Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

A communication method and apparatus, which are applicable to the technical field of communications, for example, same are applied to a wireless local area network system that supports 802.11 series protocols, for example, IEEE 802.11ax next-generation Wi-Fi protocols, such as 802.11be, Wi-Fi 7 or EHT, or for example, 802.11be next-generation protocols, such as 802.11bn or Wi-Fi 8 or UHR, or for example, an integrated millimeter wave (IMM) protocol, and can also be applied to a UWB-based wireless personal area network system, sensing system, etc. The communication method can comprise: a first communication apparatus generating a PPDU, and sending the PPDU; and then, a second communication apparatus receiving the PPDU, and learning, on the basis of the PPDU, that the transmission mode of the PPDU is a partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode. By means of the method, the throughput rate of a user is effectively improved, and the transmission efficiency is also improved.

Description

Communication method and device

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on June 13, 2023, with application number 202310704250.2, and priority to the Chinese patent application with the invention name “Communication Method and Device”, all contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0002] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and device. Background Art

[0003] Wireless local area network (WLAN) technology was created by the Wi-Fi Alliance based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard. To improve wireless communication transmission efficiency, the IEEE 802.11 standard introduced orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) and multiple user multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO) technologies.

[0004] Both OFDMA and MU-MIMO technologies allow an access point (AP) to transmit to multiple users such as stations (STA) (such as non-AP STA) at the same time, reducing channel contention and physical layer preamble overhead, and improving system throughput. For example, for the OFDMA transmission mode involved in OFDMA technology, each user occupies part of the bandwidth of the entire PPDU. For the MU-MIMO transmission mode involved in MU-MIMO technology, the resource units (RU) or multiple resource units (MRU) of multiple users are the same. When the maximum supported bandwidth of different users is different, adopting the above transmission mode will cause users with large capabilities to reduce their transmittable bandwidth, thereby affecting the throughput of these users.

[0005] Therefore, how to further improve transmission efficiency and increase user throughput needs to be solved urgently.

[0006] Summary of the Invention

[0007] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus that can effectively improve transmission efficiency and increase user throughput.

[0008] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be applied to a first communication device, which can be a Wi-Fi device (such as an AP), or a chip or module in a Wi-Fi device, and the method includes:

[0009] Generate a physical layer (PHY) protocol data unit (PPDU), where the PPDU corresponds to at least two target users, where the at least two target users include a first user and a second user, and the first user and the second user perform multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) transmission on a first bandwidth, where the first bandwidth is a portion of a bandwidth used by the first user for data transmission; and send the PPDU.

[0010] In an embodiment of the present application, a first user can perform MU-MIMO transmission with a second user on a partial bandwidth (i.e., the first bandwidth), and the first user can also perform data transmission on other bandwidths in the bandwidth used for data transmission except for the partial bandwidth, thereby not affecting the bandwidth range that the first user can transmit, improving the throughput of the first user, improving the transmission efficiency, and improving the throughput of the entire system.

[0011] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be applied to a second communication device. The first communication device can be a Wi-Fi device (such as a non-AP STA or AP, etc.), or a chip or module in a Wi-Fi device, and the method includes:

[0012] A physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) is received, where the PPDU corresponds to at least two target users, where the at least two target users include a first user and a second user, and the first user performs multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) transmission with the second user on a first bandwidth, where the first bandwidth is a portion of a bandwidth used by the first user for data transmission; and the PPDU is parsed.

[0013] With reference to the second aspect, in a possible implementation, parsing the PPDU includes:

[0014] Parse a universal signaling (U-SIG) field in the PPDU to identify that the transmission mode of the PPDU is a partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode; parse a first SIG field in the PPDU to obtain at least one of a size and a position of the first bandwidth, and identify, based on a user identifier, a user field corresponding to the user identifier in the first SIG field, and identify a user type corresponding to the user identifier as a full bandwidth user or a partial bandwidth user.

[0015] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in one possible implementation, the PPDU includes a universal signaling U-SIG field, the U-SIG field includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate that the transmission mode of the PPDU is a partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode.

[0016] In an embodiment of the present application, the first indication information in the U-SIG field explicitly indicates that the transmission mode of the PPDU is the partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode, so that the second communication device can effectively know the transmission mode of the PPDU it receives, and thus correctly parse the PPDU.

[0017] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the first indication information is carried in the PPDU type and compression mode fields in the U-SIG field.

[0018] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the PPDU includes a first signaling SIG field, the first SIG field includes second indication information, and the second indication information is used to indicate at least one of a size and a position of the first bandwidth.

[0019] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the second indication information includes a first bitmap, wherein one bit in the first bitmap corresponds to a unit bandwidth, and the size of the unit bandwidth is less than or equal to the size of the first bandwidth.

[0020] In the embodiment of the present application, the size and position of the first bandwidth are indicated by the first bitmap, so that the target user can clearly know the size and position of the first bandwidth, which is more flexible.

[0021] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the second indication information includes 1 bit, wherein the 1 bit is used to indicate that the size of the first bandwidth is 80 MHz or 160 MHz.

[0022] In the embodiment of the present application, the size of the first bandwidth is indicated by one bit or multiple bits, which can effectively save overhead.

[0023] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the position of the first bandwidth is mainly 80 MHz or mainly 160 MHz, or the position of the first bandwidth is preset.

[0024] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the second indication information includes at least one bit, and the at least one bit is used to indicate the resource unit RU or multiple resource unit MRU corresponding to the first bandwidth.

[0025] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the second indication information is carried in a resource allocation field, and the resource allocation field is used to indicate the size and position of the first bandwidth.

[0026] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the first SIG field further includes user type indication information, where the user type indication information is used to indicate whether the user type of the target user is a full-bandwidth user or a partial-bandwidth user.

[0027] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the at least two target users also include a third user, and the first user and the third user perform MU-MIMO transmission on a second bandwidth, where the second bandwidth is a portion of the bandwidth used by the first user to transmit data excluding the first bandwidth.

[0028] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the PPDU includes a first signaling SIG field, the first SIG field includes third indication information, and the third indication information is used to indicate at least one of a size and a position of the second bandwidth.

[0029] With reference to the first aspect or the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the first user corresponds to a user field on the first bandwidth and the second bandwidth respectively.

[0030] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in one possible implementation, the first SIG field includes at least two user field groups, the user field group includes at least two user fields, and the target users corresponding to the at least two user fields in the user field group have the same bandwidth for MU-MIMO transmission.

[0031] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in one possible implementation, the order of the at least two user field groups is arranged in descending order based on frequency, and the order of the at least two user fields within the user field group is arranged in descending order based on the number of spatial streams.

[0032] In the embodiment of the present application, when there are multiple partial bandwidths, by grouping the user fields, full-bandwidth users can use different numbers of spatial streams and / or coding and modulation strategies (MCS) in different partial bandwidths, which is conducive to channel adaptation and improved throughput.

[0033] With reference to the first aspect or the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the first SIG field further includes information indicating the number of partial bandwidths or information indicating the number of user field groups.

[0034] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the first SIG field further includes information indicating the number of users performing MU-MIMO transmission within a portion of the bandwidth.

[0035] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in one possible implementation, the user type indication information includes a second bit map, wherein the length of the second bit map is equal to M, and M is the total number of users of the target user, or M is the total number of user fields included in the first SIG field.

[0036] In combination with the first aspect or the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the first SIG field includes an ultra high reliability (UHR)-SIG field or an integrated millimeter wave (IMMW)-SIG field.

[0037] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be applied to a first communication device, which can be a Wi-Fi device (such as an AP), or a chip or module in a Wi-Fi device, and the method includes:

[0038] A trigger frame is sent, where the trigger frame includes a common information field, where the common information field includes transmission mode indication information, where the transmission mode indication information is used to indicate that the transmission mode of a trigger-based physical layer protocol data unit PPDU (trigger based PPDU, TB PPDU) is a partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode; the PPDU is received, where the transmission mode of the PPDU is a partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode, where the PPDU corresponds to at least two target users, where the at least two target users include a first user and a second user, and where the first user and the second user perform multi-user multiple-input multiple-output MU-MIMO transmission on a first bandwidth, where the first bandwidth is a partial bandwidth of the bandwidth used by the first user to transmit data.

[0039] In the embodiment of the present application, in the triggered PPDU transmission mode, by adopting the partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode, the user throughput rate can be effectively improved, the transmission efficiency can be improved, and thus the throughput rate of the entire system can be improved.

[0040] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which can be applied to a second communication device. The first communication device can be a Wi-Fi device (such as a non-AP STA, etc.), or a chip or module in a Wi-Fi device, and the method includes:

[0041] receiving a trigger frame, the trigger frame including a common information field, the common information field including transmission mode indication information, the transmission mode indication information being used to indicate that a transmission mode of a triggered physical layer protocol data unit PPDU is a fractional bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode;

[0042] The PPDU is sent, where the transmission mode of the PPDU is a partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode. The PPDU corresponds to at least two target users, where the at least two target users include a first user and a second user. The first user and the second user perform multi-user multiple-input multiple-output MU-MIMO transmission on a first bandwidth, where the first bandwidth is a partial bandwidth of the bandwidth used by the first user to transmit data.

[0043] In conjunction with the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0044] Determining the modulation and coding strategy MCS used by the target user based on the trigger frame; and / or,

[0045] A resource unit RU or a multiple resource unit MRU used by the target user to transmit data is determined based on the trigger frame.

[0046] In combination with the third aspect or the fourth aspect, in one possible implementation, the PPDU includes a universal signaling U-SIG field, and the U-SIG field includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate that the transmission mode of the triggered PPDU is the partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode.

[0047] In combination with the third aspect or the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the first indication information is carried in the PPDU type and compression mode fields in the U-SIG field.

[0048] In combination with the third aspect or the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation, the trigger frame also includes a user information list field, the user information list field includes one or more user information fields, and the user information field includes at least one of a resource unit allocation field, a spatial stream allocation field, and a random access RU information field.

[0049] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a first communication device for executing the method in the first aspect or the third aspect or any possible implementation. The first communication device includes a unit having a function of executing the method in the first aspect or the third aspect or any possible implementation.

[0050] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a second communication device for executing the method in the second aspect or the fourth aspect or any possible implementation. The second communication device includes a unit having a function of executing the method in the second aspect or the fourth aspect or any possible implementation.

[0051] In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a first communication device, comprising a processor configured to execute the method described in the first aspect, the third aspect, or any possible implementation. The processor is configured to execute a program stored in a memory, and when the program is executed, the method described in the first aspect, the third aspect, or any possible implementation is executed.

[0052] In a possible implementation, the memory is located outside the first communication device.

[0053] In a possible implementation, the memory is located within the first communication device.

[0054] In the embodiment of the present application, the processor and the memory may also be integrated into one device, that is, the processor and the memory may also be integrated together. For example, the first communication device may be a chip.

[0055] In a possible implementation, the first communication device further includes a transceiver, where the transceiver is configured to receive information or send information.

[0056] In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a second communication device, comprising a processor configured to execute the method described in the second aspect, the fourth aspect, or any possible implementation. The processor is configured to execute a program stored in a memory, and when the program is executed, the method described in the second aspect, the fourth aspect, or any possible implementation is executed.

[0057] In a possible implementation, the memory is located outside the second communication device.

[0058] In a possible implementation, the memory is located within the second communication device.

[0059] In the embodiment of the present application, the processor and the memory may also be integrated into one device, that is, the processor and the memory may also be integrated together. Exemplarily, the second communication device may be a chip.

[0060] In a possible implementation, the second communication device further includes a transceiver, where the transceiver is configured to receive information or send information.

[0061] In the ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a first communication device, which includes a logic circuit and an interface, and the logic circuit and the interface are coupled; the interface is used to input and / or output information, and the logic circuit is used to execute the method described in the first aspect or the third aspect or any possible implementation method.

[0062] In a possible implementation, the interface being used to output information includes: the interface being used to output a PPDU. Exemplarily, the logic circuit is used to generate a PPDU.

[0063] In one possible implementation, the interface for outputting information includes outputting a trigger frame. The interface for inputting information includes inputting a PPDU. Exemplarily, the logic circuit is configured to generate a trigger frame. Exemplarily, the logic circuit is configured to parse a PPDU.

[0064] In the tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a second communication device, which includes a logic circuit and an interface, and the logic circuit and the interface are coupled; the interface is used to input and / or output information, and the logic circuit is used to execute the method described in the second aspect or the fourth aspect or any possible implementation method.

[0065] In a possible implementation, the interface being used to input information includes: the interface being used to input a PPDU. Exemplarily, the logic circuit is used to parse the PPDU.

[0066] In one possible implementation, the interface for inputting information includes: the interface for inputting a trigger frame. The interface for outputting information includes: the interface for outputting a PPDU. Exemplarily, the logic circuit is configured to parse the trigger frame. Exemplarily, the logic circuit is configured to generate the PPDU.

[0067] In the eleventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, which is used to store a computer program. When the computer program is run on a computer, the method shown in the first aspect, second aspect, third aspect, fourth aspect or any possible implementation method is executed.

[0068] In the twelfth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product, which includes a computer program or computer code, and when it runs on a computer, enables the method shown in the above-mentioned first aspect, second aspect, third aspect, fourth aspect or any possible implementation method to be executed.

[0069] In a thirteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program. When the computer program runs on a computer, the method shown in the above-mentioned first aspect, second aspect, third aspect, fourth aspect or any possible implementation is executed.

[0070] In a fourteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, which includes a first communication device and a second communication device.

[0071] In one possible implementation, the first communication device is used to execute the method shown in the above-mentioned first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, and the second communication device is used to execute the method shown in the above-mentioned second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0072] In another possible implementation, the first communication device is used to execute the method shown in the third aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect, and the second communication device is used to execute the method shown in the fourth aspect or any possible implementation of the fourth aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0073] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0074] FIG2 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0075] FIG3a and FIG3b are schematic diagrams of a fractional bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0076] FIG3c and FIG3d are schematic diagrams of another partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0077] FIG4a is a schematic diagram of a downlink (DL) non-MU-MIMO OFDMA transmission mode provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0078] FIG4 b is a schematic diagram of a DL OFDMA+MU-MIMO transmission mode provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0079] FIG4c is a schematic diagram of a single user (SU) or channel sounding null data packet (NDP) transmission mode provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0080] FIG4 d is a schematic diagram of a DL non-OFDMA MU-MIMO transmission mode provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0081] FIG5a is a schematic diagram of a process for generating a PPDU according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0082] FIG5 b is a schematic diagram of a process for parsing a PPDU provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0083] FIG6 a is a schematic diagram of a format of a UHR PPDU provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0084] FIG6 b is a schematic diagram of the format of an IMMW PPDU provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0085] FIG7 a is a schematic diagram of a partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode of a UHR PPDU provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0086] FIG7 b is a schematic diagram of the format of a first SIG field provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0087] FIG8a is a schematic diagram of a partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode of a UHR PPDU provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0088] FIG8b is a schematic diagram of the format of a first SIG field provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0089] FIG9a is a schematic diagram of a flow chart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0090] FIG9b is a schematic diagram of a scenario of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0091] FIG10a is a schematic diagram of a format of a trigger frame provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0092] FIG10b is a schematic diagram of a format of a UHR TB PPDU provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0093] FIG10c is a schematic diagram of a format of an IMMW TB PPDU provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0094] FIG11 is a schematic diagram of a partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode based on a triggered PPDU according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0095] FIG12 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0096] Figures 13a and 13b are schematic structural diagrams of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0097] FIG14 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0098] To facilitate understanding of the technical solution of the present application, the present application will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0099] The terms "first" and "second" in the specification, claims, and drawings of this application are used only to distinguish different objects and are not used to describe a specific order. In addition, the terms "including" and "having" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, product, or device that includes a series of steps or units is not limited to the listed steps or units, but may optionally include steps or units that are not listed, or may optionally include other steps or units that are inherent to the process, method, product, or device.

[0100] References to "embodiments" herein mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiments may be included in at least one embodiment of the present application. The appearance of this phrase in various places in the specification does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, nor does it refer to independent or alternative embodiments that are mutually exclusive of other embodiments. It will be understood, both explicitly and implicitly, by those skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein may be combined with other embodiments.

[0101] In this application, "at least one (item)" means one or more, "more than one" means two or more, "at least two (items)" means two or three and more than three, and "and / or" is used to describe the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, "A and / or B" can mean: only A exists, only B exists, and A and B exist at the same time, where A and B can be singular or plural. "Or" means that two relationships can exist, such as only A exists, only B exists; when A and B are not mutually exclusive, it can also mean that three relationships exist, such as only A exists, only B exists, and A and B exist at the same time. The character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items. For example, at least one of a, b or c can mean: a, b, c, "a and b", "a and c", "b and c", or "a and b and c".

[0102] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus that can effectively improve transmission efficiency, increase user throughput, and increase system throughput.

[0103] The following introduces the communication system involved in the embodiments of the present application.

[0104] The technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to WLAN systems, such as Wi-Fi. For example, the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to the IEEE 802.11 series of protocols, such as 802.11a / b / g protocols (such as 802.11bf protocol, etc.), 802.11n protocol, 802.11ac protocol, 802.11ax protocol, 802.11be protocol, 802.11bn protocol or next-generation protocols, IMMW protocol, etc., which are not listed one by one. The technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to wireless personal area networks (WPANs) based on ultra-wideband (UWB) technology. For example, the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to the IEEE 802.15 series of protocols, such as 802.15.4a protocol, 802.15.4z protocol or 802.15.4ab protocol, or a future generation of UWB WPAN protocols, etc., which are not listed one by one. The technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to the following communication systems, for example, the Internet of Things (IoT) system, the Vehicle to X (V2X) system, the Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) system, the Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, the fifth generation (5G) communication system, and new communication systems that will emerge in the future development of communications.

[0105] WLAN systems can provide high-speed and low-latency transmission. As WLAN application scenarios continue to evolve, WLAN systems will be applied to more scenarios or industries, such as the Internet of Things industry, the Internet of Vehicles industry, the banking industry, corporate offices, sports stadiums and exhibition halls, concert halls, hotel rooms, dormitories, wards, classrooms, supermarkets, squares, streets, production workshops and warehouses, etc. Of course, devices supporting WLAN communication or perception (such as access points or stations) can be sensor nodes in smart cities (such as smart water meters, smart electricity meters, and smart air detection nodes), smart devices in smart homes (such as smart cameras, projectors, display screens, televisions, speakers, refrigerators, washing machines, etc.), nodes in the Internet of Things, entertainment terminals (such as wearable devices such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR)), smart devices in smart offices (such as printers, projectors, speakers, and speakers, etc.), Internet of Vehicles (IoV) devices, infrastructure in daily life scenarios (such as vending machines, self-service navigation kiosks in supermarkets, self-service checkout devices, self-service ordering machines, etc.), and equipment in large sports and music venues, etc. For example, access points and stations can be devices used in the IoV, IoT nodes and sensors in the Internet of Things (IoT), smart cameras, smart remote controls, smart water and electricity meters in smart homes, and sensors in smart cities, etc.

[0106] Although the embodiments of the present application mainly take WLAN as an example, especially networks applied to the IEEE 802.11 series of standards, such as systems that support Wi-Fi 7, also known as extremely high-throughput (EHT), systems that support Wi-Fi 8, also known as ultra-high reliability (UHR) or ultra-high reliability and throughput (UHRT), and systems that support IMMW, etc. It is easy for those skilled in the art to understand that the various aspects involved in the embodiments of the present application can be extended to other networks that adopt various standards or protocols. For example, Bluetooth, high performance radio LAN (HIPERLAN) (a wireless standard similar to the IEEE 802.11 standard, mainly used in Europe) and wide area networks (WANs) or other networks now known or developed later.

[0107] The method provided in the embodiment of the present application may be implemented by a communication device in a communication system. For example, the communication device may be an access point (AP) or a station (STA).

[0108] An access point is a device with wireless communication capabilities that supports communication or sensing using WLAN protocols. It has the ability to communicate or sense with other devices in a WLAN network (such as stations or other access points). Of course, it can also have the ability to communicate or sense with other devices. Alternatively, an access point is equivalent to a bridge connecting a wired network and a wireless network. Its main function is to connect various wireless network clients together and then connect the wireless network to the Ethernet. In a WLAN system, an access point can be called an access point station (AP STA). This device with wireless communication capabilities can be a complete device or a chip, processing system, or module installed in the complete device. The device equipped with these chips, processing systems, or modules can implement the methods and functions of the embodiments of the present application under the control of the chips, processing systems, or modules. The AP in the embodiments of the present application is a device that provides services to STAs and can support the 802.11 series protocols or subsequent protocols. For example, an access point can be an access point for a terminal (such as a mobile phone) to enter a wired (or wireless) network. It is mainly deployed in homes, buildings, and campuses, with a typical coverage radius of tens to hundreds of meters. Of course, it can also be deployed outdoors. For another example, an AP may be a communication entity such as a communication server, router, switch, or bridge; an AP may include various forms of macro base stations, micro base stations, and relay stations. Of course, an AP may also be a chip, processing system, or module in any of the aforementioned devices, thereby implementing the methods and functions of the embodiments of the present application.

[0109] A station is a device with wireless communication capabilities that supports communication or perception using the WLAN protocol and has the ability to communicate or perceive with other stations or access points in the WLAN network. In a WLAN system, a station can be referred to as a non-access point station (non-AP STA). For example, an STA is any user communication device that allows a user to communicate or perceive with an AP and then communicate with a WLAN. The device with wireless communication capabilities can be a complete device, or a chip, processing system, or module installed in the complete device. The device installed with these chips, processing systems, or modules can implement the methods and functions of the embodiments of the present application under the control of the chip, processing system, or module. For example, a station can be a wireless communication chip, a wireless sensor, or a wireless communication terminal, and can also be referred to as a user. For another example, a station can be a mobile phone that supports Wi-Fi communication capabilities, a tablet that supports Wi-Fi communication capabilities, a set-top box that supports Wi-Fi communication capabilities, a smart TV that supports Wi-Fi communication capabilities, a smart wearable device that supports Wi-Fi communication capabilities, a vehicle-mounted communication device that supports Wi-Fi communication capabilities, and a computer that supports Wi-Fi communication capabilities. Of course, STA can also be a chip, processing system, or module in the various forms of devices mentioned above, so as to implement the methods and functions of the embodiments of the present application.

[0110] Exemplarily, the communication system to which the method provided in the embodiments of the present application can be applied may include access points and stations. For example, the embodiments of the present application may be applicable to data communication or perception between one or more APs and one or more STAs in a WLAN, and may also be applicable to communication or perception between APs, and communication or perception between STAs. Exemplarily, the AP may communicate or perceive with a single STA, or the AP may communicate or perceive with multiple STAs at the same time. Exemplarily, the communication or perception between the AP and multiple STAs may be further divided into downlink transmission in which the AP sends signals to multiple STAs at the same time, and uplink transmission in which multiple STAs send signals to the AP. WLAN communication protocols may be supported between the AP and the STA, and the communication protocols may include IEEE802.11 series protocols, such as 802.11n / 802.11ac / 802.11ax / 802.11be / 802.11bn / IMMW standards, and of course also applicable to standards after 802.11bn.

[0111] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application. The communication system may include one or more APs and one or more STAs. Figure 1 shows two access points such as AP1 and AP2, and three stations such as STA1, STA2 and STA3. The method provided by an embodiment of the present application can be applicable to data communication between an AP and one or more STAs (such as the communication between AP1 and STA1 as shown in Figure 1, or the communication between AP1 and STA1 and STA2), or, it is also applicable to communication between APs (such as the communication between AP1 and AP2 as shown in Figure 1), or, it is applicable to communication between STAs (such as the communication between STA2 and STA3 as shown in Figure 1).

[0112] Figure 1 illustrates an example in which a STA is a mobile phone and an AP is a router, and does not limit the types of APs and STAs used in the embodiments of the present application. Furthermore, Figure 1 only illustrates two APs and three STAs, but the number of APs or STAs can be greater or less, and this is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0113] As an example, the first communication device and the second communication device may be Wi-Fi chips, modules, or processing systems provided in different Wi-Fi devices. As another example, the first communication device may be an AP, and the second communication device may be an STA. As another example, the first communication device and the second communication device may both be STAs or both APs. As another example, the first communication device may be a STA, and the second communication device may be an AP. As another example, at least one of the first communication device and the second communication device may be a multi-link device (MLD), etc., which are not listed one by one in the embodiments of the present application. For ease of description, when referring to specific examples below, the first communication device is described as an AP, and the second communication device is described as an STA, but this should not be understood as a limitation on the embodiments of the present application.

[0114] The embodiment of the present application describes the method provided by the embodiment of the present application based on the first communication device and the second communication device. However, during the process of transmitting the PPDU, the first communication device and the second communication device can also forward the PPDU through other devices, such as forwarding the PPDU between the first communication device and the second communication device through a forwarding device. The embodiment of the present application does not limit other devices other than the first communication device and the second communication device.

[0115] The following describes the communication method involved in the embodiments of the present application.

[0116] FIG2 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG2 , the method includes:

[0117] 201. A first communication device generates a PPDU, where the PPDU corresponds to at least two target users, including a first user and a second user. The first user and the second user perform MU-MIMO transmission on a first bandwidth, where the first bandwidth is a portion of a bandwidth used by the first user for data transmission.

[0118] In an embodiment of the present application, the PPDU carries a physical layer service data unit (PSDU) that needs to be transmitted to at least two target users, or the PPDU carries a PSDU that needs to be sent by a first communication device to at least two target users, or at least two target users need to receive their respective PSDUs from the above PPDU. Exemplarily, the second communication device can be one of the at least two target users, such as a non-AP STA.

[0119] Exemplarily, the bandwidth used by the first user for data transmission may be the bandwidth of the PPDU (hereinafter referred to as the PPDU bandwidth) or the entire bandwidth of the PPDU. For example, the bandwidth used by the first user for data transmission may be referred to as the full bandwidth of the PPDU, the maximum bandwidth, or the bandwidth used to transmit the PPDU. Of course, in the case of preamble puncturing, the bandwidth used by the first user for data transmission may be the bandwidth after puncturing. The first bandwidth may be the bandwidth used by the first user for data transmission, or the first bandwidth may be the bandwidth used to transmit the data of the first user. Exemplarily, the first bandwidth may be the portion of the bandwidth indicated by the first indication information in the U-SIG field of the PPDU.

[0120] The partial bandwidth may be the bandwidth within the PPDU bandwidth over which the first user can perform MU-MIMO transmission with other users. The PPDU bandwidth may include one or more partial bandwidths, over which the first user can perform MU-MIMO transmission with different target users. Exemplarily, these multiple partial bandwidths do not overlap. As an example, the partial bandwidth within the PPDU bandwidth includes a first bandwidth, over which the first user can perform MU-MIMO transmission with a second user. As another example, the partial bandwidth within the PPDU bandwidth includes a first bandwidth and a second bandwidth, the first bandwidth and the second bandwidth not overlapping. Over the first bandwidth, the first user can perform MU-MIMO transmission with the second user, and over the second bandwidth, the first user can perform MU-MIMO transmission with a third user. Similarly, for more partial bandwidths, they are not listed here one by one. It is understood that the embodiment of the present application in which the first user performs MU-MIMO transmission with different target users over a partial bandwidth may also be referred to as the embodiment of the present application in which the first user performs partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission with different target users over a partial bandwidth.

[0121] From the perspective of different dimensions of supported bandwidth, the first user can be called a full-bandwidth user or a large-bandwidth user or a large-bandwidth capability user, etc., and the second user (including the second user #1 and the second user #2 shown in Figures 3b and 3d) or the third user (including the third user #1 and the third user #2 shown in 3d) can be called a partial-bandwidth user or a narrowband user or a narrowband capability user, etc. A partial-bandwidth user can be a user who can perform MU-MIMO transmission with the first user on the partial bandwidth supported by the first user. The way in which the first user, the second user, and the third user are used in the embodiment of the present application to distinguish different target users is only an example. In a specific implementation, different target users may not be distinguished by name, or different target users may be distinguished by other methods. Of course, the target user may also be simply referred to as a user, and the embodiment of the present application is not limited to this.

[0122] Exemplarily, MU-MIMO may be: a technology by which multiple STAs (such as multiple non-AP STAs or multiple AP STAs), each STA having one or more antennas, simultaneously send or receive independent PSDUs to or from a single STA (such as an AP STA) on the same subcarrier. For specific instructions on MU-MIMO, please refer to the relevant standards, which are not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In conjunction with the embodiments of the present application, on the subcarriers of the first bandwidth, the first user and the second user can simultaneously receive independent PSDUs. The number of subcarriers of the first bandwidth can be determined by the size of the first bandwidth and the subcarrier spacing. The PSDU of the first user is transmitted on the full bandwidth, and the first user receives a portion of the PSDU on the first bandwidth.

[0123] The PPDU transmission mode described in the embodiments of the present application may be referred to as a fractional-bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode, a partial-bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode, or a mixed-bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode. The specific names of the PPDU transmission modes described in the embodiments of the present application are not limited in the embodiments of the present application. For ease of description, the following description uses the fractional-bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode as an example to illustrate the methods described in the embodiments of the present application.

[0124] Exemplarily, fractional bandwidth MU-MIMO may be a technology whereby multiple STAs (e.g., multiple non-AP STAs or multiple AP STAs), each having one or more antennas, simultaneously transmit or receive independent PSDUs to or from a single STA (e.g., an AP STA) on subcarriers with partial subcarrier overlap. The partial subcarriers may be a portion of all subcarriers used by one of the multiple STAs to transmit data. The PSDU of the first user is transmitted over the full bandwidth, and the first user receives a portion of the PSDU over the first bandwidth.

[0125] In the embodiments of the present application, although the full-bandwidth user and the partial-bandwidth user support different bandwidths, the full-bandwidth user can still perform MU-MIMO transmission with the partial-bandwidth user on the partial bandwidth, and the full-bandwidth user can also perform data transmission on other bandwidths other than the aforementioned partial bandwidth. Therefore, when the full-bandwidth user and the partial-bandwidth user support different bandwidths, the full-bandwidth user can maintain its transmittable bandwidth range, ensuring that the throughput rate of the full-bandwidth user is not affected by multi-user transmission, thereby improving the throughput rate of the full-bandwidth user.

[0126] As an example, Figures 3a and 3b are schematic diagrams of a partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode provided by an embodiment of the present application. Figures 3a and 3b are illustrated by taking the PPDU bandwidth as an example in which a partial bandwidth is included. The difference between Figures 3a and 3b is: Difference 1: There is a full-bandwidth user, such as the first user, on the entire bandwidth of the PPDU in Figure 3a. Therefore, in addition to the first bandwidth, there is a user (i.e., the first user) performing single-user transmission on the entire bandwidth of the PPDU shown in Figure 3b. There are two full-bandwidth users, such as the first user #1 and the first user #2, on the entire bandwidth of the PPDU. For example, the first user #1 and the first user #2 can perform MU-MIMO transmission on other bandwidths of the PPDU bandwidth except the first bandwidth. Difference 2: There is a partial bandwidth user, such as the second user, on the first bandwidth of Figure 3a; and there are two partial bandwidth users, such as the second user #1 and the second user #2, on the first bandwidth shown in Figure 3b.

[0127] As shown in Figure 3a, on a first bandwidth, the first user can perform MU-MIMO transmission with a second user. As shown in Figure 3b, on a first bandwidth, first user #1 and first user #2 can perform MU-MIMO transmission with second user #1 or second user #2, respectively. The number of users shown in Figures 3a and 3b is for illustrative purposes only and should not be construed as limiting the embodiments of the present application.

[0128] As another example, Figures 3c and 3d are schematic diagrams of another partial-bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode provided by an embodiment of the present application. Figures 3c and 3d illustrate an example in which the PPDU bandwidth includes two partial bandwidths. The differences between Figures 3c and 3d can be found in the description of Figures 3a and 3b and will not be detailed here.

[0129] As shown in Figure 3c, the portion of the PPDU bandwidth includes a first bandwidth and a second bandwidth. On the first bandwidth, the first user performs MU-MIMO transmission with the second user, and on the second bandwidth, the first user performs MU-MIMO transmission with the third user. As shown in Figure 3d, on the first bandwidth, first user #1 and first user #2 perform MU-MIMO transmission with second user #1 or second user #2, respectively. On the second bandwidth, first user #1 and first user #2 perform MU-MIMO transmission with third user #1 or third user #2, respectively.

[0130] The number of partial bandwidths, the number of first users, the number of second users, etc. shown in Figures 3a to 3d are all examples. In a specific implementation, the number of partial bandwidths can also be 3 or 4, etc., and this embodiment of the present application will not show them one by one.

[0131] 202. The first communication device sends a PPDU, and correspondingly, the second communication device receives the PPDU.

[0132] 203. The second communication device parses the PPDU.

[0133] In an embodiment of the present application, a first user can perform MU-MIMO transmission with a second user on part of the bandwidth, and the first user can also perform data transmission on other bandwidths in the PPDU bandwidth except for part of the bandwidth, thereby not affecting the bandwidth range that the first user can transmit, improving the throughput of the first user, improving the transmission efficiency, and improving the throughput of the entire system.

[0134] In addition to the partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode shown in the embodiment of this application, the PPDU transmission mode also includes the following transmission modes:

[0135] In OFDMA mode, the PPDU bandwidth is divided into more than one RU or MRU. Each RU or MRU can be assigned to a single user or multiple users. When a single RU or MRU is further divided among multiple users, this is called OFDMA+MU-MIMO transmission mode. When both RUs or MRUs are assigned to a single user, this is called non-MU-MIMO OFDMA.

[0136] In SU or channel sounding NDP transmission mode, the PPDU is transmitted to one user, which can also be a broadcast or multi-wave transmission case.

[0137] In non-OFDMA MU-MIMO transmission mode, the PPDU bandwidth exists in one RU or MRU and is uniformly allocated to more than one user.

[0138] Figure 4a is a schematic diagram of a downlink (DL) non-MU-MIMO OFDMA transmission mode provided in an embodiment of the present application. For the OFDMA mode, neither user 1 nor user 2 can occupy the entire bandwidth of the PPDU, that is, they occupy part of the bandwidth of the PPDU. Compared with the DL non-MU-MIMO OFDMA transmission mode, the partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode provided in the embodiment of the present application can effectively improve the throughput of user 1 when user 1 and user 2 adopt the partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode shown in the embodiment of the present application, while improving the total throughput of the AP.

[0139] Figure 4b is a schematic diagram of a DL OFDMA+MU-MIMO transmission mode provided in an embodiment of the present application. The RU or MRU when user 1 and user 2 perform MU-MIMO transmission is the same, and neither user 1 (or user 2) nor user 3 can occupy the entire bandwidth of the PPDU. The partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode provided in the embodiment of the present application is relative to the DL OFDMA+MU-MIMO transmission mode. By adopting the partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode shown in the embodiment of the present application, such as user 1 and user 2 performing MU-MIMO transmission on a partial bandwidth, and user 1 and user 3 performing MU-MIMO transmission on another partial bandwidth (or user 3, user 2 and user 1 performing MU-MIMO transmission on a partial bandwidth at the same time), the throughput of user 1 can be effectively improved. Compared with the transmission mode shown in Figure 4b, if the total throughput is the same, the AP can schedule more users when adopting the partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode. As shown in Figure 3a, the AP can also schedule more users such as user 3, thereby further improving the throughput.

[0140] Figure 4c is a schematic diagram of a SU or channel-sounding NDP transmission mode provided in an embodiment of the present application. Compared to the SU or channel-sounding NDP transmission mode, the partial-bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode provided in an embodiment of the present application effectively improves the AP's overall throughput and reduces the latency of user 2. For example, user 2 can perform MU-MIMO transmission with user 1 over a portion of the bandwidth, thereby enabling the AP to pre-schedule user 2 and reduce the latency of user 2.

[0141] Figure 4d is a schematic diagram of a DL non-OFDMA MU-MIMO transmission mode provided in an embodiment of the present application. Compared to the DL non-OFDMA MU-MIMO transmission mode, the fractional bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode provided in an embodiment of the present application effectively improves the throughput of user 1 and the overall throughput of the AP by adopting the fractional bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode shown in the embodiment of the present application.

[0142] The following describes how the first communication device generates a PPDU and how the second communication device parses the PPDU in the method shown in FIG. 2 .

[0143] Figure 5a is a schematic diagram of a method for generating PPDU provided by an embodiment of the present application. Figure 5b is a schematic diagram of a method for parsing PPDU provided by an embodiment of the present application. Figures 5a and 5b are illustrated by taking the PPDU bandwidth as 160MHz and the first bandwidth as the lower 80MHz as an example, wherein the full-bandwidth user is user 1 and the partial-bandwidth user is user 2. Table 1 exemplarily shows the functions of the various modules involved in Figure 5a. The process of generating PPDU shown in Figure 5a can also be a process of generating and sending PPDU (such as sending PPDU via radio frequency). The process of parsing PPDU shown in Figure 5b can also be a process of receiving (such as receiving PPDU via radio frequency) and parsing PPDU. User N shown in Figures 5a and 5b user,total =2 may be user 2 (user2). FIG. 5a and FIG. 5b are exemplified by one full-bandwidth user and one partial-bandwidth user. In specific implementations, a larger number of full-bandwidth users or a larger number of partial-bandwidth users may be involved, which are not listed here one by one.

[0144] The description shown in Table 1 is only an example and should not be understood as limiting the embodiments of the present application. The way in which the second communication device parses the PPDU can be the inverse process of generating the PPDU, so the functions of the various modules involved in Figure 5b are no longer listed one by one. Exemplarily, the process of parsing the PPDU may include at least one of the following modules: simulation and RF, GI removal, discrete Fourier transform (DFT), spatial and frequency demapping, segmented parsing, LDPC subcarrier demapping, constellation point demapping, segmented inverse parsing, spatial stream inverse parsing, LDPC decoding, and descrambling.

[0145] Table 1

[0146] The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific functions of the modules involved in FIG5a.

[0147] In Figure 5a, the portion before spatial and frequency domain mapping may be the process of mapping the bit stream of user 1 in the data field of the PPDU to the data subcarriers of the PPDU bandwidth, and the process of mapping the bit stream of user 2 in the data field of the PPDU to the data subcarriers of the PPDU bandwidth. User 1 is a full-bandwidth user with a PPDU bandwidth greater than 80 MHz. Therefore, user 1's bit stream needs to be allocated to different 80 MHz channels for parallel processing. For example, user 1's bit stream needs to be processed by a segment parser and a segment deparser.

[0148] The U-SIG field and the first SIG field shown below may be used to carry information related to the demodulated data field.

[0149] The following introduces the frame format of the PPDU involved in the embodiments of the present application.

[0150] Each field shown below may be a separate embodiment, such as the U-SIG field may be a separate embodiment, or the first SIG field may be a separate embodiment. Alternatively, the various fields shown below may be combined, such as including both the U-SIG field shown in the embodiment of the present application and the first SIG field shown in the embodiment of the present application in the PPDU. Any possible implementation or example of the PPDU frame format shown below may be combined with the communication method shown in FIG2 . The frame format of the PPDU in the method shown in FIG2 may refer to any possible implementation or example below.

[0151] In one possible implementation of the present application, the PPDU includes a U-SIG field. The U-SIG field may carry signaling for demodulating subsequent data. The U-SIG field may include first indication information, which may be used to indicate the transmission mode of the PPDU, such as whether the transmission mode of the PPDU is a fractional bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode. For a detailed description of the fractional bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode, please refer to FIG. 2 or the relevant descriptions of FIG. 3a to FIG. 3d, which will not be described in detail here.

[0152] As an example, the first indication information may be carried in the PPDU type and compression mode (PPDU type & compression mode) field. Exemplarily, the PPDU type and compression mode fields may be located in the B0-B1 bits of the second orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol in the U-SIG field. Of course, the location of the PPDU type and compression mode fields may change as the standard progresses. The specific location of the PPDU type and compression mode fields is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0153] Table 2 exemplifies the PPDU type and compression mode fields. As shown in Table 2, if the value of the PPDU type and compression mode fields is 3, it can indicate that the PPDU transmission mode is the fractional bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode. Table 2 is shown as an example using the U-SIG field to indicate downlink and the PPDU type and compression mode field value being 3. If the U-SIG field indicates uplink, the PPDU type and compression mode field values ​​being 2 or 3 can also indicate that the PPDU transmission mode is the fractional bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode.

[0154] Table 2

[0155] Exemplarily, the U-SIG field may also include at least one of the following fields: physical layer version indicator (PHY version identifier), bandwidth (BW) (such as can be used to indicate PPDU bandwidth), uplink / downlink, basic service set color (BSS color), transmission opportunity, punctured channel indication (punctured channel indication), coding and modulation strategy (MCS), first SIG symbol number, cyclic redundancy check (CRC), tail. The U-SIG field may also include some validation bits or disregard bits, etc., which are not described in detail in the embodiments of the present application. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific content of the U-SIG field.

[0156] As another example, the first indication information may not be carried in the PPDU type and compression mode fields. If the first indication information occupies one bit, for example, the first indication information may be carried in the 25th bit of the first OFDM symbol of the U-SIG field, and the value of the 25th bit is 1, it can be used to indicate that the transmission mode of the PPDU is the fractional bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode. The specific location of the first indication information is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0157] As another example, the first indication information may also indicate that the transmission mode of the PPDU is the partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode through a certain value of the PPDU type and compression mode fields in combination with other fields, where the other fields are fields in the U-SIG field other than the PPDU type and compression mode fields. For example, if the PPDU type and compression mode fields indicate that the transmission mode of the PPDU is the MU-MIMO transmission mode, then the MU-MIMO transmission mode and other fields may be combined to indicate that the transmission mode of the PPDU is the partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode.

[0158] By explicitly indicating that the transmission mode of the PPDU is the partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode through the first indication information in the U-SIG field, the second communication device can effectively know the transmission mode of the PPDU it receives, and thus correctly parse the PPDU.

[0159] 2 , the PPDU in step 201 includes a U-SIG field, which includes first indication information. The description of the first indication information applies to the case of one partial bandwidth and also applies to the case of multiple partial bandwidths.

[0160] In another possible implementation of the present application, the PPDU includes a first SIG field.

[0161] As an example, the first SIG field can be called a UHR-SIG field. The PPDU shown in the embodiment of the present application can be applicable to UHR, and the PPDU can be called a UHR PPDU, or a UHR MU PPDU. Figure 6a is a format diagram of a UHR PPDU provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 6a, the UHR PPDU may include a legacy short training field (L-STF), a legacy long training field (L-LTF), a legacy signaling (L-SIG) field, a legacy signaling repetition (RL-SIG) field, a U-SIG field, a UHR-SIG field, a UHR-STF, a UHR-LTF, a data field and a packet extension (PE). Exemplarily, L-STF can be used for PPDU discovery, coarse synchronization, and automatic gain control. L-LTF can be used for fine synchronization and channel estimation. L-SIG and RL-SIG can be used to carry information related to the PPDU length, and the repetition of these two fields is also used for automatic detection by the receiving end (the second communication device as shown in Figure 2). The U-SIG field can carry signaling for demodulating subsequent data. The UHR-SIG field can be used to carry signaling for demodulating subsequent data. UHR-STF can be used for automatic gain control of subsequent fields. UHR-LTF can be used for channel estimation. The data field can be used to carry data information. PE can be used to increase the processing time of the receiver. As a possible implementation method, the specific description of the U-SIG field shown in Figure 6a can refer to the specific description of the U-SIG field above (including the three examples of the U-SIG field above).

[0162] The above descriptions of the various fields are merely examples. In specific implementations, the aforementioned fields may have more or fewer functions, etc., and this is not limited in the present embodiment. For example, the PPDU shown in the present embodiment may also be applicable to standards later than 802.11bn. The specific name of the first SIG field is not limited in the present embodiment.

[0163] As another example, the first SIG field can also be referred to as an IMMW-SIG field. The PPDU shown in the embodiment of the present application can be applicable to the millimeter wave frequency band, such as the IMMW standard, and the PPDU can be referred to as an IMMW PPDU or an IMMW MU PPDU. Figure 6b is a format diagram of an IMMW PPDU provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 6b, the IMMW PPDU may include L-STF, L-LTF, L-SIG field, RL-SIG field, U-SIG field, IMMW-SIG field, IMMW-STF, IMMW-LTF, data field and PE. For the specific description of each field, please refer to Figure 6a, which will not be described in detail here. As a possible implementation method, the specific description of the U-SIG field shown in Figure 6b can refer to the above specific description of the U-SIG field (including the above three examples of the U-SIG field).

[0164] The fields and order of the fields included in the UHR PPDU shown in Figure 6a and the IMMW PPDU shown in Figure 6b are only examples and should not be understood as limiting the embodiments of the present application. For ease of description, the following examples will be described using the UHR PPDU as an example.

[0165] The frame format of the UHR PPDU shown in Figure 6a is combined with the partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode shown in Figure 2, and reference can be made to Figure 7a. In Figure 7a, the PPDU bandwidth is 160MHz, and the PPDU corresponds to 4 target users (it can also be that there are 4 target users in the PPDU). User 1 and user 2 occupy the entire PPDU bandwidth for transmission, and user 3 and user 4 occupy part of the bandwidth (lower 80MHz) for transmission. User 1 and user 2 perform MU-MIMO transmission of four users with user 3 and user 4 on part of the bandwidth (lower 80MHz). User 1 and user 2 perform MU-MIMO transmission of two users on the upper 80MHz. User 1 and user 2 in Figure 7a can be equivalent to the first user shown in Figure 2, and user 3 and user 4 in Figure 7a can be equivalent to the second user shown in Figure 2. The PPDU bandwidth and number of target users shown in Figure 7a are examples and should not be understood as limitations on the embodiments of the present application.

[0166] For example, in the UHR PPDU shown in Figure 7a, the part before the UHR-SIG field can be called the non-UHR modulation part. The non-UHR modulation part is usually transmitted in units of 20MHz sub-channels. When the PPDU bandwidth is greater than 20MHz, it is transmitted separately on each 20MHz. The part after the UHR-SIG field can be called the UHR modulation part, which can be transmitted in units of RU or MRU in the frequency domain. For the non-UHR modulation part of the PPDU, the embodiment of the present application is shown in units of 20MHz sub-channels, but it should not be understood as a limitation of the embodiment of the present application. As the standard progresses, the non-UHR modulation part can also be transmitted in units of 40MHz, etc., which will not be listed here one by one. This description also applies to Figures 8a and 11, and will not be repeated below.

[0167] The following describes the information carried in the first SIG field.

[0168] The first SIG field may include at least one of the following information: second indication information, third indication information, information indicating the number of users performing MU-MIMO transmission within the partial bandwidth, information indicating M, user type indication information, information indicating the number of partial bandwidths, information indicating the number of user field groups, and one or more user fields. The second indication information may be used to indicate at least one of the size and location of the first bandwidth. The third indication information may be used to indicate at least one of the size and location of the second bandwidth. M may be the total number of target users corresponding to the PPDU, i.e., M is equal to the total number of users. Alternatively, M may be the total number of user fields included in the first SIG field, i.e., M is equal to the total number of user fields.

[0169] Exemplarily, the first SIG field may include a common field and a user-specific field. For example, the common field may include a U-SIG overflow field, which may contain common information that cannot be carried in the U-SIG field due to insufficient bits, such as spatial multiplexing parameters, guard interval, long training field size, number of UHR-LTF symbols, etc. The user-specific field may contain signaling information of the target user, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific content contained in the common field and the user-specific field. For example, the second indication information and the third indication information described above may be carried in the common field. Information indicating the number of users performing MU-MIMO transmission within a partial bandwidth and information indicating M may be carried in the common field. The user type indication information may be carried in the common field or the user-specific field. The information indicating the number of partial bandwidths may be carried in the common field or the user-specific field. The information indicating the number of user field groups may be carried in the common field or the user-specific field. The one or more user fields may be present in the user-specific field. Exemplarily, the number of partial bandwidths may be equal to the number of user field groups. The above-mentioned information is described in detail below.

[0170] 1. Second instruction information

[0171] The second indication information is used to indicate at least one of the size and position of the first bandwidth. The following describes the indication method of the second indication information:

[0172] Indication method 1: The second indication information includes a first bit map, in which one bit corresponds to a unit bandwidth, and the size of the unit bandwidth is less than or equal to the size of the first bandwidth. That is, the first SIG field contains the above-mentioned first bit map. Exemplarily, the value of the above-mentioned one bit can be used to indicate whether the unit bandwidth corresponding to the one bit is included in the first bandwidth (or whether it is included in the partial bandwidth). Alternatively, it can also be: the value of the above-mentioned one bit can be used to indicate whether the unit bandwidth corresponding to the one bit is part of the partial bandwidth used for partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission. The unit bandwidth can also be called partial sub-bandwidth or partial sub-band or unit channel, etc. The specific name of the unit bandwidth is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

[0173] Exemplarily, there is a first bitmap in the first SIG field, and one bit in the first bitmap may correspond to a unit bandwidth. Setting a certain bit to 1 indicates that the unit bandwidth is part of the partial bandwidth used for partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission, and setting a certain bit to 0 indicates that the unit bandwidth is not part of the partial bandwidth used for partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission. Of course, the relationship between the value and meaning of the above-mentioned bits is only an example. For example, setting a certain bit to 0 indicates that the unit bandwidth is part of the partial bandwidth used for partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission, and setting a certain bit to 1 indicates that the unit bandwidth is not part of the partial bandwidth used for partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission.

[0174] For example, if each bit corresponds to 80MHz, the PPDU bandwidth is 160MHz, and the length of the first bitmap is 2 bits. According to the frequency from low to high, if the first bitmap indicates 10, it means that the lower 80MHz is used for partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission (or the lower 80MHz is partial bandwidth), and the upper 80MHz is not used for partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission (or the upper 80MHz is not partial bandwidth). Taking Figure 7a as an example, at the lower 80MHz, user 3 and user 4 can perform MU-MIMO transmission of 4 users with user 1 and user 2. At the upper 80MHz, user 1 and user 2 perform MU-MIMO transmission of 2 users. For another example, each bit corresponds to 80MHz, the PPDU bandwidth is 320MHz, and the length of the first bitmap is 4 bits. According to the frequency from low to high, if the first bitmap indicates 1100, it means that the lower 160MHz is used for partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission, and the upper 160MHz is not used for partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission.

[0175] As an example, the length of the first bitmap may be related to the PPDU bandwidth. For example, the length of the first bitmap may be determined by the PPDU bandwidth and the unit bandwidth. For example, if the unit bandwidth corresponding to one bit may be 20 MHz and the PPDU bandwidth is 160 MHz, the length of the first bitmap may be 8 bits. For another example, if the unit bandwidth corresponding to one bit may be 40 MHz and the PPDU bandwidth is 160 MHz, the length of the first bitmap may be 4 bits. In this manner, since the selection of the length of the first bitmap is more flexible, the first communication device may indicate the length of the first bitmap to the second communication device before sending the PPDU, or the first communication device may carry the length information of the first bitmap in the first SIG field.

[0176] As another example, the length of the first bitmap can be fixed, such as the length of the first bitmap can be defined by a standard. For example, the length of the first bitmap can always be set according to the number of bits required for the maximum possible bandwidth of the PPDU. For example, when the PPDU bandwidth is 160MHz, the length of the first bitmap is 4 bits, and the unit bandwidth corresponding to one bit is 80MHz. If the first bitmap indicates 1000, from low to high frequency, it means that the lower 80MHz is used for partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission, and the upper 80MHz is not used for partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission. The other two 0s also indicate that it is not used for partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission. In this way, the length of the first bitmap is fixed, so this way is simpler. The various bandwidths listed above are only examples. The method of indicating the size and position of the first bandwidth by the first bitmap can be applied not only to UHR PPDU, but also to IMMW PPDU.

[0177] By indicating the size and position of the first bandwidth through the first bitmap, the target user can clearly know the size and position of the first bandwidth, which is more flexible.

[0178] Indication method 2: The second indication information includes one or more bits, and the one or more bits can be used to indicate the size of the partial bandwidth. That is, the first SIG field contains one or more bits. For example, there is a corresponding relationship between the value of the one or more bits and the size of the partial bandwidth. For example, the first SIG field contains one bit. When the maximum value of the PPDU bandwidth is 320MHz, the one bit indicates whether the partial bandwidth is 80MHz or 160MHz. For another example, the first SIG field contains multiple bits. When the PPDU bandwidth is greater than 320MHz, the multiple bits can be used to indicate that the partial bandwidth is 240MHz, 320MHz, 480MHz, or 640MHz, etc., which are not listed here one by one.

[0179] As an example, the first bandwidth may be primarily 80 MHz or primarily 160 MHz. For another example, for a 1 MMW PPDU, the first bandwidth may be primarily 320 MHz.

[0180] As another example, the position of the first bandwidth is pre-set. For example, the first bandwidth can be 80MHz or 160MHz where the sub-channel for the negotiated park is located. The position of the sub-channel for the negotiated park can adopt the target wakeup time (TWT) + sub-channel selective transmission (SST) mechanism. For example, the position of the sub-channel for the negotiated park can be indicated by the AP to the target user (such as a partial bandwidth user), and the information sent by the AP contains a bit map, which can be used to indicate the position of the sub-channel where the partial bandwidth user can park. Alternatively, the position of the first bandwidth can also be indicated by the AP to the target user (such as a partial bandwidth user) at the beginning of a transmission opportunity.

[0181] By indicating the size of the first bandwidth with one bit or multiple bits, overhead can be effectively saved.

[0182] Indication method 3: The second indication information includes at least one bit, which is used to indicate the resource unit RU or multiple resource unit MRU corresponding to (or occupied by) the first bandwidth. That is, the first SIG field contains the above-mentioned at least one bit. The value of the at least one bit can indicate the RU or MRU corresponding to the partial bandwidth, that is, it can simultaneously indicate the size and position of the first bandwidth.

[0183] Table 3 exemplifies four RU sizes. Of course, it can also be extended to MRU or RU of other sizes, etc., which are not listed here one by one. The table shown in Table 3 is only an example. In a specific implementation, the relationship between the value of at least one bit and the RU or MRU corresponding to the first bandwidth can be shown by a table, which can be larger than the table shown in Table 3, or it can also be a part of Table 3. Table 3 is shown as an example of 5 bits. The relationship between the bit values ​​shown in Table 3 and the PPDU bandwidth is only an example and should not be understood as a limitation on the embodiments of the present application.

[0184] Table 3

[0185] In Table 3, a 242-tone RU can correspond to a 20 MHz band, a 484-tone RU can correspond to a 40 MHz band, a 996-tone RU can correspond to an 80 MHz band, and a 2*996-tone RU can correspond to a 160 MHz band.

[0186] For example, the PPDU bandwidth is 80MHz, and the value of the 5 bits can be 0 to 3. If the value of these 5 bits is 0 and the RU size is 242-tone RU, it means that the RU occupied by the first bandwidth is RU1, such as the first bandwidth is the lower 20MHz. For another example, if the value of the 5 bits is 1 and the RU size is 242-tone RU, it means that the RU occupied by the first bandwidth is RU2, such as the first bandwidth is the second 20MHz from low to high frequency. For another example, the PPDU bandwidth is 160MHz, and the value of the 5 bits can be 0-7. For another example, the PPDU bandwidth is 320MHz, and the value of the 5 bits can be 0-15. The specific examples involved in Table 2 are not listed here one by one.

[0187] Table 3 shows RU as an example. In a specific implementation, at least one bit may also indicate the MRU of the first bandwidth occupancy. For example, the MRU indicating the first bandwidth occupancy is 484+242-tone MRU, etc. Specific examples of MRU are not listed here.

[0188] By indicating the RU or MRU occupied by the first bandwidth in a table index manner in indication method 3, the relationship between the RU or MRU and the partial bandwidth can be expressed in more detail.

[0189] Indication method 4: The second indication information is carried in the resource allocation (RU allocation) field, which is used to indicate the size and location of the first bandwidth. That is, the first SIG field may contain one or more resource allocation fields. The resource allocation field may multiplex the resource allocation subfield (RU allocation subfield) and the primary / secondary 160 (PS160) subfield in the trigger frame, or multiplex one or more resource allocation subfields (RU allocation subfield(s)) transmitted in the UHR-SIG field when OFDMA transmission is used.

[0190] Indication method 4 is equivalent to a further extension of indication method 3, but in indication method 4, both communicating parties do not need to store the table to save storage space. For sizes that are not supported by some transmissions, such as RU or MRU smaller than 242-tone, they are reserved in this case.

[0191] Indication methods 1 to 4 described above are illustrated using the example of the first SIG field including the second indication information. In one possible implementation, the first SIG field may not include the second indication information. Instead, at least one of the size and position of the first bandwidth may be determined based on the correspondence between the PPDU bandwidth and the fractional bandwidth. Alternatively, at least one of the size and position of the first bandwidth may be fixed. For example, the first bandwidth may be fixed to 80 MHz by default. Alternatively, when the PPDU bandwidth is 160 MHz, the first bandwidth may be 80 MHz by default; and when the PPDU bandwidth is 320 MHz, the first bandwidth may be 160 MHz by default. Alternatively, the first bandwidth may be the maximum bandwidth supported by a fractional bandwidth user. Alternatively, the first bandwidth may be the maximum bandwidth supported by the user's capabilities. In conjunction with Indication method 2, which states that the position of the first bandwidth may not be indicated, the first SIG field may not indicate at least one of the size and position of the first bandwidth. For example, the first bandwidth position, the first bandwidth size, or both may not be indicated.

[0192] 2. Information indicating M

[0193] Exemplarily, M may be equal to the total number of users, or equal to the total number of user fields. The information indicating M may also be referred to as M information, or M, etc. The specific name of the information is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0194] If the number of partial bandwidths is one, the information indicating M may also be used to indicate the number of users performing MU-MIMO transmission within the partial bandwidth. In this case, the total number of users may be equal to the total number of users field.

[0195] For example, when there are multiple partial bandwidths, the information indicating M may indicate the total number of users performing MU-MIMO transmission in the multiple partial bandwidths, or the information indicating M may be used to indicate the total number of user fields in the user-specific field. In this case, the total number of users performing MU-MIMO transmission in the multiple partial bandwidths is less than the total number of user fields.

[0196] 3. User type indication information

[0197] The user type indication information can be used to indicate whether the target user is a full-bandwidth user or a fractional-bandwidth user. For example, in Figure 2 , the first user is a full-bandwidth user, while the second and third users are fractional-bandwidth users. For another example, in Figures 3b and 3d , the first user #1 and first user #2 are both full-bandwidth users, while the second user #1 and second user #2 are both fractional-bandwidth users. For another example, in Figure 3d , the third user #1 and third user #2 are both fractional-bandwidth users.

[0198] As an example, user type indication information can be carried in a common field. For example, the user type information can be a second bitmap. That is, the common field can contain a second bitmap, and the length of the second bitmap can be M, where M is an integer greater than 1. For example, M can be equal to the number of users performing fractional-bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission, or M can be equal to the total number of target users corresponding to the PPDU. A bit indicating 1 in the second bitmap can indicate that the corresponding target user type is a full-bandwidth user, while a bit indicating 0 can indicate that the corresponding target user type is a fractional-bandwidth user. The correspondence between the above bit values ​​and meanings is merely an example. For example, a bit indicating 0 can indicate that the corresponding target user type is a full-bandwidth user, while a bit indicating 1 can indicate that the corresponding target user type is a fractional-bandwidth user. For another example, M can be equal to the total number of user fields included in the first SIG field. For example, a bit indicating 1 in the second bitmap can indicate that the target user type of the corresponding user field is a full-bandwidth user, while a bit indicating 0 can indicate that the target user type of the corresponding user field is a fractional-bandwidth user. For example, there may be multiple bits in the second bitmap corresponding to full-bandwidth users, and the number of bits corresponding to full-bandwidth users may be equal to the number of partial bandwidths.

[0199] Illustratively, the order of target users corresponding to the bits in the second bitmap corresponds to the order of user fields in the user-specific field. The order of user fields in the user-specific field can be determined based on the number of spatial streams of the target users. Alternatively, the order of target users corresponding to the bits in the second bitmap can be determined based on the size or location of the bandwidth corresponding to the target users. This embodiment of the present application does not limit the order of target users corresponding to the bits in the second bitmap.

[0200] The above-mentioned second bitmap can be replicated in different content channels (CCs) (e.g., the second bitmap can be repeatedly transmitted in different content channels), or it can be divided into several parts and carried in different content channels (e.g., transmitted corresponding to the user field). For example, the content channel can be used to represent the content transmitted within a certain 20MHz in the first SIG field (e.g., the UHR-SIG field or the IMMW-SIG field, etc.). When the PPDU bandwidth is 20MHz, there is one CC in the first SIG field. When the PPDU bandwidth is 40MHz, there can be two CCs in the first SIG field, which are CC1 and CC2 from low to high in frequency. The format of the signaling field in the two content channels is the same, but the content can be different. When the PPDU bandwidth is 80MHz, there are still 2 CCs, a total of 4 channels, so the overall structure from low to high in frequency is CC1, CC2, CC1, CC2 on 4 channels. When the PPDU bandwidth is 160MHz or above, there are two content channels in each 80MHz. The content of the first SIG field can be different in different 80MHz. The above description of content channels is merely an example. For a detailed description of content channels, please refer to the relevant standards, and the present embodiments are not limited thereto. As standards evolve, the arrangement or format of content channels may change. When the arrangement or format of content channels changes, the position or arrangement of the second bitmap within the content channels may also change accordingly.

[0201] As another example, user type information can be carried in a user-specific field. For example, a single bit can be included in the user field to indicate whether the target user type corresponding to the user field is a full-bandwidth user or a fractional-bandwidth user. In other words, the user field in the user-specific field can contain the single bit. Thus, the target user can determine whether the target user type is a full-bandwidth user or a fractional-bandwidth user from its corresponding user field.

[0202] Of course, the above-mentioned user type information may also exist in both the common field and the user-specific field. For example, the common field includes a second bitmap, and there is a bit in the user field in the user-specific field. This bit can be used to indicate the type of the target user corresponding to the user field.

[0203] The description of user type information applies not only to the case where there is only one partial bandwidth, but also to the case where there are multiple partial bandwidths. The following description of the case where there are multiple partial bandwidths will not be given in detail.

[0204] 4. User fields

[0205] The user field may be included in the user-specific field of the first SIG field. Exemplarily, the user field may include at least one of the following fields: site identifier, MCS, coding, and spatial stream allocation. Exemplarily, the spatial stream allocation field may be a 6-bit index table that may indicate spatial stream allocation information for a group of MU-MIMO users. For a certain number of users, an index may correspond to a group of spatial stream numbers arranged from largest to smallest. For example, if there are 4 users, 001010 may indicate that the spatial streams for these 4 users are, in order: 2, 2, 2, 1; if there are 5 users, 000101 may indicate that the spatial streams for these 5 users are, in order: 3, 2, 1, 1, 1. For the spatial stream group of 2, 2, 2, 1, if the user field of a target user is the second user field in the user-specific field, the target user may know that the spatial stream number of the target user is the second value in 2, 2, 2, 1, i.e., 2. The value shown here is the value in the spatial stream combination represented by the 6-bit index. In other words, the order in which the user fields appear in a group of MU-MIMO transmission users allows the target user to effectively know the order of the spatial stream corresponding to the target user in the set of spatial stream numbers. For the specific content of the above index table, please refer to the relevant standards and will not be described in detail here. Of course, as standards advance, the index table used for spatial stream allocation information may also change, and this embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0206] For example, in the user-specific field, the order of the user fields can correspond to the order of the spatial stream numbers. For example, the user fields of the target users can be indicated in the user-specific field in the order of the spatial stream numbers (e.g., from largest to smallest). If two target users have the same number of spatial streams, the order of the user fields of the two target users is not limited in this embodiment of the application.

[0207] The description about the user field also applies to the case where the partial bandwidth is one or more.

[0208] Exemplarily, when the number of partial bandwidths is one, the first SIG field may include second indication information, information indicating M, a second bitmap, and one or more user fields. Figure 7b is a schematic diagram of the format of a first SIG field provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 7b, the PPDU corresponds to four target users (refer to Figure 7a). If one target user corresponds to one user field, the four user fields can be placed in the order of user 1, user 3, user 4, and user 2. Among them, the number of spatial streams of user 1 is not less than the number of spatial streams of user 3, the number of spatial streams of user 3 is not less than the number of spatial streams of user 4, and the number of spatial streams of user 4 is not less than the number of spatial streams of user 2. These four user fields can be distributed across two content channels. For example, the user field for user 1 (user field user1 shown in Figure 7b , referred to as user field 1) and the user field for user 3 (user field user3 shown in Figure 7b , referred to as user field 3) can be located in content channel 1, while the user field for user 4 (user field user4 shown in Figure 7b , referred to as user field 4) and the user field for user 2 (user field user2 shown in Figure 7b , referred to as user field 2) can be located in content channel 2. When there are an even number of user-specific fields, the number of user fields in the two content channels can remain the same; when there are an odd number of user-specific fields, content channel 1 can have one additional user field.

[0209] Exemplarily, full-bandwidth users can use the same number of spatial streams within the entire bandwidth, as shown in Figure 7b, which takes a full-bandwidth user corresponding to one user field as an example. Exemplarily, full-bandwidth users can use non-uniform modulation across the entire bandwidth, such as using different MCSs in the upper half (the upper 80MHz as shown in Figure 7a) and the lower half (the lower 80MHz as shown in Figure 7a). Since the channel conditions and user interference of full-bandwidth users in different bandwidths are different, using different MCSs is conducive to channel adaptation and further improving throughput. Exemplarily, a full-bandwidth user can correspond to one user field, or it can correspond to multiple user fields. If a full-bandwidth user corresponds to multiple user fields, the number of user fields can be related to the way the PPDU bandwidth is divided. For example, for Figures 3a and 3b, the first user can correspond to two user fields. The number of user fields corresponding to full-bandwidth users is not limited in the embodiments of this application.

[0210] Figure 7b illustrates the user field as existing in two content channels. For example, a user-specific field can exist in one content channel, or the content on different 20MHz channels can be identical and transmitted in duplicate. For example, a content channel can also include at least one of the following: a CRC, a tail field, and a padding field. For example, user field 3 in content channel 1 shown in Figure 7b may also be followed by a CRC and tail field. User field 2 in content channel 2 shown in Figure 7b may also be followed by a CRC and tail field.

[0211] For example, the first SIG field shown in FIG7b may also include information indicating the number of partial bandwidths. For the relevant descriptions of the various fields involved in FIG7b, reference may be made to the above descriptions of the second indication information, the information indicating M, the user type indication information, and the user field, and will not be further described here.

[0212] 5. Third instruction information

[0213] The third indication information can be used to indicate at least one of the size and position of the second bandwidth. For the specific method of indicating at least one of the size and position of the second bandwidth with the third indication information, refer to the above description of the second indication information and will not be detailed here. The various indication methods for the second indication information shown above can also be applied to the case where the number of partial bandwidths is two, such as the first bandwidth and the second bandwidth shown above. It can also be applied to the case where the number of partial bandwidths is three or more.

[0214] As an example, the first SIG field may include either the second indication information or the third indication information. If the first SIG field includes the second indication information, the size and position of the second bandwidth may be determined by the size and position of the PPDU bandwidth and the first bandwidth. For example, the second bandwidth may be the PPDU bandwidth excluding the first bandwidth. That is, the size and position of the second bandwidth may be implicitly determined by the size and position of the first bandwidth indicated by the second indication information. By including the second indication information or the third indication information in the first SIG field to indicate two partial bandwidths, signaling overhead can be reduced.

[0215] As another example, the first SIG field may also include second and third indication information. For an explanation of the third indication information, refer to the above description of the second indication information, such as indication methods 1 to 4, and will not be detailed here. By including the second and third indication information in the first SIG field, the target user can clearly understand the size and location of each bandwidth portion.

[0216] As another example, when there are three or more partial bandwidths, such as the first bandwidth, the second bandwidth, and the third bandwidth, the first SIG field may include the second indication information and the third indication information. The size and position of the third bandwidth may be implicitly determined by the second and third indication information. That is, when there are two or more partial bandwidths in the PPDU bandwidth, such as N partial bandwidths, the first SIG field may indicate the size and / or position of N-1 of these partial bandwidths, and the size and position of the last partial bandwidth may be calculated based on the first N-1 partial bandwidths. N is an integer greater than or equal to 2. The method for indicating the size and position of the third bandwidth can refer to the method for indicating the second bandwidth described above and will not be further described here. For another example, the first SIG field may include the second indication information, the third indication information, and the fourth indication information. The fourth indication information may be used to indicate at least one of the size and position of the third bandwidth. For an explanation of the fourth indication information, refer to the description of the second indication information above, such as indication methods 1 to 4, and will not be further described here.

[0217] The second indication information and the third indication information may also be referred to as information indicating the size and / or location of the partial bandwidth, or partial bandwidth information. In a specific implementation, when there are multiple partial bandwidths, the information may be differentiated based on the indicated partial bandwidths (e.g., the second indication information and the third indication information). Alternatively, the information may be referred to as the partial bandwidth information without differentiation in name, for example.

[0218] 6. Information indicating the number of partial bandwidths and the number of user field groups

[0219] When there are multiple partial bandwidths, as an example, the first SIG field may include information indicating the number of partial bandwidths (as shown in FIG8A , the number of partial bandwidths is 2). By indicating the number of partial bandwidths, the second communication device can effectively determine, based on the second indication information, whether the bandwidth other than the first bandwidth in the PPDU bandwidth is a partial bandwidth, and whether the first user performs partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission with other users in this partial bandwidth. Of course, when there is only one partial bandwidth, the first SIG field may also include information indicating the number of partial bandwidths.

[0220] In the case where there are multiple partial bandwidths, as another example, the first SIG field may include information indicating the number of user field groups. The number of user field groups may be equal to the number of indicated partial bandwidths. The target users corresponding to the user fields within a user field group have the same bandwidth for MU-MIMO transmission, so the number of user field groups may also indicate the number of partial bandwidths. For relevant descriptions of user field groups, please refer to the following text and will not be described in detail here. Of course, in the case where the number of partial bandwidths is one, the first SIG field may also include information indicating the number of user field groups. For example, with respect to Figure 7b, the number of user field groups is one.

[0221] In the case where there are multiple partial bandwidths, the number of partial bandwidths may be equal to the number of user field groups. The information indicating the number of partial bandwidths and the information indicating the number of user field groups may be considered equivalent or interchangeable.

[0222] 7, indicating the number of users performing MU-MIMO transmission within a portion of the bandwidth

[0223] The first SIG field may include information indicating the number of users performing MU-MIMO transmission within a partial bandwidth. For example, taking Figure 3a as an example, it indicates that the number of users performing MU-MIMO transmission within the first bandwidth is 2. Taking Figure 3b as an example, it indicates that the number of users performing MU-MIMO transmission within the first bandwidth is 4. Taking Figure 3c as an example, it indicates that the number of users performing MU-MIMO transmission within the first bandwidth is 2, and the number of users performing MU-MIMO transmission within the second bandwidth is 2. Taking Figure 3d as an example, it indicates that the number of users performing MU-MIMO transmission within the first bandwidth is 4, and the number of users performing MU-MIMO transmission within the second bandwidth is 4.

[0224] Exemplarily, the first SIG field may include information indicating the number of partial bandwidth users corresponding to a partial bandwidth. For example, in Figure 3d, the number of partial bandwidth users performing MU-MIMO transmission in the first bandwidth is 2, and the number of partial bandwidth users performing MU-MIMO transmission in the second bandwidth is 2. Of course, the information indicating the number of partial bandwidth users corresponding to a partial bandwidth shown here can also be replaced by information indicating the number of full bandwidth users corresponding to a partial bandwidth, which will not be described in detail here.

[0225] That is, when there are multiple partial bandwidths, the first SIG field may include information indicating the sum of the number of partial bandwidth users corresponding to the partial bandwidth and the number of full bandwidth users (also referred to as information about the total number of users corresponding to the partial bandwidth), or the first SIG field may include information indicating the number of partial bandwidth users corresponding to the partial bandwidth. Of course, the first SIG field may also include information indicating the total number of users corresponding to a partial bandwidth and information indicating the number of partial bandwidth users corresponding to a partial bandwidth.

[0226] 8. User Field Group

[0227] When the user-specific field includes multiple user fields, these multiple user fields may correspond to at least two user field groups. The target users corresponding to the user fields within the user field group have the same bandwidth for MU-MIMO transmission. Alternatively, the number of partial bandwidths corresponds to the user field grouping, such as the number of user field groups may be equal to the number of partial bandwidths. If the first SIG field includes at least two user field groups, the user field group includes at least two user fields, and the target users corresponding to at least two user fields within the user field group have the same bandwidth for MU-MIMO transmission. In other words, the user-specific field in the first SIG field may include at least two user field groups, and the target users corresponding to at least two user fields within the same user field group have the same partial bandwidth.

[0228] Exemplarily, the order of at least two user field groups can be arranged in order of frequency. The order of at least two user fields within a user field group can be arranged in order of spatial stream size. For example, the order of at least two user field groups can be arranged in order of frequency from low to high. For example, the order between user field groups can be distributed in order of frequency from low to high for the partial bandwidth corresponding to each user field group. The order of at least two user fields within a user field group can be arranged in order of spatial stream number from large to small. For example, the order between user fields can be distributed in order of spatial stream number corresponding to the target user from large to small. The number of spatial streams corresponding to the target user of at least two user fields within a user field group can be the same. For example, if the number of partial bandwidths shown in FIG. 2 is 2, such as including a first bandwidth and a second bandwidth, the user field corresponding to the target user performing MU-MIMO transmission on the first bandwidth can be one user field group (e.g., referred to as user field group 1), and the user field corresponding to the target user performing MU-MIMO transmission on the second bandwidth can be another user field group (e.g., referred to as user field group 2). Because the frequency of the first bandwidth is lower than the frequency of the second bandwidth, the order of the user field groups in the user-specific field may be user field group 1, then user field group 2. The user fields in user field group 1 may be ordered based on the number of spatial streams for the first user and the number of spatial streams for the second user, and the user fields in user field group 2 may be ordered based on the number of spatial streams for the first user and the number of spatial streams for the third user.

[0229] For full-bandwidth users, more than one user field can be associated with each full-bandwidth user. For example, the number of spatial streams and / or MCS can be indicated for different partial bandwidths. Because full-bandwidth users experience different channel conditions and user interference in different bandwidths, using different MCSs facilitates channel adaptation and further improves throughput. For example, in Figure 2, the first user can be associated with a user field in each of the first and second bandwidths.

[0230] Figure 8a is a schematic diagram of a partial-bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 8a, users 3, 4, 5, and 6 perform MU-MIMO transmission in the lower 80 MHz band, while users 1, 2, 5, and 6 perform MU-MIMO transmission in the upper 80 MHz band. Users 5 and 6 are full-bandwidth users, while users 1, 2, 3, and 4 are partial-bandwidth users.

[0231] Exemplarily, when there are multiple partial bandwidths, the first SIG field may include second indication information, information indicating M, information indicating MU-MIMO transmission within the partial bandwidth, and multiple user fields. These multiple user fields may correspond to at least two user field groups. The first SIG field may also include information indicating the number of user field groups; for example, the number of user field groups may be equal to the number of partial bandwidths. Figure 8b is a schematic diagram of the format of a first SIG field provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 8b, in the user-specific field, corresponding user fields may be indicated according to two user field groups. The user-specific field may first indicate the user fields of users 3, 4, 5, and 6 in the lower 80 MHz; then indicate the user fields of users 1, 2, 5, and 6 in the upper 80 MHz. Within each user field group, the order of the user fields follows a predetermined order of spatial stream numbers for each target user, from largest to smallest. As shown in Figure 8b, in the first user field group, the number of spatial streams for user 5 is not less than that for user 6, the number of spatial streams for user 6 is not less than that for user 4, and the number of spatial streams for user 4 is not less than that for user 3. In the second user field group, the number of spatial streams of user 5 is not less than the number of spatial streams of user 1, the number of spatial streams of user 1 is not less than the number of spatial streams of user 2, and the number of spatial streams of user 2 is not less than the number of spatial streams of user 6.

[0232] The number of user field groups shown in Figure 8b can also be referred to as the number of narrowband MU-MIMO groups. The first SIG field implicitly indicates at least one of the sizes and positions of the two partial bandwidths by including the second indication information. M1 is the number of users corresponding to one of the two partial bandwidths. For example, M1 can be 4 (the total number of users is 4), or M1 can be 2 (the number of partial bandwidth users is 2 and the number of full bandwidth users is 2). M2 is the number of users corresponding to the other partial bandwidth of the two partial bandwidths. For example, M2 can be 4 (the total number of users is 4), or M2 can be 2 (the number of partial bandwidth users is 2 and the number of full bandwidth users is 2).

[0233] Exemplarily, the first SIG field may further include a second bitmap. For example, the second bitmap may be 6 bits long, i.e., the total number of users corresponding to the PPDU bandwidth is 6. For another example, the second bitmap may be 8 bits long, i.e., the user-specific field includes 8 user fields. Of course, the second bitmap may also be combined with a user field group. For example, the second bitmap may be 4 bits long, with one second bitmap corresponding to one partial bandwidth, or one user field group corresponding to one second bitmap. Exemplarily, the user field in the user-specific field may also include one bit, which may be used to indicate the user type of the target user corresponding to the user field.

[0234] If a full-bandwidth user corresponds to more than one user field, the number of times a site identifier appears in the user-specific field can be used to determine the type of target user corresponding to that site identifier. If a site identifier appears multiple times in the user-specific field, it indicates that the target user corresponding to that site identifier is a full-bandwidth user. If a site identifier appears once in the user-specific field, it indicates that the target user corresponding to that site identifier is a fractional-bandwidth user. For example, if a site identifier appears multiple times in the user-specific field, the number of spatial streams and / or MCS, etc., can be set separately for the full-bandwidth user corresponding to that site identifier on different fractional bandwidths.

[0235] The U-SIG field or the first SIG field shown above may be a separate embodiment, and the PPDU shown in FIG2 includes at least one piece of information in the above-mentioned U-SIG field or the above-mentioned first SIG field. Alternatively, the above-mentioned U-SIG field and the first SIG field may be combined with each other, and the PPDU shown in FIG2 may include both the above-mentioned U-SIG field and the above-mentioned first SIG field. When including the above-mentioned first SIG field, the number of partial bandwidths may be one or more. Similarly, the various information included in the above-mentioned first SIG field may also be combined with each other, such as the second bit map may be combined with the number of user field groups, such as if there are two second bit maps in the common field, and a second bit map may indicate the user type of the user field corresponding to a user field group, etc. The specific manner of combining the various information is no longer listed one by one in the embodiments of the present application.

[0236] In conjunction with the U-SIG field and the first SIG field shown above, in step 203, the second communication device may parse the PPDU in a manner that may include: parsing the U-SIG field in the PPDU to identify that the transmission mode of the PPDU is a fractional bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode; parsing the first SIG field in the PPDU to obtain at least one of the size and position of the partial bandwidth; and identifying, based on the user identifier, a user field in the first SIG field corresponding to the user identifier, and whether the user type corresponding to the user identifier is a full bandwidth user or a partial bandwidth user. In other words, the second communication device may identify that the transmission mode of the PPDU is a fractional bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode through the U-SIG field. At least one of the size and position of the partial bandwidth is identified through the first SIG field. And, in the user-specific field, the second communication device may identify its own user field based on the user identifier of the second communication device (e.g., the site identifier). For example, the user-specific field may carry user type information, and the user may determine whether the user is a full bandwidth user or a partial bandwidth user based on the user type information. Alternatively, the common field may carry user type information, such as identifying whether the user is a full bandwidth user or a partial bandwidth user based on the value of the bit corresponding to the user in the second bitmap. Then, it receives its own data in the corresponding space resources and / or frequency resources.

[0237] The method shown in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to the partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode, and can be applied not only to the case where the partial bandwidth is one, but also to the case where the partial bandwidth is multiple. The information or fields in the first SIG field can be more or less than the content shown in Figure 7b or Figure 8b based on the specific implementation, and the above-mentioned various information can be combined with each other to serve as the content of the first SIG field.

[0238] The various methods or implementations shown above can be applied to downlink multi-user communication between an AP and multiple non-AP STAs. The embodiments of the present application are also applicable to uplink multi-user transmission, such as triggered uplink multi-user transmission. Figure 9a is a flow chart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. For example, the first communication device can be an AP, and the second communication device can be a non-AP STA. For the relevant description of the first communication device and the second communication device, please refer to the above and will not be described in detail here. As shown in Figure 9a, the method includes:

[0239] 901. A first communication device sends a trigger frame, and a second communication device receives the trigger frame. The trigger frame may include transmission mode indication information, where the transmission mode indication information is used to indicate that the transmission mode of the triggered PPDU is a fractional bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode.

[0240] In a possible implementation, before step 901 , the first communication device may further generate a trigger frame.

[0241] Exemplarily, the trigger frame can be used to trigger multiple target users to perform partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission. For the relevant description of partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission, please refer to the above and will not be described in detail here. The trigger frame can also be referred to as a trigger frame for triggering TB PPDU, etc. The specific definition of the trigger frame is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

[0242] Exemplarily, the trigger frame may include a common information field, wherein the common information field includes transmission mode indication information, where the transmission mode indication information is used to indicate that the transmission mode of the triggered PPDU is the fractional bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode. For example, the transmission mode indication information may be a single bit. If this single bit indicates 1, it indicates that the transmission mode of the triggered PPDU is the fractional bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode. If this single bit indicates 0, it indicates that the transmission mode of the triggered PPDU is not the fractional bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode. For another example, the transmission mode indication information may be multiple bits, and the values ​​of these multiple bits correspond to the transmission mode of the triggered PPDU. For example, if these multiple bits indicate 1, it indicates that the transmission mode of the triggered PPDU is the fractional bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode. For another example, if these multiple bits indicate 2, it indicates that the transmission mode of the triggered PPDU is the UL OFDMA MU-MIMO transmission mode. For another example, if these multiple bits indicate 3, it indicates that the transmission mode of the triggered PPDU is SU transmission or NDP. The correspondence between the values ​​of the above multiple bits and the transmission modes is not listed here.

[0243] Exemplarily, the trigger frame further includes a user information list field, the user information list field includes one or more user information fields, and the user information field includes at least one of a resource unit allocation field, a spatial stream allocation field, and a random access RU information field.

[0244] Figure 10a is a format diagram of a trigger frame provided in an embodiment of the present application. The transmission mode indication information in Figure 10a occupies 1 bit. The transmission mode indication information may also be referred to as a partial bandwidth mode indication, etc. The specific name of the transmission mode indication information is not limited in the embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 10a, the indications of the resource unit and the number of spatial streams in the trigger frame are all separately indicated for the target user. Therefore, the trigger frame can independently indicate the size of the RU or MRU of the target user, as well as the starting value of the number of spatial streams (such as the starting spatial stream shown in Figure 10a) and the number of streams (such as the number of spatial streams shown in Figure 10a).

[0245] Exemplarily, the second communication device can determine the MCS it uses based on the trigger frame, and / or determine the RU or MRU it uses when transmitting data. As an example, by including transmission mode indication information in the trigger frame, it can help the target user (such as the second communication device) understand the transmission mode and decide on the subsequent recommended MCS for AP scheduling. For example, if the target user knows that it is participating in partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission, the MCS that can be used by the AP can be recommended based on different partial bandwidths. As another example, by including transmission mode indication information in the trigger frame, it can also help the target user decide whether to adjust the RU or MRU of its transmission. For example, if it knows that the transmission mode is partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission, then when some 20MHz is busy, its bandwidth can be reduced, and the part that can be reduced is other bandwidth outside the partial bandwidth.

[0246] 902. The second communication device sends a PPDU, and correspondingly, the first communication device receives the PPDU. The PPDU includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the transmission mode of the PPDU is the fractional bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode.

[0247] In one possible implementation, before the second communication device sends the PPDU, it can also generate the PPDU based on the trigger frame. Exemplarily, the PPDU includes a U-SIG field, and the U-SIG field includes first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate that the transmission mode of the triggered PPDU is a partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode. Alternatively, the first indication information can be used to indicate that the transmission mode of the PPDU is a partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode based on the trigger. For the specific description of the first indication information and the U-SIG field, please refer to the above and will not be described in detail here.

[0248] Exemplarily, the PPDU may be a trigger-based PPDU, such as a UHR TB PPDU or an IMMW TB PPDU. Figure 10b is a format diagram of a UHR TB PPDU provided in an embodiment of the present application. In the UHR TB PPDU, the UHR-SIG field may not be carried. Figure 10c is a format diagram of an IMMW TB PPDU provided in an embodiment of the present application. In the IMMW TB PPDU, the IMMW-SIG field may not be carried. For the specific description of the UHR TB PPDU shown in Figure 10b, please refer to Figure 6a, and for the specific description of the IMMW TB PPDU shown in Figure 10c, please refer to Figure 6b, which will not be described in detail here. Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission of a UHR TB PPDU provided in an embodiment of the present application. For the relevant description of Figure 11, please refer to Figure 7a, which will not be described in detail here.

[0249] In one possible implementation, as shown in Figure 9b, after receiving the PPDU, the first communication device may also send an acknowledgment frame. This acknowledgment frame can be used to confirm the correct receipt of the PPDU, etc. The specific definition of the acknowledgment frame is not limited in this embodiment of the application. Figure 9b exemplarily illustrates three target users, such as Site 1, Site 2, and Site 3, and should not be construed as limiting this embodiment of the application.

[0250] In a possible implementation, the specific manner in which the first communication device parses the PPDU can be exemplarily referred to the above description of the second communication device parsing the PPDU, which will not be described in detail here.

[0251] In the embodiment of the present application, in the triggered PPDU transmission mode, by adopting the partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode, the user throughput rate can be effectively improved, the transmission efficiency can be improved, and thus the throughput rate of the entire system can be improved.

[0252] Compared to the method shown in Figure 2, since the trigger frame indicates the MCS, number of spatial streams, and RU or MRU for each target user, the trigger-based PPDU signaling overhead is reduced. For example, the PPDU can omit the first SIG field. Furthermore, after resource allocation, the target user can decode according to its corresponding RU or MRU size.

[0253] For ease of description, the various embodiments shown in this application use "fields" as an example, without specifically distinguishing between "fields" and "subfields." Although the various embodiments shown in this application do not specifically distinguish between "fields" and "subfields," those skilled in the art can adaptably distinguish the relationships between the various fields shown in the embodiments of this application.

[0254] The embodiments of the present application can effectively improve the user throughput rate, further improve the transmission efficiency, ensure that the throughput rate of users with large bandwidth capabilities is not affected by multi-user transmission, and improve the overall system throughput rate.

[0255] The following describes a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0256] The present application divides the functional modules of the communication device according to the above-mentioned method embodiment. For example, each functional module can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The above-mentioned integrated modules can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules. It should be noted that the division of modules in this application is schematic and is only a logical functional division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation. The communication device of the embodiment of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to Figures 12 to 14.

[0257] Figure 12 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 12, the communication device includes a processing unit 1201 and a transceiver unit 1202. The transceiver unit 1202 can implement corresponding communication functions, and the processing unit 1201 is used to process data. For example, the transceiver unit 1202 can also be referred to as an interface, a communication interface, or a communication unit.

[0258] In some embodiments of the present application, the communication device can be used to perform the actions performed by the first communication device in the above method embodiment. In this case, the communication device can be the Wi-Fi device itself or a component that can be configured in the Wi-Fi device (such as a chip, system, or functional module, etc.). The transceiver unit 1202 is used to perform the transceiver-related operations of the first communication device in the above method embodiment, and the processing unit 1201 is used to perform the processing-related operations of the first communication device in the above method embodiment.

[0259] As an example, the processing unit 1201 is used to generate a PPDU; the transceiver unit 1202 is used to send or output the PPDU.

[0260] As another example, the transceiver unit 1202 is configured to send or output a trigger frame and receive or input a PPDU. For example, the processing unit 1201 may be configured to generate a trigger frame and further configured to parse the PPDU.

[0261] Reusing Figure 12, in other embodiments of the present application, the communication device can be used to perform the actions performed by the second communication device in the above method embodiment. In this case, the communication device can be the Wi-Fi device itself or a component that can be configured in the Wi-Fi device (such as a chip or system or functional module, etc.). The transceiver unit 1202 is used to perform the transceiver-related operations of the second communication device in the above method embodiment, and the processing unit 1201 is used to perform the processing-related operations of the second communication device in the above method embodiment.

[0262] As an example, the transceiver unit 1202 is used to input or receive a PPDU; the processing unit 1201 is used to parse the PPDU.

[0263] As another example, the transceiver unit 1202 is configured to receive or input a trigger frame and to send or output a PPDU. For example, the processing unit 1201 may be configured to parse the trigger frame and generate the PPDU.

[0264] Optionally, in each of the above embodiments, the communication device may further include a storage unit, which may be used to store instructions and / or data, and the processing unit 1201 may read the instructions and / or data in the storage unit so that the communication device implements the above method embodiments.

[0265] In the above embodiments, for specific descriptions of terms or steps such as PPDU, trigger frame, partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode, first indication information, second indication information, third indication information, U-SIG field, first SIG field, etc., please refer to the introduction in the above method embodiment and will not be described in detail here.

[0266] The specific descriptions of the transceiver unit and the processing unit shown in the above embodiments are only examples. For the specific functions or execution steps of the transceiver unit and the processing unit, please refer to the above method embodiments and will not be described in detail here.

[0267] The above describes the communication device according to the embodiment of the present application. The following describes possible product forms of the communication device. Any product having the functions of the communication device described in FIG. 12 above falls within the scope of protection of the embodiment of the present application. The following description is for illustrative purposes only and does not limit the product forms of the communication device according to the embodiment of the present application to these examples.

[0268] In one possible implementation, in the communication device shown in Figure 12, the processing unit 1201 can be one or more processors, the transceiver unit 1202 can be a transceiver, or the transceiver unit 1202 can also be a sending unit and a receiving unit, the sending unit can be a transmitter, the receiving unit can be a receiver, and the sending unit and the receiving unit are integrated into a device, such as a transceiver. In the embodiment of the present application, the processor and the transceiver can be coupled, etc., and the embodiment of the present application does not limit the connection method between the processor and the transceiver. During the execution of the above method, the process of sending information in the above method can be a process in which the processor outputs the above information. When outputting the above information, the processor outputs the above information to the transceiver so that it is transmitted by the transceiver. After being output by the processor, the above information may also need to undergo other processing before reaching the transceiver. Similarly, the process of receiving information in the above method can be a process in which the processor receives the input information. When the processor receives the input information, the transceiver receives the above information and inputs it into the processor. Furthermore, after the transceiver receives the above information, the above information may need to be processed further before being input into the processor.

[0269] As shown in FIG. 13 a , the communication device 130 includes one or more processors 1320 and a transceiver 1310 .

[0270] Exemplarily, when the communication device is used to execute the steps, methods, or functions executed by the first communication device,

[0271] As an example, the processor 1320 is configured to generate a PPDU; and the transceiver 1310 is configured to send the PPDU.

[0272] As another example, the transceiver 1310 is configured to send a trigger frame and receive a PPDU. In this case, the processor 1320 is configured to generate a trigger frame and further to parse the PPDU.

[0273] Exemplarily, when the communication device is used to execute the steps, methods, or functions executed by the second communication device,

[0274] As an example, the transceiver 1310 is configured to receive a PPDU; the processor 1320 is further configured to parse the PPDU.

[0275] As another example, the transceiver 1310 is configured to receive a trigger frame and send a PPDU. In this case, the processor 1320 may be configured to parse the trigger frame and generate a PPDU.

[0276] In the above embodiments, for specific descriptions of terms or steps such as PPDU, trigger frame, partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode, first indication information, second indication information, third indication information, U-SIG field, first SIG field, etc., please refer to the introduction in the above method embodiment and will not be described in detail here.

[0277] In various implementations of the communication device shown in FIG13a , the transceiver may include a receiver and a transmitter, wherein the receiver is configured to perform a receiving function (or operation) and the transmitter is configured to perform a transmitting function (or operation). The transceiver is configured to communicate with other devices / apparatuses via a transmission medium.

[0278] Optionally, the communication device 130 may further include one or more memories 1330 for storing program instructions and / or data. The memory 1330 is coupled to the processor 1320. The coupling in the embodiment of the present application is an indirect coupling or communication connection between devices, units or modules, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms, and is used for information exchange between devices, units or modules. The processor 1320 may operate in conjunction with the memory 1330. The processor 1320 may execute program instructions stored in the memory 1330. Optionally, at least one of the above-mentioned one or more memories may be included in the processor.

[0279] The specific connection medium between the transceiver 1310, processor 1320, and memory 1330 is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In Figure 13a, the memory 1330, processor 1320, and transceiver 1310 are connected via a bus 1340. The bus is represented by a bold line in Figure 13a. The connection methods between other components are merely illustrative and are not intended to be limiting. The bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, Figure 13a uses only one bold line, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or only one type of bus.

[0280] In the embodiments of the present application, the processor may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, a discrete hardware component, etc., and may implement or execute the various methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc. The steps of the methods disclosed in the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented as being executed by a hardware processor, or may be executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor, etc.

[0281] In the embodiment of the present application, memory may include but is not limited to non-volatile memories such as hard disk drive (HDD) or solid-state drive (SSD), random access memory (RAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), read-only memory (ROM) or portable read-only memory (CD-ROM), etc. Memory is any storage medium that can be used to carry or store program code in the form of instructions or data structures, and can be read and / or written by a computer (such as the communication device shown in the present application), but is not limited thereto. The memory in the embodiment of the present application can also be a circuit or other arbitrarily capable of realizing a storage function, for storing program instructions and / or data.

[0282] The processor 1320 is primarily used to process communication protocols and communication data, control the entire communication device, execute software programs, and process software program data. The memory 1330 is primarily used to store software programs and data. The transceiver 1310 may include a control circuit and an antenna. The control circuit is primarily used to convert baseband signals into radio frequency signals and process radio frequency signals. The antenna is primarily used to transmit and receive radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. Input and output devices, such as a touch screen, display, and keyboard, are primarily used to receive user input and output data to the user.

[0283] When the communication device is powered on, the processor 1320 can read the software program in the memory 1330, interpret and execute the instructions of the software program, and process the data of the software program. When data needs to be sent wirelessly, the processor 1320 performs baseband processing on the data to be sent and outputs the baseband signal to the radio frequency circuit. The radio frequency circuit performs radio frequency processing on the baseband signal and then transmits the radio frequency signal to the outside in the form of electromagnetic waves through the antenna. When data is sent to the communication device, the radio frequency circuit receives the radio frequency signal through the antenna, converts the radio frequency signal into a baseband signal, and outputs the baseband signal to the processor 1320. The processor 1320 converts the baseband signal into data and processes the data.

[0284] In another implementation, the RF circuit and antenna may be provided independently of the processor performing baseband processing. For example, in a distributed scenario, the RF circuit and antenna may be remotely arranged independent of the communication device.

[0285] The communication device shown in the embodiment of the present application may also have more components than those in Figure 13a, and the embodiment of the present application is not limited to this. The method performed by the processor and transceiver shown above is only an example. For the specific steps performed by the processor and transceiver, please refer to the method described above.

[0286] Figure 13b is a structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 13b, the communication device may include the following modules: medium access control (MAC), PHY, radio frequency / antenna, memory, and processor. The radio frequency / antenna can be used to execute the steps related to the transceiver operation in the method shown above, the memory can be used to store signaling or data, etc., and the processor can be used to execute the steps related to the processing operation in the method shown above. For a detailed description of the communication device shown in Figure 13b, please refer to Figure 13a. Wi-Fi focuses on the MAC layer and the PHY layer, so Figure 13b exemplarily shows the MAC module and the PHY module.

[0287] In another possible implementation, in the communication device shown in Figure 12, the processing unit 1201 can be one or more logic circuits, and the transceiver unit 1202 can be an input / output interface, or also called a communication interface, or an interface circuit, or an interface, etc. Alternatively, the transceiver unit 1202 can also be a sending unit and a receiving unit, the sending unit can be an output interface, and the receiving unit can be an input interface, and the sending unit and the receiving unit are integrated into one unit, such as an input / output interface. As shown in Figure 14, the communication device shown in Figure 14 includes a logic circuit 1401 and an interface 1402. That is, the above-mentioned processing unit 1201 can be implemented with a logic circuit 1401, and the transceiver unit 1202 can be implemented with an interface 1402. Among them, the logic circuit 1401 can be a chip, a processing circuit, an integrated circuit or a system on chip (SoC) chip, etc., and the interface 1402 can be a communication interface, an input / output interface, a pin, etc. For example, Figure 14 is illustrated using the above-mentioned communication device as a chip, and the chip includes a logic circuit 1401 and an interface 1402.

[0288] In the embodiment of the present application, the logic circuit and the interface may also be coupled to each other. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific connection method between the logic circuit and the interface.

[0289] Exemplarily, when the communication device is used to execute the method, function, or step performed by the first communication device,

[0290] As an example, the logic circuit 1401 is configured to generate a PPDU; and the interface 1402 is configured to output the PPDU.

[0291] As another example, the logic circuit 1401 is configured to generate a trigger frame, and the interface 1402 is configured to output the trigger frame. The interface 1402 is configured to input a PPDU, and the logic circuit 1401 is configured to parse the PPDU.

[0292] Exemplarily, when the communication device is used to execute the method, function, or step executed by the second communication device,

[0293] As an example, the interface 1402 is used to input a PPDU; the logic circuit 1401 is used to parse the PPDU.

[0294] As another example, the interface 1402 is configured to input a trigger frame, and the logic circuit 1401 is configured to parse the trigger frame. The logic circuit 1401 may also generate a PPDU based on the trigger frame, and the interface 1402 may also be configured to output the PPDU.

[0295] The communication device shown in the embodiment of the present application can implement the method provided in the embodiment of the present application in the form of hardware, or can implement the method provided in the embodiment of the present application in the form of software, etc., and the embodiment of the present application is not limited to this.

[0296] In the above embodiments, for specific descriptions of terms or steps such as PPDU, trigger frame, partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode, first indication information, second indication information, third indication information, U-SIG field, first SIG field, etc., please refer to the introduction in the above method embodiment and will not be described in detail here.

[0297] For the specific implementation methods of the various embodiments shown in Figure 14, you can also refer to the above embodiments, which will not be described in detail here.

[0298] An embodiment of the present application further provides a wireless communication system, which includes a first communication device and a second communication device. The first communication device and the second communication device can be used to execute the method in any of the aforementioned embodiments.

[0299] In addition, the present application also provides a computer program, which is used to implement the operations and / or processing performed by the first communication device in the method provided by the present application.

[0300] The present application also provides a computer program, which is used to implement the operations and / or processing performed by the second communication device in the method provided by the present application.

[0301] The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores computer code. When the computer code runs on a computer, it enables the computer to execute the operations and / or processing performed by the first communication device in the method provided by the present application.

[0302] The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores computer code. When the computer code runs on a computer, it enables the computer to execute the operations and / or processing performed by the second communication device in the method provided by the present application.

[0303] The present application also provides a computer program product, which includes computer code or computer program. When the computer code or computer program runs on a computer, the operations and / or processing performed by the first communication device in the method provided by the present application are executed.

[0304] The present application also provides a computer program product, which includes computer code or computer program. When the computer code or computer program runs on a computer, the operations and / or processing performed by the second communication device in the method provided by the present application are executed.

[0305] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, or can be electrical, mechanical or other forms of connection.

[0306] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the technical effects of the solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application.

[0307] In addition, the functional units in the various embodiments of the present application may be integrated into a single processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into a single unit. The aforementioned integrated units may be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional units.

[0308] If the integrated unit is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application is essentially or the part that contributes to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product is stored in a readable storage medium, including a number of instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned readable storage medium includes: U disk, mobile hard disk, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disk or optical disk, and other media that can store program code.

[0309] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application should be included in the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, It is characterized in that The method comprises: Generate a physical layer protocol data unit PPDU, where the PPDU corresponds to at least two target users, where the at least two target users include a first user and a second user, where the first user and the second user perform multi-user multiple-input multiple-output MU-MIMO transmission on a first bandwidth, where the first bandwidth is a portion of a bandwidth used by the first user to transmit data; The PPDU is sent.

2. A communication method, It is characterized in that The method comprises: receiving a physical layer protocol data unit PPDU, where the PPDU corresponds to at least two target users, where the at least two target users include a first user and a second user, where the first user and the second user perform multi-user multiple-input multiple-output MU-MIMO transmission on a first bandwidth, where the first bandwidth is a portion of a bandwidth used by the first user to transmit data; The PPDU is parsed.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, It is characterized in that The PPDU includes a universal signaling U-SIG field, and the U-SIG field includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the transmission mode of the PPDU is a partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode.

4. The method according to claim 3, It is characterized in that The first indication information is carried in the PPDU type and compression mode fields in the U-SIG field.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, It is characterized in that The PPDU includes a first signaling SIG field, the first SIG field includes second indication information, and the second indication information is used to indicate at least one of a size and a position of the first bandwidth.

6. The method according to claim 5, It is characterized in that The second indication information includes a first bit map, wherein one bit in the first bit map corresponds to a unit bandwidth, and a size of the unit bandwidth is less than or equal to a size of the first bandwidth.

7. The method according to claim 5, It is characterized in that The second indication information includes 1 bit, where the 1 bit is used to indicate that the size of the first bandwidth is 80 MHz or 160 MHz.

8. The method according to claim 7, It is characterized in that The position of the first bandwidth is mainly 80 MHz or mainly 160 MHz, or the position of the first bandwidth is preset.

9. The method according to claim 5, It is characterized in that The second indication information includes at least one bit, and the at least one bit is used to indicate a resource unit RU or a multiple resource unit MRU corresponding to the first bandwidth.

10. The method according to claim 5, It is characterized in that The second indication information is carried in a resource allocation field, and the resource allocation field is used to indicate a size and a position of the first bandwidth.

11. The method according to any one of claims 5 to 10, It is characterized in that The first SIG field further includes user type indication information, where the user type indication information is used to indicate whether the user type of the target user is a full-bandwidth user or a partial-bandwidth user.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, It is characterized in that The at least two target users also include a third user, and the first user performs MU-MIMO transmission with the third user on a second bandwidth, where the second bandwidth is a portion of the bandwidth used by the first user for transmitting data except the first bandwidth.

13. The method according to claim 12, It is characterized in that The PPDU includes a first signaling SIG field, the first SIG field includes third indication information, and the third indication information is used to indicate at least one of a size and a position of the second bandwidth.

14. The method according to claim 12 or 13, It is characterized in that On the first bandwidth and the second bandwidth, the first user corresponds to a user field respectively.

15. The method according to claim 14, It is characterized in that The first SIG field includes at least two user field groups, the user field group includes at least two user fields, and the bandwidths for MU-MIMO transmission of target users corresponding to the at least two user fields in the user field group are the same.

16. The method according to claim 15, It is characterized in that The order of the at least two user field groups is arranged in descending order based on frequency, and the order of the at least two user fields in the user field group is arranged in descending order based on the number of spatial streams.

17. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 16, It is characterized in that The user type indication information includes a second bit map, wherein the length of the second bit map is equal to M, and M is the total number of the target users, or M is the total number of user fields included in the first SIG field.

18. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 17, It is characterized in that The parsing of the PPDU comprises: Parsing a U-SIG field in the PPDU, and identifying that a transmission mode of the PPDU is a partial bandwidth MU-MIMO transmission mode; Parse the first SIG field in the PPDU to obtain at least one of the size and position of the first bandwidth, and based on the user identifier A user field corresponding to the user identifier in the first SIG field is identified, and the user type corresponding to the user identifier is a full-bandwidth user or a partial-bandwidth user.

19. A communication device, It is characterized in that The method comprises a unit for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 18.

20. A communication device, It is characterized in that The method comprises a processor configured to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 18.

21. A communication device, It is characterized in that comprising a logic circuit and an interface, wherein the logic circuit and the interface are coupled; The interface is used to input and / or output code instructions, and the logic circuit is used to execute the code instructions so that the method described in any one of claims 1 to 18 is executed.

22. A computer-readable storage medium, It is characterized in that The computer-readable storage medium is used to store a computer program. When the computer program is executed, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 18 is executed.

23. A communication system, It is characterized in that The communication system comprises a first communication device and a second communication device, wherein the first communication device is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 and 3-17, and the second communication device is used to execute the method according to any one of claims 2-18.

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