Communication method and device

Abstract

The invention discloses a communication method and device. The communication method and device support an IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) protocol (such as an IEEE 802.11 be / Wi-Fi 7 / EHT protocol, an IEEE 802.11 bn / UHR / Wi-Fi 8 protocol, an IEEE 802.15 / UWB protocol, or an IEEE 802.11 bf / sensing / sensing protocol). The method comprises the following steps: a station receives a first wireless frame from an access point through a first mode, the first wireless frame is used for triggering a station switching mode, and the first wireless frame comprises identification information of the station; after receiving the first wireless frame, the station switches from the first mode to the second mode; the station receives a message frame from the access point in a second mode; the power consumption of the station in the first mode is lower than the power consumption of the station in the second mode. According to the scheme, it can be ensured that the station only triggers mode switching by the WiFi signal sent to the station, and therefore the power consumption of the station is saved.

Description

Technical Field

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

[0002] In Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) networks, a considerable amount of energy is wasted on idle listening when there is no received signal. For example, according to the results of the test of commercial WiFi 6 chips, the power consumption of the device in the sleep state accounts for 1.64%, the power consumption of the device in the transmitting state accounts for 8.84%, the power consumption of the device in the receiving state accounts for 27.08%, and the power consumption of the device in the listening state accounts for 62.43%. The reason is that the instantaneous power of the device is relatively large when transmitting and receiving, and the instantaneous power of the device when listening is slightly smaller, but the device listening time is much longer than the device transmitting and receiving time, which leads to a large proportion of the total power consumed by listening.

[0003] One technical solution is to reduce the power consumption in the listening mode by adding a low power transceiver, that is, the device includes two transceivers, a low power transceiver and a regular transceiver. When the device is in the listening mode, only the low power transceiver is used for listening; if the low power transceiver is synchronized to the WiFi signal through the short training field (STF), the regular transceiver will be awakened; if the signal received by the low power transceiver is not a WiFi signal, the received signal will be filtered out.

[0004] However, in a scenario where devices are densely populated, the air interface not only has the device's own WiFi signal, but also a large number of WiFi signals from other devices, causing the device's conventional transceiver to be frequently awakened by the WiFi signals of other devices, resulting in a waste of device power consumption. Summary of the invention

[0005] The present application provides a communication method and apparatus for reducing power consumption of equipment at a site.

[0006] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be executed by a station. Unless otherwise specified, the "station" in the present application can refer to the station itself, or a communication module in the station or a circuit or chip responsible for communication functions (such as a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a system on chip (SoC) chip or a system in package (SIP) chip containing a modem core). The method includes: the station receives a first wireless frame from an access point through a first mode, the first wireless frame is used to trigger a station switching mode, and the first wireless frame includes identification information of the station; after receiving the first wireless frame, the station switches from the first mode to the second mode; the station receives a message frame from the access point through the second mode; wherein the power consumption of the station in the first mode is lower than the power consumption of the station in the second mode.

[0007] In the above scheme, the first wireless frame received by the station from the access point carries the station's identification information, so that the station can switch modes when receiving the wireless frame sent to itself (that is, switch from the first mode to the second mode after receiving the first wireless frame). This ensures that the station is only triggered to switch modes by the WiFi signal sent to itself, thereby saving power consumption of the station's equipment.

[0008] In a possible design, the first mode is: the station transmits signals through a low-power transceiver; the second mode is: the station transmits signals through a conventional transceiver. When the station transmits signals through a low-power transceiver, the low-power transceiver of the station is in an awake state, and the conventional transceiver of the station is in a sleep state; when the station transmits signals through a conventional transceiver, the conventional transceiver of the station is in an awake state, and the low-power transceiver of the station is in an awake state or a sleep state.

[0009] In this way, it can be ensured that the regular transceiver of the site is only awakened by the WiFi signal sent to itself, thereby saving the power consumption of the site's equipment.

[0010] In one possible design, the first radio frame satisfies one or more of the following:

[0011] The bandwidth corresponding to the first wireless frame is less than the first threshold;

[0012] A modulation and coding scheme (MCS) order corresponding to the first radio frame is less than a second threshold;

[0013] The number of streams corresponding to the first radio frame is less than a third threshold.

[0014] In this way, it can be ensured that the first wireless frame can be received by the station through the first mode, thereby improving the reliability of the solution.

[0015] In one possible design, the first radio frame further satisfies one or more of the following:

[0016] The frame type of the first radio frame is a first type;

[0017] The format of the physical-layer protocol data unit (PPDU) in which the first radio frame is located is a first format.

[0018] In this way, it can be ensured that the first radio frame or the PPDU in which the first radio frame is located can be received by the station through the first mode, thereby improving the reliability of the solution.

[0019] In one possible design, the first wireless frame is a predefined frame.

[0020] In one possible design, the station may send a second wireless frame to the access point in the second mode, where the second wireless frame is used to notify the access point that the station has switched to the second mode or that the station is ready to receive a message frame from the access point.

[0021] In this way, the access point can send the message frame after the station completes the mode switching, so as to ensure that the station can receive the message frame through the second mode.

[0022] In a possible design, the second radio frame may be a power-saving poll (PS-Poll) frame. This implementation is simple and reliable.

[0023] In one possible design, the second wireless frame is an acknowledgment (ACK) frame corresponding to the first wireless frame. This implementation method can save system resources.

[0024] In one possible design, when the second wireless frame is an ACK frame corresponding to the first wireless frame, the length of the padding field in the first wireless frame reaches or exceeds the first length.

[0025] In this way, the station can have sufficient time to switch modes (or wake up the conventional transceiver), which can improve the reliability of mode switching.

[0026] In one possible design, the station sends a third wireless frame to the access point in the first mode, where the third wireless frame is used to notify the access point that the station switches to the second mode or that the station is ready to receive a message frame from the access point.

[0027] In this way, the station can send the third radio frame to the access point after receiving the first radio frame. The first mode and the second mode have clear division of labor (that is, the second mode is responsible for the relevant process of exchanging message frames, and the first mode is responsible for the relevant process of listening to the first radio frame), the logic is simple, and it is easy to implement.

[0028] In one possible design, the length of the padding field in the first wireless frame reaches or exceeds the second length.

[0029] In this way, the station can have sufficient time to switch modes (or wake up the conventional transceiver), which can improve the reliability of mode switching.

[0030] In one possible design, the first wireless frame includes first indication information, and the first indication information indicates a site switching mode.

[0031] In this way, the station can perform mode switching according to the first indication information.

[0032] In one possible design, the first wireless frame is a message frame.

[0033] In this way, the station can also receive message frames based on the first mode, thereby improving the flexibility of data transmission.

[0034] In one possible design, before the station receives the first wireless frame from the access point through the first mode, the station may also receive at least one message frame from the access point through the first mode.

[0035] In this way, the station can also receive message frames based on the first mode, thereby improving the flexibility of data transmission.

[0036] In one possible design, each message frame in the at least one message frame satisfies one or more of the following conditions:

[0037] The bandwidth corresponding to each message frame is less than 20MHz;

[0038] The PPDU format of each message frame is non-high throughput (non-HT) PPDU;

[0039] The order of the MCS corresponding to each message frame is lower than the threshold value;

[0040] The number of streams corresponding to each message frame is single stream.

[0041] In one possible design, before the site receives a first wireless frame from the access point through the first mode, the site may also send a fourth wireless frame to the access point through the third mode, and the fourth wireless frame is used to request or notify the access point to enter a switching process, and the switching process includes switching from the first mode to the second mode or from the second mode to the first mode; wherein the third mode is: the site can only transmit signals through a conventional transceiver.

[0042] In this way, it is possible to enter the switching process when the site needs to enter the switching process.

[0043] In one possible design, the station may also receive a fifth wireless frame from the access point through the third mode, where the fifth wireless frame is used to notify the station that the access point agrees to enter the switching process or that the access point has received the fourth wireless frame.

[0044] In this way, it is possible to enter the handover process when the access point agrees to enter the handover process.

[0045] In one possible design, the fourth wireless frame includes a field for indicating the need to enter a switching process.

[0046] In one possible design, the fourth radio frame also includes at least one of the following fields:

[0047] A field for indicating the length of a padding field in a first radio frame;

[0048] A field for indicating the time required for a station to switch from a conventional transceiver to a low power transceiver;

[0049] A field used to indicate the upper limit of the receiving capability of the low power transceiver of the station;

[0050] A field used to indicate the upper limit of the reception capability of the station's regular transceiver.

[0051] In this way, relevant parameters in the switching process can be negotiated before entering the switching process, thereby improving the reliability of the solution.

[0052] In one possible design, the fifth wireless frame includes a field for indicating consent to enter the switching process.

[0053] In one possible design, the fifth radio frame also includes at least one of the following fields:

[0054] A field for indicating the length of a padding field in a first radio frame;

[0055] A field for indicating the time required for a station to switch from a conventional transceiver to a low power transceiver;

[0056] A field used to indicate the upper limit of the receiving capability of the low power transceiver of the station;

[0057] A field used to indicate the upper limit of the reception capability of the station's regular transceiver.

[0058] In this way, relevant parameters in the switching process can be negotiated before entering the switching process, thereby improving the reliability of the solution.

[0059] In one possible design, the station may also send a sixth wireless frame to the access point, where the sixth wireless frame is used to request or notify the access point to exit the switching process.

[0060] In this way, the site exit switching process can be implemented, which improves the flexibility of the solution.

[0061] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be executed by an access point. Unless otherwise specified, the "access point" in this application can refer to the access point itself, or a communication module in the access point, or a circuit or chip responsible for the communication function (such as a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a system on chip (SoC) chip or a system in package (SIP) chip containing a modem core). The method includes: the access point sends a first wireless frame to a station, the first wireless frame is used to trigger a station switching mode, and the first wireless frame includes identification information of the station; the access point sends a message frame to the station.

[0062] In one possible design, the switching mode includes switching from a first mode to a second mode or from a second mode to a first mode; the first mode is: the station transmits signals through a low-power transceiver; the second mode is: the station transmits signals through a conventional transceiver.

[0063] In one possible design, the first radio frame satisfies one or more of the following:

[0064] The bandwidth corresponding to the first wireless frame is less than the first threshold;

[0065] The MCS order corresponding to the first radio frame is less than the second threshold;

[0066] The number of streams corresponding to the first radio frame is less than a third threshold.

[0067] In one possible design, the first radio frame further satisfies one or more of the following:

[0068] The frame type of the first radio frame is a first type;

[0069] The format of the PPDU where the first radio frame is located is the first format.

[0070] In one possible design, the first wireless frame is a predefined frame.

[0071] In one possible design, the access point also receives a second wireless frame from the station; the access point determines that the station switches to the second mode or determines to send a message frame to the station based on the second wireless frame.

[0072] In one possible design, the second wireless frame is a PS-Poll frame.

[0073] In one possible design, the access point may also send one or more first wireless frames to the station.

[0074] In this way, the probability of the station successfully receiving the first radio frame can be improved.

[0075] In one possible design, the second wireless frame is an ACK frame corresponding to the first wireless frame.

[0076] In one possible design, the length of the padding field in the first wireless frame reaches or exceeds the first length.

[0077] In a possible design, the access point may also receive a third wireless frame from the station; the access point determines that the station switches to the second mode or determines to send a message frame to the station based on the third wireless frame.

[0078] In one possible design, the length of the padding field in the first wireless frame reaches or exceeds the second length.

[0079] In one possible design, the first wireless frame includes first indication information, and the first indication information indicates a site switching mode.

[0080] In one possible design, the first wireless frame is a message frame.

[0081] In one possible design, before the access point sends the first wireless frame to the station, the access point may also send at least one message frame to the station.

[0082] In one possible design, each message frame in the at least one message frame satisfies one or more of the following conditions:

[0083] The bandwidth corresponding to each message frame is less than 20MHz;

[0084] The PPDU format of each message frame is Non-HT PPDU;

[0085] The order of the MCS corresponding to each message frame is lower than the threshold value;

[0086] The number of streams corresponding to each message frame is single stream.

[0087] In one possible design, before the access point sends the first wireless frame to the site, the access point may also receive a fourth wireless frame from the site, where the fourth wireless frame is used to request or notify the access point to enter a switching process, where the switching process includes switching from the first mode to the second mode or from the second mode to the first mode.

[0088] In one possible design, the access point may also send a fifth radio frame to the station, where the fifth radio frame is used to notify the station that the access point agrees to enter the switching process or that the access point has received the fourth radio frame.

[0089] In one possible design, the fourth wireless frame includes a field for indicating the need to enter a switching process.

[0090] In one possible design, the fourth radio frame also includes at least one of the following fields:

[0091] A field for indicating the length of a padding field in a first radio frame;

[0092] A field for indicating the time required for a station to switch from a conventional transceiver to a low power transceiver;

[0093] A field used to indicate the upper limit of the receiving capability of the low power transceiver of the station;

[0094] A field used to indicate the upper limit of the reception capability of the station's regular transceiver.

[0095] In one possible design, the fifth wireless frame includes a field for indicating consent to enter the switching process.

[0096] In one possible design, the fifth radio frame also includes at least one of the following fields:

[0097] A field for indicating the length of a padding field in a first radio frame;

[0098] A field for indicating the time required for a station to switch from a conventional transceiver to a low power transceiver;

[0099] A field used to indicate the upper limit of the receiving capability of the low power transceiver of the station;

[0100] A field used to indicate the upper limit of the reception capability of the station's regular transceiver.

[0101] In one possible design, the access point may also receive a sixth wireless frame sent from the station, where the sixth wireless frame is used to request or notify the access point to exit the switching process.

[0102] In a third aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be executed by a station. Unless otherwise specified, the "station" in this application can refer to the station itself, or a component in the station (for example, a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the station functions. The method includes: the station receives a first wireless frame from an access point through a low-power transceiver, the first wireless frame is used to trigger the station to wake up a conventional transceiver, and the first wireless frame includes identification information of the station; after receiving the first wireless frame, the station wakes up the conventional transceiver; the station receives a message frame from the access point by waking up the conventional transceiver.

[0103] In a fourth aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be executed by an access point. Unless otherwise specified, the "access point" in this application can refer to the access point itself, or a component in the access point (for example, a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.), or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the access point functions. The method includes: the access point sends a first wireless frame to the station, the first wireless frame is used to trigger the awakening of a conventional transceiver, and the first wireless frame includes identification information of the station; the access point sends a message frame to the station.

[0104] In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes a module or unit or technical means for implementing the method described in the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect.

[0105] Exemplarily, the device may include:

[0106] A transceiver module, configured to receive a first wireless frame from an access point in a first mode, wherein the first wireless frame is used to trigger a mode switching of a site where the device is located, and the first wireless frame includes identification information of the site;

[0107] A processing module, configured to switch from the first mode to the second mode after the transceiver module receives the first wireless frame;

[0108] The transceiver module is further used to receive a message frame from the access point through the second mode; wherein the power consumption of the station in the first mode is lower than the power consumption of the station in the second mode.

[0109] In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes a module or unit or technical means for implementing the method described in the second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect.

[0110] Exemplarily, the device may include:

[0111] The transceiver module is used to send a first wireless frame to the site, where the first wireless frame is used to trigger the site switching mode and includes identification information of the site; and send a message frame to the site.

[0112] In a seventh aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes a module or unit or technical means for implementing the method described in the third aspect or any possible design of the third aspect.

[0113] Exemplarily, the device may include:

[0114] A transceiver module, used to receive a first wireless frame from an access point through a low-power transceiver, the first wireless frame is used to trigger the site where the device is located to wake up a conventional transceiver, and the first wireless frame includes identification information of the site;

[0115] A processing module, configured to wake up the conventional transceiver after the transceiver module receives the first wireless frame;

[0116] The transceiver module is further used to receive a message frame from an access point by waking up a conventional transceiver.

[0117] In an eighth aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes a module or unit or technical means for implementing the method described in the fourth aspect or any possible design of the fourth aspect.

[0118] Exemplarily, the device may include:

[0119] The transceiver module is used to send a first wireless frame to the station, the first wireless frame is used to trigger the awakening of the conventional transceiver, and the first wireless frame includes the identification information of the station; and send a message frame to the station.

[0120] In a ninth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the interface circuit is electrically coupled to the processor, and the processor causes the method described in the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect to be executed through a logic circuit or execution code instructions, or causes the method described in the second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect to be executed, or causes the method described in the third aspect to be executed, or causes the method described in the fourth aspect to be executed.

[0121] In a tenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, wherein a computer program or instruction is stored in the storage medium. When the computer program or instruction is executed, the method described in the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect is executed, or the method described in the second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect is executed, or the method described in the third aspect is executed, or the method described in the fourth aspect is executed.

[0122] In the eleventh aspect, a computer program product is provided, comprising instructions, which, when run on a computer, causes the method described in the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect to be executed, or causes the method described in the second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect to be executed, or causes the method described in the third aspect to be executed, or causes the method described in the fourth aspect to be executed.

[0123] In a twelfth aspect, a communication system is provided, including an access point and a station;

[0124] In which, the site is used to execute the method described in the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect, and the access point is used to execute the method described in the second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect; or, the site is used to execute the method described in the third aspect or any possible design of the third aspect, and the access point is used to execute the method described in the fourth aspect or any possible design of the fourth aspect.

[0125] The specific designs and beneficial effects of the second to twelfth aspects mentioned above can refer to the corresponding designs and beneficial effects in the first to second aspects. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0126] Figure 1A A schematic diagram of the architecture of a possible communication system applicable to the embodiments of the present application;

[0127] Figure 1B A schematic diagram of the architecture of a possible communication system applicable to the embodiments of the present application;

[0128] Figure 2A to Figure 2B This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a STA applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0129] Figure 3 A flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0130] Figure 4A to Figure 4B Several possible frame interaction flow diagrams provided for embodiments of the present application;

[0131] Figure 5A to Figure 5F Several possible frame interaction flow diagrams provided for embodiments of the present application;

[0132] Figure 6A to Figure 6C Several possible frame interaction flow diagrams provided for embodiments of the present application;

[0133] Figure 7A to Figure 7E Several possible frame interaction flow diagrams provided for embodiments of the present application;

[0134] Figures 8A to 8D Several possible frame interaction flow diagrams provided for embodiments of the present application;

[0135] Fig. 9 A schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0136] Fig.10 A schematic diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0137] The embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, for example, the embodiments of the present application can be applied to wireless local area network (WLAN) systems. For example, it can be applied to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 system standards, such as 802.11a / b / g standards, 802.11n standards, 802.11ac standards, 802.11ax standards, or their next generations, such as 802.11be standards, wireless fidelity (wireless fidelity, Wi-Fi) 7 or extremely high throughput (extremely high throughput, EHT), such as 802.11be next generation Wi-Fi protocols (such as Wi-Fi 8, ultra high reliability (ultra high reliability, UHR), 11bn), or Wi-Fi artificial intelligence (AI), or millimeter wave (mmWave). The present application can also be applied to wireless personal area network systems and sensing systems based on ultra-bandwidth (UWB). Embodiments of the present application can also be applied to wireless local area network systems such as the Internet of Things (IoT) network or vehicle to X (V2X) or point to point (P2P). Of course, embodiments of the present application can also be applied to other possible communication systems, such as long-term evolution (LTE) systems, universal mobile telecommunication systems (UMTS), fifth generation (5G) communication systems, and future sixth generation (6G) communication systems.

[0138] Although the embodiments of the present application are mainly described by taking WLAN network, especially the network using IEEE 802.11 system standard as an example, it is easy for those skilled in the art to understand that the various aspects involved in the present application can be extended to other networks using various standards or protocols, for example, BLUETOOTH, high performance radiolocal area network (HIPERLAN) (a wireless standard similar to IEEE 802.11 standard, mainly used in Europe) and wide area network (WAN), personal area network (PAN) or other networks known now or developed later. Therefore, regardless of the coverage range and wireless access protocol used, the various aspects provided by the present application can be applied to any suitable wireless network.

[0139] The above-mentioned communication system applicable to the present application is only an example for illustration, and the communication system applicable to the present application is not limited to this. A unified description is given here and no further elaboration is given below.

[0140] Figure 1A The figure shows a possible architecture of a communication system applicable to the embodiments of the present application. The architecture of the communication system includes access points (AP) and non-access point stations (non-APSTA, referred to as STA, such as STA1-STA6 in the figure).

[0141] Understandably, Figure 1A In the communication direction from AP to non-AP STA, it can be called downlink, and from non-APSTA to AP, it can be called uplink. When STA does not need to send uplink signal, it needs to listen to determine whether AP has sent downlink signal to itself, and receive it if so.

[0142] AP can be an access point for terminal devices (such as mobile phones) to enter the wired (or wireless) network. It is mainly deployed in homes, buildings and campuses, with a typical coverage radius of tens of meters to hundreds of meters. Of course, it can also be deployed outdoors. The access point is equivalent to a bridge connecting the wired network and the wireless network. Its main function is to connect various wireless network clients together and then connect the wireless network to the DS. Specifically, the access point can be a terminal device (such as a mobile phone) or a network device (such as a router) with a Wi-Fi chip. The access point can be a device that supports the 802.11be standard. The access point can also be a device that supports 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b, 802.11a and 802.11be Wi-Fi 7, Wi-Fi 8 or its next generation, etc., a variety of wireless local area networks (WLAN) standards of the 802.11 family. The access point in the present application may be a high efficiency (HE) AP or an extremely high throughput (EHT) AP, and may also be an access point applicable to a future generation of Wi-Fi standards.

[0143] The AP and the STA can communicate directly. The AP can be a STA station that establishes a tunneled direct-link setup (TDLS) or other point-to-point (P2P) link with the STA, or other stations that can communicate directly with the STA.

[0144] STA can be a wireless communication chip, a wireless sensor or a wireless communication terminal, etc., and can also be called a user. For example, STA can be a mobile phone that supports Wi-Fi communication function, a tablet computer that supports Wi-Fi communication function, a set-top box that supports Wi-Fi communication function, a smart TV that supports Wi-Fi communication function, a smart wearable device that supports Wi-Fi communication function, a vehicle-mounted communication device that supports Wi-Fi communication function, and a computer that supports Wi-Fi communication function, etc. Optionally, STA can support the 802.11be standard. STA can also support 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b, 802.11a, 802.11be, Wi-Fi 7, Wi-Fi 8 or its next generation, and other wireless local area networks (WLAN) standards of the 802.11 family.

[0145] The STA in the embodiment of the present application may be a high efficiency (HE) STA or an extremely high throughput (EHT) STA, or may be a STA applicable to a future generation of Wi-Fi standards.

[0146] For example, APs and STAs can be sensor nodes in smart cities (for example, smart water meters, smart electricity meters, and smart air detection nodes), smart devices in smart homes (for example, smart cameras, projectors, display screens, televisions, speakers, refrigerators, washing machines, etc.), nodes in the Internet of Things (IoT), entertainment terminals (such as wearable devices such as AR and VR), smart devices in smart offices (for example, printers, projectors, etc.), Internet of Vehicles devices in the Internet of Vehicles, and some infrastructure in daily life scenarios (such as vending machines, self-service navigation desks in supermarkets, self-service cash registers, self-service ordering machines, etc.).

[0147] In some embodiments, the STA may be a station with low power consumption requirements, such as a STA that cannot serve as an AP, that is, a non-AP STA.

[0148] In some embodiments, Figure 1BAs shown, the AP can be an AP in an AP multi-link device (MLD), such as AP101-1, AP 101-2, or AP101-3 of AP MLD 101, and the STA can be a traditional STA 104, or a STA in non-AP MLD103, such as STA103-1 or STA103-2, or a STA102-1, STA102-2, or STA102-3 in non-AP MLD102. Among them, MLD is a logical entity that is capable of supporting more than one affiliated station and can operate usingone or more affiliated STAs, and that presents one medium access control dataservice and a single MAC service access point to the logical link control sublayer. The multiple affiliated stations in MLD are logical entities, which can be implemented on different chips or concentrated on one chip, and this application does not limit this. In addition, Figure 1B The frequency bands supported by the multiple subsidiary sites of the MLD shown, such as 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz or 6 GHz, are only examples. To adapt to the development of standards, the subsidiary sites of the MLD will support other frequency bands.

[0149] Understandably, Figure 1A , Figure 1B The names of the devices shown are only examples, and other names may be used in future communication systems. Figure 1A , Figure 1B The number of devices in the example is only an example, and more or fewer devices may be included. For example, an AP may communicate with multiple STAs at the same time, etc. This application does not limit this.

[0150] See also Figure 2A , a possible structural diagram of a STA provided in an embodiment of the present application, the STA includes at least two transceivers, and different transceivers in the at least two transceivers correspond to different power consumption or transceiver capabilities.

[0151] For ease of description, this article takes two transceivers as an example, and the transceiver with relatively low transceiver capability or power consumption is called a low power transceiver, and the transceiver with relatively high transceiver capability or power consumption is called a regular transceiver. It should be understood that the names of the transceivers in this article are only examples, and there may be other names. For example, a regular transceiver may also be called a main transceiver, and a low power transceiver may also be called a wake-up transceiver; or a regular transceiver may also be called a first transceiver, and a low power transceiver may also be called a second transceiver, and so on, which is not limited in this application.

[0152] The power consumption of a low-power transceiver is lower than that of a conventional transceiver, and the transceiver capability of a low-power transceiver is lower than that of a conventional transceiver (for example, the hardware implementation of the low-power transceiver is simple, the PPDU formats that can be received are limited (for example, only legacy PPDU can be transmitted and received), and the parameters such as bandwidth, modulation and coding scheme (MCS) order, number of streams, etc. are low).

[0153] In a specific implementation, the low-power transceiver and the conventional transceiver may be two different hardware modules or two different software modules in the same hardware module, and the embodiments of the present application do not impose any specific restrictions.

[0154] For a possible implementation, see Figure 2B , a possible STA hardware structure diagram provided in an embodiment of the present application, the low-power transceiver and the conventional transceiver are two different hardware modules, for example, respectively including different RF channels (such as different transceiver channels, or different receiving channels). The low-power transceiver and the conventional transceiver share the baseband (BB) and RF front-end modules (FEM).

[0155] certainly, Figure 2B This is just an example. In actual applications, the low-power transceiver and the conventional transceiver may not share the BB and FEM, but may correspond to a set of BB and FEM respectively. Alternatively, the low-power transceiver and the conventional transceiver may share the BB but not the FEM; or the low-power transceiver and the conventional transceiver may not share the BB but may share the FEM. In one possible implementation, the low-power transceiver and the conventional transceiver may be virtual (e.g., different software modules). In this case, the low-power transceiver and the conventional transceiver may not exist, but the station can still transmit signals through different power consumption or transceiver capabilities (e.g., see the first mode, the second mode, etc. in the following text).

[0156] See also Figure 3 , is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application, which can be applied to Figure 1A or Figure 1B In the communication scenario shown in the figure, unless otherwise specified, the "site" in this application can refer to the site itself (for example, Figure 1A The term "access point" in this application may refer to the access point itself (for example, the STA shown in FIG. 1 ), or a communication module in a station or a circuit or chip responsible for communication functions therein (such as a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a system on chip (SoC) chip or a system in package (SIP) chip containing a modem core). Figure 1A It can also be the AP shown in the figure, or a communication module in an access point, or a circuit or chip responsible for communication functions (such as a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a system on chip (SoC) chip or system in package (SIP) chip containing a modem core).

[0157] The method of this embodiment includes S301 to S303:

[0158] S301: An access point sends a first radio frame to a station, and the station receives the first radio frame from the access point in a first mode.

[0159] The first radio frame is used to trigger the site switching mode, and the first radio frame includes identification information of the site.

[0160] The first mode is: the station transmits signals (including sending uplink signals to the access point and receiving downlink signals from the access point) through the low-power transceiver. When the station is in the first mode, the low-power transceiver of the station is in an awake state, and the conventional transceiver of the station is in a doze state.

[0161] In some embodiments, the station in S301 receives the first radio frame from the access point through the first mode, which can also be replaced by: the station receives the first radio frame from the access point through the low-power transceiver. The first radio frame is used to trigger the station to switch the mode, which can also be replaced by: the first radio frame is used to trigger the station to wake up the conventional transceiver.

[0162] It can be understood that the transceiver is in the awake state, which means that the transceiver is in the working state. The awake state can also be described as other names such as the on state, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application; the transceiver is in the sleep state, which means that the transceiver is in the non-working state. The sleep state can also be described as other names such as the off state or the hibernation state, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0163] In some embodiments, the first mode may also be called a listening mode or a low power listening mode or other names.

[0164] In a specific implementation, when the access point sends the first wireless frame to the station, the first wireless frame may be sent in a unicast, multicast or broadcast manner.

[0165] When the access point sends the first wireless frame in unicast mode, the identification information of the site carried in the first wireless frame may be the address information of the site, such as an Internet Protocol (IP) address, a Media Access Control Address (MAC) address, an association identifier (AID), etc.

[0166] When the access point sends the first wireless frame in a multicast manner, the first wireless frame may carry identification information of the group to which the site belongs (such as a group address), and the identification information of the group may be used as the identification information of the site; or, the first wireless frame carries identification information of each site in the group to which the site belongs, including the identification information of the site.

[0167] When the access point sends the first radio frame in a broadcasting manner, the identification information of the site carried in the first radio frame may be a broadcast address. Since the broadcast address corresponds to all sites, the first radio frame may also include the identification information of the site, such as an associated identifier of the site.

[0168] In some embodiments, the station may be a non-AP STA, or the station has low power consumption requirements, or the station cannot serve as an access point.

[0169] It can be understood that the first radio frame is a frame within the receiving capability range of the first mode of the station (or the low-power transceiver). The first radio frame can be a management frame, a control frame, or a data frame, etc., without limitation.

[0170] S302: After receiving the first wireless frame, the station switches from the first mode to the second mode.

[0171] Exemplarily, the station may determine, based on identification information in the first radio frame, that the first radio frame is a radio frame sent to itself, and then switch from the first mode to the second mode based on the first radio frame.

[0172] The second mode is: the station transmits signals through a conventional transceiver (including sending uplink signals to the access point and receiving downlink signals from the access point). When the station is in the second mode, the conventional transceiver of the station is in an awake state, and the low-power transceiver of the station is in an awake state or a sleep state.

[0173] In some embodiments, after the station receives the first radio frame in S302, it switches from the first mode to the second mode, which can also be replaced by the description that: after the station receives the first radio frame, it wakes up the conventional transceiver.

[0174] In some embodiments, the first wireless frame may be called a synchronization (sync) frame, indicating that the frame is used for the station to synchronize to its corresponding WiFi signal to wake up the conventional transceiver. Of course, the first wireless frame may also be other names, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit the name of the first wireless frame.

[0175] In some embodiments, the second mode may also be referred to as "message interaction mode" or other names.

[0176] It is understandable that the "switch" in this article can also be adaptively replaced with other terms such as "open" or "enter" without limitation. For example, S302 can also be described as: after the station receives the first wireless frame, the second mode is turned on; or, after the station receives the first wireless frame, the second mode is entered; or, after the station receives the first wireless frame, the first mode is stopped or ended or closed, and the second mode is turned on; or, after the station receives the first wireless frame, the first mode is stopped or ended or closed, and the second mode is entered, and so on.

[0177] S303: The access point sends a message frame to the station, and the station receives the message frame from the access point through the second mode.

[0178] The message frame may include one or more of a data frame, a management frame, a control frame, etc. For ease of description, the following description takes the data frame as an example. The data frame mentioned in the subsequent embodiments may be equivalently replaced by other message frames such as a management frame or a control frame.

[0179] Based on the above introduction to the second mode, in some embodiments, the station in S303 receives the data frame from the access point through the second mode, which can also be replaced by: the station receives the data frame from the access point through a conventional transceiver.

[0180] In a specific implementation, the number of data frames in S303 may be one or more.

[0181] It can be understood that the data frame sent by the access point in S303 is a frame within the receiving capability range of the second mode (or conventional transceiver) of the site. For the sake of distinction, the data frame received by the site through the first mode (or low-power transceiver) can be referred to as a "first data frame" and the data frame received by the site through the second mode (or conventional transceiver) can be referred to as a "second data frame". The data frame in S303 is the second data frame, for example, the first wireless frame can be the first data frame. It can be understood that the first data frame is within the receiving capability range of the first mode (or low-power transceiver) of the site, and the second data frame is within the receiving capability range of the second mode (or conventional transceiver) of the site. Of course, in some embodiments, there may also be data frames that are within the receiving capability range of the second mode (or conventional transceiver) of the site and within the receiving capability range of the first mode (or low-power transceiver) of the site.

[0182] It can be understood that the first data frame can also be replaced by a first management frame or a first control frame, and the second data frame can also be replaced by a second management frame or a second control frame.

[0183] In order to better understand the above solution, a frame interaction diagram is used here to illustrate the frame interaction process between the access point and the station. Figure 4A As shown, Figure 4A The two horizontal axes represent the situations in which the stations perform frame interaction through different transceivers and access points. The upper one of the two horizontal axes represents the frame interaction through the low-power transceiver, and the lower one represents the frame interaction through the conventional transceiver. The position on each horizontal axis represents the time sequence of the frame interaction, with the left being first and the right being last. The same position of the two horizontal axes in the vertical direction represents the same time point. For any horizontal axis, the upper side of the axis indicates the frame sending behavior of the station (i.e., the frames on the upper side of the axis are the frames sent by the station), and the lower side of the axis indicates the frame sending behavior of the access point (i.e., the frames on the lower side of the axis are the frames sent by the access point).

[0184] It is understandable that low-power transceivers and conventional transceivers belong to the same site, so Figure 4A The two horizontal axes (or the low-power transceiver and the conventional transceiver of the station) essentially correspond to the same channel, and the MAC addresses of the stations corresponding to the two horizontal axes are the same. Figure 4A The two horizontal axes are only used to distinguish whether the signal is transmitted and received by the low-power transceiver or by the conventional transceiver inside the site.

[0185] It is understandable that the above Figure 4A The interpretation method is applicable to all frame interaction diagrams in the embodiments of the present application and will not be repeated in the following text.

[0186] In some embodiments, after receiving the data frame, the station may also send an acknowledgment (ACK) frame corresponding to the data frame to the access point to notify the access point that the station has correctly received the data frame. Figure 4B Of course, optionally, if the station does not correctly receive the data frame, it may also feed back a non-acknowledgement (NACK) frame.

[0187] In the above scheme, the first wireless frame sent by the access point to the site carries the identification information of the site, so that the site can switch the mode when receiving the wireless frame sent to itself (that is, switch from the first mode to the second mode after receiving the first wireless frame). In this way, it can be ensured that the conventional transceiver of the site is only awakened by the WiFi signal sent to itself, avoiding the conventional transceiver of the site from being mistakenly awakened by the WiFi signals of other devices, thereby saving the power consumption of the site.

[0188] In one possible design, in order to ensure that the first wireless frame can be received by the station through the first mode, the first wireless frame must be a frame within the receiving capability range of the first mode (or low-power transceiver) of the station.

[0189] Exemplarily, the first radio frame satisfies one or more of the following conditions:

[0190] 1) The bandwidth corresponding to the first radio frame is less than (or does not exceed) the first threshold;

[0191] The bandwidth corresponding to the first radio frame refers to the bandwidth of the PPDU in which the first radio frame is located. In some embodiments, the first threshold may be the upper limit of the bandwidth that the low-power transceiver can handle. Optionally, the first threshold may be any value less than or equal to the upper limit of the bandwidth that a conventional transceiver can handle, which may depend on the product implementation. For example, the first threshold may be any one of 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 160 MHz, etc.

[0192] 2) The MCS order corresponding to the first radio frame is less than (or does not exceed) the second threshold;

[0193] Among them, the MCS order corresponding to the first wireless frame refers to the MCS order of the PPDU where the first wireless frame is located. The MCS order refers to the modulation order of the MCS. In some embodiments, the second threshold may be the upper limit of the MCS order that the low-power transceiver can handle. Optionally, the second threshold may be any value that is less than or equal to the upper limit of the MCS order that a conventional transceiver can handle, which may depend on the product implementation. For example, the second threshold may be any integer in [0,8], such as 2, 4, 6, 8, 10. It can be understood that the modulation modes corresponding to the modulation orders of 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 are QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM, 256QAM, and 1024QAM, respectively.

[0194] 3) The number of streams corresponding to the first radio frame is less than (or does not exceed) the third threshold.

[0195] Among them, the number of streams may refer to the number of spatial and time streams (NSTS) or the number of spatial streams (NSS), etc. The number of streams corresponding to the first radio frame refers to the number of streams of the PPDU where the first radio frame is located. In some embodiments, the third threshold may be the upper limit of the number of streams that a low-power transceiver can handle. Optionally, the third threshold may be less than or equal to any value of the upper limit of the number of streams that a conventional transceiver can handle, which may depend on the product implementation. For example, the third threshold may be any integer in [1,8], such as 1 or 2.

[0196] It can be understood that in a specific implementation, the first wireless frame can satisfy the above three conditions at the same time, or only satisfy some of the conditions (for example, the bandwidth corresponding to the first wireless frame is less than the first threshold, but the MCS order corresponding to the first wireless frame is greater than the second threshold, and the number of streams corresponding to the first wireless frame is greater than the third threshold). In addition, other conditions can also be met as long as the first wireless frame is within the receiving capability range of the low-power transceiver of the site.

[0197] Optionally, the first wireless frame may also satisfy: the frame type of the first wireless frame is the first type. The first type includes but is not limited to a combination of one or more of a request-to-send (RTS) frame, a multi-user request-to-send (MU-RTS) frame, or a buffer status report poll (BSRP). In addition, the first type may also include newly defined or customized management frames or control frames or data frames. Of course, the above are only examples and are not limited to these.

[0198] In one example, the first radio frame is a predefined frame, and the predefined frame includes but is not limited to a combination of one or more of an RTS frame, MU-RTS or BSRP, etc. Optionally, the predefined frame may be a protocol provision, or a system preconfiguration, etc.

[0199] Optionally, the first radio frame may also satisfy: the format of the PPDU in which the first radio frame is located is a first format, wherein the first format includes, for example, but is not limited to, a combination of one or more of non-high throughput (non-HT) PPDU, high throughput (HT) PPDU, very high throughput (VHT) PPDU, and extremely high throughput (EHT) PPDU, etc. Of course, the above are only examples and are not limited thereto.

[0200] Through the above design, the first wireless frame (or the PPDU where the first wireless frame is located) can be within the receiving capability range of the low-power transceiver of the site and can be received by the site through the first mode, thereby improving the reliability of the solution.

[0201] It can be understood that in order to ensure that the first data frame can be received by the station through the first mode, the first data frame must satisfy the frame within the receiving capability range of the first mode (or low-power transceiver) of the station. The restriction conditions of the first data frame (such as bandwidth, MCS order, number of streams, etc.) can refer to the relevant restriction conditions of the first wireless frame above, which will not be repeated here.

[0202] In the embodiment of the present application, there may be multiple ways for the first radio frame to trigger the site switching mode, and several possible ways are listed below:

[0203] Mode 1: The first radio frame instructs the station to switch the mode. The specific mode from which the station switches depends on the current mode of the station.

[0204] For example, if the station is in the first mode, the station switches from the first mode to the second mode after receiving the first radio frame (ie, the process shown in S301-S302). Optionally, if the station is in the second mode, the station may switch from the second mode to the first mode after receiving the first radio frame.

[0205] Method 2: The first wireless frame instructs the station to switch (from the first mode) to the second mode.

[0206] Mode 3: The first radio frame indicates the second mode. After receiving the first radio frame, if the current mode of the station is different from the first mode, the station performs mode switching.

[0207] Of course, the above methods are only examples and are not limited to these.

[0208] In one possible design, the access point may trigger (or instruct) the station to switch the mode by sending a wireless frame of a preset type to the station. For example, the preset type is a combination of one or more of a request-to-send (RTS) frame, a multi-user request-to-send (MU-RTS), a buffer status report poll (BSRP), a custom frame, or a new frame. In one possible example, the preset type is the first type mentioned above.

[0209] Correspondingly, the frame type of the first radio frame is a preset type (such as the first type). After receiving the first radio frame, the station determines to perform mode switching according to the frame type of the first radio frame being the preset type and the identification information in the first radio frame.

[0210] In another possible design, the access point can trigger (or instruct) the site to perform mode switching by sending a radio frame carrying first indication information to the site. Accordingly, the first indication information is carried in the first radio frame. After receiving the first radio frame, the site determines to perform mode switching according to the first indication information in the first radio frame and the identification information in the first radio frame. It can be understood that in this case, the frame type of the first radio frame can be a management frame, a control frame, a data frame, etc., which is not limited in this application.

[0211] In some embodiments, the first indication information may be a one-bit flag in the first radio frame.

[0212] For example, the access point can trigger the station to perform mode switching by carrying a flag, that is, as long as the radio frame received by the station contains the flag, the mode switching is performed. Accordingly, the first radio frame carries the flag.

[0213] For example, the access point can instruct the station to perform or not perform mode switching through flags of different values. For example, flag=0 indicates switching mode, and flag=1 indicates not switching mode (of course, flag=0 can also indicate that mode switching is not required, and flag=1 indicates that mode switching is required, without limitation). Correspondingly, the first wireless frame carries a flag, and the flag=0.

[0214] For example, flag=0 indicates the first mode, and flag=1 indicates the second mode (of course, flag=1 can actually indicate the first mode, and flag=0 can indicate the second mode, without limitation). Accordingly, the first radio frame carries a flag, and flag=1. After receiving the first radio frame, the station determines that the first mode it is currently in is different from the second mode indicated by the flag in the first radio frame, and determines to perform mode switching.

[0215] In one possible design, the first radio frame may carry parameters used after the station enters the second mode. For example, the first radio frame may carry one or more of the following parameters:

[0216] 1) bandwidth or bandwidth range, used to indicate the bandwidth used by the access point and the station for exchanging message frames after the station enters the second mode;

[0217] 2) Number of flows, used to indicate the number of flows used by the access point and the station to exchange message frames after the station enters the second mode;

[0218] 3) The upper limit of the MCS order, or the lower limit of the MCS order, or the upper limit of the MCS order and the lower limit of the MCS order, are used to indicate the MCS order used by the access point and the station to interact with each other in the message frame after the station enters the second mode.

[0219] Of course, the above are just examples and are not limited to these.

[0220] In this way, the reliability of frame interaction between the station and the access point in the second mode can be improved.

[0221] In one possible design, the access point may determine that the station has switched to the second mode before sending the data frame to the station. Exemplarily, after receiving the first wireless frame, the station may notify the access point that the station has switched to the second mode, or notify the access point that the station is ready to receive the data frame from the access point, or notify the access point that the station has switched to the second mode and is ready to receive the data frame from the access point, etc. After receiving the notification, the access point starts transmitting the data frame (for example, executing S303).

[0222] It can be understood that, under this design, the data frame sent by the access point is the second data frame.

[0223] It can be understood that in this design, the first radio frame can be a management frame or a control frame or other type of frame without limitation. For example, the first radio frame can be a radio frame of the preset type (specifically, the first type) introduced above.

[0224] The following are some possible notification methods:

[0225] In a possible implementation, the station sends a second radio frame to the access point through the second mode, and the second radio frame is used to notify (or instruct) the access point that the station is switched to the second mode, or the second radio frame is used to notify (or instruct) the access point that the station is ready to receive a data frame from the access point, or the second radio frame is used to notify (or instruct) the access point that the station is switched to the second mode and is ready to receive a data frame from the access point. In other words, the station can send the second radio frame to the access point after switching from the first mode to the second mode (i.e., after waking up the conventional transceiver) and before receiving a data frame from the access point through the second mode, for example Figure 5A shown.

[0226] In one example, the second radio frame may be a power save poll (PS-Poll) frame, such as Figure 5B As shown. It can be understood that the role of the PS-Poll frame is to request data from the access point. Accordingly, after receiving the PS-Poll frame, the access point sends a data frame to the station. Since there is no time limit for the station to send the PS-Poll frame, it can be guaranteed that the station sends the second wireless frame to the access point after the mode switching (or the normal transceiver startup) is completed, and the implementation method is simple and reliable.

[0227] Optionally, when the second radio frame is a PS-Poll frame, the access point may send one or more first radio frames. For example, the access point may periodically send the first radio frame at a set time interval until the second radio frame sent by the station is received or the number of first radio frames sent reaches a set number without receiving the second radio frame, then stop sending the first radio frame. For example, Figure 5B FIG. 4 illustrates a case where the access point can send two first radio frames and the station successfully receives the second first radio frame. In this way, the probability of the station receiving the first radio frame can be increased.

[0228] Optionally, the access point may also send an ACK frame corresponding to the PS-Poll frame to the station after receiving the PS-Poll frame, and send a data frame to the station after sending the ACK frame, such as Figure 5B As shown in . Alternatively, the access point may also send a data frame to the station after receiving the PS-Poll frame (ie, the ACK frame corresponding to the PS-Poll frame may not be sent).

[0229] In another example, the second radio frame may be an acknowledgment (ACK) frame corresponding to the first radio frame, for example Figure 5C As shown. Accordingly, after receiving the ACK frame corresponding to the first wireless frame, the access point sends a data frame to the station. In this way, the ACK frame of the first wireless frame can be directly used to notify the access point station to switch to the second mode or to notify the access point station to prepare to receive the data frame from the access point, which can save system resources.

[0230] Furthermore, since it takes a certain amount of time for the site to switch modes (or start a conventional transceiver, or for the conventional transceiver to go from startup to stability, etc.), and the ACK frame requires the site to send it within a period of time (e.g., short interframe space (SIFS)) after confirming that the first wireless frame is correctly received, in order to ensure that the site has sufficient time to complete the mode switch (or complete the startup of the conventional transceiver), the access point can add a padding field in the first wireless frame.

[0231] Optionally, the padding length in the first wireless frame reaches or exceeds a first length, and the first length is related to the time required for the site to perform a mode switch (specifically, switching from the first mode to the second mode) (or the time required for the site to start a conventional transceiver). For example, the first length corresponds to the shortest duration required for the site to perform a mode switch. In this case, the first length can be referred to as the shortest padding duration for the site to perform a mode switch. The first length can be pre-set (as specified by the protocol) or indicated to the access point in advance by the site (for example, indicated to the access point by the site in the negotiation process, see the relevant description in the negotiation process below), without limitation. When generating the first wireless frame, the access point can add padding greater than or equal to the first length in the first wireless frame.

[0232] In this way, by increasing the time left for the site to parse the first wireless frame and wake up the conventional transceiver through padding, it can be ensured that the site sends the second wireless frame to the access point after the mode is switched (or the conventional transceiver is started, or the conventional transceiver is from startup to stability), and the implementation method is simple and reliable.

[0233] The above implementation may be implemented independently of the transmission function of the low-power transceiver. For example, the low-power transceiver may be used only to monitor and receive the first wireless frame, which is beneficial to reducing the cost of the low-power transceiver.

[0234] In another possible implementation, the station sends a third wireless frame to the access point through the first mode, and the third wireless frame is used to notify (or instruct) the access point that the station switches to the second mode, or the third wireless frame is used to notify (or instruct) the access point that the station is ready to receive data frames from the access point, or the third wireless frame is used to notify (or instruct) the access point that the station switches to the second mode and is ready to receive data frames from the access point, etc. The third wireless frame can be a response frame or an Ack frame corresponding to the first wireless frame, etc., without limitation. In other words, the station can send the third wireless frame to the access point after receiving the first wireless frame, regardless of whether the mode switching has been completed (or the conventional transceiver is started, or the conventional transceiver is from startup to stability), such as Figure 5D shown.

[0235] Similarly, to ensure that the site has sufficient time to wake up the conventional transceiver, the access point can add a padding field in the first radio frame. Optionally, the padding length in the first radio frame reaches or exceeds the second length, and the second length is related to the time required for the site to start the conventional transceiver. The second length is related to the time required for the site to perform mode switching (specifically switching from the first mode to the second mode) (or the time required for the site to start the conventional transceiver). For example, the second length corresponds to the shortest duration required for the site to perform mode switching. In this case, the second length can be referred to as the shortest padding duration for the site to perform mode switching. The second length can be pre-set (as specified by the protocol) or indicated to the access point in advance by the site (for example, indicated to the access point by the site in the negotiation process, see the relevant description in the negotiation process below), without limitation. When generating the first radio frame, the access point can add padding greater than or equal to the second length in the first radio frame.

[0236] It is understandable that the shortest padding duration may be different in different scenarios. For example, compared with the scenario in which the station sends an ACK to the access point through the second mode in the above text, the time limit for the station to send an ACK frame (or a Response frame) to the access point through the first mode in this method is slightly wider, so the second length here may be less than or equal to the first length in the above text.

[0237] Optionally, after receiving the first radio frame, the station may send an ACK frame corresponding to the first radio frame to the access point, and after sending the ACK frame corresponding to the first radio frame, send a third radio frame to the access point; after receiving the third radio frame, the access point sends an ACK frame corresponding to the third radio frame to the station, and after sending the ACK frame corresponding to the third radio frame, sends a data frame to the station. The station may receive the ACK frame corresponding to the third radio frame through a conventional transceiver or a low-power transceiver ( Figure 5D The illustration shows that the station receives the ACK frame through a conventional transceiver), and no limitation is made. The first radio frame and the third radio frame may be management frames.

[0238] In the above implementation, there is a clear division of labor between the low-power transceiver and the conventional transceiver (or the first mode and the second mode) (i.e., the conventional transceiver is responsible for the relevant processes of the interactive data frame, and the low-power transceiver is responsible for the relevant processes of listening to the first wireless frame), the logic is simple, and it is easy to implement.

[0239] In one possible design, the access point may directly start sending data frames to the station without relying on the station's notification. It is understandable that in this design, the data frame sent by the access point may include the first data frame, or the second data frame, or the first data frame and the second data frame.

[0240] Exemplarily, the first data frame has one or more of the following characteristics:

[0241] 1) The bandwidth is smaller than the first bandwidth;

[0242] For example, the bandwidth is less than (or does not exceed) 20 MHz.

[0243] 2) The PPDU format is the second format;

[0244] For example, the PPDU format is Non-HT PPDU.

[0245] 3) The MCS order is lower than the threshold;

[0246] 4) The flow number is less than the first flow number.

[0247] For example, the number of flows is single.

[0248] In a specific implementation, the first data frame may satisfy the above four conditions at the same time, or may only satisfy some of the conditions (for example, the bandwidth corresponding to the first data frame is less than 20 MHz, but the MCS order is greater than the threshold). In addition, other conditions may also be satisfied, as long as the first data frame is within the transceiver capability of the first mode (or low-power transceiver) of the site.

[0249] It can be understood that under the present design method, the first wireless frame can be a management frame, a control frame, or a data frame, specifically, for example, a wireless frame of the first type, or a wireless frame carrying first indication information.

[0250] In some embodiments, the access point may directly start sending the first data frame to the station when the station is in the first mode, and the station receives the first data frame in the first mode.

[0251] For example, Figure 4A or Figure 4B The first radio frame in may be a first data frame.

[0252] For example, see Figure 5E or Fig. 5F As shown, the access point may first send at least one first data frame ( Figure 5E Only two first data frames are illustrated in the figure), the station receives at least one first data frame in the first mode; when the access point needs the station to receive the data frame in the second mode, the access point sends a first wireless frame, and the station receives the first wireless frame in the first mode (corresponding to step S301 in the above text); after sending the first wireless frame, the access point sends at least one second data frame, and the station receives at least one second data frame in the second mode (corresponding to step S303 in the above text).

[0253] in, Figure 5ETake the first radio frame as an example, which is the first data frame carrying the first indication information. It can be understood that Figure 5E In the given example, at least one first data frame before the first radio frame may not carry the indication information or carry indication information different from the first indication information. Figure 5E In the scenario shown, each first data frame carries a flag, and the value of the flag is used to indicate whether the next data frame needs to be received through the second mode, wherein the flag=1 in the first and second first data frames indicates that the next data frame needs to be received by the site through the first mode (or low-power transceiver), and the flag=0 in the third first data frame (i.e., the first wireless frame), indicates that the next data frame needs to be received by the site through the second mode (or a conventional transceiver).

[0254] in, Fig. 5F It is taken as an example that the first radio frame is a radio frame of a preset type. Fig. 5F In the illustrated scenario, the first data frame sent by the access point is not of a preset type. When the site needs to switch to the second mode, the access point sends a radio frame of a preset type (ie, a first radio frame) to indicate the site switching mode.

[0255] Of course, when the access point needs to send a data frame to the site, it may not send the first data frame before the first wireless frame, but directly send the first wireless frame to the access point (corresponding to S301 above), and then start sending the second data frame to the site, and the site receives the second data frame in the second mode (corresponding to S302 above).

[0256] In a possible design, after the access point and the station have exchanged data frames, the station may switch back to the first mode (eg, shut down the conventional transceiver, and wake up the low power transceiver if the low power transceiver is in a sleep state).

[0257] In a possible implementation, after sending the data frame, the access point sends the seventh radio frame, and the station switches back to the first mode after receiving the seventh radio frame sent by the access point. In this way, the access point can instruct the station to switch to the first mode when there is no need to send data frames, or the access point can exchange data frames with the station through the first mode of the station, which can save power consumption.

[0258] Optionally, the seventh radio frame may be the same as the first radio frame. For example, the seventh radio frame is of the first type or the seventh radio frame carries the first indication information. In this case, the access point may send multiple first radio frames so that the station switches alternately between the first mode and the second mode multiple times. For example, Fig. 6AAs shown, the first first radio frame enables the access point to switch from the first mode to the second mode, the second first radio frame enables the access point to switch from the second mode to the first mode, and the third first radio frame enables the access point to switch from the first mode to the second mode.

[0259] Optionally, the seventh radio frame may be different from the first radio frame. For example, the first radio frame is of the first type, the seventh radio frame is of the second type, and the first type and the second type are different; or, the first radio frame carries the first indication information (such as flag=0), and the seventh radio frame carries the second indication information (such as flag=1), and so on. In this case, the access point may alternately send the first radio frame and the seventh radio frame, so that the station alternately switches between the first mode and the second mode. For example, Figure 6B As shown, the first first radio frame enables the access point to switch from the first mode to the second mode, the first seventh radio frame enables the access point to switch from the second mode to the first mode, and the second first radio frame enables the access point to switch from the first mode to the second mode.

[0260] In this way, the flexibility of communication can be improved and the power consumption of the device can be saved.

[0261] In another possible implementation, the station can automatically switch back to the first mode after the data frame interaction is completed or ended (for example, after a preset time period has elapsed without receiving a data frame from the access point), and listen in the first mode for whether there is a first wireless frame or a first data frame from the access point. If the next second data frame interaction is to be performed, the access point needs to resend the first wireless frame to enable the station to re-enter the second mode. Figure 6C shown.

[0262] In this way, the site can automatically switch to the first mode, saving power consumption.

[0263] In a possible implementation, taking the station as a non-AP STA as an example, after the non-AP STA enters the second mode, if one or more of the following conditions are met, the frame interaction between the non-AP STA and the access point ends, and the non-AP STA can perform an operation of switching back to the first mode:

[0264] 1. The MAC layer of the non-AP STA does not receive the physical layer receive start indication (PHY-RXSTART.indication) primitive within a SIFS time (aSIFSTime) + a slot time (aSlotTime) + a receive physical layer start delay (aRxPHYStartDelay) timeout period, where aRxPHYStartDelay is equal to 20 microseconds. The timeout period can start from the end of the PPDU sent by the non-AP STA in response to the most recently received frame from the access point or from the end of the reception of the PPDU carrying the frame sent by the access point to the non-AP STA that does not require immediate confirmation.

[0265] For example, if the MAC layer of the non-AP STA does not start receiving any frame within the timeout period, the frame exchange ends.

[0266] 2. The MAC layer of the non-AP STA receives the physical layer receive start indication (PHY-RXSTART.indication) primitive within a SIFS time (aSIFSTime) + a slot time (aSlotTime) + a receive physical layer start delay (aRxPHYStartDelay) timeout period, which can be from the end of the PPDU sent by the non-AP STA in response to the most recently received frame from the access point or from the end of the reception of the PPDU carrying the frame sent by the access point to the non-AP STA that does not require immediate confirmation, and the non-AP STA does not detect any of the following frames in the PPDU corresponding to the PHY-RXSTART.indication:

[0267] 1) A single-address frame whose receive address (RA) is equal to the MAC address of the non-AP STA;

[0268] 2) There is a trigger frame with a User Info field addressed to a non-AP STA;

[0269] 3) CTS-to-self frame with RA equal to the MAC address of the access point;

[0270] 4) There is a Multi-STA Block Ack frame with a Per AID TID Info field addressed to the non-AP STA;

[0271] 5) There is an NDP Announcement frame with the STA Info field addressed to the non-AP STA and a Sounding NDP packet.

[0272] For example, the MAC layer of the non-AP STA starts to receive data frames within the timeout period, but the received data frames are not sent to the non-AP STA, and the frame exchange ends.

[0273] 3. The non-AP STA does not respond to the most recently received frame from the access point that requires an immediate reply after SIFS.

[0274] For example, if the non-AP STA does not respond to the frame sent by the access point that requires a reply, the frame exchange ends.

[0275] In a possible design, the station receives data frames from the access point in the second mode only after undergoing multiple mode switching (ie, S303).

[0276] For example, after S302 and before S303: the station switches from the second mode back to the first mode due to an abnormal event (this application does not impose specific restrictions on abnormal events), and the access point mistakenly believes that the station has switched to the second mode, so it sends the second data frame, and the station fails to receive the second data frame through the first mode, and will not feedback the ACK frame corresponding to the second data frame to the access point; the access point determines that the station is not in the second mode based on the failure to receive the ACK frame, so it sends the first wireless frame again, and the station switches from the first mode to the second mode again. Afterwards, the access point sends the second data frame again, and this time the station can receive the data frame from the access point through the second mode (i.e., S303).

[0277] For example, after S302 and before S303: the station is triggered by an abnormal event (the present application does not impose specific restrictions on abnormal events) and switches from the second mode back to the first mode, and the station sends an abnormal notification to the access point; after receiving the abnormal notification, the access point sends the first wireless frame again, so that the station switches from the first mode to the second mode again. After that, the access point sends a data frame, and the station can receive the data frame from the access point through the second mode (i.e., S303).

[0278] For example, after S302 and before S303: the station is triggered by an abnormal event (this application does not impose specific restrictions on abnormal events) and switches from the second mode back to the first mode, and the access point mistakenly believes that the station has switched to the second mode, so it sends a data frame, which is within the receiving capability range of the second mode (or conventional transceiver) of the station, but also within the receiving capability range of the first mode (or low-power transceiver) of the station, so the station receives the data frame through the first mode. Subsequently, after the station is triggered by other events (such as the access point sending the first wireless frame again), it successfully switches to the second mode and then receives the data frame from the access point through the second mode (i.e., S303).

[0279] Of course, the above are just a few possible examples and are not limited to these.

[0280] In one possible design, the access point and the station can enter the method flow provided above through a negotiation process. For the convenience of description, the method flow provided above is referred to as a "switching process". The switching process may include switching from a first mode to a second mode, or may include switching from a second mode to a first mode, or may include switching from a first mode to a second mode and from a second mode to a first mode. Optionally, the switching process may also include a frame interaction process between any two adjacent mode switches (such as the first wireless frame, data frame, ACK frame, PS-Poll frame and other related interaction processes listed above).

[0281] It is understood that the "switching process" can also be described as "low power mode" or other descriptions without limitation. "Enter" can also be replaced by other words such as "open" or "start" without limitation.

[0282] For example, Fig. 7A As shown, the negotiation process may include: the station sends a fourth radio frame to the access point through the third mode, and the fourth radio frame is used to request or notify the access point to enter the handover process. Among them, the third mode is: the station can only transmit signals through a regular transceiver. It can be understood that in the third mode, the regular transceiver of the station is in an awake state and the low-power transceiver is in a sleep state.

[0283] When the fourth wireless frame is used to request the access point to enter the handover process, after receiving the fourth wireless frame, the access point can send a fifth wireless frame to the station, and the fifth wireless frame is used to notify the station that the access point agrees to enter the handover process. For example, the fourth wireless frame is a request frame, and the fifth wireless frame is a response frame corresponding to the request frame.

[0284] Optionally, after receiving the Request frame, the access point may also feed back an ACK frame corresponding to the Request frame to the station. Optionally, after receiving the Response frame, the station may also feed back an ACK frame corresponding to the Request frame to the station.

[0285] When the fourth wireless frame is used to notify the access point of entering the switching process (that is, the site unilaterally decides to enter the switching process and does not require the consent of the access point), the access point may not send any feedback information (such as not sending a Response frame, an ACK frame, etc.), or the access point may send a fifth wireless frame to the site after receiving the fourth wireless frame (such as an ACK frame corresponding to the fourth wireless frame), and the fifth wireless frame is used to notify the site that the access point has received the fourth wireless frame, or to accept the request in the fourth wireless frame sent by the site.

[0286] In addition, the access point may unilaterally decide to enter the switching process (for example, only the access point sends the fifth radio frame to the station), and this application does not impose any limitation.

[0287] Understandably, Fig. 7A So Figure 4A Taking the frame interaction process shown as an example, the access point and the station negotiate to enter the switching process. The negotiation method between the access point and the station is applicable to all frame interaction processes exemplified in this document.

[0288] Here are a few possible examples:

[0289] Example 1: Figure 7B As shown, Figure 5B Taking the frame interaction process shown as an example, it illustrates that the access point and the station negotiate to enter the switching process. Specifically, the station sends a Request frame to the access point through the third mode (or a conventional transceiver) to request to enter the switching process; after receiving the Request frame, the access point feeds back an ACK frame corresponding to the Request frame to the station, and sends a Response frame to the station, indicating that it agrees to enter the switching process; after receiving the Response frame, the station feeds back an ACK frame corresponding to the Response frame to the access point, and then enters the switching process. After entering the switching process, the station first enters the first mode to listen to the wireless frame from the access point; the access point sends one or more first wireless frames to the station, and after successfully receiving the first first wireless frame, the station switches from the first mode to the second mode; the station sends a PS-Poll frame to the access point through the second mode to notify the access point that the station switches to the second mode; after receiving the PS-Poll frame, the access point sends an ACK frame corresponding to the PS-Poll frame to the station, starts to transmit the data frame, and sends the data frame to the station; the station receives the data frame through the second mode, and after receiving the data frame, feeds back an ACK frame corresponding to the data frame to the access point through the second mode.

[0290] Example 2: Figure 7C As shown, Figure 5C The frame interaction process shown is taken as an example, which illustrates that the access point and the station negotiate to enter the switching process. Figure 7C and Figure 7B The difference is that after the site switches from the first mode to the second mode, Figure 7C The station sends an ACK frame (which may also be a PS-Poll frame) in the second mode to notify the access point that the station switches to the second mode.

[0291] Example 3: Fig.7D As shown, Figure 5D The frame interaction process shown is taken as an example, which illustrates that the access point and the station negotiate to enter the switching process. Fig.7D and Figure 7B to Figure 7C The difference is that after the station switches from the first mode to the second mode, the station sends an ACK frame in the first mode to notify the access point that the station switches to the second mode.

[0292] Example 4: Fig. 7E As shown, Fig. 5F The frame interaction process shown is taken as an example, which illustrates that the access point and the station negotiate to enter the switching process. Fig. 7E and Figure 7B to Figure 7D The difference is, Fig. 7E The access point directly starts to transmit data frames when the station is in the first mode, and the station first receives data frames based on the first mode and then receives data frames based on the second mode.

[0293] Of course, the above are only some embodiments and are not limited to the above examples.

[0294] It can be understood that in the embodiment of the present application, the time to enter the switching process (ie, the start time of the switching process) can have multiple definitions.

[0295] For example, after the negotiation process between the station and the access point is completed, the handover process begins (e.g. Figure 7A to Figure 7E Specifically, it may be the moment when the fourth radio frame is sent or received (for example, the station sends the fourth radio frame, or the access point receives the fourth radio frame, or the access point sends the ACK frame corresponding to the fourth radio frame, or the station receives the ACK frame corresponding to the fourth radio frame, etc.), or the moment when the fifth radio frame is sent or received (for example, the access point sends the fifth radio frame, or the station receives the fifth radio frame, or the station sends the ACK frame corresponding to the fifth radio frame, or the access point receives the ACK frame corresponding to the fifth radio frame, etc.), etc.

[0296] For example, the station switches from the third mode to the first mode (ie, the low-power transceiver of the station is awakened and the conventional transceiver is turned off) to enter the switching process.

[0297] For example, the access point enters the switching process when sending the first radio frame (such as the first radio frame) for triggering mode switching, and so on.

[0298] Of course, the above is only an example and this application does not make any specific limitations.

[0299] Optionally, the station and the access point may also exit the handover process. Similarly, the station may unilaterally decide to exit the handover process, the access point may unilaterally decide to exit the handover process, or the access point and the station may negotiate to exit the handover process, without limitation. For example, the station may also send a sixth wireless frame to the access point, and the sixth wireless frame is used to request or notify the access point to exit the handover process. Or, for example, the access point may also send an eighth wireless frame to the station, and the eighth wireless frame is used to indicate that the access point agrees to or notifies the station to exit the handover process.

[0300] It is understandable that "exit" can also be replaced by other words such as "end" or "stop" or "close" without limitation. In some examples, the sixth radio frame or the eighth radio frame can be called a teardown frame.

[0301] In some examples, the sixth radio frame or the eighth radio frame may carry a bit, and the value of the bit (for example, 0) is used to indicate the need or agreement to exit the switching process. For example, the frame format of the sixth radio frame or the eighth radio frame may be the frame format of the action frame shown in Tables 1-2 below, and when the value of the LowPower Mode bit of the control field in the action frame is 0, it can be used to indicate the need or agreement to exit the switching process.

[0302] It can be understood that after exiting the switching process (for example, the sixth radio frame is sent or received, or the eighth radio frame is sent or received), the access point no longer triggers the station to switch modes (such as no longer triggering the station to switch modes by sending the first radio frame), the station no longer listens or receives the first radio frame through the first mode, or the station is no longer triggered to switch modes by the first radio frame. For example, after exiting the switching process, the station returns to the third mode, that is, the low-power transceiver is turned off, and the station only transmits signals through a conventional transceiver. If it is necessary to enter the switching process again, the station and the access point can negotiate again.

[0303] It can be understood that the frame interaction diagrams given in the above embodiments all distinguish which transceiver transmits which wireless frame in the site. In practical applications, the site may be taken as a whole without distinguishing which transceiver transmits which wireless frame in the site, or the transceiver actually used in the site is not visible to the outside.

[0304] by Figure 7B to Figure 7ETaking the frame interaction process shown in the figure as an example, the frame interaction processes of the station and the access point from the perspective of the outside of the station are as follows: Figures 8A to 8D As shown (where Fig. 8A correspond Figure 7B , Figure 8B correspond Figure 7C , Figure 8C correspond Fig.7D , Fig.8D correspond Fig. 7E ,). Figures 8A to 8D In the figure, a horizontal axis is used to represent the frame interaction between the station as a whole and the access point. The position on the horizontal axis represents the time sequence of the frame interaction, with the left being first and the right being later. The upper side of the axis indicates the frame sending behavior of the station (i.e., the frames on the upper side of the axis are the frames sent by the station), and the lower side of the axis indicates the frame sending behavior of the access point (i.e., the frames on the lower side of the axis are the frames sent by the access point).

[0305] by Fig. 8A For example, the access point and the site first negotiate through the fourth radio frame, or the fifth radio frame, or the fourth radio frame and the fifth radio frame, and enter the switching process after the negotiation is successful; after entering the switching process, the access point needs to send the first radio frame to the site before sending the data frame (the first radio frame can be one or more), and after receiving the PS-Poll frame replied by the site, the access point sends the data frame to the site.

[0306] It can be understood that for other frame interaction processes, reference can be made to the above description, and no further drawings and explanations are given one by one.

[0307] The following describes a specific implementation method of the radio frames (such as the fourth radio frame, the fifth radio frame, etc.) involved in the above negotiation process:

[0308] In one possible design, the fourth radio frame includes a field for indicating the need to enter the handover process. Correspondingly, the fifth radio frame includes a field for indicating consent to enter the handover process.

[0309] Further optionally, the fourth radio frame, or the fifth radio frame, or the fourth radio frame and the fifth radio frame may further include a field for indicating a frame type. The field may be implemented by one field or by a combination of multiple fields, without limitation. For example, the field may include two fields, one indicating a major frame category (such as a management frame or a control frame, etc.), and the other indicating a minor frame category.

[0310] Further, optionally, the fourth radio frame, the fifth radio frame, or the fourth radio frame and the fifth radio frame further include at least one of the following fields:

[0311] 1) A field used to indicate the length of the padding field in the first radio frame;

[0312] For example, in Figure 5C or Figure 5D In the scenario shown, this field may exist.

[0313] 2) A field for indicating the time required for a station to switch from a conventional transceiver to a low-power transceiver;

[0314] For example, this field exists in a scenario where the low power transceiver enters a sleep state when the conventional transceiver is awakened, for example, this field may exist when the low power transceiver is in a sleep state in the second mode.

[0315] 3) A field used to indicate the upper limit of the receiving capability of the low-power transceiver of the station;

[0316] In some embodiments, when the upper limit of the receiving capability of the low power transceiver is known (such as specified by the standard), this field may not be carried.

[0317] 4) A field used to indicate the upper limit of the receiving capability of the conventional transceiver of the station.

[0318] In some embodiments, when the upper limit of the receiving capability of a conventional transceiver is known (such as specified by the standard), this field may not be carried.

[0319] In some embodiments, this field may also be carried in other frames such as the first radio frame.

[0320] 5) A field used to indicate whether at least one field exists, where the at least one field is, for example, one or more of the above items 1) to 4).

[0321] In some embodiments, the frame formats of the fourth radio frame and the fifth radio frame may be the same, and different values ​​of the same field in the frame format may be used to indicate a field that needs to enter a switching process and a field that agrees to enter a switching process, respectively.

[0322] The following takes the fourth wireless frame as a Request frame, the fifth wireless frame as a Response frame, and the frame type as a function frame (action frame) as an example to illustrate the frame format. It can be understood that the Request frame or the Response frame can be implemented based on the newly defined action frame, or it can be implemented by reusing the existing management frame and adding a new element (element) corresponding to the method flow of the present application to the management frame, without limitation.

[0323] For example, Table 1 is an example of the frame format of an action frame:

[0324] Table 1

[0325] Order Information 1 Category 2 Action 3 Dialog Token 4 Control 5 Parameters

[0326] It can be understood that the action frame may actually include some or all of the fields shown in Table 1, and may also include other fields in addition to the fields shown in Table 1. Moreover, the field names shown in Table 1 are only examples, and may actually be replaced with other names.

[0327] 1) Category field: used to identify the action frame category, such as management frame.

[0328] 2) Action field: used to identify the frame subclass of the action frame.

[0329] For example, it is used to identify whether it is a Request frame or a Response frame.

[0330] 3) Dialog Token field: It is a session identifier, used to identify the Request frame and Response frame of the current session when multiple sessions are ongoing simultaneously. For example, frames with the same Dialog Token value belong to the same session.

[0331] In some embodiments, the combination of the Category field and the Action field is used to indicate that the action frame is used to negotiate entry into a handover procedure. Optionally, the combination of the Category field and the Action field can also be used to indicate that the action frame is used to negotiate exit from a handover procedure.

[0332] In a specific implementation, a new Action value or a combination of [Category value, Action value] may be assigned to the negotiation process in the embodiment of the present application.

[0333] For example, if the Category Code (value 37) of Protected EHT is reused as the Category Code of the negotiation process in the embodiment of the present application, the Action value is an unused value from 0 to 255. For example, if the Action value under the Protected EHT Category used is 0 to 12, 13 can be used to represent the Request frame, 14 to represent the Response frame, and 15 to represent the Teardown frame. Of course, this is only an example and is not limited to this.

[0334] For another example, no existing Category code is reused, and a new value is used as the Category Code of the negotiation process in the embodiment of the present application. In this case, the Action value can take any value from 0 to 255. For example, 0 represents a Request frame, 1 represents a Response frame, and 2 represents a teardown frame. Of course, this is only an example and is not limited to this.

[0335] 4) Control field: can carry a bit (such as Low Power Mode bit) to indicate whether it is necessary / agreed to enter the switching process, or to turn on the low power mode.

[0336] In some embodiments, if the action frame does not have a Control field, the access point may indicate that it does not agree to enter the handover process by not sending a Response frame.

[0337] In some embodiments, the Control field may not exist, and the Low Power Mode bit may also be carried in other fields (eg, the Parameters field).

[0338] In some embodiments, the Low Power Mode bit can also be used to indicate the need, consent, or notification to exit the switching process. For example, Low Power Mode = 1 indicates the need / consent to enter the switching process, and Low Power Mode = 0 indicates the need / consent / notification to exit the switching process. Of course, this is only an example, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific definition of the value of this field.

[0339] 5) Parameters field: used to indicate the relevant parameters used in the switching process.

[0340] The Parameters field may include one or more subfields. For example, Table 2 is a possible example of the subfields of Parameters:

[0341] Table 2

[0342]

[0343] It can be understood that Parameters may actually include some or all of the subfields shown in Table 2, and may also include other subfields in addition to the subfields shown in Table 2. In addition, the subfield names given in Table 2 are only examples and may actually be replaced with other names.

[0344] 1) LPL Mode Padding Delay: indicates the length of the padding field in the first radio frame. For example, it indicates the length of the shortest padding to be added to the first radio frame (such as the first length or the second length described above).

[0345] 2) LPL Mode Transition Delay: Indicates the time required for a station to switch from a conventional transceiver to a low-power transceiver (or the time required to wake up a low-power transceiver).

[0346] 3) LP Capabilities: indicates the upper limit of the receiving capability of the low power transceiver of the site, for example, it may include but is not limited to one or more of the PPDU type, highest MCS order, maximum bandwidth, maximum number of streams, etc. supported by the low power transceiver.

[0347] 4) Regular Capabilities: indicates the upper limit of the receiving capability of the regular transceiver of the site, for example, it may include but is not limited to one or more of the PPDU type, highest MCS order, maximum bandwidth, maximum number of streams, etc. supported by the regular transceiver.

[0348] It can be understood that if the Request frame and the Response frame appear in the form of a management frame carrying a new element, the new element also needs to carry the above-mentioned Low Power Mode, LPL Mode Padding Delay, LPL ModeTransition Delay, LP Capabilities, Regular Capabilities and other fields.

[0349] In some embodiments, both the Request frame and the Response frame carry the LP Capabilities subfield and the LPCapabilities subfield, and the value of the LP Capabilities subfield in the Request frame is the same as the value of the LPCapabilities subfield in the Response frame, and the value of the Regular Capabilities subfield in the Request frame is the same as the value of the LP Capabilities subfield in the Regular Capabilities frame. In other embodiments, the Request frame carries the LP Capabilities subfield and the LP Capabilities subfield, and the Response frame does not carry the LPCapabilities subfield and the LP Capabilities subfield.

[0350] In some embodiments, the value of the LPL Mode Padding Delay subfield in the Response frame is the same as the value of the LPL Mode Padding Delay subfield in the Request frame, or the value of the LPL Mode Padding Delay subfield in the Response frame is greater than the value of the LPL Mode Padding Delay subfield in the Request frame. In this way, it can be ensured that the station has sufficient time to wake up the conventional transceiver.

[0351] In some embodiments, the value of the LPL Mode Transition Delay subfield in the Response frame is the same as the value of the LPL Mode Transition Delay subfield in the Request frame, or the value of the LPL Mode Transition Delay subfield in the Response frame is greater than the value of the LPL Mode Transition Delay subfield in the Request frame. In this way, it can be ensured that the station has sufficient time to wake up the low power transceiver.

[0352] In some embodiments, the frame format of the action frame may further include one or more of the following fields:

[0353] 1) LPL Mode Padding Delay Present: used to indicate whether the LPL Mode Padding Delay field exists. For example, LPL Mode Padding Delay Present is 1 bit. When the bit is 1, it indicates that the LPL Mode Padding Delay field exists. When the bit is 0, it indicates that the LPL Mode Padding Delay field does not exist. Or, when the bit is 1, it indicates that the LPL Mode Padding Delay field does not exist. When the bit is 0, it indicates that the LPL Mode Padding Delay field exists.

[0354] 2) LPL Mode Transition Delay Present: used to indicate whether the LPL Mode Transition Delay field exists. For example, LPL Mode Transition Delay Present is 1 bit. When the bit is 1, it indicates that the LPL Mode Transition Delay field exists. When the bit is 0, it indicates that the LPL Mode Transition Delay field does not exist. Or, when the bit is 1, it indicates that the LPL Mode Transition Delay field does not exist. When the bit is 0, it indicates that the LPL Mode Transition Delay field exists.

[0355] 3) LP Capabilities Present: used to indicate whether the LP Capabilities field exists. For example, LP Capabilities Present is 1 bit. When the bit is 1, it indicates that the LP Capabilities field exists. When the bit is 0, it indicates that the LP Capabilities field does not exist. Alternatively, when the bit is 1, it indicates that the LP Capabilities field does not exist. When the bit is 0, it indicates that the LP Capabilities field exists.

[0356] 4) Regular Capabilities Present: used to indicate whether the Regular Capabilities field exists. For example, Regular Capabilities Present is 1 bit. When the bit is 1, it indicates that the Regular Capabilities field exists. When the bit is 0, it indicates that the Regular Capabilities field does not exist. Alternatively, when the bit is 1, it indicates that the Regular Capabilities field does not exist. When the bit is 0, it indicates that the Regular Capabilities field exists.

[0357] Optionally, one or more of the above fields can be implemented by a bitmap, for example, a four-bit bitmap, where the 1st to 4th bits are used to indicate whether LPL Mode Padding Delay, LPL Mode Transition Delay, LP Capabilities, and Regular Capabilities exist, for example, "0011" indicates that LPCapabilities and Regular Capabilities exist, and for example, "1001" indicates that LPL Mode Padding Delay and Regular Capabilities exist. Of course, the above is only an example, and the actual method of indicating whether a field exists is not limited to this.

[0358] It is understandable that Figure 4A to Figure 4B , Figure 5A to Figure 5F , Figure 6A to Figure 6C , Figure 7A to Figure 7E , Figures 8A to 8D The low-power transceiver and the conventional transceiver shown in the related embodiments may be virtual, or in other words, there is no distinction between low-power transceivers and conventional transceivers at the site, but the site may still have the first mode, the second mode, the third mode, etc. described above.

[0359] In the above Figure 4A to Figure 4B , Figure 5A to Figure 5F, Figure 6A to Figure 6C , Figure 7A to Figure 7E , Figures 8A to 8D The related embodiments all take the data frame exchanged between the station and the access point after entering the second mode as an example. In fact, the data frame can be replaced by a message frame, and the message frame can include one or more of a data frame, a management frame, a control frame, etc. It can be understood that each implementation method in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented separately or in combination with each other without limitation.

[0360] The method provided by the embodiment of the present application is introduced above in combination with the accompanying drawings, and the device provided by the embodiment of the present application is introduced below in combination with the accompanying drawings.

[0361] Based on the same technical concept, the embodiment of the present application provides a communication device 900, which can be, for example, a satellite, a base station, a terminal, or an access point, or a chip inside a satellite, a base station, a terminal, or an access point. The device 900 includes a module or unit or means corresponding to the method steps in the above method embodiment, and the functions or units or means can be implemented by software, or by hardware, or by hardware executing the corresponding software implementation.

[0362] For example, see Fig. 9 The communication device 900 may include a processing module 901 and a transceiver module 902 .

[0363] In one implementation, the communication device 900 may be a terminal or a communication module in a terminal, and includes:

[0364] The transceiver module 902 is configured to receive a first radio frame from an access point in a first mode, the first radio frame being used to trigger a mode switching of a site where the device is located, and the first radio frame including identification information of the site;

[0365] The processing module 901 is configured to switch from the first mode to the second mode after the transceiver module 902 receives the first radio frame;

[0366] The transceiver module 902 is further configured to receive a message frame from an access point in a second mode; wherein the power consumption of the station in the first mode is lower than the power consumption of the station in the second mode.

[0367] or,

[0368] The transceiver module 902 is used to receive a first wireless frame from an access point through a low-power transceiver, the first wireless frame is used to trigger the site where the device is located to wake up a conventional transceiver, and the first wireless frame includes identification information of the site;

[0369] The processing module 901 is used to wake up the conventional transceiver after the transceiver module 902 receives the first radio frame;

[0370] The transceiver module 902 is further configured to receive a message frame from an access point by waking up a conventional transceiver.

[0371] In another implementation, the communication device 900 may be an access point or a communication module in an access point, which includes:

[0372] The transceiver module 902 is used to send a first radio frame to the site, where the first radio frame is used to trigger the site switching mode and includes identification information of the site; and send a message frame to the site.

[0373] or,

[0374] The transceiver module 902 is used to send a first radio frame to the station, where the first radio frame is used to trigger the awakening of a conventional transceiver and includes identification information of the station; and send a message frame to the station.

[0375] Optionally, the processing module 901 is used to generate the first wireless frame and the message frame.

[0376] It should be understood that all relevant contents of each step involved in the above method embodiment can be referred to the functional description of the corresponding functional module and will not be repeated here.

[0377] Based on the same technical concept, see Fig.10 The embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device 1000, which may be a terminal or a circuit or chip responsible for communication functions in the terminal (such as a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a system on chip (SoC) chip or a system in package (SIP) chip containing a modem core); or, the communication device 1000 may be an access point or a circuit or chip responsible for communication functions in the access point (such as a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a system on chip (SoC) chip or a system in package (SIP) chip containing a modem core). The communication device 1000 may include:

[0378] At least one processor 1001; and a communication interface 1003 communicatively connected to the at least one processor 1001; the at least one processor 1001 executes instructions stored in the memory 1002, so that the device executes the method steps in the above method embodiment through the communication interface 1003.

[0379] Optionally, the memory 1002 is located outside the device 1000 .

[0380] Optionally, the apparatus 1000 includes the memory 1002, the memory 1002 is connected to the at least one processor 1001, and the memory 1002 stores instructions that can be executed by the at least one processor 1001. Fig.10 The dashed lines indicate that the memory 1002 is optional for the apparatus 1000 .

[0381] The processor 1001 and the memory 1002 may be coupled via an interface circuit or may be integrated together, which is not limited here.

[0382] The specific connection medium between the processor 1001, the memory 1002 and the communication interface 1003 is not limited in the embodiment of the present application. Fig.10 In the embodiment, the processor 1001, the memory 1002 and the communication interface 1003 are connected via a bus 1004. Fig.10 The connections between the other components are shown in bold lines, which are only for illustration and are not intended to be limiting. The bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of representation, Fig.10 Only one thick line is used in the diagram, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or only one type of bus.

[0383] The specific connection medium between the processor 1001, the memory 1002 and the communication interface 1003 is not limited in the embodiment of the present application. Fig.10 In the embodiment, the processor 1001, the memory 1002 and the communication interface 1003 are connected via a bus 1004. Fig.10 The connections between the other components are shown in bold lines, which are only for illustration and are not intended to be limiting. The bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of representation, Fig.10 Only one thick line is used in the diagram, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or only one type of bus.

[0384] It should be understood that the processor mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented by hardware or by software. When implemented by hardware, the processor can be a logic circuit, an integrated circuit, etc. When implemented by software, the processor can be a general-purpose processor implemented by reading software code stored in a memory.

[0385] Exemplarily, the processor may be a central processing unit (CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may also be any conventional processor, etc.

[0386] It should be understood that the memory mentioned 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 memory bus random access memory (DirectRambus RAM, DR RAM).

[0387] It should be noted that when the processor is a general-purpose processor, DSP, ASIC, FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware component, the memory (storage module) can be integrated into the processor.

[0388] It should be noted that the memory described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0389] Based on the same technical concept, an embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, including a program or instruction, which enables the method in the above method embodiment to be executed when the program or instruction runs on a computer.

[0390] Based on the same technical concept, an embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product, including instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enables the method in the above method embodiment to be executed.

[0391] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the embodiments of the present application may be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, the present application may adopt the form of a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment, or an embodiment in combination with software and hardware. Moreover, the present application may adopt the form of a computer program product implemented in one or more computer-usable storage media (including but not limited to disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) that include computer-usable program code.

[0392] The present application is described with reference to the flowchart and / or block diagram of the method, device (system), and computer program product according to the present application. It should be understood that each process and / or box in the flowchart and / or block diagram, as well as the combination of the process and / or box in the flowchart and / or block diagram can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, an embedded processor or other programmable data processing device to produce a machine, so that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device produce a device for implementing the function specified in one process or multiple processes in the flowchart and / or one box or multiple boxes in the block diagram.

[0393] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing device to work in a specific manner, so that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce a manufactured product including an instruction device that implements the functions specified in one or more processes in the flowchart and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

[0394] These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device so that a series of operational steps are executed on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer-implemented process, whereby the instructions executed on the computer or other programmable device provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one or more processes in the flowchart and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

Claims

1. A communication method, It is characterized in that include: The station receives a first radio frame from an access point in a first mode, where the first radio frame is used to trigger the station switching mode, and the first radio frame includes identification information of the station; After receiving the first wireless frame, the station switches from the first mode to the second mode; The station receives a message frame from the access point through the second mode; The power consumption of the station in the first mode is lower than the power consumption of the station in the second mode.

2. The method according to claim 1, It is characterized in that The first mode is: the station transmits signals via a low-power transceiver; The second mode is that the station transmits signals via a conventional transceiver.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, It is characterized in that The first radio frame satisfies one or more of the following: The bandwidth corresponding to the first radio frame is less than a first threshold; A modulation and coding scheme MCS order corresponding to the first radio frame is less than a second threshold; The number of streams corresponding to the first radio frame is less than a third threshold.

4. The method according to claim 3, It is characterized in that The first radio frame further satisfies one or more of the following: The frame type of the first radio frame is a first type; The format of the physical layer protocol data unit PPDU where the first radio frame is located is a first format.

5. The method according to claim 3 or 4, It is characterized in that The first radio frame is a predefined frame.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, It is characterized in that The method further comprises: The station sends a second wireless frame to the access point in the second mode, where the second wireless frame is used to notify the access point that the station switches to the second mode or that the station is ready to receive a data frame from the access point.

7. The method according to claim 6, It is characterized in that The second radio frame is a power saving polling PS-Poll frame.

8. The method according to claim 6, It is characterized in that The second wireless frame is an acknowledgment ACK frame corresponding to the first wireless frame.

9. The method according to claim 8, It is characterized in that The length of the padding field in the first radio frame reaches or exceeds the first length.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, It is characterized in that The method further comprises: The station sends a third wireless frame to the access point in the first mode, where the third wireless frame is used to notify the access point that the station switches to the second mode or that the station is ready to receive a message frame from the access point.

11. The method according to claim 10, It is characterized in that The length of the padding field in the first radio frame reaches or exceeds the second length.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, It is characterized in that The first radio frame includes first indication information, where the first indication information indicates the site switching mode.

13. The method according to claim 12, It is characterized in that The first wireless frame is a message frame.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, It is characterized in that Before the station receives the first wireless frame from the access point through the first mode, the method further includes: The station receives at least one message frame from the access point through the first mode; Wherein, each message frame in the at least one message frame satisfies one or more of the following conditions: The bandwidth corresponding to each message frame is less than 20 MHz; The PPDU format of each message frame is a non-high throughput Non-HT PPDU; The order of the MCS corresponding to each message frame is lower than the threshold value; The number of flows corresponding to each message frame is a single flow.

15. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, It is characterized in that Before the station receives the first wireless frame from the access point through the first mode, the method further includes: The station sends a fourth radio frame to the access point in a third mode, where the fourth radio frame is used to request or notify the access point to enter a switching process, where the switching process includes switching from the first mode to the second mode or from the second mode to the first mode; The third mode is that the station can only transmit signals through a conventional transceiver.

16. The method of claim 15, It is characterized in that The method further comprises: The station receives a fifth radio frame from the access point through the third mode, where the fifth radio frame is used to notify the station that the access point agrees to enter the switching mode or that the access point has received the fourth radio frame.

17. The method according to claim 15 or 16, It is characterized in that The fifth radio frame includes at least one of the following fields: A field used to indicate that the switching process needs to be entered; A field for indicating the length of a padding field in the first radio frame; A field for indicating the time required for the station to switch from a conventional transceiver to a low power transceiver; A field for indicating an upper limit of a receiving capability of a low power transceiver of the station; A field used to indicate the upper limit of the receiving capability of the conventional transceiver of the station.

18. The method of claim 16, It is characterized in that The sixth radio frame includes at least one of the following fields: A field for indicating consent to enter the handover procedure; A field for indicating the length of a padding field in the first radio frame; A field for indicating the time required for the station to switch from a conventional transceiver to a low power transceiver; A field for indicating an upper limit of a receiving capability of a low power transceiver of the station; A field used to indicate the upper limit of the receiving capability of the conventional transceiver of the station.

19. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 18, It is characterized in that Also includes: The station sends a sixth radio frame to the access point, where the sixth radio frame is used to request or notify the access point to exit the switching process.

20. A communication method, It is characterized in that include: The access point sends a first radio frame to the station, where the first radio frame is used to trigger the station switching mode, and the first radio frame includes identification information of the station; The access point sends a message frame to the station.

21. The method of claim 20, It is characterized in that The switching mode includes switching from the first mode to the second mode or from the second mode to the first mode; The first mode is: the station transmits signals via a low-power transceiver; The second mode is that the station transmits signals via a conventional transceiver.

22. The method according to claim 20 or 21, It is characterized in that The first radio frame satisfies one or more of the following: The bandwidth corresponding to the first radio frame is less than a first threshold; A modulation and coding scheme MCS order corresponding to the first radio frame is less than a second threshold; The number of streams corresponding to the first radio frame is less than a third threshold.

23. The method of claim 22, It is characterized in that The first radio frame further satisfies one or more of the following: The frame type of the first radio frame is a first type; The format of the PPDU where the first radio frame is located is a first format.

24. The method of claim 22 or 23, It is characterized in that The first radio frame is a predefined frame.

25. The method according to any one of claims 20 to 24, It is characterized in that The method further comprises: The access point receives a second radio frame from the station; The access point determines, according to the second radio frame, that the station switches to the second mode or determines to send a message frame to the station.

26. The method of claim 25, It is characterized in that The second radio frame is a power saving polling PS-Poll frame.

27. The method of claim 26, It is characterized in that The access point sends a first wireless frame to the station, including: The access point sends one or more of the first radio frames to the station.

28. The method of claim 25, It is characterized in that The second wireless frame is an acknowledgment ACK frame corresponding to the first wireless frame.

29. The method of claim 28, It is characterized in that The length of the padding field in the first radio frame reaches or exceeds the first length.

30. The method according to any one of claims 20 to 24, It is characterized in that The method further comprises: The access point receives a third radio frame from the station; The access point determines, according to the third radio frame, that the station switches to the second mode or determines to send a message frame to the station.

31. The method of claim 30, It is characterized in that The length of the padding field in the first radio frame reaches or exceeds the second length.

32. The method according to any one of claims 20 to 23, It is characterized in that The first radio frame includes first indication information, where the first indication information indicates the site switching mode.

33. The method of claim 32, It is characterized in that The first wireless frame is a message frame.

34. The method according to any one of claims 20 to 33, It is characterized in that Before the access point sends the first wireless frame to the station, the method further includes: The access point sends at least one message frame to the station; Wherein, each message frame in the at least one message frame satisfies one or more of the following conditions: The bandwidth corresponding to each message frame is less than 20 MHz; The PPDU format of each message frame is a non-high throughput Non-HT PPDU; The order of the MCS corresponding to each message frame is lower than the threshold value; The number of flows corresponding to each message frame is a single flow.

35. The method according to any one of claims 20 to 34, It is characterized in that Before the access point sends the first wireless frame to the station, the method further includes: The access point receives a fourth wireless frame from the station, where the fourth wireless frame is used to request or notify the access point to enter a switching process, where the switching process includes switching from the first mode to the second mode or from the second mode to the first mode.

36. The method of claim 35, It is characterized in that The method further comprises: The access point sends a fifth radio frame to the station, where the fifth radio frame is used to notify the station that the access point agrees to enter the switching mode or that the access point has received the fourth radio frame.

37. The method of claim 35 or 36, It is characterized in that The fourth radio frame includes at least one of the following fields: A field used to indicate that the switching process needs to be entered; A field for indicating the length of a padding field in the first radio frame; A field for indicating the time required for the station to switch from a conventional transceiver to a low power transceiver; A field for indicating an upper limit of a receiving capability of a low power transceiver of the station; A field used to indicate the upper limit of the receiving capability of the conventional transceiver of the station.

38. The method of claim 36, It is characterized in that The fifth radio frame includes at least one of the following fields: A field for indicating consent to enter the handover procedure; A field for indicating the length of a padding field in the first radio frame; A field for indicating the time required for the station to switch from a conventional transceiver to a low power transceiver; A field for indicating an upper limit of a receiving capability of a low power transceiver of the station; A field used to indicate the upper limit of the receiving capability of the conventional transceiver of the station.

39. The method according to any one of claims 35 to 38, It is characterized in that Also includes: The access point receives a sixth radio frame sent by the station, where the sixth radio frame is used to request or notify the access point to exit the switching process.

40. A communication device, It is characterized in that The method comprises a module for executing the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 19, or comprises a module for executing the method as claimed in any one of claims 20 to 39.

41. A communication device, It is characterized in that The method comprises a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the interface circuit is electrically coupled to the processor, and the processor causes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 19 to be executed through a logic circuit or by executing a code instruction, or causes the method according to any one of claims 20 to 39 to be executed.

42. A computer readable storage medium, It is characterized in that The storage medium stores a computer program or instruction. When the computer program or instruction is executed, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 19 is executed, or the method according to any one of claims 20 to 39 is executed.

43. A communication system, It is characterized in that include: A station for performing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 19; An access point, configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 20 to 39.

Images