Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

Disclosed in the present application are a communication method and an apparatus, supporting IEEE protocols (such as the IEEE 802.11be / Wi-Fi 7 / EHT protocol, the IEEE 802.11bn / UHR / Wi-Fi 8 protocol, the IEEE 802.15 / UWB protocol, or the IEEE 802.11bf / sensing protocol). The method comprises: a station receives in a first mode a first radio frame from an access point, the first radio frame being used for triggering the station to switch modes, and the first radio frame comprising identification information of the station; upon receiving the first radio frame, the station switches from the first mode to a second mode; and the station receives in the second mode a message frame from the access point, the power consumption of the station in the first mode being lower than the power consumption of the station in the second mode. The solution can ensure that the station is only triggered to switch modes by WiFi signals sent to the station itself, thereby reducing power consumption of stations.

Description

Communication method and device

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China on December 5, 2023, with application number 202311665318.7 and application name "A Communication Method and Device", the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0003] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and device. Background Art

[0004] In Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) networks, a considerable amount of device energy is wasted in idle listening when no signal is being received. For example, according to tests of commercial WiFi 6 chips, device power consumption in sleep state accounts for 1.64%, power consumption in transmitting state accounts for 8.84%, power consumption in receiving state accounts for 27.08%, and power consumption in listening state accounts for 62.43%. This is because the instantaneous power consumption of a device is higher when transmitting and receiving, while the instantaneous power consumption of a device when listening is slightly lower. However, the listening time is much longer than the transmitting and receiving time, which results in a higher proportion of the total power consumed by listening.

[0005] One technical solution is to reduce power consumption in listening mode by adding a low-power transceiver. Specifically, the device includes two transceivers: a low-power transceiver and a regular transceiver. When the device is in listening mode, only the low-power transceiver listens. If the low-power transceiver synchronizes to a WiFi signal using the Short Training Field (STF), the regular transceiver wakes up. If the low-power transceiver receives a non-WiFi signal, it filters it out.

[0006] However, in a densely populated device scenario, the air interface receives not only the device's own WiFi signal but also a large number of WiFi signals from other devices. This causes the device's conventional transceiver to be frequently woken up by the WiFi signals from other devices, resulting in wasted power consumption. Summary of the Invention

[0007] The present application provides a communication method and apparatus for reducing power consumption of equipment at a site.

[0008] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be performed by a station. Unless otherwise specified, "station" in this application can refer to the station itself, or a communication module in the station or a circuit or chip responsible for communication functions therein (such as a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a system-on-chip (SoC) chip or system-in-package (SIP) chip containing a modem core). The method includes: the station receives a first radio frame from an access point via a first mode, the first radio frame being used to trigger a station mode switch, the first radio frame including identification information of the station; after receiving the first radio frame, the station switches from the first mode to a second mode; and the station receives a message frame from the access point via the second mode. Power consumption of the station in the first mode is lower than power consumption of the station in the second mode.

[0009] In the above scheme, the first wireless frame received by the station from the access point carries the station's identification information, so that the station can switch modes when it receives a wireless frame sent to itself (that is, switch from the first mode to the second mode after receiving the first wireless frame). This ensures that the station is only triggered to switch modes by the WiFi signal sent to itself, thereby saving the power consumption of the station's equipment.

[0010] In one possible design, a first mode is when a station transmits signals via a low-power transceiver; a second mode is when a station transmits signals via a conventional transceiver. When a station transmits signals via a low-power transceiver, the station's low-power transceiver is awake and the station's conventional transceiver is in sleep mode. When a station transmits signals via a conventional transceiver, the station's conventional transceiver is awake and the station's low-power transceiver is either awake or sleep mode.

[0011] In this way, it can be ensured that the station's regular transceiver is only awakened by the WiFi signal sent to it, thereby saving the station's equipment power consumption.

[0012] In one possible design, the first radio frame satisfies one or more of the following:

[0013] The bandwidth corresponding to the first radio frame is less than a first threshold;

[0014] A modulation and coding scheme (MCS) order corresponding to the first radio frame is less than a second threshold;

[0015] The number of streams corresponding to the first radio frame is less than a third threshold.

[0016] In this way, it can be ensured that the first radio frame can be received by the station through the first mode, thereby improving the reliability of the solution.

[0017] In one possible design, the first radio frame further satisfies one or more of the following:

[0018] The frame type of the first radio frame is a first type;

[0019] The format of the physical-layer protocol data unit (PPDU) in which the first radio frame is located is a first format.

[0020] In this way, it can be ensured that the first radio frame or the PPDU in which the first radio frame is located can be received by the station through the first mode, thereby improving the reliability of the solution.

[0021] In one possible design, the first wireless frame is a predefined frame.

[0022] In one possible design, the station may send a second wireless frame to the access point in the second mode, where the second wireless frame is used to notify the access point that the station has switched to the second mode or that the station is ready to receive a message frame from the access point.

[0023] In this way, the access point can send the message frame after the station completes the mode switching, so as to ensure that the station can receive the message frame in the second mode.

[0024] In one possible design, the second radio frame may be a power-saving poll (PS-Poll) frame. This implementation is simple and reliable.

[0025] In one possible design, the second wireless frame is an acknowledgment (ACK) frame corresponding to the first wireless frame. This implementation method can save system resources.

[0026] In one possible design, when the second wireless frame is an ACK frame corresponding to the first wireless frame, the length of the padding field in the first wireless frame reaches or exceeds the first length.

[0027] In this way, the station can have sufficient time to switch modes (or wake up the conventional transceiver), which can improve the reliability of mode switching.

[0028] In one possible design, the station sends a third wireless frame to the access point in the first mode, where the third wireless frame is used to notify the access point that the station switches to the second mode or that the station is ready to receive a message frame from the access point.

[0029] In this way, the station can send the third radio frame to the access point after receiving the first radio frame. The first mode and the second mode have a clear division of labor (i.e., the second mode is responsible for the relevant processes of exchanging message frames, and the first mode is responsible for the relevant processes of listening to the first radio frame), with simple logic and easy implementation.

[0030] In one possible design, the length of the padding field in the first wireless frame reaches or exceeds the second length.

[0031] In this way, the station can have sufficient time to switch modes (or wake up the conventional transceiver), which can improve the reliability of mode switching.

[0032] In one possible design, the first wireless frame includes first indication information, and the first indication information indicates a site switching mode.

[0033] In this way, the station can perform mode switching according to the first indication information.

[0034] In one possible design, the first wireless frame is a message frame.

[0035] In this way, the station can also receive message frames based on the first mode, thereby improving the flexibility of data transmission.

[0036] In one possible design, before the station receives the first wireless frame from the access point through the first mode, the station may also receive at least one message frame from the access point through the first mode.

[0037] In this way, the station can also receive message frames based on the first mode, thereby improving the flexibility of data transmission.

[0038] In one possible design, each message frame in the at least one message frame satisfies one or more of the following conditions:

[0039] The bandwidth corresponding to each message frame is less than 20MHz;

[0040] The PPDU format of each message frame is non-high throughput (non-HT) PPDU;

[0041] The order of the MCS corresponding to each message frame is lower than the threshold;

[0042] The number of streams corresponding to each message frame is single stream.

[0043] In one possible design, before the station receives the first wireless frame from the access point through the first mode, the station may also send a fourth wireless frame to the access point through the third mode. The fourth wireless frame is used to request or notify the access point to enter a switching process, and the switching process includes switching from the first mode to the second mode or from the second mode to the first mode; wherein the third mode is: the station can only transmit signals through a conventional transceiver.

[0044] In this way, the site can enter the handover process when it needs to.

[0045] In one possible design, the station may also receive a fifth radio frame from the access point through the third mode, where the fifth radio frame is used to notify the station that the access point agrees to enter the switching process or that the access point has received the fourth radio frame.

[0046] In this way, the handover process can be entered when the access point agrees to enter the handover process.

[0047] In one possible design, the fourth wireless frame includes a field for indicating the need to enter a switching process.

[0048] In one possible design, the fourth radio frame also includes at least one of the following fields:

[0049] A field for indicating the length of the padding field in the first radio frame;

[0050] A field for indicating the time required for a station to switch from a conventional transceiver to a low-power transceiver;

[0051] A field used to indicate the upper limit of the receiving capability of the low-power transceiver of the station;

[0052] A field used to indicate the upper limit of the reception capability of the station's regular transceiver.

[0053] In this way, relevant parameters in the handover process can be negotiated before entering the handover process, thereby improving the reliability of the solution.

[0054] In one possible design, the fifth wireless frame includes a field for indicating consent to enter the switching process.

[0055] In one possible design, the fifth radio frame also includes at least one of the following fields:

[0056] A field for indicating the length of the padding field in the first radio frame;

[0057] A field for indicating the time required for a station to switch from a conventional transceiver to a low-power transceiver;

[0058] A field used to indicate the upper limit of the receiving capability of the low-power transceiver of the station;

[0059] A field used to indicate the upper limit of the reception capability of the station's regular transceiver.

[0060] In this way, relevant parameters in the handover process can be negotiated before entering the handover process, thereby improving the reliability of the solution.

[0061] In one possible design, the station may also send a sixth radio frame to the access point, where the sixth radio frame is used to request or notify the access point to exit the switching process.

[0062] In this way, the site exit switching process can be implemented, which improves the flexibility of the solution.

[0063] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be performed by an access point. Unless otherwise specified, the "access point" in this application can refer to the access point itself, a communication module within the access point, or a circuit or chip responsible for communication functions therein (such as a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a system-on-chip (SoC) chip or system-in-package (SIP) chip containing a modem core). The method includes: the access point sending a first radio frame to a station, the first radio frame being used to trigger a station switching mode, the first radio frame including identification information of the station; and the access point sending a message frame to the station.

[0064] In one possible design, the switching mode includes switching from a first mode to a second mode or from a second mode to the first mode; the first mode is: the station transmits signals through a low-power transceiver; the second mode is: the station transmits signals through a conventional transceiver.

[0065] In one possible design, the first radio frame satisfies one or more of the following:

[0066] The bandwidth corresponding to the first radio frame is less than a first threshold;

[0067] The MCS order corresponding to the first radio frame is less than the second threshold;

[0068] The number of streams corresponding to the first radio frame is less than a third threshold.

[0069] In one possible design, the first radio frame further satisfies one or more of the following:

[0070] The frame type of the first radio frame is a first type;

[0071] The format of the PPDU where the first radio frame is located is the first format.

[0072] In one possible design, the first wireless frame is a predefined frame.

[0073] In one possible design, the access point further receives a second radio frame from the station; the access point determines, based on the second radio frame, that the station switches to the second mode or determines to send a message frame to the station.

[0074] In one possible design, the second wireless frame is a PS-Poll frame.

[0075] In one possible design, the access point may also send one or more first wireless frames to the station.

[0076] In this way, the probability of the station successfully receiving the first radio frame can be increased.

[0077] In one possible design, the second wireless frame is an ACK frame corresponding to the first wireless frame.

[0078] In one possible design, the length of the padding field in the first wireless frame reaches or exceeds the first length.

[0079] In one possible design, the access point may also receive a third radio frame from the station; the access point determines, based on the third radio frame, that the station switches to the second mode or determines to send a message frame to the station.

[0080] In one possible design, the length of the padding field in the first wireless frame reaches or exceeds the second length.

[0081] In one possible design, the first wireless frame includes first indication information, and the first indication information indicates a site switching mode.

[0082] In one possible design, the first wireless frame is a message frame.

[0083] In one possible design, before the access point sends the first radio frame to the station, the access point may also send at least one message frame to the station.

[0084] In one possible design, each message frame in the at least one message frame satisfies one or more of the following conditions:

[0085] The bandwidth corresponding to each message frame is less than 20MHz;

[0086] The PPDU format of each message frame is Non-HT PPDU;

[0087] The order of the MCS corresponding to each message frame is lower than the threshold;

[0088] The number of streams corresponding to each message frame is single stream.

[0089] In one possible design, before the access point sends the first wireless frame to the site, the access point may also receive a fourth wireless frame from the site. The fourth wireless frame is used to request or notify the access point to enter a switching process, and the switching process includes switching from the first mode to the second mode or from the second mode to the first mode.

[0090] In one possible design, the access point may also send a fifth radio frame to the station, where the fifth radio frame is used to notify the station that the access point agrees to enter the switching process or that the access point has received the fourth radio frame.

[0091] In one possible design, the fourth wireless frame includes a field for indicating the need to enter a switching process.

[0092] In one possible design, the fourth radio frame also includes at least one of the following fields:

[0093] A field for indicating the length of the padding field in the first radio frame;

[0094] A field for indicating the time required for a station to switch from a conventional transceiver to a low-power transceiver;

[0095] A field used to indicate the upper limit of the receiving capability of the low-power transceiver of the station;

[0096] A field used to indicate the upper limit of the reception capability of the station's regular transceiver.

[0097] In one possible design, the fifth wireless frame includes a field for indicating consent to enter the switching process.

[0098] In one possible design, the fifth radio frame also includes at least one of the following fields:

[0099] A field for indicating the length of the padding field in the first radio frame;

[0100] A field for indicating the time required for a station to switch from a conventional transceiver to a low-power transceiver;

[0101] A field used to indicate the upper limit of the receiving capability of the low-power transceiver of the station;

[0102] A field used to indicate the upper limit of the reception capability of the station's regular transceiver.

[0103] In one possible design, the access point may also receive a sixth wireless frame sent from the station, where the sixth wireless frame is used to request or notify the access point to exit the switching process.

[0104] In a third aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be executed by a station. Unless otherwise specified, the term "station" in this application can refer to the station itself, a component within the station (e.g., a processor, chip, or chip system), or a logic module or software that implements all or part of the station's functions. The method includes: the station receives a first radio frame from an access point via a low-power transceiver, the first radio frame being used to trigger the station to wake up a conventional transceiver, the first radio frame including identification information of the station; after receiving the first radio frame, the station wakes up the conventional transceiver; and the station receives a message frame from the access point by waking up the conventional transceiver.

[0105] In a fourth aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be performed by an access point. Unless otherwise specified, the "access point" in this application can refer to the access point itself, a component within the access point (e.g., a processor, chip, or chip system), or a logic module or software that implements all or part of the access point's functions. The method includes: the access point sending a first radio frame to a station, the first radio frame being used to trigger waking up a conventional transceiver, the first radio frame including identification information of the station; and the access point sending a message frame to the station.

[0106] In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes a module or unit or technical means for implementing the method described in the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect.

[0107] Exemplarily, the apparatus may include:

[0108] a transceiver module, configured to receive a first radio frame from an access point in a first mode, the first radio frame being used to trigger a mode switch of a site where the device is located, the first radio frame including identification information of the site;

[0109] a processing module, configured to switch from the first mode to the second mode after the transceiver module receives the first wireless frame;

[0110] The transceiver module is further configured to receive a message frame from an access point in a second mode; wherein the power consumption of the station in the first mode is lower than the power consumption of the station in the second mode.

[0111] In a sixth aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes a module, unit or technical means for implementing the method described in the second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect.

[0112] Exemplarily, the apparatus may include:

[0113] The transceiver module is used to send a first radio frame to the site, where the first radio frame is used to trigger the site switching mode and includes identification information of the site; and send a message frame to the site.

[0114] In the seventh aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes a module or unit or technical means for implementing the method described in the third aspect or any possible design of the third aspect.

[0115] Exemplarily, the apparatus may include:

[0116] a transceiver module, configured to receive a first wireless frame from an access point via a low-power transceiver, wherein the first wireless frame is used to trigger the site where the device is located to wake up a conventional transceiver, and the first wireless frame includes identification information of the site;

[0117] a processing module, configured to wake up the conventional transceiver after the transceiver module receives the first wireless frame;

[0118] The transceiver module is further configured to receive a message frame from an access point by waking up a conventional transceiver.

[0119] In an eighth aspect, a communication device is provided, which includes a module, unit or technical means for implementing the method described in the fourth aspect or any possible design of the fourth aspect.

[0120] Exemplarily, the apparatus may include:

[0121] The transceiver module is configured to send a first radio frame to the station, where the first radio frame is used to trigger the awakening of a conventional transceiver and includes identification information of the station; and send a message frame to the station.

[0122] In a ninth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the interface circuit is electrically coupled to the processor, and the processor causes the method described in the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect to be executed through a logic circuit or execution code instructions, or causes the method described in the second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect to be executed, or causes the method described in the third aspect to be executed, or causes the method described in the fourth aspect to be executed.

[0123] In a tenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, wherein a computer program or instruction is stored in the storage medium. When the computer program or instruction is executed, the method described in the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect is executed, or the method described in the second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect is executed, or the method described in the third aspect is executed, or the method described in the fourth aspect is executed.

[0124] In the eleventh aspect, a computer program product is provided, comprising instructions, which, when run on a computer, causes the method described in the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect to be executed, or causes the method described in the second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect to be executed, or causes the method described in the third aspect to be executed, or causes the method described in the fourth aspect to be executed.

[0125] In a twelfth aspect, a communication system is provided, comprising an access point and a station;

[0126] In which, the site is used to execute the method as described in the first aspect or any possible design of the first aspect, and the access point is used to execute the method as described in the second aspect or any possible design of the second aspect; or, the site is used to execute the method as described in the third aspect or any possible design of the third aspect, and the access point is used to execute the method as described in the fourth aspect or any possible design of the fourth aspect.

[0127] For the specific designs and beneficial effects of the second to twelfth aspects, please refer to the corresponding designs and beneficial effects in the first to second aspects. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0128] FIG1A is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a possible communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0129] FIG1B is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a possible communication system applicable to embodiments of the present application;

[0130] 2A and 2B are schematic diagrams of the structure of a STA applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0131] FIG3 is a flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0132] 4A and 4B are schematic diagrams of several possible frame interaction processes provided in embodiments of the present application;

[0133] 5A to 5F are schematic diagrams of several possible frame interaction processes provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0134] 6A to 6C are schematic diagrams of several possible frame interaction processes provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0135] 7A to 7E are schematic diagrams of several possible frame interaction processes provided in embodiments of the present application;

[0136] 8A to 8D are schematic diagrams of several possible frame interaction processes provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0137] FIG9 is a schematic diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0138] FIG10 is a schematic diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0139] The embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems. For example, the embodiments of the present application can be applied to wireless local area network (WLAN) systems. For example, it can be applied to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 system standards, such as 802.11a / b / g standards, 802.11n standards, 802.11ac standards, 802.11ax standards, or their next generations, such as 802.11be standards, wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) 7 or extremely high throughput (EHT), such as 802.11be next-generation Wi-Fi protocols (such as Wi-Fi 8, ultra-high reliability (UHR), 11bn), or Wi-Fi artificial intelligence (AI), or millimeter wave (mmWave). The present application can also be applied to wireless personal area network systems based on ultra-wideband (UWB) and sensing systems. The embodiments of the present application may also be applicable to wireless local area network systems such as the Internet of Things (IoT) network, vehicle to X (V2X), or point to point (P2P). Of course, the embodiments of the present application may also be applicable to other possible communication systems, such as the Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), the fifth generation (5G) communication system, and the future sixth generation (6G) communication system.

[0140] Although the embodiments of the present application are mainly described using a WLAN network, in particular a network using the IEEE 802.11 system standard, as an example, it will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that the various aspects of the present application can be extended to other networks using various standards or protocols, such as Bluetooth, high-performance radio local area network (HIPERLAN) (a wireless standard similar to the IEEE 802.11 standard, primarily used in Europe), and wide area network (WAN), personal area network (PAN), or other networks now known or developed in the future. Therefore, regardless of the coverage area and wireless access protocol used, the various aspects provided in the present application can be applied to any suitable wireless network.

[0141] The above-mentioned communication system applicable to the present application is only an example, and the communication system applicable to the present application is not limited to this. It is described uniformly here and will not be repeated below.

[0142] FIG1A illustrates a possible communication system architecture applicable to embodiments of the present application. The communication system architecture includes access points (APs) and non-access point stations (STAs, also referred to as STAs, such as STA1-STA6 in the figure).

[0143] As you can understand, in Figure 1A, the communication direction from the AP to non-AP STAs is called downlink, and the communication direction from non-AP STAs to the AP is called uplink. When a STA does not need to send an uplink signal, it needs to listen to determine whether the AP has sent a downlink signal to it and receive it if so.

[0144] An AP is an access point that allows terminal devices (such as mobile phones) to access a wired (or wireless) network. It is primarily deployed in homes, buildings, and campuses, with a typical coverage radius of tens to hundreds of meters. It can also be deployed outdoors. An AP acts as a bridge between wired and wireless networks, connecting wireless network clients and then connecting the wireless network to the DS. Specifically, an AP can be a terminal device (such as a mobile phone) or a network device (such as a router) equipped with a Wi-Fi chip. An AP can support 802.11be. It can also support various wireless local area network (WLAN) standards within the 802.11 family, including 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b, 802.11a, and 802.11be, Wi-Fi 7, Wi-Fi 8, or their successors. The access point in this application may be a high efficiency (HE) AP or an extremely high throughput (EHT) AP, and may also be an access point applicable to a future generation of Wi-Fi standards.

[0145] The AP can communicate directly with the STA. The AP can be a STA station that establishes a tunneled direct-link setup (TDLS) or other point-to-point (P2P) link with the STA, or other stations that can communicate directly with the STA.

[0146] STA can be a wireless communication chip, a wireless sensor, or a wireless communication terminal, etc., and can also be called a user. For example, STA can be a mobile phone that supports Wi-Fi communication function, a tablet that supports Wi-Fi communication function, a set-top box that supports Wi-Fi communication function, a smart TV that supports Wi-Fi communication function, a smart wearable device that supports Wi-Fi communication function, a vehicle-mounted communication device that supports Wi-Fi communication function, and a computer that supports Wi-Fi communication function, etc. Optionally, STA can support the 802.11be standard. STA can also support various wireless local area network (WLAN) standards of the 802.11 family, such as 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b, 802.11a, 802.11be, Wi-Fi 7, Wi-Fi 8 or its next generation.

[0147] The STA in the embodiment of the present application may be a high efficiency (HE) STA or an extremely high throughput (EHT) STA, or may be a STA applicable to a future generation of Wi-Fi standards.

[0148] For example, APs and STAs can be sensor nodes in smart cities (such as smart water meters, smart electricity meters, and smart air detection nodes), smart devices in smart homes (such as smart cameras, projectors, displays, TVs, speakers, refrigerators, washing machines, etc.), nodes in the Internet of Things (IoT), entertainment terminals (such as wearable devices such as AR and VR), smart devices in smart offices (such as printers and projectors), Internet of Vehicles devices in the Internet of Vehicles, and some infrastructure in daily life scenarios (such as vending machines, self-service navigation counters in supermarkets, self-service checkout devices, self-service ordering machines, etc.).

[0149] In some embodiments, the STA may be a station with low power consumption requirements, for example, a STA that cannot serve as an AP, that is, a non-access point station (non-AP STA).

[0150] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG1B , the AP may be an AP in an AP multi-link device (MLD), such as AP101-1, AP 101-2, or AP101-3 of AP MLD 101, and the STA may be a traditional STA 104, or a STA in a non-AP MLD 103, such as STA 103-1 or STA 103-2, or a STA 102-1, STA 102-2, or STA 102-3 in a non-AP MLD 102. Among them, the MLD is a logical entity that is capable of supporting more than one affiliated station and can operate using one or more affiliated STAs, and that presents one medium access control data service and a single MAC service access point to the logical link control sublayer. The multiple affiliated stations in the MLD are logical entities and can be implemented on different chips or implemented on a single chip, which is not limited in this application. In addition, the frequency bands supported by the multiple affiliated stations of the MLD shown in Figure 1B, such as 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, or 6 GHz, are only examples. To adapt to the development of the standard, the affiliated stations of the MLD will support other frequency bands.

[0151] It is understood that the device names shown in Figures 1A and 1B are merely examples, and other names may be used in future communication systems. The number of devices shown in Figures 1A and 1B is also merely an example, and more or fewer devices may be included. For example, an AP may communicate with multiple STAs simultaneously, and this application does not limit this.

[0152] 2A is a schematic diagram of a possible STA structure provided in an embodiment of the present application. The STA includes at least two transceivers, and different transceivers in the at least two transceivers correspond to different power consumption or transceiver capabilities.

[0153] For ease of description, this document uses two transceivers as an example. The transceiver with relatively low transceiver capability or power consumption is referred to as a low-power transceiver, while the transceiver with relatively high transceiver capability or power consumption is referred to as a regular transceiver. It should be understood that the names of the transceivers herein are merely examples and may be referred to by other names. For example, a regular transceiver may be referred to as a primary transceiver, and a low-power transceiver may be referred to as a wake-up transceiver; alternatively, a regular transceiver may be referred to as a first transceiver, and a low-power transceiver may be referred to as a second transceiver, and so on. This application does not limit this.

[0154] The power consumption of a low-power transceiver is lower than that of a conventional transceiver, and the transceiver capability of a low-power transceiver is lower than that of a conventional transceiver (for example, the hardware implementation of a low-power transceiver is simple, the PPDU formats that can be received are limited (for example, only legacy PPDUs can be sent and received), and parameters such as bandwidth, modulation and coding scheme (MCS) order, number of streams, etc. are lower).

[0155] In a specific implementation, the low-power transceiver and the conventional transceiver can be two different hardware modules, or two different software modules in the same hardware module. The embodiments of the present application do not impose any specific restrictions.

[0156] In one possible implementation, referring to FIG2B , which illustrates a possible STA hardware structure according to an embodiment of the present application, the low-power transceiver and the conventional transceiver are two different hardware modules, each including, for example, different RF channels (e.g., different transceiver channels, or different receive channels). The low-power transceiver and the conventional transceiver share the baseband (BB) and RF front-end modules (FEM).

[0157] Of course, Figure 2B is only an example. In actual applications, the low-power transceiver and the conventional transceiver may not share the BB and FEM, but may each correspond to a set of BB and FEM. Alternatively, the low-power transceiver and the conventional transceiver may share the BB but not the FEM; or the low-power transceiver and the conventional transceiver may not share the BB but may share the FEM. In one possible implementation, the low-power transceiver and the conventional transceiver may be virtual (for example, different software modules). In this case, the low-power transceiver and the conventional transceiver may not exist, but the station can still transmit signals through different power consumption or transceiver capabilities (for example, see the first mode, second mode, etc. below).

[0158] Referring to FIG3 , which is a flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application, the method can be applied to the communication scenario shown in FIG1A or FIG1B . Unless otherwise specified, the “station” in the present application can refer to the station itself (e.g., the STA shown in FIG1A ), or a communication module in the station or a circuit or chip therein responsible for communication functions (e.g., a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a system-on-chip (SoC) chip or a system-in-package (SIP) chip containing a modem core). The “access point” in the present application can refer to the access point itself (e.g., the AP shown in FIG1A ), or a communication module in the access point or a circuit or chip therein responsible for communication functions (e.g., a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a system-on-chip (SoC) chip or a system-in-package (SIP) chip containing a modem core).

[0159] The method of this embodiment includes S301 to S303:

[0160] S301: An access point sends a first radio frame to a station, and the station receives the first radio frame from the access point in a first mode.

[0161] The first radio frame is used to trigger the site switching mode, and the first radio frame includes identification information of the site.

[0162] In the first mode, the station transmits signals (including sending uplink signals to the access point and receiving downlink signals from the access point) using a low-power transceiver. When the station is in the first mode, the low-power transceiver is in an awake state, and the conventional transceiver is in a doze state.

[0163] In some embodiments, the station in S301 receives the first radio frame from the access point via the first mode, which can be alternatively described as: the station receives the first radio frame from the access point via the low-power transceiver. The first radio frame is used to trigger the station to switch modes, which can be alternatively described as: the first radio frame is used to trigger the station to wake up the regular transceiver.

[0164] It can be understood that the transceiver is in the awake state, which means that the transceiver is in the working state. The awake state can also be described as other names such as the on state, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application; the transceiver is in the sleep state, which means that the transceiver is in the non-working state. The sleep state can also be described as other names such as the off state or the hibernation state, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0165] In some embodiments, the first mode may also be called a listening mode or a low power listening mode or other names.

[0166] In a specific implementation, when the access point sends the first radio frame to the station, the first radio frame may be sent in a unicast, multicast or broadcast manner.

[0167] When the access point sends the first wireless frame in unicast mode, the identification information of the site carried in the first wireless frame can be the address information of the site, such as the Internet Protocol (IP) address, the Media Access Control Address (MAC) address, the Association Identifier (AID), etc.

[0168] When the access point sends the first wireless frame using multicast, the first wireless frame can carry identification information of the group to which the site belongs (such as a group address), and the identification information of the group can be used as the identification information of the site; or, the first wireless frame carries identification information of each site in the group to which the site belongs, including the identification information of the site.

[0169] When the access point sends the first radio frame in a broadcast manner, the identification information of the station carried in the first radio frame may be a broadcast address. Since the broadcast address corresponds to all stations, the first radio frame may also include identification information of the station, such as an association identifier of the station.

[0170] In some embodiments, the station may be a non-AP STA, or the station has low power consumption requirements, or the station cannot serve as an access point.

[0171] It is understood that the first radio frame is a frame within the receiving capability range of the first mode of the station (or the low-power transceiver). The first radio frame can be a management frame, a control frame, or a data frame, etc., without limitation.

[0172] S302: After receiving the first radio frame, the station switches from the first mode to the second mode.

[0173] Illustratively, the station may determine, based on identification information in the first radio frame, that the first radio frame is a radio frame sent to itself, and then switch from the first mode to the second mode based on the first radio frame.

[0174] The second mode is when the station transmits signals (including sending uplink signals to the access point and receiving downlink signals from the access point) using a regular transceiver. When the station is in the second mode, the regular transceiver is in the awake state, and the low-power transceiver is in the awake state or the sleep state.

[0175] In some embodiments, after the station receives the first radio frame in S302, it switches from the first mode to the second mode, which can also be replaced by: after the station receives the first radio frame, it wakes up the conventional transceiver.

[0176] In some embodiments, the first wireless frame may be referred to as a synchronization (sync) frame, indicating that the frame is used by the station to synchronize to its corresponding WiFi signal to wake up the conventional transceiver. Of course, the first wireless frame may also be called other names, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit the name of the first wireless frame.

[0177] In some embodiments, the second mode may also be called "message interaction mode" or other names.

[0178] It is understood that the term "switching" herein may be adaptively replaced with other terms such as "starting" or "entering" without limitation. For example, S302 may also be described as: after receiving the first radio frame, the station starts the second mode; or, after receiving the first radio frame, the station enters the second mode; or, after receiving the first radio frame, the station stops, ends, or shuts down the first mode and starts the second mode; or, after receiving the first radio frame, the station stops, ends, or shuts down the first mode and enters the second mode, etc.

[0179] S303: The access point sends a message frame to the station, and the station receives the message frame from the access point through the second mode.

[0180] The message frame may include one or more of a data frame, a management frame, a control frame, etc. For ease of description, the following description uses a data frame as an example. The data frame mentioned in the subsequent embodiments can be equivalently replaced by other message frames such as a management frame or a control frame.

[0181] Based on the above introduction to the second mode, in some embodiments, the station in S303 receives the data frame from the access point through the second mode, which can also be replaced by: the station receives the data frame from the access point through a conventional transceiver.

[0182] In a specific implementation, the number of data frames in S303 may be one or more.

[0183] It can be understood that the data frame sent by the access point in S303 is a frame within the receiving capability range of the second mode (or conventional transceiver) of the station. For ease of distinction, the data frame received by the station through the first mode (or low-power transceiver) can be referred to as a "first data frame" in this document, and the data frame received by the station through the second mode (or conventional transceiver) can be referred to as a "second data frame". The data frame in S303 is the second data frame. For example, the first wireless frame can be the first data frame. It can be understood that the first data frame is within the receiving capability range of the first mode (or low-power transceiver) of the station, and the second data frame is within the receiving capability range of the second mode (or conventional transceiver) of the station. Of course, in some embodiments, there may also be data frames that are both within the receiving capability range of the second mode (or conventional transceiver) of the station and within the receiving capability range of the first mode (or low-power transceiver) of the station.

[0184] It can be understood that the first data frame can also be replaced by a first management frame or a first control frame, and the second data frame can also be replaced by a second management frame or a second control frame.

[0185] To better understand the above solution, a frame interaction diagram is used here to illustrate the frame interaction process between the access point and the station. As shown in Figure 4A, the two horizontal axes in Figure 4A represent the situation where the station exchanges frames with the access point through different transceivers. The upper horizontal axis of the two horizontal axes represents the station exchanging frames through a low-power transceiver, and the lower horizontal axis represents the station exchanging frames through a conventional transceiver. The position on each horizontal axis represents the time sequence of the frame interactions, with the left being the first and the right being the last. The same vertical position of the two horizontal axes represents the same time point. For any horizontal axis, the upper side of the axis indicates the frame transmission behavior of the station (i.e., the frames on the upper side of the axis are frames sent by the station), and the lower side of the axis indicates the frame transmission behavior of the access point (i.e., the frames on the lower side of the axis are frames sent by the access point).

[0186] It can be understood that the low-power transceiver and the conventional transceiver belong to the same site, so the two horizontal axes in Figure 4A (or the low-power transceiver and conventional transceiver of the site) essentially correspond to the same channel (the same channel), and the MAC addresses of the sites corresponding to the two horizontal axes are the same. The two horizontal axes in Figure 4A are only used to distinguish whether signals are transmitted and received by the low-power transceiver or by the conventional transceiver within the site.

[0187] It can be understood that the above-mentioned method of interpreting FIG. 4A is applicable to all frame interaction diagrams in the embodiments of the present application, and will not be repeated in the following text.

[0188] In some embodiments, after receiving a data frame, the station may also send an acknowledgment (ACK) frame corresponding to the data frame to the access point to notify the access point that the station has correctly received the data frame, as shown in FIG4B . Of course, optionally, if the station does not correctly receive the data frame, it may also feedback a non-acknowledgment (NACK) frame.

[0189] In the above scheme, the first wireless frame sent by the access point to the station carries the station's identification information, so that the station can switch modes when receiving the wireless frame sent to itself (that is, switch from the first mode to the second mode after receiving the first wireless frame). This ensures that the station's regular transceiver is only awakened by the WiFi signal sent to itself, avoiding the station's regular transceiver being mistakenly awakened by the WiFi signal of other devices, thereby saving the station's power consumption.

[0190] In one possible design, in order to ensure that the first wireless frame can be received by the site through the first mode, the first wireless frame must be a frame within the receiving capability range of the first mode (or low-power transceiver) of the site.

[0191] Exemplarily, the first radio frame satisfies one or more of the following conditions:

[0192] 1) The bandwidth corresponding to the first radio frame is less than (or does not exceed) a first threshold;

[0193] The bandwidth corresponding to the first radio frame refers to the bandwidth of the PPDU in which the first radio frame is located. In some embodiments, the first threshold may be the upper limit of the bandwidth that a low-power transceiver can handle. Optionally, the first threshold may be any value that is less than or equal to the upper limit of the bandwidth that a conventional transceiver can handle, depending on product implementation. For example, the first threshold may be any value such as 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, or 160 MHz.

[0194] 2) The MCS order corresponding to the first radio frame is less than (or does not exceed) a second threshold;

[0195] Among them, the MCS order corresponding to the first radio frame refers to the MCS order of the PPDU in which the first radio frame is located. The MCS order refers to the modulation order of the MCS. In some embodiments, the second threshold may be the upper limit of the MCS order that the low-power transceiver can handle. Optionally, the second threshold may be any value that is less than or equal to the upper limit of the MCS order that a conventional transceiver can handle, which may depend on the product implementation. For example, the second threshold may be any integer in [0,8], such as 2, 4, 6, 8, 10. It can be understood that the modulation modes corresponding to modulation orders of 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 are QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM, 256QAM, and 1024QAM, respectively.

[0196] 3) The number of streams corresponding to the first radio frame is less than (or does not exceed) a third threshold.

[0197] Among them, the number of streams may refer to the number of spatial and time streams (NSTS) or the number of spatial streams (NSS), etc. The number of streams corresponding to the first wireless frame refers to the number of streams of the PPDU where the first wireless frame is located. In some embodiments, the third threshold may be the upper limit of the number of streams that a low-power transceiver can handle. Optionally, the third threshold may be any value less than or equal to the upper limit of the number of streams that a conventional transceiver can handle, which may depend on the product implementation. For example, the third threshold may be any integer in [1,8], such as 1 or 2.

[0198] It can be understood that in a specific implementation, the first wireless frame can meet the above three conditions at the same time, or it can only meet some of the conditions (for example, the bandwidth corresponding to the first wireless frame is less than the first threshold, but the MCS order corresponding to the first wireless frame is greater than the second threshold, and the number of streams corresponding to the first wireless frame is greater than the third threshold). In addition, other conditions can also be met, as long as the first wireless frame is within the receiving capability range of the low-power transceiver of the site.

[0199] Optionally, the first radio frame may further satisfy: the frame type of the first radio frame is a first type. The first type includes, but is not limited to, a combination of one or more of a request-to-send (RTS) frame, a multi-user request-to-send (MU-RTS) frame, or a buffer status report poll (BSRP). In addition, the first type may also include a newly defined or customized management frame, control frame, or data frame. Of course, the above are only examples and are not limited thereto.

[0200] In one example, the first radio frame is a predefined frame, and the predefined frame includes but is not limited to a combination of one or more of an RTS frame, MU-RTS, or BSRP, etc. Optionally, the predefined frame may be specified by a protocol or preconfigured by a system.

[0201] Optionally, the first radio frame may further satisfy: the format of the PPDU in which the first radio frame is located is a first format, where the first format includes, for example, but is not limited to, a combination of one or more of a non-high throughput (non-HT) PPDU, a high throughput (HT) PPDU, a very high throughput (VHT) PPDU, and an extremely high throughput (EHT) PPDU. Of course, the above are merely examples and are not limited thereto.

[0202] Through the above design, the first radio frame (or the PPDU containing the first radio frame) can be within the receiving capability range of the low-power transceiver of the site and can be received by the site through the first mode, thereby improving the reliability of the solution.

[0203] It is understood that to ensure that the first data frame can be received by the station through the first mode, the first data frame must be within the reception capability range of the first mode (or low-power transceiver) of the station. The restrictions on the first data frame (such as bandwidth, MCS order, number of streams, etc.) can refer to the relevant restrictions on the first radio frame above and are not repeated here.

[0204] In the embodiment of the present application, there may be multiple ways for the first radio frame to trigger the site switching mode. The following are some possible ways:

[0205] Mode 1: The first radio frame instructs the station to switch modes. The specific mode to which the station switches depends on the current mode of the station.

[0206] For example, if the station is in the first mode, the station switches from the first mode to the second mode after receiving the first radio frame (ie, the process shown in S301-S302). Optionally, if the station is in the second mode, the station can switch from the second mode to the first mode after receiving the first radio frame.

[0207] Mode 2: The first radio frame instructs the station to switch (from the first mode) to the second mode.

[0208] Mode 3: The first radio frame indicates the second mode. After receiving the first radio frame, if the station is in a different mode from the first mode, it switches to the second mode.

[0209] Of course, the above methods are only examples and are not limited to these.

[0210] In one possible design, the access point may trigger (or instruct) the station to switch modes by sending a wireless frame of a preset type to the station. For example, the preset type is a combination of one or more of a request-to-send (RTS) frame, a multi-user request-to-send (MU-RTS) frame, a buffer status report poll (BSRP), a custom frame, or a new frame. In one possible example, the preset type is the first type mentioned above.

[0211] Correspondingly, the frame type of the first radio frame is a preset type (eg, first type). After receiving the first radio frame, the station determines to perform mode switching based on the fact that the frame type of the first radio frame is the preset type and the identification information in the first radio frame.

[0212] In another possible design, the access point can trigger (or instruct) the station to perform mode switching by sending a radio frame carrying first indication information to the station. Accordingly, the first radio frame carries the first indication information. After receiving the first radio frame, the station determines to perform mode switching based on the first indication information in the first radio frame and the identification information in the first radio frame. It can be understood that in this case, the frame type of the first radio frame can be a management frame, a control frame, or a data frame, etc., which is not limited in this application.

[0213] In some embodiments, the first indication information may be a one-bit flag in the first radio frame.

[0214] For example, the access point can trigger the station to perform mode switching by carrying a flag, that is, as long as the radio frame received by the station contains the flag, the mode switching is performed. Accordingly, the first radio frame carries the flag.

[0215] For example, the access point can instruct the station to perform or not perform mode switching by using flags of different values. For example, flag = 0 indicates switching mode, and flag = 1 indicates not switching mode (of course, in practice, flag = 0 can also indicate that mode switching is not required, and flag = 1 indicates that mode switching is required, without limitation). Accordingly, the first radio frame carries a flag, and flag = 0.

[0216] For example, flag = 0 indicates the first mode, and flag = 1 indicates the second mode (of course, in practice, flag = 1 can also indicate the first mode and flag = 0 indicates the second mode, without limitation). Accordingly, the first radio frame carries a flag, and flag = 1. After receiving the first radio frame, the station determines that the first mode it is currently in is different from the second mode indicated by the flag in the first radio frame, and determines to perform mode switching.

[0217] In one possible design, the first radio frame may carry parameters used after the station enters the second mode. For example, the first radio frame may carry one or more of the following parameters:

[0218] 1) Bandwidth or bandwidth range, used to indicate the bandwidth used by the access point and the station for exchanging message frames after the station enters the second mode;

[0219] 2) Number of flows, used to indicate the number of flows used by the access point and the station to exchange message frames after the station enters the second mode;

[0220] 3) The upper limit of the MCS order, or the lower limit of the MCS order, or the upper limit of the MCS order and the lower limit of the MCS order, are used to indicate the MCS order used in the message frames exchanged between the access point and the station after the station enters the second mode.

[0221] Of course, the above are just examples and are not limited to these.

[0222] In this way, the reliability of frame interaction between the station and the access point in the second mode can be improved.

[0223] In one possible design, the access point may determine that the station has switched to the second mode before sending the data frame to the station. For example, after receiving the first wireless frame, the station may notify the access point that the station has switched to the second mode, or notify the access point that the station is ready to receive data frames from the access point, or notify the access point that the station has switched to the second mode and is ready to receive data frames from the access point, etc. After receiving the notification, the access point begins transmitting the data frame (e.g., executing S303).

[0224] It can be understood that under this design, the data frame sent by the access point is the second data frame.

[0225] It is understood that in this design, the first radio frame may be a management frame, a control frame, or other type of frame without limitation. For example, the first radio frame may be a radio frame of the preset type (specifically, the first type) described above.

[0226] The following are some possible notification methods:

[0227] In one possible implementation, the station sends a second radio frame to the access point using the second mode. The second radio frame is used to notify (or instruct) the access point that the station has switched to the second mode, or the second radio frame is used to notify (or instruct) the access point that the station is ready to receive data frames from the access point, or the second radio frame is used to notify (or instruct) the access point that the station has switched to the second mode and is ready to receive data frames from the access point. In other words, the station may send the second radio frame to the access point after switching from the first mode to the second mode (i.e., after waking up the regular transceiver) and before receiving data frames from the access point using the second mode, as shown in FIG5A .

[0228] In one example, the second radio frame can be a power save poll (PS-Poll) frame, as shown in Figure 5B . It can be understood that the PS-Poll frame is used to request data from the access point. Accordingly, after receiving the PS-Poll frame, the access point sends a data frame to the station. Because there is no time limit for the station to send the PS-Poll frame, it is guaranteed that the station will send the second radio frame to the access point after completing the mode switch (or normal transceiver startup), resulting in a simple and reliable implementation.

[0229] Optionally, when the second radio frame is a PS-Poll frame, the access point may send one or more first radio frames. For example, the access point may periodically send first radio frames at a set time interval until it receives a second radio frame from the station or stops sending first radio frames after sending a set number of first radio frames without receiving a second radio frame. For example, Figure 5B illustrates a scenario where the access point can send two first radio frames and the station successfully receives the second first radio frame. This increases the probability of the station receiving the first radio frame.

[0230] Optionally, after receiving the PS-Poll frame, the access point may further send an ACK frame corresponding to the PS-Poll frame to the station, and after sending the ACK frame, send a data frame to the station, as shown in FIG5B . Alternatively, the access point may further send a data frame to the station after receiving the PS-Poll frame (i.e., it may not send an ACK frame corresponding to the PS-Poll frame).

[0231] In another example, the second radio frame can be an acknowledgment (ACK) frame corresponding to the first radio frame, as shown in Figure 5C. Accordingly, after receiving the ACK frame corresponding to the first radio frame, the access point sends a data frame to the station. In this way, the ACK frame of the first radio frame can be directly used to notify the access point that the station is switching to the second mode or to notify the access point that the station is ready to receive data frames from the access point, thereby saving system resources.

[0232] Furthermore, since it takes a certain amount of time for the site to switch modes (or start the conventional transceiver, or for the conventional transceiver to stabilize from startup, etc.), and the ACK frame needs to be sent by the site within a period of time (for example, a short interframe space (SIFS)) after confirming that the first radio frame has been correctly received, in order to ensure that the site has sufficient time to complete the mode switch (or complete the startup of the conventional transceiver), the access point can add a padding field in the first radio frame.

[0233] Optionally, the padding length in the first radio frame reaches or exceeds a first length, and the first length is related to the time required for the site to perform mode switching (specifically, switching from the first mode to the second mode) (or the time required for the site to start a conventional transceiver). For example, the first length corresponds to the shortest duration required for the site to perform mode switching. In this case, the first length can be referred to as the shortest padding duration for the site to perform mode switching. The first length can be pre-set (as specified in the protocol) or indicated to the access point in advance by the site (for example, indicated to the access point by the site in the negotiation process, see the relevant description in the negotiation process below), without limitation. When generating the first radio frame, the access point can add padding greater than or equal to the first length in the first radio frame.

[0234] In this way, by increasing the time left for the station to parse the first wireless frame and wake up the conventional transceiver through padding, it can be ensured that the station sends the second wireless frame to the access point after mode switching (or starting the conventional transceiver, or the conventional transceiver from startup to stability), and the implementation method is simple and reliable.

[0235] The above implementation may be implemented independently of the transmission function of the low-power transceiver. For example, the low-power transceiver may only be used to monitor and receive the first wireless frame, which is beneficial to reducing the cost of the low-power transceiver.

[0236] In another possible implementation, the station transmits a third radio frame to the access point in the first mode. The third radio frame is used to notify (or instruct) the access point that the station has switched to the second mode, or the third radio frame is used to notify (or instruct) the access point that the station is ready to receive data frames from the access point, or the third radio frame is used to notify (or instruct) the access point that the station has switched to the second mode and is ready to receive data frames from the access point, etc. The third radio frame can be a response frame or an Ack frame corresponding to the first radio frame, without limitation. In other words, the station can transmit the third radio frame to the access point after receiving the first radio frame, regardless of whether the mode switch has been completed (or the conventional transceiver has been started, or the conventional transceiver has been started and stabilized), as shown in FIG5D .

[0237] Similarly, to ensure that the site has sufficient time to wake up the conventional transceiver, the access point can add a padding field in the first radio frame. Optionally, the padding length in the first radio frame reaches or exceeds the second length, and the second length is related to the time required for the site to start the conventional transceiver. The second length is related to the time required for the site to perform mode switching (specifically switching from the first mode to the second mode) (or the time required for the site to start the conventional transceiver). For example, the second length corresponds to the shortest duration required for the site to perform mode switching. In this case, the second length can be called the shortest padding duration for the site to perform mode switching. The second length can be pre-set (as specified in the protocol) or indicated to the access point in advance by the site (for example, indicated to the access point by the site in the negotiation process, see the relevant description in the negotiation process below), without limitation. When generating the first radio frame, the access point can add padding greater than or equal to the second length in the first radio frame.

[0238] It is understood that the minimum padding duration may vary in different scenarios. For example, compared to the scenario described above where the station sends an ACK frame to the access point using the second mode, the time limit for the station to send an ACK frame (or Response frame) to the access point using the first mode in this embodiment is slightly wider. Therefore, the second length here may be less than or equal to the first length described above.

[0239] Optionally, after receiving the first radio frame, the station may send an ACK frame corresponding to the first radio frame to the access point, and after sending the ACK frame corresponding to the first radio frame, send a third radio frame to the access point; after receiving the third radio frame, the access point sends an ACK frame corresponding to the third radio frame to the station, and after sending the ACK frame corresponding to the third radio frame, sends a data frame to the station. The station may receive the ACK frame corresponding to the third radio frame through a conventional transceiver or a low-power transceiver (Figure 5D illustrates that the station receives the ACK frame through a conventional transceiver), without limitation. The first radio frame and the third radio frame may be management frames.

[0240] In the above implementation, the low-power transceiver and the conventional transceiver (or the first mode and the second mode) have a clear division of labor (i.e., the conventional transceiver is responsible for the relevant processes of the interactive data frame, and the low-power transceiver is responsible for the relevant processes of listening to the first wireless frame), the logic is simple, and it is easy to implement.

[0241] In one possible design, the access point may directly start sending data frames to the station without relying on notification from the station. It is understood that in this design, the data frame sent by the access point may include the first data frame, or the second data frame, or the first data frame and the second data frame.

[0242] Illustratively, the first data frame has one or more of the following characteristics:

[0243] 1) The bandwidth is smaller than the first bandwidth;

[0244] For example, the bandwidth is less than (or does not exceed) 20 MHz.

[0245] 2) The PPDU format is the second format;

[0246] For example, the PPDU format is Non-HT PPDU.

[0247] 3) The MCS order is lower than the threshold;

[0248] 4) The flow number is less than the first flow number.

[0249] For example, the number of flows is single.

[0250] In a specific implementation, the first data frame may meet the above four conditions at the same time, or may only meet some of the conditions (for example, the bandwidth corresponding to the first data frame is less than 20 MHz, but the MCS order is greater than the threshold). In addition, other conditions may also be met, as long as the first data frame is within the transceiver capability range of the first mode (or low-power transceiver) of the site.

[0251] It can be understood that under this design method, the first wireless frame can be a management frame, a control frame, or a data frame, specifically, for example, a first type of wireless frame, or a wireless frame carrying first indication information.

[0252] In some embodiments, the access point may directly start sending the first data frame to the station when the station is in the first mode, and the station receives the first data frame in the first mode.

[0253] For example, the first radio frame in FIG. 4A or FIG. 4B may be a first data frame.

[0254] For example, referring to FIG. 5E or FIG. 5F , the access point may first send at least one first data frame (only two first data frames are illustrated in FIG. 5E ), and the station receives at least one first data frame in the first mode; when the access point requires the station to receive data frames in the second mode, the access point sends a first radio frame, and the station receives the first radio frame in the first mode (corresponding to step S301 above); after sending the first radio frame, the access point sends at least one second data frame, and the station receives at least one second data frame in the second mode (corresponding to step S303 above).

[0255] Among them, Figure 5E takes the example of the first radio frame being the first data frame carrying the first indication information. It can be understood that in the example given in Figure 5E, at least one first data frame before the first radio frame may not carry indication information or carry indication information different from the first indication information. For example, in the scenario shown in Figure 5E, each first data frame carries a flag, and the value of the flag is used to indicate whether the next data frame needs to be received through the second mode, wherein the flag=1 in the first and second first data frames indicates that the next data frame needs to be received by the site through the first mode (or low-power transceiver), and the flag=0 in the third first data frame (i.e., the first radio frame) indicates that the next data frame needs to be received by the site through the second mode (or a conventional transceiver).

[0256] 5F takes the case where the first wireless frame is a wireless frame of a preset type as an example. In the scenario shown in FIG5F , the first data frame sent by the access point is not of the preset type. When the access point needs to switch the site to the second mode, it separately sends a wireless frame of the preset type (i.e., the first wireless frame) to indicate the site switching mode.

[0257] Of course, when the access point needs to send a data frame to the station, it may not send the first data frame before the first wireless frame, but directly send the first wireless frame to the access point (corresponding to S301 above), and then start sending the second data frame to the station, and the station receives the second data frame in the second mode (corresponding to S302 above).

[0258] In one possible design, after the access point and the station have exchanged data frames, the station may switch back to the first mode (eg, shut down the regular transceiver, and wake up the low-power transceiver if the low-power transceiver is in a sleep state).

[0259] In one possible implementation, after sending a data frame, the access point sends a seventh radio frame. After receiving the seventh radio frame sent by the access point, the station switches back to the first mode. This allows the access point to instruct the station to switch to the first mode when there is no need to send data frames, or allows the access point to exchange data frames with the station using the station's first mode, thereby saving power consumption.

[0260] Optionally, the seventh radio frame may be the same as the first radio frame. For example, the seventh radio frame may be of the first type or may carry the first indication information. In this case, the access point may send multiple first radio frames, causing the station to alternate between the first mode and the second mode multiple times. For example, as shown in Figure 6A, the first first radio frame causes the access point to switch from the first mode to the second mode, the second first radio frame causes the access point to switch from the second mode to the first mode, and the third first radio frame causes the access point to switch from the first mode to the second mode.

[0261] Optionally, the seventh radio frame may be different from the first radio frame. For example, the first radio frame is of the first type, the seventh radio frame is of the second type, and the first type and the second type are different; or, the first radio frame carries first indication information (such as flag=0), and the seventh radio frame carries second indication information (such as flag=1), and so on. In this case, the access point may alternately send the first radio frame and the seventh radio frame, so that the station alternately switches between the first mode and the second mode. For example, as shown in Figure 6B, the first first radio frame causes the access point to switch from the first mode to the second mode, the first seventh radio frame causes the access point to switch from the second mode to the first mode, and the second first radio frame causes the access point to switch from the first mode to the second mode.

[0262] In this way, the flexibility of communication can be improved and the power consumption of the device can be saved.

[0263] In another possible implementation, after data frame exchange is completed or terminated (e.g., after a preset time period has elapsed without receiving a data frame from the access point), the station can automatically switch back to the first mode and listen for a first radio frame or first data frame from the access point in the first mode. If the next second data frame exchange is to be performed, the access point retransmits the first radio frame, causing the station to re-enter the second mode. This is shown in FIG6C .

[0264] In this way, the site can automatically switch to the first mode, saving power consumption.

[0265] In one possible implementation, taking a non-AP STA as an example, after the non-AP STA enters the second mode, if one or more of the following conditions are met, the frame exchange between the non-AP STA and the access point ends, and the non-AP STA can switch back to the first mode:

[0266] 1. The MAC layer of the non-AP STA does not receive the physical layer receive start indication (PHY-RXSTART.indication) primitive within the timeout period of one SIFS duration (aSIFSTime) + one slot duration (aSlotTime) + one receive physical layer start delay (aRxPHYStartDelay), where aRxPHYStartDelay is equal to 20 microseconds. The timeout period may start from the end of the PPDU sent by the non-AP STA in response to the most recently received frame from the access point or from the end of the reception of the PPDU carrying a frame sent by the access point to the non-AP STA that does not require immediate acknowledgment.

[0267] For example, if the MAC layer of the non-AP STA does not start receiving any frames within the timeout period, the frame exchange ends.

[0268] 2. The MAC layer of the non-AP STA receives the physical layer receive start indication (PHY-RXSTART.indication) primitive within the timeout period of one SIFS duration (aSIFSTime) + one slot duration (aSlotTime) + one receive physical layer start delay (aRxPHYStartDelay). The timeout period may start from the end of the PPDU sent by the non-AP STA in response to the most recently received frame from the access point or from the end of the reception of the PPDU carrying the frame sent by the access point to the non-AP STA that does not require immediate confirmation, and the non-AP STA does not detect any of the following frames in the PPDU corresponding to the PHY-RXSTART.indication:

[0269] 1) A single-address frame with a receive address (RA) equal to the MAC address of the non-AP STA;

[0270] 2) There is a trigger frame with a User Info field addressed to a non-AP STA;

[0271] 3) CTS-to-self frame with RA equal to the access point's MAC address;

[0272] 4) A Multi-STA Block Ack frame with a Per AID TID Info field addressed to the non-AP STA;

[0273] 5) There is an NDP Announcement frame with the STA Info field addressed to the non-AP STA and a Sounding NDP packet.

[0274] For example, if the MAC layer of a non-AP STA starts receiving data frames within the timeout period, but the received data frames are not sent to the non-AP STA, the frame exchange ends.

[0275] 3. The non-AP STA does not respond to the most recently received frame from the access point that requires an immediate reply after SIFS.

[0276] For example, if the non-AP STA does not respond to the frame sent by the access point that requires a reply, the frame exchange ends.

[0277] In one possible design, the station receives data frames from the access point in the second mode only after undergoing multiple mode switches (ie, S303).

[0278] For example, after S302 and before S303: the station switches from the second mode back to the first mode due to an abnormal event (this application does not impose specific restrictions on abnormal events), and the access point mistakenly believes that the station has switched to the second mode, so it sends a second data frame. The station fails to receive the second data frame through the first mode and does not feedback an ACK frame corresponding to the second data frame to the access point. The access point determines that the station is not in the second mode based on the failure to receive the ACK frame, and then sends the first wireless frame again. The station switches from the first mode to the second mode again. Afterwards, the access point sends the second data frame again, and this time the station can receive the data frame from the access point through the second mode (i.e., S303).

[0279] For example, after S302 and before S303: the station switches from the second mode back to the first mode due to an abnormal event (this application does not impose specific restrictions on abnormal events), and the station sends an abnormality notification to the access point. After receiving the abnormality notification, the access point again sends the first radio frame, causing the station to switch from the first mode to the second mode again. Thereafter, the access point sends a data frame, and the station can receive the data frame from the access point via the second mode (i.e., S303).

[0280] For example, after S302 and before S303: the station switches from the second mode back to the first mode due to an abnormal event (this application does not impose specific restrictions on abnormal events), and the access point mistakenly believes that the station has switched to the second mode, so it sends a data frame. The data frame is within the receiving capability range of the station's second mode (or conventional transceiver), but it is also within the receiving capability range of the station's first mode (or low-power transceiver), so the station receives the data frame through the first mode. Subsequently, after the station is triggered by other events (such as the access point sending the first wireless frame again), it successfully switches to the second mode and then receives the data frame from the access point through the second mode (i.e., S303).

[0281] Of course, the above are just a few possible examples and are not limited to these.

[0282] In one possible design, the access point and the station may enter the method flow provided above through a negotiation process. For ease of description, the method flow provided above is referred to as a "switching process." The switching process may include switching from a first mode to a second mode, or may include switching from the second mode to the first mode, or may include switching from the first mode to the second mode and from the second mode to the first mode. Optionally, the switching process may also include a frame interaction process between any two adjacent mode switches (such as the first wireless frame, data frame, ACK frame, PS-Poll frame, and other related interaction processes listed above).

[0283] It is understood that "switching process" can also be described as "low power mode" or other descriptions without limitation. "Enter" can also be replaced by other words such as "open" or "start" without limitation.

[0284] For example, as shown in Figure 7A , the negotiation process may include: the station sending a fourth radio frame to the access point via a third mode; the fourth radio frame is used to request or notify the access point to initiate a handover process. The third mode allows the station to transmit signals only via a regular transceiver. It will be appreciated that in the third mode, the station's regular transceiver is awake, while the low-power transceiver is asleep.

[0285] When the fourth radio frame is used to request the access point to initiate a handover process, the access point may, after receiving the fourth radio frame, send a fifth radio frame to the station. The fifth radio frame is used to notify the station that the access point agrees to initiate the handover process. For example, the fourth radio frame is a request frame, and the fifth radio frame is a response frame to the request frame.

[0286] Optionally, after receiving the Request frame, the access point may also feed back an ACK frame corresponding to the Request frame to the station. Optionally, after receiving the Response frame, the station may also feed back an ACK frame corresponding to the Request frame to the station.

[0287] When the fourth radio frame is used to notify the access point of entering the handover process (that is, the station unilaterally decides to enter the handover process and does not require the consent of the access point), the access point may not send any feedback information (such as not sending a Response frame, an ACK frame, etc.), or the access point may send a fifth radio frame (such as an ACK frame corresponding to the fourth radio frame) to the station after receiving the fourth radio frame. The fifth radio frame is used to notify the station that the access point has received the fourth radio frame, or accept the request in the fourth radio frame sent by the station.

[0288] In addition, the access point may unilaterally decide to enter the handover process (for example, only the access point sends the fifth radio frame to the station), which is not limited in this application.

[0289] It can be understood that FIG7A takes the frame interaction process shown in FIG4A as an example, illustrating the access point and the station negotiating to enter the handover process. The negotiation method between the access point and the station is applicable to all frame interaction processes exemplified in this document.

[0290] Here are a few possible examples:

[0291] Example 1, as shown in FIG7B , uses the frame exchange process shown in FIG5B as an example to illustrate how an access point and a station negotiate to enter a handover process. Specifically, the station sends a Request frame to the access point via the third mode (or conventional transceiver) to request entry into the handover process. After receiving the Request frame, the access point sends an ACK frame corresponding to the Request frame back to the station and sends a Response frame to the station, indicating its agreement to enter the handover process. After receiving the Response frame, the station sends an ACK frame corresponding to the Response frame back to the access point, and then enters the handover process. After entering the handover process, the station first enters the first mode and listens for radio frames from the access point. The access point sends one or more first radio frames to the station. After successfully receiving the first first radio frame, the station switches from the first mode to the second mode. The station sends a PS-Poll frame to the access point via the second mode to notify the access point of its switch to the second mode. After receiving the PS-Poll frame, the access point sends an ACK frame corresponding to the PS-Poll frame to the station and begins transmitting data frames, sending data frames to the station. The station receives the data frame via the second mode and, after receiving the data frame, sends an ACK frame corresponding to the data frame back to the access point via the second mode.

[0292] Example 2, as shown in Figure 7C, uses the frame exchange process shown in Figure 5C as an example to illustrate the access point and the station negotiating to enter the handover process. The difference between Figure 7C and Figure 7B is that after the station switches from the first mode to the second mode, in Figure 7C, the station sends an ACK frame (which can also be a PS-Poll frame) in the second mode to notify the access point of the switch to the second mode.

[0293] Example 3, as shown in Figure 7D, uses the frame exchange process shown in Figure 5D as an example to illustrate the access point and the station negotiating to enter the handover process. The difference between Figure 7D and Figures 7B-7C is that after the station switches from the first mode to the second mode, the station sends an ACK frame in the first mode to notify the access point of the switch to the second mode.

[0294] Example 4, as shown in Figure 7E, uses the frame exchange process shown in Figure 5F as an example to illustrate the access point and the station negotiating to enter the handover process. The difference between Figure 7E and Figures 7B to 7D is that in Figure 7E, the access point directly begins transmitting data frames when the station is in the first mode. The station first receives data frames based on the first mode and then receives data frames based on the second mode.

[0295] Of course, the above are only some embodiments and are not limited to the above examples.

[0296] It can be understood that in the embodiment of the present application, the time of entering the switching process (ie, the start time of the switching process) can have multiple definitions.

[0297] For example, after the negotiation process between the station and the access point is completed, the handover process is entered (as shown in Figures 7A to 7E). Specifically, it can be the time when the fourth radio frame is sent or received (for example, the station sends the fourth radio frame, or the access point receives the fourth radio frame, or the access point sends the ACK frame corresponding to the fourth radio frame, or the station receives the ACK frame corresponding to the fourth radio frame, etc.), or the time when the fifth radio frame is sent or received (for example, the access point sends the fifth radio frame, or the station receives the fifth radio frame, or the station sends the ACK frame corresponding to the fifth radio frame, or the access point receives the ACK frame corresponding to the fifth radio frame, etc.), etc.

[0298] For example, the station switches from the third mode to the first mode (ie, the low-power transceiver of the station is awakened and the regular transceiver is shut down) and enters the switching process.

[0299] For example, the access point enters the switching process when it sends the first radio frame (such as the first radio frame) for triggering the mode switching, and so on.

[0300] Of course, the above is just an example and this application does not impose any specific limitation.

[0301] Optionally, the station and access point may also exit the handover process. Similarly, the station may unilaterally decide to exit the handover process, the access point may unilaterally decide to exit the handover process, or the access point and station may negotiate to exit the handover process, without limitation. For example, the station may also send a sixth radio frame to the access point, where the sixth radio frame is used to request or notify the access point of exiting the handover process. Alternatively, for example, the access point may also send an eighth radio frame to the station, where the eighth radio frame is used to indicate the access point's consent to or notification of exiting the handover process.

[0302] It is understood that "exit" can also be replaced by other words such as "end", "stop", or "close", without limitation. In some examples, the sixth radio frame or the eighth radio frame can be called a teardown frame.

[0303] In some examples, the sixth radio frame or the eighth radio frame may carry a bit, and the value of the bit (for example, 0) is used to indicate the need or agreement to exit the handover process. For example, the frame format of the sixth radio frame or the eighth radio frame may be the frame format of the action frame shown in Tables 1 and 2 below. When the value of the Low Power Mode bit in the control field in the action frame is 0, it can be used to indicate the need or agreement to exit the handover process.

[0304] It is understood that after exiting the handover process (for example, the sixth radio frame is sent or received, or the eighth radio frame is sent or received), the access point no longer triggers the station to switch modes (for example, no longer triggers the station to switch modes by sending the first radio frame), the station no longer listens to or receives the first radio frame in the first mode, or the station is no longer triggered to switch modes by the first radio frame. For example, after exiting the handover process, the station returns to the third mode, that is, turns off the low-power transceiver, and the station only transmits signals through the regular transceiver. If it is necessary to re-enter the handover process, the station and the access point can negotiate again.

[0305] It is understood that the frame exchange diagrams provided in the above embodiments all distinguish which transceiver transmits which radio frame within a site. In actual applications, it is possible to treat a site as a whole without distinguishing which transceiver transmits which radio frame within the site, or to make the actual transceiver used within the site invisible to the outside world.

[0306] Taking the frame interaction process shown in Figures 7B to 7E as an example, the frame interaction process between the station and the access point from the perspective of the outside of the station is shown in Figures 8A to 8D, respectively (Figure 8A corresponds to Figure 7B, Figure 8B corresponds to Figure 7C, Figure 8C corresponds to Figure 7D, and Figure 8D corresponds to Figure 7E). In Figures 8A to 8D, a horizontal axis is used to represent the frame interaction between the station as a whole and the access point. The position on the horizontal axis represents the time sequence of the frame interaction, with the left being the first and the right being the last. The upper side of the axis indicates the frame transmission behavior of the station (i.e., the frames on the upper side of the axis are the frames sent by the station), and the lower side of the axis indicates the frame transmission behavior of the access point (i.e., the frames on the lower side of the axis are the frames sent by the access point).

[0307] Taking Figure 8A as an example, the access point and the station first negotiate through the fourth radio frame, or the fifth radio frame, or the fourth radio frame and the fifth radio frame, and enter the handover process after successful negotiation; after entering the handover process, the access point needs to send the first radio frame (the first radio frame can be one or more) to the station before sending the data frame. After receiving the PS-Poll frame replied by the station, the access point sends the data frame to the station.

[0308] It can be understood that for other frame interaction processes, reference can be made to the above description, and no further drawings or explanations are given.

[0309] The following describes a specific implementation of the radio frames involved in the above negotiation process (such as the fourth radio frame, the fifth radio frame, etc.):

[0310] In one possible design, the fourth radio frame includes a field for indicating a need to enter a handover process. Correspondingly, the fifth radio frame includes a field for indicating consent to enter a handover process.

[0311] Further, optionally, the fourth radio frame, the fifth radio frame, or both the fourth radio frame and the fifth radio frame may further include a field for indicating a frame type. This field may be implemented as a single field or as a combination of multiple fields, without limitation. For example, the field may include two fields, one indicating a major frame type (such as a management frame or a control frame), and the other indicating a minor frame type.

[0312] Further, optionally, the fourth radio frame, the fifth radio frame, or the fourth radio frame and the fifth radio frame further include at least one of the following fields:

[0313] 1) A field used to indicate the length of the padding field in the first radio frame;

[0314] For example, in the scenario shown in FIG. 5C or FIG. 5D , this field may exist.

[0315] 2) A field used to indicate the time required for a station to switch from a conventional transceiver to a low-power transceiver;

[0316] For example, this field exists in a scenario where the low power transceiver enters a sleep state when the conventional transceiver is awakened. For example, this field may exist when the low power transceiver is in a sleep state in the second mode.

[0317] 3) A field used to indicate the upper limit of the receiving capability of the low-power transceiver of the station;

[0318] In some embodiments, when the upper limit of the receiving capability of the low-power transceiver is known (such as specified by the standard), this field may not be carried.

[0319] 4) A field used to indicate the upper limit of the reception capability of the conventional transceiver of the station.

[0320] In some embodiments, when the upper limit of the receiving capability of a conventional transceiver is known (such as specified by a standard), this field may not be carried.

[0321] In some embodiments, this field may also be carried in other frames such as the first radio frame.

[0322] 5) A field used to indicate whether at least one field exists, where the at least one field is, for example, one or more of the above items 1) to 4).

[0323] In some embodiments, the frame formats of the fourth radio frame and the fifth radio frame may be the same, and different values ​​of the same field in the frame format may be used to indicate the field that needs to enter the switching process and the field that agrees to enter the switching process, respectively.

[0324] The following example illustrates the frame format, taking the fourth radio frame as a Request frame, the fifth radio frame as a Response frame, and the frame type as an action frame. It is understood that the Request frame or Response frame can be implemented based on a newly defined action frame, or can be implemented by reusing an existing management frame and adding a new element corresponding to the method flow of the present application to the management frame, without limitation.

[0325] For example, Table 1 is an example of the frame format of an action frame:

[0326] Table 1

[0327] It is understood that the action frame may actually include some or all of the fields shown in Table 1, and may also include other fields in addition to the fields shown in Table 1. Moreover, the field names shown in Table 1 are only examples and may actually be replaced with other names.

[0328] 1) Category field: used to identify the action frame category, such as management frame.

[0329] 2) Action field: used to identify the frame subclass of the action frame.

[0330] For example, it is used to identify whether it is a Request frame or a Response frame.

[0331] 3) Dialog Token field: It is a session identifier used to identify the Request frame and Response frame of the current session when multiple sessions are ongoing. For example, frames with the same Dialog Token value belong to the same session.

[0332] In some embodiments, the combination of the Category field and the Action field is used to indicate that the action frame is used to negotiate entry into a handover process. Optionally, the combination of the Category field and the Action field can also be used to indicate that the action frame is used to negotiate exit from a handover process.

[0333] In a specific implementation, a new Action value or a combination of [Category value, Action value] can be assigned to the negotiation process in the embodiment of the present application.

[0334] For example, if the Protected EHT Category Code (value 37) is reused as the Category Code for the negotiation process in the embodiment of the present application, the Action value is an unused value from 0 to 255. For example, if the Action value under the Protected EHT Category is 0 to 12, 13 can be used to represent a Request frame, 14 to represent a Response frame, and 15 to represent a Teardown frame. Of course, this is only an example and is not limited to this.

[0335] For another example, instead of reusing any existing Category codes, a new value is used as the Category Code for the negotiation process in the embodiments of this application. In this case, the Action value can take any value from 0 to 255. For example, 0 represents a Request frame, 1 represents a Response frame, and 2 represents a Teardown frame. Of course, this is only an example and is not limited to this.

[0336] 4) Control field: can carry a bit (such as Low Power Mode bit) to indicate whether to need / agree to enter the handover process, or to turn on the low power mode.

[0337] In some embodiments, if the action frame does not have a Control field, the access point may indicate that it does not agree to enter the handover process by not sending a Response frame.

[0338] In some embodiments, the Control field may not exist, and the Low Power Mode bit may be carried in other fields (eg, the Parameters field).

[0339] In some embodiments, the Low Power Mode bit can also be used to indicate the need, approval, or notification to exit the handover process. For example, Low Power Mode = 1 indicates the need / approval to enter the handover process, and Low Power Mode = 0 indicates the need / approval / notification to exit the handover process. Of course, this is only an example, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific definition of the value of this field.

[0340] 5) Parameters field: used to indicate the relevant parameters used in the handover process.

[0341] The Parameters field may include one or more subfields. For example, Table 2 shows a possible example of the subfields of Parameters:

[0342] Table 2

[0343] It is understood that Parameters may actually include some or all of the subfields shown in Table 2, and may also include other subfields in addition to the subfields shown in Table 2. Furthermore, the subfield names shown in Table 2 are only examples and may actually be replaced with other names.

[0344] 1) LPL Mode Padding Delay: indicates the length of the padding field in the first radio frame. Specifically, for example, it indicates the length of the shortest padding to be added to the first radio frame (such as the first length or the second length described above).

[0345] 2) LPL Mode Transition Delay: Indicates the time required for a station to switch from a regular transceiver to a low-power transceiver (or the time required to wake up a low-power transceiver).

[0346] 3) LP Capabilities: Indicates the upper limit of the receiving capability of the low-power transceiver of the station, for example, it may include but is not limited to one or more information of the PPDU type, maximum MCS order, maximum bandwidth, maximum number of streams, etc. supported by the low-power transceiver.

[0347] 4) Regular Capabilities: Indicates the upper limit of the receiving capability of the regular transceiver of the site, for example, it may include but is not limited to one or more of the following information: PPDU type, highest MCS order, maximum bandwidth, maximum number of streams, etc. supported by the regular transceiver.

[0348] It can be understood that if the Request frame and the Response frame appear in the form of a management frame carrying a new element, the new element also needs to carry the above-mentioned Low Power Mode, LPL Mode Padding Delay, LPL Mode Transition Delay, LP Capabilities, Regular Capabilities and other fields.

[0349] In some embodiments, both the Request frame and the Response frame carry the LP Capabilities subfield and the LP Capabilities subfield, and the value of the LP Capabilities subfield in the Request frame is the same as the value of the LP Capabilities subfield in the Response frame, and the value of the Regular Capabilities subfield in the Request frame is the same as the value of the LP Capabilities subfield in the Regular Capabilities frame. In other embodiments, the Request frame carries the LP Capabilities subfield and the LP Capabilities subfield, and the Response frame does not carry the LP Capabilities subfield and the LP Capabilities subfield.

[0350] In some embodiments, the value of the LPL Mode Padding Delay subfield in the Response frame is the same as the value of the LPL Mode Padding Delay subfield in the Request frame, or the value of the LPL Mode Padding Delay subfield in the Response frame is greater than the value of the LPL Mode Padding Delay subfield in the Request frame. This ensures that the station has sufficient time to wake up the regular transceiver.

[0351] In some embodiments, the value of the LPL Mode Transition Delay subfield in the Response frame is the same as the value of the LPL Mode Transition Delay subfield in the Request frame, or the value of the LPL Mode Transition Delay subfield in the Response frame is greater than the value of the LPL Mode Transition Delay subfield in the Request frame. This ensures that the station has sufficient time to wake up the low-power transceiver.

[0352] In some embodiments, the frame format of the action frame may further include one or more of the following fields:

[0353] 1) LPL Mode Padding Delay Present: used to indicate whether the LPL Mode Padding Delay field exists. For example, LPL Mode Padding Delay Present is 1 bit. When this bit is 1, it indicates that the LPL Mode Padding Delay field exists. When this bit is 0, it indicates that the LPL Mode Padding Delay field does not exist. Alternatively, when this bit is 1, it indicates that the LPL Mode Padding Delay field does not exist. When this bit is 0, it indicates that the LPL Mode Padding Delay field exists.

[0354] 2) LPL Mode Transition Delay Present: used to indicate whether the LPL Mode Transition Delay field exists. For example, LPL Mode Transition Delay Present is 1 bit. When this bit is 1, it indicates that the LPL Mode Transition Delay field exists. When this bit is 0, it indicates that the LPL Mode Transition Delay field does not exist. Alternatively, when this bit is 1, it indicates that the LPL Mode Transition Delay field does not exist. When this bit is 0, it indicates that the LPL Mode Transition Delay field exists.

[0355] 3) LP Capabilities Present: used to indicate whether the LP Capabilities field exists. For example, LP Capabilities Present is 1 bit. When this bit is 1, it indicates that the LP Capabilities field exists. When this bit is 0, it indicates that the LP Capabilities field does not exist. Alternatively, when this bit is 1, it indicates that the LP Capabilities field does not exist. When this bit is 0, it indicates that the LP Capabilities field exists.

[0356] 4) Regular Capabilities Present: used to indicate whether the Regular Capabilities field exists. For example, Regular Capabilities Present is 1 bit. When this bit is 1, it indicates that the Regular Capabilities field exists. When this bit is 0, it indicates that the Regular Capabilities field does not exist. Alternatively, when this bit is 1, it indicates that the Regular Capabilities field does not exist. When this bit is 0, it indicates that the Regular Capabilities field exists.

[0357] Optionally, one or more of the above fields may be implemented using a bitmap, for example, a four-bit bitmap, where bits 1 to 4 are used to indicate whether LPL Mode Padding Delay, LPL Mode Transition Delay, LP Capabilities, and Regular Capabilities are present, respectively. For example, "0011" indicates that LP Capabilities and Regular Capabilities are present, and "1001" indicates that LPL Mode Padding Delay and Regular Capabilities are present. Of course, the above is only an example, and the actual method of indicating whether a field exists is not limited to this.

[0358] It can be understood that the low-power transceiver and the conventional transceiver shown in the relevant embodiments such as Figures 4A to 4B, 5A to 5F, 6A to 6C, 7A to 7E, and 8A to 8D above can be virtual, or there is no distinction between low-power transceivers and conventional transceivers at the site, but the site can still have the first mode, second mode, third mode, etc. described above.

[0359] The above-mentioned embodiments, such as Figures 4A to 4B, 5A to 5F, 6A to 6C, 7A to 7E, and 8A to 8D, all use data frames exchanged between the station and the access point after entering the second mode as an example. In practice, the data frames can be replaced with message frames, which can include one or more of data frames, management frames, and control frames. It is understood that the various implementations in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented separately or in combination with each other, without limitation.

[0360] The method provided by the embodiment of the present application is described above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and the device provided by the embodiment of the present application is described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0361] Based on the same technical concept, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device 900, which can be, for example, a satellite, a base station, a terminal, or an access point, or a chip inside a satellite, a base station, a terminal, or an access point. The device 900 includes modules, units, or means corresponding to the method steps in the above method embodiments. The functions, units, or means can be implemented by software or hardware, or the corresponding software implementation can be executed by hardware.

[0362] Exemplarily, referring to FIG. 9 , a communication device 900 may include a processing module 901 and a transceiver module 902 .

[0363] In one implementation, the communication device 900 may be a terminal or a communication module in a terminal, and includes:

[0364] The transceiver module 902 is configured to receive a first radio frame from an access point in a first mode, the first radio frame being used to trigger a mode switch of a site where the device is located, the first radio frame including identification information of the site;

[0365] The processing module 901 is configured to switch from the first mode to the second mode after the transceiver module 902 receives the first radio frame;

[0366] The transceiver module 902 is further configured to receive a message frame from the access point in the second mode; wherein the power consumption of the station in the first mode is lower than the power consumption of the station in the second mode.

[0367] or,

[0368] The transceiver module 902 is configured to receive a first radio frame from an access point via a low-power transceiver, wherein the first radio frame is used to trigger the site where the device is located to wake up a conventional transceiver, and the first radio frame includes identification information of the site;

[0369] The processing module 901 is configured to wake up the conventional transceiver after the transceiver module 902 receives the first radio frame;

[0370] The transceiver module 902 is further configured to receive a message frame from an access point by waking up a conventional transceiver.

[0371] In another implementation, the communication device 900 may be an access point or a communication module in an access point, and includes:

[0372] The transceiver module 902 is configured to send a first radio frame to the station, where the first radio frame is used to trigger the station switching mode and includes identification information of the station; and send a message frame to the station.

[0373] or,

[0374] The transceiver module 902 is configured to send a first radio frame to the station, where the first radio frame is used to trigger the awakening of a conventional transceiver and includes identification information of the station; and send a message frame to the station.

[0375] Optionally, the processing module 901 is configured to generate the first radio frame and the message frame.

[0376] It should be understood that all relevant contents of each step involved in the above method embodiment can be referred to the functional description of the corresponding functional module and will not be repeated here.

[0377] Based on the same technical concept, referring to FIG10 , an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device 1000. The communication device 1000 may be a terminal or a circuit or chip in the terminal responsible for communication functions (such as a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a system on chip (SoC) chip or a system in package (SIP) chip containing a modem core); or the communication device 1000 may be an access point or a circuit or chip in the access point responsible for communication functions (such as a modem chip, also known as a baseband chip, or a system on chip (SoC) chip or a system in package (SIP) chip containing a modem core). The communication device 1000 may include:

[0378] At least one processor 1001; and a communication interface 1003 communicatively connected to the at least one processor 1001; the at least one processor 1001 executes instructions stored in the memory 1002, so that the device performs the method steps in the above method embodiment through the communication interface 1003.

[0379] Optionally, the memory 1002 is located outside the device 1000 .

[0380] Optionally, the apparatus 1000 includes the memory 1002, which is connected to the at least one processor 1001 and stores instructions executable by the at least one processor 1001. FIG10 uses dashed lines to indicate that the memory 1002 is optional for the apparatus 1000.

[0381] The processor 1001 and the memory 1002 may be coupled via an interface circuit or may be integrated together, which is not limited here.

[0382] The specific connection medium between the processor 1001, memory 1002, and communication interface 1003 is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In Figure 10, the processor 1001, memory 1002, and communication interface 1003 are connected via a bus 1004. The bus is represented by a bold line in Figure 10. The connection methods between other components are only for schematic illustration and are not limiting. The bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of representation, only one bold line is used in Figure 10, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

[0383] The specific connection medium between the processor 1001, memory 1002, and communication interface 1003 is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In Figure 10, the processor 1001, memory 1002, and communication interface 1003 are connected via a bus 1004. The bus is represented by a bold line in Figure 10. The connection methods between other components are only for schematic illustration and are not limiting. The bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of representation, only one bold line is used in Figure 10, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

[0384] It should be understood that the processors mentioned in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented by hardware or software. When implemented by hardware, the processor can be a logic circuit, an integrated circuit, etc. When implemented by software, the processor can be a general-purpose processor that is implemented by reading software code stored in a memory.

[0385] Exemplarily, the processor may be a central processing unit (CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc.

[0386] It should be understood that the memory mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct RAM bus random access memory (DR RAM).

[0387] It should be noted that when the processor is a general-purpose processor, DSP, ASIC, FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware component, the memory (storage module) can be integrated into the processor.

[0388] It should be noted that the memory described herein is intended to include, but not be limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0389] Based on the same technical concept, an embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, including a program or instructions. When the program or instructions are run on a computer, the method in the above method embodiment is executed.

[0390] Based on the same technical concept, an embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product, including instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enables the method in the above method embodiment to be executed.

[0391] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the embodiments of the present application can be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, the present application can adopt the form of a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment, or an embodiment in combination with software and hardware. Moreover, the present application can adopt the form of a computer program product implemented on one or more computer-usable storage media (including but not limited to magnetic disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) that contain computer-usable program code.

[0392] The present application is described with reference to the flowcharts and / or block diagrams of the methods, devices (systems), and computer program products according to the present application. It should be understood that each flow and / or box in the flow chart and / or block diagram, as well as the combination of the flow chart and / or box in the flow chart and / or block diagram, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, an embedded processor, or other programmable data processing device to produce a machine, so that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device produce a device for implementing the functions specified in one or more flow charts and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

[0393] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing device to operate in a specific manner, so that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce a product including an instruction device that implements the functions specified in one or more processes in the flowchart and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

[0394] These computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device so that a series of operating steps are executed on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer-implemented process, so that the instructions executed on the computer or other programmable device provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one or more processes in the flowchart and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: include: The station receives a first radio frame from an access point in a first mode, where the first radio frame is used to trigger the station switching mode, and the first radio frame includes identification information of the station; After receiving the first wireless frame, the station switches from the first mode to the second mode; The station receives a message frame from the access point through the second mode; The power consumption of the station in the first mode is lower than the power consumption of the station in the second mode.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The first mode is: the station transmits signals via a low-power transceiver; The second mode is that the station transmits signals via a conventional transceiver.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The first radio frame satisfies one or more of the following: The bandwidth corresponding to the first radio frame is less than a first threshold; A modulation and coding scheme MCS order corresponding to the first radio frame is less than a second threshold; The number of streams corresponding to the first radio frame is less than a third threshold.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The first radio frame further satisfies one or more of the following: The frame type of the first radio frame is a first type; The format of the physical layer protocol data unit PPDU where the first radio frame is located is a first format.

5. The method according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that The first radio frame is a predefined frame.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The method further comprises: The station sends a second wireless frame to the access point in the second mode, where the second wireless frame is used to notify the access point that the station switches to the second mode or the station is ready to receive a data frame from the access point.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The second radio frame is a power saving polling PS-Poll frame.

8. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The second wireless frame is an acknowledgment ACK frame corresponding to the first wireless frame.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The length of the padding field in the first radio frame reaches or exceeds the first length.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The method further comprises: The station sends a third wireless frame to the access point in the first mode, where the third wireless frame is used to notify the access point that the station switches to the second mode or that the station is ready to receive a message frame from the access point.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The length of the padding field in the first radio frame reaches or exceeds the second length.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The first radio frame includes first indication information, where the first indication information indicates the site switching mode.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The first wireless frame is a message frame.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that: Before the station receives the first wireless frame from the access point through the first mode, the method further includes: The station receives at least one message frame from the access point through the first mode; Wherein, each message frame in the at least one message frame satisfies one or more of the following conditions: The bandwidth corresponding to each message frame is less than 20 MHz; The PPDU format of each message frame is a non-high throughput Non-HT PPDU; The order of the MCS corresponding to each message frame is lower than the threshold value; The number of flows corresponding to each message frame is a single flow.

15. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that: Before the station receives the first wireless frame from the access point through the first mode, the method further includes: The station sends a fourth radio frame to the access point in a third mode, where the fourth radio frame is used to request or notify the access point to enter a switching process, where the switching process includes switching from the first mode to the second mode or from the second mode to the first mode; The third mode is that the station can only transmit signals through a conventional transceiver.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that The method further comprises: The station receives a fifth radio frame from the access point through the third mode, where the fifth radio frame is used to notify the station that the access point agrees to enter the switching mode or that the access point has received the fourth radio frame.

17. The method according to claim 15 or 16, characterized in that The fifth radio frame includes at least one of the following fields: A field used to indicate that the switching process needs to be entered; A field for indicating the length of a padding field in the first radio frame; A field for indicating the time required for the station to switch from a conventional transceiver to a low power transceiver; A field for indicating an upper limit of a receiving capability of a low power transceiver of the station; A field used to indicate the upper limit of the receiving capability of the conventional transceiver of the station.

18. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that The sixth radio frame includes at least one of the following fields: A field for indicating consent to enter the handover procedure; A field for indicating the length of a padding field in the first radio frame; A field for indicating the time required for the station to switch from a conventional transceiver to a low power transceiver; A field for indicating an upper limit of a receiving capability of a low power transceiver of the station; A field used to indicate the upper limit of the receiving capability of the conventional transceiver of the station.

19. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 18, characterized in that: Also includes: The station sends a sixth radio frame to the access point, where the sixth radio frame is used to request or notify the access point to exit the switching process.

20. A communication method, characterized in that: include: The access point sends a first radio frame to the station, where the first radio frame is used to trigger the station switching mode, and the first radio frame includes identification information of the station; The access point sends a message frame to the station.

21. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that The switching mode includes switching from the first mode to the second mode or from the second mode to the first mode; The first mode is: the station transmits signals via a low-power transceiver; The second mode is that the station transmits signals via a conventional transceiver.

22. The method according to claim 20 or 21, characterized in that The first radio frame satisfies one or more of the following: The bandwidth corresponding to the first radio frame is less than a first threshold; A modulation and coding scheme MCS order corresponding to the first radio frame is less than a second threshold; The number of streams corresponding to the first radio frame is less than a third threshold.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein: The first radio frame further satisfies one or more of the following: The frame type of the first radio frame is a first type; The format of the PPDU where the first radio frame is located is a first format.

24. The method according to claim 22 or 23, characterized in that The first radio frame is a predefined frame.

25. The method according to any one of claims 20 to 24, characterized in that The method further comprises: The access point receives a second radio frame from the station; The access point determines, according to the second radio frame, that the station switches to the second mode or determines to send a message frame to the station.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein: The second radio frame is a power saving polling PS-Poll frame.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein: The access point sends a first wireless frame to the station, including: The access point sends one or more of the first radio frames to the station.

28. The method of claim 25, wherein: The second wireless frame is an acknowledgment ACK frame corresponding to the first wireless frame.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein: The length of the padding field in the first radio frame reaches or exceeds the first length.

30. The method according to any one of claims 20 to 24, characterized in that The method further comprises: The access point receives a third radio frame from the station; The access point determines, according to the third radio frame, that the station switches to the second mode or determines to send a message frame to the station.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein: The length of the padding field in the first radio frame reaches or exceeds the second length.

32. The method according to any one of claims 20 to 23, characterized in that The first radio frame includes first indication information, where the first indication information indicates the site switching mode.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein: The first wireless frame is a message frame.

34. The method according to any one of claims 20 to 33, characterized in that Before the access point sends the first wireless frame to the station, the method further includes: The access point sends at least one message frame to the station; Wherein, each message frame in the at least one message frame satisfies one or more of the following conditions: The bandwidth corresponding to each message frame is less than 20 MHz; The PPDU format of each message frame is a non-high throughput Non-HT PPDU; The order of the MCS corresponding to each message frame is lower than the threshold value; The number of flows corresponding to each message frame is a single flow.

35. The method according to any one of claims 20 to 34, characterized in that Before the access point sends the first wireless frame to the station, the method further includes: The access point receives a fourth wireless frame from the station, where the fourth wireless frame is used to request or notify the access point to enter a switching process, where the switching process includes switching from the first mode to the second mode or from the second mode to the first mode.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein: The method further comprises: The access point sends a fifth radio frame to the station, where the fifth radio frame is used to notify the station that the access point agrees to enter the switching mode or that the access point has received the fourth radio frame.

37. The method according to claim 35 or 36, characterized in that The fourth radio frame includes at least one of the following fields: A field used to indicate that the switching process needs to be entered; A field for indicating the length of a padding field in the first radio frame; A field for indicating the time required for the station to switch from a conventional transceiver to a low power transceiver; A field for indicating an upper limit of a receiving capability of a low power transceiver of the station; A field used to indicate the upper limit of the receiving capability of the conventional transceiver of the station.

38. The method of claim 36, wherein: The fifth radio frame includes at least one of the following fields: A field for indicating consent to enter the handover procedure; A field for indicating the length of a padding field in the first radio frame; A field for indicating the time required for the station to switch from a conventional transceiver to a low power transceiver; A field for indicating an upper limit of a receiving capability of a low power transceiver of the station; A field used to indicate the upper limit of the receiving capability of the conventional transceiver of the station.

39. The method according to any one of claims 35 to 38, characterized in that Also includes: The access point receives a sixth radio frame sent by the station, where the sixth radio frame is used to request or notify the access point to exit the switching process.

40. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a module for executing the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 19, or comprises a module for executing the method as claimed in any one of claims 20 to 39.

41. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the interface circuit is electrically coupled to the processor, and the processor causes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 19 to be executed through a logic circuit or by executing a code instruction, or causes the method according to any one of claims 20 to 39 to be executed.

42. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The storage medium stores a computer program or instruction. When the computer program or instruction is executed, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 19 is executed, or the method according to any one of claims 20 to 39 is executed.

43. A communication system, characterized in that: include: A station for performing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 19; An access point, configured to perform the method according to any one of claims 20 to 39.

44. A computer program product, characterized in that The method comprises instructions which, when executed on a computer, cause the method according to any one of claims 1 to 19 to be executed, or cause the method according to any one of claims 20 to 39 to be executed.

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