Link control method and device, equipment and storage medium

Abstract

Provided in an embodiment of the present application are a link control method and apparatus, a device, and a storage medium, the method comprising: if an access point multilink device AP MLD receives a first frame sent by a first non-access point station Non-AP STA affiliated by a first non-access point multilink device Non-AP MLD through a first access point AP affiliated by the AP MLD; if the first frame is used for requesting association and / or re-association and / or multi-link re-configuration, and the first address of at least one second Non-AP STA in Non-AP STAs affiliated to the first Non-AP MLD satisfies a first condition and / or a second condition, the AP MLD sends a first state code, the first frame being used for requesting association and / or re-association and / or multi-link re-configuration, and the second frame being used for requesting association and / or re-association and / or multi-link re-configuration. The first condition is related to at least one third Non-AP STA in Non-AP STAs affiliated with a second Non-AP MLD associated with the AP MLD, the second condition is related to a fourth Non-AP STA associated with a second AP affiliated with the AP MLD, and the first state code is used for rejecting an association request and / or a re-association request and / or a multi-link reconfiguration request.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of the PCT international patent application PCT / CN2022 / 140343 with an application date of December 20, 2022, which entered the Chinese national phase with Chinese patent application number 202280099589.8 and the invention name being “A link control method, device, equipment, and storage medium.” Technical Field

[0002] The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of mobile communication technology, and specifically to a link control method and apparatus, device, and storage medium. Background Art

[0003] The wireless LAN industry is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the data communications sector. As a supplement and extension of traditional wired LANs, wireless LAN solutions have gained widespread adoption among home network users, small and medium-sized offices, enterprises, and telecom operators due to their flexibility, mobility, scalability, and low investment costs.

[0004] An access point multi-link device (AP MLD) forms a wireless local area network (WLAN) based on transmitted signals. Two types of stations can establish an association with an AP MLD: non-AP STAs and non-AP MLDs. In related technologies, an attacking station establishes an association with the AP MLD by carrying a Media Access Control (MAC) address that the AP MLD considers legitimate. This requires the AP MLD to accurately determine whether the station requesting an association is legitimate or an attacking station. Summary of the Invention

[0005] Embodiments of the present application provide a link control method, apparatus, device, and storage medium.

[0006] The link control method provided in the embodiment of the present application includes:

[0007] If the AP MLD receives a first frame sent by a first non-AP STA attached to a first non-access point multi-link device Non-APMLD through a first AP attached to the AP MLD, and a first address of at least one second non-AP STA among the non-AP STAs attached to the first non-AP MLD meets a first condition and / or a second condition, the AP MLD sends a first status code, where the first frame is used to request association and / or reassociation and / or multi-link reconfiguration, the first condition is related to at least one third non-AP STA among the second non-AP MLD attached to which the AP MLD is associated, the second condition is related to a fourth non-AP STA associated to the second AP attached to the AP MLD, and the first status code is used to reject the association request and / or reassociation request and / or multi-link reconfiguration request.

[0008] The AP MLD provided in this embodiment includes:

[0009] The first communication unit is configured to receive, through the first AP to which the AP MLD is attached, a first frame sent by a first non-access point station Non-AP STA attached to a first non-access point multi-link device Non-AP MLD, and if a first address of at least one second Non-AP STA among the Non-AP STAs attached to the first Non-AP MLD meets a first condition and / or a second condition, send a first status code, wherein the first frame is used to request association and / or reassociation and / or multi-link reconfiguration, the first condition is related to at least one third Non-AP STA among the Non-AP STAs attached to the second Non-AP MLD associated with the AP MLD, the second condition is related to a fourth Non-AP STA associated with the second AP attached to the AP MLD, and the first status code is used to reject the association request and / or the reassociation request and / or the multi-link reconfiguration request.

[0010] The communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application may be the AP MLD in the above-mentioned solution, and the communication device includes a processor and a memory. The memory is used to store a computer program, and the processor is used to call and execute the computer program stored in the memory, so that the communication device performs the above-mentioned link control method.

[0011] The chip provided in the embodiment of the present application is used to implement the above-mentioned link control method.

[0012] Specifically, the chip includes: a processor, configured to call and run a computer program from a memory, so that a device equipped with the chip executes the above-mentioned link control method.

[0013] The computer-readable storage medium provided in an embodiment of the present application is used to store a computer program, and the execution of the computer program enables the computer to execute the above-mentioned link control method.

[0014] The computer program product provided in an embodiment of the present application includes computer program instructions, and the execution of the computer program instructions enables a computer to execute the above-mentioned link control method.

[0015] The computer program provided in the embodiment of the present application, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to execute the above-mentioned link control method.

[0016] Through the above technical solution, the AP MLD receives a first frame sent by a first non-AP STA affiliated with a first non-AP MLD, where the first frame is used to request association and / or reassociation and / or multi-link reconfiguration. The AP MLD determines, based on a first condition related to at least one third non-AP STA among the non-AP STAs affiliated with a second non-AP MLD associated with the AP MLD and / or a second condition related to a fourth non-AP STA associated with the second AP affiliated with the AP MLD, that a first address of at least one second non-AP STA among the non-AP STAs affiliated with the first non-AP MLD satisfies the first condition and / or the second condition. The AP MLD then rejects the association request and / or reassociation request and / or multi-link reconfiguration request of the first non-AP MLD. Thus, the AP MLD determines whether the first non-AP MLD is an attacking station based on the non-AP STAs associated at the MLD level and / or the non-AP STAs associated at the STA level, enabling the AP MLD to accurately determine whether the station requesting association and / or reassociation and / or multi-link reconfiguration with the AP MLD is a legitimate station or an attacking station. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] The drawings described herein are used to provide a further understanding of the present application and constitute a part of the present application. The illustrative embodiments of the present application and their descriptions are used to explain the present application and do not constitute an improper limitation on the present application. In the drawings:

[0018] Figure 1 This is an optional schematic diagram of an application scenario of an embodiment of the present application;

[0019] Figure 2A This is an optional schematic diagram of an application scenario of an embodiment of the present application;

[0020] Figure 2B This is an optional schematic diagram of an application scenario of an embodiment of the present application;

[0021] Figure 3is an optional flowchart of the link control method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0022] Figure 4 is an optional flowchart of the link control method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0023] Figure 5 is an optional flowchart of the link control method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0024] Figure 6 This is an optional schematic diagram of an application scenario of an embodiment of the present application;

[0025] Figure 7 This is an optional schematic diagram of an application scenario of an embodiment of the present application;

[0026] Figure 8 This is an optional schematic diagram of an application scenario of an embodiment of the present application;

[0027] Figure 9 This is an optional schematic diagram of an application scenario of an embodiment of the present application;

[0028] Figure 10 This is an optional schematic diagram of an application scenario of an embodiment of the present application;

[0029] Figure 11 is an optional flowchart of the link control method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0030] Figure 12 This is an optional schematic diagram of an application scenario of an embodiment of the present application;

[0031] Figure 13 This is an optional schematic diagram of an application scenario of an embodiment of the present application;

[0032] Figure 14 This is an optional schematic diagram of an application scenario of an embodiment of the present application;

[0033] Figure 15 This is an optional schematic diagram of an application scenario of an embodiment of the present application;

[0034] Figure 16 This is an optional schematic diagram of an application scenario of an embodiment of the present application;

[0035] Figure 17 This is an optional schematic diagram of an application scenario of an embodiment of the present application;

[0036] Figure 18 This is an optional schematic diagram of an application scenario of an embodiment of the present application;

[0037] Figure 19is an optional structural diagram of the AP MLD in an embodiment of the present application;

[0038] Figure 20 This is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0039] Figure 21 is a schematic structural diagram of a chip according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0040] Figure 22 It is a schematic block diagram of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0041] The following will describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of this application. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of this application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in this application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative efforts are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0042] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN), Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), or other communication systems. WLAN may support frequency bands including, but not limited to, low frequency bands (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz) and high frequency bands (45 GHz, 60 GHz).

[0043] Figure 1 This is an example of a communication system architecture applied in an embodiment of the present application.

[0044] like Figure 1 As shown, the communication system 100 may include an AP 110 and a station (STA) 120 that accesses the network through the AP 110. In some scenarios, the AP 110 may be referred to as an AP STA, that is, in a sense, the AP 110 is also a STA. In some scenarios, the STA 120 may be referred to as a non-AP STA. In some scenarios, the STA 120 may include both AP STAs and non-AP STAs. Communication in the communication system 100 may include communication between the AP 110 and the STA 120, or communication between the STA 120 and the STA 120, or communication between the STA 120 and a peer STA. The peer STA may refer to a peer device communicating with the STA 120, for example, the peer STA may be an AP or a non-AP STA.

[0045] AP 110 can be used as a bridge between wired and wireless networks, connecting wireless network clients together and then connecting the wireless network to Ethernet. AP 110 can be a terminal device (such as a mobile phone) or a network device (such as a router) equipped with a WiFi chip.

[0046] It should be noted that the role of STA 120 in the communication system is not absolute. In other words, the role of STA 120 in the communication system can switch between AP and STA. For example, in some scenarios, when a mobile phone is connected to a router, the mobile phone is a STA. When the mobile phone is used as a hotspot for other mobile phones, the mobile phone plays the role of AP.

[0047] In some embodiments, AP 110 and STA 120 can be devices used in the Internet of Vehicles, IoT nodes and sensors in the Internet of Things (IoT), smart cameras, smart remote controls, smart water and electricity meters in smart homes, and sensors in smart cities.

[0048] In some embodiments, AP 110 may be a device supporting the 802.11be standard. The AP may also be a device supporting various current and future 802.11 family WLAN standards, such as 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b, and 802.11a. In some embodiments, STA 120 may support the 802.11be standard. The STA may also support various current and future 802.11 family WLAN standards, such as 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b, and 802.11a.

[0049] In some embodiments, AP 110 and / or STA 120 can be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, handheld, wearable or vehicle-mounted; can also be deployed on the water surface (such as a ship); can also be deployed in the air (for example, on an airplane, balloon, and satellite, etc.).

[0050] In some embodiments, STA120 can be a mobile phone (Mobile Phone) that supports WLAN / WiFi technology, a tablet computer (Pad), a computer with wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (VR) device, an augmented reality (AR) device, a wireless device in industrial control (industrial control), a set-top box, a wireless device in self-driving, an in-vehicle communication device, a wireless device in remote medical, a wireless device in a smart grid, a wireless device in transportation safety, a wireless device in a smart city or a wireless device in a smart home, an in-vehicle communication device, a wireless communication chip / application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) / system on chip (SoC), etc.

[0051] For example, STA 120 can also be a wearable device. Wearable devices can also be called wearable smart devices, which are a general term for wearable devices that use wearable technology to intelligently design and develop wearable devices, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing and shoes. A wearable device is a portable device that is worn directly on the body or integrated into the user's clothes or accessories. Wearable devices are not just hardware devices, but also achieve powerful functions through software support, data interaction, and cloud interaction. In a broad sense, wearable smart devices include those that are full-featured, large in size, and can achieve complete or partial functions without relying on smartphones, such as smart watches or smart glasses, as well as those that only focus on a certain type of application function and need to be used in conjunction with other devices such as smartphones, such as various smart bracelets and smart jewelry for vital sign monitoring.

[0052] It should be understood that Figure 1 This is only an example of the present application and should not be considered as a limitation of the present application. Figure 1 Only one AP and two STAs are shown as an example. In some embodiments, the communication system 100 may include multiple APs and other numbers of STAs, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0053] Figure 2A It is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of an embodiment of the present application.

[0054] like Figure 2AAs shown, communication system 200 may include: AP MLD 210 and non-AP MLD 220. AP MLD 210 is an electronic device capable of forming a wireless local area network 230 based on transmitted signals, such as a router or a mobile phone with hotspot functionality. Non-AP MLD 220 is an electronic device connected to the wireless local area network 230 formed by AP MLD 210, such as a mobile phone, smart washing machine, air conditioner, electronic lock, etc. Non-AP MLD 220 communicates with AP MLD 210 via wireless local area network 230. AP MLD 210 may be a soft AP MLD, a mobile AP MLD, or the like.

[0055] like Figure 2B As shown, in Figure 2A In the communication system, an AP MLD 210 is affiliated with at least two APs 2101, and a non-AP MLD 220 is affiliated with at least two STAs (STAs) 2201. Each AP is connected to a different STA in the non-AP MLD 220 via a different link. An AP affiliated with an AP MLD may also be referred to as an AP affiliated with an AP MLD, and a STA affiliated with a non-AP MLD may also be referred to as a non-AP STA affiliated with a non-AP MLD or a non-AP MLD affiliated STA.

[0056] In the embodiments of the present application, the AP MLD 210 and the non-AP MLD 220 may be terminal devices, which may refer to access terminals, user equipment (UE), subscriber units, subscriber stations, mobile stations, mobile stations, remote stations, remote terminals, mobile devices, user terminals, terminals, wireless communication devices, user agents, or user devices. Access terminals may be cellular phones, cordless phones, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones, Wireless Local Loop (WLL) stations, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), handheld devices with wireless communication capabilities, computing devices or other processing devices connected to wireless modems, in-vehicle devices, wearable devices, terminal devices in 5th generation (5G) networks, or terminal devices in future Public Land Mobile Networks (PLMNs), etc.

[0057] exist Figure 2A The communication system 200 shown may further include a network device, which may be an access network device for communicating with a terminal device. The access network device may provide communication coverage for a specific geographical area and may communicate with terminal devices within the coverage area.

[0058] Figure 2A One AP MLD and one non-AP MLD are exemplarily shown. Optionally, the communication system 200 may include multiple non-AP MLDs connected to the wireless local area network 230, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0059] It should be noted that Figure 1 、 Figure 2A 、 Figure 2B The systems to which this application applies are merely illustrative examples. Of course, the methods described in the embodiments of this application can also be applied to other systems. Furthermore, the terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably herein. The term "and / or" in this application simply describes an association relationship between associated objects, indicating that three possible relationships exist. For example, "A and / or B" can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, or B exists alone. Furthermore, the character " / " in this application generally indicates that the associated objects are in an "or" relationship. It should also be understood that the "indication" mentioned in the embodiments of this application can be a direct indication, an indirect indication, or an indication of an association relationship. For example, "A indicates B" can mean that A directly indicates B, for example, B can obtain information through A; it can also mean that A indirectly indicates B, for example, A indicates C, and B can obtain information through C; or it can mean that A and B have an association relationship. It should also be understood that the "correspondence" mentioned in the embodiments of this application can mean that there is a direct or indirect correspondence between two objects, or that there is an association relationship between the two objects, or a relationship between an indicator and the indicated, a configuration and the configured, and so on. It should also be understood that the “predefined” or “predefined rules” mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented by pre-saving corresponding codes, tables or other methods that can be used to indicate relevant information in devices (for example, including terminal devices and network devices), and the present application does not limit its specific implementation method. For example, predefined can refer to what is defined in the protocol. It should also be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the “protocol” may refer to a standard protocol in the field of communications, such as IEEE 802.11 protocol, LTE protocol, NR protocol, and related protocols used in future communication systems, and the present application does not limit this.

[0060] To facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the relevant technologies of the embodiments of the present application are described below. The following relevant technologies can be arbitrarily combined with the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application as optional solutions, and they all fall within the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application.

[0061] Security association removal protection

[0062] When a legitimate, already associated non-AP STA wants to reassociate, it sends an Association Request frame and / or a Reassociation Request frame to the AP. The AP detects that it currently has a security association with the non-AP STA and continuously sends Security Association (SA) Query Requests (SA Query Requests) to the non-AP STA. The non-AP STA ignores the SA Query Requests until the security association is terminated due to a timeout, and then sends an Association Request frame and / or a Reassociation Request frame to the AP again.

[0063] like Figure 3 Shown, including:

[0064] S301. A non-AP STA sends an association request to an AP.

[0065] S302: The AP sends an Association Response to the non-AP STA.

[0066] Association Response is used to indicate rejection of the association request, which can be understood as a retry later.

[0067] S303: The AP continues to send SA Query Requests before the timer expires.

[0068] Here, timer timeout can be understood as response timeout.

[0069] After the timer expires, the non-AP STA executes S301 again to send an Association Request to the AP.

[0070] When an attacker spoofing the MAC address of a legitimate non-AP STA sends an Association Request frame and / or Reassociation Request frame to the AP, the AP detects that it already has a security association with the legitimate non-AP STA. The AP sends an Association Response frame and / or Reassociation Response frame to the legitimate non-AP STA, rejecting the association and instructing the non-AP STA to retry later. The AP then sends an SA Query Request frame to the legitimate non-AP STA. Since the legitimate non-AP STA does not want to reassociate, it sends a Security Association (SA) Query Response frame to the AP. This way, the security association between the legitimate non-AP STA and the AP remains intact.

[0071] like Figure 4 As shown, including:

[0072] S401: The attacker sends an Association Request to the AP.

[0073] S402: The AP sends an Association Response to the non-AP STA.

[0074] Association Response is used to indicate rejection of the association request, which can be understood as a retry later.

[0075] S403: The AP sends an SA Query Request to the non-AP STA before the timer expires.

[0076] S404: The non-AP STA sends an SA Query Response to the AP.

[0077] SA Query Response can be understood as a response to SA Query Request.

[0078] SAQueryProcedure (procedure)

[0079] When an associated legitimate non-AP STA receives an unprotected disassociation frame or deauthentication frame, the legitimate AP associated with it can verify whether the disassociation frame or deauthentication frame comes from the legitimate AP by performing a security association query procedure. When an AP receives a reassociation request frame, the AP can perform a security association query procedure with the associated legitimate non-AP STA to verify whether the reassociation request frame comes from the legitimate non-AP STA.

[0080] The SAQuery process includes:

[0081] If the variable dot11RSNAProtectedManagementFrames Activated, which indicates whether the management frame protection function in the security association is activated, is true, indicating that the management frame protection function in the security association is activated, the STA or MLD should support the SA query process.

[0082] To send an SA-Query Request or SA-Query Response frame to a peer STA or peer MLD, the Station Management Entity (SME) shall issue the MAC Sublayer Management Entity (MLME)-SA-Query.Request or MLME-SA-Query.Response primitive. The SME is notified of the receipt of the SA-Query Request or SA-Query Response frame via the MLME-SA-Query.indication or MLME-SA-Query.confirm primitives, respectively.

[0083] A STA or MLD that supports the SA-Query procedure and receives an SA-Query Request frame shall respond with an SA-Query Response frame if none of the following conditions are true:

[0084] 1. The STA or the Non-AP MLD is not currently associated with the STA or AP MLD that sent the SA query request frame;

[0085] 2. The STA has sent a (re)association request frame within the duration indicated by the variable dot11AssociationResponseTimeOut, but has not received the corresponding (re)association response frame;

[0086] 3. The variable dot11RSNAOperatingChannelValidationActivated, which indicates whether the operating channel validation function is activated, is true, indicating that the operating channel validation function is activated, and the sending STA has indicated the operating channel validation capable (OCVC) capability in its association, and: the operating channel information (OCI) element does not exist in the SA query request; or the indicated operating channel information does not match the current channel information.

[0087] When a STA sends an SA-Query Response frame to a STA that is indicated as OCVC capable, if dot11RSNAOperatingChannelValidationActivated is true, the SA-Query Response frame shall include an OCI element.

[0088] When a non-AP or non-PCP (personal basic service set (PBSS) control point, PCP) STA receives an SA-query response frame from an OCVC-capable STA, it must ensure that the SA-query response includes an OCI element and that the channel information in the OCI element matches the current operating channel parameters. Otherwise, the receiving STA considers the response invalid and discards it.

[0089] If a Non-AP or Non-PCP STA receives an SA-query request response frame sent by a STA indicating OCVC capability during channel switching but not within dot11AssociationResponseTimeOut time units from the initiation of the SA-query procedure, the Non-AP or Non-PCP STA shall be deauthenticated from the Basic Service Set (BSS).

[0090] If a non-AP or non-PCP STA attempts to reassociate to the AP or PCP that sent the SA query request or attempts to associate to another AP or PCP that sent the SA query request, the non-AP or non-PCP STA will not respond. There is no such restriction for APs or PCPs.

[0091] If a non-AP or non-PCP STA has a security association with an AP or PCP and has negotiated management frame protection, when the non-AP or non-PCP STA receives an unprotected deauthentication or disassociation frame with the cause code INVALID_CLASS2_frame or INVALID_CLASS3_frame from the AP or PCP, the non-AP or non-PCP STA can use it as an indication that there may be a mismatch in the association status between itself and the AP or PCP. In this case, the SME of the non-AP or non-PCP STA can initiate an SA-Query procedure with the AP or PCP to verify the validity of the SA security association by issuing an MLME-SA-QUERY.request primitive every dot11AssociationSAQueryRetryTimeout time units until a matching MLME-SA-QUERY.confirm primitive is received or the time from the start of the SA-Query procedure to the expiration of dot11AssociationSAQueryMaximumTimeout time units. If the AP or PCP responds to the SA query request with a valid SA query response, the Non-AP STA should continue to use the SA security association. If no valid SA query response is received, the SME of the Non-AP and Non-PCP STA can delete the security association (and temporary key) maintained for communicating with the STA by issuing the MLME-DELETEKEYS request primitive, and the Non-AP and Non-PCP migrate to state 1 (or state 2 for DMG sites) with the AP, which is an unauthenticated and unassociated state.

[0092] If a non-AP STA is attached to a non-AP MLD that has a security association with an AP MLD and has negotiated management frame protection, and the non-AP STA receives an unprotected deauthentication or disassociation frame with the cause code INVALID_CLASS2_frame or INVALID_CLASS3_frame from the AP MLD's attached AP over the established link between the non-AP STA and the AP MLD, the non-AP MLD MAY use this as an indication that there may be a mismatch in the association status between itself and the AP MLD. In this case, the SME MAY initiate an SA-Query procedure with the AP MLD to verify the validity of the SA security association by issuing an MLME-SA-QUERY.request primitive every dot11AssociationSAQueryRetryTimeout time units until a matching MLME-SA-QUERY.confirm primitive is received or the dot11AssociationSAQueryMaximumTimeout time units have expired since the start of the SA-Query procedure. If the AP MLD responds to the SA-Query Request with a valid SA-Query Response, the non-AP MLD MAY continue to use the security association. If no valid SA query response is received, the SME can delete the security association and temporary keys used to communicate with the AP MLD by issuing the MLME-DELETEKEYS request primitive. The Non-AP MLD can move to State 1, which is the unauthenticated and unassociated state, with the AP MLD.

[0093] When an S1G (Sub 1GHz) STA in power-saving mode wakes up at an interval greater than dot11AssociationSAQueryMaximumTimeout, the existing security association is destroyed. Therefore, to maintain a valid security state, the S1G STA will wake up at the interval set by dot11AssociationSAQueryMaximumTimeout to listen for SA request frames. When dot11RSNAProtectedManagementFramesActivated is true, the S1G AP should include the timeout interval in the association response frame and / or reassociation response frame with status code 0 sent to the S1G STA.

[0094] Correlation between non-AP MLD and AP MLD

[0095] The protocol stipulates that in multi-link operation, security association negotiation is performed at the MLD level, not at the attached site level. However, after the security association negotiation is completed and the multi-link is established, the attached site will also change to the associated state, just like MLD, as follows:

[0096] Unless otherwise specified, a STA refers to a STA that has no associated MLD.

[0097] For multi-link operation (MLO), security associations are negotiated between MLD pairs. The term "STA or MLD" refers to a STA's request to the STA when establishing a security association, or a MLD's request to the MLD after establishing a security association. In the case of MLDs negotiating security associations, the "SME" is the entity that manages the MLD.

[0098] When RSNA is established between an MLD SME pair, the MAC address in the frame body of the authentication and association frames and in the EAPOL-Key frames should be the MLD MAC address. These frames are sent by the MLD-affiliated STA.

[0099] After a multi-link is successfully established or re-established between the Non-AP MLD and the AP MLD, the Non-AP MLD associates with the AP MLD based on an association and / or re-association process between MLDs, and the Non-AP MLD and the AP MLD establish a link for multi-link operation.

[0100] For each established link, the corresponding non-AP STA attached to the Non-AP MLD has the same association state as the Non-AP MLD and is associated with the corresponding AP attached to the AP MLD. For each established link, the mapping relationship between the non-AP STA attached to the Non-AP MLD and the AP attached to the AP MLD should not be provided to the distribution system (DS).

[0101] Authentication and association status

[0102] The current state between a transmitting STA and a receiving STA determines the frame types exchanged between them. If the current state is State 1 (unauthenticated and unassociated) or State 2 (authenticated but unassociated), the current state between a pair of MLDs determines the frame types permitted between the STAs to which they are attached. If the current state is State 3 (authenticated and associated but unblocked) or State 4 (authenticated, associated, and unblocked), the current state between a pair of MLDs determines the frame types permitted on the link established between them. Each pair of transmitting and receiving STAs, or each pair of MLDs, exists in only one state.

[0103] How an AP or AP MLD Processes an Association Request

[0104] For a Non-AP MLD associated with an AP MLD, if the AP to which the AP MLD belongs receives an association request frame that does not include the basic multilink element from a Non-AP STA to which the Non-AP MLD belongs, the AP shall reject the association request with the rejection status code DENIED_STA_affiliated_with_EXISTING_MLD_Association.

[0105] When an AP or PCP receives an association request frame from a STA, or when an AP MLD receives an association request frame including basic multilink elements from a non-AP MLD-affiliated non-AP STA through an attached AP, the following process is performed:

[0106] a. The MLME will send the MLME-ASSOCIATE.indication primitive to notify the SME of the association request. The SME will send the MLME-ASSOCIATE.response primitive to the STA or MLD identified by the PeerSTAAddress parameter in the MLME-ASSOCIATE.indication primitive. If the association is unsuccessful, the SME will indicate the specific reason for the failure in the ResultCode parameter. Upon receiving the MLME-ASSOCIATE.response primitive, the MLME will send an Association Response frame.

[0107] b. If the STA's state is state 1 and the STA is a non-DMG STA or the Non-AP MLD state is 1, the SME shall reject the association request by issuing the MLME-ASSOCIATE.response primitive with status code NOT_AUTHENTICATED.

[0108] c. APs where the variable dot11InterworkingServiceActivated indicating interworking capability to external networks is only true: If the Emergency Services parameter of the MLME-ASSOCIATE.indication primitive is set to true and the Robust Security Network Element (RSNE) is not included in the Robust Security Network (RSN) parameter, the SME shall not reject the association request based on dot11RSNAActivated being true, thereby granting network access for emergency services using unprotected frames.

[0109] d. Otherwise, in RSNA, the SME shall check the value received in the RSN parameter to see if the received value complies with the security policy. If not, the SME shall reject the association by issuing an MLME-ASSOCIATE.response primitive with a status code indicating a security policy mismatch.

[0110] e. Otherwise, if the STA or Non-AP MLD state is state 4, the STA or Non-AP MLD has a valid security association, the STA or Non-AP MLD has negotiated management frame protection, the STA or Non-AP MLD has not performed a successful SAE authentication since the current association was established, and the STA or Non-AP MLD does not have an earlier, timed-out SA query procedure (which would allow a new association procedure to be initiated without an additional SA query procedure):

[0111] 1. The SME shall reject the association request by issuing an MLME-ASSOCIATE.response primitive with a rejection code of REFUSED_TEMPORARILY and a TimeoutInterval containing a TimeoutInterval element, with the TimeoutInterval Type field set to 3 (Reassociation Time). If the SME is performing an SA query related to a STA or Non-AP MLD, the TimeoutInterval Value field shall be set to the remaining SA query period, otherwise it shall be set to dot11AssociationSAQueryMaximumTimeout or dot11MLDAssociationSAQueryMaximumTimeout.

[0112] 2. The STA or Non-AP MLD state should remain unchanged;

[0113] 3. Thereafter, if the SME does not perform an SA query on the STA or Non-AP MLD, the SME shall send an MLME-SA-Query request primitive to the STA or Non-AP MLD every dot11AssociationSAQueryRetryTimeout time units until it receives an MLME-SA-QUERY confirmation primitive from the STA or Non-AP or until dot11AssociationSAQueryMaximumTimeout or dot11MLDAssociationSAQueryMaximumTimeout time units have passed since the start of the SA query process. For each MLME-SA-QUERY.request request primitive, the SME increments the transaction identifier (TransactionIdentifier) ​​by 1 and rolls over to 0 when the TransactionIdentifier reaches the maximum allowed value.

[0114] 4. If no MLME-SA-QUERY.confirm primitive is received from a STA or Non-AP MLD within the dot11AssociationSAQueryMaximumTimeout or dot11MLDAssociationSAQueryMaximumTimeout, the SME shall allow subsequent association procedures with respect to the STA or Non-AP MLD to be initiated without initiating an additional SA query procedure, except in the following circumstances: If an MSDU is successfully received from any Non-AP STA to which the STA or Non-AP MLD is attached, the SME may deny the subsequent association procedure of the STA or Non-AP MLD. This is because the reception of an MSDU implies the reception of a valid protection frame, which eliminates the need for an SA query procedure.

[0115] The AP or AP MLD processes reassociation requests similarly to association requests and is not described here. It should be noted that AP MLD processes association requests and / or reassociation requests at the MLD level.

[0116] Conversion of movement ability types

[0117] The protocol specifies three types of mobility transitions for STAs or MLDs within the network: no mobility, inter-BSS mobility, and inter-Extended Service Set (ESS) mobility. When moving between BSSs, a non-AP STA can transition to a non-AP MLD (the non-AP STA's MAC address becomes the non-AP MLD's MLD MAC address), and a non-AP MLD can also transition to a non-AP STA (the non-AP MLD's MLD MAC address becomes the non-AP STA's MAC address).

[0118] Multi-link reconfiguration

[0119] The protocol stipulates that a non-AP MLD that has been associated with an AP MLD can request to add at least one link and / or delete at least one link by sending a multi-link reconfiguration request (ML Reconfiguration Request).

[0120] In related technologies, security association negotiation is performed at the MLD level. However, according to the detection conditions specified in the current protocol, AP MLD cannot accurately detect the following attackers: the attacker's MAC address is different from the authorized end's MAC address, but the attacker's affiliated station has the same MAC address as an associated authorized end or an affiliated station of the authorized end.

[0121] To facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the technical solutions of the present application are described in detail below through specific embodiments. The above related technologies can be combined arbitrarily with the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application as optional solutions, and all of them fall within the scope of protection of the embodiments of the present application. The embodiments of the present application include at least part of the following contents.

[0122] The link control method provided in the embodiment of the present application is applied to AP MLD, such as Figure 5 As shown, including:

[0123] S501. If an access point multi-link device AP MLD receives a first frame sent by a first non-AP STA attached to a first non-AP multi-link device Non-AP MLD through a first access point AP attached to the AP MLD, and a first address of at least one second non-AP STA among the non-AP STAs attached to the first non-AP MLD meets a first condition and / or a second condition, the AP MLD sends a first status code, where the first frame is used to request association and / or reassociation and / or multi-link reconfiguration, the first condition is related to at least one third non-AP STA among the second non-AP STA attached to the AP MLD to which the AP MLD is associated, the second condition is related to a fourth non-AP STA associated to the second AP attached to the AP MLD, and the first status code is used to reject the association request and / or the reassociation request and / or the multi-link reconfiguration request.

[0124] The AP MLD receives a first frame sent by a first non-AP MLD, where the first frame is used to request association and / or reassociation and / or multi-link reconfiguration. It is understood that if the first non-AP MLD is not associated with the AP MLD, the first frame is used to request association. If the first non-AP MLD is already associated with the AP MLD, the first frame is used to request reassociation or multi-link reconfiguration.

[0125] In an embodiment of the present application, the first frame is used to request association and / or reassociation and / or multi-link reconfiguration, which can be understood as AP MLD supporting at least one of the scenarios in which the first frame is used to request association and / or reassociation and the scenario in which the first frame is used to request multi-link reconfiguration.

[0126] If the first frame is used to request association and / or reassociation, the AP MLD receives the first frame sent by the first non-AP STA attached to the first non-AP MLD through the attached first AP, and if it is determined that at least one second non-AP STA attached to the first non-AP MLD meets the first condition and / or the second condition, sends a first status code for rejecting the association request and / or reassociation request to the first non-AP MLD.

[0127] If the first frame is used to request multi-link reconfiguration, the AP MLD receives the first frame sent by the first non-AP STA attached to the first non-AP MLD through the attached first AP, and if it is determined that at least one second non-AP STA attached to the first non-AP MLD meets the first condition and / or the second condition, sends a first status code for rejecting the multi-link reconfiguration request to the first non-AP MLD.

[0128] The first condition is related to at least one third Non-AP STA among the Non-AP STAs affiliated with the second Non-AP MLD associated with the AP MLD. It can be understood that the selection range of the third Non-AP STA in the first condition includes the Non-AP STAs affiliated with the second Non-AP MLD associated with the AP MLD.

[0129] The second condition is related to at least one fourth Non-AP STA associated with the second AP to which the AP MLD is attached. It can be understood that the selection range of the fourth Non-AP STA in the second condition includes the Non-AP STA associated with the second AP to which the AP MLD is attached.

[0130] As you can understand, there are two types of stations that can establish an association with an AP MLD: non-AP MLD and non-AP STA. A non-AP MLD is associated with at least one non-AP STA. If a station has no associated STA, it is considered a non-AP STA.

[0131] In the embodiment of the present application, the MLD MAC address of the first Non-AP MLD is different from the MLD MAC address of the second Non-AP MLD.

[0132] If the MLD MAC address of the first Non-AP MLD is the same as the MLD MAC address of the second Non-AP MLD, the AP MLD rejects the association request and / or reassociation request and / or multi-link reconfiguration request of the first Non-AP MLD based on the MLD MAC addresses of the two MLDs.

[0133] In the embodiment of the present application, the address may include: a MAC address.

[0134] In the embodiment of the present application, the following two levels of association are involved:

[0135] MLD-level association, that is, the association between AP MLD and non-AP MLD;

[0136] STA-level association, that is, the association between an AP to which AP MLD belongs and a non-AP STA.

[0137] It can be understood that for an AP MLD, a non-AP STA establishes a STA-level association with an AP to which the AP MLD is affiliated, and a non-AP MLD establishes an MLD-level association with the AP MLD (at least one affiliated non-AP STA establishes a link with a corresponding affiliated AP and transitions to an associated state, i.e., a STA-level association is established).

[0138] For the first condition, it is a condition constructed based on the association at the MLD level; for the second condition, it is a condition constructed based on the association at the STA level. Therefore, in the link control method provided by the embodiment of the present application, the AP MLD receives a first frame sent by a first Non-AP STA affiliated with a first Non-AP MLD, where the first frame is used to request association and / or reassociation and / or multi-link reconfiguration. According to the first condition related to at least one third Non-AP STA among the Non-AP STAs affiliated with the second Non-AP MLD associated with the AP MLD and / or the second condition related to the fourth Non-AP STA associated with the second AP affiliated with the AP MLD, it is determined that the first address of at least one second Non-AP STA among the Non-AP STAs affiliated with the first Non-AP MLD meets the first condition and / or the second condition, and then the association request and / or reassociation request and / or multi-link reconfiguration request of the first Non-AP MLD is rejected, thereby determining whether the first Non-AP MLD is an attacking station based on the Non-AP STA under the MLD level association and / or the Non-AP STA under the STA level association, so that the AP MLD can accurately determine whether a station requesting MLD association and / or reassociation with an AP and / or requesting multi-link reconfiguration is a legitimate station or an attacking station.

[0139] In some embodiments, the at least one second Non-AP STA is the same as or different from the first Non-AP STA.

[0140] The at least one second Non-AP STA being the same as the first Non-AP STA may be understood as: the at least one second Non-AP STA includes the first Non-AP STA.

[0141] The at least one second Non-AP STA being different from the first Non-AP STA may be understood as: the at least one second Non-AP STA does not include the first Non-AP STA.

[0142] In some embodiments, the first condition includes: a first address of the at least one second Non-AP STA is the same as a second address of at least one third Non-AP STA among the Non-AP STAs to which the second Non-AP MLD is attached.

[0143] If the first address of at least one second Non-AP STA in the first Non-AP MLD is the same as the second address of at least one third Non-AP STA attached to the second Non-AP MLD associated with the AP MLD, the AP MLD sends a first status code to the first Non-AP MLD.

[0144] The first address of at least one second Non-AP STA is the same as the second address of at least one third Non-AP STA, which can be understood as follows: for each second Non-AP STA in the at least one second Non-AP STA, the first address of the second Non-AP STA is the same as the second address of a third Non-AP STA in the at least one third Non-AP STA.

[0145] When the first Non-AP MLD includes at least two Non-AP STAs, there may be multiple Non-AP STAs and one second Non-AP MLD that meet the first condition, or there may be multiple Non-AP STAs and multiple different second Non-AP MLDs that meet the first condition.

[0146] For example, the STAs affiliated with Non-AP MLD1 include Non-AP STA1 and Non-AP STA2, and their addresses are Address 1 and Address 2, respectively. The STAs affiliated with Non-AP MLD2 include Non-AP STA3 and Non-AP STA4, and their addresses are Address 1 and Address 2, respectively. Therefore, the addresses of Non-AP STA1 and Non-AP STA2 are the same as those of Non-AP STA3 and Non-AP STA4, respectively. In this case, Non-AP STA1 and Non-AP STA2 meet the first condition with the second Non-AP MLD.

[0147] For example, the STAs affiliated with Non-AP MLD1 include Non-AP STA1 and Non-AP STA2, and their addresses are Address 1 and Address 2, respectively. The STAs affiliated with Non-AP MLD2 include Non-AP STA3 and Non-AP STA4, and their addresses are Address 1 and Address 3, respectively. The STAs affiliated with Non-AP MLD3 include Non-AP STA5 and Non-AP STA6, and their addresses are Address 4 and Address 2, respectively. If the addresses of Non-AP STA1 and Non-AP STA3 are the same, and the addresses of Non-AP STA2 and Non-AP STA6 are the same, then Non-AP STA1 and Non-AP STA2 meet the first condition for being associated with different second Non-AP MLDs.

[0148] In one example, if Figure 6 As shown, the APs affiliated with the AP MLD include AP1 and AP2. The non-AP MLD associated with the AP MLD includes Non-AP MLD2. The STAs affiliated with Non-AP MLD2 include STA3 with MAC address MAC1 and STA4 with MAC address MAC4. The STAs affiliated with Non-AP MLD1 include STA1 with MAC address MAC1 and STA2 with MAC address MAC2. If Non-AP MLD1 sends a first frame to AP2 affiliated with the AP MLD through STA2, and STA1's MAC address is the same as STA3's MAC address in Non-AP MLD2, then STA1 in Non-AP MLD1 meets the first condition. At this time, the first non-AP STA affiliated with the first non-AP MLD is STA2 affiliated with Non-AP MLD1, the at least one second non-AP STA affiliated with the first non-AP MLD is STA1 affiliated with Non-AP MLD1, and the at least one third non-AP STA affiliated with the second non-AP MLD is STA3 affiliated with Non-AP MLD2; among which, the link between STA2 affiliated with Non-AP MLD1 and AP2 affiliated with AP MLD is link 2.

[0149] In one example, if Figure 6As shown, the APs affiliated with AP MLD include AP1 and AP2. The non-AP MLD associated with AP MLD includes Non-AP MLD2. The STAs affiliated with Non-AP MLD2 include STA3 with MAC address MAC1 and STA4 with MAC address MAC4. The STAs affiliated with Non-AP MLD1 include STA1 with MAC address MAC1 and STA2 with MAC address MAC2. If Non-AP MLD1 sends a first frame to AP MLD-affiliated AP1 through STA1, and STA1's MAC address is the same as STA3's MAC address in Non-AP MLD2, then STA1 in Non-AP MLD1 meets the first condition. At this time, the first non-AP STA affiliated with the first non-AP MLD is STA1 affiliated with Non-AP MLD1, the at least one second non-AP STA affiliated with the first non-AP MLD is STA1 affiliated with Non-AP MLD1, and the at least one third non-AP STA affiliated with the second non-AP MLD is STA3 affiliated with Non-AP MLD2; among which, the link between STA1 affiliated with Non-AP MLD1 and AP1 affiliated with AP MLD is link 1.

[0150] In one example, if Figure 7 As shown, the APs affiliated with AP MLD include AP1 and AP2. The non-AP MLDs associated with AP MLD include Non-AP MLD1 and Non-AP MLD2. The STAs affiliated with Non-AP MLD1 include STA1 with MAC address MAC1 and STA2 with MAC address MAC2. The STAs affiliated with Non-AP MLD2 include STA3 with MAC address MAC3 and STA4 with MAC address MAC4. The STAs affiliated with Non-AP MLD3 include STA5 with MAC address MAC1 and STA6 with MAC address MAC4. Non-AP MLD3 sends a first frame to AP MLD through STA5. At this time, STA5's MAC address is the same as that of STA1 affiliated with Non-AP MLD1, and STA6's MAC address is the same as that of STA4 affiliated with Non-AP MLD2. Therefore, STA5 and STA6 of Non-AP MLD satisfy the first condition.

[0151] It can be understood that when the state of a Non-AP STA attached to a Non-AP MLD is state 4, the attached Non-AP STA is associated with the corresponding attached AP in the AP MLD.

[0152] When the address of at least one Non-AP STA attached to a Non-AP MLD is the same as the address of at least one second Non-AP STA attached to the first Non-AP MLD, there is a possibility of address conflict between the Non-AP STA, i.e., the third Non-AP STA, and the at least one second Non-AP STA.

[0153] If the at least one second non-AP STA is the same as the first non-AP STA, and assuming that the AP MLD accepts the association request of the first non-AP MLD, that is, the first non-AP MLD establishes an association with the AP MLD, the first non-AP STA and the at least one third non-AP STA simultaneously establish association with the first AP, then the first non-AP STA and the at least one third non-AP STA operate on the same link with the same address, and an address conflict occurs.

[0154] If the at least one second non-AP STA is different from the first non-AP STA, and assuming that the AP MLD accepts the association request of the first non-AP MLD, that is, the first non-AP MLD establishes an association with the AP MLD, and the at least one second non-AP STA and the at least one third non-AP STA simultaneously establish an association with another AP other than the first AP, then the at least one second non-AP STA and the at least one third non-AP STA operate on the same link with the same address, and thus an address conflict exists.

[0155] In an embodiment of the present application, when the address of at least one second Non-AP STA attached to the first Non-AP MLD is the same as the address of at least one third Non-AP STA attached to the second Non-AP MLD associated with the AP MLD, there is a possibility of conflict in the addresses of the Non-AP STAs under different Non-AP MLDs under the same AP attached to the AP MLD. Therefore, when this possibility exists, the embodiment of the present application rejects the association request and / or re-association request and / or multi-link reconfiguration, thereby avoiding address conflicts between the Non-AP STAs attached to the Non-AP MLD that are associated with the same AP.

[0156] In some embodiments, the first condition further includes: the at least one second Non-AP STA and the at least one third Non-AP STA operate on the same channel.

[0157] Here, operating or working on the same channel may also be understood as working on the same frequency band and channel.

[0158] The at least one second Non-AP STA and the at least one third Non-AP STA operate on the same channel, which can be understood as a second Non-AP STA and a third Non-AP STA operating on the same channel, and different second Non-AP STAs and different third Non-AP STAs operating on another same channel.

[0159] The at least one second non-AP STA and the at least one third non-AP STA operate on the same channel. When the first non-AP MLD is associated with the AP MLD, the at least one second non-AP STA and the at least one third non-AP STA are associated with the same AP. At this time, there is an address conflict between the at least one second non-AP STA and the at least one third non-AP STA.

[0160] In an embodiment of the present application, when at least one second non-AP STA attached to a first non-AP MLD and at least one third non-AP STA attached to a second non-AP MLD establish a link or establish an association state with the same AP attached to the same AP MLD using the same address, the association request and / or reassociation request and / or link reconfiguration request of the first non-AP MLD is rejected, thereby preventing different non-AP STAs from establishing links or establishing an association state with the same AP attached to the same AP MLD using the same address.

[0161] In some embodiments, the channel on which the first AP operates is the same as or different from the channel on which the at least one second Non-AP STA operates.

[0162] In the embodiment of the present application, the AP MLD receives a first frame sent by the first Non-AP STA via a first link between the first AP and the first Non-AP STA, that is, the first AP and the first Non-AP STA operate on the same channel.

[0163] If the first non-AP STA is the same as the at least one second non-AP STA, the channel operated by the first AP is the same as the channel operated by the at least one second non-AP STA. The fact that the first AP operates on the same channel as the at least one second non-AP STA can be understood as meaning that the first AP and a second non-AP STA in the at least one second non-AP STA have the same operating channel information.

[0164] If the first non-AP STA and the at least one second non-AP STA are different, the channel operated by the first AP is different from the channel operated by the at least one second non-AP STA. The fact that the first AP operates on a different channel from the channel operated by the at least one second non-AP STA can be understood as meaning that the first AP and any of the at least one second non-AP STAs operate on different channels.

[0165] In some embodiments, the second condition includes: a first address of the at least one second Non-AP STA is the same as a third address of at least one fourth Non-AP STA among the Non-AP STAs associated with the second AP.

[0166] If the first address of at least one second Non-AP STA in the first Non-AP MLD is the same as the third address of at least one fourth Non-AP STA associated with the second AP to which the AP MLD belongs, the AP MLD sends a first status code to the first Non-AP MLD.

[0167] The first address of at least one second Non-AP STA is the same as the third address of at least one fourth Non-AP STA among the Non-AP STAs associated with the second AP, which can be understood as the first address of different second Non-AP STAs is the same as the third address of a fourth Non-AP STA associated with different second APs.

[0168] It can be understood that when the state of a Non-AP STA is state 4, the Non-AP STA is associated with the AP to which the AP MLD is attached.

[0169] When the state of a Non-AP STA is state 4 and the address of the Non-AP STA is the same as the address of at least one second Non-AP MLD affiliated with the first Non-AP MLD, there is a possibility of address conflict between the Non-AP STA, i.e., the fourth Non-AP STA, and the at least one second Non-AP STA.

[0170] The first address of at least one second Non-AP STA is the same as the third address of at least one fourth Non-AP STA associated with the second AP, which can be understood as: for each second Non-AP STA in the at least one second Non-AP STA, the first address of the second Non-AP STA is the same as the third address of a fourth Non-AP STA in the at least one fourth Non-AP STA.

[0171] In the embodiment of the present application, the AP MLD receives a first frame sent by the first Non-AP MLD via a first link between the first AP and a first Non-AP STA to which the first Non-AP MLD is attached. The second AP may be the same as or different from the first AP.

[0172] In one example, if Figure 8 As shown, the APs affiliated with AP MLD include AP1 and AP2, and the STAs affiliated with Non-AP MLD1 include STA1 with MAC address MAC 1 and STA2 with MAC address MAC2. Non-AP STA1 with MAC address MAC 1 is associated with AP1. Non-AP MLD1 sends a first frame to AP2 affiliated with AP MLD through STA2. At this time, STA1's MAC address is the same as Non-AP STA1's MAC address. Therefore, STA1 of Non-AP MLD1 meets the second condition.

[0173] In one example, if Figure 9 As shown, the APs affiliated with AP MLD include AP1 and AP2, and the STAs affiliated with Non-AP MLD1 include STA1 with MAC address MAC1 and STA2 with MAC address MAC2. Non-AP STA1 with MAC address MAC1 is associated with AP1, and non-AP STA2 with MAC address MAC2 is associated with AP2. Non-AP MLD1 sends a first frame to AP2 affiliated with AP MLD through its affiliated STA2. At this time, STA1's MAC address is the same as Non-AP STA1's, and STA2's MAC address is the same as Non-AP STA2's. Therefore, both STA1 and STA2 of Non-AP MLD1 meet the second condition.

[0174] When the address of at least one non-AP STA associated with the AP attached to the AP MLD is the same as the address of at least one second non-AP STA attached to the first non-AP MLD, there is a possibility of an address conflict between the non-AP STA, i.e., the fourth non-AP STA, and the at least one second non-AP STA.

[0175] Assuming that the AP MLD accepts the association request of the first Non-AP MLD, that is, the first Non-AP MLD establishes an association with the AP MLD, and a second Non-AP STA and a fourth Non-AP STA simultaneously establish association with the same AP to which the AP MLD is attached, then at least the second Non-AP STA and the fourth Non-AP STA operate on the same link with the same address, that is, an address conflict exists.

[0176] In an embodiment of the present application, when the address of at least one second Non-AP STA attached to the first Non-AP MLD is the same as the address of at least one fourth Non-AP STA associated with the second AP attached to the AP MLD, there is a possibility that the addresses of the Non-AP STA attached to the Non-AP MLD and the associated Non-AP STA will conflict under the same AP attached to the AP MLD. Therefore, when this possibility exists, the embodiment of the present application rejects the association request and / or re-association request and / or multi-link reconfiguration, thereby avoiding address conflicts between the Non-AP STA associated with the same AP and the Non-AP STA attached to the Non-AP MLD.

[0177] In some embodiments, the second condition further includes: the at least one second Non-AP STA and the at least one fourth Non-AP STA operate on the same channel.

[0178] Here, operating on the same channel can also be understood as operating on the same frequency band and channel.

[0179] The at least one second Non-AP STA and the at least one fourth Non-AP STA operate on the same channel. If the first Non-AP MLD is associated with the AP MLD, the at least one second Non-AP STA and the at least one fourth Non-AP STA are associated with the same AP, i.e., the second AP. At this time, there is an address conflict between the at least one second Non-AP STA and the at least one fourth Non-AP STA.

[0180] The at least one second Non-AP STA and the at least one fourth Non-AP STA operating on the same channel can be understood as different second Non-AP STAs in the at least one second Non-AP STA and different fourth Non-AP STAs in the at least one fourth Non-AP STA respectively operating on the same channel.

[0181] In an embodiment of the present application, when at least one second non-AP STA attached to a first non-AP MLD and at least one fourth non-AP STA associated with an AP attached to an AP MLD establish a link or establish an associated state with the second AP using the same address, the association request and / or reassociation request and / or link reconfiguration request of the first non-AP MLD is rejected, thereby preventing different non-AP STAs from establishing links or establishing an associated state with the same AP attached to the same AP MLD using the same address.

[0182] In some embodiments, the channel of the second AP is the same as the channel on which the at least one second Non-AP STA operates.

[0183] In the embodiment of the present application, the AP MLD receives a first frame sent by the first Non-AP STA via a first link between the first AP and the first Non-AP STA, that is, the first AP and the first Non-AP STA operate on the same channel.

[0184] In some embodiments, the second AP is the same as or different from the first AP.

[0185] If the first non-AP STA is the same as at least one second non-AP STA, the at least one second non-AP STA and at least one fourth non-AP STA operate on the same channel, and the at least one fourth non-AP STA operates on the same channel as the second AP, then the first AP is the same as the second AP.

[0186] If the first non-AP STA and at least one second non-AP STA are different, the at least one second non-AP STA and at least one fourth non-AP STA operate on the same channel, and the at least one fourth non-AP STA operates on the same channel as the second AP, then the first AP and the second AP are different.

[0187] In one example, if Figure 10As shown, the APs affiliated with AP MLD include AP1 and AP2, and the STAs affiliated with Non-AP MLD1 include STA1 with MAC address MAC 1 and STA2 with MAC address MAC2. Non-AP STA1 with MAC address MAC 1 is associated with AP1 and has established link 1. Non-AP MLD1 sends a first frame to AP2 affiliated with AP MLD over link 2 between STA2 and AP2. At this point, STA1's MAC address is the same as the MAC address of Non-AP STA1 associated with AP1. STA1 of Non-AP MLD1 meets the second condition, and the AP associated with STA2 is different from the AP associated with the non-AP STA that meets the second condition.

[0188] In some embodiments, before S501, the AP MLD further performs the following processing:

[0189] The AP MLD receives the first frame sent by the first Non-AP STA of the first Non-AP MLD through the first AP.

[0190] In some embodiments, the first frame includes at least one of the following:

[0191] Association request frame;

[0192] Reassociation request frame;

[0193] Multilink Reconfiguration Request frame.

[0194] The association request frame can be used for at least one of the following: requesting association and requesting multi-link reconfiguration.

[0195] The reassociation request frame can be used for at least one of the following: requesting reassociation and requesting multi-link reconfiguration.

[0196] The multilink reconfiguration request frame can be used to request multilink reconfiguration.

[0197] In some embodiments, if the first frame includes a basic multilink element, the first frame is used to request association and / or reassociation with the AP MLD.

[0198] In an example, if the AP MLD receives an association request frame sent by a first Non-STA of a first Non-AP MLD through a first AP, and the association request frame carries a basic multilink element, the association request frame is used to request association with the APMLD.

[0199] In one example, if the AP MLD receives a reassociation request frame sent by the first Non-STA of the first Non-AP MLD through the first AP, and the reassociation request frame carries a basic multilink element, the reassociation request frame is used to request reassociation with the AP MLD.

[0200] In some embodiments, the basic multi-link element includes a first address of the at least one second Non-AP STA to which the first Non-AP MLD is attached.

[0201] In a case where the first Non-AP STA and the at least one second Non-AP STA are different, the basic multi-link element includes an address of the first Non-AP STA and an address of the at least one second Non-AP STA.

[0202] It can be understood that the subordinate STA corresponding to the address included in the basic multi-link element is a subordinate STA that requests to establish a link or establish an association state with the STA subordinate to the AP MLD.

[0203] It is understandable that, in addition to the address of the at least one second Non-AP STA, the basic multi-link element may also include the addresses of other Non-AP STAs other than the first Non-AP STA and / or the at least one second Non-AP STA among the Non-AP STAs affiliated with the first Non-AP MLD.

[0204] In one example, in Figure 6 In the application scenario shown, the basic multi-link element includes the MAC addresses of STA1 and STA2 to which Non-APMLD1 is attached.

[0205] In some embodiments, if the first frame includes a reconfigure multilink element, the first frame is used to request multilink reconfiguration.

[0206] In an example, if the AP MLD receives an association request frame sent by the first Non-STA of the first Non-AP MLD through the first AP, and the association request frame carries a reconfigure multilink element, the association request frame is used to request multilink reconfiguration.

[0207] In one example, if the AP MLD receives a reassociation request frame sent by the first Non-STA of the first Non-AP MLD through the first AP, and the reassociation request frame carries a reconfigure multilink element, the reassociation request frame is used to request multilink reconfiguration.

[0208] In one example, if the AP MLD receives a multi-link reconfiguration request frame sent by the first Non-STA of the first Non-AP MLD through the first AP, and the multi-link reconfiguration request frame carries a reconfiguration multi-link element, then the multi-link reconfiguration request frame is used to request multi-link reconfiguration.

[0209] In some embodiments, the reconfiguration multi-link element includes a first address of the at least one second Non-AP STA to which the first Non-AP MLD is attached.

[0210] It can be understood that the subordinate STA corresponding to the address included in the reconfigure multilink element is the subordinate STA of the first Non-AP MLD that requests to add a link when the first Non-AP MLD establishes a multilink with the AP MLD.

[0211] It is understandable that, in addition to the address of the at least one second Non-AP STA, the reconfiguration multi-link element may also include the addresses of other Non-AP STAs other than the first Non-AP STA and / or the at least one second Non-AP STA among the Non-AP STAs affiliated with the first Non-AP MLD.

[0212] In scenario 1, where the first frame is used to request association and / or reassociation, the first status code sent by the AP MLD includes the following two situations:

[0213] Case A1: If the first frame is used to request association and / or reassociation with the AP MLD, the first status code is used to reject the association request and / or reassociation request of the first Non-AP MLD;

[0214] Case A2: If the first frame is used to request association and / or reassociation with the AP MLD, the first status code is used to temporarily reject the association request and / or reassociation request of the first Non-AP MLD.

[0215] For case A1, the first status code may be:

[0216] A rejection code DENIED_STA_AFFILIATED_WITH_MLD_WITH_EXISTING_MLD_ASSOCIATION indicates that the affiliated station is rejected because an association with the MLD already exists.

[0217] When the AP MLD sends the first status code, it instructs the first Non-AP MLD to no longer request association and / or reassociation with the AP MLD.

[0218] For case A1, the AP MLD does not initiate the SA query process.

[0219] For case A2, the first status code may be a rejection code REFUSED_TEMPORARILY indicating temporary rejection.

[0220] When the AP MLD sends the first status code, it indicates that the first Non-AP MLD can try to request association with the AP MLD again after a period of time, that is, send the first frame indicating an association request and / or reassociation request to the AP MLD again after a period of time.

[0221] In some embodiments of case A2, the AP MLD further performs the following processing: the AP MLD initiates a security association query procedure for the second Non-AP MLD and / or for the fourth Non-AP STA.

[0222] If the first MAC address of at least one second Non-AP STA meets the first condition, a security association query procedure for the second Non-AP MLD is initiated.

[0223] If the first MAC address of at least one second Non-AP STA meets the second condition, a security association query procedure for the fourth Non-AP STA is initiated.

[0224] In the link control method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the request of the first Non-AP MLD to establish an association, i.e., a link, can be directly rejected, or the request of the first Non-AP MLD to establish an association, i.e., a link, can be temporarily rejected, thereby enabling a flexible approach to meet different security requirements for link establishment.

[0225] In scenario 2, when the first frame is used to request multilink reconfiguration, the first status code sent by the AP MLD includes the following two situations:

[0226] Case B1: if the first frame is used to request multi-link reconfiguration, the first status code is used to indicate rejection of the multi-link reconfiguration request;

[0227] Case B2: If the first frame is used to request multi-link reconfiguration, the first status code is used to refuse to reconfigure the link in which the conflict occurs in the first frame.

[0228] In case B1, the AP MLD rejects all links requested to be reconfigured by the first Non-AP MLD, that is, directly rejects the Non-AP MLD request to reconfigure multiple links.

[0229] In case B2, AP MLD does not directly reject all links requested to be reconfigured by the first Non-AP MLD, but only rejects conflicting links among the links requested to be reconfigured by the Non-AP MLD, where the conflicting links are links corresponding to at least one second Non-AP STA affiliated with the first Non-AP MLD.

[0230] In the link control method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the reconfiguration of all links requested to be reconfigured by the first Non-AP MLD can be directly rejected, or only the reconfiguration of conflicting links among the links requested to be reconfigured by the first Non-AP MLD can be rejected, thereby enabling a flexible approach to meet different security requirements for link reconfiguration.

[0231] The present application embodiment provides a link control method, such as Figure 11 Shown, including:

[0232] S1101. If the AP MLD receives a second frame sent by a fifth non-AP STA through a third AP to which the AP MLD is attached, and a fourth address of the fifth non-AP STA satisfies a third condition, the AP MLD sends a second status code, where the second frame is used to request association and / or reassociation, the third condition is related to at least one sixth non-AP STA attached to a third non-AP MLD to which the AP MLD is associated, and the second status code is used to reject the association request and / or reassociation request of the fifth non-AP STA.

[0233] Understandable, Figure 11 The link control method shown is similar to Figure 5 The link control methods shown can be implemented independently or together. Figure 10 The link control method shown is similar to Figure 5 When the link control methods shown are implemented together, the execution of the two methods may not affect each other.

[0234] The AP MLD receives the second frame sent by the fifth Non-AP STA, where the second frame is used to request association and / or reassociation. It is understandable that the fifth Non-AP STA is not associated with the AP MLD.

[0235] The AP MLD receives the second frame sent by the fifth Non-AP STA through the affiliated third AP, and when determining that the fifth Non-AP STA meets the third condition, sends a second status code for rejecting the association request and / or re-association request to the fifth Non-AP STA.

[0236] The third condition is related to at least one sixth Non-AP STA among the Non-AP STAs affiliated with the third Non-AP MLD associated with the AP MLD. It can be understood that the selection range of the sixth Non-AP STA in the third condition includes the Non-AP STAs affiliated with the third Non-AP MLD associated with the AP MLD.

[0237] As you can understand, there are two types of stations that can establish an association with an AP MLD: non-AP MLD and non-AP STA. A non-AP MLD is associated with at least one non-AP STA. If a station has no associated STA, it is considered a non-AP STA.

[0238] If the MLD MAC address of the fifth Non-AP STA is the same as the MLD MAC address of the third Non-AP MLD, the AP MLD rejects the association request and / or reassociation request of the fifth Non-AP STA based on the same MLD MAC addresses.

[0239] In the embodiment of the present application, the address may include: a MAC address.

[0240] In the embodiment of the present application, the following two levels of association are involved:

[0241] MLD-level association, that is, the association between AP MLD and non-AP MLD;

[0242] STA-level association, that is, the association between an AP to which AP MLD belongs and a non-AP STA.

[0243] It can be understood that for an AP MLD, a non-AP STA establishes a STA-level association with an AP to which the AP MLD is affiliated, and a non-AP MLD establishes an MLD-level association with the AP MLD (at least one affiliated non-AP STA establishes a link with a corresponding affiliated AP and transitions to an associated state, i.e., a STA-level association is established).

[0244] For the third condition, which is a condition regarding the Non-AP STA constructed based on the MLD-level association, therefore, in the link control method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the AP MLD receives a second frame sent by the fifth Non-AP STA, where the second frame is used to request association and / or reassociation. Based on the third condition related to at least one sixth Non-AP STA among the Non-AP STAs affiliated with the third Non-AP MLD already associated with the AP MLD, it is determined that the fourth address of the fifth Non-AP STA meets the third condition, and the association request and / or reassociation request of the fifth Non-AP STA is rejected. Thus, based on the Non-AP STA associated with the Non-AP STA constructed based on the MLD-level association, it is determined whether the fifth Non-AP STA is an attacking station, so that the APMLD can accurately determine whether the Non-AP STA requesting association and / or reassociation with the AP MLD is a legitimate station or an attacking station.

[0245] In some embodiments, the third condition includes: the fourth address of the fifth Non-AP STA is the same as the fifth address of at least one sixth Non-AP STA among the Non-AP STAs to which the third Non-AP MLD is attached.

[0246] If the fourth address of the fifth Non-AP STA is the same as the fifth address of the sixth Non-AP STA to which the third Non-AP MLD associated with the AP MLD is attached, the AP MLD sends a second status code to the fifth Non-AP STA.

[0247] It can be understood that when the state of a Non-AP STA to which a Non-AP MLD is attached is state 4, the Non-AP STA to which the Non-AP MLD is attached is associated with an AP to which an AP MLD is attached.

[0248] When the state of at least one non-AP STA attached to a non-AP MLD is state 4 and the addresses of these attached non-AP STAs are the same as the address of the fifth non-AP STA, there is a possibility of address conflict between these attached non-AP STAs, i.e., the sixth non-AP STA and the fifth non-AP STA.

[0249] In the embodiment of the present application, the AP MLD receives the second frame sent by the fifth Non-AP STA through the third link between the third AP and the fifth Non-AP STA.

[0250] In some embodiments, the third condition further includes: the fifth Non-AP STA and the at least one sixth Non-AP STA operate on the same channel.

[0251] Here, operating on the same channel can also be understood as operating on the same frequency band and channel.

[0252] The fifth Non-AP STA and the sixth Non-AP STA operate on the same channel. If the fifth Non-AP STA is associated with the AP MLD, the fifth Non-AP STA and the sixth Non-AP STA are associated with the same AP. At this time, there is an address conflict between the fifth Non-AP STA and at least one sixth Non-AP STA.

[0253] In an embodiment of the present application, when the fifth Non-AP STA establishes a link or establishes an associated state with the third Non-AP MLD to which the AP MLD is already associated using the same address, the request for association is rejected, thereby avoiding the situation in which the Non-AP STA and the affiliated Non-AP STA establish a link or establish an associated state with the same AP to which the AP MLD is affiliated using the same address.

[0254] In some embodiments, the channel on which the third AP operates is the same as the channel on which the at least one sixth Non-AP STA operates.

[0255] In the embodiment of the present application, the AP MLD receives the second frame sent by the fifth Non-AP STA via the third link between the third AP and the fifth Non-AP STA, that is, the third AP and the fifth Non-AP STA operate on the same channel.

[0256] If the fifth Non-AP STA and the sixth Non-AP STA operate on the same channel, the sixth Non-AP STA operates on the same channel as the third AP operates.

[0257] In some embodiments, before S1101, the AP MLD further performs the following processing:

[0258] The AP MLD receives the second frame sent by the fifth Non-AP STA through the third AP.

[0259] In some embodiments, the second frame includes at least one of the following:

[0260] Association request frame;

[0261] Reassociation request frame.

[0262] A P MLD The second status code sent includes the following two situations:

[0263] Case C1: The second status code is used to reject the association request and / or reassociation request of the fifth Non-AP STA.

[0264] Case C2: The second status code is used to temporarily reject the association request and / or reassociation request of the fifth Non-AP STA.

[0265] For case C1, the second status code may be:

[0266] Denial code DENIED_STA_AFFILIATED_WITH_MLD_WITH_EXISTING_MLD_ASSOCIATION.

[0267] When the AP MLD sends the second status code, it instructs the fifth Non-AP STA to no longer request association and / or reassociation with the AP MLD.

[0268] For case C2, the second status code may be: rejection code REFUSED_TEMPORARILY.

[0269] When the AP MLD sends the second status code, it indicates that the fifth Non-AP STA can try to request association and / or reassociation with the AP MLD again after a period of time, that is, send a second frame requesting association and / or reassociation to the AP MLD again after a period of time.

[0270] In some embodiments of case C2, the AP MLD further performs the following processing: the AP MLD initiates a security association query procedure with respect to the third Non-AP MLD.

[0271] In the link control method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the request of the fifth Non-AP STA to establish an association, i.e., a link and / or reassociation can be directly rejected, and the request of the fifth Non-AP STA to establish an association and / or reassociation can also be temporarily rejected, thereby enabling a flexible approach to meet different security requirements for link establishment.

[0272] Below, the link control method provided in the embodiment of the present application is further explained.

[0273] The conversion based on mobility capability type includes but is not limited to the following scenarios:

[0274] like Figure 12 or Figure 13In the scenario A shown, an associated legitimate non-AP MLD A may be downgraded (for example, due to energy saving, other affiliated stations are turned off) to non-AP STA 5 followed by AP MLD request to establish association. The MAC address of non-AP MLD A is MAC A, and the MAC address of non-AP STA 5 is the same as the MAC address of non-AP MLD A, which is MAC A. Figure 12 In the non-AP MLD A, the non-AP STAs attached to it include: STA1 with MAC address MAC A1, Figure 13 In this example, the non-AP STAs affiliated with non-AP MLD A include STA1 with MAC address MAC A1 and STA2 with MAC address MAC A2. AP MLD should allow this legal situation. AP MLD performs an SA Query procedure based on MAC A and non-AP MLD A.

[0275] However, for Figure 12 In the example, non-AP STA 3, acting as the attacker, has a MAC address of MAC A1. Because MAC A1 is different from MAC A, non-AP STA 3 can establish an association with AP 1. At this point, AP 1 can simultaneously associate with both non-AP STA 3 and STA 1, which is associated with non-AP MLD A. As a result, the downlink data from AP MLD to non-AP STA 3 becomes junk data for the legitimate non-AP MLD A. AP 1 may mistakenly process the legitimate uplink data from non-AP MLD A as uplink data from the attacker, resulting in loss of the legitimate uplink data from non-AP MLD A.

[0276] exist Figure 12 or Figure 13 In the example, non-AP MLD A establishes a multi-link operation (MLO) association with AP MLD through link 1 between STA1 and AP1. Non-AP STA5 establishes a non-multi-link operation (Non-MLO) association with AP1 to which AP MLD is attached. Non-AP STA3 establishes a non-MLO association with AP1 to which AP MLD is attached.

[0277] like Figure 14In the illustrated scenario B, an associated legitimate non-AP STA 1 (MAC address MAC A1) may be restored (for example, by reactivating other subordinate stations that were previously shut down for energy saving) to non-AP MLD A or non-AP MLDC, followed by an AP MLD request to establish an association. The MAC address of non-AP MLD A or non-AP MLD C is the same as non-AP STA1's MAC address: MAC A1. The non-AP STAs affiliated with non-AP MLD A include STA7 with MAC A1, and the non-AP STAs affiliated with non-AP MLD C include STA5 with MAC A5 and STA6 with MAC A6. AP MLD should allow this legitimate scenario, and AP MLD will perform an SA Query procedure based on MAC A1 and non-AP STA 1 for verification.

[0278] However, for Figure 14 In the attack scenario, non-AP MLD B is the attacker. Its MAC address is MAC B. Its affiliated non-AP STAs include STA3 with MAC address MAC A1 and STA4 with MAC address MAC A4. Because non-AP MLD B's MAC address is MAC B, which differs from MAC A1 of non-AP STA 1, the attacker non-AP MLD B can establish an association with AP MLD. Consequently, the downlink data sent by AP MLD to the attacker non-AP MLD B is spammed to the legitimate non-AP STA 1. AP 1 may mistakenly process the legitimate non-AP STA 1's uplink data as uplink data from the attacker non-AP MLD B, resulting in data loss.

[0279] exist Figure 14 In the example, non-AP STA1 establishes a non-MLO association with AP1 to which AP MLD belongs. Non-AP MLD A and AP MLD establish an MLO association through link 1 between STA7 to which Non-AP MLD A belongs and AP1 to which AP MLD belongs. Non-AP MLD C and AP MLD establish an MLO association through link 2 between STA6 to which Non-AP MLD C belongs and AP2 to which AP MLD belongs.

[0280] like Figure 15 or Figure 16In the scenario C shown, the MAC address of non-AP MLD A is MAC A, and the MAC address of the attacker non-AP MLDB is MAC B. The attacker non-AP MLD B uses a different MAC address than the associated legitimate non-AP MLD to associate with AP MLD. The MAC address of at least one subordinate station of the attacker non-AP MLDB is the same as the MAC address of at least one subordinate station of the associated legitimate non-AP MLD (for example: Figure 15 In the example, the MAC address of STA3 attached to non-AP MLD B is MAC A1, which is the same as the MAC address of STA1 attached to non-AP MLD A. For example: Figure 16 In the example, the MAC address of STA5 attached to non-AP MLD B is MAC A1, which is the same as the MAC address of STA1 attached to non-AP MLD A. Furthermore, the MAC address of STA6 attached to non-AP MLD B is MAC A4, which is the same as the MAC address of STA4 attached to the legitimate non-AP MLD C. Furthermore, these STAs are on the same frequency band and channel. According to current standards, the attacker non-AP MLD B can establish an association with AP MLD. This causes the downlink data sent by AP MLD to the attacker non-AP MLD B to spam the associated legitimate stations or associated legitimate non-AP MLDs. The legitimate non-AP MLD's uplink data may be mistakenly processed by AP MLD as uplink data from the attacker non-AP MLD B, resulting in the loss of the legitimate non-AP MLD's uplink data.

[0281] exist Figure 15 In the example, Non-APMLD A and AP MLD establish an MLO association through link 1 between STA1 to which Non-APMLD A belongs and AP1 to which AP MLD belongs. The attacking Non-AP MLDB and AP MLD establish an MLO association through link 2 between STA4 to which Non-APMLD B belongs and AP2 to which AP MLD belongs.

[0282] exist Figure 16In the example, Non-APMLD A establishes an MLO association with AP MLD through link 1 between STA1 (attached to Non-APMLD A) and AP1 (attached to AP MLD). Non-APMLD C establishes an MLO association with AP MLD through link 1 between STA3 (attached to Non-APMLD C) and AP1 (attached to AP MLD). The attacking Non-AP MLDB establishes an MLO association with AP MLD through link 2 between STA5 (attached to Non-AP MLD B) and AP2 (attached to AP MLD).

[0283] like Figure 17 or Figure 18 In scenario D, attacker non-AP MLD B, while already associated with AP MLD, can add at least one new link. The MAC address of at least one of the newly added subordinate stations of the attacker non-AP MLD B is the same as that of at least one subordinate station of an already associated legitimate non-AP MLD or an already associated legitimate non-AP STA, and the MAC address is on the same frequency band and channel. In this case, if AP MLD accepts the request for the newly added link, the downlink data sent by AP MLD to the attacker non-AP MLD B will cause spam to the associated legitimate station or associated legitimate non-AP MLD. The legitimate non-AP MLD's uplink data may be mistakenly processed by AP MLD as the attacker non-AP MLD B's uplink data, resulting in the loss of the legitimate non-AP MLD's uplink data.

[0284] like Figure 17 In the example shown, AP MLD is associated with the legitimate non-AP MLD A and the attacking non-AP MLD B. Non-AP MLD B sends a link reconfiguration request to AP MLD. The newly added station is STA3. STA3's MAC address is the same as STA1's MAC address in Non-AP MLD A (MAC A1), and they are on the same frequency band and channel. If AP MLD accepts this reconfiguration request, Non-AP MLD A will be affected by junk traffic and uplink data will be lost.

[0285] like Figure 18In the example shown, AP MLD is associated with legitimate non-AP STA1 and the attacker non-AP MLD B. Non-AP MLD B sends a link reconfiguration request to AP MLD, adding STA3 as its new associated station. STA3's MAC address is the same as non-AP STA1's, MAC A1, and they operate on the same frequency band and channel. If AP MLD accepts this reconfiguration request, non-AP STA1 will be flooded with junk data, and non-AP MLD A's uplink data will be lost.

[0286] The link control method provided in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented as including but not limited to the following embodiments.

[0287] Example 1: Reject All

[0288] For scenario A

[0289] When the AP MLD receives an Association Request frame and / or a Reassociation Request frame sent by a fifth non-AP STA through its affiliated third AP, the AP MLD should reject the association request with the status code DENIED_STA_AFFILIATED_WITH_MLD_WITH_EXISTING_MLD_ASSOCIATION if a third condition is met. The third condition is: the MAC address of the fifth non-AP STA is the same as the MAC address of a sixth non-AP STA. The sixth non-AP STA is one of multiple non-AP STAs affiliated with any third non-AP MLD that has established an association with the AP MLD, and the sixth non-AP STA and the fifth non-AP STA operate on the same frequency band and channel (i.e., the operating frequency band and channel of the third AP).

[0290] When the AP or PCP receives an association request frame from a STA, it uses the following process:

[0291] The MLME will issue an MLME-ASSOCIATE.indication primitive to notify the SME of the association request. The SME will then issue an MLME-ASSOCIATE.response primitive to the STA identified by the PeerSTAAddress parameter in the MLME-ASSOCIATE.indication primitive. If the association is unsuccessful, the SME will indicate the specific reason for the failure in the ResultCode parameter. Upon receiving the MLME-ASSOCIATE.response primitive, the MLME will transmit an Association Response frame.

[0292] If at least one of the non-AP STAs associated with the non-AP MLD that has established an association with the AP MLD (i.e., the non-AP MLD is in state 4) has the same MAC address as the STA and operates on the same channel, the AP will reject the association request with the rejection code DENIED_STA_AFFILIATED_WITH_MLD_WITH_EXISTING_MLD_ASSOCIATION. In some examples, such as Figure 12 As shown in Figure 13, when AP MLD receives an association request and / or reassociation request from the attacking non-AP STA3 through AP1, the MAC address of non-AP STA3 is the same as the MAC address of STA1 affiliated with Non-APMLD, which is associated with AP1 affiliated with AP MLD, and non-AP STA3 and STA1 affiliated with Non-AP MLD operate on the same frequency band and channel, AP MLD sends an association response frame carrying the status code DENIED_STA_AFFILIATED_WITH_MLD_WITH_EXISTING_MLD_ASSOCIATION to non-AP STA3 to reject the association request.

[0293] For scenario B

[0294] When the AP MLD receives an Association Request frame and / or a Reassociation Request frame from a first non-AP STA attached to a first non-AP MLD through its attached first AP, the AP MLD should reject the Association Request with the status code DENIED_STA_AFFILIATED_WITH_MLD_WITH_EXISTING_MLD_ASSOCIATION if the second condition is met. The second condition is: the MAC address of the second non-AP STA attached to the first non-AP MLD is the same as the MAC address of a fourth non-AP STA. The fourth non-AP STA is any non-AP STA that has established an association with the second AP attached to the AP MLD, and the fourth non-AP STA and the second non-AP STA operate on the same frequency band and channel (i.e., the operating frequency band and channel of the second AP).

[0295] When an AP MLD receives an association request frame carrying a basic multilink element from a non-AP STA that is not an AP MLD-attached STA through its attached AP, the following process is used:

[0296] The MLME shall issue an MLME-ASSOCIATE.indication primitive to notify the SME of the association request. The SME shall issue an MLME-ASSOCIATE.response primitive to the non-AP MLD identified by the PeerSTAAddress parameter in the MLME-ASSOCIATE.indication primitive. If the association is unsuccessful, the SME shall indicate a specific reason for the failure in the ResultCode parameter. Once the MLME receives the MLME-ASSOCIATE.response primitive, the MLME shall transmit an Association Response frame.

[0297] If at least one non-AP STA associated with the second AP of the AP MLD (i.e., the non-AP STA is in state 4) has the same MAC address as at least one of the non-AP STAs affiliated with the non-AP MLD and operates on the same channel, the AP MLD will reject the association request with the status code DENIED_STA_AFFILIATED_WITH_MLD_WITH_EXISTING_MLD_ASSOCIATION.

[0298] In one example, if Figure 14 As shown, when AP MLD receives an association request and / or reassociation request from STA4 of the attacking Non-AP MLD B through AP2, the MAC address included in the basic multilink element carried by Non-AP STA4 includes STA3's MAC address: MAC A1. STA3's MAC address is the same as the MAC address of Non-AP STA1 associated with AP1 to which AP MLD is attached. Moreover, Non-AP STA3 and Non-AP STA1 operate on the same frequency band and channel, namely, the operating frequency band and channel of AP1. Then, AP MLD sends an association response frame carrying the status code DENIED_STA_AFFILIATED_WITH_MLD_WITH_EXISTING_MLD_ASSOCIATION to Non-AP MLD B to reject the association request.

[0299] For scenario C

[0300] When an AP MLD receives, through its affiliated first AP, an Association Request frame and / or a Reassociation Request frame containing a Basic Multi-Link element, sent by a first non-AP MLD through its affiliated first non-AP STA, the AP MLD shall reject the association request with the status code DENIED_STA_AFFILIATED_WITH_MLD_WITH_EXISTING_MLD_ASSOCIATION if the Basic Multi-Link element satisfies a first condition. The first condition is that the MAC address of at least one affiliated second non-AP STA included in the Basic Multi-Link element is the same as the MAC address of a third non-AP STA. The third non-AP STA is one of the multiple non-AP STAs affiliated with any second non-AP MLD that has established an association with the AP MLD, and the second non-AP STA and the third non-AP STA operate on the same frequency band and channel (which may be the same as or different from the operating frequency band and channel of the first AP). Specifically:

[0301] When an AP-MLD receives an association request frame carrying a basic multilink element from a non-AP STA attached to a non-AP MLD through an attached AP, the following process is used:

[0302] The MLME will issue an MLME-ASSOCIATE.indication primitive to notify the SME of the association request. The SME will then issue an MLME-ASSOCIATE.response primitive to the non-AP MLD identified by the PeerSTAAddress parameter in the MLME-ASSOCIATE.indication primitive. If the association is unsuccessful, the SME will indicate the specific reason for the failure in the ResultCode parameter. Upon receiving the MLME-ASSOCIATE.response primitive, the MLME will transmit an Association Response frame.

[0303] If at least one of the non-AP STAs affiliated with the non-AP MLD that has established an association with the AP MLD (i.e., the non-AP STA is in state 4) has the same MAC address as at least one of the non-AP STAs affiliated with the non-AP MLD and operates on the same channel, the AP MLD will reject the association request with the status code DENIED_STA_AFFILIATED_WITH_MLD_WITH_EXISTING_MLD_ASSOCIATION.

[0304] In one example, if Figure 15 As shown, when AP MLD receives an association request and / or reassociation request from STA4 of the attacking Non-AP MLD B through AP2, the MAC address included in the basic multilink element carried by Non-AP STA4 includes STA3's MAC address: MAC A1. STA3's MAC address is the same as the MAC address of Non-AP STA1 associated with Non-AP MLD A, and Non-AP STA3 and Non-AP STA1 operate on the same frequency band and channel, while the frequency band of Non-AP STA1 is different from that of AP2. Then, AP MLD sends the status code DENIED_STA_AFFILIATED_WITH_MLD_WITH_EXISTING_MLD_ASSOCIATION to Non-AP MLD B to reject the association request through the status code DENIED_STA_AFFILIATED_WITH_MLD_WITH_EXISTING_MLD_ASSOCIATION.

[0305] In one example, if Figure 16As shown in the figure, when AP MLD receives an association request and / or reassociation request sent by STA6 of the attacking Non-AP MLD B through AP2, the MAC addresses included in the basic multilink element carried by Non-AP STA6 include MAC address of STA5: MAC A1 and MAC address of STA6: MAC A4, MAC address of STA5 is the same as the MAC address of STA1 attached to Non-APMLD A associated with AP MLD, and STA5 and STA1 operate on the same frequency band and channel, which is different from the operating frequency band and channel of AP2, MAC address of STA6 is the same as the MAC address of STA4 attached to Non-AP MLD C associated with AP MLD, and STA6 and STA4 operate on the same frequency band and channel, which is the same as the operating frequency band and channel of AP2, then AP MLD sends the status code DENIED_STA_A FFILIATED_WITH_MLD_WITH_EXISTIN to Non-AP MLD B. G_MLD_ASSOCIATION rejects the association request with status code DENIED_STA_AFFILIATED_WITH_MLD_WITH_EXISTIN G_MLD_ASSOCI ATION.

[0306] For scenario D

[0307] When the AP MLD receives, through its affiliated first AP, a multilink reconfiguration request frame (ML Reconfiguration Request) and / or an association request frame (Association Request frame) and / or a reassociation request frame (Reassociation Request frame) including a reconfiguration multilink element (Reconfiguration Multi-Link element) sent by a first non-AP MLD through its affiliated first non-AP STA, the AP MLD should reject the multilink reconfiguration request and / or reject the association request if the reconfiguration multilink element satisfies a fourth condition. The fourth condition is: the MAC address of at least one affiliated non-AP STA included in the reconfiguration multilink element is the same as the MAC address of the seventh non-AP STA. The seventh non-AP STA is one of the multiple non-AP STAs associated with any second non-AP MLD that has established an association with the AP MLD; or the seventh non-AP STA is one of the multiple non-AP STAs that has established an association with the second AP associated with the APMLD, and the seventh non-AP STA and the second non-AP STA operate on the same frequency band and channel (which may be the same as or different from the operating frequency band and channel of the first AP).

[0308] The MAC address of at least one attached non-AP STA included in the reconfiguration multi-link element may be understood as the MAC address of at least one link required to be added.

[0309] In one example, if Figure 17 As shown in the figure, when AP MLD receives a multi-link reconfiguration request from STA4 of the attacking Non-AP MLD B through AP2, the MAC address included in the reconfiguration multi-link element carried by Non-AP STA4 includes STA3's MAC address: MAC A1. STA3's MAC address is the same as the MAC address of Non-AP STA1 associated with AP MLD A. Non-AP STA3 and Non-AP STA1 operate on the same frequency band and channel, while Non-AP STA1 operates on a different frequency band and channel from AP2. AP MLD then sends a status code to Non-AP MLD B to reject the multi-link reconfiguration request.

[0310] In one example, if Figure 18As shown in the figure, when AP MLD receives a multi-link reconfiguration request from STA4 of the attacking Non-AP MLD B through AP2, the MAC address included in the reconfiguration multi-link element carried by Non-AP STA4 includes STA3's MAC address: MAC A1. STA3's MAC address is the same as the MAC address of Non-AP STA1 associated with AP1. Non-AP STA3 and Non-AP STA1 operate on the same frequency band and channel. Non-AP STA1 operates on the same frequency band and channel as AP1. Then, AP MLD sends a status code to Non-AP MLD B to reject the multi-link reconfiguration request.

[0311] Example 2

[0312] For scenario A

[0313] When the AP MLD receives an Association Request frame and / or a Reassociation Request frame sent by a fifth non-AP STA through its affiliated third AP, the AP MLD should reject the Association Request with the status code REFUSED_TEMPORARILY and initiate a Security Association Query procedure if a third condition is met. The third condition is: the MAC address of the fifth non-AP STA is the same as the MAC address of a sixth non-AP STA. The sixth non-AP STA is one of multiple non-AP STAs affiliated with any third non-AP MLD that has established an association with the AP MLD, and the sixth non-AP STA and the fifth non-AP STA operate on the same frequency band and channel (i.e., the operating frequency band and channel of the third AP).

[0314] For scenario B

[0315] When the AP MLD receives an Association Request frame and / or a Reassociation Request frame from a first non-AP STA attached to a first non-AP MLD through its attached first AP, the AP MLD should reject the Association Request with the REFUSED_TEMPORARILY status code and initiate a Security Association Query procedure if a second condition is met. The second condition is that the MAC address of the second non-AP STA attached to the first non-AP MLD is the same as the MAC address of a fourth non-AP STA. The fourth non-AP STA is any non-AP STA that has established an association with the second AP attached to the AP MLD, and the fourth non-AP STA and the second non-AP STA operate on the same frequency band and channel (i.e., the operating frequency band and channel of the second AP).

[0316] For scenario C

[0317] When an AP MLD receives, through its affiliated first AP, an Association Request frame and / or a Reassociation Request frame containing a Basic Multi-Link element, sent by a first non-AP MLD through its affiliated non-AP STA, the AP MLD shall reject the association request with the status code DENIED_STA_AFFILIATED_WITH_MLD_WITH_EXISTING_MLD_ASSOCIATION if the Basic Multi-Link element satisfies a first condition. The first condition is that the MAC address of at least one affiliated non-AP STA (denoted as a second non-AP STA) included in the Basic Multi-Link element is the same as the MAC address of a third non-AP STA. The third non-AP STA is one of the multiple non-AP STAs affiliated with any second non-AP MLD that has established an association with the AP MLD, and the third non-AP STA and the second non-AP STA operate on the same frequency band and channel (which may be the same as or different from the operating frequency band and channel of the first AP).

[0318] For scenario D

[0319] When the AP MLD receives, through its affiliated first AP, a multilink reconfiguration request frame (ML Reconfiguration Request) and / or an association request frame (Association Request frame) and / or a reassociation request frame (Reassociation Request frame) including a reconfiguration multilink element (Reconfiguration Multi-Link element) sent by a first non-AP MLD through its affiliated first non-AP STA, the AP MLD should reject conflicting links in the multilink reconfiguration request and / or reject conflicting links in the association request if the reconfiguration multilink element satisfies a fourth condition. The fourth condition is: the MAC address of at least one affiliated non-AP STA (denoted as the second non-AP STA) included in the reconfiguration multilink element is the same as the MAC address of the seventh non-AP STA. The seventh non-AP STA is one of the multiple non-AP STAs associated with any second non-AP MLD associated with the AP MLD, or the seventh non-AP STA is one of the multiple non-AP STAs associated with the second AP associated with the AP MLD, and the seventh non-AP STA operates on the same frequency band and channel as the second non-AP STA (which may be the same as or different from the operating frequency band and channel of the first AP).

[0320] In the embodiments of the present application, different scenarios in the above-mentioned embodiments 1 and 2 can be freely combined. For example, in the case of scenario 3 in embodiment 2, scenario 1 in embodiment 2 or scenario 2 in embodiment 2 can be implemented.

[0321] In scenario C, the AP MLD may also reject the association request with the status code REFUSED_TEMPORARILY and initiate a security association query procedure if the MAC address included in the basic multilink element meets the first condition.

[0322] The protocol specifies how the AP and / or AP MLD handle association requests and / or reassociation requests. This embodiment of the present application improves upon this method by adding the following conditions for rejecting an association request:

[0323] When the AP MLD receives an Association Request frame and / or a Reassociation Request frame sent by a fifth non-AP STA through its affiliated third AP, the AP MLD should reject the association request with the status code DENIED_STA_AFFILIATED_WITH_MLD_WITH_EXISTING_MLD_ASSOCIATION or reject the association request with the status code REFUSED_TEMPORARILY and initiate a security association query procedure if a third condition is met. The third condition is: the MAC address of the fifth non-AP STA is the same as the MAC address of a sixth non-AP STA. The sixth non-AP STA is one of the multiple non-AP STAs affiliated with any third non-AP MLD that has established an association with the AP MLD, and the sixth non-AP STA and the fifth non-AP STA operate on the same frequency band and channel (i.e., the operating frequency band and channel of the third AP).

[0324] When the AP MLD receives, through its affiliated first AP, an Association Request frame and / or a Reassociation Request frame including a Basic Multi-Link element sent by a first non-AP MLD through its affiliated non-AP STA, the AP MLD should reject the Association Request with a status code of DENIED_STA_AFFILIATED_WITH_MLD_WITH_EXISTING_MLD_ASSOCIATION if the Basic Multi-Link element satisfies a second condition, or reject the Association Request with a status code of REFUSED_TEMPORARILY and initiate a Security Association Query procedure. The second condition is that the MAC address of at least one affiliated non-AP STA (denoted as the second non-AP STA) included in the Basic Multi-Link element is the same as the MAC address of the fourth non-AP STA. The fourth non-AP STA is one of any non-AP STAs that has established an association with the second AP affiliated with the AP MLD, and the fourth non-AP STA operates on the same frequency band and channel as the second non-AP STA (that is, the operating frequency band and channel of the second AP).

[0325] When an AP MLD receives, through its affiliated first AP, an Association Request frame and / or a Reassociation Request frame containing a Basic Multi-Link element sent by a first non-AP MLD through its affiliated non-AP STA, the AP MLD shall reject the association request with the status code DENIED_STA_AFFILIATED_WITH_MLD_WITH_EXISTING_MLD_ASSOCIATION if the Basic Multi-Link element satisfies a first condition. The first condition is that the MAC address of at least one affiliated non-AP STA (denoted as a second non-AP STA) included in the Basic Multi-Link element is the same as the MAC address of a third non-AP STA. The third non-AP STA is one of the multiple non-AP STAs affiliated with any second non-AP MLD that has established an association with the AP MLD, and the third non-AP STA and the second non-AP STA operate on the same frequency band and channel (which may be the same as or different from the operating frequency band and channel of the first AP).

[0326] The link control method provided in the embodiment of the present application improves the link addition procedure of multiple links and adds a new condition for rejecting link addition, as follows:

[0327] When the AP MLD receives, through its affiliated first AP, a multilink reconfiguration request frame (ML Reconfiguration Request) and / or an association request frame (Association Request) and / or a reassociation request frame (Reassociation Request) including a reconfiguration multilink element (Reconfiguration Multi-Link element) sent by a first non-AP MLD through its affiliated non-AP STA, the AP MLD should reject the multilink reconfiguration request and / or the association request if the reconfiguration multilink element satisfies a fourth condition. The fourth condition is: the MAC address of at least one affiliated non-AP STA (denoted as the second non-AP STA) included in the reconfiguration multilink element is the same as the MAC address of the seventh non-AP STA. The seventh non-AP STA is one of the multiple non-AP STAs associated with any second non-AP MLD associated with the AP MLD, or the seventh non-AP STA is one of the multiple non-AP STAs associated with the second AP associated with the AP MLD, and the seventh non-AP STA operates on the same frequency band and channel as the second non-AP STA (which may be the same as or different from the operating frequency band and channel of the first AP).

[0328] The preferred embodiments of the present application are described in detail above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the present application is not limited to the specific details in the above embodiments. Within the technical concept of the present application, the technical solution of the present application can be subjected to a variety of simple modifications, and these simple modifications all fall within the scope of protection of the present application. For example, the various specific technical features described in the above specific embodiments can be combined in any suitable manner without contradiction. In order to avoid unnecessary repetition, the present application will no longer describe the various possible combinations separately. For another example, the various different embodiments of the present application can also be arbitrarily combined, as long as they do not violate the idea of ​​the present application, they should also be regarded as the contents disclosed in the present application. For another example, under the premise of no conflict, the various embodiments and / or the technical features in each embodiment described in the present application can be arbitrarily combined with the prior art, and the technical solution obtained after the combination should also fall within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0329] It should also be understood that in the various method embodiments of the present application, the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes do not imply a precedence in the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application. In addition, in the embodiments of the present application, the terms "downlink," "uplink," and "sidelink" are used to indicate the transmission direction of signals or data, where "downlink" is used to indicate the first direction of transmission of signals or data from a site to a user equipment in a cell, "uplink" is used to indicate the second direction of transmission of signals or data from a user equipment in a cell to a site, and "sidelink" is used to indicate the third direction of transmission of signals or data from user equipment 1 to user equipment 2. For example, "downlink signal" indicates that the transmission direction of the signal is the first direction. In addition, in the embodiments of the present application, the term "and / or" is merely a description of the association relationship between associated objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. Specifically, A and / or B can represent three situations: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. In addition, the character " / " in this document generally indicates that the associated objects are in an "or" relationship.

[0330] Figure 19 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the AP MLD provided in the embodiment of the present application. Figure 19 As shown, AP MLD1900 includes:

[0331] The first communication unit 1901 is configured to send a first status code if a first frame sent by a first non-AP STA attached to a first non-access point multi-link device Non-AP MLD is received through a first access point AP attached to the AP MLD, and a first address of at least one second non-AP STA among the non-AP STAs attached to the first Non-AP MLD meets a first condition and / or a second condition, wherein the first frame is used to request association and / or reassociation and / or multi-link reconfiguration, the first condition is related to at least one third non-AP STA among the second non-AP STA attached to the AP MLD associated with the AP MLD, the second condition is related to a fourth non-AP STA associated with the second AP attached to the AP MLD, and the first status code is used to reject the association request and / or the reassociation request and / or the multi-link reconfiguration request.

[0332] It is understandable that the AP MLD further includes a storage unit configured to store the Non-AP STAs attached to the Non-APMLD associated with the AP MLD and / or the Non-AP STAs associated with the AP attached to the AP MLD.

[0333] In some embodiments, the at least one second Non-AP STA is the same as or different from the first Non-AP STA.

[0334] In some embodiments, the first condition includes: a first address of the at least one second Non-AP STA is the same as a second address of at least one third Non-AP STA among the Non-AP STAs to which the second Non-AP MLD is attached.

[0335] In some embodiments, the first condition further includes: the at least one second Non-AP STA and the at least one third Non-AP STA operate on the same channel.

[0336] In some embodiments, the channel on which the first AP operates is the same as or different from the channel on which the at least one second Non-AP STA operates.

[0337] In some embodiments, the second condition includes: a first address of the at least one second Non-AP STA is the same as a third address of at least one fourth Non-AP STA among the Non-AP STAs associated with the second AP.

[0338] In some embodiments, the second condition further includes: the at least one second Non-AP STA and the at least one fourth Non-AP STA operate on the same channel.

[0339] In some embodiments, the channel of the second AP is the same as the channel on which the at least one second Non-AP STA operates.

[0340] In some embodiments, the second AP is the same as or different from the first AP.

[0341] In some embodiments, the first frame includes at least one of the following:

[0342] Association request frame;

[0343] Reassociation request frame;

[0344] Multilink Reconfiguration Request frame.

[0345] In some embodiments, if the first frame includes a basic multilink element, the first frame is used to request association and / or reassociation with the AP MLD.

[0346] In some embodiments, the basic multi-link element includes a first address of the at least one second Non-AP STA to which the first Non-AP MLD is attached.

[0347] In some embodiments, if the first frame includes a reconfigure multilink element, the first frame is used to request multilink reconfiguration.

[0348] In some embodiments, the reconfiguration multi-link element includes a first address of the at least one second Non-AP STA to which the first Non-AP MLD is attached.

[0349] In some embodiments, if the first frame is used to request association and / or reassociation with the AP MLD, the first status code is used to reject the association request and / or reassociation request of the first Non-AP MLD.

[0350] In some embodiments, if the first frame is used to request association and / or reassociation with the AP MLD, the first status code is used to temporarily reject the association request and / or reassociation request of the first Non-AP MLD.

[0351] In some embodiments, the AP MLD further includes: a control unit configured to initiate a security association query procedure for the second Non-APMLD and / or for the fourth Non-AP STA.

[0352] In some embodiments, if the first frame is used to request multi-link reconfiguration, the first status code is used to indicate rejection of the multi-link reconfiguration request.

[0353] In some embodiments, if the first frame is used to request multi-link reconfiguration, the first status code is used to refuse to reconfigure the link in which the conflict occurs in the first frame.

[0354] In some embodiments, the AP MLD further includes: a second communication unit, configured to send a second status code if the AP MLD receives a second frame sent by a fifth Non-AP STA through a third AP to which the AP MLD is attached, and a fourth address of the fifth Non-AP STA meets a third condition, wherein the second frame is used to request association and / or reassociation, the third condition is related to at least one sixth Non-AP STA attached to a third Non-AP MLD to which the AP MLD is associated, and the second status code is used to reject the association request and / or reassociation request of the fifth Non-AP STA.

[0355] It can be understood that, for an AP MLD, the first communication unit and the second communication unit are the same communication unit.

[0356] In some embodiments, the third condition includes: the fourth address of the fifth Non-AP STA is the same as the fifth address of at least one sixth Non-AP STA among the Non-AP STAs to which the third Non-AP MLD is attached.

[0357] In some embodiments, the third condition further includes: the fifth Non-AP STA and the at least one sixth Non-AP STA operate on the same channel.

[0358] In some embodiments, the channel on which the third AP operates is the same as the channel on which the at least one sixth Non-AP STA operates.

[0359] In some embodiments, the second frame includes at least one of the following:

[0360] Association request frame;

[0361] Reassociation request frame.

[0362] In some embodiments, the second status code is used to reject the association request and / or re-association request of the fifth Non-AP STA.

[0363] In some embodiments, the second status code is used to temporarily reject the association request and / or reassociation request of the fifth Non-AP STA.

[0364] In some embodiments, the AP MLD further includes: a second control unit configured to start a security association query procedure for the third Non-AP MLD.

[0365] Those skilled in the art should understand that the relevant description of the above-mentioned AP MLD in the embodiment of the present application can be understood with reference to the relevant description of the link control method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0366] Figure 20 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 2000 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device may be an AP MLD or a non-access point device. Figure 20 The communication device 2000 shown includes a processor 2010, which can call and run a computer program from a memory to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0367] Alternatively, as Figure 20 As shown, the communication device 2000 may further include a memory 2020. The processor 2010 may call and execute a computer program from the memory 2020 to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0368] The memory 2020 may be a separate device independent of the processor 2010 , or may be integrated into the processor 2010 .

[0369] Alternatively, as Figure 20 As shown, the communication device 2000 may further include a transceiver 2030 , and the processor 2010 may control the transceiver 2030 to communicate with other devices, specifically, to send information or data to other devices, or to receive information or data sent by other devices.

[0370] The transceiver 2030 may include a transmitter and a receiver. The transceiver 2030 may further include an antenna, and the number of antennas may be one or more.

[0371] Optionally, the communication device 2000 may specifically be the AP MLD of the embodiment of the present application, and the communication device 2000 may implement the corresponding processes implemented by the AP MLD in each method of the embodiment of the present application, which will not be described in detail here for the sake of brevity.

[0372] Figure 21 It is a schematic structural diagram of the chip of an embodiment of the present application. Figure 21 The chip 2100 shown includes a processor 2110, which can call and run a computer program from a memory to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0373] Alternatively, as Figure 21 As shown, the chip 2100 may further include a memory 2120. The processor 2110 may call and execute a computer program from the memory 2120 to implement the method in the embodiment of the present application.

[0374] The memory 2120 may be a separate device independent of the processor 2110 , or may be integrated into the processor 2110 .

[0375] Optionally, the chip 2100 may further include an input interface 2130. The processor 2110 may control the input interface 2130 to communicate with other devices or chips, and specifically, may obtain information or data sent by other devices or chips.

[0376] Optionally, the chip 2100 may further include an output interface 2140. The processor 2110 may control the output interface 2140 to communicate with other devices or chips, and specifically, may output information or data to other devices or chips.

[0377] Optionally, the chip may be applied to the AP MLD in the embodiments of the present application, and the chip may implement the corresponding processes implemented by the AP MLD in the various methods in the embodiments of the present application, which will not be described in detail here for the sake of brevity.

[0378] It should be understood that the chip mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can also be called a system-level chip, a system chip, a chip system or a system-on-chip chip, etc.

[0379] Figure 22 2 is a schematic block diagram of a communication system 2200 provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 22 As shown, the communication system 2200 includes an AP MLD 2210 and a non-access point device 2220. The non-access point device may be a station accessing the AP MLD 2210: a Non-AP MLD or a Non-AP STA.

[0380] The AP MLD 2210 may be used to implement the corresponding functions implemented by the AP MLD in the above method, which will not be described in detail for the sake of brevity.

[0381] It should be understood that the processor of the embodiments of the present application may be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. During implementation, each step of the above method embodiment can be completed by hardware integrated logic circuits in the processor or software instructions. The above processor can be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, or discrete hardware components. The various methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented or executed. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor. The steps of the method disclosed in the embodiments of the present application can be directly implemented as a hardware decoding processor, or can be implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module can be located in a storage medium mature in the art, such as random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable memory, registers, etc. The storage medium is located in the memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory and completes the steps of the above method in combination with its hardware.

[0382] It is understood that the memory in the embodiments of the present application may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct RAM bus random access memory (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0383] It should be understood that the above-mentioned memories are exemplary but not restrictive. For example, the memories in the embodiments of the present application may also be static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct RAM RAM (DR RAM), etc. In other words, the memories in the embodiments of the present application are intended to include, but are not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memories.

[0384] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program.

[0385] Optionally, the computer-readable storage medium may be applied to the AP MLD in the embodiment of the present application, and the execution of the computer program enables the computer to execute the corresponding processes implemented by the AP MLD in the various methods of the embodiment of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they are not described here.

[0386] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product, including computer program instructions.

[0387] Optionally, the computer program product can be applied to the AP MLD in the embodiments of the present application, and the execution of the computer program instructions enables the computer to execute the corresponding processes implemented by the AP MLD in the various methods of the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they are not repeated here.

[0388] The embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program.

[0389] Optionally, the computer program may be applied to the AP MLD in the embodiments of the present application. When the computer program runs on a computer, the computer executes the corresponding processes implemented by the AP MLD in the various methods of the embodiments of the present application. For the sake of brevity, they are not described here.

[0390] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0391] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0392] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of the units is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0393] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0394] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0395] If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or the part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

[0396] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the present application should be included in the scope of protection of the present application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A link control method, the method comprising: If the access point multi-link device AP MLD receives a first frame sent by a first non-AP STA to which a first non-AP multi-link device Non-AP MLD is attached, and a first address of at least one second Non-AP STA among the Non-AP STAs to which the first Non-AP MLD is attached meets a first condition and / or a second condition, the AP MLD sends a first status code, where the first frame is used to request association and / or reassociation and / or multi-link reconfiguration, the first condition is related to at least one third Non-AP STA among the second Non-AP MLD to which the AP MLD is associated, and the second condition is related to a fourth Non-AP STA to which the second AP to which the AP MLD is attached is associated, and the first status code is used to reject the association request and / or reassociation request and / or multi-link reconfiguration request.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein The at least one second Non-AP STA is the same as or different from the first Non-AP STA.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The first condition includes: a first address of the at least one second Non-AP STA is the same as a second address of at least one third Non-AP STA among the Non-AP STAs to which the second Non-AP MLD is attached.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein: The first condition further includes: the at least one second Non-AP STA and the at least one third Non-AP STA operate on the same channel.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein: The channel on which the first AP operates is the same as or different from the channel on which the at least one second Non-AP STA operates.

6. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The second condition includes: the first address of the at least one second Non-AP STA is the same as the third address of at least one fourth Non-AP STA among the Non-AP STAs associated with the second AP.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein: The second condition further includes: the at least one second Non-AP STA and the at least one fourth Non-AP STA operate on the same channel.

8. The method according to claim 6, wherein: The channel of the second AP is the same as the channel on which the at least one second Non-AP STA operates.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1, 2, 6 to 8, wherein The second AP is the same as or different from the first AP.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein The first frame includes at least one of the following: Association request frame; Reassociation request frame; Multilink Reconfiguration Request frame.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein If the first frame includes a reconfigure multilink element, the first frame is used to request multilink reconfiguration.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein The reconfiguration multi-link element includes the first address of the at least one second Non-AP STA to which the first Non-APMLD is attached.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein If the first frame is used to request multi-link reconfiguration, the first status code is used to indicate rejection of the multi-link reconfiguration request.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein If the first frame is used to request multi-link reconfiguration, the first status code is used to refuse to reconfigure the link in which the conflict occurs in the first frame.

15. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein The method further comprises: If the AP MLD receives a second frame sent by a fifth non-AP STA through a third AP to which the AP MLD is associated, and a fourth address of the fifth non-AP STA satisfies a third condition, the AP MLD sends a second status code, where the second frame is used to request association and / or reassociation, the third condition is related to at least one sixth non-AP STA to which the third non-AP MLD is associated, and the second status code is used to reject the association request and / or reassociation request of the fifth non-AP STA.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein The third condition includes: the fourth address of the fifth Non-AP STA is the same as the fifth address of at least one sixth Non-AP STA among the Non-AP STAs to which the third Non-AP MLD is attached.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein The third condition further includes: the fifth Non-AP STA and the at least one sixth Non-AP STA operate on the same channel.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein The channel on which the third AP operates is the same as the channel on which the at least one sixth Non-AP STA operates.

19. An access point multi-link device (AP MLD), comprising: A processor and a memory, the memory being used to store a computer program, the processor being used to call and run the computer program stored in the memory, so that the AP MLD performs the method according to any one of claims 1 to 18.

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