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 first multi-link equipment sends a first multi-link element to second multi-link equipment, and / or receives a second multi-link element sent by the second multi-link equipment; the first multi-link element and / or the second multi-link element are / is used for determining at least one of the following: a multi-link reconfiguration type, and the multi-link reconfiguration type is used for indicating to add links or remove links; link information of the first part link; link general information; link information of links associated with the first part of links in the second part of links; wherein the first part of link is a link requested to be added or a link requested to be removed by the first multi-link device, and the second part of link is a link established between the first multi-link device and the second multi-link device when multi-link reconfiguration is carried out or before the multi-link reconfiguration is carried out.

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] The multi-link reconfiguration method provided in the embodiment of the present application includes:

[0006] A first multi-link device sends a first multi-link element to a second multi-link device, and / or receives a second multi-link element sent by the second multi-link device; the first multi-link element and / or the second multi-link element are used to determine at least one of the following:

[0007] A multi-link reconfiguration type, where the multi-link reconfiguration type is used to indicate adding a link or removing a link;

[0008] The first part is the link information of the link;

[0009] General information of the link;

[0010] link information of links in the second part of links that are associated with the first part of links;

[0011] The first part of the links are links that the first multi-link device requests to add or links that the first multi-link device requests to remove, and the second part of the links are links that have been established between the first multi-link device and the second multi-link device during or before the multi-link reconfiguration.

[0012] The multi-link reconfiguration apparatus provided in an embodiment of the present application is applied to a first multi-link device, and the apparatus includes:

[0013] a communication unit, configured to send a first multilink element to a second multilink device and / or receive a second multilink element sent by the second multilink device; the first multilink element and / or the second multilink element being used to determine at least one of the following:

[0014] A multi-link reconfiguration type, where the multi-link reconfiguration type is used to indicate adding a link or removing a link;

[0015] The first part is the link information of the link;

[0016] General information of the link;

[0017] link information of links in the second part of links that are associated with the first part of links;

[0018] The first part of the links are links that the first multi-link device requests to add or links that the first multi-link device requests to remove, and the second part of the links are links that have been established between the first multi-link device and the second multi-link device during or before the multi-link reconfiguration.

[0019] 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.

[0020] 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.

[0021] 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.

[0022] 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.

[0023] 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.

[0024] Through the above technical solution, a new multi-link element (i.e., a first multi-link element and / or a second multi-link element) is introduced. By exchanging the new multi-link element between the first multi-link device and the second multi-link device, it is possible to add a new link or remove an established link based on the second part of links already established between the first multi-link device and the second multi-link device, thereby improving the multi-link reconfiguration mechanism. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] 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:

[0026] FIG1 is a diagram of a communication system architecture used in an embodiment of the present application;

[0027] FIG2-1 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of an embodiment of the present application;

[0028] FIG2-2 is a schematic diagram of another application scenario of an embodiment of the present application;

[0029] Figure 3-1 shows a schematic diagram of the format of a per-site control domain;

[0030] Figure 3-2 shows another format diagram of the per-site control domain;

[0031] FIG4 is a schematic flow chart of a multi-link reconfiguration method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0032] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a format of a multi-link element provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0033] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of a format of a multi-link control field provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0034] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of a format of a bitmap subfield provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0035] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of the format of a general information field provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0036] FIG9 is a schematic diagram of the format of a per-site configuration sub-element provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0037] FIG10-1 is a schematic diagram of the format of a site control subdomain provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0038] FIG10-2 is a schematic diagram of the format of another site control subdomain provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0039] FIG11 is a schematic diagram of a newly added multi-link reconfiguration provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0040] FIG12 is a schematic diagram showing the result composition of a multi-link reconfiguration device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0041] FIG13 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0042] FIG14 is a schematic structural diagram of a chip according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0043] FIG15 is a schematic block diagram of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0044] 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.

[0045] 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).

[0046] FIG1 is an example of a communication system architecture applied in an embodiment of the present application.

[0047] 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.

[0048] 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.

[0049] 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.

[0050] 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.

[0051] 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.

[0052] 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.).

[0053] 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.

[0054] 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.

[0055] 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.

[0056] Figure 2-1 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of an embodiment of the present application.

[0057] 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.

[0058] 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.

[0059] 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.

[0060] 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.

[0061] 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.

[0062] 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. Furthermore, the terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably herein. The term "and / or" herein simply describes an association relationship between associated objects, indicating that three possible relationships can exist. For example, "A and / or B" can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, or B exists alone. Furthermore, the character " / " in this document generally indicates that the associated objects 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 associated relationship. For example, "A indicates B" can mean that A directly indicates B, for example, B can obtain information through A; it can also mean that A indirectly indicates B, for example, A indicates C, and B can obtain information through C; or it can mean that A and B have an associated relationship. 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.

[0063] 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.

[0064] 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.

[0065] 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 Target Beacon Transmission Time (TBTT) information field of the new subordinate AP in the Reduced Neighbor Report element of the beacon frame and / or the probe response frame.

[0066] 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.

[0067] 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:

[0068] 1) Does not contain the Common Info field;

[0069] 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.

[0070]

[0071] Table 1

[0072] 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.

[0073] 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.

[0074] Therefore, for multi-link reconfiguration, a mechanism for adding and / or removing links should be defined based on the association of a non-AP MLD with an AP MLD. 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 multi-link reconfiguration mechanism for adding or removing one or more links based on the association of a non-AP MLD with an AP MLD and successful multi-link establishment.

[0075] It should be noted that although the above description uses non-AP MLD and AP MLD as objects, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application are not limited to this. In the embodiments of the present application, the first multi-link device may be a non-AP MLD, and the second multi-link device may be an AP MLD. Alternatively, the first multi-link device in the embodiments of the present application may be an MLD, and the second multi-link device may be a peer MLD. When the first multi-link device is a non-AP MLD, the affiliated station of the first multi-link device is a non-AP STA (referred to as STA for short). When the second multi-link device is an AP MLD, the affiliated station of the second multi-link device is an AP.

[0076] 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.

[0077] FIG4 is a flow chart of a multi-link reconfiguration method according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG4 , the multi-link reconfiguration method includes the following steps:

[0078] Step 401: A first multi-link device sends a first multi-link element to a second multi-link device, and / or receives a second multi-link element sent by the second multi-link device. The first multi-link element and / or the second multi-link element are used to determine at least one of the following: a multi-link reconfiguration type, where the multi-link reconfiguration type is used to indicate adding or removing a link; link information of a first portion of links; general link information; and link information of links in a second portion of links that are associated with the first portion of links. The first portion of links are links requested to be added or removed by the first multi-link device, and the second portion of links are links established between the first multi-link device and the second multi-link device during or before the multi-link reconfiguration.

[0079] In the embodiment of the present application, the first multi-link element and / or the second multi-link element are used to add links or remove links in multi-link reconfiguration. Here, the added links or removed links can be referred to as reconfigured links (referred to as reconfigured links for short).

[0080] In this embodiment of the present application, the first multilink element and / or the second multilink element is used to determine at least one of the following:

[0081] A multi-link reconfiguration type, where the multi-link reconfiguration type is used to indicate adding a link or removing a link;

[0082] The first part is the link information of the link;

[0083] link general information: if the first part of the links is a link that the first multi-link device requests to add, the link general information refers to general information of the first part of the links and the second part of the links; if the first part of the links is a link that the first multi-link device requests to remove, the link general information refers to general information of the links in the second part after the first part of the links are removed;

[0084] link information of links in the second part of links that are associated with the first part of links;

[0085] The first part of the links are links that the first multi-link device requests to add or links that the first multi-link device requests to remove, and the second part of the links are links that have been established between the first multi-link device and the second multi-link device during or before the multi-link reconfiguration.

[0086] For the convenience of description, the first part of the links may also be described as reconfiguration links, and the second part of the links may be described as established links.

[0087] In the above solution, the links in the second part of links that are associated with the first part of links refer to the links in the second part of links that are affected by the first part of links, or in other words, the links in the second part of links that are affected by the reconfiguration link, or in other words, the links in the second part of links that are affected by the reconfiguration operation (link addition operation or link removal operation). The impact here means that the link capabilities and / or operating parameters are affected. For example: before multi-link reconfiguration, the first multi-link device has link 1 and link 2, and link 1 and link 2 are simultaneous transmitting and receiving (STR) link pairs, so these two links do not have non-simultaneous transmitting and receiving (NSTR) parameters; when link reconfiguration is performed, link 3 is to be added. If link 3 and link 2 are an NSTR link pair, then link 2 is the link affected by the link addition operation (the addition operation of link 3).

[0088] The following describes the specific implementation of the first multi-link element and the second multi-link element in the embodiment of the present application.

[0089] First Multilink Element

[0090] In this embodiment of the present application, the first multi-link element includes at least one of the following:

[0091] a first multi-link control field, where the first multi-link control field is used to indicate the multi-link reconfiguration type;

[0092] A first general information field, where the first general information field is used to indicate the general information of the link;

[0093] The first link information field is used to indicate the link information of the first part of the link and / or the link information of the link associated with the first part of the link in the second part of the link.

[0094] Furthermore, in some optional implementations, the first multi-link element further includes at least one of the following:

[0095] A first element identification field, where the first element identification field is used to indicate an element identification of the first multilink element;

[0096] a first length field, where the first length field is used to indicate the length of the first multilink element;

[0097] The first element identifier extension field is used to indicate the extended element identifier of the first multilink element.

[0098] The first multilink control field in the first multilink element

[0099] For the first multi-link control field in the first multi-link element, one or more sub-fields in the first multi-link control field are used to indicate the type and / or sub-type of the first multi-link element, and the type and / or sub-type of the first multi-link element is used to determine the multi-link reconfiguration type. The format of the first multi-link control field can be, but is not limited to, the following:

[0100] 1) The first multi-link control field includes a first type sub-field, where the first type sub-field is used to indicate the type and / or sub-type of the first multi-link element.

[0101] 2) The first multi-link control field includes a first type sub-field and a first sub-type sub-field, the first type sub-field is used to indicate the type of the first multi-link element, and the first type sub-field is used to indicate the sub-type of the first multi-link element.

[0102] 3) The first multi-link control field includes a first subtype subfield, and the first subtype subfield is used to indicate the subtype of the first multi-link element.

[0103] In the above solution, the type of the first multi-link element is a reconfiguration multi-link element. The subtype of the first multi-link element is a first-type reconfiguration multi-link element or a second-type reconfiguration multi-link element, the first-type reconfiguration multi-link element is used to add a link in a multi-link reconfiguration, and the second-type reconfiguration multi-link element is used to remove a link in a multi-link reconfiguration.

[0104] Here, since the first-type reconfiguration multilink element is used to add a link in multilink reconfiguration, the first-type reconfiguration multilink element can be referred to as an additional reconfiguration multilink element. Similarly, since the second-type reconfiguration multilink element is used to remove a link in multilink reconfiguration, the second-type reconfiguration multilink element can be referred to as a removal reconfiguration multilink element.

[0105] Furthermore, in some optional implementations, the first multi-link control field further includes a first presence bitmap subfield, where the first presence bitmap subfield is used to indicate a subfield present in the first general information field in the first multi-link element. Optionally, the first presence bitmap subfield includes at least one of the following:

[0106] A first portion of bits, where the first portion of bits is used to indicate whether a first MLD media access control (MAC) address subfield exists in the first general information field;

[0107] A second portion of bits, where the second portion of bits is used to indicate whether a first link identification information subfield exists in the first general information field;

[0108] a third portion of bits, the third portion of bits being used to indicate whether a first basic service set (BBS) parameter change count subfield exists in the first general information field;

[0109] A fourth portion of bits, where the fourth portion of bits is used to indicate whether a first enhanced multi-link (EML) capability subfield exists in the first general information field;

[0110] A fifth portion of bits is used to indicate whether a first MLD capability subfield exists in the first general information field.

[0111] The first general information field in the first multilink element

[0112] For the first general information field in the first multilink element, the first general information field includes at least one of the following:

[0113] A first general information length subfield, where the first general information length subfield is used to indicate the length of the first general information field;

[0114] a first MLD MAC address subfield, where the first MLD MAC address subfield is used to indicate the MLD MAC address of the first multi-link device;

[0115] A first link identification information subfield, where the first link identification information subfield is used to indicate a link identification or a reconfigured link identification corresponding to the affiliated station that sends the first multi-link element;

[0116] A first BBS parameter change count (BSS Parameters Change Count) subfield, where the first BBS parameter change count subfield is used to count key updates of BSS parameters;

[0117] a first EML capability subfield, where the first EML capability subfield is used to indicate the EML capability of the first multi-link device;

[0118] A first MLD capability subfield is used to indicate the MLD capability of the first multi-link device.

[0119] For the first MLD capability subfield in the first general information field, the first MLD capability subfield includes at least one of the following:

[0120] A first part of the MLD capability subfield, where the first part of the MLD capability subfield is used to indicate a first part of the MLD capability information affected by the multi-link reconfiguration;

[0121] The second part of the MLD capability subfield is used to indicate the second part of the MLD capability information that is not affected by the multi-link reconfiguration.

[0122] Here, when the first part of the links is a link requested to be added by the first multi-link device, the first part of the MLD capability information indicated by the first part of the MLD capability subfield is updated according to the first part of the links and the second part of the links based on the requested multi-link reconfiguration; or, when the first part of the links is a link requested to be removed by the first multi-link device, the first part of the MLD capability information indicated by the first part of the MLD capability subfield is updated according to the link in the second part of the links after the first part of the links are removed based on the requested multi-link reconfiguration.

[0123] Here, when the first MLD capability subfield includes the second partial MLD capability subfield, the second partial MLD capability information indicated by the second partial MLD capability subfield remains consistent with the second partial MLD capability information used by the second partial link during or before multi-link reconfiguration; or, when the first MLD capability subfield does not include the second partial MLD capability subfield, it is assumed that the second partial MLD capability information is consistent with the second partial MLD capability information used by the second partial link during or before multi-link reconfiguration.

[0124] In some optional implementations, the first part of the MLD capability subfield includes at least one of the following:

[0125] A first maximum number of concurrent links (Maximum Number Of Simultaneous Links) subfield, where the first maximum number of concurrent links subfield is used to indicate the maximum number of concurrent links;

[0126] The first STR frequency domain isolation (Frequency Separation For STR) subfield is used to indicate the STR frequency domain interval between links.

[0127] Here, when the first part of the links is a link requested to be added by the first multi-link device, the maximum number of concurrent links indicated by the first maximum number of concurrent links subfield is updated based on the requested multi-link reconfiguration according to the link status of the first part of the links and the second part of the links; or, when the first part of the links is a link requested to be removed by the first multi-link device, the maximum number of concurrent links indicated by the first maximum number of concurrent links subfield is updated based on the requested multi-link reconfiguration according to the link status of the second part of the links after the first part of the links are removed.

[0128] Here, in the case where the first part of the link is a link requested to be added by the first multi-link device, the STR frequency domain interval indicated by the first STR frequency domain isolation subfield is updated based on the requested multi-link reconfiguration according to the STR frequency domain interval between the first part of the links, the STR frequency domain interval between the second part of the links, and the STR frequency domain interval between the first part of the link and the second part of the link; or, in the case where the first part of the link is a link requested to be removed by the first multi-link device, the STR frequency domain interval indicated by the first STR frequency domain isolation subfield is updated based on the requested multi-link reconfiguration according to the STR frequency domain interval between the links in the second part of the link after the first part of the link is removed.

[0129] In some optional implementations, the second part of the MLD capability subfield includes at least one of the following:

[0130] A first single response scheduling support (SRS Support) subfield, where the first single response scheduling support subfield is used to indicate a single response scheduling support capability;

[0131] A first flow identifier to link mapping negotiation support (TID-To-Link Mapping Negotiation Support) subfield is used to indicate a flow identifier to link mapping negotiation support capability.

[0132] The first link information field in the first multilink element

[0133] For the first link information field in the first multi-link element, the first link information field includes site information of the affiliated site corresponding to each link in the first part of the link and / or the second part of the link associated with the first part of the link in the first multi-link device.

[0134] In some implementations, the site information is carried in a per-site configuration sub-element, where the per-site configuration sub-element includes at least one of the following:

[0135] A first sub-element identifier subfield, where the first sub-element identifier subfield is used to indicate a sub-element identifier of the per-site configuration sub-element;

[0136] A first length subfield, where the first length subfield is used to indicate the length of the per-site configuration sub-element;

[0137] a first site control subdomain, where the first site control subdomain is used to indicate site control information;

[0138] A first site information subfield, where the first site information subfield is used to indicate site information;

[0139] The first site configuration subfield is used to indicate site configuration information.

[0140] In some implementations, the first site control subfield in the per-site configuration sub-element is implemented as follows:

[0141] Option 1-1) When the first multilink element is a first-type multilink element, the first site control subdomain includes at least one of the following:

[0142] A first link identification subfield, where the first link identification subfield is used to indicate a target link;

[0143] A first link reconfiguration indication subfield, where the first link reconfiguration indication subfield is used to indicate the type of reconfiguration operation performed on the target link;

[0144] a first complete configuration subfield, where the first complete configuration subfield is used to indicate whether the first site configuration subfield carries complete site configuration information;

[0145] A first MAC address exists subdomain, where the first MAC address exists subdomain is used to indicate whether a site MAC address subdomain exists in the first site information subdomain;

[0146] A first beacon interval (Beacon Interval) subfield exists, where the first beacon interval subfield is used to indicate whether a beacon interval subfield exists in the first site information subfield;

[0147] A first delivery traffic indication map (DTIM) information existence subfield is provided, where the first DTIM information existence subfield is used to indicate whether a DTIM information subfield exists in the first site information subfield;

[0148] a first non-simultaneous transmitting and receiving (NSTR) link pair existence subfield, where the first NSTR link pair existence subfield is used to indicate whether an NSTR link pair subfield exists in the first site information subfield;

[0149] The first NSTR bitmap size subfield is used to indicate the NSTR bitmap size;

[0150] A first BSS parameter change count subfield exists, where the first BSS parameter change count subfield is used to indicate whether a BSS parameter change count subfield exists in the first site information subfield;

[0151] The first type of reconfiguration multi-link element is used to add a link in multi-link reconfiguration.

[0152] Option 1-2) When the first multilink element is a second-type multilink element, the first site control subdomain includes at least one of the following:

[0153] A first link identification subfield, where the first link identification subfield is used to indicate a target link;

[0154] A first link reconfiguration indication subfield, where the first link reconfiguration indication subfield is used to indicate the type of reconfiguration operation performed on the target link;

[0155] A first MAC address exists subdomain, where the first MAC address exists subdomain is used to indicate whether a site MAC address subdomain exists in the first site information subdomain;

[0156] a first removal timer existence subfield, where the first removal timer existence subfield is used to indicate whether a removal timer subfield exists in the first site information subfield;

[0157] The second type of reconfiguration multi-link element is used to remove a link in multi-link reconfiguration.

[0158] For the first link reconfiguration indication subfield in the first site control subfield, the indication mode of the first link reconfiguration indication subfield may be, but is not limited to, the following two modes:

[0159] The first type: the first link reconfiguration indication subfield is set to a first value, used to indicate that a link removal operation is to be performed on the target link; or, the first link reconfiguration indication subfield is set to a second value, used to indicate that a link addition operation is to be performed on the target link; or, the first link reconfiguration indication subfield is set to a third value, used to indicate that the target link is a link that does not require a link removal operation or a link addition operation and / or indicates that the target link is a link that requires a link adjustment operation and / or indicates that the target link is a link in the second part of links that is associated with the first part of links. Here, the link adjustment operation can be, for example, an adjustment operation of the link capability and / or parameters.

[0160] The second type: the first link reconfiguration indication subfield is set to a first value, used to indicate that one of the link deletion operation and link addition operation is to be performed on the target link; or, the first link reconfiguration indication subfield is set to a second value, used to indicate that the target link is a link that does not require a link removal operation and a link addition operation and / or indicates that the target link is a link that requires a link adjustment operation and / or indicates that the target link is a link in the second part of the links that is associated with the first part of the links.

[0161] In some implementations, the first site information subfield in the per-site configuration sub-element is implemented as follows:

[0162] Option 2-1) When the first multilink element is a first-type multilink element, the first site information subfield includes at least one of the following:

[0163] First station information length (STA Information Length) subfield;

[0164] First station MAC address (STA MAC Address) subfield;

[0165] First beacon interval (Beacon Interval) subfield;

[0166] First time synchronization function (Timing Synchronization Function, TSF) offset (Offset) subfield;

[0167] First DTIM information (DTIM Information) subfield;

[0168] The first NSTR indication bitmap (NSTR Indication Bitmap) subfield;

[0169] First BSS parameter change count (BSS Parameters Change Count) subfield;

[0170] First TSF subdomain.

[0171] In some optional embodiments, for links in the second portion of links associated with the first portion of links, the first site information subfield corresponding to the link includes a first site information subfield, where the first site information subfield is used to indicate updated site information. Optionally, for links in the second portion of links associated with the first portion of links, the first site information subfield corresponding to the link also includes a second site information subfield, where the second site information subfield is used to indicate unupdated site information. As an example, the first site information subfield includes at least one of the following: a first NSTR indication bitmap subfield; a first beacon interval subfield; a first TSF offset subfield; a first DTIM information subfield; a first NSTR indication bitmap subfield; or a first BSS parameter change count subfield. Alternatively, for the first multi-link device as the requestor of link reconfiguration, the first site information subfield in the per-site configuration subelement corresponding to the link receiving the reconfiguration response (i.e., the link in the second portion of links associated with the first portion of links) in the first link information field of the first multi-link element sent by the device carries the first NSTR indication bitmap subfield.

[0172] Option 2-2) When the first multilink element is a second-type multilink element, the first site information subfield includes at least one of the following:

[0173] First station MAC address (STA MAC Address) subfield;

[0174] First remove timer (Delete Timer) subfield.

[0175] In the embodiment of the present application, the first multi-link device sending the first multi-link element to the second multi-link device may be implemented in the following manner:

[0176] Method 1: The first multi-link device sends the first multi-link element to the second multi-link device through any established link in the second part of links.

[0177] Mode 2: The first multi-link device sends a first multi-link element to the second multi-link device through any link to be established in the first part of links, where the first part of links is the link that the first multi-link device requests to add.

[0178] It should be noted that, in the case where the first multilink element is carried in an action frame, the first multilink element (or the action frame carrying the first multilink element) needs to be sent through the above-mentioned method 1.

[0179] In some embodiments, the first multilink element is carried in a first action field of a first request frame, the first action field including a first multilink element field, the first multilink element field being used to indicate the first multilink element. Optionally, the first action field also includes at least one of the following: a first type field, the first type field being used to indicate the type of the first action field; a first protected action field, the first protected action field being used to indicate a protected action; and a first dialog token field, the first dialog token field being used to indicate a dialog token corresponding to the first request frame.

[0180] Second Multilink Element

[0181] In this embodiment of the present application, the second multilink element includes at least one of the following:

[0182] a second multi-link control field, where the second multi-link control field is used to indicate the multi-link reconfiguration type;

[0183] A second general information field, where the second general information field is used to indicate the general information of the link;

[0184] The second link information field is used to indicate the link information of the first part of the link and / or the link information of the link associated with the first part of the link in the second part of the link.

[0185] Furthermore, in some optional implementations, the second multi-link element further includes at least one of the following:

[0186] A second element identification field, where the second element identification field is used to indicate the element identification of the second multilink element;

[0187] A second length field, where the second length field is used to indicate the length of the second multilink element;

[0188] The second element identifier extension field is used to indicate the extended element identifier of the second multilink element.

[0189] The second multilink control field in the second multilink element

[0190] For the second multilink control field in the second multilink element, one or more subfields in the second multilink control field are used to indicate the type and / or subtype of the second multilink element, and the type and / or subtype of the second multilink element is used to determine the multilink reconfiguration type. The format of the second multilink control field can be, but is not limited to, the following:

[0191] 1) The second multi-link control field includes a second type sub-field, where the second type sub-field is used to indicate a type and / or sub-type of the second multi-link element.

[0192] 2) The second multi-link control field includes a second type sub-field and a second sub-type sub-field, the second type sub-field is used to indicate the type of the second multi-link element, and the second type sub-field is used to indicate the subtype of the second multi-link element.

[0193] 3) The second multi-link control field includes a second subtype subfield, and the second subtype subfield is used to indicate the subtype of the second multi-link element.

[0194] In the above solution, the type of the second multi-link element is a reconfiguration multi-link element. The subtype of the second multi-link element is a first-type reconfiguration multi-link element or a second-type reconfiguration multi-link element, the first-type reconfiguration multi-link element is used to add a link in a multi-link reconfiguration, and the second-type reconfiguration multi-link element is used to remove a link in a multi-link reconfiguration.

[0195] Here, since the first-type reconfiguration multilink element is used to add a link in multilink reconfiguration, the first-type reconfiguration multilink element can be referred to as an additional reconfiguration multilink element. Similarly, since the second-type reconfiguration multilink element is used to remove a link in multilink reconfiguration, the second-type reconfiguration multilink element can be referred to as a removal reconfiguration multilink element.

[0196] Furthermore, in some optional implementations, the second multi-link control field further includes a second presence bitmap subfield, where the second presence bitmap subfield is used to indicate a subfield present in the second general information field in the second multi-link element. Optionally, the second presence bitmap subfield includes at least one of the following:

[0197] a sixth portion of bits, where the sixth portion of bits is used to indicate whether a second MAC address subfield exists in the second general information field;

[0198] a seventh portion of bits, where the seventh portion of bits is used to indicate whether a second link identification information subfield exists in the second general information field;

[0199] an eighth portion of bits, where the eighth portion of bits is used to indicate whether a second BBS parameter change count subfield exists in the second general information field;

[0200] a ninth portion of bits, where the ninth portion of bits is used to indicate whether a second EML capability subfield exists in the second general information field;

[0201] A tenth portion of bits is used to indicate whether a second MLD capability subfield exists in the second general information field.

[0202] The second general information field in the second multilink element

[0203] For the second general information field in the second multilink element, the second general information field includes at least one of the following:

[0204] A second general information length subfield, where the second general information length subfield is used to indicate the length of the second general information field;

[0205] a second MLD MAC address subfield, where the second MLD MAC address subfield is used to indicate the MLD MAC address of the second multi-link device;

[0206] A second link identification information subfield, where the second link identification information subfield is used to indicate a link identification or a reconfigured link identification corresponding to the affiliated station that sends the second multi-link element;

[0207] A second BBS parameter change count subfield, where the second BBS parameter change count subfield is used to count key updates of BSS parameters;

[0208] A second EML capability subfield, where the second EML capability subfield is used to indicate the EML capability of the second multi-link device;

[0209] The second MLD capability subfield is used to indicate the MLD capability of the second multi-link device.

[0210] For the second MLD capability subfield in the second general information field, the second MLD capability subfield includes at least one of the following:

[0211] A third part MLD capability subfield, wherein the third part MLD capability subfield is used to indicate the third part MLD capability information affected by the multi-link reconfiguration;

[0212] The fourth part of the MLD capability subfield is used to indicate the fourth part of the MLD capability information that is not affected by the multi-link reconfiguration.

[0213] Here, when the first part of the links is a link requested to be added by the first multi-link device, the third part of the MLD capability information indicated by the third part of the MLD capability subfield is updated according to the first part of the links and the second part of the links based on the requested multi-link reconfiguration; or, when the first part of the links is a link requested to be removed by the first multi-link device, the third part of the MLD capability information indicated by the third part of the MLD capability subfield is updated according to the link in the second part of the links after the first part of the links are removed based on the requested multi-link reconfiguration.

[0214] Here, when the second MLD capability subfield includes the fourth partial MLD capability subfield, the fourth partial MLD capability information indicated by the fourth partial MLD capability subfield remains consistent with the fourth partial MLD capability information adopted by the second partial link during or before multi-link reconfiguration; or, when the second MLD capability subfield does not include the fourth partial MLD capability subfield, the fourth partial MLD capability information is assumed to be consistent with the fourth partial MLD capability information adopted by the second partial link during or before multi-link reconfiguration.

[0215] In some optional implementations, the third part of the MLD capability subfield includes at least one of the following:

[0216] The second maximum number of concurrent links subfield is used to indicate the maximum number of concurrent links;

[0217] The second STR frequency domain isolation subfield is used to indicate the STR frequency domain interval between links.

[0218] Here, when the first part of the links is a link requested to be added by the first multi-link device, the maximum number of concurrent links indicated by the second maximum number of concurrent links subfield is updated based on the requested multi-link reconfiguration according to the link status of the first part of the links and the second part of the links; or, when the first part of the links is a link requested to be removed by the first multi-link device, the maximum number of concurrent links indicated by the second maximum number of concurrent links subfield is updated based on the requested multi-link reconfiguration according to the link status after the first part of the links are removed from the second part of the links.

[0219] Here, in the case where the first part of the link is a link requested to be added by the first multi-link device, the STR frequency domain interval indicated by the second STR frequency domain isolation subfield is updated based on the requested multi-link reconfiguration according to the STR frequency domain interval between the first part of the links, the STR frequency domain interval between the second part of the links, and the STR frequency domain interval between the first part of the link and the second part of the link; or, in the case where the first part of the link is a link requested to be removed by the first multi-link device, the STR frequency domain interval indicated by the second STR frequency domain isolation subfield is updated based on the requested multi-link reconfiguration according to the STR frequency domain interval between the links after the first part of the link is removed from the second part of the link.

[0220] In some optional implementations, the fourth part of the MLD capability subfield includes at least one of the following:

[0221] A second single response scheduling support subfield, where the second single response scheduling support subfield is used to indicate a single response scheduling support capability;

[0222] The second flow identifier to link mapping negotiation support subfield is used to indicate the flow identifier to link mapping negotiation support capability.

[0223] The second link information field in the second multilink element

[0224] For the second link information field in the second multi-link element, the second link information field includes site information of the affiliated site corresponding to each link in the first part of the link and / or the links associated with the first part of the link in the second part of the link in the second multi-link device.

[0225] In some implementations, the site information is carried in a per-site configuration sub-element, where the per-site configuration sub-element includes at least one of the following:

[0226] A second sub-element identifier subfield, where the second sub-element identifier subfield is used to indicate the sub-element identifier of the per-site configuration sub-element;

[0227] A second length subfield, where the second length subfield is used to indicate the length of the per-site configuration sub-element;

[0228] a second site control subdomain, where the second site control subdomain is used to indicate site control information;

[0229] A second site information subfield, where the second site information subfield is used to indicate site information;

[0230] The second site configuration subfield is used to indicate site configuration information.

[0231] In some implementations, the second site control subfield in the per-site configuration sub-element is implemented as follows:

[0232] Option 3-1) When the second multilink element is a first-type multilink element, the second site control subdomain includes at least one of the following:

[0233] A second link identification subfield, wherein the first link identification subfield is used to indicate a target link;

[0234] A second link reconfiguration indication subfield, where the second link reconfiguration indication subfield is used to indicate the type of reconfiguration operation performed on the target link;

[0235] a second complete configuration subfield, where the second complete configuration subfield is used to indicate whether the first site configuration subfield carries complete site configuration information;

[0236] a second MAC address existence subdomain, where the second MAC address existence subdomain is used to indicate whether a site MAC address subdomain exists in the first site information subdomain;

[0237] A second beacon interval existence subfield is used to indicate whether a beacon interval subfield exists in the first site information subfield;

[0238] a second DTIM information existence subfield, where the second DTIM information existence subfield is used to indicate whether a DTIM information subfield exists in the first site information subfield;

[0239] a second NSTR link pair existence subdomain, where the second NSTR link pair existence subdomain is used to indicate whether an NSTR link pair subdomain exists in the first site information subdomain;

[0240] The second NSTR bitmap size subfield is used to indicate the NSTR bitmap size;

[0241] A second BSS parameter change count existence subfield, where the second BSS parameter change count existence subfield is used to indicate whether a BSS parameter change count subfield exists in the first site information subfield;

[0242] The second type of reconfiguration multi-link element is used to add a link in multi-link reconfiguration.

[0243] Option 3-2) When the second multilink element is a second-type multilink element, the second site control subdomain includes at least one of the following:

[0244] A second link identification subfield, where the second link identification subfield is used to indicate a target link;

[0245] A second link reconfiguration indication subfield, where the second link reconfiguration indication subfield is used to indicate the type of reconfiguration operation performed on the target link;

[0246] A second MAC address exists subdomain, where the second MAC address exists subdomain is used to indicate whether a site MAC address subdomain exists in the second site information subdomain;

[0247] a second removal timer existence subfield, where the second removal timer existence subfield is used to indicate whether a removal timer subfield exists in the second site information subfield;

[0248] The second type of reconfiguration multi-link element is used to remove a link in multi-link reconfiguration.

[0249] For the second link reconfiguration indication subfield in the second site control subfield, the indication mode of the second link reconfiguration indication subfield may be, but is not limited to, the following two modes:

[0250] The first type: the second link reconfiguration indication subfield is set to a first value, used to indicate that a link removal operation is to be performed on the target link; or, the second link reconfiguration indication subfield is set to a second value, used to indicate that a link addition operation is to be performed on the target link; or, the second link reconfiguration indication subfield is set to a third value, used to indicate that the target link is a link that does not require a link removal operation and a link addition operation and / or indicates that the target link is a link that requires a link adjustment operation and / or indicates that the target link is a link in the second part of the links that is associated with the first part of the links.

[0251] The second type: the second link reconfiguration indication subfield is set to a first value, used to indicate that one of the link deletion operation and link addition operation is to be performed on the target link; or, the second link reconfiguration indication subfield is set to a second value, used to indicate that the target link is a link that does not require a link removal operation and a link addition operation and / or indicates that the target link is a link that requires a link adjustment operation and / or indicates that the target link is a link in the second part of the links that is associated with the first part of the links.

[0252] In some implementations, the second site information subfield in the per-site configuration sub-element is implemented as follows:

[0253] Option 4-1) When the second multilink element is a first-type multilink element, the second site information subfield includes at least one of the following:

[0254] Second site information length subfield;

[0255] Second site MAC address subdomain;

[0256] Second beacon interval subfield;

[0257] Second TSF offset subfield

[0258] Second DTIM information subfield;

[0259] The second NSTR indicates the bitmap subfield;

[0260] The second BSS parameter change count subfield;

[0261] Second TSF subdomain.

[0262] In some optional embodiments, for a link in the second portion of links associated with the first portion of links, the second site information subfield corresponding to the link includes a third site information subfield, where the third site information subfield is used to indicate updated site information. Optionally, for a link in the second portion of links associated with the first portion of links, the second site information subfield corresponding to the link also includes a fourth site information subfield, where the fourth site information subfield is used to indicate unupdated site information. As an example, the third site information subfield includes at least one of the following: a second NSTR bitmap subfield; a second beacon interval subfield; a second TSF offset subfield; a second DTIM information subfield; a second NSTR indication bitmap subfield; or a second BSS parameter change count subfield. As an optional solution, for the second multi-link device, the second site information subfield in the per-site configuration subfield corresponding to the link subject to the reconfiguration response (i.e., the link in the second part of the links associated with the first part of the links) in the second link information field in the second multi-link element sent by it as the responder of the link reconfiguration carries the second beacon interval subfield, the second TSF offset subfield, the second DTIM information subfield, the second NSTR indication bitmap subfield, and the second BSS parameter change count subfield.

[0263] Option 4-2) When the second multilink element is a second-type multilink element, the second site information subfield includes at least one of the following:

[0264] Second site MAC address subdomain;

[0265] The second removes the timer subfield.

[0266] In some embodiments, for the second site configuration subfield in the per-site configuration sub-element, the second site configuration subfield includes a status code. For a newly added link accepted by the second multi-link device, the status code included in the second site configuration subfield of the per-site configuration sub-element corresponding to the link indicates that the newly added link was successful; for a newly added link rejected by the second multi-link device, the status code included in the second site configuration subfield of the per-site configuration sub-element corresponding to the link indicates that the newly added link failed.

[0267] In the embodiment of the present application, the first multi-link device sending the first multi-link element to the second multi-link device may be implemented in the following manner:

[0268] The first multi-link device receives the second multi-link element sent by the second multi-link device on the link on which the first multi-link device sends the first multi-link element.

[0269] It should be noted that, in the case where the second multilink element is carried in an action frame, the second multilink element (or the action frame carrying the second multilink element) needs to be sent through any established link in the second part of links.

[0270] In some embodiments, the second multilink element is carried in the second action field of the first response frame, the second action field including a second multilink element field, which is used to indicate the second multilink element. Optionally, the second action field also includes at least one of the following: a second type field, which is used to indicate the type of the second action field; a second protected action field, which is used to indicate a protected action; a second conversation token field, which is used to indicate the conversation token corresponding to the first response frame; and a status code field, which is used to indicate whether the requested multilink reconfiguration is accepted. The value of the conversation token corresponding to the first response frame is the same as the value of the conversation token corresponding to the first request frame in the above-described solution.

[0271] Here, the status code field is set to different values ​​to indicate the second multi-link device's acceptance of newly added links. In some embodiments, the status code field is set to a first value to indicate that the second multi-link device accepts all newly added link establishment requests; the status code field is set to a second value to indicate that the second multi-link device rejects all newly added link establishment requests; and the status code field is set to a third value to indicate that the second multi-link device accepts some newly added link establishment requests and / or rejects some newly added link establishment requests.

[0272] In an embodiment of the present application, when the first partial link is a link requested to be added by the first multi-link device, after the first partial link is added, the first partial parameters used by the first partial link and the second partial link remain unchanged; and / or the second partial parameters used by the first partial link are re-established.

[0273] In some implementations, the first part of parameters includes at least one of the following: a pairwise transient key (PTK) and an association identifier (AID).

[0274] In some embodiments, the second part of the parameters includes at least one of the following: a group temporary key (Group Temporal Key, GTK), an integrity group temporary key (Integrity Group Temporal Key, IGTK), and a beacon integrity group temporary key (Beacon Integrity Group Temporal Key, BIGTK).

[0275] In the above solution, the first multi-link device and the second multi-link device exchange handshake messages, and the exchange of handshake messages is used to establish the second part parameters for the first part link.

[0276] The above-mentioned solutions of the embodiments of the present application are illustrated below with reference to specific application examples.

[0277] As an application example, the first and second multi-link elements in the above solution are collectively referred to as a multi-link element. This multi-link element can also be referred to as a reconfiguration multi-link element. This reconfiguration multi-link element is used to carry at least one of the following information during a multi-link reconfiguration operation (e.g., an operation to add or remove one or more links): the multi-link reconfiguration type, general link information (i.e., MLD level information of the first multi-link device), link information of the first portion of links (i.e., link information of the reconfiguration links), and link information of links in the second portion of links associated with the first portion of links (i.e., links in the established links affected by the reconfiguration operation). Here, the first portion of links (i.e., the reconfiguration links) refers to the links requested to be added or removed by the first multi-link device, or in other words, the links that need to be added or removed during the reconfiguration operation. The second portion of links (i.e., the established links) refers to the links established between the first multi-link device and the second multi-link device during or before the multi-link reconfiguration. The link information of the links in the second part of links associated with the first part of links (ie, the links in the established links affected by the reconfiguration operation) refers to the links in the established links whose link capabilities and / or operating parameters are affected by the reconfiguration operation.

[0278] In one example, the format of a multilink element is shown in FIG5 , including: an element identification (Element ID) field, a length (Length) field, an element identification extension (Element ID Extension) field, a multi-link control (Multi-Link Control) field, a common information (Common Info) field, and a link information (Link Info) field. The content indicated by each field can refer to the aforementioned related description. It should be noted that the format illustrated in FIG5 is only an example. The multilink element can be changed based on the format shown in FIG5 . For example, it can include more or fewer fields relative to FIG5 . For example, the position of each field included and the number of bytes occupied can be different from FIG5 .

[0279] In one example, the format of the multilink control field in the multilink element is shown in FIG6 , including: a type subfield, a subtype subfield, and a presence bitmap subfield. The content indicated by each subfield can refer to the aforementioned related description. It should be noted that the format shown in FIG6 is only an example, and the multilink control field can be changed based on the format shown in FIG6 . For example, it can include more or fewer subfields relative to FIG6 , and the position of each subfield and the number of bytes occupied can be different from FIG6 .

[0280] As an implementation method, the multi-link control field includes a type subfield (Type subfield) and a subtype subfield (Subtype subfield), wherein the encoding of the type subfield (Type subfield) and the subtype subfield (Subtype subfield) is shown in Table 2-1 and Table 2-2. The type subfield is set to a specific value (such as 2) to indicate that the type of the multi-link element is a reconfiguration multi-link element. The subtype subfield takes different values ​​to indicate different types of reconfiguration multi-link elements. For example, the subtype subfield is set to a first value (such as 1) to indicate a first type of reconfiguration multi-link element (also referred to as a newly added reconfiguration multi-link element). The first type of reconfiguration multi-link element is used to add one or more links in the multi-link reconfiguration. The subtype subfield is set to a second value (such as 0) to indicate a second type of reconfiguration multi-link element (also referred to as a removed reconfiguration multi-link element). The second type of reconfiguration multi-link element is used to remove one or more links in the multi-link reconfiguration.

[0281] The value of the type subfield is a type-specific value of the multilink element (such as 2) that reconfigures the multilink element.

[0282] Table 2-1

[0283]

[0284] Table 2-2

[0285] As an implementation method, the multi-link control domain includes a type subfield (Type subfield), wherein the encoding of the type subfield (Type subfield) is shown in Table 2-3, and the type subfield takes different values ​​to indicate different types of reconfiguration multi-link elements. For example, the type subfield is set to a first value (such as 1) to indicate that the type of the multi-link element is a reconfiguration multi-link element and is a first type of reconfiguration multi-link element (also referred to as a newly added reconfiguration multi-link element). The first type of reconfiguration multi-link element is used to add one or more links in the multi-link reconfiguration. The type subfield is set to a second value (such as 0) to indicate that the type of the multi-link element is a reconfiguration multi-link element and is a second type of reconfiguration multi-link element (also referred to as a removed reconfiguration multi-link element). The second type of reconfiguration multi-link element is used to remove one or more links in the multi-link reconfiguration.

[0286]

[0287] Table 2-3

[0288] As an implementation method, the multi-link control domain may not include a sub-domain (such as a sub-type sub-domain, a type sub-domain) for indicating the type and / or sub-type of the multi-link element. In this case, the corresponding position of the sub-domain is reserved, and the information in the link information domain of the multi-link element is used to indicate whether the current reconfiguration operation is a new link operation or a link removal operation. If the reconfiguration operation is a new link operation, the type of the corresponding multi-link element is a reconfiguration multi-link element and is a first-type reconfiguration multi-link element (also referred to as a new reconfiguration multi-link element). If the reconfiguration operation is a link removal operation, the type of the corresponding multi-link element is a reconfiguration multi-link element and is a second-type reconfiguration multi-link element (also referred to as a removal reconfiguration multi-link element).

[0289] As an implementation, the multilink control field may include a presence bitmap subfield, which is used to indicate which subfields exist in the general information field of the multilink element. In one example, for a first-type reconfigured multilink element (also referred to as a newly added reconfigured multilink element), the format of the presence bitmap subfield in the multilink control field of the multilink element is shown in FIG7 , including: an MLD MAC address present subfield, a link identification information present subfield, a BSS parameter change count present subfield, an EML capability present subfield, and an MLD capability present subfield. The content indicated by each subfield can refer to the aforementioned related description. It should be noted that the format shown in FIG7 is only an example, and the presence bitmap subfield can be changed based on the format shown in FIG7 , for example, it can include more or fewer subfields relative to FIG7 , and for example, the position of each subfield included and the number of bits occupied can be different from FIG7 .

[0290] In one example, the format of the general information field in the multilink element is shown in FIG8 , including: a common information length (Common Info Length) subfield, an MLD MAC address (MLD MAC Address) subfield, a link identification information (Link ID Info) subfield, a BSS parameter change count (BSS Parameters Change Count) subfield, an EML capability (EML Capabilities) subfield, and an MLD capability (MLD Capabilities) subfield. The content indicated by each subfield can refer to the above-mentioned related description. It should be noted that the format shown in FIG8 is only an example, and the general information field can be changed based on the format shown in FIG8 . For example, it can include more or fewer subfields relative to FIG8 , and the position of each subfield included and the number of bytes occupied can be different from FIG8 . It should be noted that the information indicated by the subfields carried in the general information field other than the link identification subfield and the BSS parameter change count subfield refers to the general information of all links (such as established links and newly added links, or links after links are removed from established links). Among them, for the MLD MAC address subdomain, this subdomain is used to indicate the MAC address of the MLD to which the subsidiary site sending the multi-link element is attached, which is consistent with the MLD MAC address used by the MLD to establish the link. For the MLD capability subdomain, this subdomain is used to indicate the MLD capability information affected by multi-link reconfiguration and / or the MLD capability information not affected by multi-link reconfiguration. As an example, the MLD capability information affected by multi-link reconfiguration includes the maximum number of concurrent links (indicated by the maximum number of concurrent links subdomain) and STR frequency domain isolation (indicated by the STR frequency domain isolation subdomain). As an example: the MLD capability information not affected by multi-link reconfiguration includes single response scheduling support capability (indicated by the single response scheduling support subdomain) and flow identifier to link mapping negotiation support capability (indicated by the flow identifier to link mapping negotiation support subdomain). For the MLD capability information affected by multi-link reconfiguration, in the case of newly added links, the MLD capability information affected by multi-link reconfiguration is updated based on the conditions of the newly added links and the established links; in the case of removed links, the MLD capability information affected by multi-link reconfiguration is updated based on the link conditions after the removed links in the established links. For the MLD capability information not affected by multi-link reconfiguration, the MLD capability subfield may include a subfield indicating the MLD capability information or may not include a subfield indicating the MLD capability information. The MLD capability information not affected by multi-link reconfiguration remains consistent with the MLD capability information used by the established links.

[0291] The link information field in the multi-link element carries link information of the reconfigured link and / or the link affected by the reconfiguration operation in the established link. The link information here refers to the site information of the affiliated site working on the link in the MLD. The site information is carried in the per-STA Profile subelements. In an example, the format of the per-STA Profile subelement is shown in Figure 9, including: a subelement identifier (Subelement ID) subfield, a length (Length) subfield, a site control (STA Control) subfield, a site information (STA Info) subfield, and a site profile (STA Profile) subfield. The content indicated by each subfield can refer to the above-mentioned related description. It should be noted that the format shown in Figure 9 is only an example. The per-STA Profile subelement can be changed based on the format shown in Figure 9. For example, it can include more or fewer subfields relative to Figure 9. For example, the position of each subfield included and the number of bytes occupied can be different from Figure 9.

[0292] In an example, for the first type of reconfiguration multi-link element (i.e., a newly configured multi-link element), the format of the site control subfield is shown in Figure 10-1, including: link identification (Link ID) subfield, link reconfiguration indication (Link Reconfiguration Indication) subfield, complete configuration (Complete Profile) subfield, station MAC address present (STA MAC Address Present) subfield, beacon interval present (Beacon Interval Present) subfield, DTIM information present (DTIM Info Present) subfield, NSTR link pair present (NSTR Link Pair Present) subfield, NSTR bitmap size (NSTR Bitmap Size) subfield, BSS parameter change count present (BSS Parameters Change Count Present) subfield. The content indicated by each subfield can refer to the relevant description above. For the second type of reconfiguration multilink element (i.e., removal of the configuration multilink element), the format of the site control subfield is shown in Figure 10-2, including: a link identification (Link ID) subfield, a link reconfiguration indication (Link Reconfiguration Indication) subfield, a complete configuration (Complete Profile) subfield, a MAC address present (MAC Address Present) subfield, and a delete timer present (Delete Timer Present) subfield. The content indicated by each subfield can refer to the aforementioned related description. It should be noted that the formats shown in Figures 10-1 and 10-2 are only exemplary. Each site configuration subelement can be changed based on the format shown in Figures 10-1 and 10-2. For example, it can include more or fewer subfields compared to Figures 10-1 and 10-2. For example, the position of each subfield and the number of bits occupied can be different from those in Figures 10-1 and 10-2.

[0293] The link reconfiguration indication subfield in the site control subfield can be coded in the following two ways:

[0294] As an example, as shown in Table 3-1, the link reconfiguration indication subfield occupies 2 bits, and the link reconfiguration indication subfield is set to a first value (such as 0) to indicate a link removal operation, that is, a link removal operation is performed on the link indicated by the link identification subfield in the site control subfield; the link reconfiguration indication subfield is set to a second value (such as 1) to indicate a link addition operation, that is, a link addition operation is performed on the link indicated by the link identification subfield in the site control subfield; the link reconfiguration indication subfield is set to a third value (such as 2) to indicate an established link affected by the reconfiguration operation, that is, the link indicated by the link identification subfield in the site control subfield is an established link affected by the reconfiguration operation, or to indicate a link for which no addition or deletion operation is performed but the link-related information or parameters are adjusted, that is, the link indicated by the link identification subfield in the site control subfield is a link for which no addition or deletion operation is performed but the link-related information or parameters are adjusted.

[0295]

[0296] Table 3-1

[0297] As an example, as shown in Table 3-2, the link reconfiguration indication subfield occupies 1 bit, and the link reconfiguration indication subfield is set to a first value (such as 0) to indicate one of the link removal operation and link addition operation, that is, performing a link removal operation and a link addition operation on the link indicated by the link identification subfield in the site control subfield, where specifically whether it is a link removal operation or a link addition operation is indicated by the type subfield and / or subtype subfield of the multi-link control domain; the link reconfiguration indication subfield is set to a second value (such as 1) to indicate an established link affected by the reconfiguration operation, that is, the link indicated by the link identification subfield in the site control subfield is an established link affected by the reconfiguration operation, or to indicate a link for which no addition or deletion operation is performed but link-related information or parameters are adjusted, that is, the link indicated by the link identification subfield in the site control subfield is a link for which no addition or deletion operation is performed but link-related information or parameters are adjusted.

[0298]

[0299] Table 3-2

[0300] Depending on whether the multi-link control domain carries a sub-domain indicating the sub-type of the multi-link element (such as the sub-type sub-domain, the type sub-domain), it is determined whether to use the encoding format of the link reconfiguration indication sub-domain shown in Table 3-1 above or the encoding format of the link reconfiguration indication sub-domain shown in Table 3-2 above. Specifically, when the multi-link control domain does not carry a sub-domain indicating the sub-type of the multi-link element (such as the sub-type sub-domain, the type sub-domain), the encoding format of the link reconfiguration indication sub-domain shown in Table 3-1 above is adopted. When the multi-link control domain carries a sub-domain indicating the sub-type of the multi-link element (such as the sub-type sub-domain, the type sub-domain), the encoding format of the link reconfiguration indication sub-domain shown in Table 3-2 above is adopted.

[0301] It should be noted that when the reporting STA of a multilink element is a non-AP STA, the rules for including fields and elements in the Site Configuration field of the multilink element corresponding to the reported non-AP STA are consistent with the rules for including fields and elements in the Site Configuration field of the reported non-AP STA when the basic multilink element is carried in an Association Request frame. When the reporting STA of a multilink element is an AP, the rules for including fields and elements in the Site Configuration field of the multilink element corresponding to the reported AP (i.e., the AP corresponding to the newly added link) are consistent with the rules for including fields and elements in the Site Configuration field of the basic multilink element when it is carried in an Association Response frame.

[0302] As another application example, the first request frame containing the first multi-link element in the above scheme is called a multi-link reconfiguration request frame, and the first response frame containing the second multi-link element in the above scheme is called a multi-link reconfiguration response frame. The multi-link reconfiguration request frame is used to make a multi-link reconfiguration request, and the multi-link reconfiguration response frame is used to reply to the multi-link reconfiguration request frame to indicate acceptance or rejection of the multi-link reconfiguration request. The multi-link reconfiguration request frame is sent by the first multi-link device, and the multi-link reconfiguration response frame is sent by the second multi-link device. Taking the request for establishing a new link as an example, when the first multi-link device has successfully completed the multi-link setup with the second multi-link device, that is, after the first multi-link device is associated with the second multi-link device, if the first multi-link device still has an unassociated subordinate station and the first multi-link device discovers that the second multi-link device has an unassociated subordinate station, the first multi-link device uses the multi-link reconfiguration request frame to initiate a multi-link reconfiguration request to the second multi-link device on the established link to request the establishment of one or more new links.

[0303] In one example, the format of the Action field of the multi-link reconfiguration request frame is shown in Table 4, including: Category field, Protected Action field, Dialog Token field, Reconfiguration Multi-Link element field. The content indicated by each field can refer to the aforementioned related description. It should be noted that the Dialog Token is set to a non-zero value by the subsidiary site that sends the multi-link reconfiguration request frame to identify the request / response transaction. The reconfiguration multi-link element carries the first multi-link element in the above scheme. The type of the first multi-link element can be a newly added reconfiguration multi-link element or a removed reconfiguration multi-link element.

[0304] Sequence Information Field 1 Category 2 Protected Action 3 Dialog Token 4 Reconfiguration Multi-Link Element

[0305] Table 4

[0306] In one example, the format of the action field of the multi-link reconfiguration response frame is shown in Table 5, including: Category field, Protected Action field, Dialog Token field, Status Code field, Reconfiguration Multi-Link element field, and the content indicated by each field can refer to the aforementioned related description. It should be noted that when the multi-link reconfiguration response frame is sent as a response to the multi-link reconfiguration request frame, the dialogue token value of the multi-link reconfiguration response frame is the dialogue token value of the corresponding multi-link reconfiguration request frame. The reconfiguration multi-link element carries the second multi-link element in the above scheme, and the type of the second multi-link element can be a newly added reconfiguration multi-link element or a removed reconfiguration multi-link element.

[0307] Sequence Information Fields 1 Category 2 Protected Action 3 Dialog Token 4 Status Code 5 Reconfiguration Multi-Link Element

[0308] Table 5

[0309] In one example, the status code field in the above solution is coded as shown in Table 6. Different values ​​are set in the status code field to indicate the acceptance of the newly added link by the second multi-link device. The status code field is set to a first value (e.g., 0) to indicate that all new link establishment requests are accepted. This status code value can be named "ACCEPTED_LINK_RECONFIGURATION_ADDITION." In other words, this status code value indicates that all requested new links are established, that is, the first multi-link device requests that the non-AP STA corresponding to the newly added link be associated with the AP corresponding to the second multi-link device. The status code field is set to a second value (e.g., 1) to indicate that all new link establishment requests are rejected. This status code value can be named "DENIED_LINK_RECONFIGURATION_ADDITION." The status code field is set to a third value (e.g., 2) to indicate that some new link establishment requests are accepted and / or some new link establishment requests are rejected. This status code value can be named "PARTIALLY_ACCEPTED_LINK_RECONFIGURATION_ADDITION." In other words, this status code value indicates that the requested establishment of some new links is completed, but the requested establishment of some new links is rejected.

[0310]

[0311] Table 6

[0312] As another application example, the first multi-link device is a non-AP MLD, and the second multi-link device is an AP MLD. After the non-AP MLD has successfully established and associated with the AP MLD, when the non-AP MLD needs to establish a new link or delete an established link with the AP MLD, the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD exchange a multi-link reconfiguration request frame and a multi-link reconfiguration response frame, wherein the multi-link reconfiguration request frame carries the first multi-link element in the above solution, and the multi-link reconfiguration response frame carries the second multi-link element in the above solution. The non-AP MLD can send a multi-link reconfiguration request frame to the AP MLD on an established link to request the establishment of one or more new links or the deletion of one or more established links. The AP MLD can send a multi-link reconfiguration response frame to the non-AP MLD on the link on which the multi-link reconfiguration request frame was received to reply to the multi-link reconfiguration request frame. In the multi-link reconfiguration request frame, the non-AP MLD indicates link information of the reconfigured link and / or links affected by the reconfiguration operation through the first multi-link element. In the multi-link reconfiguration response frame, the AP MLD indicates the successfully added links and / or rejected newly added links, as well as the link information of these links, through the second multi-link element.

[0313] When a non-AP MLD requests a new link, AP MLD can accept all or some of the newly requested links. It should be noted that non-AP MLD must ensure that the newly requested links and the newly requested links and already established links use different, non-overlapping channels. AP MLD must ensure that the newly accepted links and the newly established links use different, non-overlapping channels. After the non-AP MLD and AP MLD successfully establish a new link, they establish multi-link operations that include the newly established link and the links that were successfully established before the new link. After the new link is established, the existing links (including the successfully added links) will continue to use the existing MLD-level operational and management parameters (such as PTK, AID, etc.) that are not affected by the new link operation. The common operational and management parameters (such as the maximum number of concurrent links) for the MLD level or existing links affected by the new link operation will be updated. New operational and management parameters specific to the new link (such as GTK, IGTK, BIGTK, etc.) will also be established. Specifically, the successfully established link between the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD uses the pairwise transient key (PTK) formed by the previously established link to encrypt and decrypt unicast frames. Furthermore, the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD perform a multicast key handshake protocol for the successfully established link to establish the GTK, IGTK, and BIGTK for the newly established link. When the non-AP MLD initiates a new multilink reconfiguration with the AP MLD to establish one or more new links, the non-AP MLD can send a new multilink reconfiguration request frame over one of the successfully established links, and the AP MLD responds with a new multilink reconfiguration response frame on the corresponding link. The new multilink reconfiguration elements carried in the new multilink reconfiguration request frame include a general information field and a link information field. The general information field includes the MLD MAC address, MLD capability, and EML capability subfields, but does not include the link identification information subfield, the BSS parameter change count subfield, or the media synchronization delay information subfield. The Link Information field contains the per-site configuration sub-element corresponding to the newly added link and / or per-site configuration sub-elements for other established links affected by the newly added link. For each per-site configuration sub-element in the Link Information field, the Complete Configuration sub-field in the Site Control field is set to 1. For non-AP sites requesting a new link with an AP affiliated with AP MLD, the Link Identifier sub-field in the Site Control field of the corresponding per-site configuration sub-element is set to the link identifier of the affiliated AP operating on that link in AP MLD.During the AP MLD discovery and multilink discovery phases, the non-AP MLD can obtain the link identifier of the subordinate AP corresponding to the newly added link requested in the AP MLD. The subordinate AP that responds to the newly added multilink reconfiguration request frame in the AP MLD sends a newly added link reconfiguration response frame carrying the newly added multilink reconfiguration element. The newly added multilink reconfiguration element carried in the newly added multilink reconfiguration response frame includes a general information field and a link information field. The general information field includes the MLD MAC address, MLD capability, EML capability subfields, link identifier information subfield, and BSS parameter change count subfield. The link information field contains the per-site configuration sub-element corresponding to the newly added link. For each per-site configuration sub-element in the link information field, the complete configuration subfield of the site control field is set to 1. If the newly added link is accepted, the site configuration subfield of the corresponding per-site configuration sub-element indicates a "success" status code. If the newly added link is not accepted, the site configuration subfield of the corresponding per-site configuration sub-element indicates a "failure reason" status code. The link identifier subfield of the site control field of the per-site configuration sub-element of the AP corresponding to the newly added link is set to the link identifier of the subordinate AP operating on the link in the AP MLD.

[0314] In one example, Figure 11 shows a schematic diagram of a newly added multi-link reconfiguration. As shown in Figure 11, Non-AP MLD has three subordinate stations: Non-AP STA1, Non-AP STA2, and Non-AP STA3; AP MLD has three subordinate stations: AP1, AP2, and AP3. Multi-links have been successfully established between Non-AP MLD and AP MLD. Link 1 between non-AP STA1 and AP1 and Link 2 between STA2 and AP2 have been established. 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. Based on this, Non-AP MLD initiates a new multi-link reconfiguration process. On the successfully established link (for example, Link 1), Non-AP STA1 sends a Multi-Link Reconfiguration Request frame to AP1. The Transmit Address field (TA field) of the Multi-Link Reconfiguration Request frame is set to Non-AP STA1's MAC address, and the Receive Address field (RA field) is set to AP1's MAC address. The Multi-Link Reconfiguration Request frame includes the newly added Reconfigured Multi-Link element described in the above solution, which indicates the MLD MAC address of the non-AP MLD. The Per-STA Profile subelement it carries indicates the complete information of non-AP STA 3, requesting the establishment of a new link between non-AP STA 3 and AP3. AP MLD responds to the requested new link reconfiguration. AP1 sends a multi-link reconfiguration response frame to non-AP STA1. The transport address field (TA field) of the multi-link reconfiguration response frame is set to AP1's MAC address, the reception address field (RA field) is set to non-AP STA1's MAC address, and the frame indicates the successful establishment of a link (link 3) between non-AP STA 3 and AP3. The multi-link reconfiguration response frame includes the newly added multi-link reconfiguration element described above, which indicates AP MLD's MLD MAC address and carries a per-STA profile subelement that contains complete information about AP3. After non-AP MLD and AP MLD successfully complete the newly added multi-link reconfiguration, a new link (link 3) is established between non-AP STA3 and AP3.Furthermore, after link 3 is established, link 3 will continue to use the pairwise transient key (PTK) formed by the successful multilink establishment (link 1 and link 2) between non-AP MLD and AP MLD to encrypt and decrypt unicast frames. In addition, the multicast key handshake protocol for link 3 multicast key establishment is executed through link 1 to establish the GTK, IGTK, and BIGTK for link 3.

[0315] The technical solution of the embodiments of the present application addresses the problem that the scope of the multi-link reconfiguration definition in the specification is limited to the scenario of adding one or more subordinate APs or removing one or more subordinate APs from the AP MLD. It defines a method and mechanism for establishing one or more new links or removing one or more established links based on the fact that a first multi-link device has been associated with a second multi-link device and successfully established multiple links.

[0316] The preferred embodiments of the present application are described in detail above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the present application is not limited to the specific details in the above embodiments. Within the technical concept of the present application, the technical solution of the present application can be subjected to a variety of simple modifications, and these simple modifications all fall within the scope of protection of the present application. For example, the various specific technical features described in the above specific embodiments can be combined in any suitable manner without contradiction. In order to avoid unnecessary repetition, the present application will no longer describe the various possible combinations separately. For another example, the various different embodiments of the present application can also be arbitrarily combined, as long as they do not violate the idea of ​​the present application, they should also be regarded as the contents disclosed in the present application. For another example, under the premise of no conflict, the various embodiments and / or the technical features in each embodiment described in the present application can be arbitrarily combined with the prior art, and the technical solution obtained after the combination should also fall within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0317] It should also be understood that in the various method embodiments of the present application, the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes do not imply a precedence in the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application. In addition, in the embodiments of the present application, the terms "downlink," "uplink," and "sidelink" are used to indicate the transmission direction of signals or data, where "downlink" is used to indicate the first direction of transmission of signals or data from a site to a user equipment in a cell, "uplink" is used to indicate the second direction of transmission of signals or data from a user equipment in a cell to a site, and "sidelink" is used to indicate the third direction of transmission of signals or data from user equipment 1 to user equipment 2. For example, "downlink signal" indicates that the transmission direction of the signal is the first direction. In addition, in the embodiments of the present application, the term "and / or" is merely a description of the association relationship between associated objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. Specifically, A and / or B can represent three situations: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. In addition, the character " / " in this document generally indicates that the associated objects are in an "or" relationship.

[0318] FIG12 is a schematic diagram of the result composition of a multi-link reconfiguration apparatus provided in an embodiment of the present application, which is applied to a first multi-link device. As shown in FIG12 , the apparatus includes:

[0319] The communication unit 1201 is configured to send a first multilink element to a second multilink device and / or receive a second multilink element sent by the second multilink device; the first multilink element and / or the second multilink element are used to determine at least one of the following:

[0320] A multi-link reconfiguration type, where the multi-link reconfiguration type is used to indicate adding a link or removing a link;

[0321] The first part is the link information of the link;

[0322] General information of the link;

[0323] link information of links in the second part of links that are associated with the first part of links;

[0324] The first part of the links are links that the first multi-link device requests to add or links that the first multi-link device requests to remove, and the second part of the links are links that have been established between the first multi-link device and the second multi-link device during or before the multi-link reconfiguration.

[0325] In some embodiments, when the first partial link is a link that the first multi-link device requests to add, the general link information refers to general information of the first partial link and the second partial link; or, when the first partial link is a link that the first multi-link device requests to remove, the general link information refers to general information of the links in the second partial link after the first partial link is removed.

[0326] In some embodiments, the first multilink element includes at least one of the following:

[0327] a first multi-link control field, where the first multi-link control field is used to indicate the multi-link reconfiguration type;

[0328] A first general information field, where the first general information field is used to indicate the general information of the link;

[0329] The first link information field is used to indicate the link information of the first part of the link and / or the link information of the link associated with the first part of the link in the second part of the link.

[0330] In some embodiments, the first multi-link element further includes at least one of the following:

[0331] A first element identification field, where the first element identification field is used to indicate an element identification of the first multilink element;

[0332] a first length field, where the first length field is used to indicate the length of the first multilink element;

[0333] The first element identifier extension field is used to indicate the extended element identifier of the first multilink element.

[0334] In some embodiments, one or more subfields in the first multi-link control field are used to indicate the type and / or subtype of the first multi-link element, and the type and / or subtype of the first multi-link element is used to determine the multi-link reconfiguration type.

[0335] In some embodiments, the first multi-link control domain includes a first type sub-domain, and the first type sub-domain is used to indicate the type and / or sub-type of the first multi-link element; or, the first multi-link control domain includes a first type sub-domain and a first sub-type sub-domain, the first type sub-domain is used to indicate the type of the first multi-link element, and the first type sub-domain is used to indicate the sub-type of the first multi-link element; or, the first multi-link control domain includes a first sub-type sub-domain, and the first sub-type sub-domain is used to indicate the sub-type of the first multi-link element.

[0336] In some implementations, the type of the first multilink element is a reconfiguration multilink element.

[0337] In some embodiments, the subtype of the first multi-link element is a first-type reconfiguration multi-link element or a second-type reconfiguration multi-link element, the first-type reconfiguration multi-link element is used to add links in multi-link reconfiguration, and the second-type reconfiguration multi-link element is used to remove links in multi-link reconfiguration.

[0338] In some implementations, the first multi-link control field further includes a first existence bitmap sub-field, where the first existence bitmap sub-field is used to indicate a sub-field existing in the first general information field in the first multi-link element.

[0339] In some embodiments, the first presence bitmap subfield includes at least one of the following:

[0340] A first portion of bits, where the first portion of bits is used to indicate whether a first MLD MAC address subfield exists in the first general information field;

[0341] A second portion of bits, where the second portion of bits is used to indicate whether a first link identification information subfield exists in the first general information field;

[0342] A third portion of bits, where the third portion of bits is used to indicate whether a first BBS parameter change count subfield exists in the first general information field;

[0343] a fourth portion of bits, where the fourth portion of bits is used to indicate whether a first EML capability subfield exists in the first general information field;

[0344] A fifth part of bits is used to indicate whether a first MLD capability subfield exists in the first general information field.

[0345] In some embodiments, the first general information field includes at least one of the following:

[0346] A first general information length subfield, where the first general information length subfield is used to indicate the length of the first general information field;

[0347] a first MLD MAC address subfield, where the first MLD MAC address subfield is used to indicate the MLD MAC address of the first multi-link device;

[0348] A first link identification information subfield, where the first link identification information subfield is used to indicate a link identification or a reconfigured link identification corresponding to the affiliated station that sends the first multi-link element;

[0349] A first BBS parameter change count subfield, where the first BBS parameter change count subfield is used to count key updates of BSS parameters;

[0350] a first EML capability subfield, where the first EML capability subfield is used to indicate the EML capability of the first multi-link device;

[0351] A first MLD capability subfield is used to indicate the MLD capability of the first multi-link device.

[0352] In some implementations, the first MLD capability subfield includes at least one of the following:

[0353] A first part of the MLD capability subfield, where the first part of the MLD capability subfield is used to indicate a first part of the MLD capability information affected by the multi-link reconfiguration;

[0354] The second part of the MLD capability subfield is used to indicate the second part of the MLD capability information that is not affected by the multi-link reconfiguration.

[0355] In some embodiments, when the first portion of links is a link requested to be added by the first multi-link device, the first portion of MLD capability information indicated by the first portion of MLD capability subfield is updated according to the first portion of links and the second portion of links based on the requested multi-link reconfiguration; or, when the first portion of links is a link requested to be removed by the first multi-link device, the first portion of MLD capability information indicated by the first portion of MLD capability subfield is updated according to the link in the second portion of links after the first portion of links is removed based on the requested multi-link reconfiguration.

[0356] In some embodiments, when the first MLD capability subfield includes the second partial MLD capability subfield, the second partial MLD capability information indicated by the second partial MLD capability subfield remains consistent with the second partial MLD capability information used by the second partial link during or before multi-link reconfiguration; or, when the first MLD capability subfield does not include the second partial MLD capability subfield, it is assumed that the second partial MLD capability information is consistent with the second partial MLD capability information used by the second partial link during or before multi-link reconfiguration.

[0357] In some implementations, the first portion of the MLD capability subfield includes at least one of the following:

[0358] A first maximum number of concurrent links subfield, where the first maximum number of concurrent links subfield is used to indicate the maximum number of concurrent links;

[0359] The first STR frequency domain isolation subfield is used to indicate the STR frequency domain interval between links.

[0360] In some embodiments, when the first portion of links is a link requested to be added by the first multi-link device, the maximum number of concurrent links indicated by the first maximum number of concurrent links subfield is updated based on the requested multi-link reconfiguration according to the link status of the first portion of links and the second portion of links; or, when the first portion of links is a link requested to be removed by the first multi-link device, the maximum number of concurrent links indicated by the first maximum number of concurrent links subfield is updated based on the requested multi-link reconfiguration according to the link status of the second portion of links after the first portion of links is removed.

[0361] In some embodiments, when the first portion of links is a link requested to be added by the first multi-link device, the STR frequency domain interval indicated by the first STR frequency domain isolation subfield is updated based on the requested multi-link reconfiguration according to the STR frequency domain interval between the first portion of links, the STR frequency domain interval between the second portion of links, and the STR frequency domain interval between the first portion of links and the second portion of links; or, when the first portion of links is a link requested to be removed by the first multi-link device, the STR frequency domain interval indicated by the first STR frequency domain isolation subfield is updated based on the requested multi-link reconfiguration according to the STR frequency domain interval between the links in the second portion of links after the first portion of links are removed.

[0362] In some implementations, the second portion of the MLD capability subfield includes at least one of the following:

[0363] A first single response scheduling support subfield, where the first single response scheduling support subfield is used to indicate a single response scheduling support capability;

[0364] The first flow identifier to link mapping negotiation support subfield is used to indicate the flow identifier to link mapping negotiation support capability.

[0365] In some embodiments, the first link information field includes site information of an affiliated site corresponding to each link in the first portion of links and / or the second portion of links and associated with the first portion of links in the first multi-link device.

[0366] In some implementations, the site information is carried in a per-site configuration sub-element, where the per-site configuration sub-element includes at least one of the following:

[0367] A first sub-element identifier subfield, where the first sub-element identifier subfield is used to indicate a sub-element identifier of the per-site configuration sub-element;

[0368] A first length subfield, where the first length subfield is used to indicate the length of the per-site configuration sub-element;

[0369] a first site control subdomain, where the first site control subdomain is used to indicate site control information;

[0370] A first site information subfield, where the first site information subfield is used to indicate site information;

[0371] The first site configuration subfield is used to indicate site configuration information.

[0372] In some implementations, for a link in the second portion of links associated with the first portion of links, the first site information subfield corresponding to the link includes a first portion of site information subfield, where the first portion of site information subfield is used to indicate updated site information.

[0373] In some implementations, for a link in the second portion of links associated with the first portion of links, the first site information subfield corresponding to the link further includes a second site information subfield, where the second site information subfield is used to indicate site information that has not been updated.

[0374] In some embodiments, the first portion of the site information subfield includes at least one of the following:

[0375] The first NSTR indicates the bitmap subfield;

[0376] First beacon interval subfield;

[0377] First TSF offset subfield;

[0378] First DTIM information subfield;

[0379] The first NSTR indicates the bitmap subfield;

[0380] First BSS parameter change count subfield.

[0381] In some implementations, when the first multilink element is a first-type multilink element, the first site control subdomain includes at least one of the following:

[0382] A first link identification subfield, where the first link identification subfield is used to indicate a target link;

[0383] A first link reconfiguration indication subfield, where the first link reconfiguration indication subfield is used to indicate the type of reconfiguration operation performed on the target link;

[0384] a first complete configuration subfield, where the first complete configuration subfield is used to indicate whether the first site configuration subfield carries complete site configuration information;

[0385] A first MAC address exists subdomain, where the first MAC address exists subdomain is used to indicate whether a site MAC address subdomain exists in the first site information subdomain;

[0386] A first beacon interval existence subfield is used to indicate whether a beacon interval subfield exists in the first site information subfield;

[0387] a first DTIM information existence subfield, where the first DTIM information existence subfield is used to indicate whether a DTIM information subfield exists in the first site information subfield;

[0388] a first NSTR link pair existence subdomain, where the first NSTR link pair existence subdomain is used to indicate whether an NSTR link pair subdomain exists in the first site information subdomain;

[0389] The first NSTR bitmap size subfield is used to indicate the NSTR bitmap size;

[0390] A first BSS parameter change count subfield exists, where the first BSS parameter change count subfield is used to indicate whether a BSS parameter change count subfield exists in the first site information subfield;

[0391] The first type of reconfiguration multi-link element is used to add a link in multi-link reconfiguration.

[0392] In some implementations, when the first multilink element is a first-type multilink element, the first site information subfield includes at least one of the following:

[0393] First site information length subfield;

[0394] First site MAC address subdomain;

[0395] First beacon interval subfield;

[0396] First TSF offset subfield

[0397] First DTIM information subfield;

[0398] The first NSTR indicates the bitmap subfield;

[0399] First BSS parameter change count subfield;

[0400] First TSF subdomain.

[0401] In some implementations, when the first multilink element is a second-type multilink element, the first site control subdomain includes at least one of the following:

[0402] A first link identification subfield, where the first link identification subfield is used to indicate a target link;

[0403] A first link reconfiguration indication subfield, where the first link reconfiguration indication subfield is used to indicate the type of reconfiguration operation performed on the target link;

[0404] A first MAC address exists subdomain, where the first MAC address exists subdomain is used to indicate whether a site MAC address subdomain exists in the first site information subdomain;

[0405] a first removal timer existence subfield, where the first removal timer existence subfield is used to indicate whether a removal timer subfield exists in the first site information subfield;

[0406] The second type of reconfiguration multi-link element is used to remove a link in multi-link reconfiguration.

[0407] In some implementations, when the first multilink element is a second-type multilink element, the first site information subfield includes at least one of the following:

[0408] First site MAC address subdomain;

[0409] First remove the timer subfield.

[0410] In some embodiments, the first link reconfiguration indication subfield is set to a first value to indicate that a link removal operation is to be performed on the target link; or, the first link reconfiguration indication subfield is set to a second value to indicate that a link addition operation is to be performed on the target link; or, the first link reconfiguration indication subfield is set to a third value to indicate that the target link is a link that does not require a link removal operation and a link addition operation and / or indicates that the target link is a link that requires a link adjustment operation and / or indicates that the target link is a link in the second part of links that is associated with the first part of links.

[0411] In some embodiments, the first link reconfiguration indication subfield is set to a first value, used to indicate that one of a link deletion operation and a link addition operation is to be performed on the target link; or, the first link reconfiguration indication subfield is set to a second value, used to indicate that the target link is a link that does not require a link removal operation and a link addition operation and / or indicates that the target link is a link that requires a link adjustment operation and / or indicates that the target link is a link in the second part of links that is associated with the first part of links.

[0412] In some embodiments, the communication unit 1201 is configured to send the first multi-link element to the second multi-link device via any established link in the second portion of links; or send the first multi-link element to the second multi-link device via any link to be established in the first portion of links, where the first portion of links is a link requested to be added by the first multi-link device.

[0413] In some implementations, the first multilink element is carried in a first action field of a first request frame, the first action field includes a first multilink element field, and the first multilink element field is used to indicate the first multilink element.

[0414] In some embodiments, the first action domain further includes at least one of the following:

[0415] a first category field, where the first category field is used to indicate a category of the first action field;

[0416] a first protected action field, wherein the first protected action field is used to indicate a protected action;

[0417] A first dialog token field, wherein the first dialog token field is used to indicate a dialog token corresponding to the first request frame.

[0418] In some embodiments, the second multilink element includes at least one of the following:

[0419] a second multi-link control field, where the second multi-link control field is used to indicate the multi-link reconfiguration type;

[0420] A second general information field, where the second general information field is used to indicate the general information of the link;

[0421] The second link information field is used to indicate the link information of the first part of the link and / or the link information of the link associated with the first part of the link in the second part of the link.

[0422] In some implementations, the second multilink element further includes at least one of the following:

[0423] A second element identification field, where the second element identification field is used to indicate the element identification of the second multilink element;

[0424] A second length field, where the second length field is used to indicate the length of the second multilink element;

[0425] The second element identifier extension field is used to indicate the extended element identifier of the second multilink element.

[0426] In some embodiments, one or more subfields in the second multilink control field are used to indicate the type and / or subtype of the second multilink element, and the type and / or subtype of the second multilink element is used to determine the multilink reconfiguration type.

[0427] In some embodiments, the second multi-link control domain includes a second type sub-domain, and the second type sub-domain is used to indicate the type and / or sub-type of the second multi-link element; or, the second multi-link control domain includes a second type sub-domain and a second sub-type sub-domain, and the second type sub-domain is used to indicate the type of the second multi-link element, and the second type sub-domain is used to indicate the sub-type of the second multi-link element; or, the second multi-link control domain includes a second sub-type sub-domain, and the second sub-type sub-domain is used to indicate the sub-type of the second multi-link element.

[0428] In some implementations, the type of the second multilink element is a reconfiguration multilink element.

[0429] In some embodiments, the subtype of the second multi-link element is a first-type reconfiguration multi-link element or a second-type reconfiguration multi-link element, the first-type reconfiguration multi-link element is used to add links in multi-link reconfiguration, and the second-type reconfiguration multi-link element is used to remove links in multi-link reconfiguration.

[0430] In some implementations, the second multi-link control field further includes a second existence bitmap sub-field, where the second existence bitmap sub-field is used to indicate a sub-field existing in the second general information field in the second multi-link element.

[0431] In some embodiments, the second presence bitmap subfield includes at least one of the following:

[0432] a sixth portion of bits, where the sixth portion of bits is used to indicate whether a second MLD MAC address subfield exists in the second general information field;

[0433] a seventh portion of bits, where the seventh portion of bits is used to indicate whether a second link identification information subfield exists in the second general information field;

[0434] an eighth portion of bits, where the eighth portion of bits is used to indicate whether a second BBS parameter change count subfield exists in the second general information field;

[0435] a ninth portion of bits, where the ninth portion of bits is used to indicate whether a second EML capability subfield exists in the second general information field;

[0436] A tenth portion of bits is used to indicate whether a second MLD capability subfield exists in the second general information field.

[0437] In some embodiments, the second general information field includes at least one of the following:

[0438] A second general information length subfield, where the second general information length subfield is used to indicate the length of the second general information field;

[0439] a second MLD MAC address subfield, where the second MLD MAC address subfield is used to indicate the MLD MAC address of the second multi-link device;

[0440] A second link identification information subfield, where the second link identification information subfield is used to indicate a link identification or a reconfigured link identification corresponding to the affiliated station that sends the second multi-link element;

[0441] A second BBS parameter change count subfield, where the second BBS parameter change count subfield is used to count key updates of BSS parameters;

[0442] A second EML capability subfield, where the second EML capability subfield is used to indicate the EML capability of the second multi-link device;

[0443] The second MLD capability subfield is used to indicate the MLD capability of the second multi-link device.

[0444] In some implementations, the second MLD capability subfield includes at least one of the following:

[0445] A third part MLD capability subfield, wherein the third part MLD capability subfield is used to indicate the third part MLD capability information affected by the multi-link reconfiguration;

[0446] The fourth part of the MLD capability subfield is used to indicate the fourth part of the MLD capability information that is not affected by the multi-link reconfiguration.

[0447] In some embodiments, when the first portion of links is a link requested to be added by the first multi-link device, the third portion of MLD capability information indicated by the third portion of MLD capability subfield is updated according to the first portion of links and the second portion of links based on the requested multi-link reconfiguration; or, when the first portion of links is a link requested to be removed by the first multi-link device, the third portion of MLD capability information indicated by the third portion of MLD capability subfield is updated according to the link in the second portion of links after the first portion of links is removed based on the requested multi-link reconfiguration.

[0448] In some embodiments, when the second MLD capability subfield includes the fourth partial MLD capability subfield, the fourth partial MLD capability information indicated by the fourth partial MLD capability subfield remains consistent with the fourth partial MLD capability information used by the second partial link during or before multi-link reconfiguration; or, when the second MLD capability subfield does not include the fourth partial MLD capability subfield, it is assumed that the fourth partial MLD capability information is consistent with the fourth partial MLD capability information used by the second partial link during or before multi-link reconfiguration.

[0449] In some implementations, the third part of the MLD capability subfield includes at least one of the following:

[0450] The second maximum number of concurrent links subfield is used to indicate the maximum number of concurrent links;

[0451] The second STR frequency domain isolation subfield is used to indicate the STR frequency domain interval between links.

[0452] In some embodiments, when the first portion of links is a link requested to be added by the first multi-link device, the maximum number of concurrent links indicated by the second maximum number of concurrent links subfield is updated based on the requested multi-link reconfiguration according to the link status of the first portion of links and the second portion of links; or, when the first portion of links is a link requested to be removed by the first multi-link device, the maximum number of concurrent links indicated by the second maximum number of concurrent links subfield is updated based on the requested multi-link reconfiguration according to the link status of the second portion of links after the first portion of links is removed.

[0453] In some embodiments, when the first part of the links is a link requested to be added by the first multi-link device, the STR frequency domain interval indicated by the second STR frequency domain isolation subfield is updated based on the requested multi-link reconfiguration according to the STR frequency domain interval between the first part of the links, the STR frequency domain interval between the second part of the links, and the STR frequency domain interval between the first part of the links and the second part of the links; or, when the first part of the links is a link requested to be removed by the first multi-link device, the STR frequency domain interval indicated by the second STR frequency domain isolation subfield is updated based on the requested multi-link reconfiguration according to the STR frequency domain interval between the links in the second part of the links after the first part of the links are removed.

[0454] In some implementations, the fourth part of the MLD capability subfield includes at least one of the following:

[0455] A second single response scheduling support subfield, where the second single response scheduling support subfield is used to indicate a single response scheduling support capability;

[0456] The second flow identifier to link mapping negotiation support subfield is used to indicate the flow identifier to link mapping negotiation support capability.

[0457] In some embodiments, the second link information field includes site information of an affiliated site corresponding to each link in the first portion of links and / or links in the second portion of links associated with the first portion of links in the second multi-link device.

[0458] In some implementations, the site information is carried in a per-site configuration sub-element, where the per-site configuration sub-element includes at least one of the following:

[0459] A second sub-element identifier subfield, where the second sub-element identifier subfield is used to indicate the sub-element identifier of the per-site configuration sub-element;

[0460] A second length subfield, where the second length subfield is used to indicate the length of the per-site configuration sub-element;

[0461] a second site control subdomain, where the second site control subdomain is used to indicate site control information;

[0462] A second site information subfield, where the second site information subfield is used to indicate site information;

[0463] The second site configuration subfield is used to indicate site configuration information.

[0464] In some implementations, for a link in the second portion of links associated with the first portion of links, the second site information subfield corresponding to the link includes a third site information subfield, and the third site information subfield is used to indicate updated site information.

[0465] In some implementations, for a link in the second portion of links associated with the first portion of links, the second site information subfield corresponding to the link further includes a fourth site information subfield, where the fourth site information subfield is used to indicate site information that has not been updated.

[0466] In some embodiments, the third site information subfield includes at least one of the following:

[0467] The second NSTR bitmap subfield;

[0468] Second beacon interval subfield;

[0469] Second TSF offset subfield;

[0470] Second DTIM information subfield;

[0471] The second NSTR indicates the bitmap subfield;

[0472] Second BSS parameter change count subfield.

[0473] In some implementations, when the second multilink element is a first-type multilink element, the second site control subdomain includes at least one of the following:

[0474] A second link identification subfield, wherein the first link identification subfield is used to indicate a target link;

[0475] A second link reconfiguration indication subfield, where the second link reconfiguration indication subfield is used to indicate the type of reconfiguration operation performed on the target link;

[0476] a second complete configuration subfield, where the second complete configuration subfield is used to indicate whether the first site configuration subfield carries complete site configuration information;

[0477] a second MAC address existence subdomain, where the second MAC address existence subdomain is used to indicate whether a site MAC address subdomain exists in the first site information subdomain;

[0478] A second beacon interval existence subfield is used to indicate whether a beacon interval subfield exists in the first site information subfield;

[0479] a second DTIM information existence subfield, where the second DTIM information existence subfield is used to indicate whether a DTIM information subfield exists in the first site information subfield;

[0480] a second NSTR link pair existence subdomain, where the second NSTR link pair existence subdomain is used to indicate whether an NSTR link pair subdomain exists in the first site information subdomain;

[0481] The second NSTR bitmap size subfield is used to indicate the NSTR bitmap size;

[0482] A second BSS parameter change count existence subfield, where the second BSS parameter change count existence subfield is used to indicate whether a BSS parameter change count subfield exists in the first site information subfield;

[0483] The second type of reconfiguration multi-link element is used to add a link in multi-link reconfiguration.

[0484] In some implementations, when the second multilink element is a first-type multilink element, the second site information subfield includes at least one of the following:

[0485] Second site information length subfield;

[0486] Second site MAC address subdomain;

[0487] Second beacon interval subfield;

[0488] Second TSF offset subfield

[0489] Second DTIM information subfield;

[0490] The second NSTR indicates the bitmap subfield;

[0491] The second BSS parameter change count subfield;

[0492] Second TSF subdomain.

[0493] In some implementations, when the second multilink element is a second-type multilink element, the second site control subdomain includes at least one of the following:

[0494] A second link identification subfield, where the second link identification subfield is used to indicate a target link;

[0495] A second link reconfiguration indication subfield, where the second link reconfiguration indication subfield is used to indicate the type of reconfiguration operation performed on the target link;

[0496] A second MAC address exists subdomain, where the second MAC address exists subdomain is used to indicate whether a site MAC address subdomain exists in the second site information subdomain;

[0497] a second removal timer existence subfield, where the second removal timer existence subfield is used to indicate whether a removal timer subfield exists in the second site information subfield;

[0498] The second type of reconfiguration multi-link element is used to remove a link in multi-link reconfiguration.

[0499] In some implementations, when the second multilink element is a second-type multilink element, the second site information subfield includes at least one of the following:

[0500] Second site MAC address subdomain;

[0501] The second removes the timer subfield.

[0502] In some embodiments, the second link reconfiguration indication subfield is set to a first value to indicate that a link removal operation is to be performed on the target link; or, the second link reconfiguration indication subfield is set to a second value to indicate that a link addition operation is to be performed on the target link; or, the second link reconfiguration indication subfield is set to a third value to indicate that the target link is a link that does not require a link removal operation and a link addition operation and / or indicates that the target link is a link that requires a link adjustment operation and / or indicates that the target link is a link in the second part of links that is associated with the first part of links.

[0503] In some embodiments, the second link reconfiguration indication subfield is set to a first value, used to indicate that one of a link deletion operation and a link addition operation is to be performed on the target link; or, the second link reconfiguration indication subfield is set to a second value, used to indicate that the target link is a link that does not require a link removal operation and a link addition operation and / or indicates that the target link is a link that requires a link adjustment operation and / or indicates that the target link is a link in the second part of links that is associated with the first part of links.

[0504] In some embodiments, for a newly added link accepted by the second multi-link device, the status code contained in the second site configuration subfield of the per-site configuration subfield of the link's corresponding per-site configuration subfield indicates that the newly added link was successful; for a newly added link rejected by the second multi-link device, the status code contained in the second site configuration subfield of the per-site configuration subfield of the link's corresponding per-site configuration subfield indicates that the newly added link failed.

[0505] In some implementations, the communication unit 1201 is configured to receive the second multilink element sent by the second multilink device on the link on which it sends the first multilink element.

[0506] In some implementations, the second multilink element is carried in a second action field of the first response frame, the second action field includes a second multilink element field, and the second multilink element field is used to indicate the second multilink element.

[0507] In some embodiments, the second action domain further includes at least one of the following:

[0508] a second category field, where the second category field is used to indicate a category of the second action field;

[0509] a second protected action field, wherein the second protected action field is used to indicate a protected action;

[0510] A second dialogue token field, where the second dialogue token field is used to indicate a dialogue token corresponding to the first response frame;

[0511] A status code field is used to indicate whether the requested multi-link reconfiguration is accepted.

[0512] In some embodiments, the status code field is set to a first value to instruct the second multi-link device to accept all requests to establish new links; the status code field is set to a second value to instruct the second multi-link device to reject all requests to establish new links; and the status code field is set to a third value to instruct the second multi-link device to accept some requests to establish new links and / or reject some requests to establish new links.

[0513] In some embodiments, when the first partial link is a link requested to be added by the first multi-link device, after the first partial link is added, the first partial parameters used by the first partial link and the second partial link remain unchanged; and / or the second partial parameters used by the first partial link are re-established.

[0514] In some implementations, the first part of parameters includes at least one of the following: PTK, AID.

[0515] In some embodiments, the second part of parameters includes at least one of the following: GTK, IGTK, BIGTK.

[0516] In some implementations, the communication unit 1201 is configured to exchange handshake messages with the second multi-link device, where the handshake message exchange is used to establish the second part of parameters for the first part of the link.

[0517] In some implementations, the first multi-link device is a non-AP MLD, and the second multi-link device is an AP MLD.

[0518] Those skilled in the art should understand that the relevant description of the multi-link reconfiguration device in the embodiment of the present application can be understood with reference to the relevant description of the multi-link reconfiguration method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0519] Figure 13 is a schematic diagram of a communication device 1300 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device can be a first multi-link device or a second multi-link device. The communication device 1300 shown in Figure 13 includes a processor 1310, which can call and execute a computer program from a memory to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0520] Optionally, as shown in FIG13 , the communication device 1300 may further include a memory 1320. The processor 1310 may call and execute a computer program from the memory 1320 to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0521] The memory 1320 may be a separate device independent of the processor 1310 , or may be integrated into the processor 1310 .

[0522] Optionally, as shown in FIG13 , the communication device 1300 may further include a transceiver 1330 , and the processor 1310 may control the transceiver 1330 to communicate with other devices, specifically, to send information or data to other devices, or to receive information or data sent by other devices.

[0523] The transceiver 1330 may include a transmitter and a receiver. The transceiver 1330 may further include an antenna, and the number of antennas may be one or more.

[0524] Optionally, the communication device 1300 may be specifically the first multi-link device in the embodiment of the present application, and the communication device 1300 may implement the corresponding processes implemented by the first multi-link device in each method in the embodiment of the present application, which will not be described in detail here for the sake of brevity.

[0525] Optionally, the communication device 1300 may be specifically the second multi-link device in the embodiment of the present application, and the communication device 1300 may implement the corresponding processes implemented by the second multi-link device in each method in the embodiment of the present application, which will not be described in detail here for the sake of brevity.

[0526] Figure 14 is a schematic structural diagram of a chip according to an embodiment of the present application. The chip 1400 shown in Figure 14 includes a processor 1410, which can call and run a computer program from a memory to implement the method according to the embodiment of the present application.

[0527] Optionally, as shown in FIG14 , the chip 1400 may further include a memory 1420 , wherein the processor 1410 may call and execute a computer program from the memory 1420 to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0528] The memory 1420 may be a separate device independent of the processor 1410 , or may be integrated into the processor 1410 .

[0529] Optionally, the chip 1400 may further include an input interface 1430. The processor 1410 may control the input interface 1430 to communicate with other devices or chips, and specifically, may obtain information or data sent by other devices or chips.

[0530] Optionally, the chip 1400 may further include an output interface 1440. The processor 1410 may control the output interface 1440 to communicate with other devices or chips, and specifically, may output information or data to other devices or chips.

[0531] Optionally, the chip may be applied to the first multi-link device in the embodiment of the present application, and the chip may implement the corresponding processes implemented by the first multi-link device in the various methods in the embodiment of the present application, which will not be described in detail here for the sake of brevity.

[0532] Optionally, the chip may be applied to the second multi-link device in the embodiments of the present application, and the chip may implement the corresponding processes implemented by the second multi-link device in the various methods in the embodiments of the present application, which will not be described in detail here for the sake of brevity.

[0533] 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.

[0534] FIG15 is a schematic block diagram of a communication system 1500 provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG15 , the communication system 1500 includes a first multi-link device 1510 and a second multi-link device 1520 .

[0535] The first multi-link device 1510 may be used to implement the corresponding functions implemented by the first multi-link device in the above method, and the second multi-link device 1520 may be used to implement the corresponding functions implemented by the second multi-link device in the above method. For the sake of brevity, they are not described here in detail.

[0536] 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.

[0537] 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.

[0538] 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.

[0539] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program.

[0540] Optionally, the computer-readable storage medium may be applied to the first multi-link device in the embodiments of the present application, and the computer program enables a computer to execute the corresponding processes implemented by the first multi-link device in the various methods in the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they are not described here in detail.

[0541] Optionally, the computer-readable storage medium may be applied to the second multi-link device in the embodiments of the present application, and the computer program enables a computer to execute the corresponding processes implemented by the second multi-link device in the various methods in the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, detailed description is omitted here.

[0542] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product, including computer program instructions.

[0543] Optionally, the computer program product may be applied to the first multi-link device in the embodiments of the present application, and the computer program instructions enable a computer to execute the corresponding processes implemented by the first multi-link device in the various methods in the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they are not described here in detail.

[0544] Optionally, the computer program product may be applied to the second multi-link device in the embodiments of the present application, and the computer program instructions enable a computer to execute the corresponding processes implemented by the second multi-link device in the various methods in the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they are not described here in detail.

[0545] The embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program.

[0546] Optionally, the computer program may be applied to the first multi-link device in the embodiments of the present application. When the computer program is executed on a computer, the computer executes the corresponding processes implemented by the first multi-link device in the various methods of the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they are not further described here.

[0547] Optionally, the computer program may be applied to the second multi-link device in the embodiments of the present application. When the computer program is executed on a computer, the computer executes the corresponding processes implemented by the second multi-link device in the various methods in the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, these are not further described here.

[0548] 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.

[0549] 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.

[0550] 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.

[0551] 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.

[0552] 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.

[0553] 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.

[0554] 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: The first multi-link device sends a first multi-link element to the second multi-link device, and / or receives a second multi-link element sent by the second multi-link device; The first multilink element and / or the second multilink element is used to determine at least one of the following: A multi-link reconfiguration type, where the multi-link reconfiguration type is used to indicate adding a link or removing a link; The first part is the link information of the link; General information of the link; link information of links in the second part of links that are associated with the first part of links; The first part of the links are links that the first multi-link device requests to add or links that the first multi-link device requests to remove, and the second part of the links are links that have been established between the first multi-link device and the second multi-link device during or before the multi-link reconfiguration.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein When the first part of the link is a link requested to be added by the first multi-link device, the general link information refers to general information of the first part of the link and the second part of the link; or, In a case where the first part of links is the link that the first multi-link device requests to remove, the general link information refers to the general information of the links in the second part of links after the first part of links are removed.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein The first multi-link element includes at least one of the following: a first multi-link control field, where the first multi-link control field is used to indicate the multi-link reconfiguration type; A first general information field, where the first general information field is used to indicate the general information of the link; The first link information field is used to indicate the link information of the first part of the link and / or the link information of the link associated with the first part of the link in the second part of the link.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein: The first multi-link element further includes at least one of the following: A first element identification field, where the first element identification field is used to indicate an element identification of the first multilink element; a first length field, where the first length field is used to indicate the length of the first multilink element; The first element identifier extension field is used to indicate the extended element identifier of the first multilink element.

5. The method according to claim 3 or 4, wherein: One or more subfields in the first multi-link control field are used to indicate the type and / or subtype of the first multi-link element, and the type and / or subtype of the first multi-link element is used to determine the multi-link reconfiguration type.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein: The first multi-link control field includes a first type sub-field, where the first type sub-field is used to indicate the type and / or sub-type of the first multi-link element; or, The first multi-link control field includes a first type sub-field and a first sub-type sub-field, the first type sub-field is used to indicate the type of the first multi-link element, and the first type sub-field is used to indicate the sub-type of the first multi-link element; or, The first multi-link control field includes a first subtype subfield, and the first subtype subfield is used to indicate the subtype of the first multi-link element.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein: The type of the first multi-link element is a reconfiguration multi-link element.

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein: The subtype of the first multi-link element is a first-type reconfiguration multi-link element or a second-type reconfiguration multi-link element, the first-type reconfiguration multi-link element is used to add links in multi-link reconfiguration, and the second-type reconfiguration multi-link element is used to remove links in multi-link reconfiguration.

9. The method according to any one of claims 5 to 8, wherein The first multi-link control field further includes a first existence bitmap sub-field, where the first existence bitmap sub-field is used to indicate a sub-field existing in the first general information field in the first multi-link element.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein: The first presence bitmap subfield includes at least one of the following: A first portion of bits, where the first portion of bits is used to indicate whether a first multi-link device (MLD) media access control (MAC) address subfield exists in the first general information field; A second portion of bits, where the second portion of bits is used to indicate whether a first link identification information subfield exists in the first general information field; A third part of bits, wherein the third part of bits is used to indicate whether a first basic service set BBS parameter change count subfield exists in the first general information field; A fourth portion of bits, where the fourth portion of bits is used to indicate whether a first enhanced multi-link (EML) capability subfield exists in the first general information field; A fifth part of bits is used to indicate whether a first MLD capability subfield exists in the first general information field.

11. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 10, wherein The first general information field includes at least one of the following: A first general information length subfield, where the first general information length subfield is used to indicate the length of the first general information field; a first MLD MAC address subfield, where the first MLD MAC address subfield is used to indicate the MLD MAC address of the first multi-link device; A first link identification information subfield, where the first link identification information subfield is used to indicate a link identification or a reconfigured link identification corresponding to the affiliated station that sends the first multi-link element; A first BBS parameter change count subfield, where the first BBS parameter change count subfield is used to count key updates of BSS parameters; a first EML capability subfield, where the first EML capability subfield is used to indicate the EML capability of the first multi-link device; A first MLD capability subfield is used to indicate the MLD capability of the first multi-link device.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein The first MLD capability subfield includes at least one of the following: A first part of the MLD capability subfield, where the first part of the MLD capability subfield is used to indicate a first part of the MLD capability information affected by the multi-link reconfiguration; The second part of the MLD capability subfield is used to indicate the second part of the MLD capability information that is not affected by the multi-link reconfiguration.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein: When the first part of the links is a link requested to be added by the first multi-link device, the first part of the MLD capability information indicated by the first part of the MLD capability subfield is updated according to the first part of the links and the second part of the links based on the requested multi-link reconfiguration; or When the first part of the links is the link that the first multi-link device requests to remove, the first part of the MLD capability information indicated by the first part of the MLD capability subfield is updated according to the links in the second part of the links after the first part of the links are removed based on the requested multi-link reconfiguration.

14. The method according to claim 12, wherein: When the first MLD capability subfield includes the second partial MLD capability subfield, the second partial MLD capability information indicated by the second partial MLD capability subfield remains consistent with the second partial MLD capability information used by the second partial link during or before multi-link reconfiguration; or, When the first MLD capability subfield does not include the second partial MLD capability subfield, it is assumed that the second partial MLD capability information is consistent with the second partial MLD capability information used by the second partial link during or before multi-link reconfiguration.

15. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 14, wherein The first part of the MLD capability subfield includes at least one of the following: A first maximum number of concurrent links subfield, where the first maximum number of concurrent links subfield is used to indicate the maximum number of concurrent links; A first simultaneously transmits and receives STR frequency domain isolation sub-domain, where the first STR frequency domain isolation sub-domain is used to indicate the STR frequency domain interval between links.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein When the first part of the links is a link requested to be added by the first multi-link device, the maximum number of concurrent links indicated by the first maximum number of concurrent links subfield is updated according to the link conditions of the first part of the links and the second part of the links based on the requested multi-link reconfiguration; or, When the first part of the links is the link that the first multi-link device requests to remove, the maximum number of concurrent links indicated by the first maximum number of concurrent links subfield is updated based on the requested multi-link reconfiguration and the link status after the first part of the links are removed from the second part of the links.

17. The method according to claim 15, wherein: When the first portion of links is a link requested to be added by the first multi-link device, the STR frequency domain interval indicated by the first STR frequency domain isolation subfield is updated according to the STR frequency domain interval between the first portion of links, the STR frequency domain interval between the second portion of links, and the STR frequency domain interval between the first portion of links and the second portion of links based on the requested multi-link reconfiguration; or When the first part of the link is the link that the first multi-link device requests to remove, the STR frequency domain interval indicated by the first STR frequency domain isolation subfield is updated based on the requested multi-link reconfiguration and the STR frequency domain interval between the links in the second part of the link after the first part of the link is removed.

18. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 17, wherein The second part of the MLD capability subfield includes at least one of the following: A first single response scheduling support subfield, where the first single response scheduling support subfield is used to indicate a single response scheduling support capability; The first flow identifier to link mapping negotiation support subfield is used to indicate the flow identifier to link mapping negotiation support capability.

19. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 18, wherein The first link information field includes site information of an affiliated site corresponding to each link in the first part of links and / or the second part of links and associated with the first part of links in the first multi-link device.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein The site information is carried in a per-site configuration sub-element, and the 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 per-site configuration sub-element; A first length subfield, where the first length subfield is used to indicate the length of the 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.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein For a link in the second part of links that is associated with the first part of links, the first site information subfield corresponding to the link includes a first part of site information subfield, and the first part of site information subfield is used to indicate updated site information.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein For a link in the second part of links that is associated with the first part of links, the first site information subfield corresponding to the link further includes a second site information subfield, where the second site information subfield is used to indicate site information that has not been updated.

23. The method according to claim 21 or 22, wherein: The first site information subfield includes at least one of the following: The first non-simultaneous transmission and reception NSTR indication bitmap subfield; First beacon interval subfield; First time synchronization function TSF offset subfield; First transmission traffic indication map DTIM information subfield; The first NSTR indicates the bitmap subfield; First BSS parameter change count subfield.

24. The method according to any one of claims 20 to 23, wherein When the first multilink element is a first-type multilink element, the first site control subdomain includes at least one of the following: A first link identification subfield, where the first link identification subfield is used to indicate a target link; A first link reconfiguration indication subfield, where the first link reconfiguration indication subfield is used to indicate the type of reconfiguration operation performed on the target link; a first complete configuration subfield, where the first complete configuration subfield is used to indicate whether the first site configuration subfield carries complete site configuration information; A first MAC address exists subdomain, where the first MAC address exists subdomain is used to indicate whether a site MAC address subdomain exists in the first site information subdomain; A first beacon interval existence subfield is used to indicate whether a beacon interval subfield exists in the first site information subfield; a first DTIM information existence subfield, where the first DTIM information existence subfield is used to indicate whether a DTIM information subfield exists in the first site information subfield; a first NSTR link pair existence subdomain, where the first NSTR link pair existence subdomain is used to indicate whether an NSTR link pair subdomain exists in the first site information subdomain; The first NSTR bitmap size subfield is used to indicate the NSTR bitmap size; A first BSS parameter change count subfield exists, where the first BSS parameter change count subfield is used to indicate whether a BSS parameter change count subfield exists in the first site information subfield; The first type of reconfiguration multi-link element is used to add a link in multi-link reconfiguration.

25. The method according to any one of claims 20 to 24, wherein When the first multilink element is a first-type multilink element, the first site information subfield includes at least one of the following: First site information length subfield; First site MAC address subdomain; First beacon interval subfield; First TSF offset subfield First DTIM information subfield; The first NSTR indicates the bitmap subfield; First BSS parameter change count subfield; First TSF subdomain.

26. The method according to any one of claims 20 to 23, wherein When the first multilink element is a second-type multilink element, the first site control subdomain includes at least one of the following: A first link identification subfield, where the first link identification subfield is used to indicate a target link; A first link reconfiguration indication subfield, where the first link reconfiguration indication subfield is used to indicate the type of reconfiguration operation performed on the target link; A first MAC address exists subdomain, where the first MAC address exists subdomain is used to indicate whether a site MAC address subdomain exists in the first site information subdomain; a first removal timer existence subfield, where the first removal timer existence subfield is used to indicate whether a removal timer subfield exists in the first site information subfield; The second type of reconfiguration multi-link element is used to remove a link in multi-link reconfiguration.

27. The method according to any one of claims 20 to 23 and 26, wherein When the first multilink element is a second-type multilink element, the first site information subfield includes at least one of the following: First site MAC address subdomain; First remove the timer subfield.

28. The method according to claim 24 or 26, wherein The first link reconfiguration indication subfield is set to a first value, used to indicate that a link removal operation is to be performed on the target link; or, The first link reconfiguration indication subfield is set to a second value, used to indicate that a link addition operation is to be performed on the target link; or, The first link reconfiguration indication subfield is set to a third value, which is used to indicate that the target link is a link that does not require link removal operation and link addition operation and / or indicates that the target link is a link that requires link adjustment operation and / or indicates that the target link is a link in the second part of the link associated with the first part of the link.

29. The method according to claim 24 or 26, wherein The first link reconfiguration indication subfield is set to a first value, used to indicate that one of a link deletion operation and a link addition operation is performed on the target link; or, The first link reconfiguration indication subfield is set to a second value, used to indicate that the target link is a link that does not require link removal operation and link addition operation and / or indicates that the target link is a link that requires link adjustment operation and / or indicates that the target link is a link in the second part of the links associated with the first part of the links.

30. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 29, wherein The first multi-link device sending a first multi-link element to the second multi-link device includes: The first multi-link device sends the first multi-link element to the second multi-link device through any established link in the second part of links; or, The first multi-link device sends a first multi-link element to the second multi-link device through any link to be established in the first part of links, where the first part of links is the link that the first multi-link device requests to add.

31. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 30, wherein The first multilink element is carried in a first action field of a first request frame. The first action field includes a first multilink element field. The first multilink element field is used to indicate the first multilink element.

32. The method according to claim 31, wherein The first action domain further includes at least one of the following: a first category field, where the first category field is used to indicate a category of the first action field; a first protected action field, wherein the first protected action field is used to indicate a protected action; A first dialog token field, wherein the first dialog token field is used to indicate a dialog token corresponding to the first request frame.

33. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 32, wherein The second multilink element includes at least one of the following: a second multi-link control field, where the second multi-link control field is used to indicate the multi-link reconfiguration type; A second general information field, where the second general information field is used to indicate the general information of the link; The second link information field is used to indicate the link information of the first part of the link and / or the link information of the link associated with the first part of the link in the second part of the link.

34. The method according to claim 33, wherein The second multi-link element further includes at least one of the following: A second element identification field, where the second element identification field is used to indicate the element identification of the second multilink element; A second length field, where the second length field is used to indicate the length of the second multilink element; The second element identifier extension field is used to indicate the extended element identifier of the second multilink element.

35. The method according to claim 33 or 34, wherein One or more subfields in the second multilink control field are used to indicate the type and / or subtype of the second multilink element, and the type and / or subtype of the second multilink element is used to determine the multilink reconfiguration type.

36. The method according to claim 35, wherein The second multi-link control field includes a second type sub-field, where the second type sub-field is used to indicate the type and / or sub-type of the second multi-link element; or, The second multi-link control field includes a second type sub-field and a second sub-type sub-field, the second type sub-field is used to indicate the type of the second multi-link element, and the second type sub-field is used to indicate the subtype of the second multi-link element; or, The second multi-link control field includes a second subtype subfield, and the second subtype subfield is used to indicate the subtype of the second multi-link element.

37. The method according to claim 36, wherein: The type of the second multi-link element is a reconfiguration multi-link element.

38. The method according to claim 36 or 37, wherein The subtype of the second multi-link element is a first-type reconfiguration multi-link element or a second-type reconfiguration multi-link element, the first-type reconfiguration multi-link element is used to add links in multi-link reconfiguration, and the second-type reconfiguration multi-link element is used to remove links in multi-link reconfiguration.

39. The method according to any one of claims 35 to 38, wherein The second multi-link control field further includes a second existence bitmap sub-field, where the second existence bitmap sub-field is used to indicate a sub-field existing in the second general information field in the second multi-link element.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein The second presence bitmap subfield includes at least one of the following: a sixth portion of bits, where the sixth portion of bits is used to indicate whether a second MLD MAC address subfield exists in the second general information field; a seventh portion of bits, where the seventh portion of bits is used to indicate whether a second link identification information subfield exists in the second general information field; an eighth portion of bits, where the eighth portion of bits is used to indicate whether a second BBS parameter change count subfield exists in the second general information field; a ninth portion of bits, where the ninth portion of bits is used to indicate whether a second EML capability subfield exists in the second general information field; A tenth portion of bits is used to indicate whether a second MLD capability subfield exists in the second general information field.

41. The method according to any one of claims 33 to 40, wherein The second general information field includes at least one of the following: A second general information length subfield, where the second general information length subfield is used to indicate the length of the second general information field; a second MLD MAC address subfield, where the second MLD MAC address subfield is used to indicate the MLD MAC address of the second multi-link device; A second link identification information subfield, where the second link identification information subfield is used to indicate a link identification or a reconfigured link identification corresponding to the affiliated station that sends the second multi-link element; A second BBS parameter change count subfield, where the second BBS parameter change count subfield is used to count key updates of BSS parameters; A second EML capability subfield, where the second EML capability subfield is used to indicate the EML capability of the second multi-link device; The second MLD capability subfield is used to indicate the MLD capability of the second multi-link device.

42. The method according to claim 41, wherein The second MLD capability subfield includes at least one of the following: A third part MLD capability subfield, wherein the third part MLD capability subfield is used to indicate the third part MLD capability information affected by the multi-link reconfiguration; The fourth part of the MLD capability subfield is used to indicate the fourth part of the MLD capability information that is not affected by the multi-link reconfiguration.

43. The method according to claim 42, wherein When the first part of the links is a link requested to be added by the first multi-link device, the third part of the MLD capability information indicated by the third part of the MLD capability subfield is updated according to the first part of the links and the second part of the links based on the requested multi-link reconfiguration; or When the first part of the links is the link that the first multi-link device requests to remove, the third part of the MLD capability information indicated by the third part of the MLD capability subfield is updated according to the links in the second part of the links after the first part of the links are removed based on the requested multi-link reconfiguration.

44. The method of claim 42, wherein: When the second MLD capability subfield includes the fourth partial MLD capability subfield, the fourth partial MLD capability information indicated by the fourth partial MLD capability subfield remains consistent with the fourth partial MLD capability information used by the second partial link during or before multi-link reconfiguration; or, When the second MLD capability subfield does not include the fourth partial MLD capability subfield, it is assumed that the fourth partial MLD capability information is consistent with the fourth partial MLD capability information used by the second partial link during or before multi-link reconfiguration.

45. The method according to any one of claims 42 to 44, wherein The third part of the MLD capability subfield includes at least one of the following: The second maximum number of concurrent links subfield is used to indicate the maximum number of concurrent links; The second STR frequency domain isolation subfield is used to indicate the STR frequency domain interval between links.

46. ​​The method of claim 45, wherein When the first part of the links is a link requested to be added by the first multi-link device, the maximum number of concurrent links indicated by the second maximum number of concurrent links subfield is updated according to the link conditions of the first part of the links and the second part of the links based on the requested multi-link reconfiguration; or, When the first part of the links is the link that the first multi-link device requests to remove, the maximum number of concurrent links indicated by the second maximum number of concurrent links subfield is updated based on the requested multi-link reconfiguration and the link status after the first part of the links are removed from the second part of the links.

47. The method of claim 45, wherein When the first part of the links is a link requested to be added by the first multi-link device, the STR frequency domain interval indicated by the second STR frequency domain isolation subfield is updated according to the STR frequency domain interval between the first part of the links, the STR frequency domain interval between the second part of the links, and the STR frequency domain interval between the first part of the links and the second part of the links based on the requested multi-link reconfiguration; or When the first part of the link is the link that the first multi-link device requests to be removed, the STR frequency domain interval indicated by the second STR frequency domain isolation subfield is updated based on the requested multi-link reconfiguration and the STR frequency domain interval between the links after the first part of the link is removed from the second part of the link.

48. The method according to any one of claims 42 to 47, wherein The fourth part of the MLD capability subfield includes at least one of the following: A second single response scheduling support subfield, where the second single response scheduling support subfield is used to indicate a single response scheduling support capability; The second flow identifier to link mapping negotiation support subfield is used to indicate the flow identifier to link mapping negotiation support capability.

49. The method according to any one of claims 33 to 48, wherein: The second link information field includes site information of an affiliated site corresponding to each link in the first part of links and / or the second part of links and associated with the first part of links in the second multi-link device.

50. The method of claim 49, wherein The site information is carried in a per-site configuration sub-element, and the 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 the sub-element identifier of the per-site configuration sub-element; A second length subfield, where the second length subfield is used to indicate the length of the 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.

51. The method of claim 50, wherein: For a link in the second part of links that is associated with the first part of links, the second site information subfield corresponding to the link includes a third site information subfield, and the third site information subfield is used to indicate updated site information.

52. The method of claim 51, wherein For a link in the second part of links that is associated with the first part of links, the second site information subfield corresponding to the link further includes a fourth site information subfield, where the fourth site information subfield is used to indicate site information that has not been updated.

53. The method according to claim 51 or 52, wherein The third site information subfield includes at least one of the following: The second NSTR bitmap subfield; Second beacon interval subfield; Second TSF offset subfield; Second DTIM information subfield; The second NSTR indicates the bitmap subfield; Second BSS parameter change count subfield.

54. The method according to any one of claims 50 to 53, wherein When the second multilink element is a first-type multilink element, the second site control subdomain includes at least one of the following: A second link identification subfield, wherein the first link identification subfield is used to indicate a target link; A second link reconfiguration indication subfield, where the second link reconfiguration indication subfield is used to indicate the type of reconfiguration operation performed on the target link; a second complete configuration subfield, where the second complete configuration subfield is used to indicate whether the first site configuration subfield carries complete site configuration information; a second MAC address existence subdomain, where the second MAC address existence subdomain is used to indicate whether a site MAC address subdomain exists in the first site information subdomain; A second beacon interval existence subfield is used to indicate whether a beacon interval subfield exists in the first site information subfield; a second DTIM information existence subfield, where the second DTIM information existence subfield is used to indicate whether a DTIM information subfield exists in the first site information subfield; a second NSTR link pair existence subdomain, where the second NSTR link pair existence subdomain is used to indicate whether an NSTR link pair subdomain exists in the first site information subdomain; The second NSTR bitmap size subfield is used to indicate the NSTR bitmap size; A second BSS parameter change count existence subfield, where the second BSS parameter change count existence subfield is used to indicate whether a BSS parameter change count subfield exists in the first site information subfield; The second type of reconfiguration multi-link element is used to add a link in multi-link reconfiguration.

55. The method according to any one of claims 50 to 54, wherein When the second multilink element is a first-type multilink element, the second site information subfield includes at least one of the following: Second site information length subfield; Second site MAC address subdomain; Second beacon interval subfield; Second TSF offset subfield Second DTIM information subfield; The second NSTR indicates the bitmap subfield; The second BSS parameter change count subfield; Second TSF subdomain.

56. The method according to any one of claims 50 to 53, wherein When the second multilink element is a second-type multilink element, the second site control subdomain includes at least one of the following: A second link identification subfield, where the second link identification subfield is used to indicate a target link; A second link reconfiguration indication subfield, where the second link reconfiguration indication subfield is used to indicate the type of reconfiguration operation performed on the target link; A second MAC address exists subdomain, where the second MAC address exists subdomain is used to indicate whether a site MAC address subdomain exists in the second site information subdomain; a second removal timer existence subfield, where the second removal timer existence subfield is used to indicate whether a removal timer subfield exists in the second site information subfield; The second type of reconfiguration multi-link element is used to remove a link in multi-link reconfiguration.

57. The method according to any one of claims 50 to 53 and 56, wherein: When the second multilink element is a second-type multilink element, the second site information subfield includes at least one of the following: Second site MAC address subdomain; The second removes the timer subfield.

58. The method according to claim 54 or 56, wherein The second link reconfiguration indication subfield is set to a first value, used to indicate that a link removal operation is to be performed on the target link; or, The second link reconfiguration indication subfield is set to a second value, used to indicate that a link addition operation is to be performed on the target link; or, The second link reconfiguration indication subfield is set to a third value, which is used to indicate that the target link is a link that does not require link removal operation and link addition operation and / or indicates that the target link is a link that requires link adjustment operation and / or indicates that the target link is a link in the second part of the link associated with the first part of the link.

59. The method according to claim 54 or 56, wherein The second link reconfiguration indication subfield is set to a first value, used to indicate that one of a link deletion operation and a link addition operation is performed on the target link; or, The second link reconfiguration indication subfield is set to a second value, used to indicate that the target link is a link that does not require link removal operation and link addition operation and / or indicates that the target link is a link that requires link adjustment operation and / or indicates that the target link is a link in the second part of the link associated with the first part of the link.

60. The method according to any one of claims 50 to 59, wherein For a newly added link accepted by the second multi-link device, the status code contained in the second site configuration subfield of the per-site configuration sub-element corresponding to the link indicates that the newly added link is successful; For a newly added link rejected by the second multi-link device, the status code contained in the second site configuration subfield of the per-site configuration sub-element corresponding to the link indicates that the newly added link failed.

61. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 60, wherein The first multi-link device receiving a second multi-link element sent by the second multi-link device, comprising: The first multi-link device receives the second multi-link element sent by the second multi-link device on the link on which the first multi-link device sends the first multi-link element.

62. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 61, wherein The second multilink element is carried in a second action field of the first response frame. The second action field includes a second multilink element field. The second multilink element field is used to indicate the second multilink element.

63. The method of claim 62, wherein: The second action domain further includes at least one of the following: a second category field, where the second category field is used to indicate a category of the second action field; a second protected action field, wherein the second protected action field is used to indicate a protected action; A second dialogue token field, where the second dialogue token field is used to indicate a dialogue token corresponding to the first response frame; A status code field is used to indicate whether the requested multi-link reconfiguration is accepted.

64. The method of claim 63, wherein The status code field is set to a first value, which is used to instruct the second multi-link device to accept all new link establishment requests; The status code field is set to a second value, which is used to instruct the second multi-link device to reject all requests to establish new links; The status code field is set to a third value, which is used to instruct the second multi-link device to accept some of the requests for establishing new links and / or reject some of the requests for establishing new links.

65. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 64, wherein In the case where the first part of the links is the link that the first multi-link device requests to add, After the first part of the link is added, the first part of the parameters used by the first part of the link and the second part of the link remain unchanged; And / or, the second part of parameters used by the first part of the link are re-established.

66. The method of claim 65, wherein The first part of parameters includes at least one of the following: a pairwise transient key PTK and an association identifier AID.

67. The method according to claim 65 or 66, wherein The second part of parameters includes at least one of the following: a multicast transient key GTK, an integrity multicast transient key IGTK, and a beacon integrity multicast transient key BIGTK.

68. The method according to any one of claims 65 to 67, wherein The method further comprises: The first multi-link device and the second multi-link device exchange handshake messages, and the exchange of handshake messages is used to establish the second part parameters for the first part link.

69. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 68, wherein The first multi-link device is a non-access point multi-link device (non-AP MLD), and the second multi-link device is an access point multi-link device (AP MLD).

70. A multi-link reconfiguration apparatus, applied to a first multi-link device, the apparatus comprising: a communication unit, configured to send a first multilink element to a second multilink device, and / or receive a second multilink element sent by the second multilink device; The first multilink element and / or the second multilink element is used to determine at least one of the following: A multi-link reconfiguration type, where the multi-link reconfiguration type is used to indicate adding a link or removing a link; The first part is the link information of the link; General information of the link; link information of links in the second part of links that are associated with the first part of links; The first part of the links are links that the first multi-link device requests to add or links that the first multi-link device requests to remove, and the second part of the links are links that have been established between the first multi-link device and the second multi-link device during or before the multi-link reconfiguration.

71. 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 69.

72. A chip comprising: A processor, configured to call and execute a computer program from a memory, so that a device equipped with the chip executes a method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 69.

73. A computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program, wherein the computer program causes a computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 69.

74. A computer program product comprising computer program instructions for causing a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 69.

75. A computer program causing a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 69.

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