Communication method and communication device

Abstract

The invention provides a communication method, which can be applied to a WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) system supporting an IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) 802.11 ax next generation Wi-Fi protocol, such as 802.11 be, Wi-Fi 7 or EHT, and then 802.11 series protocols such as 802.11 be next generation, Wi-Fi 8 and the like, and can also be applied to a UWB (Ultra Wideband)-based wireless personal area network system and a sensing system. The method comprises the steps that a source MLD obtains information of a relay MLD through a low-frequency communication link, the relay MLD is set through the low-frequency communication link, and therefore information can be transmitted to a target MLD through the relay MLD on a high-frequency communication link, and relay transmission is achieved. According to the communication method, the source MLD obtains the information of the relay MLD through the low frequency, and the relay MLD is set through the low frequency, so that the low frequency assists the high frequency to establish the relay transmission, the relay transmission establishment overhead is reduced, and the relay transmission performance is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and more specifically, to a communication method and a communication device. Background Art

[0002] 802.11 is one of the current mainstream wireless access standards for wireless local area networks (WLANs), and has been widely used in commercial applications over the past decade. In many application scenarios, long-distance transmission of up to 1 to 2 kilometers is required between different devices. However, due to regulatory restrictions, the transmitting device cannot use very high power, and due to the uncertainty of the wireless channel conditions, devices cannot directly transmit 1 to 2 kilometers. The signal can be relayed by a relay device to achieve the effect of long-distance transmission. Therefore, relay transmission was introduced in the 802.11ah standard.

[0003] In the current relay transmission scheme, during the establishment of the relay transmission process, the information of the relay device is obtained through a high-frequency communication link, and the relay device is selected and established through high frequency, which results in high overhead. How to reduce the overhead of establishing the relay transmission process has become an urgent problem to be solved. Summary of the invention

[0004] The present application provides a communication method to reduce the overhead of establishing a relay transmission process.

[0005] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be executed by a first multilink device (MLD), or can also be executed by a component (such as a chip or circuit) of the first MLD, without limitation. For ease of description, the following description is based on the first MLD execution as an example.

[0006] The communication method includes: a first multi-link device MLD obtains information of a first relay MLD through a first communication link, and the first relay MLD is used to relay information transmitted by the first MLD to a second MLD through a second communication link; the first MLD sends a first request message to the first relay MLD and the second MLD through the first communication link, and the first request message is used to request to establish a second communication link between the first MLD and the first relay MLD, and a second communication link between the second MLD and the first relay MLD, wherein a frequency band in which the first communication link operates is lower than a frequency band in which the second communication link operates.

[0007] Based on the above technical solution, the first MLD, the first relay MLD and the second MLD support the first communication link and the second communication link, wherein the first communication link can be understood as a low-frequency (e.g., frequency band below 7 GHz) communication link, and the first communication link can be understood as a high-frequency (e.g., frequency band of 45 GHz and above) communication link. In the case where the first MLD expects to transmit information to the second MLD through the first relay MLD on the second communication link, in this technical solution, the first MLD can obtain the information of the first relay MLD through the first communication link, and set the first relay MLD through the first communication link, so that the first relay MLD can establish a second communication link with the first MLD and the second MLD to realize relay transmission. Low frequency assists high frequency in relay transmission establishment, reduces relay transmission establishment overhead, and improves relay transmission performance.

[0008] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first MLD obtains information of the first relay MLD through the first communication link, including: the first MLD sends a second request message to the third MLD through the first communication link, and the second request message is used to request information of at least one relay MLD that provides relay services for the first MLD and the second MLD; the first MLD receives a second response message from the third MLD through the first communication link, and the second response message includes information of the at least one relay MLD, and the first relay MLD is one of the at least one relay MLD.

[0009] Based on the above technical solution, the first MLD can obtain information of at least one relay MLD from the third MLD through the first communication link, wherein the third MLD can be a personal basic service set (PBSS) control point (PCP) MLD or an access point (AP) MLD. The PCP / AP can obtain information of different MLDs in the system through an association process to learn which MLDs have the ability to provide relay services, so that the PCP / AP can provide information of the relay MLD that can implement relaying to the second MLD through the first communication link after receiving the second request message sent by the first MLD to obtain the relay MLD. In this technical solution, the first MLD can interact with the PCP / AP through messages on the first communication link to obtain information about the relay MLD, without obtaining information about the relay MLD through the second communication link. On the first communication link, the PCP / AP can provide information about the relay MLD to the first MLD and the second MLD through omnidirectional transmission to improve efficiency.

[0010] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first MLD obtaining information of the first relay MLD through the first communication link includes: the first MLD receiving a third request message from the first relay MLD through the first communication link, the third request message including information of the first relay MLD.

[0011] Based on the above technical solution, if the first MLD is the PCP / AP in the system, the first MLD can obtain information of different MLDs in the system through the association process and know which MLDs have the ability to provide relay services without obtaining information of relay MLDs from other MLDs.

[0012] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the method also includes: the first MLD receives a detection physical layer protocol data unit from the first relay MLD through the first communication link; the first MLD measures the first channel information between the first MLD and the first relay MLD corresponding to the first communication link according to the detection physical layer protocol data unit; the first MLD receives second channel information from the second MLD, and the second channel information is the channel information between the second MLD and the first relay MLD corresponding to the first communication link.

[0013] Based on the above technical solution, the first MLD can receive the detection physical layer protocol data unit for measuring channel quality sent by the first relay MLD through the first communication link, and the second MLD can also receive the detection physical layer protocol data unit for measuring channel quality sent by the first relay MLD through the first communication link. Thus, the first MLD can measure the channel quality between the first MLD and the first relay MLD based on the detection physical layer protocol data unit to obtain the first channel information, and the second MLD can measure the channel quality between the second MLD and the first relay MLD based on the detection physical layer protocol data unit to obtain the second channel information. The second MLD provides the measured second channel information to the first MLD through the first communication link, so that the first MLD can determine that the first relay MLD is a relay MLD that meets the requirements based on the first channel information and the second channel information, which is conducive to the first MLD to select the relay MLD based on the channel quality of the first communication link. Moreover, compared with selecting the relay MLD based on the second communication link, selecting the relay MLD based on the channel quality of the first communication link does not require beam training, which reduces the overhead of selecting the relay MLD.

[0014] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the method also includes: the first MLD sends a channel measurement request message to the first relay MLD and the second MLD through the first communication link, and the channel measurement request message is used to request to obtain the third channel information between the first MLD and the first relay MLD corresponding to the second communication link, and the fourth channel information between the second MLD and the first relay MLD; the first MLD receives the third channel information from the first relay MLD through the first communication link, and receives the fourth channel information from the second MLD through the first communication link.

[0015] Based on the above technical solution, the first MLD can initiate a channel measurement request for measuring the second communication link through the first communication link, and receive the third channel information of the first relay MLD and the first MLD on the second communication link, as well as the fourth channel information of the first relay MLD and the second MLD on the second communication link through the first communication link, so that the first MLD can determine that the first relay MLD is a relay MLD that meets the requirements based on the third channel information and the fourth channel information, which is conducive to the first MLD selecting a relay MLD based on the channel quality of the second communication link.

[0016] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: the first MLD receiving information about a service interval corresponding to the first relay MLD from a third MLD through the first communication link.

[0017] Based on the above technical solution, the first MLD can receive the service range information of the relay MLD sent by the third MLD through the first communication link, so that the third MLD can provide the service range information of the relay MLD through omnidirectional transmission on the first communication link to improve efficiency.

[0018] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: the first MLD allocates a service interval corresponding to the first relay MLD to the first relay MLD; and the first MLD sends information of the service interval corresponding to the first relay MLD to the first relay MLD through the first communication link.

[0019] Based on the above technical solution, if the first MLD is the PCP / AP in the system, the first MLD can allocate the service interval of the relay MLD and provide the service interval information of the relay MLD through the first communication link, so that the first MLD can provide the service interval information of the relay MLD through omnidirectional transmission on the first communication link to improve efficiency.

[0020] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the method also includes: the first MLD determines a first service interval corresponding to the first communication link, and a second service interval corresponding to the second communication link, wherein the first MLD and the second MLD transmit information through the first communication link during the first service period, the first MLD and the first relay MLD transmit information within the second service interval, and the difference between the start time of the first service interval and the start time of the second service interval is less than a first threshold.

[0021] Based on the above technical solution, the service interval corresponding to the first MLD may include a first service interval corresponding to the first communication link, and a second service interval corresponding to the second communication link, that is, the first MLD can transmit information through the first communication link and the second communication link, and the first communication link and the second communication link cooperate to improve transmission efficiency.

[0022] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first MLD determines a first service interval corresponding to the first communication link and a second service interval corresponding to the second communication link, including: the first MLD allocates the first service interval corresponding to the first communication link, and the second service interval and third service interval corresponding to the second communication link, and the method also includes: the first MLD sends information of the third service interval to the second MLD and the first relay MLD through the first communication link, wherein the second MLD and the first relay MLD transmit information within the third service interval, and the difference between the termination time of the first service interval and the termination time of the third service interval is less than a second threshold.

[0023] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: the first MLD sends a notification message to the first relay MLD and the second MLD through the first communication link, wherein the notification message is used to notify the end of relay transmission, or the notification message is used to notify the switching of relay transmission mode.

[0024] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be executed by a first relay MLD, or by a component (such as a chip or circuit) of the first relay MLD, without limitation. For ease of description, the following description takes the execution of the first relay MLD as an example.

[0025] The communication method includes: a first relay multi-link device MLD receives a first request message from a first MLD through a first communication link, the first request message is used to request to establish a second communication link between the first MLD and the first relay MLD, and a second communication link between the second MLD and the first relay MLD, the first relay MLD is used to relay information transmitted by the first MLD to the second MLD through the second communication link; the first relay MLD establishes a second communication link between the first MLD and the first relay MLD, and a second communication link between the second MLD and the first relay MLD in response to the first request message, wherein a frequency band in which the first communication link operates is lower than a frequency band in which the second communication link operates.

[0026] In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: the first relay MLD sending a third request message to a third MLD through the first communication link, wherein the third request message includes information of the first relay MLD.

[0027] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the method also includes: the first relay MLD receives information about the service interval of the first relay MLD through the first communication link, the first relay MLD and the first MLD perform beamforming training within the service interval of the first relay MLD, and the first relay MLD and the second MLD perform beamforming training.

[0028] In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the method also includes: the first relay MLD sends a detection physical layer protocol data unit to the first MLD and the second MLD through the first communication link, and the detection physical layer protocol data unit is used to measure the first channel information between the first MLD and the first relay MLD corresponding to the first communication link, and is used to measure the second channel information between the second MLD and the first relay MLD corresponding to the first communication link.

[0029] In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the method also includes: the first relay MLD receives a channel measurement request message from the first MLD through the first communication link, and the channel measurement request message is used to request to obtain the third channel information between the first MLD and the first relay MLD corresponding to the second communication link; the first relay MLD sends a channel measurement response message to the first MLD through the first communication link, and the channel measurement response message includes the third channel information.

[0030] In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: the first relay MLD receives a notification message from the first MLD through the first communication link, the notification message is used to notify the end of relay transmission, or the notification message is used to notify the switching of relay transmission mode.

[0031] The technical effects of the method shown in the above second aspect and its possible design can refer to the technical effects in the first aspect and its possible design.

[0032] In a third aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be executed by a third MLD, or can also be executed by a component (such as a chip or circuit) of the third MLD, without limitation. For ease of description, the third MLD is used as an example for description below.

[0033] The communication method includes: a third relay multi-link device MLD receives at least one third request message from at least one relay MLD through a first communication link, the third request message including information of the relay MLD; the third MLD receives a second request message from the first MLD through the first communication link, the second request message is used to request to obtain information of at least one relay MLD that relays information transmitted by the first MLD to the second MLD through a second communication link; the third MLD sends a second response message to the first MLD and the second MLD through the first communication link, the second response message including information of the at least one relay MLD, wherein a frequency band in which the first communication link operates is lower than a frequency band in which the second communication link operates.

[0034] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the method further includes: the third MLD sends first indication information to the first MLD, the second MLD and the at least one relay MLD through the first communication link, and the first indication information is used to instruct part or all of the first MLD, the second MLD and the at least one relay MLD to perform channel measurement.

[0035] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the method further includes: the third MLD sends second indication information to the first MLD, the second MLD and the at least one relay MLD through the first communication link, and the second indication information includes information about the service interval of each relay MLD in the at least one relay MLD.

[0036] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the method also includes: the third MLD allocates a first service interval corresponding to the first communication link, and a second service interval and a third service interval corresponding to the second communication link; the third MLD sends information about the first service interval and information about the second service interval to the first MLD, and sends information about the third service interval to the second MLD and the first relay MLD, wherein the first MLD and the second MLD transmit information through the first communication link during the first service period, the first MLD and the first relay MLD transmit information within the second service interval, the second MLD and the first relay MLD transmit information within the third service interval, the difference between the end time of the first service interval and the end time of the third service interval is less than a second threshold, and the difference between the start time of the first service interval and the start time of the second service interval is less than a first threshold.

[0037] The technical effects of the method shown in the third aspect and its possible design above can refer to the technical effects in the first aspect and its possible design.

[0038] In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided, which is used to execute the method provided in the first to third aspects. Specifically, the device may include a unit and / or module, such as a processing unit and / or a communication unit, for executing the method provided in any one of the above implementations of the first to third aspects.

[0039] In one implementation, the communication unit may be a transceiver, or an input / output interface; the processing unit may be at least one processor. Optionally, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit. Optionally, the input / output interface may be an input / output circuit.

[0040] In another implementation, the device is a chip, a chip system or a circuit in a communication device. When the device is a chip, a chip system or a circuit used in a terminal device, the communication unit may be an input / output interface, an interface circuit, an output circuit, an input circuit, a pin or a related circuit on the chip, the chip system or the circuit; the processing unit may be at least one processor, a processing circuit or a logic circuit.

[0041] In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: a memory for storing programs; and at least one processor for executing computer programs or instructions stored in the memory to execute any one of the above-mentioned implementation methods of the first to third aspects.

[0042] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides a processor for executing the methods provided in the above aspects.

[0043] For the operations such as sending and acquiring / receiving involved in the processor, unless otherwise specified, or unless they conflict with their actual function or internal logic in the relevant description, they can be understood as operations such as processor output, reception, input, etc., or as sending and receiving operations performed by the radio frequency circuit and antenna, and this application does not limit this.

[0044] In a seventh aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores a program code for execution by a device, wherein the program code includes a method for executing any one of the above-mentioned implementations of the first to third aspects.

[0045] In an eighth aspect, a computer program product comprising instructions is provided. When the computer program product is run on a computer, the computer is enabled to execute the method provided in any one of the implementations of the first to third aspects.

[0046] In a ninth aspect, a chip is provided, the chip comprising a processor and a communication interface, the processor reads instructions stored in a memory through the communication interface, and executes the method provided by any one of the above-mentioned implementation methods of the first to third aspects.

[0047] Optionally, as an implementation method, the chip also includes a memory, in which a computer program or instructions are stored, and the processor is used to execute the computer program or instructions stored in the memory. When the computer program or instructions are executed, the processor is used to execute the method provided in any one of the above implementation methods.

[0048] A fourteenth aspect provides a communication system, comprising the first MLD of the first aspect, the first relay MLD of the second aspect, and the third MLD of the third aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0049] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of an application scenario applicable to the embodiment of the present application.

[0050] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a device structure is shown.

[0051] Figure 3 The figure is a schematic diagram of the structure of a multi-link device.

[0052] Figure 4 The figure is a schematic diagram of the structure of a multi-link between multi-link devices.

[0053] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of a relay transmission topology.

[0054] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of relay transmission.

[0055] Figure 7 The system architecture diagram of a relay transmission application.

[0056] Figure 8 The figure is a schematic flowchart of discovering a relay device.

[0057] Fig. 9 The figure is a schematic flow chart of selecting a relay device.

[0058] Fig.10 A schematic flowchart for setting up a relay device.

[0059] Fig.11 (a) to (d) are schematic diagrams of scenarios to which the communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application is applicable.

[0060] Fig.12 A schematic flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0061] Fig.13 A schematic diagram of obtaining information of a relay MLD provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0062] Fig.14 (a) is a schematic diagram of another method for obtaining information of a relay MLD provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0063] Fig.14 (b) is a schematic diagram of another method of obtaining information of a relay MLD provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0064] Fig.15 This is a schematic diagram of performing relay MLD selection provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0065] Fig.16 This is another schematic diagram of performing relay MLD selection provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0066] Fig.17 This is another schematic diagram of performing relay MLD selection provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0067] Fig.18 This is another schematic diagram of performing relay MLD selection provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0068] Fig.19 It is a schematic diagram of notifying the end of relay transmission or switching the relay transmission mode provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0069] Fig. 20 It is a schematic diagram of another method of notifying the end of relay transmission or switching the relay transmission mode provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0070] Fig.21This is a schematic diagram of configuring a service interval provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0071] Fig. 22 It is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0072] Fig.23 It is a schematic diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0073] Fig.24 It is a schematic diagram of a chip system provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0074] In order to facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the following points are first explained.

[0075] First, in this application, "used for indication" may include being used for direct indication and being used for indirect indication. When describing that a certain indication information is used for indicating A, it may include that the indication information directly indicates A or indirectly indicates A, but it does not mean that the indication information must carry A.

[0076] The information indicated by the indication information is called the information to be indicated. In the specific implementation process, there are many ways to indicate the information to be indicated, such as but not limited to, the information to be indicated can be directly indicated, such as the information to be indicated itself or the index of the information to be indicated. The information to be indicated can also be indirectly indicated by indicating other information, wherein there is an association between the other information and the information to be indicated. It is also possible to indicate only a part of the information to be indicated, while the other parts of the information to be indicated are known or agreed in advance. For example, the indication of specific information can also be achieved with the help of the arrangement order of each piece of information agreed in advance (for example, stipulated by the protocol), thereby reducing the indication overhead to a certain extent. At the same time, the common parts of each piece of information can also be identified and indicated uniformly to reduce the indication overhead caused by indicating the same information separately.

[0077] Second, "at least one" shown in the present application refers to one or more, and "multiple" refers to two or more. In addition, in the embodiments of the present application, "first", "second" and various digital numbers (for example, "#1", "#2", etc.) are only for the convenience of description, and are not used to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. The size of the sequence number of each process below does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and inherent logic, and should not constitute any limitation to the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application. It should be understood that the objects described in this way can be interchanged in appropriate circumstances, so as to be able to describe the schemes outside the embodiments of the present application. In addition, in the embodiments of the present application, words such as "S810" are only marks made for the convenience of description, and the order of execution steps is not limited.

[0078] Third, in the embodiments of the present application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the present application should not be interpreted as being more preferred or more advantageous than other embodiments or designs. Specifically, the use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present related concepts in a specific way.

[0079] Fourth, the "storage" involved in the embodiments of the present application may refer to storage in one or more memories. The one or more memories may be separately set or integrated in an encoder or decoder, a processor, or a communication device. The one or more memories may also be partially separately set and partially integrated in a decoder, a processor, or a communication device. The type of memory may be any form of storage medium, which is not limited by the present application.

[0080] Fifth, in the implementation of this application, "protocol" may refer to a standard protocol in the communication field, for example, it may include the NR protocol and related protocols used in future communication systems, and this application does not limit this.

[0081] Sixth, in the embodiments of the present application, the terms “of”, “corresponding, relevant”, “corresponding” and “associate” can sometimes be used interchangeably. It should be pointed out that when the distinction between them is not emphasized, the meanings they intend to express are consistent.

[0082] Seventh, in the embodiments of the present application, "under the circumstances", "when", and "if" can sometimes be used interchangeably. It should be pointed out that when the distinction between them is not emphasized, the meanings they intend to express are the same.

[0083] Eighth, the term "and / or" in this article is only a description of the association relationship of the associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. In addition, the character " / " in this article generally indicates that the associated objects before and after are in an "or" relationship.

[0084] The technical solution in this application will be described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0085] The technical solution provided in the embodiments of the present application can be applicable to wireless local area network (WLAN) scenarios, for example, supporting the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 related standards, such as 802.11a / b / g standards, 802.11n standards, 802.11ac standards, 802.11ax standards, IEEE 802.11ax next-generation Wi-Fi protocols, such as 802.11be, Wi-Fi 7, extremely high throughput (EHT), 802.11ad, 802.11ay or 802.11bf, such as 802.11be next generation, Wi-Fi 8, etc., and can also be applied to wireless personal area network systems based on ultra wide band (UWB), such as the 802.15 series standards, and can also be applied to sensing systems, such as the 802.11bf series standards. It can also be applied to the next generation standards of IEEE 802.11be, such as 802.11bn, Ultra High Reliability (UHR) working group. Among them, transmission reliability is an important focus of UHR. In addition, in the millimeter wave band, the IEEE 802.11 standard group plans to establish an integrated millimeter wave (IMMW) working group. Among them, the 802.11n standard is called high throughput (HT), the 802.11ac standard is called very high throughput (VHT) standard, the 802.11ax standard is called high efficient (HE) standard, and the 802.11be standard is called extremely high throughput (EHT) standard. Among them, 802.11bf includes two major categories of standards: low frequency (for example, sub7GHz) and high frequency (for example, 60GHz). The implementation of sub7GHz mainly relies on 802.11ac, 802.11ax, 802.11be and the next generation standards, while the implementation of 60GHz mainly relies on 802.11ad, 802.11ay and the next generation standards. Among them, 802.11ad can also be called directional multi-gigabit (DMG) standard, and 802.11ay can also be called enhanced directional multi-gigabit (EDMG) standard.

[0086] Although the embodiments of the present application are mainly described by deploying a WLAN network, especially a network using the IEEE 802.11 system standard, it is easy for those skilled in the art to understand that the various aspects involved in the embodiments of the present application can be extended to other networks using various standards or protocols, such as a high performance radio local area network (HIPERLAN), a wireless wide area network (WWAN), a wireless personal area network (WPAN), or other networks known now or developed later. Therefore, regardless of the coverage range and wireless access protocol used, the various aspects provided in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to any suitable wireless network.

[0087] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to various communication systems, such as: WLAN communication system, wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) system, long term evolution (LTE) system, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, LTE time division duplex (TDD), universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication system, fifth generation (5G) system or new radio (NR), sixth generation (6G) system, Internet of Things (IoT) network or vehicle to x (V2X), etc.

[0088] The above-mentioned communication system applicable to the present application is only an example for illustration, and the communication system applicable to the present application is not limited to this. A unified description is given here and no further elaboration is given below.

[0089] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of an application scenario applicable to the embodiment of the present application. Figure 1 As shown, the communication method provided by the present application is applicable to an access point (AP) (such as Figure 1AP1 and AP2 shown in ) and station (station, STA) (as shown in Figure 1 The present invention relates to data communication between non-AP STA1, non-AP STA2 and non-AP STA3 as shown in the figure, wherein the station can be a non-access point station (non-AP STA), referred to as a non-AP station or STA, and the AP can be referred to as an access station. Specifically, the scheme of the present application is applicable to data communication between an AP and one or more non-AP stations (for example, data communication between AP1 and non-AP STA1, non-AP STA2), and also to data communication between APs (for example, data communication between AP1 and AP2), and data communication between non-AP STAs and non-AP STAs (for example, data communication between non-AP STA2 and non-AP STA3).

[0090] Among them, the access point can be a node for terminals (such as mobile phones) to enter the wired (or wireless) network. It is mainly deployed in homes, buildings and parks, with a typical coverage radius of tens to hundreds of meters. Of course, it can also be deployed outdoors. The access point is equivalent to a bridge connecting the wired network and the wireless network. Its main function is to connect various wireless network clients together and then connect the wireless network to the Ethernet.

[0091] Specifically, the access point can be a terminal or network device with a Wi-Fi chip, and the network device can be a server, a router, a switch, a bridge, a computer, a mobile phone, a relay station, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a network device in a 5G network, and a network device in a 6G network, or a network device in a public land mobile network (PLMN), etc., and the embodiments of the present application are not limited. The access point can be a device that supports the Wi-Fi standard. For example, the access point can also support one or more standards of the IEEE 802.11 series such as 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11ax, 802.11be, 802.11ad, and 802.11ay. For example, the access point can also support the next generation standard of IEEE 802.11be, such as the UHR working group involved in 802.11bn. Among them, transmission reliability is an important focus of UHR. For another example, the access point may also support the millimeter wave frequency band, such as the IEEE 802.11 standard group plans to establish an IMMW working group.

[0092] A non-AP site may be a wireless communication chip, a wireless sensor or a wireless communication terminal, etc., and may also be referred to as a user, user equipment (UE), an access terminal, a user unit, a user station, a mobile station, a mobile station, a remote station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent or a user device. A non-AP site may be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication function, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, an Internet of Things device, a wearable device, a terminal device in a 5G network, a terminal device in a 6G network or a terminal device in a PLMN, etc., and the embodiments of the present application are not limited to this. A non-AP site may be a device that supports the WLAN format. For example, a non-AP site may support one or more standards of the IEEE 802.11 series, such as 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11ax, 802.11be, 802.11ad, and 802.11ay. For another example, a non-AP site may also support the next generation standard of IEEE 802.11be, such as the UHR working group involved in 802.11bn. Among them, transmission reliability is an important focus of UHR. For another example, a non-AP site may also support millimeter wave frequency bands, such as the IEEE 802.11 standard group plans to establish an IMMW working group.

[0093] For example, non-AP sites can be mobile phones, tablet computers, set-top boxes, smart TVs, smart wearable devices, vehicle-mounted communication devices, computers, Internet of Things (IoT) nodes, sensors, smart homes such as smart cameras, smart remote controls, smart water and electricity meters, and sensors in smart cities.

[0094] The above-mentioned AP or non-AP site may include a transmitter, a receiver, a memory, a processor, etc., wherein the transmitter and the receiver are respectively used for sending and receiving packet structures, the memory is used to store signaling information and store preset values ​​agreed in advance, etc., and the processor is used to parse signaling information, process related data, etc.

[0095] For example, Figure 2 A communication device provided by the present application is shown. Figure 2The device shown can be an AP or a non-AP site. Among them, the medium access control (MAC) layer processing module, the physical (PHY) layer processing module, the radio frequency / antenna, etc. are used to implement the relevant functions of the above-mentioned transmitter and receiver, such as Figure 2 As shown, in addition to the MAC layer processing module, the PHY layer processing module, the RF / antenna, the memory, and the processor, the device may also include a controller and a scheduler.

[0096] It should be understood that Figure 2 This is only an example of a device provided in the present application and does not constitute a limitation of the present application. For example, the device may not include a controller and / or a scheduler.

[0097] In order to facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, some terms or concepts that may be involved in the embodiments of the present application are first briefly described.

[0098] 1. Multi-link device (MLD): An IEEE 802.11 standard station device that supports multiple links at the same time is called a multi-link device (MLD), and the internal entity responsible for any link is called a station (STA). If all STAs within a MLD are access points (AP), it can be further called an AP MLD; if all STAs within a MLD are non-AP STAs, it can be further called a non-AP MLD. In the IEEE 802.11be protocol, MLD supports multi-link operation technology. If different links can receive and transmit separately at the same time (for example, a multi-link device includes 2 links, and in the same time period, one link can be used to send signals and the other link can be used to receive signals), this mode is called the simultaneously transmitting and receiving (STR) mode. If different links can only receive or transmit at the same time (for example, a multi-link device includes two links, and the two links can only be used to transmit signals in the same time period, or the two links can only be used to receive signals in the same time period, this mode is called a non-simultaneously transmitting and receiving (NSTR) mode. The solution provided in the embodiment of the present application is applicable to the STR mode and also to the NSTR mode.

[0099] The MLD has multiple RF modules, which can work in different frequency bands respectively. For example, the frequency band of the MLD can be all or part of the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz and 45 GHz and above millimeter wave frequency bands. The MLD can include APMLD and / or non-access point (non-AP) MLD, for example, the non-AP MLD can be a STA MLD.

[0100] Exemplarily, taking AP MLD as an example, the AP MLD may include one or more affiliated sites, and each affiliated site has its own media access control (MAC) address. Figure 3 The schematic diagram of the structure of a multi-link device provided in an embodiment of the present application is exemplarily shown. Figure 3 As shown, the subordinate stations of AP MLD include AP1 and AP2, the low MAC address of AP1 is link address 1, and the low MAC address of AP2 is link address 2. In addition, AP MLD also has an upper MAC address, called MLD MAC address.

[0101] AP MLD and non-AP MLD can establish multi-link connections through signaling interaction on any link. Figure 4 The schematic diagram of the structure of a multi-link between multi-link devices provided in an embodiment of the present application is exemplarily shown, such as Figure 4 As shown, AP MLD includes AP1 and AP2, AP1 includes AP1 PHY, AP1 low-layer MAC and high-layer MAC, AP2 includes AP2 PHY, AP2 low-layer MAC and high-layer MAC, wherein AP1 and AP2 share the high-layer MAC, non-AP MLD includes STA1 and STA2, STA1 includes STA1 PHY, STA1 low-layer MAC and high-layer MAC, STA2 includes STA2 PHY, STA2 low-layer MAC and high-layer MAC, wherein STA1 and STA2 share the high-layer MAC, AP1 and STA1 are connected through link 1, and AP2 and STA2 are connected through link 2.

[0102] 2. Multi-Link Operation (MLO): Continuously improving throughput is a continuous technical goal of WLAN development and evolution. The protocols of WLAN systems are mainly discussed in the 802.11 standard group. In previous standards such as 802.11a / b / g / n / ac / ax, the throughput has been continuously improved. The standard 802.11be currently under discussion is called Extremely High Throughput (EHT), which will significantly improve peak throughput as its most important technical goal. In the next generation standard of 802.11be (such as 802.11bn), there is an Ultra High Reliability (UHR) working group, and transmission reliability is an important focus of UHR. In addition, in the millimeter wave band, the 802.11 standard group plans to establish an Integrated Millimeter Wave (IMMW) working group.

[0103] Specifically, in order to achieve the technical goal of extremely high throughput, the 802.11be standard uses Multi-Link Operation (MLO) as one of the key technologies. The core idea is that WLAN devices that support the 802.11 standard have the ability to send and receive on multiple links, or multiple frequency bands (Multi-band), so that a larger bandwidth can be used for data transmission, thereby significantly improving throughput. Multi-bands include but are not limited to: 2.4GHz Wi-Fi band, 5GHz Wi-Fi band, and 6GHz Wi-Fi band. Access and transmission on each frequency band is called a link, or access and transmission on a frequency interval on the same frequency band is called a link, so access and transmission consisting of multiple links is called MLO.

[0104] 3. Long-distance transmission and relay: In many application scenarios, long-distance transmission of up to 1 to 2 kilometers is required between different nodes, such as smart grids, highway traffic monitoring, etc. However, due to regulatory restrictions, the sending node cannot use very high power, and due to the uncertainty of wireless channel conditions, nodes cannot directly transmit 1 to 2 kilometers. At this time, the signal needs to be relayed through a relay node to achieve the effect of long-distance transmission.

[0105] In the 802.11ah standard, relay transmission is introduced, and one of its topological structures can be as follows: Figure 5 There are three types of nodes: Root Access Point (Root AP) (such as Figure 5 Root access point shown in ), Relay (such as Figure 5 1, 2, and 3), and a station (STA) (such as Figure 5 Some STAs are directly associated with the root AP (e.g., Figure 5 Station #1 is associated with the root AP, and some STAs are associated with relays (such as Figure 5 As shown in the figure, site #2 and site #3 are associated with relay #1, site #4 is associated with relay #2, and site #5 and site #6 are associated with relay #3. Figure 5 Relay #3 shown in FIG. 1 is associated with relay #1), forming a multi-stage relay.

[0106] For relay, it contains three parts, relay station (relay STA), relay function (relay function) and relay access point (relay AP), such as Figure 6 As shown in the figure, the relay STA, as a node in the upper-layer Basic Service Set (BSS), communicates with the root AP or the upper-layer relay, while the relayAP, as a node in the lower-layer BSS, communicates with the relay or STA associated with it. The relay function acts as a bridge between the relay STA and the relay AP, and is connected to the logical link layer to implement the relay function.

[0107] In addition to increasing the coverage distance, multiple hops can also improve the channel quality of each hop, thereby increasing the transmission rate and achieving an increase in overall throughput, which is another benefit of relay transmission. In addition, for the millimeter wave frequency band, since it is easily blocked by obstacles, relay transmission provides a backup link, which is the third benefit of relay transmission.

[0108] 4. Establishment of relay transmission process: The 802.11ad standard defines the establishment method of the millimeter wave frequency band relay transmission process. Specifically, the system architecture diagram of the relay transmission application is as follows: Figure 7 As shown, it includes a personal basic service set control point (Personal Basic Service Set (PBSS) control point, PCP) or an access point (such as Figure 7 PCP / AP shown in ), source relay usable mSTA (SRUS) (as shown in Figure 7SRUS shown in ), relay supportable mSTA (RSUS) (as shown in Figure 7 RSUS) and destination relay usable mSTA (destination relay usable mSTA, DRUS) (as shown in Figure 7 SRUS can be referred to as a source site, RSUS can be referred to as a relay, and DRUS can be referred to as a destination site.

[0109] It should be understood that the present application does not impose any limitation on the name of the site, as long as it can achieve the corresponding function.

[0110] Exemplarily, the establishment of the millimeter wave frequency band relay transmission process includes the following stages:

[0111] Phase 1: Discovery of relay devices.

[0112] For ease of understanding, the following Figure 8 This section describes in detail the process of discovering relay devices.

[0113] like Figure 8 As shown, relay capability interaction and discovery of relay devices include the following steps:

[0114] S810, SRUS sends a relay search request to PCP / AP.

[0115] Specifically, the relay search request is used to request the PCP / AP to provide information about available relays.

[0116] S820, PCP / AP sends a relay search response to SRUS.

[0117] Specifically, the relay search response responds to the above-mentioned relay search request, and the relay search response includes a relay list.

[0118] S830, PCP / AP sends an active relay search response to DRUS.

[0119] The active relay search response is used to inform the DRUS that the process is used to discover the relay.

[0120] Phase 2: Relay device selection process.

[0121] For ease of understanding, the following Fig. 9 The process of selecting a relay is described in detail.

[0122] like Fig. 9 As shown, relay selection includes the following steps:

[0123] S910, PCP / AP allocates a service period (SP) to each relay.

[0124] Exemplarily, the PCP / AP may allocate a service interval to each relay in an omnidirectional broadcasting manner, wherein the omnidirectional broadcasting may be understood as the PCP / AP simultaneously allocating a service interval to each relay.

[0125] S920, beamforming.

[0126] Each relay performs beamforming (BF) processing, or beamforming training, with the destination site and the source site in the corresponding SP.

[0127] S930, SRUS sends a channel measurement request #1 to the relay.

[0128] Specifically, the source station sends a channel measurement request #1 to one or more candidate relays to obtain channel measurement information between the source station and the relay.

[0129] S940: The relay sends a channel measurement response #1 to the SRUS.

[0130] The channel measurement response #1 includes the channel measurement information between the source station and the relay.

[0131] It should be understood that Fig. 9 The relay shown in may be any one of one or more candidate relays, and the SRUS may send a channel measurement request to other candidate relays, and then the source station may obtain channel measurement information between the source station and one or more candidate relays.

[0132] S950, SRUS and DRUS perform beamforming processing.

[0133] S960, SRUS sends a channel measurement request #2 to DRUS.

[0134] The source station sends a channel measurement request to the destination station to collect channel measurement information known to the destination station and between the destination station and a relay device known to the destination station.

[0135] S970, DRUS sends a channel measurement response #2 to SRUS.

[0136] The channel measurement response includes channel measurement information between the destination station and the relay device known to the destination station.

[0137] Furthermore, the source site selects a relay, and its selection principle depends on the implementation and may rely on the capability information of the relay, as well as the channel quality.

[0138] Phase 3: Relay setup.

[0139] For ease of understanding, the following Fig.10 The process shown in the relay setup is described in detail.

[0140] like Fig.10 As shown, relay setup includes the following steps:

[0141] S1010, SRUS sends a relay setting request #1 to RSUS.

[0142] The relay setting request includes SRUS information, DRUS information, relay capability and identification information, relay transmission parameters, and the like.

[0143] S1020, RSUS sends a relay setting request #2 to DRUS.

[0144] RSUS forwards the information carried in the received relay setting request #1 to DRUS via relay setting request #2.

[0145] S1030, DRUS sends a relay setup response #2 to RSUS.

[0146] S1040, RSUS sends a relay setting response #1 to SRUS.

[0147] S1050, SRUS sends a relay setting notification to PCP / AP.

[0148] The relay setting notification includes information indicating that the relay setting is successful.

[0149] Combination of the above Figure 1 The application scenarios of the communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application are briefly introduced, as well as the basic concepts that may be involved in the embodiments of the present application. The three stages of the current relay establishment process are introduced in the basic concepts. It can be seen from the above that when the PCP / AP notifies the service range of each relay device in the process of selecting the relay device, it adopts the form of omnidirectional broadcast, and the beamforming of the transmitting end is not performed. In the case that the next generation standard does not support robust physical layer protocol data units (Physical Layer Protocol Data Unit, PPDU), the PCP / AP may not be able to notify the service range of each relay device to the surrounding devices in the above manner. In addition, in the process of selecting the relay device, a large amount of beamforming processing is required, which consumes a lot of time.

[0150] In order to solve the problems existing in the above-mentioned relay establishment process, the present application provides a communication method to reduce the overhead of establishing the relay transmission process.

[0151] The technical solution provided by the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiments of the present application can be applied to a variety of different scenarios, including Figure 1 The scenario shown is, but not limited to, that scenario.

[0152] It should be understood that the embodiments shown below do not particularly limit the specific structure of the execution subject of the method provided by the embodiments of the present application. As long as it is possible to communicate according to the method provided by the embodiments of the present application by running a program that records the code of the method provided by the embodiments of the present application, for example, the execution subject of the method provided by the embodiments of the present application may be a receiving device or a sending device, or a functional module in the receiving device or the sending device that can call and execute the program.

[0153] In the present application, the devices involved in the following embodiments are multi-link devices (referred to as MLDs), and multiple links can be established between two MLDs, such as a first communication link and a second communication link can be established between multi-link device #1 and multi-link device #2, wherein the first communication link is a low-frequency communication link (e.g., the first communication link operates in a frequency band below 7 GHz), and the second communication link is a high-frequency communication link (e.g., the second communication link operates in a frequency band of 45 GHz and above), and it is assumed that each MLD can communicate directly with each other in the first communication link without the need for relay operation.

[0154] Illustratively, in the following embodiments, the second communication link between the first MLD and the second MLD may be relayed through the first relay MLD, wherein the first MLD may be understood as the source MLD and the second MLD may be understood as the destination MLD, or the first MLD may be understood as the destination MLD and the second MLD may be understood as the source MLD.

[0155] For ease of understanding, the following takes the first MLD as the source MLD and the second MLD as the destination MLD as an example to illustrate the applicable scenario of the following embodiments.

[0156] Fig.11 (a) to (d) are schematic diagrams of possible scenarios of MLD configuration involved in the following embodiments.

[0157] from Fig.11 As can be seen from (a), this scenario includes PCP / AP MLD, SRUS MLD, RSUS MLD and DRUSMLD, which is equivalent to the above Figure 7 The system architecture diagram of relay transmission shown in Fig.11 Relay transmission can also be implemented in the scenario shown in (a). The specific relay transmission establishment process will be described below and will not be repeated here.

[0158] Fig.11 As can be seen in (b), this scenario includes PCP / AP MLD, RSUS MLD and DRUS MLD. Fig.11 In the scenario shown in (b), SRUS MLD is PCP / AP MLD, that is, PCP / AP MLD can implement the functions of SRUS MLD. Fig.11 Relay transmission can also be implemented in the scenario shown in (b). The specific relay transmission establishment process will be described below and will not be repeated here.

[0159] Fig.11 As can be seen in (c), this scenario includes PCP / AP MLD, RSUS MLD and SRUS MLD. Fig.11 In the scenario shown in (c), DRUS MLD is PCP / AP MLD, that is, PCP / AP MLD can implement the functions of DRUS MLD. Fig.11 Relay transmission can also be implemented in the scenario shown in (c). The specific relay transmission establishment process will be described below and will not be repeated here.

[0160] Fig.11 As can be seen in (d), this scenario includes PCP / AP MLD, DRUS MLD and SRUS MLD. Fig.11 In the scenario shown in (d), RSUS MLD is PCP / AP MLD, that is, PCP / AP MLD can implement the functions of RSUS MLD. Fig.11 Relay transmission can also be implemented in the scenario shown in (d). The specific relay transmission establishment process will be described below and will not be repeated here.

[0161] from Fig.11 As can be seen from (a) to (d), the following embodiments can be applied to the scenario where a multi-link device performs relay transmission establishment, and the PCP / AP MLD can be one of the SRUS MLD, RSUS MLD, and DRUS MLD.

[0162] It should be understood that Fig.11 (a) to (d) are merely examples of scenarios in which the following embodiments can be applied, and do not constitute any limitation on the protection scope of the present application. In addition, Fig.11 The names of the devices in (a) to (d) are only examples and do not constitute any limitation. This application does not impose any limitation on the names of the devices, and all devices that can achieve the corresponding functions are within the protection scope of this application.

[0163] It should be noted that the first communication link and the second communication link in this embodiment are general terms, not specific to a certain link, wherein the first communication link is understood to be a low-frequency communication link, that is, the low-frequency communication links between different MLDs can be referred to as the first communication link (e.g., Fig.11 In (a), there are first communication links between PCP / AP MLD and SRUS MLD, RSUS MLD, and DRUS MLD, but the first communication link between PCP / AP MLD and SRUS MLD, the first communication link between PCP / AP MLD and RSUS MLD, and the first communication link between PCP / AP MLD and DRUS MLD are actually different first communication links). The second communication link is understood as a high-frequency communication link, that is, the high-frequency communication links between different MLDs can all be called second communication links (e.g., Fig.11 In (a), there is a second communication link between PCP / AP MLD and SRUS MLD, RSUS MLD, and DRUS MLD, but the second communication link between PCP / AP MLD and SRUS MLD, the second communication link between PCP / AP MLD and RSUS MLD, and the second communication link between PCP / AP MLD and DRUS MLD are actually different second communication links).

[0164] Below, without loss of generality, the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application is described in detail by taking the interaction between the first MLD, the first relay MLD and the second MLD as an example. The first MLD, the first relay MLD and the second MLD involved in the embodiment of the present application can be an access point AP or a chip system inside the AP, and the first MLD, the first relay MLD and the second MLD can be a non-access point non-AP (such as STA) or a chip system inside a non-AP. In the following, no limitation is made on the specific form of the first MLD, the first relay MLD and the second MLD, and devices that can implement the corresponding functions of the first MLD, the first relay MLD and the second MLD are all within the protection scope of the present application.

[0165] For ease of description, the embodiment is introduced by taking the first MLD as the source MLD, the second MLD as the destination MLD, and the first relay MLD as one of at least one relay MLD that can perform relay transmission between the first MLD and the second MLD as an example.

[0166] Fig.12 It is a schematic flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application, comprising the following steps:

[0167] S1210: The first MLD obtains information of the first relay MLD.

[0168] Specifically, the first MLD obtains information of the first relay MLD through the first communication link, and the first relay MLD is used to relay (or relay transmission, forwarding, transferring, etc.) information transmitted by the first MLD to the second MLD through the second communication link.

[0169] It should be understood that in this embodiment, the first MLD, the first relay MLD, and the second MLD all support the first communication link and the second communication link. When the first MLD sends information to the second MLD via the second communication link, the first MLD can transmit the information to be sent to the second MLD to the first relay MLD via the second communication link, and the first relay MLD forwards it to the second MLD via the second communication link. Therefore, the first relay MLD acts as a relay device between the first MLD and the second MLD. The following will explain how to establish a relay transmission mode between the first MLD, the first relay MLD, and the second MLD in conjunction with specific examples.

[0170] Exemplarily, in this embodiment, the first MLD acquires the information of the first relay MLD in the following two possible implementations:

[0171] Mode 1: The first MLD is the source MLD, and there is a third MLD in the system (i.e., the PCP / AP mentioned above. In this embodiment, the PCP / AP also supports the first communication link and the second communication link, so the PCP / AP in this embodiment is called PCP / APMLD). Fig.11 In the scenario shown in (a), the first MLD can obtain information about the first relay MLD from the third MLD. For example, the first MLD receives information about at least one relay MLD from the PCP / AP MLD, and the first relay MLD is one of the at least one relay MLD. Fig.13 In the case shown in the first detailed description method, how the first MLD obtains the information of the first relay MLD is not described in detail here.

[0172] Method 2: The first MLD is the source MLD, and the source MLD is the PCP / AP MLD mentioned above, such as Fig.11 In the scenario shown in (b), the first MLD can obtain the information of the first relay MLD through the MLD association or detection process. Exemplarily, at least one relay MLD in the system sends an association request frame or a detection request frame to the first MLD, and the association request frame or the detection request frame carries the information of the relay MLD. Fig.14 In the case shown in the second detailed description, how the first MLD obtains the information of the first relay MLD is not described in detail here.

[0173] From the above, it can be seen that the first MLD may obtain information of at least one relay MLD in the process of acquiring the relay MLD. The at least one relay MLD can be called a candidate relay MLD, that is, the first MLD can transmit information to the second MLD through any one of the at least one relay MLD on the second communication link.

[0174] In order to improve communication performance, the first MLD may select some or all of the at least one relay MLD as relay devices that actually relay information transmitted between the first MLD and the second MLD. For example, the first relay MLD mentioned above is the relay MLD selected by the first MLD from the at least one relay MLD, that is, the first relay MLD is one of multiple candidate relay MLDs.

[0175] Specifically, in this embodiment, the first MLD performs relay MLD selection including the following two possible implementations:

[0176] As a possible implementation manner, the first MLD may perform preliminary relay MLD selection based on the channel quality corresponding to the first communication link.

[0177] For example, the first MLD receives a detection PPDU from the first relay MLD through the first communication link, and measures the first channel information between the first MLD and the first relay MLD corresponding to the first communication link according to the detection PPDU. The second MLD receives a detection PPDU from the first relay MLD through the first communication link, and measures the second channel information between the second MLD and the first relay MLD corresponding to the first communication link according to the detection PPDU, and sends the second channel information to the first MLD through the first communication link. This allows the first MLD to determine whether the first relay MLD can serve as a relay MLD that relays information between the first MLD and the second MLD on the second communication link based on the channel information between the first MLD and the first relay MLD on the first communication link, and the channel information between the second MLD and the first relay MLD.

[0178] The following will be combined Fig.15 and Fig.16 The specific process of the first MLD selecting the relay MLD in this implementation is described in detail.

[0179] As another possible implementation manner, the first MLD may select the relay MLD based on the channel quality corresponding to the second communication link.

[0180] For example, the first MLD sends a channel measurement request message to the first relay MLD and the second MLD through the first communication link. The first MLD measures the third channel information between the first MLD and the first relay MLD on the second communication link in response to the channel measurement request message, and sends the third channel information to the first MLD through the first communication link. The second MLD measures the fourth channel information between the second MLD and the first relay MLD on the second communication link in response to the channel measurement request message, and sends the fourth channel information to the first MLD through the first communication link. This allows the first MLD to determine whether the first relay MLD can serve as a relay MLD that relays information between the first MLD and the second MLD on the second communication link based on the channel information between the first MLD and the first relay MLD on the second communication link, and the channel information between the second MLD and the first relay MLD.

[0181] The following will be combined Fig.17 and Fig.18 The process of the first MLD selecting the relay MLD in this implementation is described in detail.

[0182] It should be understood that in this embodiment, the relay MLD selected by the first MLD is taken as an example for explanation, and the first MLD can implement the relay MLD setting through the relay setting request message. Fig.12 The method flow shown also includes:

[0183] S1220: The first MLD sends a first request message to the first relay MLD and the second MLD.

[0184] Specifically, the first MLD sends a first request message to the first relay MLD and the second MLD through the first communication link. The first request message includes information about the first MLD, information about the second MLD, and information about the first relay MLD.

[0185] For the first relay MLD, the first request message is used to request the first relay MLD to establish a second communication link between the first MLD and the first relay MLD, and the first request message is used to request the first relay MLD to establish a second communication link between the second MLD and the first relay MLD.

[0186] For the second MLD, the first request message is used to request the second MLD to establish a second communication link between the second MLD and the first relay MLD.

[0187] Optionally, after the first relay MLD and the second MLD establish the second communication link in response to the first request message, the first relay MLD and the second MLD may notify the first MLD of the completion of the relay setting through a first response message.

[0188] Exemplarily, the first request message may be referred to as a relay setting request message. The first response message may be referred to as a relay setting response message.

[0189] Exemplarily, the first MLD may also send a notification message on the first communication link, where the notification message is used to notify the end of relay transmission, or the notification message is used to notify the switching of relay transmission mode, wherein the relay transmission mode includes a switching mode or a cooperative mode.

[0190] For example, the notification message notifies the first relay MLD and / or the second MLD to terminate the relay operation in the second communication link; for another example, the notification message notifies the first relay MLD and / or the second MLD to switch the relay transmission mode.

[0191] The following will be combined Fig.19 and Fig. 20 How the first MLD notifies the end of relay transmission or switches the relay transmission mode through a notification message is described in detail.

[0192] As an example but not a limitation, since the first MLD, the first relay MLD and the second MLD all support the first communication link and the second communication link, a possible transmission mode is: the first MLD and the second MLD transmit information directly through the first communication link, and the first MLD transmits information to the second MLD through the first relay MLD. This transmission mode can be understood as a transmission mode combining the first communication link and the second communication link.

[0193] Exemplarily, in order to realize the joint transmission of the first communication link and the second communication link, when allocating service intervals, the first service interval can be allocated to the first MLD on the first communication link, and the second service interval can be allocated to the first MLD on the second communication link, so that the first MLD can directly transmit information to the second MLD through the first communication link within the first service interval, and can transmit information to the second MLD through the first relay MLD within the second service interval, that is, the first MLD transmits information to the first relay MLD through the second communication link within the second service interval, and the first relay MLD transmits the received information to the second MLD through the second communication link within the corresponding service interval.

[0194] For ease of understanding, the following will be combined Fig.21 The allocation method of the service intervals corresponding to different communication links when the first communication link and the second communication link are jointly transmitted is introduced in detail, which will not be described in detail here.

[0195] As shown above, Fig.12In the communication method shown, the first communication link (low frequency, such as below 7 GHz) is used to assist the second communication link (such as millimeter wave, above 40 GHz) to perform relay device selection and setting, etc. Management information and control information (such as the first request message mentioned above, etc.) can be efficiently transmitted to each device through the first communication link, reducing the overhead of establishing relay transmission.

[0196] Fig.13 This is a schematic diagram of obtaining the information of the relay MLD, where the source MLD is Fig.12 The first MLD shown in Fig.12 The second MLD shown in , PCP / AP MLD is Fig.12 The third MLD in the communication method shown in , the method of obtaining the information of the relay MLD includes the following steps:

[0197] S1310: The source MLD sends a second request message to the PCP / AP MLD.

[0198] Specifically, the source MLD sends a second request message to the PCP / AP MLD via the first communication link. The second request message is used to request the PCP / AP MLD to provide information of at least one relay MLD that can provide relay services for the source MLD and the destination MLD, wherein the second request message carries information of the source MLD and the destination MLD.

[0199] Optionally, the second request message may be a relay search request message.

[0200] As a possible implementation manner, the PCP / AP MLD can determine at least one relay MLD that can provide relay services for the source MLD and the destination MLD based on the information carried in the second request message and the information of different MLDs stored locally, and provide the information of the at least one relay MLD to the source MLD through a second response message.

[0201] As another possible implementation, the PCP / AP MLD may determine that no device supports being a relay device based on the information carried in the second request message and the locally stored information of different MLDs, and may directly feedback that the relay setting cannot be supported.

[0202] The following description is made by taking PCP / AP MLD determining that a device supports being a relay device as an example.

[0203] S1320, the PCP / AP MLD sends a second response message to the source MLD.

[0204] Specifically, the PCP / AP MLD sends a second response message to the source MLD through the first communication link. The second response message includes information of at least one relay MLD, and the first relay MLD is one of the at least one relay MLD.

[0205] Exemplarily, the information of at least one relay MLD included in the second response message includes, but is not limited to: an identifier of at least one relay MLD (e.g., a relay MLD identifier list) and capability information of the at least one relay MLD. The capability information may be information indicating that a certain MLD can be used as a relay MLD, or information indicating a relay transmission mode supported by the relay MLD.

[0206] Optionally, the second response message is a relay search response message.

[0207] Furthermore, when the PCP / AP MLD provides information of at least one relay MLD to the source MLD, the PCP / AP MLD may also actively provide information of the at least one relay MLD to the destination MLD. Fig.13 It may also include:

[0208] S1330, the PCP / AP MLD sends a second response message to the target MLD.

[0209] Specifically, the PCP / AP MLD sends a second response message to the destination MLD through the first communication link.

[0210] It should be noted that the message carrying information of at least one relay MLD sent by the PCP / AP MLD to the source MLD and the message carrying information of at least one relay MLD sent by the PCP / AP MLD to the destination MLD are both called second response messages, but it should be understood that the destination address of the message carrying information of at least one relay MLD sent by the PCP / AP MLD to the source MLD is different from the destination address of the message carrying information of at least one relay MLD sent by the PCP / AP MLD to the destination MLD. For the sake of distinction, the second response message in the above step S1320 is called second response message #1, and the second response message in step S1330 is called second response message #2. In this embodiment, the two messages with different destination addresses are named the same name only for the convenience of description.

[0211] exist Fig.13 In the case shown in the figure, the first MLD can obtain the information of the relay MLD from the PCP / AP MLD through the first communication link. Figure 8For the process of discovering a relay device shown, the third MLD can feed back the information of the relay MLD through the first communication link, and can provide the information of the relay MLD to the first MLD and the second MLD simultaneously by omnidirectional transmission, thereby improving feedback efficiency.

[0212] It should be noted that Fig.13 In the case shown, the premise that PCP / AP MLD can provide the information of relay MLD is that PCP / AP MLD locally stores information of different MLDs. In this embodiment, PCP / AP MLD can obtain information of different MLDs through the MLD association process. For ease of understanding, the following is combined with Fig.14 (a) and (b) in FIG. 5 describe in detail how the PCP / AP MLD obtains information from different MLDs.

[0213] Fig.14 (a) is another schematic diagram of obtaining information of a relay MLD provided in an embodiment of the present application, wherein the MLD to be associated is Fig.12 The first MLD, relay MLD or second MLD shown in FIG, PCP / AP MLD is Fig.12 The third MLD in the communication method shown in , the method of obtaining the information of the relay MLD includes the following steps:

[0214] S1410: The MLD to be associated sends a third request message to the PCP / AP MLD.

[0215] The third request message includes information of the MLD to be associated.

[0216] Fig.14 The MLD to be associated may be one or more of a relay MLD, a destination MLD, and a source MLD.

[0217] As a possible implementation method, the third request message is an MLD association request frame, which includes capability information of the relay MLD, the destination MLD, and the source MLD on the second communication link, for example, whether the MLD to be associated supports being a relay source MLD or a destination MLD, whether the MLD to be associated supports being a relay MLD, the relay operation mode (whether the direct link from the source MLD to the destination MLD and the relay link from the source MLD to the relay MLD to the destination MLD are switching mode or cooperation mode), whether it has power supply and other capability information.

[0218] As another possible implementation, the third request message is an MLD probe request frame. For example, before MLD association, an MLD probe (Probe) may also be performed. One or more of the relay MLD, the destination MLD, and the source MLD sends an MLD probe request frame to the AP MLD, and the MLD probe request frame includes capability information of the relay MLD, the destination MLD, and the source MLD on the second communication link.

[0219] S1420: The PCP / AP MLD sends a third response message to the MLD to be associated.

[0220] The third response message includes PCP / AP MLD information.

[0221] As a possible implementation method, if the above-mentioned third request message is an MLD association request frame, the third response message is an MLD association response frame, and the MLD association response frame includes the capability information of the PCP / AP MLD on the second communication link, for example, whether the PCP / AP MLD supports being a relay source MLD or destination MLD, whether the PCP / AP MLD supports being a relay MLD, the relay operation mode (whether the direct link from the source MLD to the destination MLD and the relay link from the source MLD to the relay MLD to the destination MLD are switching mode or cooperation mode), whether it has power supply and other capability information.

[0222] As another possible implementation manner, if the third request message is an MLD probe request frame, the third response message is an MLD probe response frame, and the MLD probe request frame includes capability information of the PCP / AP MLD on the second communication link.

[0223] Optionally, the beacon frame broadcast by the PCP / AP MLD on the first communication link may also include capability information of the PCP / AP MLD on the second communication link.

[0224] Fig.14 In the process shown in (a), different MLDs exchange their respective capability information in the second communication link in the first communication link.

[0225] For ease of understanding, combined Fig.14 (b) in the figure shows the association process of relay MLD, destination MLD, source MLD and PCP / AP MLD.

[0226] Fig.14 (b) is a schematic diagram of another method of obtaining information of a relay MLD provided in an embodiment of the present application, including the following steps:

[0227] S1411: The relay MLD, the destination MLD, or the source MLD sends a probe request frame to the PCP / AP MLD.

[0228] Specifically, the relay MLD, the destination MLD, or the source MLD sends a probe request frame to the PCP / AP MLD via the first communication link. The probe request frame carries capability information of the relay MLD, the destination MLD, or the source MLD on the second communication link.

[0229] S1412, the PCP / AP MLD sends a probe response frame to the relay MLD, the destination MLD, or the source MLD.

[0230] Specifically, the PCP / AP MLD sends a probe response frame to the relay MLD, the destination MLD, or the source MLD through the first communication link. The probe response frame carries the capability information of the PCP / AP MLD on the second communication link.

[0231] S1413, the PCP / AP MLD sends a beacon frame to the relay MLD, the destination MLD, or the source MLD.

[0232] Specifically, the PCP / AP MLD sends a beacon frame to the relay MLD, the destination MLD, or the source MLD through the first communication link.

[0233] Optionally, the beacon frame carries capability information of the PCP / AP MLD on the second communication link.

[0234] S1414: The relay MLD, the destination MLD, or the source MLD sends an association request frame to the PCP / AP MLD.

[0235] Specifically, the relay MLD, the destination MLD, or the source MLD sends an association request frame to the PCP / AP MLD via the first communication link. The association request frame carries capability information of the relay MLD, the destination MLD, or the source MLD on the second communication link.

[0236] S1415, the PCP / AP MLD sends an association response frame to the relay MLD, the destination MLD, or the source MLD.

[0237] Specifically, the PCP / AP MLD sends an association response frame to the relay MLD, the destination MLD, or the source MLD through the first communication link. The association response frame carries the capability information of the PCP / AP MLD on the second communication link.

[0238] For example, when the first MLD obtains the information of the first relay MLD in the above step S1210, if the first MLD acts as a PCP / AP MLD, the manner in which the first MLD obtains the information of the relay MLD can refer to the above Fig.14In the process shown in FIG. 1 , for example, the first MLD receives a third request message from the first relay MLD via the first communication link, and the third request message includes information of the first relay MLD. It should be understood that the first MLD may receive a third request message from the first relay MLD via the first communication link. Fig.14 The process shown acquires information of at least one relay MLD, and the first relay MLD is one of the at least one relay MLD.

[0239] Fig.15 is a schematic diagram of a relay MLD selection provided by an embodiment of the present application, wherein the source MLD is Fig.12 The first MLD shown in Fig.12 The second MLD shown in , the relay MLD is Fig.12 The first relay MLD shown in FIG, PCP / AP MLD is Fig.12 The third MLD in the communication method shown in , the manner of selecting a relay MLD includes the following steps:

[0240] S1510, PCP / AP MLD sends first indication information.

[0241] The first indication information is used to notify to perform channel detection.

[0242] Exemplarily, the PCP / AP MLD triggers the source MLD, the candidate relay MLD, and the target MLD to perform channel measurement on the first communication link through the first indication information. For example, the AP MLD sends a Null Data Packet Announcement (NDPA) frame on the first communication link to notify some or all of the source MLD, the relay MLD, and the target MLD on the first communication link to perform channel detection.

[0243] Optionally, the PCP / AP MLD may send the first indication information to the source MLD, the candidate relay MLD, and the target MLD in the system in an omnidirectional manner.

[0244] In this embodiment, after the source MLD, the candidate relay MLD, and the target MLD receive the above-mentioned indication information #1, the channel quality measurement can be achieved by sending a detection PPDU. For example, after the source MLD receives the indication information #1, it sends a detection PPDU #1 to the candidate relay MLD and the target MLD, and the detection PPDU #1 is used to measure the channel quality between the relay MLD and the source MLD in the first communication link, and the channel quality between the relay MLD and the target MLD; for another example, after the target MLD receives the indication information #1, it sends a detection PPDU #2 to the candidate relay MLD and the source MLD, and the detection PPDU #2 is used to measure the channel quality between the relay MLD and the source MLD in the first communication link, and the channel quality between the relay MLD and the target MLD; for another example, after the relay MLD receives the indication information #1, it sends a detection PPDU #3 to the destination MLD and the source MLD, and the detection PPDU #3 is used to measure the channel quality between the relay MLD and the source MLD in the first communication link, and the channel quality between the relay MLD and the target MLD.

[0245] For the convenience of description, the following takes a certain relay MLD in the candidate relay MLDs sending a detection PPDU as an example for explanation. Fig.15 The method flow shown also includes:

[0246] S1520, the relay MLD sends a detection PPDU.

[0247] Specifically, the relay MLD that receives the first indication information may send a detection PPDU to the source MLD and the destination MLD via the first communication link. The detection PPDU is used to measure the channel quality between the relay MLD and the source MLD in the first communication link, and the channel quality between the relay MLD and the destination MLD.

[0248] Exemplarily, the PCP / AP MLD sends an NDP on the first communication link, and the NDP is used by the source MLD and the destination MLD to measure the channel quality between the source MLD and the relay MLD on the first communication link.

[0249] Optionally, the relay MLD may send the above detection PPDU to the source MLD and the target MLD in the system in an omnidirectional manner.

[0250] Exemplarily, after receiving the detection PPDU, the source MLD can measure the channel quality between the source MLD and the relay MLD based on the detection PPDU to obtain the first channel information. After receiving the detection PPDU, the target MLD can measure the channel quality between the target MLD and the relay MLD based on the detection PPDU to obtain the second channel information, and send the measured second channel information to the source MLD through the first communication link. Fig.15The method flow shown also includes:

[0251] S1530: The destination MLD sends a channel measurement report to the source MLD.

[0252] The channel measurement report includes the second channel information between the target MLD and the relay MLD.

[0253] It should be understood that other relay MLDs in the candidate relay MLDs may also send a detection PPDU and perform the above steps S1520 and S1530 so that the source MLD can obtain the channel quality between different candidate relay MLDs and the source MLD, and between different candidate relay MLDs and the destination MLD, so that the source MLD can perform a preliminary relay MLD selection based on the obtained channel quality information. Optionally, if there are multiple candidate relay MLDs, the multiple candidate relay MLDs can perform multiple groups of channel measurements in series to obtain channel quality.

[0254] S1540: The source MLD selects a relay MLD.

[0255] Specifically, the source MLD can obtain the channel qualities between different candidate relay MLDs and the source MLD, and different candidate relay MLDs and the destination MLD through the channel measurement process on the first communication link, so that the source MLD can select a relay MLD based on the obtained channel qualities.

[0256] For example, when the source MLD obtains the channel quality #1 corresponding to the relay MLD#1, the channel quality #2 corresponding to the relay MLD#2, and the channel quality #3 corresponding to the relay MLD#3, the relay MLD whose channel quality does not meet the preset conditions (such as the signal-to-noise ratio (Signal Noise Ratio, SNR), signal-to-noise and interference ratio (Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio, SINR) or received signal strength indicator (Received Signal Strength Indicator, RSSI) is lower than the preset value) is screened out.

[0257] Fig.16 is another schematic diagram of selecting a relay MLD provided by an embodiment of the present application, wherein the source MLD is Fig.12 The first MLD shown in , and the first MLD is used as PCP / AP MLD, the destination MLD is Fig.12 The second MLD shown in , the relay MLD is Fig.12 The first relay MLD shown in FIG. 1 , the method for selecting a relay MLD includes the following steps:

[0258] S1610: The source MLD sends first indication information.

[0259] Referring to the description of step S1510 above, the difference is that in this embodiment, the device that triggers channel measurement through the first indication information on the first communication link is the source MLD, which will not be described in detail here.

[0260] S1620, the relay MLD sends a detection PPDU.

[0261] S1630: The destination MLD sends a channel measurement report to the source MLD.

[0262] S1640: The source MLD selects a relay MLD.

[0263] For the description of steps S1620 to S1640, refer to the description of steps S1520 to S1540 mentioned above, which will not be repeated here.

[0264] In this embodiment, the source MLD can roughly screen the candidate relay MLDs in the above manner. This helps to reduce the overhead caused by directly performing beamforming training on the second communication link. In addition, when performing channel detection on the first communication link, each device can directly transmit information to each other, which helps to quickly complete the training. For example, the detection PPDU sent by the relay MLD in an omnidirectional transmission manner can be received by the source MLD and the destination MLD at the same time.

[0265] Furthermore, after preliminarily screening some relay MLDs, the source MLD may further perform relay MLD selection on the second communication link.

[0266] As a possible implementation, after preliminarily screening some relay MLDs, the source MLD may select a relay MLD on the second communication link using an existing relay MLD selection method. Fig. 9 The relay MLD selection process shown is not repeated here.

[0267] As another possible implementation, after preliminarily screening some relay MLDs, the source MLD may use the first communication link to assist in sending some control or management information, so as to accelerate the relay MLD selection process on the second communication link and improve the reliability of the corresponding signal.

[0268] Fig.17 This is another schematic diagram of performing relay MLD selection provided by an embodiment of the present application, including the following steps:

[0269] S1710, PCP / AP MLD sends information about the service interval.

[0270] Exemplarily, the PCP / AP may allocate a service interval to each relay through omnidirectional broadcasting on the first communication link and / or the second communication link, wherein omnidirectional broadcasting may be understood as the PCP / AP simultaneously allocating a service interval to each relay.

[0271] S1720, beamforming training.

[0272] Each relay performs beamforming (BF) processing, or beamforming training, on the second communication link with the destination MLD and the source MLD in the corresponding SP. After the beamforming training, data transmission can be performed on the second communication link.

[0273] S1730: The source MLD sends a channel measurement request message to the relay MLD and the destination MLD.

[0274] The channel measurement request message is used to request to obtain the third channel information between the source MLD and the relay MLD corresponding to the second communication link, and the fourth channel information between the destination MLD and the relay MLD.

[0275] Exemplarily, the relay MLD measures the third channel information between the source MLD and the relay MLD in response to the channel measurement request message.

[0276] Exemplarily, the destination MLD measures fourth channel information between the destination MLD and the relay MLD in response to the channel measurement request message.

[0277] S1740: The source MLD receives channel measurement request responses from the relay MLD and the destination MLD.

[0278] Exemplarily, the relay MLD provides the measured third channel information to the source MLD through a channel measurement request response, and the destination MLD provides the measured fourth channel information to the source MLD through a channel measurement request response.

[0279] S1750: The source MLD selects a relay MLD.

[0280] Specifically, the source MLD can obtain the channel qualities between different candidate relay MLDs and the source MLD, and different candidate relay MLDs and the destination MLD by initiating a channel measurement process for the second communication link on the first communication link, so that the source MLD can select a relay MLD based on the obtained channel qualities.

[0281] For example, when the source MLD obtains the channel quality #1 corresponding to the relay MLD#1, the channel quality #2 corresponding to the relay MLD#2, and the channel quality #3 corresponding to the relay MLD#3, the relay MLD whose channel quality does not meet the preset conditions (such as the signal-to-noise ratio (Signal Noise Ratio, SNR), signal-to-noise and interference ratio (Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio, SINR) or received signal strength indicator (Received Signal Strength Indicator, RSSI) is lower than the preset value) is screened out.

[0282] Fig.18 This is another schematic diagram of performing relay MLD selection provided by an embodiment of the present application, including the following steps:

[0283] S1810, the source MLD sends information about the service range.

[0284] Referring to the description of step S1710 above, the difference is that the device for allocating service interval information in this embodiment is the source MLD, which will not be described in detail here.

[0285] S1820, beamforming training.

[0286] S1830: The source MLD sends a channel measurement request to the relay MLD and the second MLD.

[0287] S1840: The source MLD receives channel measurement responses from the relay MLD and the second MLD.

[0288] S1850: The source MLD selects a relay MLD.

[0289] For the description of steps S1820 to S1850, refer to the description of steps S1720 to S1750 mentioned above, which will not be repeated here.

[0290] Exemplarily, in this embodiment, since the original MLD, the destination MLD, and the relay MLD all support the first communication link and the second communication link, the first communication link and the second communication link can cooperate in relay transmission. If the two links transmit the same content, the reliability of the data can be improved. If different content is transmitted, the data throughput can be improved. In order to enable the first communication link and the second communication link to cooperate in relay transmission, a service interval can be allocated to the first communication link and the second communication link.

[0291] Depend on Fig.12 As shown in , the first MLD can also notify the relay transmission to end or switch the relay transmission mode through a notification message. Fig.19 and Fig. 20The process of the first MLD notifying the end of relay transmission or switching the relay transmission mode through a notification message is described.

[0292] Fig.19 is a schematic diagram of notifying the end of relay transmission or switching relay transmission mode provided by an embodiment of the present application, wherein the source MLD is Fig.12 The first MLD shown in Fig.12 The second MLD shown in , the relay MLD is Fig.12 The first relay MLD shown in FIG, PCP / AP MLD is Fig.12 The third MLD in the communication method shown in , the manner of selecting a relay MLD includes the following steps:

[0293] S1910: The source MLD sends a notification message.

[0294] Specifically, the source MLD sends a notification message to the destination MLD, the relay MLD, and the PCP / AP MLD on the first communication link, and the notification message is used to notify the end of relay transmission or switch the relay transmission mode. For example, the notification message notifies the destination MLD and the relay MLD to stop transmitting information through the second communication link. For another example, the notification message notifies the destination MLD and the relay MLD to change the relay transmission mode.

[0295] Optionally, the source MLD may send the notification message to the destination MLD, relay MLD and PCP / APMLD in the system in an omnidirectional manner.

[0296] Optionally, after receiving the above notification message, the destination MLD may inform the source MLD, the relay MLD and the PCP / AP MLD through a notification response message that the relay transmission has ended or that the switching of the relay transmission mode has been completed.

[0297] S1920: The source MLD receives a notification response message.

[0298] Fig. 20 is a schematic diagram of notifying the end of relay transmission or switching relay transmission mode provided by an embodiment of the present application, wherein the source MLD is Fig.12 The first MLD shown in , and the first MLD is used as PCP / AP MLD, the destination MLD is Fig.12 The second MLD shown in , the relay MLD is Fig.12 The first relay MLD shown in FIG. 1 , the method for selecting a relay MLD includes the following steps:

[0299] S2010: The source MLD sends a notification message.

[0300] S2120: The source MLD receives a notification response message.

[0301] For the description of steps S2010 and S2120, refer to the description of steps S1910 and S1920 mentioned above, which will not be repeated here.

[0302] Fig.21 This is a service interval configuration diagram provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0303] like Fig.21 As shown, when allocating the service interval, the PCP / AP MLD can use the first communication link and / or the second communication link (such as Fig.21 The PCP / AP MLD link 1 shown in FIG. 1 sends information about the service interval, wherein the PCP / AP MLD allocates a second service interval to the source MLD on the second communication link and allocates a third service interval (such as Fig.21 In addition, the PCP / AP MLD allocates a first service interval (eg, Fig.21 The source MLD shown in FIG. 1 is in service interval 1 on link 1).

[0304] Since the PCP / AP MLD allocates service intervals for the source MLD on both the first communication link and the second communication link, and allocates a service interval for the relay MLD on the second communication link, data can be sent directly from the source MLD to the destination MLD on the first communication link, and on the second communication link, the source MLD first sends the data to the relay MLD, and then the relay MLD sends the data to the destination MLD.

[0305] Exemplarily, when the PCP / AP MLD allocates service intervals, if the difference between the end time of the first service interval and the end time of the third service interval is smaller than the second threshold, and the difference between the start time of the first service interval and the start time of the second service interval is smaller than the first threshold, it can be achieved that when data is scheduled on the first communication link and the second communication link, the data is sent from the source MLD to the destination MLD at the same time (or within a certain time difference). For example, Fig.21 The source MLD shown in the figure sends data to the destination MLD through link 1 within service interval 1, and receives confirmation from the destination MLD through link 1 within service interval 1. In addition, the source MLD sends data to the relay MLD through link 2 within service interval 21, and receives confirmation from the relay MLD through link 2 within service interval 21. The relay MLD sends data to the destination MLD through link 2 within service interval 22, and receives confirmation from the destination MLD through link 2 within service interval 22.

[0306] Optionally, the above Fig.21The action of allocating service intervals in the example can be implemented by other MLDs. For example, if the source MLD is a PCP / AP MLD, the original MLD can implement service interval allocation and service interval information transmission; for example, if the destination MLD is a PCP / AP MLD, the destination MLD can implement service interval allocation and service interval information transmission; for example, if the relay MLD is a PCP / AP MLD, the relay MLD can implement service interval allocation and service interval information transmission. Examples are not given here one by one.

[0307] It should be understood that the sequence numbers of the above processes do not mean 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.

[0308] It should also be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified or there is a logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced to each other, and the technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their internal logical relationships.

[0309] It should also be understood that in some of the above embodiments, the devices in the existing network architecture are mainly used as examples for exemplary description, and it should be understood that the embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific form of the devices. For example, devices that can achieve the same function in the future are applicable to the embodiments of the present application.

[0310] It can be understood that in the above-mentioned various method embodiments, the methods and operations implemented by the device (such as the first MLD, the first relay MLD, etc.) can also be implemented by components (such as chips or circuits) that can be used in the device.

[0311] It can also be understood that some optional features in the embodiments of the present application may not depend on other features in some scenarios, or may be combined with other features in some scenarios, without limitation.

[0312] Above, combined Fig.12 The communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application is described in detail. The above communication method is mainly introduced from the perspective of the interaction between the first MLD and the first relay MLD. It can be understood that the first MLD and the first relay MLD, in order to implement the above functions, include hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function.

[0313] Those skilled in the art should be aware that, in combination with the units and algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed herein, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is performed in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware 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 to be beyond the scope of this application.

[0314] The following, combined Figure 22 to Figure 24 The communication device provided in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail. It should be understood that the description of the device embodiment corresponds to the description of the method embodiment, so the contents not described in detail can be referred to the method embodiment above, and some contents will not be repeated for the sake of brevity.

[0315] The embodiment of the present application can divide the functional modules of the transmitting end device or the receiving end device according to the above method example. For example, each functional module can be divided corresponding to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The above integrated module can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules. It should be noted that the division of modules in the embodiment of the present application is schematic and is only a logical functional division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation. The following is an example of dividing each functional module corresponding to each function.

[0316] Fig. 22 1 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 10 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The device 10 includes a transceiver module 11 and a processing module 12. The transceiver module 11 can implement corresponding communication functions, and the processing module 12 is used to perform data processing, or in other words, the transceiver module 11 is used to perform operations related to receiving and sending, and the processing module 12 is used to perform other operations besides receiving and sending. The transceiver module 11 can also be called a communication interface or a communication unit.

[0317] Optionally, the device 10 may further include a storage module 13, which may be used to store instructions and / or data. The processing module 12 may read the instructions and / or data in the storage module so that the device implements the actions of the devices in the aforementioned method embodiments.

[0318] In one design, the device 10 may correspond to the first MLD in the above method embodiment, or may be a component (such as a chip) of the first MLD.

[0319] The device 10 can implement the steps or processes executed by the first MLD in the above method embodiment, wherein the transceiver module 11 can be used to perform the transceiver-related operations of the first MLD in the above method embodiment, and the processing module 12 can be used to perform the processing-related operations of the first MLD in the above method embodiment.

[0320] In one possible implementation, the transceiver module 11 is used to obtain information of a first relay MLD through a first communication link, and the first relay MLD is used to relay information transmitted by the first MLD to a second MLD through a second communication link; the transceiver module 11 is also used to send a first request message to the first relay MLD and the second MLD through the first communication link, and the first request message is used to request to establish a second communication link between the first MLD and the first relay MLD, and a second communication link between the second MLD and the first relay MLD, wherein a frequency band in which the first communication link operates is lower than a frequency band in which the second communication link operates.

[0321] When the device 10 is used to perform Fig.12 When the method is performed, the transceiver module 11 can be used to execute the steps of sending and receiving information in the method, such as steps S1210 and S1220, and the processing module 12 can be used to execute the processing steps in the method.

[0322] It should be understood that the specific process of each unit executing the above corresponding steps has been described in detail in the above method embodiment, and for the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

[0323] In another design, the apparatus 10 may correspond to the first relay MLD in the above method embodiment, or may be a component (such as a chip) of the first relay MLD.

[0324] The device 10 can implement the steps or processes executed by the first relay MLD in the above method embodiment, wherein the transceiver module 11 can be used to execute the transceiver-related operations of the first relay MLD in the above method embodiment, and the processing module 12 can be used to execute the processing-related operations of the first relay MLD in the above method embodiment.

[0325] In one possible implementation, the transceiver module 11 is used to receive a first request message from a first MLD via a first communication link, wherein the first request message is used to request establishment of a second communication link between the first MLD and the first relay MLD, and a second communication link between the second MLD and the first relay MLD, and the first relay MLD is used to relay information transmitted by the first MLD to the second MLD via the second communication link; the processing module 12 is used to establish a second communication link between the first MLD and the first relay MLD, and a second communication link between the second MLD and the first relay MLD in response to the first request message, wherein a frequency band in which the first communication link operates is lower than a frequency band in which the second communication link operates.

[0326] When the device 10 is used to perform Fig.12 When the method is performed, the transceiver module 11 can be used to execute the steps of sending and receiving information in the method, such as step S1220, and the processing module 12 can be used to execute the processing steps in the method.

[0327] It should be understood that the specific process of each unit executing the above corresponding steps has been described in detail in the above method embodiment, and for the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

[0328] It should also be understood that the device 10 here is embodied in the form of a functional module. The term "module" here may refer to an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (such as a shared processor, a dedicated processor or a group processor, etc.) and a memory for executing one or more software or firmware programs, a merged logic circuit and / or other suitable components that support the described functions. In an optional example, those skilled in the art may understand that the device 10 may be specifically a mobile management network element in the above-mentioned embodiment, and may be used to execute the various processes and / or steps corresponding to the mobile management network element in the above-mentioned method embodiments; or, the device 10 may be specifically a terminal device in the above-mentioned embodiment, and may be used to execute the various processes and / or steps corresponding to the terminal device in the above-mentioned method embodiments. To avoid repetition, it will not be repeated here.

[0329] The device 10 of each of the above-mentioned schemes has the function of implementing the corresponding steps performed by the device (such as the first MLD) in the above-mentioned method. This function can be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing the corresponding software implementation. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-mentioned functions; for example, the transceiver module can be replaced by a transceiver (for example, the sending unit in the transceiver module can be replaced by a transmitter, and the receiving unit in the transceiver module can be replaced by a receiver), and other units, such as processing modules, can be replaced by processors to respectively perform the transceiver operations and related processing operations in each method embodiment.

[0330] In addition, the transceiver module 11 may also be a transceiver circuit (for example, may include a receiving circuit and a sending circuit), and the processing module may be a processing circuit.

[0331] Fig.23 2 is a schematic diagram of another communication device 20 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The device 20 includes a processor 21, and the processor 21 is used to execute a computer program or instruction stored in a memory 22, or read data / signaling stored in the memory 22 to execute the method in each method embodiment above. Optionally, there are one or more processors 21.

[0332] Alternatively, if Fig.23 As shown, the device 20 also includes a memory 22, which is used to store computer programs or instructions and / or data. The memory 22 can be integrated with the processor 21, or can also be separately set. Optionally, the memory 22 is one or more.

[0333] Alternatively, if Fig.23 As shown, the device 20 further includes a transceiver 23, and the transceiver 23 is used for receiving and / or sending signals. For example, the processor 21 is used to control the transceiver 23 to receive and / or send signals.

[0334] As a solution, the apparatus 20 is used to implement the operations performed by the first MLD or the first relay MLD in the above method embodiments.

[0335] It should be understood that the processor mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may also be any conventional processor, etc.

[0336] It should also be understood that the memory mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be a volatile memory and / or a non-volatile memory. 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). For example, RAM can be used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, RAM includes the following forms: 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 rambus RAM (DR RAM).

[0337] It should be noted that when the processor is a general-purpose processor, DSP, ASIC, FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware component, the memory (storage module) can be integrated into the processor.

[0338] It should also be noted that the memory described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0339] Fig.24 Schematic diagram of a chip system 30 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The chip system 30 (or also referred to as a processing system) includes a logic circuit 31 and an input / output interface 32.

[0340] Among them, the logic circuit 31 can be a processing circuit in the chip system 30. The logic circuit 31 can be coupled to the storage unit and call the instructions in the storage unit so that the chip system 30 can implement the methods and functions of each embodiment of the present application. The input / output interface 32 can be an input / output circuit in the chip system 30, outputting information processed by the chip system 30, or inputting data or signaling information to be processed into the chip system 30 for processing.

[0341] As a solution, the chip system 30 is used to implement the operations performed by the first MLD or the first relay MLD in the above method embodiments.

[0342] For example, the logic circuit 31 is used to implement the processing-related operations performed by the first MLD or the first relay MLD in the above method embodiment; the input / output interface 32 is used to implement the sending and / or receiving-related operations performed by the first MLD or the second MLD in the above method embodiment.

[0343] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium on which computer instructions for implementing the methods executed by the device in the above-mentioned method embodiments are stored.

[0344] For example, when the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer can implement the method performed by the first MLD or the first relay MLD in each embodiment of the above method.

[0345] The embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product, comprising instructions, which, when executed by a computer, implement the methods performed by the first MLD or the first relay MLD in the above method embodiments.

[0346] The embodiment of the present application further provides a communication system, including the aforementioned first MLD, first relay MLD, second MLD and third MLD.

[0347] The explanation of the relevant contents and beneficial effects of any of the above-mentioned devices can be referred to the corresponding method embodiments provided above, which will not be repeated here.

[0348] In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only 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. In addition, 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.

[0349] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function described in the embodiment of the present application is generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. For example, the computer can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from a website site, computer, server or data center by wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) mode to another website site, computer, server or data center. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that contains one or more available media integrations. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a solid state disk (SSD)). For example, the aforementioned available medium includes, but is not limited to, 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.

[0350] The above is only a specific implementation of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art who is familiar with the present technical field can easily think of changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, which should be included in the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: include: The first multi-link device MLD obtains information of the first relay MLD through the first communication link, where the first relay MLD is used to relay information transmitted by the first MLD to the second MLD through the second communication link; The first MLD sends a first request message to the first relay MLD and the second MLD through the first communication link, wherein the first request message is used to request to establish a second communication link between the first MLD and the first relay MLD, and a second communication link between the second MLD and the first relay MLD, The frequency band in which the first communication link operates is lower than the frequency band in which the second communication link operates.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The first MLD acquiring the information of the first relay MLD through the first communication link includes: The first MLD sends a second request message to a third MLD through the first communication link, where the second request message is used to request to obtain information of at least one relay MLD that provides relay services for the first MLD and the second MLD; The first MLD receives a second response message from the third MLD through the first communication link, the second response message including information of the at least one relay MLD, and the first relay MLD is one of the at least one relay MLD.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The first MLD acquiring the information of the first relay MLD through the first communication link includes: The first MLD receives a third request message from the first relay MLD through the first communication link, where the third request message includes information of the first relay MLD.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The method further comprises: The first MLD receives a detection physical layer protocol data unit from the first relay MLD through the first communication link; The first MLD measures first channel information between the first MLD and the first relay MLD corresponding to the first communication link according to the detection physical layer protocol data unit; The first MLD receives second channel information from the second MLD, where the second channel information is channel information between the second MLD and the first relay MLD corresponding to the first communication link.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that The method further comprises: The first MLD sends a channel measurement request message to the first relay MLD and the second MLD through the first communication link, where the channel measurement request message is used to request to obtain third channel information between the first MLD and the first relay MLD corresponding to the second communication link, and fourth channel information between the second MLD and the first relay MLD; The first MLD receives the third channel information from the first relay MLD through the first communication link, and receives the fourth channel information from the second MLD through the first communication link.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that The method further comprises: The first MLD receives information about a service range corresponding to the first relay MLD from a third MLD through the first communication link.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that The method further comprises: The first MLD allocates, to the first relay MLD, a service range corresponding to the first relay MLD; The first MLD sends information about a service range corresponding to the first relay MLD to the first relay MLD through the first communication link.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that The method further comprises: The first MLD determines a first service interval corresponding to the first communication link and a second service interval corresponding to the second communication link, The first MLD and the second MLD transmit information through the first communication link during the first service period, the first MLD and the first relay MLD transmit information within the second service interval, and the difference between the start time of the first service interval and the start time of the second service interval is less than a first threshold.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The first MLD determines a first service interval corresponding to the first communication link and a second service interval corresponding to the second communication link, including: The first MLD receives the information of the first service interval and the information of the second service interval from a third MLD.

10. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The first MLD determines a first service interval corresponding to the first communication link and a second service interval corresponding to the second communication link, including: The first MLD allocates a first service interval corresponding to the first communication link, and a second service interval and a third service interval corresponding to the second communication link, The method further comprises: The first MLD sends information about the third service interval to the second MLD and the first relay MLD through the first communication link, The second MLD and the first relay MLD perform information transmission within the third service interval, and a difference between a termination time of the first service interval and a termination time of the third service interval is less than a second threshold.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that The method further comprises: The first MLD sends a notification message to the first relay MLD and the second MLD through the first communication link, where the notification message is used to notify that relay transmission ends, or the notification message is used to notify switching of a relay transmission mode.

12. A communication method, characterized in that: include: The first relay multi-link device MLD receives a first request message from a first MLD through a first communication link, wherein the first request message is used to request to establish a second communication link between the first MLD and the first relay MLD, and a second communication link between the second MLD and the first relay MLD, and the first relay MLD is used to relay information transmitted by the first MLD to the second MLD through the second communication link; The first relay MLD establishes a second communication link between the first MLD and the first relay MLD, and a second communication link between the second MLD and the first relay MLD in response to the first request message, The frequency band in which the first communication link operates is lower than the frequency band in which the second communication link operates.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The method further comprises: The first relay MLD sends a third request message to a third MLD through the first communication link, where the third request message includes information of the first relay MLD.

14. The method according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that The method further comprises: The first relay MLD receives information about the service range of the first relay MLD through the first communication link, and the first relay MLD and the first MLD perform beamforming training within the service range of the first relay MLD, and the first relay MLD and the second MLD perform beamforming training.

15. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 14, characterized in that The method further comprises: The first relay MLD sends a detection physical layer protocol data unit to the first MLD and the second MLD through the first communication link, and the detection physical layer protocol data unit is used to measure first channel information between the first MLD and the first relay MLD corresponding to the first communication link, and to measure second channel information between the second MLD and the first relay MLD corresponding to the first communication link.

16. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 15, characterized in that The method further comprises: The first relay MLD receives a channel measurement request message from the first MLD through the first communication link, where the channel measurement request message is used to request to obtain third channel information between the first MLD and the first relay MLD corresponding to the second communication link; The first relay MLD sends a channel measurement response message to the first MLD through the first communication link, where the channel measurement response message includes the third channel information.

17. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 15, characterized in that The method further comprises: The first relay MLD receives a notification message from the first MLD through the first communication link, where the notification message is used to notify that relay transmission ends, or the notification message is used to notify switching of a relay transmission mode.

18. A communication method, characterized in that: include: The third relay multi-link device MLD receives at least one third request message from at least one relay MLD through the first communication link, wherein the third request message includes information of the relay MLD; The third MLD receives a second request message from the first MLD through the first communication link, where the second request message is used to request to obtain information of at least one relay MLD that relays information transmitted by the first MLD to the second MLD through the second communication link; The third MLD sends a second response message to the first MLD and the second MLD through the first communication link, wherein the second response message includes information of the at least one relay MLD, The frequency band in which the first communication link operates is lower than the frequency band in which the second communication link operates.

19. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that The method further comprises: The third MLD sends first indication information to the first MLD, the second MLD and the at least one relay MLD through the first communication link, where the first indication information is used to instruct some or all of the first MLD, the second MLD and the at least one relay MLD to perform channel measurement.

20. The method according to claim 18 or 19, characterized in that The method further comprises: The third MLD sends second indication information to the first MLD, the second MLD and the at least one relay MLD through the first communication link, where the second indication information includes information about a service range of each relay MLD in the at least one relay MLD.

21. The method according to any one of claims 18 to 20, characterized in that The method further comprises: The third MLD allocates a first service interval corresponding to the first communication link, and a second service interval and a third service interval corresponding to the second communication link; The third MLD sends information about the first service interval and information about the second service interval to the first MLD, and sends information about the third service interval to the second MLD and the first relay MLD, The first MLD and the second MLD transmit information through the first communication link during the first service period, the first MLD and the first relay MLD transmit information within the second service interval, the second MLD and the first relay MLD transmit information within the third service interval, the difference between the end time of the first service interval and the end time of the third service interval is less than a second threshold, and the difference between the start time of the first service interval and the start time of the second service interval is less than a first threshold.

22. A communication device, characterized in that: include: A unit for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, or comprising a unit for executing the method according to any one of claims 12 to 17, or comprising a unit for executing the method according to any one of claims 18 to 21.

23. A communication device, characterized in that: include: A processor, configured to execute a computer program stored in a memory so that the apparatus performs the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 11, or so that the apparatus performs the method as claimed in any one of claims 12 to 17, or so that the apparatus performs the method as claimed in any one of claims 18 to 21.

24. The device according to claim 23, characterized in that The apparatus also includes the memory.

25. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, and when the computer program is executed on a computer, the computer is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 21.

26. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product comprises instructions for performing the method of any one of claims 1 to 21.

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