Method and apparatus for performing traffic flow management

Abstract

The present application provides a method for performing traffic stream management and related apparatus, which is performed by means of auxiliary information in a wireless communication system, the method comprising: carrying first auxiliary information in at least one first data unit in a first stream, wherein the first stream and a second stream are assigned to a same traffic identifier (TID); and sending the at least one first data unit carrying the first auxiliary information and at least one second data unit of the second stream to a second device, wherein the first auxiliary information comprises an indication that the at least one first data unit belongs to a part of the first stream. The present application enables a receiving STA to identify which data unit is part of a SCS stream with certain requirements (e.g. QoS requirements) so that the data units can be processed using a corresponding reception strategy.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to communication control, and more specifically, to a method for performing traffic flow management in a wireless communication system with the aid of auxiliary information, and related apparatus such as access point (AP) devices and station (STA) devices. Background Technology

[0002] According to existing technologies, on the AP side, if multiple stream classification service (SCS) streams are mapped to the same traffic identifier (TID), or if other non-SCS streams are mapped to the same TID, the receiving STA cannot identify which medium access control (MAC) service data unit (MSDU) is part of an SCS stream with quality of service (QoS) requirements. Therefore, it cannot use the appropriate receiving strategy to process these multiple SCS or non-SCS streams. Thus, a novel method and related architecture are needed to solve the problems of related technologies without introducing any side effects or with the likelihood of introducing side effects. Summary of the Invention

[0003] One object of the present invention is to provide a method and related apparatus (e.g., access point (AP) equipment and station (STA) equipment) for managing traffic flow with the aid of auxiliary information in a wireless communication system to solve the above-mentioned problems.

[0004] At least one embodiment of the present invention provides a method for performing traffic flow management, the method being performed in a wireless communication system by means of auxiliary information, the method being applicable to a first device, the method comprising: carrying first auxiliary information in at least one first data unit in a first flow, wherein the first flow and a second flow are assigned the same traffic identifier (TID); and transmitting the at least one first data unit carrying the first auxiliary information and at least one second data unit in the second flow to a second device, wherein the first auxiliary information includes an indication that the at least one first data unit belongs to a part of the first flow.

[0005] The present invention also provides a first device for performing traffic flow management in a wireless communication system using auxiliary information. The first device includes: a processing circuit for controlling the operation of the first device; and at least one communication control circuit coupled to the processing circuit for performing communication control, wherein the at least one communication control circuit is used to perform wireless communication operations with a second device for the first device. The first device is configured to carry first auxiliary information in at least one first data unit in a first stream, wherein the first stream and the second stream are assigned the same TID; and the first device is configured to transmit the at least one first data unit carrying the first auxiliary information and at least one second data unit in the second stream to the second device, wherein the first auxiliary information includes an indication that the at least one first data unit belongs to the first stream.

[0006] The present invention also provides a method for performing traffic flow management, the method being performed in a wireless communication system by means of auxiliary information, the method being applicable to a second device, the method comprising: receiving from the first device at least one first data unit of a first stream, wherein the at least one first data unit carries first auxiliary information; receiving from the first device at least one second data unit of a second stream, wherein the first stream and the second stream are assigned the same traffic identifier (TID); wherein the first auxiliary information includes an indication that the at least one first data unit belongs to a part of the first stream.

[0007] The present invention also provides a second device for performing traffic flow management in a wireless communication system using auxiliary information. The second device includes: a processing circuit for controlling the operation of the second device; and at least one communication control circuit coupled to the processing circuit for performing communication control, wherein the at least one communication control circuit is used to perform wireless communication operations with a first device for the second device. The second device is used to receive at least one first data unit of a first stream from the first device, wherein the at least one first data unit carries first auxiliary information, and to receive at least one second data unit of a second stream from the first device, wherein the first stream and the second stream are assigned the same service identifier (TID); wherein the first auxiliary information includes an indication that the at least one first data unit belongs to a part of the first stream.

[0008] With proper design, the method and related apparatus (e.g., the first and second devices) of this invention improve the overall performance of wireless communication systems. For example, on the AP side of an AP device, if multiple SCS streams are mapped or assigned to a TID, or if other non-SCS streams are mapped or assigned to the same TID, the method of this invention, by, for example, inserting an SCS identifier (SCSID) into the data unit (e.g., MSDU or MPDU header) and / or by analyzing the SCS stream using the AP device and notifying the STA device of relevant information, can ensure that the receiving STA (e.g., the STA device) can identify which data unit (e.g., MSDU) is part of an SCS stream with certain requirements (e.g., QoS requirements), so that these data units can be processed using appropriate reception strategies. Furthermore, the method and apparatus of this invention can solve related technical problems without introducing any side effects or are unlikely to introduce side effects.

[0009] These and other objects of the invention will undoubtedly become apparent to those skilled in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments shown in the various accompanying drawings. Attached Figure Description

[0010] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0011] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the first control scheme according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0012] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of a feature-aware data processing control scheme for a method of managing traffic flow in a wireless communication system using auxiliary information, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0013] Figure 4 This is an example of an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 The diagram shows some implementation details of the auxiliary information control scheme.

[0014] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram illustrating an auxiliary information control scheme according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0015] Figure 6 The workflow of a method according to an embodiment of the present invention is illustrated.

[0016] Figure 7 The workflow of a method according to another embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0017] Figure 8 The workflow of a method according to yet another embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0018] Figure 9 The workflow of a method according to yet another embodiment of the present invention is shown. Detailed Implementation

[0019] Certain terms are used in the specification and claims to refer to specific components. Those skilled in the art will understand that electronic device manufacturers may use different names to refer to the same component. This specification and claims do not distinguish components by differences in name, but rather by differences in function. The term "comprising" throughout the specification and subsequent claims is an open-ended term and should be interpreted as "comprising but not limited to." Furthermore, the term "coupled" here includes any direct and indirect electrical connection means. Therefore, if the text describes a first device electrically connected to a second device, it means that the first device can be directly connected to the second device, or indirectly connected to the second device through other devices or connection means.

[0020] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. For better understanding, the wireless communication system 100 (e.g., any device therein) may be compatible with or backward compatible with one or more versions of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard, but the invention is not limited thereto. Figure 1 As shown, the wireless communication system 100 may include multiple devices, such as a first device like an AP device 110 and a second device like a STA device 120. The AP device 110 may include a processing circuit 112, at least one communication control circuit (e.g., one or more communication control circuits) that may be collectively referred to as a communication control circuit 114, and at least one antenna (e.g., one or more antennas) of the communication control circuit 114. The STA device 120 may include a processing circuit 122, at least one communication control circuit (e.g., one or more communication control circuits) that may be collectively referred to as a communication control circuit 124, and at least one antenna (e.g., one or more antennas) of the communication control circuit 124.

[0021] Processing circuit 112 can be used to control the operation of AP device 110 so that AP device 110 acts as AP in wireless communication system 100, and communication control circuit 114 can be used to perform communication control, and more specifically, to perform wireless communication operation between AP device 110 and STA device 120 (e.g., its communication control circuit 124). Furthermore, processing circuit 122 can be used to control the operation of STA device 120 so that STA device 120 acts as STA in wireless communication system 100, and communication control circuit 124 can be used to perform communication control, and more specifically, to perform wireless communication operation between STA device 120 and AP device 110 (e.g., its communication control circuit 114).

[0022] According to some embodiments, the processing circuit 112 can be implemented using at least one processor / microprocessor, at least one random access memory (RAM), at least one bus, etc., and the communication control circuit 114 can be implemented using at least one wireless network control circuit and / or at least one wired network control circuit, but the invention is not limited thereto. Furthermore, the processing circuit 122 can be implemented using at least one processor / microprocessor, at least one RAM, at least one bus, etc., while the communication control circuit 124 can be implemented using at least one wireless network control circuit, but the invention is not limited thereto.

[0023] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of a first control scheme according to an embodiment of the present invention. The wireless communication system 200 may include an AP device 210 (referred to as "AP" for simplicity) acting as an AP in the wireless communication system 200, and may also include a STA device 220 (referred to as "STA" for simplicity) acting as a STA in the wireless communication system 200. The AP device 210 may include a host circuit 212 (e.g., at least one processor / microprocessor running program code for controlling the AP) as the host in the AP (referred to as "host" for simplicity), and further includes at least one communication control circuit (e.g., one or more communication control circuits), such as communication control circuit 214. The STA device 220 may include a host circuit 222 (e.g., at least one processor / microprocessor running program code for controlling the STA) as the host in the STA (referred to as "host" for simplicity), and further includes at least one communication control circuit (e.g., one or more communication control circuits), such as communication control circuit 224. Furthermore, AP device 210 (e.g., communication control circuit 214) and STA device 220 (e.g., communication control circuit 224) can communicate with each other according to the IEEE 802.11 protocol. Figure 2 The AP device 210 and STA device 220 shown can be respectively used as Figure 1The examples of AP device 110 and STA device 120 shown include host circuit 212 and communication control circuit 214, which can be examples of processing circuit 112 and communication control circuit 114, respectively, and host circuit 222 and communication control circuit 224, which can be examples of processing circuit 122 and communication control circuit 124, respectively. In some embodiments, host circuits 212 and 222 can be regarded as the upper layer of AP device 210 and STA device 220, respectively, while communication control circuits 214 and 224 can be regarded as the lower layer of AP device 210 and STA device 220, respectively. This includes the wireless communication system 200 of AP device 210 and STA device 220 being regarded as a local area network (LAN), but the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0024] Data transmitted from AP device 210 to STA device 220, such as data transmitted from host circuit 212 to host circuit 222 via communication control circuits 214 and 224, may be obtained from at least one network (e.g., one or more networks), such as the Internet via a wired or wireless connection. More specifically, the data may include a first stream such as SCS stream #1, a second stream such as SCS stream #2, and other data or other streams such as unclassified data, but the invention is not limited thereto. According to some embodiments, the streams of data transmitted from AP device 210 to STA device 220 (e.g., such as...) Figure 2 The first stream, such as SCS stream #1, the second stream, such as SCS stream #2, and another stream, such as unclassified data, shown may be different, which will not affect the implementation of the present invention. For example, in a first case, the streams in the data sent from AP device 210 to STA device 220 may include the first stream, such as SCS stream #1, and other streams, such as unclassified data, but not the second stream, such as SCS stream #2. As another example, in a second case, the streams in the data sent from AP device 210 to STA device 220 may include the second stream, such as SCS stream #2, and other streams, such as unclassified data, but not the first stream, such as SCS stream #1. As yet another example, in a third case, the streams in the data transmitted from AP device 210 to STA device 220 may include the first stream, such as SCS stream #1, and the second stream, such as SCS stream #2, but not other streams, such as unclassified data.

[0025] According to this embodiment, the data streams transmitted from AP device 210 to STA device 220 include a first stream such as SCS stream #1, a second stream such as SCS stream #2, and other streams such as unclassified data. This initial case is provided as an example for better understanding. On the AP side, such as AP device 210, host circuitry 212 can be arranged to prepare the first stream such as SCS stream #1, the second stream such as SCS stream #2, and other streams such as unclassified data. More specifically, it prepares corresponding data units for the first stream (e.g., SCS stream #1), the second stream (e.g., SCS stream #2), and other streams (e.g., unclassified data). Furthermore, the communication control circuit 214 can be arranged to map a first stream, such as SCS stream #1, a second stream, such as SCS stream #2, and other streams, such as unclassified data, to the same traffic identifier (TID), and to combine the corresponding data units of the first stream (e.g., SCS stream #1), the second stream (e.g., SCS stream #2), and other streams (e.g., unclassified data) into a plurality of data units having a predetermined order, such as a series of data units having a series of sequence numbers, thereby sending them to the STA side, such as STA device 220. For example, the aforementioned identical TID can be one of a plurality of predetermined TIDs, such as one of the TIDs defined in one or more versions of the IEEE 802.11 standard, more specifically, it can be equal to three (labeled "TID3" for better understanding), but the present invention is not limited thereto. In some examples, the aforementioned identical TID can be any of a plurality of predetermined TIDs, and more specifically, it can be equal to any value selected from the values ​​{0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7}.

[0026] like Figure 2As shown, the communication control circuit 224 on the STA side (e.g., STA device 220) may include a reordering buffer on the receive (RX) path, such as RX reordering buffer 224R, wherein RX reordering buffer 224R may include multiple storage locations (e.g., consecutive storage locations) of a series of storage locations {SL1, SL2, SL3, SL4, SL5, SL6, ...} for buffering at least a portion (e.g., a portion or all) of the data units received from AP device 210, such as multiple data units having a predetermined order (e.g., a sequence of data units each having a sequence number). Due to interference and retransmission, the STA device 220 may receive the multiple data units in a different order (e.g., a random order that is usually different from the predetermined order). Therefore, the STA device 220 can perform a reordering operation on the received data units using the RX reordering buffer 224R. More specifically, the received data units are cached (or temporarily stored) in multiple storage locations such as a series of storage locations {SL1, SL2, SL3, SL4, SL5, SL6...} according to the corresponding sequence number of the received data units, so that the received data units already cached in the RX reordering buffer 224R conform to the predetermined order. One or more data units among the multiple data units, such as the data unit that should be cached in storage location SL1 according to its sequence number, may not have been received during reception and are not cached in the RX reordering buffer 224R (labeled "unreceived" for brevity). After the reordering operation is performed, all data units in the multiple data units may have been cached in the RX reordering buffer 224R in a predetermined order, and the communication control circuit 224 can perform a buffer flush operation, and more specifically, send or flush the multiple data units in the predetermined order from the RX reordering buffer 224R to the host circuit 222 for further processing in the host circuit 222.

[0027] According to some embodiments, the corresponding data units of the first stream (e.g., SCS stream #1), the second stream (e.g., SCS stream #2), and other streams (e.g., unclassified data) can be implemented using service data units (MSDUs), but the invention is not limited thereto. According to some embodiments, the corresponding data units of the first stream (e.g., SCS stream #1), the second stream (e.g., SCS stream #2), and other streams (e.g., unclassified data) can be implemented using MAC protocol data units (MPDUs). According to some embodiments, the corresponding data units of the first stream (e.g., SCS stream #1), the second stream (e.g., SCS stream #2), and other streams (e.g., unclassified data) can be implemented using one or a combination of MSDUs, MPDUs, and aggregated MSDUs (A-MSDUs).

[0028] According to some embodiments, the communication control circuit 214 on the AP side (e.g., AP device 210) may include a transmit (TX) buffer on the TX path for preparing data units to be sent to the communication control circuit 224 on the STA side (e.g., STA device 220). For the sake of brevity, similar descriptions of these embodiments will not be repeated here.

[0029] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of a feature-aware data processing control scheme for service flow management in a wireless communication system using auxiliary information {INFO_AUX} according to an embodiment of the present invention. This method can be applied to... Figure 1 The wireless communication system 100 shown (e.g., the AP device 110 and STA device 120 therein) and Figure 2 The wireless communication system 200 shown (e.g., the AP device 210 and STA device 220 therein). With Figure 2 Compared to the embodiments shown, Figure 3 The AP side (e.g., AP device 210) of the illustrated embodiment can control the data units of the first stream (e.g., SCS stream #1), the data units of the second stream (e.g., SCS stream #2), and the data units of other streams (e.g., unclassified data) to carry auxiliary information {INFO_AUX} (for simplicity, labeled as "having INFO_AUX") such as the first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1), the second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2), and the other auxiliary information INFO_AUX(0).

[0030] For example, the relevant operations on the AP side may include:

[0031] (1) The wireless communication system 200 may utilize the AP device 210, for example, by preparing at least one first data unit of the first first class in the TX buffer so that at least one first data unit of the plurality of first data units of the first first class carries first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1), to generate first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1) for a first stream such as SCS stream #1, so that at least one first data unit (e.g., one or more first data units) of the first first class carries first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1), wherein the first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1) may indicate at least one first feature (e.g., one or more first features) of the first first class, more specifically, it may include the first SCSID of SCS stream #1;

[0032] (2) The wireless communication system 200 may utilize the AP device 210, for example, by preparing at least one second data unit of the second stream in the TX buffer to carry second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2) in at least one second data unit of the plurality of second data units of the second stream, to generate second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2) for a second stream such as SCS stream #2, such that at least one second data unit (e.g., one or more second data units) of the second stream carries second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2), wherein the second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2) may indicate at least one second feature (e.g., one or more second features) of the second stream, more specifically, it may include the second SCSID of SCS stream #2;

[0033] (3) The wireless communication system 200 may utilize the AP device 210, for example, by preparing at least one other data unit of another stream in the TX buffer to carry additional auxiliary information INFO_AUX(0) in at least one other data unit of a plurality of other data units of the other stream, to generate additional auxiliary information INFO_AUX(0) for other streams such as unclassified data, so that at least one other data unit (e.g., one or more other data units) of the other stream carries additional auxiliary information INFO_AUX(0), wherein the additional auxiliary information INFO_AUX(0) may indicate at least one other feature (e.g., one or more other features) of the other stream, and more specifically, may include a specific value as an empty SCSID in the SCSID subfield of the additional auxiliary information INFO_AUX(0), for example, the specific value may represent a predetermined value different from a plurality of valid SCSIDs (e.g., 255 or any other value); and

[0034] (4) The wireless communication system 200 utilizes the AP device 210 to map the first stream (e.g., SCS stream #1), the second stream (e.g., SCS stream #2), and other streams (e.g., unclassified data) to the same TID (e.g., TID = 3), for example, by assigning the first stream (e.g., SCS stream #1), the second stream (e.g., SCS stream #2), and other streams (e.g., unclassified data) to the same TID (e.g., TID = 3), and sends at least one first data unit carrying the first auxiliary information INFO_AUX (1), at least one second data unit carrying the second auxiliary information INFO_AUX (2), and at least one other data unit carrying other auxiliary information INFO_AUX (0) to the STA device 220 to accelerate the processing of the first stream (e.g., SCS stream #1) and the second stream (e.g., SCS stream #2) in the STA device 220 by means of the first auxiliary information INFO_AUX (1) and the second auxiliary information INFO_AUX (2), respectively.

[0035] The AP device 210 can send at least one first data unit carrying the first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1) and at least one second data unit carrying the second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2) to the STA device 220, so that the STA device 220 can accelerate the processing of the first stream and the second stream according to the first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1) (e.g., the first SCSID) and the second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2) (e.g., the second SCSID), such as the processing of the aforementioned at least one first data unit and the processing of the aforementioned at least one second data unit, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0036] In addition, the relevant operations on the STA side may include:

[0037] (1) The wireless communication system 200 can use the STA device 220 to receive at least one first data unit of the first stream (e.g., SCS stream #1);

[0038] (2) The wireless communication system 200 can use the STA device 220 to receive at least one second data unit of the second stream (e.g., SCS stream #2);

[0039] (3) The wireless communication system 200 can utilize the STA device 220 to receive at least one other data unit of the aforementioned other data streams (e.g., unclassified data); and

[0040] (4) The wireless communication system 200 can use the STA device 220 to accelerate the processing of the first stream and the second stream, such as the processing of at least one first data unit and the processing of at least one second data unit, respectively, based on the first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1) (e.g., the first SCSID) and the second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2) (e.g., the second SCSID).

[0041] Figure 4 This is an example of an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 The diagram illustrates some implementation details of the auxiliary information control scheme. (Refer to...) Figure 4 The AP side (e.g., AP device 210) can control data units from the first stream (e.g., SCS stream #1), the second stream (e.g., SCS stream #2), and other streams (e.g., unclassified data), carrying first SCSID SCSID_1, second SCSID SCSID_2, and empty SCSID SCSID_NULL, respectively. For example, multiple data units can be sent from the AP side. Furthermore, the STA side (e.g., STA device 220) can reorder multiple data units received from the AP device 210 according to their corresponding sequence numbers using the RX reordering buffer 224R, regardless of whether the multiple data units were received from the AP device 210 in the same order (e.g., a predetermined order) as their corresponding sequence numbers, but the invention is not limited thereto. The STA device 220 can process some of the multiple data units buffered in the RX reordering buffer 224R first, without waiting to receive all the multiple data units in the predetermined order.

[0042] AP device 210 can send at least one first data unit carrying the first SCSID SCSID_1 and at least one second data unit carrying the second SCSID SCSID_2 to STA device 220, so that STA device 220 can distinguish between SCS stream #1 and SCS stream #2 mapped or assigned to the same TID and other streams (e.g., unclassified data). More specifically, it can identify the at least one first data unit belonging to SCS stream #1 and the at least one second data unit belonging to SCS stream #2 among the multiple data units cached in the RX reordering buffer 224R of STA device 220, so as to accelerate the corresponding processing of the at least one first data unit and the at least one second data unit. Based on auxiliary information {INFO_AUX} (e.g., first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1), second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2), and other auxiliary information INFO_AUX(0)), such as first SCSID SCSID_1, second SCSID SCSID_2, and empty SCSID SCSID_NULL, STA device 220 (e.g., host circuit 222) may, for example, process at least one first data unit belonging to SCS stream #1 and at least one second data unit belonging to SCS stream #2 in advance before processing at least one other data unit (e.g., unclassified data) belonging to other streams, in order to accelerate the processing of SCS stream #1 and SCS stream #2. For example, the communication control circuit 224 can send at least one first data unit belonging to SCS stream #1 (e.g., a data unit cached at storage location SL2) and at least one second data unit belonging to SCS stream #2 (e.g., two data units cached at storage locations SL4 and SL5 respectively) from a plurality of data units cached in the RX reordering buffer 224R to the host circuit 222 for further processing in the host circuit 222. For the sake of brevity, similar descriptions in this embodiment will not be repeated here.

[0043] According to some embodiments, STA device 220 can, for example, specify at least one first Quality of Service (QoS) requirement (e.g., one or more first QoS requirements) and at least one second QoS requirement (e.g., one or more second QoS requirements) for SCS flow #1 and SCS flow #2 respectively by using traffic specification (TSPEC) elements defined in one or more versions of the IEEE 802.11 standard. Furthermore, AP device 210 can apply associated transmission policies to the aforementioned at least one first data unit and the aforementioned at least one second data unit to meet the aforementioned at least one first QoS requirement and the aforementioned at least one second QoS requirement respectively, and send the aforementioned at least one first data unit carrying a first SCSID SCSID_1 and the aforementioned at least one second data unit carrying a second SCSID SCSID_2 to STA device 220, so that STA device 220 can process the aforementioned at least one first data unit and the aforementioned at least one second data unit in advance, for example, before processing the aforementioned at least one other data unit belonging to other flows (e.g., unclassified data), to meet the aforementioned at least one first QoS requirement and the aforementioned at least one second QoS requirement respectively. For example, the at least one first QoS requirement may include a first delay bound for the at least one first data unit, and the at least one second QoS requirement may include a second delay bound for the at least one second data unit. As another example, the at least one first QoS requirement may include a first minimum delivery rate for the at least one first data unit, and the at least one second QoS requirement may include a second minimum delivery rate for the at least one second data unit. For the sake of brevity, similar descriptions of these embodiments will not be repeated here.

[0044] According to some embodiments, STA device 220 can, for example, specify at least one first classification rule and at least one second classification rule for SCS flow #1 and SCS flow #2 respectively by using traffic classification elements (TCLAS) defined in one or more versions of the IEEE 802.11 standard. Furthermore, AP device 210 can classify the aforementioned at least one first data unit and the aforementioned at least one second data unit according to the aforementioned at least one first classification rule and at least one second classification rule respectively, and transmit at least one first data unit carrying SCSID SCSID_1 and at least one second data unit carrying second SCSID SCSID_2 to STA device 220, so that STA device 220 processes the aforementioned at least one first data unit and the aforementioned at least one second data unit before processing the aforementioned at least one other data unit belonging to other flows (e.g., unclassified data). For the sake of brevity, similar descriptions of these embodiments will not be repeated here.

[0045] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram illustrating an auxiliary information control scheme according to an embodiment of the present invention. The AP side (e.g., AP device 210) can set a predetermined position for auxiliary information INFO_AUX (e.g., one of first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1), second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2), and other auxiliary information INFO_AUX(0)) in any data unit within the corresponding data unit of SCS stream #1, SCS stream #2, and other streams (e.g., unclassified data). More specifically, the predetermined position can be at least one field (e.g., one or more fields) within a predetermined portion of any of the aforementioned data units. For example, the predetermined portion can be a MAC header, but the invention is not limited thereto. For the sake of brevity, similar descriptions of this embodiment will not be repeated here.

[0046] According to some embodiments, the auxiliary information {INFO_AUX} such as the first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1), the second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2), and the other auxiliary information INFO_AUX(0) may include other indications, such as other information and / or other indicators. For example, any of the auxiliary information INFO_AUX in the first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1), the second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2), and the other auxiliary information INFO_AUX(0) may include a buffer flush request. Furthermore, the AP device 210 may notify the STA device 220 of the buffer flush request, for example, through at least one of the aforementioned first data units, at least one of the aforementioned second data units, or at least one of the aforementioned other data units, so that the STA device 220 will flush out at least a portion (e.g., a portion or all of the data units) of the plurality of data units cached in the RX reordering buffer 224R of the STA device 220. Similar descriptions of these embodiments will not be repeated here.

[0047] According to one embodiment, any of the aforementioned auxiliary information INFO_AUX, including the buffer refresh request, can represent the first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1), and at least a portion of the data units can include all data units carrying the first SCSID SCSID_1 among a plurality of data units buffered in the RX reordering buffer 224R. For example, when there are no more data units in a portion of the SCS stream #1 to be sent to the STA device 220 in the near future (e.g., a predetermined time period), the AP device 210 can transmit the aforementioned at least one first data unit carrying both the first SCSID SCSID_1 and the buffer refresh request to the STA device 220. As another example, the STA device 220 can specify the aforementioned at least one first QoS requirement for the SCS stream #1. In this case, the aforementioned at least one first QoS requirement can include a first delay limit for the aforementioned at least one first data unit. When at least one first data unit (e.g., at least one MSDU) sent from AP device 210 approaches the delay limit requirement of the first delay limit (e.g., when the first estimated delay of the at least one first data unit sent from AP device 210 is less than the first delay limit by a predetermined threshold), AP device 210 may send the at least one first data unit carrying both a first SCSID SCSID_1 and a buffer refresh request to STA device 220. For the sake of brevity, similar descriptions of this embodiment will not be repeated here.

[0048] According to another embodiment, any of the aforementioned auxiliary information INFO_AUX, including the buffer refresh request, can represent the second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2), and the aforementioned at least a portion of the data units can include all data units carrying the second SCSID SCSID_2 among a plurality of data units buffered in the RX reordering buffer 224R. For example, when there are no more data units in a portion of the SCS stream #2 to be sent to the STA device 220 in the near future (e.g., a predetermined time period, such as a time interval corresponding to a predetermined duration), the AP device 210 can transmit the aforementioned at least one second data unit carrying both the second SCSID SCSID_2 and the buffer refresh request to the STA device 220. As another example, the STA device 220 can specify the aforementioned at least one second QoS requirement for the SCS stream #2. In this case, the aforementioned at least one second QoS requirement can include at least one second delay limit for the aforementioned at least one second data unit. When at least one second data unit (e.g., at least one MSDU) sent from AP device 210 approaches the delay limit requirement of the second delay limit (e.g., when the second estimated delay of the at least one second data unit sent from AP device 210 is less than the second delay limit than a predetermined threshold), AP device 210 may send the at least one second data unit carrying both a second SCSID SCSID_2 and a buffer refresh request to STA device 220. For the sake of brevity, similar descriptions of this embodiment will not be repeated here.

[0049] According to another embodiment, any of the aforementioned auxiliary information INFO_AUX, including the buffer refresh request, can represent other auxiliary information INFO_AUX(0), and the aforementioned at least a portion of the data units can include all data units carrying empty SCSID SCSID_NULL among a plurality of data units buffered in the RX reordering buffer 224R. For example, when there are no more data units to be sent to STA device 220 in the near future (e.g., within a predetermined time period), AP device 210 can transmit the aforementioned at least one other data unit carrying both empty SCSID SCSID_NULL and a buffer refresh request to STA device 220. As another example, STA device 220 can specify the aforementioned at least one other QoS requirement for other streams (e.g., unclassified data). In this case, the aforementioned at least one other QoS requirement can include at least one other latency limit for the aforementioned at least one other data unit. When at least one other data unit (e.g., at least one MSDU) sent from AP device 210 approaches the latency limit requirement of other latency limits (e.g., when the estimated latency of the at least one other data unit sent from AP device 210 is less than a predetermined threshold compared to the other latency limits), AP device 210 may send the at least one other data unit carrying both an empty SCSID SCSID_NULL and a buffer refresh request to STA device 220. For the sake of brevity, similar descriptions of this embodiment will not be repeated here.

[0050] Table 1

[0051]

[0052] Table 1 shows an example of the format of the auxiliary information INFO_AUX at a predetermined location, which may be, for example, the aggregation control (A-Control) field (labeled "A-ctrl" in note #2 shown above for simplicity) within the corresponding data unit of SCS stream #1, SCS stream #2, and other streams (e.g., unclassified data), where SCSID and buffer refresh requests may be carried in the A-ctrl field (e.g., the A-ctrl subfield in the High Throughput (HT) control field format defined in one or more versions of the IEEE 802.11 standard). As shown in Table 1, the format of the auxiliary information INFO_AUX may include multiple subfields, such as:

[0053] (1) Subfield “Control ID value”: Control Identifier (ID) of auxiliary information INFO_AUX, where “Meaning” shown in Table 1 can indicate that the control ID can be related to SCS process auxiliary, but the present invention is not limited thereto;

[0054] (2) Subfield “Control”: It may carry multiple control bits (e.g., two control bits) to indicate whether a first optional subfield (e.g., subfield “optional transport block”) and a second optional subfield (e.g., subfield “optional maximum time limit”) exist respectively, wherein one of the multiple control bits (e.g., the first control bit) may indicate whether the subfield “optional transport block” exists, and another of the multiple control bits (e.g., the second control bit) may indicate whether the subfield “optional maximum time limit” exists;

[0055] (3) Subfield “SCSID”: can be used to carry any of the above data units (e.g., the first SCSID SCSID_1, the second SCSID SCSID_2 for SCS stream #1, SCS stream #2 respectively, or an empty SCSID SCSID_NULL for other streams (such as unclassified data), where, for example, the SCSID can be used with the accompanying MSDU, or another example, the SCSID may be unrelated to the accompanying MSDU(s) / A-MSDU with an empty SCSID SCSID_NULL (e.g., a specific SCSID, such as 255) to request a refresh of all SCS streams;

[0056] (4) Subfield “Buffer flush request”: can be used to carry a buffer flush request;

[0057] (5) Subfield "Optional Transport Block": This can be used to carry SCS transport block information, for controlling or instructing the STA side to preprocess at least any of the above data units; and

[0058] (6) Subfield “Optional maximum period bound”: can be used to carry the maximum period bound, to control or instruct the STA side to process at least any of the above data units in advance, such as the maximum period bound left in the RX reordering buffer 224R of the STA device 220.

[0059] Each of the aforementioned subfields may have a predetermined number of bits. Without hindering the implementation of this invention, the corresponding predetermined number of bits for some of the subfields may be arbitrarily predetermined, and therefore may be considered as "to be determined" (labeled "TBD" for brevity). For the sake of brevity, similar descriptions in this embodiment will not be repeated here.

[0060] According to some embodiments, regarding the maximum time limit carried by the above subfield "optional maximum time limit", the STA device 220 can initialize the SCS process for the AP device 210 to specify, for example, the first traffic flow of the first flow as SCS flow #1 with the first SCSID SCSID_1, and specify, for example, the second traffic flow of the second flow as SCS flow #2 with the second SCSID SCSID_2, wherein the first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1) may include the first SCSID SCSID_1, and the second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2) may include the second SCSID SCSID_2. Furthermore, after completing the SCS process, the AP device 210 can analyze SCS stream #1 and SCS stream #2 to determine the first maximum time period limit and the second maximum time period limit for the at least one first data unit and the at least one second data unit remaining in the RX reordering buffer 224R of the STA device 220, wherein the first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1) may include the first maximum time period limit in its subfield "optional maximum time period limit", and the second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2) may include the second maximum time period limit in its subfield "optional maximum time period limit".

[0061] More specifically, AP device 210 can send at least one first data unit carrying a first maximum time period limit and at least one second data unit carrying a second maximum time period limit to STA device 220, such that if a group of first data units stays in the RX reordering buffer 224R for a first time period that reaches the first maximum time period limit, STA device 220 can process the group of first data units carrying the first SCSID SCSID_1 in the RX reordering buffer 224R; and if a group of second data units stays in the RX reordering buffer 224R for a second time period that reaches the second maximum time period limit, STA device 220 can process the group of second data units carrying the second SCSID SCSID_2 in the RX reordering buffer 224R. For the sake of brevity, similar descriptions of these embodiments will not be repeated here.

[0062] According to some embodiments, regarding the SCS transport block information carried by the above-mentioned subfield "Optional Transport Block", the STA device 220 can initialize the SCS process for the AP device 210 to specify, for example, a first traffic flow of a first flow as an SCS flow #1 with a first SCSID SCSID_1, and specify, for example, a second traffic flow of a second flow as an SCS flow #2 with a second SCSID SCSID_2, wherein the first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1) may include the first SCSID SCSID_1, and the second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2) may include the second SCSID SCSID_2. Furthermore, after completing the SCS process, the AP device 210 can analyze SCS stream #1 and SCS stream #2 to generate first SCS transport block information and second SCS transport block information, respectively, to indicate the first size-related parameter of SCS stream #1 and the second size-related parameter of SCS stream #2, wherein the first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1) may include the first SCS transport block information (e.g., the first size-related parameter) in its subfield "Optional Transport Blocks", and the second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2) may include the second SCS transport block information (e.g., the second size-related parameter) in its subfield "Optional Transport Blocks". For better understanding, the first size-related parameter may represent the size or sum of the number of data units (e.g., MSDUs) of SCS stream #1 in the multiple data units buffered in the RX reordering buffer 224R, and the second size-related parameter may represent the size or sum of the number of data units (e.g., MSDUs) of SCS stream #2, but the invention is not limited thereto.

[0063] More specifically, AP device 210 can send at least one first data unit carrying first SCS transport block information and at least one second data unit carrying second SCS transport block information to STA device 220, such that if the first size of a set of first data units buffered in RX reordering buffer 224R reaches the first size-related parameter indicated by the first SCS transport block information, STA device 220 can process the set of first data units carrying first SCSID SCSID_1 in RX reordering buffer 224R; and if the second size of a set of second data units buffered in RX reordering buffer 224R reaches the second size-related parameter indicated by the second SCS transport block information, STA device 220 can process the set of second data units carrying second SCSID SCSID_2 in RX reordering buffer 224R. For the sake of brevity, similar descriptions of these embodiments will not be repeated here.

[0064] Figure 6The workflow of a method according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown, wherein the method is applicable to a first device (e.g., AP device 110 of AP device 210) that is wirelessly connected to a second device (e.g., STA device 120 of STA device 220).

[0065] In step S11, the wireless communication system 200 may utilize the AP device 210, for example, by preparing at least one first data unit in the TX buffer to carry first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1) in at least one data unit among a plurality of first data units in the first stream, to generate first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1) for the first stream (e.g., SCS stream #1), so that at least one first data unit in the first stream carries first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1), wherein the first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1) may include the first SCSID SCSID_1 of SCS stream #1.

[0066] In step S12, the wireless communication system 200 may utilize the AP device 210, for example, by preparing at least one second data unit in the TX buffer to carry second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2) in at least one of the plurality of second data units in the second stream, to generate second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2) for the second stream (e.g., SCS stream #2), so that at least one second data unit in the second stream carries second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2), wherein the second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2) may include the second SCSID SCSID_2 of SCS stream #2, but the invention is not limited thereto. According to some embodiments, the wireless communication system 200 may utilize the AP device 210 to prepare the above-mentioned at least one second data unit without any auxiliary information such as the second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2) in the TX buffer. For example, if at least one of the aforementioned second data units does not carry any auxiliary information such as the second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2), the second stream (e.g., SCS stream #2) will not be specified by the second SCSID SCSID_2, and more specifically, the header does not even carry a field to indicate the SCSID (e.g., there is no SCSID field in the header).

[0067] In step S13, the wireless communication system 200 can use the AP device 210 to map a first stream, such as SCS stream #1, and a second stream, such as SCS stream #2, to the same TID (e.g., TID = 3), and send at least one first data unit carrying first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1) and at least one second data unit carrying second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2) to a second device (e.g., STA device 220) to accelerate the processing of the first stream (e.g., SCS stream #1) and the second stream (e.g., SCS stream #2) in the second device (e.g., STA device 220) by means of the first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1) and the second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2). More specifically, AP device 210 can map SCS stream #1 and SCS stream #2 and other streams (e.g., unclassified data) to the same TID, for example, by assigning SCS stream #1 and SCS stream #2 and other streams (e.g., unclassified data) to the same TID, and send the aforementioned at least one first data unit carrying first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1), the aforementioned at least one second data unit carrying second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2), and the aforementioned at least one other data unit carrying other auxiliary information INFO_AUX(0) to STA device 220.

[0068] Based on auxiliary information {INFO_AUX} such as first SCSID SCSID_1, second SCSID SCSID_2, and empty SCSID SCSID_NULL (e.g., first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1), second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2), and other auxiliary information INFO_AUX(0)), STA device 220 can preprocess at least one first data unit belonging to SCS stream #1 and at least one second data unit belonging to SCS stream #2, but the present invention is not limited thereto. Auxiliary information {INFO_AUX} such as first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1), second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2), and other auxiliary information INFO_AUX(0) may also include other indications, such as other information and / or other indicators as shown in Table 1, so that STA device 220 can process the relevant data units in RX reordering buffer 224R as quickly as possible. For the sake of brevity, similar descriptions in this embodiment will not be repeated here.

[0069] To better understand this method, it can be used... Figure 6 The workflow shown is illustrated, but the invention is not limited thereto. According to some embodiments, it is possible to... Figure 6 Add, delete, or change one or more steps in the workflow shown.

[0070] Figure 7 The workflow of a method according to another embodiment of the present invention is shown, wherein the method is applicable to a second device (e.g., STA device 120 of STA device 220) that is wirelessly connected to a first device (e.g., AP device 110 of AP device 210).

[0071] In step S21, the wireless communication system 200 may use the STA device 220 to receive at least one first data unit carrying first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1) from a first device such as the AP device 210, wherein the at least one first data unit carrying the first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1) may be an example of multiple data units of a first stream (e.g., SCS stream #1).

[0072] In step S22, the wireless communication system 200 may utilize the STA device 220 to receive at least one second data unit carrying second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2) from a first device such as the AP device 210. The at least one second data unit carrying the second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2) may be an example of multiple data units of a second stream (e.g., SCS stream #2), but the invention is not limited thereto. According to some embodiments, the wireless communication system 200 may utilize the STA device 220 to receive at least one second data unit without any auxiliary information such as the second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2). For example, if at least one second data unit does not carry any auxiliary information such as the second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2), the second stream (e.g., SCS stream #2) will not be specified by the second SCSID SCSID_2, and more specifically, no field for indicating the SCSID will be carried in the header (e.g., there is no such SCSID field in the header).

[0073] More specifically, the wireless communication system 200 may utilize the STA device 220 to receive from a first device such as the AP device 210 at least one additional data unit carrying additional auxiliary information INFO_AUX(0), wherein the at least one additional data unit carrying additional auxiliary information INFO_AUX(0) is an example of multiple data units of other streams (e.g., unclassified data).

[0074] In step S23, the wireless communication system 200 can use the STA device 220 to accelerate the processing of the first stream and the second stream, such as the processing of at least one first data unit and the processing of at least one second data unit, respectively, based on the first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1) (e.g., the first SCSID SCSID_1) and the second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2) (e.g., the second SCSID SCSID_2).

[0075] Based on auxiliary information {INFO_AUX} such as first SCSID SCSID_1, second SCSID SCSID_2, and empty SCSID SCSID_NULL (e.g., first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1), second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2), and other auxiliary information INFO_AUX(0)), STA device 220 can process at least one first data unit belonging to SCS stream #1 and at least one second data unit belonging to SCS stream #2 in advance, but the present invention is not limited thereto. Since auxiliary information {INFO_AUX} such as first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1), second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2), and other auxiliary information INFO_AUX(0) may also include other indication information, such as other information and / or other indicators as shown in Table 1, STA device 220 can process the relevant data units in RX reordering buffer 224R as quickly as possible. For the sake of brevity, similar descriptions in this embodiment will not be repeated here.

[0076] To better understand this method, it can be used... Figure 7 The workflow shown is illustrated, but the invention is not limited thereto. According to some embodiments, it is possible to... Figure 7 Add, delete, or change one or more steps in the workflow shown.

[0077] In one or more of the above embodiments, the data streams transmitted from AP device 210 to STA device 220 include a first stream (e.g., SCS stream #1), a second stream (e.g., SCS stream #2), and other streams (e.g., unclassified data). This is provided as an example to better understand the invention, but the invention is not limited thereto. According to some embodiments, any other cases, such as any of the first, second, and third cases described above, can be described in a similar manner, for example, by omitting the relevant descriptions of the streams / data omitted in any of the other aforementioned cases. For example, omitting the description of the second stream, such as SCS stream #2, in the first case; omitting the description of the first stream, such as SCS stream #1, in the second case; or omitting the description of other streams, such as unclassified data, in the third case. For the sake of brevity, similar descriptions of these embodiments will not be repeated here.

[0078] Figure 8 The workflow of a method according to another embodiment of the present invention is shown, wherein the method is applicable to a first device (e.g., AP device 110 of AP device 210) that is wirelessly connected to a second device (e.g., STA device 120 of STA device 220).

[0079] In step S31, the wireless communication system 200 may use the AP device 210 to prepare the at least one first data unit in the TX buffer to carry first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1) in the at least one first data unit among the plurality of first data units in the first stream, wherein the first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1) may include an indication that the first data unit is part of the first stream, such as the first SCSID SCSID_1 of SCS stream #1.

[0080] In step S32, the wireless communication system 200 may utilize the AP device 210 to prepare the aforementioned at least one other data unit in the TX buffer to carry additional auxiliary information INFO_AUX(0) in at least one other data of the other data unit of the other stream. The additional auxiliary information INFO_AUX(0) may include an empty SCSID SCSID_NULL for the other stream, indicating that the other stream is a non-SCS stream, but the invention is not limited thereto. According to some embodiments, the wireless communication system 200 may utilize the AP device 210 to prepare the aforementioned at least one other data unit without any auxiliary information such as the additional auxiliary information INFO_AUX(0) in the TX buffer. For example, if at least one other data unit does not carry any auxiliary information such as the additional auxiliary information INFO_AUX(0), the other stream, such as a non-SCS stream, will not be specified by an empty SCSID SCSID_NULL, and more specifically, no field indicating SCSID will be carried in the header (e.g., no such SCSID field is present in the header). According to some embodiments, at least one other data unit that does not carry any auxiliary information (such as other auxiliary information INFO_AUX(0)) may be an MSDU, which may also be regarded as a non-SCS stream.

[0081] In step S33, the wireless communication system 200 may use the AP device 210 to assign a first stream, such as SCS stream #1, and other streams, such as unclassified data, to the same TID (e.g., TID=3), and send at least one first data unit carrying first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1) and at least one other data unit carrying other auxiliary information INFO_AUX(0) to a second device, such as the STA device 220, to accelerate the processing of the first stream (e.g., SCS stream #1) in the second device, such as the STA device 220, by means of the first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1). For example, in the case that other streams are non-SCS streams, the first SCSID SCSID_1 of SCS stream #1 enables the STA device 220 to distinguish SCS stream #1 from non-SCS streams with the same TID.

[0082] Based on auxiliary information {INFO_AUX} such as first SCSID SCSID_1 and empty SCSID SCSID_NULL (e.g., first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1) and other auxiliary information INFO_AUX(0)), STA device 220 can preprocess at least one first data unit belonging to SCS stream #1, wherein the first data unit in the first stream and other data units in other streams can be MSDUs, and the first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1) can be carried in the header of an MPDU, but the invention is not limited thereto. For the sake of brevity, similar descriptions in this embodiment will not be repeated here.

[0083] To better understand this method, it can be used... Figure 8 The workflow shown is illustrated, but the invention is not limited thereto. According to some embodiments, it is possible to... Figure 8 Add, delete, or change one or more steps in the workflow shown.

[0084] exist Figure 8In the illustrated embodiment, AP device 210 can be used to transmit at least one first data unit carrying the first SCSID SCSID_1 of SCS stream #1 to STA device 220, so that STA device 220 can identify at least one first data unit belonging to SCS stream #1 among multiple data units buffered in RX reordering buffer 224R of STA device 220, but the invention is not limited thereto. According to some embodiments, the first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1) carried by at least one first data unit may also include a buffer indication of SCS stream #1, which may indicate whether AP device 210 has sent a first buffer flush request (e.g., the buffer flush request described above), which causes STA device 220 to clear the buffered first data unit. For example, STA device 220 may be used to specify a first QoS requirement (e.g., at least one first QoS requirement for SCS stream #1), and the first QoS requirement may include a first delay limit. In response to a first estimated delay between at least one first data unit sent from AP device 210 and the first delay limit being less than or equal to a predetermined threshold, a first buffer refresh request is sent using a cache indication in the first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1) carried by the aforementioned at least one first data unit. More specifically, the first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1) carried by the aforementioned at least one first data unit may further include a first transport block indication (e.g., the first SCS transport block information described above), used to indicate a size threshold for the cached first data unit, enabling STA device 220 to determine whether any transport block has been formed, wherein the cache indication indicating the first buffer refresh request has a higher priority than the first transport block indication. For the sake of brevity, similar descriptions of these embodiments will not be repeated here.

[0085] According to some embodiments, the first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1) carried by at least one first data unit may further include a first maximum time period limit indication (e.g., the first maximum time period limit described above), wherein the first maximum time period limit indication is related to the duration of the first data unit buffered in the RX reordering buffer 224R. For example, if the first time period in which the group of first data units stays in the RX reordering buffer 224R reaches the first maximum time period limit indication, the first maximum time period limit indication causes the STA device 220 to process the group of first data units carrying the first SCSID SCSID_1 in the RX reordering buffer 224R. For the sake of brevity, similar descriptions of these embodiments will not be repeated here.

[0086] Figure 9The workflow of a method according to another embodiment of the present invention is shown, wherein the method is applicable to a first device (e.g., AP device 110 of AP device 210) that is wirelessly connected to a second device (e.g., STA device 120 of STA device 220).

[0087] In step S41, the wireless communication system 200 may use the AP device 210 to prepare at least one first data unit in the TX buffer to carry first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1) in at least one first data unit of the first data unit of the first stream, wherein the first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1) may include an indication that the first data unit belongs to a part of the first stream, such as the first SCSID SCSID_1 of SCS stream #1.

[0088] In step S42, the wireless communication system 200 may use the AP device 210 to prepare the at least one second data unit in the TX buffer to carry second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2) in the at least one second data unit of the second data unit of the second stream. The second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2) may include an indication that the second data unit belongs to a part of the second stream, such as the second SCSID SCSID_2 of SCS stream #2, but the invention is not limited thereto. According to some embodiments, the wireless communication system 200 may use the AP device 210 to prepare the at least one second data unit without any auxiliary information (such as the second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2) in the TX buffer). For example, if at least one second data unit does not carry any auxiliary information (such as the second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2)), the second stream (such as SCS stream #2) will not be specified by the second SCSID SCSID_2, and more specifically, there is not even a field for indicating SCSID carried in the header (for example, there is no such SCSID field in the header).

[0089] In step S43, the wireless communication system 200 can use the AP device 210 to assign a first stream, such as SCS stream #1, and a second stream, such as SCS stream #2, to the same TID (e.g., TID = 3), and send at least one first data unit carrying first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1) and at least one second data unit carrying second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2) to a second device, such as STA device 220, to accelerate the processing of the first stream, such as SCS stream #1, and the second stream, such as SCS stream #2, in the second device, such as STA device 220, respectively by means of the first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1) and the second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2). More specifically, the first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1) and the second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2) can provide priority for processing the first data unit in SCS stream #1 and the second data unit in SCS stream #2 in the second device, such as STA device 220.

[0090] Based on auxiliary information {INFO_AUX} such as first SCSID SCSID_1 and second SCSID SCSID_2 (e.g., first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1) and second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2)), STA device 220 can preprocess at least one first data unit belonging to SCS stream #1 and at least one second data unit belonging to SCS stream #2, wherein the first data unit in the first stream and the second data unit in the second stream can be MSDU, and the first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1) can be carried in the header of an MPDU, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For the sake of brevity, similar descriptions in this embodiment will not be repeated here.

[0091] To better understand this method, it can be used... Figure 9 The workflow shown is illustrated, but the invention is not limited thereto. According to some embodiments, it is possible to... Figure 9 Add, delete, or change one or more steps in the workflow shown.

[0092] According to some embodiments, the first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1) may exist in a first stream such as SCS stream #1 during TX preparation and RX processing, but the auxiliary information INFO_AUX (e.g., second auxiliary information INFO_AUX(2) or other auxiliary information INFO_AUX(0)) may not exist in another stream (e.g., a second stream such as SCS stream #2, or other streams such as non-SCS streams) during TX preparation and RX processing. For example, the wireless communication system 200 may use the AP device 210 to prepare an SCS stream carrying its auxiliary information INFO_AUX (e.g., SCS stream #1 carrying the first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1)) and a non-SCS stream in which the TX buffer does not carry SCS information, and use the STA device 220 to receive and temporarily store the SCS stream carrying its auxiliary information INFO_AUX (e.g., SCS stream #1 carrying the first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1)) and the non-SCS stream in which the non-SCS stream does not carry SCS information to the RX reordering buffer 224R. For example, the wireless communication system 200 can use the AP device 210 to prepare an SCS stream carrying auxiliary information INFO_AUX (e.g., SCS stream #1 carrying first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1)) and another SCS stream (e.g., SCS stream #2) that does not carry SCS information in the TX buffer, and use the STA device 220 to receive and temporarily store the SCS stream carrying its auxiliary information INFO_AUX (e.g., SCS stream #1 carrying first auxiliary information INFO_AUX(1)) and the other SCS stream (e.g., SCS stream #2) that does not carry SCS information to the RX reordering buffer 224R. For the sake of brevity, similar descriptions of these embodiments will not be repeated here.

[0093] Those skilled in the art will readily recognize that many modifications and changes can be made to the apparatus and method while retaining the teachings of the present invention. Therefore, the foregoing should be construed as being limited only by the scope and limits of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for performing traffic flow management, the method being performed in a wireless communication system by means of auxiliary information, the method being applicable to a first device, the method comprising: First auxiliary information is carried in at least one first data unit in the first stream, wherein the first stream and the second stream are assigned the same business identifier (TID); as well as The at least one first data unit carrying the first auxiliary information and at least one second data unit in the second stream are sent to the second device, wherein the first auxiliary information includes an indication that the at least one first data unit belongs to the first stream.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The first device is an access point (AP) device, and the second device is a station (STA) device.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The at least one first data unit and the at least one second data unit are Media Access Control (MAC) Service Data Units (MSDUs), and the first auxiliary information is carried in the header of a MAC Protocol Data Unit (MPDU).

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The first stream is a first stream classification service (SCS) stream, wherein the indication in the first auxiliary information includes a first stream classification service identifier (SCSID).

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein, The first SCS stream is generated based on the Quality of Service (QoS) requirements or classification rules sent from the second device.

6. The method according to claim 4, wherein, The first device is configured to send the at least one first data unit carrying the first SCSID to the second device, such that the second device is able to identify the at least one first data unit belonging to the first SCS stream among a plurality of data units cached in the reordering buffer of the second device.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein, The first auxiliary information carried by the at least one first data unit further includes a cache indication of the first SCS stream, wherein the cache indication of the first SCS stream is used to indicate whether a first buffer refresh request has been sent by the first device, wherein the first buffer refresh request causes the second device to clear the cached first data unit.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein, The second device is configured to specify a first QoS requirement for the first SCS stream, the first QoS requirement including a first delay limit, and in response to the difference between the first estimated delay of the at least one first data unit sent by the first device and the first delay limit being less than or equal to a predetermined threshold, to send a first buffer refresh request using the cache indication in the first auxiliary information carried by the at least one first data unit.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein, The first auxiliary information carried by the at least one first data unit further includes a first transport block indication, used to indicate a size threshold of the cached first data unit, so that the second device can determine whether any transport block has been formed; The cache indication that indicates the first buffer refresh request has a higher priority than the first transport block indication.

10. The method according to claim 6, wherein, The second stream is a non-SCS stream, and the first SCSID enables the second device to distinguish the first SCS stream with the same TID from the non-SCS stream.

11. The method according to claim 6, wherein, The first auxiliary information carried by the at least one first data unit further includes a first maximum time period limit indication, which is related to the duration of a set of first data units cached in the reordering buffer.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein, If the first time period in which the group of first data units stays in the reordering buffer reaches the first maximum time period limit indication, the first maximum time period limit indication enables the second device to process the group of first data units carrying the first SCSID in the reordering buffer.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The at least one second data unit in the second stream carries second auxiliary information, and the first auxiliary information and the second auxiliary information provide a priority for processing the first data unit and the second data unit at the second device.

14. A first device for performing traffic flow management, configured to perform the traffic flow management in a wireless communication system with the aid of auxiliary information, the first device comprising: Processing circuitry, used to control the operation of the first device; as well as At least one communication control circuit, coupled to the processing circuit, is used to perform communication control, wherein the at least one communication control circuit is used to perform wireless communication operation with the second device for the first device; in: The first device is configured to carry first auxiliary information in at least one first data unit in a first stream, wherein the first stream and the second stream are assigned the same TID; and The first device is configured to send at least one first data unit carrying the first auxiliary information and at least one second data unit in the second stream to the second device, wherein the first auxiliary information includes an indication that the at least one first data unit belongs to the first stream.

15. The first device according to claim 14, wherein, The first device is an AP device, and the second device is a STA device.

16. The first device according to claim 14, wherein, The first data unit and the second data unit are MAC MSDUs, and the first auxiliary information is carried in the header of a MAC MPDU.

17. The first device according to claim 14, wherein, The first stream is a first SCS stream, wherein the indication in the first auxiliary information includes a first SCSID.

18. The first device according to claim 17, wherein, The first SCS stream is generated based on QoS requirements or classification rules sent from the second device.

19. The first device according to claim 17, wherein, The first device is configured to send the at least one first data unit carrying the first SCSID to the second device, such that the second device is able to identify the at least one first data unit belonging to the first SCS stream among a plurality of data units cached in the reordering buffer of the second device.

20. The first device according to claim 19, wherein, The first auxiliary information carried by the at least one first data unit further includes a cache indication of the first SCS stream, wherein the cache indication of the first SCS stream is used to indicate whether a first buffer refresh request has been sent by the first device, wherein the first buffer refresh request causes the second device to clear the cached first data unit.

21. The first device of claim 20, wherein the second device is configured to specify a first QoS requirement for the first SCS stream, the first QoS requirement including a first delay limit, and in response to a first estimated delay of the at least one first data unit issued by the first device being less than or equal to a predetermined threshold, to send a first buffer refresh request using the cache indication in the first auxiliary information carried by the at least one first data unit.

22. The first device according to claim 21, wherein, The first auxiliary information carried by the at least one first data unit further includes a first transport block indication, used to indicate a size threshold of the cached first data unit, so that the second device can determine whether any transport block has been formed; wherein the cache indication indicating the first buffer refresh request has a higher priority than the first transport block indication.

23. The first device according to claim 19, wherein, The second stream is a non-SCS stream, and the first SCSID enables the second device to distinguish the first SCS stream with the same TID from the non-SCS stream.

24. The first device of claim 19, wherein the first auxiliary information carried by the at least one first data unit further includes a first maximum time period limit indication, the first maximum time period limit indication relating to the duration of a set of first data units cached in the reordering buffer.

25. The first device as claimed in claim 24, wherein, If the first time period in which the group of first data units stays in the reordering buffer reaches the first maximum time period limit indication, the first maximum time period limit indication enables the second device to process the group of first data units carrying the first SCSID in the reordering buffer.

26. The first device according to claim 14, wherein, The at least one second data unit in the second stream carries second auxiliary information, and the first auxiliary information and the second auxiliary information provide a priority for processing the first data unit and the second data unit at the second device.

27. A method for performing traffic flow management, the method being performed in a wireless communication system by means of auxiliary information, the method being applicable to a second device, the method comprising: Receive at least one first data unit from a first device, wherein the at least one first data unit carries first auxiliary information; Receive at least one second data unit of a second stream from the first device, wherein the first stream and the second stream are assigned the same service identifier (TID); The first auxiliary information includes an indication that the at least one first data unit belongs to a part of the first stream.

28. The method according to claim 27, wherein, The first stream is a first SCS stream, and the indication in the first auxiliary information includes a first SCSID, which enables the second device to identify the at least one first data unit belonging to the first SCS stream among a plurality of data units cached in the reordering buffer.

29. The method according to claim 28, wherein, The first auxiliary information carried by the at least one first data unit further includes a cache indication of the first SCS stream, used to indicate whether a first buffer refresh request has been sent by the first device, wherein the first buffer refresh request causes the second device to clear the cached first data unit.

30. A second device for performing traffic flow management, configured to perform the traffic flow management in a wireless communication system with the aid of auxiliary information, the second device comprising: Processing circuitry for controlling the operation of the second device; as well as At least one communication control circuit, coupled to the processing circuit, is used to perform communication control, wherein the at least one communication control circuit is used to perform wireless communication operation with the first device for the second device; in: The second device is configured to receive at least one first data unit of a first stream from the first device, wherein the at least one first data unit carries first auxiliary information, and to receive at least one second data unit of a second stream from the first device, wherein the first stream and the second stream are assigned the same service identifier (TID); The first auxiliary information includes an indication that the at least one first data unit belongs to a part of the first stream.

31. The second device according to claim 30, wherein, The first stream is a first SCS stream, and the indication in the first auxiliary information includes a first SCSID, which enables the second device to identify the at least one first data unit belonging to the first SCS stream among a plurality of data units cached in the reordering buffer.

32. The second device according to claim 31, wherein, The first auxiliary information carried by the at least one first data unit further includes a cache indication of the first SCS stream, used to indicate whether a first buffer refresh request has been sent by the first device, wherein the first buffer refresh request causes the second device to clear the cached first data unit.

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