Transmission method of null data packet declaration frame and related device

Abstract

The invention provides a null data packet declaration (NDPA) frame transmission method and a related device. The method comprises: an access point generating an NDPA frame, the NDPA frame comprising a site information field, the site information field comprising an association identifier (AID) subfield indicating an association identifier (AID) of a site; the site information field further comprises a partial bandwidth information subfield; the partial bandwidth information subfield indicates the RU of the channel state information required to be fed back by the station in the bandwidth corresponding to the NDPA frame; the bandwidth corresponding to the NDPA frame is greater than 160MHz; and the access point sends the NDPA frame. In this way, the site information field can indicate the site to perform channel detection with the bandwidth larger than 160 MHz, data can be transmitted by using a larger bandwidth, and the transmission efficiency is improved. The embodiment of the invention can be applied to a wireless local area network system supporting an IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) 802.11 next-generation WiFi EHT (Wireless Fidelity EHT) protocol, such as 802.11 protocols such as 802.11 be.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application. The original application has the application number 202010963022.3 and the original application date is September 14, 2020. The entire contents of the original application are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0002] This application relates to the field of wireless local area network technology, and in particular to a method and related apparatus for transmitting empty data packet declaration frames. Background Technology

[0003] In wireless systems such as Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), access points (APs) and stations (STAs) need to acquire channel state information in advance for functions such as beamforming (BF), rate control, and resource allocation. In WLANs, the process of acquiring channel state information is called channel detection. In related technologies, during channel detection, the AP first sends a null datapacket announcement (NDPA) frame to notify the STAs that need to perform channel detection. Then, after a short inter-frame space (SIFS), it sends a null datapacket (NDP) without a data field. The STA then uses the NDP to perform channel estimation and then feeds back channel state information (CSI) through a beamforming report (BF Report) frame.

[0004] In 802.11ax, NDPA frames are called high-efficiency (HE) NDPA frames. HE NDPA frames include a site information field, which includes an Association Identifier (AID) subfield, partial bandwidth information (Partial BW Info) subfields, feedback type, number of grouping subfields, and number of columns (Nc) subfield. The partial bandwidth information subfield indicates the frequency domain range of the channel state information required by the STA for feedback. This subfield includes the start index to the end index of the resource unit (RU), indicating a consecutive segment of RUs, thus indicating the corresponding frequency domain range. However, the maximum allowed transmission bandwidth is 160MHz. A bandwidth of 160MHz corresponds to a maximum of 74 resource units (26-tone RUs) with 26 subcarriers each. The RU start index and RU end index each indicate one of the 74 26-tone RUs.

[0005] However, with the development of WLAN technology, next-generation Wi-Fi standards (such as 802.11be or Wi-Fi 7) need to support larger bandwidth transmissions, such as those exceeding 160MHz. Channel probing is required before data transmission. Therefore, it is crucial to determine how to perform channel measurements for channels with larger bandwidths (e.g., bandwidth greater than 160MHz) to obtain channel state information, thereby supporting larger bandwidth data transmission and improving the transmission rate of next-generation Wi-Fi standards. Summary of the Invention

[0006] This application provides an NDPA frame transmission method and related apparatus that can meet the needs of RUs requiring feedback channel state information in bandwidths greater than 160MHz.

[0007] In a first aspect, embodiments of this application provide a method for transmitting NDPA frames, comprising: The access point generates an NDPA frame, which includes a site information field. The site information field includes an AID subfield indicating an associated identifier (AID) for a site. The site information field also includes a partial bandwidth information subfield and / or a column count subfield. The partial bandwidth information subfield indicates the resource unit (RU) required by the site to provide feedback channel state information within the bandwidth corresponding to the NDPA frame. The column count subfield indicates the number of columns in the compressed beamforming feedback matrix. The bandwidth corresponding to the NDPA frame is greater than 160MHz, and the number of columns indicated by the column count subfield is greater than 8. The access point sends the NDPA frame.

[0008] Secondly, embodiments of this application provide a method for transmitting NDPA frames, comprising: A station receives an NDPA frame, which includes a station information field. The station information field includes an AID subfield indicating an AID (Association Identifier) ​​of a station. The station information field also includes a partial bandwidth information subfield or a column number subfield. The partial bandwidth information subfield indicates the RU (Resource Unit) that the station needs to feed back channel state information within the bandwidth corresponding to the NDPA frame. The bandwidth corresponding to the NDPA frame is greater than 160MHz, and the column number subfield indicates a column number greater than 8. The station obtains the required feedback channel state information (RU) from the NDPA frame.

[0009] Thirdly, embodiments of this application also provide a transmission device, including a processing unit and a transmitting unit; The processing unit is used to generate an NDPA frame, which includes a site information field. The site information field includes an AID subfield indicating an associated identifier (AID) of a site. The site information field also includes a partial bandwidth information subfield and / or a column count subfield. The partial bandwidth information subfield indicates the resource unit (RU) required by the site to feed back channel state information within the bandwidth corresponding to the NDPA frame. The column count subfield indicates the number of columns in the compressed beamforming feedback matrix. The bandwidth corresponding to the NDPA frame is greater than 160MHz, and the number of columns indicated by the column count subfield is greater than 8. The transmitting unit is used to transmit the NDPA frame.

[0010] Fourthly, embodiments of this application also provide a transmission device, including a processing unit and a receiving unit; The receiving unit is used to receive NDPA frames, which include a site information field. The site information field includes an AID subfield indicating an association identifier (AID) of a site. The site information field also includes a partial bandwidth information subfield and / or a column number subfield. The partial bandwidth information subfield indicates the RU (Return Requirement) of the site in the bandwidth corresponding to the NDPA frame. The bandwidth corresponding to the NDPA frame is greater than 160MHz, and the column number subfield indicates a column number greater than 8. The processing unit is used to obtain the required feedback channel state information from the NDPA frame.

[0011] The technical solution of this application specifies that the bandwidth information subfield of the NDPA frame indicates the RUs (Real Units) requiring channel state information feedback within a bandwidth greater than 160MHz. The site information field instructs the site to perform channel probing with a bandwidth greater than 160MHz and to feed back a beamforming report based on the channel probing results, thereby enabling data transmission using a larger bandwidth and improving transmission efficiency. The column number subfield indicates a column number greater than 8. The site information field instructs the site to perform channel probing with a bandwidth greater than 8 columns and to feed back a beamforming report based on the channel probing results, thereby enabling data transmission using more streams and improving transmission efficiency.

[0012] Channel probing with and / or more than 8 streams is performed, and beamforming reports are fed back based on the channel probing results. This enables data transmission using greater bandwidth and / or more streams, improving transmission efficiency.

[0013] In some implementations, the NDPA frame includes type information indicating that the NDPA frame is an Extremely High Throughput (EHT) NDPA frame.

[0014] This type of information can indicate NDPA frame variants of 802.11be or other standards after 802.11be. For example, a variant of this NDPA frame could be an extremely high throughput (EHT) NDPA frame of the 802.11be standard. An EHT NDPA frame can indicate RUs (Realists) requiring channel state information feedback within a bandwidth greater than 160MHz, instructing the station to perform channel probing with a bandwidth greater than 160MHz and to provide beamforming reports based on the channel probing results. This enables data transmission using a larger bandwidth, improving transmission efficiency. An EHT NDPA frame can also indicate a column number greater than 8, instructing the station to perform channel probing with a bandwidth greater than 8 columns and to provide beamforming reports based on the channel probing results. This enables data transmission using more streams, further improving transmission efficiency.

[0015] It should be understood that the NDPA frames provided in the embodiments of this application are also applicable to cases where the bandwidth is less than or equal to 160MHz, or the indicated number of columns is less than or equal to 8.

[0016] In some implementations, the NDPA frame further includes a probe session token field and a special site information field. The probe session token field includes a frame category subfield, and the special site information field includes a frame subcategory subfield. The type information is carried in the frame category subfield and the frame subcategory subfield. The frame category subfield indicates that the NDPA frame is a non-high throughput (HE) NDPA frame and a non-ranging NDPA frame, and the frame subcategory subfield indicates that the NDPA frame is an EHT NDPA frame.

[0017] Thus, HE STAs or Range STAs that do not support EHT NDPA frames will identify the EHT NDPA frame as a VHT NDPA frame based on the frame category subfield in the probe session token field, and read the NDPA frame according to the VHT NDPA frame format. The site information field of this EHT NDPA frame does not contain the AID of the HE STA or Range STA. Upon receiving this EHT NDPA frame, the HE STA or Range STA will recognize that the AID in the site information field does not match its own AID, and therefore will not provide feedback based on the NDPA frame. This prevents HE STAs or Range STAs from misinterpreting the EHT NDPA frame. An EHT STA that supports EHT NDPA frames can determine whether a frame is an EHT NDPA frame based on the frame sub-category sub-field. If the frame sub-category sub-field indicates that it is an EHT NDPA frame, it can read part of the bandwidth information sub-field and column number sub-field in the NDPA frame according to the structure of the EHT NDPA frame, thereby accurately obtaining part of the bandwidth information and / or the number of columns that need to be fed back as channel state information.

[0018] It should be understood that in this application, HE STA refers to HE STA that does not support NDPA frame variants after HE NDPA frames. In the embodiments of this application, Ranging STA refers to an older version of Ranging STA that does not support NDPA frame variants after Ranging NDPA frames.

[0019] The following provides some implementation methods for some bandwidth information subfields.

[0020] In some implementations, the partial bandwidth information subfield includes a resource unit start index and a resource unit offset index. The resource unit start index indicates the first RU for which the station needs to provide feedback channel state information, and the resource unit offset index indicates the offset of the last RU for which the station needs to provide feedback channel state information relative to the first RU. Thus, the station can determine the last RU for which feedback channel state information is required based on the offset indicated by the partial bandwidth information subfield and the first RU. This reduces the number of bits in the resource unit offset index, thereby reducing the number of bits required for the partial bandwidth information subfield when indicating the same partial bandwidth information, and enabling the indication of RUs requiring feedback channel state information in a larger bandwidth without increasing the number of bits in the partial bandwidth information subfield.

[0021] In this application, the resource unit starting index has 8 bits, and the resource unit offset index has less than or equal to 5 bits. Thus, compared to the 14-bit partial bandwidth information subfield in HENDPA, the solution in this application reduces the number of bits in the partial bandwidth information subfield, allowing the saved bits to be added to the column count subfield, increasing its bit count so that it indicates a column number greater than 8.

[0022] In one specific implementation, the resource unit offset index indicates the offset of the last RU relative to the first RU by indicating the multiple of the offset relative to the basic granularity. Alternatively, the resource unit offset index indicates the offset by indicating the value obtained by dividing the offset by the basic granularity. Mathematically, this can be expressed as N = offset / basic granularity. The resource unit offset index can indicate the offset by indicating N, where N is a positive integer. This allows for more efficient compression of the resource unit offset index, thus helping to support RUs requiring feedback channel state information in larger bandwidths and also allowing the column number subfield to indicate a larger number of columns.

[0023] The compression level of the resource unit offset index can be adjusted by changing the basic granularity. A larger basic granularity results in greater compression. Greater compression requires fewer bits to indicate the same offset, reducing signaling overhead. This allows some bandwidth information subfields to support RUs requiring feedback channel state information within larger bandwidths. Optionally, the basic granularity is eight 26-tone RUs.

[0024] In other embodiments, the partial bandwidth information subfield includes an RU indication index, which comprises a frequency domain indication portion and an RU indication portion. The frequency domain indication portion indicates the frequency domain range of the RU that requires feedback channel state information from the station, and the RU indication portion indicates the RU that requires feedback channel state information. The RU requiring feedback channel state information can be a single RU or a combination of multiple RUs. Thus, the partial bandwidth information subfield indicates partial bandwidth information within the same bandwidth, requiring fewer bits and reducing signaling overhead. This allows it to support indicating RUs requiring feedback channel state information within larger bandwidths and also helps the column count subfield indicate a larger number of columns.

[0025] In one specific implementation, the RU indicator index has 9 bits. Specifically, the frequency domain indicator portion has 2 bits, and the RU indicator portion has 7 bits. This reasonable allocation of bits between the frequency domain indicator portion and the RU indicator portion allows for the indication of RUs requiring feedback channel state information over a larger bandwidth using fewer bits.

[0026] In other embodiments, the partial bandwidth information subfield includes an RU indication index, which indicates the RU corresponding to part or all of the bandwidth for which the station needs to provide feedback channel state information, as well as the frequency position of the RU in the full bandwidth.

[0027] Specifically, the minimum granularity of the RU indicator index is 242-tone RU, so that it is not necessary to indicate small RUs, which helps to reduce the number of bits of the RU indicator index and reduce the indicator overhead.

[0028] In one embodiment, the required bandwidth for feedback channel state information is N×80MHz, and the RU corresponding to the required bandwidth for feedback channel state information is N×996-tone RU, where N=1, 2, 3 or 4. The RU indicator index includes a 4-bit bitmap, where each bit of the bitmap corresponds to an 80MHz, and each bit in the bitmap is used to indicate whether the 80MHz corresponding to that bit is the required bandwidth for feedback channel state information.

[0029] In another embodiment, the bandwidth for which feedback channel state information is required is the full bandwidth, and the RU indicator index is a first index used to indicate the full bandwidth. Optionally, the full bandwidth is one of 20MHz, 40MHz, 80MHz, 160MHz, or 320MHz.

[0030] Optionally, the RU indicator index can be 5 bits, 6 bits, or 7 bits.

[0031] Specifically, when the RU indicator index is 5 bits, the RU indicator index indicates only a single RU.

[0032] When the RU indicator index is 6 bits, the RU indicated by the RU indicator index can be one of 242-tone RU, 484-tone RU, 484+996-tone RU, 242+484-tone RU, 996-tone RU, 2×996-tone RU, 3×996-tone RU or 4×996-tone RU.

[0033] When the RU indicator index is 7 bits, the RU indicated by the RU indicator index can be one of the following: 242-tone RU, 484-tone RU, 484+996-tone RU, 242+484-tone RU, 996-tone RU, 2×996-tone RU, 2×996+484-tone RU, 3×996-tone RU, 3×996+484-tone RU, or 4×996-tone RU.

[0034] In some embodiments, the partial bandwidth information subfield includes a resource unit start index and a resource unit end index. The resource unit start index indicates the first RU for which the station needs to feed back channel state information, and the resource unit end index indicates the last RU for which the station needs to feed back channel state information. The first RU is a (k1×n+c1)×26-tone RU, where c1 and k1 are positive integers and n is a natural number. The last RU is a (k2×m+c2)×26-tone RU, where c2 and k2 are positive integers and m is a natural number. The resource unit start index indicates the first RU by indicating n, and the resource unit end index indicates the last RU by indicating m, where k1≥2 and / or k2≥2. Thus, the compression degree of the partial bandwidth information subfield can be adjusted by adjusting the value of either k1 or k2. The larger k1 is, the greater the compression degree of the partial bandwidth information subfield; the larger k2 is, the greater the compression degree of the partial bandwidth information subfield. The greater the compression, the fewer bits are needed to indicate the same partial bandwidth information, so that the partial bandwidth information subfield can support RUs that need to provide feedback channel state information in a larger bandwidth.

[0035] Based on any of the above embodiments, the number of bytes in the site information field can be 4 bytes. This allows for the indication of RUs requiring channel state information feedback within a bandwidth greater than 160MHz and / or the indication of a stream count greater than 8, without increasing the overhead of the site information field. Thus, the site information field can instruct the site to perform channel probing with a bandwidth greater than 160MHz and / or a stream count greater than 8, and to provide a beamforming report based on the channel probing results. This enables data transmission using a larger bandwidth and / or more stream counts, improving transmission efficiency.

[0036] Furthermore, the number of bytes in the station information field of the EHT NDPA frame is consistent with that of the HE NDPA frame. Compared to setting the number of bytes in the station information field of the EHT NDPA frame to 6 bytes, the 4-byte station information field can avoid misreading by the HE STA. This is because the HE STA may not accurately identify the type of the EHT NDPA frame and may treat it as an HE NDPA frame, reading it according to the structure of the HE NDPA frame. If the station information field of the EHT NDPA frame is 6 bytes, the HE STA will read the first 11 bits of the third 2-byte segment as the AID. If the first 11 bits of the third 2-byte segment of the EHT NDPA frame happen to match the HE STA's AID, the HE STA will mistakenly believe that the third 2-byte segment and the two bytes following it are its own station information field. This bitwise misreading can cause misreading by the HE STA.

[0037] The 4-byte station information field provided in this application has the same number of bytes as the station information field in an EHT NDPA frame. The first 11 bits of every 2 bytes in the station information field of an EHT NDPA frame are the AID of the EHT STA. Even if the EHT STA treats the EHT NDPA frame as an EHT NDPA frame and reads it according to the structure of the EHT NDPA frame, the EHT STA will recognize that the first 11 bits of every 2 bytes do not match its own AID, thus effectively preventing misreading by the EHT STA.

[0038] Fifthly, embodiments of this application also provide a method for transmitting NDPA frames, comprising: The access point generates an NDPA frame, the NDPA frame including at least two site information fields, wherein the two site information fields include an AID subfield indicating the AID of the same site; the access point sends the NDPA frame.

[0039] Among them, two site information fields meet at least one of the following criteria: The bandwidth information subfields in both site information fields jointly indicate the RU (Return Requirement) that the site needs to feed back channel state information, and the bandwidth corresponding to the NDPA frame is greater than 160MHz; or The column number subfield in one of the two site information fields and the column number subfield in the other site information field indicate the number of columns in the compressed beamforming feedback matrix, and the column number subfield indicates a number of columns greater than 8; The access point sends an NDPA frame.

[0040] Sixthly, embodiments of this application also provide a method for transmitting NDPA frames, comprising: The site receives an NDPA frame, the NDPA frame including at least two site information fields, wherein the two site information fields include an AID subfield indicating the AID of the same site; the access point sends the NDPA frame.

[0041] Among them, two site information fields meet at least one of the following criteria: The bandwidth information subfields in both site information fields jointly indicate the RU (Return Requirement) that the site needs to feed back channel state information, and the bandwidth corresponding to the NDPA frame is greater than 160MHz; or The column number subfield in one of the two site information fields and the column number subfield in the other site information field indicate the number of columns in the compressed beamforming feedback matrix, and the column number subfield indicates a number of columns greater than 8; The station obtains the required feedback channel state information (RU) from the NDPA frame.

[0042] In a seventh aspect, embodiments of this application also provide a transmission apparatus, including a processing unit and a transmitting unit. The processing unit generates an NDPA frame, which includes at least two site information fields, wherein the two site information fields include an AID subfield indicating an association identifier (AID) of the same site; the access point sends the NDPA frame.

[0043] Among them, two site information fields meet at least one of the following criteria: The bandwidth information subfields in both site information fields jointly indicate the RU (Return Requirement) that the site needs to feed back channel state information, and the bandwidth corresponding to the NDPA frame is greater than 160MHz; or The column number subfield in one of the two site information fields and the column number subfield in the other site information field indicate the number of columns in the compressed beamforming feedback matrix, and the column number subfield indicates a number of columns greater than 8; The transmitting unit is used to transmit NDPA frames.

[0044] Eighthly, embodiments of this application also provide a transmission apparatus, including a processing unit and a receiving unit; The receiving unit is used to receive NDPA frames, the NDPA frames including at least two site information fields, wherein the two site information fields include an AID subfield indicating the AID of the same site; the access point sends the NDPA frames.

[0045] Among them, two site information fields meet at least one of the following criteria: The bandwidth information subfields in both site information fields jointly indicate the RU (Return Requirement) that the site needs to feed back channel state information, and the bandwidth corresponding to the NDPA frame is greater than 160MHz; or The column number subfield in one of the two site information fields and the column number subfield in the other site information field indicate the number of columns in the compressed beamforming feedback matrix, and the column number subfield indicates a number of columns greater than 8; The processing unit is used to obtain the required feedback channel state information from the NDPA frame.

[0046] In this way, a new site information field corresponding to a site can be added without changing the original site information field included in the NDPA frame. Two subfields with partial bandwidth information in the site information field, indicating the RUs (Real Estate Units) requiring channel state information feedback within a bandwidth greater than 160MHz, can instruct the site to perform channel probing with a bandwidth greater than 160MHz and feed back beamforming reports based on the channel probing results. This enables data transmission using a larger bandwidth, improving transmission efficiency. Two subfields with column count in the site information field, indicating a column count greater than 8, can instruct the site to perform channel probing with a bandwidth greater than 8 columns and feed back beamforming reports based on the channel probing results. This enables data transmission using more streams, further improving transmission efficiency.

[0047] Regarding the method of indicating the RU (Resource Unit) that a station needs to feed back channel state information in two site information fields, in one specific implementation, the resource unit start index in one site information field and the resource unit start index in the other site information field indicate the first RU of the channel state information that the station needs to feed back in the bandwidth corresponding to the NDPA frame, and the resource unit end index in one site information field and the resource unit end index in the other site information field indicate the last RU of the channel state information that the station needs to feed back; for example, the resource unit start index in one site information field has 7 bits, the resource unit start index in the other site information field has 1 bit, the resource unit end index in one site information field has 1 bit, and the resource unit end index in the other site information field has 1 bit.

[0048] In another specific implementation, one of the two site information fields includes a resource unit start index, which indicates the first RU of the channel state information that the site needs to feed back, and the other site information field includes a resource unit end index, which indicates the last RU of the channel state information that the site needs to feed back.

[0049] Optionally, in the two site information fields, the column number subfield in one site information field has 3 bits, and the column number subfield in the other site information field has 1 bit.

[0050] In some implementations, the NDPA frame includes type information indicating that the NDPA frame is an Extremely High Throughput (EHT) NDPA frame.

[0051] In some implementations, the NDPA frame further includes a probe session token field and a special site information field. The probe session token field includes a frame category subfield, and the special site information field includes a frame subcategory subfield. The type information is carried in the frame category subfield and the frame subcategory subfield. The frame category subfield indicates that the NDPA frame is a non-HE NDPA frame and a non-Ranging NDPA frame, and the frame subcategory subfield indicates that the NDPA frame is an EHT NDPA frame.

[0052] The special site information field also includes a special AID that indicates that the site information field is a special site information field. The special AID may be, for example, but is not limited to, 2047.

[0053] Ninthly, embodiments of this application also provide a method for transmitting NDPA frames, comprising: The access point generates an NDPA frame, which includes a probe session token field, a special site information field, and a site information field. The probe session token field includes a frame category subfield, and the special site information field includes a frame subcategory subfield. The frame category subfield indicates that the NDPA frame is a non-HE NDPA frame and a non-Ranging NDPA frame, and the frame subcategory subfield indicates that the NDPA frame is an EHT NDPA frame. The access point sends an NDPA frame.

[0054] In a tenth aspect, embodiments of this application also provide a method for transmitting NDPA frames, comprising: The station receives an NDPA frame, which includes a probe session token field, a special station information field, and a station information field. The probe session token field includes a frame category subfield, and the special station information field includes a frame subcategory subfield. The frame category subfield indicates that the NDPA frame is a non-HE NDPA frame and a non-Ranging NDPA frame, and the frame subcategory subfield indicates that the NDPA frame is an EHT NDPA frame. The site obtains the frame category subfield and frame subcategory subfield from the NDPA frame to determine whether the NDPA frame is an EHTNDPA frame.

[0055] Eleventhly, embodiments of this application also provide a transmission device, including a processing unit and a transmitting unit. The processing unit is used to generate NDPA frames. The NDPA frame includes a probe session token field, a special site information field, and a site information field. The probe session token field includes a frame category subfield, and the special site information field includes a frame subcategory subfield. The frame category subfield indicates that the NDPA frame is a non-HE NDPA frame and a non-Ranging NDPA frame, and the frame subcategory subfield indicates that the NDPA frame is an EHT NDPA frame. The transmitting unit is used to transmit NDPA frames.

[0056] In a twelfth aspect, embodiments of this application also provide a transmission apparatus, including a processing unit and a receiving unit. The receiving unit is used to receive NDPA frames, which include a probe session token field, a special site information field, and a site information field; the probe session token field includes a frame category subfield, and the special site information field includes a frame subcategory subfield; the frame category subfield indicates that the NDPA frame is a non-HE NDPA frame and a non-Ranging NDPA frame, and the frame subcategory subfield indicates that the NDPA frame is an EHT NDPA frame; The processing unit is used to obtain the frame category subfield and the frame sub-category subfield from the NDPA frame to determine that the NDPA frame is an EHT NDPA frame.

[0057] Thus, the frame category subfield and the frame subcategory subfield, combined, indicate that the NDPA frame is an EHT NDPA frame. An EHT NDPA frame can indicate RUs (Real Units) requiring channel state information feedback within a bandwidth greater than 160MHz, instructing the station to perform channel probing with a bandwidth greater than 160MHz and to feed back beamforming reports based on the channel probing results. This enables data transmission using a larger bandwidth, improving transmission efficiency. An EHT NDPA frame can also indicate a column number greater than 8, instructing the station to perform channel probing with a bandwidth greater than 8 columns and to feed back beamforming reports based on the channel probing results. This enables data transmission using more streams, further improving transmission efficiency. Moreover, this does not require defining a new frame, fully utilizing the remaining available types in the MAC frame, thus saving resources.

[0058] In a thirteenth aspect, embodiments of this application also provide a communication device, which may include: a processor, a transceiver, and optionally a memory, wherein when the processor executes a computer program or instructions in the memory, the methods of any of the embodiments of the first, second, fifth, sixth, ninth, or tenth aspects described above are performed.

[0059] In a fourteenth aspect, embodiments of this application also provide a computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions that instruct a communication device to perform the method of any of the embodiments of the first, second, fifth, sixth, ninth, or tenth aspects described above.

[0060] In a fifteenth aspect, embodiments of this application also provide a computer program product comprising a computer program that, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the methods of any of the embodiments of the first, second, fifth, sixth, ninth, or tenth aspects described above.

[0061] In a sixteenth aspect, this application also provides a processor for executing any one of the methods described in the first, second, fifth, sixth, ninth, or tenth aspects. During the execution of these methods, the processes of sending and receiving the aforementioned information can be understood as the processor outputting the aforementioned information and the processor receiving the input information. Specifically, when outputting the aforementioned information, the processor outputs the information to a transceiver for transmission. Furthermore, after being output by the processor, the information may require further processing before reaching the transceiver. Similarly, when the processor receives the input information, the transceiver receives the information and inputs it to the processor. Furthermore, after the transceiver receives the information, the information may require further processing before being input to the processor.

[0062] In this way, the transmission, receiving, and other operations involved in the processor can be more generally understood as processor output and receiving, input, and other operations, rather than transmission, receiving, and receiving operations directly performed by the radio frequency circuit and antenna, unless otherwise specified or contradicted by their actual function or internal logic in the relevant description.

[0063] In specific implementation, the processor can be a dedicated processor for executing these methods, or it can be a processor that executes computer instructions stored in memory to execute these methods, such as a general-purpose processor. The memory can be a non-transitory memory, such as read-only memory (ROM), which can be integrated with the processor on the same chip or disposed on different chips. The embodiments of the present invention do not limit the type of memory or the arrangement of the memory and the processor.

[0064] In a seventeenth aspect, this application provides a chip system including a processor and an interface for supporting a communication transmission device in implementing the functions involved in the methods of any one of the first to fourth aspects, such as determining or processing at least one of the data and information involved in the aforementioned methods. In one possible design, the chip system further includes a memory for storing necessary information and data of the aforementioned communication device. The chip system may be composed of chips or may include chips and other discrete devices.

[0065] In an eighteenth aspect, this application provides a functional entity for implementing the methods described in the first, second, fifth, sixth, ninth, or tenth aspects above. Attached Figure Description

[0066] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the network architecture of the communication system involved in the embodiments of this application; Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the communication device involved in the embodiments of this application; Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a chip provided in an embodiment of this application; Figure 4A This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the VHT NDPA frame involved in this application; Figure 4B This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the HE NDPA frame involved in this application; Figure 5 A flowchart illustrating the NDPA frame transmission method provided in this application embodiment; Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of an NDPA frame provided in an embodiment of this application; Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the site information field provided in the embodiments of this application; Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of another site information field provided in an embodiment of this application; Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of another NDPA frame provided in an embodiment of this application; Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of another NDPA frame provided in an embodiment of this application; Figure 11 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of another NDPA frame provided in an embodiment of this application; Figure 12 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the EHT MIMO control field provided in the embodiments of this application; Figure 13 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the trigger frame provided in the embodiments of this application; Figure 14 A schematic diagram of the feedback process for beamforming reports; Figure 15 A schematic diagram of the transmission device provided in the embodiments of this application; Figure 16 This is a schematic diagram of a transmission device according to another embodiment of this application; Figure 17 This is a schematic diagram of a transmission device according to another embodiment of this application; Figure 18 This is a schematic diagram of a transmission device according to another embodiment of the present application; Figure 19 This is a schematic diagram of a transmission device according to yet another embodiment of this application; Figure 20This is a schematic diagram of a transmission device according to yet another embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0067] The technical solutions in this application will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0068] This application provides a method for transmitting NDPA in a wireless communication system. The wireless communication system can be a wireless local area network (WLAN) or a cellular network, and the method can be implemented by a communication device in the wireless communication system or a chip or processor within the communication device. In the WLAN, the communication device supports communication using the IEEE 802.11 series of protocols, including 802.11be, 802.11ax, or 802.11a / b / g / n / ac.

[0069] by Figure 1 The following example illustrates the network structure to which the NDPA transmission method of this application is applicable. Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a network structure provided in an embodiment of this application. This network structure can be a wireless local area network (WLAN). It may include one or more access point (AP) type stations and one or more non-access point stations (non-AP STAs). For ease of description, this document refers to access point type stations as access points (APs) and non-access point type stations as stations (STAs). An AP is, for example... Figure 1 AP1 and AP2, STA for example Figure 1 STA1 and STA2 in the middle.

[0070] Access points are points through which terminal devices (such as mobile phones) access wired (or wireless) networks. They are primarily deployed in homes, buildings, and campuses, with a typical coverage radius of tens to hundreds of meters. They can also be deployed outdoors. An access point acts as a bridge between wired and wireless networks, connecting various wireless network clients and then connecting the wireless network to the Ethernet. Specifically, access points can be terminal devices (such as mobile phones) or network devices (such as routers) equipped with wireless fidelity (WiFi) chips. Access points can be devices supporting the 802.11be standard. Access points can also be devices supporting various wireless local area networks (WLANs) within the 802.11 family, such as 802.11be, 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b, and 802.11a. The access point in this application may be an extrameally high throughput (ETH) AP, or an access point that is compatible with a future generation of WiFi standards.

[0071] An access point may include a processor and a transceiver. The processor is used to control and manage the actions of the access point, and the transceiver is used to receive or send information.

[0072] The site can be a wireless communication chip, wireless sensor, or wireless communication terminal, and can also be referred to as a user. For example, the site can be a mobile phone supporting WiFi communication, a tablet computer supporting WiFi communication, a set-top box supporting WiFi communication, a smart TV supporting WiFi communication, a smart wearable device supporting WiFi communication, an in-vehicle communication device supporting WiFi communication, and a computer supporting WiFi communication, etc. Optionally, the site can support the 802.11be standard. The site can also support various wireless local area networks (WLAN) standards of the 802.11 family, such as 802.11be, 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b, and 802.11a.

[0073] A site may include a processor and a transceiver. The processor is used to control and manage the actions of the access point, and the transceiver is used to receive or send information.

[0074] The access point in this application can be an extrameally high throughput (EHT) STA or a STA that is compatible with a future generation of WiFi standards.

[0075] For example, access points and sites can be devices used in the Internet of Vehicles (IoV), 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.

[0076] The access points and sites involved in the embodiments of this application can also be collectively referred to as communication devices, which may include hardware structures and software modules, and implement the above functions in the form of hardware structures, software modules, or hardware structures plus software modules. One of the above functions can be implemented in the form of hardware structures, software modules, or hardware structures plus software modules.

[0077] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. Figure 2 As shown, the communication device 200 may include: a processor 201, a transceiver 205, and optionally a memory 202.

[0078] The transceiver 205, also known as a transceiver unit, transceiver, or transceiver circuit, is used to implement transceiver functions. The transceiver 205 may include a receiver and a transmitter. The receiver, also known as a receiver or receiving circuit, is used to implement the receiving function; the transmitter, also known as a transmitter or transmitting circuit, is used to implement the transmitting function.

[0079] The memory 202 may store computer programs, software code, or instructions 204, which may also be referred to as firmware. The processor 201 can control the MAC layer and PHY layer by running the computer programs, software code, or instructions 203 therein, or by calling the computer programs, software code, or instructions 204 stored in the memory 202, to implement the NDPA transmission method provided in the following embodiments of this application. The processor 201 may be a central processing unit (CPU), and the memory 202 may be, for example, read-only memory (ROM) or random access memory (RAM).

[0080] The processor 201 and transceiver 205 described in this application can be implemented on integrated circuits (ICs), analog ICs, radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs), mixed-signal ICs, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), printed circuit boards (PCBs), electronic devices, etc.

[0081] The communication device 200 may also include an antenna 206. The modules included in the communication device 200 are merely illustrative examples and are not intended to limit the scope of this application.

[0082] As mentioned above, the communication device 200 described in the above embodiments may be an access point or a station, but the scope of the communication device described in this application is not limited to this, and the structure of the communication device may vary. Figure 2 The communication device can be a standalone device or part of a larger device. For example, the communication device can be implemented as follows: (1) A standalone integrated circuit IC, or chip, or chip system or subsystem; (2) A collection of one or more ICs, optionally including storage components for storing data or instructions; (3) A module that can be embedded in other devices; (4) Receivers, smart terminals, wireless devices, handheld devices, mobile units, vehicle-mounted devices, cloud devices, artificial intelligence devices, etc.; (5) Others, etc.

[0083] For communication devices implemented as chips or chip systems, please refer to [link / reference]. Figure 3 The diagram shows the structure of the chip. Figure 3 The chip shown includes a processor 301 and an interface 302. There can be one or more processors 301, and multiple interfaces 302. Interfaces 302 are used for signal reception and transmission. Optionally, the chip or chip system may include a memory 303. The memory 303 stores necessary program instructions and data for the chip or chip system.

[0084] This application provides embodiments that do not limit the scope and applicability of the claims. Those skilled in the art can make adaptive changes to the function and deployment of the elements involved in this application without departing from the scope of the embodiments, or omit, substitute, or add various processes or components as appropriate.

[0085] WLAN has evolved from the 802.11a / g standard through multiple band standards, such as 802.11n, 802.11ac, and the currently under discussion 802.11ax. NDPA frames have different variants in different standards.

[0086] 802.11ac is the predecessor to 802.11ax. Under the 802.11ac standard, a variant of NDPA frames can be called Very High Throughput (VHT) NDPA. Figure 4A As shown, Figure 4A This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a VHT NDPA frame.

[0087] like Figure 4A As shown, a VHT NDPA frame includes a frame control field, a duration field, a receiving address (RA) field, a transmitting address (TA) field, a sounding dialog token field, and one or more station information (STAInfo) fields. The frame control field includes frame type and subtype subfields to indicate that the frame is an NDPA frame. The sounding dialog token field is used to index the sequence number of the channel probe. The RA and TA fields are used to identify the receiver and transmitter of the MAC frame.

[0088] The site information field includes an AID subfield indicating the association identifier (AID), a feedback type subfield, and a number of columns (Nc) subfield. Each site information field is 2 bytes in size.

[0089] The AID subfield indicates the AID of the site corresponding to this site information field. The Feedback Type subfield indicates whether the feedback is for a single user or multiple users. The Number of Columns (Nc) subfield indicates the number of columns of channel state information required for this site to provide feedback, which can also be understood as the number of spatial streams of channel state information required for this site to provide feedback.

[0090] In 802.11ax, the corresponding NDPA frame variant is the high throughput (HE) NDPA frame. For example... Figure 4B As shown, Figure 4B This is a schematic diagram of the HE NDPA frame structure. A HE NDPA frame includes a frame control field, a duration field, an RA field, a TA field, a probe session token field, and one or more site information fields.

[0091] The probe token can be 1 byte, meaning it can contain 8 bits, designated B0-B7. The probe token field includes a 1-bit frame category subfield. This subfield, located at B1 of the probe token, indicates whether the NDPA frame is a HE NDPA frame. 0 indicates a non-HE NDPA frame, and 1 indicates a HE NDPA frame.

[0092] The site information fields include the AID subfield, the partial bandwidth information (partial BW Info) subfield, the feedback type and group (feedback type and Ng) subfield, the disambiguation subfield, the codebook size subfield, and the number of columns (Nc) subfield. Each site information field is 4 bytes long.

[0093] The AID subfield and column number subfield serve the same purpose as the AID subfield and column number subfield in the VHT NDPA described above.

[0094] The bandwidth information subfield indicates the frequency domain range of the channel status information that the site corresponding to this AID needs to provide feedback.

[0095] The bandwidth used for data transmission can be divided into one or more resource units (RUs). The size of an RU can be 26-tone RU, 52-tone RU, 106-tone RU, 242-tone, 484-tone, 996-tone, etc. Here, "tone" represents a subcarrier; for example, a 26-tone RU means an RU consisting of 26 subcarriers. A 20MHz frequency domain resource can be composed of a single resource unit (242-tone RU) consisting of 242 subcarriers, or it can be composed of nine 26-tone RUs.

[0096] The aforementioned bandwidth information subfield indicates the frequency domain range of the channel state information that the station needs to feed back by pointing to a continuous 26-tone RU. That is, this bandwidth information subfield indicates the RU that the STA corresponding to this AID needs to feed back channel state information, thereby indicating the frequency domain range of a portion of the bandwidth required for the station to feed back channel state information. It should be understood that the frequency domain range of this portion of the bandwidth belongs to the bandwidth corresponding to the NDPA frame.

[0097] Partial bandwidth information subfields include resource unit start index and resource unit end index, which indicate a continuous range of RUs. The maximum bandwidth of 802.11ax is 160MHz, consisting of 74 26-tone RUs. Therefore, the start index of the RU needs to be... The first RU (Real Estate Name) corresponding to this AID requires feedback channel state information. The end index of the RU requires 7 bits to indicate the last RU for which the station needs feedback channel state information. "To round up."

[0098] The feedback type and Ng subfield indicate whether the feedback is single-user or multi-user feedback, and that Ng subcarriers are grouped together. This allows subcarriers in the same group to uniformly feed back channel state information, helping to save overhead.

[0099] The disambiguation field is used to prevent VHT STAs from misreading it as a VHT NDPA frame. In this application, VHT STA refers to an older version of VHT STA that supports the 802.11ac protocol and does not support NDPA frame variants after VHT NDPA frames.

[0100] The codebook size subfield indicates the precision of the quantization; different levels of precision correspond to different overheads.

[0101] In 802.11ax, a site can have a maximum of 8 antennas, and the maximum number of columns supported is 8. Therefore, the column count subfield needs to be specified. The bit indicates a column number that is a value from 1 to 8.

[0102] In the 802.11az, or the Ranging standard phase, the corresponding NDPA frame variant is the Ranging NDPA frame. The structure of the Ranging NDPA frame is basically the same as that of the HE NDPA frame; the structure of the Ranging NDPA frame can be found in [reference needed]. Figure 4B .

[0103] Unlike HE NDPA frames, the frame category subfield in the probe dialog token field of a Ranging NDPA frame consists of 2 bits, which are B0 and B1 from B0-B7 mentioned above. One bit (B1) indicates whether the NDPA frame is an HE NDPA frame, and the other bit (B0) indicates whether the NDPA frame is a Ranging NDPA frame. The Ranging STA determines the variant of the NDPA frame based on this 2-bit frame category subfield. The specific indication relationship of the frame category subfield is shown in Table 1 below.

[0104] Table 1

[0105] It should be understood that HE STA does not read the bit in the frame category subfield used to indicate whether it is a Rangeing NDPA frame. In this application, HE STA refers to an older version of HE STA that supports the 802.11ax protocol but does not support NDPA frame variants after HE NDPA frames. In this application, Rangeing STA refers to an older version of Rangeing STA that supports the 802.11az protocol but does not support NDPA frame variants after Rangeing NDPA frames.

[0106] Regarding the indication method of some bandwidth information subfields in different generations of standards, the maximum bandwidth of 802.11ax is 160MHz, and some bandwidth information subfields can be indicated by 74 26-tone RUs. The 74 26-tone RUs are numbered sequentially from low to high frequency as 0, 1, 2, 3, ..., 73.

[0107] In a HENDPA frame, the partial bandwidth information subfield is indicated as follows: the resource unit start index indicates one of the 74 26-tone RUs, and the resource unit end index indicates one of the 74 26-tone RUs. Specifically, the resource unit start index indicates one of the 74 26-tone RUs by using the sequence number of the 26-tone RU; the resource unit end index indicates one of the 74 26-tone RUs by using the sequence number of the 26-tone RU.

[0108] As can be seen from the above scheme, the starting index of RU in some bandwidth information subfields only supports one RU out of 74 26-tone RUs, and the ending index of RU also only supports one RU out of 74 26-tone RUs.

[0109] However, the 802.11be standard can only support a maximum bandwidth of 320MHz. For example, using 26-tone RUs as the granularity for indication, 320MHz can correspond to a maximum of 148 26-tone RUs, requiring the indication of 148 different scenarios. Obviously, in this case, some bandwidth information subfields in the HENDPA frame cannot meet the requirements of the 802.11be standard for indicating RUs that require feedback channel state information in larger bandwidths.

[0110] Regarding the way the column count subfield indicates the number of columns in different standards, 802.11ax has a maximum of 8 columns, and the 3-bit column count subfield in HENDPA frames indicates the number of columns by indicating a value from 1 to 8. However, the 802.11be standard, which is currently under discussion, needs to indicate a maximum of 16 columns. Obviously, the column count subfield in HENDPA frames cannot meet the requirement of indicating a larger number of columns under the 802.11be standard.

[0111] The technical solution of this application is described below with reference to the NDPA frame transmission method provided in the embodiments of this application. In the embodiments of this application, the NDPA frame includes various fields and subfields. It should be understood that the embodiments of this application do not limit the naming of the various fields and subfields in the NDPA frame, and in other embodiments, they can be replaced with other names.

[0112] Please see Figure 5 , Figure 5 This is a flowchart illustrating a method for transmitting NDPA frames according to an embodiment of this application. The method includes the following steps: 501. The beamforming initiator (Bfer) generates an NDPA frame; An NDPA frame includes one or more site information fields. These field includes an AID subfield indicating the AID, a partial bandwidth information subfield, and / or a column count subfield. The partial bandwidth information subfield indicates the RU (Rack of Ref) within the bandwidth of the NDPA frame that the beamforming responder (Bfee) corresponding to the AID requires to provide channel state information. Alternatively, the partial bandwidth information subfield can be understood as indicating the RU that the Bfee requires to provide feedback. The RU that the site requires to provide channel state information, or the RU that the Bfee requires to provide feedback, can be a single RU or a combination of multiple RUs.

[0113] It should be understood that the RU indicated by the partial bandwidth information subfield is a continuous RU, and is not limited to indicating a continuous 26-tone RU. For example, it can indicate a continuous 52-tone RU, a continuous 242-tone RU, or a combination of multiple continuous RUs of different sizes.

[0114] In this application, the RU indicated by the partial bandwidth information subfield is not necessarily the actual RU. RU corresponds to a subcarrier. The partial bandwidth information subfield indicates the range of subcarriers by indicating the RUs within the bandwidth, thereby indicating the frequency domain range of the partial bandwidth for which the Bfer requires feedback. For example, indicating 320MHz as 148 26-tone RUs does not mean that the 320MHz bandwidth includes 148 26-tone RUs. The RU indicated by the partial bandwidth information subfield is only used to indicate the corresponding frequency domain range.

[0115] Among them, the bandwidth corresponding to the NDPA frame is greater than 160MHz, or the number of columns indicated by the column number subfield is greater than 8, or the bandwidth corresponding to the NDPA frame is greater than 160MHz and the number of columns indicated by the column number subfield is greater than 8.

[0116] The bandwidth corresponding to an NDPA frame can be understood as the bandwidth of channel probing. Alternatively, the bandwidth corresponding to an NDPA frame is the bandwidth of the NDPs sent by the AP after sending the NDPA frame.

[0117] It is understood that the site information field may include either a partial bandwidth information subfield or a column count subfield, or it may include both a partial bandwidth information subfield and a column count subfield.

[0118] The NDPA frames in this application embodiment meet either the condition that the bandwidth corresponding to the NDPA frame is greater than 160MHz and the number of columns indicated by the column number subfield is greater than 8; or the bandwidth corresponding to the NDPA frame is greater than 160MHz and the number of columns indicated by the column number subfield is greater than 8.

[0119] 502. Bfer sends an NDPA frame.

[0120] Correspondingly, Bfee receives NDPA frames and obtains relevant channel probe parameters from the NDPA frames, such as partial bandwidth information and / or the number of columns in the compressed beamforming feedback matrix.

[0121] Bfer can be either AP or STA. Bfee can be either STA or AP.

[0122] Optionally, after step 502, the beamforming responder can begin the channel measurement procedure. This channel measurement procedure may include: 503. Bfer sends a null data packet (NDP). It should be understood that Bfer sends NDP after a short inter-frame space (SIFS).

[0123] Correspondingly, after receiving the NDPA frame SIFS, Bfee receives the NDP based on the parameters obtained from the relevant channel probes obtained from the NDPA frame.

[0124] 504. Bfee performs channel estimation through NDP based on the indication information in the NDPA frame, obtains channel state information, and forms a beamforming report based on the channel state information. Specifically, Bfee determines that the AID subfield in the site information field of the NDPA frame matches its own AID, thus determining that it needs to perform channel sounding. Bfee can then determine the frequency range for which channel state information needs to be fed back based on a portion of the bandwidth information subfield in the site information field, and then perform channel estimation through NDP to obtain the channel state information for the frequency range for which the site needs to feed back channel state information. Alternatively, Bfee can determine the number of columns in the compressed beamforming feedback matrix based on Nc. The compressed beamforming feedback matrix is ​​part of the beamforming report and carries at least a portion of the channel state information.

[0125] 505. Bfee sends a beamforming report.

[0126] It is understandable that beamforming reports include channel state information.

[0127] Bfer can be either AP or STA. Bfee can be either STA or AP. In this embodiment, Bfer is described as AP and Bfee as STA. It should be understood that the technical solution of this embodiment is also applicable to the case where Bfer is STA or Bfee is AP.

[0128] Of course, the channel measurement procedure is not limited to the schemes 503 to 505 proposed in the embodiments of this application. Optionally, the channel measurement procedure can also be that other beamforming initiators send NDP frames, and the beamforming responders perform measurements based on the NDP frames.

[0129] In the technical solution of this application embodiment, the partial bandwidth information subfield of the NDPA frame indicates the RUs (Real Units) requiring channel state information feedback within a bandwidth greater than 160MHz. This allows the site information field to instruct the site to perform channel probing with a bandwidth greater than 160MHz and to feed back a beamforming report based on the channel probing results. This enables data transmission using a larger bandwidth, improving transmission efficiency. The column number subfield indicates a column number greater than 8. The site information field can instruct the site to perform channel probing with a bandwidth greater than 8 columns and to feed back a beamforming report based on the channel probing results. This enables data transmission using more streams, improving transmission efficiency.

[0130] Specifically, NDPA frames include type information that indicates a variant of the NDPA frame. For example, the type information indicates that the NDPA frame is an EHT NDPA frame. This type information is carried in a field preceding one or more site information fields.

[0131] In this way, when a station receives an NDPA frame, it first obtains the type information from the NDPA frame, determines the variant of the NDPA frame based on the type information, and then determines the reading strategy for the station information field based on the variant of the NDPA frame. For example, if the station is an EHT STA, the type information indicates that the variant of the NDPA frame is an EHT NDPA frame. The EHT STA then reads the station information field according to the structure of the station information field of the EHT NDPA frame. The EHT STA obtains the station information field containing its own AID, and obtains the relevant channel probe parameters from the station information field (e.g., RUs requiring channel state information feedback in a bandwidth greater than 160MHz and / or indicating the number of columns greater than 8). Then, the EHT STA receives the NDP based on the relevant channel probe parameters, obtains the channel state information based on the NDP, and feeds back the channel state information to the access point through a beamforming report.

[0132] As can be seen, the type information can indicate a new NDPA frame variant as an EHT NDPA frame. An EHT NDPA frame can indicate RUs (Real Units) requiring channel state information feedback within a bandwidth greater than 160MHz, instructing stations to perform channel probing with a bandwidth greater than 160MHz and provide beamforming reports based on the channel probing results. This enables data transmission using a larger bandwidth, improving transmission efficiency. EHT NDPA frames can also indicate a column count greater than 8, instructing stations to perform channel probing with a bandwidth greater than 8 columns and provide beamforming reports based on the channel probing results. This enables data transmission using more streams, further improving transmission efficiency. Moreover, this does not require defining a new frame, fully utilizing the remaining available types in the MAC frame, thus saving resources.

[0133] It should be understood that if the type information indicates that the NDPA frame is a VHT NDPA frame, an HE NDPA frame, or a Ranging NDPA frame, the EHT STA can also read the NDPA frame in the format corresponding to the VHT NDPA frame, HE NDPA frame, or Ranging NDPA frame, respectively.

[0134] The following details the scheme for indicating type information provided in the embodiments of this application. The scheme for indicating type information in the embodiments of this application is not limited to the scenario of indicating a variant of an NDPA frame as an EHT NDPA frame, but is also applicable to the scenario of indicating a variant of an NDPA frame as a variant of a new NDPA frame corresponding to the standard after 802.11be.

[0135] NDPA frames also include a probe dialogue token, which includes a frame category indicator field.

[0136] As shown in Table 2, in the first type of indication information scheme provided in this application, the probe session token field includes a 2-bit frame category indication field. Both bits of the frame category subfield are 1, indicating a new NDPA frame variant. This new variant could be, for example, an EHT NDPA frame corresponding to 802.11be, or an NDPA frame corresponding to a standard later than 802.11be. In this embodiment, the example is taken where the variant of the NDPA frame sent by the AP is an EHT NDPA frame, and the frame category subfield in the probe session token field indicates that the variant of the NDPA frame is an EHT NDPA frame.

[0137] Table 2

[0138] It is understandable that in this scheme, the aforementioned type information is carried in the frame category subfield. This allows for the definition of a new NDPA frame variant as an EHT NDPA frame without changing the existing correspondence between the values ​​of the frame category subfield and the indicated NDPA frame variant.

[0139] The EHT STA receives NDPA frames from the AP and determines the variant of the NDPA frame by reading the 2-bit frame category subfield. For example, the frame category subfield indicates that the variant of the NDPA frame is an EHT NDPA frame. The EHT STA determines that the NDPA frame is an EHT NDPA frame based on this specific frame category subfield. The EHT STA can read the station information field in the EHT NDPA frame according to the EHT NDPA frame format. In this way, the EHT NDPA frame can indicate RUs that need to provide channel state information feedback in bandwidths greater than 160MHz, enabling the station to perform channel probing with bandwidths greater than 160MHz and provide beamforming reports based on the channel probing results, thereby enabling data transmission using a larger bandwidth and improving transmission efficiency. The EHT NDPA frame can also indicate a number of columns greater than 8, enabling the station to perform channel probing with a bandwidth of more than 8 columns and provide beamforming reports based on the channel probing results, thereby enabling data transmission using more streams and improving transmission efficiency.

[0140] It should be understood that in this embodiment, the frame category subfield in the probe session token field indicates that the variant of the NDPA frame is an EHT NDPA frame. In other embodiments, the frame category subfield in the probe session token field may also indicate that the variant of the NDPA frame is a VHT NDPA frame, an HE NDPA frame, or a Ranged NDPA frame. If the frame category subfield indicates that the NDPA frame is a VHT NDPA frame, an HE NDPA frame, or a Ranged NDPA frame, the EHT STA can also read the NDPA frame according to the format corresponding to the VHT NDPA frame, HE NDPA frame, or Ranged NDPA frame, respectively.

[0141] As shown in Table 3, in the second type of indication information provided in this application, the entries used to indicate Ranging NDPA frames are swapped with the entries used to indicate EHT NDPA frames. In the frame category subfield, when the value of the 1-bit indicating whether it is a Ranging NDPA frame is 1 and the value of the 1-bit indicating whether it is an EHT NDPA frame is 0, the indicated NDPA frame variant is an EHT NDPA frame; when the value of the 1-bit indicating whether it is a Ranging NDPA frame is 1 and the value of the 1-bit indicating whether it is an EHT NDPA frame is 1, the indicated NDPA frame variant is a Ranging NDPA frame. This also allows for the definition of a new NDPA frame variant as an EHT NDPA frame. The frame category subfield in the probe session token field can indicate that the frame variant type is EHT NDPA. EHT NDPA frames can indicate RUs (Real Units) requiring channel state information feedback within a bandwidth greater than 160MHz. This instructs stations to perform channel probing with a bandwidth greater than 160MHz and to feed back beamforming reports based on the channel probing results. This enables data transmission using a larger bandwidth, improving transmission efficiency. EHT NDPA frames can also indicate a number of columns greater than 8, instructing stations to perform channel probing with a bandwidth greater than 8 columns and to feed back beamforming reports based on the channel probing results. This enables data transmission using more streams, further improving transmission efficiency.

[0142] Table 3

[0143] In each station information field of an EHT NDPA frame, the 16n+12th bit (e.g., the 28th bit, the 44th bit) is a disambiguation field, where n is a positive integer. The first bit of the station information field corresponds to B0 of that station information field. Thus, the scheme in Table 3, compared to the scheme in Table 2, can avoid HE STA misreading.

[0144] Because the HE STA does not read the 1 bit in the frame category subfield that indicates whether it is a Rangeing NDPA frame. In the scheme corresponding to Table 2, when the value of the 1 bit in the frame category subfield indicating whether it is an HE NDPA frame is 1, the HE STA will read the NDPA frame as an HE NDPA frame. However, when the value of the 1 bit in the NDPA frame indicating whether it is an HE NDPA frame is 1, the NDPA frame may indeed be an HE NDPA frame, or it may be an EHT NDPA frame. However, the number of bytes in an EHT NDPA frame may be greater than 4 bytes, for example, it may be 6 bytes. The HE STA will read the first 11 bits of the third 2-byte segment as the AID. Thus, if the first 11 bits of the third 2-byte segment of an EHT NDPA frame happen to match the HE STA's AID, the HE STA will read the 2 bytes containing the AID and the 2 bytes immediately following it as its own station information field, causing the HE STA to misread.

[0145] According to the scheme in Table 3, when the 1-bit value indicating whether it is an HE NDPA frame is 0, the HESTA can identify the NDPA frame as a VHT NDPA frame and read it according to the VHT NDPA frame format. If the NDPA frame is indeed a VHT NDPA frame, the HESTA can read it correctly. If the NDPA frame is an EHT NDPA frame, the first 11 or 12 bits of each station information field in the EHT NDPA frame are the AID, which will not be the HESTA's AID, and the 16n+12th bit of the EHT NDPA frame is the disambiguation field. Thus, the first 12 bits of every two bytes in the EHT NDPA frame will not match the HESTA's AID. HE STA reads the EHT NDPA frame as a VHT NDPA frame, taking the first 12 bits of each 2 bytes of each station information field as the AID. It can also identify that the first 12 bits of each 2 bytes do not match its own AID, thus preventing HE STA from misinterpreting a station information field in the EHT NDPA frame as its own station information field and thus misreading the NDPA frame.

[0146] When the 1-bit indicating whether it is an HE NDPA frame is 1 in the NDPA frame, the HE STA can correctly read the HE NDPA frame if it is indeed an HE NDPA frame. If the NDPA frame is actually a Ranging NDPA frame, the station information field of the Ranging NDPA frame has the same structure as the station information field of the HE NDPA frame. The HE STA can read the AID in the correct location of the NDPA frame. The station information field of the Ranging NDPA frame does not contain the HE STA's AID. The HE STA can also find that the AID in each station information field does not match its own AID by reading the station information field, and therefore will not consider one of the station information fields in the NDPA frame to be its own station information field, thus avoiding misreading the NDPA frame.

[0147] However, with the development of network technology, there will be a next-generation standard after 802.11be, which may support greater bandwidth. In this case, if it is necessary to define new NDPA frame variants after EHT NDPA frames, it will not be possible to indicate other NDPA frame variants after EHT NDPA frames through the above-mentioned 2-bit frame category subfield.

[0148] like Figure 6 As shown, Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of an NDPA frame according to an embodiment of this application. In the third scheme for providing indication type information in this embodiment, a special site information field is added to the NDPA frame. The special site information field includes a special AID and a frame subclass field.

[0149] This special AID indicates a special site information field. For example, the special AID could be 2047, indicating that the site information field is a special site information field. The existing standard does not define an AID of 2047, allowing the STA to identify the special site information field based on this special AID. It should be understood that in other embodiments, the special AID is not limited to 2047; for example, it could be other undefined AIDs.

[0150] The Frame Category subfield in the Probe Dialogue Token field and the Frame Subcategory subfield in the Add Special Site Information field together indicate the variant of the NDPA frame. For example, the Frame Category subfield indicates that the NDPA frame is a non-HE NDPA frame and a non-Ranging NDPA frame. The Frame Subcategory subfield in the Special Site Information field indicates the specific variant of the NDPA frame. For example, the Frame Subcategory subfield in the Special Site field could indicate that the NDPA frame is EHT NDPA. It should be understood that the Frame Subcategory subfield can also indicate that the NDPA frame is a variant of other NDPA frames after EHT NDPA.

[0151] Specifically, as shown in Table 4, in this indication scheme, when both bits of the frame category subfield are 0, it indicates a non-HENDPA frame and a non-Ranging NDPA frame.

[0152] Table 4

[0153] It is understood that in this scheme, the aforementioned type information is carried in the frame category subfield and the frame subcategory subfield. This enables support for indicating one or more new NDPA frame variants following EHT NDPA frames and Ranged NDPA frames. New NDPA frame variants could be, for example, EHT NDPA frames or other NDPA frames following EHT NDPA frames.

[0154] A STA supporting new variants of NDPA frames can determine the specific variant of the NDPA frame based on the frame sub-category sub-field in the special site field, and thus read the NDPA frame according to the variant's structure. For example, the frame category sub-field and the frame sub-category sub-field indicate that the NDPA frame variant is EHT NDPA. An EHT STA can determine that the NDPA frame is an EHT NDPA frame based on the frame sub-category sub-field. Then, the EHT STA reads the partial bandwidth information sub-field and column count sub-field of the NDPA frame according to the EHT NDPA frame's structure, thereby accurately obtaining the partial bandwidth information and the number of columns that need to be fed back as channel state information.

[0155] When the frame category subfield indicates that the NDPA frame is a VHT NDPA frame, HE NDPA frame, or Ranging NDPA frame, EHTSTA can also read the NDPA frame according to the format corresponding to the VHT NDPA frame, HE NDPA frame, or Ranging NDPA frame, respectively.

[0156] It should be understood that the number of bytes in the site information field in this application embodiment is an integer multiple of 2. The number of bytes in the site information field can be 4 bytes or greater than 4 bytes, for example, 6 bytes.

[0157] This approach detects the frame category subfield in the dialog token field, indicating that HE NDPA frames and Range NDPA frames are treated as a single type of NDPA frame. Then, the frame category subfield in the special station field indicates which variant the NDPA frame is. This can prevent HE STA or Range STA from misreading new variant NDPA frames.

[0158] For example, the frame category subfield indicates that the NDPA frame is an EHT NDPA frame. A HE STA or a Ranger STA can identify the EHT NDPA frame as a VHT NDPA frame based on the frame category subfield in the probe session token field and read it according to the structure of a VHT NDPA frame. The site information field of this EHT NDPA frame does not contain the AID of the HE STA or Ranger STA. Older versions of the HE STA or Ranger STA that receive this EHT NDPA frame will not report it based on the mismatch between the AID in the site information field and their own AID, thus preventing older versions of the HE STA or Ranger STA from misreading the EHT NDPA frame.

[0159] Furthermore, in the NDPA frame sent by the AP, the 16n+12th bit of the Special Site Information field is a disambiguation field, and the 16n+12th bit (e.g., the 28th bit) of each Site Information field is also a disambiguation field, where n is a positive integer. The first bit of the Special Site Information field corresponds to B0 of that Special Site Information field. The first bit of each Site Information field corresponds to B0 of that Site Information field.

[0160] Thus, when the frame category subfield indicates that the NDPA frame is a non-HE NDPA frame and a non-Ranging NDPA frame, the VHTSTA does not read the frame category subfield in the probe session token field and cannot identify the variant of the NDPA frame. Based on the prior art, this embodiment changes the NDPA frame variant indicated when both bits of the frame category subfield are 0, and will not cause the VHTSTA to misread other variant NDPA frames.

[0161] For example, if the NDPA frame sent by the AP is an EHT NDPA, the first 11 bits of the special site information field and any other site information field in the EHT NDPA frame contain an 11-bit AID. This AID is not the AID of the VHT STA, and the 16n+12th bit of the special site information field and any other site information field is a disambiguation field. Thus, the first 12 bits of every two bytes in the site information field and the special site information field of this EHT NDPA frame will not match the AID of the VHT STA. When the VHT STA reads the EHT NDPA frame according to the structure of the VHT NDPA frame, reading the first 12 bits of every two bytes of the special site information field or any other site information field as the AID, it can also identify that the first 12 bits of every two bytes do not match its own AID. This prevents the VHT STA from mistakenly identifying the special site information field or any other site information field in the EHT NDPA frame as its own site information field, thus avoiding misreading the NDPA frame.

[0162] Furthermore, compared to the indication method in Table 3, the indication method in Table 4 does not require changing the original frame category subfield indicating Ranged. This allows the Ranged STA to continue correctly identifying Ranged NDPA frames based on the frame category subfield.

[0163] Therefore, the above-mentioned third type of indication information scheme can indicate a new variant of NDPA frame (e.g., EHT NDPA) and can prevent VHT STA, HE STA and Ranging STA from misreading the new variant of NDPA frame.

[0164] In some embodiments, the special site information field may also include a prohibited sub-channel bitmap, which is used to indicate preamble punching information.

[0165] For example, each bit of this forbidden subchannel bitmap corresponds to a frequency domain resource of a specific granularity, and each bit indicates whether the corresponding frequency domain resource has been punctured. This granularity can be 2-1. n ×10MHz, where n is a positive integer. For example, this granularity can be 20MHz, 40MHz, 80MHz, etc.

[0166] The number of bits in the forbidden subchannel bitmap can be fixed. For example, the number of bits in the forbidden subchannel bitmap in an EHT NDPA frame can be set to 16 bits, which can indicate preamble puncturing information for a bandwidth of 320MHz. When the bandwidth is less than 320MHz, 1 bit of the forbidden subchannel bitmap corresponds to every 20MHz. Extra bits in the forbidden subchannel bitmap indicate that the corresponding frequency domain resource has been punctured. For example, when the bandwidth is 240MHz, the first 12 bits of the forbidden subchannel bitmap indicate 240MHz preamble puncturing information, and the last 4 bits indicate that the corresponding frequency domain resource has been punctured.

[0167] The number of bits in the forbidden subchannel bitmap can also be variable. The number of bits in the forbidden subchannel bitmap can be determined based on the bandwidth. For example, with a granularity of 20MHz, if the bandwidth is 160MHz, the number of bits in the forbidden subchannel bitmap can be 8 bits; if the bandwidth is 320MHz, the number of bits in the forbidden subchannel bitmap can be 16 bits. With a granularity of 40MHz, if the bandwidth is 160MHz, the number of bits in the forbidden subchannel bitmap can be 4 bits; if the bandwidth is 320MHz, the number of bits in the forbidden subchannel bitmap can be 8 bits. When the bandwidth is less than 80MHz, the number of bits in the forbidden subchannel bitmap can also be 4 bits, with 1 bit in the forbidden subchannel bitmap corresponding to every 20MHz. Extra bits in the forbidden subchannel bitmap indicate that the corresponding frequency domain resource has been punctured. For example, with a bandwidth of 40MHz, the first 2 bits of the forbidden subchannel bitmap are used to indicate the puncturing of the first 20MHz and the second 20MHz within the 40MHz, and the last 2 bits of the forbidden subchannel bitmap indicate that the corresponding frequency domain resource is punctured.

[0168] In some embodiments, the prohibited subchannel bitmap may also be carried in the NDP transmitted by the AP after the NDPA frame. Alternatively, the prohibited subchannel bitmap may be carried only in the NDP.

[0169] Optionally, the special site information field may also include a bandwidth indication subfield, which indicates the bandwidth. The portion of the bandwidth indicated by the partial bandwidth information subfield is within the frequency domain range of the bandwidth indicated by the bandwidth indication subfield.

[0170] To indicate RUs requiring feedback channel state information in bandwidths greater than 160MHz or to indicate more spatial flows, embodiments of this application provide design schemes for some site information fields.

[0171] In this embodiment, the EHT NDPA frame, a variant of the NDPA frame sent by the AP, is used as an example for explanation. The design scheme of the site information field in this application is not limited to EHT NDPA frames, but also applicable to variants of NDPA frames corresponding to standards after 802.11be.

[0172] The following describes the design scheme for the site information field when the bandwidth corresponding to the NDPA frame is greater than 160MHz.

[0173] In the first design scheme of the site information field provided in this application embodiment, by increasing the number of bytes in the site information field and increasing the number of bits in the partial bandwidth information subfield, the partial bandwidth information subfield can indicate RUs that need to provide feedback channel state information in bandwidths greater than 160MHz. For example, the number of bytes in the site information field in the NDPA frame can be 6 bytes, and the number of bits in the partial bandwidth information subfield can be greater than 7 bits. This can indicate RUs that need to provide feedback channel state information in larger bandwidths. When the number of bytes in the site information field is 6 bytes, the number of bits in the column number subfield can also be increased. For example, if the number of bits in the column number subfield is greater than 3, it can also indicate more columns. It should be understood that the number of bytes in the site information field in the NDPA frame can be 2×N, where N is greater than or equal to 3. For example, the number of bytes in the site information field in the NDPA frame can also be 8, 10, 12, etc.

[0174] Furthermore, the 6 bytes can be divided into three 2-byte segments, with the 12th bit of the second and third 2-byte segments containing a disambiguation field. This allows the VHT STA to read the NDPA frame according to the number of VHT NDPA frames, using the first 12 bits of each 2-byte segment as the AID. It can also identify that the first 12 bits of each 2-byte segment do not match its own AID, thus preventing the VHT STA from misinterpreting a station information field in a new variant NDPA frame as its own station information field, leading to misreading of the new variant NDPA frame.

[0175] In this scheme, the bandwidth information subfield in the site information field includes the start index and end index of the RU. The start index of the RU has more than 7 bits, and the end index of the RU has more than 7 bits.

[0176] The number of columns in the site information field has more than 3 bits.

[0177] In a specific embodiment, the bandwidth is 320MHz, and the length of a site information field is 6 bytes. The structure of the site information field in an EHT NDPA frame is as follows: Figure 7 As shown.

[0178] In this embodiment, the bandwidth information subfield of the site information field includes the start index and end index of the RU. The start index of the RU is 8 bits, used to indicate a 26-tone RU in 320MHz, and the end index of the RU is 8 bits, used to indicate a 26-tone RU in 320MHz. Specifically, the 12th bit of the second byte (the 28th bit of the site information field) and the 12th bit of the second byte (the 44th bit of the site information field) are configured with disambiguation fields.

[0179] like Figure 7 As shown, the station information field in a VHT NDPA frame is 2 bytes long, totaling 16 bits. The first 12 bits of the station information field in a VHT NDPA frame are the AID. The VHT STA device does not read the frame category subfield, nor does it identify variants of the NDPA frame. The VHT STA will read an EHT NDPA frame as a VHT NDPA frame, causing it to read the first 12 bits of each 2-byte station information field in the EHT NDPA frame as the AID. If the first 12 bits of the second 2-byte station information field in an EHT NDPA frame happen to match the AID of the VHT STA receiving the EHT NDPA frame, it will lead to a misread. In the station information field of the EHT NDPA provided in this embodiment, the first 11 bits of the first 2-byte are the AID of the EHT STA. Thus, the first 12 bits of the first 2-byte will not match the AID of the VHT STA. The 12th bit (B11) of the second 2-byte station information field is a disambiguation field. The first 12 bits of the second 2-byte field of the site information field will not match the AID of the VHT STA. This prevents the VHT STA from misinterpreting one of the site information fields as its own, thus avoiding misreading the EHT NDPA frame.

[0180] It is understandable that an 8-bit index field can indicate a maximum of 2. 8 =256 cases. A maximum of 148 26-tone RUs can be contained in 320MHz. The 8-bit start index of the RU can indicate one of the 148 26-tone RUs, and the 8-bit end index of the RU can also indicate one of the 148 26-tone RUs.

[0181] In the embodiment employing the first site information field design scheme, the bandwidth corresponding to the NDPA frame is not limited to 320MHz as in the example above; it can also be 240MHz, 480MHz, or other bandwidths greater than 160MHz. The number of bits in some bandwidth information sub-fields can also be adaptively adjusted according to the bandwidth size.

[0182] It should be understood that the design scheme of the first type of site information field can be implemented in combination with the schemes of the second and third types of indication information mentioned above, or it can be implemented alone.

[0183] EHT NDPA frames using the first site information field design scheme described above can avoid misreading by VHT STAs by setting a disambiguation field. However, if the EHT NDPA frame uses the first indication type information scheme described above, the HE STA will not read the bit in the frame category subfield indicating whether it is a Ranged NDPA frame, causing the HE STA to be unable to distinguish between Ranged NDPA frames and EHT NDPA frames. The HE STA will read the EHT NDPA frame as a HE NDPA frame. When the HE STA reads the third 2-byte of a site information field in an EHT NDPA frame, it will treat the first 11 bits of the third 2-byte as the first 11 bits of the AID of the HE NDPA frame. If the first 11 bits of the third 2-byte of a site information field in an EHT NDPA frame match the AID of the HE STA receiving the EHT NDPA frame, it will cause the HE STA to misread the EHT NDPA frame.

[0184] For EHT NDPA frames using the first site information field design scheme described above, if the second indication type information scheme is used, the HE STA will read the EHT NDPA frame as a VHT NDPA frame. The site information field of the EHT NDPA frame does not contain the AIDs of the HE STA, Range STA, or VHT STA, and disambiguation fields are set in other locations that the HE STA, Range STA, or VHT STA might assume contain AIDs. This prevents the HE STA from misreading the EHT NDPA frame.

[0185] For EHT NDPA frames using the first type of station information field design, if the third type of indication information is used, when the bit indicating whether it is an HE NDPA frame in the frame category subfield is 1, it only indicates that the NDPA frame is an HE NDPA frame, and there are no other indications. HE STA can accurately determine whether it is an HE NDPA frame based on the indication of this bit in the frame category subfield, and will not read other variant NDPA frames as HE NDPA frames.

[0186] Please see Figure 8 , Figure 8This is a schematic diagram of the site information field in an EHT NDPA frame provided in this application embodiment. In the second site information field design scheme provided in this application embodiment, the site information field has 4 bytes. Compared to the EHT NDPA frame, the number of bytes in the site information field remains unchanged. This scheme improves the indication method of some bandwidth information subfields by compressing the number of bits in some bandwidth information subfields, thereby indicating the RUs that need to provide feedback channel state information in larger bandwidths and / or indicating the number of columns greater than 8.

[0187] For example, the number of bits in the partial bandwidth information subfield can be compressed. The number of bits in the partial bandwidth information subfield can be less than or equal to 13 bits, which can increase the number of bits in the column count subfield to greater than or equal to 4 bits, thus allowing the column count subfield to indicate more columns. Alternatively, while compressing the number of bits in the partial bandwidth information subfield, the resource unit start index and resource unit end index can support indicating RUs (Resource Units) that require feedback channel state information in larger bandwidths. Of course, this scheme is not limited to increasing the number of bits in the column count subfield to greater than or equal to 4 bits; the number of bits in the column count subfield can also be 3 bits.

[0188] In one possible implementation, the bandwidth information subfield of the site information field includes a resource unit start index and a resource unit offset index. The resource unit start index indicates the first RU (Resource Unit) for which the site corresponding to the AID requires feedback channel state information, and the resource unit offset index indicates the offset of the last RU requiring feedback channel state information relative to the first RU. Alternatively, the resource unit start index indicates the first RU for which the Bfer (Best Freight Forwarder) requires feedback. The resource unit offset index indicates the offset of the last RU for which the Bfer requires feedback relative to the first RU. The offset can be 0.

[0189] It is understandable that the offset of the RU indicated by the resource unit offset index does not refer to the actual RU included in the bandwidth, but rather indicates the offset of the frequency domain subcarrier by indicating the offset of the RU, thereby indicating a continuous frequency domain range in conjunction with the resource unit start index.

[0190] like Figure 8 As shown, this site information field is not limited to EHT NDPA frames, but can also be used for variants of other NDPA frames following the EHT NDPA frame.

[0191] Please see Figure 8The resource unit starting index has 8 bits, which allows it to indicate one of the 148 26-tone RUs corresponding to a bandwidth of 320MHz. The resource unit offset index can have 5 bits or less. This means that the number of bits in the partial bandwidth information subfield is less than or equal to 13 bits, allowing the subfield of the column number subfield to have 4 bits or more to indicate a larger number of columns.

[0192] It should be understood that bit 28 (B27) of the site information field contains a disambiguation field to prevent misreading in older versions of STA. The principle behind the disambiguation field's ability to prevent misreading is described in the relevant embodiments above and will not be repeated here.

[0193] In one specific embodiment, different resource unit offset indices can be used to indicate offsets of different sizes. An example is given below for a scenario with a bandwidth of 320MHz.

[0194] In one example, the correspondence between resource unit offset indexes and their corresponding offsets is shown in Table 5 below.

[0195] Table 5

[0196] For example, if the resource element offset index is 0010, then the offset of the last RU indicating the required feedback channel state information relative to the first RU is a 52-tone RU. Further, if the resource element start index indicates that the first RU requiring feedback channel state information is the first 26-tone RU, then the RUs requiring feedback channel state information are the first 26-tone RU and the adjacent 52-tone RU. Thus, the frequency domain range of the required feedback channel state information is the frequency domain range corresponding to the first 26-tone RU and the adjacent 52-tone RU, specifically the lowest 78 subcarriers within 320MHz.

[0197] In another example, the correspondence between resource unit offset indices and their corresponding offsets is shown in Table 6 below.

[0198] Table 6

[0199] For example, if the resource unit offset index is 0011, then the offset of the last RU indicating the required feedback channel state information relative to the first RU is 4×26-tone RU.

[0200] With a bandwidth of 320MHz, if using a 26-tone RU granularity, indicating the first RU via the resource unit start index and the last RU via the resource unit end index requires 8 bits for each, meaning that some bandwidth information subfields require at least 16 bits. However, the scheme described above, using resource unit start and offset indices, allows 10 resource unit offset indices to indicate 10 different resource offset sizes, with each offset requiring only 4 bits. This reduces the number of bits required for some bandwidth information subfields. The saved bits can then be used to increase the number of bits in the column count subfield, thereby enabling the indication of more space-time streams.

[0201] Of course, in other implementations, the correspondence between the resource unit offset index and the offset is not limited to the examples shown in Tables 5 or 6 above, and other correspondences can be set. The number of bits for the resource unit offset index is also not limited to 4 bits, as long as the number of bits for the resource unit start index and the number of bits for the resource unit offset index are less than or equal to 13 bits.

[0202] In another specific embodiment, the resource element offset index indicates the offset by representing the multiple of the RU (Resource Unit) requiring feedback channel state information relative to the basic granularity, where the basic granularity is greater than or equal to 26 subcarriers. Alternatively, the resource element offset index indicates the offset by representing the value obtained by dividing the offset by the basic granularity. Mathematically, this can be expressed as N = offset / basic granularity. The resource element offset index indicates the offset by indicating N, where N is a positive integer.

[0203] For example, a bandwidth of 320MHz includes 148 26-tone RUs. The basic granularity is 8×26-tone RUs. There are 20 offset cases. The resource unit offset can be 5 bits, indicating the 20 cases. The correspondence between the resource unit offset index and the corresponding offset can be found in Table 7.

[0204] Table 7

[0205] If the offset is 8 26-tone RUs, the resource unit offset index can be 00001. If the offset is 16 26-tone RUs, the resource unit offset index can be 00010.

[0206] The resource element start index can be 8 bits. The resource element start index can indicate one of 148 26-tone RUs. The STA can determine the first and last RUs for which channel state information needs to be fed back based on the resource element start index and the resource element offset index, or in other words, the STA can determine the range of RUs for which channel state information needs to be fed back based on the resource element start index and the resource element offset index.

[0207] For example, if the resource element start index indicates that the first RU required by the STA for feedback channel state information is the 9th 26-tone RU out of 148 26-tone RUs, and the resource element offset index is 00010, then it can be determined that the last RU required by the STA for feedback channel state information is the 25th 26-tone RU. Therefore, the RUs required by the STA for feedback channel state information are the 9th 26-tone RU minus the 25th 26-tone RU.

[0208] For example, if the sequence number of the last RU (Resource Unit) requiring feedback channel state information for the STA, determined by the Resource Unit Start Index and Resource Unit Offset Index, is greater than 148, then the last RU requiring feedback channel state information for the STA can be determined to be the 148th RU. For instance, if the Resource Unit Start Index indicates that the first RU requiring feedback channel state information is the 142nd RU out of 148 26-tone RUs, and the Resource Unit Offset Index indicates an offset of 8 26-tone RUs, then the last RU requiring feedback channel state information for the STA can be determined to be the 148th RU.

[0209] It is understandable that the compression level of the resource unit offset index can be adjusted by changing the basic granularity. The larger the basic granularity, the greater the compression level. The greater the compression level, the fewer bits are needed to indicate the same offset, so that some bandwidth information subfields can support indicating RUs that require feedback channel state information in larger bandwidths.

[0210] In another possible implementation, the bandwidth information subfield includes an RU indication index, which includes a frequency domain indication part and an RU indication part. The frequency domain indication part is used to indicate the frequency domain range of the RU that the site corresponding to the AID needs to feed back channel status information, and the RU indication part is used to indicate the RU that needs to feed back channel status information.

[0211] In one specific embodiment, the bandwidth is 320MHz, which is divided into four frequency domain ranges, also known as four frequency domain slices. These four frequency domain ranges, in ascending order of frequency, correspond sequentially to the first, second, third, and fourth 80MHz segments of the 320MHz band. The frequency domain indication section can have 2 bits, and the frequency domain range where the RU (Real Estate Unit) indicating the channel state information required by the STA is located is one of the four frequency domain ranges. For example, the correspondence between the frequency domain indication section and the indicated frequency domain range can be found in Table 8.

[0212] Table 8

[0213] The RU indicator section is 7 bits long and is used to indicate the RU for which feedback channel state information is required. The RU is one or a combination of multiple RUs within the frequency domain range indicated by the frequency domain indicator section. The relationship between the RU indicator section and the indicated RU can be found in Table 9.

[0214] Table 9

[0215] The RU indicator portion of each entry in Table 9 above is a decimal value. In the partial bandwidth information subfield, the RU indicator portion of the RU indicator index is the binary value corresponding to the decimal value in Table 9 above.

[0216] It should be understood that the correspondence between the RU indication part and the indicated RU in each entry in Table 9 above is only an optional embodiment. This application does not limit the correspondence between the RU indication part and the indicated RU to the correspondence in Table 8. In other embodiments, the correspondence between the RU indication part and the indicated RU may also be different from the correspondence in Table 8.

[0217] Referring to Tables 8 and 9, in a specific example, the first two bits of the RU indicator index are the frequency domain indicator part, and the last seven bits are the RU indicator part. If the RU indicator index is 000000001, where 00 indicates the first 80MHz and 0000001 indicates the second 26-tone RU in the 80MHz, then 000000001 indicates that the RU for which the station needs to feed back channel status information is the second 26-tone RU in the first 80MHz. If the RU indicator index is 111000010, where 11 indicates the fourth 80MHz and 1000010 indicates the second 484-tone RU in the 80MHz, then 111000010 indicates that the RU for which the station needs to feed back channel status information is the second 484-tone RU in the fourth 80MHz.

[0218] In another possible implementation, some bandwidth information subfields include a resource unit start index and a resource unit end index. The resource unit start index is used to indicate the first RU that the site corresponding to the AID needs to feed back channel state information, and the resource unit end index is used to indicate the last RU that the site corresponding to the AID needs to feed back channel state information.

[0219] In this implementation, the resource unit start index and resource unit end index are compressed, increasing the granularity of the RUs indicated by the resource unit start index and resource unit end index. For example, the granularity is increased from a 26-tone RU to a 2×26-tone RU or a 4×26-tone RU.

[0220] Specifically, the first RU indicated by the resource unit start index is (k1×n+c1)×26-tone RU, where c1 and k1 are positive integers and n is a natural number. The last RU indicated by the resource unit end index is (k2×m+c2)×26-tone RU, where c2 and k2 are positive integers and m is a natural number. The resource unit start index indicates the first RU by indicating n, and the resource unit end index indicates the last RU by indicating m, where k1≥2 and / or k2≥2.

[0221] For example, in a specific embodiment, the bandwidth is 320MHz, k1 is 2, and c1 is 1. The resource unit start index indicates the 1st, 3rd, 5th, ..., 2n+1th, 147th 26-tone RU, where n≤73. Thus, the granularity of the 1st RU indicated by the resource unit start index is 2×26-tone RU. The resource unit start index indicates a total of 74 cases, requiring 7 bits. K2 is 4, c2 is 2, and the resource unit end index indicates the 2nd, 6th, ..., 4n+2th, 150th 26-tone RU. Thus, the granularity of the last RU indicated by the resource unit end index is 4×26-tone RU. The resource unit end index indicates a total of 37 cases, requiring 6 bits, where n≤37.

[0222] The correspondence between the resource unit start index and RU can be found in Table 10, and the correspondence between the resource unit end index and RU can be found in Table 11.

[0223] Table 10

[0224] Table 11

[0225] It can be understood that when the RU number indicated by the resource unit end index is greater than the RU number corresponding to the bandwidth, the RU indicated by the resource unit end index is the last RU corresponding to the bandwidth. For example, in the example above, when the bandwidth is 320MHz, when the resource unit start index indicates the 150th 26-tone RU, the RU actually indicated is the 148th 26-tone RU.

[0226] The compression level of the partial bandwidth information subfield can be adjusted by changing the values ​​of either k1 or k2. A larger k1 results in greater compression, and vice versa. Greater compression means fewer bits are needed to indicate the same partial bandwidth information, allowing the partial bandwidth information subfield to indicate RUs (Real Estate Units) requiring channel state feedback within a larger bandwidth.

[0227] Optionally, when the bandwidth is less than or equal to 160MHz, the partial bandwidth information subfield may indicate partial bandwidth information in the manner specified in HE NDPA.

[0228] It should be understood that the design scheme of the second type of site information field mentioned above can be implemented alone or in combination with any of the above-mentioned indication type information schemes.

[0229] The EHT NDPA frame using the second site information field design scheme has a 4-byte site information field, consistent with the HE NDPA frame. The EHT NDPA frame's site information field does not contain the AIDs of HESTA, Ranging STA, or VHT STA, and disambiguation fields are used in other locations where HESTA, Ranging STA, or VHT STA might mistakenly believe that an AID is present. This prevents HESTA, Ranging STA, or VHT STA from misreading the EHT NDPA frame.

[0230] The following describes the design scheme for the column number subfield in the site information field when the column number subfield in the NDPA frame indicates a column number greater than 8. This column number subfield design scheme is applicable to both 6-byte and 4-byte site information fields.

[0231] Specifically, the number of columns can be increased by adding more bits to the column number subfield.

[0232] For example, when the range of columns requiring feedback is 1-16, the column number subfield can have 4 bits. A 4-bit field can indicate 2. 4=16 cases. The column number subfield indicates the column number via a column number index. See Table 12 for the correspondence between column number indexes and column numbers.

[0233] Table 12

[0234] It should be understood that the correspondence between column index and column number is not limited to the correspondence shown in Table 12. In other embodiments, the correspondence between column index and column number can be flexibly set.

[0235] The design scheme of the above column subfield can be implemented in combination with the design scheme of any of the above site information fields, or it can be implemented independently.

[0236] When the bandwidth corresponding to the NDPA frame is greater than 160MHz and the number of columns indicated by the column number subfield is greater than 8, the design scheme of some bandwidth information subfields in the site information field can adopt any of the site information field design schemes when the bandwidth corresponding to the NDPA frame is greater than 160MHz. The design scheme of the column number subfield can refer to the design scheme of the column number subfield when the number of columns indicated by the column number subfield is greater than 8.

[0237] In one optional embodiment, when the bandwidth is less than or equal to 160MHz, the partial bandwidth information subfield indicates the partial bandwidth information in the manner described in HENDPA; when the bandwidth is greater than 160MHz, it is indicated in accordance with the aforementioned indication scheme for the partial bandwidth information subfield.

[0238] In another alternative embodiment, when the bandwidth is less than or equal to 160MHz, or when the maximum number of columns to be fed back is less than or equal to 8, the site information field in the EHT NDPA frame may also adopt the design scheme of the site information field in any of the above embodiments of this application.

[0239] Furthermore, for cases where the bandwidth is greater than 160MHz, less than or equal to 160MHz, and the number of columns requiring feedback is less than or equal to 8, or greater than 8, the site information field in the EHT NDPA frame adopts a uniform format. In other words, the site information field in the EHT NDPA frame uses a uniform format. This allows the EHT STA to use a unified reading strategy to read the site information field in all EHT NDPA frames, making it easier for the EHT STA to read EHT NDPA frames.

[0240] This application also provides another design scheme for the site information field. When the bandwidth is greater than 160MHz, one site corresponds to two site information fields. That is, the NDPA frame includes two site information fields corresponding to the same site. These two site information fields contain the AID of the same site. This scheme can be implemented in combination with any of the above-mentioned indication type information schemes, or it can be implemented alone.

[0241] The method for indicating partial bandwidth information for this site is as follows: the partial bandwidth information subfields in these two site information fields jointly indicate the first RU and the last RU of the channel state information required to be fed back by the STA corresponding to this AID. It can be understood that this scheme divides the partial bandwidth information subfield indicating the STA corresponding to this AID into two parts, which are transmitted separately in the two site information fields containing this AID.

[0242] This allows for the addition of a new site information field corresponding to a site without altering the original site information field contained in the NDPA frame. By using the two site information fields together to indicate partial bandwidth information, it is possible to indicate the RU that needs to provide feedback channel state information within a larger bandwidth.

[0243] Furthermore, following the frequency order from low to high, when the indicated portion of the bandwidth belongs to the first 160MHz of the bandwidth, the portion bandwidth information subfield in the EHT NDPA frame can adopt the setting method of the portion bandwidth information subfield in HE NDPA. When a site's portion bandwidth belongs to the first 160MHz of the bandwidth, the EHT NDPA frame includes two site information fields containing the site's AID. These two site information fields, together with the indicated portion bandwidth information, allow for the scaling up of the number of bits in the site information field corresponding to each site as needed, rather than simply increasing the number of bits in the site information field corresponding to all sites, thereby reducing overhead.

[0244] like Figure 9 As shown, Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of another NDPA frame provided in an embodiment of this application. In one embodiment, the resource element start index in one site information field and the resource element start index in the other site information field indicate the first RU of the channel state information required to be fed back by the site corresponding to the same AID, and the resource element end index in one site information field and the resource element end index in the other site information field indicate the last RU of the channel state information required to be fed back by the same AID.

[0245] For example, in one of the two site information fields, the resource element start index has 7 bits, and in the other site information field, it has 1 bit. Thus, the 7-bit resource element start index in one site information field and the 1-bit resource element start index in the other site information field work together to indicate the first RU of the channel state information required by the STA corresponding to the same AID.

[0246] It can be understood that the 7-bit resource unit start index in one site information field, together with the 1-bit resource unit start index in another site information field, constitutes a complete resource unit start index. The 1-bit resource unit start index in the other site information field can be the most significant bit (MSB) of the complete resource unit start index, also known as the highest bit.

[0247] Similarly, a 1-bit resource element end index in one site information field, together with a 1-bit resource element end index in another site information field, forms a complete resource element end index. This complete resource element end index indicates the first RU (Resource Unit Required) for which the site needs to feed back channel state information. The 1-bit resource element end index in the other site information field can be the most significant bit, or the most significant bit, of the complete resource element end index.

[0248] Of course, the number of bits for the resource unit start index and the resource unit end index in the two site information fields are not limited to the examples above, and can also be other numbers of bits.

[0249] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of another NDPA frame provided in an embodiment of this application. For example... Figure 10As shown, in another embodiment, one of the two site information fields includes a resource unit start index but not a resource unit end index, while the other site information field includes a resource unit end index but not a resource unit start index. Thus, the resource unit start index in one site information field indicates the first RU (Resource Unit Required) for which the STA corresponding to these two site information fields needs to provide feedback channel state information, and the resource unit end index in the other site information field indicates the last RU for which the STA corresponding to these two site information fields needs to provide feedback channel state information. In this way, in a 320MHz bandwidth scenario, the number of bits in the partial bandwidth information subfields of these two site information words is only 8 bits, thereby controlling the number of bytes in the site information field to within 4 bytes and supporting the indication of RUs requiring feedback channel state information in 320MHz. Reducing the number of bits in the partial bandwidth information subfields of each site information field allows for an increase in the number of bits in the column number subfield, thus enabling the indication of more columns.

[0250] When the required number of columns is greater than 8, the column number can be indicated by a column number subfield in one of the two site information fields indicating the number of columns of channel state information required to be returned by the site corresponding to the same AID. In one possible embodiment, such as... Figure 9 As shown, one site information field has a 3-bit column count subfield, while another site information field has a 1-bit column count subfield. These two subfields together form a complete column count subfield, which accurately indicates the number of columns. The 1-bit column count subfield in the other site information field can be either the most significant bit (MSB) or the most significant bit of the complete column count subfield.

[0251] It is understood that the above-mentioned method of indicating bandwidth information can be implemented in combination with the above-mentioned method of indicating column number, or it can be implemented separately. This application does not limit this.

[0252] Figure 11 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of another NDPA frame provided in an embodiment of this application. For example... Figure 11 As shown, in another embodiment, one of the two site information fields includes a partial bandwidth information subfield but does not include a column count subfield, while the other site information field includes a column count subfield but does not include a partial bandwidth information subfield.

[0253] Optionally, if the frequency of a portion of the bandwidth for which a station needs to feed back channel status information is not within the first 160MHz of the entire bandwidth in ascending order, then the station will correspond to the two station information fields mentioned above. These two station information fields contain the station's AID, meaning the AID contained in the two station information fields is the same. When the frequency of a portion of the bandwidth for which a station needs to feed back channel status information is within the first 160MHz of the entire bandwidth, the STA will only correspond to one station information field. This avoids increasing overhead by adding unnecessary station information fields.

[0254] The following section details the relevant content in the beamforming report provided by the site.

[0255] As shown in Table 13, the beamforming report includes category information, EHT action information, EHT multiple input multiple output (MIMO) control information, compressed beamforming report, and multi-user exclusive beamforming report.

[0256] Table 13

[0257] In some embodiments, the MIMO control field in the beamforming report carries EHT MIMO control information within the EHT MIMO control field. See also... Figure 12 , Figure 12 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the EHT MIMO control field provided in an embodiment of this application. The EHT MIMO control field includes: column count subfield, row count subfield, bandwidth (BW) subfield, packet subfield, codebook information subfield, feedback type subfield, remaining feedback fragment subfield, first feedback fragment field, resource unit start index, resource unit end index, probe session token subfield, prohibited subchannel bitmap presence / length subfield, and prohibited subchannel bitmap.

[0258] The column count subfield indicates the number of columns to be fed back. The row count subfield indicates the number of rows to be fed back. The channel width subfield indicates the channel bandwidth. The group subfield is a group bitmap indicating the grouping of subcarriers; channel state information for subcarriers in the same group is fed back uniformly. The feedback type subfield indicates the type of feedback. The remaining feedback fragments indicate fragments that have not yet been fed back, and the first feedback fragment subfield indicates whether it is the first feedback fragment. The resource unit start index indicates the first RU for which channel state information needs to be fed back at this site, and the resource unit end index indicates the last RU for which channel state information needs to be fed back at this site.

[0259] The "Presence / Length of Forbidden Subchannel Bitmap" subfield indicates whether a forbidden subchannel bitmap exists, and if so, the length of the forbidden subchannel bitmap. For example, a "Presence / Length of Forbidden Subchannel Bitmap" subfield value of 0 can be interpreted as indicating that a forbidden subchannel bitmap does not exist.

[0260] In one example, each bit of the forbidden subchannel bitmap is used to indicate 20MHz preamble puncture information. The description of the forbidden subchannel bitmap in the EHT MIMO control field can be found in the description of the forbidden subchannel bitmap in the NDPA frame described in the above embodiments. Thus, the forbidden subchannel bitmap is also included in the EHT MIMO control field of the beamforming report, which avoids misreading of the EHT MIMO control field. The resource unit start index and resource unit end index in the EHT MIMO control field can be compressed using any of the above-described schemes that compress the number of bits in the subfields of the bandwidth information.

[0261] The "Presence / Length of Disabled Subchannel Bitmap" subfield can indicate the length of the disabled subchannel bitmap by indicating bandwidth or number of bits. For example, the "Presence / Length of Disabled Subchannel Bitmap" subfield can indicate a bandwidth of 320MHz, thus indicating a length of 16 bits; or it can indicate a bandwidth of 240MHz, thus indicating a length of 12 bits; or it can indicate a bandwidth of 160MHz, thus indicating a length of 8 bits. Of course, the indication method and the indicated length of the "Presence / Length of Disabled Subchannel Bitmap" subfield are not limited to the examples above. In other embodiments, the "Presence / Length of Disabled Subchannel Bitmap" subfield can be indicated in other ways or with other lengths.

[0262] In this way, network devices that receive EHT MIMO control fields can accurately receive EHT MIMO control fields based on the presence / length subfield of the prohibited subchannel bitmap.

[0263] In an optional embodiment, the aforementioned NDPA frame can be implemented using a trigger frame. That is, the NDPA frame in step 502 can be a trigger frame, which includes the content of the NDPA frame in any of the embodiments provided in this application.

[0264] For details, please refer to Figure 13 , Figure 13This is a schematic diagram of the trigger frame structure. The trigger frame includes a trigger frame type field, which indicates that the trigger frame is an NDPA trigger frame. The trigger frame also includes a bandwidth field, a probe session token, and an NDPA frame type field. Type information is carried in the NDPA frame type field and is used to indicate a variant of the NDPA frame.

[0265] In any of the above embodiments, the design scheme of the relevant content in the site information field is applicable to the site information field in the trigger frame, and will not be described in detail here.

[0266] The site information field in the trigger frame may not include a disambiguation field. This is because, in 802.11ax and earlier standard protocols, NDPA frames are not sent via trigger frames. Consequently, HE STAs and STAs adapted to standards prior to 802.11ax (such as VHT STAs) will not receive NDPA via trigger frames. The scheme of sending NDPA frames via trigger frames does not need to consider the issue of misreading by devices adapted to 802.11ax and earlier standard protocols, and therefore does not require setting a disambiguation field.

[0267] For further details, please refer to Figure 14 , Figure 14 This is a schematic diagram of the feedback process for beamforming reports. NDPA frames are sent via trigger frames. Bfee includes multiple stations (such as...). Figure 14 (STA1, ST2, and STA3 in the diagram). The AP first sends an NDPA frame in the form of a trigger frame, and then sends an NDP frame after SIFS.

[0268] Trigger frames can trigger multiple stations to perform uplink transmissions simultaneously, for example... Figure 14 In this system, STA1, ST2, and STA3 can simultaneously provide beamforming reports, which can improve the efficiency of channel detection.

[0269] This application embodiment also provides another partial bandwidth information indication scheme. The site information includes an RU indication index. The RU indication index indicates the bandwidth information of the required channel state information by indicating the RU corresponding to part or all of the bandwidth of the required channel state information. The RU indication index can be understood as a partial bandwidth information field or a partial bandwidth information subfield.

[0270] The smallest granularity of the RU indicator index is 242-tone RU, so it is not necessary to indicate small RUs, which helps to reduce the number of bits of the RU indicator index and reduce indicator overhead.

[0271] The RU indicator index indicates the size of the RU corresponding to part or all of the required channel state information bandwidth, as well as the frequency position of the RU within the full bandwidth.

[0272] Specifically, for a 242-tone RU with a corresponding bandwidth of 20MHz, there can be 16 different RU indicator indices to indicate different positions of the 242-tone RU in 320MHz. For example, these 16 different RU indicator indices are used to indicate 16 20MHz frequencies in 320MHz in order from low to high frequency.

[0273] For a 484-tone RU, which corresponds to a bandwidth of 40MHz, there can be 8 different RU indicator indices to indicate the different positions of the 484-tone RU in 320MHz. For example, these 8 different RU indicator indices are used to indicate the 8 40MHz corresponding to each frequency in 320MHz in ascending order of frequency.

[0274] For a 242+484-tone RU, corresponding to 60MHz, 16 different RU indicator indexes can be used to indicate the different positions of the 242+484-tone RU within 320MHz. For example, 320MHz can be understood in ascending order as the first 80MHz, the second 80MHz, the third 80MHz, and the fourth 80MHz. Four different RU indicator indexes can indicate the position of the 242+484-tone RU within the first 80MHz, another four different RU indicator indexes can indicate the position within the second 80MHz, yet another four different RU indicator indexes can indicate the position within the third 80MHz, and so on, until the fourth 80MHz.

[0275] For a 996-tone RU, corresponding to 80MHz, there can be 4 different RU indicator indices to indicate the different positions of the 996-tone RU in 320MHz. For example, these 4 different RU indicator indices are used to indicate the 4 80MHz corresponding to the 320MHz in order of frequency from low to high.

[0276] For the 484+996-tone RU, corresponding to 120MHz, there can be 4 different RU indicator indices, each indicating a different position of the 484+996-tone RU within the 160MHz range of the lowest frequency in 320MHz, and another 4 different RU indicator indices, each indicating a different position of the 484+996-tone RU within the 160MHz range of the highest frequency in 320MHz.

[0277] For a 2×996-tone RU, corresponding to 160MHz, there can be 6 different RU indicator indices to indicate the different positions of the 2×996-tone RU in 320MHz. Alternatively, the positions of the 2×996-tone RUs can be further specified, supporting only the 2×996-tone RUs in the lowest frequency 160MHz and the 2×996-tone RUs in the highest frequency 160MHz within the 320MHz bandwidth, corresponding to only 2 different RU indicator indices.

[0278] For a 3×996-tone RU, corresponding to 240MHz, it can be indexed by 4 different RU indicators, indicating the different positions of the 3×996-tone RU in 320MHz.

[0279] For a 4×996-tone RU, corresponding to 320MHz, this can be understood as indicating the full bandwidth, which can be indicated by a single RU indicator index.

[0280] RU indicates the number of bits in the index, which can be, for example, but is not limited to, 6 bits or 7 bits.

[0281] It should be understood that the type of RU indicated by the RU indicator index is not limited to the types of the examples above. The RU indicator index can also indicate other types of RUs and the position of the RU in the bandwidth.

[0282] For example, the RU indicator index can be 6 bits, and in one embodiment, the RU indicator index can be indicated according to Table 14.

[0283] Table 14

[0284] It should be understood that in Table 14, the correspondence between the RU indicator index and the indicated bandwidth / RU is arranged in ascending order of RU. In other embodiments, the correspondence between the RU indicator index and the indicated bandwidth / RU is not limited to the correspondence in Table 14 above. The correspondence between the RU indicator index and the indicated bandwidth / RU can be adjusted and changed, as long as the corresponding bandwidth / RU can be obtained according to the RU indicator index.

[0285] Optionally, for an N×996-tone RU, corresponding to N×80MHz, 14 different RU indicator indices can be used to indicate the different positions of the N×996-tone RU in 320MHz. N=1, 2, 3.

[0286] Optionally, the RU indicator index indicating an N×996-tone RU may include 4 bits for use as a bitmap. Each of these 4 bits corresponds to one 80MHz in the 320MHz range. For example, a bitmap of 1100 indicates that the 2×996-tone RUs are located in the first and second 80MHz ranges within the 320MHz range, while a bitmap of 0010 indicates that the 996-tone RU is located in the third 80MHz range within the 320MHz range.

[0287] Optionally, the 4-bit bitmap is the last 4 bits of the RU indicator index.

[0288] For a 4×996-tone RU corresponding to 320MHz, this can be understood as indicating the full bandwidth, which can be indicated by a single RU indicator index. For example, the RU indicator index of a 4×996-tone RU can be indicated in the same way as the RU indicator index of an N×996-tone RU, which also includes a 4-bit bitmap, with the bitmap value being 1111, indicating that the 4×996-tone RU is located in the first to fourth 80MHz bands of 320MHz.

[0289] As shown in Tables 14-21, the RU indicator index for a 4×996-tone RU can be used to indicate a 4×996-tone RU or to indicate the full bandwidth (complete bandwidth).

[0290] For example, the RU indicator index can be 6 bits. In one embodiment, the RU indicator index can be indicated according to Table 15-1.

[0291] Table 15-1

[0292] The specific correspondence between 100001-101110 and the N×996-tone RU can be shown in Table 16. The last 4 bits in 100001-101110 specifically indicate the N×996-tone RU, and the last 4 bits play the role of a bit map.

[0293] Table 16

[0294] When the bandwidth required for feedback channel state information is the full bandwidth, there are two indication schemes. These two indication schemes are described below.

[0295] One indication scheme is that when the bandwidth required to provide feedback channel state information is the full bandwidth, regardless of the bandwidth, the RU indication index indicates the full bandwidth or the RU corresponding to the full bandwidth; for example, if the bandwidth is 20MHz, 40MHz, 80MHz, or 160MHz, 320MHz, the RU indication index indicates the full bandwidth or the RU corresponding to the full bandwidth (for example, in Table 15-1, the RU indication index (e.g., 101111) indicates the full bandwidth or a 4×996-tone RU).

[0296] Another indication scheme is to use the RU indication index (e.g., 101111 in Table 15-1) to indicate the RU when the bandwidth of the required feedback channel state information is the full bandwidth. This is only when the bandwidth of the RU is 320MHz, which is the same as the bandwidth of the required feedback channel state information of the full bandwidth of 320MHz.

[0297] When the bandwidth required for feedback channel state information is the full bandwidth, and when the bandwidth is less than the full bandwidth, the RU indicator index corresponding to that bandwidth is used for indication. For example: When the bandwidth is 20MHz, if the bandwidth of the required feedback channel state information is the full bandwidth, the RU indication index indicating the 242-tone RU where 20MHz is located can be used for indication. For example, based on Table 15-1, one of 000000-001111 can be used for indication.

[0298] When the bandwidth is 40MHz, if the required feedback channel state information has a full bandwidth, the RU indication index indicating the 484-tone RU where 40MHz is located can be used. For example, based on Table 15-1, one of 010000-010111 can be used for indication.

[0299] When the bandwidth is 80MHz, if the bandwidth of the required feedback channel state information is the full bandwidth, the RU indication index indicating the 996-tone RU where 80MHz is located can be used for indication. For example, based on Table 15-1, one of 100001-101110 can be used for indication.

[0300] When the bandwidth is 160MHz, if the bandwidth of the required feedback channel state information is the full bandwidth, the RU indication index of the 2×996-tone RU indicating the 160MHz location can be used. For example, based on Table 15-1, one of 100001-101110 can be used for indication.

[0301] Optionally, the rows in Table 15-1 where the RU indicates indices 100001-101110 and 101111 can be replaced with the rows in Table 15-2 below.

[0302] Table 15-2

[0303] The correspondence in Table 15-1 above, the correspondence between the RU indicator index and the indicated bandwidth / RU, can be adjusted and changed.

[0304] Optionally, the number of bits for the RU indicator index can also be 7 bits, which can support indicating more RU types.

[0305] Specifically, for a 2×996+484-tone RU, corresponding to 200MHz, 12 different RU indicator indices can indicate the different positions of the 2×996+484-tone RU within 320MHz. Specifically, within the lowest frequency 240MHz of 320MHz, there are 6 different RU indicator indices indicating different positions within that lowest frequency 240MHz; and within the highest frequency 240MHz of 320MHz, there are another 6 different RU indicator indices.

[0306] For a 3×996+484-tone RU, corresponding to 280MHz, there are 8 different RU indicator indices that indicate the different positions of the 3×996+484-tone RU in 320MHz.

[0307] For example, the RU indicator index can be indicated according to Table 17.

[0308] Table 17

[0309] For example, in another possible implementation, the RU indicator index can be indicated according to Table 18. In Table 18, the RU indicator indices, except for the RU indicator index indicating an N×996-tone RU, are arranged in ascending order of RU size. The index indicating an N×996-tone RU consists of a 4-bit bitmap.

[0310] Table 18

[0311] Optionally, the number of bits for the RU indicator index can also be 7 bits, supporting the indication of more RU types. For example, for a 2×996+484-tone RU corresponding to 200MHz, 12 different RU indicator indices can indicate the different positions of the 2×996+484-tone RU in 320MHz. For a 3×996+484-tone RU corresponding to 280MHz, 8 different RU indicator indices can indicate the different positions of the 3×996+484-tone RU in 320MHz.

[0312] For example, the RU indicator index can be indicated according to Table 19. The index indicating an N×996-tone RU includes a 4-bit bitmap.

[0313] Table 19

[0314] The correspondence in Table 19 above, the correspondence between the RU indicator index and the indicated bandwidth / RU, can be adjusted and changed.

[0315] For example, in another possible implementation, the RU indicator index can be indicated according to Table 20. In Table 20, the RU indicator indices, except for the RU indicator index indicating an N×996-tone RU, are arranged in ascending order of RU size. The index indicating an N×996-tone RU consists of a 4-bit bitmap.

[0316] Table 20

[0317] In one alternative embodiment, the RU indicator index is 5 bits, indicating a single RU. This further reduces the indicator overhead.

[0318] For example, the RU indicator index can be indicated according to Table 21.

[0319] Table 21

[0320] In the embodiments provided above, the methods provided by the embodiments of this application have been described from the perspectives of access points and sites. To implement the functions of the methods provided in the embodiments of this application, access points and sites may include hardware structures and software modules, and may implement the above functions in the form of hardware structures, software modules, or a combination of hardware structures and software modules. One of the above functions may be executed in the form of hardware structures, software modules, or a combination of hardware structures and software modules.

[0321] Please see Figure 15 , Figure 15 This is a schematic diagram of the transmission device according to an embodiment of this application. The transmission device includes a processing unit 1501 and a transmitting unit 1502; Processing unit 1501 is used to generate an NDPA frame, the NDPA frame including a site information field, the site information field including an AID subfield indicating an association identifier (AID) of a site; the site information field also includes a partial bandwidth information subfield and / or a column number subfield; the partial bandwidth information subfield indicates the RU (Resource Requirement) of the site to feed back channel state information in the bandwidth corresponding to the NDPA frame, the column number subfield indicates the number of columns of the compressed beamforming feedback matrix; the bandwidth corresponding to the NDPA frame is greater than 160MHz, and the number of columns indicated by the column number subfield is greater than 8; The transmitting unit 1502 is used to transmit the NDPA frame.

[0322] Thus, the partial bandwidth information subfield of the NDPA frame indicates the RUs (Real Units) requiring channel state information feedback within a bandwidth greater than 160MHz. The site information field instructs the site to conduct channel probing with a bandwidth greater than 160MHz and to feed back beamforming reports based on the channel probing results, thereby enabling data transmission using a larger bandwidth and improving transmission efficiency. The column count subfield indicates a column count greater than 8. The site information field instructs the site to conduct channel probing with a bandwidth greater than 8 columns and to feed back beamforming reports based on the channel probing results, thereby enabling data transmission using more streams and improving transmission efficiency.

[0323] The transmission device 1500 can be a communication device or an access point, or it can be deployed on a communication device or an access point. The processing unit 1501 of the transmission device 1500 can be a processor, and the transmitting unit 1502 can be a transceiver.

[0324] It should be understood that the above description of the NAPD frame transmission method also applies to the transmission device 1500, and will not be repeated here.

[0325] Please see Figure 16 , Figure 16 This is a schematic diagram of the transmission device according to an embodiment of this application. The transmission device includes a processing unit 1601 and a transmitting unit 1602; Processing unit 1601 is used to generate an NDPA frame, the NDPA frame including two site information fields, the two site information fields including an AID subfield indicating the association identifier AID of the same site; sending unit 1602 is used to send the NDPA frame.

[0326] Among them, two site information fields meet at least one of the following criteria: The bandwidth information subfields in both site information fields jointly indicate the RU (Return Requirement) that the site needs to feed back channel state information, and the bandwidth corresponding to the NDPA frame is greater than 160MHz; or The column number subfield in one site information field and the column number subfield in the other site information field indicate the number of columns in the compressed beamforming feedback matrix, and the column number subfield indicates a number of columns greater than 8.

[0327] In this way, a new site information field corresponding to a site can be added without changing the original site information field included in the NDPA frame. Two subfields with partial bandwidth information in the site information field, indicating the RUs (Real Estate Units) requiring channel state information feedback within a bandwidth greater than 160MHz, can instruct the site to perform channel probing with a bandwidth greater than 160MHz and feed back beamforming reports based on the channel probing results. This enables data transmission using a larger bandwidth, improving transmission efficiency. Two subfields with column count in the site information field, indicating a column count greater than 8, can instruct the site to perform channel probing with a bandwidth greater than 8 columns and feed back beamforming reports based on the channel probing results. This enables data transmission using more streams, further improving transmission efficiency.

[0328] The transmission device 1600 can be a communication device or an access point, or it can be deployed within a communication device or an access point. The processing unit 1601 of the transmission device 1600 can be a processor, and the transmitting unit 1602 can be a transceiver.

[0329] It should be understood that the above description of the NAPD frame transmission method also applies to the transmission device 1600, and will not be repeated here.

[0330] Please see Figure 17 , Figure 17 This is a schematic diagram of the transmission device according to an embodiment of this application. The transmission device includes a processing unit 1701 and a transmitting unit 1702; Processing unit 1701 is used to generate NDPA frames. The NDPA frames include a probe session token field, a special site information field, and a site information field. The probe session token field includes a frame category subfield, and the special site information field includes a frame subcategory subfield. The type information is carried in the frame category subfield and the frame subcategory subfield. The frame category subfield indicates that the NDPA frame is a non-HE NDPA frame and a non-Ranging NDPA frame, and the frame subcategory subfield indicates that the NDPA frame is an EHT NDPA frame. The transmitting unit 1702 is used to transmit NDPA frames.

[0331] In this way, the frame category subfield and the frame subcategory subfield, combined, indicate that the NDPA frame is an EHT NDPA frame. An EHT NDPA frame can indicate RUs (Real Units) requiring channel state information feedback within a bandwidth greater than 160MHz, instructing the station to perform channel probing with a bandwidth greater than 160MHz and to feed back beamforming reports based on the channel probing results. This enables data transmission using a larger bandwidth, improving transmission efficiency. An EHT NDPA frame can also indicate a column number greater than 8, instructing the station to perform channel probing with a bandwidth greater than 8 columns and to feed back beamforming reports based on the channel probing results. This enables data transmission using more streams, further improving transmission efficiency. Moreover, this does not require defining a new frame, fully utilizing the remaining available types in the MAC frame, thus saving resources.

[0332] The transmission device 1700 can be a communication device or an access point, or it can be deployed within a communication device or an access point. The processing unit 1701 of the transmission device 1700 can be a processor, and the transmitting unit 1702 can be a transceiver.

[0333] It should be understood that the above description of the NAPD frame transmission method also applies to the transmission device 1700, and will not be repeated here.

[0334] Please see Figure 18 , Figure 18 This is a schematic diagram of the transmission device according to an embodiment of this application. The transmission device includes a processing unit 1801 and a receiving unit 1802; The receiving unit 1802 is used to receive an NDPA frame, the NDPA frame including a site information field, the site information field including an AID subfield indicating an association identifier (AID) of a site; the site information field also includes a partial bandwidth information subfield and / or a column number subfield; the partial bandwidth information subfield indicates the RU (Resource Requirement) of the site to feed back channel state information in the bandwidth corresponding to the NDPA frame, the column number subfield indicates the number of columns of the compressed beamforming feedback matrix; the bandwidth corresponding to the NDPA frame is greater than 160MHz, and the number of columns indicated by the column number subfield is greater than 8; The processing unit 1801 is used to obtain the required feedback channel state information from the NDPA frame.

[0335] Thus, the partial bandwidth information subfield of the NDPA frame indicates the RUs (Real Units) requiring channel state information feedback within a bandwidth greater than 160MHz. The site information field instructs the site to conduct channel probing with a bandwidth greater than 160MHz and to feed back beamforming reports based on the channel probing results, thereby enabling data transmission using a larger bandwidth and improving transmission efficiency. The column count subfield indicates a column count greater than 8. The site information field instructs the site to conduct channel probing with a bandwidth greater than 8 columns and to feed back beamforming reports based on the channel probing results, thereby enabling data transmission using more streams and improving transmission efficiency.

[0336] The transmission device can be a communication device or a site, or it can be deployed on a communication device or a site. The processing unit 1801 of the transmission device 1800 can be a processor, and the receiving unit 1802 of the transmission device 1800 can be a transceiver.

[0337] It should be understood that the above description of the NAPD frame transmission method also applies to the transmission device 1800, and will not be repeated here.

[0338] Please see Figure 19 , Figure 19 This is a schematic diagram of the transmission device according to an embodiment of this application. The transmission device includes a processing unit 1901 and a receiving unit 1902; The receiving unit 1902 is used to receive an NDPA frame, the NDPA frame including two site information fields, the two site information fields including an AID subfield indicating an association identifier AID of the same site; Among them, two site information fields meet at least one of the following criteria: The bandwidth information subfields in both site information fields jointly indicate the RU (Return Requirement) that the site needs to feed back channel state information, and the bandwidth corresponding to the NDPA frame is greater than 160MHz; or The column number subfield in one of the two site information fields and the column number subfield in the other site information field indicate the number of columns in the compressed beamforming feedback matrix, and the column number subfield indicates a number of columns greater than 8; The processing unit 1901 is used to obtain the number of columns of the RU and / or compressed beamforming feedback matrix that provide the required feedback channel state information from the NDPA frame.

[0339] In this way, a new site information field corresponding to a site can be added without changing the original site information field included in the NDPA frame. Two subfields with partial bandwidth information in the site information field, indicating the RUs (Real Estate Units) requiring channel state information feedback within a bandwidth greater than 160MHz, can instruct the site to perform channel probing with a bandwidth greater than 160MHz and feed back beamforming reports based on the channel probing results. This enables data transmission using a larger bandwidth, improving transmission efficiency. Two subfields with column count in the site information field, indicating a column count greater than 8, can instruct the site to perform channel probing with a bandwidth greater than 8 columns and feed back beamforming reports based on the channel probing results. This enables data transmission using more streams, further improving transmission efficiency.

[0340] The transmission device can be a communication device or a site, or it can be deployed on a communication device or a site. The processing unit 1901 of the transmission device 1900 can be a processor, and the receiving unit 1902 of the transmission device 1900 can be a transceiver.

[0341] It should be understood that the above description of the NAPD frame transmission method also applies to the transmission device 1900, and will not be repeated here.

[0342] Please see Figure 20 , Figure 20 This is a schematic diagram of the transmission device according to an embodiment of this application. The transmission device includes a processing unit 2001 and a receiving unit 2002; The receiving unit 2002 is used to receive NDPA frames, which include a probe session token field, a special site information field, and a site information field; the probe session token field includes a frame category subfield, and the special site information field includes a frame subcategory subfield; the frame category subfield indicates that the NDPA frame is a non-HE NDPA frame and a non-Ranging NDPA frame, and the frame subcategory subfield indicates that the NDPA frame is an EHT NDPA frame; The processing unit 2001 is used to obtain the frame category subfield and the frame sub-category subfield from the NDPA frame to determine that the NDPA frame is an EHT NDPA frame.

[0343] Thus, the frame category subfield and the frame subcategory subfield, combined, indicate that the NDPA frame is an EHT NDPA frame. An EHT NDPA frame can indicate RUs (Real Units) requiring channel state information feedback within a bandwidth greater than 160MHz, instructing the station to perform channel probing with a bandwidth greater than 160MHz and to feed back beamforming reports based on the channel probing results. This enables data transmission using a larger bandwidth, improving transmission efficiency. An EHT NDPA frame can also indicate a column number greater than 8, instructing the station to perform channel probing with a bandwidth greater than 8 columns and to feed back beamforming reports based on the channel probing results. This enables data transmission using more streams, further improving transmission efficiency. Moreover, this does not require defining a new frame, fully utilizing the remaining available types in the MAC frame, thus saving resources.

[0344] The transmission device can be a communication device or a site, or it can be deployed on a communication device or a site. The processing unit 2001 of the transmission device 2000 can be a processor, and the receiving unit 2002 of the transmission device 2000 can be a transceiver.

[0345] It should be understood that the above description of the NAPD frame transmission method also applies to the transmission device 2000, and will not be repeated here.

[0346] This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program thereon, which, when executed by a computer, implements the functions of any of the above method embodiments.

[0347] This application also provides a computer program product that, when executed by a computer, implements the functions of any of the above method embodiments.

[0348] This application also provides a processor for executing steps executable by an access point or steps executable by a site in any of the above method embodiments. During the execution of these methods, the processes of sending and receiving the aforementioned information can be understood as the processor outputting the aforementioned information and the processor receiving the input information. Specifically, when outputting the aforementioned information, the processor outputs the information to a transceiver for transmission. Furthermore, after being output by the processor, the information may require further processing before reaching the transceiver. Similarly, when the processor receives the input information, the transceiver receives the information and inputs it to the processor. Furthermore, after the transceiver receives the information, the information may require further processing before being input to the processor.

[0349] In this way, the transmission, receiving, and other operations involved in the processor can be more generally understood as processor output and receiving, input, and other operations, rather than transmission, receiving, and receiving operations directly performed by the radio frequency circuit and antenna, unless otherwise specified or contradicted by their actual function or internal logic in the relevant description.

[0350] In specific implementation, the processor can be a dedicated processor for executing these methods, or it can be a processor that executes computer instructions stored in memory to execute these methods, such as a general-purpose processor. The memory can be a non-transitory memory, such as read-only memory (ROM), which can be integrated with the processor on the same chip or disposed on different chips. The embodiments of the present invention do not limit the type of memory or the arrangement of the memory and the processor.

[0351] This application also provides a chip system including a processor and an interface for supporting communication transmission devices in implementing the functions involved in the access point or station in any of the above method embodiments, such as determining or processing at least one of the data and information involved in the above methods. In one possible design, the chip system further includes a memory for storing necessary information and data of the aforementioned communication device. This chip system may be composed of chips or may include chips and other discrete devices.

[0352] In an eighteenth aspect, this application provides a functional entity for implementing the above-described NDPA frame transmission method.

[0353] It should also be understood that the first, second, third, fourth and various numerical designations used herein are merely for descriptive convenience and are not intended to limit the scope of this application.

[0354] It should be understood that the term "and / or" in this article is merely a description of the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: A existing alone, A and B existing simultaneously, or B existing alone. Additionally, the character " / " in this article generally indicates that the preceding and following related objects have an "or" relationship.

[0355] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of this application, the order of the above-mentioned processes does not imply 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 this application.

[0356] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the units and algorithm steps of the various examples 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 implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art 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.

[0357] Those skilled in the art will understand that, for the sake of convenience and brevity, the specific working processes of the systems, devices, and units described above can be referred to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0358] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, apparatuses, and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative; for instance, the division of units is only a logical functional division, and in actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not executed. Furthermore, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be through some interfaces; the indirect coupling or communication connection between apparatuses or units may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0359] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate. 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 the units can be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0360] In addition, the functional units in the various embodiments of this application can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit.

[0361] If the aforementioned functions are implemented as 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 this application, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or a portion of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of this application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0362] The steps in the method of this application embodiment can be adjusted, combined, or deleted according to actual needs.

[0363] The modules in the device of this application embodiment can be merged, divided, and deleted according to actual needs.

[0364] The above-described embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of this application, and are not intended to limit it. Although this application has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that modifications can still be made to the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments, or equivalent substitutions can be made to some of the technical features. Such modifications or substitutions do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application.

Claims

1. A method for transmitting NDPA (Null Data Packet Declaration) frames, characterized in that, include: Receive an NDPA frame, the NDPA frame including a site information field, the site information field including an AID subfield indicating an associated identifier (AID) of a site; the site information field also includes a partial bandwidth information subfield; the partial bandwidth information subfield includes a Resource Unit (RU) indication index, the RU indication index indicating the RU for which the site needs to feed back channel state information and the frequency position of the RU in the bandwidth corresponding to the NDPA frame, the smallest granularity of the RU indicated by the RU indication index is 242-tone RU, and the RU indicated by the RU indication index is 242+484-tone RU, 484+996-tone RU, 2×996-tone RU, 3×996-tone RU, or 4×996-tone RU; The RU that obtains the required feedback channel state information from the NDPA frame.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The RU indication index includes a frequency domain indication part and an RU indication part. The frequency domain indication part is used to indicate the frequency domain range where the RU for which the required feedback channel state information is located, and the RU indication part is used to indicate the RU for which the required feedback channel state information is located.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The bandwidth corresponding to the NDPA frame is 320MHz.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, The RU indicator index indicates a 242+484-tone RU. The RU indicator index is one of four different RU indicator indices, and the four different RU indicator indices indicate different 242+484-tone RUs in different positions in the 320MHz.

5. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, The RU indicator index indicates a 484+996-tone RU. The RU indicator index is one of four different RU indicator indices. The four different RU indicator indices indicate different 484+996-tone RUs in different positions within 160MHz. The 160MHz is either the lowest frequency 160MHz in the 320MHz range, or the highest frequency 160MHz in the 320MHz range.

6. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, The RU indicator index indicates a 2×996-tone RU, the bandwidth of which is 160MHz. The RU indicator index is one of two different RU indicator indices, which respectively indicate two 160MHz frequencies in the 320MHz range in ascending order of frequency.

7. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, The RU indicator index indicates a 3×996-tone RU. The RU indicator index indicates one of four different RU indicator indices. The four different RU indicator indices indicate different 3×996-tone RUs in different positions in the 320MHz.

8. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, The RU indicated by the RU indicator index is a 4×996-tone RU, and the 4×996-tone RU corresponds to the 320MHz.

9. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The RU indicates that the index has 9 bits.

10. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The site information field also includes a column number subfield, which indicates the number of columns in the compressed beamforming feedback matrix, and the column number subfield has a bit count of 4 bits or more.

11. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The site information field is 4 bytes long.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1-11, characterized in that, The NDPA frame includes type information indicating that the NDPA frame is an ultra-high throughput EHT NDPA frame.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that, The NDPA frame also includes a probe dialogue token field, which includes a frame category subfield, and the type information is carried in the frame category subfield.

14. A communication device, comprising: A processor and a memory, the memory being used to store instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the communication device to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 13.

15. A chip system, comprising: A processor and a memory, the memory being used to store instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause a communication device including the chip system to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 13.

16. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, wherein when executed by a processor, the computer-readable storage medium causes a communication device including the processor to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 13.

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