Method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving triggered frame-based PPDU in a wireless LAN system

Abstract

A method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving a trigger frame-based PPDU in a wireless LAN system are disclosed. A method performed by a station (STA) in a wireless LAN system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include receiving a trigger frame including a common information field from an access point (AP), and transmitting a TB PPDU corresponding to one of one or more trigger based physical layer protocol data units (TB) triggered by the trigger frame to the AP. Here, the common information field may include an aggregated PPDU (A-PPDU) related subfield, and a configuration of the one or more TB PPDUs may be indicated based on the A-PPDU related subfield and at least one other subfield included in the common information field.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for transmitting or receiving a PPDU (physical layer protocol data unit) based on a trigger frame in a wireless LAN (Wireless Local Area Network, WLAN) system.

Background Art

[0002] New technologies have been introduced for wireless LAN (WLAN) to improve transmission rate, increase bandwidth, improve reliability, reduce errors, and reduce latency. Among wireless LAN technologies, the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.11 series of standards can be referred to as Wi-Fi. For example, technologies recently introduced into wireless LAN include enhancements for VHT (Very High-Throughput) of the 802.11ac standard, enhancements for HE (High Efficiency) of the IEEE 802.11ax standard, and the like.

[0003] To provide a more improved wireless communication environment, improvement technologies for EHT (Extremely High Throughput) are being discussed. For example, increased bandwidth, efficient utilization of multiple bands, MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) to support increased spatial streams, technologies for multi-access point (AP) coordination are being studied, and in particular, various technologies for supporting traffic with low latency or real-time characteristics are being studied. Furthermore, new technologies for supporting ultra-high reliability (UHR), including improvements or extensions of EHT technology, are being discussed.

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] The technical problem addressed in this disclosure is to provide a method and apparatus for transmitting or receiving PPDU (physical layer protocol data unit) based on trigger frames in a wireless LAN system.

[0005] The technical problem addressed in this disclosure is to provide a method and apparatus for transmitting or receiving merged PPDUs to different versions of PPDUs based on trigger frames.

[0006] The technical challenges addressed in this disclosure are not limited to those mentioned above, and other technical challenges not mentioned will be clearly understood by those with ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains from the following description. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] A method performed by a station (STA) in a wireless LAN system according to one aspect of the present disclosure may include the steps of: receiving a trigger frame from an access point (AP) that includes a common info field; and transmitting to the AP a TB PPDU that corresponds to one or more trigger-based PPDUs (physical layer protocol data units) triggered by the trigger frame. Here, the common info field includes an aggregated PPDU (A-PPDU) related subfield, and the configuration of the one or more TB PPDUs may be indicated based on the A-PPDU related subfield and at least one other subfield included in the common info field.

[0008] A method performed by an access point (AP) in a wireless LAN system according to a further aspect of the present disclosure may include the steps of: transmitting a trigger frame containing a common info field to a station (STA); and receiving from the STA a TB PPDU that corresponds to one or more trigger-based PPDUs (physical layer protocol data units) triggered by the trigger frame. Here, the common info field contains an aggregated PPDU (A-PPDU) related subfield, and the configuration of the one or more TB PPDUs may be indicated based on the A-PPDU related subfield and at least one other subfield contained in the common info field. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to this disclosure, a method and apparatus for transmitting or receiving PPDU (physical layer protocol data unit) based on a trigger frame in a wireless LAN system can be provided.

[0010] According to this disclosure, a method and apparatus for transmitting or receiving merged PPDUs to different versions of PPDUs based on trigger frames can be provided.

[0011] According to this disclosure, the support for sending and receiving new trigger frame-based versions of PPDUs and / or merged PPDUs may result in reduced latency and improved throughput and efficiency.

[0012] The effects derived from this disclosure are not limited to those mentioned above, and any other effects not mentioned above will be clearly understood by a person with ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains from the following description. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0013] The accompanying drawings, included as part of the detailed description to aid in understanding this disclosure, provide examples of the disclosure and illustrate the technical features of the disclosure together with the detailed description.

[0014] [Figure 1] This is a block diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communication device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 2] This figure shows an exemplary structure of a wireless LAN system to which this disclosure can be applied. [Figure 3] This diagram illustrates the link setup process to which this disclosure applies. [Figure 4] This diagram illustrates the backoff process to which this disclosure applies. [Figure 5] This diagram illustrates the CSMA / CA baseframe transmission operation to which this disclosure can be applied. [Figure 6] This figure illustrates an example of a frame structure used in a wireless LAN system to which this disclosure can be applied. [Figure 7] This figure shows an example of a PPDU as defined in the IEEE 802.11 standard to which this disclosure applies. [Figure 8] This figure illustrates an example of a resource unit in a wireless LAN system to which this disclosure can be applied. [Figure 9] This figure illustrates an example of a resource unit in a wireless LAN system to which this disclosure can be applied. [Figure 10] This figure illustrates an example of a resource unit in a wireless LAN system to which this disclosure can be applied. [Figure 11] This figure shows an exemplary structure of the HE-SIG-B field. [Figure 12] This diagram illustrates the MU-MIMO scheme, where multiple users / STAs are assigned to a single RU. [Figure 13]A diagram showing an example of a PPDU format to which the present disclosure is applicable. [Figure 14] A diagram showing an exemplary format of a trigger frame to which the present disclosure is applicable. [Figure 15] A diagram illustrating an A-PPDU structure to which the present disclosure is applicable. [Figure 16] A flowchart for explaining the operation of a STA based on a trigger frame according to the present disclosure. [Figure 17] A flowchart for explaining the operation of an AP based on a trigger frame according to the present disclosure.

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0015] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments according to the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The detailed description disclosed below together with the accompanying drawings is for explaining exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, and is not for showing the only embodiments in which the present disclosure can be implemented. The following detailed description includes specific details in order to provide a complete understanding of the present disclosure. However, it is understood by those skilled in the art that the present disclosure can be implemented without such specific details.

[0016] In some cases, in order to avoid obscuring the concept of the present disclosure, known structures and devices may be omitted, or may be shown in the form of a block diagram centered on the core functions of each structure and device.

[0017] In the present disclosure, when a certain component is "connected", "coupled" or "connected" to another component, this may include not only a direct connection relationship but also an indirect connection relationship in which there are further other components between them. Also, in the present disclosure, the term "comprising" or "having" identifies the presence of the recited features, steps, operations, elements and / or components, but does not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components and / or groups thereof.

[0018] In this disclosure, terms such as "first," "second," etc., are used solely to distinguish one component from another, and are not used to limit the components, nor do they limit the order or importance of the components unless specifically mentioned. Therefore, within the scope of this disclosure, a first component in one embodiment may be referred to as a second component in another embodiment, and similarly, a second component in one embodiment may be referred to as a first component in another embodiment.

[0019] The terms used in this disclosure are for illustrative purposes relating to specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the scope of the claims. As used in the description of the embodiments and in the attached claims, singular forms are intended to include plural forms unless otherwise specified in the context. The terms "and / or" used in this disclosure may refer to one of the related enumerated items, or to any and all possible combinations of two or more of them. In this disclosure, a " / " between words has the same meaning as "and / or" unless otherwise specified.

[0020] The examples in this disclosure may be applied to a variety of wireless communication systems. For example, the examples in this disclosure may be applied to wireless LAN systems. For example, the examples in this disclosure may be applied to IEEE 802.11a / g / n / ac / ax standard-based wireless LANs. Furthermore, the examples in this disclosure may be applied to newly proposed IEEE 802.11be (or EHT) standard-based wireless LANs. The examples in this disclosure may be applied to IEEE 802.11be release-2 standard-based wireless LANs, which represent further improvements to the IEEE 802.11be release-1 standard. In addition, the examples in this disclosure may be applied to next-generation standard-based wireless LANs following IEEE 802.11be. Moreover, the examples in this disclosure may be applied to cellular wireless communication systems. For example, they may be applied to cellular wireless communication systems based on 3GPP® (3rd Generation Partnership Project) standard LTE (Long Term Evolution) series technologies and 5G NR (New Radio) series technologies.

[0021] The following describes the technical features to which the examples in this disclosure may apply.

[0022] Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communication device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0023] The first device 100 and the second device 200 illustrated in Figure 1 may be replaced with various terms such as terminal, wireless device, WTRU (Wireless Transmit Receive Unit), UE (User Equipment), MS (Mobile Station), UT (user terminal), MSS (Mobile Subscriber Station), MSS (Mobile Subscriber Unit), SS (Subscriber Station), AMS (Advanced Mobile Station), WT (Wireless terminal), or simply user. Furthermore, the first device 100 and the second device 200 may be replaced with various terms such as access point (AP), BS (Base Station), fixed station, Node B, BTS (base transceiver system), network, AI (Artificial Intelligence) system, RSU (roadside unit), repeater, router, relay, gateway, etc.

[0024] The devices 100 and 200 illustrated in Figure 1 can also be referred to as stations (STA). For example, the devices 100 and 200 illustrated in Figure 1 can be referred to by various terms such as transmitting device, receiving device, transmitting STA, and receiving STA. For example, STA 110 and 200 can play the role of an AP (access point) or a non-AP. That is, in this disclosure, STA 110 and 200 may have AP and / or non-AP functions. When STA 110 and 200 have AP functions, they can simply be called APs, and when STA 110 and 200 have non-AP functions, they can simply be called STAs. In addition, in this disclosure, AP may be represented as AP STA.

[0025] Referring to Figure 1, the first device 100 and the second device 200 can send and receive wireless signals using various wireless LAN technologies (e.g., the IEEE 802.11 series). The first device 100 and the second device 200 may include interfaces to the medium access control (MAC) layer and the physical layer (PHY) in accordance with the IEEE 802.11 standard.

[0026] Furthermore, the first device 100 and the second device 200 can also further support various communication standards other than Wi-Fi technology (e.g., 3GPP LTE series, 5G NR series standards, etc.). The devices of this disclosure may also be embodied in various devices such as mobile phones, vehicles, personal computers, Augmented Reality (AR) equipment, and Virtual Reality (VR) equipment. In addition, the STA of this specification can support various communication services such as voice calls, video calls, data communication, autonomous driving, Machine-Type Communication (MTC), Machine-to-Machine (M2M), Device-to-Device (D2D), and Internet of Things (IoT).

[0027] The first device 100 includes one or more processors 102 and one or more memories 104, and may further include one or more transceivers 106 and / or one or more antennas 108. The processor 102 may control the memories 104 and / or the transceivers 106 and be configured to embody the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operation diagrams of this disclosure. For example, the processor 102 may process information in the memory 104 to generate first information / signals and then transmit a radio signal containing the first information / signals via the transceiver 106. Alternatively, the processor 102 may receive a radio signal containing second information / signals via the transceiver 106 and then store information obtained from signal processing of the second information / signals in the memory 104. The memory 104 may be linked to the processor 102 and can store various information relating to the operation of the processor 102. For example, memory 104 may store software code that executes some or all of a process controlled by processor 102, or that contains instructions for executing the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operation sequence diagrams in this disclosure. Here, processor 102 and memory 104 may be part of a communication modem / circuit / chip designed to embody wireless LAN technology (e.g., IEEE 802.11 series). Transceiver 106 may be coupled with processor 102 and can transmit and / or receive radio signals via one or more antennas 108. Transceiver 106 may include a transmitter and / or receiver. Transceiver 106 may be used synonymously with RF (Radio Frequency) unit. In this disclosure, device may also mean communication modem / circuit / chip.

[0028] The second device 200 includes one or more processors 202, one or more memories 204, and may further include one or more transceivers 206 and / or one or more antennas 208. The processor 202 may control the memories 204 and / or the transceivers 206 and be configured to embody the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operation sequence diagrams disclosed herein. For example, the processor 202 may process information in the memory 204 to generate third information / signals and then transmit a radio signal containing the third information / signals via the transceiver 206. Alternatively, the processor 202 may receive a radio signal containing fourth information / signals via the transceiver 206 and then store information obtained from signal processing of the fourth information / signals in the memory 204. The memory 204 may be linked to the processor 202 and can store various information related to the operation of the processor 202. For example, memory 204 may store software code that executes some or all of the processes controlled by processor 202, or that contains instructions for executing the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or operation sequence diagrams disclosed in this disclosure. Here, processor 202 and memory 204 may be part of a communication modem / circuit / chip designed to embody wireless LAN technology (e.g., IEEE 802.11 series). Transceiver 206 may be coupled with processor 202 and may transmit and / or receive radio signals via one or more antennas 208. Transceiver 206 may include a transmitter and / or receiver. Transceiver 206 may be used synonymously with RF unit. In this disclosure, device may also mean communication modem / circuit / chip.

[0029] The hardware elements of devices 100,200 will be described in more detail below. However, one or more protocol layers may be embodied by one or more processors 102,202. For example, one or more processors 102,202 can embodied one or more layers (e.g., layers with the same functionality, such as PHY and MAC). One or more processors 102,202 can generate one or more PDUs (Protocol Data Units) and / or one or more SDUs (Service Data Units) by means of the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods and / or operation sequence diagrams in this disclosure. One or more processors 102,202 can generate messages, control information, data, or information by means of the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods and / or operation sequence diagrams in this disclosure. One or more processors 102,202 can generate signals (e.g., baseband signals) containing PDUs, SDUs, messages, control information, data, or information by the functions, procedures, proposals and / or methods of this disclosure and provide them to one or more transceivers 106,206. One or more processors 102,202 can receive signals (e.g., baseband signals) from one or more transceivers 106,206 and obtain PDUs, SDUs, messages, control information, data, or information by the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods and / or operation sequence diagrams of this disclosure.

[0030] One or more processors 102,202 may be referred to as controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, or microcomputers. One or more processors 102,202 may be embodied by hardware, firmware, software, or a combination thereof. For example, one or more ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits), one or more DSPs (Digital Signal Processors), one or more DSPDs (Digital Signal Processing Devices), one or more PLDs (Programmable Logic Devices), or one or more FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays) may be included in one or more processors 102,202. The descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods and / or operation sequence diagrams disclosed in this disclosure may be embodied using firmware or software, and the firmware or software may be embodied to include modules, procedures, functions, etc. Firmware or software configured to perform the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or sequence diagrams disclosed in this disclosure may be contained in one or more processors 102,202 or stored in one or more memories 104,204 and driven by one or more processors 102,202. The descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and / or sequence diagrams disclosed in this disclosure may be embodied by firmware or software in the form of code, instructions and / or sets of instructions.

[0031] One or more memories 104,204 may be connected to one or more processors 102,202 and can store various forms of data, signals, messages, information, programs, code, instructions and / or commands. One or more memories 104,204 may consist of ROM, RAM, EPROM, flash memory, hard drives, registers, cache memory, computer-readable storage media and / or combinations thereof. One or more memories 104,204 may be located inside and / or outside of one or more processors 102,202. Furthermore, one or more memories 104,204 may be connected to one or more processors 102,202 by various technologies such as wired or wireless connections.

[0032] One or more transceivers 106,206 can transmit user data, control information, radio signals / channels, etc., as referred to in the methods and / or operation sequence diagrams of this disclosure, to one or more other devices. One or more transceivers 106,206 can receive user data, control information, radio signals / channels, etc., as referred to in the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods and / or operation sequence diagrams disclosed in this disclosure, from one or more other devices. For example, one or more transceivers 106,206 may be coupled with one or more processors 102,202 to transmit and receive radio signals. For example, one or more processors 102,202 can control one or more transceivers 106,206 to transmit user data, control information, or radio signals to one or more other devices. Also, one or more processors 102,202 can control one or more transceivers 106,206 to receive user data, control information, or radio signals from one or more other devices. Furthermore, one or more transceivers 106,206 may be connected to one or more antennas 108,208, and one or more transceivers 106,206 may be configured to transmit and receive user data, control information, radio signals / channels, etc., as referred to in the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods and / or operation sequence diagrams disclosed in this disclosure, via one or more antennas 108,208. In this disclosure, one or more antennas may be multiple physical antennas or multiple logical antennas (e.g., antenna ports). One or more transceivers 106,206 may convert the received user data, control information, radio signals / channels, etc., from RF band signals to baseband signals for processing using one or more processors 102,202. One or more transceivers 106,206 may convert the user data, control information, radio signals / channels, etc., processed by one or more processors 102,202, from baseband signals to RF band signals. To this end, one or more transceivers 106,206 may include (analog) oscillators and / or filters.

[0033] For example, either STA100 or STA200 can perform the intended operation of an AP, and the other STA100 or STA200 can perform the intended operation of a non-AP STA. For example, the transceivers 106 and 206 in Figure 1 can perform the transmission and reception of signals (e.g., packets or PPDUs (Physical Layer Protocol Data Units) conforming to IEEE 802.11a / b / g / n / ac / ax / be, etc.). Furthermore, in this disclosure, the operation of various STAs generating transmission and reception signals or performing data processing and calculations in advance for transmission and reception signals may be performed by the processors 102 and 202 in Figure 1. For example, an example of an operation that generates transmit / receive signals or performs data processing or calculations in advance for transmit / receive signals may include: 1) an operation to determine / acquire / construct / calculate / decode / encode bit information of fields contained within the PPDU (SIG (signal), STF (short training field), LTF (long training field), Data, etc.); 2) an operation to determine / construct / acquire time resources and frequency resources (e.g., subcarrier resources) used for fields contained within the PPDU (SIG, STF, LTF, Data, etc.); 3) an operation to determine / construct / acquire specific sequences (e.g., pilot sequence, STF / LTF sequence, extra sequence applied to SIG) used for fields contained within the PPDU (SIG, STF, LTF, Data, etc.); 4) power control operations and / or power saving operations applied to the STA; and 5) operations related to determining / acquiring / constructing / calculating / decoding / encoding the ACK signal. Furthermore, in the following example, various pieces of information used by various STAs for determining / acquiring / composing / calculating / decoding / encoding the transmit / receive signals (e.g., information about fields / subfields / control fields / parameters / power, etc.) may be stored in memories 104,204 in Figure 1.

[0034] In the following, downlink (DL) refers to the link for communication from AP STA to non-AP STA, and downlink PPDU / packets / signals, etc., may be transmitted and received through the downlink. In downlink communication, the transmitter may be part of AP STA, and the receiver may be part of non-AP STA. Uplink (UL) refers to the link for communication from non-AP STA to AP STA, and uplink PPDU / packets / signals, etc., may be transmitted and received through the uplink. In uplink communication, the transmitter may be part of non-AP STA, and the receiver may be part of AP STA.

[0035] Figure 2 shows an exemplary structure of a wireless LAN system to which this disclosure can be applied.

[0036] The structure of a wireless LAN system may consist of multiple components. A wireless LAN may be provided that supports transparent STA mobility to higher layers through the interaction of multiple components. A BSS (Basic Service Set) corresponds to the basic structural block of a wireless LAN. Figure 2 illustrates the existence of two BSSs (BSS1 and BSS2), with each BSS containing two STAs as members (STA1 and STA2 are included in BSS1, and STA3 and STA4 are included in BSS2). In Figure 2, the ellipses representing the BSSs may be understood as representing the coverage area where the STAs included in that BSS maintain communication. This area can be called a BSA (Basic Service Area). When an STA moves outside a BSA, it can no longer communicate directly with other STAs within that BSA.

[0037] Ignoring the DS shown in Figure 2, the most basic type of BSS in a wireless LAN is the Independent BSS (IBSS). For example, an IBSS can have a minimal form consisting of only two STAs. For instance, assuming other components are omitted, BSS1 consisting only of STA1 and STA2, or BSS2 consisting only of STA3 and STA4, can each be considered a typical example of an IBSS. Such a configuration is possible when STAs can communicate directly without APs. Furthermore, this type of wireless LAN is not pre-planned and configured, but can be configured when the LAN requires it, and can be called an ad-hoc network. Since an IBSS does not include APs, there is no centralized management entity. That is, in an IBSS, STAs are managed in a distributed manner. In an IBSS, all STAs may be mobile STAs, and connection to a distributed system (DS) is not permitted, forming a self-contained network.

[0038] STA membership in the BSS can change dynamically due to actions such as STAs being added or removed, or STAs entering or leaving the BSS area. To become a member of the BSS, an STA can join the BSS using a synchronization process. To access all services of the BSS-based structure, an STA must be associated with the BSS. Such associations may be configured dynamically and may include the use of Distribution System Services (DSS).

[0039] In a wireless LAN, the direct STA-to-STA distance may be limited by PHY performance. While this distance limit may be sufficient in some cases, there may be situations requiring communication between STAs over longer distances. Distributed systems (DS) may be configured to support extended coverage.

[0040] DS refers to a structure in which BSSs are interconnected. Specifically, as shown in Figure 2, BSSs may exist as components of an extended form of a network composed of multiple BSSs. DS is a logical concept and may be identified by the characteristics of the Distributed System Medium (DSM). In this regard, Wireless Medium (WM) and DSM may be logically distinct. Each logical medium is used for a different purpose and by different components. These mediums are neither limited to being the same nor limited to being different. The flexibility of wireless LAN structures (DS structures or other network structures) can be explained by the fact that multiple mediums are logically distinct from one another. That is, wireless LAN structures can be embodied in various ways, and each embodied example may be identified independently by its physical characteristics.

[0041] DS can support mobile devices by providing seamless integration of multiple BSSs and offering the necessary logical services for handling destination addresses. DS may also include a portal component that acts as a bridge for connecting wireless LANs with other networks (e.g., IEEE 802.X).

[0042] An AP (Application Programming Object) is an entity that enables a coupled non-AP STA (Systematization System) to access the DS (Data Storage System) via the WM (Web Module) and also possesses the functionality of an STA. Data can be moved between the BSS (Base System Storage) and the DS via the AP. For example, STA2 and STA3, shown in Figure 2, possess the functionality of an STA while also providing the ability for coupled non-AP STAs (STA1 and STA4) to access the DS. Furthermore, since all APs are essentially STAs, all APs are addressable entities. The address used by the AP for communication on the WM and the address used by the AP for communication on the DSM (Data Storage System) do not necessarily have to be the same. A BSS consisting of an AP and one or more STAs can be called an infrastructure BSS.

[0043] Data transmitted from one of the STAs connected to an AP to the AP's STA address is always received on an uncontrolled port and may be processed by an IEEE 802.1X port access entity. Alternatively, once a controlled port is authenticated, the transmitted data (or frame) may be forwarded to a DS.

[0044] An Extended Service Set (ESS) may be added to the aforementioned DS structure to provide even broader coverage.

[0045] An ESS (Service Set Network) refers to a network of arbitrary size and complexity composed of DSs (Distributed Service Sets) and BSSs (Blockchain Service Sets). An ESS can be a collection of BSSs connected to a single DS. However, an ESS cannot contain a DS. A key feature of an ESS network is that it appears as an IBSS (Internet Link Control Service Set) at the LLC (Logical Link Control) layer. STAs (Stage Attacks) within an ESS can communicate with each other, and mobile STAs can move transparently to the LLC from one BSS to another (within the same ESS). APs (Access Points) within an ESS may have the same SSID (Service Set Identification). An SSID is distinct from a BSSID, which is the identifier for a BSS.

[0046] In wireless LAN systems, no assumptions are made regarding the relative physical location of BSSs, and any of the following forms are possible: BSSs may partially overlap, which is a commonly used form to provide continuous coverage. BSSs do not have to be physically connected, and logically there is no limit to the distance between BSSs. BSSs may also be located in the same physical location, which may be used to provide redundancy. One (or more) IBSS or ESS networks may physically exist in the same space as one (or more) ESS networks. This may include ESS network configurations when an ad hoc network operates in the location where an ESS network exists, when physically overlapping wireless networks are configured by different organizations, or when two or more different access and security policies are required at the same location.

[0047] Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating the link setup process to which this disclosure can be applied.

[0048] For an STA to set up a link to a network and send and receive data, it must first discover the network, perform authentication, establish an association, and carry out security authentication procedures. The link setup process can be called the session initiation process or session setup process. Alternatively, the discovery, authentication, association, and security setting processes of the link setup process can be collectively referred to as the association process.

[0049] In step S310, the STA can perform a network discovery operation. The network discovery operation may include the STA's scanning operation. That is, in order for the STA to access a network, it must find a network that it can join. Before joining a wireless network, the STA must identify a compatible network, and the process of identifying networks in a specific area is called scanning.

[0050] There are two scanning methods: active scanning and passive scanning. Figure 3 illustrates a network discovery operation that includes the active scanning process. In active scanning, the STA performing the scanning sends a probe request frame to search for nearby APs while moving between channels, and waits for a response. The responder sends a probe response frame to the STA that sent the probe request frame. Here, the responder may be the STA that last sent a beacon frame in the BSS of the channel being scanned. In BSS, APs send beacon frames, so APs become the responders, while in IBSS, STAs within IBSS alternately send beacon frames, so the responders are not constant. For example, an STA that sends a probe request frame on channel 1 and receives a probe response frame on channel 1 can save the BSS-related information contained in the received probe response frame and move to the next channel (e.g., channel 2) to perform scanning in the same way (i.e., send and receive probe requests / responses on channel 2).

[0051] Although not shown in Figure 3, scanning may also be performed using a passive scanning method. In passive scanning, the STA performing the scanning waits for beacon frames while switching channels. A beacon frame is one of the management frames defined in IEEE 802.11, and is transmitted periodically to announce the presence of a wireless network, allowing the scanning STA to find and join the wireless network. In BSS, APs are responsible for periodically transmitting beacon frames, while in IBSS, STAs within IBSS transmit beacon frames alternately. When the scanning STA receives a beacon frame, it stores the BSS information contained in the beacon frame and records the beacon frame information on each channel while moving to other channels. The STA that receives a beacon frame can store the BSS-related information contained in the received beacon frame and move to the next channel to perform scanning on the next channel in the same way. Comparing active scanning and passive scanning, active scanning has the advantage of less delay and power consumption compared to passive scanning.

[0052] After the STA discovers the network, an authentication process may be performed in step S320. This authentication process can be called the first authentication process to clearly distinguish it from the security setup operation in step S340, which will be described later.

[0053] The authentication process involves the STA sending an authentication request frame to the AP, and the AP responding by sending an authentication response frame to the STA. The authentication frame used in the authentication request / response corresponds to the management frame.

[0054] The authentication frame may include information such as the authentication algorithm number, authentication transaction sequence number, status code, challenge text, Robust Security Network (RSN), and Finite Cyclic Group. This is just an example of some of the information that may be included in the authentication request / response frame, and may be replaced by other information or may contain additional information.

[0055] The STA can send an authentication request frame to the AP. Based on the information contained in the received authentication request frame, the AP can decide whether or not to allow authentication to the STA. The AP can provide the STA with the result of the authentication process using an authentication response frame.

[0056] After the STA has been successfully authenticated, the association process may take place in step S330. The association process includes the STA sending an association request frame to the AP, and the AP sending an association response frame to the STA in response.

[0057] For example, an association request frame may include information about various capacities, such as the beacon listening interval, SSID (service set identifier), supported rates, supported channels, RSN, mobility domain, supported operating classes, TIM broadcast request (Traffic Indication Map Broadcast request), and interworking service capacity. For example, an association response frame may include information about various capacities, such as the status code, AID (Association ID), supported rates, EDCA (Enhanced Distributed Channel Access) parameter set, RCPI (Received Channel Power Indicator), RSNI (Received Signal to Noise Indicator), mobility domain, timeout interval (e.g., association comeback time), overlapping BSS scan parameters, TIM broadcast response, and QoS (Quality of Service) map. This is an example of some of the information that may be included in a join request / response frame, and may be replaced by other information or may include additional information.

[0058] After the STA is successfully connected to the network, the security setup process may be performed in step S340. The security setup process in step S340 can also be described as an authentication process using RSNA (Robust Security Network Association) request / response, and the authentication process in step S320 can be called the first authentication process, while the security setup process in step S340 can simply be called the authentication process.

[0059] The security setup process in stage S340 may include, for example, a process of private key setup using a four-way handshake with an EAPOL (Extensible Authentication Protocol over LAN) frame. Furthermore, the security setup process may be performed using a security method not defined in the IEEE 802.11 standard.

[0060] Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating the backoff process to which this disclosure can be applied.

[0061] In wireless LAN systems, the basic access mechanism of MAC (Medium Access Control) is the CSMA / CA (Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance) mechanism. The CSMA / CA mechanism is also called the Distributed Coordination Function (DCF) of IEEE 802.11 MAC, and basically employs a "listen before talk" access mechanism. With this type of access mechanism, an AP and / or STA can perform a Clear Channel Assessment (CCA) to sense the radio channel or medium within a predetermined time interval (e.g., DIFS Inter-Frame Space) before initiating transmission. If the sensing determines that the medium is idle, the AP and / or STA will begin transmitting a frame through that medium. On the other hand, if the medium is perceived as occupied or busy, the AP and / or STA will not begin transmitting itself, but will wait for a delay period (e.g., a random backoff period) for medium access before attempting to transmit a frame. By applying a random backoff period, multiple STAs are expected to attempt to transmit frames after waiting for different periods of time from each other, thus minimizing collisions.

[0062] Furthermore, the IEEE 802.11 MAC protocol provides HCF (Hybrid Coordination Function). HCF is based on the aforementioned DCF and PCF (Point Coordination Function). PCF is a polling-based synchronous access method that periodically polls so that all receiving APs and / or STAs can receive data frames. HCF also has EDCA (Enhanced Distributed Channel Access) and HCCA (HCF Controlled Channel Access). EDCA is a competition-based access method for a provider to provide data frames to multiple users, while HCCA uses a non-competition-based channel access method with a polling mechanism. In addition, HCF includes a media access mechanism to improve the QoS (Quality of Service) of wireless LANs and can transmit QoS data during both the Contention Period (CP) and the Contention Free Period (CFP).

[0063] Refer to Figure 4 to explain the operation based on the random backoff period. When a medium that was occupied / busy changes to idle, multiple STAs can attempt to transmit data (or frames). As a way to minimize collisions, each STA can select a random backoff count and wait for the corresponding slot time before attempting to transmit. The random backoff count has a pseudo-random integer value and may be determined to any one of the values ​​in the range of 0 to CW, where CW is the Contention Window parameter value. The CW parameter is initially given as CWmin, but can take twice that value in case of transmission failure (e.g., if an ACK for a transmitted frame is not received). When the CW parameter value becomes CWmax, the STA can attempt to transmit data while maintaining the CWmax value until successful data transmission occurs, at which point it is reset to the CWmin value. The CW, CWmin, and CWmax values ​​are 2 n It is preferable to set it to -1 (n=0,1,2,...).

[0064] Once the random backoff process begins, the STA continues to monitor the media while counting down the backoff slots according to the determined backoff count value. When the media is monitored as occupied, the countdown stops and it waits; when the media becomes idle, the remaining countdown resumes.

[0065] In the example in Figure 4, when a packet to be transmitted reaches the MAC of STA3, STA3 can immediately transmit the frame after confirming that the medium is idle for DIFS only. The remaining STAs monitor the occupied / busy state of the medium and wait. Meanwhile, data to be transmitted may also be generated in STA1, STA2, and STA5. When each STA monitors the medium as idle, after waiting for DIFS only, it can count down the backoff slot using a random backoff count value of its choice. Assume that STA2 selects the minimum backoff count value and STA1 selects the maximum backoff count value. That is, the example illustrates a case where the remaining backoff time for STA5 is shorter than the remaining backoff time for STA1 when STA2 finishes its backoff count and begins transmitting a frame. STA1 and STA5 pause their countdown and wait for a while while STA2 occupies the medium. When STA2's occupation ends and the medium becomes idle again, STA1 and STA5 wait for DIFS only before resuming the paused backoff count. In other words, frame transmission can begin after counting down the remaining backoff slots equal to the remaining backoff time. Since STA5's remaining backoff time was shorter than STA1's, STA5 begins frame transmission. Data to transmit may also occur in STA4 while STA2 is occupying the medium. From STA4's perspective, when the medium becomes idle, it can wait for DIFS, then count down using a random backoff count value of its choosing, and begin frame transmission. The example in Figure 4 shows a case where STA5's remaining backoff time coincidentally matches STA4's random backoff count value, in which case a collision may occur between STA4 and STA5. If a collision occurs, neither STA4 nor STA5 will receive an ACK, and data transmission will fail. In this case, STA4 and STA5 can double their CW value, select a random backoff count value, and then perform the countdown.STA1 waits while the medium is occupied by transmissions from STA4 and STA5. When the medium becomes idle, STA1 waits only for DIFS time, and can start transmitting frames once the remaining backoff time has elapsed.

[0066] As illustrated in Figure 4, data frames are used to transmit data forwarded to higher layers and may be transmitted after a backoff that occurs after DIFS has elapsed, from the time the medium becomes idle. Furthermore, management frames are used to exchange management information that is not forwarded to higher layers and are transmitted after a backoff that occurs after an IFS such as DIFS or PIFS (Point Coordination Function IFS) has elapsed. Subtypes of management frames include beacons, association request / response, re-association request / response, probe request / response, and authentication request / response. Control frames are used to control access to the medium. Subtypes of control frames include RTS (Request-To-Send), CTS (Clear-To-Send), ACK (Acknowledgment), PS-Poll (Power Save-Poll), Block ACK (BlockAck), Block ACK Request (BlockACKReq), NDP Announcement (null data packet announcement), and Trigger. If a control frame is not a response frame to a previous frame, it is sent after a backoff that occurs after DIFS (Distributed Ingress Fault System), and if it is a response frame to a previous frame, it is sent after a short IFS (Shorter Ingress Fault System) without a backoff. The type and subtype of a frame may be identified by the type field and subtype field in the frame control (FC) field.

[0067] A Quality of Service (QoS) STA can transmit a frame after an arbitration IFS (AIFS) for the access category (AC) to which the frame belongs, i.e., after a backoff that occurs after AIFS[i] (where i is a value determined by the AC). Frames for which AIFS[i] is available can be data frames, management frames, or control frames that are not response frames.

[0068] Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating the CSMA / CA baseframe transmission operation to which this disclosure can be applied.

[0069] As mentioned earlier, the CSMA / CA mechanism includes not only physical carrier sensing, where the STA directly senses the medium, but also virtual carrier sensing. Virtual carrier sensing is intended to compensate for problems that can occur in medium access, such as the hidden node problem. For virtual carrier sensing, the STA's MAC can utilize the Network Allocation Vector (NAV). The NAV is a value that indicates to other STAs the time remaining until the medium becomes available, used by an STA that is currently using or authorized to use the medium. Therefore, the value set as the NAV corresponds to the period during which the STA sending the frame is scheduled to use the medium, and STAs receiving the NAV value are prohibited from accessing the medium during that period. For example, the NAV may be set based on the value of the "duration" field in the frame's MAC header.

[0070] In the example shown in Figure 5, we assume that STA1 is attempting to transmit data to STA2, and STA3 is in a position where it can overhear some or all of the frames transmitted and received between STA1 and STA2.

[0071] In CSMA / CA baseframe transmission operation, a mechanism utilizing RTS / CTS frames may be applied to reduce the possibility of collisions between transmissions from multiple STAs. In the example in Figure 5, while STA1 is transmitting, carrier sensing by STA3 may determine that the medium is idle. That is, STA1 may be a hidden node for STA3. Alternatively, in the example in Figure 5, while STA2 is transmitting, carrier sensing by STA3 may determine that the medium is idle. That is, STA2 may be a hidden node for STA3. By exchanging RTS / CTS frames before data transmission and reception between STA1 and STA2, it is possible to prevent STAs outside the transmission range of either STA1 or STA2, or STAs outside the carrier sensing range for transmissions from STA1 or STA3, from attempting to occupy the channel during data transmission and reception between STA1 and STA2.

[0072] Specifically, STA1 can determine whether a channel is in use or not using carrier sensing. In terms of physical carrier sensing, STA1 can determine the channel's occupied or idle state based on the energy magnitude or signal correlation detected from the channel. In terms of virtual carrier sensing, STA1 can determine the channel's occupied state using a network allocation vector (NAV) timer.

[0073] STA1 can send an RTS frame to STA2 after backoff if the channel is idle during DIFS. STA2, upon receiving an RTS frame, can send a CTS frame, which is a response to the RTS frame, to STA1 after SIFS.

[0074] If STA3 cannot overhear CTS frames from STA2 but can overhear RTS frames from STA1, STA3 can use the duration information contained in the RTS frames to set the NAV timer for subsequent consecutive frame transmission periods (e.g., SIFS + CTS frame + SIFS + data frame + SIFS + ACK frame). Alternatively, if STA3 cannot overhear RTS frames from STA1 but can overhear CTS frames from STA2, STA3 can use the duration information contained in the CTS frames to set the NAV timer for subsequent consecutive frame transmission periods (e.g., SIFS + data frame + SIFS + ACK frame). In other words, STA3 can set NAV based on overhearing one or more RTS or CTS frames from at least one of STA1 or STA2. If STA3 receives a new frame before the NAV timer expires, it can update the NAV timer using the duration information contained in the new frame. STA3 will not attempt channel access until the NAV timer expires.

[0075] When STA1 receives a CTS frame from STA2, it can send a data frame to STA2 after SIFS from the time it has finished receiving the CTS frame. If STA2 successfully receives the data frame, it can send an ACK frame, which is a response to the data frame, to STA1 after SIFS. When the NAV timer expires, STA3 can use carrier sensing to determine whether or not the channel is in use. If STA3 determines that the channel is not being used by another terminal between the expiration of the NAV timer and DIFS, it can attempt to access the channel after the random backoff conflict window (CW) has passed.

[0076] Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a frame structure used in a wireless LAN system to which this disclosure can be applied.

[0077] The PHY layer can prepare the MPDU (MAC PDU) to be transmitted based on instructions or primitives (meaning a set of instructions or parameters) from the MAC layer. For example, when the PHY layer receives an instruction from the MAC layer requesting it to start transmitting, it switches to transmit mode and can assemble the information provided by the MAC layer (e.g., data) into a frame and transmit it. Also, when the PHY layer detects a valid preamble in the frame it is receiving, it monitors the preamble header and sends an instruction to the MAC layer to signal that the PHY layer has started receiving.

[0078] Thus, information transmission and reception in wireless LAN systems are performed in the form of frames, and for this purpose, the Physical Layer Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) frame format is defined.

[0079] A basic PPDU frame may include an STF (Short Training Field), an LTF (Long Training Field), a SIG (SIGNAL) field, and a Data field. The most basic (e.g., non-HT (High Throughput)) PPDU frame format may consist only of an L-STF (Legacy-STF), an L-LTF (Legacy-LTF), a SIG field, and a Data field. Depending on the type of PPDU frame format (e.g., HT-mixed format PPDU, HT-greenfield format PPDU, VHT (Very High Throughput) PPDU, etc.), additional (or other types of) STF, LTF, and SIG fields may be included between the SIG field and the Data field (see Figure 7 below for further details).

[0080] STF is a signal used for signal detection, AGC (Automatic Gain Control), diversity selection, and precise time synchronization, while LTF is a signal used for channel estimation and frequency error estimation. In essence, STF and LTF are signals for synchronizing the OFDM physical layer and for channel estimation.

[0081] The SIG field may include fields such as the RATE field and the LENGTH field. The RATE field may contain information about the modulation and coding rate of the data. The LENGTH field may contain information about the length of the data. Furthermore, the SIG field may include a parity bit, a SIG TAIL bit, and so on.

[0082] The data field may include a SERVICE field, a PSDU (Physical Layer Service Data Unit), and PPDU TAIL bits, and may also include padding bits if necessary. Some bits of the SERVICE field may be used for synchronizing the descramble at the receiving end. The PSDU corresponds to the MAC PDU defined in the MAC layer and may contain data generated / used in higher layers. The PPDU TAIL bits may be used to return the encoder to a 0 state. Padding bits may be used to adjust the length of the data field to a predetermined unit.

[0083] MAC PDUs are defined by various MAC frame formats, and a basic MAC frame consists of a MAC header, frame body, and FCS (Frame Check Sequence). MAC frames are composed of MAC PDUs and may be transmitted / received by PSDUs, which are the data portion of the PPDU frame format.

[0084] The MAC header includes fields such as Frame Control, Duration / ID, and Address. The Frame Control field may contain control information necessary for transmitting / receiving frames. The Duration / ID field may be set to the time required to transmit the frame. For specific details on the Sequence Control, QoS Control, and HT Control subfields of the MAC header, refer to the IEEE 802.11 standard document.

[0085] The Null Data Packet (NDP) frame format refers to a frame format that does not include data packets. That is, an NDP frame is a frame format that includes the PLCP (Physical Layer Convergence Procedure) header portion (i.e., the STF, LTF, and SIG fields) of a typical PPDU frame format, but omits the remaining portion (i.e., the data fields). NDP frames can also be referred to as short frame formats.

[0086] Figure 7 shows an example of a PPDU as defined in the IEEE 802.11 standard to which this disclosure applies.

[0087] Standards such as IEEE 802.11a / g / n / ac / ax use various forms of PPDU. The basic PPDU format (IEEE 802.11a / g) includes L-LTF, L-STF, L-SIG, and Data fields. The basic PPDU format can also be referred to as the non-HT PPDU format.

[0088] The HT PPDU format (IEEE 802.11n) further includes the HT-SIG, HT-STF, and HT-LFT(s) fields in addition to the basic PPDU format. The HT PPDU format shown in Figure 7 can be called the HT-mixed format. The HT-greenfield format PPDU may be further defined, which does not include L-STF, L-LTF, and L-SIG, and consists of the HT-GF-STF, HT-LTF1, HT-SIG, one or more HT-LTF, and Data fields (not shown).

[0089] An example of the VHT PPDU format (IEEE 802.11ac) is that it further includes the VHT SIG-A, VHT-STF, VHT-LTF, and VHT-SIG-B fields in addition to the basic PPDU format.

[0090] An example of the HE PPDU format (IEEE 802.11ax) further includes the RL-SIG (Repeated L-SIG), HE-SIG-A, HE-SIG-B, HE-STF, HE-LTF(s), and PE (Packet Extension) fields in addition to the basic PPDU format. Depending on the specific example of the HE PPDU format, some fields may be omitted or their lengths may change. For example, the HE-SIG-B field is included in the HE PPDU format for multiple users (MU), while it is not included in the HE PPDU format for single users (SU). Also, the HE trigger-based (TB) PPDU format does not include HE-SIG-B, and the length of the HE-STF field may be changed to 8us. The HE ER (Extended Range) SU PPDU format does not include the HE-SIG-B field, and the length of the HE-SIG-A field may be changed to 16us.

[0091] Figures 8 to 10 illustrate examples of resource units in a wireless LAN system to which this disclosure can be applied.

[0092] Referring to Figures 8 to 10, a resource unit (RU) defined in a wireless LAN system will be explained. An RU may contain multiple subcarriers (or tones). An RU may be used when transmitting a signal to multiple STAs based on the OFDMA method. An RU may also be defined when transmitting a signal to a single STA. An RU may be used for the STF, LTF, data field, etc., of a PPDU.

[0093] As shown in Figures 8 to 10, RUs corresponding to different numbers of tones (i.e., subcarriers) can be used to constitute some fields of a 20MHz, 40MHz, or 80MHz X-PPDU (where X is HE, EHT, etc.). For example, resources may be allocated in units of RUs shown for the X-STF, X-LTF, and Data fields.

[0094] Figure 8 shows an example of resource unit (RU) configuration used in the 20 MHz bandwidth.

[0095] As shown at the top of Figure 8, 26 units (i.e., units corresponding to 26 tones) may be allocated. Six tones may be used as a guard band in the leftmost band of the 20MHz band, and five tones may be used as a guard band in the rightmost band of the 20MHz band. In addition, seven DC tones may be inserted in the center band, i.e., the DC band, and there may be 26 units corresponding to 13 tones on each side of the DC band. Furthermore, 26, 52, or 106 units may be allocated to the other bands. Each unit may be allocated for the STA or the user.

[0096] The RU configuration in Figure 8 can be used not only for situations involving multiple users (MU) but also for situations involving a single user (SU), in which case it is possible to use one 242 unit as shown at the bottom of Figure 8. In this case, three DC tones may be inserted.

[0097] In the example shown in Figure 8, various sizes of RUs are illustrated, such as 26-RU, 52-RU, 106-RU, and 242-RU, but the specific sizes of such RUs may be reduced or expanded. Therefore, the specific size of each RU (i.e., the number of corresponding tones) is not limited in this disclosure and is illustrative. Also, in this disclosure, the number of RUs within a given bandwidth (e.g., 20, 40, 80, 160, 320 MHz, ...) may differ depending on the size of the RU. The same applies to the example in Figure 8 as to the example in Figure 9 and / or Figure 10 described below, in which the size and / or number of RUs may be changed.

[0098] Figure 9 shows an example arrangement of resource units (RUs) used in the 40 MHz bandwidth.

[0099] Just as various sizes of RU were used in the example in Figure 8, 26-RU, 52-RU, 106-RU, 242-RU, 484-RU, etc., may be used in the example in Figure 9. In addition, five DC tones may be inserted at the center frequency, twelve tones may be used as a guard band in the leftmost band of the 40MHz bandwidth, and eleven tones may be used as a guard band in the rightmost band of the 40MHz bandwidth.

[0100] Furthermore, as shown in the figure, 484-RU may be used when it is used for a single user.

[0101] Figure 10 shows an example arrangement of resource units (RUs) used in the 80 MHz bandwidth.

[0102] Just as various sizes of RUs were used in the examples in Figures 8 and 9, 26-RU, 52-RU, 106-RU, 242-RU, 484-RU, 996-RU, etc., may be used in the example in Figure 10. Furthermore, in the 80MHz PPDU, the RU arrangement of the HE PPDU and EHT PPDU may differ from each other, and the example in Figure 10 shows an example of the RU arrangement for the 80MHz EHT PPDU. In the example in Figure 10, the leftmost band of the 80MHz bandwidth uses 12 tones as a guard band, and the rightmost band of the 80MHz bandwidth uses 11 tones as a guard band, which is the same for both the HE PPDU and the EHT PPDU. Unlike the HE PPDU, where seven DC tones are inserted into the DC band and there is one 26-RU on each side of the DC band corresponding to 13 tones, the EHT PPDU has 23 DC tones inserted into the DC band and one 26-RU on both the left and right sides of the DC band. Unlike the HE PPDU, where there is one null subcarrier between 242-RUs that are not in the center band, the EHT PPDU has five null subcarriers. In the HE PPDU, one 484-RU does not contain null subcarriers, but in the EHT PPDU, one 484-RU contains five null subcarriers.

[0103] Furthermore, as shown in the same figure, the 996-RU may be used when used for a single user, and in this case, the insertion of five DC tones is common to both the HE PPDU and the EHT PPDU.

[0104] An EHT PPDU of 160MHz or higher may be configured with multiple 80MHz subblocks as shown in Figure 10. The RU configuration for each 80MHz subblock may be the same as the RU configuration for the 80MHz EHT PPDU in Figure 10. When the 80MHz subblock of a 160MHz or 320MHz EHT PPDU is not punctured and the entire 80MHz subblock is used as part of an RU or MRU (Multiple RU), the 80MHz subblock may use RU 996-996 as shown in Figure 10.

[0105] Here, an MRU corresponds to a group of subcarriers (or tones) composed of multiple RUs, and the multiple RUs constituting an MRU may be of the same size or of different sizes. For example, a single MRU may be defined as 52+26-tone, 106+26-tone, 484+242-tone, 996+484-tone, 996+484+242-tone, 2×996+484-tone, 3×996-tone, or 3×996+484-tone. Here, the multiple RUs constituting a single MRU may correspond to small-sized RUs (e.g., 26, 52, 106) or large-sized RUs (e.g., 242, 484, 996, etc.). That is, a single MRU containing both small-sized and large-sized RUs may not be set / defined. Also, the multiple RUs constituting a single MRU may or may not be consecutive in the frequency domain.

[0106] If the 80MHz subblock contains RUs smaller than 996 tones, or if a portion of the 80MHz subblock is punctured, the 80MHz subblock may use an RU arrangement excluding 996-tone RUs.

[0107] The RUs of this disclosure may be used in uplink (UL) and / or downlink (DL) communication. For example, in the case of trigger-based UL-MU communication, an STA (e.g., AP) transmitting a trigger may use trigger information (e.g., a trigger frame or TRS (triggered response scheduling)) to assign a first RU (e.g., 26 / 52 / 106 / 242-RU, etc.) to a first STA and a second RU (e.g., 26 / 52 / 106 / 242-RU, etc.) to a second STA. The first STA can then transmit a first trigger-based (TB) PPDU based on the first RU, and the second STA can transmit a second TB PPDU based on the second RU. The first and second TB PPDUs may be transmitted to the AP in the same time interval.

[0108] For example, when a DL MU PPDU is configured, the STA (e.g., AP) sending the DL MU PPDU can assign a first RU (e.g., 26 / 52 / 106 / 242-RU) to the first STA and a second RU (e.g., 26 / 52 / 106 / 242-RU) to the second STA. That is, the sending STA (e.g., AP) can use the first RU to send the HE-STF, HE-LTF, and Data fields for the first STA within a single MU PPDU, and use the second RU to send the HE-STF, HE-LTF, and Data fields for the second STA.

[0109] Information regarding the RU's placement may be signaled via HE-SIG-B in HE PPDU format.

[0110] Figure 11 shows an exemplary structure of the HE-SIG-B field.

[0111] As shown in the figure, the HE-SIG-B field may include a common field and a user-specific field. When HE-SIG-B compression is applied (for example, in full-bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission), the common field may not be included in HE-SIG-B, and the HE-SIG-B content channel may include only the user-specific field. When HE-SIG-B compression is not applied, the common field may be included in HE-SIG-B.

[0112] Common fields may include information related to RU allocation (e.g., RU assignment, RUs allocated for MU-MIMO, number of MU-MIMO users (STAs), etc.).

[0113] The common field may contain N*8 RU allocation subfields, where N is the number of subfields, and may have values ​​such as N=1 for 20 or 40MHz MU PPDU, N=2 for 80MHz MU PPDU, N=4 for 160MHz or 80+80MHz MU PPDU, and so on. One 8-bit RU allocation subfield can indicate the size (26, 52, 106, etc.) and frequency position (or RU index) of RUs included in the 20MHz band.

[0114] For example, if the value of the 8-bit RU allocation subfield is 00000000, nine 26-RUs are arranged sequentially from left to right in the example shown in Figure 8. If the value is 00000001, seven 26-RUs and one 52-RU are arranged sequentially from left to right. If the value is 00000010, five 26-RUs, one 52-RU, and two 26-RUs are arranged sequentially from left to right.

[0115] As an additional example, if the value of the 8-bit RU allocation subfield is 01000y2y1y0, then one 106-RU and five 26-RUs are arranged sequentially from left to right in the example in Figure 8. In this case, multiple users / STAs may be assigned to the 106-RU using the MU-MIMO method. Specifically, up to eight users / STAs may be assigned to the 106-RU, and the number of users / STAs assigned to the 106-RU is determined based on the 3-bit information (i.e., y2y1y0). For example, if the 3-bit information (y2y1y0) corresponds to a decimal value N, then the number of users / STAs assigned to the 106-RU may be N+1.

[0116] Basically, one user / STA may be assigned to each of multiple RUs, and different users / STAs may be assigned to different RUs. For RUs of a certain size or larger (e.g., 106, 242, 484, 996-tones, ...), multiple users / STAs may be assigned to a single RU, and the MU-MIMO scheme may be applied to such multiple users / STAs.

[0117] The set of user-specific fields contains information about how all users (STAs) of the PPDU decode their payload. User-specific fields may contain zero or more user block fields. A non-final user block field contains two user fields (i.e., information used for decoding in two STAs). A final user block field contains one or two user fields. The number of user fields may be indicated by the RU allocation subfield of HE-SIG-B, by the symbol count of HE-SIG-B, or by the MU-MIMO user field of HE-SIG-A. User-specific fields may be encoded separately or independently of common fields.

[0118] Figure 12 is a diagram illustrating the MU-MIMO scheme in which multiple users / STAs are assigned to a single RU.

[0119] In the example in Figure 12, we assume that the value of the RU allocation subfield is 01000010. This corresponds to the case where y2y1y0 = 010 in 01000y2y1y0. 010 corresponds to 2 in decimal (i.e., N=2), and it can be shown that 3 (=N+1) users are assigned to one RU. In this case, one 106-RU and five 26-RUs may be arranged sequentially from the leftmost to the rightmost of a particular 20MHz band / channel. Three users / STAs may be assigned to the 106-RU in a MU-MIMO manner. As a result, a total of 8 users / STAs are assigned to the 20MHz band / channel, and the user-specific field of HE-SIG-B may contain 8 user fields (i.e., 4 user block fields). The 8 user fields may be assigned to RUs as shown in Figure 12.

[0120] User fields may be constructed based on two formats. User fields for MU-MIMO assignments may be constructed in the first format, and user fields for non-MU-MIMO assignments may be constructed in the second format. Referring to an example in Figure 12, user fields 1 to 3 may be based on the first format, and user fields 4 to 8 may be based on the second format. The first and second formats may contain bit information of the same length (e.g., 21 bits).

[0121] The user fields of the first format (i.e., the format for MU-MIMO assignment) may be configured as follows: For example, of the total 21 bits of a single user field, B0 to B10 may contain the user's identification information (e.g., STA-ID, AID, partial AID, etc.), B11 to B14 may contain spatial configuration information such as the number of spatial streams for the user, B15 to B18 may contain MCS (Modulation and coding scheme) information applied to the Data field of the PPDU, B19 may be defined as a reserved field, and B20 may contain coding type information applied to the Data field of the PPDU (e.g., BCC (binary convolutional coding) or LDPC (low-density parity check)).

[0122] The user field of the second format (i.e., the format for non-MU-MIMO assignments) may be configured as follows: For example, of the 21 bits in a single user field, B0 to B10 may contain the user's identification information (e.g., STA-ID, AID, partial AID, etc.), B11 to B13 may contain spatial stream number (NSTS) information applied to the RU, B14 may contain information indicating whether beamforming is possible (or whether a beamforming steering matrix can be applied), B15 to B18 may contain MCS (Modulation and coding scheme) information applied to the Data field of the PPDU, B19 may contain information indicating whether DCM (dual carrier modulation) can be applied, and B20 may contain coding type information applied to the Data field of the PPDU (e.g., BCC or LDPC).

[0123] The terms MCS, MCS information, MCS index, and MCS field used in this disclosure may be represented by specific index values. For example, MCS information may be represented by index 0 to index 11. MCS information may include information about the star modulation type (e.g., BPSK, QPSK, 16-QAM, 64-QAM, 256-QAM, 1024-QAM, etc.) and information about the coding rate (e.g., 1 / 2, 2 / 3, 3 / 4, 5 / 6, etc.). Information about the channel coding type (e.g., BCC or LDPC) may be omitted from the MCS information.

[0124] Figure 13 shows examples of PPDU formats to which this disclosure can be applied.

[0125] The PPDU in Figure 13 may be referred to by various names such as EHT PPDU, Transmit PPDU, Receive PPDU, Type 1 or Type N PPDU. For example, the PPDU or EHT PPDU of this disclosure can be referred to by various names such as Transmit PPDU, Receive PPDU, Type 1 or Type N PPDU. Furthermore, the EHT PPU can be used in EHT systems and / or new wireless LAN systems that improve upon EHT systems.

[0126] The EHT MU PPDU in Figure 13 corresponds to a carry PPDU that carries one or more data (or PSDUs) for one or more users. In other words, the EHT MU PPDU may be used for either SU transmissions or MU transmissions. For example, the EHT MU PPDU may correspond to a PPDU for one or more receiving STAs.

[0127] In Figure 13, the EHT TB PPDU omits the EHT-SIG compared to the EHT MU PPDU. An STA that receives a trigger for UL MU transmission (e.g., a trigger frame or TRS) can perform the UL transmission based on the EHT TB PPDU format.

[0128] In the example of the EHT PPDU format shown in Figure 13, L-STF to EHT-LTF correspond to the preamble or physical preamble and may be generated / transmitted / received / acquired / decoded at the physical layer.

[0129] The subcarrier frequency spacing for L-STF, L-LTF, L-SIG, RL-SIG, U-SIG (Universal SIGNAL), and EHT-SIG fields (collectively referred to as pre-EHT modulated fields) may be set to 312.5 kHz. The subcarrier frequency spacing for EHT-STF, EHT-LTF, Data, and PE fields (collectively referred to as EHT modulated fields) may be set to 78.125 kHz. In other words, the tone / subcarrier index for L-STF, L-LTF, L-SIG, RL-SIG, U-SIG, and EHT-SIG fields may be displayed in units of 312.5 kHz, while the tone / subcarrier index for EHT-STF, EHT-LTF, Data, and PE fields may be displayed in units of 78.125 kHz.

[0130] The L-LTF and L-STF in Figure 13 may be configured identically to the corresponding fields of the PPDU described in Figures 6 and 7.

[0131] The L-SIG field in Figure 13 consists of 24 bits and may be used to communicate rate and length information. For example, the L-SIG field may include a 4-bit Rate field, a 1-bit Reserved bit, a 12-bit Length field, a 1-bit Parity field, and a 6-bit Tail field. For example, the 12-bit Length field may contain information about the length or time duration of the PPDU. For example, the value of the 12-bit Length field may be determined based on the type of PPDU. For example, for non-HT, HT, VHT, or EHT PPDUs, the value of the Length field may be determined to be a multiple of 3. For example, for HE PPDUs, the value of the Length field may be determined to be a multiple of 3 + 1 or a multiple of 3 + 2.

[0132] For example, a transmitting STA can apply BCC encoding based on half the coding rate to 24 bits of information in the L-SIG field. The transmitting STA can then obtain 48 bits of BCC encoded bits. BPSK modulation may be applied to the 48 bits of encoded bits to generate 48 BPSK symbols. The transmitting STA can map the 48 BPSK symbols to positions excluding the pilot subcarrier (e.g., {subcarrier indices -21, -7, +7, +21}) and the DC subcarrier (e.g., {subcarrier index 0}). Consequently, the 48 BPSK symbols may be mapped to subcarrier indices -26 to -22, -20 to -8, -6 to -1, +1 to +6, +8 to +20, and +22 to +26. The transmitting STA can further map the signal {-1, -1, -1, 1} to subcarrier indices {-28, -27, +27, +28}. The signal may be used for channel estimation in the frequency domain corresponding to {-28, -27, +27, +28}.

[0133] The transmitting STA can generate an RL-SIG that is generated identically to the L-SIG. BPSK modulation is applied to the RL-SIG. Based on the presence of the RL-SIG, the receiving STA can determine that the received PPDU is either an HE PPDU or an EHT PPDU.

[0134] A U-SIG (Universal SIG) may be inserted after the RL-SIG in Figure 13. The U-SIG can be named in various ways, such as first SIG field, first SIG, first type SIG, control signal, control signal field, or first (type) control signal.

[0135] A U-SIG may contain N bits of information, including information to identify the type of EHT PPDU. For example, a U-SIG may consist of two symbols (e.g., two consecutive OFDM symbols). Each symbol for the U-SIG (e.g., an OFDM symbol) may have a duration of 4us, and the U-SIG may have a total duration of 8us. Each symbol of the U-SIG may be used to transmit 26 bits of information. For example, each symbol of the U-SIG may be transmitted and received based on 52 data tones and 4 pilot tones.

[0136] In a U-SIG (or U-SIG field), for example, A-bit information (e.g., 52 uncoded bits) may be transmitted. The first symbol of the U-SIG (e.g., U-SIG-1) may transmit the first X bits of the total A-bit information (e.g., 26 uncoded bits), and the second symbol of the U-SIG (e.g., U-SIG-2) may transmit the remaining Y bits of the total A-bit information (e.g., 26 uncoded bits). For example, a transmitting STA can obtain the 26 uncoded bits contained in each U-SIG symbol. The transmitting STA can perform convolution encoding (e.g., BCC encoding) based on a rate of R=1 / 2 to generate 52-coded bits and perform interleaving on the 52-coded bits. The transmitting STA can perform BPSK modulation on the interleaved 52-coded bits to generate 52 BPSK symbols to be assigned to each U-SIG symbol. A single U-SIG symbol may be transmitted based on 56 tones (subcarriers) from subcarrier index -28 to subcarrier index +28, excluding DC index 0. The 52 BPSK symbols generated by the transmitting STA may be transmitted based on the remaining tones (subcarriers), excluding the pilot tones -21, -7, +7, and +21.

[0137] For example, the A-bit information transmitted by the U-SIG (e.g., 52 uncoded bits) may include a CRC field (e.g., a 4-bit field) and a tail field (e.g., a 6-bit field). The CRC field and tail field may be transmitted in a second symbol of the U-SIG. The CRC field may be generated based on 26 bits assigned to the first symbol of the U-SIG and the remaining 16 bits in the second symbol excluding the CRC / tail field, and may be generated based on a conventional CRC calculation algorithm. The tail field may also be used to terminate the trellis of the convolution decoder and may be set to 0, for example.

[0138] The A-bit information transmitted by the U-SIG (or U-SIG field) (e.g., 52 uncoded bits) can be distinguished into version-independent bits and version-dependent bits. For example, the size of the version-independent bits may be fixed or variable. For example, the version-independent bits may be assigned only to the first symbol of the U-SIG, or they may be assigned to both the first and second symbols of the U-SIG. For example, the version-independent bits and version-dependent bits may have various names, such as first control bits and second control bits.

[0139] For example, the version-independent bits of the U-SIG may include a 3-bit physical layer version identifier (PHY version identifier). For example, the 3-bit PHY version identifier may contain information about the physical layer version (PHY version) of the transmitted and received PPDUs. For example, the first value of the 3-bit PHY version identifier can indicate that the transmitted and received PPDUs are EHT PPDUs. In other words, a transmitting STA can set the 3-bit PHY version identifier to the first value when transmitting an EHT PPDU. In other words, a receiving STA can determine that the received PPDU is an EHT PPDU based on the PHY version identifier having the first value.

[0140] For example, the version-independent bits of a U-SIG may include a 1-bit UL / DL flag field. The first value of the 1-bit UL / DL flag field is related to UL communication, and the second value of the UL / DL flag field is related to DL communication.

[0141] For example, the version-independent bits of the U-SIG may include information about the length of the TXOP (transmission opportunity) and information about the BSS color ID.

[0142] For example, if EHT PPDUs are categorized into various types (e.g., EHT PPDUs associated with SU mode, EHT PPDUs associated with MU mode, EHT PPDUs associated with TB mode, EHT PPDUs associated with Extended Range transmission, etc.), information regarding the type of EHT PPDU may be included in version-dependent bits of the U-SIG.

[0143] For example, a U-SIG may include information about: 1) a bandwidth field containing information about bandwidth; 2) a field containing information about the MCS method applied to the EHT-SIG; 3) an indication field containing information about whether or not the DCM method is applied to the EHT-SIG; 4) a field containing information about the number of symbols used for the EHT-SIG; 5) a field containing information about whether or not the EHT-SIG is generated across the entire bandwidth; 6) a field containing information about the type of EHT-LTF / STF; and 7) fields indicating the length of the EHT-LTF and the CP length.

[0144] Preamble puncturing may be applied to the PPDU in Figure 13. Preamble puncturing can mean the transmission of a PPDU in which one or more 20 MHz subchannels within the PPDU bandwidth are not present. Preamble puncturing may be applied to PPDUs transmitted to one or more users. For example, the resolution of preamble puncturing may be 20 MHz for EHT MU PPDUs in OFDMA transmissions with bandwidths greater than 40 MHz and non-OFDMA transmissions with bandwidths of 80 MHz and 160 MHz. That is, in the above case, puncturing of subchannels smaller than 242 tone RU may not be permitted. Also, for EHT MU PPDUs in non-OFDMA transmissions with a bandwidth of 320 MHz, the resolution of preamble puncturing may be 40 MHz. That is, puncturing of subchannels smaller than 484 tone RU in a 320 MHz bandwidth may not be permitted. Furthermore, in EHT MU PPDU, preamble puncturing does not need to be applied to the primary 20MHz channel.

[0145] For example, for an EHT MU PPDU, information regarding preamble puncturing may be included in the U-SIG and / or EHT-SIG. For instance, the first field of the U-SIG may include information regarding the contiguous bandwidth of the PPDU, and the second field of the U-SIG may include information regarding the preamble puncturing applied to the PPDU.

[0146] For example, U-SIGs and EHT-SIGs may include information about preamble puncturing based on the following method: If the bandwidth of the PPDU exceeds 80 MHz, the U-SIGs may be configured individually in 80 MHz units. For example, if the bandwidth of the PPDU is 160 MHz, the PPDU may include a first U-SIG for the first 80 MHz band and a second U-SIG for the second 80 MHz band. In this case, the first field of the first U-SIG may include information about the 160 MHz bandwidth, and the second field of the first U-SIG may include information about preamble puncturing applied to the first 80 MHz band (i.e., information about the preamble puncturing pattern). The first field of the second U-SIG may include information about the 160 MHz bandwidth, and the second field of the second U-SIG may include information about preamble puncturing applied to the second 80 MHz band (i.e., information about the preamble puncturing pattern). An EHT-SIG following the first U-SIG may include information about preamble puncturing applied to the second 80 MHz band (i.e., information about the preamble puncturing pattern), and an EHT-SIG following the second U-SIG may include information about preamble puncturing applied to the first 80 MHz band (i.e., information about the preamble puncturing pattern).

[0147] As an addition or alternative, the U-SIG and EHT-SIG may include information on preamble puncturing based on the following methods: The U-SIG may include information on preamble puncturing for the entire bandwidth (i.e., information on the preamble puncturing pattern). That is, the EHT-SIG may not include information on preamble puncturing, and only the U-SIG may include information on preamble puncturing (i.e., information on the preamble puncturing pattern).

[0148] U-SIGs may be configured in 20MHz units. For example, when an 80MHz PPDU is configured, U-SIGs may be duplicated. That is, an 80MHz PPDU may contain four identical U-SIGs. PPDUs with a bandwidth exceeding 80MHz may contain different U-SIGs.

[0149] The EHT-SIG in Figure 13 may contain control information for the receiving STA. The EHT-SIG may be transmitted with at least one symbol, which may have a length of 4us. Information regarding the number of symbols used for the EHT-SIG may be included in the U-SIG.

[0150] The EHT-SIG may include the technical features of the HE-SIG-B described in Figures 11 and 12. For example, the EHT-SIG may include common fields and user-specific fields, identical to the example in Figure 8. The common fields of the EHT-SIG may be omitted, and the number of user-specific fields may be determined based on the number of users.

[0151] As in the example in Figure 11, the common fields and user-specific fields of the EHT-SIG may be coded separately. One user block field included in the user-specific field contains information for two user fields, but the last user block field included in the user-specific field may contain one or two user fields. That is, one user block field of the EHT-SIG may contain a maximum of two user fields. As in the example in Figure 12, each user field may be related to MU-MIMO assignment or non-MU-MIMO assignment.

[0152] Similar to the example in Figure 11, the common field of the EHT-SIG may include a CRC bit and a Tail bit, the length of the CRC bit may be determined to be 4 bits, and the length of the Tail bit may be determined to be 6 bits and set to 000000.

[0153] As in the example shown in Figure 11, the common fields of the EHT-SIG may include RU allocation information. RU allocation information can represent information about the location of RUs to which multiple users (i.e., multiple receiving STAs) are assigned. RU allocation information may consist of 9-bit (or N-bit) units.

[0154] A mode in which the common field of the EHT-SIG is omitted may be supported. This mode in which the common field of the EHT-SIG is omitted can be called compressed mode. When compressed mode is used, multiple users of the EHT PPDU (i.e., multiple receiving STAs) can decode the PPDU (e.g., the data field of the PPDU) based on non-OFDMA. That is, multiple users of the EHT PPDU can decode the PPDU (e.g., the data field of the PPDU) received in the same frequency band. When non-compressed mode is used, multiple users of the EHT PPDU can decode the PPDU (e.g., the data field of the PPDU) based on OFDMA. That is, multiple users of the EHT PPDU can receive the PPDU (e.g., the data field of the PPDU) in different frequency bands.

[0155] The EHT-SIG may be constructed based on various MCS techniques. As mentioned above, information related to the MCS technique applied to the EHT-SIG may be included in the U-SIG. The EHT-SIG may be constructed based on the DCM technique. The DCM technique provides an effect similar to frequency diversity by reusing the same signal on two subcarriers, thereby reducing interference and improving coverage. For example, modulation symbols with the same modulation technique applied may be repeatedly mapped on available tones / subcarriers. For example, of the N data tones allocated for the EHT-SIG (e.g., 52 data tones), the first half of the tones (e.g., tones 1-26) may be mapped to modulation symbols with a specific modulation technique applied (e.g., BPSK modulation symbols), and the remaining half of the tones (e.g., tones 27-52) may also be mapped to modulation symbols with the same specific modulation technique applied (e.g., BPSK modulation symbols). In other words, the modulation symbol mapped to the first tone and the modulation symbol mapped to the 27th tone are the same. As mentioned above, information related to whether or not the DCM method is applied to the EHT-SIG (e.g., a 1-bit field) may be included in the U-SIG. The EHT-STF in Figure 13 may be used to improve automatic gain control (AGC) estimation in a MIMO or OFDMA environment. The EHT-LTF in Figure 13 may be used to estimate the channel in a MIMO or OFDMA environment.

[0156] Information regarding the types of STFs and / or LTFs (including information regarding the GI (guard interval) applied to the LTF) may be included in the U-SIG field and / or EHT-SIG field in Figure 13, etc.

[0157] The PPDU in Figure 13 (i.e., the EHT PPDU) may be configured based on the example RU configurations in Figures 8 to 10.

[0158] For example, an EHT PPDU transmitted over a 20MHz bandwidth, i.e., a 20MHz EHT PPDU, may be configured based on the RUs in Figure 8. That is, the locations of the RUs for the EHT-STF, EHT-LTF, and data field included in the EHT PPDU may be determined as shown in Figure 8. An EHT PPDU transmitted over a 40MHz bandwidth, i.e., a 40MHz EHT PPDU, may be configured based on the RUs in Figure 9. That is, the locations of the RUs for the EHT-STF, EHT-LTF, and data field included in the EHT PPDU may be determined as shown in Figure 9.

[0159] An EHT PPDU transmitted over the 80MHz band, i.e., an 80MHz EHT PPDU, may be constructed based on the RUs in Figure 10. That is, the locations of the RUs for the EHT-STF, EHT-LTF, and data field included in the EHT PPDU may be determined as shown in Figure 10. The tone-plan for 80MHz in Figure 10 may correspond to two iterations of the tone-plan for 40MHz in Figure 9.

[0160] The tone plan for 160 / 240 / 320MHz may consist of multiple repetitions of the pattern shown in Figure 9 or Figure 10.

[0161] The PPDU in Figure 13 may be identified as an EHT PPDU based on the following method.

[0162] The receiving STA can determine the type of the received PPDU to be an EHT PPDU based on the following: For example, the received PPDU may be determined to be an EHT PPDU if 1) the first symbol after the L-LTF signal of the received PPDU is BPSK, 2) an RL-SIG is detected in which the L-SIG of the received PPDU is repeated, and 3) the result of applying modulo 3 to the value of the Length field of the L-SIG of the received PPDU (i.e., the remainder when divided by 3) is detected to be 0. When the received PPDU is determined to be an EHT PPDU, the receiving STA can determine the type of the EHT PPDU based on the bit information contained in the symbol after the RL-SIG in Figure 13. In other words, the receiving STA can determine the received PPDU to be an EHT PPDU based on 1) the first symbol after the L-LTF signal which is BSPK, 2) an RL-SIG that is consecutive to the L-SIG field and identical to the L-SIG, and 3) an L-SIG that contains a Length field in which the result of applying modulo 3 is set to 0.

[0163] For example, a receiving STA can determine the type of the received PPDU to be HE PPDU based on the following: For example, if 1) the first symbol after the L-LTF signal is BPSK, 2) an RL-SIG consisting of repeated L-SIGs is detected, and 3) the result of applying modulo 3 to the Length value of the L-SIG is detected to be 1 or 2, then the received PPDU may be determined to be HE PPDU.

[0164] For example, a receiving STA can determine the type of the received PPDU to be non-HT, HT, or VHT PPDU based on the following: For example, if 1) the first symbol after the L-LTF signal is BPSK, and 2) no RL-SIG (where L-SIG is repeated) is detected, the received PPDU may be determined to be non-HT, HT, or VHT PPDU.

[0165] Furthermore, if the receiving STA detects an RL-SIG in the received PPDU where the L-SIG is repeated, it can determine that it is an HE PPDU or an EHT PPDU. In this case, if the rate (6Mbps) check fails, the received PPDU may be determined to be a non-HT, HT, or VHT PPDU. If the rate (6Mbps) check and parity check pass, and the result of applying modulo 3 to the Length value of the L-SIG is detected as 0, the received PPDU may be determined to be an EHT PPDU; if the result of Length mod 3 is not 0, it may be determined to be an HE PPDU.

[0166] The PPDU in Figure 13 may be used to send and receive various types of frames. For example, the PPDU in Figure 13 may be used for the simultaneous transmission and reception of one or more control frames, management frames, or data frames.

[0167] Figure 14 shows an exemplary format of a trigger frame to which this disclosure may apply.

[0168] A trigger frame can allocate resources for one or more TB PPDU transmissions and request TB PPDU transmissions. The trigger frame may also include other information requested by the STA that will transmit TB PPDUs in response. The trigger frame may include common info and user info list fields in its frame body.

[0169] The common information field may include information that applies in common to one or more TB PPDU transmissions requested by a trigger frame, such as the trigger type, UL length, presence or absence of a subsequent trigger frame (e.g., More TF), presence or absence of a CS (channel sensing) request, and UL BW (bandwidth). Figure 14 shows an illustrative common information field format for an EHT variant.

[0170] The 4-bit trigger type subfield may have values ​​from 0 to 15. Of these, values ​​0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 of the trigger type subfield are defined to correspond to basic, BFRP (Beamforming Report Poll), MU-BAR (multi user-block acknowledgement request), MU-RTS (multi user-request to send), BSRP (Buffer Status Report Poll), GCR (groupcast with retries) MU-BAR, BQRP (Bandwidth Query Report Poll), and NFRP (NDP Feedback Report Poll), respectively, while values ​​from 8 to 15 are defined as reserved.

[0171] Among the common information, the trigger-dependent common info subfield may contain information that is selectively included based on the trigger type.

[0172] A special user info field may be included within the trigger frame. The special user info field does not contain user-specific information, but it does contain extended common information not provided in the common information field.

[0173] The user information list contains zero or more user info fields. Figure 14 illustrates the EHT variant user info field format.

[0174] The AID12 subfield essentially indicates that it is a user information field for the STA having that AID. It may also be used for other purposes, such as assigning a Random Access (RA)-RU when the AID12 field has a predetermined specific value, or being configured as a special user info field. A special user info field is a user information field that does not contain user-specific information but includes extended common information not provided in the common information field. For example, a special user info field may be identified by the AID12 value 2007, and a special user info field flag subfield within the common information field may indicate whether or not it contains a special user info field.

[0175] The RU allocation subfield can indicate the size and location of the RU / MRU. For this purpose, the RU allocation subfield may be analyzed together with the PS160 (primary / secondary 160MHz) subfield of the user information field, the UL BW subfield of the common information field, etc.

[0176] In addition, in this disclosure, a tone plan may relate to rules for determining the size and / or location of resource units (RUs). Below, a tone plan applicable to an HE PPDU (i.e., a PPDU based on the IEEE 802.11ax standard) is described as an example. Specifically, the size / location of RUs applicable to an HE PPDU and the control information associated with RUs applicable to an HE PPDU are described.

[0177] In this disclosure, the control information associated with the RU (or the control information associated with the tone plan) may include control information relating to the size of the RU, its location, information of the user STA assigned to a particular RU, the frequency bandwidth for the PPDU containing the RU, and / or the modulation technique applied to the particular RU. The control information associated with the RU may be included in the SIG field. For example, the control information associated with the RU may be included in the HE-SIG-B field. That is, in the process of generating a transmit PPDU, the transmit STA can include control information for the RUs included in the PPDU in the HE-SIG-B field. The receive STA can also receive the HE-SIG-B included in the receive PPDU, obtain the control information included in the HE-SIG-B, determine whether or not there is an RU assigned to the receive STA, and decode the assigned RU based on the HE-SIG-B.

[0178] In existing wireless LAN systems (e.g., IEEE 802.11ax standard), the HE-STF, HE-LTF, and data field may be configured in RU units. That is, when a first RU is configured for a first receiving STA, the STF / LTF / data field for the first receiving STA may be transmitted and received by the first RU.

[0179] In existing wireless LAN systems (e.g., IEEE 802.11ax standard), a PPDU for one receiving STA (i.e., SU PPDU) and a PPDU for multiple receiving STAs (i.e., MU PPDU) may be defined separately, and a tone plan may be defined separately for each.

[0180] Specifically, a RU may contain multiple subcarriers. For example, if a RU contains N subcarriers, it may be expressed as an N-tone RU or N RU. The location of a particular RU may be indicated by a subcarrier index. Here, the subcarrier index may be defined in units of subcarrier frequency spacing. For example, in a wireless LAN system, the subcarrier frequency spacing may be 312.5 kHz or 78.125 kHz, and the subcarrier frequency spacing for a RU may be 78.125 kHz. That is, a subcarrier index "+1" for a RU means a position 78.125 kHz further up from the DC tone, and a subcarrier index "-1" for a RU means a position 78.125 kHz further down from the DC tone. For example, if the location of a particular RU is indicated as [-121:-96], the RU is located in the region from subcarrier index -121 to subcarrier index -96, and consequently, the RU may contain 26 subcarriers. Furthermore, N-tone RU may include a pre-set pilot tone.

[0181] Trigger frame for non-legacy PPDU and / or aggregated PPDU

[0182] In a wireless LAN system, TB PPDU transmission corresponding to UL multiplexing (multi-user, MU) transmission can be performed using a trigger frame.

[0183] In connection with this, this disclosure proposes a trigger frame for TB PPDU transmission and reception in next-generation wireless LAN systems (e.g., Next 11be, UHR, etc.) based on the aforementioned trigger frame (e.g., related to Figure 14).

[0184] Furthermore, in order to improve efficiency and throughput, this disclosure proposes a trigger frame that takes into account TB A-PPDU (agrregulated-PPDU), in which PPDUs of different wireless LAN versions can be transmitted simultaneously.

[0185] In other words, the trigger frame proposed in this disclosure may be used to trigger / solocit the transmission of TB PPDU in a next-generation wireless LAN system. Additionally or alternatively, the trigger frame proposed in this disclosure may be used to trigger / solocit the transmission of TB A-PPDU.

[0186] Figure 15 illustrates an A-PPDU structure to which this disclosure can be applied.

[0187] Referring to Figure 15, A-PPDU may consist of a first sub-PPDU, a second sub-PPDU, and a third sub-PPDU.

[0188] For example, the first sub-PPDU can support a 160MHz bandwidth, the second sub-PPDU can support an 80MHz bandwidth, and the third sub-PPDU can support an 80MHz bandwidth.

[0189] In connection with this, each sub-PPDU may be a PPDU for a different wireless LAN version. For example, each sub-PPDU may be an HE PPDU, an EHT PPDU, or a next-generation PPDU (e.g., next version PPDU, UHR PPDU, etc.).

[0190] This disclosure proposes an enhanced trigger frame (e.g., related to Figure 14) that improves upon existing trigger frames (e.g., related to Figure 14) for triggering / requesting TB PPDUs and various TB A-PPDUs in next-generation wireless LAN systems.

[0191] The improved trigger frame may correspond to the next version trigger frame to be considered in next-generation wireless LAN systems.

[0192] For clarity of explanation, the improved trigger frames proposed in this disclosure will be referred to as non-legacy trigger frames. For example, legacy trigger frames may include trigger frames that trigger / request HE version PPDUs and trigger frames that trigger / request EHT version PPDUs (e.g., Figure 14).

[0193] In the context of this disclosure, "non-legacy" may mean the next version following an existing version / variant.

[0194] As a specific example, the term "non-legacy" in this disclosure may be replaced by a version / variant expression later than the EHT version / variant (e.g., UHR).

[0195] A non-legacy trigger frame may include a non-legacy variant common info field, a non-legacy variant special user info field, and a non-legacy user info field.

[0196] Here, the non-legacy variant common information field, the non-legacy variant special user information field, and the non-legacy user information field can mean the variant common information field, the variant special user information field, and the user information field for the next version (e.g., next 11be, UHR, etc.) of the next-generation wireless LAN system, respectively.

[0197] If a non-legacy trigger frame triggers an A-PPDU, it may include a (legacy) special user information field and a legacy variant user information field (e.g., an HE variant user information field and an EHT variant user information field).

[0198] Hereinafter, this disclosure describes trigger frames for cases where the wireless LAN system is defined only up to a 320MHz bandwidth (hereinafter referred to as Example 1), and trigger frames for cases where the wireless LAN system is defined up to a 480MHz / 640MHz bandwidth (hereinafter referred to as Example 2).

[0199] Example 1

[0200] This embodiment relates to non-legacy trigger frames when defined up to a 320 MHz bandwidth / channel width.

[0201] (Common information field for non-legacy variants)

[0202] Non-legacy variant common information fields may be defined based on legacy variant common information fields (for example, the EHT variant common information fields in Figure 14).

[0203] The non-legacy variant common information field may be used to indicate information for a non-legacy (i.e., next-version) TB PPDU. Furthermore, when an A-PPDU is transmitted, i.e., when the A-PPDU transmission is triggered / requested by the non-legacy trigger frame, the non-legacy variant common information field may also indicate information for a legacy TB PPDU (e.g., HE TB PPDU / EHT TB PPDU).

[0204] The subfields of the non-legacy variant common information field may be as follows:

[0205] The Trigger Type subfield may be defined as shown in Figure 14 and may be set to a value of 0 (i.e., Basic Trigger type) for triggers such as TB PPDU.

[0206] The UL length subfield, More TF subfield, CS required subfield, and UL bandwidth subfield may be defined as shown in Figure 14.

[0207] The GI And HE / EHT-LTF Type / Triggered TXOP sharing Mode subfield may include non-legacy (i.e., next-version) LTF Type indications, which may result in a change in the subfield's name. For example, this subfield may be renamed to GI And HE / EHT / Next version-LTF Type / Triggered TXOP sharing Mode subfield, or other names may be used. The definition of this subfield value may be the same as in Figure 14.

[0208] The Number Of HE / EHT-LTF Symbols subfield may include the number of non-legacy (i.e., next-version) LTF symbols, and the name of this subfield may be changed accordingly. For example, this subfield may be renamed to the Number Of HE / EHT / Next version-LTF Symbols subfield, or other names may be used. The definition of this subfield value may be as shown in Figure 14, or it may be further specified up to 16.

[0209] In addition, B23-B25 and B22 or B26 may be further used in connection with the definition of the subfield value. In connection with this, when a non-legacy trigger frame triggers an A-PPDU, the subfield can only indicate up to 8, in which case B22 / B26 may be reserved or used for parameter indications defined in the legacy variant common information field (e.g., the HE variant common information field).

[0210] The LDPC Extra Segment subfield, AP Tx Power subfield, Pre-FEC Padding Factor subfield, PE Disambiguity subfield, and UL Spatial Reuse subfield may be defined as shown in Figure 14.

[0211] In connection with this, the UL Spatial Reuse subfield may be set using the value of the Spatial Reuse 1 / 2 subfield of the non-legacy variant special user information field when triggering a non-legacy (i.e., next-version) TB PPDU. This setting method may be the same as the method used when triggering a legacy TB PPDU (e.g., EHT TB PPDU) when setting the value of the Spatial Reuse 1 / 2 subfield of the special user information field.

[0212] Note that B53 may be a reserved subfield, as shown in Figure 14.

[0213] In this disclosure, B54 and B55 can be used in a non-legacy variant common information field to distinguish which TB PPDU a non-legacy trigger frame triggers / requests. In connection with this, in a legacy variant common information field (e.g., an EHT variant common information field), B54 may be the HE / EHT P160 subfield, and B55 may be the Special User Info Field Flag subfield.

[0214] Furthermore, at least one specific bit included in the non-legacy variant common information field may be defined as the A-PPDU flag subfield, which may be used to indicate the A-PPDU. This subfield may be named the non-legacy (i.e., next-version) P160 subfield, or another name may be used.

[0215] Here, at least one specific bit may correspond to one of the bits B56-B62 in the non-legacy variant common information field. For example, B56 may be used to indicate A-PPDU related information. In connection with this, in the legacy variant common information field (e.g., the EHT variant common information field), B56-B62 may correspond to reserved subfields (e.g., the EHT Reserved subfield).

[0216] For example, the subfield may be set to 0 to indicate that the TB PPDU triggered / requested by the trigger frame is an A-PPDU, and the subfield may be set to 1 to indicate that the TB PPDU triggered / requested by the trigger frame is not an A-PPDU.

[0217] In connection with the setting / definition of the A-PPDU related subfields mentioned above, one of the bits B22, B26, and B53 may be used as an example of other reserved bits. However, considering the case of A-PPDU, it would be preferable not to use B22, B26, and B53, as information transmission errors may occur in legacy STAs (e.g., HE STAs).

[0218] B56-B62 in the non-legacy variant common information field may be changed to reserved subfields for the non-legacy (i.e., next version). Alternatively, some bits of B56-B62 in the variant common information field may be defined as specific subfields, and the remaining bits may be changed to reserved subfields for the non-legacy (i.e., next version).

[0219] Note that B63 in the non-legacy variant common information field may be a reserved field.

[0220] In this embodiment, we will specifically propose a method for distinguishing between various TB PPDUs.

[0221] [Table 1]

[0222] Related to Table 1, the last row in that table allows the non-AP EHT STA to transmit an HE TB PPDU at primary 160MHz in response to a trigger frame containing a special user information field.

[0223] Referring to Table 1, various TB PPDUs can be triggered / requested by the trigger frame defined in Figure 14.

[0224] For example, the trigger frame may trigger / request HE TB PPDU, EHT TB PPDU, and P160 HE TB PPDU + S160 EHT TB PPDU. Here, P160 HE TB PPDU and S160 EHT TB PPDU represent HE TB PPDU in the primary 160 MHz bandwidth and EHT TB PPDU in the secondary 160 MHz bandwidth, respectively. In this regard, the bandwidth actually used in P160 and S160 may be the same as or smaller than 160 MHz. Note that PPDUs transmitted may be distinguished by B54, B55, and B39 in the user information field.

[0225] The non-legacy trigger frames proposed in this disclosure (i.e., trigger frames in the next version) may be defined / configured to trigger / request non-legacy (i.e., next version) TB PPDUs, P160 HE TB PPDU + S160 non-legacy TB PPDUs, and P160 EHT TB PPDU + S160 non-legacy TB PPDUs, in addition to the HE TB PPDUs, EHT TB PPDUs, and P160 HE TB PPDU + S160 EHT TB PPDUs as exemplified above. In connection with this, the bandwidth actually used in P160 and S160 may be the same as or smaller than 160 MHz.

[0226] As mentioned above, B54, B55, and the A-PPDU flag subfield may be used to distinguish and trigger / request various TB PPDUs using a non-legacy trigger frame. User information field variants and assigned PPDUs may be distinguished by B39 of the user information field.

[0227] This disclosure proposes a bit setting scheme for each TB PPDU configuration when triggering TB PPDU / TB A-PPDU based on a non-legacy trigger frame.

[0228] The following specific bit setting schemes are proposed for i) HE TB PPDU, ii) EHT TB PPDU, iii) P160 HE TB PPDU + S160 EHT TB PPDU, iv) non-legacy TB PPDU, v) P160 HE TB PPDU + S160 non-legacy TB PPDU, and vi) P160 EHT TB PPDU + S160 non-legacy TB PPDU.

[0229] First, in order to trigger / indicate the HE TB PPDU, B54 may be set to a value of 1, B55 may be set to a value of 1, and the A-PPDU flag subfield may be set to a value of 1.

[0230] Next, to trigger / indicate an EHT TB PPDU, B54 may be set to 0, B55 to 0, and the A-PPDU flag subfield may be set to 1. The PHY version identifier subfield within the special user information field (e.g., the EHT variant special user information field) can also indicate an EHT.

[0231] Next, to trigger / indicate P160 HE TB PPDU + S160 EHT TB PPDU, B54 is set to a value of 1, B55 is set to a value of 0, and the A-PPDU flag subfield may be set to a value of 1 or 0. Note that the PHY version identifier subfield in the special user information field (e.g., the EHT variant special user information field) can indicate EHT.

[0232] In connection with this, it would be preferable to define the A-PPDU flag subfield as a single value. Furthermore, the variant of the user information field may be distinguished by B39 in the user information field; a B39 set to a value of 0 indicates the HE variant, while a B39 set to a value of 1 indicates the EHT variant.

[0233] In relation to the aforementioned TB PPDU configuration, when decoding the trigger frame, (all) non-legacy (i.e., next-generation) STAs can also analyze it as a legacy trigger frame (for example, the trigger frame in Figure 14). In this case, the aforementioned TB PPDU configuration is not related to the non-legacy TB PPDU, so there is no problem.

[0234] Next, in order to trigger / indicate a non-legacy TB PPDU, B54 may be set to a value of 0, B55 to a value of 1, and the A-PPDU flag subfield may be set to a value of 1.

[0235] This setting is not used in legacy trigger frames. Therefore, when decoding such trigger frames, (all) non-legacy STAs can analyze them as non-legacy trigger frames (i.e., improved trigger frames).

[0236] This method would be preferable from the standpoint of power saving for legacy STAs (e.g., EHT STAs).

[0237] Note that a non-legacy variant special user information field may exist.

[0238] Alternatively, to trigger / indicate a non-legacy TB PPDU, B54 may be set to 0, B55 to 0, and the A-PPDU flag subfield may be set to 1. Note that the PHY version identifier subfield within a special user information field (e.g., a non-legacy variant special user information field) can indicate non-legacy (i.e., next version).

[0239] This setting is the same as the method for triggering the EHT TB PPDU described above, but may be distinguished by the PHY version identifier subfield in the special user information field.

[0240] This approach may require additional time for a non-legacy STA to recognize that it is a trigger frame that triggers a non-legacy TB PPDU, but it has the advantage of being less complex because it retains existing design practices. This approach would not be desirable from a power-saving perspective for legacy STAs (e.g., EHT STAs).

[0241] Note that a non-legacy variant special user information field may exist.

[0242] Next, in order to trigger / indicate the P160 HE TB PPDU + S160 non-legacy TB PPDU, B54 may be set to a value of 0, B55 to a value of 1, and the A-PPDU flag subfield may be set to a value of 0.

[0243] This setting is not used in legacy trigger frames. Therefore, when decoding such trigger frames, (all) non-legacy STAs can analyze them as non-legacy trigger frames (i.e., improved trigger frames).

[0244] In this configuration, EHT STA is not assigned to HE TB PPDU, which may reduce channel utilization.

[0245] For HE STA, the B54, B55, and A-PPDU flag subfields are bits corresponding to the UL HE-SIG-A2 Reserved subfield; therefore, HE STA can ignore these settings, and HE TB PPDU assignment to HE STA may be possible.

[0246] The variant of the user information field can be distinguished by the value B39 in the user information field. A value of 0 for B39 indicates an HE variant, while a value of 1 for B39 indicates a non-legacy variant.

[0247] Note that a non-legacy variant special user information field may exist.

[0248] Alternatively, in connection with the assignment of HE TB PPDU to EHT STA, B54 may be set to a value of 1, B55 to a value of 1, and the A-PPDU flag subfield may be set to a value of 0 in order to trigger / indicate P160 HE TB PPDU + S160 non-legacy TB PPDU.

[0249] In this configuration, the A-PPDU flag subfield is set to a value of 0, so when decoding the trigger frame, (all) non-legacy STAs can analyze it as a non-legacy trigger frame (i.e., an improved trigger frame).

[0250] The A-PPDU flag subfield is a reserved subfield for EHT STAs and may correspond to the UL HE-SIG-A2 Reserved subfield for HE STAs. Therefore, EHT STAs / HE STAs can ignore this setting, and HE TB PPDU assignment to EHT STAs / HE STAs may be possible.

[0251] The variant of the user information field can be distinguished by the value B39 in the user information field. A value of 0 for B39 indicates an HE variant, while a value of 1 for B39 indicates a non-legacy variant.

[0252] Note that a non-legacy variant special user information field may exist.

[0253] Alternatively, to trigger / indicate a P160 HE TB PPDU + S160 non-legacy TB PPDU, B54 may be set to a value of 1, B55 to a value of 0, and the A-PPDU flag subfield may be set to a value of 0 or 1. Note that the PHY version identifier subfield in the special user information field (e.g., the non-legacy variant special user information field) can indicate non-legacy (i.e., next version).

[0254] This setting is the same as the method used to trigger the aforementioned P160 HE TB PPDU + S160 EHT TB PPDU, but may be distinguished by the PHY version identifier subfield in the special user information field.

[0255] This method may require additional time for a non-legacy STA to recognize that it is a trigger frame that triggers a P160 HE TB PPDU + S160 non-legacy TB PPDU, but it has the advantage of being less complex because it retains existing design methods. In this method, an EHT STA can be assigned to and transmit an HE TB PPDU, but the lack of an EHT variant special user information field can lead to errors in implementation.

[0256] Note that a non-legacy variant special user information field may exist.

[0257] Next, in order to trigger / indicate the P160 EHT TB PPDU + S160 non-legacy TB PPDU, B54 may be set to a value of 0, B55 may be set to a value of 0, and the A-PPDU flag subfield may be set to a value of 0.

[0258] With this setting, the A-PPDU flag subfield is set to a value of 0, so when decoding the trigger frame, (all) non-legacy STAs can analyze it as a non-legacy trigger frame (i.e., an improved trigger frame).

[0259] EHT STA can be analyzed to determine that the trigger frame triggers an EHT TB PPDU on all channels. In relation to this, only non-legacy STAs should be assigned to S160, and such analysis will not be problematic.

[0260] The variant of the user information field can be distinguished by the value B39 in the user information field. A value of 0 for B39 indicates the EHT variant, while a value of 1 for B39 indicates the non-legacy variant.

[0261] Note that a non-legacy variant special user information field may exist.

[0262] In relation to the bit settings for triggering / instructing each of the aforementioned TB PPDU configurations, the bit settings in Table 2 below may be a preferred method.

[0263] [Table 2]

[0264] In relation to Table 2, a B54 value set to 1 indicates that the HE TB PPDU is located at the primary 160MHz, while a B54 value set to 0 indicates that the EHT TB PPDU or a non-legacy (i.e., next-version) TB PPDU is located at the primary 160MHz. In other words, in next-generation wireless LAN systems (e.g., next-version WiFi systems), the meaning of B54 may be modified as described above.

[0265] A value of 1 for B55 indicates that the EHT variant special user information field does not exist, while a value of 0 for B55 indicates that the EHT variant special user information field exists. B55 does not need to be associated with the existence or non-legacy variant special user information field (e.g., the UHR variant special user information field). In other words, in next-generation wireless LAN systems (e.g., the next version of the WiFi system), the meaning of B55 may be the same as that of EHT.

[0266] Furthermore, an A-PPDU flag set to 1 indicates an A-PPDU that is neither an A-PPDU nor contains a non-legacy PPDU, while an A-PPDU flag set to 0 can indicate an A-PPDU that contains a non-legacy PPDU. In other words, in next-generation wireless LAN systems (for example, the next version of the WiFi system), the meaning of the A-PPDU flag subfield may be limited as described above.

[0267] In connection with this, even if the non-legacy variant special user information field flag subfield does not exist, the presence or absence of a non-legacy variant special user information field (for example, the UHR variant special user information field) may be implicitly indicated.

[0268] Information for triggering a non-legacy TB PPDU or an A-PPDU containing a non-legacy TB PPDU may be transmitted in the non-legacy variant common information field and the non-legacy variant special user information field. Whether or not the non-legacy variant special user information field exists may be indicated in the non-legacy variant common information field.

[0269] In connection with this, a non-legacy variant special user information field flag subfield may be defined / used for this instruction.

[0270] For example, the subfield may consist of one bit (e.g., B57) from the non-legacy variant common information fields B56-B62, excluding the A-PPDU flag subfield. Setting the subfield to a value of 0 indicates the existence of the non-legacy variant special user information field, while setting it to a value of 1 indicates the absence of the non-legacy variant special user information field. Other examples of reserved bits that could be used include B22, B26, or B53, but it is preferable not to use B22, B26, or B53 because they may cause information transmission errors to HE STA when considering A-PPDU.

[0271] Alternatively, as mentioned above, the non-legacy variant special user information field flag subfield may not be necessary. Since the non-legacy STA can distinguish TB PPDUs triggered by the B54, B55, and A-PPDU flag subfields, it can determine the presence or absence of the non-legacy variant special user information field using only that information (i.e., implicit indication).

[0272] (Non-legacy variant special user information field)

[0273] Non-legacy variant special user information fields may be defined based on legacy special user information fields (for example, the special user information fields in Figure 14).

[0274] The non-legacy variant special user information field may be used to indicate information for non-legacy TB PPDUs. In connection with this, the non-legacy variant special user information field may also indicate information for EHT TB PPDUs.

[0275] If a non-legacy variant special user information field exists, the field may be located next to the non-legacy common information field. If a legacy special user information field (e.g., EHT variant special user information field) exists in the trigger frame, the legacy special user information field may be located next to the non-legacy common information field, and then the non-legacy variant special user information field may be located.

[0276] Each sub-field of the non-legacy variant special user information field may be as follows.

[0277] The AID12 sub-field may be set to a value such as 2007 (e.g., the same as an existing value) or 2008.

[0278] Note that the PHY version identifier sub-field can indicate non-legacy (i.e., the next version).

[0279] Note that the UL bandwidth extension sub-field can indicate up to 320 MHz bandwidth together with the UL BW sub-field, and additional bandwidth can be indicated using reserved values.

[0280] Note that the EHT Spatial Reuse 1 / 2 sub-field may be renamed to the non-legacy Spatial Reuse 1 / 2 sub-field and may be defined the same as the existing one.

[0281] Note that the U-SIG Disregard And Validate sub-field may be set to a value applicable to the setting of the value of the U-SIG Disregard / Validate field of the non-legacy TB PPDU. (In fact) Only some bits may be used by the Disregard / Validate field defined in the non-legacy TB PPDU, or some or all of the reserved sub-fields of B37 to B39 may be further used.

[0282] When triggering / requesting a P160 EHT TB PPDU + S160 non-legacy TB PPDU, both the EHT variant special user information field and the non-legacy variant special user information field may be present. Alternatively, if the contents are mostly the same, only the non-legacy variant special user information field may be present.

[0283] In this case, the AID12 subfield must always be set to 2007, and the EHT STA can analyze the non-legacy variant special user information field based on the existing definition as if it were the EHT variant special user information field. On the other hand, the non-legacy STA can analyze the non-legacy variant special user information field based on the new definition.

[0284] In this regard, the PHY version identifier subfield must be set to EHT, but the non-legacy STA can analyze it based on the new definition. However, since the non-legacy STA may be assigned to the EHT TB PPDU part, double analysis must be possible, which may increase the implementation complexity.

[0285] (Non-legacy variant user information field)

[0286] The non-legacy variant user information field may be defined based on the legacy user information field (e.g., the EHT variant user information field in FIG. 14).

[0287] The non-legacy variant user information field may be used to indicate information about the user assigned to the non-legacy TB PPDU transmission.

[0288] The non-legacy variant user information field may be located after the non-legacy variant special user information field. If a legacy user information field (e.g., an HE / EHT variant user information field) is present in the trigger frame, the legacy user information field (e.g., an HE / EHT variant user information field) may be located after the non-legacy variant special user information field, followed by the non-legacy variant user information field.

[0289] The subfields of the non-legacy variant user information field may be as follows:

[0290] The AID12 subfield can indicate the AID for non-legacy STAs.

[0291] The RU assignment subfield indicates RU assignment information, and the definition of the existing RU assignment subfield may be used as is, or some of the RU assignment information may be modified, added, or excluded.

[0292] The UL FEC coding type subfield may be defined in the same way as in existing methods.

[0293] The UL EHT-MCS subfield may be renamed to the UL Non-Legacy-MCS subfield (other names may be used), and may be defined identically to existing schemes, or some MCS may be modified / added / excluded.

[0294] The reserved subfields may be retained in the same way as in the existing method.

[0295] The SS assignment subfield may be defined in the same way as in existing methods, or it may specify up to 16 more streams.

[0296] Furthermore, the RA-RU information subfield and the UL target received power subfield may be defined in the same way as in existing systems.

[0297] Note that the PS160 subfield may be used to indicate RU allocation information together with the RU allocation subfield. In particular, the subfield can indicate information regarding whether the RU is within P160 or within S160. Thereby, in the case of an A-PPDU, the variant information of the user information field can be indicated.

[0298] Example 2

[0299] This embodiment relates to a non-legacy trigger frame when defined up to a bandwidth / channel width of 480 MHz or 640 MHz.

[0300] In a next-generation wireless LAN system (e.g., the next version of the WiFi system), it may be defined up to a bandwidth of 480 MHz or 640 MHz. Considering such points, additional subfields etc. may be defined together with the method described in this embodiment, and the subfield may be used for bandwidth indication and distinction of PPDU / user information field variants etc.

[0301] (Bandwidth indication method)

[0302] In existing wireless LAN systems, a method of indicating a bandwidth up to 320 MHz is defined using the UL BW subfield of the EHT variant common information field and the UL BW extension subfield of the special user information field, and some combinations of values thereof are in a reserved state.

[0303] In the trigger frame in the next-generation wireless LAN system (i.e., the non-legacy trigger frame described above), the bandwidth up to 320 MHz can also be indicated using the method as described above. Note that the specifically reserved values may be used to indicate a wider bandwidth.

[0304] In other words, bandwidths up to 320 MHz can be indicated using existing value combinations with the UL BW subfield of the non-legacy variant common information field and the UL BW extended subfield of the non-legacy variant special user information field. Wider bandwidths may be indicated using various combinations of reserved bits, such as the following:

[0305] Channelization may result in only one 480MHz / 640MHz channel existing, or various types such as 320-1MHz / 320-2MHz existing. The proposed scheme in this disclosure is described assuming that specific channel types are defined.

[0306] The following is an example of how to specify the 480MHz / 640MHz bandwidth as proposed in this disclosure.

[0307] For example, to indicate a 480MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 0 / 1 / 2 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 1. To indicate a 640MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 0 / 1 / 2 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 2. In this example, other combinations of values ​​may follow existing indication schemes.

[0308] For example, to indicate a 480MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 0 / 1 / 2 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 1. To indicate a 640-1MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 0 / 1 / 2 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 2. To indicate a 640-2MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 0 / 1 / 2 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 3. In this example, other combinations of values ​​may follow existing indication schemes.

[0309] For example, to indicate a 480-1MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 0 / 1 / 2 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 1. To indicate a 480-2MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 0 / 1 / 2 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 2. To indicate a 640MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 0 / 1 / 2 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 3. In this example, other combinations of values ​​may follow existing indication schemes.

[0310] For example, to indicate a 480MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 0 or 1, and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 1. To indicate a 640MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 1 or 2, and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 1. In this example, other combinations of values ​​may follow existing indication schemes.

[0311] For example, to indicate a 480MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 0 or 1, and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 1. To indicate a 640-1MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 1 or 2, and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 1. To indicate a 640-2MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 1 or 2, and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 2. In this example, other combinations of values ​​may follow existing indication schemes.

[0312] For example, to indicate a 480MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 0 / 1 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 1. To indicate a 640-1MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 1 / 2 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 1. To indicate a 640-2MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 1 / 2 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 2. To indicate a 640-3MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 1 / 2 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 3. In this example, other combinations of values ​​may follow existing indication schemes.

[0313] For example, to indicate a 480-1MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 0 / 1 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 1. To indicate a 480-2MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 0 / 1 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 2. To indicate a 640MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 1 / 2 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 1. In this example, other combinations of values ​​may follow existing indication schemes.

[0314] For example, to indicate a 480-1MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 0 / 1 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 1. To indicate a 480-2MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 0 / 1 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 2. To indicate a 640-1MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 1 / 2 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 1. To indicate a 640-2MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 1 / 2 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 2. In this example, other combinations of values ​​may follow existing indication schemes.

[0315] For example, to indicate a 480-1MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 0 / 1 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 1. To indicate a 480-2MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 0 / 1 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 2. To indicate a 640-1MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 1 / 2 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 1. To indicate a 640-2MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 1 / 2 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 2. To indicate a 640-3MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 1 / 2 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 3. In this example, other combinations of values ​​may follow existing indication schemes.

[0316] For example, to indicate a 480-1MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 0 / 1 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 1. To indicate a 480-2MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 0 / 1 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 2. To indicate a 480-3MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 0 / 1 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 3. To indicate a 640MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 1 / 2 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 1. In this example, other combinations of values ​​may follow existing indication schemes.

[0317] For example, to indicate a 480-1MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 0 / 1 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 1. To indicate a 480-2MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 0 / 1 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 2. To indicate a 480-3MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 0 / 1 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 3. To indicate a 640-1MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 1 / 2 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 1. To indicate a 640-2MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 1 / 2 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 2. In this example, other combinations of values ​​may follow existing indication schemes.

[0318] For example, to indicate a 480-1MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 0 / 1 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 1. To indicate a 480-2MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 0 / 1 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 2. To indicate a 480-3MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 0 / 1 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 3. To indicate a 640-1MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 1 / 2 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 1. To indicate a 640-2MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 1 / 2 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 2. To indicate a 640-3MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 1 / 2 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 3. In this example, other combinations of values ​​may follow existing indication schemes.

[0319] For example, to indicate a 480MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 0 / 1 / 2, and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 1. In this example, other combinations of values ​​may follow existing indication schemes.

[0320] For example, to indicate a 480-1MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 0 / 1 / 2 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 1. To indicate a 480-2MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 0 / 1 / 2 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 2. In this example, other combinations of values ​​may follow existing indication schemes.

[0321] For example, to indicate a 480-1MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 0 / 1 / 2 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 1. To indicate a 480-2MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 0 / 1 / 2 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 2. To indicate a 480-3MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 0 / 1 / 2 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 3. In this example, other combinations of values ​​may follow existing indication schemes.

[0322] For example, to indicate a 640MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 0 / 1 / 2, and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 1. In this example, other combinations of values ​​may follow existing indication schemes.

[0323] For example, to indicate a 640-1MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 0 / 1 / 2 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 1. To indicate a 640-2MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 0 / 1 / 2 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 2. In this example, other combinations of values ​​may follow existing indication schemes.

[0324] For example, to indicate a 640-1MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 0 / 1 / 2 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 1. To indicate a 640-2MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 0 / 1 / 2 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 2. To indicate a 640-3MHz bandwidth, the UL BW subfield may be set to a value of 0 / 1 / 2 and the UL BW extended subfield may be set to a value of 3. In this example, other combinations of values ​​may follow existing indication schemes.

[0325] In relation to the proposed method described above, when triggering TB A-PPDUs for EHT TB PPDUs and non-legacy TB PPDUs, existing special user information fields (especially the UL BW extension subfield within those fields) must also be present in addition to the non-legacy special user information fields. This is because it is necessary to specify the bandwidth of the EHT TB PPDU in addition to the bandwidth of the non-legacy TB PPDU, and the value combinations in the proposed method described above cannot specify the bandwidth of the EHT TB PPDU.

[0326] As an addition or alternative, a method may be considered in which additional bandwidth is indicated by using one or more bits (e.g., B37-B39) corresponding to the reserved subfields of the existing special user information field in the non-legacy variant special user information field. In this case, the UL BW subfield of the non-legacy variant common information field and the UL BW extended subfield of the non-legacy variant special user information field can utilize the existing indication method.

[0327] When using the bits in question (e.g., B37-B39) to specify bandwidth, the bandwidth can be specified independently. Alternatively, in this case, additional bandwidth may be specified using a combination of the values ​​of the UL BW subfield, the UL BW extended subfield, and the bit value in question, as in existing methods.

[0328] As mentioned above, by using the additional bits, when triggering the TB A-PPDU of the EHT TB PPDU and the non-legacy TB PPDU, only the non-legacy special user information field may exist. In this case, the EHT STA will recognize the non-legacy special user information field as an existing special user information field and can analyze it as existing. On the other hand, the non-legacy STA can analyze the non-legacy special user information field using a newly defined method.

[0329] Therefore, this method allows simultaneous specification of bandwidth for EHT TB PPDU and non-legacy TB PPDU. In this case, the PHY version identifier subfield must be set to EHT, but non-legacy STA can be parsed based on the new definition. However, since non-legacy STA may be assigned to the EHT TB PPDU portion, dual parsing is required, which can increase the complexity of implementation.

[0330] (Various methods for distinguishing between TB and PPDU)

[0331] To distinguish between TB PPDUs in the 480MHz / 640MHz bandwidth, a method for triggering / instructing the TB PPDU configuration in the aforementioned Embodiment 1 (e.g., a bit setting method) may be used.

[0332] Furthermore, to indicate a specific channel in various situations considering wider bandwidths (i.e., 480MHz / 640MHz bandwidths), various bit combinations described below may be considered.

[0333] In connection with this, the RU allocation subfield of the non-legacy variant user information field may be assumed to be capable of indicating RU allocation information within 160 MHz units. In this case, the subfield may, with the exception of some large RU / MRU corresponding to channels exceeding 160 MHz. Therefore, in relation to specific channel indication, a method of indicating at least 160 MHz channels may be considered.

[0334] The following specific bit setting methods are proposed for i) non-legacy TB PPDU, ii) P160 HE TB PPDU + (S160 non-legacy TB PPDU) + S320 / SS160 non-legacy TB PPDU, iii) P320 EHT TB PPDU + S320 / SS160 non-legacy TB PPDU, iv) P160 EHT TB PPDU + (S160 non-legacy TB PPDU) + S320 / SS160 non-legacy TB PPDU, and v) P160 HE TB PPDU + S160 EHT TB PPDU + S320 / SS160 non-legacy TB PPDU.

[0335] First, to trigger / indicate a non-legacy TB PPDU, the non-legacy variant common information field B54 may be set to 0, B55 to 1, and the A-PPDU flag subfield may be set to 1. Alternatively, to trigger / indicate a non-legacy TB PPDU, the non-legacy variant common information field B54 may be set to 0, B55 to 0, the A-PPDU flag subfield may be set to 1, and the PHY version identifier subfield in the special user information field (e.g., the non-legacy special user information field) may be set to indicate non-legacy.

[0336] In connection with this, the non-legacy TB PPDU bandwidth may be specified using the UL BW subfield in the non-legacy variant common information field and the UL BW extended subfield and additional BW subfield (if present) in the non-legacy variant special user information field. That is, the bandwidth specification method described above may be used.

[0337] The combination of fields B39 and B25 in the non-legacy variant user information field may be used to indicate frequencies up to 640 MHz.

[0338] In the examples below, 160 and 320 can represent a 160MHz bandwidth / channel and a 320MHz bandwidth / channel, respectively. Furthermore, "lower 160 / 320" and "higher 160 / 320" can represent 160 / 320 located in a relatively lower bandwidth in the frequency domain and 160 / 320 located in a relatively higher bandwidth in the frequency domain, respectively.

[0339] For example, a value of 0 for B25 indicates P320 (or a lower 320), and a value of 1 for B25 can indicate S320 (or a higher 320).

[0340] The combination of a 0 value in B25 and a 0 value in B39 can indicate P160. Alternatively, the combination of a 0 value in B25 and a 0 value in B39 can indicate a lower 160 in P320, or a lower 160 in lower 320, which may be undesirable when considering unification with other cases.

[0341] The combination of a value of 0 for B25 and a value of 1 for B39 can indicate S160. Alternatively, the combination of a value of 0 for B25 and a value of 1 for B39 can indicate a high 160 at P320, or a high 160 at a low 320, which may be undesirable when considering integration with other cases.

[0342] The combination of a value of 1 in B25 and a value of 0 in B39 can indicate 160 in S320, corresponding to the position of P160. Alternatively, the combination of a value of 1 in B25 and a value of 0 in B39 can indicate a lower 160 in S320, or a lower 160 in a higher 320, the latter of which may be undesirable when considering integration with other cases.

[0343] A combination of a single value in B25 and a single value in B39 can indicate 160 in S320, corresponding to the position in S160. Alternatively, a combination of a single value in B25 and a single value in B39 can indicate a high 160 in S320, or a high 160 in high 320, the latter of which may be undesirable when considering integration with other cases.

[0344] Furthermore, when only the 480MHz P320+SS160 is considered, the following combination of non-legacy variant user information fields B25 and B39 may be used. Here, SS160 can represent the remaining 160MHz channel excluding P320 when transmitting at 480MHz.

[0345] For example, the combination of a value of 0 in B25 and a value of 0 in B39 can indicate P160. The combination of a value of 0 in B25 and a value of 1 in B39 can indicate S160. The combination of a value of 1 in B25 and a value of 1 (or 0) in B39 can indicate SS160. Alternatively, the combination of a value of 1 in B25 and a value of 0 in B39 may be reserved.

[0346] Alternatively, the following combinations may be used for integration when HE PPDU is included: For example, a 0 / 1 value in B25 and a 0 value in B39 can indicate P160. A 0 value in B25 and a 1 value in B39 can indicate S160. A 1 value in B25 and a 1 value in B39 can indicate SS160.

[0347] Furthermore, when only the 480MHz of P160+S320 is considered, the following combination of non-legacy variant user information fields B25 and B39 may be used.

[0348] For example, the combination of a value of 0 for B25 and a value of 0 (or 1) for B39 can indicate P160. Alternatively, the combination of a value of 0 for B25 and a value of 1 for B39 may be reserved. The combination of a value of 1 for B25 and a value of 0 for B39 can indicate 160 (or a lower 160 in S320) which corresponds to the position of P160 in S320. The combination of a value of 1 for B25 and a value of 1 for B39 can indicate 160 (or a higher 160 in S320) which corresponds to the position of S160 in S320.

[0349] Alternatively, the following combinations may be used for integration when HE TB PPDU is included. For example, a value of 0 / 1 in B25 and a value of 0 in B39 can indicate P160. A value of 0 in B25 and a value of 1 in B39 can indicate 160 (or a lower 160 in S320) which corresponds to the position of P160 in S320. A combination of a value of 1 in B25 and a value of 1 in B39 can indicate 160 (or a higher 160 in S320) which corresponds to the position of S160 in S320.

[0350] Next, in order to trigger / indicate P160 HE TB PPDU + (S160 non-legacy TB PPDU) + S320 / SS160 non-legacy TB PPDU, B54 of the non-legacy variant common information field may be set to 0, B55 to 1, and the A-PPDU flag subfield may be set to 0. Alternatively, in order to trigger / indicate P160 HE TB PPDU + (S160 non-legacy TB PPDU) + S320 / SS160 non-legacy TB PPDU, B54 of the non-legacy variant common information field may be set to 1, B55 to 0, the A-PPDU flag subfield may be set to 0 / 1, and the PHY version identifier subfield in the special user information field (e.g., non-legacy special user information field) may be set to indicate non-legacy.

[0351] In connection with this, the UL BW subfield in the non-legacy variant common information field can indicate 160 MHz.

[0352] The A-PPDU bandwidth and non-legacy TB PPDU bandwidth may be specified using the UL BW subfield in the non-legacy variant common information field and the UL BW extended subfield and additional BW subfield (if present) in the non-legacy variant special user information field. It is also possible to specify only one of the two.

[0353] As an additional or alternative, TB A-PPDU at 640MHz may be prohibited. In the HE variant user information field, B25 uses a value of 0 / 1 in the DCM field, and B39 uses the case of 0. That is, channel indication using a combination of a value of 1 for B25 and a value of 0 for B39 is prohibited.

[0354] Furthermore, when only the 480MHz P320+S160 is considered, the channel, PPDU, and user information field variant are distinguished using B39 in the user information field, and when B39 is set to a value of 1, the channel may be distinguished using B25.

[0355] For example, a value of 0 in B39 indicates P160, which can indicate the HE variant user information field (B25 can be a value of 0 or 1). A value of 1 in B39 indicates S160 or SS160, which can indicate the non-legacy variant user information field. The combination of a value of 0 in B25 and a value of 1 in B39 indicates S160, and the combination of a value of 1 in B25 and a value of 1 in B39 indicates SS160.

[0356] Furthermore, when only the 480MHz of P160+S320 is considered, the channel, PPDU, and user information field variant are distinguished using B39 in the user information field, and when B39 is set to a value of 1, the channel may be distinguished using B25.

[0357] For example, a value of 0 in B39 indicates P160, which can indicate the HE variant user information field (B25 can be a value of 0 or 1). A value of 1 in B39 indicates S320 or SS160, which can indicate the non-legacy variant user information field. The combination of a value of 0 in B25 and a value of 1 in B39 can indicate 160 (or a lower 160 in S320) which corresponds to the position of P160 in S320. The combination of a value of 1 in B25 and a value of 1 in B39 can indicate 160 (or a higher 160 in S320) which corresponds to the position of S160 in S320.

[0358] Next, in order to trigger / indicate the P320 EHT TB PPDU + S320 / SS160 non-legacy TB PPDU, the non-legacy variant common information fields B54 may be set to 0, B55 to 0, and the A-PPDU flag subfield may be set to 0.

[0359] In connection with this, a 320MHz instruction may be made in the UL BW subfield within the non-legacy variant common information field and in the UL BW extended subfield within the special user information field (or the non-legacy variant special user information field).

[0360] The A-PPDU bandwidth and non-legacy TB PPDU bandwidth may be specified using the UL BW subfield in the non-legacy variant common information field and the UL BW extended subfield and additional BW subfield (if present) in the non-legacy variant special user information field. It is also possible to specify only one of the two.

[0361] Since B25 in the EHT variant user information field is a reserved bit, it may be possible to use B25 and B39 in the user information field to indicate a channel position up to 640 MHz.

[0362] When considering frequencies up to 640MHz, the channel, PPDU, and user information field variant may be distinguished using a combination of user information fields B25 and B39. Here, EHT STAs are determined using only B39, and non-legacy STAs should only be assigned to S320, so this does not pose a problem.

[0363] For example, a combination of a value of 0 in B25 and a value of 0 in B39 indicates P160, which can indicate the EHT variant user information field. A combination of a value of 0 in B25 and a value of 1 in B39 indicates S160, which can indicate the EHT variant user information field. A combination of a value of 1 in B25 and a value of 0 in B39 indicates 160 (or a lower 160 in S320) corresponding to the position of P160 in S320, which can indicate the non-legacy variant user information field. A combination of a value of 1 in B25 and a value of 1 in B39 indicates 160 (or a higher 160 in S320) corresponding to the position of S160 in S320, which can indicate the non-legacy variant user information field.

[0364] When considering only P320+SS160 up to 480MHz, the channel, PPDU, and user information field variant may be distinguished using the combination of user information fields B25 and B39. Here, EHT STA is determined using only B39, and non-legacy STA should only be assigned to SS160, so this does not pose a problem.

[0365] For example, a combination of a value of 0 in B25 and a value of 0 in B39 indicates P160, which can indicate the EHT variant user information field. A combination of a value of 0 in B25 and a value of 1 in B39 indicates S160, which can indicate the EHT variant user information field. A combination of a value of 1 in B25 and a value of 1 (or 0) in B39 indicates SS160, which can indicate the non-legacy variant user information field. Alternatively, a combination of a value of 1 in B25 and a value of 0 in B39 may be reserved.

[0366] Alternatively, the following combinations may be used for integration when HE TB PPDU is included: For example, a value of 0 / 1 in B25 and a value of 0 in B39 indicate P160, which can indicate the EHT variant user information field. A value of 0 in B25 and a value of 1 in B39 indicate S160, which can indicate the EHT variant user information field. A combination of a value of 1 in B25 and a value of 1 in B39 indicates SS160, which can indicate the non-legacy variant user information field.

[0367] Note that the 480MHz P160+S320 configuration may be considered only if only the P160 is an EHT TB PPDU.

[0368] Next, in order to trigger / indicate P160 EHT TB PPDU + (S160 non-legacy TB PPDU) + S320 / SS160 non-legacy TB PPDU, the non-legacy variant common information fields B54 may be set to 0, B55 to 0, and the A-PPDU flag subfield may be set to 0.

[0369] In connection with this, a 160MHz instruction may be made in the UL BW subfield within the non-legacy variant common information field and in the UL BW extended subfield within the special user information field (or the non-legacy variant special user information field).

[0370] The A-PPDU bandwidth and non-legacy TB PPDU bandwidth may be specified using the UL BW subfield in the non-legacy variant common information field and the UL BW extended subfield and additional BW subfield (if present) in the non-legacy variant special user information field. It is also possible to specify only one of the two.

[0371] Since B25 in the EHT variant user information field is a reserved bit, it may be possible to use B25 and B39 in the user information field to indicate a channel position up to 640 MHz.

[0372] When considering frequencies up to 640MHz, the channel, PPDU, and user information field variant may be distinguished using a combination of user information fields B25 and B39. Here, EHT STA is determined using only B39, and non-legacy STA should only be assigned to S160 and S320, so this does not pose a problem.

[0373] For example, a combination of a value of 0 in B25 and a value of 0 in B39 indicates P160, which can indicate the EHT variant user information field. A combination of a value of 0 in B25 and a value of 1 in B39 indicates S160, which can indicate the non-legacy variant user information field. A combination of a value of 1 in B25 and a value of 0 in B39 indicates 160 (or a lower 160 in S320) corresponding to the position of P160 in S320, which can indicate the non-legacy variant user information field. A combination of a value of 1 in B25 and a value of 1 in B39 indicates 160 (or a higher 160 in S320) corresponding to the position of S160 in S320, which can indicate the non-legacy variant user information field.

[0374] When considering only P320+SS160 up to 480MHz, the channel, PPDU, and user information field variant may be distinguished using the combination of user information fields B25 and B39. Here, EHT STA is determined using only B39, and non-legacy STA should only be assigned to S160 and SS160, so this does not pose a problem.

[0375] For example, a combination of a value of 0 in B25 and a value of 0 in B39 indicates P160, which can indicate the EHT variant user information field. A combination of a value of 0 in B25 and a value of 1 in B39 indicates S160, which can indicate the non-legacy variant user information field. A combination of a value of 1 in B25 and a value of 1 (or 0) in B39 indicates SS160, which can indicate the non-legacy variant user information field. Alternatively, a combination of a value of 1 in B25 and a value of 0 in B39 may be reserved.

[0376] Alternatively, the following combinations may be used for integration when HE TB PPDU is included: For example, a value of 0 / 1 in B25 and a value of 0 in B39 indicate P160, which can indicate the EHT variant user information field. A value of 0 in B25 and a value of 1 in B39 indicate S160, which can indicate the non-legacy variant user information field. The combination of a value of 1 in B25 and a value of 1 in B39 indicates SS160, which can indicate the non-legacy variant user information field.

[0377] When considering only up to 480MHz for P160+S320, the channel, PPDU, and user information field variant may be distinguished using a combination of user information fields B25 and B39. Here, EHT STA is determined using only B39, and non-legacy STA should only be assigned to S320, so this does not pose a problem.

[0378] For example, the combination of a value of 0 in B25 and a value of 0 in B39 indicates P160, which can indicate the EHT variant user information field. The combination of a value of 0 in B25 and a value of 1 in B39 is reserved and can indicate the non-legacy variant user information field. The combination of a value of 1 in B25 and a value of 0 in B39 indicates 160 (or a lower 160 in S320) corresponding to the position of P160 in S320, which can indicate the non-legacy variant user information field. The combination of a value of 1 in B25 and a value of 1 in B39 indicates 160 (or a higher 160 in S320) corresponding to the position of S160 in S320, which can indicate the non-legacy variant user information field.

[0379] Alternatively, the following combinations may be used for integration when HE TB PPDU is included. For example, a value of 0 / 1 in B25 and a value of 0 in B39 can indicate P160, and thus indicate the EHT variant user information field. A value of 0 in B25 and a value of 1 in B39 can indicate 160 (or a lower 160 in S320) corresponding to the position of P160 in S320, and thus indicate the non-legacy variant user information field. A combination of a value of 1 in B25 and a value of 1 in B39 can indicate 160 (or a higher 160 in S320) corresponding to the position of S160 in S320, and thus indicate the non-legacy variant user information field.

[0380] Next, in order to trigger / indicate P160 HE TB PPDU + S160 EHT TB PPDU + S320 / SS160 non-legacy TB PPDU, the non-legacy variant common information field B54 may be set to a value of 1, B55 to a value of 0, and the A-PPDU flag subfield may be set to a value of 0.

[0381] In connection with this, the UL BW subfield in the non-legacy variant common information field can indicate 160 MHz.

[0382] The UL BW subfield in the non-legacy variant common information field and the UL BW extended subfield in the special user information field (or the non-legacy variant special user information field) may be specified as 320MHz or EHT TB PPDU bandwidth (160MHz).

[0383] The A-PPDU bandwidth and non-legacy TB PPDU bandwidth may be specified using the UL BW subfield in the non-legacy variant common information field and the UL BW extended subfield and additional BW subfield (if present) in the non-legacy variant special user information field. It is also possible to specify only one of the two.

[0384] As an additional or alternative, TB A-PPDU at 640MHz may be prohibited. In the HE variant user information field, B25 uses a value of 0 / 1 in the DCM field, and B39 uses the case of 0. That is, channel indication using a combination of a value of 1 for B25 and a value of 0 for B39 is prohibited.

[0385] When only the 480MHz P320+SS160 is considered, the channel, PPDU, and user information field variant may be distinguished using the combination of user information fields B25 and B39. Here, the EHT STA is determined using only B39, and non-legacy STAs should only be assigned to SS160, so there should be no problem.

[0386] For example, a combination of a 0 / 1 value in B25 and a 0 value in B39 indicates P160, which can indicate the HE variant user information field. A combination of a 0 value in B25 and a 1 value in B39 indicates S160, which can indicate the EHT variant user information field. A combination of a 1 value in B25 and a 1 value in B39 indicates SS160, which can indicate the non-legacy variant user information field.

[0387] Note that the 480MHz configuration of P160+S320 does not need to be considered. In this case, it may be the same as the case of P160 HE TB PPDU + S320 non-legacy TB PPDU.

[0388] Figure 16 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the STA based on the trigger frame relating to this disclosure.

[0389] In stage S1610, the STA can receive a trigger frame containing a common information field from the access point (AP).

[0390] For example, the STA in question may qualify as a non-AP STA.

[0391] For example, STA can receive trigger frames associated with triggers for non-legacy TB PPDUs (e.g., EHT next-generation TB PPDUs). These trigger frames may include non-legacy common information fields.

[0392] Here, the common information field may include merged PPDU(A-PPDU) related subfields.

[0393] For example, a value of 0 in the A-PPDU related subfield indicates an A-PPDU that contains a non-legacy TB PPDU, and a value of 1 in the A-PPDU related subfield may contain at least one non-A-PPDU or an A-PPDU that does not contain a non-legacy TB PPDU (i.e., an A-PPDU consisting only of legacy TB PPDUs).

[0394] In stage S1620, the STA can send a TB PPDU to the AP that corresponds to one of the one or more TB PPDUs triggered / requested by the trigger frame.

[0395] In connection with this, the configuration of one or more TB PPDUs may be indicated based on the A-PPDU related subfield and at least one other subfield included in the common information field.

[0396] Here, the at least one other subfield may include bits B45 and B55 in the common information field.

[0397] For example, a value of 1 for B54 indicates that the primary 160MHz channel is allocated to an HE (high efficiency) TB PPDU, and a value of 0 for B54 indicates that the primary 160MHz channel is allocated to an EHT (extremely high throughput) TB PPDU or a non-legacy TB PPDU.

[0398] For example, the values ​​of 0 and 1 in B55 may be related to the presence or absence of a legacy (e.g., EHT) / non-legacy variant special user information field (e.g., flag information).

[0399] For example, if B54 is set to a value of 1, B55 is set to a value of 1, and the A-PPDU related subfield is set to a value of 1, then one or more TB PPDUs may correspond to HE (high efficiency) TB PPDUs. That is, in this case, the trigger frame in step S1610 may be a trigger frame that triggers / requests an HE TB PPDU.

[0400] For example, if B54 is set to a value of 0, B55 is set to a value of 0, and the A-PPDU related subfield is set to a value of 1, then one or more TB PPDUs may correspond to EHT (extremely high throughput) TB PPDUs. In other words, in this case, the trigger frame in step S1610 may be a trigger frame that triggers / requests an EHT TB PPDU.

[0401] For example, if B54 is set to a value of 1, B55 is set to a value of 0, and the A-PPDU related subfield is set to a value of 1, then the one or more TB PPDUs may correspond to HE TB PPDU and EHT TB PPDU. That is, in this case, the trigger frame in step S1610 may be a trigger frame that triggers / requests HE TB PPDU and EHT TB PPDU (for example, an A-PPDU composed of P160 HE TB PPDU + S160 EHT TB PPDU).

[0402] For example, if B54 is set to a value of 0, B55 is set to a value of 1, and the A-PPDU related subfield is set to a value of 1, then one or more TB PPDUs may be non-legacy TB PPDUs. That is, in this case, the trigger frame in step S1610 may be a trigger frame that triggers / requests a non-legacy TB PPDU (e.g., an EHT next version TB PPDU).

[0403] For example, if B54 is set to a value of 1, B55 is set to a value of 1, and the A-PPDU related subfield is set to a value of 0, then the one or more TB PPDUs may correspond to an HE TB PPDU and a non-legacy TB PPDU. That is, in this case, the trigger frame in step S1610 may be a trigger frame that triggers / requests an HE TB PPDU and a non-legacy TB PPDU (for example, an A-PPDU composed of P160 HE TB PPDU + S160 non-legacy TB PPDU).

[0404] For example, if B54 is set to a value of 0, B55 is set to a value of 0, and the A-PPDU related subfield is set to a value of 0, then the one or more TB PPDUs may correspond to an EHT TB PPDU and a non-legacy TB PPDU. That is, in this case, the trigger frame in step S1610 may be a trigger frame that triggers / requests an EHT TB PPDU and a non-legacy TB PPDU (for example, an A-PPDU composed of P160 EHT TB PPDU + S160 non-legacy TB PPDU).

[0405] As an additional or alternative, whether or not a non-legacy variant special user information field exists in the trigger frame at step S1610 may be (implicitly) indicated based on at least one other subfield included in the A-PPDU related subfield and the common information field.

[0406] As an addition or alternative, the trigger frame in step S1610 may include at least one of the following: a special user information field associated with information about a non-legacy TB PPDU (e.g., a non-legacy variant special user information field), or a user information field associated with information about an STA assigned to transmit a non-legacy TB PPDU (e.g., a non-legacy variant user information field). Here, the channel instruction for the non-legacy TB PPDU may be based on a combination of the values ​​of B25 and B39 in the user information field.

[0407] The method performed by the STA as illustrated in Figure 16 may be performed by the first device 100 in Figure 1. For example, one or more processors 102 of the first device 100 in Figure 1 may be configured to receive a trigger frame containing a common information field from AP200 via one or more transceivers 106, and to transmit to AP200 a TB PPDU corresponding to one or more TB PPDUs triggered by the trigger frame. Furthermore, one or more memories 104 of the first device 100 may store instructions for performing the method illustrated in Figure 16 when executed by one or more processors 102.

[0408] Figure 17 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the AP based on the trigger frame relating to this disclosure.

[0409] In stage S1710, the AP can send a trigger frame containing a common information field to the STA.

[0410] Here, the common information field may include merged PPDU(A-PPDU) related subfields.

[0411] For example, a value of 0 in the A-PPDU related subfield indicates an A-PPDU that contains a non-legacy TB PPDU, and a value of 1 in the A-PPDU related subfield may contain at least one non-A-PPDU or an A-PPDU that does not contain a non-legacy TB PPDU (i.e., an A-PPDU consisting only of legacy TB PPDUs).

[0412] In stage S1720, the AP can receive from the STA a TB PPDU that corresponds to one or more TB PPDUs triggered / requested by the trigger frame.

[0413] In connection with this, the configuration of one or more TB PPDUs may be indicated based on the A-PPDU related subfield and at least one other subfield included in the common information field.

[0414] The specific content of the trigger frame, the trigger / request / instruction for one or more TB PPDU configurations, and the other subfields included in the common information field are the same as those described above with reference to Figure 16, and therefore the redundant explanation is omitted.

[0415] The method performed by the AP as illustrated in Figure 17 may be performed by the second device 200 in Figure 1. For example, one or more processors 202 of the second device 200 in Figure 1 may be configured to send a trigger frame containing a common information field to the STA 100 via one or more transceivers 206, and to receive from the STA 100 a TB PPDU corresponding to one or more TB PPDUs triggered by the trigger frame. Furthermore, one or more memories 204 of the second device 200 may store instructions for performing the method illustrated in Figure 17 when executed by one or more processors 202.

[0416] As described above, compared to the trigger frames that trigger TB PPDUs (e.g., HE TB PPDU, EHT TB PPDU) in existing wireless LAN systems, the trigger frames proposed in this disclosure have novel features that further include information for triggering newer versions (e.g., EHT next version, UHR) of TB PPDUs and merged PPDUs (A-PPDUs).

[0417] By using the trigger frames proposed in this disclosure, it is possible to enhance the throughput and efficiency aspects of wireless LAN systems by supporting triggers / requests for A-PPDUs in addition to the new version of TB PPDUs.

[0418] The embodiments described above are combinations of the components and features of the present disclosure in a predetermined form. Each component or feature should be considered optional unless otherwise explicitly mentioned. Each component or feature may be implemented in a form that does not combine with other components or features. It is also possible to combine some components and / or features to constitute embodiments of the present disclosure. The order of operations described in embodiments of the present disclosure may be changed. Some components or features of one embodiment may be included in other embodiments, or replaced by corresponding components or features of other embodiments. It is clear that claims that do not have an explicit reference relationship in the claims may be combined to constitute embodiments, or may be included as new claims by amendment after filing.

[0419] It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that this disclosure can be embodied in other specific forms, provided that the essential features of this disclosure are not deviated from. Therefore, the above-mentioned detailed description should not be constrained in any way and should be considered illustrative. The scope of this disclosure should be determined by a reasonable interpretation of the attached claims, and any modifications within the equivalent scope of this disclosure are included within the scope of this disclosure.

[0420] The scope of this disclosure includes software or machine-executable instructions (e.g., operating systems, applications, firmware, programs, etc.) that cause an apparatus or computer to perform operations according to the methods of various embodiments, and non-transitory computer-readable medium on which such software or instructions are stored and executable on the apparatus or computer. Instructions available for programming a processing system that performs the features described in this disclosure may be stored on / in a storage medium or computer-readable storage medium, and the features described in this disclosure may be embodied using a computer program product including such storage medium. The storage medium may include, but is not limited to, high-speed random-access memory such as DRAM, SRAM, DDR RAM, or other random-access solid-state memory devices, and may include non-volatile memory such as one or more magnetic disk storage devices, optical disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or other non-volatile solid-state storage devices. Memory optionally includes one or more storage devices located remotely from the processor. Memory, or alternatively, non-volatile memory devices within memory, include non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The features described in this disclosure may be stored on any one of the machine-readable media and integrated into software and / or firmware that can control the hardware of the processing system and cause the processing system to interact with other mechanisms that utilize the results relating to the embodiments of this disclosure. Such software or firmware may include, but is not limited to, application code, device drivers, operating systems and execution environments / containers. [Industrial applicability]

[0421] Although the method proposed in this disclosure has been described primarily in the context of its application to IEEE 802.11-based systems, it can be applied to a variety of other wireless LAN or wireless communication systems.

Claims

1. The steps of: STA (station) receiving a trigger frame including a common information field from AP (access point); The STA includes the step of transmitting to the AP an ultra-high reliability (UHR) TB PPDU (trigger-based Physical Layer Protocol Data unit) which is included in one or more TB PPDUs (trigger-based Physical Layer Protocol Data units) triggered by the trigger frame, The common information field includes an Aggregated PPDU (APPDU) related subfield indicating at least one of the following: an A-PPDU including the UHR TB PPDU, an A-PPDU not including the UHR TB PPDU, or a non-A-PPDU. A method wherein the configuration of one or more TB PPDUs is indicated based on the A-PPDU related subfield and at least one other subfield included in the common information field.

2. A value of 0 in the A-PPDU related subfield indicates the A-PPDU including the UHRTB PPDU. The method according to claim 1, wherein one value of the A-PPDU related subfield indicates at least one of the A-PPDUs that does not include the non-A-PPDU or UHRTB PPDU.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one other subfield includes B54 and B55 in the common information field.

4. The value of B54 indicates that the primary 160MHz channel is allocated to the HE (high efficiency) TB PPDU. The method according to claim 3, wherein the value of B54 is 0, indicating that the primary 160MHz channel is to be allocated to an EHT (extremely high throughput) TB PPDU or a non-legacy TB PPDU.

5. The method according to claim 3, wherein the values ​​of 0 and 1 of B55 are associated with the presence of the UHR variant special user information field.

6. The method according to claim 3, wherein, based on the setting of B54 to a value of 1, the setting of B55 to a value of 1, and the setting of the A-PPDU related subfield to a value of 1, the one or more TB PPDUs include HE TB PPDUs.

7. The method according to claim 3, wherein, based on the setting of B54 to a value of 0, the setting of B55 to a value of 0, and the setting of the A-PPDU related subfield to a value of 1, the one or more TB PPDUs include an EHT TB PPDU.

8. The method according to claim 3, wherein, based on the setting of B54 to a value of 1, the setting of B55 to a value of 0, and the setting of the A-PPDU related subfield to a value of 1, the one or more TB PPDUs include HE TB PPDU and EHT TB PPDU.

9. The method according to claim 3, wherein, based on the setting of B54 to a value of 0, B55 to a value of 1, and the setting of the A-PPDU related subfield to a value of 1, the one or more TB PPDUs include the UHRTB PPDU.

10. The method according to claim 3, wherein, based on the setting of B54 to a value of 1, the setting of B55 to a value of 1, and the setting of the A-PPDU related subfield to a value of 0, the one or more TB PPDUs include the HE TB PPDU and the UHRTB PPDU.

11. The method according to claim 3, wherein, based on the setting of B54 to 0, the setting of B55 to 0, and the setting of the A-PPDU related subfield to 0, the one or more TB PPDUs include the EHT TB PPDU and the UHRTB PPDU.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the trigger frame includes at least one of a special user information field associated with information for the UHRTB PPDU or a user information field associated with information for an STA assigned to transmit the UHRTB PPDU.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the channel instruction for the UHRTB PPDU is based on a combination of the values ​​of B25 and B39 in the user information field.

14. A device for STA (station), the device is At least one transceiver and, The system comprises at least one processor connected to the at least one transceiver, The aforementioned at least one processor is Receive a trigger frame containing common information fields from the AP (access point). The AP is configured to transmit UHR (ultra high reliability) TB PPDUs included in one or more TB PPDUs (trigger-based physical layer protocol data units) triggered by the trigger frame, The common information field includes an A-PPDU (aggregated PPDU) related subfield indicating at least one of the following: an A-PPDU including the UHR TB PPDU, an A-PPDU not including the UHR TB PPDU, or a non-A-PPDU. The configuration of one or more TB PPDUs is indicated based on the A-PPDU related subfield and at least one other subfield included in the common information field of the device.

15. A device for an access point (AP), wherein the device is At least one transceiver and, The system comprises at least one processor connected to the at least one transceiver, The aforementioned at least one processor is A trigger frame containing a common information field is sent to the STA (station). The STA is configured to receive UHR (ultra high reliability) TB PPDUs included in one or more TB PPDUs (trigger-based physical layer protocol data units) triggered by the trigger frame, The common information field includes an A-PPDU (aggregated PPDU) related subfield indicating at least one of the following: an A-PPDU including the UHR TB PPDU, an A-PPDU not including the UHR TB PPDU, or a non-A-PPDU. The configuration of one or more TB PPDUs is indicated based on the A-PPDU related subfield and at least one other subfield included in the common information field of the device.

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