Wi-Fi Alliance Technical Committee

Quality of Service (QoS) Task Group

WMMTM (including WMMTM Power Save)

Specification

Wi-Fi Alliance

Version 1.1

WMM_Specification_1-1.doc Page 1 of 36
 Contents
Contents.......................................................................................................................................................... 2
1 Overview ................................................................................................................................................ 4
1.1 Purpose of This Document ............................................................................................................. 4
1.2 Terms and Definitions .................................................................................................................... 4
1.3 WMM Features............................................................................................................................... 5
2 WMM Frame Formats ............................................................................................................................ 6
2.1 Data Frame Formats ....................................................................................................................... 6
2.1.1 Fields ...................................................................................................................................... 6
2.1.2 Frame Control Field................................................................................................................ 6
2.1.3 Duration Field......................................................................................................................... 7
2.1.4 Addresses................................................................................................................................ 7
2.1.5 Sequence Control Field........................................................................................................... 7
2.1.6 QoS Control Field................................................................................................................... 7
2.2 Management Frame Formats .......................................................................................................... 8
2.2.1 WMM Information Element ................................................................................................... 8
2.2.2 WMM Parameter Element.................................................................................................... 10
2.2.3 Beacon Frame ....................................................................................................................... 12
2.2.4 Probe Request Frame............................................................................................................ 12
2.2.5 Probe Response Frame ......................................................................................................... 12
2.2.6 Association Request Frame .................................................................................................. 12
2.2.7 Association Response Frame ................................................................................................ 12
2.2.8 Re-Association Request Frame............................................................................................. 12
2.2.9 Re-Association Response Frame .......................................................................................... 12
2.2.10 Management Action Frame .................................................................................................. 12
2.2.11 WMM TSPEC Element ........................................................................................................ 14
3 WMM Protocol Specification............................................................................................................... 17
3.1 Association and Capability Negotiation ....................................................................................... 17
3.1.1 Procedure at an AP ............................................................................................................... 17
3.1.2 Procedure at a STA in an Infrastructure Network................................................................. 17
3.1.3 Procedure at a STA in an IBSS............................................................................................. 17
3.2 Setting of WMM Parameters ........................................................................................................ 18
3.2.1 Default WMM parameters .................................................................................................... 18
3.2.2 WMM Parameters in an Infrastructure Network .................................................................. 18
3.2.3 WMM Parameters in an IBSS .............................................................................................. 18
3.3 Assignment of Frames to Queues ................................................................................................. 18

WMM_Specification_1-1.doc Page 2 of 36
 3.3.1 Mappings for Unicast Frames............................................................................................... 18
3.3.2 Mappings for Received Unicast Frames at an AP ................................................................ 19
3.3.3 Mappings for Group Addressed and Buffered Frames at an AP .......................................... 19
3.4 Channel Access Protocol .............................................................................................................. 20
3.4.1 Reference Implementation.................................................................................................... 20
3.4.2 Transmit Opportunities & TXOP Limits .............................................................................. 20
3.4.3 Obtaining an EDCA TXOP .................................................................................................. 21
3.4.4 Obtaining a Continuation of TXOP ...................................................................................... 23
3.4.5 Backoff Procedure ................................................................................................................ 23
3.4.6 Retransmit Procedures .......................................................................................................... 24
3.5 ADDTS and DELTS Procedures .................................................................................................. 24
3.5.1 Admission Control Procedures ............................................................................................. 25
3.5.2 Procedures at the AP............................................................................................................. 25
3.5.3 Procedure at STAs ................................................................................................................ 26
3.6 WMM Power Save (PS) Procedures............................................................................................. 27
3.6.0 U-APSD General Operation ................................................................................................. 27
3.6.1 U-APSD AP Operation......................................................................................................... 28
3.6.2 U-APSD STA Operation ...................................................................................................... 29
A.1 QoS Parameter Updates................................................................................................................ 31
A.2 Use of Admission Control and Downgrading............................................................................... 31
A.3 Deriving Medium Time ................................................................................................................ 31
A.4 WMM AP Default Parameter ....................................................................................................... 32
A.5 Changes to WPA for WMM ......................................................................................................... 32
A.5.1 Michael MIC Generation...................................................................................................... 32
A.5.2 TKIP Replay Counters.......................................................................................................... 32
A.6 Conveyance of 802.1Q VLAN tags.............................................................................................. 33
A.7 CCMP processing with QC .......................................................................................................... 33
A.7.1 AAD Construction with QC ................................................................................................. 34
A.7.2 CCM Nonce with Priority Octet ........................................................................................... 34
A.8 Differences between Legacy DCF Formulation and WMM......................................................... 34
A.9 Configuration State of AP for one example AC (Informative)..................................................... 35

WMM_Specification_1-1.doc Page 3 of 36
1 Overview
1.1 Purpose of This Document
This document defines the specification for WMM, an 802.11 quality of service (QoS) implementation
based on a subset of the draft 802.11e standard supplement [2]. It is motivated by the need to prevent
market fragmentation caused by multiple, non-interoperable pre-standard subsets of the draft 802.11e
standard that would otherwise occur. It is intended that WMM can be implemented, subjected to
interoperability testing and deployed in the market before the availability of 802.11e. This is facilitated by
selecting a subset of the features of 802.11e. In no way should WMM be taken to detract from 802.11e
itself, which is viewed as the long term endpoint of WMM. Deployment of WMM will deliver useful QoS
functionality for voice over 802.11, streaming media and also provide key lessons which will benefit
eventual deployment of 802.11e.

1.2 Terms and Definitions

AC (Access category): A label for the common set of enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA)
parameters that are used by a WMM STA to contend for the channel in order to transmit MSDUs with
certain priorities. WMM defines 4 ACs.
Admitted AC: Traffic transmitted using an AC based on parameters in a WMM TSPEC element contained
in an ADDTS response management action frame
AIFS: Arbitration Inter Frame Spacing
AIFSN: Arbitration Inter Frame Spacing Number
Delivery-enabled AC: An AC for a specific STA, to deliver traffic in that STA specific AC using WMM
when an Unscheduled Service Period (USP) is triggered by that STA.
ECWmin: Exponent form of CWmin
ECWmax: Exponent form of CWmax
EDCA: Enhanced Distributed Channel Access
EDCF: Enhanced Distributed Coordination Function
Group traffic: Multicast and broadcast traffic
TID: Traffic Identifier; a 4-bit number that uniquely identifies a TSPEC.
Trigger-enabled AC: An AC for a specific STA to initiate an Unscheduled Service Period (USP), if one is
not already in progress, when frames are received from that STA of subtype QoS Data or QoS Null
associated with that AC.
Trigger Frame: A QoS Data or QoS Null frame from a WMM STA in Power Save Mode associated with an
AC the WMM STA has configured to be a trigger-enabled AC. A QoS Data or QoS Null frame that
indicates transition to/from Power Save Mode is not considered to be a Trigger Frame and the AP shall not
respond with a QoS Null frame.
TS: Traffic Stream, A traffic stream is a set of MSDUs to be delivered subject to the QoS parameter values
provided to the MAC in a particular TSPEC.
TXOP (Transmission Opportunity): An interval of time when a particular WMM STA has the right to
initiate transmissions onto the wireless medium (WM).
Un-admitted AC: Traffic transmitted using an AC that did not require admission.
UP: User Priority; is identical to the 3 bit priority subfield carried in the 802.1D Priority field.

WMM_Specification_1-1.doc Page 4 of 36
Service Period (SP): A service period is a contiguous time during which one or more downlink unicast
frames are transmitted to a WMM STA and/or one or more TXOPs are granted to the same WMM STA.
Service Periods can be Scheduled or Unscheduled. For a WMM STA, there can be at most one Service
Period active at any time.
Unscheduled Service Period (USP): The Service Period that is started when a WMM STA transmits a
trigger frame to the WMM AP.

1.3 WMM Features

The features supported by WMM in this phase are as follows:
1. Capability negotiation independent of 802.11e. That is, WMM devices will not advertise 802.11e
capability unless they also support those features independently. This is part of a forward
compatibility strategy which is described in detail in a subsequent paragraph.
2. Frame formats and over the air protocols will be based on those currently proposed for 802.11e.
However, no attempt will be made to track future changes in 802.11e and reflect them back into
the WMM specification. Divergence between the two specifications is a necessary side effect of
the need to freeze the WMM specification as soon as possible.
3. WMM will use an EDCF mechanism only, and except where explicitly indicated otherwise in this
specification other 802.11e features, including HCF polling and associated signaling, Block
Acknowledgement, and side traffic, are not part of WMM.
4. Interfaces to the MAC which signal per-packet priority will be consistent with those used for
Ethernet, both in terms of the driver API and bridging to other 802 link layers via an 802.1D
bridge.
5. The number of exposed queues will be fixed at four. A fixed mapping of priority information
carried in the 802.1D Priority field to those four queues will be defined, together with suggested
uses for each priority consistent with the suggested uses in 802.1D.
Capability negotiation is designed to permit ultimate forward compatibility with 802.11e, taking into
account the fact that the formats used for QoS data frames cannot be assumed to remain consistent. It is
important feature that, on receipt of a frame, it is possible to uniquely decode it.
An AP or STA may support both WMM and 802.11e. Only one may be in use for a specific association at
any time, but an AP may permit both 802.11e and WMM associations from different STAs at the same
time.
A WMM-only AP or STA does not set the “QoS” bit in the capability field of association, beacon and
probe management frames. A new WMM Information Element is defined in this specification and is
carried in those frames. An AP may support and advertise both 802.11e and WMM in probe responses and
beacons, but both association requests and responses must only request or specify one of these capabilities.
As a result, a given association is either WMM or 802.11e, but not both, and this defines how data frames
with QoS subtypes must be interpreted, should they ultimately be different.

WMM_Specification_1-1.doc Page 5 of 36
2 WMM Frame Formats
2.1 Data Frame Formats

2.1.1 Fields
Data, Control and Management frames are indicated by a type subfield in the frame control field, as defined
for [1]. Data frames include additional WMM-specified subtypes and conditional fields.
The general frame format for data type frames is shown in Figure 1.

2 2 6 6 6 2 6 or 0 2 or 0 n 4

Frame Dur Address Address Address Seq Address QoS Body FCS
Control 1 2 3 Control 4 Control

MAC Header

Figure 1 WMM QoS Data Frame Format

The Address 4 and QoS control fields are conditionally present in the MAC header, determined by values
in the frame control field. The Address 4 field is present if and only if both toDS and fromDS bits are set in
the frame control field (see 2.1.2). The QoS control field is present if and only if the frame is of subtype
QoS data or QoS null.

2.1.2 Frame Control Field

There are no changes to the definition of the frame control field division into subfields. Subfield allocations
are shown in Figure 2 and are identical to [1].

15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 4 3 2 1 0

Order WEP More Power Retry More From To Subtype Type Version
Data Manage- Frag Ds DS
ment

Figure 2 Frame Control Field [1]

Additional data subtypes are defined for WMM as shown in Table 1.

Table 1 Additional WMM Data Subtype Codes

Type (MSB-LSB) Subtype (MSB-LSB) Subtype Description

10 1000 QoS data

10 1100 QoS null

00 1101 Management Action

WMM_Specification_1-1.doc Page 6 of 36
2.1.3 Duration Field
The definition of the duration field is unchanged from [1] aside from the addition of the following
provision:
When transmitting bursts of multiple MSDUs using continuation TXOPs, the duration field of a data or
management frame in that burst may be selected to protect, using the NAV mechanism, either:
a) only the acknowledgement frame, if present, or
b) the acknowledgement frame, if present, plus the following data or management frame and its
expected acknowledgement, if present or
c) the entire burst of frames.

2.1.4 Addresses
The definition and interpretation of address fields is unchanged from [1].

2.1.5 Sequence Control Field

The sequence control field contains two subfields, the sequence number and fragment number. Definition
and use of the fragment number is unchanged from [1]. A sequence number is maintained separately for
each Access Category and non-QoS traffic including management frames and group traffic.

15 4 3 0

Sequence Number Fragment Number

Figure 3 Sequence Control Field

Sequence and fragment numbers shall be selected and inserted on the initial transmission attempt of each
data or management frame. Any subsequent retransmissions shall use the same sequence control field as
the first transmission attempt.
The sequence number is selected by the transmitter from a modulo-4096 counter, which shall be
incremented by 1 for each unique MSDU or MMPDU that is queued to the associated AC for delivery.

In addition to the RA and TA of the frame, the receiver shall use the UP field that is carried in the QoS
Control field in order to allow correct differentiation of the sequence number spaces among frames sent
using different ACs. The receiver shall use the mappings in Table 14 to identify the sending AC from the
received UP field.

2.1.6 QoS Control Field

The QoS control field consists of two octets and is shown in Figure 4.

15 7 6 5 4 3 2 0

0 ack EO 0 UP
policy SP

Figure 4 QoS Control Field

The three bit UP field carries the priority bits of the 802.1D Priority and is used to signal the priority for
this frame. It also implies the sending AC according to the mappings in Table 14. The UP for each MPDU
of a MSDU shall be the same value.

WMM_Specification_1-1.doc Page 7 of 36
The Ack Policy field specifies the expected acknowledgement response and contains one of the values
shown in Table 2. All other bits are reserved and shall be set to zero on transmission and ignored on
receipt.

Table 2 Ack Policy Field Values

Ack Policy Value Meaning

00 Acknowledge
01 Do not Acknowledge

The End of Service Period (EOSP) field is set by the WMM AP to 1 at the end of an Unscheduled Service
Period (USP), and is set to 0 otherwise.

2.2 Management Frame Formats

2.2.1 WMM Information Element

The WMM Information Element indicates capability or use of WMM according to context and is shown in
Figure 5. The fields contained in the WMM Information Element are listed in Table 3. The WMM
Information Element contains a version number, which is 1 for version 1.0 of the WMM specification. The
WMM Information Element contains an QoS Info field.

Octets:1 1 3 1 1 1 1

Element Length OUI OUI OUI Version QoS Info

ID Type Subtype field

Figure 5 WMM Information Element

Table 3 WMM Information Element Field Values

Field Value

Element ID 221

Length 7

OUI 00:50:f2 (hex)

OUI Type 2

OUI Subtype 0

Version 1

QoS Info field See Figure 6 and Figure 7

WMM_Specification_1-1.doc Page 8 of 36
The QoS Info field is shown in Figure 6. The QoS Info field contains the Parameter Set Count, which is
initially arbitrary and is incremented each time any of the AC parameters changes.

7 6 4 3 0

U-APSD Reserved Parameter Set Count

Figure 6 QoS Info field when sent from WMM AP

The reserved bits are set to 0 upon transmission and should be ignored upon reception. When set to 1, the
U-APSD bit indicates the WMM AP is currently supporting unscheduled automatic power save delivery as
described in §3.6.
The format of the QoS Info field, when sent by the WMM STA, is defined in Figure 7.

7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Reserved Max SP Reserved AC_BE AC_BK AC_VI AC_VO
Length U-APSD U-APSD U-APSD U-APSD
Flag Flag Flag Flag
Figure 7 QoS Info field when sent from WMM STA

Each of the ACs U-APSD Flag subfield is one bit in length and set to 1 in (re) association request frames to
indicate that the corresponding AC (AC_BE, AC_BK, AC_VI, or AC_VO) is both trigger-enabled and
delivery-enabled. It is set to 0 in (re) association request frames to indicate that the corresponding AC is
neither trigger-enabled nor delivery-enabled. MMPDUs are considered part of AC_VO for the purposes of
U-APSD delivery. A TSPEC as described in sections 2.2.11 and 3.6 may be used to make a particular AC
exclusively either trigger-enabled or delivery-enabled. These subfields are always set to 0 when the U-
APSD subfield in the Qos Info Field of a WMM Information Element is set to 0.
Max SP Length subfield is 2 bits in length and indicates the maximum number of total buffered MSDUs
and MMPDUs the WMM AP may deliver to a WMM STA during any Service Period triggered by the
WMM STA. This subfield is reserved when the U-APSD subfield in the QoS Info Field of a WMM
Information Element is set to 0. This subfield is also reserved when all four U-APSD flags are set to 0. If
the U-APSD subfield in the QoS Info Field of a WMM Information Element sent by a WMM AP is set to 1
and at least one of the four AC U-APSD flags is set to 1, the settings of the values in the Max SP Length
subfield are defined in the following Table 4

Table 4 Max SP Length Usage

Bit 5 Bit 6 Usage

0 0 WMM AP may deliver all buffered frames (MSDUs and MMPDUs)
1 0 WMM AP may deliver a maximum of 2 buffered frames (MSDUs and
MMPDUs) per USP
0 1 WMM AP may deliver a maximum of 4 buffered frames (MSDUs and
MMPDUs) per USP
1 1 WMM AP may deliver a maximum of 6 buffered frames (MSDUs and
MMPDUs) per USP
Note: The maximum number of buffered frames does not include
QoS-NULL frames.

WMM_Specification_1-1.doc Page 9 of 36
2.2.2 WMM Parameter Element
The WMM Parameter Element contains a set of parameters (EDCA parameters) for the EDCF channel
access protocol and is shown in Figure 8. The fields contained in the WMM Parameter Element are listed in
Table 5. The WMM Parameter Element contains a QoS Info field. The format of the QoS Info field is
shown in Figure 6 and Figure 7. The QoS Info field contains the Parameter Set Count, which is initially
arbitrary and is incremented each time any of the AC parameters changes. The reserved bits are set to 0
upon transmission and shall be ignored upon reception.

Octets: 1 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 16

ElementI Length OUI OUI OUI Version QoS Info Reserved AC

D Type Subtype field Parameters

Figure 8 WMM Parameter Element

Table 5 WMM Parameter Element Field Values

Field Value

Element ID 221

Length 24

OUI 00:50:f2 (hex)

OUI Type 2

OUI Subtype 1

Version 1

QoS Info field See Figure 6 and Figure 7

Reserved 0

AC Parameters AC Parameters Record AC_BE

Best_Effort

AC Parameters AC Parameters Record AC_BK

Background

AC Parameters Video AC Parameters Record AC_VI

AC Parameters Voice AC Parameters Record AC_VO

Each access category (AC) parameter record has the format shown in Figure 9. The formats of the
ACI/AIFSN and ECWmin/ECWmax fields are shown in Figure 10 and Figure 11, respectively.

WMM_Specification_1-1.doc Page 10 of 36
 Octets: 1 1 2

ACI/AIFSN ECWmin/ ECWmax TXOP Limit

Figure 9 AC Parameters Record Format

7 6 5 4 3 0

Reserved ACI ACM AIFSN

Figure 10 ACI/AIFSN Field

The value of TXOP limit is specified as an unsigned integer, with the least significant octet transmitted
first, in units of 32μs. A TXOP limit value of 0 indicates that a single MPDU, in addition to a possible
RTS/CTS exchange or CTS to itself, may be transmitted at any rate for each TXOP. The value of the ACI
references the AC to which all parameters in this record correspond. The mapping between AC index (ACI)
and AC is defined in Table 6. The AIFSN value indicates the number of time slots inside the Arbitration
Interframe space to be used. The minimum value for AIFSN shall be 2.

Table 6 ACI to AC coding

ACI AC Access Category

00 AC_BE Best Effort
01 AC_BK Background
10 AC_VI Video
11 AC_VO Voice

The ACM (Admission Control Mandatory) flag indicates that Admission Control is required for the AC. If
bit ACM is set to 0, the AC may be used without Admission Control. If bit ACM is set to 1, admission
control must be performed prior to transmission with the parameters of the corresponding AC Parameter
Record.

7 4 3 0

ECWmax ECWmin

Figure 11 ECWmin/ECWmax field

The fields ECWmin and ECWmax encode the values of CWmin and CWmax respectively in an exponent
form. The values ECWmin and ECWmax are defined such that:

CWmin = 2 ECWmin − 1
CWmax = 2 ECWmax − 1
Hence the minimum encoded value of CWmin is 0, and the maximum value is 32767.

WMM_Specification_1-1.doc Page 11 of 36
2.2.3 Beacon Frame
Every beacon frame transmitted by a WMM-enabled AP shall contain, in addition to those elements
specified in [1], either a WMM Information Element or a WMM Parameter Element.

2.2.4 Probe Request Frame

Probe request frames transmitted by a WMM-enabled STA are unchanged from [1].

2.2.5 Probe Response Frame

A probe response frame transmitted by a WMM-enabled AP shall contain a WMM Parameter Element. A
probe response frame transmitted by a WMM-enabled STA shall contain a WMM Parameter Element if the
corresponding probe request was transmitted by a member of the same (I)BSS as the transmitter of the
probe response, otherwise, the probe response frame transmitted by a WMM-enabled STA shall not contain
a WMM Parameter Element.

2.2.6 Association Request Frame

A WMM association request frame contains a WMM Information Element in addition to the information
elements specified in [1].

2.2.7 Association Response Frame

An association response frame shall contain a WMM Parameter Element in addition to the information
specified elements in [1] if the corresponding association request contained a WMM Information element
and shall not contain a WMM Parameter Element if the corresponding association request did NOT contain
a WMM Information element.

2.2.8 Re-Association Request Frame

A re-association request frame contains a WMM Information Element in addition to the information
elements specified in [1].

2.2.9 Re-Association Response Frame

A re-association response frame shall contain a WMM Parameter Element in addition to the information
specified elements in [1] if the corresponding re-association request contained a WMM Information
element and shall not contain a WMM Parameter Element if the corresponding re-association request did
NOT contain a WMM Information element.

2.2.10 Management Action Frame

The management action frame has a format as shown in Figure 12, with fields as described in Table 7.

24/30 1 1 1 1 4

MAC Category Action Dialog Status Elements FCS

Header Code Code Token Code

Figure 12 Management Action Frame Format

WMM_Specification_1-1.doc Page 12 of 36
 Table 7 Management Action Frame Fields

Field Value

MAC Header See [1]

Category code 17

Action code See below

Dialog token See below

Status Code See below

Elements One or more information

elements

FCS See [1]

The action code field contains the values shown in Table 8.

Table 8 Management Action Frame Action Codes

Value Action code

0 ADDTS request
1 ADDTS response
2 DELTS
3-255 Reserved

The ADDTS request, ADDTS response, and DELTS management action frames are used for Admission
Control and Power Management and shall at minimum contain a WMM TSPEC element.
The Dialog Token field shall be set by the STA to a non-zero value in the ADDTS request frame and shall
be copied into the corresponding ADDTS response management action frame. The Dialog Token shall be
set to 0 in the DELTS management action frame.
The status code field is only filled in for the ADDTS response, and contains the values shown in Table 9.
For other action codes, this field should be set to zero and ignored on receive.

Table 9 ADDTS Response Status Codes

Value Operation
0 Admission accepted
1 Invalid parameters
2 Reserved
3 Refused
4-255 Reserved

WMM_Specification_1-1.doc Page 13 of 36
2.2.11 WMM TSPEC Element
The format of the WMM TSPEC element is shown in Figure 13. The fields contained in the WMM
TSPEC element are listed in Table 10. (Note: The fields are a snapshot of the TSPEC element in IEEE Std
802.11e/D6 plus an appended Medium Time field.) Fields marked with a hyphen are optional, and shall be
set to zero if not used. The value of zero for any field is a special reserved value, meaning "no information
provided". The WMM TSPEC body format is shown in Figure 14.

Octets: 1 1 3 1 1 1 55

ID Length OUI OUI Type OUI Subtype Version WMM TSPEC body

Figure 13 WMM TSPEC Element

Octets: 3 2 2 4 4 4 4 4 4
TS Info Nominal Maximum Minimu Maximu Inactivit Suspensi Service Minimum
MSDU MSDU m m y on Start Data Rate
Size Size Service Service Interval Interval Time
Interval Interval
4 4 4 4 4 2 2
Mean Peak Data Maximum Delay Minimum Surplus Medium
Data Rate Burst Size Bound PHY Rate Bandwidth Time
Rate Allowance

Figure 14 WMM TSPEC Body format

A WMM TSPEC request shall be transmitted by a STA to an AP in order to request admission for an AC
that requires admission control. The STA may transmit unadmitted traffic for those ACs for which the AP
does not mandate admission control. A STA may need to transmit a WMM TSPEC request for an AC that
does not mandate admission control, e.g for the establishment of the triggered power save mode of
operation.

WMM_Specification_1-1.doc Page 14 of 36
 Table 10 WMM TSPEC Element Field Values

Field Value

Element ID 221
Length 6 + 55 = 61
OUI 00:50:f2 (hex)
OUI Type 2
OUI Subtype 2
Version 1
TS Info See below
Nominal MSDU Size See below
Maximum MSDU Size -
Minimum Service Interval -
Maximum Service Interval -
Inactivity Interval -
Suspension Interval -
Service Start Time -
Minimum Data Rate -
Mean Data Rate See below
Peak Data Rate -
Maximum Burst Size
Delay Bound -
Minimum PHY Rate See below
Surplus Bandwidth Allowance See below
Medium Time See below

The TS Info field contains the subfields shown in Figure 15. The TID field, combined with the RA and the
TA of the frame containing the TSPEC element, uniquely identifies the TS for which a request is being
made. The UP field contains the 802.1D priority information, and is the same value used in QoS data
frames associated with this TS. The direction field contains values shown in Table 11.

23 17 16 15 14 13 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 1 0

Reserved Reser Reserved UP PS Reser 0 1 Direct TID Reser

ved B ved ion ved

Figure 15 TS Info Field in WMM TSPEC Element

WMM_Specification_1-1.doc Page 15 of 36
 Table 11 Direction Field Values

Direction Value Meaning

00 Uplink
01 Downlink
10 Reserved
11 Bi-directional

The uplink and downlink characteristics are symmetric for a bidirectional reservation. The value of a
TSPEC field for a bidirectional reservation represents the resources for one direction.
The Power Save Behavior (PSB) field is coded according to Table 12.

Table 12 Power Save Behavior Field Values

PSB Value Meaning

0 Legacy
1 U-APSD

The PSB bit determines the power save method of delivery of buffered traffic used when the station is
operating in PS-mode, as described in section 3.6.
The Nominal MSDU Size field is 2 octets long and contains an unsigned integer that specifies the nominal
size, in octets, of MSDUs belonging to the traffic under this traffic specification and is defined in Figure
16. If the Fixed subfield is set to 1, then the size of the MSDU is fixed and is indicated by the Size
Subfield. If the Fixed subfield is set to 0, then the size of the MSDU might not be fixed and the Size
indicates the nominal MSDU size.

15 14 0

Fixed Size

Figure 16 Nominal MSDU Size Field

The Mean Data Rate field is 4 octets long and contains an unsigned integer that specifies the average data
rate, in units of bits per second, for transport of MSDUs belonging to this traffic within the bounds under
this traffic specification. The Mean Data Rate does not include the MAC and PHY overheads incurred in
transferring the MSDUs.
The Minimum PHY Rate field is 4 octets long and contains an unsigned integer that specifies the minimum
PHY rate, in units of bits per second that is required for transport of the MSDUs belonging to the traffic in
this TSPEC.
The Surplus Bandwidth Allowance Factor field is 2 octets long and specifies the excess allocation of time
(and bandwidth) over and above the stated rates required to transport an MSDU belonging to the traffic in
this TSPEC. This field is represented as an unsigned binary number with an implicit binary point after the
leftmost 3 bits. This field is included to account for retransmissions. As such, the value of this field must
be greater than unity.
Medium Time is a 16-bit unsigned integer that describes the amount of time admitted to access the
medium, in units of 32 microsecond periods per second.

WMM_Specification_1-1.doc Page 16 of 36
3 WMM Protocol Specification
3.1 Association and Capability Negotiation

3.1.1 Procedure at an AP
An AP that supports WMM shall include either a WMM Information Element or a WMM Parameter
Element in every beacon. In response to a probe request, a WMM-enabled AP shall include a WMM
Parameter Element in its probe response.
On receipt of an association request and subsequent transmission of a corresponding association response:
the AP shall include a WMM Parameter Element in the association response if the corresponding
association request contained a WMM Information element and shall treat the association as WMM
association. The same applies to re-association request / re-association response.
If the destination address of a data frame to be transmitted on the wireless medium corresponds to a STA
with a WMM association, the AP shall use WMM QoS data subtype frame formats when transmitting the
frame to it. If the destination address corresponds to a STA associated as a non-WMM STA, the AP shall
not use QoS subtype data frames.

3.1.2 Procedure at a STA in an Infrastructure Network

A WMM-enabled STA shall determine the WMM capability of an AP with which it wishes to associate
before transmitting an association request to it. It may do this either passively, by receiving a beacon
frame, or actively, by transmitting a probe request to it.
From the most recently received probe response or beacon from a specific AP, the STA shall determine
whether the AP supports WMM.
A STA shall include a WMM Information Element in an association request if it has determined that the
recipient AP supports WMM and shall treat the association as a WMM association if the association
response contained a WMM Parameter element. A STA shall not include a WMM Information Element in
an association request if it has determined that the recipient AP does not support WMM and shall treat the
association as legacy (i.e. non-WMM) association if the association response did not contain a WMM
Parameter element. The same applies to re-association request / re-association response.

3.1.3 Procedure at a STA in an IBSS

WMM may be used in an IBSS, but since there is no negotiation of capability via association in this case,
any STA wishing to use QoS data frame subtypes when transmitting to each STA must first infer the
capability at that STA by other means.
A WMM-capable STA operating in an IBSS shall maintain an inferred WMM capability state for each
destination address in the IBSS that it is aware of. It may set WMM capability state to “supported” for a
given destination address on receipt of a beacon frame from that STA containing a WMM element, or on
receipt of a probe response frame from that STA containing a WMM Information Element. The WMM
capability state for each other STA shall be set to “not supported” until receipt of such a beacon or probe
response.
WMM STAs operating in an IBSS shall respond to probe request frames from other STAs in the same
IBSS by transmitting a probe response frame to that STA, containing a WMM Information Element. WMM
STA operating in an IBSS shall respond to unicast directed probe request frames (provided that they are the
target of the unicast) even if they were not the last STA in the IBSS to have transmitted a beacon.

WMM_Specification_1-1.doc Page 17 of 36
3.2 Setting of WMM Parameters

3.2.1 Default WMM parameters

Table 13 Default WMM Parameters

AC CWmin CWmax AIFSN TXOP Limit TXOP Limit

(802.11b) (802.11a/g)

AC_BK aCWmin aCWmax 7 0 0

AC_BE aCWmin aCWmax 3 0 0

AC_VI (aCWmin + 1)/2 -1 aCWmin 2 6.016ms 3.008ms

AC_VO (aCWmin+1)/4 - 1 (aCWmin+1)/2 -1 2 3.264ms 1.504ms

3.2.2 WMM Parameters in an Infrastructure Network

A WMM-enabled AP may arbitrarily determine values for the parameters CWmin, CWmax, AIFS and TXOP
limit for each of the four access categories. An AP may change the values of these parameters at any
beacon time.
An AP shall include a WMM Parameter Element containing its currently determined values for all WMM
parameters in all beacons, beginning within two or more DTIM periods when WMM parameters have
changed. The AC parameter set count that is contained in the WMM Parameter Element and WMM
Information Element is incremented following the change of one or multiple WMM parameters. An AP
shall include a WMM Parameter element in probe response frames and in association response frames.
The STA is required to monitor the change of WMM parameters conveyed in the WMM Parameter
Element in beacons and shall update its values accordingly. Prior to association (and used only for
transmitting probe, authentication and association request frames) it shall set these parameters to the default
values shown in Table 13.
A STA shall subsequently update the values of these parameters from any successfully received probe
response frame, association response frame, which are addressed to the STA or beacon frame transmitted
by the AP with which the STA is associated. It is the responsibility of the STA to use the current WMM
parameters for accessing the wireless medium.
The AP may use a different set of parameters than it advertises. A recommended set of default parameters
for the AP is listed in the annex. The value of AIFSN shall be greater than or equal to 1 for APs.

3.2.3 WMM Parameters in an IBSS

A STA which is a member of an IBSS shall set the values of all WMM parameters to the defaults listed in
Table 13. In an IBSS, the WMM Parameter element is not included in the beacon.

3.3 Assignment of Frames to Queues

3.3.1 Mappings for Unicast Frames

The MAC data service at a STA or AP provides for connectionless, asynchronous transport of MSDUs.
Each MSDU transfer request includes an 802.1D Priority field equal to that value. The priority bits of the
802.1D field are mapped to Access Category (AC) according to Table 14 and are listed in increasing

WMM_Specification_1-1.doc Page 18 of 36
priority order. The UP field is carried in the QoS control field of an MPDU. The UP field references the
AC the MPDU is transmitted at using the mapping defined in Table 14. At the receiver, the UP field carried
in the MPDU shall be used to re-create the 802.1D priority information of the MSDU.

Table 14 802.1D Priority to AC mappings

Priority 802.1D Priority 802.1D Designation Access Category WMM Designation

(= UP)

1 BK
lowest
2 - AC_BK Background

0 BE

3 EE AC_BE Best Effort

4 CL

5 VI AC_VI Video

6 VO
highest
7 NC AC_VO Voice

Transmit frames are then placed in queues according to AC. The AP and STA may implement more queues
for internal prioritization. Data frames with no priority information are treated as best effort.
Management frames have no QoS Control field, but should be transmitted with parameters of AC_VO
PS-Poll frames should be mapped to AC_BE.

3.3.2 Mappings for Received Unicast Frames at an AP

Unicast frames received by an AP may be:
a) Non-QoS subtypes, in which case the AP shall assign an 802.1D priority of 0 (best effort) to them.
See section 2.1
b) QoS subtypes, in which case the AP shall use the UP subfield of the QoS control field as the
priority information.
In the event that the received frame has a destination address within the BSS, the AP shall determine the
transmit queue according to the procedure described in section 3.3.1.

3.3.3 Mappings for Group Addressed and Buffered Frames at an AP

The AP forwards all group addressed frames (Multicast/Broadcast) using non-QoS data frame subtypes, if
not all the recipients are WMM capable STAs. The AP may forward Power Save frames that are buffered
with QoS Data frame subtype only to WMM capable STAs. Otherwise, the frames must be sent using non-
QoS data frame subtypes. The AP is not required to implement multiple AC queues for transmission of
group addressed and buffered Power Save frames, and may use a single dedicated queue for this purpose. If
the AP uses a single queue for pending group addressed frames, then the AP should maintain the queue in
priority order if possible.

WMM_Specification_1-1.doc Page 19 of 36
3.4 Channel Access Protocol

3.4.1 Reference Implementation

The channel access protocol is derived from the DCF procedures described in [1]. This document specifies
only differences between the WMM channel access protocol and the reference.

802.1D tagged MSDU

UP = 802.1D priority

mapping to
access category
(AC)

transmit queues

Per queue
channel access
functions with
internal collision
resolution and
sequence
number counter

Figure 17 Reference Implementation Model

A model of the reference implementation is shown in Figure 17 and illustrates the mapping of the priority
bits of the 802.1D Priority information that is contained in the MSDU to UP, access category (AC), the four
transmit queues, and four independent channel access functions, one for each queue. The mapping of AC to
priority is described in section 3.3. Each AC is associated with its own sequence number counter as
described in 2.1.5.

3.4.2 Transmit Opportunities & TXOP Limits

There are two modes of TXOP defined, EDCA TXOP and continuation TXOP.
An EDCA TXOP occurs when the EDCA rules permit access to the medium.
A continuation TXOP occurs when a channel access function retains the right to access the medium
following the completion of a frame exchange sequence, such as on receipt of an Ack frame.
The TXOP limit duration values for each AC are advertised by the QAP in the WMM Parameter Element
in Beacons, Probe response, and Association response frames. A TXOP limit value of 0 indicates that a
single MSDU or MMPDU in addition to a possible RTS/CTS or CTS to itself may be transmitted at any
PHY rate for each TXOP.
STAs shall ensure that the duration of TXOPs obtained using the EDCA rules do not exceed the TXOP
limit. The duration of a TXOP is the time the TXOP holder maintains uninterrupted control of the medium,
and it includes the time required to transmit frames sent as an immediate response to TXOP holder
transmissions.

WMM_Specification_1-1.doc Page 20 of 36
An STA shall fragment an MSDU so that the transmission of the first MPDU of the TXOP does not cause
the TXOP limit to be exceeded at the PHY rate selected for the initial transmission attempt of that MPDU.
The TXOP limit may be exceeded, when using a lower PHY rate than selected for the initial transmission
attempt of the first MPDU, for a retransmission of an MPDU, or for the initial transmission of an MPDU if
any previous MPDU in the current MSDU has been retransmitted. When the TXOP limit is exceeded due
to the retransmission of a MPDU at a reduced PHY rate, the STA shall not transmit more than one MPDU
in the TXOP.

3.4.3 Obtaining an EDCA TXOP

Each channel access timer shall maintain a backoff function timer, which has a value measured in backoff
slots.
The duration AIFS[AC] is a duration derived from the value AIFSN[AC] by the relation
AIFS[AC] = AIFSN[AC] × aSlotTime + aSIFSTime
An EDCA TXOP is granted to a channel access function when the channel access function determines that
it shall initiate the transmission of a frame exchange sequence. Transmission initiation shall be determined
according to the following rules:
On specific slot boundaries, each channel access function shall make a determination to perform one and
only one of the following functions:
a) Initiate the transmission of a frame exchange sequence for that access function
b) Decrement the backoff timer for that access function
c) Invoke the backoff procedure due to an internal collision
d) Do nothing for that access function.

The specific slot boundaries at which exactly one of these operations shall be performed are defined as
follows, for each channel access function:
a) Following AIFSN[AC] * aSlotTime – aRxTxTurnaraoundTime of medium idle indication after
SIFS (not necessarily idle time) after the last busy medium on the antenna, if the last busy medium
indication was the result of a frame reception with a correct FCS ; or
b) Following EIFS – DIFS + AIFSN[AC] * aSlotTime of medium idle indication after the last
indicated busy medium as determined by the carrier sense mechanism if the last busy medium
indication was the result of a frame reception with an FCS error or PHY-RXEND.indication
(RXERROR), where the value of RXERROR is not NoError.
c) When any other channel access function at this QSTA transmitted a frame requiring
acknowledgement, the earlier of:
a. the end of the ACK-Timeout interval timed from the PHY_TXEND.confirm, followed
by AIFSN[AC] * aSlotTime – aTxRxTurnaraoundTime of IDLE Time
b. at the end of the first AIFSN[AC] * aSlotTime – aTxRxTurnaraoundTime of IDLE
medium after the PHY-RXEND.indication when a PHY-RXSTART.indication occurs as
specified in subclause 9.2.8 of [1],
d) following AIFSN[AC] * aSlotTime– aTxRxTurnaraoundTime of medium idle indication after
SIFS (not necessarily idle time) after the last indicated busy medium on the antenna that was the
result of a transmission of a frame for any channel access function and which did not require an
acknowledgement; or
e) following AIFSN[AC] * aSlotTimeof medium idle time indication after the last indicated idle
medium as indicated by the carrier sense mechanism that is not covered by a) through d).
f) following aSlotTime of medium idle indication which occurs immediately after a decrement of the
backoff counter for that channel access function.

WMM_Specification_1-1.doc Page 21 of 36
At each of the above-described specific slot boundaries, each channel access function shall initiate a
transmission sequence, if:
a) there is a frame available for transmission at that channel access function, and
b) the backoff timer for that channel access function has a value of zero, and
c) initiation of a transmission sequence is not allowed to commence at this time for a channel access
function of higher UP.

At each of the above-described specific slot boundaries, each channel access function shall decrement the
backoff timer by one, if:
a) The backoff timer for that channel access function has a value which is greater than zero.

At each of the above-described specific slot boundaries, each channel access function shall invoke the
backoff procedure due to an internal collision, if:
a) There is a frame available for transmission at that channel access function, and
b) the backoff timer for that channel access function has a value of zero, and
c) initiation of a transmission sequence is allowed to commence at this time for a channel access
function of higher UP.
At each of the above-described specific slot boundaries, each channel access function shall do nothing, if
none of the above actions is taken.

Earliest possible
transm ission on-air
Initial backoff counter when AIFSN=2
value of 0
Initial backoff
DIFS counter value of 1

AIFS for AIFSN=1

aSIFSTime aSlotTime aSlotTime aSlotTim e

Medium Busy

D1 Rx/Tx
M1 D2 D2 D2
CCADel CCADel CCADel
M2 M2 M2
Rx/Tx Rx/Tx Rx/Tx

aSlotTime aSlotTime aSlotTime

MAC Slot boundary TX SIFS AIFSN =1 AIFSN = 2 AIFSN = 3

See Figure 62 [1] for a Decrem ent backoff or start

description of the legend rx to tx turnaround if zero
when AIFSN=1

Figure 18 EDCA Mechanism Timing

An example showing the relationship between AIFS, AIFSN, DIFS and slot times immediately following a
medium busy condition (and assuming that medium busy condition was not caused by a frame in error) is
shown in Figure 18. In this case, with AIFSN=2, the channel access function may decrement the backoff
counter for the first time at
2 * aSlotTime

WMM_Specification_1-1.doc Page 22 of 36
following the end of the medium busy condition. Note: The end of the medium busy condition happens at
the end of M1 in Figure 18. If, in this example, the backoff counter contained a value of 1 at the time the
medium became idle, transmission would start as a result of an EDCA TXOP on-air at a time
aSIFSTime + 3 × aSlotTime
following the end of the medium busy condition.

3.4.4 Obtaining a Continuation of TXOP

A continuation of TXOP is granted to a channel access function at a SIFS period following the successful
completion of a frame exchange if there is a frame available for transmission that fits in any remaining
EDCA TXOP duration. If a STA has in its transmit queue an additional frame of the same access category
as the one just transmitted, and the duration of transmission of that frame plus any expected
acknowledgement for that frame is less than the remaining medium occupancy timer value, then the STA
may commence transmission of that frame at SIFS after the completion of the immediately preceeding
frame exchange sequence.
A frame exchange may be either a multicast frame transmitted by an AP or a frame transmitted with “no
acknowledgement” policy, for which there is no expected acknowledgement, or a unicast frame followed
by a correctly received acknowledgement frame transmitted by either a STA or an AP.
Note that, as for an EDCA TXOP, a continuation TXOP is granted to a channel access function, not to a
STA or AP, such that a continuation TXOP is only permitted for the transmission of a frame of the same
access category as the access category of the frame that was granted the EDCA TXOP.

3.4.5 Backoff Procedure

Each channel access function shall maintain a state variable CW[AC], which shall be initialized to the
value of the parameter CWmin[AC] (see section 3.2).
If a frame is successfully transmitted for a specific channel access function, indicated by either the
successful reception of a CTS in response to an RTS, or the successful reception of an Ack in response to a
unicast MPDU, or by transmitting a multicast frame or a frame with “no acknowledgement” policy,
CW[AC] shall be reset to CWmin[AC].
The backoff procedure shall be invoked for a channel access function when either:
a) A frame with that AC is requested to be transmitted and the medium is busy as indicated by either
physical or virtual carrier sense, and the backoff timer has a value of zero for that AC.
b) The final transmission by the TXOP holder initiated during the TXOP for that AC was successful
c) The transmission of a frame of that AC fails, indicated by a failure to receive a CTS in response to
an RTS, or a failure to receive an Ack that was expected in response to a unicast MPDU or
MMPDU.
d) The transmission attempt collides internally with another channel access function of an AC that
has higher priority, that is, two or more channel access functions in the same STA or AP are
granted a TXOP at the same time.
If the backoff procedure is invoked because of reason a) above the value of CW[AC] shall be left
unchanged. If the backoff procedure is invoked because of reason b) above, the value of CW[AC] shall be
reset to CWmin[AC].
If the backoff procedure is invoked because of a failure event (either reason c) or d) above) the value of
CW[AC] shall be updated as follows before invoking the backoff procedure:
a) if the short or long retry count for the STA has reached aShortRetryLimit or
aLongRetryLimit[AC] respectively, CW[AC] will be reset to CWmin[AC].
b) Otherwise,

WMM_Specification_1-1.doc Page 23 of 36
 1) if CW[AC] is less than CWmax[AC], CW[AC] shall be set to the value
(CW[AC]+1)*2-1
2) if CW[AC] is equal to CWmax[AC], CW[AC] shall remain unchanged for the
remainder of any retries
Following the update of the value of CW[AC], the backoff timer is set to an integer value chosen randomly
with a uniform distribution taking values in the range (0,CW[AC]) inclusive.

3.4.6 Retransmit Procedures

If a STA or AP, in an infrastructure BSS or an IBSS, transmits frames to a destination using QoS data
types, it may following a failed transmission of a frame attempt to transmit another frame with a different
access category to the same or any other destination. The STA has to contend for the medium when
transmitting another frame with a different access category to the same or any other destination using the
rules defined in [1].
If a STA or an AP does not use QoS data types when transmitting frames to a particular receiver address,
once an initial attempt, excluding internal collisions, has been made to transmit a frame, it shall not
transmit other data frames to that receiver address until the first frame is either successfully transmitted or
discarded. It may, however, transmit other frames to different receiver addresses.

3.5 ADDTS and DELTS Procedures

A STA uses an ADDTS request frame to setup a Traffic Stream (TS) between it and an AP. DELTS may
be used by the STA or AP to discontinue and delete the use of a TS.
A TS serves two purposes within WMM:
• For the modification of AC parameters used for APSD. (§3.6)
• For the STA to gain admission to use an AC within a BSS. (§3.5.1)
A TS is identified uniquely by its TID value within the context of the RA and TA. The TID is contained
within the TS Info Field in the WMM TSPEC Element of ADDTS and DELTS frames (Figure 15). Within
a WMM STA in an infrastructure BSS, the RA and TA are constant.
TSs may be unidirectional, STA to AP or AP to STA, or bi-directional (Table 11).
In WMM, TSs are identified with TIDs values 0 through 7. Any TID may map onto any UP and thus onto
any AC, however for each AC used between an RA and TA, only the following combinations are valid:
• No TS,
• One unidirectional TS,
or
• One Bi-directional TS.
An AP may reject invalid combinations.
There shall be only one outstanding active TS from a WMM STA for any given AC. When there is an
existing TS admitted with the AP for a given AC, then an ADDTS request frame initiates the replacement
of the existing TS with a new TS. Reception of an ADDTS Response Frame with the Status Code equal to
0 for a given STA and AC overwrites any previous ADDTS Response frame for a given STA and AC.
Hence a WMM AP supports only one admitted TS per AC per WMM STA.
TSs may only be setup after successful association. All TSs between a STA and AP are discontinued and
deleted upon disassociation. Re-association has no effect on TSs.

WMM_Specification_1-1.doc Page 24 of 36
3.5.1 Admission Control Procedures
WMM STA may support admission control procedures. APs shall support admission control procedures, at
least to the minimal extent of advertising that admission is not mandatory on its ACs.
The AP uses the ACM (admission control mandatory) flags advertised in the WMM Parameter element to
indicate whether admission control is required for each of the ACs, as a matter of policy. While the
CWmin, CWmax, AIFS, TXOP limit parameters may be adjusted over time by the AP, the ACM bit shall
be static for the duration of the lifetime of the BSS. A WMM TSPEC request shall be transmitted by a STA
to an AP in order to request admission of a TS in any direction (uplink, downlink, or bidirectional) using
the AC parameters of those ACs that require admission control.
A WMM STA may choose to aggregate data flows locally by combining the parameters of multiple flows
into a single TSPEC, thereby allowing more than one data flow to exist per TS. The STA may transmit
unadmitted traffic using AC parameters of those ACs which the AP does not require admission control.
Each channel access function shall maintain two variables. The first of these is the admitted time, and the
second is the used time. The admitted time and used time shall be set at association time to zero.
The channel access function shall update the value of used time:
a) at one second intervals
used_time = max((used_time - admitted_time), 0)
b) after each frame exchange
used_time = used_time + FrameExchangeTime.
The FrameExchangeTime equals the time required to transmit the frame plus one ACK frame plus one
SIFS interval. If the used time reaches or exceeds the admitted time value, the corresponding channel
access function shall no longer transmit using the EDCA parameters for that AC as specified in the QoS
parameter set element.
If an explicit admission is torn down, the admitted time and the used time for the AC shall both be set to
zero.
A Setup request (ADDTS) for a TS (TID) that has an established explicit admission shall be regarded as a
request for a change to the existing admitted TS.
If a request for a change to an admitted TS is refused, the previously accepted admission for the same TS
remains valid.
Admitted time for each channel access function is the sum of the Medium time values for all admitted TS
that map into that AC. A WMM STA may choose to police admitted time and used time on a per-TS basis,
with the rules for not transmitting when admitted time is exceeded applying per TS as well.
It should be noted that acceptance by an AP of a STA association request that specifies U-APSD flags does
not constitute admission to the corresponding ACs. Uplink traffic from a STA must still be admitted using
the ADDTS request mechanism in order to transmit in an AC for which the ACM bit is set to 1.

3.5.2 Procedures at the AP

The AP shall respond to requests for admission conveyed in the WMM TSPEC request elements for those
AC with set ACM flag. If the ACM flag is set to 0 for an AC, the AP is not required to respond to a
TSPEC request. On receipt of a WMM TSPEC request element conveyed in any management action frame
except a probe request from an associated STA, the AP shall make a determination as to whether to

a) accept the request

b) deny the request

WMM_Specification_1-1.doc Page 25 of 36
The AP may use any algorithm in making such a determination. If the AP decides to accept the request, the
AP shall also derive the Medium Time from the information conveyed in the WMM TSPEC request
element. The AP may use any algorithm in deriving the Medium Time, but normally it will use the
procedure described in the Annex. Having made such a determination, the AP shall transmit a WMM
TSPEC element to the requesting STA contained in a ADDTS response management action frame. If the
AP is accepting the request, the Medium Time field shall be specified.
The AP may choose at any time to tear down an explicit admission by sending a management action frame
with the action code set to DELTS.
By observing the used time and the admitted time variables for admitted traffic destined to an STA, the AP
may drop MPDUs that are in excess of the admitted traffic using an unspecified algorithm.

3.5.3 Procedure at STAs

At any point, following association, the STA may decide, to explicitly request admission of traffic to be
transmitted or/and received on a specific AC. The STA shall use the mappings in Table 14 to identify the
sending AC from the UP field
In order to make such a request, the STA shall transmit a WMM TSPEC element contained in a ADDTS
request management action frame with the following fields specified (i.e. non-zero): Nominal MSDU Size,
Mean Data Rate, Minimum PHY Rate, and Surplus Bandwidth Allowance. The Medium Time field is not
used in the request frame and shall be set to zero.
The STA or AP may choose to tear down the explicit request at any time. In order for the STA to tear down
an explicit admission, the STA shall transmit a DELTS management action frame containing the WMM
TSPEC element to the AP.
If the STA receives a management action frame with the action code set to DELTS it shall disable the use
of the specified AC.
If an explicit admission is torn down, the STA shall disable the use of the AC.
By observing the used time and the admitted time variables for admitted traffic for an AC, the STA shall
drop MPDUs that are in excess of the admitted traffic using an unspecified algorithm
If, for example, a STA has made and had accepted an explicit admission for an AC, and the channel
conditions subsequently worsen, possibly including a change in PHY layer data rate, such that it requires
more time to send the same data, the STA shall drop excess traffic and may make a request for more
admitted time to the AP.

WMM_Specification_1-1.doc Page 26 of 36
3.6 WMM Power Save (PS) Procedures

3.6.0 U-APSD General Operation

3.6.0.1 The procedures defined in this section apply to unicast QoS-Data and QoS-Null frames that are
to be delivered to a WMM STA when the STA is in PS-mode. U-APSD shall only be used to
deliver unicast frames to a WMM STA. Broadcast/multicast frame delivery shall follow the
frame delivery rules defined for broadcast/multicast frames (See 11.2.1.4 in [1]).

3.6.0.2 The WMM power-save procedures are based on the legacy procedures defined in [1], but an
option for unscheduled automatic power-save delivery (U-APSD) is added. WMM APs capable
of supporting U-APSD (“U-APSD-capable WMM AP”) shall signal this capability through the
use of the U-APSD subfield (b7) in the QoS Info Field in Beacon, Probe Response and
(Re)Association Response management frames.

3.6.0.3 In order to configure a WMM AP to deliver frames, the WMM STA designates one or more of
its ACs to be delivery-enabled ACs and one or more of its AC to be trigger-enabled ACs. A
WMM STA may configure a WMM AP to use U-APSD using two methods.

3.6.0.4 First, a WMM STA may set individual U-APSD Flag bits (b3~b0) in the QoS Info field of the
WMM Information element carried in (re) association request frames (see §2.2.1). When a
U-APSD Flag bit is set to 1, it indicates that the corresponding AC is both a delivery-enabled
AC and trigger-enabled AC. When a U-APSD Flag bit is set to 0, it indicates that the
corresponding AC is neither a deliver-enabled AC nor a trigger-enabled AC. When all four
U-APSD Flag subfields are set to 1 in the most recent (re) association request frames, all the
ACs associated with the WMM STA are trigger-enabled ACs and delivery-enabled ACs upon
successful (re) association. When all four U-APSD Flag subfields are set to 0 in (re) association
request frames, the ACs associated with the WMM STA are neither trigger-enabled ACs nor
delivery-enabled ACs upon successful (re) association.

3.6.0.5 Alternatively, a WMM STA may request one or more AC as a trigger-enabled AC and one or
more AC as delivery-enabled ACs by sending an ADDTS request per AC to the WMM AP with
the PSB subfield (b10) in the TS Info field in the TSPEC element. In an ADDTS Response, a
WMM AP must preserve the setting of the PSB subfield from the ADDTS Request. Requests to
designate an AC as a delivery-enabled AC or trigger-enabled AC are admitted when the Status
Code is equal to 0 in an ADDTS response. A WMM STA may request an AC to be a trigger-
enabled AC with a TSPEC with the PSB subfield set to 1 in the uplink direction. A WMM STA
may request an AC to be a delivery-enabled AC with a TSPEC with the PSB subfield set to 1 in
the downlink direction. A bi-directional TSPEC with the PSB subfield set to 1, makes an AC
both a trigger-enabled AC and delivery-enabled AC. A bi-directional TSPEC with the PSB
subfield set to 0, makes that AC neither a trigger-enabled AC nor a delivery-enabled AC.

3.6.0.6 APSD settings in an admitted TSPEC (i.e., Status Code equal to 0 in an ADDTS response) take
precedence over the static U-APSD settings carried in the WMM Information element in the
most recent (re) association request. In other words, an admitted TSPEC overwrites any previous
U-APSD setting of an AC. An acknowledged DELTS for an AC reverts that AC to the static U-
APSD settings carried in the WMM Information element in the most recent (re) association
request.

3.6.0.7 WMM STAs use the Power Management field (b12) in the frame control field (§2.1.2) of a
frame to indicate whether it is in active or power-save mode. As U-APSD is a mechanism for
the delivery of downlink frames to powersaving stations, the uplink frames sent by a WMM
STA using U-APSD shall have the Power Management bit in the frame control field set to 1 for

WMM_Specification_1-1.doc Page 27 of 36
 buffering to take place at the WMM AP. WMM STAs may use U-APSD to have some or all
frames of delivery-enabled ACs delivered during Unscheduled Service Periods (USPs). A
WMM STA chooses legacy versus U-APSD behavior on a per-AC basis.

3.6.0.8 If, for a particular WMM STA, an AC is not a delivery-enabled AC, then all downlink frames
destined to that WMM STA that map to that AC are buffered and delivered using the procedures
described in [1]. The buffer used to hold these frames will be referred to as the legacy PS buffer.
The WMM AP uses the TIM and the More Data bit (b13) carried in Frame Control Field to
indicate the status of the legacy PS buffer as specified in [1].

3.6.0.9 Transmission of a Trigger Frame is not implicitly allowed by admission of a downlink TS. If
the Trigger Frame maps to an AC that has ACM=1, then the WMM STA must establish a
suitable uplink TS before sending Trigger Frames.

3.6.0.10 The WMM STA must remain awake as long as an USP is still in progress.

3.6.1 U-APSD AP Operation

3.6.1.1 WMM APs shall maintain a Power Management status for each currently associated STA that
indicates in which Power Management mode the STA is currently operating. U-APSD-capable
WMM APs shall maintain the per-AC U-APSD status for each currently associated WMM STA.

3.6.1.2 If a WMM STA is in power-save mode, as indicated by a 1 in the power management field (b12)
in the frame control field (§2.1.2), an AP shall temporarily buffer the MSDUs or MMPDUs
destined to the STA. If a WMM STA is in Active mode, as indicated by a 0 in the power
management field (b12) in the frame control field (§2.1.2), MSDUs or MMPDUs destined to
that STA shall not be buffered for power management reasons by the WMM AP.

3.6.1.3 MSDUs or MMPDUs in delivery-enabled ACs (as described in §3.6) destined for a particular
WMM STA using APSD shall be temporarily buffered in the U-APSD-capable WMM AP. The
algorithm to manage this buffering is beyond the scope of this standard, with the exception that
since the AP is WMM-enabled, it shall preserve the order of arrival of frames on a per TID, per
STA basis.

3.6.1.4 At every beacon interval, the U-APSD-capable WMM AP shall assemble the Partial Virtual
Bitmap containing the buffer status of non delivery-enabled ACs (if there exists at least one non
delivery-enabled AC) per destination for WMM STAs in PS mode, and shall send this out in the
TIM field of the beacon. In case all ACs are delivery-enabled ACs, the U-APSD-capable WMM
AP shall assemble the Partial Virtual Bitmap containing the buffer status for all ACs per
destination for WMM STAs. .

3.6.1.5 If the WMM STA has set up to use USPs by configuring trigger-enabled ACs, the WMM AP
shall buffer frames belonging to delivery-enabled ACs until it has received a Trigger Frame
associated with a trigger-enabled AC from the WMM STA, which indicates the start of an USP.
A Trigger Frame received by the WMM AP from a WMM STA that already has an USP
underway shall not trigger the start of a new USP. The WMM AP transmits frames destined for
the WMM STA and associated with delivery-enabled ACs during an USP.

3.6.1.6 For a WMM STA using U-APSD, the WMM AP transmits one frame destined for the WMM
STA from any AC that is not a delivery-enabled AC in response to a PS-Poll from the WMM
STA. In case all ACs associated with the WMM STA are delivery-enabled ACs, then no ACs
have been selected for legacy power-save, and the AP shall immediately send either an ACK
frame, a Null function Data frame with the More Data bit set to zero, or a Null function QoS

WMM_Specification_1-1.doc Page 28 of 36
 Data frame with the More Data bit and the EOSP bit set to zero in response to the receipt of a
PS-Poll frame. If the AP sends an ACK frame in immediate response to the PS-Poll frame, it
also shall later send a Null Function Data frame with the More Data bit set to zero or a Null
function QoS Data frame with the More Data bit set to zero and the EOSP bit set to zero. In
MSDUs sent in response to PS-Poll from a WMM STA using U-APSD, the More Data bit (b13)
field shall be set to indicate the presence of further buffered MSDUs or MMPDUs that do not
belong to delivery-enabled ACs.

3.6.1.7 At each USP for a WMM STA, the WMM AP shall attempt to transmit at least one MSDU or
MMPDU, but no more than the value encoded in the Max SP Length field in the QoS Info Field
of a WMM Information Element from delivery-enabled ACs, that are destined for the WMM
STA. Each buffered frame shall be delivered using the access parameters of its AC. The More
Data bit (b13) of the directed MSDU or MMPDU associated with delivery-enabled ACs and
destined for that WMM STA indicates that more frames are buffered for the delivery-enabled
ACs. The More Data bit set in MSDUs or MMPDUs associated with non delivery-enabled ACs
and destined for that STA indicates that more frames are buffered for the non delivery-enabled
ACs. For all frames except for the final frame of the SP, the EOSP subfield of the QoS Control
field of the QoS data frame shall be set to 0 to indicate the continuation of the SP. MMPDUs
also indicate the continuation of an SP because they do not contain an EOSP subfield. If the
WMM AP has no buffered MSDU or MMPDU to transmit or needs to otherwise terminate a
USP, the WMM AP may generate an extra QoS Null frame, with the EOSP set to 1. When the
WMM AP has transmitted a directed frame to the WMM STA with the EOSP subfield set to 1
during the SP except for retransmissions of that frame, the WMM AP shall not transmit any
more frames using this mechanism until the next SP. The WMM AP shall set EOSP subfield to 1
to indicate the end of SP in APSD.

3.6.1.8 If the WMM AP does not receive an Ack to a directed MSDU sent with the EOSP subfield set to
1, it shall retransmit that frame at least once within the same USP - subject to applicable retry or
lifetime limit. The maximum number of retransmissions within the same USP is the lesser of the
Max Retry Limit and the MIB attribute dot11QAPMissingAckRetryLimit. If an Ack to the
retransmission of this last frame in the same USP is not received, it may wait until the next USP
to further retransmit that frame subject to its applicable retry or lifetime limit.

3.6.1.9 A WMM AP shall have an aging function to delete pending traffic when it is buffered for an
excessive time period. The WMM AP may base the aging function on the listen interval
specified by the WMM STA in the most recent (re)association request. The AP may discard
buffered frames during power save mode transitions between APSD and legacy power save or
vice versa.

3.6.1.10 The AP shall deliver all frames from the legacy PS buffer using the power management
procedures described in [1].

3.6.2 U-APSD STA Operation

3.6.2.1 WMM STAs in PS-mode shall operate as follows to receive buffered frames from the WMM
AP.

3.6.2.2 WMM STAs shall use the power management procedures defined in [1] to retrieve frames held
in the legacy PS buffer.

3.6.2.3 In case one or more ACs are not delivery-enabled ACs, the WMM STA may retrieve MSDUs
and MMPDUs belonging to those ACs by sending PS-Polls to the WMM AP. In case all ACs

WMM_Specification_1-1.doc Page 29 of 36
 are delivery enabled ACs, WMM STA should only use trigger frames to retrieve MSDUs and
MMPDUs belonging to those ACs, and it should not send PS-Poll frames.

3.6.2.4 To initiate an USP to retrieve MSDUs and MMPDUs from delivery-enabled ACs, a WMM STA
shall wake up and transmit a Trigger Frame to the WMM AP. . Frames of delivery-enabled
ACs are delivered during a USP that begins after the WMM AP acknowledges the trigger frame
transmitted by the WMM STA. The WMM STA shall remain awake until it receives a QoS
Data or Null frame addressed to it, with the EOSP subfield in QoS Control field set to 1.

3.6.2.5 A WMM STA may send additional PS-Polls if the More Data subfield is set to 1 in downlink
unicast MSDU or MMPDUs that do not belong to any deliver-enabled ACs. WMM STA may
send additional trigger frames if the More Data subfield is set to 1 in downlink unicast MSDUs
or MMPDUs that belong to delivery-enabled ACs.

3.6.2.6 The WMM STA is recommended to go into active mode to receive buffered frames before
transitioning between APSD and legacy power save modes because the WMM AP may discard
buffered frames during power save mode transitions between APSD and legacy power save.

WMM_Specification_1-1.doc Page 30 of 36
WMM (Informative) Recommended Practices Annex
A.1 QoS Parameter Updates
It is recommended that the mechanism to update QoS parameters by way of the WMM Parameter Element
in beacon frames be used infrequently. It is not the intent of the designers of the protocol to specify this as a
dynamic adaptation mechanism, but rather as a means of auto-configuring policy at different locations.
However, in the event that the number of associated STAs changes or some other event occurs that
significantly alters the conditions, it is expected that the AP may change the policy settings. There is no
expectation of rapid update by the STAs, which may take of the order of seconds or tens of seconds if
necessary to update their parameter settings.
To assure that all STAs use the proper QoS parameters following modification of AC parameters, the
WMM Parameter Element should be present for multiple beacon intervals as specified in 3.2.2.

A.2 Use of Admission Control and Downgrading

It is recommended not to require Admission Control for the access categories AC_BE (Best Effort) and
AC_BK (Background). The Admission Control Mandatory Bit (ACM) for these categories should be
cleared to "0". The AC parameters chosen by the AP should account for unadmitted traffic in these access
categories.
In the case the QBSS requires admission control, i.e. ACM bit is set for an AC, and the WMM STA has an
MSDU to send on that AC, but the TS to which the MSDU belongs has not been admitted, the following
options exist:
(1) The MSDU is dropped
(2) The access parameters of the access function corresponding to the AC are adjusted to match the
parameters of a lower AC that does not require admission control. As a result, there will be two
access functions with identical admission control parameters within the WMM STA competing for
medium access. The cumulative throughput of this WMM STA may be higher.
(3) The MSDU is sent using a different UP. The UP is changed to map to a lower AC that does not
require admission control. The UP has to be changed prior to calculating the MIC, assignment of
the TSC and mixing the keys. Changing of the UP (2) is performed outside the MAC and is out of
the scope of this spec.
It is the responsibility of the application invoking the SAP to assure consistency of traffic that is mapped to
one AC, i.e. Admitted and non-admitted traffic mapped to one AC shall not be mixed.
A WMM AP should use option (1) or (3)

A.3 Deriving Medium Time

It is recommended that the AP use the following procedure to derive Medium Time in its ADDTS
response.
There are two requirements to consider: 1) the traffic requirements of the application, and 2) the expected
error performance of the medium. The application requirements are captured by two TSPEC parameters:
Nominal MSDU Size and Mean Data Rate. The medium requirements are captured by two TSPEC
parameters: Surplus Bandwidth Allowance and Minimum PHY Rate. The following formula describes
how Medium Time may be calculated:
Medium Time = Surplus Bandwidth Allowance * pps * medium time per frame exchange where:
pps = ceiling( (Mean Data Rate / 8) / Nominal MSDU Size ); medium time per frame exchange =
duration(Nominal MSDU Size, Minimum PHY Rate) + SIFS + ACK duration; duration() is the PLME-
TXTIME primitive defined in the standard that returns the duration of a packet based on its payload size
and the PHY data rate employed.

WMM_Specification_1-1.doc Page 31 of 36
A.4 WMM AP Default Parameter
It is recommended that the AP uses the default EDCA parameter listed in Table 15 and advertises the Table
13 values in WMM Parameter Elements.

Table 15 Default EDCA Parameters for the AP

AC CWmin CWmax AIFSN TXOP Limit TXOP Limit

(802.11b) (802.11a/g)

AC_BK aCWmin aCWmax 7 0 0

AC_BE aCWmin 4*(aCWmin+1) - 1 3 0 0

AC_VI (aCWmin + 1)/2 -1 aCWmin 1 6.016ms 3.008ms

AC_VO (aCWmin+1)/4 - 1 (aCWmin+1)/2 -1 1 3.264ms 1.504ms

A.5 Changes to WPA for WMM

A.5.1 Michael MIC Generation
Per the WPA pointer document, the TKIP MIC is computed over the MSDU destination address (DA),
MSDU source address (SA), the MSDU priority, 3 zero bytes and the entire unencrypted MSDU data
(payload):

6 6 1 3 M 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

DA SA Priority 0 Data M0 M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7

Figure 19 TKIP MIC Processing Format

Figure 19 is treated as a byte stream using the conventions described in Clause 7.1.1 of IEEE Std. 802.11,
1999 Edition. M0 – M7 are each byte of the Michael MIC.
On transmit, the MSDU priority used to calculate the Michael MIC shall be the numeric value of the UP for
each MPDU of the MSDU. On receive, the MSDU priority shall be the numeric value of the UP for each
MPDU of the MSDU.
A.5.2 TKIP Replay Counters
Each receiver shall maintain at least 4 unicast replay counters for each MAC address it receives WMM
traffic (at least 1 for each AC). (Note: All WPA stations must also maintain 1 replay counter for each
MAC address it receives multicast traffic.) The number of unicast replay counters supported by a receiving
station is indicated by the Number of Replay Counters sub-field in the RSN Capabilities field of the WPA
IE (a value of 2 = 4 replay counters, a value of 3 = 16 replay counters). When a receiver supports 4 replay
counters, transmitters shall not ‘reorder’ MPDUs within an AC that have the same MAC address, but
different TID, once the TSC has been assigned (prevents discarding out of order MPDUs at the receiver).
Receivers may support 16 unicast replay counters, as indicated by the Number of Replay Counters. In this
case, there will be 1 replay counter for each TID and transmitters may ‘reorder’ MPDUs within an AC that
have the same MAC address but different TID, after the TSC has been assigned. Note: It is never allowed
to reorder MPDUs within an AC that have the same MAC address and TID.

WMM_Specification_1-1.doc Page 32 of 36
A.6 Conveyance of 802.1Q VLAN tags
If an 802.1Q VLAN tag is present within a WMM frame, the frame should have the SNAP encoded tag
format as defined in [4] (see section 9.3). The frame format is shown in Figure 20. For comparison a frame
without 802.1Q VLAN tag is depicted in Figure 21. The general format of IP Datagrams over IEEE 802
networks and the SNAP header are defined in [3].

24-32 0 or 4 6 2 2 2 n 4

MAC IV AAAA03000000h 8100 VLAN Type Payload and FCS

Header h -TAG ICV

MAC Header WEP SNAP Header 802.1Q Ether-

type

Figure 20 Frame Format with 802.1Q VLAN tag

24-32 0 or 4 6 2 n 4

MAC IV AAAA03000000h Type Payload and ICV FCS

Header

MAC Header WEP SNAP Header Ether-

type

Figure 21 Frame Format without 802.1Q VLAN Tag

WMM STAs shall be able to receive frames with and without VLAN tag as depicted in Figure 20 and
Figure 21.
When a VLAN tag is present, the CFI bit in the VLAN tag will be set to 0.
In general, VLAN tags should NOT be present within WMM frames. The UP of the QOS subfield contains
the information contained in the priority field of the VLAN tag, such that a priority tagged frame (i.e. a
frame with a VLAN tag where VLAN_ID = 0) is not necessary.
In the case of a non-zero VLAN_ID, the use of VLAN tags is generally restricted to trunking links which
comprise a larger switching network's backbone, or for the connection of VLAN aware servers. WDS
frames would more naturally be employed for trunking purposes, and therefore, VLAN Tags may be
deemed necessary within WDS frame types. VLAN tags may appear in non-WDS WMM frames, e.g. when
attaching a VLAN aware server to the network wirelessly.
Additionally, VLAN tags may be deemed necessary by some protocols in order to convey priority
information across the WMM link where QOS subtypes are not used. In such cases, a priority tagged frame
would be employed (i.e. a VLAN tag with VLAN_ID = 0).
Best effort, non-QOS subtype frames should not include VLAN tags where those frames may have a non-
WMM STA as the intended receiver. A non-WMM STA might not be capable of interpreting the frame
format of Figure 20. WMM STAs shall be able to parse non-QOS subtype frames with a VLAN tag. This
ensures that if you are using a mix of legacy and WMM APs a WMM STA works in both situations where
tags are present on the network.

A.7 CCMP processing with QC

The CCMP processing protects fields in the MPDU header. This clause describes the additional processing
requirements for CCMP when the MPDU contains the QoS Control (QC) field.

WMM_Specification_1-1.doc Page 33 of 36
A.7.1 AAD Construction with QC
The format of the AAD when the QC field is used is shown in Figure 22. The length of the AAD is 24
octets long when the MPDU includes QC but not A4 and 30 octets long when the MPDU includes both A4
and QC.

2 6 6 6 2 6 2
FC SC QC
(bits 4,5,6,11,12,13 =0) A1 A2 A3 A4
(bits 4 to 15=0) (bits 4 to 15=0)
(bit 14=1)

Figure 22—AAD Construction with QC

The calculation of the AAD is as described in the 802.11i specification with the addition that the QC field
is now included in the AAD. Only the QC TID is used in the AAD and the remaining QC fields are set to
zero for the AAD calculation (bits 4 to 15 are set to zero)
A.7.2 CCM Nonce with Priority Octet
The CCMP Priority must be set to the value of the QC TID field when the QC field is available in the
header. The priority is set from bits 0 to 3 of the QC field. The priority bits 4, 5, 6 and 7 are reserved, and
they are always set to zero. The Priority Octet is set to the fixed value 0 (0x00) when there is no QC field.

A.8 Differences between Legacy DCF Formulation and WMM

DCF Formulation (IEEE Std 802.11-1999)
A random backoff value is selected in the range 0 to CW inclusive. CW is always of the form 2n-1. In the
case of 802.11a, in which CWmin is 15, initial backoff values are therefore in the range [0,15].
In congested conditions, decrement of the backoff counter may be interrupted by a transmission from
another STA. The only STAs which will suspend decrement of their backoff counters are those which have
not yet counted down to zero. Therefore, when resuming a suspended backoff, the smallest value of backoff
counter is 1. As a result, the earliest time that a STA can transmit after the medium is no longer busy
depends on whether the STA has selected a new backoff value (minimum value 0) or is resuming a
previously suspended backoff (minimum value 1). Figure 23 illustrates the Backoff behavior.

Figure 23 Backoff Behavior

The AP may choose to adjust the backoff parameters for WMM STAs to mitigate differences in the access
priority with respect to Best_Effort traffic and legacy STAs.

WMM_Specification_1-1.doc Page 34 of 36
A.9 Configuration State of AP for one example AC (Informative)

This transition is a new uplink

TSPEC *replaces* a
bidirectional one (¶3.5)

Not Associated
(¶3.6.0.4) (¶3.6.0.4) This transition is a new
Association Association downlink TSPEC *replaces* a
U-APSD QoS Info (b3~b0) = 0 U-APSD QoS Info (b3~b0) = 1 bidirectional one (¶3.5)

Re-Association Bidirectional ADDTS

U-APSD QoS Info (b3~b0) = 1 PSB (b10) = 1 (¶3.5)
or
Re-Association DELTS and
U-APSD QoS Info (b3~b0) = 0 U-APSD QoS Info (¶3.6.0.6)
Bidirectional ADDTS (b3~b0) = 1
PSB (b10) = 0 (¶3.6.0.5)
or
DELTS and Trigger Enabled and Delivery Enabled Bidirectional
U-APSD QoS Info (¶3.6.0.6) ADDTS PSB
(b10) = 1
(b3~b0) = 0 (¶3.5) (¶3.5)
Upstream (¶3.5)
Only Legacy
Power Save (¶3.6.0.5) ADDTS PSB
Enabled (b10) = 1
Upstream ADDTS (¶3.5)
PSB (b10) = 0 (¶3.6.0.5)
or Trigger Enabled (not delivery enabled -
DELTS and downlink delivered by legacy PSPoll)
(¶3.5)
U-APSD QoS Info
(¶3.6.0.6)
(b3~b0) = 0

(¶3.5)
Downstream ADDTS
PSB (b10) = 0 (¶3.6.0.5)
Downstream
or
Delivery Enabled (not trigger enabled) ADDTS PSB
DELTS and
(b10) = 1
U-APSD QoS Info (¶3.6.0.6)
(b3~b0) = 0 (¶3.5)
(¶3.6.0.5)
(¶3.6.0.5)
Associated

WMM_Specification_1-1.doc Page 35 of 36
References
[1] ISO/IEC 8802-11:1999(E) ANSI/IEEE Std 802.11, 1999 Reaffirmed 2003 edition
[2] IEEEP802.11e/D6.0 November 2003; Draft amendment to IEEE Std. 802.11, 1999 Edition
(Reaff 2003).
[3] IETF RFC1042: A Standard for the Transmission of IP Datagrams over IEEE 802 Networks.
[4] IEEE Std 802.1Q-1998s
[5] IEEEP802.11e/D7.0 January 2004; Draft amendment to IEEE Std. 802.11, 1999 Edition (Reaff
2003).

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