Time information receiving method and apparatus, time information sending method and apparatus, and device and storage medium

Abstract

The present application belongs to the field of low power consumption communication. Disclosed are a time information receiving method and apparatus, a time information sending method and apparatus, and a device and a storage medium. The time information receiving method is executed by a first device, and comprises: receiving a first sequence, wherein the first sequence is used for indicating all information or partial information of time information. By using a first sequence to carry time information, the power consumption of a first device during the process of receiving the time information to maintain synchronization can be effectively reduced.

Description

Time information receiving method, sending method, device, equipment and storage medium Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of low-power communications, and in particular to a method for receiving, a method for sending, an apparatus, a device, and a storage medium for time information. Background Art

[0002] With the increasing demand for fifth-generation mobile communication technology (5G) in the industry, and especially with the application of Internet of Things (IoT) technology, the types of connected objects and application scenarios are expanding. Research has led to the development of ambient power-enabled IoT (Ambient Power Enabled IoT / A-IoT / AMP) devices. AMP devices operate by harvesting ambient energy, which can come from wireless signals, solar energy, thermal energy, and other sources.

[0003] In the related art, AMP devices struggle to maintain time synchronization by consuming significant energy to communicate with network devices, unlike traditional active end devices. Therefore, there is an urgent need to design feasible communication solutions for passive end devices or zero-power devices that derive their energy from the environment, to achieve time synchronization with lower power consumption.

[0004] Summary of the Invention

[0005] The present application provides a method for receiving, a method for sending, an apparatus, a device, and a storage medium for time information. The technical solution at least includes:

[0006] According to one aspect of an embodiment of the present application, a method for receiving time information is provided, the method being performed by a first device, the method including:

[0007] A first sequence is received, where the first sequence is used to indicate all or part of the time information.

[0008] According to another aspect of an embodiment of the present application, a method for sending time information is provided, the method being performed by a second device, the method including:

[0009] A first sequence is sent, where the first sequence is used to indicate all or part of the time information.

[0010] According to one aspect of an embodiment of the present application, a device for receiving time information is provided, the device including:

[0011] The receiving module is used to receive a first sequence, where the first sequence is used to indicate all or part of the time information.

[0012] According to another aspect of an embodiment of the present application, a device for sending time information is provided, the device including:

[0013] The sending module is used to send a first sequence, where the first sequence is used to indicate all or part of the time information.

[0014] According to one aspect of an embodiment of the present application, a first device is provided, comprising: a processor and / or a receiver, and the first device is configured to implement the method for receiving time information as described above.

[0015] According to another aspect of an embodiment of the present application, a second device is provided, comprising: a processor; a transmitter connected to the processor; and a memory for storing executable instructions of the processor; wherein the second device is used to implement the method for sending time information as described above.

[0016] According to one aspect of the present application, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, in which executable instructions are stored. The executable instructions are loaded and executed by the processor to implement the time information receiving method and sending method as described in the above aspects.

[0017] According to one aspect of the present application, a computer program product is provided, which includes computer instructions, which are stored in a computer-readable storage medium. A processor of a computer device reads the computer instructions from the computer-readable storage medium, and the processor executes the computer instructions, so that the computer device executes to implement the method for receiving and sending time information as described in the above aspects.

[0018] According to one aspect of the present application, a chip is provided, which includes a programmable logic circuit and / or program instructions. When the chip is running, it is used to implement the time information receiving method and sending method as described in the above aspects.

[0019] According to one aspect of the present application, a computer program is provided, which includes computer instructions. A processor of a computer device executes the computer instructions, so that the computer device executes the method for receiving and sending time information as described in the above aspects.

[0020] The technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application may have the following beneficial effects:

[0021] By receiving the first sequence, the first sequence is used to indicate all or part of the time information. Compared with the traditional timestamp information that requires encoding and decoding 8 bytes totaling 64 bits, the first device can complete the relevant process of detecting the first sequence with less power consumption. By carrying all or part of the time information in the first sequence, the power consumption of the first device in the process of receiving time information and maintaining synchronization can be effectively reduced. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without any creative work.

[0023] FIG1 shows a schematic diagram of a cellular communication system provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0024] FIG2 shows a schematic structural diagram of a WiFi system provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0025] FIG3 shows a flow chart of a method for receiving time information provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0026] FIG4 shows a flow chart of a method for sending time information provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0027] FIG5 shows a schematic diagram of cyclic shift provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0028] FIG6 shows a flowchart of a method for indicating a first sequence set provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0029] FIG7 shows a flowchart of a method for indicating a first sequence set provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0030] FIG8 shows a flowchart of a method for indicating a first sequence set provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0031] FIG9 shows a schematic diagram of low-order bits of a first sequence indicating time information provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0032] FIG10 shows a schematic diagram of indicating time information within a time window provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0033] FIG11 is a schematic diagram showing a plurality of first sequences jointly indicating time information provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0034] FIG12 is a schematic diagram showing that a first sequence set provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application has an association;

[0035] FIG13 is a schematic diagram showing a plurality of lower bits of a first sequence indicating time information provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0036] FIG14 is a schematic diagram showing a first time range indicated by time information provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0037] FIG15 is a schematic diagram showing a first time range indicated by time information provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0038] FIG16 is a schematic diagram showing a first time range indicated by time information provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0039] FIG17 is a schematic diagram showing a first time range indicated by time information provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0040] FIG18 is a schematic diagram showing a first time range indicated by time information provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0041] FIG19 is a schematic diagram showing a sending method of a first sequence provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0042] FIG20 is a schematic diagram showing a sending method of a first sequence provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0043] FIG21 shows a structural block diagram of a device for receiving time information provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0044] FIG22 shows a structural block diagram of a device for sending time information provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0045] FIG23 shows a structural block diagram of a wireless communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0046] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the present application more clear, the embodiments of the present application will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Exemplary embodiments will be described in detail herein, with examples shown in the accompanying drawings. When the following description refers to the drawings, unless otherwise indicated, the same numbers in different drawings represent the same or similar elements. The embodiments described in the following exemplary embodiments do not represent all embodiments consistent with the present application. Instead, they are merely examples of devices and methods consistent with certain aspects of the present application, as detailed in the appended claims.

[0047] In the embodiments of the present application, "agreement" can be implemented by pre-saving corresponding codes, tables or other methods that can be used to indicate relevant information in a communication device (such as a terminal device, a network device), and the present application does not limit its specific implementation method. The communication protocol agreement can also be understood as a predefined communication protocol.

[0048] 1 shows a schematic diagram of a cellular communication system provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application. The cellular communication system includes a network device 120 , an Ambient IoT device 140 , and a terminal device 160 .

[0049] The network device 120 in the present application provides wireless communication functions, and the network device 120 includes but is not limited to: Evolved Node B (eNB), Radio Network Controller (RNC), Node B (NB), Base Station Controller (BSC), Base Transceiver Station (BTS), Home Base Station (e.g., Home Evolved Node B, or Home Node B, HNB), Baseband Unit (BBU), Access Point (AP) in Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) system, Wireless Relay Node, Wireless Backhaul Node, Transmission Point (TP) or Transmission and Reception Point (TRP), etc., and can also be the Next Generation Node B (NGNB) in the 5th Generation (5G) mobile communication system. B, gNB) or transmission point (TRP or TP), or one or a group of (including multiple antenna panels) antenna panels of a base station in a 5G system, or it can also be a network node constituting a gNB or transmission point, such as a baseband unit (BBU) or distributed unit (DU), or a base station in a Beyond Fifth Generation (B5G) mobile communication system or a sixth generation (6G) mobile communication system, or a core network (CN), fronthaul, backhaul, radio access network (RAN), network slice, etc., or a reader / writer of a radio frequency identification (RFID) system.

[0050] The Ambient IoT device 140 in this application includes but is not limited to: handheld devices, wearable devices, vehicle-mounted devices and Internet of Things devices, etc. The Ambient IoT device 140 can be at least one of a mobile phone, a tablet computer, an e-book reader, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a television, a game console, an augmented reality terminal, a virtual reality terminal and a mixed reality terminal, a wearable device, a handle, an electronic tag and a controller, etc.

[0051] It should be noted that the Ambient IoT device 140 may also be referred to as at least one of the following: an ultra-low power device, a low-power device, a passive IoT device, an ambient energy IoT device, or a device that collects ambient energy. The communication technology implemented by the Ambient IoT device 140 may be referred to as zero-power communication technology, ultra-low power communication technology, low-power communication technology, ambient energy IoT technology, passive IoT technology, or zero-power IoT technology.

[0052] The terminal device 160 in this application is also called user equipment (UE), access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent, and user device. The terminals include, but are not limited to, handheld devices, wearable devices, vehicle-mounted devices, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices, such as electronic tags, controllers, mobile phones, tablet computers, e-book readers, laptop computers, desktop computers, televisions, game consoles, mobile Internet devices (MIDs), augmented reality (AR) terminals, virtual reality (VR) terminals, and mixed reality (MR) terminals, wearable devices, handles, wireless terminals in industrial control, wireless terminals in self-driving, wireless terminals in remote medical care, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart cities, wireless terminals in smart homes, wireless terminals in remote medical surgery, cellular phones, cordless phones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loops (WLANs), and wireless terminals in industrial control. Loop (WLL) stations, personal digital assistants (PDA), TV set-top boxes (STB), customer premises equipment (CPE), etc.

[0053] The technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: Global System of Mobile communication (GSM) system, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) system, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) system, LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD) system, Advanced Long Term Evolution (LTE-A) system, Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) communication system, 5G mobile communication system, New Radio (NR) system, NR system evolution system, LTE on unlicensed spectrum (LTE-U) system, NR on unlicensed spectrum (NR-based access to unlicensed spectrum) system. Unlicensed spectrum, NR-U) system, terrestrial communication network (Terrestrial Networks, TN) system, non-terrestrial communication network (Non-Terrestrial Networks, NTN) system, wireless local area network (Wireless Local Area Networks, WLAN), wireless fidelity (Wireless Fidelity, WiFi), cellular Internet of Things system, cellular passive Internet of Things system, can also be applied to subsequent evolution systems of 5G NR system, and can also be applied to B5G, 6G and subsequent evolution systems. In some embodiments of the present application, "NR" may also be referred to as 5G NR system or 5G system. Among them, the 5G mobile communication system may include non-standalone networking (NSA) and / or standalone networking (SA).

[0054] Network device 120 and Ambient IoT device 140 / terminal device 160 communicate with each other via an air interface technology, such as a Uu interface. There are two communication scenarios between network device 120 and Ambient IoT device 140 / terminal device 160: uplink (UL) transmission and downlink (DL) transmission. Uplink transmission refers to signals sent from Ambient IoT device 140 / terminal device 160 to network device 120; downlink transmission refers to signals sent from network device 120 to Ambient IoT device 140 / terminal device 160.

[0055] 2 shows a schematic diagram of the structure of a WiFi system provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application. The WiFi system includes: AP 122, Ambient IoT device 140 and STA 162.

[0056] Among them, STA162 can be a mobile phone, tablet computer, e-book reader, laptop computer, desktop computer, TV, virtual reality device, augmented reality device, mixed reality device, extended reality device, confused reality device, image reality device, blinded reality device, wireless device in industrial control, set-top box, wireless device in unmanned driving, in-vehicle communication equipment, wireless device in telemedicine, wireless device in smart grid, wireless device in transportation safety, wireless device in smart city or wireless device in smart home, wireless communication chip, application-specific integrated circuit, system on chip, etc. that supports WLAN / WiFi technology.

[0057] The communication in the wireless communication system may be between AP 122 and STA 162 or between STA 162 and STA 162 .

[0058] AP122 acts as a bridge between wired and wireless networks, connecting wireless network clients and then connecting the wireless network to Ethernet. AP122 can be a terminal device or network device equipped with a WiFi chip. It should be understood that the role of STA162 in the communication system is not absolute. For example, in some scenarios, when a mobile phone is connected to a router, it acts as STA162. When the mobile phone is used as a hotspot for other mobile phones, it acts as AP122.

[0059] Ambient IoT devices 140 include, but are not limited to, handheld devices, wearable devices, vehicle-mounted devices, and IoT devices. Ambient IoT devices 140 may be at least one of a mobile phone, a tablet computer, an e-book reader, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a television, a game console, an augmented reality terminal, a virtual reality terminal, a mixed reality terminal, a wearable device, a handle, an electronic tag, and a controller.

[0060] It should be noted that the Ambient IoT device 140 may also be referred to as at least one of the following: an ultra-low power device, a low-power device, a passive IoT device, an ambient energy IoT device, or a device that collects ambient energy. The communication technology implemented by the Ambient IoT device 140 may be referred to as zero-power communication technology, ultra-low power communication technology, low-power communication technology, ambient energy IoT technology, passive IoT technology, or zero-power IoT technology.

[0061] In some embodiments, STA 162 can support various current and future 802.11 family WLAN standards, including 802.11be, 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b, and 802.11a. STA 162 can also be used in network environments supporting next-generation WLAN systems, which are WLAN systems that evolve from 802.11ax systems and are backward compatible with 802.11ax systems. Next-generation WiFi communication refers to any new generation of WiFi communication after WiFi 7 based on the IEEE 802.11be specification, such as Ultra High Reliability (UHR) communication. For example, the STA is a UHR STA.

[0062] In some embodiments, AP 122 may be a device supporting various current and future 802.11 family WLAN standards, such as 802.11be, 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b, and 802.11a. AP 122 may also be used in network environments supporting next-generation WLAN systems, which are WLAN systems evolved from 802.11ax systems and are backward compatible with 802.11ax systems. Next-generation WiFi communications refer to any new generation of WiFi communications after WiFi 7 based on the IEEE 802.11be specification, such as Ultra High Resolution (UHR) communications. For example, AP 122 may be a Ultra High Resolution (UHR) AP.

[0063] One or more links may exist between the STA 162 and the AP 122 .

[0064] In some embodiments, the STA 162 and the AP 122 support multi-band communication, for example, simultaneously communicating in at least one of the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz, 45 GHz, and 60 GHz frequency bands, or simultaneously communicating on different channels of the same frequency band or different channels of different frequency bands, to improve communication throughput and / or reliability between the devices. Such devices are generally referred to as multi-band devices, or MLDs, and are sometimes also referred to as multi-band entities or multi-link entities.

[0065] In some embodiments, the AP 122 transmits time information to the Ambient IoT device 140 via the basic service set. In some embodiments, the AP 122 transmits timestamp information (conventional 8-byte, 64-bit timestamp information) to the STA 162 via the basic service set.

[0066] Zero-power devices:

[0067] With the development of communication technology and the expansion of communication needs, the demand for low power consumption in communication equipment is becoming increasingly urgent. To this end, zero-power communication technology has been introduced to reduce power consumption on the UE side. Zero-power communication technology can also be referred to as at least one of the following: ultra-low-power communication technology, low-power communication technology, etc. Communication equipment used to implement zero-power communication technology can be referred to as zero-power devices. Zero-power devices can also be referred to as at least one of the following: ultra-low-power devices, low-power devices, etc.

[0068] Specifically, from the perspective of energy sources and usage, zero-power devices can be divided into the following three types:

[0069] (1) Passive devices; Passive devices do not require built-in batteries. When a passive device approaches a network device (such as the reader of an RFID system), the passive device is within the near field formed by the radiation of the network device antenna. Therefore, the passive device antenna generates an induced current through electromagnetic induction, and the induced current drives the low-power chip circuit of the passive device. This realizes the demodulation of the forward link signal and the modulation of the backward link signal. For the backscatter link, the passive device can use backscatter or extremely low-power active transmission to transmit the signal. Passive devices do not require built-in batteries to drive either the forward link or the reverse link. Therefore, passive devices can be considered as true zero-power devices.

[0070] In addition to not requiring batteries, the RF circuits and baseband circuits of passive devices are also very simple. For example, they do not require devices such as power amplifiers (PAs), crystal oscillators, and analog to digital converters (ADCs). This makes passive devices have many advantages such as small size, light weight, very low price, and long service life.

[0071] (2) Semi-passive devices: Semi-passive devices do not have conventional batteries installed. Radio wave energy is collected through the RF energy collection module, and the collected energy is stored in an energy storage unit (such as a capacitor). After the energy storage unit obtains energy, it can drive the low-power chip circuit of the semi-passive device. It can realize the demodulation of the forward link signal and the modulation of the backward link signal. For the backscatter link, the semi-passive device can use backscatter or low-power active transmission to transmit the signal.

[0072] Semi-passive devices do not require built-in batteries to drive either the forward link or the reverse link. Although they use energy stored in capacitors during operation, this energy comes from radio frequency energy. Therefore, semi-passive devices can be considered as true zero-power devices.

[0073] Semi-passive devices inherit many advantages of passive devices, such as small size, light weight, very cheap price, long service life, etc.

[0074] (3) Active devices; Active devices can have built-in batteries. The battery is used to drive the low-power chip circuit of the active device. It can realize the demodulation of the forward link signal and the modulation of the reverse link signal. The reverse link signal transmission of the active device can be realized by backscattering without consuming the active device's own power. Alternatively, the active device can realize reverse link transmission by low-power active transmission. Although the battery is built in, this type of active device has extremely low power consumption and complexity, so the battery capacity can be set within a smaller range, thereby achieving smaller cost and size. The built-in battery of the active device can also be used as an energy storage unit to store the ambient energy collected by the energy harvesting module, so that the maintenance cycle of the active device is longer or even maintenance-free.

[0075] Active devices use built-in batteries to increase their communication range and improve communication reliability. Therefore, active devices are used in scenarios with relatively high requirements for communication distance and read latency.

[0076] Specifically, from the perspective of transmitter type, zero-power devices can be divided into the following three types:

[0077] (1) Devices equipped with a backscatter module use the backscatter method described above for uplink transmission. This type of device does not have an active transmitter for active transmission, but only a transmitter with a backscatter module. Therefore, when performing uplink transmission, the network device needs to provide a carrier. This type of device performs backscatter based on the carrier to achieve uplink transmission.

[0078] (2) Devices with active transmitters use active transmitters with active transmission capabilities for uplink transmission. Therefore, when performing uplink transmission, such devices can use their own active transmitters to send uplink data without the need for network equipment to provide a carrier. Active transmitters suitable for such devices include, for example, low-power Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK) transmitters and low-power Frequency Shift Keying (FSK) transmitters. Based on current implementations, when such transmitters transmit a 100 microwatt (μW) signal, the overall power consumption of the device can be reduced to 400-600 μW.

[0079] (3) Devices that have both backscatter modules and active transmitters support both backscatter and active transmission. This type of device can determine whether to use backscatter or active transmission based on different situations (such as different power levels, different available environmental energy levels), or based on the scheduling of network devices.

[0080] Cellular Passive IoT:

[0081] As 5G industry applications expand, the types of connected objects and application scenarios will increase, placing higher demands on the price and power consumption of communication equipment. The application of battery-free, low-cost Passive IoT devices has become a key technology for cellular IoT, expanding the types and number of terminals connected to 5G networks and truly realizing the Internet of Everything. Passive IoT devices can be extended based on these zero-power devices to be suitable for cellular IoT.

[0082] In NR and Wi-Fi systems, the battery-free and low-cost advantages enable low-cost, large-scale deployment and maintenance-free IoT devices. Research is currently underway on IoT devices powered by ambient energy to address energy supply issues. IoT devices powered by ambient energy, such as ambient energy IoT devices, draw their operating energy from harvested ambient energy sources, including radio frequency (RF) energy, light energy, solar energy, thermal energy, and mechanical energy. Devices that harvest RF energy to power their own operations may require other devices to provide them with RF power signals.

[0083] These A-IoT devices are similar to passive or semi-passive devices in zero-power communications. They harvest ambient energy and store it in an energy storage unit. Once the energy storage unit receives sufficient energy, it drives low-power circuits for forward link signal demodulation and reverse link signal modulation and transmission.

[0084] A-IoT devices can be divided into the following three types, each with its own level of complexity and communication capabilities:

[0085] Device A: Does not have energy storage capabilities. It cannot send independent signals and uses backscatter transmission.

[0086] Device B: Has energy storage capabilities. It cannot transmit independent signals and instead uses backscatter transmission. It can use the stored energy to amplify the backscattered signal.

[0087] Device C: Has energy storage capabilities and can send independent signals, i.e., has active transmission capabilities.

[0088] Among them, device A has the lowest complexity and power consumption, which can be as low as 1 microwatt, but its communication distance is limited, generally only a few meters. Device A requires network equipment to provide a carrier signal for backscattering transmission. Device C generally has a large-capacity capacitor to store energy from the environment, and its power consumption can support hundreds of microwatts. It can support active signal transmission and has a longer communication distance. Because device C can actively transmit, there is no need for network equipment to provide a carrier signal for device C. The complexity and power consumption of device B are between devices A and C.

[0089] In addition, zero-power terminals can also support various types of environmental energy harvesting, such as radio frequency, solar energy, thermal energy, mechanical energy, etc. Among them, zero-power terminals based on radio frequency energy harvesting may require the network to provide radio frequency power signals.

[0090] Based on the discussion of Ambient IoT application scenarios by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), Ambient IoT can be used in at least the following four scenarios:

[0091] Object recognition, such as logistics, production line product management, and supply chain management

[0092] Environmental monitoring, such as temperature, humidity, and harmful gas monitoring of the working environment and natural environment

[0093] Positioning, such as indoor positioning, intelligent object search, production line item positioning, etc.

[0094] Intelligent control, such as intelligent control of various electrical appliances in smart homes (turning on and off air conditioners, adjusting temperature), and intelligent control of various facilities in agricultural greenhouses (automatic irrigation and fertilization)

[0095] Time synchronization mechanism in WiFi system

[0096] In a Wi-Fi system, in addition to internal station timing, each station in the basic service set (BSS) must maintain a timing synchronization function (TSF) timer. This TSF timer is an internal timer synchronized with the TSFs of all other stations in the BSS. The TSF timer measures time in microseconds. To synchronize time between stations in the BSS, the AP uses the timestamp field in the Beacon frame to indicate the number of microseconds that have elapsed since the network began operating. The timestamp field consists of 8 bytes (64 bits), and stations in the BSS use this timestamp to adjust their local TSF timers.

[0097] m-sequence:

[0098] An m-sequence is the longest code sequence generated by a multi-stage shift register or its delay element through linear feedback. It is also known as the longest linear feedback shift register sequence or the maximum-length sequence. The number of shift register stages can be understood as the number of shift registers. The sequence currently stored in a shift register is called a state. After the shift register outputs a bit and the feedback function adds one bit, the shift register moves to the next state.

[0099] In a binary shift register, if n is the number of stages of the shift register, there are 2 stages of the n-stage shift register. n states, excluding the all-0 state, there are 2 n -1 state, so the maximum length of the code sequence it can generate is 2 n -1 bit, that is, the longest period generated by an n-stage linear feedback shift register is equal to 2 n-1. The characteristic polynomial f(x) is used to determine the feedback connection status of an n-stage linear shift register, and the characteristic polynomial f(x) must be a primitive polynomial. The primitive polynomial needs to satisfy the following conditions: (1) f(x) is an irreducible polynomial (i.e., a polynomial that cannot be factored); (2) f(x) divides x p +1, p = 2 n -1; (3) f(x) does not divide x p +1, q < p. Here, p is the longest period generated by an n-stage linear feedback shift register, and n is the number of stages of the linear feedback shift register.

[0100] Properties of m-sequence. The m-sequence with a period of 2 n -1 has the following characteristics:

[0101] (1) Balance

[0102] In one period of the m-sequence, the probabilities of 0 and 1 appearing are roughly the same, and the 0 code is only one more than the 1 code.

[0103] (2) Shift additivity

[0104] When an m-sequence with a period of p is added modulo 2 to its sequence after any delay shift, the result is still an m-sequence with a period of p, which is just the sequence after a certain delay shift of the original sequence.

[0105] (3) Autocorrelation property

[0106] The m-sequence has a very long length and very good autocorrelation properties. Its autocorrelation function (ACF) shape is similar to a rectangular pulse and has obvious peaks in the normalized autocorrelation function.

[0107] ]>(4) Run property

[0108] Successive elements with the same value in the sequence are called a run. The run length refers to the number of elements in the run. In the m-sequence, there are a total of 2 n-1 runs. For 1 ≤ i ≤ n - 2, there are 2 n-i-1 runs of length i, and the 0 and 1 runs are each half; there is one 0 run of length n - 1 and one 1 run of length n.

[0109] (5) Pseudo-noise property

[0110] The m-sequence is very similar to random noise in terms of properties such as appearance probability, run distribution, and autocorrelation function. It can be seen that the m-sequence is a pseudo-random sequence with good pseudo-noise properties.

[0111] Gold sequence:

[0112] Gold sequences are code sequences derived from optimal pairs of m-sequences. First, let's introduce optimal pairs of m-sequences. Two different primitive polynomials of order n each generate an m-sequence. The condition for these two m-sequences to form an optimal pair of m-sequences is that the cross-correlation function satisfies the following equation:

[0113] Among them, |R ab (τ)| represents the absolute value of the cross-correlation function (peak cross-correlation function). a and b are m-sequence pairs generated by different primitive polynomials of the same order, and τ is the time-shift variable. Gold sequences have good cross-correlation characteristics and retain similar properties to m-sequences, such as excellent balance, run-length distribution, and autocorrelation. Furthermore, the maximum cross-correlation value between the individual Gold sequences obtained from a preferred pair of m-sequences will not exceed the maximum cross-correlation value between the same pair of preferred m-sequences.

[0114] FIG3 shows a flowchart of a method for receiving time information provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application. The method is executed by a first device and includes:

[0115] Step 210: Receive a first sequence, where the first sequence is used to indicate all or part of the time information.

[0116] In some embodiments, the first device includes at least one of the following devices: a zero-power device, a low-power device, an ultra-low-power device, an AMP device, an A-IOT device, a passive IoT device, and a station (STA). It can also be understood that the first device supports at least one of the following communication modes: zero-power communication, low-power communication, ultra-low-power communication, passive IoT communication, AMP communication, WiFi communication, and cellular communication.

[0117] In some embodiments, the first sequence is at least one of an m-sequence and a Gold sequence. It should be noted that the types of first sequences provided herein are not limited to m-sequences and Gold sequences. Other pseudo-random sequences with excellent autocorrelation and / or cross-correlation are also applicable to the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application. For example, the first sequence may also be at least one of a Walsh sequence and a ZC sequence.

[0118] In some embodiments, the first sequence is used to indicate all or part of the time information. In some embodiments, the time information may be timestamp information of a WiFi system, or time information in a 3GPP cellular system measured in any of the following units: system frame, radio frame, subframe, time slot, symbol group, or symbol, such as a system frame number (SFN).

[0119] In some embodiments, the second device sends a first sequence to the first device. The first sequence sent by the second device can be a pseudo-random sequence such as an m-sequence or a gold sequence, and the first sequence carries all or part of the information in the time information. The first device can identify the first (target) sequence by using the autocorrelation of the first sequence through correlation detection of the first sequence. Optionally, the first device compares the received first sequence with a known candidate sequence, calculates the correlation between them, and outputs a correlation peak. Each candidate sequence is used to indicate all or part of a type of time information, and different candidate sequences are used to indicate all or part of different time information.

[0120] Optionally, if the first sequence received by the first device is the target sequence (one of the candidate sequences), the output correlation peak is higher; otherwise, the output correlation peak is lower. In this way, the first device can identify the first sequence as the target sequence and extract the time information indicated by the first sequence based on the time information corresponding to the target sequence.

[0121] In some embodiments, the first sequence adopts at least one of On-Off Keying (OOK) modulation, Phase Shift Keying (PSK) modulation, Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK) modulation, and Frequency Shift Keying (FSK) modulation.

[0122] To sum up, the method provided in the embodiment of the present application receives a first sequence, and the first sequence is used to indicate all or part of the time information. Compared with the traditional timestamp information that requires encoding and decoding 8 bytes totaling 64 bits, the first device can detect the relevant process of the first sequence with less power consumption. By carrying all or part of the time information in the first sequence, the power consumption of the first device in the process of receiving time information and maintaining synchronization can be effectively reduced.

[0123] FIG4 shows a flowchart of a method for sending time information provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application. The method is executed by a second device and includes:

[0124] Step 310: Send a first sequence, where the first sequence is used to indicate all or part of the time information.

[0125] In some embodiments, the second device is a device that transmits time information. Alternatively, the second device may be a network device, or another type of terminal device. For example, in a WiFi communication system, the second device may be an AMP AP or a power supply device, i.e., a network device, that provides time information to a terminal device. In a cellular system, the second device may be a base station, a power supply device, or a UE, i.e., a terminal device, that provides time information to other terminal devices. The power supply device is a device that provides energy to the first device.

[0126] The embodiments of the present application are applicable to at least one of the following communication scenarios: zero-power communication, low-power communication, ultra-low-power communication, passive Internet of Things communication, AMP communication, WiFi communication, and cellular communication.

[0127] In some embodiments, the second device sends a first sequence to the first device. Optionally, the first sequence is at least one of an m-sequence and a Gold sequence. It should be noted that the types of first sequences provided herein are not limited to m-sequences and Gold sequences. Other sequences with excellent autocorrelation and / or cross-correlation are also applicable to the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application. For example, the first sequence may also be at least one of a Walsh sequence and a ZC sequence.

[0128] In some embodiments, the first sequence is used to indicate all or part of the time information. In some embodiments, the time information may be timestamp information of a WiFi system, or information such as a system frame, radio frame, subframe, time slot, symbol group, or symbol in a 3GPP cellular system, such as a system frame number (SFN).

[0129] In some embodiments, the second device sends a first sequence to the first device. The first sequence sent by the second device may be a pseudo-random sequence such as an m-sequence or a gold sequence. The first sequence carries all or part of the time information.

[0130] In some embodiments, the first sequence adopts at least one of OOK modulation, PSK modulation, BPSK modulation, and FSK modulation.

[0131] To sum up, the method provided in the embodiment of the present application sends a first sequence, and the first sequence is used to indicate all or part of the time information. Compared with the traditional timestamp information that requires encoding and decoding 8 bytes totaling 64 bits, the first device can detect the relevant process of the first sequence with less power consumption. By carrying all or part of the time information in the first sequence, the power consumption of the first device in the process of receiving time information and maintaining synchronization can be effectively reduced.

[0132] In some embodiments, the first sequence belongs to a first sequence set. Optionally, different second devices / BSSs / cells use or correspond to different sequence sets.

[0133] The following description is made by taking an m-sequence and / or a gold sequence as an example to carry time information.

[0134] 1.m sequence carries time information

[0135] In some embodiments, the second device sends a first sequence to the first device, the first sequence carries all or part of the time information, and the type of the first sequence is an m-sequence. The first sequence carries all or part of the time information through the m-sequence.

[0136] In some embodiments, the first sequence belongs to a first sequence set, and different sequences in the first sequence set are used to indicate different time information. Table 1 shows the correspondence between different sequences and different time information.

[0137] Table 1. Correspondence between different sequences and different time information

[0138] In some embodiments, the first sequence set includes a first number of m-sequences, or the first sequence is an m-sequence among the first number of m-sequences. The first number of m-sequences includes a first m-sequence and / or a second m-sequence. In some embodiments, the first m-sequence is the m-sequence generated according to the primitive polynomial described above. An n-order primitive polynomial can generate an n-order first m-sequence. The second m-sequence is obtained by cyclically shifting the first m-sequence. It can also be understood that the second m-sequence is a cyclically shifted sequence of the first m-sequence.

[0139] Table 2 shows the upper limit of the number of first m-sequences that can be generated by shift registers of different series. The upper limit of the number of first m-sequences is equal to the number of primitive polynomials. For example, when the series n = 7, there are 18 primitive polynomials, so the upper limit of the number of first m-sequences is 18.

[0140] Table 2 Upper limit of the number of first m-sequences under different levels

[0141] In the present application, the first m-sequence may also be referred to as at least one of the following: a basic m-sequence, a root m-sequence, a primary m-sequence, a first-level m-sequence, etc. The second m-sequence may also be referred to as at least one of the following: a shifted sequence, a bit-shifted sequence, a cyclically shifted sequence, an extended m-sequence, a secondary m-sequence, a secondary m-sequence, an auxiliary m-sequence, a second-level m-sequence, etc.

[0142] In some embodiments, a circular shift involves cyclically shifting the values ​​in a sequence. There are two common types of circular shifts: left and right. A left shift shifts the shifted high-order bits to the low-order bits in the sequence, while a right shift shifts the shifted low-order bits to the high-order bits in the sequence. The number of bits shifted by a circular shift is called the cyclic offset for that shift, and the resulting sequence is called a shifted sequence.

[0143] For example, using the basic m-sequence "10110101" as an example, FIG5 illustrates the process of performing a cyclic shift when the cyclic offset is 2 bits. The cyclic left shift process is shown in FIG5(a), and the cyclic right shift process is shown in FIG5(b). The cyclic shift in the embodiments of the present application can be either a cyclic left shift or a cyclic right shift. The cyclic offset can also be referred to as the cyclic shift amount.

[0144] In some embodiments, the longest period of a first m-sequence of level n is 2 n -1. If the circular offset of each circular shift is 1, then at most 2 n -2 second m-sequences. Therefore, when the cyclic shift of the first m-sequence is 1, a total of up to 2 n -1 m-sequence (including the first m-sequence itself). If the cyclic shift is k bits each time (the offset of the cyclic shift is k), a maximum of cyclic shift sequences (including the first m sequence itself). In this application, Indicates rounding down, which will not be described further below.

[0145] In some embodiments, a smaller cyclic shift offset can result in closer correlation peaks between adjacent sequences, potentially causing aliasing and thus reducing sequence detection performance. Therefore, when selecting a first sequence for carrying time information, an m-sequence with a certain offset can be considered. Optionally, the length and offset of the m-sequence should be determined based on actual needs, such as based on factors such as coverage, the amount of time information, and the detection performance of the first device. For example, an m-sequence with a series of 4 has an m-sequence length of 15 and two first m-sequences. Each first m-sequence can generate 15 second m-sequences through cyclic shift, so the number of m-sequences with a series of 4 is 30. These m-sequences can be used as first sequences to transmit all or part of the time information, and each m-sequence can carry 1 bit of information. Therefore, these 30 different m-sequences can carry 4 bits of time information.

[0146] In some embodiments, the first sequence belongs to a first sequence set, and different second devices correspond to different sequence sets. Optionally, the first sequence set includes multiple first m-sequences and second m-sequences. The first sequence set may also include only multiple first m-sequences or only multiple second m-sequences.

[0147] 2. Gold sequence carries time information

[0148] In some embodiments, the second device sends a first sequence to the first device, carrying all or part of the time information through the first sequence, and the type of the first sequence is a gold sequence. The first sequence carries all or part of the time information through the gold sequence.

[0149] In some embodiments, the first sequence set includes a second number of gold sequences, or the first sequence is one of the second number of gold sequences; wherein the second number of gold sequences includes a first m-sequence and / or a second m-sequence. The second number of gold sequences is generated based on at least one preferred m-sequence pair. The preferred m-sequence pairs have been described above.

[0150] In some embodiments, the gold sequence is constructed by adding a pair of m-sequence pairs modulo 2. Moreover, each m-sequence undergoes a cyclic shift to obtain a new gold sequence. Each set of m-sequence pairs can generate 2 n -1 Gold sequence. If the cyclic shifts of the two m sequences in the m sequence pair are changed at the same time, and then modulo 2 addition is performed, a maximum of (2 n -1)*(2 n -1) Gold sequence.

[0151] For example, using an m-sequence with a level of 4, the length of the m-sequence is 15. For a preferred m-sequence pair, the first approach (each cyclic shift of one m-sequence) can generate 17 Gold sequences. The second approach (simultaneously changing the cyclic shifts of both m-sequences in the preferred m-sequence pair and then adding them modulo 2) can generate 225 Gold sequences. The Gold sequences generated by a preferred m-sequence pair can be defined as a Gold sequence group. Multiple preferred m-sequence pairs correspond to multiple Gold sequence groups.

[0152] In some embodiments, the first sequence carries all or part of the time information through a gold sequence.

[0153] In some embodiments, different second devices use different sequence sets. There is no intersection between any two sequence sets in different sequence sets. For example, AP1 uses the sequence in sequence set 1 as the first sequence to indicate timestamp information, and AP2 uses the sequence in sequence set 2 as the first sequence to indicate timestamp information. In some embodiments, different BSSs use different sequence sets. There is no intersection between any two sequence sets in different sequence sets. For example, BSS1 uses the sequence in sequence set 1 as the first sequence to indicate timestamp information, and BSS2 uses the sequence in sequence set 2 as the first sequence to indicate timestamp information. In some embodiments, different cells use different sequence sets. There is no intersection between any two sequence sets in different sequence sets. For example, cell 1 uses the sequence in sequence set 1 as the first sequence to indicate timestamp information, and cell 2 uses the sequence in sequence set 2 as the first sequence to indicate timestamp information.

[0154] In some embodiments, in a WiFi communication system, information about the first sequence set used by the second device / BSS / cell is indicated by a Beacon frame, or indicated by a probe response frame, or indicated by an association response frame, or determined based on relevant information of the second device.

[0155] In some embodiments, in a 3GPP cellular system, information about the first sequence set used by the second device / BSS / cell is indicated by a system message, or by Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, or by Media Access Control (MAC) information, or by physical layer control information, or is determined based on a cell identification (ID). The physical layer control information may be downlink control information (DCI).

[0156] This application is described by taking an example in which an AMP STA is a first device and an AMP AP is a second device in a WiFi communication system.

[0157] In an embodiment of the present application, the following implementation is provided for indicating the first sequence set:

[0158] Indication method 1: AMP AP broadcasts the first sequence set used by the Basic Service Set (BSS) through Beacon frames;

[0159] In some embodiments, the information of the first sequence set (or first sequence group) includes at least one of the following: an identifier of the sequence set, an m-base sequence, the number of m-sequences, an offset of a cyclic shift, a Gold sequence group, a Gold sequence generation method, and the number of Gold sequences.

[0160] Indication method 2: The AMP STA obtains the first sequence set used by the BBS through the probe response frame;

[0161] Indication method three: The AMP STA obtains the first sequence set used by the BBS during the association process;

[0162] Indication mode four: the AMP STA determines the first sequence set based on relevant information of the AMP AP.

[0163] For instruction method 1:

[0164] FIG6 shows a flowchart of a method for indicating a first sequence set provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application. The method is jointly performed by an AMP STA and an AMP AP. The method includes:

[0165] Step 401: The AMP STA receives a Beacon frame sent by the AMP AP;

[0166] In some embodiments, a Beacon frame is a frame periodically broadcasted by an AMP AP, which includes basic information of the communication network, a timestamp, etc. The information of the first sequence set can be indicated by a field or an identifier in the Beacon frame.

[0167] Step 402: The AMP AP receives the authentication request frame sent by the AMP STA;

[0168] Step 403: The AMP AP sends an authentication response frame to the AMP STA.

[0169] Step 404: The AMP AP receives the association request frame sent by the AMP STA;

[0170] Step 405: The AMP AP sends an association response frame to the AMP STA;

[0171] Step 406: The AMP AP and the AMP STA perform data transmission.

[0172] For instruction method 2:

[0173] FIG7 shows a flowchart of a method for indicating a first sequence set provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application. The method is jointly performed by an AMP STA and a second AMP AP. The method includes:

[0174] Step 501: The AMP AP receives a probe request frame sent by an AMP STA;

[0175] Step 502: The AMP AP sends a probe response frame to the AMP STA;

[0176] In some embodiments, when the AMP STA actively sends a probe request frame, the AMP AP will reply with a probe response frame as a response, and the probe response frame may include information of the first sequence set.

[0177] In some embodiments, the information of the first sequence set includes at least one of the following: an identifier of the sequence set, m basic sequences, the number of m sequences, a cyclic shift offset, a Gold sequence group, a Gold sequence generation method, and the number of Gold sequences.

[0178] Step 503: The AMP AP receives the authentication request frame sent by the AMP STA;

[0179] Step 504: The AMP AP sends an authentication response frame to the AMP STA.

[0180] Step 505: The AMP AP receives the association request frame sent by the AMP STA;

[0181] Step 506: The AMP AP sends an association response frame to the AMP STA;

[0182] Step 507: The AMP AP and the AMP STA perform data transmission.

[0183] For instruction method three:

[0184] FIG8 shows a flowchart of a method for indicating a first sequence set provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application. The method is jointly performed by an AMP STA and a second AMP AP. The method includes:

[0185] Step 601: The AMP AP receives an association request frame sent by an AMP STA;

[0186] Step 602: The AMP AP sends an association response frame to the AMP STA.

[0187] In some embodiments, when the AMP STA successfully associates with the AMP AP, the AMP AP sends an association response frame as confirmation. The association response frame may also include information about the first sequence set.

[0188] For instruction method 4:

[0189] In some embodiments, the first device determines the first sequence set based on relevant information of the second device. Optionally, the AMP STA determines the first sequence set used by the AMP AP based on an identifier of the AMP AP, or the AMP STA determines the first sequence set used by the BSS based on a BSSID of the AMP AP, or the AMP device determines the first sequence set used by the cell based on a cell identifier.

[0190] Exemplarily, the first device determines the sequence set based on a modulo remainder between the relevant information of the second device and M, where M is the total number of sequence sets. When the modulo remainder is i, the i-th sequence set is used.

[0191] Exemplarily, the AMP STA determines the first sequence set used by the BSS based on the BSSID of the AMP AP. The first sequence set used by the BSS is associated with the BSSID, and the number of the first sequence set used can be derived from the BSSID. Combined with the number of first sequence groups, the first sequence can be determined based on the BSSID. For example, the total number of sequence sets can be modulo the BSSID, and the remainder obtained is the number of the first sequence set used by the BSS. This ensures that sequence sets are distributed as evenly as possible among different BSSs, thereby reducing the possibility of conflicts among sequence sets used by different BSSs.

[0192] In some embodiments, all or part of the time information may be indicated by one sequence, or all or part of the time information may be indicated jointly by multiple first sequences.

[0193] Solution 1: Indicate all the time information through a first sequence.

[0194] In some embodiments, all the time information can be carried by a first sequence, which is at least one of an m-sequence and a Gold sequence.

[0195] For example, taking 4 bits of time information as an example, the first sequence set includes 16 candidate sequences as first sequences for transmitting time information. Each first sequence is used to indicate the time information corresponding to a code point composed of 4 bits. For example, taking all candidate sequences in the first sequence set as m-sequences, the relationship between the m-sequences included in the first sequence set is shown in Table 3 below:

[0196] Table 3 Correspondence between the first sequence set and time information

[0197] In some embodiments, any m-sequence among the 16 candidate sequences in the first sequence set can be used as the first sequence to indicate all information of the time information. For example, if the time information is 0010, the m-sequence 2 can be used to indicate the time information.

[0198] Solution 2: Part of the time information is indicated by a first sequence.

[0199] In some embodiments, the time information consists of a longer binary sequence, and the time information includes several bits at a high position and several bits at a low position. Among them, the several bits at a low position need to be detected frequently, while the several bits at a high position only need to be detected (or changed) within a very long time interval. In this case, the several bits at a high position are sent through other frames at a lower frequency. For example, the several bits at a high position are sent through the first information. In a WiFi system, the first information can be at least one of a Beacon frame, a data frame, a management frame, a control frame, and an association frame. In a cellular network, the first information can be at least one of broadcast information, RRC signaling, MAC CE signaling, and DCI signaling. Optionally, the several bits at a low position are sent through the first sequence, and the first device can obtain part of the time information through sequence detection without the need to frequently perform demodulation and decoding frame operations, thereby reducing the energy consumption of the first device.

[0200] In some embodiments, the time information includes n1 bits, and the first sequence is used to indicate n2 bits located at low bits among the n1 bits, where n2 is smaller than n1, and both n1 and n2 are positive integers.

[0201] Schematically, as shown in Figure 9, the time information includes n1 bits, and the second device uses the Beacon1 frame for broadcasting. The Beacon1 frame contains the n1-n2 bits of time information 1 and time information 2 at the high position. After a period of time, the second device sends the first sequence 1 to the first device. The first sequence 1 is used to indicate the n2 bits at the low position in time information 1. After a period of time, the second device sends the first sequence 2 to the first device. The first sequence 2 is used to indicate the n2 bits at the low position in time information 2. That is, the Beacon1 frame and the first sequence 1 jointly carry the bit information in time information 1, and the Beacon1 frame and the first sequence 2 jointly carry the bit information in time information 2.

[0202] In some embodiments, the first device receives first information sent by the second device, where the first information indicates n1-n2 bits located in high order among n1 bits. Optionally, the first information is sent less frequently than the first sequence.

[0203] In some embodiments, n1-n2 high-order bits of the time information are sent to the first device via first information, and n2 low-order bits of the time information are sent via a first sequence.

[0204] Solution 3: All the time information is indicated by combining multiple first sequences.

[0205] In some embodiments, all the time information can be carried by multiple first sequences, wherein the first sequence is at least one of an m sequence and a Gold sequence.

[0206] Exemplarily, the first sequence set includes 16 candidate sequences as the first sequence for transmitting time information. As shown in Table 3 above, the code point corresponding to the 4-bit time information has 16 value conditions, and a first sequence can indicate a code point in the 4-bit time information. In some embodiments, taking 8 bits of time information as an example, two first sequences are required to jointly indicate the time information. Each of the two first sequences is used to indicate 4 bits of the 8-bit time information. For example, first sequence 1 is used to indicate the upper 4 bits of the 8 bits, and first sequence 2 is used to indicate the lower 4 bits of the 8 bits.

[0207] In some embodiments, a first time interval exists between two adjacent first sequences among the n first sequences used to jointly indicate the same time information. In some embodiments, the n first sequences used to indicate the same time information belong to the same time window, and a second time interval exists between different time windows. Optionally, the time windows are relatively far apart, and the second time interval is greater than the first time interval.

[0208] Schematically, as shown in Figure 10, a first sequence is sent respectively at two relatively close time units, and the two first sequences respectively represent a part of the time information. For example, the first first sequence is used to represent 1010, and the second first sequence is used to represent 0101. The time information commonly indicated by the two first sequences is 10100101, and the two first sequences belong to the same time window.

[0209] In some embodiments, the two first sequences may be sequences in the same sequence group, or the two first sequences may be sequences in different sequence groups.

[0210] In some embodiments, multiple first sequences can be used to jointly indicate a single piece of time information. For example, n first sequences are used to jointly indicate a single piece of time information. The n first sequences are from n sequence groups, the i-th first sequence is a sequence in the i-th sequence group, and n is an integer greater than 1. As shown in FIG11 , four first sequences are from four sequence groups. The first first sequence "m-sequence 1" is a sequence in the first sequence group, the second first sequence "m-sequence 6" is a sequence in the second sequence group, the third first sequence "m-sequence 12" is a sequence in the third sequence group, and the fourth first sequence "m-sequence 30" is a sequence in the fourth sequence group.

[0211] In some embodiments, multiple first sequences can be used to carry all of the time information. Optionally, the time information is jointly indicated by n first sequences, where n is a positive integer greater than 1. In some embodiments, each first sequence is used to indicate a bit segment of the time information.

[0212] 11 , each sequence group includes multiple m-sequences. The first sequence group includes m-sequence 1, m-sequence 2, m-sequence 3, and m-sequence 4; the second sequence group includes m-sequence 5, m-sequence 6, m-sequence 7, and m-sequence 8, etc. In time domain units with similar time, the second device selects a first sequence from the multiple sequence groups based on its own transmission requirements (i.e., time information to be transmitted) and sends it to the first device. For example, m-sequence 1 is selected from the first sequence group, m-sequence 6 is selected from the second sequence group, m-sequence 12 is selected from the third sequence group, and m-sequence 30 is selected from the fourth sequence group. m-sequence 1, m-sequence 6, m-sequence 12, and m-sequence 30 are respectively used to indicate a bit segment (each bit segment has 4 bits) in the time information. m-sequence 1, m-sequence 6, m-sequence 12, and m-sequence 30 jointly indicate the time information. For example, m-sequence 1 is 1010, m-sequence 6 is 0101, m-sequence 12 is 0001, and m-sequence 30 is 1120, and the time information is 1010010100011110.

[0213] In some embodiments, the bit segments indicated by each first sequence have the same number of bits. For example, in FIG11 , the bit segments indicated by each first sequence have 4 bits. In some embodiments, among the n first sequences, at least two first sequences indicate bit segments with different numbers of bits. For example, the bit segment indicated by first sequence 1 has 2 bits, and the bit segment indicated by first sequence 2 has 4 bits.

[0214] In some embodiments, among the n first sequences, there are at least two first sequences with different sequence lengths.

[0215] In some embodiments, when n first sequences are used to jointly indicate the same time information, more efficient time information transmission can be achieved by combining the number of bits of the bit segments indicated by the first sequences in different sequence groups. Exemplarily, taking n as 2 as an example, that is, two first sequences are used to jointly indicate the time information. Optionally, the two first sequences come from two sequence groups respectively, the first sequence 1 is a sequence in the first sequence group, and the first sequence 2 is a sequence in the second sequence group. Each sequence group can contain a different number of sequences, for example, the first sequence group includes 6 sequences, and the second sequence group includes 22 sequences. There are 132 possible sequence combinations of the first sequence group and the second sequence group, and the number of bits of time information that can be indicated is In the two first sequences, the sequence lengths of the first sequences can be the same, for example, the sequence lengths of first sequence 1 and first sequence 2 are both 31; the sequence lengths of first sequence 1 can be different, for example, the sequence length of first sequence 1 is 15 and the sequence length of first sequence 2 is 31.

[0216] In some embodiments, there is a correlation between the n first sequences used to jointly indicate the same time information. The correlation can be determined by a time window. The n first sequences detected within the same time window are considered to be correlated because the time interval between the n first sequences within the same time window is short. With reference to FIG10 , the intervals between different time windows are relatively far. This obvious time interval can help eliminate situations that may cause correlation ambiguity and ensure that the first sequences within each time window are correctly correlated. Optionally, there is a correlation between the n first sequences. The correlation can be determined by a sequence set. The first sequences sent at different times can be derived from different sequence sets. Each sequence set may contain sequences with certain correlations or common attributes. By deriving the sequences sent at different times from different sequence sets, the correlation between them can be determined based on the set to which the sequences belong.

[0217] In some embodiments, different second devices use different sequence sets, each sequence set includes n sequence groups, and the n sequence groups in different sequence sets do not overlap. In some embodiments, the n sequence groups belonging to the same sequence set have a corresponding relationship.

[0218] In some embodiments, time information is jointly indicated by n first sequences. Since the n sequence groups belonging to the same sequence set have a corresponding relationship, information about the (i+1)th sequence group to which first sequence i+1 belongs can be determined based on the (i)th sequence group to which first sequence i belongs. Information about the (i+1)th sequence group includes the length, number, sequence number, generation method, etc. of the sequences in the sequence group. For example, information about the second sequence group to which first sequence 2 belongs can be determined based on the first sequence group to which first sequence 1 belongs. For example, the correlation between the first sequence group to which first sequence 1 belongs and the second sequence group to which first sequence 2 belongs can be used to determine a candidate sequence (i.e., a candidate sequence in the second sequence group) when detecting first sequence 2.

[0219] Schematically, as shown in FIG12 , multiple first sequences are used to jointly indicate time information. The n first sequences come from n sequence groups, and the i-th first sequence is a sequence in the i-th sequence group. Optionally, the first, second, third, and fourth sequence groups have an association relationship of 1, and the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth sequence groups have an association relationship of 2. Optionally, after receiving m-sequence 1, the first device determines, based on the first sequence group to which m-sequence 1 belongs, that the sequence group to which the next sequence belongs is the second sequence group. The next sequence (i.e., m-sequence 12) is then detected using each candidate sequence in the second sequence group. In this case, detection only requires the use of 10 candidate sequences in the second sequence group, with a blind detection count of 10. Optionally, after receiving gold sequence 1, the first device determines, based on the fifth sequence group to which gold sequence 1 belongs, that the sequence group to which the next sequence belongs is the sixth sequence group. The next sequence is then detected using each candidate sequence in the sixth sequence group. In this case, detection only requires the use of 10 candidate sequences in the sixth sequence group, with a blind detection count of 10. Compared with the solution of directly using all candidate sequences (dozens or hundreds) to blindly detect the next sequence, the complexity of blind detection can be significantly reduced.

[0220] Solution 4: Multiple first sequences jointly indicate part of the time information.

[0221] In some embodiments, the time information consists of a longer binary sequence, and the time information includes several bits at a high position and several bits at a low position. Among them, the several bits at a low position need to be detected frequently, while the several bits at a high position need to be detected only within a very long time interval. In this case, the several bits at a high position are sent through other frames at a lower frequency. For example, the several bits at a high position are sent through the first information. In a WiFi system, the first information may be at least one of a beacona frame, a data frame, a management frame, a control frame, and an association frame. In a cellular network, the first information may be at least one of broadcast information, RRC signaling, MAC CE signaling, and DCI signaling. Optionally, the several bits at a low position are sent through the first sequence, and the first device can obtain part of the time information by means of sequence detection without the need to frequently perform demodulation and decoding frame operations, thereby reducing the energy consumption of the first device.

[0222] In some embodiments, the time information includes n1 bits, and at least two first sequences are used to jointly indicate n2 bits located in the lower order of the n1 bits, where n2 is less than n1, and both n1 and n2 are positive integers. Optionally, the number of bits indicated by the at least two first sequences is the same, or the number of bits indicated by the at least two first sequences is different. In some embodiments, a first device receives first information sent by a second device, where the first information is used to indicate n1-n2 bits located in the upper order of the n1 bits.

[0223] Schematically, as shown in Figure 13, the time information includes n1 bits, and the second device uses the Beacon1 frame for broadcasting. The Beacon1 frame contains n1-n2 bits of time information in the high position. After a period of time, the second device sends the first sequence 1 to the first device, and the first sequence 1 is used to indicate the n2 / 2 bits in the low position in the time information 1. After a period of time, the second device sends the first sequence 2 to the first device, and the first sequence 2 is used to indicate the n2 / 2 bits in the low position in the time information 2, that is, the Beacon1 frame, the first sequence 1 and the first sequence 2 jointly carry the bit information in the time information 1, wherein the first sequence 1 and the first sequence 2 jointly indicate the time information in the low position, and the number of bits indicated by the first sequence 1 and the first sequence 2 may be the same or different.

[0224] In some embodiments, the first sequence is used to indicate all or part of the time information. If the first sequence is used to transmit the entire time information, a large number of first sequences are required, which limits the detection capability of the first device. Therefore, the transmission efficiency of time information can be improved by reducing the amount of time information carried by the first sequence, thereby meeting the detection requirements of the first device. The amount of time information carried by the first sequence can be reduced in the following three ways.

[0225] The granularity of time information.

[0226] First granularity: In some embodiments, the granularity of the time information is microseconds. In related art, the time information field in the Beacon frame includes 8 bytes, 64 bits, and the unit of microseconds can be 0 to 2 64 Time is measured in the range of microseconds. This means that the range of time that can be represented is very wide, but it also requires a large number of bits to represent the time within this range. To reduce the number of bits used in time information, the resolution of the time information can be reduced, that is, the granularity of the time unit indicated by the time information can be increased.

[0227] Second granularity: In some embodiments, the time granularity of the time information is greater than microseconds. For example, the time unit can be adjusted to milliseconds or larger, such as a time unit (TU). This has the advantage of reducing the number of bits required for time information, thereby reducing the number of sequences required to indicate time information and saving communication resources.

[0228] The time range indicated by the time information.

[0229] In some embodiments, the time information is used to indicate a time within a first time range. The first time range is the span between the minimum time information and the maximum time information. In related art, the timestamp field in the Beacon frame includes 8 bytes, 64 bits, and can be expressed in microseconds in 2 64 The time range that can be indicated is about 580,000 years. Such a time range is too large, and the timing range is too long for a zero-power device. Zero-power devices generally cannot guarantee continuous long-term operation. When they are out of power, they cannot receive timestamp information and maintain the local TSF timer. At the same time, receiving 64-bit timestamp information itself will cause the zero-power device to consume power, which is not conducive to energy saving. Therefore, the embodiment of the present application reduces the size of the first time range based on the working characteristics of the first device.

[0230] In some embodiments, in a WiFi communication system, the first time range is an integer multiple of a broadcast frame transmission period; or, the first time range is an integer multiple of a target wake time (TWT) period; or, the first time range is an integer multiple of a restricted access window (RAW) length; or, the first time range is the length of a service period (SP). In some embodiments, in a cellular communication system, the first time range is an integer multiple of a radio frame; or, the first time range is an integer multiple of a subframe; or, the first time range is an integer multiple of a slot; or, the first time range is an integer multiple of a symbol.

[0231] The embodiment of the present application is described by taking an AMP STA as a first device and an AMP AP as a second device in a WiFi communication system as an example.

[0232] Time range indication mode 1: The first time range is an integer multiple of the broadcast frame sending period;

[0233] In some embodiments, the first time range is a time range that can be indicated by the time information. Optionally, the first time range is a preset or pre-set time range.

[0234] In related technologies, Beacon frames are sent periodically. Beacon frames can carry Beacon interval information to indicate the time interval for sending Beacon frames, that is, the transmission period of the Beacon frames. Optionally, Beacon frames can carry communication-related parameters within the transmission period, which are used by the associated AMP STA to communicate with the AMP AP based on the communication-related parameters. Optionally, when an AMP STA wakes up within a transmission period, it can obtain its current time position based on the time information indicated by the first sequence, thereby aligning itself with the AMP AP in time and achieving time synchronization.

[0235] In some embodiments, the first device receives a first sequence sent by the second device, where the first sequence is used to carry time information. The first device obtains the current time position of the time information through the first sequence.

[0236] In some embodiments, the transmission period information is typically represented by two bytes, which are used to indicate the number of Time Units (TUs). One TU represents 1024 microseconds. Therefore, by indicating the number of TUs, the time interval for sending Beacon frames can be determined. For example, if the transmission period is set to 100 TUs, the transmission period of each Beacon frame is 100 TUs multiplied by 1.024 milliseconds / TU, that is, a Beacon frame is sent every 100 milliseconds (or 0.1 seconds).

[0237] In some embodiments, the number of bits corresponding to the time information corresponds to the duration of the Beacon frame's transmission period. For example, if the first time range is 1 times the broadcast frame's transmission period, and the time unit indicated by the time information is also TUs, then the Beacon frame's transmission period is 100 TUs. Therefore, the time information can be 7 bits, meaning that the first time range indicated by the time information is 0-100 TUs.

[0238] In some embodiments, the first time range corresponding to the time information can be an integer multiple of the Beacon frame transmission period. This means that the time range represented by the time information can exactly cover the duration of the entire Beacon frame transmission period. This time range is much smaller than the time range used in related technologies, so the number of bits required for time information is much smaller, and the number of sequences used to indicate time information is also smaller. The time information carried by the first sequence can specifically indicate specific time information within the range of the Nth transmission period.

[0239] In some embodiments, the timing range of the TSF timer inside the AMP STA is the first time range corresponding to the time information. Optionally, when the AMP STA receives the first sequence sent by the AMP AP, the first sequence carries the time information. The internal TSF timer saves the time information indicated by the first sequence and updates the time of the current AMP STA according to the time information indicated by the first sequence to complete time synchronization.

[0240] In some embodiments, the first time range (TSF timer timing range) can be an integer multiple of the transmission period of the Beacon frame. Take the example that the first time range corresponding to the time information is N times the transmission period of the Beacon frame. Schematically, as shown in Figure 14, one transmission period of the Beacon frame contains 100 TUs. Under the transmission period of N Beacon frames, the first time range corresponding to the time information contains 100N TUs. The second device sends time information to the first device, and the time information is carried by the first sequence. The first sequence indicates that the time information is the 20th TU. The TSF timer inside the first device obtains the current time information through the first sequence and is updated according to the time information.

[0241] Time range indication method 2: The first time range is an integer multiple of the TWT period;

[0242] In some embodiments, the first time range is a time range that can be indicated by the time information. Optionally, the first time range is a preset or pre-set time range.

[0243] In some embodiments, when the TWT period negotiated by the AMP STA and the AMP AP arrives, the AMP STA switches from the sleep state to the awake state and waits for the AMP AP to send a trigger frame. After the AMP AP sends a trigger frame to the AMP STA, data is exchanged between the AMP STA and the AMP AP. The time period for data exchange is called the TWT service period (TWT SP), which is the time period for data exchange in the TWT time period. After completing this data exchange, the AMP STA can enter the sleep state again to maintain a low power consumption state. This design mechanism can improve the energy saving efficiency of the first device.

[0244] In some embodiments, during the time period when the AMP STA and the AMP AP are exchanging data, the AMP AP may send a first sequence set to the AMP STA, where the first sequence set carries all or part of the time information. During the TWT period, the AMP STA obtains the time information within the TWT period through the first sequence in the first sequence set and completes time synchronization with the AMP AP based on the time information indicated by the first sequence.

[0245] In some embodiments, the first time range corresponding to the time information can be an integer multiple of the TWT period. This means that the time range represented by the time information can exactly cover the entire TWT period. This time range is much smaller than the time range used in related arts, so the number of bits required for the time information is much smaller, and the number of sequences used to indicate the time information is also relatively small.

[0246] The first time range (TSF timer timing range) can be an integer multiple of the TWT period. Take the case where the first time range corresponding to the time information is 3 times the TWT period as an example for explanation. Schematically, as shown in Figure 15, during the data exchange time period of the first period, the AMP AP sends a first sequence to the AMP STA. The first sequence is used to indicate a time information within the first period. The AMP STA completes time synchronization with the AMP AP based on the time information indicated by the first sequence.

[0247] Time range indication method three: The first time range is an integer multiple of the RAW length;

[0248] In some embodiments, the first time range is a time range indicated by the time information. Optionally, the first time range is a preset or pre-set time range.

[0249] In some embodiments, RAWs are introduced to mitigate channel access conflicts. Each RAW represents a preset time period during which only a subset of AMP STAs are allowed to access and use the channel for data transmission. Optionally, each RAW can be divided into one or more smaller time intervals, known as time slots. An AMP STA is assigned to a preset time slot for channel access and data transmission, while access and data transmission are prohibited in other time slots. This prevents collisions and conflicts caused by multiple AMP STAs accessing the channel simultaneously.

[0250] In some embodiments, when an AMP STA transmits data in a preset time slot, the AMP AP may send a first sequence to the AMP STA. Within the RAW, the AMP STA obtains the RAW's time information through the first sequence and completes time synchronization with the AMP AP based on the time information indicated by the first sequence. In some embodiments, the first time range is an integer multiple of the RAW length. This means that the time range represented by the time information should be completely contained within a RAW period, and the first time range of the time information is an integer multiple of the RAW length. The first sequence can be used to indicate time information within the RAW range, helping different AMP STAs transmit data at the correct time.

[0251] In some embodiments, the first time range (TSF timer timing range) can be an integer multiple of the RAW length. Take the example that the first time range corresponding to the time information is 1 times the RAW length. Schematically, as shown in Figure 16, the RAW is divided into four time slots. In the second time slot, the AMP AP and the AMP STA perform data transmission. The AMP AP sends a data frame carrying a first sequence to the AMP STA. The first sequence is used to indicate a time information in the RAW. Through the indication of the first sequence, the AMP STA can accurately determine its position in the RAW and perform corresponding operations according to the time information to avoid collisions and conflicts between different AMP STAs.

[0252] Time range indication method four: The first time range is the length of the SP.

[0253] In some embodiments, the first time range is a time range indicated by the time information. Optionally, the first time range is a preset or pre-set time range.

[0254] In related technologies, the Automatic Power Save Delivery (APSD) mode is designed based on 802.11e. When an AMP STA occupies a channel, it can occupy the channel for a period of time, which is the service time (SP). The AMP STA can transmit multiple data frames within the SP to achieve multiple transmissions in one competition. This mechanism helps reduce channel competition and conflicts, improve network throughput and transmission efficiency, and also reduce the power consumption of the AMP STA. Optionally, in APSD, depending on the working mode, it can be divided into two working modes: scheduled APSD (Scheduled APSD, S-APSD) and unscheduled APSD (U-APSD).

[0255] For illustration, the example in which the first time range corresponding to the time information is 1 times the length of the maximum SP is used. As shown schematically in Figure 17, in U-APSD mode, the AMP STA can send a trigger frame as needed to wake up the service time, and then perform data transmission within the service time. The AMP STA sends a trigger frame to wake up the service time, and the AMP AP returns an ACK (Acknowledgement) frame and a data frame to the AMP STA. During the service time, the AMP STA and the AMP AP continue to exchange data until all data in the AMP AP's buffer is sent. When the AMP AP sends the last data frame and annotates it with EOSP (End of Service Period), the service time ends. Furthermore, the maximum service time length pre-negotiated between the AMP AP and the AMP STA is used to limit the maximum duration of a service time. Optionally, the data frame carries a first sequence that indicates time information within the service time. The AMP STA obtains the time information of the service time through the first sequence in the data frame and synchronizes with the AMP AP based on the time information indicated by the first sequence. In some embodiments, the first time range indicated by the time information is the length of the service time.

[0256] Take the example that the first time range corresponding to the time information is 1 times the length of the maximum SP. Schematically, as shown in Figure 18, in the S-APSD mode, the service time is pre-scheduled. When the scheduled time is about to arrive, the AMP AP will send a trigger frame, and the AMP STA will also wake up in advance to receive the trigger frame, thereby starting a service time. During the service time, data can be continuously exchanged between the AMP AP and the AMP STA. The AMP AP carries a first sequence through a data frame, and the first sequence is used to indicate a time information within the service time. The AMP STA obtains a time information within the service time through the first sequence in the data frame, and completes the time synchronization with the AMP AP according to the time information indicated by the first sequence.

[0257] It should be noted that the first time range described above can be determined based on the type or capabilities of the AMP STA served by the AMP AP, such as the AMP STA's energy storage capability, energy harvesting capability, or energy harvesting method, which can determine the duration of the STA's single operation. To this end, during the association process, the AMP STA can report capability information to the AMP AP, and the AMP AP determines the time range corresponding to the indication timestamp information.

[0258] First-order modulation

[0259] In some embodiments, the first sequence adopts one of OOK modulation, PSK modulation, BPSK modulation and FSK modulation.

[0260] Modulation mode 1: The first sequence adopts OOK modulation mode;

[0261] In some embodiments, the modulation mode of the first sequence is OOK modulation, and sequence elements with values ​​of 1 and 0 in the first sequence correspond to a high level and a low level in the OOK sequence, respectively. For example, a sequence element with a value of 1 in the first sequence corresponds to a high level in the OOK sequence, and a sequence element with a value of 0 in the first sequence corresponds to a low level in the OOK sequence; or, a sequence element with a value of 1 in the first sequence corresponds to a low level in the OOK sequence, and a sequence element with a value of 0 in the first sequence corresponds to a high level in the OOK sequence.

[0262] Modulation mode 2: The first sequence adopts PSK modulation mode;

[0263] In some embodiments, the modulation mode of the first sequence is PSK modulation, and sequence elements with values ​​of 1 and 0 in the first sequence correspond to phase continuity (+1) and phase jumps (0 or -1) in the PSK sequence, respectively. For example, sequence elements with values ​​of 1 in the first sequence correspond to phase continuity (+1) in the PSK sequence, and sequence elements with values ​​of 0 in the first sequence correspond to phase jumps (0 or -1) in the PSK sequence; or, sequence elements with values ​​of 1 in the first sequence correspond to phase jumps (0 or -1) in the PSK sequence, and sequence elements with values ​​of 0 in the first sequence correspond to phase continuity (+1) in the PSK sequence.

[0264] Modulation mode 3: The first sequence adopts BPSK modulation mode;

[0265] In some embodiments, the modulation mode of the first sequence is BPSK modulation, and sequence elements with values ​​of 1 and 0 in the first sequence correspond to a positive level (+1) and a negative level (-1) in the BPSK sequence, respectively. For example, a sequence element with a value of 1 in the first sequence corresponds to a positive level (+1) in the BPSK sequence, and a sequence element with a value of 0 in the first sequence corresponds to a negative level (-1) in the BPSK sequence; or, a sequence element with a value of 1 in the first sequence corresponds to a negative level (-1) in the BPSK sequence, and a sequence element with a value of 0 in the WUS sequence corresponds to a positive level (+1) in the BPSK sequence.

[0266] Modulation mode 4: The first sequence adopts FSK modulation mode;

[0267] In some embodiments, the modulation mode of the first sequence is FSK modulation, and sequence elements with values ​​of 1 and 0 in the first sequence correspond to two carrier frequencies of the FSK sequence, respectively. For example, a sequence element with a value of 1 in the first sequence corresponds to carrier frequency 1 of the FSK sequence, and a sequence element with a value of 0 in the first sequence corresponds to carrier frequency 0 of the FSK sequence; or, a sequence element with a value of 1 in the first sequence corresponds to carrier frequency 0 of the FSK sequence, and a sequence element with a value of 0 in the first sequence corresponds to carrier frequency 1 of the FSK sequence.

[0268] How to send the first sequence

[0269] In some embodiments, in a WiFi communication system, the first sequence includes being sent alone, or being sent as part of a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU), or being sent as part of a null data physical layer protocol data unit (NDP).

[0270] The embodiment of the present application is described by taking an AMP STA as a first device and an AMP AP as a second device in a WiFi communication system as an example.

[0271] Sending method 1: The first sequence is sent separately;

[0272] In some embodiments, the first sequence may be sent separately and carries all or part of the time information.

[0273] Transmission mode 2: The first sequence is sent as part of the PPDU;

[0274] In some embodiments, the first sequence can be sent as part of a PPDU frame. The PPDU frame includes a physical layer header and a data part. The physical layer header includes three parts: a short training field (STF), a long training field (LTF), and a signal (SIGNAL) field. The STF field consists of 10 short symbols and is used to achieve frame synchronization and coarse frequency synchronization. The LTF field is used to achieve detailed frequency synchronization and channel estimation. The symbols of the LTF field are used by the AMP STA to perform frequency calibration and estimate the channel in order to correctly decode the data part. The SIGNAL field carries some important information related to the data part. The SIGNAL field includes data transmission rate, data length information, reserved bits, and tail bits.

[0275] In some embodiments, the first sequence is sent as part of the PPDU or as a newly added field. Optionally, the first sequence is sent as a (newly added) field after the STF field of the PPDU, or the first sequence is sent as a (newly added) field after the LTF field of the PPDU, or the first sequence is sent as a (newly added) field after the SIGNAL field of the PPDU. Illustratively, as shown in FIG19 , a newly added field after the SIGNAL field is used to carry the first sequence, and the first sequence carries all or part of the time information.

[0276] Transmission method three: The first sequence is sent as part of NDP.

[0277] In some embodiments, the PPDU is an NDP frame.

[0278] In some embodiments, the NDP frame is used to carry control information or perform measurements, but does not contain data. With reference to Figure 20, the NDP frame includes a physical layer preamble and a physical layer header, but does not have a MAC frame header and a MAC service data unit (MSDU). Optionally, the physical layer preamble includes an STF field and an LTF field, and the physical layer header is a SIGNAL field. Optionally, the first sequence is sent as a field in the physical layer header of the NDP frame, for example, by placing the first sequence in a field after the SIGNAL field for transmission.

[0279] In some embodiments, in a cellular communication system, the first sequence is sent as a synchronization signal, or the first sequence is sent as a reference signal, which is not limited in the present application.

[0280] It should be noted that Schemes 1 to 4 may use the first or second granularity of the time information granularity, may use any of the time range indication modes 1 to 4, may use any of the first sequence transmission modes, and may use any of the modulation modes 1 to 4. The above-mentioned components may be freely combined for implementation. This application does not impose any restrictions on this.

[0281] FIG21 shows a block diagram of a device for receiving time information provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application. The device 1600 includes: a receiving module 1620 .

[0282] The receiving module 1620 is configured to receive a first sequence, where the first sequence is used to indicate all or part of the time information.

[0283] In some embodiments, the receiving module 1620 includes at least one of the following devices: a zero-power device, a low-power device, an ultra-low-power device, an AMP device, an A-IOT device, a passive IoT device, and a station STA. It can also be understood that the receiving module 1620 supports at least one of the following communication modes: zero-power communication, low-power communication, ultra-low-power communication, passive IoT communication, AMP communication, WiFi communication, and cellular communication.

[0284] In some embodiments, the first sequence is at least one of an m-sequence and a Gold sequence. It should be noted that the types of first sequences provided herein are not limited to m-sequences and Gold sequences. Other pseudo-random sequences with excellent autocorrelation and / or cross-correlation are also applicable to the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application. For example, the first sequence may also be at least one of a Walsh sequence and a ZC sequence.

[0285] In some embodiments, the first sequence is used to indicate all or part of the time information. In some embodiments, the time information may be timestamp information of a WiFi system, or time information in a 3GPP cellular system measured in any of the following units: system frame, radio frame, subframe, time slot, symbol group, or symbol, such as a system frame number (SFN).

[0286] In some embodiments, the second device sends a first sequence to the receiving module 1620. The first sequence sent by the second device can be a pseudo-random sequence such as an m-sequence or a gold sequence, and the first sequence carries all or part of the information in the time information. The receiving module 1620 can detect the correlation of the first sequence and use the autocorrelation of the first sequence to identify the first (target) sequence. Optionally, the receiving module 1620 compares the received first sequence with a known candidate sequence, calculates the correlation between them, and outputs a correlation peak. Each candidate sequence is used to indicate all or part of a type of time information, and different candidate sequences are used to indicate all or part of different time information.

[0287] Optionally, if the first sequence received by receiving module 1620 is the target sequence (one of the candidate sequences), the output correlation peak is higher; otherwise, the output correlation peak is lower. In this way, receiving module 1620 can identify the first sequence as the target sequence and extract the time information indicated by the first sequence based on the time information corresponding to the target sequence.

[0288] In some embodiments, the first sequence adopts at least one of On-Off Keying (OOK) modulation, Phase Shift Keying (PSK) modulation, Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK) modulation, and Frequency Shift Keying (FSK) modulation.

[0289] In some embodiments, the first sequence belongs to a first sequence set, and different second devices correspond to different sequence sets.

[0290] In some embodiments, the information of the first sequence set is indicated by a Beacon frame, or indicated by a probe response frame, or indicated by an association response frame, or determined based on relevant information of the second device.

[0291] In some embodiments, information of the first sequence set is indicated by a system message, or indicated by RRC signaling, or indicated by MAC layer control information, or indicated by physical layer control information, or determined based on a cell ID.

[0292] The indication method of the information of the first sequence set is described in the previous “In the embodiment of the present application, the following implementation method is provided for indicating the first sequence set”, and will not be repeated in this embodiment.

[0293] In some embodiments, the information of the first sequence set includes at least one of the following: an identifier of the sequence set, m basic sequences, the number of m sequences, a cyclic shift offset, a Gold sequence group, a Gold sequence generation method, and the number of Gold sequences.

[0294] In some embodiments, the receiving module 1620 is further configured to receive first information, where the first information is configured to indicate n1-n2 bits located at high positions among the n1 bits.

[0295] In some embodiments, the time information consists of a longer binary sequence, which includes several bits in the high order and several bits in the low order. Among them, the several bits in the low order need to be detected frequently, while the several bits in the high order only need to be detected (or changed) within a very long time interval. In this case, the several bits in the high order are sent at a lower frequency through other frames, for example, the several bits in the high order are sent through the first information. In a WiFi system, the first information can be at least one of a Beacon frame, a data frame, a management frame, a control frame, and an association frame. In a cellular network, the first information can be at least one of broadcast information, RRC signaling, MAC CE signaling, and DCI signaling. Optionally, the several bits in the low order are sent through the first sequence, and the first device can obtain part of the time information through sequence detection without the need to frequently perform demodulation and decoding frame operations, thereby reducing the energy consumption of the receiving module 1620.

[0296] In some embodiments, the time information includes n1 bits, and the first sequence is used to indicate n2 bits located at low bits among the n1 bits, where n2 is smaller than n1, and both n1 and n2 are positive integers.

[0297] In some embodiments, the receiving module 1620 receives first information sent by the second device, where the first information indicates n1-n2 bits located in high order among n1 bits. Optionally, the first information is sent less frequently than the first sequence.

[0298] In some embodiments, the high-order bits of the time information are sent to the receiving module 1620 via the first information, and the low-order bits of the time information are sent via a first sequence.

[0299] In some embodiments, the time information is jointly indicated by n first sequences.

[0300] In some embodiments, each first sequence is used to indicate a bit segment in the time information.

[0301] In some embodiments, among the n first sequences, there are at least two first sequences indicating bit segments with different numbers of bits.

[0302] In some embodiments, the bit segments indicated by each first sequence have the same number of bits.

[0303] In some embodiments, among the n first sequences, there are at least two first sequences with different sequence lengths.

[0304] In some embodiments, the n first sequences are from n sequence groups, and the i-th first sequence is a sequence in the i-th sequence group.

[0305] In some embodiments, there is a first time interval between two adjacent first sequences among the n first sequences.

[0306] In some embodiments, the n first sequences indicating the same time information belong to the same time window, and there is a second time interval between different time windows.

[0307] In some embodiments, there is a corresponding relationship among the n sequence groups.

[0308] Among them, the manner in which the time information is jointly indicated by n first sequences is described in the previous sections “Scheme 3: Jointly indicating all information of the time information by multiple first sequences” and “Scheme 4: Jointly indicating part of the time information by multiple first sequences”, and will not be repeated in this embodiment.

[0309] In some embodiments, the time granularity of the time information is greater than microseconds. Please refer to the above description of the “granularity of time information” and this embodiment will not be repeated.

[0310] In some embodiments, the time information is used to indicate a time within the first time range.

[0311] In some embodiments, the first time range is an integer multiple of the transmission period of the broadcast frame; or, the first time range is an integer multiple of the TWT period; or, the first time range is an integer multiple of the RAW length; or, the first time range is the length of the SP.

[0312] In some embodiments, the first time range is an integer multiple of a radio frame; or, the first time range is an integer multiple of a subframe; or, the first time range is an integer multiple of a time slot; or, the first time range is an integer multiple of a symbol.

[0313] Among them, please refer to the introduction in the previous section "Time range indicated by time information" for the indication method of the first time range, which will not be repeated in this embodiment.

[0314] In some embodiments, the first time range is a preset or preconfigured time range.

[0315] In some embodiments, the first sequence adopts one of OOK modulation, PSK modulation, BPSK modulation and FSK modulation. Please refer to the introduction in the previous section "Modulation mode of the first sequence", which will not be repeated in this embodiment.

[0316] In some embodiments, the first sequence may be sent alone. In some embodiments, the first sequence is sent as part of a PPDU. In some embodiments, the first sequence is sent as a field in the physical layer header of the PPDU. In some embodiments, the first sequence is sent as a synchronization signal, or as a reference signal. In some embodiments, the PPDU is an NDP frame.

[0317] The sending method is described in “the sending method of the first sequence” and will not be described in detail in the embodiment.

[0318] To sum up, the device provided in the embodiment of the present application receives a first sequence, and the first sequence is used to indicate all or part of the time information. Compared with the traditional timestamp information that requires encoding and decoding 8 bytes totaling 64 bits, the first device can detect the relevant process of the first sequence with less power consumption. By carrying all or part of the time information in the first sequence, the power consumption of the first device in the process of receiving time information and maintaining synchronization can be effectively reduced.

[0319] FIG22 shows a block diagram of a device for receiving time information provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application. The device 1700 includes: a sending module 1720 .

[0320] The sending module 1720 is configured to send a first sequence, where the first sequence is used to indicate all or part of the time information.

[0321] In some embodiments, sending module 1720 is a device that transmits time information. Alternatively, sending module 1720 may be a network device, or another type of terminal device. For example, in a WiFi communication system, sending module 1720 may be an AMP (Activity Programming Access Point) or a power supply device (i.e., a network device) that provides time information to terminal devices. In a cellular system, sending module 1720 may be a base station, power supply device, or user equipment (UE) (i.e., a terminal device) that provides time information to other terminal devices. The power supply device may be a device that provides energy to the first device.

[0322] The embodiments of the present application are applicable to at least one of the following communication scenarios: zero-power communication, low-power communication, ultra-low-power communication, passive Internet of Things communication, AMP communication, WiFi communication, and cellular communication.

[0323] In some embodiments, the sending module 1720 sends a first sequence to the first device. Optionally, the first sequence is at least one of an m-sequence and a Gold sequence. It should be noted that the types of first sequences provided herein are not limited to m-sequences and Gold sequences. Other sequences with excellent autocorrelation and / or cross-correlation are also applicable to the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application. For example, the first sequence may also be at least one of a Walsh sequence and a ZC sequence.

[0324] In some embodiments, the first sequence is used to indicate all or part of the time information. In some embodiments, the time information may be timestamp information of a WiFi system, or information such as a system frame, radio frame, subframe, time slot, symbol group, or symbol in a 3GPP cellular system, such as a system frame number (SFN).

[0325] In some embodiments, the sending module 1720 sends a first sequence to the first device. The first sequence sent by the sending module 1720 may be a pseudo-random sequence such as an m-sequence or a gold sequence. The first sequence carries all or part of the time information.

[0326] In some embodiments, the first sequence adopts at least one of OOK modulation, PSK modulation, BPSK modulation, and FSK modulation.

[0327] In some embodiments, the first sequence belongs to a first sequence set, and different second devices correspond to different sequence sets.

[0328] In some embodiments, the information of the first sequence set is indicated by a Beacon frame, or indicated by a probe response frame, or indicated by an association response frame, or determined based on relevant information of the second device.

[0329] In some embodiments, information of the first sequence set is indicated by a system message, or indicated by RRC signaling, or indicated by MAC layer control information, or indicated by physical layer control information, or determined based on a cell ID.

[0330] The indication method of the information of the first sequence set is described in the previous “In the embodiment of the present application, the following implementation method is provided for indicating the first sequence set”, and will not be repeated in this embodiment.

[0331] In some embodiments, the information of the first sequence set includes at least one of the following: an identifier of the sequence set, m basic sequences, the number of m sequences, a cyclic shift offset, a Gold sequence group, a Gold sequence generation method, and the number of Gold sequences.

[0332] In some embodiments, the sending module 1720 is further used to send first information, where the first information is used to indicate n1-n2 bits located at high positions among the n1 bits.

[0333] In some embodiments, the time information consists of a longer binary sequence, and the time information includes several bits at a high position and several bits at a low position. Among them, the several bits at a low position need to be detected frequently, while the several bits at a high position only need to be detected (or changed) within a very long time interval. In this case, the several bits at a high position are sent through other frames at a lower frequency. For example, the several bits at a high position are sent through the first information. In a WiFi system, the first information can be at least one of a Beacon frame, a data frame, a management frame, a control frame, and an association frame. In a cellular network, the first information can be at least one of broadcast information, RRC signaling, MAC CE signaling, and DCI signaling. Optionally, the several bits at a low position are sent through the first sequence, and the first device can obtain part of the time information through sequence detection without the need to frequently perform demodulation and decoding frame operations, thereby reducing the energy consumption of the first device.

[0334] In some embodiments, the time information includes n1 bits, and the first sequence is used to indicate n2 bits located at low bits among the n1 bits, where n2 is smaller than n1, and both n1 and n2 are positive integers.

[0335] In some embodiments, the first device receives first information sent by the sending module 1720, where the first information indicates n1-n2 bits located in high order among n1 bits. Optionally, the sending frequency of the first information is less than the sending frequency of the first sequence.

[0336] In some embodiments, the high-order bits of the time information are sent to the first device via the first information, and the low-order bits of the time information are sent via a first sequence.

[0337] In some embodiments, the time information is jointly indicated by n first sequences. In some embodiments, each first sequence is used to indicate a bit segment in the time information. In some embodiments, at least two of the n first sequences indicate bit segments with different numbers of bits. In some embodiments, the bit segments indicated by each first sequence have the same number of bits. In some embodiments, at least two of the n first sequences have different sequence lengths.

[0338] In some embodiments, the n first sequences are from n sequence groups, and the i-th first sequence is a sequence in the i-th sequence group.

[0339] In some embodiments, there is a first time interval between two adjacent first sequences among the n first sequences.

[0340] In some embodiments, the n first sequences indicating the same time information belong to the same time window, and there is a second time interval between different time windows.

[0341] In some embodiments, there is a corresponding relationship among the n sequence groups.

[0342] Among them, the manner in which the time information is jointly indicated by n first sequences is described in the previous sections “Scheme 3: Jointly indicating all information of the time information by multiple first sequences” and “Scheme 4: Jointly indicating part of the time information by multiple first sequences”, and will not be repeated in this embodiment.

[0343] In some embodiments, the time granularity of the time information is greater than microseconds. Please refer to the above description of the “granularity of time information” and this embodiment will not be repeated.

[0344] In some embodiments, the time information is used to indicate a time within the first time range.

[0345] In some embodiments, the first time range is an integer multiple of the transmission period of the broadcast frame; or, the first time range is an integer multiple of the TWT period; or, the first time range is an integer multiple of the RAW length; or, the first time range is the length of the SP.

[0346] In some embodiments, the first time range is an integer multiple of a radio frame; or, the first time range is an integer multiple of a subframe; or, the first time range is an integer multiple of a time slot; or, the first time range is an integer multiple of a symbol.

[0347] Among them, please refer to the introduction in the previous section "Time range indicated by time information" for the indication method of the first time range, which will not be repeated in this embodiment.

[0348] In some embodiments, the first time range is a preset or preconfigured time range.

[0349] In some embodiments, the first sequence adopts one of OOK modulation, PSK modulation, BPSK modulation and FSK modulation. Please refer to the introduction in the previous section "Modulation mode of the first sequence", which will not be repeated in this embodiment.

[0350] In some embodiments, the first sequence may be sent alone. In some embodiments, the first sequence is sent as part of a PPDU. In some embodiments, the first sequence is sent as a field in the physical layer header of the PPDU. In some embodiments, the first sequence is sent as a synchronization signal, or as a reference signal. In some embodiments, the PPDU is an NDP frame.

[0351] The sending method is described in “the sending method of the first sequence” and will not be described in detail in the embodiment.

[0352] To sum up, the device provided in the embodiment of the present application sends a first sequence, and the first sequence is used to indicate all or part of the time information. Compared with the traditional timestamp information that requires encoding and decoding 8 bytes totaling 64 bits, the first device can detect the relevant process of the first sequence with less power consumption. By carrying all or part of the time information in the first sequence, the power consumption of the first device in the process of receiving time information and maintaining synchronization can be effectively reduced.

[0353] Figure 23 shows a block diagram of a wireless communication device provided in one embodiment of the present application. The communication device may be used to implement the transmission method provided in the above embodiments. The communication device may include: a processor 1801, a receiver 1802, a transmitter 1803, a memory 1804, and a bus 1805.

[0354] The processor 1801 includes one or more processing cores. The processor 1801 executes various functional applications and information processing by running software programs and modules.

[0355] The receiver 1802 and the transmitter 1803 may be implemented as a transceiver, which may be a communication chip.

[0356] The memory 1804 is connected to the processor 1801 via a bus 1805; in some embodiments, the processor 1801 can be implemented as a first IC chip, and the processor 1801 and the memory 1804 can be jointly implemented as a second IC chip; the first chip or the second chip can be an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chip.

[0357] The memory 1804 may be used to store at least one computer program, and the processor 1801 may be used to execute the at least one computer program to implement the various steps performed by the communication system in the above method embodiment.

[0358] In addition, the memory 1804 can be implemented by any type of volatile or non-volatile storage device or a combination thereof, and the volatile or non-volatile storage device includes but is not limited to: random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other solid-state storage technology, compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), high-density digital video disc (DVD) or other optical storage, tape cassettes, magnetic tape, disk storage or other magnetic storage devices.

[0359] In an exemplary embodiment, a chip is further provided. The chip includes a programmable logic circuit and / or program instructions. When the chip runs on a multi-link device, it is used to implement the above-mentioned method for receiving and sending time information.

[0360] In an exemplary embodiment, a computer-readable storage medium is further provided, wherein a computer program is stored in the computer-readable storage medium. When the computer program is executed by a processor, the computer program implements the above-mentioned method for receiving and sending time information.

[0361] In an exemplary embodiment, a computer program product is further provided. When the computer program product is executed by a processor, it is used to implement the above-mentioned method for receiving and sending time information.

[0362] It should be understood that the "multiple" mentioned in this article refers to two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B can represent three situations: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. The character " / " generally indicates that the previous and subsequent associated objects are in an "or" relationship. In addition, the step numbers described in this article only illustrate a possible execution sequence between the steps. In some other embodiments, the above steps may not be executed in the order of the numbers, such as two steps with different numbers are executed at the same time, or two steps with different numbers are executed in the opposite order to the diagram. The embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0363] The above description is merely an optional embodiment of the present application and is not intended to limit the present application. Any modifications, equivalent replacements, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principles of the present application shall be included in the scope of protection of the present application.

Claims

1. A method for receiving time information, characterized in that: The method is performed by a first device, and includes: A first sequence is received, where the first sequence is used to indicate all or part of the time information.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The first sequence is at least one of an m sequence and a Gold sequence.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The first sequence belongs to a first sequence set, and different second devices correspond to different sequence sets.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The information of the first sequence set is indicated by a beacon frame, or indicated by a probe response frame, or indicated by an association response frame, or determined based on relevant information of the second device.

5. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The information of the first sequence set is indicated by a system message, or indicated by radio resource control RRC signaling, or indicated by media medium access MAC layer control information, or indicated by physical layer control information, or determined based on a cell identity ID.

6. The method according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that The information of the first sequence set includes at least one of the following: an identifier of the sequence set, m basic sequences, the number of m sequences, a cyclic shift offset, a Gold sequence group, a Gold sequence generation method, and the number of Gold sequences.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: The time information includes n1 bits, and the first sequence is used to indicate n2 bits located at low positions among the n1 bits, where n2 is smaller than n1, and both n1 and n2 are positive integers.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The method further comprises: First information is received, where the first information is used to indicate n1-n2 bits located at high positions among the n1 bits.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that: The time information is jointly indicated by n first sequences.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that Each of the first sequences is used to indicate a bit segment in the time information.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that Among the n first sequences, there are at least two first sequences indicating bit segments with different numbers of bits.

12. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The bit segments indicated by each of the first sequences have the same number of bits.

13. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that Among the n first sequences, there are at least two first sequences with different sequence lengths.

14. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 13, characterized in that: The n first sequences come from n sequence groups, and the i-th first sequence is a sequence in the i-th sequence group.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that There is a first time interval between two adjacent first sequences among the n first sequences.

16. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that The n first sequences used to indicate the same time information belong to the same time window, and there is a second time interval between different time windows.

17. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that There is a corresponding relationship among the n sequence groups.

18. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: The time granularity of the time information is greater than microseconds.

19. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: The time information is used to indicate a time within a first time range.

20. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that The first time range is an integer multiple of the sending period of the broadcast frame; or, the first time range is an integer multiple of the target wake-up time TWT period; or, the first time range is an integer multiple of the length of the restricted access window RAW; or, the first time range is the length of the service time SP.

21. The method according to claim 19, wherein The first time range is an integer multiple of a radio frame; or, the first time range is an integer multiple of a subframe; or, the first time range is an integer multiple of a time slot; or, the first time range is an integer multiple of a symbol.

22. The method according to claim 19, wherein The first time range is a preset or preconfigured time range.

23. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 22, characterized in that The first sequence adopts one of on-off keying (OOK) modulation, phase shift keying (PSK) modulation, binary phase shift keying (BPSK) modulation and frequency shift keying (FSK) modulation.

24. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 22, characterized in that The first sequence may be sent alone.

25. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 22, characterized in that The first sequence is sent as part of a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU).

26. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 22, characterized in that The first sequence is sent as a field in a physical layer header of the PPDU.

27. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 22, characterized in that The PPDU is a Null Data Physical Layer Protocol Data Unit (NDP) frame.

28. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 22, characterized in that The first sequence is sent as a synchronization signal, or the first sequence is sent as a reference signal.

29. A method for sending time information, characterized in that: The method is performed by a second device, and includes: A first sequence is sent, where the first sequence is used to indicate all or part of the time information.

30. The method according to claim 28, wherein The first sequence is at least one of an m sequence and a Gold sequence.

31. The method according to claim 29 or 30, characterized in that The first sequence belongs to a first sequence set, and different second devices correspond to different sequence sets.

32. The method according to claim 31, characterized in that The information of the first sequence set is indicated by a Beacon frame, or indicated by a probe response frame, or indicated by an association response frame, or determined based on relevant information of the second device.

33. The method according to claim 32, characterized in that The information of the first sequence set is indicated by a system message, or indicated by RRC signaling, or indicated by MAC layer control information, or indicated by physical layer control information, or determined based on a cell ID.

34. The method according to claim 32 or 33, characterized in that The information of the first sequence set includes at least one of the following: an identifier of the sequence set, m basic sequences, the number of m sequences, a cyclic shift offset, a Gold sequence group, a Gold sequence generation method, and the number of Gold sequences.

35. The method according to any one of claims 29 to 34, characterized in that The time information includes n1 bits, and the first sequence is used to indicate n2 bits located at low positions among the n1 bits, where n2 is smaller than n1, and both n1 and n2 are positive integers.

36. The method according to claim 35, characterized in that The method further comprises: First information is sent, where the first information is used to indicate n1-n2 bits located at high positions among the n1 bits.

37. The method according to any one of claims 29 to 35, characterized in that The time information is jointly indicated by n first sequences.

38. The method according to claim 37, wherein Each of the first sequences is used to indicate a bit segment in the time information.

39. The method according to claim 38, characterized in that Among the n first sequences, there are at least two first sequences indicating bit segments with different numbers of bits.

40. The method according to claim 38, wherein The bit segments indicated by each of the first sequences have the same number of bits.

41. The method according to claim 38, wherein Among the n first sequences, there are at least two first sequences with different sequence lengths.

42. The method according to any one of claims 38 to 41, characterized in that The n first sequences come from n sequence groups, and the i-th first sequence is a sequence in the i-th sequence group.

43. The method according to claim 42, characterized in that There is a first time interval between two adjacent first sequences among the n first sequences.

44. The method according to claim 42, wherein The n first sequences used to indicate the same time information belong to the same time window, and there is a second time interval between different time windows.

45. The method according to claim 42, wherein There is a corresponding relationship among the n sequence groups.

46. ​​The method according to any one of claims 29 to 34, characterized in that The time granularity of the time information is greater than microseconds.

47. The method according to any one of claims 29 to 34, characterized in that The time information is used to indicate a time within a first time range.

48. The method according to claim 47, wherein The first time range is an integer multiple of the sending period of the broadcast frame; or, the first time range is an integer multiple of the TWT period; or, the first time range is an integer multiple of the RAW length; or, the first time range is the length of the SP.

49. The method according to claim 47, wherein The first time range is an integer multiple of a radio frame; or, the first time range is an integer multiple of a subframe; or, the first time range is an integer multiple of a time slot; or, the first time range is an integer multiple of a symbol.

50. The method according to claim 47, wherein The first time range is a preset or preconfigured time range.

51. The method according to any one of claims 29 to 50, characterized in that The first sequence adopts one of OOK modulation, PSK modulation, BPSK modulation and FSK modulation.

52. The method according to any one of claims 29 to 50, characterized in that The first sequence may be sent alone.

53. The method according to any one of claims 29 to 50, characterized in that The first sequence is sent as part of a PPDU.

54. The method according to any one of claims 29 to 50, characterized in that The first sequence is sent as a field in a physical layer header of the PPDU.

55. The method according to any one of claims 29 to 50, characterized in that The PPDU is an NDP frame.

56. The method according to any one of claims 29 to 50, characterized in that The first sequence is sent as a synchronization signal, or the first sequence is sent as a reference signal.

57. A device for receiving time information, characterized in that: The device comprises: The receiving module is used to receive a first sequence, where the first sequence is used to indicate all or part of the time information.

58. A device for sending time information, characterized in that: The device comprises: The sending module is used to send a first sequence, where the first sequence is used to indicate all or part of the time information.

59. A terminal device, characterized in that: The terminal device includes: a transmitter and / or a backscatter transmitter; the terminal device is used to implement the time information receiving method as described in any one of claims 1 to 28.

60. A network device, characterized in that The communication device includes: a processor; a receiver and / or a transmitter connected to the processor; a memory for storing executable instructions of the processor; The network device is used to implement the method for sending time information as described in any one of claims 29 to 56.

61. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The readable storage medium stores executable instructions, which are loaded and executed by a processor to implement the method for receiving time information as described in any one of claims 1 to 28, or the method for sending time information as described in any one of claims 29 to 56.

62. A chip, characterized in that The chip includes a programmable logic circuit or a program, and the chip is used to implement the method for receiving time information as described in any one of claims 1 to 28, or the method for sending time information as described in any one of claims 29 to 56.

63. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product includes computer instructions, which are stored in a computer-readable storage medium. The processor of a computer device reads the computer instructions from the computer-readable storage medium, and the processor executes the computer instructions, so that the computer device executes the method for receiving time information as described in any one of claims 1 to 28, or the method for sending time information as described in any one of claims 29 to 56.

64. A computer program, characterized in that The computer program includes computer instructions, and the processor of the computer device executes the computer instructions, so that the computer device executes the time information receiving method according to any one of claims 1 to 28, or the time information sending method according to any one of claims 29 to 56.

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