Power save procedures for multi-link aggregation

Abstract

A wireless device may dynamically activate and/or inactivate wireless links for multi-link communications. A transmitting wireless device may indicate one or more wireless links to be activated by a receiving wireless device to receive subsequent multi-link transmissions. The indication may be sent over an anchor wireless link, such that the receiving wireless device may monitor the anchor wireless link, with other wireless links in an inactive or low power state, until an indication is received to activate additional wireless links. The receiving wireless device may then activate wireless links identified by the received indication, and receive data from the transmitting device via the multiple links. The activated wireless links may be inactivated upon expiration of a time duration or upon receiving a second indication to inactivate the active links. That is, indications communicated over an anchor wireless channel may identify other wireless links to be activated, inactivated, or maintained.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An apparatus for wireless communication at a first wireless device, 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 multi-link session between the first wireless device and a second wireless device, the multi-link session comprising a plurality of wireless links for communications in parallel between the first wireless device and the second wireless device; 
 receive, over an anchor wireless link, an indication that the second wireless device has data to be transmitted to the first wireless device over the plurality of wireless links, the plurality of wireless links including one or more wireless links that are in an inactive state; 
 activate, based at least in part on the received indication, receiver components of the first wireless device into an active state for the one or more wireless links that are in the inactive state; and 
 receive the data from the second wireless device over the plurality of wireless links using at least a portion of the activated receiver components. 
   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 receive, over the anchor wireless link, a second indication that the second wireless device has additional data to be transmitted to the first wireless device over the plurality of wireless links, the plurality of wireless links in the active state;   identify, based at least in part on receiving the second indication, that the plurality of wireless links are in the active state; and   receive the additional data from the second wireless device over the plurality of wireless links.   
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions to receive the indication are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 receive, over the anchor wireless link, an identifier for the one or more wireless links, wherein the receiver components of the first wireless device are activated based at least in part on receiving the identifier for the one or more wireless links.   
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 receive, over the anchor wireless link, an identifier for a subset of the plurality of wireless links;   identify at least one remaining wireless link of the plurality of wireless links not identified by the received identifier; and   return receiver components of the first wireless device to the inactive state for the at least one remaining wireless link.   
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 monitor the anchor wireless link for a subsequent indication that the second wireless device has further data to be transmitted to the first wireless device, wherein the subset of the plurality of wireless links comprises the anchor wireless link.   
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 identify a duration for the one or more wireless links to remain in the active state; and   determining whether to maintain the one or more wireless links in the active state or return the one or more wireless links to the inactive state based at least in part on the identified duration.   
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein the duration comprises a target beacon transmission time (TBTT), or a target wake time service period (TWT SP), or a physical layer convergence procedure (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU) duration, or a transmission opportunity, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions to receive the indication are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 receive a beacon, or a receive operating mode indicator (ROMI) signal, or a channel reservation signal, or a combination thereof, indicating the plurality of wireless links.   
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the anchor wireless link is one of the plurality of wireless links. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the anchor wireless link is a different wireless link than each wireless link of the plurality of wireless links. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 monitor continuously the anchor wireless link for one or more indications that the second wireless device has data to be transmitted to the first wireless device.   
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 exchange control frames or management frames between the first wireless device and the second wireless device over the anchor wireless link.   
     
     
         13 . An apparatus for wireless communication at a first wireless device, 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 multi-link session between the first wireless device and a second wireless device, the multi-link session comprising a plurality of wireless links for communications in parallel between the first wireless device and the second wireless device; 
 transmit, over an anchor wireless link, an indication that the first wireless device has data to transmit to the second wireless device over the plurality of wireless links, the plurality of wireless links including one or more wireless links that are in an inactive state; 
 activate transmitter components of the first wireless device into an active state for the one or more wireless links that are in the inactive state; and 
 transmit the data to the second wireless device over the plurality of wireless links using at least a portion of the activated transmitter components. 
   
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 transmit, over the anchor wireless link, an identifier for the one or more wireless links, or an identifier for the plurality of wireless links.   
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 determine to inactivate a subset of the plurality of wireless links; and   transmit, over the anchor wireless link, an identifier for the subset of the plurality of wireless links.   
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 transmit an indication of a duration for the one or more wireless links to remain in the active state; and   determine whether to maintain the one or more wireless links in the active state or return the one or more wireless links to the inactive state based at least in part on the duration.   
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein the instructions to transmit the indication of the duration are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 transmit a beacon, or a receive operating mode indicator (ROMI) signal, or a channel reservation signal, or a combination thereof, indicating the duration.   
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein the duration comprises a target beacon transmission time (TBTT), or a target wake time service period (TWT SP), or a physical layer convergence procedure (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU) duration, or a transmission opportunity, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
 identify channel conditions for a wireless link of the plurality of wireless links; and   determine whether to maintain the wireless link in the active state or return the wireless link to the inactive state based at least in part on the identified channel conditions.   
     
     
         20 . A method for wireless communication at a first wireless device, comprising:
 establishing a multi-link session between the first wireless device and a second wireless device, the multi-link session comprising a plurality of wireless links for communications in parallel between the first wireless device and the second wireless device;   receiving, over an anchor wireless link, an indication that the second wireless device has data to be transmitted to the first wireless device over the plurality of wireless links, the plurality of wireless links including one or more wireless links that are in an inactive state;   activating, based at least in part on the received indication, receiver components of the first wireless device into an active state for the one or more wireless links that are in the inactive state; and   receiving the data from the second wireless device over the plurality of wireless links using at least a portion of the activated receiver components.