Out-of-band profiling of Wi-Fi 6E capability

[joshschmelzle]

Support for detecting out of band 6E client capabilities in 5 GHz. Investigate the possibility.

[joshschmelzle]

According to a draft of the 802.11ax standard, a tri-band AP can inform a Wi-Fi 6E client actively scanning 2.4 or 5 GHz bands about existing co-located 6 GHz radios. There are two out-of-band discovery methods:

1. Reduced neighbor report (RNR)
2. Multiple BSSID beacon frames

I am interested to see these frames if anyone has them to share.

[joshschmelzle]

For out-of-band profiling, we can look at the alternative operating class, which was added in afd7784 (also review #70).

Capability logic:

14. Detecting 6 GHz Capability Out-of-band via Alternative Operating Class
    - a. is Supported Operating Classes tagged parameter present?
        - N - not supported
        - Y - may be supported
            - is 131 in alternative class list?
                - Y - 20 MHz channel spacing in 6 GHz operating class supported
            - is 132 in alternative class list?
                - Y - 40 MHz channel spacing in 6 GHz operating class supported
            - is 133 in alternative class list?
                - Y - 80 MHz channel spacing in 6 GHz operating class supported
            - is 134 in alternative class list?
                - Y - 160 MHz channel spacing in 6 GHz operating class supported
            - is 135 in alternative class list?
                - Y - 80+80 MHz channel spacing in 6 GHz operating class supported

[joshschmelzle]

For out-of-band regarding Multiple BSSID beacon frames, no vendors are implementing this frame in 2.4 and 5 GHz at the moment because legacy clients are not required to support it. In 6 GHz, MBSSID support is required for both AP/station.