Channel access method and device

Abstract

A channel access method and apparatus, the channel access method comprising: acquiring node types of a plurality of nodes, the plurality of nodes comprising a first node; and determining that the first node adopts a channel access mode matched with the node type of the first node to perform channel access according to the node types of the plurality of nodes. The embodiment of the invention can be applied to various network environment scenes, so that the first node can access the channel more quickly and effectively by adopting a proper channel access mode. The time delay of channel access is reduced, and the efficiency of channel access is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present application relate to the field of communications, and in particular, to a channel access method and apparatus. Background Art

[0002] In a wireless fidelity (WiFi) network, an important task of the medium access control (MAC) layer is to coordinate multiple devices to access a shared wireless channel, so as to ensure effective data transmission. Different channel access mechanisms determine at what time the corresponding nodes can send data. However, for some nodes in the network environment, the current channel access mechanism will introduce some waiting time, resulting in low channel access efficiency. Summary of the Invention

[0003] Embodiments of the present application provide a channel access method and apparatus. The AP node can determine that a certain node uses a channel access method matching the node type of the node according to the node types of the nodes in the network environment. In a scenario applicable to multiple network environments, the channel can be accessed more quickly and effectively. The channel access delay is reduced, and the channel access efficiency is improved.

[0004] To achieve the above object, the embodiments of the present application adopt the following technical solutions:

[0005] In a first aspect, a channel access method is provided, including: obtaining the node types of multiple nodes, where the multiple nodes include a first node. According to the node types of the multiple nodes, determining that the first node uses a channel access method matching the node type of the first node to access the channel.

[0006] Embodiments of the present application can be applicable to scenarios of multiple network environments, so that the first node can access the channel more quickly and effectively by using a suitable channel access method. The channel access delay is reduced, and the channel access efficiency is improved.

[0007] In a possible design, the multiple nodes include an access point (AP) node and a station (STA) node, where the STA node is a node that accesses the AP node for communication, the STA node includes an STA node supporting a first channel access mechanism and / or an STA node not supporting the first channel access mechanism, the AP node supports the first channel access mechanism, and the first channel access mechanism uses a random frequency band method for channel access.

[0008] Embodiments of the present application provide various possible types of nodes. To be applicable to different forms of network scenarios, different types of nodes can adopt appropriate channel access methods to access the channel more quickly and effectively. Reduce the delay of channel access and improve the efficiency of channel access.

[0009] In a possible design, the multiple nodes include an AP node and at least one STA node, where the at least one STA node is an STA node supporting a first channel access mechanism, and the one AP node is associated with the at least one STA node. The channel access using a channel access method matching the node type of the first node includes: when the first node is an AP node, waiting for a first duration and performing channel access; or, when the first node is any one of the at least one STA node, waiting for a second duration and performing channel access using the first channel access mechanism, where the first duration is less than the second duration.

[0010] Embodiments of the present application can be applicable to a scenario where there is one AP node and at least one STA node, and each STA node supports the first channel access mechanism. The corresponding nodes can directly access the channel by waiting for a certain duration. This can reduce the delay of channel access and improve the efficiency of channel access. At the same time, by allowing the AP node to access the channel more preferentially than the STA node, it is beneficial for the AP node to make decisions on the channel occupancy situation and improve the channel usage efficiency.

[0011] In a possible design, the first node is the AP node. The waiting for the first duration and performing channel access includes: waiting for the first duration and determining, according to the service requirements of the AP node and the service requirements of the STA nodes associated with the AP node, for the AP node to access the channel or reserving the channel for the at least one STA node.

[0012] In embodiments of the present application, the AP node can determine whether to perform channel access or reserve the channel for other STA nodes according to the service requirements of each node in the network environment. So as to more flexibly allocate the channel to the appropriate node and improve the efficiency of the node accessing the channel.

[0013] In a possible design, the multiple nodes include one AP node and at least one STA node, where the at least one STA node includes at least a STA node that does not support the first channel access mechanism, and the STA node that supports the first channel access mechanism is associated with the one AP node; or, the multiple nodes include multiple AP nodes and at least one STA node, where the STA node that supports the first channel access mechanism is associated with one of the multiple AP nodes. The channel access using a channel access method matching the node type of the first node includes: when the first node is an AP node or the STA node that does not support the first channel access mechanism, using the distributed coordination function (DCF) mechanism for channel access; when the first node is a STA node that supports the first channel access mechanism, performing channel access based on the uplink scheduling of the AP node associated with the first node.

[0014] In the embodiments of the present application, in the scenario of one AP node and at least one STA node, and at least one STA node does not support the first channel access mechanism, or multiple AP nodes and at least one STA node, appropriate channel access methods can be adopted for different types of nodes for channel access. It can reduce the delay of node access to the channel and improve the efficiency of channel access. In the embodiments of the present application, only the AP node and the STA node that does not support the first channel access mechanism compete for the channel, reducing the nodes competing for the channel, thereby reducing frame collisions between different nodes and improving the efficiency of each node accessing the channel.

[0015] In a possible design, the multiple nodes include multiple AP nodes and at least one STA node, where the at least one STA node is a STA node that supports the first channel access mechanism, and the STA node that supports the first channel access mechanism is associated with one of the multiple AP nodes. The channel access using a channel access method matching the node type of the first node includes: when the first node is an AP node, using a second channel access mechanism for channel access, where the second channel access mechanism negotiates for channel access by means of a wired connection between the multiple AP nodes; when the first node is a STA node that supports the first channel access mechanism, performing channel access based on the uplink scheduling of the AP node associated with the first node.

[0016] In the embodiments of the present application, in a scenario of multiple AP nodes and at least one STA node, appropriate channel access methods can be adopted for different types of nodes to access the channel. This can reduce the delay of node access to the channel and improve the efficiency of channel access. In the embodiments of the present application, the order of accessing the channel is determined through negotiation among AP nodes, which can avoid the waiting time in the DCF mechanism, reduce the delay of node access to the channel, and improve the efficiency of each node accessing the channel.

[0017] In a possible design, the first node is the AP node. The channel access includes: determining, according to the service requirements of the AP node and the service requirements of the STA node associated with the AP node, for the AP node to access the channel or perform uplink scheduling for the STA node associated with the AP node.

[0018] In the embodiments of the present application, the AP node can determine whether to access the channel or perform uplink scheduling for other STA nodes according to the service requirements of each node in the network environment, which can more flexibly allocate the channel to appropriate nodes and improve the efficiency of node access to the channel.

[0019] In a possible design, the first node uses the DCF mechanism for channel access, and the frame spacing duration waited by the first node is the third duration. Among them, the third duration waited by the AP node is less than the third duration waited by the STA node that does not support the first channel access mechanism; or, the first value of the contention window length corresponding to the AP node is less than the first value of the contention window length corresponding to the STA node that does not support the first channel access mechanism; or, the upper limit value of the transmit opportunity (TXOP) after the AP node accesses the channel is greater than the upper limit value of the TXOP after the STA node that does not support the first channel access mechanism accesses the channel.

[0020] The embodiments of the present application provide various ways to enable the AP to access the channel more preferentially, thereby balancing the probability of each node accessing the channel.

[0021] In a possible design, the first value of the contention window length is at least one of the following values: the maximum value of the contention window length; the minimum value of the contention window length.

[0022] The embodiments of the present application provide various possible situations of the first value of the contention window length, so as to be applicable to balancing the probability of each node accessing the channel in various scenarios.

[0023] In a possible design, when the AP node competes for the channel using the DCF mechanism and meets the first condition, the contention window length corresponding to the AP node is increased. Wherein, the first condition includes at least one of the following: a frame collision occurs between the AP node and other nodes; the AP node has no traffic to be sent, and the STA nodes associated with the AP node have no traffic to be sent.

[0024] The embodiments of the present application can increase the contention window length when the AP accesses the channel under the condition of meeting the first condition, thereby avoiding excessive ineffective occupation of the channel by the AP node and improving the channel access efficiency.

[0025] In a possible design, the method further includes: querying the traffic requirements of the STA nodes associated with the AP node using the first channel access mechanism; and / or querying the traffic requirements of the STA nodes associated with the AP node using the buffer status report poll (BSRP) mechanism.

[0026] The embodiments of the present application provide multiple traffic query methods, so that the AP node can obtain the traffic requirements of the STA nodes associated with it. Thereby improving the rationality and accuracy of the AP's decision on using the channel for downlink traffic or uplink scheduling.

[0027] In a possible design, performing channel access using a channel access method matching the node type of the first node includes: the first node continuously monitors that the channel to be accessed is an idle channel within a fourth time period, and the first node accesses the idle channel at the end of the fourth time period, wherein the first node has traffic arriving at the start of the fourth time period.

[0028] The embodiments of the present application can continuously monitor that the channel is an idle channel within a certain time after traffic arrives. Then the first node can directly access, reducing the delay of the node accessing the channel and improving the efficiency of the node accessing the channel.

[0029] In a possible design, performing channel access using a channel access method matching the node type of the first node includes: the first node continuously monitors that the channel to be accessed is an idle channel within a fourth time period, and the first node accesses the idle channel at the end of the fourth time period, wherein the first node has traffic arriving at the end of the fourth time period.

[0030] The embodiments of the present application can continuously monitor that the channel is an idle channel within a certain time before traffic arrives. Then the first node can directly access at the moment when traffic arrives, reducing the delay of the node accessing the channel and improving the efficiency of the node accessing the channel.

[0031] In a second aspect, a channel access device is provided, including: an obtaining unit, configured to obtain node types of a plurality of nodes, where the plurality of nodes includes a first node; and a processing unit, configured to determine, according to the node types of the plurality of nodes, that the first node performs channel access by using a channel access manner matching the node type of the first node.

[0032] Embodiments of this application can be applicable to scenarios of various network environments, enabling the first node to access the channel more quickly and effectively by using a suitable channel access manner, reducing the delay of channel access, and improving the efficiency of channel access.

[0033] In a possible design, the plurality of nodes includes an access point (AP) node and a station (STA) node. The STA node is a node for accessing the AP node for communication. The STA node includes an STA node supporting a first channel access mechanism and / or an STA node not supporting the first channel access mechanism. The AP node supports the first channel access mechanism, and the first channel access mechanism performs channel access by using a random frequency band manner.

[0034] In a possible design, the plurality of nodes includes one AP node and at least one STA node. The at least one STA node is an STA node supporting the first channel access mechanism, and the one AP node is associated with the at least one STA node. The processing unit is further configured to: when the first node is the AP node, wait for a first duration and perform channel access; or, when the first node is any one of the at least one STA nodes, wait for a second duration and perform channel access by using the first channel access mechanism, where the first duration is less than the second duration.

[0035] In a possible design, the first node is the AP node. The processing unit is further configured to: wait for the first duration and determine, according to the service requirements of the AP node and the service requirements of the STA nodes associated with the AP node, to access the channel by the AP node or reserve the channel for the at least one STA nodes.

[0036] In a possible design, the multiple nodes include an AP node and at least one STA node, where the at least one STA node at least includes an STA node that does not support the first channel access mechanism, and the STA node that supports the first channel access mechanism is associated with the one AP node; or, the multiple nodes include multiple AP nodes and at least one STA node, where the STA node that supports the first channel access mechanism is associated with one of the multiple AP nodes; the processing unit is further configured to: when the first node is an AP node or the STA node that does not support the first channel access mechanism, perform channel access using the Distributed Coordination Function (DCF) mechanism; when the first node is an STA node that supports the first channel access mechanism, perform channel access based on the uplink scheduling of the AP node associated with the first node.

[0037] In a possible design, the multiple nodes include multiple AP nodes and at least one STA node, where the at least one STA node is an STA node that supports the first channel access mechanism, and the STA node that supports the first channel access mechanism is associated with one of the multiple AP nodes; the processing unit is further configured to: when the first node is an AP node, perform channel access using a second channel access mechanism, where the second channel access mechanism negotiates for channel access in a wired connection manner among the multiple AP nodes; when the first node is an STA node that supports the first channel access mechanism, perform channel access based on the uplink scheduling of the AP node associated with the first node.

[0038] In a possible design, the first node is the AP node; the processing unit is further configured to: determine, according to the service requirements of the AP node and the service requirements of the STA nodes associated with the AP node, for the AP node to perform channel access, or perform uplink scheduling on the STA nodes associated with the AP node.

[0039] In a possible design, the first node performs channel access using the DCF mechanism, and the frame spacing duration that the first node waits is a third duration. Wherein, the third duration that the AP node waits is less than the third duration that the STA node that does not support the first channel access mechanism waits; or, the first value of the contention window length corresponding to the AP node is less than the first value of the contention window length corresponding to the STA node that does not support the first channel access mechanism; or, the upper limit value of the Transmission Opportunity (TXOP) after the AP node accesses the channel is greater than the TXOP upper limit value after the STA node that does not support the first channel access mechanism accesses the channel.

[0040] In a possible design, the first value of the contention window length is at least one of the following values: the maximum value of the contention window length; the minimum value of the contention window length.

[0041] In a possible design, when the AP node competes for the channel using the DCF mechanism and meets the first condition, the contention window length corresponding to the AP node is increased; wherein the first condition includes at least one of the following: the AP node has a frame collision with other nodes; the AP node has no traffic to be sent, and the STA nodes associated with the AP node have no traffic to be sent.

[0042] In a possible design, the processing unit is further configured to: query the traffic requirements of the STA nodes associated with the AP node using the first channel access mechanism; and / or query the traffic requirements of the STA nodes associated with the AP node using the buffer status report query BSRP mechanism.

[0043] In a possible design, the processing unit is further configured to: the first node continuously monitors that the channel to be accessed is an idle channel within the fourth time period, and the first node accesses the idle channel at the end of the fourth time period, wherein the first node has traffic arriving at the start of the fourth time period.

[0044] In a possible design, the processing unit is further configured to: the first node continuously monitors that the channel to be accessed is an idle channel within the fourth time period, and the first node accesses the idle channel at the end of the fourth time period, wherein the first node has traffic arriving at the end of the fourth time period.

[0045] In a third aspect, a channel access device is provided, including: at least one processor and a communication interface, the communication interface is configured to receive and / or transmit signals, and the processor is configured to enable the communication method in any of the above aspects to be executed.

[0046] In a fourth aspect, a channel access device is provided. The channel access device includes: a processor and a memory; the memory is configured to store computer instructions, and when the processor executes the instructions, the channel access device is enabled to execute the communication method in any of the above aspects.

[0047] In a fifth aspect, a chip system is provided. The chip system includes a processor and input / output ports. The processor is configured to implement the processing functions involved in the communication method in any of the above aspects, and the input / output ports are configured to implement the transceiver functions involved in the communication method in any of the above aspects.

[0048] In a possible design, the chip system further includes a memory, which is used to store program instructions and data for implementing the functions involved in the communication method in any of the above aspects.

[0049] The chip system may be composed of chips or may include chips and other discrete devices.

[0050] In a sixth aspect, a communication system is provided. The system includes multiple nodes that execute any of the methods in any of the above aspects.

[0051] In a seventh aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided. The computer-readable storage medium stores computer instructions; when the computer instructions are run on a computer, the computer is caused to execute the communication method in any of the designs in any of the above aspects.

[0052] In an eighth aspect, a computer program product is provided. The computer program product includes a computer program or instructions, and when the computer program or instructions are run on a computer, the computer is caused to execute the communication method in any of the designs in any of the above aspects. Description of the Drawings

[0053] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the architecture of the communication system provided by the embodiments of the present application;

[0054] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of a communication scenario provided by the embodiments of the present application;

[0055] Figure 3 It is a flowchart of a channel access method provided by the embodiments of the present application;

[0056] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of a channel access scenario provided by the embodiments of the present application;

[0057] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of channel access timing provided by the embodiments of the present application;

[0058] Figure 6 It is another schematic diagram of a channel access scenario provided by the embodiments of the present application;

[0059] Figure 7 It is yet another schematic diagram of a channel access scenario provided by the embodiments of the present application;

[0060] Figure 8 It is a schematic diagram of a channel access device provided by the embodiments of the present application;

[0061] Figure 9 It is another schematic diagram of a channel access device provided by the embodiments of the present application. Detailed Embodiments

[0062] The network architecture and service scenarios described in the embodiments of this application are to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of this application. As can be known to those of ordinary skill in the art, with the evolution of the network architecture and the emergence of new service scenarios, the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of this application are equally applicable to similar technical problems.

[0063] The network architecture and service scenarios described in the embodiments of this application are to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of this application. As can be known to those of ordinary skill in the art, with the evolution of the network architecture and the emergence of new service scenarios, the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of this application are equally applicable to similar technical problems.

[0064] In the description of the embodiments of this application, the terms "first" and "second" in the specification and drawings are used to distinguish different objects or different processes for the same object. The words such as "first" and "second" can distinguish identical or similar items with basically the same functions and roles. For example, the first device and the second device are only used to distinguish different devices and do not limit their sequence. Those skilled in the art can understand that the words such as "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity and execution order, and the words such as "first" and "second" do not necessarily mean different.

[0065] "At least one" means one or more, and "a plurality" means two or more.

[0066] In the description of the embodiments of this application, unless otherwise specified, " / " means that the objects associated before and after are in an "or" relationship. For example, A / B can represent A or B; the "and / or" in the embodiments of this application is only a description of the association relationship of the associated objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. Among them, A and B can be singular or plural.

[0067] In the description of the embodiments of this application, unless otherwise specified, "a plurality" means two or more than two. "At least one (item)" or its similar expression refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single item (item) or plural items (items). For example, at least one (item) of a, b, or c can represent: a, b, c, a - b, a - c, b - c, or a - b - c, where a, b, c can be single or multiple.

[0068] In addition, to facilitate a clear description of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, terms such as "first" and "second" are used to distinguish identical or similar items with basically the same functions and roles. Those skilled in the art can understand that terms such as "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity and execution order, and "first", "second", etc. do not necessarily mean different.

[0069] In the embodiments of the present application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or explanations. Any embodiment or design solution described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the embodiments of the present application should not be construed as being more preferred or having more advantages than other embodiments or design solutions. Rather, the use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present relevant concepts in a specific manner for easy understanding.

[0070] It can be understood that the "embodiments" mentioned throughout the specification mean that specific features, structures, or characteristics related to the embodiments are included in at least one embodiment of the embodiments of the present application. Therefore, the various embodiments throughout the specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. In addition, these specific features, structures, or characteristics can be combined in one or more embodiments in any suitable manner. It can be understood that in the various embodiments of the embodiments of the present application, the magnitude of the serial numbers of the various processes does not mean the sequence of execution, and the execution sequence of each process should be determined according to its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation to the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0071] It can be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, both "when..." and "if" refer to corresponding processing under certain objective circumstances, which do not limit time, and do not require a judgment action during implementation, nor do they mean the existence of other limitations.

[0072] It can be understood that some optional features in the embodiments of the present application can, in some scenarios, be implemented independently without relying on other features, such as the current solution they are based on, to solve the corresponding technical problems and achieve the corresponding effects. In some scenarios, they can also be combined with other features according to requirements. Correspondingly, the devices given in the embodiments of the present application can also implement these features or functions accordingly, which will not be elaborated here.

[0073] In the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified, the same or similar parts among various embodiments can be referred to each other. In the embodiments of the present application, among various embodiments and among various implementation manners / implementation methods / realization methods in each embodiment, if there is no special specification and logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions among different embodiments and among various implementation manners / implementation methods / realization methods in each embodiment are consistent and can be referred to each other. The technical features in different embodiments and among various implementation manners / implementation methods / realization methods in each embodiment can be combined to form new embodiments, implementation manners, implementation methods, or realization methods according to their internal logical relationships. The implementation manners described below in the embodiments of the present application do not constitute a limitation on the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application.

[0074] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the architecture of the communication system provided by the embodiments of the present application.

[0075] As Figure 1 shown, the communication system involved in the embodiments of the present application may include at least one terminal 110 and a network device 120.

[0076] Among them, the terminal 110 and the network device 120 communicate with each other wirelessly. The network device 120 may be a radio access network device. Terminals and terminals, as well as radio access network devices and radio access network devices, may be connected to each other by wired or wireless means. Figure 1 It is only a schematic diagram. The communication system may further include other network devices, such as wireless relay devices, wireless backhaul devices, core network devices, etc., which are not drawn in Figure 1 It. The connection relationship between devices is not limited to the above-listed manners.

[0077] The radio access network device can be a base station, evolved NodeB (eNodeB), transmission reception point (TRP), next generation NodeB (gNB) in a 5G mobile communication system, next generation base station in a 6th generation (6G) mobile communication system, base station in a future mobile communication system, or access node in a WiFi system, etc.; it can also be a module or unit that completes part of the functions of a base station. For example, it can be a central unit (CU) or a distributed unit (DU). Here, the CU completes the functions of the radio resource control protocol and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) of the base station, and can also complete the function of the service data adaptation protocol (SDAP); the DU completes the functions of the radio link control layer and medium access control (MAC) layer of the base station, and can also complete part or all of the functions of the physical layer. For specific descriptions of the above protocol layers, reference can be made to the relevant technical specifications of the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP). The radio access network device can be a macro base station, a micro base station or an indoor station, or a relay node or a donor node, etc. In some other embodiments, the radio access network device can also be an access network device in an open RAN (O-RAN). In the O-RAN, the CU can be called an open CU (O-CU), the DU can be called an open DU (O-DU), and the RU can be called an open RU (O-RU). The specific technologies and device forms adopted by the radio access network device in the embodiments of this application are not limited. The radio access network device is sometimes also simply referred to as a network device. For the convenience of description, the base station is used as an example of the radio access network device in the following description.

[0078] A terminal can also be referred to as a terminal device, user equipment (UE), mobile station, mobile terminal, etc. Terminal devices can be widely applied in various scenarios, such as device-to-device (D2D), vehicle to everything (V2X) communication, machine-type communication (MTC), internet of things (IOT), virtual reality, augmented reality, industrial control, autonomous driving, remote healthcare, smart grid, smart home, smart office, smart wearables, smart transportation, smart city, etc. Terminal devices can be mobile phones, tablets, computers with wireless transceiver functions, wearable devices, vehicles, drones, helicopters, airplanes, ships, robots, robotic arms, smart home devices, etc. The embodiments of this application do not limit the specific technologies and specific device forms adopted by the terminal devices.

[0079] Base stations and terminals can be in fixed positions or movable. Base stations and terminal devices can be deployed on land, including indoor or outdoor, handheld or vehicle-mounted; they can also be deployed on water; and can also be deployed on airplanes, balloons, and artificial satellites in the air. The embodiments of this application do not limit the application scenarios of base stations and terminal devices.

[0080] Communication can be carried out between base stations and terminals, between base stations and base stations, and between terminals and terminals through licensed spectrum, or through unlicensed spectrum, or simultaneously through licensed spectrum and unlicensed spectrum; communication can be carried out through spectrum below 6 gigahertz (GHz), or through spectrum above 6 GHz, or simultaneously use spectrum below 6 GHz and spectrum above 6 GHz. The embodiments of this application do not limit the spectrum resources used for wireless communication.

[0081] In the embodiments of this application, the functions of the base station can also be executed by modules (such as chips) in the base station, or by a control subsystem containing base station functions. Here, the control subsystem containing base station functions can be a control center in the application scenarios of the above terminal devices such as smart grid, industrial control, smart transportation, and smart city. The functions of the repeater can also be executed by modules (such as chips or modems) in the repeater, or by a device containing repeater functions. The functions of the terminal can also be executed by modules (such as chips or modems) in the terminal, or by a device containing terminal functions.

[0082] In a wireless communication system, including communication devices, wireless communication can be carried out between the communication devices by using air interface resources. Among them, the communication devices can include network devices and terminal devices, and the network devices can also be referred to as base station devices. The air interface resources can include at least one of time domain resources, frequency domain resources, code resources, and space resources.

[0083] The solution provided by the embodiments of the present application can be applied to wireless communication between communication devices. Among them, wireless communication can include: wireless communication between a network device and a terminal, wireless communication between network devices, and wireless communication between terminals. In the embodiments of the present application, the term "wireless communication" can also be abbreviated as "communication", and the term "communication" can also be described as "data transmission", "information transmission", or "transmission".

[0084] The embodiments of the present application can be used for possible communication links such as uplink (UL), downlink (DL), access link, backhaul link, sidelink (SL), etc., and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto. From the perspective of service scenarios, the embodiments of the present application are applicable to various scenarios, such as hierarchical data coding in XR services, uplink high-capacity scenarios, etc., and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto.

[0085] For a WiFi network, determining when each node sends data through the channel access mechanism is the basis of communication. In related technologies, the channel access mechanism mainly adopts the distributed coordination function (DCF) mechanism for competitive access to the channel. This process realizes the competitive access of multiple nodes to the channel through random backoff. For example, a node can first randomly generate a random number based on a numerical range of a contention window, and this random number is used for backoff counting. Among them, the numerical ranges of the contention windows corresponding to different nodes can be different. And the random numbers generated by each node are mostly different. Assume that the shared channel is currently occupied by a certain node and a physical protocol data unit (PPDU) is sent for session communication. Other nodes that want to occupy the channel wait until the communication of this node ends. The nodes that want to occupy the channel can wait for a fixed duration. This fixed duration can be called the distributed coordination function inter-frame space (DIFS). After DIFS, the nodes that want to occupy the channel can perform backoff counting. Assume that node A wants to occupy the channel, and the random number generated by this node A is N. Then after DIFS, node A can perform backoff counting on N. Among them, each time the random number decreases by 1, it can correspond to waiting for a certain fixed duration. During this period, node A can continuously monitor whether the channel is idle. If it is idle, it continues to perform backoff counting; if the channel is occupied by other nodes, node A can pause the backoff counting until the channel is idle again and continue the backoff counting. For node A until the random number N backoffs to 0, if the channel is still idle at this time, node A occupies and accesses this channel and sends the corresponding data frame or control frame. Of course, for the specific method of monitoring whether the channel is idle, reference can be made to related technologies, and it will not be elaborated in this embodiment of the present application.

[0086] For example, assume that in a network environment, there are Node B, Node C, and Node D. The random number used by Node B for backoff is N1, the random number used by Node C for backoff is N2, and the random number used by Node D for backoff is N3, and N3 is less than N1 which is less than N2. Assume that the channel is occupied by a certain node, and the end time of the occupation is t1. Then, after DIFS at t1, Node B, Node C, and Node D simultaneously perform backoff counting. Since N3 is the smallest compared to N1 and N2, Node D first backs off to 0 and competes for the channel. Node D can access the channel and send the corresponding data frame or control frame. During the process of Node D occupying the channel, Node B and Node C suspend backoff counting until Node D finishes occupying the channel. After DIFS again, Node B and Node C can continue with backoff counting. Since N1 is less than N2, Node B will compete for the channel before Node C. During the process of Node B occupying the channel, Node C suspends backoff counting until Node B finishes occupying the channel. Assume that there is also Node E that wants to occupy the channel during the process of Node B occupying the channel. Then Node E waits for Node B to finish occupying the channel, and after DIFS again, it performs backoff counting together with Node C. Of course, Node E also has its corresponding random number.

[0087] The above example only simply describes the implementation process of the DCF mechanism. For specific implementation details, reference can be made to related technologies, and the embodiments of this application will not elaborate herein.

[0088] It can be seen that when each node competes for channel access in the above solution, it needs to wait to varying degrees based on random numbers, resulting in a relatively high delay for the node to access the channel.

[0089] Therefore, the embodiments of this application provide a channel access method. The AP node can determine that a certain node uses a channel access method matching the node type of that node for channel access according to the node types of each node in the network environment, so as to be applicable to scenarios of various network environments, enabling the first node to access the channel more quickly and effectively, reducing the delay of channel access, and improving the efficiency of channel access.

[0090] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of a communication scenario provided by the embodiments of this application.

[0091] This scenario shows a possible network structure, where Figure 2The network structure shown includes one or more stations (STA) of the access point (AP) class, and one or more stations of the non-access point class (none access point station, non-AP STA). Among them, the STA of the AP class can be regarded as network devices, and the non-AP STA can be terminals. In some examples, the STA of the AP class can be abbreviated as AP, and the non-AP STA can be abbreviated as STA. For convenience of description, in the embodiments of the present application, the STA of the AP class is collectively referred to as AP or AP node, and the non-AP STA is collectively referred to as STA or STA node.

[0092] For example, Figure 2 The STAs shown can include STA1, STA2, STA3, STA4, STA5, and STA6. However, it should be understood that Figure 2 Only the possible numbers of one type of AP and STA are shown. In other examples, there can also be more APs, and more or fewer STAs. The embodiments of the present application do not limit this here.

[0093] In some embodiments, the AP can be an access point for a terminal to enter a wired network or a wireless network. For example, it can be deployed in a home environment, inside a building, inside a campus, etc. The coverage radius in some scenarios can reach dozens of meters to hundreds of meters. In some scenarios, it can also be deployed outdoors. The access point can be considered as a bridge connecting the wired network and the wireless network. Its main function is to connect various wireless network clients together and then connect the wireless network to the Ethernet. For example, the AP can be a terminal or a network device with a wireless-fidelity (WiFi) chip. Among them, the terminal can be, for example, a mobile phone, etc., and the network device can be, for example, a router, etc. The AP can be a device supporting the 802.11bn standard. The access point can also be a device supporting multiple wireless local area network (WLAN) standards of the 802.11 family, such as 802.11be, 802.11ax, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b, and 802.11a. In some examples, the AP can be a high efficient (HE) AP, a very high throughput (VHT) AP, or an extremely high throughput (EHT) AP, and can also be an AP applicable to a future generation of WiFi standard.

[0094] The STA can be a wireless communication chip, a wireless sensor, a wireless communication terminal, etc., and can also be referred to as a user or a user equipment. For example, the STA can be a mobile phone supporting WiFi communication function, a tablet computer supporting WiFi communication function, a set-top box supporting WiFi communication function, a smart TV supporting WiFi communication function, a smart wearable device supporting WiFi communication function, a vehicle-mounted communication device supporting WiFi communication function, and a computer supporting WiFi communication function, etc. Optionally, the station can support the 802.11bn standard. The station can also support multiple WLAN standards of the 802.11 family such as 802.11be, 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b, and 802.11a. It can be understood that the STA in the embodiments of the present application can be a HE STA, a VHT STA, or an EHT STA, and can also be a STA applicable to a future generation of WiFi standard.

[0095] In some examples, the AP can be Figure 1 the network device shown, and the STA can also be Figure 1 the terminal shown.

[0096] In some examples, the STA and the AP can be devices applied to the vehicle-to-everything network, Internet of Things (IoT) nodes, sensors, etc. in the IoT, smart cameras, smart remote controls, smart water meters, smart electricity meters in smart homes, and sensors in smart cities, etc.

[0097] It can be understood that the embodiments of the present application can be applicable to networks deploying IEEE 802.11, or can be applicable to other networks adopting any standard or protocol. For example, Bluetooth, high-performance radio local area networks (HIPERLAN), wide area network (WAN), WLAN, personal area network (PAN), networks adopting the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) standard, or other known or future-developed networks. Among them, HIPERLAN can be considered a wireless standard similar to the IEEE 802.11 standard. Therefore, regardless of the coverage range and wireless access protocol used, the embodiments of the present application can be applicable to any suitable wireless network.

[0098] In some embodiments, communication between an AP and an STA, or between STAs, can be carried out through licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum, or both simultaneously; communication can be carried out through spectrum below 6 gigahertz (GHz), through spectrum above 6 GHz, or through both below and above 6 GHz simultaneously. Embodiments of this application do not limit the spectrum resources used for wireless communication.

[0099] In some embodiments, the roles of the AP and the STA can be swapped. For example, in a relay scenario, a terminal that turns on a hotspot can connect another terminal to the network. In this case, the role of the terminal that turns on the hotspot is equivalent to that of an AP.

[0100] Figure 3 It is a flowchart of a channel access method provided by an embodiment of this application.

[0101] As Figure 3 shown, this channel access process can be applicable to, but not limited to, Figure 1 , Figure 2 the communication scenarios shown. This method can be applicable to the above-mentioned AP nodes or STA nodes. For example, this method can be applied to a network environment with multiple nodes, and any node among the multiple nodes can be referred to as the first node. This method can be applied to AP nodes. This method can include the following steps:

[0102] S101, the AP node obtains the node types of multiple nodes.

[0103] In some embodiments, the AP node can obtain the node types of multiple nodes. Among them, the multiple nodes can be in the same network environment, and the multiple nodes can share the same channel for data communication. The multiple nodes can include the first node. Among them, the first node is any node among the multiple nodes.

[0104] For example, there can be multiple nodes in the same network environment. The AP node can obtain the node types of other nodes in this network environment. Of course, the AP node can also obtain its own corresponding node type. For example, when the AP node establishes a connection with multiple STA nodes, the STA nodes can report their own node types to the AP node. Or, during the process of a STA node occupying the channel to send a data frame or a control frame to the AP node, the node type of itself is carried at the same time to inform the AP node. It can be understood that usually, a STA node will report its own node type to the AP node associated with it. When there are multiple AP nodes among the multiple nodes, the multiple AP nodes can share one or more node types obtained by each AP node with each other.

[0105] It can be understood that any other feasible method can also be adopted to obtain the node types of multiple nodes, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this here.

[0106] In some embodiments, the node types can include multiple types. For example, the node type of a node can be an AP node, and for another example, the node type of a node can be a STA node. Among them, the STA node needs to access the AP node to achieve communication with other nodes. For example, the STA node is a terminal and the AP node is a router. The terminal needs to access the network through the router to achieve communication.

[0107] In some examples, the STA node can include a STA node that supports the first channel access mechanism. In some examples, the STA node can include a STA node that does not support the first channel access mechanism. In some examples, the STA node can include a STA node that supports the first channel access mechanism and a STA node that does not support the first channel access mechanism. Among them, the first channel access mechanism uses a random frequency band method for channel access.

[0108] In some examples, the AP nodes involved in the embodiments of the present application can be AP nodes that support the first channel access mechanism.

[0109] The embodiments of the present application provide multiple possible types of nodes. To be applicable to different forms of network scenarios, different types of nodes can adopt appropriate channel access methods to access the channel more quickly and effectively. Reduce the delay of channel access and improve the efficiency of channel access.

[0110] In some embodiments, the first channel access mechanism can be called the random frequency band channel access (RFCA) mechanism or other names. For example, the first channel access mechanism can also be called random frequency band access, random channel access, etc., and the embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific name of the first channel access mechanism. In some examples, the RFCA mechanism is different from the DCF mechanism. For the DCF mechanism, a node needs to perform corresponding backoff through a random number. When the random number backs off to 0, the node can access the channel. Therefore, from the time dimension, if a certain unit duration is used as the first time slice for division, a certain node may successfully seize the channel on some time slices. For some time slices, all nodes may be performing random number backoff, and no node accesses the channel for such time slices, which is obviously a waste of resources. In the RFCA mechanism, the AP node can perform frequency domain division on the entire channel bandwidth, that is, divide multiple frequency bands. The STA connected to the AP can perform uplink communication with the AP through a certain frequency band. It can be understood that assuming STA1 and STA2 are both connected to AP1, the STAs connected to AP1 are STA1 and STA2.

[0111] For example, AP1 is connected to STA1, STA2, STA3, and STA4. The AP can divide the entire bandwidth into 4 frequency bands, such as frequency band 1, frequency band 2, frequency band 3, and frequency band 4. The AP can specify that a certain frequency band is associated with a certain STA. For example, if the AP specifies that frequency band 1 is associated with STA3, then frequency band 1 can be considered as the exclusive frequency band of STA3. Only STA3 is allowed to use frequency band 1. Of course, STA3 can use only frequency band 1 to send uplink data to the AP, or STA3 can also allow random use of other frequency bands at the same time. This application embodiment does not make a limitation here. For STAs without a specified frequency band, such as STA1, STA2, and STA4, they can randomly select a frequency band to send control frames or data frames to the AP when they need to access the channel. For example, if STA1 randomly selects frequency band 2, STA2 randomly selects frequency band 4, and STA4 randomly selects frequency band 1, then the AP can parse the data frames sent by different STAs based on different frequency bands. In this case, it can be considered that STA1, STA2, and STA4 have all successfully accessed the channel. Of course, there are also some cases where some STAs randomly select the same frequency band. Then, multiple STAs that select the same frequency band can be considered to have a frame collision, and the AP cannot parse the frames sent on this frequency band.

[0112] Therefore, it can be considered that in the RFCA mechanism, as long as there is an AP that successfully parses the control frame or data frame sent by an STA on a certain frequency band, it can be considered that there is an STA that successfully accesses the channel for this time slice. Therefore, the situation where some time slices are wasted in the DCF mechanism can be avoided. Since the RFCA mechanism does not require nodes to perform backoff based on random numbers, the access delay of nodes to the channel can be reduced. At the same time, the RFCA mechanism divides multiple frequency bands, so that the STA nodes have a greater possibility of successfully accessing the channel in a certain time slice, and the probability of frame collision when nodes access the channel is reduced by multiplexing the same time slice with different frequency bands.

[0113] S102. The AP node determines that the first node accesses the channel by using a channel access method matching the node type of the first node according to the node types of multiple nodes.

[0114] In some embodiments, the AP node can determine a channel access method matching the node type of the first node according to the node types of multiple nodes obtained in S101. The AP node can configure the first node to access the channel by using this channel access method.

[0115] For example, multiple nodes in the same network environment include 5 nodes, and any one of the 5 nodes can be the first node. The AP node can determine the channel access method matching the first node according to its own node type and the node types corresponding to the other 4 nodes respectively. The AP node can configure the first node to perform channel access using the matching channel access method.

[0116] The embodiments of the present application can be applicable to scenarios of multiple network environments, enabling the first node to access the channel more quickly and effectively by using a suitable channel access method. This reduces the delay of channel access and improves the efficiency of channel access.

[0117] Next, the method of the embodiments of the present application will be introduced in more detail for different network scenarios.

[0118] The embodiments of the present application can respectively define three possible scenarios. For example, define Scenario 1 as: multiple nodes include an AP node and at least one STA node. Among them, at least one STA node is a STA node supporting the first channel access mechanism. Another example is to define Scenario 2 as: multiple nodes include an AP node and at least one STA node. Among them, at least one STA node at least includes a STA node that does not support the first channel access mechanism. Another example is to define Scenario 3 as: multiple nodes include multiple AP nodes and at least one STA node.

[0119] Scenario 1:

[0120] In the channel access method provided by the embodiments of the present application, multiple nodes can include: an AP node and at least one STA node. Among them, at least one STA node is a STA node supporting the first channel access mechanism. The one AP node is associated with at least one STA node. Then, in S102, performing channel access using a channel access method matching the node type of the first node can include: when the first node is an AP node, waiting for a first duration and performing channel access; or, when the first node is any one of the at least one STA node, waiting for a second duration and performing channel access using the first channel access mechanism, where the first duration is less than the second duration.

[0121] In some embodiments, multiple nodes in the same network environment can be an AP node and at least one STA node. All of the at least one STA node in this network environment support the first channel access mechanism. And all of the at least one STA node in this network environment are associated with the AP node. For example Figure 4Shows a schematic diagram of a possible channel access scenario. It can be seen that in this scenario, there is 1 AP node, namely AP41; and multiple STA nodes, such as STA411, STA412, STA413, STA414, STA415, STA416, STA417, and STA418. Among them, multiple STA nodes are associated with AP41, that is, these multiple STA nodes establish connections with AP41 and communicate. Therefore, this one AP node and at least one STA node can be considered to constitute a basic service set (BSS). Back to Figure 4 In, the multiple nodes circled by a dashed line can be considered to belong to one BSS. In some examples, Figure 4 The scenario shown can also be called a single BSS scenario.

[0122] In some examples, for example, the first node is an AP node, such as AP41. This AP node can wait for a first duration, and after the first duration has elapsed, it can perform channel access.

[0123] In some examples, the first node is any one of the STA nodes, such as Figure 4 any one of the 8 STA nodes shown in. Then this STA node can wait for a second duration, and after the second duration has elapsed, it can perform channel access. Among them, the first duration is less than the second duration.

[0124] In some examples, referring to Figure 5 the channel access schematic diagram shown. Assume that the channel is occupied by a certain node, and this node can send a PPDU during this time period. Corresponding to Figure 5 is the time corresponding to the previous node occupying the channel. It can be understood that this node can be considered as the previous node relative to the first node. During the process of this node occupying the channel, in addition to sending a PPDU, it can also end the occupation of the channel after passing the short inter frame space (SIFS) and the block acknowledgement (BA). After the previous node finishes occupying the signal. In the case where the first node is an AP node, after the first duration, the first node can perform channel access. In the case where the first node is a STA node, after the second duration, the first node can perform channel access. It can be seen that since the first duration is less than the second duration, therefore, for the AP node, it can perform channel access preferentially. This means that the AP node has a higher priority than the STA node when accessing the channel.

[0125] In some examples, if the STA node wants to access the channel after the second duration, but at this time the AP node is occupying the channel, the STA node cannot access the channel and continues to wait until the AP node finishes occupying the channel. In this case, the AP node still determines whether to access the channel first after the first duration. If the AP does not access the channel or the channel is idle after the second duration, the STA can access the channel.

[0126] In some examples, since at least one STA node supports the first channel access mechanism, therefore, the at least one STA node can use the first channel access mechanism to access the channel. For example, after the previous node finishes occupying the channel and after the second duration, at least one STA node can use the first channel access mechanism to access the channel, such as using the RFCA mechanism to access the channel.

[0127] In some examples, the first duration can be a DIFS. In some examples, the second duration can be a DIFS plus a time slot. Of course, the above is only an exemplary description of the first duration and the second duration, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific values of the first duration and the second duration.

[0128] In some examples, combined with Figure 4 and Figure 5 a more specific example is given for description. Taking the single BSS scenario shown in Figure 4 as an example, there is an AP node and multiple STA nodes in the network environment. Such as 8 STA nodes. The AP node and the 8 STA nodes all support the RFCA mechanism. For a certain period, there may be more uplink services and / or downlink services, and there may be more channel competition collisions. Therefore, the AP can decide to use the RFCA mechanism to access the channel. The AP node can send a session establishment request frame to each of the 8 STA nodes respectively. After each STA node replies with an information frame indicating agreement, the AP establishes a session with each STA. It can be understood that there may be some STA nodes that although support the RFCA mechanism, may not reply, or reply with an information frame indicating disagreement. Then the AP can use the RFCA mechanism to access the channel only with the STA nodes that reply with an information frame indicating agreement. However, this situation can be temporarily not considered in this embodiment.

[0129] After the previous node finishes occupying the channel, that is, after the packet transmission stops, first after the first duration, the AP node determines whether to access the channel. For example, after the AP node accesses the channel, it can determine whether to send downlink services. If the AP node needs to send downlink service data, the AP node occupies the channel and sends downlink service data. If the AP node does not need to send downlink services, the AP node can do nothing. Until after the second duration, each STA node determines whether to access the channel.

[0130] In the embodiments of the present application, the AP node can determine whether to access the channel or reserve the channel for other STA nodes according to the service requirements of each node in the network environment, so as to allocate the channel to the appropriate node more flexibly and improve the efficiency of node channel access.

[0131] In some embodiments, when the first node is an AP node, the AP node waiting for the first duration and accessing the channel may include: waiting for the first duration and determining whether the AP node accesses the channel or reserves the channel for the at least one STA node according to the service requirements of the AP node and the service requirements of the STA nodes associated with the AP node.

[0132] In some examples, if the AP does not access the channel, or when the channel is idle after the previous node finishes occupying the channel and after the second duration, each STA among the multiple STAs can choose whether to access the channel. For example, the RFCA mechanism can be used to access the channel. For example, the STA node can send a control frame to the AP node based on a randomly selected frequency band. Or, the STA node can send a control frame to the AP node based on a fixed frequency band. It can be understood that whether the STA node is based on a random frequency band or a fixed frequency band can be determined by the AP, that is, whether to allocate the corresponding frequency band to a certain STA node. The specific implementation process can refer to the description of the corresponding embodiments above, and the embodiments of the present application will not be elaborated here.

[0133] In some examples, still taking Figure 4 、 Figure 5 as an example, referring to Figure 5 Suppose the end time of the previous node occupying the channel is t2. Then, at the end time when t2 passes through the first duration, AP41 can determine whether to access the channel according to its own service requirements. Of course, in other examples, the t2 moment can also be the moment when the channel is an idle channel and the AP node has services arriving. The embodiments of the present application do not make a limitation here. If AP41 has services to be sent, then AP41 can access the channel at the end time of the first duration and send the services to be sent. If AP41 has no services to be sent, then AP41 can do nothing at the end time of the first duration, that is, reserve the channel for the STA node. Referring to Figure 5At the moment when the second time duration ends, each STA node can determine whether to access the channel according to its own service requirements. For example, the RFCA mechanism can be used for channel access. For instance, for a STA node with data to send, it can choose a random frequency band to send a control frame to AP41 to inform AP41 that the STA node hopes to access the channel. As another example, if AP41 allocates fixed frequency bands to some STA nodes, then when such STA nodes have data to send, they can send the control frame to AP41 through the allocated fixed frequency band. In some examples, the control frame used to inform AP41 that the STA node hopes to access the channel can be referred to as a channel access frame, a channel access request frame, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the name of this control frame. In some examples, the control frame may include a buffer status report (BSR), and the AP node can learn about the service requirements of the STA node that sends the BSR based on the BSR. The AP41 node can parse the control frames sent on the corresponding frequency bands and decide how to schedule the STA nodes. For example, it can schedule a single STA node separately, or schedule multiple STA nodes simultaneously based on multiple frequency bands. The specific implementation process can refer to the description of the foregoing embodiments, and the embodiments of the present application will not elaborate herein.

[0134] After the STA node finishes occupying the channel, after the first time duration again. At the moment when the first time duration ends, AP41 can learn about the service requirements of the corresponding STA node based on the BSR reported by the STA node before, and combine its own service requirements to decide whether to access the channel to send downlink services at the end of the first time duration. Or it can perform no operation and reserve the channel for the STA node.

[0135] In the embodiments of the present application, the AP node can determine whether to access the channel or reserve the channel for other STA nodes according to the service requirements of each node in the network environment. So as to allocate the channel to the appropriate node more flexibly and improve the efficiency of node channel access.

[0136] In some examples, the random frequency bands mentioned in the above embodiments can also be expressed as random resource units (RUs).

[0137] In some examples, when at least one STA node uses the RFCA mechanism for channel access, the STA node that hopes to access the channel can send information to the AP node through a random frequency band. For example, the STA node can send a BSR. So that the AP node can decide to perform single-user scheduling or multi-user scheduling based on the BSRs sent by the STA nodes on each frequency band.

[0138] For example, the AP node decides to perform single-user scheduling. The AP node can send information indicating that a certain STA node is allowed to send uplink data to a STA node that it wishes to schedule. For example, the AP node sends a (clear to send, CTS) message to a STA node that it wishes to schedule. The CTS can carry the duration indicating that the STA node is allowed to occupy the channel. For example, the CTS carries transmit opportunity (TXOP) information. The TXOP is used to indicate the duration allowed for transmission. The STA node will exclusively occupy the channel during this period.

[0139] For another example, the AP node decides to perform multi-user scheduling. The AP node can simultaneously send trigger frames to multiple STA nodes that it wishes to schedule to achieve uplink scheduling for multiple STA nodes. For example, the trigger frame can be a basic trigger frame. Of course, the basic trigger frame sent to each STA node can carry TXOP information for that STA node, which is used to indicate how long a certain frequency band allows that STA node to occupy.

[0140] It can be understood that the above process of the AP scheduling the STA is only an exemplary description, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto.

[0141] The embodiments of the present application can be applicable to a scenario where there is one AP node and at least one STA node, and each STA node supports the first channel access mechanism. The corresponding nodes can directly access the channel by waiting for a certain duration. This can reduce the channel access delay and improve the channel access efficiency. At the same time, by enabling the AP node to access the channel with higher priority than the STA node, it is beneficial for the AP node to make decisions on the channel occupancy situation and improve the channel usage efficiency.

[0142] Scenario Two, Scenario Three:

[0143] In the channel access method provided by the embodiments of the present application, the multiple nodes can include one AP node and at least one STA node. Among them, at least one STA node at least includes a STA node that does not support the first channel access mechanism. The STA node that supports the first channel access mechanism is associated with one AP node. Or, the multiple nodes include multiple AP nodes and at least one STA node. Among them, the STA node that supports the first channel access mechanism is associated with one of the multiple AP nodes. For performing channel access in S102 using a channel access method matching the node type of the first node, it can further include: when the first node is an AP node or a STA node that does not support the first channel access mechanism, using the distributed coordination function DCF mechanism for channel access. When the first node is a STA node that supports the first channel access mechanism, performing channel access based on the uplink scheduling of the AP node associated with the first node.

[0144] Among them, Scenario 2 can be:

[0145] In some embodiments, multiple nodes in the same network environment can be one AP node and at least one STA node. At least one of the at least one STA nodes in this network environment is a STA node that does not support the first channel access mechanism. In this network environment, at least one STA node is associated with the AP node. Refer to Figure 6 which shows a schematic diagram of a possible channel access scenario.

[0146] Figure 6 and Figure 4 is similar, except that Figure 6 the black STA613 in can be represented as a STA node that does not support the first channel access mechanism. For Figure 6 the scenario shown can also be considered a single BSS scenario.

[0147] Among them, Scenario 3 can be:

[0148] In some embodiments, multiple nodes in the same network environment can be multiple AP nodes and at least one STA node. At least one of the at least one STA nodes in this network environment can include a STA node that does not support the first channel access mechanism, can also include a STA node that supports the first channel access mechanism, and can also include both a STA node that supports the first channel access mechanism and a STA node that does not support the first channel access mechanism. In this network environment, at least one STA node is associated with any one of the multiple AP nodes. Refer to Figure 7 which shows a schematic diagram of a possible channel access scenario. Figure 7 and Figure 4 , Figure 6 is similar, except that Figure 7 includes multiple AP nodes, and each AP node can correspond to a BSS. Among them, the black STA733 can be represented as a STA node that does not support the first channel access mechanism. For Figure 7 the scenario shown can be considered a multi - BSS scenario.

[0149] It should be noted that Figure 7 some of the STAs in may be within the coverage of multiple APs. However, no matter how many AP coverage areas the STA is in, it only establishes an association relationship with one of them. Just like Figure 7 the STAs STA713, STA714, STA715, STA716 in may be within the coverage of different AP nodes at the same time, but they are all associated with AP71. And although STA734 may be within the coverage of different AP nodes at the same time, it is only associated with AP73.

[0150] Meanwhile, for Figure 6 and Figure 7 the scenarios shown, STA nodes that do not support the first channel access mechanism can also be associated with the AP node. For example, STA613 is associated with AP61, and STA733 is associated with AP73.

[0151] In some embodiments, for Scenario 2 and Scenario 3, if the first node is an AP node or a STA node that does not support the first channel access mechanism. The first node can use the DCF mechanism for channel access. That is to say, for each AP node and STA that does not support the first channel access mechanism, when the previous node finishes occupying the channel, the DCF mechanism can be used for channel access. For example, by generating random numbers by each node for backoff, and according to which node first backs off the random number to 0, it has priority for channel access.

[0152] Of course, the specific process of using the DCF mechanism for channel access can refer to the corresponding description in the foregoing embodiments, and the embodiments of the present application will not be elaborated herein.

[0153] In some examples, after the AP accesses the channel, it can query the service requirements of other STAs associated with it, and then decide whether the AP accesses the channel. For example, when the previous node finishes occupying the channel, or when there is traffic arriving at the AP node and the channel is an idle channel, the AP node can use the DCF mechanism for channel contention. When the AP node competes for the channel using the DCF mechanism, the AP node can use the first channel access mechanism to query the service requirements of the STA nodes associated with the AP node. For example, the AP node queries the service requirements of each STA node associated with the AP node through the RFCA mechanism. In some examples, the AP can divide the channel into a fixed number of frequency bands, and for STAs with service requirements, they can randomly select a frequency band to report the service cache status report to the AP node.

[0154] For another example, the AP node can also use the buffer status report poll (BSRP) mechanism to query the service requirements of the STA nodes associated with the AP node. For example, the AP node can send control frames for querying service requirements to multiple STA nodes, such as BSRP trigger frames. In the BSRP trigger frame sent by the AP node to each STA node, a frequency band is allocated for the STA to report the service cache status report. The AP can complete the query of the service requirements of at least one STA node through one round or multiple rounds of queries.

[0155] In some examples, the AP node can also combine the RFCA mechanism and the BSRP mechanism to query the service requirements of each STA node associated with the AP node. For example, the AP node can divide the channel into multiple frequency bands, and then fixedly allocate some of the multiple frequency bands to some STA nodes. For example, the AP node divides the channel into 8 frequency bands, and then allocates 3 of the frequency bands to 3 different STA nodes respectively, that is, the 3 STA nodes fixedly use the allocated frequency band to report the service cache status report to the AP node. The remaining frequency bands can be used by the remaining STA nodes, and when there is a service requirement, a frequency band is randomly selected to report the service cache status report.

[0156] It can be understood that for the above embodiments, when the AP node receives the service cache status report reported by the STA node, it can know the service requirements of the STA node based on the service cache status report.

[0157] Of course, the AP node can also adopt any other feasible query method to query the service requirements of at least one STA node, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this here.

[0158] The embodiments of the present application provide a variety of service query methods so that the AP node can obtain the service requirements of the STA nodes associated with it. Thereby improving the rationality and accuracy of the AP's decision on the channel for downlink services or uplink scheduling.

[0159] In some embodiments, assume that the first node is an AP node. The AP node can compete for the channel using the DCF mechanism at the moment when the previous node finishes occupying the channel, or if the channel is idle when there is traffic arriving at the AP node. In the case where the AP node competes for the channel using the DCF method, the AP node can obtain the service requirements of each STA node based on the various query methods mentioned above. The AP node can combine its own service requirements and the service requirements of each STA node to decide to access the channel to send downlink services. Or the AP node decides to perform uplink scheduling on the STA nodes associated with it.

[0160] Of course, the specific decision-making process of the AP node can refer to the related technology implementation. For example, based on factors such as the priority of service requirements and the amount of traffic, the embodiments of the present application do not limit this here.

[0161] In some embodiments, for Scenario 2 and Scenario 3, if the first node is an STA node that supports the first channel access mechanism. Then the first node can achieve channel access through the uplink scheduling performed by the AP node associated with it. That is to say, for an STA node that supports the first channel access mechanism, it needs the AP node associated with it to first compete for the channel using the DCF mechanism. After that, through the service requirement query method, the AP node decides which associated STA node to schedule.

[0162] For example, Figure 6 the access channels of STA611, STA612, STA614, STA615, STA616, STA617, and STA618 in [[ ]] require the AP61 and STA613 to compete for the channel through the DCF mechanism. After the AP61 competes for the channel, various service query methods mentioned in the foregoing embodiments can be adopted to obtain the service requirements of each STA node. The AP node can select any one or more of STA611, STA612, STA614, STA615, STA616, STA617, and STA618 to send uplink data according to the service requirements. Similarly, for Figure 7 each STA node supporting the first channel access mechanism in [[ ]] and Figure 6 each STA node supporting the first channel access mechanism in [[ ]] are similar, and the embodiments of the present application will not be elaborated herein.

[0163] Considering that the STA nodes supporting the first channel access mechanism need to compete for the channel through the AP node, in order to alleviate the imbalance in the channel competition opportunities between the STA nodes that do not support the first channel access mechanism and the STA nodes that support the first channel access mechanism. Therefore, the probability of the AP accessing the channel can be increased, or it can be considered as increasing the priority of the AP accessing the channel.

[0164] In some embodiments, the first node uses the DCF mechanism for channel access, and the frame spacing duration waited by the first node is the third duration. For example, the first node can start waiting for the third duration at the moment when the previous node finishes occupying the channel, and then perform backoff based on a random number. Another example is that when the first node determines that the channel is idle at the moment when a service arrives, it starts waiting for the third duration and then performs backoff based on a random number.

[0165] In some embodiments, the third duration waited by the AP node can be less than the third duration waited by the STA node that does not support the first channel access mechanism. It can be understood that by making the third duration waited by the AP node less than the third duration waited by the STA node that does not support the first channel access mechanism, it can be ensured that the AP node can determine whether to access the channel first.

[0166] For example, the third duration waited by the AP node can be set to DIFS, and the third duration waited by the STA node that does not support the first channel access mechanism can be DIFS plus 1 time slot. Of course, the third duration of different nodes can also be any other possible duration, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. It can be understood that the third duration can be the same as or different from the first duration and the second duration in the foregoing embodiments, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0167] In some embodiments, the first value of the contention window (CW) length corresponding to the AP node is less than the first value of the contention window length corresponding to the STA node that does not support the first channel access mechanism.

[0168] In some embodiments, the first value of the contention window length is the maximum value of the contention window length. For example, it is denoted as CWmax.

[0169] For example, the CWmax corresponding to the AP node is less than the CWmax corresponding to the STA node that does not support the first channel access mechanism.

[0170] In some embodiments, the first value of the contention window length is the minimum value of the contention window length. For example, it is denoted as CWmin.

[0171] For example, the CWmin corresponding to the AP node is less than the CWmin corresponding to the STA node that does not support the first channel access mechanism.

[0172] It can be understood that CWmax is the maximum value of the contention window length, and CWmin is the minimum value of the contention window length. In the process of channel contention using the DCF mechanism, the random number needs to be selected based on CWmin and CWmax. For example, a number can be randomly selected from 0 to Y as the random number. The value of Y needs to be between CWmin and CWmax. Of course, Y can take the value of CWmin or CWmax. Therefore, it can be understood that the selection of the random number will not exceed CWmax at most.

[0173] It can be seen that by making the first value of the contention window length corresponding to the AP node less than the first value of the contention window length corresponding to the STA node that does not support the first channel access mechanism, the random number generated by the AP node has a higher probability of being less than the random number generated by the STA node that does not support the first channel access mechanism, thereby increasing the probability that the AP node will preferentially back off the random number to 0 and access the channel.

[0174] The embodiments of the present application provide various possible situations of the first value of the contention window length, so as to be applicable to balancing the probability of each node accessing the channel in various scenarios.

[0175] In some embodiments, the upper limit value of the transmission opportunity TXOP after the AP node accesses the channel is greater than the upper limit value of the TXOP after the STA node that does not support the first channel access mechanism accesses the channel. That is to say, the maximum duration for which the AP node occupies the channel is greater than the maximum duration for which the STA node that does not support the first channel access mechanism occupies the channel. Thus, it is ensured that the AP node can occupy the channel more to perform uplink scheduling for the STA nodes that support the first channel access mechanism.

[0176] Embodiments of the present application provide various ways to enable the AP to access the channel more preferentially, thereby balancing the probability of each node accessing the channel.

[0177] In some embodiments, for STA nodes that do not support the first channel access mechanism, during the process of competing for the channel using the DCF mechanism, service data can be directly sent after waiting for a third duration.

[0178] In some embodiments, during the process of the AP node competing for the channel using the DCF mechanism, when the first condition is met, the contention window length corresponding to the AP node can be increased.

[0179] For example, when the first condition is met, the contention window length corresponding to the AP node can be doubled. Assume the contention window length corresponding to the AP node is Y, where the value range of Y is [CWmin, CWmax], and the value range of the random number is [0, Y]. For example, when the first condition is met, Y can be increased to obtain Y'. In this case, the value range of the random number will become [0, Y']. For example, Y' can be 2Y. It should be noted that no matter what method is used to increase Y, the maximum value of Y is CWmax. That is to say, assume that after increasing the value of Y, it is greater than CWmax, then the contention window length corresponding to the AP node after the increase can be CWmax.

[0180] In some examples, the first condition includes that the AP node collides with other nodes in a frame.

[0181] For example, when the AP node and other nodes access the channel using the DCF mechanism, they simultaneously back off their respective random numbers to 0, then the AP node and other nodes may send information frames simultaneously. For example, both send data frames, or both send control frames, or some nodes send data frames and some nodes send control frames. It can be understood that no matter what frames the AP node and other nodes send, frame collisions will occur. In this case, the contention window length corresponding to the AP node can be increased.

[0182] In some examples, the first condition includes that the AP node has no service to be sent, and the STA nodes associated with the AP node have no service to be sent.

[0183] For example, after the AP node competes for the channel through the DCF mechanism, it determines that its own node has no service to be sent. And, the AP node queries and determines that the STA nodes associated with it also have no service to be sent. It can be considered that the AP node invalidly occupies the channel this time. Therefore, the contention window length corresponding to the AP node can be increased to avoid the situation that the AP node frequently invalidly occupies the channel. In some examples, the service to be sent can include data frames and / or control frames.

[0184] In some examples, the first condition includes: the AP node has a frame collision with other nodes; the AP node has no traffic to send, and the STA nodes associated with the AP node have no traffic to send.

[0185] In the embodiments of the present application, when the first condition is met, the contention window length when the AP accesses the channel can be increased, thereby avoiding excessive invalid occupation of the channel by the AP node and improving the channel access efficiency.

[0186] It can be seen from the above embodiments that in the embodiments of the present application, in a scenario where there is one AP node and at least one STA node, and at least one STA node does not support the first channel access mechanism, or multiple AP nodes and at least one STA node, appropriate channel access methods can be adopted for different types of nodes to access the channel. The delay of node access to the channel can be reduced, and the efficiency of channel access can be improved.

[0187] In some embodiments, with reference to Figure 6 more specific examples are given for description. For example Figure 6 in the single BSS scenario shown, there is one AP node and multiple STA nodes in the network environment. For example, there are 8 STA nodes. The AP node and 7 STA nodes support the RFCA mechanism, where STA613 does not support the RFCA mechanism. Considering that there may be a large amount of uplink traffic and / or downlink traffic during a certain period, there may be more channel contention collisions. Therefore, the AP can decide to use the RFCA mechanism for channel access. The AP node can send session establishment request frames to 8 STA nodes respectively. For some or all of the STA nodes that support the RFCA mechanism, information frames indicating consent can be replied, and the AP establishes a session with such STA nodes.

[0188] It can be understood that there may be some STA nodes that support the RFCA mechanism but do not reply or reply with information frames indicating disagreement. Then the AP can use the RFCA mechanism for channel access only with the STA nodes that reply with information frames indicating consent. Such STA nodes that support the RFCA mechanism can use the same channel access method as the STA nodes that do not support the RFCA mechanism. This will not be described separately later.

[0189] After the previous node finishes occupying the channel, that is, after the packet transmission stops. The AP node and the STA nodes that do not support the RFCA mechanism can compete for the channel using the DCF mechanism. For the STA nodes that do not support the RFCA mechanism, if they compete for the channel, they can directly send service data. For the AP node, if it competes for the channel, it can determine whether to send downlink service data or perform uplink scheduling for the STA nodes that support the RFCA mechanism.

[0190] In some examples, to ensure that the AP node can have a higher priority access channel, the third waiting time of the AP node in the process of competing for the channel using the DCF mechanism can be set to the point coordination function inter-frame space (PIFS), CWmin can be set to 7, and the maximum TXOP can be set to 5 milliseconds (ms).

[0191] In some cases, if the AP node has no downlink traffic to send after competing for the channel, and it is determined that there is no need to perform uplink scheduling on the STA node, then this channel competition can be considered invalid, and the contention window length can be doubled. It will not be restored to CWmin until the next time the AP node has downlink traffic to send or performs uplink scheduling on the STA node.

[0192] In some examples, if the AP determines that the air interface traffic is small, it can send a session deletion frame. The session frame can be considered as a frame for the AP node and the STA node to synchronize the use of the RFCA mechanism, and the session deletion frame can be considered as a frame for releasing the AP node and the STA node from synchronizing the use of the RFCA mechanism. After receiving the session deletion frame, the STA node will no longer use the RFCA mechanism to compete for the channel, and the AP node that sends the session deletion frame will no longer use the RFCA mechanism to schedule the STA node for channel access.

[0193] In some embodiments, reference Figure 7 Give a more specific example to describe. Figure 7 In the multi-BSS scenario shown, there are multiple AP nodes and multiple STA nodes in the network environment. For example, there are 14 STA nodes. The multiple AP nodes and some STA nodes support the RFCA mechanism, among which STA733 does not support the RFCA mechanism. AP71 is associated with STA711, STA712, STA713, STA714, STA715, STA716, STA717 and STA718; AP72 is associated with STA721 and STA722; AP73 is associated with STA731, STA732, STA733 and STA734. Considering that there may be more uplink services and / or downlink services in a certain period of time, there may be more channel contention collisions. For example, an AP node among multiple AP nodes can determine to use the RFCA mechanism for channel access. The AP node can send session establishment request frames to other AP nodes respectively, and the AP node that receives the session establishment request frame can reply to agree to establish a session. After a session is established between multiple AP nodes, each AP node establishes a session with other STA nodes in its BSS. For details, please refer to the description of the aforementioned embodiment, and the embodiments of the present application will not be repeated here.

[0194] and Figure 6Similarly, after the previous node finishes occupying the channel, that is, after packet transmission stops, each AP node and STA nodes that do not support the RFCA mechanism can use the DCF mechanism to compete for the channel. For STA nodes that do not support the RFCA mechanism, if they compete for the channel, they can directly send service data. For an AP node, if it competes for the channel, it can determine whether to send downlink service data or perform uplink scheduling for STA nodes that support the RFCA mechanism.

[0195] In some examples, for an AP node with a large number of associated STA nodes, the RFCA mechanism can be used to query the service requirements of the STA nodes. For an AP node with a small number of associated STA nodes, the BSRP mechanism can be used to query the service requirements of the STA nodes. For example, a threshold for the number of STA nodes can be set. If the number of STA nodes is greater than or equal to this threshold, it is considered that the AP node has a large number of associated STA nodes; otherwise, if it is less than this threshold, it is considered that the AP node has a small number of associated STA nodes. The specific value of the threshold can be set according to the actual situation and is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0196] In some examples, if an AP node does not have downlink service to send after competing for the channel and also determines that uplink scheduling for STA nodes is not required, then this channel competition can be considered an invalid competition, and the contention window length can be doubled. It will not return to CWmin until the AP node has downlink service to send or performs uplink scheduling for STA nodes next time.

[0197] It can be understood that for Figure 6 Some implementation processes of the corresponding embodiments can be reused in Figure 7 the scenarios. For example, the configuration of higher-priority access to the channel for AP nodes is not described in detail here for the sake of convenience.

[0198] It can be seen that Figure 7 In the scenario shown, originally 17 nodes participated in the channel competition, which has changed to 3 AP nodes and 1 STA node participating in the channel competition, reducing a large number of participating nodes in the channel competition, which is beneficial to reducing the collision rate of the channel competition. Moreover, for some STA nodes scheduled by the AP node, their services to be sent may belong to low-latency services. After these STA nodes compete for the channel through the AP node, they can be directly uplink-scheduled by the AP node. Compared with only using the DCF mechanism to compete for the channel, the efficiency of this STA node accessing the channel can be improved.

[0199] Embodiments of the present application can perform channel access using appropriate channel access methods for different types of nodes in a scenario where there is one AP node and at least one STA node, and at least one STA node does not support the first channel access mechanism, or multiple AP nodes and at least one STA node. This can reduce the delay of node access to the channel and improve the efficiency of channel access. Embodiments of the present application reduce the nodes competing for the channel by having only the AP node and the STA node that does not support the first channel access mechanism compete for the channel, thereby reducing frame collisions between different nodes and improving the efficiency of each node's access to the channel.

[0200] In the channel access method provided by the embodiments of the present application, the multiple nodes include multiple AP nodes and at least one STA node. Among them, at least one STA node is a STA node that supports the first channel access mechanism, and the STA node that supports the first channel access mechanism is associated with one of the multiple AP nodes. Performing channel access using a channel access method matching the node type of the first node in S102 may include: when the first node is an AP node, performing channel access using a second channel access mechanism, where the second channel access mechanism uses a wired connection between multiple AP nodes to negotiate for channel access. When the first node is a STA node that supports the first channel access mechanism, performing channel access based on the uplink scheduling of the AP node associated with the first node.

[0201] In some embodiments, referring to Figure 7 the scenario shown. For the case where the multiple nodes include multiple AP nodes and at least one STA node, the AP nodes can use the second channel access mechanism for channel access instead of using the DCF mechanism to access the channel. At least one STA node in this scenario is a STA node that supports the first channel access mechanism.

[0202] In some examples, the second channel access mechanism uses a wired connection between multiple AP nodes to negotiate for channel access. For example, the second channel access mechanism can be referred to as the fiber to the room (FTTR) mechanism. In some examples, the wired connection between multiple AP nodes can use optical fibers for the wired connection. Of course, other methods can also be used for the wired connection, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this here. After the multiple AP nodes are connected by wire, they can negotiate with each other which node accesses the channel first and which node accesses the channel later, that is, negotiate the order of accessing the channel. After that, each AP node can access the channel in the negotiated order in turn.

[0203] In some examples, for STA nodes that support the first channel access mechanism, uplink scheduling is still performed through the AP node associated with them to achieve channel access. The specific implementation process can refer to the corresponding foregoing embodiments, and will not be elaborated herein in the embodiments of the present application.

[0204] Of course, in this scenario, for STA nodes that do not support the first channel access mechanism, if they can be connected to the AP node in a wired manner, they can negotiate the access order with the AP node.

[0205] The above second channel access mechanism avoids the waiting time based on random number backoff in the DCF mechanism through negotiation. It can achieve channel competition allocation between nodes faster. After each AP accesses the channel, it can execute the channel access process in a single BSS scenario.

[0206] In the embodiments of the present application, in the scenario of multiple AP nodes and at least one STA node, appropriate channel access methods can be adopted for different types of nodes to access the channel. It can reduce the delay of node access to the channel and improve the efficiency of channel access. In the embodiments of the present application, by negotiating the order of accessing the channel between AP nodes, the waiting time in the DCF mechanism can be avoided, the delay of node access to the channel can be reduced, and the efficiency of each node accessing the channel can be improved.

[0207] In the channel access method provided in the embodiments of the present application, when the first node is an AP node, channel access may include: determining whether the AP node accesses the channel or performing uplink scheduling on the STA node associated with the AP node according to the service requirements of the AP node and the service requirements of the STA node associated with the AP node.

[0208] In some embodiments, for the above embodiments, when the AP node determines that it can access the channel, it can determine whether to access the channel by itself for sending downlink data according to its own service requirements and the service requirements of the STA node associated with the AP node. Or the AP node determines to perform uplink scheduling on the STA node associated with it that supports the first channel access mechanism. Among them, for how the AP node obtains the service requirements of the STA node associated with the AP node, various service query methods mentioned in the foregoing embodiments can be referred to, and will not be elaborated herein in the embodiments of the present application.

[0209] In the embodiments of the present application, the AP node can determine whether to access the channel or perform uplink scheduling for other STA nodes according to the service requirements of each node in the network environment, which can allocate the channel to the appropriate node more flexibly and improve the efficiency of node access to the channel.

[0210] In the channel access method provided by the embodiments of the present application, the channel access in S102 using a channel access mode matching the node type of the first node may include: the first node continuously monitors the channel to be accessed as an idle channel within a fourth time period, and the first node accesses the idle channel at the end moment of the fourth time period. Wherein, there is traffic arriving at the start moment of the fourth time period for the first node.

[0211] In some embodiments, the first node may continuously monitor the channel. The first node may continuously monitor the channel as an idle channel within a fourth time period. Assuming that there is traffic arriving at the start moment of the fourth time period for the first node, the first node may directly perform channel access at the end moment of the fourth time period. Such as directly sending a data frame or a control frame.

[0212] The embodiments of the present application may continuously monitor the channel as an idle channel within a certain time after the traffic arrives. Then the first node may directly access, reducing the delay of the node accessing the channel and improving the efficiency of the node accessing the channel.

[0213] In the channel access method provided by the embodiments of the present application, the channel access in S102 using a channel access mode matching the node type of the first node may include: the first node continuously monitors the channel to be accessed as an idle channel within a fourth time period, and the first node accesses the idle channel at the end moment of the fourth time period. Wherein, there is traffic arriving at the end moment of the fourth time period for the first node.

[0214] In some embodiments, the first node may continuously monitor the channel. The first node may continuously monitor the channel as an idle channel within a fourth time period. Assuming that there is traffic arriving at the end moment of the fourth time period for the first node, the first node may directly perform channel access at that moment. Such as directly sending a data frame or a control frame.

[0215] The embodiments of the present application may continuously monitor the channel as an idle channel within a certain time before the traffic arrives. Then the first node may directly access at the moment when the traffic arrives, reducing the delay of the node accessing the channel and improving the efficiency of the node accessing the channel.

[0216] In some possible embodiments, the fourth time period may be DIFS plus one time slot. Of course, the fourth time period may also be any other possible time period, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0217] In the above embodiments, the channel access mode in which the AP performs uplink scheduling on the STA node can be referred to as full AP scheduling. In some embodiments, during the channel access process in which the AP node and the STA node adopt the RCFA mechanism, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) technology can be used to divide multiple frequency bands and schedule different STA nodes based on the multiple frequency bands respectively. The specific implementation process of the OFDMA technology can refer to the related technology, and will not be elaborated in the embodiments of the present application.

[0218] It can be understood that in the above embodiments, the first node continuously monitors that the channel to be accessed is an idle channel within the fourth time period, and the first node can access the idle channel, which is applicable to any of the aforementioned scenarios, such as Scenario 1, Scenario 2, and Scenario 3.

[0219] It should be noted that the above multiple embodiments can be combined and the combined solution can be implemented. Optionally, some operations in the processes of the method embodiments are optionally combined, and / or the order of some operations is optionally changed. Moreover, the execution order between the steps of each process is only exemplary and does not constitute a limitation on the execution order between the steps. The steps can also be in other execution orders. It is not intended to indicate that the execution order is the only order in which these operations can be performed. Those of ordinary skill in the art will think of various ways to reorder the operations herein. Additionally, it should be pointed out that the process details involved in a certain embodiment herein are also applicable to other embodiments in a similar manner, or different embodiments can be used in combination.

[0220] It can be understood that in order to implement the functions in the above embodiments, the base station and the terminal include the corresponding hardware structures and / or software modules for performing each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, in combination with the units and method steps of the examples described in the embodiments disclosed in the present application, the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a certain function is executed in the way of hardware or computer software driving the hardware depends on the specific application scenario and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0221] Figure 8 and Figure 9 FIG. is a schematic structural diagram of a possible channel access device provided by an embodiment of the present application. These channel access devices can be used to implement the functions of any possible node in the above method embodiments, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects possessed by the above method embodiments. In the embodiments of the present application, the channel access device can be an AP node, or a STA node, or a module applied to an AP node or a STA node. For example, a chip.

[0222] As shown in Figure 8 Figure, the channel access device 800 includes a processing unit 810.

[0223] In a possible implementation, the channel access device 800 may further include a transceiver unit 820.

[0224] In a possible implementation, the channel access device 800 may further include a storage unit 830.

[0225] In a possible implementation, the channel access device 800 may further include a transceiver unit 820 and a storage unit 830.

[0226] The channel access device 800 is used to implement the functions of any node in the method embodiment shown above Figure 3 in the figure.

[0227] When the channel access device 800 is used to implement the functions of any node in the method embodiment shown Figure 3 in the figure: The transceiver unit 820 is used to obtain the node types of multiple nodes. The processing unit 810 is used to determine, according to the node types of the multiple nodes, that the first node performs channel access using a channel access method matching the node type of the first node. The processing unit 810 is further used to execute all operations other than the transceiver operations performed by the channel access device 800 in the embodiment shown Figure 3 in the figure, and / or other processes for supporting the technologies described herein. The storage unit 830 is used to store any data, computer instructions, and / or computer programs that may be involved in the embodiments of the present application.

[0228] For a more detailed description of the above processing unit 810 and transceiver unit 820, reference may be made to the relevant descriptions in the method embodiment shown Figure 3 in the figure. The above processing unit 810 and transceiver unit 820 may also perform other steps, and for specific implementations, reference may be made to the method embodiment, which will not be elaborated here.

[0229] Optionally, the transceiver unit 820 may be a transceiver, and the transceiver may include an antenna, a radio frequency circuit, etc.

[0230] The processing unit 810 may be a processor (or, processing circuit), such as a baseband processor, and one or more CPUs may be included in the baseband processor.

[0231] As shown in Figure 9 Figure, the channel access device 900 includes at least one processor 910. In a possible implementation, the channel access device 900 may further include an interface circuit 920.

[0232] In a possible implementation manner, the channel access device 900 may further include a memory 930.

[0233] In a possible implementation manner, the channel access device 900 may further include a memory 930 and an interface circuit 920.

[0234] In some embodiments, the processor 910 and the memory 930 are coupled to each other; and / or, the processor 910 and the interface circuit 920 are coupled to each other. It can be understood that the interface circuit 920 may be a transceiver or an input / output interface. The memory 930 may be used to store computer instructions executed by the processor 910, or input data required for the processor 910 to run computer instructions, or data generated after the processor 910 runs computer instructions.

[0235] When the channel access device 900 is used to implement Figure 3 the method shown, the processor 910 may be used to implement the functions of the above-mentioned processing unit 810, and / or the interface circuit 920 may be used to implement the functions of the above-mentioned transceiver unit 820, and / or the memory 930 may be used to implement the functions of the above-mentioned storage unit 830.

[0236] When the above-mentioned channel access device is a chip applied to a terminal, the terminal chip implements the functions of the terminal in the above method embodiments. The terminal chip receives information from a network device. It can be understood that the information is first received by other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the terminal and then sent to the terminal chip by these modules. The terminal chip sends information to the network device. It can be understood that the information is first sent to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the terminal and then sent to the network device by these modules.

[0237] When the above-mentioned channel access device is a chip applied to a network device, the network device chip implements the functions of the network device in the above method embodiments. The network device chip receives information from a terminal. It can be understood that the information is first received by other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the network device and then sent to the network device chip by these modules. The network device chip sends information to the terminal. It can be understood that the information is sent to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the network device first and then sent to the terminal by these modules.

[0238] Figure 8 Or Figure 9 The channel access device shown is only an example, and in actual applications, the channel access device may have more or fewer components than Figure 8 Or Figure 9 shown, two or more components may be combined, or different component configurations may be available.

[0239] In an embodiment of the present application, when entity A sends information to entity B, it can be that A directly sends to B, or A indirectly sends to B through other entities. Similarly, when entity B receives information from entity A, it can be that entity B directly receives the information sent by entity A, or entity B indirectly receives the information sent by entity A through other entities. Here, entity A and B can be RAN nodes or terminals, or modules inside RAN nodes or terminals. The sending and receiving of information can be the information interaction between a RAN node and a terminal, for example, the information interaction between a network device and a terminal; the sending and receiving of information can also be the information interaction between two RAN nodes, for example, the information interaction between a CU and a DU; the sending and receiving of information can further be the information interaction between different modules within a device, for example, the information interaction between a terminal chip and other modules of the terminal, or the information interaction between a network device chip and other modules in the network device.

[0240] In an embodiment of the present application, a network device sends a downlink signal or downlink information to a terminal device, and the downlink information is carried on a downlink channel; the terminal device sends an uplink signal or uplink information to the network device, and the uplink information is carried on an uplink channel. In order to communicate with the network device, the terminal device needs to establish a wireless connection with a cell controlled by the network device. The cell that has established a wireless connection with the terminal device is called the serving cell of the terminal device.

[0241] It can be understood that in an embodiment of the present application, PDSCH and PUSCH are only taken as examples of a downlink data channel and an uplink data channel. In different systems and different scenarios, the data channel and the control channel may have different names, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0242] It can be understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application can be a central processing unit (CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0243] The method steps in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in hardware or in software instructions executable by a processor. The software instructions can be composed of corresponding software modules, and the software modules can be stored in a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory, an erasable programmable read-only memory, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, a register, a hard disk, a removable hard disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium well-known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor, enabling the processor to read information from and write information to the storage medium. The storage medium can also be a component of the processor. The processor and the storage medium can be located in an ASIC. Additionally, the ASIC can be located in a network device or a terminal. The processor and the storage medium can also exist as discrete components in a network device or a terminal.

[0244] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are executed in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user device, or other programmable devices. The computer program or instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer program or instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center in a wired or wireless manner. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium accessible by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or a data center integrating one or more available media. The available medium can be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, a hard disk, or a magnetic tape; it can also be an optical medium, such as a digital video disc; or it can be a semiconductor medium, such as a solid-state drive. The computer-readable storage medium can be a volatile or non-volatile storage medium, or can include both volatile and non-volatile types of storage media.

[0245] In each of the embodiments of the embodiments of the present application, if there is no special indication and logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced to each other. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationships.

[0246] It should be understood that the various numerical numbers involved in the embodiments of the present application are only for the convenience of description and are not used to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. The magnitudes of the serial numbers of the above processes do not mean the sequence of execution, and the execution sequence of each process should be determined according to its function and internal logic.

Claims

1. A channel access method, characterized in that, Including: Obtaining the node types of multiple nodes, where the multiple nodes include a first node; Determining, according to the node types of the multiple nodes, that the first node performs channel access by using a channel access mode matching the node type of the first node.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The multiple nodes include an access device AP node and a station STA node. Wherein, the STA node is a node that accesses the AP node for communication. The STA node includes a STA node supporting a first channel access mechanism and / or a STA node not supporting the first channel access mechanism. The AP node supports the first channel access mechanism, and the first channel access mechanism performs channel access by using a random frequency band method.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, The multiple nodes include one AP node and at least one STA node, where the at least one STA node is a STA node supporting the first channel access mechanism, and the one AP node is associated with the at least one STA node; Performing channel access by using a channel access mode matching the node type of the first node includes: When the first node is an AP node, waiting for a first duration and performing channel access; or, When the first node is any one of the at least one STA node, waiting for a second duration and performing channel access by using the first channel access mechanism, where the first duration is less than the second duration.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein The first node is the AP node; waiting for the first duration and performing channel access includes: Waiting for the first duration and determining, according to the service requirements of the AP node and the service requirements of the STA nodes associated with the AP node, that the AP node accesses the channel or reserves the channel for the at least one STA node.

5. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, The multiple nodes include one AP node and at least one STA node, where the at least one STA node at least includes a STA node not supporting the first channel access mechanism, and the STA node supporting the first channel access mechanism is associated with the one AP node; or, the multiple nodes include multiple AP nodes and at least one STA node, where the STA node supporting the first channel access mechanism is associated with one of the multiple AP nodes; Performing channel access by using a channel access mode matching the node type of the first node includes: When the first node is an AP node or the STA node not supporting the first channel access mechanism, using the distributed coordination function DCF mechanism for channel access; When the first node is a STA node supporting the first channel access mechanism, performing channel access based on the uplink scheduling of the AP node associated with the first node.

6. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, The multiple nodes include multiple AP nodes and at least one STA node, where the at least one STA node is a STA node supporting the first channel access mechanism, and the STA node supporting the first channel access mechanism is associated with one of the multiple AP nodes; Performing channel access by using a channel access mode matching the node type of the first node includes: The first node is an AP node, which uses a second channel access mechanism for channel access. Among them, the second channel access mechanism negotiates channel access in a wired connection manner among the multiple AP nodes; The first node is a STA node that supports the first channel access mechanism and accesses the channel based on the uplink scheduling of the AP node associated with the first node.

7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that, The first node is the AP node; the channel access includes: According to the service requirements of the AP node and the service requirements of the STA node associated with the AP node, determine whether the AP node accesses the channel or perform uplink scheduling on the STA node associated with the AP node.

8. The method according to claim 5, wherein The first node uses the DCF mechanism for channel access, and the inter-frame space duration that the first node waits is the third duration; Among them, the third duration that the AP node waits is less than the third duration that the STA node that does not support the first channel access mechanism waits; or, The first value of the contention window length corresponding to the AP node is less than the first value of the contention window length corresponding to the STA node that does not support the first channel access mechanism; or, The upper limit value of the transmission opportunity TXOP after the AP node accesses the channel is greater than the TXOP upper limit value after the STA node that does not support the first channel access mechanism accesses the channel.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein The first value of the contention window length is at least one of the following values: The maximum value of the contention window length; The minimum value of the contention window length.

10. The method according to claim 5, 8 or 9, characterized in that, When the AP node competes for the channel using the DCF mechanism and meets the first condition, increase the contention window length corresponding to the AP node; Among them, the first condition includes at least one of the following: The AP node has a frame collision with other nodes; The AP node has no pending traffic, and the STA node associated with the AP node has no pending traffic.

11. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that, The method further includes: Using the first channel access mechanism to query the service requirements of the STA node associated with the AP node; and / or, Using the buffer status report query BSRP mechanism to query the service requirements of the STA node associated with the AP node.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1-11, characterized in that The channel access using the channel access method matching the node type of the first node includes: The first node continuously monitors the channel to be accessed as an idle channel within the fourth duration, and the first node accesses the idle channel at the end of the fourth duration, where the first node has traffic arriving at the start of the fourth duration.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that, The channel access using the channel access method matching the node type of the first node includes: The first node continuously monitors the channel to be accessed as an idle channel within the fourth duration, and the first node accesses the idle channel at the end of the fourth duration, where the first node has traffic arriving at the end of the fourth duration.

14. A channel access device, characterized in that, Includes: An acquisition unit for acquiring the node types of multiple nodes, where the multiple nodes include a first node; A processing unit is configured to determine that the first node performs channel access using a channel access method matching the node type of the first node according to the node types of the multiple nodes.

15. The device according to claim 14, characterized in that, The multiple nodes include access point (AP) nodes and station (STA) nodes. Among them, the STA nodes are nodes that access the AP nodes for communication. The STA nodes include STA nodes supporting a first channel access mechanism and / or STA nodes not supporting the first channel access mechanism. The AP nodes support the first channel access mechanism, and the first channel access mechanism performs channel access using a random frequency band method.

16. The device according to claim 15, characterized in that The multiple nodes include one AP node and at least one STA node. Among them, the at least one STA node is a STA node supporting the first channel access mechanism, and the one AP node is associated with the at least one STA node; The processing unit is further configured to: If the first node is an AP node, wait for a first duration and perform channel access; or, If the first node is any one of the at least one STA node, wait for a second duration and perform channel access using the first channel access mechanism, where the first duration is less than the second duration.

17. The device according to claim 16, wherein, The first node is the AP node; the processing unit is further configured to: Wait for the first duration and determine, according to the service requirements of the AP node and the service requirements of the STA nodes associated with the AP node, that the AP node accesses the channel or reserves the channel for the at least one STA node.

18. The device according to claim 15, characterized in that, The multiple nodes include one AP node and at least one STA node. Among them, the at least one STA node at least includes STA nodes not supporting the first channel access mechanism, and the STA nodes supporting the first channel access mechanism are associated with the one AP node; or, the multiple nodes include multiple AP nodes and at least one STA node. Among them, the STA nodes supporting the first channel access mechanism are associated with one of the multiple AP nodes; The processing unit is further configured to: If the first node is an AP node or a STA node not supporting the first channel access mechanism, perform channel access using the distributed coordination function (DCF) mechanism; If the first node is a STA node supporting the first channel access mechanism, perform channel access based on the uplink scheduling of the AP node associated with the first node.

19. The device according to claim 15, characterized in that, The multiple nodes include multiple AP nodes and at least one STA node. Among them, the at least one STA node is a STA node supporting the first channel access mechanism, and the STA node supporting the first channel access mechanism is associated with one of the multiple AP nodes; The processing unit is further configured to: If the first node is an AP node, perform channel access using a second channel access mechanism, where the second channel access mechanism negotiates channel access in a wired connection manner among the multiple AP nodes; If the first node is a STA node supporting the first channel access mechanism, perform channel access based on the uplink scheduling of the AP node associated with the first node.

20. The device according to claim 18 or 19, characterized in that, The first node is the AP node; the processing unit is further configured to: Determine, according to the service requirements of the AP node and the service requirements of the STA nodes associated with the AP node, that the AP node performs channel access, or perform uplink scheduling on the STA nodes associated with the AP node.

21. The device according to claim 18, characterized in that, The first node performs channel access using the DCF mechanism, and the frame interspace duration waited by the first node is the third duration; Wherein, the third duration waited by the AP node is less than the third duration waited by the STA nodes that do not support the first channel access mechanism; or, The first value of the contention window length corresponding to the AP node is less than the first value of the contention window length corresponding to the STA nodes that do not support the first channel access mechanism; or, The upper limit value of the transmission opportunity TXOP after the AP node accesses the channel is greater than the upper limit value of the TXOP after the STA nodes that do not support the first channel access mechanism access the channel.

22. The device according to claim 21, characterized in that, The first value of the contention window length is at least one of the following values: The maximum value of the contention window length; The minimum value of the contention window length.

23. The device according to claim 18, 21 or 22, characterized in that, When the AP node competes for the channel using the DCF mechanism and meets the first condition, increase the contention window length corresponding to the AP node; Wherein, the first condition includes at least one of the following: The AP node has a frame collision with other nodes; The AP node has no traffic to be sent, and the STA nodes associated with the AP node have no traffic to be sent.

24. The device according to claim 20, characterized in that, The processing unit is further configured to: Query the service requirements of the STA nodes associated with the AP node using the first channel access mechanism; and / or, Query the service requirements of the STA nodes associated with the AP node using the buffer status report query BSRP mechanism.

25. The device according to any one of claims 14-24, characterized in that, The processing unit is further configured to: The first node continuously monitors that the channel to be accessed is an idle channel within the fourth duration, and the first node accesses the idle channel at the end of the fourth duration, wherein the first node has traffic arriving at the start of the fourth duration.

26. The device according to any one of claims 14-24, characterized in that, The processing unit is further configured to: The first node continuously monitors that the channel to be accessed is an idle channel within the fourth duration, and the first node accesses the idle channel at the end of the fourth duration, wherein the first node has traffic arriving at the end of the fourth duration.

27. A channel access device, characterized in that, Includes: At least one processor and a communication interface, the communication interface is used to receive and / or send signals, and the processor is configured to enable the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13 to be executed.

28. A channel access device, characterized in that, Includes: At least one processor and a memory, the memory is used to store computer instructions, and the processor is configured to execute the computer instructions so that the channel access device executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13.

29. A communication system, characterized in that, The system includes: a plurality of nodes that execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13.

30. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, Instructions or programs are stored in the computer-readable storage medium, and when the instructions or programs run on the communication device, the communication device is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 1-13.

31. A computer program product, characterized in that, The computer program product includes a computer program or instructions that, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-13.

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