Multi-link block acknowledgement management

Abstract

Methods, systems, and devices for multi-link wireless communication are described. A block acknowledgment (BA) agreement (e.g., a multi-link BA session) may be established based on exchanged multi-link capability information (e.g., a BA window size, BA scoreboarding information, one or more wireless link identifiers, etc.). In some cases, a BA agreement may be established across some or all of the multiple links. In other cases, a BA agreement may be established on a per-link basis. The BA agreement may further establish one or more sets of sequence numbers, as well as scoreboarding techniques used by the transmitting wireless device for the BA session. The wireless device may then transmit packets to another wireless device using multiple links, and receive a BA with acknowledgement information accounting for the transmitted packets according to the established BA agreement. BAs may be transmitted on one link or on multiple links by the receiving device.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:
 a processor;   memory in electronic communication with the processor; and   instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 establish a block acknowledgement agreement for a plurality of wireless links used for communications in parallel between the apparatus and a second wireless device; 
 format data to be transmitted to the wireless device into a plurality of data units; 
 assign, to each of the plurality of data units, a respective one of a set of sequence numbers common to the plurality of wireless links; 
 transmit the plurality of data units to the wireless device over one or more of the plurality of wireless links; and 
 receive a plurality of block acknowledgements, each of the plurality of block acknowledgements indicating one or more of the set of common sequence numbers. 
   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions to transmit the plurality of data units to the wireless device over one or more of the plurality of wireless data links are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 transmit a first set of data units of the plurality of data units to the wireless device over a first wireless link of the plurality of wireless links; and   transmit a second set of data units of the plurality of data units to the wireless device over a second wireless link of the plurality of wireless links.   
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the instructions to receive the plurality of block acknowledgements are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 receive a first set of the plurality of block acknowledgement over the first wireless link, wherein the first set of the plurality of block acknowledgements is for the first set of the plurality of data units; and   receive a second set of the plurality of block acknowledgement over the second wireless link, wherein the second set of the plurality of block acknowledgements is for the second set of the plurality of data units.   
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 receive the plurality block acknowledgements over the first wireless link, the plurality of block acknowledgements for both the first set of the plurality of data units and the second set of the plurality of data units.   
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 update, based at least in part on one or more of the plurality of received block acknowledgements, a scoreboard to track data units acknowledged or not acknowledged by the wireless device for the plurality of wireless links.   
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 update, based at least in part on the received plurality of block acknowledgements, a first scoreboard to track data units acknowledged or not acknowledged by the wireless device for a first wireless link of the plurality of wireless links, and a second scoreboard to track data units acknowledged or not acknowledged by the wireless device for a second wireless link of the plurality of wireless links.   
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 assign a respective sequence number of a second set of sequence numbers to each of a first set of data units of the plurality of data units to be transmitted over a first wireless link of the plurality of wireless links; and   assign a respective sequence number of a third set of sequence numbers to each of a second set of data units of the plurality of data units to be transmitted over a second wireless link of the plurality of wireless links.   
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the received plurality of block acknowledgements further indicate one or more sequence numbers of the second set of sequence numbers for the first set of data units, or one or more sequence numbers of the third set of sequence numbers for the second set of data units, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 decompress a block acknowledgement bitmap of the received plurality of block acknowledgements to identify the one or more of the set of common sequence numbers.   
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein a block acknowledgement of the plurality of block acknowledgements comprises a multi-traffic identifier (TID) block acknowledgement to acknowledge or not acknowledge a single TID or a single station. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the instructions to receive the plurality of block acknowledgements are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 receive, in the multi-TID block acknowledgement, a first portion associated with a first starting sequence number and a second portion associated with a second starting sequence number, wherein the first portion and the second portion are for the single TID or the single station.   
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the received plurality of block acknowledgements in aggregate span a block acknowledgement window. 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 exchange block acknowledgement capability information with the wireless device, wherein the block acknowledgement agreement is established based at least in part on the exchanged block acknowledgement capability information.   
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the block acknowledgement capability information comprises a block acknowledgement window size, or a wireless link identifier, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 determine a first block acknowledgement window size for the plurality of wireless links based at least in part on the exchanged block acknowledgement capability information; and   establish a second block acknowledgement window size for a first wireless link of the plurality of wireless links, the second block acknowledgement window size less than the first block acknowledgement window size.   
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the instructions to receive the plurality of block acknowledgements are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 receive the plurality of block acknowledgements over at least one wireless link of the one or more of the plurality of wireless links; and 
   the instructions to transmit the plurality of data units are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 transmit at least a portion of the plurality of data units to the wireless device over a second wireless link of the plurality of wireless links, the second wireless link a unidirectional wireless link that is exclusive of the at least one wireless link used to receive the plurality of block acknowledgements. 
   
     
     
         17 . An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:
 a processor;   memory in electronic communication with the processor; and   instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 establish a block acknowledgement agreement for a plurality of wireless links used for communications in parallel between the apparatus and a wireless device; 
 receive a plurality of data units from the wireless device over one or more of the plurality of wireless links, each data unit of the plurality of data units associated with one of a set of sequence numbers common to the plurality of wireless links; and 
 transmit a plurality of block acknowledgements in response to the plurality of data units, each of the plurality of block acknowledgements indicating one or more of the set of common sequence numbers. 
   
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , wherein the instructions to receive the plurality of data units from the wireless device over the one or more of the plurality of wireless links are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 receive a first set of a plurality of data units from the wireless device over a first wireless link of the plurality of wireless links, each data unit of the first set associated with one of the set of common sequence numbers;   receive a second set of the plurality of data units from the wireless device over a second wireless link of the plurality of wireless links, each data unit of the second set associated with one of the set of common sequence numbers.   
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 18 , wherein each of the plurality of block acknowledgements further indicate:
 one or more of a first set of sequence numbers for the received first set of data units; or   one or more of a second set of sequence numbers for the received second set of data units.   
     
     
         20 . A method for wireless communication at a first wireless device, comprising:
 establishing a block acknowledgement agreement for a plurality of wireless links used for communications in parallel between the first wireless device and a second wireless device;   formatting data to be transmitted to the second wireless device into a plurality of data units;   assigning, to each of the plurality of data units, a respective one of a set of sequence numbers common to the plurality of wireless links;   transmitting the plurality of data units to the second wireless device over one or more of the plurality of wireless links; and   
       receiving a plurality of block acknowledgements, each of the plurality of block acknowledgements indicating one or more of the set of common sequence numbers.