Communication method and communication device applied to wireless communication system

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention discloses a communication method and a communication device applied to a wireless communication system. The communication method and the communication device are used for providing a signaling design scheme suitable for a multi-AP cooperative transmission scene. Provided is a communication method, comprising: a first access point (AP) generating notification information, the notification information being used for instructing a station (STA) to send a channel sounding physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU), the notification information comprising: identification information of the STA and identification information of a second AP, the identification information of the STA being used for instructing the STA, and the identification information of the second AP being used for instructing the STA to send the PPDU; the identification information of the second AP is used for indicating the second AP; and the first AP sends the notification information to the second AP and the STA.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of the Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on March 8, 2019, with application number 201910176456.6 and invention name “Communication method and communication device applied to wireless communication system”. Technical Field

[0002] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and a communication device applied to a wireless communication system. Background Art

[0003] In current wireless communication systems, a larger bandwidth (e.g., 320MHz) and more streams (e.g., 16 spatial streams) can be introduced in extremely high throughput (EHT) to improve the throughput and transmission efficiency of the communication system. For example, in EHT, it is necessary to increase the spatial streams (e.g., 16 spatial streams) to improve the throughput. However, due to the limitation of equipment capabilities, a single access point (AP) usually cannot provide 16 spatial streams.

[0004] In scenarios where multiple APs are used for collaborative transmission, for example, distributed multiple-input multiple output (D-MIMO) can be used to achieve a large number of spatial streams, thereby improving throughput and transmission efficiency. D-MIMO is also called joint transmission. The scenario of multi-AP collaboration or D-MIMO involves channel detection between multiple APs and one or more stations (STA). However, larger bandwidth and more spatial streams may lead to more channel detection overheads, as well as the need to use more channel state feedback information. The channel detection process is time-consuming and complicated. Therefore, for scenarios where multiple APs are used for collaborative transmission, how to design appropriate signaling for coordinating and scheduling channel detection is an unresolved problem. Summary of the invention

[0005] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and a communication device applied to a wireless communication system, which are used to provide a signaling design solution suitable for a scenario in which multiple APs cooperate to transmit.

[0006] To solve the above technical problems, the present application provides the following technical solutions:

[0007] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, including: a first access point AP generates notification information, the notification information is used to instruct a station STA to send a channel detection physical layer protocol data unit PPDU, the notification information includes: identification information of the STA and identification information of a second AP, the identification information of the STA is used to indicate the STA, and the identification information of the second AP is used to indicate the second AP; the first AP sends the notification information to the second AP and the STA.

[0008] In the second aspect, an embodiment of the present application also provides a communication method, including: a second access point AP receives notification information sent by a first AP, the notification information is used to instruct the station STA to send a channel detection physical layer protocol data unit PPDU, the notification information includes: identification information of the STA and identification information of the second AP, the identification information of the STA is used to indicate the STA, and the identification information of the second AP is used to indicate the second AP; the second AP determines that the second AP needs to receive the channel detection physical layer protocol data unit PPDU sent by the STA based on the identification information of the STA and the identification information of the second AP.

[0009] In the third aspect, an embodiment of the present application also provides a communication method, including: a station STA receives notification information sent by a first access point AP, the notification information is used to instruct the station STA to send a channel detection physical layer protocol data unit PPDU, the notification information includes: identification information of the STA and identification information of the second AP, the identification information of the STA is used to indicate the STA, and the identification information of the second AP is used to indicate the second AP; the STA determines that the STA needs to send a channel detection physical layer protocol data unit PPDU based on the identification information of the STA and the identification information of the second AP.

[0010] The method of the embodiment of the present application can be applied to the scenario of cooperative transmission of multiple APs. In the embodiment of the present application, the first AP carries the identification information of the STA and the identification information of the second AP in the notification information, and the notification information is used to instruct the STA to send a channel detection physical layer protocol data unit (PHY protocol data unit, PPDU), and the notification information is also used to instruct the second AP to receive the channel detection PPDU sent by the STA. The first AP sends notification information to the second AP and the STA, for example, the first AP sends the aforementioned notification information by broadcasting, so that the second AP and the STA can receive the notification information. In the embodiment of the present application, the first AP sends notification information once, and directly schedules the STA to send the channel detection PPDU through the notification information, so that the second AP that receives the notification information implements channel detection, based on the signaling design scheme for cooperative transmission scenarios of multiple APs provided in the embodiment of the present application, after the STA receives the notification information, it sends the channel detection PPDU, and the AP that receives the channel detection PPDU performs channel estimation based on the channel detection PPDU, thereby obtaining channel state information. Compared with the usual channel detection process, the AP in the embodiment of the present application does not need to perform multiple scheduling to realize channel detection between multiple APs and STAs, which reduces the overhead of channel detection and improves the efficiency of channel detection.

[0011] In a possible implementation, the identification information of the STA includes at least one of the following: an association identifier AID of the STA, or a media access control MAC address of the STA; the identification information of the second AP includes at least one of the following: a group identifier corresponding to the second AP, or a basic service set color corresponding to the second AP, or a group identifier corresponding to the second AP and a basic service set bitmap corresponding to the second AP, or an AID of the second AP, or a MAC address of the second AP. Specifically, a set consisting of multiple APs can be called an AP group, a second AP can be divided into at least one AP group, and the group identifier of the AP group to which the second AP belongs can be used as the identification information of the second AP. The AP group can be a D-MIMO group, the group identifier of the second AP can be the D-MIMO group identifier of the second AP, each D-MIMO includes subordinate APs belonging to the D-MIMO, different group identifiers can be assigned to different subordinate APs, and each subordinate AP can be identified according to the group identifier of the subordinate AP. For another example, usually, since a basic service set includes one AP, the basic service set color of the basic service set to which the second AP belongs can be used as the identification information of the second AP. For another example, the group identifier and basic service set bit map of the second AP can be used as the identification information of the second AP. Assuming that there are a preset number of subordinate APs in a D-MIMO group, and the order of these subordinate APs is known, each bit in the bit map can be used to correspond to a subordinate AP to indicate whether the corresponding subordinate AP needs to participate in this channel detection. The subordinate AP that needs to participate in this channel detection can be identified based on the group identifier and bit map of the subordinate AP. For another example, the AID of the second AP can be used as the identification information of the second AP. The AID of the second AP can be pre-assigned to the second AP by the first AP, or the MAC address of the second AP can be used as the identification information of the second AP. The specific implementation form of the identification information of the second AP is not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0012] In a possible implementation, the notification information is carried in a subordinate trigger frame, and the subordinate trigger frame includes: a public information field and a user information field, wherein the identification information of the second AP is carried in the public information field; and the identification information of the STA is carried in the user information field. In addition to the public information field and the user information field, the subordinate trigger frame may also include other fields. The identification information of the second AP in the notification information may be carried in the public information field, and the identification information of the STA in the notification information may be carried in the user information field. The first AP may fill in the identification information of the STA that needs to send a channel detection PPDU in the user information field. If multiple STAs need to send a channel detection PPDU, the subordinate trigger frame may include multiple user information fields. The carrying of the notification information can be achieved through the public information field and the user information field included in the subordinate trigger frame.

[0013] In a possible implementation, the public information field includes: a trigger type subfield and a public information subfield based on the trigger type; the trigger type subfield is used to indicate the trigger type of the subordinate trigger frame; the public information subfield based on the trigger type includes: identification information of the second AP. In an embodiment of the present application, the trigger type subfield can be used to indicate the type of the subordinate trigger frame. Different values ​​of the trigger type subfield can represent different types of trigger frames. For example, the trigger type subfield can occupy 4 bits. When the value of the trigger type subfield is any one of 8 to 15, it can indicate that the trigger frame is a subordinate trigger frame for carrying notification information. The public information subfield based on the trigger type is a subfield in the public information field. The public information subfield based on the trigger type can carry the identification information of the second AP. The identification information of the second AP can be as described in the aforementioned multiple examples, which will not be repeated here. The common information field in the subordinate trigger frame can carry identification information of the aforementioned second AP. After the second AP and STA receive the subordinate trigger frame, the type of the subordinate trigger frame can be determined through the trigger type subfield in the subordinate trigger frame, and the identification information of the second AP can be obtained through the common information subfield based on the trigger type.

[0014] In a possible implementation, the common information field further includes: a subordinate trigger frame subtype subfield, which is used to indicate the subtype of the subordinate trigger frame. The subordinate trigger frame subtype subfield is a component of the common information field, and the subordinate trigger frame subtype subfield may be adjacent to the trigger type subfield. For example, the subordinate trigger frame subtype subfield is used to indicate the subtype of the subordinate trigger frame. For example, when the subordinate trigger frame subtype subfield indicates a preset value, it indicates that the subordinate trigger frame is a trigger frame for channel detection.

[0015] In a possible implementation, the common information field further includes: a common information subfield based on trigger type, the common information subfield based on trigger type includes: a subordinate trigger frame subtype subfield and an AP indication subfield; the subordinate trigger frame subtype subfield is used to indicate the subtype of the subordinate trigger frame; the AP indication subfield includes: identification information of the second AP. The subordinate trigger frame subtype subfield may also be a component of the common information subfield based on trigger type, the type of the subordinate trigger frame is indicated by the subordinate trigger frame subtype subfield in the common information subfield based on trigger type, and the identification information of the second AP is indicated by the AP indication subfield in the common information subfield based on trigger type.

[0016] In a possible implementation, the notification information is carried in a subordinate trigger frame or an empty data packet declaration NDPA frame, and the subordinate trigger frame or the NDPA frame includes: a first user information field and a second user information field, wherein the identification information of the second AP is carried in the first user information field; and the identification information of the STA is carried in the second user information field. Among them, the subordinate trigger frame may include: a first user information field and a second user information field, and the indication of the identification information of the second AP and the identification information of the STA can be realized through the two user information fields. If the notification information is carried in an NDPA frame, the first user information field included in the NDPA frame may be a first site information field, and the second user information field included in the NDPA frame may be a second site information field.

[0017] In a possible implementation, the first user information field includes: an association identification subfield and an AP indication subfield; the association identification subfield carries a first value, and the first value is a special AID; the AP indication subfield includes: identification information of the second AP. Among them, the first user information field is provided with an association identification subfield and an AP indication subfield, and the association identification (AID) subfield may also be referred to as an AID12 subfield, and the association identification subfield carries a first value. Among them, the first value may be a preset special value, for example, the value of the association identification subfield may be set to a special AID, such as the first value may be 4094 or 4095, and the first value may be an AID that is not defined in an existing standard, and the first value is used to identify that the first user information field is used to carry the identification information of the second AP. When the AP or STA parses the first user information field and reads the AID12 subfield as a special AID, it is determined that the first user information field carries the identification information of the second AP, but does not carry the identification information of the STA.

[0018] In a possible implementation, the first user information field is the first user information field to be transmitted in the subordinate trigger frame or the NDPA frame. The first transmission refers to that when each user information field is transmitted in sequence according to the transmission order, the first user information field may be the first field to be transmitted, that is, when the first AP sends a subordinate trigger frame or an NDPA frame, the first user information field is the field to be transmitted first according to the transmission order. The first user information field carries the identification information of the second AP, so the second AP will first parse the first user information field, so that the second AP can obtain the identification information of the second AP from the first user information field in a timely manner, so the second AP can prepare in advance to receive the channel detection PPDU sent by the STA. Through the first transmission of the first user information field in the embodiment of the present application, the second AP can prepare in advance to receive the channel detection PPDU, thereby avoiding the failure of receiving the PPDU.

[0019] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application also provides a communication method, including: a first access point AP generates a subordinate trigger frame, the subordinate trigger frame is used to instruct a second AP to perform channel detection, the subordinate trigger frame includes: identification information of a station STA and identification information of the second AP, the identification information of the STA is used to indicate the STA, and the identification information of the second AP is used to indicate the second AP; the first AP sends the subordinate trigger frame to the second AP.

[0020] In a possible design of the fourth aspect, the method also includes: the first AP generates a detection polling frame, the detection polling frame is used to instruct the STA to send a channel detection physical layer protocol data unit PPDU, and the detection polling frame includes: identification information of the STA; the first AP sends the detection polling frame to the STA.

[0021] In the fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application also provides a communication method, including: a second access point AP receives a subordinate trigger frame sent by a first AP, the subordinate trigger frame is used to instruct the second AP to perform channel detection, the subordinate trigger frame includes: the identification information of the station STA and the identification information of the second AP, the identification information of the STA is used to indicate the STA, and the identification information of the second AP is used to indicate the second AP; the second AP generates a detection polling frame, the detection polling frame is used to instruct the STA to send a channel detection physical layer protocol data unit PPDU, the detection polling frame includes: the identification information of the STA; the second AP sends the detection polling frame to the STA.

[0022] In a possible design of the fifth aspect, the method also includes: the second AP receives a channel detection PPDU sent by the STA, and performs channel estimation based on the channel detection PPDU.

[0023] In the sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application also provides a communication method, including: a station STA receives a detection polling frame sent by a second access point AP, the detection polling frame is used to instruct the STA to send a channel detection physical layer protocol data unit PPDU, and the detection polling frame includes: identification information of the STA; the STA determines that the STA needs to send a channel detection physical layer protocol data unit PPDU based on the identification information of the STA.

[0024] In a possible design of the sixth aspect, the method also includes: the STA sending the channel detection PPDU to the second AP.

[0025] In a possible design of the sixth aspect, the method also includes: the STA sending the channel detection PPDU to the first AP.

[0026] In a possible design of the fourth aspect, the fifth aspect or the sixth aspect, the identification information of the STA includes at least one of the following: the association identifier AID of the STA, or the media intervention control MAC address of the STA; the identification information of the second AP includes at least one of the following: the group identifier corresponding to the second AP, or the basic service set color corresponding to the second AP, or the group identifier corresponding to the second AP and the basic service set bit map corresponding to the second AP, or the AID of the second AP, or the MAC address of the second AP.

[0027] In a possible design of the fourth aspect, the fifth aspect, or the sixth aspect, the notification information is carried in a subordinate trigger frame, and the subordinate trigger frame includes: a public information field and a user information field, wherein the identification information of the STA is carried in the public information field; the identification information of the second AP is carried in the user information field.

[0028] In a possible design of the fourth aspect, the fifth aspect or the sixth aspect, the common information field includes: a trigger type subfield and a common information subfield based on the trigger type; the trigger type subfield is used to indicate the trigger type of the subordinate trigger frame; the common information subfield based on the trigger type includes: identification information of the STA.

[0029] In a seventh aspect, an AP is provided, configured to execute the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect. Specifically, the AP includes a unit configured to execute the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect.

[0030] In the seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which is applied to a first access point AP, and the communication device includes: a processor, used to generate notification information, the notification information is used to instruct the station STA to send a channel detection physical layer protocol data unit PPDU, the notification information includes: identification information of the STA and identification information of the second AP, the identification information of the STA is used to indicate the STA, and the identification information of the second AP is used to indicate the second AP; a transceiver, used to send the notification information to the second AP and the STA.

[0031] In an eighth aspect, another AP is provided, which is used to execute the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect. Specifically, the AP includes a unit for executing the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0032] In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which is applied to a second access point AP, and the communication device includes: a transceiver, used to receive notification information sent by a first AP, the notification information is used to instruct a station STA to send a channel detection physical layer protocol data unit PPDU, the notification information includes: identification information of the STA and identification information of the second AP, the identification information of the STA is used to indicate the STA, and the identification information of the second AP is used to indicate the second AP; a processor, used to determine, based on the identification information of the STA and the identification information of the second AP, that the second AP needs to receive the channel detection physical layer protocol data unit PPDU sent by the STA.

[0033] In a ninth aspect, a STA is provided, which is used to execute the method in the third aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect. Specifically, the STA includes a unit for executing the third aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect.

[0034] In the ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which is applied to a site STA, and the communication device includes: a transceiver, used to receive notification information sent by a first access point AP, the notification information is used to instruct the site STA to send a channel detection physical layer protocol data unit PPDU, the notification information includes: identification information of the STA and identification information of the second AP, the identification information of the STA is used to indicate the STA, and the identification information of the second AP is used to indicate the second AP; a processor, used to determine that the STA needs to send a channel detection physical layer protocol data unit PPDU according to the identification information of the STA and the identification information of the second AP.

[0035] In a possible implementation, the identification information of the STA includes at least one of the following: an association identifier AID of the STA, or a media intervention control MAC address of the STA; the identification information of the second AP includes at least one of the following: a group identifier corresponding to the second AP, or a basic service set color corresponding to the second AP, or a bit map of the group identifier corresponding to the second AP and the basic service set corresponding to the second AP, or the AID of the second AP, or the MAC address of the second AP.

[0036] In a possible implementation, the notification information is carried in a subordinate trigger frame, and the subordinate trigger frame includes: a public information field and a user information field, wherein the identification information of the second AP is carried in the public information field; and the identification information of the STA is carried in the user information field.

[0037] In one possible implementation, the common information field includes: a trigger type subfield and a common information subfield based on the trigger type; the trigger type subfield is used to indicate the trigger type of the subordinate trigger frame; the common information subfield based on the trigger type includes: identification information of the second AP.

[0038] In a possible implementation manner, the common information field further includes: a slave trigger frame subtype subfield, which is used to indicate the subtype of the slave trigger frame.

[0039] In one possible implementation, the common information field also includes: a common information subfield based on the trigger type, and the common information subfield based on the trigger type includes: a subordinate trigger frame subtype subfield and an AP indication subfield; the subordinate trigger frame subtype subfield is used to indicate the subtype of the subordinate trigger frame; the AP indication subfield includes: identification information of the second AP.

[0040] In a possible implementation, the notification information is carried in a subordinate trigger frame or an empty data packet declaration NDPA frame, and the subordinate trigger frame or the NDPA frame includes: a first user information field and a second user information field, wherein the identification information of the second AP is carried in the first user information field; the identification information of the STA is carried in the second user information field.

[0041] In a possible implementation, the first user information field includes: an association identification subfield and an AP indication subfield; the association identification subfield carries a first value, and the first value is a special AID; the AP indication subfield includes: identification information of the second AP.

[0042] In a possible implementation manner, the first user information field is the first user information field transmitted in the slave trigger frame or the NDPA frame.

[0043] In a tenth aspect, another AP is provided, which is used to execute the method in the fourth aspect or any possible implementation of the fourth aspect. Specifically, the AP includes a unit for executing the fourth aspect or any possible implementation of the fourth aspect.

[0044] In an eleventh aspect, another AP is provided, which is used to execute the method in the fifth aspect or any possible implementation of the fifth aspect. Specifically, the AP includes a unit for executing the fifth aspect or any possible implementation of the fifth aspect.

[0045] In a twelfth aspect, another STA is provided, which is used to execute the method in the sixth aspect or any possible implementation of the sixth aspect. Specifically, the STA includes a unit for executing the sixth aspect or any possible implementation of the sixth aspect.

[0046] In the thirteenth aspect, an AP is provided, the AP comprising: a processor and a transceiver, and optionally, a memory; wherein the processor, the transceiver, and the memory communicate with each other through internal connections. The processor is used to execute the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect; the transceiver receives control of the processor and is used to execute the transmission and reception of signals in the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect; the memory is used to store instructions, the instructions are called by the processor to execute the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect.

[0047] In a fourteenth aspect, an AP is provided, the AP comprising: a processor and a transceiver, and optionally, a memory; wherein the processor, the transceiver, and the memory communicate with each other through internal connections. The processor is used to execute the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect; the transceiver receives control of the processor and is used to execute the transmission and reception of signals in the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect; the memory is used to store instructions, the instructions are called by the processor to execute the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0048] In a fifteenth aspect, a STA is provided, the STA comprising: a processor and a transceiver, and optionally, a memory; wherein the processor, the transceiver, and the memory communicate with each other through internal connections. The processor is used to execute the method in the third aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect; the transceiver receives control of the processor and is used to execute the transmission and reception of signals in the method in the third aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect; the memory is used to store instructions, the instructions are called by the processor to execute the method in the third aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect.

[0049] In a sixteenth aspect, an AP is provided, the AP comprising: a processor and a transceiver, and optionally, a memory; wherein the processor, the transceiver, and the memory communicate with each other through internal connections. The processor is used to execute the method in the fourth aspect or any possible implementation of the fourth aspect; the transceiver receives control of the processor and is used to execute the transmission and reception of signals in the method in the fourth aspect or any possible implementation of the fourth aspect; the memory is used to store instructions, the instructions are called by the processor to execute the method in the fourth aspect or any possible implementation of the fourth aspect.

[0050] In the seventeenth aspect, an AP is provided, the AP comprising: a processor and a transceiver, and optionally, a memory; wherein the processor, the transceiver, and the memory communicate with each other through internal connections. The processor is used to execute the method in the fifth aspect or any possible implementation of the fifth aspect; the transceiver receives control of the processor and is used to execute the transmission and reception of signals in the method in the fifth aspect or any possible implementation of the fifth aspect; the memory is used to store instructions, the instructions are called by the processor to execute the method in the fifth aspect or any possible implementation of the fifth aspect.

[0051] In an eighteenth aspect, a STA is provided, the STA comprising: a processor and a transceiver, and optionally, a memory; wherein the processor, the transceiver, and the memory communicate with each other through internal connections. The processor is used to execute the method in the sixth aspect or any possible implementation of the sixth aspect; the transceiver receives control of the processor and is used to execute the transmission and reception of signals in the method in the sixth aspect or any possible implementation of the sixth aspect; the memory is used to store instructions, the instructions are called by the processor to execute the method in the sixth aspect or any possible implementation of the sixth aspect.

[0052] In a nineteenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided for storing a computer program, wherein the computer program includes instructions for executing the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect.

[0053] In the twentieth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided for storing a computer program, wherein the computer program includes instructions for executing the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0054] In the twenty-first aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided for storing a computer program, wherein the computer program includes instructions for executing the method in the third aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect.

[0055] In the twenty-second aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided for storing a computer program, wherein the computer program includes instructions for executing the method in the fourth aspect or any possible implementation of the fourth aspect.

[0056] In the twenty-third aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided for storing a computer program, wherein the computer program includes instructions for executing the method in the fifth aspect or any possible implementation of the fifth aspect.

[0057] In the twenty-fourth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided for storing a computer program, wherein the computer program includes instructions for executing the method in the sixth aspect or any possible implementation of the sixth aspect.

[0058] In a twenty-fifth aspect, a computer program is provided, comprising instructions for executing the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect.

[0059] In the twenty-sixth aspect, a computer program is provided, comprising instructions for executing the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0060] In the twenty-seventh aspect, a computer program is provided, comprising instructions for executing the method in the third aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect.

[0061] In the twenty-eighth aspect, a computer program is provided, comprising instructions for executing the method in the fourth aspect or any possible implementation of the fourth aspect.

[0062] In the twenty-ninth aspect, a computer program is provided, comprising instructions for executing the method in the fifth aspect or any possible implementation of the fifth aspect.

[0063] In the thirtieth aspect, a computer program is provided, comprising instructions for executing the method in the sixth aspect or any possible implementation of the sixth aspect.

[0064] In the thirty-first aspect, a chip is provided, the chip comprising a processing circuit and a transceiver pin, and optionally, a memory; wherein the processing circuit, the transceiver pin, and the memory communicate with each other through internal connections. The processing circuit is used to execute the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect; the transceiver pin receives control of the processing circuit and is used to execute the transmission and reception of signals in the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect; the memory is used to store instructions, the instructions are called by the processing circuit to execute the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect.

[0065] In the thirty-second aspect, a chip is provided, the chip comprising a processing circuit and a transceiver pin, and optionally, a memory; wherein the processing circuit, the transceiver pin, and the memory communicate with each other through internal connections. The processing circuit is used to execute the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect; the transceiver pin receives control of the processing circuit and is used to execute the transmission and reception of signals in the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect; the memory is used to store instructions, the instructions are called by the processing circuit to execute the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0066] In the thirty-third aspect, a chip is provided, the chip comprising a processing circuit and a transceiver pin, and optionally, a memory; wherein the processing circuit, the transceiver pin, and the memory communicate with each other through internal connections. The processing circuit is used to execute the method in the third aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect; the transceiver pin receives control of the processing circuit and is used to execute the transmission and reception of signals in the method in the third aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect; the memory is used to store instructions, the instructions are called by the processing circuit to execute the method in the third aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect.

[0067] In the thirty-fourth aspect, a chip is provided, the chip comprising a processing circuit and a transceiver pin, and optionally, a memory; wherein the processing circuit, the transceiver pin, and the memory communicate with each other through internal connections. The processing circuit is used to execute the method in the fourth aspect or any possible implementation of the fourth aspect; the transceiver pin receives control of the processing circuit and is used to execute the transmission and reception of signals in the method in the fourth aspect or any possible implementation of the fourth aspect; the memory is used to store instructions, the instructions are called by the processing circuit to execute the method in the fourth aspect or any possible implementation of the fourth aspect.

[0068] In the thirty-fifth aspect, a chip is provided, the chip comprising a processing circuit and a transceiver pin, and optionally, a memory; wherein the processing circuit, the transceiver pin, and the memory communicate with each other through internal connections. The processing circuit is used to execute the method in the fifth aspect or any possible implementation of the fifth aspect; the transceiver pin receives control of the processing circuit and is used to execute the transmission and reception of signals in the method in the fifth aspect or any possible implementation of the fifth aspect; the memory is used to store instructions, the instructions are called by the processing circuit to execute the method in the fifth aspect or any possible implementation of the fifth aspect.

[0069] In aspect 36, a chip is provided, the chip comprising a processing circuit and a transceiver pin, and optionally, a memory; wherein the processing circuit, the transceiver pin, and the memory communicate with each other through internal connections. The processing circuit is used to execute the method in aspect 6 or any possible implementation of aspect 6; the transceiver pin receives control of the processing circuit, and is used to execute the transmission and reception of signals in the method in aspect 6 or any possible implementation of aspect 6; the memory is used to store instructions, and the instructions are called by the processing circuit to execute the method in aspect 6 or any possible implementation of aspect 6. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0070] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the structure of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0071] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the structure of another communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0072] Figure 3 A flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0073] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the structure of a slave trigger frame provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0074] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of the composition structure of another slave trigger frame provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0075] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of the composition structure of another slave trigger frame provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0076] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of the composition structure of another slave trigger frame provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0077] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of a process for a master AP to directly schedule a STA to send an NDP provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0078] Figure 9aA schematic diagram of the composition structure of another slave trigger frame provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0079] Figure 9b A schematic diagram of the composition structure of another slave trigger frame provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0080] Fig.9c A schematic diagram of the composition structure of another slave trigger frame provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0081] Figure 9d A schematic diagram of the composition structure of another slave trigger frame provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0082] Fig.9e A schematic diagram of the composition structure of an NDPA frame provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0083] Fig.10 A flowchart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0084] Fig.11 A schematic diagram of the composition structure of another slave trigger frame provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0085] Fig.12 A schematic diagram of a process of a master AP triggering a slave AP to schedule a STA to send an NDP provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0086] Fig.13a A schematic diagram of the composition structure of another slave trigger frame provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0087] Fig.13b A schematic diagram of the frame structure of a MAC frame provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0088] Fig.14a A schematic diagram of the AID allocation provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0089] Fig.14b A schematic diagram of the AID interaction process provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0090] Fig.14c Another schematic diagram of the AID allocation provided in the embodiment of the present application;

[0091] Fig.15a A schematic diagram of an EHT data packet structure including a D-MIMO GID indication provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0092] Fig.15b A schematic diagram of another EHT data packet structure including a D-MIMO GID indication provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0093] Fig.16 A schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0094] Fig.17 A schematic diagram of the composition structure of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0095] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and a communication device applied to a wireless communication system, which are used to provide an information structure design solution suitable for a scenario in which multiple APs cooperate to transmit.

[0096] The embodiments of the present application are described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0097] The terms "first", "second", etc. in the specification and claims of the present application and the above-mentioned drawings are used to distinguish similar objects, and need not be used to describe a specific order or sequential order. It should be understood that the terms used in this way can be interchangeable under appropriate circumstances, which is only to describe the distinction mode adopted by the objects of the same attributes when describing in the embodiments of the present application. In addition, the terms "including" and "having" and any of their variations are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions, so that the process, method, system, product or equipment comprising a series of units need not be limited to those units, but may include other units that are not clearly listed or inherent to these processes, methods, products or equipment.

[0098] The technical solution of the embodiment of the present application can be applied to a communication system, and the communication system can be applicable to a scenario of cooperative transmission of multiple APs. Among them, cooperative transmission of multiple APs can refer to cooperative transmission of multiple antennas of multiple APs, and cooperative transmission of multiple APs can also refer to cooperative transmission of multiple distributed antennas of an AP. For example, a specific implementation scenario of cooperative transmission of multiple APs can be D-MIMO transmission. Among them, D-MIMO is MIMO in which the antenna of the transmitting end is a distributed antenna, which is usually also called cooperative MIMO, AP joint transmission (Joint Transmission), and D-MIMO is an implementation method in AP cooperative transmission. The use of D-MIMO technology can make full use of more antennas combined by multiple nodes, provide higher rates through more spatial streams, or provide longer transmission distances through channel diversity. Antennas distributed at different nodes can provide better antenna isolation, channels are more independent, and can support more spatial streams. For example, D-MIMO is communication between an AP group and one or more STAs, where multiple APs can be connected by wire or wirelessly. For example, in D-MIMO, an access controller (AC) can be used to control multiple APs to transmit.

[0099] like Figure 1 As shown, an exemplary communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application may include: AP1, AP2, STA1 and STA2. AP1 may be the first access point (AP) in the embodiment of the present application, and AP2 may be the second AP provided by the embodiment of the present application. The first AP and the second AP may implement multi-AP collaborative transmission or multi-AP joint transmission. The first AP and the second AP include at least one antenna, and the collaborative transmission of at least one antenna of the first AP and at least one antenna of the second AP may also be referred to as distributed multiple-input multiple-output (D-MIMO) transmission or collaborative MIMO transmission. For example, the first AP may be the master AP, that is, Figure 1 The second AP can be a slave AP, that is, Figure 1 In AP2, the first STA can be Figure 1 STA1 in the example, the second STA can be Figure 1 STA2 in. The first AP can communicate with the second AP, for example, by wired or wireless communication. In the embodiment of the present application, the first AP is the main AP and the second AP is the slave AP as an example for explanation. The first AP and the main AP can be used alternately, and the second AP and the slave AP can be used alternately. It can be understood that the number of APs and STAs in the communication system is only exemplary.

[0100] An access point is a device in a communication system that connects a station to a communication network, for example, a radio access network (RAN) node (or device), a base station, etc. At present, some examples of access points are: transmission reception point (TRP), evolved Node B (eNB), radio network controller (RNC), Node B (NB), base station controller (BSC), base transceiver station (BTS), home evolved NodeB (HNB), base band unit (BBU), or Wi-Fi access point, as well as other interface devices that can work in a wireless environment.

[0101] A station is a device with wireless connection function that can provide voice and / or data connectivity to users. It can also be called terminal equipment, user equipment (UE), mobile station (MS), mobile terminal (MT), etc. At present, some examples of stations include: mobile phones, tablet computers, laptops, PDAs, mobile internet devices (MID), wearable devices, virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, wireless terminals in industrial control, wireless terminals in self driving, wireless terminals in remote medical surgery, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart cities, wireless terminals in smart homes, vehicle-mounted devices, etc.

[0102] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various data processing communication systems, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA), single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) and other systems. The term "system" can be interchangeable with "network". The CDMA system can implement wireless technologies such as universal terrestrial radio access (UTRA) and CDMA2000. UTRA can include wideband CDMA (WCDMA) technology and other CDMA variant technologies. CDMA2000 can cover interim standard (IS) 2000 (IS-2000), IS-95 and IS-856 standards. The TDMA system can implement wireless technologies such as global system for mobile communication (GSM). The OFDMA system can implement wireless technologies such as evolved universal radio terrestrial access (evolved UTRA, E-UTRA), ultra mobile broadband (ultra mobile broadband, UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash OFDMA, etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are UMTS and UMTS evolution versions. 3GPP's long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) and various versions based on LTE evolution are new versions of UMTS using E-UTRA. The fifth generation (5Generation, referred to as "5G") communication system and the new radio (New Radio, referred to as "NR") are the next generation communication systems under study. In addition, the communication system can also be applied to future-oriented communication technologies, and are all applicable to the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application.The system architecture and business scenarios described in the embodiments of the present application are intended to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application. A person of ordinary skill in the art can appreciate that with the evolution of network architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0103] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the structure of another communication system according to an embodiment of the present application is shown. Figure 2 The communication system shown includes: master AP, slave AP1, slave AP2, slave AP3, slave AP4, STA1 - 6. The first AP provided in the embodiment of the present application may be the aforementioned master AP, and the second AP may be the aforementioned slave AP1, slave AP2, slave AP3, slave AP4. Figure 2 The master AP in the D-MIMO network can form D-MIMO with slave AP1, slave AP2, slave AP3, and slave AP4, or the master AP can form D-MIMO with slave AP1, slave AP2, and slave AP3, or the master AP can form D-MIMO with slave AP1 and slave AP2, or the master AP can form D-MIMO with slave AP1.

[0104] The communication system provided in the embodiment of the present application may use a variety of Wi-Fi standards for communication, and the various Wi-Fi standards may include existing high-throughput (HT), very high-throughput (VHT), or high-efficiency (HE) wifi standards, or next-generation Wi-Fi standards, such as extremely high throughput (EHT) or very high efficiency (VHE). In the subsequent embodiments, the next-generation Wi-Fi standard is taken as EHT as an example to illustrate the solution of the embodiment of the present application.

[0105] The method of the embodiment of the present application can be applied to the scenario of cooperative transmission of multiple APs. In the embodiment of the present application, the first AP carries the identification information of the STA and the identification information of the second AP in the notification information, and the notification information is used to instruct the STA to send a channel detection physical layer protocol data unit (PHY protocol data unit, PPDU), and the notification information is also used to instruct the second AP to receive the channel detection PPDU sent by the STA. The first AP sends notification information to the second AP and the STA, for example, the first AP sends the aforementioned notification information by broadcasting, so that the second AP and the STA can receive the notification information. In the embodiment of the present application, the first AP sends notification information once, and directly schedules the STA to send the channel detection PPDU through the notification information, so that the second AP that receives the notification information implements channel detection, based on the signaling design scheme for cooperative transmission scenarios of multiple APs provided in the embodiment of the present application, after the STA receives the notification information, it sends the channel detection PPDU, and the AP that receives the channel detection PPDU performs channel estimation based on the channel detection PPDU, thereby obtaining channel state information. Compared with the usual channel detection process, the AP in the embodiment of the present application does not need to perform multiple scheduling to realize channel detection between multiple APs and STAs, which reduces the overhead of channel detection and improves the efficiency of channel detection.

[0106] The following further describes the solution of the embodiment of the present application in conjunction with more drawings. Figure 3 As shown, it is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application mainly includes the following steps:

[0107] 301. A first AP generates notification information, where the notification information is used to instruct a STA to send a channel sounding PPDU. The notification information includes: identification information of the STA and identification information of a second AP. The identification information of the STA is used to indicate the STA, and the identification information of the second AP is used to indicate the second AP.

[0108] by Figure 2 For example, the first AP can be Figure 2 The main AP in the second AP can be Figure 2The subordinate AP1, subordinate AP2, and subordinate AP3 in the first AP and the second AP can constitute a D-MIMO. The first AP generates notification information, and the notification information is used to instruct the STA to send a channel sounding PPDU (sounding PPDU). The notification information can also be used to instruct the second AP to receive the channel sounding physical layer protocol data unit PPDU sent by the STA. The physical layer protocol data unit can also be called a data packet. The channel sounding PPDU refers to a PPDU used for channel sounding (Sounding). For example, the channel sounding PPDU can specifically be a null data packet (NDP). NDP is a data packet that does not include a data field. NDP can be used for channel sounding. It can be understood that the notification information can be sent by any one of the multiple APs. The embodiment of the present application takes the first AP as the AP that sends the notification information as an example for explanation. The first AP can be called the main AP, and other APs, such as the second AP, are called subordinate APs or slave APs.

[0109] In an embodiment of the present application, in order to indicate which AP or APs need to receive a channel sounding PPDU, the first AP carries the identification information of the above AP in the notification information. For example, the first AP indicates that the second AP receives a channel sounding PPDU, and the first AP carries the identification information of the second AP in the notification information. Similarly, in order to indicate which STA or STAs need to send a channel sounding PPDU, the first AP carries the identification information of the above STA in the notification information. It should be noted that the notification information can be carried by a variety of information. For example, the notification information can be an existing signaling used for interaction between the first AP and the second AP, or it can be a newly defined signaling by the first AP. The carrying method of the notification information and the information content included will be described in detail in subsequent embodiments.

[0110] In some embodiments of the present application, the identification information of the STA includes at least one of the following: an association identifier (AID) of the STA, or a medium access control (MAC) address of the STA. Alternatively, part of the bits of the AID may be used as the identification information of the STA, referred to as a partial AID, or part of the bits of the MAC address may be used as the identification information of the STA, referred to as a partial MAC address.

[0111] There are many ways to implement the identification information of STA. For example, the AID of STA can be used as the identification information of STA. The AID of STA can be pre-assigned to the STA by the first AP, or the MAC address of STA can be used as the identification information of STA. The specific implementation form of the identification information of STA is not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application.

[0112] The identification information of the second AP has multiple implementation methods, and the identification information of the second AP includes at least one of the following: the group identifier (Group ID) corresponding to the second AP, or the basic service set color (basic service set colour, BSS Color) corresponding to the second AP, or the group identifier corresponding to the second AP and the basic service set bit map (BSSbitmap) corresponding to the second AP, or the AID of the second AP, or the MAC address of the second AP.

[0113] Specifically, a set consisting of multiple APs can be called an AP group, a second AP can be divided into at least one AP group, and the group identifier of the AP group to which the second AP belongs can be used as the identification information of the second AP. The AP group can be a D-MIMO group, and the group identifier of the second AP can be a distributed multiple input multiple output (D-MIMO) group identifier of the second AP. Each D-MIMO includes subordinate APs belonging to the D-MIMO, and different group identifiers can be assigned to different subordinate APs. Each subordinate AP can be identified according to the group identifier of the subordinate AP. For another example, usually, since a basic service set includes one AP, the basic service set color of the basic service set to which the second AP belongs can be used as the identification information of the second AP. For another example, the group identifier and basic service set bit map of the second AP can be used as the identification information of the second AP. Assuming that there are a preset number of subordinate APs in a D-MIMO group, and the order of these subordinate APs is known, each bit in the bit map can be used to correspond to a subordinate AP to indicate whether the corresponding subordinate AP needs to participate in this channel detection. The subordinate AP that needs to participate in this channel detection can be identified based on the group identifier and bit map of the subordinate AP. For another example, the AID of the second AP can be used as the identification information of the second AP. The AID of the second AP can be pre-assigned to the second AP by the first AP, or the MAC address of the second AP can be used as the identification information of the second AP. The specific implementation form of the identification information of the second AP is not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0114] 302. The first AP sends notification information to the second AP and the STA.

[0115] In an embodiment of the present application, the first AP may send notification information to the second AP and the STA. In one example, the notification information may be broadcast or multicast to the second AP and the STA, so that both the second AP and the STA may receive the notification information. In another example, the notification information may be transmitted between the first AP and the STA by wireless transmission, and the notification information may be transmitted between the first AP and the second AP by wireless transmission or wired transmission. The specific method of the first AP sending the notification information is not limited here.

[0116] 303. The second AP receives the notification information sent by the first AP.

[0117] The notification information can be transmitted between the first AP and the second AP by wireless transmission or wired transmission. The second AP can receive the aforementioned notification information from the first AP. For details about the information content included in the notification information and the bearing method of the notification information, please refer to the description of the subsequent embodiments.

[0118] After the second AP receives the notification information, the second AP parses the notification information and obtains the identification information of the STA and the identification information of the second AP from the notification information. For detailed descriptions of the identification information of the STA and the identification information of the second AP, please refer to the descriptions of subsequent embodiments.

[0119] 304. The second AP determines, according to the identification information of the STA and the identification information of the second AP, that the second AP needs to receive the channel sounding PPDU sent by the STA.

[0120] The first AP acts as the master AP and the second AP acts as the slave AP. The notification information sent by the first AP can be used to instruct the second AP to receive the channel detection PPDU sent by the STA. The second AP can determine that the second AP needs to receive the detection PPDU sent by the STA identified as AID1 based on the STA identification information (for example, AID1) carried in the notification information and the identification information of the second AP. Specifically, if the identification information of the second AP carried in the notification information indicates the second AP, it can be determined that the second AP needs to receive the detection PPDU sent by the STA.

[0121] 305. The STA receives notification information sent by the first access point AP.

[0122] In an embodiment of the present application, notification information can be transmitted between the first AP and the STA by wireless transmission, and the STA can receive the aforementioned notification information from the first AP. For the information content included in the notification information and the carrying method of the notification information, please refer to the description of the aforementioned embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

[0123] In an embodiment of the present application, after the STA receives the notification information, the STA parses the notification information and obtains the identification information of the STA and the identification information of the second AP from the notification information. For a detailed description of the identification information of the STA and the identification information of the second AP, please refer to the description of subsequent embodiments.

[0124] 306. The STA determines, according to the identification information of the STA and the identification information of the second AP, that the STA needs to send a channel sounding PPDU.

[0125] In some embodiments of the present application, the STA may determine that the STA needs to send a physical detection PPDU based on the STA identification information (e.g., AID1) carried in the notification information and the identification information of the second AP, and then perform the following step 309 (in Figure 3 (not illustrated in the figure), optionally, the STA may also send a channel sounding PPDU after a short frame interval.

[0126] Optionally, after step 306, the second AP may also perform the following step 307 (in Figure 3 Not indicated in the figure):

[0127] The second AP receives the channel sounding PPDU sent by the STA, and then performs channel estimation.

[0128] In the embodiment of the present application, the first AP directly schedules the STA to send a channel detection PPDU. The first AP only needs to send notification information once to coordinate and schedule the second AP and STA to execute different processes according to the notification information to achieve channel detection, thereby reducing the overhead of channel detection.

[0129] Optionally, after step 306, the first AP may also perform the following step 308 (in Figure 3 Not indicated in the figure):

[0130] The first AP receives the channel sounding PPDU sent by the STA, and then performs channel estimation.

[0131] In the embodiment of the present application, the first AP directly schedules the STA to send a channel detection PPDU. The first AP only needs to send notification information once, and the second AP and the STA can execute different processes according to the notification information, thereby reducing the overhead of channel detection.

[0132] Usually, multiple APs cooperate to transmit using the explicit channel detection method, that is, the initiator of channel detection (such as AP) sends NDP to the responder of channel detection (STA), and the STA actually measures the downlink channel from AP to STA, and feeds back the measured channel detection results to AP. The feedback channel measurement results include the downlink channel measurement results between STA and multiple slave APs, so the feedback overhead is relatively large.

[0133] In the embodiment of the present application, multiple APs cooperate in transmission using an implicit channel detection method, that is, the AP schedules the STA to send NDP, the STA sends the NDP to the AP, the AP measures the uplink channel from the STA to the AP, and the AP uses the channel reciprocity to obtain the channel measurement result of the downlink channel from the AP to the STA. Because the AP is the acquirer of the channel measurement result, there is no need to feed back the channel measurement result in the air interface, thus saving the overhead of the channel measurement result feedback and improving the system throughput.

[0134] The notification information can be carried in a variety of ways. The following describes the carrying methods of the notification information in detail.

[0135] In some embodiments of the present application, for example, the notification information is carried in a trigger frame, which may also be called a slave trigger frame (slave TF), or the notification information may also be carried in a Null Data Packet Announcement (NDPA) frame, or the notification information may also be a signaling newly defined by the first AP. Next, an example of the notification information being carried in a slave trigger frame is first used for explanation.

[0136] In some embodiments of the present application, Figure 4 As shown, it is a schematic diagram of the composition structure of a subordinate trigger frame provided in an embodiment of the present application. The notification information is carried in the subordinate trigger frame, and the subordinate trigger frame includes: a common information (CommonInfo) field and a user information (User Info) field, wherein the identification information of the second AP is carried in the common information field; the identification information of the STA is carried in the user information field.

[0137] in, Figure 4 Only some constituent fields of the slave trigger frame are shown in FIG. 1 , which includes the common information field and the user information field. Optionally, the slave trigger frame may also include other fields. Figure 4The identification information of the second AP in the notification information can be carried in the public information field, and the identification information of the STA in the notification information can be carried in the user information field. The first AP can fill in the identification information of the STA that needs to send the channel detection PPDU in the user information field. If multiple STAs need to send channel detection PPDUs, multiple user information fields can be included in the slave trigger frame. The notification information can be carried by the public information field and the user information field included in the slave trigger frame.

[0138] like Figure 4 As shown, the common information field includes: a trigger type (Trigger Type) subfield and a common information (Trigger Dependent Common Info) subfield based on the trigger type; the trigger type subfield is used to indicate the trigger type of the subordinate trigger frame; the common information subfield based on the trigger type includes: identification information of the second AP.

[0139] The trigger type subfield can be used to indicate the type of the subordinate trigger frame. Different values ​​of the trigger type subfield can represent different types of trigger frames. For example, the trigger type subfield can occupy 4 bits. When the value of the trigger type subfield is any one of 8 to 15, it can indicate that the trigger frame is a subordinate trigger frame used to carry notification information. The public information subfield based on the trigger type is a subfield in the public information field. The public information subfield based on the trigger type can carry the identification information of the second AP. The identification information of the second AP can be as described in the aforementioned multiple examples, which will not be repeated here. The public information field in the subordinate trigger frame can carry the identification information of the aforementioned second AP. After the second AP and STA receive the subordinate trigger frame, the type of the subordinate trigger frame can be determined through the trigger type subfield in the subordinate trigger frame, and the identification information of the second AP can be obtained through the public information subfield based on the trigger type.

[0140] In some embodiments of the present application, the first AP may further indicate the type of the slave trigger frame. For example, the first AP sets the slave trigger frame subtype subfield in the slave trigger frame to indicate that the slave trigger frame is a trigger frame for triggering the STA to send a channel detection PPDU. In the embodiment of the present application, the first AP instructs the STA to send a channel detection PPDU, and the second AP or the first AP receives the channel detection PPDU to implement channel estimation. The notification information in the embodiment of the present application can both notify the STA to send the channel detection PPDU and indicate the AP to prepare to receive the channel detection PPDU, thereby improving the efficiency of channel detection.

[0141] like Figure 5As shown, it is a schematic diagram of the composition structure of another slave trigger frame provided in an embodiment of the present application. The public information field also includes: a slave trigger frame subtype subfield, which is used to indicate the subtype of the slave trigger frame. Among them, the slave trigger frame subtype subfield is a component of the public information field, and the slave trigger frame subtype subfield can be adjacent to the trigger type subfield. For example, the slave trigger frame subtype subfield is used to indicate the subtype of the slave trigger frame. For example, when the slave trigger frame subtype subfield indicates a preset value, it indicates that the slave trigger frame is a trigger frame for channel detection.

[0142] like Figure 6 As shown, it is a schematic diagram of the composition structure of another subordinate trigger frame provided in an embodiment of the present application. The public information field also includes: a public information subfield based on the trigger type, and the public information subfield based on the trigger type includes: a subordinate trigger frame subtype subfield and an AP indication subfield; a subordinate trigger frame subtype subfield is used to indicate the subtype of the subordinate trigger frame; the AP indication subfield includes: identification information of the second AP. Among them, the subordinate trigger frame subtype subfield can also be a component of the public information subfield based on the trigger type, and the type of the subordinate trigger frame is indicated by the subordinate trigger frame subtype subfield in the public information subfield based on the trigger type, and the identification information of the second AP is indicated by the AP indication subfield in the public information subfield based on the trigger type. The identification information of the second AP can be as described in the aforementioned multiple examples, which will not be repeated here.

[0143] In some embodiments of the present application, the notification information is carried in a slave trigger frame or an NDPA frame, such as Figure 7 As shown, it is a schematic diagram of the composition structure of a slave trigger frame provided in an embodiment of the present application. The notification information is carried in the slave trigger frame or the NDPA frame. Among them, the slave trigger frame or the NDPA frame may include: a first user information field and a second user information field, Figure 7 In the example, the slave trigger frame includes user information 1 and user information 2. The first user information field may refer to user information 1, and the second user information field may refer to user information 2. If the notification information is carried in an NDPA frame, the first user information field included in the NDPA frame may be a first station (STA) information field, and the second user information field included in the NDPA frame may be a second station information field.

[0144] Specifically, the identification information of the second AP is carried in the first user information field, and the identification information of the STA is carried in the second user information field. The first AP can carry the identification information of the second AP in the first user information field, and the first AP can fill in the identification information of the STA that needs to send the channel detection PPDU in the second user information field. If multiple STAs need to send channel detection PPDUs, multiple second user information fields can be included in the subordinate trigger frame. The multiple user information fields included in the subordinate trigger frame can realize the carrying of notification information.

[0145] like Figure 7 As shown, the first user information field includes: an association identification subfield and an AP indication subfield; the association identification subfield carries a first value; and the AP indication subfield includes: identification information of the second AP.

[0146] Among them, the first user information field is provided with an association identification subfield and an AP indication subfield, the association identification (AID) subfield may also be referred to as an AID12 subfield, and the association identification subfield carries a first value. Among them, the first value may be a preset special value, for example, the value of the association identification subfield may be set to a special AID, such as the first value may be 4094 or 4095, the first value may be an AID not defined in the existing standard, and the first value is used to identify that the first user information field is used to carry the identification information of the second AP. When the AP or STA parses the first user information field and reads the AID12 subfield as a special AID, it is determined that the first user information field carries the identification information of the second AP, but does not carry the identification information of the STA.

[0147] In the first user information field, the association identification subfield can be transmitted before the AP indication subfield, so that the receiving end receiving the first user information field can first obtain the association identification subfield, continue to receive the AP indication subfield according to the first numerical value carried by the association identification subfield, and obtain the identification information of the second AP through the AP indication subfield.

[0148] In some embodiments of the present application, the first user information field is the first user information field transmitted in the slave trigger frame or the NDPA frame.

[0149] The first to be transmitted refers to when each user information field is transmitted sequentially in the transmission order. The first user information field may be the first field to be transmitted, that is, when the first AP sends a subordinate trigger frame or an NDPA frame, the first user information field is the field to be transmitted first according to the transmission order. The first user information field carries the identification information of the second AP. Therefore, the second AP will first parse the first user information field, so that the second AP can obtain the identification information of the second AP from the first user information field in time. Therefore, the second AP can prepare in advance to receive the channel detection PPDU sent by the STA. Through the first transmission of the first user information field in the embodiment of the present application, the second AP can prepare in advance to receive the channel detection PPDU, thereby avoiding the failure of receiving the PPDU.

[0150] Through the above-mentioned examples of the embodiments of the present application, it can be seen that in the embodiments of the present application, the first AP sends a notification message once, and directly schedules the STA to send a channel detection PPDU through the notification message, so that the second AP that receives the notification message implements channel detection. Based on the signaling design scheme provided in the embodiments of the present application for multiple AP collaborative transmission scenarios, after the STA receives the notification message, it can also send a channel detection PPDU. The AP that receives the channel detection PPDU performs channel estimation based on the channel detection PPDU to obtain channel state information. Compared with the usual channel detection process, in the embodiments of the present application, the AP does not need to perform multiple scheduling to realize channel detection between the AP and the STA, which reduces the overhead of channel detection and improves the efficiency of channel detection.

[0151] Combination Figure 2 , taking a scenario including one master AP (first AP) and three slave APs (second APs) as an example, the process of the communication method of the embodiment of the present application is described. Figure 8 As shown, it is a schematic diagram of the process of the master AP (master AP) directly scheduling the STA to send NDP provided by the embodiment of the present application. The master AP directly schedules the STA to send NDP, thereby realizing the process of implicit channel detection, which mainly includes the following steps:

[0152] S01. The master AP sends a slave trigger frame 1 (slave TF), which can schedule one or more STAs to send NDP.

[0153] The slave TF contains the identification information of the STA, which is used to trigger the STA to send NDP. The slave TF also contains the identification information of the slave AP, which is used to notify the slave AP to prepare to receive the NDP sent by the STA. For example, the master AP can send slave trigger frame 1, slave trigger frame 2, and slave trigger frame 3, where slave trigger frame 1 is used to trigger STA1 to send NDP1, slave trigger frame 2 is used to trigger STA2 to send NDP2, and slave trigger frame 3 is used to trigger STA3 to send NDP3.

[0154] S02. The slave AP receives the slave TF and prepares to receive the NDP.

[0155] S03. After receiving the slave TF, the STA sends an NDP.

[0156] S04. The slave AP receives the NDP and performs channel estimation. Optionally, the master AP receives the NDP and performs channel estimation.

[0157] Among them, the master AP can be Figure 8 As shown in the figure, one STA can be scheduled to send NDP at a time, or multiple STAs can be scheduled to send NDP in parallel by using uplink orthogonal frequency division multiple access (UL OFDMA) or multiple users-multiple input multiple output (UL MU-MIMO) technology. In addition, the master AP can also use time division to schedule multiple STAs to send NDP in chronological order at a time. For example, Figure 8 Based on this, the master AP may send only one slaveTF, namely slave trigger frame 1, instead of sending the subsequent two slave TFs. Slave trigger frame 1 triggers STA1, STA2 and STA3 to send three adjacent NDPs in sequence. Adjacent NDPs are separated by a fixed frame spacing, such as a short inter-frame space (SIFS).

[0158] Next, in combination with the aforementioned process from step S01 to step S04, the corresponding frame structure design method is described. First, the slave TF frame structure is designed. The following describes several different slave TF frame structure design methods. For ease of description, the public information field in the slave TF structure is abbreviated as public information, and the user information field is abbreviated as user information. The uppercase and lowercase English words in the field names have the same meaning, for example, TriggerType and trigger type have the same meaning. Similar abbreviations are also used for other fields in the slave TF structure, and they will not be described one by one.

[0159] like Figure 9a As shown in the figure, in the frame structure of the first slave TF, the main fields include: frame control (Frame Control), duration (Duration), receive address (receive address, RA), send address (transfer address, TA), common information (CommonInfo), user information (User Info), padding (Padding), frame check sequence (frame check sequence, FCS).

[0160] The common information may include: trigger type (TriggerType), uplink length (UL Length), more trigger frames (More TF), carrier sense required (CS Required) and common information based on the trigger type (TriggerDependent Common Info) field.

[0161] The trigger type occupies 4 bits, and the value of the trigger type is 8, indicating that the slave trigger frame is used for implicit channel detection. It is not limited that the value of the trigger type can also be 9 or other values, the uplink length occupies 12 bits, more trigger frames occupy 1 bit, and carrier sensing is required to occupy 1 bit.

[0162] Public information based on the trigger type may be used to carry, but is not limited to, one of the following three implementation methods:

[0163] Mode 1: Distributed MIMO Group ID (D-MIMO Group ID);

[0164] Mode 2: BSS Color 1, BSS Color 2, and BSS Color M.

[0165] Mode 3: Distributed MIMO Group ID (D-MIMO Group ID) and Basic Service Set Bitmap (BSS Bitmap).

[0166] The embodiment of the present application proposes to define a new variant type of trigger frame. The trigger type of the current trigger frame has 4 bits, and a total of 16 different types of trigger frames can be defined. Figure 9a As shown, the embodiment of the present application can define the value of trigger type as one of 8 or 15 (for example, 9), indicating that the trigger frame is a slave TF, or indicating that the trigger frame is a TF used for implicit channel detection, or indicating a slave TF used for implicit channel detection. The information of the slave APs participating in the channel detection can be indicated in the common information field in the trigger frame, such as the trigger dependent common info, such as defining a D-MIMO group and indicating the group identification information (group ID, GID) of D-MIMO; or indicating the BSS color of each slave AP participating in this channel detection, where BSS is the cell where a certain AP is located, and BSS color is an identification information of the cell; or BSS identifier (BSS Identifier, BSSID), APID, or Association ID (Association ID, AID) assigned by the master AP to the slave AP separately; or combined with D-MIMOGID and a BSS bitmap (BSS bitmap), specifically indicating which slaveAPs in the current D-MIMO group will participate in this channel detection. In addition, one or more user information includes the identification information of the STA that needs to send NDP, and the identification information of the STA includes the AID of the STA, etc.

[0167] like Figure 9b As shown, in the frame structure of the second slave TF, it is similar to the frame structure of the first slave TF mentioned above, except that the method of indicating that the frame is a slave TF used for implicit channel detection is different. First, the trigger frame indicates that the type of the trigger frame is a slave TF. Then, the slave trigger frame subtype (slave TF subtype) is further used to indicate that the subtype is a slave TF used for implicit channel detection. The value of the trigger type is 8, indicating a slave trigger frame. The value of the trigger type can also be 9 or other values. The value of the slave trigger frame subtype is 00, indicating that the slave trigger frame is used for implicit channel detection. For example Figure 9bAs shown, the slave TF subtype may be immediately followed by the trigger type. Not limited to, in other embodiments of the present application, the slave TF subtype may also be located in the trigger Dependent Common Info.

[0168] like Fig.9c As shown, in the frame structure of the third slave TF, the following fields are included: frame control (FrameControl), duration (Duration), receive address (receive address, RA), send address (transferaddress, TA), common information (CommonInfo), multiple user information (User Info), padding (Padding), frame check sequence (frame check sequence, FCS).

[0169] The common information may include the following fields: trigger type (TriggerType), uplink length (UL Length), more trigger frames (More TF), carrier sense required (CS Required), and common information based on the trigger type (TriggerDependent Common Info). The trigger type occupies multiple bits, for example, 4 bits. The value of the trigger type is 9, indicating that the trigger frame is a subordinate trigger frame. It is not limited that the value of the trigger type can also be 10 or other values. The uplink length occupies 12 bits, more trigger frames occupies 1 bit, and carrier sense required occupies 1 bit. Common information based on the trigger type includes: slave trigger frame type (Slave TF Type). The slave trigger frame subtype is used to indicate the subtype of the slave trigger frame. The slave trigger frame is a trigger frame used to trigger the STA to send a channel detection PPDU.

[0170] One user information field can carry the information of the scheduled STA. Another user information field can be used to carry one of the following three implementations:

[0171] Mode 1: Distributed MIMO Group ID (D-MIMO Group ID);

[0172] Mode 2: BSS Color 1, BSS Color 2, and BSS Color M.

[0173] Mode 3: Distributed MIMO Group ID (D-MIMO Group ID) and Basic Service Set Bitmap (BSS Bitmap).

[0174] against Fig.9c The detailed description is as follows: User Info is used to carry the identification information of the slave AP, and an AID subfield is included in each UserInfo. The value of the AID subfield can be set to a special AID. The special AID can be an AID that is not defined by an existing standard, or an unassigned AID, such as 4094 or 4095, etc., to identify that the user information field is used to carry the identification information of the slave AP.

[0175] When the STA finds that AID12 is a special value, it no longer follows the usual User Info interpretation method and determines that the User Info field carries the identification information of the slave AP.

[0176] Figure 9d An example of the frame structure of the fourth slave TF is shown, which is similar to the frame structure of the third slave TF mentioned above. The difference is that the fourth slave TF flexibly uses 1 user information to indicate the identification information of the slave AP. In one example, the AID12 field of a User Info indicates a special AID, and the field after the AID12 field carries the identification information of a slave AP, which can be the BSS color of the BSS to which the slave AP belongs. In another example, the AID12 field of a User info is an AID assigned by the master AP to the Slave AP. The advantage of the fourth slave TF frame structure over the third slave TF frame structure is that the identification information of a slave AP can be carried in a User Info field, and the identification information of a Slave AP will not exceed the original defined number of bits of a User info, and will not affect the STA's interpretation of the information. In one example, the identification information of the slave AP can be placed in a relatively forward position in the UserInfo so that the slave AP can prepare to receive the NDP in advance.

[0177] It should be noted that in addition to using the trigger frame structure, the NDPA frame can also be used to instruct the STA to send the NDP and notify the slave AP to prepare to listen to the NDP. Fig.9eAs shown, in a frame structure of an NDPA frame, the main components include: frame control (Frame Control), duration (Duration), receive address (receive address, RA), transfer address (transfer address, TA), sounding dialogue token (Sounding Dialog Token), site information 1 (STAInfo1), ..., site information N (STA InfoN), frame check sequence (frame check sequence, FCS).

[0178] The Sounding Dialog Token may include: a Null Data Packet Announcement (NDPA) type and a Sounding Dialog Token Number. The Null Data Packet Announcement (NDPA) type occupies 2 bits, and the Sounding Dialog Token Number occupies 6 bits.

[0179] Similarly, a part of the site information may be used to carry the identification information of the slave AP, and another part of the site information may be used to carry the identification information of the STA. For example, site information 1 may be used to carry the identification information of the slave AP, and site information 2 to N may be used to carry the identification information of the STA.

[0180] The station information 1 (STA Info1) occupies 11 bits and may include: a special association identifier (Special AID) and a basic service set color (BSS Color); or an access point identifier (AP ID) of a slave AP. The ID of a slave access point AP may be an AID allocated by a master AP to the slave AP.

[0181] The station information N (STA InfoN) occupies 11 bits, including: the station association identifier (AID of STA).

[0182] The embodiment of the present application does not impose any restrictions on the specific frame structure of the NDPA frame. It only requires that the scheduled STA can be notified to send NDP and the slave AP can be notified to prepare to receive NDP.

[0183] From the above examples, it can be seen that in the embodiment of the present application, the master AP directly schedules the implicit detection process applicable to D-MIMO, which reduces the overhead of channel detection. It should be pointed out that in addition to being used in D-MIMO scenarios, the obtained channel information can also be used for ranging, positioning, intra-cell MIMO and other scenarios.

[0184] Next, another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application is introduced. The method of the embodiment of the present application can be applied not only to the scenario where the first AP can directly communicate with the STA, but also to the scenario where the first AP cannot directly communicate with the STA. Fig.10 As shown, the following steps are included:

[0185] 1001. A first AP generates a slave trigger frame, where the slave trigger frame is used to instruct a second AP to perform channel detection. The slave trigger frame includes: identification information of a STA and identification information of the second AP.

[0186] In an embodiment of the present application, the first AP may instruct the second AP to perform channel detection. In order to indicate which AP or APs need to send a detection polling frame, the first AP carries the identification information of the above AP in the subordinate trigger frame. For example, the first AP instructs the second AP to send a detection polling frame, and the first AP carries the identification information of the second AP in the notification information. Similarly, in order to instruct the second AP to schedule which STA or STAs to send a channel detection PPDU, the first AP carries the identification information of the above STA in the notification information.

[0187] In some embodiments of the present application, the identification information of the STA includes at least one of the following: an association identifier AID of the STA, or a media access control MAC address of the STA;

[0188] The identification information of the second AP includes at least one of the following: the group identification corresponding to the second AP, or the basic service set color corresponding to the second AP, or the group identification corresponding to the second AP and the basic service set bitmap corresponding to the second AP, or the AID of the second AP, or the MAC address of the second AP. For the detailed description of the identification information of the STA and the identification information of the second AP, please refer to the above description, which will not be repeated here.

[0189] 1002. The first AP sends a slave trigger frame to the second AP.

[0190] In the embodiment of the present application, after the first AP generates a slave trigger frame, the first AP can send the slave trigger frame to the second AP, so that the second AP can receive the slave trigger frame sent by the first AP. The slave trigger frame can be transmitted between the first AP and the second AP by wireless transmission or wired transmission. The specific method of sending the slave trigger frame by the first AP is not limited here.

[0191] 1003. The second access point AP receives the slave trigger frame sent by the first AP.

[0192] In an embodiment of the present application, after the second AP receives the slave trigger frame, the second AP parses the slave trigger frame and obtains the identification information of the STA and the identification information of the second AP from the slave trigger frame. For the detailed description of the identification information of the STA and the identification information of the second AP, please refer to the above description and will not be repeated here.

[0193] 1004. The second AP generates a detection polling frame, where the detection polling frame is used to instruct the STA to send a channel detection physical layer protocol data unit PPDU. The detection polling frame includes: identification information of the STA.

[0194] The second AP may generate a sounding poll frame, which may also be referred to as a TF for NDP. The sounding poll frame is used to instruct the STA to send a channel sounding physical layer protocol data unit PPDU. The sounding poll frame includes: identification information of the STA.

[0195] 1005. The second AP sends a detection polling frame to the STA.

[0196] In some embodiments of the present application, the method provided by the embodiments of the present application further includes:

[0197] The second AP receives the channel sounding PPDU sent by the STA, and performs channel estimation according to the channel sounding PPDU.

[0198] The specific process of channel estimation will not be described in detail here.

[0199] 1006. The STA receives a detection polling frame sent by the second AP. The detection polling frame is used to instruct the STA to send a channel detection physical layer protocol data unit PPDU. The detection polling frame includes: identification information of the STA.

[0200] 1007. The STA determines, based on the identification information of the STA, that the STA needs to send a channel sounding PPDU.

[0201] The STA may determine that the STA needs to send a physical detection PPDU based on the STA identification information (eg, AID1) carried in the notification information. Next, the STA may send a detection channel PPDU.

[0202] In some embodiments of the present application, the STA may determine that the STA needs to send a physical detection PPDU based on the STA identification information (e.g., AID1) carried in the notification information and the identification information of the second AP, and then perform the following step 1009 (in Fig.10 (not illustrated in the figure), optionally, the STA may also send a channel sounding PPDU after a short frame interval.

[0203] Optionally, after step 1007, the second AP may also perform the following step 1008 (in Fig.10 Not indicated in the figure):

[0204] The second AP receives the channel sounding PPDU sent by the STA, and then performs channel estimation.

[0205] In the embodiment of the present application, the first AP directly schedules the STA to send a channel detection PPDU. The first AP only needs to send notification information once, and the second AP and the STA can execute different processes according to the notification information they receive, thereby reducing the overhead of channel detection.

[0206] Optionally, after step 1007, the first AP may also perform the following step 1009 (in Fig.10 Not indicated in the figure):

[0207] The first AP receives the channel sounding PPDU sent by the STA, and then performs channel estimation.

[0208] In the embodiment of the present application, the first AP directly schedules the STA to send a channel detection PPDU. The first AP only needs to send notification information once, and the second AP and the STA can execute different processes according to the notification information they receive, thereby reducing the overhead of channel detection.

[0209] Usually, when multiple APs cooperate in transmission, the explicit channel detection method is adopted, that is, the initiator of channel detection (such as AP) sends NDP to the responder of channel detection (STA), and the STA actually measures the downlink channel from AP to STA, and feeds back the channel measurement result to AP. The feedback channel measurement result includes the downlink channels between multiple APs and STAs, and the feedback overhead is relatively large.

[0210] In the embodiment of the present application, multiple APs cooperate in transmission using an implicit channel detection method, that is, the AP schedules the STA to send NDP, the STA sends the NDP to the AP, the AP measures the uplink channel from the STA to the AP, and then uses the channel reciprocity to obtain the downlink channel from the AP to the STA. Because the AP is the acquirer of the channel measurement result, there is no need to feed back the channel measurement result in the air interface, thus saving the overhead of the channel measurement result feedback.

[0211] Next, the method of carrying notification information is described in detail.

[0212] In some embodiments of the present application, the notification information is carried in a subordinate trigger frame, and the subordinate trigger frame includes: a public information field and a user information field, wherein the identification information of the STA is carried in the public information field, and the identification information of the second AP is carried in the user information field. For a detailed description of the identification information of the STA and the identification information of the second AP, please refer to the aforementioned description, which will not be repeated here.

[0213] In some embodiments of the present application, Fig.11 The figure shows a structural diagram of a slave trigger frame. The common information field includes: a trigger type subfield and a common information subfield based on the trigger type; the trigger type subfield is used to indicate the trigger type of the slave trigger frame; the common information subfield based on the trigger type includes: STA identification information.

[0214] Among them, the trigger type subfield can be used to indicate the trigger type of the subordinate trigger frame. Different values ​​of the trigger type subfield can represent different trigger types of the trigger frame. For example, the trigger type subfield can occupy 4 bits. When the value of the trigger type subfield is any one of 8 to 15, it can indicate that the trigger frame is a subordinate trigger frame that carries notification information. The public information subfield based on the trigger type is a subfield in the public information field. The public information subfield based on the trigger type can carry the identification information of the STA. The identification information of the STA can be described in the above-mentioned examples, which will not be repeated here. The public information field in the subordinate trigger frame can carry the identification information of the STA, so that after the second AP and STA receive the subordinate trigger frame, the trigger type of the subordinate trigger frame can be determined through the trigger type subfield in the subordinate trigger frame, and the identification information of the STA can be obtained through the public information subfield based on the trigger type.

[0215] In some embodiments of the present application, the method provided by the embodiments of the present application further includes:

[0216] The first AP generates a detection polling frame, where the detection polling frame is used to instruct the STA to send a channel detection physical layer protocol data unit PPDU, and the detection polling frame includes: identification information of the STA;

[0217] The first AP sends a detection polling frame to the STA. The first AP may also generate a detection polling frame and then send the detection polling frame to the STA.

[0218] Through the above-mentioned content, it can be known that in the embodiment of the present application, the first AP sends a notification message once, and schedules the second AP to send a detection polling frame through the notification message. The second AP schedules the STA to send a channel detection PPDU through the detection polling frame, so that the second AP that receives the notification message implements channel detection. Based on the signaling structure design scheme applicable to multiple AP collaborative transmission scenarios provided in the embodiment of the present application, after the STA receives the detection polling frame, it can also send a channel detection PPDU. The AP that receives the channel detection PPDU performs channel estimation based on the channel detection PPDU, thereby obtaining channel state information. Compared with the usual channel detection process, in the embodiment of the present application, the AP does not need to perform multiple scheduling to realize channel detection between the AP and the STA, which reduces the overhead of channel detection and improves the efficiency of channel detection.

[0219] Next, the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application is further illustrated by an example, taking the first AP as the master AP and the second AP as three slave APs as an example, the first AP can communicate with the three slave APs and three STAs. The above embodiment is applicable to the scenario where the scheduled STA can hear the master AP. In the case where the STA cannot receive the slave TF sent by the master AP, the embodiment shown below needs to be adopted. Fig.12 As shown, it is a schematic diagram of the process of the master AP triggering the slave AP to schedule the STA to send NDP provided by the embodiment of the present application. The master AP triggers the slave AP to schedule the STA to send NDP, so that the process of implicit channel detection can be implemented, and the process mainly includes the following steps:

[0220] S11. The master AP sends slave TF1 to notify one or more slave APs to perform implicit channel detection.

[0221] S12, the slave AP replies confirmation information to the master AP. By replying the confirmation information, the master AP can know in advance the list of slave APs that can participate in the implicit channel together. It can also buy time for the slave AP to prepare for channel detection. Among them, step S12 is optional.

[0222] For example, the master AP may send slave trigger frame 1, slave trigger frame 2, and slave trigger frame 3. After the master AP sends slave trigger frame 1, slave AP1 may send confirmation information 1, slave AP2 may send confirmation information 2, and slave AP3 may send confirmation information 3.

[0223] S13, the master AP and the slave AP send a detection polling frame 1. Alternatively, multiple slave APs send a detection polling frame, which may also be called a TF for NDP and is used to schedule a STA to send an NDP.

[0224] For example, slave AP1 may send a detection polling frame 1, slave AP2 may send a detection polling frame 2, and slave AP3 may send a detection polling frame 3.

[0225] S14. After receiving the detection polling frame, STA1 sends NDP1.

[0226] S15, the master AP and the slave AP receive NDP1 and perform channel estimation.

[0227] Similarly, multiple STAs may send NDPs using UL OFDMA, UL MU-MIMO, or a time-serial manner, as described in the foregoing embodiments for details.

[0228] Next, the frame structure of slave TF and sounding poll frame is explained with examples. First, the frame structure of slave TF is explained.

[0229] like Fig.13a As shown, in a slave TF frame structure, the following fields are mainly included: frame control (Frame Control), duration (Duration), receive address (RA), transfer address (TA), common information (CommonInfo), user information (User Info), padding (Padding), frame check sequence (FCS). Among them, the common information may include: trigger type (TriggerType), uplink length (UL Length), more trigger frames (More TF), carrier sense required (CSRequired), and common information based on trigger type (Trigger Dependent Common Info).

[0230] The trigger type occupies multiple bits, for example, 4 bits. The value of the trigger type is 9, indicating a slave trigger frame. It is not limited that the value of the trigger type can also be 10 or other values.

[0231] The public information based on the trigger type can be used to carry the station identification (STA ID).

[0232] The user information may carry the information of the scheduled AP.

[0233] In the above slave TF, the information of the slave AP is directly carried in User Info, which may include BSS Color, AP ID or AID of the slave AP. Optionally, in the corresponding triggerdependent common info in the public part, the site identification information of the STA that needs to participate in implicit channel detection, that is, the site identification information of the STA that needs to send NDP later, is carried, which plays the role of notifying the STA in advance to prepare. Of course, the aforementioned Fig.9c and Figure 9d The method shown in carries the identification information of STA and slave AP. The difference is that in Fig.13a In the illustrated embodiment, the STA does not respond immediately, but waits until a sounding poll is received before sending an NDP.

[0234] The sounding poll frame sent by the second AP can be a trigger frame used for ranging and positioning. A trigger frame for scheduling STA to send NDP can also be defined separately. The trigger frame type is indicated as sounding poll. The trigger frame of the sounding poll type is used to trigger STA to send NDP. The corresponding information of the scheduled STA is indicated in user info, such as the AID of the scheduled STA.

[0235] The frame format described above is mainly for the MAC frame structure in the wireless air interface. The communication between an AP and other APs can also use the wired MAC frame structure, that is, use wired transmission.

[0236] like Fig.13b As shown, it is a schematic diagram of the frame structure of the MAC frame provided in the embodiment of the present application. The MAC frame mainly includes: destination address (DA), source address (SA), type (Type), frame body (FrameBody), frame check sequence (FCS), where the Type field is used to indicate the specific type of the wired MAC frame. The type field may include the following:

[0237] 1. Slave TF, or NDPA frame type, the frame body content is the same as above Fig.13a The slave TFs in the illustrated embodiments are the same and will not be described in detail here.

[0238] 2. Channel State Information (CSI) report frame: used by the slave AP to feed back the estimated CSI information to the master AP via wired communication.

[0239] 3. Data sharing notification frame: used by the master AP to request data from the slave AP.

[0240] 4. CSI sharing notification frame: used by the master AP to request CSI from the slave AP.

[0241] 5. Synchronous transmission notification frame: used to notify multiple slave APs to send different types of MAC frames such as sounding poll and data. t1 to tm are time offsets used for synchronous transmission over the air interface. They are used to help slave APs adjust the time to send MAC frames over the air interface based on wired latency.

[0242] In an embodiment of the present application, a method for the master AP to schedule STA to perform implicit channel detection through the slave AP is described, and a specific design of the frame format is given. Based on the above implicit channel detection process, the embodiment of the present application can reduce the overhead of channel detection.

[0243] Next, another embodiment provided by the embodiment of the present application is introduced, which is designed for how to allocate the AID of the STA in AP cooperative transmission such as D-MIMO. The AID can uniquely identify the STA associated with the current BSS within the BSS. However, for AP cooperative transmission scenarios such as D-MIMO, there are multiple APs that assign the same AID to multiple STAs in different BSSs. For the same AID, there are STAs in multiple BSSs that think they are being scheduled, which causes the problem of data transmission conflicts. How to uniquely identify the STA in the AP cooperative transmission scenario through AID is another problem to be solved by the embodiment of the present application.

[0244] like Fig.14a As shown, it is a schematic diagram of the AID allocation provided in the embodiment of the present application. All AIDs can be divided into the following three categories: the first category is: non-D-MIMO AID intervals that can be used by BSS1, ..., BSSk; the second category is the reserved AID interval; the third category is the D-MIMO AID interval of each BSS (for example, the D-MIMO AID interval of BSS1, ..., the D-MIMO AID interval of BSSK). The non-D-MIMO AID interval can be used by all BSSs, and the D-MIMO AID interval of each BSS can only be used by the BSS. Different BSSs in a D-MIMO Group share the same non-D-MIMO AID interval, but the AID values ​​of the D-MIMO AID interval of each BSS do not overlap.

[0245] Among them, the non-D-MIMO AID interval that can be used by BSS1 to BSS K, that is, the AID interval that each BSS can use for internal cell communication. Because it does not involve cross-BSS communication, a STA can be uniquely identified within each BSS. When participating in AP collaborative transmission such as D-MIMO, STAs participating in D-MIMO transmission in each BSS will be assigned different AIDs. In this way, a STA participating in D-MIMO can also be uniquely identified. It should be pointed out that two AIDs will be assigned to STAs participating in D-MIMO transmission, one is the AID for intra-BSS communication with the AP of the BSS where it is located, and the other is the AID when participating in D-MIMO transmission. In addition, the reserved AID interval is an AID interval that has not yet been allocated, which is mainly used for subsequent flexible allocation.

[0246] It should be noted that the D-MIMO AID interval of BSS1...BSSK includes one to multiple AID intervals, and the AIDs of STAs associated with several APs participating in D-MIMO transmission do not overlap with each other.

[0247] like Fig.14b As shown, it is a schematic diagram of the AID interaction process provided by an embodiment of the present application. Next, a simple interaction process is introduced: Optionally, the slave AP first sends an AID allocation request (AID Allocation Request) to the master AP, requesting the master AP to allocate an AID interval of D-MIMO for it. The master AP then sends an AID allocation frame (AID Allocation frame) to the slave AP to allocate an AID to the slave AP. After receiving the allocated AID, the slave AP can also send confirmation information (ACK). The AID allocation frame may include: a reserved association identifier start value (Reserved AID Start), a reserved association identifier end value (Reserved AID End), access point association identifier allocation information (AP AID Allo Info), and access point association identifier allocation information (AP AID Allo Info).

[0248] Among them, the access point association identifier allocation information (AP AID Allo Info) includes: basic service set indication (BSSIndication), block (Block), distributed multi-input multi-output block 1 association identifier start value (D-MIMO Blok1AID Start), distributed multi-input multi-output block 1 association identifier end value (D-MIMO Blok1 AID End), ..., distributed multi-input multi-output block N association identifier start value (D-MIMO BlokN AID Start), distributed multi-input multi-output block N association identifier end value (D-MIMO BlokNAID End). For example, the AID allocation frame contains the AID start value and end value of the reserved AID interval; the AID allocation information under a certain AP includes the BSS identification information, the number of blocks, and the start value and end value of the AID in each block.

[0249] like Fig.14c FIG. 1 is another schematic diagram of the AID allocation provided in the embodiment of the present application, and FIG. Fig.14a The difference is that all APs share the same non-D-MIMO interval and D-MIMO interval. In this case, different APs need to communicate with each other in real time about the D-MIMO AID information they allocate to their STAs to prevent AID conflicts within different BSSs.

[0250] It can be seen from the foregoing examples that the embodiments of the present application provide an AID allocation method suitable for AP cooperative transmission and intra-cell transmission, thereby solving the problem of AID allocation.

[0251] Next, another embodiment provided by the embodiment of the present application is introduced. For a certain AP and its STAs, they may participate in multiple D-MIMO groups, so they may be assigned multiple D-MIMO AIDs. In this case, the STA cannot determine which D-MIMO group's data transmission it participates in, nor can it determine whether it is scheduled. To address this problem, the embodiment of the present application proposes to introduce D-MIMO GID indication information in the data group, and use the D-MIMO GID indication information to indicate the D-MIMO group participating in the data transmission.

[0252] like Fig.15aAs shown, it is a schematic diagram of an EHT data packet structure including a D-MIMO GID indication provided by an embodiment of the present application. The EHT data packet structure may include: Legacy Short Training Field (L-STF), Legacy Long Training Field (L-LTF), Legacy Information Field (L-SIG), Extremely High Throughput Information Field A (EHT-SIG-A), Extremely High Throughput Information Field B (EHT-SIG-B), Extremely High Throughput Short Training Field (EHT-STF), Extremely High Throughput Long Training Field (EHT-LTF).

[0253] The extremely high throughput information field B (EHT-SIG-B) includes: a distributed multiple input multiple output group identifier (D-MIMOGroup ID), multiple user fields (User field). A user field (User field) includes: a distributed multiple input multiple output association identifier (D-MIMO AID).

[0254] For example, the D-MIMO GID is indicated in the signaling field such as EHT-SIG-A or EHT-SIG-B to clearly indicate which D-MIMO group initiated the data transmission. This indication also applies to the trigger information indication in the Slave TF. Furthermore, the D-MIMO AID of the STA participating in the D-MIMO transmission is indicated in the User field.

[0255] For another example, it is also possible to first indicate whether the transmission is a D-MIMO transmission. If it is a D-MIMO transmission, the D-MIMO GID is further indicated. Furthermore, the D-MIMO AID of the STA participating in the D-MIMO transmission is indicated in the User field. If it is not a D-MIMO transmission, the D-MIMO GID may not be indicated. The subsequent User field also refers to the AID of the STA within the BSS.

[0256] like Fig.15bAs shown, it is a schematic diagram of another EHT data packet structure including a D-MIMO GID indication provided by an embodiment of the present application. The EHT data packet structure may include: Legacy Short Training Field (L-STF), Legacy Long Training Field (L-LTF), Legacy Information Field (L-SIG), Extremely High Throughput Information Field A (EHT-SIG-A), Extremely High Throughput Information Field B (EHT-SIG-B), Extremely High Throughput Short Training Field (EHT-STF), Extremely High Throughput Long Training Field (EHT-LTF).

[0257] Among them, the extremely high throughput information field B (EHT-SIG-B) includes: distributed multiple input multiple output group identifier (D-MIMOGroup ID), multiple user fields (User field). A user field (User field) includes: distributed multiple input multiple output identifier (BSSID) / basic service set color (BSS Color) / access point identifier (AP ID) / access point association identifier (AID of AP), and the association identifier (AID) of the station (STA) in the corresponding basic service set (BSS).

[0258] For example, the method of BSSID / BSS Color / AP ID / AID of AP+AID in the cell can be used to clearly mark which STA in which BSS.

[0259] It can be seen from the foregoing examples that the embodiment of the present application provides a signaling indication method for uniquely indicating a certain STA in a scenario where a certain AP is in multiple D-MIMOGIDs, thereby realizing the indication of the STA, being able to uniquely identify the STA participating in the D-MIMO transmission, and preventing AID conflicts. The scheme for configuring the D-MIMO GID indication information in the embodiment of the present application can also be applied to multi-AP collaboration, not limited to D-MIMO.

[0260] The above embodiments introduce the method provided by the embodiments of the present application, and the following describes the communication device provided by the embodiments of the present application. The communication device may include any one of the above-mentioned first AP, second AP, and STA.

[0261] Fig.16 1 shows a schematic block diagram of a communication device 1600 according to an embodiment of the present application. Fig.16The device 1600 shown may correspond to the communication device in the above method embodiment, and may have any function of the first access point or the second access point or the STA in the method. Optionally, the device 1600 in the embodiment of the present application may be the first access point, or the chip in the first access point. The device 1600 in the embodiment of the present application may be the second access point, or the chip in the second access point. The device 1600 in the embodiment of the present application may be a station, or the chip in the station. The device 1600 may include a processing module 1610 and a transceiver module 1620. Optionally, the device 1600 may also include a storage module 1630.

[0262] In one embodiment, the communication device 1600 is a first access point or a chip in the first access point;

[0263] The processing module 1610 can be used to generate the signaling or data information sent in the above method embodiment, for example, to generate the notification information sent in step 301; it can also be used to control the transceiver module 1620 according to the notification information to send the notification information to the second AP and STA transmission. For example, step 302 can be executed. The processing module 1610 can also be used to generate the slave trigger frame in step 1001.

[0264] The transceiver module 1620 is used to support the communication between the first access point AP and the second AP, the station, and other nodes. It can be understood that the transceiver module can include a receiving module and a sending module. The sending module can be used to execute step 302 and step 1002 in the above method embodiment.

[0265] In another embodiment, the communication device 1600 is a second access point or a chip in the second access point;

[0266] The processing module 1610 can parse and process the signaling or data information sent in the above method embodiment, such as notification information. For example, step 304 can be executed. The processing module 1610 can also be used to generate the signaling sent in the above embodiment, such as a detection polling frame. For example, step 1004 can be executed.

[0267] The transceiver module 1620 is used to support communication between the second access point AP and the first AP, the station, and other nodes. It can be understood that the transceiver module may include a receiving module and a sending module. The sending module may be used to execute step 1005 in the aforementioned method embodiment; the receiving module may be used to execute steps 303 and 1003 in the aforementioned method embodiment.

[0268] In yet another embodiment, the communication device 1600 is a station or a chip within a station;

[0269] The processing module 1610 can parse and process the signaling or data information sent in the above method embodiment, such as notification information. For example, step 306 can be executed. The processing module 1610 can also be used to generate the signaling sent in the above embodiment, such as NDP. The processing module 1610 can also determine to execute step 1007 in the above embodiment.

[0270] The transceiver module 1620 is used to support communication between the station AP and the first AP, the second AP, and other nodes. It can be understood that the transceiver module may include a receiving module and a sending module. The receiving module may be used to execute step 1006 and step 305 in the aforementioned method embodiment.

[0271] It should be understood that the device 1600 according to an embodiment of the present application may correspond to the first access point or the second access point or the STA in each method of the aforementioned embodiment, and the above-mentioned and other management operations and / or functions of each module in the device 1600 are respectively for implementing the corresponding steps of the aforementioned methods. For the sake of brevity, they will not be repeated here.

[0272] Alternatively, the device 1600 may also be configured as a general processing system, such as a chip. The processing module 1610 may include: one or more processors that provide processing functions; the transceiver module 1620 may be, for example, an input / output interface, a pin or a circuit, etc. The input / output interface may be used to be responsible for the information interaction between the chip system and the outside world. For example, the input / output interface may output the transmission control information generated by the first access point AP to other modules outside the chip for processing. The processing module may execute the computer-executable instructions stored in the storage module to implement the function of the first access point in the above method embodiment. In an example, the storage module 1630 optionally included in the device 1600 may be a storage unit in the chip, such as a register, a cache, etc. The storage module 1630 may also be a storage unit located outside the chip, such as a read-only memory (ROM) or other types of static storage devices that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM), etc.

[0273] In another example, Fig.17A schematic block diagram of another communication device 1700 of an embodiment of the present application is shown. The device 1700 of the embodiment of the present application may be the first access point or the second access point or the STA in the above method embodiment, and the device 1700 may be used to perform part or all of the functions of the first access point or the second access point or the STA in the above method embodiment. The device 1700 may include: a processor 1710, a baseband circuit 1730, a radio frequency circuit 1740 and an antenna 1750. Optionally, the device 1700 may also include a memory 1720. The various components of the device 1700 are coupled together through a bus, wherein the bus system includes a power bus, a control bus and a status signal bus in addition to a data bus. However, for the sake of clarity, various buses are marked as bus systems in the figure.

[0274] The processor 1710 may be used to implement control of the first access point or the second access point or the STA, to execute the processing performed by the first access point or the second access point or the STA in the above-mentioned embodiment, to execute the processing process involving the first access point or the second access point or the STA in the above-mentioned method embodiment and / or other processes for the technology described in the present application, and may also run an operating system, be responsible for managing the bus, and execute programs or instructions stored in the memory.

[0275] The baseband circuit 1730, the radio frequency circuit 1740, and the antenna 1750 can be used to support the transmission and reception of information between the first access point and the second access point or station involved in the above embodiments, so as to support wireless communication between the first access point and other nodes. For example, the transmission control information sent by the first access point can be processed by the processor 1710, and the baseband circuit 1730 performs baseband processing such as encapsulation and encoding according to the protocol, and further performs radio frequency processing such as analog conversion, filtering, amplification and up-conversion by the radio frequency circuit 1740, and then sends it to the second access point AP via the antenna 1750. It can be understood that the baseband circuit 1730, the radio frequency circuit 1740, and the antenna 1750 can also be used to support the first access point to communicate with other network entities.

[0276] The memory 1720 may be used to store program codes and data of the first access point or the second access point or the STA. The memory 1720 may be Fig.16 The storage module 1630 in. Fig.17The memory 1720 is shown as being separated from the processor 1710, however, it is readily apparent to those skilled in the art that the memory 1720 or any portion thereof may be located outside the device 1700. For example, the memory 1720 may include a transmission line and / or a computer product separated from a wireless node, and these media may be accessed by the processor 1710 through a bus interface. Alternatively, the memory 1720 or any portion thereof may be integrated into the processor 1710, for example, a cache and / or a general register.

[0277] In one example, Fig.16 The transceiver module 1620 may include a baseband circuit 1730, a radio frequency circuit 1740, and an antenna 1750; the processing module 1610 may be a processor 1710; in another example, Fig.16 The transceiver module 1620 may only include Fig.17 In the antenna, the processing module 1610 may include not only the processor 1710, but also the radio frequency circuit 1740 and the baseband circuit 1730; in another example, Fig.16 The processing module 1610 may include a processor 1710 and a baseband circuit 1730 ; the transceiver module 1620 may include a radio frequency circuit 1740 and an antenna 1750 .

[0278] Understandably, Fig.17 Only a simplified design of the first access point or the second access point or the STA is shown. For example, in practical applications, the first access point or the second access point or the STA may include any number of transmitters, receivers, processors, memories, etc., and all first access points or second access points or STAs that can implement the embodiments of the present application are within the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application.

[0279] The present application also provides a computer storage medium, in which instructions are stored, and the instructions can be executed by one or more processors on a processing circuit. When the instructions are executed on a computer, the computer executes the methods described in the above aspects.

[0280] An embodiment of the present application also provides a chip system, which includes a processor for supporting a distributed unit, a centralized unit, and a first access point or a second access point to implement the functions involved in the above embodiments, such as generating or processing the data and / or information involved in the above methods.

[0281] In a possible design, the chip system may further include a memory, the memory being used to store necessary program instructions and data for the distributed unit, the centralized unit, and the first access point or the second access point. The chip system may be composed of a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0282] The embodiment of the present application further provides a processor, which is coupled with a memory and is used to execute the method and function involving the first access point AP in any of the above embodiments.

[0283] The embodiment of the present application further provides a processor, which is coupled with a memory and is used to execute the method and function involving the second access point AP in any of the above embodiments.

[0284] The embodiment of the present application also provides a processor, which is coupled with a memory and is used to execute the method and function related to STA in any of the above embodiments.

[0285] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product including instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method and function involving the first access point AP in any of the above embodiments.

[0286] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product including instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method and function involving the second access point AP in any of the above embodiments.

[0287] The embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product including instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method and function involving STA in any of the above embodiments.

[0288] An embodiment of the present application also provides a wireless communication system, which includes the first access point and at least one second access point and at least one STA involved in the above embodiment.

[0289] 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 this 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 device. 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 to another website site, computer, server or data center by wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) mode. 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 includes one or more available media integration. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a tape), an optical medium (e.g., a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a solid-state hard disk Solid State Disk), etc.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: include: The first access point AP generates notification information, where the notification information is used to instruct the station STA to send a channel sounding physical layer protocol data unit PPDU, where the notification information includes: identification information of the STA and identification information of the second AP, where the identification information of the STA is used to indicate the STA, and the identification information of the second AP is used to indicate the second AP; The first AP sends the notification information to the second AP and the STA.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The identification information of the STA includes at least one of the following: an association identifier AID of the STA, or a media access control MAC address of the STA; The identification information of the second AP includes at least one of the following: a group identifier corresponding to the second AP, or a basic service set color corresponding to the second AP, or a bit map of the group identifier corresponding to the second AP and the basic service set corresponding to the second AP, or an AID of the second AP, or a MAC address of the second AP.

3. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 2, characterized in that The notification information is carried in a slave trigger frame, and the slave trigger frame includes: a common information field and a user information field, wherein: The identification information of the second AP is carried in the common information field; The identification information of the STA is carried in the user information field.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The public information field includes: a trigger type subfield and a public information subfield based on the trigger type; The trigger type subfield is used to indicate the trigger type of the slave trigger frame; The trigger type-based common information subfield includes: identification information of the second AP.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The common information field also includes: a slave trigger frame subtype subfield, which is used to indicate the subtype of the slave trigger frame.

6. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The public information field also includes: a public information subfield based on the trigger type, The common information subfield based on the trigger type includes: a dependent trigger frame subtype subfield and an AP indication subfield; The slave trigger frame subtype subfield is used to indicate the subtype of the slave trigger frame; The AP indication subfield includes: identification information of the second AP.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 2, characterized in that The notification information is carried in a slave trigger frame or a null data packet announcement NDPA frame, The slave trigger frame or the NDPA frame includes: a first user information field and a second user information field, wherein: The identification information of the second AP is carried in the first user information field; The identification information of the STA is carried in the second user information field.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The first user information field includes: an association identification subfield and an AP indication subfield; The association identifier subfield carries a first value, where the first value is a special AID; The AP indication subfield includes: identification information of the second AP.

9. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that: The first user information field is the first user information field transmitted in the slave trigger frame or the NDPA frame.

10. A communication method, characterized in that: include: The second access point AP receives notification information sent by the first AP, where the notification information is used to instruct the station STA to send a channel sounding physical layer protocol data unit PPDU, and the notification information includes: identification information of the STA and identification information of the second AP, where the identification information of the STA is used to indicate the STA, and the identification information of the second AP is used to indicate the second AP; The second AP determines, according to the identification information of the STA and the identification information of the second AP, that the second AP needs to receive a channel sounding physical layer protocol data unit PPDU sent by the STA.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The identification information of the STA includes at least one of the following: an association identifier AID of the STA, or a media access control MAC address of the STA; The identification information of the second AP includes at least one of the following: a group identifier corresponding to the second AP, or a basic service set color corresponding to the second AP, or a bit map of the group identifier corresponding to the second AP and the basic service set corresponding to the second AP, or an AID of the second AP, or a MAC address of the second AP.

12. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 11, characterized in that The notification information is carried in a slave trigger frame, and the slave trigger frame includes: a common information field and a user information field, wherein: The identification information of the second AP is carried in the common information field; The identification information of the STA is carried in the user information field.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The public information field includes: a trigger type subfield and a public information subfield based on the trigger type; The trigger type subfield is used to indicate the trigger type of the slave trigger frame; The trigger type-based common information subfield includes: identification information of the second AP.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that The common information field also includes: a slave trigger frame subtype subfield, which is used to indicate the subtype of the slave trigger frame.

15. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that The public information field also includes: a public information subfield based on the trigger type, The common information subfield based on the trigger type includes: a dependent trigger frame subtype subfield and an AP indication subfield; The slave trigger frame subtype subfield is used to indicate the subtype of the slave trigger frame; The AP indication subfield includes: identification information of the second AP.

16. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 11, characterized in that The notification information is carried in a slave trigger frame or a null data packet announcement NDPA frame, The slave trigger frame or the NDPA frame includes: a first user information field and a second user information field, wherein: The identification information of the second AP is carried in the first user information field; The identification information of the STA is carried in the second user information field.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that The first user information field includes: an association identification subfield and an AP indication subfield; The association identifier subfield carries a first value, where the first value is a special AID; The AP indication subfield includes: identification information of the second AP.

18. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that The first user information field is the first user information field transmitted in the slave trigger frame or the NDPA frame.

19. A communication method, characterized in that: include: The station STA receives notification information sent by the first access point AP, where the notification information is used to instruct the station STA to send a channel detection physical layer protocol data unit PPDU, and the notification information includes: identification information of the STA and identification information of the second AP, where the identification information of the STA is used to indicate the STA, and the identification information of the second AP is used to indicate the second AP; The STA determines, according to the identification information of the STA and the identification information of the second AP, that the STA needs to send a channel sounding physical layer protocol data unit PPDU.

20. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that The identification information of the STA includes at least one of the following: an association identifier AID of the STA, or a media access control MAC address of the STA; The identification information of the second AP includes at least one of the following: a group identifier corresponding to the second AP, or a basic service set color corresponding to the second AP, or a bit map of the group identifier corresponding to the second AP and the basic service set corresponding to the second AP, or an AID of the second AP, or a MAC address of the second AP.

21. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 20, characterized in that The notification information is carried in a slave trigger frame, and the slave trigger frame includes: a common information field and a user information field, wherein: The identification information of the second AP is carried in the common information field; The identification information of the STA is carried in the user information field.

22. The method according to claim 21, characterized in that The public information field includes: a trigger type subfield and a public information subfield based on the trigger type; The trigger type subfield is used to indicate the trigger type of the slave trigger frame; The trigger type-based common information subfield includes: identification information of the second AP.

23. The method according to claim 22, characterized in that The common information field also includes: a slave trigger frame subtype subfield, which is used to indicate the subtype of the slave trigger frame.

24. The method according to claim 22, characterized in that The public information field also includes: a public information subfield based on the trigger type, The common information subfield based on the trigger type includes: a dependent trigger frame subtype subfield and an AP indication subfield; The slave trigger frame subtype subfield is used to indicate the subtype of the slave trigger frame; The AP indication subfield includes: identification information of the second AP.

25. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 20, characterized in that The notification information is carried in a slave trigger frame or a null data packet announcement NDPA frame, The slave trigger frame or the NDPA frame includes: a first user information field and a second user information field, wherein: The identification information of the second AP is carried in the first user information field; The identification information of the STA is carried in the second user information field.

26. The method according to claim 25, characterized in that The first user information field includes: an association identification subfield and an AP indication subfield; The association identifier subfield carries a first value, where the first value is a special AID; The AP indication subfield includes: identification information of the second AP.

27. The method according to claim 25, characterized in that The first user information field is the first user information field transmitted in the slave trigger frame or the NDPA frame.

28. A communication device, characterized in that: The device is applied to a first access point AP, and the communication device includes: A processor is used to generate notification information, where the notification information is used to instruct a station STA to send a channel sounding physical layer protocol data unit PPDU, where the notification information includes: identification information of the STA and identification information of a second AP, where the identification information of the STA is used to indicate the STA, and the identification information of the second AP is used to indicate the second AP; A transceiver is used to send the notification information to the second AP and the STA.

29. The communication device according to claim 28, characterized in that The identification information of the STA includes at least one of the following: an association identifier AID of the STA, or a media access control MAC address of the STA; The identification information of the second AP includes at least one of the following: a group identifier corresponding to the second AP, or a basic service set color corresponding to the second AP, or a bit map of the group identifier corresponding to the second AP and the basic service set corresponding to the second AP, or an AID of the second AP, or a MAC address of the second AP.

30. The communication device according to any one of claims 28 to 29, characterized in that: The notification information is carried in a slave trigger frame, and the slave trigger frame includes: a public information field and a user information field, wherein: The identification information of the second AP is carried in the common information field; The identification information of the STA is carried in the user information field.

31. The communication device according to claim 30, characterized in that: The public information field includes: a trigger type subfield and a public information subfield based on the trigger type; The trigger type subfield is used to indicate the trigger type of the slave trigger frame; The trigger type-based common information subfield includes: identification information of the second AP.

32. The communication device according to claim 31, characterized in that The common information field also includes: a slave trigger frame subtype subfield, which is used to indicate the subtype of the slave trigger frame.

33. The communication device according to claim 31, characterized in that The public information field also includes: a public information subfield based on the trigger type, The common information subfield based on the trigger type includes: a dependent trigger frame subtype subfield and an AP indication subfield; The slave trigger frame subtype subfield is used to indicate the subtype of the slave trigger frame; The AP indication subfield includes: identification information of the second AP.

34. The communication device according to any one of claims 28 to 29, characterized in that: The notification information is carried in a slave trigger frame or a null data packet announcement NDPA frame, The slave trigger frame or the NDPA frame includes: a first user information field and a second user information field, wherein: The identification information of the second AP is carried in the first user information field; The identification information of the STA is carried in the second user information field.

35. The communication device according to claim 34, characterized in that The first user information field includes: an association identification subfield and an AP indication subfield; The association identifier subfield carries a first value, where the first value is a special AID; The AP indication subfield includes: identification information of the second AP.

36. The communication device according to claim 34, characterized in that The first user information field is the first user information field transmitted in the slave trigger frame or the NDPA frame.

37. A communication device, characterized in that: The communication device is applied to a second access point AP, and the communication device includes: A transceiver, configured to receive notification information sent by a first AP, wherein the notification information is used to instruct a station STA to send a channel detection physical layer protocol data unit PPDU, wherein the notification information includes: identification information of the STA and identification information of the second AP, wherein the identification information of the STA is used to indicate the STA, and the identification information of the second AP is used to indicate the second AP; The processor is used to determine, based on the identification information of the STA and the identification information of the second AP, that the second AP needs to receive a channel sounding physical layer protocol data unit PPDU sent by the STA.

38. The communication device according to claim 37, characterized in that: The identification information of the STA includes at least one of the following: an association identifier AID of the STA, or a media access control MAC address of the STA; The identification information of the second AP includes at least one of the following: a group identifier corresponding to the second AP, or a basic service set color corresponding to the second AP, or a bit map of the group identifier corresponding to the second AP and the basic service set corresponding to the second AP, or an AID of the second AP, or a MAC address of the second AP.

39. The communication device according to any one of claims 37 to 38, characterized in that: The notification information is carried in a slave trigger frame, and the slave trigger frame includes: a public information field and a user information field, wherein: The identification information of the second AP is carried in the common information field; The identification information of the STA is carried in the user information field.

40. The communication device according to claim 39, characterized in that The public information field includes: a trigger type subfield and a public information subfield based on the trigger type; The trigger type subfield is used to indicate the trigger type of the slave trigger frame; The trigger type-based common information subfield includes: identification information of the second AP.

41. The communication device according to claim 40, characterized in that The common information field also includes: a slave trigger frame subtype subfield, which is used to indicate the subtype of the slave trigger frame.

42. The communication device according to claim 40, characterized in that The public information field also includes: a public information subfield based on the trigger type, The common information subfield based on the trigger type includes: a dependent trigger frame subtype subfield and an AP indication subfield; The slave trigger frame subtype subfield is used to indicate the subtype of the slave trigger frame; The AP indication subfield includes: identification information of the second AP.

43. The communication device according to any one of claims 37 to 38, characterized in that: The notification information is carried in a slave trigger frame or a null data packet announcement NDPA frame, The slave trigger frame or the NDPA frame includes: a first user information field and a second user information field, wherein: The identification information of the second AP is carried in the first user information field; The identification information of the STA is carried in the second user information field.

44. The communication device according to claim 43, characterized in that The first user information field includes: an association identification subfield and an AP indication subfield; The association identifier subfield carries a first value, where the first value is a special AID; The AP indication subfield includes: identification information of the second AP.

45. The communication device according to claim 43, characterized in that The first user information field is the first user information field transmitted in the slave trigger frame or the NDPA frame.

46. ​​A communication device, characterized in that: The communication device is applied to a station STA, and the communication device includes: A transceiver, configured to receive notification information sent by a first access point AP, wherein the notification information is used to instruct the station STA to send a channel detection physical layer protocol data unit PPDU, wherein the notification information includes: identification information of the STA and identification information of a second AP, wherein the identification information of the STA is used to indicate the STA, and the identification information of the second AP is used to indicate the second AP; The processor is used to determine, according to the identification information of the STA and the identification information of the second AP, that the STA needs to send a channel sounding physical layer protocol data unit PPDU.

47. The communication device according to claim 46, characterized in that The identification information of the STA includes at least one of the following: an association identifier AID of the STA, or a media access control MAC address of the STA; The identification information of the second AP includes at least one of the following: a group identifier corresponding to the second AP, or a basic service set color corresponding to the second AP, or a bit map of the group identifier corresponding to the second AP and the basic service set corresponding to the second AP, or an AID of the second AP, or a MAC address of the second AP.

48. The communication device according to any one of claims 46 to 47, characterized in that: The notification information is carried in a slave trigger frame, and the slave trigger frame includes: a public information field and a user information field, wherein: The identification information of the second AP is carried in the common information field; The identification information of the STA is carried in the user information field.

49. The communication device according to claim 48, characterized in that The public information field includes: a trigger type subfield and a public information subfield based on the trigger type; The trigger type subfield is used to indicate the trigger type of the slave trigger frame; The trigger type-based common information subfield includes: identification information of the second AP.

50. The communication device according to claim 49, characterized in that The common information field also includes: a slave trigger frame subtype subfield, which is used to indicate the subtype of the slave trigger frame.

51. The communication device according to claim 49, characterized in that The public information field also includes: a public information subfield based on the trigger type, The common information subfield based on the trigger type includes: a dependent trigger frame subtype subfield and an AP indication subfield; The slave trigger frame subtype subfield is used to indicate the subtype of the slave trigger frame; The AP indication subfield includes: identification information of the second AP.

52. The communication device according to any one of claims 46 to 47, characterized in that: The notification information is carried in a slave trigger frame or a null data packet announcement NDPA frame, The slave trigger frame or the NDPA frame includes: a first user information field and a second user information field, wherein: The identification information of the second AP is carried in the first user information field; The identification information of the STA is carried in the second user information field.

53. The communication device according to claim 52, characterized in that The first user information field includes: an association identification subfield and an AP indication subfield; The association identifier subfield carries a first value, where the first value is a special AID; The AP indication subfield includes: identification information of the second AP.

54. The communication device according to claim 52, characterized in that The first user information field is the first user information field transmitted in the slave trigger frame or the NDPA frame.

55. 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 27.

56. A computer program product, characterized in that When the computer program product is executed on a computer, the computer performs the method according to any one of claims 1 to 27.

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