Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

A communication method and apparatus, relating to the technical field of communications and capable of increasing the throughput rate of a communication system, thereby improving the communication performance. The method comprises: a second device acquires first information, and sends the first information, wherein the first information comprises first indication information, second indication information, and a plurality of user information fields corresponding to a plurality of first devices; the first indication information is used for indicating the number of users; and the second indication information is used for indicating the number of symbols of a training sequence.

Description

Communication method and device

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office on November 29, 2023, with application number 202311626393.2 and application name “Communication Method and Device,” the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0002] The present application relates to the field of communication technologies, and in particular to communication methods and devices. Background Art

[0003] In a power line communication (PLC) system, a central coodinator (CCO) can perform point-to-point communication with a station. For example, the concentrator can send payload data to the station in a physical protocol data unit (PPDU).

[0004] Among them, the PPDU may include a preamble symbol, a frame control (FC) field and a payload data field. Since the size of the preamble symbol and the FC field is fixed, when the payload data in the PPDU is small, the proportion of the payload data will decrease. Correspondingly, the proportion of the preamble symbol and the FC field will increase, which will cause the throughput of the communication system to decrease, thereby reducing the communication performance.

[0005] Summary of the Invention

[0006] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus, which can improve the throughput of a communication system and thereby improve communication performance.

[0007] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be performed by a second device. Unless otherwise specified, the "second device" in this application can refer to the second device itself, a component in the second device (e.g., a processor, chip, or chip system), or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the second device. The method includes: the second device obtaining first information; sending the first information; wherein the first information includes first indication information, second indication information, and multiple user information fields corresponding to multiple first devices; the first indication information is used to indicate the number of users; and the second indication information is used to indicate the number of symbols in the training sequence.

[0008] Based on the first aspect, the second device can communicate with multiple first devices at the same time based on the first information. In addition, the second device can carry the payload data associated with multiple first devices in the first information, which can increase the proportion of payload data in the first information, thereby improving the throughput of the communication system and improving communication performance.

[0009] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be performed by a first device. Unless otherwise specified, the "first device" in this application can refer to the first device itself, a component in the first device (e.g., a processor, chip, or chip system), or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first device. The method includes: the first device obtains first information; parsing the first information; wherein the first information includes first indication information, second indication information, and multiple user information fields corresponding to multiple first devices; the first indication information is used to indicate the number of users; and the second indication information is used to indicate the number of symbols in the training sequence.

[0010] Based on the second aspect, the first device can communicate with the second device based on the first information without competing for the communication channel, which can improve the effectiveness of communication; in addition, the second device can carry the payload data associated with multiple first devices in the first information, which can increase the proportion of payload data, thereby improving the throughput of the communication system and improving communication performance.

[0011] In a possible implementation, an uplink frame is sent to the second device according to the first information.

[0012] Based on this possible implementation, multiple first devices can simultaneously send uplink frames to the second device on different resource units according to the first information, which can increase the proportion of load data, improve the throughput of the communication system, and thus improve communication performance.

[0013] In a possible implementation, the uplink frame includes a first training sequence; wherein the first training sequence is determined according to an index of a resource unit associated with the first device and the second indication information.

[0014] Based on this possible implementation, the second device can perform channel estimation on the uplink channel according to the first training sequence, determine the channel characteristics of the uplink channel, and then parse the payload data in the uplink frame according to the channel characteristics, thereby improving the reliability of communication.

[0015] In combination with the first aspect and the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the first frame control field includes first indication information.

[0016] Based on this possible implementation, a feasible solution is provided for implementing the first indication information.

[0017] In combination with the first aspect and the second aspect, in one possible implementation, the first information also includes third indication information; wherein, the third indication information is used to indicate whether there is at least one resource unit associated with the first device whose index is greater than the first value; the first value is a positive integer.

[0018] Based on this possible implementation, when the third indication information indicates that there is at least one first device-associated resource unit (RU) whose index is greater than the first value, it can be determined that the index of the resource unit is greater than the first value, and thus the number of bits occupied by the resource unit field can be larger, and it can be ensured as much as possible that the resource unit field can indicate the indexes of all resource units; when the third indication information indicates that there is no at least one first device-associated resource unit whose index is greater than the first value, it can be determined that the index of the resource unit is less than or equal to the first value, and thus the number of bits occupied by the resource unit field can be smaller, and the transmission overhead can be reduced.

[0019] In combination with the first aspect and the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the first control frame includes third indication information.

[0020] Based on this possible implementation, a feasible solution is provided for implementing the third indication information.

[0021] In combination with the first aspect and the second aspect, in one possible implementation, when the number of users is equal to 4, the first information also includes a physical block (PB) field, and the number of physical blocks occupied by different first devices is the same; or, when the number of users is less than 4, each user information field in the multiple user information fields includes a physical block field; wherein the physical block field is used to indicate the number of physical blocks occupied by each first device.

[0022] Based on this possible implementation, the position of the physical block field can be determined according to the number of users, providing a feasible solution for determining the position of the physical block field; when the first information includes the physical block field, the number of physical blocks occupied by different first devices is the same, which can reduce the number of bits occupied by the physical block field and reduce the transmission overhead; when each user information field includes a physical block field, the number of physical blocks occupied by different first devices can be the same or different, and the number of physical blocks occupied by each first device can be determined according to the actual communication situation of each first device, which can improve the flexibility of determining the number of physical blocks occupied by each first device.

[0023] In combination with the first aspect and the second aspect, in one possible implementation, the number of bits occupied by the physical block field is determined based on the first indication information; or, the number of bits occupied by the physical block field is determined based on the first indication information and the third indication information; wherein, the third indication information is used to indicate whether there is at least one resource unit associated with the first device whose index is greater than the first value; the first value is a positive integer.

[0024] Based on this possible implementation, the number of bits occupied by the physical block field can be determined according to the above two methods. At the same time, by determining the number of bits occupied by the physical block according to the above method, when there are a large number of users, the number of bits occupied by the first information can be limited to a certain range as much as possible, thereby reducing transmission overhead.

[0025] In combination with the first aspect and the second aspect, in one possible implementation, when the number of users indicated by the first indication information is less than 4, the number of bits occupied by the physical block field is 4; or, when the number of users indicated by the first indication information is equal to 4, and the third indication information indicates that there is no index of the resource unit associated with the first device greater than the first value, the number of bits occupied by the physical block field is 4; or, when the number of users indicated by the first indication information is equal to 4, and the third indication information indicates that there is an index of the resource unit associated with the first device greater than the first value, the number of bits occupied by the physical block field is 2.

[0026] Based on this possible implementation, the number of bits occupied by the physical block can be explicitly determined according to the above three methods, providing three feasible solutions for determining the number of bits occupied by the physical block field.

[0027] In combination with the first aspect and the second aspect, in a possible implementation, each user information field in the multiple user information fields includes a power control (PC) field; wherein the power control field is used to indicate the transmission power of the first device.

[0028] Based on this possible implementation, the transmission power of the first device can be attenuated according to the power control field to avoid excessive differences in the power spectral density (PSD) of signals from different first devices reaching the second device. This can avoid as much as possible the interference caused by excessively high transmission power when different first devices communicate with the second device, and can also avoid as much as possible the poor communication quality caused by excessively low transmission power, thereby improving the reliability of communication.

[0029] In combination with the first aspect and the second aspect, in a possible implementation, each user information field in the multiple user information fields further includes a resource unit field; wherein the resource unit field is used to indicate an index of a resource unit associated with the first device.

[0030] Based on this possible implementation, the first device can determine the index of the resource unit associated with the first device according to the resource unit field. Since different first devices are associated with different resource units, the second device can communicate with multiple first devices at the same time on different resource units. That is, the second device can carry the payload data associated with multiple first devices in the first information, which can increase the proportion of payload data, and thereby improve the throughput of the communication system and improve communication performance.

[0031] In combination with the first aspect and the second aspect, in one possible implementation, the number of bits occupied by the resource unit field is determined based on third indication information; wherein, the third indication information is used to indicate whether there is at least one resource unit associated with the first device whose index is greater than the first value; the first value is a positive integer.

[0032] Based on this possible implementation, the number of bits occupied by the resource unit field can be determined according to the third indication information, and the resource unit field can be guaranteed to indicate the index of the resource unit associated with each first device as much as possible, providing a feasible solution for determining the number of bits occupied by the resource unit field.

[0033] In combination with the first aspect and the second aspect, in one possible implementation, when the third indication information indicates that there is no resource unit associated with at least one first device whose index is greater than the first value, the number of bits occupied by the resource unit field is 4; or, when the third indication information indicates that there is at least one resource unit associated with the first device whose index is greater than the first value, the number of bits occupied by the resource unit field is 5.

[0034] Based on this possible implementation, the number of bits occupied by the resource unit field can be explicitly determined according to the third indication information, providing a feasible solution for determining the number of bits occupied by the resource unit field.

[0035] In combination with the first aspect and the second aspect, in a possible implementation, each user information field in the multiple user information fields further includes a copy field; wherein the copy field is used to indicate the number of copies; and the number of copies is used to indicate the number of times the payload data is repeated.

[0036] Based on this possible implementation, the number of times the payload data is transmitted simultaneously can be determined according to the copy field, which can reduce the bit error rate of the payload data and improve the reliability of communication.

[0037] In combination with the first aspect and the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the number of bits occupied by the copy field is determined according to the first indication information.

[0038] Based on this possible implementation, the number of bits occupied by the copy field can be determined according to the first indication information, so that the number of bits occupied by the first information can be limited to a certain range as much as possible, thereby reducing transmission overhead.

[0039] In combination with the first aspect and the second aspect, in one possible implementation, when the number of users indicated by the first indication information is less than 4, the number of bits occupied by the copy field is 2; or, when the number of users indicated by the first indication information is equal to 4, the number of bits occupied by the copy field is 1.

[0040] Based on this possible implementation, the number of bits occupied by the copy field can be explicitly determined according to the first indication information, providing a feasible solution for determining the number of bits occupied by the copy field.

[0041] In combination with the first aspect and the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the first information is a trigger frame.

[0042] Based on this possible implementation, the first information may be a trigger frame, which provides a feasible solution for the implementation of the first information.

[0043] In combination with the first aspect and the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the user information field of the first device includes a physical block field; wherein the physical block field is used to indicate the number of physical blocks occupied by the first device.

[0044] Based on this possible implementation, the number of physical blocks occupied by the first device can be determined according to the physical block field, providing a feasible solution for determining the number of physical blocks occupied by the first device.

[0045] In combination with the first aspect and the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the number of bits occupied by the physical block field is determined according to the first indication information.

[0046] Based on this possible implementation, the number of bits occupied by the physical block field can be determined according to the first indication information. When the number of users is large, the number of bits occupied by the physical block field in each user information field can be reduced, and the number of bits occupied by each user information field can be limited to a certain range, which can reduce the transmission overhead.

[0047] In combination with the first aspect and the second aspect, in one possible implementation, when the number of users indicated by the first indication information is less than 4, the number of bits occupied by the physical block field is 4; or, when the number of users indicated by the first indication information is equal to 4, the number of bits occupied by the physical block field is 1.

[0048] Based on this possible implementation, the number of bits occupied by the physical block field can be explicitly determined according to the above method, providing a feasible solution for determining the number of bits occupied by the physical block field.

[0049] In combination with the first aspect and the second aspect, in a possible implementation, each user information field in the multiple user information fields also includes one or more of the following: a copy field and a resource unit field; wherein the copy field is used to indicate the number of copies; the number of copies is used to indicate the number of times the payload data is repeated; and the resource unit field is used to indicate the index of the resource unit associated with the first device.

[0050] Based on this possible implementation, on the one hand, the number of times the payload data is transmitted simultaneously can be determined according to the copy field, the bit error rate of the payload data can be reduced, and the reliability of communication can be improved; on the other hand, the first device can determine the index of the resource unit associated with the first device according to the resource unit field. Since different first devices are associated with different resource units, the second device can communicate with multiple first devices simultaneously on different resource units, that is, the second device can carry the payload data associated with multiple first devices in the first information, which can increase the proportion of payload data, and thus improve the throughput of the communication system and improve the communication performance.

[0051] In combination with the first aspect and the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the first information further includes a second training sequence; wherein the second training sequence is determined according to the second indication information.

[0052] Based on this possible implementation, the first device can perform channel estimation on the downlink channel according to the second training sequence, determine the channel characteristics of the downlink channel, and then parse the payload data according to the channel characteristics, thereby improving communication reliability.

[0053] In combination with the first aspect and the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the first information is a downlink frame.

[0054] Based on this possible implementation, the first information may be a downlink frame, which provides a feasible solution for the implementation of the first information.

[0055] In combination with the first aspect and the second aspect, in one possible implementation, the user information field of the first device also includes one or more of the following: an identification information field and a first field; wherein the identification information field is used to indicate the identification information of the first device; the first field is used to indicate one or more of the following: a modulation and coding scheme (MCS), a code rate, or a physical block size.

[0056] Based on this possible implementation, the identification information of the first device can be determined according to the identification information field, and then the user information field associated with the first device can be determined. At the same time, the location of the payload data can be determined according to the size of the physical block in the first field, and the payload data can be parsed according to the modulation and coding scheme and code rate in the first field, which can improve the effectiveness of communication.

[0057] In combination with the first aspect and the second aspect, in a possible implementation, the number of copies is determined according to channel quality.

[0058] Based on this possible implementation, when the channel quality is good, the payload data can be transmitted according to a smaller number of copies, which can reduce the transmission overhead; when the channel quality is poor, the payload data can be transmitted according to a larger number of copies, which can improve the reliability of communication.

[0059] In combination with the first aspect and the second aspect, in a possible implementation, when the number of users is X, the number of the second frame control fields is Among them, the second frame control field is a newly added frame control field. To round up, X is a positive integer.

[0060] Based on this possible implementation, the number of second control fields can be determined according to the number of users, so that the second device can communicate with more first devices simultaneously, which can increase the load data and thus improve the throughput of the communication system and the communication performance.

[0061] In a third aspect, a communication device is provided for implementing the method in the first aspect. The communication device may be the second device in the first aspect, or a device or component included in the second device, such as a chip.

[0062] The communication device includes modules, units, or means corresponding to the above-mentioned method, which can be implemented by hardware, software, or hardware executing corresponding software implementation. The hardware or software includes multiple modules or units corresponding to the above-mentioned functions.

[0063] In some possible implementations, the communication device may include a processing module and a transceiver module. The transceiver module may include a sending module and a receiving module, respectively used to implement the sending and receiving functions in the above-mentioned first aspect and any possible implementation thereof. The processing module may be used to implement the processing functions in the above-mentioned first aspect and any possible implementation thereof. Exemplarily, the processing module is used to obtain first information; wherein the first information includes first indication information, second indication information, and multiple user information fields corresponding to multiple first devices; the first indication information is used to indicate the number of users; the second indication information is used to indicate the number of symbols in the training sequence; and the transceiver module is used to send the first information.

[0064] Optionally, the transceiver module and processing module of the communication device in the third aspect can also perform the corresponding functions in the above-mentioned first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect. Please refer to the detailed description in the method example for details. The beneficial effects that can be achieved can also be referred to the above-mentioned related content.

[0065] In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided for implementing the method of the second aspect. The communication device may be the first device of the second aspect, or a device or component included in the first device, such as a chip.

[0066] The communication device includes modules, units, or means corresponding to the above-mentioned method, which can be implemented by hardware, software, or hardware executing corresponding software implementation. The hardware or software includes multiple modules or units corresponding to the above-mentioned functions.

[0067] In some possible implementations, the communication device may include a processing module and a transceiver module. The transceiver module may include a sending module and a receiving module, respectively used to implement the sending and receiving functions in the above-mentioned second aspect and any possible implementation thereof. The processing module may be used to implement the processing functions in the above-mentioned second aspect and any possible implementation thereof. An exemplary processing module is used to obtain first information; wherein the first information includes first indication information, second indication information, and multiple user information fields corresponding to multiple first devices; the first indication information is used to indicate the number of users; the second indication information is used to indicate the number of symbols in the training sequence; and the processing module is further used to parse the first information.

[0068] Optionally, the transceiver module and processing module of the communication device in the fourth aspect can also perform the corresponding functions in the above-mentioned second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect. Please refer to the detailed description in the method example for details. The beneficial effects that can be achieved can also be referred to the above-mentioned related content.

[0069] In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: at least one processor configured to cause the communication device to perform the method described in any one of the above aspects or any possible implementations of any one of the aspects by executing computer instructions stored in a memory or through a logic circuit. The communication device may be the second device in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, or a device or component included in the second device, such as a chip; or the communication device may be the first device in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect, or a device or component included in the first device, such as a chip.

[0070] In some possible implementations, the communication device further includes a memory for storing computer instructions and / or configuration files of logic circuits. Optionally, the memory is integrated with the processor, or the memory is independent of the processor.

[0071] In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: a processor and a communication interface; the communication interface is configured to input and / or output signals; and the processor is configured to execute a computer program or instruction to cause the communication device to perform the method described in any of the above aspects. The communication device may be the second device in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, or a device or component included in the second device, such as a chip; or the communication device may be the first device in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect, or a device or component included in the first device, such as a chip.

[0072] In some possible implementations, the communication interface is an interface circuit for reading and writing computer instructions. For example, the interface circuit is used to receive computer execution instructions (computer execution instructions are stored in a memory, may be read directly from the memory, or may pass through other devices) and transmit them to the processor.

[0073] In some possible implementations, the communication interface is used to communicate with a module outside the communication device.

[0074] In some possible implementations, the communication device may be a chip or a chip system. When the device is a chip system, the chip system may include the chip, or may include the chip and other discrete devices.

[0075] In a seventh aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising: a logic circuit and an interface circuit; the interface circuit is configured to input and / or output information; and the logic circuit is configured to execute the method described in any of the above aspects, processing the input information and / or generating output information. The communication device may be the second device in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, or a device or component included in the second device, such as a chip; alternatively, the communication device may be the first device in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect, or a device or component included in the first device, such as a chip.

[0076] In an eighth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, in which a computer program or instruction is stored. When the computer program or instruction is executed by a processor, the method described in any one of the above aspects is executed.

[0077] In a ninth aspect, a computer program product is provided, which, when executed by a processor, enables the method described in any one of the above aspects to be executed.

[0078] It can be understood that when the communication device provided in any one of the third to seventh aspects is a chip, the above-mentioned sending action / function can be understood as output information, and the above-mentioned receiving action / function can be understood as input information.

[0079] Among them, the technical effects brought about by any implementation method from the third aspect to the ninth aspect can refer to the technical effects brought about by the above-mentioned first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, or refer to the technical effects brought about by the above-mentioned second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect, and will not be repeated here.

[0080] In a tenth aspect, a communication system is provided, which includes the second device described in the above-mentioned first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect and the first device described in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0081] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a single-user communication provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0082] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a single-user communication provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0083] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of an SU frame provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0084] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of a structure of an SU frame provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0085] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0086] FIG6 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0087] FIG7 is an interactive diagram of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0088] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of first information provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0089] FIG9 is a schematic diagram of first information provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0090] FIG10 is a schematic diagram of first information provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0091] FIG11 is a schematic diagram of first information provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0092] FIG12 is an interactive diagram of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0093] FIG13 is a schematic structural diagram of a second device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0094] FIG14 is a schematic structural diagram of a first device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0095] FIG15 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0096] The following describes in detail the implementation of the embodiments of the present application in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0097] In the description of this application, unless otherwise specified, " / " indicates that the objects associated before and after are in an "or" relationship, for example, A / B can represent A or B; "and / or" in this application is merely a description of the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist, for example, A and / or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural.

[0098] In the description of this application, unless otherwise specified, "plurality" means two or more than two. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can mean: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, or abc, where a, b, and c can be single or plural.

[0099] In addition, to facilitate the clear description of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, the words "first" and "second" are used to distinguish between identical or similar items with substantially the same functions and effects. Those skilled in the art will understand that the words "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity or execution order, and the words "first" and "second" do not necessarily mean different.

[0100] In the embodiments of this application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the embodiments of this application should not be construed as being preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, the use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a concrete manner to facilitate understanding.

[0101] It is understood that the "embodiment" mentioned throughout the specification means that the specific features, structures or characteristics related to the embodiment are included in at least one embodiment of the present application. Therefore, the various embodiments in the entire specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. In addition, these specific features, structures or characteristics can be combined in multiple embodiments in any suitable manner. It is understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, the size of the sequence number of each process does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiment of the present application.

[0102] It is understood that some optional features in the embodiments of the present application may, in certain scenarios, be implemented independently of other features, such as the solution on which they are currently based, to solve corresponding technical problems and achieve corresponding effects. They may also be combined with other features in certain scenarios as needed. Accordingly, the devices provided in the embodiments of the present application may also implement these features or functions accordingly, which will not be described in detail here.

[0103] In this application, unless otherwise specified, the same or similar parts between the various embodiments can be referenced to each other. In the various embodiments of this application, unless otherwise specified and there is no logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced to each other. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments based on their inherent logical relationships. The following description of the embodiments of this application does not constitute a limitation on the scope of protection of this application.

[0104] In order to facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, a brief introduction to the relevant technologies of the present application is first given as follows.

[0105] 1) Power line communication (PLC)

[0106] Among them, the power line communication system can also be called a power line carrier communication system, a power line network, and is collectively referred to as a power line communication system in this application.

[0107] Power line communication (PLC) technology utilizes existing power lines to transmit analog or digital signals via carrier waves. It is a unique communication method for power systems. The greatest advantage of PLC is that it eliminates the need for a new network. Devices in a PLC system (e.g., a PLC system can include CCOs and stations) can transmit data over power lines.

[0108] Among them, international standards for power line communication technology may include international standards such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1901, IEEE Homeplug AV and International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) G.hn.

[0109] For example, taking the application scenario of power line communication as power grid meter reading, the site in this communication scenario can be an electricity meter. After the CCO sends the collection signaling, the electricity meter can collect data and report the data within a certain time period according to the collection signaling.

[0110] 2) Single-user communication

[0111] Power line communication is single-user communication, meaning point-to-point communication between the CCO and a site. When the CCO communicates with multiple sites, as shown in Figure 1 below, the CCO can communicate with different sites separately, competing for the channel before each communication.

[0112] Specifically, the CCO may communicate with different sites in different time slots.

[0113] For example, as shown in Figure 2 below, in time slot 1, CCO can send transmission frame 1 to site 1, and further, site 1 can send acknowledgment (ACK) 1 to CCO; in time slot 2, CCO can send transmission frame 2 to site 2, and further, site 2 can send ACK2 to CCO; in time slot 3, CCO can send transmission frame 3 to site 3, and further, site 3 can send ACK3 to CCO; in time slot 4, CCO can send transmission frame 4 to site 4, and further, site 4 can send ACK4 to CCO.

[0114] There is an internal field seprator (IFS) between frames (which can also be understood as a frame interval).

[0115] It is understandable that the characteristics of single-user communication are that there are many sites and the traffic volume is small, and the transmission of transmission frames between the CCO and the sites is relatively frequent.

[0116] 3) Single user (SU) frame

[0117] The transmission frame in FIG. 2 may be a SU frame.

[0118] Exemplarily, the SU frame may be as shown in FIG3 below. The SU frame may include a preamble symbol, an FC field (the FC field may be composed of M FC symbols, and the information transmitted in the M FC symbols is the same, that is, the information may be diversity copied to different carriers of each FC symbol), and one or more payload data fields (such as K payload data fields).

[0119] Wherein, M and K are positive integers.

[0120] The SU frame may be carried in a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) sent by the physical layer for transmission.

[0121] The preamble sequence in the preamble symbol is a periodic sequence and can be used for synchronization.

[0122] The payload data in the K payload fields may be the same or different.

[0123] It is understandable that the site can parse the payload data according to the FC field.

[0124] Exemplarily, the size of the FC field may be 128 bits, and the Turbo coding block of the FC field may be PB16.

[0125] For example, the FC field may include a delimiter type subfield, a network type subfield, a network identification subfield, a variable area subfield, a standard version number subfield, and a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) subfield. The number of bits occupied and the meaning of the subfields in the FC field may be specifically shown in Table 1 below:

[0126] Table 1 FC field

[0127] Specifically, the structure of the SU frame in FIG. 3 may be as shown in FIG. 4 below.

[0128] The fields in the SU frame shown in FIG4 may occupy multiple orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols. The relationship between the OFDM symbols and the SU frame may be shown in Table 2 below:

[0129] Table 2 Characteristics of OFDM symbols

[0130] The preamble symbol can occupy 13 OFDM symbols, the duration of each OFDM symbol is 40.96us, and the number of time domain points of each OFDM is 1024.

[0131] The FC field may occupy 4 or 12 OFDM symbols, and the FC field is followed by a payload data field.

[0132] It is understandable that since the size of the leading symbol and the FC field is fixed, when the payload data in the PPDU is small, the proportion of the payload data will decrease. Correspondingly, the proportion of the leading symbol and the FC field will increase, which will lead to a decrease in throughput and thus reduce communication performance.

[0133] In order to solve the above technical problems, the present application provides a communication method, which includes: a second device obtains first information; sends the first information; wherein the first information includes first indication information, second indication information, and multiple user information fields corresponding to multiple first devices; the first indication information is used to indicate the number of users; and the second indication information is used to indicate the number of symbols in the training sequence.

[0134] In an embodiment of the present application, the second device can communicate with multiple first devices at the same time based on the first information. In addition, the second device can carry payload data associated with multiple first devices in the first information, which can increase the proportion of payload data in the first information, thereby improving the throughput of the communication system and improving communication performance.

[0135] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be used in power line communication systems.

[0136] For example, as shown in FIG5 below, which is a structural diagram of a communication system provided in the present application, the communication system may include one or more first devices (the first device can be understood as the above-mentioned site) and one or more second devices (the second device can be understood as the above-mentioned CCO).

[0137] Among them, the communication system can complete certain functions, such as power grid meter reading.

[0138] It can be understood that, unless otherwise specified, the first device in Figure 5 can refer to the first device itself, or a component in the first device (for example, a processor, chip, or chip system, etc.), or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first device.

[0139] It can be understood that, unless otherwise specified, the second device in Figure 5 can refer to the second device itself, or a component in the second device (for example, a processor, chip, or chip system, etc.), or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the site functions.

[0140] In the embodiment of the present application, the first device may be located within the management range of the second device, and the second device may provide communication services for the first device.

[0141] Among them, the first device in the embodiment of the present application can be a device with transceiver functions or a chip or chip system that can be set in the device, which can allow the user to access the network and is a device for providing data connectivity to the user.

[0142] Exemplarily, the first device may be an electric meter in a power grid, a terminal device in a smart lighting system, a terminal device in a smart photovoltaic system, or a terminal device in a fire alarm system.

[0143] Among them, the second device in the embodiment of the present application can be any device deployed in the power line communication system that can communicate with the first device, or it can be a chip or chip system that can be set on the above-mentioned device, or it can be a logical node or logical module or a function implemented in software, which can be used to implement physical control functions, resource scheduling and resource management, access control and other functions.

[0144] Exemplarily, the second device may be a CCO, a head end in a smart lighting system, a head end in a smart photovoltaic system, or a head end in a fire alarm system.

[0145] It should be noted that the communication system described in the embodiment of the present application is intended to more clearly illustrate the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application, and does not constitute a limitation on the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application. Ordinary technicians in this field can know that with the evolution of network architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application is also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0146] In specific implementations, each of the first device and the second device shown in Figure 5 may adopt the structure shown in Figure 6, or include the components shown in Figure 6. Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device 60 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 60 may be a first device or a chip or system-on-chip in the first device; or a second device or a chip or system-on-chip in the second device.

[0147] As shown in FIG6 , the communication device 60 includes one or more processors 601. Furthermore, the communication device 60 may also include a communication bus 602 and at least one communication interface ( FIG6 is merely exemplary, illustrating the communication device 60 including a communication interface 604 and one processor 601). Optionally, the communication device 60 may also include a memory 603.

[0148] Processor 601 can be a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of the program of the present application, or a processing core for processing data (e.g., computer program instructions). The processor can be a single-core (single-CPU) processor or a multi-core (multi-CPU) processor.

[0149] In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the processor 601 may include one or more CPUs, such as CPU0 and CPU1 in FIG6 .

[0150] Communication bus 602 may be a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus or an Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus, for example. Such buses may be classified as address buses, data buses, and control buses. For ease of illustration, FIG6 shows only one thick line, but this does not imply a single bus or type of bus. Communication bus 602 is used to connect the various components within communication device 60, enabling communication and interaction between the various components within communication device 60.

[0151] The communication interface 604 may be a transceiver module for communicating with other devices or a communication network, such as Ethernet, a radio access network (RAN), or a wireless local area network (WLAN). For example, the communication interface 604 may be a device such as a transceiver or a transceiver. Alternatively, the communication interface 604 may be a transceiver circuit within the processor 601 for implementing signal input and output to the processor.

[0152] The memory 603 may be a device having a storage function. For example, it may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other types of static storage devices that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM) or other types of dynamic storage devices that can store information and instructions, or an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, optical disc storage (including compact disc, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc, Blu-ray disc, etc.), a magnetic disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited thereto. The memory may exist independently and be connected to the processor via a communication bus 602. The memory may also be integrated with the processor.

[0153] Exemplarily, the memory 603 is used to store computer-executable instructions for executing the solution of the present application, and the execution is controlled by the processor 601. The processor 601 is used to execute the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 603, thereby implementing the method provided in the embodiment of the present application.

[0154] Alternatively, optionally, in an embodiment of the present application, the processor 601 may also perform processing-related functions in the method provided in the following embodiments of the present application, and the communication interface 604 is responsible for communicating with other devices or communication networks, which is not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0155] Optionally, the computer-executable instructions in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as application code, which is not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0156] In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the communication device 60 may further include an output device 605 and an input device 606. The output device 605 communicates with the processor 601 and can display information in a variety of ways. For example, the output device 605 can be a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light emitting diode (LED) display device, a cathode ray tube (CRT) display device, or a projector. The input device 606 communicates with the processor 601 and can receive user input in a variety of ways. For example, the input device 606 can be a mouse, a keyboard, a touch screen device, or a sensor device.

[0157] It should be noted that the composition structure shown in Figure 6 does not constitute a limitation on the communication device. In addition to the components shown in Figure 6, the communication device may include more or fewer components than shown in the figure, or combine certain components, or arrange the components differently.

[0158] The communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application will be described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It will be understood that in the embodiment of the present application, the first device or the second device can perform some or all of the steps in the embodiment of the present application, and these steps or operations are only examples. The embodiment of the present application can also perform other operations or variations of various operations. In addition, the various steps can be performed in a different order according to the embodiment of the present application, and it is possible that not all operations in the embodiment of the present application need to be performed.

[0159] As shown in Figure 7 below, it is an interaction diagram of a communication method provided by the present application. The communication method is illustrated by taking the interaction between the first device and the second device as an example. Of course, the subject that executes the action of the first device in the method can also be a device / module in the first device, such as a chip, processor, processing unit, etc. in the first device; the subject that executes the action of the second device in the method can also be a device / module in the second device, such as a chip, processor, processing unit, etc. in the second device, and the embodiment of the present application does not make specific limitations on this. The processing performed by a single execution subject (for example, the first device or the second device) in the embodiment of the present application can also be divided into executions by multiple execution subjects, and these execution subjects can be logically and / or physically separated. Exemplarily, referring to Figure 7, the communication method includes the following steps:

[0160] S701: The second device obtains first information.

[0161] The first information includes first indication information, second indication information, and multiple user information fields corresponding to multiple first devices.

[0162] 1) First instruction information

[0163] The first indication information is used to indicate the number of users.

[0164] For example, taking the first indication information as 2 bits, when the bit value is 00, it can indicate that the number of users is 1; when the bit value is 01, it can indicate that the number of users is 2; when the bit value is 10, it can indicate that the number of users is 3; when the bit value is 11, it can indicate that the number of users is 4.

[0165] Optionally, the first FC field includes first indication information.

[0166] The first FC field is located on the first information, and the first FC field may be the FC field shown in FIG. 3 or FIG. 4 .

[0167] It can be understood that the first FC field includes the first indication information and is compatible with single-user communication and multi-user communication.

[0168] 2) Second instruction information

[0169] The second indication information is used to indicate the number of symbols in a training field (TF).

[0170] In a possible implementation, the number of bits occupied by the second indication information may be 2 bits.

[0171] Exemplarily, assuming that the number of symbols in the training sequence can satisfy the following formula: (TF_Num+1)*2 (the value of TF_Num is the bit value of the second indication information), when the bit value is 00, it can be indicated that the number of symbols in the training sequence is (0+1)*2=2; when the bit value is 01, the number of symbols in the training sequence is (1+1)*2=4; when the bit value is 10, the number of symbols in the training sequence is (2+1)*2=6; when the bit value is 11, the number of symbols in the training sequence is (3+1)*2=8.

[0172] Another exemplary embodiment assumes that the number of symbols in the training sequence can satisfy the following formula: TF_Num*2 (the value of TF_Num is the bit value of the second indication information). When the bit value is 00, the number of symbols in the training sequence is 0*2=0; when the bit value is 01, the number of symbols in the training sequence is 1*2=2; when the bit value is 10, the number of symbols in the training sequence is 2*2=4; when the bit value is 11, the number of symbols in the training sequence is 3*2=6.

[0173] It can be understood that the training sequence is predefined. In the time domain, the training sequences associated with multiple first devices are the same; in the frequency domain, each resource unit corresponds to a training sequence (the sum of the training sequences corresponding to all resource units is the training sequence corresponding to the entire frequency band), and the training sequence associated with the first device can be determined based on the resource unit associated with the first device.

[0174] For example, taking the number of resource units as 4, the training sequence corresponding to resource unit 1 may be training sequence 1, the training sequence corresponding to resource unit 2 may be training sequence 2, the training sequence corresponding to resource unit 3 may be training sequence 3, and the training sequence corresponding to resource unit 4 may be training sequence 4.

[0175] Among them, training sequence 1, training sequence 2, training sequence 3, and training sequence 4 can constitute a training sequence corresponding to the entire frequency band.

[0176] For example, when the first device and the second device communicate on resource unit 1, the first device can perform channel estimation on the downlink channel (i.e., the downlink channel between the first device and the second device) based on the training sequence 1; correspondingly, the second device can perform channel estimation on the uplink channel (i.e., the uplink channel between the first device and the second device) based on the training sequence 1.

[0177] Optionally, the second FC field may include second indication information.

[0178] The second FC field is located on the first information, and the second FC field is a newly added FC field.

[0179] The number of bits occupied by the second FC field is the same as the number of bits occupied by the first FC field, and when the first FC field exists, the second device can communicate with multiple first devices at the same time.

[0180] It can be understood that the number of bits occupied by the second FC field can be 128 bits, and the Turbo coding block of the second FC field is PB16, which can ensure that the number of OFDM symbols occupied by the second FC field remains within a certain range and is compatible with the size of PB in the power line communication system.

[0181] 3) User information field

[0182] For example, when the first indication information indicates that the number of users is 4, the first information may contain user information field 0 associated with the first device 0, user information field 1 associated with the first device 1, user information field 2 associated with the first device 2, and user information field 3 associated with the first device 3.

[0183] It can be understood that the sub-field types included in the user information fields associated with different first devices are the same, and the values ​​of the sub-fields can be the same or different. The second device can flexibly indicate the user information of each first device through the user information fields associated with different first devices, and can thus communicate with multiple first devices at the same time.

[0184] Optionally, the user information field may include one or more of the following: an identification information field and a first field.

[0185] The identification information field is used to indicate the identification information of the first device.

[0186] Exemplarily, the identification information of the first device may be a unique identification code of the first device, or the identification information of the first device may be a media access control (MAC) address of the first device, or the identification information of the first device may be an internet protocol (IP) address of the first device, or the identification information of the first device may be a reallocated identification code (e.g., if there are 4 first devices, the identification code of first device 0 is 00, the identification code of first device 1 is 01, the identification code of first device 2 is 10, and the identification code of first device 3 is 11).

[0187] In a possible implementation, the identification information field may occupy 11 bits.

[0188] It is understandable that the first device may determine the identification information of the first device based on the identification information field, and further determine the user information field associated with the first device.

[0189] The first field is used to indicate one or more of the following: a modulation and coding scheme, a code rate, or a size of each physical block.

[0190] The size of each physical block can be any of the following: 16 bytes, 40 bytes, 72 bytes, 136 bytes, 264 bytes, or 520 bytes.

[0191] Illustratively, the first device may determine the specific location of the physical block according to the size of each physical block and the number of physical blocks, and then parse the payload data on the physical block.

[0192] The number of physical blocks can refer to the following description of the physical block field and will not be repeated here.

[0193] In a possible implementation, the number of bits occupied by the first field may be 6.

[0194] It can be understood that the first device can determine the location of the payload data based on the size of the physical block in the first field, and parse the payload data according to the modulation and coding scheme and code rate in the first field, which can improve the effectiveness of communication.

[0195] Based on the above description of the user information field, it can be understood that the second device can arrange the user information subfields associated with the first device in sequence.

[0196] Optionally, the second FC field may include multiple user information fields.

[0197] In a possible implementation, the second FC field may include at most four user information fields.

[0198] Exemplarily, when the number of users is 4, the second FC field may include a user information field associated with the first device 0 (such as user information field 0), a user information field associated with the first device 1 (such as user information field 1), a user information field associated with the first device 2 (such as user information field 2), and a user information field associated with the first device 3 (such as user information field 3).

[0199] Optionally, the number of the second FC fields can be determined according to the number of users, that is, when the number of users is X, the number of the second FC fields can be

[0200] in, To round up, X is a positive integer.

[0201] For example, when the number of users is 7, the number of second FC fields may be 2; or, when the number of users is 15, the number of second FC fields may be 4.

[0202] For example, taking the number of users as 7, the second FC field 1 may include the user information field associated with the first device 0 (such as user information field 0), the user information field associated with the first device 1 (such as user information field 1), the user information field associated with the first device 2 (such as user information field 2), and the user information field associated with the first device 3 (such as user information field 3); the second FC field 2 may include the user information field associated with the first device 5 (such as user information field 5), the user information field associated with the first device 6 (such as user information field 6), and the user information field associated with the first device 7 (such as user information field 7).

[0203] It should be noted that, for multiple second FC fields in the same first information, the second indication information in each second FC field indicates the same number of symbols in the training sequence.

[0204] S702: The second device sends first information to multiple first devices; correspondingly, the first device receives the first information from the second device.

[0205] The second device may map the first information to the time domain or the frequency domain to form a signal, and send the signal to the first device; correspondingly, the first device may receive the signal from the second device and obtain the first information in the signal.

[0206] S703: The first device parses the first information.

[0207] Based on the communication method shown in Figure 7, the second device can communicate with multiple first devices at the same time based on the first information. In addition, the second device can carry the payload data associated with multiple first devices in the first information, which can increase the proportion of payload data in the first information, thereby improving the throughput of the communication system and improving communication performance.

[0208] Based on the description of the first information in FIG7 , this application proposes two possible designs:

[0209] In a first possible design, the first information may be a downlink frame.

[0210] When the first information is a downlink frame, the first information may include payload data, and the payload data associated with different first devices may be transmitted on different resource units.

[0211] The downlink frame may be considered as a downlink data frame.

[0212] Optionally, each user information field may include a physical block field.

[0213] The physical block field is used to indicate the number of physical blocks occupied by the first device.

[0214] In a possible implementation, the number of bits occupied by the physical block field can be determined according to the first indication information.

[0215] Exemplarily, when the number of users indicated by the first indication information is less than 4, the number of bits occupied by the physical block field is 4; when the number of users indicated by the first indication information is equal to 4, the number of bits occupied by the physical block field is 1.

[0216] For example, taking the number of bits occupied by the physical block field as 4, when the bit value is 0000, it can indicate that the number of physical blocks is 1; when the bit value is 0001, it can indicate that the number of physical blocks is 2; and so on, when the bit value is 1111, it can indicate that the number of physical blocks is 16.

[0217] For another example, taking the number of bits occupied by a physical block as 1, when the bit value is 0, it can indicate that the number of physical blocks is 1; when the bit value is 1, it can indicate that the number of physical blocks is 2.

[0218] It is understandable that the first device can determine the number of bits occupied by the physical block field based on the first indication information, providing a feasible solution for determining the number of bits occupied by the physical block field. When the number of users is large, the number of bits occupied by the physical block field in each user information field can be reduced, limiting the number of bits occupied by each user information field to a certain range, thereby reducing transmission overhead.

[0219] Optionally, each user information field may further include one or more of the following: a copy field, or a resource unit field.

[0220] The copy field is used to indicate the number of copies, and the number of copies is used to indicate the number of times the payload data is repeated.

[0221] In a possible implementation, the number of bits occupied by the copy field may be 2.

[0222] For example, when the bit value is 00, it may indicate that the number of copies is 1 (i.e., the payload data can be transmitted once); when the bit value is 01, it may indicate that the number of copies is 2 (i.e., the payload data can be transmitted simultaneously on two different subcarriers); when the bit value is 10, it may indicate that the number of copies is 4 (i.e., the payload data can be transmitted simultaneously on four different subcarriers); when the bit value is 11, it may indicate that the number of copies is 7 (i.e., the payload data can be transmitted simultaneously on seven different subcarriers).

[0223] Another example is that when the bit value is 00, it can indicate that the number of copies is 1; when the bit value is 01, it can indicate that the number of copies is 2; when the bit value is 10, it can indicate that the number of copies is 3; and when the bit value is 11, it can indicate that the number of copies is 4.

[0224] It is understandable that the first device can determine the number of times to simultaneously transmit the payload data based on the copy field, can superimpose the received payload data, can reduce the bit error rate of the payload data, and can further improve the reliability of communication.

[0225] Optionally, the number of copies may be determined according to channel quality.

[0226] The channel quality may be determined based on a reference signal, that is, the first device may send a reference signal to the second device, and the second device may perform channel estimation based on the reference signal to determine the channel quality.

[0227] It can be understood that the first device can periodically send a reference signal to the second device.

[0228] For example, taking the example of the first device sending a reference signal to the second device at time 1 and time 2, the second device can receive the reference signal from the first device at time 1, determine the channel quality based on the reference signal, and then determine the number of copies (such as 4) based on the channel quality. The number of copies between time 1 and time 2 is 4.

[0229] It is understandable that when the channel quality is good, the payload data can be transmitted according to a smaller number of copies, which can reduce the transmission overhead; when the channel quality is poor, the payload data can be transmitted according to a larger number of copies, which can improve the reliability of communication.

[0230] The resource unit field is used to indicate the index of the resource unit associated with the first device.

[0231] In a possible implementation, the number of bits occupied by the resource unit field may be 5.

[0232] For example, when the bit value is 00000, it can indicate that the index of the resource unit is 0, and then the resource unit corresponding to the index 0 (such as resource unit 0) can be determined; when the bit value is 00001, it can indicate that the index of the resource unit is 1, and then the resource unit corresponding to the index 1 (such as resource unit 1) can be determined; and so on, when the bit value is 11111, it can indicate that the index of the resource unit is 31, and then the resource unit corresponding to the index 31 (such as resource unit 31) can be determined.

[0233] It can be understood that the first device can determine the index of the resource unit associated with the first device based on the resource unit field. Since different first devices are associated with different resource units, the second device can communicate with multiple first devices at the same time on different resource units, that is, the second device can carry the load data associated with multiple first devices in the first information, which can increase the proportion of load data, and thus improve the throughput of the communication system and improve communication performance.

[0234] Optionally, the first information may further include a second training sequence.

[0235] For example, taking the number of users as 4, assuming that the second device communicates with the first device 0 on resource unit 0, the second device communicates with the first device 1 on resource unit 1, the second device communicates with the first device 2 on resource unit 2, and the second device communicates with the first device 3 on resource unit 3. Then, the second training sequence corresponding to the first device 0 may be the training sequence associated with resource unit 0, the second training sequence corresponding to the first device 1 may be the training sequence associated with resource unit 1, the second training sequence corresponding to the first device 2 may be the training sequence associated with resource unit 2, and the second training sequence corresponding to the first device 3 may be the training sequence associated with resource unit 3.

[0236] The second training sequence can be determined according to the second indication information.

[0237] Exemplarily, when the second indication information indicates that the number of symbols of the training sequence is 4, the second training sequence may include 4 training sequences.

[0238] For example, based on the example of the second training sequence corresponding to the above-mentioned first device, the second training sequence corresponding to the first device 0 can be the 4 training sequences associated with resource unit 0, the second training sequence corresponding to the first device 1 can be the 4 training sequences associated with resource unit 1, the second training sequence corresponding to the first device 2 can be the 4 training sequences associated with resource unit 2, and the second training sequence corresponding to the first device 3 can be the 4 training sequences associated with resource unit 3.

[0239] It is understandable that the first device can perform channel estimation on the downlink channel according to the second training sequence, determine the channel characteristics of the downlink channel, and then analyze the payload data according to the channel characteristics, thereby improving the reliability of communication.

[0240] Based on the above description that the first information is a downlink frame, the present application proposes a possible embodiment, as shown in Figure 8 below, the first information may include a preamble symbol, a first FC field (the first FC field may be composed of M first FC symbols, and the information transmitted in the M first FC symbols is the same, that is, the information can be diversity copied to different carriers of each first FC symbol), a second FC field (the second FC field may be composed of N second FC symbols, and the information transmitted in the N second FC symbols is the same, that is, the information can be diversity copied to different carriers of each second FC symbol), a training sequence field (such as the training sequence field includes Z training sequences), and one or more payload data fields (such as K payload data fields, and the payload data in the K payload data fields may be the same or different).

[0241] Among them, M, N, Z, and K are all positive integers.

[0242] Among them, each first FC field includes first indication information, and each second FC field includes second indication information and a user information field.

[0243] Exemplarily, when the number of users is 4, the meanings of each field, the number of bits of each field, and the occupied bits in the first information can be as shown in Table 3 below:

[0244] Table 3 First Information

[0245] Based on the description of Table 3 and Figure 8 above, it can be understood that when the number of users is 4, [26:2] (a total of 25 bits) in the second FC field is the user information field 0; [51:27] (a total of 25 bits) in the second FC field is the user information field 1; [76:52] (a total of 25 bits) in the second FC field is the user information field 2; [101:77] (a total of 25 bits) in the second FC field is the user information field 3; [103:102] in the second FC field is the reserved field; [127:104] in the second FC field is the CRC check bit.

[0246] When the number of users is 3, [29:2] (a total of 28 bits) in the second FC field is the user information field 0; [56:30] (a total of 28 bits) in the second FC field is the user information field 1; [83:57] (a total of 28 bits) in the second FC field is the user information field 2; [103:84] in the second FC field is the reserved field; [127:104] in the second FC field is the CRC check bit.

[0247] When the number of users is 2, [29:2] (a total of 28 bits) in the second FC field is the user information field 0; [56:30] (a total of 28 bits) in the second FC field is the user information field 1; [103:57] in the second FC field is the reserved field; [127:104] in the second FC field is the CRC check bit.

[0248] Among them, the above [b:a] (a < b) means that the bits occupied by the field are from a to b.

[0249] It can be understood that compared with the number of bits occupied by the physical block field being 1 when the number of users is 4, when the number of users is less than 4, the number of bits occupied by the physical block field can be 4, and then, the number of bits occupied by the user information field is 28.

[0250] It can be understood that when the number of users is greater than 4, the number of second FC fields is greater than 1, and the first information can be as shown in Figure 9 below. Taking the number of users as 7 as an example, the first information may include a preamble symbol, a first FC field (the first FC field may be composed of M first FC symbols, and the information transmitted in the M first FC symbols is the same, that is, the information can be diversity copied to different carriers of each first FC symbol), a second FC field 1 (the second FC field 1 may be composed of N second FC symbols 1, and the information transmitted in the N second FC symbols 1 is the same, that is, the information can be diversity copied to different carriers of each second FC symbol 1), a second FC field 2 (the second FC field 2 may be composed of N second FC symbols 2, and the information transmitted in the N second FC symbols 2 is the same, that is, the information can be diversity copied to different carriers of each second FC symbol 2), a training sequence field (such as the training sequence field includes Z training sequences), and one or more payload data fields (such as K payload data fields, and the payload data in the K payload data fields may be the same or different).

[0251] Wherein, M, N, Z, and K are all positive integers.

[0252] The second FC field 1 is the same as the second FC field in FIG. 8 .

[0253] In which, a second FC field 2 can be added after the second FC field 1, the second indication information in the second FC field 2 is consistent with the second indication information in the second FC field 1 (that is, the number of training sequences indicated by the second indication information is the same), and the user information field in the second FC field 2 is the user information field associated with the first device 4 (such as user information field 4), the user information field associated with the first device 5 (such as user information field 5), and the user information field associated with the first device 6 (such as user information field 6).

[0254] The contents of user information field 4, user information field 5, and user information field 6 are similar to those of the user information fields in Table 3 above, and are not described in detail here.

[0255] In a second possible design, the first information may be a trigger frame.

[0256] The trigger frame may also be considered as a downlink frame.

[0257] Optionally, based on the first information shown in FIG. 7 above, the first information may further include third indication information.

[0258] The third indication information is used to indicate whether there is at least one resource unit associated with the first device whose index is greater than the first value.

[0259] The first value is a positive integer (eg, the first value may be 14).

[0260] Exemplarily, taking the third indication information as one bit, when the bit value is 1, it may indicate that there is at least one resource unit associated with the first device whose index is greater than the first value; when the bit value is 0, it may indicate that there is not at least one resource unit associated with the first device whose index is greater than the first value. Alternatively, when the bit value is 0, it may indicate that there is at least one resource unit associated with the first device whose index is greater than the first value; when the bit value is 1, it may indicate that there is not at least one resource unit associated with the first device whose index is greater than the first value.

[0261] It can be understood that when the third indication information indicates that there is at least one resource unit associated with the first device whose index is greater than the first value, it can be determined that the maximum value of the resource unit index is greater than the first value, thereby making the number of bits occupied by the resource unit field larger, and ensuring as much as possible that the resource unit field can indicate the indexes of all resource units; when the third indication information indicates that there is no resource unit associated with the first device whose index is greater than the first value, it can be determined that the maximum value of the resource unit index is less than or equal to the first value, thereby making the number of bits occupied by the resource unit field smaller, and reducing the transmission overhead.

[0262] Optionally, the first FC frame may include third indication information.

[0263] Optionally, when the number of users is equal to 4, the first information may further include a physical block field (the number of physical blocks occupied by different first devices is the same); or, when the number of users is less than 4, each user information field may further include a physical block field (the number of physical blocks occupied by different first devices may be the same or different).

[0264] It can be understood that the position of the physical block field can be determined according to the number of users, providing a feasible solution for determining the position of the physical block field; when the first information includes the physical block field, the number of physical blocks occupied by different first devices is the same, which can reduce the number of bits occupied by the physical block field and reduce the transmission overhead; when each user information field includes a physical block field, the number of physical blocks occupied by different first devices can be the same or different, and the number of physical blocks occupied by each first device can be determined according to the actual communication situation of each first device, which can improve the flexibility of determining the number of physical blocks occupied by each first device.

[0265] It can be understood that when the first information includes a physical block field, the physical block field may be located on the second FC frame.

[0266] In a possible implementation, the number of bits occupied by the physical block field can be determined based on the first indication information; or, the number of bits occupied by the physical block field can be determined based on the first indication information and the third indication information.

[0267] Exemplarily, when the number of users indicated by the first indication information is less than 4, the number of bits occupied by the physical block field is 4; or, when the number of users indicated by the first indication information is equal to 4, and the third indication information indicates that there is no index of a resource unit associated with at least one first device greater than the first value, the number of bits occupied by the physical block field is 4; or, when the number of users indicated by the first indication information is equal to 4, and the third indication information indicates that there is an index of a resource unit associated with at least one first device greater than the first value, the number of bits occupied by the physical block field is 2.

[0268] For example, taking the number of bits occupied by the physical block field as 2, when the bit value is 00, it can indicate that the number of physical blocks is 1; when the bit value is 01, it can indicate that the number of physical blocks is 2; when the bit value is 10, it can indicate that the number of physical blocks is 3; when the bit value is 11, it can indicate that the number of physical blocks is 4.

[0269] Based on this possible implementation, the number of bits occupied by the physical block field can be determined according to the above two methods. At the same time, by determining the number of bits occupied by the physical block according to the above method, when there are a large number of users, the number of bits occupied by the first information can be limited to a certain range as much as possible, thereby reducing transmission overhead.

[0270] Optionally, each user information field may include a power control field.

[0271] The power control field is used to indicate the transmit power of the first device.

[0272] In one possible implementation, the power control field may be 3 bits.

[0273] For example, taking the power control field indicating the index of the transmission power of the first device as an example, when the bit value is 000, it can be indicated that the index of the transmission power of the first device is 0, and the transmission power of the first device can be determined as transmission power 0 based on index 0; when the bit value is 001, it can be indicated that the index of the transmission power of the first device is 1, and the transmission power of the first device can be determined as transmission power 1 based on index 1; and so on, when the bit value is 111, it can be indicated that the index of the transmission power of the first device is 7, and the transmission power of the first device can be determined as transmission power 7 based on index 7.

[0274] It can be understood that the transmission power of the first device can be attenuated according to the power control field to avoid excessive differences in the PSD of signals from different first devices to the second device. This can avoid interference caused by excessively high transmission power when different first devices communicate with the second device, and can also avoid poor communication quality due to excessively low transmission power, thereby improving the reliability of communication.

[0275] Optionally, each user information field may also include a resource unit field.

[0276] The resource unit field is used to indicate the index of the resource unit associated with the first device.

[0277] It can be understood that the first device can determine the index of the resource unit associated with the first device based on the resource unit field. Since different first devices are associated with different resource units, the second device can communicate with multiple first devices at the same time on different resource units, that is, the second device can carry the load data associated with multiple first devices in the first information, which can increase the proportion of load data, and thus improve the throughput of the communication system and improve communication performance.

[0278] In a possible implementation, the number of bits occupied by the resource unit field is determined according to the third indication information.

[0279] Exemplarily, when the third indication information indicates that there is no resource unit associated with at least one first device whose index is greater than the first value, the number of bits occupied by the resource unit field is 4; or, when the third indication information indicates that there is at least one resource unit associated with the first device whose index is greater than the first value, the number of bits occupied by the resource unit field is 5.

[0280] For example, taking the number of bits occupied by the resource unit field as 4 as an example, when the bit value is 0000, it can indicate that the index of the resource unit is 0, and then the resource unit corresponding to the index 0 can be determined (such as resource unit 0); when the bit value is 0001, it can indicate that the index of the resource unit is 1, and then the resource unit corresponding to the index 1 can be determined (such as resource unit 1); and so on, when the bit value is 1111, it can indicate that the index of the resource unit is 15, and then the resource unit corresponding to the index 15 can be determined (such as resource unit 15).

[0281] Based on this possible implementation, the number of bits occupied by the resource unit field can be determined according to the third indication information, and the resource unit field can be guaranteed to indicate the index of the resource unit associated with each first device as much as possible, providing a feasible solution for determining the number of bits occupied by the resource unit field.

[0282] Optionally, each user information field may also include a copy field.

[0283] It is understandable that the number of times the payload data is transmitted simultaneously can be determined based on the copy field, which can reduce the error rate of the payload data and improve the reliability of communication.

[0284] In a possible implementation, the number of bits occupied by the copy field can be determined according to the first indication information.

[0285] Exemplarily, when the number of users indicated by the first indication information is less than 4, the number of bits occupied by the copy field is 2; or, when the number of users indicated by the first indication information is equal to 4, the number of bits occupied by the copy field is 1.

[0286] For example, taking the copy field as 2 bits, when the bit value is 00, it can indicate that the number of copies is 1; when the bit value is 01, it can indicate that the number of copies is 2; when the bit value is 10, it can indicate that the number of copies is 4; when the bit value is 11, it can indicate that the number of copies is 7.

[0287] For another example, taking the number of copies as 1 bit, when the bit value is 0, it can represent the number of copies as 1; when the bit value is 1, it can represent the number of copies as 2.

[0288] Based on this possible implementation, the number of bits occupied by the copy field can be determined according to the first indication information. When the number of users is large, the number of bits occupied by the first information can be limited to a certain range as much as possible, which can reduce transmission overhead.

[0289] Based on the above description of the first information as a trigger frame, the present application proposes a possible embodiment, which can be shown in Figure 10 below. The first information may include a preamble symbol, a first FC field (the first FC field may be composed of M first FC symbols, and the information transmitted in the M first FC symbols is the same, that is, the information can be diversity copied to different carriers of each first FC symbol), a second FC field (the second FC field may be composed of N second FC symbols, and the information transmitted in the N second FC symbols is the same, that is, the information can be diversity copied to different carriers of each second FC symbol), a training sequence field (such as the training sequence field includes Z training sequences), and one or more payload data fields (such as K payload data fields, and the payload data in the K payload data fields may be the same or different).

[0290] The first FC field may include first indication information and third indication information, and the second FC field may include second indication information and a user information field.

[0291] Exemplarily, when the number of users is 4 and the third indication information indicates that there is an index of a resource unit associated with at least one first device greater than 14, the meaning of each field in the first information and the number of bits and the number of bits occupied by each field can be shown in Table 4 below:

[0292] Table 4 First Information

[0293] Based on the description of Figure 10 and Table 4 above, it can be understood that when the third indication information indicates that there is no index of the resource unit associated with at least one first device greater than 14, and the number of users is 4, [5:2] (4 bits in total) in the second FC field is the number of physical blocks; [29:6] (24 bits in total) in the second FC field is user information field 0, and [53:30] (24 bits in total) in the second FC field is user information field 1; [77:54] (24 bits in total) in the second FC field is user information field 2; [101:78] (24 bits in total) in the second FC field is user information field 3; [103:102] in the second FC field is a reserved field; and [127:104] in the second FC field are CRC check bits.

[0294] Among them, compared with the number of bits occupied by the resource unit field in Table 4, which is 5, when the third indication information indicates that there is no index greater than 14 of the resource unit associated with at least one first device, the number of bits occupied by the resource unit field is 4, then the number of bits occupied by the user information field is 24.

[0295] When the third indication information indicates that there is no index of a resource unit associated with at least one first device greater than 14, and the number of users is 3, [5:2] (4 bits in total) in the second FC field is the number of physical blocks; [30:6] (25 bits in total) in the second FC field is user information field 0, and [55:31] (25 bits in total) in the second FC field is user information field 1; [80:56] (25 bits in total) in the second FC field is user information field 2; [103:81] in the second FC field is a reserved field; and [127:104] in the second FC field are CRC check bits.

[0296] When the third indication information indicates that there is no index of a resource unit associated with at least one first device greater than 14, and the number of users is 2, [5:2] (4 bits in total) in the second FC field is the number of physical blocks; [30:6] (25 bits in total) in the second FC field is user information field 0, and [55:31] (25 bits in total) in the second FC field is user information field 1; [103:56] in the second FC field is a reserved field; and [127:104] in the second FC field is CRC check bits.

[0297] Among them, compared with Table 4, the number of bits occupied by the copy field is 1 and the number of bits occupied by the resource unit is 5, when the number of users is less than 4, the number of bits occupied by the copy field is 2, and when the third indication information indicates that there is no index greater than 14 of the resource unit associated with at least one first device, the number of bits occupied by the resource unit field is 4, then the number of bits occupied by the user information field is 25.

[0298] It can be understood that when the third indication information indicates that there is at least one first device-associated resource unit whose index is greater than 14 and the number of users is 4, [3:2] (2 bits in total) in the second FC field is the number of physical blocks; [28:4] (25 bits in total) in the second FC field is user information field 0, and [53:30] in the second FC field is user information field 1 of STA1; [77:54] in the second FC field is user information field 2; [101:78] in the second FC field is user information field 3; [103:102] in the second FC field is a reserved field; and [127:104] in the second FC field is a CRC check bit.

[0299] When the third indication information indicates that there is at least one resource unit associated with the first device whose index is greater than 14 and the number of users is 3, [5:2] (4 bits in total) in the second FC field is the number of physical blocks; [31:6] (26 bits in total) in the second FC field is user information field 0, and [57:32] (26 bits in total) in the second FC field is user information field 1; [82:57] (26 bits in total) in the second FC field is user information field 2; [103:83] in the second FC field is a reserved field; and [127:104] in the second FC field are CRC check bits.

[0300] When the third indication information indicates that the index of at least one resource unit associated with the first device is greater than 14 and the number of users is 2, [5:2] (a total of 4 bits) in the second FC field is the number of physical blocks; [31:6] (a total of 26 bits) in the second FC field is user information field 0, and [57:32] (a total of 26 bits) in the second FC field is user information field 1; [103:58] in the second FC field is a reserved field; [127:104] in the second FC field is CRC check bits.

[0301] Among them, compared with the number of bits occupied by the copy field in Table 4 being 1, when the number of users is less than 4, the number of bits occupied by the copy field is 2. Then, the number of bits occupied by the user information field is 26.

[0302] Among them, the above [b:a] (a < b) indicates that the bits occupied by the field are from a to b.

[0303] Among them, in the above several cases, the bits occupied by the sub-fields in the user information field can be specifically as shown in Table 5 below:

[0304] Table 5 Sub-fields of the user information field

[0305] Among them, TEI in Table 5 is the identification information field, TMI is the first field, TPC is the power control field, RUI is the resource unit field, NCopy is the copy field, and FC2 is the second FC field (the above FC2 [b:a] (a < b) indicates that the bits occupied by the field in the second FC field are from a to b).

[0306] It can be understood that when the number of users is greater than 4, the number of second FC fields is greater than 1. As shown in Figure 11 below, the first information may include a preamble symbol, a first FC field (the first FC field may be composed of M first FC symbols, and the information transmitted in the M first FC symbols is the same, that is, this information can be diversely copied to different carriers of each first FC symbol), a second FC field 1 (the second FC field 1 may be composed of N second FC symbols 1, and the information transmitted in the N second FC symbols 1 is the same, that is, this information can be diversely copied to different carriers of each second FC symbol 1), a second FC field 2 (the second FC field 2 may be composed of N second FC symbols 2, and the information transmitted in the N second FC symbols 2 is the same, that is, this information can be diversely copied to different carriers of each second FC symbol 2), a training sequence field (such as the training sequence field includes Z training sequences), and one or more payload data fields (such as K payload data fields, and the payload data in the K payload data fields may be the same or different).

[0307] The second FC field 1 is the same as the second FC field in FIG. 10 .

[0308] In which, a second FC field 2 can be added after the second FC field 1, the second indication information in the second FC field 2 is consistent with the second indication information in the second FC field 1 (that is, the number of training sequences indicated by the second indication information is the same), and the user information field in the second FC field 2 is the user information field associated with the first device 4 (such as user information field 4), the user information field associated with the first device 5 (such as user information field 5), and the user information field associated with the first device 6 (such as user information field 6).

[0309] The contents of user information field 4, user information field 5, and user information field 6 are similar to those of the user information fields in Table 3 above, and are not described in detail here.

[0310] Based on the communication method shown in Figures 7 to 11 above, when the first information is a trigger frame, the first device can send an uplink frame to the second device according to the trigger frame. The specific steps can be shown in Figure 12 below:

[0311] S704: The first device sends an uplink frame to the second device; correspondingly, the second device receives the uplink frame from the first device.

[0312] The first device may send an uplink frame to the second device according to the first information.

[0313] Optionally, the uplink frame may include a first training sequence.

[0314] The first training sequence is determined according to the second indication information.

[0315] Exemplarily, taking the example that the second indication information indicates that the number of symbols of the training sequence is 4, the first training sequence may include 4 training sequences.

[0316] The determination of the second training sequence associated with the first device is similar to the determination of the first training sequence associated with the first device, and is not described in detail here.

[0317] It is understandable that the second device can perform channel estimation on the uplink channel according to the first training sequence, determine the channel characteristics of the uplink channel, and then parse the payload data in the uplink frame according to the channel characteristics, thereby improving the reliability of communication.

[0318] Based on the communication method shown in FIG12 , multiple first devices can simultaneously send uplink frames to the second device on different resource units according to the first information, which can increase the proportion of payload data, increase the throughput of the communication system, and thus improve communication performance.

[0319] Based on the communication method shown in Figures 7 to 12 above, when the number of users is 1, the first device can parse the first FC field and communicate with the second device based on the first FC field; when the number of users is greater than 1, the first device can also parse the second FC field and communicate with the second device based on the second FC field.

[0320] It should be noted that the various embodiments of this application can be implemented independently or in combination, without limitation. Unless otherwise specified or there is a logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions of the different embodiments provided in this application are consistent and can be referenced by each other. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments based on their inherent logical relationships.

[0321] It is understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the execution subject may perform some or all of the steps in the embodiments of the present application. These steps or operations are merely examples, and the embodiments of the present application may also perform other operations or variations of various operations. In addition, the various steps may be performed in a different order than those presented in the embodiments of the present application, and it is possible that not all operations in the embodiments of the present application need to be performed.

[0322] The above mainly introduces the solutions provided by this application from the perspective of interaction between various devices. Accordingly, this application also provides a communication device, which is used to implement the various methods described above. The communication device can be the first device in the above method embodiments, or a device including the above first device, or a component that can be used for the first device; alternatively, the communication device can be the second device involved in the above method embodiments, or a device including the second device, or a component that can be used for the second device.

[0323] It is understandable that, in order to realize the above functions, the communication device includes hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function. It should be easily appreciated by those skilled in the art that, in combination with the units and algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed herein, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.

[0324] The embodiment of the present application can divide the functional modules of the communication device according to the above 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 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 the embodiment of the present application is schematic and is only a logical functional division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods.

[0325] In one implementation scenario, taking the communication device as the second device in the above method embodiment as an example, FIG13 shows a schematic structural diagram of a second device 130. The second device 130 includes a processing module 1301 and a transceiver module 1302.

[0326] In some embodiments, the second device 130 may further include a storage module (not shown in FIG. 13 ) for storing program instructions and data.

[0327] In some embodiments, the transceiver module 1302, which may also be referred to as a transceiver unit, is configured to implement a transmitting and / or receiving function. The transceiver module 1302 may be composed of a transceiver circuit, a transceiver, a transceiver, or a communication interface.

[0328] In some embodiments, the transceiver module 1302 may include a receiving module and a sending module, which are respectively used to execute the receiving and sending steps performed by the second device in the above method embodiment, and / or used to support other processes of the technology described herein; the processing module 1301 may be used to execute the processing steps (such as determination, generation, etc.) performed by the second device in the above method embodiment, and / or used to support other processes of the technology described herein.

[0329] Exemplarily, the processing module 1301 is used to obtain first information; wherein the first information includes first indication information, second indication information, and one or more user information fields corresponding to one or more first devices; the first indication information is used to indicate the number of users; the second indication information is used to indicate the number of symbols in the training sequence; the transceiver module 1302 is used to send the first information.

[0330] In the present application, the second device 130 is presented in the form of functional modules divided in an integrated manner. The "module" here can refer to a specific application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a circuit, a processor and memory that executes one or more software or firmware programs, an integrated logic circuit, and / or other devices that can provide the above functions.

[0331] In some embodiments, in terms of hardware implementation, those skilled in the art may appreciate that the second device 130 may take the form of the communication apparatus 60 shown in FIG. 6 .

[0332] As an example, the functions / implementation process of the processing module 1301 in FIG13 can be implemented by the processor 601 in the communication device 60 shown in FIG6 calling the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 603. The functions / implementation process of the transceiver module 1302 in FIG13 can be implemented by the communication interface 604 in the communication device 60 shown in FIG6.

[0333] In some embodiments, when the second device 130 in Figure 13 is a chip or a chip system, the function / implementation process of the transceiver module 1302 can be implemented through the input and output interface (or communication interface) of the chip or chip system, and the function / implementation process of the processing module 1301 can be implemented through the processor (or processing circuit) of the chip or chip system.

[0334] Since the second device 130 provided in this embodiment can execute the above method, the technical effects that can be obtained can refer to the above method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0335] In another implementation scenario, taking the communication device as the first device in the above method embodiment as an example, FIG14 shows a schematic structural diagram of a first device 140. The first device 140 includes a processing module 1401 and a transceiver module 1402.

[0336] In some embodiments, the first device 140 may further include a storage module (not shown in FIG. 14 ) for storing program instructions and data.

[0337] In some embodiments, the transceiver module 1402, which may also be referred to as a transceiver unit, is configured to implement a transmitting and / or receiving function. The transceiver module 1402 may be composed of a transceiver circuit, a transceiver, a transceiver, or a communication interface.

[0338] In some embodiments, the transceiver module 1402 may include a receiving module and a sending module, which are respectively used to execute the receiving and sending steps performed by the first device in the above method embodiment, and / or used to support other processes of the technology described herein; the processing module 1401 may be used to execute the processing steps (such as determination, generation, etc.) performed by the first device in the above method embodiment, and / or used to support other processes of the technology described herein.

[0339] Exemplarily, processing module 1401 is used to obtain first information; wherein the first information includes first indication information, second indication information, and multiple user information fields corresponding to multiple first devices; the first indication information is used to indicate the number of users; the second indication information is used to indicate the number of symbols in the training sequence; processing module 1401 is also used to parse the first information.

[0340] In a possible implementation, the transceiver module 1402 is configured to send an uplink frame to the second device according to the first information.

[0341] In a possible implementation, the uplink frame includes a first training sequence; wherein the first training sequence is determined according to an index of a resource unit associated with the first device and the second indication information.

[0342] In the present application, the first device 140 is presented in the form of functional modules divided in an integrated manner. The "module" here can refer to a specific application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a circuit, a processor and memory that executes one or more software or firmware programs, an integrated logic circuit, and / or other devices that can provide the above functions.

[0343] In some embodiments, in terms of hardware implementation, those skilled in the art may appreciate that the first device 140 may take the form of the communication apparatus 60 shown in FIG. 6 .

[0344] As an example, the functions / implementation process of the processing module 1401 in FIG14 can be implemented by the processor 601 in the communication device 60 shown in FIG6 calling the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 603. The functions / implementation process of the transceiver module 1402 in FIG14 can be implemented by the communication interface 604 in the communication device 60 shown in FIG6.

[0345] In some embodiments, when the first device 140 in Figure 14 is a chip or a chip system, the function / implementation process of the transceiver module 1402 can be implemented through the input and output interface (or communication interface) of the chip or chip system, and the function / implementation process of the processing module 1401 can be implemented through the processor (or processing circuit) of the chip or chip system.

[0346] Since the first device 140 provided in this embodiment can execute the above method, the technical effects that can be obtained can refer to the above method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0347] As a possible product form, the first device or the second device described in the embodiments of the present application can also be implemented using the following: one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), controllers, state machines, gate logic, discrete hardware components, any other suitable circuits, or any combination of circuits that can perform the various functions described throughout this application.

[0348] As another possible product form, the first device or the second device described in the embodiment of the present application can be implemented by a general bus architecture. For ease of explanation, refer to Figure 15, which is a structural diagram of a communication device 150 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 150 includes a processor 1501 and a transceiver 1502. The communication device 150 can be a first device, or a chip or module therein; or, the communication device 150 can be a second device, or a chip or module therein. Figure 15 only shows the main components of the communication device 150. In addition to the processor 1501 and the transceiver 1502, the communication device may further include a memory 1503.

[0349] Optionally, processor 1501 is primarily used to process communication protocols and communication data, control the entire communication device, execute software programs, and process software program data. Memory 1503 is primarily used to store software programs and data. Transceiver 1502 may include analog circuits and a coupler. The analog circuits are primarily used to convert baseband signals into power line signals and process power line signals. The coupler is primarily used to transmit and receive power line signals in the form of electromagnetic waves.

[0350] Optionally, the processor 1501 , the transceiver 1502 , and the memory 1503 may be connected via a communication bus.

[0351] When the communication device is powered on, processor 1501 reads the software program stored in memory 1503, interprets and executes the program's instructions, and processes the program's data. When wireless data needs to be transmitted, processor 1501 performs baseband processing on the data to be transmitted and outputs the baseband signal to the analog circuit. The analog circuit transmits the baseband signal through a coupler for transmission over the power line. When data is sent to the communication device, the analog circuit receives the power line signal through the coupler, converts the power line signal into a baseband signal, and outputs the baseband signal to processor 1501. Processor 1501 converts the baseband signal into data and processes the data.

[0352] In another implementation, the analog circuit and the coupler may be provided independently of the processor performing the baseband processing. For example, in a distributed scenario, the analog circuit and the coupler may be remotely arranged independent of the communication device.

[0353] In some embodiments, embodiments of the present application further provide a communication device, the communication device including a processor, configured to implement the method in any of the above method embodiments. The communication device may be the first device or the second device in the above method embodiments.

[0354] As a possible implementation, the communication device further includes a memory. The memory is used to store necessary computer programs and data. The computer program may include instructions, and the processor may invoke the instructions in the computer program stored in the memory to instruct the communication device to perform any of the above-described method embodiments. Of course, the memory may not be located in the communication device.

[0355] As another possible implementation, the communication device also includes an interface circuit, which is a code / data read / write interface circuit, and the interface circuit is used to receive computer execution instructions (computer execution instructions are stored in a memory, may be read directly from the memory, or may pass through other devices) and transmit them to the processor.

[0356] As another possible implementation, the communication device further includes a communication interface, where the communication interface is used to communicate with a module outside the communication device.

[0357] It can be understood that the communication device can be a chip or a chip system. When the communication device is a chip system, it can be composed of chips or include chips and other discrete devices. The embodiments of the present application do not specifically limit this.

[0358] The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program or instruction stored thereon, which implements the functions of any of the above method embodiments when executed by a computer.

[0359] The present application also provides a computer program product, which implements the functions of any of the above method embodiments when executed by a computer.

[0360] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that, for the sake of convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the above-described systems, devices, and units may refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0361] It is understood that the systems, devices, and methods described in this application may also be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely illustrative. For example, the division of the units is merely 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 coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be through some interface, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, and may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0362] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, i.e., they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Components shown as units may or may not be physical units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the objectives of this embodiment as needed.

[0363] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0364] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented using a software program, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes (or functions) described in the embodiments of the present application are implemented. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server or data center to another website, computer, server or data center via a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) method. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that contains one or more media that can be integrated. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (eg, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (eg, a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (eg, a solid state drive (SSD)). In the embodiment of the present application, the computer may include the aforementioned device.

[0365] Although the present application is described herein in conjunction with various embodiments, in the process of implementing the claimed application, those skilled in the art can understand and implement other changes to the disclosed embodiments by reviewing the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other components or steps, and "a" or "an" does not exclude multiple situations. A single processor or other unit can implement several functions listed in the claims. Certain measures are recorded in different dependent claims, but this does not mean that these measures cannot be combined to produce good results.

[0366] Although the present application has been described with reference to specific features and embodiments thereof, it is apparent that various modifications and combinations may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the present application. Accordingly, this specification and the drawings are merely illustrative of the present application as defined by the appended claims and are deemed to cover any and all modifications, variations, combinations or equivalents within the scope of the present application. Obviously, those skilled in the art may make various modifications and variations to the present application without departing from the spirit and scope of the present application. Thus, the present application is intended to include such modifications and variations as fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to power line communication scenarios, including: Acquire first information; wherein the first information includes first indication information, second indication information, and multiple user information fields corresponding to multiple first devices; the first indication information is used to indicate the number of users; the second indication information is used to indicate the number of symbols of the training sequence; The first information is sent.

2. A communication method, characterized in that: Applied to power line communication scenarios, including: Acquire first information; wherein the first information includes first indication information, second indication information, and multiple user information fields corresponding to multiple first devices; the first indication information is used to indicate the number of users; the second indication information is used to indicate the number of symbols of the training sequence; The first information is parsed.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The method further comprises: An uplink frame is sent to the second device according to the first information.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The uplink frame includes a first training sequence; wherein the first training sequence is determined according to an index of a resource unit associated with the first device and the second indication information.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The first information also includes third indication information; wherein the third indication information is used to indicate whether there is at least one resource unit associated with the first device whose index is greater than a first value; and the first value is a positive integer.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: When the number of users is equal to 4, the first information further includes a physical block field; or, When the number of users is less than 4, each of the plurality of user information fields includes a physical block field; The physical block field is used to indicate the number of physical blocks occupied by each first device.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The number of bits occupied by the physical block field is determined according to the first indication information; or, The number of bits occupied by the physical block field is determined based on the first indication information and the third indication information; wherein the third indication information is used to indicate whether there is at least one resource unit associated with the first device whose index is greater than a first value; and the first value is a positive integer.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that When the number of users indicated by the first indication information is less than 4, the number of bits occupied by the physical block field is 4; or, When the number of users indicated by the first indication information is equal to 4, and the third indication information indicates that there is no index of a resource unit associated with at least one first device greater than the first value, the number of bits occupied by the physical block field is 4; or, When the number of users indicated by the first indication information is equal to 4, and the third indication information indicates that there is at least one resource unit associated with the first device whose index is greater than the first value, the number of bits occupied by the physical block field is 2.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that: Each of the multiple user information fields further includes a power control field; wherein the power control field is used to indicate the transmission power of the first device.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that: Each of the multiple user information fields further includes a resource unit field; wherein the resource unit field is used to indicate an index of a resource unit associated with the first device.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The number of bits occupied by the resource unit field is determined according to the third indication information; wherein the third indication information is used to indicate whether there is at least one resource unit associated with the first device whose index is greater than a first value; and the first value is a positive integer.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that When the third indication information indicates that there is no resource unit associated with at least one first device whose index is greater than the first value, the number of bits occupied by the resource unit field is 4; or, When the third indication information indicates that there is at least one resource unit associated with the first device whose index is greater than the first value, the number of bits occupied by the resource unit field is 5.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that: Each of the plurality of user information fields further includes a copy field; wherein the copy field is used to indicate a copy The number of copies is used to indicate the number of times the payload data is repeated.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that The number of bits occupied by the copy field is determined according to the first indication information.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that When the number of users indicated by the first indication information is less than 4, the number of bits occupied by the copy field is 2; or, When the number of users indicated by the first indication information is equal to 4, the number of bits occupied by the copy field is 1.

16. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, characterized in that: The first information is a trigger frame.

17. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: Each of the plurality of user information fields comprises a physical block field; wherein the physical block field is used to indicate the number of physical blocks occupied by the first device.

18. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that The number of bits occupied by the physical block field is determined according to the first indication information.

19. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that When the number of users indicated by the first indication information is less than 4, the number of bits occupied by the physical block field is 4; or, When the number of users indicated by the first indication information is equal to 4, the number of bits occupied by the physical block field is 1.

20. The method according to any one of claims 1-2, 17-19, characterized in that: Each user information field of the plurality of user information fields further includes one or more of the following: a copy field, a resource unit field; Among them, the copy field is used to indicate the number of copies; the number of copies is used to indicate the number of times the payload data is repeated; and the resource unit field is used to indicate the index of the resource unit associated with the first device.

21. The method according to any one of claims 1-2, 17-20, characterized in that: The first information also includes a second training sequence; wherein the second training sequence is determined according to the second indication information.

22. The method according to any one of claims 1-2, 17-21, characterized in that: The first information is a downlink frame.

23. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 22, characterized in that: The user information field of the first device also includes one or more of the following: an identification information field, a first field; The identification information field is used to indicate the identification information of the first device; the first field is used to indicate one or more of the following: a modulation and coding scheme, a code rate, or a physical block size.

24. A communication device, characterized in that: include: A processing module, configured to obtain first information; wherein the first information includes first indication information, second indication information, and multiple user information fields corresponding to multiple first devices; the first indication information is used to indicate the number of users; the second indication information is used to indicate the number of symbols of the training sequence; A transceiver module is used to send the first information.

25. A communication device, characterized in that: include: A processing module, configured to obtain first information; wherein the first information includes first indication information, second indication information, and multiple user information fields corresponding to multiple first devices; the first indication information is used to indicate the number of users; the second indication information is used to indicate the number of symbols of the training sequence; The processing module is further used to parse the first information.

26. A communication device, characterized in that: The communication device includes a processor; the processor is used to run a computer program or instruction, or to use a logic circuit to enable the communication device to execute the communication method as described in any one of claims 1, 3-23, or to enable the communication device to execute the communication method as described in any one of claims 2-23.

27. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium stores computer instructions or programs, which, when executed on a computer, enable the communication method as described in any one of claims 1, 3-23, or enable the communication device to execute the communication method as described in any one of claims 2-23.

28. A communication system, characterized in that: The communication system includes a first device and a second device; wherein the second device is used to execute the communication method as described in any one of claims 1 and 3-23, and the first device is used to execute the communication method as described in any one of claims 2-23.

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