Devices and methods for multi-link wireless transmission

Abstract

The present invention relates to reducing latency in wireless communication. To this end, the present invention provides a first entity, which is configured to: send a first indication to a second entity, where the first indication indicates a first set of packets sent from the first entity to a first link receiver; send a first transmission status indication to the second entity, where the first transmission status indication indicates which packets in the first set of packets are successfully received by the first link receiver, and / or indicates which packets in the first set of packets are not received by the first link receiver. Specifically, each packet indicated in the first indication and the first transmission status indication is associated with a global multi-link sequence number. In addition, the present invention also provides a second entity, which is configured to receive the first indication and the first transmission status indication from the first entity.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention generally relates to wireless communication, and more specifically, to multi-link aggregation in wireless transmission. The present invention proposes a device and method for low-latency and strict-delay wireless transmission. Background Art

[0002] The IEEE 802.11 standard / protocol family (referred to as 802.11 for short) specifies a set of media access control (MAC) and physical layer (PHY) protocols for implementing wireless local area network (WLAN) Wi-Fi computer communication at various frequencies.

[0003] The 802.11 protocol family adopts carrier-sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA / CA). CSMA is a MAC protocol in which a node verifies the absence of other traffic before transmitting on a shared transmission medium (e.g., an electrical bus or a frequency band of the electromagnetic spectrum). CSMA / CA in computer networking is a network multiple access method using carrier sensing, but a node tries to start transmission only after sensing that the channel is in an "idle" state to avoid collisions. Wi-Fi transmission based on CSMA / CA includes random backoff, so the transmission opportunity (TxOP) timing cannot be guaranteed.

[0004] IEEE 802.11e (referred to as 802.11e or 11e for short) introduces enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) with four access categories. The difference between each category lies only in the random backoff window, which statistically provides higher priority for low-latency traffic than other traffic.

[0005] Generally, a residential Wi-Fi environment includes multiple access points (APs) sharing the same channel. However, overlapping basic service set (OBSS) transmissions are not coordinated, and there is no cooperation protocol between APs. Therefore, the delay cannot be limited or guaranteed.

[0006] It is proposed to implement a multi-link device that operates in parallel on two different channels. However, one of the greatest challenges in such a multi-link implementation is how to mitigate the Simultaneous Transmit Receive (STR) problem between two different channels on the same Wi-Fi chip. Summary of the Invention

[0007] In view of the above limitations, embodiments of the present invention aim to introduce a solution for reducing OBSS time-sharing interference. Specifically, one objective is to optimize the air interface access opportunity. One goal is to achieve lower latency in wireless transmission.

[0008] This objective is achieved by the embodiments provided in the appended independent claims. Advantageous implementations of the embodiments are further defined in the dependent claims.

[0009] Embodiments of the present invention provide a software-based method for implementing STR multi-links. Specifically, software-based low-latency messages (e.g., a first indication and a first transmission status indication) are exchanged between a first entity and a second entity to keep all links of the multi-link implementation synchronized.

[0010] A first aspect of the present invention provides a first entity for implementing multi-links in a wireless network, the first entity being configured to: send a first indication to a second entity, where the first indication indicates a first set of packets sent from the first entity to a first link receiver; send a first transmission status indication to the second entity, where the first transmission status indication indicates which packets in the first set of packets have been successfully received by the first link receiver, and / or indicates which packets in the first set of packets have not been received by the first link receiver; wherein each packet indicated in the first indication and the first transmission status indication is associated with a global multi-link sequence number.

[0011] In one implementation of the first aspect, the first entity is further configured to: obtain a sequence of packets to be sent to the first link receiver, where each packet is associated with a global multi-link sequence number; maintain a first transmission queue of the sequence of packets, where the packets in the first transmission queue will be sent to the first link receiver.

[0012] In a multi-link implementation, a global multi-link sequence number is designed to identify packets. Specifically, the sequence of the packets to be sent in different links / channels of the multi-link should be the same. Each global multi-link sequence number identifies the same packet in different links. That is, the same packet in different links shares the same global multi-link sequence number. It should be noted that in wireless transmission, the global multi-link sequence number is different from the conventional sequence number. Specifically, the global multi-link sequence number can be set for each packet before the first entity obtains the packet.

[0013] In an implementation of the first aspect, the first entity is further configured to: send the first set of packets to the first link receiver, where the first set of packets is included in the packet sequence; receive a first block acknowledgement (BA) from the first link receiver, where the first BA indicates which packets in the first set of packets the first link receiver has successfully received, and / or indicates which packets in the first set of packets the first link receiver has not received; generate the first transmission status indication based on the first BA and the global multi-link sequence number associated with the packets indicated in the first BA.

[0014] In response to the reception of a packet, a receiver (e.g., the first link receiver) may send an acknowledgement message to a transmitter (e.g., the first entity). In this embodiment, the first link receiver may send a BA to the first entity (to acknowledge multiple packets together using a single frame). Therefore, the first entity may generate the first transmission status indication by adding the global multi-link sequence number to the packets indicated in the first BA. It should be noted that the BA may indicate the packet by indicating the Wi-Fi sequence number of the packet.

[0015] In an implementation of the first aspect, each packet in the first set of packets includes a wireless sequence number, and the first BA indicates which packets in the first set of packets the first link receiver has successfully received, and / or indicates which packets in the first set of packets the first link receiver has not received by indicating the wireless sequence number of each packet.

[0016] Generally, each packet in wireless transmission includes a sequence number field indicating the sequence number of the packet. The BA may use the sequence number to indicate the received packets or the lost packets.

[0017] In one implementation of the first aspect, the first entity is further configured to: receive a second indication from the second entity, where the second indication indicates a second set of packets sent from the second entity to a second link receiver, each packet indicated in the second indication being associated with a global multi-link sequence number, and the second set of packets being included in the packet sequence; in response to the second indication, move the second set of packets from the first transmission queue to a first holding queue, where the packets in the first holding queue are placed in a holding state.

[0018] In the multi-link implementation, the link between the second entity and the second link receiver is another one of multiple channels / wires. The second set of packets is included in the packet sequence. That is, the second set of packets indicated by the second entity is also in the first transmission queue of the first entity. To avoid sending redundant packets, when a set of packets has been sent on one link, the other link will be notified and will accordingly move the set of packets from the transmission queue to the holding queue.

[0019] In one implementation of the first aspect, the first entity is further configured to: receive a second transmission status indication from the second entity, where the second transmission status indication indicates which packets in the second set of packets have been successfully received by the second link receiver, and / or indicates which packets in the second set of packets have not been received by the second link receiver; in response to the second transmission status indication, release the packets successfully received by the second link receiver from the first holding queue; and / or move the packets not received by the second link receiver back to the front of the first transmission queue.

[0020] For the packets successfully received by the receiver (e.g., the second link receiver), the first entity does not need to send these packets again. Therefore, these packets can be released from the first holding queue. It should be noted that lost packets or packets that the receiver cannot successfully decode need to be retransmitted. Therefore, these packets can be moved back to the first transmission queue. Preferably, these packets can be sent in the next TxOP.

[0021] In one implementation of the first aspect, the first entity is implemented on a first chipset, and the second entity is implemented on a second chipset different from the first chipset.

[0022] As described above, implementing STR multi-link on the same chipset is a huge challenge.

[0023] Therefore, this embodiment proposes an alternative implementation at the software level. This solution is based on current multi-band products, which include external on-board high radio frequency (RF) separation between two radios, and each radio uses an independent chipset and RF chain.

[0024] In one implementation of the first aspect, the first chipset and the second chipset are placed on the same wireless device.

[0025] For example, a Wi-Fi device may have two Wi-Fi chips connected (e.g., via PCIe) to the same host. Alternatively, the first chipset and the second chipset may be placed on two wireless devices.

[0026] In one implementation of the first aspect, the first chipset and the second chipset are placed on different wireless devices and communicate with each other via a wired or wireless backhaul connection.

[0027] In the case where the two wireless chipsets are not set on the same device, there may be a network backhaul connection between the two wireless chipsets. The backhaul connection can be a wired or wireless connection.

[0028] In one implementation of the first aspect, the first chipset operates at a frequency different from that of the second chipset.

[0029] Preferably, one of the two chipsets can operate at a higher frequency (e.g., 5 GHz high band), while the other chipset operates at a lower frequency (e.g., 5 GHz low band). Thus, better RF isolation can be achieved.

[0030] The second aspect of the present invention provides a second entity for implementing multi-links in a wireless network. The second entity is configured to: receive a first indication from a first entity, where the first indication indicates a first set of packets sent from the first entity to a first link receiver; receive a first transmission status indication from the first entity, where the first transmission status indication indicates which packets in the first set of packets the first link receiver has successfully received, and / or indicates which packets in the first set of packets the first link receiver has not received; wherein each packet indicated in the first indication and the first transmission status indication is associated with a global multi-link sequence number.

[0031] As described above, embodiments of the present invention propose to exchange software-based low-latency messages (e.g., the first indication and the first transmission status indication) between the first entity and the second entity to keep all links in the multi-link implementation synchronized. In addition, in the multi-link implementation, the global multi-link sequence number is designed to identify packets.

[0032] In an implementation of the second aspect, the second entity is further configured to: obtain a sequence of packets to be sent to a second link receiver, where each packet is associated with a global multi-link sequence number; maintain a second transmission queue for the sequence of packets, where the packets in the second transmission queue are to be sent to the second link receiver.

[0033] It should be noted that the global multi-link sequence number can be set for each packet before the second entity obtains the packet.

[0034] In an implementation of the second aspect, the first group of packets is included in the sequence of packets, and the second entity is further configured to: in response to the first indication, move the first group of packets from the second transmission queue to a second holding queue, where the packets in the second holding queue are placed in a holding state.

[0035] That is to say, the first group of packets indicated by the first entity is also in the second transmission queue of the second entity. When a group of packets has been sent on one link (as indicated in the first indication), other links (i.e., the second entity) will be notified and will accordingly move the group of packets (i.e., the first group of packets) out of the transmission queue. This is to avoid sending redundant packets.

[0036] In an implementation of the second aspect, the second entity is further configured to: in response to the first transmission status indication, release the packets successfully received by the first link receiver from the second holding queue; and / or move the packets not received by the first link receiver back to the front of the second transmission queue.

[0037] During the reception, air packet errors may occur. Therefore, the packets not received can be moved back to the transmission queue and wait for retransmission. Preferably, these packets can be sent in the next TxOP.

[0038] In an implementation of the second aspect, the second entity is further configured to: send a second group of packets to the second link receiver, where the second group of packets is included in the sequence of packets; receive a second BA from the second link receiver, where the second BA indicates which packets in the second group of packets have been successfully received by the second link receiver, and / or indicates which packets in the second group of packets have not been received by the second link receiver; generate a second transmission status indication according to the second BA and the global multi-link sequence number associated with the packets indicated in the second BA.

[0039] It should be noted that, in the multi-link implementation, the link between the second entity and the second link receiver is another link of multiple channels / wireless. Once the second entity sends the second set of packets, the first entity should be notified accordingly. Optionally, the second entity can generate the second transmission status indication by adding a global multi-link sequence number to the packets indicated in the second BA. This synchronization message (i.e., the second transmission status indication) is used to notify the first entity which packets have been successfully sent and which packets should be retransmitted.

[0040] In one implementation of the second aspect, each packet in the second set of packets includes a wireless sequence number, and the second BA indicates which packets in the second set of packets have been successfully received by the second link receiver and / or which packets in the second set of packets have not been received by the second link receiver by indicating the wireless sequence number of each packet.

[0041] Generally, each packet in wireless transmission includes a sequence number field indicating the sequence number of the packet. The second BA can use the sequence number to indicate received packets or lost packets.

[0042] In one implementation of the second aspect, the second entity is further configured to: send a second indication to the first entity, where the second indication indicates the second set of packets sent from the second entity to the second link receiver; send the second transmission status indication to the first entity, where the second transmission status indication indicates which packets in the second set of packets have been successfully received by the second link receiver and / or which packets in the second set of packets have not been received by the second link receiver.

[0043] Optionally, the second set of packets may also be in the first transmission queue of the first entity. To avoid sending redundant packets, when a set of packets has been sent on one link (e.g., the second set of packets sent from the second entity), the other link (e.g., the first entity) will be notified.

[0044] A third aspect of the present invention provides a wireless transmitting device, specifically an access point in a wireless network. The wireless transmitting device includes: at least one first entity according to the first aspect or any implementation of the first aspect and at least one second entity according to the second aspect or any implementation of the second aspect; wherein, the wireless transmitting device is configured to: obtain an original packet sequence; generate a packet sequence by adding a global multi-link sequence number to each packet in the original packet sequence; copy the packet sequence and provide the packet sequence to each of the at least one first entity and the at least one second entity.

[0045] The multi-link implementation may include multiple links. Embodiments of the present invention propose a wireless transmission device on which at least two chip sets are placed. It should be noted that when a message has been sent in one channel, the traffic information will be synchronized among all channels. In this way, the wireless transmission device can optimize the air interface access opportunities of all chip sets. In addition, the latency can be significantly reduced.

[0046] The implementation manner of the wireless transmission device described in the third aspect may correspond to the implementation manner of the first entity described in the first aspect and the implementation manner of the second entity described in the second aspect above. The wireless transmission device described in the third aspect and its implementation manner achieve the same advantages and effects as those described above for the first entity described in the first aspect and its implementation manner and for the second entity described in the second aspect and its implementation manner.

[0047] A fourth aspect of the present invention provides a wireless receiving device, specifically a station in a wireless network. The wireless receiving device includes at least one first-link receiver and at least one second-link receiver. The at least one first-link receiver is configured to receive messages from at least one first entity according to the first aspect or any implementation manner of the first aspect, and the at least one second-link receiver is configured to receive messages from at least one second entity according to the second aspect or any implementation manner of the second aspect. Wherein, the wireless receiving device is configured to: obtain a received flow by combining the messages received by the at least one first-link receiver and the messages received by the at least one second-link receiver.

[0048] Therefore, embodiments of the present invention also propose a wireless receiving device including at least two link receivers. The wireless receiving device unifies all the links received by all the link receivers into a signal receiving flow, and each receiver receives messages from the corresponding chip set. It should be noted that the wireless receiving device may also sequentially send the combined flow to the next-layer device.

[0049] The implementation manner of the wireless receiving device described in the fourth aspect may correspond to the implementation manner of the first entity described in the first aspect above and the implementation manner of the second entity described in the second aspect above. The wireless receiving device described in the fourth aspect and its implementation manner achieve the same advantages and effects as those described above for the first entity described in the first aspect and its implementation manner and for the second entity described in the second aspect and its implementation manner.

[0050] A fifth aspect of the present invention provides a method for implementing multi-link in a wireless network by a first entity, where the method includes: sending a first indication to a second entity, where the first indication indicates a first set of packets sent from the first entity to a first link receiver; sending a first transmission status indication to the second entity, where the first transmission status indication indicates which packets in the first set of packets are successfully received by the first link receiver, and / or indicates which packets in the first set of packets are not received by the first link receiver; wherein each packet indicated in the first indication and the first transmission status indication is associated with a global multi-link sequence number.

[0051] The implementation manner of the method according to the fifth aspect may correspond to the implementation manner of the first entity according to the first aspect above. The method according to the fifth aspect and its implementation manner achieve the same advantages and effects as those described above for the first entity and its implementation manner according to the first aspect.

[0052] A sixth aspect of the present invention provides a method for implementing multi-link in a wireless network by a second entity, where the method includes: receiving a first indication from a first entity, where the first indication indicates a first set of packets sent from the first entity to a first link receiver; receiving a first transmission status indication from the first entity, where the first transmission status indication indicates which packets in the first set of packets are successfully received by the first link receiver, and / or indicates which packets in the first set of packets are not received by the first link receiver; wherein each packet indicated in the first indication and the first transmission status indication is associated with a global multi-link sequence number.

[0053] The implementation manner of the method according to the sixth aspect may correspond to the implementation manner of the second entity according to the second aspect above. The method according to the sixth aspect and its implementation manner achieve the same advantages and effects as those described above for the second entity and its implementation manner according to the second aspect.

[0054] A seventh aspect of the present invention provides a computer program product, which includes program code that, when implemented on a processor, is used to execute the method according to the fifth aspect and any implementation manner of the fifth aspect or the method according to the sixth aspect and any implementation manner of the sixth aspect.

[0055] It should be noted that all the devices, elements, units, and modules described in this application can be implemented in software or hardware elements or any combination thereof. The steps performed by the various entities described in this application and the functions to be performed by the various entities described are intended to mean that each entity is adapted or used to perform each step and function. Even in the description of the following specific embodiments, where the specific functions or steps to be performed by external entities are not reflected in the description of the specific detailed elements of the entity performing the specific step or function, those skilled in the art should understand that these methods and functions can be implemented in the corresponding software or hardware elements or in any combination of such elements. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0056] In connection with the accompanying drawings, the following description of the specific embodiments will set forth the various aspects of the present invention and their implementation manners, where:

[0057] Figure 1 shows a first entity provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0058] Figure 2 shows a second entity provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0059] Figure 3 shows a multi-link implementation provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0060] Figure 4 shows a multi-link implementation provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0061] Figure 5 shows a block diagram of a multi-link implementation provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0062] Figure 6 shows a general flowchart provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0063] Figure 7 shows a delay modeling provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0064] Figure 8 shows the topology of a network simulator (NS-3) provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0065] Figure 9 shows a simulation result provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0066] Figure 10 shows a method provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0067] Figure 11 shows a method provided by an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0068] Described are illustrative embodiments of a method, apparatus, and program product for implementing efficient message transmission in a communication system with reference to the accompanying drawings. Although this description provides detailed examples of possible implementations, it should be noted that these details are intended to be exemplary and in no way limit the scope of the present application.

[0069] In addition, embodiments / examples may refer to other embodiments / examples. For example, any description including but not limited to terms, elements, processes, explanations, and / or technical advantages mentioned in one embodiment / example applies to other embodiments / examples.

[0070] Multi-Link / Multi-Radio MAC (MRM) targets OBSS time-sharing interference on the same primary channel (e.g., 20 / 40 / 80 / 160 / 320 MHz). By using at least one additional channel in parallel, the AP can send to a station while the first channel is occupied by OBSS or an uplink from its own BSS. In the same way, the AP will send on the first channel while another channel is occupied by OBSS / an uplink from its own BSS. In this way, the AP optimizes the air interface access opportunity and significantly reduces the latency in wireless transmission.

[0071] Known solutions have proposed hardware-based STR methods implemented at the baseband level. However, implementing multi-link (or which can be named multi-radio) baseband within a single die (chip) will face huge technical implementation problems of STR. In this scenario, when one radio is in the Receive (Rx) state, the transmit (Tx) signal in another radio may enter the first radio receiver, resulting in Rx errors. To correct such Rx errors, a high degree of isolation between radios is required. In addition to the technical implementation challenges brought by this isolation, it also incurs additional costs that most vendors would like to avoid. Therefore, implementing STR multi-link on the same chipset is a huge challenge.

[0072] Embodiments of the present invention propose an alternative implementation at the software level. Such software-based multi-link can be implemented according to current multi-band products, which include external board-level high radio frequency (RF) separation between two radios. Each radio uses an independent chipset and RF chain. For example, concurrent multi-radio devices can be used, which include 2 5 GHz operating in the "STR" mode.

[0073] Figure 1FIG. 0 shows a first entity 100 provided by an embodiment of the present invention. The first entity 100 may include a processing circuit (not shown) for performing, implementing, or initiating various operations of the first entity 100 described herein. The processing circuit may include hardware and software. The hardware may include analog circuits or digital circuits, or both analog and digital circuits. The digital circuit may include components such as an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a digital signal processor (DSP), or a general-purpose processor. The first entity 100 may also include a storage circuit that stores one or more instructions that may be executed by a processor or the processing circuit, especially under software control. For example, the storage circuit may include a non-transitory storage medium that stores executable software code, which, when executed by a processor or the processing circuit, causes the various operations of the first entity 100 to be performed. In one embodiment, the processing circuit includes one or more processors and a non-transitory memory connected to the one or more processors. The non-transitory memory may carry executable program code, which, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the first entity 100 to perform, implement, or initiate the operations or methods described herein.

[0074] Specifically, the first entity 100 is designed to implement multi-link in a wireless network. The first entity 100 is used to send a first indication 101 to a second entity 200. The second entity 200 is also designed to implement multi-link in a wireless network. Specifically, the first indication 101 indicates a first set of packets sent from the first entity 100 to a first link receiver 110 in the wireless network. The first entity 100 is also used to send a first transmission status indication 102 to the second entity 200, where the first transmission status indication 102 indicates which packets in the first set of packets have been successfully received by the first link receiver 110, and / or indicates which packets in the first set of packets have not been received by the first link receiver 110. Specifically, each packet indicated in the first indication 101 and the first transmission status indication 102 is associated with a global multi-link sequence number.

[0075] To address the above challenges, embodiments of the present invention aim to provide a software-based method for STR multi-link and achieve lower latency. Specifically, software-based low-latency messages (e.g., the first indication 101 and the first transmission status indication 102) are exchanged between the first entity 100 and the second entity 200 to keep all links in the multi-link implementation synchronized.

[0076] The present invention designs a new layer for managing link traffic to multiple independent MAC / PHYs (i.e., multiple entities such as the first entity 100 and the second entity 200, etc.). Exchanging messages enables synchronization between the MAC queues of multiple entities. Specifically, when a set of packets has been sent in one link (e.g., the link between the first entity 100 and the first link receiver 110), another link (e.g., the second entity 200) will be notified. These messages (e.g., the first indication 101 and the first transmission status indication 102) enable the second entity 200 to avoid sending redundant packets.

[0077] It should be noted that the global multi-link sequence number is designed to identify packets in a multi-link, but this is independent of the Wi-Fi Tx sequence number. Specifically, the global multi-link sequence number can be set for each packet before the first entity 100 acquires the packet.

[0078] Optionally, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the first entity 100 can be used to acquire a sequence of packets to be sent to the first link receiver 110, where each packet is associated with a global multi-link sequence number. The first entity 100 can also be used to maintain a first transmission queue of the packet sequence, where the packets in the first transmission queue will be sent to the first link receiver 110. It should be noted that in a multi-link implementation, the link between the first entity 100 and the first link receiver 110 is one of multiple channels / wireless.

[0079] In a multi-link implementation, the first entity 100 can acquire packets to be sent from a host device. Specifically, the host device can copy the packets to be sent and provide a copy to the first entity 100. Specifically, the packets to be sent in different links / channels of the multi-link are the same as each other. That is, the host device can provide another copy of the packets to be sent to a transmitter in another link (e.g., the second entity 200). Each global multi-link sequence number identifies the same packet in different links. That is, the same packet in different links (e.g., the link between the first entity 100 and the first link receiver 110, and the link between the second entity 200 and the second link receiver 210) shares the same global multi-link sequence number.

[0080] According to an embodiment of the present invention, after obtaining the message sequence, the first entity 100 can also be used to send a first set of messages to the first link receiver 110. The first set of messages is included in the message sequence. Generally, in response to the reception of the first set of messages, the first link receiver 110 can send an acknowledgment message to the first entity 100, specifically BA (acknowledging multiple messages together using a single frame). Therefore, the first entity 100 can be used to receive a first BA from the first link receiver 110, where the first BA indicates which messages in the first set of messages the first link receiver 110 has successfully received, and / or indicates which messages in the first set of messages the first link receiver 110 has not received.

[0081] It should be noted that in wireless transmission, each message includes a sequence number field indicating the sequence number of the message. Generally, BA can use the sequence number to indicate the received messages or the lost messages. Therefore, according to an embodiment of the present invention, each message in the first set of messages can include a wireless sequence number, and the first BA indicates which messages in the first set of messages the first link receiver 110 has successfully received, and / or indicates which messages in the first set of messages the first link receiver 110 has not received by indicating the wireless sequence number of each message.

[0082] Optionally, the first entity 100 can also be used to generate a first transmission status indication 102 based on the first BA and the global multi-link sequence number associated with the messages indicated in the first BA. That is to say, the global multi-link sequence number is established on top of the wireless sequence number. For example, the host device providing the message sequence to the first entity 100 can add a global multi-link sequence number to each message during the aforementioned replication process.

[0083] The global multi-link sequence number is a number different from the wireless sequence number. The present invention proposes a solution where each wireless link works independently. Each link manages its own wireless sequence number. Therefore, a new higher-level sequence number, namely the global multi-link sequence number, is provided to synchronize the transmission status of the same message in different links.

[0084] In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the first entity 100 can also be used to receive a second indication from the second entity 200. The second indication can indicate a second set of messages sent from the second entity 200 to the second link receiver 210. It should be understood that in a multi-link implementation, the link between the second entity 200 and the second link receiver 210 is another link of multiple channels / wireless. Similar to the above embodiment, each message indicated in the second indication can also be associated with a global multi-link sequence number.

[0085] According to this embodiment, the second set of packets is included in the packet sequence. That is, the second set of packets indicated by the second entity is also in the first transmission queue of the first entity 100. The first entity 100 can also be used to: in response to a second indication, move the second set of packets from the first transmission queue to the first holding queue, where the packets in the first holding queue are placed in a holding state. Generally, the packets in the transmitter's transmission queue will be sent to the receiver in order. According to an embodiment of the present invention, when a set of packets has been sent in one link, the other link will be notified and accordingly remove the set of packets from the transmission queue, thus avoiding sending redundant packets.

[0086] It should be noted that packet errors may occur during transmission. The failed packets (packets that the receiver cannot successfully decode) need to be retransmitted. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first entity 100 can also be used to receive a second transmission status indication from the second entity 200, where the second transmission status indication indicates which packets in the second set of packets have been successfully received by the second link receiver 210, and / or indicates which packets in the second set of packets have not been received by the second link receiver 210.

[0087] For the packets successfully received by the receiver (e.g., the second link receiver 210), the first entity 100 does not need to send these packets. Optionally, the first entity 100 can also be used to: in response to the second transmission status indication, release the packets successfully received by the second link receiver 210 from the first holding queue. On the other hand, the packets not received by the receiver need to be retransmitted. Optionally, the first entity 100 can also be used to move the packets not received by the second link receiver 210 back to the front of the first transmission queue. Preferably, these packets can be sent in the next TxOP.

[0088] Figure 2Shown is a second entity 200 provided by an embodiment of the present invention. The second entity 200 may include a processing circuit (not shown) for performing, implementing, or initiating various operations of the second entity 200 described herein. The processing circuit may include hardware and software. The hardware may include analog circuits or digital circuits, or both analog and digital circuits. The digital circuit may include components such as an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a digital signal processor (DSP), or a general-purpose processor. The second entity 200 may also include a storage circuit for storing one or more instructions executable by a processor or the processing circuit, particularly under the control of software. For example, the storage circuit may include a non-transitory storage medium storing executable software code that, when executed by the processor or the processing circuit, causes the various operations of the second entity 200 to be performed. In one embodiment, the processing circuit includes one or more processors and a non-transitory memory connected to the one or more processors. The non-transitory memory may carry executable program code that, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the second entity 200 to perform, implement, or initiate the operations or methods described herein.

[0089] Specifically, Figure 2 the second entity 200 shown in is designed to implement multi-links in a wireless network. The second entity 200 is used to receive a first indication 101 from the first entity 100. Figure 2 The first entity 100 shown in may be Figure 1 the first entity shown in. Specifically, the first indication 101 indicates a first set of packets sent from the first entity 100 to the first link receiver 110. The second entity 200 is also used to receive a first transmission status indication 102 from the first entity 100, where the first transmission status indication 102 indicates which packets in the first set of packets have been successfully received by the first link receiver 110, and / or indicates which packets in the first set of packets have not been received by the first link receiver 110. Specifically, each packet indicated in the first indication 101 and the first transmission status indication 102 is associated with a global multi-link sequence number.

[0090] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the second entity 200 may be used to: obtain a packet sequence to be sent to the second link receiver 210, where each packet is associated with a global multi-link sequence number; maintain a second transmission queue for the packet sequence, where the packets in the second transmission queue will be sent to the second link receiver 210.

[0091] As discussed in the above embodiments, the host device may duplicate the packet to be sent and provide a copy to the first entity 100. Since the second entity needs to send the same packet, the host device may also provide a copy of the packet to be sent to the second entity 200.

[0092] By knowing the packet to be sent (i.e., the packet sequence) and the first group of packets indicated in the first indication 101, the second entity 200 may also be used to move the first group of packets from the second transmission queue to the second holding queue. It should be noted that the first group of packets is included in the packet sequence. Since the first group of packets has been sent in one link (by the first entity 100), in order to avoid sending redundant packets, the second entity 200 should place the first group of packets in a held state.

[0093] For the packets of the first group of packets successfully received by the receiver (e.g., the first link receiver 110), the second entity does not need to send these packets again. Therefore, these packets may be released from the second holding queue. It should be noted that the packets that the receiver cannot successfully decode need to be retransmitted. Therefore, the second entity 200 may move these packets back to the second transmission queue. Preferably, these packets may be sent in the next TxOP.

[0094] Optionally, according to an embodiment of the present invention, in response to the first transmission status indication 102, the second entity 200 may also be used to release the packets successfully received by the first link receiver 110 from the second holding queue. Optionally, the second entity 200 may also be used to move the packets not received by the first link receiver 110 back to the front of the second transmission queue.

[0095] Furthermore, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the second entity 200 may be used to send a second group of packets to the second link receiver 210. It should be noted that the second group of packets is included in the packet sequence. Therefore, the second entity 200 may also be used to receive a second BA from the second link receiver 210, where the second BA indicates which packets in the second group of packets have been successfully received by the second link receiver 210, and / or indicates which packets in the second group of packets have not been received by the second link receiver 210. In order to notify the first entity 100 of the transmission status in the link between the second entity 200 and the second link receiver 210, the second entity 200 may generate a second transmission status indication based on the second BA and the global multi-link sequence number associated with the packets indicated in the second BA.

[0096] It should be understood that each message in the second group of messages includes a wireless sequence number, and the second BA indicates, by indicating the wireless sequence number of each message, which messages in the second group of messages have been successfully received by the second link receiver 210, and / or which messages in the second group of messages have not been received by the second link receiver 210.

[0097] Optionally, the second entity 200 can also be used to send a second indication to the first entity 100. The second indication indicates the second group of messages sent from the second entity 200 to the second link receiver 210. The second entity 200 can also be used to send a second transmission status indication to the first entity 100, where the second transmission status indication indicates which messages in the second group of messages have been successfully received by the second link receiver 210, and / or which messages in the second group of messages have not been received by the second link receiver 210.

[0098] Figure 3 Shows a multi-link implementation provided by an embodiment of the present invention. An embodiment of the present invention defines an MRM Tx device, which includes a first entity 100 and a second entity 200. Specifically, the first entity 100 can be Figure 1 or Figure 2 the first entity shown in, and the second entity 200 can be Figure 1 or Figure 2 the second entity shown in. The MRM Tx device can obtain traffic from the cloud (e.g., a cloud virtual reality (VR) server), and provide messages to be sent to both the first entity 100 and the second entity 200. In this embodiment, the first entity 100 is an AP operating at a high 80 MHz, while the second entity 200 is an AP operating at a low 80 MHz. Each of the first entity 100 and the second entity 200 sends to a corresponding station (STA). According to an embodiment of the present invention, the MRM Rx device can combine traffic from two STAs to obtain an Rx stream, and can further feed the Rx stream to a terminal (e.g., a VR headset) in sequence.

[0099] For simplicity, Figure 3 two Wi-Fi chip groups placed in the same housing are described, but there is no limitation on implementing this design between two independent Wi-Fi products (different chassis). In addition, it is worth mentioning that although Figure 3 only two Wi-Fi chip groups at the host are shown, the present invention does not limit the number of chip groups in the multi-link implementation. That is, an embodiment of the present invention provides a wireless transmission device, which can include Figure 1 at least one first entity 100 shown in Figure 2The second entity 200 shown.

[0100] According to an embodiment of the present invention, a wireless transmitting device can be used to obtain a sequence of original packets (packets to be transmitted). In addition, the wireless transmitting device can be used to generate a packet sequence by adding a global multi-link sequence number to each packet in the original packet sequence. Then, the wireless transmitting device can be used to copy the packet sequence and provide the packet sequence to each of at least one first entity 100 and at least one second entity 200.

[0101] Similarly, an embodiment of the present invention also provides a wireless receiving device, which can include at least one first link receiver 110 and at least one second link receiver 210, wherein at least one first link receiver 110 receives packets from Figure 1 at least one first entity 100 shown, and at least one second link receiver 210 receives packets from Figure 2 at least one second entity 200 shown. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the wireless receiving device can be used to obtain a received stream by combining the packets received by at least one first link receiver 110 and the packets received by at least one second link receiver 210.

[0102] Figure 4 Illustrates a VR multi-link implementation provided by an embodiment of the present invention. It should be noted that VR requires high throughput (for example, 80 Mbps at the entry level and 260 Mbps at the comfortable level), and also requires strict and limited latency. Therefore, VR based on wireless transmission faces huge challenges. These challenges include: ensuring throughput during actual deployment; facing actual over-the-air deployment shared with other devices in the home; and facing interference from other Wi-Fi systems operating at the same frequency or adjacent / alternating frequencies.

[0103] In an ideal clean and isolated environment, Wi-Fi can meet the latency requirements of VR. However, in residential deployments, in some access attempts, the VR AP is likely to face long OBSS Tx or several Tx exceeding 10 ms and will not be able to continue Tx.

[0104] Through the software-level solution proposed in the embodiment of the present invention, each wireless uses an independent chipset and RF chain. According to current multi-band products, high RF separation between two wirelesses can be achieved. For example, concurrent multi-radio devices can be used, and these concurrent multi-radio devices include 2 5 GHz operating in the "STR" mode.

[0105] In this embodiment, the VR Wi-Fi device has two Wi-Fi chips connected (for example, via PCIe) to the same host. Specifically, Wi-Fi chip A can beFigure 1 or Figure 2 the first entity 100 shown in; while Wi-Fi chip B can be Figure 1 or Figure 2 the second entity 200 shown in. Wi-Fi chip A operates on the 5GHz high-frequency band, while Wi-Fi chip B operates on the 5GHz low-frequency band. The host operating system (OS) can be Linux or any other OS (not a strictly real-time OS). By using zero-copy operations (e.g., using sk_buff_clone, etc.), traffic can be replicated inside each Wi-Fi driver.

[0106] Figure 5 FIG. shows a block diagram of a software-defined multi-link (SDML) architecture provided by an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 6 FIG. shows a schematic flow chart of the architecture. For simplicity, Figure 5 the block diagram of shows two Wi-Fi chip sets placed in the same enclosure, but there is no limitation on implementing SDML between two independent Wi-Fi products (different chassis), where the SDML bridging logic is implemented at a third traffic manager / controller device. It should be noted that one of the Wi-Fi chip sets can be Figure 1 or Figure 2 the first entity 100 shown in; and the other in Wi-Fi chip set B can be Figure 1 or Figure 2 the second entity 200 shown in.

[0107] An efficient message passing architecture (e.g., a Message (Msg) queue) should be implemented between the two Wi-Fi chips. Due to software-based implementation requirements, messages must be passed via the host. When the bridge-level SDML logic receives multi-link traffic, it will obtain the global multi-link sequence number (regardless of the Wi-Fi Tx sequence number) and replicate it between all SDML Tx links.

[0108] The SDML architecture is based on two main messages that keep all links synchronized: Data Sent (i.e., the first indication 101 as shown in Figure 1 , Figure 2 or Figure 5 ) - indicating which packets the link transmitter has sent; and BA Received (i.e., the second indication 201 as shown in Figure 1 , Figure 2 or Figure 5The first transmission status indication shown (102) - indicates which messages have been successfully received by the link receiver. When an SDML device receives an "SDML data sent message" from another SDML link transmitter, such as Figure 6 the "Data Message SDML SN # 100 - 120" shown in, it should look up the indicated messages and move the waiting transmission queue out to the SDML holding queue, as shown in Figure 6 When an SDML device receives an "SDML BA message" from another SDML link transmitter, such as Figure 6 the "BA Message SDML SN # 100 - 120" shown in, it should look up the indicated successfully received messages in the SDML holding queue and discard them. All indicated failed messages should be put back at the head of the waiting transmission queue for transmission in the next TxOP. For example, when an SDML device receives a "Data Message SDML SN # 121 - 140" and further receives Figure 6 the "BA Message NACK SDML SN # 130 - 135" shown in, it knows that the messages with SN # 130 - 135 need to be retransmitted. Therefore, the SDML device will release the messages with SDML SN # 121 - 129 and 136 - 140 and push the messages with SDML SN # 130 - 135 to the front of the transmission queue.

[0109] Figure 7 Also shown is the delay modeling provided by this embodiment of the present invention. It should be noted that NS - 3 randomly selects each message event. The industry common practice for modeling software interrupt delay is the exponential distribution. The NS - 3 exponential distribution has the mean as the independent variable and has bounds. A 10 - ms bound with different means between 0.5 - 3 ms is simulated.

[0110] Figure 8 Shown is the NS - 3 topology provided by an embodiment of the present invention. SDML is simulated on the open - source NS - 3 system - level simulation:

[0111] • SDML AP

[0112] · 250 Mbps – constant bit rate (CBR) User Datagram Protocol (UDP) traffic

[0113] · Modulation and coding scheme (MCS - 4) (16 - QAM 3 / 4), 3SS, 80 MHz -> PHY rate 526.5 Mbps

[0114] · Tx power 25 dBm

[0115] · Message queue delay - exponential distribution

[0116] · Bound - 10 ms (maximum tail)

[0117] · Average {0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0} ms

[0118] · Simulation run duration - 5 seconds (using 5 seconds so that NS-3 can have sufficient events to span the exponential distribution)

[0119] · Interference

[0120] · {50, 100, 125, 150, 175, 200} Mpb - variable bitrate (VBR) UDP VR traffic

[0121] · MCS-5 (64-QAM 2 / 3), 2SS, 40 / 80 MHz -> PHY rate 216 / 468 Mbps

[0122] · Tx power 25 dBm

[0123] Figure 9 The simulation results of this SWML implementation are shown. It can be easily noted that SWML can be as efficient as hardware-based multi-links. Even with the exponential distribution turned off with a 3 ms message queue delay, 90% of the entry-level and comfort levels can be served, and it should provide sufficient margin for the required implementation. As Figure 9 shown, to meet 99% of the requirements, the message queue delay cannot exceed the exceptional distribution with an average of 1.5 ms.

[0124] Figure 10 Method 1000 provided by an embodiment of the present invention is shown. In a particular embodiment of the present invention, method 1000 is performed by Figure 1The first entity 100 shown performs. Method 1000 includes: Step 1001: Sending a first indication 101 to the second entity 200, where the first indication 101 indicates a first set of packets sent from the first entity 100 to the first link receiver 110; Step 1002: Sending a first transmission status indication 102 to the second entity 200, where the first transmission status indication 102 indicates which packets in the first set of packets the first link receiver 110 has successfully received, and / or indicates which packets in the first set of packets the first link receiver 110 has not received. Specifically, each packet indicated in the first indication 101 and the first transmission status indication 102 is associated with a global multi-link sequence number. The second entity 200 may be Figure 1 or Figure 2 the second entity shown in

[0125] Figure 11 Figure 1100 shows a method provided by an embodiment of the present invention. In a specific embodiment of the present invention, method 1100 is performed by Figure 2 the second entity 200 shown in Figure 1 or Figure 2 the first entity shown in

[0126] The present application has been described in connection with various embodiments and implementations taken as examples. However, upon study of the drawings, the present invention, and the appended claims, those skilled in the art will be able to understand and implement other variations when practicing the claimed invention. In the claims and the specification, the word "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps, and "a" does not exclude a plurality. A single element or other unit may fulfill the functions of several entities or items described in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not mean that a combination of these measures cannot be used effectively.

[0127] In addition, any method according to an embodiment of the present invention can be implemented in a computer program having an encoding module. When the processing module runs the computer program, the processing module is caused to execute the method steps. The computer program is included in a computer-readable medium of a computer program product. The computer-readable medium can basically include any memory, such as read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), flash memory, electrically erasable EPROM (EEPROM), or a hard disk drive.

[0128] In addition, those skilled in the art will recognize that embodiments of the first entity 100 and the second entity 200 respectively include the necessary communication capabilities in the form of functions, devices, units, elements, etc. for implementing the solution. Examples of other such modules, units, elements, and functions are: processors, memories, buffers, control logic, encoders, decoders, rate matchers, demodulation rate matchers, mapping units, multipliers, decision units, selection units, switches, interleavers, deinterleavers, modulators, demodulators, input terminals, output terminals, antennas, amplifiers, receiving units, transmitting units, DSPs, trellis-coded modulation (TCM) encoders, TCM decoders, power supply units, power supply feeders, communication interfaces, communication protocols, etc., which are appropriately arranged together to implement the technical solution.

[0129] In particular, for example, the processors of the first entity 100 and the second entity 200 can respectively include one or more instances of a central processing unit (CPU), a processing unit, a processing circuit, a processor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a microprocessor, or other processing logic that can interpret and execute instructions. The expression "processor" can thus represent a processing circuit including a plurality of processing circuits, the plurality of processing circuits being, for example, any, some, or all of the items listed above. The processing circuit can also perform data processing functions for input, output, and processing of data, the data processing functions including data buffering and device control functions, such as call processing control, user interface control, etc.

Claims

1. A first entity (100) for implementing multi-links in a wireless network, characterized in that, The first entity (100) includes a processing circuit and a storage circuit, and the storage circuit is configured to store instructions that, when executed by the processing circuit, cause the processing circuit to perform the following steps: Send a first indication (101) to a second entity (200), where the first indication (101) indicates a first set of packets sent from the first entity (100) to a first link receiver (110); Send a first transmission status indication (102) to the second entity (200), where the first transmission status indication (102) indicates which packets in the first set of packets have been successfully received by the first link receiver (110), and / or indicates which packets in the first set of packets have not been received by the first link receiver (110); Where each packet indicated in the first indication (101) and the first transmission status indication (102) is associated with a global multi-link sequence number.

2. The first entity (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that, It is further configured to: Obtain a packet sequence to be sent to the first link receiver (110), where each packet is associated with a global multi-link sequence number; Maintain a first transmission queue for the packet sequence, where the packets in the first transmission queue will be sent to the first link receiver (110).

3. The first entity (100) according to claim 2, characterized in that, It is further configured to: Send the first set of packets to the first link receiver (110), where the first set of packets is included in the packet sequence; Receive a first block acknowledgment BA from the first link receiver (110), where the first BA indicates which packets in the first set of packets have been successfully received by the first link receiver (110), and / or indicates which packets in the first set of packets have not been received by the first link receiver (110); Generate the first transmission status indication (102) based on the first BA and the global multi-link sequence number associated with the packets indicated in the first BA.

4. The first entity (100) according to claim 3, characterized in that, Each packet in the first set of packets includes a wireless sequence number, and the first BA indicates which packets in the first set of packets have been successfully received by the first link receiver (110), and / or indicates which packets in the first set of packets have not been received by the first link receiver (110) by indicating the wireless sequence number of each packet.

5. The first entity (100) according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that It is further configured to: Receive a second indication from the second entity (200), where the second indication indicates a second set of packets sent from the second entity (200) to a second link receiver (210), where each packet indicated in the second indication is associated with a global multi-link sequence number, and the second set of packets is included in the packet sequence; In response to the second indication, move the second set of packets from the first transmission queue to a first holding queue, where the packets in the first holding queue are placed in a holding state.

6. The first entity (100) according to claim 5, characterized in that, It is further configured to: Receive a second transmission status indication from the second entity (200), where the second transmission status indication indicates which messages in the second set of messages were successfully received by the second link receiver (210), and / or indicates which messages in the second set of messages were not received by the second link receiver (210); In response to the second transmission status indication, Release the messages successfully received by the second link receiver (210) from the first holding queue; and / or Move the messages not received by the second link receiver (210) back to the front of the first transmission queue.

7. The first entity (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, The first entity (100) is implemented on a first chipset, and the second entity (200) is implemented on a second chipset different from the first chipset.

8. The first entity (100) according to claim 7, characterized in that, The first chipset and the second chipset are placed on the same wireless device.

9. The first entity (100) according to claim 7, characterized in that, The first chipset and the second chipset are placed on different wireless devices and communicate with each other via a wired or wireless network backhaul connection.

10. The first entity (100) according to claim 7, characterized in that, The first chipset operates at a frequency different from that of the second chipset.

11. A second entity (200) for implementing multi-links in a wireless network, characterized in that, The second entity (200) includes a processing circuit and a storage circuit, and the storage circuit is used to store instructions that, when run in the processing circuit, cause the processing circuit to perform the following steps: Receive a first indication (101) from the first entity (100), where the first indication (101) indicates a first set of messages sent from the first entity (100) to the first link receiver (110); Receive a first transmission status indication (102) from the first entity (100), where the first transmission status indication (102) indicates which messages in the first set of messages were successfully received by the first link receiver (110), and / or indicates which messages in the first set of messages were not received by the first link receiver (110); Where each message indicated in the first indication (101) and the first transmission status indication (102) is associated with a global multi-link sequence number.

12. The second entity (200) according to claim 11, characterized in that, Also used for: Obtain a message sequence to be sent to the second link receiver (210), where each message is associated with a global multi-link sequence number; Maintain a second transmission queue for the message sequence, where the messages in the second transmission queue will be sent to the second link receiver (210).

13. The second entity (200) according to claim 12, characterized in that, The first set of messages is included in the message sequence, and the second entity (200) is also used for: In response to the first indication (101), move the first set of messages from the second transmission queue to a second holding queue, where the messages in the second holding queue are placed in a holding state.

14. The second entity (200) according to claim 13, characterized in that, Also used for: In response to the first transmission status indication (102), Release the messages successfully received by the first link receiver (110) from the second holding queue; and / or Move the messages not received by the first link receiver (110) back to the front of the second transmission queue.

15. The second entity (200) according to any one of claims 12 to 14, characterized in that, Also used for: Send a second set of messages to the second link receiver (210), where the second set of messages is included in the message sequence; Receive a second BA from the second link receiver (210), where the second BA indicates which messages in the second group of messages the second link receiver (210) has successfully received, and / or indicates which messages in the second group of messages the second link receiver (210) has not received; Generate a second transmission status indication based on the second BA and the global multi-link sequence number associated with the messages indicated in the second BA.

16. The second entity (200) according to claim 15, characterized in that, Each message in the second group of messages includes a wireless sequence number, and the second BA indicates which messages in the second group of messages the second link receiver (210) has successfully received, and / or indicates which messages in the second group of messages the second link receiver (210) has not received, by indicating the wireless sequence number of each message.

17. The second entity (200) according to claim 15, characterized in that, Also used for: Send a second indication to the first entity (100), where the second indication indicates the second group of messages sent from the second entity (200) to the second link receiver (210); Send the second transmission status indication to the first entity (100), where the second transmission status indication indicates which messages in the second group of messages the second link receiver (210) has successfully received, and / or indicates which messages in the second group of messages the second link receiver (210) has not received.

18. A wireless transmitting device, specifically an access point in a wireless network, characterized in that, The wireless transmitting device includes: At least one first entity (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 10 and at least one second entity (200) according to any one of claims 11 to 17; Wherein, the wireless transmitting device is used for: Obtain the original message sequence; Generate a message sequence by adding a global multi-link sequence number to each message in the original message sequence; Copy the message sequence and provide the message sequence to each of the at least one first entity (100) and the at least one second entity (200).

19. A wireless receiving device, specifically a station in a wireless network, characterized in that, The wireless receiving device includes at least one first link receiver (110) and at least one second link receiver (210), where the at least one first link receiver (110) is used to receive messages from at least one first entity (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 10, and the at least one second link receiver (210) is used to receive messages from at least one second entity (200) according to any one of claims 11 to 17; Wherein, the wireless receiving device is used for: Obtain the received stream by combining the messages received by the at least one first link receiver (110) and the messages received by the at least one second link receiver (210).

20. A method (1000) for implementing multi-links in a wireless network, characterized in that, Includes: The first entity (100) sends (1001) a first indication (101) to the second entity (200), where the first indication (101) indicates the first group of messages sent from the first entity (100) to the first link receiver (110); The first entity (100) sends (1002) a first transmission status indication (102) to the second entity (200), where the first transmission status indication (102) indicates which messages in the first set of messages have been successfully received by the first link receiver (110), and / or indicates which messages in the first set of messages have not been received by the first link receiver (110); where each message indicated in the first indication (101) and the first transmission status indication (102) is associated with a global multi-link sequence number.

21. A method (1100) for implementing multi-links in a wireless network, characterized in that, Comprising: The second entity (200) receives (1101) a first indication (101) from the first entity (100), where the first indication (101) indicates a first set of messages sent from the first entity (100) to the first link receiver (110); The second entity (200) receives (1102) a first transmission status indication (102) from the first entity (100), where the first transmission status indication (102) indicates which messages in the first set of messages have been successfully received by the first link receiver (110), and / or indicates which messages in the first set of messages have not been received by the first link receiver (110); where each message indicated in the first indication (101) and the first transmission status indication (102) is associated with a global multi-link sequence number.

22. A computer program product, characterized in that, Comprising program code which, when implemented on a processor, is used to execute the method (1000, 1100) according to claim 20 or 21.

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