Multi-access point transmission method, access point equipment and computer medium

Abstract

The invention provides a multi-access-point transmission method, which comprises the following steps that: in response to a trigger frame of a first access point, a second access point and the first access point execute multi-access-point cooperative transmission together; and after the second access point executes the multi-access-point cooperative transmission and confirms that the transmission is successful, channel competition parameters of the second access point are updated so as to reduce the probability that the second access point accesses the channel again, and the channel competition parameters are used for competition to obtain channel resources. The invention further provides access point equipment and a computer readable storage medium.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a multi-access point transmission method, an access point device, and a computer-readable storage medium. Background Art

[0002] The multi-access point cooperation technology refers to a technology that provides better coverage, capacity, and performance through the cooperation and coordination between multiple access points (APs). Traditional single access point deployments may face problems such as limited coverage and signal interference. The multi-access point cooperation technology can solve phenomena such as heavy network load and serious network overlapping by connecting multiple access points to the same wireless network and implementing cooperative behaviors.

[0003] However, in the current multi-access point cooperation technology, an access point can access the channel without passing through the Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA / CA) mechanism, which seriously affects the channel access fairness of traditional access points or other access points that do not adopt the multi-access point cooperation technology. Regarding the problem of channel access fairness between access points in the related art, no relevant solutions have been given yet. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of the present disclosure is to provide a multi-access point transmission method, an access point device, and a computer-readable storage medium to solve the problem of channel access fairness between access points.

[0005] The present disclosure provides a multi-access point transmission method, including: in response to a trigger frame of a first access point, a second access point performs multi-access point cooperative transmission together with the first access point; and

[0006] after the second access point has performed multi-access point cooperative transmission and confirmed successful transmission, update the channel competition parameters of the second access point to reduce the probability of the second access point accessing the channel again, where the channel competition parameters are used to compete for channel resources.

[0007] The present disclosure also provides an access point device, including: a communication unit, a processor, and a memory, where a computer program is stored in the memory, and when the computer program is executed by the processor, the processor is caused to implement the multi-access point transmission method according to the present disclosure.

[0008] The present disclosure also provides a computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the processor is caused to implement the multi-access point transmission method according to the present disclosure.

[0009] According to the multi - access - point transmission method, access - point device, and computer - readable storage medium provided by the present disclosure, after an access point uses cooperative transmission technology to send data, a penalty mechanism is used to update the channel competition parameters of the access point, thereby ensuring the fairness of channel access between a traditional access point or other access points that do not adopt cooperative transmission technology and the access points that adopt cooperative transmission technology. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] The drawings are used to provide a further understanding of the present disclosure, and constitute a part of the specification. Together with the following detailed description, they are used to explain the technical solutions of the present disclosure, but do not constitute a limitation to the present disclosure. In the drawings:

[0011] Figure 1 Schematically shows a schematic diagram of a WLAN network;

[0012] Figure 2 Schematically shows the CSMA / CA method used by a node to access a channel;

[0013] Figure 3 Schematically shows a schematic diagram of multi - access - point cooperative transmission;

[0014] Figure 4 Shows the main steps executed by a traditional 802.11 device when receiving data to be sent at the MAC layer;

[0015] Figure 5 Shows a flowchart of the multi - access - point transmission method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0016] Figure 6 Shows another flowchart of the multi - access - point transmission method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0017] Figure 7 Shows another flowchart of the multi - access - point transmission method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0018] Figure 8 Shows another flowchart of the multi - access - point transmission method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0019] Figure 9 Shows another flowchart of the multi - access - point transmission method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0020] Figure 10 Shows another flowchart of the multi - access - point transmission method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0021] Figure 11 Shows another flowchart of the multi - access - point transmission method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0022] Figure 12 Another flowchart of the multi - access - point transmission method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0023] Figure 13 Another flowchart of the multi - access - point transmission method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0024] Figure 14 Another flowchart of the multi - access - point transmission method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0025] Figure 15 A block diagram of an access point device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown; and

[0026] Figure 16 A block diagram of a computer - readable storage medium according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Detailed implementation manners

[0027] To enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solutions of the present disclosure, exemplary embodiments will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the exemplary embodiments may be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. The purpose of providing these embodiments is to make the present disclosure thorough and complete, and to enable those skilled in the art to fully understand the scope of the present disclosure. It should be recognized that the drawings are only used to describe the embodiments of the present invention, and the dimensions of the various elements or parts shown in the drawings are not drawn to actual scale.

[0028] As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

[0029] The terms used herein are only for the purpose of describing specific exemplary embodiments and are not intended to limit the claimed subject matter. As used herein, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are also intended to include the plural forms. It should also be understood that when the terms "comprises" and / or "comprising" are used in this specification, they specify the presence of the stated features, wholes, steps, operations, elements and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, wholes, steps, operations, elements, components and / or groups thereof.

[0030] It is to be understood that although the terms “first” and “second” etc. are used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and / or parts, these elements, components, regions, layers and / or parts are not limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or part from another element, component, region, layer or part. Thus, the first element, first component, first region, first layer or first part discussed below may be referred to as the second element, second component, second region, second layer or second part without departing from the teachings disclosed herein. Moreover, the first element, first component, first region, first layer or first part in one embodiment may be different from the first element, first component, first region, first layer or first part in another embodiment.

[0031] Unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein (including technical and scientific terms) have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the technical field to which the subject matter disclosed herein belongs. It will also be understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and should not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

[0032] It should also be understood that, unless clearly indicated otherwise in the context, the description of each feature or aspect within each exemplary embodiment is generally considered applicable to other similar features or aspects in other exemplary embodiments. In the case of no conflict, the various embodiments of the present disclosure and the various features in each embodiment may be combined with each other.

[0033] In recent years, with the rapid development of computers and the Internet, Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) technology has been paid more and more attention. WLAN technology is based on short-range wireless communication technology, allowing mobile devices such as smart phones, smart computers, laptop computers, multimedia players, etc. to wirelessly access the Internet in a home or company or a specific service area.

[0034] WLAN is adopted by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers The technologies defined by the IEEE 802.11 series standards of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), including the protocols of the Medium Access Control (MAC) and the Physical Layer (PHY). IEEE 802.11 has commercialized or developed various technical standards to meet the growing network demands. However, with the explosive application of WLAN, the deployment of WLAN has become increasingly intensive, the network load has been continuously increasing, and the network overlapping phenomenon has become more serious. The traditional network deployment technology based on frequency reuse can no longer meet the requirements, and the efficiency of the WLAN network shows an obvious downward trend.

[0035] Figure 1 Schematically shows a schematic diagram of a WLAN network.

[0036] As Figure 1 shown, the WLAN network includes one or more Basic Service Sets (BSS), and a BSS represents a group of devices that are successfully associated with each other and communicate. Different BSSs can be distinguished by BSS identification information. The BSS identification information includes the BSSID carried in the MAC frame header and the BSS Color carried in the PHY frame header. As Figure 1 shown, the BSS includes one or more stations STA1, STA2, STA3, STA4, and STA5, a Personal BSS Control Point / Access Point (PCP / AP) PCP / AP-1 and PCP / AP-2 that provide access services, and a Distribution System (DS) that connects multiple PCP / APs.

[0037] Stations (e.g., STA1 to STA5) are devices that comply with the regulations of the IEEE 802.11 standard. A station can be a wireless terminal device, e.g., a laptop computer, a smart phone, a tablet computer, or other devices that support wireless connection. A station can be a client or an access point in a wireless network. In the 802.11 standard, stations communicate with each other through a wireless channel and can perform operations such as data transmission, receiving broadcast messages, and roaming. Each station has a unique physical address, called the MAC address, which is used for identification and addressing in the wireless network.

[0038] PCP / APs (e.g., PCP / AP-1 and PCP / AP-2) act as entities for the associated stations to access the DS. In BSS mode, stations scan the wireless channels, search for, and connect to nearby PCP / APs. Non-AP stations communicate with other stations through the PCP / AP and can also access wired network resources through the PCP / AP. In addition to the BSS mode, PCP / APs can also be used in an ad-hoc network. In this case, multiple stations can directly perform point-to-point or multi-point-to-multi-point communications to form an ad-hoc wireless network. PCP / APs can be used as the concept of a Personal BSS Control Point (PCP). In the context of this application, PCP / APs generally include APs, base stations, and evolved Node Bs (eNodeBs). In addition, PCP / APs can also include various types of wireless communication terminals that perform the allocation of wireless resources and the scheduling of multiple wireless communication terminals.

[0039] The 802.11 MAC layer protocol uses the Distributed Coordination Function (DCF) and relies on CSMA / CA. CSMA / CA requires devices to first listen to the channel before sending data and determine whether to send data or perform a backoff operation based on the listening result. If the channel is found to be occupied, the device will wait for a random period of time and then try to send data again. This random waiting time is called the backoff time. The backoff time is calculated according to the exponential backoff algorithm, which ensures the fairness of channel access among devices and reduces the probability of collisions.

[0040] Figure 2 Schematically shows the CSMA / CA method used by nodes to access the channel.

[0041] As Figure 2 shown, before sending data, a wireless device first listens to the wireless channel to detect whether there are other devices sending data. When the sensed signal strength is greater than a predetermined strength threshold, the channel is considered busy, and the wireless device should delay the channel access time. Such a process is called Clear Channel Assessment (CCA), and the predetermined strength threshold is called the CCA threshold. If no signal is sensed or the signal strength is less than the CCA threshold, the channel is considered idle.

[0042] When the channel is idle, the wireless device needs to perform a backoff process of waiting for the channel to remain idle for a period of time. This period of time is called the DCF Inter Frame Space (IFS) or replaced by the Arbitration Inter Frame Space (AIFS). The minimum AIFS can be equal to the Point Coordination Function (PCF) Inter Frame Space (PIFS). The backoff process consists of a random number of backoff time slots. In each time slot, the wireless device continuously detects the busy / idle state of the channel, and when the number of backoff time slots decreases to 0, it transmits data on the corresponding channel. However, a collision occurs when the wireless device and another device simultaneously attempt to access the channel. The device that experiences a collision will be reallocated backoff time slots to re-execute the above process. The reallocated number of backoff time slots is randomly selected within the backoff window [0, CW]. If a collision occurs, the Contention Window (CW) will become twice the original, i.e., [0, 2*CW]. Through the above CSMA / CA mechanism, when the wireless device performs data transmission on the shared wireless channel, it can avoid collisions, improve transmission efficiency, and ensure that multiple devices can fairly share the wireless resources.

[0043] Multi-access point cooperation technology refers to the technology that provides better coverage, capacity, and performance through the cooperation and coordination among multiple APs. Traditional single-AP deployments may face problems such as limited coverage and signal interference. Multi-access point cooperation technology can solve problems such as heavy network load and serious network overlap by connecting multiple APs to the same wireless network and implementing cooperative behavior.

[0044] Multi - access point cooperative transmission technology refers to the technology in which multiple access points form a cooperative transmission set for cooperation and collaborative transmission. Multi - access point cooperative transmission technology can be divided into cooperative transmission and joint transmission. Cooperative transmission means that multiple access points share wireless resources such as frequency, space, or time, and use technologies such as Coordinated Beam Forming (C - BF), Coordinated Spatial Reuse (C - SR), Coordinated Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (C - OFDMA), and Coordinated Time Division Multiple Access (C - TDMA) to send data to multiple stations respectively. Joint transmission means that multiple access points share wireless resources such as frequency, space, or time, and use technologies such as Joint Beam Forming (J - BF) or Joint Multi - User Multiple - Input Multiple - Output (J - MUMIMO) to send data to the same station simultaneously. The station combines the data received from multiple access points into the final received data through a specific strategy.

[0045] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of multi - access point cooperative transmission.

[0046] As Figure 3 shown, multiple access points can be divided into two major categories: primary AP (or master AP, sharing AP) and secondary AP (or slave AP, shared AP). The primary AP refers to the AP that is responsible for coordinating and controlling other APs in multi - access point cooperative transmission. The primary AP plays the role of a coordinator, responsible for scheduling the transmissions of other APs and ensuring cooperation and interoperability among them. The secondary AP refers to the AP that is controlled and scheduled by the primary AP (sharing AP) in multi - access point cooperative transmission. These APs receive instructions from the primary AP and perform transmission operations according to the instructions. The secondary APs (shared APs) are coordinated through the primary AP to avoid collisions and improve transmission efficiency. When transmitting data, the secondary APs (shared APs) may perform operations such as time - slot allocation, power control, and transmission time adjustment according to the instructions of the primary AP to ensure the smooth progress of multi - access point cooperative transmission.

[0047] Generally, the role assignment of the primary AP and the secondary AP can be determined according to the initialization negotiation of the cooperative transmission set, or according to factors such as the network topology, the processing capabilities of the APs, the locations and coverage ranges of the APs. Alternatively, the AP that first completes the backoff process and attempts to access the channel in the CSMA / CA mechanism can act as the primary AP. In the former method, the roles of the primary AP and the secondary AP (relative to the network life cycle) are usually permanent or semi-permanent. In the latter method, the roles of the primary AP and the secondary AP change dynamically.

[0048] As Figure 3 shown, the primary AP accesses the channel through the CSMA / CA mechanism and sends a trigger frame (TF). Generally, the trigger frame carries indication information for the secondary APs (i.e., Figure 3 the shown shared AP1 and shared AP2). Then the primary AP and the secondary APs simultaneously access the channel for multi-AP cooperative transmission, that is, the primary AP and the secondary APs each send data (DATA) and receive an acknowledgment message (ACK).

[0049] The 802.11n protocol introduces the Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA) mechanism, which defines the priorities of traffic and four corresponding access categories (ACs). Devices can obtain the opportunity to access the channel at their respective priorities. Traffic with a higher priority has a shorter backoff window and a longer transmission opportunity, thus obtaining faster channel access and lower latency.

[0050] EDCA is used to extend or enhance the DCF function. EDCA supports differentiating traffic with different priorities and provides different channel access priorities for corresponding traffic. EDCA is the main channel access mechanism of IEEE 802.11, featuring distribution and easy deployment. EDCA supports four ACs, each of which has an independent data buffer queue and a set of channel contention parameters, and the values of these parameters are related to the priority of the AC.

[0051] Each AC can act as an independent DCF contention entity, including an independent backoff entity. Therefore, the backoff entities of each AC are associated with the corresponding data buffer queues and calculate their respective queue backoff values to obtain the opportunity to transmit data on at least one channel. The ACs within the same node compete with each other to obtain the transmission opportunity.

[0052] By setting different channel contention parameters among the ACs, such as different contention windows [CWmin, CWmax], different AIFSs, and different Transmission Opportunity (TXOP) durations, the quality of service differentiation among different ACs is achieved.

[0053] Figure 4 shows the main steps performed by a traditional 802.11 device when data to be transmitted is received at the MAC layer. As Figure 4 shown, the main steps performed include the following steps S401 to S404.

[0054] In step S401, determine the AC queue corresponding to the data to be transmitted.

[0055] Each AC corresponds to an AC queue. When the data to be transmitted arrives at the MAC layer, it is necessary to determine which AC queue the data belongs to. In a node of the 802.11 architecture, it is usually determined which AC queue the data belongs to by checking the user priority (UP) of the data.

[0056] In step S402, cache the data in the corresponding AC queue.

[0057] In step S403, if the AC queue is empty before step S402, calculate a new backoff value for the corresponding backoff counter.

[0058] Each AC queue corresponds to a backoff counter. When the AC queue is empty, the corresponding backoff counter is inactive. When there is data cached in the AC queue, the state of the backoff counter changes to active, and a new backoff value is calculated for the backoff counter. The new backoff value is determined by selecting a random value in [0, CW], where CW is the contention window of the current AC. CW selects a congestion window value in the range [CWmin, CWmax].

[0059] In step S404, when the backoff value of the backoff counter is 0, transmit the data.

[0060] When the backoff value of the backoff counter backs off to 0, the corresponding AC can attempt to access the channel to transmit the data.

[0061] As described above, multi-access point cooperative transmission can be performed in a wireless network. The primary AP can trigger one or more secondary APs to perform multi-access point cooperative transmission. The primary AP accesses the channel through the CSMA / CA or EDCA mechanism and sends a trigger frame to trigger multi-access point cooperative transmission. Each secondary AP can access the channel separately through the CSMA / CA or EDCA mechanism to send the corresponding data. If multi-access point cooperative transmission is triggered during the process of a corresponding secondary AP accessing the channel independently, the secondary AP can pause the independent access process and perform multi-access point cooperative transmission. Therefore, compared with traditional terminals, the secondary AP in multi-access point cooperative transmission has a higher competitive advantage because it has the access opportunity for independent transmission and the opportunity for multi-access point cooperative transmission triggered by the primary AP.

[0062] Traditional access points use the CSMA / CA mechanism to access the channel, avoiding collisions by listening to the activities on the channel to ensure fair sharing of channel resources. However, in current multi-access point cooperation technologies, some access points (e.g., secondary APs) can bypass the CSMA / CA mechanism and directly access the channel (e.g., in response to a trigger frame from the primary AP to perform multi-access point cooperative transmission), which has a serious impact on the channel access fairness of traditional access points or other access points that do not adopt cooperation technologies.

[0063] This unfairness may have serious consequences in the network. Other traditional access points or access points that do not adopt cooperation technologies rely on the CSMA / CA mechanism to achieve fair channel sharing, but the access points that bypass this mechanism may occupy most of the channel resources, resulting in reduced transmission rates, increased latency, and even degraded quality of service for other access points. This not only affects the user experience but also limits the throughput and capacity of the entire network. Currently, there is no clear solution proposed for the problem of channel access fairness among access points.

[0064] To solve the above problems, this application proposes to use a penalty mechanism to update the channel competition parameters of an access point, such as the backoff counter, after the access point uses multi-access point cooperative transmission to send data. Therefore, the backoff counter applied with the penalty mechanism can reduce the probability of the access point accessing the channel again.

[0065] Figure 5 The flowchart of a multi-access point transmission method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0066] Figure 5 As shown, the multi-access point transmission method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes the following steps S501 to S502.

[0067] In step S501, in response to a trigger frame from the first access point, the second access point performs multi-access point cooperative transmission together with the first access point.

[0068] In step S502, after the second access point performs multi-access point cooperative transmission and confirms successful transmission, the channel competition parameters of the second access point are updated to reduce the probability of the second access point accessing the channel again, where the channel competition parameters are used to compete for channel resources.

[0069] According to the multi - access - point transmission method of embodiments of the present disclosure, when a second access point (i.e., the secondary AP in multi - access - point cooperative transmission) responds to a trigger frame of a first access point (i.e., the primary AP in multi - access - point cooperative transmission) and performs multi - access - point cooperative transmission together with the first access point, after confirming the successful transmission, the channel competition parameters of the second access point are updated, so that the probability of the second access point accessing the channel again is reduced, thereby ensuring the fairness of channel access between a traditional AP or other APs that do not adopt cooperative transmission technology and APs that adopt cooperative transmission technology.

[0070] According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the second access point is a DCF competition entity and has a data buffer queue, and the second access point performing multi - access - point cooperative transmission together with the first access point (i.e., step S501) includes: transmitting the data buffered in the data buffer queue of the second access point.

[0071] According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the channel competition parameters may include: a contention window; and a backoff value randomly selected according to the contention window.

[0072] It should be recognized that the channel competition parameters of an AP are not limited to the contention window (CW) and the backoff value randomly selected according to the CW, but may also include other parameters, such as the arbitration inter - frame space (AIFS) and the transmission opportunity (TXOP) duration.

[0073] According to embodiments of the present disclosure, referring to Figure 6 , updating the channel competition parameters of the second access point (i.e., step S502) includes the following steps S5021 to S5023.

[0074] In step S5021, determine a penalty value.

[0075] In step S5022, randomly select a backoff value according to the CW.

[0076] In step S5023, add the penalty value to the selected backoff value as the updated backoff value.

[0077] According to the multi - access - point transmission method of embodiments of the present disclosure, the penalty mechanism can be implemented by setting a penalty value. After the second access point (i.e., the secondary AP in multi - access - point cooperative transmission) completes multi - access - point cooperative transmission, a backoff value can be randomly selected for the second access point according to the CW of the second access point so that the second access point can access the channel next time. By setting a penalty value and adding the penalty value to the backoff value to update the backoff value, the time for the second access point to access the channel again can be reasonably extended, thereby ensuring the fairness of channel access between a traditional AP or other APs that do not adopt cooperative transmission technology and APs that adopt cooperative transmission technology.

[0078] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the penalty value is determined by one of the following methods: determining the remaining backoff value of the second access point before multi-access point cooperative transmission as the penalty value; determining the penalty value according to the priority of the second access point; determining the penalty value according to the indication in the trigger frame of the first access point; determining according to the beacon frame.

[0079] Before the second access point performs multi-access cooperative transmission in response to the trigger frame of the first access point, the second access point is in a backoff state and waits to access the channel. Taking the backoff value of the backoff counter of the second access point at this time as the penalty value for the second access point to access the channel again after completing multi-access point cooperative transmission can reasonably extend the time for accessing the channel again, thereby ensuring the fairness of channel access between traditional APs or other APs that do not adopt cooperative transmission technology and APs that adopt cooperative transmission technology.

[0080] In addition, the penalty value can be pre-set for each access point according to the priority of each access point, so that when the penalty value needs to be determined, the corresponding penalty value can be determined according to the priority of the access point.

[0081] The penalty value for the second access point can also be determined according to the trigger frame of the first access point (i.e., the master AP in multi-access point cooperative transmission) that initiates multi-access point cooperative transmission. In the trigger frame sent by the first access point, not only can the indication information for each AP (i.e., the slave APs in multi-access point cooperative transmission) that needs to perform multi-access point cooperative transmission be carried, but also the indication information for the respective penalty values of each AP after completing multi-access point cooperative transmission can be carried.

[0082] In addition, the penalty value can also be determined through a beacon frame. The AP periodically sends beacon frames at a certain time interval to tell the outside world about the existence of the wireless network. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first access point and the second access point can negotiate through their respective beacon frames to determine the penalty value; or the second access point can receive the beacon frame of the master access point among all the access points performing cooperative transmission and determine the penalty value according to the indication in the beacon frame of the master access point.

[0083] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, among the various APs performing multi - AP cooperative transmission, they can be in a peer - to - peer relationship. That is, for the first AP that initiates multi - AP cooperative transmission and the second AP that performs multi - AP cooperative transmission in response to the trigger frame of the first AP, although in the process of this round of multi - AP cooperative transmission, the first AP acts as the master AP and is responsible for scheduling the transmissions of other slave APs to ensure cooperation and interoperability among them, the relationship between the first AP and the second AP can be a peer - to - peer relationship. This is because in the next multi - AP cooperative transmission, the current second AP can also act as the master AP. Therefore, the first AP and the second AP can negotiate through their respective beacon frames to determine their respective penalty values.

[0084] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there can be a master AP among the various APs performing multi - AP cooperative transmission to be responsible for managing other APs performing multi - AP cooperative transmission. Therefore, the second AP can receive the beacon frame of the master AP and determine the penalty value according to the indication in the beacon frame of the master AP.

[0085] According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, referring to Figure 7 , updating the channel contention parameters of the second AP (i.e., step S502) includes the following step S5024.

[0086] In step S5024, update the CW such that the updated CW is twice the CW before the update.

[0087] The multi - AP transmission method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure can implement the penalty mechanism by doubling the contention window. After the second AP (i.e., the slave AP in multi - AP cooperative transmission) completes multi - AP cooperative transmission, update the CW of the second AP to twice the original, and randomly select a backoff value for the second AP through the updated CW, so as to reasonably extend the time for the second AP to access the channel again, thereby ensuring the fairness of channel access between traditional APs or other APs that do not adopt cooperative transmission technology and APs that adopt cooperative transmission technology.

[0088] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, after the second AP completes multi - AP cooperative transmission, the second AP can perform backoff using the remaining backoff value before performing multi - AP cooperative transmission, and after the second AP accesses the channel again, randomly select a new backoff value for the second AP according to the updated CW.

[0089] According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, after the second AP completes multi - AP cooperative transmission and before the second AP accesses the channel again, randomly select a new backoff value for the second AP according to the updated CW.

[0090] The embodiments of the present disclosure provide two opportunities to select a backoff value for a second access point using a doubled CW. One is that after the second access point completes multi-access point cooperative transmission, it continues to use the remaining backoff value before for backoff (i.e., no immediate penalty), and waits until the second access point accesses the channel again, then uses the doubled CW to select a backoff value for the second access point; the other is that after the second access point completes multi-access point cooperative transmission and before the second access point accesses the channel again, it uses the doubled CW to select a backoff value for the second access point (i.e., immediate penalty), instead of continuing to use the backoff value remaining before the second access point performs multi-access point cooperative transmission.

[0091] According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, the second access point may be an AP supporting the EDCA mechanism. Therefore, the second access point may include multiple access categories (ACs), each AC having an independent data cache queue, and may act as an independent DCF contention entity, including an independent backoff entity. Thus, the backoff entities of each AC are associated with the corresponding data cache queue and calculate their respective queue backoff values, so as to obtain the data transmission opportunity on at least one channel. In this case, the second access point performing multi-access point cooperative transmission with the first access point (i.e., step S501) includes: the second access point selecting the AC for multi-access point cooperative transmission; and transmitting the data cached in the data cache queue of the selected AC for multi-access point cooperative transmission.

[0092] According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, the second access point may select the AC for multi-access point cooperative transmission in one of the following ways: randomly selecting an AC with a non-empty data cache queue; selecting an AC according to the indication in the trigger frame; selecting an AC with the minimum backoff value; selecting an AC with the highest priority.

[0093] It should be recognized that the ways to select the AC for multi-access point cooperative transmission are not limited to this, and other ways to select the AC may be adopted according to specific practical requirements.

[0094] According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, each AC has a set of channel contention parameters, the values of these parameters are related to the priority of the AC, and the channel contention parameters may include: a contention window; and a backoff value randomly selected according to the contention window.

[0095] It should be recognized that the channel contention parameters of the AC are not limited to the contention window (CW) and the backoff value randomly selected according to the CW, but may also include other parameters, such as AIFS and TXOP duration.

[0096] According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, referring to Figure 8 , updating the channel contention parameters of the second access point (i.e., step S502) includes the following step S502'.

[0097] In step S502', the channel contention parameters of the AC selected for multi-access point cooperative transmission are updated.

[0098] Updating the channel contention parameters for the AC can be similar to that for updating the channel contention parameters of the second access point as described with reference to Figure 6 and Figure 7 The detailed description of the repetition will be omitted hereinafter.

[0099] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, referring to Figure 9 , updating the channel contention parameters of the AC selected for multi-access point cooperative transmission (i.e., step S502') includes the following steps S5021' to S5023'.

[0100] In step S5021', a penalty value is determined.

[0101] In step S5022', a backoff value is randomly selected according to the CW of the AC selected for multi-access point cooperative transmission.

[0102] In step S5023', the penalty value is added to the selected backoff value as the updated backoff value.

[0103] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the penalty value is determined in one of the following ways: determining the remaining backoff value of the AC selected for multi-access point cooperative transmission before multi-access point cooperative transmission as the penalty value; determining the penalty value according to the priority of the AC selected for multi-access point cooperative transmission; determining the penalty value according to the indication in the trigger frame of the first access point; determining the penalty value according to the beacon frame.

[0104] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first access point and the second access point can negotiate through their respective beacon frames to determine the penalty value; or the second access point can receive the beacon frame of the master access point among all the access points for cooperative transmission and determine the penalty value according to the indication in the beacon frame of the master access point.

[0105] The AC can be an independent contention entity but not an independent interaction entity, so it is necessary to complete the interaction and negotiation of beacon frames between APs.

[0106] According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, referring to Figure 10 , updating the channel contention parameters of the AC selected for multi-access point cooperative transmission (i.e., step S502') includes the following step S5024'.

[0107] In step S5024', the CW of the AC selected for multi-access point cooperative transmission is updated such that the updated CW is twice the CW before the update.

[0108] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, after the AC selected for multi - access - point cooperative transmission completes the multi - access - point cooperative transmission, the AC selected for multi - access - point cooperative transmission performs back - off using the remaining back - off value before the multi - access - point cooperative transmission, and after the AC re - accesses the channel, a new back - off value is randomly selected for the AC according to the updated CW.

[0109] According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, after the AC selected for multi - access - point cooperative transmission completes the multi - access - point cooperative transmission and before the AC re - accesses the channel, a new back - off value is randomly selected for the AC according to the updated CW.

[0110] For the multi - access - point transmission method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, when the second access point is an AP supporting the EDCA mechanism, the AC selected by the second access point for multi - access - point cooperative transmission can be penalized, so that the probability of the AC re - accessing the channel is reduced, thereby ensuring the fairness of channel access between a traditional AP or other APs that do not adopt cooperative transmission technology and an AP that has adopted cooperative transmission technology.

[0111] According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, when the second access point is an AP supporting the EDCA mechanism, after the second access point responds to the trigger frame of the first access point, the AC selected for multi - access - point cooperative transmission executes multi - access - point cooperative transmission together with the first access point, and after confirming successful transmission, all ACs of the second access point can be penalized.

[0112] See Figure 11 , updating the channel competition parameters of the second access point (i.e., step S502) includes the following step S502”.

[0113] In step S502”, the channel competition parameters of all ACs of the second access point are updated.

[0114] Updating the channel competition parameters for all ACs can be similar to that for the AC selected for multi - access - point cooperative transmission described with reference to Figure 9 and Figure 10 . The repetitive detailed description will be omitted below.

[0115] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, see Figure 12 , updating the channel competition parameters of all ACs of the second access point (i.e., step S502”) includes the following steps S5021” to S5023”.

[0116] In step S5021”, determine the penalty value.

[0117] In step S5022”, obtain the back - off value of each of all ACs.

[0118] In step S5023, add the penalty value to the backoff value of each AC respectively as the updated backoff value.

[0119] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the penalty value is determined by one of the following methods: determining the remaining backoff value of the AC selected for multi - access point cooperative transmission before the multi - access point cooperative transmission as the penalty value; determining the penalty value corresponding to each AC according to the priority of each AC; determining the penalty value according to the indication in the trigger frame of the first access point; determining the penalty value according to the beacon frame.

[0120] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first access point and the second access point can negotiate through their respective beacon frames to determine the penalty value; or the second access point can receive the beacon frame of the master access point among all the access points performing cooperative transmission, and determine the penalty value according to the indication in the beacon frame of the master access point.

[0121] According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, refer to Figure 13 to update the channel contention parameters of all ACs of the second access point (i.e., step S502) includes the following step S5024.

[0122] In step S5024, update the CW of all ACs so that the updated CW of each AC is twice the CW before the update.

[0123] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, after the CW of each AC is updated, each AC performs backoff using the current backoff value, and after each AC accesses the channel, a new backoff value is randomly selected for each AC according to the updated CW.

[0124] According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, after the CW of each AC is updated, and before each AC accesses the channel, a new backoff value is randomly selected for each AC according to the updated CW.

[0125] According to the multi - access point transmission method of the embodiment of the present disclosure, when the second access point is an AP supporting the EDCA mechanism, all ACs of the second access point can be penalized, so that the second access point finally experiences a complete backoff time length on average, thereby ensuring the fairness of channel access between a traditional AP or other APs that do not adopt cooperative transmission technology and an AP that adopts cooperative transmission technology.

[0126] Refer to Figure 14 According to the multi - access point transmission method of the embodiment of the present disclosure, the following steps S503 to S504 are further included.

[0127] In step S503, the second access point accesses the channel again according to the updated channel contention parameters.

[0128] In step S504, after the second access point re-accesses the channel, the channel contention parameters of the second access point are restored.

[0129] The second access point can use the updated channel contention parameters to access the channel through the CSMA / CA mechanism or the EDCA mechanism. When the channel becomes idle during the backoff time slot or the AIFS period, the backoff value of the backoff counter is decremented by 1. It is determined whether the backoff of the second access point (or one or more ACs of the second access point) has ended by whether the backoff value of the backoff counter reaches 0. If the backoff value of the backoff counter does not reach 0, the second access point waits for the next backoff time slot and detects whether the channel is idle. If the backoff of the second access point (or at least one AC of the second access point) has ended, the second access point accesses the channel, or the second access point selects the AC with the highest priority among the ACs whose backoff has ended to access the channel.

[0130] The second access point has re-accessed the channel using the updated channel contention parameters, that is, the penalty for the second access point has been completed. Therefore, after the second access point re-accesses the channel, the channel contention parameters of the second access point can be restored, that is, when the second access point is an AP that supports the EDCA mechanism, the channel contention parameters of one or more ACs of the second access point are restored.

[0131] A communication unit, a processor, and a memory, wherein a computer program is stored in the memory, and when the computer program is executed by the processor, the processor implements the multi-access point transmission method according to the present disclosure.

[0132] Referring to Figure 15 , an embodiment of the present disclosure further provides an access point device, which includes: a communication unit 1510, a processor 1520; and a memory 1530, on which a computer program is stored. When the computer program is executed by the processor 1520, the processor 1520 implements the multi-access point transmission method according to the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0133] The communication unit 1510 can be hardware, software, firmware, or other components of the access point, and is used to send and receive wireless signals. The communication unit 1510 includes one or more communication modules for different frequency bands (such as 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz). The communication unit 1510 can operate only one communication module at a certain moment or operate multiple communication modules together. Multiple communication modules can be integrated into one chip. In addition, the communication module can also include a radio frequency module for processing radio frequency signals. The communication unit 1510 can also provide an 802.3 Ethernet interface, so that the access point can communicate with a traditional Ethernet-based computer network.

[0134] The processor 1520 is configured to execute various commands or programs and process the data transmitted or received. In addition, the processor 1520 controls the data transmission and reception of each module, such as the communication unit 1510. The processor 1520 may be a modem for modulating the wireless signal transmitted to the communication unit 1510 and demodulating the wireless signal received from the communication unit 1510. The processor 1520 may be implemented as a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or any combination thereof for performing the functions described in this application.

[0135] The memory 1530 stores the control programs and various data used in the AP. The memory 1530 may be implemented as a random access memory (RAM, more specifically such as SDRAM, DDR, etc.), a flash memory (FLASH), a read-only memory (ROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a register (REGISTER), a hard disk (HD), a removable disk, a CD ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. The memory 1530 may be coupled to the processor 1520 such that the processor 1520 can read information from the memory 1530 and write information to the memory 1530. In some embodiments, the memory 1530 may include a cache for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during the execution of the instructions executed by the processor 1520. The memory 1530 may also include a non-volatile memory for storing the instructions to be executed by the processor 1520. After the access point device is powered on, one or more programs stored on the hard disk or read-only memory are transferred to the random access memory and the registers for storing the variables and parameters required by the present invention.

[0136] Referring to Figure 16 , an embodiment of the present disclosure also provides a computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored. When the computer program is executed by a processor, the processor is caused to implement the multi-access point transmission method according to the present disclosure.

[0137] Those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that all or some of the steps in the methods disclosed above, and the functional modules / units in the systems and devices, can be implemented as software, firmware, hardware, and their appropriate combinations. In the hardware implementation, the division between the functional modules / units mentioned above does not necessarily correspond to the division of physical components; for example, one physical component can have multiple functions, or one function or step can be executed by several physical components in cooperation. Some or all physical components can be implemented as software executed by a processor, such as a central processing unit, a digital signal processor, or a microprocessor, or as hardware, or as an integrated circuit, such as an application-specific integrated circuit. Such software can be distributed on a computer-readable medium, which can include a computer storage medium (or non-transitory medium) and a communication medium (or transitory medium). As is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art, the term computer storage medium includes volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storing information, such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data. Computer storage media include, but are not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory, or other memory technologies, CD-ROM, digital versatile disk (DVD), or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, tapes, magnetic disk storage, or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store the desired information and can be accessed by a computer. In addition, it is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art that a communication medium typically contains computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transmission mechanism, and can include any information delivery medium.

[0138] Example embodiments have been disclosed herein, and although specific terms have been used, they are used for and should be construed only for general illustrative purposes and not for purposes of limitation. In some instances, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that, unless otherwise expressly stated, features, characteristics, and / or elements described in connection with a particular embodiment may be used alone or in combination with features, characteristics, and / or elements described in connection with other embodiments. Accordingly, those skilled in the art will understand that various forms and details may be changed without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as set forth by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A multi - access - point transmission method, comprising: In response to a trigger frame of a first access point, a second access point performs multi - access - point cooperative transmission together with the first access point; And After the second access point performs multi - access - point cooperative transmission and confirms successful transmission, update the channel contention parameters of the second access point to reduce the probability of the second access point accessing the channel again, where the channel contention parameters are used to compete for channel resources.

2. The multi-access point transmission method according to claim 1, wherein, The second access point is a distributed coordination function (DCF) contention entity and has a data cache queue, and the second access point performing multi - access - point cooperative transmission together with the first access point includes: Transmitting the data cached in the data cache queue of the second access point.

3. The multi-access point transmission method according to claim 2, wherein, The channel contention parameters include: a contention window (CW); and a backoff value randomly selected according to the CW.

4. The multi-access point transmission method according to claim 3, wherein, Updating the channel contention parameters of the second access point includes: Determining a penalty value; Randomly selecting a backoff value according to the CW; and Adding the penalty value to the selected backoff value as the updated backoff value.

5. The multi-access point transmission method according to claim 4, wherein, The penalty value is determined by one of the following methods: Determining the remaining backoff value of the second access point before performing multi - access - point cooperative transmission as the penalty value; Determining the penalty value according to the priority of the second access point; Determining the penalty value according to the indication in the trigger frame; Determining the penalty value according to a beacon frame.

6. The multi-access point transmission method according to claim 5, wherein, The first access point and the second access point negotiate through their respective beacon frames to determine the penalty value, or The second access point receives the beacon frame of the master access point among all the access points performing cooperative transmission, and determines the penalty value according to the indication in the beacon frame of the master access point.

7. The multi-access point transmission method according to claim 3, wherein, Updating the channel contention parameters of the second access point includes: Updating the CW such that the updated CW is twice the CW before update.

8. The multi-access point transmission method according to claim 7, wherein, After the second access point completes multi - access - point cooperative transmission, the second access point performs backoff using the remaining backoff value before performing multi - access - point cooperative transmission, and after the second access point accesses the channel again, a new backoff value is randomly selected for the second access point according to the updated CW.

9. The multi-access point transmission method according to claim 7, wherein, After the second access point completes multi - access - point cooperative transmission and before the second access point accesses the channel again, a new backoff value is randomly selected for the second access point according to the updated CW.

10. The multi-access point transmission method according to claim 1, wherein, The second access point includes multiple access categories (ACs), each AC is an independent distributed coordination function (DCF) contention entity and has an independent data cache queue, and the second access point performing multi - access - point cooperative transmission together with the first access point includes: The second access point selects an AC for multi - access - point cooperative transmission; and Transmitting the data cached in the data cache queue of the AC selected for multi - access - point cooperative transmission.

11. The multi-access point transmission method according to claim 10, wherein, The second access point selects an AC for multi - access - point cooperative transmission by one of the following methods: Randomly selecting an AC with a non - empty data cache queue; Selecting an AC according to the indication in the trigger frame; Selecting the AC with the smallest backoff value; Selecting the AC with the highest priority.

12. The multi-access point transmission method according to claim 10, wherein, Each AC has a set of channel contention parameters, and the channel contention parameters include: a contention window CW; and a backoff value randomly selected according to the CW.

13. The multi-access point transmission method according to claim 12, wherein, Updating the channel contention parameters of the second access point includes: Updating the channel contention parameters of the AC selected for multi-access point cooperative transmission.

14. The multi-access point transmission method according to claim 13, wherein, Updating the channel contention parameters of the AC selected for multi-access point cooperative transmission includes: Determining a penalty value; Randomly selecting a backoff value according to the CW of the AC selected for multi-access point cooperative transmission; and Adding the penalty value to the selected backoff value as the updated backoff value.

15. The multi-access point transmission method according to claim 14, wherein, The penalty value is determined by one of the following methods: Determining the remaining backoff value of the AC selected for multi-access point cooperative transmission before multi-access point cooperative transmission as the penalty value; Determining the penalty value according to the priority of the AC selected for multi-access point cooperative transmission; Determining the penalty value according to the indication in the trigger frame; Determining the penalty value according to the beacon frame.

16. The multi-access point transmission method according to claim 15, wherein, The first access point and the second access point negotiate through their respective beacon frames to determine the penalty value, or The second access point receives the beacon frame of the master access point among all the access points for cooperative transmission, and determines the penalty value according to the indication in the beacon frame of the master access point.

17. The multi-access point transmission method according to claim 13, wherein, Updating the channel contention parameters of the AC selected for multi-access point cooperative transmission includes: Updating the CW of the AC selected for multi-access point cooperative transmission so that the updated CW is twice the CW before update.

18. The multi-access point transmission method according to claim 17, wherein, After the AC selected for multi-access point cooperative transmission completes multi-access point cooperative transmission, the AC selected for multi-access point cooperative transmission uses the remaining backoff value before multi-access point cooperative transmission for backoff, and after the AC re-accesses the channel, a new backoff value is randomly selected for the AC according to the updated CW.

19. The multi-access point transmission method according to claim 17, wherein, After the AC selected for multi-access point cooperative transmission completes multi-access point cooperative transmission and before the AC re-accesses the channel, a new backoff value is randomly selected for the AC according to the updated CW.

20. The multi-access point transmission method according to claim 12, wherein, Updating the channel contention parameters of the second access point includes: Updating the channel contention parameters of all ACs of the second access point.

21. The multi-access point transmission method according to claim 20, wherein, Updating the channel contention parameters of all ACs of the second access point includes: Determining a penalty value; Obtaining the respective backoff values of all ACs; and Adding the penalty value to the respective backoff values of all ACs as the updated backoff values.

22. The multi-access point transmission method according to claim 21, wherein, The penalty value is determined by one of the following methods: Determining the remaining backoff value of the AC selected for multi-access point cooperative transmission before multi-access point cooperative transmission as the penalty value; Determining the penalty value corresponding to each AC according to the priority of each AC; Determining the penalty value according to the indication in the trigger frame; Determining the penalty value according to the beacon frame.

23. The multi-access point transmission method according to claim 22, wherein, The first access point and the second access point negotiate through their respective beacon frames to determine the penalty value, or The second access point receives the beacon frame of the master access point among all the access points performing cooperative transmission, and determines the penalty value according to the indication in the beacon frame of the master access point.

24. The multi-access point transmission method according to claim 20, wherein, Updating the channel contention parameters of all ACs of the second access point includes: Updating the CW of all ACs such that the updated CW of each AC is twice the CW before update.

25. The multi-access point transmission method according to claim 24, wherein, After the CW of each AC is updated, each AC performs backoff using the current backoff value, and after each AC accesses the channel, a new backoff value is randomly selected for each AC according to the updated CW.

26. The multi-access point transmission method according to claim 24, wherein, After the CW of each AC is updated and before each AC accesses the channel, a new backoff value is randomly selected for each AC according to the updated CW.

27. The multi-access point transmission method according to claim 1, further comprising: The second access point re-accesses the channel according to the updated channel contention parameters; and After the second access point re-accesses the channel, the channel contention parameters of the second access point are restored.

28. An access point, comprising: A communication unit, a processor, and a memory, wherein, A computer program is stored in the memory, and When the computer program is executed by the processor, the processor is caused to implement the multi-access point transmission method according to any one of claims 1 to 27.

29. A computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the processor is caused to implement the multi-access point transmission method according to any one of claims 1 to 27.

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