Communication method for integrated reporting of service data and buffer state report, and related apparatus

Abstract

Embodiments of the present application relate to the field of communications, and in particular, to a communication method for integrated reporting of service data and a buffer status report and a related apparatus, which can be applied to a sensing system, and can also be applied to a system conforming to IEEE 802.11 system standards, such as 802.11bf, 802.11ax, 802.11be, or next-generation standards, or a wireless personal area network system based on ultra-wideband (UWB). The method comprises: a first device receives a first frame from a second device, the first frame comprising a first field and a second field. The first field indicates a first resource unit (RU) for the first device to report a buffer status report (BSR), and the second field indicates a second RU for the first device to report data. According to the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application, service delay can be reduced.

Description

Communication method and related device for integrated reporting of business data and cache status report Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of wireless communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and related apparatus for integrated reporting of service data and cache status reports. Background Art

[0002] The access point (AP) can use orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) technology to divide the channel into multiple resource units (RUs). Different stations (STAs) can occupy different resource units, thereby performing multi-user transmission in parallel.

[0003] In the OFDMA mechanism, the AP needs to allocate RUs used by the STA based on the STA's buffer status. Specifically, before scheduling a STA each time, the AP sends a Buffer Status Report Poll (BSRP) message to the STA. The STA responds to the BSRP message by sending a Buffer Status Report (BSR) to the AP, enabling the AP to allocate RUs to multiple STAs based on the BSR. In other words, before scheduling a STA each time, the AP needs to obtain the BSR from the STA through an additional control frame (e.g., BSRP) to determine whether the STA needs to be scheduled to report data, thereby increasing service latency. Therefore, how to reduce service latency is a problem that needs to be solved.

[0004] Summary of the Invention

[0005] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and related apparatus for integrated reporting of service data and cache status reports, which can reduce service latency.

[0006] In the first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method for integrated reporting of business data and a cache status report. The communication method can be applied to a first device, or to a module (for example, a chip or a processor) in the first device, or to a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first device. The following description is made using the first device as an example. The communication method includes: a first device receives a first frame from a second device, the first frame including a first field and a second field, the first field indicating a first resource block RU for reporting a cache status report BSR by the first device, and the second field indicating a second RU for reporting data by the first device.

[0007] In an embodiment of the present application, by indicating the RU of the first device to report data (such as the second RU in the text), the first device can be scheduled to report data through the RU that reports data. By indicating the RU of the first device to report BSR (such as the first RU in the text), the first device can be scheduled to report BSR through the RU that reports BSR. For example, when the first device has service data to report but is not scheduled to report data, it can select a first RU to report BSR based on the received first frame, so that it can have the opportunity to be scheduled to report data in the next round of scheduling without having to send an additional BSR to the second device before being scheduled to report data to obtain the opportunity to report data. The first device can report BSR in a timely manner even when it is not scheduled to report data, so that it is convenient to be directly scheduled to report data, thereby reducing service latency.

[0008] In one possible implementation method, the method also includes: reporting a second frame based on the first frame, the second frame including a BSR; receiving a third frame, the third frame including a third field and a fourth field, the third field indicating the first RU of the first device reporting the BSR in the next round, and the fourth field indicating the second RU of the first device reporting data in the next round.

[0009] A possible implementation method is to report the second frame based on the first frame, and the second frame includes a BSR, including: determining to report the second frame in the second RU based on the first frame, and the second frame also includes data; or, determining to report the second frame in the corresponding first RU based on the first frame; or, determining to report the second frame in a random first RU based on the first frame.

[0010] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving a fourth frame, where the fourth frame includes a fifth field, and the fifth field indicates a second RU of a last round of data reporting by the first device.

[0011] In a possible implementation, the second field includes a first subfield, and the first subfield indicates whether the second frame uploaded by the first device carries a BSR or does not indicate whether the BSR is carried.

[0012] In a possible implementation, the second field further includes a user information field related to the trigger frame, and the user information field related to the trigger frame includes the first subfield.

[0013] In a possible implementation, the first frame further includes a sixth field, where the sixth field indicates whether the first frame carries block acknowledgement (BA) information.

[0014] In a possible implementation, the first frame further includes a common information field related to a trigger frame, and the common information field related to the trigger frame includes the sixth field.

[0015] In a possible implementation, when the sixth field indicates that the first frame carries BA information, the first frame further includes a seventh field, and the seventh field indicates the location of the BA information.

[0016] In a possible implementation, the first frame is a trigger frame, and the second frame is a data frame.

[0017] In the second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method and related apparatus for integrated reporting of service data and a cache status report. The communication method can be applied to a second device, or to a module (e.g., a chip or processor) in the second device, or to a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the second device. The following description is made using the second device as an example. The communication method includes: sending a first frame, the first frame including a first field and a second field, the first field indicating a first resource block RU for reporting a cache status report BSR by the first device, and the second field indicating a second RU for reporting data by the first device.

[0018] In an embodiment of the present application, by indicating the RU (such as the second RU in the text) that reports data of the first device, the first device can be scheduled to report data through the RU that reports data. By indicating the RU (such as the first RU in the text) that reports the BSR of the first device, the first device can report the BSR through the RU that reports the BSR. For example, when the first device has service data that needs to be reported but is not scheduled to report data, it can select a first RU to report the BSR based on the received first frame, so that in the next round of scheduling, the second device can schedule the first device that reported the BSR through the first RU to report data in this round, without having to send an additional buffer status report query (Buffer Status Report Poll, BSRP) to the first device before scheduling the first device to report data to obtain the BSR of the first device. Scheduling the first device to report data is facilitated by enabling the first device to report the BSR in a timely manner, thereby reducing service latency.

[0019] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving a second frame of multiple first devices, the second frame including the BSR of the first device; determining a first RU and a second RU to be used by the multiple first devices in the next round based on the BSR of the multiple first devices; and sending a third frame, the third frame including a third field and a fourth field, the third field indicating the first RU of the first device reporting the BSR in the next round, and the fourth field indicating the second RU of the first device reporting data in the next round.

[0020] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: sending a fourth frame, where the fourth frame includes a fifth field, and the fifth field indicates a second RU of a last round of data reporting by the first device.

[0021] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: allocating the first RU.

[0022] In one possible implementation, allocating the first RU includes: allocating the first RU to a corresponding first device so that the corresponding first device reports a BSR through the corresponding first RU; and / or allocating a first RU so that the first device randomly selects a first RU to report a BSR.

[0023] In a possible implementation, the second field includes a first subfield, and the first subfield indicates whether the second frame uploaded by the first device carries a BSR or does not indicate whether the BSR is carried.

[0024] In a possible implementation, the second field further includes a user information field related to the trigger frame, and the user information field related to the trigger frame includes the first subfield.

[0025] In a possible implementation, the first frame further includes a sixth field, where the sixth field indicates whether the first frame carries block acknowledgement (BA) information.

[0026] In a possible implementation, the first frame further includes a common information field related to a trigger frame, and the common information field related to the trigger frame includes the sixth field.

[0027] In a possible implementation, when the sixth field indicates that the first frame carries BA information, the first frame further includes a seventh field, and the seventh field indicates the location of the BA information.

[0028] In a possible implementation, the first frame is a trigger frame, and the second frame is a data frame.

[0029] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device. The communication device can be applied to a first device, or to a module (e.g., a chip or processor) in the first device, or to a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first device. The communication device has the function of implementing the behavior in the above-mentioned first aspect or any method instance of the first aspect. The function can be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software implementation. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-mentioned functions. The beneficial effects can be found in the description of the first aspect, which will not be repeated here.

[0030] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device. The communication device can be applied to a second device, or to a module (e.g., a chip or processor) in the second device, or to a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the second device. The communication device has the function of implementing the behavior in the above-mentioned second aspect or any method example of the second aspect. The function can be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software implementation. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-mentioned functions. The beneficial effects can be found in the description of the second aspect, which will not be repeated here.

[0031] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which may be the first device in the above-mentioned method embodiment, or a chip or processor provided in the first device. The communication device may include a processor, the processor being coupled to a memory, the memory being used to store programs or instructions, and when the program or instructions are executed by the processor, the communication device executes the method performed by the first device, or the chip or processor in the first device, in the above-mentioned method embodiment.

[0032] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which may be the first device in the above-mentioned method embodiment, or a chip or processor provided in the first device. The communication device may include a processor, the processor being coupled to a memory, the memory being used to store programs or instructions, and when the program or instructions are executed by the processor, the communication device executes the method performed by the first device, or the chip or processor in the first device, in the above-mentioned method embodiment.

[0033] In the seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program or computer instructions. When the computer program or computer instructions are run on a computer, the computer executes the method in the above-mentioned first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0034] In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product comprising program instructions, which, when run on a computer, enables the computer to execute the method in the above-mentioned first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, or the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0035] In a ninth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a chip system comprising a processor for implementing the functions of each of the above methods. In one possible implementation, the chip system may further comprise a memory for storing program instructions and / or data. The chip system may be composed of a chip alone or may include a chip and other discrete components.

[0036] In the tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, which includes a first device and a second device, the first device is used to execute the above-mentioned first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, and the second device is used to execute the above-mentioned second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0037] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the embodiments. Obviously, for those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative work.

[0038] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0039] FIG2 is a flow diagram of an embodiment of the present invention provides a communication method for integrated reporting of service data and cache status reports;

[0040] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of the structure of an integrated trigger frame provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0041] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of a format of a common information field in a first frame provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0042] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of the structure of another integrated trigger frame provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0043] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of a signaling process and resource allocation between devices provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0044] FIG7 is a signaling flow chart of another device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0045] FIG8 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0046] FIG9 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0047] FIG10 is a schematic structural diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0048] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present application. In the embodiments of the present application, the terms "system" and "network" can be used interchangeably. Unless otherwise specified, " / " indicates that the objects associated before and after are in an "or" relationship. For example, A / B can represent A or B. "And / or" in this application is only a description of the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. A and B can be singular or plural. In addition, in the description of this application, unless otherwise specified, "multiple" refers to two or more than two. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can represent: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, or abc, where a, b, c can be one or more. In addition, to facilitate a clear description of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, terms such as "first" and "second" are used to distinguish between network elements and identical or similar items with substantially the same functions. Those skilled in the art will understand that terms such as "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity or execution order, and terms such as "first" and "second" do not necessarily limit differences.

[0049] References to "one embodiment" or "some embodiments" in the embodiments of the present application mean that one or more embodiments of the present application include specific features, structures or characteristics described in conjunction with the embodiment. Therefore, the phrases "in one embodiment", "in some embodiments", "in some other embodiments", "in some other embodiments", etc. that appear in different places in this specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, but mean "one or more but not all embodiments", unless otherwise specifically emphasized. The terms "including", "comprising", "having" and their variations all mean "including but not limited to", unless otherwise specifically emphasized.

[0050] The following specific implementation methods further describe in detail the objectives, technical solutions and beneficial effects of the present application. It should be understood that the following are only specific implementation methods of the present application and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present application. Any modifications, equivalent replacements, improvements, etc. made on the basis of the technical solutions of the present application should be included in the scope of protection of the present application.

[0051] It should be understood that the embodiments of the present application can be applicable to systems that comply with IEEE 802.11 system standards, such as 802.11bf, 802.11ax, 802.11be, or next-generation standards, such as wireless local area network systems of 802.11 series protocols such as Wi-Fi 8, UHR, Wi-Fi AI, or wireless personal area network systems based on ultra-wideband UWB, and can also be applicable to wireless local area network (WLAN) scenarios. Alternatively, the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to wireless local area network systems such as the Internet of Things (IoT) network or the Vehicle to X (V2X) network. Of course, the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to other possible communication systems, such as 5G communication systems and subsequently evolved cellular communication systems.

[0052] The following uses the scenario in which the embodiments of the present application can be applied to WLAN as an example. It should be understood that WLAN started with the 802.11a / g standard and has gone through 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11ax, and the currently under discussion 802.11be and Wi-Fi 8. Among them, 802.11n can also be called high throughput (HT); 802.11ac can also be called very high throughput (VHT); 802.11ax can also be called high efficiency (HE) or Wi-Fi 6; 802.11be can also be called extremely high throughput (EHT) or Wi-Fi 7, and standards before HT, such as 802.11a / b / g, are collectively referred to as non-HT.

[0053] Please refer to Figure 1, which is a schematic diagram of a network architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 1, a network architecture including one wireless access point AP and two stations is used as an example for explanation. The STA associated with the AP can receive wireless frames sent by the AP and can also send wireless frames to the AP. In addition, the embodiment of the present application is also applicable to communication between APs. For example, each AP can communicate with each other through a distributed system (DS), and the embodiment of the present application is also applicable to communication between STAs. It should be understood that the number of APs and STAs in Figure 1 is only an example, and can be more or less.

[0054] The STA involved in the embodiments of the present application is a device with wireless communication capabilities that supports communication using the WLAN protocol and has the ability to communicate with other stations or access points in the WLAN network. In a WLAN system, a station can be referred to as a non-access point station (non-AP STA). For example, an STA is any user communication device that allows a user to communicate with an AP and, therefore, with a WLAN. The device can be a complete device or a chip or processing system installed in the complete device. Devices equipped with these chips or processing systems can implement the methods and functions of the embodiments of the present application under the control of the chip or processing system. For example, a STA may be any user terminal, user device, access device, subscriber station, subscriber unit, mobile station, user agent, user equipment, or other names with wireless communication capabilities. User terminals may include any handheld devices, vehicle-mounted devices, wearable devices, computing devices, or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem with wireless communication capabilities, as well as various forms of user equipment (UE), mobile station (MS), terminal, terminal equipment, portable communication devices, handsets, portable computing devices, entertainment devices, gaming devices or systems, global positioning system devices, or any other suitable devices configured to conduct network communication via a wireless medium. For example, a STA may be a router, switch, or bridge. For ease of description, the above-mentioned devices are collectively referred to as stations or STAs.

[0055] The access point (e.g., AP) involved in the embodiments of the present application is a device with wireless communication capabilities, supports communication using the WLAN protocol, and has the function of communicating with other devices in the WLAN network (e.g., stations or other access points). Of course, it can also have the function of communicating with other devices. In a WLAN system, an access point can be called an access point station (AP STA). The device can be a complete device, or it can be a chip or processing system installed in the complete device. The device installed with these chips or processing systems can implement the methods and functions of the embodiments of the present application under the control of the chip or processing system. The AP in the embodiments of the present application can be a device that provides services for STAs and can support the 802.11 series protocols. For example, the AP can be a communication entity such as a communication server, router, switch, bridge, etc.; the AP can include various forms of macro base stations, micro base stations, relay stations, etc. Of course, the AP can also be a chip and processing system in these various forms of devices, thereby implementing the methods and functions of the embodiments of the present application.

[0056] The AP and STA involved in the embodiments of the present application may be APs and STAs applicable to the IEEE 802.11 system standard. An AP is a device deployed in a wireless communication network to provide wireless communication functions for its associated STAs. The AP can serve as the hub of the communication system and is typically a network-side product that supports the MAC and PHY of the 802.11 system standard. For example, it may be a base station, router, gateway, repeater, communication server, switch, or bridge, etc., wherein the base station may include various forms of macro base stations, micro base stations, relay stations, etc. Here, for the sake of convenience, the above-mentioned devices are collectively referred to as APs. STAs are typically terminal products that support the medium access control (MAC) and physical layer (PHY) of the 802.11 system standard, such as mobile phones, laptops, etc.

[0057] WLAN systems can provide high-speed, low-latency transmission. As WLAN application scenarios continue to evolve, they will be applied to a wider range of scenarios and industries, including the Internet of Things (IoT), the Internet of Vehicles (IoV), the banking industry, corporate offices, stadiums and exhibition halls, concert halls, hotel rooms, dormitories, hospital wards, classrooms, supermarkets, plazas, streets, production workshops, and warehouses. Devices supporting WLAN communication (e.g., access points or stations) can include sensor nodes in smart cities (e.g., smart water meters, smart electricity meters, and smart air quality monitoring nodes), smart devices in smart homes (e.g., smart cameras, projectors, displays, TVs, speakers, refrigerators, washing machines, etc.), nodes in the Internet of Things (IoT), entertainment terminals (e.g., wearable devices such as AR and VR), smart devices in smart offices (e.g., printers, projectors, speakers, and audio systems), IoV devices, infrastructure in daily life (e.g., vending machines, self-service kiosks in supermarkets, self-service checkout machines, and self-service ordering kiosks), and equipment in large sports and music venues. There is no special limitation on the specific forms of STA and AP in the embodiments of the present application, which are only illustrative here.

[0058] The AP can use orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) technology to divide the channel into multiple resource units (RUs). Different STAs can occupy different RUs, thereby performing multi-user transmission in parallel.

[0059] In the OFDMA mechanism, the AP needs to allocate RUs used by the STA based on the STA's buffer status. Specifically, before scheduling a STA each time, the AP sends a Buffer Status Report Poll (BSRP) message to the STA. The STA responds to the BSRP message by sending a Buffer Status Report (BSR) to the AP, enabling the AP to allocate RUs to multiple STAs based on the BSR. In other words, before scheduling a STA each time, the AP needs to obtain the BSR from the STA through an additional control frame (e.g., BSRP) to determine whether the STA needs to be scheduled to report data, thereby increasing service latency. Therefore, how to reduce service latency is a problem that needs to be solved.

[0060] Based on the above, this application proposes a communication method, which will be described below through the following embodiments. Some of these communication methods are only applicable to some processes in the OFDMA mechanism, while some can be applied to any one or more processes in the OFDMA mechanism. It should be understood that these communication methods can be used in combination with each other. For example, one process in the OFDMA mechanism may use one method while another process uses another method, or a process in the OFDMA mechanism may use both one method and another method.

[0061] It should be understood that the OFDMA mechanism may change as the technical solution evolves, and the technical solution provided in this application is not limited to the process described below. Furthermore, the description of the scenario in the embodiments of this application is only an example, and does not limit the solution of the embodiments of this application to be applicable only to the described scenario. It is also applicable to scenarios with similar problems.

[0062] A communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application is described below. Please refer to Figure 2, which is a process interaction diagram of a communication method for integrated reporting of business data and cache status reports provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 2 takes the first device and the second device as an example of the execution subject of the interaction diagram to illustrate the method, but the present application does not limit the execution subject of the interaction diagram. For example, the first device in Figure 2 can also be a chip, chip system, or processor that supports the first device to implement the method, or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first device; the second device in Figure 2 can also be a chip, chip system, or processor that supports the second device to implement the method, or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the second device. Among them, the first device can be an STA, and the second device can be an AP. As shown in Figure 2, the communication method includes but is not limited to the following steps S201-step S205:

[0063] S201. A second device sends a first frame to a first device. The first frame includes a first field and a second field. The first field indicates a first resource block RU for reporting a buffer status report BSR by the first device, and the second field indicates a second RU for reporting data by the first device.

[0064] Accordingly, the first device receives the first frame.

[0065] In a possible implementation, the first frame may be a trigger frame.

[0066] Exemplarily, the first frame may be an emsemble trigger frame. The emsemble trigger frame is used to schedule the first device to report data and / or a BSR. This embodiment does not limit the specific name of the first frame. For ease of description, the emsemble trigger frame is used in the following description.

[0067] It can be understood that the integrated trigger frame can be a new frame. For a possible implementation of the integrated trigger frame, please refer to Figure 3, which is a structural diagram of an integrated trigger frame provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 3, the integrated trigger frame may include a frame control field, a duration field, a receiving end address (RA), a transmitting end address (TA), a common information field (or a public information field), a user information list (userinfolist) field, a padding field, and a frame check sequence (FCS) field. Among them, the user information list field may include a first field and a second field. The first field may be a user information list A (userinfolistA) field, which may indicate that the corresponding RU is used to upload BSR information. The second field may be a user information list B (userinfolistB) field, which may indicate that the corresponding RU is used to upload data. That is, the first field may indicate the RU corresponding to the BSR information for uploading (i.e., the first RU), and the second field indicates the RU corresponding to the data for uploading (i.e., the second RU). It is understood that this embodiment does not limit the specific names of the first field and the second field, and naming them user information list A and user information list B is a possible implementation and should not constitute any limitation on the embodiments of the present application.

[0068] In one possible implementation, as shown in Figure 3, the first field may include an association identifier 12 (AID12) field, a resource unit allocation (RU allocation) field, an uplink forward error correction coding type (UL FEC coding type) field, an uplink HE protocol modulation and coding scheme (UL HE-MCS) field, an uplink dual carrier modulation (UL DCM) field, a spatial stream allocation / random access resource unit information (SS allocation / RA-RU information) field, an uplink target receive power (UL target receive power) field, and an upload content type (UL content type) field.

[0069] In the first field, the value of the Association Identifier 12 field can be the identifier of the first device or a special value, such as 2044. When the value of the Association Identifier 12 field is the identifier of the first device, it indicates that the RU is used to report a BSR for the specific first device. If the value of the Association Identifier 12 field is a special value, it indicates that the RU can be randomly selected by the first device to report a BSR.

[0070] For example, if the value of the Association Identifier 12 field corresponding to the first RU1 is the identifier of first device A, it indicates that first device A needs to report its BSR through the first RU1. If the value of the Association Identifier 12 field corresponding to the first RU2 is a special value, it indicates that the first RU2 can be used by any first device to report BSR information. For example, when first device B has service data, first device B can report a BSR through the first RU2, thereby enabling it to be scheduled by the second device to report service data the next time.

[0071] In the first field, the Upload Content Type field is used to indicate whether the corresponding RU is used to upload data or upload BSR information. In one example, when the value of the Upload Content Type field is 0, it indicates that the RU is used to upload data, and when the value of the Upload Content Type field is 1, it indicates that the RU is used to report a BSR. Alternatively, in another example, when the value of the Upload Content Type field is 1, it indicates that the RU is used to upload data, and when the value of the Upload Content Type field is 0, it indicates that the RU is used to report a BSR.

[0072] It should be noted that the frame structure of the first frame shown in Figure 3 shows only one first field, but the first frame may include multiple first fields. Each first field may include an association identifier 12 field, a resource unit allocation field, an uplink forward error correction coding type field, an uplink HE protocol modulation and coding scheme field, an uplink dual-carrier modulation field, a spatial stream allocation / random access resource unit information field, an uplink target received power field, and an upload content type field. Each first field may correspond to one RU. For example, the first field 1 corresponds to RU1, the association identifier 12 in the first field 1 is the identifier of the first device 1, the first field 2 corresponds to the first RU2, the association identifier 12 in the first field 2 is the identifier of the first device 2, the first field 3 corresponds to RU3, and the association identifier 12 in the first field 3 is a special value, which means that RU1 is used for the first device 1 to report the BSR, RU2 is used for the first device 2 to report the BSR, and RU3 can be randomly selected by the first device to report the BSR.

[0073] In one possible implementation, as shown in Figure 3, the second field may include an association identifier 12 (AID12) field, a resource unit allocation (RU allocation) field, an uplink forward error correction coding type (UL FEC coding type) field, an uplink HE protocol modulation and coding scheme (UL HE-MCS) field, an uplink dual carrier modulation (UL DCM) field, a spatial stream allocation / random access resource unit information (SS allocation / RA-RU information) field, an uplink target receive power (UL target receive power) field, an upload content type (UL content type) field, and a trigger frame related user information (trigger dependent user info) field.

[0074] In the second field, the upload content type field is used to indicate that the corresponding RU is used to upload data or upload BSR information. In one example, when the value of the upload content type field is 0, it indicates that the RU is used to upload data, and when the value of the upload content type field is 1, it indicates that the RU is used to report the BSR. Alternatively, in another example, when the value of the upload content type field is 1, it indicates that the RU is used to upload data, and when the value of the upload content type field is 0, it indicates that the RU is used to report the BSR. The correspondence between the first device and the RU can be determined by the association identifier 12 in the second field. That is, the first device represented by the association identifier 12 is the first device that can report data through the RU.

[0075] In one possible implementation, the second field includes a first subfield, which may indicate whether the second frame uploaded by the first device carries a BSR or not. The first subfield may be an Upload Buffer Status Report (UL BSR) field. For example, a value of 1 in the first subfield indicates that the second frame uploaded by the first device must include both data and a BSR. A value of 0 in the first subfield indicates that the second frame uploaded by the first device must include data and may or may not include a BSR. Alternatively, for example, a value of 0 in the first subfield indicates that the second frame uploaded by the first device must include both data and a BSR. A value of 1 in the first subfield indicates that the second frame uploaded by the first device must include data and may or may not include a BSR. This is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. The BSR may be reported as part of the data. For example, when reporting (the first device sends the second frame), the BSR is used as the end of the data. The second frame may be a data frame.

[0076] For example, a value of 1 in the first subfield indicates that the second frame uploaded by the first device must include both data and a BSR. A value of 0 in the first subfield indicates that the second frame uploaded by the first device must include data and may or may not include a BSR. If the association identifier 12 in the second field represents the first device C, the associated RU is the second RU1, and the value of the first subfield is 1, then the first device C can report data through the second RU1 and needs to report a BSR when reporting data through the second RU1.

[0077] For example, a value of 1 in the first subfield indicates that the second frame uploaded by the first device must include both data and a BSR. A value of 0 in the first subfield indicates that the second frame uploaded by the first device must include data and may or may not include a BSR. If the association identifier 12 in the second field represents the first device D, the associated RU is the second RU2, and the value of the first subfield is 0, the first device D can report data through the second RU2 and may or may not report a BSR.

[0078] In one possible implementation, the second field may include a trigger-dependent user information field, and the trigger-dependent user information field includes the first subfield. In other words, the first subfield is included in the trigger-dependent user information field. In other words, the first subfield is part of the trigger-dependent user information field.

[0079] It should be noted that only one second field is shown in the frame structure of the first frame shown in Figure 3, but the first frame may include multiple second fields. Each second field may include an association identifier 12 field, a resource unit allocation field, an uplink forward error correction coding type field, an uplink HE protocol modulation and coding scheme field, an uplink dual-carrier modulation field, a spatial stream allocation / random access resource unit information field, an uplink target received power field, an upload content type field, and a trigger frame-related user information field. Each second field may correspond to one RU respectively. For example, the second field 1 corresponds to RU1, the association identifier 12 in the second field 1 is the identifier of the first device 1, the second field 2 corresponds to RU2, and the association identifier 12 in the second field 2 is the identifier of the first device 2, which means that RU1 is used for the first device 1 to report data, and RU2 is used for the first device 2 to report data.

[0080] Please refer to Figure 4, which is a schematic diagram of the format of a common information field in a first frame provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0081] The common information fields include the trigger frame type field, the uplink length (UL length) field, the subsequent trigger frame (more TF) field, the carrier sense required (CS required) field, the uplink bandwidth (UL BW) field, the guard interval and HE protocol long training field type (GI and HE-LTF type) field, the multi-user multiple input multiple output HE protocol long training field mode (MU-MIMO HE-LTF mode) field, the number of HE protocol long training field symbols and midamble periodicity field, the uplink space-time block coding (UL STBC) field, the low-density parity check extra symbol segment field, the AP transmit power field, the pre-FEC padding factor field, the PE disambiguation field, the uplink spatial reuse field, the Doppler effect field, and the uplink HE protocol information field A2 reserved (UL The HE-SIG-A2 reserved field, the reserved field, and the trigger frame related common information field. Among them, the trigger frame type field is used to indicate the type of trigger frame. As shown in Table 1 below, it is a trigger frame type table.

[0082] Table 1

[0083] Among them, the trigger frame type value is 8, which can represent the first frame (integrated trigger frame) provided in the embodiment of the present application. It can be understood that the trigger frame type value 8 represents the first frame provided in the embodiment of the present application as an example and should not constitute any limitation to the embodiment of the present application.

[0084] In one possible implementation, the first frame may further include a sixth field. The sixth field indicates whether the first frame carries block acknowledgment (BA) information. For example, a value of 1 in the sixth field indicates that the first frame carries block acknowledgment information; a value of 0 in the sixth field indicates that the first frame does not carry block acknowledgment information. Alternatively, a value of 0 in the sixth field indicates that the first frame carries block acknowledgment information; a value of 1 in the sixth field indicates that the first frame does not carry block acknowledgment information. The sixth field may be a field carrying multi-STA BA info.

[0085] In one possible implementation, as shown in FIG4 , the first frame may include a trigger-dependent common information field, and the common information field of the trigger frame includes a sixth field (multi-user block confirmation information field). The common information field of the trigger frame may also include a reserved field.

[0086] Please refer to Figure 5, which is a schematic diagram of the structure of another integrated trigger frame provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0087] As shown in Figure 5, the integrated trigger frame may include a frame control field, a duration field, a receiving end address (RA), a transmitting end address (TA), a common information field, a user information list field, a multi-user block acknowledgment information (multi-STA BA info) field, a padding field, and a frame check sequence (FCS) field.

[0088] In the case where the sixth field in FIG4 indicates that the first frame carries BA information, the first frame may further include a seventh field. The seventh field may indicate the location of the BA information. The seventh field may be a block acknowledgement flag (BA flag) field.

[0089] In one possible implementation, the seventh field may be included in the multi-user block acknowledgement information field. It indicates the position of the BA information in the multi-user block acknowledgement information field. For example, if all 1s are set in the 2-byte seventh field, it indicates that the information following the seventh field is BA information. Furthermore, as shown in FIG5 , the block acknowledgement type (BAtype) field in the block acknowledgement control (BAcontrol) field may be set to a default value, indicating that the frame is a multi-user (multi-STA) BA frame (BA information). For example, the default value may be set to 11.

[0090] In the prior art, after receiving a data frame sent by a first device, a second device must reply with a BA message to the first device. In the embodiments of the present application, by integrating the BA message into the trigger frame (first frame), the first frame integrates the functions of scheduling the first device's data and / or BSR, as well as replying the BA message to the first device. This reduces control frame overhead and improves scheduling efficiency.

[0091] In a possible implementation, the integration trigger frame is determined based on the BSR reported by the first device.

[0092] For example, before the second device sends the integrated trigger frame, it may first send a BSRP to the first device to obtain the cache status of the first device. After the first device receives the BSRP sent by the second device, it reports a BSR to the second device. By parsing the BSRs reported by multiple first devices, the second device can obtain the cache status information of multiple first devices and determine whether each first device has a cache that needs to be reported. The first device is associated with the second device. For example, the second device sends a BSRP to all first devices associated with the second device. After receiving the BSRP, all first devices associated with the second device report their respective BSRs to the second device. Thus, the second device can parse the BSRs reported by each first device to obtain the cache status information of each first device.

[0093] In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the second device allocating the first RU.

[0094] In a possible implementation, the allocation method may include:

[0095] Based on a one-to-one correspondence between the first RU and the first device, allocating the first RU to the corresponding first device, so that the corresponding first device reports the BSR through the corresponding RU; and / or,

[0096] The first RU may not be associated with the first device. By allocating the first RU, the first device with services / buffers to be reported may randomly select the first RU to report the BSR.

[0097] For example, based on the previous packet sending statistics, the second device finds that the first device A and the first device B are active users (for example, the first device that often stores business data), then two first RUs (assuming they are the first RU1 and the first RU2) can be allocated to the first device A and the first device B, so that the first device A and the first device B can report the BSR through the first RU1 and the first RU2 respectively.

[0098] For example, some first RUs can be allocated, but not assigned to a fixed or specific first device. Instead, they are provided to first devices in need for selection, allowing them to report a BSR using these allocated first RUs that are not assigned to a fixed first device. For example, if the second device is allocated first RU3, first RU4, and first RU5, but not assigned to a fixed first device, then when first device C has service data / cache, it can randomly select one of the first RUs, first RU4, and first RU5 to report a BSR.

[0099] Based on the above method, RUs can be used to simultaneously report data for some first devices and BSRs for other devices. This allows each first device to have the opportunity to report BSR information, solves the fairness issue in the BSR reporting process, and reduces service latency. Furthermore, while efficiently reporting BSR information, it also reduces the waste of RU resources.

[0100] S202: The first device reports a second frame to the second device based on the first frame.

[0101] Correspondingly, the second device receives the second frames of the plurality of first devices.

[0102] The second frame includes the BSR.

[0103] In a possible implementation, the second frame may be a data frame.

[0104] In a possible implementation, the first device reporting the second frame to the second device based on the first frame includes:

[0105] Determine based on the first frame that a second frame is reported in the second RU, where the second frame further includes data; or,

[0106] Determine, based on the first frame, to report the second frame in the corresponding first RU; or,

[0107] Determine based on the first frame whether to report the second frame in a random first RU.

[0108] Specifically, after receiving the first frame, each first device parses the first frame. Based on the first field and the association identifier 12 field in the second field, it determines whether it is necessary to report data and whether it is necessary to report a BSR. For example, if the first device A parses the first field of the first frame and obtains that the association identifier 12 field includes the identifier corresponding to the first device A, and the corresponding RU is the first RU1, then the first device A reports the BSR information through the first RU1. If the first device A parses the second field of the first frame and obtains that the association identifier 12 field includes the identifier corresponding to the first device A, and the corresponding RU is the second RU1, then the first device A reports data through the second RU1, and needs to determine whether it is necessary to report a BSR based on the parsing of the first subfield. If the first device A parses the first field of the first frame and obtains that the association identifier 12 field does not include the identifier corresponding to the first device A, then the first device A may not upload the BSR, or the first device A randomly selects a first RU whose association identifier 12 field in the first field is a special value to report the BSR.

[0109] S203: The second device determines a first RU and a second RU to be used by the multiple first devices in the next round based on the BSRs of the multiple first devices.

[0110] Based on step S202, the second device can obtain the BSRs of the multiple first devices and thereby determine the first RUs and second RUs to be used by the multiple first devices in the next round based on the obtained BSRs of the multiple first devices. It is understood that the BSRs of the multiple first devices can be obtained from the second frames sent by the multiple first devices to the second device.

[0111] Specifically, the method for determining the first RU and the second RU used by the multiple devices in the next round based on the BSRs of the multiple first devices is referred to step S201 and will not be described in detail here.

[0112] The first RU and the second RU used by multiple devices in the next round are determined based on the BSRs of multiple first devices in the previous round. Therefore, there is no need to send BSRP to the first device to obtain the BSR before scheduling the first device and RU each time. Instead, the BSRs of some other first devices can be obtained while obtaining the service data of some first devices, thereby saving control frame overhead.

[0113] S204: The second device sends a third frame to the first device.

[0114] Correspondingly, the first device receives the third frame.

[0115] The third frame is another integrated trigger frame. The allocation of the first RU and the second RU in the third frame is determined based on the BSR in the second frame.

[0116] The third frame includes a third field and a fourth field. The third field indicates the first RU for the first device to report the next BSR, and the fourth field indicates the second RU for the first device to report data in the next round. The third field in the third frame can refer to the first field in the first frame. The fourth field in the third frame can refer to the second field in the first frame. Details are not repeated here.

[0117] S205. The second device sends a fourth frame to the first device.

[0118] Correspondingly, the first device receives the fourth frame.

[0119] The fourth frame is another integrated trigger frame. This is the integrated trigger frame sent by the second device to the first device during the Nth scheduling round of N rounds. Since this is the final scheduling round, the second device no longer needs to obtain the first device's BSR for determining the next scheduling round. All RUs can be used by the first device to report data, further avoiding RU waste.

[0120] The fourth frame includes a fifth field, which indicates the second RU of the last round of data reporting by the first device. The fields included in the fifth field can refer to the fields included in the second field in Figure 3, and will not be repeated here.

[0121] It should be noted that steps S202 to S205 are optional steps, which are indicated by dotted lines in FIG. 2 .

[0122] In an embodiment of the present application, the second field in the first frame can indicate the second RU (e.g., the second RU) to which the first device reports data, thereby scheduling the first device to report data via the second RU. Furthermore, the first field in the first frame can indicate the first RU to which the first device reports a BSR (e.g., the first RU), thereby scheduling the first device to report a BSR via the first RU that reports a BSR. For example, when the first device has service data to report but is not scheduled to report data, the first device can select a first RU to report the BSR based on the received first frame. Consequently, in the next scheduling round, the second device can choose whether to schedule the first device, which reported the BSR via the first RU, to report data based on the BSR reported by the first device. The second device can obtain the first device's BSR without sending a BSRP to the first device, and the first device does not need to send a BSR to the second device before being scheduled to report data to obtain the opportunity to report data. By enabling the first device to report a BSR in a timely manner even when it is not scheduled to report data, the second device can schedule the first device to report data based on the first device's BSR, thereby reducing service latency.

[0123] In order to further illustrate the method involved in the embodiment of the present application, the embodiment of the present application is described below with reference to Figures 6 and 7.

[0124] Please refer to Figure 6, which is a schematic diagram of the signaling process and resource allocation between devices provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 6, it is assumed that the second device is associated with 20 first devices in total, and the bandwidth capacity of the second device and the first device is 80 megabits (M). After the second device obtains a transmission opportunity (TXOP) within a period of time, a total of N rounds of scheduling are performed. Each round of scheduling includes an interaction in which the second device sends an integrated trigger frame to the first device and the first device reports the second frame to the second device. The number of scheduling rounds N can be determined based on the duration of the second device obtaining the TXOP, and / or can be determined based on the cache status of the first device associated with the second device, etc., and this embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0125] First round of scheduling:

[0126] The second device sends BSRP to multiple first devices, where the BSRP is used to obtain buffer status information of the first devices.

[0127] After receiving the BSRP, the first device may report its respective BSR to the second device.

[0128] After receiving the BSR, the second device, based on the BSR reported by the first device, schedules first device 1, first device 2, and first device 3 to report data in the first round of scheduling, using the first three 242-tone RUs (second RUs) of the 20 MHz bandwidth spectrum. This means that the data will be reported using the first three 242-tone RUs (second RUs) of the 20 MHz bandwidth spectrum, and requires first device 1, first device 2, and first device 3 to carry the BSR information in the second frame (e.g., PPDU) they upload. Furthermore, the second device determines that in the first round of scheduling, the nine 26-tone RUs (first RUs) of the fourth 20 MHz bandwidth spectrum will be used as random RUs for first devices not scheduled to upload data to upload BSR information. In the first round of scheduling, the first devices scheduled to upload data are first device 1, first device 2, and first device 3. Therefore, in the first field of the first frame, the association identifier 12 field contains a special value and does not include any identifier corresponding to any first device, indicating that the first RU can be selected by any unscheduled first device to report BSR information. In the second field of the first frame, the association identifier 12 field includes identifiers corresponding to the first device 1, the first device 2, and the first device 3, corresponding to the first, second, and third 242-tone RUs (second RUs) of the 20M bandwidth spectrum, respectively, and the first subfield (upload buffer status report field) in the second field instructs the first device 1, the first device 2, and the first device 3 to report BSR information. It can be understood that in the second field of the first frame, the association identifier 12 field includes identifiers corresponding to the first device 1, the first device 2, and the first device 3, which may mean that in a second field of the first frame, the association identifier 12 field is the identifier corresponding to the first device 1, in another second field of the first frame, the association identifier 12 field is the identifier corresponding to the first device 2, and in another second field of the first frame, the association identifier 12 field is the identifier corresponding to the first device 3. No further details will be given hereafter.

[0129] After receiving the first frame, the first device can send a second frame based on the first frame and the corresponding RU. The second frame can include a BSR. Specifically, after receiving the first frame, the first device parses the first frame to obtain a first field and a second field. Based on the first field, the first device that needs to report BSR information can be determined, as well as the first RU through which the first device needs to report BSR information. Based on the second field, the first device that needs to report data can be determined, as well as the second RU through which the first device needs to report data. In the first round of scheduling, the first field indicates that no first device is specified to report BSR information. The second field indicates that the second device 1, the second device 2, and the second device 3 need to report data and BSR information, and to report data and BSR information using the first, second, and third 242-tone RUs (second RUs) of the 20 MHz bandwidth spectrum, respectively. Therefore, the first device 1, the second device 2, and the second device 3 send the second frame using the first, second, and third 242-tone RUs (second RUs) of the 20 MHz bandwidth spectrum, respectively. The second frame sent by the first device 1, the second device 2, and the second device 3 includes data and BSR information. When the first field does not indicate that a specific first device needs to report BSR information, each first device can determine whether to randomly select a first RU to send a second frame based on its own actual situation, such as whether there is business / cached data, etc., and the second frame includes BSR information. For example, in Figure 6, the first device 5, the first device 6, and the first device 7 each randomly select a first RU to send a second frame. The second frames sent by the first device 5, the first device 6, and the first device 7 include BSR information. This indicates that the first device 5, the first device 6, and the first device 7 may include business / cached data.

[0130] After receiving the second frame, the second device sends a block confirmation message to the first device, indicating that the second device has received the second frame sent by the first device. At this point, the first round of scheduling is completed.

[0131] Second to N-1 rounds of scheduling:

[0132] The second device can send a third frame to multiple first devices based on the second frame received in the previous round of scheduling. It is understandable that the third frame can be another integrated trigger frame. The third frame can indicate the first RU for the first device to report the BSR in the next round and the second RU indicating the first device to report data. It should be noted that the next round refers to the next time the first device reports data and / or BSR. Specifically, the next round can refer to the scheduling round in which the third frame is located. For example, in the second round of scheduling, the third frame sent by the second device to the first device indicates the first RU for the first device to report the BSR in the second round of scheduling and the second RU indicating the first device to report data.

[0133] The second round of scheduling is shown in Figure 6:

[0134] After receiving the first frame sent by the first device in the first round of scheduling, the second device can, based on the BSR information reported by first devices 1-3 and 5-7, schedule first device 7, first device 6, first device 5, and first device 3 to report data using second RUs of 242-tone, 106-tone, 106-tone, and RU242-tone, respectively, in the second round of scheduling. It also requires first devices 7, 6, 5, and 3 to include BSR information in the second frame they upload. Because the second device discovers that first devices 1 and 2 are active users, it can assign the first 26-tone first RU and the second 26-tone first RU to first device 1 and first device 2, respectively. This establishes a correspondence between first device 1 and the first first RU, and between first device 2 and the second first RU. The remaining seven first RUs are random RUs, which the first device can randomly select to report BSR information. In the third field of the third frame, association identifier 12 includes the identifiers of first device 1 and first device 2, as well as seven special values. In the fourth field of the third frame, association identifier 12 includes identifiers corresponding to first device 7, first device 6, first device 5, and first device 3, corresponding to second RUs of 242-tone, 106-tone, 106-tone, and RU242-tone sizes, respectively. The first subfield in the fourth field indicates that first device 7, first device 6, first device 5, and first device 3 report BSR information. It is understood that the fields included in the third field of the third frame can refer to the fields included in the first field of the first frame; and the fields included in the fourth field of the third frame can refer to the fields included in the second field of the first frame. These details are not further described here. It is understood that the inclusion of the identifiers corresponding to first device 1 and first device 2 in the third field of the third frame may mean that, in one third field of the third frame, association identifier 12 is the identifier corresponding to first device 1, and in another third field of the third frame, association identifier 12 is the identifier corresponding to first device 2. The association identifier 12 in the fourth field of the third frame includes identifiers corresponding to the first device 7, the first device 6, the first device 5 and the first device 3, which may mean that in a fourth field of the third frame, the association identifier 12 is the identifier corresponding to the first device 7, in another fourth field of the third frame, the association identifier 12 is the identifier corresponding to the first device 6, and in another fourth field of the third frame, the association identifier 12 is the identifier corresponding to the first device 5.

[0135] After receiving the third frame, the first device can send a second frame based on the first frame using the corresponding RU. The second frame can include a BSR. Specifically, after receiving the third frame, the first device parses the third frame to obtain the first field and the second field. Based on the first field, it can be determined that the first devices that need to report BSR information are first device 1 and first device 2, and that first device 1 and first device 2 send the second frame using the first 26-tone first RU and the second 26-tone first RU, respectively. The second frames sent by first device 1 and first device 2 include BSR information. Based on the second field, it can be determined that first device 7, first device 6, first device 5, and first device 3 need to report data and the BSR using the second RUs of 242-tone, 106-tone, 106-tone, and 242-tone, respectively. Among the seven random RUs, first device 8 and first device 9 select the sixth and eighth first RUs, respectively, to report the BSR.

[0136] After receiving the second frame, the second device sends a block confirmation message to the first device, indicating that the second device has received the second frame sent by the first device. At this point, the second round of scheduling is completed.

[0137] Nth round of scheduling:

[0138] Based on the second frame received in the N-1 round, the second device sends a fourth frame to multiple first devices. The fourth frame indicates the second RU of the first device reporting data in the Nth round. Since this round is the last round of scheduling, the BSR can no longer be queried. All 80M RUs can be used to report data. As shown in Figure 6, the first device 1, the first device 2, the first device 17, and the first device 9 each occupy 242-tone RUs to report data. Among them, the first device 1, the first device 2, the first device 17, and the first device 9 are the second devices that determine the data to be reported in the Nth round of scheduling based on the BSR in the second frame received in the N-1 round.

[0139] After receiving the second frame, the second device sends a block confirmation message to the first device, indicating that the second device has received the second frame sent by the first device. At this point, the Nth round of scheduling is completed.

[0140] It should be understood that the division of RU size, the number of first RUs, and the number of second RUs shown in FIG6 is merely an example and should not constitute any limitation on the embodiments of the present application. For example, the sizes of the RUs may not be exactly the same. For example, the number of first RUs may vary in different rounds of scheduling. For example, the number of second RUs may vary in different rounds of scheduling.

[0141] Please refer to FIG. 7 , which is another signaling flow chart between devices provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0142] The signaling flow chart shown in FIG7 differs from FIG6 in that, in each round of scheduling except the last round (the Mth round in FIG7 ), after the second device receives the second frame sent by the first device, it no longer sends block confirmation information. Instead, it carries the block confirmation information in the integrated trigger frame of the next round to indicate that the second device has received the second frame sent by the first device in the previous round of scheduling. Since the second device no longer sends the integrated trigger frame after receiving the second frame sent by the first device in the last round of scheduling, the second device cannot carry the block confirmation information through the integrated trigger frame after receiving the second frame in the last round of scheduling. Therefore, after receiving the second frame in the last round of scheduling, the second device can send block confirmation information to the first device.

[0143] By including block confirmation information in the integrated trigger frame, the control frame overhead can be reduced, the service delay can be reduced, and the communication efficiency can be improved.

[0144] The above content describes the method provided by the present application. In order to facilitate better implementation of the above scheme of the embodiment of the present application, the embodiment of the present application also provides a corresponding device.

[0145] In the embodiment of the present application, the functional modules of the communication device can be divided according to the above method example. For example, each functional module can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The above integrated modules can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules. It should be noted that the division of modules in the embodiment of the present application is schematic and is only a logical functional division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods.

[0146] Please refer to Figure 8, which is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device can be a first device, a module (e.g., a chip or processor) in the first device, or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first device. As shown in Figure 8, the communication device 800 includes at least: a transceiver unit 801; wherein:

[0147] The transceiver unit 801 is used to receive a first frame from a second device of the access point, where the first frame includes a first field and a second field, where the first field indicates a first resource block RU for reporting a buffer status report BSR by the first device, and the second field indicates a second RU for reporting data by the first device.

[0148] In one embodiment, the transceiver unit 801 is further used to report a second frame based on the first frame, the second frame including the BSR; and is also used to receive a third frame, the third frame including a third field and a fourth field, the third field indicating the first RU of the first device reporting the BSR in the next round, and the fourth field indicating the second RU of the first device reporting data in the next round.

[0149] In one embodiment, the communication device 800 further includes a processing unit 802, configured to determine, based on the first frame, to report the second frame in the second RU, where the second frame further includes data; or,

[0150] Determine, based on the first frame, to report the second frame in the corresponding first RU; or,

[0151] Determine based on the first frame whether to report the second frame in a random first RU.

[0152] In one embodiment, the transceiver unit 801 is further configured to receive a fourth frame, where the fourth frame includes a fifth field, and the fifth field indicates a second RU of a last round of data reporting by the first device.

[0153] In one embodiment, the second field includes a first subfield, and the first subfield indicates whether the second frame uploaded by the first device carries a BSR or does not indicate whether the BSR is carried.

[0154] In one embodiment, the second field further includes a trigger frame-related user information field, and the trigger frame-related user information field includes the first subfield.

[0155] In one embodiment, the first frame further includes a sixth field, and the sixth field indicates whether the first frame carries block acknowledgement BA information.

[0156] In one embodiment, the first frame further includes a common information field related to a trigger frame, and the common information field related to the trigger frame includes the sixth field.

[0157] In one embodiment, when the sixth field indicates that the first frame carries BA information, the first frame further includes a seventh field, and the seventh field indicates the location of the BA information.

[0158] In one embodiment, the first frame is a trigger frame, and the second frame is a data frame.

[0159] For a more detailed description of the transceiver unit 801 and the processing unit 802 , reference may be made to the relevant description of the first device in the method embodiments shown in FIG. 2 to FIG. 7 , which will not be repeated here.

[0160] Please refer to Figure 9, which is a schematic diagram of the structure of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device can be a second device, a module (e.g., a chip or processor) in the second device, or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the second device. As shown in Figure 9, the communication device 900 includes at least: a transceiver unit 901; wherein:

[0161] The transceiver unit 901 is used to send a first frame, which includes a first field and a second field. The first field indicates a first resource block RU for reporting a buffer status report BSR by the first device, and the second field indicates a second RU for reporting data by the first device.

[0162] In one embodiment, the communication device 900 further includes a processing unit 902, wherein:

[0163] The transceiver unit 901 is further configured to receive second frames from multiple first devices, where the second frames include the BSRs of the first devices;

[0164] The processing unit 902 is configured to determine, based on the BSRs of the multiple first devices, a first RU and a second RU used by the multiple first devices in a next round;

[0165] The transceiver unit 901 is further used to send a third frame, which includes a third field and a fourth field. The third field indicates the first RU of the first device reporting BSR in the next round, and the fourth field indicates the second RU of the first device reporting data in the next round.

[0166] In one embodiment, the transceiver unit 901 is further configured to send a fourth frame, where the fourth frame includes a fifth field, and the fifth field indicates a second RU of the last round of data reporting by the first device.

[0167] In one embodiment, the processing unit 902 is further configured to allocate the first RU.

[0168] In one embodiment, the processing unit 902 is specifically used to allocate the first RU to the corresponding first device so that the corresponding first device reports the BSR through the corresponding first RU; and / or to allocate the first RU so that the first device randomly selects the first RU to report the BSR.

[0169] In one embodiment, the second field includes a first subfield, and the first subfield indicates whether the second frame uploaded by the first device carries a BSR or does not indicate whether the BSR is carried.

[0170] In one embodiment, the second field further includes a trigger frame-related user information field, and the trigger frame-related user information field includes the first subfield.

[0171] In one embodiment, the first frame further includes a sixth field, and the sixth field indicates whether the first frame carries block acknowledgement BA information.

[0172] In one embodiment, the first frame further includes a common information field related to a trigger frame, and the common information field related to the trigger frame includes the sixth field.

[0173] In one embodiment, when the sixth field indicates that the first frame carries BA information, the first frame further includes a seventh field, and the seventh field indicates the location of the BA information.

[0174] In one embodiment, the first frame is a trigger frame, and the second frame is a data frame.

[0175] Please refer to Figure 10, which is a schematic diagram of the structure of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 10, the device 1000 may include one or more processors 1001, which may also be referred to as processing units, and may implement certain control functions. Processor 1001 may be a general-purpose processor or a dedicated processor.

[0176] In an optional design, the processor 1001 may also store instructions 1003, and the instructions 1003 can be executed by the processor to enable the device 1000 to perform the method described in the above method embodiment.

[0177] In another optional design, processor 1001 may include a transceiver unit for implementing receiving and transmitting functions. For example, the transceiver unit may be a transceiver circuit, an interface, an interface circuit, or a communication interface. The transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit for implementing the receiving and transmitting functions may be separate or integrated. The transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit may be used for reading and writing code / data, or the transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit may be used for transmitting or delivering signals.

[0178] In another possible design, the apparatus 1000 may include a circuit that can implement the functions of sending, receiving, or communicating in the aforementioned method embodiments.

[0179] Optionally, the device 1000 may include one or more memories 1002, on which instructions 1004 may be stored. The instructions may be executed on the processor, causing the device 1000 to perform the method described in the above method embodiment. Optionally, the memory may also store data. Optionally, the processor may also store instructions and / or data. The processor and memory may be provided separately or integrated together. For example, the corresponding relationship described in the above method embodiment may be stored in the memory or in the processor.

[0180] Optionally, the apparatus 1000 may further include a transceiver 1005 and / or an antenna 1006. The processor 1001 may be referred to as a processing unit, which controls the apparatus 1000. The transceiver 1005 may be referred to as a transceiver unit, a transceiver, a transceiver circuit, a transceiver device, or a transceiver module, etc., which is configured to implement transceiver functions.

[0181] Optionally, the device 1000 in the embodiment of the present application can be used to execute the method described in Figures 2 to 7 in the embodiment of the present application.

[0182] In one embodiment, the communication device 1000 can be applied to a first device, or to a module (e.g., a chip or processor) in the first device, or to a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first device. When the computer program instructions stored in the memory 1002 are executed, the processor 1001 is used to control the processing unit 802 to perform the operations performed in the above-mentioned embodiment, the transceiver 1005 is used to perform the operations performed by the transceiver unit 801 in the above-mentioned embodiment, and the transceiver 1005 is also used to send information to other communication devices outside the communication device. The above-mentioned first device or the module within the first device can also be used to execute the various methods executed by the first device in the method embodiments of Figures 2 to 7 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0183] In one embodiment, the communication device 1000 can be applied to a second device, or to a module (e.g., a chip or processor) in the second device, or to a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the second device. When the computer program instructions stored in the memory 1002 are executed, the processor 1001 is used to control the processing unit 902 to perform the operations performed in the above-mentioned embodiment, the transceiver 1005 is used to perform the operations performed by the transceiver unit 901 in the above-mentioned embodiment, and the transceiver 1005 is also used to send information to other communication devices outside the communication device. The above-mentioned second device or the module within the second device can also be used to execute the various methods executed by the second device in the method embodiments of Figures 2 to 7 above, which will not be repeated here.

[0184] The processor and transceiver described in this application can be implemented on an integrated circuit (IC), an analog IC, a radio frequency interface chip (RFIC), a mixed-signal IC, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a printed circuit board (PCB), an electronic device, etc. The processor and transceiver can also be manufactured using various IC process technologies, such as complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS), N-type metal oxide semiconductor (NMOS), P-type metal oxide semiconductor (positive channel metal oxide semiconductor, PMOS), bipolar junction transistor (BJT), bipolar CMOS (BiCMOS), silicon germanium (SiGe), gallium arsenide (GaAs), etc.

[0185] The apparatus described in the above embodiments may be a first terminal device or a second terminal device, but the scope of the apparatus described in this application is not limited thereto, and the structure of the apparatus may not be limited to FIG10 . The apparatus may be an independent device or may be part of a larger device. For example, the apparatus may be:

[0186] (1) An independent integrated circuit (IC), or chip, or chip system or subsystem;

[0187] (2) having a set of one or more ICs, optionally including a storage component for storing data and / or instructions;

[0188] (3) ASIC, such as modem (MSM);

[0189] (4) Modules that can be embedded in other devices;

[0190] (5) Receivers, terminals, smart terminals, cellular phones, wireless devices, handheld devices, mobile units, vehicle-mounted devices, network devices, cloud devices, artificial intelligence devices, machine devices, home devices, medical devices, industrial equipment, etc.;

[0191] (6)Others, etc.

[0192] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon. When the program is executed by a processor, the program can implement the process related to the first device in the communication method provided in the above method embodiment.

[0193] The present application also provides a computer program product that, when executed on a computer or processor, causes the computer or processor to perform one or more steps of any of the aforementioned communication methods. If the various components of the aforementioned devices are implemented as software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they may be stored in the computer-readable storage medium.

[0194] The present application also provides a chip system, including at least one processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface and the at least one processor are interconnected via a circuit, and the at least one processor is configured to execute a computer program or instruction to perform some or all of the steps described in any of the method embodiments corresponding to Figures 2-7 above. The chip system can be composed of a chip or can include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0195] An embodiment of the present application further discloses a communication system, which includes a first device and a second device. For a detailed description, reference may be made to the communication method shown in FIG. 2 to FIG. 7 .

[0196] 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 hard disk drive (HDD), a solid-state drive (SSD), 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 but 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 rambus RAM (DR RAM). Memory is any other medium that can be used to carry or store a desired program code with an instruction or data structure form and can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited thereto. The memory in the embodiment of the present application can also be a circuit or other arbitrarily capable of implementing a storage function, for storing program instructions and / or data.

[0197] It should also be understood that the processor mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), or may be 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.

[0198] 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) is integrated into the processor.

[0199] 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.

[0200] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, the size of the serial numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0201] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments provided herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0202] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0203] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices, and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely illustrative. For example, the division of the units is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interface, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0204] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0205] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0206] If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application, or the part that contributes to the technology or the part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a ROM, a RAM, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

[0207] The steps in the method of the embodiment of the present application can be adjusted in order, combined and deleted according to actual needs.

[0208] The modules / units in the device of the embodiment of the present application can be merged, divided and deleted according to actual needs.

[0209] As described above, the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, rather than to limit them. Although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the above embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the above embodiments, or make equivalent replacements for some of the technical features therein. However, these modifications or replacements do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A communication method for integrating and reporting service data and cache status reports, characterized in that, The method includes: A first device receives a first frame from a second device via an access point. The first frame includes a first field and a second field. The first field indicates a first resource block (RU) for the first device to report a buffer status report (BSR), and the second field indicates a second RU for the first device to report data.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The method further includes: Reporting a second frame based on the first frame. The second frame includes a BSR. Receiving a third frame. The third frame includes a third field and a fourth field. The third field indicates a first RU for the first device to report a BSR in the next round, and the fourth field indicates a second RU for the first device to report data in the next round.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein The reporting the second frame based on the first frame, where the second frame includes a BSR includes: Determining to report the second frame in the second RU based on the first frame. The second frame further includes data; or, Determining to report the second frame in a corresponding first RU based on the first frame; or, Determining to report the second frame in a random first RU based on the first frame.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The method further includes: Receiving a fourth frame. The fourth frame includes a fifth field. The fifth field indicates a second RU for the first device to report data in the last round.

5. A communication method for integrating and reporting service data and cache status reports, characterized in that, The method includes: Sending a first frame. The first frame includes a first field and a second field. The first field indicates a first resource block (RU) for the first device to report a buffer status report (BSR), and the second field indicates a second RU for the first device to report data.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein The method further includes: Receiving second frames of multiple first devices. The second frames include BSRs of the first devices. Determining a first RU and a second RU for the next round of use by the multiple first devices based on the BSRs of the multiple first devices. Sending a third frame. The third frame includes a third field and a fourth field. The third field indicates a first RU for the first device to report a BSR in the next round, and the fourth field indicates a second RU for the first device to report data in the next round.

7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that, The method further includes: Sending a fourth frame. The fourth frame includes a fifth field. The fifth field indicates a second RU for the first device to report data in the last round.

8. The method according to any one of claims 5 to 7, characterized in that, The method further includes: Allocating the first RU.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein The allocating the first RU includes: Allocating the first RU to a corresponding first device for the corresponding first device to report a BSR via the corresponding first RU; and / or Allocating the first RU for a first device to randomly select a first RU to report a BSR.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1-9, characterized in that, The second field includes a first sub-field. The first sub-field indicates whether a BSR is carried in a second frame uploaded by the first device or does not indicate whether a BSR is carried.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein The second field further includes a user information field related to a trigger frame. The user information field related to the trigger frame includes the first sub-field.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1-11, characterized in that, The first frame further includes a sixth field. The sixth field indicates whether the first frame carries block acknowledgement (BA) information.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein The first frame further includes a common information field related to a trigger frame. The common information field related to the trigger frame includes the sixth field.

14. The method according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that When the sixth field indicates that the first frame carries BA information, the first frame further includes a seventh field that indicates the location of the BA information.

15. The method according to any one of claims 2-4 or 6-14, characterized in that, The first frame is a trigger frame and the second frame is a data frame.

16. A communication device, characterized in that, It includes a unit for performing the method according to any one of claims 1-4 or 10-15, or a unit for performing the method according to any one of claims 5-15.

17. A communication device, characterized in that, Comprising: a memory for storing a computer program; a processor for executing the computer program to cause the communication device to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-4 or 10-15, or the method according to any one of claims 5-15.

18. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, A computer program or computer instructions are stored in the computer-readable storage medium. When the computer program or computer instructions are executed by a processor, the communication device including the processor is caused to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-4 or 10-15, or the method according to any one of claims 5-15.

19. A computer program product containing program instructions, when the program instructions run on a computer, causing the method according to any one of claims 1-4 or 10-15 to be implemented, or the method according to any one of claims 5-15 to be implemented.

20. A chip system, characterized in that, It includes at least one processor, a memory and an interface circuit. The memory, the interface circuit and the at least one processor are interconnected by lines. Instructions are stored in the at least one memory; when the instructions are executed by the processor, the communication device including the chip system is caused to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-4 or 10-15, or the method according to any one of claims 5-15.

21. A communication system, characterized in that, It includes a first device and a second device. The first device is used to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-4 or 10-15, and the second device is used to perform the method according to any one of claims 5-15.

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