Multi-access point coordinated transmission method, storage medium, electronic device, and computer program product

Abstract

The embodiment of the application provides a kind of multi-access point cooperative transmission method, storage medium, electronic device and computer program product, the method comprises: receiving the cooperative control frame sent by shared access point, wherein, cooperative control frame carries bandwidth extension instruction;In response to the indication that bandwidth extension instruction is the indication of allowing bandwidth extension operation, according to the operation channel bandwidth of cooperative control frame and shared access point, determine non-overlapping channel bandwidth;According to the channel state of each subchannel in non-overlapping channel bandwidth, determine extended channel bandwidth. Through the embodiment of the application, the channel bandwidth of shared access point can be extended during multi-access point cooperative transmission, solve the problem that the spectrum utilization efficiency of shared access point is low during multi-access point cooperative transmission in the related art, and then the effect of improving spectrum utilization and network throughput is achieved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of communications, and more specifically, to a multi-access point collaborative transmission method, storage medium, electronic device, and computer program product. Background Technology

[0002] The next-generation wireless LAN standard proposes a Multiple Access Point (MAP) cooperative operation mode. When an access point in a MAP group acquires a Transmission Opportunity (TXOP), that node can act as a sharing access point (AP) and select a shared access point (AP) from the MAP group to share the TXOP. During the TXOP, the sharing access point and the shared access point perform multi-access point cooperative transmission. The sharing access point can allocate available time-domain and frequency-domain transmission resources to the shared access point to avoid mutual interference between access points. The shared access point can schedule data transmission with its associated station on its allocated time-domain and frequency-domain transmission resources.

[0003] However, the maximum Basic Service Set (BSS) operational channel bandwidth of each access point within a MAP group may differ. When the BSS operational channel bandwidth of the sharing AP is less than that of the shared AP, or when the BSS operational channel bandwidth of the sharing AP only partially overlaps with that of the shared AP, the shared AP cannot fully utilize the non-overlapping portion of its own operational channel bandwidth for transmission during cooperative transmission (even if this portion of the channel is idle). This results in low spectrum utilization efficiency for the shared AP during MAP cooperative transmission.

[0004] There is no good solution to the above problems in the relevant technologies. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This application provides a multi-access point cooperative transmission method, storage medium, electronic device, and computer program product to at least solve the problem of low spectrum utilization efficiency of shared access points during multi-access point cooperative transmission in related technologies.

[0006] According to one embodiment of this application, a multi-access point cooperative transmission method is provided, applied to a shared access point. The method includes: receiving a cooperative control frame sent by the shared access point, wherein the cooperative control frame carries a bandwidth extension indication; in response to the bandwidth extension indication being an indication that bandwidth extension operation is permitted, determining a non-overlapping channel bandwidth based on the cooperative control frame and the operating channel bandwidth of the shared access point; and determining an extended channel bandwidth based on the channel state of each sub-channel within the non-overlapping channel bandwidth.

[0007] According to another embodiment of this application, a multi-access point cooperative transmission method is provided, applied to a shared access point. The method includes: determining whether the shared access point is allowed to perform bandwidth expansion during multi-access point cooperative transmission based on the transmission bandwidth expansion capability information of the shared access point; and sending a cooperative control frame carrying a bandwidth expansion indication to the shared access point, wherein the bandwidth expansion indication is an indication that bandwidth expansion operation is allowed or not allowed.

[0008] According to yet another embodiment of this application, a computer-readable storage medium is also provided, which stores a computer program, wherein the computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the steps in any of the above method embodiments.

[0009] According to yet another embodiment of this application, an electronic device is also provided, including a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program, and the processor executes the computer program to implement the steps in any of the above method embodiments.

[0010] According to yet another embodiment of this application, a computer program product is also provided, including a computer program that, when executed by a processor, implements the steps in any of the above method embodiments.

[0011] Through the above embodiments in this application, the shared access point can instruct the shared access point to extend its bandwidth. After receiving the instruction, the shared access point extends its channel bandwidth on the non-overlapping channel bandwidth, which can avoid mutual interference with other access points and solve the problem of low spectrum utilization efficiency of the shared access point during multi-access point cooperative transmission in related technologies, thereby achieving the effect of improving spectrum utilization and network throughput. Attached Figure Description

[0012] Figure 1 This is a hardware structure block diagram of the electronic device that operates in the method embodiments of this application;

[0013] Figure 2 This is a flowchart of a shared AP multi-access point cooperative transmission method according to an embodiment of this application;

[0014] Figure 3This is a flowchart of a multi-access point cooperative transmission method for sharing APs according to an embodiment of this application;

[0015] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the channel bandwidth in one embodiment of this application;

[0016] Figure 5 This is a flowchart illustrating the expansion of shared AP transmission bandwidth in a MAP collaborative operation scenario according to one embodiment of this application;

[0017] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram (a) showing the overlap of the operating channel bandwidths of the sharing AP and the shared AP in one embodiment of this application;

[0018] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram (II) showing the overlap of the operating channel bandwidths of the sharing AP and the shared AP in one embodiment of this application;

[0019] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the expansion of shared AP transmission bandwidth in the C-SR collaborative transmission scenario of this application embodiment;

[0020] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the extension of shared AP transmission bandwidth in a C-TDMA cooperative transmission scenario according to an embodiment of this application;

[0021] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram (a) showing the overlap of the operating channels of the sharing AP and two shared APs in an embodiment of this application;

[0022] Figure 11 This is a schematic diagram (I) of the shared AP transmission bandwidth extension in the C-OFDMA scenario of this application embodiment;

[0023] Figure 12 This is a schematic diagram (II) showing the overlap of the operating channels of the sharing AP and two shared APs in an embodiment of this application;

[0024] Figure 13 This is a schematic diagram (II) of the shared AP transmission bandwidth extension in the C-OFDMA scenario of this application embodiment. Detailed Implementation

[0025] The embodiments of this application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and examples.

[0026] It should be noted that the terms "first," "second," etc., in the specification, claims, and drawings of this application are used to distinguish similar objects and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequence.

[0027] The method embodiments in this application can be applied to wireless communication networks, the structure of which includes: Access Points (APs) and Stations (STAs). Access Points include, but are not limited to, base stations, wireless routers, and home gateways. Stations refer to terminal devices with wireless communication capabilities, including, but not limited to, mobile terminals, computer terminals, and user equipment. An Access Point can establish wireless connections with multiple Stations, forming a Basic Service Set (BSS). A wireless communication network may include one or more BBSs.

[0028] In this embodiment, in Multiple Access Point (MAP) cooperative operation, the AP that acquires the TXOP and initiates the MAP cooperative operation is called the sharing AP or initiating AP. APs that participate in the MAP cooperative operation due to the sharing AP's cooperation are called shared APs or participating APs. MAP cooperative operation can be performed in three dimensions: time domain, frequency domain, and spatial domain. A complete MAP cooperative operation includes the main processes of MAP cooperative discovery, MAP cooperative agreement negotiation, and MAP cooperative transmission. After acquiring the TXOP, the sharing AP can perform MAP cooperative transmission by sharing its time and frequency resources with the shared AP.

[0029] The methods and embodiments provided in this application can be executed in access point devices, computer terminals, or similar electronic devices. Figure 1 This is a hardware structure block diagram of the electronic device used in the embodiments of the method of this application. For example... Figure 1 As shown, the electronic device may include one or more ( Figure 1 Only one is shown in the diagram. A processor 102 (which may include, but is not limited to, a microprocessor MCU or a programmable logic device FPGA, etc.) and a memory 104 for storing data are also shown. The electronic device may further include a transmission device 106 for communication functions and an input / output device 108. Those skilled in the art will understand that... Figure 1 The structure shown is for illustrative purposes only and does not limit the structure of the electronic device described above. For example, the electronic device may also include components that are more... Figure 1The more or fewer components shown, or having the same Figure 1 The different configurations shown.

[0030] The memory 104 can be used to store computer programs, such as application software programs and modules, like the computer program corresponding to the multi-access point cooperative transmission method in this embodiment. The processor 102 executes various functional applications and data processing by running the computer program stored in the memory 104, thus implementing the above-described method. The memory 104 may include high-speed random access memory and non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic storage devices, flash memory, or other non-volatile solid-state memory. In some instances, the memory 104 may further include memory remotely located relative to the processor 102, and these remote memories can be connected to electronic devices via a network. Examples of such networks include, but are not limited to, the Internet, corporate intranets, local area networks, mobile communication networks, and combinations thereof.

[0031] The transmission device 106 is used to receive or send data via a network. Specific examples of the network described above may include a wireless network provided by a communication provider for the electronic device. In one example, the transmission device 106 includes a Network Interface Controller (NIC), which can connect to other network devices via a base station to communicate with the Internet. In another example, the transmission device 106 may be a Radio Frequency (RF) module used for wireless communication with the Internet.

[0032] One embodiment of this application provides a multi-access point cooperative transmission method, applied to a shared access point (AP). Figure 2 This is a flowchart of a multi-access point cooperative transmission method for a shared AP according to an embodiment of this application, such as... Figure 2 As shown, the process includes the following steps:

[0033] Step S202: Receive a cooperative control frame sent by the shared access point, wherein the cooperative control frame carries a bandwidth extension indication;

[0034] Step S204: In response to the bandwidth extension indication being an indication that bandwidth extension operation is permitted, determine the non-overlapping channel bandwidth based on the cooperative control frame and the operating channel bandwidth of the shared access point;

[0035] Step S206: Determine the extended channel bandwidth based on the channel state of each sub-channel within the non-overlapping channel bandwidth.

[0036] The entities that perform the above steps can be base stations, routers, etc., but are not limited to these.

[0037] Through the above steps, the shared access point can instruct the shared access point to extend its bandwidth. After receiving the instruction, the shared access point extends its channel bandwidth on the non-overlapping channel bandwidth, which can avoid mutual interference with other access points and solve the problem of low spectrum utilization efficiency of the shared access point during multi-access point cooperative transmission in related technologies, thereby achieving the effect of improving spectrum utilization and network throughput.

[0038] In some embodiments, the coordination control frame is used to trigger multi-access point cooperative transmission, wherein the multi-access point cooperative transmission includes at least one of the following:

[0039] Coordinated Spatial Reuse (C-SR) transmission;

[0040] Coordinated Time Division Multiple Access (C-TDMA);

[0041] Coordinated Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (C-OFDMA).

[0042] In this embodiment, the bandwidth extension indication includes: an indication that bandwidth extension operation is permitted, and an indication that bandwidth extension operation is prohibited / disallowed. A shared access point indicated to permit bandwidth extension operation can perform bandwidth extension and conduct MAP cooperative transmission on the extended bandwidth. A shared access point indicated to prohibit bandwidth extension operation performs MAP cooperative transmission in a conventional manner, for example, it can perform MAP cooperative transmission on the transmission resources (such as effective bandwidth) allocated to the shared access point.

[0043] In this embodiment, the operational channel bandwidth refers to the Basic Service Set (BSS) operational channel bandwidth, which is the bandwidth of the channel used by all devices (including access points (APs) and associated stations (STAs)) within a specific BSS when communicating. According to IEEE 802.11, channel bandwidths include 20MHz, 40MHz, 80MHz, 160MHz, and 320MHz, etc. Each BSS selects a fixed primary channel (20MHz). All devices within the BSS (including APs and their associated STAs) perform the Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA) procedure for channel access on the primary channel (20MHz). Once a device (AP or STA) acquires a TXOP through EDCA on the primary channel (20MHz), the device, as the TXOP holder, can determine the transmission bandwidth for this TXOP based on the Clear Channel Assessment (CCA) status of its secondary channel.

[0044] In the embodiments of this application, the operating channel bandwidths of the shared access point and the shared access point may partially overlap. The shared access point allocates time-frequency resources for the shared access point during TXOP on the overlapping channel bandwidth, and the shared access point performs bandwidth expansion operation on the non-overlapping channel bandwidth to expand its frequency domain resource range during TXOP, thereby improving spectrum utilization efficiency.

[0045] In some embodiments, the step S204 of determining the non-overlapping channel bandwidth based on the cooperative control frame and the operating channel bandwidth of the shared access point may include the following steps:

[0046] Step S2042: Determine the effective bandwidth allocated by the shared access point to the shared access point based on the cooperative control frame;

[0047] Step S2044: The portion of the operating channel bandwidth of the shared access point that does not overlap with the effective bandwidth is determined as the non-overlapping channel bandwidth.

[0048] In this embodiment, the non-overlapping channel bandwidth is within the operating channel bandwidth, and the non-overlapping channel bandwidth is outside the effective bandwidth.

[0049] In some embodiments, step S2042, which involves determining the effective bandwidth allocated by the shared access point to the shared access point based on the cooperative control frame, may include any of the following steps:

[0050] Step S2042A: Parse the cooperative control frame to obtain the effective bandwidth information of the shared access point, and determine the effective bandwidth based on the effective bandwidth information, wherein the cooperative control frame carries the effective bandwidth information; or,

[0051] Step S2042B: Determine the bandwidth information of the Physical Layer Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) used when the cooperative control frame is received, and determine the effective bandwidth based on the bandwidth information of the PPDU.

[0052] In this embodiment, through the above steps S2042A or S2042B, the sharing access point can explicitly or implicitly indicate the effective bandwidth allocated to the shared access point. For example, if it is an explicit indication, the effective bandwidth information may include PPDU bandwidth size, puncture pattern, channel location, etc.; if it is an implicit indication, the sharing access point uses the effective bandwidth allocated to the shared access point to send a cooperative control frame, and the receiver of the shared access point can provide information such as the PPDU bandwidth size, puncture pattern, and channel location of the cooperative control frame received within the operating channel bandwidth range.

[0053] In some embodiments, after determining the extended channel bandwidth based on the channel state of each sub-channel within the non-overlapping channel bandwidth in step S206, the method may further include: step S208, performing bandwidth extended transmission based on the extended channel bandwidth during multi-access point cooperative transmission.

[0054] In some embodiments, the bandwidth-extended transmission based on the extended channel bandwidth in step S208 may include: performing uplink and downlink data transmission with the associated site of the shared access point within the effective bandwidth and the extended channel bandwidth, wherein the effective bandwidth is the frequency domain resource allocated by the shared access point to the shared access point.

[0055] In traditional multi-access point (MAP) cooperative transmission, the shared access point and its associated station typically perform uplink and downlink data transmission within their allocated effective bandwidth. If other bandwidths in the BBS operating channel bandwidth are idle, it results in wasted bandwidth resources and low bandwidth utilization efficiency. Through the embodiments of this application, the channel bandwidth to be extended can be determined based on the channel status, thereby achieving bandwidth extension. During MAP cooperative transmission, the AP and STA perform uplink and downlink data transmission on the extended bandwidth, which can improve frequency domain resource utilization efficiency and also improve data transmission efficiency within the BBS.

[0056] In some embodiments, before determining the extended channel bandwidth based on the channel state of each sub-channel within the non-overlapping channel bandwidth in step S206, the method may further include step S205, determining the channel state of each sub-channel within the non-overlapping channel bandwidth.

[0057] In some embodiments, step S205, determining the channel state of each sub-channel within the non-overlapping channel bandwidth, may include step S2052, monitoring the CCA state of each sub-channel within the non-overlapping channel bandwidth through idle channel assessment (CCA), wherein the channel state includes the CCA state, and the CCA state includes an idle state and a busy state.

[0058] In some embodiments, step S205, determining the channel state of each sub-channel within the non-overlapping channel bandwidth, may further include step S2054, in response to the shared access point enabling the puncturing function, determining the puncturing state of each sub-channel within the non-overlapping channel bandwidth, wherein the channel state further includes the puncturing state, which includes not punctured and already punctured.

[0059] In this embodiment, if the shared access point does not have punching capability or has not enabled punching function, step S2052 can be executed alone; if the shared access point has enabled punching function, steps S2052 and S2054 can be executed. Step S2052 can be executed before or after step S2054, or both can be executed simultaneously, and this application does not impose any restrictions on this.

[0060] In preamble puncturing scenarios, busy channels can be removed, allowing the remaining discontinuous slave channels to continue using them, thereby improving spectrum utilization efficiency. The punctured channel becomes unavailable, and the shared access point will use the unpunctured channels for uplink and downlink communication.

[0061] In some embodiments, the step S206 of determining the extended channel bandwidth based on the channel state of each sub-channel within the non-overlapping channel bandwidth may include at least one of the following:

[0062] Step S206A: In response to the fact that each sub-channel within the non-overlapping channel bandwidth is in the idle state during the Priority Interframe Space (PIFS) time, the non-overlapping channel bandwidth is determined to be the extended channel bandwidth;

[0063] Step S206B: In response to the fact that all sub-channels within the non-overlapping channel bandwidth that have not been punctured are in the idle state during the PIFS time, the bandwidth of the sub-channels within the non-overlapping channel bandwidth that have not been punctured and are in the idle state is determined as the extended channel bandwidth.

[0064] Step S206C: In response to the shared access point enabling the dynamic puncturing function, puncture is performed on the sub-channels in the busy state within the non-overlapping channel bandwidth, and the bandwidth of the sub-channels in the idle state within the non-overlapping channel bandwidth that have not been punctured is determined as the extended channel bandwidth.

[0065] In this embodiment, the PIFS time is the period immediately preceding the start of data transmission on the effective bandwidth, and the time during which the subchannel is detected to be idle should be greater than or equal to the PIFS time.

[0066] By following the steps above, bandwidth can be extended based on the channel's idle and punched states, thereby improving the spectrum utilization efficiency of the shared access point while avoiding channel interference.

[0067] In some embodiments, the cooperative control frame includes a common info field or a user info field, wherein the bandwidth extension indication is carried through the common info field or the user info field. The common info field carries information about all APs, while the user info field carries information about a specific AP.

[0068] In some embodiments, the public information field or the user information field also carries at least one of the following:

[0069] Cooperative transmission type;

[0070] The identifier of at least one of the shared access points participating in the coordinated transmission;

[0071] Time allocated for coordinated transmission;

[0072] Valid bandwidth information allocated to at least one of the shared access points;

[0073] Other public information or information based on each of the shared access points.

[0074] In one exemplary embodiment, the cooperative transport type includes, but is not limited to, at least one of the following:

[0075] Cooperative spatial reuse of C-SR allows the sharing AP to perform parallel transmission on the same time / frequency resources after acquiring TXOP. Furthermore, the sharing AP can coordinate to control the transmission power of the shared AP during C-SR transmission, reducing interference between parallel transmissions and each other's receivers.

[0076] Cooperative Time Division Multiplexing (C-TDMA) allows the sharing AP to divide the acquired TXOP into multiple different time periods after acquiring it, and allocate the resources of different time periods to different shared APs for data transmission.

[0077] In Cooperative Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (C-OFDMA), after a sharing AP acquires a TXOP (Turn-Off-Point), it can divide the acquired TXOP bandwidth into different parts and allocate them to different shared APs. Each shared AP can independently perform uplink and downlink transmissions with its associated STA within the allocated frequency domain resources.

[0078] In an exemplary embodiment, if the cooperative transmission type is C-TDMA, the cooperative control frame may carry the time allocated to this cooperative transmission; if the cooperative transmission type is C-OFDMA, the cooperative control frame may carry the effective bandwidth information allocated to the currently shared access point (and / or other shared access points).

[0079] In some embodiments, before receiving the cooperative control frame sent by the shared access point in step S202, the method further includes: step S201, sending a management frame to other APs within the MAP group, wherein the management frame carries information on whether the current node supports MAP cooperative transmission bandwidth extension capability. Each AP within the MAP group obtains each other's transmission bandwidth extension capability information and operation information by listening to or interacting with the management frame.

[0080] Through the above embodiments in this application, the shared access point can instruct the shared access point to extend its bandwidth. After receiving the instruction, the shared access point extends its channel bandwidth on the non-overlapping channel bandwidth, which can avoid mutual interference with other access points and solve the problem of low spectrum utilization efficiency of the shared access point during multi-access point cooperative transmission in related technologies, thereby achieving the effect of improving spectrum utilization and network throughput.

[0081] One embodiment of this application also provides a multi-access point cooperative transmission method, applied to a shared access point (AP). Figure 3This is a flowchart of a multi-access point cooperative transmission method for sharing APs according to an embodiment of this application, such as... Figure 3 As shown, the process includes the following steps:

[0082] Step S302: Determine whether the shared access point is allowed to perform bandwidth expansion during multi-access point collaborative transmission based on the transmission bandwidth expansion capability information of the shared access point;

[0083] Step S304: Send a coordination control frame carrying a bandwidth extension indication to the shared access point, wherein the bandwidth extension indication is an indication of whether bandwidth extension operation is allowed or not.

[0084] The entities that perform the above steps can be base stations, routers, etc., but are not limited to these.

[0085] Through the above steps, the shared access point can determine whether each shared access point can perform bandwidth expansion operations based on the transmission bandwidth expansion capability information of each shared access point. This enables control over bandwidth expansion operations during multi-access point collaborative transmission, preventing channel interference between access points. It also solves the problem of low spectrum utilization efficiency of shared access points during multi-access point collaborative transmission in related technologies, thereby improving spectrum utilization and network throughput.

[0086] In this embodiment of the application, after step S304 above, the shared access point that receives the cooperative control frame can perform bandwidth expansion during multi-access point cooperative transmission according to the method embodiment on the shared access point side.

[0087] In some embodiments, before step S302 determines whether the shared access point is allowed to perform bandwidth expansion during multi-access point cooperative transmission based on the transmission bandwidth expansion capability information of the shared access point, the method may further include the following steps:

[0088] Step S3012: Obtain the transmission bandwidth expansion capability information and operation information of each access point in the multi-access point group;

[0089] Step S3014: In response to the shared access point obtaining a transmission opportunity, at least one of the shared access points is scheduled to perform multi-access point collaborative transmission.

[0090] In this embodiment, the operation information may include: primary channel, channel center frequency segment 0, channel center frequency segment 1, channel width, and disabled subchannel bitmap.

[0091] In this embodiment, the cooperative transmission types of the multi-access point cooperative transmission may include: cooperative spatial reuse, cooperative time division multiplexing, and cooperative orthogonal frequency division multiplexing.

[0092] In some embodiments, the transmission bandwidth expansion capability information and operation information in step S3012 above can be carried through management frames. Each AP in the MAP group announces its own capability information and operation information to other APs through management frames. At the same time, each AP in the MAP group obtains each other's transmission bandwidth expansion capability information and operation information by listening to or interacting with management frames.

[0093] In some embodiments, step S302, which involves determining whether the shared access point is allowed to perform bandwidth expansion during multi-access point cooperative transmission based on the transmission bandwidth expansion capability information of the shared access point, may include at least one of the following:

[0094] Step S3022: In response to the transmission bandwidth expansion capability information indicating that bandwidth expansion operation is not supported, it is determined that the corresponding shared access point is not allowed to perform bandwidth expansion.

[0095] Step S3024: In response to the cooperative transmission type being the cooperative spatial reuse or the cooperative time division multiplexing, and the transmission bandwidth expansion capability information being that bandwidth expansion operation is supported, it is determined that the corresponding shared access point is allowed to perform bandwidth expansion.

[0096] Step S3026: In response to the cooperative transmission type being the cooperative orthogonal frequency division multiplexing and the transmission bandwidth expansion capability information being that bandwidth expansion operation is supported, determine whether to allow the corresponding shared access point to perform bandwidth expansion based on the operation information.

[0097] In this embodiment, whether an access point is allowed to perform bandwidth expansion can be determined based on whether each access point supports bandwidth expansion operation and the cooperative transmission type, i.e., any one of the steps S3022 to S3022 above can be executed.

[0098] In some embodiments, the step S3026, which involves determining whether to allow the corresponding shared access point to perform bandwidth expansion based on the operation information, may include the following steps:

[0099] Based on the operation information, determine whether the non-overlapping channel bandwidths of multiple shared access points that support bandwidth expansion operations overlap with each other;

[0100] In response to the fact that the non-overlapping channel bandwidths of the first shared access point among the plurality of shared access points do not overlap with those of the other shared access points, it is determined that the first shared access point is allowed to perform bandwidth expansion;

[0101] In response to the non-overlapping channel bandwidths of multiple second shared access points among the plurality of shared access points overlapping each other, it is determined that one second shared access point is allowed to extend its bandwidth, while the other second shared access points are not allowed to extend their bandwidth.

[0102] In this embodiment, the non-overlapping channel bandwidth is the portion of the shared access point's operational channel bandwidth that does not overlap with the allocated effective bandwidth. Specifically, the non-overlapping channel bandwidth is within the shared access point's operational channel bandwidth but outside the allocated effective bandwidth.

[0103] In this embodiment, for the scenario of cooperative orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), the frequency domain resources used by each access point during multi-access point cooperative transmission cannot overlap, and the channels that can be bandwidth extended also cannot overlap. Therefore, if the scalable bandwidth of multiple shared access points overlaps, only one shared access point can be allowed to perform bandwidth extension. If the scalable bandwidth of each shared access point does not overlap, then each shared access point can perform bandwidth extension.

[0104] Through the above embodiments in this application, the shared access point determines the shared access point that can be bandwidth extended based on the capability information and operation information of each access point, and instructs it to perform bandwidth extension during multi-access point cooperative transmission. After receiving the instruction, the shared access point extends the channel bandwidth on the non-overlapping channel bandwidth, which can avoid mutual interference with other access points, and also solves the problem of low spectrum utilization efficiency of the shared access point during multi-access point cooperative transmission in related technologies, thereby achieving the effect of improving spectrum utilization and network throughput.

[0105] In the embodiments of this application, the size of the channel bandwidth can be referenced from the definition in the standard (such as IEEE 802.11). Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the channel bandwidth in one embodiment of this application, as shown below. Figure 4 As shown, the channel bandwidth can include 20MHz, 40MHz, 80MHz, 160MHz or 320MHz, etc.

[0106] According to the IEEE 802.11 definition, channels can be divided into the following two categories:

[0107] Primary channel: A channel containing a primary 20MHz channel (P20). Depending on the channel bandwidth, primary 20MHz channels (P20), primary 40MHz channels (P40), primary 80MHz channels (P80), and primary 160MHz channels (P160) are available.

[0108] Secondary channel: The adjacent channel of the primary channel, which is bound to the primary channel to form the next primary channel with a wider bandwidth. Depending on the channel bandwidth, secondary 20MHz channel (S20), secondary 40MHz channel (S40), secondary 80MHz channel (S80), and secondary 160MHz channel (S160) are available.

[0109] In this embodiment, based on the bandwidth of the operating channel, when a device (AP or STA) acquires a TXOP via EDCA on the primary channel (20MHz), the device, as the TXOP holder, can determine the transmission bandwidth of this TXOP based on the CCA status of its secondary channel S20, S40, S80, or S160. In MAP cooperative transmission, the sharing AP can allocate bandwidth to the shared AP within the transmission bandwidth range of this TXOP based on the cooperative transmission type. The shared AP can also determine whether to extend the bandwidth and the expandable bandwidth range based on the CCA status of its secondary channel.

[0110] In an exemplary embodiment, the sharing AP / shared AP can determine the transmission bandwidth for this TXOP based on the following rules:

[0111] (1) If the secondary channels S20, S40, S80 and S160 are all in an idle state during the PIFS time interval immediately before the start of TXOP, then a PPDU with a bandwidth of 320MHz is transmitted on channel 320MHz.

[0112] (2) If the secondary channels S20, S40 and S80 are all idle during the PIFS time interval immediately before the start of TXOP, then a PPDU with a bandwidth of 160MHz or 80+80MHz is transmitted on the main channel P160 or 80+80MHz.

[0113] (3) If the secondary channels S20 and S40 are both in an idle state during the PIFS time interval immediately before the start of TXOP, then an 80MHz bandwidth PPDU is transmitted on the main channel P80.

[0114] (4) If the secondary channel S20 is idle during a specific time interval immediately preceding the start of TXOP, and 1) if the PPDU is transmitted in the 2.4 GHz band, then the specific time interval is the Distributed Inter-Frame Space (DIFS); 2) otherwise it is PIFS, then a PPDU with a bandwidth of 40 MHz is transmitted on the primary channel P40.

[0115] (5) If only the CCA status indication of the main channel 20MHz is idle, then transmit a PPDU with a bandwidth of 20MHz on the main 20MHz channel.

[0116] (6) If the value of the EDCA backoff counter is 0, but the medium on the main channel indicates that it is busy due to physical or virtual carrier sniffing, then the backoff procedure needs to be initiated to re-access the channel and obtain TXOP.

[0117] According to the bandwidth extension method in the above embodiments of this application, the shared AP can also extend the TXOP transmission bandwidth to the non-overlapping channel bandwidth based on the TXOP transmission bandwidth allocated by the sharing AP, according to the bandwidth extension instruction, thereby achieving the technical effect of improving spectrum resource utilization.

[0118] In an exemplary embodiment, if the sharing AP / shared AP supports preamble puncturing and the operating channel bandwidth is 80MHz, 160MHz or greater, then according to the relevant provisions of IEEE 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) preamble puncturing or 802.11be EHT (Wi-Fi 7) preamble puncturing, within a tight period of time before the start of TXOP (such as PIFS, DIFS), when it is detected that some sub-channels are busy and some sub-channels are idle, a PPDU with the corresponding puncturing pattern is sent.

[0119] In this embodiment, different APs within a MAP group may have primary 20MHz channels in the same or different locations. When the primary 20MHz channels are not in the same location, it should be ensured that the primary 20MHz channel of the shared AP is within the BSS operating channel bandwidth coverage of the sharing AP, and the primary 20MHz channel of the sharing AP is within the BSS operating channel bandwidth of the shared AP. In some embodiments, if the APs in the MAP group have puncturing enabled, it is also required that the primary 20MHz channels of the sharing AP and the shared AP cannot be located within each other's punctured sub-channel ranges.

[0120] Figure 5 This is a flowchart illustrating the shared AP transmission bandwidth expansion in a MAP collaborative operation scenario according to one embodiment of this application, as shown below. Figure 5 As shown, the process includes the following steps:

[0121] In step S1, the AP announces in its sent management frame whether it supports MAP cooperative transmission bandwidth extension capabilities. Each AP within the MAP group can obtain each other's transmission bandwidth extension capability information and operational information by listening to or interacting with the management frame during the MAP cooperative discovery phase or the MAP cooperative protocol negotiation phase. For example, operational information can be obtained by parsing the High Throughput (HT), Very High Throughput (VHT), High Efficiency (HE), Extreme High Throughput (EHT), and Ultra High Reliability (UHR) operation elements in the management frame. Operational information may include: primary channel, channel center frequency segment 0, channel center frequency segment 1, channel width, and disabled subchannel bitmap, etc.

[0122] In step S2, the Sharing AP obtains the TXOP on its primary 20MHz channel through the EDCA mechanism, and determines the transmission bandwidth of the sharing AP in this TXOP based on the CCA status of its secondary 20 / 40 / 80 / 160MHz channels and its static punching pattern. The transmission bandwidth is generally less than or equal to the BSS operation channel bandwidth of the sharing AP.

[0123] Step S3: The Sharing AP sends a specific MAP coordination control frame to the shared AP(s) using a non-high-throughput repeated physical layer protocol data unit (non-HT DUPPPDU) or a punctured non-HT DUPPPDU to trigger or initiate this MAP coordination operation. The sharing AP can carry information, including but not limited to, the following, through the common info or user info field in this specific coordination control frame:

[0124] The type of this collaborative transmission (e.g., C-SR, C-TDMA, etc.);

[0125] ID information of the shared AP(s) participating in this collaborative transmission;

[0126] The time allocated to this coordinated transmission (e.g., for C-TDMA);

[0127] Information such as the effective bandwidth allocated to the shared AP(s) for this collaborative transmission (e.g., in C-OFDMA applications);

[0128] Information indicating whether the shared AP(s) allows bandwidth expansion operations during this MAP collaborative transmission;

[0129] Other common or per-shared AP information.

[0130] In step S4, the Shared AP listens for and receives specific MAP cooperative control frames sent by the sharing AP within its operational channel bandwidth coverage area. The receiver of the shared AP provides information such as the PPDU bandwidth size, punch pattern, and channel location of the specific MAP cooperative frame received within its operational channel bandwidth coverage area. At the same time, the shared AP continuously performs CCA energy detection on each 20MHz sub-channel within its operational channel bandwidth coverage area and records the busy and idle status of each 20MHz sub-channel.

[0131] In step S5, the Shared AP parses the specific MAP cooperative control frame to determine the available channel range shared by the Shared AP and whether the current MAP cooperative transmission can perform bandwidth expansion operations.

[0132] For example, if the control frame is found to carry valid bandwidth information allocated by the sharing AP to this shared AP for this collaborative transmission, the shared AP will ultimately determine the available channel range shared by the shared AP during this MAP collaborative transmission based on this allocated bandwidth information and the PPDU bandwidth information obtained in step S4.

[0133] For example, if the control frame does not carry the effective bandwidth information allocated by the sharing AP to this shared AP for this collaborative transmission, the shared AP will, by default, determine the available channel range shared by the shared AP during this MAP collaborative transmission based on the PPDU bandwidth information obtained in step S4.

[0134] For example, if the control frame contains an indication that the shared AP is prohibited / not allowed to perform dynamic bandwidth expansion operations, the shared AP will only be allowed to transmit within the shared available channel range during this MAP cooperative transmission.

[0135] For example, if the control frame contains an indication that the shared AP is allowed to perform dynamic bandwidth expansion, the shared AP can perform subsequent steps S6 and S7 during this MAP cooperative transmission to perform bandwidth expansion transmission within the non-overlapping working channel range.

[0136] In step S6, when the Shared AP is allowed to perform bandwidth extension transmission, it identifies the information of the non-overlapping (or unused) part of the BSS operation channel bandwidth of the shared AP (equivalent to the non-overlapping channel bandwidth mentioned above) based on the size and location of its own BSS operation channel bandwidth and the shared available channel information obtained in step S5, including the size of the channel bandwidth and the channel location.

[0137] In step S7, the Shared AP continuously monitors the CCA status of each 20MHz sub-channel within the non-overlapping channel bandwidth identified in step S6, and performs bandwidth-extended transmission on the idle channel.

[0138] For example, if all non-overlapping 20MHz sub-channels are idle during a time interval immediately before the shared AP starts MAP transmission (such as the PIFS time), the shared AP can perform bandwidth-extended transmission by superimposing the idle non-overlapping channels on top of the shared channel width when MAP transmission starts.

[0139] For example, if the shared AP has static puncturing enabled, then during the time interval immediately before the shared AP starts MAP transmission (such as the PIFS time), all 20MHz sub-channels that are not punctured and are located within the non-overlapping channel bandwidth are idle. When MAP transmission starts, the shared AP can extend the bandwidth by adding the idle sub-channels that are not punctured and located in the non-overlapping portion to the shared channel width.

[0140] For example, if the shared AP has enabled the dynamic puncturing function, then in the time interval immediately before the shared AP starts MAP transmission (such as the PIFS time), if some 20MHz sub-channels within the non-overlapping channel bandwidth range have a CCA status indicating that they are busy, the shared AP can remove the busy 20MHz sub-channels through dynamic puncturing transmission when MAP transmission starts. Then, based on the shared channel width, the idle 20MHz sub-channels after puncturing the non-overlapping area are superimposed for bandwidth extension transmission.

[0141] Through steps S1 to S7, the sharing AP determines the shared AP that can perform bandwidth expansion based on the capability and operation information of each access point, and instructs it to perform bandwidth expansion during multi-access point cooperative transmission. After receiving the instruction, the shared AP expands the channel bandwidth on the non-overlapping channel bandwidth, which can avoid mutual interference with other access points and also solve the problem of low spectrum utilization efficiency of shared access points during multi-access point cooperative transmission in related technologies, thereby achieving the effect of improving spectrum utilization and network throughput.

[0142] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram (I) showing the overlap of the operating channel bandwidths of the sharing AP and the shared AP in one embodiment of this application, as shown below. Figure 6 As shown, the BSS operation channel bandwidth of sharing AP1 is less than that of shared AP2.

[0143] In this embodiment, the maximum operating channel bandwidth of sharing AP1 is 160MHz, and the maximum operating channel bandwidth of shared AP2 is 320MHz. As the TXOP holder, sharing AP1 can share its acquired TXOP resources with shared AP2 for collaborative transmission. From a frequency domain perspective, sharing AP1 can only share a maximum of 160MHz of its operating channel bandwidth with shared AP2 for transmission.

[0144] In traditional MAP cooperative transmission, the 160MHz bandwidth within the operating channel bandwidth of shared AP2 that does not overlap with that of sharing AP1 cannot be utilized by sharing with sharing AP1, resulting in low spectrum resource utilization efficiency of shared AP2 during MAP cooperative transmission.

[0145] Figure 7This is a schematic diagram (II) showing the overlap of the operating channel bandwidths of the sharing AP and the shared AP in one embodiment of this application, as shown. Figure 7 As shown, the BSS operation channel bandwidth of the sharing AP1 only partially overlaps with that of the shared AP2.

[0146] In this embodiment, the maximum operating channel bandwidth of both sharing AP1 and shared AP2 is 320MHz, but they only partially overlap. For example, if there is a 160MHz overlap in operating channel bandwidth, sharing AP1, as the TXOP holder, can share its acquired TXOP resources with shared AP2 for cooperative transmission. From a frequency domain perspective, sharing AP1 can only share the maximum overlapped 160MHz of operating channel bandwidth with shared AP2 for transmission.

[0147] In traditional MAP cooperative transmission, the 160MHz bandwidth within the operating channel bandwidth of shared AP2 that does not overlap with that of sharing AP1 cannot be utilized by sharing with sharing AP1, resulting in low spectrum resource utilization efficiency of shared AP2 during MAP cooperative transmission.

[0148] The MAP cooperative transmission method in this application embodiment can extend the transmission bandwidth of a shared AP, improving the spectrum resource utilization and network throughput of the shared AP during MAP cooperative transmission. The following will provide a detailed explanation of the shared AP's transmission bandwidth extension for different cooperative transmission scenarios (types).

[0149] In an exemplary embodiment, MAP cooperative transmission is C-SR cooperative transmission. During the C-SR cooperative transmission phase, after sharing AP1 acquires TXOP, it can schedule and select a shared AP2 for subsequent C-SR cooperative transmission based on the interference of downlink transmissions from other shared APs within the MAP group on the downlink transmission of sharing AP, and control the transmission power of shared AP2. Assume the overlap in the size and location of the BSS operating channel bandwidths of sharing AP1 and shared AP2 is as follows: Figure 6 or Figure 7 As shown.

[0150] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the shared AP transmission bandwidth extension in the C-SR cooperative transmission scenario of this application embodiment, as shown below. Figure 8 As shown, sharing AP1 and shared AP2 perform cooperative transmission in the spatial domain.

[0151] First, sharing AP1 transmits a C-SR trigger frame in non-HT DUP PPDU format on its P160 channel. This C-SR trigger frame is equivalent to the aforementioned cooperative control frame and can be a newly defined control frame or an extension based on existing trigger frames in the current standard. For example, the C-SR trigger frame may include, but is not limited to, the following information: the type of this MAP cooperative transmission (e.g., C-SR), the ID of shared AP2 participating in this cooperative transmission, the maximum allowed transmission power of shared AP2 or the maximum acceptable interference for sharing AP1, and an indication of whether shared AP2 is allowed to extend its MAP transmission bandwidth.

[0152] Secondly, Shared AP2 receives a C-SR trigger frame from sharing AP1 on P160 within its operational channel bandwidth. After the SIFS interval, both sharing AP1 and Shared AP2 can simultaneously initiate C-SR transmission on the P160 channel. For shared AP2, if it recognizes an indication in the received C-SR trigger frame that allows it to extend its MAP transmission bandwidth, shared AP2 continuously monitors the CCA status of each unpunctured 20MHz sub-channel within the S160 channel range within its operational channel bandwidth. If, during a sustained time interval (such as the PIFS time) before data transmission begins on the P160 channel, the CCA indication of all unpunctured 20MHz sub-channels in the S160 channel is in an idle state, then when shared AP2 initiates C-SR transmission after the SIFS interval following the receipt of the C-SR trigger frame, it can extend the effective channel width of its cooperative transmission from the original P160 to the entire P320 (P160+S160).

[0153] Ultimately, shared AP2 can choose to send a 320MHz bandwidth downlink data PPDU (punctured), or send a 320MHz bandwidth basic trigger frame (punctured) in non-HT DUP PPDU format to schedule multiple STAs for uplink transmission. The maximum operating channel bandwidth of STA2 associated with shared AP2 is also 320MHz. When STA2 receives a 320MHz bandwidth (punctured) PPDU from shared AP2, it replies with a 320MHz bandwidth (punctured) immediate response frame after the SIFS time interval, ending the current C-SR cooperative transmission.

[0154] Through the embodiments of this application, bandwidth expansion of the shared access point can be realized in the C-SR cooperative transmission scenario, thereby improving the frequency domain resource utilization of the shared access point and increasing network throughput.

[0155] In one exemplary embodiment, the MAP cooperative transmission is a C-TDMA cooperative transmission. During the C-TDMA cooperative transmission phase, after sharing AP1 acquires a 160MHz wide TXOP, it allocates a specified period of time for shared AP2 to perform C-TDMA cooperative transmission. It can be assumed that the overlap in the size and location of the BSS operating channel bandwidths of sharing AP1 and shared AP2 is as follows: Figure 6 or Figure 7 As shown.

[0156] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the shared AP transmission bandwidth extension in a C-TDMA cooperative transmission scenario according to an embodiment of this application, as shown below. Figure 9 As shown, sharing AP1 and shared AP2 perform coordinated transmission in the time domain.

[0157] First, sharing AP1 sends a specific control frame to shared AP2 on its P160 channel. For example, this control frame could be a MU-RTS TXS trigger control frame as defined in the 802.11be protocol.

[0158] Secondly, Shared AP2 receives the MU-RTS TXS trigger frame sent by sharing AP1 on P160 within its operational channel bandwidth, and after the SIFS time interval, it replies with a 160MHz non-HT DUP format Clear to Send (CTS) frame on its P160 to sharing AP1 to indicate that the TXOP of sharing AP1 has been successfully handed over to shared AP2.

[0159] For shared AP2, if it recognizes the current C-TDMA transmission in the received MU-RTS TXS trigger frame and the sharing AP1 indicates that it is allowed to perform bandwidth-extended transmission, then shared AP2 can continuously monitor the CCA status of each un-punctured 20MHz sub-channel within the S160 channel range within its operating channel bandwidth before sending the CTS response frame. If, during a sustained time interval (such as the PIFS time) before the CTS frame begins transmission on the P160 channel, the CCA indication of all un-punctured 20MHz sub-channels in the S160 channel is in an idle state, then shared AP2 can extend the effective channel bandwidth of the CTS frame from the original P160 to the entire P320 (P160+S160) when sending the CTS response frame. Ultimately, shared AP2 can send a 320MHz wide CTS response frame in (punctured) non-HT DUP PPDU format. After sending the CTS response frame SIFS time interval, shared AP2 can use a PPDU with a maximum width of 320MHz (punctured) to perform C-TDMA cooperative transmission with its associated STAs. If shared AP2 finishes sending data before the allocated time expires, shared AP2 can use a (punctured) non-HT DUP PPDU to send a 320MHz wide TXOP return control frame, such as a contention-free end (CF-End) control frame.

[0160] Through the embodiments of this application, bandwidth expansion of the shared access point can be realized in the C-TDMA cooperative transmission scenario, thereby improving the frequency domain resource utilization of the shared access point and increasing network throughput.

[0161] In one exemplary embodiment, MAP cooperative transmission is C-OFDMA cooperative transmission. After acquiring the TXOP, the sharing AP can act as the cooperative control center, scheduling the corresponding shared APs combination for C-OFDMA cooperative transmission.

[0162] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram (I) showing the overlap of the operating channels of the sharing AP and two shared APs in an embodiment of this application, as shown. Figure 10 As shown, the maximum BSS operating channel bandwidth of the sharing AP is 160MHz, and the maximum BSS operating channel bandwidth of both shared AP1 and shared AP2 is 320MHz. The P20 channels of both shared AP1 and shared AP2 are within the coverage range of the BSS operating channel bandwidth of the sharing AP. However, the P20 channel positions of shared AP1 and shared AP2 are different. The P20 of shared AP1 is located on the lowest frequency 20MHz sub-channel of P160, while the P20 of shared AP2 is located on the highest frequency 20MHz sub-channel of P160. Furthermore, the BSS operating channels of shared AP1 and shared AP2 completely overlap.

[0163] Figure 11 This is a schematic diagram (I) illustrating the extended transmission bandwidth of a shared AP in a C-OFDMA scenario according to an embodiment of this application. Figure 11 As shown, the sharing AP, shared AP1, and shared AP2 perform coordinated transmission in the frequency domain.

[0164] First, the Sharing AP sends a specific C-OFDMA cooperative control frame (which can be a modified version of the basic trigger control frame in the current standard, or a newly defined control frame) on its operating P160 channel to announce the set of shared APs (shared AP1 and shared AP2 in this embodiment) for this C-OFDMA cooperative transmission. Simultaneously, this C-OFDMA cooperative control frame may also contain the size and location information of the Resource Units (RUs) allocated by the Sharing AP for transmission by shared AP1 and shared AP2, respectively.

[0165] In this embodiment, shared AP1 is allocated to the lower 80MHz channel on sharing AP P160 for transmission, and shared AP2 is allocated to the higher 80MHz channel on sharing AP P160 for transmission. Since the sharing AP knows that the operating channels of shared AP1 and shared AP2 completely overlap, the sharing AP can instruct a single shared AP (such as shared AP1) to perform bandwidth-extended transmission during the C-OFDMA cooperative transmission phase in its transmitted C-OFDMA cooperative control frame, thus avoiding collisions caused by shared AP1 and shared AP2 transmitting simultaneously on S160.

[0166] For shared AP1, if it recognizes an indication in the received C-OFDMA cooperative control frame that allows it to extend the MAP transmission bandwidth, then shared AP1 continuously monitors the CCA status of each unpunctured 20MHz sub-channel within the S160 channel range of its operating channel bandwidth. If, during a sustained time interval before the start of C-OFDMA cooperative transmission (such as the PIFS time), the CCA indication of all unpunctured 20MHz sub-channels in the S160 channel is in an idle state, then when shared AP1 starts C-OFDMA transmission after receiving the SIFS time interval of the C-OFDMA cooperative control frame, it can extend the effective channel width of its cooperative transmission from the originally allocated P80 to a dynamic punctured channel bandwidth type of P80+S160. Finally, shared AP1 can perform uplink or downlink punctured transmission with its associated STAs within this extended punctured channel width.

[0167] For shared AP2, since the sharing AP does not allow it to extend its transmission bandwidth during cooperative transmission in the C-OFDMA cooperative control frame, shared AP2 can only transmit on the assigned P80 channel by default.

[0168] Through the embodiments of this application, bandwidth expansion of shared access points can be achieved in C-OFDMA cooperative transmission scenarios, thereby improving the frequency domain resource utilization of shared access points and increasing network throughput. When the scalable bandwidths of shared access points overlap, only one shared access point is instructed to perform bandwidth expansion, which can avoid channel interference.

[0169] Figure 12 This is a schematic diagram (II) showing the overlap of the operating channels of the sharing AP and two shared APs in an embodiment of this application, as shown. Figure 12As shown, the maximum BSS operating channel bandwidth of the sharing AP is 160MHz, and the maximum BSS operating channel bandwidth of both shared AP1 and shared AP2 is 320MHz. The P20 of both shared AP1 and shared AP2 is within the coverage range of the BSS operating channel bandwidth of the sharing AP. However, the P20 channels of shared AP1 and shared AP2 are located differently. The P20 of shared AP1 is located on the lowest frequency 20MHz sub-channel of P160, while the P20 of shared AP2 is located on the highest frequency 20MHz sub-channel of P160. Furthermore, the P160 of shared AP1 and shared AP2 only partially overlap.

[0170] Figure 13 This is a schematic diagram (II) illustrating the shared AP transmission bandwidth extension in a C-OFDMA scenario according to an embodiment of this application. Figure 13 As shown, the sharing AP, shared AP1, and shared AP2 perform coordinated transmission in the frequency domain.

[0171] During C-OFDMA cooperative transmission, the sharing AP also allocates the lower 80MHz channel of its P160 to the shared AP1 and the higher 80MHz channel to the shared AP2. The sharing AP knows that the S160 channels of the shared AP1 and shared AP2 do not overlap, and can perform bandwidth-extended transmission on their respective S160 channels. Therefore, the sharing AP can simultaneously instruct the shared AP1 and shared AP2 to perform bandwidth extension in subsequent C-OFDMA cooperative transmissions in the initial C-OFDMA cooperative control frame.

[0172] In this embodiment, for shared AP1 and shared AP2, if during a sustained time interval (such as PIFS time) before C-OFDMA transmission is enabled, the CCA indications of all 20MHz sub-channels without puncturing in their respective S160 channels are idle, then shared AP1 and shared AP2 can extend their effective channel width for cooperative transmission from the originally allocated P80 to a dynamic puncturing channel bandwidth type of P80+S160, and perform C-OFDMA cooperative transmission with their associated STAs within their respective puncturing channel bandwidths.

[0173] Through the embodiments of this application, bandwidth expansion of shared access points can be realized in C-OFDMA cooperative transmission scenarios. When the expandable bandwidth of multiple shared access points does not overlap, these shared access points can be instructed to expand their bandwidth simultaneously, thereby improving the frequency domain resource utilization of each shared access point and achieving the effect of increasing network throughput.

[0174] Through the above description of the embodiments, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the methods according to the above embodiments can be implemented by means of software plus necessary general-purpose hardware platforms. Of course, they can also be implemented by hardware, but in many cases the former is a better implementation method. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this application, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium (such as ROM / RAM, magnetic disk, optical disk) and includes several instructions to cause a terminal device (which may be a mobile phone, computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute the methods described in the various embodiments of this application.

[0175] Embodiments of this application also provide a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, wherein the computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the steps in any of the above method embodiments.

[0176] In one exemplary embodiment, the aforementioned computer-readable storage medium may include, but is not limited to, various media capable of storing computer programs, such as a USB flash drive, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), portable hard disk, magnetic disk, or optical disk.

[0177] Embodiments of this application also provide an electronic device including a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program and the processor is configured to run the computer program to perform the steps in any of the above method embodiments.

[0178] In one exemplary embodiment, the electronic device may further include a transmission device and an input / output device, wherein the transmission device is connected to the processor and the input / output device is connected to the processor.

[0179] Embodiments of this application also provide a computer program product, including a computer program that, when executed by a processor, implements the steps in any of the above method embodiments.

[0180] Specific examples in this embodiment can be found in the examples described in the above embodiments and exemplary implementations, and will not be repeated here.

[0181] Obviously, those skilled in the art should understand that the modules or steps of this application described above can be implemented using general-purpose computing devices. They can be centralized on a single computing device or distributed across a network of multiple computing devices. They can be implemented using computer-executable program code, and thus can be stored in a storage device for execution by a computing device. In some cases, the steps shown or described can be performed in a different order than those presented here, or they can be fabricated as separate integrated circuit modules, or multiple modules or steps can be fabricated as a single integrated circuit module. Thus, this application is not limited to any particular combination of hardware and software.

[0182] The above description is merely an exemplary embodiment of this application and is not intended to limit this application. Various modifications and variations can be made to this application by those skilled in the art. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., made within the principles of this application should be included within the protection scope of this application.

Claims

1. A multi-access point cooperative transmission method, characterized in that, Applied to a shared access point, the method includes: Receive a cooperative control frame sent by a shared access point, wherein the cooperative control frame carries a bandwidth extension indication; In response to the bandwidth extension indication being an indication that bandwidth extension operation is permitted, the non-overlapping channel bandwidth is determined based on the cooperative control frame and the operating channel bandwidth of the shared access point; The extended channel bandwidth is determined based on the channel state of each sub-channel within the non-overlapping channel bandwidth.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The step of determining the non-overlapping channel bandwidth based on the cooperative control frame and the operating channel bandwidth of the shared access point includes: The effective bandwidth allocated by the shared access point to the shared access point is determined based on the cooperative control frame. The portion of the operating channel bandwidth of the shared access point that does not overlap with the effective bandwidth is defined as the non-overlapping channel bandwidth.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, Determining the effective bandwidth allocated by the shared access point to the shared access point based on the cooperative control frame includes: The cooperative control frame is parsed to obtain the effective bandwidth information of the shared access point, and the effective bandwidth is determined based on the effective bandwidth information, wherein the cooperative control frame carries the effective bandwidth information; or, Determine the bandwidth information of the Physical Layer Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) used when the cooperative control frame is received, and determine the effective bandwidth based on the bandwidth information of the PPDU.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, After determining the extended channel bandwidth based on the channel states of each sub-channel within the non-overlapping channel bandwidth, the method further includes: During multi-access point cooperative transmission, bandwidth-extended transmission is performed based on the extended channel bandwidth.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The bandwidth-extended transmission based on the extended channel bandwidth includes: Uplink and downlink data transmissions are performed with the associated site of the shared access point within the effective bandwidth and the extended channel bandwidth, wherein the effective bandwidth is the frequency domain resource allocated by the shared access point to the shared access point.

6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Before determining the extended channel bandwidth based on the channel states of each sub-channel within the non-overlapping channel bandwidth, the method further includes: The CCA status of each sub-channel within the non-overlapping channel bandwidth is monitored by evaluating the idle channel CCA, wherein the channel status includes the CCA status, and the CCA status includes idle status and busy status.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that, The method further includes: In response to the shared access point enabling the punching function, the punching status of each sub-channel within the non-overlapping channel bandwidth is determined, wherein the channel status also includes the punching status, which includes not punched and punched.

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that, Determining the extended channel bandwidth based on the channel states of each sub-channel within the non-overlapping channel bandwidth includes at least one of the following: In response to the fact that each subchannel within the non-overlapping channel bandwidth is in the idle state during the priority frame interval PIFS time, the non-overlapping channel bandwidth is determined to be the extended channel bandwidth; In response to the fact that all unpunctured subchannels within the non-overlapping channel bandwidth are in the idle state during the PIFS time, the bandwidth of the unpunctured subchannels within the non-overlapping channel bandwidth that are in the idle state is determined as the extended channel bandwidth. In response to the shared access point enabling the dynamic puncturing function, puncturing is performed on the sub-channels within the non-overlapping channel bandwidth that are in the busy state, and the bandwidth of the sub-channels within the non-overlapping channel bandwidth that are not punctured and are in the idle state is determined as the extended channel bandwidth.

9. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The cooperative control frame includes a public information field or a user information field, wherein the bandwidth extension indication is carried through the public information field or the user information field.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that, The public information field or the user information field also carries at least one of the following information: Cooperative transmission type; The identifier of at least one of the shared access points participating in the coordinated transmission; Time allocated for coordinated transmission; Valid bandwidth information allocated to at least one of the shared access points; Other public information or information based on each of the shared access points.

11. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The coordination control frame is used to trigger multi-access point coordinated transmission, wherein the multi-access point coordinated transmission includes at least one of the following: Collaborative spatial reuse of C-SR transmission; Cooperative Time Division Multiplexing (C-TDMA) transmission; Cooperative Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (C-OFDMA) transmission.

12. A multi-access point cooperative transmission method, characterized in that, Applied to shared access points, the method includes: Determine whether the shared access point is allowed to expand its bandwidth during multi-access point collaborative transmission based on the transmission bandwidth expansion capability information of the shared access point. A coordination control frame carrying a bandwidth extension indication is sent to the shared access point, wherein the bandwidth extension indication is an indication that allows or disallows bandwidth extension operation.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that, Before determining whether the shared access point is allowed to extend its bandwidth during multi-access point cooperative transmission based on the transmission bandwidth extension capability information of the shared access point, the method further includes: The transmission bandwidth expansion capability information and operation information of each access point in the multi-access point group are obtained, wherein the operation information includes: main channel, channel center frequency segment 0, channel center frequency segment 1, channel width, and disabled sub-channel bitmap; In response to the shared access point acquiring a transmission opportunity, at least one of the shared access points is scheduled to perform multi-access point cooperative transmission, wherein the cooperative transmission types of the multi-access point cooperative transmission include: cooperative spatial reuse, cooperative time division multiplexing, and cooperative orthogonal frequency division multiplexing.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that, Determining whether to allow the shared access point to perform bandwidth expansion during multi-access point collaborative transmission based on the transmission bandwidth expansion capability information of the shared access point includes at least one of the following: In response to the transmission bandwidth expansion capability information indicating that bandwidth expansion is not supported, it is determined that the corresponding shared access point is not allowed to perform bandwidth expansion. In response to the cooperative transmission type being the cooperative spatial reuse or the cooperative time-division multiplexing, and the transmission bandwidth expansion capability information being that bandwidth expansion operation is supported, it is determined that the corresponding shared access point is allowed to perform bandwidth expansion. In response to the cooperative transmission type being the cooperative orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) and the transmission bandwidth expansion capability information indicating support for bandwidth expansion operation, a determination is made based on the operation information as to whether the corresponding shared access point is allowed to perform bandwidth expansion.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that, The step of determining whether to allow the corresponding shared access point to perform bandwidth expansion based on the operation information includes: Based on the operation information, it is determined whether the non-overlapping channel bandwidths of multiple shared access points supporting bandwidth expansion operations overlap with each other, wherein the non-overlapping channel bandwidth is the portion of the shared access point's operation channel bandwidth that does not overlap with the allocated effective bandwidth. In response to the fact that the non-overlapping channel bandwidths of the first shared access point among the plurality of shared access points do not overlap with those of the other shared access points, it is determined that the first shared access point is allowed to perform bandwidth expansion; In response to the non-overlapping channel bandwidths of multiple second shared access points among the plurality of shared access points overlapping each other, it is determined that one second shared access point is allowed to extend its bandwidth, while the other second shared access points are not allowed to extend their bandwidth.

16. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The storage medium stores a computer program, wherein the computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the steps of the method described in any one of claims 1 to 15.

17. An electronic device comprising a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, characterized in that, When the processor executes the computer program, it implements the steps of the method described in any one of claims 1 to 15.

18. A computer program product, comprising a computer program, characterized in that, When the computer program is executed by a processor, it implements the steps of the method described in any one of claims 1 to 15.

Images