WO2021179269A1

WO2021179269A1 - Communication method and apparatus for wireless local area network

Info

Publication number: WO2021179269A1
Application number: PCT/CN2020/079064
Authority: WO
Inventors: 冯玺宝; 李振宇; 吴毅凌; 贾树葱
Original assignee: 华为技术有限公司
Priority date: 2020-03-12
Filing date: 2020-03-12
Publication date: 2021-09-16
Also published as: CN115211213A

Abstract

A communication method and apparatus for a wireless local area network. The method comprises: an access point (AP) sending a trigger frame, wherein the trigger frame comprises a first association identifier (AID) field, the first AID field indicates that a first time resource is used for transmitting a first message, and the first message is the first message sent to the AP during the process of a station (STA) accessing the AP; and the AP receiving, on the first time resource, the first message from the STA. By means of designing a dedicated time domain resource of a first message and indicating, in a trigger frame, the dedicated time domain resource by means of an AID resource, an STA can participate in competition only when sending a first message on a first time resource, wherein the first time resource can comprise one or more time units; and when multiple STAs access an AP concurrently, the first message can be sent by means of a selected time unit, which can reduce the probability of the occurrence of a collision when different STAs send the first message.

Description

Communication method and device of wireless local area network

Technical field

This application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and device for a wireless local area network.

Background technique

With the development of the mobile Internet and the popularization of smart terminals, data traffic has grown rapidly. Wireless local area network (WLAN) has become one of the mainstream mobile broadband access technologies by virtue of its advantages in high speed and low cost.

In the WLAN system, a station (station, STA) obtains the service of the AP through an access point (access point, AP). The AP provides services for STAs in the coverage area. If there are a large number of STAs (for example, hundreds of orders of magnitude) connected to the APs are re-powered (such as AP upgrades), multiple STAs will have concurrent access, and some STAs may fail to access or The problem of high access delay. In the backhaul scenario, the antenna of the STA generally uses a directional antenna to point to the AP, and the STAs are hidden nodes with each other.

Therefore, how to use fewer access resources to ensure a shorter multi-user access delay is a problem that needs to be considered.

Summary of the invention

The present application provides a wireless local area network communication method and device, in order to reduce the time delay of multi-user access to the network and improve the communication quality of the wireless local area network.

In a first aspect, a communication method for a wireless local area network is provided. The method includes the following steps: an access point AP sends a trigger frame, the trigger frame includes a first association identifier AID field, and the first AID field indicates the first The time resource is used to transmit the first message, and the first message is the first message sent to the AP when the station STA accesses the AP; the AP receives the first message from the STA on the first time resource The first news. In the embodiment of the present application, by designing a dedicated time domain resource for transmitting the first message, and indicating the dedicated time domain resource through the AID resource in the trigger frame, the first time resource can only be used when the STA sends the first message Participating in the competition can save access resource overhead, increase the probability of the STA successfully sending the first message, reduce the STA's access delay, and further improve the communication quality of the wireless local area network.

Optionally, the first time resource may include one or more time units, where the first time resource includes the first time unit. When multiple STAs access the AP concurrently, the first message can be sent through the selected available time unit. In this way, the first time unit that different STAs may preempt for sending the first message is different, which reduces the STA's concurrent access. Probability of collision. In addition, the first time unit is only used for the STA to transmit the first message in the access process, which can reduce the number of messages from each STA's competition, and can reduce the probability of collision.

Optionally, the first message can also be used to measure guard time (GT), and GT can also be referred to as the maximum coverage distance round trip time (RTT), or used to measure the uplink timing advance (timing advance, TA). The AP can measure the GT through the first message, and the AP can notify the STA of the GT to achieve uplink synchronization of the STA's subsequent messages. Subsequent messages include access messages, data frames, and management frames that follow the first message during the access process. Subsequent messages may be transmitted on the time resource behind the first time resource in the data frame and/or the management frame, and messages other than the first message may be transmitted simultaneously with the data frame and the management frame during the access process.

Optionally, the first time resource may include one or more time units; the AP receiving the first message from the STA on the first time resource includes: Receiving the first message from the STA in a time unit.

Optionally, the AP may also receive the first message from other STAs in the second time unit. Correspondingly, each STA sends the first message to the AP on different time units included in the first time resource.

In a possible design, the AP may also return a response message of the first message to the STA on the first time unit.

In another possible design, the AP may also return a response message of the first message to the STA on the second time resource. The second time resource may be after the first time resource. This method requires the STA to have the ability to self-timing, and it is best to ensure synchronization accuracy. However, since the response message is not returned in the first time unit, the first time resource can be divided into more time units, and the STA can have more access opportunities.

In a possible design, the AP may send the trigger frame on the first time unit. Alternatively, the AP may also send the trigger frame on the third time resource. The third time resource is before the first time resource. In this way, the trigger frame does not need to be carried on the first time resource, and more time units can be divided, so that the STA can access the AP faster.

In a possible design, the trigger frame may also include the number of time units included in the first time resource and/or the length of the first time unit.

In another possible design, the trigger frame may further include one or more of the following: the number of time units included in the first time resource, and the first time unit in the first time resource The sequence number of the multiple time units included in the, or the length of the first time unit.

In a possible design, the length of the first time unit includes one or more of the following: the transmission time of one or more short frame intervals SIFS, the duration of the STA monitoring channel, or the round-trip time of the maximum coverage distance of the cell Extension.

In a possible design, the first message may include a sequence number of the first time unit in multiple time units included in the first time resource. The AP may determine, according to the sequence number of the first time unit in the n time units, how many sub-slots are separated between the first message and the AP sending the trigger frame, and the time difference between these sub-slots is TA. If there is a problem with the STA's timing, the AP will determine that there is a problem with the STA's timing according to the sequence number reported by the STA, and the AP will notify the STA of the timing problem or resend a trigger frame to the STA for retiming.

In a possible design, an indication can be added to the vendor-specific field (Vendor Specific) of the first message, such as adding a sub-slot order to indicate the number of time units that the STA determines to access AP.

In a possible design, the AP may use the first message to measure the uplink timing advance.

In a possible design, the first AID field is 4094.

In a possible design, the AP may also carry in the beacon frame the resource type that will be delivered during the beacon frame period, where the resource type can be determined by, but not limited to, whether to support delayed transmission of response frames. Through the design of resource types, STAs can choose whether to access or not according to their own capabilities, reducing the probability of collisions.

In a second aspect, there is also provided a communication method of a wireless local area network. The method includes the following steps: an access point AP sends a beacon frame, the beacon frame includes configuration information of a first time resource, and the first time resource Used to transmit a first message, the first message is the first message sent to the AP when the STA accesses the AP; the AP receives the first message from the STA on the first time resource A message. The STA may select which time unit of the multiple time units included in the first time resource to send the first message according to the configuration information of the first time resource indicated in the beacon frame. It is equivalent to that the AP configures a dedicated resource for the transmission of the first message in a semi-static manner. By designing a dedicated time domain resource for the first message, only the STA can participate in the competition when the first message is sent on the first time resource. The first time resource includes one or more time units. When multiple STAs receive concurrently When entering the AP, the first message can be sent by selecting an available time unit, which can reduce the collision probability when different STAs send the first message. Broadcasting the configuration information of the first time resource through the beacon frame can realize the semi-static configuration of the first time resource. There is no restriction on the terminal's capabilities, and it is applicable to terminals that support 11ax or not.

In a possible design, the beacon frame includes one or more of the following: the time domain position of the first time resource, the number of time units included in the first time resource, and the time The length of the unit, or the index number of the time unit.

In a third aspect, a wireless local area network communication method is provided. The method includes the following steps: an STA receives a trigger frame from an AP, the trigger frame includes a first association identifier AID field, and the first AID field indicates the first The time resource is used to transmit the first message, and the first message is the first message sent to the AP when the station STA accesses the AP; the STA sends the first message to the AP on the first time resource. A message. In the embodiment of this application, by designing the dedicated time domain resource of the first message, and indicating the dedicated time domain resource through the AID resource in the trigger frame, on the first time resource, only the STA can participate in the competition when it sends the first message. , Can reduce the collision probability when different STAs send the first message.

Optionally, the first message may be used to measure GT, that is, RTT, or to measure uplink timing advance (TA). The AP can measure the GT through the first message, and the AP can notify the STA of the GT to achieve uplink synchronization of the STA's subsequent messages. Subsequent messages include access messages, data frames, and management frames that follow the first message during the access process. Subsequent messages may be transmitted on the time resource behind the first time resource in the data frame and/or the management frame, and messages other than the first message may be transmitted simultaneously with the data frame and the management frame during the access process.

In a possible design, the first time resource can include one or more time units. When multiple STAs access the AP concurrently, the first message can be sent by selecting the available time unit, which helps reduce The probability of collision when different STAs send the first message. Specifically, the first time resource includes one or more time units; the STA sending the first message to the AP on the first time resource includes: the first message that the STA can preempt Sending the first message to the AP in a time unit. If the STA is recorded as the first STA, optionally, there may also be a second STA sending the first message in the access process to the AP on the second time unit. The first time resource includes the first time unit and the second time unit. In this way, the first messages of multiple STAs can be broken up in time, so that by constructing a time unit on the first time resource in the time domain, the collision between the first messages can be resolved through the Aloha of the time unit in the time domain. , To reduce the probability of collision.

In a possible design, the STA may also receive a response message from the AP returning the first message on the first time unit.

In another possible design, the STA may also receive the response message of the first message from the AP on the second time resource. The second time resource is after the first time resource. This method requires the STA to have the ability to self-timing, and it is best to ensure synchronization accuracy. However, since the response message is not returned in the first time unit, the first time resource can be divided into more time units, and the STA can have more access opportunities.

In a possible design, the STA may receive the trigger frame from the AP on the first time unit. Alternatively, the STA receives the trigger frame from the AP on the third time resource. The third time resource is before the first time resource. In this way, the trigger frame does not need to be carried on the first time resource, so the first time resource can be divided into more time units, so that the STA can access the AP faster.

In a possible design, the trigger frame may include the number of time units included in the first time resource and/or the length of the first time unit.

In a possible design, an indication can be added to the vendor-specific field of the first message, such as adding a sub-slot order to indicate which time unit the STA determines to access AP.

In a possible design, the first AID field is 4094.

In a possible design, the STA may also receive a beacon frame from the AP, and the beacon frame carries the type of resources that will be issued during the beacon frame period. Among them, the resource type can be determined by whether it supports delayed sending of response frames. Through the design of resource types, STAs can choose whether to access or not according to their own capabilities, reducing the probability of collisions.

In a fourth aspect, a communication method for a wireless local area network is provided. The method includes the following steps: a STA receives a beacon frame from an AP, the beacon frame includes configuration information of a first time resource, and the first time resource is used When transmitting a first message, the first message is the first message sent to the AP when the STA is accessing the AP; the STA sends the first message to the AP on the first time resource. information. The STA may choose to send the first message on the time unit of the first time resource according to the configuration information of the first time resource indicated in the beacon frame. It is equivalent to that the AP configures a dedicated resource for the transmission of the first message in a semi-static manner. By designing a dedicated time domain resource for the first message, only the STA can participate in the competition when the first message is sent on the first time resource. The first time resource includes one or more time units. When multiple STAs receive concurrently When entering the AP, the first message is sent through the selected time unit, and the probability of collision when different STAs send the first message is reduced.

In a possible design, the beacon frame may include one or more of the following: the time domain position of the first time resource, the number of time units included in the first time resource, the The length of the time unit, or the index number of the time unit.

In a fifth aspect, a communication device for a wireless local area network is provided. The communication device can be an access point AP, or a device in the AP (for example, a chip, or a chip system, or a circuit), or can be used in conjunction with the AP installation. In one design, the communication device may include modules that perform one-to-one correspondence of the methods/operations/steps/actions described in the first aspect or the second aspect. The modules may be hardware circuits, software, or The hardware circuit is implemented in combination with software. In one design, the communication device may include a processing module and a communication module. The processing module is used to call the communication module to perform the function of receiving and/or sending. The communication module includes a sending module and a receiving module. Exemplarily: the sending module is used to send a trigger frame, the trigger frame includes a first association identifier AID field, the first AID field indicates that the first time resource is used to transmit the first message, and the first message is The first message sent by the station STA to the AP during the process of accessing the AP. The receiving module is configured to receive the first message from the STA on the first time resource.

The receiving module and the sending module in the communication module are also used to perform related operations such as the first aspect or the second aspect, which will not be repeated here. For the beneficial effects achieved by this aspect, reference may be made to the corresponding beneficial effects of the first aspect or the second aspect, which will not be repeated here.

In a sixth aspect, a communication device for a wireless local area network is provided. The communication device may be a station STA, a device in the STA (for example, a chip, or a chip system, or a circuit), or a device that can be matched with the STA. . In one design, the communication device may include modules that perform one-to-one correspondence of the methods/operations/steps/actions described in the third aspect or the fourth aspect. The modules may be hardware circuits, software, or The hardware circuit is implemented in combination with software. In one design, the communication device may include a processing module and a communication module. The processing module is used to call the communication module to perform the function of receiving and/or sending. The communication module includes a sending module and a receiving module. Exemplarily: the receiving module is configured to receive a trigger frame from an AP, the trigger frame includes a first association identifier AID field, and the first AID field indicates that the first time resource is used to transmit the first message, and the first time resource is used to transmit the first message. A message is the first message sent to the AP when the station STA accesses the AP. The sending module is configured to send the first message to the AP on the first time resource.

The receiving module and the sending module in the communication module are also used to perform related operations such as the third aspect or the fourth aspect, which will not be repeated here. For the beneficial effects achieved in this aspect, reference may be made to the corresponding beneficial effects of the third aspect or the fourth aspect, which will not be repeated here.

In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device for a wireless local area network. The communication device includes a communication interface and a processor. The communication interface is used for communication between the device and other devices, such as data or signal transmission and reception. Exemplarily, the communication interface may be a transceiver, circuit, bus, module, or other type of communication interface, and the other device may be an AP. The processor is used to call a set of programs, instructions, or data to execute the method described in the first or second aspect. The device may also include a memory for storing programs, instructions or data called by the processor. The memory is coupled with the processor, and when the processor executes instructions or data stored in the memory, the method described in the first aspect or the second aspect can be implemented.

In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device. The communication device includes a communication interface and a processor. The communication interface is used for communication between the communication device and other devices, such as data or signal transmission and reception. Exemplarily, the communication interface may be a transceiver, circuit, bus, module, or other type of communication interface, and the other device may be a station STA. The processor is used to call a set of programs, instructions, or data to execute the method described in the third or fourth aspect. The communication device may also include a memory for storing programs, instructions or data called by the processor. The memory is coupled with the processor, and when the processor executes the instructions or data stored in the memory, the method described in the third aspect or the fourth aspect can be implemented.

In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium stores computer-readable instructions. When the computer-readable instructions run on the computer, the computer can execute The method described in any one of the possible designs of the first aspect, the second aspect, or the first aspect and the second aspect.

In a tenth aspect, the embodiments of the present application also provide a computer-readable storage medium, including instructions, which when run on a computer, cause the computer to execute any of the third aspect, the fourth aspect, or the third aspect and the fourth aspect. One possible design method described in.

In an eleventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip system. The chip system includes a processor and may also include a memory for implementing any one of the first aspect, the second aspect, or the first aspect and the second aspect. Possible design methods described in. The chip system can be composed of chips, and can also include chips and other discrete devices.

In a twelfth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip system that includes a processor and may also include a memory, which is used to implement any one of the possible designs of the third aspect or the third aspect and the fourth aspect. The method described. The chip system can be composed of chips, and can also include chips and other discrete devices.

In a thirteenth aspect, a computer program product containing instructions is provided, which when running on a computer, causes the computer to execute the above-mentioned aspects and the method described in any possible design of each aspect.

Description of the drawings

Figure 1 is one of the schematic diagrams of the WLAN system architecture in an embodiment of the application;

Figure 2 is the second schematic diagram of the WLAN system architecture in an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 3 is one of schematic diagrams of time domain occupation of access time slots in an embodiment of this application;

Figure 4 is the second schematic diagram of time domain occupation of access time slots in an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 5 is the third schematic diagram of time domain occupation of access time slots in an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method of a wireless local area network in an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a trigger frame format in an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of the second flow of a wireless local area network communication method in an embodiment of this application;

Figure 9 is one of the schematic diagrams of the beacon frame format in an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 10 is the second schematic diagram of the beacon frame format in an embodiment of this application;

FIG. 11 is one of the schematic structural diagrams of the communication device of the wireless local area network in an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 12 is the second schematic diagram of the structure of a wireless local area network communication device in an embodiment of the application.

Detailed ways

The embodiments of the present application provide a wireless local area network communication method and device, in order to reduce the time delay of multi-user access to the network. Among them, the method and the device are based on the same or similar technical conception. Since the method and the device have similar principles for solving the problem, the implementation of the device and the method can be referred to each other, and the repetition will not be repeated.

The wireless local area network communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application can be applied to the fourth generation (4th generation, 4G) communication system, such as long term evolution (LTE), and can also be applied to the fifth generation (5th generation, 5G). Communication systems, such as 5G new radio (NR), or applied to various future communication systems, such as the 6th generation (6G) communication system.

The wireless local area network communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application may also be applicable to wireless fidelity (WIFI) systems, wireless local area network (WLAN) systems, and may be applicable to IEEE 802.11 system standards, such as IEEE802.11ax The standard, or its next or next-generation standard, can also be applied to wireless LAN systems including but not limited to Internet of Things (IoT) networks or Vehicle to X (V2X) networks.

The embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

A WLAN system 100 to which the embodiment of the present application can be applied may include: one or more APs, and one or more STAs.

Figure 1 takes one AP101 and two STAs as an example, and the two STAs are represented by STA102-1 and STA102-1. AP101 is associated with STA102-1 and STA102-1.

As shown in FIG. 2, the WLAN system 100 may also include multiple APs. Figure 2 shows two APs, taking each AP connecting two STAs as an example. It can be understood that the WLAN system may also include more APs and more STAs.

The two APs are AP101-1 and AP101-2, and AP101-1 connects to two STAs, denoted by STA102-1 and STA102-2. AP101-2 connects to two STAs, denoted by STA102-3 and STA102-4.

The AP and STA designed in the embodiment of the present application will be described below.

AP can also be called a wireless access point or bridge or hotspot. The AP can be connected to a server or a communication network. The AP itself is also a station. An AP is a device that is deployed in a wireless communication network or a WLAN network to provide wireless communication functions for its associated stations. The AP can be used as the hub of the WLAN system. APs can be base stations, routers, gateways, repeaters, communication servers, switches, or bridges. Among them, the base station may include various forms of macro base stations, micro base stations, and relay stations. Here, for the convenience of description, the above-mentioned devices are collectively referred to as APs in the embodiments of the present application.

STA can be a variety of user terminals, user devices, access devices, subscriber stations, subscriber units, mobile stations, user agents, user equipment or other names with wireless communication functions. Among them, user terminals can include various types of wireless communication. Functional handheld devices, vehicle-mounted devices, wearable devices, computing devices or other processing devices connected to wireless modems, as well as various forms of user equipment (UE), mobile station (MS), terminal (terminal) ), terminal equipment, portable communication equipment, handsets, portable computing equipment, entertainment equipment, gaming equipment or systems, global positioning system equipment or any other suitable equipment configured to communicate via wireless media, etc. . Here, for the convenience of description, the above-mentioned devices are collectively referred to as STAs in the embodiments of the present application.

In order to better understand the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application, the following describes the optional implementation manners for the STA to access the AP. STA access to AP mainly includes the following parts: (1) The ability of AP and STA to exchange signals. The ability signal interaction is mainly realized through active scanning and passive scanning. Among them, during the active scanning process, the AP sends a beacon message, and the STA receives the beacon message from the AP. The beacon message includes AP capability information. During the passive scanning process, the STA sends a probe request to the AP, and the AP replies with a probe response to the STA. (2) The authentication process between STA and AP. The STA sends an authentication request (authentic request) to the AP, and the AP returns an authentication response (authentic response) to the STA. (3) The process of association between STA and AP. The STA sends an association request (association request) to the AP, and the AP returns an association response (association response) to the STA. (4) Secret key interaction and complete protection parameter interaction between STA and AP.

In the WLAN system, when multiple STAs access the AP in parallel, it may be implemented in the following manner.

In a possible implementation manner 1, an enhanced distributed channel access (enhanced distributed channel access, EDCA) channel occupation manner is adopted. It is based on carrier sense multiple access/collision avoidance (carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance, CSMA/CA). Participate in access based on channel competition. The STA sends a message only after the channel empty channel detection technology (clear channel assessment, CCA) detection succeeds. The downlink data sent by the AP to multiple STAs adopts time division, and the uplink data sent by multiple STAs to the AP also adopts time division. Multiple messages in the process of STA accessing the AP need to participate in channel preemption. After each preemption is successful, the channel of the full bandwidth is occupied in the preempted time domain. Here, the full band refers to the available bandwidth, which may be inconsistent with the system bandwidth. In addition, the data and access messages belong to the same access category (access category, AC) level, and the priority of channel preemption is the same for the two types of MAC frames of data and access messages. In the case of a large number of STAs accessing the network, multiple STA accesses may occur. At this time, data of multiple STAs and access messages may collide, and multiple STAs may back off after channel CCA detection fails. The back-off mechanism follows the binary exponential back-off (BEB) mechanism. If the channel is not idle, the back-off is doubled until the maximum value is reached. In the channel access mode of EDCA, only one STA can access the AP at the same time. The channel access mode of EDCA is a mode in which all access frames and data frames of all STAs compete for the channel, and conflicts are resolved by back-off time division. When multiple STAs or multiple users access concurrently, the collision is severe and the channel utilization rate is low. Especially when the STA adopts directional antennas, the STAs are hidden nodes to each other, and there are situations in which the STAs cannot be accessed all the time.

In another possible implementation mode 2, in order to greatly increase the service transmission rate of the WLAN system, the next-generation Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11ax standard implements orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing). On the basis of frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) technology, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) technology is further adopted. The OFDMA technology divides the air interface radio channel time-frequency resources into multiple orthogonal time-frequency resource units (RU). RUs can be shared in time, but orthogonal in frequency domain. For a single AP, when the AP needs to transmit data with the STA, it allocates resources based on the RU or RU group. Allocate different channel resources to different STAs at the same time, so that multiple STAs can efficiently access the channel and improve channel utilization. The AP sends a trigger frame to the STA. In the trigger frame, by indicating that the AID is 0 or 2045, it represents that the indicated resource is a contending resource. STA decides whether to transmit by itself according to random access backoff (random access backoff) criterion. An AID of 2045 indicates that the resource is provided for use by an unassociated STA, and an AID of 0 indicates that the resource is used by an associated STA. Although the 802.11ax protocol supports frequency domain ALOHA to resolve contention conflicts, for long-distance coverage scenarios, the coverage distance exceeds the cyclic prefix (CP) range, and it is impossible to perform uplink OFDMA or multi-user multiple input multiple output (multi-input multiple output). user multiple-input multiple-output, MU-MIMO), to do the frequency domain ALOHA mechanism, the STA's class (class) 1 frame (frame), class 2 frame (frame), and associated class 3 frame (frame). Data frames etc. between the STA and the basic BSS can only be transmitted in time division. Among them, the definition of class 1 frame, class 2 frame, and class 3 frame can refer to the definition in the IEEE 802.11ax standard. Trigger non-associated random access resource unit (random access resource unit, RA-RU), although one type (class3 frame) is reduced from the type, there will also be collision problems when a large number of users access concurrently.

The competing resources in the foregoing implementation manner 1 and implementation manner 2 can be considered as dynamic resources, and there are no fixed timing and pattern requirements.

In a WLAN system, the number, form, and location of the STAs connected to the network are unknowable. Most of the network does not adopt a network planning design. If a semi-static access resource configuration is adopted, it may cause a waste of resources. The solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are intended to save access resource overhead and reduce the access delay when a large number of STAs access.

It should be understood that in the description of the embodiments of the present application, "and/or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, which means that there may be three relationships, for example, A and/or B, which may mean that A exists alone, and A and A exist at the same time. B, there are three cases of B alone. The character "/" generally indicates that the associated objects before and after are in an "or" relationship. At least one involved in this application refers to one or more; multiple refers to two or more. In addition, it should be understood that in the description of this application, words such as "first", "second", and "third" are only used for the purpose of distinguishing description, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance. Nor can it be understood as indicating or implying order. References described in this specification to "one embodiment" or "some embodiments", etc. mean that one or more embodiments of the present application include a specific feature, structure, or characteristic described in combination with the embodiment. Therefore, the sentences "in one embodiment", "in some embodiments", "in some other embodiments", "in some other embodiments", etc. appearing in different places in this specification are not necessarily All refer to the same embodiment, but mean "one or more but not all embodiments" unless it is specifically emphasized otherwise. The terms "including", "including", "having" and their variations all mean "including but not limited to", unless otherwise specifically emphasized.

The messages exchanged during the STA accessing the AP include multiple messages. Among them, the first uplink access message sent by the STA to the AP may be recorded as the first message or message 1. For example, the first message may be an authentication request (authentic request). )frame. In the embodiment of the present application, the resource of the first message sent by the STA in the uplink access process is called the access resource. The following describes the design of access resources.

The "time unit" in the embodiments of the present application refers to a period of time in the time domain. For example, the time unit may be a radio frame, subframe, slot, micro-slot, mini-slot, or symbol, etc., and nothing is done for this. limited. The symbol may be an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol. In the embodiments of the present application, the time unit is one or more consecutive symbols (or sub-slots divided in a time slot) as an example for introduction.

Access resources in the time domain are called access slots. The access time slot is the time slot occupied when the STA sends the first message when accessing the AP.

The STA sends the first message to the AP in the access time slot, and the uplink synchronization can be completed through the first message. During the access process, messages other than the first message can be transmitted simultaneously with the data frame and the management frame, and the time, frequency, and space resources can be effectively utilized through OFDMA or MU MIMO.

When multiple STAs access the AP, multiple STAs compete to occupy the access time slot. The access slot in the embodiment of the present application may include multiple sub-slots, and one sub-slot can complete the process of one STA sending the first message to the AP.

Generally, the air interface transmission process for a STA to send the first message to the AP may include the following steps.

Step 1. The AP sends a trigger frame; the STA receives a trigger frame from the AP.

Step 2. After receiving the trigger frame, the STA sends a first message to the AP, and the AP receives the first message from the STA.

Optionally, after receiving the trigger frame, the STA may send the first message to the AP after a short inter-frame space (SIFS).

Step 3. The AP sends an acknowledgement message (Acknowledge, ACK) or an acknowledgement frame to the STA for determining that the first message is received; the STA receives the ACK frame from the AP. Optionally, after receiving the first message from the STA, the AP may send an ACK frame to the STA after SIFS.

Optionally, after receiving the ACK frame, the STA will perform channel detection or channel monitoring.

Through the above steps 1 to 3, the length of time occupied by a sub-slot can be determined.

Optionally, the trigger frame and/or the ACK frame may be transmitted in other time slots than the access time slot. Based on this, in another possible implementation manner, the air interface transmission process in which a STA sends the first message to the AP may not include step 1, and through steps 2 and 3, the length of time occupied by a sub-slot can be determined. Or in another possible implementation manner, the air interface transmission process in which a STA sends the first message to the AP may not include step 1 and step 3, and step 2 can determine the length of time occupied by a sub-slot. Or in another possible implementation manner, the air interface transmission process in which a STA sends the first message to the AP may not include step 3, and the length of time occupied by a sub-slot can be determined through

steps

1 and 2.

The duration occupied by a sub-slot includes the effective transmission duration. Among them, the effective transmission duration is the duration occupied by the transmission of each frame or each message. For example, the effective transmission duration includes: the transmission duration of the trigger frame, the transmission duration of the first message, and the transmission duration of the ACK. For another example, the effective transmission duration only includes the transmission duration of the first message and the transmission duration of the ACK. For another example, the effective transmission duration only includes the transmission duration of the trigger frame and the transmission duration of the first message. For another example, the effective transmission duration only includes the transmission duration of the first message.

Generally, the duration occupied by a sub-slot also includes the reserved duration. The reserved time is related to the specific implementation. For example, the reserved time length may include the length of one or more SIFS, for example, it may include one SIFS, or for example, it may include two SIFS. The reserved time length may also include the time length for the STA to monitor the channel after receiving the ACK frame. The reserved time length may also include the round trip time (RTT) of the maximum coverage distance. RTT=2*D/c, c=3*10^8m/s, D is the cell coverage radius (unit: m). Taking a cell coverage radius of 3km as an example, D=3000m, RTT=20us. RTT can also be referred to as guard time (GT).

The effective transmission duration included in a sub-slot is related to the bandwidth, and may also be related to the modulation and coding scheme (MCS). It is assumed that the effective transmission duration includes the transmission duration of the trigger frame, the transmission duration of the first message, and the transmission duration of the ACK. For example, when the bandwidth is 160 MHz and the MCS is 0: the transmission duration of the trigger frame is 56.8 microseconds (us); the transmission duration of the first message is 80 us; the transmission duration of the ACK frame is 56.8 us. The occupancy duration of SIFS is 16us, so the effective transmission duration of a sub-slot is 113.6us. If one sub-slot includes two SIFSs, the length of time the STA monitors the channel after receiving the ACK frame, and the length of time that the RTT occupies. The length of the double SIFS is 2*16=48us, the STA monitors the channel for 16us after receiving the ACK frame, and the RTT occupancy time is 20us. Then the total occupancy duration of one sub-slot is 261.6 us.

In the embodiments of the present application, a period of time domain resources can be designed to be dedicated to access time domain resources (or access time resources). For example, the access time slot resource is an access time slot for one or more STAs to access the AP. Used when sending the first message. The size of the access time resource can be predetermined, for example, the size of the access time slot is 2ms, that is, 2000us. Take the access time resource as the access time slot as an example.

When the size of the access slot is determined and the size of one sub-slot is determined, the number or number of sub-slots that can be divided into the access slot can be determined.

For example, S represents the maximum number of sub-slots that can be divided in an access slot; x represents the size of the access slot, and the unit of the access slot can be us, for example, x=2000us; y Indicates the effective transmission duration in a sub-slot, or the length of the air interface time domain resources needed to complete the transmission of the first message. For example, the length of y includes the transmission duration of the trigger frame, the transmission duration of the first message, and the transmission duration of the ACK. Then, the relationship between S, x and y can be expressed by formula (1).

in,

Indicates rounding down. That is, without considering the detection channel duration of SIFS and STA, the maximum number of sub-slots that can be divided into an access slot is S. In this case, the length of the sub-slot does not include the reserved time length. Use w to represent the length of a sub-slot, then w=y in this case.

However, in practical applications, if the reserved time length such as SIFS is considered, the length of a sub-slot is usually greater than the effective transmission time length. Use w to represent the time domain length of a sub-slot, then w=y+deta. Among them, y is the effective transmission time length, and deta is the reserved time length. w≥y.

R represents the number of sub-slots actually divided in an access slot. R is determined based on x and w, for example, R=x/w. R≤S. R*w≤x.

deta is related to the implementation, and the value of deta makes the value of w satisfy the relevant relational expression.

The time domain occupancy of the access time slot will be exemplified below through Figures 3 to 5.

For the examples shown in Figures 3 to 5: suppose that the time domain length of the access slot is 2ms, that is, 2000us, and x represents the size of the access slot. The time domain resource includes multiple consecutive time slots, and one time slot is 2 ms. Let ST0, ST1, ST2, and STN represent N consecutive 2ms time slots. N is a positive integer. The access time slot is the time slot of ST1. The access slot can be divided into S sub-slots at most, and the actual number of sub-slots divided is R. Each shaded box in ST1 represents a sub-slot. One sub-slot includes the first message (message 1). The actual transmission time of message 1 is the slash. The left side of the slash is the GT or RTT occupancy time, and the right side of the slash is the part of the actual transmission time of message 1 compared to the time divided by the network side for the transmission of message 1 , The time period divided by the network side to transmit message 1 is usually determined according to the most edge of the cell. When the STA is located at a position other than the most edge of the cell, the actual transmission time is shorter. In ST2, ST3...STN after the access time slot ST1, other access messages other than the first message during the STA's access to the AP can be transmitted, and data frames can also be transmitted. DL stands for downlink transmission time, and UL stands for uplink transmission time.

As shown in FIG. 3, taking the first sub-slot as an example, one sub-slot includes the transmission duration of the trigger frame, the first message (message 1), and the ACK frame. The sub-slots also include two SIFS, GT (namely RTT) and the duration of the monitoring channel. Among them, the interval between the trigger frame and the message 1 is SIFS, and the interval between the message 1 and the ACK frame is SIFS. It should be noted that when the length of the access slot is fixed, the time domain resources occupied by the access slot include R sub-slots, and the R sub-slots can be scattered within any 2ms, for example, ST1, ST2, ST3, etc., as long as the total occupied duration of the R sub-slots is equal to the duration of the access slot. In Fig. 3, the access time slot occupies ST1 as an example, that is, the access time slot is continuous in the time domain as an example. The AP can send a beacon frame on ST0.

As shown in Figure 4, the trigger frame and the ACK frame are not transmitted in the access slot. The trigger frame is transmitted in the time slot before the access time slot. For example, the access time slot is ST1, and the trigger frame can be transmitted in ST0. The ACK frame can be sent with a delay, and transmitted in the time slot after the access time slot. For example, the ACK frame can be sent in ST2. In one sub-slot in the access slot, the duration of the trigger frame and the ACK frame may not be included, but the transmission duration of the first message may be included. The sub-slots of the access time slot may also include reserved time lengths, for example, the time length of the STA to monitor the channel and the time length of GT (or RTT).

As shown in Figure 5, the trigger frame is not transmitted in the access slot. The trigger frame is transmitted in the time slot before the access time slot. For example, the access time slot is ST1, and the trigger frame can be transmitted in ST0. Any sub-slot of the access slot does not include a trigger frame, and includes the transmission duration of the first message and the transmission duration of the ACK frame. Of course, any sub-slot of the access time slot may also include a reserved time length, for example, including the time length of the STA to monitor the channel, the time length of GT (or RTT), and the time length of one SIFS.

In practical applications, the AP can control the length of the time unit through an algorithm or implementation. If the trigger frame is transmitted in the time unit, the AP can also control the offset of the trigger frame to the boundary of the time unit. If the ACK frame is transmitted in the time unit, the AP can also control the offset of the ACK frame to the time unit boundary.

Based on the foregoing description, as shown in FIG. 6, the flow of a wireless local area network communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application is as follows.

S601. The AP sends a trigger frame, and the STA receives the trigger frame.

The trigger frame includes a first association identifier (AID) field, and the first AID field indicates that the first time resource is used to transmit the first message, and the first message is sent to the AP when the STA accesses the AP. The first message. For the concept or explanation of the first message, reference may also be made to the introduction to the first message above. The first time resource may be referred to as an access time domain resource. In this application, the first time resource may be used as an access time slot as an example. For related concepts and explanations of the access time slot, please refer to the above introduction to the access time slot. .

S602. After receiving the trigger frame, the STA sends a first message to the AP on the first time resource according to the indication of the AID field, and the AP receives the first message from the STA on the first time resource.

One possible implementation. The first time resource may include one or more time units. For example, the first time resource is an access slot, and one access slot may include one or more sub-slots.

For example, when the first time resource includes one or more first time units, the STA may send a first message to the AP on the first time unit that can be preempted, and the AP receives the first time unit from the STA on the first time unit. information. In this case, the first AID field may also specifically indicate that the first time unit is used for transmitting the first message.

In the embodiment of this application, by designing a dedicated time domain resource for transmitting the first message, only the STA can participate in the competition when the first message is sent on the first time resource. The first time resource includes one or more times. When multiple STAs access the AP concurrently, the first message is sent through the selected time unit, and the probability of collision when different STAs send the first message is reduced.

Optionally, the first message may also be used to measure GT, that is, RTT, or to measure uplink timing advance (TA). For example, the AP can measure the GT through the first message, and the AP can then notify the STA of the GT, so as to realize the uplink synchronization of the STA's subsequent messages. The subsequent messages may include subsequent access messages, data frames, and management frames other than the first message during the access process. Subsequent messages can be transmitted on the time resource behind the first time resource in the data frame and/or management frame, and messages other than the first message can be transmitted simultaneously with the data frame and the management frame during the access process. OFDMA or MU MIMO can effectively use time, frequency, and space resources, thereby improving resource utilization.

The AP can record timestamp 1 in SIFS after sending the trigger frame, and record timestamp 2 when receiving the first message. The difference between timestamp 2 and timestamp 1 is twice the TA. Twice the TA is the round-trip time between AP and STA, that is, RTT. Optionally, the AP may send an indication message to the STA, where the indication message is used to indicate the difference between the one-way transmission time of the farthest coverage distance of the cell and the TA. For example, the indication message is an authentication response (authentic response) message returned by the AP to the STA. The STA will perform the scheduling delay according to the time indicated by the indication message, that is, all STAs are aligned to the time point corresponding to the user with the longest coverage distance of the cell, so as to achieve air interface uplink time alignment.

The following describes some optional implementation manners of the embodiment in FIG. 6.

Realization method one:

The AP sends a trigger frame on each time unit included in the first time resource. One trigger frame corresponds to one time unit. The first time resource is a time domain resource used for one or more STAs to send the first message, and is represented by the AID field in the trigger frame.

After receiving the trigger frame, the STA determines that the time unit corresponding to the trigger frame is the resource for transmitting the first message according to the AID field in the trigger frame, and then sends the first message on the time unit.

If the first time resource includes multiple time units, multiple time units can be numbered. The numbering can start from 0 to n-1, where n is the number of time units; the numbering can also start from 1 to n . The AP may also carry the number of the time unit in the trigger frame, and the number may also be referred to as an index number or a sequence number. The trigger frame may also carry the number of time units included in the access time domain resource.

For example, taking the access time slot in FIG. 3 as an example, assuming that the access time slot is 2000 us, and the total occupancy time of a sub-time slot is 261.6 us, the access time slot can be divided into seven. The 7 sub-slots are numbered, which can be numbered from 0 to 6.

In the first time resource, the AP sends a total of n trigger frames, and the STA has a total of n opportunities to receive the trigger frame. When receiving a certain trigger frame, the STA selects the time unit corresponding to the trigger frame to transmit the first message. Or, the STA receives the trigger frame, and according to the 11ax uplink OFDMA-based random access (UL OFDMA-based random access, UORA) OBO mechanism, the OBO count value (conter) is reduced by 1, and the OBO count value is 0 and the STA Participate in the competition when the time unit is selected.

Optionally, after receiving the trigger frame, the STA can perform the following operations.

The Trigger received by the STA from the AP carries two pieces of information: n and N. Among them, n is that the AP will send a total of n messages of this type in this period. This time Trigger is the Nth time.

(1) The STA randomly selects a value b from 0-n. When b=n, the STA sends the first message based on this Trigger.

(2) The STA satisfies the following conditions while satisfying the condition (1): Obtain OBO parameters from the Beacon, back off according to the OBO mechanism, OBO=0, and b=N, and the STA sends the first message based on this Trigger.

(3) The STA modifies the OBO strategy, and only when the trigger of this type with b=N is received, the OBO count value (conter) is reduced by 1.

(4) The above b can also be obtained by STA determining which Trigger is based on the timer.

In the first implementation manner, the AP can send a trigger frame on the corresponding first time unit, the STA sends a first message to the AP on the corresponding first time unit, and the AP returns a response message to the STA on the corresponding first time unit , The response message can be an ACK frame.

The trigger frame may include the total number of trigger frames sent by the AP on the first time resource, or include the number n of time units divided in the first time resource. The trigger frame may also include the duration of a time unit. The trigger frame may also include the sequence number/index number/number of the corresponding first time unit in the n time units.

When the STA sends the first message to the AP, the first message can carry the sequence number/index number/number of the first time unit in n time units. Taking the sequence number as an example, the AP can be based on the first time unit in n time units. The sequence number in determines how many sub-slots are between the first message and the trigger frame sent by the AP, and the time difference between these sub-slots is TA. If there is a problem with the STA's timing, the AP will determine that there is a problem with the STA's timing according to the sequence number reported by the STA, and the AP will notify the STA of the timing problem or resend a trigger frame to the STA for retiming. In this way, the sequence number deviation of the first time unit introduced by the STA timing problem can be avoided. Optionally, an indication may be added to the vendor-specific field (Vendor Specific) of the first message, for example, a sub-slot order (sub-slot order) is added, which indicates the number of time units determined by the STA to access the AP.

Through implementation manner 1, there is a separate contention resource for the first message sent by each STA during the access process, and the separate contention resource is the first time resource described in this article. On the first time resource, only the first messages of multiple STAs participate in the competition, and the AP can measure the GT through the first message, so as to realize the uplink OFDMA or MU MIMO transmission of subsequent messages.

The time unit ALOHA can be constructed through n trigger frames to break up the contention of the first message in time. After the GT is measured through the first message, subsequent access messages are transmitted on the RU to achieve ALOHA in the frequency domain.

Assuming that the first time resource is an access time slot, as shown in Table 1, simulation analysis shows that when 128 STAs, 80MHz bandwidth, and MCS is 0, the AP is powered on again, and all STAs initiate the access process at the same time. Compared with the channel access method of EDCA, the time delay is shortened by 4/5, and the time-frequency resource utilization rate is greatly improved, and the improvement rate is about 1/4 of EDCA.

Table 1

Among them, the access resources (2MHz, 1ms) refer to dividing all the time-frequency resources available for access according to the frequency domain granularity of 2MHz and the time domain granularity of 1ms. The number of 1ms 2MHz resources refers to the number of time-frequency resources used for access divided according to the frequency domain granularity of 2MHz and the time domain granularity of 1ms.

Implementation method two:

The AP sends the trigger frame on the second time resource, and the second time resource is before the first time resource. Taking the time resource as the time slot as an example, and the time unit as the sub-slot as an example, the example of the second implementation manner can refer to FIG. 4. The first time resource is the time domain resource used by one or more STAs to send the first message, and is indicated by the AID field in the trigger frame sent by the AP on the second time resource.

Specifically, after receiving the trigger frame, the STA determines that the first time resource is the resource for transmitting the first message according to the AID field in the trigger frame.

The trigger frame may also include information such as the time domain position of the first time resource, and the interval or distance between the trigger frame and the first time resource. Alternatively, the trigger frame may also include the total number of trigger frames sent by the AP on the first time resource, or include the number n of time units divided in the first time resource. Alternatively, the trigger frame may also include the length of a time unit.

The STA sends the first message to the AP in the first time unit. Specifically, after receiving the trigger frame, the STA can start the timer. The STA determines the current time unit as the number of n time units according to the timing duration of the timer and the length of a time unit, and selects a time unit to access the AP according to the time unit ALOHA mechanism. The multiple time units included in the first time resource may be continuous, so that the STA can select the time unit to access by means of a timer.

The AP may delay sending the response frame after receiving the first message, and the response frame includes an ACK frame. For example, the AP may send a response frame on the third time resource. The third time resource is located after the first time resource. In this way, the first time resource can be divided into more time units, and the STA has more access opportunities. When multiple STAs access the AP concurrently, the collision probability can be reduced, so that the STA can access the AP faster.

In addition, the STA can also obtain downlink synchronization according to the beacon frame sent by the AP, and send the first message at a certain time unit through self-timing (for example, starting a timer to realize self-timing).

For example, taking the access time slot in FIG. 4 as an example, assuming that the access time slot is 2000 us, and the total occupancy time of one sub-time slot is 116 us, the access time slot can be divided into 17 times. The 17 sub-slots are numbered, which can be numbered from 0 to 16.

When the STA sends the first message to the AP, the first message can carry the sequence number/index number/number of the first time unit in n time units, so as to avoid the sequence number deviation of the first time unit caused by the STA timing problem . Optionally, an indication may be added to the vendor-defined field Vendor Specific of the first message, for example, a sub-slot order is added to indicate which time unit the STA determines to access the AP at.

In the second implementation manner, the AP and STA are required to support the ability to delay the feedback response frame. The STA supports receiving the response frame returned by the AP after the SIFS time has expired. The STA also needs to support self-timing capabilities, and it is best to ensure synchronization accuracy.

Through implementation manner 2, there is a separate contention resource for the first message sent by each STA during the access process, and the separate contention resource is the first time resource described in this article. On the first time resource, only the first messages of multiple STAs participate in the competition, and the AP can measure the GT through the first message, so that subsequent messages are transmitted in the uplink OFDMA or MU MIMO mode.

Assuming that the first time resource is an access time slot, as shown in Table 2, through simulation analysis, when 128 STAs, 80MHz bandwidth, and MCS is 0, the AP is powered on again, and all STAs initiate the access process at the same time. Compared with the channel access method of EDCA, the time delay is shortened by 11/12, and the time-frequency resource utilization rate is greatly improved, and the improvement rate is about 1/4 of EDCA.

Table 2

Among them, the access resources (2MHz, 1ms) refer to dividing all the time-frequency resources used for access according to the frequency domain granularity of 2MHz and the time domain granularity of 1ms. The number of 1ms 2MHz resources refers to the number of time-frequency resources used for access divided according to the frequency domain granularity of 2MHz and the time domain granularity of 1ms.

Implementation mode three:

The AP sends the trigger frame on the second time resource, and the second time resource is before the first time resource. Taking the time resource as the time slot as an example, and the time unit as the sub-slot as an example, the example of the second implementation manner can refer to FIG. 5.

The first time resource is a time domain resource used by one or more STAs to send the first message, and is indicated by the AID field carried in the trigger frame sent by the AP on the second time resource.

After receiving the trigger frame, the STA determines that the first time resource is the resource for transmitting the first message according to the AID field in the trigger frame. The trigger frame may include the total number of trigger frames sent by the AP on the first time resource, or include the number n of time units divided in the first time resource. The trigger frame can also include the length of a time unit.

The STA sends the first message to the AP in the first time unit that can be preempted. Specifically, after receiving the trigger frame, the STA can start the timer. The STA determines which of the n time units the current time unit is according to the timing duration of the timer and the length of a time unit, and selects the corresponding first time unit to access the AP according to the time unit ALOHA mechanism.

After receiving the first message, the AP may return a response frame to the STA in the corresponding first time unit.

For example, taking the access time slot in Figure 5 as an example, assuming that the access time slot is 2000us, and the total occupancy time of a sub-slot is 100+56.8+16+16=188.8us, the access time slot can be divided For one. The 10 sub-slots are numbered, which can be numbered from 0 to 9.

Compared with the first implementation, the first time resource in the third implementation can be divided into more time units, so that the STA can access the AP faster. The STA capability requirement is lower than that of the second implementation method, but higher than that of the first implementation method. The second implementation requires the STA to have the ability to self-timing, and it is best to ensure synchronization accuracy. The improvement ability of the STA access delay is better than the first implementation method and lower than the second implementation method.

The solution of the third implementation manner can be adapted to scenarios where the AP and/or STA do not support the ability to delay feedback response frames.

Combining the first, second, and third implementation methods, in this embodiment of the application, the AP can divide multiple first-time resources. One is planned in accordance with the third implementation method.

The AP may send a beacon frame, and the capability information of the AP itself is carried in the beacon frame, and the capability information is used to indicate the supported implementation manner, for example, implementation manner one, implementation manner two, or implementation manner three. Or the capability information indicates whether to support delayed sending of response frames. Alternatively, the AP carries in the beacon frame the resource type that will be issued during the beacon frame period. The resource type may include method two or method three. Of course, the resource type may also include method one.

The STA receives the trigger frame. If the STA supports the capability and determines that the AP supports the capability according to the trigger frame, it will access the AP on the first time resource corresponding to the implementation mode 2, otherwise, it will connect to the first time resource corresponding to the implementation mode 3. Enter the AP. Through the design of resource types, STAs can choose whether to access or not according to their own capabilities, reducing the probability of collisions.

Of course, in addition to the foregoing implementation manners one to three, the embodiments of the present application may also include other possible implementation manners.

Based on the foregoing embodiment, the following describes a possible design of the trigger frame in the example of the present application.

In a possible design, define a new type of trigger frame.

table 3

As shown in Table 3, the value of the defined trigger frame type subfield is 13 to indicate that the corresponding resource is used for the transmission of the first uplink message.

The common Info field and the user Info field of the trigger frame are in the same format as the basic trigger frame. The Trigger Dependent User Info in the user Info field can become different domains, and the new definition is shown in Figure 7. In Figure 7, MPDU is a medium access control (medium access control) MAC layer data unit (protocol data unit). TID is a traffic identifier (traffic identifier).

The reserved field of B5 (Reserved) is used to indicate whether there is an extended function. The default value of Reserved is 1, and a value of 0 means that there is an extended function. Bitmap List indicates the extended function enablement. The current design supports 5 functions. For example, two optional ones can be used in the example of this application, and three are reserved. The definitions are shown in Table 4. Of course, one can be used, and four are reserved.

Table 4

In this embodiment of the application, the first AID field may be newly defined 4094, which is used to trigger the indication of the first time resource in the frame. The various indication functions of the AID field are shown in Table 5.

table 5

Of course, the first AID field can also be any one of 2008-2044 or any one of 2047-4093.

Based on the same technical concept of the foregoing embodiment, an embodiment of the present application also provides a second communication method of a wireless local area network. As shown in FIG. 8, the flow of the second communication method of the wireless local area network is as follows.

S801. The AP sends a beacon frame. The STA receives the beacon frame from the AP.

The beacon frame includes the configuration information of the first time resource, and the first time resource is used to transmit a first message, and the first message is the first message sent to the AP when the STA accesses the AP. For the concept or explanation of the first message, reference may also be made to the introduction to the first message above. The first time resource may be referred to as an access time domain resource. In this application, the first time resource may be used as an access time slot as an example. For related concepts and explanations of the access time slot, please refer to the above introduction to the access time slot. .

S802. After receiving the beacon frame of the AP, the STA sends a first message to the AP on the first time resource according to the configuration information of the first time resource included in the beacon frame, and the AP receives the message from the AP on the first time unit. The first message of the STA.

Optionally, the beacon frame may also carry the time domain position indicating the first time resource. For example, the time domain position of the first time resource may be indicated by indicating the offset of the first time resource relative to the beacon frame. If the offset is not indicated, or the offset is 0, it means that the start position of the first time resource is close to the end position of the beacon frame.

The format of the beacon frame is shown in Figure 9. Among them, the vendor-specific field in the beacon frame can be used to indicate that the position of the first time resource is the unit time position of the frame offset + 1 after the beacon frame, and the unit time can be a time slot. . Assuming that the range of the offset is 0 to 48, 6 bits are required to indicate.

In the beacon frame format, the reserve field B0 is 0, which means that the length of the time slot of the beacon frame is not specifically indicated, and it follows the slot pattern. If B0 is 1, it means that the length of the time slot of the beacon frame is used as a special indication, and the STA is always in the listening state in the time slot of the beacon frame. When B0 is 1 and B1 is 0, it means that the beacon (Beacon) time slot is 1 ms; when B0 is 1, and B1 is 1, it means that the Beacon time slot is 2 ms.

Optionally, the beacon frame further includes one or more of the following: the number of time units included in the first time resource, the time domain position of the time unit, the length of the time unit, or the index number of the time unit.

For example, the first time resource is an access slot, the length is one slot, and the time unit is a sub-slot. The number of time units is the number of sub-slots. As shown in Figure 10, the vendor-specific field in the beacon frame indicates the number of sub-slots included in the access timeslot through sub-slot Num. The sub-slot Num is 1 by default, which means that there is a normal time slot under the ratio of downlink time slot and uplink time slot (DU) as an access time slot. The Contexted ID in the upstream text is used to align the understanding of characteristic parameters between AP and STA in the Vendor Specific domain (manufacturer-defined domain).

When the access slot is 2 ms, the maximum number of sub-slots is 25, and 5 bits are used to indicate the number of sub-slots.

The STA may choose to send the first message on the time unit of the first time resource according to the configuration information of the first time resource indicated in the beacon frame. It is equivalent to that the AP configures a dedicated resource for the transmission of the first message in a semi-static manner. By designing a dedicated time domain resource for the first message, only the STA can participate in the competition when the first message is sent on the first time resource. The first time resource includes one or more time units. When multiple STAs receive concurrently When entering the AP, the first message is sent through the selected time unit, and the probability of collision when different STAs send the first message is reduced.

Under this scheme, there is no requirement on the model or capabilities of the STA. STAs that do not support 11ax, that is, STAs that do not support trigger frame, such as STAs that only support 11ac, 11n, etc., can access the AP through this solution.

In a possible design, the second wireless local area network communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application can be used in combination with one of the wireless local area network communication methods. For example, the configuration information of the first time resource in the beacon frame, and the AP continues to indicate in the trigger frame that the first time resource is used for transmitting the first message after sending the beacon frame. Optionally, the second communication method of the wireless local area network can be combined with any one of the implementation methods 1 to 3 of the foregoing communication method of the wireless local area network to form a solution that needs to be protected in this application.

In the case where STA directional antennas are hidden nodes each other, there is a problem of user access delay. WIFI technology, as a standard deployed on unlicensed frequency points, its large bandwidth characteristics make it suitable for backhaul scenarios, supplement lisence bandwidth, and increase backhaul capacity. In the video backhaul scenario, there is a need to cover 3km to 5km and deploy 100+ users. In this case, if the AP version is upgraded or the power is turned on in other situations, a large number of STAs will be connected concurrently. Through the solutions of the embodiments of the present application, when a large number of STAs access concurrently, the access delay can be reduced and the channel resources can be effectively used.

It should be noted that the examples in each application scenario in this application only show some possible implementation manners, which are for a better understanding and description of the method of this application. Those skilled in the art can obtain some examples of evolution forms according to the indication method of the reference signal provided in the application.

In the above-mentioned embodiments provided in the present application, the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application are respectively introduced from the perspective of AP, STA, and interaction between STA and AP. In order to implement the functions in the methods provided in the above embodiments of the present application, the STA and AP may include hardware structures and/or software modules, and implement the above functions in the form of hardware structures, software modules, or hardware structures plus software modules. Whether a certain function among the above-mentioned functions is executed by a hardware structure, a software module, or a hardware structure plus a software module depends on the specific application and design constraint conditions of the technical solution.

As shown in FIG. 11, based on the same technical concept, an embodiment of the present application also provides a wireless local area network communication device 1100. The wireless local area network communication device 1100 may be a STA or an AP, or a device in the STA or AP. Or it is a device that can be matched with the STA or AP. In one design, the communication device 1100 may include modules corresponding to the methods/operations/steps/actions performed by the STA or AP in the foregoing method embodiments. The modules may be hardware circuits, software, or The hardware circuit is implemented in combination with software. In one design, the communication device may include a processing module 1101 and a communication module 1102. The processing module 1101 is used to call the communication module 1102 to perform receiving and/or sending functions. The communication module 1102 also includes a receiving module 1102-1 and a sending module 1102-2.

When used to execute methods executed by STA:

The receiving module 1102-1 is configured to receive a trigger frame from the access point AP, the trigger frame includes a first association identifier AID field, and the first AID field indicates that the first time resource is used to transmit the first message, The first message is the first message sent to the AP when the station STA accesses the AP;

The sending module 1102-2 is configured to send the first message to the AP on the first time resource.

The processing module 1101, the receiving module 1102-1, and the sending module 1102-2 may also be used to perform other corresponding steps or operations performed by the STA in the foregoing method embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

When used to execute methods executed by AP:

The processing module 1101 is configured to call the sending module 1102-2 to send a trigger frame. The trigger frame includes a first association identifier AID field. The first AID field indicates that the first time resource is used to transmit the first message. The first message is the first message sent to the AP when the station STA accesses the AP;

The processing module 1101 is also used to call the receiving module 1102-2 to receive the first message from the STA on the first time resource.

The processing module 1101, the receiving module 1102-1, and the sending module 1102-2 may also be used to execute other corresponding steps or operations performed by the AP in the foregoing method embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

The division of modules in the embodiments of this application is illustrative, and it is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods. In addition, the functional modules in the various embodiments of this application can be integrated into one process. In the device, it can also exist alone physically, or two or more modules can be integrated into one module. The above-mentioned integrated modules can be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional modules.

As shown in FIG. 12, a wireless local area network communication device 1200 provided by an embodiment of the application is used to implement the function of the STA or AP in the foregoing method. When the function of the STA is implemented, the communication device may be an STA, or a device in the STA, or a device that can be matched and used with the STA. When realizing the function of an AP, the device can be an AP, or a device in the AP, or a device that can be matched and used with the AP. Wherein, the communication device may be a chip system. In the embodiments of the present application, the chip system may be composed of chips, or may include chips and other discrete devices. The communication device 1200 of the wireless local area network includes at least one processor 1220, configured to implement the function of the STA or AP in the method provided in the embodiment of the present application. The communication device 1200 of the wireless local area network may further include a communication interface 1210. In the embodiment of the present application, the communication interface 1210 may be a transceiver, a circuit, a bus, a module, or other types of communication interfaces for communicating with other devices through a transmission medium. For example, the communication interface 1210 is used for the device in the device 1200 to communicate with other devices. Exemplarily, when the communication apparatus 1200 is an STA, the other device may be an AP. When the communication device 1200 is an AP, the other device may be an STA. The processor 1220 uses the communication interface 1210 to send and receive data, and is used to implement the method described in the foregoing method embodiment.

Exemplarily, when the function of the STA is implemented, the processor 1220 is configured to use the communication interface 1210 to receive a trigger frame from the access point AP. The trigger frame includes a first association identifier AID field, and the first AID field indicates the first association identifier. A time resource is used to transmit the first message, and the first message is the first message sent to the AP when the station STA accesses the AP; it is also used to send the first message to the AP on the first time resource.

When implementing the function of the AP, the processor 1220 is configured to use the communication interface 1210 to send a trigger frame, the trigger frame includes a first association identifier AID field, and the first AID field indicates that the first time resource is used to transmit the first message, The first message is the first message sent to the AP when the station STA accesses the AP; it is also used to receive the first message from the STA on the first time resource.

The processor 1220 and the communication interface 1210 may also be used to perform other corresponding steps or operations performed by the STA or AP in the foregoing method embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

The communication device 1200 of the wireless local area network may further include at least one memory 1230 for storing program instructions and/or data. The memory 1230 and the processor 1220 are coupled. The coupling in the embodiments of the present application is an indirect coupling or communication connection between devices, units or modules, and may be in electrical, mechanical or other forms, and is used for information exchange between devices, units or modules. The processor 1220 may cooperate with the memory 1230 to operate. The processor 1220 may execute program instructions stored in the memory 1230. At least one of the at least one memory may be included in the processor.

The specific connection medium between the aforementioned communication interface 1210, the processor 1220, and the memory 1230 is not limited in the embodiment of the present application. In the embodiment of the present application, in FIG. 12, the memory 1230, the processor 1220, and the communication interface 1210 are connected by a bus 1240. The bus is represented by a thick line in FIG. , Is not limited. The bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, and so on. For ease of presentation, only one thick line is used in FIG. 12 to represent it, but it does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

When the communication device 1100 of the wireless local area network and the communication device 1200 of the wireless local area network are specifically a chip or a chip system, what the communication module 1102 and the communication interface 1210 output or receive may be baseband signals. When the communication device 1100 of the wireless local area network and the communication device 1200 of the wireless local area network are specifically devices, the output or reception of the communication module 1102 and the communication interface 1210 may be radio frequency signals. In the embodiments of the present application, the processor may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, a discrete hardware component, and may implement or Perform the methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor or the like. The steps of the method disclosed in combination with the embodiments of the present application may be directly embodied as being executed and completed by a hardware processor, or executed and completed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor.

In the embodiment of the present application, the memory 1230 may be a non-volatile memory, such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD), etc., or a volatile memory (volatile memory), For example, random-access memory (RAM). The memory is any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program codes in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited to this. The memory in the embodiments of the present application may also be a circuit or any other device capable of realizing a storage function for storing program instructions and/or data.

Some or all of the operations and functions performed by the STA described in the foregoing method embodiments of the present application, or some or all of the operations and functions performed by the AP may be completed by a chip or an integrated circuit.

In order to realize the function of the wireless local area network communication device described in FIG. 11 or FIG. 12, an embodiment of the present application further provides a chip, including a processor, for supporting the communication device to implement the STA or AP involved in the foregoing method embodiment. Function. In a possible design, the chip is connected to a memory or the chip includes a memory, and the memory is used to store the necessary program instructions and data of the communication device.

The embodiments of the present application provide a computer-readable storage medium that stores a computer program, and the computer program includes instructions for executing the foregoing method embodiments.

The embodiments of the present application provide a computer program product containing instructions, which when run on a computer, cause the computer to execute the foregoing method embodiments.

Those skilled in the art should understand that the embodiments of the present application can be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, this application may adopt the form of a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware. Moreover, this application may adopt the form of a computer program product implemented on one or more computer-usable storage media (including but not limited to disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) containing computer-usable program codes.

This application is described with reference to flowcharts and/or block diagrams of methods, devices (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of this application. It should be understood that each process and/or block in the flowchart and/or block diagram, and the combination of processes and/or blocks in the flowchart and/or block diagram can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to the processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, an embedded processor, or other programmable data processing equipment to produce a machine, so that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing equipment can be used to generate It is a device that realizes the functions specified in one process or multiple processes in the flowchart and/or one block or multiple blocks in the block diagram.

These computer program instructions can also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can guide a computer or other programmable data processing equipment to work in a specific manner, so that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including the instruction device. The device implements the functions specified in one process or multiple processes in the flowchart and/or one block or multiple blocks in the block diagram.

These computer program instructions can also be loaded on a computer or other programmable data processing equipment, so that a series of operation steps are executed on the computer or other programmable equipment to produce computer-implemented processing, so as to execute on the computer or other programmable equipment. The instructions provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one process or multiple processes in the flowchart and/or one block or multiple blocks in the block diagram.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present application have been described, those skilled in the art can make additional changes and modifications to these embodiments once they learn the basic creative concept. Therefore, the appended claims are intended to be interpreted as including the preferred embodiments and all changes and modifications falling within the scope of the present application.

Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications to the embodiments of the present application without departing from the spirit and scope of the embodiments of the present application. In this way, if these modifications and variations of the embodiments of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalent technologies, the present application also intends to include these modifications and variations.

Claims

A communication method of wireless local area network, characterized in that it comprises:

The access point AP sends a trigger frame, the trigger frame includes a first association identifier AID field, the first AID field indicates that the first time resource is used to transmit the first message, and the first message is the station STA access The first message sent to the AP during the AP process;

The AP receives the first message from the STA on the first time resource.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the first time resource includes one or more time units, and the one or more time units include the first time unit;

The AP receiving the first message from the STA on the first time resource includes: the AP receives the first message from the STA on a first time unit.
The method according to claim 2, wherein the method further comprises: the AP returns a response message of the first message to the STA on the first time unit.
The method according to claim 2, wherein the method further comprises: the AP returns a response message of the first message to the STA on a second time resource.
The method according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the AP sending a trigger frame comprises: the AP sending the trigger frame on the first time unit.
The method according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the AP sending a trigger frame comprises: the AP sending the trigger frame on a third time resource.
The method according to any one of claims 2 to 4 and 6, wherein the trigger frame further includes the number of time units included in the first time resource and/or the first time unit length.
The method according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein the trigger frame further includes one or more of the following: the number of time units included in the first time resource, the first The sequence number of the time unit among the multiple time units included in the first time resource, or the length of the first time unit.
The method according to any one of claims 2 to 8, wherein the first message includes a sequence number of the first time unit in the multiple time units included in the first time resource.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the method further comprises: the AP uses the first message to measure an uplink timing advance.
A communication method of wireless local area network, characterized in that it comprises:

The station STA receives a trigger frame from the access point AP, the trigger frame includes a first association identifier AID field, the first AID field indicates that the first time resource is used to transmit the first message, and the first message is The first message sent to the AP when the station STA accesses the AP;

The STA sends the first message to the AP on the first time resource.
The method according to claim 11, wherein the first time resource includes one or more time units, and the one or more time units include the first time unit;

The sending of the first message by the STA to the AP on the first time resource includes: the STA sending the first message to the AP on the first time unit.
The method according to claim 12, wherein the method further comprises: the STA receives a response message of the first message from the AP on the first time unit.
The method according to claim 12, wherein the method further comprises: the STA receives a response message of the first message from the AP on a second time resource.
The method according to any one of claims 12 to 14, wherein the STA receives the trigger frame from the AP on the first time unit.
The method according to any one of claims 12 to 14, wherein the STA receives the trigger frame from the AP on the third time resource.
The method according to any one of claims 12 to 14, 16, wherein the trigger frame further includes the number of time units included in the first time resource and/or the first time unit length.
The method according to any one of claims 12 to 15, wherein the trigger frame further includes one or more of the following: the number of time units included in the first time resource, the first The sequence number of the time unit among the multiple time units included in the first time resource, or the length of the first time unit.
The method according to any one of claims 12 to 18, wherein the first message includes a sequence number of the first time unit in a plurality of time units included in the first time resource.
A communication device for a wireless local area network, comprising a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface is used to communicate with other communication devices; the processor is used to run a set of programs, so that the wireless local area network communication The device implements the method of any one of claims 1-10.
A communication device for a wireless local area network, comprising a processor and a communication interface, the communication interface is used to communicate with other communication devices; the processor is used to run a set of programs, so that the wireless local area network communication The device implements the method of any one of claims 11-19.
A computer-readable storage medium, wherein computer-readable instructions are stored in the computer storage medium, and when the computer-readable instructions run on a communication device, the communication device executes claims 1-10 Any of the methods.
A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that computer-readable instructions are stored in the computer storage medium, and when the computer-readable instructions run on a communication device, the communication device executes claims 11-19 Any of the methods.