Communication methods and devices

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention provide a communication method and apparatus. The method includes: a first apparatus determines weighting information for N streams of a detection sequence of a second apparatus, where N is a positive integer; the first apparatus transmits a first detection frame, where the first detection frame includes the weighting information; after receiving the first detection frame, the second apparatus may weight the N streams of the detection sequence of the second apparatus based on the weighting information for the N streams of the detection sequence in the first detection frame, and then transmit the data. This effectively prevents the leakage of detection information.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] [Cross - reference to Related Applications] This application was filed with the China National Intellectual Property Administration on June 6, 2023, and claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202310666400.5, entitled "COMMUNICATION METHOD AND APPARATUS", which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

[0002] This application relates to the field of communication technologies, and in particular, to communication methods and apparatuses.

Background Art

[0003] In daily life, signals transmitted by wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi (registered trademark)) devices are generally received after being reflected, diffracted, and scattered by various obstacles. The surrounding environment can be estimated and detected by analyzing wireless signals such as channel state information (CSI) affected by various obstacles, and thus, wireless local area network (WLAN) detection technologies have emerged.

[0004] In current solutions, for example, in 802.11bf, multiple detection procedures for detection in a WLAN system are supported, including a "trigger - based sensing (TB Sensing)" detection mode. The detection mode is initiated by an access point (AP), where the AP can be referred to as a sensing initiator (SI), and is responded to by one or more non - AP stations (Stations, STAs) for detection participation, where each STA can be referred to as a sensing responder (SR).

[0005] The TB detection solution includes a "detection measurement setup" procedure and a "trigger frame sounding (TF Sounding)" detection procedure. In the "detection measurement setup" procedure, the AP individually sends a detection measurement setup request to the STA and receives a detection measurement setup response. During this period, the detection measurement is set up and the relevant information is configured and negotiated. In the "trigger frame sounding (TF Sounding)" detection procedure, one or more SRs (responders) may implement detection by sending pilot information to the SI (initiator), or one SR (responder) may implement detection by sending pilot information to other SRs (responders).

[0006] However, in current TB detection solutions, the pilot information used by channel estimation to implement the detection task is public. Therefore, when detection is performed between AP and STA, the public pilot information is received by a third-party listener, and channel estimation is performed based on the pilot information, thereby potentially obtaining detection content (or detection information). As a result, user privacy information within the detection content may be exposed to a third party due to the detection. In light of this, there is an urgent need for a solution that effectively resolves the leakage of detection information in detection measurement and further avoids the leakage of user privacy information. [Overview of the Initiative]

[0007] Embodiments of the present invention provide a communication method and apparatus that effectively solve the problem of leakage of detection information in detection and measurement, and further avoid the leakage of user privacy information.

[0008] According to a first aspect, one embodiment of the present application provides a communication method. The method may be performed by a first device or by a chip or chip system corresponding to the first device, but is not limited thereto. Specifically, the method may include: the first device determines weighting information for N streams of a detection sequence of a second device, where N is a positive integer; the first device transmits a first detection frame, where the first detection frame includes the weighting information.

[0009] For example, the first device may be an access point (AP), and the second device may be a non-access point station (non-AP STAT). The first detection frame may be a detection sounding trigger frame in the detection measurement process.

[0010] In this solution of the present invention, the first device determines weighting information for N streams of the detection sequence of the second device, where N is a positive integer, and transmits the weighting information to the second device using the first detection frame. The second device may weight the N streams of the detection sequence of the second device based on the weighting information for the N streams of the detection sequence in the first detection frame, and then perform the transmission. This effectively prevents the leakage of detection information.

[0011] In a possible implementation, before the first device determines the weighting information for N streams of the detection sequence of the second device, the method further comprises: the first device sends a request message to the second device, where the request message is used to request that a detection measurement be set up, and the request message includes at least one detection sub-element, each detection sub-element corresponding to a weighting matrix.

[0012] In this embodiment of the present application, the first device functions as a detection initiator, and the second device functions as a detection responder.

[0013] In this implementation, during the detection and measurement setup phase, the first device may show (or transmit) a predefined weighting matrix to the second device, so that when the first device subsequently shows the second device the weighting information used by each stream in the detection sequence in an implicit (i.e., secure) manner, the second device can effectively and accurately obtain the weighting information and implement weighted transmission.

[0014] In possible implementations, the detection sub-element includes a weighted matrix indication field, and the weighted matrix indication field indicates the weighted matrix.

[0015] In this implementation, each detection sub-element in the detection measurement setup request message may represent a weighting matrix.

[0016] In a possible implementation, the weighted matrix field contains X bits, where X is a positive integer, and the X bits contain three parts, the first part being:

number

number

number

[0017] In this implementation, each detection sub-element can effectively represent multiple predefined weighting matrices.

[0018] In a possible implementation, before the first device determines the weighting information of N streams of the detection sequence of the second device, the method further comprises: the first device transmits a request message to the second device, where the request message is used to request to set up detection measurements, the request message includes at least one detection sub-element, and each detection sub-element corresponds to a phase rotation codebook of the detection sequence. In this embodiment of the present application, the first device functions as a detection initiator, and the second device functions as a detection responder.

[0019] In this implementation, in the detection measurement setup phase, the first device may indicate (or transmit) a predefined phase rotation codebook of the detection sequence to the second device, whereby the second device can subsequently implement effective weighted transmission based on the phase rotation codebook of the detection sequence.

[0020] In a possible implementation, the detection sub-element includes a codebook indication field, and the codebook indication field indicates the phase rotation codebook of the detection sequence.

[0021] In this implementation, each detection sub-element in the detection measurement setup request message may indicate the phase rotation codebook of the detection sequence.

[0022] In a possible implementation, the codebook indication field includes Y bits, the Y bits include L groups of bits, each group of bits indicates a coding of one phase rotation method, and Y and L are positive integers.

[0023] For example, the coding of one phase rotation method may correspond to one phase shift weight value or an index of the phase shift weight value. In this embodiment of the present application, the coding of the phase rotation method may be regarded as a weight value, a weighting value, a weight index, or the like for weighting symbols.

[0024] In this implementation, each detection sub-element can effectively indicate multiple phase rotation coding methods.

[0025] In a possible implementation, the request message further includes first indication information, and the first indication information indicates the use of a weighted cooperative detection mode. For example, the first indication information is located in the detection measurement parameter element in the detection measurement request frame.

[0026] In this implementation, the first device indicates to the second device to use the weighted cooperative detection mode, and then ensures that the weighted cooperative detection is supported.

[0027] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: the first device receives a response message from the second device, where the response message indicates that the second device supports the use of the weighted cooperative detection mode.

[0028] In this implementation, the first device can know that the second device supports the use of the weighted cooperative detection mode, and ensures that the second device can then effectively perform the weighted cooperative detection.

[0029] In a possible implementation, before the first device transmits the first detection frame, the method further includes: the first device transmits a second detection frame to the second device, where the second detection frame includes second indication information, and the second indication information indicates to perform weighted transmission for the detection sequence. For example, the second detection frame is a detection voting trigger frame, and the second indication information is information about the reserved bits in the detection voting trigger frame.

[0030] In this implementation, the second device can weight the transmitted detection sequence and then perform the transmission, thereby ensuring the security of the detection sequence transmission.

[0031] In a possible implementation, the weighting information would consist of N groups of bits, each group of bits representing information about a target weighting sequence used by one stream of detection sequences in the N streams, with the target weighting sequence corresponding to a row in the weighting matrix.

[0032] In this implementation, the second device may effectively weight each stream of the detection sequence by using each stream of the target weighting sequence.

[0033] In a possible implementation, the weighting information would consist of M groups of bits, each group of bits representing the phase rotation value of a detection symbol in one stream of the detection sequence in N streams, where M is a positive integer greater than 1.

[0034] In this embodiment of the present invention, in the detection measurement setup process, the phase rotation codebook indicated by the request message includes M groups of bits.

[0035] In this implementation, the second device may effectively weight each detection symbol in each stream of the detection sequence by using the phase rotation value of each detection symbol in each stream.

[0036] In possible implementations, the detected symbols are weighted by using an 8-phase-shift keying 8PSK modulation scheme.

[0037] In this implementation, detection symbols in the detection sequence are effectively weighted to ensure the security of subsequent transmissions.

[0038] In a possible implementation, the first detection frame is an SR2SI sounding trigger frame, the first device is a detection receiver, and the second device is a detection transmitter.

[0039] In a possible implementation, the first detection frame is an SR2SR sounding trigger frame, and the first detection frame further includes the first information, which indicates, but is not limited to, the quantity N of streams of detection sequences transmitted by the second device, and one or more identifiers (e.g., IDs) corresponding to the N streams.

[0040] In this implementation, the SR in the detection receiver can effectively obtain weighting information for N streams of the detection sequence of the second device.

[0041] In a possible implementation, the first device is an access point (AP), and the second device is a non-access point station (STA).

[0042] According to a second aspect, one embodiment of the present application provides a communication method. The method may be performed by a first device or by a chip or chip system corresponding to the first device, but is not limited thereto. Specifically, the method may include: the first device sending a request message to a second device, the request message being used to request that a detection measurement be set up, the request message comprising at least one detection sub-element, each detection sub-element corresponding to a weighting matrix, or each detection sub-element corresponding to a phase rotation codebook of a detection sequence; the first device receiving a response message from the second device.

[0043] In this embodiment of the present invention, in the detection measurement setup process, the first device effectively exchanges a predefined weighting matrix or phase rotation codebook of the detection sequence with the second device, so that the first device then implicitly (i.e., securely) provides the second device with the weighting information used by each stream of the detection sequence, the second device can effectively and accurately obtain the weighting information and implement weighted transmission.

[0044] In possible implementations, the detection sub-element includes a weighting matrix indication field, which indicates the corresponding weighting matrix.

[0045] In this implementation, each detection sub-element in the detection measurement setup request message may represent a weighting matrix.

[0046] In a possible implementation, the weighted matrix field contains X bits, where X is a positive integer, and the X bits contain three parts, the first part being:

number

number

number

[0047] In this implementation, each detection sub-element can effectively represent multiple predefined weighting matrices.

[0048] In possible implementations, the detection sub-element includes a codebook indication field, which indicates the phase rotation codebook of the detection sequence.

[0049] In this implementation, each detection sub-element in the detection measurement setup request message may indicate the phase rotation codebook for the detection sequence.

[0050] In a possible implementation, the codebook indication field contains Y bits, each of which contains L groups of bits, where each group of bits indicates a coding scheme of one phase rotation, and Y and L are positive integers.

[0051] For example, one phase rotation coding may correspond to one phase shift weight value or an index of a phase shift weight value. In this embodiment of the present application, a phase rotation coding may be considered a weight value, weighting value, weight index, or the like for weighting symbols.

[0052] In this implementation, each detection sub-element can effectively represent the coding of multiple phase rotation schemes.

[0053] In possible implementations, the request message further includes first indication information, which indicates the use of a weighted collaborative detection mode. For example, the first indication information is located in the detection / measurement parameter element of the detection / measurement request frame.

[0054] In this implementation, the first device indicates to the second device that it will use weighted cooperative detection mode, and then ensures that it supports weighted cooperative detection.

[0055] In a possible implementation, the method further comprises: the first device receives a response message from the second device, the response message indicating that the second device supports using weighted coordinated sensing mode.

[0056] In this implementation, the first device can learn that the second device supports the use of weighted cooperative sensing mode, and then ensure that the second device can effectively perform weighted cooperative sensing.

[0057] According to a third aspect, one embodiment of the present application provides a communication method. The method may be performed by a second device or by a chip or chip system corresponding to the second device, but is not limited thereto. Specifically, the method may include: the second device receives a first detection frame from the first device, the first detection frame containing weighting information for N streams of detection sequences of the second device, where N is a positive integer; the second device individually weights the N streams of detection sequences based on the weighting information to obtain N streams of weighted detection sequences; and the second device transmits the N streams of weighted detection sequences.

[0058] For example, the first device may be an access point (AP), and the second device may be a non-access point station (non-AP STAT). The first detection frame may be a detection sounding trigger frame in the detection measurement process.

[0059] In this solution of the present invention, the first device determines weighting information for N streams of the detection sequence of the second device, where N is a positive integer, and transmits the weighting information to the second device using the first detection frame. The second device may weight the N streams of the detection sequence of the second device based on the weighting information for the N streams of the detection sequence in the first detection frame, and then perform the transmission. This effectively prevents the leakage of detection information.

[0060] In a possible implementation, before the second device receives a first detection frame from the first device, the method further comprises: the second device receives a request message from the second device, where the request message is used to request setting up a detection measurement, and the request message includes at least one detection sub-element, each detection sub-element corresponding to a weighting matrix. In this embodiment of the present application, the first device is a detection initiator, and the second device is a detection responder.

[0061] In this implementation, during the detection and measurement setup phase, the first device may show (or transmit) a predefined weighting matrix to the second device, so that when the first device subsequently shows the second device the weighting information used by each stream in the detection sequence in an implicit (i.e., secure) manner, the second device can effectively and accurately obtain the weighting information and implement weighted transmission.

[0062] In possible implementations, the detection sub-element includes a weighting matrix indication field, which indicates the corresponding weighting matrix.

[0063] In this implementation, each detection sub-element in the detection measurement setup request message may represent a weighting matrix.

[0064] In a possible implementation, the weighted matrix field contains X bits, where X is a positive integer, and the X bits contain three parts, the first part being:

number

number

number

[0065] In this implementation, each detection sub-element can effectively represent multiple predefined weighting matrices.

[0066] In a possible implementation, before the second device receives a first detection frame from the first device, the method further comprises: the second device receives a request message from the second device, which is used to request setting up a detection measurement, and which includes at least one detection sub-element, each detection sub-element corresponding to a phase rotation codebook of the detection sequence. In this embodiment of the present application, the first device is a detection initiator, and the second device is a detection responder.

[0067] In this implementation, during the detection and measurement setup phase, the first device may show (or transmit) a predefined phase rotation codebook of the detection sequence to the second device, so that the second device can then implement effective weighted transmissions based on the phase rotation codebook of the detection sequence.

[0068] In possible implementations, the detection sub-element includes a codebook indication field, which indicates the phase rotation codebook of the detection sequence.

[0069] In this implementation, each detection sub-element in the detection measurement setup request message may indicate the phase rotation codebook for the detection sequence.

[0070] In a possible implementation, the codebook indication field contains Y bits, each of which contains L groups of bits, where each group of bits indicates a coding scheme of one phase rotation, and Y and L are positive integers.

[0071] For example, one phase rotation coding may correspond to one phase shift weight value or a phase shift weight index. In this embodiment of the present application, a phase rotation coding may be considered a weight value, weighting value, weight index, or the like for weighting symbols.

[0072] In this implementation, each detection sub-element can effectively represent the coding of multiple phase rotation schemes.

[0073] In possible implementations, the request message further includes first indication information, which indicates the use of a weighted collaborative detection mode. For example, the first indication information is located in the detection / measurement parameter element of the detection / measurement request frame.

[0074] In this implementation, the first device indicates to the second device that it will use weighted cooperative detection mode, and then ensures that it supports weighted cooperative detection.

[0075] In a possible implementation, the method further comprises: a second device sending a response message to the first device, the response message indicating that the second device supports using weighted coordinated sensing mode.

[0076] In this implementation, the first device can learn that the second device supports the use of weighted cooperative sensing mode, and then ensure that the second device can effectively perform weighted cooperative sensing.

[0077] In a possible implementation, before the second device receives the first detection frame from the first device, the method further comprises: the second device receives a second detection frame from the second device, where the second detection frame contains second indication information, the second indication information indicating that a weighted transmission should be performed for the detection sequence. For example, the second detection frame is a detection vote trigger frame, and the second indication information is information about reserved bits in the detection vote trigger frame.

[0078] In this implementation, the second device can weight the transmitted detection sequence and then perform the transmission, thereby ensuring the security of the detection sequence transmission.

[0079] In a possible implementation, the weighting information would consist of N groups of bits, each group of bits representing information about a target weighting sequence used by one stream of detection sequences in the N streams, with the target weighting sequence corresponding to a row in the weighting matrix. In this implementation, the second device may effectively weight each stream of the detection sequence by using each stream of the target weighting sequence.

[0080] In a possible implementation, the weighting information would consist of M groups of bits, each group of bits representing the phase rotation value of a detection symbol in one stream of the detection sequence in N streams, where M is a positive integer greater than 1.

[0081] In this embodiment of the present invention, in the detection measurement setup process, the phase rotation codebook indicated by the request message includes M groups of bits.

[0082] In this implementation, the second device may effectively weight each detection symbol in each stream of the detection sequence by using the phase rotation value of each detection symbol in each stream.

[0083] In possible implementations, the detected symbols are weighted by using an 8-phase-shift keying 8PSK modulation scheme.

[0084] In this implementation, detection symbols in the detection sequence are effectively weighted to ensure the security of subsequent transmissions.

[0085] In a possible implementation, the first detection frame is an SR2SI sounding trigger frame, the first device is a detection receiver, and the second device is a detection transmitter.

[0086] In a possible implementation, the first detection frame is an SR2SR sounding trigger frame, and the first detection frame further includes the first information, which includes: the quantity N of streams of detection sequences transmitted by the second device, and one or more identifiers corresponding to the N streams.

[0087] In this implementation, the SR in the detection receiver can effectively obtain weighting information for N streams of the detection sequence of the second device.

[0088] According to a fourth aspect, one embodiment of the present application provides a communication method. The method may be performed by a third device or by a chip or chip system corresponding to the third device, but is not limited thereto. Specifically, the method may include: the third device receives a first detection frame from the first device, where the first detection frame contains weighting information for N streams of detection sequences from the second device, where N is a positive integer; the third device receives N streams of weighted detection sequences from the second device; and the third device processes the N streams of weighted detection sequences based on the weighting information.

[0089] In this embodiment of the present application, the method in the fourth aspect may be applied to an SR2SR detection mode, where the first detection frame may be an SR2SR sounding trigger frame in the detection measurement process. The first device functions as a detection initiator (SI) and may be an access point (AP). The second and third devices function as detection responders (SI) and may be different non-access point stations (non-AP STATs). The second device functions as a detection transmitter (SR), and the third device functions as a detection receiver (SR).

[0090] In this solution of the present invention, the third device functions as a detection receiver. After receiving N streams of weighted detection sequences transmitted by the second device, the third device may accurately and effectively obtain information about the corresponding transmission channel by solving based on the weighting information of the N streams of detection sequences of the second device, indicated by the first detection frame, and then effectively perform a detection task to obtain detection information. The method not only ensures that the third device effectively performs the detection task to obtain detection information, but also effectively avoids the leakage of detection information.

[0091] In this embodiment of the present invention, in one implementation, N streams of weighted sensing sequences of a second device are obtained by individually performing a weighting process on the N streams of sensing sequences using the corresponding target weighting sequence. In another implementation, N streams of weighted sensing sequences of a second device are obtained by individually performing a weighting process on the sensing symbols in the N streams of sensing sequences using the corresponding phase rotation values.

[0092] In a possible implementation, the weighting information would consist of N groups of bits, each group of bits representing information about a target weighting sequence used by one stream of detection sequences in the N streams, with the target weighting sequence corresponding to a row in the weighting matrix.

[0093] In a possible implementation, the weighting information would consist of M groups of bits, each group of bits representing the phase rotation value of a detection symbol in one stream of the detection sequence in N streams, where M is a positive integer greater than 1.

[0094] In possible implementations, the detected symbols are weighted by using an 8-phase-shift keying 8PSK modulation scheme.

[0095] In a possible implementation, the first detection frame further includes the first information, which includes: the quantity N of streams of detection sequences transmitted by the second device, and one or more identifiers corresponding to the N streams.

[0096] According to a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device. The device may be configured to perform the method of the first aspect. The device may be the first device, or the device may be a component of the first device (e.g., a chip, a chip system, or a circuit), or a device that can be used in combination with the first device.

[0097] In possible implementations, the device may include modules or units that correspond one-to-one with the methods / operations / stages / actions described in the first embodiment. The modules or units may be hardware circuits, software, or implemented by hardware circuits in combination with software. In possible implementations, the device may include a processing unit (which may also be referred to as a processing module) and a communication unit (which may also be referred to as a communication module). The communication unit may be configured to perform receiving and / or transmitting functions, and the processing unit may be configured to perform the method in the first embodiment or any possible implementation of the first embodiment, or the method in the second embodiment or any possible implementation of the second embodiment.

[0098] According to a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device. The device may be configured to perform the method of the third aspect. The device may be a second device, or the device may be a component (e.g., a chip, a chip system, or a circuit) of the second device, or a device that can be used in combination with the second device.

[0099] In possible implementations, the device may include modules or units that correspond one-to-one with the methods / operations / stages / actions described in the third embodiment. The modules or units may be hardware circuits, software, or implemented by hardware circuits in combination with software. In possible implementations, the device may include a processing unit (which may also be referred to as a processing module) and a communication unit (which may also be referred to as a communication module). The communication unit may be configured to perform receiving and / or transmitting functions, and the processing unit may be configured to perform the methods in the third embodiment, or in any possible implementation of the third embodiment.

[0100] According to a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device. The device may be configured to perform the method of the fourth aspect. The device may be a third device, or the device may be a component of the third device (e.g., a chip, a chip system, or a circuit), or a device that can be used in combination with the third device.

[0101] In possible implementations, the device may include modules or units that correspond one-to-one with the methods / operations / stages / actions described in the fourth embodiment. The modules or units may be hardware circuits, software, or implemented by hardware circuits in combination with software. In possible implementations, the device may include a processing unit (which may also be referred to as a processing module) and a communication unit (which may also be referred to as a communication module). The communication unit may be configured to perform receiving and / or transmitting functions, and the processing unit may be configured to perform the methods of the fourth embodiment, or any possible implementation of the fourth embodiment.

[0102] According to the eighth aspect, one embodiment of the present application provides an apparatus comprising at least one processor and a communication interface. The communication interface is configured to communicate with another apparatus. The processor is configured to execute a group of programs and enable the apparatus to implement the method provided in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, or enable the apparatus to implement the method provided in the second aspect.

[0103] According to the ninth aspect, one embodiment of the present application provides an apparatus comprising at least one processor and a communication interface. The communication interface is configured to communicate with another apparatus. The processor is configured to execute a group program and enable the apparatus to implement the method provided in the third aspect, or any possible implementation of the third aspect.

[0104] According to a tenth aspect, one embodiment of the present application provides an apparatus comprising at least one processor and a communication interface. The communication interface is configured to communicate with another apparatus. The processor is configured to execute a group program and enable the apparatus to implement the method provided in a fourth aspect, or any possible implementation of the fourth aspect.

[0105] According to the eleventh aspect, one embodiment of the present application further provides a computer storage medium for storing a software program. When the software program is read and executed by one or more processors, it can be implemented in a manner provided in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, in a manner provided in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect, in a manner provided in the third aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect, or in a manner provided in the fourth aspect or any possible implementation of the fourth aspect.

[0106] According to a twelfth aspect, one embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product including instructions. When the computer program product is executed on a computer, it becomes possible to perform methods provided in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, methods provided in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect, methods provided in the third aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect, or methods provided in the fourth aspect or any possible implementation of the fourth aspect.

[0107] According to the thirteenth aspect, one embodiment of the present application further provides a communication system comprising a first device configured to perform a first or second aspect, or any possible implementation of the first or second aspect, and a second device configured to perform a third aspect, or any possible implementation of the third aspect.

[0108] In possible designs, the communication system may further include a third device configured to perform a fourth embodiment or any possible implementation of the fourth embodiment.

[0109] According to a fourteenth aspect, one embodiment of the present application further provides a chip system comprising a processor configured such that a first device supports the implementation of a function in the first or second aspect, or a second device supports the implementation of a function in the third aspect, or a third device supports the implementation of a function in the fourth aspect.

[0110] In possible designs, the chip system further includes memory. The memory is configured to store program instructions and data necessary for the execution of the device being loaded. The chip system may include a chip, or it may include a chip and other discrete components.

[0111] It should be noted that for technical effects that can be achieved in the fifth to fourteenth aspects, or in any possible implementation of the fifth to fourteenth aspects, refer to the technical effects that can be achieved in the first to fourth aspects, or in any possible implementation of the first to fourth aspects. Further details are not described again herein. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0112] [Figure 1A] This is a diagram illustrating the detection and measurement setup procedure and the detection and measurement procedure.

[0113] [Figure 1B] This is a diagram of the transmission process in the detection and measurement procedure.

[0114] [Figure 2] This is a diagram showing the structure of the pilot frame transmitted during detection and measurement.

[0115] [Figure 3]This is a diagram illustrating the design of a weighted matrix value according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0116] [Figure 4] This is a diagram of a network architecture to which a communication method can be applied according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0117] [Figure 5] This is a schematic flowchart of a communication method according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0118] [Figure 6] This is a flowchart of the method in Embodiment 1, according to one embodiment of the present application.

[0119] [Figure 7A] This is a diagram showing the structure of a protected detection / measurement setup request frame according to one embodiment of the present application.

[0120] [Figure 7B] This is a diagram showing the structure of a protected detection / measurement setup response frame according to one embodiment of the present application.

[0121] [Figure 8A] This is a diagram showing the structure of a variable-length detection sub-element field according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0122] [Figure 8B] This is a diagram illustrating the transformation of a weighting matrix represented by a bit sequence of sub-elements, according to one embodiment of the present application.

[0123] [Figure 9A] This is a diagram showing the structure of a detection pole trigger frame according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0124] [Figure 9B] This is a diagram showing the structure of an SR2SI sounding trigger frame for STA1 according to one embodiment of the present application.

[0125] [Figure 10] This is a flowchart of the method in Embodiment 2, according to one embodiment of the present application.

[0126] [Figure 11A] This is a diagram showing the structure of another variable-length detection sub-element field according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0127] [Figure 11B] This figure shows a weighted detection symbol through 8PSK modulation according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0128] [Figure 12A] This is a diagram illustrating the indication of an SR2SR sounding trigger frame according to one embodiment of the present application.

[0129] [Figure 12B] This figure shows the weight values ​​obtained by two SR2SR sounding trigger frames according to one embodiment of the present application.

[0130] [Figure 13] This is a diagram of the receiver user information field for an SR2SR sounding trigger frame according to one embodiment of the present application.

[0131] [Figure 14] This is a diagram showing the structure of a communication device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0132] [Figure 15] This is a diagram showing the structure of another communication device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0133] [Figure 16] This is a diagram showing the structure of a chip according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0134] The following description details embodiments of the present application with reference to the accompanying drawings of this specification.

[0135] Embodiments of the present invention may be applicable to WLAN scenarios, for example, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 series standards, such as the 802.11ax standard, or its next generation, such as the 802.11be standard, Wi-Fi 7, or extremely high throughput (EHT), 802.11ad, 802.11ay, or 802.11bf. Alternatively, embodiments of the present invention may be further applicable to wireless local area network systems such as Internet of Things (IoT) networks or Vehicle to Everything (V2X) networks. Naturally, embodiments of the present invention may also be applicable to other possible communication systems, such as new radio (NR) systems, long-term evolution (LTE) systems, and future communication systems (e.g., 6G communication systems).

[0136] The following description uses the 802.11bf scenario as an example for explaining embodiments of the present application. Embodiments of the present application relate to detection technology. The following description explains the relevant aspects of the detection technology.

[0137] Detection and measurement, also known as wireless detection or WLAN detection, means that a transmitter and receiver perform signal transmission to discover a target or determine the target status. For example, environmental information (which may be called detection information) is detected by using wireless signals. Environmental information includes the distribution, size, and quantity of objects in the environment, as well as temperature, human actions and behaviors, and even human respiratory rate and heart rate. After the environment has been detected, subsequent processing may be carried out by referencing various other technologies such as AI to reconstruct the physical environment, analyze the environment, identify and analyze people and objects in the environment, and trigger subsequent actions.

[0138] WLAN detection means that a station (STA) with WLAN detection capabilities detects characteristic information of a target expected in a given environment by using received WLAN signals. For example, characteristic information includes one or more of the following: distance, velocity, angle, motion, presence or proximity, gestures, and the like. Targets include one or more of the following: objects, people, animals, and the like. Environments include one or more of the following: rooms, houses, vehicles, businesses, and the like.

[0139] For example, the transmitter may send a signal for detection measurement to the receiver, which may measure the signal and obtain a channel estimation result, such as a CSI. The receiver may perform detection based on the CSI. Alternatively, the receiver may send the channel estimation result to the transmitter, which may perform target detection or target status detection based on the channel estimation result. For example, the receiver or transmitter may process the CSI to determine whether a moving object exists in the environment.

[0140] In the detection and measurement process, the devices that participate in detection are mainly as follows:

[0141] Sensing initiator: A sensing initiator is a device that initiates a sensing and measurement procedure and sends a sensing and measurement setup request. For non-DMG devices, the sensing initiator is the device that sends the sensing and measurement setup request frame. For DMG devices, the sensing initiator is the device that sends the DMG sensing and measurement setup request frame.

[0142] Sensing Responder: A sensing responder is a device that responds to a sensing procedure initiated by a sensing initiator and transmits a sensing measurement response. For non-DMG devices, the sensing responder is the device that transmits a sensing measurement setup response frame. For DMG devices, the sensing responder is the device that transmits a DMG sensing measurement setup response frame.

[0143] Sensing transmitter: A sensing transmitter is a device that transmits a sensing signal. The sensing signal may be a signal for sensing measurement, such as a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU). Sensing may be WLAN sensing or DMG sensing.

[0144] Sensing receiver: A sensing receiver is a device that receives a sensing signal transmitted by a sensing transmitter. The sensing may be WLAN sensing or DMG sensing.

[0145] In embodiments of the present application, detection may be WLAN detection (e.g., low-frequency detection in the sub-7 GHz range) or (E)DMG detection (i.e., high-frequency detection, e.g., 60 GHz). DMG as used herein may represent high-frequency detection, and the specific protocols used are not limited herein. In embodiments of the present application, low-frequency detection in the sub-7 GHz range is used as an example for illustrative purposes.

[0146] Currently, WLAN detection may include the following processes: detection measurement setup, detection measurement instance, and detection measurement disable / termination.

[0147] After the sensing initiator completes the sensing measurement setup, it starts one or more sensing measurement instances. Sensing measurement instances may be classified into trigger-based (TB) sensing measurement instances and non-trigger-based (Non-TB) sensing measurement instances. TB sensing measurement instances are generally started by the AP, while non-TB sensing measurement instances are generally started by the STA.

[0148] An example of a TB detection measurement instance may include at least one of the following: a polling phase, a trigger frame (TF) sounding phase, a null data packet announcement (NDPA) sounding phase, and a reporting phase.

[0149] For the trigger frame (TF) sounding phase, one or more SRs may implement detection by transmitting pilot information to the SI, or one SR may implement detection by transmitting pilot information to the SR.

[0150] Refer to Figure 1A. Before the detection measurement procedure (trigger-based detection measurement procedure) is executed, a detection measurement setup procedure is first performed between the access point AP and the detection station STA (for example, STA1 and STA2 shown in Figure 1A), and may include the following steps: S101A: The AP acts as a detection initiator (SI) and sends a detection measurement setup request message 1 to STA1 to request that the detection measurement be set up. S102A: STA1 acts as a detection responder (SR) and sends a detection measurement setup response message 1 back to the AP to provide feedback on whether or not it accepts the detection measurement setup. S103A: The AP may further send a detection measurement setup request message 2 to STA2 to request that the detection measurement be set up. S104A: STA2 also acts as a detection responder (SI) and sends a detection measurement setup response message 2 back to the AP to provide feedback on whether or not it accepts the detection measurement setup. During the detection measurement setup procedure, the AP and STA may configure and negotiate relevant information. As shown in Figure 1B, in the trigger-based detection measurement process, the AP functions as a detection initiator (SI), and STA1 and STA2 function as detection responders (SR). In the voting phase, the AP transmits a detection vote trigger frame, to which each STA receives a detection vote trigger frame; thereafter, STA1 and STA2 transmit permission to the AP. Furthermore, in the trigger frame sounding phase, the AP transmits a detection sounding trigger frame to STA1 and STA2; after receiving the detection sounding trigger frame, STA1 and STA2 may simultaneously transmit multiple pilot frames to the AP using the uplink MIMO multi-stream transmission method to perform detection. The above pilot frames may be referred to as ranging null data packets (Ranging NDPs), and will be abbreviated as NDP below.

[0151] Figure 2(1) shows the structure of the pilot frame (i.e., the physical frame of the NDP) transmitted during detection measurement. The structure of the physical frame of the NDP includes a High Efficiency Long Training (HE-LTF) field, which contains one or more consecutive HE-LTF symbols. When the transmitter transmits pilot frames simultaneously in multiple streams, i.e., when the NDP is transmitted simultaneously in multiple streams, the NDP in each stream passes through a different channel. As shown in Figure 2(2), for example, the NDP is transmitted simultaneously in four streams, which are referred to as Stream 1 to Stream 4. The HE-LTF field corresponding to each stream contains four consecutive HE-LTF symbols in time (i.e., HE-LTF1, HE-LTF2, HE-LTF3, and HE-LTF4), and the channels through which the four streams pass correspond to h1 to h4. When MIMO multistream transmission is used, the four HE-LTF symbols in the four streams (i.e., HE-LTF1, HE-LTF2, HE-LTF3, and HE-LTF4) are weighted differently, that is, they are multiplied by either +1 or -1 compared to the original HE-LTF symbol. As shown in (2) in Figure 2, once the number of streams to be transmitted is determined, the weighting matrix is ​​determined accordingly. For example, if transmission is performed in four streams, the weighting matrix used in the current protocol is specified as the following matrix:

number

[0152] Subsequently, channel information corresponding to the transmission of the four streams can be obtained, that is, each can be expressed as follows:

number

[0153] In this specification,

number

number

number

number

[0154] However, existing TB detection solutions may only have public pilots for channel estimation to perform the detection task; that is, all transmitted pilot frames NDP are public. Therefore, if detection is performed between AP and STA, the transmitted pilot information can be passively received by a third-party listener, and the detection content (or detection information) may be obtained. For example, a third party may perform channel estimation on the received signal, and user privacy information (e.g., the user's personal physical data, heart rate, and respiration) may be exposed to the third party as a result of the detection.

[0155] To address the aforementioned problems, the current solution (the 802.11az standard) provides a secure HE-LTF transmission solution. Specifically, higher-order modulation (64QAM modulation) is applied to the transmitted pilot, and the pilot is encrypted using an encryption method (AES). However, while this solution protects the integrity of the transmitted ranging pilot (Ranging NDP), it fails to effectively protect detection privacy. In addition, because higher-order modulation information is used in the pilot, detection performance is affected, resulting in reduced detection accuracy or the inability to obtain detection information.

[0156] Therefore, the present invention provides a communication method that effectively solves the problem of leakage of detection information in detection measurement and effectively avoids the leakage of user privacy information. An application scenario of the embodiment of the present invention may be, but is not limited to, the following: In a WLAN communication system, when an AP initiates detection and a detection responder STA transmits a null data packet as a detection pilot for detection, multiple STAs jointly transmit a detection pilot for detection.

[0157] From the perspective of Wi-Fi operating frequencies, the application scenarios of the embodiments of the present application may be low-frequency Wi-Fi (in the sub-7G) and high-frequency Wi-Fi (in the millimeter-wave band). From the perspective of Wi-Fi standards, the embodiments of the present application may support Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 7 (EHT), and Wi-Fi 8 (UHR) scenarios. For example, (1) in Figure 3 is a diagram of the structure of a pilot frame transmitted during detection. In embodiments of the present application, when multi-spatial-stream detection data (i.e., pilot frames) are transmitted, a weighting matrix is ​​designed to weight multiple spatial streams, as shown in (2) in Figure 3. To implement privacy protection, different weighting matrices are designed to implement different detection transmission pilots (i.e., detection transmission symbols, where a pilot includes multiple symbols).

[0158] The following description explains and describes the communication method provided in the embodiments of this application with reference to the attached drawings.

[0159] Figure 4 is a diagram of an example system architecture of a WLAN to which one embodiment of the present invention is applicable. In Figure 4, for example, the WLAN includes one access point (AP) and two stations (STA) (i.e., in a cooperative detection scenario). The AP functions as a detection initiator (or initiator). STA1 and STA2 function as detection responders (or responders), each of which may cooperatively transmit two consecutive detection symbols 1 and 2 to the AP. In this embodiment of the present invention, the element values ​​of the detection matrix used may be designed to implement privacy protection. In addition, the embodiment of the present invention is also applicable to communication between APs. For example, APs may communicate with each other through a distributed system (DS). The embodiment of the present invention is also applicable to communication between STAs. It should be understood that the number of APs and STAs in Figure 4 is only an example. There may be more or fewer APs and STAs.

[0160] An STA associated with an AP may be called a concisely associated STA, and the STA may establish an association with the AP by using an association procedure. An STA that does not establish an association with the AP may be called a concisely unassociated STA.

[0161] An access point may be an access point through which terminal devices (e.g., mobile phones) access a wired (or wireless) network, and is primarily deployed in residences, buildings, and campuses, with a typical coverage radius ranging from several tens of meters to over a hundred meters. Of course, access points may also be deployed outdoors. An access point is equivalent to a bridge connecting wired and wireless networks, and is primarily used to connect various wireless network clients together and then connect the wireless network to Ethernet®. Specifically, an access point may be a terminal device (e.g., a mobile phone) or a network device (e.g., a router) with a Wi-Fi chip. An access point may be a device that supports the 802.11be standard. Alternatively, the access point may be a device that supports multiple wireless local area network (WLAN) standards of the 802.11 family, such as the next-generation standards 802.11ay, 802.11ad, 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b, 802.11a, and 802.11be. The access point in this application may be a HE AP, an extremely high throughput (EHT) AP, or an access point applicable to future generations of Wi-Fi standards.

[0162] A station may be a wireless communication chip, wireless sensor, wireless communication terminal, or similar, and may also be referred to as a user. For example, a station may be a mobile phone, tablet computer, set-top box, smart television, smart wearable device, in-vehicle communication device, or computer that supports Wi-Fi communication capabilities, and similar. Optionally, a station may support the 802.11be standard. Alternatively, a station may support multiple wireless local area network (WLAN) standards in the 802.11 family, such as the next-generation standards 802.11ay, 802.11ad, 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b, 802.11a, and 802.11be.

[0163] The station in this application may be a directional multi-gigabit (DMG) STA, an enhanced directional multi-gigabit (EDMG) STA, a HE STA, or an extremely high throughput (EHT) STA, or an STA applicable to future generations of Wi-Fi standards.

[0164] For example, access points and stations may be devices used in the Internet of Vehicles, Internet of Things (IoT) nodes or sensors, smart cameras, smart remote controls, smart water or electric meters in smart homes, or sensors in smart cities.

[0165] The AP and STA in embodiments of this application may be APs and STAs applicable to the IEEE 802.11 series standards. An AP is a device deployed in a wireless communication network and providing wireless communication capabilities for an STA associated with the AP. An AP may be used as the center of a communication system and is typically a network-side product that supports MAC and PHY in the 802.11 series standards, and may be a communication device such as a base station, router, gateway, repeater, communication server, switch, or bridge. A base station may include, in various forms, a macro base station, a micro base station, a repeater, or the like. For ease of explanation, the devices mentioned above are collectively referred to as APs in this specification. An STA is typically a terminal product that supports the media access control (MAC) and physical (PHY) layers in the 802.11 series standards, such as a mobile phone or notebook computer.

[0166] Figure 5 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method according to one embodiment of the present application. The method procedure provided in this embodiment of the present application may, but is not limited to, the system architecture shown in Figure 4. The AP or chip in the AP in Figure 4 may perform the method performed by the first device in the following procedure, the STA (e.g., STA1) or chip in the STA (e.g., STA1) in Figure 4 may perform the method performed by the second device in the following procedure, and the STA (e.g., STA2) or chip in the STA (e.g., STA2) in Figure 4 may perform the method performed by the third device in the following procedure. The specific structure of the entity for performing the method provided in this embodiment of the present application may be understood to be not specifically limited in the following embodiments, provided that a program for recording code for the method provided in this embodiment of the present application may be executed to perform communication according to the method provided in this embodiment of the present application. Referring to Figure 5, the specific procedure of the method is as follows.

[0167] S501: The first device transmits a first detection frame to the second device, where the first detection frame contains weighting information for N streams of the detection sequence of the second device, where N is a positive integer. In response, the second device receives the first detection frame.

[0168] In this embodiment of the present application, the first device may be an access point (AP), and the second device may be a non-AP STAT.

[0169] In this embodiment of the present application, one stream of the detection sequence may be considered a detection data stream (or detection stream), and each stream of the detection sequence may be transmitted through a corresponding channel. From the spatial dimension, each stream of the detection sequence may also be referred to as the detection sequence of each spatial stream. For example, the detection sequence may be a ranging pilot frame NDP, and the detection symbol in the detection sequence may be an HE-LTF symbol in the NDP. The first detection frame may be a detection sounding trigger frame in the detection setup process. In addition, in this embodiment of the present application, in a multi-stream transmission scenario, N is a positive integer greater than 1.

[0170] In this embodiment of the present application, the first device functions as a detection initiator (abbreviated as SI), and the second device functions as a detection responder (abbreviated as SR). Before the first device transmits a first detection frame to the second device, the first and second devices further perform a detection measurement setup process.

[0171] With respect to the detection and measurement setup process, embodiments of the present invention may include, but are not limited to, the following two implementation solutions:

[0172] Implementation Solution 1: The first device sends a request message to the second device, where the request message is used to request that a detection measurement be set up, and the request message includes at least one detection sub-element, each detection sub-element corresponding to a weighting matrix.

[0173] In possible implementations, the detection sub-element includes a weighting matrix indication field, which indicates the corresponding weighting matrix.

[0174] For example, a weighted matrix field may contain X bits, where X is a positive integer. The X bits have three parts. The first part is:

number

number

number

[0175] In this embodiment of the present application, the a × b weighting matrix may be a matrix having a row and b columns for weighting. The number of rows in the weighting matrix (i.e., the values ​​of a) may correspond to the number of transmitted detection sequences in the stream, and the number of columns in the weighting matrix (i.e., the values ​​of b) may correspond to the number of detection symbols in one stream of detection sequences. In the weighting process, one row in the weighting matrix (referred to as a weighting sequence in this embodiment of the present application) corresponds to one stream of detection sequences for weighting.

[0176] Implementation Solution 2: The first device sends a request message to the second device, where the request message is used to request that a detection measurement be set up, and the request message includes at least one detection sub-element, each detection sub-element corresponding to a phase rotation codebook of the detection sequence.

[0177] In possible implementations, the detection sub-element includes a codebook indication field, which indicates the phase rotation codebook of the detection sequence.

[0178] For example, the codebook indication field contains Y bits, where Y is a positive integer. The Y bits contain L groups of bits, each group of bits indicating a coding of one phase rotation scheme.

[0179] As stated above, a coding of one phase rotation scheme may, but is not limited to, a coding of one phase shift weight value or an index of a phase shift weight value. In this embodiment of the present application, a coding of a phase rotation scheme may be considered a weight value, weighting value, weight index, or the like for weighting symbols.

[0180] In one implementation, in implementation solution 1 and implementation solution 2, the first request message further includes first indication information, which indicates the use of a weighted cooperative detection mode. In this embodiment of the present application, the first indication information may be located in the detection / measurement parameter element of the detection / measurement request frame.

[0181] Accordingly, implementation solutions 1 and 2 further include: the second device sends a response message to the first device requesting it to set up a detection measurement, the response message indicating that the second device supports using weighted coordinated detection mode; the first device receives a response message from the second device.

[0182] In one implementation, before the first device transmits the first detection frame to the second device, the first device determines the weighting information for the N streams of the detection sequence of the second device.

[0183] In this embodiment of the present application, the weighting information determined by the first device based on the aforementioned implementation solutions 1 and 2 may include the following two cases:

[0184] Case 1: The weighting information consists of N groups of bits, each group of bits representing information about a target weighting sequence used by one stream of detection sequences in the N streams, and the target weighting sequence corresponds to one row of the weighting matrix.

[0185] Case 1 is based on the aforementioned implementation solution 1, in which the first device further determines the weighting information of N stream detection sequences of the second device. In this embodiment of the present application, the target weighting sequence may correspond to one row of a weighting matrix corresponding to at least one detection sub-element in the request message.

[0186] Case 2: The weighting information includes M groups of bits, each group of bits representing the phase rotation value of a detection symbol in one stream of the detection sequence in N streams, where M is a positive integer greater than 1, and the value of M may be equal to the value of N.

[0187] In this embodiment of the present invention, the detection symbols are weighted by using an 8-phase-shift keying (8PSK) modulation scheme.

[0188] Case 2 is based on the aforementioned implementation solution 2, where the first device further determines the weighting information of N stream detection sequences of the second device. In a possible implementation, the phase rotation codebook corresponding to at least one detection sub-element in the first request message contains M groups of bits.

[0189] In one implementation, before the first device transmits the first detection frame, the method further includes: the first device transmits a second detection frame to the second device, where the second detection frame includes second indication information, the second indication information indicating that the detection sequence is weighted and transmitted.

[0190] For example, the second detection frame is a detection vote trigger frame, and the second indication information is information about the reserved bits in the detection vote trigger frame.

[0191] S502: The second device individually weights the N streams of the detection sequence based on the weighting information and obtains the N streams of the weighted detection sequence.

[0192] In this embodiment of the present application, based on two cases of weighting information determined by the first device, step S502 may include the following implementation:

[0193] In one implementation, based on Case 1 (i.e., the weighting information includes N groups of bits, each group of bits representing information about a target weighting sequence used by one stream of the detection sequence in the N streams, and the target weighting sequence corresponds to one row of the weighting matrix), the second device obtaining N streams of weighted detection sequences by individually weighting the N streams of detection sequences based on the weighting information may include: the second device may determine the target weighting sequence used by the N streams of detection sequences based on the N groups of bits in the weighting information; further, the second device may obtain N streams of weighted detection sequences by individually weighting the N streams of detection sequences using the corresponding target weighting sequence.

[0194] In another implementation, based on Case 2 (i.e., the weighting information includes M groups of bits, each group of bits representing the phase rotation value of a detection symbol in one stream of the detection sequence in N streams, and M is a positive integer greater than 1), the second device obtaining N streams of weighted detection sequences by individually weighting the N streams of detection sequences based on the weighting information may include: the second device may determine the phase rotation values ​​of the detection symbols in the N streams of detection sequences based on the M groups of bits in the weighting information; further, the second device may weight the N streams of detection sequences based on the phase rotation values ​​of the detection symbols in the N streams of detection sequences to obtain N streams of weighted detection sequences.

[0195] S503: The second device transmits N streams of weighted detection sequences.

[0196] In this embodiment of the present invention, the second device functions as a detection sequence transmitter (i.e., a detection signal transmitter, abbreviated as a detection transmitter). In this case, the second device transmits N streams of weighted detection sequences to a detection sequence receiver (i.e., a detection signal receiver, abbreviated as a detection receiver).

[0197] In this embodiment of the present application, when step S503 (i.e., the second device transmits N streams of weighted detection sequences) is performed, several implementations may be included below.

[0198] In one implementation, the second device transmits N streams of weighted detection sequences to the first device. Correspondingly, the first device receives N streams of weighted detection sequences from the second device. Optionally, this implementation may be applied to SR2SI detection mode, where the second device is a detection transmitter and the first device is a detection receiver. In this case, the first detection frame may be an SR2SI sounding trigger frame.

[0199] Furthermore, the first device may obtain information about channels for transmitting the corresponding N streams by solving based on the weighting information of the N streams of the detection sequence and the N streams of the weighted detection sequence.

[0200] In another implementation, the second device transmits N streams of weighted detection sequences to the third device. Correspondingly, the third device receives N streams of weighted detection sequences from the second device. Optionally, this implementation may be applied to SR2SR detection mode, where the second device is a detection transmitter and the third device is a detection receiver. The first detection frame may be an SR2SR sounding trigger frame.

[0201] For example, the third device may be a non-access point station (non-AP STAT) different from the second device.

[0202] In one implementation, before the third device receives N streams of weighted detection sequences from the second device, the method further includes: the third device receives a first detection frame from the first device, where the first detection frame includes weighting information for the N streams of detection sequences from the second device. Optionally, the first detection frame may further include first information, which may, but is not limited to, the number of streams N from which the second device transmits detection sequences, and one or two identifiers corresponding to the N streams.

[0203] Furthermore, the third device may obtain information about channels for transmitting the corresponding N streams by solving based on the weighting information of the N streams of the detection sequence of the second device and the N streams of the weighted detection sequence of the second device.

[0204] In possible implementations, based on Case 1 (i.e., the weighting information includes N groups of bits, each group of bits representing information about a target weighting sequence used by one stream of the detection sequence in the N streams, and the target weighting sequence corresponds to one row of the weighting matrix), the third device obtaining information about channels for transmitting the N streams of detection sequences based on the weighting information of the second device and the N streams of the weighted detection sequence may include: first determining the target weighting sequence used by the N streams of detection sequences based on the N groups of bits in the weighting information; then obtaining information about channels for transmitting the N streams of detection sequences by solving based on the target weighting sequence used by the N streams of detection sequences and the N streams of the weighted detection sequence in the second device. For example, see the method in step S607a in Embodiment 1 for a specific method for obtaining channel information by solving. Details are not described herein.

[0205] In another possible implementation, based on Case 2 (i.e., the weighting information includes M groups of bits, each group of bits representing the phase rotation value of a detection symbol in one stream of the detection sequence in N streams, and M is a positive integer greater than 1), the third device may obtain information about channels for transmitting N streams of detection sequences based on the weighting information of the second device for N streams of detection sequences and the N streams of the weighted detection sequence of the second device, which may include: the third device determining the phase rotation value of a detection symbol in N streams of detection sequences based on the M groups of bits in the weighting information; and further obtaining information about channels for transmitting N streams of detection sequences by solving based on the phase rotation value of a detection symbol in N streams of detection sequences and the N streams of the weighted detection sequence. For example, for a specific method of obtaining channel information by solving, see the method in step S1007a in Embodiment 2. Details are not described herein.

[0206] In conclusion, this embodiment of the present application provides a communication method. The method includes: a first device determines weighting information for N streams of a detection sequence of a second device, where N is a positive integer; the first device transmits a first detection frame, where the first detection frame includes the weighting information; after receiving the first detection frame, the second device may weight the N streams of the detection sequence of the second device based on the weighting information for the N streams of the detection sequence in the first detection frame, and then transmit. This effectively prevents the leakage of detection information.

[0207] Based on the communication method shown in Figure 5, the following description will further elaborate on several specific embodiments. Embodiment 1

[0208] Embodiment 1 will be described primarily based on Implementation Solution 1 shown in Figure 5. That is, in the detection measurement setup, the first device may first send a request message to the second device requesting it to set up a detection measurement, thereby showing the second device at least one weighting matrix; further, the first device may show the second device information, based on at least one weighting matrix, about a target weighting sequence used by the second device's N streams of detection sequences, where the target weighting sequence corresponds to one row of the weighting matrix and implements the weights and transmissions of the N streams of detection sequences. In Embodiment 1, the first device is, for example, an AP, which functions as a detection initiator (SI), and the second device is, for example, an STA1 (or STA2), which functions as a detection responder, which performs coordinated detection and may use a multi-stream transmission scheme. As shown in Figure 6, the procedure of Embodiment 1 is as follows.

[0209] S601:AP sends a detection and measurement setup request message to STA1.

[0210] In response, STA1 receives a detection measurement setup request message (which is equivalent to the first request message in the solution in Figure 5).

[0211] In possible implementations, the detection measurement setup request message includes a 1-bit signaling (which is equivalent to the first indication information in the solution in Figure 5), and the 1-bit signaling indicates the use of weighted cooperative detection mode.

[0212] For example, Figure 7A is a diagram of the structure of a protected detection measurement setup request frame. The detection measurement setup request frame includes a detection measurement parameter element, and the detection measurement parameter field format includes four reserved bits. One of the four bits (which may be equivalent to the first indication information in the solution in Figure 5) may indicate the use of a weighted cooperative detection mode.

[0213] In possible implementations, the detection measurement setup request message further includes a variable-length detection sub-element field, which provides information about the weighting matrix.

[0214] For example, as shown in Figure 8A, the variable-length detection sub-element field contains 6 bytes (48 bits in total), where 8 bits represent the detection sub-element ID and 19 bits are used to determine the specific weighting matrix.

[0215] More IDs may be added to the detection sub-element IDs based on prior art (i.e., the detection sub-element IDs are 0 or 1). As shown in Table 1, the detection sub-element IDs may be 2 to x, where x is a positive integer. Detection sub-elements with different IDs may exhibit different weighting matrix configurations. Table 1 [Table 1]

[0216] Table 1 is used as an example. Table 1 designed for practical use may contain more or less content.

[0217] For the 19 bits used to determine the specific weighting matrix, the 19 bits may be divided into three segments (three groups). For example, for bits 0 to 18, the first segment is bits 0 to 2, the second segment is bits 3 to 15, and the third segment is bits 16 to 18. The first segment (i.e., bits 0 to 2) is a weighting matrix having 2 rows (i.e., streams) and 2 columns (i.e., symbols in NDP), i.e.,

number

number

number

number

number

number

[0218] In Embodiment 1, the bits in each segment may represent the corresponding weighting matrix in the following implementation.

[0219] The first segment (i.e., bits 0 to 2) is shown.

number

[0220] Table 2 shows the 3 bits (bits 0 to 2, i.e., 3 binary digits) and the weighted matrix (

number

[0221] Specifically, if bit 0, bit 1, and bit 2 are 000, the corresponding weighting matrix is:

number

number

number

Number

Number

Number

Number

number

[0225] Table 3A shows the 13 bits (bits 3 to 15, i.e., 13 binary digits) and the weighted matrix (

number

number

[0226] Jointly represented by the second segment (bits 3 to bit 15) and the third segment (bits 16 to bit 18)

Number

[0227]

Number

Number

Number

Number

Number

Number

Number

Number

[0228] In this specification,

number

number

number

number

number

[0229] Therefore, AP is,

number

number

number

[0230] In this embodiment of the present application, each row of the weighting matrix corresponds to a weighting sequence for one stream of detection sequences.

[0231] The following description is shown, for example, by the bits in the second segment of a 19-bit system.

number

number

[0232] AP has two groups of matrices in the detection sub-element of the detection measurement setup request message, namely sub-element ids 2 and 3. The sequence of bits in the second segment (i.e., bits 16 to 18) of the 19 bits having sub-element id 2 is:

number

number

[0233] As shown in Figure 8B, when sub-element ID is 2, the sequence of bits that make up the 19 bits is 101 1 101 011 000 110 010. On the STA side, weighting matrix 1 corresponding to the sequence of bits in the second segment may be determined based on the sequence of bits in the second segment in the 19 bits and by referring to the mapping relationships shown in Table 3A. When sub-element ID is 3, the sequence of bits that make up the 19 bits is 011 0 011 000 101 110 100. On the STA side, weighting matrix 2 corresponding to the sequence of bits in the second segment may be determined based on the sequence of bits in the second segment in the 19 bits and by referring to the mapping relationships shown in Table 3A. The rows of the determined weighting matrix 1 and determined weighting matrix 2 are shown in Table 3B.

[0234] Subsequently, in the SR2SI transmission scenario, if STA1 transmits four streams of SR2SI NDP sequences (each stream of the SR2SI NDP sequence contains four HE-LTF symbols) to the AP, then in the frontend time sequence, the four streams of the SR2SI NDP1 sequence may be individually weighted using the weighting sequence in the fourth row of weighting matrix 1 and then transmitted to the AP through the corresponding channels. Specifically, the four symbols in the first stream of the SR2SR NDP1 sequence are weighted using the weighting sequence in row 1 of weighting matrix 1, the four symbols in the second stream of the SR2SR NDP1 sequence are weighted using the weighting sequence in row 2 of weighting matrix 1, the four symbols in the third stream of the SR2SR NDP1 sequence are weighted using the weighting sequence in row 3 of weighting matrix 1, and the four symbols in the fourth stream of the SR2SR NDP1 sequence are weighted using the weighting sequence in row 4 of weighting matrix 1. In the backend time sequence, the four streams of the SR2SR NDP2 sequence may be individually weighted using the weighting sequence in the fourth row of weighting matrix 2 and then transmitted to the AP through the corresponding channel. That is, the four symbols in the first stream of the SR2SR NDP2 sequence are weighted using the weighting sequence in row 1 of weighting matrix 2, the four symbols in the second stream of the SR2SR NDP2 sequence are weighted using the weighting sequence in row 2 of weighting matrix 2, the four symbols in the third stream of the SR2SR NDP2 sequence are weighted using the weighting sequence in row 3 of weighting matrix 2, and the four symbols in the fourth stream of the SR2SR NDP2 sequence are weighted using the weighting sequence in row 4 of weighting matrix 2.

[0235] In the preceding example, the four streams of SR2SR NDP sequences from STA1 (each SR2SR NDP sequence containing four HE-LTF symbols) are weighted and transmitted using a 4x4 weighting matrix to illustrate the solution. In a practical application, the four streams of SR2SI NDP sequences may correspond to those transmitted to the AP by different STAs, and the weighting process for each SR2SI NDP stream may be implemented by referring to the weighting scheme described above.

[0236] In step S601, the AP side uses different weighting matrices (for example,

number

number

number

[0237] In possible implementations, response bits may be added to the detection elements in the detection measurement setup request message, and the response bits may indicate how to use the specific weighting matrix used by each stream of the detection sequence that needs to be sent by STA1 during detection.

[0238] In possible implementations, if the detection participants include not only STA1 but also STA2, the AP may send an additional detection measurement setup request message to STA2. In this implementation, STA2 is similar to STA1. For details, please refer to the stage corresponding to STA1. Further details are not described again herein.

[0239] At the aforementioned stage, AP can effectively present multiple predefined weighting matrices to each active STA for subsequent weighting.

[0240] In Embodiment 1, the detection participants are not limited to STA1 and STA2, and may further include another communication device (e.g., STA3 below). In this case, the AP may present the weighting matrix to the other communication device by referring to the aforementioned method of presenting the weighting matrix to STA1 (or STA2). Further details are not described again herein.

[0241] S602:STA1 sends a detection / measurement setup response message to the AP.

[0242] In response, AP receives a detection / measurement setup response message from STA1, which indicates that STA1 will participate in the detection.

[0243] In a possible implementation, if the detection measurement setup request message sent by the AP and received by STA1 includes a 1-bit signaling indicating the use of weighted coordinated detection mode (which may be equivalent to the first indication information in the solution in Figure 5), the detection measurement setup response message sent back to the AP by STA1 may indirectly indicate whether STA1 supports the use of weighted coordinated detection mode.

[0244] For example, Figure 7B shows the frame structure of a detection measurement setup response message. If the Status Code feedback (or indication) is "SUCCESS_WEIGHTED_JOINT_TRANSMISSION (SUCCESS_WEIGHTED_JOINT_TRANSMISSION)", it indicates support for using weighted collaborative detection mode (i.e., joint spatial stream transmission performed with additional weighting). Otherwise, if the Status Code feedback (or indication) is in a different state, it indicates that weighted collaborative detection mode is not supported.

[0245] In possible implementations, STA2 also sends a detection measurement setup response message to the AP. In this implementation, STA2 is similar to STA1. For details, please refer to the stage corresponding to STA1. Details are not described again in this specification.

[0246] In Embodiment 1, the detection participants are not limited to the aforementioned STA1 and STA2, but may further include another communication device (e.g., STA3). The AP may further send a detection measurement setup request message to another communication device (e.g., STA3) and receive a detection measurement setup response message from another communication device (e.g., STA3). In addition, the detection measurement setup request information and the detection setup response message may be designed with reference to the detection measurement setup request information received by STA1 (or STA2) and the detection measurement setup response message sent back by STA1 (or STA2). Further details will not be described one by one again in this specification.

[0247] The aforementioned stages S601 and S602 belong to the phase of setting up detection and measurement between AP and each STA. The following stages belong to the detection and measurement phase.

[0248] S603:AP sends a detection pole trigger frame to STA1, where the detection pole trigger frame uses a predefined weighting matrix.

[0249] In possible implementations, a 1-bit signaling (equivalent to the second indication information in the solution in Figure 5) is added to the detection pole trigger frame (equivalent to the second detection frame in the solution in Figure 5), and the 1-bit signaling indicates weighting and transmission.

[0250] For example, as shown in Figure 9A, one bit is added to the detection pole trigger frame for the detection instance. If the bit is set to 1, it indicates that the weighting matrix will be used (or enabled) for the TP sounding NDP in the measurement instance for weighting and transmission; or if the bit is not set to 1, it indicates that the weighting matrix will not be used (or disabled) for weighting and transmission in the measurement instance.

[0251] In possible implementations, the AP may further send a detection pole trigger frame to the STA2. In response, the STA2 receives a detection pole trigger frame, which may contain weighting information for weighting each stream in the STA2's NDP sequence. For specific designs, see the detection pole trigger frame sent by the AP to the STA1. Further details are not described again herein.

[0252] S604: The AP sends a detection sounding trigger frame to the STA1, where the detection sounding trigger frame indicates the weighting information for each stream in the STA1's NDP sequence (i.e., the weighting sequence used by each stream accordingly).

[0253] For example, in an SR2SI detection scenario, AP functions as a detection initiator (SI), STA1 functions as a detection responder (SR) or participant, and STA1 also functions as a transmitter of the detection signal.

[0254] In a possible implementation, the AP sends a detection sounding trigger frame to the STA1, where the detection sounding trigger frame contains pre-configured bit information, which indicates weighting information (equivalent to the target weighting sequence in the solution shown in Figure 5) used by the N stream NDP sequence of the STA1 (equivalent to the detection sequence in the solution shown in Figure 5), where N is a positive integer.

[0255] For example, as shown in Figure 9B, the structure of the SR2SI sounding frame received by STA1 contains a sufficiently long segment of bit information (e.g., 24 bits ~x that constitute the matrix quantity, where x is a positive integer). This segment of bit information represents the weighting information used by the detection sequence (NDP sequence) for each stream of STA1. Similarly, if another STA (e.g., STA2) functions as a transmitter of detection signals, the AP may also provide the other STA (e.g., STA2) with the weighting information used by the detection sequence (NDP sequence) for each stream, in a manner similar to that shown for STA1.

[0256] The following description details how the AP provides the STA with weighting information for each stream in the STA's detection sequence by sending a sounding trigger frame.

[0257] For example, in an SR2SI detection scenario (i.e., STAs act as transmitters of detection signals and APs act as receivers of detection signals), suppose there are four STAs acting as transmitters of detection signals, each STA transmits one detection stream (i.e., one stream of the NDP sequence), and each detection stream contains four detection symbols. In this case, the AP receives four detection streams simultaneously.

[0258] In the detection and measurement setup phase, the AP may predefine two weighting matrices and provide (send) these two weighting matrices to the four STAs using a detection and measurement setup request message. Furthermore, in the detection and measurement phase (i.e., in step S604), the AP sends SR2SI detection sounding trigger frames (SR2SI sounding trigger frames) individually to the four STAs. The information contained in the user info field for each SR2SI sounding trigger frame may indicate weighting information for the detection stream sent by the corresponding STA.

[0259] Refer to Figure 9B. The following description details how an SR2SI sounding trigger frame indicates the weighting information for each detection stream of STA1 (each detection stream corresponds to one row of the weighting sequence in the weighting matrix), using an SR2SI sounding trigger frame sent to STA1 by AP as an example. This includes:

[0260] First, the SS assignment field (which belongs to the original field) may include a field indicating the quantity N of detection streams to be transmitted by STA1. If the last three bits in the SS assignment field are defined as 000, one detection stream is indicated; if the last three bits in the SS assignment field are defined as 001, two detection streams are indicated; the remainder may be inferred by analogy. For example, if the quantity N of detection streams to be transmitted by STA1 is 1, the AP transmits an SR2SI sounding trigger frame to STA1, where the last three bits (B29-B31) in the SS assignment field are 000.

[0261] Subsequently, the user info field for the SR2SI sounding trigger frame needs to indicate which weighting matrix is ​​used by the N detection streams. That is, an 8-bit field (which may be named weighting matrix indication) may be added to the field to indicate the number of weighting matrices used. For example, if it needs to indicate that STA1 uses the second weighting matrix, the 8-bit field would be 00000001.

[0262] Finally, the user info field for the SR2SI sounding trigger frame further indicates which rows in the weighting matrix are used to weight the N detection streams. This field may have an additional 24-bit field (which may be named spatial stream weights) indicating which rows in the weighting matrix are used for each detection stream transmitted by STA1. For example, in the additional 24-bit field, each 3-bit field indicates which row in the weighting matrix is ​​used for one detection stream. The first 3-bit field is 100 if the first 3-bit field indicates that the fifth row in the weighting matrix is ​​used for the first detection stream transmitted by STA1. If STA1 transmits only one detection stream, only the first 3-bit field in the additional 24-bit field is valid, and the last 21-bit field is reserved.

[0263] In possible implementations, the AP may further transmit a detection sounding trigger frame to the STA2. Furthermore, the STA2 may determine a weighting sequence to be used for each stream of the STA2's NDP sequence based on the weighting information indicated by the detection sounding trigger frame. For details, please refer to the design of the detection sounding trigger frame transmitted by the AP to the STA1. Further details are not described again herein.

[0264] In possible implementations, in SR2SR detection mode, the detection sounding trigger frame is the SR2SR detection sounding trigger frame. The SR2SR detection sounding trigger frame further includes received information, which is used by the receiver of the detection signal (the following description uses STA3 as an example of a receiver of the detection signal). The received information may, but is not limited to, one of the following: the number of NDP sequence streams transmitted by STA1, the weighting information used by each stream of the NDP sequence of STA1 (i.e., the row in the weighting matrix used by each stream), and the identifier (e.g., ID) of the NDP sequence stream of STA1.

[0265] In possible implementations, in SR2SR detection mode, STA3 functions as a receiver of the detection signal. In this case, AP further transmits the SR2SR detection sounding trigger frame to STA3.

[0266] S605:STA1 performs a weighting process on each stream of the NDP sequence based on the weighting information indicated by the detection sounding trigger frame (i.e., the weighting sequence used by each stream accordingly) to obtain each stream of the weighted NDP sequence.

[0267] In a possible implementation, STA1 may determine, based on the detection sounding trigger frame, the target weighted sequence in the weighting matrix used for each stream of the NDP sequence (i.e., one row of the weighting matrix, where the number of symbols in each stream of the NDP sequence is equal to the number of weighted value elements in the target weighted sequence). Furthermore, STA1 performs a weighting process on each stream of the NDP sequence by using the target weighted sequence corresponding to each stream to obtain the corresponding stream of the weighted NDP sequence.

[0268] S606a:STA1 sends each stream of the weighted NDP sequence to the AP.

[0269] In response, the AP receives each stream of the weighted NDP sequence from STA1.

[0270] In a possible implementation, stage S606a is performed in SR2SI detection mode. STA1 acts as the detection transmitter, and AP acts as the detection receiver.

[0271] S606b:STA1 sends each stream of the weighted NDP sequence to STA3.

[0272] In response, STA3 receives each stream of the weighted NDP sequence from STA1.

[0273] In possible implementations, stage S606b is performed in SR2SR detection mode. STA1 functions as a detection transmitter, and STA3 functions as a detection receiver.

[0274] Embodiment 1 provides an explanation using an example in which STA1 functions as a detection transmitter. In practical use, one or more other detection transmitters STA (e.g., STA2) may be present. For the steps performed by each detection transmitter, please refer to the steps relating to STA1. Details will not be described again one by one in this specification.

[0275] In this embodiment of the present invention, a detection receiver (AP or STA3) may receive multiple weighted detection streams (i.e., multiple streams of weighted NDP sequences). These weighted detection streams may all originate from the same STA1, or they may originate from different STAs (including STA1).

[0276] For example, if an AP receives four weighted detection streams, the four weighted detection streams may arrive from the following cases:

[0277] Case 1: Four weighted detection streams originate from the same STA.

[0278] Case 2: Four weighted detection streams arrive from different STAs.

[0279] For example, four weighted detection streams may arrive from two STAs, each transmitting two detection streams; or four weighted detection streams may arrive from three STAs, with two STAs transmitting one weighted detection stream and the other transmitting two weighted detection streams; or four weighted detection streams may arrive from four STAs, each transmitting one weighted detection stream.

[0280] In addition, in this embodiment of the present invention, the number of detection streams transmitted by the detection transmitter may be any value from 1 to 8, but is not limited thereto. In other words, in this embodiment of the present invention, as an example, transmission of one to eight streams of the detection sequence is used, but the number of streams is not limited to 8 in actual applications.

[0281] S607a: The AP may obtain information about the transmission channel corresponding to each stream of the NDP sequence by solving based on each stream of the weighted NDP sequence of STA1 and the weighting information of each stream of the NDP sequence (i.e., the corresponding weighted sequence used by each stream).

[0282] Step S607a corresponds to step S606a.

[0283] For example, the weighted NDP1 sequence of four streams received by the AP (the four streams of weighted NDP sequence 1 are obtained by weighting them using weighting matrix 1) can be expressed by the following formula:

number

[0284] Weighting matrix 1(

number

number

[0285] Subsequently, AP may obtain information about the channels corresponding to the four streams of the weighted NDP1 sequence by solving based on the weighted matrix 1 and the four streams of the weighted NDP1 sequence, i.e., the channel information may be expressed by the following equation:

number

[0286] The weighted NDP2 sequences of the four streams received by the AP (the weighted NDP2 sequences of the four streams are obtained by weighting them using weighting matrix 2, and the NDP1 and DDP2 sequences sent for each stream are sent within different time periods) are represented by the following formula:

number

[0287] Weighting matrix 2(

number

number

[0288] Subsequently, AP may obtain information about the channels corresponding to the four streams of the weighted NDP2 sequence by solving based on the weighted matrix 2 and the four streams of the weighted NDP2 sequence, i.e., the channel information may be expressed by the following equation:

number

[0289] In step S607a, the solution is illustrated by using an example in which the AP processes each stream of weighted NDP sequences from STA1. In practice, the AP may receive multiple streams of weighted NDP sequences, not limited to those from STA1. For the method by which the AP solves information about the corresponding channel based on the weighted NDP sequences, see the method corresponding to STA1 in this step. Further details are not described again herein.

[0290] S607b:STA3 may obtain information about the transmission channel corresponding to each stream of the NDP sequence by solving based on each stream of the weighted NDP sequence of STA1 and the weighting information of each stream of the NDP sequence (i.e., the corresponding weighted sequence used by each stream).

[0291] Stage S607b corresponds to stage S606b.

[0292] Step S607b may be performed with reference to step S607a. Further details are not described again herein.

[0293] For example, STA3 determines the weighted sequence used by the four streams of the detection sequence based on the information shown in the SR2SR sounding trigger frame (the weighted sequence used by the four streams of the detection sequence is,

number

number

[0294] Through the aforementioned steps, the detection receiver (i.e., AP or STA3) can detect the channel response corresponding to each detection stream of STA1 for each row of the weighted sequence. In the detection measurement setup phase, the AP negotiates predefined weighting information with each detection participant (STA1 and STA2), and the weighting information is negotiated using encrypted frames. A third-party user does not know the weighting information used by the transmitting party of the detection signal and therefore cannot obtain correct information about the channel and cannot effectively perform the detection task to obtain detection information. This effectively prevents the leakage of user privacy information in the detection information.

[0295] In Embodiment 1, during the detection and measurement setup process, the detection initiator (AP) may design multiple weighting matrices in advance and transmit these weighting matrices to the detection responder (STA). In addition, during the detection and measurement process, the AP may show the STA the previously negotiated weighting matrices so that the transmitted detection sequence is weighted and then transmitted. In this way, after receiving the weighted detection sequence, the receiver can effectively interpret and obtain information about the channels. Another third party does not know the predefined weighting matrices for multiple streams of detection sequences and therefore cannot correctly interpret and obtain information about the corresponding channels, and thus cannot effectively perform the detection task to obtain detection information. Therefore, this solution can effectively resolve the leakage of user privacy information in detection information through the prior negotiation of weighting matrices and the cooperative transmission method. Embodiment 2

[0296] Embodiment 2 will be described primarily based on Implementation Solution 2 shown in Figure 5. That is, in the detection measurement setup, the first device may first send a request message to the second device requesting it to set up the detection measurement, thereby showing the second device the phase rotation codebook for the detection sequence; further, the first device may show the second device the phase rotation values ​​used by each detection symbol in each stream of the detection sequence, thereby implementing the weights and transmissions of the N streams of the detection sequence. In Embodiment 2, the first device is, for example, an AP, which functions as a detection initiator (SI), and the second device is, for example, an STA1 (or STA2), which functions as a detection responder, and the STA performs coordinated detection and may use a multi-stream transmission scheme. As shown in Figure 10, the procedure for Embodiment 2 is as follows:

[0297] S1001:AP sends a detection and measurement setup request message to STA1.

[0298] In possible implementations, the detection measurement setup request message (equivalent to the first request message in the solution in Figure 5) includes a 1-bit signaling, which indicates the use of weighted cooperative detection mode. For details regarding the 1-bit signaling located in the detection measurement setup request frame, see Figure 7A in step S601.

[0299] In possible implementations, the detection measurement setup request message further includes a variable-length detection sub-element field, which indicates the weighted codebook of the NDP sequence (i.e., the detection sequence).

[0300] For example, as shown in Figure 11A, the variable-length detection sub-element field contains 6 bytes (48 bits in total), where 8 bits represent the detection sub-element ID and 24 bits represent the weighted codebook of the detection sequence.

[0301] More IDs may be added to the detection sub-element IDs based on prior art (the detection sub-element IDs are 0 or 1). As shown in Table 1, the detection sub-element IDs may be 2 to x, where x is a positive integer. Different detection sub-elements may represent different weighted codebooks.

[0302] In possible implementations, STA1 implements weighting by modulating the HE-LTF symbols (i.e., detection symbols) in each stream of the NDP sequence using 8-phase shift keying (8PSK). Thus, in the 24 bits within the detection sub-element, one weighting (i.e., phase rotation value) may be represented every 3 bits.

[0303] For example, as shown in Figure 11B, the detection symbols are weighted by using 8PSK modulation, resulting in a total of eight weights (i.e., phase rotation values).

[0304] Table 5A below shows the original representation solutions for the eight weights. Based on Table 5A, after the index order and corresponding indication bits are rearranged, Table 5B below is obtained. In Embodiment 2 of the present invention, the detection sub-element in the detection measurement setup request frame may be configured based on the content shown in Table 5B below. Table 5A [Table 6] Table 5B [Table 7]

[0305] For example, in a detection sub-element, the sub-element ID is 2. If the 24 bits in the detection sub-element are 110 001 101 000 010 100 111 011, the weighting of each detection symbol corresponding to the 24 bits is shown in Table 6 below. Table 6 [Table 8]

[0306] In possible implementations, if the detection participants include not only STA1 but also STA2, the AP may send an additional detection measurement setup request message to STA2. In this implementation, STA2 is similar to STA1. For details, please refer to the stage corresponding to STA1. Further details are not described again herein.

[0307] At the aforementioned stage, the AP may effectively present eight predefined weighting values ​​to each authorized STA for subsequent weighting.

[0308] In Embodiment 2, the detection participants are not limited to STA1 and STA2 and may further include other communication devices. In this case, the AP may indicate the weighting weights to the other communication device by referring to the aforementioned method of indicating the weighting weights to STA1 (or STA2). Further details are not described again herein.

[0309] S1002:STA1 sends a detection / measurement setup response message to the AP.

[0310] In response, AP receives a detection / measurement setup response message from STA1, which indicates that STA1 will participate in the detection.

[0311] In a possible implementation, if the detection measurement setup request message sent by the AP and received by STA1 includes a 1-bit signaling indicating the use of weighted coordinated detection mode (which may be equivalent to the first indication information in the solution in Figure 5), the detection measurement setup response message sent back to the AP by STA1 may indirectly indicate whether STA1 supports the use of weighted coordinated detection mode.

[0312] For example, see Figure 7B. In the frame structure of the detection measurement setup response message, if the Status Code feedback (or indication) is "SUCCESS_WEIGHTED_JOINT_TRANSMISSION (SUCCESS_WEIGHTED_JOINT_TRANSMISSION)", it indicates support for using weighted collaborative detection mode (i.e., joint spatial stream transmission performed with additional weighting). Otherwise, if the Status Code feedback (or indication) is in a different state, it indicates that weighted collaborative detection mode is not supported.

[0313] In possible implementations, the detection participant STA2 sends detection measurement setup response information to the AP. In this implementation, STA2 is similar to STA1. For details, please refer to the stage corresponding to STA1. Details are not described again in this specification.

[0314] In Embodiment 2, the detection participants are not limited to STA1 and STA2 as described above, and may further include another communication device (e.g., STA3). The AP may further send a detection measurement setup request message to another communication device (e.g., STA3) and receive a detection measurement setup response message from another communication device (e.g., STA3). In addition, the detection measurement setup request information and the detection setup response message may be designed with reference to the detection measurement setup request information received by STA1 (or STA2) and the detection measurement setup response message sent back by STA1 (or STA2). Further details will not be described one by one again in this specification.

[0315] The aforementioned stages S1001 and S1002 belong to the phase of setting up detection and measurement between AP and each STA. The following stages belong to the detection and measurement phase.

[0316] S1003:AP sends a detection pole trigger frame to STA1, where the detection pole trigger frame indicates that it will use predefined weighted weights.

[0317] In possible implementations, a 1-bit signaling (equivalent to the second indication information in the solution in Figure 5) is added to the detection pole trigger frame (equivalent to the second detection frame in the solution in Figure 5), and the 1-bit signaling indicates weighting and transmission.

[0318] For example, as shown in Figure 9A, one bit is added to the detection pole trigger frame for the detection instance. If the bit is set to 1, it indicates that the codebook configured in the detection instance will be used; or if the bit is not set to 1, it indicates that the codebook configured in the detection instance will not be used (disabled) for weighting and transmission.

[0319] In possible implementations, the AP may further send a detection pole trigger frame to the STA2. In response, the STA2 receives a detection pole trigger frame, which may contain weighting information for weighting each stream in the STA2's NDP sequence. For specific designs, see the detection pole trigger frame sent by the AP to the STA1. Further details are not described again herein.

[0320] S1004: The AP sends a detection sounding trigger frame to the STA1, where the detection sounding trigger frame indicates the weighted weights for the detection symbols in each stream of the NDP sequence in the STA1.

[0321] In possible implementations, in scenarios where multiple detection transmitters STAs (e.g., STA1 and STA2) perform coordinated detection and use multi-stream transmission, STA2 may also receive detection sounding trigger frames and weight the planned NDP sequences (i.e., detection sequences) for each stream based on the weighting information indicated by the sounding trigger frames.

[0322] In possible implementations, in SR2SI detection mode, the AP transmits an SR2SI sounding trigger frame to the STA1, which includes a transmitter user info field, the transmitter user info field may indicate the weighting of the detection symbols in each stream of the NDP sequence on the STA1.

[0323] For example, as shown in Figure 12A, two SRs transmit a detection sequence to another SR for detection, i.e., SR2SR detection. In the structure of the SR2SR sounding trigger frame (sent by the SI to three SRs, where two SRs are detection transmitters and one SR is a detection receiver), a sufficiently long segment of bit space (e.g., 24 bits ~x, which constitutes a matrix number, where x is a positive integer) represents the weighting information (i.e., weight values) used by each detection symbol in all detection streams of each SR. For example, if the bit sequences in the detection sounding trigger frame sent by the AP to the two SR detection transmitters are 001011 and 101010, the weight values ​​(i.e., phase rotation values ​​or phase shift weight values) corresponding to the two symbols in each detection stream (i.e., SStream1 and SStream2) are shown in Figure 12B.

[0324] In another possible implementation, in SR2SR detection mode, in addition to transmitting an SR2SR sounding trigger frame to the detection transmitters (STA1 and STA2), the AP further transmits an SR2SR sounding trigger frame to the detection receiver (the following description uses STA3 as the detection receiver as an example). Thus, the SR2SR sounding trigger frame includes a transmitter user info field (indicating the weighting of detection symbols in each stream of the NDP sequence of the STA acting as the transmitter) and further includes a receiver user info field (information used by the detection receiver STA3). The receiver user info field may, but is not limited to, indicating one or more of the following: whether it is a multi-stream transmission, the number of NDP sequence streams being transmitted (not limited to the number of NDP sequence streams transmitted by STA1), weighting information used by each stream of the NDP sequence (i.e., the weights corresponding to each stream), and the identifier (e.g., ID) of each NDP sequence stream.

[0325] For example, Figure 13 shows the receiver user info field of an SR2SR sounding trigger frame (receiver user info field for an SR2SR sounding trigger frame).

[0326] The following describes how the AP notifies the detection receiver SR (e.g., STA3) of the weighting information used by each stream of the detection transmitter's NPD sequence (i.e., each stream of the detection sequence, which may also be called each detection stream) by using a detection SR2SR sounding trigger frame.

[0327] In SR2SR detection mode, that is, two STAs are transmitters of detection signals (which may be abbreviated as detection transmitters) and one STA is a receiver of detection signals (which may be abbreviated as detection receiver): a total of two STAs (e.g., STA1 and STA2) function as detection transmitters, each STA transmits one detection stream, each detection stream contains two detection symbols; and the detection receiver (e.g., STA3) receives both detection streams simultaneously.

[0328] During the detection and measurement setup phase, the AP may predefine a group of weighted values ​​(or referred to as a group of weight values), for example, the eight phase-shift weight values ​​shown in Table 5B, and indicate (or send) the group of weight values ​​to the three STAs using a detection and measurement request message.

[0329] In the detection and measurement phase (i.e., in step S1004), the AP needs to individually transmit SR2SR sounding trigger frames to two detection transmitters (e.g., STA1 and STA2). The information contained in the transmitter user info field for each SR2SR sounding trigger frame may indicate the weighting of one detection stream that needs to be transmitted by the corresponding STA (STA1 or STA2). For this step, see the step in Embodiment 1. In this case, the AP also needs to transmit an SR2SR sounding trigger frame to a detection receiver (e.g., STA3). The receiver user info field for the SR2SR sounding trigger frame contains information indicating the weights used by two detection streams that need to be received by receiver STA3. See Figure 13. Specific indication cases may include:

[0330] First, the Synchronization Offset Allocation (SS Allocation) field in the receiver user info field (i.e., the original field) contains the number of detection streams that need to be received by receiver STA3. Assume that if the last three bits in the SS Allocation field are 000, it indicates one stream; if the last three bits are 001, it indicates two streams; if the last three bits are 010, it indicates three streams; if the last three bits are 011, it indicates four streams; the remainder can be inferred by analogy. For example, if there are two transmitters (STA1 and STA2) and each STA transmits one stream, then the last three bits in the SS Allocation field are 000. In this embodiment, “stream” may also be referred to as “spatial stream”.

[0331] Subsequently, the receiver user info field for the SR2SI sounding trigger frame must indicate the weighting information used by the two detection streams. That is, the receiver user info field may have an 8-bit field (this is an added field, named weighting matrix indication in Figure 13) which indicates the group of weighting values ​​(or weights) to be used. For example, if a group of weights, i.e., the first group of weights, is used, the field is set to 00000000.

[0332] Finally, the receiver user info field for the SR2SI sounding trigger frame must indicate the specific weighting values ​​(or weights) used by the two detection streams. Specifically, the receiver user info field may consist of two 24-bit fields (i.e., an additional field named spatial stream weight, as shown in Figure 13) that indicate the weighting values ​​used by the two detection symbols in each of the two detection streams (i.e., the weights shown in Table 5B). The first six bits of the first 24-bit field correspond to the weighting values ​​used by the two detection symbols in the first received detection stream (i.e., every three bits indicating the weighting values ​​of the detection symbols), and the first six bits of the second 24-bit field correspond to the weighting values ​​used by the two detection symbols in the second received detection stream (i.e., every three bits indicating the weighting values ​​of the detection symbols). In the example above, we assume that each detection transmitter (STA1 or STA2) transmits only one detection stream, and that one detection stream contains two detection symbols. Therefore, only the first 6 bits in each 24-bit array are valid, and the last 18 bits are reserved bits.

[0333] S1005:STA1 performs a weighting process on each detection symbol in each stream of the NDP sequence based on the weighting information indicated by the detection sounding trigger frame (i.e., the weighting weight for each detection symbol in each stream of the NDP sequence) to obtain each stream of the weighted NDP sequence.

[0334] In a possible implementation, STA1 may determine the weight value used by each HE-LTF symbol (i.e., detection symbol) in each stream of the NDP sequence based on the detection sounding trigger frame. Furthermore, STA1 performs a weighting process on each symbol in each stream of the NDP sequence based on the weight value corresponding to each symbol in each stream of the NDP sequence to obtain each stream of the weighted NDP sequence.

[0335] In Embodiment 2, the HE-LTF symbols (detection symbols) in the NDP sequence are weighted by using an 8-phase-shift keying 8PSK modulation scheme. In this case, the weight value used by each symbol (which may also be called the weighting value) may correspond to the phase-shift weight value (or phase-shift amount) of each symbol.

[0336] S1006a:STA1 sends each stream of the weighted NDP sequence to the AP.

[0337] In possible implementations, step S1006a is performed in SR2SI detection mode. STA1 acts as the detection transmitter, and AP acts as the detection receiver.

[0338] S1006b:STA1 sends each stream of the weighted NDP sequence to STA3.

[0339] In possible implementations, step S1006b is performed in SR2SR detection mode. STA1 functions as a detection transmitter, and STA3 functions as a detection receiver.

[0340] Embodiment 2 provides an example in which STA1 functions as a detection transmitter. In practical use, one or more other detection transmitters STA (e.g., STA2) may be present. For the steps performed by each detection transmitter, please refer to the steps relating to STA1. Details are not described again one by one in this specification.

[0341] S1007a:AP obtains information about the transmission channel corresponding to each stream by solving based on the weighting information (i.e., weighting weights) of the detection symbols in each stream of the STA1 NDP sequence and each stream of the weighted NDP sequence.

[0342] Step S1007a corresponds to step S1006a.

[0343] For example, AP receives two streams of weighted NDP1 sequences (i.e., each stream of weighted NDP1 sequences contains two weighted symbols).

[0344] Weighted symbol 1 and weighted symbol 2 in each stream of the weighted NDP1 sequence (the two weighted symbols are obtained by performing weighting using the first group of weight values ​​{a, b, c, d}) may be represented as follows:

number

[0345] The first group of weight values ​​is

number

[0346] AP can obtain information about the channels corresponding to the stream by solving based on the first group of weighted symbols and weight values. The channel information may satisfy the following equation:

number

[0347] Similarly, the AP receives two streams of weighted NDP1 sequences (i.e., each stream of weighted NDP1 sequences contains two weighted symbols).

[0348] Weighted symbol 1 and weighted symbol 2 in each stream of the weighted NDP1 sequence (the two weighted symbols are obtained by performing weighting using a second group of weight values ​​{a, b, c, d}) may be represented as follows:

number

[0349] The second group of weight values ​​is:

number

[0350] AP can obtain information about the channels corresponding to the stream by solving it based on a second group of weighted symbols and weight values. The channel information may satisfy the following equation:

number

[0351] S1007b:STA3 obtains information about the transmission channel corresponding to each stream by solving based on the weighting information (i.e., weighting weights) of the detection symbols in each stream of the NDP sequence of STA1 and each stream of the weighted NDP sequence.

[0352] Step S1007b corresponds to step S1006b.

[0353] Step S1007b may be performed with reference to step S1007a. Further details are not described again herein.

[0354] Through the aforementioned steps, the detection receiver (i.e., AP or STA3) can detect the channel response corresponding to each data stream of STA1 for each row of the weighted sequence. The content is negotiated by using encrypted frames during the detection measurement setup negotiation. Another user does not know the weighting information (i.e., weighting values) used and therefore cannot obtain correct information about the channel by deciphering it, and thus cannot effectively perform the detection task to obtain detection information. Thus, this method can effectively prevent the leakage of user privacy information in the detection information.

[0355] In Embodiment 2, during the detection and measurement setup process, the detection initiator (AP) may pre-design a number of weight values ​​and transmit these weight values ​​to the detection responder (STA). In addition, during the detection and measurement process, the AP may provide the STA with previously negotiated weight values ​​so that the detection symbols in the transmitted detection sequence are weighted and then transmitted. In this way, after receiving the weighted detection sequence, the receiver can effectively interpret and obtain information about the channel. Another third party does not know the predefined weight values ​​for weighting each symbol in the multiple streams of the detection sequence, and therefore cannot correctly interpret and obtain information about the channel, and cannot effectively perform the detection task to obtain detection information, where the detection information includes user privacy information. Therefore, this solution can protect user privacy information.

[0356] In the embodiments provided herein, the methods provided in these embodiments are described separately in terms of interactions between devices. To implement the functions in the methods provided in these embodiments, a first device, a second device, or a third device may include a hardware structure and / or a software module, and the functions described above may be implemented in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a combination of a hardware structure and a software module. Whether one of the functions described above is performed using a hardware structure, a software module, or a combination of a hardware structure and a software module depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0357] In the embodiments of this application, the division into modules is merely an example and represents only a logical functional division. In actual implementations, other division methods may be used. In addition, the functional modules in the embodiments of this application may be integrated into a single processor, or they may exist physically independently, or two or more modules may be integrated into a single module. The integrated module may be implemented in hardware form or in the form of a software functional module.

[0358] Similar to the concepts described above, as shown in Figure 14, one embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device 1400 configured to implement the functions of the first device, the second device, or the third device in the method described above. For example, the communication device 1400 may be a software module or a chip system. In this embodiment of the present application, the chip system may include a chip, or it may include a chip and other discrete components. The communication device 1400 may include a communication unit 1401 and a processing unit 1402.

[0359] In this embodiment of the present application, the communication unit 1401 may also be referred to as a transceiver unit and may include a transmitting unit and / or a receiving unit, each configured to perform the transmission and reception stages performed by the first, second, or third device in the embodiment of the method described above. The processing unit 1402 may be configured to read instructions and / or data in a storage module in order to enable the communication device 1400 to implement the embodiment of the method described above.

[0360] Optionally, the communication device 1400 may further include a storage unit 1403. The storage unit 1403 is equivalent to a storage module and may be configured to store instructions and / or data.

[0361] The following description details the communication device provided in the embodiments of the present application with reference to Figures 14 and 15. It should be understood that the description of the device embodiments corresponds to the description of the method embodiments. Therefore, for details not described in detail, please refer to the aforementioned method embodiments in Figures 5, 6 and 10. For brevity, further details are not described again in this specification.

[0362] The communication unit 1401 may also be referred to as a transceiver, transceiver machine, transceiver device, or similar. The processing unit may also be referred to as a processor, processing board, processing module, processing unit, or similar. Optionally, components located within the communication unit 1401 and configured to implement receiving functionality may be considered as receiving units, and components located within the communication unit 1401 and configured to implement transmitting functionality may be considered as transmitting units. That is, the communication unit 1401 includes receiving units and transmitting units. The communication unit may sometimes be referred to as a transceiver machine, transceiver, transceiver circuit, or similar. The receiving unit may sometimes be referred to as a receiver machine, receiver, receiving circuit, or similar. The transmitting unit may sometimes be referred to as a transmitter machine, transmitter, transmitting circuit, or similar.

[0363] If the communication device 1400 is the first device in the procedure shown in Figure 5 in the embodiment described above, the processing unit 1402 determines weighting information for N streams of the detection sequence of the second device, where N is a positive integer; and the communication unit 1401 is configured to transmit a first detection frame, where the first detection frame includes the weighting information.

[0364] If the communication device 1400 is the second device in the procedure shown in Figure 5 in the embodiment described above, the communication unit 1401 is configured to receive a first detection frame from the first device, where the first detection frame contains weighting information for N streams of the detection sequence of the second device, where N is a positive integer; the processing unit 1402 is configured to individually weight the N streams of the detection sequence based on the weighting information to obtain N streams of the weighted detection sequence; and the communication unit 1401 is configured to transmit N streams of the weighted detection sequence.

[0365] If the communication device 1400 is the third device in the procedure shown in Figure 5 in the embodiment described above, the communication unit 1401 is configured to receive a first detection frame from the first device, where the first detection frame contains weighting information for N streams of detection sequences from the second device, where N is a positive integer; it is further configured to receive N streams of weighted detection sequences from the second device; and the processing unit 1402 is configured to process the N streams of weighted detection sequences based on the weighting information.

[0366] The foregoing is merely an example. The processing unit 1402 and the communication unit 1401 may perform other functions. For a more detailed explanation, please refer to the relevant descriptions in the embodiments of the method shown in Figures 5, 6, and 10. Further details are not described again herein.

[0367] Figure 15 shows a communication device 1500 according to one embodiment of the present application. The communication device shown in Figure 15 may be an implementation of the hardware circuit of the communication device shown in Figure 14. The communication device 1500 may be applicable to the flowchart described above and perform the functions of the first device, second device, or third device in the embodiment of the method described above. For ease of explanation, Figure 15 shows only the main components of the communication device.

[0368] As shown in Figure 15, the communication device 1500 includes a communication interface 1501 and a processor 1502. The communication interface 1501 and the processor 1502 are coupled to each other. It can be understood that the communication interface 1501 may be a transceiver or an input / output interface, or an interface circuit such as a transceiver circuit. Optionally, the communication device 1500 may further include a memory 1503 configured to store instructions executed by the processor 1502, input data required by the processor 1502 to execute instructions, or data generated after the processor 1502 has executed instructions.

[0369] If the communication device 1500 is configured to implement the method shown in Figure 5, the processor 1502 is configured to implement the functions of the processing unit 1402, and the communication interface 1501 is configured to implement the functions of the communication unit 1401 (including the receiving unit and / or transmitting unit).

[0370] In this embodiment of the present application, the specific connection medium between the communication interface 1501, the processor 1502, and the memory 1503 is not limited. In this embodiment of the present application, the memory 1503, the processor 1502, and the communication interface 1501 are connected through a communication bus 1504 in Figure 15. The communication bus 1504 is represented in Figure 15 by the use of a thick line. The connection methods between other components are merely illustrative examples and are not limited thereto. The communication bus 1504 may be classified as an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, and similar. For ease of representation, only a single thick line is used to represent the bus in Figure 15, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or only one type of bus.

[0371] When the communication device is a chip, Figure 16 shows a simplified device structure of the chip. The chip 1600 includes an interface circuit 1601 and one or more processors 1602. Optionally, the chip 1600 may further include a bus. The processors 1602 may be integrated circuit chips and have signal processing capabilities.

[0372] In the implementation process, the steps in the communication method described above may be implemented through hardware-integrated logic circuits in the processor 1602 or by using instructions in software form. The processor 1602 may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or another programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component. The processor may implement or perform the methods and steps disclosed in the embodiments of the present application. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, or the processor may be any conventional processor or similar.

[0373] The interface circuit 1601 may be configured to transmit or receive data, instructions, or information. The processor 1602 may perform processing using the data, instructions, or other information received by the interface circuit 1601, and may transmit the processed information through the interface circuit 1601.

[0374] Optionally, the chip further includes memory 1603. Memory 1603 may include read-only memory and random access memory, and may provide operational instructions and data for the processor. A portion of memory 1603 may include non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM).

[0375] Optionally, memory may store executable software modules or data structures, and the processor may perform corresponding operations by calling operation instructions stored in memory (operation instructions may be stored in the operating system).

[0376] Optionally, the chip may be used in the first, second, or third device in the embodiments of this application. Optionally, the interface circuit 1601 may be configured to output the execution results of the processor 1602. For communication methods provided in one or more embodiments of this application, please refer to the embodiments described above. Details are not described again herein.

[0377] It should be noted that the functions corresponding to the interface circuit 1601 and the processor 1602, respectively, may be implemented using hardware design, software design, or a combination of software and hardware. This is not limited to the foregoing.

[0378] One embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer-readable storage medium that stores computer instructions used to implement the method performed by the first, second, or third device in the embodiments of the method described above.

[0379] For example, when a computer program is executed by a computer, the computer can implement the method executed by the first, second, or third device in the embodiments of the method described above.

[0380] One embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer program product including instructions. When the instructions are executed by a computer, the computer can implement the method executed by the first, second, or third device in the embodiments of the method described above.

[0381] One embodiment of the present invention further provides a chip device including a processor, wherein the processor is configured to call a computer program or computer instruction stored in memory to execute the communication method shown in the embodiments of Figures 5, 6, and 10.

[0382] In possible implementations, the input of the chip device corresponds to the receiving operation in the embodiments shown in Figures 5, 6, and 10, and the output of the chip device corresponds to the transmitting operation in the embodiments shown in Figures 5, 6, and 10.

[0383] Optionally, the processor is coupled to memory through an interface.

[0384] Optionally, the chip device further includes memory. The memory stores computer programs or computer instructions.

[0385] Any of the above-mentioned processors may be a general central processing unit, a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits configured to control the program execution of the communication method in the embodiments shown in Figures 5 and 10. Any of the above-mentioned memory may be read-only memory (ROM), another type of static storage device capable of storing static information and instructions, random access memory (RAM), or similar.

[0386] For ease of explanation and brevity, it should be noted that for a description of the relevant aspects and beneficial effects of any of the communication devices provided above, refer to the corresponding embodiments of the communication methods provided above. Further details are not described again herein.

[0387] In this application, a hardware layer, an operating system layer running on top of the hardware layer, and an application layer running on top of the operating system layer may be further included between the communication devices. The hardware layer may include hardware such as a central processing unit (CPU), a memory management unit (MMU), and memory (also referred to as main memory). The operating system in the operating system layer may be any one or more computer operating systems that implement service processing by using processes, such as the Linux® operating system, Unix® operating system, Android® operating system, iOS® operating system, or Windows® operating system. The application layer may include applications such as a browser, address book, word processing software, and instant messaging software.

[0388] The modularization in the embodiments of this application is merely an example, representing only a division into logical functions, and other divisions may occur in actual implementations. In addition, the functional modules in the embodiments of this application may be integrated into a single processor, exist physically independently, or two or more modules may be integrated into a single module. The integrated module may be implemented in hardware form or in the form of a software functional module.

[0389] Through the above-described implementation, those skilled in the art will clearly understand that embodiments of the present application may be implemented in hardware, firmware, or a combination thereof. If the present application is implemented in software, the above-described functions may be stored in a computer-readable medium or transmitted as one or more instructions or codes in a computer-readable medium. The computer-readable medium includes computer storage media and communication media, wherein the communication medium includes any medium that enables a computer program to be transmitted from one place to another. The storage medium may be any available medium accessible to a computer. Examples of computer-readable mediums include, but are not limited to, RAM, ROM, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), or other optical disc storage, disk storage media, or other disk storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store program code expected in instruction or data structure form and that is accessible by a computer. In addition, any connection may be appropriately defined as a computer-readable medium. For example, if software is transmitted from a website, server, or another remote source using coaxial cable, optical fiber and fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then coaxial cable, optical fiber and fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of the medium to which coaxial cable, optical fiber and fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared rays, radio, and microwave belong.For example, the disks used in the embodiments of this application include compact discs (CDs), laser discs (registered trademark), optical discs, digital video discs (DVDs), floppy disks, and Blu-ray (registered trademark) discs. Disks generally copy data by magnetic means, while discs copy data optically by laser means. The aforementioned combinations should also be included within the scope of protection for computer-readable media.

[0390] In summary, the foregoing description is merely an embodiment of the present application and is not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present application. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, and improvements made based on the disclosure of the present application are included within the scope of protection of the present application.

Claims

1. A communication method, wherein the method is: The first device determines the weighting information of N streams of the detection sequence of the second device, where N is a positive integer; and The first device transmits a first detection frame, wherein the first detection frame includes the weighting information. A method that includes [a certain feature].

2. A communication method, wherein the method is: The second device receives a first detection frame from the first device, where the first detection frame contains weighting information for N streams of the detection sequence of the second device, where N is a positive integer; A step of obtaining N streams of the weighted detection sequence by individually weighting the N streams of the detection sequence based on the weighting information using the second device; and The second device transmits N streams of the weighted detection sequence. A method that includes [a certain feature].

3. A communication method, wherein the method is: The third device receives a first detection frame from the first device, where the first detection frame contains weighting information for N streams of the detection sequence of the second device, where N is a positive integer; The third device receives N streams of the weighted detection sequence from the second device; and The third device processes N streams of the weighted detection sequence based on the weighting information. A method that includes [a certain feature].

4. A communication method, wherein the method is: The first device sends a request message to the second device, wherein the request message is used to request that a detection measurement be set up, and the request message includes at least one detection sub-element, each detection sub-element corresponding to a weighting matrix, or each detection sub-element corresponding to a phase rotation codebook of a detection sequence; and The first device receives a response message from the second device. A method that includes [a certain feature].

5. Before determining the weighting information of the second device using the first device, the method: The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of the first device sending a request message to the second device, the request message being used to request setting up a detection measurement, the request message comprising at least one detection sub-element, each detection sub-element corresponding to a weighting matrix.

6. Before determining the weighting information of the second device using the first device, the method: The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of the first device transmitting a request message to the second device, the request message being used to request setting up a detection measurement, the request message comprising at least one detection sub-element, each detection sub-element corresponding to a phase rotation codebook of a detection sequence.

7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the request message further includes first indication information, the first indication information indicating the use of a weighted cooperative detection mode.

8. The aforementioned method is: The method according to claim 7, further comprising the step of the first device receiving a response message from the second device, the response message indicating that the second device supports using the weighted coordinated detection mode.

9. Before transmitting the first detection frame by the first device, the method: The method according to any one of claims 5 to 8, further comprising the step of transmitting a second detection frame to the second device by the first device, wherein the second detection frame includes second indication information, the second indication information indicating that a weighted transmission is to be performed for the detection sequence.

10. Before the second device receives the first detection frame from the first device, the method: The method according to claim 2, further comprising the step of receiving a request message from the second device, the request message being used to request setting up a detection measurement, the request message comprising at least one detection sub-element, each detection sub-element corresponding to a weighting matrix.

11. Before the second device receives the first detection frame from the first device, the method: The method according to claim 2, further comprising the step of receiving a request message from the second device, the request message being used to request setting up a detection measurement, the request message comprising at least one detection sub-element, each detection sub-element corresponding to a phase rotation codebook of a detection sequence.

12. The method according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the request message further includes first indication information, the first indication information indicating the use of a weighted cooperative detection mode.

13. The aforementioned method is: The method according to claim 12, further comprising the step of the second device transmitting a response message to the first device, wherein the response message indicates that the second device supports using the weighted coordinated detection mode.

14. Before the second device receives the first detection frame from the first device, the method: The method according to any one of claims 10 to 13, further comprising the step of receiving a second detection frame from the second device, wherein the second detection frame includes second indication information, the second indication information indicating that a weighted transmission is to be performed for the detection sequence.

15. The method according to any one of claims 4, 5, and 10, wherein the detection sub-element includes a weighting matrix indication field, and the weighting matrix indication field indicates the corresponding weighting matrix.

16. The weighted matrix field contains X bits, where X is a positive integer, and the X bits contain three parts, the first part being: [Number 80] The weighting matrix is ​​shown, and the second part is [Number 81] The weighting matrix is ​​shown, and the second and third parts are jointly [Number 82] The method according to claim 15, wherein the weighted matrix is ​​shown.

17. The method according to any one of claims 4, 6, and 11, wherein the detection sub-element includes a codebook indication field, the codebook indication field indicates the phase rotation codebook of the detection sequence.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the codebook indication field includes Y bits, the Y bits include L groups of bits, each group of bits indicates a coding of one phase rotation scheme, and Y and L are positive integers.

19. The method according to claim 5 or 10, wherein the weighting information comprises N groups of bits, each group of bits representing information about a target weighting sequence used by one stream of detection sequences in the N streams, and the target weighting sequence corresponds to one row of the weighting matrix.

20. The method according to claim 6 or 11, wherein the weighting information comprises M groups of bits, each group of bits representing a phase rotation value of a detection symbol in one stream of the detection sequence in the N streams, and M is a positive integer greater than 1.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein the phase rotation codebook includes M groups of bits.

22. The method according to claim 20, wherein the detection symbols are weighted by using an 8-phase-shift keying 8PSK modulation scheme.

23. The method according to claim 7 or 12, wherein the first indication information is located in the detection and measurement parameter element of the detection and measurement request frame.

24. The method according to claim 9 or 14, wherein the second detection frame is a detection vote trigger frame, and the second indication information is information about reserved bits in the detection vote trigger frame.

25. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the first detection frame is an SR2SI sounding trigger frame, the first device is a detection receiver, and the second device is a detection transmitter.

26. The first detection frame is an SR2SR sounding trigger frame, and the first detection frame further includes first information, the first information being: The quantity N of the detection sequence streams transmitted by the second device, and identifier information corresponding to the N streams. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein one or more of the above are shown.

27. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 26, wherein the first device is a detection initiator and the second device is a detection responder.

28. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 27, wherein the first device is an access point AP, and the second device is a non-access point station STA.

29. A communication device comprising a processor and memory, The communication device is configured such that the processor executes a computer program or instruction stored in the memory so that the communication device implements the method described in any one of claims 1 to 28.

30. A computer program product comprising a computer program, wherein when the computer program is executed by a communication device, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 28 is implemented.

31. A computer-readable storage medium, wherein the storage medium stores a computer program or instruction, and when the computer program or instruction is executed by a communication device, the communication device is able to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 28.

32. A chip system comprising a processor, wherein the chip system is configured to execute a computer program or instruction stored in memory such that a communication device comprising the chip system can perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 28.

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