Information transmission method, first device, and second device

Abstract

This application relates to an information transmission method, a first device, a second device, a chip, a computer-readable storage medium, a computer program product, a computer program, and a communication system. The method includes the first device transmitting first information, wherein the first information is used to indicate N device identifiers, so that a second device that receives the first information transmits request information for channel resources if the N device identifiers include the device identifier of the second device, where N is an integer of 2 or more. This application enables centralized polling of multiple devices, allows for the allocation of channel resources according to the needs of each device, and can satisfy the transmission requests of a large number of devices.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of communications, and specifically, to an information transmission method, a first device, a second device, a chip, a computer-readable storage medium, a computer program product, a computer program, and a communication system.

Background Art

[0002] In a communication system, zero-power terminals are battery-free and low-cost, enabling the large-scale deployment and maintenance-free operation of Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Zero-power terminals can be applied to scenarios such as logistics management, environmental monitoring, and intelligent control. In some scenarios, a large number of zero-power terminals are deployed within a certain area. To meet the transmission requirements of a large number of devices, it is necessary to consider how to allocate channel resources.

Summary of the Invention

[0003] Embodiments of this application provide an information transmission method, which includes: A first device transmits first information, where the first information is used to enable a second device that receives the first information to transmit request information for channel resources when the device identifier of the second device is included in N device identifiers, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

[0004] Embodiments of this application provide an information transmission method, which includes: A second device receives first information transmitted from a first device, where the first information is used to indicate N device identifiers, and when the device identifier of the second device is included in the N device identifiers, the second device transmits request information for channel resources, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

[0005] Embodiments of the present application provide a first device, the first device is The system includes a first communication module configured to transmit first information, the first information being used to cause a second device that receives the first information to transmit request information for a channel resource if the N device identifiers include the device identifier of the second device, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

[0006] Embodiments of the present application provide a second device, the second device being The system includes a second communication module configured to receive first information transmitted from a first device, the first information being used to identify N device identifiers. The second communication module is further configured to send request information for channel resources if the device identifier of the second device is included in N device identifiers, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

[0007] An embodiment of the present invention provides a first device comprising a processor and memory. The memory is configured to store computer programs, and the processor is configured to cause the first device to execute the above-described information transmission method by calling and executing the computer programs stored in the memory.

[0008] An embodiment of the present invention provides a second device comprising a processor and memory. The memory is configured to store computer programs, and the processor is configured to cause the second device to execute the above-described information transmission method by calling and executing the computer programs stored in the memory.

[0009] The embodiment of the present invention provides a chip for realizing the above-described information transmission method.

[0010] Specifically, the chip includes a processor configured to call and execute a computer program from memory, thereby causing the device on which the chip is installed to perform the above-described information transmission method.

[0011] An embodiment of the present invention provides a computer-readable storage medium in which a computer program is stored that causes the device to perform the above-described information transmission method when executed by the device.

[0012] An embodiment of the present invention provides a computer program product that includes computer program instructions for causing a computer to execute the above-described information transmission method.

[0013] An embodiment of the present invention provides a computer program that, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform the above-described information transmission method. [Effects of the Invention]

[0014] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first device transmits first information, indicating multiple device identifiers, thereby prompting the device corresponding to each device identifier to transmit request information for channel resources after receiving the first information. In this way, by indicating multiple device identifiers with specific information, centralized polling of channel resource requests from multiple devices by the first device can be realized, enabling the allocation of channel resources according to the needs of each device and satisfying the transmission requests of a large number of devices. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0015] [Figure 1] This is a schematic diagram of the application scenario according to the embodiment of the present application. [Figure 2] This is an illustrative flowchart of an information transmission method according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] This is an illustrative flowchart of an information transmission method according to another embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4]It is a schematic diagram of the first information in the embodiment of the present application. [Figure 5] It is a schematic diagram of the polling window in this application example. [Figure 6] It is a schematic diagram showing a plurality of polling frames in this application example. [Figure 7] It is a schematic diagram showing resource allocation by a polling frame in this application example. [Figure 8] It is a schematic diagram of the polling frame in this application example. [Figure 9] It is a schematic diagram of permission slicing in the embodiment of the present application. [Figure 10] It is a schematic diagram showing an application example of TXOP in this application example. [Figure 11] It is an exemplary block diagram of the first device in an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 12] It is an exemplary block diagram of the first device in another embodiment of the present application. [Figure 13] It is an exemplary block diagram of the first device in yet another embodiment of the present application. [Figure 14] It is an exemplary block diagram of the first device in yet another embodiment of the present application. [Figure 15] It is an exemplary block diagram of the first device in yet another embodiment of the present application. [Figure 16] It is an exemplary block diagram of the second device in an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 17] It is an exemplary block diagram of the second device in another embodiment of the present application. [Figure 18] It is an exemplary block diagram of a communication device in the embodiment of the present application. [Figure 19] It is an exemplary block diagram of a chip in the embodiment of the present application. [Figure 20] It is an exemplary block diagram of a communication system according to the embodiment of the present application.

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0016] The technical solutions in the embodiments of this application will be described below with reference to the drawings of the embodiments.

[0017] The technical solutions of the embodiments of this application can be applied to various communication systems, such as Global System of Mobile communication (GSM) systems, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA®) systems, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, Advanced long term evolution (LTE-A) systems, New Radio (NR) systems, evolved NR systems, LTE-based access to unlicensed spectrum (LTE-U) systems, NR-based access to unlicensed spectrum (NR-U) systems, Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) systems, and Universal Mobile Telecommunication Systems (UMTS). These include systems such as 5th-generation (5G) systems, wireless local area networks (WLANs), wireless fidelity (WiFi) systems, and other communication systems.

[0018] Typically, conventional communication systems supported a limited number of connections and were easy to implement. However, with the advancement of communication technology, mobile communication systems now support not only conventional communication but also direct communication between terminals, such as device-to-device (D2D), machine-to-machine (M2M), machine-type communication (MTC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), and vehicle-to-everything (V2X). The embodiments of this application can also be applied to these communication systems.

[0019] In one embodiment, the communication system in the embodiment of the present application may be applied to a carrier aggregation (CA) scenario, a dual connectivity (DC) scenario, a standalone (SA) network configuration scenario, and so on.

[0020] In one embodiment, the communication system in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to an unlicensed spectrum, where the unlicensed spectrum can be considered a shared spectrum, or the communication system in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to a licensed spectrum, where the licensed spectrum can be considered a non-shared spectrum.

[0021] The embodiments of this application describe the interaction between devices in each embodiment. The device interaction in the embodiments of this application may include interaction between network equipment and terminal equipment, or interaction between different terminal equipment. Here, network equipment may be an access point (AP) in WLAN, a base station (BTS) in GSM or CDMA, a base station (NB) in WCDMA, an evolutionary base station (eNB or eNodeB) in LTE, a relay station or access point, an in-vehicle device, a wearable device, and network equipment (gNB) in an NR network, or network equipment in a future evolutionary PLMN network, or network equipment in an NTN network, etc.

[0022] Terminal equipment is also called user equipment (UE), access terminal, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent, or user equipment. Terminal equipment may be a station (ST) in a WLAN, a mobile phone, cordless phone, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), handheld device with wireless communication capabilities, computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, in-vehicle device, wearable device, and next-generation communication systems, such as terminal equipment in an NR network or terminal equipment in a future advanced public land mobile network (PLMN).

[0023] In embodiments of the present invention, terminal devices may be deployed indoors or outdoors, on land including handheld, wearable, or for vehicles, on water (such as on a ship) or underwater (such as on a submarine), or in the air (such as on an airplane, balloon, or satellite).

[0024] In the embodiments of this application, the terminal device may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transmission and reception capabilities, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a terminal device in the personal internet of things (PIoT), a wireless terminal device in industrial control, a wireless terminal device in self-driving, a wireless terminal device in remote medical care, a wireless terminal device in a smart grid, a wireless terminal device in transportation safety, a wireless terminal device in a smart city, or a wireless terminal device in a smart home.

[0025] As an example, and not an limitation, in the embodiments of this application, the terminal device may also be a wearable device. A wearable device may also be called a wearable smart device, and is a general term for wearable devices developed by applying wearable technology to intelligently design everyday clothing such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing, and shoes. A wearable device is a portable device that is worn directly on the body or incorporated into the user's clothing or accessories. A wearable device is not only a hardware device, but also achieves powerful functionality through software support, data interaction, cloud interaction, etc. Wearable smart devices in a broad sense include devices that are fully functional, large in size, and can achieve full or partial functionality without relying on a smartphone, such as smartwatches and smart glasses, and devices that are specialized for a specific type of application function and need to be used in conjunction with other devices such as smartphones, such as various smart bracelets and smart jewelry for monitoring vital signs.

[0026] In some embodiments, network equipment can provide services to a cell, and terminal equipment communicates with the network equipment using the transmission resources (e.g., frequency domain resources or spectral resources) used by the cell, and the cell may be a cell corresponding to network equipment (e.g., a base station), and the cell may belong to a macro base station or to a base station corresponding to a small cell, where small cells may include metro cells, micro cells, pico cells, femto cells, etc., and these small cells are characterized by narrow coverage and low transmission power, making them suitable for providing high-speed data transmission services.

[0027] Figure 1 illustrates a communication system 100, which includes one first device 110 and two second devices 120. In one possible embodiment, the communication system 100 may include a plurality of first devices 110, and the coverage of each first device 110 may include other quantities of second devices 120, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto. Here, the first device 110 may be network equipment (e.g., a base station in a mobile communication system or an access point in a WiFi system; Figure 1 shows a base station as an example, but is not limited thereto), or terminal equipment (e.g., a station in a WiFi system). The second devices 120 may be terminal equipment associated with the first device, such as a zero-power terminal.

[0028] In the embodiments of this application, it should be understood that any device with communication capabilities in a network / system can be referred to as a communication device. Taking the communication system shown in Figure 1 as an example, the communication device may include network equipment and terminal equipment with communication capabilities, and the network equipment and terminal equipment may be the specific devices in the embodiments of this application, for which a detailed explanation is omitted here. The communication device may further include other devices in the communication system, such as other network entities, such as network controllers and mobility management entities, and the embodiments of this application are not limited thereto.

[0029] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of this application, the following briefly describes the basic processes and concepts related to the embodiments. It should be understood that the basic processes and concepts described below are not limiting to the embodiments of this application.

[0030] It should be understood that the terms “system” and “network” as used herein are always used interchangeably. The terms “and / or” as used herein are merely used to indicate the relationship between related objects, and indicate that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B indicates that there may be three cases: A alone, A and B together, and B alone. Also, the symbol “ / ” as used herein generally indicates that the relationship between the related objects before and after it is an “or” relationship.

[0031] It should be understood that the word "show" in the embodiments of this application may mean that something is shown directly, indirectly, or related. For example, A showing B may mean that A directly shows B, for example, that B can be obtained by A; or A indirectly shows B, for example, that A shows C and B can be obtained by C; or it may mean that there is a related relationship between A and B.

[0032] In the description of the embodiments of this application, the term "corresponding" may mean that there is a direct or indirect corresponding relationship between the two, or that there is a related relationship between the two, or that there is a relationship such as indicating and being indicated, or composing and being composed.

[0033] To facilitate understanding of the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application, the following describes related technologies of the embodiments of this application, which can be optionally combined with the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application as optional solutions and are all included within the scope of protection of the embodiments of this application.

[0034] (1) Cellular passive Internet of Things As industrial applications of 5G increase, the types of connected devices and application scenarios become more diverse, and the demands on the price and power consumption of communication terminals also increase. The application of battery-free, low-cost passive Internet of Things (IoT) devices will become a key technology for cellular IoT, enriching the types and number of devices that 5G networks can connect and realizing a true Internet of Things. Here, passive IoT devices can be further extended and adapted to cellular IoT based on existing zero-power technologies, such as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology.

[0035] (2) Zero-power terminals Zero-power terminals can be classified into the following types based on their energy source and usage method.

[0036] (1) Passive zero-power terminals Zero-power terminals do not require an internal battery. When a zero-power terminal approaches a network device (e.g., an RFID system reader / writer), it enters the range of the near-field electromagnetic field formed by the network device's antenna. This causes the zero-power terminal's antenna to generate an induced current through electromagnetic induction, which drives the zero-power terminal's low-power chip circuitry. This enables operations such as demodulation of forward link signals and modulation of backward link signals. For backscatter links, the zero-power terminal uses a backscattering method to transmit signals.

[0037] As can be seen, passive zero-power terminals do not require power from an internal battery in either forward or backward links, making them truly zero-power terminals.

[0038] Passive zero-power terminals do not require batteries, and their radio frequency and baseband circuits are very simple. For example, they do not require devices such as low-noise amplifiers (LNAs), power amplifiers (PAs), crystal oscillators, or analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), resulting in many advantages such as being small, lightweight, very inexpensive, and having a long lifespan.

[0039] (2) Semi-passive zero-power terminals Although the semi-passive zero-power terminal itself does not have a conventional battery, it can use an energy collection module to collect environmental energy, such as radio frequency signal energy, and store the collected energy in a storage unit (e.g., a capacitor). After the storage unit obtains energy, it can drive the low-power chip circuit of the zero-power terminal. Operations such as demodulation of forward link signals and modulation of backward link signals can be realized. For backscatter links, the zero-power terminal can transmit signals using either a backscatter method or an active transmission method.

[0040] As can be seen, semi-passive zero-power terminals do not require power from an internal battery in either forward or backward links. They use energy stored in a capacitor during operation, but this energy originates from ambient energy collected by an energy collection module, making them truly zero-power terminals.

[0041] Semi-passive zero-power terminals inherit many of the advantages of passive zero-power terminals, and therefore have many advantages such as being small, lightweight, very inexpensive, and having a long lifespan.

[0042] (3) Active zero-power terminals In some scenarios, zero-power terminals may be active zero-power terminals, which can incorporate a battery. The battery is used to power the zero-power terminal's low-power chip circuitry, enabling operations such as demodulation of forward link signals and modulation of backward link signals. However, for backscatter links, the zero-power terminal transmits signals using either a backscattering or active transmission method. Despite incorporating a battery, these active zero-power terminals have extremely low power consumption and low complexity, allowing for the use of smaller capacity batteries, thereby achieving lower costs and miniaturization. The built-in battery also functions as an energy storage unit, used to store environmental energy collected by energy collection modules, extending maintenance cycles and potentially enabling maintenance-free operation.

[0043] Active zero-power terminals extend the communication range and improve communication reliability by supplying power from an internal battery. Therefore, they are applied in certain scenarios where there are relatively high demands regarding communication range and read latency.

[0044] (iii) Devices based on environmental energy In NR and WiFi systems, the battery-free and low-cost nature of devices can support low-cost mass deployment and maintenance-free operation, similar to IoT devices. One current research challenge is how to support environmentally energy-based IoT devices in NR and WiFi systems. Environmentally energy-based IoT devices, also known as A-IoT (Ambient IoT) devices or AMP IoT (Ambient Powered IoT) devices, derive their operating energy from environmental energy collection, such as radio signals, solar energy, and thermal energy. These types of devices are similar to passive or semi-passive devices in zero-power communications.

[0045] The 3GPP (registered trademark) Radio Access Network (RAN) is conducting research projects on Ambient IoT devices, which are generally classified into the following three types based on their complexity and communication capabilities.

[0046] Device A: It lacks energy storage capabilities and cannot transmit independent signals; in other words, it employs a backscattering transmission method.

[0047] Device B: It has energy storage capabilities but cannot transmit independent signals; that is, it employs a backscattering transmission method and can amplify the backscattered signal using the stored energy.

[0048] Device C: It has energy storage capabilities and can transmit independent signals, i.e., it has active transmission capabilities.

[0049] Here, Device A has the lowest complexity and power consumption, with power consumption reduced to 1 μW (microwatt), but its communication range is limited, typically only a few meters. Device A requires a carrier signal from network equipment to perform backscattering transmission. Device C typically has a large capacitor to store energy from the environment, can support power consumption of several hundred μW, supports active signal transmission, and has a longer communication range. Because Device C is capable of active transmission, it does not require a carrier signal from network equipment. The complexity and power consumption of Device B fall between Device A and Device C.

[0050] Furthermore, zero-power terminals can support various types of environmental energy harvesting, including radio frequency, solar energy, thermal energy, and mechanical energy. In this case, zero-power terminals based on radio frequency energy harvesting may require the provision of radio frequency power supply signals from the network.

[0051] Ambient IoT can be used in at least the following four scenarios:

[0052] Object identification: Logistics, production line product management, supply chain management, etc.

[0053] Environmental monitoring: Monitoring of temperature, humidity, and harmful gases in the workplace and natural environment.

[0054] Positioning: Indoor positioning, smart device tracking, positioning on production lines, etc.

[0055] Intelligent control: Intelligent control of various electrical appliances in smart homes (on / off air conditioners, temperature control), intelligent control of various equipment in agricultural greenhouses (automatic watering, fertilization), etc.

[0056] (iv) Channel access mechanism In the 802.11 protocol, the basic channel access protocol is the Distributed Coordination Function (DCF), which, through the Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA / CA) mechanism, allows different compatible STA devices to share and use a channel, reducing the probability of collisions. The channel access process determines whether the channel is idle or not using the carrier sensing mechanism.

[0057] The carrier detection mechanism is divided into physical carrier detection and virtual carrier detection. If the detection result of either one indicates that the channel is busy, then the channel is considered busy.

[0058] Physical carrier detection employs three channel idle detection methods: energy detection, carrier detection, and mixed energy and carrier detection, collectively known as Clear Channel Assessment (CCA). Energy detection determines the power of the received signal; if the received power exceeds the threshold ED_threshold defined by the physical layer, the channel is considered occupied. Carrier detection determines whether the channel is occupied or not based on the detection result by detecting the preamble portion of the signal within the channel.

[0059] The virtual carrier detection mechanism is provided by Media Access Control (MAC), and the 802.11 standard uses a Network Allocation Vector (NAV) to achieve virtual detection. The Dur / ID field in the MAC frame stores the "duration". Upon receiving this information, the STA determines how long the channel will be occupied and decides how long it should delay its own transmission. The NAV is a timer that defines how much longer the current channel will be occupied. The starting value of this timer is the duration of the last received frame, and it counts down until it reaches 0. Each monitoring STA uses this NAV timer, and during data communication, the STA occupying the channel notifies other STAs of how much longer it will be used by using the duration field of the frame, and STAs that have not acquired the channel update their NAV value by comparing it with the duration value of the received packet. The current channel is considered idle only when the NAV value is 0 and physical carrier detection indicates that the channel is idle.

[0060] The Request To Send / Clear To Send (RTS / CTS) protocol is a mechanism adopted in the 802.11 protocol to reduce collisions caused by the hidden node problem. The basic idea of ​​the RTS / CTS mechanism is to reserve a channel with a short control packet. When a transmitting station wants to send a message to a receiving station, it first sends an RTS control frame. When stations around the transmitting station receive this RTS, they set their Network Allocation Vector (NAV) value based on the duration field. After receiving the RTS, the receiving station replies with a CTS control frame. After receiving the CTS, stations around the receiving station set their NAV value based on the duration field. Stations with a non-zero NAV value cannot monitor the channel idle, thereby avoiding collisions with transmissions between the transmitting and receiving stations.

[0061] In Internet of Things (IoT) application scenarios such as logistics and warehouse management, large volumes of goods need to be moved, stored, loaded, unloaded, and inventoryed at logistics centers and warehouses. As orders are placed, goods are received, managed, and shipped out at the warehouse, Ambient IoT needs to communicate with the network intensively and frequently, reporting goods information, positioning information, etc., stored in Ambient IoT devices. When using unlicensed spectrum, Ambient IoT devices need to acquire channel access rights to transmit, and if a large number of Ambient IoT devices attempt uplink transmission in a short period of time, it will cause channel access collisions. One way to solve this problem is to set up a large resource pool and have Ambient IoT devices select resources according to certain rules for transmission, but even this cannot prevent collisions when multiple Ambient IoT devices select the same resource. When a collision occurs, a method is adopted that retransmits multiple times until the collision is resolved and the data is received correctly. This leads to the waste of channel resources.

[0062] On the other hand, in environmental monitoring scenarios, a large number of Ambient IoT devices within a given area need to monitor the environment in real time and upload monitoring data. However, the network does not know whether an Ambient IoT device has data to upload. If Ambient IoT devices are allowed to access the network themselves, they must support a certain channel access mechanism, and conflicts will inevitably occur. If network equipment provides channel access to Ambient IoT devices, indiscriminately allocating channel transmission opportunities before knowing whether an Ambient IoT device has data to upload will lead to the waste of channel resources. Therefore, another challenge to address is how to avoid the waste of channel resources while meeting the uplink transmission requirements of a large number of Ambient IoT devices.

[0063] Figure 2 is an exemplary flowchart of an information transmission method according to one embodiment of the present invention. This method can be optionally applied to the system shown in Figure 1, but is not limited thereto. The method includes the following steps.

[0064] In step S210, the first device transmits first information, which includes N device identifiers, so that the second device that receives the first information transmits request information for a channel resource if the N device identifiers include the device identifier of the second device, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

[0065] Corresponding to the above method, Figure 3 is an illustrative flowchart of an information transmission method according to another embodiment of the present application. This method can also be applied to the system shown in Figure 1, but is not limited thereto. This method includes the following steps.

[0066] In step S310, the second device receives the first information transmitted from the first device, where the first information is used to identify N device identifiers (IDs).

[0067] In step S320, if the device identifier of the second device is included among the N device identifiers, the second device sends request information for the channel resource, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

[0068] Here, the first device may be a network device such as an access network device in a cellular network or an access point (AP) in a WiFi system. The first device may further be a terminal device such as a station (STA) in a WiFi system. The second device may be a terminal device associated with the first device, such as a zero-power terminal.

[0069] In some embodiments, the first device may be associated with one or more devices. As can be understood, the first device can transmit or broadcast the first information to one or more devices associated with it. Any device that receives the first information, for example, a second device, should consider transmitting channel resource instruction information if its own device identifier is included in the N device identifiers indicated by the first information. Optionally, the second device can decide whether or not to transmit channel resource instruction information according to its own needs.

[0070] In some embodiments, the first information may include N identifier references, each of which indicates a single device identifier.

[0071] In some embodiments, the device identifier may be an AID (Association Identifier) ​​or a group AID. Here, the AID is an ID that the first device assigns to the second device when the second device is associated with the first device. A group AID corresponds to the AID of one or more devices in a device group.

[0072] For example, the first piece of information could indicate two AIDs, 0 and 1. In this case, the device with AID 0 and the device with AID 1 can send the request information.

[0073] In another example, the first information may indicate two group AIDs, 1 and 2. In this case, each device in the device group with group AID 1, and each device in the device group with group AID 2, can both send request information.

[0074] According to the method described above, by indicating multiple device identifiers using specific information, centralized polling of channel resource requests from multiple devices by the first device can be achieved. This is advantageous for allocating channel resources according to the requests of each device and can satisfy the transmission requests of a large number of devices. At the same time, it prevents the first device from indiscriminately allocating channel resources to other devices, thus avoiding resource waste. For example, in application scenarios of zero-power terminals such as temperature monitoring or fire alarms in environmental monitoring, zero-power terminals only need to report monitoring data when an anomaly occurs. Centralized polling allows for the acquisition of the needs of each zero-power terminal in a single step, and by allocating channel resources according to those needs, resource waste can be avoided.

[0075] In some embodiments, the first device is an access network device in a cellular network, and the second device is a zero-power terminal within the coverage range of the access network device.

[0076] In some embodiments, the first device is an AP or STA, and the second device is a zero-power terminal associated with the first device. Optionally, if the first device is an AP or STA, the first device can share acquired channels with the zero-power terminal associated with it.

[0077] For example, the zero-power terminal described above may include environmentally energy-based devices such as AMP IoT devices, and can be used as communication devices in WiFi or cellular networks. Environmental energy may include radio frequency energy, solar energy, thermal energy, mechanical energy, etc. From an energy harvesting perspective, the zero-power terminal is also an energy harvesting device. Its power supply device is a device that transmits a power supply signal. Optionally, the power supply device of the zero-power terminal described above may be a first device associated with it, such as an access network device or AP, or it may be an independent power supply device.

[0078] In some embodiments, the channel resource described above may be a TXOP obtained by the first device through channel access.

[0079] For example, the second device is a zero-power terminal, which, due to its power consumption limitations, has a requirement for low complexity. For instance, the receiver only supports simple modulation / demodulation methods such as Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK) or Frequency-Shift Keying (FSK), and does not support Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM). As a result, it is difficult for a zero-power terminal to perform CCA and cannot support the CSMA / CA mechanism. In the embodiment of the present invention, taking a WiFi system as an example, the first device, for example, an AP or STA compatible with the CSMA / CA mechanism, performs channel access and shares the acquired TXOP with the zero-power terminal for uplink or sidelink transmission, thereby eliminating the need for the zero-power terminal to perform channel access.

[0080] In some embodiments, the first information includes K identifier reference information corresponding to K device identifiers, the K identifier reference information being used to indicate N device identifiers from among the K device identifiers, where K is an integer greater than or equal to N.

[0081] For example, each identifier instruction in K identifier instruction information is used to indicate whether the corresponding device identifier is one of N device identifiers, that is, whether the corresponding device identifier is the identifier of the device to be polled. For example, if a first device is associated with 24 devices, and there are 24 device identifiers, and the first device needs to poll 20 of the 24 devices (instructing the 20 devices to send request information for channel resources), then the first information needs to indicate 20 device identifiers. To indicate 20 device identifiers, the first information can carry 24 identifier instruction information that correspond one-to-one with the 24 device identifiers, and each identifier instruction information is used to indicate whether the corresponding device identifier is the identifier of the device to be polled. In this way, a second device that receives the first information can determine the 20 device identifiers indicated by the first information from among the 24 device identifiers based on the 24 identifier instruction information.

[0082] In some embodiments, the first information includes a first bitmap, the K identifier information is K bits in the first bitmap, and the N device identifiers include device identifiers corresponding to the bits among the K bits whose value is a first value. Here, a bitmap is also called a bit diagram or bitstream.

[0083] For example, the first value is a predetermined number, such as 0 or 1. To make it clear, a bit that takes the first value indicates that the corresponding device identifier is the identifier of the device being polled. A bit that does not take the first value, such as a third value, indicates that the corresponding device identifier is the identifier of a device that is not being polled, and the third value is different from the first value. For example, if the first value is 1, the third value is 0, and if the first value is 0, the third value is 1.

[0084] Figure 4 shows a schematic diagram of the first information in an embodiment of the present invention, and is shown as an example where K=24 and the first value is 1. As shown in Figure 4, the first information includes a bitmap having 24 bits (including bits 0 to 23), where each bit is one identifier instruction and corresponds to one device identifier. For example, bit 0 corresponds to device 0, bit 1 to device 1, and so on. If the value of each bit is 1, it indicates that the corresponding device identifier is the identifier of the device to be polled, and if the value is 0, it indicates that the corresponding device identifier is not the identifier of the device to be polled. As shown in Figure 4, based on the values ​​of the 24 bits in the bitmap, the second device can determine 20 bits with a value of 1, and the device identifiers corresponding to these 20 bits are the 20 device identifiers that the first information should indicate, i.e., the device identifiers indicated by the first information are devices 0 to 19.

[0085] In some embodiments, the transmission of first information by the first device may include the periodic transmission of the first information. Correspondingly, the reception of first information transmitted from the first device by the second device may include the periodic reception of the first information by the second device. Periodic transmission of the first information ensures that the second device can request channel resources in a timely manner when needed.

[0086] In some embodiments, the information transmission method may further include the first device transmitting first period information to the second device in the process of establishing an association with the second device, or the first device broadcasting the first period information, where the first period information is used to indicate the period length for transmitting the first information.

[0087] Correspondingly, on the second device side, the information transmission method further includes the second device receiving first period information transmitted from the first device in the process of establishing an association with the first device, or the second device receiving first period information broadcast by the first device, where the first period information is used to indicate the period length for transmitting the first information. In other words, the first device can indicate the period length for transmitting the first information or broadcast the period length of the first information in the process of establishing an association with the second device, thereby enabling the second device to process the first information periodically according to a predetermined period length.

[0088] In some embodiments, request information for a channel resource from a second device is transmitted in a first time unit, which is associated with the N device identifiers. Correspondingly, the information transmission method further includes the first device receiving request information from the second device in a first time unit if the N device identifiers include the device identifier of the second device. That is, the first device receives request information from the second device at a location in the time domain associated with the N device identifiers.

[0089] Exemplary, the first time unit lies within a time window associated with the first information. Here, the time window associated with the first information may include N time units after the transmission of the first information, and these N time units are used by N devices corresponding to N device identifiers to transmit the request information. Here, the time unit can refer to a time unit of information transmission in a communication system, such as a time slot in a WiFi system, or a symbol, time slot, or subframe in a cellular network.

[0090] In some embodiments, the first time unit is determined based on the relative position of the device identifier of the second device among the N device identifiers. Exemplaryly, based on this relative position, the first time unit can be determined from among the N time units in the time window associated with the first information. Specifically, if the device identifier of the second device is the i-th device identifier among the N device identifiers, then the first time unit is the i-th time unit among the N time units.

[0091] For example, if the first bitmap in the first information is 01101101, and we assume that the eight AIDs corresponding to each of the eight bits are 0 through 7, then the N AIDs indicated by the first information are 1, 2, 4, 5, and 7, and N=5. If the AID of the second device is 2, then the AID of the second device is the second AID among the N AIDs, and the second device can send the request information in the second time unit after receiving the first information.

[0092] In some embodiments, the first time unit is a time slot.

[0093] In some embodiments, the length of the time slot is either predefined or configured by the first device. For example, in a WiFi system, the length of the time slot for transmitting request information can be either predefined or configured by the first device.

[0094] In some embodiments, the second device may transmit request information when it needs to request a channel resource. That is, when the device identifier of the second device is included in the N device identifiers in the method described above, the second device transmitting request information for a channel resource means that when the device identifier of the second device is included in the N device identifiers, the second device transmits the request information when it requests the second channel resource.

[0095] Accordingly, with respect to the first device, the method further includes determining that the second device requests the channel resource when the first device receives request information for the channel resource of the second device.

[0096] In some embodiments, the second device may not send request information if it does not need to request channel resources. That is, the method further includes the second device not sending the request information when the second device does not request the second channel resources, if the device identifier of the second device is included in the N device identifiers.

[0097] Accordingly, with respect to the first device, the method further includes determining that the second device does not request the channel resource if the first device has not received request information for the channel resource from the second device.

[0098] According to the above embodiment, the second device can decide whether or not to send request information based on whether or not it requests channel resources. This allows for saving energy on the terminal.

[0099] In some embodiments, a second device may indicate that it requests a channel resource by including affirmative information in the request information. That is, if the second device requests the second channel resource, the request information includes affirmative information. Correspondingly, the method described above further includes the first device determining that the second device requests the channel resource if the received request information includes affirmative information.

[0100] In some embodiments, the second device may indicate that it does not request the channel resource by including negative information in the request information. That is, if the second device does not request the second channel resource, the request information includes negative information. Correspondingly, the method described above further includes the first device determining that the second device does not request the channel resource if the received request information includes negative information.

[0101] In some embodiments, the requested information is The required duration of channel resources, Frequency bandwidth, Number of channels, Channel position, and Includes at least one of the following: communication type.

[0102] Here, the duration of the requested channel resource is, for example, the TXOP length. The communication type may refer to uplink communication or sidelink communication, etc., and may refer to communication between a first device associated with a second device, or communication between a second device and another device (a third device).

[0103] Optionally, the request information may include only the TXOP length, with other information being predefined. Alternatively, the request information may include the TXOP length, the number of channels, and the channel locations, with other information being predefined. In actual application, one or more of the above information may be used in combination, and specifically, it may be set based on system requirements or protocol agreements, but this application is not limited to this.

[0104] In practical applications, the device identifier information carried to a single first piece of information is limited. In some scenarios, the first device may be associated with a large number of devices; for example, in a scenario where zero-power terminals are associated with the first device, the first device may be associated with a large number of zero-power terminals. The present invention further provides embodiments for satisfying polling requests for a large number of devices.

[0105] In some embodiments, the first information is the i-th polling frame in L polling frames sequentially transmitted by the first device, where L is an integer greater than or equal to 2 and i is a positive integer less than or equal to L. That is, the first device can sequentially transmit L polling frames, where the i-th polling frame indicates N device identifiers. As can be seen, other polling frames in the L polling frames may also indicate one or more device identifiers, and multiple polling frames can be used to poll a large number of devices. Here, different polling frames may indicate different numbers of device identifiers.

[0106] For example, L polling frames each correspond to L sets of device identifiers, and the i-th polling frame is used to indicate the N device identifiers in the set of device identifiers corresponding to the i-th polling frame. Accordingly, the second device can determine the i-th polling frame associated with it from among the L polling frames based on the set of device identifiers to which it belongs, and then determine whether the device identifier of the second device is included in the N device identifiers indicated by the i-th polling frame.

[0107] In some embodiments, the i-th polling frame is further used to indicate the index information of the device identifier set corresponding to the i-th polling frame. Optionally, each of the L polling frames can indicate the index information of the corresponding device identifier set. Accordingly, a second device can determine which polling frame is associated with it from among the L polling frames based on the index information of the device identifier set corresponding to the second device.

[0108] Optionally, the correspondence between the second device and the index information of the device identifier set may be determined when the second device and the first device establish an association. That is, the above method may further include the first device transmitting the index information of the device identifier set corresponding to the second device to the second device in the process of establishing an association with the second device. In response, the second device receives the index information of the device identifier set corresponding to the second device transmitted from the first device in the process of establishing an association with the first device.

[0109] As can be seen from the above embodiment, by dividing a large number of devices associated with the first device into multiple sets or multiple slices and sending multiple polling frames, each polling frame can give instructions to one set, and the second device that receives the polling frame checks whether its device identifier is indicated in the corresponding polling frame based on the set to which it belongs. In this way, polling of a large number of devices can be achieved.

[0110] In some other embodiments, the i-th polling frame is further used to indicate identifier offset information, which is used to determine the device identifier start point of the device identifier set corresponding to the i-th polling frame. Accordingly, the second device determines whether the i-th polling frame is associated with the second device based on the device identifier start point of the device identifier set corresponding to the i-th polling frame. In other words, the second device can determine which polling frames are associated with the second device based on the device identifier start point of the device identifier set corresponding to each polling frame.

[0111] For example, the identifier offset information within a single polling frame can contain 8 bits, indicating that the AID starting point of the corresponding device identifier set is one of the values ​​between 0 and 255. If the first polling frame indicates an AID starting point of 0, the second polling frame indicates an AID starting point of 64, the third polling frame indicates an AID starting point of 128, and the fourth polling frame indicates an AID starting point of 192, then it can be determined that the AID set corresponding to the first polling frame includes values ​​between 0 and 63, the AID set corresponding to the second polling frame includes values ​​between 64 and 127, the AID set corresponding to the third polling frame includes values ​​between 128 and 191, and the AID set corresponding to the fourth polling frame includes values ​​between 192 and 255. In this way, the second device can determine the relevant polling frame based on its own AID.

[0112] In some embodiments, the device identifier start point includes a group identifier start point, such as a group AID start point.

[0113] For example, if the first polling frame indicates a group AID start point of 1 and the second polling frame indicates a group AID start point of 3, each device in the device group whose group AIDs are 1 and 2 can determine whether or not it is being polled based on the first bit diagram in the first polling frame.

[0114] According to the above embodiment, the first device can poll a large number of related devices, eliminating the need to permanently slice each related device and enabling more flexible instruction.

[0115] In some embodiments, the method described above further includes the first device transmitting second information, the second information comprising M authorization pieces corresponding to M devices, each authorization piece in the M authorization pieces being used to indicate whether or not to allocate a channel resource to the device corresponding to the authorization piece, where M is an integer of 1 or more. In response, the second device receives the second information.

[0116] To make it easier to understand, if a second device is included among M devices, the second device can determine, based on the corresponding authorization information, whether the first device has allocated channel resources to the second device.

[0117] In some embodiments, the second information is determined based on at least one request information received by the first device.

[0118] For example, the first device transmits the first information, indicating 20 device identifiers from among 24 device identifiers. After each device corresponding to one of these 20 device identifiers transmits request information according to its needs, the first device determines, based on the received request information, that 15 of those devices are requesting channel resources. Based on this, the first device decides whether or not to allocate channel resources to each of these 15 devices, and then obtains the second information.

[0119] In some embodiments, the M devices include a device that requests the channel resource. That is, the first device instructs only the device that requested the channel resource whether or not to allocate the resource.

[0120] For example, the first piece of information indicates 20 device identifiers, meaning that 20 devices are polled. After the first device receives request information reported from each device, it determines that 15 of those devices are requesting channel resources. The first device then sends the second piece of information and allocates resources to those 15 devices.

[0121] Optionally, the second information can further be used to indicate the device identifiers and order of the M devices, thereby enabling the second device to determine the M devices, and if the second device is included in the M devices, to determine the authorization information corresponding to the second device from among the M authorization information based on the order of the M devices.

[0122] In some embodiments, M devices include the N devices. In this way, the second device can determine, based on the first information, the M devices corresponding to the M authorization pieces indicated in the second information.

[0123] For example, the first piece of information indicates 20 device identifiers, meaning that 20 devices are polled. After the first device receives the request information reported from each device, it sends the second piece of information and allocates resources to those 20 devices. The second device can also determine that the 20 authorization pieces of information in the second piece of information correspond to those 20 devices.

[0124] In some embodiments, the M devices include devices corresponding to each set of device identifiers in the set of device identifiers corresponding to the first information. In this way, the second device can determine, based on the first information, the M devices corresponding to the M authorization pieces of information shown in the second information.

[0125] For example, the first piece of information is used to identify 20 device identifiers out of 24 device identifiers, for instance using a 24-bit bitmap where each of the 24 bits corresponds to an AID from 0 to 23, and 20 of these bits have a value of 1. After receiving the request information reported by each device, the first device sends the second piece of information and allocates resources to those 24 devices. The second device can also determine that the 24 authorization pieces of information in the second piece of information correspond to those 24 devices.

[0126] In some embodiments, the duration of the channel resources allocated by the first device, the frequency bandwidth, the number of channels, the channel location, and at least one of the communication type are predefined.

[0127] In some embodiments, each authorization information is further: The duration of the allocated channel resources, Frequency bandwidth, Number of channels, Channel position, and Used to indicate at least one of the communication types.

[0128] Here, the duration of the requested channel resource is, for example, the TXOP length. The communication type may refer to uplink communication or sidelink communication, etc., and may refer to communication between a first device associated with a second device, or communication between a second device and another device (a third device).

[0129] Optionally, different authorization information can indicate different TXOPs or channel quantities, thus allowing the first device to flexibly allocate resources according to the different types and functions of the devices associated with it.

[0130] Optionally, the authorization information may indicate the communication type. For example, if a second device includes a communication type in its request information, the first device allocates channel resources for the communication type corresponding to the second device. In this way, the requests of different related devices can be satisfied. In actual application, the information indicated by the authorization information may include one or more combinations of the above information, and can be set based on system requirements, protocol agreements, etc., but this application is not limited thereto.

[0131] In some embodiments, the second information includes a second bitmap, and the M permission pieces are M bits in the second bitmap. Specifically, each bit in the M bits is used to indicate whether or not to allocate a channel resource to the corresponding device.

[0132] In some embodiments, if the value of the first bit among the M bits is a second value, the first bit is used to indicate that a channel resource is to be allocated to the device corresponding to the first bit.

[0133] Here, the second value is, for example, 1 or 0. If the second value is 1, then if the second bitmap is 01101101, it indicates that channel resources have been allocated to the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 8th devices among the M devices.

[0134] If the second bit of the M bits is optionally the fourth value, the second bit is used to indicate that no resources are allocated to the device corresponding to the second bit. Here, the fourth value is different from the second value; for example, if the second value is 1, the fourth value is 0, and if the second value is 0, the fourth value is 1.

[0135] In some embodiments, when the first device is associated with a large number of devices, resource allocation to the large number of devices can be achieved using a method similar to the L polling frames in the above-described embodiment. Specifically, in some embodiments, the second information is the j-th permission frame in X permission frames sequentially transmitted by the first device. Here, the X permission frames each correspond to X sets of device identifiers, and the j-th permission frame contains M permission information corresponding to the M device identifiers in the set of device identifiers corresponding to the j-th permission frame, where X is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and j is a positive integer less than or equal to X.

[0136] In response, the second device can determine the j-th authorization frame associated with it from among X polling frames based on the set of device identifiers to which it belongs, and then determine whether the j-th authorization frame indicates a channel resource allocation to the second device.

[0137] In some embodiments, the j-th authorization frame is further used to indicate index information for the device identifier set corresponding to the j-th authorization frame. As can be understood, each authorization frame can indicate index information for the device identifier set corresponding to it. That is, a large number of related devices of the first device are divided into a fixed set, and the authorization frame indicates the set associated with that authorization frame by index information. In this way, the second device can determine the authorization frame associated with it based on the index information for the device identifier set corresponding to the second device.

[0138] In some embodiments, the j-th authorization frame is further used to indicate identifier offset information, which is used to determine the device identifier start point of the device identifier set. Optionally, the device identifier start point includes a group identifier start point, e.g., group AID.

[0139] Identifier offset information can be used to determine the AID start point or group AID start point of the device identifier set corresponding to the j-th authorization frame. In this way, a second device can determine the authorization frame associated with it based on the offset information within each authorization frame. This method does not require the fixed grouping of a large number of related devices and can provide more flexible guidance.

[0140] In some embodiments, if the second information indicates that a channel resource is to be allocated to the second device, the channel resource is used for information transmission between the second device and the first device, or between the second device and the third device. Correspondingly, the method may further include, if the second information indicates that a channel resource is to be allocated to the second device, the second device using the channel resource to perform information transmission between the second device and the first device, or between the second device and the third device. Exemplarily, the allocated channel resource may be used for uplink transmission or for sidelink transmission.

[0141] In some embodiments, the information transmission described above includes the second device transmitting data and the second device receiving response information for the data. Exemplary, the information transmission between the second device and the first device may include the second device transmitting data to the first device and the first device transmitting acknowledgment (ACK) information to the second device.

[0142] In some embodiments, the second information includes second duration information relating to the duration of the channel resource allocated by the first device, and the second duration information is used to instruct the fourth device to configure the NAV.

[0143] For example, in a WiFi system, the second information is carried by a MAC frame, which includes a duration field. The value of this field must cover the time window associated with the second information, i.e., the time window of the channel resources allocated to each associated device. This allows other compatible devices to configure their NAV based on this field, thereby reserving channel occupancy time for the second device and protecting the information transmission time of the second device.

[0144] In some embodiments, the first information includes first duration information, the first duration information relates to N time units associated with the first information, and the first duration information is used to instruct a fifth device to set up the NAV.

[0145] For example, in a WiFi system, first information is carried by a MAC frame which includes a duration field, the value of which must cover a time window associated with the first information, for example, N time slots following the first information, so that other compatible devices can set their NAV based on this field and thereby reserve channel occupancy time for a second device, protecting the time for the second device to transmit the requested information.

[0146] To facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, a specific application example of the above information transmission method is provided below, with reference to the drawings, using as an example that the first device is an AP in a WiFi system and the second device is a zero-power terminal. This application example includes the following process.

[0147] 1. The AP sends a polling frame (corresponding to the first piece of information). Zero-power terminals associated with access points (APs) cannot support channel access mechanisms compatible with existing devices, and therefore their uplink transmissions depend on TXOPs shared by the AP or other compatible devices. However, the AP does not know whether the zero-power terminal has an uplink transmission need, and even if it directly accesses the channel and shares the acquired TXOP for use by the zero-power terminal, if the zero-power terminal does not request uplink transmission, it will result in wasted channel resources. For example, in environmental monitoring, such as temperature monitoring or fire alarms, monitoring data only needs to be reported when a temperature anomaly occurs.

[0148] Therefore, in this application, the AP can periodically send polling frames to query the associated zero-power terminal whether or not it needs to request a TXOP. After receiving the polling frame, the zero-power terminal provides feedback indicating whether or not it needs to request a TXOP on one of the associated time slots.

[0149] Specifically, a polling frame can specify information about the zero-power terminal to be polled, such as the identifier of the zero-power terminal. Here, the identifier may be an AID or a group AID. Here, the AID is an ID that an AP assigns to a zero-power terminal when the AP is associated with it. The group AID corresponds to a group of AIDs.

[0150] Specifically, the polling frame specifies the zero-power terminal information to be polled, and this information can be specified using a bitmap, where each bit in the bitmap corresponds to one AID. For example, the first bit corresponds to AID=0, and so on.

[0151] After receiving its own ID information in a polling frame, a zero-power terminal sends a TXOP request frame on a corresponding time slot. Here, the TXOP request frame carries TXOP request information. If the zero-power terminal requests a TXOP, it can send a TXOP request frame on the corresponding time slot, and the TXOP request information carried in that TXOP request frame will be "requested". If the zero-power terminal does not request a TXOP, it can either not send a TXOP request frame on the corresponding time slot, or the TXOP request information carried in the sent TXOP request frame will be "not requested". Furthermore, the TXOP request information may include further requested TXOP information, which includes, but is not limited to, one or more pieces of information such as TXOP length, frequency bandwidth, and number of channels or channel location.

[0152] Specifically, polling frames can be transmitted periodically, and the period can be indicated during the association process or broadcast by a beacon frame.

[0153] Specifically, the time slot in which a zero-power terminal sends a TXOP request frame is related to the information of the zero-power terminal being polled, as indicated by the polling frame. For example, the time slot in which a zero-power terminal sends a TXOP request frame corresponds to the relative position of that zero-power terminal among the zero-power terminals being polled, as indicated by the polling frame. For example, if a polling frame indicates 20 zero-power terminals by bitmap, and the polling frame corresponds to 20 time slots, and 20 zero-power terminals are used to send TXOP request frames, then the zero-power terminal corresponding to the nth bit "1" will send a TXOP request frame using the nth time slot.

[0154] Specifically, the length of the time slot used to send a TXOP request frame can be predefined or specified by the AP.

[0155] As shown in Figure 4, the AP sends a polling frame, which uses a 24-bit bitmap to specify up to 24 zero-power terminals. Polling is performed on 20 of these zero-power terminals, and the bit values ​​corresponding to those 20 zero-power terminals are set to 1.

[0156] The polling frame is associated with a single time window, which may be called a polling window. Figure 5 shows a schematic diagram of the polling window in this application. As shown in Figure 5, the polling window contains 20 time slots, each corresponding to one zero-power terminal being polled, which is used to send a TXOP request frame. The polled zero-power terminal determines which time slot to use based on its relative position among all the polled zero-power terminals. As shown in Figure 5, of the 20 polled zero-power terminals, 15 request a TXOP and 5 do not.

[0157] Furthermore, the information of zero-power terminals that can be transmitted in a single polling frame is limited. To poll a large number of zero-power terminals, polling can be performed using multiple polling frames, which may be called Polling Slicing.

[0158] Specifically, polling frames transmitted at different times can correspond to different slices of zero-power terminals. For example, if one polling frame carries a 24-bit bitmap, a polling frame transmitted at the first time point can indicate AID=0 to 23, a polling frame transmitted at the second time point can indicate AID=24 to 47, and so on. Specifically, the AID is divided into multiple slices, and each polling frame carries polling information for one slice of zero-power terminal. Figure 6 shows a schematic diagram of multiple polling frames in this application example. As shown in Figure 6, Polling slice 0, which corresponds to polling slice 0, contains AID=0 to 23, and Polling slice 1, which corresponds to polling slice 1, contains AID=24 to 47. A polling frame can indicate the index of a polling slice. Specifically, the correspondence between AID and polling slice index can be obtained when a zero-power terminal is associated with an AP.

[0159] Specifically, the polling slice may not be fixedly divided, but rather dynamically determined by the polling frame. For example, the polling frame can indicate AID offset information, which is used to determine the AID starting point indicated by the bitmap. For example, the AID offset information may consist of 8 bits, indicating the AID starting point as 0 to 255. Furthermore, the polling frame can indicate AID group offset information, which indicates the number of AID groups to be offset. For example, one AID group contains 24 AIDs. If the AID group offset information is 0, the AIDs indicated by the bitmap are from the first AID group, containing AIDs 0 to 23; if the AID group offset information is 1, the AIDs indicated by the bitmap are from the second AID group, containing AIDs 24 to 47, and so on.

[0160] 2. The AP sends a grant frame (corresponding to the second piece of information).

[0161] After receiving a TXOP request from a zero-power terminal, the AP assigns a TXOP to the zero-power terminal requesting the TXOP, based on the TXOP request.

[0162] The AP uses a Grant frame to specify grant information for one or more zero-power terminals. Specifically, the grant information may include whether or not to assign a TXOP to the corresponding zero-power terminal.

[0163] Specifically, one or more pieces of information such as the length of the TXOP to be allocated, frequency domain resources, and channels may be predefined or specified within the grant information. For example, if the length of the TXOP is specified within the grant information, that TXOP length may apply to all zero-power terminals to which the TXOP is allocated, or it may be specified individually for one or more zero-power terminals.

[0164] Specifically, the number of grant information items carried in the Grant frame may be the same as the number of zero-power terminals requesting a TXOP. Alternatively, it may be the same as the number of zero-power terminals polled in the Polling frame, in which case the AP can also assign a TXOP to a zero-power terminal that has not requested one.

[0165] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating resource allocation by polling frames in this application example. The grant information carried in the grant frame is the same as the number of zero-power terminals requesting TXOP. That is, the grant frames Grant0, Grant1, Grant2, and Grant3 in Figure 7 correspond to AID=0, 1, 2, and 4 in Figure 6, respectively, which requested TXOP. Here, since the STA with AID=3 in Figure 6 did not request TXOP, there is no corresponding grant information. In Figure 6, STA n corresponds to AID=n, that is, STA 0 represents a zero-power terminal with AID 0, and so on.

[0166] Specifically, grant information can be indicated in bitmap format, where each bit corresponds to the grant information of one zero-power terminal, with 1 indicating a TXOP allocation and 0 indicating no TXOP allocation. Specifically, if the grant information and the number of zero-power terminals requesting a TXOP are the same, according to the example above, since 15 zero-power terminals requested a TXOP, the bitmap may contain 15 bits. If the grant information and the number of polled zero-power terminals are the same, the bitmap may contain 20 bits. Figure 8 shows a schematic diagram of the polling frame in this application example, illustrating the grant information and the number of polled zero-power terminals as examples. Here, since the STA with AID=3 did not request a TXOP, the grant bit corresponding to STA3 is 0.

[0167] Similarly, the information about zero-power terminals delivered to a single grant is limited. To issue TXOPs to a large number of zero-power terminals, multiple grants can be used for the instructions, which may be called grant slicing.

[0168] Specifically, grant frames transmitted at different times can correspond to slices of different zero-power terminals. Figure 9 shows a schematic diagram of grant slicing in an embodiment of the present invention. For example, if a grant frame carries a bitmap of up to 24 bits, a grant frame transmitted at the first time point can indicate AID=0 to 23, a grant frame transmitted at the second time point can indicate AID=24 to 47, and so on. Specifically, the AID is divided into multiple slices, and each grant frame carries the grant information of one slice of zero-power terminal. In the example shown in the figure below, Grant slice 0 includes AID=0 to 23, and Grant slice 1 includes AID=24 to 47. A grant frame can indicate the index of a grant slice. Specifically, the correspondence between AID and grant slice index can be obtained when a zero-power terminal is associated with an AP.

[0169] Furthermore, Figure 10 shows a schematic diagram illustrating an example of TXOP application in this application example. As shown in Figure 10, the TXOP instructed by the AP to the zero-power terminal via a grant frame is used for data transmission from the zero-power terminal and can also include acknowledgment (ACK) information for the data from the AP.

[0170] Furthermore, during the polling and granting phases, the zero-power terminal must perform uplink transmission using TXOP obtained from the AP. Therefore, the value set in the duration field of the polling frame must cover the polling window. Similarly, the value set in the duration field of the grant frame must cover the TXOP grant window. When a compatible device receives the polling or grant frame, it can reserve channel occupancy time for the zero-power device by setting its own NAV based on the duration field, thereby protecting the transmission time in the zero-power device's communication.

[0171] As will be seen below, the embodiment of the present invention proposes a method for allocating resources for uplink transmission of zero-power terminals. A polling process obtains TXOP requests from zero-power terminals, and based on the TXOP requests from zero-power terminals, a grant process allocates TXOPs, thereby realizing TXOP allocation in response to requests and reducing the waste of channel resources.

[0172] Figure 11 is an illustrative block diagram of a first device 1100 according to one embodiment of the present application. The first device 1100 is The system includes a first communication module 1110 configured to transmit first information, where the first information is used to indicate N device identifiers so that a second device that receives the first information transmits request information for a channel resource if the N device identifiers include the device identifier of the second device, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

[0173] In one embodiment, the first device is an access point (AP) or station (STA), and the second device is a zero-power terminal associated with the first device.

[0174] In one embodiment, the channel resource is a transmission opportunity (TXOP) obtained through channel access.

[0175] In one embodiment, the first information includes K identifier reference information corresponding to K device identifiers, where the K identifier reference information is used to indicate N device identifiers from among the K device identifiers, and K is an integer greater than or equal to N.

[0176] In one embodiment, the first information includes a first bitmap, the K identifier indicators are K bits in the first bitmap, and the N device identifiers include device identifiers corresponding to the bits among the K bits whose value is a first value.

[0177] In one embodiment, the first communication module 1110 further, It is configured to periodically transmit the first piece of information.

[0178] In one embodiment, the first communication module 1110 further, The system is configured to receive request information from the second device in a first time unit if the device identifier of the second device is included among the N device identifiers, where the first time unit is associated with the N device identifiers.

[0179] In one embodiment, the first time unit is determined based on the relative position of the device identifier of the second device among N device identifiers.

[0180] In one embodiment, the first time unit is a time slot.

[0181] In one embodiment, the length of the time slot is either predefined or set.

[0182] In one embodiment, as shown in Figure 12, the first device 1100 further, The system includes a first processing module 1210, which is configured to determine that a second device requests channel resources upon receiving request information.

[0183] In one embodiment, as shown in Figure 13, the first device 1100 further, The system includes a second processing module 1310 which is configured to determine that the second device will not request channel resources if it has not received request information.

[0184] In one embodiment, as shown in Figure 14, the first device 1100 further, The system includes a third processing module 1410 configured to determine that a second device requests a channel resource if the received request information contains affirmative information.

[0185] In one embodiment, as shown in Figure 15, the first device 1100 further, The system includes a fourth processing module 1510 which is configured to determine that the second device will not request channel resources if the received request information contains negative information.

[0186] In one embodiment, the request information is: The required duration of channel resources, Frequency bandwidth, Number of channels, Channel position, and Includes at least one of the following: communication type.

[0187] In one embodiment, the first information is the i-th polling frame in L polling frames that are transmitted sequentially. L polling frames each correspond to L sets of device identifiers, and the i-th polling frame is used to indicate N device identifiers in the set of device identifiers corresponding to the i-th polling frame, where L is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and i is a positive integer less than or equal to L.

[0188] In one embodiment, the i-th polling frame is further used to indicate index information of the device identifier set corresponding to the i-th polling frame.

[0189] In one embodiment, the first communication module 1110 further, In the process of establishing an association with a second device, the system is configured to send index information of the device identifier set corresponding to the second device to the second device.

[0190] In one embodiment, the i-th polling frame is further used to indicate identifier offset information, which is used to determine the device identifier start point of the device identifier set corresponding to the i-th polling frame.

[0191] In one embodiment, the device identifier start point includes the group identifier start point.

[0192] In one embodiment, the first communication module 1110 further, It is configured to transmit second information, which includes M authorization pieces corresponding to M devices, where each authorization piece is used to indicate whether or not to allocate a channel resource to the device corresponding to the authorization piece, and M is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0193] In one embodiment, the second information is determined based on at least one received request information.

[0194] In one embodiment, the M devices include devices that request channel resources.

[0195] In one embodiment, M devices include N devices.

[0196] In one embodiment, the M devices include devices corresponding to each set of device identifiers in the set of device identifiers corresponding to the first information.

[0197] In one embodiment, the duration of the allocated channel resources, the frequency bandwidth, the number of channels, the channel location, and at least one of the communication types are predefined.

[0198] In one embodiment, each authorization information is further: The duration of the allocated channel resources, Frequency bandwidth, Number of channels, Channel position, and Used to indicate at least one of the communication types.

[0199] In one embodiment, the second information includes a second bitmap, and the M permission pieces are M bits in the second bitmap.

[0200] In one embodiment, if the value of the first bit of the M bits is the second value, the first bit is used to indicate that a channel resource is to be allocated to the device corresponding to the first bit.

[0201] In one embodiment, the second piece of information is the j-th permission frame in X permission frames that are transmitted sequentially.

[0202] Each of the X authorization frames corresponds to a set of X device identifiers, and the j-th authorization frame contains M authorization information corresponding to the M device identifiers in the set of device identifiers corresponding to the j-th authorization frame, where X is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and j is a positive integer less than or equal to X.

[0203] In one embodiment, the j-th authorization frame is further used to indicate index information of the device identifier set corresponding to the j-th authorization frame.

[0204] In one embodiment, the j-th permission frame is further used to indicate identifier offset information, which is used to determine the device identifier start point of the device identifier set.

[0205] In one embodiment, the device identifier start point includes the group identifier start point.

[0206] In one embodiment, if the second information indicates that a channel resource is to be allocated to the second device, the channel resource is used for information transmission between the second device and the first device, or between the second device and the third device.

[0207] In one embodiment, the information transmission described above includes the second device transmitting data and the second device receiving response information to the data.

[0208] In one embodiment, the second information includes second duration information relating to the duration of the channel resource allocated by the first device, and the second duration information is used to instruct the fourth device to set a network allocation vector (NAV).

[0209] In one embodiment, the first information includes first duration information, which relates to N time units associated with the first information, and the first duration information is used to instruct the fifth device to set up the NAV.

[0210] In one embodiment, the first communication module 1110 further, In the process of establishing association with the second device, either the first period information is transmitted to the second device, or The system is configured to broadcast first period information, which is used to indicate the period length for transmitting the first information.

[0211] In one embodiment, the device identifier is an association identifier (AID) or a group AID.

[0212] The first device 1100 in the embodiment of the present application can realize the corresponding functions of the first device in the embodiment of the method described above. The processes, functions, implementation forms, and beneficial effects corresponding to each module (submodule, unit, or component, etc.) in the first device 1100 can be described by referring to the corresponding descriptions in the embodiment of the method described above, and will not be described again here. Note that the functions of each module (submodule, unit, or component, etc.) in the first device 1100 in the embodiment of the present application can be realized by different modules (submodule, unit, or component, etc.) or by the same module (submodule, unit, or component, etc.).

[0213] Figure 16 is an exemplary block diagram of a second device 1600 in one embodiment of the present application. The second device 1600 is The system includes a second communication module 1610 configured to receive first information transmitted from a first device, the first information being used to identify N device identifiers. The second communication module 1610 is further configured to send request information for channel resources when the device identifier of the second device is included in N device identifiers, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

[0214] In one embodiment, the first device is an access point (AP) or station (STA), and the second device is a zero-power terminal associated with the first device.

[0215] In one embodiment, the channel resource is a transmission opportunity (TXOP) acquired by the first device through channel access.

[0216] In one embodiment, the first information includes K identifier reference information corresponding to K device identifiers, where the K identifier reference information is used to indicate N device identifiers from among the K device identifiers, and K is an integer greater than or equal to N.

[0217] In one embodiment, the first information includes a first bitmap, the K identifier indicators are K bits in the first bitmap, and the N device identifiers include device identifiers corresponding to the bits among the K bits whose value is a first value.

[0218] In one embodiment, the second communication module 1610 further, It is configured to periodically receive the first piece of information.

[0219] In one embodiment, request information for channel resources of a second device is transmitted in a first time unit, and the first time unit is associated with N device identifiers.

[0220] In one embodiment, the first time unit is determined based on the relative position of the device identifier of the second device among N device identifiers.

[0221] In one embodiment, the first time unit is a time slot.

[0222] In one embodiment, the length of the time slot is either predefined or configured by the first device.

[0223] In one embodiment, the second communication module 1610 further, When requesting a second channel resource, if the device identifier of the second device is included among the N device identifiers, the system is configured to send request information.

[0224] In one embodiment, the second communication module 1610 further, If the device identifier of the second device is included among the N device identifiers, the system is configured not to send request information when a second channel resource is not requested.

[0225] In one embodiment, when requesting a second channel resource, the request information includes affirmative information.

[0226] In one embodiment, if a second channel resource is not requested, the request information includes negative information.

[0227] In one embodiment, the request information is: The required duration of channel resources, Frequency bandwidth, Number of channels, Channel position, and Includes at least one of the following: communication type.

[0228] In one embodiment, the first information is the i-th polling frame in L polling frames sequentially transmitted by the first device, L polling frames each correspond to L sets of device identifiers, and the i-th polling frame is used to indicate N device identifiers in the set of device identifiers corresponding to the i-th polling frame, where L is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and i is a positive integer less than or equal to L.

[0229] In one embodiment, the i-th polling frame is further used to indicate index information of the device identifier set corresponding to the i-th polling frame.

[0230] As shown in Figure 17, the second device 1600 further, The system includes a fifth processing module 1710 configured to determine which polling frames are associated with the second device from among L polling frames, based on index information of a set of device identifiers corresponding to the second device.

[0231] In one embodiment, the second communication module 1610 further, In the process of establishing an association with the first device, the system is configured to receive index information of a set of device identifiers corresponding to the second device, which is transmitted from the first device.

[0232] In one embodiment, the i-th polling frame is further used to indicate identifier offset information, which is used to determine the device identifier start point of the device identifier set corresponding to the i-th polling frame.

[0233] The fifth processing module further: The system is configured to determine whether the i-th polling frame is associated with a second device, based on the device identifier start point of the device identifier set corresponding to the i-th polling frame.

[0234] In one embodiment, the device identifier start point includes the group identifier start point.

[0235] In one embodiment, the second communication module 1610 further, It is configured to receive second information, which includes M authorization pieces corresponding to M devices, where each authorization piece is used to indicate whether or not to allocate a channel resource to the device corresponding to the authorization piece, and M is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0236] In one embodiment, the second information is determined based on at least one request piece of information received by the first device.

[0237] In one embodiment, the M devices include devices that request channel resources.

[0238] In one embodiment, M devices include N devices.

[0239] In one embodiment, the M devices include devices corresponding to each set of device identifiers in the set of device identifiers corresponding to the first information.

[0240] In one embodiment, the duration of the channel resources allocated by the first device, the frequency bandwidth, the number of channels, the channel location, and at least one of the communication type are predefined.

[0241] In one embodiment, each authorization information is further: The duration of the allocated channel resources, Frequency bandwidth, Number of channels, Channel position, and Used to indicate at least one of the communication types.

[0242] In one embodiment, the second information includes a second bitmap, and the M permission pieces are M bits in the second bitmap.

[0243] In one embodiment, if the value of the first bit of the M bits is the second value, the first bit is used to indicate that a channel resource is to be allocated to the device corresponding to the first bit.

[0244] In one embodiment, the second information is the j-th permission frame in X permission frames sequentially transmitted by the first device. Each of the X authorization frames corresponds to a set of X device identifiers, and the j-th authorization frame contains M authorization information corresponding to the M device identifiers in the set of device identifiers corresponding to the j-th authorization frame, where X is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and j is a positive integer less than or equal to X.

[0245] In one embodiment, the j-th authorization frame is further used to indicate index information of the device identifier set corresponding to the j-th authorization frame.

[0246] In one embodiment, the j-th permission frame is further used to indicate identifier offset information, which is used to determine the device identifier start point of the device identifier set.

[0247] In one embodiment, the device identifier start point includes the group identifier start point.

[0248] In one embodiment, the second communication module 1610 further, If the second piece of information indicates that a channel resource should be allocated, the system is configured to use the channel resource to transmit information to the first device or to the third device.

[0249] In one embodiment, information transmission includes transmitting data and receiving response information to the data.

[0250] In one embodiment, the second information includes second duration information relating to the duration of the channel resource allocated by the first device, and the second duration information is used to instruct the fourth device to set a network allocation vector (NAV).

[0251] In one embodiment, the first information includes first duration information, which relates to N time units associated with the first information, and the first duration information is used to instruct the fifth device to set up the NAV.

[0252] In one embodiment, the second communication module 1610 further, In the process of establishing association with the first device, either the first period information transmitted from the first device is received, or It is configured to receive first period information broadcast by the first device, where the first period information is used to indicate the period length for transmitting the first information.

[0253] In one embodiment, the device identifier is an association identifier (AID) or a group AID.

[0254] The second device 1600 in the embodiment of the present application can realize the corresponding functions of the second device in the embodiment of the method described above. The processes, functions, implementation forms, and beneficial effects corresponding to each module (submodule, unit, or component, etc.) in the second device 1600 can be described by referring to the corresponding descriptions in the embodiment of the method described above, and will not be described again here. Note that the functions of each module (submodule, unit, or component, etc.) in the second device 1600 in the embodiment of the present application can be realized by different modules (submodule, unit, or component, etc.) or by the same module (submodule, unit, or component, etc.).

[0255] Figure 18 is an illustrative structural diagram of a communication device 1800 according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 1800 includes a processor 1810, and the processor 1810 can implement the method in the embodiment of the present application by calling and executing a computer program from memory.

[0256] In one embodiment, the communication device 1800 may further include a memory 1820. Here, the processor 1810 can call and execute a computer program from the memory 1820, thereby enabling the communication device 1800 to implement the method in the embodiment of the present invention.

[0257] Here, the memory 1820 may be a separate device independent of the processor 1810, or it may be integrated into the processor 1810.

[0258] In one embodiment, the communication device 1800 may further include a transceiver 1830, and the processor 1810 may control the transceiver 1830 to communicate with other devices. Specifically, it can transmit information or data to other devices or receive information or data transmitted by other devices.

[0259] Here, the transceiver 1830 may include a transmitter and a receiver. The transceiver 1830 may further include an antenna, and the number of antennas may be one or more.

[0260] In one embodiment, the communication device 1800 may be the first device in the embodiments of the present application, and the communication device 1800 may execute the corresponding processes implemented by the first device in each method of the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, related details are omitted.

[0261] In one embodiment, the communication device 1800 may be the second device in the embodiments of the present application, and the communication device 1800 may execute the corresponding processes implemented by the second device in each method of the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, related details are omitted.

[0262] FIG. 19 is an exemplary structural diagram of a chip 1900 according to an embodiment of the present application. The chip 1900 includes a processor 1910, and the processor 1910 can implement the methods in the embodiments of the present application by calling and executing a computer program from a memory.

[0263] In one embodiment, the chip 1900 may further include a memory 1920. Here, the processor 1910 can implement the methods executed by the first device in the embodiments of the present application by calling and executing a computer program from the memory 1920.

[0264] Here, the memory 1920 may be a separate device independent of the processor 1910, or it may be integrated into the processor 1910.

[0265] In one embodiment, the chip 1900 may further include an input interface 1930, where the processor 1910 can control the input interface 1930 to communicate with other devices or chips, specifically to acquire information or data transmitted by other devices or chips.

[0266] In one embodiment, the chip 1900 may further include an output interface 1940. Here, the processor 1910 can control the output interface 1940 to communicate with other devices or chips, and specifically, can output information or data to other devices or chips.

[0267] In one embodiment, the chip may be applied to the first device in the embodiment of the present application, and the chip can implement the corresponding process implemented by the first device in the embodiment of the present application in various ways. For brevity, relevant details are omitted.

[0268] In one embodiment, the chip may be applied to a second device in an embodiment of the present application, and the chip can implement the corresponding process implemented by the second device in an embodiment of the present application in various ways. For brevity, relevant details are omitted.

[0269] Please understand that the chips referred to in the embodiments of this application may also be called system-level chips, system chips, chip systems, or system-on-a-chip.

[0270] The processors mentioned above may include general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. Here, the general-purpose processors mentioned above may be microprocessors or any conventional processors, etc.

[0271] The memory mentioned above may be volatile memory or non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memory. Here, non-volatile memory may be read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory may be random access memory (RAM).

[0272] To ensure clarity, the above-mentioned memory is illustrative and not an exhaustive description. For example, the memory in the embodiments of this application may further include static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDRSDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct memory bus random access memory (DRRAM). In other words, the memory in the embodiments of this application includes, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0273] Figure 20 is an exemplary block diagram of a communication system 2000 according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication system 2000 includes a first device 1100 and a second device 1600.

[0274] Optionally, the first device 1100 may be used to transmit first information, where the first information is used to indicate N device identifiers so that a second device that receives the first information will transmit request information for a channel resource if the N device identifiers include the device identifier of the second device, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

[0275] Optionally, the second device 1600 may be used to receive first information transmitted from the first device, where the first information is used to indicate N device identifiers, and can be used to transmit request information for a channel resource if the N device identifiers include the device identifier of the second device, where N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

[0276] The embodiments described above can be implemented entirely or partially by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, they can be implemented entirely or partially in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded into a computer and executed, they generate the process or function in the embodiments of the present application, in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a dedicated computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, radio, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium accessible to a computer, or it may be a data storage device such as a server or data center integrated by one or more available media. The available media may be magnetic media (e.g., floppy disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes), optical media (e.g., DVDs), or semiconductor media (e.g., solid-state hard disks (SSDs)).

[0277] In the various embodiments of this application, the magnitude of the number of each process does not indicate the execution order, and the execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any restriction on the implementation processes of the embodiments of this application.

[0278] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the sake of convenience and brevity of explanation, the specific operating processes of the above-described systems, apparatuses, and units can be found by referring to the corresponding processes in the embodiments of the methods described above, and will not be repeated here.

[0279] The above describes only specific embodiments of the present application, and the scope of protection is not limited thereto. Any modifications or substitutions that a person skilled in the art could easily conceive within the technical scope disclosed herein should be included within the scope of protection. Therefore, the scope of protection should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A method of transmitting information, An information transmission method comprising a first device transmitting first information, wherein the first information is used to cause a second device that has received the first information to transmit request information for a channel resource if the N device identifiers include the device identifier of the second device, and N is an integer of 2 or more.

2. The first device is an access point (AP) or station (STA), and the second device is a zero-power terminal associated with the first device. The information transmission method according to claim 1.

3. The channel resource is a transmission opportunity (TXOP) acquired by the first device through channel access. The information transmission method according to claim 1.

4. The aforementioned information transmission method is When the N device identifiers include the device identifier of the second device, the first device receives request information from the second device in a first time unit, and the first time unit is related to the N device identifiers. The first device, upon receiving the request information, further includes determining that the second device requests the channel resource. The information transmission method according to claim 1.

5. The aforementioned information transmission method is The first device further includes transmitting second information, the second information includes M authorization pieces corresponding to M devices, each authorization piece in the M authorization pieces is used to indicate whether or not to allocate a channel resource to the device corresponding to the authorization piece, where M is an integer of 1 or more. The information transmission method according to claim 1.

6. The second information is determined based on at least one request information received by the first device. The information transmission method according to claim 5.

7. The M devices include a device that requests the channel resource. The information transmission method according to claim 5 or 6.

8. The M devices include the N devices, The information transmission method according to claim 5 or 6.

9. If the second information indicates that a channel resource is to be allocated to the second device, the channel resource is used for information transmission between the second device and the first device, or between the second device and the third device. The information transmission method according to claim 5 or 6.

10. The information transmission includes the second device transmitting data and the second device receiving response information for the data. The information transmission method according to claim 9.

11. A method of transmitting information, The second device receives first information transmitted from the first device, wherein the first information is used to indicate N device identifiers. An information transmission method comprising: when the device identifier of the second device is included in the N device identifiers, the second device transmits request information for a channel resource, wherein N is an integer of 2 or more.

12. The first device is an AP or STA, and the second device is a zero-power terminal associated with the first device. The information transmission method according to claim 11.

13. The channel resource is a TXOP acquired by the first device through channel access. The information transmission method according to claim 11 or 12.

14. A first device comprising a processor and memory, The memory is configured to store computer programs, and the processor is configured to cause the first device to execute the information transmission method described in any one of claims 1 to 6 by calling and executing the computer programs stored in the memory.

15. A second device comprising a processor and memory, The memory is configured to store computer programs, and the processor is configured to cause the second device to execute the information transmission method described in claim 11 or 12 by calling and executing the computer programs stored in the memory.

Images