Sub-channel request method and apparatus, sub-channel indication method and apparatus

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a sub-channel request method, a sub-channel indication method, a sub-channel request device, a sub-channel indication device, an electronic device, and a computer-readable storage medium. The sub-channel request method includes: sending a TWT request frame to an access point on an operating channel, where the number of bytes of a first TWT channel field in the TWT request frame is greater than 1, and the first TWT channel field is used to indicate a sub-channel that the station requests to select from candidate channels. According to the present disclosure, when a station negotiates TWT with an access point, the number of bytes of the TWT channel field can be greater than 1. For a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz, even if the bandwidth of the operating channel is small, the number of available sub-channels is large. For example, there are more than 8 sub-channels available for SST. Through the first TWT channel field, the sub-channel that the station specifically requests to select can be accurately indicated, so that the access point can accurately determine the sub-channel that the station specifically requests to select.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of communication technologies, and in particular, to a sub-channel request method, a sub-channel indication method, a sub-channel request device, a sub-channel indication device, an electronic device, and a computer-readable storage medium. Background Art

[0002] In the existing IEEE802.11ax protocol, the maximum supported channel bandwidth is 160 MHz. With the improvement of people's requirements for the network, the 160-MHz bandwidth can no longer meet people's needs. In the IEEE802.11be protocol, it is proposed that a channel bandwidth greater than 160 MHz can be used, such as 320 MHz, which brings some technical problems. Summary of the Invention

[0003] In view of this, embodiments of the present disclosure propose a sub-channel request method, a sub-channel indication method, a sub-channel request device, a sub-channel indication device, an electronic device, and a computer-readable storage medium to solve the technical problems in the related art.

[0004] According to a first aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a sub-channel request method is proposed, which is applicable to a station, and the method includes:

[0005] Sending a TWT request frame to an access point on an operating channel, where the number of bytes of a first TWT channel field in the TWT request frame is greater than 1, and the first TWT channel field is used to indicate a sub-channel selected by the station from candidate channels.

[0006] According to a second aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a sub-channel indication method is proposed, which is applicable to an access point, and the method includes:

[0007] Sending a TWT response frame to a station on an operating channel; where the number of bytes of a second TWT channel field in the TWT response frame is greater than 1 byte, and the second TWT channel field is used to indicate a sub-channel selected by the station from candidate channels.

[0008] According to a third aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a sub-channel request device is proposed, which is applicable to a station, and the device includes:

[0009] A request module, configured to send a TWT request frame to an access point on an operating channel, where the number of bytes of a first TWT channel field in the TWT request frame is greater than 1, and the first TWT channel field is used to indicate a sub-channel selected by the station from candidate channels.

[0010] According to a fourth aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a sub-channel indication device is proposed, which is applicable to an access point, and the device includes:

[0011] An indication module, configured to send a TWT response frame to a station on an operating channel; wherein, the number of bytes of a second TWT channel field in the TWT response frame is greater than 1 byte, and the second TWT channel field is used to indicate that the station selects a sub-channel from candidate channels.

[0012] According to a fifth aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, an electronic device is provided, including:

[0013] A processor;

[0014] A memory for storing instructions executable by the processor;

[0015] Wherein, the processor is configured to implement the above-mentioned sub-channel request method and / or sub-channel indication method.

[0016] According to a sixth aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, on which a computer program is stored, and when the program is executed by a processor, the steps in the sub-channel request method and / or sub-channel indication method described in any one of claims 1 to X are implemented.

[0017] According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, when a station negotiates TWT with an access point, the number of bytes of the TWT channel field can be greater than 1. Since the number of bytes of the TWT channel field is greater than 1, for a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz, even if the bandwidth of the operating channel is small, the number of available sub-channels is large. For example, more than 8 sub-channels are available for SST, and the specific sub-channel requested by the station can be accurately indicated through the first TWT channel field, so that the access point can accurately determine the specific sub-channel requested by the station. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the drawings required for the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present disclosure, and those of ordinary skill in the art can obtain other drawings without creative efforts.

[0019] Figure 1 It is a schematic flowchart of a sub-channel request method shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0020] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the format of a TWT element shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0021] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the format of a TWT parameter setting field shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0022] Figure 4It is a schematic flowchart of another sub-channel request method shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0023] Figure 5 It is a schematic flowchart of another sub-channel request method shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0024] Figure 6 It is a schematic flowchart of another sub-channel request method shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0025] Figure 7 It is a schematic flowchart of another sub-channel request method shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0026] Figure 8 It is a schematic flowchart of a sub-channel indication method shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0027] Figure 9 It is a schematic flowchart of another sub-channel indication method shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0028] Figure 10 It is a schematic flowchart of another sub-channel indication method shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0029] Figure 11 It is a schematic flowchart of another sub-channel indication method shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0030] Figure 12 It is a schematic flowchart of another sub-channel indication method shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0031] Figure 13 It is a schematic block diagram of a sub-channel request device shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0032] Figure 14 It is a schematic block diagram of another sub-channel request device shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0033] Figure 15 It is a schematic block diagram of another sub-channel request device shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0034] Figure 16 It is a schematic block diagram of a sub-channel indication device shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0035] Figure 17 It is a schematic block diagram of another sub-channel indication device shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0036] Figure 18 It is a schematic block diagram of another sub-channel indication device shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0037] Figure 19 It is a schematic block diagram of a device 1900 for sub-channel indication shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0038] Figure 20 It is a schematic block diagram of a device 2000 for sub-channel request shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Detailed implementation manners

[0039] Next, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure will be clearly and completely described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present disclosure, rather than all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present disclosure.

[0040] Figure 1 It is a schematic flowchart of a sub-channel request method shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The sub-channel request method shown in this embodiment can be applied to a station, and the station includes, but is not limited to, electronic devices such as mobile phones, tablet computers, wearable devices, sensors, and Internet of Things devices. The station can communicate with an access point as a user equipment, and the access point includes, but is not limited to, switches, routers, etc. In one embodiment, the access point can be the access point applicable to the sub-channel indication method described in any subsequent embodiment.

[0041] As Figure 1 shown, the sub-channel request method may include the following steps:

[0042] In step S101, a TWT request frame is sent to the access point on an operating channel, where the number of bytes of the first TWT channel field in the TWT request frame is greater than 1, and the first TWT channel field is used to indicate the sub-channel that the station requests to select from candidate channels.

[0043] In the TWT (Target Wake Time) mechanism, for the operation of SST (Subchannel Selective Transmission), a 1-byte (i.e., 8-bit) TWT channel field is used to identify the selected sub-channel. For a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz, the number of sub-channels divided may exceed 8. For example, the sub-channels are divided into sub-channels with a bandwidth of 20 MHz. However, the current TWT channel field is difficult to accurately indicate the selection of sub-channels among more than 8 sub-channels.

[0044] In one embodiment, the operating channel is the channel currently used by the station and the access point for communication. In the operating channel, the station and the access point can perform TWT interaction to negotiate which sub-channel to select from the candidate channels, where the candidate channels refer to non-operating channels, that is, the channels not currently used by the station and the access point for communication.

[0045] In one embodiment, for SST operation, the bandwidth of the sub-channel selected by the access point in the candidate channel is the same as the bandwidth of the operating channel. For example, if the bandwidth of the operating channel is 20 MHz, then the bandwidth of the sub-channel in the candidate channel is also 20 MHz. For example, in the case where the maximum bandwidth is 320 MHz and the bandwidth of the operating channel is 20 MHz, the bandwidth of the candidate channel is 300 MHz, including 15 sub-channels with a bandwidth of 20 MHz.

[0046] In one embodiment, in the TWT mechanism, the station can periodically negotiate with the access point based on the operating channel to determine the sub-channel to be used for subsequent communication.

[0047] Embodiments of the present disclosure also propose a sub-channel request method. The sub-channel request method shown in this embodiment can be applied to a station, and the station includes, but is not limited to, electronic devices such as mobile phones, tablets, wearable devices, sensors, and Internet of Things devices. The station can communicate with the access point as a user device, and the access point includes, but is not limited to, switches, routers, etc. In one embodiment, the access point can be the access point applicable to the sub-channel indication method described in any subsequent embodiment. The sub-channel request method may include the following steps:

[0048] In step S101', send a TWT request frame to the access point in the operating channel, where the TWT request frame at least includes: a first field for indicating the corresponding at least one sub-channel group and / or a second field for indicating the sub-channels in the at least one sub-channel group.

[0049] In some embodiments, the maximum channel bandwidth may be greater than 80 MHz, for example, the maximum channel bandwidth is 160 MHz, 240 MHz, 320 MHz or other values. In the embodiments of the present disclosure, at least one sub-bandwidth group among N sub-bandwidth groups in the maximum channel bandwidth can be indicated by a TWT request frame (N≥2), and M sub-bands (M≥1) included in at least one of the sub-bandwidth groups. In some embodiments, for example, taking the maximum channel bandwidth of 320 MHz (that is, the sum of the bandwidths of the operating channel and the candidate channel is 320 MHz) as an example, the TWT request frame indicates at least one sub-bandwidth group among N = 8 sub-bandwidth groups, and the parameters of M = 2 sub-bands included in at least one of the sub-bandwidth groups, where each sub-band is 20 MHz. In some embodiments, assuming that the parameters of the sub-bands in each sub-bandwidth group are the same, then only 3 bits can be used to correspondingly indicate the sub-bandwidth parameters of each of the N = 8 sub-bandwidth groups. For example: in the related art, the sub-bandwidth parameters when the maximum channel bandwidth is 80 MHz can be indicated, and these sub-bandwidth parameters can be indicated by multiplexing through a field; for example, in order to support a maximum channel bandwidth of up to 320 MHz, 2 bits can be used to indicate multiplexing of the 80 MHz sub-bandwidth parameters; that is, 00 represents only one 80 MHz sub-bandwidth group, and the maximum channel bandwidth is 80 MHz; 01 represents two 80 MHz sub-bandwidth groups, and the maximum channel bandwidth is 80 MHz + 80 MHz = 160 MHz, and the configurations of these two 80 MHz sub-bandwidth groups are the same; 10 represents three 80 MHz sub-bandwidth groups, and the maximum channel bandwidth is 80 MHz + 80 MHz + 80 MHz = 240 MHz; 11 represents four 80 MHz sub-bandwidth groups, and the maximum channel bandwidth is 80 MHz + 80 MHz + 80 MHz + 80 MHz = 320 MHz. In some other embodiments, the maximum bandwidth of 240 MHz can also be indicated in the way of 80 MHz + 160 MHz, that is, one field indicates an 80 MHz sub-bandwidth group, and one field indicates a 160 MHz sub-bandwidth group. In still some other embodiments, the maximum bandwidth of 320 MHz can also be indicated in the way of 160 MHz + 160 MHz, that is, one field indicates a 160 MHz sub-bandwidth group, and then another field indicates whether to multiplex this 160 MHz sub-bandwidth group (that is, 1×160 MHz or 2×160 MHz).

[0050] That is to say, in each embodiment of the present disclosure, the bandwidth of the sub-channel includes at least one of the following: 160 MHz, 80 MHz, 40 MHz, 20 MHz.

[0051] Figure 2It is a schematic diagram of the format of a TWT element shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As Figure 2 shown, the TWT element format includes an element identifier (Element ID), length information (Length), control information (Control), and TWT parameter information (TWT Parameter Information). Among them, the number of bytes of the TWT parameter information is variable and can be set according to actual situations.

[0052] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the format of another TWT parameter setting field shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0053] As Figure 3 shown, the TWT parameter information includes multiple fields, such as request type (Request Type), target wake time (Target Wake Time), TWT group assignment information (TWT Group Assignment), TWT channel (TWTChannel), etc. Among them, the number of bytes of the TWT channel field is greater than 1. For example, it can be 1.5 bytes (12 bits) or 2 bytes (16 bits), etc. That is, the TWT channel field can be of any length greater than 8 bits and is not limited to the number of bytes listed above.

[0054] In one embodiment, when a station negotiates with an access point, the station can first send a TWT request frame to the access point, and the request frame includes Figure 2 , Figure 3 the TWT element shown.

[0055] Among them, the first TWT channel field is used to indicate the sub-channel that the station requests to select from the candidate channels. Based on the first TWT channel field in the TWT request frame, the station can request to select a sub-channel from the candidate channels. After receiving the TWT request frame, the access point can determine the sub-channel that the station requests to select from the candidate channels according to the first TWT channel field therein.

[0056] According to the above embodiment, since the number of bytes of the TWT channel field is greater than 1, for a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz, even if the bandwidth of the operating channel is small, the number of available sub-channels is large. For example, there are more than 8 sub-channels available for SST. Through the first TWT channel field, the station can accurately indicate the specific sub-channel it requests to select, so that the access point can accurately determine the specific sub-channel that the station requests to select.

[0057] Figure 4 It is a schematic flowchart of another sub-channel request method shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As Figure 4 shown, the method includes:

[0058] In step S102, a TWT response frame returned by the access point according to the TWT request frame is received, where the number of bytes in the second TWT channel field in the TWT response frame is greater than 1, and the second TWT channel field is used to indicate a sub-channel selected by the station from candidate channels.

[0059] It should be noted that step S102 in the embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented alone or executed together with any one step in the embodiments of the present disclosure; for example, step S102 in the embodiments of the present disclosure can be executed together with the foregoing step S101 or step S101'.

[0060] In some embodiments, the second TWT channel field in the TWT response frame can be of any length greater than 8 bits, and is not limited to the number of bytes listed above.

[0061] In one embodiment, after receiving the TWT request frame sent by the station, the access point can determine the TWT response frame according to the TWT request frame and return the TWT response frame to the station, so that the station can receive the TWT response frame. In some other embodiments, the access point can send the TWT response frame according to a preset rule or protocol stipulation; that is, the triggering events for triggering the sending of the TWT response frame include but are not limited to: receiving a TWT request frame, a triggering event determined based on the protocol, and a triggering event based on a preset rule.

[0062] Optionally, the first TWT channel field is the same as the second TWT channel field, or the first TWT channel field is different from the second TWT channel field. Optionally, the channels for transmitting the TWT request frame and the TWT response frame can be the same or different.

[0063] In one embodiment, the access point can determine the second channel field in the TWT response frame by the following method:

[0064] The access point determines the reference sub-channel requested by the station based on the first TWT channel field in the TWT request frame; in response to the reference sub-channel being idle, the access point determines the second TWT channel field based on the first TWT channel field, and then the first TWT channel field is the same as the second TWT channel field; or in response to the reference sub-channel being busy, the access point selects an idle sub-channel from the candidate channels as the target sub-channel and determines the second TWT channel field based on the target sub-channel, then the first TWT channel field is different from the second TWT channel field.

[0065] Among them, the format of the TWT element in the TWT response frame is similar to that of the TWT request frame, which will not be described in detail here. The TWT response frame carries a second TWT channel field, and the number of bytes of the second TWT channel field is greater than 1, which is used to indicate the sub-channel selected by the station in the candidate channels.

[0066] In one embodiment, a station can receive a response frame returned by an access point. In the request frame sent by the station, the first TWT channel field is used to indicate the reference sub-channel selected by the station. After receiving the request frame, the access point does not directly assign the reference sub-channel to the station as the target sub-channel, but determines the target sub-channel according to the state of the reference sub-channel. Then, the access point returns a response frame to the station, and the second TWT channel field in the response frame is used to indicate the selected target sub-channel.

[0067] Figure 5 is a schematic flowchart of another sub-channel request method shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As Figure 5 shown, the method includes:

[0068] In step S103, determine the target sub-channel selected in the candidate channels based on the second TWT channel field.

[0069] It should be noted that step S103 in the embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented alone or can be executed together with any one step in the embodiments of the present disclosure; for example, step S103 in the embodiments of the present disclosure can be executed together with the foregoing step S101 or step S101' or step S102.

[0070] In one embodiment, after receiving the response frame returned by the access point, the station can parse the second TWT channel field in the response frame and use the sub-channel indicated by the second TWT channel field as the selected target sub-channel.

[0071] In step S104, select the target sub-channel in the candidate channels for communication.

[0072] It should be noted that step S104 in the embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented alone or can be executed together with any one step in the embodiments of the present disclosure; for example, step S104 in the embodiments of the present disclosure can be executed together with the foregoing step S101 or step S101' or step S102 or step S103.

[0073] In one embodiment, the station can perform subsequent communication with the access point based on the selected target sub-channel, for example, data frames can be sent to each other, etc.

[0074] For example, the communication between a station and an access point supports a maximum bandwidth of 320 MHz. If the bandwidth of an operating channel is 20 MHz, then the candidate channels are 300 MHz, and 300 / 20 = 15. According to the position of the operating channel, at most 15 sub-channels can be selected from the candidate channels.

[0075] The reference sub-channel selected by the station request can be the first sub-channel among the 15 sub-channels. Then the first TWT channel field can be "1000000000000000". The access point can determine that the station requests to select the first sub-channel among the 15 sub-channels according to the first TWT channel field. However, the reference sub-channel requested by the station may not be idle, and the access point can further determine whether the reference sub-channel is idle.

[0076] When the reference sub-channel is idle, the access point allows the station to select the reference sub-channel and returns a TWT response frame to the station. The second TWT channel field in the TWT response frame is the same as the first TWT channel field, which is also "1000000000000000". The station can select the first sub-channel among the 15 sub-channels for communication according to the second TWT channel field.

[0077] When the reference sub-channel is not idle, the access point cannot allow the station to select the reference sub-channel. After selecting other idle sub-channels as the target sub-channels, the access point returns a TWT response frame to the station, and the second TWT channel field in the TWT response frame is different from the first TWT channel field. For example, the second TWT channel field is "0100000000000000". The station can select the second sub-channel among the 15 sub-channels for communication according to the second TWT channel field.

[0078] Figure 6 It is a schematic flowchart of another sub-channel request method shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As Figure 6 shown, selecting the target sub-channel for communication in the candidate channels includes:

[0079] In step S1041, according to the resource indication information sent by the access point, determine one or more resource units in the target sub-channel;

[0080] In step S1042, communicate based on the one or more resource units.

[0081] It should be noted that steps S1041 and S1042 in the embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented independently, or can be executed together with any one of the steps in the embodiments of the present disclosure; for example, steps S1041 and S1042 in the embodiments of the present disclosure can be executed together with the foregoing step S101 or step S101' or step S102 or step S103.

[0082] In one embodiment, a subchannel may include multiple resource units (RU for short). In the TWT request frame sent by a station, the number and / or location of the requested RUs may also be included. After determining the target subchannel, the access point may select one or more RUs for the station from the target subchannel, and send resource indication information to the station to indicate that the station can use the one or more RUs in the target subchannel. Optionally, the resource indication information may be carried in the response frame returned by the station.

[0083] For example, for a subchannel with a bandwidth of 20 MHz, it may include 9 RUs, and the size of each RU is 26 subcarriers. Thus, after determining the target subchannel, the station may select one or more RUs for the station from the 9 RUs included in the target subchannel. Of course, the RUs included in the subchannel may also be of other sizes, and the corresponding number of RUs is also different, which can be specifically negotiated by the station and the access point. This is only an exemplary illustration and is not limited here.

[0084] Based on this, after receiving the resource indication information, the station may determine one or more resource units in the target subchannel according to the resource indication information sent by the access point; and communicate based on the one or more resource units.

[0085] In one embodiment, the data frame sent when the station interacts with the access point further includes a TID (traffic identifier). Optionally, the TID in the data frame sent based on the operating channel and the data frame sent after determining the target subchannel based on the SST may be the same or different.

[0086] The following combines Figure 7 to illustrate the method for the station to determine the target subchannel according to the second TWT channel field.

[0087] Figure 7 It is a schematic flowchart of another subchannel request method shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As Figure 7 shown, determining the target subchannel selected from the candidate channels based on the second TWT channel field includes:

[0088] In step S1031, based on the bandwidth of the operating channel, determine the number of subchannels included in the candidate channel.

[0089] In one embodiment, the bandwidth of the subchannels in the candidate channel is the same as the bandwidth of the operating channel. Thus, the number of subchannels in the candidate channel can be determined according to the bandwidth of the operating channel.

[0090] For example, if the bandwidth of the operating channel is 20 MHz and the bandwidth of the candidate channel is 300 MHz, it can be determined that the candidate channel includes 15 subchannels with a bandwidth of 20 MHz.

[0091] In step S1032, based on the number of the subchannels, determine the correspondence between the bit positions of the second TWT channel field and each subchannel.

[0092] In one embodiment, one or more bit positions in the second TWT channel field can correspond to each subchannel, and both the access point and the station pre-store this correspondence.

[0093] In one embodiment, all the bit positions of the second TWT channel field can be used to indicate subchannels. For example, the second TWT channel field of 2 bytes includes 16 bit positions. It can be determined that there is a one-to-one correspondence between the bit positions and the subchannels, then these 16 bit positions can respectively correspond to 16 different subchannels; or these 16 bit positions can also be evenly divided into 4 groups, and each group of bit positions corresponds to the subchannels one by one, then these 4 groups of bit positions can respectively correspond to 4 different subchannels.

[0094] In another embodiment, several specified bit positions in the second TWT channel field can be used to indicate subchannels. For example, the second TWT channel field of 2 bytes includes 16 bit positions. One of the bit positions can be specified to indicate a subchannel, and this bit position can correspond to a primary subchannel or a secondary subchannel; or 4 of the bit positions can be specified to correspond to 4 different subchannels, etc.

[0095] Of course, according to the actual situation, other methods can also be used to determine the correspondence between the bit positions of the second TWT channel field and each subchannel. This is only an exemplary illustration here and is not limited.

[0096] Still taking "the bandwidth of the operating channel is 20 MHz and the bandwidth of the candidate channel is 300 MHz" as an example, the minimum number of bytes of the second TWT channel field is 2 bytes (i.e., 16 bit positions), and the 16 bit positions of the second channel field can respectively correspond to a subchannel with a bandwidth of 20 MHz. Here, the subchannels include the subchannels in the operating channel and the candidate channel.

[0097] In step S1033, among the bit positions of the second TWT channel field, determine the target bit positions equal to the preset value.

[0098] In one embodiment, the station and the access point may pre - negotiate a preset value. For example, the preset value can be 1, or it can also be 0. According to the bits in the second TWT channel field, the station can determine the target bit equal to the preset value.

[0099] For example, if the preset value is 1 and the second TWT channel field is "1000000000000000", it can be determined that the first bit is equal to the preset value 1.

[0100] In step S1034, according to the corresponding relationship, determine the target sub - channel indicated by the target bit.

[0101] In one embodiment, according to the corresponding relationship in step S1032, it can be determined that the sub - channel indicated by the target bit in step S1033 is the target sub - channel.

[0102] Optionally, the sum of the bandwidths of the operating channel and the candidate channel can be 320M or 240M. Optionally, the bandwidth of the operating channel can be 160MHz, 80MHz, 40MHz or 20MHz.

[0103] The method for determining the target sub - channel according to the second TWT channel field will be introduced below through several specific embodiments. In the following embodiments, the preset value is 1 and the sum of the bandwidths of the operating channel and the candidate channel is 320MHz as an example.

[0104] Embodiment 1: The bandwidth of the operating channel is 20MHz, and the bandwidth of the candidate channel is 300MHz.

[0105] The second TWT channel field may include 16 bits, and at most 1 bit is set to 1, which is used to indicate that the target sub - channel is the sub - channel corresponding to this bit, and one or more RUs in the target sub - channel are allocated to the station for communication.

[0106] Optionally, the 16 bits in the second TWT channel field may correspond to 16 sub - channels in sequence. For example, if the second TWT channel field is "1000000000000000", it can indicate that the selected target sub - channel is the first 20MHz; if the second TWT channel field is "0100000000000000", it can indicate that the selected target sub - channel is the second 20MHz... And so on, which will not be elaborated here.

[0107] Of course, the corresponding relationship may not be in sequence. For example, the second bit may also correspond to the first 20MHz, etc. This embodiment does not limit it.

[0108] Embodiment 2: The bandwidth of the operating channel is 80MHz, and the bandwidth of the candidate channel is 240MHz.

[0109] The second TWT channel field may include 16 bits. Among the first 8 bits, the first 4 or the last 4 bits may be set to 1 to indicate that the target sub-channel is the first 80 MHz or the second 80 MHz. Among the last 8 bits, the first 4 or the last 4 bits may be set to 1 to indicate that the target sub-channel is the third 80 MHz or the fourth 80 MHz, and one or more RUs in the target sub-channel are allocated to the station for communication.

[0110] For example, if the second TWT channel field is "1111000000000000", it may indicate that the selected target sub-channel is the first 80 MHz.

[0111] Embodiment 3: The bandwidth of the operating channel is 160 MHz, and the bandwidth of the candidate channel is 160 MHz.

[0112] Optionally, the second TWT channel field may include 16 bits. The first 8 or the last 8 bits may be set to 1 to indicate that the target sub-channel is the first 160 MHz or the second 160 MHz, and one or more RUs in the target sub-channel are allocated to the station for communication.

[0113] For example, if the second TWT channel field is "1111111100000000", it may indicate that the selected target sub-channel is the first 160 MHz.

[0114] Optionally, the second TWT channel field may include 16 bits. One designated bit may be set to indicate that the target sub-channel is the first 160 MHz or the second 160 MHz, and one or more RUs in the target sub-channel are allocated to the station for communication.

[0115] For example, if the designated bit is the first bit, then the second TWT channel field "1000000000000000" may indicate that the selected target sub-channel is the first 160 MHz; the second TWT channel field "0000000000000000" may indicate that the selected target sub-channel is the second 160 MHz.

[0116] It can be understood that in the related art, for the case where the maximum channel bandwidth is 160 MHz, a 1-byte TWT channel field can be used to identify the sub-channel.

[0117] Based on this, the present disclosure also provides other alternative implementation manners. For example, on the basis of the 1-byte TWT channel field, several additional bits are added to further distinguish the sub-channel indicated by the 1 byte. Optionally, the additional bits may belong to the TWT channel field or may not belong to the TWT channel field.

[0118] In one embodiment, to distinguish from the related art, other bit positions may also be used to identify the maximum channel bandwidth of the channel to which the candidate channel belongs. For example, 2 additional bit positions may be added in the TWT channel field to indicate that the maximum channel bandwidth of the candidate channel belongs to 80 MHz, 160 MHz, 240 MHz, 320 MHz, etc. Details are not described herein.

[0119] Taking the coding method with a maximum channel bandwidth of 160 MHz as an example to add supplementary bit positions.

[0120] In one embodiment, the channel bandwidth greater than 160 MHz may first be divided into basic sub-channels not greater than 8, and 1 byte (i.e., 8 bit positions) in the TWT channel field is used for identification; then the basic sub-channels are further divided, and the supplementary bit positions in the TWT channel field are used for identification.

[0121] The following takes the maximum channel bandwidth of 320 MHz (i.e., the sum of the bandwidths of the operating channel and the candidate channel is 320 MHz) as an example for illustration.

[0122] For the operating channel with a bandwidth of 20 MHz, it can be implemented in the following manner:

[0123] First, the 320 MHz is divided into 8 basic sub-channels, and the bandwidth of each basic sub-channel is 40 MHz. For these 8 basic sub-channels, at most 1 bit position in the 8 bit positions of the TWT channel field is set to 1 to indicate that the target sub-channel belongs to the basic sub-channel corresponding to this bit position;

[0124] Then, each basic sub-channel is further divided into 2 sub-channels, and the bandwidth of each sub-channel is 20 MHz. For the 2 sub-channels in each basic sub-channel, there is also 1 designated bit position in the TWT channel field for supplementary identification, and the value of this 1 bit position is 0 or 1 to indicate that the target sub-channel is the first 20 MHz or the second 20 MHz in this 40 MHz basic sub-channel.

[0125] For example, the first 8 bit positions in the TWT channel field are used to indicate the basic sub-channel, and the 9th bit position is used to indicate the sub-channel in the basic sub-channel. If the TWT channel field is "100000001", it can indicate that the target sub-channel is the second 20 MHz in the first 40 MHz bandwidth (i.e., the second 20 MHz in the 320 MHz channel bandwidth).

[0126] For the operating channel with a bandwidth of 80 MHz, it can be implemented in the following manner:

[0127] First, divide 320 MHz into 2 basic sub-channels, where the bandwidth of each basic sub-channel is 160 MHz. For these 8 basic sub-channels, the first 4 bits or the last 4 bits of the 8-bit in the TWT channel field are set to 1, which is used to indicate that the target sub-channel belongs to the first 160 MHz or the second 160 MHz;

[0128] Then, further divide each basic sub-channel into 2 sub-channels, where the bandwidth of each sub-channel is 80 MHz. For the 2 sub-channels in each basic sub-channel, the TWT channel field also includes 1 specified bit for supplementary identification, and the value of this 1 bit is 0 or 1, which is used to indicate that the target sub-channel is the first 80 MHz or the second 80 MHz in the 160 MHz basic sub-channel.

[0129] For example, the first 8 bits in the TWT channel field are used to indicate the basic sub-channel, and the 9th bit is used to indicate the sub-channel in the basic sub-channel. If the TWT channel field is "111100001", it can indicate that the target sub-channel is the second 80 MHz in the first 160 MHz bandwidth (i.e., the second 80 MHz in the 320 MHz channel bandwidth).

[0130] In another embodiment, the channel bandwidth greater than 160 MHz can be first divided into multiple basic sub-channels that can be indicated by 1-byte TWT channel field, such as 8 basic sub-channels, and then several supplementary bits are used to supplement and identify the position of the target sub-channel in the basic sub-channel.

[0131] Taking the example of dividing the 320 MHz channel bandwidth into 8 basic sub-channels, the bandwidth of each basic sub-channel is 40 MHz. For an operating channel of 20 MHz, 1 supplementary bit can be used. According to whether this supplementary bit is 0 or 1, it is used to identify whether the target sub-channel is the first 20 MHz or the second 20 MHz in this 40 MHz. For other cases, supplementary bits can be used adaptively or not, which will not be elaborated here.

[0132] It can be understood that the above embodiments are only exemplary illustrations. In practical applications, other coding methods can also be used, which are not limited here. For the case where the sum of the operating channel and the candidate channel bandwidth is 240 MHz, a similar method can also be used to determine the correspondence between the second TWT channel field and the target sub-channel, which will not be elaborated here.

[0133] In one embodiment, the operating channel and the candidate channel can belong to the same connection or different connections. For example, the operating channel can operate in the 5G band, the candidate channel belongs to other bands such as 2.4G or 6 - 7G, or the candidate channel can also belong to the 5G band.

[0134] So far, the introduction of the sub-channel request method applied to the station has been completed. Based on the TWT channel field greater than 2 bytes, when the station negotiates TWT with the access point, for a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz, even if the bandwidth of the operating channel is small, the number of available sub-channels is large. For example, there are more than 8 sub-channels available for SST. Through the first TWT channel field, the station can accurately indicate the specific sub-channels it requests to select, so that the access point can accurately determine the specific sub-channels requested by the station to select; through the second channel field, the determined selected sub-channels can be accurately indicated, so that the station can accurately determine the sub-channels used for communication.

[0135] It should be noted that steps S1031, S1032, S1033, and S1034 in the embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented separately or executed together with any one of the steps in the embodiments of the present disclosure; for example, steps S1031 and S1032 in the embodiments of the present disclosure can be executed together with the foregoing step S101 or step S101' or step S102 or step S104. At the same time, steps S1031, S1032, S1033, and S1034 in the embodiments of the present disclosure do not have to be implemented together, that is, these four steps can be combined in any way or implemented independently; and these four steps can also be implemented alone or in any combination and together with any other step in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0136] Figure 8 It is a schematic flowchart of a sub-channel indication method shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The sub-channel indication method shown in this embodiment can be applied to an access point, and the access point includes but is not limited to a switch and a router. The access point can communicate with a station as a user device, and the station includes but is not limited to electronic devices such as mobile phones, tablets, wearable devices, sensors, and Internet of Things devices. In one embodiment, the station can be the station applicable to the sub-channel request method described in any of the foregoing embodiments.

[0137] As Figure 8 shown, the sub-channel indication method may include the following steps:

[0138] In step S201, a TWT response frame is sent to the station on the operating channel; wherein, the number of bytes of the second TWT channel field in the TWT response frame is greater than 1 byte, and the second TWT channel field is used to indicate the station to select sub-channels from the candidate channels.

[0139] In some embodiments, the second TWT channel field in the TWT response frame can be of any length greater than 8 bits, and is not limited to the number of bytes listed above.

[0140] In some other embodiments, the access point may send the TWT response frame according to a preset rule, a protocol regulation, or a received TWT request frame; that is, the triggering events for triggering the sending of the TWT response frame include, but are not limited to, receiving a TWT request frame, a triggering event determined based on a protocol, and a triggering event based on a preset rule.

[0141] In one embodiment, the operating channel is the channel used by the station and the access point for current communication. In the operating channel, the station and the access point can perform TWT interaction to negotiate which sub-channel to select among the candidate channels, where the candidate channels refer to non-operating channels, that is, the channels not currently used by the station and the access point for communication.

[0142] In one embodiment, for SST operation, the bandwidth of the sub-channel selected in the candidate channels is the same as the bandwidth of the operating channel.

[0143] In one embodiment, the TWT elements included in the TWT response frame are similar to Figure 2 、 Figure 3 and will not be elaborated here. Among them, the number of bytes of the second TWT channel field in the TWT response frame is greater than 1. For example, it can be 1.5 bytes (12 bits) or 2 bytes (16 bits), etc. In some embodiments, the second TWT channel field in the TWT response frame can be of any length greater than 8 bits, not limited to the number of bytes listed above.

[0144] In one embodiment, the number of bytes of the second TWT channel field is the same as that of the first TWT channel field in the foregoing embodiment.

[0145] In one embodiment, the TWT response frame can also be a response frame returned by the access point after receiving the TWT request frame sent by the station.

[0146] In another embodiment, the TWT response frame can be a trigger frame actively broadcast by the access point.

[0147] Figure 9 is a schematic flowchart of another sub-channel indication method shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As Figure 9 shown, before performing step S201 of sending a TWT response frame to the station, the method further includes:

[0148] In step S202, receive the TWT request frame sent by the station, where the number of bytes of the first TWT channel field in the TWT request frame is greater than 1, and the first TWT channel field is used to indicate the sub-channel that the station requests to select among the candidate channels.

[0149] In step S203, determine the TWT response frame according to the TWT request frame.

[0150] It should be noted that steps S202 and S203 in the embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented separately or executed together with any one of the steps in the embodiments of the present disclosure; for example, steps S202 and S203 in the embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented together with the foregoing step S201 or separately with the foregoing step S201.

[0151] In one embodiment, when a station negotiates with an access point, the station sends a TWT request frame to the access point, where the number of bytes in the first TWT channel field in the TWT request frame is greater than 1, and the first TWT channel field is used to indicate the sub-channel that the station requests to select from the candidate channels. After receiving the TWT request frame sent by the station, the access point can parse the TWT request frame, determine a TWT response frame according to the TWT request frame, and return the TWT response frame to the station.

[0152] Figure 10 It is a schematic flowchart of another sub-channel indication method shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As Figure 10 shown, determining the TWT response frame according to the TWT request frame includes:

[0153] In step S2031, based on the first TWT channel field, determine the reference sub-channel that the station requests to select from the candidate channels;

[0154] In step S2032, in response to the reference sub-channel being idle, determine the second TWT channel field based on the first TWT channel field;

[0155] Or

[0156] In step S2033, in response to the reference sub-channel being busy, select an idle sub-channel in the candidate channels as the target sub-channel, and determine the second TWT channel field based on the target sub-channel.

[0157] It should be noted that steps S2031, S2032, and S2033 in the embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented separately or executed together with any one of the steps in the embodiments of the present disclosure; for example, steps S2031 and S2032 in the embodiments of the present disclosure can be executed together with the foregoing step S201 or step S202. At the same time, steps S2031, S2032, and S2033 in the embodiments of the present disclosure do not necessarily have to be implemented together, that is, these four steps can be implemented in any combination or independently; and these four steps can also be implemented alone or in any combination and together with any other step in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0158] In one embodiment, the access point may parse the TWT request frame and determine the reference sub-channel indicated by the first TWT channel field, and the reference sub-channel is the sub-channel requested by the station.

[0159] Figure 11 It is a schematic flowchart of another sub-channel indication method shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As Figure 11 shown, determining the reference sub-channel that the station requests to select from the candidate channels based on the first TWT channel field includes:

[0160] In step S20311, based on the bandwidth of the operating channel, determine the number of sub-channels included in the candidate channel.

[0161] In one embodiment, the bandwidth of the sub-channels in the candidate bandwidth is the same as the bandwidth of the operating channel. Thus, the number of sub-channels in the candidate channel can be determined according to the bandwidth of the operating channel.

[0162] In step S20312, based on the number of sub-channels, determine the correspondence between the bit positions of the first TWT channel field and each sub-channel.

[0163] In one embodiment, one or more bit positions in the first TWT channel field may correspond to each sub-channel, and both the access point and the station pre-store this correspondence.

[0164] In step S20313, in the bit positions of the first TWT channel field, determine the reference bit position equal to the preset value.

[0165] Optionally, the reference bit position is one bit position or multiple bit positions.

[0166] In step S20314, according to the correspondence, determine the reference sub-channel indicated by the reference bit position.

[0167] It can be understood that the correspondence between the bit positions in the first TWT channel field and each sub-channel here can be understood as the coding method of the TWT channel field. Whether it is the second TWT channel field or the first TWT channel field, their coding methods are the same. Based on the same coding method, the station can decode the second TWT channel field to determine the target sub-channel it indicates; the access point can decode the first TWT channel field to determine the reference sub-channel it indicates.

[0168] It should be noted that steps S20311, S20312, S20313, and S20314 in the embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented independently or executed together with any one step in the embodiments of the present disclosure; for example, steps S20311 and S20312 in the embodiments of the present disclosure can be executed together with the foregoing step S2032 or step S2033. At the same time, steps S20311, S20312, S20313, and S20314 in the embodiments of the present disclosure do not necessarily have to be implemented together, that is, these four steps can be implemented in any combination or independently; and these four steps can also be implemented alone or in any combination, together with any other step in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0169] Thus, the method for an access point to determine a reference subchannel according to the first TWT channel field is similar to Figure 7 the method of "a station determines a target subchannel according to the second TWT channel field" in the illustrated embodiment, which will not be elaborated here. Optionally, the first TWT channel field is the same as the second TWT channel field, or the first TWT channel field is different from the second TWT channel field. Optionally, the channels for transmitting the TWT request frame and the TWT response frame can be the same or different.

[0170] In one embodiment, after determining the reference subchannel, the access point can check the status of the reference subchannel. In response to the reference subchannel being idle, the access point can determine the reference subchannel as the target subchannel and set the second TWT channel field to be the same as the first TWT channel field; in response to the reference subchannel being busy, the access point selects other idle subchannels from the candidate channels as the target subchannels and determines the second TWT channel field for indicating the target subchannels according to a preset coding method.

[0171] In one embodiment, a subchannel can include multiple RUs. The TWT request frame sent by the station can also include the number of requested RUs. The reference subchannel requested by the station is actually a request to use several RUs in the reference subchannel.

[0172] In one embodiment, after determining the reference subchannel, the access point can further determine whether there are RUs in the reference subchannel that are in an idle state. Alternatively, the access point can also further determine whether the number of RUs in the idle state meets the number requested by the access point. If it is satisfied, the reference subchannel is considered idle and the reference subchannel is used as the target subchannel; if it is not satisfied, the reference subchannel is considered busy and other subchannels are selected from the candidate channels as the target subchannels.

[0173] Figure 12 is a schematic flowchart of another subchannel indication method shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. AsFigure 12 As shown, determining the second TWT channel domain based on the target sub-channel includes:

[0174] In step S20331, based on the bandwidth of the operation channel, determine the number of sub-channels included in the candidate channel.

[0175] In step S20332, based on the number of sub-channels, determine the correspondence between the bit positions of the second TWT channel domain and each sub-channel.

[0176] In step S20333, according to the correspondence, determine the target bit positions corresponding to the target sub-channel in the bit positions of the second TWT channel domain.

[0177] Optionally, the target bit positions are one bit position or multiple bit positions.

[0178] In step S20334, set the target bit positions to a preset value.

[0179] It should be noted that steps S20331, S20332, S20333, and S20334 in the embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented separately, or can be executed together in combination with any one of the steps in the embodiments of the present disclosure; for example, steps S20331 and S20332 in the embodiments of the present disclosure can be executed together in combination with the foregoing step S2031 or step S2032. At the same time, steps S20331, S20332, S20333, and S20334 in the embodiments of the present disclosure do not necessarily have to be implemented together, that is, these four steps can be implemented in any combination or independently; and these four steps can also be implemented alone or in any combination, together with any other step in the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0180] It can be understood that after the access point determines the target sub-channel, it is necessary to encode the second TWT channel domain to correspond to the target sub-channel, and the correspondence here is the encoding method. For example, for instance, the second TWT channel domain may include 16 bit positions, the bandwidth of the operation channel is 20 MHz, the bandwidth of the candidate channel is 300 MHz, and in response to the target sub-channel being the first 20 MHz, it can be determined that the second TWT channel domain is "1000000000000000". The method for generating the second TWT channel domain according to the target sub-channel is similar to that in the foregoing Figure 7 illustrated embodiments and will not be elaborated here.

[0181] In one embodiment, after the access point determines the target sub-channel, the method further includes: sending resource indication information to the station, where the resource indication information is used to indicate one or more resource units for communication in the target sub-channel.

[0182] In one embodiment, the access point may carry resource indication information through a TWT response frame to indicate that one or more RUs in the target subchannel are allocated to the station for communication, so that the station can determine one or more RUs according to the resource indication information and communicate based on the one or more RUs.

[0183] Optionally, the sum of the bandwidths of the operating channel and the candidate channel is greater than 160 MHz. For example, the sum of the bandwidths may be 240 MHz or 320 MHz.

[0184] Optionally, the bandwidth of the operating channel is the same as the bandwidth of the subchannel. Among them, the bandwidth of the subchannel includes at least one of the following: 160 MHz, 80 MHz, 40 MHz, 20 MHz.

[0185] So far, the introduction of the subchannel indication method applied to the access point is completed. Based on the TWT channel field greater than 1 byte, for a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz, even if the bandwidth of the operating channel is small, the number of available subchannels is large. For example, more than 8 subchannels are available for SST. Through the first TWT channel field, the subchannel specifically requested by the station to select can be accurately indicated so that the access point can accurately determine the subchannel specifically requested by the station to select; through the second channel field, the determined selected subchannel can be accurately indicated so that the station can accurately determine the subchannel for communication.

[0186] Corresponding to the foregoing embodiments of the subchannel request method, the present disclosure also provides embodiments of a subchannel request device.

[0187] Figure 13 FIG. is a schematic block diagram of a subchannel request device shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The subchannel request device shown in this embodiment may be applicable to a station, and the station includes, but is not limited to, electronic devices such as mobile phones, tablet computers, wearable devices, sensors, and Internet of Things devices. The station may communicate with the access point as a user equipment, and the access point includes, but is not limited to, switches, routers, etc. In one embodiment, the access point may be the access point applicable to the subchannel request device described in any subsequent embodiment.

[0188] As Figure 13 shown, the subchannel request device may include the following modules:

[0189] A request module 101, configured to send a TWT request frame to an access point on an operating channel, where the number of bytes of the first TWT channel field in the TWT request frame is greater than 1, and the first TWT channel field is used to indicate the subchannel that the station requests to select from candidate channels.

[0190] Figure 14It is a schematic block diagram of another sub-channel request device shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, as Figure 14 shown, the device further includes:

[0191] A receiving module 102, configured to receive a TWT response frame returned by the access point according to the TWT request frame, wherein the number of bytes of the second TWT channel field in the TWT response frame is greater than 1, and the second TWT channel field is used to indicate a sub-channel selected by the station in the candidate channels.

[0192] Optionally, the first TWT channel field is the same as the second TWT channel field, or the first TWT channel field is different from the second TWT channel field.

[0193] Figure 15 It is a schematic block diagram of another sub-channel request device shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, as Figure 15 shown, the device further includes:

[0194] A determining module 103, configured to determine a target sub-channel selected in the candidate channels based on the second TWT channel field;

[0195] A communication module 104, configured to select the target sub-channel in the candidate channels for communication.

[0196] Optionally, the determining module 103 is configured to: determine the number of sub-channels included in the candidate channels based on the bandwidth of the operating channel; determine the correspondence between the bits of the second TWT channel field and each sub-channel based on the number of sub-channels; determine a target bit equal to a preset value among the bits of the second TWT channel field; and determine the target sub-channel indicated by the target bit according to the correspondence.

[0197] Optionally, the target bit is 1 bit or multiple bits.

[0198] Optionally, selecting the target sub-channel in the candidate channels for communication includes: determining one or more resource units in the target sub-channel according to the resource indication information sent by the access point; and performing communication based on the one or more resource units.

[0199] Optionally, the bandwidth of the sub-channels in the candidate channels is the same as the bandwidth of the operating channel.

[0200] Optionally, the sum of the bandwidths of the operating channel and the candidate channel is greater than 160 MHz.

[0201] Optionally, the sum of the bandwidths of the operating channel and the candidate channel includes at least one of the following: 240 MHz, 320 MHz.

[0202] Optionally, the bandwidth of the sub-channel includes at least one of the following: 160 MHz, 80 MHz, 40 MHz, 20 MHz.

[0203] Corresponding to the embodiments of the foregoing sub-channel indication method, the present disclosure also provides embodiments of a sub-channel indication device.

[0204] Figure 16 FIG. is a schematic block diagram of a sub-channel indication device shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The sub-channel indication device shown in this embodiment can be applied to an access point, and the access point includes, but is not limited to, a switch and a router. The access point can communicate with a station serving as a user device, and the station includes, but is not limited to, electronic devices such as a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a wearable device, a sensor, and an Internet of Things device. In one embodiment, the station can be the station applicable to the sub-channel request device described in any of the foregoing embodiments.

[0205] As Figure 16 shown, the sub-channel indication device may include the following modules:

[0206] An indication module 201, configured to send a TWT response frame to a station on an operating channel; wherein, the number of bytes of a second TWT channel field in the TWT response frame is greater than 1 byte, and the second TWT channel field is used to indicate that the station selects a sub-channel from candidate channels.

[0207] Figure 17 FIG. is a schematic block diagram of another sub-channel indication device shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As Figure 17 shown, the device further includes:

[0208] A response module 202, configured to receive a TWT request frame sent by the station, wherein the number of bytes of a first TWT channel field in the TWT request frame is greater than 1, and the first TWT channel field is used to indicate a sub-channel that the station requests to select from candidate channels; and determine the TWT response frame according to the TWT request frame.

[0209] Optionally, the determining the TWT response frame according to the TWT request frame includes: determining a reference sub-channel that the station requests to select from the candidate channels based on the first TWT channel field; in response to the reference sub-channel being idle, determining the second TWT channel field based on the first TWT channel field; or in response to the reference sub-channel being busy, selecting an idle sub-channel from the candidate channels as a target sub-channel, and determining the second TWT channel field based on the target sub-channel.

[0210] Optionally, determining the reference sub-channel that the station requests to select from the candidate channels based on the first TWT channel field includes: determining the number of sub-channels included in the candidate channels based on the bandwidth of the operating channel; determining the correspondence between the bits of the first TWT channel field and each sub-channel based on the number of sub-channels; determining the reference bit that is equal to a preset value among the bits of the first TWT channel field; and determining the reference sub-channel indicated by the reference bit according to the correspondence.

[0211] Optionally, the reference bit is one bit or multiple bits.

[0212] Optionally, determining the second TWT channel field based on the target sub-channel includes: determining the number of sub-channels included in the candidate channels based on the bandwidth of the operation; determining the correspondence between the bits of the second TWT channel field and each sub-channel based on the number of sub-channels; determining the target bit corresponding to the target sub-channel in the bits of the second TWT channel field according to the correspondence; and setting the target bit to a preset value.

[0213] Optionally, the target bit is one bit or multiple bits.

[0214] Figure 18 is a schematic block diagram of another sub-channel indication device shown according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, as Figure 17 shown, the device further includes:

[0215] An allocation module 203, configured to send resource indication information to the station, where the resource indication information is used to indicate one or more resource units for communication in the target sub-channel.

[0216] Optionally, the bandwidth of the sub-channel in the candidate channel is the same as the bandwidth of the operating channel.

[0217] Optionally, the sum of the bandwidths of the operating channel and the candidate channel is greater than 160 MHz.

[0218] Optionally, the sum of the bandwidths of the operating channel and the candidate channel includes at least one of the following: 240 MHz, 320 MHz.

[0219] Optionally, the bandwidth of the sub-channel includes at least one of the following: 160 MHz, 80 MHz, 40 MHz, 20 MHz.

[0220] Regarding the device in the above embodiments, the specific manners in which each module performs operations have been described in detail in the embodiments of the related methods, and will not be elaborated herein.

[0221] For the device embodiments, since they basically correspond to the method embodiments, the relevant parts can be referred to the descriptions in the method embodiments. The device embodiments described above are only illustrative. The modules described as separate components may or may not be physically separated. The components shown as modules may or may not be physical modules, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed to multiple network modules. Some or all of the modules can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment. A person of ordinary skill in the art can understand and implement it without creative work.

[0222] Embodiments of the present disclosure also propose an electronic device, which is characterized by including:

[0223] A processor;

[0224] A memory for storing processor-executable instructions;

[0225] Wherein, the processor is configured to implement the sub-channel request method and / or the sub-channel indication method described in any of the above embodiments.

[0226] Embodiments of the present disclosure also propose a computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, and is characterized in that when the program is executed by a processor, it implements the steps in the sub-channel request method and / or the sub-channel indication method described in any of the above embodiments.

[0227] As Figure 19 shown, Figure 19 is a schematic block diagram of a device 1900 for sub-channel indication according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The device 1900 can be provided as an access point. Referring to Figure 19 , the device 1900 includes a processing component 1922, a wireless transmitting / receiving component 1924, an antenna component 1926, and a signal processing part specific to the wireless interface. The processing component 1922 may further include one or more processors. One of the processors in the processing component 1922 can be configured to implement the sub-channel indication method described in any of the above embodiments.

[0228] Figure 20 is a schematic block diagram of a device 2000 for sub-channel request according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. For example, the device 2000 can be a mobile phone, a computer, a digital broadcast terminal, a messaging device, a game console, a tablet device, a medical device, a fitness device, a personal digital assistant, etc.

[0229] Referring to Figure 20, Device 2000 may include one or more of the following components: processing component 2002, memory 2004, power supply component 2006, multimedia component 2008, audio component 2010, input / output (I / O) interface 2012, sensor component 2014, and communication component 2016.

[0230] The processing component 2002 generally controls the overall operation of the device 2000, such as operations associated with display, telephone calls, data communication, camera operations, and recording operations. The processing component 2002 may include one or more processors 2020 to execute instructions to complete all or part of the steps of the above methods. In addition, the processing component 2002 may include one or more modules to facilitate the interaction between the processing component 2002 and other components. For example, the processing component 2002 may include a multimedia module to facilitate the interaction between the multimedia component 2008 and the processing component 2002.

[0231] The memory 2004 is configured to store various types of data to support the operation of the device 2000. Examples of such data include instructions for any application or method operating on the device 2000, contact data, phone book data, messages, pictures, videos, etc. The memory 2004 may be implemented by any type of volatile or non-volatile storage device or a combination thereof, such as static random access memory (SRAM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), read-only memory (ROM), magnetic memory, flash memory, magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0232] The power supply component 2006 provides power to various components of the device 2000. The power supply component 2006 may include a power management system, one or more power supplies, and other components associated with generating, managing, and distributing power for the device 2000.

[0233] The multimedia component 2008 includes a screen that provides an output interface between the device 2000 and the user. In some embodiments, the screen may include a liquid crystal display (LCD) and a touch panel (TP). If the screen includes a touch panel, the screen can be implemented as a touch screen to receive input signals from the user. The touch panel includes one or more touch sensors to sense touches, swipes, and gestures on the touch panel. The touch sensors can sense not only the boundaries of the touch or swipe actions, but also detect the duration and pressure associated with the touch or swipe operation. In some embodiments, the multimedia component 2008 includes a front camera and / or a rear camera. When the device 2000 is in an operation mode, such as a shooting mode or a video mode, the front camera and / or the rear camera can receive external multimedia data. Each of the front camera and the rear camera can be a fixed optical lens system or have a focal length and optical zoom capabilities.

[0234] The audio component 2010 is configured to output and / or input audio signals. For example, the audio component 2010 includes a microphone (MIC) that is configured to receive external audio signals when the device 2000 is in an operation mode, such as a call mode, a recording mode, and a voice recognition mode. The received audio signals can be further stored in the memory 2004 or transmitted via the communication component 2016. In some embodiments, the audio component 2010 further includes a speaker for outputting audio signals.

[0235] The I / O interface 2012 provides an interface between the processing component 2002 and a peripheral interface module, and the peripheral interface module can be a keyboard, a click wheel, buttons, etc. These buttons can include but are not limited to: a home button, a volume button, a power button, and a lock button.

[0236] The sensor component 2014 includes one or more sensors for providing a status assessment of various aspects of the device 2000. For example, the sensor component 2014 can detect the on / off state of the device 2000, the relative positioning of components, such as the display and the keypad of the device 2000. The sensor component 2014 can also detect a change in the position of the device 2000 or a component of the device 2000, the presence or absence of user contact with the device 2000, the orientation or acceleration / deceleration of the device 2000, and the temperature change of the device 2000. The sensor component 2014 can include a proximity sensor that is configured to detect the presence of nearby objects without any physical contact. The sensor component 2014 can also include a light sensor, such as a CMOS or a CCD image sensor, for use in imaging applications. In some embodiments, the sensor component 2014 can further include an acceleration sensor, a gyroscope sensor, a magnetic sensor, a pressure sensor, or a temperature sensor.

[0237] The communication component 2016 is configured to facilitate communication between the device 2000 and other devices in a wired or wireless manner. The device 2000 can access a communication standard-based wireless network, such as WiFi, 2G or 3G, 4G LTE, 5G NR, or a combination thereof. In an exemplary embodiment, the communication component 2016 receives a broadcast signal or broadcast-related information from an external broadcast management system via a broadcast channel. In an exemplary embodiment, the communication component 2016 further includes a Near Field Communication (NFC) module to facilitate short-range communication. For example, the NFC module can be implemented based on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, Infrared Data Association (IrDA) technology, Ultra-Wideband (UWB) technology, Bluetooth (BT) technology, and other technologies.

[0238] In an exemplary embodiment, the device 2000 can be implemented by one or more Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), Digital Signal Processing Devices (DSPDs), Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, or other electronic components for performing the above method.

[0239] In an exemplary embodiment, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions is also provided, such as a memory 2004 including instructions, and the above instructions can be executed by a processor 2020 of the device 2000 to complete the above method. For example, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium can be a ROM, Random Access Memory (RAM), CD-ROM, magnetic tape, floppy disk, and optical data storage device, etc.

[0240] Those skilled in the art will readily conceive of other embodiments of the present disclosure after considering the specification and practicing the disclosure herein. The present disclosure is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the present disclosure, which follow the general principles of the present disclosure and include common general knowledge or conventional technical means in the technical field not disclosed in the present disclosure. The specification and embodiments are only to be considered as exemplary, and the true scope and spirit of the present disclosure are pointed out by the following claims.

[0241] It should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the exact structures described above and shown in the drawings, and various modifications and changes can be made without departing from its scope. The scope of the present disclosure is only limited by the appended claims.

[0242] It should be noted that in this document, relational terms such as first and second are only used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. The term "comprising", "including" or any other variant thereof is intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article or device comprising a series of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. Without further limitation, an element defined by the statement "comprising an..." does not exclude the presence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article or device comprising the said element.

[0243] The methods and devices provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure have been introduced in detail above. Specific examples are used herein to elaborate on the principles and implementation manners of the present disclosure. The description of the above embodiments is only used to help understand the method and its core idea of the present disclosure; at the same time, for those of ordinary skill in the art, according to the idea of the present disclosure, there will be changes in the specific implementation manners and application scopes. In summary, the content of this specification should not be construed as a limitation to the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A sub-channel request method, characterized in that, The method is applied to a station, and the method includes: Sending a TWT request frame to an access point on an operating channel, where the number of bytes of a first TWT channel field in the TWT request frame is greater than 1, and the first TWT channel field is used to indicate a sub-channel that the station requests to select from candidate channels; so that the access point determines a reference sub-channel requested by the station based on the first TWT channel field in the TWT request frame; in response to the reference sub-channel being idle, determining a second TWT channel field based on the first TWT channel field; or in response to the reference sub-channel being busy, selecting an idle sub-channel from the candidate channels as a target sub-channel, and determining the second TWT channel field based on the target sub-channel; Receiving a TWT response frame returned by the access point according to the TWT request frame, where the number of bytes of a second TWT channel field in the TWT response frame is greater than 1, and the second TWT channel field is used to indicate a sub-channel that the station selects from candidate channels; Determining the number of sub-channels included in the candidate channel based on the bandwidth of the operating channel; Determining the correspondence between the bit positions of the second TWT channel field and each sub-channel based on the number of sub-channels; Determining a target bit position equal to a preset value among the bit positions of the second TWT channel field; Determining the target sub-channel indicated by the target bit position according to the correspondence; 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The first TWT channel field is the same as the second TWT channel field, or the first TWT channel field is different from the second TWT channel field.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The method further includes: Determining a target sub-channel selected from the candidate channels based on the second TWT channel field; Selecting the target sub-channel from the candidate channels for communication.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein The target bit position is 1 bit or multiple bits.

5. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, The selecting the target sub-channel from the candidate channels for communication includes: Determining one or more resource units in the target sub-channel according to resource indication information sent by the access point; Communicating based on the one or more resource units.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, The bandwidth of the sub-channels in the candidate channel is the same as the bandwidth of the operating channel.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that, The sum of the bandwidths of the operating channel and the candidate channel is greater than 160 MHz.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein The sum of the bandwidths of the operating channel and the candidate channel includes at least one of the following: 240 MHz, 320 MHz.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, The bandwidth of the sub-channel includes at least one of the following: 160 MHz, 80 MHz, 40 MHz, 20 MHz.

10. A sub-channel indication method, characterized in that, The method is applied to an access point, and the method includes: Receiving a TWT request frame sent by a station, where the number of bytes of a first TWT channel field in the TWT request frame is greater than 1, and the first TWT channel field is used to indicate a sub-channel that the station requests to select from candidate channels; Determining the number of sub-channels included in the candidate channel based on the bandwidth of the operating channel; Determining the correspondence between the bit positions of the first TWT channel field and each sub-channel based on the number of sub-channels; Determining a reference bit position equal to a preset value among the bit positions of the first TWT channel field; Determine the reference subchannel indicated by the reference bit based on the corresponding relationship; In response to the reference subchannel being idle, determine a second TWT channel domain based on the first TWT channel domain; or in response to the reference subchannel being busy, select an idle subchannel in the candidate channels as the target subchannel, and determine the second TWT channel domain based on the target subchannel; Send a TWT response frame to the station on the operating channel; wherein, the number of bytes of the second TWT channel domain in the TWT response frame is greater than 1 byte, and the second TWT channel domain is used to indicate that the station selects a subchannel in the candidate channels.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein The reference bit is 1 bit or multiple bits.

12. The method according to claim 10, wherein The determining the second TWT channel domain based on the target subchannel includes: Determine the number of subchannels included in the candidate channel based on the bandwidth of the operation; Determine the corresponding relationship between the bits of the second TWT channel domain and each subchannel based on the number of subchannels; Determine the target bit corresponding to the target subchannel among the bits of the second TWT channel domain according to the corresponding relationship; Set the target bit to a preset value.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein The target bit is 1 bit or multiple bits.

14. The method according to claim 10, wherein The method further includes: Send resource indication information to the station, wherein the resource indication information is used to indicate one or more resource units for communication in the target subchannel.

15. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 14, characterized in that The bandwidth of the subchannels in the candidate channel is the same as the bandwidth of the operating channel.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that, The sum of the bandwidths of the operating channel and the candidate channel is greater than 160 MHz.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that, The bandwidth of the candidate channel includes at least one of the following: 240 MHz, 320 MHz.

18. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 14, characterized in that, The bandwidth of the subchannel includes at least one of the following: 160 MHz, 80 MHz, 40 MHz, 20 MHz.

19. A sub-channel request device, characterized in that, The apparatus includes: A request module, configured to send a TWT request frame to an access point on an operating channel, wherein the number of bytes of the first TWT channel domain in the TWT request frame is greater than 1, and the first TWT channel domain is used to indicate the subchannel that the station requests to select in the candidate channels; so that the access point determines the reference subchannel requested by the station based on the first TWT channel domain in the TWT request frame; in response to the reference subchannel being idle, determine a second TWT channel domain based on the first TWT channel domain; or in response to the reference subchannel being busy, select an idle subchannel in the candidate channels as the target subchannel, and determine the second TWT channel domain based on the target subchannel; A receiving module, configured to receive the TWT response frame returned by the access point according to the TWT request frame, wherein the number of bytes of the second TWT channel domain in the TWT response frame is greater than 1, and the second TWT channel domain is used to indicate that the station selects a subchannel in the candidate channels; Determine the number of subchannels included in the candidate channel based on the bandwidth of the operating channel; Determine the corresponding relationship between the bits of the second TWT channel domain and each subchannel based on the number of subchannels; Determine the target bit equal to the preset value among the bits of the second TWT channel domain; Determine the target sub-channel indicated by the target bit according to the corresponding relationship.

20. A sub-channel indicating device, characterized in that, The device includes: A response module, configured to receive a TWT request frame sent by a station, where the number of bytes of a first TWT channel field in the TWT request frame is greater than 1, and the first TWT channel field is used to indicate the sub-channel that the station requests to select from candidate channels; Determine the number of sub-channels included in the candidate channels based on the bandwidth of the operating channel; Determine the corresponding relationship between the bit positions of the first TWT channel field and each sub-channel based on the number of sub-channels; Determine a reference bit position equal to a preset value among the bit positions of the first TWT channel field; Determine the reference sub-channel indicated by the reference bit position according to the corresponding relationship; In response to the reference sub-channel being idle, determine a second TWT channel field based on the first TWT channel field; or in response to the reference sub-channel being busy, select an idle sub-channel in the candidate channels as the target sub-channel, and determine the second TWT channel field based on the target sub-channel; An indication module, configured to send a TWT response frame to the station on the operating channel; where the number of bytes of a second TWT channel field in the TWT response frame is greater than 1 byte, and the second TWT channel field is used to indicate the sub-channel that the station selects from candidate channels.

21. An electronic device, characterized in that, Includes: A processor; A memory for storing instructions executable by the processor; Wherein, the processor is configured to implement the sub-channel request method described in any one of claims 1 to 9 and / or the sub-channel indication method described in any one of claims 10 to 18.

22. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that, When the program is executed by the processor, it implements the steps in the sub-channel request method described in any one of claims 1 to 9 and / or the sub-channel indication method described in any one of claims 10 to 18.

Images