11n Block Acknowledgement

Every unicast frame in the initial 802.11 standard required a positive acknowledgement. 802.11e introduced the concept of "Block Acknowledgement": Single acknowledgement for multiple frames. Block Ack along with A-MPDU Aggregation is used in 11n to achieve significant improvement in application throughput.

Lets understand the 11n Block Ack by answering some basic questions.
"BA" in the below text means "Block Acknowledgement".

Q: Is it necessary to setup a BA before it can be used?
A: Yes. A BA session must be setup in each direction (Tx and Rx). The session needs to be setup by the device that intends to receive the BA. The session is setup using ADDBA request/response. A DELBA can be used to tear down the session. ADDBA and DELBA are BA action frames.

title "BA Setup"

note over dev1,dev2: "Connected"
opt Dev1 decides to enable BA (for it Tx Data)
dev1->dev2: ADDBA Request (BA Params)
note over dev2: Dev2 can accept or reject the request.\n It can also change the BA parameters.
dev2->dev1: ADDBA Response (Status, BA Params)
note over dev1:"Can now send A-MPDU"
end

opt Dev2 decides to enable BA (for it Tx Data)
note over dev2:"I want to enable BA (for my Tx Data)"
dev2->dev1: ADDBA Request(BA Params)

note over dev1: Dev1 can accept or reject the request.\n It can also change the BA parameters.
dev1->dev2: ADDBA Response(Status, BA Params)
note over dev2:"Can now send A-MPDU"
end

The following parameters are exchanged in ADDBA messages:

• A-MSDU supported in MPDU or not
• BA policy (Immediate or Delayed)
• Traffic Identifier
• Number of MPDUS  that can be acknowledged in one BA
• The response may indicate a value lower than the request
• Starting Sequence Number (only in ADDBA request). This is the sequence number of the first packet that would be acknowledged using the BA.

Q: What are the different types of BA?
A: There are two different types of BA: Immediate BA and Delayed BA, which are explained in the below diagrams.

title "Delayed vs Immediate Block Ack"
dev1->dev2: Data Frame (A-MPDU with multiple MPDUs)
alt Delayed Block Ack
dev1->dev2: BA Request
dev2->dev1: Ack
dev2->dev1: Block Ack
dev1->dev2: Ack
else Immediate Block Ack
dev1->dev2: BA Request
dev2->dev1: Block Ack
end

Q: I've captured a 11n air-trace and can see a BA even without BA Request. Why is it different from Immediate and Delayed BA?
A: That is true. You would usually find that a BA is sent event without a BA Request. That is because the BA request is implicit. What you have seen is an "Immediate BA with implicit BA request". 

title Immediate BA with Implicit BA Request
dev1->dev2: Data Frame (A-MPDU with multiple MPDUs)\nAck Policy=Implicit BA
dev2->dev1: Block Ack

Q: What is a BA bitmap?
A: A BA bitmap along with the starting sequence number indicates the packets that are being acknowledged.  Each bit acknowledges one packet and sequence number of the packet is equal to starting sequence number + bit number. For e.g., the BA shown in the below diagram acknowledges packets 3 and 4.

Q: What is a compressed BA?
A: BA as defined originally in 802.11e allowed individual MSDUs to be acknowledged and the bitmap was 128 bytes long. 11n only allows MPDUs to be acknowledged and the bitmap is 8 bytes in long. The BA with 8 byte bitmap is known as compressed BA.

Q: Why does my device send some BA request frames even when there is no frame to be acknowledged?
A: A BA request is also used to change the starting sequence number. One example when this would be happen is if the transmitter has sent some frames without using aggregation (and hence acknowledged using normal Ack) and later wants to send some aggregated data. The transmitter can update the receiver with the new starting sequence number by sending a BA request. The receiver would respond with a zero bitmap BA in response to such a request.