WO2025247374A1

WO2025247374A1 - Partial bandwidth transmission schemes in wireless communications

Info

Publication number: WO2025247374A1
Application number: PCT/CN2025/098387
Authority: WO
Inventors: Pochun FANG; Kuo-Wei Chen
Original assignee: MediaTek Inc
Current assignee: MediaTek Inc
Priority date: 2024-05-31
Filing date: 2025-05-30
Publication date: 2025-12-04
Anticipated expiration: 2026-11-30

Abstract

Techniques pertaining to partial bandwidth transmission schemes in wireless communications are described. An apparatus (e.g., a second access point (AP)) detects an overlapping basic service set (OBSS) transmission by a first AP. In response, the apparatus performs a partial bandwidth transmission to a station (STA) associated with the second AP by: (a) transmitting a preamble of a physical-layer protocol data unit (PPDU) on a full channel bandwidth; and (b) transmitting a payload of the PPDU on a partial bandwidth of the full channel bandwidth to reduce interference with respect to the OBSS transmission. The OBSS transmission is on a first portion of the full channel bandwidth and the partial bandwidth is on a second portion of the full channel bandwidth not overlapping the first portion.

Description

PARTIAL BANDWIDTH TRANSMISSION SCHEMES IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION

The present disclosure is part of a non-provisional patent application claiming the priority benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Nos. 63/654, 179, filed 31 May 2024, the content of which herein being incorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure is generally related to wireless communications and, more particularly, to partial bandwidth transmission schemes in wireless communications.

BACKGROUND

Unless otherwise indicated herein, approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims listed below and are not admitted as prior art by inclusion in this section.

In wireless communications such as Wi-Fi (or WiFi) under the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 specifications, co-channel interference is a common problem in Wi-Fi network, possibly due to the limited number of channels and mesh channel planning consideration. With the carrier sense multiple access/collision avoidance (CSMA-CA) behavior in the Wi-Fi standard, co-channel interference can cause degradation in throughput and latency performance.

The IEEE defines spatial-reuse in IEEE 802.11ax specification to allow devices (e.g., stations (STAs) ) to perform concurrent transmission with reduced transmission (Tx) power once the device detects packets from an overlapping basic service set (OBSS) with an overlapping bandwidth. However, there are some drawbacks associated with this approach. Firstly, the spatial reuse Tx physical-layer (PHY) rate tends to be limited by the signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio (SINR) due to concurrent Tx and reduced Tx Power, as spatial-reusing devices may send data with background interference caused by OBSS traffic. Secondly, spatial-reuse transmission can cause degradation in OBSS traffic performance.

The IEEE Ultra High Reliability (UHR) Technical Group (TG) discussed coordinated spatial reuse and coordinated beamforming with the intention to improve performance and avoid interference on OBSS traffic. With the coordination of multiple access points (APs) prior to concurrent transmission, a device (e.g., STA) can limit its Tx Power to mitigate interference. Furthermore, the device can apply beamformed nulling on OBSS traffic to maximize performance gain and reduce interference level. Nevertheless, there is a drawback in that, even with nulling gain applied, the performance still highly depends on topology and sounding information, meaning traffic could be sent with limited PHY rate.

The IEEE UHR TG also discussed non-primary channel access, which is a scheme in which an AP and a STA, after detection of co-channel OBSS traffic, can implicitly switch to resource units (RUs) in a channel bandwidth which is not covered by the bandwidth of the OBSS traffic, with reduced bandwidth transmission under clear wireless medium. Still, there are some drawbacks associated with this approach. Firstly, this approach is applicable to devices/STAs compliant to the Wi-Fi 8 standard (but not legacy STAs) . Also, a device would need to switch its preamble detection to a new sub-20MHz location to detect traffic, thereby requiring higher hardware (HW) complexity in implementation. Moreover, the switch time of a STA depends on STA capability, which may lead to performance degradation. Furthermore, due to implicit switch behavior, an AP and a STA may not observe the same OBSS traffic at same time, which means a protocol for more information exchange is required.

Therefore, there is a need for a solution of partial bandwidth transmission schemes in wireless communications.

SUMMARY

The following summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be limiting in any way. That is, the following summary is provided to introduce concepts, highlights, benefits and advantages of the novel and non-obvious techniques described herein. Select implementations are further described below in the detailed description. Thus, the following summary is not intended to identify essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended for use in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

An objective of the present disclosure is to provide schemes, concepts, designs, techniques, methods, and apparatuses pertaining to partial bandwidth transmission schemes in wireless communications. It is believed that various schemes proposed herein may address or otherwise alleviate these aforementioned issue (s) .

Under various proposed schemes of the present disclosure, a device may send traffic with a full-bandwidth preamble and send a partial-bandwidth data payload to its target device to avoid data payload collision on OBSS interference. For instance, the data payload may be sent on a clear channel with no interference, and this approach may support a high modulation and coding scheme (MCS) rate compared to concurrent transmission with OBSS interference overlapping on one or more channels. Although the preamble part may collide with OBSS interference, a low SINR may be required on the receiving end for decoding due to a low complexity modulation. As only the preamble may cause impact on OBSS transmission, the interference on the OBSS traffic may be reduced or otherwise minimized. Moreover, with a coordination frame ahead of a physical-layer protocol data unit (PPDU) transmission under the proposed schemes, a device may align the duration of its preamble part to the OBSS traffic to further minimize interference.

In one aspect, a method may involve a second AP detecting an OBSS transmission by a first AP. In response to the detecting, the method may also involve the second AP performing a partial bandwidth transmission to a STA associated with the second AP by: (a) transmitting a preamble of a PPDU on a full channel bandwidth; and (b) transmitting a payload of the PPDU on a partial bandwidth of the full channel bandwidth to reduce interference with respect to the OBSS transmission. The OBSS transmission may be on a first portion of the full channel bandwidth and the partial bandwidth may be on a second portion of the full channel bandwidth not overlapping the first portion.

In one aspect, a method may involve a STA performing a partial bandwidth transmission with an AP by: (a) receiving a preamble of a PPDU on a full channel bandwidth; (b) receiving a payload of the PPDU on a partial bandwidth of the full channel bandwidth to reduce interference with respect to an OBSS transmission; and (c) transmitting a block acknowledgement (BA) on the partial bandwidth or the full channel bandwidth. The OBSS transmission may be on a first portion of the full channel bandwidth and the partial bandwidth may be on a second portion of the full channel bandwidth not overlapping the first portion.

It is noteworthy that, although the description provided herein may be in the context of certain radio access technologies, networks and network topologies such as, Wi-Fi, the proposed concepts, schemes and any variation (s) /derivative (s) thereof may be implemented in, for and by other types of radio access technologies, networks and network topologies such as, for example and without limitation, Bluetooth, ZigBee, 5^th Generation (5G) /New Radio (NR) , Long-Term Evolution (LTE) , LTE-Advanced, LTE-Advanced Pro, Internet-of-Things (IoT) , Industrial IoT (IIoT) and narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) . Thus, the scope of the present disclosure is not limited to the examples described herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute a part of the present disclosure. The drawings illustrate implementations of the disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure. It is appreciable that the drawings are not necessarily in scale as some components may be shown to be out of proportion than the size in actual implementation to clearly illustrate the concept of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example network environment in which various schemes in accordance with the present disclosure may be implemented.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an example scenario under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of an example scenario under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of an example scenario under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of an example scenario under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of an example scenario under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a diagram of an example scenario under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a diagram of an example scenario under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a diagram of an example scenario under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a diagram of an example scenario under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of an example communication system under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of an example process under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of an example process under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Detailed embodiments and implementations of the claimed subject matters are disclosed herein. However, it shall be understood that the disclosed embodiments and implementations are merely illustrative of the claimed subject matters which may be embodied in various forms. The present disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the exemplary embodiments and implementations set forth herein. Rather, these exemplary embodiments and implementations are provided so that the description of the present disclosure is thorough and complete and will fully convey the scope of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art. In the description below, details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the presented embodiments and implementations.
Overview

Implementations in accordance with the present disclosure relate to various techniques, methods, schemes and/or solutions pertaining to partial bandwidth transmission schemes in wireless communications. According to the present disclosure, a number of possible solutions may be implemented separately or jointly. That is, although these possible solutions may be described below separately, two or more of these possible solutions may be implemented in one combination or another.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example network environment 100 in which various solutions and schemes in accordance with the present disclosure may be implemented. FIG. 1 -FIG. 13 illustrate examples of implementation of various proposed schemes in network environment 100 in accordance with the present disclosure. The following description of various proposed schemes is provided with reference to FIG. 1 -FIG. 13.

Referring to FIG. 1, network environment 100 may include at least a first STA (STA 110) and a second STA (STA 120) . Either STA 110 or STA 120 may function as an access point (AP) STA or a non-AP STA. While there may be additional STAs involved in network environment 100 under one or more schemes proposed herein, for simplicity only two STAs (STA 110 and STA 120) are shown in FIG. 1 with the understanding that additional STAs may be involved (e.g., additional non-AP STAs participating in multi-AP coordination under the proposed schemes) . Each of STA 110 and STA 120 may be configured to implement various proposed schemes in accordance with the present disclosure as described below. It is noteworthy that, while the various proposed schemes may be individually or separately described below, in actual implementations some or all of the proposed schemes may be utilized or otherwise implemented jointly. Of course, each of the proposed schemes may be utilized or otherwise implemented individually or separately.

Under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure, a device (e.g., STA 110 and/or STA 120) may perform a concurrent transmission with an OBSS traffic with a smaller bandwidth by transmitting its traffic with a preamble part of a PPDU using a full bandwidth while transmitting a data payload part of the PPDU using a partial bandwidth, thereby avoiding interference. Under the proposed scheme, after decoding the Physical Layer Convergence Procedure (PLCP) header field of the OBSS traffic, the device may confirm or otherwise validate that such traffic is indeed from an OBSS and, accordingly, perform a partial bandwidth transmission as mentioned above. In validating the OBSS traffic, the device may follow the rules specified in Section 26.2.2, regarding inter-basic service set (inter-BSS) , and Section 26. 10.2, regarding OBSS packet detection (OBSSPD) -based spatial reuse operation, of the IEEE Specification. For instance, the device may validate the OBSS traffic by creating a table of different physical-layer rate (PHY rates) required for respective received signal strength indicators (RSSIs) , which may be based on device’s receiver (Rx) capability, to find or otherwise determine a minimum RSSI required on different modulations in order to decode IEEE 802.11 frames. In an event that the RSSI of a received traffic (e.g., a frame) is lower than the value (s) in such table, which maps threshold RSSI values with corresponding PHY rates, the device may deem the received frame not possible to decode and, thus, consider this frame as part of the OBSS traffic. Accordingly, the device may perform the partial bandwidth transmission. In scenarios with a peer-to-peer (P2P) link device connected to an AP router, the device may consider its AP’s downlink traffic to other STA (s) as an OBSS traffic and, accordingly, trigger a P2P partial bandwidth transmission. This may be accomplished based on the same BSS color but not the association identifier (AID) in the PLCP header.

Under the proposed scheme, the partial bandwidth transmission’s preamble may carry a target STA’s AID in a multi-user (MU) format and may allocate RUs on an OBSS non-overlapping RUs. Alternatively, or additionally, the partial bandwidth transmission’s preamble may place a non-existing AID value into a MU STA AID field on OBSS overlapping RU allocation. Alternatively, or additionally, the partial bandwidth transmission payload for OBSS overlapping RUs may not carry data and no transmission power may be allocated to these RUs. Under the proposed scheme, a block acknowledgement (BlockAck or BA) may be sent with a full bandwidth or using a trigger frame to trigger a target device to reply on one or more non-overlapping RUs or using the trigger frame to trigger the target device to reply on one or more overlapping RUs with a reduced transmission power. Under the proposed scheme, the transmission power may be reduced to avoid interference on OBSS traffic. For OBSS occupied RUs, the device may send dummy data. Moreover, power control may be applied on dummy data RUs.

Under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure, a partial bandwidth transmission may be applied or otherwise utilized on a coordinated transmission. For instance, following an initial control frame (ICF) or after an ICF response frame (ICFR) , two devices (e.g., STA 110 and STA 120) may perform concurrent transmissions. One of the two devices that won wireless medium contention may be referred to as a sharing device while the other of the two devices may be referred to as a shared device. The sharing device may send an ICF to notify the shared device about packet alignment information and transmission power control information and RU or bandwidth allocation information or beamforming nulling information. The shared device may start a partial bandwidth transmission if the sharing device’s transmission bandwidth is smaller than the shared device’s channel bandwidth (CBW) .

Under the proposed schemes, when two or more APs perform a partial bandwidth transmission, such APs may align their preamble start time for the transmission. Alternatively, or additionally, when two or more APs perform a partial bandwidth transmission, such APs may allow their preamble start times not to be aligned for transmission, with the start time of a PPDU transmission by a shared AP being later than the start time of a PPDU transmission by a sharing AP.

Under the proposed scheme, the partial bandwidth transmission’s preamble may carry a target STA’s AID in a multi-user (MU) format and may allocate RUs on an OBSS non-overlapping RUs. Alternatively, or additionally, the partial bandwidth transmission’s preamble may place a non-existing AID value into a MU STA AID field on OBSS overlapping RU allocation. Alternatively, or additionally, the partial bandwidth transmission payload for OBSS overlapping RUs may not carry data and no transmission power may be allocated to these RUs. Under the proposed scheme, a BlockAck may be sent with a full bandwidth or using a trigger frame to trigger a target device to reply on one or more non-overlapping RUs or using the trigger frame to trigger the target device to reply on one or more overlapping RUs with a reduced transmission power. Under the proposed scheme, the transmission power may be reduced to avoid interference on OBSS traffic.

Under the proposed scheme, beamforming nulling may be applied on the preamble part of a PPDU being transmitted so as to mitigate interference on the sharing AP/shared AP’s transmission preamble. Moreover, transmission power reduction may be applied on the preamble part of a PPDU being transmitted so as to mitigate interference on the sharing AP/shared AP’s transmission preamble. For RUs occupied by a small-bandwidth device, a partial bandwidth transmission device may send dummy data on those RUs. For instance, power control and beamforming nulling may be applied on dummy data RUs.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example scenario 200 under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure. Scenario 200 may involve a first AP (AP1) in communication with its associated STA (STA1-1) and a second AP (AP2) in communication with its associated STA (STA2-1) . Each of AP1 and AP2 may be associated with its respective basic service set (BSS) . Each of AP1 and AP2 may communicate with its associated STA (STA1-1 and STA2-1, respectively) on a primary 160MHz channel and/or a secondary 160MHz channel of a 320MHz channel bandwidth.

Referring to FIG. 2, AP1 may transmit a PPDU to STA1-1 on the primary 160MHz and, in response, STA1-1 may transmit a BA to AP1 on the primary 160MHz to acknowledge receipt of the PPDU. On the other hand, AP2 may detect AP1’s transmission of its PPDU on the primary 160MHz as an OBSS transmission (e.g., during an inter-BSS detection time) . In response, AP2 may perform a partial bandwidth transmission concurrently with the OBSS transmission by transmitting a full bandwidth preamble (on the full 320MHz channel bandwidth) of a PPDU to STA2-1 followed by transmission of a payload of the PPDU to STA2-1 on the secondary 160MHz so as to minimize interference by and on the OBSS transmission by AP1. Upon receipt of the payload, STA2-1 may transmit a BA (e.g., a trigger-based BA) to AP2 on the secondary 160MHz. Under the proposed scheme, the inter-BSS detection of AP1’s OBSS transmission by AP2 may be based on AP1’s BSS colors, partial AID and BSS identifier (BSSID) information.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example scenario 300 under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure. Scenario 300 may involve a first AP (AP1) in communication with its associated STA (STA1-1) and a second AP (AP2) in communication with its associated STA (STA2-1) . Each of AP1 and AP2 may be associated with its respective BSS. Each of AP1 and AP2 may communicate with its associated STA (STA1-1 and STA2-1, respectively) on a primary 160MHz channel and/or a secondary 160MHz channel of a 320MHz channel bandwidth.

Referring to FIG. 3, AP1 may transmit a PPDU to STA1-1 on the primary 160MHz and, in response, STA1-1 may transmit a BA to AP1 on the primary 160MHz to acknowledge receipt of the PPDU. On the other hand, AP2 may detect AP1’s transmission of its PPDU on the primary 160MHz as an OBSS transmission (e.g., during an inter-BSS detection time) . In response, AP2 may perform a partial bandwidth transmission concurrently with the OBSS transmission by transmitting a full bandwidth preamble (on the full 320MHz channel bandwidth) of a PPDU to STA2-1 followed by transmission of a payload of the PPDU to STA2-1 on the secondary 160MHz so as to minimize interference by and on the OBSS transmission by AP1. Upon receipt of the payload, STA2-1 may transmit a BA (e.g., a trigger-based BA) to AP2 on the secondary 160MHz. In scenario 300, it may be assumed that the transmission rate of AP1 may be MCS11 with a RSSI of -80dBm. AP2 may consider whether the frame RSSI of AP1’s transmission is less than -66dBm, below which AP2 may not be able to decode the payload of the PPDU transmitted by AP1. Accordingly, AP2 may classify the frame of the PPDU transmitted by AP1 as an inter-BSS frame and correspondingly trigger the partial bandwidth transmission.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example scenario 400 under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure. Scenario 400 may involve a first AP (AP1) in communication with its associated STA (STA1-1) and a second AP (AP2) in communication with its associated STA (STA2-1) . Each of AP1 and AP2 may be associated with its respective BSS. Each of AP1 and AP2 may communicate with its associated STA (STA1-1 and STA2-1, respectively) on a primary 160MHz channel and/or a secondary 160MHz channel of a 320MHz channel bandwidth.

Referring to FIG. 4, AP1 may transmit a PPDU to STA1-1 on the primary 160MHz and, in response, STA1-1 may transmit a BA to AP1 on the primary 160MHz to acknowledge receipt of the PPDU. On the other hand, AP2 may detect AP1’s transmission of its PPDU on the primary 160MHz as an OBSS transmission (e.g., during an inter-BSS detection time) . In response, AP2 may perform a partial bandwidth transmission concurrently with the OBSS transmission by transmitting a full bandwidth preamble (on the full 320MHz channel bandwidth) of a PPDU to STA2-1 followed by transmission of a payload of the PPDU to STA2-1 on the secondary 160MHz so as to minimize interference by and on the OBSS transmission by AP1. Upon receipt of the payload, STA2-1 may transmit a BA (e.g., a trigger-based BA) to AP2 on the secondary 160MHz. Under the proposed scheme, AP2 may reduce it transmission power in transmitting the preamble to reduce or otherwise minimize interference on the OBSS traffic transmitted by AP1. Optionally, AP2 may also apply reduced transmission power in transmitting the payload.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example scenario 500 under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure. Scenario 500 may involve a first AP (AP1) in communication with its associated STA (STA1-1) and a second AP (AP2) in communication with its associated STA (STA2-1) . Each of AP1 and AP2 may be associated with its respective BSS. Each of AP1 and AP2 may communicate with its associated STA (STA1-1 and STA2-1, respectively) on a primary 160MHz channel and/or a secondary 160MHz channel of a 320MHz channel bandwidth.

Referring to FIG. 5, AP1 may transmit a PPDU to STA1-1 on the primary 160MHz and, in response, STA1-1 may transmit a BA to AP1 on the primary 160MHz to acknowledge receipt of the PPDU. On the other hand, AP2 may detect AP1’s transmission of its PPDU on the primary 160MHz as an OBSS transmission (e.g., during an inter-BSS detection time) . In response, AP2 may perform a partial bandwidth transmission concurrently with the OBSS transmission by transmitting a full bandwidth preamble (on the full 320MHz channel bandwidth) of a PPDU to STA2-1 followed by transmission of a payload of the PPDU to STA2-1 on the secondary 160MHz so as to minimize interference by and on the OBSS transmission by AP1. Upon receipt of the payload, STA2-1 may transmit a BA (e.g., a trigger-based BA) to AP2 on the full 320MHz. Under the proposed scheme, AP2 may reduce STA2-1’s transmission power in transmitting the BA to reduce or otherwise minimize interference on the OBSS traffic transmitted by AP1. For instance, AP2 may trigger STA2-1 to reduce STA2-1’s transmission power with an indication in the preamble.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example scenario 600 under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure. Scenario 600 may involve a first AP (AP1) in communication with its associated STA (STA1-1) and a second AP (AP2) in communication with its associated STA (STA2-1) . Each of AP1 and AP2 may be associated with its respective BSS. Each of AP1 and AP2 may communicate with its associated STA (STA1-1 and STA2-1, respectively) on a primary 160MHz channel and/or a secondary 160MHz channel of a 320MHz channel bandwidth.

Referring to FIG. 6, AP1 may transmit a PPDU to STA1-1 on the primary 160MHz and, in response, STA1-1 may transmit a BA to AP1 on the primary 160MHz to acknowledge receipt of the PPDU. On the other hand, AP2 may detect AP1’s transmission of its PPDU on the primary 160MHz as an OBSS transmission (e.g., during an inter-BSS detection time) . In response, AP2 may perform a partial bandwidth transmission concurrently with the OBSS transmission by transmitting a full bandwidth preamble (on the full 320MHz channel bandwidth) of a PPDU to STA2-1 followed by transmission of a payload of the PPDU to STA2-1 on the secondary 160MHz so as to minimize interference by and on the OBSS transmission by AP1. Upon receipt of the payload, STA2-1 may transmit a BA (e.g., a trigger-based BA) to AP2 on the secondary 160MHz. Under the proposed scheme, in addition to transmitting the payload on the secondary 160MHz, AP2 may also transmit (e.g., simultaneously with the transmission of the payload) a dummy load on the primary 160MHz.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example scenario 700 under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure. Scenario 700 may involve a first AP (AP1) in communication with its associated STA (STA1-1) and a second AP (AP2) in communication with its associated STA (STA2-1) . Each of AP1 and AP2 may be associated with its respective BSS. Each of AP1 and AP2 may communicate with its associated STA (STA1-1 and STA2-1, respectively) on a primary 160MHz channel and/or a secondary 160MHz channel of a 320MHz channel bandwidth. In scenario 700, AP1 may be a sharing AP and AP2 may be a shared AP.

Referring to FIG. 7, prior to transmitting a PPDU to STA1-1, AP1 may transmit an ICF on the primary 160MHz, which may be detected and decoded by AP2. AP1 then may transmit its PPDU to STA1-1 on the primary 160MHz and, in response, STA1-1 may transmit a BA to AP1 on the primary 160MHz to acknowledge receipt of the PPDU. In response to decoding the ICF, AP2 may perform a partial bandwidth transmission concurrently with the OBSS transmission with the start time and end time of AP2’s transmission being aligned with the start time and end time of AP1’s transmission of its PPDU, respectively. Thus, AP2 may transmit a full bandwidth preamble (on the full 320MHz channel bandwidth) of a PPDU to STA2-1 followed by transmission of a payload of the PPDU to STA2-1 on the secondary 160MHz so as to minimize interference by and on the OBSS transmission by AP1. Upon receipt of the payload, STA2-1 may transmit a BA (e.g., a trigger-based BA) to AP2 on the secondary 160MHz. Under the proposed scheme, AP2 may reduce it transmission power in transmitting the preamble to reduce or otherwise minimize interference on the OBSS traffic transmitted by AP1. Optionally, AP2 may also apply reduced transmission power in transmitting the payload.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example scenario 800 under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure. Scenario 800 may involve a first AP (AP1) in communication with its associated STA (STA1-1) and a second AP (AP2) in communication with its associated STA (STA2-1) . Each of AP1 and AP2 may be associated with its respective BSS. Each of AP1 and AP2 may communicate with its associated STA (STA1-1 and STA2-1, respectively) on a primary 160MHz channel and/or a secondary 160MHz channel of a 320MHz channel bandwidth. In scenario 700, AP1 may be a sharing AP and AP2 may be a shared AP.

Referring to FIG. 8, prior to transmitting a PPDU to STA1-1, AP1 may transmit an ICF on the primary 160MHz, which may be detected and decoded by AP2. AP1 then may transmit its PPDU to STA1-1 on the primary 160MHz and, in response, STA1-1 may transmit a BA to AP1 on the primary 160MHz to acknowledge receipt of the PPDU. In response to decoding the ICF, AP2 may perform a partial bandwidth transmission concurrently with the OBSS transmission with the start time and end time of AP2’s transmission being aligned with the start time and end time of AP1’s transmission of its PPDU, respectively. Thus, AP2 may transmit a full bandwidth preamble (on the full 320MHz channel bandwidth) of a PPDU to STA2-1 followed by transmission of a payload of the PPDU to STA2-1 on the secondary 160MHz so as to minimize interference by and on the OBSS transmission by AP1. Upon receipt of the payload, STA2-1 may transmit a BA (e.g., a trigger-based BA) to AP2 on the secondary 160MHz. Under the proposed scheme, AP2 may reduce it transmission power in transmitting the preamble and payload to reduce or otherwise minimize interference on the OBSS traffic transmitted by AP1. Moreover, AP2 may also transmit (e.g., simultaneously with the transmission of the payload) a dummy load on the primary 160MHz with reduced transmission power.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example scenario 900 under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure. Scenario 900 may involve a first AP (AP1) in communication with its associated STA (STA1-1) and a second AP (AP2) in communication with its associated STA (STA2-1) . Each of AP1 and AP2 may be associated with its respective BSS. Each of AP1 and AP2 may communicate with its associated STA (STA1-1 and STA2-1, respectively) on a primary 160MHz channel and/or a secondary 160MHz channel of a 320MHz channel bandwidth. In scenario 700, AP1 may be a sharing AP and AP2 may be a shared AP.

Referring to FIG. 9, prior to transmitting a PPDU to STA1-1, AP1 may transmit an ICF on the primary 160MHz, which may be detected and decoded by AP2. AP1 then may transmit its PPDU to STA1-1 on the primary 160MHz and, in response, STA1-1 may transmit a BA to AP1 on the primary 160MHz to acknowledge receipt of the PPDU. In response to decoding the ICF, AP2 may perform a partial bandwidth transmission concurrently with the OBSS transmission, with the start time and end time of AP2’s transmission being aligned with the start time and end time of AP1’s transmission of its PPDU, respectively. Thus, AP2 may transmit a full bandwidth preamble (on the full 320MHz channel bandwidth) of a PPDU to STA2-1 followed by transmission of a payload of the PPDU to STA2-1 on the secondary 160MHz so as to minimize interference by and on the OBSS transmission by AP1. Upon receipt of the payload, STA2-1 may transmit a BA (e.g., a trigger-based BA) to AP2 on the secondary 160MHz. Under the proposed scheme, AP1 may perform beamforming nulling to STA2-1 when transmitting its PPDU (e.g., at least the preamble) to STA1-1. Similarly, AP2 may perform beamforming nulling to STA1-1 when transmitting the full bandwidth preamble to STA2-1.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example scenario 1000 under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure. Scenario 1000 may involve a first AP (AP1) in communication with its associated STA (STA1-1) and a second AP (AP2) in communication with its associated STA (STA2-1) . Each of AP1 and AP2 may be associated with its respective BSS. Each of AP1 and AP2 may communicate with its associated STA (STA1-1 and STA2-1, respectively) on a primary 160MHz channel and/or a secondary 160MHz channel of a 320MHz channel bandwidth. In scenario 700, AP1 may be a sharing AP and AP2 may be a shared AP.

Referring to FIG. 10, prior to transmitting a PPDU to STA1-1, AP1 may transmit an ICF on the primary 160MHz, which may be detected and decoded by AP2. AP1 then may transmit its PPDU to STA1-1 on the primary 160MHz and, in response, STA1-1 may transmit a BA to AP1 on the primary 160MHz to acknowledge receipt of the PPDU. In response to decoding the ICF, AP2 may perform a partial bandwidth transmission concurrently with the OBSS transmission, with the end time of AP2’s transmission being aligned with the end time of AP1’s transmission of its PPDU. Thus, AP2 may transmit a full bandwidth preamble (on the full 320MHz channel bandwidth) of a PPDU to STA2-1 followed by transmission of a payload of the PPDU to STA2-1 on the secondary 160MHz so as to minimize interference by and on the OBSS transmission by AP1. Upon receipt of the payload, STA2-1 may transmit a BA (e.g., a trigger-based BA) to AP2 on the secondary 160MHz. Under the proposed scheme, AP2 may start the transmission of the full bandwidth payload at a time later than the start time of AP1’s OBSS transmission of its PPDU.
Illustrative Implementations

FIG. 11 illustrates an example system 1100 having at least an example apparatus 1110 and an example apparatus 1120 in accordance with an implementation of the present disclosure. Each of apparatus 1110 and apparatus 1120 may perform various functions to implement schemes, techniques, processes and methods described herein pertaining to partial bandwidth transmission schemes in wireless communications, including the various schemes described above with respect to various proposed designs, concepts, schemes, systems and methods described above as well as processes described below. For instance, apparatus 1110 may be implemented in STA 110 and apparatus 1120 may be implemented in STA 120, or vice versa.

Each of apparatus 1110 and apparatus 1120 may be a part of an electronic apparatus, such as a portable or mobile apparatus, a wearable apparatus, a wireless communication apparatus or a computing apparatus. When implemented in a STA, each of apparatus 1110 and apparatus 1120 may be implemented in a smartphone, a smart watch, a personal digital assistant, a digital camera, or a computing equipment such as a tablet computer, a laptop computer or a notebook computer. Each of apparatus 1110 and apparatus 1120 may also be a part of a machine type apparatus, which may be an IoT apparatus such as an immobile or a stationary apparatus, a home apparatus, a wire communication apparatus or a computing apparatus. For instance, each of apparatus 1110 and apparatus 1120 may be implemented in a smart thermostat, a smart fridge, a smart door lock, a wireless speaker or a home control center. When implemented in or as a network apparatus, apparatus 1110 and/or apparatus 1120 may be implemented in a network node, such as an AP in a WLAN.

In some implementations, each of apparatus 1110 and apparatus 1120 may be implemented in the form of one or more integrated-circuit (IC) chips such as, for example and without limitation, one or more single-core processors, one or more multi-core processors, one or more reduced-instruction set computing (RISC) processors, or one or more complex-instruction-set-computing (CISC) processors. In the various schemes described above, each of apparatus 1110 and apparatus 1120 may be implemented in or as a controller/initiator or a controlee/responder. Each of apparatus 1110 and apparatus 1120 may include at least some of those components shown in FIG. 11 such as a processor 1112 and a processor 1122, respectively, for example. Each of apparatus 1110 and apparatus 1120 may further include one or more other components not pertinent to the proposed scheme of the present disclosure (e.g., internal power supply, display device and/or user interface device) , and, thus, such component (s) of apparatus 1110 and apparatus 1120 are neither shown in FIG. 11 nor described below in the interest of simplicity and brevity.

In one aspect, each of processor 1112 and processor 1122 may be implemented in the form of one or more single-core processors, one or more multi-core processors, one or more RISC processors or one or more CISC processors. That is, even though a singular term “a processor” is used herein to refer to processor 1112 and processor 1122, each of processor 1112 and processor 1122 may include multiple processors in some implementations and a single processor in other implementations in accordance with the present disclosure. In another aspect, each of processor 1112 and processor 1122 may be implemented in the form of hardware (and, optionally, firmware) with electronic components including, for example and without limitation, one or more transistors, one or more diodes, one or more capacitors, one or more resistors, one or more inductors, one or more memristors and/or one or more varactors that are configured and arranged to achieve specific purposes in accordance with the present disclosure. In other words, in at least some implementations, each of processor 1112 and processor 1122 is a special-purpose machine specifically designed, arranged and configured to perform specific tasks including those pertaining to partial bandwidth transmission schemes in wireless communications in accordance with various implementations of the present disclosure.

In some implementations, apparatus 1110 may also include a transceiver 1116 coupled to processor 1112. Transceiver 1116 may include a transmitter capable of wirelessly transmitting and a receiver capable of wirelessly receiving data. In some implementations, apparatus 1120 may also include a transceiver 1126 coupled to processor 1122. Transceiver 1126 may include a transmitter capable of wirelessly transmitting and a receiver capable of wirelessly receiving data. It is noteworthy that, although transceiver 1116 and transceiver 1126 are illustrated as being external to and separate from processor 1112 and processor 1122, respectively, in some implementations, transceiver 1116 may be an integral part of processor 1112 as a system on chip (SoC) and/or transceiver 1126 may be an integral part of processor 1122 as a SoC.

In some implementations, apparatus 1110 may further include a memory 1114 coupled to processor 1112 and capable of being accessed by processor 1112 and storing data therein. In some implementations, apparatus 1120 may further include a memory 1124 coupled to processor 1122 and capable of being accessed by processor 1122 and storing data therein. Each of memory 1114 and memory 1124 may include a type of random-access memory (RAM) such as dynamic RAM (DRAM) , static RAM (SRAM) , thyristor RAM (T-RAM) and/or zero-capacitor RAM (Z-RAM) . Alternatively, or additionally, each of memory 1114 and memory 1124 may include a type of read-only memory (ROM) such as mask ROM, programmable ROM (PROM) , erasable programmable ROM (EPROM) and/or electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM) . Alternatively, or additionally, each of memory 1114 and memory 1124 may include a type of non-volatile random-access memory (NVRAM) such as flash memory, solid-state memory, ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM) , magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM) and/or phase-change memory.

Each of apparatus 1110 and apparatus 1120 may be a communication entity capable of communicating with each other using various proposed schemes in accordance with the present disclosure. For illustrative purposes and without limitation, a description of capabilities of apparatus 1110 or apparatus 1120, as STA 110 and STA 120, respectively, is provided below in the context of example processes 1200 and 1300. It is noteworthy that, although a detailed description of capabilities, functionalities and/or technical features of either of apparatus 1110 and apparatus 1120 is provided below, the same may be applied to the other of apparatus 1110 and apparatus 1120 although a detailed description thereof is not provided solely in the interest of brevity. It is also noteworthy that, although the example implementations described below are provided in the context of WLAN, the same may be implemented in other types of networks.
Illustrative Processes

FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 illustrate example processes 1200 and 1300, respectively, under a proposed scheme in accordance with the present disclosure. Each of processes 1200 and 1300 may represent an aspect of implementing various proposed designs, concepts, schemes, systems, and methods described above. More specifically, each of processes 1200 and 1300 may represent an aspect of the proposed concepts and schemes pertaining to partial bandwidth transmission schemes in wireless communications. Each of processes 1200 and 1300 may include one or more operations, actions, or functions as illustrated by one or more of blocks/subblocks. Although illustrated as discrete blocks, various blocks of each of processes 1200 and 1300 may be divided into additional blocks, combined into fewer blocks, or eliminated, depending on the desired implementation. Moreover, the blocks/sub-blocks of each of processes 1200 and 1300 may be executed in the order shown in FIG. 12 and FIG. 13, respectively, or, alternatively, in a different order. Furthermore, one or more of the blocks/sub-blocks of each of processes 1200 and 1300 may be executed repeatedly or iteratively. Each of processes 1200 and 1300 may be implemented by or in apparatus 1110 and apparatus 1120 as well as any variations thereof. Solely for illustrative purposes and without limiting the scope, each of processes 1200 and 1300 is described below in the context of apparatus 1110 and implemented in or as a second AP (e.g., STA 110 as AP2) and apparatus 1120 implemented in or as an associated STA (e.g., STA 120 as STA2-1) of a wireless network in network environment 100, or vice vera, in accordance with one or more of IEEE 802.11 standards.

Process 1200 may begin at block 1210.

At 1210, process 1200 may include processor 1112 of apparatus 1110 detecting, via transceiver 1116, an OBSS transmission by a first AP (AP1) . Process 1200 may proceed from 1210 to 1220.

At 1220, process 1200 may include processor 1112 performing, via transceiver 1116, a partial bandwidth transmission to a STA (e.g., apparatus 1120) associated with the second AP in response to the detecting.

Operations of the partial bandwidth transmission may be represented by 1222 and 1224.

At 1222, process 1200 may involve processor 1112 transmitting a preamble of a PPDU on a full channel bandwidth. Process may proceed from 1222 to 1224.

At 1224, process 1200 may involve processor 1112 transmitting a payload of the PPDU on a partial bandwidth of the full channel bandwidth to reduce interference with respect to the OBSS transmission. The OBSS transmission may be on a first portion of the full channel bandwidth (e.g., primary 160MHz of a 320MHz channel bandwidth) and the partial bandwidth is on a second portion (e.g., secondary 160MHz) of the full channel bandwidth not overlapping the first portion.

In some implementations, in detecting the OBSS transmission, process 1200 may involve processor 1112 performing an inter-BSS detection of the OBSS transmission based on a BSS color, a partial AID and BSSID information of the first AP.

In some implementations, in detecting the OBSS transmission, process 1200 may involve processor 1112 performing certain operations. For instance, process 1200 may involve processor 1112 detecting a frame of the OBSS transmission. Moreover, process 1200 may involve processor 1112 classifying the frame as an inter-BSS frame responsive to being unable to decode the frame’s payload.

In some implementations, the preamble may carry an AID of the STA in a MU format, and the preamble may allocate one or more RUs on one or more OBSS non-overlapping RUs.

In some implementations, the preamble may carry a target STA’s AID in a MU format that allocates one or more RUs on one or more OBSS non-overlapping RUs.

In some implementations, in transmitting the payload of the PPDU on the partial bandwidth, process 1200 may involve processor 1112 not transmitting data on one or more OBSS overlapping RUs. Moreover, no transmission power may be allocated by the apparatus on the one or more OBSS overlapping RUs.

In some implementations, in performing the partial bandwidth transmission, process 1200 may involve processor 1112 transmitting the preamble with a reduced transmission power or transmitting both the preamble and the payload with the reduced transmission power.

In some implementations, in performing the partial bandwidth transmission, process 1200 may further involve processor 1112 transmitting a dummy load on one or more OBSS occupied RUs. Moreover, process 1200 may also involve processor 1112 applying power control on transmission of the dummy load. Alternatively, or additionally, process 1200 may involve processor 1112 applying beamforming nulling on transmission of the dummy load.

In some implementations, in transmitting the preamble, process 1200 may involve processor 1112 transmitting the preamble with a start time of transmission of the preamble being aligned with a respective start time of transmission of a respective preamble of a respective PPDU transmitted by the first AP. Alternatively, in transmitting the preamble, process 1200 may involve processor 1112 transmitting the preamble with a start time of transmission of the preamble being later than a respective start time of transmission of a respective preamble of a respective PPDU transmitted by the first AP.

In some implementations, in transmitting the preamble, process 1200 may involve processor 1112 applying beamforming nulling in transmitting the preamble.

In some implementations, process 1200 may further involve processor 1112 receiving, via transceiver 1116, a BA from the STA on the partial bandwidth or the full channel bandwidth. In some implementations, in receiving the BA, process 1200 may involve processor 1112 receiving the BA on the full channel bandwidth on one or more non-overlapping RUs responsive to triggering the STA to reply on the one or more non-overlapping RUs. Alternatively, or additionally, in receiving the BA, process 1200 may involve processor 1112 receiving the BA on the full channel bandwidth on one or more overlapping RUs with a reduced transmission power responsive to triggering the STA to reply on the one or more overlapping RUs.

Process 13300 may begin at block 1310.

At 1310, process 1300 may include processor 1122 of apparatus 1120 performing, via transceiver 1126, a partial bandwidth transmission with an AP (e.g., apparatus 1110) . Operations of the partial bandwidth transmission may be represented by 1312, 1314 and 1316.

At 1312, process 1300 may involve processor 1122 receiving a preamble of a PPDU on a full channel bandwidth. Process 1300 may proceed from 1312 to 1314.

At 1314, process 1300 may involve processor 1122 receiving a payload of the PPDU on a partial bandwidth of the full channel bandwidth to reduce interference with respect to an OBSS transmission. Process 1300 may proceed from 1314 to 1316.

At 1316, process 1300 may involve processor 1122 transmitting a BA on the partial bandwidth or the full channel bandwidth. The OBSS transmission may be on a first portion of the full channel bandwidth and the partial bandwidth may be on a second portion of the full channel bandwidth not overlapping the first portion.

In some implementations, in transmitting the BA, process 1300 may involve processor 1122 transmitting the BA on the full channel bandwidth on one or more non-overlapping RUs.

In some implementations, in transmitting the BA, process 1300 may involve processor 1122 transmitting the BA on the full channel bandwidth on one or more overlapping RUs with a reduced transmission power.
Additional Notes

The herein-described subject matter sometimes illustrates different components contained within, or connected with, different other components. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures are merely examples, and that in fact many other architectures can be implemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense, any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality is effectively "associated" such that the desired functionality is achieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve a particular functionality can be seen as "associated with" each other such that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components so associated can also be viewed as being "operably connected" , or "operably coupled" , to each other to achieve the desired functionality, and any two components capable of being so associated can also be viewed as being "operably couplable" , to each other to achieve the desired functionality. Specific examples of operably couplable include but are not limited to physically mateable and/or physically interacting components and/or wirelessly interactable and/or wirelessly interacting components and/or logically interacting and/or logically interactable components.

Further, with respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate to the context and/or application. The various singular/plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sake of clarity.

Moreover, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims, e.g., bodies of the appended claims, are generally intended as “open” terms, e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to, ” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having at least, ” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to, ” etc. It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases "at least one" and "one or more" to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles "a" or "an" limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to implementations containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases "one or more" or "at least one" and indefinite articles such as "a" or "an, " e.g., “a” and/or “an” should be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more; ” the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should be interpreted to mean at least the recited number, e.g., the bare recitation of "two recitations, " without other modifiers, means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations. Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, and C, etc. ” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention, e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, and C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc. In those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, or C, etc. ” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention, e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, or C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc. It will be further understood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase “A or B” will be understood to include the possibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B. ”

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that various implementations of the present disclosure have been described herein for purposes of illustration, and that various modifications may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the various implementations disclosed herein are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims.

Claims

A method, comprising:

detecting, by a processor of an apparatus implemented in a second access point (AP) , an overlapping basic service set (OBSS) transmission by a first AP; and

performing, by the processor, a partial bandwidth transmission to a station (STA) associated with the second AP responsive to the detecting by:

transmitting a preamble of a physical-layer protocol data unit (PPDU) on a full channel bandwidth; and

transmitting a payload of the PPDU on a partial bandwidth of the full channel bandwidth to reduce interference with respect to the OBSS transmission,

wherein the OBSS transmission is on a first portion of the full channel bandwidth and the partial bandwidth is on a second portion of the full channel bandwidth not overlapping the first portion.
The method of Claim 1, wherein the detecting of the OBSS transmission comprises performing an inter-basic service set (inter-BSS) detection of the OBSS transmission based on a basic service set (BSS) color, a partial association identifier (AID) and BSS identifier (BSSID) information of the first AP.
The method of Claim 1, wherein the detecting of the OBSS transmission comprises:

detecting a frame of the OBSS transmission; and

classifying the frame as an inter-basic service set (inter-BSS) frame responsive to being unable to decode the frame’s payload.
The method of Claim 1, wherein the preamble carries an association identifier (AID) of the STA in a multi-user (MU) format, and wherein the preamble allocates one or more resource units (RUs) on one or more OBSS non-overlapping RUs.
The method of Claim 1, wherein the preamble carries a target STA’s association identifier (AID) in a multi-user (MU) format that allocates one or more resource units (RUs) on one or more OBSS non-overlapping RUs.
The method of Claim 1, wherein the transmitting of the payload of the PPDU on the partial bandwidth comprises not transmitting data on one or more OBSS overlapping resource units (RUs) , and wherein no transmission power is allocated by the apparatus on the one or more OBSS overlapping RUs.
The method of Claim 1, wherein the performing of the partial bandwidth transmission comprises transmitting the preamble with a reduced transmission power or transmitting both the preamble and the payload with the reduced transmission power.
The method of Claim 1, wherein the performing of the partial bandwidth transmission further comprises transmitting a dummy load on one or more OBSS occupied resource units (RUs) .
The method of Claim 8, wherein the performing of the partial bandwidth transmission further comprises applying power control on transmission of the dummy load.
The method of Claim 8, wherein the performing of the partial bandwidth transmission further comprises applying beamforming nulling on transmission of the dummy load.
The method of Claim 1, wherein the transmitting of the preamble comprises transmitting the preamble with a start time of transmission of the preamble being aligned with a respective start time of transmission of a respective preamble of a respective PPDU transmitted by the first AP.
The method of Claim 1, wherein the transmitting of the preamble comprises transmitting the preamble with a start time of transmission of the preamble being later than a respective start time of transmission of a respective preamble of a respective PPDU transmitted by the first AP.
The method of Claim 1, wherein the transmitting of the preamble comprises applying beamforming nulling in transmitting the preamble.
The method of Claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the processor, a block acknowledgement (BA) from the STA on the partial bandwidth or the full channel bandwidth.
The method of Claim 14, wherein the receiving of the BA comprises receiving the BA on the full channel bandwidth on one or more non-overlapping RUs responsive to triggering the STA to reply on the one or more non-overlapping RUs.
The method of Claim 14, wherein the receiving of the BA comprises receiving the BA on the full channel bandwidth on one or more overlapping RUs with a reduced transmission power responsive to triggering the STA to reply on the one or more overlapping RUs.
A method, comprising:

performing, by a processor of an apparatus implemented in a station (STA) , a partial bandwidth transmission with an access point (AP) by:

receiving a preamble of a physical-layer protocol data unit (PPDU) on a full channel bandwidth;

receiving a payload of the PPDU on a partial bandwidth of the full channel bandwidth to reduce interference with respect to an overlapping basic service set (OBSS) transmission; and

transmitting a block acknowledgement (BA) on the partial bandwidth or the full channel bandwidth,

wherein the OBSS transmission is on a first portion of the full channel bandwidth and the partial bandwidth is on a second portion of the full channel bandwidth not overlapping the first portion.
The method of Claim 17, wherein the transmitting of the BA comprises transmitting the BA on the full channel bandwidth on one or more non-overlapping RUs.
The method of Claim 17, wherein the transmitting of the BA comprises transmitting the BA on the full channel bandwidth on one or more overlapping RUs with a reduced transmission power.
An apparatus implementable in a second access point (AP) , comprising:

a transceiver configured to communicate wirelessly; and

a processor coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform operations comprising:

detecting, via the transceiver, an overlapping basic service set (OBSS) transmission by a first AP; and

performing, via the transceiver, a partial bandwidth transmission to a station (STA) associated with the second AP responsive to the detecting by:

transmitting a preamble of a physical-layer protocol data unit (PPDU) on a full channel bandwidth; and

transmitting a payload of the PPDU on a partial bandwidth of the full channel bandwidth to reduce interference with respect to the OBSS transmission,

wherein the OBSS transmission is on a first portion of the full channel bandwidth and the partial bandwidth is on a second portion of the full channel bandwidth not overlapping the first portion.