NDPA frame sending method and related apparatus

Abstract

To provide a method for transmitting a null data packet announcement (NDPA) frame in a wireless local area network, and a related apparatus.SOLUTION: The beamformer comprises generating a generalized NDPA frame and transmitting the generalized NDPA frame. The NDPA variant fields included in the generalized NDPA frame (i.e., B0 and B1 in the sounding dialog token field) are set to any of 00, 01, 10, and 11. Every two octets following the sounding dialog token field in the generic NDPA frame contains one AID11 or one disambiguation bit.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 10

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202110999083.X, entitled "NDPA Frame Transmission Method and Related Apparatus," filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China on August 28, 2021, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

[0002] The present application relates to the field of wireless communication technology, and more particularly to a null data packet announcement (NDPA) frame transmission method and related apparatus. [Background technology]

[0003] In wireless systems such as wireless local area networks (WLANs), access points (APs) and stations (STAs) need to obtain channel state information in advance to perform functions such as beamforming (BF), rate control, and resource allocation. In WLANs, the procedure for obtaining channel state information is called channel sounding.

[0004] In the related art, in the process of performing channel sounding, an AP first transmits a null data packet announcement (NDPA) frame to notify STAs that they need to perform channel sounding. Then, the AP transmits a null data packet (NDP) with no data field after a short inter-frame space (SIFS). The STAs perform channel estimation based on the NDP and then feedback channel state information (CSI) in a beamforming report (BF report) frame. Various 802.11 standards have various variants of the NDPA frame. For example, the NDPA frame variant in the 802.11ac standard is called the Very High Throughput (VHT) NDPA frame, the NDPA frame variant in the 802.11ax standard is called the High Efficient (HE) NDPA frame, the NDPA frame variant in the 802.11az standard is called the Ranging NDPA frame, and similarly, the NDPA frame variant in the 802.11be standard is called the Extremely High Throughput (EHT) NDPA frame. Summary of the Invention

[0005] It can be seen that each generation of the standard has a corresponding variant of the NDPA frame. As WLAN technology develops, the 802.11 standard is constantly evolving. Therefore, NDPA frames compatible with future 802.11 standards (e.g., the next generation of the 802.11be standard) will also be required to support channel sounding. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The embodiments of the present application provide an NDPA frame transmission method and related apparatus adapted to future 802.11 standards to support channel sounding.

[0007] The present application will be described below from various aspects, and it should be understood that the following implementations and the beneficial effects of the various aspects should be cross-referenced.

[0008] According to a first aspect, the present application provides an NDPA frame transmission method. The method includes a step in which a beamformer (e.g., an AP) generates an NDPA frame and a step in which the NDPA frame (sometimes referred to as a generic NDPA frame) is transmitted. The NDPA frame includes an NDPA variant field (i.e., B0 and B1 in a sounding dialog token field), and the NDPA variant field is set to 00. The NDPA frame further includes a first field and / or one or more station information fields. The first field includes one or more disambiguation bits, each of which is set to 1, and the bit positions of the one or more disambiguation bits in the first field are B11+16*k, where k is a natural number. Each station information field includes one or more disambiguation bits, each of which is 1, and the bit positions of the one or more disambiguation bits in the station information field are B27+16*q, where q is an integer greater than or equal to -1.

[0009] It should be understood that in an NDPA frame, the Frame Type subfield is set to 01 and the Subtype subfield is set to 0101. It should further be understood that the first field is sometimes referred to as an Extended Common Field or a Special Station Information Field.

[0010] Optionally, the length of the first field and the length of each station information field are an even number of octets. The length of the first field is expressed as 2*n octets, and the length of the station information field is expressed as 2*m octets. n and m are both natural numbers, n and m cannot be 0 at the same time, and m+n is greater than 0. k is less than or equal to n-1, i.e., k is 0, 1, 2, ..., and n-1. q is less than or equal to m-2, i.e., q is -1, 0, 1, 2, ..., and m-2.

[0011] This solution involves the design of a generic NDPA frame. The first two octets, B11, following the sounding dialogue token field in the generic NDPA frame are set to the disambiguation bit (forced to 1), allowing target STAs to distinguish whether the NDPA frame is a VHT NDPA frame or a generic NDPA frame. This allows the generic NDPA frame to be applied to future or multiple generations of 802.11 standards to support channel sounding, further preventing misunderstandings by older stations, reducing unnecessary channel information calculations, and reducing buffer resource waste and power consumption.

[0012] Referring to the first aspect, in one possible implementation, after the beamformer (e.g., AP) transmits the NDPA frame, the method further includes the steps of the beamformer (e.g., AP) transmitting a sounding physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) and the beamformer (e.g., AP) receiving a beamforming report, wherein the beamforming report carries channel state information.

[0013] Optionally, before the beamformer receives the beamforming report, the method further includes a step in which the beamformer (e.g., AP) transmits a trigger frame, e.g., a BRP trigger frame, including a beamforming subtype to trigger one or more beamformees to feed back the beamforming report.

[0014] It is seen that this solution provides a channel sounding procedure that is applicable to future 802.11 standards in order to support channel sounding and obtain channel state information.

[0015] Referring to the first aspect, in one possible implementation, the first two octets in the first field include an association identifier field, the value of the association identifier field (for ease of explanation, this field may be referred to as the special association identifier 11 field) is greater than 2007 or a value less than 2007 selected by the standard, which value is not assigned to any STA, and k is a natural number greater than or equal to 1.

[0016] In this solution, a special AID11 is used to replace the first disambiguation bit in the generic NDPA frame (i.e., the first two octets B11 following the sounding dialog token field) so that the target STA knows to distinguish whether the NDPA frame is a VHT NDPA frame or a generic NDPA frame.

[0017] According to a second aspect, the present application provides an NDPA frame transmission method. The method includes a beamformee (BFee, e.g., STA) receiving and analyzing an NDPA frame. The NDPA frame includes an NDPA variant field (i.e., B0 and B1 in a sounding dialogue token field), where the NDPA variant field is set to 00. The NDPA frame further includes a first field and / or one or more station information fields. The first field includes one or more disambiguation bits, where each disambiguation bit is set to 1, and the bit positions of the one or more disambiguation bits in the first field are B11+16*k, where k is a natural number. Each station information field includes one or more disambiguation bits, where each disambiguation bit is 1, and the bit positions of the one or more disambiguation bits in the station information field are B27+16*q, where q is an integer greater than or equal to -1.

[0018] It should be understood that in an NDPA frame, the Frame Type subfield is set to 01 and the Subtype subfield is set to 0101.

[0019] Optionally, the length of the first field and the length of each station information field are an even number of octets. The length of the first field is expressed as 2*n octets, and the length of the station information field is expressed as 2*m octets. n and m are both natural numbers, n and m cannot be 0 at the same time, and m+n is greater than 0. k is less than or equal to n-1, i.e., k is 0, 1, 2, ..., and n-1. q is less than or equal to m-2, i.e., q is -1, 0, 1, 2, ..., and m-2.

[0020] Referring to the second aspect, in one possible implementation, after the beamformee (e.g., STA) receives the NDPA frame, the method further includes the steps of the beamformee (e.g., STA) receiving a sounding PPDU, obtaining channel state information based on the sounding PPDU, and the beamformee (e.g., STA) transmitting a beamforming report, wherein the beamforming report carries the channel state information.

[0021] Optionally, before the beamformee (e.g., STA) transmits the beamforming report, the method further includes a step in which the beamformee (e.g., STA) receives a trigger frame, e.g., a BRP trigger frame, including a beamforming poll subtype for triggering one or more beamformees to feed back the beamforming report.

[0022] Referring to the second aspect, in one possible implementation, the first two octets in the first field include an association identifier field, the value of the association identifier field (for ease of explanation, this field may be referred to as the special association identifier 11 field) is greater than 2007 or a value less than 2007 selected by the standard, which value is not assigned to any STA, and k is a natural number greater than or equal to 1.

[0023] According to a third aspect, the present application provides a communication device. The communication device may be a beamformer. An AP is used as an example. Specifically, the communication device may be an AP or a chip within the AP, such as a Wi-Fi chip. The communication device includes: a processing unit configured to generate an NDPA frame, where an NDPA variant field included in the NDPA frame is set to 00, and the NDPA frame includes a first field and / or a station information field; and a transceiver unit configured to transmit the NDPA frame, where the first field includes one or more disambiguation bits, each of which is 1, and the bit positions of the one or more disambiguation bits in the first field are B11+16*k, where k is a natural number; the station information field includes one or more disambiguation bits, each of which is 1, and the bit positions of the one or more disambiguation bits in the station information field are B27+16*q, where q is an integer greater than or equal to −1.

[0024] Optionally, the length of the first field and the length of each station information field are an even number of octets. The length of the first field is expressed as 2*n octets, and the length of the station information field is expressed as 2*m octets. n and m are both natural numbers, n and m cannot be 0 at the same time, and m+n is greater than 0. k is less than or equal to n-1, i.e., k is 0, 1, 2, ..., and n-1. q is less than or equal to m-2, i.e., q is -1, 0, 1, 2, ..., and m-2.

[0025] Referring to the third aspect, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit is further configured to transmit a sounding PPDU and receive a beamforming report, the beamforming report carrying channel state information.

[0026] Optionally, the transceiver unit is further configured to transmit a trigger frame, e.g., a BRP trigger frame, including a beamforming poll subtype for triggering one or more beamformees to feed back beamforming reports.

[0027] Referring to the third aspect, in one possible implementation, the first two octets in the first field include an association identifier field, the value of the association identifier field (for ease of explanation, this field may be referred to as the special association identifier 11 field) is greater than 2007 or a value less than 2007 selected by the standard, which value is not assigned to any STA, and k is a natural number greater than or equal to 1.

[0028] According to a fourth aspect, the present application provides a communication device. The communication device may be a beamformee. An STA is used as an example. Specifically, the communication device may be an STA or a chip within the STA, for example, a Wi-Fi chip. The communication device includes: a transceiver unit configured to receive an NDPA frame, where an NDPA variant field included in the NDPA frame is set to 00, and the NDPA frame includes a first field and / or a station information field; and a parsing unit configured to parse the NDPA frame, where the first field includes one or more ambiguity resolution bits, each of which is 1, and bit positions of the one or more ambiguity resolution bits in the first field are B11+16*k, where k is a natural number; the station information field includes one or more ambiguity resolution bits, each of which is 1, and bit positions of the one or more ambiguity resolution bits in the station information field are B27+16*q, where q is an integer greater than or equal to -1.

[0029] Optionally, the length of the first field and the length of each station information field are an even number of octets. The length of the first field is expressed as 2*n octets, and the length of the station information field is expressed as 2*m octets. n and m are both natural numbers, n and m cannot be 0 at the same time, and m+n is greater than 0. k is less than or equal to n-1, i.e., k is 0, 1, 2, ..., and n-1. q is less than or equal to m-2, i.e., q is -1, 0, 1, 2, ..., and m-2.

[0030] Referring to the fourth aspect, in one possible implementation, the communication device further includes an acquisition unit, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive a sounding PPDU, the acquisition unit is configured to acquire channel state information based on the sounding PPDU, and the transceiver unit is further configured to transmit a beamforming report, where the beamforming report carries the channel state information.

[0031] Optionally, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive a trigger frame, e.g., a BRP trigger frame, including a beamforming poll subtype for triggering one or more beamformees to feed back beamforming reports.

[0032] Referring to the fourth aspect, in one possible implementation, the first two octets in the first field include an association identifier field, the value of the association identifier field (for ease of explanation, this field may be referred to as a special association identifier 11 field) is greater than 2007 or a value less than 2007 selected by the standard, which value is not assigned to any STA, and k is a natural number greater than or equal to 1.

[0033] According to a fifth aspect, the present application provides an NDPA frame transmission method. The method includes a step in which a beamformer (e.g., an AP) generates and transmits an NDPA frame. The NDPA frame includes an NDPA variant field (i.e., B0 and B1 in a sounding dialog token field), and the NDPA variant field is set to one of 01, 10, and 11. The NDPA frame further includes a first field and / or one or more station information fields. The length of the first field and the length of each station information field are multiples of four octets. Every four octets in the first field includes a special association identifier 11 field and a disambiguation bit, and the disambiguation bit is set to 1, and the number of bits of the disambiguation bit in the first field is B27+32*k, where k is a natural number. Each four octets in the station information field contains a unique association identifier 11 field and a disambiguation bit, the disambiguation bit is set to 1, and the bits of the disambiguation bit in the station information field are B27+32*q, where q is a natural number.

[0034] The value of the Special Association Identifier 11 field here is either greater than 2007 or a standard-selected value less than 2007, and that value is not assigned to any STA. In the NDPA frame, the Frame Type subfield is set to 01 and the Subtype subfield is set to 0101.

[0035] Arbitrarily, the length of the first field is expressed as 4*n octets, and the length of each station information field is expressed as 4*m octets, where n and m are both natural numbers, n and m cannot simultaneously be 0, and m+n is greater than 0. k is less than or equal to n-1, i.e., k is 0, 1, 2, ..., and n-1, and q is less than or equal to m-1, i.e., q is 0, 1, 2, ..., and m-1.

[0036] This solution involves designing a generic NDPA frame. Every four octets following the sounding dialogue token field contain one special association identifier field and one disambiguation bit. This prevents misunderstandings by older stations, reduces unnecessary channel information calculations, reduces buffer resource waste and power consumption, and allows the generic NDPA frame to be further applied to future or multiple generations of 802.11 standards to support channel sounding.

[0037] Referring to the fifth aspect, in one possible implementation, after the beamformer (e.g., AP) transmits the NDPA frame, the method further includes a step in which the beamformer (e.g., AP) transmits a sounding PPDU, and a step in which the beamformer (e.g., AP) receives a beamforming report, wherein the beamforming report carries channel state information.

[0038] Optionally, before the beamformer receives the beamforming report, the method further includes a step in which the beamformer (e.g., AP) transmits a trigger frame, e.g., a BRP trigger frame, including a beamforming subtype to trigger one or more beamformees to feed back the beamforming report.

[0039] Referring to the fifth aspect, in one possible implementation, the special association identifier 11 field is the first 11 bits of every four octets in the first field, and the association identifier 11 field with a value less than or equal to 2007 is the first 11 bits of every four octets in the station information field.

[0040] According to a sixth aspect, the present application provides an NDPA frame transmission method. The method includes a beamformee (e.g., a station) receiving and analyzing an NDPA frame. The NDPA frame includes an NDPA variant field (i.e., B0 and B1 in a sounding dialog token field), where the NDPA variant field is set to one of 01, 10, and 11. The NDPA frame further includes a first field and / or one or more station information fields. The length of the first field and the length of each station information field are multiples of four octets. Every four octets in the first field includes a special association identifier 11 field and a disambiguation bit, where the disambiguation bit is set to 1, and the number of bits of the disambiguation bit in the first field is B27+32*k, where k is a natural number. Each four octets in the station information field contains a unique association identifier 11 field and a disambiguation bit, the disambiguation bit is set to 1, and the bits of the disambiguation bit in the station information field are B27+32*q, where q is a natural number.

[0041] The value of the Special Association Identifier 11 field here is either greater than 2007 or a standard-selected value less than 2007, and that value is not assigned to any STA. In the NDPA frame, the Frame Type subfield is set to 01 and the Subtype subfield is set to 0101.

[0042] Arbitrarily, the length of the first field is expressed as 4*n octets, and the length of each station information field is expressed as 4*m octets, where n and m are both natural numbers, n and m cannot simultaneously be 0, and m+n is greater than 0. k is less than or equal to n-1, i.e., k is 0, 1, 2, ..., and n-1, and q is less than or equal to m-1, i.e., q is 0, 1, 2, ..., and m-1.

[0043] Referring to the sixth aspect, in one possible implementation, after the beamformee (e.g., STA) receives the NDPA frame, the method further includes the steps of the beamformee (e.g., STA) receiving a sounding PPDU, obtaining channel state information based on the sounding PPDU, and the beamformee (e.g., STA) transmitting a beamforming report, wherein the beamforming report carries the channel state information.

[0044] Optionally, before the beamformee (e.g., STA) transmits the beamforming report, the method further includes a step in which the beamformee (e.g., STA) receives a trigger frame, e.g., a BRP trigger frame, including a beamforming poll subtype for triggering one or more beamformees to feed back the beamforming report.

[0045] Referring to the sixth aspect, in one possible implementation, the special association identifier 11 field is the first 11 bits of every four octets in the first field, and the association identifier 11 field with a value less than or equal to 2007 is the first 11 bits of every four octets in the station information field.

[0046] According to a seventh aspect, the present application provides a communication device. The communication device may be a beamformer. An AP is used as an example. Specifically, the communication device may be an AP or a chip within the AP, such as a Wi-Fi chip. The communication device includes: a processing unit configured to generate an NDPA frame, where an NDPA variant field included in the NDPA frame is set to one of 01, 10, and 11, and the NDPA frame includes a first field and / or a station information field; and a transceiver unit configured to transmit the NDPA frame. Every four octets in the first field include a special association identifier 11 field and a disambiguation bit, where the disambiguation bit is 1, and the bit position of the disambiguation bit in the first field is B27+32*k, where k is a natural number. Every four octets in the station information field contains an association identifier 11 field and a disambiguation bit whose value is less than or equal to 2007, where the disambiguation bit is 1 and the bit position of the disambiguation bit in the station information field is B27+32*q, where q is a natural number. The length of the first field and the length of the station information field are multiples of four octets.

[0047] The value of the Special Association Identifier 11 field here is either greater than 2007 or a standard-selected value less than 2007, and that value is not assigned to any STA. In the NDPA frame, the Frame Type subfield is set to 01 and the Subtype subfield is set to 0101.

[0048] Arbitrarily, the length of the first field is expressed as 4*n octets, and the length of each station information field is expressed as 4*m octets, where n and m are both natural numbers, n and m cannot simultaneously be 0, and m+n is greater than 0. k is less than or equal to n-1, i.e., k is 0, 1, 2, ..., and n-1, and q is less than or equal to m-1, i.e., q is 0, 1, 2, ..., and m-1.

[0049] Referring to the seventh aspect, in one possible implementation, the transceiver unit is further configured to transmit a sounding PPDU and receive a beamforming report, the beamforming report carrying channel state information.

[0050] Optionally, the transceiver unit is further configured to transmit a trigger frame, e.g., a BRP trigger frame, including a beamforming poll subtype for triggering one or more beamformees to feed back beamforming reports.

[0051] Referring to the seventh aspect, in one possible implementation, the special association identifier 11 field is the first 11 bits of every four octets in the first field, and the association identifier 11 field with a value less than or equal to 2007 is the first 11 bits of every four octets in the station information field.

[0052] According to an eighth aspect, the present application provides a communication device. The communication device may be a beamformee. An STA is used as an example. Specifically, the communication device may be an STA or a chip within the STA, such as a Wi-Fi chip. The communication device includes: a transceiver unit configured to receive an NDPA frame, where an NDPA variant field included in the NDPA frame is set to one of 01, 10, and 11, and the NDPA frame includes a first field and / or a station information field; and a parsing unit configured to parse the NDPA frame. Every four octets in the first field include a special association identifier 11 field and a disambiguation bit, where the disambiguation bit is 1, and the bit position of the disambiguation bit in the first field is B27+32*k, where k is a natural number. Every four octets in the station information field contains an association identifier 11 field and a disambiguation bit whose value is less than or equal to 2007, where the disambiguation bit is 1 and the bit position of the disambiguation bit in the station information field is B27+32*q, where q is a natural number. The length of the first field and the length of the station information field are multiples of four octets.

[0053] The value of the Special Association Identifier 11 field here is either greater than 2007 or a standard-selected value less than 2007, and that value is not assigned to any STA. In the NDPA frame, the Frame Type subfield is set to 01 and the Subtype subfield is set to 0101.

[0054] Arbitrarily, the length of the first field is expressed as 4*n octets, and the length of each station information field is expressed as 4*m octets, where n and m are both natural numbers, n and m cannot simultaneously be 0, and m+n is greater than 0. k is less than or equal to n-1, i.e., k is 0, 1, 2, ..., and n-1, and q is less than or equal to m-1, i.e., q is 0, 1, 2, ..., and m-1.

[0055] Referring to the eighth aspect, in one possible implementation, the communication device further includes an acquisition unit, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive a sounding PPDU, the acquisition unit is configured to acquire channel state information based on the sounding PPDU, and the transceiver unit is further configured to transmit a beamforming report, where the beamforming report carries the channel state information.

[0056] Optionally, the transceiver unit is further configured to receive a trigger frame, e.g., a BRP trigger frame, including a beamforming poll subtype for triggering one or more beamformees to feed back beamforming reports.

[0057] Referring to the eighth aspect, in one possible implementation, the special association identifier 11 field is the first 11 bits of every four octets in the first field, and the association identifier 11 field with a value less than or equal to 2007 is the first 11 bits of every four octets in the station information field.

[0058] In one possible implementation of any one of the first to eighth aspects, the NDPA frame includes NDPA variant extension subfield / type information, and the NDPA variant extension subfield / type information indicates a variant type of the NDPA frame. It should be understood that the variant type of the NDPA frame is not any variant type of an existing standard.

[0059] Optionally, the NDPA variant extension subfield may be the first field in the NDPA frame, specifically the first two octets of the first field, or alternatively, the NDPA variant extension subfield may be in the sounding dialog token field in the NDPA frame.

[0060] In this way, upon receiving a generic NDPA frame, the STA first obtains the type information / NDPA variant extension subfield from the generic NDPA frame, determines the variant of the generic NDPA frame based on the type information / NDPA variant extension subfield, and then determines the reading policy for reading the station information field based on the variant of the generic NDPA frame.

[0061] When the value of the NDPA variant extension subfield is any value within the first value range, it means that the NDPA variant extension subfield is set to the validate state. In other words, there is an item in the validate state in the NDPA variant extension field. When the value of the NDPA variant extension subfield is the first value, the NDPA variant extension subfield indicates that the variant type may be the first variant type, for example, the EHT R2 variant, in other words, the NDPA frame is an EHT R2 NDPA frame, or when the value of the NDPA variant extension subfield is the second value, the NDPA variant extension subfield indicates that the variant type may be the second variant type, for example, the sensing variant, in other words, the NDPA frame is a SENSING NDPA frame.

[0062] Optionally, when receiving and parsing an NDPA frame, if the beamformee (e.g., STA) determines through analysis that the NDPA variant extension subfield in the NDPA frame is set to a demonstrated state, or if the analysis determines that the value of the NDPA variant extension subfield is not set to a default value, the beamformee (e.g., STA) stops parsing the fields following the NDPA variant extension subfield.

[0063] In this solution, an NDPA variant extension subfield is designed within the generic NDPA frame to indicate that the NDPA frame is a variant NDPA frame of a future standard, allowing the generic NDPA frame to be applied to multiple future generations of 802.11 standards to support channel sounding.

[0064] In one possible implementation of any one of the first to eighth aspects, n may be different and m may be different for each generation of the 802.11 standard. n and m may be implicitly indicated using the NDPA variant extension subfield / type information. In other words, the variant type indicated by the NDPA variant extension subfield / type information has a one-to-one correspondence with n and m. Specifically, n and m may be determined based on the variant type indicated by the NDPA variant extension subfield / type information.

[0065] In a possible implementation of any one of the first to eighth aspects, n and m may be indicated using the first two octets in the first field (extended common field or special station information field) or the sounding dialog token field.

[0066] It can be seen that this solution provides two ways of indicating n and m to assist the beamformee (eg, STA) in determining information such as the length of the generic NDPA frame.

[0067] In one possible implementation of any one of the first to eighth aspects, the first field (i.e., the extended common field or the special station information field) may further include some parameters related to channel sounding. For example, the first field further includes third indication information and fourth indication information. The third indication information indicates the number of access points participating in the channel sounding, and the fourth indication information indicates an identifier of each access point participating in the channel sounding. In addition, the station information field may further include access point identifier information, which indicates an access point associated with the station indicated by the station information field.

[0068] Optionally, the extended common field may further include spatial stream distribution information that indicates the number of spatial streams and spatial stream order for each AP participating in channel sounding.

[0069] In one possible implementation of the first to eighth aspects, the sounding PPDU includes a Universal Signal (U-SIG) field. The U-SIG field includes a Physical Layer Version Indication subfield that indicates a physical layer version of the sounding PPDU. The physical layer version of the sounding PPDU matches a variant type indicated by an NDPA Variant Extension subfield in the NDPA frame (i.e., a generic NDPA frame).

[0070] According to a ninth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, in particular a beamformer, including a processor and a transceiver.

[0071] In one design, the processor is configured to generate an NDPA frame, wherein an NDPA variant field included in the NDPA frame is set to 00, and the NDPA frame includes a first field and / or a station information field; the transceiver is configured to transmit the NDPA frame, wherein the first field includes one or more ambiguity resolution bits, each ambiguity resolution bit is 1, and the bit positions of the one or more ambiguity resolution bits in the first field are B11+16*k, where k is a natural number; the station information field includes one or more ambiguity resolution bits, each ambiguity resolution bit is 1, and the bit positions of the one or more ambiguity resolution bits in the station information field are B27+16*q, where q is an integer greater than or equal to −1.

[0072] In another design, a processor is configured to generate an NDPA frame, wherein an NDPA variant field included in the NDPA frame is set to one of 01, 10, and 11, and the NDPA frame includes a first field and / or a station information field, and the transceiver is configured to transmit the NDPA frame. Every four octets in the first field include a special association identifier 11 field and a disambiguation bit, where the disambiguation bit is 1 and the bit position of the disambiguation bit in the first field is B27+32*k, where k is a natural number. Every four octets in the station information field include an association identifier 11 field and a disambiguation bit with a value less than or equal to 2007, where the disambiguation bit is 1 and the bit position of the disambiguation bit in the station information field is B27+32*q, where q is a natural number. The length of the first field and the length of the station information field are multiples of four octets.

[0073] According to a tenth aspect, the present application provides a communication device, particularly a beamformee, including a processor and a transceiver.

[0074] In one design, the transceiver is configured to receive an NDPA frame, wherein an NDPA variant field included in the NDPA frame is set to 00, and the NDPA frame includes a first field and / or a station information field; the processor is configured to parse the NDPA frame and determine that the first field includes one or more disambiguation bits, each disambiguation bit is 1, and the bit positions of the one or more disambiguation bits in the first field are B11+16*k, where k is a natural number; the station information field includes one or more disambiguation bits, each disambiguation bit is 1, and the bit positions of the one or more disambiguation bits in the station information field are B27+16*q, where q is an integer greater than or equal to −1.

[0075] In another design, a transceiver is configured to receive an NDPA frame, the NDPA frame including an NDPA variant field set to one of 01, 10, and 11, the NDPA frame including a first field and / or a station information field, and a processor is configured to parse the NDPA frame. Every four octets in the first field include a special association identifier 11 field and a disambiguation bit, the disambiguation bit is 1, and the bit position of the disambiguation bit in the first field is B27+32*k, where k is a natural number. Every four octets in the station information field include an association identifier 11 field and a disambiguation bit with a value less than or equal to 2007, the disambiguation bit is 1, and the bit position of the disambiguation bit in the station information field is B27+32*q, where q is a natural number. The length of the first field and the length of the station information field are multiples of four octets.

[0076] According to an eleventh aspect, the present application provides an apparatus, the apparatus being implemented in the form of a chip product and including an input / output interface and a processing circuit, the apparatus being a chip in a beamformer.

[0077] In one design, the processing circuitry is configured to generate an NDPA frame, wherein an NDPA variant field included in the NDPA frame is set to 00, and the NDPA frame includes a first field and / or a station information field; the input / output interface is configured to output the NDPA frame, process the NDPA frame using a radio frequency circuit, and transmit the NDPA frame through an antenna; the first field includes one or more ambiguity resolution bits, each of the ambiguity resolution bits is 1, and the bit positions of the one or more ambiguity resolution bits in the first field are B11+16*k, where k is a natural number; the station information field includes one or more ambiguity resolution bits, each of the ambiguity resolution bits is 1, and the bit positions of the one or more ambiguity resolution bits in the station information field are B27+16*q, where q is an integer greater than or equal to −1.

[0078] In another design, the processing circuitry is configured to generate an NDPA frame, where an NDPA variant field included in the NDPA frame is set to one of 01, 10, and 11, and the NDPA frame includes a first field and / or a station information field. The input / output interface is configured to output the NDPA frame, process the NDPA frame using the radio frequency circuitry, and transmit the NDPA frame through the antenna. Every four octets in the first field include a special association identifier 11 field and a disambiguation bit, where the disambiguation bit is 1, and the bit position of the disambiguation bit in the first field is B27+32*k, where k is a natural number. Every four octets in the station information field include an association identifier 11 field and a disambiguation bit with a value less than or equal to 2007, where the disambiguation bit is 1, and the bit position of the disambiguation bit in the station information field is B27+32*q, where q is a natural number. The length of the first field and the length of the station information field are multiples of four octets.

[0079] According to a twelfth aspect, the present application provides an apparatus, the apparatus being implemented in the form of a chip product and including an input / output interface and a processing circuit, the apparatus being a chip in a beamformee.

[0080] In one design, the input / output interface is configured to input an NDPA frame received through the antenna and the radio frequency circuitry, an NDPA variant field included in the NDPA frame is set to 00, the NDPA frame includes a first field and / or a station information field, the processing circuitry is configured to parse the NDPA frame, the first field includes one or more disambiguation bits, each disambiguation bit is 1, the bit positions of the one or more disambiguation bits in the first field are B11+16*k, where k is a natural number, the station information field includes one or more disambiguation bits, each disambiguation bit is 1, and the bit positions of the one or more disambiguation bits in the station information field are B27+16*q, where q is an integer greater than or equal to −1.

[0081] In another design, the input / output interface inputs an NDPA frame received through the antenna and radio frequency circuit, where an NDPA variant field included in the NDPA frame is set to one of 01, 10, and 11, and the NDPA frame includes a first field and / or a station information field, and the processing circuit is configured to parse the NDPA frame. Every four octets in the first field include a special association identifier 11 field and a disambiguation bit, where the disambiguation bit is 1, and the bit position of the disambiguation bit in the first field is B27+32*k, where k is a natural number. Every four octets in the station information field include an association identifier 11 field and a disambiguation bit whose value is 2007 or less, where the disambiguation bit is 1, and the bit position of the disambiguation bit in the station information field is B27+32*q, where q is a natural number. The length of the first field and the length of the station information field are multiples of four octets.

[0082] According to a thirteenth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon program instructions that, when executed on a computer, enable the computer to perform an NDPA frame transmission method according to the first, second, fifth, or sixth aspect.

[0083] According to a fourteenth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product including program instructions that, when executed on a computer, enable the computer to perform an NDPA frame transmission method according to the first, second, fifth, or sixth aspect.

[0084] Embodiments of the present application can be applied to future 802.11 standards to support channel sounding, and can prevent STAs that only support earlier standards (eg, the 802.11be standard and earlier standards) from being misled.

[0085] In order to describe the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application more clearly, the following briefly describes the accompanying drawings for illustrating the embodiments. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0086] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram of a network structure according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 2a] 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of an access point according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 2b] 1 is a schematic diagram of a station structure according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 3] 1 is a schematic diagram of the channel sounding procedure of the 802.11ac standard. [Figure 4] 1 is a schematic diagram of the frame structure of a VHT NDPA frame. [Figure 5a] 1 is a schematic diagram of the 802.11ax single-user / STA channel sounding procedure. [Figure 5b] 1 is a schematic diagram of the 802.11ax multi-user / STA channel sounding procedure. [Figure 6] 1 is a schematic diagram of the frame structure of an HE NDPA frame. [Figure 7] 1 is a schematic diagram of the frame structure of an EHT NDPA frame. [Figure 8] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the frame structure of the Sounding Dialogue Token field. [Figure 9] 1 is a schematic diagram of reading an HE NDPA frame by an older version VHT station. [Figure 10] 1 is a schematic flowchart of an NDPA frame transmission method according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 11a] 1 is a schematic diagram of a first frame structure of a generic NDPA frame according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 11b] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a second frame structure of a generic NDPA frame according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 11c] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a third frame structure of a generic NDPA frame according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 12] 1 is a schematic diagram of a frame structure of a generic NDPA frame in an AP cooperative channel sounding process according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 13] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a fourth frame structure of a generic NDPA frame according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 14] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a frame structure of a sounding PPDU according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 15] 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device 1 according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 16] 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device 2 according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 17] 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device 1000 according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0087] The following clearly and completely describes the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application with reference to the accompanying drawings of the embodiments of the present application.

[0088] To clearly describe the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the embodiments of the present application use terms such as "first" and "second" to distinguish between the same or similar items that have essentially the same function or purpose. For example, the terms "first" and "second" are used only to distinguish between different designations, and do not limit the order of the first and second designations. Those skilled in the art can understand that terms such as "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity or execution order, and that terms such as "first" and "second" do not indicate a clear distinction.

[0089] In the description of this application, unless otherwise specified, " / " generally indicates an "or" relationship between related objects. For example, A / B can refer to A or B. The term "and / or" in this specification describes only the relationship between related objects and indicates that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B can represent the following three cases: when only A is present, when both A and B are present, and when only B is present. In addition, "at least one item / type" means one or more items / types, and "multiple items / types" means two or more. "At least one of the following items" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including a single item or any combination of multiple items. For example, "at least one of a, b, or c" can represent a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c, or a, b, and c. a, b, and c may each be singular or plural.

[0090] The terms "example" or "for example" are used in this application to mean providing an example, illustration, or explanation. An embodiment or design scheme described in this application as "an example," "such as," or "for example" should not be described as preferred or having more advantages than another embodiment or design scheme. Strictly speaking, the use of words such as "example," "such as," "for example," etc. is intended to present the relevant concept in a particular way.

[0091] It should be understood that in this application, "when" and "if" refer to the device performing the corresponding process in a target situation and are not intended to imply a time limit. These terms do not imply that the device must have a definitive operation during execution, nor do they imply any other limitations.

[0092] In this application, unless otherwise specified, the words "a," "an," and "the" are intended to mean "one or more" and not "one and only one."

[0093] In the embodiments of the present application, it should be understood that "B corresponding to A" indicates that B is associated with A and B can be determined based on A. However, it should be further understood that determining B based on A does not mean that B is determined based only on A. B can instead be determined based on A and / or other information.

[0094] An embodiment of the present application provides an NDPA frame transmission method applied to a wireless communication system. The wireless communication system may be a WLAN or a cellular network. The method may be implemented by a communication device in the wireless communication system or by a chip or processor in the communication device. In a wireless local area network, the communication device supports communication using an 802.11-based protocol. 802.11-based protocols include future 802.11 standards (such as Wi-Fi 8 and Wi-Fi 9), 802.11be, 802.11bf, 802.11ax, 802.11a / b / g / n / ac, etc.

[0095] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network structure according to an embodiment of the present application. The network structure may be a wireless local area network, and may include one or more access point (AP) stations and one or more non-access point stations (non-AP STAs). For ease of explanation, in this specification, an access point station is referred to as an access point (AP), and a non-access point station is referred to as a station (STA). APs are, for example, AP1 and AP2 in FIG. 1, and STAs are, for example, STA1 and STA2 in FIG. 1. The NDPA frame transmission method of the present application is applicable to a scenario in which one or more nodes communicate with one or more other nodes, for example, a scenario in which one or more APs communicate with one or more STAs, and also to a scenario in which one or more APs communicate with one or more APs and one or more STAs communicate with one or more STAs. For example, the NDPA frame transmission method provided in the present application is applicable to a scenario in which multiple APs and one or more STAs perform AP cooperative channel sounding. Both the APs and the STAs support a WLAN communication protocol. The communication protocols may include the next generation of 802.11be and 802.11bf protocols, and may further include protocols such as 802.11be, 802.11ax, and 802.11ac.

[0096] Optionally, an access point (e.g., AP1 or AP2 in FIG. 1 ) in this application is a device with wireless communication capabilities, supports communication using a WLAN protocol, and has the capability of communicating with other devices (e.g., stations or other access points) in the WLAN network, and may also have the capability of communicating with other devices. APs, with a typical coverage radius of tens to hundreds of meters, are primarily deployed in homes, buildings, and campuses, and may also be deployed outdoors. In a WLAN system, an access point may be referred to as an access point station (AP STA). A device with wireless communication capabilities may be an entire device, or a chip or processing system installed in the entire device. A device equipped with a chip or processing system can implement the methods and functions of the embodiments of this application under the control of the chip or processing system. An AP in the embodiments of this application is a device that provides services to STAs and can support 802.11-based protocols. For example, an AP may be a communication entity such as a communication server, router, switch, or bridge equipped with a wireless fidelity (WiFi) chip. Alternatively, the AP may include various forms of macro base stations, micro base stations, relay stations, etc. Of course, the AP may instead be the chips and processing systems within these various forms of devices to implement the methods and functions of the embodiments of the present application.

[0097] Optionally, a station in this application (e.g., STA1 or STA2 in FIG. 1 ) is a device having wireless communication capabilities, supports communication using a WLAN protocol, and has the ability to communicate with another station or an access point in a WLAN network. In a WLAN system, a station may be referred to as a non-access point station (non-AP STA). For example, a STA is any user communication device that allows a user to communicate with an AP and then with a WLAN. A device having wireless communication capabilities may be an entire device, or a chip or processing system installed in the entire device. A device having a chip or processing system installed therein can implement the methods and functions of the embodiments of this application under the control of the chip or processing system. For example, an STA may be a user equipment capable of connecting to the Internet, such as a tablet computer, desktop computer, laptop computer, notebook computer, ultra-mobile personal computer (UMPC), handheld computer, netbook, personal digital assistant (PDA), or mobile phone that supports WiFi communication capabilities, or may be an Internet of Things node in the Internet of Things, an in-vehicle communication device in the Internet of Vehicles, an entertainment device, a gaming device or system, a Global Positioning System device, etc. An STA may alternatively be a chip and processing system within the aforementioned terminals.

[0098] WLAN systems can provide high-speed and low-latency transmission. With the continuous development of WLAN application scenarios, WLAN systems will be applied to more scenarios and industries, such as the Internet of Things industry, the Internet of Vehicles industry, banking industry, corporate offices, stadium exhibition halls, concert halls, hotel rooms, dormitories, hospital wards, classrooms, supermarkets, squares, streets, production workshops, and warehousing. Of course, devices (such as access points or stations) supporting WLAN communication may be sensor nodes in a smart city (e.g., smart water meters, smart electricity meters, or smart air detection nodes), smart devices in a smart home (e.g., smart cameras, projectors, displays, televisions, stereos, refrigerators, or washing machines), nodes in the Internet of Things, entertainment terminals (e.g., augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), or another wearable device), smart devices in a smart office (e.g., printers, projectors, speakers, or stereos), Internet of Vehicle devices in the Internet of Vehicles, infrastructure in everyday life scenarios (e.g., vending machines, self-service navigation stations in supermarkets, self-service cashiers, or self-service ordering machines), devices in large sports and music venues, etc. The specific forms of STAs and APs are not limited to the embodiments of this application and are merely examples for the purposes of explanation herein.

[0099] It should be understood that the 802.11 standard focuses on the physical layer (PHY) and medium access control (MAC) layers. See FIG. 2a for an example. FIG. 2a is a schematic diagram of the structure of an access point according to one embodiment of the present application. The AP may be multi-antenna / multi-radio frequency, or may be single-antenna / single-radio frequency. The antenna / radio frequency is used to transmit / receive data packets (data packets herein may also be referred to as physical layer protocol data units (PPDUs)). In one implementation, the antenna or radio frequency portion of the AP may be separated from the main body of the AP, i.e., may be located remotely. In FIG. 2a, the AP may include a physical layer processing circuit and a medium access control processing circuit. The physical layer processing circuit may be configured to process physical layer signals, and the MAC layer processing circuit may be configured to process MAC layer signals. See FIG. 2b for another example. FIG. 2b is a schematic diagram of the structure of a station according to one embodiment of the present application. FIG. 2b is a schematic diagram of the structure of a single-antenna / single-radio-frequency STA. In a practical scenario, the STA may be a multi-antenna / multi-radio-frequency device with three or more antennas. The antennas / radio frequencies are used to transmit / receive data packets. In one implementation, the antenna or radio frequency portion of the STA may be separated from the main body of the STA, i.e., may be located remotely. In FIG. 2b, the STA may include a PHY processing circuit and a MAC processing circuit. The physical layer processing circuit may be configured to process physical layer signals, and the MAC layer processing circuit may be configured to process MAC layer signals.

[0100] The above content briefly describes the system architecture of the embodiments of the present application. In order to better understand the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the following will describe some content related to the embodiments of the present application.

[0101] 1. The channel sounding procedure and frame format of the NDPA frame for the 802.11ac, 802.11ax, 802.11az, and 802.11be standards. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the channel sounding procedure of the 802.11ac standard. As shown in FIG. 3, an AP (as a channel sounding initiator, sometimes called a Beamformer, or BFer for short) transmits an NDPA frame to notify a STA (as a channel sounding responder, sometimes called a Beamformee, or BFee for short) that it needs to perform channel sounding and transmits channel sounding-related parameters. The AP then transmits an NDP after one SIFS. The STA performs channel estimation based on the NDP and then feeds back channel state information (CSI) in a beamforming report (BF Report). The AP can then transmit a beamforming report poll (BF Report Poll) frame to the STA to request channel state information that has not been fed back or that has been fed back incorrectly. It should be understood that the NDP is a data packet that does not have a data field portion and does not carry a MAC frame. The NDP is also called a sounding PPDU.

[0102] The following describes the frame format of the NDPA frame in Figure 3, i.e., the frame format of the NDPA frame in the 802.11ac standard. Various standards have various variants of the NDPA frame. The 802.11ac NDPA frame is commonly referred to as a VHT NDPA frame. The frame control field has a frame type subfield and a subtype subfield, and indicates that the frame is an NDPA frame (the frame type subfield is set to 01 to indicate a control frame, and the subtype subfield is set to 0101 to indicate an NDPA frame within a control frame). Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the frame structure of a VHT NDPA frame. As shown in Figure 4, the VHT NDPA frame includes a frame control field, a duration field, a receiving address (RA) field, a transmitting address (TA) field, a sounding dialog token field, and one or more station information (STA information, STA Info) fields. The Frame Control field includes a Frame Type subfield set to 01 and a Subtype subfield set to 0101, indicating that the frame is an NDPA frame. The Sounding Dialog Token field is used to index the channel sounding sequence number. Each Station Information field is two octets long and includes a Station Association Identifier 12 (AID12) subfield, a Feedback Type subfield, and a Number of columns (Nc) index subfield. The AID12 subfield identifies the associated station. In other words, AID12 indicates the STA that should perform channel sounding.The Feedback Type subfield indicates whether the feedback is single-user or multi-user feedback. The Column Number Index subfield may be understood to indicate the number of columns for which the station needs to feedback channel state information, or the number of spatial streams for which the station needs to feedback channel state information. The RA and TA fields identify the receiver and transmitter of the MAC frame, respectively.

[0103] The successor standard to 802.11ac, 802.11ax, retains the 802.11ac single-user channel sounding procedure. Figure 5a is a schematic diagram of the 802.11ax single-user / STA channel sounding procedure. As shown in Figure 5a, the channel sounding procedure is the same as that of the 802.11ax standard. Details will not be repeated here. To further improve channel sounding efficiency, 802.11ax introduces a trigger-based multi-user uplink transmission mechanism into the channel sounding process. In other words, an AP sends a trigger frame to trigger multiple STAs to simultaneously perform uplink multi-user transmission. Specifically, Figure 5b is a schematic diagram of the 802.11ax multi-user / STA channel sounding procedure. As shown in Figure 5b, the AP transmits an HE NDPA frame to notify STAs (e.g., STA1, STA2, and STA3 in Figure 5b) that need to perform channel sounding and transmits channel sounding-related parameters. Then, one SIFS later, the AP transmits an HE NDP. Then, another SIFS later, the AP transmits a Beamforming Report Poll (BRP) trigger frame to trigger multiple STAs that need to perform channel sounding to simultaneously feedback beamforming reports. After yet another SIFS, the STAs that need to perform channel sounding simultaneously feedback beamforming reports to the AP. Optionally, the AP can retransmit the BRP trigger frame to request channel state information from the STAs that incorrectly perform feedback.

[0104] In the 802.11ax standard, a variant of the NDPA frame is the HE NDPA frame, which inherits the type and subtype of the VHT NDPA frame. Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the frame structure of the HE NDPA frame. As shown in Figure 6, the HE NDPA frame includes a Frame Control field, a Duration field, an RA field, a TA field, a Sounding Dialogue Token field, and one or more Station Information fields. Compared with the Station Information field in the VHT NDPA frame, the Station Information field in the HE NDPA frame is expanded to four octets, and a Partial Bandwidth Information (Partial BW Info) subfield is introduced to instruct the STA to feedback channel state information for a partial bandwidth. The feedback portion indicates a continuous segment of RUs indicated by the Resource Unit (RU) Start Index and Resource Unit End Index. The feedback type and number of groupings (Ng) subfields in the station information field indicate whether the feedback is single-user or multi-user feedback, and also indicate the number of groupings of the feedback. The number of groupings (Ng) indicates how many subcarriers are grouped into one group, so that subcarriers in one group only need to feedback channel state information in a unified manner. This reduces feedback compression. The codebook size subfield indicates the quantization precision. Different precisions correspond to different overheads. The number of columns (Nc) subfield indicates the number of columns of the beamforming feedback matrix. 802.11ax specifies a maximum of eight antennas on the STA side, supporting a maximum of eight data streams. Therefore, three bits are used to indicate the number of columns of the feedback, which can be a value from 1 to 8.

[0105] The 802.11az standard is used for ranging. In the 802.11az standard, a variant of the NDPA frame is called the Ranging NDPA frame, which inherits the type and subtype of the VHT NDPA frame. In addition, similar to the frame format of the HE NDPA frame, the station information field is four octets, with the first 11 bits being the AID11 and the disambiguation bit in the same position. The specific frame format of the Ranging NDPA frame will not be described again here.

[0106] The channel sounding procedure in the 802.11be standard is similar to that in the 802.11ax standard. Details will not be repeated here. The 802.11be NDPA frame variant is called the EHT NDPA frame, which inherits the type and subtype of the VHT NDPA frame. Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of the frame structure of the EHT NDPA frame. As shown in Figure 7, the HE NDPA frame includes a Frame Control field, a Duration field, an RA field, a TA field, a Sounding Dialogue Token field, and one or more Station Information fields. One Station Information field indicates the relevant information required for a station to perform channel sounding. The Association Identifier 11 (AID11) indicates the least significant 11 bits of the station's association identifier and is used to identify the target station. Compared to the HE NDPA frame, the Partial BW Info is a 9-bit bitmap that instructs the STA to feedback channel state information for the partial bandwidth. The first bit in the partial bandwidth information indicates whether the granularity of the sub-bandwidths represented by each bit in the following 8-bit bitmap is 20 MHz or 40 MHz. For example, if the bandwidth is 320 MHz, the first bit of the partial bandwidth information is 1 to indicate that the granularity is 40 MHz, and therefore each of the following 8 bits indicates eight 40 MHz sub-bandwidths across the entire 320 MHz. The Number of Columns (Nc) index subfield indicates the number of columns of the channel state information (compressed beamforming report matrix V) that needs to be fed back by the STA.The Feedback Type and Ng subfield indicates the feedback type and indicates that Ng subcarriers are grouped into one group. The feedback types include Single User (SU) feedback, Multiple User (MU) feedback, and Channel Quality Indication (CQI). Ng includes values ​​4 and 16. A larger Ng indicates a larger amount of compression. The Codebook Size subfield indicates the quantization precision. Different precisions correspond to different overheads. In addition, two reserved fields containing one and three reserved bits, respectively, are further included for later expansion.

[0107] 2. NDPA frame misinterpretation prevention method in various 802.11 standards Various standards have different variants of the NDPA frame, and each new generation 802.11 standard is compatible with the previous generation 802.11 standard. Therefore, the receiver needs to distinguish between the different variants and how to prevent older STAs from misinterpreting the newer version of the NDPA frame.

[0108] Specifically, Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of the frame structure of the sounding dialog token field. As shown in Figure 8, the number of octets in the sounding dialog token may be one octet. Specifically, the number of bits in the sounding dialog token may be eight bits, which are B0 to B7. The first bit (B0) and the second bit (B1) in the sounding dialog token field indicate the variant of the NDPA frame. B0 and B1 are sometimes collectively referred to as the NDPA variant field. These two bits can indicate a total of four variants. Table 1 shows the meanings and values ​​of B0 (also known as the Ranging subfield) and B1 (also known as the HE subfield) in the sounding dialog token field.

[0109] [Table 1]

[0110] During the VHT standardization phase, there is only one variant of the NDPA frame (i.e., only the VHT NDPA frame), so no means of differentiation is provided at that time, and bits B0 and B1 in the Sounding Dialogue Token field are reserved (default value 00). VHT stations simply ignore B0 and B1 in the Sounding Dialogue Token field and do not need to differentiate between NDPA frame variants.

[0111] In the HE standard phase, an HE indication was introduced in B1 in the one-octet sounding dialogue token field in the NDPA frame to indicate whether the NDPA frame is a HE NDPA frame, while B0 is still reserved (default value is 0). This bit (i.e., B1) is used to distinguish between VHT and HE NDPA frames. When B1 in the sounding dialogue token field is 1, it means the variant is the HE variant, i.e., the NDPA frame is a HE NDPA frame, or when B1 is 0, it means the variant is the VHT variant, i.e., the NDPA frame is a VHT NDPA frame. Because HE stations can read both types of NDPA frames, they can identify whether a frame is a VHT or HE NDPA frame based on B1 in the sounding dialogue token field. However, VHT stations cannot make the distinction and consider HE NDPA frames to be VHT NDPA frames. Although the target station corresponding to the HE NDPA frame is an HE station, the HE NDPA frame is usually transmitted in a broadcast manner, so that older version VHT STAs also receive the HE NDPA frame. Therefore, to prevent older version VHT STAs (also called non-HE VHT STAs) from mistaking the HE NDPA frame for a VHT STA, the following method is introduced into the HE NDPA frame.

[0112] A station uses the association identifier in the station information field to identify whether a received NDPA frame is intended for that station. Because older STAs do not recognize the new NDPA frame variants (e.g., older VHT stations understand an HE NDPA frame as a VHT NDPA frame), it is necessary to prevent older STAs from mistakenly considering part of the information in an NDPA frame with a new variant as the AID of the STA and therefore mistakenly thinking that the NDPA frame is intended for the older STA. This misunderstanding causes the older STA to perform unnecessary channel information calculations, resulting in wasted buffer resources and power consumption.

[0113] Let us take an example of an old-version VHT station reading an HE NDPA frame. Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of an old-version VHT station reading an HE NDPA frame. As shown in Figure 9, the old-version VHT station regards the third and fourth octets of the four-octet station information field in the HE NDPA frame as the second station information field in the VHT NDPA frame and the first 12 bits of information as the 12-bit association identifier subfield. If the last 9 bits in the fractional bandwidth information subfield, the two bits in the feedback type and grouping number subfields, and the one bit in the disambiguation bit are exactly the same as the AID of the VHT station, misunderstanding will occur in the VHT station. Therefore, a disambiguation bit is introduced into the HE NDPA frame, and the value of the disambiguation bit is forced to 1. This bit corresponds to the most significant bit (MSB) of the 12-bit AID. If the MSB of the AID is 1, the AID is equal to or greater than 2048. In this case, the VHT STA reads the 12 bits as an AID greater than 2047. However, the 802.11 standard does not specify AIDs greater than 2047. Therefore, older VHT STAs will interpret an AID greater than 2047 as the AID of another STA, and therefore, no misunderstanding will occur. Because the 802.11 standard does not specify AIDs greater than 2047, the HE NDPA frame reduces the number of association identifier bits to 11, reserving one bit for forwarding information. Additionally, because AID11 is set to the HE STA's AID11 for the first and second octets, AID11 will not reliably match the VHT STA's AID, thereby preventing misunderstanding.

[0114] In 802.11az, i.e., during the Ranging standardization phase, a ranging indication was introduced in B0 of the one-octet sounding dialogue token at the earliest stage of standardization discussions. When B0 is 1, it means the frame is a Ranging NDPA frame. In addition, B1 is indicated as 0. Some previous Ranging STAs consider a received NDPA frame to be a VHT NDPA frame if B1 and B0 are 0, a HE NDPA frame if B1 is 1, or a Ranging NDPA frame if B0 is 1. Subsequent Ranging STAs distinguish which of the three variants a received NDPA frame is based on both bits (i.e., B0 and B1). Previous (non-Ranging) VHT STAs do not identify which NDPA frame it is and interpret the Ranging NDPA frame as a VHT NDPA frame. Similarly, older (non-Ranging) HE STAs do not identify whether an NDPA frame is a Ranging NDPA frame, but only identify whether the NDPA frame is a VHT NDPA frame or an HE NDPA frame based on bit B1. Therefore, based on this indication method, older version HE STAs can understand a Ranging NDPA frame as a VHT NDPA frame. Because the Ranging NDPA frame has the same AID11 and disambiguation bit, older version VHT STAs will not be confused. Older version HE STAs will consider a Ranging NDPA frame to be a VHT NDPA frame. However, because AID11 and the disambiguation bit are present, older version HE STAs will not be confused.

[0115] In 802.11be, i.e., the EHT standard phase, if both B0 and B1 in the Sounding Dialogue Token field are 1, it means that the frame contains an EHT variant, i.e., the frame is an EHT NDPA frame. EHT STAs use the fact that both B0 and B1 are 1 to identify the NDPA as an EHT NDPA. Some older Ranging STAs may interpret EHT NDPA frames as Ranging NDPA frames. Older version HE STAs may interpret EHT NDPA frames as HE NDPA frames. Older version VHT STAs still interpret EHT NDPA frames as VHT NDPA frames. EHT NDPA frames also have the same AID11 and disambiguation bit, so older version VHT STAs will not confuse them. Older version HE STAs will understand EHT NDPA frames as HE NDPA frames. However, the presence of AID11 prevents older version HE STAs from misinterpreting them.

[0116] It should be understood that an older version VHT station referred to in this specification is a station that supports the 802.11ac protocol but does not support the 802.11ax protocol or later. An older version HE station is a station that supports the 802.11ax protocol but does not support the 802.11be protocol or later. An older version Ranging station is a station that supports the 802.11az protocol but does not support the 802.11be protocol or later. In the next-generation 802.11be standard (e.g., 802.11bf), an EHT station that supports the 802.11be protocol but does not support protocols later than 802.11be is referred to as an older version EHT station.

[0117] For ease of explanation, in the remainder of this specification, the terms "old version VHT station," "old version HE station," "old version Ranging station," and "old version EHT station" may simply be referred to as VHT station, HE station, Ranging station, and EHT station, respectively.

[0118] As mentioned above, the NDPA frame variant field (i.e., B0 and B1 in the Sounding Dialogue Token field) has a total of two bits and can only indicate four variants. Furthermore, these four variants are exhausted and cannot be further expanded. Furthermore, the reason for preventing misunderstandings between EHT / Ranging / HE STAs is that the Station Information field is four octets long and uses the unified AID11 indication. If future 802.11 standards (e.g., 802.11bf, Wi-Fi 8, Wi-Fi 9) need to carry common information or extend the length of the Station Information field, the current NDPA frame structure will not be able to meet this requirement.

[0119] It should be understood that Wi-Fi 8 referred to herein refers to the next generation standard of 802.11be, and Wi-Fi 9 refers to the next generation standard such as Wi-Fi 8. Therefore, the next generation standard of Wi-Fi 9 will be referred to as Wi-Fi 10, etc.

[0120] Therefore, an embodiment of the present application provides an NDPA frame transmission method. A generic NDPA frame is designed to be applicable to one or more future generations of 802.11 standards (e.g., 802.11bf, Wi-Fi 8, Wi-Fi 9) to support channel sounding and prevent misunderstanding by STAs of older versions. In addition, the NDPA frame may include variable-length common information and / or station information to carry parameter information required for various functions.

[0121] The following describes in detail the technical solutions provided in this application with reference to further accompanying drawings.

[0122] In this application, unless otherwise specified, the same or similar parts of the embodiments or implementations will be mutually referenced. In the embodiments and implementations / implementation methods of the present application, unless otherwise specified or unless a logical contradiction occurs, the terms and / or descriptions are consistent and can be mutually referenced between various embodiments and between implementations / implementation methods of the embodiments. The technical features of various embodiments and the technical features of implementations / implementation methods of the embodiments can be combined based on their internal logical relationships to form new embodiments, implementations, or implementation methods. The following implementations of this application are not intended to limit the protection scope of this application.

[0123] It should be understood that a beamformer (BFer for short) in this application may be an AP or a STA, and a beamformee (BFee for short) may be a STA or an AP, which is not limited in this application.

[0124] 10 is a schematic flowchart of an NDPA frame transmission method according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 10, the NDPA frame transmission method includes, but is not limited to, the following steps: S101: The beamformer (Bfer) generates a null data packet announcement NDPA frame. S102. The beamformer transmits an NDPA frame. S103: The beamformee (BFee) receives the NDPA frame. S104: The beamformee analyzes the NDPA frame.

[0125] Optionally, the beamformer in this embodiment of the present application can support 802.11bf or future 802.11 standards (such as Wi-Fi 8 and Wi-Fi 9), and the beamformee can support any existing 802.11-based protocol or can support future 802.11 standards, i.e., 802.11bf or future 802.11 standards (such as Wi-Fi 8 and Wi-Fi 9).

[0126] In this embodiment of the present application, the NDPA frame includes a number of fields and subfields. It should be understood that the names of the various fields and subfields in the NDPA frame are not limited to this embodiment of the present application and may be replaced with other names in other embodiments.

[0127] To facilitate differentiation from NDPA frames of some previous-generation 802.11 standards (e.g., 802.11ac / 802.11ax / 802.11az / 802.11be), the NDPA frame of this embodiment of the present application may also be referred to as a generic NDPA frame or may have other names, and may continue to inherit the type and subtype of the VHT NDPA frame. Specifically, the frame type subfield included in the frame control field is set to 01 to indicate a control frame, and the subtype subfield is set to 0101 to indicate an NDPA frame within a control frame.

[0128] Optionally, a beamformer (e.g., AP) generates and transmits an NDPA frame to notify a beamformee (e.g., STA) that it needs to perform channel sounding and transmits channel sounding-related parameters. After receiving the NDPA frame, the beamformee (BFee) analyzes the NDPA frame to determine whether the beamformee needs to participate in channel sounding, and if it determines that the beamformee needs to participate in channel sounding, continues to analyze the NDPA frame to obtain channel sounding-related parameters.

[0129] The following describes in detail the frame structure of the NDPA frame provided in this embodiment of the present application, which is applicable to any one or more of future generations of 802.11 standards.

[0130] Implementation 1 The NDPA frame (generic NDPA frame) in this embodiment of the present application includes one or more of, but is not limited to, a frame control field, a duration field, a receiving address (RA) field, a transmitting address (TA) field, a sounding dialogue token field, etc. The NDPA frame further includes a first field and / or (one or more) station information fields. The NDPA variant field (a total of 2 bits) included in the sounding dialogue token field is set to 00, i.e., B0 and B1 in the sounding dialogue token field are set to 00. The first field is also called an extended common field or a special station information field, and three fields may be used instead. The names of the fields and subfields included in the NDPA frame are not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0131] The first field (extended common field or special station information field) includes one or more disambiguation bits, each disambiguation bit is set to 1, and the bit positions of the one or more disambiguation bits in the first field are B11+16*k, where k is a natural number, i.e., an integer greater than or equal to 0. Each station information field includes one or more disambiguation bits, each disambiguation bit is 1, and the bit positions of the one or more disambiguation bits in the station information field are B27+16*q, where q is an integer greater than or equal to −1.

[0132] It should be understood that the symbol "*" in this specification means "to multiply" or "multiplying".

[0133] Optionally, the length of the first field (extended common field or special station information field) is an even number of octets, representing 2*n. The length of each station information field is also an even number of octets, representing 2*m. Both n and m are natural numbers, n and m cannot simultaneously be 0, and n + m is greater than 0. It will be understood that when n is equal to 0, it means that the NDPA frame does not have a first field. Similarly, when m is equal to 0, it means that the NDPA frame does not have a station information field. Because the disambiguation bits are located in both the first field and the station information field, the bit positions at which the disambiguation bits are located cannot exceed the lengths of the first field and the station information field. Therefore, k is less than or equal to n-1, i.e., k is 0, 1, 2, ..., and n-1, and q is less than or equal to m-2, i.e., q is -1, 0, 1, 2, ..., and m-2.

[0134] Further, optionally, when n is equal to 0, i.e., when the NDPA frame (generic NDPA frame) does not have the first field, q may be equal to −1. In other words, when the NDPA frame does not have the first field, B11 in the station information field is the disambiguation bit and must be set to 1. Alternatively, when the NDPA frame (generic NDPA frame) has the first field, the bit when q is equal to −1 can be used to transmit information and is not used as a disambiguation bit. In addition, regardless of whether the NDPA frame (generic NDPA frame) has the first field, starting from the second station information field in the station information list field, the bit when q=−1 can be used to transmit information and is not used as a disambiguation bit.

[0135] From the above, it can be seen that B11 (i.e., the first disambiguation bit) of the first two octets (which may be the first field or station information field) following the sounding dialogue token field in the NDPA frame (generic NDPA frame) is set as the disambiguation bit and can be used by the target STA to distinguish whether the NDPA frame is a VHT NDPA frame or a generic NDPA frame. Naturally, other disambiguation bits in the NDPA frame (generic NDPA frame) may be used to distinguish whether the NDPA frame is a VHT NDPA frame or a generic NDPA frame. Therefore, the disambiguation bit can be used to avoid wasting buffer resources and power consumption when an older version station (e.g., a VHT station, an HE station, a Ranging station, or an EHT station) receives a generic NDPA frame and mistakenly believes that the generic NDPA frame is being transmitted to the station, resulting in unnecessary channel information calculations.

[0136] Optionally, the NDPA frame (generic NDPA frame) may further include type information indicating a variant type of the NDPA frame. This type information may be called an NDPA variant extension subfield or may have another name. This is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. The NDPA variant extension subfield may be located before the first station information field. In this way, upon receiving a generic NDPA frame, the STA first obtains the type information / NDPA variant extension subfield from the generic NDPA frame, determines the variant of the generic NDPA frame based on the type information / NDPA variant extension subfield, and then determines a reading policy for reading the station information field based on the variant of the generic NDPA frame.

[0137] Optionally, n may be different and m may be different for each generation of the 802.11 standard. n and m may be indicated using the first two octets in the first field (extended common field or special station information field) or the sounding dialog token field. For example, the first field or the sounding dialog token field includes first and second indications, where the first indication indicates n and the second indication indicates m. Alternatively, the first and second indications may be a single piece of information; in other words, both n and m are indicated using a single piece of information carried in the first field.

[0138] Optionally, n and m may be implicitly indicated using the NDPA variant extension subfield / type information. In other words, the variant type indicated by the NDPA variant extension subfield / type information has a one-to-one correspondence with n and m. Specifically, n and m may be determined based on the variant type indicated by the NDPA variant extension subfield / type information.

[0139] Optionally, the NDPA variant extension subfield / type information may be located in the first field (extended common field or special station information field). For example, FIG. 11a is a schematic diagram of a first frame structure of a generic NDPA frame according to this embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 11a, the generic NDPA frame includes one extended common field and / or one or more station information fields. The length of the extended common field is 2*n octets, and the first four bits are an NDPA variant extension subfield that indicates the variant type of the NDPA frame. It should be understood that the length and position of the NDPA variant extension subfield in the generic NDPA frame shown in FIG. 11a are merely examples. In actual implementation, the length and position of the NDPA variant extension subfield may be set based on actual circumstances. For example, the NDPA variant extension subfield may be located on separate indication bits of the first two octets in the extended common field, and the length of the NDPA variant extension subfield may be 1 bit, 2 bits, 3 bits, etc. This is not limited to this embodiment of the present application. The extended common field further includes one or more disambiguation bits, each of which is set to 1. The extended common field may further include information indicating n and m. The length of the indication information and the position of the indication information within the extended common field are not limited. Each station information field includes one AID11 field indicating the least significant 11 bits of the station's association identifier. Each station information field further includes one or more disambiguation bits, each of which is set to 1. The generic NDPA frame further includes a one-octet sounding dialogue token field, and B0 and B1 in this sounding dialogue token field are set to 00. The indication information in Figure 11a may be understood as a reserved bit and indicates some channel sounding-related parameters.The specific parameters to be indicated are not limited to this embodiment of the present application.

[0140] Optionally, in addition to using the extended common field (i.e., the first field) to indicate the variant type of the NDPA frame, the sounding dialog token field can also be used to indicate the variant information of the NDPA frame. In other words, the NDPA variant extension subfield / type information can be within the sounding dialog token field. For example, FIG. 11b is a schematic diagram of a second frame structure of a generic NDPA frame according to this embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 11b, the generic NDPA frame includes one extended common field and / or one or more station information fields. The extended common field further includes one or more disambiguation bits, each of which is set to 1. Each station information field includes one AID11 field indicating the least significant 11 bits of the station's association identifier. Each station information field further includes one or more disambiguation bits, each of which is set to 1. The generic NDPA frame further includes a one-octet sounding dialog token field, in which B0 and B1 are set to 00. Some bits (e.g., the first three bits) of the 6-bit sounding dialog token number in the sounding dialog token field (which has a length of one octet) may be used as an NDPA variant extension subfield to indicate the variant type of the NDPA frame. To read the variant of an NDPA frame, a beamformee can identify the NDPA frame as a generic NDPA frame and know that some bits in the sounding dialog token number are NDPA variant extension indications based on the disambiguation bits or special AID11 (i.e., AID greater than 2007) in the first two octets following the sounding dialog token field.The indication information in Fig. 11b may be understood as a reserved bit, and indicates some channel sounding related parameters, and the specific parameters to be indicated are not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0141] Optionally, a special AID11 (e.g., a value greater than 2007 or a standard-selected value less than 2007 that is not assigned to any STA) may be used to replace the first disambiguation bit (i.e., B11 in the first two octets following the sounding dialog token field) in an NDPA frame (generic NDPA frame). It should be understood that if the generic NDPA frame has the first field, then the first disambiguation bit in the generic NDPA frame is B11 in the first field, or if the generic NDPA frame does not have the first field, then the first disambiguation bit in the generic NDPA frame is B11 in the first station information field.

[0142] In one example, a generic NDPA frame has a first field, and a special AID11 is used to replace the disambiguation bit of the first two octets in the first field (i.e., the extended common field). In other words, the first two octets in the first field (i.e., the extended common field) may include an association identifier field, and the value of the association identifier field is greater than 2007. The association identifier field is located in the first 11 bits of the first two octets in the first field (i.e., the extended common field). Because the first two octets in the first field (i.e., the extended public field) include the special AID11 (i.e., the AID is greater than 2007), the special AID11 can also be prevented from being misunderstood by older version STAs. Therefore, the disambiguation bit does not need to be set in the first two octets in the first field (i.e., the extended common field). In this case, k is a positive integer, i.e., k is 1, 2, 3, ..., and n-1. For example, Figure 11c is a schematic diagram of a third frame structure of a generic NDPA frame according to this embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 11c, compared with the generic NDPA frame shown in Figure 11a, the difference is that the first 11 bits of the first two octets in the extended common field are a special AID11 field, and the value of the special AID11 field is greater than 2007, for example, 2047. In addition, B11 in the extended common field of Figure 11c is not an ambiguity resolution bit, but can indicate some channel sounding-related parameters. The specific parameters to be indicated are not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0143] It should be understood that multiple special AID11s may be used to replace multiple disambiguation bits in the first field (i.e., the extended common field). Correspondingly, k changes accordingly. In other words, one special AID11 or one disambiguation bit is included for every two octets in the first field (i.e., the extended common field). It should be further understood that if a special AID11 is used for every two octets in the first field (i.e., the extended common field), the first field (i.e., the extended common field) may not have a disambiguation bit.

[0144] Because the NDPA variant fields (B0 and B1 in the Sounding Dialogue Token field) are set to 00, VHT STAs, HE STAs, Ranging STAs, and EHT STAs all understand the generic NDPA frame as a VHT NDPA frame and then interpret the generic NDPA frame as a VHT NDPA frame, i.e., recognize AID12 every two octets. Therefore, in this embodiment of the present application, to prevent misunderstanding by older version STAs, one AID11 or one disambiguation bit (forced to 1) is set in every two octets following the Sounding Dialogue Token field (except for the first two octets, which must have one disambiguation bit or one special AID11 (i.e., an AID value greater than 2007)). Therefore, the implementation is flexible and the overhead is low. In addition, the NDPA Extended Variant subfield further indicates that the frame is a variant NDPA frame of a future standard. The B11 in the first two octets following the sounding dialogue token field may be used to distinguish whether the frame is a generic NDPA frame or a VHT NDPA frame. In other words, a VHT STA can determine whether a received NDPA frame is a generic NDPA frame or a VHT NDPA frame based on the B11 in the first two octets following the sounding dialogue token field. For example, if the B11 in the first two octets following the sounding dialogue token field is 1, the NDPA frame is a generic NDPA frame.

[0145] Optionally, if the value of the NDPA variant extension subfield is any value within the first value range, it means that the NDPA variant extension subfield is set to the validate state. In other words, there is an item in the validate state in the NDPA variant extension field. When the value of the NDPA variant extension subfield is the first value, the NDPA variant extension subfield indicates that the variant type may be a first variant type, for example, an EHT R2 variant, in other words, the NDPA frame is an EHT R2 NDPA frame; or when the value of the NDPA variant extension subfield is the second value, the NDPA variant extension subfield indicates that the variant type may be a second variant type, for example, a sensing variant, in other words, the NDPA frame is a SENSING NDPA frame. For example, Table 2 shows an example of an indication of the NDPA variant extension subfield. The values ​​of the NDPA variant extension subfield shown in the first column of Table 2 are expressed in binary notation and may be expressed in decimal notation accordingly. The NDPA variant extension subfield is 4 bits in length, with the first value being 0 (decimal), the second value being 1 (decimal), and the first value ranging from 2 to 15 (decimal).

[0146] [Table 2]

[0147] In Table 2, if the value of the NDPA variant extension subfield is 0 (decimal), it means that the frame is an EHT R2 version NDPA frame. If the value of the NDPA variant extension subfield is 1 (decimal), it means that the frame is an 802.11bf standard sensing NDPA frame. If the value of the NDPA variant extension subfield is 2-15 (decimal), the NDPA variant extension subfield is in the validated state. This prevents stations of previous versions of future 802.11 standards (e.g., EHT R2 stations or sensing STAs) from misinterpreting the generic NDPA frame variants of later (unspecified) versions (e.g., generic NDPA frame variants corresponding to extension subfields with values ​​2-15). Although the lengths and formats of fields in the NDPA frames of each generation of 802.11 standards are different, these fields do not affect each other. Each generation of the 802.11 standard may define a variant of the NDPA frame for that generation, and the variant is indicated using the NDPA variant extension subfield. Stations (such as EHT R2 stations or sensing STAs) using earlier versions of future 802.11 standards may misinterpret the generic NDPA frame of later versions. Therefore, it is necessary to prevent VHT / HE / Ranging / EHT(R1) STAs from misinterpreting the generic NDPA frame (this is primarily achieved by setting B0 and B1 in the sounding dialog token field to 00 + AID11 + ambiguity resolution bits). It should be understood that Table 2 is merely an example and does not limit the correspondence between the values ​​and meanings of the NDPA variant extension subfield. For example, an EHT R2 version NDPA frame can use the same frame format as the EHT NDPA frame format shown in FIG. 7 and does not use the generic NDPA frame format provided in this embodiment of the present application. The generic NDPA frame provided in this embodiment of the present application is used from the 802.11bf standard.

[0148] It should be understood that the 802.11be standard has two releases. The first release (Release 1, R1) is related to only some basic features, and the second release (Release 2, R2) is also related to some other undefined features. To distinguish between devices in the two releases, devices in the first release are referred to as devices that implement EHT basic features (in this standard, the attribute value dot11EHTBaseLineFeaturesImplementedOnly is 1 in the Management Information Base), and devices in the second release are sometimes referred to as devices that do not implement EHT basic features or devices that implement EHT advanced features (dot11EHTBaseLineFeaturesImplementedOnly is 0). This is not limited to this embodiment of the present application. In Table 2, "EHT R2" indicates a variant of the NDPA frame in the second release of the 802.11be standard.

[0149] In addition, in the 802.11be standard, reserved / unused bits in the signaling field in the physical layer preamble or the reserved / unused status of (sub)fields have two types: Disregard and Validate. If a device implementing EHT basic functionality notices that the Validate bit in a PPDU is not set to the default value specified in the standard, or that the values ​​of some subfields are set to the Validate status, it must defer for the duration of the PPDU, and then forward related information (such as the basic service set color and transmission opportunity information) to the MAC layer in version-independent fields to ensure coexistence, and then finish receiving the PPDU. In the case of a Disregard bit or a subfield set to the Disregard state, if the EHT device is unaware of the aforementioned condition (i.e., the Demonstration bit is not set to the default value specified in the standard, or the value of some subfield is set to the Demonstration state), the EHT device shall ignore the Disregard bit or the subfield set to the Disregard state and continue reading other subsequent fields.

[0150] When receiving and parsing an NDPA frame, the beamformee (e.g., STA) may determine that if the analysis determines that the NDPA variant extension subfield in the NDPA frame is set to a demonstrated state, or if the analysis determines that the value of the NDPA variant extension subfield is not set to the default value, the beamformee (e.g., STA) will stop parsing the fields following the NDPA variant extension subfield.

[0151] Optionally, the first field (i.e., the extended common field or the specific station information field) may further include some parameters related to channel sounding. For example, in an AP cooperative channel sounding scenario, the extended common field may further include third and fourth indication information. The third indication information indicates the number of access points participating in the channel sounding, and the fourth indication information indicates an identifier of each access point participating in the channel sounding. In addition, the station information field may further include access point identifier information, which indicates an access point associated with the station indicated by the station information field.

[0152] 12 is a schematic diagram of the frame structure of a generic NDPA frame in an AP collaborative channel sounding process according to this embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 12, the NDPA variant extension subfield in the generic NDPA frame is 0 to indicate that the frame is an EHT R2 variant. In the extended common field, the number of APs participating in (channel sounding) and the identifier information of each AP participating in (channel sounding) are indicated. Each piece of information may be distributed among bits separated by disambiguation bits. For example, as shown in FIG. 12, assuming that each piece of AP identifier information is 8 bits and the total number of APs participating in channel sounding is 4, 32 bits are required, which may be separately distributed among 4 bits, 15 bits, and 15 bits separated by disambiguation bits (B11 and B27) in the extended common field. In addition to the information required by each STA in the EHT NDPA frame, the station information field may further include AP identifier information indicating the AP with which the STA is associated. Optionally, the extended common field may further include spatial stream distribution information that indicates the number of spatial streams and spatial stream order for each AP participating in channel sounding.

[0153] Implementation 2 The NDPA frame (generic NDPA frame) in this embodiment of the present application includes one or more of, but is not limited to, a frame control field, a duration field, a receiving address (RA) field, a transmitting address (TA) field, a sounding dialogue token field, etc. The NDPA frame further includes a first field and / or (one or more) station information fields. The NDPA variant field (total of 2 bits) included in the sounding dialogue token field is set to either 01, 10, or 11. In other words, B0 and B1 in the sounding dialogue token field are set to either 01, 10, or 11. The first field is also called an extended common field or a special station information field, and three fields may be used instead. The names of the fields and subfields included in the NDPA frame are not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0154] The length of the first field (extended common field or special station information field) and the length of each station information field are multiples of 4 octets. The length of the first field (extended common field or special station information field) is expressed as 4*n octets, and the length of each station information field is expressed as 4*m octets. n and m are both natural numbers, n and m cannot be 0 at the same time, and n + m is greater than 0. It should be understood that when n is equal to 0, it means that the NDPA frame does not have a first field. Similarly, when m is equal to 0, it means that the NDPA frame does not have a station information field. Every four octets of the first field includes an AID11 field (also called a special AID11 field) with a value greater than 2007 and a disambiguation bit. The disambiguation bit is set to 1, and the bit position of the disambiguation bit in the first field is B27 + 32*k. k is a natural number and k is less than or equal to n-1, i.e., k is 0, 1, 2, ..., and n-1. Every four octets in each station information field contains an AID11 field and a disambiguation bit whose value is less than or equal to 2007. The disambiguation bit is set to 1, and the bit position of the disambiguation bit in the station information field is B27+32*q. q is a natural number and q is less than or equal to m-1, i.e., q is 0, 1, 2, ..., and m-1.

[0155] Optionally, the AID11 field is in the first 11 bits of every four octets in the first field (extended common field or special station information field) and in each station information field. In other words, AID11 fields with values ​​greater than 2007 (also called special AID11 fields) are in the first 11 bits of every four octets in the first field. Similarly, Association Identifier 11 fields with values ​​less than or equal to 2007 are in the first 11 bits of every four octets in the station information field.

[0156] Optionally, the NDPA frame (generic NDPA frame) may further include an NDPA variant extension subfield that indicates the variant type of the NDPA frame. In one implementation, the NDPA variant extension subfield may be in the first field (extended common field or special station information field), or the NDPA variant extension subfield may be in the station information field. FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of a fourth frame structure of a generic NDPA frame according to this embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 13, the generic NDPA frame includes one extended common field and / or one or more station information fields. Every four octets in the extended common field include a special AID11 (greater than 2007) and a disambiguation bit, and the disambiguation bit is set to 1. Every four octets in each station information field include an AID11 and a disambiguation bit, and the disambiguation bit is set to 1. The generic NDPA frame further includes a one-octet sounding dialogue token field, in which B0 and B1 are set to either 01, 10, or 11. The indication information in Figure 13 may be understood as a reserved bit and indicates some channel sounding-related parameters. The specific parameters to be indicated are not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0157] When the NDPA variant field (B0 and B1 in the Sounding Dialogue Token field) is set to 01, all HE STAs, Ranging STAs, and EHT STAs will understand the generic NDPA frame as an HE NDPA frame and will then read the generic NDPA frame in the behavior of an HE STA, i.e., they will recognize AID 11 every four octets. Similarly, when the NDPA variant field (B0 and B1 in the Sounding Dialogue Token field) is set to 10, all Ranging STAs and EHT STAs will understand the generic NDPA frame as a Ranging NDPA frame and will then read the generic NDPA frame in the behavior of a Ranging STA, i.e., they will recognize AID 11 every four octets. When the NDPA variant field (B0 and B1 in the Sounding Dialogue Token field) is set to 11, EHT STAs will understand the Generic NDPA frame as a Ranging NDPA frame and will then read the Generic NDPA frame according to the EHT standard, i.e., identify AID 11 every four octets. In other words, when the NDPA variant field (B0 and B1 in the Sounding Dialogue Token field) is set to a value other than 00, older version devices will understand the Generic NDPA frame as a four-octet Station Information field and identify AID 11, and VHT STAs will understand the Generic NDPA frame as a VHT NDPA frame and identify AID 12 every two octets. Therefore, in this embodiment of the present application, to prevent older version STAs (i.e., VHT STAs, HE STAs, Ranging STAs, and EHT STAs) from mistaking AID11 for STAs', it is ensured that the four octets following the sounding dialog token field have one AID11 (AID11 may be the target STA (target BFee) or may be a special AID11) and one disambiguation bit (forced to be set to 1).

[0158] In another implementation, the NDPA variant extension subfield may be in the Sounding Dialogue Token field in addition to being in the Extended Common field. For details, please refer to the corresponding description of the above-mentioned embodiment 1 (shown in Figure 11b). The details will not be described again here.

[0159] Optionally, n may be different and m may be different for each generation of the 802.11 standard. n and m may be indicated using the first field (extended common field or special station information field) or the first two octets in the sounding dialog token field, or n and m may be indicated implicitly using the NDPA variant extension subfield / type information.

[0160] Optionally, if the value of the NDPA variant extension subfield is any value within the first value range, it means that the NDPA variant extension subfield is set to a validate state. For details, please refer to the corresponding description in the above embodiment 1. The details will not be described again here.

[0161] Optionally, the first field (i.e., the extended common field or the special station information field) may further include some parameters related to channel sounding. For details, please refer to the corresponding description in the above embodiment 1. The details will not be described again here.

[0162] Optionally, after step S102, the beamformee may begin to perform channel measurements, which may include, but are not limited to, the following steps:

[0163] S105: The beamformer sends a sounding physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU). Correspondingly, the beamformee receives the sounding PPDU.

[0164] Optionally, the beamformer transmits a sounding PPDU one SIFS after transmitting the NDPA frame (generic NDPA frame). The sounding PPDU is used by the receiver / beamformee to estimate the channel and obtain channel state information (CSI). The sounding PPDU may not contain a data field, i.e., it does not carry a MAC frame. Of course, a data field may be carried in the sounding PPDU if necessary.

[0165] Correspondingly, after receiving an NDPA frame (generic NDPA frame), the beamformee (Bfee) receives a Sounding PPDU based on the channel sounding-related parameters obtained from the NDPA frame.

[0166] Optionally, the sounding PPDU includes a Universal Signal (U-SIG) field. The U-SIG field includes a Physical Layer Version Indication subfield that indicates the physical layer version of the sounding PPDU. The physical layer version of the sounding PPDU matches the variant type indicated by the NDPA Variant Extension subfield in the NDPA frame (i.e., the generic NDPA frame). For example, if the Physical Layer Version Indication subfield of the 802.11be standard is 0, it indicates that the physical layer version of the sounding PPDU is EHT, and the variant type indicated by the NDPA Variant Extension subfield is an EHT NDPA frame or an EHT R2 variant generic NDPA frame.

[0167] For example, assume that the indication of the NDPA variant extension subfield of the Wi-Fi 8 standard is shown in Table 3 below. The Wi-Fi 8 standard here is the next generation standard of the 802.11be standard. Assume that the physical layer version indication subfield in the future Wi-Fi 8 sounding PPDU is 1 and the NDPA variant extension subfield in the corresponding generic NDPA frame is 2, i.e., the item corresponding to the NDPA variant extension subfield in Table 3 below is 2.

[0168] [Table 3]

[0169] Additionally, when an EHT R2 device or older version sensing device reads an NDPA frame variant in an NDPA variant extension subfield with a value of 2 (binary 0010), because that value is not set to the default / default value specified in the standard for the EHT R2 device or sensing device (the default / default value corresponding to the EHT R2 device is 0 (binary 0000), and the default / default value corresponding to the sensing device is 1 (binary 0001)), the EHT R2 device or sensing device assumes that the NDPA variant extension subfield is set to the demonstrated state at this point and stops parsing the fields following the NDPA variant extension subfield. This prevents misinterpretations, reduces unnecessary channel information calculations, wastes buffer resources, and reduces power consumption.

[0170] Optionally, the variant type of the NDPA frame may be indicated in a physical layer version indication subfield in the U-SIG field. The variant type of the NDPA frame may have a one-to-one correspondence with the physical layer version, or may have a many-to-one correspondence with the physical layer version.

[0171] Optionally, refer to Figure 14. Figure 14 is a schematic diagram of a frame structure of a sounding PPDU according to this embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 14, the sounding PPDU includes a preamble and a packet extension (PE). The preamble includes, but is not limited to, the following fields: a Legacy Short Training Field (L-STF), a Legacy Long Training Field (L-LTF), a Legacy Signal Field (L-SIG), a Repeated Legacy Signal Field (RL-SIG), a U-SIG field, a xx-SIG (representing a signal field of a specific generation standard), a xx-STF (xx Short Training Field), and a xx-LTF (xx Long Training Field).

[0172] It should be understood that "xx" in Figure 14 represents future standards. For example, the 802.11n standard is HT, the 802.11ac standard is VHT, the 802.11ax standard is HE, the 802.11be standard is EHT, and the 802.11az standard is Ranging. The specific names of future standards are not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0173] The L-STF, L-LTF, and L-SIG are used to ensure coexistence between new and legacy devices. The L-SIG includes a length field that can indirectly indicate the duration following the L-SIG in the sounding PPDU. The RL-SIG is used to enhance the reliability of the legacy signal field (L-SIG) and further provides an auto-detection method for the receiver to help it identify that a data packet (i.e., a sounding PPDU) is an EHT PPDU by detecting characteristics such as whether the two symbols in the RL-SIG and L-SIG are the same and the remaining length in the L-SIG. The U-SIG is present in the PPDUs of the 802.11be standard and some subsequent generations, and a version-related indication in the U-SIG further indicates whether the sounding PPDU is an EHT PPDU or a PPDU of a subsequent generation standard. The xx-SIG provides the information necessary to receive the sounding PPDU. xx-STF and xx-LTF are used for automatic gain control and channel estimation, respectively, in the xx standard (e.g., 802.11bf, Wi-Fi 8, or standards later than Wi-Fi 9). Packet extension provides more time for the receiver to process the data.

[0174] It should be understood that in this embodiment of the present application, the order of performing step S105 and performing step S103 and step S104 is not limited. For example, step S105 is performed before step S103 and step S104, or step S105 is performed after step S103 and step S104, or step S105, step S103 and step S104 are performed simultaneously / concurrently.

[0175] S106: The beamformee uses the sounding PPDU to perform channel estimation based on the indication information in the NDPA frame to obtain channel state information, and generates a beamforming report based on the channel state information.

[0176] S107: The beamformee sends a beamforming report, which carries channel state information. The beamformer receives the beamforming report accordingly.

[0177] Optionally, the beamformee (Bfee) determines, based on an AID subfield in a station information field in an NDPA frame (generic NDPA frame), whether the AID subfield matches the beamformee's (Bfee's) AID. If the AID subfield matches the beamformee's AID, the beamformee (Bfee) determines that the beamformee needs to perform channel sounding. The beamformee (Bfee) determines, based on a fractional bandwidth information subfield in the station information field, a frequency range in which channel state information needs to be fed back, and then performs channel estimation based on the sounding PPDU to obtain channel state information within the frequency range in which the station needs to feed back channel state information. Alternatively, the Bfee can further determine, based on Nc, the number of columns of a compressed beamforming feedback matrix, where the compressed beamforming feedback matrix is ​​part of the beamforming report, and the compressed beamforming feedback matrix carries at least a portion of the channel state information. After obtaining the channel state information, the beamformee (Bfee) generates a beamforming report based on the channel state information and sends the beamforming report to the beamformer. The beamforming report carries the channel state information.

[0178] Optionally, in the triggered (multi-user) channel state information feedback process, after step S105 and before step S107, the NDPA frame transmission method further includes a step in which the beamformer transmits a trigger frame, such as a BRP trigger frame, including a beamforming poll subtype to trigger one or more beamformees to feedback beamforming reports. The beamforming reports are generated based on the indication information in the generic NDPA frame.

[0179] Of course, the channel measurement procedure of the embodiment of the present application is not limited to the solution of steps S105 to S107 provided in this embodiment of the present application. Optionally, the channel measurement procedure may instead be that another beamformer transmits a sounding PPDU, and the beamformee performs measurements based on the sounding PPDU.

[0180] In this embodiment of the present application, a generic NDPA frame is designed and can be applied to one or more future-generation 802.11 standards to support channel sounding, and the generic NDPA frame can include variable-length common information and station information to carry parameter information required for various functions. In addition, an NDPA variant extension subfield including a validation status is further designed to indicate that the generic NDPA frame is a variant of a future-generation standard, and a disambiguation bit and a special AID11 (greater than 2007) are designed to prevent misunderstandings by older version STAs, reduce unnecessary channel information calculations, and reduce buffer resource waste and power consumption.

[0181] In one optional embodiment, in 802.11be, i.e., in the EHT standard phase, if B0 and B1 in the sounding dialogue token field are 1, it means that the frame is an EHT variant, i.e., an EHT NDPA frame, as can be seen from the aforementioned "Method for preventing misinterpretation of NDPA frames in various 802.11 standards." Some previous Ranging STAs may understand an EHT NDPA frame as a Ranging NDPA frame. However, it is unclear how to process EHT NDPA frames received by subsequent Ranging STAs. This embodiment of the present application provides a processing method after subsequent Ranging STAs receive an EHT NDPA frame. Specifically, when a subsequent (or new version) Ranging STA receives an NDPA frame, B0 and B1 in the sounding dialogue token field of the NDPA frame are 1 to indicate that the frame is an EHT variant. The new version of the Ranging STA distinguishes between NDPA frame variants (i.e., VHT variants, HE variants, or Ranging variants) based on B0 and B1 in the sounding dialog token field. Therefore, for the new version of the Ranging STA, setting B0 and B1 in the sounding dialog token field to 11 may be understood as setting B0 and B1 to the validated state, and the new version of the Ranging STA stops analyzing fields following B0 and B1 in the sounding dialog token field. This prevents misunderstandings, reduces unnecessary channel information calculations, and reduces buffer resource waste and power consumption.

[0182] The above content describes in detail the method provided in the present application. To facilitate the implementation of the aforementioned solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the embodiments of the present application further provide a corresponding apparatus or device.

[0183] In the embodiment of the present application, the beamformer and the beamformee may be divided into functional modules based on the above-described exemplary method. For example, each functional module may be obtained by dividing the functional modules based on their corresponding functions, or two or more functions may be integrated into one processing module. The integrated module may be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of a software functional module. Note that in the embodiment of the present application, the division into modules is an example and is merely a logical division of functions. In actual implementation, other division methods may be used. Below, communication devices in the embodiment of the present application will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 15 to 17. These communication devices are APs and STAs. Furthermore, the communication devices may be devices within an AP, or may be devices within an STA.

[0184] When an integrated unit is used, please refer to Figure 15. Figure 15 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device 1 according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 1 may be a beamformer, specifically an AP or a chip in an AP, for example a Wi-Fi chip. As shown in Figure 15, the communication device 1 includes a processing unit 11 and a transceiver unit 12.

[0185] In a first design, processing unit 11 is configured to generate an NDPA frame, where an NDPA variant field included in the NDPA frame is set to 00, and the NDPA frame includes a first field and / or a station information field; transceiver unit 12 is configured to transmit the NDPA frame, where the first field includes one or more ambiguity resolution bits, each of which is 1, and the bit positions of the one or more ambiguity resolution bits in the first field are B11+16*k, where k is a natural number; the station information field includes one or more ambiguity resolution bits, each of which is 1, and the bit positions of the one or more ambiguity resolution bits in the station information field are B27+16*q, where q is an integer greater than or equal to −1.

[0186] Optionally, in a first design, the first two octets within the first field comprise an association identifier field, and the value of the association identifier field is greater than 2007. k is a natural number greater than or equal to 1.

[0187] In a second design, processing unit 11 is configured to generate an NDPA frame, where an NDPA variant field included in the NDPA frame is set to one of 01, 10, and 11, and the NDPA frame includes a first field and / or a station information field; transceiver unit 12 is configured to transmit the NDPA frame, where every four octets in the first field include a special association identifier 11 field and a disambiguation bit, where the disambiguation bit is 1, and the bit position of the disambiguation bit in the first field is B27+32*k, where k is a natural number; every four octets in the station information field include an association identifier 11 field and a disambiguation bit whose value is less than or equal to 2007, where the disambiguation bit is 1, and the bit position of the disambiguation bit in the station information field is B27+32*q, where q is a natural number; and the length of the first field and the length of the station information field are multiples of four octets. The value of the Special Association Identifier 11 field here is greater than 2007 or less than 2007 as selected by the standard, and that value is not assigned to any STA.

[0188] Optionally, in a second design, the special association identifier 11 field is the first 11 bits of every four octets in the first field, and the association identifier 11 field with a value less than or equal to 2007 is the first 11 bits of every four octets in the station information field.

[0189] Optionally, in the two designs above, the NDPA frame includes an NDPA variant extension subfield, which indicates the variant type of the NDPA frame.

[0190] Optionally, in the two designs above, the NDPA variant extension subfield is in the first field in the NDPA frame, or the NDPA variant extension subfield is in the sounding dialog token field in the NDPA frame.

[0191] Optionally, in the two designs above, if the value of the NDPA variant extension subfield is any value within the first value range, it means that the NDPA variant extension subfield is set to the validated state.

[0192] Optionally, in the two designs above, the length of the first field is 2*n octets, the length of the station information field is 2*m octets, n and m are both natural numbers, m+n is greater than 0, k is less than or equal to n-1, and q is less than or equal to m-2.

[0193] Optionally, in the two designs above, n and m are determined based on the variant type indicated by the NDPA variant extension subfield in the NDPA frame.

[0194] Optionally, in the two designs above, the first field or the sounding dialogue token field in the NDPA frame includes first and second indications, where the first indication indicates n and the second indication indicates m.

[0195] Optionally, in the two designs above, the first two octets in the first field contain an association identifier field, the value of the association identifier field is greater than 2007, and k is a natural number greater than or equal to 1.

[0196] Optionally, in the two aforementioned designs, the transceiver unit 12 is further configured to transmit a sounding physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU), and the transceiver unit 12 is further configured to receive a beamforming report, the beamforming report carrying channel state information.

[0197] Optionally, in the two designs described above, the sounding PPDU includes a general signal U-SIG field, a physical layer version indication subfield included in the U-SIG field indicates the physical layer version of the sounding PPDU, and the physical layer version of the sounding PPDU matches the variant type indicated by the NDPA variant extension subfield in the NDPA frame.

[0198] It should be understood that the communication device 1 can perform the above-described embodiments accordingly, and the above-described operations or functions of the units in the communication device 1 are separately used to perform the corresponding operations of the beamformer of the above-described embodiments. For the sake of brevity, the details will not be described again here.

[0199] 16 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device 2 according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 2 may be a beamformee, specifically, may be a STA or a chip in the STA, for example, a Wi-Fi chip. As shown in FIG. 16, the communication device 2 includes a transceiver unit 21 and an analysis unit 22.

[0200] In a first design, transceiver unit 21 is configured to receive an NDPA frame, an NDPA variant field included in the NDPA frame is set to 00, and the NDPA frame includes a first field and / or a station information field; parsing unit 22 is configured to parse the NDPA frame and determine that the first field includes one or more ambiguity resolution bits, each of which is 1, and the bit positions of the one or more ambiguity resolution bits in the first field are B11+16*k, where k is a natural number; the station information field includes one or more ambiguity resolution bits, each of which is 1, and the bit positions of the one or more ambiguity resolution bits in the station information field are B27+16*q, where q is an integer greater than or equal to −1.

[0201] Optionally, in a first design, the first two octets within the first field comprise an association identifier field, and the value of the association identifier field is greater than 2007. k is a natural number greater than or equal to 1.

[0202] In a second design, transceiver unit 21 is configured to receive an NDPA frame, where an NDPA variant field included in the NDPA frame is set to any of 01, 10, and 11, and the NDPA frame includes a first field and / or a station information field; parsing unit 22 is configured to parse the NDPA frame and determine that every four octets in the first field include a special association identifier 11 field and a disambiguation bit, where the disambiguation bit is 1, and the bit position of the disambiguation bit in the first field is B27+32*k, where k is a natural number; every four octets in the station information field include an association identifier 11 field and a disambiguation bit whose value is less than or equal to 2007, where the disambiguation bit is 1, and the bit position of the disambiguation bit in the station information field is B27+32*q, where q is a natural number; and the length of the first field and the length of the station information field are multiples of four octets. The value of the Special Association Identifier 11 field here is greater than 2007 or less than 2007 as selected by the standard, and that value is not assigned to any STA.

[0203] Optionally, in a second design, the special association identifier 11 field is the first 11 bits of every four octets in the first field, and the association identifier 11 field with a value less than or equal to 2007 is the first 11 bits of every four octets in the station information field.

[0204] Optionally, in the two designs above, the NDPA frame includes an NDPA variant extension subfield, which indicates the variant type of the NDPA frame.

[0205] Optionally, in the two designs above, the NDPA variant extension subfield is in the first field in the NDPA frame, or the NDPA variant extension subfield is in the sounding dialog token field in the NDPA frame.

[0206] Optionally, in the two designs above, if the value of the NDPA variant extension subfield is any value within the first value range, it means that the NDPA variant extension subfield is set to the validated state.

[0207] Optionally, in the two aforementioned designs, if the value of the NDPA variant extension subfield is any value within the first value range, it means that the NDPA variant extension subfield is set to a validated state. Parsing unit 22 is specifically configured to stop parsing fields following the NDPA variant extension subfield in the NDPA frame if the parsing determines that the NDPA variant extension subfield in the NDPA frame is in a validated state.

[0208] Optionally, in the two designs above, the length of the first field is 4*n octets, the length of the station information field is 4*m octets, n and m are both natural numbers, m+n is greater than 0, k is less than or equal to n-1, and q is less than or equal to m-1.

[0209] Optionally, in the two designs above, n and m are determined based on the variant type indicated by the NDPA variant extension subfield in the NDPA frame.

[0210] Optionally, in the two designs above, the first field or the sounding dialogue token field in the NDPA frame includes first and second indications, where the first indication indicates n and the second indication indicates m.

[0211] Optionally, in the two designs above, the first two octets in the first field contain an association identifier field, the value of the association identifier field is greater than 2007, and k is a natural number greater than or equal to 1.

[0212] Optionally, in the two aforementioned designs, the communication device 2 further includes an acquiring unit 23. The transceiver unit 21 is further configured to receive a sounding PPDU. The acquiring unit 23 is configured to acquire channel state information based on the sounding PPDU. The transceiver unit 21 is further configured to send a beamforming report, where the beamforming report carries the channel state information.

[0213] Optionally, in the two designs described above, the sounding PPDU includes a general signal U-SIG field, a physical layer version indication subfield included in the U-SIG field indicates the physical layer version of the sounding PPDU, and the physical layer version of the sounding PPDU matches the variant type indicated by the NDPA variant extension subfield in the NDPA frame.

[0214] The analysis unit 22 and the acquisition unit 23 may be integrated into one unit, for example a processing unit.

[0215] It should be understood that the communication device 2 can perform the above-described embodiments accordingly, and the above-described operations or functions of the units in the communication device 2 are separately used to perform the corresponding operations of the beamformee of the above-described embodiments. For the sake of brevity, the details will not be described again here.

[0216] The beamformer and beamformee of the embodiment of the present application have been described above. Possible product forms of the beamformer and beamformee will be described below. It should be understood that any product having the beamformer function shown in FIG. 15 and any product having the beamformee function shown in FIG. 16 fall within the scope of protection of the embodiment of the present application. It should be further understood that the following description is merely an example, and the product forms of the AP and STA of the embodiment of the present application are not limited thereto.

[0217] In a possible product form, the beamformer and beamformee of the embodiments of the present application may be implemented in a common bus architecture.

[0218] For ease of explanation, Fig. 17 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device 1000 according to one embodiment of the present application. The communication device 1000 may be a beamformer and a beamformee, or chips thereof. Fig. 17 shows only the main components of the communication device 1000. In addition to a processor 1001 and a transceiver 1002, the communication device may further include a memory 1003 and an input / output device (not shown).

[0219] The processor 1001 is mainly configured to process communication protocols and communication data, control the entire communication device, execute software programs, and process data of the software programs. The memory 1003 is mainly configured to store software programs and data. The transceiver 1002 may include a control circuit and an antenna. The control circuit is mainly configured to convert between baseband signals and radio frequency signals and process the radio frequency signals. The antenna is mainly configured to transmit and receive radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. The input / output device, such as a touch screen, a display, or a keyboard, is mainly configured to receive data input by a user and output data to a user.

[0220] After the communication device is powered on, the processor 1001 can read the software program in the memory 1003, interpret and execute the instructions of the software program, and process data of the software program. When data needs to be transmitted wirelessly, the processor 1001 performs baseband processing on the data to be transmitted and then outputs the baseband signal to the radio frequency circuit. The radio frequency circuit performs radio frequency processing on the baseband signal and then transmits the radio frequency signal in the form of electromagnetic waves through an antenna. When data is transmitted to the communication device, the radio frequency circuit receives the radio frequency signal through the antenna, converts the radio frequency signal into a baseband signal, and outputs the baseband signal to the processor 1001. The processor 1001 converts the baseband signal into data and processes the data.

[0221] In another implementation, the radio frequency circuitry and antenna may be located independently from the processor performing the baseband processing, for example, in a distributed scenario, the radio frequency circuitry and antenna may be located remotely and independently from the communication device.

[0222] The processor 1001, the transceiver 1002, and the memory 1003 may be connected via a communication bus.

[0223] In one design, communications device 1000 may be configured to perform the functionality of the beamformer of the previous embodiments. Processor 1001 may be configured to perform step S101 of FIG. 10 and / or other processes of the techniques described herein. Transceiver 1002 may be configured to perform steps S102 and S105 of FIG. 10 and / or other processes of the techniques described herein.

[0224] In another design, communications device 1000 may be configured to perform the beamformee functionality of the previous embodiments. Processor 1001 may be configured to perform steps S104 and S106 of FIG. 10 and / or other processes of the techniques described herein. Transceiver 1002 may be configured to perform steps S103 and S107 of FIG. 10 and / or other processes of the techniques described herein.

[0225] In any one of the above designs, the processor 1001 may store instructions. The instructions may be a computer program. The computer program executes on the processor 1001, thereby enabling the communication device 1000 to perform the method described in any one of the above method embodiments. The computer program may be fixed to the processor 1001, in which case the processor 1001 may be implemented by hardware.

[0226] In one implementation, the communications device 1000 may include circuitry capable of performing the transmit, receive, or communication functions in the aforementioned method embodiments. The processors and transceivers described herein may be implemented in an integrated circuit (IC), an analog IC, a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), a mixed-signal IC, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a printed circuit board (PCB), an electronic device, or the like. The processors and transceivers may alternatively be fabricated using various IC technologies, such as complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS), n-type metal oxide semiconductor (nMOS), p-type metal oxide semiconductor (PMOS), bipolar junction transistor (BJT), bipolar CMOS (BiCMOS), silicon germanium (SiGe), and gallium arsenide (GaAs).

[0227] The scope of the communication device described in this application is not limited thereto, and the structure of the communication device is not limited to that shown in FIG. 17. The communication device may be a standalone device or may be part of a larger device. For example, the communication device may be: (1) A standalone integrated circuit IC, chip, or chip system or subsystem; (2) a set including one or more ICs, optionally the set of ICs may further include a storage component configured to store data and computer programs; (3) ASICs such as modems (4) modules that can be incorporated into other devices; (5) A receiver, terminal, intelligent terminal, mobile phone, wireless device, handheld device, mobile unit, in-vehicle device, network device, cloud device, or artificial intelligence device; or (6) Other It may be.

[0228] In one possible product form, the beamformer and beamformee of the embodiments of the present application may be implemented by a general purpose processor.

[0229] A general-purpose processor implementing the beamformer includes processing circuitry and an input / output interface communicatively coupled to the processing circuitry.

[0230] The general-purpose processor may be configured to perform the functions of the beamformer of the aforementioned embodiments. Specifically, the processing circuitry may be configured to perform step S101 of FIG. 10 and / or other processes of the techniques described herein. The input / output interface may be configured to perform steps S102 and S105 of FIG. 10 and / or other processes of the techniques described herein.

[0231] A general-purpose processor implementing a beamformee includes processing circuitry and an input / output interface communicatively coupled to the processing circuitry.

[0232] The general-purpose processor may be configured to perform the beamformee functions of the aforementioned embodiments. Specifically, the processing circuitry may be configured to perform steps S104 and S106 of FIG. 10 and / or other processes of the techniques described herein. The input / output interface may be configured to perform steps S103 and S107 of FIG. 10 and / or other processes of the techniques described herein.

[0233] It should be understood that the communication devices in the various product forms described above have the functionality of either the beamformer or the beamformee in the above method embodiments, and the details will not be described again here.

[0234] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores computer program code that, when executed by a processor, causes the electronic device to perform the method of the aforementioned embodiment.

[0235] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product, which when run on a computer enables the computer to perform the method of the aforementioned embodiment.

[0236] An embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device, which may exist in the form of a chip product. The structure of the device includes a processor and an interface circuit. The processor is configured to communicate with another device through the interface circuit to enable the device to perform the method of the above embodiment.

[0237] An embodiment of the present application further provides a wireless communication system, including an AP and a STA, wherein the AP can perform the method performed by the beamformer in the above embodiment, and the STA can perform the method performed by the beamformee in the above embodiment.

[0238] The method or algorithm steps described in connection with the contents disclosed herein may be implemented by hardware or by a processor executing software instructions. The software instructions may include corresponding software modules. The software modules may be stored in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), registers, a hard disk, a removable hard disk, a compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), or some other form of storage medium known in the art. For example, the storage medium may be coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from and write information to the storage medium. Of course, the storage medium may be a component of the processor. The processor and the storage medium may be located within an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC may be located within a core network interface device. Of course, the processor and the storage medium may reside as separate components within the core network interface device.

[0239] In one or more of the foregoing examples, those skilled in the art will recognize that the functions described in this application may be implemented by hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If the functions are implemented by software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted as one or more instructions or code in a computer-readable medium. This computer-readable medium includes computer-readable storage media and communication media. Communication media includes any medium that facilitates the transmission of a computer program from one place to another. Storage media may be any available medium accessible by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer.

[0240] In the above specific implementation, the objectives, technical solutions and beneficial effects of the present application are further described in detail. It should be understood that the above description is only a specific implementation of the present application and is not intended to limit the protection scope of the present application. Any modifications, equivalent replacements, improvements, etc. made based on the technical solutions of the present application shall fall within the protection scope of the present application. [Explanation of symbols]

[0241] 1 Communication device, AP, STA 2 Communication device, AP, STA 11 Processing Unit 12 Transceiver Unit 21 Transceiver unit 22 Analysis Unit 23 Acquisition Units 1000 Communication Equipment 1001 processor 1002 Transceiver 1003 memory

Claims

1. generating, by a beamformer, a null data packet announcement NDPA frame, wherein an NDPA variant field included in the NDPA frame is set to 00, and the NDPA frame includes a first field and / or a station information field; transmitting, by the beamformer, the NDPA frame; Including, the first field includes one or more disambiguation bits, each disambiguation bit being 1, and the bit positions of the one or more disambiguation bits in the first field are B11+16*k, where k is a natural number; the station information field includes one or more disambiguation bits, each disambiguation bit is 1, and the bit positions of the one or more disambiguation bits in the station information field are B27+16*q, where q is an integer greater than or equal to −1; Null Data Packet Announcement NDPA frame transmission method.

2. receiving, by the beamformee, an NDPA frame, wherein an NDPA variant field included in the NDPA frame is set to 00, and the NDPA frame includes a first field and / or a station information field; analyzing, by the beamformee, the NDPA frame; Including, the first field includes one or more disambiguation bits, each disambiguation bit being 1, and the bit positions of the one or more disambiguation bits in the first field are B11+16*k, where k is a natural number; the station information field includes one or more disambiguation bits, each disambiguation bit is 1, and the bit positions of the one or more disambiguation bits in the station information field are B27+16*q, where q is an integer greater than or equal to −1; NDPA frame transmission method.

3. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the NDPA frame includes an NDPA variant extension subfield, the NDPA variant extension subfield indicating a variant type of the NDPA frame.

4. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the NDPA variant extension subfield is in the first field in the NDPA frame, or the NDPA variant extension subfield is in a sounding dialog token field in the NDPA frame.

5. 5. The method of claim 3 or 4, wherein if the value of the NDPA variant extension subfield is any value within a first value range, it means that the NDPA variant extension subfield is set to a validated state.

6. the NDPA frame includes an NDPA variant extension subfield, the NDPA variant extension subfield indicating a variant type of the NDPA frame; If the value of the NDPA variant extension subfield is any value within a first value range, it means that the NDPA variant extension subfield is set to a validated state; The step of analyzing the NDPA frame by the beamformee includes:

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising: when the beamformee determines through analysis that the NDPA variant extension subfield in the NDPA frame is in the demonstrated state, stopping analysis of fields following the NDPA variant extension subfield in the NDPA frame.

7. the length of the first field is 2*n octets, the length of the station information field is 2*m octets, n and m are both natural numbers, and m+n is greater than 0; k is less than or equal to n-1, 7. The method of claim 1, wherein q is equal to or less than m-2.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein n and m are determined based on the variant type indicated by the NDPA variant extension subfield in the NDPA frame.

9. the first field or the sounding dialogue token field in the NDPA frame includes first indication information and second indication information; The method of claim 7 , wherein the first indication indicates n and the second indication indicates m.

10. the first two octets within the first field comprise an association identifier field, the value of the association identifier field being greater than 2007; 9. The method according to claim 1, wherein k is a natural number equal to or greater than 1.

11. The method comprises: transmitting, by the beamformer, a sounding physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU); 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, by the beamformer, a beamforming report, the beamforming report carrying channel state information.

12. The method comprises: receiving a sounding PPDU by the beamformee; and obtaining channel state information based on the sounding PPDU; 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising: transmitting, by the beamformee, a beamforming report, the beamforming report carrying the channel state information.

13. The method according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the sounding PPDU includes a general purpose signal U-SIG field, a physical layer version indication subfield included in the U-SIG field indicates a physical layer version of the sounding PPDU, and the physical layer version of the sounding PPDU matches the variant type indicated by the NDPA variant extension subfield in the NDPA frame.

14. a processing unit configured to generate a null data packet announcement NDPA frame, wherein an NDPA variant field included in the NDPA frame is set to 00, and the NDPA frame includes a first field and / or a station information field; a transceiver unit configured to transmit the NDPA frame; Equipped with the first field includes one or more disambiguation bits, each disambiguation bit being 1, and the bit positions of the one or more disambiguation bits in the first field are B11+16*k, where k is a natural number; the station information field includes one or more disambiguation bits, each disambiguation bit is 1, and the bit positions of the one or more disambiguation bits in the station information field are B27+16*q, where q is an integer greater than or equal to −1; Communication equipment.

15. a transceiver unit configured to receive an NDPA frame, wherein an NDPA variant field included in the NDPA frame is set to 00, and the NDPA frame includes a first field and / or a station information field; a parsing unit configured to parse the NDPA frame; Equipped with the first field includes one or more disambiguation bits, each disambiguation bit being 1, and the bit positions of the one or more disambiguation bits in the first field are B11+16*k, where k is a natural number; the station information field includes one or more disambiguation bits, each disambiguation bit is 1, and the bit positions of the one or more disambiguation bits in the station information field are B27+16*q, where q is an integer greater than or equal to −1; Communication equipment.

16. 16. The communication device of claim 14, wherein the NDPA frame includes an NDPA variant extension subfield, the NDPA variant extension subfield indicating a variant type of the NDPA frame.

17. 17. The communication device of claim 16, wherein the NDPA variant extension subfield is in the first field in the NDPA frame, or the NDPA variant extension subfield is in a sounding dialog token field in the NDPA frame.

18. 18. The communication device of claim 16 or 17, wherein if the value of the NDPA variant extension subfield is any value within a first value range, it means that the NDPA variant extension subfield is set to a validated state.

19. the NDPA frame includes an NDPA variant extension subfield, the NDPA variant extension subfield indicating a variant type of the NDPA frame; If the value of the NDPA variant extension subfield is any value within a first value range, it means that the NDPA variant extension subfield is set to a validated state; Specifically, the analysis unit:

16. The communication device of claim 15, configured to stop parsing fields following the NDPA variant extension subfield in the NDPA frame if analysis determines that the NDPA variant extension subfield in the NDPA frame is in the demonstrated state.

20. the length of the first field is 2*n octets, the length of the station information field is 2*m octets, n and m are both natural numbers, and m+n is greater than 0; k is less than or equal to n-1, 20. The communication device according to claim 16, wherein q is equal to or less than m-2.

21. 21. The communication device of claim 20, wherein n and m are determined based on the variant type indicated by the NDPA variant extension subfield in the NDPA frame.

22. the first field or the sounding dialogue token field in the NDPA frame includes first indication information and second indication information; 21. The communication device according to claim 20, wherein the first instruction information indicates n and the second instruction information indicates m.

23. the first two octets within the first field comprise an association identifier field, the value of the association identifier field being greater than 2007; 23. The communication device according to claim 14, wherein k is a natural number equal to or greater than 1.

24. The transceiver unit further comprises: Transmit a sounding PPDU, and 15. The communications device of claim 14, configured to receive a beamforming report, the beamforming report carrying channel state information.

25. The transceiver unit is further configured to receive a sounding PPDU, and the communication device further includes an acquisition unit configured to acquire channel state information based on the sounding PPDU; The communications device of claim 15 , wherein the transceiver unit is further configured to: transmit a beamforming report, the beamforming report carrying the channel state information.

26. The communication device of claim 24 or 25, wherein the sounding PPDU includes a U-SIG field, a physical layer version indication subfield included in the U-SIG field indicates a physical layer version of the sounding PPDU, and the physical layer version of the sounding PPDU matches the variant type indicated by the NDPA variant extension subfield in the NDPA frame.

27. 14. A computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon program instructions that, when executed on a computer, enable the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 13.

28. 14. A computer program product comprising program instructions which, when executed on a computer, enable the computer to carry out the method of any one of claims 1 to 13.

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