Signalling method through resource allocation in wireless communication system and wireless communication terminal

Abstract

To provide a method for receiving data by a terminal in a wireless communication system.SOLUTION: A terminal receives a physical protocol data unit (PPDU) from an AP and decodes the PPDU. The PPDU includes a U-SIG field and an EHT-SIG field including at least one content channel, and the U-SIG field includes a bandwidth field indicating the total bandwidth via which the PPDU is transmitted. The total bandwidth is divided into at least one segment and, when the at least one content channel is composed of a first content channel and a second content channel, at least one field among same fields except for a resource unit allocation (RU Allocation) field between the first content channel and the second content channel in the same segment among the at least one segment includes same information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 38

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to wireless communication systems, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for transmitting information for allocating discontinuous channels in a wireless communication system. [Background technology]

[0002] Recently, as the popularity of mobile devices has increased, wireless LAN technology, which can provide them with high-speed wireless Internet services, has been gaining attention. Wireless LAN technology is a technology that uses short-range wireless communication technology to enable mobile devices such as smartphones, smart pads, laptop PCs, portable multimedia players, embedded devices, etc. to connect to the Internet wirelessly at home, in business, or in specific service areas.

[0003] Since supporting early wireless LAN technology using the 2.4 GHz frequency band, IEEE (Institute of Electronics Engineers) 802.11 has since implemented or is currently developing various other technology standards. IEEE 802.11b uses the 2.4 GHz frequency band and supports a maximum communication speed of 11 Mbps. IEEE 802.11a, which was commercialized after IEEE 802.11b, uses the 5 GHz frequency band instead of the 2.4 GHz band, reducing the impact of interference compared to the significantly more congested 2.4 GHz frequency band, and uses OFDM technology to improve communication speeds to a maximum of 54 Mbps. However, IEEE 802.11a has the disadvantage of a shorter communication distance than IEEE 802.11b. IEEE 802.11g, like IEEE 802.11b, uses the 2.4GHz band and achieves a maximum transmission speed of 54Mbps, and has attracted considerable attention for its backward compatibility, but it also has an advantage over IEEE 802.11a in terms of communication distance.

[0004] IEEE 802.11n is a technical standard established to overcome the communication speed limitations that have been identified as a weakness of wireless LANs. IEEE 802.11n aims to increase network speed and reliability and extend the operating distance of wireless networks. Specifically, IEEE 802.11n supports high throughput (HT) of up to 540 Mbps and is based on MIMO (Multiple Inputs and Multiple Outputs) technology, which uses multiple antennas on both the transmitting and receiving ends to minimize transmission errors and optimize data speed. This standard also uses a coding method that transmits multiple duplicate copies to increase data reliability.

[0005] As WLAN adoption continues to grow and applications become more diverse, the need for new WLAN systems is emerging to support data throughput rates (Very High Throughput, VHT) higher than those supported by IEEE 802.11n. Among these, IEEE 802.11ac supports wide bandwidth (80MHz-160MHz) in the 5GHz frequency band. While the IEEE 802.11ac standard is defined only in the 5GHz band, initial 802.11ac chipsets are expected to support operation in the 2.4GHz band as well for backward compatibility with existing 2.4GHz products. Theoretically, this standard enables multi-station WLAN speeds of at least 1Gbps and maximum single-link speeds of at least 500Mbps. This is achieved by expanding the air interface concepts adopted in 802.11n, including wider radio frequency bandwidth (up to 160MHz), more MIMO spatial streams (up to 8), multi-user MIMO, and denser modulation (up to 256QAM). Additionally, there is IEEE 802.11ad, a method of transmitting data using the 60GHz band instead of the conventional 24GHz / 5GHz. IEEE 802.11ad is a transmission standard that uses beamforming technology to provide speeds of up to 7Gbps, making it suitable for streaming large amounts of data and high-bitrate video, such as uncompressed HD video. However, the 60GHz frequency band has the disadvantage of being difficult to pass through obstacles and can only be used between devices in close proximity.

[0006] Meanwhile, the IEEE 802.11ax (High Efficiency WLAN, HEW) standard is being developed and is nearing completion as the successor to 802.11ac and 802.11ad in order to provide high-efficiency and high-performance WLAN communication technology in high-density environments where APs and terminals are densely packed. In an 802.11ax-based WLAN environment, high-frequency-efficient communication must be provided both indoors and outdoors in the presence of a high density of stations and APs (Access Points), and various technologies are being developed to achieve this.

[0007] Additionally, development of a new WLAN standard has begun to increase maximum transmission speeds to support new multimedia applications such as high-definition video and real-time gaming. IEEE 802.11be (Extremely High Throughput, EHT), the seventh generation WLAN standard, is currently being developed with the goal of supporting transmission rates of up to 30Gbps in the 2.4 / 5 / 6GHz bands through wider bandwidth, increased spatial streams, and multi-AP cooperation. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0008] As described above, an object of the present invention is to provide an ultra-high speed wireless LAN service for new multimedia applications.

[0009] Another object of the present invention is to provide a resource allocation method and apparatus for allocating discontinuous channels to a terminal in resource allocation for the terminal.

[0010] Another object of the present invention is to provide a data format for providing information for a terminal to recognize discontinuously allocated resources when allocating resources to a plurality of terminals.

[0011] The technical problems to be solved in this specification are not limited to the technical problems mentioned above, and other technical problems not mentioned will be clearly understood by those having ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains from the following description. [Means for solving the problem]

[0012] In a wireless communication system, a terminal transmitting an uplink shared channel (PUSCH) to a base station receives a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) from an access point (AP) and decodes the received PPDU, the PPDU including a universal signal (U-SIG) field and an extremely high throughput (EHT)-SIG field including at least one content channel, the PPDU being transmitted to a plurality of terminals by a multi-user (MU) transmission operation by the AP, the U-SIG field including a bandwidth field indicating an overall bandwidth in which the PPDU is transmitted, the overall bandwidth being divided into at least one segment, and when the at least one content channel is composed of a first content channel and a second content channel, at least one field among identical fields between the first content channel and the second content channel within the same segment of the at least one segment, except for a resource unit allocation (RU allocation) field, includes identical information.

[0013] In addition, in the present invention, the at least one field includes at least one of an LDPC (Low Density Parity Check Code) Extra Symbol Segment field, an STBC (Space-time Block Coding) field, a Pre-FEC Padding Factor field, or a GI+LTF (Long Training Field) size field.

[0014] In addition, in the present invention, the at least one segment is composed of a first segment and a second segment, and each of the first content channel and the second content channel is repeatedly transmitted for a certain frequency band within the first segment or the second segment.

[0015] In the present invention, at least one content channel transmitted in the first segment and at least one content channel transmitted in the second segment having the same index contain different information from each other.

[0016] In addition, in the present invention, when a first content channel and a second content channel are transmitted in the first segment and a first content channel and a second content channel are transmitted in the second segment, the first content channel and the second content channel transmitted in the first segment and the first content channel and the second content channel transmitted in the second segment are repeatedly transmitted at a fixed frequency interval.

[0017] Furthermore, in the present invention, the first content channel and the second content channel transmitted in the first segment include a first common field including at least one field including the same value, and the first content channel and the second content channel transmitted in the second segment include a second common field including at least one field including the same value.

[0018] In addition, in the present invention, the at least one field included in the first common field and the at least one field included in the second common field include different information from each other.

[0019] In addition, in the present invention, the U-SIG field and / or the EHT-SIG field of the PPDU transmitted in the first segment have a different value from the U-SIG field and / or the EHT-SIG field of the PPDU transmitted in the second segment.

[0020] In addition, in the present invention, the PPDU further includes puncturing information indicating a puncturing pattern of at least one resource unit allocated to the terminal.

[0021] In addition, in the present invention, the at least one resource unit is recognized by the terminal based on a combination of at least one of the puncturing information, a resource unit allocation field, and a station identifier (STA ID) field, the resource unit allocation field indicating a configuration of resource units in which the PPDU is transmitted, and the STA ID field indicating the ID of a terminal to which each resource unit is allocated according to the configuration of the resource unit.

[0022] In addition, in the present invention, when a plurality of resource units are allocated to the terminal, the plurality of resource units may be composed of the same or different numbers of tones, and the plurality of resource units may be allocated discontinuously.

[0023] In addition, in the present invention, the EHT-SIG field includes a common field, and the U-SIG field includes a specific field related to whether the EHT-SIG field includes a resource unit allocation field for resource unit allocation.

[0024] Also, in the present invention, when the specific field indicates the application of non-OFDMA, the resource unit allocation field is not included in the EHT-SIG.

[0025] The present invention also provides a method for transmitting a Physical Layer Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) from an Access Point (AP), the method including: receiving a Physical Layer Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) from an Access Point (AP); and decoding the received PPDU, the PPDU including a Universal Signal (U-SIG) field and an Extremely High Throughput (EHT)-SIG field including at least one content channel, the PPDU being transmitted to a plurality of terminals through a Multi-user (MU) transmission operation by the AP; the U-SIG field including a bandwidth field indicating an overall bandwidth in which the PPDU is transmitted; the overall bandwidth being divided into at least one segment; and when the at least one content channel is composed of a first content channel and a second content channel, at least one field among identical fields, except for a Resource Unit Allocation (RU Allocation) field, between the first content channel and the second content channel within the same segment of the at least one segment includes identical information. [Effects of the Invention]

[0026] According to embodiments of the present invention, discontinuous channel allocation information can be efficiently signaled.

[0027] According to an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to increase the overall resource utilization rate in a contention-based channel access system and improve the performance of a WLAN system.

[0028] According to the embodiment of the present invention, by informing a terminal of information for recognizing discontinuously allocated resources, the terminal can efficiently recognize allocated resources and receive data.

[0029] In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, when transmitting data to multiple terminals, information common to each terminal can be transmitted using the same packet format, thereby reducing signaling overhead.

[0030] The effects obtained from the present invention are not limited to those mentioned above, and other effects not mentioned will be clearly understood by those having ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains from the following description. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0031] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing a wireless LAN system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a wireless LAN system according to another embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of a station according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an access point according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5] 1 is a diagram illustrating a process in which a STA establishes a link with an AP. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a CSMA (Carrier Sense Multiple Access) / CA (Collision Avoidance) method used in wireless LAN communication. [Figure 7] 1 shows examples of various standard generation PPDU (PLCP Protocol Data Unit) formats. [Figure 8] 1 illustrates various Extremely High Throughput (EHT) Physical Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) formats and methods for indicating the same according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] 1 illustrates an example of an encoding structure and transmission method of an EHT-SIG field according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10]1 shows an example of various BW modes of EHT SU PPDU. [Figure 11] The distribution of RU allocations for 20, 40, and 80 MHz used in 11ax and 11be is shown. [Figure 12] An example of the BW mode of the EHT MU PPDU is shown. [Figure 13] 1 illustrates an example of a discontinuous channel configuration that follows a BW utilization rule according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 14] 1 shows an example of a discontinuous channel configuration according to puncturing resolution according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 15] 1 illustrates an example of a discontinuous channel configuration according to the number of RUs to be decoded, according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 16] 1 shows an example of a PPDU format in a discontinuous channel according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 17] 1 illustrates an example of non-contiguous channels separated by frequency segments according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 18] 1 illustrates an example of a discontinuous channel for single-user transmission according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 19] 1 illustrates an example of discontinuous channels for a particular bandwidth according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 20] 1 shows an example of a PPDU format for an extremely high throughput (EHT) wireless LAN according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 21] 1 illustrates an example of a U-SIG field of an EHT PPDU and fields that constitute the U-SIG field according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 22] 1 illustrates an example of an EHT-SIG in uncompressed form according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 23] 1 illustrates an example of a resource unit configuration with fields for allocating resource units according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 24]10 illustrates an example of an EHG-SIG field when a non-OFDMA PPDU according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. [Figure 25] 10 illustrates an example of an EHT-SIG field when a single user (SU) PPDU is applied according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 26] 1 illustrates an example of large resource unit allocation (Large RU Allocation) according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 27] 10 illustrates an example of single content channel signaling for OFDMA MU PPDU according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 28] 1 illustrates an example of two content channel signaling for a specific frequency band according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 29] 10 illustrates yet another example of two content channel signaling for a specific frequency band according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 30] 10 illustrates yet another example of two content channel signaling for a specific frequency band according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 31] 1 illustrates an example of four content channels for an OFDMA MU PPDU in a specific frequency band according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 32] 1 illustrates an example of four content channels for an OFDMA MU PPDU in a specific frequency band according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 33] 10 illustrates yet another example of four content channel signaling for a specific frequency band according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 34] 10 illustrates an example of how resource units of different sizes are configured according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 35] 10 illustrates yet another example of how resource units of different sizes are configured according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 36]10 shows an example of an EHT-SIG repeated within a bandwidth when signaling a content channel according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 37] 10 shows yet another example of an EHT-SIG repeated within a bandwidth when signaling a content channel according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 38] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a PPDU receiving method of a terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0032] The terms used in this specification are generally used as widely as possible, taking into consideration the functions of the present invention. However, these may vary depending on the intentions of engineers in the relevant technical field, customs, or the emergence of new technologies. In addition, in certain cases, the applicant may have arbitrarily selected terms, and in such cases, the meanings thereof will be described in the relevant description of the invention. Therefore, it is made clear that the terms used in this specification should be interpreted not simply as names of terms, but based on the substantive meanings of the terms and the overall content of this specification.

[0033] Throughout this specification, when a component is referred to as being "connected" to another component, this includes not only when the component is "directly connected" to another component, but also when the component is "electrically connected" to another component via another component in between. Furthermore, when a component is referred to as "comprising" a specific component, this does not mean that the component may exclude the other component, but may further include the other component, unless otherwise specified. In addition, limitations such as "greater than" or "less than" based on a specific critical value may be appropriately substituted with "exceeds" or "less than," respectively, depending on the embodiment.

[0034] Hereinafter, in the present invention, the terms field and subfield may be used interchangeably.

[0035] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a wireless LAN system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0036] A wireless LAN system includes one or more Basic Service Sets (BSSs), which are a set of devices that can synchronize and communicate with each other. Generally, BSSs are classified into infrastructure BSSs and independent BSSs (IBSSs), and Figure 1 shows an infrastructure BSS.

[0037] As shown in FIG. 1, infrastructure BSSs BSS1 and BSS2 include one or more stations STA1, STA2, STA3, STA4, and STA5, access points AP-1 and AP-2 that are stations providing distribution services, and a distribution system DS that connects multiple access points AP-1 and AP-2.

[0038] A station (STA) is any device that includes a medium access control (MAC) and a physical layer interface for a wireless medium according to the IEEE 802.11 standard. In a broad sense, the term "station" encompasses not only non-AP stations but also APs. In this specification, the term "terminal" refers to either a non-AP or an AP, or both. A station for wireless communication includes a processor and a communication unit, and may further include a user interface and a display unit, depending on the embodiment. The processor generates frames to be transmitted over a wireless network, processes frames received over the wireless network, and performs various other processes for controlling the station. The communication unit is functionally connected to the processor and transmits and receives frames over the wireless network for the station. In this specification, the term "terminal" encompasses user equipment (UE).

[0039] An access point (AP) is an entity that provides a connection to a distribution system (DS) via a wireless medium for associated stations. In an infrastructure BSS, communication between non-AP stations is generally performed via the AP. However, if a direct link is established, direct communication is also possible between non-AP stations. Meanwhile, in the present invention, the term AP is used as a concept including a personal BSS coordination point (PCP), but in a broader sense, it also includes concepts such as a central controller, a base station (BS), a node B, a base transceiver system (BTS), or a site controller. In the present invention, an AP is also referred to as a base wireless communication terminal, but in a broader sense, the term base wireless communication terminal is used as a term including an AP, a base station, an eNodeB (eNB), and a transmission point (TP). In addition, the base wireless communication terminal includes various types of wireless communication terminals that allocate communication medium resources and perform scheduling for communication with multiple wireless communication terminals.

[0040] A plurality of infrastructure BSSs are connected to each other via a distribution system DS, and the plurality of BSSs connected via the distribution system are called an Extended Service Set (ESS).

[0041] 2 is a diagram showing an independent BSS, which is a wireless LAN system according to another embodiment of the present invention. In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the same or corresponding parts as those in the embodiment of FIG. 1 will not be described again.

[0042] BSS3 shown in Figure 2 is an independent BSS and does not include an AP, so none of the stations (STA6, STA7) are connected to an AP. An independent BSS is not allowed to connect to a distribution system and forms a self-contained network. In an independent BSS, each station (STA6, STA7) is directly connected to each other.

[0043] 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a station 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the station 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a processor 110, a communication unit 120, a user interface unit 140, a display unit 150, and a memory 160.

[0044] First, the communication unit 120 transmits and receives wireless signals such as WLAN packets and may be incorporated into or external to the station 100. According to an embodiment, the communication unit 120 may include at least one communication module using different frequency bands. For example, the communication unit 120 may include communication modules using different frequency bands such as 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz, and 60 GHz. According to an embodiment, the station 100 may include a communication module using a frequency band above 7.125 GHz and a communication module using a frequency band below 7.125 GHz. Each communication module may perform wireless communication with an AP or an external station based on the WLAN standard of the frequency band supported by the communication module. The communication unit 120 may operate only one communication module at a time or multiple communication modules simultaneously, depending on the performance and requirements of the station 100. When the station 100 includes multiple communication modules, each communication module may be provided independently, or multiple modules may be integrated into a single chip. In the embodiment of the present invention, the communication unit 120 may represent a radio frequency (RF) communication module that processes RF signals.

[0045] Next, the user interface 140 includes various types of input / output means provided in the station 100. That is, the user interface unit 140 receives user input using various input means, and the processor 110 controls the station 100 based on the received user input. Also, the user interface unit 140 performs output based on instructions from the processor 110 using various output means.

[0046] Next, the display unit 150 outputs an image on a display screen. The display unit 150 outputs various display objects, such as a user interface, based on the contents processed by the processor 110 or the control commands of the processor 110. The memory 160 also stores control programs and various data used by the station 100. The control programs include a connection program required for the station 100 to connect to an AP or an external station.

[0047] The processor 110 of the present invention executes various commands or programs to process data within the station 100. The processor 110 also controls each unit of the station 100 and controls the transmission and reception of data between the units. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the processor 110 executes a program for connection with an AP stored in the memory 160 and receives a communication setup message transmitted by the AP. The processor 110 also reads information about the station 100's preferences contained in the communication setup message and requests connection to the AP based on the information about the station 100's preferences. The processor 110 of the present invention may refer to a main control unit of the station 100, or, depending on the embodiment, may refer to a control unit for individually controlling some components of the station 100, such as the communication unit 120. That is, the processor 110 may be a modem that modulates and demodulates wireless signals transmitted and received by the communication unit 120, or a modulator and / or demodulator. The processor 110 controls various operations for transmitting and receiving wireless signals in the station 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. A detailed embodiment of this will be described later.

[0048] The station 100 shown in FIG. 3 is a block diagram according to an embodiment of the present invention, and the separate blocks indicate the logically separated elements of the device. Therefore, the above-described device elements may be mounted on a single chip or multiple chips depending on the device design. For example, the processor 110 and the communication unit 120 may be integrated into a single chip or may be mounted on separate chips. Furthermore, in embodiments of the present invention, some components of the station 100, such as the user interface unit 140 and the display unit 150, may be selectively provided in the station 100.

[0049] 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an AP 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the AP 200 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a processor 210, a communication unit 220, and a memory 260. In FIG. 4, duplicated descriptions of parts of the configuration of the AP 200 that are the same as or correspond to the configuration of the station 100 in FIG. 3 will be omitted.

[0050] Referring to FIG. 4, the AP 200 according to the present invention includes a communication unit 220 for operating a BSS in at least one frequency band. As described above in the embodiment of FIG. 3, the communication unit 220 of the AP 200 may also include multiple communication modules using different frequency bands. That is, the AP 200 according to the embodiment of the present invention may include two or more communication modules using different frequency bands, for example, 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz, and 60 GHz. Preferably, the AP 200 may include a communication module using a frequency band above 7.125 GHz and a communication module using a frequency band below 7.125 GHz. Each communication module may perform wireless communication with a station based on the WLAN standard of the frequency band supported by the communication module. The communication unit 220 may operate only one communication module at a time or multiple communication modules simultaneously, depending on the performance and requirements of the AP 200. In the embodiment of the present invention, the communication unit 220 may represent an RF (Radio Frequency) communication module that processes RF signals.

[0051] The memory 260 stores control programs used by the AP 200 and various data associated therewith. These control programs include a connection program that manages station connections. The processor 210 also controls each unit of the AP 200 and controls data transmission and reception between the units. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the processor 210 executes a program for connecting with a station stored in the memory 260 and transmits a communication setup message to one or more stations. The communication setup message includes information regarding connection preferences for each station. The processor 210 also performs connection setup in response to a station connection request. According to an embodiment, the processor 210 is a modem or a modulator / demodulator that modulates and demodulates wireless signals transmitted and received by the communication unit 220. The processor 210 controls various operations for transmitting and receiving wireless signals by the AP 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. A detailed embodiment of this will be described later.

[0052] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a process in which a STA establishes a link with an AP.

[0053] 5, a link between the STA 100 and the AP 200 is established through three steps: scanning, authentication, and association. First, the scanning step is a step in which the STA 100 acquires connection information for the BSS operated by the AP 200. There are two scanning methods: a passive scanning method in which the STA 100 acquires information using only a beacon message S101 periodically transmitted by the AP 200, and an active scanning method in which the STA 100 transmits a probe request to the AP S103, receives a probe response from the AP S105, and acquires connection information.

[0054] The STA 100 that successfully receives wireless connection information in the scanning step transmits an authentication request (S107a), receives an authentication response from the AP 200, and performs the authentication step (S107b). After the authentication step is performed, the STA 100 transmits an association request (S109a), receives an association response from the AP 200, and performs the association step (S109b). In this specification, association basically means wireless association, but the present invention is not limited to this, and association in a broad sense includes both wireless association and wired association.

[0055] Meanwhile, an 802.1X-based authentication step S111 and an IP address acquisition step S113 via DHCP are additionally performed. In Fig. 5, server 300 is a server that processes 802.1X-based authentication with STA 100, and may be physically connected to AP 200 or may exist as a separate server.

[0056] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a CSMA (Carrier Sense Multiple Access) / CA (Collision Avoidance) method used in wireless LAN communication.

[0057] A terminal performing WLAN communication performs carrier sensing to check whether a channel is occupied before transmitting data. If a wireless signal above a certain strength is detected, the channel is determined to be occupied, and the terminal delays access to the channel. This process is called Clear Channel Assessment (CCA), and the level that determines whether or not a signal is detected is called the CCA threshold. If a wireless signal above the CCA threshold is received by the terminal and the terminal is the receiver, the terminal processes the received wireless signal. On the other hand, if no wireless signal is detected from the channel or a wireless signal with a strength below the CCA threshold is detected, the channel is determined to be idle.

[0058] If the channel is determined to be idle, each terminal with data to transmit performs a backoff procedure after an IFS (Inter Frame Space), such as an AIFS (Arbitration IFS) or a PIFS (PCF IFS), depending on the status of each terminal. In some embodiments, the AIFS is used as a configuration replacing the conventional DIFS (DCF IFS). Each terminal waits while decreasing a slot time by a random number determined for the corresponding terminal during the idle interval of the channel, and a terminal that has exhausted all slot times attempts to access the corresponding channel. The period during which each terminal performs the backoff procedure is called a contention window period.

[0059] If a specific terminal successfully accesses the channel, it transmits data over the channel. However, if the terminal attempting access collides with another terminal, the colliding terminals are assigned new random numbers and perform a backoff procedure again. According to one embodiment, the new random numbers assigned to each terminal are determined within a range (2*CW) twice the range of the random numbers previously assigned to the terminal (contention window, CW). Meanwhile, each terminal attempts access by performing a backoff procedure again in the next contention window period. At this time, each terminal performs the backoff procedure from the slot time remaining in the previous contention window period. In this way, terminals communicating over a wireless LAN can avoid collisions with each other on a specific channel.

[0060] <Examples of various PPDU formats>

[0061] Figure 7 shows examples of various standard generation PPDU (PLCP Protocol Data Unit) formats. More specifically, Figure 7(a) shows an example of a legacy PPDU format based on 802.11a / g, Figure 7(b) shows an example of an HE PPDU format based on 802.11ax, and Figure 7(c) shows an example of a non-legacy PPDU (i.e., EHT PPDU) format based on 802.11be. Also, Figure 7(d) shows detailed field configurations of L-SIG and RL-SIG commonly used in the PPDU formats.

[0062] 7(a), the preamble of the legacy PPDU includes a Legacy Short Training field (L-STF), a Legacy Long Training field (L-LTF), and a Legacy Signal field (L-SIG). In an embodiment of the present invention, the L-STF, L-LTF, and L-SIG may be referred to as a legacy preamble.

[0063] Referring to FIG. 7(b), the preamble of the HE PPDU further includes a Repeated Legacy Short Training field (RL-SIG), a High Efficiency Signal A field (HE-SIG-A), a High Efficiency Signal B field (HE-SIG-B), a High Efficiency Short Training field (HE-STF), and a High Efficiency Long Training field (HE-LTF) in addition to the legacy preamble. In an embodiment of the present invention, the RL-SIG, HE-SIG-A, HE-SIG-B, HE-STF, and HE-LTF can be referred to as an HE preamble. The specific configuration of the HE preamble may vary depending on the HE PPDU format. For example, HE-SIG-B may be used only in the HE MU PPDU format.

[0064] Referring to FIG. 7(c), the preamble of the EHT PPDU further includes a Repeated Legacy Short Training field (RL-SIG), a Universal Signal field (U-SIG), an Extremely High Throughput Signal A field (EHT-SIG-A), an Extremely High Throughput Signal B field (EHT-SIG-A), an Extremely High Throughput Short Training field (EHT-STF), and an Extremely High Throughput Long Training field (EHT-LTF) in addition to the legacy preamble. In an embodiment of the present invention, the RL-SIG, EHT-SIG-A, EHT-SIG-B, EHT-STF, and EHT-LTF may be referred to as an EHT preamble. The specific configuration of the non-legacy preamble may vary depending on the EHT PPDU format. For example, EHT-SIG-A and EHT-SIG-B may be used only in some EHT PPDU formats.

[0065] The L-SIG field included in the PPDU preamble is configured with a total of 64 subcarriers using 64 FFT OFDM. Of these, 48 subcarriers, excluding guard subcarriers, DC subcarriers, and pilot subcarriers, are used for L-SIG data transmission. BPSK and Rate=1 / 2 MCS (Modulation and Coding Scheme) are applied to the L-SIG, so it can contain a total of 24 bits of information. Figure 7(d) shows the 24-bit information structure of the L-SIG.

[0066] Referring to FIG. 7(d), the L-SIG includes an L_RATE field and an L_LENGTH field. The L_RATE field is composed of 4 bits and indicates the MCS used for data transmission. Specifically, the L_RATE field indicates one of the transmission rates of 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, or 54 Mbps, which is a combination of a modulation scheme such as BPSK, QPSK, 16-QAM, or 64-QAM and a code rate such as 1 / 2, 2 / 3, or 3 / 4. The combined information in the L_RATE and L_LENGTH fields indicates the total length of the PPDU. In a non-legacy PPDU format, the L_RATE field is set to the minimum rate of 6 Mbps.

[0067] The unit of the L_LENGTH field is byte, and a total of 12 bits are allocated, allowing signaling up to 4095. In combination with the L_RATE field, the length of the PPDU can be indicated. In this case, legacy and non-legacy terminals can interpret the L_LENGTH field in different ways.

[0068] First, a legacy or non-legacy terminal analyzes the length of the PPDU using the L_LENGTH field as follows. When the L_RATE field is set to 6 Mbps, 3 bytes (i.e., 24 bits) may be transmitted at 4 us, which is the duration of one symbol of the 64FFT. Therefore, by adding 3 bytes corresponding to the SVC field and the Tail field to the L_LENGTH field value and dividing this by 3 bytes, which is the amount of transmission of one symbol, the number of 64FFT reference symbols after the L-SIG is obtained. The obtained number of symbols is multiplied by 4 us, which is the duration of one symbol, and then 20 us, which is required to transmit the L-STF, L-LTF, and L-SIG, is added to obtain the length of the PPDU, i.e., the reception time (RXTIME). This can be expressed mathematically as shown in Equation 1 below.

[0069]

number

[0070] At this time,

number

[0071]

number

[0072] Here, TXTIME is the total transmission time constituting the PPDU, and is expressed as the following equation 3. In this case, TX represents the transmission time of X.

[0073]

number

[0074] Referring to the above formula, the length of the PPDU is calculated based on the rounded up value of L_LENGTH / 3. Therefore, for any value of k, three different values of L_LENGTH={3k+1, 3k+2, 3(k+1)} indicate the same PPDU length.

[0075] Referring to Figure 7(e), the U-SIG (Universal SIG) field remains in the EHT PPDU and subsequent generation WLAN PPDUs, and serves to distinguish which generation of PPDU it is, including 11be. The U-SIG is two 64FFT-based OFDM symbols and can transmit a total of 52 bits of information. Of these, 43 bits excluding 9 bits of CRC / tail are roughly divided into a VI (Version Independent) field and a VD (Version Dependent) field.

[0076] The VI bit will maintain its current bit configuration, so even if a subsequent generation PPDU is defined, current 11be UEs can obtain information about the PPDU from the VI field of the PPDU. To this end, the VI field consists of the PHY version, UL / DL, BSS color, TXOP, and Reserved fields. The PHY version field is 3 bits long and serves to sequentially distinguish between 11be and subsequent generations of WLAN standards. 11be has a value of 000b. The UL / DL field identifies whether the PPDU is an uplink or downlink PPDU. The BSS color represents a BSS identifier defined in 11ax and has a value of 6 or more bits. The TXOP represents the transmit opportunity duration (Transmit Opportunity Duration) transmitted in the MAC header. By adding it to the PHY header, the length of the TXOP containing the PPDU can be inferred without decoding the MPDU, and has a value of 7 or more bits.

[0077] The VD field, which is signaling information useful only for 11be version PPDUs, may consist of fields commonly used in any PPDU format, such as the PPDU format and BW, as well as fields defined differently for each PPDU format. The PPDU format is a separator that distinguishes between EHT SU (Single User), EHT MU (Multiple User), EHT TB (Trigger-based), and EHT ER (Extended Range) PPDUs. The BW field broadly signals five basic PPDU BW options: 20, 40, 80, 160 (80 + 80), and 320 (160 + 160) MHz (BWs that can be expressed in the form of a power of 20 * 2 can be called basic BWs), as well as various remaining PPDU BWs formed by preamble puncturing. After signaling at 320 MHz, a portion of 80 MHz may be punctured. In addition, the punctured and modified channel shape may be signaled directly in the BW field, or may be signaled using both the BW field and a field that appears after the BW field (for example, a field in the EHT-SIG field). If the BW field is 3 bits, a total of 8 BW signalings are possible, so a maximum of 3 puncturing modes can be signaled. If the BW field is 4 bits, a total of 16 BW signalings are possible, so a maximum of 11 puncturing modes can be signaled.

[0078] The fields located after the BW field vary depending on the type and format of the PPDU. MU PPDUs and SU PPDUs may be signaled in the same PPDU format, and a field for distinguishing between MU PPDUs and SU PPDUs may be located before the EHT-SIG field, and additional signaling may be performed for this purpose. Both SU PPDUs and MU PPDUs include an EHT-SIG field, but some fields not required for the SU PPDU may be compressed. In this case, the information of the compressed fields may be omitted or may have a reduced size compared to the size of the original fields included in the MU PPDU. For example, the SU PPDU may have a different configuration, such as the common fields of the EHT-SIG being omitted or replaced, or the user-specific fields being replaced or reduced to one.

[0079] Alternatively, the SU PPDU may further include a compression field indicating whether or not it is compressed, and some fields (eg, the RA field) may be omitted depending on the value of the compression field.

[0080] When a portion of the EHT-SIG field of the SU PPDU is compressed, the information included in the compressed field may be signaled together in an uncompressed field (e.g., a common field). In the case of an MU PPDU, since it is a PPDU format for simultaneous reception by multiple users, the EHT-SIG field must be transmitted after the U-SIG field, and the amount of information signaled may be variable. That is, since multiple MU PPDUs are transmitted to multiple STAs, each STA must recognize the location of the RU to which the MU PPDU is transmitted, the STA to which each RU is assigned, and whether the transmitted MU PPDU was sent to it. Therefore, the AP must transmit the above information in the EHT-SIG field. To this end, the U-SIG field signals information for efficiently transmitting the EHT-SIG field, which may be the number of symbols in the EHT-SIG field and / or the MCS, which is the modulation method. The EHT-SIG field may include information on the size and location of the RU assigned to each user.

[0081] In the case of an SU PPDU, a STA may be assigned multiple RUs, and the multiple RUs may be contiguous or discontinuous. If the RUs assigned to the STA are not contiguous, the STA can efficiently receive the SU PPDU only by recognizing punctured RUs in between. Therefore, the AP can transmit the SU PPDU including information on punctured RUs among the RUs assigned to the STA (e.g., puncturing pattern of the RUs). That is, in the case of an SU PPDU, a puncturing mode field including information indicating whether a puncturing mode is applied and the puncturing pattern in a bitmap format, etc., may be included in the EHT-SIG field, and the puncturing mode field can signal the type of discontinuous channels appearing within the bandwidth.

[0082] The type of signaled discontinuous channel is limited, and indicates the BW and discontinuous channel information of the SU PPDU in combination with the value of the BW field. For example, since the SU PPDU is a PPDU transmitted only to a single UE, the STA can recognize its allocated bandwidth from the BW field included in the PPDU and can recognize punctured resources within the allocated bandwidth from the puncturing mode field of the U-SIG field or EHT-SIG field included in the PPDU. In this case, the UE can receive the PPDU in the remaining resource units excluding specific channels of the punctured resource units. In this case, multiple RUs allocated to the STA may be configured with different frequency bands or tones.

[0083] The reason why only limited discontinuous channel types are signaled is to reduce the signaling overhead of the SU PPDU. Since puncturing can be performed for each 20 MHz subchannel, if puncturing is performed on a BW having multiple 20 MHz subchannels, such as 80, 160, or 320 MHz, in the case of 320 MHz, the discontinuous channel type (when only the end 20 MHz is punctured and considered discontinuous) must be signaled by expressing whether or not each of the remaining 15 20 MHz subchannels excluding the primary channel is in use. Using 15 bits to signal the discontinuous channel type for single-user transmission can result in excessive signaling overhead when considering the low transmission rate of the signaling part.

[0084] This invention proposes a method for signaling the discontinuous channel type of an SU PPDU and illustrates the discontinuous channel type determined by the proposed method. It also proposes a method for signaling the primary 160 MHz and secondary 160 MHz puncturing types in a 320 MHz BW configuration of an SU PPDU. The discontinuous channel types allowed when the above discontinuous channel type definition method is applied and a method for signaling the discontinuous channel type with 3 bits are shown in Figures 17 to 19.

[0085] In addition, one embodiment of the present invention proposes a method of varying the PPDU configuration indicated by the preamble puncturing BW value depending on the PPDU format signaled in the PPDU format field. Assuming that the BW field is 4 bits, in the case of an EHT SU PPDU or TB PPDU, an EHT-SIG-A symbol can be further signaled after the U-SIG, or no EHT-SIG-A can be signaled at all. Taking this into consideration, up to 11 puncturing modes must be fully signaled using only the BW field of the U-SIG. However, in the case of an EHT MU PPDU, an EHT-SIG-B symbol is further signaled after the U-SIG, so up to 11 puncturing modes can be signaled in a different manner than in the case of an SU PPDU. In the case of an EHT ER PPDU, the BW field can be set to 1 bit to signal whether the PPDU uses a 20 MHz or 10 MHz bandwidth. Detailed puncturing patterns for each PPDU type will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12.

[0086] Figure 7(f) shows the format-specific field configuration of the VD field when the PPDU format field of the U-SIG indicates an EHT MU PPDU. For an MU PPDU, SIG-B, a signaling field for simultaneous reception by multiple users, is required. SIG-B may be transmitted after the U-SIG without a separate SIG-A. For this purpose, the U-SIG must signal information for decoding SIG-B. These fields include the SIG-B MCS, SIG-B DCM, number of SIG-B symbols, SIG-B compression, and number of EHT-LTF symbols.

[0087] FIG. 8 illustrates an example of various Extremely High Throughput (EHT) Physical Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) formats and methods for indicating the same according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0088] 8, a PPDU may be configured with a preamble and a data portion, and the format of one type, EHT PPDU, may be distinguished by a U-SIG field included in the preamble. Specifically, whether the format of the PPDU is EHT PPDU may be indicated based on a PPDU format field included in the U-SIG field.

[0089] 8(a) shows an example of an EHT SU PPDU format for a single STA. The EHT SU PPDU is a PPDU used for single user (SU) transmission between an AP and a single STA, and an EHT-SIG-A field for additional signaling may be located after the U-SIG field.

[0090] 8(b) shows an example of an EHT trigger-based PPDU format, which is an EHT PPDU transmitted based on a trigger frame. The EHT trigger-based PPDU is an EHT PPDU transmitted based on a trigger frame and is an uplink PPDU used for responding to the trigger frame. Unlike the EHT SU PPDU, the EHT PPDU does not have an EHT-SIG-A field after the U-SIG field.

[0091] 8(c) shows an example of an EHT MU PPDU format, which is an EHT PPDU for multiple users. The EHT MU PPDU is a PPDU used to transmit a PPDU to one or more STAs. In the EHT MU PPDU format, an HE-SIG-B field may be located after the U-SIG field.

[0092] 8(d) shows an example of an EHT ER SU PPDU format used for single-user transmission with STAs in an extended range. The EHT ER SU PPDU may be used for single-user transmission with STAs in a wider range than the EHT SU PPDU described in FIG. 8(a), and the U-SIG field may be repeated on the time axis.

[0093] The EHT MU PPDU described in (c) of Figure 8 can be used by the AP for downlink transmission to multiple STAs. In this case, the EHT MU PPDU can include scheduling information so that multiple STAs can simultaneously receive the PPDU transmitted from the AP. The EHT MU PPDU can convey AID information of the receiver and / or sender of the transmitted PPDU to the STA through the user specific field of the EHT-SIG-B. Therefore, multiple terminals receiving the EHT MU PPDU can perform spatial reuse based on the AID information of the user specific field included in the preamble of the received PPDU.

[0094] Specifically, the resource unit allocation (RA) field of the HE-SIG-B field included in the HE MU PPDU may include information regarding the configuration of resource units (e.g., the division type of resource units) in a specific bandwidth (e.g., 20 MHz) on the frequency axis. That is, the RA field may indicate the configuration of resource units divided by the bandwidth for transmitting the HE MU PPDU so that the STA can receive the PPDU. Information about the STA allocated (or designated) to each divided resource unit may be included in a user specific field of the EHT-SIG-B and transmitted to the STA. That is, the user specific field may include one or more user fields corresponding to each divided resource unit.

[0095] For example, among the multiple divided resource units, the user field corresponding to at least one resource unit used for data transmission may include the AID of the receiver or sender, and the user field corresponding to the remaining resource units not used for data transmission may include a previously set null STA ID.

[0096] 9A and 9B show an example of an encoding structure and transmission method of an EHT-SIG field according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 9A shows an encoding structure in which EHT-SIG-B is encoded, and Fig. 9B shows a transmission method of EHT-SIG-B in a bandwidth of 40 MHz or more.

[0097] 9(a), the EHT-SIG-B may be configured with a common block field and a user-specific field. The user-specific field may include at least one user field, and each user field may be arranged in the order of allocated users according to the arrangement of resource units indicated by the RA (Resource Allocation) field of the common block field.

[0098] The user-specific field consists of at least one user field, and the at least one user field is transmitted in units of user block fields. As described above, the user block field consists of two user fields, a CRC field, and a tail field. If the total number of user fields is odd, the last user block field can contain only one user field. Padding may be added to the end of the EHT-SIG-B according to the OFDM symbol boundary.

[0099] Referring to FIG. 9(b), EHT-SIG-B is encoded separately in each 20 MHz band. In this case, EHT-SIG-B may consist of up to two content channels per 20 MHz band: EHT-SIG-B Content Channel 1 and EHT-SIG-B Content Channel 2. In FIG. 9(b), each box represents a 20 MHz band, and the "1" and "2" in the box represent EHT-SIG-B Content Channel 1 and EHT-SIG-B Content Channel 2, respectively. Within the total band, the EHT-SIG-B content channels are arranged in the order of the physical frequency bands. That is, HE-SIG-B Content Channel 1 is transmitted in the lowest frequency band, and HE-SIG-B Content Channel 2 is transmitted in the next highest frequency band. This content channel configuration is repeated by content duplication in the next highest frequency band. For example, of the first to fourth channels in ascending frequency order that make up the entire 80 MHz band, HE-SIG-B content channel 1 is transmitted on channels 1 and 3, and HE-SIG-B content channel 2 is transmitted on channels 2 and 4. Similarly, of the first to eighth channels in ascending frequency order that make up the entire 160 MHz band, HE-SIG-B content channel 1 is transmitted on channels 1, 3, 5, and 7, and HE-SIG-B content channel 2 is transmitted on channels 2, 4, 6, and 8. Similarly, of the 1st to 16th frequency channels that make up the entire 320 MHz band in ascending order, HE-SIG-B Content Channel 1 is transmitted on Channels 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 15, and HE-SIG-B Content Channel 2 is transmitted on Channels 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, and 16.A terminal can obtain information about the MU PPDU configuration of the total bandwidth if it can decode HE-SIG-B content channel 1 using at least one channel and decode HE-SIG-B content channel 2 using at least one other channel. On the other hand, if the total bandwidth is 20 MHz, only one SIG-B content channel is transmitted.

[0100] FIG. 10 shows an example of various BW modes of an EHT SU PPDU.

[0101] Referring to FIG. 10, in 801.11be, the EHT may transmit a PPDU in a maximum bandwidth of 320 MHz. In this case, a problem occurs in that the PPDU can only be transmitted if all channels are idle. In 11ax using Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing Access (OFDMA), a preamble puncturing mode is available for an MU PPDU in which an AP transmits a PPDU to multiple STAs. This mode aggregates and transmits only channels whose CCA results are idle in each 20 MHz in which the MU PPDU is transmitted. In 11be, this preamble puncturing mode can also be used for an SU PPDU transmitted by an AP to a single STA. That is, when transmitting a PPDU to multiple STAs or a single STA, the AP can transmit a PPDU by aggregate only idle channels even if not all channels in the entire bandwidth are idle. In the case of an SU PPDU, when a single STA is assigned multiple resource units, the AP can use this preamble puncturing mode to transmit the PPDU to the single STA only on channels of idle resource units.

[0102] Hereinafter, a BW indicator indicating the (maximum) bandwidth for the transmission of the PPDU may be transmitted by the bandwidth field of the U-SIG.

[0103] As shown in FIG. 10, modes BW=0 to BW=4 are examples of transmitting a PPDU by combining consecutive channels without preamble puncturing. Modes BW=5 to 9 are BW modes for transmitting a PPDU by combining channels other than busy channels among the remaining 20 MHz secondary channels, excluding the 20 MHz primary channel, in the entire 80 MHz channel bandwidth. For BW=5 to 6, the channel ultimately occupied by transmission is 40 MHz, and for BW=7 to 9, it occupies 60 MHz. As described above, to perform preamble puncturing of an SU PPDU in a maximum 80 MHz bandwidth, the transmitter prepares A-MPDUs, which are data to be transmitted for each 20 MHz RU, in the form of a PSDU, and then transmits the PPDU only in the 20 MHz band including P20, which is available based on the CCA result immediately before transmission. In this case, the RU type prepared for each 20 MHz band must be an individual 20 MHz RU type, different from the 20 MHz RUs in the 80 MHz RU allocation of 11ax. This is because when transmitting data in a 242 RU allocation corresponding to 20 MHz in an 80 MHz RU allocation, if the 20 MHz adjacent channel is punctured, an interference signal may leak into the punctured channel.

[0104] Therefore, if a STA preparing to transmit in the 80 MHz band in an SU PPDU attempts preamble puncturing transmission, it can prepare four PSDUs corresponding to RUs with the same format as individual 20 MHz transmission for each 20 MHz band, and then transmit the prepared PSDUs on an available 20 MHz channel according to the CCA result. In this case, if four PSDUs corresponding to four 20 MHz RUs constituting an 80 MHz transmission RU are generated and prepared and transmitted in puncturing mode according to the CCA result, interference may occur in the punctured channel. Hereinafter, an example will be described using Figure 11.

[0105] Figure 11 shows the RU allocation distribution for 20, 40, and 80 MHz used in 11ax and 11be. In the case of 160 MHz, the 80 MHz RU in Figure 11(c) may be implemented in a form where it is repeated twice. In the case of 320 MHz, the 160 MHz may be implemented in a form where it is repeated twice, or similarly, the 80 MHz RU in Figure 11(c) may be implemented in a form where it is repeated four times. In the case of 240 MHz, it is implemented in a form where it is repeated 80+160 or 160+80 MHz, so the 80 MHz RU in Figure 11(c) may be implemented in a form where it is repeated three times.

[0106] Comparing Figure 11(a) and Figure 11(c), it can be seen that when the 20 MHz RU allocation is defined within the entire 20 MHz band (a), there are guard carriers on the left and right of the 242 carriers, whereas when it is defined within the entire 80 MHz band (c), the 242 carriers are transmitted without guard carriers on the left and right.

[0107] The modes BW=10 to 14 in Figure 10 are BW modes for PPDUs that combine and transmit the remaining secondary channels, excluding the 40 MHz channel and the 20 MHz primary channel, in the entire 160 MHz channel bandwidth, excluding busy channels. For BW=10 to 11, the channel ultimately occupied by transmission is 80 MHz, and for BW=12 to 14, 120 MHz is occupied. As described above, to perform preamble puncturing of the SU PPDU in a maximum 160 MHz bandwidth, the transmitter prepares the A-MPDU, which is the data to be transmitted for each 40 MHz RU, in the form of a PSDU and then transmits only in the available 40 MHz band including P40 according to the CCA result immediately before transmission. In this case, the RUs prepared for each 40 MHz band must be in the form of individual 40 MHz RUs, not the 40 MHz RUs in the 11ax 160 MHz RU allocation. This is for the reasons described above. The 160MHz RU is a repeat of the 80MHz RU in Figure 11(c) for each 80MHz channel. Comparing Figure 11(b) and Figure 11(c), when the 40MHz RU allocation is defined within the entire 40MHz band (b), there are guard carriers on both sides of the 484 carriers, whereas when defined within the entire 80MHz band (c), there are no guard carriers on either side of the 484 carriers.

[0108] The modes BW=15 to 19 are BW modes for PPDUs that combine and transmit the remaining secondary channels, excluding the 80 MHz channel and including the 20 MHz primary channel, in the entire 320 MHz channel bandwidth, excluding busy channels. When BW=15 to 16, the channel ultimately occupied by transmission is 160 MHz, and when BW=17 to 19, it occupies 240 MHz. As described above, to perform preamble puncturing of the SU PPDU in a maximum bandwidth of 320 MHz, the transmitter prepares the A-MPDU, which is the data to be transmitted for each 80 MHz RU, in the form of a PSDU, and then transmits only in the available 80 MHz band including P80 according to the CCA result immediately before transmission. In this case, the form of the RU prepared for each 80 MHz band is the 996-carrier form of the 80 MHz RU in Figure 11(c).

[0109] FIG. 12 shows an example of the BW mode of the EHT MU PPDU.

[0110] The modes BW=0 to BW=4 are embodiments in which a PPDU is transmitted by combining consecutive channels without preamble puncturing, and are the same as the SU PPDU. In this case, as described above, a BW indicator indicating the bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU may be transmitted to the STA by the BW field included in the U-SIG field.

[0111] The BW=5~6 modes are PPDU BW modes that combine and transmit the remaining 20MHz secondary channels, excluding the 20MHz primary channel, in the entire 80MHz channel bandwidth, excluding busy channels. The reason two puncturing modes, such as the BW=6 mode, are possible is that after signaling the BW field of the U-SIG field, the RU allocation field in the common field of the SIG-B field can signal which 20MHz secondary channels are actually punctured. This has the advantage that, since there is an additional signaling field such as the SIG-B field, the BW field of the U-SIG field in the MU PPDU can only signal an approximate BW mode.

[0112] The BW=7~8 modes are BW modes of PPDUs that combine and transmit channels other than busy channels among the remaining 20MHz secondary channels excluding the 20MHz primary channel in the entire 160MHz channel bandwidth. The reason why three puncturing modes such as the BW=8 mode are possible is that they can be distinguished by additional signaling in the SIG-B field, as mentioned above.

[0113] The BW=9~10 modes are PPDU BW modes that combine and transmit the remaining 20MHz secondary channels, excluding the 20MHz primary channel, in the entire 320MHz channel bandwidth, except for busy channels.The reason that three puncturing modes, such as the BW=10 mode, are possible is that they can be distinguished by SIG-B signaling, as mentioned above.

[0114] FIG. 13 illustrates an example of a discontinuous channel configuration according to the BW utilization rule according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0115] 13, the ratio of the total bandwidth indicated by the bandwidth field included in the U-SIG field to the bandwidth used after preamble puncturing is applied must be equal to or greater than a certain ratio. That is, even if preamble puncturing is applied, a certain ratio of the total bandwidth must be used for PPDU transmission.

[0116] For example, Figure 13(a) shows a non-contiguous channel configuration allowed for transmission of a PPDU with a bandwidth of 80 MHz, and Figure 13(b) shows a non-contiguous channel configuration allowed for transmission of a PPDU with a bandwidth of 160 MHz. When more than 50% of the bandwidth is to be utilized, Figure 13(a) shows that when preamble puncturing is applied, 60 MHz of the total 80 MHz bandwidth can be utilized, excluding the punctured 20 MHz, and Figure 13(b) shows that when preamble puncturing is applied, 80 MHz of the total bandwidth can be utilized, excluding the 80 MHz. Figure 13(a) uses 3 / 4 (75%) of the bandwidth after puncturing, and Figure 13(b) uses 1 / 2 (50%) of the bandwidth after puncturing, thereby satisfying the minimum bandwidth utilization ratio.

[0117] However, in the case of (c) of Figure 13, the punctured bandwidth is 100 MHz out of the total bandwidth of 160 MHz, so the available bandwidth after puncturing is less than 50%. Therefore, (c) of Figure 13 is an unacceptable discontinuous channel form.

[0118] 13(a-1) and (b-1) show examples in which contiguous 40 MHz channels are used as one RU, as in (a) and (b), respectively. In this case, regardless of the UR encoding method, more than 50% of the bandwidth can be used after puncturing, as in (a) and (b) of FIG. 13, so this is an acceptable discontinuous channel configuration.

[0119] FIG. 14 shows an example of a discontinuous channel configuration according to puncturing resolution as an embodiment of the present invention.

[0120] 14, when puncturing is applied to a bandwidth for transmitting a PPDU, the puncturing resolution must be equal to or greater than a certain ratio of the entire bandwidth. That is, when some channels of the bandwidth for transmitting an SU PPDU or an MU PPDU are punctured, the AP can inform the STA of the pattern of RUs to be punctured using a specific field (e.g., a puncturing mode field) of the PPDU. However, when puncturing is performed within the bandwidth, the puncturing resolution must be equal to or greater than a certain ratio of the entire bandwidth.

[0121] For example, a single puncturing BW or puncturing resolution must be equal to or greater than a certain ratio (e.g., 1 / 4) of the total BW. The reason for setting a limit on the puncturing resolution is to normalize the discontinuous channel shape, which increases as the BW becomes wider. As a result, as can be seen from the embodiments of the present invention (FIGS. 17 to 19) described below, the channel shape of the entire band can be expressed by signaling the discontinuous channel shape regardless of the BW. In addition, the puncturing BW adjacent to the primary channel in the total bandwidth can be calculated as including the primary 20 MHz.

[0122] Figures 14(a) and (a') show discontinuous channels that are permitted when the total bandwidth is 160 MHz. Since the total BW is 160 MHz, single puncturing can be applied in increments of at least 40 MHz. Figure 14(b) shows an example when the total bandwidth is 320 MHz. Since the total bandwidth is 320 MHz, single puncturing can be applied in increments of at least 80 MHz. However, when puncturing is performed on the primary channel, the resolution specification may not be met due to the puncturing constraint on the primary 20 MHz. For example, if 80 MHz puncturing is performed on the primary 80 MHz, only the secondary 20 MHz and secondary 40 MHz can be punctured, excluding the primary 20 MHz. Therefore, when puncturing is performed on a section continuous with P20, the BW including the primary 20 MHz can be considered the puncturing BW. For example, if only the secondary 20 MHz is punctured for 160 MHz, 40 MHz including the primary 20 MHz can be considered to be punctured. Therefore, even when the puncturing resolution is set to 1 / 4 of the BW as in the embodiment of the present invention, a discontinuous channel configuration in which only the secondary 20 MHz is punctured for the entire 160 MHz is permitted (e.g., mode 7 in FIG. 15). The embodiment of FIG. 14(c) shows a discontinuous channel configuration of 160 MHz BW, in which some channels are punctured in 20 MHz increments, which is a discontinuous channel configuration that is not permitted by the puncturing BW criterion. That is, in FIG. 14(c), if the entire bandwidth is set to 160 MHz, the puncturing bandwidth may be limited to 40 MHz increments. However, in FIG. 14(c), a 20 MHz channel is punctured, which is a discontinuous channel configuration that does not satisfy the puncturing BW criterion. Therefore, such puncturing is not permitted.

[0123] The case of FIG. 14(d) cannot be utilized either because it is a discontinuous channel form in which puncturing is performed in 60 MHz units, which is not permitted for the entire 320 MHz BW.

[0124] FIG. 15 shows an example of a discontinuous channel configuration according to the number of RUs to be decoded, as an embodiment of the present invention.

[0125] Referring to FIG. 15, the bandwidth and / or pattern to be punctured may be limited based on the total bandwidth in which the PPDU is transmitted.

[0126] Specifically, Figure 15 shows a discontinuous channel configuration applicable when encoding contiguous 20 MHz channels into 40 MHz or 80 MHz RUs. When contiguous 20 MHz channels are used as 40 MHz or 80 MHz RUs, the total number of discontinuous RUs is reduced, thereby reducing the decoding burden on the receiver of the discontinuous channels. Looking at the 20, 40, and 80 MHz RU allocation distribution as shown in Figure 11, each RU has guard carriers at both ends to avoid interference from adjacent channels. When using 20 MHz channels as individual RUs as shown in Figure 13(a), the information for all 20 MHz RUs is decoded independently. Therefore, the receiver must decode each individual 20 MHz channel within the BW, which imposes a burden of decoding up to 16 individual RUs for a 320 MHz BW. To reduce this decoding burden, after the discontinuous channel configuration is determined, the transmitting device can combine contiguous 20 MHz channels and encode them into larger RUs of 40 or 80 MHz units, which has the effect of reducing the number of individual RUs that the receiving device needs to decode simultaneously.

[0127] In addition, the same effect can be achieved if a method is applied to reduce the decoding burden by not using RUs for 40 MHz or 80 MHz bandwidths, but by aggregating and decoding individual 20 MHz RUs (using parsing, deinterleaving, etc.).

[0128] The embodiment of Figure 15 illustrates a method for limiting the number of RUs to be individually decoded to reduce the decoding burden on the receiving device. The RU limit applied in this embodiment is two. According to one embodiment, the number of RUs per specific bandwidth unit may be limited. More specifically, the number of RUs per 160 MHz unit (or a unit of 160 MHz or less) may be limited to two. This embodiment assumes that the transmitting device uses 40 and 80 MHz RUs, but it is also applicable to cases where 20 MHz RUs are combined during the encoding process to reduce the number of RUs to be decoded. It is also assumed that a 160 MHz RU is composed of two 80 MHz RUs, and a 320 MHz RU is composed of two 160 MHz RUs.

[0129] Figures 15(a) and 15(b) are usable discontinuous channel configurations because the discontinuous channel configuration can consist of two 40 MHz RUs after the 160 MHz BW is punctured, while Figure 15(c) is not applicable because the discontinuous channel consists of a total of three: two 40 MHz RUs and one 20 MHz RU.

[0130] In the cases of Figures 15(d) and 15(e), after the 320 MHz BW is punctured, three RUs are configured in each channel. While the RU count regulations require a configuration of two or fewer RUs, the EHT's 320 MHz operation is physically configured as a 160 MHz + 160 MHz configuration, so the requirement of two RUs within the 160 MHz BW is met, and this can be assumed to be a usable discontinuous channel configuration. In contrast, in Figure 15(f), 40 MHz puncturing is performed on all 2160 MHz bands that make up the 320 MHz BW, as in Figure 15(d), but after puncturing, each 160 MHz band can be configured with two 20 MHz RUs and one 40 MHz RU. Therefore, Figures 15(f) and (d) are unacceptable discontinuous channel configurations.

[0131] FIG. 16 shows an example of a PPDU format in discontinuous channels according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0132] FIG. 16 shows the basic formats of the EHT PPDU and EHT SU PPDU, and a discontinuous channel shape separation signaling method applicable to the EHT SU PPDU with a BW exceeding 160 MHz.

[0133] Figure 16(a) shows the MU PPDU format for EHT multi-user transmission. As shown in Figure 16(a), the MU PPDU has a structure in which the EHT-SIG field is signaled after the U-SIG field. The EHT-SIG field of the MU PPDU consists of a common field and a per-user field, and the common field of the EHT-SIG field may include the number of LTFs, GI+LTF size, RU allocation and / or puncturing mode.

[0134] - Number of LTFs: A field that indicates the number of symbols that make up the long training field of the EHT.

[0135] - GI+LTF size: Specifies the GI (Guard-Interval) duration and EHT-LTF size information.

[0136] - RU allocation: RU configuration information for the total bandwidth for transmitting and receiving PPDUs

[0137] - Puncturing mode: indicates whether the puncturing mode is applied and / or the punctured RUs

[0138] The user field may include STA_ID, MCS, coding, NSTS, etc. Figure 16(b) shows the SU PPDU format for EHT single-user transmission. As shown in Figure 16(b), the EHT-SIG field of the SU PPDU may be configured in a form in which some of the contents / fields of the MU PPDU are modified or deleted. In a general 320 MHz PPDU, a preamble as shown in Figure 16(b) appears repeatedly over the entire 320 MHz. However, in the present invention, for the SU PPDU, as shown in Figure 16(c), a different EHT-SIG field may be signaled for the secondary 160 MHz than for the primary 160 MHz. That is, the EHT-SIG1 field for the primary 160 MHz signals the puncturing mode of the primary 160 MHz BW, and the EHT-SIG2 field for the secondary 160 MHz signals the puncturing mode of the secondary 160 MHz BW. In other words, the EHT-SIG is not duplicated but transmitted separately in the secondary 160 MHz and primary 20 MHz except for the duplicated fields, so the puncturing modes indicated in the secondary 160 MHz and primary 20 MHz may be different. In this case, the SU PPDU transmitted in the primary 20 MHz may be repeated up to four times (up to 160 MHz).

[0139] In other words, when the entire bandwidth is segmented into primary and secondary, the EHT-SIG fields of each PPDU transmitted in each segment, the primary and secondary, may contain different information.

[0140] Specifically, the EHT-SIG field of the primary 160 MHz may contain different content from the EHT field of the secondary 160 MHz. That is, when the entire bandwidth for PPDU transmission is divided into two or more segments, the content included in the EHT field transmitted in each segment may be different. Also, at least one field included in the EHT-SIG field in each segment may be duplicated and repeated for a certain band. For example, when the bandwidth of each segment is 80 MHz, at least one field included in the U-SIG field and / or the EHT-SIG field may contain the same content every 20 MHz. That is, when a PPDU is transmitted over a 320 MHz band and 320 MHz is divided into a primary 160 MHz (first segment) and a secondary 160 MHz (second segment), the preamble (including the EHT-SIG field) of the PPDU may be configured to have different content in each of the primary 160 MHz and the secondary 160 MHz.

[0141] In other words, the EHT-SIG field can include at least one content channel, and for each content channel, at least one corresponding field in the same segment (primary 20 MHz or secondary 160 MHz) can be set to the same value, and at least one corresponding field in different segments can be set to a different value.

[0142] For example, when the EHT-SIG field is configured with a first content channel and a second content channel, at least one field among the same fields between the first content channel and the second content channel in the same segment among at least one segment may contain the same information. In this case, a Resource Unit Allocation (RU Allocation) field, which is information related to the configuration of a resource unit, may be set to a different value depending on the content channel.

[0143] If the first content channel and the second content channel include a specific field, the value of the specific field may be set to the same value in the same segment, but may be set to different values in different segments.

[0144] For example, if the first and second content channels transmitted in the first segment include a first common field including at least one field containing the same value, and the first and second content channels transmitted in the second segment include a second common field including at least one field containing the same value, the at least one field included in the first common field and the at least one field included in the second common field may contain different information, and the at least one field included in the first common field and the at least one field included in the second common field may be of the same type.

[0145] The EHT-SIG field may include at least one content channel, and each content channel may be configured with at least one of the above-mentioned common field, resource unit allocation field, or user-specific field, where the resource unit allocation field may be included in the common field.

[0146] Because the field information / values transmitted in each segment are different, the receiver must receive both the EHT-SIG1 field for the primary 160 MHz and the EHT-SIG2 field for the secondary 160 MHz. Therefore, the receiver must know in advance the channels (unpunctured) on which it can receive the preamble in the secondary 160 MHz bandwidth. For this reason, the information on the channels on which it can receive the EHT-SIG2 field must be signaled to the receiver in advance, and may be signaled in the BW field of the U-SIG field or in a field that appears after the BW field (the primary 160 MHz preamble is received on the primary 20 MHz).

[0147] When the proposed secondary 160 MHz signaling scheme is not applied, the 160 MHz signaling (160 MHz discontinuous channel configuration information) described below may appear twice in the EHT-SIG to signal a puncturing mode with a bandwidth greater than 160 MHz.

[0148] FIG. 17 illustrates an example of non-contiguous channels separated by frequency segments according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0149] FIG. 17 shows the allowable 80 MHz bandwidth discontinuous channel configurations and signaling schemes when restrictions on discontinuous channel configurations are applied.

[0150] As shown in Figure 17, Mode 0 is a contiguous channel in which no puncturing is applied to the 80 MHz bandwidth and the entire BW is used. Mode 1 is a discontinuous channel in which only the secondary 20 MHz of the 80 MHz bandwidth is punctured, and the punctured position may vary (left and right can be reversed) depending on the position of the primary 20 MHz in the 80 MHz bandwidth, as in the two cases of Mode 1. Since the receiving device knows the positions of the primary 20 MHz, secondary 20 MHz, and secondary 40 MHz, it can confirm the discontinuous form of the 80 MHz BW from Mode 1 signaling, which means that the secondary 20 MHz has been punctured.

[0151] Modes 2 and 3 can signal a discontinuous channel configuration in which one 20 MHz subchannel of the secondary 40 MHz is punctured. For example, the AP can include the punctured discontinuous channel configuration in a bitmap format in a U-SIG or EHT-SIG and transmit it to the receiving device.

[0152] Two modes are required to separate the punctured 20 MHz of the secondary 40 MHz. Modes 4 and 5 signal a discontinuous channel configuration in which one 20 MHz of the secondary 20 MHz and one 20 MHz of the secondary 40 MHz are punctured, and two modes are allocated to separate the punctured 20 MHz of the secondary 40 MHz together with the secondary 20 MHz.

[0153] FIG. 18 shows an example of a discontinuous channel for single user transmission according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0154] Referring to FIG. 18, when the total bandwidth is 160 MHz, a form of discontinuous channels punctured by punctured channels may be allowed.

[0155] Specifically, when the discontinuous channel configuration definition method is applied, the allowable discontinuous channel configurations of 160 MHz BW may be as shown in Modes 0 to 5 in FIG. 18. For example, Mode 0 is a contiguous channel configuration in which no puncturing is applied to the 160 MHz bandwidth and the entire bandwidth is used. Mode 1 is a discontinuous channel configuration in which only the secondary 40 MHz of the 160 MHz BW is punctured. This mode may vary (left and right reversible) as in the two cases of Mode 1 depending on the position of the primary 20 MHz of the 160 MHz BW. Since the receiving device knows the positions of the primary 20, secondary 20, secondary 40, and secondary 80 MHz, it can confirm the discontinuous configuration of the 160 MHz BW from Mode 1 signaling, which means that the secondary 40 MHz is punctured. Modes 2 and 3 signal a discontinuous channel configuration in which one 40 MHz subchannel of the secondary 80 MHz is punctured, and two modes are required to distinguish the punctured 40 MHz of the secondary 80 MHz. Modes 4 and 5 signal a discontinuous channel configuration in which one 40 MHz of the secondary 40 MHz and one 40 MHz of the secondary 80 MHz are punctured, and two modes are allocated to separate the punctured 40 MHz of the secondary 80 MHz together with the secondary 40 MHz.

[0156] In this way, puncturing modes 0 to 5 may be expressed as the same signaling because they signal the same type of discontinuous channels except for the different overall bandwidths (80 MHz and 160 MHz).The receiving device can identify the overall bandwidth and the type of discontinuous channel by combining the value of the BW field (80, 160, 240, or 320 MHz) with the mode information.

[0157] FIG. 19 illustrates an example of discontinuous channels for a particular bandwidth according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0158] Referring to FIG. 19, when the total bandwidth for transmitting PPDUs is 160 MHz or more, the discontinuous channels may be configured in a specific manner.

[0159] As shown in Figure 19, Mode 6 indicates a discontinuous channel configuration in which the secondary 20 MHz and secondary 40 MHz are punctured, and Mode 7 indicates a discontinuous channel configuration in which only the secondary 20 MHz of the 160 MHz BW is punctured.

[0160] The discontinuous channel configurations from Mode 0 to Mode 7 are signaled using three bits. Signaling for bandwidths greater than 160 MHz (80+160, 160+80, 160+160) is performed by signaling the puncturing modes for the primary 80 MHz or 160 MHz and the secondary 80 MHz or 160 MHz, respectively, as described in FIG. 16. That is, at least one field of the PPDU transmitted in each segmented bandwidth may contain different information / content. In other words, the U-SIG field and / or EHT-SIG field transmitted in each segment may indicate different values for the same field. For example, the PPDU transmitted in each segment may include a specific field containing an indicator for indicating a puncturing pattern associated with a different puncturing mode. The puncturing pattern may indicate the channels punctured by the puncturing mode in a bitmap format.

[0161] FIG. 20 shows an example of a PPDU format for an extremely high throughput (EHT) wireless LAN according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0162] Referring to FIG. 20, the PPDU of the EHT WLAN may have different configurations of included fields depending on the type of PPDU, the number of terminals to which the PPDU is transmitted, and whether or not OFDMA is applied.

[0163] Specifically, Figure 20(a) shows an example of a PPDU format for single / multiple user transmission, Figure 20(b) shows an example of a trigger-based (TB) PPDU format, which is a PPDU initiated by a trigger frame, and Figure 20(c) shows an example of an HE PPDU format based on 802.11ax.

[0164] Referring to Figure 20(a), an SU / MU PPDU for single / multiple user transmission can include a Legacy Short Training field (L-STF), a Legacy Long Training field (L-LTF), a Legacy Signal field (L-SIG), and a Repeated Legacy Signature field (RL-SIG). These four fields are legacy fields that are also included in the 11ax PPDU format of Figure 20(c).

[0165] The U-SIG field is a new field introduced in 802.11be, an EHT communication standard, and is a field commonly included in subsequent 802.11 standard PPDUs, including 802.11be. The U-SIG (Universal SIG) field may continue to be included in EHT PPDUs and subsequent WLAN PPDUs, and serves to identify the generation of the PPDU, including 802.11be. The U-SIG field may consist of two OFDM symbols based on 64FFT and can carry a total of 52 bits of information. The interpretation of some fields included in the U-SIG field may vary depending on the PPDU type, whether multi-user transmission is used, and whether OFDMA transmission is used. This will be described in detail using the example of FIG. 22.

[0166] For example, the configuration of fields included in the EHT-SIG field may change depending on the value of at least one field included in the U-SIG field of the SU / MU PPDU.

[0167] The EHT-SIG field is functionally divided into an EHT-VD common field, an EHT-RU allocation field, and an EHT-user specific field, and the analysis of some fields may change or be omitted depending on the type of PPDU, the presence or absence of multi-user transmission, and the presence or absence of OFDMA transmission. For example, if the value of a field included in the U-SIG field indicates that OFDMA is not applied or indicates single-user transmission, the field for allocating resource units in the EHT-SIG field may be omitted and not included.

[0168] The EHT-VD common field and the EHT-RU allocation field can be collectively called the EHT common field. The configuration and modified (compressed or omitted) form of the EHT-SIG field will be described in detail using the embodiment of FIG.

[0169] Referring to FIG. 7(b), the EHT TB PPDU transmitted in response to the trigger frame may include only a U-SIG field after the legacy field, but may not include an EHT-SIG field. Therefore, unlike the MU / SU PPDU, in which the U-SIG field contains information for decoding the EHT-SIG field, the U-SIG field may not contain information for decoding the EHT-SIG field. The TB PPDU may be signaled including a spatial reuse field and puncturing mode information indicating whether or not RUs constituting the transmission bandwidth are punctured. The U-SIG configuration of the TB PPDU in FIG. 20(c) and a method for distinguishing it from SUs / MUs will be described in detail using the embodiment of FIG. 21.

[0170] FIG. 21 shows an example of a U-SIG field of an EHT PPDU and fields constituting the U-SIG field according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0171] Referring to FIG. 21, the type of PPDU may be distinguished based on the value of a specific field indicating the type of PPDU included in the U-SIG field, and the configuration of the EHT-SIG field may change depending on the value of a field included in the U-SIG field.

[0172] Specifically, Figure 21(a) shows an example of the format structure of the U-SIG field included in the EHT PPDU, and of the 52 bits of the U-SIG field, 43 bits excluding 9 bits of CRC / tail are roughly divided into a VI (Version Independent) field and a VD (Version Dependent) field. In this case, information that must be provided in the VD field but cannot be signaled due to the bit number constraint may be signaled by the EHT-SIG. That is, some of the fields that should be included in the VD field may be included in the EHT-SIG field and transmitted, and in this case, the fields that should be included in the VD field included in the EHT-SIG field may be repeatedly transmitted for each certain frequency band.

[0173] The VI field will maintain its current bit configuration, so even if a later-generation PPDU is defined, current IEEE 802.11be UEs can obtain information about the PPDU using the VI field of the PPDU. To this end, the VI field consists of a version identifier, UL / DL, TXOP, BSS color, and PPDU BW fields. The version identifier field distinguishes between IEEE 802.11be and later-generation WLAN standards. In the case of IEEE 802.11be, the value of the version identifier field may be signaled as 000b. The UL / DL field is used to distinguish whether the PPDU is an uplink or downlink PPDU. The TXOP field represents the transmit opportunity duration conveyed in the MAC header. By adding the TXOP field to the PHY header, the length of the TXOP containing the PPDU can be inferred without decoding the MPDU. The TXOP field may be allocated 7 bits or more.

[0174] The BSS color field indicates a BSS-specific identifier for identifying the BSS defined in 11ax and has a value of 6 or more bits. The PPDU BW field indicates the bandwidth occupied by the PPDU, and the indicated bandwidth may be the bandwidth value before preamble puncturing is applied. The PPDU BW field may be allocated 3 or more bits. When 3 bits are allocated, the PPDU BW field can signal 000b = 20 MHz, 001b = 40 MHz, 010b = 80 MHz, 011b = 160 (80 + 80) MHz, 100b = 240 (160 + 80, 80 + 160) MHz, and 101b = 320 (160 + 160) MHz.

[0175] The remaining 110b, 111b may be utilized to signal the BW (>320 MHz) of the subsequent standard and may be used in combination with a portion of the VD field of the subsequent standard to signal the bandwidth of the subsequent standard.

[0176] The VD field is a field that may change as subsequent standards are developed, and may be changed as new technologies are introduced into each standard or to improve signaling efficiency. The VD field of the 11be version has a configuration that varies depending on the PPDU type and includes a field for signaling the PPDU type. Therefore, the VD field can be divided into a PPDU type field and a PPDU type identification field, the configuration and interpretation of which vary depending on the PPDU type field. In this case, the PPDU type field may be located before or after the PPDU type identification field, or between the fields that make up the PPDU type identification field. This embodiment will be described using an example in which the PPDU type field is located before the PPDU type identification field.

[0177] In the EHT, PPDU types may be classified into MU / SU PPDUs and TB PPDUs, and the PPDU type field may be configured with 1 bit for this purpose. In this case, the PPDU type field may distinguish between MU / SU PPDUs and TB PPDUs. Alternatively, the PPDU type field may be configured with 2 or more bits to individually distinguish between MU PPDUs, SU PPDUs, and TB PPDUs. The present invention will be described taking the case where the PPDU type field is 1 bit.

[0178] 21(b) shows an example of a PPDU type identification field when the PPDU type field of the VD field indicates an MU / SU PPDU. The EHT-SIG MCS field is located after the U-SIG field and indicates the MCS applied to the EHT-SIG field, and may be allocated 4 or more bits. The spatial reuse field may be used in the same sense as the spatial reuse field of 11ax.

[0179] The EHT-SIG Compression field indicates whether the EHT-RU Allocation field, which indicates the configuration of resource units that make up the total bandwidth over which PPDUs are transmitted, in the EHT-SIG field is compressed (omitted), and is assigned 1 or 2 bits. In a 1-bit embodiment, 0 means that the EHT-RU Allocation field is not compressed and appears, and 1 indicates that the EHT-RU Allocation field is compressed and not included in the EHT-SIG field.

[0180] When the EHT-SIG compression field is 2 bits, 00b means that the EHT-RU allocation field is not compressed, 01b means compression mode 1, and 10b means compression mode 2. In addition, the EHT-SIG compression field signals whether the corresponding PPDU is an OFDMA MU PPDU to which OFDMA is applied. In the case of an OFDMA-applied MU PPDU, the EHT-RU allocation field cannot be compressed because an RU must be assigned to each STA. Therefore, an STA can determine whether the received PPDU is an OFDMA-applied MU PPDU by checking whether the EHT-RU allocation field has been compressed using the EHT-SIG compression field. In addition, even in the case of an MU PPDU without OFDMA, since the RUs are configured with the same number of tones (or frequency bands), there is no need to separately transmit an RU allocation field indicating the RU configuration to the STA. Therefore, in this case, the EHT-SIG compression field can indicate that the EHT-SIG field does not include an RU allocation field.

[0181] The Number Of EHT-SIG Symbols Or MU-MIMO Users field is allocated 4 bits or more and may be used to signal the length of the EHT-User Specific Field and to decode the EHT-User Specific Field. The Number Of EHT-SIG Symbols Or MU-MIMO Users field indicates the number of MU-MIMO users (i.e., STAs) when the EHT-SIG Compression field is not 0, i.e., when the compressed mode is applied, and indicates the number of symbols constituting the EHT-SIG field when the field is 0, i.e., when the compressed mode is not applied. In this case, if the number of MU-MIMO STAs or users indicated by this field means 1, it indicates that the PPDU is a SU PPDU.

[0182] The bits allocated to two different fields, the Number of EHT-LTF Symbols and Midamble Periodicity field and the NSTS and Midamble Periodicity field, overlap and indicate information that is determined depending on whether the PPDU is a SU PPDU or not.

[0183] That is, depending on the type of PPDU, the number of EHT-LTF symbols and midamble periodicity field or the NSTS and midamble periodicity field may be included. In a 1-bit embodiment, if the value of the EHT-SIG Compression field is 1 and the number of MU-MIMO users is 1, the receiving device recognizes the received PPDU as an SU PPDU and recognizes the bits as the NSTS and midamble periodicity field. If the EHT-SIG Compression field is 0 or the value of the Number Of EHT-SIG Symbols Or MU-MIMO field does not indicate 1 symbol or the number of MU-MIMO users is not 1, the receiving device recognizes the received PPDU as an MU PPDU and recognizes the bits as the number of EHT-LTF symbols and midamble periodicity field.

[0184] 21(c) shows an example of the format of the PPDU type specification field when the PPDU type field in the VD field indicates that the received PPDU is a TB PPDU. A TB PPDU consists of only a Spatial Reuse field and a Puncturing Mode field.

[0185] The spatial reuse field may be analyzed together with the value of the bandwidth field to signal the bands that can be spatially reused within the total bandwidth indicated by the bandwidth field and the transmit power limit when spatial reuse is applied. If the BW field indicates 20 MHz, the spatial reuse field signals whether spatial reuse is available for the corresponding band and the transmit power limit. If the bandwidth field indicates 40 MHz, the spatial reuse 1 field signals whether spatial reuse is available for the first 20 MHz, and the spatial reuse 2 field signals whether spatial reuse is available for the second 20 MHz and the transmit power limit.

[0186] If the Bandwidth field means 80, 160, 240, 320 MHz, the Spatial Reuse 1, 2, 3, 4 fields signal the availability of spatial reuse and transmit power limitations for each quarter of the bandwidth (40 MHz for 160 MHz, 80 MHz for 320 MHz), respectively.

[0187] The puncturing mode field signals the puncturing mode generated when performing uplink MU OFDMA in the TB PPDU, and STAs and APs of neighboring BSSs can obtain additional information required for spatial reuse using the puncturing mode information of the UL PPDU they received. The PPDU form combined with UL MU OFDMA transmission (final form received by the AP) may differ from the form signaled by the puncturing mode of the TB PPDU because no actual uplink transmission occurs in some bandwidths depending on the CCA result of the UL STA.

[0188] FIG. 22 shows an example for an EHT-SIG in uncompressed form according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0189] The EHT-SIG in Figure 22(a) is used for OFDMA MU PPDU and includes a common field, an RU allocation field, and a user-specific field. The names of each field in the EHT-SIG field may vary, and the field classification may not be specified.

[0190] 22(b) shows an example of the format of a common field included in the EHT-SIG field. The common field may include at least one field that was not included due to the bit size limitation of the VD field of the U-SIG field. For example, the common field may include fields that are the same as or have the same function as fields that appear in the HE-SIG-A field of 11ax, such as an LDPC Extra Symbol Segment, STBC, Pre-FED Padding Factor, GI-LTF Size, and / or Doppler, and may be assigned the same or more bits as the same fields in 11ax. The EHT-SIG common field may consist of one symbol, and therefore, may be assigned 26 bits and coded with MCS 0.

[0191] The Number of RU Allocations field signals the number of RU allocations present in the EHT-SIG RU Allocation field in Figure 22(c) and may consist of 4 bits or 3 bits. The Number of RU Allocations field is necessary because, unlike 11ax, the 11be RU Allocation subfields do not appear as fixed numbers depending on the bandwidth.

[0192] In the case of 11ax, when the PPDU bandwidth is 40 MHz or less, one RU allocation field appears in each of content channels 1 and 2, when the PPDU bandwidth is 80 MHz, two appear in each of content channels 1 and 2, and when the PPDU bandwidth is 160 (80 + 80) MHz, four appear in each of content channels 1 and 2. On the other hand, in the 11be RU allocation field, a fixed number of RU allocation fields does not appear depending on the PPDU bandwidth in each content channel, but a variable number of RU allocation fields may be included depending on the RU configuration and combination within the bandwidth.

[0193] When 4 bits are allocated to the Number of RU Allocation field, the value of the Number of RU Allocation field may be 0000 (=1-0) to signal that there is one RU allocation field in the EHT-SIG RU allocation field. In a 4-bit embodiment, the value of the Number of RU Allocation field may be 1111 (=16-1) to signal that there are 16 RU allocation fields in the EHT-SIG RU allocation field. The Number of RU Allocation field indicates the number of RU allocation fields of the content channel that includes the Number of RU Allocation field. Therefore, the Number of RU Allocation field may appear differently in each content channel when the number of RU allocation fields appearing in different content channels is different.

[0194] 22(c) shows an example of the format of the EHT-SIG RU allocation field. The EHT-SIG RU allocation field appears only in the OFDMA MU PPDU, and may be compressed and not appear in the EHT-SIG field of the SU PPDU, TB PPDU, or Full BW MU-MIMO.

[0195] The RU allocation field may be allocated 8 or more bits. The EHT-SIG RU allocation field may include N RU allocation fields, where N may be indicated by the RU allocation number field that appears before the EHT-SIG RU allocation field. The N RU allocation fields may appear earlier in the EHT-SIG RU allocation field in order, including the RU with the lowest frequency among the RUs included in each RU allocation field.

[0196] As an example of the order in which fields may appear in an RU allocation field, assume that four RU allocation fields signal subfield #1 = [-1012:-771&-495:-254] (two 242-tone RUs), subfield #2 = [-770:-529] (242-tone RUs), subfield #3 = [12:529&770:1012] (484-tone RU, 242-tone RUs), and subfield #4 = [-253:-12&529:770] (two 242-tone RUs). In this case, subfield #1, which has an RU at -1012, may appear first in the RU allocation field, subfield #2, which has an RU at -770, may appear second, subfield #4, which has an RU at the next lowest frequency, -253, may appear third, and subfield #3, which has the lowest frequency of RUs, 12, may appear last in the RU allocation field.

[0197] The RU assignment field signals a small RU configuration within 20 MHz consisting of RUs with 26, 52, and 106 tone sizes, and can include a 78-tone (26 + 52 or 52 + 26) RU, which assigns RUs with consecutive 26- and 52-tone RUs at once, and a 132-tone (26 + 106 or 106 + 26) RU, which assigns RUs with consecutive 26- and 106-tone RUs at once. The RU assignment subfield also signals large RUs with a size of 242 tones or more, and can signal the RU combinations and location relationships of the constituent RUs that make up each large RU to signal the combinations and locations of discontinuously located large RUs. The RU configuration and assignment method signaled using the RU assignment subfield will be described using the example of Figure 23. The Center 26 RU field indicates whether one, two, or four center 26-tone RUs located at 80, 160, or 320 MHz are used, respectively. One or more bits may be allocated, and the PPDU may be compressed and not appear if the BW is 40 MHz or less. In a one-bit embodiment, the Center 26-tone RU field of the 80 MHz PPDU indicates whether a center 26-tone RU located in the middle of the 80 MHz band is used. The same value (e.g., 1) appears in the Center 26-tone RU fields of all EHT-SIG content channels. When the value of the Center 26-tone RU field is 1, the EHT-SIG User Identification field in FIG. 22(d) may include a field indicating the STA to which the center 26-tone RU is assigned. In a 1-bit embodiment, the central 26-tone RU field of the 160 MHz PPDU is repeated in each of the two EHT-SIG content channels, and the central 26-tone RU field of content channel 1 indicates whether or not the central 26-tone RU of 80 MHz located at a relatively low frequency is used, and the central 26-tone RU field of content channel 2 indicates whether or not the central 26-tone RU of 80 MHz located at a relatively high frequency is used.As a one-bit example, when four channels are used for 240 MHz and 320 MHz PPDUs, the central 26-tone RU fields present in content channels 1, 2, 3, and 4 can indicate whether or not the first, second, third, and fourth (lowest frequency order) central 26-tone RUs are used, respectively.

[0198] In a two-bit embodiment, a two-bit central 26-tone RU field may appear in content channel 1 and content channel 2 to signal whether the four central 26-tone RUs present in the 320 MHz PPDU are in use. The two-bit central 26-tone RU field in content channel 1 can have values such as 00, 01, 10, or 11 to signal whether the first and second or first and third central 26-tone RUs are in use on a low frequency basis. The two bits in content channel 2 can indicate whether the third and fourth or second and fourth central 26-tone RUs are in use. For example, when the one-bit central 26-tone RU field is signaled as 1 (in use), one EHT-SIG user identification field appears to indicate the STA assigned the central 26-tone RU to that content channel. Alternatively, when the two-bit central 26-tone RU field is signaled as 11, the EHT-SIG user identification fields of the two STAs assigned the central 26-tone RU to that content channel appear.

[0199] Figure 22(d) shows an example of an EHT-SIG user specific field. The basic function of the EHT-SIG user specific field may be the same as the HE-SIG-B user specific field of 11ax, and each field included in the EHT-SIG user specific field may be the same as the corresponding field of 11ax. However, 4 bits are allocated to the NSTS to signal 16 streams.

[0200] In addition to the elements shown in the embodiment of Figure 22(d), in order to signal one or more RUs in a single user-specific field, an additional RU indicator field indicating whether there are any additional RUs allocated to the receiving device in addition to the RU corresponding to the user-specific field may be included. If the additional RU indicator field indicates that there are any additional RUs allocated to the receiving device, the receiving device checks the user-specific fields located after the user-specific field to check the additional RUs allocated to its own STA-ID.

[0201] FIG. 23 illustrates an example of a resource unit configuration using fields for allocating resource units according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0202] Referring to FIG. 23, a terminal may be assigned multiple RUs, and the assigned RUs may have different numbers of tones or different frequency bands.

[0203] Specifically, Figure 23(a) shows an example of an RU configuration within 20 MHz that can be indicated by the RU allocation field. In this embodiment, 26, 52, and 106 tone sizes are assumed to be basic small RUs, and 78 (26 + 52 or 52 + 26), 132 (26 + 106 or 106 + 26), and 158 (52 + 106 or 106 + 52) tone size RUs that can be configured by combining basic small RUs are defined as small RUs.

[0204] In one example of allocating small RUs within a 20 MHz band, the RUs within the 20 MHz band can be signaled as nine 26-tone RUs, with each RU assigned to one of nine receiving devices. In another example, the 20 MHz band can be signaled as a combination of 26-tone RUs and 52-tone RUs, and then one 26-tone RU and one 52-tone RU can be assigned to each receiving device, or both contiguously arranged 26-tone RUs and 52-tone RUs can be assigned to a specific receiving device. In another example, the 20 MHz band can be signaled as a combination of 26-tone RUs and 52-tone, 106-tone RUs, and then one 26-tone RU, one 52-tone RU, and one 106-tone RU can be assigned to each receiving device, or both contiguously arranged 26-tone RUs and 106-tone RUs can be assigned to a specific receiving device. In this example, the 106-tone RU or contiguous 106+26-tone RUs (or 26+106-tone RUs) can be repeatedly assigned to one or more receiving devices using MU-MIMO. In this embodiment, to allocate 78-tone RUs and 132-tone RUs to a receiving device, the RU allocation field defines (contains) bit combinations meaning 78-tone RUs (26+52 or 52+26 format) and 132-tone RUs (26+106 or 106+26 format), or after signaling a combination of 26, 52, and 106-tone RUs and a 20 MHz bandwidth, two RUs can be allocated to the receiving device using the user-specific field.

[0205] Alternatively, to allocate two basic small RUs to a receiving device, the user-specific field of the receiving device corresponding to the first basic RU on a lower frequency basis can further signal whether the next basic small RU located adjacent to the first basic RU is in use (allocated). Alternatively, to signal whether the next small RU located adjacent to the first basic RU is in use, the user-specific field can include an additional RU indicator field consisting of 1 bit.

[0206] Figure 23(b) shows the configuration of RUs of 20 MHz or more that can be specified by the RU allocation field. In Figure 23(b), 242-tone RUs, 484-tone RUs, 996-tone RUs, 996x2-tone RUs, 996x3-tone RUs, and 996x4-tone RUs can be defined as basic large RUs, and 242+484-tone RUs, 242+996-tone RUs, 484+996-tone RUs, 484+996x2-tone RUs, 484+996x3-tone RUs, and 996x4-tone RUs that can be configured by combining basic large RUs can be defined as large RUs.

[0207] As an example of allocating a large RU of 20 MHz or more, after signaling a 20 MHz (242 tone size) RU in the RU allocation field, one or more user-specific fields corresponding to the RU allocation field can be signaled to allocate 20 MHz RUs to one or more receiving devices. Alternatively, allocation of 40, 80, 160, 240, and 320 MHz RUs (484, 996 (or 484 + 484), 996 x 2, 996 x 3, and 996 x 4 tones, respectively) can be performed in the same manner as allocating a 20 MHz RU. Furthermore, to signal a large RU other than a basic large RU, the RU allocation field can include bit combinations that indicate a 242 + 484 tone RU, a 242 + 996 tone RU, a 484 + 996 tone RU, a 484 + 996 x 2 tone RU, or a 484 + 996 x 3 tone RU.

[0208] Figure 23(c) shows an example of a 60 MHz RU configuration. In the 60 MHz RU allocation example, the RU allocation field divides the 80 MHz band into four types of 242 + 484 tone RUs according to the location of the excluded 20 MHz bands among the four 20 MHz bands (when the 80 MHz band is divided into four 20 MHz bands) to signal 242 + 484 tone RUs (60 MHz size) located across the 80 MHz band. In this case, the excluded 20 MHz may be a band allocated to another device.

[0209] For example, a 484+242 tone RU may be allocated for transmitting an 80 MHz EHT PPDU without OFDMA. The 484+242 tone RU can be obtained by puncturing one RU out of four 242 tone RUs in the 80 MHz EHT PPDU. The data subcarriers of the 484+242 tone RU are composed of the data subcarriers of the 484 tone and 242 tone RUs that make up the 484+242 tone RU.

[0210] That is, a 484+242 tone RU may be constructed by puncturing one of the four 242 tone RUs allocated for the 80 MHz EHT PPDU. In this case, the 484 tones may be constructed from two 242 tone RUs, with the punctured 242 tone RU located in the middle.

[0211] Alternatively, if some of the four 242-tone RUs in the EHT PPDU are allocated to other terminals, the terminal may be allocated 484+242 RUs. That is, when two terminals receive an 80 MHz EHT PPDU, if one of the two terminals is allocated one 242-tone RU, the remaining terminal may be allocated discontinuous multiple RUs of 484+242 tones.

[0212] Figure 23(d) shows an example of a 120 MHz RU configuration. In this 120 MHz RU allocation example, the RU allocation field can segment the RUs into four 484 + 996 tone configurations based on the location of the excluded 40 MHz bands (when the 160 MHz band is segmented into four 40 MHz bands) to signal 484 + 996 tone RUs (120 MHz size) located across a 160 (or 80 + 80) MHz band. In the same manner as the 60 and 120 MHz RU examples described above, a 140 MHz RU configuration within a 160 MHz bandwidth, a 220 / 200 MHz RU configuration within a 240 MHz bandwidth, and a 280 MHz / 240 MHz RU configuration within a 320 MHz bandwidth may be indicated based on the size and location of the excluded bands.

[0213] Using the RU allocation field described in the example of Figure 23, even if two consecutive basic small RUs are allocated or a large RU consisting of two or more basic large RUs is allocated, the user-specific field for a single receiving device may only be included once in one content channel among all content channels.

[0214] For example, a 996+484-tone RU may be allowed in a 160 / 80+80(TBD) MHz EHT PPDU where OFDMA is not applied. The 996+484-tone RU can be obtained by puncturing one of the four 484-tone RUs in the 160 / 80+80(TBD) MHz EHT PPDU. In other words, similar to a 484+242-tone RU, a 996+484-tone RU can be constructed by puncturing one of the four 484-tone RUs allocated for an 80 MHz EHT PPDU. In this case, the 996 tones may be constructed from two 484-tone RUs, with a punctured 484-tone RU located in the middle.

[0215] The data subcarriers of a 996+484 tone RU may be composed of data subcarriers of the 996 tone and 484 tone RUs that make up the 996+484 tone RU.

[0216] That is, instead of being assigned only a single RU, a STA may be assigned multiple RUs, in which case the number of tones (or frequency bands) of the assigned RUs may differ from one another. In this case, RUs with different numbers of tones can be obtained by puncturing a specific RU in the middle of consecutive RUs.

[0217] FIG. 24 illustrates an example of an EHG-SIG field when a non-OFDMA PPDU according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

[0218] 24(a) shows an example of the format of the EHT-SIG field included in a non-OFDMA MU PPDU to which OFDMA is not applied. As shown in FIG. 24(a), the EHT-SIG field of a non-OFDMA MU PPDU differs from the EHT-SIG field of an OFDMA MU PPDU to which OFDMA is applied in that the EHT-SIG RU allocation field is compressed and does not need to be included in the EHT-SIG field.

[0219] That is, the EHT-SIG RU allocation field may be included in the EHT-SIG field when the compression field included in the U-SIG indicates that no compression mode is applied (uncompressed mode). In this case, the EHT-SIG RU allocation field may be included in all of at least one content channel included in the EHT-SIG field.

[0220] Specifically, whether the RU allocation field is included in the EHT-SIG field is signaled by the EHT-SIG compression field in the U-SIG field. Since a non-OFDMA MU PPDU does not use OFDMA and the MU PPDU is transmitted using the same RU to all receiving devices, no individual RU allocation is performed for each receiving device.

[0221] However, only the type in which puncturing (preamble puncturing) is applied is signaled within the PPDU bandwidth signaled in the U-SIG field, allowing the receiving device to recognize the type of MU-PPDU (RU configuration). That is, when a non-OFDMA PPDU to which OFDMA is not applied is transmitted, the U-SIG field may include a puncturing channel information field indicating the pattern of punctured RUs in the entire bandwidth in which the PPDU is transmitted. When a STA receives a non-OFDMA PPDU from an AP, it can recognize the punctured RUs in the entire bandwidth in which the PPDU is transmitted based on a specific field (puncturing channel information field) included in the U-SIG field of the non-OFDMA PPDU, and can receive the non-OFDMA PPDU with RUs other than the punctured RUs. In this case, the puncturing channel information field can indicate the pattern of punctured RUs to the STA in a bitmap format.

[0222] The EHT-SIG field of the non-OFDMA PPDU includes 2 to 16 user-specific fields, each of which includes a different STA-ID of a receiving device. The user-specific fields may be configured with user block fields including a CRC and a tail in units of two, and the last user block field may be configured with one user-specific field, a CTC, and a tail.

[0223] 24(b) shows an example of EHT-SIG common field #1 of a non-OFDMA MU PPDU. The EHT-SIG Common #1 field included in the non-OFDMA MU PPDU has a puncturing mode field, which may appear in all or some of the bits allocated to the RU allocation number field of the EHT-SIG Common field included in the OFDMA PPDU. In one embodiment, the puncturing mode field may be signaled by allocating 3 bits out of the 4 bits of the RU allocation number subfield of the OFDMA PPDU EHT-SIG common field. The remaining bit may appear as a reserved field or may be compressed and not appear at all.

[0224] The puncturing mode field signals the discontinuity of RUs (puncturing mode) of the channel in which the non-OFDMA PPDU is transmitted within the entire bandwidth indicated by the bandwidth field of the U-SIG field. Signaling may be performed using a defined puncturing mode, or the entire bandwidth or the bandwidth excluding the primary 20 MHz may be divided into specific frequency domain units (20, 40, or 80 MHz) and signaled as a bitmap.

[0225] Using the bandwidth field of the U-SIG field, the RU allocation field of the EHT-SIG field, and the puncturing mode field, the receiving device can recognize the RU combination within which it must receive the PPDU. That is, the STA can recognize the entire bandwidth in which the PPDU is transmitted by the bandwidth field included in the U-SIG, and can recognize the punctured RUs in the entire bandwidth by the puncturing mode field. In this case, if OFDMA is not applied, the RU allocation field may be omitted because RUs for MU-MIMO STAs are divided equally. However, if OFDMA is applied, the RU allocation field may be included in the common field of the EHT-SIG field to instruct the UEs on the RU configuration for allocating RUs to each UE, and the STAs can recognize the RU configuration by the RU allocation field.

[0226] In this way, the STA can recognize the RU to which the PPDU is actually transmitted by the bandwidth field and the puncturing mode field. The remaining fields except for the puncturing mode field have the same configuration and function as the fields that make up the OFDMA MU PPDU EHT-SIG common field.

[0227] 24(c) shows an example of EHT-SIG user-specific field #1 of a non-OFDMA MU PPDU. In EHT-SIG user-specific field #1 of a non-OFDMA MU PPDU, user-specific fields for devices receiving a PPDU using discontinuous channels signaled by the bandwidth field of the U-SIG field and the puncturing mode field of the EHT-SIG common field may appear as many times as the number of MU-MIMO users that can be served.

[0228] Therefore, in the case of 11be, since 16 antennas are planned to be used, the EHT-SIG user identification #1 field of the non-OFDMA MU PPDU may contain a minimum of 2 to a maximum of 16 user identification fields containing the STA-IDs of different receiving devices.

[0229] The STA-ID field may include a STA-ID for identifying a receiving device that should receive the non-OFDMA MU PPDU and may be allocated 11 bits. The MCS field indicates the modulation and coding scheme applied to the data field of the receiving device corresponding to the STA-ID and may be allocated 4 bits. The Coding field is allocated 1 bit and may be represented as 0 or 1 to indicate the coding scheme used, either BCC or LDPC. The Spatial Configuration field indicates the number of MU-MIMO spatial streams allocated to the receiving device corresponding to the STA-ID and may be allocated 4 bits.

[0230] FIG. 25 illustrates an example of an EHT-SIG field when a single user (SU) PPDU is applied according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0231] Referring to FIG. 25, when the type of PPDU is SU PPDU, some fields of MU PPDU may be omitted.

[0232] Specifically, Figure 25(a) shows an example of the EHT-SIG field of an SU PPDU. The EHT-SIG field of the SU PPDU may not include a compressed RU allocation field, as in the case of a non-OFDMA MU EHT-SIG. The user specific field of the SU PPDU may include one EHT-SIG user specific field #2. Specifically, in the case of an SU PPDU, the EHT-SIG field may include fields that cannot be included due to the size constraints of the U-SIG field and a specific field indicating the number of MU-MIMO users (e.g., an EHT-SIG symbol or a number of MU-MIMO users field). In this case, if the value of the specific field indicates that the number of STAs (or the number of users) is 1, the type of the PPDU may be an SU PPDU. If the value of the specific field indicates that the number of STAs is 2 or more, the type of the PPDU may be an MU PPDU. The number of user fields included in the user specific field may be determined depending on the number of STAs.

[0233] In the case of SU PPDU, since the number of STAs participating in MU-MIMO is 1, the user-specific field may include one user field.

[0234] 25(b) shows an example of EHT-SIG common field #1 of an SU PPDU. SU PPDU EHT-SIG common field #1 may have the same field configuration and function as non-OFDMA EHT-SIG common field #1. The puncturing mode field of SU PPDU EHT-SIG common field #1 may indicate the same mode as the puncturing mode field of non-OFDMA EHT-SIG common field #1, or may indicate a form in which some modes are removed / added / changed.

[0235] FIG. 25(c) shows an example of the EHT-SIG user specific field #2 of the SU PPDU. In the case of an SU PPDU, one EHT-SIG user specific field may be included. The STA-ID field may include a STA-ID for identifying a receiving device that should receive the SU PPDU and may be allocated 11 bits. The MCS field may include the coding MCS of the SU PPDU and may be allocated 4 bits. The coding field is allocated 1 bit and may be represented as 0 or 1 to indicate the coding scheme used, either BCC or LDPC. The reserved field may be added or compressed to have the same size and structure as the EHT-SIG user specific field of other PPDUs, i.e., OFDMA MU PPDU and non-OFDMA MU PPDU.

[0236] When a reserved field is included, the bits allocated to the reserved field may be utilized to improve the puncturing resolution of the SU PPDU. For example, the puncturing mode field of the EHT-SIG common field may appear again in the reserved field, and the puncturing mode field of the common field and the puncturing mode of the user-specific field may indicate the primary 160 MHz and secondary 160 MHz discontinuous channel configurations, respectively.

[0237] As another example, the puncturing mode of the common field and the puncturing mode of the user-specific field can be combined to indicate the discontinuity of RUs in the bandwidth using an 8-bit bitmap. In this case, each bandwidth corresponding to 1 / 8 of the total bandwidth may correspond to one bit, and the bit corresponding to the area including the primary 20 MHz (the first bit) may correspond to the bandwidth excluding the primary 20 MHz. As an example of an 8-bit bitmap indicating the discontinuity of a 160 MHz bandwidth, each 20 MHz of the 160 MHz corresponds to one bit, and the 8-bit bitmap can be represented as 00110000 or 11001111 to indicate that the secondary 40 MHz is punctured. In an example of the 8-bit bitmap, 1000 0000 or 0111 1111 may be signaled as an 8-bit bitmap to indicate that only the secondary 20 MHz channel is punctured out of the 320 MHz BW.

[0238] In this case, in the 8-bit bitmap representing 320 MHz, the first bit corresponds to the secondary 20 MHz, the second bit corresponds to the secondary 40 MHz, and the third bit corresponds to the lower frequency 40 MHz of the secondary 80 MHz. As another example of the 8-bit bitmap, 0100 0000 or 1011 1111 may be signaled as an 8-bit bitmap to signal that the secondary 40 MHz channel is punctured in the 320 MHz BW. In the 8-bit bitmap example, the BW region corresponding to each bit may be determined in ascending order or according to its position relative to the primary 20 MHz.

[0239] FIG. 26 illustrates an example of large RU allocation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0240] Figure 26(a) shows an example of the size and configuration (combination) of discontinuous large RUs for transmission of an OFDMA-employed MU PPDU when the total bandwidth for PPDU transmission is 320 MHz. In Figure 26(a), the OFDMA MU PPDU may be allocated to the receiving device as a single RU or a combination of 12 discontinuous RUs within a 320 MHz bandwidth. RU #1, which includes the lowest frequency, may be signaled as a 20+40 MHz RU excluding the second 20 MHz RU within 80 MHz, and may be located in the first RU allocation field of the RU allocation field, as shown in Figure 26(b). RU #2, which includes the second lowest frequency, may be signaled as a 20 MHz (242 tone size) RU and may be located in the second RU allocation field. RU #3, which includes the third lowest frequency, may be signaled as an 80 MHz (996 tone size) RU and may be located in the third RU allocation field. RU #4, which includes the fourth lowest frequency, may be signaled as an 80+40 MHz RU, excluding the third 40 MHz within 160 MHz, and may be located in the fourth RU allocation field. RU #5, which includes the highest frequency, may be signaled as a 40 MHz (484 tone size) RU and may be located in the last field. Since the above embodiment includes five RU allocation fields, the RU allocation count subfield of the EHT-SIG common field may be set to a value indicating 5, as shown in Figure 26(c).

[0241] FIG. 27 illustrates an example of single content channel signaling for an OFDMA MU PPDU according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0242] Figure 27 shows an example of signaling for a single content channel for the 320 MHz OFDMA MU PPDU in Figure 26. In Figure 27, it is assumed that MU-MIMO transmission is performed in which #RU1 is simultaneously assigned to four receiving devices, and #RU2, #3, #4, and #5 are simultaneously assigned to two, five, three, and one receiving devices, respectively.

[0243] 27(a) shows an example of an RU allocation field for a single content channel. To signal that four receiving devices are assigned #RU1, the first RU allocation field can use some of the bits allocated to the RU allocation field (#RU1) to signal a value obtained by subtracting 1 from the number of user-specific fields corresponding to the RU allocation field. As an example of the RU allocation field (#RU1), the RU allocation field (#RU1) can have a value of xxx xxxx0011 (=4-1). From xxx xxxx, the receiving device can determine that the RU configuration is a (20+40) MHz RU configuration excluding the second 20 MHz of 80 MHz. From the last four bits, the receiving device can determine that four user-specific fields are included corresponding to the RU. Similar to the RU allocation field (#RU1), the RU allocation fields (#RU2, 3, 4, 5) appear as yyy yyyy 0001 (=2-1), zzz zzzz 0100 (=5-1), qqq qqqq 0010 (=3-1), and ttt tttt 0000 (=1-1), respectively, and each RU allocation field can signal the RU configuration and the number of corresponding user-specific fields. In the above embodiment, 7 bits excluding the last 4 bits of each RU allocation field indicate the RU configuration and location represented by each RU allocation field.

[0244] Figure 27(b) shows an example of a user-specific field for a single content channel. The number of user-specific fields corresponds to the total number of receiving devices signaled by each RU allocation field. Therefore, a receiving device can recognize that the STA-IDs appearing in user-specific field #RU1_1, user-specific field #RU1_2, user-specific field #RU1_3, and user-specific field #RU1_4 are the IDs of the STAs using the RU (20+40 MHz) indicated by the RU allocation field (#RU1). After receiving all RU allocation fields, each receiving device can fill in the RU configurations signaled by the RU allocation fields starting from the lowest frequency to determine the configuration and location of each RU within the entire BW, and can then determine the STA-IDs in the user-specific fields that appear later to determine the RUs assigned to it.

[0245] FIG. 28 illustrates an example of two content channel signaling for a specific frequency band according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0246] Figure 28(a) shows an example of RU allocation fields included in two content channels. In Figure 28(a), two content channels 1 and 2 may include RU allocation fields with the same RU configuration, signaling zero or more receiving devices. Whether a content channel signals a receiving device other than zero for a single RU is determined by the transmitting device when the EHT-SIG field is configured to make the lengths of the two content channels similar. As an example, the RU allocation field (#RU1) appearing in content channel 1 may be signaled as xxx xxxx 0011 (=4-1), and the RU allocation subfield (#RU1') appearing in content channel 2 may contain a bit combination that indicates the same RU configuration as #RU1 + Null user.

[0247] In Figure 28(b), the two content channels have user-specific fields that correspond to the total number of receiving devices signaled in the RU allocation field of each content channel. Therefore, in this embodiment, four user-specific fields for the RU allocation field (#RU1) of content channel 1 appear in content channel 1, and no user-specific field for the RU allocation field (#RU1') of common channel 2 appears in common channel 2. The reason why all RU allocation fields (#RU1, #RU1') for the same RU configuration appear in each content channel even though there are no users corresponding to the RU allocation fields is to enable the receiving device to determine the RU configuration and location of the entire BW even when decoding the RU allocation field that appears in one content channel.

[0248] FIG. 29 illustrates another example of signaling two content channels for a specific frequency band according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0249] FIG. 29(a) shows another example of an RU allocation field for two content channels.

[0250] As shown in Figure 29(a), RU allocation fields with the same RU configuration appear in content channel 2, with the same number of receiving devices or with a difference in the number of receiving devices by one. As an example, the RU allocation field (#RU1) appearing in content channel 1 is signaled as xxx xxxx 0001 (= 2 - 1), and the RU allocation field (RU1) appearing in content channel 2 is also signaled as xxx xxxx 0001 (= 2 - 1). As an example, the RU allocation field (#RU3) appearing in content channel 1 may be signaled as zzz zzzz 0010 (= 3 - 1), and the RU allocation field (#RU3') may be signaled as zzz zzzz 0001 (= 2 - 1).

[0251] FIG. 29(b) shows another example of user-specific fields included in two content channels. The number of user-specific fields appearing in each content channel corresponds to the total number of receiving devices signaled in the RU allocation field of each content channel 1. Therefore, in this embodiment, two user-specific fields for the RU allocation field (#RU1) appear in each of content channel 1 and content channel 2. In this embodiment, since the user-specific fields for each RU allocation field are included in content channels 1 and 2 and appear alternately, the EHT-SIG length is determined to be similar between the two content channels. As a result, padding required to match the lengths of both content channels can be reduced. Furthermore, since the RU allocation field indicating the same RU configuration appears in both content channels 1 and 2, the receiving device can determine the RU configuration and location of the entire BW by decoding only the RU allocation field appearing in one content channel.

[0252] FIG. 30 illustrates yet another example of two content channel signaling for a specific frequency band according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0253] FIG. 30 shows an example of two content channels for an OFDMA MU PPDU transmitted over 320 MHz, which is the overall bandwidth for transmission of the PPDU described in FIG.

[0254] The embodiment of FIG. 30 splits 320 MHz into two 160 MHz bands and signals a single content channel for each 160 MHz band, so that OFDMA MU PPDUs for 320 MHz may be signaled via two content channels.

[0255] Therefore, for understanding this embodiment, the omitted explanation can be substituted by applying the single content field embodiment of Figure 27 to 160 MHz. This embodiment may be effective when 11be 320 MHz (or 160 MHz) operation is performed as two 160 MHz (or 80 + 80 MHz) operations that are physically separated by a significant portion. The above embodiment may also be effective when 160 + 80 MHz operation is performed as two 160 MHz and 80 MHz operations that are physically separated by a significant portion.

[0256] Figure 30(a) shows another example of RU assignment fields included in two content channels and transmitted. In Figure 30(a), two content channels, content channel 1 and content channel 2, perform signaling in different 160 MHz. To this end, the EHT-SIG common field in this embodiment may include and transmit RU assignment number subfields for the primary 160 MHz and secondary 160 MHz, respectively. That is, starting from the EHT-SIG common field, signaling for the primary 160 MHz and secondary 160 MHz may have a structure in which the signaling for the primary 160 MHz and secondary 160 MHz are separated. The RU assignment fields (#RU1, 2, 3) appearing in content channel 1 may all signal RUs configured by a combination of RUs included in the primary 160 MHz, and the RU assignment fields (#RU4, 5) appearing in content channel 2 may all assign RUs configured by a combination of RUs included in the secondary 160 MHz to STAs.

[0257] #RUs 1, 2, and 3 may be arranged in the RU configuration order including the lower frequency in the primary 160, and #RUs 4 and 5 may be arranged in the RU configuration order including the lower frequency in the secondary 160. Therefore, the receiving device can check the RUs allocated to it after grasping only the RU configuration and location of the 160 MHz band where the user-specific field including its own STA-ID appears.

[0258] Figure 30(b) shows another example of user-specific fields included in each of the two content channels. In the case of Figure 30(b), the primary 160 MHz and secondary 160 MHz content channels have separate structures, so padding to match the lengths of content channels 1 and 2 may be omitted.

[0259] 31 and 32 illustrate an example of four content channels for an OFDMA MU PPDU in a specific frequency band according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0260] 31 and 32, when the total bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU described in FIG. 26 is 320 MHz, the OFMDA MU PPDU can include four content channels.

[0261] Specifically, FIG. 31 shows the case where the embodiment for two content channels described in FIG. 28 is expanded to four content channels, and FIG. 32 shows the case where the embodiment for two content channels described in FIG. 16 is expanded to four content channels.

[0262] FIG. 33 illustrates yet another example of signaling four content channels for a specific frequency band according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0263] 33 is an embodiment combined with the embodiments of FIG. 29 and FIG. 30, in which four content channels may be included in the MU PPDU. Specifically, if the total bandwidth for PPDU transmission is 320 MHz, the 320 MHz may be divided into two segments (primary 160 MHz and secondary 160 MHz). Each segment may include two content channels, and the two content channels may alternately include user-specific fields corresponding to RU allocation subfields.

[0264] FIG. 34 illustrates an example of how resource units of different sizes are configured according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0265] Referring to FIG. 34, when the total bandwidth for PPDU transmission is 320 MHz and OFDMA is applied, an OFDMA MU PPDU may be composed of discontinuous large RUs and small RUs.

[0266] Specifically, Figure 34(a) shows a large RU configuration similar to Figure 26(a), where a single 20 MHz RU is split into seven small RUs that can be used for PPDU transmission. In Figure 34, #RU2, which is used as a small RU, cannot be used for MU-MIMMO because the single RU is configured with fewer than 78 tones. One 78-tone RU and six 26-tone RUs can each be assigned to a single receiving device.

[0267] FIG. 35 illustrates yet another example of a method for configuring resource units of different sizes according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0268] FIG. 35 shows an example of the RU allocation field when RUs are allocated using the method described in FIG. 34 and two content channels are transmitted in a PPDU.

[0269] As shown in Figure 35, content channels 1 and 2 may each use the same large RU and / or small RU configuration, with the number of receiving devices being the same or differing by one. User-specific fields corresponding to RU allocation fields may be alternately included and transmitted in the two content channels, with the order of inclusion alternating from the content channel other than the content channel in which the last user-specific field of the previous RU allocation field appeared. For example, if the RU allocation field is located in an odd-numbered field in content channel 1, the RU allocation field may be located in an even-numbered field in content channel 2.

[0270] In this case, the user-specific fields for the first RU allocation field may be set to alternate positions starting from content channel 1 or 2.

[0271] Figure 35(b) shows another example of the format of the user-specific field when two content channels are included and transmitted as in Figure 34. The number of user-specific fields included in each content channel may be determined based on the sum of the number of receiving devices assigned large RUs and small RUs of 106 tone size or larger set by the RU allocation field of each content channel plus the number of small RUs of less than 106 tone size.

[0272] That is, the number of user-specific fields may be equal to the total number of receiving devices to which RUs are assigned.

[0273] Therefore, in FIG. 35, the user-specific fields corresponding to the RU allocation field (#RU1) signaling a large RU may include two and one fields for content channel 1 and content channel 2, respectively, and the user-specific fields corresponding to the RU allocation field (#RU2) signaling a small RU may include three and four fields for content channel 1 and 2, respectively.

[0274] FIG. 36 shows an example of an EHT-SIG repeated within a bandwidth when signaling a content channel according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0275] Referring to FIG. 36, at least one content channel included in the EHT-SIG field may be repeatedly transmitted for each certain frequency band.

[0276] Specifically, Figure 36(a) shows a first method (Option 1) for transmitting an EHT-SIG field including the two content channels shown in Figures 28 and 29. Specifically, in the first method shown in Figure 36(a), the same common field of the EHT-SIG field may be repeatedly transmitted every 20 MHz. That is, content channels 1 and 2 may be repeatedly transmitted alternately every 20 MHz, and content channels 1 and 2 may include the same common field. The RU allocation field located after the common field may be transmitted by intersecting different RU allocation fields 1 and 2 at adjacent 20 MHz intervals. That is, content channels 1 and 2 may include different RU allocation fields.

[0277] User-specific fields 1 and 2 corresponding to RU allocation fields 1 and 2 may be repeatedly included in the content channel in which the corresponding RU allocation fields are located.

[0278] FIG. 36(b) shows a second method (Option 2) for transmitting the EHT-SIG field containing the two content channels shown in FIG.

[0279] Specifically, in the second method of Figure 36(b), the content channels transmitted in each segment of the total bandwidth in which the PPDU is transmitted may include common fields containing different information, and within each segment, common fields containing the same information may be repeatedly transmitted for a certain frequency band.

[0280] For example, if the total bandwidth for PPDU transmission is 320 MHz, it may be divided into two segments in 160 MHz increments. In this case, each of the two divided segments may be called a primary 160 and a secondary 160. The common fields included in the content channels transmitted by the primary 160 and the secondary 160 contain different information, and in each 160 MHz segment, the same common field may be repeated every 20 MHz and transmitted in the content channel.

[0281] That is, if the total bandwidth is 160 MHz, the total bandwidth may be divided into two 80 MHz segments. A specific field of a PPDU may contain different content in each 80 MHz segment, or may contain the same content every 20 MHz in each segment. For example, a common field of a U-SIG field or EHT-SIG field of a PPDU may contain different content in each 80 MHz segment, or may contain the same content every 20 MHz in each segment.

[0282] For example, the common field may appear in different numbers signaled in the RU allocation number subfield in the primary 160 and secondary 160. Subsequently, the RU allocation fields that appear may appear as different RU allocation fields 1 and 2 in the primary 160 and secondary 160 MHz, respectively, and each RU allocation field may be repeated every 20 MHz across 160 MHz. Each user-specific field corresponding to RU allocation field 1 and RU allocation field 2 that appear in the primary 160 and secondary 160 may be repeated in the same manner as the RU allocation field in each 160 MHz band.

[0283] In other words, in each content channel, at least one corresponding field in the same segment may be set to the same value, and at least one corresponding field in different segments may be set to a different value.

[0284] For example, at least one field of the same type (or kind) between the first content channel and the second content channel in the same segment among at least one segment, except for a Resource Unit Allocation (RU Allocation) field, may contain the same information. That is, the resource unit allocation information may be set to different values or different information when the content channels are different even in the same segment.

[0285] If the first content channel and the second content channel include a specific field, the value of the specific field may be set to the same value in the same segment, but may be set to different values in different segments.

[0286] For example, if the first content channel and the second content channel transmitted in the first segment include a first common field including at least one field including the same value, and the first content channel and the second content channel transmitted in the second segment include a second common field including at least one field including the same value, the at least one field included in the first common field and the at least one field (of the same type) included in the second common field may contain different values or different information from each other.

[0287] FIG. 37 shows yet another example of an EHT-SIG repeated within a bandwidth when signaling a content channel according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0288] Referring to Figure 37, in each segment into which the total bandwidth is divided, the same field may contain different information, or may contain the same information within a segment and be repeatedly transmitted for a certain frequency band.

[0289] Specifically, Figure 37(a) shows a first transmission method (Optino 1) of the EHT-SIG field applicable when the four content channels shown in Figure 32 are transmitted. According to the Option 1 embodiment, the same common field is repeated every 20 MHz. The subsequent RU allocation fields are RU allocation fields 1, 2, 3, and 4, which are repeated in 80 MHz units. The channel including RU allocation field 1 can be named content channel 1, the channel including RU allocation field 2 can be named content channel 2, the channel including RU allocation field 3 can be named content channel 3, and the channel including RU allocation field 4 can be named content channel 4. User-specific fields 1, 2, 3, and 4 corresponding to the RU allocation fields included in the RU allocation fields can be included in the same content channel as the RU allocation.

[0290] Figure 37(b) shows a second method (Option 2) for transmitting the EHT-SIG field applicable to the embodiment in which four content channels are transmitted as shown in Figure 33. According to the Option 2 embodiment, PPDUs transmitted to each segment into which the total bandwidth is divided may contain different content, and the same content may be repeatedly transmitted for each frequency band within each segment.

[0291] For example, if the total bandwidth is 320 MHz and is divided into two 160 MHz segments, different common fields may be repeated every 20 MHz and transmitted in the content channel in the first segment (primary 160 MHz) and the second segment (secondary 160 MHz). The common fields may have different numbers signaled in the RU allocation number subfield. The subsequent RU allocation fields may be different RU allocation fields 1 and 2 and RU allocation fields 3 and 4 and transmitted in the content channel in the primary 160 and secondary 160 MHz, respectively. RU allocation fields 1 and 2 may be repeated every 40 MHz in the primary 160 MHz and transmitted in the content channel, and RU allocation fields 3 and 4 may be transmitted in the secondary 160 MHz and transmitted in the content channel every 40 MHz. The two RU allocation fields 1 and 2 and the corresponding user specific fields 1 and 2 appear in the primary 160 MHz, with 1 and 2 repeating every 40 MHz in the primary 160 MHz, and the two RU allocation fields 3 and 4 and the corresponding user specific fields 3 and 4 appear in the secondary 160 MHz, with 1 and 2 repeating every 40 MHz in the secondary 160 MHz. The channels on which the four RU allocation fields 1, 2, 3, and 4 and their corresponding user specific fields 1, 2, 3, and 4 appear can be named content channels 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively.

[0292] In other words, the EHT-SIG field may include at least one content channel, and the fields included in the content channels transmitted in each segment may have different values from each other and may be repeatedly transmitted for a certain frequency band within the same segment.

[0293] For example, if the total bandwidth is 160 MHz and each segment is 80 MHz, two content channels (a first content channel and a second content channel) may be transmitted in each segment.

[0294] In this case, the fields constituting the first and second content channels transmitted in the first segment and the fields constituting the first and second content channels transmitted in the second segment may be of the same type, but the contents contained in each field may be different. Furthermore, the first and second content channels transmitted in the first and second segments may be repeatedly transmitted, occupying 20 MHz. For example, if the first content channel is transmitted in the lowest 20 MHz of 80 MHz, the second content channel may be transmitted in the next 20 MHz, and the first content channel may be transmitted in the next 20 MHz.

[0295] That is, in different 80 MHz segments, content channels with the same index have the same field configuration, but the content contained in each field may be different.

[0296] FIG. 38 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a PPDU receiving method of a terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0297] Referring to FIG. 38, a terminal can receive and decode a PPDU from an AP, and some fields of the PPDUs transmitted to different terminals can be set to the same value between the different terminals.

[0298] Specifically, the terminal can receive a physical protocol data unit (PPDU) from an access point (AP) (S38010) and decode the received PPDU (S38020).

[0299] At this time, the received PPDU may include a U-SIG (Universal Signal) field and an EHT (Extremely High Throughput)-SIG field including at least one content channel, and may be included in at least one PPDU transmitted to at least one terminal through MU (Multi-user)-MIMO (Multi-Input Multi-Output) operation by the AP.

[0300] At least one content channel may include a common field in which the same value is set for at least one terminal, and a user-specific field in which the value is set individually for each of the at least one terminal.

[0301] In this case, at least one field of the terminal specific fields may be set to the same value between the at least one terminal.

[0302] The above description of the present invention is for illustrative purposes only, and those skilled in the art will understand that the present invention can be easily modified into other specific forms without changing the technical spirit or essential features of the present invention. Therefore, the above-described embodiments should be understood as illustrative in all respects and not restrictive. For example, each component described as a single component may be implemented in a distributed form, and similarly, each component described as a distributed component may be implemented in a combined form.

[0303] The scope of the present invention is represented by the claims set forth below rather than the above detailed description, and all modifications and variations derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalent concepts should be interpreted as being included in the scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0304] 100 stations 110 processors 120 Communications Department 140 User Interface Section 150 display units 160 memory 200 AP 210 processors 220 Communications Department 260 memory

Claims

1. A terminal of a wireless communication system, communication module; a processor for controlling the communication module; The processor: Receive a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) from an access point (AP); Decoding the received PPDU; The PPDU includes a Universal Signal (U-SIG) field and an Extremely High Throughput (EHT)-SIG field including at least one content channel; The PPDU is a PPDU transmitted to multiple terminals through a multi-user (MU) transmission operation by the AP, The U-SIG field includes a bandwidth field indicating the total bandwidth over which the PPDU is transmitted; the overall bandwidth is divided into at least one segment; When the at least one content channel is composed of a first content channel and a second content channel, at least one field among identical fields, excluding a Resource Unit Allocation (RU Allocation) field, between the first content channel and the second content channel within the same segment among the at least one segment contains identical information.

2. 2. The wireless communication terminal according to claim 1, wherein the at least one field includes at least one of a Low Density Parity Check Code (LDPC) extra symbol segment field, a space-time block coding (STBC) field, a Pre-FEC padding factor field, or a GI+LTF (long training field) size field.

3. the at least one segment comprises a first segment and a second segment; The wireless communication terminal according to claim 1 , wherein each of the first content channel and the second content channel is repeatedly transmitted in a certain frequency band within the first segment or the second segment.

4. The wireless communication terminal according to claim 3 , wherein at least one content channel transmitted in the first segment and at least one content channel transmitted in the second segment having the same index contain different information from each other.

5. 4. The wireless communication terminal according to claim 3, wherein when a first content channel and a second content channel are transmitted in the first segment and a first content channel and a second content channel are transmitted in the second segment, the first content channel and the second content channel transmitted in the first segment and the first content channel and the second content channel transmitted in the second segment are repeatedly transmitted at a constant frequency interval.

6. 6. The wireless communication terminal of claim 5, wherein the first content channel and the second content channel transmitted in the first segment include a first common field including at least one field containing the same value, and the first content channel and the second content channel transmitted in the second segment include a second common field including at least one field containing the same value.

7. The wireless communication terminal of claim 6 , wherein the at least one field included in the first common field and the at least one field included in the second common field contain different information from each other.

8. The wireless communication terminal of claim 3, wherein the U-SIG field and / or the EHT-SIG field of the PPDU transmitted in the first segment have values different from the U-SIG field and / or the EHT-SIG field of the PPDU transmitted in the second segment.

9. The wireless communication terminal of claim 1 , wherein the PPDU further includes puncturing information indicating a puncturing pattern of at least one resource unit allocated to the terminal.

10. The at least one resource unit is recognized by the terminal based on a combination of at least one of the puncturing information, a resource unit allocation field, and a station identifier (STA ID) field; The resource unit allocation field indicates a configuration of resource units in which the PPDU is transmitted; The wireless communication terminal of claim 9 , wherein the STA ID field indicates an ID of a terminal to which each resource unit according to the configuration of resource units is allocated.

11. 2. The wireless communication terminal of claim 1, wherein when a plurality of resource units are allocated to the terminal, the plurality of resource units are configured with the same or different numbers of tones, and the plurality of resource units are allocated discontinuously.

12. The EHT-SIG field includes a common field; The wireless communication terminal of claim 1, wherein the U-SIG field includes a specific field related to whether a resource unit allocation field for resource unit allocation is included in an EHT-SIG field.

13. The wireless communication terminal according to claim 12, wherein the resource unit allocation field is not included in the EHT-SIG when the specific field indicates application of non-OFDMA.

14. 1. A method for receiving data by a terminal in a wireless communication system, comprising: receiving a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) from an access point (AP); and decoding the received PPDU; The PPDU includes a Universal Signal (U-SIG) field and an Extremely High Throughput (EHT)-SIG field including at least one content channel; The PPDU is a PPDU transmitted to multiple terminals through a multi-user (MU) transmission operation by the AP, The U-SIG field includes a bandwidth field indicating the total bandwidth over which the PPDU is transmitted; the overall bandwidth is divided into at least one segment; When the at least one content channel is composed of a first content channel and a second content channel, at least one field among identical fields, excluding a Resource Unit Allocation (RU Allocation) field, between the first content channel and the second content channel within the same segment among the at least one segment contains identical information.

15. 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the at least one field includes at least one of a Low Density Parity Check Code (LDPC) Extra Symbol Segment field, a space-time block coding (STBC) field, a Pre-FEC padding factor field, or a GI+LTF (long training field) size field.

16. the at least one segment comprises a first segment and a second segment; The method of claim 14 , wherein each of the first content channel and the second content channel is repeatedly transmitted in a fixed frequency band within the first segment or the second segment.

17. 17. The method of claim 16, wherein at least one content channel transmitted in the second segment having the same index as at least one content channel transmitted in the first segment contains different information from each other.

18. 17. The method of claim 16, wherein, when a first content channel and a second content channel are transmitted in the first segment and a first content channel and a second content channel are transmitted in the second segment, the first content channel and the second content channel transmitted in the first segment and the first content channel and the second content channel transmitted in the second segment are repeatedly transmitted at a fixed frequency interval.

19. the first content channel and the second content channel transmitted in the first segment include a first common field including at least one field containing an identical value; 20. The method of claim 18, wherein the first content channel and the second content channel transmitted in the second segment include a second common field that includes at least one field that includes an identical value.

20. 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the at least one field included in the first common field and the at least one field included in the second common field contain different information.

21. 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the U-SIG field and / or the EHT-SIG field of the PPDU transmitted in the first segment have different values than the U-SIG field and / or the EHT-SIG field of the PPDU transmitted in the second segment.

22. The method of claim 14, wherein the PPDU further includes puncturing information indicating a puncturing pattern of at least one resource unit allocated to the terminal.

23. The at least one resource unit is recognized by the terminal based on a combination of at least one of the puncturing information, a resource unit allocation field, and a station identifier (STA ID) field; The resource unit allocation field indicates a configuration of resource units in which the PPDU is transmitted; The method of claim 22, wherein the STA ID field indicates an ID of a terminal to which each resource unit according to the configuration of resource units is allocated.

24. When a plurality of resource units are allocated to the terminal, the plurality of resource units may be configured with the same or different numbers of tones; The method of claim 14 , wherein the plurality of resource units are allocated non-contiguously.

25. The EHT-SIG field includes a common field; The method of claim 14, wherein the U-SIG field includes a specific field related to whether the EHT-SIG field includes a resource unit allocation field for resource unit allocation.

26. The wireless communication terminal according to claim 25, wherein when the specific field indicates application of non-OFDMA, the resource unit allocation field is not included in the EHT-SIG.

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