Block acknowledgement with fragmentation acknowledgement signaling

Abstract

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide methods and apparatus for using a block acknowledgement (BlockAck) frame capable of acknowledging fragments. One example method for wireless communications generally includes receiving a plurality of protocol data units (PDUs) (e.g., media access control (MAC) protocol data units (MPDUs)); determining whether each of the PDUs was successfully received and whether each of the PDUs is associated with a non-fragmented service data unit (SDU) (e.g., MAC service data unit (MSDU)) or a fragmented SDU; and outputting for transmission a BlockAck frame comprising a bitmap field indicating a receive status for the non-fragmented and fragmented SDUs based on the determination.

1 . An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising:
 a receiver configured to receive a plurality of protocol data units (PDUs);   at least one processor coupled with a memory and configured to determine whether each of the PDUs was successfully received and whether each of the PDUs carries a non-fragmented service data unit (SDU) or a fragmented SDU, wherein at least one of the PDUs comprises at least one fragmented SDU; and   a transmitter configured to transmit a block acknowledgment (BlockAck) frame comprising a starting sequence control (SSC) field and a bitmap field indicating a receive status for any non-fragmented SDUs and the at least one fragmented SDU based on the determination, wherein:
 the bitmap field in the BlockAck frame has a variable length, 
 the variable length is indicated by a value of one or more most significant bits of a fragment number (FN) in the BlockAck frame, and 
 the value of the FN is indicated in the SSC field. 
   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one fragmented SDU is received in an aggregated MPDU (A-MPDU). 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein a number of the non-fragmented and fragmented SDUs that can be acknowledged by the bitmap field in the BlockAck frame is variable. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein each bit in the bitmap field in the BlockAck frame indicates the receive status for one of the non-fragmented SDUs or at least one of: the first fragment of one of the fragmented SDUs, all fragments of one of the fragmented SDUs, or a sole fragment for one of the fragmented SDUs. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to participate in a negotiation, with a transmitter of the plurality of PDUs, for one or more fragmentation parameters used in transmitting or processing the fragmented SDUs. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the one or more parameters comprise at least one of: a maximum number of concurrent fragmented transmissions supported by the apparatus or a minimum fragment length supported by the apparatus. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to provide an indication of whether fragmentation is supported during the negotiation. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the negotiation is performed during at least one of: a BlockAck setup or an association with the transmitter. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein the negotiation comprises exchanging an Add Block Acknowledgment (ADDBA) Extension Information Element (IE) in at least one of: an ADDBA request or an ADDBA response. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein a value of a least significant bit (LSB) in the FN in the BlockAck frame indicates whether the BlockAck frame indicates a receive status of non-fragmented SDUs or fragmented SDUs. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein a value of zero for the value of the LSB indicates a non-fragmented SDU and a non-zero value for the value of the LSB indicates a fragmented SDU. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein each fragmented SDU comprises four fragments. 
     
     
         13 . An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising:
 a transmitter configured to transmit a plurality of protocol data units (PDUs), wherein:
 each of the PDUs carries a non-fragmented service data unit (SDU) or a fragmented SDU, and 
 at least one of the PDUs comprises at least one fragmented SDU; 
   a receiver configured to receive a block acknowledgment (BlockAck) frame comprising a starting sequence control (SSC) field and a bitmap field indicating a receive status for any non-fragmented SDUs and the at least one fragmented SDU, wherein:
 the bitmap field in the BlockAck frame has a variable length, 
 the variable length is indicated by values of one or more most significant bits of a fragment number (FN) in the BlockAck frame; and 
 the value of the FN is indicated in the SSC field; 
   at least one processor coupled with a memory and configured to process the bitmap field in the BlockAck frame to determine whether the non-fragmented SDUs and the at least one fragmented SDU were successfully received.   
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the at least one fragmented SDU is transmitted in an aggregated MPDU (A-MPDU). 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein a number of the non-fragmented and fragmented SDUs that can be acknowledged by the bitmap field in the BlockAck frame is variable. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to participate in a negotiation, with a receiver, for one or more fragmentation parameters used in transmitting or processing the fragmented SDUs. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein a value of a least significant bit (LSB) in the FN in the BlockAck frame indicates whether the BlockAck frame indicates a receive status of non-fragmented SDUs or fragmented SDUs. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , wherein a value of zero for the value of the LSB indicates a non-fragmented SDU and a non-zero value for the value of the LSB indicates a fragmented SDU. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein each fragmented SDU comprises four fragments. 
     
     
         20 . A method for wireless communications, comprising:
 receiving a plurality of protocol data units (PDUs);   determining whether each of the PDUs was successfully received and whether each of the PDUs carries a non-fragmented service data unit (SDU) or a fragmented SDU, wherein at least one of the PDUs comprises at least one fragmented SDU; and   transmitting a block acknowledgment (BlockAck) frame comprising a starting sequence control (SSC) field and a bitmap field indicating a receive status for any non-fragmented SDUs and the at least one fragmented SDU based on the determination, wherein:
 the bitmap field in the BlockAck frame has a variable length, 
 the variable length is indicated by a value of one or more most significant bits of a fragment number (FN) in the BlockAck frame, and 
 the value of the FN is indicated in the SSC field.