Multi-link communication method and device

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a multi-link communication method and equipment, which can ensure that the actual communication state of a link is consistent with the link enabling state. Specifically, the non-AP MLD initiates multi-link establishment with the AP MLD according to the communication accessibility between non-AP STAs attached to the non-AP MLD and APs attached to the AP MLD, wherein the non-AP STAs are respectively corresponding to M links to be established; and / or, the non-AP MLD manages the N links according to the communication accessibility between the non-AP STA attached to the non-AP MLD and the AP attached to the AP MLD, which are respectively corresponding to the established N links; and / or, the AP MLD manages the N links according to the communication accessibility between the AP MLD affiliated APs corresponding to the N established links and the non-AP MLD affiliated non-AP STA.

Description

Multi-link communication method and device Technical Field

[0001] The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of communications, and more specifically, to a method and device for multi-link communications. Background Art

[0002] Currently, multiple links can be established between a non-access point multi-link device (non-AP MLD) and an access point multi-link device (AP MLD). However, differences in communication reachability may exist between the multiple links, resulting in a discrepancy between the actual communication status of the link and the link enablement status.

[0003] Summary of the Invention

[0004] The embodiments of the present application provide a multi-link communication method and device, which can ensure that the actual communication state of the link is consistent with the link enablement state.

[0005] In a first aspect, a multi-link communication method is provided, the method comprising:

[0006] The non-AP MLD initiates multi-link establishment with the AP MLD based on the communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs corresponding to each of the M links to be established and the access point AP affiliated with the AP MLD. Where M is a positive integer.

[0007] In a second aspect, a multi-link communication method is provided, the method comprising:

[0008] The AP MLD receives the first association request frame or the second association request frame through an AP to which it is affiliated;

[0009] The first association request frame is used to request establishment of a link of the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the M links within a reachable communication range of the AP MLD-affiliated AP;

[0010] The second association request frame is used to request the establishment of M links, and the second association request frame includes relevant information on whether the M links are communication reachable, and / or the second association request frame includes relevant information on whether the M links are enabled;

[0011] Wherein, M is a positive integer.

[0012] In a third aspect, a multi-link communication method is provided, the method comprising:

[0013] The non-AP MLD manages the N established links according to the communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs corresponding to the respective links and the AP MLD-affiliated access points AP, where N is a positive integer.

[0014] In a fourth aspect, a multi-link communication method is provided, the method comprising:

[0015] AP MLD manages the N established links based on the communication reachability between the AP MLD-affiliated APs and non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs corresponding to the respective links, where N is a positive integer.

[0016] In a fifth aspect, a non-AP MLD is provided, which is used to execute the method in the first aspect.

[0017] Specifically, the non-AP MLD includes a functional module for executing the method in the first aspect.

[0018] In a sixth aspect, an AP MLD is provided, configured to execute the method in the second aspect.

[0019] Specifically, the AP MLD includes a functional module for executing the method in the above second aspect.

[0020] In a seventh aspect, a non-AP MLD is provided, which is used to execute the method in the third aspect.

[0021] Specifically, the non-AP MLD includes a functional module for executing the method in the third aspect.

[0022] In an eighth aspect, an AP MLD is provided, configured to execute the method in the fourth aspect.

[0023] Specifically, the AP MLD includes a functional module for executing the method in the fourth aspect.

[0024] In a ninth aspect, a non-AP MLD is provided, comprising a processor and a memory; the memory is used to store a computer program, and the processor is used to call and execute the computer program stored in the memory, so that the non-AP MLD performs the method in the first aspect above.

[0025] In a tenth aspect, an AP MLD is provided, comprising a processor and a memory; the memory is used to store a computer program, and the processor is used to call and run the computer program stored in the memory, so that the AP MLD executes the method in the second aspect above.

[0026] In an eleventh aspect, a non-AP MLD is provided, comprising a processor and a memory; the memory is used to store a computer program, and the processor is used to call and execute the computer program stored in the memory, so that the non-AP MLD performs the method in the third aspect above.

[0027] In a twelfth aspect, an AP MLD is provided, comprising a processor and a memory; the memory is used to store a computer program, and the processor is used to call and run the computer program stored in the memory, so that the AP MLD executes the method in the fourth aspect above.

[0028] In the thirteenth aspect, a device is provided for implementing the method in any one of the first to fourth aspects above.

[0029] Specifically, the apparatus includes: a processor, configured to call and run a computer program from a memory, so that a device equipped with the apparatus executes the method in any one of the first to fourth aspects described above.

[0030] In a fourteenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided for storing a computer program, wherein the computer program enables a computer to execute the method in any one of the first to fourth aspects above.

[0031] In a fifteenth aspect, a computer program product is provided, comprising computer program instructions, wherein the computer program instructions enable a computer to execute the method in any one of the first to fourth aspects above.

[0032] In the sixteenth aspect, a computer program is provided, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method in any one of the first to fourth aspects above.

[0033] With the above technical solution, the non-AP MLD initiates multi-link establishment with the AP MLD based on the communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs and the AP MLD-affiliated APs corresponding to the M links to be established. Furthermore, the non-AP MLD manages the N links based on the communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs and the AP MLD-affiliated APs corresponding to the N established links. Furthermore, the AP MLD manages the N links based on the communication reachability between the AP MLD-affiliated APs and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs corresponding to the N established links. This ensures that the actual communication status of the links matches the link enablement status.

[0034] Specifically, during the multi-link establishment process, the non-AP MLD requests the establishment of links for the corresponding non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs within the reachable communication range of the AP MLD-affiliated AP, based on the communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs corresponding to each of the M links to be established and the AP MLD-affiliated AP. Alternatively, the non-AP MLD requests the establishment of M links, based on the communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs corresponding to each of the M links to be established and the AP MLD-affiliated AP, and reports information regarding whether the M links are reachable and / or whether the M links are enabled, thereby reflecting the actual communication status of the links. In other words, the non-AP MLD can optimize the multi-link establishment process based on the communication reachability of the links to be established, thereby ensuring that the actual communication status of the links matches the link enablement status.

[0035] Specifically, after multi-link establishment is complete, non-AP MLD disables the enabled links among the N links where communication between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and the AP MLD-affiliated AP is unreachable. Alternatively, non-AP MLD deletes the links among the N links where communication between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and the AP MLD-affiliated AP is unreachable. This ensures that the actual link communication status matches the link enablement status.

[0036] Specifically, after multi-link establishment is complete, AP MLD disables any enabled link among the N links where communication between an AP MLD-affiliated AP and a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA is unreachable. Alternatively, AP MLD deletes any unreachable link among the N links where communication between an AP MLD-affiliated AP and a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA is unreachable. This ensures that the actual link communication status matches the link enablement status. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0037] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system architecture applied in an embodiment of the present application.

[0038] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a non-AP MLD according to the present application acquiring information of an AP MLD and each of its affiliated APs of interest.

[0039] FIG3 is a schematic flowchart of a multi-link communication method provided according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0040] FIG4 is a schematic flowchart of multi-link establishment provided according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0041] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a site control domain provided according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0042] FIG6 is a schematic flowchart of another multi-link establishment provided according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0043] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of another site control domain provided according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0044] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of another site control domain provided according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0045] FIG9 is a schematic diagram of a site information domain provided according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0046] FIG10 is a schematic diagram of a maximum idle time period information field during link enablement provided according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0047] FIG11 is a schematic diagram of an idle option subfield during link enablement according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0048] FIG12 is a schematic diagram of an existence bitmap sub-domain provided according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0049] FIG13 is a schematic diagram of a general information domain provided according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0050] FIG14 is a schematic flowchart of multi-link management provided according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0051] FIG15 is a schematic flowchart of another multi-link management provided according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0052] FIG16 is a schematic flowchart of another multi-link communication method provided according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0053] FIG17 is a schematic flowchart of yet another multi-link management method provided according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0054] FIG18 is a schematic flowchart of yet another multi-link management method provided according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0055] FIG19 is a schematic flowchart of another multi-link communication method provided according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0056] FIG20 is a schematic flowchart of another multi-link communication method provided according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0057] FIG21 is a schematic block diagram of a non-AP MLD according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0058] FIG22 is a schematic block diagram of an AP MLD provided according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0059] FIG23 is a schematic block diagram of another non-AP MLD provided according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0060] FIG24 is a schematic block diagram of another AP MLD provided according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0061] Figure 25 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0062] Figure 26 is a schematic block diagram of a device provided according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0063] Figure 27 is a schematic block diagram of a communication system provided according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0064] The following will describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of this application. Obviously, the embodiments described are part of the embodiments of this application, not all of the embodiments. With respect to the embodiments in this application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative efforts are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0065] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN), Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), or other communication systems.

[0066] Please refer to Figure 1, which shows a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 1, the wireless communication system may include: an access point (AP) and a station (STA).

[0067] In some scenarios, an AP can be referred to as an AP STA, meaning that in a sense, an AP is also a type of STA. In some scenarios, a STA can be referred to as a non-AP STA.

[0068] In some embodiments, STAs may include AP STAs and non-AP STAs. Communication in a communication system may be between an AP and a non-AP STA, between a non-AP STA and a non-AP STA, or between a STA and a peer STA. A peer STA may refer to a device that communicates with a STA. For example, a peer STA may be an AP or a non-AP STA.

[0069] An AP acts as a bridge between wired and wireless networks, connecting wireless network clients together and then connecting the wireless network to the Ethernet. An AP can be a terminal device (such as a mobile phone) or a network device (such as a router) equipped with a Wireless Fidelity (WIFI) chip.

[0070] It should be understood that the role of STA in the communication system is not absolute. For example, in some scenarios, when a mobile phone is connected to a router, the mobile phone is a non-AP STA. When the mobile phone serves as a hotspot for other mobile phones, the mobile phone plays the role of AP.

[0071] APs and non-AP STAs can be devices used in the Internet of Vehicles, IoT nodes and sensors in the Internet of Things (IoT), smart cameras, smart remote controls, smart water and electricity meters in smart homes, and sensors in smart cities.

[0072] In some embodiments, a non-AP STA may support 802.11be. A non-AP STA may also support various current and future 802.11 family wireless LAN standards, such as 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b, and 802.11a.

[0073] In some embodiments, the AP may be a device supporting the 802.11be standard. The AP may also be a device supporting various current and future 802.11 family WLAN standards, such as 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b, and 802.11a.

[0074] In the embodiment of the present application, the STA may be a mobile phone, tablet computer, computer, virtual reality (VR) device, augmented reality (AR) device, wireless device in industrial control, set-top box, wireless device in self-driving, in-vehicle communication equipment, wireless device in remote medical, wireless device in smart grid, wireless device in transportation safety, wireless device in smart city, wireless device in smart home, wireless communication chip, ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), SOC (System on Chip), etc. that supports WLAN / WIFI technology.

[0075] The frequency bands supported by WLAN technology may include but are not limited to: low frequency bands (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz) and high frequency bands (45 GHz, 60 GHz).

[0076] There are one or more links between the station and the access point. In some embodiments, the station and the access point support multi-band communication. For example, communication is performed simultaneously on the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz, 45 GHz, and 60 GHz frequency bands, or communication is performed simultaneously on different channels of the same frequency band (or different frequency bands), thereby improving the communication throughput and / or reliability between devices. Such a device is generally referred to as a multi-band device, or a multi-link device (MLD), sometimes also referred to as a multi-link entity or a multi-band entity. A multi-link device can be an access point device or a station device. If the multi-link device is an access point device, the multi-link device includes one or more APs; if the multi-link device is a station device, the multi-link device includes one or more non-AP STAs.

[0077] A multi-link device including one or more APs may be referred to as an AP, and a multi-link device including one or more non-AP STAs may be referred to as a non-AP.

[0078] In an embodiment of the present application, the AP may include multiple APs, the Non-AP may include multiple STAs, multiple links may be formed between the APs in the AP and the STAs in the Non-AP, and data communication may be performed between the APs in the AP and the corresponding STAs in the Non-AP through the corresponding links.

[0079] An AP is a device deployed in a wireless local area network to provide wireless communication capabilities for STAs. A station may include: User Equipment (UE), an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a mobile station, a remote station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a wireless communication device, a user agent, or a user device. Optionally, a station may also be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication capabilities, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, or a wearable device, but the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto.

[0080] Optionally, both the station and the access point support the IEEE 802.11 standard.

[0081] It should be understood that the terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably herein. The term "and / or" is simply a description of an association between related objects, indicating that three possible relationships exist. For example, "A and / or B" can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, or B exists alone. Furthermore, the character " / " generally indicates that the related objects are in an "or" relationship.

[0082] It should be understood that the "indication" mentioned in the embodiments of this application can be a direct indication, an indirect indication, or an indication of an association. For example, "A indicates B" can mean that A directly indicates B, for example, B can be obtained through A; it can also mean that A indirectly indicates B, for example, A indicates C, and B can be obtained through C; it can also mean that there is an association between A and B.

[0083] The terms used in the embodiments of this application are intended only to explain the specific embodiments of this application and are not intended to limit this application. The terms "first," "second," "third," and "fourth," etc. in the specification and claims of this application and the accompanying drawings are used to distinguish different objects, not to describe a specific order. In addition, the terms "including" and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions.

[0084] In the description of the embodiments of the present application, the term "corresponding" may indicate a direct or indirect correspondence between the two, or an association relationship between the two, or a relationship between indication and being indicated, configuration and being configured, etc.

[0085] In the embodiments of the present application, "pre-defined" or "pre-configured" may be implemented by pre-storing corresponding codes, tables, or other methods that can be used to indicate relevant information in a device (e.g., including STAs and network devices). The present application does not limit the specific implementation method. For example, pre-defined may refer to what is defined in the protocol.

[0086] In the embodiments of the present application, the “protocol” may refer to a standard protocol in the communication field, for example, it may include a WiFi protocol and related protocols used in future WiFi communication systems, and the present application does not limit this.

[0087] To facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the technical solutions of the present application are described in detail below through specific embodiments. The following related technologies can be combined with the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application as optional solutions, and they all fall within the scope of protection of the embodiments of the present application. The embodiments of the present application include at least part of the following contents.

[0088] Wireless devices support multi-band communications, for example, communicating simultaneously on the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz, 45 GHz, and 60 GHz bands, or communicating simultaneously on different channels within the same band (or different bands), improving the throughput and / or reliability of communications between devices. Such devices are typically referred to as multi-band devices, or multi-link devices (MLDs), and are sometimes also referred to as multi-link entities or multi-band entities. A multi-link device can be either an access point or a station. If the multi-link device is an access point, it includes one or more APs; if it is a station, it includes one or more non-AP STAs.

[0089] To facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the multi-link discovery and multi-link establishment related to the present application are described below.

[0090] As shown in Figure 2, before initiating multilink establishment with the AP MLD, the non-AP MLD uses one or a combination of the following methods to obtain information about the AP MLD and each of its affiliated APs of interest:

[0091] 1) Perform passive scanning or active scanning related to non-multilink operation on each subordinate station of non-AP MLD;

[0092] 2) One of the non-AP MLD's subordinate stations transmits a multi-link probe request on any link operated by the AP MLD to obtain complete information about the AP MLD and its subordinate APs.

[0093] Non-AP MLD and AP MLD establish multiple links by exchanging Association Request / Response frames on one of the requested links, as shown in Figure 2. Both Association Request / Response frames carry the Basic Multi-link Element (BME) for multi-link establishment. In the Association Request frame, non-AP MLD indicates the multiple links requested for establishment, as well as their capabilities and operating parameters. In the Association Response frame, AP MLD indicates the accepted and rejected links, as well as the capabilities and operating parameters of the requested links.

[0094] For successfully established multiple links, AP MLD assigns an Association Identifier (AID) to the non-AP MLD. All STAs affiliated with the non-AP MLD share the same AID (the AID assigned to the non-AP MLD during the multi-link establishment process). After the non-AP MLD and AP MLD complete multi-link establishment, they establish multiple links for multi-link operation and are associated with the AP MLD.

[0095] To facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the flow identifier to link mapping related to the present application is explained below.

[0096] The TID-to-link mapping mechanism allows AP MLD and non-AP MLD to determine how upstream and downstream Quality of Service (QoS) flows corresponding to traffic identifier (TID) values ​​are allocated to established links for transmission, either during or after multi-link setup. By default, all TIDs are mapped to all established links in both the upstream and downstream directions. TID-to-link mapping negotiation allows a TID to be mapped to a subset of established links. Furthermore, for a non-AP MLD, an established link is defined as "enabled" or "enabled" if at least one TID is mapped to an established link in either the upstream or downstream directions. If no TID is mapped to an established link in either the upstream or downstream directions, the established link is defined as "disabled" or "disabled." Therefore, in default mode, all established links are enabled.

[0097] For a non-AP MLD link, if MLD is enabled, then:

[0098] 1) Subject to the power state of the non-AP MLD station operating on the link, the link can be used to exchange individually addressed frames. Furthermore, according to TID-to-link mapping, only the medium access control (MAC) service data unit (MSDU) or aggregate medium access control (MAC) service data unit (A-MSDU) corresponding to the TID mapped to the link can be transmitted in the downlink / uplink between the non-AP MLD-affiliated station and the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the link.

[0099] 2) The MSDU or A-MSDU corresponding to the TID mapped to the link in the TID-to-link mapping follows the channel access based on the Hybrid Coordination Function (HCF) contention (such as Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA)) to perform downlink / uplink transmission between the non-AP MLD affiliated station corresponding to the link and the AP MLD affiliated AP.

[0100] 3) Unicast (individually addressed) management frames and control frames can be transmitted upstream or downstream between a non-AP MLD-affiliated station and its associated AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to any enabled link.

[0101] To facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the problems solved by the present application are described below.

[0102] Currently, when a non-AP MLD initiates multi-link establishment with an AP MLD, as long as one of the requested links corresponds to a station affiliated with the non-AP MLD and an AP affiliated with the AP MLD that can communicate within reach, the non-AP MLD not only obtains information about the AP affiliated with the other requested links but also completes the multi-link establishment, including the other requested links, through this reachable link, even if the station affiliated with the non-AP MLD and the AP affiliated with the AP MLD that correspond to the other requested links may not be within reach. After multi-link establishment is complete, by default, all flow identifiers (TIDs) are mapped to all established links in both the downstream and upstream directions, including those established by the non-AP MLD that may not be within reach. Therefore, established links in the non-AP MLD that are not within reach are also enabled. This causes the actual communication state (i.e., incommunicable state) of these established links to be inconsistent with the link management state (i.e., enabled state) corresponding to the flow identifier-to-link mapping for these links.

[0103] Moreover, when a non-AP MLD establishes a multi-link with an AP MLD, or a non-AP MLD is associated with an AP MLD, it is mainly based on the association at the multi-link device (MLD) level. For multi-link operation, the current multi-link management mechanism assumes that as long as a non-AP MLD-affiliated station corresponding to an established link can communicate with an AP MLD-affiliated AP within reach, then other non-AP MLD-affiliated stations corresponding to other established links can also communicate with other APs affiliated with the AP MLD within reach.

[0104] Therefore, at the current stage, when establishing multiple links or performing multiple link operations after multiple link establishment, there is a lack of consideration for the situation where "for established links, a subordinate station of a non-AP MLD corresponding to one link can communicate with a subordinate AP of an AP MLD within the reachable range, while a subordinate station of a non-AP MLD corresponding to one or more other links may not be able to communicate with the subordinate AP of the AP MLD (outside their reachable range)." In particular, when the operating frequency band of the Wi-Fi link is extended to the millimeter wave band in the future, the reachable range of the 2.4GHz / 5GHz operating frequency band is significantly different from the reachable range of the millimeter wave operating segment. During the process of establishing multiple links and performing multiple link operations, it is necessary to consider the communication reachability issues of different links caused by the differences in the communication reachable ranges of different links of the non-AP MLD.

[0105] Based on the above problem (i.e., the problem that the actual communication status of the link does not match the link enablement status during the multi-link establishment and multi-link management process), the present application proposes a multi-link communication solution, in which the non-AP MLD initiates multi-link establishment with the AP MLD based on the communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to each of the M links to be established and the AP MLD-affiliated AP; and / or, the non-AP MLD manages the N links based on the communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to each of the N established links and the AP MLD-affiliated AP; and / or, the AP MLD manages the N links based on the communication reachability between the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to each of the N established links and the non-AP STA affiliated with the non-AP MLD.

[0106] Specifically, during the multi-link establishment process, the non-AP MLD requests the establishment of links for the corresponding non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs within the reachable communication range of the AP MLD-affiliated AP, based on the communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs corresponding to each of the M links to be established and the AP MLD-affiliated AP. Alternatively, the non-AP MLD requests the establishment of M links, based on the communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs corresponding to each of the M links to be established and the AP MLD-affiliated AP, and reports information regarding whether the M links are reachable and / or whether the M links are enabled, thereby reflecting the actual communication status of the links. In other words, the non-AP MLD can optimize the multi-link establishment process based on the communication reachability of the links to be established, thereby ensuring that the actual communication status of the links matches the link enablement status.

[0107] Specifically, after multi-link establishment is complete, non-AP MLD disables the enabled links among the N links where communication between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and the AP MLD-affiliated AP is unreachable. Alternatively, non-AP MLD deletes the links among the N links where communication between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and the AP MLD-affiliated AP is unreachable. This ensures that the actual link communication status matches the link enablement status.

[0108] Specifically, after multi-link establishment is complete, AP MLD disables any enabled link among the N links where communication between an AP MLD-affiliated AP and a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA is unreachable. Alternatively, AP MLD deletes any unreachable link among the N links where communication between an AP MLD-affiliated AP and a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA is unreachable. This ensures that the actual link communication status matches the link enablement status.

[0109] The technical solution of this application is described in detail below through specific embodiments.

[0110] FIG3 is a schematic flowchart of a multi-link communication method 200 according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG3 , the multi-link communication method 200 may include at least part of the following contents:

[0111] S210 , the non-AP MLD initiates multi-link establishment with the AP MLD based on the communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs and the AP MLD-affiliated APs corresponding to the M links to be established, where M is a positive integer.

[0112] In this embodiment of the present application, the non-AP MLD initiates multi-link establishment with the AP MLD based on the communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs and the AP MLD-affiliated APs corresponding to each of the M links to be established. In other words, the non-AP MLD can optimize the multi-link establishment process based on the communication reachability of the proposed links, thereby ensuring that the actual communication status of the links matches the link-enabled status.

[0113] In the embodiments of the present application, a “field” may also be referred to as a “field” or a “subfield.” A field may occupy one or more bytes (byte / octet), or a field may occupy one or more bits (bit).

[0114] The embodiments of the present application are mainly directed to the establishment and management of multiple links between an AP MLD and a non-AP MLD. However, the embodiments of the present application can also be extended to the establishment and management of multiple links between a non-AP MLD and another non-AP MLD. That is, the AP MLD in the embodiments of the present application is replaced with another non-AP MLD.

[0115] In some embodiments, the non-AP MLD may obtain information about the AP MLD and each of its affiliated APs of interest before initiating multi-link establishment with the AP MLD. That is, the non-AP MLD may obtain information about the AP MLD and information about the AP MLD's affiliated APs corresponding to each of the M links before initiating multi-link establishment with the AP MLD.

[0116] In some embodiments, the M links are part or all of the links to be established by the non-AP MLD.

[0117] In some embodiments, when the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link receives a frame (e.g., a beacon frame or other frame) sent by the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the i-th proposed link within a preset time, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link and the AP MLD-affiliated AP are reachable; and / or

[0118] If the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link receives a frame (e.g., a beacon frame or other frame) sent by another AP in the same Basic Service Set (BSS) (co-located BSS) as the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the i-th proposed link within a preset time, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link and the AP MLD-affiliated AP are reachable; and / or,

[0119] When the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link receives a frame (e.g., a beacon frame or other frame) sent by another AP that is in the same multiple BSSID set as the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the i-th proposed link within a preset time, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link and the AP MLD-affiliated AP are reachable.

[0120] The i-th link to be built is the i-th link among the M links, i is a positive integer, and 1≤i≤M.

[0121] In some embodiments, the preset time is configured or indicated by the AP MLD, or the preset time is determined by negotiation between the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD, or the preset time is agreed upon by a protocol.

[0122] In some embodiments, the above S210 may specifically include:

[0123] The non-AP MLD sends a first association request frame through a non-AP STA attached to it;

[0124] The first association request frame is used to request to establish a link of the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the M links within a reachable communication range of the AP MLD-affiliated AP.

[0125] That is, for non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs whose AP MLD-affiliated APs corresponding to the proposed links are within the reachable communication range, corresponding link establishment is performed. That is, the links requested to be established carried in the association request frame during multi-link establishment include these links with confirmed communication reachability. For non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs whose AP MLD-affiliated APs corresponding to the proposed links are not within the reachable communication range, corresponding link establishment is not performed. That is, the links requested to be established carried in the association request frame during multi-link establishment do not include these links with confirmed communication unreachability.

[0126] It should be noted that the non-AP MLD may also send the first association request frame through its multiple affiliated non-AP STAs, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0127] Specifically, during the multi-link establishment process, the non-AP MLD requests the establishment of links within the reachable communication range of the AP MLD-affiliated AP, based on the communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs corresponding to each of the M proposed links and the AP MLD-affiliated AP. In other words, the links requested by the non-AP MLD reflect the actual communication status of the links. In other words, the non-AP MLD optimizes the multi-link establishment process based on the communication reachability of the proposed links, ensuring that the actual communication status of the links matches the link enablement status.

[0128] For example, as shown in Figure 4, STA1 of the non-AP MLD obtains information about the AP MLD and its subordinate APs through beacon frames and / or multi-link probe response (ML Probe Response) frames. STA1 then performs reachability confirmation on the links to be established (Link 1, Link 2, and Link 3) (the reachability confirmation method is described above). It confirms that Link 1 and Link 2 are reachable, but Link 3 is unreachable. Therefore, when initiating an association request for multi-link establishment, the non-AP MLD only requests the establishment of Link 1 and Link 2, not Link 3. After the non-AP MLD and AP MLD complete the association request / response exchange, Link 1 and Link 2 are established.

[0129] In some embodiments, the above S210 may specifically include:

[0130] The non-AP MLD sends a second association request frame through a non-AP STA attached to it;

[0131] The second association request frame is used to request establishment of the M links, and the second association request frame includes relevant information on whether the M links are reachable for communication, and / or the second association request frame includes relevant information on whether the M links are enabled.

[0132] That is, a corresponding link is established for each subordinate station that requests link establishment in the non-AP MLD. However, when initiating multi-link establishment, the non-AP MLD indicates the reachability and / or enablement of the requested link.

[0133] It should be noted that the non-AP MLD may also send the second association request frame through its multiple affiliated non-AP STAs, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0134] Specifically, during the multi-link establishment process, the non-AP MLD sends a second association request frame to request the establishment of M links based on the communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs and the AP MLD-affiliated APs corresponding to each of the M links to be established. The second association request frame carries information regarding whether the M links are reachable and / or whether the M links are enabled. This reflects the actual communication status of the links. In other words, the non-AP MLD can optimize the multi-link establishment process based on the communication reachability of the links to be established, thereby ensuring that the actual communication status of the links matches the link enablement status.

[0135] In some embodiments, for a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA within a reachable communication range of the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the link to be established, the corresponding link to be established is indicated as reachable and / or enabled.

[0136] In some embodiments, for a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA whose AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the link to be established is not within a reachable communication range, the corresponding link to be established is indicated as unreachable and / or disabled.

[0137] For example, for a non-AP MLD subordinate station whose AP MLD subordinate AP corresponding to the proposed link is within the reachable communication range, the corresponding reachability indication of the proposed link is "reachable" and / or the corresponding link indication is "enabled"; for a non-AP MLD subordinate station whose AP MLD subordinate AP corresponding to the proposed link is not within the reachable communication range, the corresponding reachability indication of the proposed link is "unreachable" and / or the corresponding link indication is "disabled".

[0138] In some embodiments, the second association request frame includes M first indication fields, and / or the second association request frame includes a second indication field; wherein the M first indication fields respectively correspond to the M links, and the M first indication fields are respectively used to indicate whether the corresponding links are reachable for communication; wherein the second indication field is used to indicate whether each link in the M links is enabled.

[0139] In some embodiments, the first indication field is a reachability field, and / or the second indication field is a TID-To-Link Mapping element.

[0140] In some embodiments, the second association request frame includes a Basic Multi-Link element;

[0141] Among them, the site control field (STA Control field) in the per-STA Profile subelement (Per-STA Profile subelement) contained in the link information field (Link Info field) of the basic multi-link element (Basic Multi-Link element) includes a link identification (link ID) field and the first indication field (i.e., reachability field) corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field.

[0142] In some embodiments, the STA Control field in the Per-STA Profile subelement included in the Link Info field of the Basic Multi-Link element may be as shown in FIG5 . The STA Control field may include a reachability field. In addition, the STA Control field may also include the following information fields: a Complete Profile field, a STA MAC Address Present field, a Beacon Interval Present field, a Timing Synchronization Function (TSF) Offset Present field, a Delivery Traffic Indication Message (DTIM) Information Present field, a Non-Simultaneous Transmit and Receive (NSTR) Link Pair Present field, and a BSS Parameters Change Count Present field.

[0143] Specifically, as shown in FIG5 , the reachability field occupies 1 bit. For example, when the reachability field takes a value of 0, it indicates that the corresponding link communication is reachable, that is, the reported station is within the reachable communication range of the peer station (peer sta); when the reachability field takes a value of 1, it indicates that the corresponding link communication is unreachable, that is, the reported station is outside the reachable communication range of the peer station (peer sta). For another example, when the reachability field takes a value of 1, it indicates that the corresponding link communication is reachable, that is, the reported station is within the reachable communication range of the peer station (peer sta); when the reachability field takes a value of 0, it indicates that the corresponding link communication is unreachable, that is, the reported station is outside the reachable communication range of the peer station (peer sta).

[0144] In some embodiments, for a proposed link (set as Link-i), when it is determined that its corresponding non-AP MLD affiliated station (set as STA i) is within the reachable communication range of the AP MLD affiliated AP (set as AP i) corresponding to the link, then in the flow identifier to link mapping element, it is indicated that at least one TID is mapped to the link in the uplink or downlink, that is, the link is "enabled".

[0145] In some embodiments, for a proposed link (set as Link-j), when it is determined that its corresponding non-AP MLD affiliated station (set as STA j) is not within the reachable communication range of the AP MLD affiliated AP (set as AP j) corresponding to the link, then the flow identifier to link mapping element indicates that "no TID is mapped to the link in the uplink or downlink", that is, the link is "disabled".

[0146] For example, as shown in Figure 6, STA1 of the non-AP MLD obtains information about the AP MLD and its subordinate APs through Beacon frames and / or Multilink Probe Response frames. It then performs reachability checks on the links to be established (Link 1, Link 2, and Link 3) (as described above), confirming that Link 1 and Link 2 are reachable, but Link 3 is unreachable. When the non-AP MLD initiates an association request for multilink establishment, it establishes the corresponding link (Link 1, Link 2, Link 3) for each subordinate station requesting link establishment. However, in the association request, the non-AP MLD indicates "reachable" and / or "enabled" for Link 1 and Link 2, while indicating "unreachable" and / or "disabled" for Link 3. After the association request / response exchange is completed between the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD, Link 1, Link 2, and Link 3 are established.

[0147] It should be noted that FIG6 exemplarily shows that the association request and the association response only indicate whether it is enabled, but may also indicate whether it is reachable, or indicate both whether it is enabled and whether it is reachable. This embodiment of the present application is not limited to this.

[0148] In some embodiments, the non-AP MLD manages the N established links based on the communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs and the AP MLD-affiliated APs corresponding to the respective N links, where N is a positive integer and N≤M.

[0149] In this embodiment of the present application, non-AP MLD manages N established links based on the communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs and the AP MLD-affiliated APs corresponding to each of the N established links. In other words, non-AP MLD optimizes the multi-link management process based on the communication reachability of the established links, thereby ensuring that the actual communication status of the links matches the link enablement status.

[0150] In some embodiments, the N links are part or all of the links established by the non-AP MLD.

[0151] In some embodiments, the N links may include links requested to be established by other association request frames in addition to the first association request frame and the second association request frame mentioned above, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0152] In some embodiments, the non-AP MLD manages the N established links based on communication reachability between a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and an AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to each of the N established links, including:

[0153] The non-AP MLD sets the enabled link among the N links, corresponding to the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and the AP MLD-affiliated AP, to a disabled state, or the non-AP MLD deletes the link among the N links, corresponding to the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and the AP MLD-affiliated AP, that is unreachable for communication.

[0154] In some embodiments, after multi-link establishment is completed, for an established link (set as Link-i), if communication between a non-AP MLD-affiliated station (set as STAi) corresponding to Link-i and an AP MLD-affiliated station (set as APi) corresponding to Link-i is unreachable, the non-AP MLD may take one of the following actions:

[0155] 1) The non-AP MLD initiates a TID-to-Link Mapping request to the AP MLD, and negotiates with the AP MLD to set Link-i to the "Disabled" state. Alternatively, the non-AP MLD initiates a TID-to-Link Mapping notification to the AP MLD, and sets Link-i to the "Disabled" state.

[0156] 2) The non-AP MLD initiates a link reconfiguration request (Link Reconfiguration Request) to the AP MLD, negotiating with the AP MLD to delete Link-i; or, the non-AP MLD initiates a link reconfiguration notification to the AP MLD to delete Link-i.

[0157] In some embodiments, the non-AP MLD handles the unreachable link between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and the AP MLD-affiliated AP in the N links in a manner determined by negotiation between the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD.

[0158] In some embodiments, when the non-AP MLD sets the enabled link among the N links, in which communication between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and the AP MLD-affiliated AP is unreachable, to a disabled state, the link among the N links set to the disabled state refers to a link without a flow identifier (TID) mapping.

[0159] For example, if at least one TID is mapped to an established link in the uplink or downlink, the established link is defined as "enabled" or "enabled state"; if no TID is mapped to an established link in the uplink or downlink, the established link is defined as "disabled" or "disabled state".

[0160] In some embodiments, when the non-AP MLD sets an enabled link among the N links whose corresponding communication between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and the AP MLD-affiliated AP is unreachable to a disabled state, for a link among the N links that is set to the disabled state due to unreachable communication between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and the AP MLD-affiliated AP, the non-AP MLD sets the link to the enabled state when communication between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and the AP MLD-affiliated AP is reachable.

[0161] For example, after multi-link establishment is completed, for an established link (set as Link-i), if communication between the non-AP MLD-affiliated station (set as STAi) corresponding to Link-i and the AP MLD-affiliated station (set as APi) corresponding to Link-i becomes unreachable, the non-AP MLD will set the enabled Link-i to the disabled state. After a period of time, due to STAi moving or improved link quality, communication between STAi and APi may become reachable. After communication between STAi and APi becomes reachable, the non-AP MLD will set Link-i to the enabled state.

[0162] In some embodiments, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the jth link is j When at least one frame sent by the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the j-th link is received within 10 seconds, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the j-th link is reachable to the AP MLD-affiliated AP; or

[0163] The non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the jth link is connected for a period of time T. all If at least one frame sent by the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the j-th link is received within 10 seconds, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the j-th link can communicate with the AP MLD-affiliated AP;

[0164] The jth link is the jth link among all established links, and the duration T j is the maximum idle time during the link-enabled period corresponding to the j-th link, and the duration T all is the maximum idle time during the link-enabling period corresponding to all established links, and j is a positive integer.

[0165] That is, the duration T j It can be the idle timeout limit (idle timeout limit) during the link enable period corresponding to the j-th link, with a duration of T all The idle timeout limit during the link enable period for all established links.

[0166] In some embodiments, the time duration T j is the periodic duration. That is, the duration T j It may be the maximum idle time period during the link enable period corresponding to the j-th link.

[0167] In some embodiments, the time duration Tj Determined or indicated for the non-AP MLD.

[0168] In some embodiments, the time duration T all is the periodic duration. That is, the duration T all It may be the maximum idle time period during which links corresponding to all established links are enabled.

[0169] In some embodiments, the time duration T all Determined or indicated for the non-AP MLD.

[0170] For example, after completing the multi-link establishment, for the established link (set as Link-i), if the non-AP MLD subordinate station (set as STAi) corresponding to Link-i does not receive any frame sent by the AP MLD subordinate station (set as APi) corresponding to Link-i within the corresponding "maximum idle time period during link enablement (sent by non-AP MLD)" (in the case where no frame type requirement is required) or does not receive a frame of a specified type sent by APi (in the case where a frame type requirement is required), the communication between STAi corresponding to Link-i and APi is unreachable.

[0171] In some embodiments, the type of the at least one frame is a frame type designated to indicate a link enabled or active state.

[0172] For example, the frame type specified for indicating the link enable or active state may be a protected frame, that is, only the protected frame indicates the enable or active state.

[0173] For another specific example, the frame type designated for indicating the link enable or active state may be a protected frame and an unprotected frame, that is, both the protected frame and the unprotected frame may indicate the enable or active state.

[0174] In some embodiments, the at least one frame includes but is not limited to at least one of the following: a data frame corresponding to the TID mapped to the j-th link, a Power Saving Poll (PS-Poll) frame, and a management frame.

[0175] In some embodiments, based on the time period T jWhen determining communication reachability between a non-AP STA attached to a non-AP MLD corresponding to the j-th link and an AP attached to an AP MLD, an association request frame for multi-link establishment sent by the non-AP MLD through one of its attached non-AP STAs includes S third indication fields, where the S third indication fields are respectively used to indicate maximum idle time information during link enablement corresponding to the S links, where S is a positive integer.

[0176] That is, the third indication field included in the association request frame can be used to indicate the duration T to the AP MLD. j .

[0177] Optionally, the association request frame may be the first association request frame or the second association request frame.

[0178] It should be noted that the number of third indication fields contained in the association request frame may be different from the number of links requested to be established by the association request frame, that is, the non-AP MLD may indicate through the association request frame the maximum idle time information during the link enabling period corresponding to some or all of the links requested to be established.

[0179] In some embodiments, the association request frame for multilink establishment includes a basic multilink element;

[0180] Among them, the site control field in the per-site configuration sub-element contained in the link information field of the basic multi-link element includes a link identification field and a first existence field, and the first existence field is used to indicate whether the site information field in the per-site configuration sub-element includes the third indication field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field.

[0181] In some embodiments, when the value of the first existence field is used to indicate that the site information field in the per-site configuration sub-element includes the third indication field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field, the site information field in the per-site configuration sub-element includes the third indication field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field.

[0182] In some embodiments, the third indication field is a maximum idle time information field during link enablement, and the first existence field is a maximum idle time information existence field during link enablement.

[0183] In some embodiments, during the time period T j When the duration is periodic, that is, the duration T jIn the case of the maximum idle time period during the link enabling period corresponding to the j-th link, the third indication field is the maximum idle time period information field during the link enabling period or the maximum idle time period information subfield during the link enabling period, and the first existence field is the maximum idle time period information existence field during the link enabling period or the maximum idle time period information existence subfield during the link enabling period.

[0184] In some embodiments, the STA Control field in the Per-STA Profile subelement included in the Link Info field of the Basic Multi-Link element may be as shown in FIG7 , where the STA Control field includes a max idle period Info for link enabled Present field. Optionally, based on FIG7 , the STA Control field may further include the reachability field described above, as shown in FIG8 . In addition, as shown in Figures 7 and 8, the site control domain may also include the following information domains: a complete configuration domain (Complete Profile), a STA medium access control (MAC) address present (STA MAC Address Present) domain, a beacon interval present (Beacon Interval Present) domain, a timing synchronization function (TSF) offset present (TSF Offset Present) domain, a delivery traffic indication message (DTIM) information present (DTIM Info Present) domain, a non-simultaneous transmit and receive (NSTR Link Pair Present) domain, and a BSS parameter change count present (BSS Parameters Change Count Present) domain.

[0185] Specifically, as shown in Figures 7 and 8, the maximum idle time period information for link enabled period exists field occupies 1 bit. For example, when the maximum idle time period information for link enabled period exists field is 0, it indicates that the site information field (STA Info field) in the per-STA profile subelement (Per-STA Profile subelement) includes the maximum idle time period information for link enabled period (max idle period Info for link enabled) field corresponding to the link identified by the link ID field (Link ID field); when the maximum idle time period information for link enabled period exists field is 1, it indicates that the site information field (STA Info field) in the per-STA profile subelement (Per-STA Profile subelement) does not include the maximum idle time period information for link enabled period (max idle period Info for link enabled) field corresponding to the link identified by the link ID field (Link ID field). For another example, when the maximum idle time period information for link enabled period exists field is 1, it indicates that the site information field (STA Info field) in each site configuration subelement (Per-STA Profile subelement) includes the maximum idle time period information for link enabled period (max idle period Info for link enabled) field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field (Link ID field); when the maximum idle time period information for link enabled period exists field is 0, it indicates that the site information field (STA Info field) in each site configuration subelement (Per-STA Profile subelement) does not include the maximum idle time period information for link enabled period (max idle period Info for link enabled) field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field (Link ID field).

[0186] In some embodiments, the STA Info field in the Per-STA Profile subelement included in the Link Info field of the Basic Multi-Link element may be as shown in FIG9 , where the STA Info field includes a max idle period Info for link enabled field. In addition, as shown in FIG9 , the STA Info field may further include at least one of the following: a STA Info Length field, a STA MAC Address field, a Beacon Interval field, a TSF Offset field, a DTIM Info field, an NSTR Indication Bitmap field, and a BSS Parameters Change Count field.

[0187] In some embodiments, the third indication field includes a first subfield and a second subfield, wherein the first subfield is used to indicate the maximum idle time during the link enablement period of the corresponding link, and the second subfield includes a first field and a second field, the first field is used to indicate type information of the frame in the enabled or active state, and the second field is used to indicate the behavior of the non-AP MLD when communication between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the corresponding enabled link and the AP MLD-affiliated AP is unreachable.

[0188] In some embodiments, the first subfield is the maximum idle time subfield during link enablement, the second subfield is the idle option subfield during link enablement, the first field is the protected maintenance enablement required field, and the second field is the expected behavior field exceeding the maximum space time.

[0189] In some embodiments, during the time period T j When the duration is periodic, that is, the duration T jIn the case of the maximum idle time period during the link enabling period corresponding to the j-th link, the first subfield is the maximum idle time period during the link enabling period (max idle period for link enabled) subfield, the second subfield is the idle option subfield during the link enabling period, the first field is the protected keep-enabled required (Protected Keep-enabled Required) field, and the second field is the expected behavior field for exceeding the maximum space time.

[0190] In some embodiments, the third indication field is a maximum idle period Info for link enabled field. In this case, the maximum idle period Info for link enabled field may be as shown in FIG10 , which may include a maximum idle period for link enabled subfield and an idle option subfield for link enabled. Alternatively, the idle option subfield for link enabled may be as shown in FIG11 , which may include a protected keep-enabled required field and an expected behavior for exceeding the maximum space time field.

[0191] Specifically, as shown in Figure 10, the Max Idle Period for Link Enabled subfield indicates the idle timeout limit during link enablement, in units of 1000 TUs; the value "0" is reserved. For a non-AP STA, the Max Idle Period for Link Enabled subfield is sent by the non-AP MLD to which the non-AP STA is attached. Within the maximum idle period during link enablement indicated by the Max Idle Period for Link Enabled subfield, the non-AP STA must receive at least one frame (e.g., a data frame, PS-Poll frame, or management frame corresponding to the TID mapped to the link, and meeting the frame requirements indicated by the Protected Maintain Enablement Required subfield) from the AP associated with the AP MLD to consider the link enabled. For an AP, the Maximum Idle Time Period Information subfield during Link Enablement is sent by the AP MLD to which the AP is attached. The AP must receive at least one frame (such as a data frame, PS-Poll frame, or management frame corresponding to the TID mapped to the link, and meeting the frame requirements indicated by the Protected Maintain Enablement Required subfield) from the non-AP STA attached to its associated non-AP MLD within the maximum idle period during the link enablement period indicated by the Maximum Idle Time Period During Link Enablement subfield before the link is considered to be maintained in the enabled state.

[0192] Specifically, as shown in Figure 11, the Protected Keep-enabled Required field occupies 1 bit. For example, if the Protected Keep-enabled Required field is 1, it indicates that only protected frames indicate an enabled or active state, and if the Protected Keep-enabled Required field is 0, it indicates that both protected frames and unprotected frames can indicate an enabled or active state. For another example, if the Protected Keep-enabled Required field is 0, it indicates that only protected frames indicate an enabled or active state, and if the Protected Keep-enabled Required field is 1, it indicates that both protected frames and unprotected frames can indicate an enabled or active state.

[0193] For example, for a non-AP STA, the Maximum Idle Time Period Information field during link-enablement is sent by the non-AP MLD to which the non-AP STA is attached, and the Protected Keep-enabled Required field indicates the frame requirement of the associated AP to send to the non-AP STA. For an AP, the Maximum Idle Time Period Information field during link-enablement is sent by the AP MLD to which the AP is attached, and the Protected Keep-enabled Required field indicates the frame requirement of the associated non-AP STA to send to the AP.

[0194] Specifically, as shown in Figure 11, the expected behavior when exceeding the maximum space time field occupies 1 bit. For example, if the expected behavior when exceeding the maximum space time field is 0, it means that when the duration of not receiving any frame sent by the peer station on the corresponding link (which meets the frame requirements indicated by the protected maintenance enablement required subfield) is equal to or exceeds the time indicated by the "maximum idle time period during link enablement" subfield, the link is expected to be set to "disabled"; if the expected behavior when exceeding the maximum space time field is 1, it means that when the duration of not receiving any frame sent by the peer station on the corresponding link (which meets the frame requirements indicated by the protected maintenance enablement required subfield) is equal to or exceeds the time indicated by the "maximum idle time period during link enablement" subfield, the link is expected to be deleted. For another example, if the expected behavior field exceeds the maximum space time and is set to 1, it means that when the duration of not receiving any frame sent by the peer site on the corresponding link (which meets the frame requirements indicated by the protected maintenance enable requirement subfield) is equal to or exceeds the time indicated by the "maximum idle time period during link enablement" subfield, the link is expected to be set to "disabled"; if the expected behavior field exceeds the maximum space time and is set to 0, it means that when the duration of not receiving any frame sent by the peer site on the corresponding link (which meets the frame requirements indicated by the protected maintenance enable requirement subfield) is equal to or exceeds the time indicated by the "maximum idle time period during link enablement" subfield, the link is expected to be deleted.

[0195] For example, for a non-AP STA, the Expected Behavior for Exceeding Maximum Spatial Time field indicates the expected behavior to be performed if the non-AP MLD fails to receive any frames (that meet the frame requirements indicated by the Protected Maintenance Enablement Required subfield) sent by the peer station of the link (i.e., the corresponding AP) on the corresponding link to which the Maximum Idle Time Period Information Subfield during Link Enablement applies, for a duration equal to or exceeding the time indicated by the "Maximum Idle Time Period During Link Enablement" subfield. For an AP, the Expected Behavior for Exceeding Maximum Spatial Time field indicates the expected behavior to be performed if the AP MLD fails to receive any frames (that meet the frame requirements indicated by the Protected Maintenance Enablement Required subfield) sent by the peer station of the link (i.e., the corresponding non-AP STA) on the corresponding link to which the Maximum Idle Time Period Information Subfield during Link Enablement applies, for a duration equal to or exceeding the time indicated by the "Maximum Idle Time Period During Link Enablement" subfield.

[0196] In some embodiments, based on the time period T all When determining communication reachability between a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the j-th link and an AP MLD-affiliated AP, an association request frame for multi-link establishment sent by the non-AP MLD through one of its affiliated non-AP STAs includes a fourth indication field, where the fourth indication field is used to indicate maximum idle time information during link enablement corresponding to all established links.

[0197] That is, the fourth indication field included in the association request frame can be used to indicate the duration T to the AP MLD. all .

[0198] Optionally, the association request frame may be the first association request frame or the second association request frame.

[0199] In some embodiments, the association request frame for multilink establishment includes a basic multilink element;

[0200] The presence bitmap subfield in the multilink control field of the basic multilink element includes a second presence field, and the second presence field is used to indicate whether the general information field in the multilink control field includes the fourth indication field.

[0201] In some embodiments, when the value of the second presence field is used to indicate that the general information field in the multi-link control field includes the fourth indication field, the general information field in the multi-link control field includes the fourth indication field.

[0202] In some embodiments, the fourth indication field is a maximum idle time information field during link enablement, and the second existence field is a maximum idle time information existence field during link enablement.

[0203] In some embodiments, during the time period T j When the duration is periodic, that is, the duration T all In the case of the maximum idle time period during the link enabling period corresponding to all established links, the fourth indication field is the maximum idle time period information field during the link enabling period or the maximum idle time period information subfield during the link enabling period, and the second existence field is the maximum idle time period information existence field during the link enabling period or the maximum idle time period information existence subfield during the link enabling period.

[0204] In some embodiments, the presence bitmap subfield of the Multi-Link Control field of the Basic Multi-Link element may be as shown in FIG12 , where the presence bitmap subfield includes a max idle period Info for link enabled Present field. In addition, as shown in FIG12 , the presence bitmap subfield may further include the following information fields: a Link ID Info Present field, a BSS Parameters Change Count Present field, a Medium Synchronization Delay Information Present field, an Enhanced Multi-Link (EML) Capabilities Present field, an MLD Capabilities and Operations Present field, and an AP MLD Identifier Present field.

[0205] In some embodiments, the Common Info field in the Multi-Link Control field of the Basic Multi-Link element may be as shown in FIG13 , where the Common Info field includes a Max Idle Period Info for Link Enabled field. As shown in FIG13 , the Common Info field may also include at least one of the following: a Common Info Length field, an MLD MAC Address field, a Link ID Info field, a BSS Parameters Change Count field, a Medium Synchronization Delay Information field, an EML Capabilities field, an MLD Capabilities and Operations field, and an AP MLD Identifier field.

[0206] In some embodiments, the fourth indication field includes a third subfield and a fourth subfield, wherein the third subfield is used to indicate the maximum idle time during the link enablement period corresponding to all links indicated by the basic multi-link element, and the fourth subfield includes a third field and a fourth field, the third field is used to indicate type information of the frame in the enabled or active state, and the fourth field is used to indicate the behavior of the non-AP MLD when communication between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to all links indicated by the basic multi-link element and the AP MLD-affiliated AP is unreachable.

[0207] In some embodiments, the third subfield is the maximum idle time subfield during link enablement, the fourth subfield is the idle option subfield during link enablement, the third field is the protected maintenance enablement requirement field, and the fourth field is the expected behavior field exceeding the maximum space time.

[0208] In some embodiments, during the time period T j When the duration is periodic, that is, the duration T allIn the case of the maximum idle time period during the link enabling period corresponding to all established links, the third subfield is the maximum idle time period during the link enabling period (max idle period for link enabled) subfield, the fourth subfield is the idle option subfield during the link enabling period, the third field is the Protected Keep-enabled Required field, and the fourth field is the expected behavior field for exceeding the maximum space time.

[0209] It should be noted that the format of the third sub-domain can be the same as the format of the above-mentioned first sub-domain, the format of the fourth sub-domain can be the same as the format of the above-mentioned second sub-domain, the format of the third field can be the same as the format of the above-mentioned first field, and the format of the fourth field can be the same as the format of the above-mentioned second field, which will not be repeated here.

[0210] In some embodiments, during multi-link establishment, if a subordinate non-AP STA of a non-AP MLD includes a maximum idle time period information subfield during link enabling in the per-station configuration sub-element of a multi-link element carried in an association request frame, then the value of each subfield in the maximum idle time period information subfield during link enabling is applied to the link corresponding to the per-station configuration sub-element (i.e., identified by the carried Link ID); if a subordinate non-AP STA of a non-AP MLD includes a maximum idle time period information subfield during link enabling in the general information field of a multi-link element carried in an association request frame, then the value of each subfield in the maximum idle time period information subfield during link enabling is applied to all links indicated by the multi-link element or the link where the sending multi-link element is located. Among them, for the link to which the maximum idle time period information subfield of the link enablement period sent by the non-AP MLD applies, the non-AP STA corresponding to the link should receive at least one frame (such as a data frame, PS-Poll frame, or management frame corresponding to the TID mapped to the link, and at the same time, meeting the frame requirements indicated by the protected maintenance enablement requirement subfield (if any) indicated by the subfield) sent by the subordinate AP corresponding to the AP MLD to which it is associated (i.e., the AP corresponding to the link) within the maximum idle period of the link enablement period indicated by the subfield, in order to consider that the link is maintained in the enabled state.

[0211] In some embodiments, before initiating multi-link establishment with the AP MLD, the non-AP MLD obtains information about the AP MLD and each of its subordinate APs of interest. When initiating multi-link establishment, the non-AP MLD carries "maximum idle time period information during link enablement" in the basic multi-link element in the association request frame for requesting link establishment. This information indicates that for the corresponding link, within the maximum idle time period during link enablement, the corresponding non-AP STA must receive at least one frame (e.g., a data frame, a PS-Poll frame, or a management frame corresponding to the TID mapped to the link, and meeting the frame requirements indicated by the protected maintenance enablement required subfield) sent by the subordinate AP of the AP MLD to which it is associated before the link is considered to be maintained in an enabled state. Optionally, the basic multi-link element of the AP MLD in the association response frame also carries the "maximum idle time period information during link enablement" for requesting link establishment, which is used to indicate that the non-AP station should send at least one frame to the AP to which it is associated within the maximum idle time period during the link enablement period indicated by this subfield to maintain the link enablement state (such as a data frame, PS-Poll frame, or management frame corresponding to the TID mapped to the link, and at the same time, meeting the frame requirements indicated by the protected maintenance enablement requirement subfield) to maintain the link enablement state. Only then can the link be considered to be maintained in the enabled state.

[0212] Optionally, after completing multi-link establishment, for the non-AP MLD, for an enabled link (i.e., Enabled Link, set as Link-i), if the non-AP MLD's subordinate station (set as STAi) corresponding to Link-i does not receive any frames sent by the AP MLD's subordinate station (set as APi) corresponding to Link-i (in the case where no frame type requirement is required) or does not receive frames of a specified type sent by APi (in the case where a frame type requirement is required) within the corresponding "maximum idle time period during link enablement (sent by the non-AP MLD)", the non-AP MLD initiates a TID-to-Link Mapping request to the AP MLD, negotiating with the AP MLD to set Link-i to the "Disabled" state; or the non-AP MLD initiates a TID-to-Link Mapping notification to the AP MLD, setting Link-i to the "Disabled" state. Specifically, as shown in FIG14 , before initiating multi-link establishment with the AP MLD, the non-AP MLD obtains information about the AP MLD and each of its subordinate APs of interest. When the non-AP MLD initiates multi-link establishment, the Basic Multi-Link Element in the Association Request frame carries the "maximum idle time period during link enablement" for the requested link, i.e., the maximum idle time period T1 for link 3 in Figure 14. At the same time, the Basic Multi-Link Element in the Association Response frame by the AP MLD also carries the "maximum idle time period during link enablement" for the requested link (optional), i.e., the maximum idle time period T2 for link 3 in Figure 14. After multi-link establishment is complete, for enabled link Link3, when it enters the enabled state, if STA3 does not receive any frames from AP3 within the corresponding "maximum idle time period during link enablement" (i.e., T1 in Figure 14) (no frame type requirement) or does not receive frames of the specified type from AP3 within T1 (with frame type requirement), the non-AP MLD initiates a TID-to-Link Mapping request over Link1 and negotiates with the non-AP MLD to set Link3 to the "Disabled" state.

[0213] Optionally, after multi-link establishment is complete, for the non-AP MLD, for an enabled link (i.e., Enabled Link, set as Link-i), if the non-AP MLD's affiliated station (set as STAi) corresponding to Link-i does not receive any frames sent by the AP MLD's affiliated station (set as APi) corresponding to Link-i (if no frame type requirement is specified) or does not receive frames of a specified type sent by APi (if a frame type requirement is specified), the non-AP MLD initiates a Link Reconfiguration Request to the AP MLD to negotiate with the AP MLD to delete Link-i. Alternatively, the non-AP MLD initiates a Link Reconfiguration Notification to the AP MLD to delete Link-i. If the non-AP MLD has other enabled links, the non-AP MLD remains associated with the AP MLD. Specifically, as shown in Figure 15, before initiating multi-link establishment with the AP MLD, the non-AP MLD obtains information about the AP MLD and each of its affiliated APs of interest. When the non-AP MLD initiates multi-link establishment, the basic multi-link element in the association request frame carries the "maximum idle time period during link enablement" for the requested link, which is the maximum idle time period T1 for link 3 in Figure 15. At the same time, the basic multi-link element in the association response frame of the AP MLD also carries the "maximum idle time period during link enablement" for the requested link (optional), which is the maximum idle time period T2 for link 3 in Figure 15. After multi-link establishment is complete, for enabled link Link3, when it enters the enabled state, if STA3 does not receive any frames from AP3 within the corresponding "maximum idle time period during link enablement" (T1 in Figure 15) (no frame type requirement) or does not receive frames of the specified type from AP3 within T1 (with frame type requirement), the non-AP MLD initiates a link reconfiguration request over Link1 and negotiates with the AP MLD to delete Link3. Since links Link1 and Link2 are still enabled, the non-AP MLD remains associated with the AP MLD.

[0214] Optionally, the maximum idle time period T2 during the link enablement period is greater than the maximum idle time period T1 during the link enablement period.

[0215] Therefore, in this embodiment of the present application, the non-AP MLD initiates multi-link establishment with the AP MLD based on the communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs and the AP MLD-affiliated APs corresponding to the M links to be established. And / or, the non-AP MLD manages the N links based on the communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs and the AP MLD-affiliated APs corresponding to the N established links. This ensures that the actual communication status of the links is consistent with the link enablement status.

[0216] Specifically, during the multi-link establishment process, the non-AP MLD requests the establishment of links for the corresponding non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs within the reachable communication range of the AP MLD-affiliated AP, based on the communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs corresponding to each of the M links to be established and the AP MLD-affiliated AP. Alternatively, the non-AP MLD requests the establishment of M links, based on the communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs corresponding to each of the M links to be established and the AP MLD-affiliated AP, and reports information regarding whether the M links are reachable and / or whether the M links are enabled, thereby reflecting the actual communication status of the links. In other words, the non-AP MLD can optimize the multi-link establishment process based on the communication reachability of the links to be established, thereby ensuring that the actual communication status of the links matches the link enablement status.

[0217] Specifically, after multi-link establishment is complete, non-AP MLD disables any link among the N links where communication between a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and an AP MLD-affiliated AP is unreachable. Alternatively, non-AP MLD deletes any link among the N links where communication between a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and an AP MLD-affiliated AP is unreachable. This ensures that the actual link communication status matches the link enablement status.

[0218] The non-AP MLD side embodiment of the present application is described in detail above with reference to Figures 3 to 15 . The AP MLD side embodiment of the present application is described in detail below with reference to Figures 16 to 18 . It should be understood that the AP MLD side embodiment corresponds to the non-AP MLD side embodiment, and similar descriptions can refer to the non-AP MLD side embodiment.

[0219] FIG16 is a schematic flowchart of a multi-link communication method 300 according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG16 , the multi-link communication method 300 may include at least part of the following contents:

[0220] S310, AP MLD receives a first association request frame or a second association request frame through an AP to which it is affiliated; wherein the first association request frame is used to request establishment of a link of a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to one of M links within a reachable communication range of the AP to which the AP MLD is affiliated; wherein the second association request frame is used to request establishment of M links, and the second association request frame includes relevant information on whether the M links are reachable for communication, and / or the second association request frame includes relevant information on whether the M links are enabled; wherein M is a positive integer.

[0221] In an embodiment of the present application, the non-AP MLD initiates multi-link establishment with the AP MLD based on the communication reachability between the non-AP STAs affiliated with the non-AP MLD and the APs affiliated with the AP MLD, respectively, corresponding to the M links to be established. Specifically, the non-AP MLD sends the first association request frame or the second association request frame based on the communication reachability between the non-AP STAs affiliated with the non-AP MLD and the APs affiliated with the AP MLD, respectively, corresponding to the M links to be established. That is, the non-AP MLD can optimize the multi-link establishment process based on the communication reachability of the links to be established, thereby ensuring that the actual communication status of the links is consistent with the link-enabled status.

[0222] In the embodiments of the present application, a “field” may also be referred to as a “field” or a “subfield.” A field may occupy one or more bytes (byte / octet), or a field may occupy one or more bits (bit).

[0223] The embodiments of the present application are mainly directed to the establishment and management of multiple links between an AP MLD and a non-AP MLD. However, the embodiments of the present application can also be extended to the establishment and management of multiple links between a non-AP MLD and another non-AP MLD. That is, the AP MLD in the embodiments of the present application is replaced with another non-AP MLD.

[0224] In some embodiments, when the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link receives a frame (e.g., a beacon frame or other frame) sent by the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the i-th proposed link within a preset time, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link and the AP MLD-affiliated AP are reachable; and / or

[0225] If the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link receives a frame (e.g., a beacon frame or other frame) sent by another AP in the same Basic Service Set (BSS) (co-located BSS) as the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the i-th proposed link within a preset time, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link and the AP MLD-affiliated AP are reachable; and / or,

[0226] When the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link receives a frame (e.g., a beacon frame or other frame) sent by another AP that is in the same multiple BSSID set as the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the i-th proposed link within a preset time, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link and the AP MLD-affiliated AP are reachable.

[0227] The i-th link to be built is the i-th link among the M links, i is a positive integer, and 1≤i≤M.

[0228] In some embodiments, the preset time is configured or indicated by the AP MLD, or the preset time is determined by negotiation between the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD, or the preset time is agreed upon by a protocol.

[0229] In some embodiments, when the AP MLD receives the first association request frame through one of its affiliated APs, the first association request frame is determined based on the communication reachability between the non-AP MLD affiliated non-AP STAs corresponding to the M links to be established and the AP MLD affiliated AP.

[0230] That is, for non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs whose AP MLD-affiliated APs corresponding to the proposed links are within the reachable communication range, corresponding link establishment is performed. That is, the links requested to be established carried in the association request frame during multi-link establishment include these links with confirmed communication reachability. For non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs whose AP MLD-affiliated APs corresponding to the proposed links are not within the reachable communication range, corresponding link establishment is not performed. That is, the links requested to be established carried in the association request frame during multi-link establishment do not include these links with confirmed communication unreachability.

[0231] It should be noted that the non-AP MLD may also send the first association request frame through its multiple affiliated non-AP STAs, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0232] Specifically, during the multi-link establishment process, non-AP MLD requests the establishment of links within the reachable communication range of the AP MLD-affiliated AP, based on the communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs corresponding to each of the M proposed links and the AP MLD-affiliated AP. In other words, the links requested by non-AP MLD reflect the actual communication status of the links. In other words, non-AP MLD can optimize the multi-link establishment process based on the communication reachability of the proposed links, thereby ensuring that the actual communication status of the links matches the link-enabled status.

[0233] For example, as shown in Figure 4, STA1 of the non-AP MLD obtains information about the AP MLD and its subordinate APs through beacon frames and / or multi-link probe response (ML Probe Response) frames. STA1 then performs reachability confirmation on the links to be established (Link 1, Link 2, and Link 3) (the reachability confirmation method is described above). It confirms that Link 1 and Link 2 are reachable, but Link 3 is unreachable. Therefore, when initiating an association request for multi-link establishment, the non-AP MLD only requests the establishment of Link 1 and Link 2, not Link 3. After the non-AP MLD and AP MLD complete the association request / response exchange, Link 1 and Link 2 are established.

[0234] In some embodiments, when the AP MLD receives the second association request frame through one of its affiliated APs, the second association request frame is determined based on the communication reachability between the non-AP MLD affiliated non-AP STAs corresponding to each of the M links to be established and the AP MLD affiliated AP.

[0235] That is, a corresponding link is established for each subordinate station that requests link establishment in the non-AP MLD. However, when initiating multi-link establishment, the non-AP MLD indicates the reachability and / or enablement of the requested link.

[0236] It should be noted that the non-AP MLD may also send the second association request frame through its multiple affiliated non-AP STAs, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0237] Specifically, during the multi-link establishment process, the non-AP MLD sends a second association request frame to request the establishment of M links based on the communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs and the AP MLD-affiliated APs corresponding to each of the M links to be established. The second association request frame carries information regarding whether the M links are reachable and / or whether the M links are enabled. This reflects the actual communication status of the links. In other words, the non-AP MLD can optimize the multi-link establishment process based on the communication reachability of the links to be established, thereby ensuring that the actual communication status of the links matches the link enablement status.

[0238] In some embodiments, for a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA within a reachable communication range of the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the link to be established, the corresponding link to be established is indicated as reachable and / or enabled.

[0239] In some embodiments, for a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA whose AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the link to be established is not within a reachable communication range, the corresponding link to be established is indicated as unreachable and / or disabled.

[0240] For example, for a non-AP MLD subordinate station whose AP MLD subordinate AP corresponding to the proposed link is within the reachable communication range, the corresponding reachability indication of the proposed link is "reachable" and / or the corresponding link indication is "enabled"; for a non-AP MLD subordinate station whose AP MLD subordinate AP corresponding to the proposed link is not within the reachable communication range, the corresponding reachability indication of the proposed link is "unreachable" and / or the corresponding link indication is "disabled".

[0241] In some embodiments, the second association request frame includes M first indication fields, and / or the second association request frame includes a second indication field; wherein the M first indication fields respectively correspond to the M links, and the M first indication fields are respectively used to indicate whether the corresponding links are reachable for communication; wherein the second indication field is used to indicate whether each link in the M links is enabled.

[0242] In some embodiments, the first indication field is a reachability field, and / or the second indication field is a TID-To-Link Mapping element.

[0243] In some embodiments, the second association request frame includes a basic multilink element;

[0244] The site control field in the per-site configuration sub-element contained in the link information field of the basic multi-link element includes a link identification field and the first indication field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field.

[0245] It should be noted that the format of the second association request frame may refer to the relevant description of FIG. 5 in the multi-link communication method 200 , and will not be repeated here.

[0246] For example, as shown in Figure 6, STA1 of the non-AP MLD obtains information about the AP MLD and its subordinate APs through Beacon frames and / or Multilink Probe Response frames. It then performs reachability checks on the links to be established (Link 1, Link 2, and Link 3) (as described above), confirming that Link 1 and Link 2 are reachable, but Link 3 is unreachable. When the non-AP MLD initiates an association request for multilink establishment, it establishes the corresponding link (Link 1, Link 2, Link 3) for each subordinate station requesting link establishment. However, in the association request, the non-AP MLD indicates "reachable" and / or "enabled" for Link 1 and Link 2, while indicating "unreachable" and / or "disabled" for Link 3. After the association request / response exchange is completed between the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD, Link 1, Link 2, and Link 3 are established.

[0247] It should be noted that FIG6 exemplarily shows that the association request and the association response only indicate whether it is enabled, but may also indicate whether it is reachable, or indicate both whether it is enabled and whether it is reachable. This embodiment of the present application is not limited to this.

[0248] In some embodiments, the AP MLD manages the N established links according to communication reachability between the AP MLD-affiliated APs and non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs corresponding to the respective N links, where N is a positive integer and N≤M.

[0249] In this embodiment of the present application, AP MLD manages the N established links based on the communication reachability between the AP MLD-affiliated APs and non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs corresponding to each of the N established links. In other words, AP MLD can optimize the multi-link management process based on the communication reachability of the established links, thereby ensuring that the actual communication status of the links matches the link enablement status.

[0250] In some embodiments, the N links are part or all of the links established by the AP MLD.

[0251] In some embodiments, the AP MLD manages the N established links based on communication reachability between the AP MLD-affiliated APs and non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs corresponding to the respective N established links, including:

[0252] The AP MLD sets the enabled link among the N links, corresponding to the unreachable communication link between the AP MLD-affiliated AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA, to a disabled state, or the AP MLD deletes the link among the N links, corresponding to the unreachable communication link between the AP MLD-affiliated AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA.

[0253] In some embodiments, after multi-link establishment is completed, for an established link (set as Link-i), if communication between a non-AP MLD-affiliated station (set as STAi) corresponding to Link-i and an AP MLD-affiliated station (set as APi) corresponding to Link-i is unreachable, the AP MLD may take one of the following actions:

[0254] 1) The AP MLD initiates a TID-to-Link Mapping request to the non-AP MLD, and negotiates with the non-AP MLD to set Link-i to the "Disabled" state. Alternatively, the AP MLD initiates a TID-to-Link Mapping notification to the non-AP MLD, setting Link-i to the "Disabled" state.

[0255] 2) The AP MLD initiates a link reconfiguration request (Link Reconfiguration Request) to the non-AP MLD, negotiating with the non-AP MLD to delete Link-i; or, the AP MLD initiates a link reconfiguration notification to the non-AP MLD to delete Link-i.

[0256] In some embodiments, the AP MLD handles the unreachable link between the corresponding AP MLD-affiliated AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA in the N links through negotiation between the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD.

[0257] In some embodiments, when the AP MLD sets the enabled link in the N links, in which communication between the AP MLD-affiliated AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA is unreachable, to a disabled state, the link in the N links set to the disabled state refers to a link without a flow identifier (TID) mapping.

[0258] For example, if at least one TID is mapped to an established link in the uplink or downlink, the established link is defined as "enabled" or "enabled state"; if no TID is mapped to an established link in the uplink or downlink, the established link is defined as "disabled" or "disabled state".

[0259] In some embodiments, when the AP MLD sets an enabled link among the N links whose corresponding communication between the AP MLD-affiliated AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA is unreachable to a disabled state, for a link among the N links that is set to the disabled state due to unreachable communication between the corresponding AP MLD-affiliated AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA, the AP MLD sets the link to the enabled state when communication between the AP MLD-affiliated AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA is reachable.

[0260] For example, after multi-link establishment is completed, for an established link (set as Link-i), if communication between the non-AP MLD-affiliated station (set as STAi) corresponding to Link-i and the AP MLD-affiliated station (set as APi) corresponding to Link-i is unreachable, AP MLD will set the enabled Link-i to the disabled state. After a period of time, due to STAi moving or improved link quality, communication between STAi and APi may become reachable. After communication between STAi and APi is reachable, AP MLD will set Link-i to the enabled state.

[0261] In some embodiments, the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the jth link is in the duration T j ′, if at least one frame sent by the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the j-th link is received within ′, the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the j-th link and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA are reachable; or,

[0262] The AP MLD affiliated AP corresponding to the jth link is in the time length T all If at least one frame sent by the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the j-th link is received within 10 seconds, the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the j-th link and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA are reachable.

[0263] The jth link is the jth link among all established links, and the duration T j ' is the maximum idle time during the link enabling period corresponding to the jth link, and the duration T all ' is the maximum idle time during the link enable period corresponding to all established links, and j is a positive integer.

[0264] That is, the duration T j ' can be the idle timeout limit (idle timeout limit) during the link enable period corresponding to the jth link, and the duration is T all ' is the idle timeout limit during the link enable period corresponding to all established links.

[0265] In some embodiments, the time duration T j ' is the periodic duration. That is, the duration T j ' may be the maximum idle time period during the link enabling period corresponding to the j-th link.

[0266] In some embodiments, the time duration Tj ' is determined or indicated by the AP MLD.

[0267] In some embodiments, the time duration T all ' is the periodic duration. That is, the duration T all ' may be the maximum idle time period during the link enable period corresponding to all established links.

[0268] In some embodiments, the time duration T all ' is determined or indicated by the AP MLD.

[0269] In some embodiments, the type of the at least one frame is a frame type designated to indicate a link enabled or active state.

[0270] For example, the frame type specified for indicating the link enable or active state may be a protected frame, that is, only the protected frame indicates the enable or active state.

[0271] For another specific example, the frame type designated for indicating the link enable or active state may be a protected frame and an unprotected frame, that is, both the protected frame and the unprotected frame may indicate the enable or active state.

[0272] In some embodiments, the at least one frame includes but is not limited to at least one of the following: a data frame corresponding to the TID mapped to the j-th link, a Power Saving Poll (PS-Poll) frame, and a management frame.

[0273] In some embodiments, based on the time period T j 'When determining communication reachability between the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the j-th link and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA, the AP MLD sends an association response frame through one of its affiliated APs, including S' third indication fields, where the S' third indication fields are respectively used to indicate maximum idle time information during link enablement periods corresponding to the S' links; wherein the association response frame is an association response frame corresponding to the association request frame for multi-link establishment, and S' is a positive integer.

[0274] That is, the third indication field included in the association response frame can be used to indicate the duration T to the non-AP MLD. j ′.

[0275] Optionally, the association response frame may be an association response frame for the first association request frame, or may be an association response frame for the second association request frame.

[0276] In some embodiments, the association response frame includes a basic multilink element;

[0277] Among them, the site control field in the per-site configuration sub-element contained in the link information field of the basic multi-link element includes a link identification field and a first existence field, and the first existence field is used to indicate whether the site information field in the per-site configuration sub-element includes the third indication field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field.

[0278] In some embodiments, when the value of the first existence field is used to indicate that the site information field in the per-site configuration sub-element includes the third indication field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field, the site information field in the per-site configuration sub-element includes the third indication field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field.

[0279] In some embodiments, the third indication field is a maximum idle time information field during link enablement, and the first existence field is a maximum idle time information existence field during link enablement.

[0280] In some embodiments, during the time period T j ' is the periodic duration, that is, the duration T j When ′ is the maximum idle time period during the link enabling period corresponding to the j-th link, the third indication field is the maximum idle time period information field during the link enabling period or the maximum idle time period information subfield during the link enabling period, and the first existence field is the maximum idle time period information existence field during the link enabling period or the maximum idle time period information existence subfield during the link enabling period.

[0281] In some embodiments, the third indication field includes a first subfield and a second subfield, wherein the first subfield is used to indicate the maximum idle time during the link enablement period of the corresponding link, and the second subfield includes a first field and a second field, the first field is used to indicate type information of the frame in the enabled or active state, and the second field is used to indicate the behavior of the AP MLD when communication between the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the corresponding enabled link and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA is unreachable.

[0282] In some embodiments, the first subfield is the maximum idle time subfield during link enablement, the second subfield is the idle option subfield during link enablement, the first field is the protected maintenance enablement required field, and the second field is the expected behavior field exceeding the maximum space time.

[0283] In some embodiments, during the time period T j ' is the periodic duration, that is, the duration T j′ is the maximum idle time period during the link-enabled period corresponding to the j-th link, the first subfield is the maximum idle time period during the link-enabled period (max idle period for link enabled) subfield, the second subfield is the idle option subfield during the link-enabled period, the first field is the protected keep-enabled required (Protected Keep-enabled Required) field, and the second field is the expected behavior field for exceeding the maximum space time.

[0284] It should be noted that the specific formats of the first presence field and the third indication field can refer to the relevant descriptions of FIG. 7 to FIG. 11 in the multi-link communication method 200, and will not be repeated here.

[0285] In some embodiments, based on the time period T all 'When communication reachability between the AP MLD-affiliated AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the j-th link is determined, an association response frame sent by the AP MLD through one of its affiliated APs includes a fourth indication field, where the fourth indication field is used to indicate maximum idle time information during link enablement corresponding to all established links. The association response frame is an association response frame corresponding to the association request frame used for multi-link establishment.

[0286] That is, the fourth indication field included in the association response frame can be used to indicate the duration T to the AP MLD. all ′.

[0287] Optionally, the association response frame may be an association response frame corresponding to the first association request frame, or may be an association response frame corresponding to the second association request frame.

[0288] In some embodiments, the association response frame includes a basic multilink element;

[0289] The presence bitmap subfield in the multilink control field of the basic multilink element includes a second presence field, and the second presence field is used to indicate whether the general information field in the multilink control field includes the fourth indication field.

[0290] In some embodiments, when the value of the second presence field is used to indicate that the general information field in the multi-link control field includes the fourth indication field, the general information field in the multi-link control field includes the fourth indication field.

[0291] In some embodiments, the fourth indication field is a maximum idle time information field during link enablement, and the second existence field is a maximum idle time information existence field during link enablement.

[0292] In some embodiments, during the time period Tj ' is the periodic duration, that is, the duration T all In the case where ' can be the maximum idle time period during the link enabling period corresponding to all established links, the fourth indication field is the maximum idle time period information field during the link enabling period or the maximum idle time period information subfield during the link enabling period, and the second existence field is the maximum idle time period information existence field during the link enabling period or the maximum idle time period information existence subfield during the link enabling period.

[0293] In some embodiments, the fourth indication field includes a third subfield and a fourth subfield, wherein the third subfield is used to indicate the maximum idle time during the link enablement period corresponding to all links indicated by the basic multi-link element, and the fourth subfield includes a third field and a fourth field, the third field is used to indicate type information of the frame in the enabled or active state, and the fourth field is used to indicate the behavior of the AP MLD when the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to all links indicated by the basic multi-link element and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA cannot communicate.

[0294] In some embodiments, the third subfield is the maximum idle time subfield during link enablement, the fourth subfield is the idle option subfield during link enablement, the third field is the protected maintenance enablement requirement field, and the fourth field is the expected behavior field exceeding the maximum space time.

[0295] In some embodiments, during the time period T j ' is the periodic duration, that is, the duration T all ' can be the maximum idle time period during the link enabling period corresponding to all established links, the third subfield is the maximum idle time period during the link enabling period (max idle period for link enabled) subfield, the fourth subfield is the idle option subfield during the link enabling period, the third field is the protected keep-enabled required (Protected Keep-enabled Required) field, and the fourth field is the expected behavior field for exceeding the maximum space time.

[0296] It should be noted that the specific formats of the second presence field and the fourth indication field can refer to the relevant descriptions of FIG. 12 to FIG. 13 in the multi-link communication method 200, and will not be repeated here.

[0297] In some embodiments, during multi-link establishment, if an AP subordinate to the AP MLD includes a maximum idle time period information subfield during link enablement in the per-site configuration sub-element of the multi-link element carried in the association response frame, then the value of each subfield in the maximum idle time period information subfield during link enablement is applied to the link corresponding to the per-site configuration sub-element (i.e., identified by the carried Link ID); if an AP subordinate to the AP MLD includes a maximum idle time period information subfield during link enablement in the general information field of the multi-link element carried in the association response frame, then the value of each subfield in the maximum idle time period information subfield during link enablement is applied to all links indicated by the multi-link element or the link where the multi-link element is sent. Among them, for the link applied by the maximum idle time period information subfield during link enablement sent by the AP MLD, the non-AP station corresponding to the link should send at least one frame to maintain the link enablement state (such as a data frame, PS-Poll frame, or management frame corresponding to the TID mapped to the link, and at the same time, meet the frame requirements indicated by the protected maintenance enablement requirement subfield (if any) indicated by the subfield) to its associated AP (i.e., the AP corresponding to the link) within the maximum idle period during the link enablement period indicated by the subfield, in order to consider that the link is maintained in the enabled state.

[0298] In some embodiments, the basic multilink element in the association response frame of the AP MLD also carries the "maximum idle time period information during link enablement" for requesting link establishment, which is used to indicate that the non-AP station should send at least one frame to the associated AP to maintain the link enablement state (such as a data frame, PS-Poll frame, or management frame corresponding to the TID mapped to the link, and meeting the frame requirements indicated by the protected maintenance enablement requirement subfield) within the maximum idle time period during link enablement indicated by this subfield, in order to consider the link maintained in the enabled state. Optionally, before initiating multilink establishment with the AP MLD, the non-AP MLD obtains information about the AP MLD and each of its affiliated APs of interest. When a non-AP MLD initiates multi-link establishment, the basic multi-link element in the association request frame carries the "maximum idle time period information during link enablement" for the link establishment request. This information indicates that for the corresponding link, within the maximum idle time period during link enablement, the corresponding non-AP STA must receive at least one frame (such as a data frame, PS-Poll frame, or management frame corresponding to the TID mapped to the link, and meeting the frame requirements indicated by the protected maintenance enablement required subfield) sent by the AP MLD-associated AP to which it is associated before the link is considered to be maintained in the enabled state.

[0299] Optionally, for an enabled link (i.e., Enabled Link, set as Link-i) established between an AP MLD and a non-AP MLD, if the AP MLD's subordinate station (set as APi) corresponding to Link-i does not receive any frames sent by the non-AP MLD's subordinate station (set as STAi) corresponding to Link-i (in the case where no frame type requirement is required) or does not receive frames of a specified type sent by STAi (in the case where a frame type requirement is required), the AP MLD initiates a TID-to-Link Mapping request to the non-AP MLD, negotiating with the non-AP MLD to set Link-i to the "Disabled" state. Alternatively, the AP MLD initiates a TID-to-Link Mapping notification to the non-AP MLD, setting Link-i to the "Disabled" state. Specifically, as shown in FIG17 , before initiating multi-link establishment with the AP MLD, the non-AP MLD obtains information about the AP MLD and each of its subordinate APs of interest. When the non-AP MLD initiates multi-link establishment, the Basic Multi-Link Element in the Association Request frame carries the (optional) "maximum idle time period during link enablement" for the requested link, i.e., the maximum idle time period T1 for link 3 in Figure 17. Simultaneously, the Basic Multi-Link Element in the Association Response frame by the AP MLD also carries the "maximum idle time period during link enablement" for the requested link, i.e., the maximum idle time period T2 for link 3 in Figure 17. After multi-link establishment is complete, when the AP MLD enables link Link3, if AP3 does not receive any frames from STA3 within the corresponding "maximum idle time period during link enablement" (T2 in the figure) (no frame type requirement) or does not receive frames of the specified type from STA3 within T2 (with frame type requirement), the AP MLD initiates a TID-to-Link Mapping request over Link1 and negotiates with the non-AP MLD to set Link3 to the "Disabled" state.

[0300] Optionally, for an enabled link (i.e., Enabled Link, Link-i) established between an AP MLD and a non-AP MLD, if the AP MLD's subordinate station (APi) corresponding to Link-i does not receive any frames sent by the non-AP MLD's subordinate station (STAi) corresponding to Link-i (if no frame type requirement is specified) or does not receive frames of a specified type sent by STAi (if a frame type requirement is specified), within the corresponding "maximum idle time period during link enablement (sent by the AP MLD)", the AP MLD initiates a Link Reconfiguration Request to the non-AP MLD to negotiate with the non-AP MLD to delete Link-i. Alternatively, the AP MLD initiates a Link Reconfiguration Notification to the non-AP MLD to delete Link-i. If the non-AP MLD has other enabled links, the non-AP MLD remains associated with the AP MLD. Specifically, as shown in Figure 18, before initiating multi-link establishment with the AP MLD, the non-AP MLD obtains information about the AP MLD and each of its subordinate APs of interest. When the non-AP MLD initiates multi-link establishment, the Basic Multi-Link Element in the Association Request frame carries the (optional) "maximum idle time period during link enablement" for the requested link, i.e., the maximum idle time period T1 for link 3 in Figure 18. Simultaneously, the Basic Multi-Link Element in the Association Response frame by the AP MLD also carries the "maximum idle time period during link enablement" for the requested link, i.e., the maximum idle time period T2 for link 3 in Figure 18. After multi-link establishment is complete, for enabled link Link3, when it enters the enabled state, if AP3 does not receive any frames from STA3 within the corresponding "maximum idle time period during link enablement" (T2 in Figure 18) (no frame type requirement) or does not receive frames of the specified type from STA3 within T2 (with frame type requirement), the AP MLD initiates a Link Reconfiguration Request via Link1 and negotiates with the non-AP MLD to delete Link3. Since Link1 and Link2 are still enabled, the non-AP MLD remains associated with the AP MLD.

[0301] Therefore, in this embodiment of the present application, the non-AP MLD initiates multi-link establishment with the AP MLD based on the communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs and the AP MLD-affiliated APs corresponding to the M links to be established. And / or the AP MLD manages the N links based on the communication reachability between the AP MLD-affiliated APs and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs corresponding to the N established links. This ensures that the actual communication status of the links is consistent with the link enablement status.

[0302] Specifically, during the multi-link establishment process, the non-AP MLD requests the establishment of links for the corresponding non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs within the reachable communication range of the AP MLD-affiliated AP, based on the communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs corresponding to each of the M links to be established and the AP MLD-affiliated AP. Alternatively, the non-AP MLD requests the establishment of M links, based on the communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs corresponding to each of the M links to be established and the AP MLD-affiliated AP, and reports information regarding whether the M links are reachable and / or whether the M links are enabled, thereby reflecting the actual communication status of the links. In other words, the non-AP MLD can optimize the multi-link establishment process based on the communication reachability of the links to be established, thereby ensuring that the actual communication status of the links matches the link enablement status.

[0303] Specifically, after multi-link establishment is complete, AP MLD disables any link among the N links where communication between an AP MLD-affiliated AP and a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA is unreachable. Alternatively, AP MLD deletes any link among the N links where communication between an AP MLD-affiliated AP and a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA is unreachable. This ensures that the actual link communication status matches the link enablement status.

[0304] The above description, in conjunction with Figures 3 to 15 , details one embodiment of the non-AP MLD side of the present application. The following description, in conjunction with Figure 19 , details another embodiment of the non-AP MLD side of the present application. It should be understood that the non-AP MLD side embodiments correspond to each other, and similar descriptions can refer to the embodiments shown in Figures 3 to 15 .

[0305] FIG19 is a schematic flowchart of a multi-link communication method 400 according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG19 , the multi-link communication method 400 may include at least part of the following contents:

[0306] S410 , the non-AP MLD manages the N established links according to the communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs and the AP MLD-affiliated APs corresponding to the respective N links, where N is a positive integer.

[0307] In some embodiments, the non-AP MLD manages the N established links based on communication reachability between a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and an AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to each of the N established links, including:

[0308] The non-AP MLD sets the enabled link among the N links, corresponding to the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and the AP MLD-affiliated AP, to a disabled state, or the non-AP MLD deletes the link among the N links, corresponding to the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and the AP MLD-affiliated AP, that is unreachable for communication.

[0309] In some embodiments, the non-AP MLD handles the unreachable link between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and the AP MLD-affiliated AP in the N links in a manner determined by negotiation between the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD.

[0310] In some embodiments, when the non-AP MLD sets an enabled link among the N links, in which communication between a non-AP STA affiliated with the non-AP MLD and an AP affiliated with the AP MLD is unreachable, to a disabled state, the link among the N links set to the disabled state refers to a link to which no flow identifier TID is mapped.

[0311] In some embodiments, when the non-AP MLD sets the enabled link corresponding to the N links, in which communication between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and the AP MLD-affiliated AP is unreachable, to a disabled state, the method further includes:

[0312] For a link among the N links that is set to a disabled state due to unreachable communication between the corresponding non-AP MLD-attached non-AP STA and the AP MLD-attached AP, the non-AP MLD enables the link if reachable communication between the corresponding non-AP MLD-attached non-AP STA and the AP MLD-attached AP is established.

[0313] In some embodiments, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the jth link is j When at least one frame sent by the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the j-th link is received within 10 seconds, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the j-th link is reachable to the AP MLD-affiliated AP; or

[0314] The non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the jth link is connected for a period of time T. all If at least one frame sent by the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the j-th link is received within 10 seconds, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the j-th link can communicate with the AP MLD-affiliated AP;

[0315] The jth link is the jth link among all established links, and the duration T j is the maximum idle time during the link-enabled period corresponding to the j-th link, and the duration T all is the maximum idle time during the link-enabling period corresponding to all established links, and j is a positive integer.

[0316] In some embodiments, the time duration T j is the periodic duration, and / or the duration T all The duration of the period.

[0317] In some embodiments, the type of the at least one frame is a frame type designated to indicate a link enabled or active state.

[0318] In some embodiments, the at least one frame includes at least one of:

[0319] Mapped to the data frame corresponding to the TID of the j-th link, the energy-saving polling PS-Poll frame, and the management frame.

[0320] In some embodiments, based on the time period T j When determining communication reachability between a non-AP STA attached to a non-AP MLD corresponding to the j-th link and an AP attached to an AP MLD, an association request frame for multi-link establishment sent by the non-AP MLD through one of its attached non-AP STAs includes S third indication fields, where the S third indication fields are respectively used to indicate maximum idle time information during link enablement corresponding to the S links, where S is a positive integer.

[0321] In some embodiments, the association request frame for multilink establishment includes a basic multilink element;

[0322] Among them, the site control field in the per-site configuration sub-element contained in the link information field of the basic multi-link element includes a link identification field and a first existence field, and the first existence field is used to indicate whether the site information field in the per-site configuration sub-element includes the third indication field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field.

[0323] In some embodiments, when the value of the first existence field is used to indicate that the site information field in the per-site configuration sub-element includes the third indication field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field, the site information field in the per-site configuration sub-element includes the third indication field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field.

[0324] In some embodiments, the third indication field is a maximum idle time information field during link enablement, and the first existence field is a maximum idle time information existence field during link enablement.

[0325] In some embodiments, the third indication field includes a first subfield and a second subfield, wherein the first subfield is used to indicate the maximum idle time during the link enablement period of the corresponding link, and the second subfield includes a first field and a second field, the first field is used to indicate type information of the frame in the enabled or active state, and the second field is used to indicate the behavior of the non-AP MLD when communication between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the corresponding enabled link and the AP MLD-affiliated AP is unreachable.

[0326] In some embodiments, the first subfield is the maximum idle time subfield during link enablement, the second subfield is the idle option subfield during link enablement, the first field is the protected maintenance enablement required field, and the second field is the expected behavior field exceeding the maximum space time.

[0327] In some embodiments, based on the time period T all When determining communication reachability between a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the j-th link and an AP MLD-affiliated AP, an association request frame for multi-link establishment sent by the non-AP MLD through one of its affiliated non-AP STAs includes a fourth indication field, where the fourth indication field is used to indicate maximum idle time information during link enablement corresponding to all established links.

[0328] In some embodiments, the association request frame for multilink establishment includes a basic multilink element;

[0329] The presence bitmap subfield in the multilink control field of the basic multilink element includes a second presence field, and the second presence field is used to indicate whether the general information field in the multilink control field includes the fourth indication field.

[0330] In some embodiments, when the value of the second presence field is used to indicate that the general information field in the multi-link control field includes the fourth indication field, the general information field in the multi-link control field includes the fourth indication field.

[0331] In some embodiments, the fourth indication field is a maximum idle time information field during link enablement, and the second existence field is a maximum idle time information existence field during link enablement.

[0332] In some embodiments, the fourth indication field includes a third subfield and a fourth subfield, wherein the third subfield is used to indicate the maximum idle time during the link enablement period corresponding to all links indicated by the basic multi-link element, and the fourth subfield includes a third field and a fourth field, the third field is used to indicate type information of the frame in the enabled or active state, and the fourth field is used to indicate the behavior of the non-AP MLD when communication between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to all links indicated by the basic multi-link element and the AP MLD-affiliated AP is unreachable.

[0333] In some embodiments, the third subfield is the maximum idle time subfield during link enablement, the fourth subfield is the idle option subfield during link enablement, the third field is the protected maintenance enablement requirement field, and the fourth field is the expected behavior field exceeding the maximum space time.

[0334] In some embodiments, before the non-AP MLD manages the N links based on communication reachabilities between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs and the AP MLD-affiliated APs corresponding to the N links, the non-AP MLD initiates multi-link establishment with the AP MLD based on communication reachabilities between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs and the AP MLD-affiliated APs corresponding to the M links to be established, where M is a positive integer and M≥N.

[0335] In some embodiments, the non-AP MLD initiates multi-link establishment with the AP MLD based on communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs and the AP MLD-affiliated APs corresponding to the M links to be established, including:

[0336] The non-AP MLD sends a first association request frame through a non-AP STA attached to it;

[0337] The first association request frame is used to request to establish a link of the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the M links within a reachable communication range of the AP MLD-affiliated AP.

[0338] In some embodiments, the non-AP MLD initiates multi-link establishment with the AP MLD based on communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs and the AP MLD-affiliated APs corresponding to the M links to be established, including:

[0339] The non-AP MLD sends a second association request frame through a non-AP STA attached to it;

[0340] The second association request frame is used to request establishment of the M links, and the second association request frame includes relevant information on whether the M links are reachable for communication, and / or the second association request frame includes relevant information on whether the M links are enabled.

[0341] In some embodiments, for a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA within a reachable communication range of an AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to a link to be established, the corresponding link to be established is indicated as communication reachable and / or enabled;

[0342] For a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA whose affiliated AP of the AP MLD corresponding to the link to be established is not within the reachable communication range, the corresponding link to be established indication is communication unreachable and / or disabled.

[0343] In some embodiments, the second association request frame includes M first indication fields, and / or the second association request frame includes a second indication field; wherein the M first indication fields respectively correspond to the M links, and the M first indication fields are respectively used to indicate whether the corresponding links are reachable for communication; wherein the second indication field is respectively used to indicate whether each link in the M links is enabled.

[0344] In some embodiments, the second association request frame includes a basic multilink element;

[0345] The site control field in the per-site configuration sub-element contained in the link information field of the basic multi-link element includes a link identification field and the first indication field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field.

[0346] In some embodiments, the first indication field is a reachability field, and / or the second indication field is a flow identifier to link mapping element.

[0347] In some embodiments, when a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link receives a frame sent by an AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the i-th proposed link within a preset time, communication between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link and the AP MLD-affiliated AP is reachable; and / or

[0348] If the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link receives a frame sent by another AP located in the same basic service set (BSS) as the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the i-th proposed link within a preset time, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link and the AP MLD-affiliated AP are reachable; and / or,

[0349] When the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link receives a frame sent by another AP in the same multiple basic service set identifier (BSSID) set as the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the i-th proposed link within a preset time, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link and the AP MLD-affiliated AP are reachable.

[0350] The i-th link to be built is the i-th link among the M links, i is a positive integer, and 1≤i≤M.

[0351] In some embodiments, the preset time is configured or indicated by the AP MLD, or the preset time is determined by negotiation between the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD, or the preset time is agreed upon by a protocol.

[0352] Therefore, in this embodiment of the present application, the non-AP MLD manages N links based on the communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs and the AP MLD-affiliated APs corresponding to each of the N established links. Furthermore, the non-AP MLD initiates multi-link establishment with the AP MLD based on the communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs and the AP MLD-affiliated APs corresponding to each of the M links to be established. This ensures that the actual communication status of the links matches the link enablement status.

[0353] Specifically, during the multi-link establishment process, the non-AP MLD requests the establishment of links for the corresponding non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs within the reachable communication range of the AP MLD-affiliated AP, based on the communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs corresponding to each of the M links to be established and the AP MLD-affiliated AP. Alternatively, the non-AP MLD requests the establishment of M links, based on the communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs corresponding to each of the M links to be established and the AP MLD-affiliated AP, and reports information regarding whether the M links are reachable and / or whether the M links are enabled, thereby reflecting the actual communication status of the links. In other words, the non-AP MLD can optimize the multi-link establishment process based on the communication reachability of the links to be established, thereby ensuring that the actual communication status of the links matches the link enablement status.

[0354] Specifically, after multi-link establishment is complete, non-AP MLD disables any link among the N links where communication between a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and an AP MLD-affiliated AP is unreachable. Alternatively, non-AP MLD deletes any link among the N links where communication between a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and an AP MLD-affiliated AP is unreachable. This ensures that the actual link communication status matches the link enablement status.

[0355] The above description, in conjunction with Figures 16 to 18 , details one embodiment of the AP MLD side of the present application. The following description, in conjunction with Figure 20 , details another embodiment of the AP MLD side of the present application. It should be understood that the AP MLD side embodiments correspond to each other, and similar descriptions can refer to the embodiments shown in Figures 16 to 18 .

[0356] FIG20 is a schematic flowchart of a multi-link communication method 500 according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG20 , the multi-link communication method 500 may include at least part of the following contents:

[0357] S510 , the AP MLD manages the N established links according to communication reachability between the AP MLD-affiliated APs and non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs corresponding to the respective N links, where N is a positive integer.

[0358] In some embodiments, the AP MLD manages the N established links based on communication reachability between the AP MLD-affiliated APs and non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs corresponding to the respective N established links, including:

[0359] The AP MLD sets the enabled link among the N links, corresponding to the unreachable communication link between the AP MLD-affiliated AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA, to a disabled state, or the AP MLD deletes the link among the N links, corresponding to the unreachable communication link between the AP MLD-affiliated AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA.

[0360] In some embodiments, the AP MLD handles the unreachable link between the corresponding AP MLD-affiliated AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA in the N links through negotiation between the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD.

[0361] In some embodiments, when the AP MLD sets the enabled link among the N links, in which communication between the AP MLD-affiliated AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA is unreachable, to a disabled state, the link among the N links set to the disabled state refers to a link without a flow identifier TID mapping.

[0362] In some embodiments, when the AP MLD sets a corresponding enabled link among the N links, in which communication between the AP MLD-affiliated AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA is unreachable, to a disabled state, the method further includes:

[0363] For a link among the N links that is set to a disabled state due to unreachable communication between the corresponding AP MLD-affiliated AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA, the AP MLD enables the link if reachable communication between the corresponding AP MLD-affiliated AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA is established.

[0364] In some embodiments, the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the jth link is in the duration T j ′, if at least one frame sent by the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the j-th link is received within ′, the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the j-th link and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA are reachable; or,

[0365] The AP MLD affiliated AP corresponding to the jth link is in the time length T allIf at least one frame sent by the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the j-th link is received within 10 seconds, the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the j-th link and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA are reachable.

[0366] The jth link is the jth link among all established links, and the duration T j ' is the maximum idle time during the link enabling period corresponding to the jth link, and the duration T all ' is the maximum idle time during the link enable period corresponding to all established links, and j is a positive integer.

[0367] In some embodiments, the time duration T j ' is the periodic duration, and / or, the duration T all ′ is the periodic duration.

[0368] In some embodiments, the type of the at least one frame is a frame type designated to indicate a link enabled or active state.

[0369] In some embodiments, the at least one frame includes at least one of:

[0370] Mapped to the data frame corresponding to the flow identifier TID of the j-th link, the energy-saving polling PS-Poll frame, and the management frame.

[0371] In some embodiments, based on the time period T j 'When determining communication reachability between the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the j-th link and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA, the AP MLD sends an association response frame through one of its affiliated APs, including S' third indication fields, where the S' third indication fields are respectively used to indicate maximum idle time information during link enablement periods corresponding to the S' links; wherein the association response frame is an association response frame corresponding to the association request frame for multi-link establishment, and S' is a positive integer.

[0372] In some embodiments, the association response frame includes a basic multilink element;

[0373] Among them, the site control field in the per-site configuration sub-element contained in the link information field of the basic multi-link element includes a link identification field and a first existence field, and the first existence field is used to indicate whether the site information field in the per-site configuration sub-element includes the third indication field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field.

[0374] In some embodiments, when the value of the first existence field is used to indicate that the site information field in the per-site configuration sub-element includes the third indication field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field, the site information field in the per-site configuration sub-element includes the third indication field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field.

[0375] In some embodiments, the third indication field is a maximum idle time information field during link enablement, and the first existence field is a maximum idle time information existence field during link enablement.

[0376] In some embodiments, the third indication field includes a first subfield and a second subfield, wherein the first subfield is used to indicate the maximum idle time during the link enablement period of the corresponding link, and the second subfield includes a first field and a second field, the first field is used to indicate type information of the frame in the enabled or active state, and the second field is used to indicate the behavior of the AP MLD when communication between the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the corresponding enabled link and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA is unreachable.

[0377] In some embodiments, the first subfield is the maximum idle time subfield during link enablement, the second subfield is the idle option subfield during link enablement, the first field is the protected maintenance enablement required field, and the second field is the expected behavior field exceeding the maximum space time.

[0378] In some embodiments, based on the time period T all 'When communication reachability between the AP MLD-affiliated AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the j-th link is determined, an association response frame sent by the AP MLD through one of its affiliated APs includes a fourth indication field, where the fourth indication field is used to indicate maximum idle time information during link enablement corresponding to all established links. The association response frame is an association response frame corresponding to the association request frame used for multi-link establishment.

[0379] In some embodiments, the association response frame includes a basic multilink element;

[0380] The presence bitmap subfield in the multilink control field of the basic multilink element includes a second presence field, and the second presence field is used to indicate whether the general information field in the multilink control field includes the fourth indication field.

[0381] In some embodiments, when the value of the second presence field is used to indicate that the general information field in the multi-link control field includes the fourth indication field, the general information field in the multi-link control field includes the fourth indication field.

[0382] In some embodiments, the fourth indication field is a maximum idle time information field during link enablement, and the second existence field is a maximum idle time information existence field during link enablement.

[0383] In some embodiments, the fourth indication field includes a third subfield and a fourth subfield, wherein the third subfield is used to indicate the maximum idle time during the link enablement period corresponding to all links indicated by the basic multi-link element, and the fourth subfield includes a third field and a fourth field, the third field is used to indicate type information of the frame in the enabled or active state, and the fourth field is used to indicate the behavior of the AP MLD when the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to all links indicated by the basic multi-link element and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA cannot communicate.

[0384] In some embodiments, the third subfield is the maximum idle time subfield during link enablement, the fourth subfield is the idle option subfield during link enablement, the third field is the protected maintenance enablement requirement field, and the fourth field is the expected behavior field exceeding the maximum space time.

[0385] In some embodiments, before the AP MLD manages the N links according to communication reachabilities between the AP MLD-affiliated APs and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs corresponding to the respective N links, the AP MLD receives a first association request frame through one of its affiliated APs;

[0386] The first association request frame is used to request to establish a link of the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the M links within a reachable communication range of the AP MLD-affiliated AP.

[0387] In some embodiments, before the AP MLD manages the N links according to communication reachabilities between the AP MLD-affiliated APs and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs corresponding to the respective N links, the AP MLD receives a second association request frame through one of its affiliated APs;

[0388] The second association request frame is used to request the establishment of M links, and the second association request frame includes relevant information on whether the M links are reachable for communication, and / or the second association request frame includes relevant information on whether the M links are enabled.

[0389] In some embodiments, for a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA within a reachable communication range of an AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to a link to be established, the corresponding link to be established is indicated as communication reachable and / or enabled;

[0390] For a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA whose affiliated AP of the AP MLD associated with the proposed link is not within the reachable communication range, the corresponding proposed link indication is communication unreachable and / or disabled.

[0391] In some embodiments, the second association request frame includes M first indication fields, and / or the second association request frame includes a second indication field;

[0392] The M first indication fields correspond to the M links respectively, and the M first indication fields are respectively used to indicate whether the corresponding links are reachable for communication;

[0393] The second indication field is used to indicate whether each link in the M links is enabled.

[0394] In some embodiments, the second association request frame includes a basic multilink element; wherein the site control field in the per-site configuration sub-element contained in the link information field of the basic multilink element includes a link identification field and the first indication field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field.

[0395] In some embodiments, the first indication field is a reachability field, and / or the second indication field is a flow identifier to link mapping element.

[0396] In some embodiments, when a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link receives a frame sent by an AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the i-th proposed link within a preset time, communication between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link and the AP MLD-affiliated AP is reachable; and / or

[0397] If the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link receives a frame sent by another AP located in the same basic service set (BSS) as the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the i-th proposed link within a preset time, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link and the AP MLD-affiliated AP are reachable; and / or,

[0398] When a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link receives a frame from another AP in the same multiple basic service set identifier (BSSID) set as the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the i-th proposed link within a preset time, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link and the AP MLD-affiliated AP are reachable.

[0399] The i-th link to be built is the i-th link among the M links, i is a positive integer, and 1≤i≤M.

[0400] In some embodiments, the preset time is configured or indicated by the AP MLD, or the preset time is determined by negotiation between the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD, or the preset time is agreed upon by a protocol.

[0401] Therefore, in this embodiment of the present application, the AP MLD manages N links based on the communication reachability between the AP MLD-affiliated APs and non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs corresponding to each of the N established links. Furthermore, the non-AP MLD initiates multi-link establishment with the AP MLD based on the communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs and the AP MLD-affiliated APs corresponding to each of the M links to be established. This ensures that the actual communication status of the links matches the link enablement status.

[0402] Specifically, during the multi-link establishment process, the non-AP MLD requests the establishment of links for the corresponding non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs within the reachable communication range of the AP MLD-affiliated AP, based on the communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs corresponding to each of the M links to be established and the AP MLD-affiliated AP. Alternatively, the non-AP MLD requests the establishment of M links, based on the communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs corresponding to each of the M links to be established and the AP MLD-affiliated AP, and reports information regarding whether the M links are reachable and / or whether the M links are enabled, thereby reflecting the actual communication status of the links. In other words, the non-AP MLD can optimize the multi-link establishment process based on the communication reachability of the links to be established, thereby ensuring that the actual communication status of the links matches the link enablement status.

[0403] Specifically, after multi-link establishment is complete, AP MLD disables any link among the N links where communication between an AP MLD-affiliated AP and a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA is unreachable. Alternatively, AP MLD deletes any link among the N links where communication between an AP MLD-affiliated AP and a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA is unreachable. This ensures that the actual link communication status matches the link enablement status.

[0404] The above text, in combination with Figures 3 to 20, describes in detail the method embodiment of the present application. The following text, in combination with Figures 21 to 27, describes in detail the device embodiment of the present application. It should be understood that the device embodiment and the method embodiment correspond to each other, and similar descriptions can refer to the method embodiment.

[0405] FIG21 shows a schematic block diagram of a non-AP MLD 600 according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG21 , the non-AP MLD 600 includes:

[0406] The communication unit 610 is configured to initiate a multi-link establishment with the AP MLD based on the communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to each of the M links to be established and the access point AP MLD-affiliated access point AP, where M is a positive integer.

[0407] In some embodiments, the communication unit 610 is specifically configured to:

[0408] Sending a first association request frame through a non-AP STA attached to it;

[0409] The first association request frame is used to request to establish a link of the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the M links within a reachable communication range of the AP MLD-affiliated AP.

[0410] In some embodiments, the communication unit 610 is specifically configured to:

[0411] Sending a second association request frame through a non-AP STA attached to it;

[0412] The second association request frame is used to request establishment of the M links, and the second association request frame includes relevant information on whether the M links are reachable for communication, and / or the second association request frame includes relevant information on whether the M links are enabled.

[0413] In some embodiments, for a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA within a reachable communication range of an AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to a link to be established, the corresponding link to be established is indicated as communication reachable and / or enabled;

[0414] For a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA whose AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the link to be established is not within the reachable communication range, the corresponding link to be established is indicated as communication unreachable and / or disabled.

[0415] In some embodiments, the second association request frame includes M first indication fields, and / or the second association request frame includes a second indication field;

[0416] The M first indication fields correspond to the M links respectively, and the M first indication fields are respectively used to indicate whether the corresponding links are reachable for communication;

[0417] The second indication field is used to indicate whether each link in the M links is enabled.

[0418] In some embodiments, the second association request frame includes a basic multilink element;

[0419] The site control field in the per-site configuration sub-element contained in the link information field of the basic multi-link element includes a link identification field and the first indication field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field.

[0420] In some embodiments, the first indication field is a reachability field, and / or the second indication field is a flow identifier to link mapping element.

[0421] In some embodiments, when a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link receives a frame sent by an AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the i-th proposed link within a preset time, communication between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link and the AP MLD-affiliated AP is reachable; and / or

[0422] If the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link receives a frame sent by another AP located in the same basic service set (BSS) as the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the i-th proposed link within a preset time, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link and the AP MLD-affiliated AP are reachable; and / or,

[0423] When the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link receives a frame sent by another AP in the same multiple basic service set identifier (BSSID) set as the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the i-th proposed link within a preset time, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link and the AP MLD-affiliated AP are reachable.

[0424] The i-th link to be built is the i-th link among the M links, i is a positive integer, and 1≤i≤M.

[0425] In some embodiments, the preset time is configured or indicated by the AP MLD, or the preset time is determined by negotiation between the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD, or the preset time is agreed upon by a protocol.

[0426] In some embodiments, the non-AP MLD 600 further includes:

[0427] The processing unit 620 is configured to manage the N established links according to the communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs and the AP MLD-affiliated APs corresponding to the respective N links, where N is a positive integer and N≤M.

[0428] In some embodiments, the processing unit 620 is specifically configured to:

[0429] The enabled links among the N links, corresponding to the unreachable communication between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and the AP MLD-affiliated AP, are set to a disabled state, or the links among the N links, corresponding to the unreachable communication between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and the AP MLD-affiliated AP, are deleted.

[0430] In some embodiments, the non-AP MLD handles the unreachable link between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and the AP MLD-affiliated AP in the N links in a manner determined by negotiation between the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD.

[0431] In some embodiments, when the non-AP MLD sets an enabled link among the N links, in which communication between a non-AP STA affiliated with the non-AP MLD and an AP affiliated with the AP MLD is unreachable, to a disabled state, the link among the N links set to the disabled state refers to a link to which no flow identifier TID is mapped.

[0432] In some embodiments, when the non-AP MLD sets an enabled link among the N links, corresponding to a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and an AP MLD-affiliated AP, to a disabled state, the processing unit 620 is further configured to set a link among the N links that is set to a disabled state due to unreachable communication between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and the AP MLD-affiliated AP, to an enabled state if communication between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and the AP MLD-affiliated AP is reachable.

[0433] In some embodiments, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the jth link is j When at least one frame sent by the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the j-th link is received within 10 seconds, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the j-th link is reachable to the AP MLD-affiliated AP; or

[0434] The non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the jth link is connected for a period of time T. all If at least one frame sent by the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the j-th link is received within 10 seconds, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the j-th link can communicate with the AP MLD-affiliated AP;

[0435] The jth link is the jth link among all established links, and the duration T j is the maximum idle time during the link-enabled period corresponding to the j-th link, and the duration T all is the maximum idle time during the link-enabling period corresponding to all established links, and j is a positive integer.

[0436] In some embodiments, the time duration T j is the periodic duration, and / or the duration T all The duration of the period.

[0437] In some embodiments, the type of the at least one frame is a frame type designated to indicate a link enabled or active state.

[0438] In some embodiments, the at least one frame includes at least one of:

[0439] Mapped to the data frame corresponding to the TID of the j-th link, the energy-saving polling PS-Poll frame, and the management frame.

[0440] In some embodiments, based on the time period T j When determining communication reachability between a non-AP STA attached to a non-AP MLD corresponding to the j-th link and an AP attached to an AP MLD, an association request frame for multi-link establishment sent by the non-AP MLD through one of its attached non-AP STAs includes S third indication fields, where the S third indication fields are respectively used to indicate maximum idle time information during link enablement corresponding to the S links, where S is a positive integer.

[0441] In some embodiments, the association request frame for multilink establishment includes a basic multilink element;

[0442] Among them, the site control field in the per-site configuration sub-element contained in the link information field of the basic multi-link element includes a link identification field and a first existence field, and the first existence field is used to indicate whether the site information field in the per-site configuration sub-element includes the third indication field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field.

[0443] In some embodiments, when the value of the first existence field is used to indicate that the site information field in the per-site configuration sub-element includes the third indication field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field, the site information field in the per-site configuration sub-element includes the third indication field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field.

[0444] In some embodiments, the third indication field is a maximum idle time information field during link enablement, and the first existence field is a maximum idle time information existence field during link enablement.

[0445] In some embodiments, the third indication field includes a first subfield and a second subfield, wherein the first subfield is used to indicate the maximum idle time during the link enablement period of the corresponding link, and the second subfield includes a first field and a second field, the first field is used to indicate type information of the frame in the enabled or active state, and the second field is used to indicate the behavior of the non-AP MLD when communication between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the corresponding enabled link and the AP MLD-affiliated AP is unreachable.

[0446] In some embodiments, the first subfield is the maximum idle time subfield during link enablement, the second subfield is the idle option subfield during link enablement, the first field is the protected maintenance enablement required field, and the second field is the expected behavior field exceeding the maximum space time.

[0447] In some embodiments, based on the time period T all When determining communication reachability between a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the j-th link and an AP MLD-affiliated AP, an association request frame for multi-link establishment sent by the non-AP MLD through one of its affiliated non-AP STAs includes a fourth indication field, where the fourth indication field is used to indicate maximum idle time information during link enablement corresponding to all established links.

[0448] In some embodiments, the association request frame for multilink establishment includes a basic multilink element;

[0449] The presence bitmap subfield in the multilink control field of the basic multilink element includes a second presence field, and the second presence field is used to indicate whether the general information field in the multilink control field includes the fourth indication field.

[0450] In some embodiments, when the value of the second presence field is used to indicate that the general information field in the multi-link control field includes the fourth indication field, the general information field in the multi-link control field includes the fourth indication field.

[0451] In some embodiments, the fourth indication field is a maximum idle time information field during link enablement, and the second existence field is a maximum idle time information existence field during link enablement.

[0452] In some embodiments, the fourth indication field includes a third subfield and a fourth subfield, wherein the third subfield is used to indicate the maximum idle time during the link enablement period corresponding to all links indicated by the basic multi-link element, and the fourth subfield includes a third field and a fourth field, the third field is used to indicate type information of the frame in the enabled or active state, and the fourth field is used to indicate the behavior of the non-AP MLD when communication between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to all links indicated by the basic multi-link element and the AP MLD-affiliated AP is unreachable.

[0453] In some embodiments, the third subfield is the maximum idle time subfield during link enablement, the fourth subfield is the idle option subfield during link enablement, the third field is the protected maintenance enablement requirement field, and the fourth field is the expected behavior field exceeding the maximum space time.

[0454] In some embodiments, the communication unit may be a communication interface or a transceiver, or an input / output interface of a communication chip or a system on chip. The processing unit may be one or more processors.

[0455] It should be understood that the non-AP MLD 600 according to the embodiment of the present application may correspond to the non-AP MLD in the method embodiment of the present application, and the above-mentioned and other operations and / or functions of each unit in the non-AP MLD 600 are respectively for implementing the corresponding process of the non-AP MLD in the method 200 shown in Figure 3. For the sake of brevity, they are not further described here.

[0456] FIG22 shows a schematic block diagram of an access point multi-link device AP MLD 700 according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG22 , the AP MLD 700 includes:

[0457] The communication unit 710 is configured to receive a first association request frame or a second association request frame through an access point AP to which it is attached;

[0458] The first association request frame is used to request to establish a link corresponding to a non-access point multi-link device non-AP MLD-affiliated non-access point station non-AP STA in the M links within a reachable communication range of an AP MLD-affiliated AP;

[0459] The second association request frame is used to request the establishment of M links, and the second association request frame includes relevant information on whether the M links are communication reachable, and / or the second association request frame includes relevant information on whether the M links are enabled;

[0460] Wherein, M is a positive integer.

[0461] In some embodiments, for a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA within a reachable communication range of an AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to a link to be established, the corresponding link to be established is indicated as communication reachable and / or enabled;

[0462] For a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA whose AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the link to be established is not within the reachable communication range, the corresponding link to be established is indicated as communication unreachable and / or disabled.

[0463] In some embodiments, the second association request frame includes M first indication fields, and / or the second association request frame includes a second indication field;

[0464] The M first indication fields correspond to the M links respectively, and the M first indication fields are respectively used to indicate whether the corresponding links are reachable for communication;

[0465] The second indication field is used to indicate whether each link in the M links is enabled.

[0466] In some embodiments, the second association request frame includes a basic multilink element;

[0467] The site control field in the per-site configuration sub-element contained in the link information field of the basic multi-link element includes a link identification field and the first indication field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field.

[0468] In some embodiments, the first indication field is a reachability field, and / or the second indication field is a flow identifier to link mapping element.

[0469] In some embodiments, when a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link receives a frame sent by an AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the i-th proposed link within a preset time, communication between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link and the AP MLD-affiliated AP is reachable; and / or

[0470] If the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link receives a frame sent by another AP located in the same basic service set (BSS) as the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the i-th proposed link within a preset time, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link and the AP MLD-affiliated AP are reachable; and / or,

[0471] When the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link receives a frame sent by another AP in the same multiple basic service set identifier (BSSID) set as the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the i-th proposed link within a preset time, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link and the AP MLD-affiliated AP are reachable.

[0472] The i-th link to be built is the i-th link among the M links, i is a positive integer, and 1≤i≤M.

[0473] In some embodiments, the preset time is configured or indicated by the AP MLD, or the preset time is determined by negotiation between the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD, or the preset time is agreed upon by a protocol.

[0474] In some embodiments, the AP MLD 700 further includes:

[0475] The processing unit 720 is configured to manage the N established links according to the communication reachability between the AP MLD-affiliated APs and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs corresponding to the respective N links, where N is a positive integer and N≤M.

[0476] In some embodiments, the processing unit 720 is specifically configured to:

[0477] The enabled links among the N links, corresponding to the unreachable communication between the AP MLD-affiliated AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA, are set to a disabled state, or the links among the N links, corresponding to the unreachable communication between the AP MLD-affiliated AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA, are deleted.

[0478] In some embodiments, the AP MLD handles the unreachable link between the corresponding AP MLD-affiliated AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA in the N links through negotiation between the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD.

[0479] In some embodiments, when the AP MLD sets the enabled link among the N links, in which communication between the AP MLD-affiliated AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA is unreachable, to a disabled state, the link among the N links set to the disabled state refers to a link without a flow identifier TID mapping.

[0480] In some embodiments, when the AP MLD sets a corresponding enabled link among the N links, in which communication between the AP MLD-affiliated AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA is unreachable, to a disabled state, the method further includes:

[0481] For a link among the N links that is set to a disabled state due to unreachable communication between the corresponding AP MLD-affiliated AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA, the AP MLD enables the link if reachable communication between the corresponding AP MLD-affiliated AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA is established.

[0482] In some embodiments, the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the jth link is in the duration T j ′, if at least one frame sent by the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the j-th link is received within ′, the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the j-th link and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA are reachable; or,

[0483] The AP MLD affiliated AP corresponding to the jth link is in the time length T all If at least one frame sent by the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the j-th link is received within 10 seconds, the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the j-th link and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA are reachable.

[0484] The jth link is the jth link among all established links, and the duration T j ' is the maximum idle time during the link enabling period corresponding to the jth link, and the duration T all ' is the maximum idle time during the link enable period corresponding to all established links, and j is a positive integer.

[0485] In some embodiments, the time duration T j ' is the periodic duration, and / or, the duration T all ′ is the periodic duration.

[0486] In some embodiments, the type of the at least one frame is a frame type designated to indicate a link enabled or active state.

[0487] In some embodiments, the at least one frame includes at least one of:

[0488] Mapped to the data frame corresponding to the flow identifier TID of the j-th link, the energy-saving polling PS-Poll frame, and the management frame.

[0489] In some embodiments, based on the time period T j 'When determining the communication reachability between the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the j-th link and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA, the association response frame sent by the AP MLD through one of its affiliated APs includes S' third indication fields, where the S' third indication fields are respectively used to indicate maximum idle time information during link enablement corresponding to the S' links;

[0490] The association response frame is an association response frame corresponding to the association request frame used for establishing multiple links, and S′ is a positive integer.

[0491] In some embodiments, the association response frame includes a basic multilink element;

[0492] Among them, the site control field in the per-site configuration sub-element contained in the link information field of the basic multi-link element includes a link identification field and a first existence field, and the first existence field is used to indicate whether the site information field in the per-site configuration sub-element includes the third indication field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field.

[0493] In some embodiments, when the value of the first existence field is used to indicate that the site information field in the per-site configuration sub-element includes the third indication field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field, the site information field in the per-site configuration sub-element includes the third indication field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field.

[0494] In some embodiments, the third indication field is a maximum idle time information field during link enablement, and the first existence field is a maximum idle time information existence field during link enablement.

[0495] In some embodiments, the third indication field includes a first subfield and a second subfield, wherein the first subfield is used to indicate the maximum idle time during the link enablement period of the corresponding link, and the second subfield includes a first field and a second field, the first field is used to indicate type information of the frame in the enabled or active state, and the second field is used to indicate the behavior of the AP MLD when communication between the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the corresponding enabled link and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA is unreachable.

[0496] In some embodiments, the first subfield is the maximum idle time subfield during link enablement, the second subfield is the idle option subfield during link enablement, the first field is the protected maintenance enablement required field, and the second field is the expected behavior field exceeding the maximum space time.

[0497] In some embodiments, based on the time period T all 'When communication reachability between the AP MLD-affiliated AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the j-th link is determined, an association response frame sent by the AP MLD through one of its affiliated APs includes a fourth indication field, where the fourth indication field is used to indicate maximum idle time information during link enablement corresponding to all established links. The association response frame is an association response frame corresponding to the association request frame used for multi-link establishment.

[0498] In some embodiments, the association response frame includes a basic multilink element;

[0499] The presence bitmap subfield in the multilink control field of the basic multilink element includes a second presence field, and the second presence field is used to indicate whether the general information field in the multilink control field includes the fourth indication field.

[0500] In some embodiments, when the value of the second presence field is used to indicate that the general information field in the multi-link control field includes the fourth indication field, the general information field in the multi-link control field includes the fourth indication field.

[0501] In some embodiments, the fourth indication field is a maximum idle time information field during link enablement, and the second existence field is a maximum idle time information existence field during link enablement.

[0502] In some embodiments, the fourth indication field includes a third subfield and a fourth subfield, wherein the third subfield is used to indicate the maximum idle time during the link enablement period corresponding to all links indicated by the basic multi-link element, and the fourth subfield includes a third field and a fourth field, the third field is used to indicate type information of the frame in the enabled or active state, and the fourth field is used to indicate the behavior of the AP MLD when the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to all links indicated by the basic multi-link element and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA cannot communicate.

[0503] In some embodiments, the third subfield is the maximum idle time subfield during link enablement, the fourth subfield is the idle option subfield during link enablement, the third field is the protected maintenance enablement requirement field, and the fourth field is the expected behavior field exceeding the maximum space time.

[0504] In some embodiments, the communication unit may be a communication interface or a transceiver, or an input / output interface of a communication chip or a system on chip. The processing unit may be one or more processors.

[0505] It should be understood that the AP MLD 700 according to the embodiment of the present application may correspond to the AP MLD in the method embodiment of the present application, and the above-mentioned and other operations and / or functions of each unit in the AP MLD 700 are respectively for implementing the corresponding process of the AP MLD in the method 300 shown in Figure 16. For the sake of brevity, they are not further described here.

[0506] FIG23 shows a schematic block diagram of a non-AP MLD 800 according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG23 , the non-AP MLD 800 includes:

[0507] The processing unit 810 is configured to manage the N established links according to communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and the access point multi-link device AP MLD-affiliated access point AP corresponding to each of the N established links, where N is a positive integer.

[0508] In some embodiments, the processing unit 810 is specifically configured to:

[0509] The enabled links among the N links, corresponding to the unreachable communication between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and the AP MLD-affiliated AP, are set to a disabled state, or the links among the N links, corresponding to the unreachable communication between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and the AP MLD-affiliated AP, are deleted.

[0510] In some embodiments, the non-AP MLD handles the unreachable link between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and the AP MLD-affiliated AP in the N links in a manner determined by negotiation between the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD.

[0511] In some embodiments, when the non-AP MLD sets an enabled link among the N links, in which communication between a non-AP STA affiliated with the non-AP MLD and an AP affiliated with the AP MLD is unreachable, to a disabled state, the link among the N links set to the disabled state refers to a link to which no flow identifier TID is mapped.

[0512] In some embodiments, when the non-AP MLD sets an enabled link among the N links, corresponding to a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and an AP MLD-affiliated AP, to a disabled state, the processing unit 810 is further configured to set a link among the N links that is set to a disabled state due to unreachable communication between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and the AP MLD-affiliated AP, to an enabled state if communication between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and the AP MLD-affiliated AP is reachable.

[0513] In some embodiments, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the jth link is j When at least one frame sent by the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the j-th link is received within 10 seconds, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the j-th link is reachable to the AP MLD-affiliated AP; or

[0514] The non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the jth link is connected for a period of time T. all If at least one frame sent by the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the j-th link is received within 10 seconds, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the j-th link can communicate with the AP MLD-affiliated AP;

[0515] The jth link is the jth link among all established links, and the duration T j is the maximum idle time during the link-enabled period corresponding to the j-th link, and the duration T all is the maximum idle time during the link-enabling period corresponding to all established links, and j is a positive integer.

[0516] In some embodiments, the time duration T j is the periodic duration, and / or the duration T all The duration of the period.

[0517] In some embodiments, the type of the at least one frame is a frame type designated to indicate a link enabled or active state.

[0518] In some embodiments, the at least one frame includes at least one of:

[0519] Mapped to the data frame corresponding to the TID of the j-th link, the energy-saving polling PS-Poll frame, and the management frame.

[0520] In some embodiments, based on the time period T j When determining communication reachability between a non-AP STA attached to a non-AP MLD corresponding to the j-th link and an AP attached to an AP MLD, an association request frame for multi-link establishment sent by the non-AP MLD through one of its attached non-AP STAs includes S third indication fields, where the S third indication fields are respectively used to indicate maximum idle time information during link enablement corresponding to the S links, where S is a positive integer.

[0521] In some embodiments, the association request frame for multilink establishment includes a basic multilink element;

[0522] Among them, the site control field in the per-site configuration sub-element contained in the link information field of the basic multi-link element includes a link identification field and a first existence field, and the first existence field is used to indicate whether the site information field in the per-site configuration sub-element includes the third indication field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field.

[0523] In some embodiments, when the value of the first existence field is used to indicate that the site information field in the per-site configuration sub-element includes the third indication field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field, the site information field in the per-site configuration sub-element includes the third indication field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field.

[0524] In some embodiments, the third indication field is a maximum idle time information field during link enablement, and the first existence field is a maximum idle time information existence field during link enablement.

[0525] In some embodiments, the third indication field includes a first subfield and a second subfield, wherein the first subfield is used to indicate the maximum idle time during the link enablement period of the corresponding link, and the second subfield includes a first field and a second field, the first field is used to indicate type information of the frame in the enabled or active state, and the second field is used to indicate the behavior of the non-AP MLD when communication between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the corresponding enabled link and the AP MLD-affiliated AP is unreachable.

[0526] In some embodiments, the first subfield is the maximum idle time subfield during link enablement, the second subfield is the idle option subfield during link enablement, the first field is the protected maintenance enablement required field, and the second field is the expected behavior field exceeding the maximum space time.

[0527] In some embodiments, based on the time period T all When determining communication reachability between a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the j-th link and an AP MLD-affiliated AP, an association request frame for multi-link establishment sent by the non-AP MLD through one of its affiliated non-AP STAs includes a fourth indication field, where the fourth indication field is used to indicate maximum idle time information during link enablement corresponding to all established links.

[0528] In some embodiments, the association request frame for multilink establishment includes a basic multilink element;

[0529] The presence bitmap subfield in the multilink control field of the basic multilink element includes a second presence field, and the second presence field is used to indicate whether the general information field in the multilink control field includes the fourth indication field.

[0530] In some embodiments, when the value of the second presence field is used to indicate that the general information field in the multi-link control field includes the fourth indication field, the general information field in the multi-link control field includes the fourth indication field.

[0531] In some embodiments, the fourth indication field is a maximum idle time information field during link enablement, and the second existence field is a maximum idle time information existence field during link enablement.

[0532] In some embodiments, the fourth indication field includes a third subfield and a fourth subfield, wherein the third subfield is used to indicate the maximum idle time during the link enablement period corresponding to all links indicated by the basic multi-link element, and the fourth subfield includes a third field and a fourth field, the third field is used to indicate type information of the frame in the enabled or active state, and the fourth field is used to indicate the behavior of the non-AP MLD when communication between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to all links indicated by the basic multi-link element and the AP MLD-affiliated AP is unreachable.

[0533] In some embodiments, the third subfield is the maximum idle time subfield during link enablement, the fourth subfield is the idle option subfield during link enablement, the third field is the protected maintenance enablement requirement field, and the fourth field is the expected behavior field exceeding the maximum space time.

[0534] In some embodiments, before the non-AP MLD manages the N links according to communication reachabilities between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs and the AP MLD-affiliated APs corresponding to the N links, the non-AP MLD 800 further includes:

[0535] The communication unit 810 is configured to initiate multi-link establishment with the AP MLD based on the communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs and the AP MLD-affiliated APs corresponding to the M links to be established, where M is a positive integer and M≥N.

[0536] In some embodiments, the communication unit 810 is specifically configured to:

[0537] Sending a first association request frame through a non-AP STA attached to it;

[0538] The first association request frame is used to request to establish a link of the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the M links within a reachable communication range of the AP MLD-affiliated AP.

[0539] In some embodiments, the communication unit 810 is specifically configured to:

[0540] Sending a second association request frame through a non-AP STA attached to it;

[0541] The second association request frame is used to request establishment of the M links, and the second association request frame includes relevant information on whether the M links are reachable for communication, and / or the second association request frame includes relevant information on whether the M links are enabled.

[0542] In some embodiments, for a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA within a reachable communication range of an AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to a link to be established, the corresponding link to be established is indicated as communication reachable and / or enabled;

[0543] For a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA whose affiliated AP of the AP MLD corresponding to the link to be established is not within the reachable communication range, the corresponding link to be established indication is communication unreachable and / or disabled.

[0544] In some embodiments, the second association request frame includes M first indication fields, and / or the second association request frame includes a second indication field;

[0545] The M first indication fields correspond to the M links respectively, and the M first indication fields are respectively used to indicate whether the corresponding links are reachable for communication;

[0546] The second indication field is used to indicate whether each link in the M links is enabled.

[0547] In some embodiments, the second association request frame includes a basic multilink element;

[0548] The site control field in the per-site configuration sub-element contained in the link information field of the basic multi-link element includes a link identification field and the first indication field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field.

[0549] In some embodiments, the first indication field is a reachability field, and / or the second indication field is a flow identifier to link mapping element.

[0550] In some embodiments, when a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link receives a frame sent by an AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the i-th proposed link within a preset time, communication between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link and the AP MLD-affiliated AP is reachable; and / or

[0551] If the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link receives a frame sent by another AP located in the same basic service set (BSS) as the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the i-th proposed link within a preset time, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link and the AP MLD-affiliated AP are reachable; and / or,

[0552] When the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link receives a frame sent by another AP in the same multiple basic service set identifier (BSSID) set as the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the i-th proposed link within a preset time, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link and the AP MLD-affiliated AP are reachable.

[0553] The i-th link to be built is the i-th link among the M links, i is a positive integer, and 1≤i≤M.

[0554] In some embodiments, the preset time is configured or indicated by the AP MLD, or the preset time is determined by negotiation between the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD, or the preset time is agreed upon by a protocol.

[0555] In some embodiments, the communication unit may be a communication interface or a transceiver, or an input / output interface of a communication chip or a system on chip. The processing unit may be one or more processors.

[0556] It should be understood that the non-AP MLD 800 according to the embodiment of the present application may correspond to the non-AP MLD in the method embodiment of the present application, and the above-mentioned and other operations and / or functions of each unit in the non-AP MLD 800 are respectively for implementing the corresponding process of the non-AP MLD in the method 400 shown in Figure 19. For the sake of brevity, they are not further described here.

[0557] FIG24 shows a schematic block diagram of an access point multi-link device AP MLD 900 according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG24 , the AP MLD 900 includes:

[0558] The processing unit 910 is configured to manage the N established links according to communication reachability between the AP MLD-affiliated access point AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to each of the N established links, where N is a positive integer.

[0559] In some embodiments, the processing unit 910 is specifically configured to:

[0560] The enabled links among the N links, corresponding to the unreachable communication between the AP MLD-affiliated AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA, are set to a disabled state, or the links among the N links, corresponding to the unreachable communication between the AP MLD-affiliated AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA, are deleted.

[0561] In some embodiments, the AP MLD handles the unreachable link between the corresponding AP MLD-affiliated AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA in the N links through negotiation between the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD.

[0562] In some embodiments, when the AP MLD sets the enabled link among the N links, in which communication between the AP MLD-affiliated AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA is unreachable, to a disabled state, the link among the N links set to the disabled state refers to a link without a flow identifier TID mapping.

[0563] In some embodiments, when the AP MLD sets an enabled link among the N links, corresponding to a communication unreachable link between an AP MLD-affiliated AP and a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA, to a disabled state, the processing unit 910 is further configured to set a link among the N links that is set to a disabled state due to communication unreachable link between the AP MLD-affiliated AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA to an enabled state, when communication reachable link between the AP MLD-affiliated AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA is available on the link.

[0564] In some embodiments, the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the jth link is in the duration T j ′, if at least one frame sent by the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the j-th link is received within ′, the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the j-th link and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA are reachable; or,

[0565] The AP MLD affiliated AP corresponding to the jth link is in the time length T all If at least one frame sent by the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the j-th link is received within 10 seconds, the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the j-th link and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA are reachable.

[0566] The jth link is the jth link among all established links, and the duration T j ' is the maximum idle time during the link enabling period corresponding to the jth link, and the duration T all ' is the maximum idle time during the link enable period corresponding to all established links, and j is a positive integer.

[0567] In some embodiments, the time duration Tj ' is the periodic duration, and / or, the duration T all ′ is the periodic duration.

[0568] In some embodiments, the type of the at least one frame is a frame type designated to indicate a link enabled or active state.

[0569] In some embodiments, the at least one frame includes at least one of:

[0570] Mapped to the data frame corresponding to the flow identifier TID of the j-th link, the energy-saving polling PS-Poll frame, and the management frame.

[0571] In some embodiments, based on the time period T j 'When determining the communication reachability between the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the j-th link and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA, the association response frame sent by the AP MLD through one of its affiliated APs includes S' third indication fields, where the S' third indication fields are respectively used to indicate maximum idle time information during link enablement corresponding to the S' links;

[0572] The association response frame is an association response frame corresponding to the association request frame used for establishing multiple links, and S′ is a positive integer.

[0573] In some embodiments, the association response frame includes a basic multilink element;

[0574] Among them, the site control field in the per-site configuration sub-element contained in the link information field of the basic multi-link element includes a link identification field and a first existence field, and the first existence field is used to indicate whether the site information field in the per-site configuration sub-element includes the third indication field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field.

[0575] In some embodiments, when the value of the first existence field is used to indicate that the site information field in the per-site configuration sub-element includes the third indication field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field, the site information field in the per-site configuration sub-element includes the third indication field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field.

[0576] In some embodiments, the third indication field is a maximum idle time information field during link enablement, and the first existence field is a maximum idle time information existence field during link enablement.

[0577] In some embodiments, the third indication field includes a first subfield and a second subfield, wherein the first subfield is used to indicate the maximum idle time during the link enablement period of the corresponding link, and the second subfield includes a first field and a second field, the first field is used to indicate type information of the frame in the enabled or active state, and the second field is used to indicate the behavior of the AP MLD when communication between the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the corresponding enabled link and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA is unreachable.

[0578] In some embodiments, the first subfield is the maximum idle time subfield during link enablement, the second subfield is the idle option subfield during link enablement, the first field is the protected maintenance enablement required field, and the second field is the expected behavior field exceeding the maximum space time.

[0579] In some embodiments, based on the time period T all 'When communication reachability between the AP MLD-affiliated AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the j-th link is determined, an association response frame sent by the AP MLD through one of its affiliated APs includes a fourth indication field, where the fourth indication field is used to indicate maximum idle time information during link enablement corresponding to all established links. The association response frame is an association response frame corresponding to the association request frame used for multi-link establishment.

[0580] In some embodiments, the association response frame includes a basic multilink element;

[0581] The presence bitmap subfield in the multilink control field of the basic multilink element includes a second presence field, and the second presence field is used to indicate whether the general information field in the multilink control field includes the fourth indication field.

[0582] In some embodiments, when the value of the second presence field is used to indicate that the general information field in the multi-link control field includes the fourth indication field, the general information field in the multi-link control field includes the fourth indication field.

[0583] In some embodiments, the fourth indication field is a maximum idle time information field during link enablement, and the second existence field is a maximum idle time information existence field during link enablement.

[0584] In some embodiments, the fourth indication field includes a third subfield and a fourth subfield, wherein the third subfield is used to indicate the maximum idle time during the link enablement period corresponding to all links indicated by the basic multi-link element, and the fourth subfield includes a third field and a fourth field, the third field is used to indicate type information of the frame in the enabled or active state, and the fourth field is used to indicate the behavior of the AP MLD when the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to all links indicated by the basic multi-link element and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA cannot communicate.

[0585] In some embodiments, the third subfield is the maximum idle time subfield during link enablement, the fourth subfield is the idle option subfield during link enablement, the third field is the protected maintenance enablement requirement field, and the fourth field is the expected behavior field exceeding the maximum space time.

[0586] In some embodiments, before the AP MLD manages the N links according to communication reachabilities between the AP MLD-affiliated APs and non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs corresponding to the N links, the AP MLD 900 further includes:

[0587] The communication unit 920 is configured to receive a first association request frame through an AP to which it is affiliated;

[0588] The first association request frame is used to request to establish a link of the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the M links within a reachable communication range of the AP MLD-affiliated AP.

[0589] In some embodiments, before the AP MLD manages the N links according to communication reachabilities between the AP MLD-affiliated APs and non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs corresponding to the N links, the AP MLD 900 further includes:

[0590] The communication unit 920 is configured to receive a second association request frame through an AP to which it is affiliated;

[0591] The second association request frame is used to request the establishment of M links, and the second association request frame includes relevant information on whether the M links are reachable for communication, and / or the second association request frame includes relevant information on whether the M links are enabled.

[0592] In some embodiments, for a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA within a reachable communication range of an AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to a link to be established, the corresponding link to be established is indicated as communication reachable and / or enabled;

[0593] For a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA whose affiliated AP of the AP MLD associated with the proposed link is not within the reachable communication range, the corresponding proposed link indication is communication unreachable and / or disabled.

[0594] In some embodiments, the second association request frame includes M first indication fields, and / or the second association request frame includes a second indication field;

[0595] The M first indication fields correspond to the M links respectively, and the M first indication fields are respectively used to indicate whether the corresponding links are reachable for communication;

[0596] The second indication field is used to indicate whether each link in the M links is enabled.

[0597] In some embodiments, the second association request frame includes a basic multilink element;

[0598] The site control field in the per-site configuration sub-element contained in the link information field of the basic multi-link element includes a link identification field and the first indication field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field.

[0599] In some embodiments, the first indication field is a reachability field, and / or the second indication field is a flow identifier to link mapping element.

[0600] In some embodiments, when a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link receives a frame sent by an AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the i-th proposed link within a preset time, communication between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link and the AP MLD-affiliated AP is reachable; and / or

[0601] If the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link receives a frame sent by another AP located in the same basic service set (BSS) as the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the i-th proposed link within a preset time, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link and the AP MLD-affiliated AP are reachable; and / or,

[0602] When a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link receives a frame from another AP in the same multiple basic service set identifier (BSSID) set as the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the i-th proposed link within a preset time, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link and the AP MLD-affiliated AP are reachable.

[0603] The i-th link to be built is the i-th link among the M links, i is a positive integer, and 1≤i≤M.

[0604] In some embodiments, the preset time is configured or indicated by the AP MLD, or the preset time is determined by negotiation between the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD, or the preset time is agreed upon by a protocol.

[0605] In some embodiments, the communication unit may be a communication interface or a transceiver, or an input / output interface of a communication chip or a system on chip. The processing unit may be one or more processors.

[0606] It should be understood that the AP MLD 900 according to the embodiment of the present application may correspond to the AP MLD in the method embodiment of the present application, and the above-mentioned and other operations and / or functions of each unit in the AP MLD 900 are respectively for implementing the corresponding process of the AP MLD in the method 500 shown in Figure 20. For the sake of brevity, they are not further described here.

[0607] Figure 25 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 1000 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 1000 shown in Figure 25 includes a processor 1010, which can call and run a computer program from a memory to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0608] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG25 , the communication device 1000 may further include a memory 1020. The processor 1010 may call and execute a computer program from the memory 1020 to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0609] The memory 1020 may be a separate device independent of the processor 1010 , or may be integrated into the processor 1010 .

[0610] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 25 , the communication device 1000 may further include a transceiver 1030 , and the processor 1010 may control the transceiver 1030 to communicate with other devices. Specifically, the transceiver 1030 may send information or data to other devices, or receive information or data sent by other devices.

[0611] The transceiver 1030 may include a transmitter and a receiver. The transceiver 1030 may further include an antenna, and the number of antennas may be one or more.

[0612] In some embodiments, the processor 1010 may implement the functions of a processing unit in a non-AP MLD, or the processor 1010 may implement the functions of a processing unit in an AP MLD, which will not be described in detail here for the sake of brevity.

[0613] In some embodiments, the transceiver 1030 may implement the functions of a communication unit in a non-AP MLD, which will not be described in detail here for the sake of brevity.

[0614] In some embodiments, the transceiver 1030 may implement the functions of a communication unit in the AP MLD, which will not be described in detail here for the sake of brevity.

[0615] In some embodiments, the communication device 1000 may specifically be the AP MLD of the embodiment of the present application, and the communication device 1000 may implement the corresponding processes implemented by the AP MLD in each method of the embodiment of the present application, which will not be described here for the sake of brevity.

[0616] In some embodiments, the communication device 1000 may specifically be a non-AP MLD in an embodiment of the present application, and the communication device 1000 may implement the corresponding processes implemented by the non-AP MLD in each method in the embodiment of the present application, which will not be described here for the sake of brevity.

[0617] Figure 26 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application. The apparatus 1100 shown in Figure 26 includes a processor 1110, which can call and execute a computer program from a memory to implement the method according to the embodiment of the present application.

[0618] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG26 , the apparatus 1100 may further include a memory 1120. The processor 1110 may call and execute a computer program from the memory 1120 to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0619] The memory 1120 may be a separate device independent of the processor 1110 , or may be integrated into the processor 1110 .

[0620] In some embodiments, the apparatus 1100 may further include an input interface 1130. The processor 1110 may control the input interface 1130 to communicate with other devices or chips, specifically, to obtain information or data sent by other devices or chips. Alternatively, the processor 1110 may be located within or outside the chip.

[0621] In some embodiments, the processor 1110 may implement the functions of a processing unit in a non-AP MLD, or the processor 1110 may implement the functions of a processing unit in an AP MLD, which will not be described in detail here for the sake of brevity.

[0622] In some embodiments, the input interface 1130 may implement the functionality of a communication unit in a non-AP MLD, or the input interface 1130 may implement the functionality of a communication unit in an AP MLD.

[0623] In some embodiments, the apparatus 1100 may further include an output interface 1140. The processor 1110 may control the output interface 1140 to communicate with other devices or chips, specifically, to output information or data to other devices or chips. Optionally, the processor 1110 may be located inside or outside the chip.

[0624] In some embodiments, the output interface 1140 may implement the functionality of a communication unit in a non-AP MLD, or the output interface 1140 may implement the functionality of a communication unit in an AP MLD.

[0625] In some embodiments, the apparatus may be applied to the non-AP MLD in the embodiments of the present application, and the apparatus may implement the corresponding processes implemented by the non-AP MLD in the various methods in the embodiments of the present application, which will not be described in detail here for the sake of brevity.

[0626] In some embodiments, the device may be applied to the AP MLD in the embodiments of the present application, and the device may implement the corresponding processes implemented by the AP MLD in the various methods in the embodiments of the present application, which will not be described in detail here for the sake of brevity.

[0627] In some embodiments, the device mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may also be a chip, such as a system-on-chip, a system-on-chip, a chip system, or a system-on-chip chip.

[0628] FIG27 is a schematic block diagram of a communication system 1200 provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG27 , the communication system 1200 includes a non-AP MLD 1210 and an AP MLD 1220 .

[0629] The non-AP MLD 1210 can be used to implement the corresponding functions implemented by the non-AP MLD in the above method, and the AP MLD 1220 can be used to implement the corresponding functions implemented by the AP MLD in the above method. For the sake of brevity, they are not repeated here.

[0630] It should be understood that the processor of the embodiments of the present application may be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. During implementation, each step of the above method embodiment can be completed by hardware integrated logic circuits in the processor or software instructions. The above processor can be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, or discrete hardware components. The various methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented or executed. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor. The steps of the method disclosed in the embodiments of the present application can be directly embodied as being executed by a hardware decoding processor, or can be executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module can be located in a storage medium mature in the art, such as random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable memory, registers, etc. The storage medium is located in the memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory and completes the steps of the above method in combination with its hardware.

[0631] It is understood that the memory in the embodiments of the present application may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct RAM bus random access memory (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0632] It should be understood that the above-mentioned memories are exemplary but not restrictive. For example, the memories in the embodiments of the present application may also be static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct RAM RAM (DR RAM), etc. In other words, the memories in the embodiments of the present application are intended to include, but are not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memories.

[0633] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program.

[0634] In some embodiments, the computer-readable storage medium can be applied to the AP MLD in the embodiments of the present application, and the computer program enables the computer to execute the corresponding processes implemented by the AP MLD in the various methods of the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they are not repeated here.

[0635] In some embodiments, the computer-readable storage medium may be applied to the non-AP MLD in the embodiments of the present application, and the computer program enables a computer to execute the corresponding processes implemented by the non-AP MLD in the various methods of the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they are not further described here.

[0636] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product, including computer program instructions.

[0637] In some embodiments, the computer program product can be applied to the AP MLD in the embodiments of the present application, and the computer program instructions enable the computer to execute the corresponding processes implemented by the AP MLD in the various methods of the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they are not repeated here.

[0638] In some embodiments, the computer program product can be applied to the non-AP MLD in the embodiments of the present application, and the computer program instructions enable a computer to execute the corresponding processes implemented by the non-AP MLD in the various methods of the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they are not further described here.

[0639] The embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program.

[0640] In some embodiments, the computer program can be applied to the AP MLD in the embodiments of the present application. When the computer program runs on a computer, the computer executes the corresponding processes implemented by the AP MLD in the various methods of the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they are not described here.

[0641] In some embodiments, the computer program can be applied to the non-AP MLD in the embodiments of the present application. When the computer program runs on a computer, it causes the computer to execute the corresponding processes implemented by the non-AP MLD in the various methods of the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they are not further described here.

[0642] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0643] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0644] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of the units is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0645] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0646] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0647] If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. In view of this understanding, the technical solution of the present application, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or the part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes a number of instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk.

[0648] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the present application should be included in the scope of protection of the present application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A multi-link communication method, characterized in that: include: The non-AP MLD initiates multi-link establishment with the AP MLD based on the communication reachability between the non-AP STAs affiliated with the non-AP MLD corresponding to the M links to be established and the access points AP affiliated with the AP MLD; where M is a positive integer.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The non-AP MLD initiates multi-link establishment with the AP MLD based on communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs and the AP MLD-affiliated APs corresponding to the M links to be established, including: The non-AP MLD sends a first association request frame through a non-AP STA attached to it; The first association request frame is used to request to establish a link of the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the M links within a reachable communication range of the AP MLD-affiliated AP.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein The non-AP MLD initiates multi-link establishment with the AP MLD based on communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs and the AP MLD-affiliated APs corresponding to the M links to be established, including: The non-AP MLD sends a second association request frame through a non-AP STA attached to it; The second association request frame is used to request the establishment of the M links, and the second association request frame includes relevant information on whether the M links are reachable for communication, and / or the second association request frame includes relevant information on whether the M links are enabled.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein For a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA within the reachable communication range of the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the proposed link, the corresponding proposed link indication is reachable and / or enabled; For a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA whose AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the link to be established is not within the reachable communication range, the corresponding link to be established is indicated as communication unreachable and / or disabled.

5. The method according to claim 3 or 4, wherein: The second association request frame includes M first indication fields, and / or the second association request frame includes a second indication field; The M first indication fields correspond to the M links respectively, and the M first indication fields are respectively used to indicate whether the corresponding links are reachable for communication; The second indication field is used to indicate whether each link in the M links is enabled.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein The second association request frame includes a basic multilink element; The site control field in the per-site configuration sub-element contained in the link information field of the basic multi-link element includes a link identification field and the first indication field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field.

7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein: The first indication field is a reachability field, and / or the second indication field is a flow identifier to link mapping element.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that When the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link receives a frame sent by the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the i-th proposed link within a preset time, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link and the AP MLD-affiliated AP are reachable. and / or, When the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link receives a frame sent by another AP in the same basic service set (BSS) as the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the i-th proposed link within a preset time, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link and the AP MLD-affiliated AP are reachable. and / or, When the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link receives a frame sent by another AP in the same multiple basic service set identifier (BSSID) set as the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the i-th proposed link within a preset time, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link and the AP MLD-affiliated AP are reachable. The i-th link to be established is the i-th link among the M links, i is a positive integer, and 1≤i≤M.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein The preset time is configured or indicated by the AP MLD, or the preset time is determined by negotiation between the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD, or the preset time is agreed upon by a protocol.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that The method further comprises: The non-AP MLD manages the N established links according to the communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs and the AP MLD-affiliated APs corresponding to the respective N links, where N is a positive integer and N≤M.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein The non-AP MLD manages the N established links according to communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs and the AP MLD-affiliated APs corresponding to the respective N established links, including: The non-AP MLD sets the enabled link among the N links, corresponding to the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and the AP MLD-affiliated AP, to a disabled state, or the non-AP MLD deletes the link among the N links, corresponding to the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and the AP MLD-affiliated AP, that is unreachable for communication.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein The non-AP MLD handles the unreachable link between the corresponding non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and the AP MLD-affiliated AP in the N links through negotiation between the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD.

13. The method according to claim 11 or 12, wherein: In a case where the non-AP MLD sets an enabled link among the N links, in which communication between a non-AP STA attached to the non-AP MLD and an AP attached to the AP MLD is unreachable, to a disabled state, the link among the N links set to the disabled state is a link to which no flow identifier TID is mapped.

14. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 13, characterized in that In a case where the non-AP MLD sets a corresponding enabled link among the N links, in which communication between a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and an AP MLD-affiliated AP is unreachable, to a disabled state, the method further includes: For a link among the N links that is set to a disabled state due to unreachable communication between a corresponding non-AP MLD-attached non-AP STA and an AP MLD-attached AP, if communication between the corresponding non-AP MLD-attached non-AP STA and the AP MLD-attached AP is reachable, the non-AP MLD sets the link to an enabled state.

15. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 14, characterized in that The non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the jth link is connected for a period of time T. j When at least one frame sent by the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the j-th link is received within 10 seconds, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the j-th link is reachable to the AP MLD-affiliated AP; or The non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the jth link is connected for a period of time T. all When at least one frame sent by the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the j-th link is received within 10 seconds, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the j-th link is reachable to the AP MLD-affiliated AP; The jth link is the jth link among all established links, and the duration T j is the maximum idle time during the link enabling period corresponding to the j-th link, and the duration T all is the maximum idle time during the link-enabling period corresponding to all established links, and j is a positive integer.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein The duration T j is the periodic duration, and / or, the duration T all The duration of the period.

17. The method according to claim 15 or 16, wherein: The type of the at least one frame is a designated frame type for indicating a link enable or active state.

18. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 17, characterized in that The at least one frame includes at least one of the following: The data frame corresponding to the TID of the j-th link, the energy-saving polling PS-Poll frame, and the management frame are mapped to the data frame.

19. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 18, characterized in that Based on the duration T j When determining communication reachability between a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the j-th link and an AP MLD-affiliated AP, an association request frame for multi-link establishment sent by the non-AP MLD through one of its affiliated non-AP STAs includes S third indication fields, where the S third indication fields are respectively used to indicate maximum idle time information during link enablement corresponding to the S links, where S is a positive integer.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein The association request frame for multi-link establishment includes a basic multi-link element; Among them, the site control field in the per-site configuration sub-element contained in the link information field of the basic multi-link element includes a link identification field and a first existence field, and the first existence field is used to indicate whether the site information field in the per-site configuration sub-element includes the third indication field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein In the case where the value of the first existence domain is used to indicate that the site information domain in the per-site configuration sub-element includes the third indication domain corresponding to the link identified by the link identification domain, the site information domain in the per-site configuration sub-element includes the third indication domain corresponding to the link identified by the link identification domain.

22. The method according to claim 20 or 21, wherein: The third indication field is a maximum idle time information field during link enablement, and the first existence field is a maximum idle time information existence field during link enablement.

23. The method according to any one of claims 19 to 22, characterized in that The third indication field includes a first subfield and a second subfield, wherein the first subfield is used to indicate a maximum idle time during link enablement of the corresponding link, and the second subfield includes a first field and a second field, the first field is used to indicate type information of a frame in an enabled or active state, and the second field is used to indicate a behavior of the non-AP MLD when communication between a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the corresponding enabled link and an AP MLD-affiliated AP is unreachable.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein The first subfield is the maximum idle time subfield during link enablement, the second subfield is the idle option subfield during link enablement, the first field is the protected maintenance enablement requirement field, and the second field is the expected behavior field exceeding the maximum space time.

25. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 18, characterized in that Based on the duration T all In a case where communication reachability between a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and an AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the j-th link is determined, an association request frame for multi-link establishment sent by the non-AP MLD through one of its affiliated non-AP STAs includes a fourth indication field, where the fourth indication field is used to indicate maximum idle time information during link enablement corresponding to all established links.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein: The association request frame for multi-link establishment includes a basic multi-link element; The presence bitmap subfield in the multilink control field of the basic multilink element includes a second presence field, and the second presence field is used to indicate whether the general information field in the multilink control field includes the fourth indication field.

27. The method according to claim 26, wherein In a case where the value of the second existence field is used to indicate that the general information field in the multi-link control field includes the fourth indication field, the general information field in the multi-link control field includes the fourth indication field.

28. The method according to claim 26 or 27, wherein The fourth indication field is a maximum idle time information field during link enablement, and the second existence field is a maximum idle time information existence field during link enablement.

29. The method according to any one of claims 26 to 28, characterized in that The fourth indication field includes a third subfield and a fourth subfield, wherein the third subfield is used to indicate a maximum idle time during link enablement corresponding to all links indicated by the basic multi-link element, and the fourth subfield includes a third field and a fourth field, the third field is used to indicate type information of a frame in an enabled or active state, and the fourth field is used to indicate a behavior of the non-AP MLD when communication between a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to all links indicated by the basic multi-link element and an AP MLD-affiliated AP is unreachable.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein: The third subfield is the maximum idle time subfield during link enablement, the fourth subfield is the idle option subfield during link enablement, the third field is the protected maintenance enablement requirement field, and the fourth field is the expected behavior field exceeding the maximum space time.

31. A multi-link communication method, characterized in that: include: The access point multi-link device AP MLD receives the first association request frame or the second association request frame through an access point AP to which it is attached; The first association request frame is used to request to establish a link corresponding to a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA in the M links within a reachable communication range of an AP MLD-affiliated AP; The second association request frame is used to request the establishment of M links, and the second association request frame includes relevant information on whether the M links are reachable for communication, and / or the second association request frame includes relevant information on whether the M links are enabled; Wherein, M is a positive integer.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein For a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA within the reachable communication range of the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the proposed link, the corresponding proposed link indication is reachable and / or enabled; For a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA whose AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the link to be established is not within the reachable communication range, the corresponding link to be established is indicated as communication unreachable and / or disabled.

33. The method according to claim 31 or 32, wherein: The second association request frame includes M first indication fields, and / or the second association request frame includes a second indication field; The M first indication fields correspond to the M links respectively, and the M first indication fields are respectively used to indicate whether the corresponding links are reachable for communication; The second indication field is used to indicate whether each link in the M links is enabled.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein: The second association request frame includes a basic multilink element; The site control field in the per-site configuration sub-element contained in the link information field of the basic multi-link element includes a link identification field and the first indication field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field.

35. The method according to claim 33 or 34, wherein The first indication field is a reachability field, and / or the second indication field is a flow identifier to link mapping element.

36. The method according to any one of claims 31 to 35, wherein When the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link receives a frame sent by the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the i-th proposed link within a preset time, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link and the AP MLD-affiliated AP are reachable. and / or, When the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link receives a frame sent by another AP in the same basic service set (BSS) as the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the i-th proposed link within a preset time, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link and the AP MLD-affiliated AP are reachable. and / or, When the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link receives a frame sent by another AP in the same multiple basic service set identifier (BSSID) set as the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the i-th proposed link within a preset time, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link and the AP MLD-affiliated AP are reachable. The i-th link to be established is the i-th link among the M links, i is a positive integer, and 1≤i≤M.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein: The preset time is configured or indicated by the AP MLD, or the preset time is determined by negotiation between the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD, or the preset time is agreed upon by a protocol.

38. The method according to any one of claims 31 to 37, wherein The method further comprises: The AP MLD manages the N established links according to communication reachability between the AP MLD-affiliated APs and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs corresponding to the respective N links, where N is a positive integer and N≤M.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein The AP MLD manages the N established links according to communication reachability between the AP MLD-affiliated APs and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs corresponding to the respective N established links, including: The AP MLD sets the enabled link among the N links, corresponding to the unreachable communication link between the AP MLD-affiliated AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA, to a disabled state, or the AP MLD deletes the link among the N links, corresponding to the unreachable communication link between the AP MLD-affiliated AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein The AP MLD handles a link in the N links where communication between a corresponding AP MLD-affiliated AP and a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA is unreachable, which is determined by negotiation between the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD.

41. The method according to claim 39 or 40, wherein In a case where the AP MLD sets a corresponding enabled link among the N links, in which communication between the AP MLD-affiliated AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA is unreachable, to a disabled state, the link among the N links set to the disabled state is a link to which no flow identifier TID is mapped.

42. The method according to any one of claims 39 to 41, wherein In a case where the AP MLD sets a corresponding enabled link among the N links, in which communication between an AP MLD-affiliated AP and a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA is unreachable, to a disabled state, the method further includes: For a link among the N links that is set to a disabled state due to unreachable communication between a corresponding AP MLD-affiliated AP and a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA, if communication between the corresponding AP MLD-affiliated AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA is reachable, the AP MLD sets the link to an enabled state.

43. The method according to any one of claims 38 to 42, wherein The AP MLD affiliated AP corresponding to the jth link is in the time length T j If at least one frame sent by the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the j-th link is received within 10 seconds, the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the j-th link and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA are reachable; or, The AP MLD affiliated AP corresponding to the jth link is in the time length T all If at least one frame sent by the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the j-th link is received within 10 seconds, the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the j-th link and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA are reachable; The jth link is the jth link among all established links, and the duration T j ' is the maximum idle time during the link enabling period corresponding to the jth link, and the duration T all ' is the maximum idle time during the link enable period corresponding to all established links, and j is a positive integer.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein: The duration T j ' is the periodic duration, and / or, the duration T all ′ is the periodic duration.

45. The method according to claim 43 or 44, wherein The type of the at least one frame is a designated frame type for indicating a link enable or active state.

46. ​​The method according to any one of claims 43 to 45, wherein The at least one frame includes at least one of the following: The data frame, the energy-saving polling PS-Poll frame, and the management frame are mapped to the flow identifier TID corresponding to the j-th link.

47. The method according to any one of claims 43 to 46, wherein Based on the duration T j 'When determining communication reachability between the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the j-th link and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA, the association response frame sent by the AP MLD through one of its affiliated APs includes S' third indication fields, where the S' third indication fields are respectively used to indicate maximum idle time information during link enablement corresponding to the S' links; The association response frame is an association response frame corresponding to the association request frame used for multi-link establishment, and S′ is a positive integer.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein The association response frame includes a basic multilink element; Among them, the site control field in the per-site configuration sub-element contained in the link information field of the basic multi-link element includes a link identification field and a first existence field, and the first existence field is used to indicate whether the site information field in the per-site configuration sub-element includes the third indication field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field.

49. The method of claim 48, wherein In the case where the value of the first existence domain is used to indicate that the site information domain in the per-site configuration sub-element includes the third indication domain corresponding to the link identified by the link identification domain, the site information domain in the per-site configuration sub-element includes the third indication domain corresponding to the link identified by the link identification domain.

50. The method according to claim 48 or 49, wherein The third indication field is a maximum idle time information field during link enablement, and the first existence field is a maximum idle time information existence field during link enablement.

51. The method according to any one of claims 47 to 50, wherein The third indication field includes a first subfield and a second subfield, wherein the first subfield is used to indicate the maximum idle time during the link enablement period of the corresponding link, and the second subfield includes a first field and a second field, the first field is used to indicate type information of a frame in an enabled or active state, and the second field is used to indicate the behavior of the AP MLD when communication between the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the corresponding enabled link and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA is unreachable.

52. The method of claim 51, wherein The first subfield is the maximum idle time subfield during link enablement, the second subfield is the idle option subfield during link enablement, the first field is the protected maintenance enablement requirement field, and the second field is the expected behavior field exceeding the maximum space time.

53. The method according to any one of claims 43 to 46, wherein Based on the duration T all 'In a case where communication reachability between an AP MLD-affiliated AP and a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the j-th link is determined, an association response frame sent by the AP MLD through one of its affiliated APs includes a fourth indication field, where the fourth indication field is used to indicate maximum idle time information during link enablement periods corresponding to all established links, and the association response frame is an association response frame corresponding to an association request frame for multi-link establishment.

54. The method of claim 53, wherein: The association response frame includes a basic multilink element; The presence bitmap subfield in the multilink control field of the basic multilink element includes a second presence field, and the second presence field is used to indicate whether the general information field in the multilink control field includes the fourth indication field.

55. The method of claim 54, wherein: In a case where the value of the second existence field is used to indicate that the general information field in the multi-link control field includes the fourth indication field, the general information field in the multi-link control field includes the fourth indication field.

56. The method according to claim 54 or 55, wherein The fourth indication field is a maximum idle time information field during link enablement, and the second existence field is a maximum idle time information existence field during link enablement.

57. The method according to any one of claims 54 to 56, wherein The fourth indication field includes a third subfield and a fourth subfield, wherein the third subfield is used to indicate the maximum idle time during the link enablement period corresponding to all links indicated by the basic multi-link element, and the fourth subfield includes a third field and a fourth field, the third field is used to indicate type information of a frame in an enabled or active state, and the fourth field is used to indicate the behavior of the AP MLD when the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to all links indicated by the basic multi-link element and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA cannot communicate.

58. The method of claim 57, wherein: The third subfield is the maximum idle time subfield during link enablement, the fourth subfield is the idle option subfield during link enablement, the third field is the protected maintenance enablement requirement field, and the fourth field is the expected behavior field exceeding the maximum space time.

59. A multi-link communication method, characterized in that: include: The non-AP MLD manages the N established links according to the communication reachability between the non-AP STAs affiliated with the non-AP MLDs corresponding to the respective N established links and the access points APs affiliated with the access point multi-link device AP MLD, where N is a positive integer.

60. The method of claim 59, wherein The non-AP MLD manages the N established links according to communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs and the AP MLD-affiliated APs corresponding to the respective N established links, including: The non-AP MLD sets the enabled link among the N links, corresponding to the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and the AP MLD-affiliated AP, to a disabled state, or the non-AP MLD deletes the link among the N links, corresponding to the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and the AP MLD-affiliated AP, that is unreachable for communication.

61. The method of claim 60, wherein: The non-AP MLD handles the unreachable link between the corresponding non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and the AP MLD-affiliated AP in the N links through negotiation between the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD.

62. The method according to claim 60 or 61, wherein In a case where the non-AP MLD sets an enabled link among the N links, in which communication between a non-AP STA attached to the non-AP MLD and an AP attached to the AP MLD is unreachable, to a disabled state, the link among the N links set to the disabled state is a link to which no flow identifier TID is mapped.

63. The method according to any one of claims 60 to 62, wherein In a case where the non-AP MLD sets a corresponding enabled link among the N links, in which communication between a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and an AP MLD-affiliated AP is unreachable, to a disabled state, the method further includes: For a link among the N links that is set to a disabled state due to unreachable communication between a corresponding non-AP MLD-attached non-AP STA and an AP MLD-attached AP, if communication between the corresponding non-AP MLD-attached non-AP STA and the AP MLD-attached AP is reachable, the non-AP MLD sets the link to an enabled state.

64. The method according to any one of claims 59 to 63, wherein The non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the jth link is connected for a period of time T. j When at least one frame sent by the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the j-th link is received within 10 seconds, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the j-th link is reachable to the AP MLD-affiliated AP; or The non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the jth link is connected for a period of time T. all When at least one frame sent by the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the j-th link is received within 10 seconds, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the j-th link is reachable to the AP MLD-affiliated AP; The jth link is the jth link among all established links, and the duration T j is the maximum idle time during the link enabling period corresponding to the j-th link, and the duration T all is the maximum idle time during the link-enabling period corresponding to all established links, and j is a positive integer.

65. The method of claim 64, wherein: The duration T j is the periodic duration, and / or, the duration T all The duration of the period.

66. The method of claim 64 or 65, wherein: The type of the at least one frame is a designated frame type for indicating a link enable or active state.

67. The method according to any one of claims 64 to 66, wherein The at least one frame includes at least one of the following: The data frame corresponding to the TID of the j-th link, the energy-saving polling PS-Poll frame, and the management frame are mapped to the data frame.

68. The method according to any one of claims 64 to 67, wherein Based on the duration T j When determining communication reachability between a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the j-th link and an AP MLD-affiliated AP, an association request frame for multi-link establishment sent by the non-AP MLD through one of its affiliated non-AP STAs includes S third indication fields, where the S third indication fields are respectively used to indicate maximum idle time information during link enablement corresponding to the S links, where S is a positive integer.

69. The method of claim 68, wherein The association request frame for multi-link establishment includes a basic multi-link element; Among them, the site control field in the per-site configuration sub-element contained in the link information field of the basic multi-link element includes a link identification field and a first existence field, and the first existence field is used to indicate whether the site information field in the per-site configuration sub-element includes the third indication field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field.

70. The method of claim 69, wherein In the case where the value of the first existence domain is used to indicate that the site information domain in the per-site configuration sub-element includes the third indication domain corresponding to the link identified by the link identification domain, the site information domain in the per-site configuration sub-element includes the third indication domain corresponding to the link identified by the link identification domain.

71. The method according to claim 69 or 70, wherein The third indication field is a maximum idle time information field during link enablement, and the first existence field is a maximum idle time information existence field during link enablement.

72. The method according to any one of claims 68 to 71, wherein The third indication field includes a first subfield and a second subfield, wherein the first subfield is used to indicate a maximum idle time during link enablement of the corresponding link, and the second subfield includes a first field and a second field, the first field is used to indicate type information of a frame in an enabled or active state, and the second field is used to indicate a behavior of the non-AP MLD when communication between a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the corresponding enabled link and an AP MLD-affiliated AP is unreachable.

73. The method of claim 72, wherein: The first subfield is the maximum idle time subfield during link enablement, the second subfield is the idle option subfield during link enablement, the first field is the protected maintenance enablement requirement field, and the second field is the expected behavior field exceeding the maximum space time.

74. The method according to any one of claims 64 to 67, wherein Based on the duration T all In a case where communication reachability between a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and an AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the j-th link is determined, an association request frame for multi-link establishment sent by the non-AP MLD through one of its affiliated non-AP STAs includes a fourth indication field, where the fourth indication field is used to indicate maximum idle time information during link enablement corresponding to all established links.

75. The method of claim 74, wherein The association request frame for multi-link establishment includes a basic multi-link element; The presence bitmap subfield in the multilink control field of the basic multilink element includes a second presence field, and the second presence field is used to indicate whether the general information field in the multilink control field includes the fourth indication field.

76. The method of claim 75, wherein In a case where the value of the second existence field is used to indicate that the general information field in the multi-link control field includes the fourth indication field, the general information field in the multi-link control field includes the fourth indication field.

77. The method of claim 75 or 76, wherein: The fourth indication field is a maximum idle time information field during link enablement, and the second existence field is a maximum idle time information existence field during link enablement.

78. The method according to any one of claims 75 to 77, wherein The fourth indication field includes a third subfield and a fourth subfield, wherein the third subfield is used to indicate a maximum idle time during link enablement corresponding to all links indicated by the basic multi-link element, and the fourth subfield includes a third field and a fourth field, the third field is used to indicate type information of a frame in an enabled or active state, and the fourth field is used to indicate a behavior of the non-AP MLD when communication between a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to all links indicated by the basic multi-link element and an AP MLD-affiliated AP is unreachable.

79. The method of claim 78, wherein The third subfield is the maximum idle time subfield during link enablement, the fourth subfield is the idle option subfield during link enablement, the third field is the protected maintenance enablement requirement field, and the fourth field is the expected behavior field exceeding the maximum space time.

80. The method according to any one of claims 59 to 79, wherein Before the non-AP MLD manages the N links according to communication reachabilities between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs and the AP MLD-affiliated APs corresponding to the N links, the method further includes: The non-AP MLD initiates multi-link establishment with the AP MLD based on the communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to each of the M links to be established, where M is a positive integer and M≥N.

81. The method of claim 80, wherein The non-AP MLD initiates multi-link establishment with the AP MLD based on communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs and the AP MLD-affiliated APs corresponding to the M links to be established, including: The non-AP MLD sends a first association request frame through a non-AP STA attached to it; The first association request frame is used to request to establish a link of the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the M links within a reachable communication range of the AP MLD-affiliated AP.

82. The method of claim 80, wherein The non-AP MLD initiates multi-link establishment with the AP MLD based on communication reachability between the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs and the AP MLD-affiliated APs corresponding to the M links to be established, including: The non-AP MLD sends a second association request frame through a non-AP STA attached to it; The second association request frame is used to request the establishment of the M links, and the second association request frame includes relevant information on whether the M links are reachable for communication, and / or the second association request frame includes relevant information on whether the M links are enabled.

83. The method of claim 82, wherein For a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA within the reachable communication range of the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the proposed link, the corresponding proposed link indication is reachable and / or enabled; For a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA whose affiliated AP of the AP MLD corresponding to the link to be established is not within the reachable communication range, the corresponding link to be established indication is communication unreachable and / or disabled.

84. The method of claim 82 or 83, wherein: The second association request frame includes M first indication fields, and / or the second association request frame includes a second indication field; The M first indication fields correspond to the M links respectively, and the M first indication fields are respectively used to indicate whether the corresponding links are reachable for communication; The second indication field is used to indicate whether each link in the M links is enabled.

85. The method of claim 84, wherein The second association request frame includes a basic multilink element; The site control field in the per-site configuration sub-element contained in the link information field of the basic multi-link element includes a link identification field and the first indication field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field.

86. The method of claim 84 or 85, wherein: The first indication field is a reachability field, and / or the second indication field is a flow identifier to link mapping element.

87. The method according to any one of claims 80 to 86, wherein When the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link receives a frame sent by the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the i-th proposed link within a preset time, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link and the AP MLD-affiliated AP are reachable. and / or, When the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link receives a frame sent by another AP in the same basic service set (BSS) as the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the i-th proposed link within a preset time, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link and the AP MLD-affiliated AP are reachable. and / or, When the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link receives a frame sent by another AP in the same multiple basic service set identifier (BSSID) set as the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the i-th proposed link within a preset time, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link and the AP MLD-affiliated AP are reachable. The i-th link to be established is the i-th link among the M links, i is a positive integer, and 1≤i≤M.

88. The method of claim 87, wherein The preset time is configured or indicated by the AP MLD, or the preset time is determined by negotiation between the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD, or the preset time is agreed upon by a protocol.

89. A multi-link communication method, characterized in that: include: The access point multi-link device AP MLD manages the N established links according to the communication reachability between the AP MLD-affiliated access point AP and the non-AP STA affiliated with the non-AP multi-link device non-AP MLD corresponding to each of the N established links, where N is a positive integer.

90. The method of claim 89, wherein The AP MLD manages the N established links according to communication reachability between the AP MLD-affiliated APs and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs corresponding to the respective N established links, including: The AP MLD sets the enabled link among the N links, corresponding to the unreachable communication link between the AP MLD-affiliated AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA, to a disabled state, or the AP MLD deletes the link among the N links, corresponding to the unreachable communication link between the AP MLD-affiliated AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA.

91. The method of claim 90, wherein The AP MLD handles a link in the N links where communication between a corresponding AP MLD-affiliated AP and a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA is unreachable, which is determined by negotiation between the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD.

92. The method of claim 90 or 91, wherein: In a case where the AP MLD sets a corresponding enabled link among the N links, in which communication between the AP MLD-affiliated AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA is unreachable, to a disabled state, the link among the N links set to the disabled state is a link to which no flow identifier TID is mapped.

93. The method according to any one of claims 90 to 92, wherein In a case where the AP MLD sets a corresponding enabled link among the N links, in which communication between an AP MLD-affiliated AP and a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA is unreachable, to a disabled state, the method further includes: For a link among the N links that is set to a disabled state due to unreachable communication between a corresponding AP MLD-affiliated AP and a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA, if communication between the corresponding AP MLD-affiliated AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA is reachable, the AP MLD sets the link to an enabled state.

94. The method according to any one of claims 89 to 93, wherein The AP MLD affiliated AP corresponding to the jth link is in the time length T j If at least one frame sent by the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the j-th link is received within 10 seconds, the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the j-th link and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA are reachable; or, The AP MLD affiliated AP corresponding to the jth link is in the time length T all If at least one frame sent by the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the j-th link is received within 10 seconds, the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the j-th link and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA are reachable; The jth link is the jth link among all established links, and the duration T j ' is the maximum idle time during the link enabling period corresponding to the jth link, and the duration T all ' is the maximum idle time during the link enable period corresponding to all established links, and j is a positive integer.

95. The method of claim 94, wherein The duration T j ' is the periodic duration, and / or, the duration T all ′ is the periodic duration.

96. The method of claim 94 or 95, wherein: The type of the at least one frame is a designated frame type for indicating a link enable or active state.

97. The method according to any one of claims 94 to 96, wherein The at least one frame includes at least one of the following: The data frame, the energy-saving polling PS-Poll frame, and the management frame are mapped to the flow identifier TID corresponding to the j-th link.

98. The method according to any one of claims 94 to 97, wherein Based on the duration T j 'When determining communication reachability between the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the j-th link and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA, the association response frame sent by the AP MLD through one of its affiliated APs includes S' third indication fields, where the S' third indication fields are respectively used to indicate maximum idle time information during link enablement corresponding to the S' links; The association response frame is an association response frame corresponding to the association request frame used for multi-link establishment, and S′ is a positive integer.

99. The method of claim 98, wherein The association response frame includes a basic multilink element; Among them, the site control field in the per-site configuration sub-element contained in the link information field of the basic multi-link element includes a link identification field and a first existence field, and the first existence field is used to indicate whether the site information field in the per-site configuration sub-element includes the third indication field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field.

100. The method of claim 99, wherein In the case where the value of the first existence domain is used to indicate that the site information domain in the per-site configuration sub-element includes the third indication domain corresponding to the link identified by the link identification domain, the site information domain in the per-site configuration sub-element includes the third indication domain corresponding to the link identified by the link identification domain.

101. The method according to claim 99 or 100, wherein: The third indication field is a maximum idle time information field during link enablement, and the first existence field is a maximum idle time information existence field during link enablement.

102. The method according to any one of claims 98 to 101, wherein The third indication field includes a first subfield and a second subfield, wherein the first subfield is used to indicate the maximum idle time during the link enablement period of the corresponding link, and the second subfield includes a first field and a second field, the first field is used to indicate type information of a frame in an enabled or active state, and the second field is used to indicate the behavior of the AP MLD when communication between the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the corresponding enabled link and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA is unreachable.

103. The method of claim 102, wherein: The first subfield is the maximum idle time subfield during link enablement, the second subfield is the idle option subfield during link enablement, the first field is the protected maintenance enablement requirement field, and the second field is the expected behavior field exceeding the maximum space time.

104. The method according to any one of claims 94 to 97, wherein Based on the duration T all 'In a case where communication reachability between an AP MLD-affiliated AP and a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the j-th link is determined, an association response frame sent by the AP MLD through one of its affiliated APs includes a fourth indication field, where the fourth indication field is used to indicate maximum idle time information during link enablement periods corresponding to all established links, and the association response frame is an association response frame corresponding to an association request frame for multi-link establishment.

105. The method of claim 104, wherein: The association response frame includes a basic multilink element; The presence bitmap subfield in the multilink control field of the basic multilink element includes a second presence field, and the second presence field is used to indicate whether the general information field in the multilink control field includes the fourth indication field.

106. The method of claim 105, wherein: In a case where the value of the second existence field is used to indicate that the general information field in the multi-link control field includes the fourth indication field, the general information field in the multi-link control field includes the fourth indication field.

107. The method according to claim 105 or 106, wherein: The fourth indication field is a maximum idle time information field during link enablement, and the second existence field is a maximum idle time information existence field during link enablement.

108. The method according to any one of claims 105 to 107, wherein The fourth indication field includes a third subfield and a fourth subfield, wherein the third subfield is used to indicate the maximum idle time during the link enablement period corresponding to all links indicated by the basic multi-link element, and the fourth subfield includes a third field and a fourth field, the third field is used to indicate type information of a frame in an enabled or active state, and the fourth field is used to indicate the behavior of the AP MLD when the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to all links indicated by the basic multi-link element and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA cannot communicate.

109. The method of claim 108, wherein The third subfield is the maximum idle time subfield during link enablement, the fourth subfield is the idle option subfield during link enablement, the third field is the protected maintenance enablement requirement field, and the fourth field is the expected behavior field exceeding the maximum space time.

110. The method according to any one of claims 89 to 109, wherein Before the AP MLD manages the N links according to communication reachabilities between the AP MLD-affiliated APs and non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs corresponding to the N links, the method further includes: The AP MLD receives a first association request frame through an AP to which it is affiliated; The first association request frame is used to request to establish a link of the corresponding non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA in the M links within the reachable communication range of the AP MLD-affiliated AP.

111. The method according to any one of claims 89 to 109, wherein Before the AP MLD manages the N links according to communication reachabilities between the AP MLD-affiliated APs and non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs corresponding to the N links, the method further includes: The AP MLD receives a second association request frame through an AP to which it is affiliated; The second association request frame is used to request the establishment of M links, and the second association request frame includes relevant information on whether the M links are reachable for communication, and / or the second association request frame includes relevant information on whether the M links are enabled.

112. The method of claim 111, wherein: For a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA within the reachable communication range of the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the proposed link, the corresponding proposed link indication is reachable and / or enabled; For a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA whose affiliated AP of the AP MLD associated with the proposed link is not within the reachable communication range, the corresponding proposed link indication is communication unreachable and / or disabled.

113. The method according to claim 111 or 112, wherein: The second association request frame includes M first indication fields, and / or the second association request frame includes a second indication field; The M first indication fields correspond to the M links respectively, and the M first indication fields are respectively used to indicate whether the corresponding links are reachable for communication; The second indication field is used to indicate whether each link in the M links is enabled.

114. The method of claim 113, wherein: The second association request frame includes a basic multilink element; wherein the site control field in the per-site configuration sub-element contained in the link information field of the basic multilink element includes a link identification field and the first indication field corresponding to the link identified by the link identification field.

115. The method according to claim 113 or 114, wherein The first indication field is a reachability field, and / or the second indication field is a flow identifier to link mapping element.

116. The method according to any one of claims 110 to 115, wherein When the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link receives a frame sent by the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the i-th proposed link within a preset time, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link and the AP MLD-affiliated AP are reachable. and / or, When the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link receives a frame sent by another AP in the same basic service set (BSS) as the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the i-th proposed link within a preset time, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link and the AP MLD-affiliated AP are reachable. and / or, When a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link receives a frame from another AP in the same multiple basic service set identifier (BSSID) set as the AP MLD-affiliated AP corresponding to the i-th proposed link within a preset time, the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to the i-th proposed link and the AP MLD-affiliated AP are reachable. The i-th link to be established is the i-th link among the M links, i is a positive integer, and 1≤i≤M.

117. The method of claim 116, wherein: The preset time is configured or indicated by the AP MLD, or the preset time is determined by negotiation between the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD, or the preset time is agreed upon by a protocol.

118. A non-access point multi-link device (MLD), characterized in that: include: a communication unit, configured to initiate multi-link establishment with the AP MLD based on communication reachability between a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA corresponding to each of the M links to be established and an access point AP attached to the AP MLD; wherein M is a positive integer.

119. An access point multi-link device AP MLD, characterized in that: include: The communication unit is configured to receive the first association request frame or the second association request frame through an access point AP to which it is attached; The first association request frame is used to request to establish a link corresponding to a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA in the M links within a reachable communication range of an AP MLD-affiliated AP; The second association request frame is used to request the establishment of M links, and the second association request frame includes relevant information on whether the M links are reachable for communication, and / or the second association request frame includes relevant information on whether the M links are enabled; Wherein, M is a positive integer.

120. A non-access point multi-link device (MLD), characterized in that: include: The processing unit is configured to manage the N established links according to communication reachability between a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA and an access point multi-link device AP MLD-affiliated access point AP corresponding to each of the N established links, where N is a positive integer.

121. An access point multi-link device AP MLD, characterized in that: include: The processing unit is configured to manage the N established links according to communication reachabilities between the AP MLD-affiliated access points AP and the non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STAs corresponding to the respective established N links, where N is a positive integer.

122. A non-access point multi-link device (MLD), characterized in that: include: A processor and a memory, the memory being configured to store a computer program, the processor being configured to call and execute the computer program stored in the memory, so that the non-AP MLD executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 30.

123. An access point multi-link device AP MLD, characterized in that: include: A processor and a memory, the memory being used to store a computer program, the processor being used to call and run the computer program stored in the memory, so that the AP MLD performs the method according to any one of claims 31 to 58.

124. A non-access point multi-link device (non-AP MLD), characterized in that: include: A processor and a memory, the memory being configured to store a computer program, the processor being configured to call and execute the computer program stored in the memory, so that the non-AP MLD executes the method according to any one of claims 59 to 88.

125. An access point multi-link device AP MLD, characterized in that: include: A processor and a memory, the memory being used to store a computer program, the processor being used to call and run the computer program stored in the memory, so that the AP MLD performs the method according to any one of claims 89 to 117.

126. A chip, characterized in that: It comprises: a processor for calling and running a computer program from a memory, so that a device equipped with the chip executes the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 30, or executes the method as described in any one of claims 31 to 58, or executes the method as described in any one of claims 59 to 88, or executes the method as described in any one of claims 89 to 117.

127. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that Used to store a computer program, when the computer program is executed, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 30 is implemented, or the method according to any one of claims 31 to 58 is implemented, or the method according to any one of claims 59 to 88 is implemented, or the method according to any one of claims 89 to 117 is implemented.

128. A computer program product, characterized in that Comprising computer program instructions, when the computer program instructions are executed, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 30 is implemented, or the method according to any one of claims 31 to 58 is implemented, or the method according to any one of claims 59 to 88 is implemented, or the method according to any one of claims 89 to 117 is implemented.

129. A computer program, characterized in that When the computer program is executed, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 30 is implemented, or the method according to any one of claims 31 to 58 is implemented, or the method according to any one of claims 59 to 88 is implemented, or the method according to any one of claims 89 to 117 is implemented.

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