of a communication station that may be suitable for use as AP 102 (fig. 1) or user device 120 (fig. 1) in accordance with some embodiments. The communication station 700 may also be suitable for use as a handheld device, mobile device, cellular telephone, smart phone, tablet device, netbook, wireless terminal, laptop computer, wearable computer device, femtocell, high data rate (HIGH DATA RATE, HDR) subscriber station, access point, access terminal, or other personal communication system (personal communication system, PCS) device.

Communication station 700 may comprise communication circuitry 702 and transceiver 710 for transmitting and receiving signals to and from other communication stations using one or more antennas 701. The communication circuit 702 may include circuitry such as: such circuitry may be operable for physical layer (PHY) communication and/or Medium Access Control (MAC) communication to control access to a wireless medium, and/or any other communication layer for transmitting and receiving signals. Communication station 700 may also include processing circuitry 706 and memory 708 arranged to perform the operations described herein. In some embodiments, the communication circuitry 702 and the processing circuitry 706 may be configured to perform the operations detailed in fig. 2, 3, 4A, 4B, 5, 6A, and 6B.

According to some embodiments, the communication circuitry 702 may be arranged to compete for a wireless medium and configure frames or packets to communicate over the wireless medium. The communication circuit 702 may be arranged to transmit and receive signals (it should be understood that in some embodiments signals may be transmitted and received simultaneously). The communication circuitry 702 may also include circuitry for modulation/demodulation, up/down conversion, filtering, amplification, and so forth. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 706 of the communication station 700 may include one or more processors. In other embodiments, two or more antennas 701 may be coupled to a communication circuit 702 arranged for transmitting and receiving signals. Memory 708 may store information for configuring processing circuitry 706 to perform operations for configuring and transmitting message frames and performing various operations described herein. Memory 708 may include any type of memory for storing information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer), including non-transitory memory. For example, memory 708 may include a computer-readable storage device, a read-only memory (ROM), a random-access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk storage medium, an optical storage medium, a flash memory device, and other storage devices and mediums.

In some embodiments, communication station 700 may be part of a portable wireless communication device, such as a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a laptop or portable computer with wireless communication capability, a web tablet, a wireless telephone, a smart phone, a wireless headset, a pager, an instant messaging device, a digital camera, an access point, a television, a medical device (e.g., a heart rate monitor, a blood pressure monitor, etc.), a wearable computer device, or another device that may receive and/or transmit information wirelessly.

In some embodiments, communication station 700 may include one or more antennas 701. The antenna 701 may include one or more directional or omnidirectional antennas, including, for example, dipole antennas, monopole antennas, patch antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas or other types of antennas suitable for transmission of RF signals. In some embodiments, instead of two or more antennas, a single antenna with multiple apertures may be used. In these embodiments, each aperture may be considered a separate antenna. In some multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) embodiments, the antennas may be effectively separated to obtain spatial diversity and may result in different channel characteristics between each antenna and the antennas of the transmitting station.

In some embodiments, communication station 700 may include one or more of the following: a keyboard, a display, a non-volatile memory port, multiple antennas, a graphics processor, an application processor, speakers, and other mobile device elements. The display may be an LCD screen including a touch screen.

Although communication station 700 is shown as having several separate functional elements, two or more of these functional elements may be combined and may be implemented by combinations of software-configured elements, such as processing elements including digital signal processors (DIGITAL SIGNAL processors, DSPs), and/or other hardware elements. For example, some elements may include one or more microprocessors, DSPs, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), radio-frequency integrated circuits (radio-frequency integrated circuit, RFICs), and combinations of various hardware and logic circuitry for performing at least the functions described herein. In some embodiments, the functional elements of communication station 700 may refer to one or more processes operating on one or more processing elements.

Some embodiments may be implemented in one or a combination of hardware, firmware, and software. Other embodiments may also be implemented as instructions stored on a computer-readable storage device, which may be read and executed by at least one processor to perform the operations described herein. A computer-readable storage device may include any non-transitory memory mechanism for storing information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). For example, computer readable storage media may include read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash memory devices, and other storage devices and media. In some embodiments, communication station 700 may include one or more processors and may be configured to store instructions on a computer-readable storage device memory.

Fig. 8 illustrates a block diagram of an example of a machine 800 or system on which any one or more techniques (e.g., methods) discussed herein may be performed. In other embodiments, machine 800 may operate as a standalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment, the machine 800 may operate in the capacity of a server machine, a client machine, or both, in a server-client network environment. In an example, machine 800 may act as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (P2P) (or other distributed) network environment. Machine 800 may be a Personal Computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, a wearable computing device, a web appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any machine capable of executing instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine (e.g., base station). In addition, while only a single machine is illustrated, the term "machine" shall also be taken to include any collection of machines that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, such as cloud computing, software as a service (SaaS) AS A SERVICE, or other computer cluster configuration.

Examples as described herein may include or be operable on logic or several components, modules, or mechanisms. A module is a tangible entity (e.g., hardware) capable of performing a specified operation when operated on. The modules include hardware. In an example, the hardware may be specifically configured to perform certain operations (e.g., hardwired). In another example, hardware may include configurable execution units (e.g., transistors, circuits, etc.) and computer-readable media containing instructions that configure the execution units to perform particular operations when in operation. This configuration may occur under the direction of an execution unit or loading mechanism. Thus, when the device is in operation, the execution unit is communicatively coupled to the computer-readable medium. In this example, the execution unit may be a member of more than one module. For example, in operation, the execution unit may be configured by a first set of instructions to implement a first module at one point in time and by a second set of instructions to implement a second module at a second point in time.

The machine (e.g., computer system) 800 may include a hardware processor 802 (e.g., a central processing unit (central processing unit, CPU), a graphics processing unit (graphics processing unit, GPU), a hardware processor core, or any combination of these), a main memory 804, and a static memory 806, some or all of which may communicate with each other via an interconnection link (e.g., bus) 808. The machine 800 may also include a power management device 832, a graphical display device 810, an alphanumeric input device 812 (e.g., a keyboard), and a User Interface (UI) navigation device 814 (e.g., a mouse). In an example, the graphical display device 810, the alphanumeric input device 812, and the UI navigation device 814 may be touch screen displays. The machine 800 may also include a storage device (e.g., a drive unit) 816, a signal generation device 818 (e.g., a speaker), an enhanced network management device 819, a network interface device/transceiver 820 coupled to the antenna(s) 830, and one or more sensors 828, such as a global positioning system (global positioning system, GPS) sensor, compass, accelerometer, or other sensor. Machine 800 may include an output controller 834, such as a serial (e.g., universal serial bus (universal serial bus, USB)), parallel, or other wired or wireless (e.g., infrared (IR), near Field Communication (NFC), etc.) connection to communicate with or control one or more peripheral devices (e.g., printer, card reader, etc.).

The storage device 816 may include a machine-readable medium 822 on which is stored one or more sets of data structures or instructions 824 (e.g., software) embodying or utilized by any one or more of the techniques or functions described herein. The instructions 824 may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 804, within the static memory 806, or within the hardware processor 802 during execution thereof by the machine 800. In an example, one or any combination of the hardware processor 802, the main memory 804, the static memory 806, or the storage device 816 may constitute a machine-readable medium.

The enhanced network management device 819 may implement or perform any of the operations and processes described and illustrated above (e.g., processes 600 and 650).

The enhanced network management device 819 may determine a transmission schedule received from the controller device over the control plane interface that includes a first transmission time for time-sensitive operations and a second transmission time for non-time-sensitive operations, the time-sensitive operations having a higher priority than the non-time-sensitive operations.

The enhanced network management device 819 may cause a first data frame to be sent over the data plane interface according to a transmission schedule.

The enhanced network management device 819 may identify a second data frame received through the data plane interface according to a transmission schedule.

The enhanced network management device 819 may cause a measurement report to be sent to the controller device over a control plane interface.

The enhanced network management device 819 may cause a beacon frame to be sent over the control plane interface according to a transmission schedule that indicates that the device supports time-sensitive operations, wherein a second data frame is received from the time-sensitive device over the data plane interface according to the transmission schedule.

The enhanced network management device 819 may identify a third data frame received from the controller device over the data plane interface.

The enhanced network management device 819 may cause an admission request to be sent on behalf of the time-sensitive device to the controller device.

The enhanced network management device 819 may determine an admission request received from a first device over a control plane interface.

The enhanced network management device 819 may cause an admission response to be sent to the first device over the control plane interface that includes a transmission schedule indicating a first transmission time for time-sensitive operations and a second transmission time for non-time-sensitive operations, the time-sensitive operations having a higher priority than the non-time-sensitive operations.

The enhanced network management device 819 may determine a measurement report received from the first device over the control plane interface.

The enhanced network management device 819 may cause a data frame to be sent to the first device over a data plane interface.

The enhanced network management device 819 may determine an updated transmission schedule based on the measurement report and may cause the updated transmission schedule to be sent to the first device over the control plane interface.

It is to be understood that the above are only a subset of the functions that the enhanced network management device 819 may be configured to perform, and that other functions included throughout this disclosure may also be performed by the enhanced network management device 819.

While the machine-readable medium 822 is illustrated as a single medium, the term "machine-readable medium" may include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) configured to store the one or more instructions 824.

Various embodiments may be implemented in whole or in part in software and/or firmware. Such software and/or firmware may take the form of instructions contained in or on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. These instructions may then be read and executed by one or more processors to enable performance of the operations described herein. The instructions may take any suitable form, such as, but not limited to, source code, compiled code, interpreted code, executable code, static code, dynamic code, and the like. Such computer-readable media may include any tangible, non-transitory medium for storing information in one or more computer-readable forms, such as, but not limited to, read Only Memory (ROM); random access memory (random access memory, RAM); a magnetic disk storage medium; an optical storage medium; flash memory, and the like.

The term "machine-readable medium" can include any medium that can store, encode or carry out instructions for execution by the machine 800 and that cause the machine 800 to perform any one or more of the techniques of the present disclosure or that can store, encode or carry out data structures used by or associated with such instructions. Non-limiting examples of machine readable media may include solid state memory, as well as optical and magnetic media. In an example, a large-scale machine-readable medium includes a machine-readable medium in which a plurality of particles have a static mass. Specific examples of a large-scale machine-readable medium may include non-volatile memory, such as semiconductor memory devices (e.g., electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM), or electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (ELECTRICALLY ERASABLE PROGRAMMABLE READ-only memory), and flash memory devices); magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disk; CD-ROM and DVD-ROM discs.

The instructions 824 may also be transmitted or received over a communications network 826 using any of a number of transport protocols (e.g., frame relay, internet protocol (internet protocol, IP), transmission control protocol (transmission control protocol, TCP), hypertext transfer protocol (hypertext transfer protocol, HTTP), etc.) via the network interface device/transceiver 820 using a transmission medium. Example communication networks may include a local area network (local area network, LAN), a wide area network (wide area network, WAN), a packet data network (e.g., the internet), a mobile telephone network (e.g., a cellular network), a plain old telephone (plain old telephone, POTS) network, a wireless data network (e.g., known asIs known as the Institute of Electrical and electronics Engineers (Institute of ELECTRICAL AND Electronics Engineers, IEEE) 802.11 family of standardsIEEE 802.16 family of standards), IEEE 802.15.4 family of standards, peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, and so forth. In an example, the network interface device/transceiver 820 may include one or more physical sockets (e.g., ethernet, coaxial, or telephone sockets) or one or more antennas to connect to the communication network 826. In an example, the network interface device/transceiver 820 may include multiple antennas to communicate wirelessly using at least one of single-input multiple-output (SIMO), multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), or multiple-input single-output (MISO) technologies. The term "transmission medium" shall be taken to include any intangible medium that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying instructions for execution by the machine 800, and includes digital or analog communications signals or other intangible medium to facilitate communication of such software. The operations and processes described and illustrated above (e.g., process 600 of fig. 6A and/or process 650 of fig. 6B) may be implemented or performed in any suitable order as desired in various implementations. Further, in some implementations, at least a portion of the operations may be performed in parallel. Further, in some implementations, fewer or more described operations may be performed.

The term "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any embodiment described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. The terms "computing device," "user device," "communication station," "handheld device," "mobile device," "wireless device," and "user device" (UE) as used herein refer to a wireless communication device, such as a cellular telephone, smart phone, tablet device, netbook, wireless terminal, laptop computer, femtocell, high Data Rate (HDR) subscriber station, access point, printer, point-of-sale device, access terminal, or other Personal Communication System (PCS) device. The device may be mobile or stationary.

As used within this document, the term "communication" is intended to include transmission, or reception, or both transmission and reception. This may be particularly useful in the claims when describing the organization of data sent by one device and received by another device, but the claims are to be infringed with the function of only one of these devices. Similarly, when only the function of one of the two devices is required to be protected, the bidirectional exchange of data between the two devices (both devices transmitting and receiving during the exchange) may be described as "communication". The term "communicating" as used herein with respect to wireless communication signals includes transmitting wireless communication signals and/or receiving wireless communication signals. For example, a wireless communication unit capable of wireless communication signal communication may include a wireless transmitter that transmits wireless communication signals to at least one other wireless communication unit, and/or a wireless communication receiver that receives wireless communication signals from at least one other wireless communication unit.

As used herein, unless otherwise indicated, the use of ordinal adjectives "first," "second," "third," etc., to describe a common object, merely indicate that different instances of like objects are being referred to, and are not intended to imply that the objects so described must be in a given sequence, either temporally, spatially, in ranking, or in any other manner.

The term "access point" (AP) as used herein may be a fixed station. An access point may also be referred to as an access node, a base station, or some other similar terminology known in the art. An access terminal may also be referred to as a mobile station, user Equipment (UE), a wireless communication device, or some other similar terminology known in the art. Embodiments disclosed herein relate generally to wireless networks some embodiments may relate to wireless networks operating according to one of the IEEE 802.11 standards.

Some embodiments may be used in conjunction with various devices and systems, such as personal computers (personal computer, PCs), desktop computers, mobile computers, laptop computers, notebook computers, tablet computers, server computers, handheld devices, personal digital assistant (personal DIGITAL ASSISTANT) devices, handheld PDA devices, onboard devices, off-board devices, hybrid devices, in-vehicle devices, off-board devices, mobile or portable devices, consumer devices, non-mobile or non-portable devices, wireless communication stations, wireless communication devices, wireless Access Points (APs), wired or wireless routers, wired or wireless modems, video devices, audio-video (a/V) devices, wired or wireless networks, wireless area networks, wireless video area networks (wireless video area network, WVAN), local area networks (local area network, LANs), wireless LANs (WIRELESS LAN, WLAN), personal area networks (personal area network, PANs), wireless PANs (WIRELESS PAN, WPAN), and the like.

Some embodiments may be used in conjunction with the following systems or devices: a unidirectional and/or bidirectional radio communication system, a cellular radiotelephone communication system, a mobile telephone, a cellular telephone, a wireless telephone, a personal communication system (personal communication system, PCS) device, a PDA device that includes a wireless communication device, a mobile or portable global positioning system (global positioning system, GPS) device, a device that includes a GPS receiver or transceiver or chip, a device that includes an RFID element or chip, a multiple-input multiple-output (multiple input multiple output, MIMO) transceiver or device, a single-input multiple-output (single input multiple output, SIMO) transceiver or device, a multiple-input single-output (multiple input single output, MISO) transceiver or device, a single-input single-output (single input single output, SISO) transceiver or device, a device having one or more internal and/or external antennas, a digital video broadcasting (digital video broadcast, DVB) device or system, a multi-standard radio device or system, a wired or wireless handheld device (e.g., smart phone, wireless application protocol (wireless application protocol, WAP) device, etc.

Some embodiments may be used in conjunction with one or more types of wireless communication signals and/or systems that conform to one or more wireless communication protocols, such as, for example, radio Frequency (RF), infrared (IR), frequency-division multiplexing (FDM), orthogonal FDM (OFDM), time-division multiplexing, TDM), time-division multiple access (time-division multiple access, TDMA), extended TDMA (TDMA, E-TDMA), general packet radio service (GENERAL PACKET radio service, GPRS), extended GPRS, code-division multiple access (code-division multiple access, CDMA), wideband CDMA (wideband CDMA, WCDMA), CDMA 2000, single carrier CDMA, multi-carrier modulation (multi-carrier modulation, MDM), discrete multitone (discrete multi-tone, multi),Global positioning system (global positioning system, GPS), wi-Fi, wi-Max, zigbee, ultra-wideband (UWB), global system for mobile communications (global system for mobile communications, GSM), 2G, 2.5G, 3G, 3.5G, 4G, fifth generation (fifth generation, 5G) mobile networks, 3GPP, long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE), LTE advanced, GSM evolution-enhanced data rates (ENHANCED DATA RATES for GSM Evolution, EDGE), and so forth. Other embodiments may be used in various other devices, systems, and/or networks.

Example 1, the device includes a memory and processing circuitry configured to: determining a transmission schedule received from a controller device over a control plane interface, the transmission schedule indicating one or more transmission times, the one or more transmission times including a first transmission time for time-sensitive operations and a second transmission time for non-time-sensitive operations, the time-sensitive operations having a higher priority than the non-time-sensitive operations, the one or more transmission times governing (govern) transmissions of a plurality of devices of an extended service set, the plurality of devices including the device; causing a first data frame to be transmitted over a data plane interface according to the transmission schedule; identifying a second data frame received over the data plane interface according to the transmission schedule; and causing a measurement report to be sent to the controller device over the control plane interface.

Example 2 may include the apparatus of example 1 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the transmission schedule further includes a third transmission time at which the apparatus is to transmit at least one of the beacons over the control plane interface.

Example 3 may include the apparatus of example 1 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the memory and processing circuitry are further configured to cause a beacon frame to be transmitted over the control plane interface according to the transmission schedule, the beacon frame indicating that the apparatus supports the time-sensitive operation, wherein the second data frame is received from a time-sensitive apparatus over the data plane interface according to the transmission schedule.

Example 4 may include the apparatus of example 1 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the control plane interface is a separate interface from the data plane interface.

Example 5 may include the apparatus of example 1 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the control plane interface and the data plane interface are in a common channel.

Example 6 may include the apparatus of example 1 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the apparatus is a first access point, and wherein the memory and processing circuitry are further configured to cause transmission of a frame to a second access point of the plurality of apparatuses, the frame including an indication of the transmission schedule.

Example 7 may include the apparatus of example 1 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the memory and processing circuitry are further configured to cause an admission request to be sent to the controller device on behalf of a time sensitive device.

Example 8 may include the apparatus of example 1 and/or some other examples herein, further comprising a transceiver configured to transmit and receive wireless signals.

Example 9 may include the apparatus of example 8 and/or some other examples herein, further comprising one or more antennas coupled with the transceiver.

Example 10 may include a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause performance of operations comprising: determining, at a controller device, an admission request received from a first device over a control plane interface; causing an admission response to be sent to the first device over the control plane interface, the admission response comprising a transmission schedule indicating one or more transmission times including a first transmission time for time-sensitive operations and a second transmission time for non-time-sensitive operations, the time-sensitive operations having a higher priority than the non-time-sensitive operations, the one or more transmission times governing transmissions of a plurality of devices of an extended service set, the plurality of devices including the first device; determining a measurement report received from the first device over the control plane interface; and causing a data frame to be sent to the first device over a data plane interface.

Example 11 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 10 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the first device is an access point, and wherein the admission request is sent by the access point on behalf of a station device.

Example 12 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 10 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the first device is a station device, and wherein the operations further comprise causing a frame to be sent in the control plane interface to the station device.

Example 13 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 10 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the control plane interface is a different plane than the data plane interface.

Example 14 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 10 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the control plane interface and the data plane interface are in a common channel.

Example 15 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 10 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the operations further comprise: determining an updated transmission schedule based on the measurement report; and causing the updated transmission schedule to be sent to the first device over the control plane interface.

Example 16 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 10 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the first device is an access point, and wherein the measurement report is provided by a station device associated with the access point.

Example 17 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 10 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the first device is a station device associated with an access point, and wherein the access point is associated with the controller device.

Example 18 may include a method comprising: identifying, by one or more processors of a first device, a transmission schedule received from a second device over a control plane interface, the transmission schedule indicating one or more transmission times, the one or more transmission times including a first transmission time for time-sensitive operations and a second transmission time for non-time-sensitive operations, the time-sensitive operations having a higher priority than the non-time-sensitive operations, the one or more transmission times governing transmissions of a plurality of devices of an extended service set, the plurality of devices including the first device; causing, by the one or more processors, transmission of a first data frame according to the transmission schedule over a data plane interface; identifying, by the one or more processors, a second data frame received over the data plane interface according to the transmission schedule; and causing, by the one or more processors, a measurement report to be sent to the second device over the control plane interface.

Example 19 may include the method of example 18 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the control plane interface is a separate interface from the data plane interface.

Example 20 may include the method of example 18 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the control plane interface and the data plane interface are in a common channel.

Example 21 may include the method of example 18 and/or some other examples herein, further comprising identifying a control frame received from the second device over the control plane interface.

Example 22 may include the method of example 18 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the second device is a controller device, the method further comprising causing an admission request to be sent to the controller device.

Example 23 may include the method of example 18 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the second device is an access point of the plurality of devices, wherein the access point is associated with a controller device, and the method further comprises causing an admission request associated with the controller device to be sent to the second device.

Example 24 may include the method of example 18 and/or some other examples herein, further comprising determining an updated transmission schedule received from the controller device.

Example 25 may include the method of example 18 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the control plane interface is in a longer range channel than the data plane interface.

Example 26 may include an apparatus comprising means for performing the method as claimed in any of examples 18-25.

Example 27 may include a system comprising at least one memory device having programmed instructions that, in response to being executed, cause at least one processor to carry out the method of any of examples 18-25.

Example 28 may include a machine-readable medium comprising code that, when executed, causes a machine to perform the method of any of examples 18-25.

Example 29 may include a method, comprising: determining a transmission schedule received from a controller device over a control plane interface, the transmission schedule indicating one or more transmission times, the one or more transmission times including a first transmission time for time-sensitive operations and a second transmission time for non-time-sensitive operations, the time-sensitive operations having a higher priority than the non-time-sensitive operations, the one or more transmission times governing transmissions of a plurality of devices of an extended service set, the plurality of devices including the device; causing a first data frame to be transmitted over a data plane interface according to the transmission schedule; identifying a second data frame received over the data plane interface according to the transmission schedule; and causing a measurement report to be sent to the controller device over the control plane interface.

Example 30 may include the method of example 29 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the transmission schedule further includes a third transmission time at which the device is to transmit at least one of the beacons over the control plane interface.

Example 31 may include the method of example 29 and/or some other examples herein, further comprising causing a beacon frame to be transmitted over the control plane interface according to the transmission schedule, the beacon frame indicating that the device supports the time-sensitive operation, wherein the second data frame is received from a time-sensitive device over the data plane interface according to the transmission schedule.

Example 32 may include the method of example 29 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the control plane interface is a separate interface from the data plane interface.

Example 33 may include the method of example 29 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the control plane interface and the data plane interface are in a common channel.

Example 34 may include the method of example 29 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the device is a first access point, and wherein the memory and processing circuitry are further configured to cause transmission of a frame to a second access point of the plurality of devices, the frame including an indication of the transmission schedule.

Example 35 may include the method of example 29 and/or some other examples herein, further comprising causing an admission request to be sent on behalf of the time sensitive device to the controller device.

Example 36 may include an apparatus comprising means for performing the method as claimed in any of examples 29-35.

Example 37 may include a system comprising at least one memory device with programmed instructions that, in response to execution, cause at least one processor to perform the method of any of examples 29-35.

Example 38 may include a machine-readable medium comprising code that, when executed, causes a machine to perform the method of any of examples 29-35.

Example 39 may include a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause performance of operations comprising: determining a transmission schedule received from a controller device over a control plane interface, the transmission schedule indicating one or more transmission times, the one or more transmission times including a first transmission time for time-sensitive operations and a second transmission time for non-time-sensitive operations, the time-sensitive operations having a higher priority than the non-time-sensitive operations, the one or more transmission times governing transmissions of a plurality of devices of an extended service set, the plurality of devices including the device; causing a first data frame to be transmitted over a data plane interface according to the transmission schedule; identifying a second data frame received over the data plane interface according to the transmission schedule; and causing a measurement report to be sent to the controller device over the control plane interface.

Example 40 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 39 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the transmission schedule further includes a third transmission time at which the device is to transmit at least one of the beacons over the control plane interface.

Example 41 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 39 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the memory and processing circuitry are further configured to cause a beacon frame to be transmitted over the control plane interface according to the transmission schedule, the beacon frame indicating that the device supports the time-sensitive operation, wherein the second data frame is received from a time-sensitive device over the data plane interface according to the transmission schedule.

Example 42 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 39 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the control plane interface is a separate interface from the data plane interface.

Example 43 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 39 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the control plane interface and the data plane interface are in a common channel.

Example 44 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 39 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the device is a first access point, and wherein the memory and processing circuitry are further configured to cause transmission of a frame to a second access point of the plurality of devices, the frame comprising an indication of the transmission schedule.

Example 45 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 39 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the memory and processing circuitry are further configured to cause an admission request to be sent to the controller device on behalf of a time-sensitive device.

Example 46 may include an apparatus comprising means for: means for determining a transmission schedule received from a controller device over a control plane interface, the transmission schedule indicating one or more transmission times, the one or more transmission times including a first transmission time for time-sensitive operations and a second transmission time for non-time-sensitive operations, the time-sensitive operations having a higher priority than the non-time-sensitive operations, the one or more transmission times governing transmissions of a plurality of devices of an extended service set, the plurality of devices including the device; means for causing a first data frame to be transmitted over a data plane interface according to the transmission schedule; means for identifying a second data frame received over the data plane interface according to the transmission schedule; and means for causing a measurement report to be sent to the controller device over the control plane interface.

Example 47 may include the apparatus of example 46 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the transmission schedule further includes a third transmission time at which the apparatus is to transmit at least one of the beacons over the control plane interface.

Example 48 may include the apparatus of example 46 and/or some other examples herein, further comprising means for causing a beacon frame to be transmitted over the control plane interface according to the transmission schedule, the beacon frame indicating that the apparatus supports the time-sensitive operation, wherein the second data frame is received from a time-sensitive apparatus over the data plane interface according to the transmission schedule.

Example 49 may include the apparatus of example 46 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the control plane interface is a separate interface from the data plane interface.

Example 50 may include the apparatus of example 46 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the control plane interface and the data plane interface are in a common channel.

Example 51 may include the apparatus of example 46 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the apparatus is a first access point, and wherein the memory and processing circuitry are further configured to cause transmission of a frame to a second access point of the plurality of apparatuses, the frame including an indication of the transmission schedule.

Example 52 may include the apparatus of example 46 and/or some other examples herein, further comprising means for causing an admission request to be sent on behalf of the time sensitive apparatus to the controller apparatus.

Example 53, the device comprising memory and processing circuitry configured to: determining, at a controller device, an admission request received from a first device over a control plane interface; causing an admission response to be sent to the first device over the control plane interface, the admission response comprising a transmission schedule indicating one or more transmission times including a first transmission time for time-sensitive operations and a second transmission time for non-time-sensitive operations, the time-sensitive operations having a higher priority than the non-time-sensitive operations, the one or more transmission times governing transmissions of a plurality of devices of an extended service set, the plurality of devices including the first device; determining a measurement report received from the first device over the control plane interface; and causing a data frame to be sent to the first device over a data plane interface.

Example 54 may include the apparatus of example 53 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the first apparatus is an access point, and wherein the admission request is sent by the access point on behalf of a station apparatus.

Example 55 may include the apparatus of example 53 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the first apparatus is a station apparatus, and wherein the operations further comprise causing a frame to be transmitted to the station apparatus in the control plane interface.

Example 56 may include the apparatus of example 53 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the control plane interface is a different plane than the data plane interface.

Example 57 may include the apparatus of example 53 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the control plane interface and the data plane interface are in a common channel.

Example 58 may include the apparatus of example 53 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the memory and processing circuitry are further configured to: determining an updated transmission schedule based on the measurement report; and causing the updated transmission schedule to be sent to the first device over the control plane interface.

Example 59 may include the apparatus of example 53 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the first apparatus is an access point, and wherein the measurement report is provided by a station apparatus associated with the access point.

Example 60 may include the apparatus of example 53 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the first apparatus is a station apparatus associated with an access point, and wherein the access point is associated with the controller apparatus.

Example 61 may include the apparatus of example 53 and/or some other examples herein, further comprising a transceiver configured to transmit and receive wireless signals.

Example 62 may include the apparatus of example 61 and/or some other examples herein, further comprising one or more antennas coupled with the transceiver.

Example 63 may include a method comprising: determining, at a controller device, an admission request received from a first device over a control plane interface; causing an admission response to be sent to the first device over the control plane interface, the admission response comprising a transmission schedule indicating one or more transmission times including a first transmission time for time-sensitive operations and a second transmission time for non-time-sensitive operations, the time-sensitive operations having a higher priority than the non-time-sensitive operations, the one or more transmission times governing transmissions of a plurality of devices of an extended service set, the plurality of devices including the first device; determining a measurement report received from the first device over the control plane interface; and causing a data frame to be sent to the first device over a data plane interface.

Example 64 may include the method of example 63 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the first device is an access point, and wherein the admission request is sent by the access point on behalf of a station device.

Example 65 may include the method of example 63 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the first device is a station device, and wherein the operations further comprise causing a frame to be sent to the station device in the control plane interface.

Example 66 may include the method of example 63 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the control plane interface is a different plane than the data plane interface.

Example 67 may include the method of example 63 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the control plane interface and the data plane interface are in a common channel.

Example 68 may include the method of example 63 and/or some other examples herein, further comprising: determining an updated transmission schedule based on the measurement report; and causing the updated transmission schedule to be sent to the first device over the control plane interface.

Example 69 may include the method of example 63 and/or some other example herein, wherein the first device is an access point, and wherein the measurement report is provided by a station device associated with the access point.

Example 70 may include the method of example 63 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the first device is a station device associated with an access point, and wherein the access point is associated with the controller device.

Example 71 may include an apparatus comprising means for performing the method as claimed in any of examples 63-70.

Example 72 may include a system comprising at least one memory device with programmed instructions that, in response to execution, cause at least one processor to perform the method of any of examples 63-70.

Example 73 may include a machine-readable medium comprising code that, when executed, causes a machine to perform the method of any of examples 63-70.

Example 74 may include an apparatus comprising: means for determining, at the controller device, an admission request received from the first device over the control plane interface; means for causing an admission response to be sent to the first device over the control plane interface, the admission response comprising a transmission schedule indicating one or more transmission times including a first transmission time for time-sensitive operations and a second transmission time for non-time-sensitive operations, the time-sensitive operations having a higher priority than the non-time-sensitive operations, the one or more transmission times governing transmissions of a plurality of devices of an extended service set, the plurality of devices including the first device; means for determining a measurement report received from the first device over the control plane interface; and means for causing a data frame to be sent to the first device over a data plane interface.

Example 75 may include the apparatus of example 74 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the first apparatus is an access point, and wherein the admission request is sent by the access point on behalf of a station apparatus.

Example 76 may include the apparatus of example 74 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the first apparatus is a station apparatus, and wherein the operations further comprise causing a frame to be transmitted to the station apparatus in the control plane interface.

Example 77 may include the apparatus of example 74 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the control plane interface is a different plane than the data plane interface.

Example 78 may include the apparatus of example 74 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the control plane interface and the data plane interface are in a common channel.

Example 79 may include an apparatus as described in example 74 and/or some other examples herein, further comprising: means for determining an updated transmission schedule based on the measurement report; and means for causing the updated transmission schedule to be sent to the first device over the control plane interface.

Example 80 may include the apparatus of example 74 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the first apparatus is an access point, and wherein the measurement report is provided by a station apparatus associated with the access point.

Example 81 may include the apparatus of example 74 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the first apparatus is a station apparatus associated with an access point, and wherein the access point is associated with the controller apparatus.

Example 82, the device includes a memory and processing circuitry configured to: identifying, by one or more processors of a first device, a transmission schedule received from a second device over a control plane interface, the transmission schedule indicating one or more transmission times, the one or more transmission times including a first transmission time for time-sensitive operations and a second transmission time for non-time-sensitive operations, the time-sensitive operations having a higher priority than the non-time-sensitive operations, the one or more transmission times governing transmissions of a plurality of devices of an extended service set, the plurality of devices including the first device; causing, by the one or more processors, transmission of a first data frame according to the transmission schedule over a data plane interface; identifying, by the one or more processors, a second data frame received over the data plane interface according to the transmission schedule; and causing, by the one or more processors, a measurement report to be sent to the second device over the control plane interface.

Example 83 may include the apparatus of example 82 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the control plane interface is a separate interface from the data plane interface.

Example 84 may include the apparatus of example 1 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the control plane interface and the data plane interface are in a common channel.

Example 85 may include the apparatus of example 1 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the memory and processing circuitry is further configured to identify a control frame received from the second apparatus over the control plane interface.

Example 86 may include the apparatus of example 1 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the second apparatus is a controller apparatus, the method further comprising causing an admission request to be sent to the controller apparatus.

Example 87 may include the apparatus of example 1 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the second apparatus is an access point of the plurality of apparatuses, wherein the access point is associated with a controller apparatus, and the method further comprises causing an admission request associated with the controller apparatus to be sent to the second apparatus.

Example 88 may include the apparatus of example 1 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the memory and processing circuitry is further configured to determine an updated transmission schedule received from the controller device.

Example 89 may include the apparatus of example 1 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the control plane interface is in a longer range channel than the data plane interface.

Example 90 may include the apparatus of example 82 and/or some other examples herein, further comprising a transceiver configured to transmit and receive wireless signals.

Example 91 may include the apparatus of example 90 and/or some other examples herein, further comprising one or more antennas coupled with the transceiver.

Example 92 may include a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause performance of operations comprising: identifying, by one or more processors of a first device, a transmission schedule received from a second device over a control plane interface, the transmission schedule indicating one or more transmission times, the one or more transmission times including a first transmission time for time-sensitive operations and a second transmission time for non-time-sensitive operations, the time-sensitive operations having a higher priority than the non-time-sensitive operations, the one or more transmission times governing transmissions of a plurality of devices of an extended service set, the plurality of devices including the first device; causing, by the one or more processors, transmission of a first data frame according to the transmission schedule over a data plane interface; identifying, by the one or more processors, a second data frame received over the data plane interface according to the transmission schedule; and causing, by the one or more processors, a measurement report to be sent to the second device over the control plane interface.

Example 93 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 92 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the control plane interface is a separate interface from the data plane interface.

Example 94 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 92 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the control plane interface and the data plane interface are in a common channel.

Example 95 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 92 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the operations further comprise identifying a control frame received from the second device over the control plane interface.

Example 96 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 92 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the second device is a controller device, the method further comprising causing an admission request to be sent to the controller device.

Example 97 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 92 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the second device is an access point of the plurality of devices, wherein the access point is associated with a controller device, and the method further comprises causing an admission request associated with the controller device to be sent to the second device.

Example 98 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 92 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the operations further comprise determining an updated transmission schedule received from the controller device.

Example 99 may include the non-transitory computer-readable medium of example 92 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the control plane interface is in a longer range channel than the data plane interface.

Example 100 may include an apparatus comprising: means for identifying, by one or more processors of a first device, a transmission schedule received from a second device over a control plane interface, the transmission schedule indicating one or more transmission times, the one or more transmission times including a first transmission time for time-sensitive operations and a second transmission time for non-time-sensitive operations, the time-sensitive operations having a higher priority than the non-time-sensitive operations, the one or more transmission times governing transmissions of a plurality of devices of an extended service set, the plurality of devices including the first device; means for causing, by the one or more processors, transmission of a first data frame according to the transmission schedule over a data plane interface; means for identifying, by the one or more processors, a second data frame received over the data plane interface according to the transmission schedule; and means for causing, by the one or more processors, transmission of a measurement report to the second device over the control plane interface.

Example 101 may include the apparatus of example 100 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the control plane interface is a separate interface from the data plane interface.

Example 102 may include the apparatus of example 100 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the control plane interface and the data plane interface are in a common channel.

Example 103 may include the apparatus of example 100 and/or some other examples herein, further comprising means for identifying a control frame received from the second apparatus over the control plane interface.

Example 104 may include the apparatus of example 100 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the second apparatus is a controller apparatus, the method further comprising causing an admission request to be sent to the controller apparatus.

Example 105 may include the apparatus of example 100 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the second apparatus is an access point of the plurality of apparatuses, wherein the access point is associated with a controller apparatus, and the method further comprises causing an admission request associated with the controller apparatus to be sent to the second apparatus.

Example 106 may include the apparatus of example 100 and/or some other examples herein, further comprising means for determining an updated transmission schedule received from the controller device.

Example 107 may include the apparatus of example 100 and/or some other examples herein, wherein the control plane interface is in a longer range channel than the data plane interface.

Example 108 may include an apparatus comprising means for performing a method as claimed in any of the preceding examples.

Example 109 may include a machine-readable storage device comprising machine-readable instructions that, when executed, implement a method as claimed in any preceding example.

Example 110 may include a machine-readable storage including machine-readable instructions that, when executed, implement a method as claimed in any preceding example or implement an apparatus as claimed in any preceding example.

Example 111 may include a method of communicating in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

Example 112 may include a system for providing wireless communications as shown and described herein.

Example 113 may include a device for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

Embodiments according to the present disclosure are disclosed in particular in the appended claims directed to a method, a storage medium, an apparatus and a computer program product, wherein any feature mentioned in one claim category (e.g. method) may also be claimed in another claim category (e.g. system). The subordinate or return reference in the appended claims is selected solely for formal reasons. However, any subject matter resulting from the deliberate back-reference of any preceding claim (especially of multiple dependencies) may also be claimed, so that any combination of claims and their features are disclosed and may be claimed, regardless of the dependencies selected in the appended claims. The claimed subject matter includes not only the combination of features recited in the attached claims, but also any other combination of features in the claims, where each feature mentioned in the claims can be combined with any other feature or combination of features in the claims. Furthermore, any embodiments and features described or depicted herein may be claimed in separate claims and/or in any combination with any embodiments or features described or depicted herein or with any features of the appended claims.

The foregoing description of one or more implementations provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the embodiments to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of various embodiments.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure are described above with reference to block diagrams and flowchart illustrations of systems, methods, apparatus and/or computer program products according to various implementations. It will be understood that one or more blocks of the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, respectively, can be implemented by computer-executable program instructions. Similarly, according to some implementations, some blocks of the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations may not necessarily need to be performed in the order presented, or may not necessarily need to be performed at all.

These computer-executable program instructions may be loaded onto a special purpose computer or other special purpose machine, processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a particular machine, such that the instructions which execute on the computer, processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus create means for implementing one or more functions specified in the flowchart block or blocks. These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable storage medium produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement one or more functions specified in the flowchart block or blocks. By way of example, some implementations may provide a computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code or program instructions embodied therein, the computer readable program code adapted to be executed to implement one or more functions specified in the flowchart block or blocks. The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational elements or steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide elements or steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart block or blocks.

Accordingly, blocks of the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations support combinations of means for performing the specified functions, combinations of elements or steps for performing the specified functions and program instruction means for performing the specified functions. It will also be understood that each block of the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based computer systems that perform the specified functions, elements or steps, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.

Conditional language such as "capable," "might," "can," or "may," etc., is generally intended to convey that certain implementations may include, without others, certain features, elements, and/or operations unless specifically stated otherwise or otherwise within the context of use. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended to imply that features, elements and/or operations are in any way required by the one or more implementations or that the one or more implementations necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without user input or prompting, whether the features, elements and/or operations are included in or are to be performed in any particular implementation.

Many modifications and other implementations of the disclosure set forth herein will be apparent from the teaching set forth in the foregoing description and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not to be limited to the specific implementations disclosed and that modifications and other implementations are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

Claims

1. An apparatus for communication, the apparatus comprising a memory and processing circuitry configured to:

Determining a transmission schedule received from a controller device over a control plane interface, the transmission schedule indicating one or more transmission times, the one or more transmission times including a first transmission time for time-sensitive operations and a second transmission time for non-time-sensitive operations, the time-sensitive operations having a higher priority than the non-time-sensitive operations, the one or more transmission times governing transmissions of a plurality of devices in an extended service set, the plurality of devices including the device;

causing a first data frame to be transmitted over a data plane interface according to the transmission schedule;

identifying a second data frame received over the data plane interface according to the transmission schedule; and

Such that a measurement report is sent to the controller device over the control plane interface,

Wherein the device is a first access point, and wherein the memory and processing circuitry are further configured to cause transmission of a frame to a second access point of the plurality of devices, the frame including an indication of the transmission schedule.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transmission schedule further comprises a third transmission time at which the apparatus is to transmit at least one of beacons over the control plane interface.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the memory and processing circuitry are further configured to cause a beacon frame to be sent over the control plane interface according to the transmission schedule, the beacon frame indicating that the device supports the time sensitive operation, wherein the second data frame is received from a time sensitive device over the data plane interface according to the transmission schedule.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control plane interface is a separate interface from the data plane interface.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control plane interface and the data plane interface are in a common channel.

6. The device of claim 1, wherein the memory and processing circuitry are further configured to cause an admission request to be sent to the controller device on behalf of a time sensitive device.

7. The device of claim 1, further comprising a transceiver configured to transmit and receive wireless signals.

8. The apparatus of any of claims 1-7, further comprising one or more antennas coupled with the transceiver.

9. A method for communication, comprising:

determining, at a controller device, an admission request received from a first device over a control plane interface;

Causing an admission response to be sent to the first device over the control plane interface, the admission response comprising a transmission schedule indicating one or more transmission times including a first transmission time for time-sensitive operations and a second transmission time for non-time-sensitive operations, the time-sensitive operations having a higher priority than the non-time-sensitive operations, the one or more transmission times governing transmissions of a plurality of devices in an extended service set, the plurality of devices including the first device;

determining a measurement report received from the first device over the control plane interface; and

Such that a data frame is sent to the first device over a data plane interface,

Wherein the first device is a first access point, and wherein the method further comprises causing the admission response not to be sent to a second access point of the plurality of devices, but by the first access point to send a frame to the second access point, the frame comprising an indication of the transmission schedule.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the admission request is sent by the access point on behalf of a station device.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the control plane interface is a different plane than the data plane interface.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the control plane interface and the data plane interface are in a common channel.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

Determining an updated transmission schedule based on the measurement report; and

Causing the updated transmission schedule to be sent to the first device over the control plane interface.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the measurement report is provided by a station device associated with the first access point.

15. A machine readable medium comprising code which when executed causes a machine to perform the method of any of claims 9 to 14.

16. A method for communication, comprising:

Identifying, by one or more processors of a first device, a transmission schedule received from a second device over a control plane interface, the transmission schedule indicating one or more transmission times, the one or more transmission times including a first transmission time for time-sensitive operations and a second transmission time for non-time-sensitive operations, the time-sensitive operations having a higher priority than the non-time-sensitive operations, the one or more transmission times governing transmissions of a plurality of devices in an extended service set, the plurality of devices including the first device;

causing, by the one or more processors, transmission of a first data frame according to the transmission schedule over a data plane interface;

Identifying, by the one or more processors, a second data frame received over the data plane interface according to the transmission schedule; and

Causing by the one or more processors to send a measurement report to the second device over the control plane interface,

Wherein the first device is a first access point, and wherein the method further comprises: a frame is caused to be transmitted, by the one or more processors, to a second access point of the plurality of devices, the frame including an indication of the transmission schedule.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the control plane interface is a separate interface from the data plane interface.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the control plane interface and the data plane interface are in a common channel.

19. The method of claim 16, further comprising: control frames received from the second device over the control plane interface are identified.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the second device is a controller device, the method further comprising: so that an admission request is sent to the controller device.

21. The method of claim 16, wherein the second device is an access point for the plurality of devices, wherein the access point is associated with a controller device, and the method further comprises: causing an admission request associated with the controller device to be sent to the second device.

22. The method of any of claims 16 to 21, further comprising: an updated transmission schedule received from the controller device is determined.