Add HT compressed Block Ack support

WHATSNEW

@@ -280,6 +280,192 @@ Notable backward incompatible changes are the following:
     arrives, so renewal timing does not move; traffic from the client starts one
     probeWait later.
 
+16. IEEE 802.11 capability and BSS state ownership
+
+    HT capabilities are prepared independently of the active BSS operation.
+    Simplified associations prepare both peers before network configuration,
+    regardless of node declaration order. Accepted BSS changes publish a
+    bssStateChanged notification after management completes its bookkeeping.
+    Legacy simplified stations retain BSS identity and channel information
+    without accepting the HT operation advertised by an HT access point.
+
+    Custom WLAN modules must replace ModeSetListener and modesetChanged with
+    an explicit modeSetModule using IIeee80211ModeSetProvider, and replace
+    direct MIB BSS/profile writes with the owner APIs. Custom HT PHY contributors
+    use typed capability interfaces. The migration guide describes these source
+    and wiring changes.
+    The selected legacy QoS and non-QoS ad hoc fingerprints remain unchanged;
+    no recorded fingerprint baseline was updated.
+
+17. Packet queue extraction and lifecycle signals
+
+   IPacketQueue now supports queue-lifecycle signals and predicate-based extraction.
+   Direct C++ implementations of IPacketQueue must implement findPacket(), the
+   predicate overload of dequeuePacket(), and must emit packetQueueDeparture
+   with PacketQueueRemovalDetails exactly once whenever a packet is dequeued,
+   explicitly removed, or destructively dropped. Listeners subscribe to the queue
+   module and filter the source to exclude descendant queue emissions. Providers
+   connected to CompoundPacketQueueBase must also implement IPacketExtractor so
+   that a compound queue preserves the provider's scheduling policy when it
+   extracts a matching packet. Direct C++
+   implementations of IPacketExtractor must replace selected-pointer extraction
+   with findPacket(predicate) and dequeuePacket(predicate); predicates may be
+   evaluated repeatedly and must be stable and side-effect free throughout one
+   logical selection. WrrScheduler, LabelScheduler, and PriorityScheduler accept
+   ordinary IPassivePacketSource inputs; they require IPacketCollection only when
+   collection/aggregate access is used and IPacketExtractor only when predicate
+   extraction is used, reporting the unsupported operation lazily.
+   PriorityScheduler aggregate queries no longer return -1 when an input lacks
+   IPacketCollection; getNumPackets() and getTotalLength() now report that
+   unsupported operation with cRuntimeError. Update callers that treated -1 as
+   an unknown aggregate size, or connect collection-capable providers.
+   A-MSDU policies now receive the provider-selected anchor and frame-eligibility
+   predicate. Additional policy-selected members are removed through exact
+   predicate dequeues, preserving scheduler/flow accounting without requiring
+   collection enumeration order to match scheduling order.
+   BasicMsduAggregationPolicy conservatively considers only collection members
+   after the anchor and never bypasses an earlier blocked same-flow member.
+   IPacketBuffer::ICallback requires explicit handlePacketDropping() and
+   handlePacketDropped() implementations. The first detaches the packet; the
+   second publishes its departure after all victims of the overload operation
+   have been detached. Custom buffer owners must implement both phases. Compound
+   queues propagate destructive drops through arbitrary non-queue wrappers and
+   nested compound queues exactly once. PacketBuffer rejects packets owned by a
+   cPacketQueue whose owner cannot participate in the buffer callback contract.
+
+18. Block Ack DELBA agreement ownership
+
+   Custom IBlockAckAgreementHandlerCallback implementations must explicitly
+   implement releaseBlockAckAgreementFrames() and cancelBlockAckTeardown().
+   Custom IFrameSequenceHandler implementations must implement both
+   cancelFrameSequence() and abortFrameSequence(), preserving their deferred
+   and immediate cancellation contracts. Custom originator and recipient
+   agreement handlers must implement isDelbaPending(); recipient handlers must
+   also implement processAcknowledgedDelba(), processAbortedDelba() and
+   getPendingTeardownGenerationId(). These methods no longer supply default
+   behavior in the interfaces. The built-in implementations already provide
+   these operations.
+
+   IOriginatorBlockAckAgreementHandler::processReceivedDelba(),
+   IOriginatorBlockAckAgreementHandler::processTransmittedDelba(), and
+   IRecipientBlockAckAgreementHandler::processReceivedDelba() now return the
+   terminated agreement as a unique_ptr. Originator ADDBA response processing
+   now returns a typed outcome containing the established agreement and, when
+   local policy vetoes a successful response, its immediately terminated local
+   agreement and a best-effort initiator DELBA for Hcf to enqueue after emitting
+   the Added and Deleted signals. Such locally generated DELBAs carry
+   sender-local agreement-generation metadata (the originator reuses its ADDBA
+   transaction identity), and ordinary data continues with Normal Ack. They remain
+   eligible through the
+   final fragment; aborting one fragment cancels its siblings. After retry backoff,
+   a replacement ADDBA setup invalidates an older queued DELBA, so an unreported
+   disposal cannot suppress setup indefinitely and a delayed frame cannot
+   terminate a newer peer/TID agreement. The replacement setup reports that
+   obsolete identity so Hcf also removes all of its queued or in-progress packets.
+   Originator and recipient DELBA transmission handlers now receive the full
+   Packet so sender-local agreement-generation metadata is retained through
+   fragmentation and MAC retries. This changes
+   IRecipientBlockAckAgreementHandler::processTransmittedDelba() from accepting
+   only a DELBA header to accepting Packet*; custom handler implementations and
+   callers must migrate to the Packet form. A locally tagged DELBA carrying
+   agreement-generation metadata remains eligible across MAC retries and is
+   retired only when its final fragment is acknowledged or the teardown is
+   terminally aborted. Custom handler
+   implementations and callers must adopt processAcknowledgedDelba() and the
+   boolean processAbortedDelba() outcome; processTransmittedDelba() still returns
+   the agreement removed by an untagged DELBA, or null when none was removed.
+
+   OriginatorBlockAckAgreementPolicy now exposes the new `addbaResponseTimeout`
+   and `addbaRetryBackoff` NED parameters. C++ implementations of
+   IOriginatorBlockAckAgreementPolicy must replace computeAddbaFailureTimeout()
+   with getAddbaResponseTimeout() and implement computeAddbaRetryBackoff().
+
+19. Originator ADDBA Transactions and Eligible Frames
+
+   ADDBA response deadlines now begin at actual request transmission. Frames for a
+   pending peer/TID wait for a matching successful response or terminal failure, then
+   channel access resumes for eligible traffic. This changes affected Block Ack
+   trajectories. A-MSDU service now appears as dequeued traffic in queue counters and
+   graphical fingerprints, instead of administrative removal.
+
+20. Fragment Reassembly and Receive Lifetime
+
+   Fragmented management actions are dispatched only after their complete body is
+   reassembled. Shared fragment reassembly now expires incomplete bodies after
+   maxReceiveLifetime, whose default is 512 TUs. Late fragments can therefore be dropped
+   instead of completing an old body; affected application deliveries, forwarding
+   trajectories and fingerprints change.
+
+21. Block Ack Inactivity Timer Callbacks
+
+   Block Ack inactivity uses absolute per-agreement deadlines. The shared timer follows
+   the earliest enabled deadline and is cancelled when none remains. Agreement expiry is
+   safe when a bounded management queue drops a generated DELBA synchronously. Timers
+   and traffic may differ from runs that kept extending an inactivity interval.
+
+22. Fragment Identity Across Sequence Reuse
+
+   Receive reassembly separates fragment generations and sequence spaces. Late
+   fragments, retries and reused sequence numbers no longer combine bodies from
+   unrelated transmissions; affected receive drops and deliveries may change.
+
+23. Receive Lifetime in Block Ack Reordering
+
+   Receive lifetime now remains anchored to first reception while fragments wait in
+   Block Ack reordering. A later stage no longer gives an old incomplete body a fresh
+   lifetime, so delayed or incomplete bodies may be dropped earlier.
+
+24. Expired Agreement Quarantine and Frame Release
+
+   Expired Block Ack agreements are quarantined from data-plane use while teardown state
+   is retained. Outstanding frames are released through the normal
+   acknowledgment/recovery paths before teardown proceeds, including when callbacks
+   replace agreement state.
+
+25. Incomplete Data Released by a Block Ack Request
+
+   When a BAR releases data fragments that do not reassemble into a packet, recipient
+   processing skips data dispatch instead of dereferencing a null result.
+
+26. Recipient Block Ack Timeout Policy
+
+   Recipient Block Ack timeout selection now honors a nonzero local policy value; zero
+   inherits the request's advisory value. This corrects the previously reversed choice
+   and can change agreement expiry and subsequent traffic.
+
+27. A-MSDU Size and Fragmentation Limits
+
+   Basic A-MSDUs now include subframe headers and padding in size checks and avoid the
+   ordinary fragmentation path. Eligible members retain flow order. Aggregation,
+   transmissions and delivered traffic may change in configurations that previously
+   built oversized or fragmentable A-MSDUs.
+
+28. Serialized Management Fragment Bodies
+
+   Management fragmentation now slices the serialized body instead of repeating a
+   complete management header in each fragment. Reassembly preserves the original body
+   bytes and local transaction context.
+
+29. Malformed Peer Association IDs
+
+   Malformed peer association IDs now mark the decoded management header incorrect
+   instead of terminating the simulation during deserialization.
+
+30. Negotiated A-MSDU Support
+
+   An originator now retains the successful ADDBA response's A-MSDU support bit for the
+   agreement. Subsequent aggregation follows the negotiated response instead of the
+   request's initial capability.
+
+31. IEEE 802.11 PHY mode API
+
+   External implementations of IIeee80211DataMode must implement the new pure
+   virtual getGuardInterval() query. Return the modeled guard interval as a
+   simtime_t, or -1 when the PHY has no guard interval. The bitrate-based
+   Ieee80211ModeSet getMode() and findMode() overloads also take a trailing,
+   defaulted guardInterval argument. Ordinary existing calls still compile;
+   member-function pointers must use the new signature. See the migration guide.
+
 Notable backward compatible changes are the following:
 
 1. IEEE 802.11 per-station rate statistics
@@ -334,6 +520,58 @@ Notable backward compatible changes are the following:
    ResidenceTimeTag and, with it, the FlowTag and the PacketEventTag of the packet.
    Those two tags now survive the measurement.
 
+6. IEEE 802.11 HT/VHT guard intervals and timing
+
+   HT MCS 32, 73, and 76 definitions are corrected. HT/VHT signal fields use
+   long-GI symbol timing independently of the data GI. Mixed-format HT and VHT
+   short-GI data airtimes are rounded to 4 us boundaries; HT greenfield retains
+   its unrounded short-GI airtime. Results and fingerprints may change for
+   simulations using the affected modes and frame formats.
+
+   IIeee80211Mode duration-component queries are now pure virtual. Their
+   previous defaults are supplied by Ieee80211ModeBase; direct external
+   implementations must provide these queries or inherit the base defaults.
+
+   RateSelection and QosRateSelection now accept dataFrameGuardInterval to
+   qualify a configured dataFrameBitrate. The default, -1s, leaves the GI
+   unspecified; an explicit value must match the selected mode's modeled GI.
+   The MAC now coordinates explicitly registered mode-set consumers,
+   updating MAC, management, rate selection, and active contention before
+   publishing modesetChanged from the MAC. Initialization queries the catalog;
+   unchanged catalogs retain algorithm state. Incompatible catalog-only requests
+   are rejected before opening a transition, allowing an explicit-mode retry.
+   Failures after PHY mutation remain fatal. External PHY
+   and contention implementations have new contracts described in the
+   migration guide. Default TXOP limits are resolved for each new TXOP after
+   a mode-set change; active TXOPs and configured overrides retain their limits.
+
+   Radio reconfiguration preserves ongoing receptions when the incoming mode
+   and receiver listening configuration remain compatible. Transmit-only mode
+   changes and reapplying unchanged settings no longer interrupt reception.
+   Incompatible changes abort through the normal reception cleanup path.
+
+   Management subclasses can override addVhtCapabilities and addVhtOperation
+   to customize advertisements produced by inherited AP/STA frame builders.
+
+   Group-addressed frames use a legacy basic rate when that set is nonempty.
+   Eligible configured basic rates are preserved; other configured rates fall
+   back to the fastest legacy basic rate. For example, a configured 54 Mbps
+   group rate becomes 24 Mbps in the default mixed legacy catalog. This changes
+   airtime and fingerprints in affected existing scenarios.
+
+   The ac catalog now contains both 800 ns and 400 ns GI for all 310 supported
+   VHT width/NSS/MCS tuples. Existing unqualified lookups, mandatory/basic flags,
+   and reference modes retain their previous choices.
+
+   Detailed AP/STA management now exchanges VHT Capabilities and VHT Operation
+   elements. Both rate selectors constrain VHT unicast by local Tx and peer Rx
+   MCS/NSS maps, bandwidth, GI, and advertised long-GI rate limits. Association
+   loss and mode-set application invalidate peer state. Missing VHT negotiation
+   falls back to legacy rates, including simplified-management and ad-hoc setups;
+   this changes their airtime and fingerprints. Current detailed VHT operation
+   is limited to 20 MHz and long GI. See the migration guide for configuration
+   and the retained VHT-only profile limitations.
+
 
 INET-4.7 (July 2026) — feature release
 --------------------------------------
@@ -453,6 +691,13 @@ Notable backward incompatible changes are the following:
    These changes are backward incompatible for C++ code that directly references
    the old combined ICMP error indication or tag types.
 
+7. 802.11n control-response rate selection
+
+   Ordinary ACK and Basic BlockAck responses in the n(mixed-2.4Ghz) profile now
+   use the mandatory non-HT fallback because BSSBasicRateSet is not modelled.
+   This can change airtime, timeout trajectories, throughput, and fingerprints
+   in existing simulations. An HT RTS continues to receive an HT-mixed CTS.
+
 Notable backward compatible changes are the following:
 
 1. IPv6 network configurator

doc/project/design/ieee80211-model-architecture.md

@@ -92,3 +92,44 @@ Concrete signals declare their source/scope, change condition, payload, and life
 [AR-COM-NOTIFY](../rule/architecture.md#ar-com-notify). An immutable borrowed snapshot is allowed;
 it creates no second writable authority. Commands, queries, and required coordination use typed
 calls or protocol messages, rather than notifications.
+
+**Implemented HT contracts.** `IIeee80211ModeSetProvider` exposes the configured catalog after
+`LOCAL`. `IIeee80211MacConfiguration` extends it with an idempotent `prepareLocalCapabilities()`
+operation after PHY readiness. MAC consumers resolve their `modeSetModule` dependency through the
+narrow provider in `ModeSetModuleBase` at `LINK_LAYER`; the MAC NED provides the default descendant
+path. Management uses `macModule`. `LINK_LAYER` depends explicitly
+on both `PHYSICAL_LAYER` and `NETWORK_INTERFACE_CONFIGURATION`, so addresses and contribution inputs
+are available before simplified association. Its AP preparation/install/removal calls use
+`IIeee80211BssProvider`; no remote `LAST` callback is required.
+
+`Ieee80211Mib` provides const BSS/profile queries and guarded mutations. Management stages a complete
+BSS/peer change, finishes its transaction and timer bookkeeping, then calls `publishStateChange()`.
+The MIB's `bssStateChanged` signal covers meaningful BSS or peer changes. Its Boolean value reports
+whether a BSS is active; observers query the current MIB for details. There is no borrowed signal
+payload. Delivery is synchronous and observational: MIB mutation during delivery throws an error.
+References into the MIB are valid only until the next corresponding mutation. A retained
+`shared_ptr<const Ieee80211NegotiatedHtCapabilities>` keeps an immutable capability result alive,
+but does not grant continued relationship eligibility.
+
+`hasPreparedLocalCapabilities()`, `isLocalHtCapable()`, `hasActiveBss()`, `hasHtOperation()`, and
+`relationshipAllowsHt(peer)` distinguish readiness, implementation support, current BSS presence,
+accepted operation presence, and permission to select HT. A legacy BSS may be active without HT
+operation. The current ad hoc no-beacon abstraction likewise has no learned channel/HT operation or
+accepted peer advertisements. Stop/crash clears operational relationships while retaining prepared
+configuration. Physical AP channel context is retained by management for restart; STA operation is
+learned from accepted management information, independently of scan tuning.
+
+**Runtime catalog reconfiguration.** The MAC simple module implements the typed
+`IIeee80211ModeSetCoordinator` contract. The radio resolves its coordinator through
+`modeSetCoordinatorModule`; the containing interface only supplies default wiring.
+Consumers register through their declared catalog/configuration provider when it supports
+coordination. A read-only replacement provider need not implement that optional runtime role.
+
+An explicit changed-catalog transaction refreshes the MAC-assembled capability profile,
+then management's local operation and dependent algorithms. HT compatibility results are
+replaced only when capability inputs change; accepted peer knowledge remains relationship-scoped
+and selection still checks eligibility and current operation. Reapplying the same catalog
+does not reset algorithms. Ordinary preparation and stop/restart retain their existing contracts.
+The MAC publishes `modesetChanged` only after a changed runtime catalog is applied; initialization
+uses typed queries without a catalog notification. Membership changes and reentrant transitions
+are rejected during application/publication. Failures after PHY mutation are fatal, without rollback.