Data transmission method and related device

Abstract

To provide a data transmission method for reducing an over head of a signaling field, and a device.SOLUTION: A method contains steps of: generating a signaling field of a physical protocol data unit (PPDU) at an access point (AP); and transmitting the signaling field to a station (STA) at a first frequency region segment. A channel band width for transmitting the PPDU includes at least two frequency region segments, and at least the two frequency region segments include a first frequency region segment. A resource unit allocation subfield in the signaling field indicates a resource unit (RU) contained in the channel band width for transmitting the PPDU, and indicates the number of user fields corresponding to the RU allocated to the station (STA) in the RU, and is parked in the first frequency region segment.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] [CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202010324346.2, entitled "DATA TRANSMISSION METHOD AND RELATED APPARATUS," filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China on April 22, 2020, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference.

[0002] [Technical field] This application relates to the field of communications technology, and in particular to data transmission methods and related devices. [Background technology]

[0003] With the development of wireless local area networks (WLANs), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) technology has been newly introduced, in which the entire bandwidth is divided into multiple resource units (RUs). In other words, users' frequency domain resources are allocated by resource units instead of channels. For example, a 20 MHz channel may include multiple RUs, such as 26-tone RUs, 52-tone RUs, and 106-tone RUs, where tone indicates the number of subcarriers. Furthermore, an RU may also be a 242-tone RU, a 484-tone RU, a 996-tone RU, etc.

[0004] In 802.11ax, a high-efficiency signaling field (HE-SIG-B) in a physical layer protocol data unit (PHY protocol data unit) transmitted by an access point to each of multiple stations includes a common field. The common field includes multiple resource unit allocation subfields (RU Allocation subfields), and the resource unit allocation subfields in the common field are used to indicate multiple resource units. A user-specific field in the HE-SIG-B includes all user fields corresponding to each resource unit allocation subfield. In this case, the HE-SIG-B transmitted to each station includes all user fields corresponding to each resource unit allocation subfield.

[0005] With the development of WLAN technology, in order to enable the PPDU transmitted by the access point to support more and more station users, more and more user fields need to be transmitted in the signaling field of the PPDU, which results in larger and larger signaling overhead. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The embodiments of this application provide a data transmission method and related apparatus for reducing the overhead of the signaling field of a PPDU.

[0007] According to a first aspect, an implementation of this application provides a data transmission method, comprising: generating a signaling field of a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU), wherein a channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU includes at least two frequency domain segments, the at least two frequency domain segments include a first frequency domain segment; the signaling field is transmitted in the first frequency domain segment and includes a common field and a user-specific field, the common field includes a resource unit allocation subfield, the user-specific field includes a user field, the resource unit allocation subfield indicates a resource unit (RU) included in the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU, indicates a number of user fields within the RU corresponding to RUs assigned to stations parked in the first frequency domain segment, the number of user fields corresponding to RUs assigned to stations parked in the first frequency domain segment represents the number of user fields provided by the RU to one content channel in the user-specific field, and the user fields are user fields corresponding to stations parked in the first frequency domain segment; and transmitting the signaling field in the first frequency domain segment.

[0008] Thus, in the signaling field transmitted in the first frequency domain segment, the resource unit allocation subfield indicates the resource units RU included in the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU, and indicates the number of user fields corresponding to the RUs that are in the RU and assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment, but does not indicate the number of users that are not assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment based on the actual resource unit allocation case, thereby simplifying the user fields. In the user-specific field portion, the user fields corresponding to the RUs that are not parked in the first frequency domain segment can be omitted or simplified, thereby reducing the number of user fields and thereby reducing the overhead of the signaling field of the PPDU.

[0009] In some implementations, the resource unit allocation subfield indicates that the number of user fields corresponding to RUs within the resource units RU included in the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU and not assigned to stations parked in the first frequency domain segment is 0, and the RUs not assigned to stations parked in the first frequency domain segment are RUs with 242 tones or more. In this way, the user fields corresponding to RUs with 242 tones or more can be omitted, thereby effectively reducing the overhead of the signaling field.

[0010] In some implementations, the number of user fields corresponding to RUs not assigned to parked stations in the first frequency domain segment indicated by the resource unit assignment subfield is less than the number of user fields actually corresponding to RUs not assigned to parked stations in the first frequency domain segment, thus reducing the number of user fields in the signaling field transmitted in the first frequency domain segment, thereby reducing the signaling field overhead.

[0011] In some implementations, the RUs indicated by the resource unit allocation subfield and not assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment are actually at least two RUs not assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment. In this way, the at least two RUs not assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment are collectively indicated as one RU, simplifying the indication scheme of the resource unit allocation subfield, thereby making the number of user fields corresponding to the at least two RUs smaller and reducing the overhead of the signaling field.

[0012] In some implementations, the at least two RUs are RUs with fewer than 242 tones. Thus, compared to the prior art, in which the resource unit allocation subfield provides an indication based on the actual resource unit allocation case and each small RU needs to correspond to one user field, the solution of this application collectively indicates at least two small RUs that are not assigned to a station parked in the first frequency domain segment as one RU. Thus, an RU only needs to correspond to one user field, thereby omitting the indication of one user field and reducing the overhead of the signaling field.

[0013] According to a second aspect, the realization of this application further provides a data transmission method, including: A station parked in a first frequency domain segment receives a signaling field of a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) in the first frequency domain segment, a channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU includes at least two frequency domain segments, the at least two frequency domain segments include the first frequency domain segment, the signaling field includes a common field and a user-specific field, the common field includes a resource unit allocation subfield, the user-specific field includes a user field, the resource unit allocation subfield indicates a resource unit (RU) within the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU, indicates the number of user fields in the RU corresponding to the RU assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment, the number of user fields corresponding to the RU assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment represents the number of user fields provided by the RU to one content channel in the user-specific fields, the user fields are user fields corresponding to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment, and the station obtains a user field carrying a station identifier from the user field included in the user-specific field in the received signaling field and obtains data transmitted in the RU corresponding to the user field.

[0014] Thus, in the signaling field received by the station in the first frequency domain segment, the resource unit allocation subfield indicates the resource units RU included in the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU, and indicates the number of user fields corresponding to the RUs that are in the RU and assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment, but does not indicate the number of users not assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment based on the actual resource unit allocation case, thereby simplifying the user fields. In the user-specific field portion, the user fields corresponding to the RUs not parked in the first frequency domain segment can be omitted or simplified, thereby reducing the number of user fields and thereby reducing the overhead of the signaling field of the PPDU.

[0015] In some implementations, the resource unit allocation subfield indicates that the number of user fields corresponding to RUs within the resource units RU included in the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU and not assigned to stations parked in the first frequency domain segment is 0, and the RUs not assigned to stations parked in the first frequency domain segment are RUs with 242 tones or more. In this way, the user fields corresponding to RUs with 242 tones or more can be omitted, thereby effectively reducing the overhead of the signaling field.

[0016] In some implementations, the number of user fields corresponding to RUs not assigned to parked stations in the first frequency domain segment indicated by the resource unit assignment subfield is less than the number of user fields actually corresponding to RUs not assigned to parked stations in the first frequency domain segment, thus reducing the number of user fields in the signaling field transmitted in the first frequency domain segment, thereby reducing the signaling field overhead.

[0017] In some implementations, the RUs indicated by the resource unit allocation subfield and not assigned to stations parked in the first frequency domain segment are actually at least two RUs not assigned to stations parked in the first frequency domain segment. In this way, the at least two RUs not assigned to stations parked in the first frequency domain segment are collectively indicated as one RU, which makes the number of user fields corresponding to the at least two RUs smaller and reduces the overhead of the signaling field.

[0018] In some implementations, the at least two RUs are RUs with fewer than 242 tones. Thus, compared to the prior art, in which the resource unit allocation subfield provides an indication based on the actual resource unit allocation case and each small RU needs to correspond to one user field, in the solution of this application, at least two small RUs allocated to a station parked in the first frequency domain segment are collectively indicated as one RU. Thus, an RU only needs to correspond to one user field, thereby omitting the indication of one user field and reducing the overhead of the signaling field.

[0019] According to a third aspect, an implementation of this application further provides a data transmission method, comprising: generating a signaling field of a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU), wherein a channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU includes at least two frequency domain segments, the at least two frequency domain segments including a first frequency domain segment; and transmitting the signaling field in the first frequency domain segment, the signaling field including a common field and a user-specific field, the common field including a resource unit allocation subfield, the user-specific field including a user field, and the resource unit allocation subfield including a resource unit allocation subfield within the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU. and indicating a resource unit RU, the RUs indicated by at least one resource unit allocation subfield included in the common field being a plurality of RUs less than 242-tone RUs, each RU in the plurality of RUs less than 242-tone RUs corresponding to at least one user field, the user field corresponding to at least one first RU carrying an identifier of a station parked in the first frequency domain segment, the user field corresponding to at least one second RU not carrying an identifier of a station parked in the first frequency domain segment, and at least a portion of the subcarriers corresponding to the second RU indicated by the resource unit allocation subfield belonging to at least two RUs.

[0020] In this way, compared to the scheme of indicating two RUs based on actual cases and indicating that each RU in the at least two RUs corresponds to at least one user field, in the solution of this application, in the first signaling field transmitted in the first frequency domain segment, the resource unit allocation subfield indicates at least two RUs as one RU by combining them, and an RU corresponds to only one user field, thereby effectively reducing the number of user fields corresponding to multiple consecutive small RUs not assigned to STAs parked in the first frequency domain segment, thereby reducing the overhead of the signaling field.

[0021] According to a fourth aspect, an implementation of this application further provides a data transmission method, including: a station parked in a first frequency domain segment receives a signaling field of a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) in the first frequency domain segment, a channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU includes at least two frequency domain segments, the at least two frequency domain segments include the first frequency domain segment, the signaling field includes a common field and a user-specific field, the common field includes a resource unit allocation subfield, the user-specific field includes a user field, the resource unit allocation subfield indicates a resource unit (RU) in the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU, and the RU indicated by the at least one resource unit allocation subfield included in the common field is A plurality of RUs less than 242 tone RUs, each RU in the plurality of RUs less than 242 tone RUs corresponds to at least one user field, the user field corresponding to at least one first RU carries an identifier of a station parked in the first frequency domain segment, the user field corresponding to at least one second RU does not carry an identifier of a station parked in the first frequency domain segment, at least a portion of the subcarriers corresponding to the second RU indicated by the resource unit allocation subfield belong to at least two RUs, and the station obtains the user field carrying the station identifier from the user field included in the user-specific field and obtains data transmitted in the RU corresponding to the user field.

[0022] In this way, compared with the scheme of indicating two RUs based on actual cases and indicating that each RU in the at least two RUs corresponds to at least one user field, in the solution of this application, in the first signaling field received by the station in the first frequency domain segment, the resource unit allocation subfield indicates at least two RUs as one RU by combining them, and the RU corresponds to only one user field, thereby effectively reducing the number of user fields corresponding to multiple consecutive small RUs not assigned to the STA parked in the first frequency domain segment, thereby reducing the overhead of the signaling field.

[0023] According to a fifth aspect, the implementation of this application further provides a data transmission device, including a processing unit and a transceiver unit, wherein the processing unit is configured to generate a signaling field of a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU), a channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU includes at least two frequency domain segments, the at least two frequency domain segments include a first frequency domain segment, the signaling field is transmitted in the first frequency domain segment, and includes a common field and a user-specific field, the common field includes a resource unit allocation subfield, the user-specific field includes a user field, and the resource unit allocation subfield is a PPDU. The data transmission device may be a communication device or an access point, or the data transmission device may be located in the communication device or the access point.

[0024] Thus, in the signaling field transmitted in the first frequency domain segment, the resource unit allocation subfield indicates the resource units RU included in the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU, and indicates the number of user fields corresponding to the RUs that are in the RU and assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment, but does not indicate the number of users that are not assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment based on the actual resource unit allocation case, thereby simplifying the user fields. In the user-specific field portion, the user fields corresponding to the RUs that are not parked in the first frequency domain segment can be omitted or simplified, thereby reducing the number of user fields and thereby reducing the overhead of the signaling field of the PPDU.

[0025] In some implementations, the resource unit allocation subfield indicates that the number of user fields corresponding to RUs within the resource units RU included in the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU and not assigned to stations parked in the first frequency domain segment is 0, and the RUs not assigned to stations parked in the first frequency domain segment are RUs with 242 tones or more. In this way, the user fields corresponding to RUs with 242 tones or more can be omitted, thereby effectively reducing the overhead of the signaling field.

[0026] In some implementations, the number of user fields corresponding to RUs not assigned to parked stations in the first frequency domain segment indicated by the resource unit assignment subfield is less than the number of user fields actually corresponding to RUs not assigned to parked stations in the first frequency domain segment, thus reducing the number of user fields in the signaling field transmitted in the first frequency domain segment, thereby reducing the signaling field overhead.

[0027] In some implementations, the RUs indicated by the resource unit allocation subfield and not assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment are actually at least two RUs not assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment. In this way, the at least two RUs not assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment are collectively indicated as one RU, simplifying the indication scheme of the resource unit allocation subfield, thereby making the number of user fields corresponding to the at least two RUs smaller and reducing the overhead of the signaling field.

[0028] In some implementations, the at least two RUs are RUs with fewer than 242 tones. Thus, compared to the prior art, in which the resource unit allocation subfield provides an indication based on the actual resource unit allocation case and each small RU needs to correspond to one user field, in the solution of this application, at least two small RUs allocated to a station parked in the first frequency domain segment are collectively indicated as one RU. Thus, an RU only needs to correspond to one user field, thereby omitting the indication of one user field and reducing the overhead of the signaling field.

[0029] According to a sixth aspect, the implementation of this application further provides a data transmission device, including a processing unit and a transceiver unit, wherein the transceiver unit is configured to receive a signaling field of a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) in a first frequency domain segment, a channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU includes at least two frequency domain segments, the at least two frequency domain segments include the first frequency domain segment, the signaling field includes a common field and a user-specific field, the common field includes a resource unit allocation subfield, the user-specific field includes a user field, and the resource unit allocation subfield indicates a resource unit (RU) in the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU. , indicates the number of user fields in the RU that are assigned to stations parked in the first frequency domain segment, the number of user fields corresponding to RUs assigned to stations parked in the first frequency domain segment represents the number of user fields provided by the RU to one content channel in the user-specific field, the user fields are user fields corresponding to stations parked in the first frequency domain segment, and the processing unit is configured to obtain the user field carrying the station identifier from the user field included in the user-specific field in the received signaling field, and obtain the data transmitted in the RU that corresponds to the user field. The data transmission device may be a communication device or a station, or the data transmission device may be located in the communication device or the station.

[0030] Thus, in the signaling field received by the station in the first frequency domain segment, the resource unit allocation subfield indicates the resource units RU included in the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU, and indicates the number of user fields corresponding to the RUs that are in the RU and assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment, but does not indicate the number of users not assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment based on the actual resource unit allocation case, thereby simplifying the user fields. In the user-specific field portion, the user fields corresponding to the RUs not parked in the first frequency domain segment can be omitted or simplified, thereby reducing the number of user fields and thereby reducing the overhead of the signaling field of the PPDU.

[0031] In some implementations, the resource unit allocation subfield indicates that the number of user fields corresponding to RUs within the resource units RU included in the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU and not assigned to stations parked in the first frequency domain segment is 0, and the RUs not assigned to stations parked in the first frequency domain segment are RUs with 242 tones or more. In this way, the user fields corresponding to RUs with 242 tones or more can be omitted, thereby effectively reducing the overhead of the signaling field.

[0032] In some implementations, the number of user fields corresponding to RUs not assigned to parked stations in the first frequency domain segment indicated by the resource unit assignment subfield is less than the number of user fields actually corresponding to RUs not assigned to parked stations in the first frequency domain segment, thus reducing the number of user fields in the signaling field transmitted in the first frequency domain segment, thereby reducing the signaling field overhead.

[0033] In some implementations, the RUs indicated by the resource unit allocation subfield and not assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment are actually at least two RUs not assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment. In this way, the at least two RUs not assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment are collectively indicated as one RU, simplifying the indication scheme of the resource unit allocation subfield, thereby making the number of user fields corresponding to the at least two RUs smaller and reducing the overhead of the signaling field.

[0034] In some implementations, the at least two RUs are RUs with fewer than 242 tones. Thus, compared to the prior art, in which the resource unit allocation subfield provides an indication based on the actual resource unit allocation case and each small RU needs to correspond to one user field, in the solution of this application, at least two small RUs allocated to a station parked in the first frequency domain segment are collectively indicated as one RU. Thus, an RU only needs to correspond to one user field, thereby omitting the indication of one user field and reducing the overhead of the signaling field.

[0035] According to a seventh aspect, the implementation of this application further provides a data transmission device, including a processing unit and a transceiver unit, wherein the processing unit is configured to generate a signaling field of a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU), a channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU includes at least two frequency domain segments, the at least two frequency domain segments include a first frequency domain segment, the transceiver unit is configured to transmit the signaling field in the first frequency domain segment, the signaling field includes a common field and a user-specific field, the common field includes a resource unit allocation subfield, the user-specific field includes a user field, and the resource unit allocation subfield includes: The data transmission device indicates a resource unit (RU) within a channel bandwidth for transmitting a PPDU, and the RUs indicated by at least one resource unit allocation subfield included in the common field are a plurality of RUs less than 242-tone RUs, and each RU in the plurality of RUs less than 242-tone RUs corresponds to at least one user field, and the user field corresponding to at least one first RU carries an identifier of a station parked in the first frequency domain segment, and the user field corresponding to at least one second RU does not carry an identifier of a station parked in the first frequency domain segment, and at least some of the subcarriers corresponding to the second RU indicated by the resource unit allocation subfield belong to at least two RUs. The data transmission device may be a communication device or an access point, or the data transmission device may be located in the communication device or the access point.

[0036] In this way, compared to the scheme of indicating two RUs based on actual cases and indicating that each RU in the at least two RUs corresponds to at least one user field, in the solution of this application, in the first signaling field transmitted in the first frequency domain segment, the resource unit allocation subfield indicates at least two RUs as one RU by combining them, and an RU corresponds to only one user field, thereby effectively reducing the number of user fields corresponding to multiple consecutive small RUs not assigned to STAs parked in the first frequency domain segment, thereby reducing the overhead of the signaling field.

[0037] According to an eighth aspect, the realization method of this application further provides a data transmission device including a processing unit and a transceiver unit, wherein the processing unit is configured to receive a signaling field of a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) in the first frequency domain segment from a station parked in a first frequency domain segment, a channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU includes at least two frequency domain segments, the at least two frequency domain segments include the first frequency domain segment, the signaling field includes a common field and a user-specific field, the common field includes a resource unit allocation subfield, the user-specific field includes a user field, the resource unit allocation subfield indicates a resource unit (RU) in the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU, and at least one the RUs indicated by the resource unit allocation subfield are a plurality of RUs of less than 242 tones, each RU in the plurality of RUs of less than 242 tones corresponds to at least one user field, the user field corresponding to at least one first RU carries an identifier of a station parked in the first frequency domain segment, the user field corresponding to at least one second RU does not carry an identifier of a station parked in the first frequency domain segment, at least a portion of the subcarriers corresponding to the second RU indicated by the resource unit allocation subfield belong to at least two RUs, and the transceiver unit is configured to obtain the user field carrying the station identifier from the user field included in the user specific field and obtain data transmitted in the RU corresponding to the user field. The data transmission device may be a communication device or a station, or may be located in the communication device or the station.

[0038] Thus, in the signaling field received by the station in the first frequency domain segment, the resource unit allocation subfield indicates the resource units RU included in the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU, and indicates the number of user fields corresponding to the RUs that are in the RU and assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment, but does not indicate the number of users not assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment based on the actual resource unit allocation case, thereby simplifying the user fields. In the user-specific field portion, the user fields corresponding to the RUs not parked in the first frequency domain segment can be omitted or simplified, thereby reducing the number of user fields and thereby reducing the overhead of the signaling field of the PPDU.

[0039] In some implementations, the resource unit allocation subfield indicates that the number of user fields corresponding to RUs within the resource units RU included in the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU and not assigned to stations parked in the first frequency domain segment is 0, and the RUs not assigned to stations parked in the first frequency domain segment are RUs with 242 tones or more. In this way, the user fields corresponding to RUs with 242 tones or more can be omitted, thereby effectively reducing the overhead of the signaling field.

[0040] In some implementations, the number of user fields corresponding to RUs not assigned to parked stations in the first frequency domain segment indicated by the resource unit assignment subfield is less than the number of user fields actually corresponding to RUs not assigned to parked stations in the first frequency domain segment, thus reducing the number of user fields in the signaling field transmitted in the first frequency domain segment, thereby reducing the signaling field overhead.

[0041] In some implementations, the RUs indicated by the resource unit allocation subfield and not assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment are actually at least two RUs not assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment. In this way, the at least two RUs not assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment are collectively indicated as one RU, simplifying the indication scheme of the resource unit allocation subfield, thereby making the number of user fields corresponding to the at least two RUs smaller and reducing the overhead of the signaling field.

[0042] In some implementations, the at least two RUs are RUs with fewer than 242 tones. Thus, compared to the prior art, in which the resource unit allocation subfield provides an indication based on the actual resource unit allocation case and each small RU needs to correspond to one user field, in the solution of this application, at least two small RUs allocated to a station parked in the first frequency domain segment are collectively indicated as one RU. Thus, an RU only needs to correspond to one user field, thereby omitting the indication of one user field and reducing the overhead of the signaling field.

[0043] According to a ninth aspect, the implementation of this application further provides a communication device, which may include a processor and a transceiver, and optionally further includes a memory, and when the processor executes a computer program or instructions in the memory, the method according to any one of the implementations of the first aspect is performed, or the method according to any one of the implementations of the second aspect is performed, or the method according to the third aspect is performed, or the method according to the fourth aspect is performed.

[0044] According to a tenth aspect, an implementation of this application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, the computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions, the computer instructions instructing a communication device to perform any one of the methods according to the implementation of the first aspect, or the computer instructions instructing a communication device to perform any one of the methods according to the implementation of the second aspect, or the computer instructions instructing a communication device to perform a method according to the third aspect, or the computer instructions instructing a communication device to perform a method according to the fourth aspect.

[0045] According to an eleventh aspect, an implementation method of this application further provides a computer program product, the computer program product including a computer program, which when executed on a computer, enables the computer to perform any one of the methods according to the implementation method of the first aspect, or enables the computer to perform any one of the methods according to the implementation method of the second aspect, or enables the computer to perform the method according to the third aspect, or enables the computer to perform the method according to the fourth aspect.

[0046] According to a twelfth aspect, the present application further provides a processor configured to execute any of the methods according to the first to fourth aspects. In the processes of executing these methods, the processes of transmitting information and receiving information can be understood as processes of outputting information by a processor and receiving input information by a processor. Specifically, when outputting information, the processor outputs the information to a transceiver, thereby causing the transceiver to transmit the information. Furthermore, after the information is output by the processor, other processing may need to be performed on the information before it arrives at the transceiver. Similarly, when the processor receives input information, the transceiver receives the information and inputs it to the processor. Furthermore, after the transceiver receives information, other processing may need to be performed on the information before it is input to the processor.

[0047] In this case, unless otherwise specifically described, operations such as transmission, sending, and receiving related to a processor, or an operation does not contradict the actual function or internal logic of the operation in the associated description, the operation may generally be understood as an operation such as output, receiving, and input of the processor, rather than an operation such as transmission, sending, and receiving performed directly by the radio frequency circuitry and antenna.

[0048] In a specific implementation, the processor may be a processor specifically configured to perform these methods, or a processor that executes computer instructions in memory to perform these methods, such as a general-purpose processor. The memory may be a non-transitory memory such as a read-only memory (ROM). The memory and the processor may be integrated on the same chip, or may be separately located on different chips. The type of memory and the manner in which the memory and the processor are located are not limited to the embodiments of the present invention.

[0049] According to a thirteenth aspect, the present application provides a chip system, the chip system including a processor and an interface, configured to support a communication transmission device in implementing a function in a method according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, for example, determining or processing at least one of data and information in the method. In a possible design, the chip system further includes a memory, the memory configured to store information and data required for the communication device. The chip system may include a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete components.

[0050] According to a fourteenth aspect, the application provides a functional entity, the functional entity being configured to implement a method according to any one of the first to fourth aspects. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0051] [Figure 1A] 1 is a schematic diagram of a network structure according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 1B] 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device according to an embodiment of this application; [Figure 1C] 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a chip according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 2A] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a resource unit allocation scheme. [Figure 2B] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of another resource unit allocation scheme. [Figure 3A] 1 is a schematic diagram of a possible structure of a signaling field; [Figure 3B] 10 is a schematic diagram of another possible structure of the signaling field; [Figure 4A] 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a PPDU according to this application; [Figure 4B] 1 is a schematic diagram of another structure of a PPDU according to the present application. [Figure 5] 2 is a schematic flowchart of a method for transmitting a preamble portion of a PPDU according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 6A]1 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a PPDU according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 6B] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of another structure of a PPDU according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 6C] 10 is a schematic diagram of yet another structure of a PPDU according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 7A] 1 is a schematic flowchart of a data transmission method according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 7B] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of another structure of a PPDU according to an embodiment of the present application. [Figure 8A] 1 is a schematic diagram of a resource unit allocation scenario according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 8B] 1 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a content channel according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 8C] 1 is a schematic diagram of a signaling field structure according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 8D] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a content channel structure according to another embodiment of the present application; [Figure 8E] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a signaling field structure according to another embodiment of the present application; [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a resource unit allocation scenario according to another embodiment of the present application; [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a resource unit allocation scenario according to yet another embodiment of the present application; [Figure 11] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a resource unit allocation scenario according to another embodiment of the present application; [Figure 12] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a resource unit allocation scenario according to yet another embodiment of the present application; [Figure 13] 1 is a schematic diagram of a module of a data transmission device according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 14] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a module of a data transmission device according to another embodiment of the present application. [Figure 15]FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a module of a data transmission device according to yet another embodiment of the present application. [Figure 16] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a module of a data transmission device according to another embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0052] Specific embodiments of the present application will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0053] FIG. 1A is used as an example to describe a network structure to which the data transmission method in this application is applicable. FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram of a network structure according to an embodiment of this application. The network structure may include one or more access point (AP) stations and one or more non-access point stations (non-AP STAs). For ease of description, in this specification, an access point station is referred to as an access point (AP), and a non-access point station is referred to as a station (STA). APs are, for example, AP1 and AP2 in FIG. 1A, and STAs are, for example, STA1, STA, and STA3 in FIG. 1A.

[0054] An access point may be an access point for terminal devices (such as mobile phones) to access a wired (or wireless) network, and is mainly deployed in homes, buildings, and parks. The typical coverage radius is several tens of meters to 100 meters. Obviously, access points can also be deployed outdoors. An access point is equivalent to a bridge connecting wired and wireless networks. The main function of an access point is to connect various wireless network clients together and then connect the wireless network to Ethernet. Specifically, an access point may be a terminal device (such as a mobile phone) or a network device (such as a router) that has a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) chip. An access point may also 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 in the 802.11 family, such as 802.11be, 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b, and 802.11a. The access point in this application may be a high efficiency (HE) AP or an extremely high throughput (EHT) AP, or may be an access point applicable to future Wi-Fi standards.

[0055] An access point may include a processor and a transceiver, where the processor is configured to control and manage the actions of the access point and the transceiver is configured to receive or transmit information.

[0056] The station may be a wireless communication chip, a wireless sensor, a wireless communication terminal, etc., and may also be called a user. For example, the station may be a mobile phone supporting Wi-Fi communication function, a tablet computer supporting Wi-Fi communication function, a set-top box supporting Wi-Fi communication function, a smart TV supporting Wi-Fi communication function, an intelligent wearable device supporting Wi-Fi communication function, an in-vehicle communication device supporting Wi-Fi communication function, or a computer supporting Wi-Fi communication function. Optionally, the station may support the 802.11be standard. The station may further support multiple wireless local area network (WLAN) standards of the 802.11 family, such as 802.11be, 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b, and 802.11a.

[0057] The station may include a processor and a transceiver, the processor configured to control and manage the actions of the access point, and the transceiver configured to receive or transmit information.

[0058] The access point in this application may be a high efficiency (HE) STA or an extremely high throughput (EHT) STA, or may be an STA applicable to future Wi-Fi standards.

[0059] For example, the access points and stations may be devices applied in the Internet of Vehicles, Internet of Things nodes or sensors in the Internet of Things (IoT), smart cameras, smart remote controls, and smart water meters in smart homes, and sensors in smart cities.

[0060] The access point and the station in the embodiments of this application may also be collectively referred to as a communication device. The communication device includes a hardware structure and a software module, and the above functions are realized in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a combination of a hardware structure and a software module. The functions in the above functions may be realized in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a combination of a hardware structure and a software module.

[0061] 1B is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 1B, the communication device 200 may include a processor 201 and a transceiver 205, and optionally further includes a memory 202.

[0062] The transceiver 205 may be referred to as a transceiver unit, transceiver machine, transceiver circuit, etc., and is configured to implement transceiver functions. The transceiver 205 may include a receiver and a transmitter. The receiver may be referred to as a receiver machine, receiving circuit, etc., and is configured to implement receiving functions. The transmitter may be referred to as a transmitter machine, transmitting circuit, etc., and is configured to implement transmitting functions.

[0063] The memory 202 may store a computer program, software code, or instruction 204, which may further be referred to as firmware. The processor 201 may control the MAC layer and the PHY layer to implement the data transmission method provided in the following embodiments of this application by executing the computer program, software code, or instruction 203 in the processor 201 or by calling the computer program, software code, or instruction 204 stored in the memory 202. The processor 201 may be a central processing unit (CPU), and the memory 202 may be, for example, a read-only memory (ROM) or a random access memory (RAM).

[0064] The processor 201 and transceiver 205 described in this application may be implemented in an integrated circuit (IC), an analog IC, a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), a mixed signal IC, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a printed circuit board (PCB), an electronic device, or the like.

[0065] The communication device 200 may further include an antenna 206. The modules included in the communication device 200 are merely illustrative examples and are not limiting of this application.

[0066] As mentioned above, the communication device 200 described in the above embodiment may be an access point or a station. However, the scope of the communication device described in this application is not limited thereto, and the structure of the communication device may not be limited to that shown in FIG. 1B. The communication device may be an independent device or part of a larger device. For example, the communication device may be realized in the following form:

[0067] (1) An independent integrated circuit IC, chip, chip system, or subsystem; (2) a set including one or more ICs (optionally, the set of ICs may also include a storage component for storing data and instructions); (3) a module that can be incorporated into other devices; (4) a receiver, intelligent terminal, wireless device, handheld device, mobile unit, in-vehicle device, cloud device, artificial intelligence device, etc.; or (5) others.

[0068] For a communication device realized in the form of a chip or chip system, reference is made to the schematic diagram of the structure of the chip shown in Figure 1C. The chip shown in Figure 1C includes a processor 301 and an interface 302. There may be more than one processor 301 and more than one interface 302. Optionally, the chip or chip system may include a memory 303.

[0069] The embodiments of this application do not limit the protection scope and applicability of the claims. Those skilled in the art may adaptively change the functions and arrangements of elements in this application, or omit, substitute, or add various processes or components as needed without departing from the scope of the embodiments of this application.

[0070] Regarding bandwidth configurations, the currently supported bandwidth configurations for 802.11ax include 20MHz, 40MHz, 80MHz, 160MHz, and 80MHz + 80MHz. The difference between 160MHz and 80MHz + 80MHz is that the former is a contiguous frequency band, while the latter, i.e., the two 80MHz bands can be spaced apart. 802.11be supports a 320MHz bandwidth configuration.

[0071] Regarding frequency band resource allocation, frequency band resources are allocated to users based on resource units (RUs) rather than channels. RU sizes may be 26-tone RUs, 52-tone RUs, and 106-tone RUs. These RUs are generally referred to as small RUs, where a tone represents a subcarrier. For example, a 26-tone RU represents an RU that includes 26 subcarriers, and the 26-tone RU may be allocated to one user for use. Furthermore, the RU size may alternatively be 242-tone, 484-tone, 996-tone, etc., and these RUs are generally referred to as large RUs. Generally, an RU with a size of 106 tones or larger can be allocated to one or more users. In 802.11be, multiple RUs can be allocated to one user, and a user in this application may be understood as a STA.

[0072] 2A is a schematic diagram of possible resource unit allocation schemes that exist when the channel bandwidth for transmitting a PPDU is 20 MHz. The entire 20 MHz bandwidth may include resource elements each containing 242 subcarriers (242-tone RUs), or may include various combinations of resource elements each containing 26 subcarriers (26-tone RUs), resource elements each containing 52 subcarriers (52-tone RUs), and resource elements each containing 106 subcarriers (106-tone RUs). In addition to the RUs used to transmit data, several guard tones, null tones, or direct current (DC) tones may also be included.

[0073] 2B shows various resource unit allocation schemes that exist when the channel bandwidth for transmitting a PPDU is 40 MHz. The overall channel bandwidth is approximately equivalent to replicating a 20 MHz tone scheme. The overall 40 MHz bandwidth may include resource elements (484-tone RUs) each containing 484 subcarriers, or may include various combinations of 26-tone RUs, 52-tone RUs, 106-tone RUs, and 242-tone RUs.

[0074] When the channel bandwidth for transmitting a PPDU is 80 MHz, the overall channel bandwidth is approximately equivalent to a replica of the 20 MHz tone scheme. The overall 80 MHz bandwidth may include resource elements (996-tone RUs) each containing 996 subcarriers, or may include various combinations of 484-tone RUs, 242-tone RUs, 106-tone RUs, 52-tone RUs, and 26-tone RUs. Additionally, a center 26-tone RU containing two 13-tone subunits exists in the middle of the overall 80 MHz channel bandwidth.

[0075] Similarly, when the channel bandwidth for transmitting a PPDU is 160 MHz, the entire channel bandwidth may be considered a replica of the 80 MHz tone scheme. The entire channel bandwidth may include a total of 2 x 996-tone RUs (resource units containing 1992 subcarriers), or may include various combinations of 26-tone RUs, 52-tone RUs, 106-tone RUs, 242-tone RUs, 484-tone RUs, and 996-tone RUs. Additionally, an intermediate 26-tone RU containing two 13-tone subunits exists in the middle of the entire 160 MHz channel bandwidth.

[0076] In 802.11ax, an AP notifies a user of RU allocation by using a signaling field (SIG). Figure 3A is a schematic diagram of the structure of the signaling field. As shown in Figure 3A, the HE-SIG includes a common field and a user-specific field.

[0077] The common field includes 1 to N resource unit allocation subfields (RU allocation subfields), a cyclic redundancy code (CRC) used for checking, and a tail subfield used for cyclic decoding. One resource unit allocation subfield corresponds to a resource unit allocation corresponding to one 20 MHz. One resource unit allocation subfield indicates the size and location of one or more resource units corresponding to 20 MHz.

[0078] A resource unit allocation subfield is an index, and an index indicates the size and location of one or more resource units corresponding to 20 MHz.

[0079] As shown in Table 1, according to 802.11ax, the resource unit allocation subfield may be one index in the first column in Table 1, for example, 00000000, 00000001, and 00000010. The row in which each index is located represents the size and location of the resource unit corresponding to 20 MHz. [Table 1-1] [Table 1-2] [Table 1-3]

[0080] The user-specific field in the signaling field (HE-SIG) includes 1 to M user fields according to the resource unit allocation order. Normally, two of the M user fields are in a group, and each of the two user fields is followed by a CRC field and a tail field. If the number of user fields is odd, the last user field is in a separate group, and is followed by a CRC field and a tail field. One user field carries station identifier information to indicate that the RU corresponding to the user field is assigned to a STA.

[0081] When the resource unit allocation and combination indicated by one resource unit allocation subfield includes a resource unit containing 106 or more subcarriers, the index is further used to indicate the number of MU MIMO users supported by the resource unit containing 106 or more subcarriers. In the 802.11ax standard, the number of MU MIMO users is 8 or less. For example, for index 01000y2y1y0, when y2y1y0 is 010, this indicates that the 106-tone is allocated to 3 users.

[0082] The arrangement order of the user fields in the user specific field is consistent with the order of the resource units indicated by the corresponding resource unit allocation subfields. The STA may read the user field to identify whether the resource unit corresponding to the user field belongs to the STA. In this case, the STA may determine the resource units allocated to the STA based on the position of the user field and the corresponding resource unit allocation subfield.

[0083] For example, Figure 3B is a schematic diagram of another possible structure of the signaling field. Resource unit allocation subfield 1 is 00001111. Based on the row where 00001111 is located in Table 1, it may be determined that the resource units indicated by resource unit allocation subfield 1 are 52-tone RU, 52-tone RU, 26-tone RU, 52-tone RU, and 52-tone RU. The user-specific field portion includes n user fields. Five user fields, namely, user field 1, user field 2, user field 3, user field 4, and user field 5, correspond to 52-tone RU, 52-tone RU, 26-tone RU, 52-tone RU, and 52-tone RU, respectively. In this way, the 52-tone RU, 52-tone RU, 26-tone RU, 52-tone RU, and 52-tone RU indicated by resource unit allocation subfield 1 are allocated to STA1 corresponding to user field 1, STA2 corresponding to user field 2, STA3 corresponding to user field 3, STA4 corresponding to user field 4, and STA5 corresponding to user field 5, respectively.

[0084] In 802.11ax, it can be learned that the resource units corresponding to each user field are determined based on the correspondence between the order of the resource units indicated by the resource unit allocation subfield and the arrangement order of the user fields in the user-specific field. In this case, the HE-SIG-B transmitted to each station includes all user fields corresponding to each resource unit allocation subfield. In this way, it can be ensured that the STA can determine the resource units allocated to it based on the position of the user field and the corresponding resource unit allocation subfield.

[0085] However, with the development of WLAN technology, more and more user fields need to be transmitted in the signaling field of the PPDU to enable the PPDU to support more and more STAs, which results in larger and larger signaling overhead.

[0086] FIG. 4A is a schematic diagram of a PPDU structure according to this application. To reduce overhead, a specific embodiment provides the frequency domain segment structure shown in FIG. 4A. The channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU is divided into multiple frequency domain segments, and several stations park on each frequency domain segment. The AP transmits the PPDU to STAs parked on multiple frequency domain segments. Specifically, parking refers to a correspondence determined or recognized by the system and is semi-static. In other words, the correspondence between a frequency domain segment and one or more stations parked on the frequency domain segment is configured and remains unchanged within a specified time. In a more specific example, each frequency domain segment is 80 MHz. Obviously, the frequency domain segment may have other bandwidth granularities, such as 40 MHz and 160 MHz. The specific process of configuring the parking relationship is not described in each embodiment, and therefore the details will not be described again.

[0087] It should be understood that "parking a station in a frequency domain segment" in this application may also mean that the station is camped on the frequency domain segment, or that the station is located in or belongs to the frequency domain segment.

[0088] In an embodiment of this application, the frequency domain segment may be further referred to as a frequency domain fragment, etc. Figure 4B is a schematic diagram of a PPDU structure. The PPDU includes a legacy short training field (L-STF), a legacy long training field (L-LTF), a legacy signaling field (L-SIG), a repeated legacy signaling field (RL-SIG), a universal signaling field (U-SIG), an extremely high throughput signaling field or an extremely high throughput signaling field (EHT-SIG), an EHT short training field (EHT-STF), an EHT long training field (EHT-LTF), and data. L-STF, L-LTF, L-SIG, RL-SIG, U-SIG, EHT-SIG, EHT-STF and EHT-LTF are part of the structure of the physical layer header (also called the preamble portion) of the PPDU.

[0089] L-STF, L-LTF, and L-SIG may be understood as legacy preamble fields and are used to ensure coexistence between new devices and legacy devices. RL-SIG is used to extend the reliability of legacy signaling fields.

[0090] The U-SIG and EHT-SIG are signaling fields. The U-SIG is used to carry some common information, such as information indicating the PPDU version, information indicating uplink / downlink, information indicating the frequency domain bandwidth of the PPDU, and puncturing indication information. The EHT-SIG includes information indicating resource allocation, information indicating data demodulation, etc.

[0091] It should be noted that in this embodiment of the present application, fields in the PPDU in an 802.11be scenario are used as an example for explanation, and the fields in the PPDU referred to in the embodiment of the present application are not limited to fields related to 802.11be, and may alternatively be fields related to standard versions later than 802.11be.

[0092] Based on the frequency domain segment structure, fields within the preamble portion of the PPDU are carried separately in frequency domain segments, i.e., the preamble portion of the PPDU includes one or more frequency domain segment contents, for example, a first frequency domain segment content includes a first legacy preamble field, a first U-SIG, and a first EHT-SIG, and a second frequency domain segment content includes a second legacy preamble field, a second U-SIG, and a second EHT-SIG.

[0093] In this way, the U-SIG transmitted in each frequency domain segment may include only puncturing indication information for the frequency domain segment of the U-SIG, for example, a puncturing indication field that may be set to 1 bit. In this way, the overhead of transmitting the U-SIG in each frequency domain segment can be reduced. However, since most of the U-SIG fields are universal fields that need to be received by each STA, overhead can be reduced by only using a few fields (e.g., puncturing indication) related to each STA. In this case, the effect of reducing overhead is not clear.

[0094] Based on the above structure, several embodiments are provided to reduce the overhead of the signaling field.

[0095] 5 is a schematic flowchart of a method for transmitting a preamble portion of a PPDU according to an embodiment of the present application. The embodiment of the present application provides a method for transmitting a preamble portion of a PPDU. As shown in FIG. 5, the method for transmitting a preamble portion of a PPDU includes the following steps:

[0096] 101. The AP generates a preamble portion of a PPDU, where the preamble portion of the PPDU includes one or more frequency domain segment contents, and the frequency domain segment contents include at least complete scheduling information of stations parked in the corresponding frequency domain segments. "Complete" here means that if a station parked in a frequency domain segment belongs to the current scheduling time, the scheduling information of the station is carried in the corresponding frequency domain segment, and includes the station's resource allocation information and related information (e.g., a resource allocation field of the parked station and all user fields of the scheduled parked station; the specific structure will be described in detail in other embodiments).

[0097] It should be noted that the resource units allocated to a station parked in a frequency domain segment do not need to be located in the frequency domain segment where the station is parked, but may be located anywhere within the entire channel bandwidth based on resource and service requirements; that is, the resource unit allocation subfield of the parked station, which is used to indicate the resource allocation, is transmitted in the frequency domain segment, but the station data field does not need to be transmitted in the frequency domain segment. Obviously, in a simplified embodiment, only the parked station may be allocated to the frequency domain segment where the station is parked. Alternatively, the parked station may be allocated to a partial frequency bandwidth range of the channel bandwidth.

[0098] It can be understood that when an AP transmits a PPDU to a station parked in a frequency domain segment, the signaling field of the PPDU is transmitted in the frequency domain segment in which the station is parked, and the resource unit indicated by the resource unit allocation subfield in the signaling field of the PPDU may belong to the frequency domain segment in which the station is parked, or may not belong to the frequency domain segment in which the station is parked. In other words, in this application, the frequency domain segment in which the station is parked may be different from the frequency bandwidth range in which the station transmits data.

[0099] The PPDU includes a legacy preamble field, a signaling field, and data, and the signaling field may include, for example, a U-SIG and an EHT-SIG. The legacy preamble field may correspond to the legacy preamble field in FIG. 4A or 4B. The U-SIG is used to carry common information that needs to be received by stations parked in the frequency domain segment. For example, the U-SIG may include information indicating the PPDU version, information indicating uplink / downlink, information indicating the frequency domain bandwidth of the PPDU, and puncturing indication information. The EHT-SIG is used to carry at least complete scheduling information for stations parked in the frequency domain segment.

[0100] 102. The AP transmits corresponding frequency domain segment content on corresponding frequency domain segments, i.e., transmits a first frequency domain segment content on a first frequency domain segment and a second frequency domain segment content on a second frequency domain segment.

[0101] Correspondingly, a method is provided for receiving the preamble portion of the PPDU by a station.

[0102] 201. A station receives, in a frequency domain segment in which the station is parked, frequency domain segment content corresponding to the frequency domain segment and present in the preamble portion of a PPDU, where the frequency domain segment content includes complete scheduling information of scheduled stations in the station parked in the frequency domain segment (e.g., a resource allocation field for the parked station and an all users field for the scheduled parked station).

[0103] 202. The station obtains scheduling information for the station based on the above information.

[0104] As described above, a station parked in a frequency domain segment only needs to acquire the signaling field portion within the preamble portion corresponding to the frequency domain segment, and does not need to acquire the signaling field portion corresponding to the entire channel bandwidth.

[0105] In another embodiment, stations parked in a frequency domain segment may transmit only within a frequency band range of the channel bandwidth. In each frequency domain segment, only signaling fields related to the frequency band range corresponding to the frequency domain segment are transmitted, and it is not necessary to transmit signaling fields corresponding to the entire channel bandwidth in each frequency domain segment. Specifically, each frequency domain segment may correspond to a predetermined frequency band range, which may be understood as the frequency band range of the RUs assigned to the STAs parked in the frequency domain segment, or as the frequency band range in which the STAs parked in the frequency domain segment transmit data. In this way, one frequency domain segment can be used to transmit only signaling fields related to a partial frequency band range, thereby reducing the overhead of transmitting signaling fields in one frequency domain segment.

[0106] Specifically, the signaling field in the frequency domain segment includes a resource unit allocation subfield corresponding to a frequency band range, and includes at least a user field of the station that is parked in the frequency domain segment and assigned to the RU indicated by the resource unit allocation subfield.

[0107] With reference to Figures 6A to 6C, the following describes, by using specific examples, a solution in which a signaling field within the complete channel bandwidth is transmitted in one frequency domain segment and a solution in which a partial signaling field within a frequency band range corresponding to the frequency domain segment is transmitted in the frequency domain segment.

[0108] For example, the signaling field may include a field indicating a channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU. The AP uses the bandwidth-indicating field in the signaling field to indicate to the STA that the total channel bandwidth is 320 MHz and that the 320 MHz is divided into four frequency domain segments. The first frequency domain segment is the first 80 MHz, the second frequency domain segment is the second 80 MHz, the third frequency domain segment is the third 80 MHz, and the fourth frequency domain segment is the fourth 80 MHz. For ease of explanation, the STA parked in the first frequency domain segment is referred to as the first STA, the STA parked in the second frequency domain segment is referred to as the second STA, the STA parked in the third frequency domain segment is referred to as the third STA, and the STA parked in the fourth frequency domain segment is referred to as the fourth STA.

[0109] In the first possible case, stations parked in each frequency domain segment may be assigned to RUs at any position in the entire channel bandwidth. In other words, the frequency band range corresponding to each frequency domain segment is the complete 320 MHz channel bandwidth for transmitting PPDUs. Each frequency domain segment is used to transmit a signaling field corresponding to the complete channel bandwidth. Figure 6A is a schematic diagram of a PPDU structure according to an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 6A, the signaling field transmitted in each frequency domain segment, for example, the EHT-SIG, includes a resource unit allocation subfield indicating the complete 320 MHz channel bandwidth.

[0110] For simplicity, in this embodiment of the present application, each resource unit allocation subfield indicates an RU allocation corresponding to one 20 MHz with a granularity of 20 MHz, but this application is not limited to each resource unit allocation subfield providing an indication with a granularity of 20 MHz.

[0111] For example, if each resource unit allocation subfield indicates an RU allocation corresponding to one 20 MHz with a granularity of 20 MHz, in the example of Figure 6A, the signaling field transmitted in each frequency domain segment includes 16 resource unit allocation subfields and a user field corresponding to the RUs indicated by the 16 resource unit allocation subfields.

[0112] In a second possible case, stations parked in at least one frequency domain segment are assigned to a partial frequency band range of the channel bandwidth, i.e., the frequency band range corresponding to the at least one frequency domain segment is less than the full 320 MHz channel bandwidth for transmitting PPDUs.

[0113] For example, Figure 6B is a schematic diagram of another structure of a PPDU according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 6B, the signaling field transmitted in each frequency domain segment includes a signaling field used to indicate a frequency band range corresponding to the frequency domain segment. In a corresponding example, to reduce overhead, the signaling field may only include a resource unit allocation subfield indicating RU allocation within the frequency band range corresponding to the frequency domain segment and a user field corresponding to the resource unit allocation subfield, and may not include resource allocation information within other frequency band ranges.

[0114] It should be noted that the frequency band range corresponding to each frequency domain segment can be understood by using the following specific example, rather than the "80 MHz" mentioned in the above example, which corresponds to each frequency domain segment used to transmit a signaling field.

[0115] Specifically, for example, the frequency band range corresponding to the first frequency domain segment is 320 MHz. The frequency band range in which the first STA receives data is also 320 MHz. In this case, the signaling field transmitted by the AP in the first frequency domain segment (the first 80 MHz) includes 16 resource unit allocation subfields, each indicating an RU allocation for every 20 MHz within 320 MHz.

[0116] In ascending frequency order, the frequency band range corresponding to the second frequency domain segment is the second 80 MHz within 320 MHz. The frequency band range in which the second STA receives data is 80 MHz. In this case, the signaling field transmitted in the second frequency domain segment is the signaling field corresponding to 80 MHz. The signaling field transmitted in the second frequency domain segment includes only four resource unit allocation subfields, each indicating an RU allocation for every 20 MHz within 80 MHz.

[0117] The frequency band range corresponding to the third frequency domain segment is 160 MHz, which has the highest frequency within 320 MHz. The frequency band range in which the third STA receives data is 160 MHz. In this case, the signaling field transmitted in the third frequency domain segment is the signaling field corresponding to 160 MHz. The signaling field transmitted in the third frequency domain segment includes only eight resource unit allocation subfields, each indicating an RU allocation every 20 MHz within 160 MHz.

[0118] The frequency band range corresponding to the fourth frequency domain segment is 80 MHz, which has the highest frequency within 320 MHz. The frequency band range in which the fourth STA receives data is 80 MHz. In this case, the signaling field transmitted in the fourth frequency domain segment is the signaling field corresponding to 80 MHz. The signaling field transmitted in the fourth frequency domain segment includes only four resource unit allocation subfields, each indicating an RU allocation every 20 MHz within 80 MHz.

[0119] In another example, a station parked in each frequency domain segment is assigned only to the frequency domain segment in which the station is parked. In other words, the frequency band range corresponding to each frequency domain segment is the same as that of the frequency domain segment in which the station is parked. Figure 6C is a schematic diagram of yet another structure of a PPDU according to an embodiment of this application. The frequency band range corresponding to the first frequency domain segment is the first 80 MHz, the frequency band range corresponding to the second frequency domain segment is the second 80 MHz, the frequency band range corresponding to the third frequency domain segment is the third 80 MHz, and the frequency band range corresponding to the fourth frequency domain segment is the fourth 80 MHz. In this case, each frequency domain segment includes only four resource unit allocation subfields.

[0120] Compared with the example in the first possible case where the signaling field transmitted in each frequency domain segment needs to include 16 resource unit allocation subfields indicating the complete channel bandwidth, it can be learned that in the example in the above second possible case, the signaling field transmitted in the frequency domain segment does not need to include 16 resource unit allocation subfields indicating the complete channel bandwidth. It can be understood that user fields correspond to resource unit allocation subfields. If the number of resource unit allocation subfields in the signaling field is reduced, the number of user fields is reduced correspondingly.

[0121] In this way, each frequency domain segment is used to transmit only the signaling field within the frequency band range corresponding to the frequency domain segment. In other words, the signaling field transmitted in each frequency domain segment contains only scheduling information for scheduling the STAs parked in the frequency domain segment. In this way, the overhead of the signaling field can be reduced.

[0122] Optionally, the signaling field may include a field indicating a frequency band range corresponding to each frequency domain segment, so that the corresponding frequency band range can be flexibly configured for each segment, thereby making RU allocation more flexible.

[0123] In some optional embodiments, each frequency domain segment corresponds to a predetermined frequency band range. A user field in the signaling field transmitted in each frequency domain segment corresponds to at least one RU in the predetermined frequency band range corresponding to the frequency domain segment. For example, the predetermined frequency band range corresponding to the first frequency domain segment is 160 MHz. In this case, any user field in the signaling field transmitted in the first frequency domain segment corresponds to at least one RU in the 160 MHz frequency band range. In this manner, the frequency band range corresponding to each frequency domain segment is predetermined. The signaling field of the PPDU may not need to indicate the frequency band range corresponding to each frequency domain segment, thereby further reducing the overhead of the signaling field.

[0124] The preset frequency band range corresponding to each frequency domain segment is the frequency band range in which the RUs assigned to the STAs parked in the frequency domain segment are located. The STAs in each frequency domain segment receive data from RUs within the preset frequency band range corresponding to the frequency domain segment. For the definition and description of the preset frequency band ranges corresponding to each frequency domain segment, please refer to the description of the frequency band ranges corresponding to each frequency domain segment in the above embodiment. Details will not be described again here.

[0125] Below are provided some examples of pre-defined frequency band ranges corresponding to each frequency domain segment.

[0126] The 320 MHz channel bandwidth is divided into four frequency domain segments, each with a bandwidth of 80 MHz: the first frequency domain segment is the first 80 MHz, the second frequency domain segment is the second 80 MHz, the third frequency domain segment is the third 80 MHz, and the fourth frequency domain segment is the fourth 80 MHz.

[0127] In one example, the preset frequency band range corresponding to the first frequency domain segment is 320 MHz. The preset frequency band ranges corresponding to the frequency domain segments other than the first frequency domain segment are the same as the frequency band ranges of the frequency domain segments, i.e., the preset frequency band range corresponding to the second frequency domain segment is the second 80 MHz, the preset frequency band range corresponding to the third frequency domain segment is the third 80 MHz, and the preset frequency band range corresponding to the fourth frequency domain segment is the fourth 80 MHz.

[0128] In another example, the preset frequency band range corresponding to the first frequency domain segment is 320 MHz. The preset frequency band range corresponding to the second frequency domain segment is the same as the frequency band range of the frequency domain segment, i.e., the preset frequency band range corresponding to the second frequency domain segment is 80 MHz. The preset frequency band range corresponding to the third frequency domain segment is 160 MHz, i.e., 160 MHz with the highest frequency within the 320 MHz channel bandwidth for transmitting PPDUs. The preset frequency band range corresponding to the fourth frequency domain segment is the same as the frequency band range of the frequency domain segment, i.e., 80 MHz with the highest frequency within 320 MHz.

[0129] In yet another example, the preset frequency band range corresponding to the first frequency domain segment is 320 MHz, the preset frequency band range corresponding to the second frequency domain segment is 240 MHz, i.e., the preset frequency band range corresponding to the second frequency domain segment is 240 MHz with the lowest frequency within 320 MHz, the preset frequency band range corresponding to the third frequency domain segment is 160 MHz, i.e., the preset frequency band range corresponding to the third frequency domain segment is 160 MHz with the highest frequency within 320 MHz, and the preset frequency band range corresponding to the fourth frequency domain segment is the same as the frequency band range of the frequency domain segment, i.e., the preset frequency band range corresponding to the fourth frequency domain segment is 80 MHz with the highest frequency within 320 MHz.

[0130] In yet another embodiment, a scheme is provided for setting resource unit allocation subfields and user fields in the signaling field of a PPDU to further reduce overhead in a frequency domain segment scenario. Compared with the methods corresponding to steps 101 and 102 and steps 201 and 202 above, in this scheme, each field in each frequency domain segment content is simplified to only indicate the complete scheduling information of stations parked in the corresponding frequency domain segment, which can further reduce signaling overhead. It can be understood that the solution of this embodiment may be realized separately or in combination with the solution of the above embodiment.

[0131] For example, the common fields and the user-specific fields in the signaling fields in one frequency domain segment content may be simplified separately.

[0132] 1. Simplify the resource unit allocation subfield within the common field.

[0133] Each resource unit allocation subfield in the common field focuses only on the resource block allocation of scheduled stations within the station parked in the frequency domain segment in which the signaling field is transmitted. This focus means that each resource unit allocation subfield needs to cover or indicate the resource block division result of the entire channel bandwidth, since a station may be assigned to any resource block of the channel bandwidth. However, accurate information may be provided only for resource units assigned to the parked station, and only simplified (or referred to as blurred) information is provided for other unrelated resource units.

[0134] 2. Simplify the user fields within the user specific fields section.

[0135] The user-specific field may include user fields of scheduled stations among the stations parked in the frequency domain segment in which the signaling field is transmitted, and the user fields of stations not parked in the frequency domain segment in which the signaling field is transmitted may be omitted entirely or in part.

[0136] Correspondingly, in this embodiment, a station receives the signaling field in the preamble portion only in the frequency domain segment in which the station is parked.

[0137] For stations parked in different frequency domain segments, the resource unit allocation subfield and user-specific field portion in the signaling field of the PPDU are set based on the case of the station parked in the frequency domain segment, solving the problem of reducing the indication overhead of the signaling field portion.

[0138] In a specific example, when an AP transmits a PPDU to a station parked in a frequency domain segment, at least one of the number of RUs indicated by the resource unit allocation subfield included in the signaling field of the PPDU and the number of users field is simplified and indicated in a "cheating," "deception," or "untruth" manner. In other words, in the resource units indicated by the resource unit allocation subfield in the signaling field of the PPDU transmitted by the AP to a station parked in a frequency domain segment, the number of resource units not allocated to the station parked in the frequency domain segment may not be the actual number of resource units, and the number of users field corresponding to the resource units may not be the actual number, but the number of resource units allocated to the station parked in the frequency domain segment and the number of users field corresponding to the resource units are the actual number. This does not affect the station parked in the frequency domain segment from obtaining the resource units actually allocated to the station.

[0139] In the first simplified indication method, when a PPDU is transmitted to a station parked in a frequency domain segment, the signaling field of the PPDU is transmitted in the frequency domain segment. For resource units not assigned to stations parked in the frequency domain segment, the resource unit assignment subfield indicates that the number of user fields corresponding to the resource units is 0. Correspondingly, the corresponding user field is not set in the user-specific field in the signaling field, i.e., the number of user fields corresponding to the resource units is 0. This omits the number of user fields in the user-specific field and reduces indication overhead. The user field is simplified so that the user-specific field portion in the signaling field transmitted in the frequency domain segment only includes the user fields of the STAs parked in frequency domain slicing.

[0140] For example, if the RUs corresponding to the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU include RUs that are not assigned to STAs parked in the frequency domain segment in which the signaling field is transmitted, the resource unit allocation subfield in the signaling field transmitted in the frequency domain segment indicates that the number of user fields corresponding to resource units is 0. Correspondingly, the user fields corresponding to large RUs are not set to user-specific fields, and the resource unit allocation subfield indicates that the number of user fields corresponding to large RUs is 0. In this simplified indication method in which user fields are not set in the signaling field based on the actual case, the user fields corresponding to large RUs that are not assigned to STAs parked in the frequency domain segment in which the signaling field is transmitted may be omitted.

[0141] In the second simplified indication scheme, when a PPDU is transmitted to a station parked in a frequency domain segment, the signaling field of the PPDU is transmitted in the frequency domain segment. For a plurality of resource units not allocated to the station parked in the frequency domain segment, the resource unit is considered as a resource unit as large as possible, which is indicated by using the resource unit allocation subfield. In this way, the number of RUs indicated by the resource unit allocation subfield is less than the actual number of RUs not allocated to the station parked in the frequency domain segment. Furthermore, the number of user fields corresponding to the RUs not allocated to the station parked in the frequency domain segment, which are indicated by the resource unit allocation subfield, is made as small as possible.

[0142] Furthermore, when the user fields corresponding to the RUs are set in the user-specific field, the number of user fields may be less than the number of actual user fields corresponding to the resource units as much as possible, thereby reducing the number of user fields in the user-specific field and reducing the indication overhead. In this simplified indication scheme, the resource unit allocation subfield is simplified, and at least some of the user fields that do not belong to stations parked in the frequency domain segment are omitted.

[0143] For example, a 20 MHz RU includes at least one RU assigned to a STA parked in the frequency domain segment in which the signaling field is transmitted, and at least two second RUs not assigned to a STA parked in the frequency domain segment in which the signaling field is transmitted. In this case, in the signaling field transmitted in the frequency domain segment, the at least two second RUs may be considered as one larger RU indicated by using corresponding resource unit allocation subfields. In this case, in the user-specific field portion, only the user fields corresponding to the larger RU need to be set, and the number of user fields is set to the smallest possible value. In the prior art, at least two second RUs correspond to at least two user fields. In this case, the number of user fields can be reduced as much as possible with this simplified indication method. Furthermore, when the resource unit allocation subfield indicates a larger RU, the number of user fields corresponding to the larger RU may be set to the smallest possible value, for example, 1.

[0144] Based on the above simplified indication scheme, an embodiment of this application provides a data transmission method, which is used to transmit a PPDU, and the overhead of the signaling field of the PPDU is reduced by the above simplified indication scheme.

[0145] 7A is a schematic flowchart of a data transmission method according to an embodiment of this application. This embodiment of this application is described by using an embodiment in which an AP transmits a PPDU to a STA. The data transmission method in this application is also applicable to a scenario in which an AP transmits a PPDU to an AP and a scenario in which a STA transmits a PPDU to a STA. In different scenarios, the names of the transmitted PPDU and its signaling fields are different, but their functions and roles are similar. Details will not be described in this embodiment of this application.

[0146] In this embodiment scenario, the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU to the STA by the AP includes at least two frequency domain segments. The at least two frequency domain segments include the first frequency domain segment. Several STAs park in each frequency domain segment. For example, the number of stations parked in one frequency domain segment may be any number greater than or equal to 0. The signaling fields of the PPDU include, but are not limited to, a common field and a user-specific field. The common field includes a resource unit allocation subfield. The user-specific field includes a user field.

[0147] The data transmission method in an embodiment of this application may include the following steps.

[0148] S701. The AP generates the signaling field of the PPDU.

[0149] Step S701 may be implemented by a processor of the AP, that is, the processor of the AP generates the signaling field of the PPDU.

[0150] In the data transmission method in this application, when the AP transmits the PPDU to the STA, the indication manner of the signaling field transmitted in the first frequency domain segment is at least one of the above simplified indication manners.

[0151] In 802.11be, the signaling field may be EHT-SIG, or may be U-SIG and EHT-SIG. The signaling field in this embodiment of this application is not limited to the SIG field in 802.11be, and may also be a SIG field associated with a standard version later than 802.11be.

[0152] In this embodiment of the application, the resource unit allocation subfield may provide the indication by using an entry in a resource unit allocation subfield (RU allocation subfield, RA subfield) table. For example, the resource unit allocation subfield may provide the indication by using an entry in Table 1, or may provide the indication by using an entry in Table 2 or Table 3, or may provide the indication by using an entry in Table 2 or Table 3 in combination with Table 4 or Table 5.

[0153] S702. The AP transmits the signaling field of the PPDU.

[0154] Step S702 may be implemented by the transceiver of the AP, ie, the transceiver of the AP transmits the signaling field of the PPDU.

[0155] Correspondingly, a STA parked in the first frequency domain segment receives a PPDU transmitted by the AP, obtains a user field carrying an identifier of the STA from a user field included in the user-specific field, and obtains data transmitted in an RU corresponding to the user field. Specifically, a transceiver of the STA receives a PPDU transmitted by the AP. A processor of the STA obtains a user field carrying an identifier of the STA from a user field included in the user-specific field, obtains an RU corresponding to the user field, and receives data in the RU.

[0156] Based on the above data transmission method, the following describes the resource unit allocation subfield and the user field in the signaling field separately when the two simplified indication methods are used.

[0157] In some possible implementations, the resource unit allocation subfield in the signaling field provides the indication in the above first simplified indication manner.

[0158] In this embodiment, the number of user fields indicated by the resource unit allocation subfield corresponding to the large RU and in the signaling field represents the number of user fields assigned by the RU to one content channel in the user-specific field, where the user fields are user fields corresponding to STAs parked in the first frequency domain segment, and the user fields include the identifiers of the corresponding STAs.

[0159] The signaling field transmitted in each frequency domain segment may be transmitted using two or more Content Channels (CCs). Each CC is used to transmit a partial signaling field.

[0160] For example, the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU is 320 MHz. The signaling field of the PPDU transmitted in the first frequency domain segment is transmitted by using CC1 and CC2. The signaling field transmitted in the first frequency domain segment includes 16 resource unit allocation subfields. In this case, the 16 resource unit allocation subfields may be numbered based on an order. Odd-numbered resource unit allocation subfields may be transmitted in CC1, and even-numbered resource unit allocation subfields may be transmitted in CC2. Each CC is further used to transmit user fields corresponding to the resource unit allocation subfields in the CC. For example, user fields corresponding to odd-numbered resource unit allocation subfields are transmitted in CC1, and user fields corresponding to even-numbered resource unit allocation subfields are transmitted in CC2. The resource unit allocation subfields indicate the RUs included in the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU and indicate the number of user fields provided by the RUs to the user-specific fields in the corresponding content channel.

[0161] In the implementation, the resource unit allocation subfield indicates that the number of user fields corresponding to the resource units RU included in the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU and not assigned to the STAs parked in the first frequency domain segment is 0.

[0162] If the resource unit allocation subfield indicates that the number of user fields corresponding to the RU in the resource units RU included in the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU is 0, this indicates that the RU is not allocated to a STA parked in the first frequency domain segment.

[0163] In this embodiment, the signaling field transmitted in the first frequency domain segment indicates one or more RUs, and indicates that the number of user fields corresponding to large RUs assigned to STAs not parked in the first frequency domain segment is 0. Thus, in the user-specific field portion in the signaling field, corresponding user fields are set for large RUs of STAs parked in the first frequency domain segment, the user fields carry station identifiers, and corresponding user fields are not set for large RUs of STAs not parked in the first frequency domain segment. In this way, the number of user fields in the signaling field can be reduced, thereby reducing the overhead of the signaling field.

[0164] 7B is a schematic diagram of the structure of a PPDU transmitted in each frequency domain segment of a PPDU. In this embodiment of the present application, the signaling fields of the PPDUs transmitted in all frequency domain segments are different. Furthermore, the resource unit allocation subfield in the signaling field of the PPDU transmitted in each frequency domain segment is divided into two parts that are transmitted separately on two CCs, and the user field in the signaling field of the PPDU transmitted in each frequency domain segment is also divided into two parts that are transmitted separately on two CCs.

[0165] Specifically, the resource unit allocation indicated by the resource unit allocation subfield in the signaling field transmitted in one frequency domain segment is different: the resource unit allocation subfield in the signaling field in a frequency domain segment indicates the RUs and corresponding user fields allocated to STAs parked in the frequency domain segment based on the actual case, but does not necessarily indicate the RUs and corresponding user fields allocated to STAs not parked in the frequency domain segment based on the actual case.

[0166] The user fields in the signaling field transmitted in one frequency domain segment are also different. For multiple resource units (RUs) indicated by the resource unit allocation subfield in the signaling field in one frequency domain segment, the corresponding user fields are set for the corresponding RUs assigned to STAs parked in the frequency domain segment, and the user fields include identifiers of the STAs parked in the frequency domain segment. For corresponding RUs not assigned to STAs parked in the frequency domain segment, the user fields are not set for the RUs, or the number of user fields is 0.

[0167] For example, the multiple RUs indicated by the resource unit allocation subfield in the signaling field transmitted in the first frequency domain segment include a first RU and a second RU, where the first RU is an RU assigned to a STA parked in the first frequency domain segment, and the second RU is a large RU not assigned to a STA parked in the first frequency domain segment.

[0168] A user-specific field portion in the signaling field transmitted in the first frequency domain segment includes a user field corresponding to the first RU, where the user field carries an identifier of a STA parked in the first frequency domain segment, and the user-specific field portion does not include a user field corresponding to the second RU.

[0169] Furthermore, the second RU may actually be one or more RUs not assigned to a STA parked in the first frequency domain segment. The RUs not assigned to a STA parked in the first frequency domain segment may be one or more RUs assigned to a STA parked in a frequency domain segment other than the first frequency domain segment, or may be RUs not assigned to any STA.

[0170] A scenario in which the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU is 320 MHz and the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU is divided into four frequency domain segments is used as an example below for illustration.

[0171] In ascending order of frequency, the first frequency domain segment is the first 80 MHz, the second frequency domain segment is the second 80 MHz, the third frequency domain segment is the third 80 MHz, and the fourth frequency domain segment is the fourth 80 MHz. In this embodiment, the first signaling field transmitted in the first frequency domain segment corresponding to the first 80 MHz and the second signaling field transmitted in the second frequency domain segment corresponding to the second 80 MHz are specifically used as an example for explanation. The signaling field transmitted in the third frequency domain segment corresponding to the third 80 MHz and the signaling field transmitted in the fourth frequency domain segment corresponding to the fourth 80 MHz are not listed one by one in the embodiment of this application.

[0172] 8A is a schematic diagram of a resource unit allocation scenario according to an embodiment of this application. In one example, the actual resource unit allocation corresponding to a 320 MHz channel bandwidth is as follows: The 40 MHz with the lowest frequency within the first 80 MHz corresponds to one 484-tone RU, which is assigned to two STAs parked in the first frequency domain segment; The 40 MHz with the highest frequency within the first 80 MHz corresponds to one 484-tone RU, which is assigned to two STAs parked in the first frequency domain segment; The 20 MHz with the lowest frequency within the second 80 MHz corresponds to one 242-tone RU, which is assigned to four STAs parked in the second frequency domain segment; Then, the 20 MHz with the second lowest frequency corresponds to nine 26-tone RUs, which are respectively assigned to nine STAs parked in the second frequency domain segment. The highest frequency 40 MHz within the second 80 MHz corresponds to a 484-tone RU, which is allocated to one STA parking in the first frequency domain segment. RU allocations corresponding to the third and fourth 80 MHz are not shown.

[0173] 8B is a schematic diagram of a content channel structure according to an embodiment of this application. The first signaling field transmitted in the first frequency domain segment is transmitted by using two CCs, CC1 and CC2, respectively. The signaling field transmitted in the first frequency domain segment includes resource unit allocation subfield 1 to resource unit allocation subfield 16. In ascending frequency order, resource unit allocation subfield 1 to resource unit allocation subfield 16 each correspond to one 20 MHz within 320 MHz.

[0174] The resource unit allocation subfields with odd sequence numbers are transmitted on CC1, and the resource unit allocation subfields with even sequence numbers are transmitted on CC2, thereby effectively shortening the length of the common fields transmitted on each CC.

[0175] Figure 8C is a schematic diagram of the structure of a signaling field according to an embodiment of this application. Referring to Figures 8B and 8C, resource unit allocation subfield 1 indicates a 484-tone RU, indicating that the number of user fields corresponding to the 484-tone RU and included in CC1 is 1. Resource unit allocation subfield 2 indicates a 484-tone RU, indicating that the number of user fields corresponding to the 484-tone RU and included in CC2 is 1. Resource unit allocation subfield 3 indicates a 484-tone RU, indicating that the number of user fields corresponding to the 484-tone RU and included in CC1 is 1. Resource unit allocation subfield 4 indicates a 484-tone RU, indicating that the number of user fields corresponding to the 484-tone RU and included in CC2 is 1. Resource unit allocation subfield 5 indicates a 484-tone RU, indicating that the number of user fields corresponding to the 484-tone RU and included in CC1 is 0. Resource unit allocation subfield 6 indicates a 484-tone RU, corresponds to a 484-tone RU, and indicates that the number of user fields included in CC2 is 1. Resource unit allocation subfield 7 indicates a 484-tone RU, corresponds to a 484-tone RU, and indicates that the number of user fields included in CC1 is 1. Resource unit allocation subfield 8 indicates a 484-tone RU, corresponds to a 484-tone RU, and indicates that the number of user fields included in CC1 is 0.

[0176] A STA parked in a frequency domain segment may determine the RU corresponding to each user field based on the order of the RUs corresponding to the resource unit allocation subfields in all CCs in the frequency domain segment and the order of the user fields in the CC.

[0177] For example, STA1 parked in the first frequency domain segment may determine, based on the order of RUs indicated by the resource unit allocation subfields in CC1 and CC2 and the order of user fields, that user field 1a corresponds to the 484-tone RU corresponding to the lowest frequency in the first 80 MHz, and that user field 1a carries STA1's identifier information. In this case, STA1 determines that the 484-tone RU is the RU assigned to STA1. Similarly, STA2 parked in the first frequency domain segment may determine, based on user field 2a and STA2's identifier information carried in user field a2, that the 484-tone RU is the RU assigned to STA2. STA3 parked in the first frequency domain segment may determine, based on STA3's identifier information carried in user field 3a, that the 484-tone RU corresponding to the highest frequency in the first 80 MHz is the RU assigned to STA3. STA4 parked in the first frequency domain segment may determine, based on the identifier information of STA4 carried in user field 4a, that the 484-tone RU corresponding to the 40 MHz having the highest frequency within the first 80 MHz is the RU assigned to STA4. STA5 parked in the first frequency domain segment may determine, based on the identifier information of STA5 carried in user field 5a, that the 484-tone RU corresponding to the 40 MHz having the highest frequency within the second 80 MHz is the RU assigned to STA5.

[0178] The resource unit allocation subfield in the first signaling field transmitted in the first frequency domain segment may be learned to indicate that 40 MHz, the lowest frequency within the second 80 MHz, corresponds to a 484-tone RU and that the number of user fields corresponding to the 484-tone RU is 0. However, the RUs corresponding to 40 MHz are actually one 242-tone RU and nine 26-tone RUs that are not assigned to STAs parked in the first frequency domain segment. In this case, the STAs parked in the first frequency domain segment do not need to focus on the specific STAs to which the 242-tone RU and nine 26-tone RUs are assigned. In the first signaling field, the resource unit allocation subfield may not indicate the 242-tone RU and nine 26-tone RUs based on the actual case, and the user fields need not be set in the user-specific field portion based on the actual case.

[0179] Thus, compared with the prior art in which one user field corresponding to a 242-tone RU (assuming that a 242-tone is assigned to only one STA) and nine user fields corresponding to a 26-tone RU need to be set in the user-specific field, in this embodiment, the user fields corresponding to the 242-tone RU and nine 26-tone RUs are not set in the user-specific field portion in the first signaling field, thereby reducing at least 10 user fields and enabling the overhead of the signaling field to be reduced.

[0180] Furthermore, in the resource unit allocation subfield in the first signaling field, the 242-tone RU and nine 26-tone RUs are indicated as one 484-tone RU. In the second signaling field transmitted in the second frequency domain segment, two 484-tone RUs corresponding to 80 MHz, which has the lowest frequency within the channel bandwidth for transmitting PPDUs, are combined and indicated as one 996-tone RU. In this way, the indication of the resource unit allocation subfield can be made simpler and clearer.

[0181] Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 8C , 484-tone RUs corresponding to 40 MHz having the lowest frequency within the first 80 MHz are allocated to two users parked in the first frequency domain segment in ascending frequency order. Resource unit allocation subfield 1 and resource unit allocation subfield 2 indicate 484-tone RUs. Resource unit allocation subfield 1 indicates that the number of user fields corresponding to 484-tone RUs is 1 in CC1. In this case, the user-specific field portion in CC1 includes user field 1a corresponding to 484-tone RUs. Resource unit allocation subfield 3 indicates that the number of user fields corresponding to 484-tone RUs is 1 in CC2. In this case, the user-specific field portion in CC1 includes user field 3a corresponding to 484-tone RUs. In this way, multiple user fields corresponding to 484-tone RUs are allocated separately to CC1 and CC2 to transmit them as evenly as possible, thereby better balancing the number of user fields transmitted on each CC.

[0182] 8D, for a PPDU transmitted by an AP to a STA parked in the second frequency domain segment, the second signaling field of the PPDU is transmitted by using the second frequency domain segment. Specifically, the second signaling field is transmitted using two CCs, CC3 and CC4. The signaling field transmitted in the second frequency domain segment includes resource unit allocation subfield 17 to resource unit allocation subfield 32. In ascending frequency order, resource unit allocation subfield 17 to resource unit allocation subfield 32 each correspond to one 20 MHz within 320 MHz.

[0183] The resource unit allocation subfields with odd sequence numbers are transmitted on CC3, and the resource unit allocation subfields with even sequence numbers are transmitted on CC4, thus effectively shortening the length of the common fields transmitted on each CC.

[0184] Figure 8D is a schematic diagram of a content channel structure according to another embodiment of this application. Figure 8E is a schematic diagram of a signaling field structure according to another embodiment of this application. Resource unit allocation subfield 17 indicates 996-tone RU, indicating that the number of user fields corresponding to the 996-tone RU and included in CC3 is 0. Resource unit allocation subfield 18 indicates 996-tone RU, indicating that the number of user fields corresponding to the 996-tone RU and included in CC4 is 0. Resource unit allocation subfield 19 indicates 996-tone RU, indicating that the number of user fields corresponding to the 996-tone RU and included in CC3 is 0. Resource unit allocation subfield 20 indicates 996-tone RU, indicating that the number of user fields corresponding to the 996-tone RU and included in CC4 is 0. Resource unit allocation subfield 21 indicates 242-tone RU, indicating that the number of user fields corresponding to the 242-tone RU and included in CC3 is 4. Resource unit allocation subfield 22 indicates nine 26-tone RUs, corresponding to the nine 26-tone RUs, and indicates that the number of user fields included in CC4 is 9. Resource unit allocation subfield 23 indicates 484-tone RUs, corresponding to the 484-tone RUs, and indicates that the number of user fields included in CC3 is 0. Resource unit allocation subfield 24 indicates 484-tone RUs, corresponding to the 484-tone RUs, and indicates that the number of user fields included in CC4 is 0.

[0185] A STA parked in a frequency domain segment may determine the RU corresponding to each user field based on the order of the RUs corresponding to the resource unit allocation subfields in all CCs in the frequency domain segment and the order of the user fields in the CC.

[0186] For example, STA6 parked in the second frequency domain segment may determine, based on STA6's identifier information in user field 1b, that the 242-tone RU assigned to STA6 corresponds to 20 MHz, which has the lowest frequency within the second 80 MHz band. STA7 parked in the second frequency domain segment may determine, based on STA7's identifier information in user field 2b, that the 242-tone RU assigned to STA7 corresponds to 20 MHz, which has the lowest frequency within the second 80 MHz band. STA8 parked in the second frequency domain segment may determine, based on STA8's identifier information in user field 3b, that the 242-tone RU assigned to STA8 corresponds to 20 MHz, which has the lowest frequency within the second 80 MHz band. STA9 parked in the second frequency domain segment may determine, based on STA9's identifier information in user field 4b, that the 242-tone RU assigned to STA9 corresponds to 20 MHz, which has the lowest frequency within the second 80 MHz band. Other STAs parked in the second frequency domain segment may also determine in the above manner that the RU corresponding to the user field containing the STA's identifier information is the RU assigned to the STA.

[0187] The resource unit allocation subfield in the second signaling field may be configured to indicate that the RU corresponding to 80 MHz, which has the lowest frequency within the channel bandwidth for transmitting a PPDU, is a 996-tone RU, and the number of user fields corresponding to the 996-tone RU is 0 in the user field field. In practice, the RU corresponding to 80 MHz, which has the lowest frequency within the channel bandwidth for transmitting a PPDU, is actually two 484-tone RUs that are not assigned to a STA parked in the second frequency domain segment. A STA parked in the second frequency domain segment does not need to focus on the specific STA to which the two 484-tone RUs are assigned. In the second signaling field, the resource unit allocation subfield may not actually indicate two 484-tone RUs based on the actual case, or may not actually indicate user fields corresponding to two 484-tone RUs based on the actual case.

[0188] In this way, an instruction is provided based on the actual RU allocation case, and compared with the prior art in which the user fields corresponding to two 484-tone RUs need to be set in the user-specific fields, in this embodiment, the user fields corresponding to two 484-tone RUs are not set in the user-specific field portion in the second signaling field, thereby reducing the user fields corresponding to two 484-tone RUs and reducing the overhead of the signaling field.

[0189] In another implementation, the resource unit allocation subfield in the second signaling field indicates that the RU corresponding to 80 MHz, which has the lowest frequency within the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU, is a 996-tone RU, and the number of user fields corresponding to the 996-tone RU is 1. In this case, the number of user fields corresponding to the 996-tone RU in the user field-specific portion is 1. In this way, four user fields corresponding to two 484-tone RUs may be reduced to at least one user field.

[0190] In this way, two 484-tone RUs may be indicated as one 996-tone RU, thereby reducing the number of RUs indicated by the resource unit allocation subfield so that the number of user fields corresponding to the 996-tone RU is less than the number of user fields corresponding to two 484-tone RUs. Furthermore, in the user-specific field, the number of user fields corresponding to an RU is also set to the minimum possible value, for example, 1 or 0. In this way, the number of user fields can be reduced as much as possible, thereby reducing the indication overhead.

[0191] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a resource unit allocation scenario according to an embodiment of this application. As shown in FIG. 9, in another example, the actual resource unit allocation of 320 MHz may be assigned as follows: In ascending frequency order, the first 80 MHz corresponds to one 996-tone RU, which is assigned to three STAs parked in the first frequency domain segment. The lowest frequency 20 MHz in the second 80 MHz corresponds to one 242-tone RU assigned to one STA parked in the first frequency domain segment. The second lowest frequency 20 MHz in the second 80 MHz corresponds to nine 26-tone RUs assigned to nine STAs parked in the second frequency domain segment. The highest frequency 40 MHz in the second 80 MHz corresponds to a 484-tone RU assigned to one STA parked in the first frequency domain segment. For simplicity, the third and fourth 80 MHz are not shown in FIG. 9.

[0192] The resource unit allocation indication subfield in the first signaling field included in the PPDU and transmitted in the first frequency domain segment provides the following indication: In ascending frequency order, the first 80 MHz corresponds to one 996-tone RU, and the number of user fields corresponding to the 996-tone RU is 3 in the user-specific field portion; the lowest frequency 20 MHz in the second 80 MHz corresponds to one 242-tone RU, and the number of user fields corresponding to the 242-tone RU is 1 in the user-specific field portion; the second lowest frequency 20 MHz in the second 80 MHz corresponds to one 242-tone RU, and the number of user fields corresponding to the 242-tone RU is 0 in the user-specific field portion; and the highest frequency 40 MHz in the second 80 MHz corresponds to a 484-tone RU, and the number of user fields corresponding to the 484-tone RU is 1 in the user-specific field portion.

[0193] In ascending frequency order, it may be obtained that the RUs corresponding to the second 20 MHz in the second 80 MHz are actually nine 26-tone RUs that are not assigned to STAs parked in the first frequency domain segment. In this case, the STAs parked in the first frequency domain segment do not need to focus on the specific STAs to which the nine 26-tone RUs are assigned. The resource unit allocation subfield transmitted in the first frequency domain segment may not indicate a 242-tone RU and nine 26-tone RUs based on the actual case. For example, the resource unit allocation subfield transmitted in the first frequency domain segment indicates that 20 MHz corresponds to one 242-tone RU and the number of users field corresponding to the 242-tone RU is 0. The one 242-tone RU may be understood as the second RU.

[0194] Thus, compared with the prior art in which nine user fields corresponding to 26-tone RUs need to be set in the user-specific field, in this embodiment, the user fields corresponding to the nine 26-tone RUs are not set in the user-specific field portion in the first signaling field, thereby reducing at least nine user fields and enabling the overhead of the signaling field to be reduced.

[0195] The resource unit allocation subfield in the second signaling field included in the PPDU and transmitted in the second frequency domain segment provides the following indication: In ascending frequency order, the first 80 MHz corresponds to one 996-tone RU, and the number of user fields corresponding to the 996-tone RU is 0 in the user-specific field portion; the lowest frequency 20 MHz in the second 80 MHz corresponds to one 242-tone RU, and the number of user fields corresponding to the 242-tone RU is 0 in the user-specific field portion; the second lowest frequency 20 MHz in the second 80 MHz corresponds to nine 26-tone RUs, and the number of user fields corresponding to the nine 26-tone RUs is 9 in the user-specific field portion; and the highest frequency 40 MHz in the second 80 MHz corresponds to a 484-tone RU, and the number of user fields corresponding to the 484-tone RU is 0 in the user-specific field portion.

[0196] In ascending order of frequency, the 996-tone RU corresponding to the first 80 MHz, the 242-tone RU corresponding to the lowest 20 MHz frequency within the second 80 MHz, and the 484-tone RU corresponding to the highest 40 MHz frequency within the second 80 MHz can be learned to be RUs not assigned to STAs parked in the second frequency domain segment.

[0197] Thus, compared with the prior art in which the user fields corresponding to 996-tone RUs, the user fields corresponding to 242-tone RUs, and the user fields corresponding to 484-tone RUs need to be set in the user-specific fields, in this embodiment, the user fields corresponding to 996-tone RUs, the user fields corresponding to 242-tone RUs, and the user fields corresponding to 484-tone RUs are not set in the user-specific field portion in the second signaling field, thereby effectively reducing the user fields and reducing the overhead of the signaling field.

[0198] From the above example, it can be learned that when the RU corresponding to the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU includes multiple RUs that are not assigned to STAs parked in the frequency domain segment in which the signaling field is transmitted, the resource unit allocation subfield in the signaling field may indicate the multiple RUs as one larger RU. In this way, the resource unit allocation subfield may, through simplification, indicate multiple RUs that are not assigned to STAs parked in the frequency domain segment in which the signaling field is transmitted. It should be understood that this simplified indication method needs to satisfy the following: A corresponding index in the RA subfield table (e.g., Table 1, Table 2, or Table 3) can collectively indicate the multiple RUs as one RU.

[0199] For example, in the above example of Figure 8A, the 242-tone RU and nine 26-tone RUs are RUs assigned to STAs parked in the second frequency domain segment. The index 01110010 in Table 1 may indicate a 484-tone RU and indicate that the number of user fields corresponding to the 484-tone RU is 0. In this case, the resource unit allocation subfield in the first signaling field may use the corresponding index (e.g., 01110010) to indicate that the 242-tone RU and nine consecutive 26-tone RUs are collectively one 484-tone RU and indicate that the number of user fields corresponding to the 484-tone RU is 0.

[0200] In another implementation, the resource unit allocation subfield transmitted in the first frequency domain segment indicates that 20 MHz corresponds to one 242-tone RU, indicates that the number of user fields corresponding to the 242-tone RU is 1, and the station identifier carried in the user field does not belong to any station parked in the first frequency domain segment. Thus, compared with the prior art in which nine user fields corresponding to nine 26-tone RUs need to be set in the user-specific field, in this embodiment, the user field corresponding to the 242-tone RU is set in the user-specific field portion of the first signaling field, thereby reducing at least eight user fields and reducing the overhead of the signaling field.

[0201] In yet another implementation, the resource unit allocation subfield transmitted in the first frequency domain segment indicates that 20 MHz corresponds to five RUs corresponding to 00001111 in Table 1, i.e., a combination of multiple 52-tone RUs and 26-tone RUs, such as 52-tone RU, 52-tone RU, 26-tone RU, 52-tone RU, and 52-tone RU, where the number of user fields corresponding to each RU is 1 and the station identifier carried in the user field does not belong to any station parked in the first frequency domain segment. Thus, compared with the prior art in which nine user fields corresponding to nine 26-tone RUs must be set in the user-specific fields, in this embodiment, five user fields corresponding to five RUs are set in the user-specific field portion of the first signaling field, thereby reducing at least four user fields and the overhead of the signaling field.

[0202] Furthermore, the plurality of RUs not assigned to STAs parked in the frequency domain segment in which the signaling field is transmitted may be RUs smaller than 242-tone RUs. Alternatively, the plurality of RUs may be small RUs. Alternatively, at least a portion of the subcarriers corresponding to the large RUs not assigned to STAs parked in the first frequency domain segment belong to at least two small RUs. In this embodiment of the present application, if the RUs corresponding to at least 20 MHz in the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU are a plurality of small RUs that are RUs not assigned to STAs parked in the frequency domain segment in which the signaling field is transmitted, the resource unit allocation subfield in the signaling field of the PPDU transmitted in the frequency domain segment may indicate multiple consecutive small RUs together as one large RU, and may indicate that the number of user fields corresponding to the large RUs is 0. It should be understood that in this simplified indication scheme, the following also needs to be satisfied: A corresponding index in the RA subfield table (e.g., Table 1, Table 2, or Table 3) may indicate multiple RUs together as one RU.

[0203] For example, Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of a resource unit allocation scenario according to an embodiment of this application. The RUs corresponding to 20 MHz within the channel bandwidth for transmitting a PPDU are nine 26-tone RUs. The two 26-tone RUs corresponding to the lowest frequency are RUs allocated to STAs parked in the first frequency domain segment, and the other seven 26-tone RUs are RUs not allocated to STAs parked in the first or second frequency domain segment. The RUs corresponding to 20 MHz can be understood as RUs not allocated to STAs parked in the second frequency domain segment.

[0204] The resource unit allocation subfield in the signaling field corresponding to 20 MHz and included in the PPDU and transmitted in the first frequency domain segment indicates that, in ascending frequency order, the RUs corresponding to 20 MHz include two 26-tone RUs, one 52-tone RU, one 26-tone RU, and one 106-tone RU consecutively, and each RU corresponds to one user field.

[0205] The index 01110001 in Table 1 may indicate a 242-tone RU, and may indicate that the number of user fields corresponding to the 242-tone RU is 0. In this case, the resource unit allocation subfield in the signaling field transmitted in the second frequency domain segment may use the corresponding index (e.g., 01110001) to indicate that the RU corresponding to 20 MHz is one 242-tone RU, and may indicate that the number of user fields corresponding to the 242-tone RU is 0.

[0206] 8A are RUs that are not assigned to STAs parked in the first frequency domain segment. In this case, the resource unit assignment subfield in the first signaling field may indicate the nine 26-tone RUs as one 242-tone RU by using the index 01110001, and the number of users field corresponding to the 242-tone RU may be 0.

[0207] In this way, when the conventional technology is used, the resource unit allocation subfield in the signaling field indicates multiple small RUs based on the actual case, and the user-specific field portion in the signaling field needs to include a user field corresponding to each RU in the multiple small RUs. However, when the solution of this application is used, the resource unit allocation subfield in the signaling field indicates multiple small RUs of an unparked STA in the first frequency domain segment as one large RU by combination, and the number of user fields corresponding to the large RUs is indicated as 0. In this way, the user-specific field portion in the signaling field does not include user fields corresponding to multiple small RUs, thereby effectively reducing the user fields and the overhead of the signaling field.

[0208] In some other possible implementation manners, the resource unit allocation subfield in the signaling field indicates the RU in the above second simplified indication manner.

[0209] In this embodiment, the signaling field includes at least a resource unit allocation subfield, and the RUs indicated by the resource unit allocation subfield are multiple small RUs. Each RU of the multiple small RUs corresponds to at least one user field. The multiple small RUs include at least a third RU, and the user field corresponding to the third RU carries an identifier of a STA parked in the first frequency domain segment. The user field corresponding to at least one fourth RU does not carry an identifier of a STA parked in the first frequency domain segment. The fourth RU is actually at least two small RUs not assigned to a STA parked in the first frequency domain segment. Alternatively, at least some of the subcarriers corresponding to the fourth RU belong to at least two RUs.

[0210] When a RU corresponding to one 20 MHz included in the channel bandwidth for transmitting a PPDU is a plurality of small RUs, and the plurality of small RUs includes at least one RU that is assigned to a STA parked in the frequency domain segment in which the signaling field is transmitted and at least two RUs that are not assigned to a STA parked in the frequency domain segment in which the signaling field is transmitted, it can be understood that the resource unit allocation subfield in the signaling field of the PPDU corresponding to 20 MHz and transmitted in the frequency domain segment may indicate at least two RUs as one RU, indicating that the RU corresponds to one user field. Alternatively, the resource unit allocation subfield corresponding to 20 MHz may indicate multiple RUs as one large RU, indicating that the RUs correspond to the same user field. It should be understood that a corresponding index can be found for the larger RU in the RA subfield table.

[0211] In this case, the number of user fields corresponding to an RU is 1 in the user-specific field portion. In other words, at least two RUs correspond to only one user field in total. Compared with the method in which an instruction is provided based on actual cases, it can be learned that the above content setting method of the signaling field can reduce at least one user field in the signaling field, thereby reducing the overhead of the signaling field.

[0212] For example, Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of a resource unit allocation scenario according to an embodiment of this application. The RUs corresponding to one 20 MHz in the channel bandwidth for transmitting a PPDU are nine 26-tone RUs. In ascending order of frequency, the first and second 26-tone RUs are RUs allocated to STAs parked in the first frequency domain segment, and the third and fourth 26-tone RUs are RUs allocated to STAs parked in the second frequency domain segment.

[0213] In the signaling field of the PPDU transmitted in the first frequency domain segment, the resource unit allocation subfield corresponding to 20 MHz may indicate a total of five RUs, namely, two 26-tone RUs, one 52-tone RU, one 26-tone RU, and one 106-tone RU.

[0214] In the signaling field of the PPDU transmitted in the second frequency domain segment, the resource unit allocation subfield corresponding to 20 MHz may indicate a total of five RUs, namely, one 52-tone RU, two 26-tone RUs, one 26-tone RU, and one 106-tone RU.

[0215] When the RUs indicated by the resource unit allocation subfield in the signaling field are multiple small RUs, the user-specific field in the signaling field includes one user field corresponding to each small RU. In this case, if the resource unit allocation subfield provides an indication based on the actual RU allocation case, the resource unit allocation subfields corresponding to 20 MHz and located in the first and second frequency domain segments indicate nine 26-tone RUs. In this case, the user-specific field includes nine user fields that correspond one-to-one to the nine 26-tone RUs indicated by the resource unit allocation subfield. However, if the resource unit allocation subfield provides an indication in the above manner, the resource unit allocation subfield indicates five RUs, and the user-specific field portion also includes only five user fields corresponding to the RUs indicated by the resource unit allocation subfield.

[0216] In the solution of this application, it can be learned that at least two small RUs not assigned to STAs parked in the frequency domain segment in which the signaling field is transmitted are indicated by a combination. Thus, the number of user fields corresponding to multiple consecutive small RUs not assigned to STAs parked in the frequency domain segment in which the signaling field is transmitted can be reduced in the user-specific field portion of the signaling field, thereby reducing the overhead of the signaling field.

[0217] It should be understood that the second simplified indication scheme may not only be used to indicate small RUs, but may also be used to indicate large RUs, or may be used to indicate large RUs and small RUs. Thus, when the RUs corresponding to the channel bandwidth for transmitting a PPDU include at least two RUs that are not assigned to parked STAs in the frequency domain segment in which the signaling field is transmitted, in the signaling field transmitted in the frequency domain segment, the resource unit assignment subfield may indicate the at least two RUs as one large RU, and the number of users field corresponding to the large RUs may indicate 1. The at least two RUs may be large RUs, or small RUs, or may include at least one small RU and at least one large RU.

[0218] Below, the three cases are described separately by using examples.

[0219] For an example in which at least two RUs are large RUs, see the example in Figure 8A above. In a 320 MHz channel bandwidth for transmitting PPDUs, two RUs within the first 80 MHz with the highest frequencies are 484-tone RUs (large RUs) assigned to STAs parked in the first frequency domain segment, and each 484-tone RU is assigned to two STAs parked in the first frequency domain segment. In this case, in the signaling field transmitted in the second frequency domain segment, the resource unit allocation subfield may indicate the two 484-tone RUs combined into one 996-tone RU, and the number of users field corresponding to the 996-tone RU may indicate 1. In this way, an instruction is provided based on the actual allocation case, and compared with the prior art in which four user fields corresponding to two 484-tone RUs need to be set in the user-specific field portion, the solution of this embodiment only needs to set one user field corresponding to a 996-tone RU, thereby reducing the number of user fields and reducing the overhead of the signaling field.

[0220] An example in which at least two RUs include at least one small RU and at least one large RU may be described based on the example in FIG. 8A. In a 320 MHz channel bandwidth for transmitting PPDUs, the lowest frequency 40 MHz within the second 80 MHz band corresponds to one 242-tone RU (large RU) and nine 26-tone RUs (small RUs) in ascending frequency order. The 242-tone RU is assigned to four STAs parked in the second frequency domain segment, and the nine 26-tone RUs are assigned to nine STAs parked in the second frequency domain segment. In this case, in the signaling field transmitted in the first frequency domain segment, the resource unit allocation subfield may indicate the combination of the 242-tone RU and the nine 26-tone RUs as one 484-tone RU, and indicate that the number of users field corresponding to the 484-tone RU is 1. In this way, an instruction is provided based on the actual allocation case, and compared with the prior art in which 13 user fields corresponding to 242-tone RU and nine 26-tone RUs need to be set in the user-specific field portion, in the solution of this embodiment, only one user field corresponding to 484-tone RU needs to be set, thereby reducing the number of user fields and reducing the overhead of the signaling field.

[0221] For an explanation of an example where at least two RUs are small RUs, refer to the above example corresponding to Figure 11. The details will not be described again here.

[0222] In the second simplified indication method described above, in the signaling field, the resource unit allocation subfield in the common field portion indicates at least two RUs as one large RU, and indicates that the number of user fields corresponding to the large RU is 1. In the user-specific field portion, the user field corresponding to the larger RU may be a specific user field, which is used to indicate that the corresponding RU is not assigned to a station parked in the frequency domain segment in which the signaling field is transmitted. The specific user field may be, for example, but is not limited to, "2046".

[0223] In some optional embodiments, the user field includes a segment indication subfield, which is used to indicate the STA corresponding to the user field and the frequency domain segment on which the STA will next park to receive the PPDU. In other words, the user field includes an identifier of the STA and a segment indication subfield. Optionally, the number of bits of the segment indication subfield may be 2. It should be understood that this optional embodiment may be implemented in combination with any one of the above embodiments, or may be implemented separately.

[0224] The frequency domain segment on which the STA next parks to receive a PPDU may be the same as or different from the frequency domain segment on which the STA currently parks to receive a PPDU. For example, if the STA currently parks on the first frequency domain segment to receive a PPDU, the segment indication subfield in the user field corresponding to the STA may instruct the STA to next receive a PPDU on the first frequency domain segment, or may instruct the STA to next receive a PPDU on a frequency domain segment other than the first frequency domain segment.

[0225] In this way, the signaling field portion can instruct the STA to switch the frequency domain segment on which the STA is parked, and can ensure the reliability of instructing the STA to switch the frequency domain segment on which the STA is parked.

[0226] The following specifically describes a method for indicating RUs by the resource unit allocation subfield in an embodiment of this application.

[0227] In this embodiment of the present application, it should be noted that in the method for indicating an RU by a resource unit allocation subfield described below with reference to Tables 2 to 5, the method for indicating multiple RUs by combination, or the indication method for allocating multiple RUs to one STA, may be performed independently.

[0228] Referring to Table 2, Table 2 can be understood as an RA subfield table. The resource unit allocation subfield is used to indicate resource unit allocation and combination, and includes two fields called a resource unit indication portion and a combination indication portion. The combination indication portion is also called an additional field of the resource unit allocation subfield. The resource unit indication is used to indicate the resource unit corresponding to the resource unit allocation subfield, and the combination indication is used to indicate the combination relationship between the resource unit and other resource units. Table 2 includes entries indicating allocation of 106-tone RUs or more to 0 to 16 STAs.

[0229] Specifically, referring to Table 2, the resource unit designation portion in the resource unit allocation subfield may be an 8-bit binary string (B7 B6 B5 B4 B3 B2 B1 B0) corresponding to the entry sequence number in the first column of Table 2. For example, the resource unit designation corresponding to entry 0 is 00000000, the resource unit designation corresponding to entry 1 is 00000001, and the resource unit designation corresponding to entry 2 is 00000010. The resource unit designations corresponding to the remaining entries may be inferred, and examples will not be provided one by one here. The resource unit designation of each entry and the corresponding combination designation may be understood as an index. [Table 2-1] [Table 2-2] [Table 2-3] [Table 2-4] [Table 2-5] [Table 2-6] [Table 2-7] [Table 2-8] [Table 2-9] [Table 2-10] [Table 2-11]

[0230] The combination instruction part in the resource unit allocation subfield is an entry corresponding to the resource unit instruction part in the second column. The entry corresponding to the resource unit instruction part and the row in which the entry corresponding to the combination instruction part is correspondingly located indicate the size and location of one or more resource units corresponding to 20 MHz for transmitting the resource unit allocation subfield.

[0231] Resource units less than 106-tone RU may be used to allocate to only one STA, and resource units equal to or greater than 106-tone RU may be used to allocate to more than one STA. In 802.11be, resource units equal to or greater than 106-tone RU can be allocated to a maximum of 16 STAs.

[0232] Each resource unit indicated by the resource unit allocation subfield corresponding to each entry in the resource unit indication portion, entries 0 to 15, is used for allocation to only one STA. In other words, each resource unit indicated by the resource unit allocation subfield corresponding to each entry in the resource unit indication portion, entries 0 to 15, is less than 106-tone RU.

[0233] The one or more resource units indicated by the resource unit allocation subfield corresponding to each entry in entries 16 to 255 of the resource unit indication portion include at least one resource unit equal to or greater than 106-tone RU. Of the one or more resource units indicated by the resource unit allocation subfield corresponding to each entry in entries 16 to 255 of the resource unit indication portion, at least one resource unit may be used to be allocated to multiple STAs.

[0234] As shown in Table 2, the resource unit assignment subfield's resource unit designation portion has 8 bits (B7 B6 B5 B4 B3 B2 B1 B0) and its combination designation portion has 2 bits (B1 B0). The resource unit designation portion contains a total of 256 entries, and each entry in the resource unit designation portion corresponds to four entries in the combination designation portion.

[0235] A combination instruction of 00 indicates that the RU is not combined with other RUs. In this case, for entries 0 to 115 in Table 2, when the combination instruction is 00, the contents indicated by entries 0 to 115 are the same as those of entries 0 to 115 in Table 1 provided by 802.11ax.

[0236] For small RUs, a combining instruction of 01 indicates that the RU will be combined with an adjacent lower-frequency RU in ascending frequency order to form a multi-RU. For example, for entry 2 in Table 2, if the combining instruction is 01, this indicates that the 26-tone RU #8 will be combined with the low-frequency 52-tone RU to its left to form a multi-RU.

[0237] Combining instruction 10 indicates that the RU will combine with an adjacent higher frequency RU in ascending frequency order to form a multi-RU.

[0238] A combination instruction of 11 indicates that, for the RUs corresponding to the resource unit allocation subfield, one RU is combined with an adjacent high-frequency RU in ascending frequency order to form a multi-RU, and the other RU is combined with an adjacent low-frequency RU to form a multi-RU. For example, for entries 40 to 47 in Table 2, if the combination instruction is 11, this indicates that the 26-tone RU #2 is combined with the adjacent high-frequency 52-tone RU on the right to form a multi-RU, and the 106-tone RU #6 is combined with the adjacent low-frequency 26-tone RU on the left to form a multi-RU.

[0239] Obviously, in other embodiments, the meanings of the combination designations 01, 10 and 11 may be interchanged.

[0240] For example, combining instruction 01 may indicate that, for an RU corresponding to the resource unit allocation subfield, one RU is combined with an adjacent high-frequency RU in ascending frequency order to form a multi-RU, and another RU is combined with an adjacent low-frequency RU to form a multi-RU. Combining instruction 10 indicates that an RU is combined with an adjacent low-frequency RU in ascending frequency order to form a multi-RU. Combining instruction 11 indicates that an RU is combined with an adjacent high-frequency RU in ascending frequency order to form a multi-RU.

[0241] In another example, combining instruction 01 indicates that an RU is to be combined with adjacent higher-frequency RUs in ascending frequency order to form a multi-RU. Combining instruction 10 indicates that, for the RUs corresponding to the resource unit allocation subfield, one RU is to be combined with adjacent higher-frequency RUs in ascending frequency order to form a multi-RU, and another RU is to be combined with adjacent lower-frequency RUs in ascending frequency order to form a multi-RU. Combining instruction 11 indicates that an RU is to be combined with adjacent lower-frequency RUs in ascending frequency order to form a multi-RU.

[0242] In this embodiment of the application, there are several constraints for combining multiple RUs. One constraint includes the following: 1. Small RUs may not be combined with large RUs. 2. Combinations between small RUs may not cross 20 MHz (combinations of small-sized RUs may not cross a 20 MHz channel boundary). 3. Combinations between small RUs may be contiguous (or adjacent). Based on the above constraints, combinations between small RUs may be combinations between one 52-tone RU and one 26-tone RU contiguous within 20 MHz, or one 106-tone RU and one 26-tone RU contiguous within 20 MHz. The locations of one 52-tone RU and one 26-tone RU contiguous within 20 MHz may be such that the 52-tone RU is to the left of the 26-tone RU, or the 52-tone RU is to the right of the 26-tone RU. The positions of one 106-tone RU and one 26-tone RU adjacent to each other within 20 MHz may be such that the 106-tone RU is to the left of the 26-tone RU, or such that the 106-tone RU is to the right of the 26-tone RU. An RU combining scheme with constraints may be referred to as a constrained RU combining scheme. The constrained RU combining scheme considers a balance between the flexibility of combining and the gains brought by combining, thereby making the combination of multiple RUs more appropriate and less complicated. Obviously, the RU combining scheme may not include any constraints, i.e., any RUs may be combined with each other. In this case, the combining scheme may be referred to as an unconstrained RU combining scheme.

[0243] Entries indicating combinations between large RUs are added to Table 2. For example, for entries 113 to 255, when the combination indication is 10, this can indicate combinations between large RUs.

[0244] For ease of understanding, the contents indicated by some entries in Table 2 will be specifically explained below.

[0245] Entry 113 of the resource unit indication in Table 2 indicates a 242-tone RU, indicating that the 242-tone RU is not allocated to a STA parked in the frequency domain segment where 20 MHz is located. Combination indication 00 corresponding to entry 113 of the resource unit indication indicates that the 242-tone RU is not combined with other RUs to form a multi-RU. Combination indication 01 corresponding to entry 113 of the resource unit indication indicates consecutive 242+484 multi-RUs within 80 MHz, indicating that the 242+484 multi-RU is obtained by combining a 242-tone RU and a 484-tone RU.

[0246] Entry 114 of the resource unit indication in Table 2 indicates a 484-tone RU and indicates that the 484-tone RU is not allocated to a STA parked in the frequency domain segment where 20 MHz is located. Combining indication 00 corresponding to entry 114 of the resource unit indication indicates that the 484-tone RU is not combined with other RUs to form a multi-RU. Combining indication 01 corresponding to entry 114 of the resource unit indication indicates contiguous 484+242 multi-RUs within 80 MHz and indicates that the 484+242 multi-RU is obtained by combining a 484-tone RU and a 242-tone RU. Combining indication 10 corresponding to entry 114 of the resource unit indication indicates non-contiguous 484+242 multi-RUs within 80 MHz and indicates that the 484+242 multi-RU is obtained by combining a 484-tone RU and a 242-tone RU. The combination instruction 11 corresponding to the resource unit instruction entry 114 indicates consecutive 484+996 multi-RUs within 160 MHz, indicating that the 484+996 multi-RUs are obtained by combining a 484-tone RU and a 996-tone RU.

[0247] Entry 115 of the resource unit indication in Table 2 indicates a 996-tone RU, indicating that the 996-tone RU is not allocated to a STA parked in the frequency domain segment in which 20 MHz is located. Combination indication 01 corresponding to entry 115 of the resource unit indication indicates contiguous 996+484 multi-RUs within 160 MHz, indicating that the 996+484 multi-RU is obtained by combining a 996-tone RU and a 484-tone RU. Combination indication 10 corresponding to entry 115 of the resource unit indication indicates non-contiguous 996+484 multi-RUs within 160 MHz, indicating that the 996+484 multi-RU is obtained by combining a 996-tone RU and a 484-tone RU. The combination instruction 11 corresponding to the resource unit instruction entry 115 indicates 996+2*996 consecutive multi-RUs within 320 MHz, indicating that the 996+2*996 multi-RUs are obtained by combining a 996-tone RU and a 2*996-tone RU.

[0248] Entry 116 of the resource unit indication in Table 2 indicates a 2*996-tone RU, indicating that the 2*996-tone RU is not allocated to a STA parked in the frequency domain segment where 20 MHz is located. The combination indication 00 corresponding to entry 116 of the resource unit indication indicates that the 2*996-tone RU is not combined with other RUs to form a multi-RU. The combination indication 01 corresponding to entry 116 of the resource unit indication indicates consecutive 2*996+996-tone multi-RUs within 320 MHz, indicating that the 2*996+996-tone multi-RU is obtained by combining a 2*996-tone RU and a 996-tone RU. The combination instruction 10 corresponding to the resource unit instruction entry 116 indicates non-consecutive 2*996+996-tone multi-RUs within 320 MHz, indicating that the 2*996+996-tone multi-RUs are obtained by combining 2*996-tone RUs and 996-tone RUs.

[0249] In Table 2, resource unit indication entries 192 to 207 indicate 242-tone RUs, and entries 192 to 207 indicate that the 242-tone RUs are allocated to 1 to 16 STAs, respectively. A combination indication of 00 corresponding to any one of resource unit indication entries 192 to 207 indicates that the 242-tone RU is not combined with other RUs to form a multi-RU. A combination indication of 01 corresponding to any one of resource unit indication entries 192 to 207 indicates consecutive 242+484 multi-RUs within 80 MHz, indicating that the 242+484 multi-RU is obtained by combining a 242-tone RU and a 484-tone RU.

[0250] In Table 2, resource unit indication entries 208 to 223 indicate 484-tone RUs, and entries 208 to 223 indicate that the 484-tone RUs are allocated to 1 to 16 STAs, respectively. A combination indication of 00 corresponding to any one of resource unit indication entries 208 to 223 indicates that the 484-tone RU is not combined with other RUs to form a multi-RU. A combination indication of 01 corresponding to any one of resource unit indication entries 208 to 223 indicates consecutive 484+242 multi-RUs within 80 MHz, indicating that the 484+242 multi-RU is obtained by combining a 484-tone RU and a 242-tone RU. A combination instruction 10 corresponding to any one of the resource unit instruction entries 208 to 223 indicates 484+242 multi-RUs that are not contiguous within 80 MHz, indicating that the 484+242 multi-RUs are obtained by combining 484-tone RUs and 242-tone RUs. A combination instruction 11 corresponding to any one of the resource unit instruction entries 208 to 223 indicates 484+996 multi-RUs that are contiguous within 160 MHz, indicating that the 484+996 multi-RUs are obtained by combining 484-tone RUs and 996-tone RUs.

[0251] In Table 2, resource unit indication entries 224 to 239 indicate 996-tone RUs, and entries 224 to 239 indicate that the 996-tone RUs are allocated to 1 to 16 STAs, respectively. A combination indication of 00 corresponding to any one of resource unit indication entries 224 to 239 indicates that the 996-tone RU is not combined with other RUs to form a multi-RU. A combination indication of 01 corresponding to any one of resource unit indication entries 224 to 239 indicates 996+484 multi-RUs that are consecutive within 160 MHz, and indicates that the 996+484 multi-RU is obtained by combining a 996-tone RU and a 484-tone RU. A combination instruction 10 corresponding to any one of the resource unit instruction entries 224 to 239 indicates 996+484 multi-RUs that are not contiguous within 160 MHz, indicating that the 996+484 multi-RUs are obtained by combining 996-tone RUs and 484-tone RUs. A combination instruction 11 corresponding to any one of the resource unit instruction entries 224 to 239 indicates 996+2*996 multi-RUs that are contiguous within 320 MHz, indicating that the 996+2*996 multi-RUs are obtained by combining 996-tone RUs and 2*996-tone RUs.

[0252] In Table 2, resource unit indication entries 240 to 255 indicate 2*996-tone RUs, and entries 240 to 255 respectively indicate that the 2*996-tone RUs are allocated to 1 to 16 STAs. A combination indication of 00 corresponding to any one of resource unit indication entries 240 to 255 indicates that the 2*996-tone RU is not combined with other RUs to form a multi-RU. A combination indication of 01 corresponding to any one of resource unit indication entries 240 to 255 indicates consecutive 2*996+996-tone multi-RUs within 320 MHz, indicating that the 2*996+996-tone multi-RU is obtained by combining a 2*996-tone RU and a 996-tone RU. A combination instruction 10 corresponding to any one of entries 240 to 255 of the resource unit instruction indicates 2*996+996-tone multi-RUs that are not consecutive within 320 MHz, and indicates that the 2*996+996-tone multi-RUs are obtained by combining a 2*996-tone RU and a 996-tone RU.

[0253] In this way, the resource unit allocation subfield indicates RU allocation by using each entry in Table 2 provided in this embodiment of this application, and can indicate 16 STAs. Furthermore, this indication scheme makes the structure of the resource unit allocation subfield clearer and simpler. The resource unit indication is used to indicate the resource unit allocation and the corresponding number of STAs. The combination indication is used to indicate only the combination, and in some cases does not provide an indication, and in some other cases indicates the number of users.

[0254] The above embodiment corresponding to FIG. 7A may alternatively be applied to a scenario in which multiple RUs are assigned to one STA. In this scenario, the resource unit allocation subfield in the above embodiment corresponding to FIG. 7A may provide an indication by using an entry in Table 2. For example, FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a resource unit allocation scenario according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 12, the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU is 320 MHz, and the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU is divided into four frequency domain segments. In ascending frequency order, the first frequency domain segment is the first 80 MHz, the second frequency domain segment is the second 80 MHz, the third frequency domain segment is the third 80 MHz, and the fourth frequency domain segment is the fourth 80 MHz. In this embodiment, the first signaling field transmitted in the first frequency domain segment and the second signaling field transmitted in the second frequency domain segment are specifically used as an example for explanation. The signaling fields transmitted in the third frequency domain segment and the fourth frequency domain segment are not listed one by one in this embodiment.

[0255] The actual resource unit allocation for 320 MHz is as follows: In ascending frequency order, the first 80 MHz corresponds to one 484+242 multi-RU and one 242-tone RU. The 484+242 multi-RU is assigned to three STAs parked in the first frequency domain segment, and the 242-tone RU is assigned to one STA parked in the first frequency domain segment. The lowest frequency 20 MHz in the second 80 MHz corresponds to the 242-tone RU assigned to one STA parked in the first frequency domain segment. The second lowest frequency 20 MHz in the second 80 MHz corresponds to nine 26-tone RUs assigned to nine STAs parked in the second frequency domain segment. The highest frequency 40 MHz in the second 80 MHz corresponds to the 484-tone RU assigned to one STA parked in the second frequency domain segment. For simplicity, the third and fourth 80 MHz are not shown.

[0256] The resource unit allocation subfield in the first signaling field transmitted in the first frequency domain segment provides the following indication: the first 80 MHz corresponds to one 484+242 multi-RU and one 242-tone RU, the number of user fields corresponding to the 484+242 multi-RU is 3 in the user-specific field portion, and the number of user fields corresponding to the 242-tone RU is 1 in the user-specific field portion; the lowest frequency 20 MHz in the second 80 MHz corresponds to one 242-tone RU, and the number of user fields corresponding to the 242-tone RU is 1 in the user-specific field portion; one 242-tone RU corresponding to the second 20 MHz in the second 80 MHz and one 484-tone RU corresponding to the highest frequency 40 MHz in the second 80 MHz are combined into a multi-RU, and the number of user fields corresponding to the multi-RU is 0 in the user-specific field portion.

[0257] In this case, the resource unit allocation subfield corresponding to the first 20 MHz in the first 80 MHz may use combination instruction 01 and an entry in entries 208 to 223 (1100y3y2y1y0) in Table 2 indicating a 484-tone RU and a number of users of 2 (i.e., 1100y3y2y1y0=11010001) to indicate that the 484-tone RU is combined with consecutive 242-tone RUs in 80 MHz (i.e., the 242-tone RU corresponding to the 20 MHz with the lowest frequency in the second 40 MHz in the first 80 MHz) to become a 484+242 multi-RU, and the number of users field corresponding to the 484+242 multi-RU is 2. The resource unit allocation subfield corresponding to the second 20 MHz in the first 80 MHz may indicate that the 484-tone RU is combined with a consecutive 242-tone RU in 80 MHz (i.e., the 242-tone RU corresponding to the 20 MHz with the lowest frequency in the second 40 MHz in the first 80 MHz) to form a 484+242 multi-RU by using combination instruction 01 and an entry indicating a 484-tone RU and a number of users of 1 in entries 208 to 223 (1100y3y2y1y0) in Table 2 (i.e., 1100y3y2y1y0=11010000). Similarly, the resource unit allocation subfield corresponding to the third 20 MHz in the first 80 MHz may use combination instruction 01 and an entry in Table 2 (1100y3y2y1y0) indicating a 242-tone RU and a number of users of 0 to indicate that the 242-tone RU is combined with consecutive 484-tone RUs in 80 MHz (i.e., 484-tone RUs corresponding to the first 20 MHz and the second 20 MHz in the first 80 MHz) to form a 242+484 multi-RU, and the number of users field corresponding to the 242+484 multi-RU is 0.It can be learned that the resource unit allocation subfield corresponding to the first 20 MHz, the resource unit allocation subfield corresponding to the second 20 MHz, and the resource unit allocation subfield corresponding to the third 20 MHz indicate that there are three user fields corresponding to a total of 484+242 multi-RUs.

[0258] The resource unit allocation subfield included in the signaling field of the PPDU corresponding to the second 20 MHz within the second 80 MHz and transmitted in the first frequency domain segment may indicate that the RU corresponding to 20 MHz is a 242-tone RU, and that the 242-tone RU is combined with a consecutive 484-tone RU within 80 MHz (i.e., a 484-tone RU corresponding to the 40 MHz with the highest frequency within the second 80 MHz) to form a multi-RU, and may indicate that the number of users field corresponding to the multi-RU is 0, by using resource unit indication entry 113 in Table 2 and combination indication 10 corresponding to entry 113. The resource unit allocation subfields corresponding to the third and fourth 20 MHz within the second 80 MHz may indicate that the RUs corresponding to each 20 MHz are 484-tone RUs by using resource unit indication entry 114 in Table 2 and combination indication 01 corresponding to entry 114, and indicate that the 484-tone RUs are combined with consecutive 242-tone RUs within 80 MHz (i.e., the 242-tone RUs corresponding to the second 20 MHz within the second 80 MHz) to form a multi-RU, and may indicate that the number of users field corresponding to the multi-RU is 0.

[0259] The resource unit allocation subfield in the above embodiment corresponding to Figure 7A does not simply provide the indication by using the above exemplary entry in Table 2, but in other embodiments, may provide the indication by using other entries in Table 2 based on the actual RU allocation case. In this application, the entry specifically used by the resource unit allocation subfield to provide the indication is not specifically limited.

[0260] Furthermore, the resource unit allocation subfield in the embodiment corresponding to Figure 7A does not simply provide an indication in the multi-RU indication manner as shown in Table 2. There may be other implementations for the multi-RU indication manner.

[0261] For example, in another possible implementation, resource unit indication entries 192 to 255 in Table 2 may be replaced with resource unit indication entries 192 to 225 in Table 3. Table 3 includes entries indicating allocation of 106-tone RUs or more to 0 to 16 STAs. [Table 3-1] [Table 3-2] [Table 3-3]

[0262] In Table 3, resource unit indication entries 192 to 199 indicate 242-tone RUs, and entries 192 to 199 indicate that the 242-tone RUs are allocated to 1 to 8 STAs, respectively. A combination indication of 00 corresponding to any one of resource unit indication entries 192 to 199 indicates that the 242-tone RU is not combined with other RUs to form a multi-RU. A combination indication of 01 corresponding to any one of resource unit indication entries 192 to 199 indicates that the 242-tone RU is combined with a 484-tone RU to form a contiguous multi-RU within 80 MHz.

[0263] In Table 3, resource unit indication entries 200-207 indicate 484-tone RUs, and entries 200-207 indicate that the 484-tone RUs are allocated to 1 to 8 STAs. A combination indication of 00 corresponding to any one of resource unit indication entries 200-207 indicates that the 484-tone RU is not combined with other RUs to form a multi-RU. A combination indication of 01 corresponding to any one of resource unit indication entries 200-207 indicates that the 484-tone RU is combined with a 242-tone RU to form a contiguous multi-RU within 80 MHz. A combination indication of 10 corresponding to any one of resource unit indication entries 200-207 indicates that the 484-tone RU is combined with a 242-tone RU to form a discontiguous multi-RU within 80 MHz. A combination instruction 11 corresponding to any one of resource unit instruction entries 200 to 207 indicates that a 484-tone RU is combined with a 996-tone RU to form contiguous multi-RUs within 160 MHz.

[0264] In Table 3, resource unit indication entries 208-215 indicate 996-tone RUs, and entries 208-215 indicate that the 996-tone RUs are allocated to 1 to 8 STAs, respectively. A combination indication of 00 corresponding to any one of resource unit indication entries 208-215 indicates that the 996-tone RU is not combined with other RUs to form a multi-RU. A combination indication of 01 corresponding to any one of resource unit indication entries 208-215 indicates that the 996-tone RU is combined with a 484-tone RU to form a contiguous multi-RU within 160 MHz. A combination indication of 10 corresponding to any one of resource unit indication entries 208-215 indicates that the 996-tone RU is combined with a 484-tone RU to form a non-contiguous multi-RU within 160 MHz. Combination instruction 11 corresponding to any one of resource unit instruction entries 208 to 215 indicates that a 996-tone RU is combined with 2*996-tone RUs to form contiguous multi-RUs within 320 MHz.

[0265] In Table 3, resource unit indication entries 216 to 223 indicate 2*996-tone RUs, and entries 216 to 223 respectively indicate that the 2*996-tone RUs are allocated to 1 to 8 STAs. A combination indication of 00 corresponding to any one of resource unit indication entries 216 to 223 indicates that the 2*996-tone RU is not combined with other RUs to form a multi-RU. A combination indication of 01 corresponding to any one of resource unit indication entries 216 to 223 indicates that the 2*996-tone RU is combined with a 996-tone RU to form a contiguous multi-RU within 320 MHz. A combination indication of 10 corresponding to any one of resource unit indication entries 216 to 223 indicates that the 2*996-tone RU is combined with a 996-tone RU to form a non-contiguous multi-RU within 320 MHz. The combination instruction 11 corresponding to any one of the resource unit instruction entries 216 to 223 is reserved.

[0266] In Table 3, resource unit indication entries 224 to 231 indicate 242-tone RUs, and entries 224 to 231 individually indicate that the 242-tone RUs are allocated to 9 to 16 STAs. A combination indication of 00 corresponding to any one of resource unit indication entries 224 to 231 indicates that the 242-tone RU is not combined with other RUs to form a multi-RU. A combination indication of 01 corresponding to any one of resource unit indication entries 224 to 231 indicates that the 242-tone RU is combined with a 484-tone RU to form a contiguous multi-RU within 80 MHz.

[0267] In Table 3, resource unit indication entries 232 to 239 indicate 484-tone RUs, and entries 232 to 239 indicate that the 484-tone RUs are allocated to 9 to 16 STAs, respectively. A combination indication of 00 corresponding to any one of resource unit indication entries 223 to 239 indicates that the 484-tone RU is not combined with other RUs to form a multi-RU. A combination indication of 01 corresponding to any one of resource unit indication entries 232 to 239 indicates that the 484-tone RU is combined with a 242-tone RU to form a contiguous multi-RU within 80 MHz. A combination indication of 10 corresponding to any one of resource unit indication entries 232 to 239 indicates that the 484-tone RU is combined with a 242-tone RU to form a discontiguous multi-RU within 80 MHz. A combination instruction 11 corresponding to any one of the resource unit instruction entries 232 to 239 indicates that a 484-tone RU is combined with a 996-tone RU to form contiguous multi-RUs within 160 MHz.

[0268] In Table 3, resource unit indication entries 240 to 237 indicate 996-tone RUs, and entries 240 to 237 indicate that the 996-tone RUs are allocated to 9 to 16 STAs. A combination indication of 00 corresponding to any one of resource unit indication entries 240 to 237 indicates that the 996-tone RU is not combined with other RUs to form a multi-RU. A combination indication of 01 corresponding to any one of resource unit indication entries 240 to 237 indicates that the 996-tone RU is combined with a 484-tone RU to form a contiguous multi-RU within 160 MHz. A combination indication of 10 corresponding to any one of resource unit indication entries 240 to 237 indicates that the 996-tone RU is combined with a 484-tone RU to form a non-contiguous multi-RU within 160 MHz. Combination instruction 11 corresponding to any one of resource unit instruction entries 240 to 237 indicates that a 996-tone RU is combined with 2*996-tone RUs to form contiguous multi-RUs within 320 MHz.

[0269] In Table 3, resource unit indication entries 248 to 255 indicate 2*996-tone RUs, and entries 248 to 255 respectively indicate that the 2*996-tone RUs are allocated to 9 to 16 STAs. A combination indication of 00 corresponding to any one of resource unit indication entries 248 to 255 indicates that the 2*996-tone RUs are not combined with other RUs to form a multi-RU. A combination indication of 01 corresponding to any one of resource unit indication entries 248 to 255 indicates that the 2*996-tone RUs are combined with a 996-tone RU to form contiguous multi-RUs within 320 MHz. A combination indication of 10 corresponding to any one of resource unit indication entries 248 to 255 indicates that the 2*996-tone RUs are combined with a 996-tone RU to form non-contiguous multi-RUs within 320 MHz. A combination indication of 11 is reserved.

[0270] The resource unit allocation subfield in the above embodiment corresponding to Figure 5 or Figure 7A may provide the indication by using an entry in Table 3. The specific entry to be selected may be determined based on the case of RU allocation.

[0271] An embodiment of this application further provides a solution for indicating RUs by combination. The resource unit allocation subfield includes a resource unit indication and a 2-bit combination indication part. The combination indications in all resource unit allocation subfields corresponding to large RUs cooperate to indicate the combination case of large RUs. The STA determines the combination case of one large RU based on the combination indications in all resource unit allocation subfields corresponding to large RUs and learns the specific combination position of multi-RUs. An entry of the resource unit indication part in any one of Table 1, Table 2, or Table 3 above may be used for the resource unit indication part.

[0272] The solution for indicating RU by combination may be applied to the data transmission method in the embodiment of this application, and the data transmission method includes:

[0273] The AP generates a signaling field of the PPDU, the signaling field including at least two resource unit allocation subfields corresponding to one multi-RU, the multi-RU being obtained by combining at least two RUs included in a channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU, each resource unit allocation subfield in the at least two resource unit allocation subfields including an indication portion and a combination indication portion, and the combination indication portion in the at least two resource unit allocation subfields indicates that the at least two RUs are combined into a multi-RU.

[0274] The AP transmits the signaling field.

[0275] Correspondingly, the STA receives the signaling field and obtains at least two resource unit allocation subfields in the signaling field.

[0276] With reference to Table 4, the following provides a specific description of the above solution for providing combined instructions.

[0277] Referring to Table 4, a 242-tone RU corresponds to one resource unit allocation subfield, i.e., a 242-tone RU corresponds to one 2-bit combining instruction. As shown in Table 4, a combining instruction of 00 indicates that no combining is performed. A combining instruction of 01 indicates that a 242-tone RU and a 484-tone RU are combined within 80 MHz to form one multi-RU. The remaining combining instructions (such as 11) may be used as reserved entries to indicate other RU combinations or other information.

[0278] A 484-tone RU corresponds to two resource unit allocation subfields, i.e., a 484-tone RU corresponds to two 2-bit combining instructions. As shown in Table 4, the two combining instructions 00 and 00 indicate that no combining is performed. The two combining instructions 00 and 01 indicate that a 484-tone RU and a 242-tone RU are combined within 80 MHz to form one contiguous multi-RU within 80 MHz. The two combining instructions 00 and 10 indicate that a 484-tone RU and a 242-tone RU are combined within 80 MHz to form one non-contiguous multi-RU within 80 MHz. The remaining combinations of combining instructions (such as 10 and 10, and 10 and 11) may be used as reserved entries to indicate other RU combinations or other information.

[0279] A 996-tone RU corresponds to four resource unit allocation subfields, i.e., a 996-tone RU corresponds to four 2-bit combining instructions. As shown in Table 4, the four combining instructions 00, 00, 00, and 00 indicate that no combining is performed. The four combining instructions 00, 00, 00, and 01 indicate that a 996-tone RU and a 484-tone RU are combined within 160 MHz to form one contiguous multi-RU within 160 MHz. The four combining instructions 00, 00, 00, and 10 indicate that a 996-tone RU and a 484-tone RU are combined within 160 MHz to form one non-contiguous multi-RU within 160 MHz. The remaining combinations of combining instructions (such as four 10s and four 11s) may be used as reserved entries to indicate other RU combinations or other information. [Table 4]

[0280] The resource unit allocation subfield in the above embodiment corresponding to FIG. 7A may provide an indication by using entries in Table 4. For example, based on the example corresponding to FIG. 12, the actual resource unit allocation for 320 MHz is as follows: In ascending frequency order, the first 80 MHz corresponds to one 484+242 multi-RU and one 242-tone RU. The 484+242 multi-RU is assigned to three STAs parked in the first frequency domain segment, and the 242-tone RU is assigned to one STA parked in the first frequency domain segment. The 20 MHz with the lowest frequency within the second 80 MHz corresponds to the 242-tone RU assigned to one STA parked in the first frequency domain segment. The 20 MHz with the second lowest frequency within the second 80 MHz corresponds to nine 26-tone RUs assigned to nine STAs parked in the second frequency domain segment. The highest frequency 40 MHz within the second 80 MHz corresponds to a 484-tone RU assigned to one STA parked in the second frequency domain segment.

[0281] In this case, the resource unit indications in the resource unit allocation subfields for the first and second 20 MHz within the first 80 MHz indicate 484-tone RUs. The combining indications in the resource unit allocation subfield for the first 20 MHz and the resource unit allocation subfield for the second 20 MHz may be 00 and 01, respectively. In this case, the two combining indications work together to indicate 484+242 multi-RUs. The resource unit indication in the resource unit allocation subfield for the third 20 MHz within the first 80 MHz indicates 242-tone RUs, and the combining indication is 01. In this case, the resource unit allocation subfield indicates that the third 20 MHz corresponds to 242+484 multi-RUs.

[0282] This embodiment of the application further provides a solution for indicating RUs by combination.

[0283] This application provides a method and a communication device for indicating resource units by combination. The method includes the steps of: determining a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU), the PPDU including a signaling field, the signaling field including a resource unit allocation subfield and a combination indication corresponding to the resource unit allocation subfield, the resource unit allocation subfield indicating a plurality of resource units, and the combination indication being used to indicate combination information of the plurality of resource units; and transmitting the PPDU. In the method provided in this application, one or more users may be supported when transmitting data by using multiple consecutive or non-consecutive RUs, and the case of combining multiple RUs is indicated to the users, improving the flexibility of RU allocation in the system and improving the spectrum utilization of the system.

[0284] The resource unit allocation subfield includes a resource unit indication and a two-bit combining indication. The combining indications in all resource unit allocation subfields transmitted on one content channel and corresponding to one large RU cooperate to indicate the case of combining large RUs. The combining indications in multiple resource unit allocation subfields transmitted on two channels and used to indicate one large RU are the same. In this way, the STA can determine the case of combining one large RU based on the combining indications in all resource unit allocation subfields transmitted on one content channel and corresponding to the large RUs.

[0285] For example, one 996-tone RU corresponds to four resource unit allocation subfields, which are resource unit allocation subfield 1 to resource unit allocation subfield 4. The combining instruction transmitted in CC1 and in resource unit allocation subfield 1 is the same as the combining instruction transmitted in CC2 and in resource unit allocation subfield 2. The combining instruction transmitted in CC1 and in resource unit allocation subfield 3 is the same as the combining instruction transmitted in CC2 and in resource unit allocation subfield 4.

[0286] Specifically, referring to Table 5, a 242-tone RU corresponds to one resource unit allocation subfield, i.e., a 242-tone RU corresponds to one 2-bit combining instruction. As shown in Table 4, a combining instruction of 00 indicates that no combining is performed. A combining instruction of 01 indicates that a 242-tone RU and a 484-tone RU are combined within 80 MHz to form one multi-RU. The remaining combining instructions (such as 11) may be used as reserved entries to indicate other RU combinations or other information.

[0287] A 484-tone RU corresponds to two resource unit allocation subfields, i.e., a 484-tone RU corresponds to two 2-bit combining instructions. The two combining instructions are transmitted on CC1 and CC2, respectively. The two combining instructions are the same. As shown in Table 5, when two resource unit instructions in two resource unit allocation subfields corresponding to an RU indicate a 484-tone RU, the two combining instructions 00 and 00 in the two resource unit allocation subfields are transmitted on CC1 and CC2, respectively, and a combining instruction of 00 in one of the CCs indicates that no combining is performed. The two combining instructions 01 and 01 in the two resource unit allocation subfields are transmitted on CC1 and CC2, respectively, and a combining instruction of 01 in one of the CCs indicates that the 484-tone RU and the 242-tone RU are combined within 80 MHz to form one contiguous multi-RU within 80 MHz. Similarly, two combining instructions 10 and 10 in two resource unit allocation subfields are transmitted on CC1 and CC2, respectively, where combining instruction 10 on one of the CCs indicates that a 484-tone RU and a 242-tone RU are combined within 80 MHz into one non-contiguous multi-RU within 80 MHz, and two combining instructions 11 and 11 indicate that a 484-tone RU and a 996-tone RU are combined into one multi-RU.

[0288] A 996-tone RU corresponds to four resource unit allocation subfields, i.e., a 996-tone RU corresponds to four 2-bit combining instructions. The four combining instructions are transmitted on CC1 and CC2, respectively. The first combining instruction is transmitted on CC1, the second combining instruction is transmitted on CC2, the third combining instruction is transmitted on CC1, and the fourth combining instruction is transmitted on CC2. The first combining instruction is the same as the second combining instruction. The third combining instruction is the same as the fourth combining instruction.

[0289] When the RU indicated by the resource unit indication portion in the four resource unit allocation subfields, each corresponding to one RU, is a 996-tone RU, the combination indication may be, but is not limited to, the following:

[0290] The four combining instructions in the four resource unit allocation subfields are 00, 00, 00, and 00, where the first 00 and the third 00 transmitted in CC1 indicate that combining is not performed, and the second 00 and the fourth 00 transmitted in CC2 also indicate that combining is not performed. In practice, when a STA may receive two combining instructions 00 and 00 in one CC, the STA may determine that combining is not performed.

[0291] The four combining instructions in the four resource unit allocation subfields are 00, 00, 01, and 01. The first 00 and the first 01 are transmitted on CC1 and indicate that the 996-tone RU and the 484-tone RU are combined within 160 MHz to form one contiguous multi-RU within 160 MHz. The second 00 and the second 01 are transmitted on CC2 and indicate that the 996-tone RU and the 484-tone RU are combined within 160 MHz to form one contiguous multi-RU within 80 MHz. In this way, the STA can determine that the 996-tone RU and the 484-tone RU are combined within 160 MHz to form one contiguous multi-RU within 80 MHz based on the combining instructions 00 and 01 on one CC.

[0292] The four combination indications in the four resource unit allocation subfields are 00, 00, 10, and 10. The first 00 and the first 10 are transmitted on CC1 and indicate that the 996-tone RU and the 484-tone RU are combined within 160 MHz into one non-contiguous multi-RU within 80 MHz. The second 00 and the second 10 are transmitted on CC2 and indicate that the 996-tone RU and the 484-tone RU are combined within 160 MHz into one non-contiguous multi-RU within 80 MHz.

[0293] The remaining combination indication combinations (such as four 10s and four 11s) may be used as reserved entries to indicate other RU combination cases or to indicate other information. [Table 5]

[0294] The resource unit allocation subfield in the above embodiment corresponding to FIG. 7A may provide an indication by using entries in Table 5. For example, based on the example corresponding to FIG. 12, the actual resource unit allocation for 320 MHz, in ascending frequency order, is as follows: The first 80 MHz corresponds to one 484+242 multi-RU and one 242-tone RU. The 484+242 multi-RU is assigned to three STAs parked in the first frequency domain segment, and the 242-tone RU is assigned to one STA parked in the first frequency domain segment. The 20 MHz with the lowest frequency within the second 80 MHz corresponds to the 242-tone RU assigned to one STA parked in the first frequency domain segment. The 20 MHz with the second lowest frequency within the second 80 MHz corresponds to nine 26-tone RUs assigned to nine STAs parked in the second frequency domain segment. The highest frequency 40 MHz within the second 80 MHz corresponds to a 484-tone RU assigned to one STA parked in the second frequency domain segment.

[0295] In this case, the resource unit indications in the resource unit allocation subfields for the first and second 20 MHz in the first 80 MHz indicate 484-tone RUs. The combining indication in the resource unit allocation subfield for the first 20 MHz and the combining indication in the resource unit allocation subfield for the second 20 MHz are 01. In this case, one of the two combining indications 01 can independently indicate consecutive 242+484 multi-RUs within 80 MHz. In this way, when the resource unit allocation subfield for the first 20 MHz and the resource unit allocation subfield for the second 20 MHz are transmitted by two CCs, the combining indications are the same. Therefore, the STA only needs to read the resource unit indication and the combining indication 01 indicating 484-tone RUs in the resource unit allocation subfields of one of the CCs, and can determine that the RUs indicated by the resource unit allocation subfields are consecutive 242+484 multi-RUs within 80 MHz.

[0296] In the above embodiments provided in this application, the methods provided in the embodiments of this application are described separately from the perspectives of an access point and a station. To realize the functions in the methods provided in the embodiments of this application, the access point and the station may include a hardware structure and a software module, and may realize the above functions in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a hardware structure plus a software module. The functions in the above functions may be realized in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a combination of a hardware structure and a software module.

[0297] 13 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a data transmission device according to an embodiment of this application. The data transmission device 1300 includes a processing unit 1301 and a transceiver unit 1302.

[0298] The processing unit 1301 is configured to generate a signaling field of a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU), wherein a channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU includes at least two frequency domain segments, the at least two frequency domain segments include a first frequency domain segment, the signaling field is transmitted in the first frequency domain segment and includes a common field and a user-specific field, the common field includes a resource unit allocation subfield, the user-specific field includes a user field, the resource unit allocation subfield indicates a resource unit (RU) included in the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU, indicates a number of user fields in the RU corresponding to RUs assigned to stations parked in the first frequency domain segment, the number of user fields corresponding to RUs assigned to stations parked in the first frequency domain segment represents the number of user fields provided by the RU to one content channel in the user-specific field, and the user field is a user field corresponding to a station parked in the first frequency domain segment.

[0299] The transceiver unit 1302 is configured to transmit a signaling field in a first frequency domain segment.

[0300] Thus, in the signaling field transmitted in the first frequency domain segment, the resource unit allocation subfield indicates the resource units RU included in the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU, and indicates the number of user fields corresponding to the RUs that are in the RU and assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment, but does not indicate the number of users that are not assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment based on the actual resource unit allocation case, thereby simplifying the user fields. In the user-specific field portion, the user fields corresponding to the RUs that are not parked in the first frequency domain segment can be omitted or simplified, thereby reducing the number of user fields and thereby reducing the overhead of the signaling field of the PPDU.

[0301] The data transmission device 1300 may be a communication device or an access point, or may be located in a communication device or an access point. The processing unit 1301 of the data transmission device 1300 may be a processor, and the transceiver unit 1302 of the data transmission device 1300 may be a transceiver.

[0302] For the detailed implementation of the functions and technical effects of each functional unit of the data transmitting device 1300 provided in this embodiment, please refer to the relevant detailed description of the method provided in the above method embodiment, and the details will not be described again here.

[0303] In some embodiments, the resource unit allocation subfield indicates that the number of user fields corresponding to RUs within the resource unit RU included in the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU and not assigned to stations parked in the first frequency domain segment is 0, and the RUs not assigned to stations parked in the first frequency domain segment are RUs with 242 tones or more. In this way, the user fields corresponding to RUs with 242 tones or more can be omitted, thereby effectively reducing the overhead of the signaling field.

[0304] In some embodiments, the number of user fields corresponding to RUs not assigned to parked stations in the first frequency domain segment indicated by the resource unit assignment subfield is less than the number of user fields actually corresponding to RUs not assigned to parked stations in the first frequency domain segment. In this way, the number of user fields in the signaling field transmitted in the first frequency domain segment can be reduced, thereby enabling a reduction in signaling field overhead.

[0305] In some implementations, the RUs indicated by the resource unit allocation subfield and not assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment are actually at least two RUs not assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment. In this way, the at least two RUs not assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment are collectively indicated as one RU, simplifying the indication scheme of the resource unit allocation subfield, thereby making the number of user fields corresponding to the at least two RUs smaller and reducing the overhead of the signaling field.

[0306] In some embodiments, the at least two RUs are RUs with fewer than 242 tones. Thus, compared to the prior art in which the resource unit allocation subfield provides an indication based on the actual resource unit allocation case and each small RU needs to correspond to one user field, in the solution of this application, at least two small RUs allocated to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment are collectively indicated as one RU. In this way, an RU only needs to correspond to one user field, thereby omitting the indication of one user field and reducing the overhead of the signaling field.

[0307] 14 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a data transmission device according to an embodiment of this application. This embodiment of this application further provides a data transmission device 1400, which includes a processing unit 1401 and a transceiver unit 1402.

[0308] The transceiver unit 1402 is configured to receive a signaling field of a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) in a first frequency domain segment, wherein a channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU includes at least two frequency domain segments, the at least two frequency domain segments include a first frequency domain segment, the signaling field includes a common field and a user-specific field, the common field includes a resource unit allocation subfield, the user-specific field includes a user field, the resource unit allocation subfield indicates a resource unit (RU) in the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU, indicates a number of user fields in the RU corresponding to RUs assigned to stations parked in the first frequency domain segment, the number of user fields corresponding to RUs assigned to stations parked in the first frequency domain segment represents the number of user fields provided by the RU to one content channel in the user-specific field, and the user field is a user field corresponding to a station parked in the first frequency domain segment.

[0309] The processing unit 1401 is configured to obtain a user field carrying a station identifier from a user field included in a user-specific field in the received signaling field, and obtain data transmitted in the RU corresponding to the user field.

[0310] The data transmission device may be a communication device or a station, or the data transmission device may be located in a communication device or a station. The processing unit 1401 of the data transmission device 1400 may be a processor, and the transceiver unit 1402 of the data transmission device 1400 may be a transceiver.

[0311] Thus, in the signaling field received by the station in the first frequency domain segment, the resource unit allocation subfield indicates the resource units RU included in the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU, and indicates the number of user fields corresponding to the RUs that are in the RU and assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment, but does not indicate the number of users not assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment based on the actual resource unit allocation case, thereby simplifying the user fields. In the user-specific field portion, the user fields corresponding to the RUs not parked in the first frequency domain segment can be omitted or simplified, thereby reducing the number of user fields and thereby reducing the overhead of the signaling field of the PPDU.

[0312] For the detailed implementation of the functions and technical effects of each functional unit of the data transmitting device 1400 provided in this embodiment, please refer to the relevant detailed description of the method provided in the above method embodiment, and the details will not be described again here.

[0313] In some embodiments, the resource unit allocation subfield indicates that the number of user fields corresponding to RUs within the resource unit RU included in the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU and not assigned to stations parked in the first frequency domain segment is 0, and the RUs not assigned to stations parked in the first frequency domain segment are RUs with 242 tones or more. In this way, the user fields corresponding to RUs with 242 tones or more can be omitted, thereby effectively reducing the overhead of the signaling field.

[0314] In some embodiments, the number of user fields corresponding to RUs not assigned to parked stations in the first frequency domain segment indicated by the resource unit assignment subfield is less than the number of user fields actually corresponding to RUs not assigned to parked stations in the first frequency domain segment. In this way, the number of user fields in the signaling field transmitted in the first frequency domain segment can be reduced, thereby enabling a reduction in signaling field overhead.

[0315] In some embodiments, the RUs indicated by the resource unit allocation subfield and not assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment are actually at least two RUs not assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment. In this way, the at least two RUs not assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment are collectively indicated as one RU, simplifying the indication scheme of the resource unit allocation subfield, thereby making the number of user fields corresponding to the at least two RUs smaller and reducing the overhead of the signaling field.

[0316] In some embodiments, the at least two RUs are RUs with fewer than 242 tones. Thus, compared to the prior art, in which the resource unit allocation subfield provides an indication based on the actual resource unit allocation case and each small RU needs to correspond to one user field, in the solution of this application, the at least two small RUs allocated to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment are collectively indicated as one RU. In this way, the RU only needs to correspond to one user field, which omits the indication of one user field and reduces the overhead of the signaling field.

[0317] 15 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a data transmission device according to an embodiment of the present application. This embodiment of the present application further provides a data transmission device 1500, which includes a processing unit 1501 and a transceiver unit 1502.

[0318] The processing unit 1500 is configured to generate a signaling field of a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU), wherein a channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU includes at least two frequency domain segments, and the at least two frequency domain segments include a first frequency domain segment.

[0319] The transceiver unit 1502 is configured to transmit a signaling field in a first frequency domain segment.

[0320] The signaling field includes a common field and a user-specific field, the common field includes a resource unit allocation subfield, the user-specific field includes a user field, the resource unit allocation subfield indicates a resource unit RU within a channel bandwidth for transmitting a PPDU, the RUs indicated by at least one resource unit allocation subfield included in the common field are a plurality of RUs less than 242-tone RUs, each RU within the plurality of RUs less than 242-tone RUs corresponds to at least one user field, the user field corresponding to at least one first RU carries an identifier of a station parked in the first frequency domain segment, and the user field corresponding to at least one second RU does not carry an identifier of a station parked in the first frequency domain segment, and at least a portion of the subcarriers corresponding to the second RU indicated by the resource unit allocation subfield belong to at least two RUs.

[0321] The data transmission device may be a communication device or a station, or the data transmission device may be located in a communication device or a station. The processing unit 1501 of the data transmission device 1500 may be a processor, and the transceiver unit 1502 of the data transmission device 1500 may be a transceiver.

[0322] In this way, compared to the scheme of indicating two RUs based on actual cases and indicating that each RU in the at least two RUs corresponds to at least one user field, in the solution of this application, in the first signaling field transmitted in the first frequency domain segment, the resource unit allocation subfield indicates at least two RUs as one RU by combining them, and an RU corresponds to only one user field, thereby effectively reducing the number of user fields corresponding to multiple consecutive small RUs not assigned to STAs parked in the first frequency domain segment, thereby reducing the overhead of the signaling field.

[0323] In some embodiments, the resource unit allocation subfield indicates that the number of user fields corresponding to RUs within the resource unit RU included in the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU and not assigned to stations parked in the first frequency domain segment is 0, and the RUs not assigned to stations parked in the first frequency domain segment are RUs with 242 tones or more. In this way, the user fields corresponding to RUs with 242 tones or more can be omitted, thereby effectively reducing the overhead of the signaling field.

[0324] In some embodiments, the number of user fields corresponding to RUs not assigned to parked stations in the first frequency domain segment indicated by the resource unit assignment subfield is less than the number of user fields actually corresponding to RUs not assigned to parked stations in the first frequency domain segment. In this way, the number of user fields in the signaling field transmitted in the first frequency domain segment can be reduced, thereby enabling a reduction in signaling field overhead.

[0325] In some embodiments, the RUs indicated by the resource unit allocation subfield and not assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment are actually at least two RUs not assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment. In this way, the at least two RUs not assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment are collectively indicated as one RU, simplifying the indication scheme of the resource unit allocation subfield, thereby making the number of user fields corresponding to the at least two RUs smaller and reducing the overhead of the signaling field.

[0326] In some embodiments, the at least two RUs are RUs with fewer than 242 tones. Thus, compared to the prior art in which the resource unit allocation subfield provides an indication based on the actual resource unit allocation case and each small RU needs to correspond to one user field, in the solution of this application, at least two small RUs allocated to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment are collectively indicated as one RU. In this way, an RU only needs to correspond to one user field, thereby omitting the indication of one user field and reducing the overhead of the signaling field.

[0327] For the detailed implementation of the functions and technical effects of each functional unit of the data transmitting device 1500 provided in this embodiment, please refer to the relevant detailed description of the method provided in the above method embodiment, and the details will not be described again here.

[0328] 16 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a data transmission device according to an embodiment of the present application. This embodiment of the present application further provides a data transmission device 1600, which includes a processing unit 1601 and a transceiver unit 1602.

[0329] The processing unit 1601 is configured to receive a signaling field of a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) in the first frequency domain segment, a station parked in the first frequency domain segment, a channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU including at least two frequency domain segments, the at least two frequency domain segments including the first frequency domain segment, the signaling field including a common field and a user-specific field, the common field including a resource unit allocation subfield, the user-specific field including a user field, and the resource unit allocation subfield including a resource unit allocation subfield in the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU. The common field indicates an RU, and the RUs indicated by at least one resource unit allocation subfield included in the common field are a plurality of RUs less than 242-tone RUs, each RU in the plurality of RUs less than 242-tone RUs corresponds to at least one user field, the user field corresponding to at least one first RU carries an identifier of a station parked in the first frequency domain segment, and the user field corresponding to at least one second RU does not carry an identifier of a station parked in the first frequency domain segment, and at least a portion of the subcarriers corresponding to the second RU indicated by the resource unit allocation subfield belong to at least two RUs.

[0330] The transceiver unit 1602 is configured to obtain a user field carrying a station identifier from a user field included in the user specific field, and obtain data transmitted in the RU corresponding to the user field. The data transmission device may be a communication device or a station, or may be located in the communication device or the station.

[0331] The data transmission device may be a communication device or a station, or the data transmission device may be located in a communication device or a station. The processing unit 1601 of the data transmission device 1600 may be a processor, and the transceiver unit 1602 of the data transmission device 1600 may be a transceiver.

[0332] Thus, in the signaling field received by the station in the first frequency domain segment, the resource unit allocation subfield indicates the resource units RU included in the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU, and indicates the number of user fields corresponding to the RUs that are in the RU and assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment, but does not indicate the number of users not assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment based on the actual resource unit allocation case, thereby simplifying the user fields. In the user-specific field portion, the user fields corresponding to the RUs not parked in the first frequency domain segment can be omitted or simplified, thereby reducing the number of user fields and thereby reducing the overhead of the signaling field of the PPDU.

[0333] In some embodiments, the resource unit allocation subfield indicates that the number of user fields corresponding to RUs within the resource unit RU included in the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU and not assigned to stations parked in the first frequency domain segment is 0, and the RUs not assigned to stations parked in the first frequency domain segment are RUs with 242 tones or more. In this way, the user fields corresponding to RUs with 242 tones or more can be omitted, thereby effectively reducing the overhead of the signaling field.

[0334] In some embodiments, the number of user fields corresponding to RUs not assigned to parked stations in the first frequency domain segment indicated by the resource unit assignment subfield is less than the number of user fields actually corresponding to RUs not assigned to parked stations in the first frequency domain segment. In this way, the number of user fields in the signaling field transmitted in the first frequency domain segment can be reduced, thereby enabling a reduction in signaling field overhead.

[0335] In some embodiments, the RUs indicated by the resource unit allocation subfield and not assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment are actually at least two RUs not assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment. In this way, the at least two RUs not assigned to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment are collectively indicated as one RU, simplifying the indication scheme of the resource unit allocation subfield, thereby making the number of user fields corresponding to the at least two RUs smaller and reducing the overhead of the signaling field.

[0336] In some embodiments, the at least two RUs are RUs with fewer than 242 tones. Thus, compared to the prior art in which the resource unit allocation subfield provides an indication based on the actual resource unit allocation case and each small RU needs to correspond to one user field, in the solution of this application, at least two small RUs allocated to the station parked in the first frequency domain segment are collectively indicated as one RU. In this way, an RU only needs to correspond to one user field, thereby omitting the indication of one user field and reducing the overhead of the signaling field.

[0337] For the detailed implementation of the functions and technical effects of each functional unit of the data transmitting device 1600 provided in this embodiment, please refer to the relevant detailed description of the method provided in the above method embodiment, and the details will not be described again here.

[0338] Those skilled in the art may further understand that various illustrative logical blocks and steps listed in the embodiments of this application may be realized by electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination thereof. Whether a function is realized by using hardware or software depends on the specific application and design requirements of the overall system. Those skilled in the art may use various methods to realize the described functions for each specific application, but the implementation method should not be considered to go beyond the scope of the embodiments of this application.

[0339] This application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program, and when the computer-readable storage medium is executed by a computer, the functions of any one of the above-mentioned method embodiments are realized.

[0340] This application further provides a computer program product, which, when run on a computer, implements the functions of any one of the above method embodiments.

[0341] All or part of the above embodiments may be realized using software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When software is used to realize the embodiments, the embodiments may be realized entirely or partially in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer instructions are loaded into a computer and executed, the procedures or functions according to the embodiments of this application are generated entirely or partially. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from a computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from a website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, or digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, radio, or microwave) method. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium accessible by a computer, or a data storage device, such as a server or data center, that integrates one or more available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, hard disk, or magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., a digital video disc (DVD)), a semiconductor medium (e.g., a solid-state drive (SSD)), or the like.

[0342] Those skilled in the art will understand that the various numerals such as "first" and "second" in this application are used merely for distinction to facilitate description, and are not used to limit the scope or indicate the order of the embodiments of this application.

[0343] The correspondences shown in the tables in this application may be configured or predefined. The information values ​​in the tables are merely examples, and other values ​​may be configured. This is not a limitation of this application. When the correspondences between the information and each parameter are configured, not all of the correspondences shown in the tables need to be configured. For example, the correspondences shown in some rows in the tables in this application may be alternatively configured. In other examples, appropriate transformations and adjustments, such as division and combination, may be performed based on the above tables. The names of the parameters shown in the titles of the above tables may be other names that can be understood by the communication device, and the values ​​or representation methods of the parameters may be other values ​​or representation methods that can be understood by the communication device. Among the implementation methods of the above tables, such as arrays, queues, containers, stacks, linear tables, pointers, linked lists, trees, graphs, structures, classes, piles, or hash tables may be used. Other data structures may alternatively be used.

[0344] "Predefined" in this application may be understood as "define," "predefine," "store," "prestore," "prenegotiate," "preconfigure," "fix," or "prewrite."

[0345] Those skilled in the art may recognize that, in combination with the examples described in the embodiments disclosed in this specification, the units and algorithm steps may be realized by electronic hardware or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether a function is performed by hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art may use different methods to realize the described functions for each specific application, but the implementation method should not be considered to go beyond the scope of this application.

[0346] For the purpose of convenient and concise description of the above system, the detailed operation processes of the devices and units can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art, and the details will not be described again here, but may refer to the corresponding processes in the above method embodiments.

[0347] The above description is merely a specific implementation of this application and is not intended to limit the scope of protection of this application. Any modifications or substitutions that can be easily understood by those skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application shall be included in the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application shall be subject to the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. 1. A data transmission method, comprising: generating a second signaling field of a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU), wherein a channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU includes at least two frequency domain segments, the at least two frequency domain segments including a first frequency domain segment and a second frequency domain segment, and the frequency of the first frequency domain segment is lower than the frequency of the second frequency domain segment; transmitting the second signaling field in the second frequency domain segment; Including, the second signaling field includes a common field and a user-specific field, the common field includes a resource unit allocation subfield, and the user-specific field includes at least one user field; The resource unit allocation subfield indicates at least one resource unit (RU) / multiple resource unit (MRU) included in the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU, and the resource unit allocation subfield indicates the number of user fields corresponding to first RUs / MRUs that are within the at least one RU / MRU and are assigned to stations parked in the second frequency domain segment, and the number of user fields corresponding to second RUs / MRUs that are within the at least one RU / MRU and are not assigned to stations parked in the second frequency domain segment; The number of user fields corresponding to the first RU / MRU is equal to the number of user fields actually corresponding to the first RU / MRU; The number of the user fields corresponding to the second RU / MRU is less than the number of user fields actually corresponding to the second RU / MRU; The method, wherein the number of user fields indicated by the resource unit allocation subfield corresponding to the first RU / MRU assigned to the station parked in the second frequency domain segment represents the number of user fields given to one content channel in the user-specific field.

2. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the resource unit allocation subfield indicates that a number of users field corresponding to the second RU / MRU is 0, and the second RU / MRU is an RU of 242 tones or more.

3. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second RU / MRU indicated by the resource unit allocation subfield is actually at least two second RUs / MRUs that are not allocated to the station parked in the second frequency domain segment.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the at least two second RUs / MRUs are RUs / MRUs of less than 242 tones.

5. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein, when the RU corresponding to the lowest frequency of 80 MHz of the channel bandwidth transmitting the PPDU is actually two 484-tone RUs, and both of the two 484-tone RUs are not assigned to the station parked in the second frequency domain segment, the resource unit allocation subfield in the second signaling field transmitted in the second frequency domain segment does not accurately indicate the two 484-tone RUs, nor does it accurately indicate the user fields corresponding to the two 484-tone RUs.

6. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein, when the RU corresponding to the lowest frequency of 80 MHz of the channel bandwidth used to transmit the PPDU is actually two 484-tone RUs, and both of the two 484-tone RUs are not assigned to the station parked in the second frequency domain segment, the resource unit allocation subfield in the second signaling field transmitted in the second frequency domain segment indicates that the RU corresponding to the lowest frequency of 80 MHz of the channel bandwidth used to transmit the PPDU is a 996-tone RU, and the number of user fields corresponding to the 996-tone RUs in a user-specific field is 0.

7. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the resource unit allocation subfields included in the second signaling field correspond to the size of the channel bandwidth that transmits the PPDU, and each of the resource unit allocation subfields corresponds to a bandwidth of 20 MHz.

8. 1. A data transmission method, comprising: receiving, by a station parked in a second frequency domain segment, a second signaling field of a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) in the second frequency domain segment, wherein a channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU includes at least two frequency domain segments, the at least two frequency domain segments including a first frequency domain segment and the second frequency domain segment, the frequency of the first frequency domain segment being lower than the frequency of the second frequency domain segment, the second signaling field including a common field and a user-specific field, the common field including at least one resource unit allocation subfield, the user-specific field including a user field, and the resource unit allocation subfield including at least one resource unit (RU) / multiple resource unit (MRU) in the channel bandwidth for transmitting the PPDU; indicating a number of user fields corresponding to first RUs / MRUs that are within the at least one RU / MRU and that are assigned to the stations parked in the second frequency domain segment, and a number of user fields corresponding to second RUs / MRUs that are within the at least one RU / MRU and that are not assigned to the stations parked in the second frequency domain segment, wherein the number of user fields corresponding to the first RUs / MRUs is equal to the number of user fields actually corresponding to the first RU / MRU, and the number of user fields corresponding to the second RU / MRU is less than the number of user fields actually corresponding to the second RU / MRU, and the number of user fields indicated by the resource unit allocation subfield corresponding to the first RU / MRU represents the number of user fields corresponding to the stations parked in the second frequency domain segment; obtaining, by the station, a second user field carrying an identifier of the station from at least one user field included in the user specific field in the second signaling field, and obtaining data transmitted in an RU / MRU corresponding to the second user field; A method comprising:

9. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the resource unit allocation subfield indicates that a number of users field corresponding to the second RU / MRU is 0, and the second RU / MRU is an RU of 242 tones or more.

10. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the second RU / MRU indicated by the resource unit allocation subfield is actually at least two second RUs / MRUs that are not allocated to the station parked in the second frequency domain segment.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the at least two second RUs / MRUs are RUs / MRUs of less than 242 tones.

12. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein when the RU corresponding to the lowest frequency of 80 MHz of the channel bandwidth transmitting the PPDU is actually two 484-tone RUs, and both of the two 484-tone RUs are not assigned to the station parked in the second frequency domain segment, the resource unit allocation subfield in the second signaling field transmitted in the second frequency domain segment does not accurately indicate the two 484-tone RUs, nor does it accurately indicate the user fields corresponding to the two 484-tone RUs.

13. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein, when the RU corresponding to the lowest frequency of 80 MHz of the channel bandwidth used to transmit the PPDU is actually two 484-tone RUs, and both of the two 484-tone RUs are not assigned to the station parked in the second frequency domain segment, a resource unit allocation subfield in a second signaling field transmitted in the second frequency domain segment indicates that the RU corresponding to the lowest frequency of 80 MHz of the channel bandwidth used to transmit the PPDU is 996-tone RUs, and indicates that the number of user fields corresponding to the 996-tone RUs in a user-specific field is 0.

14. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the number of resource unit allocation subfields included in the second signaling field corresponds to the size of the channel bandwidth transmitting the PPDU, and each of the resource unit allocation subfields corresponds to a bandwidth of 20 MHz.

15. A communications device including a processor and a transceiver, A communications device, wherein the method of any one of claims 1 to 7 is performed or the method of any one of claims 8 to 14 is performed when the processor executes a computer program or instructions in the memory.

16. 1. A communication device including a processor, 15. A communications device, wherein the processor is coupled to a memory and configured to read instructions in the memory and to implement, based on the instructions, the method of any one of claims 1 to 7 or the method of any one of claims 8 to 14.

17. 1. A computer-readable storage medium, comprising: The computer-readable storage medium stores computer instructions, the computer instructions instructing a communication device to perform a method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, or the computer instructions instructing a communication device to perform a method according to any one of claims 8 to 14.

18. A computer program stored on a computer-readable storage medium, comprising: A computer program which, when run on a computer, implements the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7 or the method according to any one of claims 8 to 14.

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