Multilink group addressable traffic transmission method, apparatus, chip system, medium, and system

Abstract

This provides a multilink group addressing traffic transmission method that helps reduce the power consumption of local multilink devices. [Solution] The method generates group addressing traffic instruction information by a first access point (AP) of an access point multilink device (AP MLD). The group addressing traffic instruction information indicates whether one or more APs of the AP MLD have group addressing traffic. The method also transmits the group addressing traffic instruction information by the first AP to a station multilink device (STA MLD).

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This application relates to the field of communication technology, and more specifically to a multi-link group addressed traffic transmission method and apparatus. [Background technology]

[0002] To significantly improve the service transmission speed of Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) systems, the IEEE 802.11ax standard further adopts Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDMA) technology, building upon the existing Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) technology. OFDMA technology supports multiple nodes simultaneously transmitting and receiving data, achieving multi-station diversity gain. Furthermore, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced a new free frequency band from 5925 to 7125 MHz, referred to as the sub-6 GHz band. Therefore, the operating range of 802.11ax-compliant devices is extended from 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz to 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz, and similar frequencies.

[0003] IEEE 802.11 next-generation Wi-Fi protocol extremely high throughput (EHT) devices must be forward compatible. Therefore, these devices also support the operating spectrum of 802.11ax-compliant devices, namely the 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz frequency bands. IEEE 802.11ax next-generation Wi-Fi protocol EHT devices perform channel division based on the recently released, available 6GHz frequency band. The supported bandwidth, for example, 320MHz, exceeds the maximum supported bandwidth of 160MHz at 5GHz.

[0004] Peak throughput for IEEE 802.11ax next-generation Wi-Fi ultra-high throughput devices can be increased by using ultra-wide bandwidth, and also by increasing the number of streams through the coordination of multiple frequency bands (2.4GHz, 5GHz, 6GHz) and similar, for example, by increasing the number of streams to 16. Furthermore, peak throughput can be further increased by the coordination of multiple channels within the same frequency band. This reduces service transmission delay. In this specification, multiple frequency bands or multiple channels are collectively referred to as multiple links.

[0005] IEEE 802.11ax next-generation Wi-Fi EHT devices use multilink cooperation technology to aggregate multiple non-contiguous links to form ultra-wide bandwidth. In addition to aggregating higher bandwidth, multilink cooperation technology can be further used to transmit data packets of the same traffic to the same station simultaneously. Thus, multilink cooperation technology can be seen to significantly improve transmission speed. However, in downlink group addressing traffic transmission, more energy is consumed because each station in the station multilink device needs to be periodically active to observe whether each access point in the access point multilink device is transmitting downlink group addressing traffic. [Overview of the project] [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] This application provides a multilink group addressing traffic transmission method and apparatus that helps reduce the power consumption of local multilink devices.

[0007] According to a first aspect, the present application provides a multilink group addressable traffic transmission method. In this method, a first access point AP of an access point multilink device AP MLD generates group addressable traffic instruction information, which indicates whether one or more APs of the AP MLD have group addressable traffic. The first AP transmits the group addressable traffic instruction information.

[0008] In one implementation, group addressing traffic instruction information indicates whether one AP in the AP MLD has group addressing traffic, and the AP is either the first AP or another AP in the AP MLD. Compared to a system where a station managed by the first AP can only know whether the first AP has group addressing traffic, this implementation improves the flexibility of group addressing traffic notification.

[0009] In an alternative implementation, group addressing traffic instruction information indicates whether each of the multiple APs in the AP MLD has group addressing traffic. Compared to a system where a station managed by a first AP can only know whether that first AP has group addressing traffic, in this implementation, each STA in the STA MLD does not need to periodically monitor whether the corresponding AP has group addressing traffic. In other words, in this implementation, one station in the STA MLD can know whether multiple APs have group addressing traffic. This reduces the power consumption of the STA MLD.

[0010] In another implementation, group addressing traffic instruction information indicates whether each AP in the AP MLD has group addressing traffic. Compared to a system where the station managed by the first AP can only know whether the first AP has group addressing traffic, in this implementation, each STA in the STA MLD does not need to periodically monitor whether the corresponding AP has group addressing traffic. In other words, in this implementation, one station in the STA MLD can know whether each AP has group addressing traffic. This reduces the power consumption of the STA MLD.

[0011] In one implementation, each bit of the group addressing traffic instruction information corresponds to each AP in one or more APs of the AP MLD. Each bit indicates whether the AP corresponding to the bit has group addressing traffic, or the value of the bit indicates whether the AP corresponding to the bit has group addressing traffic.

[0012] In one implementation, each bit of the group addressing traffic instruction information corresponds to each AP in the AP MLD. Each bit indicates whether the AP corresponding to the bit has group addressing traffic, or the value of the bit indicates whether the AP corresponding to the bit has group addressing traffic.

[0013] In one implementation, the correspondence between each bit of the group addressing traffic instruction information and each AP in the AP MLD, or the correspondence between each bit of the group addressing traffic instruction information and each AP in one or more APs of the AP MLD, can be established by using an association response frame or management frame between the STA MLD and the AP MLD.

[0014] In another implementation form, the correspondence between each bit of the group address specified traffic indication information and each AP of the AP MLD, or the correspondence between each bit of the group address specified traffic indication information and each AP in one or more APs of the AP MLD is predefined. In another implementation form, the group address specified traffic indication information is a part of the bits in the partial virtual bitmap field within the traffic indication map TIM element.

[0015] In one implementation form, the group address specified traffic indication information is a part of consecutive bits of the partial virtual bitmap field. For example, when the group address specified traffic indication information is bits 1 to bits 7 in the partial virtual bitmap field, bits 1 to bits 7 in the partial virtual bitmap field can indicate whether each AP of the AP MLD has group address specified traffic.

[0016] In another implementation form, the group address specified traffic indication information is a part of non - consecutive bits of the partial virtual bitmap field. For example, when the group address specified traffic indication information is bits 1, bits 2, and bits 4 in the partial virtual bitmap field, bits 1, bits 2, and bits 4 in the partial virtual bitmap field can indicate whether each AP of the AP MLD has group address specified traffic.

[0017] In one implementation form, the first AP of the AP MLD generates association identifier configuration information, and the association identifier configuration information indicates the association identifier corresponding to each AP of the AP MLD. The first AP transmits the association identifier configuration information. The AID of each AP corresponds to each bit of the group address specified traffic indication information. That is, each bit of the group address specified traffic indication information indicates whether the AP corresponding to the AID of that bit has group address specified traffic. The association identifier configuration information can be transmitted to the STA MLD in an association response frame or a management frame.

[0018] In another implementation form, the AID corresponding to the first bit or the start bit of a part of consecutive bits corresponding to the group address specified traffic indication information is pre-defined. In other words, the first bit or the start bit of a part of consecutive bits is pre-defined. Alternatively, the start bit arrangement of the group address specified traffic indication information in the partial virtual bitmap field within the TIM element is pre-defined. Alternatively, the AID of the AP of the AP MLD is continuously allocated from AID x, and AID x is pre-defined. In this implementation form, the group address specified traffic indication information is a part of consecutive bits in the partial virtual bitmap field within the traffic indication map TIM element.

[0019] The association identifier assigned to each AP of the AP MLD is different from the association identifier assigned to the station associated with the AP. In other words, the association identifier assigned to each AP of the AP MLD cannot be assigned by the AP to the station managed by the AP. However, the AIDs assigned by different APs to the stations managed by the AP are relatively independent. In other words, the AIDs assigned by different APs to the stations managed by the AP can be the same.

[0020] In addition, if one or more APs within the AP MLD operate in multi-BSSID mode and are APs that are transmission BSSID APs, then in the two implementation forms mentioned above, the AIDs of the APs in the AP MLD are assigned sequentially starting from AID x, where x is max{2^(N1), 2^(N2),...,2^(N y ),...,2^(N n )} is equal to the number of transmission BSSID APs in AP MLD, where N y This is the value of the Maximum Basic Service Set Identifier (BSSID) indicator field within the Multiple Basic Service Set Identifier (Multiple BSSID) element, which is broadcast by the y-th AP, which is the transmitting BSSID AP of AP MLD.

[0021] Alternatively, the AP AIDs of AP MLD are assigned sequentially starting from AID x, where x is max{2^(N1),2^(N2),...,2^(N y ),...,2^(N n )} is equal to n is the number of APs in AP MLD, and N y This is the value of the Maximum Basic Service Set Identifier (BSSID) indicator field in the Multiple Basic Service Set Identifier (Multiple BSSID) element broadcast by the y-th AP in the AP MLD. The value of the Maximum BSSID indicator field for APs that are not operating in default non-transmitting or multi-BSSID mode is 0.

[0022] In other words, the starting bit or first bit of a portion of consecutive bits within a partial virtual bitmap field that corresponds to group addressing traffic instruction information is bit x, where x is max{2^(N1),2^(N2),...,2^(N y ),...,2^(N n )} is equal to. Alternatively, the AID corresponding to the start bit or the first bit of a portion of consecutive bits that are in a partial virtual bitmap field and correspond to group addressing traffic instruction information is AID x, where x is max{2^(N1),2^(N2),...,2^(Ny ),..., 2 ^ (N n )}. For the physical meanings of n and N, refer to the above description. Details will not be explained again here. y For the physical meanings of n and N, refer to the above description. Details will not be explained again here.

[0023] In addition, the group address - specified traffic indication information corresponds to a part of the bits in the partial virtual bitmap field within the TIM element. Therefore, the first AP determines the offset field and the length field within the TIM element based on the start byte N1 and the end byte N2 in the traffic indication virtual bitmap field of the group address - specified traffic indication information. The first AP may transmit the offset field and the length field. This helps a station associated with the first AP and within the STA MLD to determine whether an AP corresponding to each bit of the group address - specified traffic indication information has group address - specified traffic based on the group address - specified traffic indication information, the offset field, and the length field.

[0024] Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, the group address - specified traffic indication information can be compressed by using an offset. In one implementation, the APs corresponding to each bit of the group address - specified traffic indication information are sequentially assigned based on the size of the identifier of the link on which each AP in the AP MLD operates, and it is assumed that none of the multiple APs with consecutive link identifiers have group address - specified traffic. In this case, the group address - specified traffic indication information may only include bits corresponding to APs other than the multiple APs, that is, the group address - specified traffic indication information transmitted by the first AP may include bits corresponding to APs other than the multiple APs.

[0025] For the sake of clarity, the group addressing traffic instruction information generated by the first AP is referred to as the first group addressing traffic instruction information, and the group addressing traffic instruction information transmitted by the first AP is referred to as the second group addressing traffic instruction information. The second group addressing traffic instruction information may be the same as the first group addressing traffic instruction information, or it may be a portion of the bits of the first group addressing traffic instruction information. The offset of the second group addressing traffic instruction information relative to the first group addressing traffic instruction information is abbreviated as the offset of the second group addressing traffic instruction information.

[0026] Assume that none of the APs corresponding to the bits before byte N1 and all the bits following byte N2 of the first group addressable traffic instruction information have group addressable traffic, and that N1 is greater than or equal to 0 and N2 is greater than or equal to 1. In this case, the second group addressable traffic instruction information is all the bits starting from byte N1 and ending in byte N2 of the first group addressable traffic instruction information.

[0027] In this case, the length of the second group addressing traffic instruction information transmitted by the first AP is N2-N1+1, and the offset of the second group addressing traffic instruction information is N1 / 2. Furthermore, the station managed by the first AP in STA MLD receives the length and offset and may determine that the received second group addressing traffic instruction information indicates whether the AP corresponding to bits N1*8 to ((N2+1)*8-1) has group addressing traffic, that the AP corresponding to all bits from bit 0 to bit N1*8-1 does not have group addressing traffic, and that the AP corresponding to bit (N2+1)*8 and all subsequent bits does not have group addressing traffic.

[0028] In this application, bit a is the a-th bit. For example, bit 0 is the 0th bit.

[0029] Assume that none of the APs corresponding to bits N0*8-1 to N1*8-1 of the first group addressing traffic instruction information have group addressing traffic, and none of the APs corresponding to bit N2*8 and subsequent bits have group addressing traffic. In this case, the second group addressing traffic instruction information consists of the bits starting from byte 0 and ending at byte N0-1 of the first group addressing traffic instruction information, and the bits starting from byte N1 and ending at byte N2 of the first group addressing traffic instruction information. In this case, the length of the second group addressing traffic instruction information transmitted by the first AP is N0+N2-N1+1, and the offset of the second group addressing traffic instruction information is N1-N0. Furthermore, in STA MLD, the station managed by the first AP receives the length and offset, determines that the received second group addressing traffic instruction information indicates bits 0 to (N0-1)*8-1, determines whether the AP corresponding to bits (N1-1)*8+1 to N2*8+1 has group addressing traffic, and may determine that none of the APs corresponding to bits (N0-1)*8 to (N1-1)*8 have group addressing traffic.

[0030] In another implementation, when none of multiple APs with consecutive association identifiers have group addressing traffic, the partial virtual bitmap field cannot carry the bits corresponding to these association identifiers. That is, the amount of bits of group addressing traffic instruction information in the partial virtual bitmap field is reduced using an offset within the TIM element. Assume that the group addressing traffic instruction information is a partial virtual bitmap field within the TIM element.

[0031] If none of the APs whose AIDs correspond to bits before byte N1 and all bits following byte N2 in the traffic instruction virtual bitmap field have group addressing traffic, and N1 is greater than or equal to 0 and N2 is greater than or equal to 1, then the group addressing traffic instruction information is all bits in the traffic instruction virtual bitmap field, starting from byte N1 and ending with byte N2. In this case, the length field of the TIM element transmitted by the first AP is N2 - N1 + 1 + 3, and the offset of the TIM element is (1 / 2)N1. Furthermore, the station managed by the first AP in the STA MLD determines, based on the received length and offset, that the APs whose AIDs correspond to bits N1*8 to ((N2+1)*8-1) have group addressing traffic, that the APs whose AIDs correspond to all bits from bit 0 to bit N1*8-1 do not have group addressing traffic, and that the APs whose AIDs correspond to bit (N2+1)*8 and all subsequent bits do not have group addressing traffic.

[0032] If none of the APs have group-addressed traffic for the AID corresponding to all bits from bytes N0 to N1-1 of the traffic instruction virtual bitmap field, the group-addressed traffic instruction information consists of bits from byte 0 to byte N0-1 of the traffic instruction virtual bitmap field, and bits from byte N1 to byte N2 of the traffic instruction virtual bitmap field. In this case, the length field of the TIM element transmitted by the first AP is N0+N2-N1+1+3, and the offset of the TIM element is (N1-N0)1 / 2. Furthermore, a station managed by the first AP in STA MLD may determine, based on the length field and the offset of the received TM element, that the received group addressing traffic instruction information indicates bits 0 to (N0-1)*8-1, determine whether the AP with the AID corresponding to bits (N1-1)*8+1 to N2*8+1 has group addressing traffic, and determine that the AP with the AID corresponding to bits (N0-1)*8 to (N1-1)*8 does not have group addressing traffic.

[0033] Optionally, the group addressing traffic instruction information transmitted by the first AP is carried in a delivery traffic indication map (DTIM) beacon frame. Furthermore, the first AP transmits the group addressing traffic after transmitting the DTIM beacon frame.

[0034] Optionally, for beacon frames, group addressing traffic instruction information is carried only in DTIM beacon frames. Optionally, group addressing traffic instruction information may be further carried in other frames such as TIM beacon frames, management frames, data frames, or control frames.

[0035] Optionally, if group addressing traffic instruction information is carried in a TIM beacon frame, management frame, data frame, or control frame, and if the first AP has an AP that provides group addressing traffic, the first AP may further transmit a distribution traffic instruction map DTIM beacon frame and group addressing traffic after the DTIM beacon frame.

[0036] According to a second aspect, the present application further provides a multilink group addressable traffic transmission method. This method is described in terms of a station multilink device STA MLD. In this method, a first station STA of the STA MLD receives group addressable traffic instruction information from an AP MLD, and the group addressable traffic instruction information indicates whether one or more APs of the AP MLD have group addressable traffic.

[0037] Optionally, the first STA may determine or know, based on group addressing traffic instruction information, whether one or more APs have group addressing traffic.

[0038] In one implementation, group addressing traffic instruction information indicates whether one AP in the AP MLD has group addressing traffic, and the AP is either the first AP or another AP in the AP MLD. In this implementation, the first STA can know whether the first AP or another AP in the AP MLD has group addressing traffic. This improves the flexibility of group addressing traffic notification.

[0039] In an alternative implementation, group addressing traffic instruction information indicates whether each of the multiple APs in the AP MLD has group addressing traffic. In this implementation, the first STA may know whether multiple APs have group addressing traffic, thereby eliminating the need for each STA in the STA MLD to periodically monitor whether the corresponding AP has group addressing traffic. This reduces the power consumption of the STA MLD.

[0040] In another implementation, the group addressing traffic instruction information indicates whether each AP in the AP MLD has group addressing traffic. In this implementation, the first STA may know whether each AP in the AP MLD has group addressing traffic, and as a result, each STA in the STA MLD does not need to periodically monitor whether the corresponding AP has group addressing traffic. This reduces the power consumption of the STA MLD.

[0041] In one implementation, the first STA of the STA MLD is a station operating on the primary link, and the first STA of the STA MLD receiving group addressing traffic instruction information from the AP MLD includes the first STA of the STA MLD monitoring for the arrival of group addressing traffic instruction information from one AP of the AP MLD on the primary link.

[0042] Optionally, for beacon frames, group addressing traffic instruction information is only transmitted in DTIM beacon frames.

[0043] Optionally, group-addressed traffic instruction information may be carried in another frame, such as a TIM beacon frame, management frame, data frame, or control frame.

[0044] Optionally, group addressing traffic instruction information is carried in another frame, such as a TIM beacon frame, management frame, data frame, or control frame. The first STA may receive a DTIM beacon frame and then receive group addressing traffic. Accordingly, if another STA of the STA MLD learns, based on the group addressing traffic instruction information, that the corresponding AP also has group addressing traffic, the other STA may receive a DTIM beacon frame and then receive group addressing traffic.

[0045] Optionally, group addressing traffic is carried in DTIM beacon frames, and the first STA may receive the group addressing traffic after receiving the DTIM beacon frame. Accordingly, if another STA of the STA MLD learns, based on the group addressing traffic instruction information, that the corresponding AP also has group addressing traffic, the other STA may receive the DTIM beacon frame and then receive the group addressing traffic.

[0046] In another implementation, if the AP on the link on which the first STA is operating determines that it has group addressing traffic, the first STA may receive a distribution traffic instruction map DTIM beacon frame from the AP and the group addressing traffic after receiving the DTIM beacon frame on the link.

[0047] In one implementation, each bit of the group addressing traffic instruction information corresponds to each AP in the AP MLD. The value of the bit indicates whether the AP corresponding to the bit has group addressing traffic. For a detailed explanation of this implementation, please refer to the relevant content of the first embodiment. Further details will not be explained again here.

[0048] In another implementation, group addressing traffic instruction information is a subset of bits in a partial virtual bitmap field within a traffic instruction map (TIM) element. For a detailed explanation of this implementation, please refer to the relevant section of the first embodiment. Further details will not be provided here.

[0049] In yet another implementation, group addressing traffic instruction information is a portion of consecutive bits in a partial virtual bitmap field within a traffic instruction map (TIM) element. For a description of this implementation, please refer to the relevant content of the first embodiment. Further details will not be explained here.

[0050] Since AIDs corresponding to several bits in the partial virtual bitmap field are assigned to stations, these bits individually indicate whether the corresponding station has unicast traffic. Therefore, in this implementation, the association identifier assigned to each AP in the AP MLD is different from the association identifier assigned to the stations associated with each AP. In other words, the association identifier assigned to each AP in the AP MLD cannot be assigned by an AP to a station managed by that AP. However, AIDs assigned to stations managed by different APs are relatively independent. In other words, AIDs assigned to stations managed by different APs can be the same.

[0051] In one implementation configuration, the first STA of the STA MLD receives association identifier configuration information, which indicates the association identifier AID corresponding to each AP in the AP MLD. The AID of that AP corresponds to each bit of the group addressing traffic instruction information. Based on the association identifier configuration information, the first STA determines the AID corresponding to the AP in the AP MLD. For a detailed explanation of this implementation configuration, please refer to the relevant content of the first configuration. Further details will not be explained again here.

[0052] In another implementation, an AID is predefined within a partial virtual bitmap field, corresponding to the first bit of a set of consecutive bits that correspond to group addressing traffic instruction information. For a description of this implementation, please refer to the relevant content of the first embodiment. Further details will not be explained here.

[0053] In yet another implementation, the AID corresponding to the first bit of a subset of consecutive bits is AID x, where x is max{2^(N1),2^(N2),...,2^(N y ),...,2^(N n )} is equal to the number of transmission basic service set identifiers AP in AP MLD, where N y The transmission BSSID AP y The numerical value in the BSSID instruction field of the multiple basic service set identifiers broadcast by the AP. y This is the y-th transmission BSSID AP in AP MLD. For an explanation of this implementation configuration, please refer to the relevant content in the first configuration. Further details will not be explained here.

[0054] Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, group addressing traffic instruction information can be compressed by using an offset. In one implementation, the APs corresponding to each bit of the group addressing traffic instruction information are sequentially assigned based on the size of the link identifier on which each AP in the AP MLD operates, and it is assumed that none of the multiple APs with consecutive link identifiers have group addressing traffic. In this case, the group addressing traffic instruction information may include only bits corresponding to APs other than the multiple APs, that is, the group addressing traffic instruction information transmitted by the first AP may include bits corresponding to APs other than the multiple APs. For a description of this implementation, please refer to the relevant content of the first embodiment. Further details will not be explained again here.

[0055] According to a third aspect, the application provides an access point for an access point multilink device. The access point for the access point multilink device is the AP of AP MLD and has some or all of the functions of the first AP implemented in the method example of the first aspect. For example, the access point for the access point multilink device may have the functions of some or all embodiments of the application, or may have functions that independently implement any embodiment of the application. These functions may be implemented by hardware, or by hardware running corresponding software. The hardware or software may include one or more units or modules corresponding to those functions.

[0056] In one implementation, the structure of the access point of an access point multilink device may include a processing unit and a communication unit. The processing unit is configured to support the access point of the access point multilink device when performing the corresponding functions in the manner described above. The communication unit is configured to support communication between the access point of the access point multilink device and another device. The access point of the access point multilink device may further include a storage unit. The storage unit may be coupled with the processing unit and the transmission unit, and the storage unit stores the computer programs and data required for the access point of the access point multilink device.

[0057] In one implementation configuration, the access point of an access point multilink device is: A processing unit configured to generate group addressable traffic instruction information, which indicates whether one or more APs of the AP MLD have group addressable traffic. Includes a communication unit configured to transmit group-addressed traffic instruction information.

[0058] In an access point of an access point multilink device, the group addressable traffic instruction information generated by the processing unit can indicate whether the access point or another AP has group addressable traffic, and the communication unit then transmits the group addressable traffic instruction information to the station multilink device. In this way, any station in the station multilink device can monitor for the arrival of the group addressable traffic instruction information. This improves the flexibility of group addressable traffic notification. In addition, if the group addressable traffic instruction information indicates whether each AP or multiple APs in the AP MLD have group addressable traffic, any station in the station multilink device can know whether multiple APs have group addressable traffic. Therefore, it is not necessary for all stations in the station multilink device to monitor whether there is group addressable traffic on their respective links. This reduces the power consumption of the station multilink device.

[0059] In one example, the processing unit may be a processor, the communication unit may be a transceiver or communication interface, and the storage unit may be memory.

[0060] In another implementation, the access point of an access point multilink device is: A processor configured to generate group addressable traffic instruction information, which indicates whether one or more APs of the AP MLD have group addressable traffic. It includes a transceiver configured to transmit group-addressed traffic instruction information.

[0061] In an access point of an access point multilink device, group addressable traffic instruction information generated by the processor can indicate whether the access point or another AP has group addressable traffic, and the transceiver then transmits the group addressable traffic instruction information to the station multilink device. In this way, any station in the station multilink device can monitor for the arrival of group addressable traffic instruction information. This improves the flexibility of group addressable traffic notification. In addition, if the group addressable traffic instruction information indicates whether each AP or multiple APs in the AP MLD have group addressable traffic, any station in the station multilink device can know whether multiple APs have group addressable traffic. Therefore, it is not necessary for all stations in the station multilink device to monitor whether there is group addressable traffic on their respective links. This reduces the power consumption of the station multilink device.

[0062] Optionally, the access point of the access point multilink device may further implement any one or more implementations of the first embodiment. Further details will not be described here.

[0063] According to a fourth aspect, the present application further provides a station for a station multilink device. The station for the station multilink device is an STA of the STA MLD and has some or all of the functions of the first STA that implement the method example of the second aspect. For example, the station for the station multilink device may have the functions of some or all embodiments of the present application, or may have functions that independently implement any embodiment of the present application. These functions may be implemented by hardware, or by hardware running corresponding software. The hardware or software may include one or more units or modules corresponding to those functions.

[0064] In one implementation, the station structure of a station multilink device may include a processing unit and a communication unit. The processing unit is configured to support the station of the station multilink device when performing the corresponding functions in the manner described above. The communication unit is configured to support communication between the station of the station multilink device and another device. The station of the station multilink device may further include a storage unit. The storage unit may be coupled with the processing unit and the transmission unit, and the storage unit stores the computer programs and data required for the station of the station multilink device.

[0065] In one implementation configuration, the station of a station multilink device is: The AP MLD is configured to receive group addressing traffic instruction information, and includes a communication unit that indicates whether one or more APs of the AP MLD have group addressing traffic.

[0066] Optionally, the station in the station multilink device may further include a processing unit.

[0067] The processing unit is configured to determine whether one or more APs have group addressable traffic based on group addressable traffic instruction information.

[0068] In a station multilink device, the processing unit can determine, based on group addressable traffic instruction information, whether one or more APs have group addressable traffic. Specifically, a station in a station multilink device can know not only whether the AP associated with the station has group addressable traffic, but also whether another AP in the AP MLD has group addressable traffic. This improves the flexibility of group addressable traffic notification. In addition, the group addressable traffic instruction information indicates whether multiple APs or each AP in the AP MLD have group addressable traffic. That is, any STA in a station multilink device can know whether multiple APs or each AP in the AP MLD have group addressable traffic. Therefore, not all STAs in an STA MLD need to monitor whether their corresponding APs have group addressable traffic. This reduces the power consumption of the STA MLD.

[0069] In one example, the processing unit may be a processor, the communication unit may be a transceiver or communication interface, and the storage unit may be memory.

[0070] In another implementation, the station of a station multilink device is: The system includes a transceiver configured to receive group addressable traffic instruction information from the AP MLD, which indicates whether one or more APs of the AP MLD have group addressable traffic.

[0071] Optionally, stations in a station multilink device may also be equipped with a processor.

[0072] The processor is configured to determine whether one or more APs have group addressable traffic based on group addressable traffic instruction information.

[0073] In a station multilink device, the processor can determine, based on group addressable traffic instruction information, whether one or more APs have group addressable traffic. Specifically, a station multilink device can know not only whether the AP associated with the station has group addressable traffic, but also whether another AP in the AP MLD has group addressable traffic. This improves the flexibility of group addressable traffic notification. In addition, the group addressable traffic instruction information indicates whether multiple APs or each AP in the AP MLD have group addressable traffic. That is, any STA in an STA MLD can know whether multiple APs or each AP in the AP MLD have group addressable traffic. Therefore, not all STAs in an STA MLD need to monitor whether their corresponding APs have group addressable traffic. This reduces the power consumption of the STA MLD.

[0074] Optionally, the station of the station multilink device may further implement any one or more implementations of the second embodiment. Further details will not be described here.

[0075] According to a fifth aspect, one embodiment of the present invention provides a computer-readable storage medium configured to store a computer program. When the computer program is executed in a communication device, the communication device executes a multilink group addressing traffic transmission method according to the first aspect.

[0076] According to a sixth aspect, one embodiment of the present invention provides a computer-readable storage medium configured to store a computer program. When the computer program is executed in a communication device, the communication device executes a multilink group addressing traffic transmission method according to a second aspect.

[0077] According to a seventh aspect, the present application further provides a computer program product including a computer program. When the computer program product is executed on a communication device, the communication device is enabled to perform a multilink group addressing traffic transmission method according to the first aspect.

[0078] According to the eighth aspect, the present application further provides a computer program product including a computer program. When the computer program product is executed on a communication device, the communication device is enabled to perform a multilink group addressing traffic transmission method according to the second aspect.

[0079] According to a ninth aspect, the present application provides a chip system. The chip system comprises at least one processor and interface configured to support any AP of an AP MLD, for example, a first AP, which implements the functions of the first aspect, for example, the function of determining or processing at least one of data and information in the manner described above. In a possible design, the chip system further comprises memory, which is configured to store computer programs and data required by the AP of the AP MLD. The chip system may include a chip, or it may include a chip and another discrete component.

[0080] According to a tenth aspect, the present application provides a chip system. The chip system comprises at least one processor and interface configured to support any STA of an STA MLD, for example, a first STA, which implements the functions of a second aspect, for example, the function of determining or processing at least one of data and information in the manner described above. In a possible design, the chip system further comprises memory, which is configured to store computer programs and data required for the STA of the STA MLD. The chip system may include a chip, or it may include a chip and another discrete component. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0081] [Figure 1] This is a schematic diagram of the structure of AP MLD and STA MLD according to one embodiment of this application. [Figure 2] This is a schematic diagram of the frame format of a TIM element according to one embodiment of this application. [Figure 3(a)] This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication system 100 according to one embodiment of this application. [Figure 3(b)] This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication system 200 according to one embodiment of this application. [Figure 3(c)] This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication system 300 according to one embodiment of this application. [Figure 4] This is a schematic diagram of a group addressing traffic transmission method 100 according to one embodiment of this application. [Figure 5] This is a schematic flowchart of a multilink group addressing traffic transmission method 200 according to one embodiment of this application. [Figure 5a] This is a schematic diagram of the MLD parameter field in a multilink group addressing traffic transmission method according to one embodiment of this application. [Figure 5b] This is a schematic diagram of the capability information field in a multilink group addressing traffic transmission method according to one embodiment of this application. [Figure 5c] This is a schematic diagram of another capability information field in a multilink group addressing traffic transmission method according to one embodiment of this application. [Figure 5d] This is a schematic diagram of an RNR element in a multilink group addressing traffic transmission method according to one embodiment of this application. [Figure 5e] This is a schematic diagram of the TBTT information field in a multilink group addressing traffic transmission method according to one embodiment of this application. [Figure 6] This is a schematic diagram of a multilink group addressing traffic transmission method 300 according to one embodiment of this application. [Figure 7] This is a schematic flowchart of a multilink group addressing traffic transmission method 400 according to one embodiment of this application. [Figure 8] This is a schematic diagram of a partial virtual bitmap field according to one embodiment of the present application. [Figure 9] This is a schematic diagram of a multilink group addressing traffic transmission method 500 according to one embodiment of this application. [Figure 10] This is a schematic diagram of the frame format of a BSSID element according to one embodiment of this application. [Figure 11] This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device 100 according to one embodiment of this application. [Figure 12] This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device 200 according to one embodiment of this application. [Figure 13] This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device 300 according to one embodiment of this application. [Figure 14] This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a chip according to one embodiment of this application. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0082] Next, the technical solution method in the embodiment of this application will be clearly and thoroughly described with reference to the accompanying drawings of the embodiment of this application.

[0083] To better understand the multilink group addressing traffic transmission method and related devices disclosed in the embodiments of this application, the relevant concepts in the embodiments of this application will first be explained.

[0084] 1. Multilink device

[0085] The wireless communication system applicable to the embodiments of this application may be a wireless local area network (WLAN) or a cellular network. The group addressing traffic transmission method may be implemented by a communication device within the wireless communication system or by a chip or processor within the communication device. The communication device may be a wireless communication device that supports simultaneous transmission performed on multiple links. For example, the communication device may be referred to as a multi-link device or a multi-band device. Compared to a device that supports only single-link transmission, a multi-link device has higher transmission efficiency and higher throughput.

[0086] A multilink device includes one or more affiliated stations (STAs). An affiliated STA is a logical station and may operate on a single link. An affiliated station may be an access point (AP) station or a non-access point station (non-AP STA). For ease of explanation, in this application, a multilink device whose affiliated station is an AP may be referred to as a multilink AP, a multilink AP device, or an AP multilink device (AP MLD). A multilink device whose affiliated station is a non-AP STA may be referred to as a multilink STA, a multilink STA device, or an STA multilink device (STA MLD). For ease of explanation, in embodiments of this application, "a multilink device includes an affiliated STA" is also concisely described as "a multilink device includes an STA."

[0087] Note that a multilink device contains multiple logical stations, each operating on a single link, but multiple logical stations are permitted to operate on the same link.

[0088] Multilink devices can implement wireless communication according to the 802.11 series protocols. For example, an extremely high-throughput (EHT) compliant station, or a station compliant with or compatible with 802.11be, implements communication with another device. Indeed, the other device may or may not be a multilink device.

[0089] For example, the multilink device in this embodiment of the present application may be a single-antenna device or a multi-antenna device. For example, the multilink device may have more than two antennas. The number of antennas provided in the multilink device is not limited to the embodiments of the present application. In the embodiments of the present application, the multilink device may allow traffic of the same access type to be transmitted over different links, or even allow the same data packets to be transmitted over different links. Alternatively, the multilink device may not allow traffic of the same access type to be transmitted over different links, but may allow traffic of different access types to be transmitted over different links.

[0090] For example, a multilink device is a device having wireless communication capabilities, which may be a device or a chip, processing system, or similar mounted on a device. A device to which a chip or processing system is mounted may implement the methods and functions of the embodiments of this application under the control of the chip or processing system. For example, the STA MLD in the embodiments of this application may have wireless transceiver capabilities, support 802.11 series protocols, and communicate with an AP MLD, another STA MLD, or a single-link device. For example, an STA MLD is any user communication device that enables a user to communicate with an AP and further with a WLAN. For example, an STA MLD may be a user device that can connect to a network, 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, or it may be an Internet of Things node in the Internet of Things, or an in-vehicle communication device in the Internet of Things. Alternatively, an STA MLD may be a chip and processing system in the aforementioned terminal.

[0091] In embodiments of this application, the AP MLD is a device that provides services to the STA MLD and may support the 802.11 series protocol. For example, the AP MLD may be a communication entity such as a communication server, router, switch, or bridge, or the AP MLD may include various forms of macro base stations, micro base stations, and relay stations. Indeed, the AP MLD may alternatively be a chip and processing system in various forms of devices to implement the methods and functions in embodiments of this application. In addition, multilink devices may support high-speed and low-latency transmission. With the continued development of application scenarios for wireless local area networks, multilink devices can be further applied to more scenarios, such as acting as sensor nodes in smart cities (e.g., smart water meters, smart electricity meters, or smart air sensing nodes), smart devices in smart homes (e.g., smart cameras, projectors, display screens, televisions, stereos, refrigerators, or washing machines), nodes in the Internet of Things, entertainment terminals (e.g., AR, VR, or other wearable devices), smart devices in smart offices (e.g., printers or projectors), internet devices in the Internet of Things, or infrastructure in everyday life scenarios (e.g., vending machines, self-service navigation consoles, self-checkout devices, or self-service food machines). Specific forms of STA MLD and AP MLD are not particularly limited to the embodiments of this application and are merely illustrative for the purposes of this description. Furthermore, the 802.11 protocol may support 802.11be or be a protocol compatible with 802.11be.

[0092] The frequency bands in which multilink devices operate are not limited, but may include sub 1GHz, 2.4GHz, 5GHz, 6GHz, and the high frequency 60GHz.

[0093] For example, the multilink device in the embodiments of this application may be a single-antenna device or a multi-antenna device. For example, the multilink device in the embodiments of this application may be a device having more than two antennas. The number of antennas provided in the multilink device is not limited to this embodiment of this application. Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing an AP MLD having multiple antennas and an STA MLD having a single antenna. The 802.11 standard focuses on the physical layer (PHY) and media access control (MAC) layers in the AP MLD and STA MLD.

[0094] 2. Link identifier

[0095] A link identifier represents one station operating on a single link. In other words, if multiple stations exist on a single link, multiple link identifiers are needed to represent each station. The link, as described later, sometimes represents a station operating on that link.

[0096] During data transmission, AP MLDs and STA MLDs can use link identifiers to identify the link or the station on the link. Before communication, AP MLDs and STA MLDs may first negotiate or communicate with each other about the correspondence between the link identifier and the link or the station on the link. Therefore, during data transmission, the link identifier is carried without transmitting a large amount of signaling information to indicate the link or the station on the link. This reduces signaling overhead and improves transmission efficiency.

[0097] In one example, a management frame, such as a beacon frame, sent by an AP MLD when establishing a Basic Service Set (BSS) carries one element. This element includes multiple link identifier information fields. The link identifier information fields may indicate the correspondence between a link identifier and a station operating on the link corresponding to that link identifier. In addition to the link identifier, the link identifier information fields also include one or more pieces of information from the following: Media Access Control (MAC) address, operating class, and channel number. One or more of the MAC address, operating class, and channel number may indicate a single link. For an AP, the AP's MAC address is the AP's BSSID (basic service set identifier). In another example, during a multilink device association process, the AP MLD and the STA multilink device negotiate multiple link identifier information fields. Multilink device association means that one AP in the AP MLD is associated once with one STA in the STA MLD. This association can help multiple STAs in an STA MLD be associated with multiple APs in an AP MLD, and one STA be associated with one AP.

[0098] In subsequent communications, the AP MLD or STA multilink device identifies or represents a station within the STA multilink device by using a link identifier. The link identifier may further represent one or more attributes of the station, such as its MAC address, operating class, and channel number. The MAC address may be replaced with the association identifier of the associated AP MLD. Optionally, if multiple stations operate on a single link, the meaning represented by the link identifier (which is a numerical ID) includes not only the operating class and channel number on which the link is located, but also identifiers of the stations operating on the link, such as the station's MAC address or the station's association identifier (AID).

[0099] 3. Traffic Instruction Map Elements

[0100] Traffic indication map (TIM) beacon frames and delivery traffic indication map (DTIM) beacon frames each carry traffic indication map (TIM) elements. The frame format of the TIM element fields is shown in Figure 2.

[0101] Element Identifier (ID) Field: The element identifier field is used to identify that the element shown in Figure 2 is a TIM element.

[0102] Length field: The length field indicates the length of the TIM element and counts the total length of the fields following the length field, specifically the total length in bytes of the DTIM count field, DTIM period field, bitmap control field, and partial virtual bitmap field.

[0103] DTIM Count Field: The DTIM Count field indicates the number of remaining TIM beacon frames between the arrival of the current beacon frame carrying the TIM element and the arrival of the next DTIM beacon frame. In other words, the DTIM Count field is a count value, and its count value is variable. When the value of the DTIM Count field is 0, it indicates that the current beacon frame is a DTIM beacon frame. When the value of the DTIM Count field is not 0 or non-zero, it indicates that the current beacon frame is a TIM beacon frame.

[0104] DTIM Period Field: The DTIM Period field indicates the periodic duration of a DTIM beacon frame, i.e., the arrival interval. The arrival interval is measured in units of the DTIM beacon frame period. For example, if the DTIM period is set to 1, the DTIM count in each DTIM element field will be equal to 0; in other words, each beacon frame is a DTIM beacon frame.

[0105] Bitmap control field: As shown in Figure 2, bit 0 in the bitmap control field indicates whether the access point AP sends group-addressed data traffic after sending the DTIM beacon frame. In other words, bit 0 in the bitmap control field within the DTIM beacon frame indicates whether the AP buffers group-addressed traffic and that group-addressed traffic is not sent by using a group-addressed AID. Bits 1 through 7 in the bitmap control field indicate the offset of the partial virtual bitmap, which is in bytes (i.e., 8 bits).

[0106] Partial virtual bitmap: Each bit in the partial virtual bitmap field corresponds to one association identifier (AID) and indicates whether the station corresponding to the AID has unicast traffic. Alternatively, each bit in the partial virtual bitmap field corresponds to one group addressing AID and indicates whether the group of stations corresponding to the group addressing AID has downlink traffic. The partial virtual bitmap field is part of several bits in the traffic indication virtual bitmap field, which has 251 bytes and indicates whether stations corresponding to AID 0 through AID 2007 have downlink traffic.

[0107] The element ID field, length field, DTIM count field, DTIM period field, and bitmap control field each occupy one byte.

[0108] While embodiments of this application are described using a network deployed with IEEE 802.11 as an example, those skilled in the art will readily understand that various embodiments of this application can be extended to other networks using various standards or protocols, such as Bluetooth®, High Performance Radio LAN (HIPERLAN) (a wireless standard similar to the IEEE 802.11 standard and primarily used in Europe), wide area networks (WANs), wireless local area networks (WLANs), personal area networks (PANs), or other known or later developed networks. Accordingly, the various embodiments provided in this application are applicable to any suitable wireless network, regardless of coverage and wireless access protocol.

[0109] The wireless local area network in Figure 3(a) is used as an example to illustrate a communication system 100 to which embodiments of the present application apply. The communication system 100 includes stations 101 and 102. Station 101 communicates with station 102 via multiple links to improve throughput. Station 101 may be a multilink device, and station 102 may be a single-link device, a multilink device, or similar. In one scenario, station 101 is an AP MLD and station 102 is an STA MLD or station (e.g., a single-link station). In another scenario, station 101 is an STA MLD and station 102 is an AP (e.g., a single-link AP) or AP MLD. In yet another scenario, station 101 is an AP MLD and station 102 is an AP MLD or AP. In yet another scenario, station 101 is an STA MLD and station 102 is an STA MLD or STA (e.g., a single-link station). Certainly, the wireless local area network may include yet another device. The number and types of devices shown in Figure 3(a) are merely examples.

[0110] Figures 3(b) and 3(c) show schematic diagrams of the structures of communication systems 200 and 300. Communication systems 200 and 300 use an example in which multilink devices within a wireless local area network communicate with other devices via multiple links.

[0111] Figure 3(b) shows a scenario in which an AP MLD communicates with an STA MLD. The AP MLD includes affiliate AP1 and affiliate AP2. The STA MLD includes affiliate STA1 and affiliate STA2. The AP MLD and STA MLD communicate in parallel over Link 1 and Link 2.

[0112] Figure 3(c) shows a scenario in which AP MLD 601 communicates with STA MLD 602, STA MLD 603, and STA 604. AP MLD 601 includes affiliate AP601-1 through AP601-3. STA MLD 602 ​​includes three affiliate STAs: STA602-1, STA602-2, and STA602-3. STA MLD 603 includes two affiliate STAs: STA603-1 and STA603-2. STA604-1 and STA604 are single-link devices. AP MLD 601 may communicate with STA MLD 602 ​​using links 1, 2, and 3 separately, with STA MLD 603 using links 2 and 3, and with STA 604 using link 1. In one example, STA604 operates in the 2.4GHz frequency band. In STA MLD603, STA603-1 operates in the 5GHz frequency band, and STA603-2 operates in the 6GHz frequency band. In STA MLD 602, STA602-1 operates in the 2.4GHz frequency band, STA602-2 operates in the 5GHz frequency band, and STA602-3 operates in the 6GHz frequency band. AP601-1, operating in the 2.4GHz frequency band in AP MLD601, can perform uplink or downlink data transmission with STA604 and STA602-2 in STA MLD602 via link 1. AP601-2, operating in the 5GHz frequency band on AP MLD601, can perform uplink or downlink data transmission with STA603-1, operating in the 5GHz frequency band on STA MLD603, via link 2, and further perform uplink or downlink data transmission with STA602-2, operating in the 5GHz frequency band on STA MLD602, via link 2. AP601-3, operating in the 6GHz frequency band on AP MLD601, can perform uplink or downlink data transmission with STA602-3, operating in the 6GHz frequency band on STA MLD602, via link 3, and further perform uplink or downlink data transmission with STA603-2, operating in STA MLD, via link 3.

[0113] Note that Figure 3(b) only shows that the AP MLD supports two frequency bands. Figure 3(c) only shows an example where the AP MLD 601 supports three frequency bands (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz), each frequency band corresponding to one link, and the AP MLD 601 can operate on one or more links, such as link 1, link 2, or link 3. On the AP side or STA side, the links here can be further understood as stations operating on the links. In actual applications, the AP MLD and STA MLD may support more or fewer frequency bands. In other words, the AP MLD and STA MLD may operate on more or fewer links. This is not limited to this embodiment of the present application.

[0114] Currently, a single-link device, such as a station STA in energy-saving mode, periodically monitors for the arrival of traffic indication map (TIM) beacon frames and determines, based on bit 0 of the bitmap control field within the TIM beacon frame, whether there is group-addressed traffic after the delivery traffic indication map (DTIM) beacon frame. However, in a multi-link device scenario, it is assumed that bit 0 in the bitmap control field is also used to determine whether there is group-addressed traffic after the DTIM beacon frame. In this case, in the communication system shown in Figures 3(a) to 3(c), each STA in the STA MLD must periodically monitor for the arrival of TIM beacon frames on the link and know, based on the value of bit 0 in the bitmap control field of the TIM beacon frame being monitored by the STA, whether the AP on the link transmits group-addressed traffic after transmitting the DTIM beacon frame. If there is group-addressed traffic, the STA receives the group-addressed traffic transmitted by the AP after receiving the corresponding DTIM beacon frame. Group-addressed traffic is sent immediately after a DTIM beacon frame, for example, after a SIFS (short inter-frame space) time following the DTIM beacon frame.

[0115] In the 802.11 protocol, an STA generally has two operating modes: non-power-saving mode and power-saving mode. When an STA operates in non-power-saving mode, it is in an active state (also called an awakened state) regardless of whether there is data to be transmitted on the STA. When an STA operates in power-saving mode, it may be in an active state when data is transmitted by an AP. When there is no data transmission between the STA and the AP, the STA may be in a doze state to reduce power consumption. The STA may send a frame to the AP to indicate whether the STA is in power-saving mode. If the power-saving bit in the frame control field in the MAC header of the frame is set to 1, the AP is notified that the STA is in power-saving mode. If the power-saving bit in the frame control field in the MAC header of the frame is set to 0, the AP is notified that the STA is in non-power-saving mode.

[0116] In the group addressing traffic transmission method 100 shown in Figure 4, the communication between AP MLD601 and STA MLD602 in Figure 3(c) is used as an example. STA602-1 of STA MLD602 needs to monitor for the arrival of TIM beacon frame 1 on link 1 and use bit 0 of the bitmap control field in TIM beacon frame 1 to know whether AP601-1 will transmit group addressing traffic 1 after transmitting DTIM beacon frame 1. STA602-2 of STA MLD602 needs to monitor for the arrival of TIM beacon frame 2 on link 2 and use bit 0 of the bitmap control field in TIM beacon frame 2 to know whether AP601-2 will transmit group addressing traffic 2 after transmitting DTIM beacon frame 2. STA602-3 of the STA MLD602 needs to monitor for the arrival of TIM beacon frame 3 on link 3 and use bit 0 of the bitmap control field within TIM beacon frame 3 to know whether AP601-3 will send group addressing traffic 3 after sending TIM beacon frame 3. If the number of links of the STA MLD602 continues to increase, it can be seen that the power consumption of the STA MLD 602 ​​will increase significantly.

[0117] Therefore, reducing the power consumption of STA MLD becomes an urgent issue that needs to be addressed.

[0118] The multilink group addressing traffic transmission method provided in the embodiments of this application can reduce the power consumption of the STA MLD. This will be described in detail next with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0119] In the embodiments of this application, Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 2 are described separately. The difference between Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 2 is that Embodiment 1 is described by using an example in which each bit of group addressable traffic instruction information indicates whether the AP corresponding to that bit has group addressable traffic, while Embodiment 2 is described by using an example in which the group addressable traffic instruction information is a part of several bits in a partial virtual bitmap field within a TIM element.

[0120] Embodiment 1 Figure 5 shows a multilink group addressable traffic transmission method 200 according to one embodiment of the present application. The multilink group addressable traffic transmission method 200 is described by using an example in which the method 200 is implemented in a communication system including an AP MLD and an STA MLD. The AP MLD includes one or more APs, where the first AP is any one of the one or more APs. The STA MLD includes one or more STAs, where the first STA is any one of the one or more STAs. As described above, a multilink association may be established between the AP MLD and the STA MLD. The multilink group addressable traffic transmission method 200 may include, but is not limited to, the following steps.

[0121] Step S201: The first AP of AP MLD generates group addressing traffic instruction information.

[0122] The first AP is any AP in AP MLD.

[0123] Group addressable traffic instruction information may be referred to as a group addressable traffic instruction field or group addressable traffic instruction, not limited to this embodiment of the application. A description of group addressable traffic instruction information includes two expressions: (1) The group addressable traffic instruction information indicates whether one or more APs of the AP MLD have group addressable traffic. (2) The group addressable traffic instruction information indicates whether one or more APs of the AP MLD transmit group addressable traffic after transmitting a DTIM beacon frame. In another example, a description of group addressable traffic instruction information includes two expressions: (3) The group addressable traffic instruction information indicates whether one or more APs of the AP MLD buffer group addressable traffic. (4) The group addressable traffic instruction information indicates that group addressable traffic from one or more APs of the AP MLD is not transmitted in the form of a group addressable AID. In this embodiment of the application, expression (1) is used as an example of a subsequent description.

[0124] On the one hand, group-addressed traffic may include group-addressed management frames and group-addressed data frames, and the frame type is indicated by the type field identifier in the frame control field of the MAC header. On the other hand, group-addressed traffic can be classified into broadcast traffic and multicast traffic. In other words, group-addressed traffic transmitted by an AP is transmitted to stations associated with the AP or stations associated with the AP in a broadcast or group-addressed manner.

[0125] Within the same AP MLD, each AP independently transmits a group addressing management frame on the link on which the AP operates. The AP transmits the same group addressing data frame to each corresponding STA in the STA MLD associated with the AP on the link on which the AP operates. It can be understood that the group addressing management frame is at the link level and does not need to be received by conventional stations on other links or by STA MLDs that have not established an association on the link. This reduces power consumption for the corresponding stations. Each AP in the AP MLD transmits the same group addressing data frame on each link, thereby ensuring that stations in single-radio STA MLDs do not lose group addressing data frames, or that stations in single-radio STA MLDs do not need to frequently switch links to receive group addressing data frames. In one optional implementation, group addressing traffic indication information indicates whether one AP in the AP MLD has group addressing traffic. The AP may be the first AP or another AP in the AP MLD other than the first AP. For example, in Figure 3(c), the first AP is AP601-1, and the group addressing traffic instruction information generated by AP601-1 may indicate whether AP601-2 of AP MLD601 has group addressing traffic. Alternatively, the group addressing traffic instruction information generated by AP601-1 may indicate whether AP601-1 of AP MLD601 has group addressing traffic.

[0126] In another optional implementation, group addressable traffic instruction information indicates whether multiple APs in AP MLD have group addressable traffic. The multiple APs may be some of the APs in AP MLD, or all of the APs in AP MLD. For example, in Figure 3(c), the first AP is AP601-1, and AP601-1 generates group addressable traffic instruction information. The group addressable traffic instruction information may indicate whether AP601-1 of AP MLD601 has group addressable traffic, and whether AP601-2 has group addressable traffic. Alternatively, the group addressable traffic instruction information may indicate whether AP601-1 of AP MLD601 has group addressable traffic, whether AP601-2 has group addressable traffic, and whether AP601-3 has group addressable traffic.

[0127] In one optional implementation, each bit of the group addressable traffic instruction information corresponds to each AP in the AP MLD. The value of each bit indicates whether the AP corresponding to that bit has group addressable traffic, or each bit indicates whether the AP corresponding to that bit has group addressable traffic. Optionally, each bit of the group addressable traffic instruction information corresponds to each AP in the AP MLD based on the size of the link identifier on which the AP operates. In other words, the bit order of the group addressable traffic instruction information corresponds to the order of the link identifiers, and the link identifiers are the identifiers of the links on which each AP in the AP MLD operates.

[0128] In another implementation, the bits of the group addressable traffic instruction information correspond one-to-one with the link (or AP in the AP MLD). For example, each bit of the group addressable traffic instruction information is used together with each link identifier. Optionally, each bit of the group addressable traffic instruction information is placed in the target beacon transmission time (TBTT) information field within a Reduced Neighbor Report (RNR) element. In particular, the MLD (multi-link device) parameters subfield shown in Figure 5 is added to the TBTT information field, and the MLD parameters subfield includes the multi-link device identifier (MLD ID), link identifier (link ID), change sequence, and group addressable traffic instruction. The multilink device identifier indicates the identifier of the MLD in which the reported AP is located; the link identifier is used to identify the sequence number of the reported AP in the AP MLD; the change sequence number indicates the update count value of the key BSS parameter of the reported AP; and the group addressable traffic indication indicates whether the reported AP has group addressable traffic. The group addressable traffic indication may occupy 1 bit. Optionally, group addressable traffic may include group addressable management frame traffic and group addressable data frame traffic. In one implementation, group addressable management frame traffic and group addressable data frame traffic are indicated by two fields, for example, each field occupying 1 bit.In particular, the group addressable management frame traffic instruction and the group addressable data frame traffic instruction indicate whether the reported AP has the corresponding group addressable management frame traffic or the corresponding group addressable data frame traffic, respectively. In another implementation, only one of the group addressable management frame traffic or group addressable data frame traffic may be indicated by using a single field. For example, the group addressable management frame traffic instruction field indicates whether the reported AP has the corresponding group addressable management frame traffic, or the group addressable data frame traffic instruction field indicates whether the reported AP has the corresponding group addressable data frame traffic.

[0129] Optionally, an AP that transmits group addressing traffic instruction information may still indicate whether it has downlink group addressing traffic by using the existing method, namely bit 0 of the bitmap control field in the TIM element.

[0130] Generally, RNR elements are used to allow unassociated stations to discover elements of surrounding APs, while associated stations may ignore interpreting RNR elements. Therefore, this embodiment of the present application provides a method for indicating whether there is a group addressing traffic indication within an RNR element. Specifically, this method is implemented by using a capability information field in a beacon frame or probe response frame. A group addressing traffic flag is added to the capability information field, thereby indicating whether at least one reported AP has group addressing traffic in the RNR element. The group addressing traffic flag may be indicated by using one bit. For example, if one bit of the group addressing traffic flag is set to 1, it indicates that at least one reported AP has group addressing traffic. In an equivalent alternative, the one bit may be set to 0, which may indicate that at least one reported AP has group addressing traffic. As shown in Figure 5b, the group addressing traffic flag is added to the capability information field in a probe response frame. When the capability information field indicates a value of "There is group addressing traffic," an associated or unassociated station may be instructed to interpret the RNR element. The capability information field shown in Figure 5b may further include a Change Sequence Number Updated (CSN updated flag) indicating whether the value of the Change Sequence Number field of the reported AP changes. When the CSN updated flag indicates that the value of the Change Sequence Number field of at least one reported AP changes, an associated or unassociated station may be instructed to interpret the RNR element.

[0131] Alternatively, in another implementation, as shown in Figure 5c, an RNR flag is added to the capability element, thereby indicating whether the value of the change sequence number field of at least one reported AP changes or whether there is group addressable traffic, in other words, instructing the station to interpret the RNR element. The RNR flag may be represented by 1 bit. When the value of the RNR flag is set to 1, this indicates that at least one reported AP has "group addressable traffic" or that the value of the change sequence number field of at least one reported AP changes, instructing an associated or unassociated station to interpret the RNR element. Indeed, in an equivalent alternative, the value of the RNR flag as specified herein is set to 1. Alternatively, the value of the RNR flag may be set to 0, which may indicate that at least one reported AP has "group addressable traffic" or that the value of the change sequence number field of at least one reported AP changes.

[0132] In the two implementations shown in Figures 5b and 5c, the capability information fields further include the ESS (extended service set) field, IBSS (independent basic service set) field, Privacy field, Short Preamble field, Spectrum Management field, QoS (quality of service) field, Short Slot Time field, APSD (automatic power save delivery) field, Radio Measurement field, and EPD (Ethertype Protocol Discrimination) field. For details, see Protocol 802.11REVmd D 3.0. At the station end, for example, in an associated station or an associated station MLD, whether to parse the RNR element can be selected by using a 1-bit RNR flag appended to the capability element of the beacon frame, 1-bit group addressing traffic flag, or probe response frame, or by default, the RNR element is always parsed.

[0133] To further understand this embodiment of the present application, the RNR elements described in the above embodiments will be explained below.

[0134] Reduced Neighbor Report element: An AP includes a reduced neighbor report element in its management frame, such as a beacon frame or probe response frame. During a scan, the STA receives management frames transmitted by the AP, obtains information about surrounding APs based on the reduced neighbor report element in the management frame, and then selects the appropriate AP for association.

[0135] In particular, the RNR element typically carries one or more Neighbor AP info fields to describe information about one or more neighboring APs and the BSS to which the neighboring APs belong. This information is hereafter referred to as neighbor AP reduction information. Figure 5d shows the instruction format. The fields included in the reduction neighbor report element are shown in the figure.

[0136] The TBTT information header (Target Beacon Transmission Time (TBTT) info Header) field carries the following information:

[0137] TBTT info Field Type field: The TBTT info Field Type field indicates the type of TBTT info field. The TBTT info Field Type, together with the TBTT info Length field, indicates the format of the TBTT info field.

[0138] Filtered Neighbor AP field: The Filtered Neighbor AP field indicates whether the SSIDs of all BSSs carried in the Neighbor AP info field match the SSIDs in the probe request frame.

[0139] Reserved field (1 bit).

[0140] TBTT info count field: The TBTT info count field indicates the number of TBTT info fields included in the TBTT info set.

[0141] TBTT info Length field: The TBTT info length field indicates the length of each TBTT info field. Table 1 shows the format of specific information transported at different lengths. [Table 1]

[0142] Next, as shown in Figure 5e, the specific format of the TBTT information (TBTT info) field when the TBTT information length is 12 bytes is shown.

[0143] Neighbor AP Target Beacon Transmission Time Offset (Neighbor AP TBTT offset) field: The Neighbor AP TBTT offset field indicates the offset in beacon transmission time between the neighboring AP and the reporting AP.

[0144] BSS Identifier (BSSID) field: The BSS identifier field indicates the BSS identifier corresponding to the neighboring AP.

[0145] Short Service Set Identifier (Short SSID) field: The Short Service Set Identifier field indicates the service set identifier to which the neighboring AP belongs.

[0146] The 20MHz power spectral density represents the default transmit power, which is the power spectral density (PSD) equivalent isotropically radiated power (EIRP), and its unit is dBm / MHz.

[0147] BSS Parameter field: The BSS Parameter field indicates the relevant parameters of the adjacent AP. As shown in Figure 5e, the BSS Parameter field contains the following information:

[0148] On-channel tunneling mechanism recommended (OCT recommended) field: The On-channel tunneling mechanism recommended field indicates that the neighboring AP expects to exchange management-type MPDUs with the reporting AP by using the OCT mechanism.

[0149] Same Service Set Identifier (Same SSID) field: The Same Service Set Identifier indicates whether the neighboring AP and the reporting AP have the same SSID.

[0150] Multiple Basic Service Set Identifier (Multiple BSSID) field: The Multiple Basic Service Set Identifier indicates whether the neighboring AP belongs to a multiple BSSID set.

[0151] Transmitted Basic Service Set Identifier (Transmitted BSSID) field: The Transmitted Basic Service Set Identifier indicates whether an adjacent AP is a Transmitted BSSID or a non-transmitted BSSID when the adjacent AP is part of a multiple BSSID set.

[0152] The "Member of ESS With 2.4 / 5 GHz Co-Located AP" field indicates whether the adjacent AP shares a location with the 2.4 / 5 GHz AP (in other words, whether the adjacent AP is a 6 GHz only AP) and whether the adjacent AP is a member of the extended service set.

[0153] Unsolicited Probe Response Active field: The Unsolicited Probe Response Active field indicates whether the neighboring AP has enabled active probe response.

[0154] Co-located AP field: The Co-located AP field indicates whether the adjacent AP and the reporting AP are located in the same location.

[0155] For example, AP MLD601 includes three APs, and the group addressing traffic instruction information is 3 bits, each corresponding to one of the three APs in descending order of the identifiers of the links on which the three APs operate. Assume the identifiers of the links on which the three APs operate are as follows: If the link identifier of AP601-1 is 3, the link identifier of AP601-2 is 2, and the link identifier of AP601-3 is 1, then the first bit of the group addressing traffic instruction information corresponds to AP601-1, the second bit corresponds to AP601-2, and the third bit corresponds to AP601-3. If the group addressing traffic instruction information is 011, it indicates that AP601-1 does not have group addressing traffic, and AP601-2 and AP601-3 do have group addressing traffic. Indeed, the three bits could also correspond to each of the three APs in ascending order of the identifiers of the links on which the three APs operate.

[0156] In optional implementations, the number of bits in the group addressing traffic instruction information may be a fixed value. In a fixed number of bits, bits other than those corresponding to the number of APs may be set to zero by default. For example, the fixed number of bits is 4 bits, where the three most significant bits correspond to the three APs in the AP MLD, and the following bit is set to 0. In other words, the fixed number of bits may be greater than the number of APs in the AP MLD.

[0157] S202: The first AP transmits group addressing traffic instruction information.

[0158] S203: The first STA of the STA MLD receives group addressing traffic instruction information.

[0159] The first STA is a station or peripheral station managed by the first AP. Stations surrounding the first AP include stations managed by the first AP and stations that are not associated with it. Next, the group addressing traffic transmission method in this embodiment of the present application will be described by using a station managed by an AP as an example. Optionally, the first STA may be any station in the STA MLD that knows whether each AP or part of APs in the AP MLD has group addressing traffic. Thus, any station in the STA MLD may receive group addressing traffic instruction information from APs associated with the station.

[0160] S204: The first STA determines, based on the group addressing traffic instruction information, whether one or more APs within the AP MLD have group addressing traffic.

[0161] In one implementation, the multilink group addressing traffic transmission method further includes the following: For APs with group addressing traffic of AP MLD, the AP may transmit the group addressing traffic after transmitting the DTIM beacon frame that should be transmitted next following the group addressing traffic instruction information. Correspondingly, a station of STA MLD operating on the AP's link may receive the DTIM beacon frame on the link and receive the subsequent group addressing traffic. In particular, a station of STA MLD operating on the AP's link may receive and analyze the group addressing management frame following the DTIM beacon frame on the link and discard the group addressing data frame following the DTIM beacon frame on links other than the link where the first STA is located. In this case, the first STA of STA MLD has already received the corresponding group addressing data frame on the first STA's link. Optionally, the DTIM frame is the next DTIM beacon frame following the group addressing traffic instruction information. Optionally, the first AP may also have group addressing traffic, and the first AP may transmit group addressing traffic after transmitting the DTIM beacon frame that should be transmitted next following the group addressing traffic instruction information. Correspondingly, the first STA may receive the DTIM beacon frame after the group addressing traffic instruction information and receive group addressing traffic after the DTIM beacon frame.

[0162] In this embodiment of the present invention, group addressing traffic instruction information may be carried in a management frame, such as a beacon frame, TIM frame, data frame, control frame, or another frame.

[0163] Optionally, group addressing traffic instruction information may be placed in a DTIM beacon frame, and the beacon frame is a DTIM beacon frame in which the group addressing traffic instruction information is placed. In other words, with respect to beacon frames, group addressing traffic instruction information transmitted by the first AP can only be placed in a DTIM beacon frame. In particular, for an AP that has group addressing traffic and is an AP MLD, the AP may transmit group addressing traffic after transmitting the DTIM beacon frame that should be transmitted next after the group addressing traffic instruction information. Correspondingly, the station corresponding to the AP may, based on the group addressing traffic instruction information, know that the AP has group addressing traffic, receive the DTIM beacon frame, and then receive the group addressing traffic. In particular, a station of an STA MLD operating on the AP's link may receive and parse the group addressing management frame after the DTIM beacon frame on the link, and may discard the group addressing data frame after the DTIM beacon frame on links other than the link in which the first STA is located. In this case, the first STA of the STA MLD has already received the corresponding group addressing data frame on the link of the first STA. Optionally, the first AP also has group addressing traffic, and the first AP may transmit group addressing traffic after a DTIM beacon frame carrying group addressing traffic instruction information. Correspondingly, the first STA may receive group addressing traffic after a DTIM beacon frame carrying group addressing traffic instruction information.

[0164] For example, in the communication system 300 shown in Figure 3(c), suppose the group addressing traffic instruction information transmitted by AP 601-2 in AP MLD 601 is 111, the first bit of the group addressing traffic instruction information corresponds to AP 601-1, the second bit of the group addressing traffic instruction information corresponds to AP 601-2, and the third bit of the group addressing traffic instruction information corresponds to AP 601-3. As shown in Figure 3, AP 601-2 communicates with STA603-1 in STA MLD 603 and STA602-2 in STA MLD 602 ​​over link 2. Therefore, STA603-1 and STA602-2 are monitoring and can detect that the group addressing traffic instruction information transmitted by AP601-2 is 111.

[0165] In one implementation, STA602-2 can determine that AP601-1, AP601-2, and AP601-3 each have group addressing traffic. Furthermore, STA602-1 operating on link 1 of AP601-1 within STA MLD602 monitors the arrival of DTIM beacon frame 1 and subsequent group addressing traffic 1. STA602-2 operating on link 2 of AP601-2 within STA MLD602 monitors the arrival of DTIM beacon frame 2 and subsequent group addressing traffic 2. STA602-3 operating on link 3 of AP601-3 within STA MLD602 monitors the arrival of DTIM beacon frame 3 and subsequent group addressing traffic 3.

[0166] In another implementation, if group addressing traffic instruction information is carried in a DTIM beacon frame, STA 602-2 receiving the DTIM beacon frame may receive the group addressing traffic after the DTIM beacon frame. Another STA of STA MLD 602 ​​further needs to receive the DTIM beacon frame and the subsequent group addressing traffic on their respective links.

[0167] Optionally, the STA604 may instead monitor for the arrival of group addressable traffic instruction information on link 1. However, if the STA604 does not care whether other APs indicated by the group addressable traffic instruction information have group addressable traffic, the STA604 does not need to receive group addressable traffic from those APs. If the STA604 does care whether other APs indicated by the group addressable traffic instruction information have group addressable traffic, for example, if the STA604 has frequency band selection and reception capabilities, the STA604 can know whether other APs have group addressable traffic based on the group addressable traffic instruction information.

[0168] Regarding STA MLD603, STA603-1 may determine that AP601-1, AP601-2, and AP601-3 each have group addressing traffic, and that STA MLD603 does not have a station operating on link 1 of AP601-1. Therefore, STA603-1, operating on link 2 of AP601-2 within STA MLD603, monitors for the arrival of DTIM beacon frame 2 and subsequent group addressing traffic 2. STA603-2, operating on link 3 of AP601-3 within STA MLD603, monitors for the arrival of DTIM beacon frame 3 and subsequent group addressing traffic 3.

[0169] In another implementation, if group addressing traffic instruction information is carried in a DTIM beacon frame, STA 603-1, which receives the DTIM beacon frame, may receive the group addressing traffic after the DTIM beacon frame. Another STA of STA MLD603 further needs to receive the DTIM beacon frame and the subsequent group addressing traffic on their respective links.

[0170] It should be noted that the monitoring referred to in this invention may be understood as receiving.

[0171] Figure 6 shows a multilink group addressable traffic transmission method 300 between AP MLD601 and STA MLD602 in this example. As shown in Figure 6, STA MLD602 may use STA602-2 to monitor the arrival of group addressable traffic instruction information transmitted by AP601-2 and know whether AP601-1 and AP601-3 have group addressable traffic. In the group addressable traffic transmission method 100 shown in Figure 4, each STA of STA MLD602 needs to use TIM beacon frames to monitor the arrival of TIM beacon frames transmitted by AP MLD601 on their respective links and know whether AP MLD601 transmits group addressable traffic after the TIM beacon frame. Compared to method 100, this method significantly reduces the power consumption of STA MLD602.

[0172] In this embodiment of the present application, the first AP of the AP MLD may generate and transmit group addressable traffic instruction information, which can indicate whether an AP of the AP MLD has group addressable traffic. The AP may be the first AP or any AP other than the first AP of the AP MLD, and therefore an STA of the STA MLD may know whether an AP associated with the STA has group addressable traffic, or whether another AP of the AP MLD has group addressable traffic. Compared to a system in which each STA of the STA MLD can only monitor whether an AP associated with the STA has group addressable traffic, this embodiment of the present application may provide an improved degree of freedom for the AP MLD to notify of group addressable traffic.

[0173] In this embodiment of the present application, the first AP of the AP MLD may generate and transmit group addressing instruction information. The group addressing traffic instruction information may indicate whether each AP or some of the APs in the AP MLD have group addressing traffic, so that one station in the STA MLD can know whether several APs have group addressing traffic. Compared to a system in which each STA of the STA MLD can only monitor whether the APs associated with the STA have group addressing traffic, the power consumption of the STA MLD can be reduced in this embodiment of the present application.

[0174] In this embodiment of the present application, one or more APs in the AP MLD may transmit group addressing traffic instruction information, and one or more STAs in the STA MLD may monitor the arrival of the group addressing traffic instruction information. Next, an optional implementation configuration will be described.

[0175] Case 1: APs that send group addressable traffic instruction information and STAs that monitor the arrival of group addressable traffic instruction information.

[0176] In one optional implementation, each AP in the AP MLD transmits group addressable traffic instruction information, and any STA in the STA MLD can monitor for the arrival of group addressable traffic instruction information on a single link. Alternatively, any multiple STAs in the STA MLD can monitor for the arrival of group addressable traffic instruction information on the link on which each STA operates. For example, in Figure 3(c), AP601-1 and AP601-3 may also perform steps S201 and S202 and transmit group addressable traffic instruction information, respectively. Any one or more STAs in the STA MLD602 can monitor for the arrival of group addressable traffic instruction information on the corresponding link. The AP corresponding to each bit in the group addressable instruction information transmitted by each AP is fixed. When multiple STAs in the STA MLD602 monitor for the arrival of group addressable traffic instruction information on the corresponding link, the multiple STAs can be all or part of all STAs in the STA MLD. This implementation significantly improves the flexibility of the STA MLD in monitoring for the arrival of group addressable traffic instruction information. In addition, one or more of the STAs within the STA MLD monitor the arrival of group addressing traffic instruction information, which may reduce the power consumption of the STA MLD to some extent.

[0177] In another optional implementation, the first STA in steps S203 and S204 may be a station operating on the primary link in the STA MLD, and the first STA in the STA MLD monitors for the arrival of group addressing traffic instruction information transmitted by APs operating on the primary link.

[0178] In yet another optional implementation, the first STA in steps S203 and S204 is a station operating on the primary link in the STA MLD. Optionally, the STA MLD may notify the AP MLD of the primary link on which it operates. For example, a station on the primary link in the STA MLD notifies the AP corresponding to the STA in the AP MLD of the station's link identifier. In this way, an AP operating on the primary link in the AP MLD does not have to transmit group addressing traffic instruction information, while another AP does not. This helps reduce the power consumption of the AP MLD or allows the AP MLD to transmit group addressing traffic instruction information more effectively, for example, by repeatedly transmitting group addressing traffic instruction information on multiple links.

[0179] Next, we will describe the implementation of how AP MLD knows the primary link on which STA MLD operates.

[0180] In one implementation, the AP MLD may obtain primary link identifier information determined by the STA MLD. For example, the primary link identifier information may include one or more pieces of information, such as the operating class and channel number corresponding to the primary link, or the primary link's MAC address (or BSSID), or the primary link's identifier (ID). The specific contents of the primary link identifier information are not limited to this embodiment of the application. Any information that can be used to uniquely identify a station operating on a primary link may be the primary link identifier information described in this embodiment of the application. The primary link MAC address may be the MAC address of an STA operating on the primary link, or the MAC address of an AP operating on the primary link. If the primary link MAC address is the MAC address of an AP operating on the primary link, the primary link MAC address may also be referred to as the BSSID.

[0181] In one implementation, if the AP MLD is not associated with the STA MLD, the AP MLD obtaining primary link identifier information may include the following: The AP MLD receives an association request frame from the STA MLD. The link used by the AP MLD to receive the association request frame is the primary link determined by the STA MLD. Alternatively, the association request frame received by the AP MLD carries the link identifier information of the primary link determined by the STA MLD. That is, the AP MLD may determine the station on the link where the association request frame is received (or the station that transmits the association request frame) as the link identifier of the primary link. Alternatively, the AP MLD obtains the link identifier information of the primary link carried in the association request frame.

[0182] In a different implementation, if the AP MLD is already associated with the STA MLD, the AP MLD obtaining primary link identifier information may include the following: The AP MLD receives a message frame from the STA MLD, which carries the primary link identifier information determined by the STA MLD. The message frame may be a management frame, data frame, control frame, or similar.

[0183] In this implementation, it can be understood that the message frame is used to notify the AP MLD of a changed primary link in the STA MLD. In other words, the primary link identifier information carried in the message frame is the link identifier information of the changed primary link. Optionally, the management frame may further include a change count indicating the countdown before the primary link was changed.

[0184] Optionally, the AP MLD may select an alternative link as the primary link, and the link identifier of the primary link indicates the AP operating on the primary link. The AP must transmit the link identifier of the primary link to the station or peripheral station associated with the AP. In step S201, the first AP is the AP operating on the primary link. Therefore, the group addressable traffic instruction information transmitted by the first AP may indicate whether the first AP operating on the primary link has group addressable traffic. Alternatively, the group addressable traffic instruction information may indicate whether an AP operating on a secondary link has group addressable traffic. Alternatively, the group addressable traffic instruction information may indicate whether the first AP operating on the primary link has group addressable traffic, and whether an AP operating on a secondary link has group addressable traffic. The secondary link is a link on which another AP other than the first AP of the AP MLD is operating, or the secondary link includes a link other than the primary link among multiple links.

[0185] In this embodiment of the present application, the group addressing traffic instruction information transmitted by the first AP may be some or all bits of the group addressing traffic instruction information generated by the first AP. When the group addressing traffic instruction information transmitted by the first AP is some of the bits of the group addressing traffic instruction information generated by the first AP, signaling overhead can be reduced. This implementation will now be described.

[0186] Each bit of the group addressable traffic instruction information corresponds to each AP in the AP MLD. If none of the APs corresponding to bits before the N1th bit of the group addressable traffic instruction information have group addressable traffic, and none of the APs corresponding to bits after the N2nd bit have group addressable traffic, then the group addressable traffic instruction information transmitted by the first AP may contain only bits N1 through N2. N1 may be greater than or equal to 0 and less than the total number of bits of the generated group addressable traffic instruction information. N2 may be greater than or equal to N1 and less than or equal to the total number of bits of the generated group addressable traffic instruction information. This implementation is found to help reduce signaling overhead. In addition, in this case, the group addressable traffic instruction information further includes an offset field and a length field. The offset represents N1, and the length represents N2-N1+1 of the group addressable traffic information.

[0187] For the sake of clarity, in the following, group addressable traffic instruction information generated by the first AP will be referred to as the first group addressable traffic instruction information, and group addressable traffic instruction information transmitted by the first AP will be referred to as the second group addressable traffic instruction information. The second group addressable traffic instruction information may be the same as the first group addressable traffic instruction information, or the second group addressable traffic instruction information may be a portion of the bits of the first group addressable traffic instruction information.

[0188] If the second group addressable traffic instruction is part of the bits of the first group addressable traffic instruction, the first AP must also transmit the offset and length. The offset and length are used by the first STA in the STA MLD to determine which bits of the second group addressable traffic instruction correspond to which AP. The offset of the second group addressable traffic instruction relative to the first group addressable traffic instruction is abbreviated as the offset of the second group addressable traffic instruction. If the second group addressable traffic instruction is all the bits of the first group addressable traffic instruction, the first AP may or may not transmit the offset and length.

[0189] The first group addressing traffic instruction information includes bits corresponding to each AP in the AP MLD. In addition, the correspondence between each bit of the first group addressing traffic instruction information and each AP in the AP MLD may be communicated using the aforementioned management frame, or it may be predefined based on the size of the identifier of the link on which each AP operates. Specifically, the total number of bits in the first group addressing traffic instruction information may be equal to the total number of APs in the AP MLD. Optionally, the AP MLD may determine that each bit of the first group addressing traffic instruction information corresponds one-to-one with each AP, based on the size of the identifier of the link on which each AP in the AP MLD operates.

[0190] In the following, there are two cases. Specifically, in cases 2.1 and 2.2, we describe how the second group addressing traffic instruction information is part of the bits of the first group addressing traffic instruction information.

[0191] Case 2.1: The second group addressing traffic instruction information consists of all bits of the first group addressing traffic instruction information, starting from byte N1 and ending with byte N2, where N1 is 0 or greater and N2 is greater than or equal to N1.

[0192] Assume that none of the APs corresponding to bits 0 through N1*8-1 of the first group addressing traffic instruction information have group addressing traffic, and none of the APs corresponding to bit (N2+1)*8 and all subsequent bits have group addressing traffic. In this case, the second group addressing traffic instruction information transmitted by the first AP may consist of all bits of the first group addressing traffic instruction information, starting from byte N1 and ending with byte N2.

[0193] In this case, the length of the second group addressing traffic instruction information transmitted by the first AP is N2-N1+1, and the offset of the second group addressing traffic instruction information is N1. Furthermore, the station managed by the first AP in STA MLD receives the length and offset and may determine that the received second group addressing traffic instruction information indicates whether the AP corresponding to bits N1*8 to ((N2+1)*8-1) has group addressing traffic, that the AP corresponding to all bits from bit 0 to bit N1*8-1 does not have group addressing traffic, and that the AP corresponding to bit (N2+1)*8 and all subsequent bits does not have group addressing traffic.

[0194] For example, suppose the first group addressing traffic instruction information is 3 bytes, and none of the APs corresponding to the bits in byte 0 have group addressing traffic, and none of the APs corresponding to the bits in byte 2 have group addressing traffic. In this case, the second group addressing traffic instruction information may contain only the bits in byte 1. In this case, the length of the second group addressing traffic instruction information is 1 byte, and the offset is 1 byte. In this way, after receiving the second group addressing traffic instruction information, its length, and offset, the first STA can know that the bits in the second group addressing traffic instruction information indicate whether the APs corresponding to bits 8 through 15 have group addressing traffic, that none of the APs corresponding to the bits in byte 0 have group addressing traffic, and that none of the APs corresponding to the bits in byte 2 have group addressing traffic.

[0195] In an alternative implementation, to reduce the signaling overhead required to transmit the offset—in other words, to reduce the number of bits required to indicate the offset—the offset of the second group addressing traffic instruction information may be set to N1 / 2. In this case, N1 must be an even number of bytes.

[0196] For example, if the offset transmitted by the first AP is 0 and has a length of 1 byte, the second group addressing traffic instruction information transmitted by the first AP includes bits 0 to 7 in the first group addressing traffic instruction information. In this way, the first STA can determine, based on the values ​​of bits 0 to 7, whether the AP corresponding to bits 0 to 7 has group addressing traffic. If the offset transmitted by the first AP is 1 and has a length of 1 byte, the second group addressing traffic instruction information transmitted by the first AP includes byte 2, i.e., bits 16 to 22, in the first group addressing traffic instruction information. In this way, the first STA can determine, based on the values ​​of bits 16 to 22, whether the AP corresponding to bits 16 to 22 has group addressing traffic.

[0197] In another example, suppose the offset transmitted by the first AP is 0, the length is 1 byte, and the second group addressing traffic instruction information is 01100110, with bits 0 through 7 corresponding to AP1 through AP8 of the AP MLD, respectively. In this case, the first STA can know that AP1, AP4, AP5, and AP8 do not have group addressing traffic, and AP2, AP3, AP6, and AP7 do. Optionally, if bit 0 is predefined as meaningless, i.e., bit 0 does not correspond to any AP, then bits 1 through 7 correspond to AP1 through AP7 of the AP MLD, respectively, and the first STA can know that AP1, AP2, AP5, and AP6 have group addressing traffic, and AP3, AP4, and AP7 do not.

[0198] In Case 1, it can be seen that the correspondence between each AP in the AP MLD and each bit of the first group addressing traffic instruction information is determined through pre-definition or notification using a management frame. Furthermore, the second group addressing traffic instruction information is a part of the bits of the first group addressing traffic instruction information, reducing signaling overhead.

[0199] Case 2.2: The second group addressing traffic instruction information consists of the bits from byte 0 to byte N0-1 of the first group addressing traffic instruction information, and the bits from byte N1 to byte N2 of the first group addressing traffic instruction information.

[0200] In this case, we assume that none of the APs corresponding to bits N0*8-1 to N1*8-1 of the first group addressing traffic instruction information have group addressing traffic, and none of the APs corresponding to bit N2*8 and subsequent bits have group addressing traffic. In this case, the second group addressing traffic instruction information transmitted by the first AP consists of the bits starting from byte 0 and ending at byte N0-1 of the first group addressing traffic instruction information, and the bits starting from byte N1 and ending at byte N2 of the first group addressing traffic instruction information.

[0201] Correspondingly, the length of the second group addressing traffic instruction information transmitted by the first AP is N0+N2-N1+1, and the offset of the second group addressing traffic instruction information is N1-N0. Furthermore, the station managed by the first AP in STA MLD receives the length and offset, and can determine whether the AP corresponding to bits 0 to (N0-1)*8-1 and bits N1*8+1 to N2*8-1 has group addressing traffic, and can determine that none of the APs corresponding to bits (N0-1)*8 to (N1-1)*8 have group addressing traffic.

[0202] In one implementation, to reduce the number of bits required for the offset, the offset of the second group addressing traffic instruction information transmitted by the first AP is half the actual offset. Therefore, in this case, the offset transmitted by the first AP is (N1-N0) / 2, and its length is N0+N2-N1+1 bytes. In addition, since the offset is (N1-N0) / 2, if N0 is odd, then N1 is also odd. If N0 is even, then N1 is also even.

[0203] Embodiment 2 Figure 7 is a schematic flowchart of the multilink group addressing traffic transmission method 400. In the multilink group addressing traffic transmission method 400, the group addressing traffic instruction information is a portion of the bits in the partial virtual bitmap field within the traffic instruction map TIM element. That is, the group addressing traffic instruction information is a portion of the bits in the partial virtual bitmap field shown in Figure 2. As shown in Figure 7, the multilink group addressing traffic transmission method 400 includes, but is not limited to, the following steps.

[0204] S401: The first AP of AP MLD generates group addressing traffic instruction information.

[0205] S402: The first AP transmits the TIM element.

[0206] A TIM element can be carried in a beacon frame or in another management frame, such as a TIM frame. A partial virtual bitmap field within a TIM element contains group addressable traffic instruction information. Specifically, the group addressable traffic instruction information is a portion of the bits in the partial virtual bitmap field within the traffic instruction map TIM element.

[0207] In addition, as described in Embodiment 1, optionally, for beacon frames, group addressing traffic instruction information may be carried only in DTIM beacon frames. Optionally, group addressing traffic instruction information may be carried in other frames, such as management frames, data frames, or control frames.

[0208] For example, Figure 8 shows the bits of a partial virtual bitmap field in Figure 2. For example, the partial virtual bitmap field has 251 bytes, and each byte contains 8 bits. As shown in Figure 8, byte 0 contains bits 0 through 7, byte 1 contains bits 8 through 15, ..., and the rest can be inferred similarly. Byte 250 contains bits 2000 through 2007.

[0209] In one implementation, group addressing traffic instruction information is a sequence of bits in a partial virtual bitmap field. For example, if the group addressing traffic instruction information is bits 1 to 7 in the partial virtual bitmap field in Figure 8, then bits 1 to 7 in the partial virtual bitmap field may indicate whether each AP in the AP MLD has group addressing traffic.

[0210] In another implementation, group addressing traffic instruction information is a subset of non-contiguous bits in the partial virtual bitmap field in Figure 8. For example, if the group addressing traffic instruction information is bits 1, 2, and 4 in the partial virtual bitmap field, then bits 1, 2, and 4 in the partial virtual bitmap field may indicate whether each AP in the AP MLD has group addressing traffic.

[0211] S403: The first STA of STA MLD receives a TIM element.

[0212] S404: The first STA reads the group addressing traffic instruction information of the partial virtual bitmap field from the TIM element and determines whether one or more APs of the AP MLD have group addressing traffic.

[0213] For an explanation of step S401, please refer to the explanation of step S201 in the group addressing traffic transmission method 200 shown in Figure 5. Further details will not be explained here.

[0214] Optionally, the multilink group addressing traffic transmission method 400 further includes: For APs determined to have group addressing traffic, the STAs operating on the AP's link in the STA MLD receive the group addressing traffic after the DTIM beacon frame.

[0215] For example, group addressing traffic instruction information can be carried in any beacon frame, including TIM beacon frames and DTIM beacon frames. In this case, the DTIM beacon frame is either a DTIM beacon frame that follows a TIM beacon frame, or a DTIM beacon frame that carries the group addressing traffic instruction information.

[0216] In another example, group addressing traffic instruction information is carried only in DTIM beacon frames within beacon frames. In this case, the DTIM beacon frame is the DTIM beacon frame that carries the group addressing traffic instruction information.

[0217] Optionally, group addressing traffic instruction information may be carried in another frame, such as a management frame, data frame, or control frame.

[0218] In particular, for how to operate another AP in AP MLD and another STA in STA MLD, please refer to the description in some of the embodiments. Further details will not be explained again here.

[0219] As illustrated in Figure 2, a partial virtual bitmap is a subset of some bits in the traffic instruction virtual bitmap field, where each bit corresponds to one AID. Thus, in this embodiment of the present application, the AP MLD assigns AIDs to APs contained within the AP MLD and further uses the bits corresponding to the AIDs in the partial virtual bitmap field to individually indicate whether the APs of the AIDs have group addressing traffic. That is, the group addressing traffic instruction information is the bits corresponding to the AIDs. An AID assigned to an AP cannot be used by any AP in the AP MLD to assign to stations associated with that AP. Furthermore, it can be understood that an AID explicitly or implicitly assigned to an AP cannot be used by an STA MLD to establish a multilink association with the AP MLD in which the AP is located. The AIDs assigned to all stations in an STA MLD are the same. "Explicitly" means that the management frames sent by the AP carry the association identifier of each AP or the association identifier of each AP other than the first AP in the AP MLD where the AP is located, as described in Method 1 below. "Implicitly" refers to the AID corresponding to the bits occupied by the AP in the partial virtual bitmap field within the TIM element, as described in Method 2 below.

[0220] In the multilink group addressing traffic transmission method 400, group addressing traffic instruction information is carried in a partial virtual bitmap field within the beacon frame, which can improve the flexibility of group addressing traffic notification. In addition, the power consumption of the STA MLD can also be reduced when the group addressing traffic instruction information indicates whether there is group addressing traffic for multiple APs.

[0221] In the communication system 300 shown in Figure 3(c), assume that the AIDs of AP601-1 to AP601-3 in AP MLD601 are AID1, AID2, and AID3. In this case, AID1, AID2, and AID3 each correspond to three bits in the partial virtual bitmap field of the TIM beacon frame. In the multilink group addressing traffic transmission method 500 shown in Figure 9, AP601-2 transmits beacon frame 2, and the partial virtual bitmap field in beacon frame 2 carries group addressing traffic instruction information. STA602-1 monitors for the arrival of beacon frame 2 on link 2 and reads the three bits corresponding to AID1, AID2, and AID3 from the partial virtual bitmap field in beacon frame 2 as 111. In this case, STA602-1 can know that AP601-1 to AP601-3 each have group addressing traffic after their corresponding DTIM beacon frame. Furthermore, STA602-1 through STA602-3 may individually monitor for the arrival of subsequent group-addressed traffic on the link in which each of them operates. In this implementation, STA602-1 and STA602-3 in the STA MLD602 do not periodically monitor for the arrival of beacon frames to know whether the corresponding AP has group-addressed traffic. This reduces the power consumption of the STA MLD602.

[0222] If, optionally, group addressing traffic instruction information is carried only in DTIM beacon frames, then STA602-1, which receives a DTIM beacon frame, may receive group addressing traffic after the DTIM beacon frame. Another STA of STA MLD 602 ​​will also need to receive the DTIM beacon frame and subsequent group addressing traffic on their respective links.

[0223] Next, we will describe two methods for configuring AIDs. Specifically, in Method 1, the AP MLD explicitly assigns an AID to each AP included in the AP MLD, and the AP MLD assigns an AID to each AP by using association identifier configuration information. In Method 2, the AP MLD implicitly assigns an AID to each AP included in the AP MLD. Specifically, an AID is predefined in a partial virtual bitmap field, corresponding to the first bit of a set of consecutive bits corresponding to group addressing traffic instruction information. The method may further include two cases. Case 3.1 describes how to predefine the AID corresponding to an AP when the APs in the AP MLD do not operate in multi-BSSID (basic service set identifier) ​​mode. Case 3.2 describes how to assign an AID to each AP in the AP MLD when one or more APs in the AP MLD operate in multi-BSSID mode. In this case, in the partial virtual bitmap field of the TIM element, the AID needs to be further assigned to multiple APs in a multi-basic service set identifier set. Therefore, the AID assigned to each AP in the AP MLD cannot be the same as the AID assigned to multiple APs in the multiple basic service set identifier set. In other words, the bits corresponding to each AP in the AP MLD within the partial virtual bitmap field are not repeated with the bits corresponding to multiple non-transmitting APs in the multiple basic service set identifier set within the partial virtual bitmap field.

[0224] Method 1: AP MLD explicitly assigns an AID to each AP included in the AP.

[0225] Optionally, the AID configuration method may include, but is not limited to, the following steps: The first AP in the AP MLD generates association identifier configuration information, which indicates the association identifier corresponding to each AP in the AP MLD. In particular, the association identifier configuration information includes one or more association identifier subconfigurations, each of which corresponds to one AP, and the association identifier subconfigurations include the AP's AID and the AP's AID. Optionally, the association subconfiguration information may store information about a single AP and be carried in a sub-element or field within an MLD element used for information about one or more APs in the MLD. The first AP transmits the association identifier configuration information. Each bit of the group addressing traffic instruction information indicates whether the AP having the AID corresponding to that bit has group addressing traffic. The AID of each AP corresponds to each bit of the group addressing traffic instruction information.

[0226] In step S201, the first AP to generate and transmit association identifier configuration information and the first AP to generate and transmit group addressing traffic instruction information may be the same AP in AP MLD or may be different APs in AP MLD.

[0227] In one implementation, if the AP MLD is not associated with the STA MLD, the association identifier configuration information may be carried in the association response frame sent by the STA MLD. In another implementation, if the AP MLD is associated with the STA MLD, the association identifier configuration information may be carried in the management frame sent by the STA MLD.

[0228] In this implementation, since the AP MLD assigns an AID to each AP in the AP MLD, the group addressing traffic instruction information may be part of the bits of a partial virtual bitmap, or some of the bits may be continuous or discontinuous.

[0229] In addition, AIDs corresponding to several bits in the partial virtual bitmap field are assigned to stations, so these bits individually indicate whether the corresponding station has unicast traffic. Therefore, in this implementation, the association identifier assigned to each AP in the AP MLD is different from the association identifier assigned to the stations associated with each AP. In other words, the association identifier assigned to each AP in the AP MLD cannot be assigned by an AP to a station managed by that AP. However, AIDs assigned to stations managed by different APs are relatively independent. In other words, AIDs assigned to stations managed by different APs can be the same. For example, in the communication system 300 shown in Figure 3(c), suppose the AIDs assigned to AP601-1 through AP601-3 of AP MLD601 are AID1, AID2, and AID3. In this case, stations associated from AP601-1 to AP601-3, such as STA of STA MLD602, STA of STA MLD603, and STA604, cannot be assigned AID1, AID2, and AID3. However, the AID assigned to STA 602-1 of STA MLD 602 ​​by AP601-1 may be the same as the AID assigned to STA 602-2 of STA MLD 602 ​​by AP601-2. Even if the AID of STA602-1 is the same as the AID of STA602-2, STA602-1 and STA602-2 operate on different links, namely link 1 and link 2. Therefore, STA602-1 and STA602-2 with the same AID will not be confused. It can be further understood that the AIDs explicitly or implicitly assigned to APs in an AP MLD cannot be used for the STA MLD that establishes a multilink association with the AP MLD where the AP is located. The AIDs assigned to all stations in the STA MLD are the same. "Implicitly" refers to the AIDs corresponding to the bits occupied by the AP in the partial virtual bitmap field within the TIM element, as described in Method 2 below.

[0230] Optionally, since each STA in an STA MLD is in a different base service set (BSS), an AP MLD can assign an AID to each STA MLD. In other words, the STAs in an STA MLD share one AID, and no confusion arises. Alternatively, an AP MLD can assign an AID to each STA in an STA MLD. In other words, each STA in an STA MLD has its own AID.

[0231] In this implementation, the AID is assigned to each AP in the AP MLD, and the partial virtual bitmap field within the TIM element is used to notify the STA MLD whether each AP in the AP MLD has group addressing traffic. Compared to the method in which the group addressing traffic processing method 100 notifies each AP on a link whether there is group addressing traffic by using bit 0 in the bitmap control field within the TIM beacon frame on each link, this implementation may offer improved flexibility in notifying group addressing traffic. In addition, the power consumption of the STA MLD may also be reduced when the group addressing traffic indication information indicates whether multiple APs have group addressing traffic.

[0232] For example, in the communication system 300 shown in Figure 3(c), assume that the AIDs assigned to AP601-1 through AP601-3 of AP MLD601 are AID1, AID2, and AID3. In this case, AID1, AID2, and AID3 each correspond to three bits in the partial virtual bitmap field within the TIM element.

[0233] If selected, multiple AIDs assigned to multiple APs of AP MLD are consecutive.

[0234] Optionally, a partial virtual bitmap field cannot carry group addressing traffic instruction information for the AP sending the partial virtual bitmap field (referred to as the reporting AP), but it can carry group addressing traffic instruction information for another AP in the MLD where the reporting AP is located. The reporting AP's group addressing traffic instruction information is also indicated by bit 0 of the bitmap control field.

[0235] This specification describes two implementations in which no bits are carried. One implementation is in which a partial virtual bitmap field carries bits corresponding to the reporting AP, but these bits are reserved and meaningless. The other implementation is in which the partial virtual bitmap field does not carry bits corresponding to the reporting AP. This is applicable to other embodiments of the present invention and will not be described in detail again.

[0236] Method 2: AP MLD implicitly assigns an AID to each AP included in the AP.

[0237] When AP MLD implicitly assigns an AID to each AP included in AP MLD, it is necessary to consider whether there are APs in AP MLD operating in multiple basic service set identifier mode, and whether the APs operating in multiple basic service set identifier mode are transmission APs. Therefore, Method 2 is explained in two separate cases. Specifically, Case 3.1 describes how to assign an AID to each AP included in AP MLD when none of the APs in AP MLD operate in multiple basic service set identifier mode, and Case 3.2 describes how one or more APs in AP MLD operate in multiple basic service set identifier mode, and at least one AP is a transmission AP within the multiple basic service set identifier set.

[0238] To facilitate understanding, the related concepts of multiple Basic Service Set identifiers (BSSIDs) will be explained first.

[0239] In one implementation, a Multiple Basic Service Set (BSSID) identifier set (sometimes referred to as a Multiple BSSID set) can be understood as a set of several cooperative APs. All cooperative APs use the same operating class, channel number, and antenna interface. In a Multiple BSSID set, there is only one Transmitted BSSID AP, and the other APs are Nontransmitted BSSID APs. Information about the Multiple BSSID set (i.e., Multiple BSSID elements) is carried in beacon frames, probe response frames, or neighbor reports transmitted by the transmitted BSSID AP. Information about the BSSID of a nontransmitted BSSID AP is derived by the station based on the Multiple BSSID element in the beacon frame, probe response frame, neighbor report, or similar. The BSSID of a nontransmitted BSSID AP is calculated using the BSSID of the transmitted BSSID AP and the BSSID Index field in the Multiple BSSID-index element within the nontransmitted BSSID profile of the transmitted BSSID AP. For specific methods, please refer to the Draft 802.11REVmd_D 3.0 protocol.

[0240] In another implementation, it can be understood that a set of multiple BSSIDs includes multiple APs. Each AP manages one BSS, and different APs may have different SSIDs and permissions, such as security mechanisms or transmission opportunities.

[0241] In a multiple BSSID set, only APs whose BSSID is a transmitted BSSID can send beacon frames and probe response frames. Therefore, if a probe request frame sent by an STA is sent to an AP whose BSSID is a nontransmitted BSSID in a multiple BSSID set, the AP whose BSSID is a transmitted BSSID in a multiple BSSID set must help respond to the probe request frame and send a probe response frame.

[0242] In a set of multiple BSSIDs, the BSSID of one AP may be configured as a Transmitted BSSID, and such an AP may be referred to as a Transmitted AP. The BSSID of another AP may be configured as a Nontransmitted BSSID, and such an AP may be referred to as a Nontransmitted AP.

[0243] The frame format for a multiple BSSID element is shown in Figure 10. A multiple BSSID element includes an element ID field, a length field, a maximum BSSID indicator field, and an optional sub-element field. The maximum BSSID indicator field indicates the maximum number n BSSIDs included in the multiple BSSID set, and the optional sub-element field contains information about the BSSID of a nontransmitted BSSID AP.

[0244] The maximum number of APs allowed in a set of multiple BSSIDs is 2^(N). n ) and N nThis is the value indicated by the MaxBSSID indicator field within the multiple BSSID elements in Figure 7. Therefore, to indicate whether a non-transmitting BSSID AP whose NonTxBSS ID (identifier) ​​is 1 to 2n-1 has group addressing traffic, bits 1 to 2^(N) of the traffic indicator virtual bitmap field are used. n )-1 can each be assigned to a non-transmitting BSSID AP in a multiple BSSID set. The NonTxBSS ID value is equal to the value of the BSSID index field of the multiple BSSID-index element in the nontransmitted BSSID profile of the multiple BSSID element. The nontransmitted BSSID profile is in an optional sub-element field.

[0245] Case 3.1: None of the APs in AP MLD are operating in multiple basic service set identifier mode.

[0246] In one implementation, each bit of the group addressing traffic instruction information described in S201 corresponds to each AP in the AP MLD. Therefore, the starting bit placement of the group addressing traffic instruction information in the partial virtual bitmap field within the TIM element can be determined in a predefined manner.

[0247] In other words, the AP AIDs in the AP MLD are assigned sequentially, starting with AID x, for example, by sequentially assigning AIDs in descending or ascending order of the size of the link identifier on which the AP operates. AID x is predefined. Alternatively, the first bit or start bit of the group addressing traffic instruction information in the partial virtual bitmap field within the TIM element is predefined.

[0248] In this implementation, some of the bits corresponding to the group addressing traffic instruction information are contiguous within the partial virtual bitmap field of the TIM element. In other words, the group addressing traffic instruction information corresponds to a contiguous portion of bits within the partial virtual bitmap field of the TIM element.

[0249] For example, AP MLD implicitly assigns AIDs to its multiple APs, that is, it assigns a default, consecutive segment of AIDs to all APs in AP MLD. For example, the AIDs for all APs in AP MLD are assigned consecutively, starting with AID 1 by default. Suppose AP MLD has three APs, namely AP 1, AP 2, and AP 3. In this case, AID1, AID2, and AID3 are assigned to AP1, AP2, and AP3 respectively by default.

[0250] By default, AIDs are assigned in the order of the link identifiers on which the APs operate. If the link identifiers for AP1, AP2, and AP3 are Link Identifier 3, Link Identifier 2, and Link Identifier 1, respectively, then AID3, AID2, and AID1 are assigned to AP1, AP2, and AP3 by default.

[0251] In this implementation, the AID corresponding to each AP does not need to be notified to the station managed by the AP by using the association response frame, management frame, or similar described in the previous implementation; it is known to the station by default. This helps reduce signaling overhead.

[0252] In addition, since non-transmitting APs in a multiple BSSID set cannot transmit beacon frames, this implementation is also applicable to scenarios where one or more APs in AP MLD operate in multiple BSSID mode, but one or more APs are non-transmitting APs. In other words, none of the APs in MLD are transmitting APs in a multiple BSSID set.

[0253] Optionally, a partial virtual bitmap field cannot carry group addressing traffic instruction information for the AP sending the partial virtual bitmap field (referred to as the reporting AP), but it can carry group addressing traffic instruction information for another AP in the MLD where the reporting AP is located. The reporting AP's group addressing traffic instruction information is still indicated by bit 0 of the bitmap control field. In this case, the bits corresponding to the group addressing traffic instruction information in the partial virtual bitmap field remain consecutive, and only the reporting AP's group addressing traffic instruction information is skipped. For example, AID1, AID2, and AID3 are implicitly assigned to AP1, AP2, and AP3 in the AP MLD, respectively, or AP1, AP2, and AP3 correspond to bits 1 through 3 in the traffic instruction virtual bitmap field. When AP1 sends group addressing traffic instruction information, the group addressing traffic instruction information includes only the group addressing traffic instructions for AP2 and AP3, and bits 1 and 2 in the partial virtual bitmap field are used. When AP2 sends group addressing traffic instruction information, the group addressing traffic instruction information includes only the group addressing traffic instructions for AP1 and AP3, and bits 1 and 2 in the partial virtual bitmap field are used.

[0254] Case 3.2: One or more APs in AP MLD operate in multiple BSSID mode, and at least one AP is the transmission AP in the multiple BSSID set.

[0255] Assume that the AP MLD has a total of n transmission BSSID APs, the value indicated by the MaxBSSID indicator field of the multiple BSSID set where the y-th transmission BSSID AP is located is Ny, and the configuration or predefined bits corresponding to the APs in the AP MLD start with bit x of the traffic instruction virtual bitmap field. Alternatively, assume that there are a total of n APs in the AP MLD, or that n APs belong to the multiple BSSID set. N APs are not operating in multiple BSSID mode. y This is equal to 0, and N is an AP that operates in multiple BSSID mode and is a non-transmitting BSSID AP. y This is equal to 0, and the AP is operating in multiple BSSID mode and is the transmitting BSSID AP. y This value is equal to the value indicated by the MaxBSSID indicator field of the multiple BSSID sets where the AP is located.

[0256] In one implementation, the group addressing traffic instruction information starts with bit x of the traffic instruction virtual bitmap field, where x is max{2^(N1),2^(N2),...,2^(N y ),...,2^(N n It is equal to )}.

[0257] In other words, AID x is the AID that lies within a partial virtual bitmap field and corresponds to the first bit of a set of consecutive bits corresponding to the group addressing traffic instruction information. Alternatively, the AP AIDs of the AP MLD are assigned sequentially from AID x, where x is max{2^(N1),2^(N2),...,2^(N y ),...,2^(N n )}. Alternatively, the configuration or predefined bits corresponding to APs in the AP MLD, which are located within the traffic instruction virtual bitmap, start with bit x. x is max{2^(N1),2^(N2),...,2^(N y ),...,2^(N n )}.

[0258] For example, AP MLD has two APs, namely AP1 and AP2. Both AP1 and AP2 are APs that operate in multiple BSSID mode and are transmitting BSSID APs. The maximum BSSID indicator field in the multiple BSSID element transmitted by AP1 is 3, and the maximum BSSID indicator field in the multiple BSSID element transmitted by AP2 is 2. In this case, the maximum number of nontransmitted BSSID APs in the multiple BSSID set supported by AP1 is 7, and the maximum number of nontransmitted BSSID APs in the multiple BSSID set supported by AP2 is 3. Therefore, the starting AID in the AID assigned to AP1 and AP2 by AP MLD is AID 8, or the starting bit of AP1 and AP2 in the traffic instruction virtual bitmap field is bit 8.

[0259] In addition, this implementation is also applicable to scenarios where one or more APs in the AP MLD operate in multiple BSSID mode. Optionally, the partial virtual bitmap field does not carry group addressing traffic instruction information for the AP sending the partial virtual bitmap field (referred to as the reporting AP), but may carry group addressing traffic instruction information for another AP in the MLD where the reporting AP is located. The reporting AP's group addressing traffic instruction information is still indicated by bit 0 of the bitmap control field. In this case, the bits corresponding to the group addressing traffic instruction information in the partial virtual bitmap field remain consecutive, and only the reporting AP's group addressing traffic instruction information is skipped. In the example above, the start bit for AP 1 and AP 2 in the traffic instruction virtual bitmap field is bit 8, and AP 1 and AP 2 in the AP MLD correspond to bits 8 and 9 in the traffic instruction virtual bitmap field. When AP 1 sends group addressing traffic instruction information, the group addressing traffic instruction information includes only AP 2's group addressing traffic instruction, and bit 8 in the partial virtual bitmap field is used. When AP 2 sends group addressing traffic instruction information, the group addressing traffic instruction information includes only AP 1's group addressing traffic instruction, and bit 8 in the partial virtual bitmap field is used.

[0260] Similarly, the multilink group addressable traffic transmission method 400 and the multilink group addressable traffic transmission method 500 may alternatively be as described in the multilink group addressable traffic transmission method 200, where one or more APs in the AP MLD transmit a beacon frame carrying group addressable traffic instruction information, and one or more STAs in the STA MLD monitor the arrival of that beacon frame. The difference is that in the multilink group addressable traffic transmission method 400 and the multilink group addressable traffic transmission method 500, the group addressable traffic instruction information is carried in a partial virtual bitmap field within a TIM element. Correspondingly, one or more APs in the AP MLD transmit a beacon frame, and any multiple STAs in the STA MLD monitor the arrival of the beacon frame. In this implementation, the degree of freedom by which the STA MLD monitors the arrival of group addressable traffic instruction information is greatly improved. In addition, one or more of the STAs in the STA MLD monitor the arrival of group addressable traffic instruction information, which may also reduce the power consumption of the STA MLD. Optionally, group addressing traffic instruction information may be carried only in DTIM beacon frames.

[0261] In another implementation, the first STA in steps S203 and S204 may be a station operating on the primary link in the STA MLD, and the first STA in the STA MLD monitors for the arrival of beacon frames transmitted by APs operating on the primary link.

[0262] In yet another implementation, the first STA in steps S203 and S204 is a station operating on the primary link in the STA MLD. Optionally, the STA MLD may notify the AP MLD of the primary link on which it operates. For example, a station on the primary link in the STA MLD notifies the AP corresponding to the STA in the AP MLD of the station's link identifier. In this way, an AP operating on the primary link in the AP MLD may transmit a beacon frame, while another AP may not. This helps reduce the power consumption of the AP MLD or allows the AP MLD to transmit group addressing traffic instruction information more effectively, for example, by repeatedly transmitting group addressing traffic instruction information across multiple links.

[0263] In addition, please refer to the previous explanation for the implementation of how AP MLD knows the primary link on which STA MLD operates. Further details will not be explained here.

[0264] Similarly, in the multilink group addressable traffic transmission method 400 and the multilink group addressable traffic transmission method 500, the group addressable traffic instruction information transmitted by the first AP may include bits corresponding to some AIDs of the AP or bits corresponding to some AIDs of the station, thereby reducing the bit overhead required by the TIM element. Assume that the group addressable traffic instruction information is a partial virtual bitmap field within the TIM element, and that the partial virtual bitmap field is a portion of the bits of the traffic instruction virtual bitmap field. The traffic instruction virtual bitmap field of the AP is not transmitted or carried in the TIM element. Next, we will describe the length field, offset, and partial virtual bitmap field (i.e., group addressable traffic instruction information) within the TIM element in two cases, namely Case 4.1 and Case 4.2.

[0265] Case 4.1: This case is applicable to Case 3.1 in Method 1 and Method 2.

[0266] In other words, the relevant content of Case 4.1 is applicable when each AP of the AP MLD does not operate in the multiple BSSID mode, or when each AP operates in the multiple BSSID mode but is a non-transmitting AP. Optionally, this may also be applicable to other cases.

[0267] The group address specified traffic indication information is all the bits starting from byte N1 and ending at byte N2 of the traffic indication virtual bitmap field, where N1 is 0 or more and N2 is N1 or more.

[0268] In this case, the compression method in the protocol is used. When none of the multiple APs with consecutive association identifiers have group address specified traffic, the partial virtual bitmap field may not carry the bits corresponding to these association identifiers. That is, the amount of bits of the group address specified traffic indication information in the partial virtual bitmap field is reduced by using the offset within the TIM element.

[0269] The stations of the AIDs corresponding to the bits before the maximum even byte N1 and all the bits following the minimum byte N2 in the traffic indication virtual bitmap field are assumed to have no received downlink traffic or no group address specified traffic transmitted by the AP of the corresponding AID. In this case, the group address specified traffic indication information is all the bits starting from byte N1 and ending at byte N2 of the traffic indication virtual bitmap field.

[0270] To reduce the signaling overhead required to transmit the offset, in other words, to reduce the number of bits required to indicate the offset, the offset of the second group addressing traffic instruction information may be set to N1 / 2, where N1 is an even number of bytes.

[0271] In this case, the length field of the TIM element transmitted by the first AP is N2-N1+1+3, and the offset of the TIM element is (1 / 2)N1. Furthermore, the station managed by the first AP in the STA MLD receives the length and offset and determines that the group addressing traffic indication information indicates that the station with the AID corresponding to bits N1*8 to ((N2+1)*8-1) has not received any downlink traffic, or that the AP with the corresponding AID has not transmitted any group addressing traffic, and determines that the AP with the AID corresponding to bits 0 to N1*8-1 has not received any group addressing traffic, and determines that the AP with the AID corresponding to bit (N2+1)*8 and all subsequent bits has not received any group addressing traffic.

[0272] For example, if the offset in the TIM element transmitted by the first AP is 0 and the length field is 4 bytes (i.e., the partial virtual bitmap is 1 byte), then the group addressing traffic instruction information transmitted by the first AP is bits 0 through 7 in the partial virtual bitmap field. In this way, if the AP's AID is within the range of AIDs corresponding to bits 16 through 23, the first STA can determine, based on the values ​​of bits 0 through 7, whether the AP with the AID corresponding to bits 0 through 7 has group addressing traffic. If the AP's AID is not within the range of AIDs corresponding to bits 0 through 7, the AP does not transmit group addressing traffic to stations or neighboring stations associated with the AP.

[0273] In another example, if the offset transmitted by the first AP is 1 and has a length of 4 bytes (i.e., the partial virtual bitmap is 1 byte), the group addressing traffic instruction information transmitted by the first AP is byte 2 in the partial virtual bitmap field, i.e., bits 16 to 23. In this way, if the AP's AID is within the range of AIDs corresponding to bits 16 to 23, the first STA can know, based on the values ​​of bits 16 to 23, whether the AP with the AID corresponding to bits 16 to 23 has group addressing traffic. If the AP's AID is not within the range of AIDs corresponding to bits 16 to 23, the AP does not transmit group addressing traffic to stations or neighboring stations associated with the AP.

[0274] In another example, suppose the offset transmitted by the first AP is 0, has a length of 4 bytes, and the partial virtual bitmap field is 01100110, with bits 0 through 7 corresponding to AP1 through AP8 of the AP MLD, respectively. In this case, the first STA can know that AP1, AP4, AP5, and AP8 do not have group addressing traffic, and AP2, AP3, AP6, and AP7 do. Optionally, if bit 0 is predefined as meaningless, i.e., bit 0 does not correspond to any AP, then bits 1 through 7 correspond to AP1 through AP7 of the AP MLD, respectively, and the first STA can know that AP1, AP2, AP5, and AP6 have group addressing traffic, and AP3, AP4, and AP7 do not.

[0275] Case 4.2: This case is applicable to Case 3.2 in Method 2.

[0276] In other words, the relevant content of Case 4.2 is applicable when one or more APs in AP MLD operate in multiple BSSID mode, and one AP is the transmission AP. Optionally, this may also be applicable in other cases.

[0277] Method A: Group addressing traffic instruction information is placed within a partial virtual bitmap field, which is the bits of the traffic instruction virtual bitmap field, starting from byte 0 and ending at byte N2. N2 is the minimum number of bytes, and the values ​​of bits (N2+1)*8 to 2007 of the traffic instruction virtual bitmap field are all 0, the maximum number of bytes in the traffic instruction virtual bitmap field is 251, and the corresponding maximum AID is 2^251-1=2007. In this case, the offset is 0 and the length field is N2+1+3.

[0278] Method B: Group addressing traffic instruction information is placed within a partial virtual bitmap field, where the bits of the traffic instruction virtual bitmap field are from byte 0 to byte N0-1, and from byte N1 to byte N2.

[0279] The maximum number of bytes in the traffic instruction virtual bitmap field is 251 bytes, and the maximum corresponding AID is AID2007. In this case, stations with AIDs corresponding to bits N0*8-1 to N1*8-1 of the traffic instruction virtual bitmap field have no received downlink traffic, or APs with the corresponding AID have no transmitted group addressing traffic, and stations with AIDs corresponding to bits N2*8 to 2007 have no received downlink traffic, or APs with the corresponding AID have no transmitted group addressing traffic. In this case, the group addressing traffic instruction information transmitted by the first AP may include bits starting from byte 0 and ending with bytes N0-1 of the traffic instruction virtual bitmap field, and bits starting from byte N1 and ending with byte N2 of the traffic instruction virtual bitmap field. In addition, if N0 is odd, N1 is required to be odd, and if N0 is even, N1 is required to be even.

[0280] In this case, the offset of the TIM element is (N1-N0) / 2, and the length field is N0+N2-N1+4 bytes. In addition, the offset is (N1-N0) / 2.

[0281] In addition, we assume that the AP MLD operates in multiple BSSID mode and has APs that are transmitting BSSID APs, and that the maximum value indicated by the MaxBSSID indicator field of each AP operating in multiple BSSID mode and being a transmitting BSSID AP is n. In this case, the minimum number of bytes N0 must satisfy N0*8-2n-N_AP<8, where N_AP is the number of APs included in the AP MLD or the number of APs minus 1. In this case, the offset is (N1-N0) / 2 bytes and the length is N0+N2-N1+4 bytes.

[0282] In the embodiments provided in this application, the methods provided in the embodiments are described separately in terms of AP MLD and STA MLD. To implement the functions in the methods provided in the embodiments of this application, AP MLD and STA MLD each include a hardware structure and a software module, and the functions described above can be implemented in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a combination of a hardware structure and a software module. One of the functions described above may be performed in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a combination of a hardware structure and a software module. Next, the communication device in the embodiments of this application will be described in detail with reference to Figures 11 to 14. The communication device is an access point in an access point multilink device, or a station in a station multilink device. Furthermore, the communication device may be a device in AP MLD or a device in STA MLD.

[0283] Figure 11 is a schematic block diagram of the communication device 100. The communication device 100 corresponds to an AP MLD or any AP of the AP MLD described in any one of the multilink group addressing traffic transmission methods 200 to 500 described above.Optionally, the communication device 100 is an AP or device of the AP MLD in Figures 3(a) to 3(c).

[0284] The communication device 100 is A processing unit 101 is configured to generate group addressing traffic instruction information, and the group addressing traffic instruction information indicates whether one or more APs of AP MLD have group addressing traffic. The system includes a communication unit 102 configured to transmit group addressing traffic instruction information.

[0285] In communication device 100, the group address specified traffic instruction information generated by processing unit 101 can indicate whether an access point or another AP has group address specified traffic. Then, it can be seen that communication unit 102 transmits the group address specified traffic instruction information to the local multi-link device. In this way, any station of the local multi-link device can monitor the arrival of the group address specified traffic instruction information. This improves the flexibility of the group address specified traffic notification. In addition, when the group address specified traffic instruction information indicates whether each AP or a plurality of APs of the AP MLD has group address specified traffic, any station of the local multi-link device can know whether a plurality of APs have group address specified traffic. Therefore, it is not necessary for all stations of the local multi-link device to monitor whether there is group address specified traffic on each link. This reduces the power consumption of the local multi-link device.

[0286] In one implementation form, each bit of the group address specified traffic instruction information corresponds to each AP of the AP MLD. The value of the bit indicates whether the AP corresponding to the bit has group address specified traffic. For details, refer to the relevant content in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 in the foregoing method embodiments.

[0287] In addition, the group address specified traffic instruction information transmitted by the transceiver may be a part of some bits of the group address specified traffic instruction information generated by the processor, which is, for example, the relevant content described from Case 2.1 to Case 2.2. For details, it will not be described again here.

[0288] In another implementation, group addressable traffic instruction information is a subset of bits in a partial virtual bitmap field within a traffic instruction map (TIM) element. Alternatively, group addressable traffic instruction information is a subset of consecutive bits in a partial virtual bitmap field within a traffic instruction map (TIM) element.

[0289] In this embodiment, it can be seen that the AP MLD assigns the AID to the APs included in the AP MLD, and further indicates individually whether the AP of the AID has group addressing traffic using the bits corresponding to the AID in the partial virtual bitmap field. That is, the group addressing traffic indication information is the bits corresponding to the AID. For details, please refer to the relevant contents shown in Figures 7 to 9 in the method embodiment described above.

[0290] In addition, for details on whether the AID corresponding to each AP in the AP MLD is explicitly assigned, implicitly predefined, or how the AID corresponding to each AP in the AP MLD is determined when the AP MLD operates in multiple BSSID mode and has APs that are transmission BSSID APs, please refer to Methods 1 and 2 of the method embodiments described above. Further details will not be explained here.

[0291] For example, if an AID is explicitly assigned to each AP in the AP MLD, the communication device is further configured so that the processing unit 101 generates association identifier configuration information, which indicates the association identifier AID corresponding to each AP in the AP MLD. The AID of that AP corresponds to each bit of the group addressing traffic instruction information. The communication unit 102 is further configured to transmit the association identifier configuration information.

[0292] In addition, in this implementation, since the AIDs corresponding to some bits in the partial virtual bitmap field are station AIDs, the association identifier AIDs corresponding to each bit of the group addressing traffic instruction information are different from the station AIDs managed by each AP in the AP MLD.

[0293] In another example, an AID is predefined within a partial virtual bitmap field, corresponding to the first bit of a set of consecutive bits that correspond to group addressing traffic instruction information.

[0294] In another example, the AID corresponding to the first bit of a portion of consecutive bits that are located within a partial virtual bitmap field in a traffic instruction map (TIM) element and correspond to group addressing traffic instruction information is AID x.

[0295] x is max{2^(N1),2^(N2),...,2^(N y ),...,2^(N n )}. n is the number of transmission basic service set identifiers BSSID AP in AP MLD, and N y The transmission BSSID AP y This is the numerical value of the maximum basic service set identifier (BSSID) in the Multiple Basic Service Set Identifier (BSSID) element broadcast by the AP. y This is the y-th transmission BSSID AP of AP MLD.

[0296] In the communication device 100, the communication unit 102 is further configured to transmit a distribution traffic instruction map DTIM beacon frame and group addressing traffic after the DTIM beacon frame. The communication unit 102 may perform this operation when the AP where the communication device 100 is located has group addressing traffic.

[0297] It should be understood that the communication device 100 in this embodiment of the present application can perform the multilink group addressing traffic transmission method 200 and the multilink group addressing traffic transmission method 500 in correspondence with the embodiments of the present application. In addition, the aforementioned operations or functions of the units within the communication device 100 are used separately to implement the corresponding procedures of the methods in Figures 5 and 7. For brevity, further details are not described here.

[0298] Figure 12 is a schematic block diagram of the communication device 200. The communication device 200 corresponds to an STA MLD or any STA of an STA MLD, or an STA operating on the primary link of an STA MLD as described in any one of the multilink group addressing traffic transmission methods 200 to 500 described above. Optionally, the communication device 200 is an STA or device of an STA MLD in Figure 1. Alternatively, the communication device 200 is an STA or device of an STA MLD in Figures 3(a) to 3(c).

[0299] The communication device 200 is A communication unit 201 is configured to receive group addressing traffic instruction information from the AP MLD, and the group addressing traffic instruction information indicates whether one or more APs of the AP MLD have group addressing traffic. The system includes a processing unit 202 configured to determine whether one or more APs have group addressable traffic based on group addressable traffic instruction information.

[0300] In the communication device 200, the processing unit 202 can determine, based on the group addressing traffic instruction information, whether one or more APs have group addressing traffic. Specifically, the communication device 200 can determine not only whether APs associated with the station have group addressing traffic, but also whether other APs in the AP MLD have group addressing traffic. This improves the flexibility of group addressing traffic notification. In addition, the group addressing traffic instruction information indicates whether multiple APs or each AP in the AP MLD have group addressing traffic. That is, any STA in the STA MLD where the communication device 200 is located can determine whether multiple APs or each AP in the AP MLD have group addressing traffic. Therefore, it is not necessary for all STAs in the STA MLD where the communication device 200 is located to monitor whether their corresponding APs have group addressing traffic. This reduces the power consumption of the STA MLD where the communication device 200 is located.

[0301] In one implementation, the STA corresponding to the communication device 200 is the station of the STA MLD operating on the primary link. In this way, the communication unit 201 receives group addressing traffic instruction information from the AP MLD as follows: The communication unit 201 monitors for the arrival of group addressing traffic instruction information from one AP of the AP MLD on the primary link. In this implementation, since other STAs of the STA MLD do not periodically monitor for the arrival of group addressing traffic instruction information, the power consumption of the STA MLD can be reduced.

[0302] For details on how the communication device 200 determines the primary link, please refer to the description in the method embodiment described above. Further details will not be explained here.

[0303] In one implementation, the communication unit 201 is further configured to receive a distribution traffic instruction map DTIM beacon frame and group addressing traffic after the DTIM beacon frame. In this implementation, the communication unit 201 may perform this operation when the processing unit 202 determines that the AP corresponding to the processing unit 202 has group addressing traffic.

[0304] In one implementation, each bit of the group addressing traffic instruction information corresponds to each AP in the AP MLD. The value of the bit indicates whether the AP corresponding to the bit has group addressing traffic. For details, please refer to the relevant information in the embodiments shown in Figures 5 and 6 of the aforementioned method embodiment.

[0305] In addition, the group addressable traffic instruction information transmitted by the transceiver may be a portion of the bits of the group addressable traffic instruction information generated by the processor, which is the relevant information described, for example, in Cases 2.1 and 2.2. Further details will not be discussed here.

[0306] In another implementation, group addressable traffic instruction information is a subset of bits in a partial virtual bitmap field within a traffic instruction map (TIM) element. Alternatively, group addressable traffic instruction information is a subset of consecutive bits in a partial virtual bitmap field within a traffic instruction map (TIM) element.

[0307] In this implementation, the AP MLD assigns the AID to the APs included in the AP MLD, and further indicates individually whether the AP of the AID has group addressing traffic using the bit corresponding to the AID in the partial virtual bitmap field. In other words, the group addressing traffic indication information is the bit corresponding to the AID. For details, please refer to the relevant contents shown in Figures 7 to 9 in the method embodiment described above.

[0308] In addition, for details on whether the AID corresponding to each AP in the AP MLD is explicitly assigned, implicitly predefined, or how the AID corresponding to each AP in the AP MLD is determined when the AP MLD operates in multiple BSSID mode and has APs that are transmission BSSID APs, please refer to Methods 1 and 2 of the method embodiments described above. Further details will not be explained here.

[0309] For example, if an AID is explicitly assigned to each AP in the AP MLD, the communication device 200 is further configured so that the processing unit 201 receives association identifier configuration information, which indicates the association identifier AID corresponding to each AP in the AP MLD. The AID of that AP corresponds to each bit of the group addressing traffic instruction information. The processing unit 202 is further configured to determine the AID corresponding to the AP in the AP MLD based on the association identifier configuration information.

[0310] In addition, in this implementation, since the AIDs corresponding to some bits in the partial virtual bitmap field are station AIDs, the association identifier AIDs corresponding to each bit of the group addressing traffic instruction information are different from the station AIDs managed by each AP in the AP MLD.

[0311] In another example, an AID is predefined within a partial virtual bitmap field, corresponding to the first bit of a set of consecutive bits that correspond to group addressing traffic instruction information.

[0312] In another example, the AID corresponding to the first bit of a set of consecutive bits that are located within a partial virtual bitmap field in a traffic instruction map (TIM) element and correspond to group addressing traffic instruction information is AID x.

[0313] x is max{2^(N1),2^(N2),...,2^(N y ),...,2^(N n )}. n is the number of APs that transmit BSSIDs in AP MLD, and N y The transmission BSSID AP y The numerical value of the BSSID instruction field in the multiple basic service set identifiers broadcast by the AP. y This is the y-th transmission BSSID AP of AP MLD.

[0314] It should be understood that the communication device 200 in this embodiment of the present application can perform the multilink group addressing traffic transmission method 200 and the multilink group addressing traffic transmission method 500 in correspondence with the embodiments of the present application. In addition, the aforementioned operations or functions of the units within the communication device 200 are used separately to implement the corresponding procedures of one STA or a first STA of the STA MLD in the methods of Figures 5 and 7. For brevity, further details are not described here.

[0315] Figure 13 is a schematic block diagram of the communication device 300. In one implementation, the communication device 300 corresponds to an AP MLD described in any one of the multilink group addressing traffic transmission methods 200 to 500 described above, or any AP of the AP MLD. Optionally, the communication device 300 may be an AP or device of the AP MLD in Figure 1. Alternatively, the communication device 300 is an AP or device of the AP MLD in Figures 3(a) to 3(c). Optionally, the communication device 300 is a chip, chip system, processor, or similar implementing the method embodiment described above. The communication device 300 may be configured to implement the method described in the method embodiment described above. For further details, please refer to the description of the method embodiment described above.

[0316] In an alternative implementation, the communication device 300 corresponds to an STA MLD or any STA of the STA MLD, or an STA operating on the primary link of an STA MLD as described in any one of the multilink group addressable traffic transmission methods 200 to 500 described above. Optionally, the communication device 300 is an STA or device of the STA MLD in Figure 1. Alternatively, the communication device 300 is an STA or device of the STA MLD in Figures 3(a) to 3(c). Optionally, the communication device 300 is a chip, chip system, processor, or similar implementing the method embodiment described above. The communication device 300 may be configured to implement the method described in the method embodiment described above. For further details, please refer to the description of the method embodiment described above.

[0317] The communication device 300 may include one or more processors 301. The processors 301 may be general-purpose processors, dedicated processors, or similar. For example, the processor 301 may be a baseband processor or a central processing unit. The baseband processor may be configured to process communication protocols and communication data, and the central processing unit may be configured to control the communication device (e.g., a base station, baseband chip, terminal, terminal chip, DU, or CU) to execute a computer program and process the data of the computer program.

[0318] The communication device 300 may further include a transceiver 305. The transceiver 305 may be called a transceiver unit, transceiver machine, transceiver circuit, or similar name, and is configured to implement transceiver functionality. The transceiver 305 may include a receiver and a transmitter. The receiver may be called a receiving circuit, or similar name, and is configured to implement receiving functionality. The transmitter may be called a transmitting circuit, or similar name, and is configured to implement transmitting functionality. Optionally, the communication device 300 may further include an antenna 306.

[0319] Optionally, the communication device 300 may include one or more memories 302, each of which may store instructions 304. Instructions 304 may be computer programs. These computer programs may be executed on the communication device 300, enabling the communication device 300 to perform the methods described in the above-mentioned method embodiments. Optionally, the memories 302 may further store data. The communication device 300 and the memories 302 may be arranged separately or integrated together.

[0320] The communication device 300 is configured to implement the AP function of the AP MLD in the multilink group addressing traffic transmission method 200 to the multilink group addressing traffic transmission method 500 described above.

[0321] The processor 301 may be configured to perform step S201 in Figure 5, step S401 in Figure 7, and optional implementations of the AID corresponding to the AP in Method 1 and Method 2, for example, generating association identifier configuration information for a multilink group addressing traffic transmission method.

[0322] The transceiver 305 may be configured to perform step S202 in Figure 5, step S402 in Figure 7, and optional implementations of the AID corresponding to the AP in Method 1 and Method 2, such as transmitting association identifier configuration information.

[0323] The communication device 300 is configured to implement the STA function of ASTA MLD in the multilink group addressing traffic transmission method 200 to the multilink group addressing traffic transmission method 500 in the method embodiment described above.

[0324] The transceiver 305 may be configured to perform step S203 in Figure 5, step S403 in Figure 7, and optional implementations of the AID corresponding to the AP in Method 1 and Method 2, such as receiving association identifier configuration information.

[0325] The processor 301 may be configured to perform step S204 in Figure 5 and step S404 in Figure 7, as well as optional implementations for determining the AP's AID in Method 1 and Method 2 described above, for example, determining the association identifier of each AP in the AP MLD based on the association identifier configuration information.

[0326] In one implementation, the processor 301 may include a transceiver configured to implement receiving and transmitting functions. For example, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit, an interface, or an interface circuit. The transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit configured to implement receiving and transmitting functions may be separate or integrated. The transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit may be configured to read and write code / data. Alternatively, the transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit may be configured to transmit or transfer signals.

[0327] In one implementation, the processor 301 may store instructions 303. These instructions may be computer programs. The computer programs 303 are executed on the processor 301, enabling the communication device 300 to perform the method described in the above-described method embodiment. The computer programs 303 may be fixed within the processor 301, in which case the processor 301 may be implemented by hardware.

[0328] In one implementation configuration, the communication device 300 may include a circuit that can implement the transmit, receive, or communicate functions described in the method embodiments described above. The processors and transceivers described in this application may be implemented on integrated circuits (ICs), analog ICs, radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs), mixed-signal ICs, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or printed circuit boards (PCBs), electronic devices, and the like. The processors and transceivers may be manufactured using various IC technologies, such as complementary metal oxide semiconductors (CMOS), n-type metal oxide semiconductors (nMOS), positive channel metal oxide semiconductors (PMOS), bipolar junction transistors (BJTs), bipolar CMOS (biCMOS), silicon germanium (SiGe), and gallium arsenide (GaAs).

[0329] The communication device described in the above embodiments may be an AP MLD or an AP of an AP MLD. However, the scope of the communication device described in this application is not limited thereto, and the structure of the communication device is not limited by Figure 13. The communication device may be a standalone device or part of a larger device. For example, the communication device may be: (1) An independent integrated circuit IC, chip, or chip system or subsystem, (2) A set comprising one or more ICs, wherein the IC set may optionally further include a storage component configured to store data and computer programs, (3) ASIC, for example, modem, (4) Modules that may be incorporated into other devices (5) Receivers, terminals, intelligent terminals, mobile phones, wireless devices, handheld devices, mobile units, in-vehicle devices, network devices, cloud devices, artificial intelligence devices, or similar devices, (6) It may be another device or a similar device.

[0330] For cases where the communication device is a chip or chip system, please refer to the schematic diagram of the chip structure shown in Figure 14. The chip shown in Figure 14 comprises a processor 401 and an interface 402. There may be one or more processors 401 and multiple interfaces 402.

[0331] The chip is configured to implement the AP functionality of the AP MLD in the multilink group addressing traffic transmission method 200 to multilink group addressing traffic transmission method 500 in the method embodiments described above.

[0332] In one implementation form, The processor 401 is configured to generate group addressable traffic instruction information, which indicates whether one or more APs of the AP MLD have group addressable traffic.

[0333] Interface 402 is configured to transmit group addressing traffic instruction information.

[0334] In the chip, group addressable traffic instruction information generated by the processor can indicate whether an access point or another AP has group addressable traffic, and the transceiver then transmits the group addressable traffic instruction information to the station multilink device. In this way, any station in the station multilink device can monitor the arrival of group addressable traffic instruction information. This improves the flexibility of group addressable traffic notification. In addition, if the group addressable traffic instruction information indicates whether each AP or multiple APs in the AP MLD have group addressable traffic, any station in the station multilink device can know whether multiple APs have group addressable traffic. Therefore, it is not necessary for all stations in the station multilink device to monitor whether there is group addressable traffic on their respective links. This reduces the power consumption of the station multilink device.

[0335] Optionally, the chip may further perform the AP functions of the AP MLD in multilink group addressable traffic transmission methods 200 to 500. Further details will not be discussed here.

[0336] The chip is configured to implement the STA function of the STA MLD in the multilink group addressable traffic transmission method 200 to multilink group addressable traffic transmission method 500 in the method embodiment described above.

[0337] In one implementation, interface 402 is configured to receive group addressing traffic instruction information from AP MLD, which indicates whether one or more APs in AP MLD have group addressing traffic.

[0338] Optionally, the processor 401 is configured to determine whether one or more APs have group addressable traffic based on group addressable traffic instruction information.

[0339] In the chip, the processor can determine, based on group addressable traffic instruction information, whether one or more APs have group addressable traffic. Specifically, the chip can know not only whether APs associated with the station have group addressable traffic, but also whether other APs in the AP MLD have group addressable traffic. This improves the flexibility of group addressable traffic notification. In addition, the group addressable traffic instruction information indicates whether multiple APs or each AP in the AP MLD have group addressable traffic. That is, any STA in the STA MLD where the chip is located can know whether multiple APs or each AP in the AP MLD have group addressable traffic. Therefore, not all STAs in the STA MLD where the chip is located need to monitor whether their corresponding APs have group addressable traffic. This reduces the power consumption of the STA MLD where the chip is located.

[0340] Optionally, the chip may further perform the STA function of the STA MLD in multilink group addressable traffic transmission methods 200 to 500. Further details will not be discussed here.

[0341] Those skilled in the art will further understand that various illustrative logic blocks and steps enumerated in the embodiments of this application may be implemented using electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination thereof. Whether these functions are implemented using hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design requirements of the overall system. Those skilled in the art may use various methods to implement the functions described for each specific application, and these should not be considered beyond the scope of the embodiments of this application.

[0342] This application further provides a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable recording medium stores a computer program, and when the computer-readable storage medium is executed by a computer, one of the functions of the aforementioned method embodiments is implemented.

[0343] This application further provides a computer program product in which, when executed by a computer, one of the functions of the aforementioned method embodiments is implemented.

[0344] All or part of the embodiments described above may be implemented using software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When software is used to implement an embodiment, all or part of the embodiment may be implemented in the form of a computer program product. A computer program product includes one or more computer programs. When a computer program is loaded onto a computer and executed, the procedures or functions according to the embodiments of this application are generated in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a dedicated computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer program may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, a computer program may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center by wire (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, or digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wirelessly (e.g., infrared, radio, or microwave). The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium accessible by a computer or a data storage device integrating one or more available media, such as a server or data center. The usable media may be magnetic media (e.g., floppy disks, hard disks, or magnetic tapes), optical media (e.g., high-density digital video discs (DVDs)), semiconductor media (e.g., solid-state drives (SSDs)), or similar media.

[0345] Those skilled in the art will understand that the first, second, and various reference numerals in this application are distinguished solely for explanatory purposes and are not used to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application, but rather to indicate order.

[0346] In this application, “at least one” is alternatively described as one or more, and “multiple” means two, three, four, or more. This is not limited to this application. In embodiments of this application, “first,” “second,” “third,” “A,” “B,” “C,” “D,” and similar are used to distinguish the technical features described therein. There is no chronological or dimensional order among the technical features described by “first,” “second,” “third,” “A,” “B,” “C,” and “D.”

[0347] The correspondences shown in the tables of this application may be constructed or predefined. Furthermore, the values ​​of the information in the tables are merely examples, and other values ​​may be constructed. This is not limited to the present application. When a correspondence between information and each parameter is constructed, not all correspondences shown in the tables must be constructed. For example, in the tables of this application, the correspondences shown in some rows may not be constructed. In another example, appropriate modifications and adjustments, such as splitting or combining, may be performed based on the aforementioned tables. The names of the parameters shown in the titles of the aforementioned tables may alternatively be other names that can be understood by the communication device, and the values ​​or representations of the parameters may alternatively be other values ​​or representations that can be understood by the communication device. In the implementation of the aforementioned tables, other data structures such as arrays, queues, containers, stacks, linear tables, pointers, linked lists, trees, graphs, structures, classes, piles, and hash tables may be used instead.

[0348] In this application, “pre-definition” may be understood as “definition,” “pre-definition,” “memory,” “pre-memory,” “pre-negotiate,” “pre-configuration,” “solidification,” or “pre-burn.”

[0349] Those skilled in the art will notice, in combination with the examples described in the embodiments disclosed herein, that the units and algorithmic steps can be implemented by electronic hardware or by a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed by hardware or software will depend on the specific application and the design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art may use different methods to implement the functions described for each specific application, but such implementations should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0350] For the sake of clarity and conciseness, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that the detailed operating processes of the aforementioned systems, apparatus, and units will be referred to in the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments, and will not be described again in detail here.

[0351] The foregoing description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application and is not intended to limit the scope of protection of this application. Any modification or substitution that is readily conceivable to a person skilled in the art within the scope of the art disclosed herein shall fall within the scope of protection of this application. Accordingly, the scope of protection of this application shall be subject to the scope of protection of the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0352] 1 DTIM beacon frame 1. Subsequent group-addressed traffic 1, 2, 3 Links 2. Subsequent group-addressed traffic 2 DTIM beacon frames 3 DTIM beacon frames 3. Subsequent group-addressed traffic 100 Communication Systems 100 Communication devices 101 stations 101 Processing Unit 102 stations 102 Communication Unit 200 Communication Systems 200 Communication devices 200 Multilink Group Addressing Traffic Transmission Method 300 Communication Systems 300 Communication devices 300 Multilink Group Addressing Traffic Transmission Method 301 Processor 302 memory 304 Command 305 Transceiver 306 Antenna 400 Multilink Group Addressing Traffic Transmission Method 401 Processor 402 Interface 500 Multilink Group Addressing Traffic Transmission Method 601 AP MLD 601-1 Affiliate AP 601-3 Affiliate AP 602 STA MLD 602-1 STA 602-2 STA 602-3 STA 603 STA MLD 603-1 STA 603-2 STA 604 STA 604-1 STA

Claims

1. A multilink group addressing traffic transmission method, wherein the method A step of generating group addressing traffic instruction information by a first access point AP of an access point multilink device AP MLD, wherein the group addressing traffic instruction information indicates whether one or more APs of the AP MLD have group addressing traffic. A multilink group addressing traffic transmission method, comprising the step of transmitting the group addressing traffic instruction information by the first AP.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the group addressing traffic instruction information indicates whether each AP in the AP MLD has group addressing traffic.

3. Each bit of the group addressing traffic instruction information corresponds to each AP in the AP MLD, The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the value of the bit indicates whether the AP corresponding to the bit has group addressing traffic.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the group addressing traffic instruction information includes a portion of bits in a partial virtual bitmap field within a traffic instruction map TIM element, and the portion of bits in the partial virtual bitmap field within the TIM element indicates whether each AP of the AP MLD other than the first AP has group addressing traffic.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the portion of the bits in the partial virtual bitmap field within the traffic instruction map (TIM) element is a contiguous set of bits.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the association identifier AID corresponding to each bit of the group addressing traffic instruction information is different from the AID of the station managed by each AP of the AP MLD.

7. A multilink group addressing traffic transmission method, wherein the method A multilink group addressing traffic transmission method comprising the step of receiving group addressing traffic instruction information from an AP MLD by a first station STA of a station multilink device STA MLD, wherein the group addressing traffic instruction information indicates whether one or more APs of the AP MLD have group addressing traffic.

8. The step of receiving group addressing traffic instruction information from the AP MLD by the first STA of the STA MLD is as follows: The method according to claim 7, further comprising the step of monitoring the arrival of group addressing traffic instruction information from one AP of the AP MLD by the first STA of the STA MLD.

9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the group addressing traffic instruction information is carried in a distribution traffic instruction map DTIM beacon frame.

10. The aforementioned method, The method according to claim 9, further comprising the step of receiving group addressing traffic after the DTIM beacon frame by the first STA.

11. An access point of an access point multilink device, wherein the access point of the access point multilink device comprises a transceiver and a processor. The processor is configured to generate group addressing traffic instruction information, which indicates whether one or more APs of the AP MLD have group addressing traffic. The transceiver is an access point of an access point multilink device configured to transmit the group addressing traffic instruction information.

12. The access point of an access point multilink device according to claim 11, wherein the group addressing traffic instruction information indicates whether each AP of the AP MLD has group addressing traffic.

13. Each bit of the group addressing traffic instruction information corresponds to each AP in the AP MLD, The value of the bit indicates whether the AP corresponding to the bit has group addressing traffic. Access point of an access point multilink device according to claim 11 or 12.

14. The access point of an access point multilink device according to any one of claims 11 to 13, wherein the group addressing traffic instruction information is a portion of the bits in a partial virtual bitmap field within a traffic instruction map TIM element.

15. The access point of an access point multilink device according to any one of claims 11 to 14, wherein the group addressing traffic instruction information is a portion of consecutive bits in the partial virtual bitmap field within the traffic instruction map TIM element.

16. The access point of the access point multilink device according to any one of claims 11 to 15, wherein the association identifier AID corresponding to each bit of the group addressing traffic instruction information is different from the AID of the station managed by each AP of the AP MLD.

17. A station in a station multilink device, wherein the station in the station multilink device includes a transceiver. The transceiver is configured to receive group addressing traffic instruction information from the AP MLD, and the group addressing traffic instruction information is a station multilink device station indicating whether one or more APs of the AP MLD have group addressing traffic.

18. The station operates the aforementioned station multilink device on the primary link, The transceiver receiving group addressing traffic instruction information from the AP MLD is particularly important. The station of the station multilink device according to claim 17, wherein the transceiver is configured to monitor for the arrival of group addressing traffic instruction information from one AP of the AP MLD on the primary link.

19. The station multilink device according to claim 17 or 18, wherein the group addressing traffic instruction information is carried in a distribution traffic instruction map DTIM beacon frame.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the transceiver is further configured to receive group addressing traffic after the DTIM beacon frame.

21. A chip system comprising at least one processor and interface, The processor is configured to generate group addressing traffic instruction information, which indicates whether one or more APs of the AP MLD have group addressing traffic. The interface is a chip system configured to transmit the group addressing traffic instruction information.

22. A chip system comprising at least one processor and interface, The interface is configured to receive group addressing traffic instruction information, and the group addressing traffic instruction information is a chip system that indicates whether one or more APs of the AP MLD have group addressing traffic.

23. A computer-readable storage medium configured to store a computer program, wherein when the computer program is executed on the computer, the computer is enabled to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6 or the method according to any one of claims 7 to 10.

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