Distributed resource unit-based transmission or reception method and apparatus in wireless LAN system

Abstract

Disclosed are a transmission or reception method and apparatus based on a distributed resource unit in a wireless LAN system. According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a method performed by means of a first station (STA) in a wireless local area network (WLAN) may comprise the steps of: transmitting, to one or more second STAs, a first physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) comprising a trigger frame, the trigger frame comprising a first field, the first field has one or more bitmaps associated with a distributed resource unit (DRU); and receiving a second PPDU triggered by the trigger frame from the one or more second STAs. Each of the one or more bitmaps can have a bit size corresponding to a maximum channel size to which the DRU can be applied with respect to the second PPDU.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a method and device for transmitting or receiving based on distributed resource units in a wireless local area network (WLAN) system. Background Art

[0002] New technologies have been introduced for wireless LANs (WLANs) to improve transmission rates, increase bandwidth, improve reliability, reduce errors, and reduce latency. Among WLAN technologies, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 series of standards can be referred to as Wi-Fi. For example, recent technologies introduced to WLANs include Very High Throughput (VHT) enhancements to the 802.11ac standard and High Efficiency (HE) enhancements to the IEEE 802.11ax standard.

[0003] To provide a more complete wireless communication environment, enhancement technologies for EHT (Extreme High Throughput) are under discussion. For example, technologies are being studied to support increased bandwidth, efficient utilization of multiple bands, and increased spatial streams, including multi-access point (AP) coordination and multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO). In particular, various technologies are being studied to support low-latency or real-time services. Furthermore, new technologies are being discussed to support ultra-high reliability (UHR) by improving or expanding EHT technology. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Technical issues

[0005] The technical problem of the present disclosure is to provide a method and device for transmitting or receiving based on distributed resource units in a WLAN system.

[0006] An additional technical problem of the present disclosure is to provide a method and apparatus for signaling whether to apply a distributed resource unit, an application location, etc. in a WLAN system.

[0007] The technical objectives achieved by the present disclosure are not limited to the above-mentioned technical objectives, and other technical objectives not described herein will be clearly understood by those skilled in the relevant art from the following description.

[0008] Technical Solution

[0009] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a method performed by a first station (STA) in a wireless local area network (WLAN) system may include: transmitting a first physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) including a trigger frame to at least one second STA, wherein the trigger frame includes a first field including at least one bitmap related to a distributed resource unit (DRU); and receiving a second PPDU triggered by the trigger frame from the at least one second STA. Each of the at least one bitmap may have a bit size corresponding to a maximum channel size that the DRU can be applied to the second PPDU.

[0010] According to additional aspects of the present disclosure, a method performed by a second station (STA) in a wireless local area network (WLAN) system may include: receiving a first physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) including a trigger frame from a first STA, wherein the trigger frame includes a first field including at least one bitmap related to a distributed resource unit (DRU); and transmitting a second PPDU triggered by the trigger frame to the first STA on a DRU allocated to the second STA based on the at least one bitmap. Each of the at least one bitmap may have a bit size corresponding to a maximum channel size that the DRU can be applied to the second PPDU.

[0011] Beneficial effects

[0012] According to the present disclosure, a method and device for transmitting or receiving based on distributed resource units in a WLAN system may be provided.

[0013] According to the present disclosure, a method and apparatus for signaling whether to apply a distributed resource unit, an application location, etc. in a WLAN system may be provided.

[0014] Effects achievable by the present disclosure are not limited to the above-described effects, and those skilled in the art can clearly understand other effects not described herein through the following description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] The accompanying drawings, which are included as a part of the detailed description for understanding the present disclosure, provide embodiments of the present disclosure and describe technical features of the present disclosure through the detailed description.

[0016] Figure 1 A block configuration diagram of a wireless communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0017] Figure 2 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary structure of a WLAN system to which the present disclosure can be applied.

[0018] Figure 3 is a diagram for describing a link setting process to which the present disclosure can be applied.

[0019] Figure 4 is a diagram for describing a backoff process to which the present disclosure can be applied.

[0020] Figure 5 is a diagram for describing a CSMA / CA-based frame transmission operation to which the present disclosure may be applied.

[0021] Figure 6 is a diagram for describing an example of a frame structure used in a WLAN system to which the present disclosure can be applied.

[0022] Figure 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a PPDU defined in the IEEE 802.11 standard to which the present disclosure can be applied.

[0023] Figures 8 to 10 is a diagram for explaining an example of a resource unit of a WLAN system to which the present disclosure may be applied.

[0024] Figure 11 is a diagram for describing an example of a DRU to which the present disclosure can be applied.

[0025] Figure 12 is a diagram showing an example format of a trigger frame to which the present disclosure may be applied.

[0026] Figure 13 is a diagram for describing an example of a DRU-based PPDU reception method of a first STA according to the present disclosure.

[0027] Figure 14 is a diagram for describing an example of a DRU-based PPDU transmission method of a second STA according to the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] Hereinafter, embodiments according to the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The detailed description disclosed with the accompanying drawings is intended to describe exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure and is not intended to represent the only embodiment in which the present disclosure may be implemented. The following detailed description includes specific details to provide a complete understanding of the present disclosure. However, those skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that the present disclosure may be implemented without these specific details.

[0029] In some cases, well-known structures and devices may be omitted, or may be shown in the form of a block diagram based on the core functions of each structure and device in order to prevent ambiguity in the concepts of the present disclosure.

[0030] In the present disclosure, when an element is referred to as being "connected," "combined," or "linked" to another element, it may include an indirect connection relationship in which another element exists therebetween as well as a direct connection relationship. In addition, in the present disclosure, the terms "comprising" or "having" specify the presence of the mentioned features, steps, operations, components, and / or elements, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, components, elements, and / or groups thereof.

[0031] In the present invention, terms such as "first," "second," etc. are used only to distinguish one element from another and are not used to limit the elements. Unless otherwise specified, they do not limit the order or importance of the elements. Therefore, within the scope of the present disclosure, the first element in one embodiment may be referred to as the second element in another embodiment, and similarly, the second element in one embodiment may be referred to as the first element in another embodiment.

[0032] The terms used in this disclosure are intended to describe specific embodiments and not to limit the claims. As used in the description of the embodiments and the appended claims, the singular is intended to include the plural, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The term "and / or" used in this disclosure may refer to one of the relevant enumerated items, or mean that it refers to and includes any and all possible combinations of two or more of them. In addition, unless otherwise indicated, the " / " between words in this disclosure has the same meaning as "and / or".

[0033] Examples of the present disclosure can be applied to various wireless communication systems. For example, examples of the present disclosure can be applied to wireless LAN systems. For example, examples of the present disclosure can be applied to wireless LANs based on the IEEE 802.11a / g / n / ac / ax standards. Furthermore, examples of the present disclosure can be applied to wireless LANs based on the newly proposed IEEE 802.11be (or EHT) standard. Examples of the present disclosure can be applied to wireless LANs based on the IEEE 802.11be version-2 standard, which corresponds to the additional enhancements to the IEEE 802.11be version-1 standard. Furthermore, examples of the present disclosure can be applied to next-generation standard-based wireless LANs following IEEE 802.11be. Furthermore, examples of the present disclosure can be applied to cellular wireless communication systems. For example, examples of the present disclosure can be applied to cellular wireless communication systems based on Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology and 5G New Radio (NR) technology, both based on the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standard.

[0034] Hereinafter, technical features of examples to which the present disclosure can be applied will be described.

[0035] Figure 1 A block diagram of a wireless communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0036] Figure 1 The first device 100 and the second device 200 illustrated in the figure may be replaced by various terms such as terminal, wireless device, wireless transmit receive unit (WTRU), user equipment (UE), mobile station (MS), user terminal (UT), mobile subscriber station (MSS), mobile subscriber unit (MSU), subscriber station (SS), advanced mobile station (AMS), wireless terminal (WT), or simple user. In addition, the first device 100 and the second device 200 may include an access point (AP), a base station (BS), a fixed station, a node B, a base transceiver system (BTS), or a network. It may be replaced by various terms such as an artificial intelligence (AI) system, a roadside unit (RSU), a repeater, a router, a relay, and a gateway.

[0037] Figure 1 The devices 100 and 200 illustrated in FIG may be referred to as stations (STAs). For example, Figure 1 The devices 100 and 200 illustrated in FIG. 1 may be referred to by various terms such as transmitting device, receiving device, transmitting STA, and receiving STA. For example, STAs 110 and 200 may perform either an access point (AP) role or a non-AP role. That is, in this disclosure, STAs 110 and 200 may perform AP and / or non-AP functions. When STAs 110 and 200 perform AP functions, they may be referred to simply as APs, and when STAs 110 and 200 perform non-AP functions, they may be referred to simply as STAs. Furthermore, in this disclosure, an AP may also be referred to as an APSTA.

[0038] refer to Figure 1 , the first device 100 and the second device 200 can transmit and receive radio signals through various wireless LAN technologies (eg, IEEE 802.11 series). The first device 100 and the second device 200 can include interfaces for a media access control (MAC) layer and a physical layer (PHY) that conform to the IEEE 802.11 standard.

[0039] Furthermore, the first device 100 and the second device 200 may support various communication standards (e.g., 3GPP LTE series, 5G NR series standards, etc.) in addition to wireless LAN technologies. Furthermore, the devices of the present disclosure may be implemented in various devices, such as mobile phones, vehicles, personal computers, augmented reality (AR) devices, virtual reality (VR) devices, etc. Furthermore, the STAs of this specification may support various communication services, such as voice calls, video calls, data communications, autonomous driving, machine-type communications (MTC), machine-to-machine (M2M), device-to-device (D2D), IoT (Internet of Things), etc.

[0040] The first device 100 may include one or more processors 102 and one or more memories 104, and may further include one or more transceivers 106 and / or one or more antennas 108. The processor 102 may control the memory 104 and / or the transceiver 106 and may be configured to implement the descriptions, functions, processes, proposals, methods, and / or operational flowcharts disclosed herein. For example, the processor 102 may generate first information / signals by processing information in the memory 104 and then transmit a wireless signal including the first information / signals via the transceiver 106. Furthermore, the processor 102 may receive a wireless signal including second information / signals via the transceiver 106 and then store information obtained through signal processing of the second information / signals in the memory 104. The memory 104 may be connected to the processor 102 and may store various information related to the operation of the processor 102. For example, the memory 104 may store software code including instructions for executing all or part of the processes controlled by the processor 102 or for executing the descriptions, functions, processes, proposals, methods, and / or operational flowcharts disclosed herein. Here, the processor 102 and memory 104 may be part of a communication modem / circuit / chip designed to implement wireless LAN technology (e.g., the LTE 802.11 family). A transceiver 106 may be connected to the processor 102 and may transmit and / or receive wireless signals via one or more antennas 108. The transceiver 106 may include a transmitter and / or a receiver. The transceiver 106 may be used in conjunction with an RF (radio frequency) unit. In this disclosure, a device may refer to a communication modem / circuit / chip.

[0041] The second device 200 may include one or more processors 202 and one or more memories 204, and may further include one or more transceivers 206 and / or one or more antennas 208. The processor 202 may control the memory 204 and / or the transceiver 206 and may be configured to implement the descriptions, functions, processes, proposals, methods, and / or operational flowcharts disclosed herein. For example, the processor 202 may generate third information / signals by processing information in the memory 204 and then transmit a wireless signal including the third information / signals via the transceiver 206. Furthermore, the processor 202 may receive a wireless signal including fourth information / signals via the transceiver 206 and then store information obtained through signal processing of the fourth information / signals in the memory 204. The memory 204 may be connected to the processor 202 and may store various information related to the operation of the processor 202. For example, the memory 204 may store software code including instructions for executing all or part of the processes controlled by the processor 202 or for executing the descriptions, functions, processes, proposals, methods, and / or operational flowcharts disclosed herein. Here, the processor 202 and the memory 204 may be part of a communication modem / circuit / chip designed to implement wireless LAN technology (e.g., the IEEE 802.11 series). The transceiver 206 may be connected to the processor 202 and may transmit and / or receive wireless signals via one or more antennas 208. The transceiver 206 may include a transmitter and / or a receiver. The transceiver 206 may be used in conjunction with an RF unit. In this disclosure, a device may refer to a communication modem / circuit / chip.

[0042] The hardware elements of devices 100 and 200 will be described in more detail below. Without limitation, one or more protocol layers may be implemented by one or more processors 102 and 202. For example, one or more processors 102 and 202 may implement one or more layers (e.g., functional layers such as PHY and MAC). One or more processors 102 and 202 may generate one or more PDUs (Protocol Data Units) and / or one or more SDUs (Service Data Units) in accordance with the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in this disclosure. One or more processors 102 and 202 may generate messages, control information, data, or information in accordance with the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and / or operational flowcharts disclosed in this disclosure. One or more processors 102 and 202 may generate signals (e.g., baseband signals) including PDUs, SDUs, messages, control information, data, or information in accordance with the functions, procedures, proposals, and / or methods disclosed in this disclosure, and provide them to one or more transceivers 106 and 206. The one or more processors 102 , 202 may receive signals (e.g., baseband signals) from the one or more transceivers 106 , 206 and obtain PDUs, SDUs, messages, control information, data, or information according to the descriptions, functions, processes, proposals, methods, and / or operational flow charts disclosed in this disclosure.

[0043] The one or more processors 102, 202 may be referred to as controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, or microcomputers. The one or more processors 102, 202 may be implemented using hardware, firmware, software, or a combination thereof. In some examples, one or more ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits), one or more DSPs (Digital Signal Processors), one or more DSPDs (Digital Signal Processing Devices), one or more PLDs (Programmable Logic Devices), or one or more FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays) may be included in the one or more processors 102, 202. The descriptions, functions, processes, proposals, methods, and / or operational flowcharts included in this disclosure may be implemented using firmware or software, and the firmware or software may be implemented to include modules, procedures, functions, etc. The firmware or software configured to execute the descriptions, functions, processes, proposals, methods, and / or operational flowcharts included in this disclosure may be included in the one or more processors 102, 202 or may be stored in one or more memories 104, 204 and driven by the one or more processors 102, 202. The descriptions, functions, processes, proposals, methods, and / or operational flowcharts included in this disclosure may be implemented in firmware or software in the form of code, commands, and / or command sets.

[0044] The one or more memories 104, 204 may be connected to the one or more processors 102, 202 and may be capable of storing data, signals, messages, information, programs, codes, instructions, and / or commands in various forms. The one or more memories 104, 204 may be configured with ROM, RAM, EPROM, flash memory, a hard drive, registers, cache memory, a computer-readable storage medium, and / or a combination thereof. The one or more memories 104, 204 may be located internally and / or externally to the one or more processors 102, 202. Furthermore, the one or more memories 104, 204 may be connected to the one or more processors 102, 202 via a variety of technologies, such as wired or wireless connections.

[0045] One or more transceivers 106, 206 may transmit user data, control information, wireless signals / channels, and the like mentioned in the methods and / or operational flowcharts, etc., of the present disclosure to one or more other devices. One or more transceivers 106, 206 may receive user data, control information, wireless signals / channels, and the like mentioned in the descriptions, functions, processes, proposals, methods, and / or operational flowcharts, etc., included in the present disclosure from one or more other devices. For example, one or more transceivers 106, 206 may be connected to one or more processors 102, 202 and may transmit and receive wireless signals. For example, one or more processors 102, 202 may control one or more transceivers 106, 206 to transmit user data, control information, or wireless signals to one or more other devices. In addition, one or more processors 102, 202 may control one or more transceivers 106, 206 to receive user data, control information, or wireless signals from one or more other devices. Furthermore, one or more transceivers 106, 206 may be connected to one or more antennas 108, 208, and may be configured to transmit and receive user data, control information, wireless signals / channels, and the like as described in the descriptions, functions, processes, proposals, methods, and / or operational flowcharts, etc., included in this disclosure, via the one or more antennas 108, 208. In the present disclosure, the one or more antennas may be multiple physical antennas or multiple logical antennas (e.g., antenna ports). The one or more transceivers 106, 206 may process the received user data, control information, wireless signals / channels, and the like by converting them from RF band signals to baseband signals using the one or more processors 102, 202. The one or more transceivers 106, 206 may convert the user data, control information, wireless signals / channels, and the like processed by the one or more processors 102, 202 from baseband signals to RF band signals. Therefore, the one or more transceivers 106, 206 may include (analog) oscillators and / or filters.

[0046] For example, one of the STAs 100 and 200 may perform the intended operation of an AP, and the other of the STAs 100 and 200 may perform the intended operation of a non-AP STA. Figure 1 The transceivers 106 and 206 may perform transmission and reception operations of signals (e.g., packets or physical layer protocol data units (PPDUs) compliant with IEEE 802.11a / b / g / n / ac / ax / be). In addition, in the present disclosure, operations in which various STAs generate transmission / reception signals or perform data processing or calculation on transmission / reception signals in advance may be performed by Figure 1 The processors 102 and 202 may be configured to execute the operations. For example, examples of operations for generating a transmit / receive signal or performing data processing or calculation on the transmit / receive signal in advance may include: 1) determining / acquiring / configuring / calculating / decoding / encoding bit information of fields (signal (SIG), short training field (STF), long training field (LTF), data, etc.) included in the PPDU; 2) determining / configuring / acquiring time resources or frequency resources (e.g., subcarrier resources) used for the fields (SIG, STF, LTF, data, etc.) included in the PPDU; 3) determining / configuring / acquiring specific sequences (e.g., pilot sequences, STF / LTF sequences, additional sequences applied to SIGs) for the fields (SIG, STF, LTF, data, etc.) included in the PPDU action; 4) power control operations and / or power saving operations applied to STAs; and 5) operations related to determining / acquiring / configuring / calculating / decoding / encoding ACK signals. In addition, in the following examples, various information used by various STAs to determine / acquire / configure / calculate / decode / encode transmission and reception signals (e.g., information related to fields / subfields / control fields / parameters / power, etc.) may be stored in Figure 1 in memories 104 and 204.

[0047] Hereinafter, the downlink (DL) may refer to a link used for communication from an AP STA to a non-AP STA, and DL PPDUs / packets / signals may be transmitted and received over the DL. In DL communication, the transmitter may be part of an AP STA, and the receiver may be part of a non-AP STA. The uplink (UL) may refer to a link used for communication from a non-AP STA to an AP STA, and UL PPDUs / packets / signals may be transmitted and received over the UL. In UL communication, the transmitter may be part of a non-AP STA, and the receiver may be part of an AP STA.

[0048] Figure 2 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary structure of a wireless LAN system to which the present disclosure can be applied.

[0049] The structure of a wireless LAN system can be composed of multiple components. Wireless LANs that support STA mobility transparent to upper layers can be provided through the interaction of multiple components. The basic service set (BSS) corresponds to the basic building block of a wireless LAN. Figure 2 It is exemplarily shown that two BSSs (BSS1 and BSS2) exist and two STAs are included as members of each BSS (STA1 and STA2 are included in BSS1, and STA3 and STA4 are included in BSS2). Figure 2 The ellipse representing the BSS in the figure can also be understood as representing the coverage area in which the STAs included in the corresponding BSS maintain communication. This area can be called a basic service area (BSA). When a STA moves out of the BSA, it cannot directly communicate with other STAs within the BSA.

[0050] If you don't consider Figure 2 If the DS is shown in Figure 1, the most basic type of BSS in a wireless LAN is the standalone BSS (IBSS). For example, an IBSS can have a minimal form consisting of only two STAs. For example, assuming that other components are omitted, BSS1 consisting of only STA1 and STA2, or BSS2 consisting of only STA3 and STA4, respectively, can correspond to representative examples of an IBSS. This configuration is possible when STAs can communicate directly without an AP. Furthermore, in this type of wireless LAN, it is not configured in advance but can be configured when the LAN is needed, and this can be called an ad hoc network. Because an IBSS does not include an AP, there is no centralized management entity. In other words, in an IBSS, STAs are managed in a distributed manner. In an IBSS, all STAs can be composed of mobile STAs, and access to the distributed system (DS) is not allowed, thus forming a self-contained network.

[0051] A STA's membership in a BSS can be changed dynamically by turning the STA on or off, entering or exiting a BSS region, and so on. To become a member of a BSS, a STA can join the BSS using a synchronization process. To access all services of the BSS infrastructure, a STA must associate with the BSS. This association can be established dynamically and can include the use of Distributed System Services (DSS).

[0052] The direct STA-to-STA distance in a wireless LAN may be limited by PHY performance. In some cases, this distance limitation may be sufficient, but in other cases, communication between STAs at greater distances may be required. A distributed system (DS) can be configured to support extended coverage.

[0053] DS means the structure in which BSSs are interconnected. Specifically, Figure 2As shown in , a BSS can exist as an extended form of a network composed of multiple BSSs. The DS is a logical concept and can be specified by the characteristics of the distributed system medium (DSM). In this regard, the wireless medium (WM) and the DSM can be logically separated. Each logical medium is used for a different purpose and by different components. These media are not limited to being the same or different. In this way, the flexibility of the wireless LAN structure (DS structure or other network structure) can be explained by the logically different media. That is, the wireless LAN structure can be implemented in various ways, and the corresponding wireless LAN structure can be independently specified by the physical characteristics of each embodiment.

[0054] DS can support mobile devices by providing seamless integration of multiple BSSs and providing the logical services necessary to address the address to the destination. In addition, DS can further include a component called a portal, which serves as a bridge for the connection between the wireless LAN and other networks (e.g., IEEE 802.X).

[0055] The AP enables access to the DS through the WM for associated non-AP STAs and means an entity that also has the functionality of a STA. Data movement between the BSS and the DS can be performed through the AP. For example, Figure 2 STA2 and STA3 shown in the figure have STA functionality and provide functionality allowing associated non-AP STAs (STA1 and STA4) to access the DS. Furthermore, because all APs essentially correspond to STAs, all APs are addressable entities. The addresses used by an AP for communication on the WM and the addresses used by the AP for communication on the DSM are not necessarily the same. A BSS consisting of an AP and one or more STAs may be referred to as an infrastructure BSS.

[0056] Data sent from one of the STAs associated with an AP to the STA address of the corresponding AP can always be received on an uncontrolled port and can be processed by the IEEE 802.1X port access entity. In addition, when the controlled port is authenticated, the transmission data (or frame) can be delivered to the DS.

[0057] In addition to the above-mentioned DS structure, an extended service set (ESS) can also be configured to provide wide coverage.

[0058] An ESS refers to a network of arbitrary size and complexity consisting of a DS and a BSS. An ESS can correspond to a collection of BSSs connected to a DS. However, an ESS does not include a DS. An ESS network is characterized as an IBSS in the logical link control (LLC) layer. STAs within an ESS can communicate with each other, and mobile STAs can move from one BSS to another (within the same ESS) transparently to the LLC. APs within an ESS can have the same service set identifier (SSID). The SSID is distinguished from the BSSID, which is the identifier of the BSS.

[0059] Wireless LAN systems make no assumptions about the relative physical locations of BSSs, and all of the following configurations are possible. BSSs can partially overlap, a common approach for providing continuous coverage. Furthermore, BSSs may not be physically connected, and logically, there is no limit to the distance between BSSs. Furthermore, BSSs may be physically co-located, which can be used to provide redundancy. Furthermore, one (or more) IBSSs or ESS networks can physically exist in the same space as one (or more) ESS networks. This can be similar to the configuration corresponding to ESS networks when an ad hoc network operates in the same location as an ESS network, when physically overlapping wireless networks are configured by different organizations, or when two or more different access and security policies are required in the same location.

[0060] Figure 3 is a diagram for explaining a link setting procedure to which the present disclosure can be applied.

[0061] In order for a STA to establish a link with a network and send / receive data, it must first discover the network, authenticate, and establish an association. This process also requires an authentication process for security. The link establishment process may also be referred to as the session initiation process or the session setup process. Furthermore, the discovery, authentication, association, and security setup processes of the link establishment process are collectively referred to as the association process.

[0062] In step S310, the STA may perform a network discovery operation. The network discovery operation may include a scanning operation by the STA. In other words, in order for the STA to access the network, it needs to find a network that it can participate in. Before participating in a wireless network, the STA should identify compatible networks. The process of identifying networks existing in a specific area is called scanning.

[0063] Scanning schemes include active scanning and passive scanning. Figure 3This diagram illustrates an exemplary network discovery operation, including an active scanning process. In active scanning, a scanning STA transmits probe request frames while moving across channels to discover nearby APs and wait for responses. A responder sends a probe response frame to the STA that sent the probe request frame. The responder can be the STA that last transmitted a beacon frame in the BSS of the scanned channel. In a BSS, the AP becomes the responder because it transmits a beacon frame. In an IBSS, STAs within the IBSS take turns transmitting beacon frames, so the responder is not constant. For example, a STA that transmits a probe request frame on channel 1 and receives a probe response frame on channel 1 can store the BSS-related information included in the received probe response frame and then move to the next channel (e.g., channel 2) and perform scanning in the same manner (i.e., transmitting and receiving probe requests and responses on channel 2).

[0064] Although Figure 3 Although not shown, the scanning operation can be performed in a passive scanning manner. In passive scanning, the STA performing the scan waits for a beacon frame while moving through channels. A beacon frame is one of the management frames defined in IEEE 802.11 and is periodically transmitted to notify the existence of a wireless network and allow the STA performing the scan to find and participate in the wireless network. In a BSS, the AP periodically transmits beacon frames, and in an IBSS, STAs within the IBSS take turns transmitting beacon frames. When a STA performing the scan receives a beacon frame, the STA stores the BSS information included in the beacon frame and records the beacon frame information in each channel while moving to another channel. The STA receiving the beacon frame can store the BSS-related information included in the received beacon frame, move to the next channel, and perform scanning in the same manner in the next channel. Comparing active scanning and passive scanning, active scanning has the advantages of less latency and lower power consumption than passive scanning.

[0065] After the STA discovers the network, an authentication process may be performed in step S320. In order to clearly distinguish it from the security setup operation of step S340 to be described later, this authentication process may be referred to as a first authentication process.

[0066] The authentication process includes a process in which the STA sends an authentication request frame to the AP, and in response thereto, the AP sends an authentication response frame to the STA. The authentication frame used for authentication request / response corresponds to a management frame.

[0067] The authentication frame includes an authentication algorithm number, an authentication transaction sequence number, a status code, a challenge text, a robust security network (RSN), and a limited cycle group, etc. This corresponds to some examples of information that can be included in the authentication request / response frame, and can be replaced with other information or can further include additional information.

[0068] The STA can send an authentication request frame to the AP. The AP can determine whether to allow authentication of the corresponding STA based on the information included in the received authentication request frame. The AP can provide the result of the authentication process to the STA through an authentication response frame.

[0069] After the STA is successfully authenticated, an association process may be performed in step S330. The association process includes a process in which the STA sends an association request frame to the AP, and in response, the AP sends an association response frame to the STA.

[0070] For example, the association request frame may include information related to various capabilities, beacon listening interval, service set identifier (SSID), supported rates, supported channels, RSN, mobility domain, supported operation category, traffic indication map broadcast request (TIM broadcast request), interworking service capabilities, etc. For example, the association response frame may include information related to various capabilities, status code, association ID (AID), supported rates, enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) parameter set, received channel power indicator (RCPI), received signal-to-noise ratio indicator (RSNI), mobility domain, timeout interval (e.g., association recovery time), overlapping BSS scan parameters, TIM broadcast response, quality of service (QoS) map, etc. This corresponds to some examples of information that may be included in the association request / response frame, and may be replaced with other information, or may further include additional information.

[0071] After the STA successfully associates with the network, a security setup procedure may be performed in step S340. The security setup procedure of step S340 may be referred to as an authentication procedure through a Robust Security Network Association (RSNA) request / response, and the authentication procedure of step S320 may be referred to as a first authentication procedure. The security setup procedure of step S340 may also be referred to simply as an authentication procedure.

[0072] The security setup process of step S340 may include, for example, a process of establishing a private key through a 4-way handshake of an Extensible Authentication Protocol over LAN (EAPOL) frame. In addition, the security setup process may be performed according to a security scheme not defined in the IEEE 802.11 standard.

[0073] Figure 4 is a diagram for explaining a backoff process to which the present disclosure can be applied.

[0074] In wireless LAN systems, the basic access mechanism for media access control (MAC) is the Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA / CA) mechanism. This CSMA / CA mechanism, also known as the Distributed Coordination Function (DCF) of the IEEE 802.11 MAC, essentially employs a "listen before talk" access mechanism. With this type of access mechanism, the AP and / or STA performs a Clear Channel Assessment (CCA) to sense the wireless channel or medium within a predetermined time interval (e.g., the DCF Interframe Space (DIFS)) before starting transmission. If the medium is determined to be idle based on this sensing, frame transmission begins over the medium. On the other hand, if the medium is detected to be occupied or busy, the AP and / or STA does not initiate its own transmission and may set a delay period (e.g., a random backoff period) for medium intervention before attempting frame transmission. By applying a random backoff period, collisions can be minimized because multiple STAs are expected to attempt frame transmission after waiting for varying periods of time.

[0075] In addition, the IEEE 802.11 MAC protocol provides a hybrid coordination function (HCF). HCF is based on the DCF and the point coordination function (PCF). PCF is a polling-based synchronous access method and refers to a method in which all receiving APs and / or STAs periodically poll to receive data frames. In addition, HCF has enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) and HCF-controlled channel access (HCCA). EDCA is a contention-based access method for a provider to provide data frames to multiple users, and HCCA uses a non-contention-based channel access method using a polling mechanism. In addition, HCF includes a medium access mechanism for improving the QoS (Quality of Service) of the wireless LAN, and QoS data can be transmitted in both a contention period (CP) and a contention-free period (CFP).

[0076] refer to Figure 4 , the operation based on the random backoff period will be described. When an occupied / busy medium becomes idle, several STAs may attempt to transmit data (or frames). As a method for minimizing collisions, each STA may select a random backoff count respectively and attempt to transmit after waiting for the corresponding time slot time. The random backoff count has a pseudo-random integer value and may be determined as one of the values ​​ranging from 0 to CW. Here, CW is the contention window parameter value. The CW parameter is assigned CWmin as an initial value, but may take a value twice as large if a transmission failure occurs (for example, when an ACK for a transmitted frame is not received). When the CW parameter value reaches CWmax, data transmission may be attempted while maintaining the CWmax value until data transmission is successful, and when data transmission is successful, the CWmin value is reset. The values ​​of CW, CWmin, and CWmax are preferably set to 2n -1 (n = 0, 1, 2, ...).

[0077] When the random backoff process starts, the STA continuously monitors the medium while counting down the backoff slot according to the backoff count value determined. When it detects that the medium is occupied, it stops counting down and waits, and when the medium becomes idle, it resumes the remaining countdown.

[0078] exist Figure 4 In the example shown in Figure 2, when a packet to be transmitted arrives at STA3's MAC, STA3 can immediately transmit the frame after confirming that the medium is idle for a period of DIFS. The remaining STAs monitor and wait until the medium becomes occupied / busy. Meanwhile, STA1, STA2, and STA5 may each have data to transmit. Upon detecting that the medium is idle, each STA waits for a period of DIFS and then counts down the backoff slot according to a random backoff count value selected by each STA. Assume that STA2 selects the minimum backoff count value and STA1 selects the maximum backoff count value. This illustrates a case where, when STA2 completes the backoff count and begins frame transmission, STA5's remaining backoff time is less than STA1's. STA1 and STA5 temporarily stop the countdown and wait while STA2 occupies the medium. When STA2's occupation ends and the medium becomes idle again, STA1 and STA5 wait for DIFS and resume the backoff count. In other words, after counting down the remaining backoff slots within the remaining backoff time, frame transmission can begin. Because STA5's remaining backoff time is less than STA1's, STA5 begins frame transmission. While STA2 is occupying the medium, STA4 may also have data to send. From STA4's perspective, when the medium becomes idle, STA4 can wait DIFS and then count down according to the random backoff count value selected by STA4 and begin transmitting frames. Figure 4 The example shows a case where STA5's remaining backoff time coincides with STA4's random backoff count value. In this case, a collision may occur between STA4 and STA5. When a collision occurs, neither STA4 nor STA5 receives an ACK, and data transmission fails. In this case, STA4 and STA5 can double the CW value, select a random backoff count value, and perform a countdown. STA1 waits while the medium is occupied by STA4 and STA5's transmissions, waits DIFS when the medium becomes idle, and then begins frame transmission after the remaining backoff time has elapsed.

[0079] like Figure 4As shown in the example, data frames are frames used to transmit data forwarded to higher layers and can be sent after a backoff after a DIFS (divided interval of time) has elapsed since the medium became idle. Management frames, on the other hand, are used to exchange management information not forwarded to higher layers and are sent after a backoff after an IFS (intermediate switching function) such as DIFS or Point Coordination Function (PIFS). Subtypes of management frames include beacons, association request / responses, reassociation request / responses, probe request / responses, and authentication request / responses. Control frames are frames used to control access to the medium. Subtypes of control frames include request to send (RTS), clear to send (CTS), acknowledgement (ACK), power save poll (PS-Poll), block ACK (BlockAck), block ACK request (BlockACKReq), null data packet announcement (NDP announcement), and triggers. If a control frame is not a response frame to a previous frame, it is sent after a backoff after a DIFS (divided interval of time) has elapsed. If it is a response frame to a previous frame, it is sent without a backoff after a short intermediary switching function (SIFS) has elapsed. The type and subtype of a frame can be identified by the type field and subtype field in the frame control (FC) field.

[0080] A Quality of Service (QoS) STA can back off after the arbitration IFS (AIFS) of the access category (AC) to which the frame belongs, i.e., AIFS[i] (where i is a value determined by the AC), and then transmit the frame. Frames that can use AIFS[i] may include data frames, management frames, or control frames, excluding response frames.

[0081] Figure 5 is a diagram for explaining a CSMA / CA-based frame transmission operation to which the present disclosure can be applied.

[0082] As described above, the CSMA / CA mechanism includes virtual carrier sensing in addition to physical carrier sensing, in which STAs directly sense the medium. Virtual carrier sensing is intended to compensate for issues that may arise in medium access, such as the hidden node problem. For virtual carrier sensing, the STA's MAC can use a network allocation vector (NAV). The NAV is a value that indicates to other STAs the remaining time until the medium is available for use by the STA currently using or authorized to use the medium. Therefore, the value set to the NAV corresponds to the period in which the medium is scheduled for use by the STA transmitting the frame, and STAs receiving the NAV value are prohibited from accessing the medium during the corresponding period. For example, the NAV can be configured based on the value of the "Duration" field in the MAC header of the frame.

[0083] exist Figure 5In the example of FIG, it is assumed that STA1 intends to send data to STA2, and STA3 is in a position to be able to eavesdrop on some or all frames sent and received between STA1 and STA2.

[0084] In order to reduce the possibility of transmission collisions between multiple STAs in CSMA / CA-based frame transmission operations, a mechanism using RTS / CTS frames can be applied. Figure 5 In the example of , while STA1 is performing transmission, as a result of STA3's carrier sensing, it can be determined that the medium is in an idle state. That is, STA1 may correspond to a hidden node of STA3. Alternatively, Figure 5 In the example shown in FIG1 , it can be determined that the medium is idle as a result of carrier sensing by STA3 while STA2 is transmitting. In other words, STA2 may correspond to a hidden node of STA3. By exchanging RTS / CTS frames before data transmission and reception between STA1 and STA2, STAs outside the transmission range of either STA1 or STA2, or STAs outside the carrier sensing range for transmissions from STA1 or STA3, can avoid attempting to occupy the channel during data transmission and reception between STA1 and STA2.

[0085] Specifically, STA1 can determine whether a channel is in use through carrier sensing. In physical carrier sensing, STA1 can determine the channel occupancy idle state based on the energy level or signal correlation detected in the channel. In virtual carrier sensing, STA1 can also use the Network Allocation Vector (NAV) timer to determine the channel occupancy state.

[0086] When the channel is idle for DIFS, STA1 can send an RTS frame to STA2 after performing backoff. When STA2 receives the RTS frame, STA2 can send a CTS frame to STA1 as a response to the RTS frame after SIFS.

[0087] If STA3 cannot overhear a CTS frame from STA2 but can overhear an RTS frame from STA1, STA3 can use the duration information included in the RTS frame to set the NAV timer for the subsequent consecutive frame transmission period (e.g., SIFS + CTS frame + SIFS + data frame + SIFS + ACK frame). Alternatively, if STA3 can overhear a CTS frame from STA2, but cannot overhear an RTS frame from STA1, STA3 can use the duration information included in the CTS frame to set the NAV timer for the subsequent consecutive frame transmission period (e.g., SIFS + data frame + SIFS + ACK frame). In other words, if STA3 can overhear one or more of the RTS or CTS frames from one or more of STA1 or STA2, STA3 can set the NAV accordingly. If STA3 receives a new frame before the NAV timer expires, STA3 can update the NAV timer using the duration information included in the new frame. STA3 does not attempt channel access before the NAV timer expires.

[0088] When STA1 receives a CTS frame from STA2, STA1 may transmit a data frame to STA2 after a SIFS interval, starting from the time when the CTS frame is received. When STA2 successfully receives the data frame, STA2 may transmit an ACK frame to STA1 after a SIFS interval as a response to the data frame. When the NAV timer expires, STA3 may determine whether the channel is currently in use through carrier sensing. If STA3 determines that the channel is not being used by other terminals during a DIFS interval after the NAV timer expires, STA3 may attempt channel access after the contention window (CW) based on random backoff has expired.

[0089] Figure 6 is a diagram for explaining an example of a frame structure used in a WLAN system to which the present disclosure can be applied.

[0090] The PHY layer prepares the MAC PDU (MPDU) to be transmitted using commands or primitives (meaning a set of instructions or parameters) from the MAC layer. For example, upon receiving a command from the MAC layer requesting the PHY layer to start transmission, the PHY layer switches to transmit mode, configures the information provided by the MAC layer (e.g., data) in the form of a frame, and transmits it. Furthermore, when the PHY layer detects a valid preamble in a received frame, it monitors the preamble's header and sends a command to the MAC layer notifying the PHY layer of the start of reception.

[0091] In this manner, information transmission / reception in the wireless LAN system is performed in the form of frames, and for this purpose, a PHY layer protocol data unit (PPDU) frame format is defined.

[0092] The basic PPDU frame may include a short training field (STF), a long training field (LTF), a signal (SIG) field, and a data field. The most basic PPDU format (e.g., Figure 7 The non-HT (high throughput) field shown in FIG may consist only of the legacy STF (L-STF), legacy LTF (L-LTF), legacy SIG (L-SIG) field, and data field. In addition, depending on the type of PPDU format (e.g., HT mixed format PPDU, HT-greenfield format PPDU, VHT (very high throughput) PPDU, etc.), additional (or different types of) RL-SIG, U-SIG, non-legacy SIG field, non-legacy STF, non-legacy LTF (i.e., xx-SIG, xx-STF, xx-LTF (e.g., xx is HT, VHT, HE, EHT, etc.)) and the like may be included between the L-SIG field and the data field.

[0093] The STF is a signal used for signal detection, automatic gain control (AGC), diversity selection, precise time synchronization, etc., and the LTF is a signal used for channel estimation and frequency error estimation. The STF and LTF can be referred to as signals for synchronization and channel estimation of the OFDM physical layer.

[0094] The SIG field may include various information related to PPDU transmission and reception. For example, the L-SIG field consists of 24 bits and may include a 4-bit rate field, a 1-bit reserved bit, a 12-bit length field, a 1-bit parity field, and a 6-bit tail field. The RATE field may include information about the modulation and coding rate of the data. For example, the 12-bit length field may include information about the length or duration of the PPDU. For example, the value of the 12-bit length field may be determined based on the PPDU type. For example, for non-HT, HT, VHT, or EHT PPDUs, the value of the length field may be determined as a multiple of 3. For example, for HE PPDUs, the value of the length field may be determined as a multiple of 3 + 1 or 3 + 2.

[0095] The data field may include a SERVICE field, a physical layer service data unit (PSDU), and a PPDU TAIL bit, and may also include padding bits if necessary. Some bits of the SERVICE field may be used to synchronize the descrambler at the receiving end. The PSDU corresponds to the MAC PDU defined in the MAC layer and may include data generated / used by upper layers. The PPDU TAIL bit may be used to return the encoder to the 0 state. The padding bits may be used to adjust the length of the data field in predetermined units.

[0096] MAC PDU is defined according to various MAC frame formats, and the basic MAC frame consists of a MAC header, a frame body, and a frame check sequence (FCS). A MAC frame can be composed of MAC PDUs and transmitted / received through the PSDU of the data portion of the PPDU frame format.

[0097] The MAC header includes a frame control field, a duration / ID field, and an address field. The frame control field contains control information required for frame transmission and reception. The duration / ID field can be set to, for example, the time required to transmit the corresponding frame. For detailed information on the sequence control, QoS control, and HT control subfields of the MAC header, refer to the IEEE 802.11 standard.

[0098] The Null Data PPDU (NDP) format refers to a PPDU format that does not include a data field. That is, NDP refers to a frame format that includes the PPDU preamble (i.e., L-STF, L-LTF, L-SIG fields, and additional non-legacy SIG, non-legacy STF, non-legacy LTF (if present)) in the general PPDU frame format and does not include the remaining portion (i.e., the data field).

[0099] Figure 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a PPDU defined in the IEEE 802.11 standard to which the present disclosure can be applied.

[0100] In standards such as IEEE 802.11a / g / n / ac / ax, various types of PPDUs have been used. The basic PPDU format (IEEE 802.11a / g) includes L-LTF, L-STF, L-SIG, and data fields. The basic PPDU format may also be referred to as a non-HT PPDU format (e.g., Figure 7 (shown in (a)).

[0101] The HT PPDU format (IEEE 802.11n) includes the HT-SIG, HT-STF, and HT-LFT fields in addition to the basic PPDU format. Figure 7 The HT PPDU format shown in (b) may be referred to as an HT-mixed format. Additionally, an HT-greenfield format PPDU may be defined, and this corresponds to a format consisting of an HT-GF-STF, HT-LTF1, HT-SIG, one or more HT-LTFs, and a data field, excluding the L-STF, L-LTF, and L-SIG (not shown).

[0102] An example of a VHT PPDU format (IEEE 802.11ac) includes the VHT SIG-A, VHT-STF, VHT-LTF, and VHT-SIG-B fields in addition to the basic PPDU format (e.g. Figure 7 (shown in (c)).

[0103] An example of the HE PPDU format (IEEE 802.11ax) includes, in addition to the basic PPDU format, repeated L-SIG (RL-SIG), HE-SIG-A, HE-SIG-B, HE-STF, HE-LTF(s), Packet Extension (PE) field (e.g. Figure 7 (d)). Depending on the detailed example of the HE PPDU format, some fields may be excluded or their lengths may vary. For example, the HE-SIG-B field is included in the HE PPDU format for multi-user (MU), and the HE-SIG-B field is not included in the HE PPDU format for single-user (SU). In addition, the PPDU format based on the HE trigger (TB) does not include the HE-SIG-B, and the length of the HE-STF field may vary to 8us. The extended range (HE ER) SU PPDU format does not include the HE-SIG-B field, and the length of the HE-SIG-A field may vary to 16us. For example, the RL-SIG can be configured to be the same as the L-SIG. The receiving STA can know whether the received PPDU is an HE PPDU or an EHT PPDU based on the presence of the RL-SIG, which will be described later.

[0104] The EHT PPDU format may include Figure 7 (e) EHT MU (Multi-User) and Figure 7 (f) EHT TB (trigger-based) PPDU. The EHT PPDU format is similar to the HE PPDU format in that it includes an RL-SIG followed by an L-SIG, but may include a U (universal)-SIG, EHT-SIG, EHT-STF, and EHT-LTF following the RL-SIG.

[0105] Figure 7 The EHT MU PPDU in (e) corresponds to a PPDU that carries one or more data (or PSDUs) for one or more users. That is, the EHT MU PPDU can be used for both SU and MU transmissions. For example, the EHT MU PPDU can correspond to a PPDU for one or more receiving STAs.

[0106] Compared with EHT MU PPDU, Figure 7The EHT TB PPDU in (f) omits the EHT-SIG. A STA that receives a trigger for UL MU transmission (eg, a trigger frame or a trigger response schedule (TRS)) may perform UL transmission based on the EHT TB PPDU format.

[0107] The L-STF, L-LTF, L-SIG, RL-SIG, U-SIG (Universal Signal), and EHT-SIG fields may be coded and modulated so that even legacy STAs can attempt demodulation and decoding, and may be mapped based on a determined subcarrier frequency spacing (e.g., 312.5 kHz). These may be referred to as pre-EHT modulation fields. Subsequently, the EHT-STF, EHT-LTF, Data, and PE fields may be coded and modulated so that STAs that successfully decode non-legacy SIGs (e.g., U-SIG and / or EHT-SIG) and obtain the information included in these fields may be demodulated and decoded, and may be mapped based on a determined subcarrier frequency spacing (e.g., 78.125 kHz). These may be referred to as EHT modulation fields.

[0108] Similarly, in the HE PPDU format, the L-STF, L-LTF, L-SIG, RL-SIG, HE-SIG-A, and HE-SIG-B fields may be referred to as pre-HE modulation fields, and the HE-STF, HE-LTF, Data, and PE fields may be referred to as HE modulation fields. Furthermore, in the VHT PPDU format, the L-STF, L-LTF, L-SIG, and VHT-SIG-A fields may be referred to as free VHT modulation fields, and the VHT STF, VHT-LTF, VHT-SIG-B, and Data fields may be referred to as VHT modulation fields.

[0109] Figure 7 The U-SIG included in the EHT PPDU format can be configured based on, for example, two symbols (e.g., two consecutive OFDM symbols). Each symbol used for the U-SIG (e.g., OFDM symbol) can have a duration of 4 us, and the U-SIG can have a total duration of 8 us. Each U-SIG symbol can be used to transmit 26 bits of information. For example, each U-SIG symbol can be transmitted and received based on 52 data tones and 4 pilot tones.

[0110] The U-SIG can be constructed in 20MHz units. For example, if an 80MHz PPDU is constructed, the U-SIG may be repeated. That is, the same four U-SIGs can be included in the 80MHz PPDU. PPDUs with bandwidth exceeding 80MHz can include different U-SIGs.

[0111] For example, A uncoded bits may be transmitted via the U-SIG, the first symbol of the U-SIG (e.g., U-SIG-1 symbol) may transmit the first X bits of information out of a total of A bits, and the second symbol of the U-SIG (e.g., U-SIG-2 symbol) may transmit the remaining Y bits of information out of a total of A bits. The A bits of information (e.g., 52 uncoded bits) may include a CRC field (e.g., a 4-bit field) and a tail field (e.g., a 6-bit field). For example, the tail field may be used to terminate the trellis of a convolutional decoder and may be set to 0.

[0112] The bit information sent by U-SIG can be divided into version-independent bits and version-dependent bits. For example, U-SIG can be included in Figure 7 In a new PPDU format not shown in FIG, (e.g., a UHR PPDU format), and in the format of the U-SIG field included in the EHT PPDU format and the format of the U-SIG field included in the UHR PPDU format, the version-independent bits may be the same, and some or all of the version-dependent bits may be different.

[0113] For example, the size of the version-independent bits of the U-SIG may be fixed or variable. The version-independent bits may be assigned only to the U-SIG-1 symbol, or to both the U-SIG-1 symbol and the U-SIG-2 symbol. The version-independent bits and the version-dependent bits may be referred to by various names, such as the first control bit and the second control bit.

[0114] For example, the version-independent bits of the U-SIG may include a 3-bit physical layer version identifier (PHY version identifier), and this information may indicate the PHY version of the transmitted / received PPDU (e.g., EHT, UHR, etc.). The version-independent bits of the U-SIG may include a 1-bit UL / DL flag field. The first value of the 1-bit UL / DL flag field is related to UL communication, and the second value of the UL / DL flag field is related to DL communication. The version-independent bits of the U-SIG may include information about the length of a transmission opportunity (TXOP) and information about the BSS color ID.

[0115] For example, the version-related bits of the U-SIG may include information directly or indirectly indicating the PPDU type (eg, SUPPDU, MU PPDU, TB PPDU, etc.).

[0116] The information necessary for PPDU transmission and reception may be included in the U-SIG. For example, the U-SIG may further include information about the bandwidth, information about the MCS technology applied to the non-legacy SIG (e.g., EHT-SIG or UHR-SIG), information indicating whether the DCM (Dual Carrier Modulation) technology (e.g., a technology that achieves an effect similar to frequency diversity by reusing the same signal on two subcarriers) is applied to the non-legacy SIG, information about the number of symbols used for the non-legacy SIG, and information about whether the non-legacy SIG is generated across the entire band.

[0117] Some information necessary for PPDU transmission and reception may be included in the U-SIG and / or non-legacy SIG (e.g., EHT-SIG or UHR-SIG, etc.). For example, information regarding the type of non-legacy LTF / STF (e.g., EHT-LTF / EHT-STF or UHR-LTF / UHR-STF, etc.), information regarding the length of the non-legacy LTF and the CP (Cyclic Prefix) length, information regarding the GI (Guard Interval) applicable to the non-legacy LTF, information regarding preamble puncturing applicable to the PPDU, information regarding RU (Resource Unit) allocation, etc. may be included only in the U-SIG, only in the non-legacy SIG, or may be indicated by a combination of information included in the U-SIG and information included in the non-legacy SIG.

[0118] Preamble puncturing may refer to the transmission of a PPDU without a signal in one or more frequency bins within the PPDU's bandwidth. For example, the size of a frequency bin (or the resolution of preamble puncturing) may be defined as 20 MHz, 40 MHz, etc. For example, preamble puncturing may be applied to a PPDU bandwidth of a predetermined size or greater.

[0119] exist Figure 7 In the example of [ ], non-legacy SIGs such as HE-SIG-B and EHT-SIG may include control information for receiving STAs. Non-legacy SIGs may be transmitted over at least one symbol, and each symbol may have a length of 4 us. Information regarding the number of symbols used for the EHT-SIG may be included in previous SIGs (e.g., HE-SIG-A, U-SIG, etc.).

[0120] Non-legacy SIGs such as HE-SIG-B and EHT-SIG may include common fields and user-specific fields. Common fields and user-specific fields may be encoded separately.

[0121] In some cases, the common field can be omitted. For example, in compressed mode without OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Multiple Access), the common field can be omitted, and multiple STAs can receive the PPDU (e.g., the data field of the PPDU) on the same frequency band. In non-compressed mode with OFDMA, multiple users can receive the PPDU (e.g., the data field of the PPDU) on different frequency bands.

[0122] The number of user-specific fields may be determined based on the number of users. A user block field may include up to two user fields. Each user field may be associated with a MU-MIMO allocation or a non-MU-MIMO allocation.

[0123] The common field may include CRC bits and tail bits, and the length of the CRC bits may be determined to be 4 bits, and the length of the tail bits may be determined to be 6 bits and set to 000000. The common field may include RU allocation information. The RU allocation information may include information about the locations of RUs assigned to multiple users (i.e., multiple receiving STAs).

[0124] A RU can include multiple subcarriers (or tones). RUs can be used when transmitting to multiple STAs based on OFDMA technology. RUs can also be defined when transmitting to a single STA. Resources can be allocated in RU units for non-legacy STF, non-legacy LTF, and data fields.

[0125] The applicable RU size can be defined based on the PPDU bandwidth. RUs can be defined identically or differently for the applicable PPDU format (e.g., HE PPDU, EHT PPDU, UHR PPDU, etc.). For example, in the case of an 80MHz PPDU, the RU placement may be different for HE PPDUs and EHT PPDUs. The applicable RU size, number of RUs and RU positions, DC subcarrier positions and number, null subcarrier positions and number, guard subcarrier positions and number, etc. for each PPDU bandwidth may be referred to as a tone plan. For example, a tone plan for high bandwidth can be defined as multiple iterations of a low bandwidth tone plan.

[0126] RUs of various sizes can be defined as 26-tone RUs, 52-tone RUs, 106-tone RUs, 242-tone RUs, 484-tone RUs, 996-tone RUs, 2×996-tone RUs, 3×996-tone RUs, and so on. An MRU (Multiple RU) is distinguished from multiple individual RUs and corresponds to a group of subcarriers consisting of multiple RUs. For example, an MRU can be defined as 52+26 tones, 106+26 tones, 484+242 tones, 996+484 tones, 996+484+242 tones, 2×996+484 tones, 3×996 tones, or 3×996+484 tones. Furthermore, the multiple RUs comprising an MRU may or may not be contiguous in the frequency domain.

[0127] The specific size of an RU can be reduced or expanded. Therefore, the specific size of each RU (i.e., the number of corresponding tones) in this disclosure is not restrictive and is illustrative. In addition, in this disclosure, the number of RUs within a predetermined bandwidth (e.g., 20, 40, 80, 160, 320 MHz, ...) can vary depending on the RU size.

[0128] Figure 7 The name of each field in the PPDU format is exemplary, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited by the name. In addition, the examples of the present disclosure can be applied to Figure 7 The PPDU format shown in FIG, and is applied based on Figure 7 A new PPDU format that excludes some fields and / or adds some fields.

[0129] Resource Unit

[0130] Figures 8 to 10 is a diagram for explaining an example of a resource unit of a WLAN system to which the present disclosure can be applied.

[0131] refer to Figures 8 to 10 This section describes resource units (RUs) defined in wireless LAN systems. A RU can include multiple subcarriers (or tones). RUs can be used when transmitting signals to multiple STAs based on the OFDMA scheme. Furthermore, RUs can be defined even when transmitting signals to a single STA. RUs can be used for STFs, LTFs, the data field of PPDUs, and the like.

[0132] like Figures 8 to 10 As shown, RUs corresponding to different numbers of tones (i.e., subcarriers) are used to construct some fields of a 20 MHz, 40 MHz, or 80 MHz X-PPDU (X stands for HE, EHT, etc.). For example, resources can be allocated in RU units as shown for the X-STF, X-LTF, and data fields.

[0133] Figure 8 is a diagram illustrating exemplary allocation of resource units (RUs) used on a 20 MHz band.

[0134] like Figure 8 As shown at the top of the figure, 26 cells (i.e., cells corresponding to 26 tones) can be allocated. Six tones can be used as a guard band in the leftmost band of the 20 MHz band, and five tones can be used as a guard band in the rightmost band of the 20 MHz band. Furthermore, seven DC tones are inserted into the center band, i.e., the DC band, and 26 cells corresponding to each of the 13 tones can be present on the left and right sides of the DC band. Furthermore, 26 cells, 52 cells, and 106 cells can be allocated to other bands. Each cell can be allocated to an STA or user.

[0135] Figure 8 The RU allocation is utilized not only in the case of multi-user (MU) but also in the case of single user (SU), and in this case, a 242 unit can be used, such as Figure 8 In this case, three DC tones can be inserted.

[0136] exist Figure 8 In the examples of FIG, various sizes of RUs, i.e., 26-RU, 52-RU, 106-RU, 242-RU, etc., are illustrated, but the specific sizes of these RUs can be reduced or expanded. Therefore, in the present disclosure, the specific size of each RU (i.e., the number of corresponding tones) is exemplary and not restrictive. In addition, within the predetermined bandwidth of the present disclosure (e.g., 20, 40, 80, 160, 320 MHz, ...), the number of RUs can vary depending on the size of the RU. In the following description, Figure 9 and / or Figure 10 In the example, the fact that the size and / or number of RUs can vary is related to Figure 8 Same as the example.

[0137] Figure 9 is a diagram illustrating exemplary allocation of resource units (RUs) used on a 40 MHz band.

[0138] As in Figure 8 As in the examples using various RU sizes, Figure 9 In the example, 26-RU, 52-RU, 106-RU, 242-RU, 484-RU, etc. may also be used. In addition, 5 DC tones may be inserted at the center frequency, 12 tones may be used as a guard band in the leftmost band of the 40 MHz band, and 11 tones may be used as a guard band in the rightmost band of the 40 MHz band.

[0139] Additionally, as shown, 484-RU may be used when used for a single user.

[0140] Figure 10 is a diagram illustrating exemplary allocation of resource units (RUs) used on an 80 MHz band.

[0141] Just like in Figure 8 and Figure 9 As in the examples using various RU sizes, Figure 10 In the example of 26-RU, 52-RU, 106-RU, 242-RU, 484-RU, 996-RU, etc., can also be used. In addition, in the case of 80MHz PPDU, the RU allocation of HE PPDU and EHT PPDU may be different, and Figure 10 The example of FIG shows an example of RU allocation for 80MHz EHT PPDU. Figure 10 In the example of the 80 MHz band, 12 tones are used as a guard band in the leftmost band and 11 tones are used as a guard band in the rightmost band. This scheme is the same in the HE PPDU and the EHT PPDU. Unlike the HE PPDU, 7 DC tones are inserted in the DC band, and there is a 26-RU corresponding to each of the 13 tones on the left and right sides of the DC band. In the EHT PPDU, 23 DC tones are inserted in the DC band, and there is a 26-RU on the left and right sides of the DC band. Unlike the HE PPDU, there is a null subcarrier between the 242-RUs instead of between the center bands. In the EHT PPDU, there are five null subcarriers. In the HE PPDU, a 484-RU does not include any null subcarriers, but in the EHT PPDU, a 484-RU does include five null subcarriers.

[0142] Additionally, as shown, when used for a single user, 996-RU may be used, and in this case, 5 DC tones are inserted along with the HEPPDU and EHT PPDU.

[0143] The 160MHz EHT PPDU can be configured with Figure 10 Multiple 80MHz sub-blocks in the 80MHz sub-block. RU allocation for each 80MHz sub-block can be Figure 10 If the 80 MHz sub-block of a 160 MHz or 320 MHz EHT PPDU is not punctured and the entire 80 MHz sub-block is used as a RU or part of a multiple RU (MRU), the 80 MHz sub-block can be used Figure 10 996-RU.

[0144] Here, an MRU corresponds to a group of subcarriers (or tones) consisting of multiple RUs. The multiple RUs comprising an MRU can be of the same size or of different sizes. For example, a single MRU can be defined as 52+26 tones, 106+26 tones, 484+242 tones, 996+484 tones, 996+484+242 tones, 2x996+484 tones, 3x996 tones, or 3x996+484 tones. Here, the multiple RUs comprising an MRU can correspond to small-sized RUs (e.g., 26, 52, or 106) or large-sized RUs (e.g., 242, 484, or 996). In other words, a single MRU that includes both small-sized and large-sized RUs need not be configured / defined. Furthermore, the multiple RUs comprising an MRU can be contiguous or non-contiguous in the frequency domain.

[0145] When an 80 MHz sub-block includes RUs that are less than 996 tones or a portion of the 80 MHz sub-block is punctured, the 80 MHz sub-block may use RU allocations other than the 996-tone RUs.

[0146] The RUs disclosed herein can be used for uplink (UL) and / or downlink (DL) communications. For example, when performing triggered UL-MU communication, the STA transmitting the trigger (e.g., the AP) can allocate a first RU (e.g., 26 / 52 / 106 / 242 RU, etc.) to the first STA and a second RU (e.g., 26 / 52 / 106 / 242 RU, etc.) to the second STA using trigger information (e.g., a trigger frame or a triggered response schedule (TRS)). Thereafter, the first STA can transmit a first trigger-based (TB) PPDU based on the first RU, and the second STA can transmit a second TB PPDU based on the second RU. The first and second TB PPDUs can be transmitted to the AP within the same time period.

[0147] For example, when configuring a DL MU PPDU, the STA (e.g., AP) transmitting the DL MU PPDU may allocate a first RU (e.g., 26 / 52 / 106 / 242 RUs, etc.) to a first STA and a second RU (e.g., 26 / 52 / 106 / 242 RUs, etc.) to a second STA. In other words, in a single MU PPDU, the transmitting STA (e.g., AP) may transmit an X-STF (e.g., where X is HE, EHT, etc.), an X-LTF, and a data field for the first STA in the first RU, and an X-STF, X-LTF, and data field for the second STA in the second RU. Information regarding the RU placement may be signaled via the X-SIG (e.g., where X is HE, EHT, U) field in the X-PPDU format.

[0148] Distributed resource unit

[0149] Due to regulations in different regions, power spectral density (PSD) limits may apply in sub-7 GHz (e.g., 6 GHz) bands. For non-AP STAs in the low-power indoor (LPI) band, the PSD limit may be -1 dBm / MHz. For example, for an existing 52-tone RU, the maximum transmit (Tx) power may be approximately 6 dBm.

[0150] Furthermore, different limits may apply in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. For example, in the EU / China / Japan / Korea, a PSD limit of 10 dBm / MHz may apply in the 2.4 GHz band. For existing 52-tone RUs, the maximum transmit power may be approximately 17 dBm. If PSD limits can be avoided in the 5 GHz band, the transmit power can be increased. For example, for existing 52-tone RUs, the maximum transmit power is 24 dBm, which is still 6 dBm below the maximum allowed effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) of 30 dBm.

[0151] When the PSD limitation is overcome, the transmit power can be increased, thereby enhancing spectral efficiency or extending range.

[0152] Given that PSD limits are defined per MHz per STA, when tones in a small RU are distributed across a wide bandwidth, the tones for each STA are discontinuous, and therefore each tone may be transmitted at high power. RUs that include tones distributed in this manner are called distributed RUs (DRUs). To distinguish them from RUs that include contiguous tones as defined in existing WLAN systems (e.g., those based on IEEE 802.11ax and 11be), these RUs are referred to as regular RUs (RRUs).

[0153] Compared to STAs transmitting existing RRUs, STAs transmitting DRUs can use higher power. For example, a 52-tone DRU spanning 80 MHz has only one tone per MHz, while a 52-tone RRU has approximately 13 tones per MHz. Assuming a PSD limit of -1 dBm / MHz in the 6 GHz LPI band, for a 52-tone RU, the transmit power can be increased by approximately 11 dB when using a DRU. Increasing transmit power in this way allows for higher MCS and supports longer ranges.

[0154] Figure 11 is a diagram for describing an example of a DRU to which the present disclosure can be applied.

[0155] Figure 11The example illustratively shows STA1 transmitting on DRU1, STA2 transmitting on DRU2, and STA3 transmitting on DRU3. Each STA can apply a transmit power boost by using a DRU. Compared to using RRUs of the same size, higher transmit power can be applied to all tones in the DRU, and accordingly, spectral efficiency can be greatly improved. In this way, DRUs can be particularly useful in UL-OFDMA.

[0156] In the case of an AP, DRUs may also be utilized. In some cases, the AP may perform DL-OFDMA transmissions to STAs by using only some of DRU1, DRU2, and DRU3, and in this case, the transmission power boost due to the use of DRUs may be applied.

[0157] To maximize power improvement, the tones within a DRU should be distributed as much as possible. For example, a DRU with one tone per MHz is considered an optimal example. The size of the DRU (or the number of usable tones included in a DRU (i.e., the number of remaining tones excluding unusable tones such as null tones, guard tones, and DC tones)) can be defined to be the same as the size of the RRU (or the number of usable tones included in an RRU). This minimizes the impact on various RRU-based technologies previously defined. The table below shows examples of power improvements (in dB) achievable with various DRUs distributed across different bandwidths. The examples in the table assume the 6 GHz LPI band, but power improvements can also be achieved in other regions, such as the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. For example, in an 80 MHz UL-OFDMA transmission with 8 users, when each user uses a 106-tone DRU, overall performance can be improved by approximately 8.13 dB compared to using a 106-tone RRU per user. In this way, the DRU can be used to overcome PSD limitations and achieve significant benefits.

[0158] [Table 1]

[0159] 20MHz bandwidth 40MHz bandwidth 80MHz bandwidth 26-tone RU 8.13 11.14 11.14 52-tone RU 6.37 8.13 11.14 106-Tone RU 3.56 6.37 8.13 242-Tone RU not applicable 2.69 5.12 484-Tone RU not applicable not applicable 2.69

[0160] Trigger Frame

[0161] Figure 12 is a diagram of an exemplary format of a trigger frame to which the present disclosure may be applied.

[0162] The trigger frame can allocate resources for at least one TB PPDU transmission and request TB PPDU transmission. The trigger frame can also include other information required by the STA in response to which the TB PPDU is sent. The trigger frame can include common information and user information list fields in the frame body.

[0163] The common information field may include information commonly applied to at least one TB PPDU transmission requested by the trigger frame, such as trigger type, UL length, whether there are subsequent trigger frames (e.g., more TFs), whether channel sensing (CS) is required, UL bandwidth (BW), etc. Figure 14 The EHT variant common information field format is exemplarily shown.

[0164] The 4-bit Trigger Type subfield can have a value from 0 to 15. Among them, the values ​​of the Trigger Type subfield 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 are defined to correspond to Basic, Beamforming Report Poll (BFRP), Multi-User Block Acknowledgement Request (MU-BAR), Multi-User Request to Send (MU-RTS), Buffer Status Report Poll (BSRP), Multicast with Retry (GCR) MU-BAR, Bandwidth Query Report Poll (BQRP), and NDP Feedback Report Poll (NFRP), and the values ​​8-15 are defined as reserved.

[0165] In the common information, the trigger-related common information subfield may include information selectively included based on the trigger type.

[0166] The special user information field may be included in the trigger frame. The special user information field does not include user-specific information, but includes extended common information not provided in the common information field.

[0167] The user information list includes at least 0 user information fields. Figure 14 The following example shows the EHT variant user information field format.

[0168] This indicates that the AID12 subfield is essentially a user information field for the STA with the corresponding AID. Additionally, when the AID12 field has a predetermined specific value, it can be used for other purposes, including allocating random access (RA)-RUs or configuring it as a special user information field. A special user information field is a user information field that does not include user-specific information but includes extended common information not provided in the common information field. For example, a special user information field can be identified by an AID12 value of 2007, and the special user information field flag subfield in the common information field can indicate whether the special user information field is included.

[0169] The RU Allocation subfield may indicate the size and location of the RU / MRU. To this end, the RU Allocation subfield may be interpreted together with the PS160 (Primary / Secondary 160 MHz) subfield of the User Information field, the UL BW subfield of the Common Information field, and the like.

[0170] For example, as shown in Table 2 below, mapping of B7-B1 of the RU Allocation subfield may be defined together with the setting of B0 and PS160 subfields of the RU Allocation subfield. Table 2 shows an example of encoding of the PS160 subfield and the RU Allocation subfield of the EHT Variant User Information field.

[0171] [Table 2]

[0172]

[0173]

[0174]

[0175] When B0 of the RU Allocation subfield is set to 0, it may indicate that RU / MRU allocation is applied to the primary 80 MHz channel, and when the value is set to 1, it may indicate that RU allocation is applied to the secondary 80 MHz channel of the primary 160 MHz. It may indicate that when B0 of the RU Allocation subfield is set to 0, RU / MRU allocation is applied to the lower 80 MHz of the secondary 160 MHz, and when the value is set to 1, RU allocation is applied to the upper 80 MHz of the secondary 160 MHz.

[0176] In the trigger frame RU allocation table of Table 1, the parameter N can be calculated based on the formula of N=2*X1+X0. For bandwidths equal to or less than 80 MHz, the values ​​of PS160, B0, X0, and X1 can be set to 0. For 160 MHz bandwidth and 320 MHz bandwidth, the values ​​of PS160, B0, X0, and X1 can be set as in Table 2. This configuration represents the absolute frequency order for the primary and secondary 80 MHz and 160 MHz channels. The order from left to right represents the order from low frequency to high frequency. The primary 80 MHz channel is indicated as P80, the secondary 80 MHz channel is indicated as S80, and the secondary 160 MHz channel is indicated as S160.

[0177] [Table 3]

[0178]

[0179] DRU-based uplink transmission

[0180] As described above, in order to support DRU-based transmission or reception, information related to the DRU needs to be signaled.

[0181] In the present disclosure, various examples of indicating DRU-related information for a case where a DRU is used to trigger a frame are described below.

[0182] As described above, a trigger frame can trigger uplink transmission from at least one STA. In other words, uplink transmission from at least one STA can be triggered based on various information included in the trigger frame (e.g., a common information field / special user information field including information commonly applied to at least one STA, and a user information field including information for each of the at least one STA). The triggered uplink transmission can include UL-OFDMA transmission.

[0183] In the present disclosure, DRU related information, i.e., information that triggers DRU-based uplink transmission from at least one STA, may be included in a trigger frame. For example, DRU related information (and puncturing related information) may be indicated by at least one field within the trigger frame. For example, as indicated by reference to Figure 12 As described, the trigger frame considered in the present disclosure may include at least one of a UHR variant common information field, a UHR variant special user information field, or a UHR variant user information field. Such a trigger frame may be referred to as a UHR trigger frame. Although the examples of the present disclosure are described by assuming that the DRU related information (and puncture related information) are included in the UHR variant common information field / special user information field / user information field within the UHR trigger frame, the scope of the present disclosure is not limited by the name of UHR. For example, the format of the common information field / special user information field / user information field of the trigger frame to which the present disclosure is applied may be obtained by adding at least one field to the common information field / special user information field / user information field from the above-mentioned Figure 12 The exemplary format of the EHT variant common information field / special user information field / user information field in the trigger frame or from the above Figure 12 At least one field is excluded from the exemplary format of the EHT variant common information field / special user information field / user information field in the trigger frame, and in order to simplify the expression, it is described by using the name of the UHR variant common information field / special user information field / user information field.

[0184] In addition, as described above, the RU allocation subfield may be included in the user information field of the trigger frame. Through the RU allocation subfield, the size and location of the Ru / MRU may be indicated for each of at least one STA.

[0185] The existing RU Allocation subfield is defined based on the RRU, and in this disclosure, it is assumed that the same RU Allocation subfield also applies to the DRU as is. In other words, a predetermined mapping relationship can be defined for RRUs and DRUs. In addition, the DRU tone plan can be predefined in various forms based on the bandwidth in which distributed tones exist, the number of distributed tones, the gap (or interval) between tones, and so on. When indicating that a DRU is applied, the value of the RU Allocation subfield can indicate (or interpret) which DRU tone plan applies to the channels within the trigger (TB)-based PPDU bandwidth based on the predetermined mapping relationship. When indicating that a DRU is not applied, the value of the RU Allocation subfield can indicate the existing RRU allocation. In this way, without having to define or modify the RU Allocation subfield separately for the cases where an RRU is applied and the cases where a DRU is applied, the existing RU Allocation subfield can be utilized by only additionally defining information indicating whether a DRU is applied.

[0186] Figure 13 is a diagram for describing an example of a DRU-based PPDU reception method of a first STA according to the present disclosure.

[0187] In S1310, a first STA may transmit a first PPDU including a trigger frame to at least one second STA. The trigger frame may include a first field, and the first field may include information related to the DRU.

[0188] For example, the information related to the DRU may include at least one bitmap related to the DRU. Each of the at least one bitmap may have a bit size corresponding to a maximum channel size to which the DRU may be applied. In addition, the information related to the DRU may include information about a maximum channel size applicable to the DRU. For example, the information indicating the maximum channel size may indicate one of at least one maximum channel candidate value.

[0189] For example, when the maximum channel size is 80 MHz, if the bandwidth of the second PPDU (i.e., the TB PPDU) is less than or equal to 80 MHz, the first field may include one bitmap, and if the bandwidth of the second PPDU is greater than 80 MHz, the first field may include separate (or different) bitmaps for triggered-based transmission (or uplink transmission) on each channel corresponding to the maximum channel size. More specifically, when the PPDU bandwidth is 160 MHz, the first field for triggered-based transmission on the first 80 MHz channel may include a first bitmap, and the first field for triggered-based transmission on the second 80 MHz channel may include a second bitmap. When the PPDU bandwidth is 320 MHz, the first field for triggered-based transmission on the first 80 MHz channel may include a first bitmap, the first field for triggered-based transmission on the second 80 MHz channel may include a second bitmap, the first field for triggered-based transmission on the third 80 MHz channel may include a third bitmap, and the first field for triggered-based transmission on the fourth 80 MHz channel may include a fourth bitmap.

[0190] For example, the bits included in each bitmap may correspond to 20 MHz channels within the maximum channel size. For example, the bit positions of the bitmap may correspond to the physical / logical positions of the 20 MHz channels. When the bit value at any bit position is a first value (e.g., 1), it may indicate that the DRU is applied to the corresponding 20 MHz channel; when it is a second value (e.g., 0), it may indicate that the DRU is not applied to the corresponding 20 MHz channel (i.e., RRU is applied).

[0191] Additionally or alternatively, the DRU-related information may include 1 bit indicating whether the DRU is applied. Additionally or alternatively, the DRU-related information may include information indicating whether the DRU is applied within a 20 MHz / 40 MHz / 80 MHz / 160 MHz / 320 MHz / 480 MHz / 640 MHz channel having a bit size according to the maximum channel size to which the DRU can be applied. Such DRU-related information may be included as information for at least one second STA, or may be included as common information for at least one second STA.

[0192] Additionally or alternatively, the first field included in the trigger frame and / or the second field included in the trigger frame may include information indicating a maximum channel size to which the DRU may be applied and an actual DRU applied channel size that is smaller than or equal to the maximum channel size.

[0193] Perforation-related information may be further included in the first SIG field. Based on the perforation-related information, non-perforated channels and perforated channels may be specified within the bandwidth of the second PPDU. Therefore, various DRU tone plans may be applied to DRU-applied channels among non-perforated channels. For example, a DRU tone plan of a channel size corresponding to the sum of the non-perforated channel sizes may be applied. Alternatively, a DRU tone plan of a first size corresponding to the size of a first continuous channel among the non-perforated channels may be applied, and a DRU tone plan of a second size corresponding to the size of a second continuous channel may be applied. There may be a perforated channel between the first continuous channel and the second continuous channel, or there may not be a perforated channel between the first continuous channel and the second continuous channel. In addition, the bit value at the bit position corresponding to the perforated channel in the bitmap (i.e., whether DRU is applied) may be ignored.

[0194] For example, the first field may correspond to a public information field, or the first field may correspond to a special user information field, or the first field may correspond to a field defined by a combination of information included in the public information field and information included in the special user information field. For example, the second field may be a user information field.

[0195] In S1320 , the first STA may receive a second PPDU triggered by a trigger frame from at least one second STA.

[0196] Figure 13 The method described in the example can be used by Figure 1 The first device 100 executes. For example, Figure 1 The at least one processor 102 of the first device 100 may be configured to send a first PPDU including a trigger frame including DRU related information to at least one second STA, and receive a second PPDU triggered by the trigger frame from at least one second STA. In addition, the at least one memory 104 of the first device 100 may store a program for executing the program when executed by the at least one processor 102. Figure 13 Examples or instructions of the methods described in the examples described below.

[0197] Figure 14 is a diagram for describing an example of a DRU-based PPDU transmission method of a second STA according to the present disclosure.

[0198] In S1410, the second STA may receive a PPDU including a trigger frame including a first field from the first STA. The first field may include information related to the DRU.

[0199] The specific details of the information related to the DRU and the information related to the DRU included in the first field and / or the second field in the trigger frame are the same as those for Figure 13The examples described are the same, so repeated description is omitted.

[0200] In S1420 , the second STA may determine a DRU allocated thereto based on the information related to the DRU, and transmit the second PPDU to the first STA on the corresponding DRU.

[0201] Figure 14 The method described in the example can be used by Figure 1 The second device 200 in the embodiment is executed. For example, Figure 1 The at least one processor 202 of the second device 200 in the embodiment may be configured to receive a first PPDU including a trigger frame including DRU related information from the first STA, and send a second PPDU to the first STA on the DRU allocated to the second STA. In addition, the at least one memory 204 of the second device 200 may store instructions for executing when executed by the at least one processor 202. Figure 14 Examples or instructions of the methods described in the examples described below.

[0202] Figure 13 and Figure 14 Examples of may correspond to some of the various examples of the present disclosure. In the following, the examples including Figure 13 and Figure 14 Examples of various examples of the present disclosure.

[0203] In the embodiments described below, the common information field, special user information field and / or user information field included in the trigger frame are described as representative examples of the present disclosure for fields including DRU-related information for TB PPDU transmission, but the scope of the present disclosure is not limited to the field names, and the embodiments described below can also be equally applied to fields with other names.

[0204] Example 1

[0205] This embodiment relates to a method for indicating DRU related information through a user information field in a trigger frame.

[0206] Whether DRU is applied can be indicated by using a specific bit in the user information field. For example, 1 bit in the user information field can indicate that RRU is applied when the value is 0, and indicate that DRU is applied when the value is 1.

[0207] For example, a subfield indicating whether DRU is applied may be defined by using B25 corresponding to a reserved bit / subfield of an existing EHT variant user information field in a UHR variant user information field, or a subfield indicating whether DRU is applied may be defined by (some bits of) a trigger-related user information subfield following B40.

[0208] Additionally or alternatively, whether the DRU is applied to a channel size may be indicated by using a number of bits determined according to the maximum channel size to which the DRU can be applied within the User Information field. Such information may be defined, for example, by using a reserved bit / subfield (e.g., B25) within the User Information field and / or (some bits of) a trigger-related User Information subfield.

[0209] The maximum channel size may be a value predefined on the system (ie, applied without separate signaling) or a value preconfigured through the capability information of the STA.

[0210] In the present disclosure, the maximum channel to which a DRU can be applied may mean a channel of the maximum size including distributed tones when tone indices allocated to a specific DRU are distributed within a channel of a specific size. At least one DRU tone plan applied to a corresponding channel size may be separately defined.

[0211] For example, when the maximum channel size is 20 MHz, 1 bit is used and the value may indicate whether DRU is applied to the channel size as follows.

[0212] 0: Apply RRU in the 20MHz channel assigned to the corresponding STA

[0213] 1: Apply DRU in the 20MHz channel assigned to the corresponding STA

[0214] For example, when the maximum channel size is 40 MHz, 2 bits are used, and the value may indicate whether DRU is applied to the channel size as follows.

[0215] 0: Apply RRU in the 20MHz channel assigned to the corresponding STA

[0216] 1: Apply DRU in the 20MHz channel assigned to the corresponding STA

[0217] 2: Apply DRU within the 20 MHz channel including the assigned STA

[0218] 3: Ignore or Verify

[0219] For example, when the maximum channel size is 80 MHz, 2 bits are used, and the value may indicate whether DRU is applied to the channel size as follows.

[0220] 0: Apply RRU in the 20MHz channel assigned to the corresponding STA

[0221] 1: Apply DRU in the 20MHz channel assigned to the corresponding STA

[0222] 2: Apply DRU within a 40MHz channel including the 20MHz channel to which the corresponding STA is assigned

[0223] 3: Apply DRU in an 80MHz channel including the 20MHz channel to which the corresponding STA is assigned

[0224] For example, when the maximum channel size is 160 MHz, 3 bits are used, and the value may indicate whether DRU is applied to the channel size as follows.

[0225] 0: Apply RRU in the 20MHz channel assigned to the corresponding STA

[0226] 1: Apply DRU in the 20MHz channel assigned to the corresponding STA

[0227] 2: Apply DRU within a 40MHz channel including the 20MHz channel to which the corresponding STA is assigned

[0228] 3: Apply DRU in an 80MHz channel including the 20MHz channel to which the corresponding STA is assigned

[0229] 4: Apply DRU within a 160MHz channel including the 20MHz allocated to the corresponding STA

[0230] 5-7: Ignore or Verify

[0231] For example, when the maximum channel size is 320 MHz, 3 bits are used, and the value may indicate whether DRU is applied to the channel size as follows.

[0232] 0: Apply RRU in the 20MHz channel assigned to the corresponding STA

[0233] 1: Apply DRU in the 20MHz channel assigned to the corresponding STA

[0234] 2: Apply DRU within a 40MHz channel including the 20MHz channel to which the corresponding STA is assigned

[0235] 3: Apply DRU in an 80MHz channel including the 20MHz channel to which the corresponding STA is assigned

[0236] 4: Apply DRU within a 160MHz channel including the 20MHz allocated to the corresponding STA

[0237] 5: Apply DRU in a 320MHz channel including the 20MHz channel allocated to the corresponding STA

[0238] 6-7: Ignore or Verify

[0239] For example, when the maximum channel size is 480 MHz, 3 bits are used, and the value may indicate whether DRU is applied to the channel size as follows.

[0240] 0: Apply RRU in the 20MHz channel assigned to the corresponding STA

[0241] 1: Apply DRU in the 20MHz channel assigned to the corresponding STA

[0242] 2: Apply DRU within a 40MHz channel including the 20MHz channel to which the corresponding STA is assigned

[0243] 3: Apply DRU in an 80MHz channel including the 20MHz channel to which the corresponding STA is assigned

[0244] 4: Apply DRU within a 160MHz channel including the 20MHz allocated to the corresponding STA

[0245] 5: Apply DRU in a 320MHz channel including the 20MHz channel allocated to the corresponding STA

[0246] 6: Apply DRU in the 480MHz channel including the 20MHz allocated to the corresponding STA

[0247] 7: Ignore or Verify

[0248] For example, when the maximum channel size is 640 MHz, 3 bits are used, and the value may indicate whether DRU is applied to the channel size as follows.

[0249] 0: Apply RRU in the 20MHz channel assigned to the corresponding STA

[0250] 1: Apply DRU in the 20MHz channel assigned to the corresponding STA

[0251] 2: Apply DRU within a 40MHz channel including the 20MHz channel to which the corresponding STA is assigned

[0252] 3: Apply DRU in an 80MHz channel including the 20MHz channel to which the corresponding STA is assigned

[0253] 4: Apply DRU within a 160MHz channel including the 20MHz allocated to the corresponding STA

[0254] 5: Apply DRU in a 320MHz channel including the 20MHz channel allocated to the corresponding STA

[0255] 6: Apply DRU in the 640MHz channel including the 20MHz allocated to the corresponding STA

[0256] 7: Ignore or Verify

[0257] Alternatively, when the maximum channel size is 640 MHz, 3 bits are used, and the value may indicate whether DRU is applied to the channel size as follows.

[0258] 0: Apply RRU in the 20MHz channel assigned to the corresponding STA

[0259] 1: Apply DRU in the 20MHz channel assigned to the corresponding STA

[0260] 2: Apply DRU within a 40MHz channel including the 20MHz channel to which the corresponding STA is assigned

[0261] 3: Apply DRU in an 80MHz channel including the 20MHz channel to which the corresponding STA is assigned

[0262] 4: Apply DRU within a 160MHz channel including the 20MHz allocated to the corresponding STA

[0263] 5: Apply DRU in a 320MHz channel including the 20MHz channel allocated to the corresponding STA

[0264] 6: Apply DRU in the 480MHz channel including the 20MHz allocated to the corresponding STA

[0265] 7: Apply DRU in the 640MHz channel including the 20MHz band allocated to the corresponding STA

[0266] The STA can identify the RRU index to which it is assigned based on the RU allocation field, and when DRU is applied, can identify / interpret the DRU index mapped to the identified RRU index based on the predetermined mapping relationship between RRU and DRU. The STA can send a TB PPDU based on the DRU tone plan corresponding to the identified DRU index.

[0267] According to the above example, since the user information field indicates to each STA whether to apply the DRU, it is possible to support a method in which the DRU is applied only to specific RUs within a channel and the RRU is applied to other RUs. In terms of power gain, it can be configured to ensure that only DRUs for multiple STAs exist, rather than coexisting an RRU for a first STA and a DRU for a second STA within a certain channel range. In this case, because redundant DRU-related information is provided to STAs, overhead may increase, but whether to apply the DRU can be flexibly configured for each STA.

[0268] Example 2

[0269] This embodiment relates to a method for indicating DRU-related information through a common information field and / or a special user information field in a trigger frame.

[0270] For example, 1 bit in the common information field (or the special user information field) may indicate that RRU is applied when the value is 0, and may indicate that DRU is applied when the value is 1. Such information may be defined by using, for example, a reserved subfield / bit of the common information field (e.g., B22, B26, B53, or B63 of the EHT variant common information field) or (some bits of) the trigger-related common information subfield, or a reserved subfield / bit of the special user information field (e.g., B37, B38, or B39 of the EHT variant special user information field) or (some bits of) the trigger-related user information subfield of the special user information field.

[0271] Additionally or alternatively, within the common information field and / or the special user information field, whether the DRU is applied to the channel size may be indicated by using a number of bits determined according to the maximum channel size to which the DRU can be applied. The maximum channel size may be a value predefined on the system (i.e., applied without separate signaling) or may be a value preconfigured through the STA's capability information.

[0272] Unlike Embodiment 1, which indicates whether the DRU is applied to the 20 MHz channel to which the STA is assigned, Embodiment 2 can indicate whether the DRU is applied to the 20 MHz channel to which the Common Information Field and / or the Special User Information Field are delivered / transmitted. In other words, based on the indication of whether the DRU is applied included in the Common Information Field and / or the Special User Information in a specific 20 MHz channel among the channels in which the trigger frame is transmitted in the downlink, the DRU may or may not be applied to the TB PPDU transmission in the specific 20 MHz channel in the uplink.

[0273] When the size of the information indicating whether the DRU is applied according to the maximum channel size to which the DRU can be applied is 1 bit, the corresponding bit can be included in the common information field or the special user information field. When the size of the information indicating whether the DRU is applied according to the maximum channel size to which the DRU can be applied is greater than or equal to 2 bits, all the corresponding bits can be included in the common information field or the special user information field, or some of the corresponding bits can be included in the common information field and the remaining bits can be included in the special user information field, or the corresponding information can be indicated by a combination of the common information field and the special user information field.

[0274] For example, when the maximum channel size is 20 MHz, 1 bit is used and the value may indicate whether DRU is applied to the channel size as follows.

[0275] 0: RRU is applied in the 20MHz channel where the corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field) is sent

[0276] 1: Apply DRU in the 20MHz channel where the corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field) is sent

[0277] For example, when the maximum channel size is 40 MHz, 2 bits are used, and the value may indicate whether DRU is applied to the channel size as follows.

[0278] 0: RRU is applied in the 20MHz channel where the corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field) is sent

[0279] 1: Apply DRU in the 20MHz channel where the corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field) is sent

[0280] 2: Apply DRU within a 40MHz channel including the 20MHz channel that transmits the corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field)

[0281] 3: Ignore or Verify

[0282] For example, when the maximum channel size is 80 MHz, 2 bits are used, and the value may indicate whether DRU is applied to the channel size as follows.

[0283] 0: RRU is applied in the 20MHz channel where the corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field) is sent

[0284] 1: Apply DRU in the 20MHz channel where the corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field) is sent

[0285] 2: Apply DRU within a 40MHz channel including the 20MHz channel that transmits the corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field)

[0286] 3: Apply DRU in 80MHz channel including 20MHz to send corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field)

[0287] For example, when the maximum channel size is 160 MHz, 3 bits are used, and the value may indicate whether DRU is applied to the channel size as follows.

[0288] 0: RRU is applied in the 20MHz channel where the corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field) is sent

[0289] 1: Apply DRU in the 20MHz channel where the corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field) is sent

[0290] 2: Apply DRU within a 40MHz channel including the 20MHz channel that transmits the corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field)

[0291] 3: Apply DRU in 80MHz channel including 20MHz to send corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field)

[0292] 4: Apply DRU within a 160MHz channel including 20MHz for sending the corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field)

[0293] 5-7: Ignore or Verify

[0294] For example, when the maximum channel size is 320 MHz, 3 bits are used, and the value may indicate whether DRU is applied to the channel size as follows.

[0295] 0: RRU is applied in the 20MHz channel where the corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field) is sent

[0296] 1: Apply DRU in the 20MHz channel where the corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field) is sent

[0297] 2: Apply DRU within a 40MHz channel including the 20MHz channel that transmits the corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field)

[0298] 3: Apply DRU in 80MHz channel including 20MHz to send corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field)

[0299] 4: Apply DRU within a 160MHz channel including 20MHz for sending the corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field)

[0300] 5: Apply DRU in 320MHz channel including 20MHz to send corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field)

[0301] 6-7: Ignore or Verify

[0302] For example, when the maximum channel size is 480 MHz, 3 bits are used, and the value may indicate whether DRU is applied to the channel size as follows.

[0303] 0: RRU is applied in the 20MHz channel where the corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field) is sent

[0304] 1: Apply DRU in the 20MHz channel where the corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field) is sent

[0305] 2: Apply DRU within a 40MHz channel including the 20MHz channel that transmits the corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field)

[0306] 3: Apply DRU in 80MHz channel including 20MHz to send corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field)

[0307] 4: Apply DRU within a 160MHz channel including 20MHz for sending the corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field)

[0308] 5: Apply DRU in 320MHz channel including 20MHz to send corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field)

[0309] 6: The DRU is applied within the 480 MHz channel including the 20 MHz channel where the corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field) is transmitted.

[0310] 7: Ignore or Verify

[0311] For example, when the maximum channel size is 640 MHz, 3 bits are used, and the value may indicate whether DRU is applied to the channel size as follows.

[0312] 0: RRU is applied in the 20MHz channel where the corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field) is sent

[0313] 1: Apply DRU in the 20MHz channel where the corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field) is sent

[0314] 2: Apply DRU within a 40MHz channel including the 20MHz channel that transmits the corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field)

[0315] 3: Apply DRU in 80MHz channel including 20MHz to send corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field)

[0316] 4: Apply DRU within a 160MHz channel including 20MHz for sending the corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field)

[0317] 5: Apply DRU in 320MHz channel including 20MHz to send corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field)

[0318] 6: Apply DRU in 640MHz channel including 20MHz of sending corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field)

[0319] 7: Ignore or Verify

[0320] Alternatively, when the maximum channel size is 640 MHz, 3 bits are used, and the value may indicate whether DRU is applied to the channel size as follows.

[0321] 0: RRU is applied in the 20MHz channel where the corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field) is sent

[0322] 1: Apply DRU in the 20MHz channel where the corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field) is sent

[0323] 2: Apply DRU within a 40MHz channel including the 20MHz channel that transmits the corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field)

[0324] 3: Apply DRU in 80MHz channel including 20MHz to send corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field)

[0325] 4: Apply DRU within a 160MHz channel including 20MHz for sending the corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field)

[0326] 5: Apply DRU in 320MHz channel including 20MHz to send corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field)

[0327] 6: Apply DRU in 480MHz channel including 20MHz for sending corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field)

[0328] 7: Apply DRU in 640MHz channel including 20MHz of sending corresponding common information field (and / or special user information field)

[0329] In this way, according to Embodiment 2, signaling overhead can be reduced compared to Embodiment 1 using the user information field, which uses a common information field and / or a special user information field applied in units of 20 MHz rather than per RU / MRU. At the same time, when indicating whether to apply DRU by the common information field and / or the special user information field in units of 20 MHz, RRUs and DRUs cannot coexist within at least a 20 MHz channel, and only RRUs for multiple STAs can exist or only DRUs for multiple STAs can exist. In this case, power gain can be maximized by using a DRU including tones evenly distributed within one channel. For example, it can be configured to ensure that RRUs and DRUs do not coexist within at least one 20 MHz channel.

[0330] Example 3

[0331] This embodiment relates to a method for indicating a channel to which a DRU is applied through a common information field and / or a special user information field within a trigger frame based on a bitmap.

[0332] For example, a bitmap approach can be used for each channel (e.g., a 20 MHz channel) within the TB PPDU bandwidth to indicate whether DRU is applied. The correspondence between the bit position in the bitmap and the 20 MHz channel can be defined based on the physical or logical position of the 20 MHz channel. For example, the bits can be mapped in order from the least significant bit (LSB) to the most significant bit (MSB) (or from MSB to LSB) in the bitmap, or from the lower 20 MHz channel to the upper 20 MHz channel in the frequency domain. Alternatively, the bits can be mapped in order from LSB to MSB (or from MSB to LSB) in the bitmap, or in order of logical position, such as primary 20 MHz channel, secondary 20 MHz channel, etc.

[0333] When the bit value at the corresponding bit position is a first value (e.g., 1), it may indicate that the DRU is applied to the corresponding 20 MHz channel; and when it is a second value (e.g., 0), it may indicate that the DRU is not applied to the corresponding 20 MHz channel (i.e., RRU is applied).

[0334] The size of the bitmap can be defined according to the TB PPDU bandwidth. For example, when the TB PPDU bandwidth is 20 / 40 / 80 / 160 / 320 / 480 / 640 MHz, a bitmap with a length of 1 / 2 / 4 / 8 / 16 / 24 / 32 bits can be defined respectively.

[0335] When the bitmap size is 1 bit, the corresponding bit may be included in the common information field or the special user information field. When the bitmap size is greater than or equal to 2 bits, all corresponding bits may be included in the common information field or the special user information field, or some of the corresponding bits may be included in the common information field and the remaining bits may be included in the special user information field, or the corresponding information may be indicated by a combination of the common information field and the special user information field.

[0336] Additionally or alternatively, the size of the bitmap may be defined based on the maximum channel size to which the DRU may be applied. For example, when the maximum channel size is 320 MHz, the bitmap size may be fixed to 16 bits. For example, when the maximum channel size is 80 MHz, the bitmap size may be fixed to 4 bits.

[0337] When a DRU is indicated as being applied to contiguous channels, a DRU tone plan defined for a channel size corresponding to the total size of the contiguous channels may be applied. If the maximum channel size to which the DRU can be applied is fixed and is smaller than the total size of the contiguous channels, a DRU tone plan defined for a channel size less than or equal to the maximum channel size may be applied. For example, for a TB PPDU with a bandwidth of 320 MHz, when the value of the bitmap included in the trigger frame is 1111111100000000, it may indicate that the DRU is applied to the lower 160 MHz channel (or primary 160 MHz channel) and that the DRU is not applied (RRU is applied) to the upper 160 MHz channel (or secondary 160 MHz channel). Here, when the maximum channel size to which the DRU can be applied is 80 MHz, the DRU tone plan defined for the 80 MHz channel size may be applied to the lowest 80 MHz channel (or primary 80 MHz channel), and the DRU tone plan defined for the 80 MHz channel size may be applied to the second lowest 80 MHz channel (or secondary 80 MHz channel).

[0338] The maximum channel size information about the DRU can be applied is defined as follows and can be indicated by the common information field and / or the special user information field in the trigger frame. The value indicated by the information about the maximum channel size about the DRU can be the basis of the bitmap size as described above.

[0339] In order to distinguish from the maximum channel size to which the DRU can be applied that is predefined on the system (i.e., applied without separate signaling) / preconfigured through the capability information of the STA described in other examples of the present disclosure (hereinafter, "the predefined / preconfigured maximum channel size to which the DRU can be applied"), the value indicated by the information about the maximum channel size to which the DRU can be applied described in this embodiment is referred to as the "dynamically indicated maximum channel size to which the DRU can be applied" for the corresponding PPDU.

[0340] Therefore, the information indicating the maximum channel size to which the dynamically indicated DRU can be applied may indicate one of candidates of at least one maximum channel size predetermined according to the predefined / preconfigured maximum channel size to which the DRU can be applied.

[0341] When the size of the information indicating the maximum channel size to which the dynamically indicated DRU can be applied is 1 bit, the corresponding bit may be included in the common information field or the special user information field. When the size of the information indicating the maximum channel size to which the dynamically indicated DRU can be applied is greater than or equal to 2 bits, all the corresponding bits may be included in the common information field or the special user information field, or some of the corresponding bits may be included in the common information field and the remaining bits may be included in the special user information field, or the corresponding information may be indicated by a combination of the common information field and the special user information field.

[0342] For example, when the maximum channel size to which the predefined / preconfigured DRU can be applied is 20 MHz, 1 bit is used and the value may indicate the maximum channel size to which the dynamically indicated DRU may be applied to the corresponding PPDU as follows.

[0343] 0: Always apply only RRU

[0344] 1: The maximum channel size to which a dynamically indicated DRU can be applied is 20 MHz.

[0345] For example, when the maximum channel size to which the predefined / preconfigured DRU can be applied is 40 MHz, 2 bits are used, and the value may indicate the maximum channel size to which the dynamically indicated DRU may be applied to the corresponding PPDU as follows.

[0346] 0: Always apply only RRU

[0347] 1: The maximum channel size to which a dynamically indicated DRU can be applied is 20 MHz.

[0348] 2: The maximum channel size to which a dynamically indicated DRU can be applied is 40 MHz.

[0349] 3: Ignore or Verify

[0350] For example, when the maximum channel size to which the predefined / preconfigured DRU can be applied is 80 MHz, 2 bits are used and the value may indicate the maximum channel size to which the dynamically indicated DRU may be applied to the corresponding PPDU as follows.

[0351] 0: Always apply only RRU

[0352] 1: The maximum channel size to which a dynamically indicated DRU can be applied is 20 MHz.

[0353] 2: The maximum channel size to which a dynamically indicated DRU can be applied is 40 MHz.

[0354] 3: The maximum channel size to which a dynamically indicated DRU can be applied is 80 MHz.

[0355] For example, when the maximum channel size to which the predefined / preconfigured DRU can be applied is 160 MHz, 3 bits are used, and the value may indicate the maximum channel size to which the dynamically indicated DRU may be applied to the corresponding PPDU as follows.

[0356] 0: Always apply only RRU

[0357] 1: The maximum channel size to which a dynamically indicated DRU can be applied is 20 MHz.

[0358] 2: The maximum channel size to which a dynamically indicated DRU can be applied is 40 MHz.

[0359] 3: The maximum channel size to which a dynamically indicated DRU can be applied is 80 MHz.

[0360] 4: The maximum channel size to which a dynamically indicated DRU can be applied is 160 MHz.

[0361] 5-7: Ignore or Verify

[0362] For example, when the maximum channel size to which the predefined / preconfigured DRU can be applied is 320 MHz, 3 bits are used, and the value may indicate the maximum channel size to which the dynamically indicated DRU may be applied to the corresponding PPDU as follows.

[0363] 0: Always apply only RRU

[0364] 1: The maximum channel size to which a dynamically indicated DRU can be applied is 20 MHz.

[0365] 2: The maximum channel size to which a dynamically indicated DRU can be applied is 40 MHz.

[0366] 3: The maximum channel size to which a dynamically indicated DRU can be applied is 80 MHz.

[0367] 4: The maximum channel size to which a dynamically indicated DRU can be applied is 160 MHz.

[0368] 5: The maximum channel size to which a dynamically indicated DRU can be applied is 320 MHz.

[0369] 6-7: Ignore or Verify

[0370] For example, when the maximum channel size to which the predefined / preconfigured DRU can be applied is 480 MHz, 3 bits are used, and the value may indicate the maximum channel size to which the dynamically indicated DRU may be applied to the corresponding PPDU as follows.

[0371] 0: Always apply only RRU

[0372] 1: The maximum channel size to which a dynamically indicated DRU can be applied is 20 MHz.

[0373] 2: The maximum channel size to which a dynamically indicated DRU can be applied is 40 MHz.

[0374] 3: The maximum channel size to which a dynamically indicated DRU can be applied is 80 MHz.

[0375] 4: The maximum channel size to which a dynamically indicated DRU can be applied is 160 MHz.

[0376] 5: The maximum channel size to which a dynamically indicated DRU can be applied is 320 MHz.

[0377] 6: The maximum channel size to which a dynamically indicated DRU can be applied is 480 MHz.

[0378] 7: Ignore or Verify

[0379] For example, when the maximum channel size to which the predefined / preconfigured DRU can be applied is 640 MHz, 3 bits are used, and the value may indicate the maximum channel size to which the dynamically indicated DRU may be applied to the corresponding PPDU as follows.

[0380] 0: Always apply only RRU

[0381] 1: The maximum channel size to which a dynamically indicated DRU can be applied is 20 MHz.

[0382] 2: The maximum channel size to which a dynamically indicated DRU can be applied is 40 MHz.

[0383] 3: The maximum channel size to which a dynamically indicated DRU can be applied is 80 MHz.

[0384] 4: The maximum channel size to which a dynamically indicated DRU can be applied is 160 MHz.

[0385] 5: The maximum channel size to which a dynamically indicated DRU can be applied is 320 MHz.

[0386] 6: The maximum channel size to which a dynamically indicated DRU can be applied is 640 MHz.

[0387] 7: Ignore or Verify

[0388] Alternatively, when the maximum channel size to which the predefined / preconfigured DRU can be applied is 640 MHz, 3 bits are used and the value may indicate the maximum channel size to which the dynamically indicated DRU may be applied to the corresponding PPDU as follows.

[0389] 0: Always apply only RRU

[0390] 1: The maximum channel size to which a dynamically indicated DRU can be applied is 20 MHz.

[0391] 2: The maximum channel size to which a dynamically indicated DRU can be applied is 40 MHz.

[0392] 3: The maximum channel size to which a dynamically indicated DRU can be applied is 80 MHz.

[0393] 4: The maximum channel size to which a dynamically indicated DRU can be applied is 160 MHz.

[0394] 5: The maximum channel size to which a dynamically indicated DRU can be applied is 320 MHz.

[0395] 6: The maximum channel size to which a dynamically indicated DRU can be applied is 480 MHz.

[0396] 7: The maximum channel size to which a dynamically indicated DRU can be applied is 640 MHz.

[0397] When the information indicating the maximum channel size to which the dynamically indicated DRU can be applied indicates 0 (i.e., only RRU is always applied), the indication information (e.g., 1-bit information) about whether the DRU is applied described in the above embodiment 2 may not be included in the common information field and / or the special user information field.

[0398] Alternatively, when the maximum channel size to which a predefined / preconfigured DRU can be applied is applied to the corresponding PPDU as it is, information indicating the maximum channel size to which a dynamically indicated DRU can be applied may not be included in the common information field and / or the special user information field.

[0399] In the example of indicating DRU-related information through the common information field and / or special user information field of the trigger frame, the corresponding information is included only once (ie, not repeatedly) every 20 MHz, so the overhead can be reduced compared with the examples of embodiments 1 and 2.

[0400] Example 3-2

[0401] According to embodiment 2-1, as the TB PPDU bandwidth and / or the maximum channel size to which the DRU can be applied increases, the number of bits required to indicate DRU-related information in the common information field and / or the special user information field of the trigger frame may increase.

[0402] To additionally reduce the bit size in the Common Information Field and / or Special User Information Field required to indicate DRU-related information, the TB PPDU bandwidth can be divided into units of a predetermined size, and a bitmap can be applied to each unit of the predetermined size. The predetermined unit of size can correspond to a channel size of, for example, 80 MHz or 160 MHz. The bitmap can indicate whether a DRU is applied, for example, in units of 20 MHz.

[0403] For example, for a trigger frame including DRU-related information for a TB PPDU with a 320 MHz bandwidth, a 16-bit subfield can be defined for the bitmap indication according to the method of Example 2-1, and the corresponding bitmap subfield can be set to the same value in all 16 20 MHz channels. According to this embodiment, when the predetermined unit size is 80 MHz, a 4-bit subfield can be defined for the bitmap indication in the trigger frame, and the corresponding bitmap subfield can be set to the same value in all four 20 MHz channels within the 80 MHz unit, while the bitmap subfield can be set to different (or independent) values ​​in different 80 MHz units. For example, when the predetermined unit size is 160 MHz, an 8-bit subfield can be defined in the trigger frame and used for the bitmap indication. The corresponding bitmap subfield can be set to the same value in all eight 20 MHz channels within the 160 MHz unit, while the bitmap subfield can be set to different (or independent) values ​​in different 160 MHz units.

[0404] For a TB PPDU having a bandwidth smaller than a predetermined unit size (e.g., an 80 MHz or 160 MHz unit) (e.g., a TB PPDU having a bandwidth of 20 MHz or 40 MHz), the bitmap included in the trigger frame may also be defined as a 1-bit or 2-bit size corresponding to the bandwidth of the TB PPDU. For a TB PPDU having a bandwidth smaller than a predetermined unit size (e.g., a 160 MHz unit) (e.g., a TB PPDU having a bandwidth of 20 MHz, 40 MHz, or 80 MHz), the bitmap included in the trigger frame may also be defined as a 1-bit, 2-bit, or 4-bit size corresponding to the bandwidth of the TB PPDU.

[0405] Alternatively, for TB PPDUs with a bandwidth smaller than a predetermined unit size (e.g., an 80 MHz or 160 MHz unit) (e.g., a TB PPDU with a bandwidth of 20 MHz or 40 MHz), the bitmap in the trigger frame may also be defined as a 4-bit or 8-bit size corresponding to the 80 MHz or 160 MHz unit size. In this case, for a TB PPDU with a bandwidth of 20 MHz, one bit corresponding to the LSB (or MSB) in the bitmap included in the trigger frame may indicate whether DRU is applied, and all remaining bits may be set to a predefined value (e.g., 0 or 1). For a TB PPDU with a bandwidth of 40 MHz, two bits on the LSB (or MSB) in the bitmap included in the trigger frame may indicate whether DRU is applied, and all remaining bits may be set to a predefined value (e.g., 0 or 1).

[0406] As an additional example, for a TB PPDU having a bandwidth smaller than a predetermined unit size (e.g., a 160 MHz unit) (e.g., a TB PPDU having a bandwidth of 20 MHz, 40 MHz, or 80 MHz), the bitmap within the trigger frame may also be defined as an 8-bit size corresponding to a unit size of 160 MHz. In this case, for a TB PPDU having a bandwidth of 20 / 40 / 80 MHz, 1 / 2 / 4 bits corresponding to the LSB (or MSB) within the bitmap included in the trigger frame may indicate whether DRU is applied, and all remaining bits may be set to predefined values ​​(e.g., 0 or 1).

[0407] In the above example, the unit of the predetermined size may be based on the maximum channel size to which the DRU can be applied. For example, the unit of the predetermined size may have the same size as the maximum channel size to which the DRU can be applied. Therefore, a bitmap included in the trigger frame may have a bit size corresponding to the maximum channel size to which the DRU can be applied to the TB PPDU. For example, depending on the size of the TB PPDU bandwidth, the common information field and / or the special user information field sent through the trigger frame in the first channel corresponding to the maximum channel size may include the same first bitmap, the common information field and / or the special user information field sent through the trigger frame in the second channel corresponding to the maximum channel size may include the same second bitmap, ..., and the common information field and / or the special user information field sent through the trigger frame in the Nth channel corresponding to the maximum channel size may include the same Nth bitmap.

[0408] For 20 MHz channels to which DRU is applied consecutively, a DRU tone plan with a channel size corresponding to the total size (or sum) of the consecutive channels can be applied, thereby further reducing overhead. Here, when the total size (or sum) of the consecutive channels is greater than the maximum channel size to which DRU can be applied, a DRU tone plan with a channel size corresponding to the maximum channel size can be applied. For example, when the number of 20 MHz channels to which DRU is applied consecutively is 8 (i.e., when DRU application is indicated for consecutive 160 MHz channels), and the maximum channel size to which DRU can be applied is 80 MHz, a DRU tone plan corresponding to the 80 MHz channel size can be applied to each of the two 80 MHz channels within the corresponding 160 MHz channel.

[0409] Alternatively, when a DRU tone plan of a channel size corresponding to the total size of a 20 MHz channel to which the DRU is continuously applied is not applied, the information described in Example 2-1 about the maximum channel size to which the DRU can be applied (or the maximum channel size to which a dynamically indicated DRU can be applied) can be additionally defined and used.

[0410] Example 4

[0411] This embodiment relates to a DRU application method based on perforation-related information.

[0412] The puncture-related information (or information about the puncture pattern) or the information about the unused 20 MHz channel may be included in the common information field within the trigger frame, or may be included in the special user information field within the trigger frame, or some of the corresponding information may be included in the common information field and the remaining information may be included in the special user information field, or the corresponding information may be indicated by a combination of the common information field and the special user information field.

[0413] The value of the puncture-related information may be set to the same value on all channels that transmit the puncture-related information through the trigger frame.

[0414] For example, for indication of puncturing-related information, similar to non-OFDMA of EHT MU PPDU, a method of mapping at least one puncturing pattern candidate to a specific value in advance for each bandwidth candidate applicable to TB PPDU and indicating the specific value may be applied.

[0415] As another example, indications of information related to puncturing may be mapped in a bitmap manner to bit positions within the bitmap from the lowest 20 MHz to the highest 20 MHz of the entire bandwidth, and whether puncturing is applied to the corresponding 20 MHz channel may be indicated by the bit value at a particular bit position (e.g., a value of 0 indicates that puncturing is applied, and a value of 1 indicates that puncturing is not applied).

[0416] Additionally or alternatively, because the size of the puncture pattern bitmap increases as the bandwidth size of the TB PPDU increases, the TB PPDU bandwidth can be divided into units of a predetermined size, and the puncture pattern bitmap can be applied to each of the predetermined-sized units. The predetermined-sized units can correspond to, for example, a channel size of 80 MHz or 160 MHz. Here, the predetermined size associated with the size of the puncture pattern bitmap can be the same as or different from the predetermined size associated with the size of the bitmap indicating whether to apply a DRU. The puncture pattern bitmap can indicate whether puncturing is performed in 20 MHz units.

[0417] When puncturing is not applied, DRU tone plans corresponding to channel sizes of, for example, 20 / 40 / 80 / 160 / 320 / 480 / 640 MHz may be defined, and DRU tone plans corresponding to specific channel sizes may be defined for wide bandwidths. Additionally, DRU tone plans may be defined that may be applied when puncturing specific channels within a specific bandwidth. For example, when puncturing a specific 20 MHz channel within an 80 MHz bandwidth, a DRU tone plan corresponding to a 60 MHz channel size may be defined. For example, when puncturing a specific 20 / 40 MHz channel within a 160 MHz bandwidth, a DRU tone plan corresponding to a 140 / 120 MHz channel size may be defined. For example, when puncturing a specific 40 / 80 / 120 MHz channel within a 320 MHz bandwidth, a DRU tone plan corresponding to a 280 / 240 / 200 MHz channel size may be defined. Additionally, when puncturing is applied to some channels for wide bandwidth, a DRU tone plan corresponding to the remaining channel size may be defined.

[0418] As described above, puncture-related information (or information about the puncture pattern) can be indicated via the Common Information field and / or the Special User Information field within the trigger frame. Furthermore, an indication of the channel to which the DRU tone plan is applied can be included in the User Information field within the trigger frame, or in the Common Information field and / or the Special User Information field within the trigger frame. Thus, a STA receiving the PPDU can interpret the channel size to which the DRU tone plan is actually applied.

[0419] For example, in the above example, it is possible to indicate that a DRU is applied within an 80 MHz channel including a specific 20 MHz channel (e.g., the specific 20 MHz channel may correspond to the 20 MHz channel to which the corresponding STA is assigned in the user information field within the trigger frame, or may correspond to the 20 MHz channel to which the common information field and / or special user information field is transmitted). Furthermore, it is possible to indicate that some 20 MHz channels within the corresponding 80 MHz channel are punctured. Thus, for the remaining 60 MHz channels excluding the punctured 20 MHz channels, a DRU tone plan defined for a 60 MHz channel size may be applied (e.g., a DRU tone plan defining tone positions distributed throughout the remaining 60 MHz, excluding some 20 MHz channels, when the entire bandwidth is 80 MHz).

[0420] Additionally or alternatively, whether a DRU tone plan is applied may be indicated by a first bitmap having a length corresponding to a unit of a predetermined size (e.g., a maximum channel size), and a puncture pattern may be indicated by a second bitmap having a length corresponding to a unit of the predetermined size. In this case, the application of various DRU tone plans may be indicated / interpreted based on the location of the 20 MHz channel indicating the puncture.

[0421] For example, assume that the value of the first bitmap, which indicates whether a DRU is applied in 80 MHz-sized units, is 1111, and the value of the second bitmap, which indicates a puncturing pattern in 80 MHz-sized units, is 1101. In this case, the first bitmap indicates that a DRU tone plan with an 80 MHz channel size (e.g., a DRU tone plan that defines tone positions distributed across the entire 80 MHz when the entire bandwidth is 80 MHz) is applied to the TB PPDU. Furthermore, the second bitmap indicates that the third 20 MHz channel is punctured for the TB PPDU. Therefore, this can be interpreted as a DRU tone plan with a channel size corresponding to 60 MHz, which is the size of the remaining non-punctured channel (e.g., a DRU tone plan that defines tone positions distributed across the remaining 60 MHz, excluding some 20 MHz when the entire bandwidth is 80 MHz) being applied to the TB PPDU.

[0422] As another example, assume that the value of the 4-bit bitmap of 80 MHz-sized units is 1101, and the value of the second 4-bit bitmap of 80 MHz-sized units indicating the puncturing pattern is 1101. In this case, the first bitmap can indicate a 40 MHz channel-sized DRU tone plan (e.g., a DRU tone plan that defines tone positions distributed across some 40 MHz when the entire bandwidth is 80 MHz) for the lower 40 MHz, an RRU tone plan (e.g., an RRU tone plan that defines contiguous available tones across some 20 MHz when the entire bandwidth is 80 MHz) can be indicated in the third 20 MHz channel, and the DRU tone plan (e.g., a DRU tone plan that defines tone positions distributed across some 20 MHz when the entire bandwidth is 80 MHz) can be indicated to be applied to TB PPDUs in the last 20 MHz channel. Furthermore, the second bitmap can indicate that the third 20 MHz channel is punctured for the TB PPDU. Therefore, it can be interpreted that the RRU tone plan application to the third 20 MHz channel is ignored, the DRU tone plan of 40 MHz channel size is applied to the lower 40 MHz channels, and the DRU tone plan of 20 MHz channel size is applied to the last 20 MHz channel.

[0423] In this manner, the indication information regarding whether to apply DRU to the remaining channels excluding the punctured channels within the predetermined channel size can be set to a value indicating whether DRU is applied to the entire channel without considering puncturing. By providing the indication information regarding the puncturing pattern and the indication of whether to apply DRU in the trigger frame, the STA receiving the PPDU can interpret / determine the channel position of the DRU tone plan of which channel size is applied within the predetermined channel size.

[0424] Unlike the existing WLAN system that only applies RRU, when the application of DRU is supported, the sending and receiving of DRU-based TBPPDU can be supported, and the signaling efficiency through the trigger frame can be increased by using a method for signaling information related to the DRU of a specific channel used for the TBPPDU according to the present disclosure through the trigger frame.

[0425] The above-mentioned embodiments are elements and features of the present disclosure combined in a predetermined form. Unless otherwise explicitly mentioned, each element or feature should be considered optional. Each element or feature can be implemented in a form not combined with other elements or features. In addition, the embodiments of the present disclosure may include combined elements and / or features. The order of the operations described in the embodiments of the present disclosure may be changed. Some elements or features of an embodiment may be included in other embodiments, or may be replaced with corresponding elements or features of other embodiments. It is clear that an embodiment may include a combined claim without an explicit dependency relationship in the claim, or may be included as a new claim by modification after application.

[0426] It is clear to those skilled in the art that the present disclosure can be implemented in other specific forms without exceeding the essential features of the present disclosure. Therefore, the above detailed description should not be interpreted restrictively in every aspect, but should be considered as illustrative. The scope of the present invention should be determined by the reasonable interpretation of the appended claims, and all changes within the equivalent range of the present disclosure are included within the scope of the present invention.

[0427] The scope of the present disclosure includes software or machine-executable instructions (e.g., operating systems, applications, firmware, programs, etc.) that perform operations in accordance with the methods of various embodiments in a device or computer, as well as non-transitory computer-readable media that store such software or instructions and are executable in the device or computer. Commands that can be used to program a processing system to perform the features described in this disclosure can be stored in a storage medium or computer-readable storage medium, and the features described in this disclosure can be implemented using a computer program product that includes such a storage medium. The storage medium can include, but is not limited to, high-speed random access memory such as DRAM, SRAM, DDR RAM, or other random access solid-state storage devices, and can also include non-volatile memory such as one or more magnetic disk storage devices, optical disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid-state storage devices. The memory can optionally include one or more storage devices located remotely from the processor. The memory, or alternatively, the non-volatile memory device in the memory, comprises a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The features described in this disclosure may be stored in any machine-readable medium to control the hardware of a processing system and may be integrated into software and / or firmware that allows the processing system to utilize the results from embodiments of the present disclosure and interact with other mechanisms. Such software or firmware may include, but is not limited to, application code, device drivers, operating systems, and execution environments / containers.

[0428] [Industrial Applicability]

[0429] The method proposed by the present disclosure is mainly described based on an example of being applied to an IEEE 802.11-based system and a 5G system, but can also be applied to various WLAN or wireless communication systems other than the IEEE 802.11-based system.

Claims

1. A method performed by a first station (STA) in a wireless local area network (WLAN) system, the method comprising: sending a first physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) including a trigger frame to at least one second STA, wherein the trigger frame includes a first field including at least one bitmap related to a distributed resource unit (DRU); and receiving a second PPDU triggered by the trigger frame from the at least one second STA, Each of the at least one bitmap has a bit size corresponding to a maximum channel size applicable to the DRU for the second PPDU.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein Based on the maximum channel size of 80MHz: For the second PPDU with a bandwidth less than or equal to 80 MHz, the first field includes a bitmap; as well as For the second PPDU having the bandwidth greater than the 80 MHz, the first field for triggered-based transmission on a first 80 MHz channel includes a first bitmap, and the first field for triggered-based transmission on a second 80 MHz channel includes a second bitmap.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein: For the second PPDU with the bandwidth of 320 MHz, the first field for the triggered-based transmission on the first 80 MHz channel includes the first bitmap, the first field for the triggered-based transmission on the second 80 MHz channel includes the second bitmap, the first field for the triggered-based transmission on the third 80 MHz channel includes a third bitmap, and the first field for the triggered-based transmission on the fourth 80 MHz channel includes a fourth bitmap; For the second PPDU with the bandwidth of 480 MHz, the first field for the triggered-based transmission on the first 80 MHz channel includes the first bitmap, the first field for the triggered-based transmission on the second 80 MHz channel includes the second bitmap, the first field for the triggered-based transmission on the third 80 MHz channel includes the third bitmap, the first field for the triggered-based transmission on the fourth 80 MHz channel includes the fourth bitmap, the first field for the triggered-based transmission on the fifth 80 MHz channel includes the fifth bitmap, and the first field for the triggered-based transmission on the sixth 80 MHz channel includes the sixth bitmap; as well as For the second PPDU with the bandwidth of 640 MHz, the first field for the triggered-based transmission on the first 80 MHz channel includes the first bitmap, the first field for the triggered-based transmission on the second 80 MHz channel includes the second bitmap, the first field for the triggered-based transmission on the third 80 MHz channel includes the third bitmap, the first field for the triggered-based transmission on the fourth 80 MHz channel includes the fourth bitmap, the first field for the triggered-based transmission on the fifth 80 MHz channel includes the fifth bitmap, the first field for the triggered-based transmission on the sixth 80 MHz channel includes the sixth bitmap, the first field for the triggered-based transmission on the seventh 80 MHz channel includes the seventh bitmap, and the first field for triggered-based transmission on the eighth 80 MHz channel includes the eighth bitmap.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein: In each of the at least one bitmap, bit positions correspond to positions of 20 MHz channels within the maximum channel size.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein: For the bit at each bit position, a first bit value indicates that the DRU is applied and a second bit value indicates that the DRU is not applied.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The first field or the second field included in the trigger frame further includes information indicating the maximum channel size.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein: The information indicating the maximum channel size indicates one of at least one maximum channel size candidate.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The first field includes puncture-related information.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein: A DRU tone plan of a channel size corresponding to the sum of sizes of unpunctured channels based on the puncture-related information is applied.

10. The method according to claim 8, wherein: Among the channels that are not punctured based on the puncture-related information, a DRU tone schedule of a first channel size corresponding to a size of a first continuous channel is applied.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein: Among the unpunctured channels, a DRU tone schedule of a second channel size corresponding to a size of a second contiguous channel is applied.

12. The method according to claim 8, wherein: In each of the at least one bitmap, bit values ​​at bit positions corresponding to punctured channels are disregarded.

13. The method according to claim 8, wherein Information related to the piercing: indicating a puncture pattern among at least one puncture pattern candidate applied to the bandwidth of the second PPDU, or Whether puncturing is performed on each 20 MHz channel within the bitmap is indicated through a bitmap having a size corresponding to a predetermined unit or bandwidth of the second PPDU.

14. The method according to claim 6, wherein: The first field is one of a common information field and a special user field, or the first field is a field corresponding to a combination of information included in the common information field and information included in the special user field, and The second field is a user field.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein: The DRU includes tones distributed at predetermined intervals among available tones, and The tones included in the first DRU are located at gaps between the tones included in the second DRU.

16. A first station (STA) device in a wireless local area network (WLAN) system, the device comprising: at least one transceiver; as well as at least one processor connected to the at least one transceiver, Wherein, the at least one processor is configured to: transmitting, by the at least one transceiver, to at least one second STA, a first physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) including a trigger frame, wherein the trigger frame includes a first field including at least one bitmap associated with a distributed resource unit (DRU); and receiving, by the at least one transceiver, a second PPDU triggered by the trigger frame from the at least one second STA, Each of the at least one bitmap has a bit size corresponding to a maximum channel size applicable to the DRU for the second PPDU.

17. A method performed by a second station (STA) in a wireless local area network (WLAN) system, the method comprising: receiving a first physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) including a trigger frame from a first STA, wherein the trigger frame includes a first field including at least one bitmap related to a distributed resource unit (DRU); and sending, based on the at least one bitmap, a second PPDU triggered by the trigger frame to the first STA on a DRU allocated to the second STA, Each of the at least one bitmap has a bit size corresponding to a maximum channel size applicable to the DRU for the second PPDU.

18. A second station (STA) device in a wireless local area network (WLAN) system, the device comprising: at least one transceiver; as well as at least one processor connected to the at least one transceiver, Wherein, the at least one processor is configured to: receiving, by the at least one transceiver, from a first STA, a first physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) including a trigger frame, wherein the trigger frame includes a first field including at least one bitmap associated with a distributed resource unit (DRU); and sending, based on the at least one bitmap, on a DRU allocated to the second STA, through the at least one transceiver, a second PPDU triggered by the trigger frame to the first STA, Each of the at least one bitmap has a bit size corresponding to a maximum channel size applicable to the DRU for the second PPDU.

19. A processing device configured to control a station (STA) in a wireless local area network (WLAN) system, the processing device comprising: at least one processor; as well as At least one computer memory operatively connected to the at least one processor and storing instructions for performing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13 upon execution by the at least one processor.

20. At least one non-transitory computer-readable medium storing at least one instruction, wherein: The at least one instruction is executed by at least one processor to control a device to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13 in a wireless local area network (WLAN) system.

Images