Wireless communication method and device

By leveraging the multi-user detection capability of access points during the channel contention phase, and rationally selecting TXOP granting sites or access points, the latency and jitter issues in wireless LANs with a large number of sites are resolved, thereby improving data transmission efficiency.

WO2024250244A9PCT designated stage expired Publication Date: 2026-01-08GUANGDONG OPPO MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORP LTD
View PDF 0 Cites 0 Cited by

Patent Information

Application Number
PCT/CN2023/099218
Authority / Receiving Office
WO · WO
Patent Type
Applications
Current Assignee / Owner
Filing Date
2023-06-08
Publication Date
2026-01-08

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

In wireless LANs with a large number of sites, the existing Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA) mechanism cannot effectively improve channel access performance, resulting in large uplink and downlink data transmission delays and jitter.

Method used

By enabling uplink multi-user detection capabilities during the channel contention phase, the access point (AP) can rationally select to grant TXOP to the site or access point based on the uplink and downlink service demand, thereby achieving multi-user uplink data transmission and reducing latency and jitter.

Benefits of technology

It effectively reduces the latency of uplink and downlink data transmission, alleviates latency jitter, and improves channel access performance.

✦ Generated by Eureka AI based on patent content.

Smart Images

  • Figure CN2023099218_08012026_PF_FP_ABST
    Figure CN2023099218_08012026_PF_FP_ABST
Patent Text Reader

Abstract

Embodiments of the present application provide a wireless communication method and a device. An AP has the uplink multi-user sounding capability in a channel contention phase, so that the AP can reasonably select, on the basis of an uplink service demand quantity and a downlink service demand quantity, to grant a TXOP to an STA or an AP, thereby reducing the delay of uplink and downlink data transmission and relieving the delay jitter. The wireless communication method comprises: a first STA sends a first PPDU, the first STA having uplink data to be transmitted, wherein the first PPDU comprises a first MAC frame and a first identification field, the first MAC frame is used for contending for a channel, and the first identification field is used for indicating an AID of the first STA; or, the first PPDU comprises a second MAC frame, the second MAC frame is used for contending for a channel, and the second MAC frame is further used for triggering all STAs receiving the second MAC frame to feed back whether a medium needs to be acquired so as to transmit uplink data.
Need to check novelty before this filing date? Find Prior Art

Description

Method and apparatus for wireless communication TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] Embodiments of the present application relate to the field of communications, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for wireless communication. BACKGROUND

[0002] In a wireless local area network (WLAN), in order to improve channel access performance, an enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) mechanism is introduced. However, in some scenarios, the number of stations (STAs) is large, and the performance of the EDCA mechanism at the present stage needs to be further improved.

[0003] SUMMARY

[0004] Embodiments of the present application provide a method and apparatus for wireless communication. The AP has uplink multi-user sounding capability in the channel contention phase, so that the AP can reasonably select to grant TXOP to the STA or the AP based on the uplink traffic demand and the downlink traffic demand, thereby reducing the latency of uplink and downlink data transmission, and alleviating latency jitter.

[0005] In a first aspect, a method for wireless communication is provided, applied to a first station STA, the first STA having uplink data to be transmitted, the method comprising:

[0006] The first STA transmits a first physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU); wherein

[0007] The first PPDU comprises a first medium access control (MAC) frame and a first identification field, the first MAC frame being used for channel contention, and the first identification field being used for indicating an association identifier (AID) of the first STA; or

[0008] The first PPDU comprises a second MAC frame, the second MAC frame being used for channel contention, and the second MAC frame further being used for triggering all STAs receiving the second MAC frame to feed back whether to acquire a medium to transmit uplink data.

[0009] In a second aspect, a method for wireless communication is provided, applied to a second station STA, the method comprising:

[0010] The second STA receives a first PPDU transmitted by a first STA, the first STA having uplink data to be transmitted; wherein

[0011] The first PPDU comprises a first media access control (MAC) frame and a first identification field, the first MAC frame is used for contending for a channel, and the first identification field is used for indicating an association identifier (AID) of the first STA; or

[0012] The first PPDU comprises a second MAC frame, the second MAC frame is used for contending for a channel, and the second MAC frame is further used for triggering all STAs receiving the second MAC frame to feed back whether medium needs to be acquired for transmitting uplink data.

[0013] In a third aspect, a method for wireless communication is provided, which is applied to an access point (AP), and the method comprises the following steps.

[0014] The AP receives a first PPDU sent by a first station (STA), and the first STA has uplink data to be transmitted; wherein

[0015] The first PPDU comprises a first media access control (MAC) frame and a first identification field, the first MAC frame is used for contending for a channel, and the first identification field is used for indicating an association identifier (AID) of the first STA; or

[0016] The first PPDU comprises a second MAC frame, the second MAC frame is used for contending for a channel, and the second MAC frame is further used for triggering all STAs receiving the second MAC frame to feed back whether medium needs to be acquired for transmitting uplink data.

[0017] In a fourth aspect, a STA is provided, which is a first STA, and is used for executing the method in the first aspect.

[0018] Specifically, the STA comprises a function module used for executing the method in the first aspect.

[0019] In a fifth aspect, a STA is provided, which is a second STA, and is used for executing the method in the second aspect.

[0020] Specifically, the STA comprises a function module used for executing the method in the second aspect.

[0021] In a sixth aspect, an AP is provided, which is used for executing the method in the third aspect.

[0022] Specifically, the AP comprises a function module used for executing the method in the third aspect.

[0023] In a seventh aspect, a STA is provided, which is a first STA, and comprises a processor and a memory; the memory is used for storing a computer program, and the processor is used for calling and running the computer program stored in the memory, so that the STA executes the method in the first aspect.

[0024] In an eighth aspect, a STA is provided, the STA being a second STA, the STA comprising a processor and a memory; the memory is configured to store a computer program, and the processor is configured to invoke and run the computer program stored in the memory, so that the STA executes the method in the second aspect.

[0025] In a ninth aspect, an AP is provided, comprising a processor and a memory; the memory is configured to store a computer program, and the processor is configured to invoke and run the computer program stored in the memory, so that the AP executes the method in the third aspect.

[0026] In a tenth aspect, an apparatus is provided, configured to implement the method in any one of the first aspect to the third aspect.

[0027] In particular, the apparatus comprises a processor configured to invoke and run a computer program from a memory, so that a device in which the apparatus is installed executes the method in any one of the first aspect to the third aspect.

[0028] In an eleventh aspect, a computer readable storage medium is provided, configured to store a computer program, the computer program causing a computer to execute the method in any one of the first aspect to the third aspect.

[0029] In a twelfth aspect, a computer program product is provided, comprising computer program instructions, the computer program instructions causing a computer to execute the method in any one of the first aspect to the third aspect.

[0030] In a thirteenth aspect, a computer program is provided, when running on a computer, causing the computer to execute the method in any one of the first aspect to the third aspect.

[0031] Through the above technical solution, the AP can obtain the number of STAs that need to obtain the medium to transmit uplink data and the AID in the channel contention phase, that is, the AP has uplink multi-user sounding capability in the channel contention phase, so that the AP can reasonably select to grant the TXOP to the STA or the AP based on the uplink service demand and the downlink service demand, thereby reducing the delay of uplink and downlink data transmission and alleviating delay jitter. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0032] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system architecture to which embodiments of the present application are applied.

[0033] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of channel access priority and timing of QoS STA and Non-QoS STA provided by the present application.

[0034] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of timing relationship of EDCA mechanism provided by the present application.

[0035] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of SU UL according to embodiments of the present application.

[0036] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of MU UL according to embodiments of the present application.

[0037] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of NDP Feedback Report mechanism according to embodiments of the present application.

[0038] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of frame format of NFRP Trigger frame according to embodiments of the present application.

[0039] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of frame format of Common Info field according to embodiments of the present application.

[0040] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of frame format of User Info List field according to embodiments of the present application.

[0041] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of HE TB feedback NDP frame format according to embodiments of the present application.

[0042] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of probability of STA or AP obtaining TXOP in a channel contention according to embodiments of the present application.

[0043] FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of three stages of channel contention according to embodiments of the present application.

[0044] FIG. 13 is a schematic flowchart of a method of wireless communication according to embodiments of the present application.

[0045] FIGS. 14-19 are schematic diagrams of UIE field according to embodiments of the present application.

[0046] FIGS. 20-27 are schematic diagrams of channel contention and data transmission according to embodiments of the present application.

[0047] FIG. 28 is a schematic diagram of an extended NFRP Trigger frame according to embodiments of the present application.

[0048] FIG. 29 is a schematic diagram of an extended TRS Control field according to embodiments of the present application.

[0049] FIG. 30 is a schematic diagram of a newly defined NFR Control field according to embodiments of the present application.

[0050] FIG. 31 is a schematic diagram of channel contention and SU UL data transmission according to embodiments of the present application.

[0051] FIG. 32 is a schematic diagram of channel contention and MU UL data transmission according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0052] FIG. 33 is a schematic block diagram of a STA according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0053] FIG. 34 is a schematic block diagram of another STA according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0054] FIG. 35 is a schematic block diagram of an AP according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0055] FIG. 36 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0056] FIG. 37 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0057] FIG. 38 is a schematic block diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0058] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all the embodiments of the present application. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative work on the basis of the embodiments in the present application shall fall within the scope of the present application.

[0059] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as a wireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless fidelity (WiFi) or other communication systems, etc.

[0060] Please refer to FIG. 1, which shows a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 1, the wireless communication system can include an access point (AP) and a station (STA).

[0061] In some scenarios, the AP can also be referred to as an AP STA, that is, in some sense, the AP is also a kind of STA. In some scenarios, the STA can also be referred to as a non-AP STA.

[0062] In some embodiments, the STA can include an AP STA and a Non-AP STA. The communication in the communication system can be between an AP and a Non-AP STA, between a Non-AP STA and a Non-AP STA, or between a STA and a peer STA. The peer STA can refer to a device that communicates with the STA. For example, the peer STA can be an AP or a Non-AP STA.

[0063] The AP is equivalent to a bridge connecting the wired network and the wireless network, and mainly functions to connect various wireless network clients together and then access the wireless network to the Ethernet. The AP device can be a terminal device (such as a mobile phone) or a network device (such as a router) with a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) chip.

[0064] It should be understood that the role of the STA in the communication system is not absolute. For example, in some scenarios, when a mobile phone is connected to a router, the mobile phone is a Non-AP STA. When the mobile phone is used as a hotspot for other mobile phones, the mobile phone acts as an AP.

[0065] The AP and the Non-AP STA can be devices applied in the Internet of Vehicles, Internet of Things (IoT) nodes, sensors, smart cameras, smart remote controllers, smart water meters, smart electricity meters, and sensors in smart cities.

[0066] In some embodiments, the Non-AP STA can support the 802.11be standard. The Non-AP STA can also support various current and future 802.11 family WLAN standards such as 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b, and 802.11a.

[0067] In some embodiments, the AP can be a device supporting the 802.11be standard. The AP can also be a device supporting various current and future 802.11 family WLAN standards such as 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b, and 802.11a.

[0068] In the embodiments of the present application, the STA can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer, a virtual reality (VR) device, an augmented reality (AR) device, a wireless device in industrial control, a set-top box, a wireless device in self driving, a vehicle-mounted communication device, a wireless device in remote medical treatment, a wireless device in smart grid, a wireless device in transportation safety, a wireless device in smart city, a wireless device in smart home, a wireless communication chip, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), a SOC (System on Chip), and the like supporting WLAN / WIFI technology.

[0069] The WLAN technology can support frequency bands, which can include but are not limited to low frequency bands (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz) and high frequency bands (45 GHz, 60 GHz).

[0070] There is one or more links between a station and an access point. In some embodiments, the station and the access point support multi-band communication. For example, communication is simultaneously performed on 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz, 45 GHz and 60 GHz frequency bands, or communication is simultaneously performed on different channels of the same frequency band (or different frequency bands), to improve the communication throughput and / or reliability between devices. Such devices are usually referred to as multi-band devices, or multi-link devices (MLD), and sometimes referred to as multi-link entities or multi-band entities. The multi-link device can be an access point device or a station device. If the multi-link device is an access point device, the multi-link device contains one or more APs; if the multi-link device is a station device, the multi-link device contains one or more non-AP STAs.

[0071] The multi-link device containing one or more APs can be referred to as an access point multi-link device (AP MLD), and the multi-link device containing one or more non-AP STAs can be referred to as a non-AP multi-link device (Non-AP MLD).

[0072] In the embodiments of the present application, the APs can include a plurality of APs, the Non-APs include a plurality of STAs, a plurality of links can be formed between the APs in the APs and the STAs in the Non-APs, and data communication can be performed between the APs in the APs and the corresponding STAs in the Non-APs through the corresponding links.

[0073] An AP is a device deployed in a wireless local area network to provide wireless communication functions for STAs. A station can include a user equipment (UE), an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a mobile, a remote station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a wireless communication device, a user agent, or a user device. Alternatively, a station can also be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication functions, a computing device, or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem, an in-vehicle device, a wearable device, and the like, which are not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0074] In some embodiments, both the stations (STAs) and the access points (APs) support the IEEE 802.11 standard.

[0075] It should be understood that the terms “system” and “network” are often used interchangeably herein. The term “and / or” herein is only used to describe an associated relationship between associated objects, which means that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B, which means that A exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone. In addition, the character “ / ” herein generally represents an “or” relationship between the associated objects.

[0076] It should be understood that the “indication” mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can be direct indication, indirect indication, or an indication representing an associated relationship. For example, A indicates B, which can mean that B can be obtained by A directly; or A indirectly indicates B, for example, A indicates C, and B can be obtained by C; or A and B have an associated relationship.

[0077] The terms used in the embodiments of the present application are only used to explain the specific embodiments of the present application, and are not intended to limit the present application. The terms “first”, “second”, “third”, and “fourth” and the like in the specification and claims of the present application and the drawings are used to distinguish different objects, and are not used to describe a specific order. In addition, the terms “include” and “have” and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion.

[0078] It should be understood that "at least one or at least one of" mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can represent "one or more", and "positive integer" mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can represent "1, 2, 3, etc. value", "non-negative integer" mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can represent "0, 1, 2, 3, etc. value", "integer" mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can represent "…, -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, …, etc. value", which can be replaced by any possible value based on the requirements of the embodiments.

[0079] It should be understood that the figures and / or tables shown in the embodiments of the present application are only examples, specifically, in some cases, part of the information contained in the figures and / or tables shown in the embodiments of the present application can constitute an optional embodiment, for example, each row or each column in the table can constitute an optional embodiment, and the present application does not limit this.

[0080] In the description of the embodiments of the present application, the term "corresponding" can represent a direct or indirect corresponding relationship between the two, can also represent an associated relationship between the two, or can indicate a relationship with the indicated, configured and configured.

[0081] In the embodiments of the present application, "predefined" or "preconfigured" can be realized by pre-saving corresponding codes, tables or other ways that can be used to indicate related information in the device (for example, including STA and network device), and the present application does not limit the specific implementation manner thereof. For example, predefinition can refer to definition in the protocol.

[0082] In the embodiments of the present application, the "protocol" can refer to a standard protocol in the communication field, for example, it can include WiFi protocol and related protocol applied to future WiFi communication system, and the present application does not limit this.

[0083] In order to better understand the embodiments of the present application, the enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) mechanism related to the present application is described.

[0084] The IEEE 802.11e standard defines an Enhanced Quality of Service (QoS) channel access mechanism: EDCA. Compared to the traditional Distributed Coordination Function (DCF), EDCA defines four different Access Categories (ACs): AC_VO, AC_VI, AC_BE, and AC_BK. As shown in Table 1, different ACs have different parameter settings, resulting in different priorities when accessing the medium.

[0085] Table 1 EDCA Parameter Settings Table

[0086] in,

[0087] CW min : Indicates the minimum value of the competition window upper limit; the smaller the CW, the better. min It has a higher priority;

[0088] CW max : Indicates the maximum value of the competition window upper limit; the smaller the CW, the higher the limit. max It has a higher priority;

[0089] Transmission Opportunity (TXOP) Limit: Indicates the maximum duration for which the channel is occupied;

[0090] Arbitration Interframe Space Number (AIFSN): Indicates the number of slots a STA must wait after detecting a Short Interframe Space (SIFS) period before initiating the random backoff procedure. A smaller AIFSN indicates higher priority.

[0091] Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram of QoS STA using four AC access channels. It can be seen that due to the different AIFSN parameters, the priorities of AC_VO, AC_VI, AC_BE, and AC_BK gradually decrease.

[0092] In addition, the timing diagram of the Non-QoS STA accessing the channel is also shown in FIG. 2, which is the traditional DCF mechanism. The DCF mechanism contains two cases, one is that the STA can send after detecting that the channel is idle for a priority interframe space (PIFS), and the other is that the STA can send after detecting that the channel is idle for a distributed interframe space (DIFS) and performing backoff. The standard specifies that the former can be used only when sending some special function frames, such as a beacon frame, because such frames need to have a high sending priority; in addition, the latter is used by the STA to access the channel.

[0093] It should be noted that in FIG. 2, the QoS STA can be a STA supporting the QoS EDCA mechanism, and the Non-QoS STA can be a STA not supporting the QoS EDCA mechanism.

[0094] The timing relationship among the priority interframe space (PIFS), the distributed interframe space (DIFS), the arbitration interframe space (AIFS), and the short interframe space (SIFS) is shown in FIG. 3.

[0095] PIFS = SIFS + 1 × aSlotTime.

[0096] DIFS = SIFS + 2 × aSlotTime.

[0097] AIFS = SIFS + AIFSN × aSlotTime.

[0098] For better understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the single user uplink (SU UL) and multi-user uplink (MU UL) processes related to the present application are described.

[0099] The procedure of SU UL is shown in FIG. 4, which contains 1 AP and 3 STAs (Non-AP STAs). Each STA needs to contend for the channel by EDCA mechanism first, and then transmit uplink (UL) low latency (LL) data and receive acknowledgement (ACK) frame. Multiple STAs (Non-AP STAs) obtain TXOP and transmit uplink data in a serial manner one by one. This uplink data transmission manner of SU UL can cause large uplink transmission latency and latency jitter, because the STA cannot necessarily contend for TXOP in time.

[0100] The procedure of MU UL is shown in FIG. 5, which contains 1 AP and n STAs (Non-AP STAs). First, the AP contends for TXOP by EDCA mechanism, second, the AP sends trigger frame to each STA, and allocates resources required for each STA to transmit uplink parallel transmission, then, n STAs (Non-AP STAs) transmit high efficiency trigger based physical layer protocol data unit (HE TB PPDU) according to the allocated resources to transmit uplink data at the same time, finally, the AP replies multi-STA block acknowledgement (Multi-STA BlockAck) frame to n STAs to confirm whether the transmission is successful. This uplink transmission manner of MU UL can realize parallel uplink transmission (i.e. the time domain resources occupied by uplink transmission are the same, and the frequency domain and / or space domain resources are different), and has higher transmission efficiency than SU UL.

[0101] For better understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the null data physical protocol data unit (NDP) feedback report (Feedback Report) mechanism related to the present application is described.

[0102] IEEE 802.11ax standard defines a set of MU UL detection mechanism, which enables the AP to detect the STA (Non-AP STA) requiring to allocate resources before sending trigger frame.

[0103] The MU UL sounding mechanism in IEEE 802.11ax also defines two related frame structures: a Null Data Physical Protocol Data Unit Feedback Report Polling (NFRP) Trigger frame and a High Efficiency Trigger Based Feedback Null Data Physical Protocol Data Unit (HE TB feedback NDP). The AP sends the NFRP Trigger frame to all Non-AP STAs, triggers the Non-AP STAs to send the HE TB feedback NDP, and the AP can know which Non-AP STAs need to participate in subsequent MU UL transmission by analyzing the HE TB feedback NDP.

[0104] As shown in FIG. 6, the AP sends the NFRP Trigger frame to some Non-AP STAs, triggers the Non-AP STAs to send the HE TB feedback NDP, and the AP can know which Non-AP STAs need to participate in subsequent MU UL transmission by analyzing the HE TB feedback NDP, and then reasonably allocates resources to the Non-AP STAs in the subsequent Trigger frame, thereby completing the MU UL transmission.

[0105] For better understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the NFRP Trigger frame related to the present application is described.

[0106] The frame format of the NFRP Trigger frame is shown in FIG. 7, wherein the format of the Common Info field is shown in FIG. 8, and the format of the User Info List field is shown in FIG. 9.

[0107] Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, the NFRP trigger frame can include the following fields: Frame Control (occupying 2 bytes), Duration (occupying 2 bytes), Receiving Address (RA) (occupying 6 bytes), Transmission Address (TA) (occupying 6 bytes), Common Info (occupying 8 or more bytes), User Info list (occupying a variable number of bytes), padding (occupying a variable number of bytes), Frame Check Sequence (FCS) (occupying 4 bytes).

[0108] Specifically, as shown in FIG. 8, the Common Info field can include the following fields: Trigger Type (occupying 4 bits), UL Length (occupying 12 bits), Trigger Frame (TF) (occupying 1 bit), Carrier Sense (CS) (occupying 1 bit), BandWidth (BW) (occupying 2 bits), Guard Interval (GI) and High Efficiency Long Training Field (HE-LTF) Type (occupying 2 bits), Multiple Users multiple-in multiple-out (MU-MIMO) HE-LTF Mode (occupying 1 bit), HE-LTF Symbol Number and Midamble Period (occupying 3 bits), Uplink Space Time Block Code (STBC) (occupying 1 bit), low-density parity check (LDPC) Extra Symbol Segment (occupying 1 bit), AP Transmit Power (occupying 6 bits), Pre-Forward Error Correction (Pre-FEC) Padding Factor (occupying 2 bits), Packet Extension (PE) disambiguity (occupying 1 bit), Uplink Spatial Reuse (occupying 16 bits), Doppler (occupying 1 bit), High Efficiency-SINGAL field-A2 (HE-SIG-A2) reservation (occupying 9 bits), reservation (occupying 1 bit), Trigger-related Common Info (occupying a variable number of bits).

[0109] wherein the Uplink Bandwidth (UL BW) field indicates the bandwidth of the NDP feedback report response; the UL STBC, LDPC Extra Symbol Segment, Pre-FEC Padding Factor, PE Disambiguity, UL Spatial Reuse, and Doppler fields are reserved; the Number Of HE-LTF Symbols and Midamble Periodicity fields indicate the number of HE-LTF symbols present in the NDP feedback report response and are set to 1; the GI And HE-LTF Type field is set to 2; and the Trigger Dependent Common Info field is not present.

[0110] Specifically, as shown in FIG. 9, the User Info List field can include the following fields: Starting AID (occupying 12 bits), reserved (occupying 9 bits), Feedback Type (occupying 4 bits), reserved (occupying 7 bits), Uplink Target Receive Power (UL Target Receive Power) (occupying 7 bits), and Number Of Spatially Multiplexed Users (occupying 1 bit).

[0111] wherein the Starting AID (Staring AID) field defines the first AID of the range of Association Identifiers (AIDs) for which the NFRP Trigger frame is intended; the Feedback Type field indicates the type of feedback information carried by the HE TB feedback NDP; the UL Target Receive Power field indicates the expected receive signal power measured at the antenna connector of the AP and averaged over the antennas; and the Number Of Spatially Multiplexed Users field indicates the number of STAs multiplexed on the same set of subcarriers in the same Resource Unit (RU), encoded as STA number-1.

[0112] For better understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the HE TB feedback NDP related to the present application is described.

[0113] The HE TB feedback NDP is used to carry the NDP feedback report information, and the frame format thereof is shown in FIG. 10.

[0114] Specifically, the HE TB feedback NDP frame includes the following fields: a legacy short training field (L-STF), a legacy long training field (L-LTF), a legacy signal (L-SIG), a repeat legacy signal (RL-SIG), a high efficiency signal A (HE-SIG-A), a high efficiency short training field (HE-STF), a high efficiency long training field (HE-LTF), and a packet extension (PE).

[0115] As shown in FIG. 10, 2 HE-LTF symbols, each symbol 16μs, using 4x HE-LTF (2 HE-LTF symbols with 16μs per symbol using 4x HE-LTF).

[0116] Specifically, the NDP format adopts the HE TB PPDU format, but does not have a data (Data) field, the PE field has a duration of 0 microseconds (μs), there are 2 symbols of type 4x HE-LTF, and the guard interval (GI) used is 3.2 microseconds. The 1x HE-LTF symbol has a duration of 3.2 microseconds, the 2x HE-LTF symbol has a duration of 6.4 microseconds, and the 4x HE-LTF symbol has a duration of 12.8 microseconds, and the durations are not calculated with the guard interval.

[0117] Specifically, different RU_TONE_SET_INDEX in the HE-LTF field are used to identify the AIDs of different Non-AP STAs and the feedback information (FEEDBACK_STATUS). The tone can also be referred to as a subcarrier. Specifically, the HE-LTF subcarrier mapping relationship in the HE TB feedback NDP can be as shown in Table 2.

[0118] Table 2

[0119] Briefly speaking, when the Number Of Spatially Multiplexed Users field in the NFRP Trigger frame is 0, each RU_TONE_SET_INDEX corresponds to a Non-AP STA (AID). When the BW is 20MHz, for the Non-AP STA using RU_TONE_SET_INDEX = 1, the feedback information FEEDBACK_STATUS = 1 corresponds to the -113, -77, -41, 6, 42, 78 subcarriers in the HE-LTF having energy, and other subcarriers have no energy; the feedback information FEEDBACK_STATUS = 0 corresponds to the -112, -76, -40, 7, 43, 79 subcarriers in the HE-LTF having energy, and other subcarriers have no energy. When the BW is 40MHz or 80MHz, the subcarrier mapping relationship of 20MHz is extended by 1 times and 3 times respectively, so that more Non-AP STAs (AIDs) can be mapped. When the Number Of Spatially Multiplexed Users field in the NFRP Trigger frame is 1, each RU_TONE_SET_INDEX corresponds to two Non-AP STAs (AIDs), and the two Non-AP STAs are distinguished by different pre-allocated code matrices.

[0120] For better understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the Single Protection and Multiple Protection related to the present application are described.

[0121] The Duration / ID field located in the frame header of the Media Access Control (MAC) frame is used to set the Network Allocation Vector (NAV) for the STA receiving the MAC frame, and the STA receiving the MAC frame considers the channel to be busy within the NAV time.

[0122] The TXOP initiated under the EDCA mechanism has two types of duration settings: Single Protection and Multiple Protection. In Single Protection, the time length indicated by the NAV only contains one data, management or response frame to be sent next plus any additional overhead frame; in Multiple Protection, the time length indicated by the NAV can contain multiple frames to be sent and received next.

[0123] To make the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application easy to understand, the problems solved by the present application are described below.

[0124] In an industrial scenario, in order to improve the cooperation between different production equipment and a higher degree of automation, the equipment in the factory generally needs to be linked together through a network to form an Internet of Things (IOT) network. WIFI has the advantages of spectrum unlicensed, wide popularity, high throughput, etc. compared with other wireless communication methods. However, the channel access mechanism EDCA in the existing WIFI is not suitable for the industrial IOT scenario with a large number of station devices. Because, in WIFI, there are two methods of sending uplink data: SU UL and MU UL. SU UL requires the sending station to obtain TXOP, and MU UL requires the AP to obtain TXOP, otherwise, the station cannot send uplink data. However, the probability of a station obtaining TXOP and the probability of an AP obtaining TXOP will gradually decrease with the increase in the number of all stations, and gradually converge to a small fixed value. The probability of STA or AP obtaining TXOP in a channel competition can be as shown in FIG. 11. Therefore, when the number of stations is large, the probability of a station performing SU UL and an AP performing MU UL will be small, resulting in a long delay in sending uplink data, causing large delay and delay jitter.

[0125] The reason for this problem is that the existing EDCA mechanism did not consider MU UL at the beginning of the design. The premise of MU UL is that the AP obtains TXOP, but under the EDCA mechanism, as the number of Non-AP STAs increases, the number of stations that need to send uplink data increases, and the probability of the AP obtaining TXOP becomes smaller and smaller, which makes the opportunity of MU UL become smaller and smaller, and the delay of sending uplink data also becomes larger and larger.

[0126] Based on the above problems, the present application proposes an EDCA enhancement scheme with MU UL detection function, by letting the station send a special field carrying an identity to the AP, so that the AP can detect the number of stations that need to send uplink data and AID in the channel competition process. When a large number of uplink devices are detected, the AP can choose to obtain TXOP and then perform the MU UL process with high efficiency, thereby quickly meeting the uplink data sending requirements of multiple stations and reducing the delay.

[0127] The embodiments of the present application enhance the EDCA mechanism to reduce the transmission delay of uplink data in industrial scenarios. The enhanced EDCA scheme includes three stages as shown in FIG. 12: medium contention, medium grant, and medium use stage. In the medium contention stage, the STA that needs to send low-latency traffic will send a specific frame according to the rules to contend for the ownership of TXOP. In the medium grant stage, the AP will reply to different frames according to the results of the MU UL probe, thereby granting TXOP to a certain STA. In the medium use stage, the STA that obtains TXOP needs to perform a specific transmission process according to the rules.

[0128] To facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the technical solutions of the present application are described in detail below through specific embodiments. The related technologies below can be combined with the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application in any manner as optional solutions, which all belong to the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application. The embodiments of the present application include at least part of the following contents.

[0129] FIG. 13 is a schematic flowchart of a method 200 of wireless communication according to the embodiments of the present application. As shown in FIG. 13, the method 200 of wireless communication can include at least part of the following contents:

[0130] S210, a first STA sends a first PPDU; wherein the first STA has uplink data to be transmitted; wherein the first PPDU includes a first MAC frame for contending for a channel and a first identification field for indicating an AID of the first STA; or the first PPDU includes a second MAC frame for contending for a channel, and the second MAC frame is also used to trigger all STAs receiving the second MAC frame to feed back whether to acquire a medium to transmit uplink data;

[0131] S220, a second STA receives the first PPDU sent by the first STA;

[0132] S230, an AP receives the first PPDU sent by the first STA.

[0133] It should be understood that FIG. 13 shows steps or operations of the method 200 of wireless communication, but these steps or operations are only examples, and the embodiments of the present application can also perform other operations or variations of each operation in FIG. 13.

[0134] In the embodiments of the present application, the "field" can also be referred to as "domain" or "subfield". One field can occupy one or more bytes (byte / octet), or one field can occupy one or more bits (bit).

[0135] In the embodiments of the present application, S220 is an optional step.

[0136] In the embodiments of the present application, the second STA can be another STA belonging to the same WLAN network as the first STA.

[0137] In the embodiments of the present application, the AP can acquire the number and AIDs of STAs requiring to acquire the medium for transmitting uplink data in the channel contention stage, that is, the AP has uplink multi-user sounding capability in the channel contention stage, so that the AP can reasonably select to grant TXOP to the STA or the AP based on the uplink and downlink traffic demand, thereby reducing the delay of uplink and downlink data transmission and alleviating delay jitter.

[0138] The tone in the embodiments of the present application can also be referred to as a subcarrier, or the subcarrier in the embodiments of the present application can also be referred to as a tone.

[0139] In some embodiments, the uplink data in the embodiments of the present application at least includes uplink latency sensitive data. Of course, the uplink data in the embodiments of the present application can also include other data, such as non-latency sensitive data.

[0140] It should be noted that the latency sensitive data can also be referred to as low latency (LL) data, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0141] Specifically, for example, in the case that the first STA has uplink latency sensitive data to be transmitted, the first STA transmits a first PPDU and contends for the channel through a first MAC frame in the first PPDU; after the second STA (as an example of other STAs having uplink latency sensitive data to be transmitted) identifies the first MAC frame, the second STA can selectively transmit an identification field identifying the identity of the second STA in the time period where the first identification field is located, to request to share the TXOP; the AP completes multi-user uplink (MU UL) sounding based on the received first identification field or multiple identification fields overlapping with the first identification field, identifies the AIDs of one or more STAs requiring to transmit uplink latency sensitive data, and then replies different CTS frames according to the AIDs, so as to grant TXOP to the STA or the AP.

[0142] For example, in the case that the first STA has uplink latency sensitive data to transmit, the first STA transmits a first PPDU, and contends for the channel through a second MAC frame in the first PPDU; after recognizing the second MAC frame, other STAs (such as the second STA) can feed back whether they need to acquire the medium to transmit uplink latency sensitive data; the AP completes multi-user uplink (MU UL) sounding based on the received feedback information, identifies the AID of one or more STAs that need to send uplink latency sensitive data, and then replies with different CTS frames according to the reply, thereby granting the TXOP to the STAs or the AP.

[0143] In some embodiments, the first physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) is one of: an Ultra High Reliability Multi-user physical layer protocol data unit (UHR MU PPDU), an Ultra High Reliability Trigger Based physical layer protocol data unit (UHR TB PPDU), and an Ultra High Reliability Extended Range physical layer protocol data unit (UHR ER PPDU).

[0144] In some embodiments, in the case that the first PPDU includes the first MAC frame and the first identification field, the channel contention result corresponding to the first MAC frame is associated with the number of STAs with uplink data to transmit that are detected by the AP;

[0145] The number of STAs with uplink data to transmit is obtained by the AP through sounding m identification fields (i.e., the number of STAs with uplink data to transmit is obtained by the AP through sounding m identification fields), the m identification fields are respectively used to indicate the AID of m STAs, the m identification fields at least include the first identification field, m is a positive integer, and m = 1 or m ≥ 2.

[0146] In some embodiments, in the first PPDU, the first identification field is located after the first MAC frame.

[0147] For example, m = 1 means that after identifying that the first MAC frame can provide TXOP sharing, other STAs (e.g., the second STA) do not have uplink data (e.g., uplink latency-sensitive data) to be transmitted, and thus do not send the identification field for identifying the AID of the STA, or other STAs (e.g., the second STA) have uplink data (e.g., uplink non-latency-sensitive data) to be transmitted, and still choose not to send the identification field for identifying the AID of the STA.

[0148] For example, m ≥ 2 means that after identifying that the first MAC frame can provide TXOP sharing, other STAs (e.g., the second STA) have uplink data (e.g., uplink latency-sensitive data) to be transmitted, and the STAs (e.g., the second STA) choose to send the identification field for identifying the AID of the STA to request sharing of the TXOP.

[0149] In some embodiments, the channel contention result corresponding to the first MAC frame is associated with the number of STAs detected by the AP as having uplink data to be transmitted, including:

[0150] In the case of m = 1, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame belongs to the first STA; and / or,

[0151] In the case of m ≥ K1, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame belongs to the AP; or, in the case of m ≥ K1, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame belongs to the first STA; or, in the case of m ≥ K1, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame belongs to a plurality of STAs among the m STAs corresponding to the m identification fields, wherein the plurality of STAs at least includes the first STA, and K1 is a positive integer and K1 ≥ 2.

[0152] In some embodiments, the channel contention result corresponding to the first MAC frame is associated with the number of STAs detected by the AP as having uplink data to be transmitted, including:

[0153] In the case of m = 1, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame belongs to the first STA; and / or,

[0154] In the case of m > K1, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame belongs to the AP; or, in the case of m > K1, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame belongs to the first STA; or, in the case of m > K1, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame belongs to a plurality of STAs among the m STAs corresponding to the m identification fields, wherein the plurality of STAs at least includes the first STA, and K1 is a positive integer and K1 ≥ 2.

[0155] In some embodiments, K1 can be agreed by protocol, or K1 can be configured by the AP (semi-statically or dynamically), or K1 can be configured by the physical AP MLD to which the AP belongs (semi-statically or dynamically), or K1 can be configured by the logical AP MLD to which the AP belongs (semi-statically or dynamically).

[0156] For example, in the case of m = 1, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame belongs to the first STA. That is, if the AP detects the AID of the 1 STA (i.e., the AID of the first STA), the AP does not send any CTS frame, and the TXOP is determined to belong to the first STA according to the EDCA mechanism. For example, the first STA competes for the TXOP according to the EDCA mechanism.

[0157] For example, in the case of m ≥ K1 or m > K1, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame belongs to the AP, and the AP can also send a CTS-to-self frame to grant the TXOP to itself.

[0158] For example, in the case of m ≥ K1 or m > K1, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame belongs to the first STA, and the AP can send a CTS frame to the first STA to grant the TXOP to the first STA. Alternatively, in the case of m ≥ K1 or m > K1, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame belongs to a certain STA, and the AP can send a CTS frame to the certain STA to grant the TXOP to the certain STA. That is, the AP detects m (m ≥ K1 or m > K1) AIDs, and the AP can send a CTS frame to a Non-AP STA corresponding to one of the AIDs to grant the TXOP to the Non-AP STA corresponding to the AID.

[0159] In some embodiments, the CWmin used for the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is less than the CWmin associated with the EDCA access type AC_VO; and / or the CWmax used for the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is less than the CWmax associated with the EDCA access type AC_VO.

[0160] In some embodiments, the Non-AP STA uses a TXOP with Single Protection, or the Non-AP STA uses a TXOP with Multiple Protection with limited length; and the AP uses a TXOP with Single Protection, or the AP uses a TXOP with Multiple Protection with limited length.

[0161] In one embodiment, the Non-AP STA uses a TXOP with Single Protection, or the Non-AP STA uses a TXOP with Multiple Protection with limited length; and the AP can use any type of TXOP (i.e. can be a TXOP with Single Protection, or can be a TXOP with Multiple Protection).

[0162] In some embodiments, in the case that the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by the AP, the m STAs corresponding to the m identification fields respectively transmit uplink data within the TXOP after receiving a trigger frame transmitted by the AP.

[0163] For example, when the AP obtains the TXOP, the AP transmits a trigger frame to the m STAs corresponding to the m identification fields (i.e. the Non-AP STAs corresponding to the m AIDs detected), and then receives a trigger-based PPDU (TB PPDU) to obtain uplink data and returns a BlockAck frame or a Multi-STA BlockAck frame.

[0164] In some embodiments, in the case that the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by the AP, the m STAs corresponding to the m identification fields respectively transmit uplink data and receive downlink data within the TXOP after receiving a trigger frame transmitted by the AP.

[0165] For example, when the AP obtains the TXOP, the AP sends a Trigger frame to m STAs corresponding to m AIDs (i.e., Non-AP STAs corresponding to the m detected AIDs), and then receives a Trigger-based PPDU (TB PPDU) to obtain uplink data and returns a BlockAck frame or a Multi-STA BlockAck frame. When the AP uses a Multiple Protection TXOP or a Multiple Protection TXOP with a limited length, if the TXOP is long enough, the AP can also send downlink SU data or downlink MU data in the TXOP, and receive the corresponding Ack frame or BlockAck frame.

[0166] In some embodiments, the first MAC frame is a request to send (RTS) frame, or the first MAC frame is a sharing request to send (S-RTS) frame, or the first MAC frame is a clear to send (CTS) frame, or the first MAC frame is a sharing clear to send (S-CTS) frame, or the first MAC frame is a null frame.

[0167] In some embodiments, the first identification field is a user identifying extension (UIE) field. For example, the UIE field has a multi-user identity identifying function.

[0168] It should be noted that the main purpose of the UIE field is to enable the receiver to identify signals from different users (Non-AP STAs or APs) at the physical (PHY) layer.

[0169] In some embodiments, the length of the UIE field can be an integer greater than 0, such as 12 μs, 16 μs, 20 μs, 24 μs, 28 μs, or 32 μs. Alternatively, the length of the UIE field can be a variable length indicated by a signaling subfield in the first PPDU.

[0170] In some embodiments, the UIE field should be transmitted at the same average power as the data field, and should not cause significant power leakage outside the frequency spectrum used by the data field.

[0171] In some embodiments, the transmission of the first PPDU is associated with a first bandwidth and a first Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS). For example, the transmission of the first PPDU is associated with the first bandwidth and the first MCS for all STAs receiving or detecting the first MAC frame to acquire the time domain resources occupied by the first identification field. That is, a Non-AP STA that has uplink data (e.g., uplink latency sensitive data) to transmit sends a specific MAC frame (i.e., the first MAC frame) to contend for the channel, and transmits a UHR PPDU (i.e., the first PPDU) carrying the specific MAC frame (i.e., the first MAC frame) using a specific bandwidth (i.e., the first bandwidth) and a specific MCS (i.e., the first MCS) to ensure the same transmission time.

[0172] In some embodiments, the first identification field is used to indicate the AID of the first STA by the subcarriers (also referred to as TONES) used to transmit the first identification field.

[0173] For example, as shown in Table 2, the starting AID of a STA corresponds to the RU_TONE_SET_INDEX value 1. For example, the starting AID is 6, then the STA with the starting AID value of 6 corresponds to the RU_TONE_SET_INDEX value 1, the non-AP STA with the starting AID value of 7 corresponds to the RU_TONE_SET_INDEX value 2, and so on. When the Number Of Spatially Multiplexed Users field takes the value of 1, each RU_TONE_SET_INDEX corresponds to two non-AP STAs (AIDs), which are distinguished by different precoding matrices assigned in advance. The starting AID corresponds to the RU_TONE_SET_INDEX value 1. For example, the starting AID is 6, then the two non-AP STAs with the starting AID values of 6 and 7 correspond to the RU_TONE_SET_INDEX value 1, the two non-AP STAs with the starting AID values of 8 and 9 correspond to the RU_TONE_SET_INDEX value 2, and so on.

[0174] In some embodiments, the first identification field includes one or more identification subfields, wherein the one or more identification subfields are used to indicate the identification information (e.g., AID) of the first STA.

[0175] For example, the first identification field is a UIE field, which can include one or more UIE subfields, as shown in FIG. 14. The UIE subfields carry device identification information (such as AID, UID, and MAC address) using different subcarriers. The information carried by different UIE subfields can be the same, i.e., to increase reliability by repeated transmission; or the information carried by different UIE subfields can be different, i.e., to increase the maximum number of user identifications that can be accommodated by one UIE field. The advantage of such a UIE field is that it only contains UIE subfields and does not have the overhead of other fields.

[0176] In some embodiments, the first identification field includes one or more identification subfields and an Ultra High Reliability short training field (UHR-STF), wherein the one or more identification subfields are used to indicate identification information (such as AID) of the first STA.

[0177] For example, the first identification field is a UIE field, which can include one or more UIE subfields and an UHR-STF, as shown in FIG. 15. The UHR-STF is an UHR short training sequence, which is used to assist the receiver to perform preliminary time-frequency synchronization and automatic gain control, and to assist the receiver to detect the reliability of the PE subfield. The UIE subfields carry device identification information (such as AID, UID, and MAC address) using different subcarriers. The information carried by different UIE subfields can be the same, i.e., to increase reliability by repeated transmission; or the information carried by different UIE subfields can be different, i.e., to increase the maximum number of user identifications that can be accommodated by one UIE field. The advantage of such a UIE field is that it contains the UHR-STF field, and the receiver can perform automatic gain control, which is beneficial to improve the success rate of MU sounding.

[0178] In some embodiments, the first identification field includes one or more identification subfields and one or more Ultra High Reliability long training fields (UHR-LTF), wherein the one or more identification subfields are used to indicate identification information (such as AID) of the first STA.

[0179] For example, the first identification field is a UIE field, which can include one or more UIE subfields and one or more UHR-LTFs, as shown in FIG. 16. The UHR-LTFs are UHR long training sequences, which are used for channel estimation and fine time-frequency synchronization. The UIE subfields carry device identification information (such as AID, UID, MAC address) using different subcarriers. The information carried by different UIE subfields can be the same, i.e., repeated transmission is used to increase reliability, or different, i.e., the number of maximum user identifications that can be accommodated by a UIE field is increased. The UIE field has the advantage of containing UHR-LTFs, which can be used for automatic gain control and channel estimation, thus improving the success rate of MU detection.

[0180] In some embodiments, the first identification field includes one or more identification subfields, a UHR-STF, and one or more UHR-LTFs, wherein the one or more identification subfields are used to indicate identification information (such as AID) of the first STA.

[0181] For example, the first identification field is a UIE field, which can include one or more UIE subfields, a UHR-STF, and one or more UHR-LTFs, as shown in FIG. 17. The UHR-STF is a UHR short training sequence, which is used for preliminary time-frequency synchronization and automatic gain control, and is used to assist the receiver in detecting the reliability of the PE subfield. The UHR-LTFs are UHR long training sequences, which are used for channel estimation and fine time-frequency synchronization. The UIE subfields carry device identification information (such as AID, UID, MAC address) using different subcarriers. The information carried by different UIE subfields can be the same, i.e., repeated transmission is used to increase reliability, or different, i.e., the number of maximum user identifications that can be accommodated by a UIE field is increased. The UIE field has the advantage of containing UHR-STF and UHR-LTF, which can be used for automatic gain control and channel estimation, thus improving the success rate of MU detection.

[0182] In some embodiments, the first identification field further includes a legacy preamble field.

[0183] For example, the first identification field includes one or more identification subfields and a legacy preamble field.

[0184] For another example, the first identification field includes one or more identification subfields, a UHR-STF, and a legacy preamble field.

[0185] For another example, the first identification field includes one or more identification subfields, one or more UHR-LTFs, and a legacy preamble field.

[0186] For another example, the first identification field includes one or more identification subfields, a UHR-STF, one or more UHR-LTFs, and a legacy preamble field.

[0187] In some embodiments, the legacy preamble field includes, but is not limited to, the following fields: legacy short training field (L-STF), legacy long training field (L-LTF), legacy signal (L-SIG), repeat legacy signal (RL-SIG), unify signal (U-SIG).

[0188] Specifically, L-STF: legacy short training sequence, used for PPDU discovery and initial time-frequency synchronization. L-LTF: legacy long training sequence, used for initial channel estimation and further time-frequency alignment. L-SIG: legacy signaling, used to carry information needed to parse the PPDU. RL-SIG: repetition of L-SIG. U-SIG: unify signaling, used to carry information needed to parse the PPDU.

[0189] For example, the first identification field is a UIE field, which can include one or more UIE subfields, a UHR-STF, a legacy short training field (L-STF), a legacy long training field (L-LTF), a legacy signal (L-SIG), a repeated legacy signal (RL-SIG), a unified signal (U-SIG), as shown in FIG. 18. Among them, L-STF: a legacy short training sequence, used for PPDU discovery and preliminary time-frequency synchronization; L-LTF: a legacy long training sequence, used for preliminary channel estimation and further time-frequency alignment; L-SIG: a legacy signaling, used to carry the information required to parse the PPDU; RL-SIG: a repetition of L-SIG; U-SIG: a unified signaling, used to carry the information required to parse the PPDU; UHR-STF: a UHR short training sequence, used to assist the receiver to perform preliminary time-frequency synchronization and automatic gain control, and to assist the receiver to detect the reliability of the PE subfield; UIE subfield: carries device identity information (such as AID, UID, MAC address) by using different subcarriers. The information carried by different UIE subfields can be the same, that is, to increase the reliability by repeating transmission; in addition, the information carried by different UIE subfields can also be different, that is, to increase the maximum number of user identities that a UIE field can accommodate. The advantage of such a UIE field is that it contains a complete NDP, which not only helps to improve the success rate of MU detection, but also makes it easy to implement because of the universal PPDU format.

[0190] In some embodiments, the legacy preamble field includes, but is not limited to, the following fields: L-STF, L-LTF, L-SIG, RL-SIG, U-SIG, Ultra High Reliability Signal (UHR-SIG).

[0191] For example, the first identification field is a UIE field, which can include one or more UIE subfields, a UHR-STF, a legacy short training field (L-STF), a legacy long training field (L-LTF), a legacy signal (L-SIG), a repeated legacy signal (RL-SIG), a unified signal (U-SIG), an ultra-high reliability signal (UHR-SIG), as shown in FIG. 19. Among them, L-STF: a legacy short training sequence, used for PPDU discovery and preliminary time-frequency synchronization; L-LTF: a legacy long training sequence, used for preliminary channel estimation and further time-frequency alignment; L-SIG: a legacy signaling, used to carry the information required to parse the PPDU; RL-SIG: a repetition of L-SIG; U-SIG: a unified signaling, used to carry the information required to parse the PPDU; UHR-SIG: a UHR signaling, used to carry information related to downlink multi-user (DL MU) transmission; UHR-STF: a UHR short training sequence, used to assist the receiver to perform preliminary time-frequency synchronization and automatic gain control, and to assist the receiver to detect the reliability of the PE subfield; UIE subfield: carries device identity information (such as AID, UID, MAC address) by using different subcarriers. The information carried by different UIE subfields can be the same, that is, the reliability is increased by repeated transmission; in addition, the information carried by different UIE subfields can also be different, that is, the number of maximum user identities that a UIE field can accommodate is increased. The advantage of such a UIE field is that it contains a complete NDP, which not only helps to improve the success rate of MU detection, but also is easy to implement because of the universal PPDU format.

[0192] In some embodiments, the first identification field includes one or more identification subfields, wherein the subcarriers (also referred to as TONES) used by the one or more identification subfields are used to indicate the AID of the first STA.

[0193] In some embodiments, the AID of the first STA is indicated by two sets of subcarriers (also referred to as TONES), and the subcarriers used by the identification subfield belong to one of the two sets of subcarriers. For example, the number of subcarriers contained in one set of subcarriers can be any positive integer greater than 1 but not more than the total number of subcarriers.

[0194] In some embodiments, the subcarriers (also referred to as TONES) used by the identification subfield belong to different sets of subcarriers in the two sets of subcarriers, respectively, to represent different state information of the first STA.

[0195] In some embodiments, the bandwidth of the identification subfield is 20MHz, 40MHz, 80MHz, 80+80MHz, 160MHz or 320MHz.

[0196] In some embodiments, the 320MHz is represented by 4 sets of 80MHz subcarrier indices; wherein subcarrier indices 1-72 are mapped to the first 80MHz, subcarrier indices 73-144 are mapped to the second 80MHz, subcarrier indices 145-216 are mapped to the third 80MHz, and subcarrier indices 217-288 are mapped to the fourth 80MHz.

[0197] In some embodiments, the AID of the first STA is indicated by one set of subcarriers (also referred to as TONES), and the subcarriers used by the identification subfield belong to the one set of subcarriers. For example, the number of subcarriers in one set of subcarriers can be any positive integer greater than 1 but not exceeding the total number of subcarriers.

[0198] In some embodiments, when the number of subcarriers in one set of subcarriers is 6, the mapping relationship of subcarriers in the UIE subfield is as shown in Table 3.

[0199] Table 3

[0200] In some embodiments, when m≥2, the time domain resources occupied by the m identification fields are the same, or the m identification fields completely overlap in the time domain.

[0201] In the present embodiment, without collision, the part of the first MAC frame other than the identification field (such as the UIE field) does not overlap in the air, so the receiving end can easily identify the first MAC frame.

[0202] In some embodiments, the other STAs (except the first STA) in the m STAs corresponding to the m identification fields respectively send an identification field for identifying the AID of the other STAs after identifying the first MAC frame (i.e., identifying that the first MAC frame can provide TXOP sharing). Specifically, the other STAs (such as the second STA) send an identification field for identifying the AID of the other STAs, for requesting to share the TXOP.

[0203] In some embodiments, the first PPDU further comprises a reverse interval (RI) field;

[0204] The conversion time field is located after the first MAC frame and before the first identification field, and is used to reserve time for the receiving end of the first PPDU to convert from a receiving state to a sending state.

[0205] For example, the RI field is used to reserve time for the receiver to convert from a receiving state to a sending state. The length of the RI field is variable, and random data can be transmitted or no signal can be transmitted during the RI field.

[0206] In some embodiments, when the second STA has uplink data to be transmitted, the second STA transmits a second identification field after receiving the first MAC frame; the second identification field is used to indicate the AID of the second STA, and the second identification field occupies the same time domain resource as the first identification field, or the second identification field completely overlaps in time domain with the first identification field. That is, after identifying that the first MAC frame can provide TXOP sharing, the second STA can request to share the TXOP by transmitting the second identification field.

[0207] For example, after receiving the first MAC frame in the first PPDU, the second STA can identify that the first MAC frame can provide TXOP sharing. In this case, if the second STA has uplink data to be transmitted, the second STA transmits a second identification field; the second identification field is used to indicate the AID of the second STA, and the second identification field occupies the same time domain resource as the first identification field, or the second identification field completely overlaps in time domain with the first identification field. Thus, the AP can obtain the number of STAs that have uplink data to be transmitted by detecting the overlapping identification fields, complete UL MU detection, identify the AID of one or more STAs that need to transmit uplink data, and then reply with different CTS frames to grant the TXOP to the STAs or the AP.

[0208] In some embodiments, the STAs other than the first STA among the m STAs corresponding to the m identification fields set the value of their EDCA backoff counters to zero before transmitting the identification field used to identify their AIDs.

[0209] For example, the m identification fields include a second identification field, and the second STA sets the value of its EDCA backoff counter to zero before transmitting the second identification field.

[0210] In some embodiments, the STAs other than the first STA among the m STAs corresponding to the m identification fields maintain the value of their EDCA backoff counters unchanged before transmitting the identification field used to identify their AIDs.

[0211] For example, the m identification fields include a second identification field, and the second STA keeps the value of its EDCA backoff counter unchanged before sending the second identification field.

[0212] In some embodiments, in the medium contention phase as shown in FIG. 12, the Non-AP STA that needs to send uplink latency-sensitive data complies with the EDCA mechanism to contend for the channel, but the Non-AP STA that needs to send uplink latency-sensitive data contends for the channel by sending a specific MAC frame (i.e., the first MAC frame) and sends the UHR PPDU (i.e., the first PPDU) carrying the specific MAC frame (i.e., the first MAC frame) using a specific bandwidth (i.e., the first bandwidth) and a specific MCS (i.e., the first MCS) to ensure the same transmission time.

[0213] In some embodiments, in the medium contention phase as shown in FIG. 12, when a certain Non-AP STA that needs to send uplink latency-sensitive data identifies that another Non-AP STA is sending the specific MAC frame (i.e., the first MAC frame), the Non-AP STA can selectively transition from the receiving state to the sending state within the time range where the RI field of the UHR PPDU (i.e., the first PPDU) of the specific MAC frame (i.e., the first MAC frame) is located, and then send an identification field (e.g., the UIE field) identifying its own identity alone within the time period where the first identification field (e.g., the UIE field) is located, to request to share the TXOP. The Non-AP STA can set the value of its EDCA backoff counter to 0 before sending the identification field (e.g., the UIE field) identifying its own identity, or can not modify the value of the EDCA backoff counter.

[0214] In some embodiments, in the medium contention phase as shown in FIG. 12, the AP completes the MU UL sounding based on the received first identification field (e.g., the UIE field), or the AP completes the MU UL sounding based on the received multiple identification fields (e.g., the UIE field) that overlap together, identifies the AID of the Non-AP STA or the Non-AP STAs that need to send uplink latency-sensitive data, and then replies with different CTS frames according to this, to grant the TXOP to the Non-AP STA or the AP. For example, if the AP detects 1 AID, the AP does not send any CTS frame, and determines the ownership of the TXOP according to the EDCA mechanism. For another example, if the AP detects m (m≥k1 or m>k1) AIDs, the AP can send a CTS frame to the Non-AP STA corresponding to a certain AID to grant the TXOP to the Non-AP STA corresponding to the AID; or the AP can also send a CTS-to-self frame to grant the TXOP to itself.

[0215] In some embodiments, in the medium usage phase as shown in Figure 12, the Non-AP STA uses Single Protected TXOP or Multiple Protected TXOP with limited length, and the AP uses Single Protected TXOP or Multiple Protected TXOP with limited length.

[0216] In another embodiment, in the medium usage phase as shown in Figure 12, the Non-AP STA uses Single Protected TXOP or Multiple Protected TXOP with limited length, and the AP can use any type of TXOP.

[0217] In some embodiments, in the medium usage phase as shown in Figure 12, when the AP obtains the TXOP, the AP should send a Trigger frame to the Non-AP STA corresponding to the AID detected above, and then receive the TB PPDU to obtain the uplink data and reply with a BlockAck frame or a Multi-STA BlockAck frame. When the AP uses Multiple Protected TXOP or Multiple Protected TXOP with limited length, if the TXOP is long enough, the AP can also send downlink SU data or downlink MU data within the TXOP, and receive the corresponding Ack frame or BlockAck frame.

[0218] In some embodiments, assuming that a WLAN network contains 1 AP and 3 Non-AP STAs (STA1, STA2, STA3), if the AP uses Single Protected TXOP, the Non-AP STA also uses Single Protected TXOP. The first MAC frame is an S-RTS frame, and the specific field (i.e., the first identification field) used to identify the AID in the PPDU (i.e., the first PPDU) is the UIE field, and the RI field for switching the transmission and reception state exists before the UIE field. Only STA2 needs to send uplink data, using the AC_VO access type in EDCA, and the frame interaction between the AP and the Non-AP STA is as shown in Figure 20.

[0219] Specifically, as shown in FIG. 20, STA2 sends an S-RTS frame at the time of channel idle AIFS, the PPDU in which the S-RTS frame is contained contains a UIE-2 field identifying the AID of STA2, STA1 and STA3 do not send any frame. After receiving the S-RTS frame, the AP detects through the UIE field that only STA2 needs to send uplink data, so replies a CTS frame to STA2, and grants TXOP to STA2. After receiving the CTS frame sent by the AP, STA2 finds that the receiving address of the CTS frame is its own address, so judges that the channel contention is successful, and the TXOP belongs to itself. Subsequently, in the TXOP of STA2, STA2 sends single user (SU) uplink (UL) data to the AP, and the AP replies an Ack frame to STA2 to confirm the transmission success. At this point, the TXOP of STA2 ends, and the channel re-enters the idle state.

[0220] In some embodiments, assuming that a WLAN network contains 1 AP and 3 Non-AP STAs (STA1, STA2, STA3), if the AP uses Single Protection TXOP, the Non-AP STAs also use Single Protection TXOP, the first MAC frame is an S-RTS frame, the specific field (i.e. the first identification field) for identifying AID in the PPDU (i.e. the first PPDU) in which the S-RTS frame is contained is a UIE field, and the RI field for switching the transmission and reception state exists before the UIE field. STA1 and STA2 need to send uplink data, and both use the AC_VO access type in EDCA, then the frame interaction between the AP and the Non-AP STAs is shown in FIG. 21.

[0221] Specifically, as shown in FIG. 21, STA1 sends an S-RTS frame at the time of channel idle AIFS, and the S-RTS frame contains a UIE-1 field for identifying the AID of STA1 in the PPDU in which the S-RTS frame is located. Since the backoff value (Backoff Count) of STA2 is greater than the backoff value (Backoff Count) of STA1, STA2 fails to send an S-RTS frame. STA3 does not send any frame. After receiving the partial PPDU (referring to the portion before the UIE-1 field) in which the S-RTS frame sent by STA1 is located, STA2 identifies that it is an S-RTS frame and can provide TXOP sharing. Then, STA2 changes from the receiving state to the sending state within the time of the RI field and immediately sends a UIE-2 field for identifying the AID of itself within the time range of the UIE-1 field, to request sharing the TXOP. After receiving the S-RTS frame and the overlapping UIE fields, the AP detects that STA1 and STA2 need to send uplink data through the UIE fields, and the AP here selects to provide uplink transmission service in the manner of MU UL, so a CTS-to-self frame is sent to grant the TXOP. After receiving the CTS frame sent by the AP, STA1 and STA2 find that the receiving address of the CTS frame is not the address of itself but the address of the AP, so it is judged that the channel contention fails and the TXOP belongs to the AP. Subsequently, in the TXOP of the AP, the AP sends a Trigger frame to STA1 and STA2, to trigger STA1 and STA2 to simultaneously send a TB PPDU carrying multi-user (MU) uplink (UL) data, and a Multi-STA BlockAck frame is returned to confirm the transmission success. At this time, the TXOP of the AP ends, and the channel reenters the idle state.

[0222] In some embodiments, it is assumed that a WLAN network contains 1 AP and 3 Non-AP STAs (STA1, STA2, STA3), if the AP uses a Single Protected TXOP, the Non-AP STAs also use a Single Protected TXOP, the first MAC frame is an S-RTS frame, the specific field (i.e., the first identification field) for identifying the AID in the PPDU (i.e., the first PPDU) in which the S-RTS frame is located is a UIE field, and the RI field for switching the receiving state exists before the UIE field. STA1 and STA2 need to send uplink data and use the AC_VO access type in EDCA, and the frame interaction between the AP and the Non-AP STAs is shown in FIG. 22.

[0223] Specifically, as shown in Fig. 22, STA1 sends an S-RTS frame at the time when the channel is idle for AIFS, and the S-RTS frame contains a UIE-1 field identifying the AID of STA1 in the PPDU. Since the backoff count of STA2 is greater than that of STA1, STA2 fails to send an S-RTS frame. STA3 does not send any frame. After receiving the partial PPDU (i.e., the part before the UIE-1 field) of the S-RTS frame sent by STA1, STA2 identifies that it is an S-RTS frame and can provide TXOP sharing. STA2 then immediately sends a UIE-2 field identifying its own AID within the time range of the UIE-1 field to request sharing of the TXOP. After receiving the S-RTS frame and the overlapping UIE fields, the AP detects that STA1 and STA2 need to send uplink data. The AP chooses to provide uplink transmission service in the form of SU UL, and thus sends a CTS frame to STA1 to grant the TXOP to STA1. After receiving the CTS frame sent by the AP, STA1 finds that the receiving address of the CTS frame is its own address, and thus judges that the channel contention is successful and the TXOP belongs to itself. STA2 receives the CTS frame sent by the AP and finds that the receiving address of the CTS frame is not its own address, and thus judges that the request for TXOP sharing fails. Subsequently, STA1 sends SU uplink data to the AP in the TXOP of STA1, and the AP sends an Ack frame to STA1 to confirm the successful transmission. At this point, the TXOP of STA1 ends and the channel enters an idle state. Subsequently, STA2 again sends an S-RTS frame at the time when the channel is idle for AIFS, and the S-RTS frame contains a UIE field identifying the AID of STA2 in the PPDU. STA1 and STA3 do not send any frame. After receiving the S-RTS frame, the AP detects that only STA2 needs to send uplink data, and thus sends a CTS frame to STA2. STA2 receives the CTS frame sent by the AP and finds that the receiving address of the CTS frame is its own address, and thus judges that the channel contention is successful and the TXOP belongs to itself. Subsequently, STA2 sends SU uplink data to the AP in the TXOP of STA2, and the AP sends an Ack frame to STA2 to confirm the successful transmission. At this point, the TXOP of STA2 ends and the channel re-enters an idle state.

[0224] In some embodiments, assuming that there are 1 AP and 3 Non-AP STAs (STA1, STA2, STA3) in a WLAN network, if the AP uses Single Protected TXOP and the Non-AP STAs also use Single Protected TXOP, the first MAC frame is S-RTS frame, and the specific field (i.e., the first identification field) used to identify AID in the PPDU (i.e., the first PPDU) where the S-RTS frame is located is the UIE field, and the RI field used for switching the transceiving state exists before the UIE field. STA1, STA2 and STA3 need to send uplink data, and all use the AC_VO access type in EDCA. The frame interaction between the AP and the Non-AP STAs is shown in FIG. 23.

[0225] Specifically, as shown in FIG. 23, in the first random backoff, by coincidence, the BackoffCount of STA1 and the BackoffCount of STA2 have the same value, so the AIFS of STA1 and the AIFS of STA2 have the same value. Therefore, STA1 and STA2 send S-RTS frames at the same time when the channel is idle at the AIFS time, and the S-RTS frames respectively contain the UIE-1 field identifying the AID of STA1 and the UIE-2 field identifying the AID of STA2 in the PPDU. Since the BackoffCount of STA3 has a value greater than the BackoffCount of STA1 and STA2, STA3 does not send an S-RTS frame. In this case, a collision occurs between STA1 and STA2 in the process of channel contention. The signal of the S-RTS frame sent by STA1 and the signal of the S-RTS frame sent by STA2 will be mixed together, which may cause the AP and STA3 to fail to correctly parse that this is an S-RTS frame. Therefore, the AP cannot reply with a CTS frame, and STA3 cannot send a UIE-3 field. According to the rules of EDCA, when a channel contention collision occurs, the STA (i.e., STA1 and STA2) will double its own contention window (contention window, CW), generate a new BackoffCount, and then backoff again.

[0226] Specifically, as shown in FIG. 23, in the second random backoff, the BackoffCount of STA1 is less than that of STA2, so STA1 sends an S-RTS frame containing a UIE-1, and STA2 fails to send an S-RTS frame. After receiving the S-RTS frame sent by STA1, STA2 and STA3 identify that it is an S-RTS frame and can provide TXOP sharing. Therefore, STA2 and STA3 immediately transition from the receiving state to the sending state within the time of the RI field and send a UIE-2 and a UIE-3 field, respectively, within the time range of the UIE-1, to request sharing of the TXOP. After receiving the S-RTS frame and the overlapping UIE fields, the AP detects that STA1, STA2, and STA3 need to send uplink data through the UIE fields, and the AP selects to provide uplink transmission services in the form of MU UL, so it replies to a CTS-to-self frame to grant the TXOP to itself. After receiving the CTS frame sent by the AP, STA1, STA2, and STA3 find that the receiving address of the CTS frame is not their own address but the address of the AP, so they judge that the channel contention has failed, and the TXOP belongs to the AP. Subsequently, in the TXOP of the AP, the AP sends a Trigger frame to STA1, STA2, and STA3 to trigger STA1, STA2, and STA3 to simultaneously send a TB PPDU carrying MU uplink data and reply to a Multi-STA BlockAck frame to confirm the successful transmission. At this point, the TXOP of the AP ends, and the channel reenters the idle state.

[0227] In some embodiments, it is assumed that a WLAN network contains one AP and three Non-AP STAs (STA1, STA2, and STA3), and if the AP uses a Multiple Protection TXOP or a Multiple Protection TXOP with a limited length, the Non-AP STAs use a Single Protection TXOP, the first MAC frame is an S-RTS frame, the specific field for identifying an AID in the PPDU in which the S-RTS frame is located is a UIE field, and the UIE field is preceded by an RI field for switching the receiving and sending states. STA1, STA2, and STA3 need to send uplink data, and the AP needs to send downlink data to STA1, STA2, and STA3, and all use the AC_VO access type in EDCA. The frame interaction between the AP and the Non-AP STAs is shown in FIG. 24.

[0228] Specifically, as shown in FIG. 24, STA1 sends an S-RTS frame at a channel idle AIFS time, and the S-RTS frame contains a UIE-1 field identifying the AID of STA1 in a PPDU. Since the BackoffCount of STA2 and STA3 is greater than that of STA1, STA2 and STA3 fail to send an S-RTS frame. After receiving the partial PPDU (referring to the part before the UIE-1 field) in which the S-RTS frame sent by STA1 is located, STA2 and STA3 identify that it is an S-RTS frame and can provide TXOP sharing. Then, STA2 and STA3 immediately send a UIE-2 field and a UIE-3 field respectively identifying the AID of themselves within the time range of the UIE-1 field, to request sharing of the TXOP. After receiving the S-RTS frame and the overlapping UIE fields, the AP detects that STA1, STA2 and STA3 need to send uplink data through the UIE fields, and selects to provide uplink transmission service in the form of MU UL, so as to reply to a CTS-to-self frame and grant the TXOP to itself. After receiving the CTS frame sent by the AP, STA1, STA2 and STA3 find that the receiving address of the CTS frame is not their own address but the address of the AP, so as to judge that the channel contention fails and the TXOP belongs to the AP. Subsequently, in the TXOP of the AP, the AP sends a Trigger frame to STA1, STA2 and STA3, to trigger STA1, STA2 and STA3 to simultaneously send a TB PPDU carrying MU uplink data and reply to a Multi-STA BlockAck frame to confirm the transmission success. Then, the AP sends MU downlink data to STA1, STA2 and STA3, and STA1, STA2 and STA3 simultaneously send a TB PPDU to reply to a BlockAck frame to confirm the transmission success. At this time, the TXOP of the AP ends, and the channel re-enters the idle state.

[0229] In some embodiments, in the case of m≥2, the m identification fields are respectively carried by m PPDUs, wherein the m PPDUs occupy the same time domain resources, or the m PPDUs completely overlap in the time domain.

[0230] In the embodiment, the EDCA mechanism is slightly changed, and is easy to implement.

[0231] In some embodiments, the m PPDUs all include MAC frames for contending for the channel, and the frame formats of the MAC frames for contending for the channel included in the m PPDUs are the same.

[0232] In some embodiments, the m identification fields respectively correspond to STAs using the same EDCA access type, and the EDCA backoff counters of the m identification fields respectively correspond to STAs having the same value.

[0233] In some embodiments, in the medium contention phase as shown in FIG. 12, the Non-AP STA that needs to send uplink latency sensitive data follows the EDCA mechanism to contend for the channel, or uses a new defined AC type whose CWmin and CWmax are smaller than those of AC_VO in EDCA. However, the Non-AP STA that needs to send uplink latency sensitive data contends for the channel by sending a first MAC frame (e.g., S-RTS frame).

[0234] In some embodiments, in the medium contention phase as shown in FIG. 12, the PPDU containing a specific field (i.e., identification field) for identifying the AID of the STA is sent using a first bandwidth and a first MCS to ensure the same transmission time. That is, the m PPDU are all sent using the first bandwidth and the first MCS to ensure the same transmission time.

[0235] In some embodiments, in the medium contention phase as shown in FIG. 12, the AP completes the MU UL sounding based on the specific field (i.e., first identification field) for identifying the AID of the STA in the received first PPDU, or the AP completes the MU UL sounding based on the specific field for identifying the AID of the STA in the received m PPDU that are overlapped together, identifies the AID of the Non-AP STA or Non-AP STAs that need to send uplink latency sensitive data, and then replies with different CTS frames to grant TXOP to the Non-AP STA or the AP. For example, if the AP detects 1 AID, the AP does not send any CTS frame and determines the ownership of the TXOP according to the EDCA mechanism. For another example, if the AP detects m (m≥k1 or m>k1) AIDs, the AP can send a CTS frame to the Non-AP STA corresponding to one of the AIDs to grant TXOP to the Non-AP STA corresponding to the AID, or the AP can send a CTS-to-self frame to grant TXOP to itself.

[0236] In some embodiments, in the medium use phase as shown in FIG. 12, the Non-AP STA and the AP use the Single Protection TXOP or the Multiple Protection TXOP with limited length. In another embodiment, the Non-AP STA uses the Single Protection TXOP or the Multiple Protection TXOP with limited length, and the AP can use any type of TXOP.

[0237] In some embodiments, in the medium usage phase as shown in FIG. 12, when the AP obtains the TXOP, the AP should send a Trigger frame to the Non-AP STA corresponding to the AID detected above, and then receive the TB PPDU to obtain the uplink data and reply with a BlockAck frame or a Multi-STA BlockAck frame. When the AP uses a Multiple Protection TXOP or a Multiple Protection TXOP with limited length, if the TXOP is long enough, the AP can also send downlink SU data or downlink MU data within the TXOP, and receive the corresponding Ack frame or BlockAck frame.

[0238] In some embodiments, assuming that a WLAN network contains one AP and three Non-AP STAs (STA1, STA2, and STA3), if the AP uses a Single Protection TXOP and the Non-AP STAs also use a Single Protection TXOP, the specific MAC frame is an S-RTS frame, the specific field in the PPDU in which the S-RTS frame is located for identifying the AID is the UIE field, and STA2 needs to send uplink data (such as uplink latency-sensitive data) using the AC_VO access type in EDCA, the frame interaction between the AP and the Non-AP STAs is as shown in FIG. 25.

[0239] Specifically, as shown in FIG. 25, STA2 sends an S-RTS frame at the channel idle AIFS time, the PPDU in which the S-RTS frame is located contains the UIE-2 field identifying the AID of STA2, and STA1 and STA3 do not send any frame. After receiving the S-RTS frame, the AP detects that only STA2 needs to send uplink data through the UIE field, so the AP replies with a CTS frame to STA2, and grants the TXOP to STA2. After receiving the CTS frame sent by the AP, STA2 finds that the receiving address of the CTS frame is its own address, so it judges that the channel contention is successful, and the TXOP belongs to itself. Then, in the TXOP of STA2, STA2 sends SU uplink data to the AP, and the AP replies with an Ack frame to STA2 to confirm the successful transmission. At this point, the TXOP of STA2 ends, and the channel reenters the idle state.

[0240] In some embodiments, assuming that there are 1 AP and 3 Non-AP STAs (STA1, STA2, STA3) in a WLAN network, if the AP uses Single Protected TXOP, the Non-AP STAs also use Single Protected TXOP, the specific MAC frame is S-RTS frame, the specific field used to identify AID in the PPDU where the S-RTS frame is located is the UIE field, STA1 and STA2 need to send uplink data (such as uplink latency sensitive data), and both use AC_VO access type in EDCA, the frame interaction between the AP and the Non-AP STAs is shown in FIG. 26.

[0241] Specifically, as shown in FIG. 26, due to coincidence, the BackoffCount of STA1 and the BackoffCount of STA2 have the same value, so the AIFS of STA1 and the AIFS of STA2 have the same value, and therefore STA1 and STA2 send S-RTS frames at the same time when the channel is idle at AIFS, and the PPDU where the S-RTS frames are located respectively contains the UIE-1 field identifying the AID of STA1 and the UIE-2 field identifying the AID of STA2. STA3 does not send any frame. This case is that STA1 and STA2 have collided in the process of channel contention. After the AP receives the S-RTS frame and the overlapping UIE fields, it is detected that STA1 and STA2 need to send uplink data through the UIE fields, so the AP selects to provide uplink transmission service in the manner of MU UL, replies to the CTS-to-self frame, and grants TXOP to itself. After STA1 and STA2 receive the CTS frame sent by the AP, it is found that the receiving address of the CTS frame is not the address of itself but the address of the AP, so it is judged that the channel contention fails, and the TXOP belongs to the AP. Subsequently, in the TXOP of the AP, the AP sends a Trigger frame to STA1 and STA2, triggers STA1 and STA2 to send TB PPDU carrying MU uplink data at the same time, and replies to the Multi-STA BlockAck frame to confirm the successful transmission. At this point, the TXOP of the AP ends, and the channel reenters the idle state.

[0242] In some embodiments, assuming that one WLAN network contains 1 AP and 3 Non-AP STAs (STA1, STA2, STA3), if the AP uses Single Protected TXOP, the Non-AP STAs also use Single Protected TXOP, the specific MAC frame is S-RTS frame, the specific field used to identify AID in the PPDU where the S-RTS frame is located is the UIE field, STA1 and STA2 need to send uplink data (such as uplink latency sensitive data), and both use AC_VO access type in EDCA, the frame interaction between the AP and the Non-AP STAs is shown in FIG. 27.

[0243] Specifically, as shown in Fig. 27, by coincidence, the BackoffCount of STA1 and the BackoffCount of STA2 take the same value, so the AIFS of STA1 and the AIFS of STA2 take the same value, and therefore STA1 and STA2 send S-RTS frames at the same time when the channel is idle at the AIFS time, and the S-RTS frames contain the UIE-1 field identifying the AID of STA1 and the UIE-2 field identifying the AID of STA2 in the PPDU respectively. STA3 does not send any frame. This is the case where STA1 and STA2 collide in the process of channel contention. After the AP receives the S-RTS frames and the overlapping UIE fields, it is detected that STA1 and STA2 need to send uplink data, but the AP chooses to provide uplink transmission service in the form of SU UL, and replies a CTS frame to STA1, granting TXOP to STA1. After STA1 receives the CTS frame sent by the AP, it finds that the receiving address of the CTS frame is its own address, so it judges that the channel contention is successful, and the TXOP belongs to itself. After STA2 receives the CTS frame sent by the AP, it finds that the receiving address of the CTS frame is not its own address, so it judges that the request for TXOP sharing fails. Subsequently, in the TXOP of STA1, STA1 sends SU uplink data to the AP, and the AP replies an Ack frame to STA1 to confirm the successful transmission. At this point, the TXOP of STA1 ends, and the channel enters an idle state. After that, STA2 sends an S-RTS frame again at the time when the channel is idle at the AIFS, and the S-RTS frame contains the UIE field identifying the AID of STA2 in the PPDU. STA1 and STA3 do not send any frame. After the AP receives the S-RTS frame, it detects that only STA2 needs to send uplink data, so it replies a CTS frame to STA2. After STA2 receives the CTS frame sent by the AP, it finds that the receiving address of the CTS frame is its own address, so it judges that the channel contention is successful, and the TXOP belongs to itself. Subsequently, in the TXOP of STA2, STA2 sends SU uplink data to the AP, and the AP replies an Ack frame to STA2 to confirm the successful transmission. At this point, the TXOP of STA2 ends, and the channel re-enters an idle state.

[0244] In some embodiments, assuming that there are 1 AP and 3 Non-AP STAs (STA1, STA2, STA3) in a WLAN network, if the AP uses Multiple Protection TXOP or length-limited Multiple Protection TXOP, the Non-AP STAs also use Single Protection TXOP, the specific MAC frame is S-RTS frame, the specific field used to identify AID in the PPDU where the S-RTS frame is located is the UIE field, STA1, STA2 and STA3 need to send uplink data (such as uplink latency-sensitive data), and the AP needs to send downlink data to STA1, all using the AC_VO access type in EDCA, the frame interaction between the AP and the Non-AP STAs is shown in FIG. 28.

[0245] Specifically, as shown in FIG. 28, the backoff value (BackoffCount) of STA1 and the backoff value (BackoffCount) of STA2 have the same value, so the AIFS of STA1 and the AIFS of STA2 have the same value, and therefore STA1 and STA2 send S-RTS frames at the same time when the channel is idle at AIFS, and the S-RTS frames respectively contain the UIE-1 field identifying the AID of STA1 and the UIE-2 field identifying the AID of STA2 in the PPDU where the S-RTS frames are located. Since the BackoffCount of STA3 has a value greater than the BackoffCount of STA1 and STA2, STA3 does not send any frame. This case is that STA1 and STA2 have collided in the process of channel contention. After the AP receives the S-RTS frames and the overlapping UIE fields, it detects that STA1 and STA2 need to send uplink data through the UIE fields. Here, the AP chooses to provide uplink transmission service in the form of MU UL, replies to the CTS-to-self frame, and grants TXOP to itself. After STA1 and STA2 receive the CTS frame sent by the AP, they find that the receiving address of the CTS frame is not their own address but the address of the AP, so they judge that the channel contention has failed and the TXOP belongs to the AP. Subsequently, in the TXOP of the AP, the AP sends a Trigger frame to STA1 and STA2, triggering STA1 and STA2 to send TB PPDU carrying MU uplink data at the same time and reply to the Multi-STA BlockAck frame to confirm the successful transmission. Then, the AP sends SU downlink data to STA1, and STA1 replies to the Ack frame to confirm the successful transmission. At this point, the TXOP of the AP ends, and the channel reenters the idle state.

[0246] In some embodiments, in a case that the first PPDU comprises a second MAC frame, the channel contention result corresponding to the second MAC frame is associated with a number of STAs detected by the AP as requiring to obtain the medium for transmitting uplink data;

[0247] wherein the number of STAs requiring to obtain the medium for transmitting uplink data is obtained by the AP through detecting n PPDU (i.e., the number of STAs requiring to obtain the medium for transmitting uplink data is obtained by the AP through detecting n PPDU), the n PPDU at least comprises the first PPDU, and a PPDU other than the first PPDU in the n PPDU comprises a first field and a second field, the first field is used to indicate identification information (such as AID) of a STA sending a corresponding PPDU, and the second field is used to indicate whether the STA sending the corresponding PPDU requires to obtain the medium for transmitting uplink data, n is a positive integer, and n≥2.

[0248] Specifically, an i-th PPDU other than the first PPDU in the n PPDU comprises a first field and a second field, wherein the first field is used to indicate identification information of a STA sending the i-th PPDU, and the second field is used to indicate whether the STA sending the i-th PPDU requires to obtain the medium for transmitting uplink data.

[0249] For example, the second field can occupy one bit; wherein a value of 0 indicates that the medium needs to be obtained for transmitting uplink data, and a value of 1 indicates that the medium does not need to be obtained for transmitting uplink data; or, a value of 1 indicates that the medium needs to be obtained for transmitting uplink data, and a value of 0 indicates that the medium does not need to be obtained for transmitting uplink data.

[0250] In some embodiments, the first field is a High Efficiency long training field (HE-LTF) or an extremely high throughput long training field (EHT-LTF) or an Ultra High Reliability long training field (UHR-LTF).

[0251] In some embodiments, the first field is used to indicate the identification information of the STA by using subcarriers used for transmitting the first field. For example, the mapping relationship and the related description can be referred to in Table 2 and Table 3 as described above, which will not be repeated here.

[0252] In some embodiments, the second field is a feedback status (FEEDBACK_STATUS) field corresponding to a trigger based feedback null data physical protocol data unit (TB feedback NDP) frame.

[0253] For example, if a Non-AP STA needs to acquire medium to transmit uplink data (e.g., uplink latency sensitive data), the FEEDBACK_STATUS corresponding to the TB feedback NDP frame returned by the Non-AP STA is 1; otherwise, the FEEDBACK_STATUS corresponding to the TB feedback NDP frame returned by the Non-AP STA is 0.

[0254] In some embodiments, the second field is used to indicate whether a STA needs to acquire medium to transmit uplink data by using subcarriers used to transmit the second field. For example, refer to the mapping relationship and related description shown in Table 2 and Table 3 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0255] In some embodiments, in the case where the number of PPDU other than the first PPDU in the n PPDU is greater than or equal to 2, the time domain resources occupied by the PPDU other than the first PPDU in the n PPDU are the same, or the PPDU other than the first PPDU in the n PPDU completely overlap in time domain.

[0256] In some embodiments, the PPDU other than the first PPDU in the n PPDU is sent by the corresponding STA after detecting the first PPDU. Specifically, the PPDU other than the first PPDU in the n PPDU contains feedback information triggered by the second MAC frame in the first PPDU, so the PPDU other than the first PPDU in the n PPDU is sent by the corresponding STA after detecting the first PPDU.

[0257] In some embodiments, the channel contention result corresponding to the second MAC frame is associated with the number of STAs detected by the AP that need to acquire medium to transmit uplink data, including:

[0258] In the case where the number of STAs detected by the AP that need to acquire medium to transmit uplink data is equal to 1, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the second MAC frame is owned by the first STA; and / or,

[0259] In a case where the number of STAs requiring to acquire the medium to transmit uplink data detected by the AP is greater than or equal to K2, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the second MAC frame belongs to the AP; or in a case where the number of STAs requiring to acquire the medium to transmit uplink data detected by the AP is greater than or equal to K2, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the second MAC frame belongs to the first STA; wherein K2 is a positive integer, and K2≥2.

[0260] In some embodiments, the channel contention result corresponding to the second MAC frame is associated with the number of STAs requiring to acquire the medium to transmit uplink data detected by the AP, including:

[0261] In a case where the number of STAs requiring to acquire the medium to transmit uplink data detected by the AP is equal to 1, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the second MAC frame belongs to the first STA; and / or,

[0262] In a case where the number of STAs requiring to acquire the medium to transmit uplink data detected by the AP is greater than K2, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the second MAC frame belongs to the AP; or in a case where the number of STAs requiring to acquire the medium to transmit uplink data detected by the AP is greater than K2, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the second MAC frame belongs to the first STA; wherein K2 is a positive integer, and K2≥2.

[0263] Specifically, for example, if the AP detects 1 Non-AP STA requiring to acquire the medium to transmit uplink data, the AP does not send any CTS frame, and the ownership of the TXOP is determined according to the EDCA mechanism, i.e. the Non-AP STA can compete for the TXOP through the EDCA mechanism.

[0264] Specifically, for example, if the AP detects S (S≥K2 or S>K2) Non-AP STAs requiring to acquire the medium to transmit uplink data, the AP can send a CTS frame to one of the Non-AP STAs, and grant the TXOP to the Non-AP STA.

[0265] Specifically, for example, if the AP detects S (S≥K2 or S>K2) Non-AP STAs requiring to acquire the medium to transmit uplink data, the AP can also send a CTS-to-self frame, and grant the TXOP to itself.

[0266] In some embodiments, the Non-AP STA uses a Single Protection TXOP, or the Non-AP STA uses a Multiple Protection TXOP with limited length; and the AP uses a Single Protection TXOP, or the AP uses a Multiple Protection TXOP with limited length.

[0267] In one embodiment, the Non-AP STA uses a Single Protection TXOP, or the Non-AP STA uses a Multiple Protection TXOP with limited length; and the AP can use any type of TXOP (i.e. either a Single Protection TXOP or a Multiple Protection TXOP).

[0268] In some embodiments, in the case that the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the second MAC frame belongs to the AP, the n STAs sending the n PPDU send uplink data within the TXOP after receiving the trigger frame sent by the AP.

[0269] For example, after the AP obtains the TXOP, the AP sends a Trigger frame to the Non-AP STA detected above that needs to send uplink delay-sensitive data, and then receives a TB PPDU to obtain uplink data and replies with a BlockAck frame or a Multi-STA BlockAck frame.

[0270] In some embodiments, in the case that the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the second MAC frame belongs to the AP, the n STAs sending the n PPDU send uplink data and receive downlink data within the TXOP after receiving the trigger frame sent by the AP.

[0271] For example, when the AP obtains the TXOP, the AP sends a Trigger frame to the Non-AP STA detected in the above-mentioned probe to send uplink delay-sensitive data, and then receives a TB PPDU to obtain uplink data and returns a BlockAck frame or a Multi-STA BlockAck frame; when the AP uses a Multiple Protection TXOP or a Multiple Protection TXOP with a limited length, if the TXOP is long enough, the AP can also send downlink SU data or downlink MU data in the TXOP, and receive the corresponding Ack frame or BlockAck frame.

[0272] In some embodiments, the second MAC frame is an extended NFRP Trigger frame, or the second MAC frame is a MAC frame including an extended triggered response scheduling (TRS) control field, or the second MAC frame is a MAC frame including a Null Data Physical Protocol Data Unit Feedback Report (NFR) control field.

[0273] In the present embodiment, no modification is needed to the PPDU of the physical layer, and the function can be completed only by using the second MAC frame.

[0274] In some embodiments, in the case where the second MAC frame is an extended NFRP Trigger frame, a user information field in the second MAC frame includes a feedback type field, wherein the feedback type field is used to at least indicate whether all STAs receiving the second MAC frame need to obtain the medium to transmit uplink data.

[0275] For example, the extended NFRP Trigger frame can be as shown in FIG. 28, and a user information field in the extended NFRP Trigger frame includes a feedback type (Feedback Type) field, and the encoding of the feedback type can be as shown in Table 4, wherein when the Feedback Type takes a value of 0, it indicates that the type of feedback information is whether the Non-AP STA requests a triggered-based uplink (UL TB) transmission resource; when the Feedback Type takes a value of 1, it indicates that the type of feedback information is whether the Non-AP STA needs to obtain the medium to transmit a delay-sensitive service packet. Specifically, when the AP receives the NFRP Trigger frame with the Feedback Type taking a value of 1, one or more TB feedback NDPs that can exist after a SIFS time are received, thereby completing the multi-user probe of the uplink delay-sensitive service.

[0276] Table 4 Feedback Type encoding

[0277] In some embodiments, in case that the second MAC frame is a MAC frame including an extended TRS control field, the aggregation control field in the second MAC frame is the extended TRS control field, wherein the extended TRS control field includes an NDP feedback request field, the NDP feedback request field is used to trigger all STAs receiving the second MAC frame to feedback a PPDU containing own identity information. In some embodiments, the PPDU containing own identity information is one of: an Ultra High Reliability Multi-User Physical Layer Protocol Data Unit (UHR MU PPDU), an Ultra High Reliability Trigger Based Feedback Null Data Physical Protocol Data Unit (UHR TB PPDU), an Ultra High Reliability Extended Range Physical Layer Protocol Data Unit (UHR ER PPDU), an Ultra High Reliability Trigger Based Feedback Null Data Physical Protocol Data Unit (UHR TB feedback NDP).

[0278] For example, a MAC frame including an extended TRS control field can be as shown in FIG. 29, the control identification field in the aggregation control field = 0, indicating that the aggregation control field is an extended TRS control field, wherein the extended TRS control field includes an NDP feedback request field, the NDP feedback request field is used to trigger all STAs receiving the second MAC frame to feedback a PPDU containing own identity information. In other words, the NDP feedback request field is used to trigger the receiving device to send a PPDU containing identity information after receiving a UHR MU PPDU or a UHR ER PPDU containing the extended TRS control field, the PPDU containing identity information can be a UHR MU PPDU, a UHR ER PPDU, a UHR TB PPDU or a UHR TB feedback NDP.

[0279] In some embodiments, in case that the second MAC frame is a MAC frame including an NFR control field, the aggregation control field in the second MAC frame is the NFR control field, wherein the NFR control field includes a feedback type field, the feedback type field is used to indicate at least whether all STAs receiving the second MAC frame need to acquire the medium to transmit uplink data.

[0280] In some embodiments, the NFR control field further comprises at least one of: a starting AID field, a feedback type field, a number of identification fields field, a target receive power field, a number of spatially multiplexed users field;

[0281] wherein the starting AID field is used to indicate a first AID in a range of AIDs that are intended to respond to the second MAC frame, the feedback type field is used to indicate a type of feedback information carried in the triggered PPDU containing identity fields, the number of identification fields field is used to indicate a number of fields in the triggered PPDU containing identity fields that identify the transmitting device, the target receive power field is used to indicate an expected received signal power measured at an antenna connector of the first STA and averaged over antennas, and the number of spatially multiplexed users field is used to indicate a number of STAs multiplexed on the same set of subcarriers in the same resource unit (RU).

[0282] For example, the number of identification fields field can also be referred to as a number of UIE fields.

[0283] For example, the number of identification fields field can also be referred to as a number of UIE fields.

[0284] It should be noted that the value of the Control ID field in the aggregation control field can be any integer between 10 and 14. For example, the value of the Control ID in FIG. 30 is 10, indicating that the aggregation control field is an NFR control field.

[0285] In some embodiments, in the medium contention phase as shown in FIG. 12, the Non-AP STA that needs to send uplink latency-sensitive data follows the EDCA mechanism to contend for the channel. However, the Non-AP STA that needs to send uplink latency-sensitive data contends for the channel by sending a second MAC frame (such as an extended NFRP Trigger frame, or any MAC frame containing an extended TRS Control field, or any MAC frame containing a newly defined NFR Control field).

[0286] In some embodiments, in the medium contention phase as shown in FIG. 12, the Non-AP STA replies with a TB feedback NDP after receiving a valid second MAC frame. If the Non-AP STA needs to send uplink latency-sensitive data, the FEEDBACK_STATUS corresponding to the TB feedback NDP it replies with is 1; otherwise, the FEEDBACK_STATUS corresponding to the TB feedback NDP it replies with is 0.

[0287] In some embodiments, in the medium contention phase as shown in FIG. 12, the AP completes the MU UL sounding based on the HE-LTF or EHT-LTF or UHR-LTF field in one or multiple TB feedback NDPs received together, identifies the AID of one or more Non-AP STAs that need to send uplink latency-sensitive data, and then replies with different CTS frames to grant TXOP to different Non-AP STAs or the AP. For example, if the AP detects 1 Non-AP STA that needs to send low-latency uplink data, the AP does not send any CTS frame and determines the ownership of the TXOP according to the EDCA mechanism. For example, if the AP detects S (S≥K2 or S>K2) Non-AP STAs that need to obtain the medium to transmit uplink data, the AP can send a CTS frame to one of the Non-AP STAs to grant TXOP to the Non-AP STA corresponding to the AID; or if the AP detects S (S≥K2 or S>K2) Non-AP STAs that need to obtain the medium to transmit uplink data, the AP can also send a CTS-to-self frame to grant TXOP to itself.

[0288] In some embodiments, in the medium usage phase as shown in Figure 12, the Non-AP STAs use Single Protected TXOP or Length Limited Multiple Protected TXOP, and the AP uses Single Protected TXOP or Length Limited Multiple Protected TXOP.

[0289] In another embodiment, in the medium usage phase as shown in Figure 12, the Non-AP STAs use Single Protected TXOP or Length Limited Multiple Protected TXOP, and the AP can use any type of TXOP.

[0290] In some embodiments, in the medium usage phase as shown in Figure 12, when the AP obtains TXOP, the AP should send Trigger frame to the Non-AP STAs corresponding to the AIDs detected above, and then receive TB PPDU to obtain uplink data and reply BlockAck frame or Multi-STA BlockAck frame. When the AP uses Multiple Protected TXOP or Length Limited Multiple Protected TXOP, if the TXOP duration is sufficient, the AP can also send downlink SU data or downlink MU data within the TXOP, and receive the corresponding Ack frame or BlockAck frame.

[0291] In some embodiments, assuming that a WLAN network contains 1 AP and 3 Non-AP STAs (STA1, STA2, STA3), if the AP uses Single Protected TXOP, and the Non-AP STAs also use Single Protected TXOP, STA2 needs to send uplink data (such as uplink latency sensitive data) using AC_VO access type in EDCA, the frame interaction between the AP and the Non-AP STAs is shown in Figure 31.

[0292] Specifically, as shown in FIG. 31, STA2 first sends the second MAC frame at the time of channel idle AIFS, and STA1 and STA3 do not send any frame. Since STA1 and STA3 do not need to send uplink low-latency data, after receiving the second MAC frame, STA1 and STA3 reply TB feedback NDP with corresponding FEEDBACK_STATUS = 0. After receiving the second MAC frame from STA2 and the TB feedback NDP from STA1 and STA3, the AP detects that only STA2 needs to send uplink latency-sensitive data, and therefore replies a CTS frame to STA2, granting TXOP to STA2. After receiving the CTS frame sent by the AP, STA2 finds that the receiving address of the CTS frame is its own address, and therefore judges that the channel contention is successful and the TXOP belongs to itself. Subsequently, in the TXOP of STA2, STA2 sends SU uplink data to the AP, and the AP replies an Ack frame to STA2 to confirm the successful transmission. At this point, the TXOP of STA2 ends, and the channel re-enters the idle state.

[0293] In some embodiments, assuming that a WLAN network contains 1 AP and 3 Non-AP STAs (STA1, STA2, STA3), if the AP uses Single Protection TXOP and the Non-AP STAs also use Single Protection TXOP, and STA1 and STA2 need to send uplink data (such as uplink latency-sensitive data) using the AC_VO access type in EDCA, the frame interaction between the AP and the Non-AP STAs is shown in FIG. 32.

[0294] Specifically, as shown in FIG. 32, STA1 first transmits a second MAC frame at a channel idle AIFS time, and STA2 and STA3 do not transmit any frame. Since STA2 needs to transmit uplink latency-sensitive data, the corresponding FEEDBACK_STATUS=1 in the TB feedback NDP replied by STA2. STA3 does not need to transmit uplink latency-sensitive data, so the corresponding FEEDBACK_STATUS=0 in the TB feedback NDP replied by STA3. After receiving the second MAC frame from STA1 and the TB feedback NDP from STA2 and STA3, the AP detects that STA1 and STA2 need to transmit uplink latency-sensitive data, so it replies a CTS-to-self frame and grants TXOP to itself. After receiving the CTS frame sent by the AP, STA1 finds that the receiving address of the CTS frame is not its own address but the address of the AP, so it judges that the channel contention fails and the TXOP belongs to the AP. Subsequently, in the TXOP of the AP, the AP sends a Trigger frame to STA1 and STA2, triggering STA1 and STA2 to simultaneously transmit TB PPDU carrying MU uplink data and reply a Multi-STA BlockAck frame to confirm the transmission success. At this point, the TXOP of the AP ends and the channel reenters the idle state.

[0295] Therefore, in the embodiment of the present application, the AP can acquire the number and AID of STAs that need to acquire the medium to transmit uplink data in the channel contention phase, that is, the AP has uplink multi-user detection capability in the channel contention phase (that is, the AP adds the function of MU UL detection to the EDCA mechanism), so that the AP can reasonably select to grant TXOP to the STA or the AP based on the uplink traffic demand and the downlink traffic demand, thereby reducing the latency of uplink and downlink data transmission and alleviating the latency jitter.

[0296] The method embodiments of the present application are described in detail above in combination with FIGS. 13 to 32, and the device embodiments of the present application are described in detail below in combination with FIGS. 33 to 38. It should be understood that the device embodiments correspond to the method embodiments, and similar descriptions can be referred to the method embodiments.

[0297] FIG. 33 shows a schematic block diagram of a STA 300 according to an embodiment of the present application. The STA 300 is a first STA, and the first STA has uplink data to be transmitted. As shown in FIG. 33, the STA 300 includes:

[0298] The communication unit 310 is configured to transmit a first physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU).

[0299] The first PPDU comprises a first media access control (MAC) frame and a first identification field, the first MAC frame is used for contending for a channel, and the first identification field is used for indicating an association identifier (AID) of the first STA; or

[0300] The first PPDU comprises a second MAC frame, the second MAC frame is used for contending for a channel, and the second MAC frame is further used for triggering all STAs receiving the second MAC frame to feed back whether medium needs to be acquired for transmitting uplink data.

[0301] In some embodiments, in the case that the first PPDU comprises the first MAC frame and the first identification field, a channel contention result corresponding to the first MAC frame is associated with a number of STAs with uplink data to be transmitted that are detected by an access point (AP);

[0302] The number of STAs with uplink data to be transmitted is acquired by the AP through detection of m identification fields, the m identification fields are respectively used for indicating AIDs of m STAs, the m identification fields at least comprise the first identification field, m is a positive integer, and m = 1 or m ≥ 2.

[0303] In some embodiments, in the case that m ≥ 2, time domain resources occupied by the m identification fields are the same, or the m identification fields completely overlap in time domain.

[0304] In some embodiments, among the m STAs corresponding to the m identification fields respectively, other STAs than the first STA send an identification field used for indicating an AID of the other STAs on time domain resources occupied by the first identification field after the first MAC frame is identified.

[0305] In some embodiments, the first PPDU further comprises a switching time field;

[0306] The switching time field is located after the first MAC frame and before the first identification field, and the switching time field is used for reserving time for a receiving end of the first PPDU to switch from a receiving state to a sending state.

[0307] In some embodiments, among the m STAs corresponding to the m identification fields respectively, other STAs than the first STA set a value of an enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) backoff counter to zero before sending an identification field used for indicating an AID of the other STAs; or

[0308] Among the m STAs corresponding to the m identification fields respectively, other STAs than the first STA keep a value of an EDCA backoff counter unchanged before sending an identification field used for indicating an AID of the other STAs.

[0309] In some embodiments, in case of m≥2, the m identification fields are respectively carried by m PPDU, wherein the m PPDU occupy same time domain resource, or the m PPDU completely overlap in time domain.

[0310] In some embodiments, the m PPDU all comprise MAC frames for contention channel, and the frame format of the MAC frames for contention channel comprised by the m PPDU is same.

[0311] In some embodiments, the m identification fields respectively correspond to STAs using same EDCA access type, and the m identification fields respectively correspond to STAs having same value of EDCA backoff counter.

[0312] In some embodiments, the channel contention result corresponding to the first MAC frame is associated with the number of STAs detected by the AP as having uplink data to be transmitted, and comprises:

[0313] In case of m=1, the transmission opportunity TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by the first STA; and / or,

[0314] In case of m≥K1, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by the AP; or, in case of m≥K1, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by the first STA; or, in case of m≥K1, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by multiple STAs among the m STAs corresponding to the m identification fields, wherein the multiple STAs at least comprise the first STA, K1 is a positive integer, and K1≥2.

[0315] In some embodiments, in case of the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by the AP, the m STAs corresponding to the m identification fields transmit uplink data within the TXOP after receiving a trigger frame transmitted by the AP.

[0316] In some embodiments, in case of the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by the AP, the m STAs corresponding to the m identification fields transmit uplink data and receive downlink data within the TXOP after receiving a trigger frame transmitted by the AP.

[0317] In some embodiments, the transmission of the first PPDU is associated with a first bandwidth and a first modulation and coding scheme MCS.

[0318] In some embodiments, the transmission of the first PPDU associates the first bandwidth and the first MCS for all STAs receiving or detecting the first MAC frame to acquire time domain resources occupied by the first identification field.

[0319] In some embodiments, the first identification field is used to indicate the AID of the first STA by the subcarriers used by the transmission of the first identification field.

[0320] In some embodiments, in the first PPDU, the first identification field is located after the first MAC frame.

[0321] In some embodiments, the first identification field includes one or more identification subfields, wherein the one or more identification subfields are used to indicate identification information of the first STA.

[0322] In some embodiments, the first identification field further includes an ultra-high reliability short training field (UHR-STF).

[0323] In some embodiments, the first identification field further includes one or more ultra-high reliability long training fields (UHR-LTFs).

[0324] In some embodiments, the first identification field further includes a legacy preamble field.

[0325] In some embodiments, the legacy preamble field includes the following fields: a legacy short training field (L-STF), a legacy long training field (L-LTF), a legacy signal (L-SIG), a repeated legacy signal (RL-SIG), and a unified signal (U-SIG).

[0326] In some embodiments, the legacy preamble field includes the following fields: L-STF, L-LTF, L-SIG, RL-SIG, U-SIG, and an ultra-high reliability signal (UHR-SIG).

[0327] In some embodiments, the subcarriers used by the one or more identification subfields are used to indicate the AID of the first STA.

[0328] In some embodiments, the AID of the first STA is indicated by two sets of subcarriers, and the subcarriers used by the identification subfield belong to one of the two sets of subcarriers.

[0329] In some embodiments, the subcarriers used by the identification subfield belong to different sets of subcarriers in the two sets of subcarriers, and different state information of the first STA is respectively represented by the different sets of subcarriers.

[0330] In some embodiments, the bandwidth of the identification subfield is 20MHz, 40MHz, 80MHz, 80+80MHz, 160MHz or 320MHz.

[0331] In some embodiments, the 320MHz is represented by 4 80MHz subcarrier set indexes; wherein subcarrier set indexes 1-72 are mapped to the first 80MHz, subcarrier set indexes 73-144 are mapped to the second 80MHz, subcarrier set indexes 145-216 are mapped to the third 80MHz, and subcarrier set indexes 217-288 are mapped to the fourth 80MHz.

[0332] In some embodiments, the AID of the first STA is indicated by one subcarrier set, and the subcarriers used by the identification subfield belong to the one subcarrier set.

[0333] In some embodiments, the value of CWmin used by the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is less than the CWmin associated with EDCA access type AC_VO; and / or, the value of CWmax used by the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is less than the CWmax associated with EDCA access type AC_VO.

[0334] In some embodiments, the first MAC frame is a request to send RTS frame, or the first MAC frame is a shared request to send S-RTS frame, or the first MAC frame is a clear to send CTS frame, or the first MAC frame is a shared clear to send S-CTS frame, or the first MAC frame is a null frame.

[0335] In some embodiments, the first identification field is a user identification extension UIE field.

[0336] In some embodiments, in the case that the first PPDU includes a second MAC frame, the channel contention result corresponding to the second MAC frame is associated with the number of STAs detected by the AP as needing to obtain the medium to transmit uplink data;

[0337] wherein the number of STAs needing to obtain the medium to transmit uplink data is obtained by the AP through detecting n PPDU, the n PPDU at least includes the first PPDU, and the PPDU other than the first PPDU in the n PPDU includes a first field and a second field, the first field is used to indicate the identification information of the STA sending the corresponding PPDU, the second field is used to indicate whether the STA sending the corresponding PPDU needs to obtain the medium to transmit uplink data, n is a positive integer, and n≥2.

[0338] In some embodiments, the first field is a high efficiency long training field (HE-LTF) or an extremely high throughput long training field (EHT-LTF) or an ultra-high reliability long training field (UHR-LTF), and / or the second field is a feedback state field corresponding to a trigger-based feedback null data physical protocol data unit (TB feedback NDP) frame.

[0339] In some embodiments, the first field is used to indicate the identification information of the STA by the subcarriers used to transmit the first field, and / or the second field is used to indicate whether the STA needs to obtain the medium to transmit the uplink data by the subcarriers used to transmit the second field.

[0340] In some embodiments, in the case that the number of the PPDUs other than the first PPDU in the n PPDUs is greater than or equal to 2, the time domain resources occupied by the PPDUs other than the first PPDU in the n PPDUs are the same, or the PPDUs other than the first PPDU in the n PPDUs completely overlap in the time domain.

[0341] In some embodiments, the PPDUs other than the first PPDU in the n PPDUs are sent by the corresponding STAs after detecting the first PPDU.

[0342] In some embodiments, the channel contention result corresponding to the second MAC frame is associated with the number of STAs detected by the AP as needing to obtain the medium to transmit uplink data, including:

[0343] In the case that the number of STAs detected by the AP as needing to obtain the medium to transmit uplink data is equal to 1, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the second MAC frame belongs to the first STA; and / or,

[0344] In the case that the number of STAs detected by the AP as needing to obtain the medium to transmit uplink data is greater than or equal to K2, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the second MAC frame belongs to the AP; or, in the case that the number of STAs detected by the AP as needing to obtain the medium to transmit uplink data is greater than or equal to K2, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the second MAC frame belongs to the first STA; wherein K2 is a positive integer and K2≥2.

[0345] In some embodiments, in the case that the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the second MAC frame belongs to the AP, the n STAs sending the n PPDUs send uplink data within the TXOP after receiving the trigger frame sent by the AP.

[0346] In some embodiments, in a case that the channel corresponding to the second MAC frame is contended by the n STAs sending the n PPDU, the n STAs send uplink data and receive downlink data in the TXOP after receiving the trigger frame sent by the AP.

[0347] In some embodiments, the second MAC frame is an extended null data physical protocol data unit feedback report polling (NFRP) trigger frame, or the second MAC frame is a MAC frame including an extended trigger response scheduling (TRS) control field, or the second MAC frame is a MAC frame including a null data physical protocol data unit feedback report (NFR) control field.

[0348] In some embodiments, in a case that the second MAC frame is an extended NFRP trigger frame, a user information field in the second MAC frame includes a feedback type field, wherein the feedback type field is used to at least indicate whether all STAs receiving the second MAC frame need to acquire the medium to transmit uplink data.

[0349] In some embodiments, in a case that the second MAC frame is a MAC frame including an extended TRS control field, an aggregation control field in the second MAC frame is the extended TRS control field, wherein the extended TRS control field includes an NDP feedback request field, and the NDP feedback request field is used to trigger all STAs receiving the second MAC frame to feedback a PPDU including own identity information.

[0350] In some embodiments, the PPDU including own identity information is one of:

[0351] An ultra-high reliability multi-user physical layer protocol data unit (UHR MU PPDU), an ultra-high reliability trigger-based physical layer protocol data unit (UHR TB PPDU), an ultra-high reliability extended range physical layer protocol data unit (UHR ER PPDU), and an ultra-high reliability trigger-based feedback null data physical layer protocol data unit (UHR TB feedback NDP).

[0352] In some embodiments, in a case that the second MAC frame is a MAC frame including an NFR control field, an aggregation control field in the second MAC frame is the NFR control field, wherein the NFR control field includes a feedback type field, and the feedback type field is used to at least indicate whether all STAs receiving the second MAC frame need to acquire the medium to transmit uplink data.

[0353] In some embodiments, the NFR control field further comprises at least one of: a starting AID field, an identified number field, a target received energy field, a spatial division multiplexing user number field.

[0354] The starting AID field is used to indicate a first AID in a range of AIDs planned to respond to the second MAC frame, the identified number field is used to indicate a number of fields for identifying a transmitting device in a PPDU triggered to contain the identity field, the target received energy field is used to indicate a received signal power expected to be measured at an antenna connector of the first STA and averaged over antennas, and the spatial division multiplexing user number field is used to indicate a number of STAs multiplexed on the same group of subcarriers in the same resource unit RU.

[0355] In some embodiments, the first PPDU is one of: an ultra-high reliability multi-user physical layer protocol data unit (UHR MU PPDU), an ultra-high reliability trigger-based frame physical layer protocol data unit (UHR TB PPDU), and an ultra-high reliability extended range physical layer protocol data unit (UHR ER PPDU).

[0356] In some embodiments, the uplink data at least comprises uplink latency-sensitive data.

[0357] In some embodiments, the communication unit can be a communication interface or a transceiver, or an input / output interface of a communication chip or a system on chip. The processing unit can be one or more processors.

[0358] It should be understood that the STA 300 according to the embodiments of the present application can correspond to the first STA in the method embodiments of the present application, and the above and other operations and / or functions of the various units in the STA 300 are respectively for realizing the corresponding flows of the first STA in the method 200 shown in FIG. 13, and for brevity, will not be repeated here.

[0359] FIG. 34 shows a schematic block diagram of a STA 400 according to an embodiment of the present application. The STA 400 is a second STA. As shown in FIG. 34, the STA 400 comprises:

[0360] A communication unit 410, configured to receive a first physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) sent by a first STA, wherein the first STA has uplink data to be transmitted; and

[0361] The first PPDU comprises a first medium access control (MAC) frame and a first identity field, the first MAC frame is used for contending for a channel, and the first identity field is used for indicating an association identifier (AID) of the first STA; or

[0362] The first PPDU comprises a second MAC frame, the second MAC frame is used for contending for a channel, and the second MAC frame is also used for triggering all STAs receiving the second MAC frame to feed back whether medium needs to be acquired to transmit uplink data.

[0363] In some embodiments, in a case where the first PPDU comprises the first MAC frame and the first identification field, and the second STA has uplink data to be transmitted, the communication unit 410 is further configured to send a second identification field after receiving the first MAC frame.

[0364] The second identification field is used for indicating an AID of the second STA, and the second identification field occupies same time domain resources as the first identification field, or the second identification field completely overlaps with the first identification field in time domain.

[0365] In some embodiments, before sending the second identification field, the STA 400 further comprises a processing unit 420.

[0366] The processing unit 420 is configured to set a value of an enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) backoff counter to zero, or the processing unit 420 is configured to keep the value of the EDCA backoff counter unchanged.

[0367] In some embodiments, the channel contention result corresponding to the first MAC frame is associated with a number of STAs having uplink data to be transmitted, which is detected by an access point (AP).

[0368] The number of STAs having uplink data to be transmitted is obtained by the AP through detecting m identification fields, the m identification fields are respectively used for indicating AIDs of m STAs, the m identification fields at least comprise the first identification field and the second identification field, m is a positive integer, and m≥2.

[0369] In some embodiments, the m identification fields occupy same time domain resources, or the m identification fields completely overlap in time domain.

[0370] In some embodiments, other STAs than the first STA among the m STAs corresponding to the m identification fields respectively send an identification field used for indicating an AID of the STA itself on time domain resources occupied by the first identification field after identifying the first MAC frame.

[0371] In some embodiments, the first PPDU further comprises a switching time field.

[0372] The conversion time field is located after the first MAC frame and before the first identification field, and is used to reserve time for the receiving end of the first PPDU to convert from a receiving state to a sending state.

[0373] In some embodiments, the m STAs other than the first STA keep the value of the EDCA backoff counter unchanged before sending the identification field for identifying the AID of the m STAs.

[0374] The m STAs other than the first STA keep the value of the EDCA backoff counter unchanged before sending the identification field for identifying the AID of the m STAs.

[0375] In some embodiments, the channel contention result corresponding to the first MAC frame is associated with the number of STAs detected by the AP as having uplink data to be transmitted, and includes:

[0376] In the case of m≥K1, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame belongs to the AP; or in the case of m≥K1, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame belongs to the first STA; or in the case of m≥K1, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame belongs to a plurality of STAs among the m STAs corresponding to the m identification fields.

[0377] The plurality of STAs at least includes the first STA, K1 is a positive integer, and K1≥2.

[0378] In some embodiments, in the case where the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame belongs to the AP, the m STAs send uplink data within the TXOP after receiving a trigger frame sent by the AP.

[0379] In some embodiments, in the case where the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame belongs to the AP, the m STAs send uplink data and receive downlink data within the TXOP after receiving a trigger frame sent by the AP.

[0380] In some embodiments, the transmission of the first PPDU is associated with a first bandwidth and a first modulation and coding scheme (MCS).

[0381] In some embodiments, the transmission of the first PPDU associates the first bandwidth and the first MCS for all STAs receiving or detecting the first MAC frame to acquire time domain resources occupied by the first identification field.

[0382] In some embodiments, the first identification field is used to indicate an AID of the first STA by the subcarriers used by the first identification field, and / or the second identification field is used to indicate an AID of the second STA by the subcarriers used by the second identification field.

[0383] In some embodiments, in the first PPDU, the first identification field is located after the first MAC frame.

[0384] In some embodiments, the first identification field comprises one or more identification subfields, wherein the one or more identification subfields are used to indicate identification information of the first STA.

[0385] In some embodiments, the first identification field further comprises an ultra-high reliability short training field (UHR-STF).

[0386] In some embodiments, the first identification field further comprises one or more ultra-high reliability long training fields (UHR-LTFs).

[0387] In some embodiments, the first identification field further comprises a legacy preamble field.

[0388] In some embodiments, the legacy preamble field comprises the following fields: a legacy short training field (L-STF), a legacy long training field (L-LTF), a legacy signal (L-SIG), a repeated legacy signal (RL-SIG), and a unified signal (U-SIG).

[0389] In some embodiments, the legacy preamble field comprises the following fields: L-STF, L-LTF, L-SIG, RL-SIG, U-SIG, and an ultra-high reliability signal (UHR-SIG).

[0390] In some embodiments, the subcarriers used by the one or more identification subfields are used to indicate an AID of the first STA.

[0391] In some embodiments, the AID of the first STA is indicated by two sets of subcarriers, and the subcarriers used by the identification subfields belong to one of the two sets of subcarriers.

[0392] In some embodiments, the subcarriers used by the identification subfields belong to different sets of subcarriers in the two sets of subcarriers, and different sets of subcarriers respectively represent different state information of the first STA.

[0393] In some embodiments, the bandwidth of the identification subfield is 20MHz, 40MHz, 80MHz, 80+80MHz, 160MHz or 320MHz.

[0394] In some embodiments, the 320MHz is represented by 4 80MHz subcarrier set indexes; wherein subcarrier set indexes 1-72 are mapped to the first 80MHz, subcarrier set indexes 73-144 are mapped to the second 80MHz, subcarrier set indexes 145-216 are mapped to the third 80MHz, and subcarrier set indexes 217-288 are mapped to the fourth 80MHz.

[0395] In some embodiments, the AID of the first STA is indicated by one subcarrier set, and the subcarriers used by the identification subfield belong to the one subcarrier set.

[0396] In some embodiments, the format of the second identification field is the same as the format of the first identification field.

[0397] In some embodiments, the value of CWmin used by the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is less than the CWmin associated with EDCA access type AC_VO; and / or, the value of CWmax used by the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is less than the CWmax associated with EDCA access type AC_VO.

[0398] In some embodiments, the first MAC frame is a request to send RTS frame, or the first MAC frame is a shared request to send S-RTS frame, or the first MAC frame is a clear to send CTS frame, or the first MAC frame is a shared clear to send S-CTS frame, or the first MAC frame is a null frame.

[0399] In some embodiments, the first identification field and the second identification field are both user identification extension UIE fields.

[0400] In some embodiments, when the first PPDU includes a second MAC frame and the second STA has uplink data to be transmitted, the communication unit 410 is further configured to send a second PPDU; wherein the second PPDU includes a first field and a second field, the first field in the second PPDU is used to indicate the identification information of the second STA, and the second field in the second PPDU is used to indicate whether the second STA needs to obtain the medium to transmit the uplink data.

[0401] In some embodiments, the channel contention result corresponding to the second MAC frame is associated with a number of STAs detected by the AP as requiring to obtain the medium to transmit uplink data; wherein the number of STAs requiring to obtain the medium to transmit uplink data is obtained by the AP through detecting n PPDU, the n PPDU at least includes the first PPDU and the second PPDU, the PPDU other than the first PPDU in the n PPDU includes a first field and a second field, the first field is used to indicate the identification information of the STA sending the corresponding PPDU, the second field is used to indicate whether the STA sending the corresponding PPDU requires to obtain the medium to transmit uplink data, n is a positive integer, and n≥2.

[0402] In some embodiments, in the case that the number of PPDU other than the first PPDU in the n PPDU is greater than or equal to 2, the time domain resources occupied by the PPDU other than the first PPDU in the n PPDU are the same, or the PPDU other than the first PPDU in the n PPDU completely overlap in time domain.

[0403] In some embodiments, the PPDU other than the first PPDU in the n PPDU is sent by the corresponding STA after detecting the first PPDU.

[0404] In some embodiments, the first field is a high efficiency long training field (HE-LTF), or an extremely high throughput long training field (EHT-LTF), or an ultra-high reliability long training field (UHR-LTF), and / or the second field is a feedback state field corresponding to a trigger-based feedback null data physical protocol data unit (TB feedback NDP) frame.

[0405] In some embodiments, the first field is used to indicate the identification information of the STA by transmitting the subcarriers used by the first field, and / or the second field is used to indicate whether the STA requires to obtain the medium to transmit uplink data by transmitting the subcarriers used by the second field.

[0406] In some embodiments, the channel contention result corresponding to the second MAC frame is associated with a number of STAs detected by the AP as requiring to obtain the medium to transmit uplink data, comprising:

[0407] In the case that the number of STAs detected by the AP as requiring to obtain the medium to transmit uplink data is greater than or equal to K2, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the second MAC frame belongs to the AP; or in the case that the number of STAs detected by the AP as requiring to obtain the medium to transmit uplink data is greater than or equal to K2, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the second MAC frame belongs to the first STA.

[0408] wherein K2 is a positive integer, and K2≥2.

[0409] In some embodiments, in case that the TXOP associated with the channel corresponding to the second MAC frame is owned by the AP, the n STAs sending the n PPDU send uplink data within the TXOP after receiving the trigger frame sent by the AP.

[0410] In some embodiments, in case that the TXOP associated with the channel corresponding to the second MAC frame is owned by the AP, the n STAs sending the n PPDU send uplink data and receive downlink data within the TXOP after receiving the trigger frame sent by the AP.

[0411] In some embodiments, the second MAC frame is an extended null data physical protocol data unit feedback report polling (NFRP) trigger frame, or the second MAC frame is a MAC frame including an extended trigger response scheduling (TRS) control field, or the second MAC frame is a MAC frame including a null data physical protocol data unit feedback report (NFR) control field.

[0412] In some embodiments, in case that the second MAC frame is an extended NFRP trigger frame, a user information field in the second MAC frame includes a feedback type field, wherein the feedback type field is used to at least indicate whether all STAs receiving the second MAC frame need to acquire the medium to transmit uplink data.

[0413] In some embodiments, in case that the second MAC frame is a MAC frame including an extended TRS control field, an aggregation control field in the second MAC frame is an extended TRS control field, wherein the extended TRS control field includes an NDP feedback request field, and the NDP feedback request field is used to trigger all STAs receiving the second MAC frame to feedback a PPDU containing own identity information.

[0414] In some embodiments, the PPDU containing own identity information is one of the following:

[0415] An ultra-high reliability multi-user physical layer protocol data unit (UHR MU PPDU), an ultra-high reliability trigger-based physical layer protocol data unit (UHR TB PPDU), an ultra-high reliability extended range physical layer protocol data unit (UHR ER PPDU), and an ultra-high reliability trigger-based feedback null data physical layer protocol data unit (UHR TB feedback NDP).

[0416] In some embodiments, when the second MAC frame is a MAC frame that includes an NFR control field, the aggregation control field in the second MAC frame is an NFR control field, wherein the NFR control field includes a feedback type field, which is used at least to indicate whether all STAs receiving the second MAC frame need to acquire a medium to transmit uplink data.

[0417] In some embodiments, the NFR control field further includes at least one of the following: a starting AID field, an identifier quantity field, a target received energy field, and a spatial multiplexing user quantity field;

[0418] The starting AID field is used to indicate the first AID within the AID range of the planned response to the second MAC frame; the identifier quantity field is used to indicate the number of fields containing the identifier of the transmitting device in the triggered PPDU containing the identifier field; the target received power field is used to indicate the expected received signal power measured at the antenna connector of the first STA and averaged on the antenna; and the spatial multiplexing user quantity field is used to indicate the number of STAs multiplexed on the same group of subcarriers in the same resource unit (RU).

[0419] In some embodiments, the first PPDU is one of the following: Ultra-Reliable Multi-User Physical Layer Protocol Data Unit (UHR MU PPDU), Ultra-Reliable Trigger Frame-Based Physical Layer Protocol Data Unit (UHR TB PPDU), and Ultra-Reliable Extended Distance Physical Layer Protocol Data Unit (UHR ER PPDU).

[0420] In some embodiments, the uplink data includes at least uplink latency-sensitive data.

[0421] In some embodiments, the communication unit may be a communication interface or transceiver, or an input / output interface of a communication chip or system-on-a-chip. The processing unit may be one or more processors.

[0422] It should be understood that the STA 400 according to the embodiments of this application can correspond to the second STA in the method embodiments of this application, and the above and other operations and / or functions of each unit in STA 400 are respectively to implement the corresponding process of the second STA in the method 200 shown in FIG13. For the sake of brevity, they will not be described in detail here.

[0423] Figure 35 shows a schematic block diagram of an AP 500 according to an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 35, the AP 500 includes:

[0424] Communication unit 510 is used to receive a first physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) sent by a first station (STA), wherein the first STA has uplink data to be transmitted; wherein,

[0425] the first PPDU comprises a first media access control (MAC) frame and a first identification field, the first MAC frame is used for contending for a channel, and the first identification field is used for indicating an association identifier (AID) of the first STA; or

[0426] the first PPDU comprises a second MAC frame, the second MAC frame is used for contending for a channel, and the second MAC frame is further used for triggering all STAs receiving the second MAC frame to feed back whether medium needs to be acquired for transmitting uplink data.

[0427] In some embodiments, in a case where the first PPDU comprises the first MAC frame and the first identification field, a channel contention result corresponding to the first MAC frame is associated with a number of STAs with uplink data to be transmitted that are detected by the AP.

[0428] The AP acquires the number of STAs with uplink data to be transmitted by detecting m identification fields, the m identification fields are respectively used for indicating AIDs of m STAs, the m identification fields at least comprise the first identification field, m is a positive integer, and m = 1 or m ≥ 2.

[0429] In some embodiments, in a case where m ≥ 2, time domain resources occupied by the m identification fields are same, or the m identification fields completely overlap in time domain.

[0430] In some embodiments, among the m STAs corresponding to the m identification fields respectively, other STAs than the first STA send an identification field used for indicating an AID of the other STA on time domain resources occupied by the first identification field after identifying the first MAC frame.

[0431] In some embodiments, the first PPDU further comprises a switching time field.

[0432] The switching time field is located after the first MAC frame and before the first identification field, and is used for reserving time for a receiving end of the first PPDU to switch from a receiving state to a sending state.

[0433] In some embodiments, among the m STAs corresponding to the m identification fields respectively, other STAs than the first STA set a value of an enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) backoff counter to zero before sending an identification field used for indicating an AID of the other STA; or

[0434] The m identification fields respectively correspond to m STAs other than the first STA, and the m STAs keep the values of their EDCA backoff counters unchanged before sending the identification fields for identifying their own AIDs.

[0435] In some embodiments, in the case of m≥2, the m identification fields are respectively carried by m PPDU, wherein the m PPDU occupy the same time domain resources, or the m PPDU completely overlap in the time domain.

[0436] In some embodiments, the m PPDU each comprise a MAC frame for contending for a channel, and the MAC frames for contending for a channel comprised by the m PPDU have the same frame format.

[0437] In some embodiments, the m identification fields respectively correspond to STAs using the same EDCA access type, and the m identification fields respectively correspond to STAs having the same values of their EDCA backoff counters.

[0438] In some embodiments, the channel contention result corresponding to the first MAC frame is associated with the number of STAs detected by the AP as having uplink data to be transmitted, and comprises:

[0439] In the case of m=1, a transmission opportunity TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by the first STA; and / or,

[0440] In the case of m≥K1, a TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by the AP; or, in the case of m≥K1, a TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by the first STA; or, in the case of m≥K1, a TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by a plurality of STAs among the m STAs corresponding to the m identification fields, wherein the plurality of STAs at least includes the first STA, K1 is a positive integer, and K1≥2.

[0441] In some embodiments, in the case of the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame being owned by the AP, the m STAs corresponding to the m identification fields transmit uplink data within the TXOP after receiving a trigger frame sent by the AP.

[0442] In some embodiments, in the case of the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame being owned by the AP, the m STAs corresponding to the m identification fields transmit uplink data and receive downlink data within the TXOP after receiving a trigger frame sent by the AP.

[0443] In some embodiments, the transmission of the first PPDU is associated with a first bandwidth and a first modulation and coding scheme (MCS).

[0444] In some embodiments, the transmission of the first PPDU is associated with the first bandwidth and the first MCS for all STAs receiving or detecting the first MAC frame to acquire time domain resources occupied by the first identification field.

[0445] In some embodiments, the first identification field is used to indicate the AID of the first STA by the subcarriers used by the first identification field.

[0446] In some embodiments, in the first PPDU, the first identification field is located after the first MAC frame.

[0447] In some embodiments, the first identification field includes one or more identification subfields, wherein the one or more identification subfields are used to indicate identification information of the first STA.

[0448] In some embodiments, the first identification field further includes an ultra-high reliability short training field (UHR-STF).

[0449] In some embodiments, the first identification field further includes one or more ultra-high reliability long training fields (UHR-LTF).

[0450] In some embodiments, the first identification field further includes a legacy preamble field.

[0451] In some embodiments, the legacy preamble field includes the following fields: a legacy short training field (L-STF), a legacy long training field (L-LTF), a legacy signal (L-SIG), a repeated legacy signal (RL-SIG), a unified signal (U-SIG).

[0452] In some embodiments, the legacy preamble field includes the following fields: L-STF, L-LTF, L-SIG, RL-SIG, U-SIG, an ultra-high reliability signal (UHR-SIG).

[0453] In some embodiments, the subcarriers used by the one or more identification subfields are used to indicate the AID of the first STA.

[0454] In some embodiments, the AID of the first STA is indicated by two sets of subcarriers, and the subcarriers used by the identification subfield belong to one of the two sets of subcarriers.

[0455] In some embodiments, the subcarriers used by the identification subfield belong to different sets of subcarriers in the two sets of subcarriers, and different state information of the first STA is respectively represented.

[0456] In some embodiments, the bandwidth of the identification subfield is 20MHz, 40MHz, 80MHz, 80+80MHz, 160MHz or 320MHz.

[0457] In some embodiments, the 320MHz is represented by 4 80MHz subcarrier set indexes; wherein subcarrier set indexes 1-72 are mapped to the first 80MHz, subcarrier set indexes 73-144 are mapped to the second 80MHz, subcarrier set indexes 145-216 are mapped to the third 80MHz, and subcarrier set indexes 217-288 are mapped to the fourth 80MHz.

[0458] In some embodiments, the AID of the first STA is indicated by one subcarrier set, and the subcarriers used by the identification subfield belong to the one subcarrier set.

[0459] In some embodiments, the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame uses a CWmin smaller than the CWmin associated with EDCA access type AC_VO; and / or, the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame uses a CWmax smaller than the CWmax associated with EDCA access type AC_VO.

[0460] In some embodiments, the first MAC frame is a request to send (RTS) frame, or the first MAC frame is a shared request to send (S-RTS) frame, or the first MAC frame is a clear to send (CTS) frame, or the first MAC frame is a shared clear to send (S-CTS) frame, or the first MAC frame is a null frame.

[0461] In some embodiments, the first identification field is a user identification extension (UIE) field.

[0462] In some embodiments, in the case that the first PPDU comprises a second MAC frame, the channel contention result corresponding to the second MAC frame is associated with the number of STAs detected by the AP as needing to acquire the medium to transmit uplink data;

[0463] wherein the AP acquires the number of STAs needing to acquire the medium to transmit uplink data by detecting n PPDU, the n PPDU at least comprises the first PPDU, the PPDU other than the first PPDU in the n PPDU comprises a first field and a second field, the first field is used to indicate the identification information of the STA sending the corresponding PPDU, the second field is used to indicate whether the STA sending the corresponding PPDU needs to acquire the medium to transmit uplink data, n is a positive integer, and n≥2.

[0464] In some embodiments, the first field is a high efficiency long training field (HE-LTF) or an extremely high throughput long training field (EHT-LTF) or an ultra-high reliability long training field (UHR-LTF), and / or the second field is a feedback state field corresponding to a trigger-based feedback null data physical protocol data unit (TB feedback NDP) frame.

[0465] In some embodiments, the first field is used to indicate the identification information of the STA by the subcarriers used for transmitting the first field, and / or the second field is used to indicate whether the STA needs to obtain the medium to transmit the uplink data by the subcarriers used for transmitting the second field.

[0466] In some embodiments, in the case that the number of the PPDUs other than the first PPDU in the n PPDUs is greater than or equal to 2, the time domain resources occupied by the PPDUs other than the first PPDU in the n PPDUs are the same, or the PPDUs other than the first PPDU in the n PPDUs completely overlap in the time domain.

[0467] In some embodiments, the PPDUs other than the first PPDU in the n PPDUs are sent by the corresponding STAs after detecting the first PPDU.

[0468] In some embodiments, the channel contention result corresponding to the second MAC frame is associated with the number of STAs detected by the AP as needing to obtain the medium to transmit the uplink data, including:

[0469] In the case that the number of STAs detected by the AP as needing to obtain the medium to transmit the uplink data is equal to 1, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the second MAC frame belongs to the first STA; and / or,

[0470] In the case that the number of STAs detected by the AP as needing to obtain the medium to transmit the uplink data is greater than or equal to K2, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the second MAC frame belongs to the AP; or, in the case that the number of STAs detected by the AP as needing to obtain the medium to transmit the uplink data is greater than or equal to K2, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the second MAC frame belongs to the first STA; wherein K2 is a positive integer and K2≥2.

[0471] In some embodiments, in the case that the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the second MAC frame belongs to the AP, the n STAs sending the n PPDUs send the uplink data within the TXOP after receiving the trigger frame sent by the AP.

[0472] In some embodiments, in a case that the channel corresponding to the second MAC frame is contended by the n STAs sending the n PPDU, the n STAs send uplink data and receive downlink data in the TXOP after receiving the trigger frame sent by the AP.

[0473] In some embodiments, the second MAC frame is an extended null data physical protocol data unit feedback report polling (NFRP) trigger frame, or the second MAC frame is a MAC frame including an extended trigger response scheduling (TRS) control field, or the second MAC frame is a MAC frame including a null data physical protocol data unit feedback report (NFR) control field.

[0474] In some embodiments, in a case that the second MAC frame is an extended NFRP trigger frame, a user information field in the second MAC frame includes a feedback type field, wherein the feedback type field is used to at least indicate whether all STAs receiving the second MAC frame need to acquire the medium to transmit uplink data.

[0475] In some embodiments, in a case that the second MAC frame is a MAC frame including an extended TRS control field, an aggregation control field in the second MAC frame is the extended TRS control field, wherein the extended TRS control field includes an NDP feedback request field, and the NDP feedback request field is used to trigger all STAs receiving the second MAC frame to feedback a PPDU including own identity information.

[0476] In some embodiments, the PPDU including own identity information is one of:

[0477] An ultra-high reliability multi-user physical layer protocol data unit (UHR MU PPDU), an ultra-high reliability trigger-based physical layer protocol data unit (UHR TB PPDU), an ultra-high reliability extended range physical layer protocol data unit (UHR ER PPDU), and an ultra-high reliability trigger-based feedback null data physical layer protocol data unit (UHR TB feedback NDP).

[0478] In some embodiments, in a case that the second MAC frame is a MAC frame including an NFR control field, an aggregation control field in the second MAC frame is the NFR control field, wherein the NFR control field includes a feedback type field, and the feedback type field is used to at least indicate whether all STAs receiving the second MAC frame need to acquire the medium to transmit uplink data.

[0479] In some embodiments, the NFR control field further comprises at least one of: a starting AID field, an identification number field, a target received energy field, a number of spatially multiplexed users field.

[0480] The starting AID field is used to indicate a first AID in a range of AIDs that are scheduled to respond to the second MAC frame, the identification number field is used to indicate a number of fields in a PPDU containing an identification field that are triggered to contain a field identifying a transmitting device identity, the target received energy field is used to indicate a received signal power expected to be measured at an antenna connector of the first STA and averaged over antennas, and the number of spatially multiplexed users field is used to indicate a number of STAs multiplexed on the same set of subcarriers in the same resource unit (RU).

[0481] In some embodiments, the first PPDU is one of: an ultra-high reliability multi-user physical layer protocol data unit (UHR MU PPDU), an ultra-high reliability trigger-based frame physical layer protocol data unit (UHR TB PPDU), and an ultra-high reliability extended range physical layer protocol data unit (UHR ER PPDU).

[0482] In some embodiments, the uplink data at least comprises uplink latency-sensitive data.

[0483] In some embodiments, the communication unit can be a communication interface or a transceiver, or an input / output interface of a communication chip or a system on chip. The processing unit can be one or more processors.

[0484] It should be understood that the AP 500 according to the embodiments of the present application can correspond to the AP in the method embodiments of the present application, and the above and other operations and / or functions of each unit in the AP 500 are respectively for realizing the corresponding flow of the AP in the method 200 shown in FIG. 13, and for brevity, will not be repeated here.

[0485] FIG. 36 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 600 according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 600 shown in FIG. 36 includes a processor 610. The processor 610 can call and run a computer program from a memory to implement the method according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0486] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 36, the communication device 600 can further include a memory 620. The processor 610 can call and run a computer program from the memory 620 to implement the method according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0487] The memory 620 can be a separate device independent of the processor 610, or can be integrated in the processor 610.

[0488] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 36, the communication device 600 can further include a transceiver 630, which can be controlled by the processor 610 to communicate with other devices, specifically, to send information or data to other devices, or to receive information or data sent by other devices.

[0489] The transceiver 630 can include a transmitter and a receiver. The transceiver 630 can further include an antenna, and the number of antennas can be one or more.

[0490] In some embodiments, the processor 610 can implement the function of the processing unit in the STA, or the processor 610 can implement the function of the processing unit in the AP, which will not be repeated here for brevity.

[0491] In some embodiments, the transceiver 630 can implement the function of the communication unit in the STA, which will not be repeated here for brevity.

[0492] In some embodiments, the transceiver 630 can implement the function of the communication unit in the AP, which will not be repeated here for brevity.

[0493] In some embodiments, the communication device 600 can specifically be the AP of the embodiments of the present application, and the communication device 600 can implement the corresponding procedures implemented by the AP in the various methods of the embodiments of the present application, which will not be repeated here for brevity.

[0494] In some embodiments, the communication device 600 can specifically be the STA of the embodiments of the present application, and the communication device 600 can implement the corresponding procedures implemented by the first STA or the second STA in the various methods of the embodiments of the present application, which will not be repeated here for brevity.

[0495] FIG. 37 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application. The apparatus 700 shown in FIG. 37 includes a processor 710, which can call and run a computer program from a memory to implement the method in the embodiments of the present application.

[0496] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 37, the apparatus 700 can further include a memory 720. The processor 710 can call and run a computer program from the memory 720 to implement the method in the embodiments of the present application.

[0497] The memory 720 can be a separate device independent of the processor 710, or can be integrated in the processor 710.

[0498] In some embodiments, the processor 710 can implement the function of the processing unit in the STA, or the processor 710 can implement the function of the processing unit in the AP, which will not be repeated here for brevity.

[0499] In some embodiments, the apparatus 700 further includes an input interface 730. The processor 710 can control the input interface 730 to communicate with other devices or chips, and specifically, can acquire information or data sent by other devices or chips. Optionally, the processor 710 can be located in a chip or outside the chip.

[0500] In some embodiments, the input interface 730 can implement the function of the communication unit in the STA, or the input interface 730 can implement the function of the communication unit in the AP.

[0501] In some embodiments, the apparatus 700 further includes an output interface 740. The processor 710 can control the output interface 740 to communicate with other devices or chips, and specifically, can output information or data to other devices or chips. Optionally, the processor 710 can be located in a chip or outside the chip.

[0502] In some embodiments, the output interface 740 can implement the function of the communication unit in the STA, or the output interface 740 can implement the function of the communication unit in the AP.

[0503] In some embodiments, the apparatus can be applied to the AP in the embodiments of the present application, and the apparatus can implement the corresponding procedures implemented by the AP in the various methods of the embodiments of the present application. For brevity, details are not described herein.

[0504] In some embodiments, the apparatus can be applied to the STA in the embodiments of the present application, and the apparatus can implement the corresponding procedures implemented by the first STA or the second STA in the various methods of the embodiments of the present application. For brevity, details are not described herein.

[0505] In some embodiments, the apparatus mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can also be a chip. For example, it can be a system chip, a system chip, a chip system, or a system on chip, etc.

[0506] FIG. 38 is a schematic block diagram of a communication system 800 provided by the embodiments of the present application. As shown in FIG. 38, the communication system 800 includes a STA 810 and an AP 820.

[0507] The STA 810 can be used to implement the corresponding functions implemented by the first STA or the second STA in the above methods, and the AP 820 can be used to implement the corresponding functions implemented by the AP in the above methods. For brevity, details are not described herein.

[0508] It should be understood that the processor of the embodiments of the present application can be an integrated circuit chip with a processing capability of signals. In the implementation process, each step of the method embodiments described above can be completed by the integrated logic circuit of hardware in the processor or the instructions in the form of software. The processor described above can be a general processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, a discrete hardware component. The disclosed methods, steps and logic block diagrams in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented or executed. The general processor can be a microprocessor or the processor can also be any conventional processor or the like. The steps of the method disclosed in conjunction with the embodiments of the present application can be directly embodied as a hardware code processor for execution, or can be executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the code processor. The software module can be located in a random memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory or an electrically erasable programmable memory, a register or other mature storage medium in the art. The storage medium is located in the memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory, and combines the hardware to complete the steps of the above method.

[0509] It is to be understood that the memory in the embodiments of the present application can be a volatile memory or a nonvolatile memory, or can include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. Among them, the nonvolatile memory can be a read-only memory (Read-Only Memory, ROM), a programmable read-only memory (Programmable ROM, PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (Erasable PROM, EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (Electrically EPROM, EEPROM) or a flash memory. The volatile memory can be a random access memory (Random Access Memory, RAM) used as an external cache. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static random access memory (Static RAM, SRAM), dynamic random access memory (Dynamic RAM, DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (Synchronous DRAM, SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (Double Data Rate SDRAM, DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (Enhanced SDRAM, ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (Synchlink DRAM, SLDRAM) and direct memory bus random access memory (Direct Rambus RAM, DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the system and method described herein is intended to include, but not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0510] It should be understood that the above-mentioned memory is exemplary but not limiting, for example, the memory in the embodiments of the present application can also be static random access memory (static RAM, SRAM), dynamic random access memory (dynamic RAM, DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (synchronous DRAM, SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (double data rate SDRAM, DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (enhanced SDRAM, ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (synch link DRAM, SLDRAM) and direct memory bus random access memory (Direct Rambus RAM, DR RAM) and the like. That is, the memory in the embodiments of the present application is intended to include, but not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0511] The embodiment of the present application further provides a computer readable storage medium for storing the computer program.

[0512] In some embodiments, the computer readable storage medium can be applied to the AP in the embodiment of the present application, and the computer program causes the computer to perform the corresponding procedures implemented by the AP in the various methods of the embodiment of the present application, which will not be repeated here for brevity.

[0513] In some embodiments, the computer readable storage medium can be applied to the STA in the embodiment of the present application, and the computer program causes the computer to perform the corresponding procedures implemented by the first STA or the second STA in the various methods of the embodiment of the present application, which will not be repeated here for brevity.

[0514] The embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product comprising computer program instructions.

[0515] In some embodiments, the computer program product can be applied to the AP in the embodiment of the present application, and the computer program instructions cause the computer to perform the corresponding procedures implemented by the AP in the various methods of the embodiment of the present application, which will not be repeated here for brevity.

[0516] In some embodiments, the computer program product can be applied to the STA in the embodiment of the present application, and the computer program instructions cause the computer to perform the corresponding procedures implemented by the first STA or the second STA in the various methods of the embodiment of the present application, which will not be repeated here for brevity.

[0517] The embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program.

[0518] In some embodiments, the computer program can be applied to the AP in the embodiment of the present application, and when the computer program runs on the computer, causes the computer to perform the corresponding procedures implemented by the AP in the various methods of the embodiment of the present application, which will not be repeated here for brevity.

[0519] In some embodiments, the computer program can be applied to the STA in the embodiment of the present application, and when the computer program runs on the computer, causes the computer to perform the corresponding procedures implemented by the first STA or the second STA in the various methods of the embodiment of the present application, which will not be repeated here for brevity.

[0520] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in combination with the embodiments disclosed herein can be realized by electronic hardware or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether the functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of the present application.

[0521] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of the description, the specific working processes of the above-described system, device and unit can refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0522] In several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, device and method can be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described device embodiments are merely schematic, for example, the division of the units is only a logical function division, and actual implementation can have another division manner, for example, multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection between the units shown or discussed can be indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0523] The units described as separate components can or can not be physically separated, and the components shown as units can or can not be physical units, that is, they can be located in one place, or can be distributed on multiple network units. According to actual needs, part or all of the units can be selected to achieve the purpose of the embodiment.

[0524] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application can be integrated into a processing unit, or each unit can exist physically independently, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit.

[0525] If the functions are implemented in the form of software function units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer readable storage medium. For such understanding, the technical solutions of the present application or the parts of the technical solutions that essentially contribute to the prior art or the parts of the technical solutions can be embodied in the form of software products. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes a plurality of instructions for causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes a U disk, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and various media that can store program codes.

[0526] The above is only a specific implementation of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can easily think of changes or replacements within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, which should be covered within the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method of wireless communication, comprising: The method is applied to a first station STA, and the first STA has uplink data to be transmitted, and the method comprises: The first STA transmits a first physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU); wherein, The first PPDU comprises a first media access control (MAC) frame and a first identification field, the first MAC frame is used for contending for a channel, and the first identification field is used for indicating an association identifier (AID) of the first STA; or, The first PPDU comprises a second MAC frame, the second MAC frame is used for contending for a channel, and the second MAC frame is also used for triggering all STAs receiving the second MAC frame to feed back whether medium needs to be acquired for transmitting uplink data.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, In a case where the first PPDU comprises the first MAC frame and the first identification field, a channel contention result corresponding to the first MAC frame is associated with a number of STAs having uplink data to be transmitted detected by an access point (AP); The number of STAs having uplink data to be transmitted is acquired by the AP through detection of m identification fields, the m identification fields are respectively used for indicating AIDs of m STAs, the m identification fields at least comprise the first identification field, m is a positive integer, and m = 1 or m ≥ 2.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein, In a case where m ≥ 2, time domain resources occupied by the m identification fields are same, or the m identification fields completely overlap in time domain.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein, STAs other than the first STA in the m STAs corresponding to the m identification fields respectively send an identification field used for indicating an AID of the STA itself on time domain resources occupied by the first identification field after the first MAC frame is identified.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein, The first PPDU further comprises a switching time field; The switching time field is located after the first MAC frame and before the first identification field, and the switching time field is used for reserving time for a receiving end of the first PPDU to switch from a receiving state to a sending state.

6. The method of claim 4 or 5, wherein, STAs other than the first STA in the m STAs corresponding to the m identification fields respectively set a value of an enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) backoff counter to zero before sending the identification field used for indicating the AID of the STA itself; Or, STAs other than the first STA in the m STAs corresponding to the m identification fields respectively keep a value of an EDCA backoff counter unchanged before sending the identification field used for indicating the AID of the STA itself.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein, In a case where m ≥ 2, the m identification fields are respectively carried by m PPUs, wherein time domain resources occupied by the m PPUs are same, or the m PPUs completely overlap in time domain.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein, The m PPDU each comprise a MAC frame for channel contention, and the m PPDU comprise MAC frames for channel contention with the same frame format.

9. The method of claim 7 or 8, wherein, The m identification fields correspond to STAs using the same EDCA access type, and the m identification fields correspond to STAs with the same EDCA backoff counter value.

10. The method of any one of claims 2 to 9, wherein, The channel contention result corresponding to the first MAC frame is associated with the number of STAs detected by the AP as having uplink data to be transmitted, and includes: In the case of m = 1, the transmission opportunity (TXOP) associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by the first STA; and / or, In the case of m ≥ K1, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by the AP; or, in the case of m ≥ K1, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by the first STA; or, in the case of m ≥ K1, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by a plurality of STAs among the m STAs corresponding to the m identification fields, wherein the plurality of STAs at least includes the first STA, and K1 is a positive integer and K1 ≥ 2.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein, In the case of the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame being owned by the AP, the m STAs corresponding to the m identification fields transmit uplink data within the TXOP after receiving a trigger frame transmitted by the AP.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein, In the case of the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame being owned by the AP, the m STAs corresponding to the m identification fields transmit uplink data and receive downlink data within the TXOP after receiving a trigger frame transmitted by the AP.

13. The method of any one of claims 2 to 12, wherein, The transmission of the first PPDU is associated with a first bandwidth and a first modulation and coding scheme (MCS).

14. The method of claim 13, wherein, The transmission of the first PPDU is associated with the first bandwidth and the first MCS for all STAs receiving or detecting the first MAC frame to acquire time domain resources occupied by the first identification field.

15. The method of any one of claims 2 to 14, wherein, The first identification field is used to indicate the AID of the first STA by transmitting subcarriers used by the first identification field.

16. The method of any one of claims 2 to 15, wherein, In the first PPDU, the first identification field is located after the first MAC frame.

17. The method of any one of claims 2 to 16, wherein, The first identification field comprises one or more identification subfields, wherein the one or more identification subfields are used to indicate identification information of the first STA.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein, The first identification field further comprises an ultra-high reliability short training field (UHR-STF).

19. The method of claim 17 or 18, wherein, The first identification field further comprises one or more ultra-high reliability long training fields (UHR-LTFs).

20. The method of any one of claims 17 to 19, wherein, The first identification field further comprises a legacy preamble field.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein, The legacy preamble field comprises the following fields: a legacy short training field (L-STF), a legacy long training field (L-LTF), a legacy signal (L-SIG), a repeated legacy signal (RL-SIG), a unified signal (U-SIG).

22. The method of claim 20, wherein, The legacy preamble field comprises the following fields: L-STF, L-LTF, L-SIG, RL-SIG, U-SIG, an ultra-high reliability signal (UHR-SIG).

23. The method of any one of claims 17 to 22, wherein, The subcarriers used by the one or more identification subfields are used to indicate the AID of the first STA.

24. The method of any one of claims 17 to 23, wherein, The AID of the first STA is indicated by two sets of subcarriers, and the subcarriers used by the identification subfield belong to one of the two sets of subcarriers.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein, Different sets of subcarriers in the two sets of subcarriers to which the subcarriers used by the identification subfield belong respectively represent different state information of the first STA.

26. The method of claim 24 or 25, wherein, The bandwidth of the identification subfield is 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 80+80 MHz, 160 MHz, or 320 MHz.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein, The 320 MHz is represented using four 80 MHz subcarrier set indices; wherein subcarrier set indices 1-72 map to a first 80 MHz, subcarrier set indices 73-144 map to a second 80 MHz, subcarrier set indices 145-216 map to a third 80 MHz, and subcarrier set indices 217-288 map to a fourth 80 MHz.

28. The method of any one of claims 17 to 23, wherein, The AID of the first STA is indicated by one set of subcarriers, and the subcarriers used by the identification subfield belong to the one set of subcarriers.

29. The method of any one of claims 2 to 28, wherein, The value of CWmin used for channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is less than the CWmin associated with an EDCA access category (AC_VO); and / or, the value of CWmax used for channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is less than the CWmax associated with an EDCA access category (AC_VO).

30. The method of any one of claims 2 to 29, wherein, The first MAC frame is a request to send (RTS) frame, or the first MAC frame is a shared request to send (S-RTS) frame, or the first MAC frame is a clear to send (CTS) frame, or the first MAC frame is a shared clear to send (S-CTS) frame, or the first MAC frame is a null frame.

31. The method of any one of claims 2 to 30, wherein, The first identification field is a user identification extension (UIE) field.

32. The method of claim 1, wherein, In a case that the first PPDU comprises a second MAC frame, a channel contention result corresponding to the second MAC frame is associated with a number of STAs detected by the AP as requiring to obtain the medium to transmit uplink data; wherein the number of STAs requiring to obtain the medium to transmit uplink data is obtained by the AP through detecting n PPDUs, the n PPDUs at least comprise the first PPDU, PPDUs other than the first PPDU in the n PPDUs comprise a first field and a second field, the first field is used to indicate identification information of a STA sending a corresponding PPDU, the second field is used to indicate whether the STA sending the corresponding PPDU requires to obtain the medium to transmit uplink data, n is a positive integer, and n≥2.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein, The first field is a high-efficiency long training field (HE-LTF), or an extremely high throughput long training field (EHT-LTF), or an ultra-high reliability long training field (UHR-LTF), and / or the second field is a feedback state field corresponding to a trigger-based feedback null data physical protocol data unit (TB feedback NDP) frame.

34. The method of claim 32 or 33, wherein The first field is used to indicate the identification information of the STA by transmitting subcarriers used by the first field, and / or the second field is used to indicate whether the STA requires to obtain the medium to transmit uplink data by transmitting subcarriers used by the second field.

35. The method of any one of claims 32 to 34, wherein In a case that the number of PPDUs other than the first PPDU in the n PPDUs is greater than or equal to 2, the PPDUs other than the first PPDU in the n PPDUs occupy the same time domain resources, or the PPDUs other than the first PPDU in the n PPDUs completely overlap in the time domain.

36. The method of any one of claims 32 to 35, wherein, The PPDUs other than the first PPDU in the n PPDUs are sent by the corresponding STAs after detecting the first PPDU.

37. The method of any one of claims 32 to 36, wherein, The channel contention result corresponding to the second MAC frame is associated with the number of STAs detected by the AP as requiring to obtain the medium to transmit uplink data, including: In a case that the number of STAs detected by the AP as requiring to obtain the medium to transmit uplink data is equal to 1, a TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the second MAC frame belongs to the first STA; and / or In a case that the number of STAs detected by the AP as requiring to obtain the medium to transmit uplink data is greater than or equal to K2, a TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the second MAC frame belongs to the AP; or in a case that the number of STAs detected by the AP as requiring to obtain the medium to transmit uplink data is greater than or equal to K2, a TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the second MAC frame belongs to the first STA; wherein K2 is a positive integer, and K2≥2.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein In a case that the TXOP corresponding to the second MAC frame is owned by the AP, the n STAs sending the n PPDU send uplink data in the TXOP after receiving the trigger frame sent by the AP.

39. The method of claim 37, wherein, In a case that the TXOP corresponding to the second MAC frame is owned by the AP, the n STAs sending the n PPDU send uplink data and receive downlink data in the TXOP after receiving the trigger frame sent by the AP.

40. The method of any one of claims 32 to 39, wherein, the second MAC frame is an extended null data physical protocol data unit feedback report polling (NFRP) trigger frame, or the second MAC frame is a MAC frame including an extended trigger response scheduling (TRS) control field, or the second MAC frame is a MAC frame including a null data physical protocol data unit feedback report (NFR) control field.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein, In a case that the second MAC frame is the extended NFRP trigger frame, a user information field in the second MAC frame includes a feedback type field, wherein the feedback type field is used to at least indicate whether all STAs receiving the second MAC frame need to acquire the medium to transmit uplink data.

42. The method of claim 40, wherein, In a case that the second MAC frame is the MAC frame including the extended TRS control field, an aggregation control field in the second MAC frame is the extended TRS control field, wherein the extended TRS control field includes an NDP feedback request field, and the NDP feedback request field is used to trigger all STAs receiving the second MAC frame to feedback a PPDU including own identity information.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein, the PPDU including own identity information is one of: an ultra-high reliability multi-user physical layer protocol data unit (UHR MU PPDU), an ultra-high reliability trigger-based physical layer protocol data unit (UHR TB PPDU), an ultra-high reliability extended range physical layer protocol data unit (UHR ER PPDU), and an ultra-high reliability trigger-based feedback null data physical layer protocol data unit (UHR TB feedback NDP).

44. The method of claim 40, wherein, In a case that the second MAC frame is the MAC frame including the NFR control field, an aggregation control field in the second MAC frame is the NFR control field, wherein the NFR control field includes a feedback type field, and the feedback type field is used to at least indicate whether all STAs receiving the second MAC frame need to acquire the medium to transmit uplink data.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein, the NFR control field further includes at least one of: a starting AID field, a number of identified field, a target received energy field, and a number of spatial division multiplexing users field. The start AID field is used to indicate a first AID in an AID range that plans to respond to the second MAC frame, the number of identities field is used to indicate a number of fields containing identity sending device identities in a PPDU containing an identity field triggered, the target received energy field is used to indicate a received signal power expected to be measured at an antenna connector of the first STA and averaged on an antenna, and the number of spatial division multiplexing users field is used to indicate a number of STAs multiplexed on the same group of subcarriers in the same resource unit RU.

46. The method of any one of claims 1 to 45, wherein, The first PPDU is one of: an ultra-high reliability multi-user physical layer protocol data unit (UHR MU PPDU), an ultra-high reliability trigger-based frame physical layer protocol data unit (UHR TB PPDU), and an ultra-high reliability extended range physical layer protocol data unit (UHR ER PPDU).

47. The method of any one of claims 1-46, wherein: The uplink data includes at least uplink latency-sensitive data.

48. A method of wireless communication, the method comprising: The method is applied to a second station (STA), and the method comprises: The second STA receives a first physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) sent by the first STA, and the first STA has uplink data to be transmitted; wherein: The first PPDU includes a first medium access control (MAC) frame and a first identity field, the first MAC frame is used to contend for a channel, and the first identity field is used to indicate an association identifier (AID) of the first STA; or The first PPDU includes a second MAC frame, the second MAC frame is used to contend for a channel, and the second MAC frame is also used to trigger all STAs receiving the second MAC frame to feed back whether medium needs to be acquired to transmit uplink data.

49. The method of claim 48, wherein: In a case where the first PPDU includes the first MAC frame and the first identity field, and the second STA has uplink data to be transmitted, the method further comprises: The second STA sends a second identity field after receiving the first MAC frame; The second identity field is used to indicate an AID of the second STA, and the second identity field occupies the same time domain resource as the first identity field, or the second identity field completely overlaps with the first identity field in the time domain.

50. The method of claim 49, wherein, Before sending the second identity field, the method further comprises: The second STA sets a value of an enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) backoff counter of the second STA to zero, or the second STA keeps a value of the EDCA backoff counter of the second STA unchanged.

51. The method of claim 49 or 50, wherein: A channel contention result corresponding to the first MAC frame is associated with a number of STAs having uplink data to be transmitted detected by an access point (AP). The number of STAs with uplink data to be transmitted is obtained by the AP through probing m identification fields, the m identification fields are respectively used for indicating AIDs of m STAs, the m identification fields at least include the first identification field and the second identification field, m is a positive integer, and m≥2.

52. The method of claim 51, wherein, The m identification fields occupy same time domain resources, or the m identification fields completely overlap in time domain.

53. The method of claim 52, wherein, The other STAs of the m STAs corresponding to the m identification fields respectively send an identification field for identifying AID of the other STAs after identifying the first MAC frame on time domain resources occupied by the first identification field.

54. The method of claim 53, wherein, The first PPDU further comprises a conversion time field; The conversion time field is located after the first MAC frame and before the first identification field, and the conversion time field is used for reserving time for a receiving end of the first PPDU to convert from a receiving state to a sending state.

55. The method of claim 53 or 54, wherein, The other STAs of the m STAs corresponding to the m identification fields respectively set a value of an enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) backoff counter to zero before sending the identification field for identifying AID of the other STAs. Or, The other STAs of the m STAs corresponding to the m identification fields respectively maintain a value of an enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) backoff counter unchanged before sending the identification field for identifying AID of the other STAs.

56. The method of any one of claims 51 to 55, wherein, The channel contention result corresponding to the first MAC frame is associated with the number of STAs with uplink data to be transmitted probed by the AP, and includes: In a case where m≥K1, a TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame belongs to the AP; or in a case where m≥K1, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame belongs to the first STA; or in a case where m≥K1, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame belongs to a plurality of STAs of the m STAs corresponding to the m identification fields; The plurality of STAs at least include the first STA, K1 is a positive integer, and K1≥2.

57. The method of claim 56, wherein, In a case where the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame belongs to the AP, the m STAs corresponding to the m identification fields send uplink data in the TXOP after receiving a trigger frame sent by the AP.

58. The method of claim 56, wherein, In a case where the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame belongs to the AP, the m STAs corresponding to the m identification fields send uplink data and receive downlink data in the TXOP after receiving a trigger frame sent by the AP.

59. The method of any one of claims 49-58, wherein, the transmission of the first PPDU is associated with a first bandwidth and a first modulation and coding scheme (MCS).

60. The method of claim 59, wherein, the transmission of the first PPDU is associated with the first bandwidth and the first MCS for all STAs receiving or detecting the first MAC frame to acquire time domain resources occupied by the first identification field.

61. The method of any one of claims 49-60, wherein, the first identification field is used to indicate an AID of the first STA by transmitting subcarriers used by the first identification field, and / or the second identification field is used to indicate an AID of the second STA by transmitting subcarriers used by the second identification field.

62. The method of any one of claims 49-61, wherein, in the first PPDU, the first identification field is located after the first MAC frame.

63. The method of any one of claims 49-62, wherein, the first identification field comprises one or more identification subfields, wherein the one or more identification subfields are used to indicate identification information of the first STA.

64. The method of claim 63, wherein, the first identification field further comprises an ultra-high reliability short training field (UHR-STF).

65. The method of claim 63 or 64, wherein, the first identification field further comprises one or more ultra-high reliability long training fields (UHR-LTFs).

66. The method of any one of claims 63-65, wherein, the first identification field further comprises a legacy preamble field.

67. The method of claim 66, wherein, the legacy preamble field comprises the following fields: a legacy short training field (L-STF), a legacy long training field (L-LTF), a legacy signal (L-SIG), a repeated legacy signal (RL-SIG), a unified signal (U-SIG).

68. The method of claim 66, wherein, the legacy preamble field comprises the following fields: L-STF, L-LTF, L-SIG, RL-SIG, U-SIG, an ultra-high reliability signal (UHR-SIG).

69. The method of any one of claims 63-68, wherein, subcarriers used by the one or more identification subfields are used to indicate an AID of the first STA.

70. The method of any one of claims 63 to 69, wherein, an AID of the first STA is indicated by two sets of subcarriers, and subcarriers used by the identification subfield belong to one of the two sets of subcarriers.

71. The method of claim 70, wherein, subcarriers used by the identification subfield belong to different sets of the two sets of subcarriers respectively represent different state information of the first STA.

72. The method of claim 70 or 71, wherein, a bandwidth of the identification subfield is 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 80+80 MHz, 160 MHz, or 320 MHz.

73. The method of claim 72, wherein, The 320MHz uses 4 80MHz subcarrier set indexes to represent; wherein, subcarrier set indexes 1-72 are mapped to the first 80MHz, subcarrier set indexes 73-144 are mapped to the second 80MHz, subcarrier set indexes 145-216 are mapped to the third 80MHz, and subcarrier set indexes 217-288 are mapped to the fourth 80MHz.

74. The method of any one of claims 63 to 69, wherein, The AID of the first STA is indicated by one subcarrier set, and the subcarriers used by the identification subfield belong to the one subcarrier set.

75. The method of any one of claims 63-74, wherein, The format of the second identification field is the same as the format of the first identification field.

76. The method of any one of claims 49 to 75, wherein, The value of CWmin used in the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is less than the CWmin associated with the EDCA access type AC_VO; and / or, the value of CWmax used in the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is less than the CWmax associated with the EDCA access type AC_VO.

77. The method of any one of claims 49 to 76, wherein, The first MAC frame is a request to send RTS frame, or the first MAC frame is a shared request to send S-RTS frame, or the first MAC frame is a clear to send CTS frame, or the first MAC frame is a shared clear to send S-CTS frame, or the first MAC frame is a null frame.

78. The method of any one of claims 49-77, wherein, The first identification field and the second identification field are both user identification extension UIE fields.

79. The method of claim 48, wherein, In a case that the first PPDU includes a second MAC frame and the second STA has uplink data to be transmitted, the method further includes: The second STA transmits a second PPDU; wherein, the second PPDU includes a first field and a second field, the first field in the second PPDU is used to indicate identification information of the second STA, and the second field in the second PPDU is used to indicate whether the second STA needs to obtain the medium to transmit uplink data.

80. The method of claim 79, wherein, The channel contention result corresponding to the second MAC frame is associated with the number of STAs detected by the AP as needing to obtain the medium to transmit uplink data; wherein, the number of STAs needing to obtain the medium to transmit uplink data is obtained by the AP through detecting n PPDU, the n PPDU at least includes the first PPDU and the second PPDU, and the PPDU other than the first PPDU in the n PPDU includes a first field and a second field, the first field is used to indicate identification information of the STA transmitting the corresponding PPDU, and the second field is used to indicate whether the STA transmitting the corresponding PPDU needs to obtain the medium to transmit uplink data, n is a positive integer, and n≥2.

81. The method of claim 80, wherein, In a case where the number of the PPDUs other than the first PPDU in the n PPDUs is greater than or equal to 2, time domain resources occupied by the PPDUs other than the first PPDU in the n PPDUs are the same, or the PPDUs other than the first PPDU in the n PPDUs completely overlap in the time domain.

82. The method of claim 80 or 81, wherein, The PPDUs other than the first PPDU in the n PPDUs are sent by corresponding STAs after detecting the first PPDU.

83. The method of any one of claims 79 to 82, wherein, The first field is a high efficiency long training field (HE-LTF), or an extremely high throughput long training field (EHT-LTF), or an ultra-high reliability long training field (UHR-LTF), and / or the second field is a feedback state field corresponding to a trigger-based feedback null data physical protocol data unit (TB feedback NDP) frame.

84. The method of any one of claims 79-83, wherein, The first field is used to indicate identification information of the STA by transmitting subcarriers used by the first field, and / or the second field is used to indicate whether the STA needs to obtain a medium to transmit uplink data by transmitting subcarriers used by the second field.

85. The method of any one of claims 79 to 84, wherein, The channel contention result corresponding to the second MAC frame is associated with the number of STAs detected by the AP that need to obtain a medium to transmit uplink data, and includes: In a case where the number of STAs detected by the AP that need to obtain a medium to transmit uplink data is greater than or equal to K2, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the second MAC frame belongs to the AP; or in a case where the number of STAs detected by the AP that need to obtain a medium to transmit uplink data is greater than or equal to K2, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the second MAC frame belongs to the first STA. Wherein K2 is a positive integer, and K2≥2.

86. The method of claim 85, wherein, In a case where the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the second MAC frame belongs to the AP, n STAs that send n PPDUs send uplink data within the TXOP after receiving a trigger frame sent by the AP.

87. The method of claim 85, wherein, In a case where the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the second MAC frame belongs to the AP, n STAs that send n PPDUs send uplink data and receive downlink data within the TXOP after receiving a trigger frame sent by the AP.

88. The method of any one of claims 79-87, wherein, The second MAC frame is an extended null data physical protocol data unit feedback report polling (NFRP) trigger frame, or the second MAC frame is a MAC frame including an extended trigger response scheduling (TRS) control field, or the second MAC frame is a MAC frame including a null data physical protocol data unit feedback report (NFR) control field.

89. The method of claim 88, wherein, In a case that the second MAC frame is an extended NFRP trigger frame, a user information field in the second MAC frame comprises a feedback type field, wherein the feedback type field is used to at least indicate whether all STAs receiving the second MAC frame need to acquire the medium to transmit uplink data.

90. The method of claim 88, wherein, In a case that the second MAC frame is a MAC frame comprising an extended TRS control field, the aggregation control field in the second MAC frame is the extended TRS control field, wherein the extended TRS control field comprises an NDP feedback request field, and the NDP feedback request field is used to trigger all STAs receiving the second MAC frame to feed back a PPDU comprising own identity information.

91. The method of claim 90, wherein the PPDU comprising own identity information is one of: an ultra-high reliability multi-user physical layer protocol data unit (UHR MU PPDU), an ultra-high reliability trigger-based physical layer protocol data unit (UHR TB PPDU), an ultra-high reliability extended range physical layer protocol data unit (UHR ER PPDU), and an ultra-high reliability trigger-based feedback null data physical protocol data unit (UHR TB feedback NDP). In a case that the second MAC frame is a MAC frame comprising an NFR control field, the aggregation control field in the second MAC frame is the NFR control field, wherein the NFR control field comprises a feedback type field, and the feedback type field is used to at least indicate whether all STAs receiving the second MAC frame need to acquire the medium to transmit uplink data.

92. The method of claim 88, wherein, 93. The method of claim 92, wherein the NFR control field further comprises at least one of: a starting AID field, a number of identities field, a target received energy field, and a number of spatially multiplexed users field. wherein the starting AID field is used to indicate a first AID in an AID range planned to respond to the second MAC frame, the number of identities field is used to indicate a number of fields identifying transmitting device identities in triggered PPDUs comprising an identity field, the target received energy field is used to indicate an expected received signal power measured at an antenna connector of the first STA and averaged over antennas, and the number of spatially multiplexed users field is used to indicate a number of STAs multiplexed on the same set of subcarriers in the same resource unit (RU). The first PPDU is one of: an ultra-high reliability multi-user physical layer protocol data unit (UHR MU PPDU), an ultra-high reliability trigger-based physical layer protocol data unit (UHR TB PPDU), and an ultra-high reliability extended range physical layer protocol data unit (UHR ER PPDU).

95. The method of any one of claims 48-94, wherein the uplink data comprises at least uplink latency sensitive data.

94. The method of any one of claims 48 to 93, wherein, The method is applied to an access point (AP), and the method comprises: ​ ​ 96. A method of wireless communication, comprising: ​ The AP receives a first physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) sent by a first station (STA), and the first STA has uplink data to be transmitted. The first PPDU comprises a first media access control (MAC) frame and a first identification field, the first MAC frame is used for contending for a channel, and the first identification field is used for indicating an association identifier (AID) of the first STA; or The first PPDU comprises a second MAC frame, the second MAC frame is used for contending for a channel, and the second MAC frame is further used for triggering all STAs receiving the second MAC frame to feed back whether medium needs to be acquired for transmitting uplink data.

97. The method of claim 96, wherein, in a case where the first PPDU comprises the first MAC frame and the first identification field, a channel contention result corresponding to the first MAC frame is associated with a number of STAs having uplink data to be transmitted detected by the AP; wherein the AP acquires the number of STAs having uplink data to be transmitted by detecting m identification fields, the m identification fields are respectively used for indicating AIDs of m STAs, the m identification fields at least comprise the first identification field, m is a positive integer, and m = 1 or m ≥ 2.

98. The method of claim 97, wherein, in a case where m ≥ 2, the m identification fields occupy same time domain resources, or the m identification fields completely overlap in time domain.

99. The method of claim 98, wherein, the other STAs of the m STAs corresponding to the m identification fields respectively send an identification field used for indicating an AID of the STA itself on time domain resources occupied by the first identification field after identifying the first MAC frame.

100. The method of claim 99, wherein, the first PPDU further comprises a switching time field; wherein the switching time field is located after the first MAC frame and before the first identification field, and the switching time field is used for reserving time for a receiving end of the first PPDU to switch from a receiving state to a sending state.

101. The method of claim 99 or 100, wherein, the other STAs of the m STAs corresponding to the m identification fields respectively set a value of an enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) backoff counter to zero before sending the identification field used for indicating the AID of the STA itself; or the other STAs of the m STAs corresponding to the m identification fields respectively keep a value of an EDCA backoff counter unchanged before sending the identification field used for indicating the AID of the STA itself.

102. The method of claim 97, wherein, in a case where m ≥ 2, the m identification fields are respectively carried by m PPUs, wherein the m PPUs occupy same time domain resources, or the m PPUs completely overlap in time domain. ​ 103. The method of claim 102, wherein, The m PPDU each comprise a MAC frame for channel contention, and the m PPDU comprise MAC frames for channel contention with the same frame format.

104. The method of claim 102 or 103, wherein, The m identification fields correspond to STAs using the same EDCA access category, and the m identification fields correspond to STAs with the same EDCA backoff counter value.

105. The method of any one of claims 97 to 104, wherein, The channel contention result corresponding to the first MAC frame is associated with the number of STAs detected by the AP as having uplink data to transmit, and includes: In a case where m = 1, a transmission opportunity (TXOP) associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by the first STA; and / or, In a case where m ≥ K1, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by the AP; or, in a case where m ≥ K1, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by the first STA; or, in a case where m ≥ K1, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by a plurality of STAs among the m STAs corresponding to the m identification fields, wherein the plurality of STAs includes at least the first STA, and K1 is a positive integer and K1 ≥ 2.

106. The method of claim 105, wherein, In a case where the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by the AP, the m STAs corresponding to the m identification fields transmit uplink data within the TXOP after receiving a trigger frame transmitted by the AP.

107. The method of claim 106, wherein, In a case where the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by the AP, the m STAs corresponding to the m identification fields transmit uplink data and receive downlink data within the TXOP after receiving a trigger frame transmitted by the AP.

108. The method of any one of claims 97-107, wherein, The transmission of the first PPDU is associated with a first bandwidth and a first modulation and coding scheme (MCS).

109. The method of claim 108, wherein, The transmission of the first PPDU is associated with the first bandwidth and the first MCS for all STAs receiving or detecting the first MAC frame to acquire time domain resources occupied by the first identification field.

110. The method of any one of claims 97-109, wherein, The first identification field is used to indicate an AID of the first STA by transmitting subcarriers used by the first identification field.

111. The method of any one of claims 97-110, wherein, In the first PPDU, the first identification field is located after the first MAC frame.

112. The method of any one of claims 97-111, wherein, The first identification field comprises one or more identification subfields, wherein the one or more identification subfields are used to indicate identification information of the first STA.

113. The method of claim 112, wherein, The first identification field further comprises an ultra-high reliability short training field (UHR-STF).

114. The method of claim 112 or 113, wherein, The first identification field further comprises one or more ultra-high reliability long training fields (UHR-LTFs).

115. The method of any one of claims 112-114, wherein, The first identification field further comprises a legacy preamble field.

116. The method of claim 115, wherein, The legacy preamble field comprises the following fields: a legacy short training field (L-STF), a legacy long training field (L-LTF), a legacy signal (L-SIG), a repeated legacy signal (RL-SIG), and a unified signal (U-SIG).

117. The method of claim 116, wherein, The legacy preamble field comprises the following fields: L-STF, L-LTF, L-SIG, RL-SIG, U-SIG, and an ultra-high reliability signal (UHR-SIG).

118. The method of any one of claims 112-117, wherein, The subcarriers used by the one or more identification subfields are used to indicate an AID of the first STA.

119. The method of any one of claims 112 to 118, wherein, The AID of the first STA is indicated by two sets of subcarriers, and the subcarriers used by the identification subfields belong to one of the two sets of subcarriers.

120. The method of claim 119, wherein, Different sets of subcarriers in the two sets of subcarriers used by the identification subfields respectively represent different state information of the first STA.

121. The method of claim 119 or 120, wherein, The bandwidth of the identification subfield is 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 80+80 MHz, 160 MHz, or 320 MHz.

122. The method of claim 121, wherein, The 320 MHz is represented using four 80 MHz subcarrier set indices, wherein subcarrier set indices 1-72 map to a first 80 MHz, subcarrier set indices 73-144 map to a second 80 MHz, subcarrier set indices 145-216 map to a third 80 MHz, and subcarrier set indices 217-288 map to a fourth 80 MHz.

123. The method of any one of claims 112 to 118, wherein, The AID of the first STA is indicated by one set of subcarriers, and the subcarriers used by the identification subfields belong to the one set of subcarriers.

124. The method of any one of claims 97 to 123, wherein, The first MAC frame corresponds to a channel contention using a CWmin value that is less than a CWmin value associated with an EDCA access category (AC_VO), and / or the first MAC frame corresponds to a channel contention using a CWmax value that is less than a CWmax value associated with an EDCA access category (AC_VO).

125. The method of any one of claims 97 to 124, wherein, The first MAC frame is a request to send (RTS) frame, or the first MAC frame is a shared request to send (S-RTS) frame, or the first MAC frame is a clear to send (CTS) frame, or the first MAC frame is a shared clear to send (S-CTS) frame, or the first MAC frame is a null frame.

126. The method of any one of claims 97-125, wherein, the first identification field is a user identification extension (UIE) field.

127. The method of claim 96, wherein, in a case that the first PPDU comprises a second MAC frame, a channel contention result corresponding to the second MAC frame is associated with a number of STAs detected by the AP as requiring to obtain the medium for transmitting uplink data; wherein the AP obtains the number of STAs requiring to obtain the medium for transmitting uplink data by detecting n PPDUs, the n PPDUs comprising at least the first PPDU, PPDUs other than the first PPDU in the n PPDUs comprising a first field and a second field, the first field being used to indicate identification information of a STA transmitting a corresponding PPDU, the second field being used to indicate whether the STA transmitting the corresponding PPDU requires to obtain the medium for transmitting uplink data, n being a positive integer and n≥2.

128. The method of claim 127, wherein, the first field is a high efficiency long training field (HE-LTF) or an extremely high throughput long training field (EHT-LTF) or an ultra-high reliability long training field (UHR-LTF), and / or the second field is a feedback status field corresponding to a trigger-based feedback null data physical protocol data unit (TB feedback NDP) frame.

129. The method of claim 127 or 128, wherein, the first field is used to indicate identification information of a STA by transmitting subcarriers used by the first field, and / or the second field is used to indicate whether the STA requires to obtain the medium for transmitting uplink data by transmitting subcarriers used by the second field.

130. The method of any one of claims 127-129, wherein, in a case that a number of PPDUs other than the first PPDU in the n PPDUs is greater than or equal to 2, the PPDUs other than the first PPDU in the n PPDUs occupy same time domain resources, or the PPDUs other than the first PPDU in the n PPDUs completely overlap in time domain.

131. The method of any one of claims 127 to 130, wherein, the PPDUs other than the first PPDU in the n PPDUs are transmitted by corresponding STAs after detecting the first PPDU.

132. The method of any one of claims 127 to 131, wherein, the channel contention result corresponding to the second MAC frame is associated with the number of STAs detected by the AP as requiring to obtain the medium for transmitting uplink data, comprising: in a case that the number of STAs detected by the AP as requiring to obtain the medium for transmitting uplink data is equal to 1, a TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the second MAC frame is owned by the first STA; and / or, In a case where the number of STAs requiring to obtain the medium to transmit uplink data detected by the AP is greater than or equal to K2, the TXOP corresponding to the channel contention associated with the second MAC frame belongs to the AP; or in a case where the number of STAs requiring to obtain the medium to transmit uplink data detected by the AP is greater than or equal to K2, the TXOP corresponding to the channel contention associated with the second MAC frame belongs to the first STA; wherein K2 is a positive integer, and K2≥2.

133. The method of claim 132, wherein, In a case where the TXOP corresponding to the channel contention associated with the second MAC frame belongs to the AP, the n STAs transmitting the n PPDU transmit uplink data within the TXOP after receiving the trigger frame transmitted by the AP.

134. The method of claim 133, wherein, In a case where the TXOP corresponding to the channel contention associated with the second MAC frame belongs to the AP, the n STAs transmitting the n PPDU transmit uplink data and receive downlink data within the TXOP after receiving the trigger frame transmitted by the AP.

135. The method of any one of claims 127 to 134, wherein, The second MAC frame is an extended null data physical protocol data unit feedback report polling NFRP trigger frame, or the second MAC frame is a MAC frame including an extended trigger response scheduling TRS control field, or the second MAC frame is a MAC frame including a null data physical protocol data unit feedback report NFR control field.

136. The method of claim 135, wherein, In a case where the second MAC frame is the extended NFRP trigger frame, a user information field in the second MAC frame includes a feedback type field, wherein the feedback type field is used to at least indicate whether feedback of all STAs receiving the second MAC frame requires to obtain the medium to transmit uplink data.

137. The method of claim 135, wherein, In a case where the second MAC frame is the MAC frame including the extended TRS control field, an aggregation control field in the second MAC frame is the extended TRS control field, wherein the extended TRS control field includes an NDP feedback request field, and the NDP feedback request field is used to trigger all STAs receiving the second MAC frame to feedback a PPDU including own identity information.

138. The method of claim 137, wherein, The PPDU including own identity information is one of: an ultra-high reliability multi-user physical layer protocol data unit UHR MU PPDU, an ultra-high reliability trigger-based physical layer protocol data unit UHR TB PPDU, an ultra-high reliability extended range physical layer protocol data unit UHR ER PPDU, and an ultra-high reliability trigger-based feedback null data physical layer protocol data unit UHR TB feedback NDP.

139. The method of claim 135, wherein, In a case that the second MAC frame is a MAC frame including an NFR control field, the aggregation control field in the second MAC frame is the NFR control field, wherein the NFR control field includes a feedback type field, and the feedback type field is used to at least indicate whether all STAs receiving the second MAC frame need to acquire the medium to transmit uplink data.

140. The method of claim 139, wherein, the NFR control field further includes at least one of a starting AID field, a number of identifiers field, a target received energy field, and a number of spatially multiplexed users field; the starting AID field is used to indicate a first AID in an AID range that is planned to respond to the second MAC frame, the number of identifiers field is used to indicate a number of fields that identify a transmitting device in a PPDU triggered to contain the fields, the target received energy field is used to indicate an expected received signal power measured at an antenna connector of the first STA and averaged over antennas, and the number of spatially multiplexed users field is used to indicate a number of STAs multiplexed on the same set of subcarriers in the same resource unit (RU).

141. The method of any one of claims 96 to 140, wherein, the first PPDU is one of an ultra-high reliability multi-user physical layer protocol data unit (UHR MU PPDU), an ultra-high reliability trigger-based frame physical layer protocol data unit (UHR TB PPDU), and an ultra-high reliability extended range physical layer protocol data unit (UHR ER PPDU).

142. The method of any one of claims 96-141, wherein, the uplink data includes at least uplink latency sensitive data.

143. A station (STA), comprising: the STA is a first STA, and the first STA has uplink data to transmit, and the STA includes: a communication unit configured to transmit a first physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU); wherein the first PPDU includes a first medium access control (MAC) frame and a first identifier field, the first MAC frame is used to contend for a channel, and the first identifier field is used to indicate an association identifier (AID) of the first STA; or the first PPDU includes a second MAC frame, the second MAC frame is used to contend for a channel, and the second MAC frame is further used to trigger all STAs receiving the second MAC frame to feedback whether they need to acquire the medium to transmit uplink data.

144. A station (STA), comprising: the STA is a second STA, and the STA includes: a communication unit configured to receive a first physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) transmitted by a first STA, the first STA has uplink data to transmit; wherein the first PPDU includes a first medium access control (MAC) frame and a first identifier field, the first MAC frame is used to contend for a channel, and the first identifier field is used to indicate an association identifier (AID) of the first STA; or the first PPDU includes a second MAC frame, the second MAC frame is used to contend for a channel, and the second MAC frame is further used to trigger all STAs receiving the second MAC frame to feedback whether they need to acquire the medium to transmit uplink data.

145. An access point, AP, characterized in that, includes: A communication unit configured to receive a first physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) transmitted by a first station (STA) having uplink data to be transmitted, The first PPDU comprises a first media access control (MAC) frame and a first identification field, the first MAC frame is used to contend for a channel, and the first identification field is used to indicate an association identifier (AID) of the first STA. Alternatively, The first PPDU comprises a second MAC frame, the second MAC frame is used to contend for a channel, and the second MAC frame is further used to trigger all STAs receiving the second MAC frame to feed back whether medium needs to be acquired to transmit uplink data. 146.A station (STA), comprising: The STA is a first STA, and the STA comprises a processor and a memory, the memory is configured to store a computer program, and the processor is configured to invoke and run the computer program stored in the memory, so that the STA performs the method in any one of claims 1 to 47.

147. A station (STA), comprising: The STA is a second STA, and the STA comprises a processor and a memory, the memory is configured to store a computer program, and the processor is configured to invoke and run the computer program stored in the memory, so that the STA performs the method in any one of claims 48 to 95.

148. An access point, AP, characterized by Comprise: A processor and a memory, the memory is configured to store a computer program, and the processor is configured to invoke and run the computer program stored in the memory, so that the AP performs the method in any one of claims 96 to 142.

149. A chip, characterized by Comprise a processor configured to invoke and run a computer program from a memory, so that a device installed with the chip performs the method in any one of claims 1 to 47.

150. A chip, comprising: Comprise a processor configured to invoke and run a computer program from a memory, so that a device installed with the chip performs the method in any one of claims 48 to 95.

151. A chip, comprising: Comprise a processor configured to invoke and run a computer program from a memory, so that a device installed with the chip performs the method in any one of claims 96 to 142.

152. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, For storing a computer program, when the computer program is executed, the method in any one of claims 1 to 47 is implemented.

153. A computer readable storage medium, characterized in that, For storing a computer program, when the computer program is executed, the method in any one of claims 48 to 95 is implemented.

154. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, For storing a computer program, when the computer program is executed, the method in any one of claims 96 to 142 is implemented.

155. A computer program product, characterized in that, Comprise computer program instructions, when the computer program instructions are executed, the method in any one of claims 1 to 47 is implemented.

156. A computer program product, characterized in that, Comprise computer program instructions, when the computer program instructions are executed, the method in any one of claims 48 to 95 is implemented.

157. A computer program product, characterized in that, Comprise computer program instructions, when the computer program instructions are executed, the method in any one of claims 96 to 142 is implemented.

158. A computer program, characterized in that, When the computer program is executed, the method in any one of claims 1 to 47 is implemented.

159. A computer program characterised in that, When the computer program is executed, the method of any one of claims 48 to 95 is implemented.

160. A computer program, characterized in that, When the computer program is executed, the method of any one of claims 96 to 142 is implemented.