Multi-link communication method and multi-link device

Abstract

The embodiment of the present application provides a multi-link communication method and a multi-link device. The multi-link device receives a first A-MPDU and a second A-MPDU via a first link and a second link, respectively, the first A-MPDU and the second A-MPDU have the same traffic identifier, and the first A-MPDU is received before the second A-MPDU. The method includes: the multi-link device determines a start sequence number or an end sequence number of a scoreboard on the first link based on the first A-MPDU received via the second link, the multi-link device transmits a first block acknowledgement frame via the first link based on the start sequence number or the end sequence number of a scoreboard on the first link and the received second A-MPDU, and the first block acknowledgement frame is used to acknowledge a reception status of the second A-MPDU. According to the method of the present application, a receiving device of a different link can correctly feed back a reception status of all MPDUs in a received A-MPDU.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] [Technical field] TECHNICAL FIELD Embodiments of the present application relate to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a multi-link communication method and a multi-link device. [Background technology]

[0002] With the development of wireless technology, multi-link devices support multi-link communication, for example, they can simultaneously communicate in the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz frequency bands, select the optimal frequency band, and ensure the communication quality of the multi-link device.

[0003] In a multi-link communication scenario, an access point multi-link device can transmit data packets corresponding to the same traffic identifier to a station multi-link device along multiple links. If the station of each link maintains a local scoreboard, the existing block acknowledgment mechanism may not allow the stations of different links to correctly feedback the reception status of all MPDUs in a received aggregated medium access control protocol data unit (A-MPDU).

[0004] Therefore, in a multi-link communication scenario, how to ensure that receiving devices of different links can correctly feedback the reception status of all MPDUs in the received A-MPDU is currently a technical problem that needs to be urgently solved. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The embodiments of the present application provide a multi-link communication method and a multi-link device. In a multi-link communication scenario, when a data transmitting end transmits multiple A-MPDUs corresponding to the same TID along multiple links to a data receiving end, receiving devices of different links can correctly feedback the reception status of all MPDUs of the received A-MPDUs.

[0006] According to a first aspect, there is provided a multi-link communication method, in which a multi-link device receives a second aggregate medium access control protocol data unit (A-MPDU) via a first link and a first A-MPDU via a second link, the first A-MPDU and the second A-MPDU having the same traffic identifier, and the first A-MPDU is received before the second A-MPDU. The method includes: the multi-link device determining a start sequence number or an end sequence number of a scoreboard on the first link based on the first A-MPDU received via the second link; The multi-link device transmits a first block acknowledgment frame via the first link based on the start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard on the first link and the received second A-MPDU, and the first block acknowledgment frame is used to acknowledge the reception status of the second A-MPDU.

[0007] According to the above method, in an embodiment of the present application, in a multi-link communication scenario, when a data transmitting end transmits multiple A-MPDUs corresponding to the same TID along multiple links to a data receiving end, receiving devices of different links can correctly feedback the reception status of all MPDUs of the received A-MPDUs.

[0008] Specifically, in this embodiment of the present application, the scoreboard of the first receiving device remains synchronized with the scoreboards of the receiving devices of other links without using information in the reorder buffer, so that the first receiving device can process the received A-MPDU according to the existing scoreboard context update rules and correctly record the reception status of all MPDUs in the A-MPDU based on the newly determined starting sequence number or ending sequence number of the scoreboard, and information will not be reported incorrectly.

[0009]

[0013] Referring to the first aspect, in some possible implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: the multilink device determines a start sequence number or an end sequence number of a scoreboard on the second link based on the first A-MPDU received via the second link; The multi-link device transmits a second block acknowledgment frame via the second link based on the start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard on the second link and the received first A-MPDU, and the second block acknowledgment frame is used to acknowledge the reception status of the first A-MPDU.

[0010] Referring to the first aspect, in some possible implementations of the first aspect, a window size of the scoreboard on the first link is the same as a window size of the scoreboard on the second link.

[0011]

[0013] Referring to the first aspect, in some possible implementations of the first aspect, the multilink device includes a first receiving device on the first link and a second receiving device on the second link, and determining by the multilink device a starting sequence number or an ending sequence number of a scoreboard on the first link based on the first A-MPDU received on the second link includes: The first receiving device determines a start sequence number or an end sequence number of the scoreboard of the first receiving device based on a start sequence number or an end sequence number of the scoreboard of the second receiving device, and the start sequence number or the end sequence number of the scoreboard of the second receiving device corresponds to the first A-MPDU.

[0012] Since the first receiving device obtains the updated start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard of the second receiving device (or the second receiving device synchronizes with the scoreboard of the first receiving device), in this embodiment of the present application, the scoreboard of the first receiving device can be synchronized with the scoreboard of the second receiving device. Thus, in this embodiment of the present application, the first receiving device processes the received A-MPDU according to the existing scoreboard context control update rule, and can correctly record the reception status of all MPDUs in the A-MPDU based on the newly determined start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard, and information will not be erroneously reported.

[0013]

[0013] Referring to the first aspect, in some possible implementations of the first aspect, the multilink device includes a first receiving device on the first link and a second receiving device on the second link, and determining by the multilink device a starting sequence number or an ending sequence number of a scoreboard on the first link based on the first A-MPDU received on the second link includes: The first receiving device determines the start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard of the first receiving device based on the start sequence number or end sequence number of the common scoreboard of the multi-link device, and the start sequence number or end sequence number of the common scoreboard of the multi-link device is determined based on the first A-MPDU.

[0014] Since the second receiving device records the updated start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard in the common scoreboard, the first receiving device can synchronize with the scoreboard of the first receiving device by obtaining the start sequence number or end sequence number of the common scoreboard. Thus, in this embodiment of the present application, the first receiving device processes the received A-MPDU according to the existing scoreboard context update rule, and can correctly record the reception status of all MPDUs in the A-MPDU based on the newly determined start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard, and information will not be erroneously reported.

[0015]

[0013] Referring to the first aspect, in some possible implementations of the first aspect, the multilink device includes a first receiving device on the first link and a second receiving device on the second link, and determining by the multilink device a starting sequence number or an ending sequence number of a scoreboard on the first link based on the first A-MPDU received via the second link includes: The first receiving device receives a starting sequence number transmitted by a transmitting device on the first link, the starting sequence number is combined with the first A-MPDU, and the first receiving device determines a starting sequence number or an ending sequence number of the scoreboard of the first receiving device based on the starting sequence number.

[0016] According to the above-mentioned technical solution, in this embodiment of the present application, the first receiving device can update or synchronize the start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard of the first receiving device by receiving the start sequence number sent by the first transmitting device, so that the received A-MPDU can be processed according to the scoreboard context update rule, and the reception status of all MPDUs in the A-MPDU can be correctly recorded based on the newly determined start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard, and information will not be reported erroneously.

[0017] Referring to the first aspect, in some possible implementations of the first aspect, the starting sequence number is conveyed in an additional block acknowledgement request frame or a block acknowledgement request frame.

[0018]

[0013] Referring to the first aspect, in some possible implementations of the first aspect, the multilink device includes a second receiving device on the second link, and the method further includes: the multilink device transmitting indication information over the second link, the indication information indicating that the second receiving device cannot synchronize with the starting sequence number or the ending sequence number of the scoreboard of any of the receiving devices of any link.

[0019] According to the above-mentioned technical solution, in this embodiment of the present application, the first receiving device can update or synchronize the start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard of the first receiving device by receiving the start sequence number sent by the first transmitting device, so that the received A-MPDU can be processed according to the scoreboard context update rule, and the reception status of all MPDUs in the A-MPDU can be correctly recorded based on the newly determined start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard, and information will not be reported erroneously.

[0020] Referring to the first aspect, in some possible implementations of the first aspect, the first block acknowledgement frame of the first A-MPDU is transmitted before the second A-MPDU is received.

[0021] According to a second aspect, there is provided a multi-link device, the multi-link device receiving a second aggregate medium access control protocol data unit (A-MPDU) via a first link and a first A-MPDU via a second link, the first A-MPDU and the second A-MPDU having the same traffic identifier, and the first A-MPDU being received before the second A-MPDU. the processing unit is configured to determine a starting sequence number or an ending sequence number of a scoreboard on the first link based on the first A-MPDU received via the second link, and the processing unit determines a starting sequence number or an ending sequence number of a scoreboard on the first link based on the starting sequence number or the ending sequence number of a scoreboard on the first link and the received second A-MPDU; block a processing unit further configured to determine an acknowledgement frame, wherein the first block acknowledgement frame is used to acknowledge a reception status of the second A-MPDU; a transceiver unit configured to transmit the first block acknowledgement frame over the first link; Includes:

[0022] Regarding the second aspect, in some possible embodiments of the second aspect, the processing unit is configured to determine a starting sequence number or an ending sequence number of a scoreboard on the second link based on the first A-MPDU received via the second link. The processing unit is configured to determine a second block acknowledgment frame based on the starting sequence number or the ending sequence number of a scoreboard on the second link and the received first A-MPDU, the second block acknowledgment frame being used to acknowledge reception status of the first A-MPDU. The transceiver unit is configured to transmit the second block acknowledgment frame via the second link.

[0023] Referring to the second aspect, in some possible implementations of the second aspect, the window size of the scoreboard on the first link is the same as the window size of the scoreboard on the second link.

[0024]

[0013] Referring to the second aspect, in some possible implementations of the second aspect, the multilink device includes a first communication device on the first link and a second communication device on the second link, and the first communication device includes a processing module. The processing module is configured to determine a starting sequence number or an ending sequence number of a scoreboard of the first communication device based on a starting sequence number or an ending sequence number of a scoreboard of the second communication device. The starting sequence number or the ending sequence number of the scoreboard of the second communication device corresponds to the first A-MPDU.

[0025]

[0013] Referring to the second aspect, in some possible implementations of the second aspect, the multilink device includes a first communication device on the first link and a second communication device on the second link, and the first communication device includes a processing module. The processing module is configured to determine a starting sequence number or an ending sequence number of a scoreboard of the first communication device based on a starting sequence number or an ending sequence number of a common scoreboard of the multilink device. The starting sequence number or the ending sequence number of the common scoreboard of the multilink device corresponds to the first A-MPDU.

[0026]

[0013] Referring to the second aspect, in some possible implementations of the second aspect, the multilink device includes a first communication device on the first link and a second communication device on the second link, the first communication device including a processing module and a transceiver module. The transceiver module is configured to receive a starting sequence number transmitted by a transmitting device on the first link, the starting sequence number being combined with the first A-MPDU. The processing module is configured to determine a starting sequence number or an ending sequence number of a scoreboard of the first communication device based on the starting sequence number. The starting sequence number is combined with the first A-MPDU.

[0027] Referring to the second aspect, in some possible implementations of the second aspect, the starting sequence number is conveyed in an additional block acknowledgement request frame or a block acknowledgement request frame.

[0028]

[0013] Referring to the second aspect, in some possible implementations of the second aspect, the multilink device includes a second communication device on the second link, and the transceiver unit transmits indication information over the second link, the indication information indicating that the second communication device cannot synchronize with a starting sequence number or an ending sequence number of a scoreboard of a communication device of any link.

[0029] Referring to the second aspect, in some possible implementations of the second aspect, the first block acknowledgement frame of the first A-MPDU is transmitted before the second A-MPDU is received.

[0030] According to a third aspect, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium storing program instructions that, when executed by a computer, enable the computer to perform the method of the first aspect and any one of possible implementations of the first aspect.

[0031] According to a fourth aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed on a computer, enable the computer to perform the method of the first aspect and any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0032] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0033] [Figure 2] 1 is a schematic diagram of an association relationship between multi-link devices according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0034] [Figure 3]FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a scoreboard context control operation according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0035] [Figure 4] 2 is a schematic diagram of a receiving device receiving and feeding back an aggregated medium access control protocol data unit according to an embodiment of the present application; FIG.

[0036] [Figure 5] 1 is a schematic flowchart of a multi-link communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0037] [Figure 6] 4 is a schematic flowchart of yet another multi-link communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0038] [Figure 7] 4 is a schematic flowchart of another multi-link communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0039] [Figure 8A] 4 is a schematic flowchart of yet another multi-link communication method according to an embodiment of the present application; [Figure 8B] 4 is a schematic flowchart of yet another multi-link communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0040] [Figure 9] 2 is a schematic diagram of a frame structure of indication information according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0041] [Figure 10] 1 is a schematic block diagram of a multi-link device according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0042] [Figure 11] FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of another multi-link device according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0043] The following describes the technical solutions of the embodiments in this application with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0044] The technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are applicable to wireless local area network (WLAN) scenarios. For example, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are applicable to IEEE 802.11 system standards, such as 802.11a / b / g standard, 802.11n standard, 802.11ac standard, 802.11ax standard, or next-generation standards, such as 802.11be standard or further next-generation standards.

[0045] The technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are applicable to wireless local area network (WLAN) scenarios. For example, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application are applicable to IEEE 802.11 system standards, such as 802.11a / b / g standard, 802.11n standard, 802.11ac standard, 802.11ax standard, or next-generation standards, such as 802.11be standard or further next-generation standards.

[0046] Although the embodiments of the present application are primarily described using examples in which WLAN networks, particularly networks employing the IEEE 802.11 system standard, are deployed, those skilled in the art will readily understand that various aspects of the embodiments of the present application can be extended to other networks using various standards or protocols, such as Bluetooth, high performance radio local area networks (HIPERLAN), wide area networks (WAN), personal area networks (PAN), and other networks now known or developed in the future. Therefore, various aspects provided in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to any suitable wireless network, regardless of the coverage area and wireless access protocol used.

[0047] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application are applicable to various communication systems, such as global system for mobile communications (GSM), code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) systems, general packet radio service (GPRS), long term evolution (LTE) systems, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) systems, LTE time division duplex (TDD) systems, universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication systems, fifth generation (5G) systems or new radio (NR) systems, sixth generation (6G) systems, and internet of things (IoT) networks or vehicle to vehicle (XV) systems. It may further be applied to wireless local area network systems such as V2X.

[0048] The above communication systems used in this application are merely illustrative examples and are not limiting. A unified description is provided here, and the details will not be described again below.

[0049] A terminal in the present application may be a user equipment (UE), an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a remote station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent, or a user equipment. Alternatively, a terminal may be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication capabilities, a computing device, another processing device connected to a wireless modem, an in-vehicle device, a wearable device, a terminal in a 5G network, a terminal in a future 6G network, a terminal in a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), etc. This is not limited to the present application.

[0050] The network device in the embodiments of the present application may be a device configured to communicate with a terminal. The network device may be a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) in a Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) or Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, a NodeB (NodeB, NB) in a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) system, an evolved NodeB (eNB or eNodeB) in an LTE system, or a radio controller in a Cloud Radio Access Network (CRAN) scenario. Alternatively, the network device may be a relay station, an access point, an in-vehicle device, a wearable device, a network device in a 5G network, a terminal in a future 6G network, a network device in a PLMN network, etc. This is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0051] Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario according to the present application. In Fig. 1, an access point (AP) may be a communication server, a router, or a switch, or any of the above network devices. A station (STA) may be a mobile phone or a computer, or any of the above terminals. This is not limited to the embodiment of the present application.

[0052] It should be understood that the technical solution in the embodiment of the present application is applicable to communication between an AP and one or more STAs, to intercommunication between APs, and to intercommunication between STAs. For ease of explanation, the embodiment of the present application is described using an example in which an AP communicates with one or more STAs. However, this description method does not limit the actual application scope of the technical solution in the embodiment of the present application. A unified description is provided here, and the details will not be described again below.

[0053] An access point may be an access point used by a terminal (e.g., a mobile phone) to access a wired (or wireless) network, and is mainly deployed within a home, building, or campus. A typical coverage radius is several tens of meters or greater than 100 meters. Alternatively, an access point may be deployed outdoors. An access point is equivalent to a bridge connecting a wired network and a wireless network. The main function of an access point is to connect various wireless network clients and connect a wireless network to an Ethernet. Specifically, an access point may be a terminal (e.g., a mobile phone) or a network device (e.g., a router) equipped with a Wi-Fi chip. An access point may be a device supporting the 802.11be standard. Alternatively, an access point may be a device supporting multiple WLAN standards of the 802.11 family, such as 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b, 802.11a, and the next-generation 802.11be. The access points of this application may be HE APs or EHT APs, or may be access points applicable to future generation Wi-Fi standards.

[0054] The station may be a wireless communication chip, a wireless sensor, a wireless communication terminal, etc., and may also be referred to as a user. For example, the station may be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a set-top box, a smart television set, a smart wearable device, an in-vehicle communication device, a computer, etc. that supports Wi-Fi communication functions. Optionally, the station may support the 802.11be standard. Alternatively, the station may support WLAN standards of the 802.11 family, such as 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b, 802.11a, and the next generation 802.11be.

[0055] For example, the access points and stations may be Internet of Vehicles, Internet of Things nodes or the like in the Internet of Things (IoT), smart cameras, smart remote controls, smart water or electricity meters or the like in smart homes, sensors in smart cities, etc.

[0056] The wireless communication system provided in the embodiments of the present application may be a WLAN or a cellular network. The method may be implemented by a communication device in the wireless communication system or a chip or processor in the communication device. The communication device may be a wireless communication device supporting parallel transmission of multiple links, such as a multi-link device (MLD). Compared with a device supporting only single-link transmission, a multi-link device has higher transmission efficiency and higher throughput. The multi-link device includes one or more affiliated stations (STAs). An affiliated STA is a logical station and may operate on one link. An affiliated STA may be an AP or a non-AP STA. For ease of explanation, a multi-link device with an AP as its affiliated station may be referred to herein as a multi-link AP, a multi-link AP device, or an AP multi-link device (AP MLD). A multi-link device with a non-AP STA as its affiliated station may be referred to as a multi-link STA, a multi-link STA device, or an STA multi-link device (non-AP MLD).

[0057] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of association relationships between multilink devices according to an embodiment of the present application. The AP MLD shown in FIG. 2 can include multiple APs, and the STA MLD can include multiple STAs. When an AP MLD needs to communicate with a STA MLD, each AP in the AP MLD needs to be associated with a corresponding STA in the STA MLD. As shown in FIG. 2, AP1 in the AP MLD is associated with STA1 in the STA MLD and operates on link 1. AP2 in the AP MLD is associated with STA2 in the STA MLD and operates on link 2. APn in the AP MLD is associated with STAn in the STA MLD and operates on link n. In this way, each AP in the AP MLD can establish a connection to a corresponding STA in the STA MLD on each link, enabling multilink communication between the two MLDs.

[0058] In order to better understand the technical solutions disclosed in the embodiments of the present application, the following briefly describes some technical terms in the embodiments of the present application.

[0059] First, block acknowledgment (BA) mechanism is.

[0060] The 802.11n protocol defines a BA mechanism, which aggregates multiple "acknowledgments" into one frame to improve channel efficiency.

[0061] The BA mechanism is initiated by exchanging an add block acknowledgement (ADDBA) request frame and an ADDBA response frame. For example, a data transmitting end (hereinafter referred to as the "transmitting end") sends an ADDBA request frame to a data receiving end (hereinafter referred to as the "receiving end"), and the receiving end returns an ADDBA response frame to the transmitting end. Through the above procedure, a BA mechanism (or a "BA session") is successfully established between the transmitting end and the receiving end. Next, the transmitting end sends multiple media access control protocol data units (MAC protocol data units, MPDUs) to the receiving end. The multiple MPDUs sent by the transmitting end to the receiving end are aggregated into one aggregated media access control protocol data unit (A-MPDU). The transmitting end then sends a BA request (BAR) frame to the receiving end. The receiving end returns a BA frame to the transmitting end to acknowledge the reception status of all MPDUs in the A-MPDU sent by the transmitting end.

[0062] The sender determines a window, i.e., (WinStart O , WinSize O ) to control the number of MPDUs included in one A-MPDU. One A-MPDU contains a maximum of 1024 MPDUs. However, the maximum number of MPDUs included in one A-MPDU may be changed according to future standards.

[0063] Currently, there are two BA mechanisms: a full-state BA mechanism and a partial-state BA mechanism. The former requires maintaining the scoreboard state for the entire BA session. Therefore, the receiving end must maintain all active BA session states, which increases the load on the receiving end. The latter only needs to buffer the most recently active BA session states. This allows the BA session The memory used to store the state can be reused by different BA sessions, allowing backward compatibility with the full-state BA mechanism to be implemented.

[0064] The second is the scoreboard context control behavior.

[0065] A receiver implementing the full-state operation of the high throughput immediate block ack agreement (this can be a non-AP in a downlink scenario or an AP in an uplink scenario) needs to understand that it maintains the protocol's block acknowledgment record (BA record) according to the following rules:

[0066] The receiver maintains one block acknowledgment record, which consists of a bitmap indexed by sequence number, a 12-bit unsigned integer starting sequence number, WinStart, used to indicate the lowest sequence number position in the bitmap. R ,WinEnd, which is used to indicate the maximum sequence number in the current send window. R , the maximum window size, i.e. WinSize, set to the small value of the bitmap length (802.11ax protocol) R , including the buffer size field of the ADDBA response frame for establishing the block acknowledgement protocol.

[0067] For ease of explanation, in the present embodiment, the scoreboard of the receiving device is configured to use three parameters: WinStart R , WinSize R , and WinEnd R We will use the example defined by WinStart as an example. R indicates the starting sequence number of the scorecard, and WinSize Rindicates the scorecard window size, and WinEnd R indicates the ending sequence number of the scorecard.

[0068] After receiving the A-MPDU sent by the transmitting end, the receiving end performs de-aggregation control on the A-MPDU to obtain multiple MPDUs. Each MPDU in the A-MPDU has a sequence number (SN), which indicates the sequence of each MPDU in the A-MPDU. Specifically, if fragmentation and reassembly are not used, the SN is the value of the sequence number subfield of the received data frame. If fragmentation and reassembly are used, the SN is the value of the MPDU sequence number subfield of the received data frame.

[0069] The receiving end performs a scoreboard context control operation for each MPDU, and after scoring, delivers the received MPDU to a receive reordering buffer, sorts the MPDUs according to the SN sequence, and delivers the correctly received MPDUs to the upper layer. If an incorrectly received MPDU appears during the reordering process, the SN corresponding to the MPDU is set to WinStart B All MPDUs received correctly and in order before SN are delivered to the upper layer. For MPDUs after SN, the receiving end can deliver the MPDU and the MPDUs received correctly and in order to the upper layer only after receiving the MPDU corresponding to SN.

[0070] 3 is a schematic diagram of the scoreboard context control operation according to an embodiment of the present application, the details of which are shown in FIG.

[0071] For example, the receiving end de-aggregates one A-MPDU and obtains four MPDUs with SNs of 102, 103, 105, and 100, respectively. The receiving end marks the bit position corresponding to the SN in the scoreboard with 1, where '1' indicates that the MPDU corresponding to the SN is correctly received, and forms a bitmap based on the score result, and places the bitmap in a BA frame as an acknowledgement of the corresponding A-MPDU. In Figure 3, R =98, WinSize R =11, and WinEnd R =109.

[0072] It is important to understand that a sequence number space can contain 4096 SNs and that the scoreboard window may move within the sequence number space.

[0073] Once a BA session is established, the scoreboard is initialized. R can be set to the start sequence number (SSN) provided by the ADDBA request frame. When an MPDU arrives, if the SN of the MPDU is within the interval indicated by the scoreboard, the receiving end uses the SN to index the scoreboard and record that the MPDU was received correctly. If the SN is outside the space indicated by the scoreboard but R From WinStart R +2 11 (within half of the sequence number space), the receiving end moves the scorecard window to the right until the new SN is included in the rightmost edge of the scorecard's window (this can be understood as follows: the receiving end moves the WinEnd R Change it to WinEnd R (The value of the BAR frame is equal to the SN.) When a BAR frame arrives, the scoreboard window moves to the right and the WinStart Requals the SSN provided by the BAR frame, and a BA frame is returned conveying the recorded contents of the scoreboard.

[0074] Specifically, upon receiving an MPDU carrying an SN, the receiving end checks whether the MPDU has a scoreboard record for the corresponding BA session. A BA session is identified by a transmitter address (TA) and a TID. If there is no scoreboard record, the receiving end can create a scoreboard for the BA session and reuse the memory of another session. If there is a scoreboard record, the receiving end can use the following three cases (which can be understood as scoreboard context control rules) to determine whether the scoreboard window needs to be moved (for details, see standard chapter number 802.11 REVme_D1.010.25.6 HT-immediate block ack extensions):

number

[0075] In the first case, the receiving end marks the bit position corresponding to the SN with 1 to indicate that the MPDU has been received correctly. Reception The edge moves the scoreboard window to the right so that the rightmost edge of the scoreboard window contains SN, and WinEnd R and the SN of the MPDU as "0", and add the SN of the MPDU to the WinEnd of the scoreboard. R In the third case, the receiving end does not take any action, that is, does not feed back the receiving status of the MPDU.

[0076] In the multi-link communication scenario shown in FIG. 2, it should be understood that each link maintains its own scoreboard context control. This can be understood as each receiving device having a scoreboard context control. For ease of explanation, hereinafter, the scoreboard context controls of each receiving device are collectively referred to as the receiving device's scoreboard, and there is a common scoreboard for the MLD. The receiving devices of each link use their own scoreboard context control to feedback the reception status of the MPDUs received by the receiving devices. The common scoreboard can be used to record parameter information of other receiving devices' scoreboards, such as the starting sequence number and / or ending sequence number of each receiving device's scoreboard, or information recording the scoreboards of all receiving devices. In this embodiment of the present application, the common scoreboard is maintained by some or all receiving devices in the MLD, and each receiving device can record information about its receiving device's scoreboard in the common scoreboard.

[0077] In the multi-link communication scenario shown in Figure 2, the AP MLD can transmit multiple A-MPDUs corresponding to the same TID to the STA MLD along multiple links, which may cause the receiving device (the receiving device is the STA in the downlink scenario, and the receiving device is the AP in the uplink scenario) to be unable to correctly feedback the reception status of all MPDUs in the received A-MPDU.

[0078] For example, the same TID corresponds to four A-MPDUs, each with an aggregate length of 1024. In other words, each A-MPDU contains 1024 MPDUs, and the acknowledgment policy for each A-MPDU is immediate block acknowledgment. STA 1 receives A-MPDU 1, STA 2 receives A-MPDU 2 and A-MPDU 3, and STA 1 receives A-MPDU 4. The SNs of A-MPDU 1 range from 0 to 1023, A-MPDU 2 range from 1024 to 2047, A-MPDU 3 range from 2048 to 3071, and A-MPDU 4 range from 3072 to 4095. After STA 1 transmits the BA frame corresponding to A-MPDU 1, the WinStart of STA 1's scoreboard is displayed. R is equal to 0, and WinEnd R is equal to 1023. The SN of the 4th A-MPDU is 3072 to 4095, and the SN is equal to 3072, and the WinEnd R (1023) and is in the range of 0+2048≦SN<0. This prevents the first STA from correctly feeding back the reception status of all MPDUs in the 4A-MPDU. For details, see Figure 4A.

[0079] Alternatively, the same TID corresponds to five A-MPDUs, each with an aggregate length of 1024, and an acknowledgment policy of each A-MPDU being immediate block acknowledgment. The first STA receives the first A-MPDU, the second STA receives the second A-MPDU, the third A-MPDU, and the fourth A-MPDU, and the first STA receives the fifth A-MPDU. The SNs of the first A-MPDU range from 0 to 1023, the SNs of the second A-MPDU range from 1024 to 2047, the SNs of the third A-MPDU range from 2048 to 3071, the SNs corresponding to the fourth A-MPDU range from 3072 to 4095, and the SNs of the fifth A-MPDU range from 0 to 1023. After the first STA transmits the BA frame corresponding to the first A-MPDU, the WinStart R is equal to 0, and WinEnd Ris equal to 1023. If all MPDUs in the 1A-MPDU are received correctly, the SN of the 5A-MPDU remains between 0 and 1023, and the SN of the 5A-MPDU actually belongs to a new record cycle. The first STA records the reception status of all MPDUs in the 1A-MPDU. If all MPDUs are received correctly, the corresponding bit positions in the scoreboard of the first STA are all 1. Some MPDUs in the 5A-MPDU are received incorrectly. Since the bit position records in the BA corresponding to the SNs of some MPDUs are still 1, the first STA cannot correctly feed back some of the erroneously received MPDUs. For details, see Figure 4B.

[0080] 4 is a schematic diagram of a receiving device receiving and feeding back an aggregated medium access control protocol data unit according to an embodiment of the present application. For specific content, please refer to FIG. 4.

[0081] As defined in the prior art, the first STA can update its scoreboard using the information in the reorder buffer. The first STA receives the A-MPDU and records the reception status of the A-MPDU. If the SN of the A-MPDU is WinStart R +2 11 ≦SN <WinStart R in the range of WinStart B +2 11 ≦SN <WinStart B (For details, refer to the standard chapter number 802.11 REVme_D1.010.25.6.6 Receive reordering buffer control operation), the scoreboard of the first STA is R <SN<WinStart R +2 11The scoreboard context control update rule is maintained according to the scoreboard context control update rule obtained when the scoreboard is in the range of

[0000] . If the first STA cannot update the scoreboard of the first STA using the information in the reorder buffer, the first STA must use the partial state BA mechanism to record the buffered scoreboard at the following time, and discard the buffered scoreboard to release the occupied resources. 1) After the transmission of a BA frame, before the scoreboard context control of the next received A-MPDU belonging to the same sender and the same TID as the BA frame is processed; and 2) The scoreboard context control of the next received A-MPDU that is not sent at the end of the current TXOP and belongs to the same sender and the same TID as the BA frame is processed at the end of the current transmission opportunity (TXOP) and before in the new TXOP.

[0082] However, in the conventional technology, when the first STA receives the 5A-MPDU, the first STA cannot correctly feedback the reception status of the 5A-MPDU. Also, in the conventional technology, the first STA needs to have a function to update the scoreboard context control of the first STA using information from the reorder buffer. This increases the processing load of the station.

[0083] In view of the above technical problems, an embodiment of the present invention provides a multi-link communication method and communication device, which can ensure that in a multi-link communication scenario, when a data transmitting end transmits multiple A-MPDUs corresponding to the same TID along multiple links to the same data receiving end, receiving devices of different links can correctly feedback the reception status of all MPDUs of the received A-MPDUs.

[0084] It should be noted that the technical solutions disclosed in the embodiments of the present application are applicable to uplink and downlink communication scenarios. For ease of description, in the embodiments of the present application, the receiving device is a data receiving end, and the receiving device may be an AP in the AP MLD or an STA (non-AP) in the STA MLD. In the embodiments of the present application, the transmitting device is a data transmitting end, and the transmitting device may be an AP in the AP MLD or an STA (non-AP) in the STA MLD. In addition, the first receiving device and the first transmitting device operate on a first link, and the second receiving device and the second transmitting device operate on a second link. For the first link and the second link, please refer to the above description.

[0085] It should be noted that the window of the scoreboard of the receiving device moves, which corresponds to the start sequence number and end sequence number of the scoreboard of the receiving device changing. In the following, the two expressions are used simultaneously, but the meaning is the same. A unified explanation is provided here, and the details will not be explained again below.

[0086] Even if the scoreboard window moves or the start sequence number and end sequence number change, the receiving party basically records the reception status of all MPDUs in the received A-MPDU according to the above rule. For ease of explanation, the embodiment of the present application uses two representations, namely, moving the scoreboard window or changing the start sequence number and end sequence number, but does not exclude other representations that are essentially the same but have different formats.

[0087] With reference to FIGS. 5 to 8B, the following describes a multi-link communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0088] 5 is a schematic flowchart of a multi-link communication method according to an embodiment of the present application, the details of which are shown in FIG.

[0089] S510: The multi-link device determines the starting sequence number or the ending sequence number of the scoreboard on the first link based on the first A-MPDU received via the second link.

[0090] The multilink device receives the second A-MPDU via the first link and the first A-MPDU via the second link. The first A-MPDU and the second A-MPDU have the same traffic identifier, and the first A-MPDU is received before the second A-MPDU. The multilink device may be an AP MLD or a STA MLD as shown in FIG. 2. The multilink device includes a first receiving device on the first link and a second receiving device on the second link.

[0091] Specifically, the multi-link device determines a starting sequence number or an ending sequence number of the scoreboard of the first receiving device based on the first A-MPDU received by the second receiving device, and the starting sequence number or the ending sequence number of the scoreboard of the first receiving device corresponds to the first A-MPDU received via the second link.

[0092] The first A-MPDU is transmitted by the second transmitting device of the second MLD to the second receiving device of the first MLD along the second link, and the second A-MPDU is transmitted by the first transmitting device of the second MLD to the first receiving device of the first MLD along the first link. The first A-MPDU and the second A-MPDU are two A-MPDUs having the same TID and transmitted by the second MLD to the first MLD via different links.

[0093] It should be noted that the first A-MPDU is first transmitted by the second transmitting device to the second receiving device, and the transmission time of the first BA frame of the first A-MPDU is before the reception time of the second A-MPDU. It should be understood that the reception time can be understood as the "reception start time."

[0094] Specifically, after the second receiving device receives the first A-MPDU transmitted by the second transmitting device, the second receiving device completes recording the reception status of all MPDUs in the first A-MPDU according to the existing scoreboard context control operation rules.

[0095] The process in which the first receiving device determines the start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard of the first receiving device can be understood as the process in which the second receiving device synchronizes with the scoreboard of the first receiving device based on the scoreboard of the second receiving device. A specific synchronization method will be described below.

[0096] For ease of explanation, this embodiment of the present application will be described using an example in which the first receiving device determines the start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard of the first receiving device. However, the first receiving device determining the start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard of the first receiving device can also be considered as the second receiving device synchronizing with the start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard of the first receiving device. A unified description is provided here, and the details will not be described again below.

[0097] 4(a), the first A-MPDU is A-MPDU3 and the second A-MPDU is A-MPDU4. If the first receiving device cannot complete the association between the start sequence number or the end sequence number in the scoreboard of the first receiving device and A-MPDU3 before receiving A-MPDU4, the first receiving device will not be able to correctly record the reception status of all MPDUs in A-MPDU4.

[0098] The first receiving device may obtain the start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard of the second receiving device, or may obtain the start sequence number or end sequence number of the common scoreboard of the first MLD, or may receive the SSN transmitted from the first transmitting device, thereby completing the association between the start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard of the first receiving device and the first A-MPDU. The SSN is associated with the first A-MPDU, which will be described later.

[0099] The first receiving device and the second receiving device belong to the first MLD, and the first transmitting device and the second transmitting device belong to the second MLD.

[0100] It should be noted that the 1A-MPDU may move the window of the scoreboard of the second receiving device, ie, the 1A-MPDU may change the starting sequence number or the ending sequence number of the scoreboard of the second receiving device.

[0101] In a possible implementation, the first A-MPDU does not move the window of the scoreboard of the second receiving device, but the scoreboard of the first receiving device remains synchronized with the scoreboard of the second receiving device.

[0102] S520: The multi-link device transmits a first block acknowledgment frame via the first link based on the start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard on the first link and the received second A-MPDU, and uses the first block acknowledgment frame to acknowledge the reception status of the second A-MPDU.

[0103] Specifically, the first receiving device of the multi-link device records the reception status of all MPDUs of the second A-MPDU received by the first receiving device based on the start sequence number or end sequence number determined by the scoreboard of the first receiving device, and after recording is completed, transmits a second block acknowledgment frame to the transmitting device via the first link and uses the second block acknowledgment frame to acknowledge the reception status of the second A-MPDU.

[0104] The first receiving device processes the second A-MPDU based on the start sequence number or end sequence number determined by the scoreboard, and can correctly record the reception status of all MPDUs in the second A-MPDU.

[0105] It should be understood that the first A-MPDU is an A-MPDU before the second A-MPDU, or the first A-MPDU is received before the second A-MPDU, and the first A-MPDU and the second A-MPDU have the same TID. Although the first receiving device does not receive the first A-MPDU, the start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard of the first receiving device corresponds to the first A-MPDU. In this way, the first receiving device can correctly feedback the reception status of all MPDUs of the second A-MPDU according to the existing scoreboard context control update rule.

[0106] The window size of the scoreboard of the first receiving device is the same as the window size of the scoreboard of the second receiving device.

[0107] The first receiving device is any receiving device in the first MLD, the second receiving device is any receiving device in the first MLD, the first transmitting device is any transmitting device in the second MLD, the second transmitting device is any transmitting device in the second MLD, the first receiving device and the first transmitting device operate on a first link, and the second receiving device and the second transmitting device operate on a second link.

[0108] Alternatively, the first receiving device needs to determine the starting sequence number or the ending sequence number of the scoreboard corresponding to the first A-MPDU before receiving the second A-MPDU.

[0109] According to the above method, in an embodiment of the present application, in a multi-link communication scenario, when a data transmitting end transmits multiple A-MPDUs corresponding to the same TID along multiple links to a data receiving end, receiving devices of different links can correctly feedback the reception status of all MPDUs of the received A-MPDUs.

[0110] Specifically, in this embodiment of the present application, the scoreboard of the first receiving device remains synchronized with the scoreboards of the receiving devices of other links without using information in the reorder buffer, so that the first receiving device can process the received A-MPDU according to the existing scoreboard context update rules and correctly record the reception status of all MPDUs in the A-MPDU based on the newly determined starting sequence number or ending sequence number of the scoreboard, and information will not be reported incorrectly.

[0111] The technical solution shown in FIG. 5 will be further explained below with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8B.

[0112] 6 is a schematic flowchart of yet another multi-link communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. The method includes the following steps:

[0113] S610: The second transmitting device transmits the first A-MPDU to the second receiving device.

[0114] In response to this, the second receiving device receives the first A-MPDU transmitted by the second transmitting device.

[0115] The second receiving device belongs to the first MLD, and the second transmitting device belongs to the second MLD. The second receiving device and the second transmitting device operate on a second link between the first MLD and the second MLD.

[0116] The first A-MPDU may be any A-MPDU transmitted from the second transmitting device to the second receiving device, or may be one of multiple A-MPDUs transmitted from the second transmitting device to the second receiving device.

[0117] S620: The second receiving device determines a starting sequence number or an ending sequence number of the scoreboard of the second receiving device, where the starting sequence number or the ending sequence number of the scoreboard of the second receiving device corresponds to the first A-MPDU.

[0118] Specifically, the second receiving device receives the first A-MPDU and de-aggregates the first A-MPDU to obtain multiple MPDUs, each MPDU having a SN. The second receiving device performs scoreboard context control operations on these MPDUs. The SNs of these MPDUs are used in WinStart R ≦SN≦WinEnd R If the SNs of these MPDUs belong to WinEnd, the window of the scoreboard of the second receiving device does not need to be moved, and the second receiving device only needs to maintain the scoreboard of the second receiving device according to the first rule of the scoreboard context control update rule. R <SN<WinStart R +2 11 , the window of the scoreboard of the second receiving device will move gradually in the receiving process until the receiving status of all MPDUs of the first A-MPDU has been recorded.

[0119] Furthermore, the start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard of the second receiving device corresponds to the 1A-MPDU, which indicates that the scoreboard of the second receiving device can correctly record the reception status of all MPDUs of the 1A-MPDU.

[0120] In addition, the correspondence between the start sequence number or the end sequence number of the scoreboard of the second receiving device and the 1A-MPDU can be understood as follows: if the SN of all MPDUs in the 1A-MPDU is equal to WinEnd, R <SN<WinStart R +2 11 Therefore, the second receiving device can correctly record the reception status of all MPDUs in the first A-MPDU.

[0121] It should be understood that the window size of the scoreboard of the second receiving device can cover all MPDUs included in one A-MPDU, so the ending sequence number of the scoreboard of the second receiving device is equal to the SN of the last MPDU of the first A-MPDU, and there is no restriction on whether the starting sequence number of the scoreboard of the second receiving device needs to be equal to the SN of the first MPDU of the first A-MPDU.

[0122] Optionally, the second receiving device transmits a first block acknowledgement frame to the second transmitting device, where the first block acknowledgement frame is used to acknowledge the reception status of the first A-MPDU.

[0123] S630: The second receiving device transmits the start sequence number or the end sequence number of the scoreboard of the second receiving device to the first receiving device.

[0124] In response, the first receiving device receives the starting sequence number or ending sequence number of the scoreboard of the second receiving device transmitted by the second receiving device.

[0125] For example, the first A-MPDU may move the window of the scoreboard of the second receiving device, i.e., the first A-MPDU may change the start sequence number or the end sequence number of the scoreboard of the second receiving device, but the window of the scoreboard of the second receiving device does not necessarily have to move.

[0126] For example, before the first A-MPDU is received, the WinStart R is SN#A and WinEnd R After the first A-MPDU is received, the WinStart R is SN#C and WinEnd R is SN#D. SN#C is greater than SN#A, and SN#D is greater than SN#B. Therefore, the first A-MPDU moves the window of the scoreboard of the second receiving device.

[0127] In another example, the SN of the first A-MPDU is between 1024 and 2047. Before the first A-MPDU is received, the WinStart R is equal to 0, and WinEnd R is equal to 1023. The first A-MPDU moves or changes the window of the scoreboard of the second receiving device. For example, after the first A-MPDU is received, the WinStart R is equal to 1024, and WinEnd R is equal to 2047.

[0128] In addition, since the first A-MPDU moves the window of the scoreboard of the second receiving device, the second receiving device synchronizes the start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard corresponding to the first A-MPDU with the receiving device of the other link or with an MLD, for example, a common scoreboard of the first receiving device, so that the receiving device of the other link can correctly feedback the reception status of the A-MPDU received by the receiving device.

[0129] It should be understood that the second receiving device may transmit the start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard of the second receiving device to the first receiving device before the second receiving device transmits the first BA frame to the second transmitting device, or after transmitting the first BA frame and before processing the scoreboard context control of the next received A-MPDU belonging to the same transmitting end and the same TID as the first BA frame, or before the second receiving device processes the next received A-MPDU that is not transmitted at the end of the current TXOP and belongs to the same transmitting end and the same TID as the first BA frame at the end of the current TXOP and in a new TXOP. The first BA frame is transmitted from the second receiving device to the second transmitting device and is used to acknowledge the reception status of all MPDUs in the first A-MPDU. Note that in this embodiment of the present application, the acknowledgement policy for each A-MPDU is immediate block acknowledgement. A unified description is provided here, and details will not be described again below.

[0130] In addition, the second receiving device and the first receiving device both belong to the first MLD, and the start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard of the second receiving device that the second receiving device sends to the first receiving device is not transmitted via the wireless interface, but is transmitted using an internal information exchange method between the first receiving device and the second receiving device, for example, between the low MAC of the first receiving device and the low MAC of the second receiving device, or between the low MAC of the first receiving device and the high MAC.

[0131] The first A-MPDU is transmitted from the second MLD to the first MLD along the second link, and the second A-MPDU is transmitted from the second MLD to the first MLD along the first link. The transmission time of the first BA frame of the first A-MPDU is earlier than the reception time of the second A-MPDU.

[0132] In addition, the process in which the second receiving device transmits the start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard of the second receiving device to the first receiving device can be understood as the process in which the second receiving device synchronizes with the scoreboard of the first receiving device.

[0133] S640: The first receiving device determines the start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard of the first receiving device based on the start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard of the second receiving device.

[0134] The first receiving device synchronizes with the start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard of the first receiving device based on the start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard of the second receiving device.

[0135] For example, if a second receiving device transmits the starting sequence number of the scoreboard of the second receiving device to a first receiving device, the first receiving device may change the starting sequence number of the scoreboard of the first receiving device and then execute WinStart R =WinEnd R -WinSize R+1 to determine the ending sequence number of the scoreboard of the first receiving device. When the second receiving device sends the ending sequence number of the scoreboard of the second receiving device to the first receiving device, the first receiving device changes the ending sequence number of the scoreboard of the first receiving device and then determines the starting sequence number of the scoreboard of the first receiving device according to the above formula.

[0136] In the example of S630, the second receiving device transmits the start sequence number and the end sequence number of the scoreboard of the second receiving device to the first receiving device. In this way, the first receiving device can directly determine the start sequence number and the end sequence number of the scoreboard of the first receiving device based on the start sequence number and the end sequence number of the scoreboard of the second receiving device transmitted by the second receiving device.

[0137] The window size of the scoreboard of the first receiving device is the same as the window size of the scoreboard of the second receiving device. In this way, the second receiving device transmits the start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard to the first receiving device, but the first receiving device may be synchronized with the scoreboard of the second receiving device.

[0138] It should be understood that when the first transmitting device transmits the second A-MPDU to the first receiving device, the first receiving device acquires the start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard of the second receiving device transmitted by the second receiving device before the first receiving device receives the second A-MPDU. In other words, the first receiving device needs to update or synchronize with the start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard of the first receiving device before the first receiving device receives the second A-MPDU. That is, the reception start time of the second A-MPDU is later than the transmission time of the first BA frame of the first A-MPDU.

[0139] S650: The first transmitting device transmits the second A-MPDU to the first receiving device.

[0140] In response to this, the first receiving device receives the second A-MPDU transmitted by the first transmitting device.

[0141] S660: The first receiving device sends a second block acknowledgement frame to the first transmitting device according to the start sequence number or the end sequence number of the scoreboard of the first receiving device and the second A-MPDU, and uses the second block acknowledgement frame to acknowledge the second A-MPDU. Reception status Acknowledge the response.

[0142] Specifically, the first receiving device records the reception status of all MPDUs in the second A-MPDU based on the newly determined starting sequence number or ending sequence number in the scoreboard. The first A-MPDU and the second A-MPDU are two adjacent A-MPDUs that have the same TID and are transmitted on different links. Before the first receiving device receives the second A-MPDU, the starting sequence number or ending sequence number in the scoreboard of the first receiving device corresponds to the first A-MPDU. In this way, the first receiving device can correctly record the reception status of all MPDUs in the second A-MPDU.

[0143] Specifically, the first receiving device records the reception status of all MPDUs in the second A-MPDU using the newly determined start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard, and then transmits a second block acknowledgement frame to the first transmitting device, and acknowledges the reception status of all MPDUs in the second A-MPDU using the second block acknowledgement frame. Reception status Acknowledge the response.

[0144] In this way, the first receiving device records the reception status of all MPDUs in the A-MPDU received by the first receiving device based on the newly determined start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard. In this embodiment of the present application, the first receiving device correctly records the reception status of all MPDUs in the A-MPDU and sends corresponding block acknowledgement frames to the first transmitting device, thereby allowing the first transmitting device to determine the reception status of all MPDUs in the second A-MPDU transmitted by the first transmitting device.

[0145] In response, the first transmitting device receives the second block acknowledgement frame (which can be understood as an acknowledgement frame) transmitted by the first receiving device.

[0146] It should be understood that the second A-MPDU and the first A-MPDU have the same TID, and the first A-MPDU is the A-MPDU before the second A-MPDU. However, the first A-MPDU is transmitted on the second link, and the second A-MPDU is transmitted on the first link. The reception start time of the second A-MPDU is later than the transmission time of the first BA frame of the first A-MPDU.

[0147] Since the start sequence number or the end sequence number of the scoreboard of the first receiving device corresponds to the first A-MPDU, the first receiving device follows the second rule of the scoreboard context control update rules mentioned above, i.e., WinEnd R <SN<WinStart R +2 11 It should be understood that the reception status of all MPDUs of the second A-MPDU can be correctly recorded according to the above.

[0148] Specifically, the first receiving device determines (or synchronizes with) the start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard of the first receiving device based on the start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard of the second receiving device corresponding to the first A-MPDU transmitted from the second receiving device, so that the first receiving device can correctly record the reception status of all MPDUs of the second A-MPDU transmitted from the first transmitting device.

[0149] It should be noted that the process of synchronizing the first receiving device with the scoreboard of the first receiving device may be understood to have been completed by the second receiving device.

[0150] According to the above method, in an embodiment of the present application, in a multi-link communication scenario, when a data transmitting end transmits multiple A-MPDUs corresponding to the same TID along multiple links to a data receiving end, receiving devices of different links can correctly feedback the reception status of all MPDUs of the received A-MPDUs.

[0151] Since the first receiving device obtains the updated start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard of the second receiving device (or the second receiving device synchronizes with the scoreboard of the first receiving device), in this embodiment of the present application, the scoreboard of the first receiving device can be synchronized with the scoreboard of the second receiving device. Thus, in this embodiment of the present application, the first receiving device processes the received A-MPDU according to the existing scoreboard context control update rule, and can correctly record the reception status of all MPDUs in the A-MPDU based on the newly determined start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard, and information will not be erroneously reported.

[0152] 7 is a schematic flowchart of another multi-link communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. The method includes the following steps:

[0153] Steps S710 and S720 are the same as steps S610 and S620 described above.

[0154] S730: The second receiving device determines the start sequence number or the end sequence number of the common scoreboard of the first multilink device based on the start sequence number or the end sequence number of the scoreboard of the second receiving device.

[0155] In addition, since the first A-MPDU moves the window of the scoreboard of the second receiving device (alternatively, the first A-MPDU does not move the window of the scoreboard of the second receiving device, or the second receiving device may synchronize with the common scoreboard of the first multi-link device), the second receiving device synchronizes the start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard corresponding to the first A-MPDU with the common scoreboard of the first MLD so that receiving devices of other links can correctly record the reception status of the A-MPDU received by the receiving device. For example, the second receiving device records a new start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard of the second receiving device in the common scoreboard.

[0156] It should be understood that the second receiving device may determine the starting sequence number or ending sequence number of the common scoreboard based on the starting sequence number or ending sequence number of the scoreboard of the second receiving device before the second receiving device transmits the first BA frame to the second transmitting device, or after transmitting the first BA frame and before processing the scoreboard context control of the next received A-MPDU belonging to the same transmitting end and the same TID as the first BA frame, or before the second receiving device processes the next received A-MPDU that was not transmitted at the end of the current TXOP and belongs to the same transmitting end and the same TID as the first BA frame at the end of the current TXOP and in a new TXOP.

[0157] The common scoreboard of the first MLD may be maintained by all receiving devices of the first MLD, or by a receiving device whose scoreboard transmission window changes. For example, after determining that the scoreboard transmission window has moved or changed, a second receiving device may synchronize (this may be understood as determining, changing, or adjusting) the starting sequence number or ending sequence number of the common scoreboard. A receiving device of another link may obtain (this may be understood as changing or determining) the starting sequence number or ending sequence number of the common scoreboard to synchronize (this may be understood as changing or determining) the scoreboard of the receiving device. For example, a receiving device may obtain (this may be understood as changing) the starting sequence number or ending sequence number of the common scoreboard of a higher MAC layer.

[0158] The common scoreboard may be configured to record common information used by all receiving devices, such as the updated start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard of the second receiving device described above, or may be other information.

[0159] In one example, the initial state of the common scoreboard of the first MLD teeth , may be blank, or record the starting or ending sequence numbers of all receiving device's scoreboards. However, some receiving devices may actively change or synchronize to the starting or ending sequence numbers of the common scoreboard based on whether the starting or ending sequence numbers of the receiving device's scoreboard change. This allows receiving devices on other links to synchronize with the receiving device's scoreboard using the common scoreboard.

[0160] Furthermore, the process of the second receiving device synchronizing with the common scoreboard of the first multi-link device can be understood as the process of the second receiving device synchronizing with the scoreboard of the first receiving device using the common scoreboard of the first multi-link device.

[0161] According to the above solution, in this embodiment of the present application, any receiving device on any link can correctly record the reception status of all MPDUs in the received A-MPDU according to the second rule of the scoreboard context control update rule without using information in the reorder buffer, thereby reducing the load on the receiving device.

[0162] S740: The first receiving device determines the start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard of the first receiving device based on the start sequence number or end sequence number of the common scoreboard of the first multilink device.

[0163] The first receiving device synchronizes with the scoreboard of the first receiving device based on the common scoreboard.

[0164] For example, if a starting sequence number is recorded in the common scoreboard, the first receiving device changes the starting sequence number in the scoreboard of the first receiving device and then executes WinStart R =WinEnd R -WinSize R The first receiving device determines the ending sequence number of the scoreboard of the first receiving device according to +1. If the ending sequence number is recorded in the common scoreboard, the first receiving device changes the ending sequence number of the scoreboard of the first receiving device and then determines the starting sequence number of the scoreboard of the first receiving device according to the above formula.

[0165] In addition, the first receiving device may note whether the common scoreboard has changed before receiving the A-MPDU, and if it determines that the starting sequence number or the ending sequence number of the common scoreboard has changed, the first receiving device may synchronize its scoreboard based on the common scoreboard.

[0166] For example, the first receiving device may directly synchronize with its scoreboard based on the common scoreboard of the first multilink device, or the first receiving device may synchronize with its scoreboard based on the common scoreboard at a specific time or frequency, or the first multilink device may directly synchronize with its scoreboard based on the common scoreboard.

[0167] In the example of S730, the second receiving device determines the start sequence number and end sequence number of the common scoreboard of the first MLD based on the start sequence number and end sequence number of the scoreboard of the second receiving device. In this way, the first receiving device may determine (synchronize) the start sequence number and end sequence number of the scoreboard of the first receiving device based on the start sequence number and end sequence number of the common scoreboard.

[0168] It should be understood that when the first transmitting device transmits the second A-MPDU to the first receiving device, the first receiving device acquires the start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard of the second receiving device transmitted by the second receiving device before the first receiving device receives the second A-MPDU. In other words, the first receiving device needs to update or synchronize with the start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard of the first receiving device before the first receiving device receives the second A-MPDU. The transmission time of the first BA frame of the first A-MPDU is earlier than the reception time of the second A-MPDU.

[0169] Note that the first receiving device may obtain the starting sequence number or ending sequence number of the common scoreboard as follows: the first receiving device sends request information to the first MLD (e.g., at a higher MAC layer), and the first MLD sends the starting sequence number or ending sequence number of the common scoreboard to the first receiving device; or, after determining that the starting sequence number or ending sequence number of the common scoreboard has changed, the first MLD directly sends the starting sequence number or ending sequence number of the common scoreboard to the first receiving device.

[0170] S750 and S760 are the same as steps S650 and S660 described above.

[0171] According to the above method, in an embodiment of the present application, in a multi-link communication scenario, when a data transmitting end transmits multiple A-MPDUs corresponding to the same TID along multiple links to a data receiving end, receiving devices of different links can correctly feedback the reception status of all MPDUs of the received A-MPDUs.

[0172] The second receiving device records the updated start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard in the common scoreboard, so that the first receiving device can synchronize with the scoreboard of the first receiving device by obtaining the start sequence number or end sequence number of the common scoreboard. In this way, in this embodiment of the present application, the first receiving device processes the received A-MPDU according to the existing scoreboard context update rule, and can correctly record the reception status of all MPDUs in the A-MPDU based on the newly determined start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard, and information will not be erroneously reported.

[0173] 8A and 8B are schematic flowcharts of yet another multi-link communication method according to an embodiment of the present application. The method includes the following steps:

[0174] Steps S810 and S820 are the same as steps S610 and S620 described above.

[0175] S830: The second receiving device sends indication information to the second sending device, where the indication information indicates that the second receiving device cannot synchronize with the starting sequence number or the ending sequence number of the scoreboard of any receiving device.

[0176] In response to this, the second transmitting device receives the instruction information transmitted by the second receiving device.

[0177] Specifically, when the second receiving device determines that the first A-MPDU has been received and the scoreboard window has moved, the second receiving device may send an indication to the second transmitting device, where the indication indicates that the second receiving device cannot synchronize with the start sequence number or the end sequence number of the scoreboard of any receiving device, including the first receiving device.

[0178] Furthermore, the process of the second receiving device transmitting instruction information to the second transmitting device may be understood as the process of the second receiving device synchronizing with the scoreboard of the first receiving device using the second transmitting device.

[0179] S840: The second transmitting device communicates information with the first transmitting device.

[0180] Specifically, the first sending device and the second sending device belong to a second MLD, and therefore the second sending device may instruct the first sending device through an internal information exchange that the first sending device needs to send a start sequence number (SSN) to the first receiving device in order to synchronize with the scoreboard of the first receiving device (this may be understood as helping the second receiving device synchronize with the scoreboard of the first receiving device).

[0181] S850: The first sending device sends a starting sequence number to the first receiving device.

[0182] In response, the first receiving device receives the starting sequence number sent by the first transmitting device.

[0183] It should be understood that the SSN is combined with the first A-MPDU. Specifically, after receiving the first A-MPDU, the second receiving device determines the start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard of the second receiving device and sends indication information to the second transmitting device, where the indication information indicates that the second receiving device cannot synchronize with the scoreboard of any of the receiving devices. After communicating with the second transmitting device based on internal information, the first transmitting device determines to send the SSN to the first receiving device.

[0184] It should be understood that the binding relationship may be realized as follows: SSN is the first A-MPDU Within It may be the sequence number of the first MPDU for which the reception status needs to be recorded, or the first A-MPDU Within The SSN may not be the sequence number of the first MPDU for which the reception status needs to be recorded. However, the SSN is transmitted from the first transmitting device to the first receiving device after the second receiving device transmits the instruction information to the second transmitting device. Therefore, the SSN is combined with the first A-MPDU. S860: The first receiving device determines the start sequence number or the end sequence number of the scoreboard of the first receiving device based on the start sequence number.

[0185] Specifically, the first receiving device obtains the SSN transmitted from the first transmitting device, sets the starting sequence number of the scoreboard of the first receiving device to the SSN, and accordingly changes the ending sequence number of the scoreboard of the first receiving device to determine the ending sequence number of the scoreboard of the first receiving device.

[0186] Therefore, the first receiving device can correctly record the reception status of all MPDUs in the second A-MPDU by synchronizing or changing the start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard of the first receiving device based on the SSN.

[0187] The first transmitter may transmit the SSN to the first receiver after the second receiver transmits the first BA frame corresponding to the first A-MPDU and before the second receiver receives the next A-MPDU, or before the second receiver processes the scoreboard context of the next received A-MPDU that is not transmitted at the end of the current TXOP and belongs to the same transmitter and TID as the first BA frame in the new TXOP. The first transmitter must transmit the SSN to the first receiver before transmitting the second A-MPDU to the first receiver.

[0188] In addition, the SSN transmitted by the first transmitting device to the first receiving device may be conveyed in a BAR frame, an ADDBA request frame, or other information.

[0189] S870 and S880 are the same as steps S650 and S660 described above.

[0190] According to the above method, in an embodiment of the present application, in a multi-link communication scenario, when a data transmitting end transmits multiple A-MPDUs corresponding to the same TID along multiple links to a data receiving end, receiving devices of different links can correctly feedback the reception status of all MPDUs of the received A-MPDUs.

[0191] According to the above-mentioned technical solution, in this embodiment of the present application, the first receiving device can update or synchronize the start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard of the first receiving device by receiving the start sequence number sent by the first transmitting device, so that the received A-MPDU can be processed according to the scoreboard context update rule, and the reception status of all MPDUs in the A-MPDU can be correctly recorded based on the newly determined start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard, and information will not be reported erroneously.

[0192] 9 is a schematic diagram of a frame structure of the indication information according to an embodiment of the present application, the details of which are shown in FIG.

[0193] The indication information sent from the second receiving device to the second transmitting device is conveyed in an extreme high throughput MAC capabilities information field, which includes near end signaling point priority access supported, EHT operation mode control support, and Subfields , triggered TXOP sharing mode 1 Supported (triggered TXOP sharing mode 1 support) Subfields Triggered TXOP sharing mode 2 support Subfields , restricted target wake time support Subfields , a subcarrier space traffic description support subfield, a maximum MPDU length subfield, a scoreboard context assisted subfield, and a Reserved subfield.

[0194] The Scoreboard Context Support subfield in the above field is an indication that the second receiving device cannot synchronize with the starting or ending sequence numbers of any receiving device's scoreboard. In Figure 9, B indicates a bit. For example, B2 indicates the second bit, and B8 indicates the eighth bit. The next line indicates the bits that each subfield occupies.

[0195] In this embodiment of the present application, the SN of the MPDU is WinStart B +2 11 ≦SN <WinStart BIf the receiver belongs to WinEnd, the scoreboard will display the SN. R <SN<WinStart R +2 11 According to the scoreboard context control update rule obtained when the range is within the range, the scoreboard context control update rule is maintained based on the above technical solution, and the receiving status of the MPDU corresponding to the SN is correctly recorded.

[0196] 10 is a schematic diagram of a multilink device according to an embodiment of the present application. The multilink device includes a processor 1001, a memory 1002, and a communication interface 1003. The processor 1001, the memory 1002, and the communication interface 1003 are connected to each other via a bus 1004.

[0197] It should be understood that the multilink device shown in FIG. 10 may be a transmitting device, a first receiving device, or a second receiving device.

[0198] The memory 1002 may include, but is not limited to, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), or a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM). The memory 1002 is configured to store relevant instructions and relevant data.

[0199] The processor 1001 may be one or more central processing units (CPUs). 10 When O1 is one CPU, the CPU may be a single-core CPU or a multi-core CPU.

[0200] If the multilink device is a transmitting device (which may include a first transmitting device and a second transmitting device), Multi-link deviceThe processor 1001 is configured to read program codes stored in the memory 1002 and perform the following operations.

[0201] The transmitting device is configured to transmit the A-MPDU to the receiving device and receive a block acknowledgement frame, or the second transmitting device receives indication information transmitted by the second receiving device, the indication information indicating that the second receiving device cannot synchronize with the starting sequence number or the ending sequence number of the scoreboard of any receiving device, or the first transmitting device transmits an SSN to the first receiving device.

[0202] It should be understood that the sending device may be configured to perform steps or methods related to the sending device in the above-mentioned method embodiments, which are merely examples for the purposes of explanation in this specification, and specific content can be found by referring to the content in the above-mentioned method embodiments.

[0203] When the multi-link device is a second receiving device, the processor 1001 of the multi-link device is configured to read the program code stored in the memory 1002 to perform the following operations: receive a first A-MPDU, and determine a start sequence number or an end sequence number of the scoreboard of the second receiving device, where the start sequence number or the end sequence number of the scoreboard of the second receiving device corresponds to the first A-MPDU;

[0204] It should be understood that the second receiving device may be configured to perform steps or methods related to the second receiving device in the above-mentioned method embodiments, which are merely examples for the purposes of explanation in this specification, and specific content may be found in the above-mentioned method embodiments.

[0205] When the multilink device is a first receiving device, the processor 1001 of the multilink device is configured to read the program code stored in the memory 1002 and perform the following operations: determine a starting sequence number or an ending sequence number of the scoreboard of the first receiving device, where the starting sequence number or the ending sequence number of the scoreboard of the first receiving device corresponds to a first A-MPDU transmitted by a second access point to the second receiving device, and receive a second A-MPDU transmitted by the first transmitting device.

[0206] It should be understood that the first receiving device may be configured to perform steps or methods related to the first receiving device in the above-mentioned method embodiments, which are merely examples for the purposes of explanation in this specification, and specific content may be referred to in the above-mentioned method embodiments.

[0207] Also, for the implementation of each operation in Fig. 10, please refer to the corresponding description of the method shown in Fig. 5 to Fig. 8B. The description here is merely an example, and a detailed description will be omitted.

[0208] 11 is a schematic diagram of yet another multi-link device according to an embodiment of the present application. The multi-link device may be used in a transmitting device or a receiving device and configured to implement the method of the above embodiment. The multi-link device includes a transceiver unit 1101 and a processing unit 1102. The transceiver unit 1101 and the processing unit 1102 will be described below using an example.

[0209] When the multilink device is a transmitting device, the transceiver unit 1101 is configured to receive a block acknowledgement frame transmitted by a receiving device. The processing unit 1102 is configured to perform steps or methods related to a BA session.

[0210] When the multi-link device is a second receiving device, the transceiver unit 1101 is configured to receive the first A-MPDU and send the start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard of the second receiving device to the first receiving device, and the processing unit 1102 is configured to determine the start sequence number or end sequence number of the scoreboard of the corresponding second receiving device based on the first A-MPDU.

[0211] When the multilink device is a first receiving device, the transceiver unit 1101 is configured to receive a second A-MPDU and receive a start sequence number or an end sequence number of the scoreboard of the second receiving device sent by the second receiving device, and the processing unit 1102 is configured to determine a start sequence number or an end sequence number of the scoreboard of the first receiving device based on the start sequence number or the end sequence number of the scoreboard of the second receiving device.

[0212] 11, please refer to the corresponding description of the method shown in the above embodiment, and the details will not be described again here.

[0213] It should be noted that the aforementioned multi-link device may include a first communication device (e.g., the aforementioned first receiving device) and a second communication device (e.g., the aforementioned second receiving device). The first communication device may include a processing module and a transceiver module. The processing module is configured to perform the aforementioned operations or steps related to the first communication device, and the transceiver module is configured to perform the aforementioned operations or steps related to the first communication device. These descriptions are also applicable to the second communication device. Details will not be described again here.

[0214]

[0013] An embodiment of the present application further provides a chip, the chip including a processor configured to retrieve instructions stored in the memory from the memory and execute the instructions, so that a communication device equipped with the chip can perform the method of the above example. The chip may be the above multi-link device. For example, the chip is an AP MLD or a STA MLD.

[0215] An embodiment of the present application further provides another chip including an input interface, an output interface, a processor, and a memory, the input interface, the output interface, the processor, and the memory being connected using an internal connection path, the processor being configured to execute code in the memory, and when the code is executed, the processor being configured to perform the method of the above example.

[0216] An embodiment of the present application further provides a processor, the processor configured to be coupled to the memory and configured to perform methods and functions associated with the receiving device or the transmitting device of any of the previous embodiments.

[0217] In another embodiment of the present application, a computer program product is provided, which, when run on a computer, performs the methods in the above-described embodiments.

[0218] According to another embodiment of the present application, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores a computer program, which, when executed by a computer, performs the method in the above-described embodiment.

[0219] In describing embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified, the term "plurality" means two or more than two. "At least one (piece) of the following items" or similar expressions refers to any combination of those items. fruit If circleThe term "a" refers to a combination of items, and represents a single item (piece) or any combination of multiple items (pieces). For example, at least one item (piece) of a, b, or c may refer to a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c, or a, b, and c, where a, b, and c may be singular or plural. Furthermore, in order to clearly explain the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the first and second items may be used interchangeably. of Such terms are used in the embodiments of the present application to distinguish between identical or similar items that provide essentially the same function or purpose. Those skilled in the art will understand that terms such as "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity or order of execution, and that terms such as "first" and "second" do not indicate clear distinctions. Furthermore, in the embodiments of the present application, expressions such as "example" or "for example" are used to represent an example, illustration, or explanation.

[0220] Any embodiment or design described in the present application as an "example" or "for example" may be used interchangeably with other embodiments or design. Yo Rather, the use of phrases such as "example" and "for example" is intended to present relevant concepts in a particular way for ease of understanding.

[0221] Unless otherwise specified, " / " in the description of the embodiments of the present application represents an "or" relationship between related objects. For example, A / B may represent A or B. In the present application, "and / or" represents only an association relationship that describes related objects, and indicates that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B may represent the following three cases: only A exists, both A and B exist, and only B exists. A and B may be singular or plural.

[0222] It should be understood that references throughout the specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic associated with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present application.

[0223] Therefore, the appearances of "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" in the specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, these particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. The sequence numbers of the processes described above do not imply an execution order in various embodiments of the present application. The execution order of the processes should be determined based on the functions and internal logic of the processes and should not be considered as a limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present invention.

[0224] It is understood that references throughout the specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" mean that the particular feature, structure, or characteristic associated with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present application.

[0225] Therefore, the embodiments throughout the specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, these particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. It should be understood that the sequence numbers of the above processes do not imply the order of execution in various embodiments of the present application. The order of execution of the processes should be determined based on the functions and internal logic of the processes and should not be considered as a limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present invention.

[0226] In combination with the examples described in the embodiments disclosed herein, those skilled in the art may recognize that the units and algorithms can be implemented 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 implement the described functions for each specific application, but the implementation should not be considered to go beyond the scope of the present application.

[0227] For the purpose of convenience and concise description, detailed operation processes of the above-described systems, devices, and units may refer to the corresponding processes in the above-described method embodiments, and details will not be described again here, as can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art. In some embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices, and methods may be implemented in other ways. For example, the described device embodiments are merely examples. For example, the division into units is merely a logical functional division, and other divisions may be used in actual implementation. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some functions may be ignored or not performed.

[0228] Furthermore, the shown or discussed mutual couplings or direct couplings or communication connections may be implemented through some interfaces. Indirect couplings or communication connections between devices or units may be implemented in electronic, mechanical, or other forms.

[0229] Units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separated. Parts shown as units may or may not be physical units, i.e., they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected based on actual requirements to achieve the objectives of the solutions of the embodiments. Furthermore, functional units in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, and each unit may exist physically alone, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0230] When the functions are implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, the functions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application can be basically, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution can be, computerThe computer software product may be implemented in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for instructing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in the embodiments of the present application. The storage medium includes any medium that can store program code, such as a USB flash drive, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

[0231] The above description is merely a specific implementation of the present application and is not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present application. Any modifications or replacements that are readily conceived by those skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the present application should be embraced within the scope of protection of the present application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present application should be subject to the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. 1. A multi-link communication method, comprising: a multi-link device receiving a second aggregate medium access control protocol data unit (A-MPDU) over a first link and a first A-MPDU over a second link, the first A-MPDU and the second A-MPDU having the same traffic identifier, and the first A-MPDU being received before the second A-MPDU; the method comprising: determining, by the multilink device, a starting sequence number or an ending sequence number of a scoreboard on the first link based on the first A-MPDU received via the second link; transmitting, by the multi-link device, a first block acknowledgement frame via the first link based on a start sequence number or an end sequence number of a scoreboard on the first link and the received second A-MPDU, wherein the first block acknowledgement frame is used to acknowledge a reception status of the second A-MPDU; Including, the multilink device includes a second receiving device on the second link, and the method comprises: The method further includes a step of transmitting, by the multilink device, indication information over the second link, the indication information indicating that the second receiving device is unable to synchronize with the starting sequence number or ending sequence number of the scoreboard of any of the receiving devices of the link.

2. The method comprises: determining, by the multilink device, a starting sequence number or an ending sequence number of a scoreboard on the second link based on the first A-MPDU received via the second link; transmitting, by the multilink device, a second block acknowledgement frame via the second link based on a start sequence number or an end sequence number of a scoreboard on the second link and the received first A-MPDU, wherein the second block acknowledgement frame is used to acknowledge a reception status of the first A-MPDU; The method of claim 1 further comprising:

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the window size of the scoreboard on the first link is the same as the window size of the scoreboard on the second link.

4. the multilink device includes a first receiving device on the first link; determining, by the multilink device, a start sequence number or an end sequence number of a scoreboard on the first link based on the first A-MPDU received via the second link, determining, by the first receiving device, a start sequence number or an end sequence number of a scoreboard of the first receiving device based on a start sequence number or an end sequence number of a scoreboard of the second receiving device; The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a starting sequence number or an ending sequence number of the scoreboard of the second receiving device corresponds to the first A-MPDU.

5. the multilink device includes a first receiving device on the first link; determining, by the multilink device, a start sequence number or an end sequence number of a scoreboard on the first link based on the first A-MPDU received via the second link, determining, by the first receiving device, a start sequence number or an end sequence number of a scoreboard of the first receiving device based on a start sequence number or an end sequence number of a common scoreboard of the multilink device; The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the start sequence number or the end sequence number of the common scoreboard of the multilink device is determined based on the first A-MPDU.

6. the multilink device includes a first receiving device on the first link; After the step of determining, by the multilink device, a start sequence number or an end sequence number of a scoreboard on the first link based on the first A-MPDU received via the second link, the method further comprises: receiving, by the first receiving device, a starting sequence number transmitted by a transmitting device on the first link, the starting sequence number being associated with the first A-MPDU; determining, by the first receiving device, a starting sequence number or an ending sequence number of a scoreboard of the first receiving device based on the starting sequence number; The method of claim 1 or 2, further comprising:

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the starting sequence number is conveyed in an additional block acknowledgement request frame or a block acknowledgement request frame.

8. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first block acknowledgement frame of the first A-MPDU is transmitted before the second A-MPDU is received.

9. 1. A multi-link device, the multi-link device receiving a second aggregated medium access control protocol data unit (A-MPDU) via a first link and a first A-MPDU via a second link, the first A-MPDU and the second A-MPDU having the same traffic identifier, the first A-MPDU being received before the second A-MPDU, the multi-link device: a processing unit configured to determine a start sequence number or an end sequence number of a scoreboard on the first link based on the first A-MPDU received via the second link, the processing unit being further configured to determine a first block acknowledgment frame based on the start sequence number or the end sequence number of the scoreboard on the first link and the received second A-MPDU, the first block acknowledgment frame being used to acknowledge a reception status of the second A-MPDU; a transceiver unit configured to transmit the first block acknowledgement frame over the first link; Including, the multilink device includes a second communication device on the second link; The transceiver unit is configured to transmit indication information over the second link, the indication information indicating that the second communication device is unable to synchronize with the starting sequence number or the ending sequence number of a scoreboard of a communication device of any link.

10. the processing unit is configured to determine a starting sequence number or an ending sequence number of a scoreboard on the second link based on the first A-MPDU received via the second link; the processing unit is configured to determine a second block acknowledgement frame based on a start sequence number or an end sequence number of a scoreboard on the second link and the received first A-MPDU, the second block acknowledgement frame being used to acknowledge a reception status of the first A-MPDU; the transceiver unit is configured to transmit the second block acknowledgment frame over the second link.

10. The multi-link device of claim 9.

11. 11. The multi-link device according to claim 9, wherein a window size of the scoreboard on the first link is the same as a window size of the scoreboard on the second link.

12. the multilink device includes a first communication device on the first link, the first communication device including a processing module; the processing module is configured to determine a starting sequence number or an ending sequence number of the scoreboard of the first communication device based on a starting sequence number or an ending sequence number of the scoreboard of the second communication device; 11. The multi-link device according to claim 9, wherein a start sequence number or an end sequence number of the scoreboard of the second communication device corresponds to the first A-MPDU.

13. the multilink device includes a first communication device on the first link, the first communication device including a processing module; the processing module is configured to determine a starting sequence number or an ending sequence number of the scoreboard of the first communication device based on a starting sequence number or an ending sequence number of the common scoreboard of the multilink device; 11. The multi-link device according to claim 9, wherein a start sequence number or an end sequence number of the common scoreboard of the multi-link device corresponds to the first A-MPDU.

14. the multilink device includes a first communication device on the first link, the first communication device including a processing module and a transceiver module; the transceiver module is further configured to receive a starting sequence number transmitted by a transmitting device on the first link, the starting sequence number being associated with the first A-MPDU; 11. The multilink device according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the processing module is further configured to determine a starting sequence number or an ending sequence number of a scoreboard of the first communication device based on the starting sequence number.

15. 15. The multi-link device of claim 14, wherein the starting sequence number is conveyed in an additional block acknowledgement request frame or a block acknowledgement request frame.

16. 11. The multi-link device according to claim 9, wherein the first block acknowledgement frame of the first A-MPDU is transmitted before the second A-MPDU is received.

17. A computer readable storage medium containing a computer program or instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enables the computer to carry out the method of claim 1 or 2.

18. A computer program, which when run on a computer, enables the computer to carry out the method according to claim 1 or 2.

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