Wireless communication methods and wireless communication terminals

Abstract

This invention relates to wireless communication methods and wireless communication terminals, and more specifically, to wireless communication methods and terminals that perform operations based on the determination result of whether a received frame is an intra-BSS frame or an inter-BSS frame. To this end, the invention provides a wireless communication terminal and a wireless communication method using the same. The wireless communication terminal includes: a processor; and a communication unit. The processor receives wireless frames through the communication unit. If the received frame is a VHT PPDU, it extracts partial association ID (AID) information and group ID information from the preamble of the VHT PPDU. If the extracted group ID information equals a predetermined value, it confirms whether at least some information in the extracted partial AID matches a partial BSS color known to the terminal, and determines whether the received frame is an intra-BSS frame or an inter-BSS frame based on whether at least some information in the partial AID matches the partial BSS color.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of patent application No. 201780021591.2 (PCT / KR2017 / 003661), filed on September 29, 2018, with an international application date of April 3, 2017, entitled "A wireless communication method and a wireless communication terminal for determining the basic service set identification information of received frames". Technical Field

[0002] The present invention relates to a wireless communication method and a wireless communication terminal for determining the basic service set identification information of a received frame, and more specifically, to a wireless communication method and a wireless communication terminal for performing operations based on the determination result of whether the received frame is an intra-BSS frame or an inter-BSS frame. Background Technology

[0003] In recent years, with the expansion of mobile device supply, wireless LAN technology, which can provide fast wireless internet services to mobile devices, has gained attention. Wireless LAN technology allows mobile devices, including smartphones, tablets, laptops, portable multimedia players, embedded devices, and more, to wirelessly access the internet in their homes, offices, or specific service areas based on short-range wireless communication technology.

[0004] Since using the 2.4 GHz frequency to support initial wireless LAN technology, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 has commercialized or developed various technical standards. First, IEEE 802.11b, using the 2.4 GHz band, supported a maximum communication speed of 11 Mbps. Compared to the significantly congested 2.4 GHz band, IEEE 802.11a, commercialized after IEEE 802.11b, used the 5 GHz band instead of 2.4 GHz to reduce interference and increased the communication speed to a maximum of 54 Mbps through the use of OFDM technology. However, a drawback of IEEE 802.11a is its shorter communication range compared to IEEE 802.11b. Furthermore, similar to IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, using the 2.4 GHz band to achieve a maximum communication speed of 54 Mbps and satisfying backward compatibility, has attracted significant attention and, in terms of communication range, is superior to IEEE 802.11a.

[0005] Furthermore, IEEE 802.11n has been developed as a technical standard to overcome the communication speed limitations identified as a weakness in wireless LANs. IEEE 802.11n aims to improve network speed and reliability and extend the operating range of wireless networks. More specifically, IEEE 802.11n supports high throughput (HT), with data processing speeds of up to 540 Mbps or higher, and further, it is based on multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology, where multiple antennas are used on both sides of the transmitting and receiving units to minimize transmission errors and optimize data speed. Additionally, the standard can use coding schemes that transmit multiple superimposed copies to increase data reliability.

[0006] With the active provision of wireless LANs and the further diversification of applications using wireless LANs, there has been a growing demand for new wireless LAN systems that support higher throughput (Very High Throughput (VHT)) than those supported by IEEE 802.11n. Among these, IEEE 802.11ac supports wide bandwidth (80 to 160 MHz) in the 5 GHz frequency band. The IEEE 802.11ac standard is defined only in the 5 GHz band, but initial 11ac chipsets even support operation in the 2.4 GHz band for backward compatibility with existing 2.4 GHz band products. Theoretically, according to this standard, wireless LAN speeds of at least 1 Gbps can be enabled across multiple stations, and maximum single-link speeds can reach at least 500 Mbps. This is achieved by extending the concepts of the wireless interface accepted by 802.11n, such as wider wireless bandwidth (maximum 160 MHz), more MIMO spatial streams (maximum 8), multi-user MIMO, and high-density modulation (maximum 256 QAM). Furthermore, IEEE 802.11ad has been offered as a solution for transmitting data using the 60GHz band instead of the existing 2.4GHz / 5GHz band. IEEE 802.11ad is a transmission standard that provides speeds up to 7Gbps using beamforming technology and is suitable for high bit-rate motion streaming, such as massive amounts of data or uncompressed HD video. However, its drawback is that the 60GHz band is difficult to penetrate obstacles, limiting its use to devices operating in close proximity.

[0007] Meanwhile, in recent years, as the next-generation wireless LAN standard following 802.11ac and 802.11ad, discussions have continued regarding technologies for providing efficient and high-performance wireless LAN communication in high-density environments. Specifically, in next-generation wireless LAN environments, with the presence of high-density stations and access points (APs), there is a need to provide communication with high spectral efficiency indoors / outdoors, and various technologies are required to achieve this communication. Summary of the Invention

[0008] Technical issues

[0009] The present invention aims to provide high-efficiency / high-performance wireless LAN communication in high-density environments as described above.

[0010] In addition, the present invention has the purpose of setting rules for AID assignment for STA in BSS.

[0011] In addition, the present invention aims to prevent ambiguity that may occur in the determination of partial AID information in the BSS when using VHT PPDU.

[0012] Technical solution

[0013] To achieve these objectives, the present invention provides a wireless communication method and a wireless communication terminal as follows.

[0014] First, an exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides a basic wireless communication terminal, the terminal including: a processor; and a communication unit, wherein the processor assigns an association ID (AID) to at least one terminal associated with the basic wireless communication terminal, wherein a predetermined N bits of the AID are determined based on a value obtained by subtracting an N-bit value based on the BSSID from a partial BSS color value.

[0015] Furthermore, an exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides a wireless communication method for a basic wireless communication terminal, comprising: assigning an association ID (AID) to at least one terminal associated with the basic wireless communication terminal; and sending the assigned AID information to the terminal associated with the basic wireless communication terminal, wherein a predetermined N bits of the AID are determined based on a value obtained by subtracting an N-bit value based on the BSSID from a portion of the BSS color value.

[0016] Some BSS color values ​​can be the least significant N bits or the most significant N bits of the BSS color, and the N-bit value based on the BSSID can be the XOR value of the first predetermined N bits of the BSSID and the second predetermined N bits of the BSSID.

[0017] According to an embodiment of the present invention, N is 4.

[0018] According to an embodiment of the present invention, AID is determined by the following equation.

[0019] AID(8-N+1:8)=bin[(dec(BCB(0:N-1))-dec(BSSID(47-N+1:47)XOR BSSID(43-N+1:43)))mod 2^N,N]

[0020] Here, BCB is the BSS color, BSSID is the BSS identifier, and N=4.

[0021] When the basic wireless communication terminal sends a VHT PPDU to the first terminal, the processor can use the AID information of the first terminal determined by subtraction and the K-bit value based on the BSSID to set a partial AID, and can send the set partial AID information by including it in the preamble of the VHT PPDU.

[0022] A portion of the predetermined N bits of AID can represent a portion of the BSS color value, where the N-bit value based on BSSID is offset by the K-bit value based on BSSID.

[0023] Some AID information can be included in the VHT-SIG-A of the VHT PPDU.

[0024] Next, another exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides a wireless communication terminal, the terminal including: a processor; and a communication unit, wherein when the received frame is a VHT PPDU, the processor receives the wireless frame through the communication unit, and when the extracted group ID information is equal to a predetermined value, extracts partial association ID (AID) information and group ID information from the preamble of the VHT PPDU, checks whether at least some information of the extracted partial AID matches the partial basic service set (BSS) color advertised to the terminal, and determines whether the received frame is an intra-BSS frame or an inter-BSS frame based on whether at least some information of the partial AID matches the partial BSS color.

[0025] Furthermore, another exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides a wireless communication method for a wireless communication terminal, comprising: receiving a wireless frame through a communication unit; when the received frame is a VHT PPDU, extracting partial association ID (AID) information and group ID information from the preamble of the VHT PPDU; when the extracted group ID information is equal to a predetermined value, checking whether at least some information of the extracted partial AID matches the partial basic service set (BSS) color advertised to the terminal; and determining whether the received frame is an intra-BSS frame or an inter-BSS frame based on whether at least some information of the partial AID matches the partial BSS color.

[0026] A partial AID can be determined using the AID of the intended receiver assigned to the VHT PPDU and the K-bit value of the BSSID based on the BSS associated with the receiver. When the BSS to which the terminal belongs applies an AID assignment rule that uses a partial BSS color bit, a predetermined N bits of the AID assigned in the BSS to which the terminal belongs can be determined by using the partial BSS color value announced to the terminal and the N-bit value of the BSSID based on the BSSID to which the terminal belongs, and N can be equal to K.

[0027] The predetermined N bits of the AID assigned in the BSS to which the terminal belongs can be determined based on the value obtained by subtracting the N-bit value of the BSSID based on the BSS to which the terminal belongs from the partial BSS color value announced to the terminal.

[0028] When the BSS to which the receiver belongs applies an AID assignment rule that uses a portion of the BSS color bits, the predetermined bits of the portion of the AID can represent a portion of the BSS color value being communicated to the receiver, wherein the K-bit value based on the BSSID is offset by the N-bit value based on the BSSID associated with the receiver.

[0029] Some BSS color values ​​can be the least significant N bits or the most significant N bits of the BSS color, and the N-bit value based on the BSSID can be the XOR value of the first predetermined N bits of the BSSID and the second predetermined N bits of the BSSID.

[0030] According to an embodiment of the present invention, N is 4.

[0031] According to an embodiment of the present invention, AID is determined by the following equation.

[0032] AID(8-N+1:8)=bin[(dec(BCB(0:N-1))-dec(BSSID(47-N+1:47)XOR BSSID(43-N+1:43)))mod 2^N,N]

[0033] Here, BCB is the BSS color, BSSID is the BSS identifier, and N=4.

[0034] The predefined value of the group ID information can indicate that the frame is a downlink frame.

[0035] When a received frame is determined to be an intra-BSS frame, the processor may perform a first operation, and when a received frame is determined to be an inter-BSS frame, the processor may perform a second operation.

[0036] When a received frame is determined to be an intra-BSS frame, the processor can determine whether the channel is busy based on a first CCA threshold. When a received frame is determined to be an inter-BSS frame, the processor can determine whether the channel is busy based on both the first CCA threshold and a second CCA threshold that is different from the first CCA threshold.

[0037] The second CCA threshold can have a value equal to or higher than the first CCA threshold.

[0038] When a received frame is determined to be an intra-BSS frame, the processor can set or update the first network allocation vector (NAV), and when a received frame is determined to be an inter-BSS frame, the processor can set or update the second NAV.

[0039] Beneficial effects

[0040] According to an embodiment of the present invention, at least some information of a portion of the AID of the VHT PPDU can indicate a portion of the BSS color value, enabling effective intra / inter-BSS frame determination.

[0041] More specifically, according to embodiments of the present invention, a terminal receiving a VHT PPDU can use partial AID information to determine intra-BSS frames and inter-BSS frames without obtaining additional information or performing additional calculations.

[0042] Furthermore, according to embodiments of the present invention, if the received frame is determined to be an inter-BSS frame, then radio resources can be used effectively to perform spatial reuse operations.

[0043] According to embodiments of the present invention, it is possible to increase the overall resource utilization in a contention-based channel access system and improve the performance of a wireless LAN system. Attached Figure Description

[0044] Figure 1 The illustration shows a wireless LAN system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0045] Figure 2 The illustration shows a wireless LAN system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[0046] Figure 3 The illustration shows the configuration of a station according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0047] Figure 4 The diagram illustrates the configuration of an access point according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0048] Figure 5 This diagram illustrates the process of setting up a link between a STA and an AP.

[0049] Figure 6 The diagram illustrates the Carrier Sense Multiple Access (CSMA) / Collision Avoidance (CA) method used in wireless LAN communication.

[0050] Figure 7 The illustration shows the configurations of VHT-SIG-A1 and VHT-SIG-A2 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0051] Figure 8 This is a table illustrating a method for setting group IDs and partial AIDs according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0052] Figure 9 The illustration shows a non-traditional element format according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0053] Figure 10 The illustration shows a portion of the AID calculation process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0054] Figure 11 A more detailed illustration is provided of a portion of the AID calculation process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0055] Figure 12 The illustration shows a first embodiment of the method for determining intra-BSS frames and inter-BSS frames according to the present invention.

[0056] Figure 13 The illustration shows a second embodiment of the method for determining intra-BSS frames and inter-BSS frames according to the present invention.

[0057] Figure 14 The illustration shows the process of calculating reference values ​​and the process of calculating partial AIDs for intra / inter-BSS frame determination according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0058] Figure 15 The illustration shows a non-traditional element format according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[0059] Figure 16 The illustration shows a method for transmitting information about the number of color bits in a portion of the BSS and ambiguity information using a signal according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[0060] Figure 17 The illustration shows a second embodiment of the AID assignment method and non-traditional element format according to the present invention.

[0061] Figure 18 The figure illustrates a third embodiment of the AID assignment method according to the present invention.

[0062] Figure 19 The figure illustrates a fourth embodiment of the AID assignment method according to the present invention.

[0063] Figure 20 and 21 The figure illustrates a fifth embodiment of the AID assignment method according to the present invention.

[0064] Figure 22 The illustration shows a third embodiment of the method for determining intra-BSS frames and inter-BSS frames according to the present invention.

[0065] Figure 23 The illustration shows a non-traditional element format according to yet another embodiment of the present invention.

[0066] Figure 24 The figure illustrates a sixth embodiment of the AID assignment method according to the present invention.

[0067] Figure 25 The illustration shows a non-traditional element format according to yet another embodiment of the present invention.

[0068] Figure 26 The illustration shows a seventh embodiment of the AID assignment method according to the present invention.

[0069] Figure 27 The illustration shows a fourth embodiment of the method for determining intra-BSS frames and inter-BSS frames according to the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0070] In consideration of the functionality of this invention, the terminology used in this specification employs currently widely used and common terms; however, the terminology may change according to the intent, habits, and emergence of new technologies of those skilled in the art. Furthermore, in certain cases, there are terms arbitrarily chosen by the applicant, and in such cases, their meaning will be described in the corresponding descriptive section of the invention. Therefore, it should be understood that the terminology used in this specification should be analyzed not only based on the name of the term, but also on its substantive meaning and the content of the entire specification.

[0071] Throughout this specification and the following claims, when an element is described as being “coupled” to another element, that element may be “directly coupled” to the other element or “electrically coupled” to the other element via a third element. Furthermore, unless explicitly stated otherwise, the words “comprising” and variations such as “including” or “includes” will be understood to implicitly include the stated element but do not exclude any other element. Additionally, limitations based on specific thresholds such as “or more” or “or less” may be appropriately replaced by “greater than” or “less than”, respectively.

[0072] This application claims priority and benefits to Korean Patent Applications 10-2016-0040551, 10-2016-0093812 and 10-2016-0102229 filed with the Korean Intellectual Property Office, and the embodiments and matters mentioned that form the basis of the priority described in the respective applications will be included in the specific embodiments of this application.

[0073] Figure 1 This diagram illustrates a wireless LAN system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The wireless LAN system includes one or more Basic Service Sets (BSSs), and a BSS represents a group of devices that have successfully synchronized with each other to communicate. Typically, a BSS can be divided into a Infrastructure BSS and Independent BSSs (IBSSs), and... Figure 1 The diagram shows the basic structure BSS between them.

[0074] As in Figure 1 As shown in the diagram, the infrastructure BSS (BSS1 and BSS2) includes one or more stations STA1, STA2, STA3, STA4 and STA5, access points PCP / AP-1 and PCP / AP-2 that provide distributed services, and a distribution system (DS) that connects multiple access points PCP / AP-1 and PCP / AP-2.

[0075] A station (STA) is a predetermined device comprising a Media Access Control (MAC) conforming to the IEEE 802.11 standard and a physical layer interface for wireless media, and broadly includes both non-access point (non-AP) stations and access point (AP) stations. Furthermore, in this specification, the term "terminal" may be used to refer to a non-AP STA, or an AP, or both. A station for wireless communication includes a processor and a communication unit, and according to this embodiment, may further include a user interface unit and a display unit. The processor can generate frames to be transmitted via a wireless network, or process frames received via a wireless network, and further performs various processes for controlling the station. Additionally, the communication unit is functionally connected to the processor and transmits and receives frames via the wireless network used for the station. According to the invention, "terminal" can be used as a term including user equipment (UE).

[0076] An access point (AP) is an entity that provides access to a distribution system (DS) via wireless media for its associated stations. In a BSS infrastructure, communication between non-AP stations is generally performed via the AP, but direct communication between non-AP stations is even permitted when a direct link is configured. In this invention, the AP is used as a concept encompassing a Personal BSS Coordination Point (PCP), and broadly can include concepts including a central controller, base station (BS), node B, base transceiver system (BTS), and site controller. In this invention, an AP can also be referred to as a base station wireless communication terminal. The term "base station wireless communication terminal" can be used broadly and includes APs, base stations, eNBs (i.e., e-node Bs), and transmission points (TPs). Furthermore, a base station wireless communication terminal can include various types of wireless communication terminals that allocate media resources and perform scheduling of communication with multiple wireless communication terminals.

[0077] Multiple infrastructure BSSs can be interconnected via a distributed system (DS). In this case, the multiple BSSs connected via the distributed system are called an extended service set (ESS).

[0078] Figure 2 The illustration shows a standalone BSS according to another embodiment of the present invention, which is a wireless LAN system. Figure 2 In the embodiments, the same as or corresponding to Figure 1 Repeated descriptions of certain embodiments will be omitted.

[0079] Because in Figure 2 The BSS3 shown in the diagram is an independent BSS and does not include an access point (AP). All stations STA6 and STA7 are not connected to the AP. Independent BSSs are not allowed to access the distributed system and form self-contained networks. Within an independent BSS, the corresponding stations STA6 and STA7 can be directly interconnected.

[0080] Figure 3 This is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of station 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. (As shown in...) Figure 3 As shown in the figure, the station 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a processor 110, a communication unit 120, a user interface unit 140, a display unit 150, and a memory 160.

[0081] First, the communication unit 120 transmits and receives wireless signals, such as wireless LAN packets, and can be embedded in the station 100 or provided as a peripheral. According to this embodiment, the communication unit 120 may include at least one communication module using different frequency bands. For example, the communication unit 120 may include communication modules with different frequency bands, such as 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 60 GHz. According to one embodiment, the station 100 may include communication modules using a frequency band of 6 GHz or higher, and communication modules using a frequency band of 6 GHz or lower. The corresponding communication modules can perform wireless communication with the AP or external station according to the wireless LAN standard of the frequency band supported by the corresponding communication module. The communication unit 120 may operate only one communication module at a time, or operate multiple communication modules simultaneously, depending on the performance and requirements of the station 100. When the station 100 includes multiple communication modules, each communication module can be implemented by an independent component, or multiple modules can be integrated into a single chip. In embodiments of the invention, the communication unit 120 may represent a radio frequency (RF) communication module for processing RF signals.

[0082] Secondly, the user interface unit 140 includes various types of input / output devices provided in the station 100. That is, the user interface unit 140 can receive user input using various input devices, and the processor 110 can control the station 100 based on the received user input. Furthermore, the user interface unit 140 can execute outputs based on commands from the processor 110 using various output devices.

[0083] Next, the display unit 150 outputs an image on the display screen. The display unit 150 can output various display objects based on control commands from the processor 110, such as content executed by the processor 110 or a user interface. Furthermore, the memory 160 stores the control program and various result data used in the station 100. The control program may include the access program required for the station 100 to connect to the AP or an external station.

[0084] The processor 110 of the present invention can execute various commands or programs and process data in the station 100. Furthermore, the processor 110 can control various units of the station 100 and control data transmission / reception within the units. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the processor 110 can execute a program for accessing an AP stored in the memory 160 and receive communication configuration messages sent by the AP. Furthermore, the processor 110 can read information about the priority conditions of the station 100 included in the communication configuration messages and request access to the AP based on the information about the priority conditions of the station 100. The processor 110 of the present invention can represent the main control unit of the station 100, and according to this embodiment, the processor 110 can represent a control unit for individually controlling certain components of the station 100, such as the communication unit 120, etc. That is, the processor 110 can be a modem or modulator / demodulator for modulating wireless signals transmitted to the communication unit 120 and demodulating wireless signals received from the communication unit 120. The processor 110 controls various operations of wireless signal transmission / reception of the station 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed embodiments thereof will be described below.

[0085] exist Figure 3 The station 100 illustrated in the diagram is a block diagram according to an embodiment of the present invention, where individual blocks are illustrated as logically distinct device elements. Therefore, the elements of the device can be installed in a single chip or multiple chips depending on the device design. For example, the processor 110 and the communication unit 120 can be implemented as a single chip or as separate chips. Furthermore, in embodiments of the present invention, certain components of the station 100, such as the user interface unit 140 and the display unit 150, can be selectively disposed in the station 100.

[0086] Figure 4 This is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of an AP 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. (As shown in...) Figure 4 As illustrated in the figure, the AP 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a processor 210, a communication unit 220, and a memory 260. Figure 4 In the AP200 components, and... Figure 2 The components of station 100 are the same or correspond to Figure 2Repeated descriptions of parts of station 100 will be omitted.

[0087] refer to Figure 4 The AP 200 according to the invention includes a communication unit 220 that operates a BSS in at least one frequency band. (As in...) Figure 3 As described in the embodiments, the communication unit 220 of AP 200 may also include multiple communication modules using different frequency bands. That is, AP 200 according to embodiments of the present invention may include two or more communication modules in different frequency bands, such as 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 60 GHz. Preferably, AP 200 may include communication modules using frequency bands of 6 GHz or higher, and communication modules using frequency bands of 6 GHz or lower. Each communication module may perform wireless communication with the station according to the wireless LAN standard of the frequency band supported by the respective communication module. Communication unit 220 may operate only one communication module at a time, or operate multiple communication modules simultaneously, depending on the performance and requirements of AP 200. In embodiments of the present invention, communication unit 220 may represent a radio frequency (RF) communication module for processing RF signals.

[0088] Next, memory 260 stores the control program and various result data used in AP 200. The control program may include an access program for managing station access. Furthermore, processor 210 can control the various units of AP 200 and control data transmission / reception within the units. According to an embodiment of the invention, processor 210 can execute programs for accessing stations stored in memory 260 and send communication configuration messages for one or more stations. In this case, the communication configuration message may include information about access priority conditions for each station. Furthermore, processor 210 performs access configuration based on the station's access request. According to one embodiment, processor 210 may be a modem or modulator / demodulator for modulating wireless signals transmitted to communication unit 220 and demodulating wireless signals received from communication unit 220. Processor 210 controls various operations, such as wireless signal transmission / reception of AP 200, according to embodiments of the invention. Detailed embodiments thereof will be described below.

[0089] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the process of setting up the link between the STA and the AP.

[0090] refer to Figure 5In a broad sense, the link between STA 100 and AP 200 is set up through three steps: scanning, authentication, and association. First, the scanning step is where STA 100 obtains access information from the BSS operated by AP 200. Methods for performing the scan include a passive scanning method, in which AP 200 obtains information by periodically sending beacon messages (S101), and an active scanning method, in which STA 100 sends a probe request to AP (S103) and obtains access information by receiving probe responses from AP (S105).

[0091] STA 100, having successfully received wireless access information during the scanning step, performs an authentication step (S107b) by sending an authentication request (S107a) and receiving an authentication response from AP 200. After performing the authentication step, STA 100 performs an association step by sending an association request (S109a) and receiving an association response from AP 200 (S109b). In this specification, association primarily refers to wireless association; however, the invention is not limited thereto, and association can broadly include both wireless and wired associations.

[0092] Meanwhile, the 802.1X-based authentication step (S111) and the IP address acquisition step via DHCP (S113) can be performed separately. Figure 5 In this context, authentication server 300 is the server that handles 802.1X-based authentication for STA 100, and can exist in a physical association with AP 200 or as a standalone server.

[0093] Figure 6 The diagram illustrates the Carrier Sense Multiple Access (CSMA) / Collision Avoidance (CA) method used in wireless LAN communication.

[0094] Terminals performing wireless LAN communication check if the channel is busy by performing carrier sensing before transmitting data. When a wireless signal with a predetermined strength or higher is sensed, the corresponding channel is determined to be busy, and the terminal delays access to the corresponding channel. This process is called Clear Channel Assessment (CCA), and the level at which the corresponding signal is sensed is called the CCA threshold. When a wireless signal received by the terminal with a strength of the CCA threshold or higher indicates that the terminal is a receiver, the terminal processes the received radio signal. Conversely, when no wireless signal is sensed in the corresponding channel, or a wireless signal with a strength less than the CCA threshold is sensed, the channel is determined to be idle.

[0095] When the channel is determined to be idle, each terminal with data to transmit performs a backoff procedure after the inter-frame space (IFS) time, such as Arbitrated IFS (AIFS), PCFIFS (PIFS), etc., has elapsed, depending on the situation of each terminal. According to this embodiment, AIFS can be used as a component to replace the existing DCFIFS (DIFS). Each terminal prepares as the time slot decreases, and terminals that have completely exhausted their time slots attempt to access the corresponding channel, provided that a random number is determined by the corresponding terminal during the idle period of the channel. Therefore, the interval at which each terminal performs the backoff procedure is called the contention window interval.

[0096] When a specific terminal successfully accesses the channel, it can transmit data via that channel. However, when a terminal attempting to access the channel conflicts with another terminal, the conflicting terminals are assigned new random numbers to re-execute the backoff process. According to one embodiment, it can be determined that the random number reassigned to each terminal is within the range (2*CW), which is twice the range (contention window, CW) of the random number previously assigned to the corresponding terminal. Simultaneously, each terminal attempts to access the channel again in the next contention window interval by re-executing the backoff process, and in this case, each terminal begins the backoff process from the time slot period maintained within the previous contention window interval. In this way, terminals performing wireless LAN communication can avoid conflicts with each other on a specific channel.

[0097] Figure 7 The illustration shows the configuration of VHT-SIG-A1 and VHT-SIG-A2 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The VHT PHY Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) preamble includes a VHT-SIG-A field, and VHT-SIG-A is composed of VHT-SIG-A1 and VHT-SIG-A2. VHT-SIG-A1 and VHT-SIG-A2 carry information necessary for interpreting the VHT PPDU.

[0098] refer to Figure 7 The VHT-SIG-A1 of a single-user PPDU may include a 9-bit Partial Association ID (AID) field. The Partial AID field can represent abbreviated information about the intended recipient of the corresponding PHY Service Data Unit (PSDU). In the case of a SU PPDU, the Group ID field of VHT-SIG-A1 is set to 0 or 63, and in the case of a multi-user (MU) PPDU, it is set to another value. The terminal can check the Partial AID (or Partial AID and Group ID) of the received VHT PPDU and stop decoding if the intended recipient of the PPDU is not the terminal.

[0099] In the following description, the method for setting the AID portion and the AID according to embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to each of the accompanying drawings. For ease of explanation, each equation and symbol is defined as follows. According to embodiments of the present invention, “[]” and “()” in each equation are interchangeable and have the same meaning.

[0100] -A[b:c] represents bits from bit b to bit c of “A”. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first bit of “A” can be bit 0, and A[b:c] can represent bits (b+1) to (c+1) of “A”.

[0101] -dec(A[b:c]) represents the value of bits b to c of "A" in decimal representation. In this case, the value of bit b of "A" is scaled by 2^0 and the value of bit c of "A" is scaled by 2^(cb). dec(A[b:c]) and A[b:c] differ only in the type of information they represent and represent essentially the same value.

[0102] bin[x, N] represents the value of "x" as a binary number of N bits.

[0103] -B(X) represents the bit at bit position X.

[0104] -XOR indicates bitwise XOR.

[0105] -A mod X represents the result of modulo X operation on "A". According to an embodiment of the invention, even if A is negative, the result of A mod X is positive. For example, 5 mod 3 is 2, and -5 mod 3 is 1.

[0106] Figure 8 This is a table illustrating a method for setting group IDs and partial AIDs according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0107] First, in the PPDU or PSDU addressed to the AP, the group ID is set to 0 and part of the AID is set to the BSSID [39:47]. The BSSID indicates the identifier of the BSS to which the terminal sending the corresponding PPDU or PSDU belongs. Because part of the BSSID information is set to part of the AID in the uplink frame, the part of the AID in the uplink frame can have BSS identification capability.

[0108] Next, in the PPDU or PSDU addressed to the mesh STA, the group ID is set to 0 and part of the AID is set to RA[39:47]. RA indicates the receiver address of the corresponding PPDU or PSDU.

[0109] According to an embodiment of the present invention, in a PPDU or PSDU that satisfies the following conditions, the group ID can be set to 63, and a portion AID (hereinafter, PAID) can be set as shown in Equation 1 below: i) A PPDU or PSDU (i.e., a downlink frame) sent by an AP and addressed to a STA associated with that AP. ii) A PPDU or PSDU sent by a Direct Link Establishment (DLS) STA or a Tunnel Direct Link Establishment (TDLS) STA on a direct path to a DLS or TDLS peer STA.

[0110] [Equation 1]

[0111] PAID=(dec(AID[0:8])+dec(BSSID[44:47]XOR BSSID[40:43])*2^5)mod 2^9

[0112] In other words, PAID is determined by a combination of AID and BSSID information. More specifically, PAID is determined based on the value obtained by XORing some bits of BSSID with the value of some bits of AID. During the summation of AID and BSSID information, according to the AID setting rules, the PAID of the downlink frame may lose the ability to identify the BSS of STAs other than the intended receiver. Meanwhile, in cases other than those listed above, the group ID is set to 63 and a portion of the AID is set to 0.

[0113] The group ID and PAID information set in this manner can be included in the VHT-SIG of the VHT PPDU. The AP sending the VHT PPDU determines the PAID and BSSID information and sends the PAID information by including it in the VHT-SIG. In this case, the AID information indicates the value of some bits of the AID assigned to the intended recipient of the corresponding PPDU. Furthermore, the BSSID information indicates the value of the BSSID based on the BSS to which the sending AP and the recipient of the PPDU belong. The BSSID-based value indicates the XOR of some bits of the BSSID. More specifically, the BSSID-based value indicates the XOR of a first predetermined K bits and a second predetermined K bits of the BSSID. As in the embodiment of Equation 1, K can be set to 4, the first predetermined K bits can indicate bits from bit 44 to bit 47, and the second predetermined K bits can indicate bits from bit 40 to bit 43. Hereinafter, in embodiments of the invention, the value based on the BSSID used to set the PAID will be referred to as the "K-bit value based on the BSSID". On the other hand, since PAID is determined based on AID, different values ​​can be determined based on the AID assignment method.

[0114] When the AP sends a VHT PPDU to the STA, the AP uses the STA's AID information and a K-bit value based on the BSSID to set the PAID. In this case, the STA's AID can be set by any of the embodiments of the invention described below. The AP includes the set PAID information in the preamble of the VHT PPDU and sends it. In this case, the PAID information can be included in the VHT-SIG-A of the VHT PPDU.

[0115] In the following description, various embodiments of the AID assignment method according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings and equations. An AP can assign an AID to each STA using at least one of the embodiments described below. According to an embodiment, the AP can assign an AID determined via the following rules to a VHT STA. Additionally, the AP can send the assigned AID information to a terminal associated with the AP. In each embodiment, repeated descriptions of portions identical or corresponding to those in the previous embodiment will be omitted.

[0116] Equation 2 shows a first embodiment of the AID assignment method according to the present invention.

[0117] [Equation 2]

[0118] AID(8-N+1:8)=bin[(dec(BCB(0:N-1)+dec(BSSID(47-N+1:47)XOR BSSID(43-N+1:43)))mod 2^N,N]

[0119] Here, N is any integer between 1 and 4.

[0120] According to an embodiment of the invention, bits from bit 8 to N+1 of AID to bit 8 can be set using the rules of Equation 2. In this case, BCB indicates a partial BSS color or the BSS color itself. The AP operating the BSS notifies the STA associated with the BSS of the partial BSS color. According to an embodiment of Equation 2, a predetermined N bits of AID can be determined using the BCB information and the BSSID information. The BCB information is a partial BSS color value and represents the least significant N bits of the BSS color. However, the invention is not limited thereto, and the BCB information can also represent the most significant N bits of the BSS color. The BSSID information represents the value of the BSSID based on the BSS operated by the AP assigning the AID. The value based on the BSSID represents the XOR of some bits of the BSSID. More specifically, the value based on the BSSID indicates the XOR of a first predetermined N bits of the BSSID and a second predetermined N bits of the BSSID. According to an embodiment of Equation 2, the first predetermined N bits indicate bits from bit 47 to N+1 to bit 47, and the second predetermined N bits can indicate bits from bit 43 to N+1 to bit 43. In the following text, in embodiments of the present invention, the value based on the BSSID used for AID assignment will be referred to as the "N-bit value based on the BSSID".

[0121] When an AID is assigned as described above, the predetermined bits of the PAID determined according to the embodiment of Equation 1, i.e., PAID (8-N+1:8), can have BSS identification capability. When the PAID has BSS identification capability, a non-traditional terminal can determine whether a frame is an intra-BSS frame or an inter-BSS frame based on the PAID information of the received frame. In embodiments of the present invention, a non-traditional terminal may refer to a terminal conforming to the next-generation wireless LAN standard (i.e., IEEE 802.11ax). Intra-BSS frames indicate frames sent by terminals belonging to the same BSS, and inter-BSS frames indicate frames sent by terminals belonging to another BSS.

[0122] Non-traditional terminals can use information for BSS identification, such as BSS color, partial BSS color, MAC address, etc., to perform intra-BSS and inter-BSS frame determination. Partial BSS color can indicate the BCB value in Equation 2. According to an embodiment of the invention, when assigning an AID according to a specific rule, partial BSS color information can be extracted from predetermined bits of the PAID according to Equation 1. In this case, the predetermined bits of the PAID can indicate the top N bits of the PAID, i.e., PAID(8-N+1:8).

[0123] Non-traditional terminals can perform different operations depending on whether the received frame is an intra-BSS frame. That is, when the received frame is determined to be an intra-BSS frame, the terminal can perform a first operation. Conversely, when the received frame is determined to be an inter-BSS frame, the terminal can perform a second operation different from the first operation. According to embodiments of the present invention, the first and second operations can be configured in various ways.

[0124] According to embodiments, a terminal can perform channel access based on different thresholds, depending on whether the received frame is an intra-BSS frame. More specifically, when the received frame is determined to be an intra-BSS frame, the terminal accesses the channel based on a first CCA threshold (i.e., the first operation). That is, the terminal performs CCA based on the first CCA threshold and determines whether the channel is busy based on the result of the CCA execution. On the other hand, when the received frame is determined to be an inter-BSS frame, the terminal accesses the channel based on a second CCA threshold (i.e., the second operation), which is different from the first CCA threshold. That is, the terminal determines whether the channel is busy based on both the first and second CCA thresholds. According to embodiments of the invention, the second CCA threshold is an Overlapping Basic Service Set (OBSS) PD level set used to determine whether the channel is busy based on the received signal strength between BSS frames. In this case, the second CCA threshold can have a value equal to or higher than the first CCA threshold.

[0125] According to another embodiment, the terminal can set or update different Network Allocation Vectors (NAVs) based on whether the received frame is an intra-BSS frame. More specifically, when the received frame is determined to be an intra-BSS frame, the terminal sets or updates a first NAV based on the duration information of the corresponding frame (i.e., a first operation). In this case, the first NAV may be an intra-BSS NAV managed to protect intra-BSS frames. On the other hand, when the received frame is determined to be an inter-BSS frame, the terminal sets or updates a second NAV based on the frame's duration information (i.e., a second operation). In this case, the second NAV may be a basic NAV managed to protect inter-BSS frames.

[0126] According to an embodiment of the present invention, when the received frame is a VHT PPDU, the non-traditional terminal extracts group ID information and PAID information from the preamble (i.e., VHT-SIG-A) of the corresponding frame. When the extracted group ID information equals a predetermined value (e.g., 63), the non-traditional terminal can determine whether the frame is an intra-BSS frame or an inter-BSS frame based on the extracted PAID information. More specifically, the terminal performs intra-BSS and inter-BSS frame determination by comparing the extracted PAID information with information used to identify the BSS associated with the terminal. As described later, the information used to identify the BSS associated with the terminal includes the terminal's PAID according to an embodiment, the BSS color advertised by the AP associated with the terminal, and a partial BSS color advertised by the AP associated with the terminal. On the other hand, the predetermined value (i.e., 63) of the group ID information indicates that the frame is a downlink frame.

[0127] Simultaneously, when assigning AIDs according to the rules of Equation 2, among the AID candidate values ​​of the corresponding BSS or multiple BSSs, values ​​of AID (8-N+1:8) that do not conform to the rules of Equation 2 are not used as AID values. According to embodiments of the present invention, unused AID values ​​can be used to indicate a group of STAs. More specifically, AID values ​​that do not conform to the rules of Equation 2 can be implicitly or explicitly designated as identifiers indicating a group of STAs. The identifier indicating a group of STAs can be included as an STA-ID value in the user field of the HE-SIG-B of the High-Efficiency (HE) Multi-User (MU) PPDU. The STAs of the group indicated by the identifier can decode the corresponding resource units.

[0128] Figure 9 The illustration depicts a non-traditional element format according to an embodiment of the present invention. AP can use... Figure 9 The element shown advertises partial BSS color information to the STA. Non-traditional elements can be included in beacon frames, probe request frames, probe response frames, association request frames, association response frames, reassociation request frames, and reassociation response frames. Alternatively, non-traditional elements can also be sent via frames containing only that element.

[0129] refer to Figure 9 Non-traditional elements may include an "Element ID" field, a "Length" field, and a "Partial BSS Color Information" field. The "Element ID" field indicates the type of the corresponding element (e.g., "Partial BSS Color Information Element"). The "Length" field indicates the length information of the corresponding element. The "Partial BSS Color Information" field may include a "Number of Partial BSS Color Bits Used for AID" field, a "Partial BSS Color Bits" field, and a reserved field. According to an embodiment, the "Partial BSS Color Information" field may include a "Number of Partial BSS Color Bits Used for AID" field and a 4-bit "Partial BSS Color Bits" field.

[0130] The "Number of Partial BSS Color Bits Used for AID" field indicates the number N of partial BSS color bits used for AID assignment. Depending on the value of N indicated above, the least significant N bits of the BSS color can be used for AID determination. According to an embodiment, N can indicate any value between 1 and the maximum number of partial BSS color bits (e.g., 4). According to another embodiment, N can also indicate 0 to indicate that partial BSS colors are not used in AID assignment. If N indicates 0, the intra / inter-frame determination method of BSS using PAID information from VHTPPDU can be omitted. According to an embodiment of the invention, when the value of the "Number of Partial BSS Color Bits Used for AID" field (i.e., N) is set to a value greater than 0, the AP can assign the AID according to the method of Equation 2.

[0131] The "Partial BSS Color Bits" field represents the bit value of a portion of the BSS color. The "Partial BSS Color Bits" field can represent the BCB value in Equation 2. Furthermore, when determining the AID according to an embodiment of the invention, the "Partial BSS Color Bits" field can be represented by the PAID (8-N+1:8) value according to Equation 1. According to an embodiment, the bit value of the partial BSS color can be determined independently of the BSS color. In this way, the problem of overlap between the partial BSS color value and the color values ​​of neighboring BSSs can be reduced. According to another embodiment, the bit value of the partial BSS color can be determined depending on the BSS color. In this way, the receiver receiving the BSS color information can estimate the bit value of the partial BSS color based on this. According to an embodiment of the invention, the "Partial BSS Color Bits" field can be variably determined based on the value of the "Number of Partial BSS Color Bits for AID" field.

[0132] According to an embodiment of the present invention, a portion of the BSS color can be set by the AP operating the corresponding BSS. The AP announces the set portion of the BSS color to the STA associated with the BSS. If multiple BSSID sets are used, the BSSs in the same multiple BSSID sets can use the same portion of the BSSID color.

[0133] According to another embodiment of the present invention, the AP can change the value of the number N of partial BSS color bits used for AID assignment in the corresponding BSS. If AIDs are assigned according to the embodiment of Equation 2, then AID(8-N+1:8) has a fixed value in the BSS. Therefore, the larger the number of bits N, the fewer AIDs can be assigned to STAs. Therefore, when performing AID assignment according to the set value of the number of bits N, the AP can reduce the value of the number of bits N to perform association with a larger number of STAs. For example, to associate with a larger number of STAs, the AP can reduce the value of the number of bits N by one. In this case, the remaining bits obtained by subtracting the most significant bit or the least significant bit from the previously used partial BSS color bits can be used as new partial BSS color bits. In addition, the AP can change the value of the partial BSS color bits used in the corresponding BSS. The AP can send Figure 9 The elements shown are used to change the number N of partial BSS color bits used in AID assignment and / or the partial BSS color bit value.

[0134] Figure 10 The illustration shows a portion of the AID calculation process according to an embodiment of the present invention. (Reference) Figure 10 , Figure 10 In (a) dec(AID[0:8]) (hereinafter referred to as "the specific bit information of AID") and Figure 10 In (b), dec(BSSID[44:47]XOR BSSID[40:43])*2^5 (hereinafter, “the information obtained from BSSID”) is summed during the PAID calculation according to Equation 1. In this case, in the information obtained from BSSID, the five bits from B0 to B4 are all 0 through the 2^5 multiplication operation.

[0135] When N is 4 in the AID assignment rule of Equation 2, AID[5:8] is determined as a fixed value in the BSS according to the rule of Equation 2. Therefore, a single PAID (8-N+1:8) is determined within the BSS, regardless of the assigned AID and BSSID values. However, when N is less than 4 in the AID assignment rule of Equation 2, at least some bits of AID[5:8] can be determined as variable values. Therefore, multiple PAID (8-N+1:8) values ​​can be determined within the BSS based on the assigned AID and BSSID values. For example, when the B(8-N+1-1) value of the information obtained from the BSSID is 1, the B(8-N+1-1) value, depending on the specific bit information of the AID and the information obtained from the BSSID, can be rounded or not. If this ambiguity is not resolved, it may lead to the incorrect identification of intra-BSS frames as inter-BSS frames.

[0136] When determining intra-BSS and inter-BSS frames based on the PAID information of a received frame, the terminal can check whether the PAID information extracted from the received frame matches the PAID information associated with the BSS to which the terminal is associated. Here, the PAID information indicates a predetermined number of bits of the PAID. More specifically, the PAID information can indicate the high N bits of the PAID, i.e., PAID(8-N+1:8). When the PAID information extracted from the received frame matches the PAID information associated with the BSS to which the terminal is associated, the terminal determines the received frame as an intra-BSS frame. However, when the PAID information extracted from the received frame does not match the PAID information associated with the BSS to which the terminal is associated, the terminal determines the received frame as an inter-BSS frame.

[0137] Meanwhile, due to the ambiguity in determining the aforementioned PAID value, various PAID comparison methods can be used to resolve this problem. According to an embodiment, the terminal compares the PAID (8-N+1:8) extracted from the received frame with all possible PAIDs (8-N+1:8) to perform the determination of intra / inter-BSS frames. If the PAID (8-N+1:8) extracted from the received frame matches any possible PAID (8-N+1:8) in the BSS associated with the terminal, the terminal determines the received frame as an intra-BSS frame. However, if the PAID (8-N+1:8) extracted from the received frame does not match any possible PAID (8-N+1:8) in the BSS associated with the terminal, the terminal determines the received frame as an inter-BSS frame. According to an embodiment of the invention, intra-BSS and inter-BSS frame determination can be performed when the group ID of the received frame equals a predetermined value (e.g., 63).

[0138] According to another embodiment, the terminal performs BSS intra-frame / Inter-frame determination. If the PAID (8-N+1:8) extracted from the received frame matches any of i), ii), and iii), the terminal determines the received frame as an intra-BSS frame. However, if the PAID (8-N+1:8) extracted from the received frame does not match any of i), ii), and iii), the terminal determines the received frame as an inter-BSS frame. According to an embodiment of the invention, intra-BSS frame and inter-BSS frame determination can be performed when the group ID of the received frame is equal to a predetermined value (e.g., 63).

[0139] To address the issues arising from the ambiguity in determining the PAID value, additional rules can be applied to AID assignment. According to one embodiment, the B(8-N+1-1) of the AID can always be set to 0. According to another embodiment, the B(8-N+1-1) of the AID can always be set to 0 when the B(8-N+1-1) value of the information obtained from the BSSID is 0.

[0140] On the other hand, some BSS colors can be set to the same value in different BSSs. Therefore, if the determination result of intra / inter-BSS frames based on some BSS colors differs from the determination result of intra / inter-BSS frames based on MAC addresses, the determination result based on MAC addresses takes precedence over the determination result based on some BSS colors. For example, if a received frame is determined to be an intra-BSS frame based on some BSS colors, but is determined to be an inter-BSS frame based on MAC addresses, then the terminal will determine the received frame to be an inter-BSS frame. Furthermore, according to embodiments of the present invention, if both the conditions for determining a received frame as an intra-BSS frame and the conditions for determining a received frame as an inter-BSS frame are met, the terminal can determine the received frame to be an inter-BSS frame.

[0141] In a specific embodiment, if a received frame is determined to be an intra-BSS frame based on a portion of the BSS color, but an inter-BSS frame based on the MAC address, the terminal can set or update the aforementioned basic NAV. The terminal sets or updates the basic NAV based on the duration field information in the MAC header of the received frame.

[0142] Figure 11A more detailed illustration shows a portion of the AID calculation process according to an embodiment of the present invention. The AP can be set according to the embodiment of Equation 1, and... Figure 11 (a) and Figure 11 (b) in the diagram illustrates the corresponding process. For example... Figure 11 In (b) of the diagram, x represents bits 0 through 8 of AID (i.e., AID[0:8]), and y represents (BSSID[44:47] XOR BSSID[40:43]) * 2^5. z represents the sum of x and y. Additionally, Figure 11 (c) shows the bit assignment rules from bit (8-N+1) to bit 8 (i.e., AID[8-N+1:8]) according to Equation 2.

[0143] Reference Figure 11 (a) to Figure 11 Section (c) describes the process of calculating PAID. When based on... Figure 11 When assigning an AID to rule (c) in the middle, according to Figure 11 In rule (c), the high N bits of x are assigned. According to an embodiment of the invention, N can be any value between 1 and 4. However, according to another embodiment of the invention, N is set to 0, such that according to... Figure 11 The AID assignment method and the BSS intra / inter-frame determination method using PAID in rule (c) may not be executed. N can be... Figure 9 The invention may use non-traditional elements as described herein, but is not limited thereto. Figure 11 In the *2^5 operation of (b) in the example, the lower 5 bits of y are all set to 0 (i.e., '00000'). z is calculated by adding x and y, and PAID is calculated by performing a mod 2^9 operation on z. If the bit position is raised from bit position B8 to bit position B9 when calculating z by adding x and y, the mod operation truncates the raised value.

[0144] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the high N bits of x are a combination of a portion of the BSS color value and an N-bit value based on the BSSID, such as... Figure 11 The AID assignment rule shown in (c) is determined. Therefore, the high N bits of x depend on the value of the BSS. Furthermore, y depends on the value of the BSS because it is determined based on the K-bit value of the BSSID. Therefore, the high N bits of PAID can also depend on the value of the BSS. According to an embodiment of the invention, a portion of the BSS color can be used as information for BSS identification. The portion of the BSS color can indicate... Figure 11The BCB[0:N-1] used in the AID assignment rule in (c) is as follows. According to an embodiment of the invention, a portion of the BSS color can be represented by the high N bits of PAID. However, according to another embodiment of the invention, a portion of the BSS color can indicate the high N bits of x.

[0145] On the other hand, if the ambiguity in determining intra-BSS and inter-BSS frames is not resolved, intra-BSS frames may be incorrectly identified as inter-BSS frames. If an intra-BSS frame is incorrectly identified as an inter-BSS frame, the terminal may determine whether the channel is busy based on a second CCA threshold. In this case, the second CCA threshold may be set to a value higher than the first CCA threshold applied to intra-BSS frames. If the terminal performs channel access based on the second CCA threshold, it may interfere with received packets. Furthermore, because the AP is transmitting packets, the AP cannot receive packets transmitted by the terminal. In this way, the terminal's incorrect intra-BSS / inter-BSS frame determination may interfere with intra-BSS operation.

[0146] Therefore, a method is needed to resolve ambiguity in intra-BSS frames and to determine inter-BSS frames. Hereinafter, methods for determining intra-BSS and inter-BSS frames according to various embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In each embodiment, it is assumed that the received frame is a VHT PPDU and the group ID is set to 63 (i.e., the frame is a downlink frame).

[0147] Figure 12 The illustration shows a first embodiment of a method for determining intra-BSS and inter-BSS frames according to the present invention. According to an embodiment of the invention, multiple PAID (8-N+1:8) values ​​can be determined in the BSS based on assigned AID and BSSID values. Therefore, the terminal can compare the PAID (8-N+1:8) extracted from a received frame with all possible PAIDs (8-N+1:8) in the BSS associated with the terminal to perform intra-BSS / inter-BSS frame determination. If the PAID (8-N+1:8) extracted from the received frame matches any possible PAID (8-N+1:8) in the BSS associated with the terminal, the terminal determines the received frame as an intra-BSS frame. However, if the PAID (8-N+1:8) extracted from the received frame does not match any possible PAID (8-N+1:8) in the BSS associated with the terminal, the terminal determines the received frame as an inter-BSS frame.

[0148] Figure 12 (a) and Figure 12 (b) shows a method for determining whether a received frame is an intra-BSS frame or an inter-BSS frame based on the PAID calculation process of the receiving terminal. Figure 12 (a) in the text shows that in Figure 10 and Figure 11The diagram illustrates the method for determining the number of bits at position B(8-N+1-1) during the PAID calculation process of the terminal. Additionally, Figure 12 (b) in the diagram shows that Figure 10 and Figure 11 The diagram illustrates the method for determining the PAID of the terminal when the number of bits is not increased at B(8-N+1-1).

[0149] First, refer to Figure 12 In step (a), the terminal receives a radio frame and extracts PAID information from the received frame (S1210). In this case, the group ID can be extracted from the received frame, and it is assumed that the group ID is equal to 63. The terminal determines whether the PAID (8-N+1:8) of the received frame matches any of the following (S1220): ai) the terminal's PAID (8-N+1:8), a-ii) the terminal's PAID (8-N+1:8)-1(8-N+1). Here, 1(8-N+1) indicates that the value of bit (8-N+1) of the PAID is 1. Because... Figure 12 In embodiment (a), the PAID has already been increased in number during the terminal's PAID calculation process, so the PAID'(8-N+1:8) obtained by subtracting 1 from the terminal's PAID(8-N+1:8) can exist in the BSS. Therefore, the terminal determines whether the PAID(8-N+1:8) of the received frame matches any of ai) and a-ii) above. If the PAID(8-N+1:8) extracted from the received frame matches any of ai) and a-ii), the terminal determines the received frame as an intra-BSS frame (S1230). However, if the PAID(8-N+1:8) extracted from the received frame does not match any of ai) and a-ii), the terminal determines the received frame as an inter-BSS frame.

[0150] Next, refer to Figure 12 In step (b), the terminal receives a radio frame and extracts PAID information from the received frame (S1260). In this case, the group ID can be extracted from the received frame together, and it is assumed that the group ID is equal to 63. The terminal determines whether the PAID (8-N+1:8) of the received frame matches any of the following (S1270): b) the terminal's PAID (8-N+1:8), b-ii) the terminal's PAID (8-N+1:8) + 1 (8-N+1). Here, 1 (8-N+1) indicates that the value of the bit (8-N+1) of the PAID is 1. Because... Figure 12In embodiment (b), the terminal's PAID calculation process does not involve raising the bit, so the PAID (8-N+1:8) obtained by adding 1 to the terminal's PAID (8-N+1:8) can exist in the BSS. Therefore, the terminal determines whether the PAID (8-N+1:8) of the received frame matches any of bi) and b-ii) above. If the PAID (8-N+1:8) extracted from the received frame matches any of bi) and b-ii), the terminal determines the received frame as an intra-BSS frame (S1280). However, if the PAID (8-N+1:8) extracted from the received frame does not match any of bi) and b-ii), the terminal determines the received frame as an inter-BSS frame (S1282).

[0151] Figure 13 The illustration shows a second embodiment of the method for determining intra-BSS and inter-BSS frames according to the present invention. According to the second embodiment, the terminal calculates a reference value x' for determining intra-BSS / inter-BSS frames using the PAID value of the received frame and a K-bit value based on the BSSID of the BSS associated with the terminal.

[0152] More specifically, the terminal receives a radio frame and extracts PAID information from the received frame (S1310). In this case, the group ID can be extracted from the received frame together, and it is assumed that the group ID is equal to 63. The terminal calculates a reference value x' using the PAID value of the received frame and K bits based on the value of the BSSID associated with the terminal's BSS (S1320). In embodiments of the invention, the reference value x' can be determined by a combination of the PAID value of the received frame and the K bits based on the BSSID associated with the terminal's BSS. More specifically, it is possible to extract the PAID information from the received frame (i.e., in the...) Figure 11 The reference value x' is calculated by subtracting the K-bit value of the BSSID based on the BSS associated with the terminal and 2^5 (i.e., y') from (x+y)mod 2^9. This will be referenced later. Figure 14 A specific embodiment is described below. The terminal determines whether the reference value x'(8-N+1:8) matches the terminal's AID(8-N+1:8) (S1330). If the reference value x'(8-N+1:8) matches the terminal's AID(8-N+1:8), the terminal identifies the received frame as an intra-BSS frame (S1340). However, if the reference value x'(8-N+1:8) does not match the terminal's AID(8-N+1:8), the terminal identifies the received frame as an inter-BSS frame (S1342).

[0153] Figure 14 The illustration shows the process of calculating reference values ​​and the process of calculating partial AIDs for intra / inter-BSS frame determination according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 14 In this embodiment, each variable is defined as follows.

[0154] PAID indicates a portion of the AID extracted from the received frame. PAID can be extracted from VHT-SIG-A1 of the received VHT PPDU.

[0155] -x indicates the AID (0:8) of the intended receiver of the frame.

[0156] -y indicates that the BSS to which the terminal sending the frame belongs is (BSSID[44:47]XOR BSSID[40:43])*2^5.

[0157] -y' represents (BSSID[44:47]XOR BSSID[40:43])*2^5 of the BSS associated with the terminal receiving the frame.

[0158] In other words, y represents the multiplication of 2^5 and the k-bit value of the BSSID based on the BSS associated with the terminal sending the frame, and y' represents the multiplication of 2^5 and the k-bit value of the BSSID based on the BSS associated with the terminal receiving the frame. Figure 14 In this embodiment, x' represents a 9-bit binary value. A separate bin[x', 9] operation can be performed to extract the value from the binary representation of x'. Figure 14 The value calculated in example (a) is the binary number x'.

[0159] first, Figure 14 (a) illustrates the process of calculating a reference value x' used for intra / inter-BSS frame determination. The terminal receiving the frame compares the PAID extracted from the received frame with y'. If PAID - y' is less than 0 (i.e., case RX1), the terminal sets x' to PAID - y' + 2^9. However, if PAID - y' is equal to or greater than 0 (i.e., case RX2), the terminal sets x' to PAID - y'. The terminal can then use the reference value x' calculated in this way to perform actions similar to... Figure 13 The BSS intra / inter-frame determination in the embodiment.

[0160] Next, Figure 14 (b) shows the process by which the terminal sending the PPDU calculates the PAID. (See reference) Figure 11 In this embodiment, PAID can be calculated using (x+y)mod 2^9. Since x and y are 9-bit values, x and y satisfy the following conditions respectively.

[0161] 0 <= x < 2^9, 0 <= y < 2^9

[0162] Therefore, x+y satisfies the following condition.

[0163] 0 <= x + y < 2^10

[0164] Therefore, according to an embodiment of the present invention, PAID can be calculated as follows. If x + y is equal to or greater than 2^9 (i.e., case TX1), then PAID is set to x + y - 2^9. However, if x + y is less than 2^9 (i.e., case TX2), then PAID is set to x + y.

[0165] When using the reference value x' according to an embodiment of the present invention, the process for determining intra / inter-BSS frames of the receiving terminal is described as follows. First, if the frame received by the terminal is an intra-BSS frame, the receiving terminal determines it as follows. When the terminal receives an intra-BSS frame, y and y' are determined based on the same BSSID, thus satisfying y = y'.

[0166] A-1) When the sending terminal calculates PAID using case Tx1

[0167] According to the equation for case Tx1, PAID-y = x - 2^9 is satisfied. In this case, since x is less than 2^9, PAID-y < 0. Since the values ​​of y and y' are the same, PAID-y' < 0 is satisfied, and the receiving terminal calculates x' according to case Rx1. In this case, x' satisfies the following equation.

[0168] [Equation 3]

[0169] x'=PAID-y'+2^9=PAID-y+2^9=X

[0170] In other words, x' = x and x'(8-N+1:8) = x(8-N+1:8). When assigning the AID to each terminal according to the rules mentioned above, terminals in the same BSS have the same AID(8-N+1:8) value. Therefore, x'(8-N+1:8) matches the AID(8-N+1:8) of the receiving terminal, and the receiving terminal determines that the frame is an intra-BSS frame.

[0171] A-2) When the sending terminal calculates PAID using case Tx2

[0172] According to the equation for case Tx2, PAID-y = x. In this case, since x is equal to or greater than 0, PAID-y >= 0. Since the values ​​of y and y' are the same, PAID-y' >= 0 is satisfied, and the receiving terminal calculates x' according to case Rx2. In this case, x' satisfies the following equation.

[0173] [Equation 4]

[0174] x' = PAID - y' = PAID - y = x

[0175] In other words, x' = x and x'(8-N+1:8) = x(8-N+1:8). When assigning the AID to each terminal according to the above rules, terminals in the same BSS have the same AID(8-N+1:8) value. Therefore, x'(8-N+1:8) matches the AID(8-N+1:8) of the receiving terminal, and the receiving terminal determines that the frame is an intra-BSS frame.

[0176] Next, if the frame received by the terminal is an inter-BSS frame, the receiving terminal determines the following. When the terminal receives an inter-BSS frame, because y and y' are determined based on different BSSIDs, the probability that y and y' represent different values ​​is high.

[0177] B-1) When the transmitting terminal calculates PAID using case Tx1 and the receiving terminal calculates x′ using case RX1

[0178] In this case, x′ satisfies the following equation.

[0179] [Equation 5]

[0180] x'=PAID-y'+2^9=x+y-2^9-y'+2^9=x+yy'

[0181] Therefore, when y and y' are different, x' and x are different. Since the lower 5 bits of y and y' are both 0, x'(5:8) and x(5:8) are different. When N is set to 4 or a smaller value, x'(8-N+1:8) indicates at least some bits of x'(5:8), and x(8-N+1:8) indicates at least some bits of x(5:8). Therefore, x'(8-N+1:8) and x(8-N+1:8) are highly likely to be different from each other. Consequently, x'(8-N+1:8) is highly likely to be different from the receiving terminal's AID(8-N+1:8). Therefore, the receiving terminal has a high probability of determining that the frame is an inter-BSS frame.

[0182] B-2) When the transmitting terminal calculates PAID using case Tx2 and the receiving terminal calculates x' using case RX1

[0183] In this case, x' satisfies the following equation.

[0184] [Equation 6]

[0185] x'=PAID-y'+2^9=x+y-y'+2^9

[0186] In this case, since -2^9 < y - y' < 2^9 is satisfied, when y and y' are different, x' and x are different. As described above, when x' and x are different, the probability that x'(8 - N + 1:8) and x(8 - N + 1:8) are different from each other is high. As a result, the probability that x'(8 - N + 1:8) is different from the AID(8 - N + 1:8) of the receiving terminal is high. Therefore, the receiving terminal has a high probability of determining that the frame is an inter - BSS frame.

[0187] B - 3) When the transmitting terminal calculates PAID through case Tx1 and the receiving terminal calculates x' through case RX2

[0188] In this case, x' satisfies the following equation.

[0189] [Equation 7]

[0190] x′ = PAID - y' = x + y - 2^9 - y' = x + y - y' - 2^9

[0191] In this case, since -2^9 < y - y' < 2^9 is satisfied, when y and y' are different, x' and x are different. As described above, when x' and x are different, the probability that x'(8 - N + 1:8) and x(8 - N + 1:8) are different from each other is high. As a result, there is a high probability that x'(8 - N + 1:8) is different from the AID(8 - N + 1:8) of the receiving terminal. Therefore, the receiving terminal has a high probability of determining that the frame is an inter - BSS frame.

[0192] B - 4) When the transmitting terminal calculates PAID through case Tx2 and the receiving terminal calculates x' through case RX2

[0193] In this case, x' satisfies the following equation.

[0194] [Equation 8]

[0195] x' = PAID - y’ = x + y - y'

[0196] When y and y' are different, x' and x are different. As described above, when x' and x are different, the probability that x'(8 - N + 1:8) and x(8 - N + 1:8) are different from each other is high. As a result, the probability that x'(8 - N + 1:8) is different from the AID(​​​​In the determination method of the embodiment, although there is a probability that an inter-BSS frame is incorrectly determined as an intra-BSS frame, there is no case that an intra-BSS frame is incorrectly determined as an inter-BSS frame.

[0198] According to another embodiment of the invention, the terminal can perform intra / inter-BSS frame determination by comparing the value calculated using x'(8-N+1:8) and y'(8-N+1:8) with a portion of the BSS color values ​​(i.e., BCB information). More specifically, when the value of x'(8-N+1:8)-y'(8-N+1:8) is less than 0, the terminal determines whether the value of x'(8-N+1:8)-y'(8-N+1:8)+2^N matches the portion of the BSS color values ​​advertised to the terminal. If they match, the terminal determines the received frame as an intra-BSS frame. If they do not match, the terminal determines the received frame as an inter-BSS frame. On the other hand, when the value of x'(8-N+1:8)-y'(8-N+1:8) is equal to or greater than 0, the terminal determines whether the value of x'(8-N+1:8)-y'(8-N+1:8) matches the portion of the BSS color values ​​advertised to the terminal. If they match, the terminal identifies the received frame as an intra-BSS frame. If they do not match, the terminal identifies the received frame as an inter-BSS frame.

[0199] When the terminal has verified that there is ambiguity in the determination of the PAID value, according to Figures 12 to 14 The determination method of the embodiment can be executed. As an example, if the terminal has verified that there is no ambiguity in the PAID determination, the terminal can compare the PAID (8-N+1:8) of the received frame with its own PAID (8-N+1:8) to perform intra / inter-BSS frame determination. That is, if the PAID (8-N+1:8) extracted from the received frame matches the terminal's PAID (8-N+1:8), the terminal determines the received frame as an intra-BSS frame. However, if the PAID (8-N+1:8) extracted from the received frame does not match the terminal's PAID (8-N+1:8), the terminal determines the received frame as an inter-BSS frame.

[0200] According to various embodiments, the terminal can identify whether ambiguity exists in the PAID value determination. According to one embodiment, if y(5:8-N+1-1) are all 0, the terminal can determine that ambiguity exists; otherwise, the terminal can determine that ambiguity does not exist. According to another embodiment, if N=4, the terminal can determine that ambiguity does not exist; and if N is any one of 1 to 3, the terminal can determine that ambiguity exists. Here, N represents the number of partial BSS color bits used for AID assignment and the number of bits of BSSID information. According to yet another embodiment, the terminal can... Figure 15 and Figure 16The method described herein identifies whether there is ambiguity in the determination of PAID values.

[0201] Figure 15 The illustration depicts a non-traditional element format according to another embodiment of the present invention. Figure 15 In the fields of non-traditional elements, the comparison with... Figure 9 The repeated description of the same part of the fields of the non-traditional elements described in the text.

[0202] refer to Figure 15 Non-traditional elements may include an "Element ID" field, a "Length" field, and a "Partial BSS Color Information" field. Additionally, the "Partial BSS Color Information" field may include a "Number of Partial BSS Color Bits Used for AID" field, a "Partial BSS Color Bits" field, and a "Ambiguity" field. According to an embodiment, the "Partial BSS Color Information" field includes a 3-bit "Number of Partial BSS Color Bits Used for AID" field, a 4-bit "Partial BSS Color Bits" field, and a 1-bit "Ambiguity" field. The "Ambiguity" field uses a flag value to signal whether ambiguity exists in the PAID value determination.

[0203] Figure 16 The illustration depicts a method for signaling information about the number of partial BSS color bits and ambiguity information according to another embodiment of the present invention. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the "Number of Partial BSS Color Bits for AID" field of a non-traditional element can be signaled to indicate whether the aforementioned ambiguity exists. More specifically, the "Number of Partial BSS Color Bits for AID" field can indicate the number of partial BSS color bits used for AID assignment and whether ambiguity exists through predetermined indices. For example, indices 1 to 4 can respectively indicate that the number of partial BSS color bits used for AID assignment is 1 to 4, and that ambiguity does not exist. On the other hand, when the number of partial BSS color bits used for AID assignment is 4, ambiguity in PAID value determination may not exist. Therefore, indices 5 to 7 can further indicate that the number of partial BSS color bits used for AID assignment is 1 to 3, and that ambiguity may exist.

[0204] Figure 17 The illustration shows a second embodiment of the AID assignment method and non-traditional element format according to the present invention. Figure 17 Image (a) illustrates an AID assignment method according to another embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 17 (b) in the diagram shows the corresponding non-traditional element format.

[0205] First, refer to Figure 17 In equation (a), the second embodiment of the AID assignment method according to the present invention can be expressed as the following equation 9.

[0206] [Equation 9]

[0207] AID(8-N+1:8)=bin[dec(BCB(0:N-1)+dec(BSSID(47-N+1:47)XOR BSSID(43-N+1:43)))mod 2^N,N]

[0208] Here, N is 4.

[0209] The second embodiment of the AID assignment method according to the present invention is the same as the first embodiment of the AID assignment method described with reference to Equation 2, wherein N is limited to 4. More specifically, the least significant N bits of the BSS color (i.e., a partial BSS color value) and based on

[0210] The N-bit value of the BSSID determines the predetermined N bits of the AID. That is, the predetermined N bits of the AID are determined by applying a modulo operation to the sum of the least significant N bits of the partial BSS color and the N-bit value based on the BSSID. In this case, the predetermined N bits of the AID...

[0211] N bits are bits 8-N+1 from bit 8 of AID, and N is set to 4. Based on the above... Figure 1 The PAID setting rule is based on the number of valid bits K of the BSSID value used to set the PAID being set to 4. According to an embodiment of the invention, by setting N to 4 in the AID assignment rule, ambiguity in PAID value determination can be eliminated, as it is the same as the K value used to set the PAID.

[0212] Referring to 17(b), the "Partial BSS Color Information" field of a non-traditional element may include a 1-bit "Partial BSS Color Bit Indicator" field and a 4-bit "Partial BSS Color Bit" field. The "Partial BSS Color Bit Indicator" field indicates whether the corresponding BSS applies the AID assignment rule that uses partial BSS color bits. If this field is set to 1, N bits (where N is 4) of the partial BSS color value are used for AID assignment. However, if this field is set to 0, the partial BSS color is not used for AID assignment. Figure 17 In this embodiment, the number N of partial BSS color bits used for AID assignment is fixed. Therefore, non-traditional elements can indicate whether a partial BSS color is used for AID assignment via a 1-bit "Partial BSS Color Bit Indicator" field.

[0213] According to another embodiment of the present invention, the "partial BSS color information" field of a non-traditional element may only include the "partial BSS color bit" field, without a separate "partial BSS color bit indication" field. When the information of the "partial BSS color bit" field is transmitted by signal through the "partial BSS color information" field, the terminal receiving the non-traditional element can identify that the partial BSS color value is used for AID assignment.

[0214] Figure 18 The illustration shows a third embodiment of the AID assignment method according to the present invention. (See reference) Figure 18 The third embodiment of the AID assignment method according to the present invention can be expressed as Equation 10 below.

[0215] [Equation 10]

[0216]

[0217] Here, N is any integer between 1 and 4.

[0218] According to a third embodiment of the invention, bits 8-N+1 to 8 of AID can be set using the rules of Equation 10. According to an embodiment of Equation 10, the predetermined N bits of AID can be determined based on the value obtained by subtracting the BSSID information from the BCB information. In this case, the predetermined N bits of AID are bits 8-N+1 to 8 of AID. More specifically, the predetermined N bits of AID are determined by subtracting the N-bit value based on BSSID from the value of the least significant N bits of the BSS color (i.e., the partial BSS color value). The N-bit value based on BSSID indicates the XOR of a first predetermined N bits and a second predetermined N bits of BSSID. In an embodiment of Equation 10, the first predetermined N bits may indicate bits 47-N+1 to 47, and the second predetermined N bits may indicate bits 43-N+1 to 43.

[0219] If the value obtained by subtracting the N-bit value based on the BSSID from the partial BSS color value is less than 0, then the predetermined N bits of the AID are determined by adding 2^N to the value obtained by subtracting the N-bit value based on the BSSID from the partial BSS color value. However, if the value obtained by subtracting the N-bit value based on the BSSID from the partial BSS color value is equal to or greater than 0, then the predetermined N bits of the AID are determined by the value obtained by subtracting the N-bit value based on the BSSID from the partial BSS color value.

[0220] When an AID is assigned according to the rules of Equation 10, the predetermined N bits of the AID and the N bits of its corresponding PAID can have BSS identification capability. Therefore, when the received frame is a VHT PPDU (and the group ID extracted from the received frame is equal to 63), the terminal can perform intra-BSS and inter-BSS frame determination by comparing the high N bits of the PAID extracted from the received frame with the partial BSS colors advertised to the terminal. If the high N bits of the PAID match the partial BSS colors advertised to the terminal, the terminal determines the received frame as an intra-BSS frame. However, if the high N bits of the PAID do not match the partial BSS colors advertised to the terminal, the terminal determines the received frame as an inter-BSS frame.

[0221] Figure 19 The illustration shows a fourth embodiment of the AID assignment method according to the present invention. (See reference) Figure 18 The fourth embodiment of the AID assignment method according to the present invention can be represented by the following equation 11.

[0222] [Equation 11]

[0223] AID[5:5+N-1]=bin[(dec(BCB[0:N-1])+dec(BSSID[44:44+N-1]XOR BSSID[40:40+N-1])mod 2^N,N]

[0224] Here, N is any integer between 1 and 4.

[0225] According to a fourth embodiment of the invention, bits 5 to 5+N-1 of AID can be set using the rules of Equation 11. According to the embodiment of Equation 11, the predetermined N bits of AID are determined by applying a modulo operation to the least significant N bits of the BSS color (i.e., a partial BSS color value) and the sum of the N-bit values ​​based on BSSID. In this case, the predetermined N bits of AID are bits 5 to 5+N-1 of AID. The N-bit value based on BSSID indicates the XOR of a first predetermined N bits and a second predetermined N bits of BSSID. In the embodiment of Equation 11, the first predetermined N bits may indicate bits 44 to 44+N-1, and the second predetermined N bits may indicate bits 40 to 40+N-1.

[0226] As referenced above Figure 11As described above, during the PAID calculation process, the lower 5 bits of y are all set to 0 (i.e., '00000'). In this case, when the bits from bit 5 to bit 5+N-1 of AID are set according to the rules of Equation 11, PAID(5:5+N-1) is set to a fixed value in the BSS. Therefore, when assigning AID according to the rules of Equation 11, ambiguity in PAID value determination can be prevented. Moreover, the predetermined bits of PAID, i.e., PAID(5:5+N-1), can have BSS identification capability. Therefore, when the received frame is a VHT PPDU (and the group ID extracted from the received frame is equal to 63), the terminal can perform intra-BSS frame and inter-BSS frame determination by comparing the PAID(5:5+N) of the PAID extracted from the received frame with the PAID(5:5+N-1) of the BSS associated with the terminal. If the PAID (5:5+N-1) of a received frame matches the PAID (5:5+N-1) of the BSS associated with the terminal, the terminal identifies the received frame as an intra-BSS frame. However, if the PAID (5:5+N-1) of a received frame does not match the PAID (5:5+N-1) of the BSS associated with the terminal, the terminal identifies the received frame as an inter-BSS frame.

[0227] Figure 20 and 21 The illustration shows a fifth embodiment of the AID assignment method according to the present invention. (See reference) Figure 20 The fifth embodiment of the AID assignment method according to the present invention can be expressed as Equation 12 below.

[0228] [Equation 12]

[0229] AID[5:5+N-1]=bin[(dec(BCB[0:N-1])-dec(BSSID[44:44+N-1]XOR BSSID[40:40+N-1]))mod 2^N,N]

[0230] Here, N is any integer between 1 and 4.

[0231] According to a fifth embodiment of the invention, bits 5 to 5+N-1 of AID can be set using the rules of Equation 12. According to the embodiment of Equation 12, the predetermined N bits of AID are determined based on the value obtained by subtracting the BSSID information from the BCB information. More specifically, the predetermined N bits of AID are determined by applying a modulo operation to the value obtained by subtracting the N-bit value based on BSSID from the value of the least significant N bits of the BSS color (i.e., the partial BSS color value). In this case, the predetermined N bits of AID are bits 5 to 5+N-1 of AID. The N-bit value based on BSSID indicates the XOR of the first predetermined N bits and the second predetermined N bits of BSSID. In the embodiment of Equation 12, the first predetermined N bits may indicate bits 44 to 44+N-1, and the second predetermined N bits may indicate bits 40 to 40+N-1.

[0232] The fifth embodiment of the AID assignment method according to the present invention can also be as follows: Figure 21 The following equation 13 is shown and expressed.

[0233] [Equation 13]

[0234]

[0235] Here, N is any integer between 1 and 4.

[0236] Referring to Equation 13, if the value obtained by subtracting the N-bit value based on the BSSID from the partial BSS color value is less than 0, then the predetermined N bits of the AID are determined by adding 2^N to the value obtained by subtracting the N-bit value based on the BSSID from the partial BSS color value. However, if the value obtained by subtracting the N-bit value based on the BSSID from the partial BSS color value is equal to or greater than 0, then the predetermined N bits of the AID are determined by the value obtained by subtracting the N-bit value based on the BSSID from the partial BSS color value.

[0237] As referenced above Figure 11 As stated above, during the PAID calculation process, the lower 5 bits of y are set to 0 (i.e., "00000"). In this case, when the bits from bit 5 to bit 5+N-1 of AID are set according to the rules of Equations 12 and 13, PAID[5:5+N-1] is set to a fixed value in the BSS. Therefore, when assigning AID according to the rules of Equations 12 and 13, ambiguity in the determination of PAID value can be prevented.

[0238] Additionally, if an AID is assigned according to the rules of Equations 12 and 13, when a PAID is set according to the embodiment of Equation 1, the K-bit value of the BSSID (i.e., Figure 11 At least a portion of y in the frame is offset by an N-bit value based on the BSSID. Therefore, the predetermined bits of PAID (i.e., PAID[5:5+N-1]) represent a portion of the BSS color value advertised to the intended receiver of the frame. Thus, when the received frame is a VHT PPDU (and the group ID extracted from the received frame is equal to 63), the terminal can perform intra-BSS and inter-BSS frame determination by comparing the predetermined bits of PAID extracted from the received frame with the portion of the BSS color advertised to the terminal. If the predetermined bits of PAID match the portion of the BSS color advertised to the terminal, the terminal determines the received frame as an intra-BSS frame. However, if the predetermined bits of PAID do not match the portion of the BSS color advertised to the terminal, the terminal determines the received frame as an inter-BSS frame.

[0239] In the following text, when using the fifth embodiment of the AID assignment method according to the present invention...

[0240] The reason why the predefined bits of PAID (i.e., PAID[5:5+N-1]) represent a portion of the BSS color value will be described in more detail. If the received frame is a VHT PPDU and the frame is a downlink single-user (SU) frame, the PAID extracted from the frame is determined according to Equation 1. In this case, AID[0:8] is expressed as Equation 14 when it is divided into the lower 5 bits (i.e., AID[0:4]), the next N bits (i.e., AID[5:5+N-1]), and the remaining bits (i.e., AID[5+N:8]).

[0241] [Equation 14]

[0242]

[0243] (Case a) When dec(BCB[0:N-1])-dec(BSSID[44:44+N-1]XOR BSSID[40:40+N-1]))<0 hour

[0244] Because 0 <= dec(BCB[0:N-1]) < 2^N, and 0 <= dec(BSSID[44:44])

[0245] +N-1]XOR BSSID[40:40+N-1]))<2^N, AID[5:5+N-1] is determined as follows according to the if condition of Equation 13.

[0246] [Equation 15]

[0247] AID[5:5+N-1]=bin[(2^N+dec(BCB[0:N-1)-dec(BSSID[44:44+N-1]XOR BSSID[40:40+N-1])),N]

[0248] (Case a-1) When N is not 4

[0249] Substituting equation 15 into equation 14 yields the following equation.

[0250] [Equation 16]

[0251]

[0252] Here, based on a portion of the BSSID value, namely, dec(BSSID[44:44+N-1]XOR BSSID[40:40+N-1]) is offset (i.e. deleted) and the equation can be rearranged as follows.

[0253] [Equation 17]

[0254]

[0255] Referring to Equation 17, the only factor affecting PAID[5:5+N-1] is dec(BCB[0:N-1]*2^5). Therefore, PAID[5:5+N-1] equals BCB[0:N-1].

[0256] (Case a-2) When N is 4

[0257] When N is 4, the dec(BSSID[44:44+N-1]XOR BSSID[40:40+N-1]) in Equation 15 is the same as the dec(BSSID[44:47]XOR BSSID[40:43]) in Equation 14. Therefore, substituting Equation 15 into Equation 14 yields the following equation.

[0258] [Equation 18]

[0259]

[0260] Referring to Equation 18, the only factor affecting PAID[5:5+N-1] is dec(BCB[0:N-1]*2^5). Therefore, PAID[5:5+N-1] equals BCB[0:N-1].

[0261] (Case b) When dec(BCB[0:N-1])-dec(BSSID[44:44+N-1]XORBSSID[40:40+N-1]))>= 0 o'clock

[0262] Since 0 <= dec(BCB[0:N-1]) < 2^N, and 0 <= dec(BSSID[44:44+N-1] XOR BSSID[40:40+N-1])) < 2^N, AID[5:5+N-1] is determined according to the else condition of Equation 13 as follows.

[0263] [Equation 19]

[0264] AID[5:5+N-1]=bin[(dec(BCB[0:N-1])-dec(BSSID[44:44+N-1]XOR BSSID[40:40+N-1])),N]

[0265] (Case b-1) When N is not 4

[0266] Substituting equation 19 into equation 14 yields the following equation.

[0267] [Equation 20]

[0268]

[0269] Here, based on a portion of the BSSID value, i.e., dec(BSSID[44:44+N-1]XOR BSSID[40:40+N-1]) is offset (i.e. deleted), and the equation can be arranged as follows.

[0270] [Equation 21]

[0271]

[0272] Referring to Equation 21, the only factor affecting PAID[5:5+N-1] is dec(BCB[0:N-1]*2^5). Therefore, PAID[5:5+N-1] equals BCB[0:N-1].

[0273] (Case a-2) When N is 4

[0274] When N is 4, dec(BSSID[44:44+N-1]XOR BSSID[40:40+N-1]) in Equation 19 is the same as dec(BSSID[44:47]XOR BSSID[40:43]) in Equation 14. Therefore, substituting Equation 19 into Equation 14 yields the following equation.

[0275] [Equation 22]

[0276] PAID = (dec(AID[0:4]) + (dec(BCB[0:N-1])) * 2^5 + dec(AID[5+N:8]) * 2^(5+N))) mod 2^9. Referring to Equation 22, the only factor affecting PAID[5:5+N-1] is dec(BCB[0:N-1] * 2^5). Therefore, PAID[5:5+N-1] equals BCB[0:N-1].

[0277] As mentioned above, in all cases, the preposition of PAID, i.e., PAID[5:5+N-1], has the same value as the partial BSS color value, i.e., BCB[0:N]-1.

[0278] Figure 22 The illustration shows a third embodiment of the method for determining intra-BSS frames and inter-BSS frames according to the present invention. When according to... Figure 20 and Figure 21 When assigning an AID in the fifth embodiment shown, Figure 22 The methods for determining intra-BSS and inter-BSS frames shown can be used.

[0279] First, the terminal receives a radio frame and extracts the group ID and PAID information from the received frame (S2210). If the received frame is a VHT PPDU, the frame's RXVECTOR parameter includes the group ID and PAID. Therefore, if the received frame is a VHT PPDU, the terminal extracts the group ID and PAID information from the VHT PPDU's preamble.

[0280] Next, the terminal checks which information the extracted group ID represents (S2220). More specifically, the terminal checks whether the extracted group ID information is equal to 0 or 63. As described above, such as in Figure 8 In the embodiments described above, group ID 0 can indicate that the frame is an uplink frame. Furthermore, group ID 63 can indicate that the frame is a downlink frame. That is, the terminal can identify whether a frame is an uplink or downlink frame using the extracted group ID information.

[0281] If the extracted group ID information is equal to 0 (i.e., indicating an uplink frame), the terminal checks whether the PAID extracted from the frame matches a specific bit value of the BSSID associated with the terminal's BSS (S2230). In this case, the specific bit value of the BSSID can be BSSID[39:47]. (See above reference...) Figure 8As stated above, since PAID is set to BSSID[39:47] in the case of uplink frames, the terminal can determine whether a frame is an intra-BSS frame or an inter-BSS frame based on whether the PAID of the received frame matches the BSSID[39:47] of the BSS associated with the terminal. If PAID matches BSSID[39:47], the terminal determines the received frame as an intra-BSS frame (S2232). However, if PAID does not match BSSID[39:47], the terminal determines the received frame as an inter-BSS frame (S2234).

[0282] Simultaneously, if the extracted group ID information equals 63 (i.e., indicating a downlink frame), the terminal checks whether the PAID information extracted from the frame matches a portion of the BSS color advertised to the terminal (S2240). In this case, the PAID information indicates the predetermined bits of the PAID. Figure 22 In this embodiment, the predetermined bits of PAID indicate PAID[5:5+N-1]. Furthermore, the partial BSS color announced to the terminal indicates the partial BSS color announced by the AP associated with the terminal. If AID is assigned according to the fifth embodiment of the invention, when PAID is set, at least a portion of the K-bit value based on BSSID is offset by the N-bit value based on BSSID. Therefore, the predetermined bits of PAID (i.e., PAID[5:5+N-1]) represent the partial BSS color announced to the intended recipient of the frame. Therefore, the terminal can determine whether the received frame is an intra-BSS frame or an inter-BSS frame based on whether the predetermined bits of the PAID of the received frame match the partial BSS color announced to the terminal. If the predetermined bits of PAID match the partial BSS color announced to the terminal, the terminal determines the received frame as an intra-BSS frame (S2242). However, if the predetermined bits of PAID do not match the partial BSS color announced to the terminal, the terminal determines the received frame as an inter-BSS frame (S2244).

[0283] According to an embodiment of the invention, the intra-BSS frame method and inter-BSS frame method when the extracted group ID information equals 63 can only be executed if the value of the "Number of Partial BSS Color Bits Used for AID" field of the most recently received non-traditional element from the associated AP is not 0. According to another embodiment of the invention, the intra-BSS frame and inter-BSS frame determination method when the extracted group ID information equals 63 can only be executed if the "Partial BSS Color Bit Indication" field of the most recently received non-traditional element from the associated AP is set to 1. As described above, when the "Partial BSS Color Bit Indication" field is set to 1, the AID assignment rule using partial BSS color bits is applied.

[0284] Figure 23The illustration depicts a non-traditional element format according to yet another embodiment of the present invention. Figure 23 In the fields of non-traditional elements, duplicate descriptions of the same parts as those of non-traditional elements described in the above embodiments will be omitted.

[0285] The operation of a HE STA (i.e., a non-traditional terminal) in a HE BSS can be controlled by HT operation elements, VHT operation elements, HE operation elements (i.e., non-traditional elements), etc. As mentioned above, non-traditional elements can be included in beacon frames, probe request frames, probe response frames, association request frames, association response frames, re-association request frames, re-association response frames, etc. Alternatively, non-traditional elements can also be transmitted via frames containing only that element. (See reference...) Figure 23 Non-traditional elements may include an "Element ID" field, a "Length" field, and a "HE Operation Parameters" field. Additionally, the "HE Operation Parameters" field may include a "BSS Color" field and a "Partial BSS Color Length" field.

[0286] The “BSS Color” field indicates the BSS color value. The BSS color represents the BSS color of the BSS operated by the AP that sent the element. Alternatively, the BSS color can represent the BSS color of the BSS associated with the STA that sent the element. The “BSS Color” field has a length of 6 bits and can represent an unsigned integer value. According to an embodiment, when the value of the “BSS Color” field is not 0, it can indicate the BSS color, and when the value of the “BSS Color” field is 0, it can indicate that the BSS color is not set to the corresponding BSS.

[0287] The "Partial BSS Color Length" field can include information related to the determination of intra / inter-BSS frames for PAIDs using VHT PPDUs. For example, the "Partial BSS Color Length" field can indicate the number of bits N of the partial BSS color used for AID assignment. The "Partial BSS Color Length" field can perform the same function as the "Number of Partial BSS Color Bits Used for AID" field described above. The "Partial BSS Color Length" field can have a length of 3 bits, but the invention is not limited thereto.

[0288] Figure 24 The illustration shows a sixth embodiment of the AID assignment method according to the present invention. (See reference) Figure 24 The sixth embodiment of the AID assignment method according to the present invention can be expressed as shown in Equation 23 below.

[0289] [Equation 23]

[0290] AID(8-N+1:8)=bin[(dec(BCB(0:N-1))-dec(BSSID(47--NN+1:47)XOR BSSID(43-N+1:43)))mod 2^N,N]

[0291] Here, N is 4.

[0292] According to a sixth embodiment of the invention, bits 8-N+1 to bit 8 of AID can be set using the rules of Equation 23. According to an embodiment of Equation 23, the predetermined N bits of AID can be determined based on the value obtained by subtracting the BSSID information from the BCB information. More specifically, the predetermined N bits of AID are determined by applying a modulo operation to the value obtained by subtracting the N-bit value based on BSSID from the value of the least significant N bits of the BSS color (i.e., the partial BSS color value). In this case, the predetermined N bits of AID are bits 8-N+1 to bit 8 of AID. The N-bit value based on BSSID indicates the XOR of a first predetermined N bits and a second predetermined N bits of BSSID. In an embodiment of Equation 23, the first predetermined N bits may indicate bits 47-N+1 to bit 47, and the second predetermined N bits may indicate bits 43-N+1 to bit 43.

[0293] As referenced above Figure 11 As stated above, during the PAID calculation process, the lower 5 bits of y are set to 0 (i.e., "00000"). In this case, when bits 5 to 8 of AID are set according to the rules of Equation 23, PAID[5:8] is set to a fixed value in BSS. Therefore, when assigning AID according to the rules of Equation 23, ambiguity in PAID value determination can be prevented.

[0294] Furthermore, if AID is allocated according to the rules of Equation 23, when PAID is set according to the embodiment of Equation 1, the K-bit value of BSSID (i.e., Figure 11The value of y in the equation is offset by N bits based on the BSSID. Therefore, the predetermined bits of PAID (i.e., PAID[8-N+1:8]) represent a portion of the BSS color value advertised to the intended receiver of the frame. Thus, when the received frame is a VHTPPDU (and the group ID extracted from the received frame is equal to 63), the terminal can perform intra-BSS and inter-BSS frame determination by comparing the predetermined bits of PAID extracted from the received frame with the portion of the BSS color advertised to the terminal. In this case, the predetermined bits of PAID are the value of the predetermined 4 bits of PAID, i.e., the value of PAID[5:8]. If the predetermined bits of PAID match the portion of the BSS color advertised to the terminal, the terminal determines the received frame as an intra-BSS frame. However, if the predetermined bits of PAID do not match the portion of the BSS color advertised to the terminal, the terminal determines the received frame as an inter-BSS frame.

[0295] According to an embodiment of the present invention, since the predetermined bits of PAID represent a portion of the BSS color value, the terminal receiving the frame can perform BSS intra-frame and BSS inter-frame determination by using PADI information without obtaining other information or performing other calculations.

[0296] Figure 25 The illustration depicts a non-traditional element format according to yet another embodiment of the present invention. Figure 25 In the fields of non-traditional elements, duplicate descriptions of the same parts as those of non-traditional elements described in the above embodiments will be omitted.

[0297] refer to Figure 25 Non-traditional elements may include an "Element ID" field, a "Length" field, and a "HE Operation Parameters" field. Additionally, the "HE Operation Parameters" field may include a "BSS Color" field and a "Partial BSS Color Indicator" field. According to an embodiment, the "HE Operation Parameters" field of a non-traditional element may include a 6-bit "BSS Color" field and a 1-bit "Partial BSS Color Indicator" field.

[0298] The “BSS Color” field indicates the color as shown in the reference above. Figure 23 The described BSS color value. The "Partial BSS Color Bit Indication" field indicates whether the corresponding BSS applies the AID assignment rule that uses partial BSS color bits. If this field is set to 1, N bits (where N is 4) of the partial BSS color value are used for AID assignment. However, if this field is set to 0, the partial BSS color is not used for AID assignment. Additionally, the "Partial BSS Color Bit Indication" field can indicate whether an intra / inter-frame BSS frame determination method using PAID information from the VHT PPDU is used. Figure 24In this embodiment, the number of bits N for the portion of the BSS color used for AID assignment is fixed. Therefore, non-traditional elements can indicate whether a portion of the BSS color is used for AID assignment via a 1-bit "Partial BSS Color Bit Indicator" field.

[0299] Figure 26 The illustration shows a seventh embodiment of the AID assignment method according to the present invention. Figure 26 (a) shows the AID assignment method when N is not 4. Figure 26 (b) shows the AID assignment method when N is 4. Here, N represents the number of BSS color bits used for AID assignment.

[0300] First, refer to Figure 26 In (a), when N is not 4, the seventh embodiment of the AID assignment method according to the present invention can be expressed as in Equation 24 below.

[0301] [Equation 24]

[0302] AID[5:8]=bin[(dec(BCB[0:N-1))*2 4-N +dec(A[0:3-N])-dec(BSSID[44:47]XORBSSID[40:43]))mod 2 4 ,4]

[0303] Here, A[0:3-N] is any (3-N+1) bit binary number.

[0304] Next, refer to Figure 26 In (b), when N is 4, the seventh embodiment of the AID assignment method according to the present invention can be expressed as shown in Equation 25 below.

[0305] [Equation 25]

[0306] AID[5:8]=bin[(dec(BCB[0:3])-dec(BSSID[44:47]XOR BSSID[40:43]))mod2 4 ,4]

[0307] Referring to equations 24 and 25, bits 5 through 8 of the AID can be set using a seventh embodiment of the AID assignment method according to the invention. According to the seventh embodiment, bits 5 through 8 of the AID can be determined based on a value obtained by subtracting the BSSID information from a value based on the BCB information. In this case, the BCB information indicates a portion of the BSS color, and the BSSID information indicates an N-bit value based on the BSSID. More specifically, the N-bit value based on the BSSID can be an XOR operation between the bit values ​​of bits 44 through 47 of the BSSID and the bit values ​​of bits 40 through 43 of the BSSID.

[0308] If an AID is assigned according to the rules of Equations 24 and 25, when a PAID is set according to the embodiment of Equation 1, the K-bit value of the BSSID (i.e., Figure 11 The y) in the image is offset by an N-bit value based on the BSSID. Therefore, the predetermined bits of PAID (i.e., PAID[8-N+1:8]) represent a portion of the BSS color value advertised to the intended receiver of the frame. Thus, when the received frame is a VHT PPDU (and the group ID extracted from the received frame is equal to 63), the terminal can perform intra-BSS and inter-BSS frame determination by comparing the predetermined bits of PAID extracted from the received frame with the portion of the BSS color advertised to the terminal.

[0309] In the following text, the reason why the predetermined bits of PAID (i.e., PAID[8-N+1:8]) represent a portion of the BSS color value (i.e., BCB[0:N-1]) when the seventh embodiment of the AID assignment method according to the present invention is used will be described in more detail. First, referring to Equation 1, PAID[5:8] is determined according to the following equation.

[0310] [Equation 26]

[0311] PAID[5:8]=(dec(AID[5:8])+dec(BSSID[44:47]XOR BSSID[40:43]))mod 2^4

[0312] [Case A] When N is not 4

[0313] When N is not 4, AID[5:8] can be set according to the rules of Equation 24. Referring to Equation 24, since A[0:3-N], AID[5:8] is determined as the variable value. The high N bits of AID[5:8] are determined to represent the variable value based on BCB[0:N-1]N].

[0314] (Case A-1) When (dec(BCB[0:N-1])*2^(4-N)+dec(A[0:3-N])-dec(BSSID[44:47]]XOR BSSID[40:43]))>=0

[0315] Substituting equation 24 into equation 26 yields the following equation.

[0316] [Equation 27]

[0317]

[0318] Referring to Equation 27, the only factor affecting PAID[8-N+1:8] is dec(BCB[0:N-1])*2^(4-N). Therefore, PAID[8-N+1:8] equals BCB[0:N-1].

[0319] (Case A-2) When (dec(BCB[0:N-1])*2^(4-N)+dec(A[0:3-N])-dec(BSSID[44:47]) XOR BSSID[40:43]))<0

[0320] Substituting equation 24 into equation 26 yields the following equation.

[0321] [Equation 28]

[0322]

[0323] Referring to Equation 28, the only factor affecting PAID[8-N+1:8] is dec(BCB[0:N-1])*2^(4-N). Therefore, PAID[8-N+1:8] equals BCB[0:N-1].

[0324] [Case B] When N is 4

[0325] When N is 4, AID[5:8] can be set according to the rules of Equation 25.

[0326] [Case B-1] When dec(BCB[0:3])-dec(BSSID[44:47]XORBSSID[40:43])>=0

[0327] Substituting equation 25 into equation 26 yields the following equation.

[0328] [Equation 29]

[0329]

[0330] Referring to Equation 29, PAID[8-N+1:8] equals BCB[0:N-1] (where N is 4).

[0331] [Case B-2] When dec(BCB[0:3])-dec(BSSID[44:47]XORBSSID[40:43])<0

[0332] Substituting equation 25 into equation 26 yields the following equation.

[0333] [Equation 30]

[0334]

[0335] Referring to Equation 30, PAID[8-N+1:8] equals BCB[0:N-1] (where N is 4).

[0336] As mentioned above, in all cases, the predetermined bits of PAID, namely PAID[8-N+1:8], have the same value as the partial BSS color value, namely BCB[0:N-1].

[0337] Figure 27 The illustration shows a fourth embodiment of the method for determining intra-BSS frames and inter-BSS frames according to the present invention. When referring to the reference... Figure 24 The sixth embodiment described or referenced Figure 26 When assigning an AID in the seventh embodiment described, it can be used Figure 27 The method for determining intra-BSS and inter-BSS frames is shown.

[0338] First, the terminal receives a radio frame and extracts the group ID and PAID information from the received frame (S2710). If the received frame is a VHT PPDU, the frame's RXVECTOR parameter includes the group ID and PAID. Therefore, if the received frame is a VHT PPDU, the terminal extracts the group ID and PAID information from the VHT PPDU's preamble.

[0339] Next, the terminal checks which information the extracted group ID represents (S2720). More specifically, the terminal checks whether the extracted group ID information is equal to 0 or 63. For example, in... Figure 8 In the embodiments described above, group ID 0 can indicate that the frame is an uplink frame. Furthermore, group ID 63 can indicate that the frame is a downlink frame. That is, the terminal can identify whether a frame is an uplink or downlink frame using the extracted group ID information.

[0340] If the extracted group ID information is equal to 0 (i.e., indicating an uplink frame), the terminal checks whether the PAID extracted from the frame matches a specific bit value of the BSSID associated with the terminal's BSS (S2730). In this case, the specific bit value of the BSSID can be BSSID[39:47]. (See above reference...) Figure 8As stated above, since PAID is set to BSSID[39:47] in the case of uplink frames, the terminal can determine whether the frame is an intra-BSS frame or an inter-BSS frame based on whether the PAID of the received frame matches the BSSID[39:47] of the BSS associated with the terminal. If PAID matches BSSID[39:47], the terminal determines the received frame as an intra-BSS frame (S2732). However, if PAID does not match BSSID[39:47], the terminal determines the received frame as an inter-BSS frame (S2734).

[0341] Simultaneously, if the extracted group ID information equals 63 (i.e., indicating a downlink frame), the terminal checks whether the PAID information extracted from the frame matches a portion of the BSS color advertised to the terminal (S2740). In this case, the PAID information indicates the predetermined bits of the PAID. Figure 27 In this embodiment, the predetermined bits of PAID indicate PAID[8-N+1:8]. According to an embodiment of the invention, N=4. Furthermore, the partial BSS color announced to the terminal indicates the partial BSS color announced by the AP associated with the terminal. If AID is assigned according to the sixth or seventh embodiment of the invention, when PAID is set, the K-bit value based on BSSID is offset by the N-bit value based on BSSID. Therefore, the predetermined bits of PAID (i.e., PAID[8-N+1:8]) represent the partial BSS color announced to the intended recipient of the frame. Therefore, the terminal can determine whether the corresponding frame is an intra-BSS frame or an inter-BSS frame based on whether the predetermined bits of the PAID of the received frame match the partial BSS color announced to the terminal. If the predetermined bits of PAID match the partial BSS color announced to the terminal, the terminal determines the received frame as an intra-BSS frame (S2742). However, if the predetermined bits of PAID do not match the partial BSS color announced to the terminal, the terminal determines the received frame as an inter-BSS frame (S2744).

[0342] According to an embodiment of the invention, the method for determining intra-BSS and inter-BSS frames when the extracted group ID information equals 63 can only be executed if the value N of the "Number of Partial BSS Color Bits Used for AID" field used for the most recently received non-traditional element from the associated AP is not 0. According to another embodiment of the invention, the method for determining intra-BSS and inter-BSS frames when the extracted group ID information equals 63 can only be executed if the "Partial BSS Color Bit Indication" field of the most recently received non-traditional element from the associated AP is set to 1. As described above, when the "Partial BSS Color Bit Indication" field is set to 1, the AID assignment rule using partial BSS color bits is applied.

[0343] Furthermore, the AID assignment method according to the above embodiments can be applied only when assigning AIDs to VHT STAs. AID assignment candidate values ​​are limited, and if a portion of the BSS color is used for AID assignment, the number of values ​​that can be assigned as AIDs is further reduced. Therefore, according to embodiments of the present invention, the above-described AID assignment method can be applied restrictively to VHT STAs, thereby ensuring AID assignment margin for all STAs.

[0344] Although the invention has been described using wireless LAN communication as an example, it is not limited thereto, and can be similarly applied to other communication systems, such as cellular communication, etc. Furthermore, while the methods, apparatus, and systems of the invention have been described in conjunction with specific embodiments, some or all of the components and operations of the invention can be implemented using a computer system with a general-purpose hardware architecture.

[0345] The embodiments described in the detailed description of the present invention can be implemented by various means. For example, embodiments of the present invention can be implemented by hardware, firmware, software, and / or combinations thereof.

[0346] In hardware implementation, the method according to embodiments of the present invention can be implemented by one or more of an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a digital signal processor (DSP), a digital signal processing device (DSPD), a programmable logic device (PLD), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a processor, a controller, a microcontroller, a microprocessor, etc.

[0347] In the case of firmware or software implementation, the method according to embodiments of the present invention can be implemented by modules, processes, functions, etc., that perform the operations described above. Software code can be stored in memory and operated by a processor. The processor can be equipped with memory internally or externally, and the memory can exchange data with the processor through various publicly known means.

[0348] The description of this invention is illustrative, and those skilled in the art will understand that the invention can be readily modified into other detailed forms without changing the technical concept or essential features. Therefore, it should be understood that the embodiments described above are intended to be illustrative in various senses and not restrictive. For example, each component described as a single type can be implemented as distributed, and similarly, components described as distributed can be implemented in an associated manner.

[0349] The scope of this invention is indicated by the claims to be described below, rather than by a detailed description, and it is to be understood that the meaning and scope of the claims and all variations or modifications derived from their equivalents fall within the scope of this invention.

[0350] Industrial applicability

[0351] Various exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the IEEE 802.11 system; however, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the present invention can be applied to various types of mobile communication devices, mobile communication systems, etc.

Claims

1. A wireless communication terminal, the wireless communication terminal comprising: processor; and Communication unit, The processor is configured as follows: Receive Physical Layer Protocol Data Unit (PPDU), which includes a group ID and a partial association ID (AID), and Based on multiple bits of the aforementioned partial AID, the PPDU is classified as either an inter-BSS PPDU or an intra-BSS PPDU. Specifically, when a basic wireless communication terminal applies the AID assignment rule, the predetermined N bits of the AID assigned to the wireless communication terminal are determined based on a value obtained by subtracting the N-bit value based on the BSSID from the partial BSS color bits of the BSS color of the BSS. Wherein, the portion of the BSS color bits is the value of the least significant N bits or the most significant N bits of the BSS color.

2. The wireless communication terminal according to claim 1, wherein, The processor is further configured to: Receive the AID from the wireless communication terminal. Specifically, when the group ID is a specific value and a portion of the BSS color field of the efficient HE operation element is a predetermined value, the PPDU is classified as an inter-BSS PPDU or an intra-BSS PPDU based on whether multiple bits of the portion AID are equal to the portion BSS color bits of the BSS announcement associated with the wireless communication terminal.

3. The wireless communication terminal according to claim 1, in, The N-bit value based on the BSSID is the XOR value of the first predetermined N bits of the BSSID and the second predetermined N bits of the BSSID.

4. The wireless communication terminal according to claim 2, in, N is 4, and The specific value of the group ID is 63.

5. The wireless communication terminal according to claim 1, in, The AID assignment rule is as follows: Wherein, BCB is the BSS color, BSSID is the BSS identifier, and N=4.

6. The wireless communication terminal according to claim 1, in, When the PPDU is a VHT PPDU, the AID of the wireless communication terminal and the K-bit value based on the BSSID are used to set the partial AID.

7. The wireless communication terminal according to claim 6, in, The plurality of bits of the portion AID of the VHT PPDU represent the portion BSS color bits, where the K-bit value is subtracted from the N-bit value based on the BSSID of the BSS.

8. A wireless communication method for a wireless communication terminal, the method comprising: Receive Physical Layer Protocol Data Unit (PPDU), which includes a group ID and a partial association ID (AID), and Based on multiple bits of the aforementioned partial AID, the PPDU is classified as either an inter-BSS PPDU or an intra-BSS PPDU. Specifically, when a basic wireless communication terminal applies the AID assignment rule, the predetermined N bits of the AID assigned to the wireless communication terminal are determined based on a value obtained by subtracting the N-bit value based on the BSSID from the partial BSS color bits of the BSS color of the BSS. Wherein, the portion of the BSS color bits is the value of the least significant N bits or the most significant N bits of the BSS color.

9. The wireless communication method according to claim 8, wherein, The method further includes: Receive the AID from the wireless communication terminal. Specifically, when the group ID is a specific value and a portion of the BSS color field of the efficient HE operation element is a predetermined value, the PPDU is classified as an inter-BSS PPDU or an intra-BSS PPDU based on whether multiple bits of the portion AID are equal to the portion BSS color bits of the BSS announcement associated with the wireless communication terminal.

10. The wireless communication method according to claim 8, in, The N-bit value based on the BSSID is the XOR value of the first predetermined N bits of the BSSID and the second predetermined N bits of the BSSID.

11. The wireless communication method according to claim 9, in, N is 4, and The specific value of the group ID is 63.

12. The wireless communication method according to claim 8, in, The AID assignment rule is as follows: Here, BCB is the BSS color, BSSID is the BSS identifier, and N=4.

13. The wireless communication method according to claim 8, in, When the PPDU is a VHT PPDU, the AID of the wireless communication terminal and the K-bit value based on the BSSID are used to set the partial AID.

14. The wireless communication method according to claim 13, in, The plurality of bits of the portion AID of the VHT PPDU represent the portion BSS color bits, where the K-bit value is subtracted from the N-bit value based on the BSSID of the BSS.

Images