Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

The application provides an information indication method, which comprises generating a first frame and transmitting the first frame on a 2.4 GHz and / or 5 GHz frequency band. The first frame comprises address information of a station operating on a 6 GHz frequency band. Through the method, the communication efficiency can be improved, and the congestion of the communication frequency band can be reduced.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional of parent Chinese Patent Application No. 201980075314.9, filed on January 11, 2019, which claims priority to PCT / CN2018 / 118720, filed on November 30, 2018, and also claims priority to Chinese Application No. 201811361768.6, filed on November 15, 2018. The aforementioned applications are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and apparatus. BACKGROUND

[0003] The 802.11 series standards of wireless local area network are defined by the Institute of Electrical and Electrical Engineer (IEEE). Among them, the mainstream standards of 802.11 series have 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11n, 802.11ac and 802.11ax standards.

[0004] The next generation of 802.11 standards needs to be compatible with the previous generation, so it will also support the working frequency spectrum of the 802.11ax standard, that is, it will support the 2.4GHz, 5GHz and 6GHz frequency bands. According to the latest opening of the 6GHz frequency band, based on the channel division of the frequency band, the bandwidth that can be supported can exceed the maximum bandwidth of 160MHz supported in the 5GHz, such as 240MHz, 320MHz or 400MHz. In addition to supporting a super large bandwidth, the next generation of 802.11 standards can also increase the peak throughput by increasing the stream number, such as increasing the stream number to 16 streams, and the cooperation of multiple frequency bands (2.4GHz, 5GHz and 6GHz). How to quickly find or conveniently access the 6GHz frequency band or other frequency bands different from 2.4GHz and 5GHz is a technical problem to be solved. SUMMARY

[0005] Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method, apparatus and device, which are used to solve the problem of efficient access to different frequency bands in the prior art.

[0006] In one aspect, a method for indicating information is provided, including: generating a first frame, wherein the first frame includes address information of a station operating on a 6GHz frequency band; and transmitting the first frame on a 2.4GHz and / or 5GHz frequency band.

[0007] In another aspect, a method for indicating information is provided, including:

[0008] The station receives a first frame on 2.4GHz and / or 5GHz band, the first frame containing address information of one or more reported APs on 6GHz band sent by a reporting AP; the station sends a second frame on the 6GHz band, the receiving address of the second frame being the address information of one of the reported APs on the 6GHz band, or the station sends an OCT MMPDU on 2.4GHz and / or 5GHz band, the receiving address of the OCT MMPDU being the MAC address of the reporting AP.

[0009] Of course, the 6GHz band in the above embodiments can be replaced by other frequency bands other than 2.4GHz and 5GHz, such as 1GHz to 7GHz.

[0010] In a specific example, the address information is located in an RNR element or an NR element, or the RNR element of the first frame can contain indication information indicating whether the address information exists. Specifically, the address information is the MAC address of the reported AP on the 6GHz band or the BSSID of the reported AP on the 6GHz band.

[0011] In one example, if the reported AP on the 6GHz band is a member of a multi-BSSID set, the BSSID of the reported AP on the 6GHz band is the transmitted BSSID of the multi-BSSID set. In another example, if the reported AP on the 6GHz band is a member of a multi-BSSID set, the short SSID in the RNR element is calculated according to the SSID of the AP with the transmitted BSSID. In another example, if the reported AP on the 6GHz band is a member of a multi-BSSID set, the RNR or NR element includes a signal indicating whether the BSSID of the reported AP in the RNR or NR element is the transmitted BSSID of the multi-BSSID set.

[0012] Specifically, the RNR element or the NR element of the first frame can further include at least one of the following three parameters:

[0013] Frequency band primary channel, whether to support OCT, co-located AP.

[0014] Optionally, the RNR element or the NR element includes a signal indicating whether the reported AP on the 6GHz band and the reporting AP sending the first frame are co-located. Alternatively, the RNR element or the NR element includes a signal indicating whether the reported AP on the 6GHz band and the reporting AP sending the first frame are in a multi-band supporting device.

[0015] Therefore, a device capable of performing any of the above methods is provided.

[0016] In another aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: a processor, a memory and a communication interface, the processor controls the communication action of the communication interface; the memory stores a program; the processor invokes the program stored in the memory to execute the method of any of the above solutions.

[0017] In another aspect, a storage medium storing a computer program is provided, wherein the computer program is executed by a processor to implement any of the above methods.

[0018] Through the above embodiments, the communication efficiency can be improved, and the congestion of the communication frequency band can be reduced. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0019] Figure 1 is the application architecture schematic diagram provided by the embodiment of the present application.

[0020] Figure 2 is the internal structure schematic diagram of the AP and the STA provided by the embodiment of the present application.

[0021] Figures 3 to 13 is the frame structure schematic diagram provided by the respective embodiments of the present application.

[0022] Figure 14 is the communication process schematic diagram provided by the embodiment of the present application.

[0023] Figure 15 is the hardware structure schematic diagram of the communication device provided by the embodiment of the present application.

[0024] Figure 16 is the RNR element schematic diagram.

[0025] Figure 17 is the BSS parameter subfield format schematic diagram. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] Figure 1 is the application architecture schematic diagram provided by the embodiment of the present application. As Figure 1As shown, the number of access points (APs) is 1, and the number of stations (STAs) is 2. The application architecture of this example can include: an AP, a STA1 and a STA2. Among them, the AP1 is connected with the STA1 and the STA2, the STA1 is connected with the STA2, and the AP can also communicate with other APs. It should be noted that the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application can be applied to the communication between the AP and the AP, the communication between the STA and the STA, and the communication between the AP and the STA. The AP can act as a receiving end and a sending end. The STA can act as a receiving end and a sending end.

[0027] The AP includes but is not limited to a communication server, a router, a switch, a bridge, etc., and the STA includes but is not limited to a computer, a mobile phone, etc.

[0028] As shown in FIG. 1, Figure 2 The internal structure of the AP and the STA can include an antenna, a radio frequency module, a physical (PHY) layer baseband module, a media access control (MAC) layer module, a logical link control (LLC) module, an internet protocol (IP) processing module, a transmission control protocol / user datagram protocol (TCP / UDP) processor module and an application layer module. The IP module and the LLC module can communicate through an upper layer interface. The number of antennas can be one or more, and the number of antennas of the STA and the AP can be the same or different.

[0029] It should be noted that the above-mentioned AP and STA can support or be compatible with one or more standards in the 802.11 series, including but not limited to 802.11\802.11a\802.11b\802.11g\802.11n\802.11ac\802.11ax\802.11ax next generation or other sub-standards not described in the present application.

[0030] The 802.11ax working group voted to expand the project scope to a maximum operating frequency of 7.125 GHz, in order to enable 802.11ax operation in the 6 GHz band (from 5935 MHz to 7125 MHz).

[0031] It is expected that all APs on the 6 GHz band, except for soft APs, are multi-band collocated devices (in English: collocated device) operating on the 6 GHz band and the 2.4 GHz and / or 5 GHz bands. Scanning more than 1.2 GHz of spectrum puts high requirements on time and energy. In order to reduce the impact on resource overhead at 6 GHz and energy and time consumption on the STA side, in an embodiment, the AP (collocated with other APs in the low band) at 6 GHz is discovered by scanning the low band (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz).

[0032] For example, the AP required to be collocated in the lower band (2.4 GHz or 5 GHz band) includes a reduced neighbor report or neighbor report element describing the 6 GHz collocated AP.

[0033] Based on the above embodiment, the STA scanning the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands will have (or obtain) the information it needs to decide whether to associate with one of the APs at 6 GHz. This embodiment can also include that the information obtained by the STA is the same as the information obtained by sending a probe request to the AP at 6 GHz. The STA only needs to send an association request frame when it wants to associate with the AP at 6 GHz. This can greatly reduce the complexity of the STA accessing the AP at 6 GHz and improve communication efficiency.

[0034] In an embodiment, the discovery mechanism of 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz is described:

[0035] - The STA detects the operating channel of the BSS, which can be used for association.

[0036] - The STA uses to detect the BSS collocated with the reporting device (AP), i.e. the virtual AP running in the same device that has sent the discovery information.

[0037] Enhanced BSS transition management signaling enables transition to collocated 6 GHz BSS, details included in the following disclosure.

[0038] - Optionally, this embodiment also includes providing information that the AP supports on-channel tunneling (OCT). OCT is a mechanism already defined in subclause 11.33.4 on-channel tunneling (OCT) operation in the 802.11-2016 standard: a tunnel is established between the reporting device and the AP on the 6 GHz band for tunneling probe request / response, association and authentication frames, which are sent online to the AP on the lower band and establish a tunnel on the 6 GHz band.

[0039] The above mechanism reduces the scanning, authentication, and association signaling overhead on the 6 GHz band, but is not intended to replace direct scanning, authentication, and association on the 6 GHz band. That is, depending on the capabilities of the station, the station can handle direct scanning, authentication, and association on the 6 GHz band.

[0040] The process of OCT can refer to the 11.33.4 on-channel tunneling (OCT) operation and 6.3.91 on-channel tunneling operation in the 802.11-2016 standard. OCT allows a STA of a multi-band capable device to send MMPDUs constructed by a different STA of the same device.

[0041] In an embodiment, at the transmitting end, the information (address information) of the AP of 6 GHz is broadcasted, for example, in the 2.4 GHz and / or 5 GHz band, using the Reduced Neighbor Report (RNR) or Neighbor Report (NR) element in the beacon or probe response, such as helping the STA to discover the AP in 6 GHz. On the other hand, at the receiving end, a first frame is received in the 2.4 GHz and / or 5 GHz band, the first frame including the address information of the STA operating in the 6 GHz band; the receiving end sends a second frame of the 6 GHz band, the receiving address of the second frame being the receiving address information of the STA operating in the 6 GHz band.

[0042] Specifically, if the reported AP, i.e., the AP of 6 GHz, is a member of a multiple basic service set identifier (BSSID) set with two or more members, a simple scheme is provided so that the STA can quickly obtain the entire profile of the multiple BSSID set. The RNR element or the NR element does not need to provide all the profiles of each BSSID in the multiple BSSID set, but only needs to provide the information related to the transmitted BSSID, so as to save the broadcast time, make it clear, and not cause ambiguity to the receiver. According to the draft P802.11ax_D1.0 and the draft P802.11REVmd_D1.6, only the AP with the transmitted BSSID can currently provide the STA with complete profile information through the beacon frame or the probe response, so that the STA can find a suitable AP in the multiple BSS to associate.

[0043] The BSS transition management signaling mentioned above can have different frame structures, for example, a management frame carrying a reduced neighbor report (RNR) element or a neighbor report (NR) element. The following is an embodiment of the structure of the elements.

[0044] Reduced Neighbor Report element

[0045] The reduced neighbor report element contains information such as the channel of the neighbor AP. The format of the reduced neighbor report element is as shown in Figure 16 (reduced neighbor report element format). By having multiple neighbor AP information fields, the relevant information of multiple reported APs can be carried.

[0046] The element ID and length field are defined in 9.4.2.1 of draft P802.11REVmd_D1.6.

[0047] The neighbor AP information field contains one or more neighbor AP information fields described in 9.4.2.170.2 (neighbor AP information field) of draft P802.11REVmd_D1.6. For the sub-clauses mentioned in this disclosure, please refer to P802.11REVmd_D1.6 or 802.11-2016.

[0048] Neighbor AP information field

[0049] Option 1

[0050] The neighbor AP information field specifies the target beacon transmission time (TBTT) and other information related to a group of neighbor APs on one channel. See Figure 3 .

[0051] The format of the TBTT information header subfield is defined in Figure 4 .

[0052] The TBTT information field type subfield length is 2 bits, which, together with the TBTT information length subfield, identifies the format of the TBTT information field. Set to 0. (11ai) Reserved values 1, 2, 3.

[0053] The filtered neighbor AP subfield is 1 bit in length. (11ai) When included in a Probe Response frame, set to 1 if the service set identifier (SSID) corresponding to each AP in this Neighbor AP Information field matches the SSID in the (11ai) corresponding Probe Request frame. (11ai) When included in a beacon or FILS Discovery frame transmitted by a non-television very high throughput (TVHT) AP, set to 1 if the SSID corresponding to each AP in this Neighbor AP Information field matches the SSID of the transmitting AP's BSS. Otherwise set to 0. (11ai) The TBTT information count subfield is 4 bits in length and contains the number of TBTT information fields included in the TBTT information set field in the Neighbor AP Information field minus one. For example, a value of 0 indicates that one TBTT information field is included.

[0054] The TBTT information length subfield is 1 octet in length and indicates the length of each TBTT information field included in the TBTT information set field of the Neighbor AP Information field. When the TBTT information field type subfield is set to 0, the TBTT information length subfield:

[0055] - contains the length in octets of each TBTT information field included in the TBTT information set field of the Neighbor AP Information field

[0056] - is set to 1, 5, 7, or 11, with other values being reserved (11ai)

[0057] - indicates that the contents of the TBTT information field are as shown in Table 9-273 (TBTT information field contents (11ai)).

[0058] A TVHT AP sets the TBTT information length subfield to 1.

[0059] (11ai) The TBTT information length subfield is interpreted as shown in Table 1. That is, the contents of the TBTT information field (11ai) (see 9-283 in the reference standard).

[0060] Table 1

[0061] TBTT information length subfield value TBTT information field content 1 Neighbour AP's TBTT offset subfield 5 Neighbour AP's TBTT offset subfield and short SSID subfield 7 Neighbour AP's TBTT offset subfield and BSSID subfield 11 Neighbour AP's TBTT offset subfield, BSSID subfield and short SSID subfield 0、2–4、6、8–10、12–255 Reserved

[0062] The operation category field is 1 octet in length and indicates the channel start frequency, along with the channel number field, of the primary channel of the BSS of the AP in the Neighbor AP Information field. The values of the operation category are as shown in Table E-4 (Global Operation Categories), and the operation category, along with the channel number, indicates that the primary channel is valid (see 11.49 (Reduced Neighbor Report)).

[0063] NOTE - The operation category field and channel number tuple indicate the primary channel in order to assist passive scanning.

[0064] The channel number field is 1 octet in length and indicates the last known primary channel of the AP in this Neighbor AP Information field. The channel number is defined in the operation category as shown in Table E-4 (Global Operation Categories).

[0065] The TBTT Information Set field contains one or more TBTT Information fields. In Figure 4 The TBTT Information field is defined in 9.2.4.3.4.1 (TBTT Information).

[0066] The Neighbor AP's TBTT Offset subfield is 1 octet in length and indicates the TU offset from the last TBTT of the AP sending this element to the next TBTT of the AP, rounded down to the nearest TU. A value of 254 indicates an offset greater than or equal to 254 TUs. A value of 255 indicates an unknown offset value.

[0067] The BSSID is defined in 9.2.4.3.4 (BSSID field) (11ai). If the reporting AP indicated / carried in the Neighbor AP Information field is a member of a multi-BSSID set with two or more members, the BSSID field is set to the BSSID of the AP sending.

[0068] The Short SSID subfield is computed as given in 9.4.2.170.3 (Computing the Short SSID (11ai)). If the reporting AP indicated / carried in the Neighbor AP Information field is a member of a multi-BSSID set with two or more members, the Short SSID is computed from the SSID of the AP with the BSSID sending.

[0069] Where the multi-BSSID set defined in Draft P802.11ax_D3.0 and Draft P802.11REVmd_D1.6 has the following characteristics:

[0070] - All members of the set use a common operation category, channel, channel access function, and antenna connector.

[0071] - The maximum range of the set for at least one n is 2n, where 1 <= n <= 46.

[0072] - The members of the set have the same 48-n bits in the BSSID (BSSID[0:(47-n)]).

[0073] – All BSSIDs in a multi-BSSID set are allocated in a manner where all BSSIDs are less than the MAC addresses available for STAs using different operating classes, channels, or antenna connectors. If an AP includes a multi-BSSID element in its transmitted beacon frames, the BSSIDs belonging to the multi-BSSID set for that AP are referred to as transmitted BSSIDs. No more than one AP should correspond to a transmitted BSSID in a multi-BSSID set. If the AP's BSSIDs are according to 9.4.2.46 (Multi-BSSID Elements) in draft P802.11REVmd_D1.6.

[0074] As derived from 9.4.2.74 (Multiple BSSID Index Elements), the BSSIDs belonging to the multiple BSSID set in an AP are unsent BSSIDs. Among all AP STAs in the multiple BSSID set, only the AP corresponding to the sent BSSID should send a beacon frame.

[0075] In this option, if the neighbor AP information field indicates / carries a reporting AP that is a member of a multi-BSSID set with two or more members, the RNR is only allowed to carry information about the AP with the sent BSSID; if the neighbor AP information field indicates a reporting AP that is a member of a multi-BSSID set with two or more members, then information about the AP's unsent BSSID is not carried. All information carried in the RNR is information about the AP with the sent BSSID in this case. Furthermore, fields or bits in the RNR element can be further modified or added for other functions, i.e., changing "Reserved" in the TBTT header subfield to "Co-located AP" and / or adding a BSS parameter field to the TBTT information field, as in option 3.

[0076] Option 1: Please note that a co-located AP is defined as an AP that shares the same antenna connector with the reporting STA as defined in P802.11-2016.

[0077] Option 2: Note that the term "co-located AP" here is not limited to APs that share the same antenna connector as the reporting STA, but also refers to APs that do not share the same antenna connector as the reporting STA but are in the same physical device. Rename this AP to "co-located AP" to distinguish it from the term "co-located" in P802.11REVmd_D2.0.

[0078] Option 2

[0079] The Neighbor AP Information field specifies TBTT and other information associated with a group of neighboring APs on a channel. See also Figure 5 .

[0080] exist Figure 6Format of the TBTT information header subfield.

[0081] Referring to Figure 7 The TBTT information field type subfield is 2 bits long and, together with the TBTT information length subfield, identifies the format of the TBTT information field. Set to 0.(11ai) Reserved values 1, 2, 3.

[0082] The filtered neighbor APs subfield is 1 bit long.(11ai) When included in a probe response frame, set to 1 if the SSID corresponding to each AP in this neighbor AP information field matches the SSID in the corresponding probe request frame.(11ai) When included in a beacon or FILS discovery frame transmitted by a TVHT AP, set to 1 if the SSID corresponding to each AP in this neighbor AP information field matches the SSID of the transmitting AP's BSS. Otherwise set to 0.(11ai)

[0083] The TBTT information count subfield is 4 bits long and contains the number of TBTT information fields included in the TBTT information set field of the neighbor AP information field minus one. For example, a value of 0 indicates that one TBTT information field is included.

[0084] The TBTT information length subfield is 1 octet long and indicates the length of each TBTT information field included in the TBTT information set field of the neighbor AP information field. When the TBTT information field type subfield is set to 0, the TBTT information length subfield:

[0085] - contains the length in octets of each TBTT information field included in the TBTT information set field of the neighbor AP information field

[0086] - is set to 1, 5, 7, 8, 11, or 12, and other values are reserved(11ai)

[0087] - indicates that the content of the TBTT information field is as shown in Table 9-273 (TBTT information field content(11ai)).

[0088] The TVHT AP sets the TBTT information length subfield to 1.

[0089] The TBTT information length subfield is interpreted as shown in Table 2 for the TBTT information field. That is, the content of the TBTT information field(11ai) (9-283).

[0090] Table 2

[0091]

[0092] The operation category field is 1 octet in length and indicates the channel start frequency, along with the channel number field, of the primary channel of the BSS of the AP in the Neighbor AP Information field. The values of the operation category are shown in Table E-4 (Global Operation Categories). The operation category, along with the channel number, indicates that the primary channel is valid (see 11.49 (Reduced Neighbor Report)).

[0093] NOTE: The operation category field and channel number tuple indicate the primary channel to assist passive scanning.

[0094] The channel number field is 1 octet in length and indicates the last known primary channel of the AP in this Neighbor AP Information field. The channel number is defined in the operation category, as shown in Table E-4 (Global Operation Categories).

[0095] The TBTT Information Set field contains one or more TBTT Information fields. In Figure 8 The TBTT Information field is defined in 11.2.4.3.2 (TBTT Information field (11ai) format).

[0096] The Neighbor AP's TBTT Offset subfield is 1 octet in length and indicates the offset in TUs from the last TBTT of the AP sending this element to the next TBTT of the AP, rounded down to the nearest TU. A value of 254 indicates an offset greater than or equal to 254 TUs. A value of 255 indicates an unknown offset value.

[0097] The BSSID (compute short SSID) (11ai) is defined in 9.2.4.3.4 (BSSID field).

[0098] The short SSID subfield is computed as given in 9.4.2.170.3 (11ai).

[0099] In 802.11ai, the BSSID is optionally present in the TBTT Information field in the RNR element, however, the BSSID is necessary to discover 6 GHz APs or APs in other bands. Therefore, to ensure that STAs are able to find 6 GHz APs or APs in other bands, the following rules should be made.

[0100] If the reported AP carried in the Neighbor AP Information field of the RNR element is the same as the MAC address or BSSID of the reporting AP sending the RNR element, the BSSID is not present in the TBTT Information field of the RNR element; if the reported AP carried in the Neighbor AP Information field of the RNR element is different from the MAC address or BSSID of the reporting AP sending the RNR element, the BSSID is present in the TBTT Information field of the RNR element.

[0101] Alternatively, the BSSID is always present in the TBTT Information field of the RNR element.

[0102] In the BSS parameter subfield, there is a bit or field to indicate whether the reported AP carried in the Neighbor AP information field of the RNR element has the same BSSID as the reporting AP of the RNR element, called the Same BSSID subfield. Set to 1 or a first value, it indicates that the reported AP carried in the Neighbor AP information field of the RNR element has the same BSSID as the reporting AP of the RNR element; set to 0 or a second value, it indicates that the reported AP carried in the Neighbor AP information field of the RNR element has a different BSSID from the reporting AP of the RNR element.

[0103] Scheme 1:

[0104] In the BSS parameter subfield, there is a bit or field to indicate whether the reported AP carried in the Neighbor AP information field of the RNR element has the same BSSID as the reporting AP of the RNR element, called the Same BSSID subfield. Set to 1 or a first value, it indicates that the reported AP carried in the Neighbor AP information field of the RNR element has the same BSSID as the reporting AP of the RNR element; set to 0 or a second value, it indicates that the reported AP carried in the Neighbor AP information field of the RNR element has a different BSSID from the reporting AP of the RNR element. Figure 9a (Reference 9-622) (BSS parameter subfield) defines the format of the BSS parameter subfield. The transmitted BSSID subfield is set to 1 or a first value (more than 1 bit in the transmitted subfield), indicating that the reported AP indicated / carried in the Neighbor AP information field is a member of a multi-BSSID set with two or more members and has the transmitted BSSID (the BSSID field in the TBTT information field is set to the transmitted BSSID), or the channel number field and the operating class field in the Neighbor AP information field indicate / carried that the reported AP operating on the channel is not a member of a multi-BSSID set with two or more members; otherwise, it is set to 0 or a second value (more than 1 bit in the transmitted subfield), indicating that the reported AP indicated / carried in the Neighbor AP information field is a member of a multi-BSSID set with two or more members and has a non-transmitted BSSID (the BSSID field in the TBTT information field is set to the non-transmitted BSSID). More generally, instead of the transmitted BSSID subfield, there is 1 bit or 1 field in the RNR element to indicate whether the reported AP indicated / carried in the Neighbor AP information field is a member of a multi-BSSID set with two or more members and whether it has a transmitted BSSID.

[0105] In addition, in the format of the BSS parameter subfield, there can also be another bit or field to indicate whether the reported AP is a member of a multi-BSSID set with two or more members. Set to a first value, it indicates that the reported AP is a member of a multi-BSSID set with two or more members, and set to a second value, it indicates that the reported AP is not a member of a multi-BSSID set with two or more members.

[0106] Scheme 2:

[0107] In the BSS parameter subfield, there is a bit or field to indicate whether the reported AP carried in the Neighbor AP information field of the RNR element has the same BSSID as the reporting AP of the RNR element, called the Same BSSID subfield. Set to 1 or a first value, it indicates that the reported AP carried in the Neighbor AP information field of the RNR element has the same BSSID as the reporting AP of the RNR element; set to 0 or a second value, it indicates that the reported AP carried in the Neighbor AP information field of the RNR element has a different BSSID from the reporting AP of the RNR element. Figure 9aThe format of the BSS parameter subfield is defined in (Ref. 9-622). The transmitted BSSID subfield is set to 1 or a first value (greater than 1 bit in the transmitted subfield), indicating that the AP reported in the neighbor AP information field has a transmitted BSSID from a multi-BSSID set (the BSSID field in the TBTT information field is set to the transmitted BSSID); otherwise, it is set to 0 or a second value (greater than 1 bit in the transmitted subfield), indicating that the AP reported in the neighbor AP information field has an untransmitted BSSID from a multi-BSSID set, or is not a member of a multi-BSSID set with two or more members. More generally, the RNR element has one bit or one field other than the transmitted BSSID subfield to indicate whether the AP reported in the neighbor AP information field is a member of a multi-BSSID set with two or more members and whether it has a transmitted BSSID.

[0108] In addition, the BSS parameter subfield format can include another bit or field to indicate whether the reported AP is a member of a multi-BSSID set with two or more members. Setting it to the first value indicates that the reported AP is a member of a multi-BSSID set with two or more members, and setting it to the second value indicates that the reported AP is not a member of a multi-BSSID set with two or more members.

[0109] Option 3:

[0110] exist Figure 9b The format of the BSS parameter subfields is defined in the code.

[0111] Setting the multi-BSSID subfield to 1 indicates that the AP reported in the neighbor AP information field is a member of a multi-BSSID set with two or more members, while setting it to 0 indicates that the AP reported in the neighbor AP information field is not a member of a multi-BSSID set with two or more members.

[0112] If the multiple BSSID subfield is 1, then the sent BSSID subfield is set to 1, indicating that the AP reported in the neighbor AP information field has a sent BSSID. If it is set to 0, it indicates that the AP reported in the neighbor AP information field has an unsent BSSID.

[0113] If multiple BSSID subfields are 0, then the sent BSSID subfield is retained.

[0114] Generally speaking, such as Figure 8The shown TBTT information field contains the parameters of the reporting AP. Thus, in the case of a reporting AP in a multiple BSSID set, if the reporting AP has a transmitted BSSID, the TBTT offset, BSSID, short SSID, BSS parameters of the neighbor AP are those of the AP with the transmitted BSSID, or, if the reporting AP has a non-transmitted BSSID, those of the AP with the non-transmitted BSSID. However, if the TBTT information field carries the information of the non-transmitted BSSID of the reporting AP, the TBTT offset of the neighbor AP in the TBTT information field is not very useful because the non-transmitted BSSID AP does not transmit beacons or the non-transmitted BSSID beacon of the AP does not contain the multiple BSSID element (does not provide the complete information of all APs in the multiple BSSID set). However, in the present application, if the TBTT information field carries the information of the reporting AP with the non-transmitted BSSID, the TBTT offset of the neighbor AP in the TBTT information field is reused due to other functions.

[0115] Scheme 1:

[0116] To help the receiver know when the beacon is transmitted by the AP with the transmitted BSSID, if the received TBTT information field in the RNR element is for one neighbor AP with the non-transmitted BSSID, the value of the TBTT offset subfield of the neighbor AP is set to the TBTT offset value of the AP with the transmitted BSSID which is in the same multiple BSSID set as the reporting AP with the non-transmitted BSSID. Note that only the beacon transmitted by the AP with the transmitted BSSID can contain the multiple BSSID set element so that it can provide the whole profile including the information of the other one or more APs with the non-transmitted BSSIDs in the same multiple BSSID set. That is, if the multiple BSSID subfield is 1 and the transmitted BSSID subfield is set to 0, the TBTT offset subfield of the neighbor AP is set to the TBTT offset of the AP with the transmitted BSSID which is in the same multiple BSSID set as the reporting AP with the non-transmitted BSSID.

[0117] Note that the definition of the TBTT offset of the AP with the transmitted BSSID is the same as that in the TBTT information field.

[0118] The TBTT offset subfield of the neighbor AP is 1 octet long and indicates the offset in TUs from the next TBTT of the AP transmitting this element, rounded down to the nearest TU. The value 254 indicates an offset greater than or equal to 254 TUs. The value 255 indicates an unknown offset value.

[0119] Other settings are as follows:

[0120] The BSSID subfield is set to the BSSID of the reporting AP with unsent BSSIDs, the short SSID subfield is computed from the SSID of the reporting AP with unsent BSSIDs, and the BSS parameters subfield carries some important parameters of the reporting AP with unsent BSSIDs, such as support of OCT, sent BSSIDs, multiple BSSID.

[0121] Scheme 2:

[0122] To help the receiver to understand what is the sent BSSID when the TBTT information field received in the RNR element is for one neighbor AP with unsent BSSIDs, the TBTT offset subfield of the neighbor AP is reused to carry the value of the BSSID of the AP with sent BSSIDs, which is the same as the multiple BSSID of the reporting AP with unsent BSSIDs. The BSSID value of the AP with sent BSSIDs can be the partial BSSID of the AP with sent BSSIDs, i.e., the 8 or 4 least significant bits of the BSSID of the AP with sent BSSIDs, or the MaxBSSID indicator (i.e., 8 or 4 bits) defined in the multiple BSSID element that can be used to derive the sent BSSID value.

[0123] Note that only the beacons (probe response frames) sent by the AP with sent BSSIDs can contain the multiple BSSID set element so that it can provide the whole profile including the information of other one or more APs with unsent BSSIDs in the same multiple BSSID set. That is, if the multiple BSSID subfield is 1 and the sent BSSID subfield is set to 0, some bits of the TBTT offset subfield of the neighbor AP are reused to carry the BSSID value of the AP with sent BSSIDs in the same multiple BSSID set as the reporting AP with unsent BSSIDs.

[0124] Other settings are as follows:

[0125] The BSSID subfield is set to the BSSID of the reporting AP with unsent BSSIDs, the short SSID subfield is computed from the SSID of the reporting AP with unsent BSSIDs, and the BSS parameters subfield carries some important parameters of the reporting AP with unsent BSSIDs, such as support of OCT, sent BSSIDs, multiple BSSID.

[0126] Scheme 3:

[0127] To help the receiver to understand what is the transmitted BSSID, when the beacon is transmitted by an AP with the transmitted BSSID, if the TBTT information field received in the RNR element is for one neighbor AP with the non-transmitted BSSID, reuse the TBTT offset subfield of the neighbor AP to carry the BSSID and TBTT values of the AP with the transmitted BSSID which is the same as the multiple BSSID of the reported AP with the non-transmitted BSSID. The BSSID value of the AP with the transmitted BSSID can be the partial BSSID of the AP with the transmitted BSSID, i.e., 8 or 4 least significant bits of the BSSID of the AP with the transmitted BSSID, or the MaxBSSID indicator (i.e., 8 or 4 bits) defined in the multiple BSSID element which can be used to derive the transmitted BSSID value. The TBTT value of the AP with the transmitted BSSID can be the partial TBTT offset of the TBTT of the AP with the transmitted BSSID relative to the TBTT of the reported AP, or the partial TBTT of the AP with the transmitted BSSID.

[0128] Note that only the beacon (probe response frame) transmitted by the AP with the transmitted BSSID can contain the multiple BSSID set element so that it can provide the entire profile including the information of other APs with the non-transmitted BSSID in the same multiple BSSID set. That is, if the multiple BSSID subfield is 1 and the transmitted BSSID subfield is set to 0, reuse some bits (i.e., 4 bits) of the TBTT offset subfield of the neighbor AP to carry the BSSID value of the AP with the transmitted BSSID which is the same as the multiple BSSID of the reported AP with the non-transmitted BSSID. Reuse some bits (i.e., 4 bits) of the TBTT offset subfield of the neighbor AP to carry the TBTT value of the AP with the transmitted BSSID which is the same as the multiple BSSID of the reported AP with the non-transmitted BSSID, i.e., the partial TBTT offset of the TBTT of the AP with the transmitted BSSID relative to the TBTT of the reported AP.

[0129] Note that the partial TBTT offset of the AP with the transmitted BSSID can be the n least significant bits of the TBTT offset defined in the TBTT information field and can also have the following definition.

[0130] The TBTT offset subfield of the neighbor AP has a length of n bits, n = 1, 2, …, or 7, indicating the offset in m TUs, m = 1, 2, …, or 16, from the last TBTT of the AP sending this element to the next TBTT of the AP, rounded down to the nearest TU. The value 2n-1 indicates an unknown offset value or more than (2n-2) x m TUs. Alternatively, 2n-2 indicates an offset of (2n-2) x m TUs or more. The value 2n-1 indicates an unknown offset value.

[0131] Other settings are as follows:

[0132] The BSSID subfield is set to the BSSID of the reporting AP with unsent BSSIDs, the short SSID subfield is computed from the SSID of the reporting AP with unsent BSSIDs, and the BSS parameters subfield carries some important parameters of the reporting AP with unsent BSSIDs, such as support of OCT, sent BSSIDs, multi-BSSID.

[0133] The other 6 reserved bits can be used for other functions, i.e. using 1 bit to indicate whether the OCT procedure described in 11.33.4 (On-channel Tunnelling (OCT) operation) defined in 802.11-2016 can be used for management frame exchange with the AP described in this TBTT information field over online transmissions established with the AP sending the reduced neighbor report.

[0134] More generally, instead of the multi-BSSID subfield indicating / carried in the neighbor AP information field that the reporting AP is a member of a multi-BSSID set with two or more members, there is 1 bit or 1 field in the RNR element, i.e. the TBTT information field type subfield is set to 1, indicating that the reporting AP in the neighbor AP information field is a member of a multi-BSSID set (i.e. the AP is operating with dot11MultiBSSIDActivated set correctly), in which case the sent BSSIDs subfield is set the same as the multi-BSSID subfield with value 1.

[0135] In this option, if the reporting AP indicated / carried in the neighbor AP information field is a member of a multi-BSSID set with two or more members, the RNR is allowed to carry information of both APs with sent BSSIDs and APs with unsent BSSIDs. But this option needs an extra indication to tell the receiver which reporting AP has sent BSSIDs or not.

[0136] In the BSS parameters subfield, there can also be another bit or field to indicate whether the reporting AP is in a multi-band device (supports multi-band).

[0137] In addition, fields or bits in the RNR element can be further modified or added for other functions, i.e., modifying "reserved" in the TBTT information header subfield to "co-located AP" as Option 3.

[0138] Another implementation of the BSS parameters subfield is shown. Figure 17

[0139] The OCT suggestion subfield is set to 1 if the OCT is suggested for the AP indicated in the TBTT information field to exchange MGMT MMPDUs with the online transmissions established with the AP sending the reduced neighbor report. Otherwise, it is set to 0.

[0140] The same SSID subfield is set to 1 if the SSID of the reporting AP is the same as the SSID of the reporting AP. Otherwise, it is set to 0.

[0141] The multiple BSSID subfield is set to 1 if the reporting AP is part of a multiple BSSID set. Otherwise, it is set to 0.

[0142] The transmitted BSSID subfield is set to 1 if the reporting AP is a transmitted BSSID. If the reporting AP is a non-transmitted BSSID, it is set to 0. If the multiple BSSID subfield is set to 0, it is reserved.

[0143] The co-located ESS subfield is set to 1 if the reporting AP is part of an ESS where all APs operating in the same frequency band as the reporting AP in the local coverage area (regardless of the operating channel) have a co-located AP operating in the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz frequency band. Otherwise, or if this information is not available, it is set to 0.

[0144] The 20 TU probe response activity subfield is set to 1 if the reporting AP is part of an ESS where all APs operating in the corresponding channel in the local coverage area send an active probe response frame (see 27.16.1a.1.1) every 20 TUs. Otherwise, or if this information is not available, it is set to 0.

[0145] The suggestion is that the AP with the transmitted BSSID does not send a probe response every 20 TUs. So, it is set as follows:

[0146] If the multiple BSSID subfield is set to 1 and the transmitted BSSID subfield is set to 0, the 20 TU probe response activity subfield is reserved.

[0147] ​If the Multiple BSSID subfield is set to 1 and the transmitted BSSID subfield is set to 0, some bits of the BSS parameters subfield are used to carry the BSSID and TBTT value of the AP with the transmitted BSSID that is the same as the Multiple BSSID of the reporting AP with the untransmitted BSSID to carry the BSSID and TBTT value of the AP with the transmitted BSSID that is the same as the Multiple BSSID of the reporting AP with the untransmitted BSSID. The BSSID value of the AP with the transmitted BSSID can be the partial BSSID of the AP with the transmitted BSSID, i.e., the 8 or 4 least significant bits of the BSSID of the AP with the transmitted BSSID, or the MaxBSSID indicator (i.e., 4 bits) defined in the Multiple BSSID element that can be used to derive the transmitted BSSID value. The 20 TU Probe Response Active subfield, the remaining 2 bits, the BSSID and TBTT value of the AP with the transmitted BSSID, and other bits can be reused.

[0148] Option 3

[0149] The Neighbor AP Information field specifies the TBTT and other information related to a set of neighbor APs on one channel. See Figure 10 .

[0150] The format of the TBTT Information Header subfield is defined in Figure 11 .

[0151] The TBTT Information Field Type subfield is 2 bits long, together with the TBTT Information Length subfield, to identify the format of the TBTT Information field. Set to 0. (11ai) Reserved values 1, 2, 3.

[0152] The Filtered Neighbor AP subfield is 1 bit long. (11ai) When included in a Probe Response frame, set to 1 if the SSID corresponding to each AP in this Neighbor AP Information field matches the SSID in the corresponding Probe Request frame of (11ai). (11ai) When included in a beacon or FILS Discovery frame transmitted by a TVHT AP, set to 1 if the SSID corresponding to each AP in this Neighbor AP Information field matches the SSID of the BSS of the transmitting AP. Otherwise set to 0. (11ai)

[0153] The Collocated AP subfield is 1 bit long. If the reporting AP in the channel number field and the operating class field in the Neighbor AP Information field operates in the same channel as the reporting AP, set to 1, otherwise set to 0.

[0154] The TBTT information count subfield is 4 bits in length and contains the number of TBTT information fields included in the TBTT information set field of the Neighbor AP information field minus one. For example, a value of 0 indicates that one TBTT information field is included.

[0155] The TBTT information length subfield is 1 octet in length and indicates the length of each TBTT information field included in the TBTT information set field of the Neighbor AP information field. When the TBTT information field type subfield is set to 0, the TBTT information length subfield:

[0156] - contains the length in octets of each TBTT information field included in the TBTT information set field of the Neighbor AP information field

[0157] - is set to 1, 5, 7, 8, 11, or 12, and the other values are reserved (11 ai)

[0158] - indicates that the TBTT information field content is as shown in Table 9-273 (TBTT information field content (11 ai)).

[0159] The TBTT information length subfield is set to 1 by a TVHT AP.

[0160] (11 ai) The TBTT information length subfield is interpreted as shown in Table 3. That is, the content of the TBTT information field (11 ai).

[0161] Table 3

[0162]

[0163]

[0164] The operation category field is 1 octet in length and indicates the channel start frequency, along with the channel number field, to indicate the primary channel of the BSS of the AP in the Neighbor AP information field. The values of the operation category are as shown in Table E-4 (Global operation categories), and the operation category, along with the channel number, indicates the primary channel is valid (see 11.49 (Reduced Neighbor Report)).

[0165] NOTE - The operation category field and channel number tuple indicate the primary channel in order to assist passive scanning.

[0166] The channel number field is 1 octet in length and indicates the last known primary channel of the AP in this Neighbor AP information field. The channel number is defined in the operation category as shown in Table E-4 (Global operation categories).

[0167] The TBTT information set field contains one or more TBTT information fields. The TBTT information set field is included in the Neighbor AP information field when the TBTT information field type subfield is set to 0. Figure 12 The TBTT information field is defined in

[0168] The TBTT offset subfield length of the neighbor AP is 1 octet, indicating the TU offset from the last TBTT of the AP sending this element to the next TBTT of the AP, rounded down to the nearest TU. Value 254 indicates an offset greater than or equal to 254 TUs. Value 255 indicates an unknown offset value.

[0169] The BSSID is defined in 9.2.4.3.4 (BSSID field) (11ai). The short SSID subfield is calculated as given in 9.4.2.170.3 (Calculating short SSID 11ai). For the case of the reported APs in the multi-BSSID set carried in the RNR element, please refer to Option 1 and Option 2. In addition, the reporting AP sending the RNR element shall include the neighbor AP information field of the reported AP with the transmitted BSSID of the multi-BSSID set. For the case of the reported APs in the multi-BSSID set carried in the RNR element, the reporting AP sending the RNR element can include the neighbor AP information field of the reported AP with the non-transmitted BSSID of the multi-BSSID set.

[0170] In 802.11ai, the BSSID is optionally present in the TBTT information field in the RNR element, however, the BSSID is necessary for discovering 6 GHz APs or APs in other bands. Therefore, to ensure that a STA can find 6 GHz APs or APs in other bands, the following rules shall be made.

[0171] 1. When the collocated AP subfield is set to 1, if the reported AP carried in the neighbor AP information field of the RNR element is the same as the MAC address or BSSID of the reporting AP sending the RNR element, the BSSID is not present in the TBTT information field of the RNR element; if the reported AP carried in the neighbor AP information field of the RNR element is different from the MAC address or BSSID of the reporting AP sending the RNR element, the BSSID is present in the TBTT information field of the RNR element.

[0172] 2. When the collocated AP subfield is set to 0, the BSSID is present in the TBTT information field in the RNR element.

[0173] In the BSS parameters subfield, there is a bit or field to indicate whether the reported AP carried in the Neighbor AP Information field of the RNR element has the same BSSID as the reporting AP sending the RNR element, referred to as the Same BSSID subfield. Set to 1 or a first value, it indicates that the reported AP carried in the Neighbor AP Information field of the RNR element has the same BSSID as the reporting AP sending the RNR element; set to 0 or a second value, it indicates that the reported AP carried in the Neighbor AP Information field of the RNR element has a different BSSID than the reporting AP sending the RNR element.

[0174] In Figure 13 The format of the BSS parameters subfield is defined in.

[0175] The OCT support subfield is set to 1 to indicate that the OCT procedure described in 11.31.5 (On-channel Tunneling (OCT) operation) can be used for management frame exchange with the AP described in this Neighbor AP Information field over on-line transmissions established with the reporting AP sending the reduced neighbor report.

[0176] The Neighbor Report element defined in 802.11-2016 can also be used to broadcast information of one or more neighbor APs. One option is to use the original Neighbor Report element defined in 802.11-2016; another option is to rename one reserved bit in the BSSID information field in the Neighbor Report element as “co-located AP” with the same meaning as in Option 3.

[0177] The above three options can be used in any combination.

[0178] Out-of-band discovery of BSSs of 6 GHz

[0179] The AP in the device contains a 6 GHz AP operating on the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz band, which can include beacon frames and probe response frames sending the reduced neighbor report element or the neighbor report element to at least provide the channel and operating class of the AP in the 6 GHz band.

[0180] The AP in the device does not contain a 6 GHz AP operating on the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz band, which can include beacon frames and probe response frames sending the reduced neighbor report element or the neighbor report element to at least provide the channel and operating class of the AP in the 6 GHz band.

[0181] After receiving the information of 6GHz APs in the reduced neighbor report element or the neighbor report element, the STA can choose on-channel tunneling (OCT) in the 2.4GHz / 5GHz channel or go to the 6GHz to associate with the AP indicated in the reduced neighbor report element or the neighbor report element. Note: The reduced neighbor report element or the neighbor report element can be carried in a management frame, such as a beacon frame, a probe response frame, or a neighbor report frame. There are two methods to associate with the 6GHz AP.

[0182] Note: The 6GHz AP information in the RNR or NR can be used for both passive scanning and active scanning.

[0183] Option 1: For the STA, the AP in the device containing the 6GHz AP is transparent, and there is no indication to tell the STA whether the AP in the device containing the 6GHz AP works in the 2.4GHz or 5GHz band. In this case, the STA cannot send some association management frames to the 6GHz AP through OCT on 2.4GHz / 5GHz, because the STA does not know whether the reported AP on 6GHz is co-located with the reported AP on 2.4GHz / 5GHz.

[0184] Option 2: Some indications, including at least the co-located AP, the operation class, and the channel number in the RNR element or the NR element, tell the STA whether the AP in the device containing the 6GHz AP works in the 2.4GHz or 5GHz band. In this case, the STA can send some association management frames to the 6GHz AP through OCT on 2.4GHz / 5GHz, because the STA knows whether the reported AP on 6GHz is co-located with the reported AP on 2.4GHz / 5GHz.

[0185] The out-of-band discovery procedure of the 6GHz BSS is shown in Figure 14 .

[0186] S101: The AP generates a first frame, such as a beacon frame containing an RNR or NR element, which contains the information of 6GHz APs, which can be the MAC address or BSSID of the 6GHz AP.

[0187] S102: The AP transmits the frame on the 2.4GHz and / or 5GHz band. There is no difference between “on” and “on”.

[0188] S201: The station (STA) receives the first frame containing the information of 6GHz APs on the 2.4GHz and / or 5GHz band.

[0189] S202: The STA sends a second frame, e.g., a management frame requesting access to the AP of the 6GHz indicated in the first frame. In one example, the management frame is sent on the 2.4GHz and / or 5GHz band by using the OCT technique. In another example, the management frame is sent on the 6GHz band. The management frame can be a probe request, authentication request, association request, etc.

[0190] The above scheme can also be used to discover APs in other bands, e.g., 1GHz to 7GHz.

[0191] On-channel discovery of 6GHz BSS

[0192] An AP in a device contains another 6GHz AP operating on the 6GHz band, which can include sending a beacon frame and a probe response frame with a reduced neighbor report element or a neighbor report element to provide at least the channel and operating class of another AP in the 6GHz band. An AP in a device does not contain another 6GHz AP operating on the 6GHz band, which can include sending a beacon frame and a probe response frame with a reduced neighbor report element or a neighbor report element to provide at least the channel and operating class of another AP in the 6GHz band.

[0193] After receiving the information of the 6GHz AP in the 6GHz band through the reduced neighbor report element or the neighbor report element, the STA can choose on-channel tunneling (OCT) in the 6GHz band or go to the 6GHz channel indicated in the reduced neighbor report element or the neighbor report element and associate with the AP indicated in the reduced neighbor report element or the neighbor report element. Note that the reduced neighbor report element or the neighbor report element can be carried in a management frame, e.g., a beacon frame, a probe response frame, or a neighbor report frame.

[0194] On the other hand, association can be further divided into on-channel association and off-channel association. For on-channel association, after receiving the information of the 6GHz AP in the 6GHz band through the reduced neighbor report element or the neighbor report element, the STA can go to the 6GHz channel indicated in the reduced neighbor report element or the neighbor report element and associate with the AP indicated in the reduced neighbor report element or the neighbor report element. For off-channel association, the STA can choose on-channel tunneling (OCT) in the 6GHz band indicated in the reduced neighbor report element or the neighbor report element and associate with the AP indicated in the reduced neighbor report element or the neighbor report element, but in this case, the STA can need to go to the corresponding channel to obtain the received signal strength indication from the corresponding AP.

[0195] Sending rule of probe response in multi-BSSID case

[0196] The present embodiment is not limited to the multi-BSSID including the 6 GHz band, i.e., any multi-BSSID can employ the scheme described below:

[0197] In 802.11a / g / n / ac, the existing probe response sending rule is as follows:

[0198] Rule b: If the address 1 field (RA field) of the probe request frame contains an individual address that is not the MAC address of the STA, the STA that receives the probe request will not respond to the probe request frame.

[0199] However, for the multi-BSSID case, if the address 1 field (RA field) of the probe request frame contains an individual address that is not the MAC address of STA1 (AP1) but the MAC address of STA2 (AP2) with an unsent BSSID, where the multi-BSSIDs of STA1 (AP1) and STA2 (AP2) are the same, STA1 (AP1) can be allowed to respond to the probe response frame. In this way, the STA that sends the probe request frame containing an individual address that is the MAC address of the AP with an unsent BSSID can get the probe response frame of the AP with a sent BSSID (containing the multi-BSSID set element), so that the STA can obtain the entire profile of all APs in the multi-BSSID set.

[0200] If the multi-BSSID bit is set to 1 in the extended capability element of the probe request frame (indicating that the STA that sends the probe request frame supports multi-BSSID), the STA (AP) with an unsent BSSID will not respond to the probe request frame.

[0201] If the multi-BSSID bit is set to 1 in the extended capability element of the probe request frame (indicating that the STA that sends the probe request frame supports multi-BSSID), and the probe request frame contains an individual address that is not the MAC address of STA1 (AP1) with a sent BSSID but the MAC address of STA2 (AP2) with an unsent BSSID, where the multi-BSSIDs of STA1 (AP1) and STA2 (AP2) are the same, STA1 (AP1) with a sent BSSID can respond to the probe request frame if it does not meet the other exceptions described in the subclause 11.1.4.3 conditions of the rule b in P802.11REVmd_D2.0.

[0202] P802.11REVmd_D2.0 has the following exceptions:

[0203] If any of the following applies, the STA that receives the probe request frame will not respond:

[0204] (a) The STA does not satisfy any of the following conditions:

[0205] (1) The STA is an AP.

[0206] (2) The STA is an IBSS STA.

[0207] (3) The STA is a mesh STA.

[0208] (4) The STA is a non-PBSS member and is conducting active scanning as defined in 11.1.4.3.3 (DMG STA Active Scan procedure).

[0209] (5) The STA is a PCP.

[0210] (b) The address 1 field of the probe request frame contains an individual address that is not the MAC address of the STA.

[0211] (c) The STA is a non-AP STA in an infrastructure BSS and the address 1 field in the probe request frame contains the broadcast address.

[0212] (d) The STA is a non-PCP STA in a PBSS and the address 1 field in the probe request frame contains the broadcast address.

[0213] (e) The STA is in an IBSS and has not transmitted a beacon or DMG beacon frame since the last TBTT and the address 1 field in the probe request frame contains the broadcast address.

[0214] (f) The STA is a mesh STA and satisfies any of the following conditions:

[0215] (1) The probe request frame does not contain a Mesh ID element.

[0216] (2) The probe request frame contains a Mesh ID element but does not contain a wildcard Mesh ID and does not match the Mesh ID of the MBSS opposite the STA.

[0217] (g) The STA is not a mesh STA and does not satisfy any of the following conditions:

[0218] (1) The SSID in the probe request frame is a wildcard SSID.

[0219] (2) The SSID in the probe request frame matches the SSID of the STA.

[0220] (3) The probe request frame contains an SSID list element and includes the SSID of the BSS of the STA.

[0221] (h) The STA is not a mesh STA, and the Address 3 field in the Probe Request frame does not contain a wildcard BSSID and does not match the BSSID of the BSS with the STA.

[0222] (i) The STA's dot11InterworkingServiceActivated = true, and the Probe Request frame contains an Interworking element and an Extended Capabilities element, and the value of the Interworking field is 1, and at least one of the following conditions is not met:

[0223] (1) The HESSID field of the Interworking element is not present, or is present and contains a wildcard HESSID, or matches the HESSID field of the Interworking information parameter of the last MLME-START.request primitive or MLME-JOIN.request primitive.

[0224] (2) The Access Network Type field of the Interworking element contains a wildcard Access Network Type or matches the Access Network Type of the STA.

[0225] (j) The Probe Request frame contains a DSSS Parameter Set element in which the Current Channel field contains a value different from the dot11CurrentChannel.

[0226] (k) The STA is a DMG STA, and the transmit antenna of the untrained DMG STA is sent to the STA receiving the Probe Request frame from the STA.

[0227] The various embodiments described above can be recombined or partially replaced without logical contradiction, and the extension manner will not be described again. The communication device provided by the embodiment can be used to execute the technical solutions of the sending end or the receiving end of the above-embodiments, and the implementation principle and technical effects are similar, which will not be described here.

[0228] It should be noted that the division of the various units of the communication device is only a logical functional division, and can be integrated in one physical entity, or can be physically wholly or partially separated. Moreover, each of the units can be implemented in the form of software by invoking a processing component; each of the units can be implemented in the form of hardware; some of the units can be implemented in the form of software by invoking a processing component, and some of the units can be implemented in the form of hardware. For example, the sending unit can be a separately arranged processing component, can be integrated in one chip of the communication device, or can be stored in the form of a program in the memory of the communication device and invoked by the processing component of the communication device to perform the functions of the sending unit. The implementation manners of other units are similar. Moreover, all or part of the units can be integrated or independently implemented. The processing component described herein can be an integrated circuit with a signal processing capability. In the implementation process, each step or unit of the above method can be completed by the integrated logic circuit of hardware in the processor component or the instruction in the form of software. In addition, the sending unit is a unit for controlling sending, and information can be received by the sending device of the communication device, such as an antenna, a radio frequency device, and the like.

[0229] The above units can be one or more integrated circuits configured to implement the above method, for example, one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or one or more microprocessors (digital signal processors (DSPs)), or one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). For another example, when one of the above units is implemented in the form of a processing component scheduler, the processing component can be a general-purpose processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU) or other processor that can invoke a program. For another example, the units can be integrated together and implemented in the form of a system-on-a-chip (SOC).

[0230] Figure 15 is a block diagram of a communication device, such as an access point or a station, according to another embodiment of the application. Figure 15 The communication device of includes an interface 1104, a processor 1101, a bus 1102, a memory 1103, and at least one communication interface 1104.

[0231] The processor 1101 can be a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits for controlling execution of embodiments of the present application.

[0232] The communication bus 1102 can include a path for transmitting information between the above-mentioned components.

[0233] The communication interface 1104 uses any transceiver or the like to communicate with other devices or communication networks, such as Ethernet, a radio access network (RAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN).

[0234] The memory 1103 can be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions usable by the processor 1101, a random access memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and instructions for use by the processor 1101. The dynamic storage device can also be an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disk storage, and a magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices including a compressed disk, a laser disk, an optical disk, a digital versatile disk (DVD), a Blu-ray disk, and the like, a magnetic disk storage medium, or other magnetic storage device, or can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by the processor 1101. The memory can exist independently and be connected to the processor through a bus. The memory can also be integrated with the processor.

[0235] The memory 1103 is used to store application code for executing the schemes of the present application and is controlled by the processor 1101 to execute. The processor 1101 is used to execute the application code stored in the memory 1103, thereby realizing the communication method provided by the above-mentioned embodiments of the present application.

[0236] Optionally, in embodiments of the present application, the processor 1101 can execute the processing-related functions in the communication method provided by the above-mentioned embodiments of the present application, and the communication interface 1104 is responsible for communicating with other devices or communication networks. This example does not specifically limit this.

[0237] In one particular embodiment, the processor 1101 can include one or more CPUs.

[0238] In particular embodiments, the communication apparatus 110 can include multiple processors. Each processor can be a single-CPU processor or a multi-core processor. A processor herein can refer to one or more devices, circuits, and / or processing cores that process computer program instructions and / or other data.

[0239] In particular embodiments, the communication apparatus 110 can also include an output device and an input device. The output device is in communication with the processor 1101 and can display information in various ways. For example, the output device can be a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light emitting diode (LED) display device, a cathode ray tube (CRT) display device, or a projector. The input device is in communication with the processor 1101 and can receive user input in various ways. For example, the input device can be a mouse, a keyboard, a touch screen device, or a sensor device.

[0240] In addition, as mentioned previously, the communication apparatus 110 provided by the embodiments of the present application can be a chip, or a sending end, or a receiving end, or a device having a similar structure to Figure 15 The embodiments of the present application do not limit the type of the communication apparatus 110.

[0241] In the present embodiment, the communication apparatus 110 is presented in the form of dividing various functional modules in an integrated manner. The "module" herein can refer to an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a circuit, a processor and a memory executing one or more software or firmware programs, an integrated logic circuit, and / or other devices providing the above functions. In a simple embodiment, those skilled in the art will understand that the communication apparatus 110 can be in the form shown. For example, the functions / implementation processes of the units mentioned in various embodiments can be implemented by the processor 1101 and the memory 1103. Specifically, the generating unit can be implemented by the processor 1101 invoking the application code stored in the memory 1103, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this. The sending unit can also be implemented by the communication interface 1104, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this. Figure 15 Figure 15 Figure 15

[0242] It should be noted that the communication apparatus provided by the embodiments shown above can be specifically a communication device Figure 14 Figure 14 ​​​​The sending end in the illustrated embodiment is, for example, an AP. When the processor 1101 invokes the program stored in the memory 1103, the following processes can be performed Figure 15 The method of the sending end provided in the illustrated embodiment.

[0243] It should be noted that, Figure 14 The communication device provided in the illustrated embodiment can be specifically Figure 14 The receiving end in the illustrated embodiment is, for example, a general station. When the processor 1101 invokes the program stored in the memory 1103, the following processes can be performed ​ The method of the receiving end provided in the illustrated embodiment.

[0244] Optionally, the embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, which can include the communication apparatus or the communication device described in any of the above embodiments.

[0245] In the above embodiments, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments can be implemented by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented by software, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments can be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments are generated. The computer can be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network or other programmable devices. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another computer readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from a website, a computer, a server or a data center to another website, computer, server or data center through a wired manner (for example, a coaxial cable, an optical fiber, a digital subscriber line (DSL) or a wireless manner (for example, infrared, wireless, microwave). The computer readable storage medium can be any available medium accessible by a computer or a data storage device, or can be integrated with the medium, including one or more servers, data centers and the like. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (for example, a DVD) or a semiconductor medium (for example, a solid state disk (SSD)) and the like.

Claims

1. A communication method in a wireless local area network, characterized by, Comprising: a reporting AP generating a reduced neighbor report (RNR) element; the reporting AP transmitting the RNR element on a 2.4GHz or 5GHz band; wherein the RNR element comprises a neighbor AP information field, the neighbor AP information field comprising a target beacon transmission time (TBTT) information set field, the TBTT information set field comprising one or more TBTT information fields, wherein at least one of the TBTT information fields comprises a basic service set identifier (BSSID) of a reported 6GHz AP; wherein the TBTT information field in the RNR element further comprises a BSS parameters subfield, the BSS parameters subfield comprising a multiple BSSID subfield and a transmitted BSSID subfield, wherein the multiple BSSID subfield is used to indicate whether the reported 6GHz AP is a member of a multiple BSSID set, and the transmitted BSSID subfield is used to indicate whether the reported 6GHz AP has a transmitted BSSID; wherein a transmitted BSSID corresponds to an AP in the multiple BSSID set that is uniquely supposed to transmit a beacon frame or probe response.

2. A communication method in a wireless local area network, characterized by, Comprising: a station receiving a reduced neighbor report (RNR) element transmitted by a reporting AP on a 2.4GHz or 5GHz band, the RNR element comprising a neighbor AP information field, the neighbor AP information field comprising a target beacon transmission time (TBTT) information set field, the TBTT information set field comprising one or more TBTT information fields, wherein at least one of the TBTT information fields comprises a basic service set identifier (BSSID) of a reported 6GHz AP; the station processing as follows: passively scanning using the information of the 6GHz AP in the RNR element; or, transmitting a management frame on a 6GHz band, the management frame comprising the BSSID of the reported 6GHz AP; or, transmitting an on-channel tunneling (OCT) MMPDU on a 2.4GHz or 5GHz band, so as to facilitate channel access to the 6GHz AP, wherein a receiving address of the OCT MMPDU is a MAC address of the reporting AP; wherein one of the TBTT information fields in the RNR element further comprises a BSS parameters subfield, the BSS parameters subfield comprising a multiple BSSID subfield and a transmitted BSSID subfield, wherein the multiple BSSID subfield is used to indicate whether the reported 6GHz AP is a member of a multiple BSSID set, and the transmitted BSSID subfield is used to indicate whether the reported 6GHz AP has a transmitted BSSID; wherein a transmitted BSSID corresponds to an AP in the multiple BSSID set that is uniquely supposed to transmit a beacon frame or probe response.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, when the multi-BSSID subfield is set to 1, it indicates that the reported 6GHz AP is a member of the multi-BSSID set, and when the multi-BSSID subfield is set to 0, it indicates that the reported 6GHz AP is not a member of the multi-BSSID set; when the transmitting BSSID subfield is set to 1, it indicates that the reported 6GHz AP has a transmitting BSSID, and when the transmitting BSSID subfield is set to 0, it indicates that the reported 6GHz AP has a non-transmitting BSSID.

4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The BSS parameter subfield further includes at least one of: an OCT suggestion subfield for indicating whether to suggest using OCT to exchange MMPDUs with the reported AP indicated in the TBTT information field; a same SSID subfield for indicating whether the reported 6GHz AP carried in the neighbor AP information field in the RNR element has the same SSID as the reporting AP transmitting the RNR element; a co-located ESS subfield member for indicating whether the reported AP belongs to a part of an ESS, wherein all APs in the ESS operate in the same frequency band as the reported AP, regardless of the operating channel, have co-located APs operating in 2.4 or 5GHz; a probe response activity subfield for at least indicating whether the reported AP belongs to a part of an ESS, wherein all APs operating in the corresponding channel in the local coverage area send an active probe response frame every 20 TUs.

5. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The neighbor AP information field further includes a TBTT information header subfield; the TBTT information header subfield further includes a TBTT information length subfield for indicating the content of the TBTT information field, and the value of the TBTT information length subfield includes one of: a value '8' for indicating that the content of the TBTT information field includes a neighbor AP TBTT offset subfield, a BSSID subfield and a BSS parameter subfield; a value '12' for indicating that the content of the TBTT information field includes a neighbor AP TBTT offset subfield, a BSSID subfield, a short SSID subfield and a BSS parameter subfield.

6. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein, The RNR element includes a co-located AP subfield for indicating whether the reported AP operating on the channel indicated in the neighbor AP information field is co-located with the reported AP, wherein co-located means in the same physical device.

7. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The neighbor AP information field further includes: an operating class field for indicating, together with a channel number field, the primary channel of the BSS of the reported 6GHz AP included in the neighbor AP information field, the channel number field for indicating the last known primary channel of the reported 6GHz AP included in the neighbor AP information field.

8. A communication apparatus in a wireless local area network, characterized by comprising: As a reporting access point AP (reporting AP), comprising: a module for generating a reduced neighbor report (RNR) element; and a module for transmitting the RNR element on a 2.4GHz or 5GHz frequency band; The RNR element includes a neighbor AP information field, and the neighbor AP information field includes a target beacon transmission time TBTT information set field, and the TBTT information set field includes one or more TBTT information fields, wherein at least one of the TBTT information fields includes a basic service set identifier BSSID of a reported 6GHz AP. The TBTT information field in the RNR element further includes a BSS parameter subfield, and the BSS parameter subfield includes a multiple BSSID subfield and a transmitted BSSID subfield, wherein the multiple BSSID subfield is used to indicate whether the reported 6GHz AP is a member of a multiple BSSID set, and the transmitted BSSID subfield is used to indicate whether the reported 6GHz AP has a transmitted BSSID; wherein the transmitted BSSID corresponds to an AP in the multiple BSSID set that should transmit a beacon frame or a probe response.

9. An apparatus in a wireless local area network, as a station, characterized by Comprise: A module for receiving a reduced neighbor report RNR element transmitted by a reporting access point AP (reporting AP) on a 2.4GHz or 5GHz frequency band, the RNR element including a neighbor AP information field, and the neighbor AP information field including a target beacon transmission time TBTT information set field, and the TBTT information set field including one or more TBTT information fields, wherein at least one of the TBTT information fields includes a basic service set identifier BSSID of a reported 6GHz AP; and, A module for processing according to one of the following: Passive scanning using the information of the 6GHz AP in the RNR element; or, Transmitting a management frame on a 6GHz frequency band, the management frame including the BSSID of the reported 6GHz AP; or, Transmitting an in-channel tunneling OCT MMPDU on a 2.4GHz or 5GHz frequency band to facilitate channel access to the 6GHz AP, wherein the receiving address of the OCT MMPDU is the MAC address of the reporting AP; One of the TBTT information fields in the RNR element further includes a BSS parameter subfield, and the BSS parameter subfield includes a multiple BSSID subfield and a transmitted BSSID subfield, wherein the multiple BSSID subfield is used to indicate whether the reported 6GHz AP is a member of a multiple BSSID set, and the transmitted BSSID subfield is used to indicate whether the reported 6GHz AP has a transmitted BSSID; wherein the transmitted BSSID corresponds to an AP in the multiple BSSID set that should transmit a beacon frame or a probe response.

10. The apparatus of claim 8 or 9, wherein, when the multiple BSSID subfield is set to 1, it indicates that the reported 6GHz AP is a member of the multiple BSSID set, and when the multiple BSSID subfield is set to 0, it indicates that the reported 6GHz AP is not a member of the multiple BSSID set; when the transmitting BSSID subfield is set to 1, it indicates that the reported 6GHz AP has a transmitting BSSID, and when the transmitting BSSID subfield is set to 0, it indicates that the reported 6GHz AP has a non-transmitting BSSID.

11. The apparatus of claim 8 or 9, wherein, The BSS parameter subfield further includes at least one of: an OCT suggestion subfield for indicating whether to suggest using OCT to exchange MMPDU with the reported AP indicated in the TBTT information field; a same SSID subfield for indicating whether the reported 6GHz AP carried in the neighbor AP information field in the RNR element has the same SSID as the reporting AP transmitting the RNR element; a co-located ESS subfield member for indicating whether the reported AP belongs to a part of an ESS, wherein all APs in the ESS work in the same frequency band as the reported AP, regardless of the operating channel, have co-located APs working in 2.4 or 5GHz; a probe response activity subfield for at least indicating whether the reported AP belongs to a part of an ESS, wherein all APs working in the corresponding channel in the local coverage area send an active probe response frame every 20 TUs.

12. The apparatus of claim 8 or 9, wherein, The neighbor AP information field further includes a TBTT information header subfield; the TBTT information header subfield further includes a TBTT information length subfield for indicating the content of the TBTT information field, and the value of the TBTT information length subfield includes one of: a value '8' for indicating that the content of the TBTT information field includes a neighbor AP TBTT offset subfield, a BSSID subfield and a BSS parameter subfield; a value '12' for indicating that the content of the TBTT information field includes a neighbor AP TBTT offset subfield, a BSSID subfield, a short SSID subfield and a BSS parameter subfield.

13. The apparatus of claim 8 or 9, wherein, The RNR element includes a co-located AP subfield for indicating whether the reported AP working on the channel indicated in the neighbor AP information field is co-located with the reported AP, wherein the co-located means in the same physical device.

14. The apparatus of claim 8 or 9, wherein, The neighbor AP information field further includes: an operating class field for indicating, together with a channel number field, the primary channel of the BSS of the reported 6GHz AP included in the neighbor AP information field, the channel number field for indicating the last known primary channel of the reported 6GHz AP included in the neighbor AP information field.

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