Apparatus and method for non-contiguous multiple resource units in a wireless network

Abstract

The present disclosure proposes to expand and improve the method of utilizing channel resources in the 802.11be standard by allowing the use of multiple and non-contiguous portions (RUs) of a channel. Due to the enhanced ability to utilize channel selectivity, MRU and non-contiguous RUs are supported and made more efficient, thereby improving channel utilization. To this end, a wireless network device for resource allocation is provided, which is used to define non-contiguous MRUs in the bandwidth of a channel. The channel includes multiple RUs, and the MRU is defined based on the unpunctured RUs after puncturing one or more RUs of the channel, and / or is defined by aggregating two or more non-adjacent RUs of the channel.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of communications, and more specifically, to a method and a wireless network device related to non-contiguous resource units (RU) for the 802.11be standard. Specifically, the present application proposes a wireless network device for resource allocation. The wireless network device is used to define non-contiguous multiple resource units (MRU) and allocate the MRU to a wireless station. The wireless network device can be compatible with the 802.11ax standard or the 802.11be standard, that is, it can be called a Wi-Fi device. Background Art

[0002] In the current 802.11ax standard, several sizes of RUs are defined, where each RU consists of contiguous frequency subcarriers (except for very rare cases regarding small and medium RUs).

[0003] In particular, in the current 802.11ax standard, there are 6 different sizes of RUs. During the resource allocation process, a scheduler, such as an access point (AP), can allocate only a single RU to a given wireless station (STA) in order to send PPDU (MU-PPDU) to multiple users. That is, each non-AP STA is limited to being assigned only a single RU. This means that even if there are available RUs and unoccupied RUs, the AP can only allocate a single RU to each of the potential multiple associated STAs. This limitation makes the resource allocation process inefficient, especially when channel punching is to be applied, and / or when the channel is relatively selective (i.e., the best RU for a given STA is not necessarily close in the frequency domain).

[0004] In addition, when a single-user PPDU is used to complete the transmission for a single STA (i.e., for SU-PPDU transmission), in the 802.11ax standard, the signal must occupy the entire bandwidth (BW) of the channel, more specifically, the entire available BW. This means that the SU-PPDU has nothing to do with the RU.

[0005] Therefore, a particular disadvantage in the case of MU-PPDU transmission is that if there is a selective channel, where there may be multiple and non-contiguous portions of the channel experiencing a relatively high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), only one of these portions may be used. Figure 1As shown, for a given non-AP STA, its highest SNR can be achieved in RU#1, RU#3, and RU#8, but the AP can only transmit to the STA on one of these RUs.

[0006] Therefore, a particular disadvantage in the case of SU-PPDU transmission is that if part of the channel is busy (i.e., the part is used by overlapping base station service (OBSS)), the transmission is scaled down to a smaller BW. Figure 2 As shown, a portion of the channel (the portion enclosed by the box) may be occupied by the OBSS, and therefore, it is not available for SU-PPDU transmission. In this case, the transmission of the SU-PPDU is limited to the two idle channels on the left. Although the channel on the right is also idle, it cannot be used. Summary of the invention

[0007] Embodiments of the present invention are also based on the following considerations.

[0008] In the current 802.11ax standard, Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing Access (OFDMA) modulation was first introduced. This standard restricts each non-AP STA to use only a single RU consisting of continuous frequency subcarriers (e.g., consisting of continuous subcarriers). Although various RU sizes (26, 52, 106, 242, 484, 996 frequency subcarriers, respectively) are defined in the current standard, limiting the allocation to a single RU makes the processing of selective channels inefficient.

[0009] In particular, for a channel BW less than 20MHz, RUs of 26 subcarriers, 52 subcarriers and 102 subcarriers are defined. For a channel BW equal to or greater than 20MHz, RUs of 242 subcarriers (20MHz), 484 subcarriers (40MHz), 996 subcarriers (80MHz) or 2X996 subcarriers (160MHz) are defined. In addition, it is also envisaged to use RUs larger than 2X996 subcarriers, for example, RUs of 2X1992 subcarriers (for 320MZh) for extreme high throughput (EHT). Combinations of these RUs, in particular, combinations of RUs with different sizes (number of frequency subcarriers), are not possible or envisaged in current standards.

[0010] In view of the above shortcomings and considerations, embodiments of the present invention are directed to improving resource allocation in wireless networks. The purpose is to allow non-contiguous MRUs to be defined in the BW of a channel. Therefore, one goal is to improve the utilization of the channel. Another goal is to avoid making too many changes to the current 802.11ax standard.

[0011] This object is achieved by the embodiments of the invention as described in the attached independent claims. Advantageous implementations of the embodiments of the invention are further defined in the dependent claims.

[0012] In particular, embodiments of the present invention allow MRUs to be allocated to the same STA while maintaining the current standard RU (RU structure).

[0013] A first aspect of the present disclosure provides a wireless network device for resource allocation, specifically a Wi-Fi device, wherein the wireless network device is used to: define a non-contiguous multiple resource unit (MRU) in the bandwidth of a channel; wherein the channel includes multiple resource units (RUs), and wherein the MRU is defined based on an unpunctured RU after puncturing one or more RUs of the channel, and / or is defined by aggregating two or more non-adjacent RUs of the channel; and allocate the MRU to a wireless station.

[0014] The wireless network device of the first aspect allows the definition of MRU based on multiple RUs. Each of these RUs can be as defined in the current 802.11ax standard, that is, each RU can include multiple frequency subcarriers or subcarriers. The MRU definition also supports channel punching, because a punched "larger RU" (for example, an entire channel or channel segment including multiple RUs) can be used as an MRU. In addition, the MRU can be assigned to a wireless station (STA), that is, the STA is no longer limited to being assigned a single RU as in the 802.11ax standard.

[0015] In addition, the wireless network device may also be used to define and allocate continuous MRUs to the STA, wherein the continuous MRUs include multiple RUs of different sizes (for example, at least two RUs of the MRU include different numbers of frequency subcarriers). In addition, the wireless network device is also used to allocate a single RU to the STA. That is, the wireless network device may be compatible with the current 802.11ax standard.

[0016] In one implementation of the first aspect, the RU is a sub-channel.

[0017] For example, the channel may be an 80 MHz, 160 MHz, 240 MHz, or 320 MHz channel, and the bandwidth of the sub-channel may be 20 MHz and / or 40 MHz.

[0018] In an embodiment of the first aspect, the channel includes one, two, three or four 80 MHz segments, and each 80 MHz segment includes four 20 MHz sub-channels.

[0019] That is, a channel can generally be divided into multiple channel segments.

[0020] In other embodiments, the channel may also include one 80 MHz segment and one 160 MHz segment, or two 160 MHz segments, respectively. This is similar to three or four 80 MHz segments, but not identical, because the standard may define that there cannot be three or four independent 80 MHz segments. Therefore, if the BW is 240 MHz, then it may be forced that one segment is a continuous 160 MHz segment. If the BW is 320 MHz, then it may be forced to use two segments, where each segment is 160 MHz (contiguous).

[0021] In one implementation of the first aspect, each of the RUs includes multiple consecutive frequency subcarriers.

[0022] In an implementation of the first aspect, a bandwidth of each of the frequency subcarriers is 78.125 kHz.

[0023] In one implementation of the first aspect, each RU includes 26, 52, 106 or 242 frequency subcarriers.

[0024] Thus, the RU may be an RU as defined in the 802.11ax standard.

[0025] In one implementation of the first aspect, the wireless network device is further used to aggregate two or more RUs, and the two or more RUs include different numbers of frequency subcarriers.

[0026] Thus, RUs can be adjacent or non-adjacent in channel BW, especially in channel segments. Aggregation of RUs of different sizes is allowed, which is not possible in the 802.11ax standard.

[0027] In an implementation of the first aspect, the MRU includes at least two continuous parts and / or non-continuous parts, and the bandwidths of the parts are different.

[0028] The MRU defined by the wireless network device and assigned to the STA may be non-contiguous, which is contrary to the 802.11ax standard. However, the wireless network device may also define a continuous MRU and assign it to the STA. Typically, the MRU may therefore include multiple RUs. Each RU may thus be defined by the number of its frequency subcarriers, as described above, such as 26, 52, 106, 242, etc. Thus, for example, the MRU may be defined by two RUs having 106 subcarriers and 26 subcarriers, respectively, i.e., a total of 132 frequency subcarriers. The current 802.11ax standard has no definition for a RU with 132 frequency subcarriers. The only way for a RU to have 132 subcarriers (typically, the MRU can also be considered as an RU including multiple sub-RUs) is to combine the two RUs. In the given example, the RU with 106 frequency subcarriers and the RU with 26 frequency subcarriers may be continuous or non-contiguous.

[0029] In an implementation manner of the first aspect, the wireless network device is further configured to send a message to the wireless station by using the determined MRU.

[0030] In one implementation of the first aspect, the preamble of the message includes information indicating the RU and / or the unpunctured RU and / or the punctured RU used, which is used to send the message to the wireless station using the determined MRU.

[0031] Therefore, the STA knows the RU used, that is, also knows the definition and allocation of the MRU.

[0032] In one embodiment of the first aspect, the message is a physical layer consistency procedure (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU), and the information is included in a universal signaling (U-SIG) or EHT signaling (EHT-SIG) field of the preamble code of the PPDU.

[0033] The PPDU may be a MU-PPDU or a SU-PPDU.

[0034] In one embodiment of the first aspect, the message is a MU-PPDU, the EHT-SIG field of the MU-PPDU includes a subfield for each of one or more wireless stations, and the information is included in the subfield associated with the wireless station to which the message is sent using the determined MRU.

[0035] In an implementation of the first aspect, the message is a SU-PPDU or a MU-PPDU; and the information is included as a bitmap in the U-SIG field of the SU-PPDU or the MU-PPDU.

[0036] In an implementation of the first aspect, the wireless network device is an access point of a Wi-Fi network.

[0037] That is, the wireless network device is configured according to the Wi-Fi standard, in particular, according to the 802.11ax standard or the 802.11be standard.

[0038] A second aspect of the present disclosure provides a method for resource allocation, the method comprising: defining a non-contiguous multiple resource unit MRU in the bandwidth of a channel; wherein the channel comprises multiple resource units RU, and wherein the MRU is defined based on an unpunctured RU after puncturing one or more of the RUs of the channel, and / or is defined by aggregating two or more non-adjacent RUs of the channel; and allocating the MRU to a wireless station.

[0039] In one implementation of the second aspect, the RU is a sub-channel.

[0040] In an embodiment of the second aspect, the channel includes one, two, three or four 80 MHz segments, and each 80 MHz segment includes four 20 MHz sub-channels.

[0041] In an implementation of the second aspect, each of the RUs includes multiple consecutive frequency subcarriers.

[0042] In an implementation of the second aspect, a bandwidth of each of the frequency subcarriers is 78.125 kHz.

[0043] In one embodiment of the second aspect, each RU includes 26, 52, 106 or 242 frequency subcarriers.

[0044] In one embodiment of the second aspect, the method further includes aggregating two or more RUs, wherein the two or more RUs include different numbers of frequency subcarriers.

[0045] In an implementation of the second aspect, the MRU includes at least two continuous parts and / or non-continuous parts, and the bandwidths of the parts are different.

[0046] In an implementation of the second aspect, the method further includes sending a message to the wireless station using the determined MRU.

[0047] In one implementation of the second aspect, the preamble of the message includes information indicating the RU and / or the unpunctured RU and / or the punctured RU used, which is used to send the message to the wireless station using the determined MRU.

[0048] In an implementation of the second aspect, the message is a physical layer consistency procedure PLCP protocol data unit PPDU, and the information is included in the universal signaling U-SIG or extremely high throughput signaling EHT-SIG field of the preamble code of the PPDU.

[0049] In one embodiment of the second aspect, the message is a multi-user PPDU; and the EHT-SIG field of the multi-user PPDU includes a subfield for each of one or more wireless stations, and the information is included in the subfield associated with the wireless station to which the message is sent using the determined MRU.

[0050] In an implementation of the second aspect, the message is a single-user PPDU or a multi-user PPDU; and the information is included as a bitmap in the U-SIG field of the single-user PPDU or the multi-user PPDU.

[0051] In an implementation of the second aspect, the method is executed by a wireless network device, in particular, an access point of a Wi-Fi network.

[0052] The method described in the second aspect and its embodiments achieves all the advantages and effects of the wireless network device described in the first aspect and its corresponding embodiments.

[0053] A third aspect of the present disclosure provides a computer program, comprising a program code for executing the method according to the second aspect or any embodiment thereof when running on a computer.

[0054] A fourth aspect of the present disclosure provides a non-transitory storage medium storing executable program code, and when the executable program code is executed by a processor, the method according to the second aspect or any embodiment thereof is performed.

[0055] The fifth aspect of the present disclosure provides a method, which includes, in particular, in 802.11be: defining non-contiguous resource units, wherein the non-contiguous resource units are an aggregation of multiple single resource units, wherein each of the single resource units includes a group of contiguous subcarriers, for example, the RU defined in 802.11ax, and the group of contiguous subcarriers may be non-contiguous in the frequency domain.

[0056] In one embodiment of the fifth aspect, the sizes of the multiple non-contiguous RUs may be different.

[0057] A sixth aspect of the present disclosure provides a second method, which includes: defining non-contiguous RUs by using a single punctured RU, wherein its non-punctured parts can be regarded as multiple separate (non-contiguous) RUs.

[0058] The seventh aspect of the present disclosure provides a signal transmission, wherein the transmission utilizes the method described in the second aspect or any embodiment thereof, the fifth aspect or its embodiment, or the sixth aspect, while using non-continuous RUs.

[0059] It should be noted that all devices, elements, units and devices described in this application can be implemented in software or hardware elements or any combination thereof. All steps performed by the various entities described in this application and the functions to be performed by the various entities described are intended to represent that the various entities are suitable for or used to perform the various steps and functions. Even if in the description of the following specific embodiments, a specific function or step performed entirely by an external entity is not reflected in the description of the specific detailed elements of the entity that performs the specific step or function, it should be clear to those skilled in the art that these methods and functions can be implemented in corresponding software or hardware. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0060] The above aspects and implementations will be explained in the following description of specific embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0061] Figure 1 A selective channel with discontinuous high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) portions is shown.

[0062] Figure 2 The SU-PPDU is shown when a portion of the channel is busy.

[0063] Figure 3 A wireless network device according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0064] Figure 4 Shown by Figure 3 The MRU defined for the wireless network device.

[0065] Figure 5 A first alternative scheme for defining non-contiguous MRUs that may be performed by a wireless network device according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0066] Figure 6 A second alternative scheme for defining non-contiguous MRUs that may be performed by a wireless network device according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0067] Figure 7 An example of the RU allocation subfield included in the preamble of a message is shown.

[0068] Figure 8 An example of signaling non-contiguous MRUs is shown.

[0069] Fig. 9An example of signaling and using non-contiguous MRUs for SU-PPDUs is shown.

[0070] Fig.10 A first example of aggregation for defining non-contiguous MRUs and assigning them to the same STA is shown.

[0071] Fig.11 A second example of an aggregation for defining non-contiguous MRUs and assigning them to the same STA is shown.

[0072] Fig.12 A second example of an aggregation for defining non-contiguous MRUs and assigning them to the same STA is shown.

[0073] Fig.13 An example of using both alternatives to define non-contiguous MRUs respectively is shown.

[0074] Fig.14 An example of defining non-contiguous MRUs in a hybrid format using two alternatives is shown.

[0075] Fig.15 A method according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0076] Figure 3 A wireless network device 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. The wireless network device 300 is suitable for resource allocation in a wireless network, for example, allocating resources to a STA 303. The wireless network device 300 may be, for example, a Wi-Fi device according to the 802.11ax standard or the 802.11be standard. In particular, the wireless network device 300 may be an AP of a wireless network.

[0077] The wireless network device 300 may include a processor or processing circuit (not shown) for performing, conducting, or initiating various operations of the wireless network device 300 described herein. The processing circuit may include hardware and / or the processing circuit may be controlled by software. The hardware may include analog circuits or digital circuits, or both. The digital circuit may include, for example, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable array (FPGA), a digital signal processor (DSP), or a multi-function processor.

[0078] The wireless network device 300 may also include a memory circuit that stores one or more instructions that can be executed by a processor or processing circuit, particularly under the control of software. For example, the memory circuit may include a non-transitory storage medium that stores executable software code that, when executed by a processor or processing circuit, causes various operations of the wireless network device 300 to be performed.

[0079] In one embodiment, the processing circuit includes one or more processors and non-transitory memory connected to the one or more processors. The non-transitory memory can carry executable program code, which, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the wireless network device 300 to perform, conduct or initiate the operations or methods described herein.

[0080] The wireless network device 300 is used to define non-contiguous MRUs 400 in the bandwidth of the channel 301 , and further allocate the MRUs 400 to the STAs 300 . Figure 4 Shown by Figure 3 An example of such an MRU 400 defined by a wireless network device 300 of FIG. 301 includes multiple RUs 401, such as subchannels. Each RU 401 may include frequency subcarriers. Different RUs may include the same number or different numbers of frequency subcarriers.

[0081] The wireless network device 300 can define MRU 400 after punching one or more RU 401 of the channel 301, that is, after obtaining one or more punched RU 401p, based on the non-punched RU 401 of the channel 301, and / or by aggregating two or more non-adjacent RUs of the channel 301 (in this case, when defining MRU 400, RU 401p is the non-aggregated / missing RU).

[0082] The wireless network device 300 may also be configured to transmit a message 302 on a channel to the STA 303. The transmission may utilize the MRU 400. For example, in a preamble of the message 302, the MRU 400 definition may be indicated to the STA 303 via the message 302.

[0083] It is worth noting that in the present disclosure, the symbols "MRU" (e.g., in a channel 301 or a channel segment, an aggregated RU 401 or a set of RU 401 after puncturing) and "RU" (e.g., the minimum frequency resource that can be allocated in a channel) are used. However, other symbols may also be used. For example, "MRU" may be referred to as a "larger RU" and "RU" may be referred to as a "smaller RU". For example, an MRU 400 defined as "an unpunctured RU 401 after puncturing one or more RUs" may also be referred to as a "larger RU with some unavailable channels / subcarriers", where the "channel / subcarrier" is RU 401. In addition, an MRU defined by "aggregating two or more non-adjacent RU 401" may also be referred to as "aggregation of two channels", where the "channel" is RU 401. All symbols produce the same technical effect. Therefore, embodiments of the present invention should not be limited by the symbols used.

[0084] In addition, the present disclosure also uses the notation "channel" (total BW), which is sometimes referred to as "channel segment" (e.g., logical separation of channel BW), and sometimes referred to as "subchannel" (e.g., the smallest frequency resource in a channel, i.e., RU 401). However, other notations may also be used. For example, a "subchannel" may also be referred to as a "channel" contained in a specific BW. Therefore, embodiments of the present invention should not be limited by these used notations.

[0085] In one example, channel 301 may be an 80 MHz channel and may include four 20 MHz subchannels 401. To define MRU 400, a punctured 20 MHz portion of channel 301 may be defined, ie, one subchannel 401 of channel 301 may be a punctured / missing subchannel 401p.

[0086] The remaining 60MHz (three unpunctured RUs / subchannels 401) of MRU 400 in channel 301 can be considered as a "larger RU" (MRU 400) with some unavailable / punctured subchannels / channels / subcarriers (Alternative 1), or an aggregation of two RUs / subchannels / channels (e.g., 20MHz+40MHz) to form a "larger RU" (MRU 400) (Alternative 2). Neither Alternative 1 nor Alternative 2 is supported in the current 802.11ax standard. In order to allocate MRU 400 in channel 301 to a single user (e.g., either as part of a MU-PPDU transmitted on a larger BW, or as an 80MHz SU-PPDU), both Alternative 1 and Alternative 2 above can be considered.

[0087] In the following, alternative 1 is described in more detail, ie, an embodiment of the wireless network device 300 is described, wherein the wireless network device 300 may use at least alternative 1 to define the MRU 400 in the BW of the channel 301 .

[0088] like Figure 5 As shown, the MRU 400 can become a "larger RU" for punching holes. In particular, Figure 5 4 shows a case of MU-PPDU, where an MRU 400 may be defined by multiple RUs 401 in the BW of a channel 301, where some RUs 401p in the BW of the channel 301 are punctured. It is worth noting that the channel 301 may include multiple channel segments 500. In addition, in the channel BW, for example, in different channel segments 500, different STAs ( Figure 5 STA 1 and STA 2 in the example define different MRUs 400. Figure 5 , STA 1 obtains the entire punctured first channel segment 500, wherein STA 2 cannot use any RU 401 in the first channel segment 500 (left side). In addition, STA 2 obtains the entire punctured second channel segment 500, wherein STA 1 cannot use any RU 401 in the second channel segment 500 (right side). All RUs 401 may exemplarily include the same number, for example, 242 frequency subcarriers.

[0089] Defining the MRU 400 in this way may mean that, similar to the 802.11ax standard, a single user field for each STA (here STA 1 and STA 2) in the SIG-B field or U-SIG field (of the preamble of the transmitted message 302, such as MU-PPDU) may be required. However, the RU granularity may be limited, i.e., in a non-MU-MIMO (multiple-input multiple-output) allocation, multiple STAs 303 may not be able to coexist in the same MRU 400.

[0090] like Figure 6 As shown, alternative 1 can also be used for SU-PPDU and supports hole punching. Here, alternative 1 significantly improves channel utilization. It is worth noting that the current 802.11ax standard does not support SU-PPDU with hole punching, but it is assumed to be added to the 802.11be standard.

[0091] In order to make this type of non-contiguous MRU 400 part of the 802.11be standard, the RU allocation subfield of SIG-B or U-SIG should be modified / designed to support:

[0092] 1. 1992-RU and 3984-RU (ie MRU 400).

[0093] 2. 16SS for any RU>=106 (i.e. MRU 400).

[0094] 3. Empty 242-RU as part of a larger RU (ie MRU 400).

[0095] In the 802.11ax standard, there is not enough space in the RU allocation subfield in the preamble of the message 302 to support the above (1) and (2), but in the 802.11be standard, it can be modified / designed to solve this problem. In the present disclosure, the above (3) handles this problem.

[0096] A new entry may be added in the RU allocation subfield (SIG-B or U-SIG) to indicate a punctured 242-MRU as part of a channel 301 or channel segment 500 (which may be referred to as a "larger RU" or "wider RU"). Figure 7 As shown, for example, the field content 011101x1x0 can be used to indicate an empty 242-subcarrier MRU as part of a 996 / 1992 / 3984 RU. For example:

[0097] a. 01110100 - empty 242-subcarrier RU as part of 996-RU

[0098] b. 01110101 - empty 242-subcarrier RU as part of 1992-RU

[0099] c. 01110110 - empty 242-subcarrier RU as part of 3984-RU

[0100] d. 01110111-Reserved

[0101] Figure 8 An example of signaling a non-contiguous MRU 400, in particular, signaling a non-contiguous MRU 400 of size 160 MHz (1992-RU) using the above-described procedure is shown.

[0102] In the MU-PPDU, the content of B7-B0 of the RU allocation subfield (SIG-B or U-SIG) for each content channel together with the STA-ID field (identification of STA 303) in the user-specific field determines the punctured 1992 MRU structure and the STA 303 that obtains it. In the SU-PPDU, a non-contiguous MRU 400 structure can be enabled by utilizing the puncturing method to be defined in the 802.11be standard.

[0103] For example, Fig. 9As shown, according to the availability of various RU-242, the puncturing method can adopt a bitmap B0...B5, which determines which parts of the channel 301 are actually used in the SU-PPDU. This puncturing method is only an example.

[0104] In the following, alternative 2 is described in more detail, ie, an embodiment of a wireless network device 300 is described, wherein the wireless network device 300 can use at least alternative 2 to define an MRU 400 in the BW of a channel 301 .

[0105] In alternative 2, multiple RUs 401 are allowed to be assigned to the same STA 303, which is contrary to the current 802.11ax standard, which limits the number of RUs per STA 303 to one. Allowing multiple RUs 401 per STA 303 means that the limit is increased to more than one, i.e., a specific limit can be defined. Defining multiple RUs 401 to the same STA 303 means that the allocation process is more flexible and also improves frequency diversity, thereby solving Figure 1 The problem shown.

[0106] Fig.10 An example is given of how to aggregate multiple RUs 401 to MRUs 400, and in particular, how to aggregate multiple MRUs 400 to multiple STAs 303. In particular, Fig.11 As shown, alternative 2 allows aggregation of RU 401 of any size, i.e., RU 401 of any number of frequency subcarriers. In this example, the MRU 400 for one STA 303 is an aggregation of RU 401 with 106 frequency subcarriers (RU 401 on the leftmost side in the figure) and RU 401 with 26 frequency subcarriers (RU 401 on the rightmost side in the figure).

[0107] To enable this aggregation of RU 401 of any size, the following parameters may be defined in the 802.11ax standard:

[0108]

[0109]

[0110]

[0111]

[0112]

[0113]

[0114] N RU，uis the number of RUs 401 allocated to a user (STA) denoted as u).

[0115] A subcarrier mapping distance (DTM) parameter may be maintained separately for each RU 401. For example, consider Fig.12 The leftmost and rightmost RUs 401 in FIG. 4 are assigned to the same STA 303 (eg, u=1, N RU，u =2, MCS3). Here, for example:

[0116] N SD，1 =N SD，u，1 +N SD，u，2 =102+24=126

[0117] N CBPS，1 =N CBPS，u，1 +N CBPS，u，2 =408+96=504

[0118] N DBPS，1 =N DBPS，u，1 +N DBPS，u，2 =204+48=252

[0119] Coexistence of Alternative 1 and Alternative 2 is also possible, i.e., the wireless network device 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention can be used to define the MRU 400 according to both alternatives (simultaneously). In particular, Alternative 1 and Alternative 2 can coexist individually or mixed (i.e., can be used simultaneously). "Individually" means that a given STA uses the non-contiguous MRU 400 defined by adopting the above-mentioned Alternative 1 in a first part of the channel 301, while a second STA uses the non-contiguous MRU 400 defined by Alternative 2 in a second separate part of the channel 301, such as Fig.13 "Hybridly" means that a given STA may have an allocation of MRU 400 defined by using both Alternatives 1 and 2, such as Fig.14 In this example, the same STA may use (ie, be assigned) the MRU 400 defined by (mixed) Alternative 1 and Alternative 2, while all other STAs use, for example, Alternative 2.

[0120] Fig.15A method 1500 according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. The method 1500 is used for resource allocation and can be performed by a wireless network device 300. The method 1500 includes a step 1501 of defining non-contiguous MRUs 400 in the bandwidth of a channel 301. The channel 301 includes a plurality of RUs 401. In addition, the MRU 400 is defined based on the non-punctured RU 401 after puncturing one or more RUs of the channel 301, i.e., by obtaining one or more punctured RUs 401p of the channel 301, and / or is defined by aggregating two or more non-adjacent RUs 401 of the channel 301. In addition, the method 1500 includes a step 1502 of allocating the MRU 400 to a wireless station 303 (STA).

[0121] In summary, it is proposed to extend and improve the method of utilizing channel resources in the 802.11be standard by allowing the use of multiple and non-contiguous portions (RU 401) of a channel 301 to define an MRU 400. Due to the enhanced ability to utilize channel selectivity, it is supported to allocate MRU 400 and non-contiguous RU 401 to the same STA 303 and improve channel utilization by making it more efficient. Improving the utilization of the channel 301 can improve the throughput and performance of the entire system.

[0122] In particular, the 802.11ax RU definition is far from optimal. Specifically, the inability to aggregate MRUs for the same STA makes channel utilization suboptimal especially in two common cases: when channel puncturing exists, and when the channel is selective.

[0123] The present disclosure proposes two alternatives, namely, Alternative 1 and Alternative 2, to apply MRU 400 to each STA without adding overhead to MU-PPDU and by adding only a small amount of overhead to SU-PPDU. By allowing puncturing in SU-PPDU and allowing the use of non-contiguous RUs, the channel utilization of SU-PPDU can be significantly improved.

[0124] The invention has been described in conjunction with different embodiments and implementations as examples. However, from a study of the drawings, the present disclosure and the independent claims, a person skilled in the art may understand and realize other variants and practice the claimed invention. In the claims and in the specification, the word "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article "a", "an" does not exclude the possibility of plurality. A single element or other unit may fulfil the functions of several entities or items recited in the claims. The fact that certain means are cited in mutually different dependent claims does not mean that a combination of these means cannot be used in an advantageous embodiment.

Claims

1. A wireless network device for resource allocation, specifically a Wi-Fi device, the wireless network device comprising: a memory circuit for storing one or more program instructions; as well as The processor is configured to execute the one or more program instructions so that the wireless network device performs the following operations: Allocate a multiple resource unit MRU defined in the bandwidth of the channel to a wireless station, The MRU is defined by aggregating two or more consecutive resource units RU of different sizes or non-consecutive RU of different sizes of the channel; and A message is sent to the wireless station using the MRU, wherein the preamble of the message includes information indicating the RU used, wherein the message is a physical layer consistency procedure PLCP protocol data unit PPDU, and the information is included in an extremely high throughput signaling EHT-SIG field of the preamble of the PPDU.

2. The wireless network device according to claim 1, wherein: Each of the RUs includes a plurality of consecutive frequency subcarriers.

3. The wireless network device according to claim 2, wherein: The bandwidth of each of the frequency subcarriers is 78.125 kHz.

4. The wireless network device according to claim 1, wherein: The MRU includes a 26-frequency subcarrier RU and a 52-frequency subcarrier RU; or The MRU includes a 26-frequency subcarrier RU and a 106-frequency subcarrier RU; or The MRU includes a 242-frequency subcarrier RU and a 484-frequency subcarrier RU.

5. The wireless network device according to claim 1, wherein: The message is a multi-user PPDU; and The EHT-SIG field of the multi-user PPDU includes a subfield for each of one or more wireless stations, and the information is included in the subfield associated with the wireless station to which the message is transmitted using the determined MRU.

6. The wireless network device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein: The wireless network device is an access point of a Wi-Fi network.

7. A method for resource allocation, the method comprising: Allocating a multiple resource unit MRU defined in a bandwidth of a channel to a wireless station, wherein the MRU is defined by aggregating two or more consecutive resource units RU of different sizes or non-consecutive RU of different sizes of the channel; and A message is sent to the wireless station using the MRU, wherein the preamble of the message includes information indicating the RU used, wherein the message is a physical layer consistency procedure PLCP protocol data unit PPDU, and the information is included in an extremely high throughput signaling EHT-SIG field of the preamble of the PPDU.

8. The method according to claim 7, comprising: The MRU includes a 26-frequency subcarrier RU and a 52-frequency subcarrier RU; or The MRU includes a 26-frequency subcarrier RU and a 106-frequency subcarrier RU; or The MRU includes a 242-frequency subcarrier RU and a 484-frequency subcarrier RU.

9. The method according to claim 7, wherein: The message is a multi-user PPDU; and The EHT-SIG field of the multi-user PPDU includes a subfield for each of one or more wireless stations, and the information is included in the subfield associated with the wireless station to which the message is transmitted using the determined MRU.

10. The method according to claim 7, wherein: Each of the RUs includes a plurality of consecutive frequency subcarriers.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein: The bandwidth of each of the frequency subcarriers is 78.125 kHz.

12. A non-transitory computer storage medium, when the stored program code is executed by a processor, implements the method according to any one of claims 7 to 11.

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