Multi-link reconfiguration method and device and communication equipment

Abstract

The invention provides a multi-link reconfiguration method and device and communication equipment, and the method comprises the steps that under the condition that a first multi-link device MLD and a second MLD complete multi-link establishment and at least one established link is established, the first MLD determines whether the link capability of at least one proposed link is compatible with the link sharing capability or not, and / or determines whether the link capability of at least one proposed link is compatible with the link sharing capability or not; whether the operation requirement of the at least one first subsidiary site is compatible with the link sharing operation or not; wherein the at least one first affiliated site is an affiliated site associated with the at least one proposed link in the first MLD; the link sharing capability refers to the capability shared by at least one established link, and the link sharing operation refers to the operation shared by at least one established link.

Description

Multi-link reconfiguration method and device, and communication equipment Technical Field

[0001] The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of mobile communication technology, and specifically to a multi-link reconfiguration method and apparatus, and communication equipment. Background Art

[0002] A non-AP MLD (non-Access Point Multi-Link Device) can establish one or more links with an AP MLD (Access Point Multi-Link Device). After one or more links are established between the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD, the AP MLD may add or remove one or more subordinate access points (APs). Similarly, the non-AP MLD may add or remove one or more subordinate stations (STAs). In this situation, multilink reconfiguration between the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD is required, and the method for performing multilink reconfiguration needs to be improved.

[0003] Summary of the Invention

[0004] Embodiments of the present application provide a multi-link reconfiguration method and apparatus, a communication device, a chip, a computer-readable storage medium, a computer program product, and a computer program.

[0005] In a first aspect, the multi-link reconfiguration method provided by the embodiments of the present application includes:

[0006] In a case where the first multi-link device MLD and the second MLD have completed multi-link establishment and established at least one established link, the first MLD determines whether link capabilities of at least one proposed link are compatible with link sharing capabilities, and / or whether operation requirements of at least one first subordinate station are compatible with link sharing operations;

[0007] The at least one first subsidiary site is a subsidiary site associated with at least one link to be established in the first MLD; the link sharing capability refers to the capability shared by the at least one established link, and the link sharing operation refers to the operation shared by the at least one established link.

[0008] In a second aspect, the multi-link reconfiguration method provided by the embodiment of the present application includes:

[0009] The second MLD receives a first request frame sent by the first MLD, and / or a first response frame sent by the second MLD to the first MLD; wherein the first request frame is used to request the addition of at least one proposed link in the multi-link reconfiguration, and the first response frame is used to add the at least one proposed link in the multi-link reconfiguration.

[0010] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a multi-link reconfiguration apparatus, which is applied to a first multi-link device. The apparatus includes:

[0011] a first determining unit configured to, when the first multi-link device MLD and the second MLD have completed multi-link establishment and established at least one established link, determine, by the first MLD, whether link capabilities of at least one link to be established are compatible with link sharing capabilities, and / or whether operation requirements of at least one first subordinate station are compatible with link sharing operations;

[0012] The at least one first subsidiary site is a subsidiary site associated with at least one link to be established in the first MLD; the link sharing capability refers to the capability shared by the at least one established link, and the link sharing operation refers to the operation shared by the at least one established link.

[0013] In a fourth aspect, the multi-link reconfiguration device provided in an embodiment of the present application is applied to a second MLD, including:

[0014] The second transceiver unit is configured to receive a first request frame sent by a first MLD; and / or, a first response frame sent to the first MLD; wherein the first request frame is used to request the addition of at least one proposed link in the multi-link reconfiguration, and the first response frame is used to add the at least one proposed link in the multi-link reconfiguration.

[0015] The communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application includes a processor and a memory. The memory is used to store a computer program, and the processor is used to call and run the computer program stored in the memory to perform the multi-link reconfiguration method described above.

[0016] The chip provided in the embodiment of the present application is used to implement the multi-link reconfiguration method described above. Specifically, the chip includes: a processor configured to call and execute a computer program from a memory, so that a device equipped with the chip executes the multi-link reconfiguration method described above.

[0017] The computer-readable storage medium provided in an embodiment of the present application is used to store a computer program, which enables a computer to execute the above-mentioned multi-link reconfiguration method.

[0018] The computer program product provided in the embodiments of the present application includes computer program instructions, which enable a computer to execute the multi-link reconfiguration method described above.

[0019] The computer program provided in the embodiment of the present application, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the above-mentioned multi-link reconfiguration method.

[0020] In the multi-link reconfiguration method provided in the application embodiment, on the basis of at least one established link established by the first MLD and the second MLD, by performing compatibility verification on at least one newly added link to be established, it is possible to ensure the compatibility of the newly added link with the established link in the subsequent multi-link reconfiguration process, so as to achieve smooth establishment of the newly added link, thereby improving the multi-link reconfiguration mechanism. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] The drawings described herein are used to provide a further understanding of the present application and constitute a part of the present application. The illustrative embodiments of the present application and their descriptions are used to explain the present application and do not constitute an improper limitation on the present application. In the drawings:

[0022] FIG1 is a diagram of a communication system architecture used in an embodiment of the present application;

[0023] FIG2-1 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of an embodiment of the present application;

[0024] FIG2-2 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of an embodiment of the present application;

[0025] FIG3-1 is a schematic diagram of the format of a per-site control field transmitted by a non-AP MLD according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0026] FIG3-2 is a schematic diagram of the format of a per-site control field transmitted by an AP MLD according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0027] FIG4 is a flowchart of a multi-link reconfiguration method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0028] FIG5 is a second flow chart of a multi-link reconfiguration method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0029] FIG6 is a third flow chart of a multi-link reconfiguration method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0030] FIG7 is a fourth flow chart of a multi-link reconfiguration method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0031] FIG8 is a fifth flow chart of a multi-link reconfiguration method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0032] FIG9 is a first interactive diagram of a multi-link reconfiguration method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0033] FIG10 is a second interactive diagram of a multi-link reconfiguration method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0034] FIG11 is a schematic diagram of an RSNA authentication interaction provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0035] FIG12 is a second schematic diagram of an RSNA authentication interaction provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0036] FIG13 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a multi-link reconfiguration device 1300 provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0037] FIG14 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a multi-link reconfiguration device 1400 provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0038] FIG15 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0039] FIG16 is a schematic structural diagram of a chip according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0040] Figure 17 is a schematic block diagram of a communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0041] The following will describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of this application. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of this application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in this application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative efforts are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0042] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN), Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), or other communication systems. WLAN can support frequency bands including, but not limited to, low frequency bands (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz) and high frequency bands (60 GHz).

[0043] FIG1 is an example of a communication system architecture applied in an embodiment of the present application.

[0044] As shown in FIG1 , the communication system 100 may include an AP 110 and a STA 120 that accesses the network through the AP 110. In some scenarios, the AP 110 may be referred to as an AP STA, meaning that, in a sense, the AP 110 is also a type of STA. In some scenarios, the STA 120 may be referred to as a non-AP STA. In some scenarios, the STA 120 may include both AP STAs and non-AP STAs. Communication in the communication system 100 may include communication between the AP 110 and the STA 120, communication between the STA 120 and another STA 120, or communication between the STA 120 and a peer STA. A peer STA may refer to a device communicating with the peer of the STA 120. For example, the peer STA may be an AP or a non-AP STA.

[0045] AP 110 can be used as a bridge between wired and wireless networks, connecting wireless network clients together and then connecting the wireless network to Ethernet. AP 110 can be a terminal device (such as a mobile phone) or a network device (such as a router) equipped with a WiFi chip.

[0046] It should be noted that the role of STA 120 in the communication system is not absolute. In other words, the role of STA 120 in the communication system can switch between AP and STA. For example, in some scenarios, when a mobile phone is connected to a router, the mobile phone is a STA. When the mobile phone is used as a hotspot for other mobile phones, the mobile phone plays the role of AP.

[0047] In some embodiments, AP 110 and STA 120 can be devices used in the Internet of Vehicles, IoT nodes and sensors in the Internet of Things (IoT), smart cameras, smart remote controls, smart water and electricity meters in smart homes, and sensors in smart cities.

[0048] In some embodiments, AP 110 may be a device supporting the 802.11be standard. The AP may also be a device supporting various current and future 802.11 family WLAN standards, such as 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b, and 802.11a. In some embodiments, STA 120 may support the 802.11be standard. The STA may also support various current and future 802.11 family WLAN standards, such as 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b, and 802.11a.

[0049] In some embodiments, AP 110 and / or STA 120 can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld, wearable or vehicle-mounted; can also be deployed on the water surface (such as a ship); can also be deployed in the air (for example, on an airplane, balloon, and satellite, etc.).

[0050] In some embodiments, STA 120 may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer with wireless transceiver capabilities, a virtual reality (VR) device, an augmented reality (AR) device, a wireless device in industrial control, a set-top box, a wireless device in self-driving, an in-vehicle communication device, a wireless device in remote medical, a wireless device in a smart grid, a wireless device in transportation safety, a wireless device in a smart city or a wireless device in a smart home, an in-vehicle communication device, a wireless communication chip / application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) / system on chip (SoC), etc. that supports WLAN / WiFi technology.

[0051] For example, STA 120 can also be a wearable device. Wearable devices can also be called wearable smart devices, which are a general term for wearable devices that use wearable technology to intelligently design and develop wearable devices, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing and shoes. A wearable device is a portable device that is worn directly on the body or integrated into the user's clothes or accessories. Wearable devices are not just hardware devices, but also achieve powerful functions through software support, data interaction, and cloud interaction. In a broad sense, wearable smart devices include those that are full-featured, large in size, and can achieve complete or partial functions without relying on smartphones, such as smart watches or smart glasses, as well as those that only focus on a certain type of application function and need to be used in conjunction with other devices such as smartphones, such as various smart bracelets and smart jewelry for vital sign monitoring.

[0052] It should be understood that Figure 1 is merely an example of the present application and should not be construed as limiting the present application. For example, Figure 1 only exemplarily illustrates one AP and two STAs. In some embodiments, the communication system 100 may include multiple APs and other numbers of STAs, which are not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0053] Figure 2-1 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of an embodiment of the present application.

[0054] As shown in Figure 2-1, communication system 200 may include: AP MLD 210 and non-AP MLD 220. AP MLD 210 is an electronic device capable of forming a wireless local area network 230 based on transmitted signals, such as a router or a mobile phone with hotspot functionality. Non-AP MLD 220 is an electronic device connected to the wireless local area network 230 formed by AP MLD 210, such as a mobile phone, smart washing machine, air conditioner, or electronic lock. Non-AP MLD 220 communicates with AP MLD 210 via wireless local area network 230. AP MLD 210 may be a soft AP MLD, a mobile AP MLD, or other device.

[0055] As shown in Figure 2-2, in the communication system described in Figure 2-1, AP MLD 210 is associated with at least two APs 2101, and non-AP MLD 220 is associated with at least two STAs (STAs) 2201. Each AP is connected to a different STA in non-AP MLD 220 via a different link. An AP associated with an AP MLD is also referred to as an AP MLD-associated AP, and a STA associated with a non-AP MLD is also referred to as a non-AP MLD-associated STA.

[0056] In the embodiments of the present application, the AP MLD 210 and the non-AP MLD 220 may be terminal devices, which may refer to access terminals, user equipment (UE), subscriber units, subscriber stations, mobile stations, mobile stations, remote stations, remote terminals, mobile devices, user terminals, terminals, wireless communication devices, user agents, or user devices. Access terminals may be cellular phones, cordless phones, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones, Wireless Local Loop (WLL) stations, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), handheld devices with wireless communication capabilities, computing devices or other processing devices connected to wireless modems, in-vehicle devices, wearable devices, terminal devices in 5th generation (5G) networks, or terminal devices in future Public Land Mobile Networks (PLMNs), etc.

[0057] The communication system 200 shown in FIG2-1 may also include a network device, which may be an access network device that communicates with a terminal device. The access network device may provide communication coverage for a specific geographical area and may communicate with terminal devices within the coverage area.

[0058] FIG2-1 exemplarily shows an AP MLD and a non-AP MLD. Optionally, the wireless communication system 200 may include multiple non-AP MLDs connected to the wireless local area network 230 , which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0059] It should be noted that Figures 1, 2-1, and 2-2 are merely examples of the systems to which this application applies. Of course, the methods described in the embodiments of this application can also be applied to other systems. In addition, the terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably herein. The term "and / or" herein is merely a description of the association relationship between associated objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, or B exists alone. In addition, the character " / " herein generally indicates that the associated objects before and after are in an "or" relationship. It should also be understood that the "indication" mentioned in the embodiments of this application can be a direct indication, an indirect indication, or an indication of an association relationship. For example, A indicates B can mean that A directly indicates B, for example, B can obtain it through A; it can also mean that A indirectly indicates B, for example, A indicates C, and B can obtain it through C; it can also mean that there is an association relationship between A and B. It should also be understood that the “correspondence” mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may indicate a direct or indirect correspondence between the two, or an association relationship between the two, or a relationship between indication and being indicated, configuration and being configured, etc. It should also be understood that the “predefined” or “predefined rules” mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented by pre-saving corresponding codes, tables or other methods that can be used to indicate relevant information in devices (for example, including terminal devices and network devices), and the present application does not limit its specific implementation method. For example, predefined can refer to what is defined in the protocol. It should also be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the “protocol” may refer to a standard protocol in the field of communications, for example, it may include LTE protocols, NR protocols, and related protocols used in future communication systems, and the present application does not limit this.

[0060] To facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the relevant technologies of the embodiments of the present application are described below. The following relevant technologies can be arbitrarily combined with the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application as optional solutions, and they all fall within the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application.

[0061] The multi-link reconfiguration mechanism defined in the related art includes a series of processes of adding one or more subordinate APs to the AP MLD or removing one or more subordinate APs from the AP MLD.

[0062] For adding subordinate APs, AP MLD can add one or more subordinate APs at any time. Specifically, AP MLD announces a new subordinate AP by changing the Maximum Number of Simultaneous Links field in the Basic Multi-link element of the MLD Capabilities field in the beacon frame and / or the probe response frame, and including the TBTT information field of the new subordinate AP in the Reduced Neighbor Report element of the beacon frame and / or the probe response frame.

[0063] For removing an attached AP, the AP MLD may remove one or more of its attached APs. The AP MLD announces the removal of any attached AP by transmitting a Reconfiguration Multi-Link element in all Beacon frames and / or Probe Response frames for all attached APs until the attached AP has been removed. For each attached AP that the AP MLD attempts to remove, the Reconfiguration Multi-Link element contains a Per-STA Profile subelement with the subfields of the Per-STA Control field set as follows: the Link ID subfield identifies the AP, the Complete Configuration subfield is set to zero, the Delete Timer Exists subfield is set to one, and the Delete Timer subfield is set to the number of TBTTs before removing the attached AP. The initial value of the Delete Timer subfield should be longer than the MLD max idle period. The Per-STA Profile subelement should not contain the STA Profile field. At the TBTT indicated by the Deletion Timer subfield of the transmitted Reconfiguration Multilink Element, the associated non-AP MLD considers that the link corresponding to the removed AP does not exist, and the Station Management Entity (SME) associated with the associated site of the removed subordinate AP should delete any information used to maintain the link.

[0064] Related technologies have designed a Reconfiguration Variant Multi-Link element and a link reconfiguration request / response action frame based on this element. The main features of the Reconfiguration Variant Multi-Link element are as follows:

[0065] 1) Does not contain the Common Info field;

[0066] 2) Contains a link information field, and the link information field contains 0 or more sub-elements. The optional sub-elements are shown in Table 1.

[0067]

[0068] Table 1

[0069] The Per-STA Profile subelement in Table 1 includes the Per-STA Control field. The format of the Per-STA Control field transmitted by non-AP MLD is shown in Figure 3-1. It includes the Link ID subfield, the Complete Profile subfield, the New Link ID subfield, and the Delete Request subfield. The New Link ID subfield indicates the link ID corresponding to the new AP to which the connection is being requested. Specifically, if the New Link ID subfield is set to 15, no new link establishment request is being made. If the Delete Request subfield is set to 1, the link indicated by the Link ID subfield is being requested to be removed. The format of the Per-STA Control field transmitted by AP MLD is shown in Figure 3-2. It includes the Link ID subfield, the Complete Profile subfield, the New Link ID subfield, the Delete Imminent subfield, and the Delete Timer subfield.

[0070] The scope of the definition of multi-link reconfiguration in the above-mentioned related technologies is limited to the process of adding one or more subordinate APs to or removing one or more subordinate APs from the AP MLD. In actual application scenarios, after a non-AP MLD successfully establishes a multi-link with the AP MLD, so that the non-AP MLD is associated with the AP MLD, if the AP MLD performs multi-link reconfiguration, adds a subordinate AP, and provides information about the newly added subordinate AP in a beacon frame and / or probe response frame, when the non-AP MLD intends to establish a link with the newly added subordinate AP, if the non-AP MLD first disassociates from the AP MLD and dismantles the established link, and then re-establishes a multi-link with the AP MLD including the link corresponding to the newly added subordinate AP, this will cause the non-AP MLD's operation on the previously established link to be interrupted, and the smooth establishment of the new link will not be achieved. If a non-AP MLD establishes multiple links with an AP MLD without first disassociating it from the AP MLD, it will be repeatedly associated with the non-AP MLD. This is unsupported by the multi-link establishment rules and multi-link elements defined in related technologies. Furthermore, related technologies fail to address the coordination of common and link-specific multi-link parameters between established and reconfigured links. For example, coordination of MLD capability information affected by link establishment and other link parameter information affected by the newly established link is not addressed.

[0071] Therefore, for multi-link reconfiguration, a mechanism for adding new links based on the association of a non-AP MLD with an AP MLD should be defined. To this end, the following technical solutions are proposed in the embodiments of the present application. The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application define a mechanism for adding new links based on the association of a non-AP MLD with an AP MLD and successful multi-link establishment, as well as a mechanism for performing Robust Security Network Association (RSNA) verification after the establishment of the new links is completed.

[0072] It should be noted that although the above description is based on non-AP MLD and AP MLD, the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application is not limited to this. The first multi-link device in the embodiment of the present application can be a non-AP MLD, and the second multi-link device can be an AP MLD, or the first multi-link device in the embodiment of the present application can be an MLD, and the second multi-link device can be a peer MLD.

[0073] To facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the technical solutions of the present application are described in detail below through specific embodiments. The above related technologies can be combined arbitrarily with the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application as optional solutions, and all of them fall within the scope of protection of the embodiments of the present application. The embodiments of the present application include at least part of the following contents.

[0074] FIG4 is a flowchart diagram of an optional multi-link reconfiguration method provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG4 , the multi-link reconfiguration method includes the following steps:

[0075] Step 410: When the first MLD and the second MLD have completed multi-link establishment and established at least one established link, the first MLD determines whether the link capability of at least one proposed link is compatible with the link sharing capability and / or whether the operation requirement of at least one first subordinate station is compatible with the link sharing operation;

[0076] The at least one first subsidiary site is a subsidiary site associated with the first MLD with at least one link to be established; the link sharing capability refers to the capability shared by at least one established link; and the link sharing operation refers to the operation shared by at least one established link.

[0077] In the embodiment of the present application, the first MLD and the second MLD have completed multi-link establishment, which can also be understood as the second MLD is associated with the first MLD. That is, before step 410, at least one established link has been established between the first MLD and the second MLD.

[0078] In a scenario where the first MLD and the second MLD have completed multi-link establishment (or the second MLD has been associated with the first MLD), when there are still affiliated sites in the first MLD that have not established links, and the affiliated sites that have not established links request to establish links, the first MLD can perform compatibility verification on the relevant capabilities and / or operation requirements of each link in at least one of the links requested to be established, so as to coordinate the issues of multi-link common parameters and link-specific parameters between the established links and the links requested to be established during the multi-link addition process.

[0079] It should be noted that the link requested to be established may also be referred to as a proposed link, and the subsidiary site associated with the proposed link may be referred to as a first subsidiary site.

[0080] In an embodiment of the present application, compatibility verification may include determining whether the link capability of at least one proposed link is compatible with the link sharing capability, and / or whether the operation requirements of at least one first subsidiary site are compatible with the link sharing operation.

[0081] That is to say, before multi-link reconfiguration, the first MLD can verify whether each of the at least one proposed link is compatible with the shared capabilities of the existing link, and / or whether the operation requirements of the first subsidiary site corresponding to the at least one proposed link are compatible with the shared operations of the existing link, so as to determine whether to establish multiple links for the at least one proposed link requested to be established.

[0082] It should be noted that the first MLD may only verify whether the link capability of at least one link to be established is compatible with the link sharing capability of the established link. The first MLD may also only verify whether the operation requirements of at least one first subsidiary site associated with at least one link to be established are compatible with the link sharing operation. The first MLD may also simultaneously verify whether the link capability of at least one link to be established is compatible with the link sharing capability, and whether the first subsidiary site associated with at least one link to be established is compatible with the link sharing operation. The verification method here can be determined according to actual needs, and the embodiments of the present application do not impose any restrictions on this.

[0083] Optionally, the link sharing capability includes at least one of the following:

[0084] a Robust Security Network (RSN) capability shared by the at least one established link;

[0085] Robust Security Network Element (RSNE) capability shared by the at least one established link;

[0086] an extended RSNE capability shared by the at least one established link;

[0087] The RSN extended element capability is shared by the at least one established link.

[0088] Optionally, the link sharing operation is indicated by at least one of the following:

[0089] an Authentication and Key Management Suite selector (AKM suite selector) shared by the at least one established link;

[0090] A pairwise cipher suite (Pairwise Cipher Suite) shared by the at least one established link.

[0091] Optionally, in step 410, the first MLD determines whether the link capability of at least one proposed link is compatible with the link sharing capability and / or whether the operation requirement of at least one first subsidiary site is compatible with the link sharing operation, which may also be achieved by:

[0092] The first MLD determines whether at least one proposed link supports the link sharing capability and / or whether the at least one affiliated station supports the link sharing operation.

[0093] It is understandable that the first MLD can determine the link sharing capability and / or link sharing operation of at least one established link. Exemplarily, the first MLD determines the link sharing capability of at least one established link based on the obtained general capability information of at least one established link, and determines the link sharing operation of at least one established link through the obtained general operation parameters of at least one established link. It should be noted that the general capability information and / or general operation parameters of at least one established link can be obtained by the first MLD when establishing the at least one established link with the second MLD, or obtained by requesting from the affiliated site of at least one established link, and the embodiments of the present application do not impose any restrictions on this.

[0094] In addition, the first MLD may also determine the link capability and / or operational requirements of at least one proposed link to be established, and then the first MLD may verify the compatibility of each proposed link based on the link capability and / or operational requirements of each proposed link. Specifically, the first MLD may determine whether the link capability of each proposed link supports the link sharing capability of at least one existing link, and / or whether the operational requirements of each proposed link support the link sharing operation of at least one existing link.

[0095] It should be noted that the link capability and / or operation requirements of at least one newly added link to be established may be determined by the first MLD based on the information published by the second MLD, or may be determined by the first MLD based on the actual attributes of each link to be established. This embodiment of the present application does not impose any restrictions on this.

[0096] For example, the first MLD may verify whether the authentication and key management suite selector and / or pairwise cipher suite used in the proposed link being requested is consistent with the authentication and key management suite selector and / or pairwise cipher suite shared by the currently established links. If the two are consistent, the first MLD may determine that the first subsidiary site corresponding to the proposed link is compatible with the link-sharing operation of at least one existing link. If the two are inconsistent, the first MLD may determine that the first subsidiary site corresponding to the proposed link is incompatible with the link-sharing operation of at least one existing link.

[0097] In the multi-link reconfiguration method provided in the application embodiment, on the basis of at least one established link established by the first MLD and the second MLD, by performing compatibility verification on at least one newly added link to be established, it is possible to ensure the compatibility of the newly added link with the established link in the subsequent multi-link reconfiguration process, so as to achieve smooth establishment of the newly added link, thereby improving the multi-link reconfiguration mechanism.

[0098] Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, before the first MLD determines in step 410 whether the link capability of at least one proposed link is compatible with the link sharing capability and / or whether the operation requirement of at least one first affiliated site is compatible with the link sharing operation, the following steps may be further performed:

[0099] Step 400: The first MLD receives site information of at least one second affiliated site sent by the second MLD. The site information of the at least one second affiliated site is used to indicate link capability of at least one proposed link and / or operation requirements of at least one first affiliated site.

[0100] The at least one second subordinate site includes a newly added subordinate site in the second MLD and / or a subordinate site in the second MLD that has no link established with the first MLD.

[0101] It should be understood that the link capability and / or operation requirement of the at least one newly added link to be established requested in step 410 can be obtained based on the site information of the at least one second affiliated site published by the second MLD.

[0102] Optionally, at least one second subsidiary site may correspond to at least one first subsidiary site, and accordingly, at least one second subsidiary site may correspond to at least one proposed link. The site information of each second subsidiary site may include link capability information of the corresponding link and / or operating parameters of the corresponding first subsidiary site. The link capability information may indicate link capability, and the operating parameters may indicate operating requirements of the subsidiary site.

[0103] That is, the first MLD may determine the link capability and / or operation requirement of each proposed link according to the relevant information carried in the site information of each second affiliated site.

[0104] Optionally, the site information of the at least one second affiliated site is carried via a beacon frame or a probe response frame.

[0105] That is, the first MLD may receive a beacon frame or a probe response frame carrying the site information of the second affiliated site to determine the link capability of at least one proposed link requested to be established and / or the operation requirements of at least one first affiliated site corresponding to the at least one proposed link.

[0106] Optionally, based on step 410, with reference to FIG5 , the multi-link reconfiguration method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include the following steps:

[0107] Step 420: If the link capability of at least one proposed link is compatible with the link sharing capability and / or the operation requirement of at least one first affiliated site is compatible with the link sharing operation, the first MLD sends a first request frame to the second MLD and / or receives a first response frame sent by the second MLD.

[0108] The first request frame is used to request to add at least one link to be established in the multi-link reconfiguration, and the first response frame is used to add at least one link to be established in the multi-link reconfiguration.

[0109] In an embodiment of the present application, when the first MLD determines that the link capability of at least one proposed link requested to be established is compatible with the link sharing capability of the existing link, and / or that the operation requirements of at least one first subsidiary site are compatible with the link sharing operation of the existing link, the first MLD, in a scenario where multi-link establishment has been completed with the second MLD, performs multi-link establishment with the second MLD for at least one proposed link that has passed the compatibility verification (that is, the proposed link that is compatible with the link sharing capability and / or link sharing operation of the existing link).

[0110] Specifically, after determining that the link capability of at least one proposed link is compatible with the link sharing capability, and / or that the operation requirements of at least one first subsidiary site are compatible with the link sharing operation, the first MLD can negotiate with the second MLD to establish at least one proposed link through the interaction of a first request frame and a first response frame.

[0111] In one possible implementation, if the first MLD only needs to verify the compatibility of the link capability of at least one link to be established with the link sharing capability of the established link, the first MLD can, after determining that the link capability of at least one link to be established is compatible with the link sharing capability of the established link, interact with the second MLD through the first request frame and the first response frame to negotiate the establishment of at least one link to be established.

[0112] In another possible implementation, if the first MLD only needs to verify the compatibility of the operation requirements of at least one first subsidiary site with the link sharing operation, the first MLD can interact with the second MLD via the first request frame and the first response frame to negotiate the establishment of at least one proposed link after verifying that the operation requirements of at least one first subsidiary site associated with at least one proposed link are compatible with the link sharing operation.

[0113] In another possible implementation, if the first MLD needs to simultaneously verify the compatibility of the link capability of at least one proposed link with the link sharing capability of the established link, and the compatibility of the operation requirements of at least one first subsidiary site with the link sharing operation, the first MLD can also simultaneously verify the compatibility of the link capability of at least one proposed link with the link sharing capability, and after the at least one first subsidiary site is compatible with the link sharing operation, it interacts with the second MLD with the first request frame and the first response frame to negotiate the establishment of at least one proposed link.

[0114] The first MLD may send a first request frame to the second MLD to request the addition of at least one proposed link. Accordingly, after receiving the first request frame, the second MLD may respond to the first request frame, and the second MLD may determine whether to accept or reject the addition of the at least one proposed link based on the actual situation of the proposed link. The second MLD may accept all of the at least one proposed link, accept some of the at least one proposed link, or reject all of the proposed links, and the embodiments of the present application do not impose any restrictions on this.

[0115] Furthermore, the second MLD may feed back a first response frame to the first MLD, and inform the first MLD of the establishment result of each of the at least one link to be established requested by the first MLD through the first response frame.

[0116] To sum up, in an embodiment of the present application, based on the fact that the first MLD and the second MLD have established at least one established link, by performing compatibility verification on at least one newly requested link to be established, and establishing multiple links on at least one newly requested link after the compatibility verification of at least one newly requested link is passed, the problem of incompatibility after establishment can be avoided, and the smooth establishment of the new link can be achieved.

[0117] Optionally, based on step 410, with reference to FIG6 , the multi-link reconfiguration method provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include the following steps:

[0118] Step 430: If the link capability of at least one proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing capability and / or the operation requirement of at least one first affiliated station is incompatible with the link sharing operation, the first MLD determines not to send the first request frame to the second MLD.

[0119] It should be understood that when the first MLD determines that the link capability of at least one proposed link to be established is incompatible with the link sharing capability of the existing link, and / or the operation requirements of at least one first subsidiary site are incompatible with the link sharing operation of the existing link, the first MLD may determine not to perform multi-link establishment on the at least one proposed link, that is, the first MLD may not send a first request frame to the second MLD requesting to establish the at least one proposed link.

[0120] In one possible implementation, if the first MLD only needs to verify the compatibility of the link capability of at least one link to be established with the link sharing capability of the established link, the first MLD can determine not to send the first request frame to the second MLD after verifying that the link capability of at least one link to be established is incompatible with the link sharing capability of the established link.

[0121] In another possible implementation, if the first MLD only needs to verify the compatibility between the operation requirements of at least one first subsidiary site associated with at least one proposed link and the link sharing operation, the first MLD may determine not to send the first request frame to the second MLD after verifying that the operation requirements of the at least one first subsidiary site are incompatible with the link sharing operation.

[0122] In another possible implementation, if the first MLD needs to simultaneously verify the compatibility of the link capability of at least one link to be established with the link sharing capability of the established link, and the compatibility of the operation requirements of at least one first subsidiary site with the link sharing operation, the first MLD may determine not to send the first request frame to the second MLD when verifying that the link capability of at least one link to be established is incompatible with the link sharing capability, or that at least one first subsidiary site is incompatible with the link sharing operation; in addition, the first MLD may also determine not to send the first request frame to the second MLD when verifying that the link capability of at least one link to be established is incompatible with the link sharing capability, and that at least one first subsidiary site is incompatible with the link sharing operation.

[0123] It can be seen that in an embodiment of the present application, on the basis of at least one existing link established by the first MLD and the second MLD, the compatibility of at least one newly added link to be established is verified. If at least one proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing capability and / or link sharing operation of the currently established link, the first MDL may not establish multiple links for the at least one proposed link. In this way, the problem of incompatibility between the relevant capabilities and / or operations of the newly added link and the link sharing capability and / or link sharing operation of the established link during the multi-link reconfiguration process is avoided, thereby improving the multi-link reconfiguration mechanism.

[0124] Optionally, with reference to FIG7 , a multi-link reconfiguration method provided in an embodiment of the present application may include the following steps:

[0125] 440. If the first MLD does not determine whether the link capability of at least one proposed link is compatible with the link sharing capability and / or whether the operation requirement of at least one first affiliated site is compatible with the link sharing operation, the first MLD sends a first request frame to the second MLD and / or receives a first response frame sent by the second MLD.

[0126] Among them, the first request frame is used to request the addition of at least one proposed link in multi-link reconfiguration; the first request frame includes link capability information of at least one proposed link, and / or operation information of at least one first subsidiary site; the first response frame is used to indicate that the addition of the target proposed link fails when there is a target proposed link in at least one proposed link; wherein, the target proposed link is a proposed link in which the link capability and the link sharing capability in at least one proposed link are incompatible, and / or the operation requirements of at least one first subsidiary site are incompatible with the link sharing operation.

[0127] It can be understood that when adding at least one proposed link in the first MLD, the first MLD may not perform compatibility verification on the at least one proposed link requested to be established, but instead carry the link capability information of the at least one proposed link requested to be established and / or the operation information of the at least one first subsidiary site corresponding to the at least one proposed link in the first request frame and send it to the second MLD, so that the second MLD performs compatibility verification on the at least one proposed link based on the link capability information of the at least one proposed link carried in the first request frame and / or the operation information of the at least one first subsidiary site corresponding to the at least one proposed link.

[0128] Optionally, when the first MLD is unable to determine whether the link capability information of at least one proposed link requested to be established is compatible with the link sharing capability, and / or whether the operation information of at least one first subsidiary site corresponding to at least one proposed link is compatible with the link sharing operation, the first MLD may also carry the link capability information of at least one proposed link requested to be established and / or the operation information of at least one first subsidiary site corresponding to the at least one proposed link in the first request frame and send it to the second MLD, so that the second MLD performs compatibility verification on the at least one proposed link based on the link capability information of at least one proposed link carried in the first request frame and / or the operation information of at least one first subsidiary site corresponding to the at least one proposed link.

[0129] In the embodiment of the present application, the second MLD can determine, based on the information carried in the first request frame, whether the link capability of at least one proposed link is compatible with the link sharing capability, and / or whether the operation requirements of at least one first subsidiary site are compatible with the link sharing operation. The specific compatibility verification method is the same as that described in the above embodiment and is not further described here for the sake of brevity.

[0130] Furthermore, after completing the compatibility verification of at least one link to be established, the second MLD may determine whether to accept the at least one link to be established in combination with the compatibility verification result of each link to be established. Specifically, when the second MLD determines that the link capability of a link to be established is compatible with the link sharing capability of the established link, and / or the operation requirement of the first subsidiary site corresponding to the link to be established is compatible with the link sharing operation of the established link, the second MLD may continue to determine whether to accept the link to be established based on other factors, and perform multi-link establishment on the link to be established. When the second MLD determines that the link capability of a link to be established is incompatible with the link sharing capability of the established link, and / or the operation requirement of the first subsidiary site corresponding to the link to be established is incompatible with the link sharing operation of the established link, the second MLD may refuse to perform multi-link establishment on the link to be established, and the second MLD may indicate in the first response frame that the new addition of the link to be established has failed.

[0131] That is, the second MLD can directly reject proposed links whose link capabilities are incompatible with the link sharing capabilities and / or whose corresponding first subsidiary site's operational requirements are incompatible with the link sharing operation. However, proposed links whose link capabilities are compatible with the link sharing capabilities and / or whose corresponding first subsidiary site's operational requirements are compatible with the link sharing operation can be accepted or rejected, without limitation here.

[0132] Therefore, when the second MLD determines that there is a target link to be established whose link capability is incompatible with the link sharing capability in at least one of the proposed links, and / or the operation requirement of the corresponding first subsidiary site is incompatible with the link sharing operation, the target proposed link failure can be indicated in the first response frame.

[0133] It can be seen that in the embodiment of the present application, based on the fact that the first MLD and the second MLD have established at least one established link, the second MLD can perform compatibility verification on the at least one proposed link requested to be newly established in the first MLD based on the relevant information carried in the first request frame sent by the first MLD. If the at least one proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing capability and / or link sharing operation of the currently established link, the second MLD can refuse to establish at least one proposed link. In this way, the problem of incompatibility of the newly added links during the multi-link reconfiguration process is avoided, and the multi-link reconfiguration mechanism is improved.

[0134] Optionally, in step 420 and / or step 440, the first MLD sending the first request frame to the second MLD and / or receiving the first response frame sent by the second MLD may be implemented in one of the following ways:

[0135] Mode 1: The first MLD may send a first request frame and / or receive a first response frame through one of the at least one established links.

[0136] In mode 2, the first MLD may send the first request frame and / or receive the first response frame through one of the at least one link to be established.

[0137] That is, the first MLD can exchange the first request frame and / or the first response frame with the second MLD on the link to be established, and the first MLD can also exchange the first request frame and / or the first response frame with the second MLD on the established link. This embodiment of the application does not limit this.

[0138] Optionally, the link for sending the first request frame and the link for receiving the first request frame may be the same link or different links, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

[0139] The first request frame is described in detail below.

[0140] Optionally, the first request frame may include a first multilink element. The first multilink element may be a variant of a reconfiguration multilink element. In the embodiment of the present application, the first multilink element may also be referred to as a first newly added reconfiguration multilink element, which is used to add the at least one link to be established when the multilink establishment has been completed.

[0141] Optionally, the first multi-link element may include: a first general information field and / or a first link information field.

[0142] The first general information field is used to indicate information shared by at least one link to be established and at least one established link.

[0143] Optionally, the first general information field may include at least one of the following:

[0144] MLD MAC address information of the first MLD;

[0145] First general capability information; the first general capability information is used to indicate a capability shared by at least one established link and at least one proposed link;

[0146] First general operation information: The first general operation information is used to indicate an operation common to at least one established link and at least one link to be established.

[0147] It should be understood that the first general information of the first multilink element may include at least one of the MLD MAC address information of the first MLD, the first general capability information, and the first general operation information. It should be noted that the first general information may not include the link identification information subfield, the BSS parameter change count subfield, and the media synchronization delay information subfield.

[0148] Optionally, the first general capability information may include, but is not limited to, at least one of the following:

[0149] MLD capability of the first MLD;

[0150] EML capability of the first MLD;

[0151] RSN capabilities;

[0152] RSNE capabilities;

[0153] Expand RSNE capabilities;

[0154] RSN extended element capabilities.

[0155] Optionally, the first general operation information may include: an authentication and key management suite selector and / or a pairwise cipher suite shared by at least one established link and at least one link to be established.

[0156] In an embodiment of the present application, the first link information field can be used to indicate link information of at least one link to be established and / or link information of at least one first established link, where the at least one first established link is a link in the at least one established link that is associated with the at least one link to be established.

[0157] That is, the first link information field may indicate link information of at least one link to be established and / or link information of at least one established link associated with the at least one link to be established.

[0158] Optionally, the established link associated with at least one proposed link mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may also refer to an established link affected by at least one proposed link. If there is a link in at least one established link that is affected by at least one proposed link, then the first MLD needs to carry link information of other established links affected by at least one proposed link in addition to the link information of the at least one proposed link in the first link information field.

[0159] For example, nonsimultaneous transmit and receive (NSTR) operations of an existing link may be affected by a newly added link. If the NSTR operations of at least one existing link are affected by any link being requested to be established, the first MLD may carry link information of the established link whose NSTR operations are affected in the first link information field of the first multilink element and send the information to the second MLD via a first request frame carrying the first multilink element.

[0160] It should be understood that in an embodiment of the present application, by carrying link information of at least one proposed link and / or link information of an established link affected by the proposed link in the first link information field in the first multi-link element, the second MLD can be enabled to obtain the association relationship between at least one proposed link and at least one established link, thereby establishing multiple links based on the association relationship and improving the efficiency of multi-link reconfiguration.

[0161] Optionally, when the first multilink element includes the first link information field, the first link information field may include at least one link to be established, and / or site information of an affiliated site associated with each link in the first MLD in at least one first established link.

[0162] Optionally, the site information may be carried in a first per-STA profile subelement.

[0163] That is, the first link information field may include a first per-site configuration sub-element corresponding to at least one proposed link and / or a first per-site configuration sub-element corresponding to at least one existing link affected by the at least one proposed link. The first per-site configuration sub-element is used to describe site information corresponding to the proposed link and / or the existing link affected by the proposed link.

[0164] Optionally, each first per-site configuration sub-element includes but is not limited to at least one of the following:

[0165] A first sub-element identifier subfield, where the first sub-element identifier subfield is used to indicate a sub-element identifier of the first per-site configuration sub-element;

[0166] A first length subfield, where the first length subfield is used to indicate the length of the first per-site configuration sub-element;

[0167] a first site control subdomain, where the first site control subdomain is used to indicate site control information;

[0168] A first site information subfield, where the first site information subfield is used to indicate site information;

[0169] The first site configuration subfield is used to indicate site configuration information.

[0170] For each first per-site configuration sub-element of the first link information field, the complete profile subfield of the first site control subfield may be set to 1.

[0171] Optionally, the first site control subfield in the first per-site configuration sub-element may include a link identification subfield, and the link identification subfield may be used to indicate identification information of the affiliated site of the corresponding link in the second MLD.

[0172] That is to say, in an embodiment of the present application, for at least one proposed link and / or an established link affected by at least one proposed link, the link identification subfield in the first site control subfield of the first per-site configuration sub-element of each link can be set to the identification information of the affiliated site of the corresponding link in the second MLD.

[0173] For example, if the first MLD is a non-AP MLD and the second MLD is an AP MLD, when the non-AP MLD requests to establish a link with the AP MLD through a first request frame, the link identification subfield of the site control subfield in the first per-site configuration subelement of the link in the first request frame can be set to the identification information of the affiliated AP of the link in the AP MLD.

[0174] Optionally, for each of the at least one proposed link, the identification information of the subordinate station in the second MLD may be acquired in the node discovery phase or multi-link discovery phase of the second MLD, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0175] Optionally, the first request frame further includes a first sending site information field, where the first sending site information field is used to indicate site information of an affiliated site associated with the link that sends the first request frame in the first MLD.

[0176] It can be understood that since the first request frame can be sent on one of the proposed links of at least one link to be built, and can also be sent on one of the established links of at least one established link, the frame body of the first request frame can also include a first sending site information field, which indicates the site information of the subsidiary site associated with the link that sends the first request frame in the first MLD through the first sending site sub-information field.

[0177] That is, the first request frame may include a first sending site information field and a first multi-link element.

[0178] The following describes in detail the scenario of sending the first request frame using the proposed link.

[0179] In one embodiment of the present application, when the first request frame is sent through the first proposed link, the first proposed link is one of the at least one proposed links, and the first request frame may also include link capability information of the first proposed link, and / or operating parameters.

[0180] The link capability information is used to indicate the link capability, and the operation parameter is used to indicate the operation information of the corresponding subsidiary site.

[0181] It should be understood that when the first request frame is sent through one of the at least one proposed links (eg, the first proposed link), the first request frame may also indicate link capability information and / or operating parameters of the proposed link.

[0182] Optionally, the link capability information and / or operation information of the first link to be established is carried by at least one of the following:

[0183] a frame body of the first request frame;

[0184] The first link information field of the first multilink element in the first request frame.

[0185] It should be understood that the link capability information and / or operation information of the first proposed link that sends the first request frame can be directly carried in the frame body of the first request frame, or can be indicated by the first link information field of the first multilink element in the first request frame. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the manner in which the link capability information and / or operation information of the first proposed link is carried.

[0186] In one possible implementation, if the first MLD requests to establish only one proposed link and sends a first request frame on the proposed link, the first MLD may directly carry link capability information and / or operation information of the proposed link for which the first request frame is sent in the frame body of the first request frame. Accordingly, in this implementation, if there is no established link affected by the proposed link, the first multilink element in the first request frame may not include the first link information field, and the second MLD may directly obtain relevant information about the proposed link for which the first request frame is currently being sent from the first request frame.

[0187] In another possible implementation, when the first MLD requests to establish only one link to be established and sends a first request frame on the link to be established, the first MLD may also carry the link capability information and / or operation information of the link to be established for which the first request frame is sent in the first link information field of the first multilink element in the first request frame. That is, in this implementation, the first multilink element in the first request frame may include a first general information field and a first link information field, wherein the first general information field indicates the shared information of the link to be established for which the first request frame is currently being sent and at least one currently established link, and the first link information field indicates the relevant information of the link to be established for which the first request frame is currently being sent.

[0188] In another possible implementation, when the number of requests to establish at least one proposed link includes multiple links, and the first MLD sends a first request frame on one of the multiple proposed links (for example, the first proposed link), the link capability information and / or operating parameters of the first proposed link for which the first request frame is sent may be carried by the frame body of the first request frame. In addition, the first multi-link element may include a first general information field and a first link information field. The link capability information and / or operating parameters of other proposed links (for example, one or more second proposed links) in the multiple proposed links requested to be established other than the first proposed link may be carried by the first link information field. Specifically, the first link information field may include a first per-site configuration sub-element for each second proposed link; the second proposed link is a link in at least one proposed link other than the first proposed link; and the link capability information and / or operating parameters of each second proposed link are carried by the first per-site configuration sub-element for each second proposed link.

[0189] Accordingly, in an embodiment of the present application, the RSNE of the first link to be established for sending the first request frame may be carried in the frame body of the first request frame. If there are other links to be established, the RSNEs of the other links to be established may be in the first per-site configuration sub-element of each link to be established in the first link information field. The RSNE of the first link to be established for sending the first request frame may also be carried in the first link information field. If there are other links to be established, the RSNEs of the other links to be established may be carried in the first per-site configuration sub-element of each link to be established in the first link information field.

[0190] In an embodiment of the present application, the first request frame sent on the proposed link may be a new link association request frame, which is used to request the addition of the first proposed link and / or the second proposed link to which the first request frame is sent when multiple links have been established.

[0191] The following describes in detail the scenario of sending the first request frame using an established link.

[0192] In another embodiment of the present application, when the first request frame is sent via one of the at least one established links, the first multi-link element may include a first general information field and a first link information field. The link capability information and / or operating parameters of each of the at least one proposed link are carried by the first per-site configuration sub-element of each proposed link in the first link information field.

[0193] It should be understood that when the first request frame is sent using an established link, the link capability information and / or operating parameters of each of the at least one proposed link to be established are carried in the first link information field of the first multilink element. More specifically, they are carried in the first per-site configuration sub-element of the corresponding link in the first link information field.

[0194] In an embodiment of the present application, the first request frame sent on the established link may be a new link request frame, which is different from the new link association request frame in the above embodiment. The new link request frame here is used to request to add at least one link to be established when multiple links have been established.

[0195] Optionally, in the embodiment of the present application, the link capability information of each proposed link in the at least one proposed link requested to be established may include at least one of the following:

[0196] RSN capability, RSNE capability, extended RSNE capability, and RSN extended element capability.

[0197] It should be understood that the link capability information of each link to be established may be the same or different.

[0198] Optionally, link capability information of different links to be established in at least one link to be established is the same as common capability information of at least one established link, and / or operating parameters of different links to be established are the same as common operating information of at least one established link.

[0199] It should be understood that the link capability information corresponding to each proposed link carried in the first request frame can be the same as the common capability information of at least one established link, and the operating parameters corresponding to each proposed link can also be the same as the common operating information of at least one established link.

[0200] In summary, when the link capability information corresponding to each proposed link carried in the first request frame is the same as the common capability information of at least one established link, the first MLD can use this capability information as general capability information and carry it through the first general information in the first multi-link element. The first MLD can also carry the link capability information of each proposed link in the frame body and / or the first link information field of the first request frame in the manner described in the above embodiment, and this embodiment of the present application does not impose any restrictions on this.

[0201] Optionally, the first request frame may also include the RSNE corresponding to each link to be established, and / or the RSN extended element corresponding to each link to be established, wherein each RSNE may include at least part of the link capability information and / or operating parameters of the corresponding link to be established, and each RSN extended element may include at least part of the link capability information and / or operating parameters of the corresponding link to be established.

[0202] It should be understood that in an embodiment of the present application, when the first request frame is sent through one of the proposed links (for example, the first proposed link) of at least one proposed link, the RSNE and / or RSN extension elements of the first proposed link can be carried in the frame body of the first request frame, and the RSNE and / or RSN extension elements for other proposed links (for example, one or more second proposed links) can be carried through the first per-site configuration sub-element of each second proposed link.

[0203] In addition, when the first request frame is sent through one of the at least one established links, the first per-site configuration sub-element of the first link information field of the first multi-link element in the first request frame may include RSNE and / or RSN extension elements, and the link capability information and / or operating parameters of the RSNE of each proposed link are indicated through the RSNE and / or RSN extension elements of each proposed link.

[0204] It should be noted that, in the case where the first MLD has not determined whether the link capability of at least one proposed link is compatible with the link sharing capability, and / or whether the operation requirements of at least one first subsidiary site are compatible with the link sharing operation, the first MLD needs to carry the link capability information and / or operation parameters of each proposed link in the first request frame sent, so that the second MLD can perform compatibility verification based on the link capability information and / or operation parameters of each proposed link.

[0205] In an embodiment of the present application, when the first MLD has successfully completed multi-link establishment with the second MLD, if the first MLD still has unassociated subsidiary sites, and the first MLD discovers that the second MLD has subsidiary sites that are not associated with it (it can also be understood that the first MLD has not established a link corresponding to the subsidiary site with the second MLD), the first MLD can send a first request frame to the second MLD, and perform a new multi-link reconfiguration with the second MLD to request the establishment of one or more proposed links.

[0206] In the embodiment of the present application, the first request frame may be a request frame body defined in the current IEEE 802.11 specification, wherein the rules for adding a new reconfiguration multilink element to the frame body may include:

[0207] If the first MLD supports multilink operation (e.g., dot11MultiLinkActivated is true), and the first MLD and the second MLD have completed multilink establishment, the first request frame includes a first multilink element (i.e., a first newly added reconfigured multilink element);

[0208] If the first MLD supports multi-link operation (for example, dot11MultiLinkActivated is true), and the first MLD and the second MLD have not completed multi-link establishment, the first request frame includes a basic multi-link element.

[0209] In the case that the first MLD does not support the multilink operation (for example, dot11MultiLinkActivated is false), the first request frame does not include a first multilink element and a basic multilink element.

[0210]

[0211] Table 2

[0212] It is understandable that, when the first MLD has successfully completed multi-link setup with the second MLD, that is, after the first MLD is associated with the second MLD, if the first MLD still has an unassociated subsidiary site and the first MLD discovers that the second MLD has an unassociated subsidiary site (that is, the first MLD has not yet established a link corresponding to the subsidiary site of the second MLD with the second MLD), then the first MLD can use a new link association request frame to initiate link reconfiguration with the second MLD on the proposed link that was not successfully established and requested to be established to request the establishment of one or more proposed links. The first MLD can use a new request frame to initiate link reconfiguration with the second MLD on the established link that has been successfully established to request the establishment of one or more proposed links.

[0213] The first request frame may include a new link association request frame or a new request frame. The new link association request frame may be sent on the proposed link requested to be established, and the frame body of the new link association request frame may carry the site information of the proposed link in the first MLD for sending the new link association request frame. The first new reconfiguration multi-link element carried by the new link association request frame includes a first general information field and / or a first link information field. The first general information field includes general information of the established link and the proposed link. The first link information field may include 0 or one or more first per-STA profile subelement corresponding to the proposed link and / or the first per-STA profile subelement of other established links affected by the proposed link, wherein the first per-STA profile subelement is used to describe the site information corresponding to the proposed link or other established links affected by the proposed link.

[0214] In addition, a new request frame can be sent on an established link, and the first new reconfiguration multi-link element carried by the new request frame includes a first general information field and a first link information field. Among them, the first general information field includes general information of the established link and the proposed link. The first link information field may include one or more first per-STA profile subelement corresponding to the proposed link and / or the first per-STA profile subelement of other established links affected by the proposed link, wherein the first per-STA profile subelement is used to describe the site information corresponding to the proposed link or other established links affected by the proposed link.

[0215] The first response frame is described in detail below.

[0216] Optionally, the first response frame includes a second multilink element. The second multilink element may be a variant of a reconfiguration multilink element. In the embodiment of the application, the first multilink element may also be referred to as a second newly added reconfiguration multilink element. The second newly added reconfiguration multilink element is used to add at least one link to be established when the multilink establishment has been completed.

[0217] Optionally, the second multi-link element may include: a second general information field, and / or a second link information field.

[0218] The second general information field is used to indicate information shared by at least one link to be established and at least one established link.

[0219] Optionally, the second general information field includes at least one of the following:

[0220] MLD MAC address information of the second MLD;

[0221] Second general capability information; the second general capability information is used to indicate a capability shared by at least one established link and at least one proposed link;

[0222] Second general operation information; the second general operation information is used to indicate an operation common to at least one established link and at least one link to be established;

[0223] BBS parameter change count subfield: The BBS parameter change count subfield is used to count the critical updates of BSS parameters;

[0224] Link identification information, where the link identification information is used to indicate the link identification of the link that sends the first response frame.

[0225] Optionally, the second general capability information may include but is not limited to at least one of the following:

[0226] an MLD capability of the second MLD;

[0227] the EML capability of the second MLD;

[0228] RSN capabilities;

[0229] RSNE capabilities;

[0230] Expand RSNE capabilities;

[0231] RSN extended element capabilities.

[0232] Optionally, the first general operation information may include: an authentication and key management suite selector and / or a pairwise cipher suite shared by at least one established link and at least one link to be established.

[0233] In an embodiment of the present application, the second link information field can be used to indicate link information of at least one link to be established and / or link information of at least one first established link, where the first established link is a link in the at least one established link that is associated with the at least one link to be established.

[0234] That is, the second link information field may indicate link information of at least one link to be established, and / or link information of at least one established link associated with the at least one link to be established.

[0235] Optionally, the established link associated with at least one proposed link mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may also refer to an established link affected by at least one proposed link. For example, the first established link may be an established link whose NSTR-related operations are affected by the newly added link.

[0236] Optionally, the second link information field includes site information of an affiliated site associated with each link in the second MLD for at least one link to be established and / or at least one first established link.

[0237] Optionally, the above site information may be carried in a second per-site configuration sub-element.

[0238] That is, the second link information field may include a second per-site configuration sub-element corresponding to at least one proposed link and / or a second per-site configuration sub-element corresponding to at least one existing link affected by the at least one proposed link. The second per-site configuration sub-element is used to describe site information corresponding to the proposed link and / or the existing link affected by the proposed link.

[0239] Optionally, the second per-site configuration sub-element includes but is not limited to at least one of the following:

[0240] A second sub-element identifier subfield, where the second sub-element identifier subfield is used to indicate a sub-element identifier of the second per-site configuration sub-element;

[0241] A second length subfield, where the second length subfield is used to indicate the length of the second per-site configuration sub-element;

[0242] a second site control subdomain, where the second site control subdomain is used to indicate site control information;

[0243] A second site information subfield, where the second site information subfield is used to indicate site information;

[0244] The second site configuration subfield is used to indicate site configuration information.

[0245] For each second per-site configuration sub-element of the second link information field, the complete profile subfield of the second site control subfield may be set to 1.

[0246] Optionally, the first response frame further includes a second sending site information field, where the second sending site information field is used to indicate site information of an affiliated site associated with the link sending the first response frame in the second MLD.

[0247] It should be understood that since the first response frame can be sent on one of the proposed links of at least one link to be established, or can be sent on one of the established links of at least one established link, the frame body of the first response frame can also include a second sending site information field, which indicates the site information of the subsidiary site associated with the link that sends the first response frame in the second MLD through the second sending site sub-information field.

[0248] That is, the first response frame may include the second sending site information field and the second multilink element.

[0249] The following describes in detail the scenario of sending the first response frame using the proposed link.

[0250] Optionally, when the first response frame is transmitted through the third proposed link, the third proposed link is one of the at least one proposed links, and the first response frame may further include a status code field, which is used to indicate the establishment result of the third proposed link.

[0251] That is, when the first response frame is transmitted through one of the at least one proposed links (for example, the third proposed link), the first response frame may further include a status code field of the third proposed link.

[0252] Optionally, when the third proposed link is accepted by the second MLD, the status code field is used to indicate that the third proposed link is added successfully; when the third proposed link is rejected by the second MLD, the status code field is used to indicate that the third proposed link fails to be added and / or the reason for the failure.

[0253] It is understandable that the first MLD can determine whether the link to be established for sending the first response frame is added successfully based on the status code field. If the addition fails, the cause of the failure can also be determined based on the indication content of the status code field.

[0254] Optionally, in the case where the first MLD has not determined whether the link capability of at least one proposed link is compatible with the link sharing capability, and / or whether the operation requirement of at least one first subsidiary site is compatible with the link sharing operation, if the second MLD determines that the link capability of the third proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing capability, and / or the operation requirement of the first subsidiary site corresponding to the third proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing operation, then the reason for the failure of the third proposed link is indicated through the status code field as: the link capability of the third proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing capability, and / or the operation requirement of the first subsidiary site corresponding to the third proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing operation.

[0255] It can be understood that, in the case where the first MLD has not determined whether the link capability of at least one proposed link is compatible with the link sharing capability, and / or whether the operation requirements of at least one first subsidiary site are compatible with the link sharing operation, the second MLD can verify the compatibility of the third proposed link. If the link capability of the third proposed link is compatible with the link sharing capability, and / or the operation requirements of the first subsidiary site corresponding to the third proposed link are compatible with the link sharing requirements, the second MLD can continue to determine whether to accept the proposed link based on other factors, and set the value of the above-mentioned status code field according to the determination result.

[0256] If the link capability of the third proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing capability, and / or the operation requirements of the first subsidiary site corresponding to the third proposed link are incompatible with the link sharing requirements, the second MLD may directly refuse to add the third proposed link, and indicate through the above-mentioned status code field that the addition of the third proposed link failed and / or the reason for the failure is that the link capability of the third proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing capability, and / or the operation requirements of the first subsidiary site corresponding to the third proposed link are incompatible with the link sharing operation.

[0257] Optionally, referring to Table 3, for the case where the first MLD has not determined whether the link capability of at least one proposed link is compatible with the link sharing capability, and / or whether the operation requirements of at least one first subsidiary site are compatible with the link sharing operation, when the second MLD determines that the link capability of the third proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing capability, and / or the operation requirements of the first subsidiary site corresponding to the third proposed link are incompatible with the link sharing operation, the second MLD may set the status code field of the third proposed link to "132" to indicate that the reason for the failure to add the third proposed link is "incompatible with the existing link."

[0258] Correspondingly, after the first MLD receives the first response frame, when it parses the status code field of the first response frame body to obtain the value "132", it can be determined that the third proposed link for transmitting the first response frame has failed to be added, and the reason for the failure is "incompatibility with the existing link".

[0259]

[0260] Table 3

[0261] It should be noted that the value "132" of the above status code is only an exemplary description. Other status code values ​​that can indicate "association failure or new link failure due to incompatibility with existing links" are all within the scope of protection of this application.

[0262] Optionally, the status code field of the third link to be established is carried by at least one of the following:

[0263] A frame body of the first response frame;

[0264] The second link information field of the second multilink element.

[0265] It should be understood that the status code field of the third proposed link for transmitting the first response frame can be carried through the frame body of the first response frame, or can be carried through the second link information field of the second multi-link element, and this embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0266] In one possible implementation, if the first MLD requests establishment of only one proposed link and the second MLD transmits a first response frame on the proposed link, the second MLD may directly carry the status code of the proposed link for which the first response frame is sent within the frame body of the first request frame. Accordingly, in this implementation, the second multilink element in the first response frame may not include the second link information field.

[0267] In another possible implementation, when the first MLD requests to establish only one proposed link and the second MLD transmits a first response frame on the proposed link, the second MLD may also carry the status code field of the proposed link for which the first response frame is sent via the second link information field of the second multilink element in the first response frame. That is, in this implementation, the second multilink element in the first response frame may include a second general information field and a second link information field. Thus, the second general information field indicates shared information between the proposed link for which the first response frame is currently being transmitted and at least one currently established link, and the second link information field indicates the establishment result of the proposed link for which the first response frame is currently being transmitted.

[0268] In another possible implementation, when the number of proposed links requested to be established by the first MLD includes multiple links, and the second MLD transmits the first response frame only on one of the multiple proposed links (for example, the third proposed link), the second MLD can carry the status code of the third proposed link for sending the first response frame directly through the frame body of the first request frame. In addition, the second multi-link element includes a second general information field and a second link information field; for the establishment results of other proposed links (for example, one or more fourth proposed links) in the multiple proposed links except the third proposed link, they can be carried through the second link information field. Specifically, the second link information includes a second per-site configuration sub-element for each fourth proposed link, and the second per-site configuration sub-element for each fourth proposed link also includes a status code sub-field for each fourth proposed link; the status code sub-field for each fourth proposed link is used to indicate the establishment result of the corresponding fourth proposed link.

[0269] The status code subfield of the fourth proposed link accepted by the second MLD is used to indicate that the newly added link is successful;

[0270] In addition, the status code subfield of the fourth proposed link rejected by the second MLD is used to indicate the failure of the newly added link and / or the reason for the failure.

[0271] It should be noted that, when the number of proposed links requested to be established by the first MLD includes multiple links, and the second MLD only transmits the first response frame on one of the multiple proposed links (for example, the third proposed link), if the second MLD refuses to establish the third proposed link to transmit the first response frame, the new link reconfiguration fails, and the other proposed links do not perform multi-link establishment, that is, no new links are established.

[0272] That is to say, the second MLD can give priority to determining whether to accept the establishment of the third proposed link that sends the first response frame. If it is determined to accept the establishment of the third proposed link, the second MLD can continue to determine whether to accept the establishment of other proposed links (for example, one or more fourth proposed links). If it is determined to reject the establishment of the third proposed link, the second MLD may not continue to judge the other proposed links, and directly set the status code subfield of the other proposed links to failure to add a new link, and / or the reason for the failure is failure to add a new link to the third proposed link. In this way, the computational complexity of the device is reduced.

[0273] Optionally, as shown in reference Table 4, after the second MLD determines to reject the establishment of the third proposed link, the second MLD may no longer continue to judge the establishment of the fourth proposed link, and directly set the status code subfield of each fourth proposed link to "131" to indicate that the reason for the failure of each fourth proposed link to be added is "due to the failure of link establishment due to sending a new link association request frame / new link association response frame."

[0274]

[0275] Table 4

[0276] It should be noted that the value "131" of the above status code is only an exemplary description. Other status code values ​​that can indicate "failure to establish a link due to sending a new link association request frame / new link association response frame, resulting in association failure or link establishment failure" are all within the scope of protection of this application.

[0277] Optionally, when the link capability of the third proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing capability, and / or the operation requirements of the first subsidiary site corresponding to the third proposed link are incompatible with the link sharing operation, the status code subfield of each fourth proposed link is used to indicate the failure of the new link, and / or the status code subfield of each fourth proposed link indicates that the cause of the failure is the failure to establish the third proposed link.

[0278] That is to say, in the case where the first MLD has not determined whether the link capability of at least one proposed link is compatible with the link sharing capability, and / or whether the operation requirement of at least one first subsidiary site is compatible with the link sharing operation, the second MLD can verify the compatibility of the third proposed link. If the link capability of the third proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing capability, and / or the operation requirement of the first subsidiary site corresponding to the third proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing requirement, the second MLD can directly refuse to add the third proposed link, set the status code field of the third proposed link to addition failure, and indicate that the third proposed link failed to be added and / or the reason for the failure is that the link capability of the third proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing capability. Furthermore, the second MLD can also set the status code subfield of each proposed link in other proposed links (for example, one or more fourth proposed links) to addition failure, and can also indicate that the reason for the failure of each proposed link is the failure to establish the third proposed link.

[0279] Optionally, in combination with the contents shown in Table 3 and Table 4, if the first MLD has not determined whether the link capability of at least one proposed link is compatible with the link sharing capability and / or whether the operation requirement of at least one first subsidiary site is compatible with the link sharing operation, when the second MLD determines that the link capability of the third proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing capability and / or the operation requirement of the first subsidiary site corresponding to the third proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing operation, the second MLD may set the status code field of the third link to "132" to indicate that the reason for the failure to add the third proposed link is "incompatibility with the existing link". Furthermore, the second MLD may set the status code subfield of each fourth proposed link to "131" to indicate that the reason for the failure to add each fourth proposed link is "failure to link establishment due to sending a new link association request frame / new link association response frame".

[0280] It should be noted that, in the case where the first MLD has not determined whether the link capability of at least one proposed link is compatible with the link sharing capability, and / or whether the operation requirements of at least one first subsidiary site are compatible with the link sharing operation, in addition to the failure of the third link establishment due to incompatibility between the third proposed link and the existing link, when the failure of the third proposed link establishment is due to other reasons, the second MLD may also set the status code subfield of each fourth proposed link to "131" to indicate that the reason for the new failure of each fourth proposed link is "failure to establish the link due to sending a new link association request frame / new link association response frame".

[0281] Accordingly, after receiving the first response frame, if the first MLD parses the status code field in the frame body of the first response frame and finds a value of "132," it can determine that the third proposed link to be established for transmitting the first response frame has failed, and the reason for the failure is incompatibility with the existing link. In addition, if the first MLD parses the status code subfield of the second per-site configuration subelement of a fourth proposed link and finds a value of "131," it can determine that the reason for the failure to establish the fourth proposed link is "failure to establish the link by sending a new link association request frame / new link association response frame."

[0282] In addition, if the link capability of the third proposed link is compatible with the link sharing capability, and / or the operation requirement of the first subsidiary site corresponding to the third proposed link is compatible with the link sharing operation, and the second MLD determines to accept the establishment of the third proposed link, the second MLD may determine the compatibility of other proposed links (e.g., one or more fourth proposed links). Furthermore, when the second MLD determines that the link capability of a fourth proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing capability, and / or the operation requirement of the first subsidiary site corresponding to the fourth proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing requirement, as shown in FIG3 , the second MLD may set the status code subfield of the fourth proposed link to "132" to indicate that the reason for the failure to add the fourth proposed link is "incompatibility with the existing link."

[0283] In the embodiment of the present application, the first response frame transmitted on the proposed link may be a new link association response frame, and the new link association response frame may be used for at least one of the following:

[0284] In the case where multiple links have been established, adding or rejecting a third link to be established for transmitting the first response frame;

[0285] In the case that multiple links have been established, the fourth link to be established is added or rejected.

[0286] It should be noted that the link over which the first MLD sends the first request frame is the same as the link over which the second MLD sends the first response frame. That is, in the embodiment of the present application, the first proposed link and the third proposed link can be the same link.

[0287] The following describes in detail the scenario of sending the first response frame using an established link.

[0288] In an embodiment of the present application, when the link for transmitting the first response frame is one of the at least one established links, the second multilink element may include a second general information field and the second link information field;

[0289] The establishment result of each proposed link in the at least one proposed link is indicated by the status code subfield of the second per-site configuration sub-element of each proposed link in the second link information field;

[0290] For a proposed link accepted by the second MLD, the status code subfield indicates that the link was added successfully.

[0291] For a proposed link rejected by the second MLD, its status code subfield is used to indicate the failure of the newly added link and / or the reason for the failure.

[0292] It should be understood that when the first response frame is transmitted using an established link, the establishment result of each of the at least one proposed link can be indicated by the status code subfield of the second per-site configuration subelement of each proposed link in the second link information field.

[0293] Optionally, in an embodiment of the present application, for the case where the first MLD has not determined whether the link capability of at least one proposed link is compatible with the link sharing capability, and / or whether the operation requirements of at least one first subsidiary site are compatible with the link sharing operation, if the link capability of a proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing capability, and / or the operation requirements of the corresponding first subsidiary site are incompatible with the link sharing operation, then its status code subfield can be used to indicate that the newly added link has failed, and / or the reason for the failure is that the link capability is incompatible with the link sharing capability, and / or the operation requirements of the first subsidiary site are incompatible with the link sharing operation.

[0294] That is to say, in an embodiment of the present application, the second MLD can perform compatibility verification on each proposed link separately. When the link capability of a proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing capability, and / or the operation requirements of the first subsidiary site corresponding to the proposed link are incompatible with the link sharing operation, the second MLD can indicate in the status code subfield of the second per-site configuration sub-element of the proposed link that the new link has failed, and the reason for the failure is that the link capability is incompatible with the link sharing capability, and / or the operation requirements of the first subsidiary site are incompatible with the link sharing operation.

[0295] Optionally, referring to Table 3, in the case where the first MLD has not determined whether the link capability of at least one proposed link is compatible with the link sharing capability, and / or whether the operation requirement of at least one first subsidiary site is compatible with the link sharing operation, when the second MLD determines that the link capability of a proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing capability, and / or the operation requirement of the first subsidiary site corresponding to the proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing operation, the second MLD may set the status subcode field of the proposed link to "132" to indicate the reason for the failure to add the proposed link.

[0296] Correspondingly, after the first MLD receives the first response frame, when the value of the status code field of the second per-site configuration sub-element of a proposed link is parsed as "132", it can be determined that the proposed link has failed to be added, and the reason for the failure is "incompatibility with the existing link".

[0297] In an embodiment of the present application, the first response frame transmitted on the established link may be a new response frame, which is different from the new link association response frame in the above embodiment. The new response frame here is used to add or reject at least one proposed link when multiple links have been established.

[0298] It should be noted that the link that sends the first request frame and the link that receives the first response frame are the same link. That is, when the link that sends the first request frame is the proposed link, the link that transmits the first response frame is still the proposed link; when the link that sends the first request frame is an established link, the link that transmits the first response frame is still the established link. To further illustrate, the newly added link association request frame interacting on the proposed link corresponds to the newly added link association response frame, and the newly added request frame interacting on the established link corresponds to the newly added response frame.

[0299] In the embodiment of the present application, the first response frame may be a frame body (Request frame body) of a response frame defined in the current IEEE 802.11 specification, wherein the rules for adding a new reconfiguration multilink element to the frame body may include:

[0300] If the second MLD supports multilink operation (e.g., dot11MultiLinkActivated is true), and the second MLD has completed multilink establishment with the first MLD, the first response frame includes a second multilink element (i.e., a second newly added reconfigured multilink element);

[0301] If the second MLD supports multi-link operation (for example, dot11MultiLinkActivated is true), and the second MLD has not completed multi-link establishment with the first MLD, the first response frame includes a Basic Multi-Link element.

[0302] In the case that the second MLD does not support the multi-link operation (for example, dot11MultiLinkActivated is false), the first response frame does not include the second multi-link element and the basic multi-link element.

[0303]

[0304] Table 5

[0305] It can be understood that the first response frame can be sent by an affiliated site (e.g., an affiliated AP) of the second MLD to reply to the first request frame to indicate acceptance or rejection of at least one proposed link requested to be established by the first MLD. The first response frame may include a newly added link association response frame or a newly added response frame. The newly added link association response frame may be sent on the proposed link requested to be established, and the frame body of the newly added link association response frame may carry the site information of the proposed link of the second MLD that sends the newly added link association response frame. The second newly added reconfigured multi-link element carried by the newly added link association response frame includes a second general information field and / or a second link information field. The second general information field includes general information of the established link and the proposed link. The second link information field may include 0 or one or more second per-STA profile subelement corresponding to the proposed link and / or second per-STA profile subelement of other established links affected by the proposed link, wherein the second per-STA configuration subelement is used to describe the site information corresponding to the proposed link or other established links affected by the proposed link.

[0306] In addition, the newly added response frame can be sent on the established link, and the second newly added reconfiguration multi-link element carried by the newly added response frame includes a second general information field and a second link information field. The second general information field includes general information of the established link and the proposed link. The second link information field may include one or more second per-STA profile subelement corresponding to the proposed link and / or a second per-STA profile subelement of other established links affected by the proposed link, wherein the second per-STA profile subelement is used to describe the site information corresponding to the proposed link or other established links affected by the proposed link.

[0307] The following is a detailed description of the authentication process.

[0308] In the embodiment of the present application, after the interaction of the first request frame and the first response frame, the first MLD and the second MLD can establish at least one newly added link. The at least one newly added link can be part of or all of the at least one link to be established, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

[0309] Optionally, after adding at least one new link, the multi-link reconfiguration method provided in an embodiment of the present application may further include the following steps:

[0310] The first MLD and the second MLD perform security authentication on the at least one newly added link and the at least one established link, or perform security authentication on the at least one newly added link.

[0311] The security authentication may be a Robust Security Network Association (RSNA) authentication.

[0312] In one possible implementation, when the first MLD is in a first state, the first MLD and the second MLD perform security authentication on at least one newly added link and the at least one established link, and the first state indicates that at least some of the at least one established link have not completed security authentication.

[0313] It is understandable that if the first MLD is already associated with the second MLD, but at least some of the at least one established link have not completed RSNA authentication, the first MLD and the second MLD can perform RSNA authentication for all newly added links and all affiliated sites associated with the established links after the newly added links are established.

[0314] The process in which the first MLD and the second MLD perform RSNA authentication on all newly added links and all affiliated sites associated with established links after the newly added links are established may be a traditional four-way handshake process.

[0315] In another possible implementation, when the first MLD is in the second state, the first MLD and the second MLD perform security authentication on the at least one newly added link, and the second state indicates that security authentication has been completed for the at least one established link.

[0316] It is understandable that, if the first MLD is associated with the second MLD and RSNA authentication has been completed for at least one established link, the first MLD and the second MLD may perform RSNA authentication for the newly added link after the newly added link is established.

[0317] Optionally, a first portion of transmission parameters used by at least one newly created link is the same as a first portion of parameters used by the at least one established link, and / or a second portion of parameters used by the at least one newly created link is newly established.

[0318] Optionally, the first part of parameters may include but is not limited to at least one of the following: a pairwise transient key (PTK) and an association identifier (AID).

[0319] Optionally, the second part of parameters may include but is not limited to at least one of the following: a multicast transient key (GTK), an inter-multicast transient key (IGTK), and a beacon integrity multicast transient key (BIGTK).

[0320] That is, at least one existing link and at least one newly added link will continue to use existing MLD-level operational and management parameters (e.g., PTK, AID, etc.) that are not affected by the newly added link operation. Additionally, newly added link-specific operational and management parameters (e.g., GTK / IGTK / BIGTK) may be regenerated. It should be noted that MLD-level operational and management parameters (e.g., the maximum number of concurrent links field) that are affected by the newly added link operation may also be updated.

[0321] Optionally, the first MLD and the second MLD perform security authentication on at least one newly added link, including:

[0322] The first MLD and the second MLD exchange handshake messages, and the exchange of handshake messages is used to generate a second part of transmission parameters for the at least one newly created link.

[0323] It can be understood that the newly added link successfully established between the first MLD and the second MLD can continue to use the first part of the parameters formed by the link successfully established before the newly added link, and the second part of the parameters used for each newly added link of at least one new link can be generated between the first MLD and the second MLD through the interaction of handshake messages.

[0324] Optionally, the first MLD and the second MLD may complete RSNA authentication through a four-way handshake message to generate the second part of transmission parameters for at least one newly created link. The four-way handshake message interaction may include the following steps:

[0325] The first MLD receives a first handshake message sent by the second MLD, where the first handshake message is used to confirm whether the at least one newly added link uses the first part of transmission parameters;

[0326] The first MLD sends a second handshake message to the second MLD, where the second handshake message is used to synchronize or confirm the first part of transmission parameters used by the at least one newly added link;

[0327] The first MLD receives a third handshake message sent by the second MLD, where the third handshake message is used to indicate a second part of transmission parameters used by each of the at least one newly added link;

[0328] The first MLD sends a fourth handshake message to the second MLD, where the fourth handshake message is used to confirm successful establishment of the second part of transmission parameters used for each newly added link.

[0329] It should be noted that the four-way handshake protocol in the embodiment of the present application is different from the traditional four-way handshake protocol. The four-way handshake protocol in the embodiment of the present application can be called the four-way handshake protocol for adding a link. Specifically, the four-way handshake protocol for adding a link is used to confirm and synchronize the first part of the transmission parameters of the new link and to generate the second part of the transmission parameters used by each new link.

[0330] The newly added four-way handshake protocol updates the parameters and application rules carried by EAPOL-Key frames defined in the current IEEE 802.11 specification.

[0331] Among them, the first handshake message (Message 1) and the second handshake message (Message 2) in the four-way handshake protocol for the newly added link are used to confirm and synchronize the first part of the parameters used by the newly added link (different from the part of the parameters generated in the four-way handshake protocol for transmission), and the third handshake message (Message 3) and the fourth handshake message (Message 4) are used to generate the second part of the transmission parameters used by each of the newly added links.

[0332] Optionally, the first handshake message (Message 1) and the second handshake message (Message 2) may not include a random number used to generate the first part of the transmission parameters.

[0333] Exemplarily, the parameters in Message 1 in the four-way handshake protocol of the newly added link may include: EAPOL-Key (0,0,1,0,P,0,0,ANonce or 0,0,{}or{PMKID}or{MAC Address}).

[0334] As can be seen, the value of ANonce in Message 1 can be 0, which means that Message 1 does not need to include the random number ANonce used to generate the first part of the transmission parameters. In addition, the parameters in Message 2 of the newly added link four-way handshake protocol can include:

[0335] EAPOL-Key(0,1,0,0,P,0,0,SNonce or 0,MIC,{RSNE}or{RSNE,OCI KDE}or{RSNE,RSNXE}or{RSNE,OCI KDE,RSNXE}or{RSNE,MAC Address}or{RSNE,RSNXE,MAC Address}or{RSNE,OCI KDE,RSNXE,MAC Address}or{RSNE,MAC Address,MLO Linkn}or{RSNE,RSNXE,MAC Address,MLO Linkn}or{RSNE,OCI KDE,RSNXE,MAC Address,MLO Linkn}).

[0336] It can be seen that the value of SNonce in Message 2 can be 0, that is, Message 2 can not include the random number SNonce used to generate the first part of the transmission parameters.

[0337] Optionally, the second handshake message (Message 2) includes link information of each newly added link in the at least one newly added link. Exemplarily, the parameter MLO Linkn in the above Message 2 may refer to the link information of the newly added link.

[0338] Optionally, the third handshake message (Message 3) may include at least one of the following:

[0339] link information of each newly added link in the at least one newly added link;

[0340] GTK of each newly added link;

[0341] The IGTK of each newly added link;

[0342] The BIGTK of each newly added link.

[0343] For example, the parameters in Message 3 of the newly added link four-way handshake protocol may include:

[0344] EAPOL-Key(1,1,1,1,P,0,KeyRSC,ANonce,MIC,{RSNE,GTK[N]}or{RSNE,GTK[N],OCI KDE}or{RSNE,GTK[N],RSNXE}or{RSNE,GTK[N],OCI KDE,RSNXE}or{MAC Address,MLO Linkn,MLO GTKn,MLO IGTKn,MLO BIGTKn}or{OCI KDE,MAC Address,MLO Linkn,MLO GTKn,MLO IGTKn,MLO BIGTKn}).

[0345] The parameter MLO Linkn in Message 3 may refer to the link information of the newly added link, and MLO GTKn, MLO IGTKn, and MLO BIGTKn respectively refer to the GTK / IGTK / BIGTK of the newly added link.

[0346] Exemplarily, the parameters in Message 4 in the newly added link four-way handshake protocol may include: EAPOL-Key (1,1,0,0,P,0,0,0,MIC,{}or{MAC Address}).

[0347] In one embodiment of the present application, a multicast key handshake protocol may be used to generate the second part of transmission parameters for each newly added link through two multicast handshake messages. The handshake message exchange between the first MLD and the second MLD includes:

[0348] The first MLD receives a first multicast handshake message sent by the second MLD, where the first multicast handshake message is used to indicate a second part of transmission parameters used by each of the at least one newly added link;

[0349] The first MLD sends a second multicast handshake message to the second MLD, where the second multicast handshake message is used to confirm successful establishment of the second part of transmission parameters used for each newly added link.

[0350] Optionally, in the embodiment of the present application, at least one link to be established and at least one established link use different non-overlapping channels, different links to be established use different non-overlapping channels, and different established links use different non-overlapping channels.

[0351] It is understood that the first MLD needs to ensure that different non-overlapping channels are used between at least one link being requested to be established, and between at least one link being requested to be established and at least one existing link. Furthermore, the second MLD needs to ensure that different non-overlapping channels are used between newly received links being requested to be established, and between newly established links and already established links.

[0352] It should be noted that the first MLD in the embodiment of the present application may be a non-AP MLD, and the second MLD may be an AP MLD, or the first MLD in the embodiment of the present application is a non-AP MLD, and the second MLD is also a non-AP MLD, that is, a peer MLD.

[0353] The multi-link reconfiguration method provided by the embodiment of the present application is described below with reference to specific application scenarios, wherein the first MLD may be a non-AP MLD, and the second MLD may be an AP MLD.

[0354] In the scenario where the non-AP MLD is associated with the AP MLD and a new link is reconfigured, the non-AP MLD initiates one or more link establishment and authentication with the AP MLD. The process shown in FIG8 can be used for implementation.

[0355] As shown in Figure 8 , when the non-AP MLD initiates the establishment and authentication of one or more proposed links with the AP MLD, the non-AP MLD can first determine whether the non-AP MLD has successfully established multiple links with the AP MLD (or whether the non-AP MLD is associated with the AP MLD) and then determine the link establishment and authentication process based on the determination result.

[0356] In some embodiments, if the determination result is "the non-AP MLD is not associated with the AP MLD (or the non-AP MLD has failed to successfully establish multiple links with the AP MLD)," the non-AP MLD may perform IEEE STD 802.11 authentication with the AP MLD. After successful authentication, the non-AP MLD may establish multiple links with the AP MLD. RSNA authentication may then be performed on the multiple successfully established links. RSNA authentication may be performed using the traditional four-way handshake protocol. State 1 for the non-AP MLD indicates that the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD have not yet performed IEEE STD 802.11 authentication, while state 2 for the non-AP MLD indicates that the on-AP MLD and the AP MLD have completed IEEE STD 802.11 authentication. State 3 for the non-AP MLD (corresponding to the first state in the above embodiment) indicates that the on-AP MLD is associated with the AP MLD, and at least some of the at least one established link have not completed security authentication. The non-AP MLD state 4 (corresponding to the second state in the above embodiment) means that the on-AP MLD is associated with the AP MLD, and at least one established link has completed security authentication. That is, the established links all use the same PTK, and each established link uses its own GTK / IGTK / BIGTK.

[0357] In other embodiments, if the determination result is "the non-AP MLD has been associated with the AP MLD (or the non-AP MLD has successfully established multiple links with the AP MLD)," the non-AP MLD may perform compatibility verification on one or more proposed links. The proposed links are links to be established that are requested in the non-AP MLD.

[0358] Optionally, the non-AP MLD performs compatibility verification on the proposed link, which may be that the non-AP MLD determines whether the link capability of the proposed link is compatible with the link sharing capability of at least one established link in the non-AP MLD, and / or whether the operation of the affiliated STA corresponding to the proposed link is compatible with the link sharing operation of the established link.

[0359] For example, the non-AP MLD can determine whether the attached STA of the proposed link supports the AKM suite selector and pairwise cipher suite shared by the currently established link. If the attached STA of the proposed link supports the AKM suite selector and pairwise cipher suite shared by the currently established link, the compatibility verification of the proposed link can be considered successful.

[0360] After the non-AP MLD successfully verifies the compatibility of the proposed links, it can establish multiple links with the AP MLD for one or more proposed links. In one method, the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD can establish one or more proposed links by exchanging new multilink association request frames and new multilink association response frames on one of the proposed links. In another method, the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD can establish one or more proposed links by exchanging new request frames and new response frames on an existing link.

[0361] Furthermore, if the non-AP MLD is in state 3 when the establishment of a new link is started, the non-AP MLD and AP MLD perform RSNA authentication for all subordinate sites associated with the established links after the establishment of the new link is completed; if the non-AP MLD is in state 4 when the establishment of a new link is started, the non-AP MLD and AP MLD perform RSNA authentication for the subordinate sites associated with the newly established links.

[0362] It should be noted that when non-AP MLD and AP MLD perform RSNA authentication for an attached site associated with a newly established link, the newly established link between the non-AP MLD and AP MLD must continue to use the multi-link common parameters or keys, such as the PTK, generated by the RSNA authentication completed by the non-AP MLD before the new link was established. At the same time, each newly established link uses its own GTK / IGTK / BIGTK. For RSNA authentication of the attached site associated with the newly established non-AP MLD link, the 4-way handshake protocol for the newly established link can be used to confirm and synchronize the PTK for the newly established link and to generate the GTK / IGTK / BIGTK for each newly established link. Alternatively, the group key handshake protocol for the newly established link can be executed to generate the GTK / IGTK / BIGTK for each newly established link.

[0363] In another application scenario, as shown in Figure 9 , the non-AP MLD may include three subordinate stations: non-AP STA1, non-AP STA2, and non-AP STA3. Alternatively, the AP MLD may also include three subordinate stations: AP1, AP2, and AP3. The non-AP MLD and the AP MLD have successfully established multi-links, establishing Link 1 between non-AP STA1 and AP1 and Link 2 between non-AP STA2 and AP2. Non-AP STA1 is associated with AP1, and non-AP STA2 is associated with AP2. However, no link has been established between non-AP STA3 and AP3, meaning that non-AP STA3 is not associated with AP3.

[0364] When performing a new link establishment and authentication process for a subordinate station (non-AP STA3) in a non-AP MLD network that has not yet established a link, compatibility verification of the non-AP STA3's link capabilities and operational requirements is required. Specifically, the compatibility verification is performed to confirm whether the non-AP STA3 supports the link sharing capabilities and / or link sharing operations of the existing links (Link 1 and Link 2) between the non-AP MLD and AP MLD. For example, the verification is performed to verify whether the non-AP STA3 supports the authentication and key management suite selector (AKM suite selector) and pairwise cipher suite (Pairwise Cipher Suite) shared by the existing links.

[0365] When it is confirmed that non-AP STA3 supports the link sharing capability and / or link sharing operation of the established links (link 1 and link 2) between the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD, the non-AP MLD can establish multiple links with the AP MLD for the proposed new link based on the new link establishment method of the associated MLD.

[0366] As shown in Figure 10, the non-AP MLD can send a new link association request frame to AP3 on the proposed link. The transmission address field of the new link association request frame can be set to the MAC address of non-AP STA3, and the receiving address field can be set to the MAC address of AP3. The new link association request frame contains a new multi-link reconfiguration element, which indicates the MLD MAC address of the non-AP MLD. The frame body of the new link association request frame also contains the complete information of non-AP STA 3. In this way, the new link association request frame requests the establishment of a new link between non-AP STA 3 and AP3.

[0367] Accordingly, AP MLD responds to the New Link Association Request frame, and AP3 sends a New Link Association Response frame to non-AP STA3. The New Link Association Response frame's Transmit Address field is set to AP3's MAC address, the Receive Address field is set to non-AP STA3's MAC address, and indicates the successful establishment of a link (Link 3) between non-AP STA 3 and AP3. The New Link Association Response frame includes a New Multi-Link Reconfiguration element, which indicates AP MLD's MLD MAC address. The New Link Association Response frame's frame body also contains complete information about AP3. After non-AP MLD and AP MLD successfully complete the New Multi-Link Reconfiguration, a link (Link 3) is successfully established between non-AP STA3 and AP3.

[0368] Furthermore, non-AP MLD and AP MLD can perform RSNA authentication on the newly added link 3. Authentication can be performed in one of the following two ways.

[0369] Method 1: As shown in Figure 11, after link 3 is successfully established, the non-AP MLD can perform RSNA authentication on the attached station (non-AP STA3) corresponding to link 3. Specifically, the four-way handshake protocol (4-way handshake) of the newly added link is executed through link 3. Messages 1 and 2 of the four-way handshake confirm and synchronize the PTK of link 3, and Messages 3 and 4 generate the GTK / IGTK / BIGTK of link 3.

[0370] Method 2: As shown in Figure 12, after link 3 is established, it uses the PTK of the existing links between the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD (links 1 and 2) to encrypt and decrypt unicast frames. Furthermore, the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD exchange multicast key handshake messages over link 3, establishing the GTK / IGTK / BIGTK for link 3 through Group Key Handshake Messages 1 and 2.

[0371] FIG13 is a schematic diagram of the first structure of a multi-link reconfiguration apparatus provided in an embodiment of the present application, which is applied to a first MLD. As shown in FIG13 , the multi-link reconfiguration apparatus 1300 includes:

[0372] The first determining unit 1301 is configured to, when the first multi-link device MLD and the second MLD have completed multi-link establishment and established at least one established link, determine whether the link capability of at least one link to be established is compatible with the link sharing capability, and / or whether the operation requirement of at least one first subordinate station is compatible with the link sharing operation;

[0373] The at least one first subsidiary site is a subsidiary site associated with at least one link to be established in the first MLD; the link sharing capability refers to the capability shared by the at least one established link, and the link sharing operation refers to the operation shared by the at least one established link.

[0374] Optionally, the link sharing capability includes at least one of the following:

[0375] At least one robust security network RSN capability shared by the established links;

[0376] At least one Robust Security Network Element (RSNE) capability shared by all established links;

[0377] Extended RSNE capability shared by at least one established link;

[0378] At least one RSN extension element capability shared by all established links.

[0379] Optionally, the link sharing operation is indicated by at least one of the following:

[0380] an authentication and key management suite selector common to at least one established link;

[0381] A pairwise cipher suite that is common to at least one established link.

[0382] Optionally, the first determining unit 1301 is further configured to determine whether the at least one link to be established supports the link sharing capability and / or whether the at least one affiliated site supports the link sharing operation.

[0383] Optionally, the multi-link reconfiguration apparatus 1200 further includes a first transceiver unit, wherein the first transceiver unit is configured to receive site information of at least one second subsidiary site; the site information of the at least one second subsidiary site is used to indicate the link capability of the at least one link to be established and / or the operation requirement of the at least one first subsidiary site;

[0384] The at least one second subordinate station includes a newly added subordinate station in the second MLD and / or a subordinate station in the second MLD that has no link established with the first MLD.

[0385] Optionally, the site information of the at least one second affiliated site is carried via a beacon frame or a probe response frame.

[0386] Optionally, the first transceiver unit is further configured to send a first request frame to the second MLD when the link capability of the at least one proposed link is compatible with the link sharing capability, and / or the operation requirements of the at least one first subsidiary site are compatible with the link sharing operation; and / or receive a first response frame sent by the second MLD; wherein the first request frame is used to request the addition of the at least one proposed link in the multi-link reconfiguration, and the first response frame is used to add the at least one proposed link in the multi-link reconfiguration.

[0387] Optionally, the first determination unit 1301 is further configured to, when the link capability of the at least one proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing capability, and / or the operation requirement of the at least one first subsidiary site is incompatible with the link sharing operation, the first MLD determines not to send the first request frame to the second MLD.

[0388] Optionally, the first transceiver unit is further configured to send a first request frame to the second MLD and / or receive a first response frame sent by the second MLD when the first MLD has not determined whether the link capability of the at least one proposed link is compatible with the link sharing capability, and / or whether the operation requirements of the at least one first subsidiary site are compatible with the link sharing operation; wherein the first request frame is used to request the addition of the at least one proposed link in the multi-link reconfiguration; the first request frame includes the link capability information of the at least one proposed link, and / or the operation information of the at least one first subsidiary site; the first response frame is used to indicate that the addition of the target proposed link fails when there is a target proposed link in the at least one proposed link; wherein the target proposed link is a proposed link whose link capability in the at least one proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing capability, and / or the operation requirements of the at least one first subsidiary site are incompatible with the link sharing operation.

[0389] Optionally, the first transceiver unit is further configured to do at least one of the following:

[0390] Sending the first request frame through one of the at least one established link, and / or receiving the first response frame;

[0391] The first request frame is sent through one of the at least one proposed link, and / or a first response frame is received.

[0392] Optionally, the first request frame includes a first multilink element, and the first multilink element includes:

[0393] A first general information field, the first general information field is used to indicate information common to the at least one proposed link and the at least one established link; and / or a first link information field, the first link information field is used to indicate link information of the at least one proposed link and / or link information of at least one first established link, the at least one first established link being a link in the at least one established link that is associated with the at least one proposed link.

[0394] Optionally, the first general information field includes at least one of the following:

[0395] MLD MAC address information of the first MLD;

[0396] First general capability information; the first general capability information is used to indicate a capability shared by the at least one established link and the at least one proposed link;

[0397] First general operation information: The first general operation information is used to indicate an operation common to the at least one established link and the at least one link to be established.

[0398] Optionally, the first general capability information includes at least one of the following:

[0399] an MLD capability of the first MLD;

[0400] the EML capability of the first MLD;

[0401] RSN capabilities;

[0402] RSNE capabilities;

[0403] Expand RSNE capabilities;

[0404] RSN extended element capabilities.

[0405] Optionally, the first link information field includes the at least one link to be established, and / or site information of an affiliated site associated with each link in the at least one first established link in the first MLD.

[0406] Optionally, the site information is carried in a first per-site configuration sub-element; the first per-site configuration sub-element includes at least one of the following:

[0407] A first sub-element identifier subfield, where the first sub-element identifier subfield is used to indicate a sub-element identifier of the first per-site configuration sub-element;

[0408] A first length subfield, where the first length subfield is used to indicate the length of the first per-site configuration sub-element;

[0409] a first site control subdomain, where the first site control subdomain is used to indicate site control information;

[0410] A first site information subfield, where the first site information subfield is used to indicate site information;

[0411] The first site configuration subfield is used to indicate site configuration information.

[0412] Optionally, the first site control subfield includes a link identification subfield, and the link identification subfield is used to indicate identification information of the affiliated site of the corresponding link in the second MLD.

[0413] Optionally, the first request frame further includes a first sending site information field, where the first sending site information field is used to indicate site information of an affiliated site associated with the link sending the first request frame in the first MLD.

[0414] Optionally, when the first request frame is sent through a first proposed link, the first proposed link is one of the at least one proposed link, and the first request frame further includes link capability information and / or operating parameters of the first proposed link;

[0415] The link capability information is used to indicate link capability, and the operation parameter is used to indicate operation information of the corresponding subsidiary site.

[0416] Optionally, the link capability information and / or operation information of the first proposed link is carried by at least one of the following:

[0417] a frame body of the first request frame;

[0418] The first link information field of the first multi-link element.

[0419] Optionally, when the number of the at least one link to be established includes multiple, the first multi-link element includes the first general information field and the first link information field;

[0420] The first link information field includes a first per-site configuration sub-element of each second proposed link;

[0421] The second proposed link is a link in the at least one proposed link other than the first proposed link;

[0422] The link capability information and / or operation parameters of each of the second proposed links are carried by the first per-site configuration sub-element of each of the second proposed links.

[0423] Optionally, the first request frame is a new link association request frame, and the new link association request frame is used to request the addition of a first link to be established and / or a second link to be established to send the first request frame when multiple links have been established.

[0424] Optionally, when the first request frame is sent through one of the at least one established links, the first multi-link element includes the first general information field and the first link information field; the link capability information and / or operation parameters of each proposed link in the at least one proposed link are carried by the first per-site configuration sub-element of each proposed link in the first link information field.

[0425] Optionally, the first request frame is a new request frame, and the new request frame is used to request to add the at least one link to be established when multiple links have been established.

[0426] Optionally, the link capability information of each proposed link in the at least one proposed link includes at least one of the following:

[0427] RSN capabilities;

[0428] RSNE capabilities;

[0429] Expand RSNE capabilities;

[0430] RSN extended element capabilities.

[0431] Optionally, among the at least one proposed link, the link capability information of different proposed links is the same as the common capability information of the at least one established link, and / or the operating parameters of different proposed links are the same as the common operating information of the at least one established link.

[0432] Optionally, the first request frame also includes: a robust security network element corresponding to each of the at least one proposed link and / or a robust security network extension element corresponding to each proposed link; wherein each of the robust security network elements includes at least part of the capability information and / or operating parameters of the corresponding proposed link, and each of the robust security network extension elements includes at least part of the capability information and / or operating parameters of the corresponding proposed link.

[0433] Optionally, when the first MLD supports multi-link operation and the first MLD and the second MLD have completed multi-link establishment, the first request frame includes the first multi-link element;

[0434] In a case where the first MLD supports multi-link operation and the first MLD and the second MLD have not completed multi-link establishment, the first request frame includes a basic multi-link element;

[0435] In a case where the first MLD does not support the multi-link operation, the first request frame does not include the first multi-link element and the basic multi-link element.

[0436] Optionally, the first multi-link element is a first newly added reconfiguration multi-link element, and the first newly added reconfiguration multi-link element is used to add the at least one link to be established when the multi-link establishment has been completed.

[0437] Optionally, the first response frame includes a second multilink element, wherein the second multilink element includes:

[0438] a second general information field, where the second general information field is used to indicate information common to the at least one link to be established and the at least one established link;

[0439] and / or,

[0440] The second link information field is used to indicate link information of at least one link to be established and / or link information of at least one first established link, where the first established link is a link in the at least one established link that is associated with the at least one link to be established.

[0441] Optionally, the second general information field includes at least one of the following:

[0442] MLD MAC address information of the second MLD;

[0443] Second general capability information; the second general capability information is used to indicate a capability shared by the at least one established link and the at least one proposed link;

[0444] Second general operation information; the second general operation information is used to indicate an operation common to the at least one established link and the at least one link to be established;

[0445] BBS parameter change count subfield, the BBS parameter change count subfield is used to count key updates of BSS parameters;

[0446] Link identification information, where the link identification information is used to indicate a link identification of a link that sends the first response frame.

[0447] Optionally, the second general capability information includes at least one of the following:

[0448] an MLD capability of the second MLD;

[0449] the EML capability of the second MLD;

[0450] RSN capabilities;

[0451] RSNE capabilities;

[0452] Expand RSNE capabilities;

[0453] RSN extended element capabilities.

[0454] Optionally, the second link information field includes the at least one proposed link, and / or the site information of the affiliated site associated with each link in the at least one first established link in the second MLD, and the first established link is the link in the at least one established link associated with the at least one proposed link.

[0455] Optionally, the site information is carried in a second per-site configuration sub-element; the second per-site configuration sub-element includes at least one of the following:

[0456] A second sub-element identifier subfield, where the second sub-element identifier subfield is used to indicate a sub-element identifier of the second per-site configuration sub-element;

[0457] A second length subfield, where the second length subfield is used to indicate the length of the second per-site configuration sub-element;

[0458] a second site control subdomain, where the second site control subdomain is used to indicate site control information;

[0459] A second site information subfield, where the second site information subfield is used to indicate site information;

[0460] The second site configuration subfield is used to indicate site configuration information.

[0461] Optionally, the first response frame further includes a second sending site information field, where the second sending site information field is used to indicate site information of an affiliated site associated with the link that sends the first response frame in the second MLD.

[0462] Optionally, when the first response frame is transmitted through the third proposed link, the third proposed link is one of the at least one proposed link, and the first response frame also includes a status code field, which is used to indicate the establishment result of the third proposed link.

[0463] Optionally, when the third proposed link is accepted by the second MLD, the status code field is used to indicate that the third proposed link is added successfully;

[0464] In a case where the third proposed link is rejected by the second MLD, the status code field is used to indicate failure of the third proposed link to be added and / or the reason for the failure.

[0465] Optionally, when the link capability of the third proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing capability, and / or the operation requirement of the first subsidiary site corresponding to the third proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing operation, the status code field indicates that the reason for the failure of the third proposed link is: the link capability of the third proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing capability, and / or the operation requirement of the first subsidiary site corresponding to the third proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing operation.

[0466] Optionally, the status code field of the third link to be established is carried by at least one of the following:

[0467] a frame body of the first response frame;

[0468] The second link information field of the second multi-link element.

[0469] Optionally, in a case where the number of the at least one link to be established is multiple, the second multi-link element includes the second general information field and the second link information field;

[0470] The second link information includes a second per-site configuration sub-element of each fourth proposed link; the fourth proposed link is a proposed link in the at least one proposed link except the third proposed link;

[0471] The second per-site configuration sub-element of each fourth link to be established further includes a status code sub-field of each fourth link to be established; the status code sub-field of each fourth link to be established is used to indicate an establishment result of the corresponding fourth link to be established.

[0472] Optionally, the status code subfield of the fourth proposed link accepted by the second MLD is used to indicate that the newly added link is successful;

[0473] The status code subfield of the fourth proposed link rejected by the second MLD is used to indicate failure of the newly added link and / or the reason for the failure.

[0474] Optionally, when the link capability of the third link to be established is incompatible with the link sharing capability, and / or the operation requirement of the first subsidiary site corresponding to the third link to be established is incompatible with the link sharing operation,

[0475] The status code subfield of each fourth link to be established is used to indicate that the newly added link has failed, and / or the status code subfield of each fourth link to be established indicates that the cause of the failure is the failure to establish the third link to be established.

[0476] Optionally, the first response frame is a newly added link association response frame, and the newly added link association response frame is used for at least one of the following:

[0477] adding or rejecting a third proposed link for transmitting the first response frame in multi-link reconfiguration;

[0478] The fourth proposed link is added or rejected in the multi-link reconfiguration.

[0479] Optionally, in a case where the link for transmitting the first response frame is one of the at least one established link, the second multilink element includes the second general information field and the second link information field;

[0480] The establishment result of each proposed link in the at least one proposed link is indicated by the status code subfield of the second per-site configuration sub-element of each proposed link in the second link information field;

[0481] For the proposed link accepted by the second MLD, the status code subfield is used to indicate that the link is added successfully;

[0482] For the proposed link rejected by the second MLD, the status code subfield is used to indicate the failure of the newly added link and / or the reason for the failure.

[0483] Optionally, for a proposed link whose link capability is incompatible with the link sharing capability, and / or whose operation requirements of the corresponding first subsidiary site are incompatible with the link sharing operation, its status code subfield is used to indicate that the newly added link has failed, and / or the reason for the failure is: the link capability is incompatible with the link sharing capability, and / or the operation requirements of the first subsidiary site are incompatible with the link sharing operation.

[0484] Optionally, the first response frame is a new response frame, and the new response frame is used to add or reject the at least one link to be established when multiple links have been established.

[0485] Optionally, when the second MLD supports multi-link operation and the second MLD has completed multi-link establishment with the first MLD, the first response frame includes the second multi-link element;

[0486] In a case where the second MLD supports multi-link operation and the second MLD and the first MLD have not completed multi-link establishment, the first response frame includes a basic multi-link element;

[0487] In a case where the second MLD does not support the multi-link operation, the first response frame does not include the second multi-link element and the basic multi-link element.

[0488] Optionally, the second multi-link element is a second newly added reconfiguration multi-link element, and the second newly added reconfiguration multi-link element is used to add the at least one link to be established when the multi-link establishment has been completed.

[0489] Optionally, the link for sending the first request frame and the link for receiving the first response frame are the same link.

[0490] Optionally, the multi-link reconfiguration device 1200 also includes a first security authentication unit, which is configured to, after adding at least one new link, perform security authentication on the at least one newly added link and the at least one established link with the second MLD, or perform security authentication on the at least one newly added link, where the at least one new link is a link successfully established among the at least one proposed link, and the at least one new link is a partial link or all links among the at least one link to be established.

[0491] Optionally, the first security authentication unit is further configured to perform security authentication on the at least one newly added link and the at least one established link together with the second MLD when the first MLD is in a first state, and the first state indicates that at least some of the at least one established link have not completed security authentication.

[0492] Optionally, the first security authentication unit is further configured to, when the first MLD is in a second state, have the first MLD and the second MLD perform security authentication on the at least one newly added link, and the second state indicates that security authentication has been completed for the at least one established link.

[0493] Optionally, a first part of transmission parameters used by the at least one newly created link is the same as a first part of parameters used by the at least one established link, and / or a second part of parameters used by the at least one newly created link is newly established.

[0494] Optionally, the first part of parameters includes at least one of the following: a pairwise transient key PTK, and an association identifier AID.

[0495] Optionally, the second part of parameters includes at least one of the following: a multicast transient key GTK, an integrity multicast key IGTK, and a beacon integrity multicast transient key BIGTK.

[0496] Optionally, the first security authentication unit is further configured to exchange handshake messages with the second MLD, where the exchange of handshake messages is used to generate a second part of transmission parameters for the at least one newly created link.

[0497] Optionally, the first transceiver unit is further configured to receive a first handshake message sent by the second MLD, the first handshake message being used to confirm whether the at least one newly added link uses the first part of the transmission parameters; send a second handshake message to the second MLD, the second handshake message being used to synchronize or confirm the first part of the transmission parameters used by the at least one newly added link; receive a third handshake message sent by the second MLD, the third handshake message being used to indicate the second part of the transmission parameters used by each of the at least one newly added link; and send a fourth handshake message to the second MLD, the fourth handshake message being used to confirm the successful establishment of the second part of the transmission parameters used by each of the newly added links.

[0498] Optionally, the first handshake message and the second handshake message do not include a random number used to generate the first part of the transmission parameters.

[0499] Optionally, the second handshake message includes link information of each newly added link in the at least one newly added link.

[0500] Optionally, the third handshake message includes at least one of the following:

[0501] link information of each newly added link in the at least one newly added link;

[0502] The multicast temporary key GTK of each newly added link;

[0503] The integrity multicast key IGTK of each newly added link;

[0504] The beacon integrity multicast temporary key BIGTK of each newly added link.

[0505] Optionally, the handshake message includes two multicast handshake messages, and the first transceiver unit is further configured to receive a first multicast handshake message sent by the second MLD, where the first multicast handshake message is used to indicate the second part of the transmission parameters used by each new link in the at least one new link; and send a second multicast handshake message to the second MLD, where the second multicast handshake message is used to confirm the successful establishment of the second part of the transmission parameters used by each new link.

[0506] Optionally, the at least one link to be established and the at least one established link use different non-overlapping channels, different links to be established use different non-overlapping channels, and different established links use different non-overlapping channels.

[0507] Optionally, the first MLD is a non-AP MLD;

[0508] The second MLD is a non-AP MLD or an access point AP MLD.

[0509] Those skilled in the art should understand that the description related to the multi-link reconfiguration apparatus 1300 in the embodiment of the present application can be understood with reference to the description related to the multi-link reconfiguration method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0510] FIG14 is a second schematic diagram of the structure of a multi-link reconfiguration apparatus provided in an embodiment of the present application, which is applied to a second MLD. As shown in FIG14 , the multi-link reconfiguration apparatus 1400 includes:

[0511] The second transceiver unit 1401 is configured to receive a first request frame sent by the first MLD and / or a first response frame sent by the second MLD to the first MLD; wherein the first request frame is used to request the addition of at least one proposed link in the multi-link reconfiguration, and the first response frame is used to add the at least one proposed link in the multi-link reconfiguration.

[0512] Optionally, the first request frame includes link capability information of the at least one proposed link and / or operation information of the at least one first subsidiary site; the at least one first subsidiary site is a subsidiary site associated with the at least one proposed link in the first MLD.

[0513] Optionally, the second MLD determines whether the link capability of at least one proposed link is compatible with the link sharing capability, and / or whether the operation requirements of at least one first subsidiary site are compatible with the link sharing operation; the link capability of the at least one proposed link is determined by the link capability information of the at least one proposed link, and / or the operation requirements of the at least one first subsidiary site are determined by the operation information of the at least one first subsidiary site.

[0514] Optionally, the link sharing capability includes at least one of the following:

[0515] Robust Security Network (RSN) capabilities common to the at least one established link;

[0516] Robust Security Network Element (RSNE) capability common to the at least one established link;

[0517] an extended RSNE capability shared by the at least one established link;

[0518] The RSN extended element capability is shared by the at least one established link.

[0519] Optionally, the link sharing operation is indicated by at least one of the following:

[0520] an authentication and key management suite selector common to the at least one established link;

[0521] A pairwise cipher suite shared by the at least one established link.

[0522] Optionally, the first response frame is used to indicate that the target proposed link fails to be added when there is a target proposed link in the at least one proposed link; wherein, the target proposed link is a proposed link whose link capability is incompatible with the link sharing capability in the at least one proposed link, and / or the operation requirement of the at least one first subsidiary site is incompatible with the link sharing operation.

[0523] Optionally, the second transceiver unit 1401 is further configured to send site information of at least one second affiliated site to the first MLD; the site information of the at least one second affiliated site is used to indicate the link capability of the at least one proposed link and / or the operation requirement of the at least one first affiliated site;

[0524] The at least one second subordinate site includes a newly added subordinate site in the second MLD and / or a subordinate site in the second MLD that has no link established with the first MLD.

[0525] Optionally, the site information of the at least one second affiliated site is carried via a beacon frame or a probe response frame.

[0526] Optionally, the second transceiver unit 1401 is further configured to receive the first request frame through one of the at least one established links, and / or send the first response frame; receive the first request frame through one of the at least one proposed links, and / or send the first response frame.

[0527] Optionally, the first request frame includes a first multilink element, and the first multilink element includes:

[0528] A first general information field, where the first general information field is used to indicate information common to the at least one link to be established and the at least one established link;

[0529] and / or,

[0530] The first link information field is used to indicate the link information of the at least one link to be established and / or the link information of the at least one first established link, and the at least one first established link is a link in the at least one established link that is associated with the at least one link to be established.

[0531] Optionally, the first general information field includes at least one of the following:

[0532] MLD MAC address information of the first MLD;

[0533] First general capability information; the first general capability information is used to indicate a capability shared by the at least one established link and the at least one proposed link;

[0534] First general operation information: The first general operation information is used to indicate an operation common to the at least one established link and the at least one link to be established.

[0535] Optionally, the first general capability information includes at least one of the following:

[0536] an MLD capability of the first MLD;

[0537] the EML capability of the first MLD;

[0538] RSN capabilities;

[0539] RSNE capabilities;

[0540] Expand RSNE capabilities;

[0541] RSN extended element capabilities.

[0542] Optionally, the first link information field includes the at least one link to be established, and / or site information of an affiliated site associated with each link in the at least one first established link in the first MLD.

[0543] Optionally, the site information is carried in a first per-site configuration sub-element; the first per-site configuration sub-element includes at least one of the following:

[0544] A first sub-element identifier subfield, where the first sub-element identifier subfield is used to indicate a sub-element identifier of the first per-site configuration sub-element;

[0545] A first length subfield, where the first length subfield is used to indicate the length of the first per-site configuration sub-element;

[0546] a first site control subdomain, where the first site control subdomain is used to indicate site control information;

[0547] A first site information subfield, where the first site information subfield is used to indicate site information;

[0548] The first site configuration subfield is used to indicate site configuration information.

[0549] Optionally, the first site control subfield includes a link identification subfield, and the link identification subfield is used to indicate identification information of the affiliated site of the corresponding link in the second MLD.

[0550] Optionally, the first request frame further includes a first sending site information field, where the first sending site information field is used to indicate site information of an affiliated site associated with the link sending the first request frame in the first MLD.

[0551] Optionally, when the first request frame is sent through a first proposed link, the first proposed link is one of the at least one proposed link, and the first request frame further includes link capability information and / or operating parameters of the first proposed link;

[0552] The link capability information is used to indicate link capability, and the operation parameter is used to indicate operation information of the corresponding subsidiary site.

[0553] Optionally, the link capability information and / or operation information of the first proposed link is carried by at least one of the following:

[0554] a frame body of the first request frame;

[0555] The first link information field of the first multi-link element.

[0556] Optionally, when the number of the at least one link to be established includes multiple, the first multi-link element includes the first general information field and the first link information field;

[0557] The first link information field includes a first per-site configuration sub-element of each second proposed link;

[0558] The second proposed link is a link in the at least one proposed link other than the first proposed link;

[0559] The link capability information and / or operation parameters of each of the second proposed links are carried by the first per-site configuration sub-element of each of the second proposed links.

[0560] Optionally, the first request frame is a new link association request frame, and the new link association request frame is used to request the addition of a first link to be established and / or a second link to be established to send the first request frame when multiple links have been established.

[0561] Optionally, when the first request frame is sent through one of the at least one established link,

[0562] The first multi-link element includes the first general information field and the first link information field; the link capability information and / or operation parameters of each proposed link in the at least one proposed link are carried by the first per-site configuration sub-element of each proposed link in the first link information field.

[0563] Optionally, the first request frame is a new request frame, and the new request frame is used to request to add the at least one link to be established when multiple links have been established.

[0564] Optionally, the link capability information of each proposed link in the at least one proposed link includes at least one of the following:

[0565] RSN capabilities;

[0566] RSNE capabilities;

[0567] Expand RSNE capabilities;

[0568] RSN extended element capabilities.

[0569] Optionally, among the at least one proposed link, the link capability information of different proposed links is the same as the common capability information of the at least one established link, and / or the operating parameters of different proposed links are the same as the common operating information of the at least one established link.

[0570] Optionally, the first request frame also includes: a robust security network element corresponding to each of the at least one proposed link and / or a robust security network extension element corresponding to each proposed link; wherein each of the robust security network elements includes at least part of the capability information and / or operating parameters of the corresponding proposed link, and each of the robust security network extension elements includes at least part of the capability information and / or operating parameters of the corresponding proposed link.

[0571] Optionally, when the first MLD supports multi-link operation and the first MLD and the second MLD have completed multi-link establishment, the first request frame includes the first multi-link element;

[0572] In a case where the first MLD supports multi-link operation and the first MLD and the second MLD have not completed multi-link establishment, the first request frame includes a basic multi-link element;

[0573] In a case where the first MLD does not support the multi-link operation, the first request frame does not include the first multi-link element and the basic multi-link element.

[0574] Optionally, the first multi-link element is a first newly added reconfiguration multi-link element, and the first newly added reconfiguration multi-link element is used to add the at least one link to be established when the multi-link establishment has been completed.

[0575] Optionally, the first response frame includes a second multilink element, wherein the second multilink element includes:

[0576] a second general information field, where the second general information field is used to indicate information common to the at least one link to be established and the at least one established link;

[0577] and / or,

[0578] The second link information field is used to indicate link information of at least one link to be established and / or link information of at least one first established link, where the first established link is a link in the at least one established link that is associated with the at least one link to be established.

[0579] Optionally, the second general information field includes at least one of the following:

[0580] MLD MAC address information of the second MLD;

[0581] Second general capability information; the second general capability information is used to indicate a capability shared by the at least one established link and the at least one proposed link;

[0582] Second general operation information; the second general operation information is used to indicate an operation common to the at least one established link and the at least one link to be established;

[0583] BBS parameter change count subfield, the BBS parameter change count subfield is used to count key updates of BSS parameters;

[0584] Link identification information, where the link identification information is used to indicate a link identification of a link that sends the first response frame.

[0585] Optionally, the second general capability information includes at least one of the following:

[0586] an MLD capability of the second MLD;

[0587] the EML capability of the second MLD;

[0588] RSN capabilities;

[0589] RSNE capabilities;

[0590] Expand RSNE capabilities;

[0591] RSN extended element capabilities.

[0592] Optionally, the second link information field includes the at least one proposed link, and / or the site information of the affiliated site associated with each link in the at least one first established link in the second MLD, and the first established link is the link in the at least one established link associated with the at least one proposed link.

[0593] Optionally, the site information is carried in a second per-site configuration sub-element; the second per-site configuration sub-element includes at least one of the following:

[0594] A second sub-element identifier subfield, where the second sub-element identifier subfield is used to indicate a sub-element identifier of the second per-site configuration sub-element;

[0595] A second length subfield, where the second length subfield is used to indicate the length of the second per-site configuration sub-element;

[0596] a second site control subdomain, where the second site control subdomain is used to indicate site control information;

[0597] A second site information subfield, where the second site information subfield is used to indicate site information;

[0598] The second site configuration subfield is used to indicate site configuration information.

[0599] Optionally, the first response frame further includes a second sending site information field, where the second sending site information field is used to indicate site information of an affiliated site associated with the link that sends the first response frame in the second MLD.

[0600] Optionally, when the first response frame is transmitted through the third proposed link, the third proposed link is one of the at least one proposed link, and the first response frame also includes a status code field, which is used to indicate the establishment result of the third proposed link.

[0601] Optionally, when the third proposed link is accepted by the second MLD, the status code field is used to indicate that the third proposed link is added successfully;

[0602] In a case where the third proposed link is rejected by the second MLD, the status code field is used to indicate failure of the third proposed link to be added and / or the reason for the failure.

[0603] Optionally, when the link capability of the third proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing capability, and / or the operation requirement of the first subsidiary site corresponding to the third proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing operation, the status code field indicates that the reason for the failure of the third proposed link is: the link capability of the third proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing capability, and / or the operation requirement of the first subsidiary site corresponding to the third proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing operation.

[0604] Optionally, the status code field of the third link to be established is carried by at least one of the following:

[0605] a frame body of the first response frame;

[0606] The second link information field of the second multi-link element.

[0607] Optionally, in a case where the number of the at least one link to be established is multiple, the second multi-link element includes the second general information field and the second link information field;

[0608] The second link information includes a second per-site configuration sub-element of each fourth proposed link; the fourth proposed link is a proposed link in the at least one proposed link except the third proposed link;

[0609] The second per-site configuration sub-element of each fourth link to be established further includes a status code sub-field of each fourth link to be established; the status code sub-field of each fourth link to be established is used to indicate an establishment result of the corresponding fourth link to be established.

[0610] Optionally, the status code subfield of the fourth proposed link accepted by the second MLD is used to indicate that the newly added link is successful;

[0611] The status code subfield of the fourth proposed link rejected by the second MLD is used to indicate failure of the newly added link and / or the reason for the failure.

[0612] Optionally, when the link capability of the third link to be established is incompatible with the link sharing capability, and / or the operation requirement of the first subsidiary site corresponding to the third link to be established is incompatible with the link sharing operation,

[0613] The status code subfield of each fourth link to be established is used to indicate that the newly added link has failed, and / or the status code subfield of each fourth link to be established indicates that the cause of the failure is the failure to establish the third link to be established.

[0614] Optionally, the first response frame is a newly added link association response frame, and the newly added link association response frame is used for at least one of the following:

[0615] adding or rejecting a third proposed link for transmitting the first response frame in multi-link reconfiguration;

[0616] The fourth proposed link is added or rejected in the multi-link reconfiguration.

[0617] Optionally, in a case where the link for transmitting the first response frame is one of the at least one established link, the second multilink element includes the second general information field and the second link information field;

[0618] The establishment result of each proposed link in the at least one proposed link is indicated by the status code subfield of the second per-site configuration sub-element of each proposed link in the second link information field;

[0619] For the proposed link accepted by the second MLD, the status code subfield is used to indicate that the link is added successfully;

[0620] For the proposed link rejected by the second MLD, the status code subfield is used to indicate the failure of the newly added link and / or the reason for the failure.

[0621] Optionally, for a proposed link whose link capability is incompatible with the link sharing capability, and / or whose operation requirements of the corresponding first subsidiary site are incompatible with the link sharing operation, its status code subfield is used to indicate that the newly added link has failed, and / or the reason for the failure is: the link capability is incompatible with the link sharing capability, and / or the operation requirements of the first subsidiary site are incompatible with the link sharing operation.

[0622] Optionally, the first response frame is a new response frame, and the new response frame is used to add or reject the at least one link to be established when multiple links have been established.

[0623] Optionally, when the second MLD supports multi-link operation and the second MLD has completed multi-link establishment with the first MLD, the first response frame includes the second multi-link element;

[0624] In a case where the second MLD supports multi-link operation and the second MLD and the first MLD have not completed multi-link establishment, the first response frame includes a basic multi-link element;

[0625] In a case where the second MLD does not support the multi-link operation, the first response frame does not include the second multi-link element and the basic multi-link element.

[0626] Optionally, the second multi-link element is a second newly added reconfiguration multi-link element, and the second newly added reconfiguration multi-link element is used to add the at least one link to be established when the multi-link establishment has been completed.

[0627] Optionally, the link for sending the first request frame and the link for receiving the first response frame are the same link.

[0628] Optionally, a second authentication unit is further included, which is configured to, after adding at least one new link, the at least one new link is a link successfully established among the at least one link to be established, and the at least one new link is part of or all of the at least one link to be established, and the second MLD and the first MLD perform security authentication on the at least one new link and the at least one established link, or perform security authentication on the at least one new link.

[0629] Optionally, a second authentication unit is further included, which is further configured to perform security authentication on the at least one newly added link and the at least one established link with the first MLD when the first MLD is in a first state, and the first state indicates that at least some of the at least one established link have not completed security authentication.

[0630] Optionally, the second authentication unit is further configured to, when the first MLD is in a second state, perform security authentication on the at least one newly added link with the second MLD and the first MLD, and the second state indicates that security authentication has been completed for the at least one established link.

[0631] Optionally, a first part of transmission parameters used by the at least one newly created link is the same as a first part of parameters used by the at least one established link, and / or a second part of parameters used by the at least one newly created link is newly established.

[0632] Optionally, the first part of parameters includes at least one of the following: a pairwise transient key PTK, and an association identifier AID.

[0633] Optionally, the second part of parameters includes at least one of the following: a multicast transient key GTK, an integrity multicast key IGTK, and a beacon integrity multicast transient key BIGTK.

[0634] Optionally, the second authentication unit is further configured to exchange handshake messages with the first MLD, where the exchange of handshake messages is used to generate a second part of transmission parameters for the at least one newly created link.

[0635] Optionally, the handshake message includes four handshake messages, and the second MLD and the first MLD exchange handshake messages. The second transceiver unit 1401 is also configured to send a first handshake message to the first MLD, and the first handshake message is used to confirm whether the at least one newly added link uses the first part of the transmission parameters; receive a second handshake message sent by the first MLD, and the second handshake message is used to synchronize or confirm the first part of the transmission parameters used by the at least one newly added link; send a third handshake message to the first MLD, and the third handshake message is used to indicate the second part of the transmission parameters used by each new link in the at least one new link; receive a fourth handshake message sent by the first MLD, and the fourth handshake message is used to confirm the successful establishment of the second part of the transmission parameters used by each new link.

[0636] Optionally, the first handshake message and the second handshake message do not include a random number used to generate the first part of the transmission parameters.

[0637] Optionally, the second handshake message includes link information of each newly added link in the at least one newly added link.

[0638] Optionally, the third handshake message includes at least one of the following:

[0639] link information of each newly added link in the at least one newly added link;

[0640] The multicast temporary key GTK of each newly added link;

[0641] The integrity multicast key IGTK of each newly added link;

[0642] The beacon integrity multicast temporary key BIGTK of each newly added link.

[0643] Optionally, the handshake message includes two multicast handshake messages, and the interaction of the handshake messages between the second MLD and the first MLD includes:

[0644] The second MLD sends a first multicast handshake message to the first MLD, where the first multicast handshake message is used to indicate a second part of transmission parameters used by each of the at least one newly added link;

[0645] The second MLD receives a second multicast handshake message sent by the first MLD, where the second multicast handshake message is used to confirm successful establishment of the second part of transmission parameters used by each newly added link.

[0646] Optionally, the at least one link to be established and the at least one established link use different non-overlapping channels, different links to be established use different non-overlapping channels, and different established links use different non-overlapping channels.

[0647] Optionally, the first MLD is a non-AP MLD;

[0648] The second MLD is a non-AP MLD or an access point AP MLD.

[0649] Figure 15 is a schematic diagram of a communication device 1400 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device can be either an AP MLD or a non-AP MLD. The communication device 1500 shown in Figure 15 includes a processor 1510, which can call and execute a computer program from a memory to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0650] Optionally, as shown in FIG15 , the communication device 1500 may further include a memory 1520. The processor 1510 may call and execute a computer program from the memory 1520 to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0651] The memory 1520 may be a separate device independent of the processor 1510 , or may be integrated into the processor 1410 .

[0652] Optionally, as shown in FIG15 , the communication device 1400 may further include a transceiver 1530 , and the processor 1510 may control the transceiver 1530 to communicate with other devices, specifically, to send information or data to other devices, or to receive information or data sent by other devices.

[0653] The transceiver 1530 may include a transmitter and a receiver. The transceiver 1530 may further include an antenna, and the number of antennas may be one or more.

[0654] Optionally, the communication device 1500 may specifically be the first MLD in the embodiment of the present application, and the communication device 1500 may implement the corresponding processes implemented by the first MLD in the various methods in the embodiment of the present application, which will not be described in detail for the sake of brevity.

[0655] Optionally, the communication device 1500 may be specifically the or second MLD in the embodiment of the present application, and the communication device 1500 may implement the corresponding processes implemented by the or second MLD in each method in the embodiment of the present application, which will not be described here for brevity.

[0656] Figure 16 is a schematic structural diagram of a chip according to an embodiment of the present application. The chip 1600 shown in Figure 16 includes a processor 1610, which can call and run a computer program from a memory to implement the method according to the embodiment of the present application.

[0657] Optionally, as shown in FIG16 , the chip 1500 may further include a memory 1620 , wherein the processor 1610 may call and execute a computer program from the memory 1620 to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0658] The memory 1620 may be a separate device independent of the processor 1610 , or may be integrated into the processor 1510 .

[0659] Optionally, the chip 1600 may further include an input interface 1630. The processor 1610 may control the input interface 1630 to communicate with other devices or chips, and specifically, may obtain information or data sent by other devices or chips.

[0660] Optionally, the chip 1600 may further include an output interface 1640. The processor 1610 may control the output interface 1640 to communicate with other devices or chips, and specifically, may output information or data to other devices or chips.

[0661] Optionally, the chip may be applied to the first MLD in the embodiment of the present application, and the chip may implement the corresponding processes implemented by the first MLD in the various methods in the embodiment of the present application, which will not be described in detail here for the sake of brevity.

[0662] Optionally, the chip can be applied to the second MLD in the embodiments of the present application, and the chip can implement the corresponding processes implemented by the second MLD in the various methods of the embodiments of the present application, which will not be described here for brevity.

[0663] It should be understood that the chip mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can also be called a system-level chip, a system chip, a chip system or a system-on-chip chip, etc.

[0664] FIG17 is a schematic block diagram of a communication system 1700 provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG17 , the communication system 1700 includes a first MLD 1710 and a second MLD 1720 .

[0665] The first MLD 1710 may be used to implement the corresponding function implemented by the first MLD in the above method, and the second MLD 1720 may be used to implement the corresponding function implemented by the second MLD in the above method. For the sake of brevity, they are not described here in detail.

[0666] It should be understood that the processor of the embodiments of the present application may be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. During implementation, each step of the above method embodiment can be completed by hardware integrated logic circuits in the processor or software instructions. The above processor can be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, or discrete hardware components. The various methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented or executed. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor. The steps of the method disclosed in the embodiments of the present application can be directly embodied as being executed by a hardware decoding processor, or can be executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module can be located in a storage medium mature in the art, such as random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable memory, registers, etc. The storage medium is located in the memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory and completes the steps of the above method in combination with its hardware.

[0667] It is understood that the memory in the embodiments of the present application may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct RAM bus random access memory (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0668] It should be understood that the above-mentioned memories are exemplary but not restrictive. For example, the memories in the embodiments of the present application may also be static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct RAM RAM (DR RAM), etc. In other words, the memories in the embodiments of the present application are intended to include, but are not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memories.

[0669] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program.

[0670] Optionally, the computer-readable storage medium may be applied to the AP MLD in the embodiments of the present application, and the computer program enables the computer to execute the corresponding processes implemented by the AP MLD in the various methods of the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they are not described here in detail.

[0671] Optionally, the computer-readable storage medium can be applied to the non-AP MLD in the embodiments of the present application, and the computer program enables the computer to execute the corresponding processes implemented by the non-AP MLD in the various methods of the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they are not repeated here.

[0672] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product, including computer program instructions.

[0673] Optionally, the computer program product may be applied to the AP MLD in the embodiments of the present application, and the computer program instructions enable the computer to execute the corresponding processes implemented by the AP MLD in the various methods in the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they are not described here in detail.

[0674] Optionally, the computer program product can be applied to the non-AP MLD in the embodiments of the present application, and the computer program instructions enable the computer to execute the corresponding processes implemented by the non-AP MLD in the various methods of the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they are not repeated here.

[0675] The embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program.

[0676] Optionally, the computer program may be applied to the AP MLD in the embodiments of the present application. When the computer program runs on a computer, the computer executes the corresponding processes implemented by the AP MLD in the various methods of the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they are not described here.

[0677] Optionally, the computer program can be applied to the non-AP MLD in the embodiments of the present application. When the computer program runs on a computer, the computer executes the corresponding processes implemented by the non-AP MLD in the various methods of the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they are not repeated here.

[0678] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0679] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0680] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0681] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0682] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into a first processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0683] If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or the part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

[0684] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the present application should be included in the scope of protection of the present application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A multi-link reconfiguration method, the method comprising: In a case where the first multi-link device MLD and the second MLD have completed multi-link establishment and established at least one established link, the first MLD determines whether link capabilities of at least one proposed link are compatible with link sharing capabilities, and / or whether operation requirements of at least one first subordinate station are compatible with link sharing operations; The at least one first subsidiary site is a subsidiary site associated with at least one link to be established in the first MLD; the link sharing capability refers to the capability shared by the at least one established link, and the link sharing operation refers to the operation shared by the at least one established link.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The link sharing capability includes at least one of the following: Robust Security Network (RSN) capabilities common to the at least one established link; Robust Security Network Element (RSNE) capability common to the at least one established link; an extended RSNE capability shared by the at least one established link; The RSN extended element capability is shared by the at least one established link.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein The link sharing operation is indicated by at least one of the following: an authentication and key management suite selector common to the at least one established link; A pairwise cipher suite shared by the at least one established link.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: The first MLD determines whether link capabilities of at least one proposed link are compatible with link sharing capabilities, and / or whether operation requirements of at least one first affiliated site are compatible with link sharing operations, including: The first MLD determines whether the at least one proposed link supports the link sharing capability and / or whether the at least one affiliated station supports the link sharing operation.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: Before the first MLD determines whether the link capability of at least one proposed link is compatible with the link sharing capability and / or whether the operation requirement of at least one first affiliated site is compatible with the link sharing operation, the method further includes: The first MLD receives site information of at least one second subordinate site, wherein the site information of the at least one second subordinate site is used to indicate a link capability of the at least one proposed link and / or an operation requirement of the at least one first subordinate site; The at least one second subordinate station includes a newly added subordinate station in the second MLD and / or a subordinate station in the second MLD that has no link established with the first MLD.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein: The site information of the at least one second affiliated site is carried in a beacon frame or a probe response frame.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein: Also includes: When the link capability of the at least one proposed link is compatible with the link sharing capability, and / or the operation requirement of the at least one first affiliated station is compatible with the link sharing operation, the first MLD sends a first request frame to the second MLD, and / or receives a first response frame sent by the second MLD; The first request frame is used to request the addition of the at least one link to be established in the multi-link reconfiguration, and the first response frame is used to add the at least one link to be established in the multi-link reconfiguration.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein: Also includes: If the link capability of the at least one proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing capability and / or the operation requirement of the at least one first affiliated station is incompatible with the link sharing operation, the first MLD determines not to send the first request frame to the second MLD.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein: Also includes: If the first MLD does not determine whether the link capability of the at least one proposed link is compatible with the link sharing capability and / or whether the operation requirement of the at least one first affiliated station is compatible with the link sharing operation, the first MLD sends a first request frame to the second MLD and / or receives a first response frame sent by the second MLD; The first request frame is used to request the addition of the at least one proposed link in the multi-link reconfiguration; the first request frame includes link capability information of the at least one proposed link and / or operation information of the at least one first affiliated station; The first response frame is used to indicate that the target proposed link fails to be added when there is a target proposed link in the at least one proposed link; wherein, the target proposed link is a proposed link whose link capability is incompatible with the link sharing capability in the at least one proposed link, and / or the operation requirement of the at least one first subsidiary site is incompatible with the link sharing operation.

10. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein: The first MLD sending a first request frame to the second MLD, and / or receiving a first response frame sent by the second MLD, includes one of the following: The first MLD sends the first request frame through one of the at least one established link, and / or receives the first response frame; The first MLD sends the first request frame through one of the at least one proposed link, and / or receives the first response frame.

11. The method according to claims 7-10, wherein: The first request frame includes a first multilink element, and the first multilink element includes: A first general information field, where the first general information field is used to indicate information common to the at least one link to be established and the at least one established link; and / or, The first link information field is used to indicate the link information of the at least one link to be established and / or the link information of the at least one first established link, and the at least one first established link is a link in the at least one established link that is associated with the at least one link to be established.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein The first general information field includes at least one of the following: MLD MAC address information of the first MLD; First general capability information; the first general capability information is used to indicate a capability shared by the at least one established link and the at least one proposed link; First general operation information: The first general operation information is used to indicate an operation common to the at least one established link and the at least one link to be established.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein: The first general capability information includes at least one of the following: an MLD capability of the first MLD; the EML capability of the first MLD; RSN capabilities; RSNE capabilities; Expand RSNE capabilities; RSN extended element capabilities.

14. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 13, wherein: The first link information field includes the at least one link to be established, and / or site information of an affiliated site associated with each link in the at least one first established link in the first MLD.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein The site information is carried in a first per-site configuration sub-element; the first per-site configuration sub-element includes at least one of the following: A first sub-element identifier subfield, where the first sub-element identifier subfield is used to indicate a sub-element identifier of the first per-site configuration sub-element; A first length subfield, where the first length subfield is used to indicate the length of the first per-site configuration sub-element; a first site control subdomain, where the first site control subdomain is used to indicate site control information; A first site information subfield, where the first site information subfield is used to indicate site information; The first site configuration subfield is used to indicate site configuration information.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein The first site control subfield includes a link identification subfield, and the link identification subfield is used to indicate identification information of a subordinate site of a corresponding link in the second MLD.

17. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 16, wherein: The first request frame further includes a first sending site information field, where the first sending site information field is used to indicate site information of an affiliated site associated with the link that sends the first request frame in the first MLD.

18. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 17, wherein: In a case where the first request frame is sent through a first proposed link, the first proposed link is one of the at least one proposed link, and the first request frame further includes link capability information and / or operation parameters of the first proposed link; The link capability information is used to indicate link capability, and the operation parameter is used to indicate operation information of the corresponding subsidiary site.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein The link capability information and / or operation information of the first proposed link is carried by at least one of the following: a frame body of the first request frame; The first link information field of the first multi-link element.

20. The method according to claim 18, wherein When the number of the at least one link to be established includes multiple links, the first multi-link element includes the first general information field and the first link information field; The first link information field includes a first per-site configuration sub-element of each second proposed link; The second proposed link is a link in the at least one proposed link other than the first proposed link; The link capability information and / or operation parameters of each of the second proposed links are carried by the first per-site configuration sub-element of each of the second proposed links.

21. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 20, wherein: The first request frame is a new link association request frame, which is used to request the addition of a first link to be established and / or a second link to be established for sending the first request frame when multiple links have been established.

22. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 17, wherein: In the case where the first request frame is sent via one of the at least one established link, The first multilink element includes the first general information field and the first link information field; The link capability information and / or operation parameters of each proposed link in the at least one proposed link are carried by the first per-site configuration sub-element of each proposed link in the first link information field.

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein The first request frame is a new request frame, and the new request frame is used to request to add the at least one link to be established when multiple links have been established.

24. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 23, wherein: The link capability information of each of the at least one proposed link includes at least one of the following: RSN capabilities; RSNE capabilities; Expand RSNE capabilities; RSN extended element capabilities.

25. The method according to claim 24, wherein In the at least one proposed link, link capability information of different proposed links is the same as the common capability information of the at least one established link, and / or operating parameters of different proposed links are the same as the common operating information of the at least one established link.

26. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 25, wherein: The first request frame further includes: A robust security network element corresponding to each proposed link in the at least one proposed link, and / or a robust security network extension element corresponding to each proposed link; wherein each of the robust security network elements includes at least a portion of the capability information and / or operating parameters of the proposed link corresponding thereto, and each of the robust security network extension elements includes at least a portion of the capability information and / or operating parameters of the proposed link corresponding thereto.

27. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 26, wherein: In a case where the first MLD supports multi-link operation and the first MLD and the second MLD have completed multi-link establishment, the first request frame includes the first multi-link element; In a case where the first MLD supports multi-link operation and the first MLD and the second MLD have not completed multi-link establishment, the first request frame includes a basic multi-link element; In a case where the first MLD does not support the multi-link operation, the first request frame does not include the first multi-link element and the basic multi-link element.

28. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 27, wherein: The first multi-link element is a first newly added reconfiguration multi-link element, and the first newly added reconfiguration multi-link element is used to add the at least one link to be established when the multi-link establishment has been completed.

29. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 28, wherein: The first response frame includes a second multilink element, wherein the second multilink element includes: a second general information field, where the second general information field is used to indicate information common to the at least one link to be established and the at least one established link; and / or, The second link information field is used to indicate link information of at least one link to be established and / or link information of at least one first established link, where the first established link is a link in the at least one established link that is associated with the at least one link to be established.

30. The method according to claim 29, wherein The second general information field includes at least one of the following: MLD MAC address information of the second MLD; Second general capability information; the second general capability information is used to indicate a capability shared by the at least one established link and the at least one proposed link; Second general operation information; the second general operation information is used to indicate an operation common to the at least one established link and the at least one link to be established; BBS parameter change count subfield, the BBS parameter change count subfield is used to count the key updates of BSS parameters; Link identification information, where the link identification information is used to indicate a link identification of a link that sends the first response frame.

31. The method according to claim 30, wherein The second general capability information includes at least one of the following: an MLD capability of the second MLD; the EML capability of the second MLD; RSN capabilities; RSNE capabilities; Expand RSNE capabilities; RSN extended element capabilities.

32. The method according to any one of claims 29 to 31, wherein: The second link information field includes the at least one proposed link and / or the site information of the affiliated site associated with each link in the at least one first established link in the second MLD, and the first established link is the link in the at least one established link associated with the at least one proposed link.

33. The method according to claim 32, wherein The site information is carried in a second per-site configuration sub-element; the second per-site configuration sub-element includes at least one of the following: A second sub-element identifier subfield, where the second sub-element identifier subfield is used to indicate a sub-element identifier of the second per-site configuration sub-element; A second length subfield, where the second length subfield is used to indicate the length of the second per-site configuration sub-element; a second site control subdomain, where the second site control subdomain is used to indicate site control information; A second site information subfield, where the second site information subfield is used to indicate site information; The second site configuration subfield is used to indicate site configuration information.

34. The method according to any one of claims 29 to 33, wherein: The first response frame further includes a second sending site information field, where the second sending site information field is used to indicate site information of an affiliated site associated with the link that sends the first response frame in the second MLD.

35. The method according to any one of claims 29 to 34, wherein: In the case where the first response frame is transmitted through the third proposed link, the third proposed link is one of the at least one proposed link, and the first response frame also includes a status code field, which is used to indicate the establishment result of the third proposed link.

36. The method according to claim 35, wherein When the third proposed link is accepted by the second MLD, the status code field is used to indicate that the third proposed link is added successfully; In a case where the third proposed link is rejected by the second MLD, the status code field is used to indicate failure of the third proposed link to be added and / or the reason for the failure.

37. The method according to claim 36, wherein In the case that the link capability of the third proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing capability, and / or the operation requirement of the first subsidiary site corresponding to the third proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing operation, the status code field indicates that the reason for the failure of the third proposed link is: the link capability of the third proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing capability, and / or the operation requirement of the first subsidiary site corresponding to the third proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing operation.

38. The method according to any one of claims 35 to 37, wherein: The status code field of the third proposed link is carried by at least one of the following: a frame body of the first response frame; The second link information field of the second multi-link element.

39. The method according to any one of claims 35 to 37, wherein: In a case where the number of the at least one link to be established is multiple, the second multi-link element includes the second general information field and the second link information field; The second link information includes a second per-site configuration sub-element of each fourth proposed link; the fourth proposed link is a proposed link in the at least one proposed link except the third proposed link; The second per-site configuration sub-element of each fourth link to be established further includes a status code sub-field of each fourth link to be established; the status code sub-field of each fourth link to be established is used to indicate an establishment result of the corresponding fourth link to be established.

40. The method according to claim 39, The status code subfield of the fourth proposed link accepted by the second MLD is used to indicate that the newly added link is successful; The status code subfield of the fourth proposed link rejected by the second MLD is used to indicate failure of the newly added link and / or the reason for the failure.

41. The method according to claim 40, wherein In the case where the link capability of the third proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing capability, and / or the operation requirement of the first subsidiary station corresponding to the third proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing operation, The status code subfield of each fourth link to be established is used to indicate that the newly added link has failed, and / or the status code subfield of each fourth link to be established indicates that the cause of the failure is the failure to establish the third link to be established.

42. The method of claim 35, wherein: The first response frame is a newly added link association response frame, and the newly added link association response frame is used for at least one of the following: adding or rejecting a third proposed link for transmitting the first response frame in multi-link reconfiguration; The fourth proposed link is added or rejected in the multi-link reconfiguration.

43. The method according to any one of claims 29 to 34, wherein: In a case where the link for transmitting the first response frame is one of the at least one established link, the second multilink element includes the second general information field and the second link information field; The establishment result of each proposed link in the at least one proposed link is indicated by the status code subfield of the second per-site configuration sub-element of each proposed link in the second link information field; For the proposed link accepted by the second MLD, the status code subfield is used to indicate that the link is added successfully; For the proposed link rejected by the second MLD, the status code subfield is used to indicate the failure of the newly added link and / or the reason for the failure.

44. The method according to claim 43, wherein For a proposed link whose link capability is incompatible with the link sharing capability, and / or whose operation requirements of the corresponding first subsidiary site are incompatible with the link sharing operation, its status code subfield is used to indicate that the newly added link has failed, and / or the reason for the failure is: the link capability is incompatible with the link sharing capability, and / or the operation requirements of the first subsidiary site are incompatible with the link sharing operation.

45. The method according to claim 43 or 44, wherein The first response frame is a new response frame, and the new response frame is used to add or reject the at least one link to be established when multiple links have been established.

46. ​​The method according to any one of claims 7 to 45, wherein: In a case where the second MLD supports multi-link operation and the second MLD has completed multi-link establishment with the first MLD, the first response frame includes the second multi-link element; In a case where the second MLD supports multi-link operation and the second MLD and the first MLD have not completed multi-link establishment, the first response frame includes a basic multi-link element; In a case where the second MLD does not support the multi-link operation, the first response frame does not include the second multi-link element and the basic multi-link element.

47. The method according to any one of claims 29 to 46, wherein: The second multi-link element is a second newly added reconfiguration multi-link element, and the second newly added reconfiguration multi-link element is used to add the at least one link to be established when the multi-link establishment has been completed.

48. The method according to any one of claims 7 to 47, wherein: The link for sending the first request frame and the link for receiving the first response frame are the same link.

49. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 48, wherein After adding at least one new link, the at least one new link is a link that is successfully established among the at least one link to be established, and the at least one new link is part of or all of the at least one link to be established, further comprising: The first MLD and the second MLD perform security authentication on the at least one newly added link and the at least one established link, or perform security authentication on the at least one newly added link.

50. The method of claim 49, wherein The first MLD and the second MLD perform security authentication on the at least one newly added link and the at least one established link, or perform security authentication on the at least one newly added link, including: When the first MLD is in a first state, the first MLD and the second MLD perform security authentication on the at least one newly added link and the at least one established link, and the first state indicates that at least some of the at least one established link have not completed security authentication.

51. The method of claim 50, wherein: The first MLD and the second MLD perform security authentication on the at least one newly added link and the at least one established link, or perform security authentication on the at least one newly added link, including: When the first MLD is in the second state, the first MLD and the second MLD perform security authentication on the at least one newly added link, and the second state indicates that security authentication has been completed for the at least one established link.

52. The method according to any one of claims 49 to 41, wherein: The first part of transmission parameters used by the at least one newly created link is the same as the first part of parameters used by the at least one established link, and / or the second part of parameters used by the at least one newly created link is newly established.

53. The method of claim 52, wherein: The first part of parameters includes at least one of the following: a pairwise transient key PTK and an association identifier AID.

54. The method according to claim 52 or 53, wherein The second part of parameters includes at least one of the following: a multicast transient key GTK, an integrity multicast key IGTK, and a beacon integrity multicast transient key BIGTK.

55. The method according to any one of claims 49 to 54, wherein: The first MLD and the second MLD perform security authentication on the at least one newly added link, including: The first MLD and the second MLD exchange handshake messages, where the exchange of handshake messages is used to generate a second part of transmission parameters for the at least one newly created link.

56. The method of claim 55, wherein: The handshake message includes a four-way handshake message. The handshake message exchange between the first MLD and the second MLD includes: The first MLD receives a first handshake message sent by the second MLD, where the first handshake message is used to confirm whether the at least one newly added link uses the first part of transmission parameters; The first MLD sends a second handshake message to the second MLD, where the second handshake message is used to synchronize or confirm the first part of transmission parameters used by the at least one newly added link; The first MLD receives a third handshake message sent by the second MLD, where the third handshake message is used to indicate a second part of transmission parameters used by each of the at least one newly added link; The first MLD sends a fourth handshake message to the second MLD, where the fourth handshake message is used to confirm successful establishment of the second part of transmission parameters used for each newly added link.

57. The method of claim 56, wherein: The first handshake message and the second handshake message do not include a random number used to generate the first part of the transmission parameters.

58. The method according to claim 56 or 57, wherein The second handshake message includes link information of each newly added link in the at least one newly added link.

59. The method according to any one of claims 56 to 58, wherein: The third handshake message includes at least one of the following: link information of each newly added link in the at least one newly added link; The multicast temporary key GTK of each newly added link; The integrity multicast key IGTK of each newly added link; The beacon integrity multicast temporary key BIGTK of each newly added link.

60. The method of claim 55, wherein The handshake message includes two multicast handshake messages, and the handshake message interaction between the first MLD and the second MLD includes: The first MLD receives a first multicast handshake message sent by the second MLD, where the first multicast handshake message is used to indicate a second part of transmission parameters used by each of the at least one newly added link; The first MLD sends a second multicast handshake message to the second MLD, where the second multicast handshake message is used to confirm successful establishment of the second part of transmission parameters used by each newly added link.

61. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 60, wherein: The at least one link to be established and the at least one established link use different non-overlapping channels, different links to be established use different non-overlapping channels, and different established links use different non-overlapping channels.

62. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 61, wherein: The first MLD is a non-access point multi-link device non-AP MLD; The second MLD is a non-AP MLD or an access point multi-link device AP MLD.

63. A multi-link reconfiguration method, comprising: The second MLD receives a first request frame sent by the first MLD, and / or a first response frame sent by the second MLD to the first MLD; wherein the first request frame is used to request the addition of at least one proposed link in the multi-link reconfiguration, and the first response frame is used to add the at least one proposed link in the multi-link reconfiguration.

64. The method of claim 63, wherein The first request frame includes link capability information of the at least one link to be established and / or operation information of the at least one first subsidiary site; the at least one first subsidiary site is a subsidiary site associated with the at least one link to be established in the first MLD.

65. The method of claim 64, wherein The second MLD determines whether the link capability of at least one proposed link is compatible with the link sharing capability, and / or whether the operation requirements of at least one first subsidiary site are compatible with the link sharing operation; the link capability of the at least one proposed link is determined by the link capability information of the at least one proposed link, and / or the operation requirements of the at least one first subsidiary site are determined by the operation information of the at least one first subsidiary site.

66. The method of claim 65, wherein The link sharing capability includes at least one of the following: Robust Security Network (RSN) capabilities common to the at least one established link; Robust Security Network Element (RSNE) capability common to the at least one established link; an extended RSNE capability shared by the at least one established link; The RSN extended element capability is shared by the at least one established link.

67. The method according to claim 65 or 66, wherein The link sharing operation is indicated by at least one of the following: an authentication and key management suite selector common to the at least one established link; A pairwise cipher suite shared by the at least one established link.

68. The method according to any one of claims 65 to 67, wherein: The first response frame is used to indicate that the target proposed link fails to be added when there is a target proposed link in the at least one proposed link; wherein, the target proposed link is a proposed link whose link capability is incompatible with the link sharing capability in the at least one proposed link, and / or the operation requirement of the at least one first subsidiary site is incompatible with the link sharing operation.

69. [Corrected 22.07.2022 in accordance with Rule 91] The method according to any one of claims 63 to 68, wherein: Before the second MLD receives the first request frame sent by the first MLD, and / or before the second MLD sends the first response frame to the first MLD, the method further includes: The second MLD sends site information of at least one second subordinate site to the first MLD; the site information of the at least one second subordinate site is used to indicate the link capability of the at least one proposed link and / or the operation requirement of the at least one first subordinate site; The at least one second subordinate station includes a newly added subordinate station in the second MLD and / or a subordinate station in the second MLD that has no link established with the first MLD.

70. The method of claim 69, wherein The site information of the at least one second affiliated site is carried in a beacon frame or a probe response frame.

71. The method according to any one of claims 63 to 70, wherein: The second MLD receives the first request frame sent by the first MLD, and / or the second MLD sends the first response frame to the first MLD, including: The second MLD receives the first request frame through one of the at least one established link, and / or sends the first response frame; The second MLD receives the first request frame through one of the at least one proposed link, and / or sends the first response frame.

72. The method according to claims 63-71, wherein The first request frame includes a first multilink element, and the first multilink element includes: A first general information field, where the first general information field is used to indicate information common to the at least one link to be established and the at least one established link; and / or, The first link information field is used to indicate the link information of the at least one link to be established and / or the link information of the at least one first established link, and the at least one first established link is a link in the at least one established link that is associated with the at least one link to be established.

73. The method of claim 72, wherein: The first general information field includes at least one of the following: MLD MAC address information of the first MLD; First general capability information; the first general capability information is used to indicate a capability shared by the at least one established link and the at least one proposed link; First general operation information: The first general operation information is used to indicate an operation common to the at least one established link and the at least one link to be established.

74. The method of claim 73, wherein The first general capability information includes at least one of the following: an MLD capability of the first MLD; the EML capability of the first MLD; RSN capabilities; RSNE capabilities; Expand RSNE capabilities; RSN extended element capabilities.

75. The method according to any one of claims 72 to 74, wherein: The first link information field includes the at least one link to be established, and / or site information of an affiliated site associated with each link in the at least one first established link in the first MLD.

76. The method of claim 75, wherein The site information is carried in a first per-site configuration sub-element; the first per-site configuration sub-element includes at least one of the following: A first sub-element identifier subfield, where the first sub-element identifier subfield is used to indicate a sub-element identifier of the first per-site configuration sub-element; A first length subfield, where the first length subfield is used to indicate the length of the first per-site configuration sub-element; a first site control subdomain, where the first site control subdomain is used to indicate site control information; A first site information subfield, where the first site information subfield is used to indicate site information; The first site configuration subfield is used to indicate site configuration information.

77. The method of claim 76, wherein The first site control subfield includes a link identification subfield, and the link identification subfield is used to indicate identification information of a subordinate site of a corresponding link in the second MLD.

78. The method according to any one of claims 72 to 77, wherein: The first request frame further includes a first sending site information field, where the first sending site information field is used to indicate site information of an affiliated site associated with the link that sends the first request frame in the first MLD.

79. The method according to any one of claims 71 to 78, wherein In a case where the first request frame is sent through a first proposed link, the first proposed link is one of the at least one proposed link, and the first request frame further includes link capability information and / or operation parameters of the first proposed link; The link capability information is used to indicate link capability, and the operation parameter is used to indicate operation information of the corresponding subsidiary site.

80. The method of claim 79, wherein The link capability information and / or operation information of the first proposed link is carried by at least one of the following: a frame body of the first request frame; The first link information field of the first multi-link element.

81. The method of claim 79, wherein When the number of the at least one link to be established includes multiple links, the first multi-link element includes the first general information field and the first link information field; The first link information field includes a first per-site configuration sub-element of each second proposed link; The second proposed link is a link in the at least one proposed link other than the first proposed link; The link capability information and / or operation parameters of each of the second proposed links are carried by the first per-site configuration sub-element of each of the second proposed links.

82. The method according to any one of claims 63 to 81, wherein: The first request frame is a new link association request frame, which is used to request the addition of a first link to be established and / or a second link to be established for sending the first request frame when multiple links have been established.

83. The method according to any one of claims 71 to 78, wherein In the case where the first request frame is sent through one of the at least one established link, The first multilink element includes the first general information field and the first link information field; The link capability information and / or operation parameters of each proposed link in the at least one proposed link are carried by the first per-site configuration sub-element of each proposed link in the first link information field.

84. The method of claim 83, wherein The first request frame is a new request frame, and the new request frame is used to request to add the at least one link to be established when multiple links have been established.

85. The method according to any one of claims 79 to 84, wherein The link capability information of each of the at least one proposed link includes at least one of the following: RSN capabilities; RSNE capabilities; Expand RSNE capabilities; RSN extended element capabilities.

86. The method of claim 85, wherein In the at least one proposed link, link capability information of different proposed links is the same as the common capability information of the at least one established link, and / or operating parameters of different proposed links are the same as the common operating information of the at least one established link.

87. The method according to any one of claims 79 to 86, wherein The first request frame also includes: a robust security network element corresponding to each of the at least one proposed link, and / or a robust security network extension element corresponding to each proposed link; wherein each of the robust security network elements includes at least part of the capability information and / or operating parameters of the corresponding proposed link, and each of the robust security network extension elements includes at least part of the capability information and / or operating parameters of the corresponding proposed link.

88. The method according to any one of claims 72 to 87, wherein In a case where the first MLD supports multi-link operation and the first MLD and the second MLD have completed multi-link establishment, the first request frame includes the first multi-link element; In a case where the first MLD supports multi-link operation and the first MLD and the second MLD have not completed multi-link establishment, the first request frame includes a basic multi-link element; In a case where the first MLD does not support the multi-link operation, the first request frame does not include the first multi-link element and the basic multi-link element.

89. The method according to any one of claims 72 to 88, wherein The first multi-link element is a first newly added reconfiguration multi-link element, and the first newly added reconfiguration multi-link element is used to add the at least one link to be established when the multi-link establishment has been completed.

90. The method according to any one of claims 63 to 89, wherein: The first response frame includes a second multilink element, wherein the second multilink element includes: a second general information field, where the second general information field is used to indicate information common to the at least one link to be established and the at least one established link; and / or, The second link information field is used to indicate link information of at least one link to be established and / or link information of at least one first established link, where the first established link is a link in the at least one established link that is associated with the at least one link to be established.

91. The method of claim 90, wherein The second general information field includes at least one of the following: MLD MAC address information of the second MLD; Second general capability information; the second general capability information is used to indicate a capability shared by the at least one established link and the at least one proposed link; Second general operation information; the second general operation information is used to indicate an operation common to the at least one established link and the at least one link to be established; BBS parameter change count subfield, the BBS parameter change count subfield is used to count the key updates of BSS parameters; Link identification information, where the link identification information is used to indicate a link identification of a link that sends the first response frame.

92. The method of claim 91, wherein The second general capability information includes at least one of the following: an MLD capability of the second MLD; the EML capability of the second MLD; RSN capabilities; RSNE capabilities; Expand RSNE capabilities; RSN extended element capabilities.

93. The method according to any one of claims 90 to 92, wherein: The second link information field includes the at least one proposed link and / or the site information of the affiliated site associated with each link in the at least one first established link in the second MLD, and the first established link is the link in the at least one established link associated with the at least one proposed link.

94. The method of claim 93, wherein The site information is carried in a second per-site configuration sub-element; the second per-site configuration sub-element includes at least one of the following: A second sub-element identifier subfield, where the second sub-element identifier subfield is used to indicate a sub-element identifier of the second per-site configuration sub-element; A second length subfield, where the second length subfield is used to indicate the length of the second per-site configuration sub-element; a second site control subdomain, where the second site control subdomain is used to indicate site control information; A second site information subfield, where the second site information subfield is used to indicate site information; The second site configuration subfield is used to indicate site configuration information.

95. The method according to any one of claims 63 to 94, wherein: The first response frame further includes a second sending site information field, where the second sending site information field is used to indicate site information of an affiliated site associated with the link that sends the first response frame in the second MLD.

96. The method according to any one of claims 63 to 95, wherein: In the case where the first response frame is transmitted through the third proposed link, the third proposed link is one of the at least one proposed link, and the first response frame also includes a status code field, which is used to indicate the establishment result of the third proposed link.

97. The method of claim 96, wherein When the third proposed link is accepted by the second MLD, the status code field is used to indicate that the third proposed link is added successfully; In a case where the third proposed link is rejected by the second MLD, the status code field is used to indicate failure of the third proposed link to be added and / or the reason for the failure.

98. The method of claim 97, wherein In the case that the link capability of the third proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing capability, and / or the operation requirement of the first subsidiary site corresponding to the third proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing operation, the status code field indicates that the reason for the failure of the third proposed link is: the link capability of the third proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing capability, and / or the operation requirement of the first subsidiary site corresponding to the third proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing operation.

99. The method according to any one of claims 96 to 98, wherein: The status code field of the third proposed link is carried by at least one of the following: a frame body of the first response frame; The second link information field of the second multi-link element.

100. The method according to any one of claims 90 to 99, wherein In a case where the number of the at least one link to be established is multiple, the second multi-link element includes the second general information field and the second link information field; The second link information includes a second per-site configuration sub-element of each fourth proposed link; the fourth proposed link is a proposed link in the at least one proposed link except the third proposed link; The second per-site configuration sub-element of each fourth link to be established further includes a status code sub-field of each fourth link to be established; the status code sub-field of each fourth link to be established is used to indicate an establishment result of the corresponding fourth link to be established.

101. The method according to claim 100, The status code subfield of the fourth proposed link accepted by the second MLD is used to indicate that the newly added link is successful; The status code subfield of the fourth proposed link rejected by the second MLD is used to indicate failure of the newly added link and / or the reason for the failure.

102. The method according to claim 101, wherein In the case where the link capability of the third proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing capability, and / or the operation requirement of the first subsidiary station corresponding to the third proposed link is incompatible with the link sharing operation, The status code subfield of each fourth link to be established is used to indicate that the newly added link has failed, and / or the status code subfield of each fourth link to be established indicates that the cause of the failure is the failure to establish the third link to be established.

103. The method according to any one of claims 96 to 103, wherein: The first response frame is a newly added link association response frame, and the newly added link association response frame is used for at least one of the following: adding or rejecting a third proposed link for transmitting the first response frame in multi-link reconfiguration; The fourth proposed link is added or rejected in the multi-link reconfiguration.

104. The method according to any one of claims 63 to 95, wherein: In a case where the link for transmitting the first response frame is one of the at least one established link, the second multilink element includes the second general information field and the second link information field; The establishment result of each proposed link in the at least one proposed link is indicated by the status code subfield of the second per-site configuration sub-element of each proposed link in the second link information field; For the proposed link accepted by the second MLD, the status code subfield is used to indicate that the link is added successfully; For the proposed link rejected by the second MLD, the status code subfield is used to indicate the failure of the newly added link and / or the reason for the failure.

105. The method of claim 104, wherein For a proposed link whose link capability is incompatible with the link sharing capability, and / or whose operation requirements of the corresponding first subsidiary site are incompatible with the link sharing operation, its status code subfield is used to indicate that the newly added link has failed, and / or the reason for the failure is: the link capability is incompatible with the link sharing capability, and / or the operation requirements of the first subsidiary site are incompatible with the link sharing operation.

106. The method according to claim 104 or 105, wherein The first response frame is a new response frame, and the new response frame is used to add or reject the at least one link to be established when multiple links have been established.

107. The method according to any one of claims 90 to 106, wherein: In a case where the second MLD supports multi-link operation and the second MLD has completed multi-link establishment with the first MLD, the first response frame includes the second multi-link element; In a case where the second MLD supports multi-link operation and the second MLD and the first MLD have not completed multi-link establishment, the first response frame includes a basic multi-link element; In a case where the second MLD does not support the multi-link operation, the first response frame does not include the second multi-link element and the basic multi-link element.

108. The method according to any one of claims 90 to 107, wherein: The second multi-link element is a second newly added reconfiguration multi-link element, and the second newly added reconfiguration multi-link element is used to add the at least one link to be established when the multi-link establishment has been completed.

109. The method according to any one of claims 63 to 109, wherein: The link for sending the first request frame and the link for receiving the first response frame are the same link.

110. The method according to any one of claims 63 to 109, wherein: After adding at least one new link, the at least one new link is a link that is successfully established among the at least one link to be established, and the at least one new link is part of or all of the at least one link to be established, further comprising: The second MLD and the first MLD perform security authentication on the at least one newly added link and the at least one established link, or perform security authentication on the at least one newly added link.

111. The method according to claim 110, wherein The second MLD and the first MLD perform security authentication on the at least one newly added link and the at least one established link, or perform security authentication on the at least one newly added link, including: When the first MLD is in a first state, the second MLD and the first MLD perform security authentication on the at least one newly added link and the at least one established link, and the first state indicates that at least some of the at least one established link have not completed security authentication.

112. The method according to claim 110, wherein The second MLD and the first MLD perform security authentication on the at least one newly added link and the at least one established link, or perform security authentication on the at least one newly added link, including: When the first MLD is in the second state, the second MLD and the first MLD perform security authentication on the at least one newly added link, and the second state indicates that security authentication has been completed for the at least one established link.

113. The method according to any one of claims 110 to 113, wherein: The first part of transmission parameters used by the at least one newly created link is the same as the first part of parameters used by the at least one established link, and / or the second part of parameters used by the at least one newly created link is newly established.

114. The method according to claim 113, wherein The first part of parameters includes at least one of the following: a pairwise transient key PTK and an association identifier AID.

115. The method according to claim 113 or 114, wherein The second part of parameters includes at least one of the following: a multicast transient key GTK, an integrity multicast key IGTK, and a beacon integrity multicast transient key BIGTK.

116. The method according to any one of claims 110 to 115, wherein: The second MLD and the first MLD perform security authentication on the at least one newly added link, including: The second MLD exchanges handshake messages with the first MLD, where the exchange of handshake messages is used to generate a second part of transmission parameters for the at least one newly created link.

117. The method according to claim 116, wherein The handshake message includes a four-way handshake message. The handshake message interaction between the second MLD and the first MLD includes: The second MLD sends a first handshake message to the first MLD, where the first handshake message is used to confirm whether the at least one newly added link uses the first part of transmission parameters; The second MLD receives a second handshake message sent by the first MLD, where the second handshake message is used to synchronize or confirm the first part of transmission parameters used by the at least one newly added link; The second MLD sends a third handshake message to the first MLD, where the third handshake message is used to indicate a second part of transmission parameters used by each of the at least one newly added link; The second MLD receives a fourth handshake message sent by the first MLD, where the fourth handshake message is used to confirm successful establishment of the second part of transmission parameters used for each newly added link.

118. The method according to claim 117, wherein The first handshake message and the second handshake message do not include a random number used to generate the first part of the transmission parameters.

119. The method according to claim 117 or 118, wherein The second handshake message includes link information of each newly added link in the at least one newly added link.

120. The method according to any one of claims 117 to 119, wherein: The third handshake message includes at least one of the following: link information of each newly added link in the at least one newly added link; The multicast temporary key GTK of each newly added link; The integrity multicast key IGTK of each newly added link; The beacon integrity multicast temporary key BIGTK of each newly added link.

121. The method of claim 116, wherein The handshake message includes two multicast handshake messages, and the handshake message interaction between the second MLD and the first MLD includes: The second MLD sends a first multicast handshake message to the first MLD, where the first multicast handshake message is used to indicate a second part of transmission parameters used by each of the at least one newly added link; The second MLD receives a second multicast handshake message sent by the first MLD, where the second multicast handshake message is used to confirm successful establishment of the second part of transmission parameters used by each newly added link.

122. The method according to any one of claims 63 to 121, wherein: The at least one link to be established and the at least one established link use different non-overlapping channels, different links to be established use different non-overlapping channels, and different established links use different non-overlapping channels.

123. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 122, wherein: The first MLD is a non-access point multi-link device non-AP MLD; The second MLD is a non-AP MLD or an access point multi-link device AP MLD.

124. A multi-link reconfiguration apparatus, applied to a first multi-link device (MLD), the apparatus comprising: a first determining unit configured to, when the first multi-link device MLD and the second MLD have completed multi-link establishment and established at least one established link, determine, by the first MLD, whether link capabilities of at least one link to be established are compatible with link sharing capabilities, and / or whether operation requirements of at least one first subordinate station are compatible with link sharing operations; The at least one first subsidiary site is a subsidiary site associated with at least one link to be established in the first MLD; the link sharing capability refers to the capability shared by the at least one established link, and the link sharing operation refers to the operation shared by the at least one established link.

125. A multi-link reconfiguration apparatus, applied to a second multi-link device (MLD), the apparatus comprising: a second transceiver unit configured to receive a first request frame sent by the first MLD; and / or, a first response frame sent to the first MLD; wherein the first request frame is used to request the addition of at least one link to be established in the multi-link reconfiguration, and the first response frame is used to add the at least one link to be established in the multi-link reconfiguration.

126. A communication device comprising: A processor and a memory, the memory being used to store a computer program, the processor being used to call and run the computer program stored in the memory to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 62, or the method according to any one of claims 63 to 123.

127. A chip comprising: A processor, configured to call and run a computer program from a memory so that a device equipped with the chip executes a method as described in any one of claims 1 to 62, or a method as described in any one of claims 63 to 123.

128. [Corrected 22.07.2022 under Rule 91] A computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program, the computer program causing a computer to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 62, or any one of claims 63 to 123.

129. [Corrected 22.07.2022 under Rule 91] A computer program product comprising computer program instructions for causing a computer to perform a method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 62, or a method as claimed in any one of claims 63 to 123.

130. A computer program, the computer program causing a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 62, or any one of claims 63 to 123.

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