Wireless communication method and device

Abstract

The embodiments of the present application provide a wireless communication method and a device. An STA grouping function is introduced during channel contention, such that the allocation of a TXOP is more efficient, and the usage frequency of a multi-user uplink (MU UL) is increased, thus reducing the delay of uplink and downlink data transmission, and alleviating the delay jitter. The wireless communication method is applied to an STA, wherein the STA has uplink data to be transmitted. The method comprises: an STA sending a first MAC frame, wherein the first MAC frame is used for channel contention, and a channel contention result corresponding to the first MAC frame is associated with group information of the STA.

Description

Method and device for wireless communication TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] Embodiments of the present application relate to the field of communication, and more particularly, to a method and device 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 device for wireless communication, which introduces a STA grouping function in channel competition, the allocation of TXOP is more efficient, improves the use frequency of multi-user uplink (MU UL), thereby reducing the delay of uplink and downlink data transmission, and alleviating delay jitter.

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

[0006] The STA sends a first medium access control (MAC) frame; wherein the first MAC frame is used to compete for a channel, and a channel competition result corresponding to the first MAC frame is associated with grouping information of the STA.

[0007] In a second aspect, a method for wireless communication is provided, applied to an access point (AP), and the method comprising:

[0008] The AP receives a first medium access control (MAC) frame sent by a station (STA);

[0009] Wherein the first MAC frame is used to compete for a channel, and a channel competition result corresponding to the first MAC frame is associated with grouping information of the STA, and the STA has uplink data to be transmitted.

[0010] In a third aspect, a STA is provided for executing the method in the first aspect.

[0011] Specifically, the STA comprises a function module for executing the method in the first aspect.

[0012] In a fourth aspect, an AP is provided for executing the method in the second aspect.

[0013] In particular, the AP comprises function modules for performing the method in the second aspect.

[0014] In a fifth aspect, a STA 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 STA performs the method in the first aspect.

[0015] In a sixth 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 performs the method in the second aspect.

[0016] In a seventh aspect, an apparatus is provided for implementing the method in any one of the first aspect to the second aspect.

[0017] In particular, the apparatus comprises a processor configured to invoke and run a computer program from a memory, so that a device installed with the apparatus performs the method in any one of the first aspect to the second aspect.

[0018] In an eighth aspect, a computer readable storage medium is provided for storing a computer program, which causes a computer to perform the method in any one of the first aspect to the second aspect.

[0019] In a ninth aspect, a computer program product is provided, comprising computer program instructions, which cause a computer to perform the method in any one of the first aspect to the second aspect.

[0020] In a tenth aspect, a computer program is provided, which, when running on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method in any one of the first aspect to the second aspect.

[0021] Through the above technical solutions, the STA grouping function is introduced in channel competition, the allocation of TXOP is more efficient, the use frequency of multi-user uplink (MU UL) is improved, thereby reducing the delay of uplink and downlink data transmission, and relieving delay jitter. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0022] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system architecture to which embodiments of the present application are applied.

[0023] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of QoS STA and Non-QoS STA channel access priority and timing provided by the present application.

[0024] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of EDCA mechanism timing relationship provided by the present application.

[0025] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of SU UL provided by the present application.

[0026] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of MU UL provided by the present application.

[0027] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of NDP Feedback Report mechanism provided by the present application.

[0028] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of frame format of NFRP Trigger frame provided by the present application.

[0029] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of frame format of Common Info field provided by the present application.

[0030] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of frame format of User Info List field provided by the present application.

[0031] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of HE TB feedback NDP format provided by the present application.

[0032] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of probability of STA or AP obtaining TXOP in a channel contention provided by the present application.

[0033] FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of three stages of channel contention provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0034] FIG. 13 is a schematic flowchart of a method of wireless communication provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0035] FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of a G-RTS frame provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0036] FIG. 15 to FIG. 20 are schematic diagrams of channel contention and data receiving and / or transmitting provided by embodiments of the present application, respectively.

[0037] FIG. 21 is a schematic block diagram of a STA provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0038] FIG. 22 is a schematic block diagram of an AP provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0039] FIG. 23 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0040] FIG. 24 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present application.

[0041] FIG. 25 is a schematic block diagram of a communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0042] With reference to the drawings, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some of the embodiments of the present application, but not all of them. For the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0043] The technical solutions of 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.

[0044] Please refer to FIG. 1, which shows a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system provided by 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).

[0045] In some scenarios, the AP can also be referred to as an AP STA, that is, in a certain sense, the AP is also a kind of STA. In some scenarios, the STA can also be referred to as a non-AP STA.

[0046] In some embodiments, the STA can include an AP STA and a non-AP STA. The communication in the communication system can be communication between the AP and the non-AP STA, communication between the non-AP STAs, or communication between the 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.

[0047] 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.

[0048] 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, and when the mobile phone is used as a hotspot for other mobile phones, the mobile phone plays the role of an AP.

[0049] The AP and the Non-AP STA can be devices applied to vehicle networking, Internet of Things (IoT) nodes, sensors, and the like in the Internet of Things, smart cameras, smart remote controls, smart water meters, and the like in smart homes, and sensors and the like in smart cities.

[0050] In some embodiments, the Non-AP STA can support the 802.11be standard. The Non-AP STA can also support multiple current and future 802.11 family WLAN standards such as 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b, and 802.11a.

[0051] In some embodiments, the AP can be a device supporting the 802.11be standard. The AP can also be a device supporting multiple current and future 802.11 family WLAN standards such as 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b, and 802.11a.

[0052] 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, or 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.

[0053] 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).

[0054] There is one or more links between the station and the access point. In some embodiments, the station and the access point support multi-band communication. For example, simultaneously communicating on 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz, 45 GHz and 60 GHz bands, or simultaneously communicating on different channels of the same band (or different bands), to improve the communication throughput and / or reliability between devices. Such devices are often referred to as multi-band devices, or as multi-link devices (MLD), and sometimes 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.

[0055] A multi-link device containing one or more APs can be referred to as an access point multi-link device (AP MLD), and a multi-link device containing one or more non-AP STAs can be referred to as a non-AP multi-link device (Non-AP MLD).

[0056] In an embodiment of the present application, the AP can include multiple APs, the Non-AP can include multiple STAs, and multiple links can be formed between the APs in the AP and the STAs in the Non-AP, and data communication can be performed between the APs in the AP and the corresponding STAs in the Non-AP through the corresponding links.

[0057] 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 terminal, 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, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, and the present application is not limited thereto.

[0058] In some embodiments, the station (STA) and the access point (AP) both support the IEEE 802.11 standard.

[0059] It should be understood that the terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably herein. The term "and / or", herein, is merely an associative relationship between the associated objects, which means that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B, which means that there can be three cases: 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.

[0060] It should be understood that the "indication" mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can be direct indication or indirect indication, or can be an indication with an associated relationship. For example, A indicates B, which can mean that B can be obtained directly through A, or A indirectly indicates B, for example, A indicates C, and B can be obtained through C, or A and B have an associated relationship.

[0061] 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.

[0062] It should be understood that "at least one or at least one" mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can mean "one or more", and "positive integer" mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can mean "1, 2, 3, … and the like", "non-negative integer" mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can mean "0, 1, 2, 3, … and the like", and "integer" mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can mean "…, -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, … and the like", which can be replaced by any possible value based on the requirements of the embodiments.

[0063] 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 alone, for example, each row or each column in the table can constitute an optional embodiment alone, and the present application does not limit this.

[0064] In the description of the embodiments of the present application, the term "corresponding" can mean a direct or indirect corresponding relationship between the two, or can mean an associated relationship between the two, or can mean an indication and an indicated, a configuration and a configured relationship.

[0065] In the embodiments of the present application, the "predefined" or "preconfigured" can be implemented by pre-storing corresponding codes, tables or other means for indicating relevant information in devices (for example, including STAs and network devices), and the specific implementation manner is not limited in the present application. For example, the predefined can refer to the definition in the protocol.

[0066] In the embodiments of the present application, the "protocol" can refer to a standard protocol in the communication field, for example, can include the WiFi protocol and the related protocol applied in the future WiFi communication system, and the present application is not limited to this.

[0067] 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.

[0068] The IEEE 802.11e standard defines a Quality of Service (QoS) enhanced channel access mechanism: EDCA. Compared with the traditional Distributed Coordination Function (DCF), the EDCA defines four different access categories (ACs), which are AC_VO, AC_VI, AC_BE and AC_BK. As shown in Table 1, different ACs have different parameter settings, so as to have different priorities when accessing the medium.

[0069] Table 1 EDCA parameter setting table

[0070] Among them,

[0071] CW min : indicates the minimum value of the upper limit of the contention window, and the smaller CW min has a higher priority;

[0072] CW max : indicates the maximum value of the upper limit of the contention window, and the smaller CW max has a higher priority;

[0073] Transmission Opportunity (TXOP) Limit: indicates the maximum duration of occupying the channel;

[0074] Arbitration Interframe Space Number (AIFSN): indicates the number of slots a STA needs to wait after detecting a channel idle for a Short Interframe Space (SIFS) time before the STA can start the random backoff procedure. A smaller AIFSN has a higher priority.

[0075] An illustration of the four ACs used by QoS STAs to access the channel is shown in Figure 2. It can be seen that the priority of AC_VO, AC_VI, AC_BE, and AC_BK decreases gradually due to the different AIFSN parameters.

[0076] In addition, the timing diagram for Non-QoS STAs accessing the channel, i.e., the legacy DCF mechanism, is also shown in Figure 2. The DCF mechanism has two cases. One is that a STA can transmit after detecting a channel idle for a priority interframe space (PIFS), and the other is that a STA can transmit after detecting a channel idle for a Distributed Inter-frame Spacing (DIFS) and performing a backoff. The standard specifies that the former is generally used for transmitting frames with special functions, such as beacon frames, because such frames need a high transmission priority. In addition, the latter is used by STAs to access the channel.

[0077] It should be noted that in Figure 2, a QoS STA can be a STA that supports the QoS EDCA mechanism, and a Non-QoS STA can be a STA that does not support the QoS EDCA mechanism.

[0078] The timing relationship between a priority interframe space (PIFS), a Distributed Inter-frame Spacing (DIFS), an Arbitration Interframe Space (AIFS), and a Short Interframe Space (SIFS) is shown in Figure 3.

[0079] PIFS = SIFS + 1 x aSlotTime.

[0080] DIFS = SIFS + 2 x aSlotTime.

[0081] AIFS = SIFS + AIFSN x aSlotTime.

[0082] To better understand 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.

[0083] The process of SU UL is shown in FIG. 4, which includes 1 AP and 3 STAs (Non-AP STAs). Each STA needs to contend for the channel through the EDCA mechanism first, and then send uplink (UL) low latency (LL) data and receive an acknowledgement (ACK) frame. Multiple STAs (Non-AP STAs) obtain TXOP and send uplink data in a serial manner one after another. This SU UL uplink data transmission mode will cause large uplink transmission latency and latency jitter, because the STA cannot necessarily contend for the TXOP in time.

[0084] The process of MU UL is shown in FIG. 5, which includes 1 AP and n STAs (Non-AP STAs). First, the AP contends for the TXOP through the EDCA mechanism, second, the AP sends a trigger frame to each STA, and allocates resources required for each STA to transmit uplink data in parallel, then n STAs (Non-AP STAs) simultaneously send high-efficiency trigger-based physical layer protocol data units (HE TB PPDU) according to the allocated resources to transmit uplink data, and finally, the AP replies a multi-STA block acknowledgement (Multi-STA BlockAck) frame to n STAs to confirm whether the transmission is successful. This MU UL uplink transmission mode 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.

[0085] To better understand 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.

[0086] The IEEE 802.11ax standard defines a set of MU UL probing mechanisms, which enable the AP to probe the STAs (Non-AP STAs) that need to be allocated resources before sending a trigger frame.

[0087] 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 can know which Non-AP STAs need to participate in subsequent MU UL transmission by analyzing the HE TB feedback NDP.

[0088] 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 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.

[0089] For better understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the NFRP Trigger frame related to the present application is described.

[0090] 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.

[0091] 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).

[0092] 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).

[0093] 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.

[0094] 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).

[0095] 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 planned; 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.

[0096] For better understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the HE TB feedback NDP related to the present application is described.

[0097] The HE TB feedback NDP is used to carry the NDP feedback report information, and the frame format thereof is shown in FIG. 10.

[0098] Specifically, the HE TB feedback NDP 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).

[0099] As shown in FIG. 10, two 4x HE-LTF type HE-LTF symbols, each symbol 16μs (2 HE-LTF symbols with 16μs per symbol using 4x HE-LTF).

[0100] 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 two symbols of the 4x HE-LTF type, and a guard interval (GI) of 3.2 microseconds is used. 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.

[0101] Specifically, different RU_TONE_SET_INDEX in the HE-LTF field are used to identify the AIDs and feedback information (FEEDBACK_STATUS) of different Non-AP STAs, where 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.

[0102] Table 2

[0103] 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.

[0104] For better understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the Single Protection and Multiple Protection related to the present application are described.

[0105] 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.

[0106] 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.

[0107] 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.

[0108] 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 very small, resulting in a long delay in sending uplink data, causing large delay and delay jitter.

[0109] 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.

[0110] Based on the above problems, the present application proposes an EDCA enhancement scheme with STA grouping function. The STA grouping function is introduced in the channel competition, the allocation of TXOP is more efficient, the use frequency of multi-user uplink (MU UL) is improved, thereby reducing the delay of uplink and downlink data transmission, and alleviating the delay jitter.

[0111] The embodiments of the present application enhance the EDCA mechanism to reduce the transmission delay of uplink data in an industrial scenario. The enhanced EDCA scheme includes four stages as shown in FIG. 12: packet initialization, medium contention, medium grant, and medium use. In the packet initialization stage, the AP assigns STAs with similar traffic patterns to different groups according to the statistical traffic patterns of the STAs. In the medium contention stage, STAs that need to send low-latency traffic will send specific frames 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 or the AP itself. In the medium use stage, the STA that obtains TXOP needs to perform a specific transmission process according to the rules.

[0112] 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.

[0113] FIG. 13 is a schematic flowchart of a method 200 of wireless communication according to an embodiment of the present application, which can be performed by the STA and the AP, the STA can be the STA (Non-AP STA) as shown in FIG. 1, and the AP can be the AP as shown in FIG. 1, wherein the STA has uplink data to be transmitted. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 13, the method 200 of wireless communication can include at least part of the following contents:

[0114] S210, the STA sends a first MAC frame; wherein the STA has uplink data to be transmitted, the first MAC frame is used to contend for a channel, and a channel contention result corresponding to the first MAC frame is associated with group information of the STA;

[0115] S220, the AP receives the first MAC frame sent by the STA.

[0116] 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.

[0117] In the embodiments of the present application, a "field" can also be referred to as a "domain" or a "subfield". A field can occupy one or more bytes (octets), or a field can occupy one or more bits (bits).

[0118] In the embodiments of the present application, the "medium" can also be referred to as a "channel", and can be replaced with each other.

[0119] It should be noted that there are two methods for sending uplink data in WIFI: single user uplink transmission (single user uplink, SU UL) and multi-user uplink transmission (multi-user uplink, MU UL). SU UL requires a sending station to obtain TXOP, and MU UL requires an AP to obtain TXOP. However, in an industrial scenario, the number of stations (STAs) is generally large, that is, there are many devices participating in EDCA channel competition, resulting in a very small probability of obtaining TXOP for the station (STA) or the AP, and uplink data cannot be sent for a long time, eventually causing large latency and latency jitter. Based on the above problems, the embodiments of the present application propose an enhanced EDCA scheme with STA grouping function. When any STA in the group is about to obtain TXOP, the AP can select to forcibly obtain TXOP and then perform the MU UL process with high efficiency, thereby quickly meeting the uplink data sending requirements of multiple STAs with similar occurrence cycles and reducing latency.

[0120] In some embodiments, the uplink data described in the embodiments of the present application at least includes uplink latency sensitive data. Of course, the uplink data described in the embodiments of the present application can also include other data, such as non-latency sensitive data.

[0121] It should be noted that latency sensitive data can also be referred to as low latency (LL) data, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0122] In some embodiments, the first MAC frame is a grouping-request to send (G-RTS) frame. Of course, the first MAC frame can also be other frames, or the first MAC frame is a newly defined MAC frame.

[0123] For example, the first MAC frame is a G-RTS frame, which can be shown in FIG. 14. The frame control field in the G-RTS frame includes the following fields: protocol version, frame type (=1), frame subtype (=15), to DS, from DS, power management, more data, and high throughput control. The protocol version field indicates the version of the MAC frame. The frame type field takes the value of 1, indicating that the frame is a control frame. The frame subtype field takes the value of 15, indicating that the first MAC frame is a newly defined G-RTS frame. The to DS field and the from DS field both take the value of 0 and have no meaning. The power management field indicates the power management mode of the STA. The more data field indicates that there is data to be sent in the buffer of the STA in the power saving mode. The high throughput control field indicates whether the frame contains a high throughput control field. The duration field indicates the value of the network allocation vector (NAV) for protecting the medium from being preempted. The reception address field is the address of the STA receiving the frame. The transmission address field is the address of the STA sending the frame. The frame check field checks whether the frame control field is transmitted correctly.

[0124] In some embodiments, m STA groups can be pre-assigned, where m is a positive integer, and m = 1, or m ≥ 2. For example, one or more STAs associated with the same AP can form a STA group, and one or more STA groups can exist at the same time, each STA group having a unique identifier: STA group ID.

[0125] For example, the AP pre-assigns m STA groups, or the physical AP MLD to which the AP belongs pre-assigns m STA groups, or the virtual AP MLD to which the AP belongs pre-assigns m STA groups.

[0126] In some embodiments, when m ≥ 2, STAs with similar traffic periods belong to different STA groups in the m STA groups. For example, the AP can assign STAs with similar traffic periods to different STA groups according to the traffic rules of the STAs obtained by statistics.

[0127] In some embodiments, the grouping information of the STA includes, but is not limited to, at least one of the following:

[0128] Whether the STA belongs to a STA group in the m STA groups;

[0129] In a case that the STA belongs to a STA group in the m STA groups, an identity of the STA group to which the STA belongs, and / or a number of STAs included in the STA group to which the STA belongs.

[0130] In some embodiments, the grouping information of the STA is associated with a first field in the first MAC frame. That is, the grouping information of the STA can be obtained based on the first field in the first MAC frame. Specifically, the grouping information of the STA can be directly or indirectly obtained based on the first field in the first MAC frame.

[0131] In some embodiments, the first field is a field used to identify the identity of the STA. That is, the AP can indirectly obtain the grouping information of the STA based on the first field in the first MAC frame. Optionally, the first field is a transmitting address (TA) field or other address identification field. Specifically, for example, the AP identifies the identity of the STA based on the transmitting address (TA) field or other address identification field in the received first MAC frame, as shown in FIG. 14, and then replies with different CTS frames according to whether the STA belongs to a certain STA group and the number of STA devices in the STA group, so as to grant the TXOP to the STA or the AP.

[0132] In some embodiments, the first field is used to indicate the grouping information of the STA. That is, the AP can directly obtain the grouping information of the STA based on the first field in the first MAC frame.

[0133] In some embodiments, the channel contention result corresponding to the first MAC frame is associated with the grouping information of the STA, including:

[0134] In a case that the STA belongs to a first STA group in the m STA groups and the number of STAs in the first STA group is less than a first threshold, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by the STA; and / or,

[0135] In a case that the STA belongs to a first STA group in the m STA groups and the number of STAs in the first STA group is greater than or equal to a first threshold, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by the AP; and / or,

[0136] In a case that the STA does not belong to any of the m STA groups, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by the STA.

[0137] In some embodiments, the channel contention result corresponding to the first MAC frame is associated with the grouping information of the STA, including:

[0138] In a case that the STA belongs to a first STA group in the m STA groups and a number of STAs in the first STA group is less than or equal to a first threshold, the first MAC frame corresponds to a TXOP associated with a channel contention owned by the STA; and / or,

[0139] In a case that the STA belongs to a first STA group in the m STA groups and a number of STAs in the first STA group is greater than the first threshold, the first MAC frame corresponds to a TXOP associated with a channel contention owned by the AP; and / or,

[0140] In a case that the STA does not belong to any STA group in the m STA groups, the first MAC frame corresponds to a TXOP associated with a channel contention owned by the STA.

[0141] For example, in a case that the STA does not belong to any STA group in the m STA groups, the AP replies a CTS frame to the STA, declaring that a TXOP is owned by the STA, i.e., the first MAC frame corresponds to a TXOP associated with a channel contention owned by the STA.

[0142] For example, in a case that the STA belongs to a first STA group in the m STA groups and a number of STAs in the first STA group is less than or equal to a first threshold, the AP replies a CTS frame to the STA, declaring that a TXOP is owned by the STA, i.e., the first MAC frame corresponds to a TXOP associated with a channel contention owned by the STA.

[0143] For example, in a case that the STA belongs to a first STA group in the m STA groups and a number of STAs in the first STA group is greater than or equal to a first threshold, the AP sends a CTS-to-self frame, declaring that a TXOP is owned by the AP, i.e., the first MAC frame corresponds to a TXOP associated with a channel contention owned by the STA.

[0144] In some embodiments, the first threshold can be agreed by a protocol, or the first threshold can be configured by the AP, or the first threshold can be configured by a physical AP MLD to which the AP belongs, or the first threshold can be configured by a virtual AP MLD to which the AP belongs.

[0145] In some embodiments, the TXOP used by the STA is a Single Protection TXOP or a Multiple Protection TXOP with a limited length, and / or the TXOP used by the AP is a Single Protection TXOP or a Multiple Protection TXOP with a limited length.

[0146] For example, the STA and the AP use Single Protection TXOP or Multiple Protection TXOP with limited length.

[0147] In some embodiments, the TXOP used by the STA is Single Protection TXOP or Multiple Protection TXOP with limited length, and / or the TXOP used by the corresponding AP is Single Protection TXOP or Multiple Protection TXOP.

[0148] For example, the STA uses Single Protection TXOP or Multiple Protection TXOP with limited length, while the AP can use any type of TXOP.

[0149] In some embodiments, in the case that the TXOP corresponding to the channel contention associated with the first MAC frame is owned by the AP, part or all of the STAs in the first STA group send uplink data in the TXOP after receiving the trigger frame sent by the AP.

[0150] For example, after the AP obtains the TXOP, the AP sends a trigger frame to part or all of the STAs in the first STA group, and then receives a trigger based physical layer protocol data unit (TB PPDU) to obtain uplink data and returns a block acknowledgement (BlockAck) frame or a multi-STA block acknowledgement (Multi-STA BlockAck) frame.

[0151] In some embodiments, in the case that the TXOP corresponding to the channel contention associated with the first MAC frame is owned by the AP, part or all of the STAs in the first STA group send uplink data and receive downlink data in the TXOP after receiving the trigger frame sent by the AP. For example, the AP can first receive uplink data and then send downlink data, or first send downlink data and then receive uplink data.

[0152] For example, when the AP obtains the TXOP, the AP sends a Trigger frame to some or all of the STAs in the first STA group, and then receives a TB PPDU to obtain uplink data and returns a BlockAck frame or a Multi-STA BlockAck frame. Further, when the AP uses a Multiple Protection TXOP or a length-limited Multiple Protection TXOP, 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. The AP can first receive uplink data and then send downlink data, or first send downlink data and then receive uplink data.

[0153] In some embodiments, when the TXOP corresponding to the channel contention associated with the first MAC frame is owned by the AP, some or all of the STAs in the first STA group feed back uplink buffer status information (such as a Buffer Status Report (BSR)) after receiving the NFRP Trigger frame sent by the AP, and the resources for the uplink data sent by some or all of the STAs in the first STA group in the TXOP are associated with the uplink buffer status information fed back by some or all of the STAs in the first STA group.

[0154] For example, when the AP obtains the TXOP, the AP can first send an NFRP Trigger frame to query the uplink low-latency buffer status information (such as a BSR) of some or all of the STAs in the relevant STA group, and then perform MU UL transmission according to the allocation of resources.

[0155] In some embodiments, in the grouping initialization phase shown in FIG. 12, one or more STAs associated with the same AP can form a STA group, and multiple STA groups can exist at the same time, and each STA group has a unique identifier: a STA group ID.

[0156] In some embodiments, in the medium contention phase shown in FIG. 12, the STA that needs to send uplink data follows the EDCA mechanism to contend for the channel. If the STA allows the AP to change the TXOP grant according to the grouping information, the STA contends for the channel by sending a specific frame (i.e., the first MAC frame), otherwise, the STA cannot use the specific frame (i.e., the first MAC frame) to contend for the channel.

[0157] In some embodiments, in the medium granting phase as shown in Fig. 12, the AP identifies the identity of the STA based on the TA field or other address identification field in the received specific frame (i.e. the first MAC frame), and then replies with different CTS frames according to whether the STA belongs to a certain STA group and the number of STAs in the STA group, so as to grant TXOP to the STA or the AP.

[0158] For example, if the STA does not belong to any STA group, the AP replies with a CTS frame to the STA, announcing that the TXOP belongs to the STA. For another example, if the AP detects that the STA belongs to a certain STA group and the number of STAs in the STA group is less than or equal to a first threshold, the AP sends a CTS frame to the STA, announcing that the TXOP belongs to the STA. For yet another example, if the AP detects that the STA belongs to a certain STA group and the number of STAs in the STA group is greater than or equal to the first threshold, the AP sends a CTS-to-self frame, announcing that the TXOP belongs to the AP.

[0159] In some embodiments, in the medium using phase as shown in Fig. 12, the STA and the AP must use the Single Protection TXOP or the Multiple Protection TXOP with limited length; in another embodiment, the STA must use the Single Protection TXOP or the Multiple Protection TXOP with limited length, while the AP can use any type of TXOP.

[0160] In some embodiments, in the medium using phase as shown in Fig. 12, when the AP obtains the TXOP, the AP should send a Trigger frame to part or all of the STAs in the STA group, and then receive TB PPDU to obtain uplink data and reply with a BlockAck frame or a Multi-STA BlockAck frame. Further, when the AP uses the Multiple Protection TXOP or the Multiple Protection TXOP with 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. The AP can first receive the uplink data and then send the downlink data, or first send the downlink data and then receive the uplink data.

[0161] Therefore, in the embodiments of the present application, the STA grouping function is introduced in the channel competition, the allocation of TXOP is more efficient, the frequency of multi-user uplink (MU UL) is improved, the delay of uplink and downlink data transmission is reduced, and the delay jitter is alleviated.

[0162] The technical solutions of the present application are described in detail below through specific embodiments.

[0163] In the embodiment 1, it is assumed that a WLAN network contains 1 AP and 4 STAs (STA1, STA2, STA3, STA4). If the AP uses Single Protection TXOP, the STAs also use Single Protection TXOP. STA1 and STA2 belong to STA Group 1, STA3 belongs to STA Group 2, and STA4 does not belong to any STA Group. All the STAs use AC_VO access type in EDCA. The frame interaction between the AP and the STAs is shown in Fig. 15.

[0164] Specifically, as shown in Fig. 15, STA4 first sends a G-RTS frame at the Arbitration Interframe Space (AIFS) time. After receiving the G-RTS frame, the AP finds that STA4 does not belong to any STA Group, and thus replies a CTS frame to STA4, granting TXOP to STA4. After receiving the CTS frame sent by the AP, STA4 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, in the TXOP of STA4, STA4 sends SU uplink data to the AP, and the AP replies an Acknowledgement (Ack) frame to STA4 to confirm the successful transmission. At this point, the TXOP of STA4 ends, and the channel re-enters the idle state.

[0165] In the embodiment 2, it is assumed that a WLAN network contains 1 AP and 4 STAs (STA1, STA2, STA3, STA4). If the AP uses Single Protection TXOP, the STAs also use Single Protection TXOP. STA1 and STA2 belong to STA Group 1, STA3 belongs to STA Group 2, and STA4 does not belong to any STA Group. All the STAs use AC_VO access type in EDCA. The frame interaction between the AP and the STAs is shown in Fig. 16.

[0166] Specifically, as shown in FIG. 16, STA3 first sends a G-RTS frame when the channel is idle for AIFS, and the AP, after receiving the G-RTS frame, finds that STA3 belongs to STA Group 2 and that there is only one STA in STA Group 2, and therefore replies with a CTS frame to STA3, granting TXOP to STA3. After receiving the CTS frame sent by the AP, STA3 finds that the receiving address of the CTS frame is its own address, and therefore judges that the channel contention is successful and that TXOP belongs to itself. Subsequently, in the TXOP of STA3, STA3 sends SU uplink data to the AP, and the AP replies with an Ack frame to STA3 to confirm successful transmission. At this point, the TXOP of STA3 ends, and the channel reenters the idle state.

[0167] In Embodiment 3, it is assumed that a WLAN network includes one AP and four STAs (STA1, STA2, STA3, and STA4). If the AP uses a Single Protected TXOP, the STAs also use a Single Protected TXOP. STA1 and STA2 belong to Group 1, STA3 belongs to STA Group 2, and STA4 does not belong to any STA Group. All STAs use the AC_VO access type in EDCA, and the frame interaction between the AP and the STAs is shown in FIG. 17.

[0168] Specifically, as shown in FIG. 17, STA2 first sends a G-RTS frame when the channel is idle for AIFS, and the AP, after receiving the G-RTS frame, finds that STA2 belongs to STA Group 1 and that there are two STAs in STA Group 2, and therefore replies with a CTS-to-self frame, granting TXOP to itself. After receiving the CTS frame sent by the AP, STA3 finds that the receiving address of the CTS frame is not its own address but the address of the AP, and therefore judges that the channel contention is unsuccessful and that 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 send TB PPDU carrying MU uplink data, and replies with a Multi-STA BlockAck frame to confirm successful transmission.

[0169] In the embodiment 4, it is assumed that a WLAN network contains 1 AP and 4 STAs (STA1, STA2, STA3, STA4). If the AP uses Single Protection TXOP, the STAs also use Single Protection TXOP. STA1 and STA2 belong to STA Group 1, STA3 belongs to STA Group 2, and STA4 does not belong to any STA Group. All STAs use AC_VO access type in EDCA. The frame interaction between the AP and the STAs is shown in FIG. 18.

[0170] Specifically, as shown in FIG. 18, STA2 first sends a G-RTS frame at the channel idle AIFS time. After receiving the G-RTS frame, the AP finds that STA2 belongs to STA Group 1 and there are two STAs in STA Group 2, and thus replies to a CTS-to-self frame to grant itself the TXOP. After receiving the CTS frame sent by the AP, STA3 finds that the receiving address of the CTS frame is not its own address but the address of the AP, and thus judges that the channel contention fails and the TXOP belongs to the AP.

[0171] Subsequently, in the TXOP of the AP, the AP sends an NFRP trigger frame to all or part of the STAs in STA Group 1 in order to further confirm the uplink low-latency traffic buffer status of STA Group 1, and receives a TB feedback NDP, thereby confirming that STA1 and STA2 in STA Group 1 need to transmit uplink low-latency traffic. Subsequently, the AP sends a trigger frame to STA1 and STA2, triggers STA1 and STA2 to simultaneously send a TB PPDU carrying MU uplink data, and replies to a Multi-STA BlockAck frame to confirm the successful transmission.

[0172] In the embodiment 5, it is assumed that a WLAN network contains 1 AP and 4 STAs (STA1, STA2, STA3, STA4). If the AP uses length-limited Multiple Protection TXOP, the STAs use Single Protection TXOP. STA1 and STA2 belong to STA Group 1, STA3 belongs to STA Group 2, and STA4 does not belong to any STA Group. All STAs use AC_VO access type in EDCA. The frame interaction between the AP and the STAs is shown in FIG. 19.

[0173] Specifically, as shown in FIG. 19, STA1 first sends a G-RTS frame at the time when the channel is idle for AIFS, and the AP, after receiving the G-RTS frame, finds that STA1 belongs to STA Group 1 and there are two STAs in STA Group 2, and thus replies to a CTS-to-self frame to grant the TXOP to itself. STA1, after receiving the CTS frame sent by the AP, finds that the receiving address of the CTS frame is not its own address but the address of the AP, and thus 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 to trigger STA1 and STA2 to simultaneously send 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 and STA2, and STA1 and STA2 reply to a BlockAck frame through TB PPDU to confirm the transmission success. At this time, the TXOP of the AP ends, and the channel re-enters the idle state.

[0174] Embodiment 6 assumes that a WLAN network includes 1 AP and 4 STAs (STA1, STA2, STA3, and STA4). If the AP uses a Single Protected TXOP, the STAs also use a Single Protected TXOP. STA1 and STA2 belong to STA Group 1, STA3 belongs to STA Group 2, and STA4 does not belong to any STA Group. All the STAs use the AC_VO access type in EDCA, and the frame interaction between the AP and the STAs is shown in FIG. 20.

[0175] Specifically, as shown in FIG. 20, STA2 first sends an RTS frame at the time when the channel is idle for AIFS, and the AP, after receiving the RTS frame, finds that it is not a G-RTS frame, and thus does not trigger any of the rules related to grouping mentioned in the present application, and determines the TXOP ownership according to the rules of EDCA. Therefore, the AP replies to a CTS frame to STA2 to grant the TXOP to STA2. STA2, after receiving the CTS frame sent by the AP, finds that the receiving address of the CTS frame is its own address, and judges that the TXOP contention succeeds. Subsequently, in the TXOP of STA2, STA2 sends uplink SU UL data, and the AP replies to an ACK frame to confirm the transmission success.

[0176] The above describes the method embodiments of the present application in detail in combination with FIGS. 13 to 20, and the following describes the device embodiments of the present application in detail in combination with FIGS. 21 to 25. It should be understood that the device embodiments correspond to the method embodiments, and similar descriptions can be referred to the method embodiments.

[0177] FIG. 21 shows a schematic block diagram of a STA 300 according to an embodiment of the present application. The STA 300 has uplink data to be transmitted, as shown in FIG. 21, the STA 300 comprises:

[0178] The communication unit 310 is configured to send a first media access control (MAC) frame. The first MAC frame is used for contending for a channel, and a channel contention result corresponding to the first MAC frame is associated with group information of the STA.

[0179] In some embodiments, the group information of the STA comprises at least one of:

[0180] whether the STA belongs to a STA group in m STA groups;

[0181] in a case where the STA belongs to a STA group in the m STA groups, an identity of the STA group to which the STA belongs, and / or a number of STAs included in the STA group to which the STA belongs;

[0182] wherein the m STA groups are pre-allocated STA groups, m is a positive integer, and m = 1, or m ≥ 2.

[0183] In some embodiments, the channel contention result corresponding to the first MAC frame is associated with the group information of the STA, including:

[0184] in a case where the STA belongs to a first STA group in the m STA groups and a number of STAs in the first STA group is less than a first threshold, a transmission opportunity (TXOP) associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by the STA; and / or,

[0185] in a case where the STA belongs to the first STA group in the m STA groups and the number of STAs in the first STA group is greater than or equal to the first threshold, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by an access point (AP); and / or,

[0186] in a case where the STA does not belong to any STA group in the m STA groups, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by the STA;

[0187] wherein the m STA groups are pre-allocated STA groups, m is a positive integer, and m = 1, or m ≥ 2.

[0188] In some embodiments, in a case where the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by the AP, part or all of the STAs in the first STA group send uplink data in the TXOP after receiving a trigger frame sent by the AP.

[0189] In some embodiments, in the case that the TXOP associated with the channel corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by the AP, part or all of the STAs in the first group of STAs transmit uplink data and receive downlink data in the TXOP after receiving a trigger frame sent by the AP.

[0190] In some embodiments, in the case that the TXOP associated with the channel corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by the AP, part or all of the STAs in the first group of STAs feed back uplink buffer status information after receiving a null data physical protocol data unit feedback report polling, NFRP, trigger frame sent by the AP, and the resource for the part or all of the STAs in the first group of STAs to transmit uplink data in the TXOP is associated with the uplink buffer status information fed back by the part or all of the STAs in the first group of STAs.

[0191] In some embodiments, in the case that m≥2, the STAs with the same or similar traffic periods belong to different groups of STAs in the m groups of STAs respectively.

[0192] In some embodiments, the grouping information of the STA is associated with a first field in the first MAC frame.

[0193] In some embodiments, the first field is a field used to identify the identity of the STA.

[0194] In some embodiments, the first field is used to indicate the grouping information of the STA.

[0195] In some embodiments, the TXOP used by the STA is a single-protected TXOP or a length-limited multi-protected TXOP, and / or the TXOP used by the AP corresponding to the STA is a single-protected TXOP or a length-limited multi-protected TXOP.

[0196] In some embodiments, the TXOP used by the STA is a single-protected TXOP or a length-limited multi-protected TXOP, and / or the TXOP used by the AP corresponding to the STA is a single-protected TXOP or a multi-protected TXOP.

[0197] In some embodiments, the uplink data at least includes uplink latency-sensitive data.

[0198] In some embodiments, the first MAC frame is a group request to send, G-RTS, frame.

[0199] 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.

[0200] It should be understood that the STA 300 according to the embodiments of the present application can correspond to the 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 STA in the method 200 shown in FIG. 13, and for brevity, will not be repeated here.

[0201] FIG. 22 shows a schematic block diagram of an AP 400 according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 22, the AP 400 includes:

[0202] The communication unit 410 is configured to receive a first medium access control (MAC) frame sent by a station (STA).

[0203] The first MAC frame is used for contending for a channel, and a channel contention result corresponding to the first MAC frame is associated with packet information of the STA, and the STA has uplink data to be transmitted.

[0204] In some embodiments, the packet information of the STA includes at least one of the following:

[0205] Whether the STA belongs to a STA group in m STA groups;

[0206] In a case where the STA belongs to a STA group in the m STA groups, an identifier of the STA group to which the STA belongs, and / or a number of STAs included in the STA group to which the STA belongs.

[0207] The m STA groups are pre-allocated STA groups, m is a positive integer, and m = 1, or m ≥ 2.

[0208] In a case where the STA belongs to a first STA group in the m STA groups and a number of STAs in the first STA group is less than a first threshold, the communication unit 410 is further configured to send an allow-to-send CTS frame, where the CTS frame is used to announce that a transmission opportunity (TXOP) associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by the STA; and / or,

[0209] In a case where the STA belongs to a first STA group in the m STA groups and a number of STAs in the first STA group is greater than or equal to a first threshold, the communication unit 410 is further configured to send a CTS-to-self frame, where the CTS-to-self frame is used to announce that a TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by the AP; and / or,

[0210] In a case where the STA does not belong to any STA group in the m STA groups, the communication unit 410 is further configured to send a CTS frame, where the CTS frame is used to announce that a TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by the STA.

[0211] wherein the m STA groups are pre-assigned STA groups, m is a positive integer, and m = 1, or m≥2.

[0212] In some embodiments, in a case that the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by the AP, part or all of the STAs in the first STA group transmit uplink data within the TXOP after receiving a trigger frame transmitted by the AP.

[0213] In some embodiments, in a case that the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by the AP, part or all of the STAs in the first STA group transmit uplink data and receive downlink data within the TXOP after receiving a trigger frame transmitted by the AP.

[0214] In some embodiments, in a case that the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by the AP, the AP 400 further comprises a processing unit 420;

[0215] The communication unit 410 is further configured to transmit a null data physical protocol data unit feedback report polling (NFRP) trigger frame, wherein the NFRP trigger frame is used to query uplink buffer status information of part or all of the STAs in the first STA group.

[0216] The processing unit 420 is configured to allocate multi-user uplink transmission resources in the TXOP to part or all of the STAs in the first STA group according to the uplink buffer status information of part or all of the STAs in the first STA group.

[0217] In some embodiments, in a case that m≥2, the STAs with the same or similar traffic periods belong to different STA groups in the m STA groups respectively.

[0218] In some embodiments, the grouping information of the STA is associated with a first field in the first MAC frame.

[0219] In some embodiments, the first field is a field used to identify the identity of the STA.

[0220] In some embodiments, the first field is used to indicate the grouping information of the STA.

[0221] In some embodiments, the TXOP used by the STA is a single-protected TXOP or a length-limited multi-protected TXOP, and / or the TXOP used by the AP corresponding to the STA is a single-protected TXOP or a length-limited multi-protected TXOP.

[0222] In some embodiments, the TXOP used by the STA is a single-protected TXOP or a length-limited multi-protected TXOP, and / or the TXOP used by the AP corresponding to the STA is a single-protected TXOP or a multi-protected TXOP.

[0223] In some embodiments, the uplink data at least includes uplink latency-sensitive data.

[0224] In some embodiments, the first MAC frame is a group request to send (G-RTS) frame.

[0225] 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.

[0226] It should be understood that the AP 400 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 the various units in the AP 400 are respectively for realizing the corresponding flows of the AP in the method 200 shown in FIG. 13, and for brevity, will not be repeated here.

[0227] FIG. 23 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 500 according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 500 shown in FIG. 23 includes a processor 510. The processor 510 can call and run a computer program from a memory to implement the method according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0228] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 23, the communication device 500 can further include a memory 520. The processor 510 can call and run a computer program from the memory 520 to implement the method according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0229] The memory 520 can be a separate device independent of the processor 510, or can be integrated in the processor 510.

[0230] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 23, the communication device 500 can further include a transceiver 530. The processor 510 can control the transceiver 530 to communicate with other devices. Specifically, the transceiver 530 can send information or data to other devices, or receive information or data sent by other devices.

[0231] The transceiver 530 can include a transmitter and a receiver. The transceiver 530 can further include an antenna, and the number of antennas can be one or more.

[0232] In some embodiments, the processor 510 can implement the functions of the processing unit in the STA, or the processor 510 can implement the functions of the processing unit in the AP, and for brevity, will not be repeated here.

[0233] In some embodiments, the transceiver 530 can implement the function of the communication unit in the STA, which will not be repeated here for brevity.

[0234] In some embodiments, the transceiver 530 can implement the function of the communication unit in the AP, which will not be repeated here for brevity.

[0235] In some embodiments, the communication device 500 can be specifically an AP of the embodiments of the present application, and the communication device 500 can implement the corresponding procedures implemented by the AP in various methods of the embodiments of the present application, which will not be repeated here for brevity.

[0236] In some embodiments, the communication device 500 can be specifically a STA of the embodiments of the present application, and the communication device 500 can implement the corresponding procedures implemented by the STA in various methods of the embodiments of the present application, which will not be repeated here for brevity.

[0237] FIG. 24 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application. The apparatus 600 shown in FIG. 24 includes a processor 610, which can call and run a computer program from a memory to implement the method in the embodiments of the present application.

[0238] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 24, the apparatus 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 in the embodiments of the present application.

[0239] The memory 620 can be a separate device independent of the processor 610, or can be integrated in the processor 610.

[0240] 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.

[0241] In some embodiments, the apparatus 600 can further include an input interface 630. The processor 610 can control the input interface 630 to communicate with other devices or chips, and specifically, can obtain information or data sent by other devices or chips. Optionally, the processor 610 can be located in a chip or outside the chip.

[0242] In some embodiments, the input interface 630 can implement the function of the communication unit in the STA, or the input interface 630 can implement the function of the communication unit in the AP.

[0243] In some embodiments, the apparatus 600 can further include an output interface 640. The processor 610 can control the output interface 640 to communicate with other devices or chips, and specifically, can output information or data to other devices or chips. Optionally, the processor 610 can be located in or out of a chip.

[0244] In some embodiments, the output interface 640 can implement the function of the communication unit in the STA, or the output interface 640 can implement the function of the communication unit in the AP.

[0245] 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 various methods of the embodiments of the present application. For brevity, details are not described herein.

[0246] 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 STA in various methods of the embodiments of the present application. For brevity, details are not described herein.

[0247] 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.

[0248] FIG. 25 is a schematic block diagram of a communication system 700 according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 25, the communication system 700 includes a STA 710 and an AP 720.

[0249] The STA 710 can be used to implement the corresponding functions implemented by the STA in the above methods, and the AP 720 can be used to implement the corresponding functions implemented by the AP in the above methods. For brevity, details are not described herein.

[0250] It should be understood that the processor of the embodiments of the present application can be an integrated circuit chip with processing capability. In the implementation process, each step of the method embodiments described above can be completed by integrated logic circuits or instructions in the form of software in the processor. 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, discrete gates or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components. 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 be any conventional processor. The steps of the method disclosed in conjunction with the embodiments of the present application can be directly embodied as hardware code processor execution, or executed by hardware and software module combination in the code processor. The software module can be located in the random access memory, the flash memory, the read only memory, the programmable read only memory or the electrically erasable programmable memory, the 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.

[0251] 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.

[0252] 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.

[0253] The embodiment of the present application further provides a computer readable storage medium for storing the computer program.

[0254] 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 enables 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.

[0255] 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 enables the computer to perform the corresponding procedures implemented by the STA in the various methods of the embodiment of the present application, which will not be repeated here for brevity.

[0256] The embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product comprising computer program instructions.

[0257] 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 enable 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.

[0258] 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 enable the computer to perform the corresponding procedures implemented by the STA in the various methods of the embodiment of the present application, which will not be repeated here for brevity.

[0259] The embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program.

[0260] 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, enables 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.

[0261] 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, enables the computer to perform the corresponding procedures implemented by the STA in the various methods of the embodiment of the present application, which will not be repeated here for brevity.

[0262] Those skilled in the art can realize that the units and algorithm steps of the examples described in combination with the embodiments disclosed herein can be realized in electronic hardware or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether the functions are realized 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 realize the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of the present application.

[0263] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of 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.

[0264] 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 only schematic, for example, the division of the units is only a logical function division, and actual implementation can have another division manner, for example, a plurality of 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 interface, device or unit, and can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0265] The units described as separate components can or can not be physically separate, 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 a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the embodiment scheme.

[0266] In addition, the functional units in each embodiment of the present application can be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit can be physically present separately, or two or more units can be integrated in one unit.

[0267] If the functions are realized 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 essential part or part of the technical solutions that make contributions to the prior art can be embodied in the form of software product, and the computer software product is stored in a storage medium, including a plurality of instructions for making a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The foregoing storage medium includes: U disk, mobile hard disk, read-only memory (Read-Only Memory, ROM), random access memory (Random Access Memory, RAM), magnetic disk or optical disk and various program code storage media.

[0268] The above merely provides the specific implementation of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited to this. Any person skilled in the art can easily think of the changes or replacements within the technical range disclosed by the present application, which should be covered in 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 station STA, and the STA has uplink data to be transmitted, and the method comprises the following steps: The STA transmits a first medium access control (MAC) frame; wherein the first MAC frame is used for channel contention, and a channel contention result corresponding to the first MAC frame is associated with group information of the STA.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the group information of the STA comprises at least one of: whether the STA belongs to a STA group in m STA groups; and in a case where the STA belongs to a STA group in the m STA groups, an identifier of the STA group to which the STA belongs, and / or a number of STAs included in the STA group to which the STA belongs; wherein the m STA groups are pre-allocated STA groups, m is a positive integer, and m = 1 or m ≥ 2.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the channel contention result corresponding to the first MAC frame is associated with the group information of the STA, comprising: in a case where the STA belongs to a first STA group in the m STA groups and a number of STAs in the first STA group is less than a first threshold, a transmission opportunity (TXOP) associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by the STA; and / or in a case where the STA belongs to the first STA group in the m STA groups and the number of STAs in the first STA group is greater than or equal to the first threshold, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by an access point (AP); and / or in a case where the STA does not belong to any STA group in the m STA groups, the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by the STA; wherein the m STA groups are pre-allocated STA groups, m is a positive integer, and m = 1 or m ≥ 2.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein in a case where the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by the AP, some or all of the STAs in the first STA group transmit uplink data in the TXOP after receiving a trigger frame transmitted by the AP.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein in a case where the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by the AP, some or all of the STAs in the first STA group transmit uplink data and receive downlink data in the TXOP after receiving a trigger frame transmitted by the AP.

6. The method of any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein ​ ​ ​ ​ In a case where the TXOP associated with the channel contention corresponding to the first MAC frame is owned by the AP, part or all of the STAs in the first group of STAs feed back uplink buffer status information after receiving the NFRP trigger frame sent by the AP, and the resource for sending uplink data by part or all of the STAs in the first group of STAs is associated with the uplink buffer status information fed back by part or all of the STAs in the first group of STAs.

7. The method of any one of claims 2 to 6, wherein, In a case where m is greater than or equal to 2, the STAs with the same or similar service periods belong to different STA groups in the m STA groups respectively.

8. The method of any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein, The grouping information of the STA is associated with a first field in the first MAC frame.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein, The first field is a field for identifying the identity of the STA.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein, The first field is used to indicate the grouping information of the STA.

11. The method of any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein, The TXOP used by the STA is a single-protected TXOP or a length-limited multiple-protected TXOP, and / or the TXOP used by the AP corresponding to the STA is a single-protected TXOP or a length-limited multiple-protected TXOP.

12. The method of any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein, The TXOP used by the STA is a single-protected TXOP or a length-limited multiple-protected TXOP, and / or the TXOP used by the AP corresponding to the STA is a single-protected TXOP or a multiple-protected TXOP.

13. The method of any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein, The uplink data at least includes uplink latency-sensitive data.

14. The method of any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein, The first MAC frame is a group request to send (G-RTS) frame.

15. A method of wireless communication, comprising: The method is applied to an access point (AP), and the method comprises: The AP receives a first medium access control (MAC) frame sent by a station (STA); The first MAC frame is used to contend for a channel, the channel contention result corresponding to the first MAC frame is associated with the grouping information of the STA, and the STA has uplink data to be transmitted.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein, The grouping information of the STA comprises at least one of the following: Whether the STA belongs to a STA group in m STA groups; In a case where the STA belongs to a STA group in m STA groups, the identity of the STA group to which the STA belongs, and / or the number of STAs included in the STA group to which the STA belongs; The m STA groups are pre-allocated STA groups, m is a positive integer, and m is equal to 1 or m is greater than or equal to 2. The method further comprises:

17. The method of claim 15 or 16, wherein, ​ in a case where the STA belongs to a first STA group of the m STA groups and a number of STAs within the first STA group is less than a first threshold, the AP sends an allow-to-send CTS frame, wherein the CTS frame is used to announce that a transmission opportunity TXOP of a channel contention association corresponding to the first MAC frame belongs to the STA; and / or, in a case where the STA belongs to the first STA group of the m STA groups and the number of STAs within the first STA group is greater than or equal to the first threshold, the AP sends a CTS-to-self frame, wherein the CTS-to-self frame is used to announce that the TXOP of the channel contention association corresponding to the first MAC frame belongs to the AP; and / or, in a case where the STA does not belong to any of the m STA groups, the AP sends a CTS frame, wherein the CTS frame is used to announce that the TXOP of the channel contention association corresponding to the first MAC frame belongs to the STA; wherein the m STA groups are pre-allocated STA groups, m is a positive integer, and m = 1, or m ≥ 2.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein, in a case where the TXOP of the channel contention association corresponding to the first MAC frame belongs to the AP, part or all of the STAs in the first STA group send uplink data in the TXOP after receiving a trigger frame sent by the AP.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein, in a case where the TXOP of the channel contention association corresponding to the first MAC frame belongs to the AP, part or all of the STAs in the first STA group send uplink data and receive downlink data in the TXOP after receiving a trigger frame sent by the AP.

20. The method of any one of claims 17 to 19, wherein, in a case where the TXOP of the channel contention association corresponding to the first MAC frame belongs to the AP, the method further comprises: the AP sends a null data physical protocol data unit feedback report polling, NFRP, trigger frame, wherein the NFRP trigger frame is used to query uplink buffer status information of part or all of the STAs in the first STA group; the AP allocates multi-user uplink transmission resources in the TXOP to part or all of the STAs in the first STA group according to the uplink buffer status information of part or all of the STAs in the first STA group.

21. The method of any one of claims 16 to 20, wherein, in a case where m ≥ 2, STAs with the same or similar service periods belong to different STA groups of the m STA groups, respectively.

22. The method of any one of claims 15 to 21, wherein, the grouping information of the STA is associated with a first field in the first MAC frame.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein, the first field is a field used to identify an identity of the STA.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein, the first field is used to indicate the grouping information of the STA.

25. The method of any one of claims 15 to 24, wherein, The TXOP used by the STA is a single-protected TXOP or a length-limited multi-protected TXOP, and / or the TXOP used by the AP corresponding to the STA is a single-protected TXOP or a length-limited multi-protected TXOP.

26. The method of any one of claims 15 to 24, wherein, The TXOP used by the STA is a single-protected TXOP or a length-limited multi-protected TXOP, and / or the TXOP used by the AP corresponding to the STA is a single-protected TXOP or a multi-protected TXOP.

27. The method of any one of claims 15 to 26, wherein, The uplink data at least includes uplink latency-sensitive data.

28. The method of any one of claims 15 to 27, wherein, The first MAC frame is a group request to send (G-RTS) frame.

29. A station (STA) comprising: The STA has uplink data to be transmitted, and the STA includes: a communication unit configured to send a first medium access control (MAC) frame, wherein the first MAC frame is used to contend for a channel, and a channel contention result corresponding to the first MAC frame is associated with group information of the STA.

30. An access point (AP) comprising: comprising: a communication unit configured to receive a first medium access control (MAC) frame sent by a station (STA), wherein the first MAC frame is used to contend for a channel, and a channel contention result corresponding to the first MAC frame is associated with group information of the STA, and the STA has uplink data to be transmitted.

31. A station (STA), comprising: comprising: a processor and a memory, the memory being configured to store a computer program, and the processor being configured to invoke and run the computer program stored in the memory, so that the STA performs the method according to any one of claims 1 to 14.

32. An access point (AP) comprising: comprising: a processor and a memory, the memory being configured to store a computer program, and the processor being configured to invoke and run the computer program stored in the memory, so that the AP performs the method according to any one of claims 15 to 28.

33. A chip, characterized by comprising: a processor configured to invoke and run a computer program from a memory, so that a device installed with the chip performs the method according to any one of claims 1 to 14.

34. A chip, characterized by comprising: a processor configured to invoke and run a computer program from a memory, so that a device installed with the chip performs the method according to any one of claims 15 to 28.

35. A computer readable storage medium, characterized in that, a computer program for storing, when the computer program is executed, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 14 is implemented.

36. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, a computer program for storing, when the computer program is executed, the method according to any one of claims 15 to 28 is implemented.

37. A computer program product, characterised in that, computer program instructions for storing, when the computer program instructions are executed, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 14 is implemented.

38. A computer program product, characterised in that, computer program instructions for storing, when the computer program instructions are executed, the method according to any one of claims 15 to 28 is implemented.

39. A computer program, characterized in that, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 14 is implemented when the computer program is executed.

40. A computer program, characterized in that, When the computer program is executed, the method of any one of claims 15 to 28 is implemented.

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