Matt,
Please find inline some clarifications.
From: Matthew Fischer <00000959766b2ff5-dmarc-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, July 28, 2025 12:29 PM
To: STDS-802-11-TGBN@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [STDS-802-11-TGBN] PDT MAC NPCA document 11-25-936 updated to r7
Salvatore,
Hi Matt,
Please find inline some further comments from my side.
Many thanks,
-Salvatore (Nokia)
what is the technical reason to substract the largest between
switch back delays of the STA and its intended recipients.
This would also lead to effectively
have STAs returning
to primary channel at different times if bullet 1 of section 37.10.3 is kept, which may cause medium sync issues.
Several people have suggested that differing switch back times will cause medium sync problems on the BSS primary channel.
This should not be the case:
Regardless of when any STA switches back, there should never be a channel sync problem because every STA that switched did so based on received OBSS information
which is nominally the same information. In such a case, each STA can switch back at different times so long as all STAs switch back BEFORE the end of the OBSS occupancy.
So long as this is true, all returnees will only be able to sit and wait for the end of the OBSS busy time.
If you return earlier, it does not matter, because you are just going to sit and wait.
[ST] I agree, but the assumption here is that STA will receive same OBSS information, which is not always the case. Also on top of medium
sync issue, my understanding is that by letting a STA switch earlier there would be a less efficient use of the resources as STAs that switch earlier would be able to neither transmit or receive anything on the primary, while they could have stayed longer
on the NPCA primary channel and perhaps continue communication.
Assuming that two STAs receive different OBSS information to invoke NPCA, then the switch back delay is not the thing that is causing them to return to the main channel out of sync.
It is the OBSS information that they received which causes this mis-sync.
But I could argue that this is not a mis-sync anyway, because, for a STA that has different OBSS information, that information is still valid and still prevents the STA from using the main channel.
[ST] Understood – One question: the STAs that switching back to the primary channel while there is still an OBSS will maintain the NAV information, and this won’t be reset even if they switch
earlier?
One might propose that if the AP switches, then all STAs should switch, since for STAs that remain on the main channel, communication with the AP will not be possible.
The opposite is not true.
That is, if a STA switches but the AP does not, then there is little that can be done or that should be done.
This is more of a switch or not switch, not a difference in detected OBSS durations.
Such a proposal is problematic because the AP has detected an OBSS BUSY and is not supposed to transmit, so how can it communicate the switch information to the STAs?
[ST] Agree that if AP switches back, then all STAs should also do so. However, my comment was for the case when the AP does not switch back because its switch back is shorter. In this case, the
AP could still serve those STAs with similar switch back delay, while the STAs with higher switch back can start return to the primary channel.
None of this seems to be related to the switch back delay or switch back rules.
So I remain confused about exactly what you are looking for here.
The idea behind the subtraction of other STA switch back time has to do with the STA being able to communicate with other STAs on the NPCA channel.
If STAx is operating on NPCA and is switching back at time Tx, then STAy should stop transmitting to STAx before time Tx, otherwise, STAx will be gone and not receive the transmission.
Now, several people have objected to the very conservative statement that is found in the draft.
I.e. the most conservative approach is for every STA to jump back, or at least, stop transmitting, before the earliest STA switches back.
But yes, there are a couple of problems:
1) only the AP knows what all of the switch back times are
2) even if you give all STAs all of the switch back times you suffer from:
a) everyone is forced to waste some time, based on the worst performing STA in the BSS
b) the slowest switch back STAs might not even be participating, so you are uselessly wasting valuable time
c) even if the slowest switching STA is on NPCA, you might not be transmitting to that STA
A less conservative approach is to let each implementation switch back whenever it has advertised to switch back.
I'll change it to this for now.
[ST] Just as clarification, would this mean that switch back would only be dependent on the STA’s own switch back delay? Or are you having
in mind any other change?
NPCA_TIMER being adjusted by the STA's own switch back is, I believe, the most basic rule.
It achieves the basic goal of maximizing the time spent on the NPCA channel.
[ST] Thanks for the change.
Regarding switch back when NPCA_TIMER reaches zero.
I understand the intention, I would suggest to remove this bullet as the switching back procedure has not been
widely agreed, and no related motions have passed, and this could be discussed as a second level detail after D1.0. In this matter, there are many members that have raised comments in the current ballot to solve this issue.
If this bullet is removed, then the STA never switches back!
This is the MOST BASIC, least controversial statement in this document!
I.e. when the OBSS time on the main channel has expired, you MUST return!
This is implicitly agreed by the entire group.
If anyone on the reflector thinks that the STA can stay longer than this, I'd like to hear them expose themselves....
[ST] The rule per se as a baseline is OK, and reasonable, and I understand that conditions could be always added on top if the group is able to converge upon it, but what is not
OK to me is the way how the timer is set, which links to the discussion above.
I see, because of the value chosen for NPCA_TIMER, you want to also remove the statement that says to switch back when the NPCA_TIMER reaches zero.
I believe that removing the NPCA_TIMER reaches zero statement is the wrong approach.
The correct approach is to agree on the value of the timer.
The statement to return remains.
[ST] With the changes you have made or intend to make on how to set the value of the timer I am OK with keeping the sentence as is. Thanks.
Unfortunately, in
the way this is written this bullet sets a precedent in the spec that switching back can
only occur based on a timer which is set based on worse case individual assessment of the OBSS’s PPDU and TxOP, under the assumption that there is no asymmetric view across devices and without accounting for early termination from OBSS.
?????
There is NOTHING in this statement that prevents the addition of a statement that says:
If a STA encounters condition XYZ, then the STA may switch back to the main channel (i.e. earlier than NPCA_TIMER
expiry).
I.e. additional conditions can be added which are effectively logically OR conditions.
Hi Matt,
Please find embedded in the attachment a few comments from my side as well.
Many thanks,
-Salvatore (Nokia)
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Hi Matt,
Please see my comments attached.
Thanks,
Kaiying
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Based on the discussion in ELR doc (11-25/915), the ELR PPDU can be only sent on primary 20MHz.
Could you please remove the highlighted text below from the NPCA doc?
UHR ELR
PPDUs, HE ER SU PPDUs, EHT MCS14/15 shall not be transmitted on the NPCA primary channel except for a UHR ELR PPDU that contains a control response frame
(see 37.4.2 (Enhanced long range (ELR))).
Dear Matthew,
Thank you for updating the document.
I have one clarification question and one comment regarding r10.
The MAC variable
NPCA_PPDU_REM_DUR
derived from a received PPDU
is equal to the value in usec, of the remaining duration of the
received
PPDU, determined by the MAC at the time of the receipt of the PHY-RXSTART.indication
primitive
associated with the received PPDU, by subtracting the time elapsed between the reception of the PHY-CCA.indication(BUSY) and PHY-RXSTART.indication primitives associated with the received PPDU from
the value of RXTIME of the received PPDU. (#1056)
(Shawn) I'd like to confirm my understanding about
RXTIME corresponding to the received HE/EHT PPDUs.
As I understand it, calculating RXTIME requires the LENGTH field value from the L-SIG and the signal extension length of the PPDU.
However, it appears that the RXVECTOR for HE/EHT PPDUs does not include the necessary parameters for RXTIME calculation.
Is it assumed that the PHY is expected to provide the RXTIME to the MAC via the RXVECTOR, or is the MAC calculate
RXTIME by itself?
I believe that you are suggesting the following:
1) the proposed text includes the need for the value of RXTIME
2) the RXTIME value is calculated for a PPDU by using some values that come from the RXVECTOR received as part of the PHY-RXSTART.indication of the received
PPDU, in particular, the value of LENGTH from the L_SIG field
3) the RXVECTOR parameter LENGTH, corresponding to the LEN value from the L_SIG field is not present in the RXVECTOR for an HT PPDU reception
I believe that you are basing this understanding on your reading of the HE TXVECTOR and RXVECTOR parameters sublcause.
I believe that your reading of the standard is incorrect/incomplete.
First, the "problem" that you are highlighting, i.e. of not being able to calculate RXTIME from the HE RXVECTOR, if correct, would be a problem that exists
in general for RXTIME.
I.e., what you are pointing to is not something that document 936 or the NPCA subclause is creating or introducing
The equation for RXTIME has existed in the standard for a long time. NPCA is just referring to that equation.
But I do not think that there is a problem anyway:
If you read the RXVECTOR description for HE, you see this:
27.2 HE PHY service interface
27.2.2 TXVECTOR and RXVECTOR parameters
Table 27-1—TXVECTOR and RXVECTOR parameters
FORMAT is HE_SU, HE_MU, or HE_ER_SU
So, it seems like there is no Legacy LEN Value returned in the RXVECTOR for an HE PPDU.
But I believe that this simple reading of the standard is incorrect.
8.3.4.4 Vector descriptions
The
HE PHY TXVECTOR and RXVECTOR contain
additional parameters related to the HE PHY modes
of operation as described in 27.2 (HE PHY service interface).
Because of the use of the word "addiitonal" in the text cited above, I believe that the TXVECTOR and RXVECTOR descriptions for HT, VHT, HE, UHR,
are all additive to the existing TXVECTOR and RXVECTOR descriptions. In other words, I believe that the
RXVECTOR that is included for an HE PPDU includes the RXVECTOR tables from all of the preceding RXVECTOR tables in previous subclauses.
27.2.2 TXVECTOR and RXVECTOR parameters
The parameters in Table 27-1 (TXVECTOR and RXVECTOR parameters)
are defined as
part of the
TXVECTOR parameter list in the PHY-TXSTART.request primitive and/or as part
of the RXVECTOR
parameter list in the PHY-RXSTART.indication and PHY-RXEND.indication primitives.
We see additional support for my conjecture, based on the inclusion of the phrase "part of the RXVECTOR parameter list..."
I.e. the HE RXVECTOR parameter list in clause 27 is only PART of the total RXVECTOR.
The complete RXVECTOR will include a legacy LENGTH value.
Going back to my earlier statement -
even if my interpretation is incorrect and there is no legacy LENGTH value included in the RXVECTOR for an HE PPDU,
then, per your interpretation there is some larger problem in the baseline standard which was not created by document 936
because the HE clause 27 RXTIME equation includes the use of the legacy LENGTH value and therefore, it would have the problem that you think exists.
(And the same problem would exist for HT, VHT, TVHT, etc.)
I don't think that is the case, but I do agree that the description that does exist is a bit tricky and maybe could be done better.
If that is an objective, then any attempt to improve this aspect of the baseline would need to be done within TGmf.
c)
An indication that a valid TXOP was obtained on the BSS primary channel, as
verified by the receipt of a PHY-RXEARLYSIG.indication or PHYRXSTART.indication primitive corresponding to the third PPDU
that occurs during a time window that:
i)
has a duration that is equal to NPCA_START_TIMEOUT which is (2 x aSIFSTime)
+ (2 x aSlotTime) + aRxPHYStartDelay + ICR_Timeout, where ICR_Timeout is equal to:
(1)
The length (in usec) of the expected CTS if the initial Control frame is an
RTS or an MU-RTS Trigger frame
(2)
The value of the UL Length field of the Common Info field of the BSRP Trigger
frame if the initial Control frame is a BSRP Trigger frame
ii)
begins when the MAC receives a PHY-RXEND.indication primitive corresponding
to the first PPDU
PHY-RXEARLYSIG.indication
or PHYRXSTART.indication primitive is received from the PHY during a NAVTimeout period starting when the MAC receives a PHY-RXEND.indication primitive corresponding to the detection of the
, indicating that a
valid TOP was obtained on the BSS primary channel (#2146) (#2433) (#2649)
(Shawn) Item c) seems to define a time window for determining whether a 3rd PPDU is being transmitted.
My concern is that, as per sub-item ii), the time window begins right after the end of the 1st PPDU. In this case, the 2nd PPDU (i.e., the initial control response frame) could be misclassified as the
3rd PPDU, since the PHYRXSTART.indication of the 2nd PPDU would occur within the time window.
Additionally, there is a possibility that a PPDU received within this window may be transmitted by a third-party STA.
Therefore, it may be preferable to define a more precise time window that better aligns with the expected start time of the 3rd PPDU.
a)
The
bandwidth of the PPDU is
determined by the STA to be
20, 40, 80 or 160 MHzthe
20/40/80/160 MHz channel occupied by the PPDU is identified by the STA,
(#3045) (#3046)based on the Bandwidth field in the PHY preamble of the PPDU and the channel allocations
in the corresponding band indicated in the RXVECTOR parameter RU_ALLOCATION
of the PHY-RXSTART.indication associated with the PPDU, if present (#421),
and the channel occupied by the PPDU does not overlap with the NPCA primary channel (#1236)
Since the 320 MHz channel uses overlapping channelization, when a UHR BSS operates on 320 MHz-2 (e.g., channel center frequency numbered 63) and an NPCA STA receives an OBSS PPDU
with the Bandwidth field set to 4 (320 MHz-1), the NPCA STA can use NPCA because the received OBSS PPDU does not overlap with the NPCA primary channel. Is there any reason this case is excluded? Otherwise, 320 MHz should be listed.
The same comment applies to 2-f.
I agree that this disjoint 320 MHz case could work, except:
Is there anything in the received OBSS 320 MHz PPDU that allows a STA to determine which 160 MHz subchannels are occupied by the 320 MHz OBSS PPDU?
I.e. while the case that you describe seems reasonable, will the NPCA STA be able to correctly identify the specific subchannel occupancy of the 320
MHz OBSS PPDU?
If you can direct me to the PHY HEADER information that will definitively provide the specifics of the occupied channels of the 320 PPDU to the NPCA
STA, then I can add that as a rule to use.
Otherwise, it will not work.
5)
The STA shall begin all frame exchanges on the NPCA primary channel with an
NPCA
(#3056) ICF using non-HT PPDU or non-HT duplicate PPDU
format using a rate of 6 Mb/s, 12 Mb/s, or 24 Mb/s.
a)
Details on the NPCA ICF are TBDFor
TXOPs initiated by an AP, the initial Control frame (ICF) shall be
a BSRP Trigger frame or an MU-RTS
Trigger frame
except when at least one of the target non-AP STA(s) is operating in the DUO mode, in which case, the ICF)
may be a BSRP Trigger frame or a BSRP NTB Trigger frame
but not an MU-RTS. In addition:
(#1063) (#1225) (#1515) (#2371)
i)
The ICF shall conform to the rules in 37.11.2 (Dynamic Unavailability Operation
(DUO) mode) if at least one of the target non-AP STA(s) is operating in DUO mode. (#1063) (#2371)
ii)
The ICF shall conform to the rules in
37.13 (Enhanced multi-link single-radio (EMLSR) operation for a UHR non-AP MLD) if at least one of the target non-AP STA(s)
is affiliated with a non-AP MLD that is
operating in
EMLSR mode.
(#1063) (#2371)
iii)
The ICF shall conform to the rules in
37.9.1 (Dynamic power save (DPS) operation)
if at least one of the target non-AP STA(s) is operating
in DPS mode. (#1063) (#2371)
Even though the DPS non-AP STA establishes the parameterized LC mode, does it mean that the NPCA AP shall use the default LC mode on the NPCA primary channel? The phrase “conform
to the rules” does not necessarily imply that the rule is overriding. In the first main bullet, you state that the ICF shall be sent using the default LC mode.
The first bullet is a generic requirement for sending ICF/ICR during NPCA in order to increase the probability that other devices that may be present on
the NPCA channel will hear the NPCA TXOP.
By also mandating non-HT 6, 12, 24, the odds of other devices receiving MAC information to protect the NPCA TXOP is further increased.
The fact that such a requirement also helps the operation of several reduced capability modes is an additional benefit but not necessarily the initial motivation
for the requirement.
Nothing in the first bullet contradicts the rules in 37.15.1 DPS - you might argue that if a DPS STA is in
HC mode, then there is no need for ICF/ICR and the rule here requiring the ICF/ICR is therefore somehow an override of the DPS rules - but that is not true - the DPS rules do NOT disallow the use of 6 mbps ICF/ICR during HC mode. Using such might be less efficient,
but it is not forbidden.
I.e. Mandating the use of ICF/ICR during NPCA is not the same as mandating the use of LC mode during NPCA!
a)
For TXOPs initiated by a non-AP STA, if
the intended recipient STA is a mobile AP operating in the
DPS mode, the ICF shall conform to the rules found in 37.9.1 (Dynamic power save (DPS) operation).
(#1063) (#2371)
I think we need further analysis on whether the mobile AP can use the NPCA. Currently, the spec does not state anything explicitly, but the current wording could be interpreted
to mean that the mobile AP is allowed to use the NPCA. I would suggest removing this sentence until we have completed a more thorough analysis.
Due to ongoing discussion on this item, I will not change it for now.
Morteza,
Draft not ready yet, pending review of additional reviews...
1) added a line for the 80 MHz BSS case regarding NPCA channel placement, per your comment
2) and vs or regarding BW of OBSS PPDU - discussing this paragraph with other reviewers - not settled on a change yet
3) initial Control response
I was not certain if the response is always a control frame, but I guess it is
4) request to merge conditions a) and b) of condition 2)
the conditions are distinct - note that condition a) requires a sequence to be identified and condition b) describes the parts of the sequence that must be identified
While it might be possible to merge them, there is no value in merging them - it would just be an exercise in attempting to create accurate text
5) UL length field of the BSRP frame -
6) BW of OBSS determination
The language here is being reviewed by multiple people
I have a tentative change that I think solves your problem
It identifies the BW of interest as only extracted from the first frame, and in that case, even though RTS is explicitly called out in the sub bullet, this does not mean that BSRP,
for example is ignored
I.e. anything that is not explicitly named in the sub bullets is already covered by the generic statement of the main bullet, so BSRP is already covered
if you switch to simple markup I believe that the indentation is correct
if it is not, then it is probably because of a formatting problem that I am unable to correct and will leave to the TGbn editor
8) existing values of the variables
I think that the phrase is straightforward
if you look at the existing baseline EDCA, it mentions these variables, and clearly, they are dynamic.
IF it helps, I can change "existing" to "current"
9) received INIT_QSRC value -
added transmitted, as per comment
10) ICF for NPCA by non-AP STA
merged your comments with those from others
yes - trying to get agreement among various people
Will add at least a minimal statement that a STA switches back when NPCA_TIMER expires
A lot of people have a lot of opinions about the exact nature and conditions for the switch back, but that base statement should at least exist
Hi Matt,
Thank you for preparing the new revisions. Attached please find some comments on r8.
Hi Matt,
Thanks for the clear answer. I’d
like to respect the group’s selection.
BTW, the method captured in the PDT is not align with the motion:
• The NPCA operation shall
use the same EDCA parameters
((MU) EDCA Parameter Set, EPCS EDCA Parameters), on both the BSS primary channel and the NPCA primary channel.
[Motion #145, [1] and [203, 195]]
BR,
Xiangxin Gu
Institute of Communication Technology

From: Matthew Fischer <matthew.fischer@xxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, July 1, 2025 7:55 AM
To: STDS-802-11-TGBN@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [STDS-802-11-TGBN] PDT MAC NPCA document 11-25-936 updated to r7
You have correctly raised this question on the reflector so that the question is actually addressed to the entire TGbn and not just to me.
The current mechanism is the result of previous discussions which to the best of my recollection, included a proposal such as yours.
Hi Matt,
Thanks for the excellent job on NPCA PDT.
During the last Thu. teleconference, many members asked questions on the mode of the non-AP STA not using untriggered UL transmission
on NPCA channel by setting NPCA AIFSN to 0.
To my understanding, it is hard for the AP to make the non-AP STA not EDCA NPCA channel by this way.
Firstly, the AP has to keep triggering UL transmission to the non-AP STA to keep the corresponding MUEDCATimer not expired.
Secondly, the situation becomes more sophisticated in case that EDCA BSS channel is allowed for the non-AP STA.
Why not just use a single bit in the signaling to indicate the mode, which is easier for the AP implementation and also clearer
for reading ?
BR,
Xiangxin Gu
Institute of Communication Technology

From: Matthew Fischer <matthew.fischer@xxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2025 11:05 AM
To: STDS-802-11-TGBN@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [STDS-802-11-TGBN] PDT MAC NPCA document 11-25-936 updated to r7
In response to various comments received, a new revision is available.
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