Communication method and communication apparatus

Abstract

Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and a communication apparatus. The method comprises: a first AP MLD receives a first frame, the first frame being used for requesting to transfer one or more contexts of a non-AP MLD to a second AP MLD, and the non-AP MLD being associated with the first AP MLD; on the basis of the first frame, the first AP MLD transfers a data path of the non-AP MLD to the second AP MLD; and, after the data path of the non-AP MLD has been transferred to the second AP MLD, on the basis of the first frame, the first AP MLD transfers the one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD to the second AP MLD. According to the method, the data path of the non-AP MLD can be switched to a target AP MLD before context transfer is completed, so that the data volume of data transmission is reduced, thereby reducing transmission overhead.

Description

Communication method and communication device

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of China on March 1, 2024, with application number 202410239993.1 and invention name “Communication Method and Communication Device”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

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

[0003] Wireless local area network (WLAN) roaming, or Wi-Fi roaming, refers to the process of a wireless terminal or station (STA) moving from one access point (AP) to another. Specifically, the STA moves from one basic service set (BSS) to another. WLAN protocols use the concept of a multi-link device (MLD), which can be either an access point multi-link device (AP MLD) or a non-AP MLD.

[0004] However, during the roaming process of the non-AP MLD, the amount of data that the current AP MLD needs to transmit is large, thereby increasing the transmission overhead. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The present application provides a communication method and a communication device, which can switch the data path of a non-AP MLD to a target AP MLD before the context transfer is completed, thereby reducing the amount of data forwarded and lowering the transmission overhead.

[0006] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, the method comprising: a first access point multi-link device (AP MLD) receiving a first frame, the first frame being used to request transfer of one or more contexts of a non-AP MLD to a second AP MLD, the non-AP MLD being associated with the first AP MLD; the first AP MLD transferring, based on the first frame, a data path of the non-AP MLD to the second AP MLD; and after the data path of the non-AP MLD is transferred to the second AP MLD, the first AP MLD transferring, based on the first frame, the one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD to the second AP MLD.

[0007] It should be understood that the method described in the first aspect can be performed by the first APMLD. In the present application, the first APMLD can be the first APMLD itself, or a component in the first APMLD (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system), or a logic module or software that implements all or part of the functions of the first APMLD. This application does not specifically limit this.

[0008] It should be understood that the first frame may be a seamless roaming request (Seamless Roaming Request) frame, or a context transfer request (ContextTransferRequest) frame, which depends on the sender of the first frame and is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

[0009] It should be understood that the one or more contexts of the non-APMLD may include a context of a block confirmation session and / or a context of a security association, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

[0010] It should be noted that in the embodiments of the present application, data refers to forwarding of to-be-sent data from AP MLD 1 to AP MLD 2 or another hot-standby AP MLD, and / or AP MLD 1 forwarding received but discontinuous data packets to AP MLD 2 or another hot-standby AP MLD. This data transmission can also be equivalently replaced by data forwarding, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0011] It should be understood that the first frame needs to be encrypted or protected, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific encryption method or protection method of the first frame.

[0012] Based on the above scheme, after receiving the first frame, the first APMLD can first switch the data path of the non-APMLD to the second APMLD, and then transfer one or more contexts of the non-APMLD to the second APMLD, thereby reducing the amount of data forwarding required by the first APMLD and reducing transmission overhead.

[0013] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first AP MLD transfers the data path of the non-AP MLD to the second AP MLD based on the first frame, including: the first AP MLD sends a second frame to the distributed system, the second frame being used to transfer the data path of the non-AP MLD to the second AP MLD, or the first AP MLD sends a second frame to the second AP MLD, the second frame being used to request the second AP MLD to send a third frame to the distributed system, the third frame being used to transfer the data path of the non-AP MLD to the second AP MLD.

[0014] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific naming of the second frame. As an example and not a limitation, the second frame can be a DS-STA-Notify request primitive used to indicate a transfer (MOVE), so that the distributed system transfers the data path of the non-AP MLD to the second AP MLD.

[0015] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific content carried by the second frame. Exemplarily, the second frame may include the MAC address of the non-AP MLD and the MAC address of the second AP MLD.

[0016] Based on the above solution, the first APMLD can instruct the distributed system to transfer the data path of the non-APMLD, or request the second APMLD to transfer the data path of the non-APMLD. The solution is highly flexible and applicable.

[0017] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, before the first AP MLD transfers the data path of the non-AP MLD to the second AP MLD according to the first frame, the method further includes: the first AP MLD stops sending uplink data to the distributed system.

[0018] Based on the above solution, the first AP MLD immediately stops sending uplink data to the distributed system in response to the first frame, thereby reducing the amount of data forwarding of subsequent uplink data.

[0019] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first AP MLD transfers one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD to the second AP MLD based on the first frame, including: the first AP MLD sends a fourth frame to the second AP MLD, where the fourth frame includes information of the one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD.

[0020] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific naming of the fourth frame. Exemplarily, the fourth frame may be a context transfer response (ContextTransferResponse) frame.

[0021] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific content of the context information carried in the fourth frame.

[0022] As an example and not a limitation, the uplink TID context information carried by the fourth frame may include at least one of the following: a MAC address of a Non-AP MLD, a DL TID service identifier, a block acknowledgment policy, whether MSDU aggregation is allowed, whether fragmentation operation is allowed, whether HE fragmentation operation is supported, WinStart_O (window start position) and WinSize_O (window size) of the send buffer, or the transmission success status and retransmission count of each MPDU in the window.

[0023] As an example and not a limitation, the uplink TID context information carried by the fourth frame may include at least one of the following: a MAC address of a non-AP MLD, a UL TID service identifier, a block acknowledgment policy, whether MSDU aggregation is allowed, whether fragmentation operation is allowed, whether HE fragmentation operation is supported, a bit map of a receiving end scoreboard, WinStart_R (window start position) and WinSize_R (window size), WinStart_B (window start position) and WinSize_B (window size) of a receive reordering buffer, or a replay counter.

[0024] It should be understood that the fourth frame may also carry a status code to indicate whether one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD are successfully transferred.

[0025] Based on the above solution, after transferring the data path of the non-APMLD to the second APMLD, the first APMLD may transfer one or more contexts of the non-APMLD to the second APMLD through a second frame.

[0026] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first frame includes at least one of the following: a first field, the first field being used to indicate a transfer of all or part of the context of the non-AP MLD; a second field, the second field being used to indicate whether to transmit uplink data and / or downlink data; or a third field, the third field being used to indicate whether to transfer the security-associated context to the second AP MLD.

[0027] As an example and not a limitation, the first field may be a non-Defaulttransfer field. Specifically, when the non-Defaulttransfer field is set to 0, it may be used to indicate that all contexts between the non-APMLD and the first APMLD are transferred; when the non-Defaulttransfer field is set to 1, it may be used to indicate that some contexts between the non-APMLD and the first APMLD are transferred.

[0028] As an example and not a limitation, when the second field is set to 1, it can be used to indicate that data transmission is to be performed; when the second field is set to 0, it can be used to indicate that data transmission is not to be performed.

[0029] It should be understood that the aforementioned data transmission can be understood as data transmission of uplink data and / or data transmission of downlink data. In other words, the second field can be used to indicate whether downlink data transmission is to be performed, or the second field can be used to indicate whether uplink data transmission is to be performed, or the second field can be used to indicate whether uplink data transmission and downlink data transmission are to be performed. The downlink data can be understood as data in the transmit buffer of the first AP MLD, and the uplink data can be understood as data in the reordering buffer of the first AP MLD.

[0030] It should be understood that when the second field is used only to indicate whether uplink data or downlink data is to be transmitted, the first frame may further include an additional field #1 to indicate whether the other type of data is to be transmitted. Exemplarily, when the second field is used to indicate whether downlink data is to be transmitted, the first frame may further include field #1 to indicate whether uplink data is to be transmitted.

[0031] It should be noted that, when the first AP MLD is transmitting downlink data and / or uplink data, it is necessary to carry the sequence number corresponding to each MAC layer service data unit (MSDU) and an end marker (EndMarker) in the data frame. The end marker can be used to indicate the end of downlink data transmission and / or uplink data transmission.

[0032] As an example and not a limitation, the third field may be used to indicate whether to perform a pairwise transient key security association (PTKSA) context transfer. Specifically, when the third field is set to 1, the third field may be used to indicate that the PTKSA context needs to be transferred to the second APMLD; when the third field is set to 0, the third field may be used to indicate that the PTKSA context is not transferred to the second APMLD.

[0033] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific content of the PTKSA context. Exemplarily, the PTKSA context may include parameters such as PTK, Packet Number Counter (PNCounter) or Replay Counter (ReplayCounter).

[0034] Based on the above solution, the first frame may include at least one of the first field, the second field or the third field, so that the first APMLD can accurately transfer the context according to the first frame, thereby improving the efficiency of the context transfer.

[0035] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, when the first frame includes the first field, and the first field is used to indicate the transfer of part of the context of the non-AP MLD, the first frame also includes a fourth field, and the fourth field includes multiple bits, each bit corresponding to a service type, wherein each bit is used to indicate whether the context of the corresponding service type needs to be transferred.

[0036] In other words, each bit in the fourth field can be used to indicate whether the context of the corresponding service type needs to be transferred.

[0037] As an example but not limitation, the fourth field may include a downlink (DL) TID Bitmap field, which is used to indicate that contexts of one or more downlink TIDs need to be transferred.

[0038] As an example but not a limitation, the fourth field may also carry an uplink (UL) TID Bitmap field, which is used to indicate that the context of one or more uplink TIDs needs to be transferred.

[0039] Based on the above solution, the first frame may include a fourth field to indicate the specific context indicated by the first APMLD transfer, thereby improving the flexibility of context transfer and reducing overhead.

[0040] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, when the first frame includes the third field, and the third field is used to indicate that the security association context is transferred to the second AP MLD, the one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD include the security association context.

[0041] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first APMLD receiving the first frame includes: the first APMLD receiving the first frame from the non-AP MLD, or the first APMLD receiving the first frame from the second AP MLD.

[0042] Based on the above solution, the action of the first APMLD transferring the data path of the non-APMLD and one or context can be triggered by the non-APMLD or the second APMLD. The solution is highly flexible and applicable.

[0043] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first frame includes a fifth field, wherein the first frame comes from the non-AP MLD, and the fifth field is used to indicate an address of the second AP MLD; or, the first frame comes from the second AP MLD, and the fifth field is used to indicate the address of the non-AP MLD.

[0044] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first frame comes from the non-AP MLD, and the method further includes: the first AP MLD sends a fifth frame to the non-AP MLD, where the fifth frame is used to indicate that the transfer of one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD is successful.

[0045] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific naming of the fifth frame. Exemplarily, the fifth frame may be a Seamless Roaming Response frame.

[0046] It should be understood that the fifth frame may carry a status code to indicate whether one or more contexts of the non-APMLD are successfully transferred.

[0047] Based on the above solution, the first APMLD may send a fifth frame to the non-APMLD to indicate that the transfer of one or more contexts of the non-APMLD is successful, thereby improving the efficiency of context transfer.

[0048] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the fifth frame includes a sixth field, where the sixth field is used to indicate removal of one or more links between the first AP MLD and the non-AP MLD.

[0049] Based on the above solution, the first APMLD may also send the sixth field to the non-APMLD via the fifth frame to instruct to remove one or more links between the first APMLD and the non-APMLD, thereby saving signaling overhead.

[0050] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first frame further includes a seventh field, and the seventh field is used to indicate that one or more links between the second AP MLD and the non-AP MLD are switched to an active mode.

[0051] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes:

[0052] The first AP MLD sends a sixth frame to the non-AP MLD, where the sixth frame is used to indicate that the first AP MLD has completed transmission of buffered data, or the sixth frame is used to request deletion of one or more links between the first AP MLD and the non-AP MLD.

[0053] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific manner in which the sixth frame indicates removal of all or part of the link between the non-AP MLD and the first AP MLD.

[0054] As an example and not a limitation, the sixth frame may use a 1-bit field to indicate whether all links between the non-AP MLD and the first AP MLD are to be removed. Specifically, when the field is set to 0, it indicates that all links between the non-AP MLD and the first AP MLD are not to be removed; when the field is set to 1, it indicates that all links between the non-AP MLD and the first AP MLD are to be removed.

[0055] As an example and not a limitation, the sixth frame may indicate, through a multi-bit field, whether to remove all or part of the links between the non-AP MLD and the first AP MLD. When part of the links need to be removed, the sixth frame indicates that a specific link between the non-AP MLD and the first AP MLD needs to be removed.

[0056] It should be understood that the non-AP MLD can reuse existing frames, such as a Link Reconfiguration Request / Response frame as the sixth frame, or the non-AP MLD can use an additionally designed frame as the sixth frame, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0057] Based on the above solution, after completing the transmission of cached data, the first APMLD can actively send the sixth frame to the non-APMLD to remove one or more links between the first APMLD and the non-APMLD, shorten the interaction process, and save signaling overhead.

[0058] According to a second aspect, a communication method is provided, the method including: a second access point multi-link device (AP MLD) receiving a seventh frame from a non-AP MLD, the seventh frame being used to request transfer of one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD to the second AP MLD, the non-AP MLD being associated with a first AP MLD; the second AP MLD sending a first frame to the first AP MLD based on the first frame, the first frame being used to request transfer of one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD to the second AP MLD; and after a data path of the non-AP MLD is transferred to the second AP MLD, the second AP MLD receiving a fourth frame, the fourth frame including information of the one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD.

[0059] It should be understood that the method described in the second aspect can be performed by a second APMLD. In the present application, the second APMLD can be the second APMLD itself, or a component in the second APMLD (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system), or a logic module or software that implements all or part of the functions of the second APMLD. This application does not specifically limit this.

[0060] It should be understood that the seventh frame may be a seamless roaming request (Seamless Roaming Request) frame, and the first frame may be a context transfer request (ContextTransferRequest) frame, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

[0061] It should be understood that the one or more contexts of the non-APMLD may include a context of a block confirmation session and / or a context of a security association, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

[0062] It should be understood that the first frame needs to be encrypted or protected, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific encryption method or protection method of the first frame.

[0063] Based on the above scheme, the second APMLD can send the first frame to the first APMLD after receiving the seventh frame, so that the first APMLD first switches the data path of the non-APMLD to the second APMLD, and then transfers one or more contexts of the non-APMLD to the second APMLD, thereby reducing the amount of data transmission that the first APMLD needs to perform and reducing transmission overhead.

[0064] In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: the second AP MLD sending a fifth frame to the non-AP MLD, where the fifth frame is used to indicate that the transfer of one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD is successful.

[0065] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the first frame includes at least one of the following: a first field, the first field being used to indicate the transfer of all or part of the context of the non-AP MLD; a second field, the second field being used to indicate whether to transmit uplink data and / or downlink data; or a third field, the third field being used to indicate whether to transfer the security-associated context to the second AP MLD.

[0066] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, when the first frame includes the first field, and the first field is used to indicate the transfer of part of the context of the non-AP MLD, the first frame also includes a fourth field, and the fourth field includes multiple bits, each bit corresponding to a service type, wherein each bit is used to indicate whether the context of the corresponding service type needs to be transferred.

[0067] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, when the first frame includes the third field, and the third field is used to indicate that the security association context is transferred to the second AP MLD, the one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD include the security association context.

[0068] In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the fifth frame includes a sixth field, where the sixth field is used to indicate removal of one or more links between the first AP MLD and the non-AP MLD.

[0069] In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the first frame further includes a seventh field, and the seventh field is used to indicate that one or more links between the first AP MLD and the second AP MLD are switched to an active mode.

[0070] In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: the second AP MLD sending an eighth frame to the non-AP MLD, where the eighth frame is used to request an update of a block acknowledgement context in the one or more contexts.

[0071] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific timing when the second AP MLD sends the eighth frame.

[0072] As an example but not a limitation, the second AP MLD may send the eighth frame to the non-AP MLD after receiving the aforementioned response frame #2 or response frame #4.

[0073] As an example and not a limitation, the second AP MLD may send the eighth frame to the non-AP MLD after a specific time period for using the one or more contexts for data transmission. The specific time period is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0074] It should be understood that the second AP MLD may reuse an existing frame as the eighth frame, or the second AP MLD may use an additionally designed frame as the eighth frame, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0075] As an example but not limitation, the eighth frame may be a Multi-link Operation Update Response frame, wherein the Dialogue Token field in the eighth frame is set to 0.

[0076] As an example but not limitation, the eighth frame may be an Unsolicited ADDBA Request frame.

[0077] As an example but not limitation, the eighth frame may be a Link Reconfiguration Response frame, wherein the Dialogue Token field in the eighth frame is set to 0.

[0078] Based on the above solution, after one or more sessions of the non-APMLD are transferred to the second APMLD, the second APMLD can actively send the eighth frame, thereby completing the update of specific parameters without deleting the block confirmation session and maintaining normal transmission of the second APMLD and the non-APMLD.

[0079] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the eighth frame includes at least one of the following fields: an eighth field, which is used to indicate the buffer size of the corresponding block confirmation session; a ninth field, which is used to indicate whether the sender is allowed to send aggregated MAC layer service data units; a tenth field, which is used to indicate the block confirmation policy of the corresponding block confirmation session; an eleventh field, which is used to indicate whether fragmentation operation is allowed; a twelfth field, which is used to indicate whether high-efficiency fragmentation operation is supported; and a thirteenth field, which is used to indicate the timeout value of the corresponding block confirmation session.

[0080] Optionally, the eighth frame may further include a reserved field to improve the flexibility of confirming session parameters through the eighth frame update block.

[0081] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the order of the fields in the eighth frame and the size of each field.

[0082] In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the eighth frame further includes a timer, which is used to indicate the validity time of the at least one field.

[0083] Based on the above solution, the eighth frame may include a timer to indicate the effective time of the parameters in the eighth frame, thereby providing preparation time for the receiving end and the transmitting end to avoid affecting data transmission.

[0084] According to a third aspect, a communication method is provided, the method including: a second access point multi-link device (AP MLD) receiving a second frame from a first AP MLD, the third frame being used to request transfer of a data path of a non-AP MLD (non-AP MLD) associated with the first AP MLD to the second AP MLD; the second AP MLD transferring the data path of the non-AP MLD to the second AP MLD based on the third frame; and after the data path of the non-AP MLD is transferred to the second AP MLD, the second AP MLD receiving a fourth frame, the fourth frame including one or more context information of the non-AP MLD.

[0085] It should be understood that the method described in the third aspect can be performed by a second APMLD. In the present application, the second APMLD can be the second APMLD itself, or a component in the second APMLD (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system), or a logic module or software that implements all or part of the functions of the second APMLD. This application does not specifically limit this.

[0086] Based on the above scheme, the second APMLD can be triggered by the first APMLD, actively transfer the data path of the non-APMLD to itself through the distributed system, and then receive the fourth frame of the second APMLD to complete the transfer of one or more contexts of the non-APMLD, thereby reducing the amount of data transmission required by the first APMLD and reducing transmission overhead.

[0087] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, before the second AP MLD receives the third frame from the first AP MLD, the method further includes: the second AP MLD receives a seventh frame from the non-AP MLD, the first frame being used to request that one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD be transferred to the second AP MLD; and the second AP MLD sends a first frame to the first AP MLD based on the seventh frame, the seventh frame being used to request that one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD be transferred to the second AP MLD.

[0088] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the method further includes: the second AP MLD sending a fifth frame to the non-AP MLD, where the fifth frame is used to indicate that the transfer of one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD is successful.

[0089] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the first frame includes at least one of the following: a first field, the first field being used to indicate the transfer of all or part of the context of the non-AP MLD; a second field, the second field being used to indicate whether uplink data and / or downlink data is to be transmitted; or a third field, the third field being used to indicate whether the security-associated context is to be transferred to the second AP MLD.

[0090] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, when the first frame includes the first field, and the first field is used to indicate the transfer of part of the context of the non-AP MLD, the first frame also includes a fourth field, and the fourth field includes multiple bits, each bit corresponding to a service type, wherein each bit is used to indicate whether the context of the corresponding service type needs to be transferred.

[0091] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, when the first frame includes the third field, and the third field is used to indicate that the security association context is transferred to the second AP MLD, one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD include the security association context.

[0092] In combination with the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the fifth frame includes a sixth field, where the sixth field is used to indicate removal of one or more links between the first AP MLD and the non-AP MLD.

[0093] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the first frame further includes a seventh field, and the seventh field is used to indicate that one or more links between the first AP MLD and the second AP MLD are switched to an active mode.

[0094] In combination with the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the method further includes: the second AP MLD sending an eighth frame to the non-AP MLD, where the eighth frame is used to request an update of a block acknowledgement context in the one or more contexts.

[0095] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the eighth frame includes at least one of the following fields: an eighth field, which is used to indicate the buffer size of the corresponding block confirmation session; a ninth field, which is used to indicate whether the sender is allowed to send aggregated MAC layer service data units; a tenth field, which is used to indicate the block confirmation policy of the corresponding block confirmation session; an eleventh field, which is used to indicate whether fragmentation operation is allowed; a twelfth field, which is used to indicate whether high-efficiency fragmentation operation is supported; and a thirteenth field, which is used to indicate the timeout value of the corresponding block confirmation session.

[0096] In combination with the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the eighth frame further includes a timer, which is used to indicate the validity time of the at least one field.

[0097] In a fourth aspect, a communication method is provided, the method comprising: a non-access point multi-link device non-AP MLD sends a first frame, the first frame being used to request that one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD be transferred to a second access point multi-link device AP MLD; the non-APMLD receives a fifth frame, the fifth frame being used to indicate that the transfer of one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD is successful.

[0098] It should be understood that the method described in the fourth aspect can be performed by a non-AP MLD. In this application, the non-AP MLD can be the non-AP MLD itself, a component within the non-AP MLD (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system), or a logic module or software that implements all or part of the non-AP MLD functionality. This application does not specifically limit this.

[0099] It should be understood that the non-AP MLD may send the first frame to the first AP MLD, or the non-AP MLD may send the first frame to the second AP MLD, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0100] It should be understood that the non-AP MLD may receive the fifth frame through the first APMLD, or the non-AP MLD may receive the fifth frame through the second APMLD, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0101] It should be understood that the object to which the non-AP MLD sends the first frame may be the same as or different from the object to which the fifth frame is received, and this embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0102] In a possible implementation, the non-APMLD may stop sending uplink data to the distributed system after sending the first frame.

[0103] In a fifth aspect, a communication method is provided, which includes: a non-access point multi-link device non-AP MLD sends a ninth frame to a second access point multi-link device AP MLD, the ninth frame being used to request establishment of a security association between the non-APMLD and the second APMLD, wherein the first APMLD is associated with the non-APMLD; the non-APMLD receives a tenth frame from the second APMLD, the tenth frame being used to indicate that the security association between the non-AP MLD and the second APMLD is successfully established; and the non-APMLD deletes the security association between the non-APMLD and the first APMLD based on the tenth frame.

[0104] It should be understood that the method described in aspect 5 can be performed by a non-AP MLD. In this application, the non-AP MLD can be the non-AP MLD itself, a component within the non-AP MLD (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system), or a logic module or software that implements all or part of the non-AP MLD functionality. This application does not specifically limit this.

[0105] It should be understood that the present application does not limit the security association between the non-APMLD and the first APMLD or the second APMLD. Exemplarily, the security association may be a pairwise transient key security association (PTKSA).

[0106] As an example but not a limitation, the ninth frame may be a reassociation request (Reassociation Request) frame, and the tenth frame may be a reassociation response (Reassociation Response) frame.

[0107] Based on the above solution, the non-APMLD can delete the security association between the non-AP MLD and the first AP MLD after the security association between the non-AP MLD and the second APMLD is successfully established, thereby ensuring successful switching of the non-AP MLD between AP MLDs.

[0108] In combination with the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the ninth frame is further used to request that one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD be transferred to the second AP MLD, wherein the ninth frame includes a first field and / or a second field, the first field being used to indicate the transfer of all or part of the context of the non-AP MLD, and the second field being used to indicate whether to perform data transmission of uplink data and / or downlink data.

[0109] Among them, the specific description of the first field and the second field can refer to the relevant content of the first aspect, and is not limited here.

[0110] In combination with the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, after sending the ninth frame, the non-APMLD stops sending uplink data to the first APMLD.

[0111] In combination with the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the tenth frame is further used to indicate whether one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD are successfully transferred.

[0112] In a sixth aspect, a communication method is provided, the method including: a second access point multi-link device AP MLD receives a ninth frame, the ninth frame being used to request establishment of a security association between the non-APMLD and the second APMLD, wherein the first APMLD is associated with the non-APMLD; the second APMLD establishes a security association with the non-APMLD based on the ninth frame; the second APMLD sends a tenth frame to the non-APMLD, the tenth frame being used to indicate that the security association between the non-AP MLD and the second APMLD is successfully established.

[0113] It should be understood that the method described in aspect 6 can be performed by the first APMLD. In the present application, the first APMLD can be the first APMLD itself, or a component in the first APMLD (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system), or a logic module or software that implements all or part of the functions of the first APMLD. This application does not specifically limit this.

[0114] It should be understood that the present application does not limit the security association between the non-APMLD and the first APMLD or the second APMLD. Exemplarily, the security association may be a pairwise transient key security association (PTKSA).

[0115] As an example but not a limitation, the ninth frame may be a reassociation request (Reassociation Request) frame, and the tenth frame may be a reassociation response (Reassociation Response) frame.

[0116] Based on the above scheme, the second APMLD can send the tenth frame to the non-APMLD after successfully establishing a security association with the non-APMLD, so that the non-APMLD can confirm that the security association between the non-AP MLD and the second APMLD is successfully established, and then delete the security association between the non-AP MLD and the first AP MLD, thereby ensuring the successful switching of the non-AP MLD between AP MLDs.

[0117] In combination with the sixth aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect, the ninth frame is further used to request the transfer of one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD from the first AP MLD to the second AP MLD, wherein the ninth frame includes a first field and / or a second field, the first field is used to indicate the transfer of all or part of the context of the non-AP MLD, and the second field is used to indicate whether to transmit uplink data and / or downlink data.

[0118] Among them, the specific description of the first field and the second field can refer to the relevant content of the first aspect, and is not limited here.

[0119] In combination with the sixth aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect, the tenth frame is further used to indicate whether the transfer of one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD is successful.

[0120] In a seventh aspect, a communication device is provided, including a transceiver unit and a processing unit, the transceiver unit being used to receive a first frame, the first frame being used to request that one or more contexts of a non-access point multi-link device (non-AP MLD) be transferred to a second AP MLD, the non-AP MLD being associated with the first AP MLD; the processing unit being used to transfer a data path of the non-AP MLD to the second AP MLD based on the first frame; after the data path of the non-AP MLD is transferred to the second AP MLD, the processing unit being further used to transfer one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD to the second AP MLD based on the first frame.

[0121] The transceiver unit can perform the reception and transmission processing in the aforementioned first aspect, and the processing unit can perform other processing except reception and transmission in the aforementioned first aspect.

[0122] In an eighth aspect, a communication device is provided, including a transceiver unit and a processing unit, wherein the transceiver unit is used to receive a seventh frame from a non-access point multi-link device (non-AP MLD), wherein the seventh frame is used to request that one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD be transferred to the second AP MLD, wherein the non-AP MLD is associated with the first AP MLD; the processing unit is used to send a first frame to the first AP MLD based on the first frame, wherein the first frame is used to request that one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD be transferred to the second AP MLD; after the data path of the non-AP MLD is transferred to the second AP MLD, the transceiver unit is further used to receive a fourth frame, wherein the fourth frame includes information of one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD.

[0123] The transceiver unit can perform the reception and transmission processing in the aforementioned second aspect, and the processing unit can perform other processing except reception and transmission in the aforementioned second aspect.

[0124] In a ninth aspect, a communication device is provided, including a transceiver unit and a processing unit, wherein the transceiver unit is used to receive a second frame from a first AP MLD, the third frame is used to request that a data path of a non-access point multi-link device (non-AP MLD) be transferred to the second AP MLD, the non-AP MLD being associated with the first AP MLD; the processing unit is used to transfer the data path of the non-AP MLD to the second AP MLD based on the third frame; after the data path of the non-AP MLD is transferred to the second AP MLD, the transceiver unit is further used to receive a fourth frame, the fourth frame including one or more context information of the non-AP MLD.

[0125] The transceiver unit can perform the receiving and sending processing in the aforementioned third aspect, and the processing unit can perform other processing except receiving and sending in the aforementioned third aspect.

[0126] In a tenth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a transceiver unit, the transceiver unit being configured to send a first frame, the first frame being configured to request that one or more contexts of a non-access point multi-link device (non-AP MLD) be transferred to a second AP MLD; the transceiver unit being further configured to receive a fifth frame, the fifth frame being configured to indicate that the transfer of one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD is successful.

[0127] In combination with the tenth aspect, in certain implementations of the tenth aspect, the communication device further includes a processing unit, which is configured to stop sending uplink data to the distributed system after sending the first frame.

[0128] The transceiver unit can perform the receiving and sending processing in the aforementioned fourth aspect, and the processing unit can perform other processing except receiving and sending in the aforementioned fourth aspect.

[0129] In the eleventh aspect, a communication device is provided, including a transceiver unit and a processing unit, the transceiver unit being used to send a ninth frame to a second access point multi-link device AP MLD, the ninth frame being used to request establishment of a security association between the non-AP MLD and the second AP MLD, wherein the first AP MLD is associated with the non-AP MLD; the transceiver unit is also used to receive a tenth frame from the second APMLD, the tenth frame being used to indicate that the security association between the non-AP MLD and the second APMLD is successfully established; the processing unit is used to delete the security association between the non-AP MLD and the first APMLD according to the tenth frame.

[0130] The transceiver unit can perform the reception and transmission processing in the aforementioned fifth aspect, and the processing unit can perform other processing except reception and transmission in the aforementioned fifth aspect.

[0131] In a twelfth aspect, a communication device is provided, including a transceiver unit and a processing unit, the transceiver unit is used to receive a ninth frame, the ninth frame is used to request establishment of a security association between the non-APMLD and the second APMLD, wherein the first APMLD is associated with the non-APMLD; the processing unit is used to establish a security association with the non-APMLD based on the ninth frame; the transceiver unit is also used to send a tenth frame to the non-APMLD, the tenth frame is used to indicate that the security association between the non-AP MLD and the second APMLD is successfully established.

[0132] The transceiver unit can perform the reception and transmission processing in the aforementioned sixth aspect, and the processing unit can perform other processing except reception and transmission in the aforementioned sixth aspect.

[0133] In a thirteenth aspect, a communication device is provided. The communication device includes a transceiver, a processor, and a memory, wherein the processor is configured to control the transceiver to transmit and receive signals, the memory is configured to store a computer program, and the processor is configured to retrieve and execute the computer program from the memory, so that the communication device performs the method of any possible implementation of the first to sixth aspects.

[0134] Optionally, there are one or more processors and one or more memories.

[0135] Optionally, the memory may be integrated with the processor, or the memory may be provided separately from the processor.

[0136] Optionally, the communication device further includes a transmitter (transmitter) and a receiver (receiver).

[0137] In a fourteenth aspect, a communication system is provided. The communication system includes a first APMLD, a second APMLD, and a non-APMLD, wherein the first APMLD is configured to execute the method of the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, the second APMLD is configured to execute the method of the second, third, and sixth aspects or any possible implementation of the second, third, and sixth aspects, and the non-APMLD is configured to execute the method of the fourth and fifth aspects or any possible implementation of the fourth and fifth aspects.

[0138] In a fifteenth aspect, a communication system is provided. The communication system includes the first communication device described in the fifth aspect or any implementation of the fifth aspect, the second communication device described in the sixth aspect, the seventh aspect, and the ninth aspect or any implementation of the sixth aspect, the seventh aspect, and the ninth aspect, and the third communication device described in the eighth aspect and the tenth aspect or any implementation of the eighth aspect and the tenth aspect.

[0139] In a sixteenth aspect, a computer program is provided. When the computer program is executed, the method in any possible implementation of the first to sixth aspects or the first to sixth aspects is executed.

[0140] In a seventeenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided. The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program or code, which, when executed, causes the method of any possible implementation of the first to sixth aspects or the first to sixth aspects to be executed.

[0141] In an eighteenth aspect, a chip is provided. The chip includes at least one processor coupled to a memory, the memory being configured to store a computer program, and the processor being configured to retrieve and execute the computer program from the memory, so that a communication device equipped with the chip system performs the method described in any possible implementation of aspects 1 to 6 or any of aspects 1 to 6.

[0142] The chip may include an input circuit or interface for sending information or data, and an output circuit or interface for receiving information or data.

[0143] In a nineteenth aspect, a computer program product is provided, comprising: computer program code, which, when executed, causes the method in any possible implementation of the first to sixth aspects or the first to sixth aspects to be executed.

[0144] It can be understood that the supplements, explanations and beneficial effects of the first aspect are also applicable to the second to nineteenth aspects above, and will not be repeated for the sake of brevity. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0145] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system 100 applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0146] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of establishing a link between AP MLD and non-AP MLD;

[0147] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of an MLD communicating with other devices via multiple links in a wireless local area network;

[0148] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of an MLD address;

[0149] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a BA session establishment process;

[0150] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of the frame structure of an ADDBA Request / Response frame;

[0151] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of a context transfer process;

[0152] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 200 provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0153] FIG9 is a schematic diagram of a frame structure of a request frame #1 provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0154] FIG10 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 300 provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0155] FIG11 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 400 provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0156] FIG12 is a schematic diagram of a frame structure of a request frame #9 provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0157] FIG13 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 1000 provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0158] FIG14 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 2000 provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0159] The technical solution in this application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0160] The technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to WLAN systems, such as Wi-Fi. For example, the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to the IEEE 802.11 series of protocols, such as the 802.11be protocol, the next generation of protocols, and subsequent evolved protocols, which are not listed one by one. The technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to wireless personal area networks (WPANs) based on UWB technology. For example, the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to the IEEE 802.15 series of protocols, such as the 802.15.4a protocol, the 802.15.4z protocol, or the 802.15.4ab protocol, or a future generation of UWB WPAN protocols, which are not listed one by one. The technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to the following communication systems, for example, the Internet of Things (IoT) system, the Vehicle to X (V2X) system, the Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) system, devices in the Internet of Vehicles, IoT nodes and sensors in the Internet of Things (IoT), smart cameras in smart homes, smart remote controls, smart water and electricity meters, and sensors in smart cities.

[0161] WLAN systems can provide high-speed and low-latency transmission. As WLAN application scenarios continue to evolve, WLAN systems will be applied to more scenarios or industries, such as the Internet of Things industry, the Internet of Vehicles industry, the banking industry, corporate offices, sports stadiums and exhibition halls, concert halls, hotel rooms, dormitories, wards, classrooms, supermarkets, squares, streets, production workshops and warehouses, etc. Of course, devices supporting WLAN communication or perception (such as access points or stations) can be sensor nodes in smart cities (such as smart water meters, smart electricity meters, and smart air detection nodes), smart devices in smart homes (such as smart cameras, projectors, display screens, televisions, speakers, refrigerators, washing machines, etc.), nodes in the Internet of Things, entertainment terminals (such as wearable devices such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR)), smart devices in smart offices (such as printers, projectors, speakers, and speakers, etc.), Internet of Vehicles (IoV) devices, infrastructure in daily life scenarios (such as vending machines, self-service navigation kiosks in supermarkets, self-service checkout devices, self-service ordering machines, etc.), and equipment in large sports and music venues. For example, access points and stations can be devices used in the IoV, IoT nodes and sensors in the Internet of Things, smart cameras, smart remote controls, smart water and electricity meters in smart homes, and sensors in smart cities.

[0162] Although the embodiments of the present application mainly take WLAN as an example, especially networks applied to the IEEE 802.11 series of standards, such as systems that support Wi-Fi 7, which can also be called extremely high-throughput (EHT), and systems that support Wi-Fi 8, which can also be called ultra-high reliability (UHR) or ultra-high reliability and throughput (UHRT). It will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that the various aspects involved in the embodiments of the present application can be extended to other networks that adopt various standards or protocols. For example, Bluetooth, high performance radio LAN (HIPERLAN) (a wireless standard similar to the IEEE 802.11 standard, mainly used in Europe) and wide area networks (WANs) or other networks now known or developed later.

[0163] The above-mentioned communication system applicable to the present application is only an example, and the communication system applicable to the present application is not limited to this. It is described uniformly here and will not be repeated below.

[0164] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, a communication system applicable to the embodiments of the present application is first described in detail with reference to FIG1 .

[0165] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system 100 applicable to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG1 , the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application can be applied to a wireless local area network. The wireless communication system 100 may include access points (AP) 111 and AP 112. The wireless communication system 100 may also include stations (STAs) 121 and STAs 122. For example, the AP may be a multi-link AP, or the STA may be a multi-link STA.

[0166] One or more STAs in a station device may establish an association with one or more APs in an access point device before communicating. For example, AP 111 may communicate with STA 121, e.g., after establishing an association between AP 111 and STA 121. AP 112 may communicate with STA 122, e.g., after establishing an association between AP 112 and STA 122.

[0167] It should be understood that the communication system applicable to the present application described above in conjunction with FIG1 is merely an example, and the communication system applicable to the present application is not limited thereto. For example, the communication system may include a larger number of APs. For another example, the communication system may also include a larger number of STAs. For another example, the embodiments of the present application may be applied to scenarios involving multi-device collaboration, such as multi-AP (multiple access points) collaboration or multi-site collaboration.

[0168] An AP is also called a wireless access point or hotspot. It's the access point for mobile users to access wired networks and is primarily deployed in homes, buildings, and campuses, but can also be deployed outdoors. An AP acts as a bridge between wired and wireless networks, connecting wireless network clients and then connecting the wireless network to the Ethernet. Specifically, an AP can be a terminal device or network device equipped with a wireless fidelity (WiFi) chip. Alternatively, an AP can support multiple WLAN standards, such as 802.11.

[0169] The AP device in the embodiment of the present application can be a device in a wireless network. The AP device can be a communication entity such as a communication server, a router, a switch, a bridge, or the AP device can include various forms of macro base stations, micro base stations, relay stations, etc. Of course, the AP can also be a chip or circuit or processing system in these various forms of devices, thereby realizing the method and function of the embodiment of the present application. The AP device can be applied to a variety of scenarios, such as sensor nodes in smart cities (such as smart water meters, smart electricity meters, smart air detection nodes), smart devices in smart homes (such as smart cameras, projectors, displays, TVs, speakers, refrigerators, washing machines, etc.), nodes in the Internet of Things, entertainment terminals (such as wearable devices such as AR and VR), smart devices in smart offices (such as printers, projectors, etc.), Internet of Vehicles devices in the Internet of Vehicles, and some infrastructure in daily life scenarios (such as vending machines, self-service navigation counters in supermarkets, self-service checkout devices, self-service ordering machines), etc.

[0170] In the embodiments of the present application, a STA device may be a device with wireless transceiver capabilities, such as a device that supports the 802.11 series of protocols and can communicate with an AP or other STAs. For example, a STA is any user communication device that allows a user to communicate with an AP and, in turn, with a WLAN. Examples of STA devices include user equipment (UE), mobile station (MS), mobile terminal (MT), access terminal, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent, or user device.

[0171] The STA in the embodiment of the present application may also be a device that provides voice / data connectivity to users, such as a handheld device or vehicle-mounted device with wireless connection function. Examples include: mobile phones, tablet computers, laptop computers, PDAs, mobile internet devices (MIDs), wearable devices, virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, wireless terminals in industrial control, wireless terminals in self-driving, wireless terminals in remote medical surgery, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart cities, wireless terminals in smart homes, cellular phones, cordless phones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, personal digital assistants (PDAs), handheld devices with wireless communication capabilities, computing devices or other processing devices connected to wireless modems, in-vehicle devices, wearable devices, terminal devices in 5G networks or future-evolved public land mobile communication networks. The terminal equipment in the network (PLMN), etc., is not limited to this in the embodiments of the present application.

[0172] By way of example and not limitation, in the embodiments of this application, the STA device may also be a wearable device. Wearable devices, also known as wearable smart devices, are a general term for wearable devices that utilize wearable technology to intelligently design and develop wearable devices, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing, and shoes. Examples include smart watches or smart glasses, as well as devices that focus on a specific application function and require integration with other devices, such as smartphones, such as various smart bracelets and smart jewelry for vital sign monitoring.

[0173] Furthermore, in the embodiments of the present application, the STA device can also be a terminal device in the Internet of Things (IoT) system. The IoT is an important component of the future development of information technology. Its main technical feature is to connect objects to the network through communication technology, thereby realizing an intelligent network that interconnects people and machines and things. In the embodiments of the present application, IoT technology can achieve massive connections, deep coverage, and terminal power saving through narrowband NB technology, for example.

[0174] Furthermore, in the embodiments of the present application, the STA device may be a device in a connected vehicle system. The communication methods in the connected vehicle system are collectively referred to as V2X (where X represents everything). For example, V2X communication includes vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication, vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) communication, and vehicle-to-network (V2N) communication.

[0175] In addition, in an embodiment of the present application, the STA device may also include sensors such as smart printers, train detectors, and gas stations. Its main functions include collecting data (partial terminal devices), receiving control information and downlink data from AP devices, and sending electromagnetic waves to transmit data to AP devices.

[0176] In the embodiments of the present application, wireless communication between the AP and the STA may be performed using various standards. For example, the uplink transmission method between the AP and the STA includes, but is not limited to, orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA), multi-site channel multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO), or a hybrid transmission method of OFDMA and MU-MIMO, or single-user multiple-input multiple-output (SU-MIMO).

[0177] It should be understood that the specific forms of STA devices and AP devices in the embodiments of the present application are not particularly limited and are merely illustrative.

[0178] In the embodiments of the present application, the specific structure of the execution subject of the method provided in the embodiments of the present application is not particularly limited. As long as it is possible to communicate according to the method provided in the embodiments of the present application by running a program that records the code of the method provided in the embodiments of the present application, for example, the execution subject of the method provided in the embodiments of the present application can be a device (such as an AP device or a STA device), or a functional module in the device (such as an AP device or a STA device) that can call and execute the program.

[0179] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, several basic concepts involved in the embodiments of the present application are briefly explained. It should be understood that the basic concepts introduced below are briefly explained using the basic concepts specified in the WLAN protocol as an example, but the embodiments of the present application are not limited to being applicable only to WLAN systems. Therefore, the standard names that appear when describing the WLAN system as an example are all functional descriptions. The specific names are not limited and only indicate the functions of the device. They can be extended to other systems, such as NR or future communication systems.

[0180] 1. Multi-link.

[0181] As users have increasingly higher demands for communication service quality, the IEEE 802.11ax standard has been unable to meet user needs in terms of high throughput, low jitter, and low latency. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop the next generation of IEEE technologies, such as the IEEE 802.11be standard.

[0182] Devices in the IEEE 802.11be standard must be backward compatible with the IEEE 802.11ax standard and earlier standards. Therefore, devices in the next-generation IEEE 802.11 standard will also support the operating frequency bands of devices in the IEEE 802.11ax standard. For example, devices in the next-generation IEEE 802.11 standard will support frequency bands such as 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz.

[0183] Specifically, channels can be divided according to the newly opened free 6GHz band, so that the supported bandwidth can exceed the maximum bandwidth of 160MHz supported by 5GHz (such as 320MHz). On the same frequency band, peak throughput can be improved and service transmission latency can be reduced by cooperating multiple channels. In addition to ultra-large bandwidth, devices in the next-generation IEEE 802.11ax standard can also improve peak throughput by cooperating multiple frequency bands (2.4GHz, 5GHz and 6GHz). In this application, multiple frequency bands or multiple channels are collectively referred to as multi-link.

[0184] 2. Multi-link device (MLD).

[0185] A multi-link device (MLD) is a device that simultaneously has multiple stations (such as APs or non-AP STAs), each operating on different frequency bands or channels. When the channel spacing between two stations within a multi-link device is large enough, they can operate independently without interfering with each other. If any two stations can support one station transmitting while the other station is receiving, they are said to support simultaneous transmitting and receiving (STR) capability; otherwise, they are said to not have non-simultaneous transmitting and receiving (NSTR) capability. A multi-link device includes multiple subordinate stations, which can be physical or logical stations. Each station can operate on a link, a frequency band, or a channel, etc. The subordinate station can be an AP or a non-AP STA. For convenience of description, in the embodiments of the present application, a multi-link device whose subordinate station is an AP may be referred to as a multi-link AP, a multi-link AP device, or an AP multi-link device (AP MLD). A multi-link device whose subordinate station is a non-AP STA is called a multi-link STA, a multi-link STA device, or a STA multi-link device (STA multi-link device). Alternatively, a multi-link device whose subordinate station is a non-AP STA is called a multi-link non-AP, a multi-link non-AP device, or a non-AP multi-link device (non-AP MLD).

[0186] Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram of establishing a link between an AP MLD and a non-AP MLD. As shown in Figure 2, the AP MLD includes AP1, AP2, ..., APn, and the non-AP MLD includes STA1, STA2, ..., STAn. n is a positive integer. The AP MLD and the non-AP MLD can communicate in parallel using links 1, link 2, ..., link n. STA1 in the non-AP MLD establishes an association with AP1 in the AP MLD, STA2 in the non-AP MLD establishes an association with AP2 in the AP MLD, and STAn in the non-AP MLD establishes an association with APn in the AP MLD. Thus, after establishing an association, one or more STAs in the non-AP MLD can communicate with one or more APs in the AP MLD. The operating frequency bands of multi-link devices (including AP MLDs and non-AP MLDs) may include, but are not limited to, sub-1 GHz, 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz, and high-frequency 60 GHz.

[0187] The frequency bands in which the multi-link device operates may include but are not limited to: sub 1 GHz, 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz and high frequency 60 GHz. Figure 3 shows two schematic diagrams of a multi-link device communicating with other devices via multiple links in a wireless local area network.

[0188] FIG3( a ) shows a communication scenario between an AP MLD 101 and a non-AP MLD 102 . The AP MLD 101 includes subordinate APs 101 - 1 and 101 - 2 , and the non-AP MLD 102 includes subordinate STAs 102 - 1 and 102 - 2 . The AP MLD 101 and the non-AP MLD 102 communicate in parallel using links 1 and 2 .

[0189] For example, Figure 3(b) illustrates a scenario in which AP MLD 101 communicates with non-AP MLD 102, non-AP MLD 103, and STA 104. AP MLD 101 includes subordinate APs 101-1 to 101-3; non-AP MLD 102 includes three subordinate STAs: 102-1, 102-2, and 102-3; non-AP MLD 103 includes two subordinate STAs: 103-1 and 103-2; and STA 104 is a single-link device, including STA 104-1. AP MLD 101 can communicate with non-AP MLD 102 using links 1, 2, and 3, respectively; communicate with non-AP MLD 103 using links 2 and 3; and communicate with STA 104 using link 1. In one example, STA 104 operates in the 2.4 GHz band; in non-AP MLD 103, STA 103-1 operates in the 5 GHz band, and STA 103-2 operates in the 6 GHz band; in non-AP MLD 102, STA 102-1 operates in the 2.4 GHz band, STA 102-2 operates in the 5 GHz band, and STA 102-3 operates in the 6 GHz band. AP 101-1 in AP MLD 101, operating in the 2.4 GHz band, can transmit uplink or downlink data to STA 104 and STA 102-1 in non-AP MLD 102 over link 1. AP 101-2 operating in the 5 GHz band in AP MLD 101 can transmit uplink or downlink data with STA 103-1 operating in the 5 GHz band in non-AP MLD 103 via link 2, and can also transmit uplink or downlink data with STA 102-2 operating in the 5 GHz band in non-AP MLD 102 via link 2. AP 101-3 operating in the 6 GHz band in AP MLD 101 can transmit uplink or downlink data with STA 102-3 operating in the 6 GHz band in non-AP MLD 102 via link 3, and can also transmit uplink or downlink data with STA 103-2 in the non-AP MLD via link 3.

[0190] (a) in Figure 3 only shows that the AP MLD supports two frequency bands. (b) in Figure 3 only illustrates that the AP MLD 101 supports three frequency bands (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz), each frequency band corresponds to a link, and the AP MLD 101 can operate on one or more links among link 1, link 2, or link 3. On the AP side or the STA side, a link can also be understood as a station operating on that link. In actual applications, the AP MLD and non-AP MLD can also support more or fewer frequency bands, that is, the AP MLD and non-AP MLD can operate on more or fewer links, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. (a) in Figure 3 and (b) in Figure 3 are merely simple schematic diagrams and do not constitute any limitation on the scope of protection of the embodiment of the present application.

[0191] For multi-link devices, in addition to each link having its own media access control address (MAC address), each multi-link device also has an MLD MAC address. For easier understanding, the following briefly describes the MLD structure with reference to Figure 4. Figure 4 illustrates an MLD address using a station multi-link device (STA MLD) with two STAs as an example.

[0192] For example, the multi-link device in the embodiments of the present application may be a single-antenna device or a multi-antenna device. For example, it may be a device with two or more antennas. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the number of antennas included in the multi-link device.

[0193] 3. Distributed system (DS).

[0194] A system used to interconnect multiple basic service sets (BSSs) and integrate local area networks to form an extended service set (ESS). The DS system delivers downlink data from STAs (or non-AP MLDs) to the associated AP (or AP MLD). Similarly, the AP delivers uplink data from STAs (or non-AP MLDs) to the network via the DS for transmission.

[0195] The AP can use the DS-STA-NOTIFY.request primitive to update the STA-to-AP mapping information of the DS. There are three types of updates: add (ADD), transfer (MOVE), and delete (DELETE).

[0196] 4. Block ACK (BA) session establishment.

[0197] In multi-link scenarios, a Block Acknowledgement (BA) session must be established before using multi-link aggregation transmission. A Block Acknowledgement (BA) session established between two stations has a specific Traffic Identifier (TID) and is used only for unidirectional data transmission from the initiator to the responder. For example, for downlink data transmission, a BA session can only be initiated by the AP. For uplink data transmission, a BA session can only be initiated by the STA.

[0198] Figure 5 shows a schematic diagram of a BA session establishment process. As shown in Figure 5, the initiator establishes a BA session for a certain TID by exchanging ADDBA Request / Response frames with the responder.

[0199] In a possible implementation, the initiator or responder may send a DELBA to terminate the block confirmation session of the corresponding TID (not shown in the figure).

[0200] Exemplarily, the block confirmation session of the sending end includes parameters such as the TID service identifier, the sequence number (SN) assigned to each MAC layer service data unit (MAC Service Data Unit, MSDU), the block confirmation policy, whether MSDU aggregation is allowed, whether fragmentation is allowed, whether HE fragmentation operation is supported, WinStart_O (window starting position) and WinSize_O (window size) of the sending buffer, the success or failure status of each MPDU in the window, and the number of retransmissions.

[0201] Exemplarily, the block confirmation session at the receiving end includes the TID service identifier, block confirmation policy, whether MSDU aggregation is allowed, whether fragmentation is allowed, whether HE fragmentation operation is supported, the bit map of the receiving end scoreboard, WinStart_R (window starting position) and WinSize_R (window size), WinStart_B (window starting position) and WinSize_B (window size) of the receive reordering buffer, and parameters such as the replay counter. Among them, the scoreboard bit map is used to record which MSDUs are received successfully, and the receive reordering buffer is used to cache the received MSDUs, because the MAC layer must deliver the received MSDUs to the LLC layer in order. It can be understood that if a packet is not received successfully, then even if the other MSDUs following the MSDU are received successfully, they cannot be delivered to the LLC layer.

[0202] It should be understood that for a TID, both the sending end and the receiving end can send a DELBA frame to delete the block session.

[0203] Figure 6 shows a schematic diagram of the frame structure of an ADDBARequest / Response frame. As shown in Figure 6, the frame structure includes the following fields:

[0204] Frame Control Field, Duration, Address 2, Address 3, Sequence Control, HT Control, Frame Body, and Frame Check Sequence. Address 2 indicates the transmitter address (TA), and Address 3 indicates the address of the AP MLD associated with the receiver, or the address of the AP associated with the receiver (referring to the AP in the AP MLD).

[0205] For the ADDBARequest frame, the frame body may include the following fields: Category, Block ACK Action, Dialog Token, Block Ack Parameter Set, Block Ack Timeout Value, Block Ack Starting Sequence Control, and ADDBA Extension (optional).

[0206] For the ADDBAResponse frame, the frame body may include the following fields: category, block confirmation action, dialog token, status code (Status Code), block confirmation parameter set, block confirmation timeout value, add block confirmation extension field, etc.

[0207] FIG7 shows a flow diagram of a context transfer process. As shown in FIG7 , the process includes the following steps:

[0208] S701: Non-AP MLD requests to establish one or more links with AP MLD 2.

[0209] S702 : The non-AP MLD determines to perform roaming and stops sending uplink data to AP MLD 1 .

[0210] S703 : The non-AP MLD sends a context transfer request frame to AP MLD 1 to request that one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD be transferred to AP MLD 1 .

[0211] S704 : AP MLD 1 transfers one or more contexts requested to be transferred by the non-AP MLD to AP MLD 2 .

[0212] In step S705 , AP MLD 1 interacts with the distributed system (DS) to transfer the data path of the non-AP MLD to AP MLD 2 .

[0213] S706 , AP MLD 1 sends a context transfer response frame to the non-AP MLD to notify the non-AP MLD that one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD are successfully transferred.

[0214] It can be seen that in the process shown in Figure 7, AP MLD 1 interacts with the DS to transfer the non-APMLD data path to AP MLD 2 only after completing one or more context transfers of the non-APMLD. However, during the context transfer process, because the non-APMLD data path is still on the AP MLD 1 side, the DS still transmits the non-APMLD's downlink data to AP MLD 1, resulting in a large amount of data transmission required by the APMLD, thereby increasing the transmission overhead. Data transmission refers to forwarding data to be sent from AP MLD 1 to AP MLD 2 or other hot-standby AP MLDs, and / or AP MLD 1 forwarding received but discontinuous data packets to AP MLD 2 or other hot-standby AP MLDs. Data transmission can also be equivalently replaced by data forwarding, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0215] In view of this, embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and a communication device that can switch the data path of the non-APMLD to the target APMLD before the context transfer is completed, thereby reducing the amount of data transmitted and lowering the transmission overhead.

[0216] To facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the following points are explained:

[0217] First, in this application, unless otherwise specified or there is a logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments based on their internal logical relationships.

[0218] Second, in this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "more" means 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 mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In the text description of this application, the character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b and c can mean: a, or b, or c, or a and b, or a and c, or b and c, or a, b and c. Wherein a, b and c can be single or multiple, respectively.

[0219] Third, throughout this application, the terms "first," "second," and various numerical references (e.g., #1, #2, etc.) are used to distinguish between different messages for ease of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. For example, they are used to distinguish between different messages, rather than to describe a specific order or precedence. It is understood that the terms described in this manner are interchangeable where appropriate to describe scenarios beyond the embodiments of this application.

[0220] Fourth, in this application, the terms "comprise" and "have" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, product or apparatus that includes a series of steps or units is not necessarily limited to those steps or units explicitly listed, but may include other steps or units that are not explicitly listed or are inherent to these processes, methods, products or apparatuses.

[0221] Fifth, in this application, "used to indicate" can include being used for direct indication and being used for indirect indication. When describing that a certain indication information indicates A, it can include that the indication information directly indicates A or indirectly indicates A, and it does not mean that the indication information must carry A.

[0222] The indication methods involved in the embodiments of this application can be understood to encompass various methods that enable the party to be indicated to obtain information to be indicated. The information to be indicated can be sent as a whole or divided into multiple sub-information and sent separately. The transmission period and / or timing of these sub-information can be the same or different. This application does not limit the specific transmission method.

[0223] In the embodiments of the present application, the "indication information" may be an explicit indication, i.e., a direct indication via signaling, or may be obtained based on parameters indicated by the signaling, in combination with other rules, other parameters, or by deduction. It may also be an implicit indication, i.e., based on a rule or relationship, or based on other parameters, or by deduction. This application does not impose specific limitations on this.

[0224] Sixth, in this application, "protocol" may refer to a standard protocol in the field of communications, such as the 5G protocol, the NR protocol, and related protocols used in future communication systems, and this application does not limit this. "Predefined" may include pre-definition. For example, protocol definition. "Preconfiguration" can be implemented by pre-saving corresponding codes, tables, or other methods that can be used to indicate relevant information in the device, and this application does not limit its specific implementation method.

[0225] Seventh, in this application, "storage" may refer to storage in one or more memories. The one or more memories may be separate or integrated into an encoder or decoder, a processor, or a communication device. The one or more memories may also be partially separate and partially integrated into a decoder, a processor, or a communication device. The memory may be any type of storage medium and is not limited in this application.

[0226] Eighth, in this application, if there is no logical conflict, "report", "feedback" and "send" can be interchangeable.

[0227] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 200 provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG8 , the method 200 includes the following steps:

[0228] S210: The non-APMLD sends a request frame #1 to the second APMLD. Correspondingly, the second APMLD receives the request frame #1. The request frame #1 is used to request to transfer one or more contexts of the non-APMLD to the second APMLD.

[0229] It should be understood that the request frame #1 can be an example of the seventh frame, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific naming of the request frame #1. Exemplarily, the request frame #1 can be a seamless roaming request (Seamless Roaming Request) frame.

[0230] Optionally, after sending the request frame #1, the non-APMLD may stop sending (or delivering) uplink data to the distributed system, thereby reducing the amount of data that the first APMLD needs to transmit subsequently.

[0231] It should be understood that the one or more contexts of the non-APMLD may include a context of a block confirmation session and / or a context of a security association, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

[0232] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific information carried by the request frame #1.

[0233] In a possible implementation, the request frame #1 includes a fifth field, which may be an MLD MAC Address field. Specifically, when the request frame #1 is sent to the second APMLD, the MLD MAC Address field is set to the MAC address of the first APMLD.

[0234] In another possible implementation, the request frame #1 may include a first field, which may be a non-Defaulttransfer field. Specifically, when the non-Defaulttransfer field is set to 0, it may be used to indicate that all contexts between the non-APMLD and the first APMLD are transferred; when the non-Defaulttransfer field is set to 1, it may be used to indicate that some contexts between the non-APMLD and the first APMLD are transferred.

[0235] It is understood that when the non-Defaulttransfer field is used to indicate the transfer of a portion of the context between the non-APMLD and the first APMLD, the request frame #1 may also indicate the context of a specific TID through the fourth field. The fourth field includes multiple bits, each bit corresponding to a service type. That is, each bit in the fourth field may be used to indicate whether the context of the corresponding service type needs to be transferred.

[0236] As an example but not limitation, the fourth field may include a downlink (DL) TID Bitmap field, which is used to indicate that contexts of one or more downlink TIDs need to be transferred.

[0237] As an example but not a limitation, the fourth field may also carry an uplink (UL) TID Bitmap field, which is used to indicate that the context of one or more uplink TIDs needs to be transferred.

[0238] In another possible implementation, the request frame #1 may include a second field, where the second field is used to indicate whether data transmission is to be performed. Specifically, when the second field is set to 1, it may be used to indicate that data transmission is to be performed; and when the second field is set to 0, it may be used to indicate that data transmission is not to be performed.

[0239] It should be understood that the above-mentioned data transmission can be understood as data transmission of uplink data and / or data transmission of downlink data. In other words, the second field can be used to indicate whether downlink data transmission is to be performed, or the second field can be used to indicate whether uplink data transmission is to be performed, or the second field can be used to indicate whether uplink data transmission and downlink data transmission are to be performed. The downlink data can be understood as data in the send buffer of the first APMLD, and the uplink data can be understood as data in the reordering buffer of the first APMLD.

[0240] It should be understood that when the second field is used only to indicate whether to transmit uplink data or downlink data, the request frame #1 may also carry an additional field #1 to indicate whether to transmit the other type of data. Exemplarily, when the second field is used to indicate whether to transmit downlink data, the request frame #1 may also include a field #1 to indicate whether to transmit uplink data.

[0241] It should be noted that when the first APMLD is transmitting downlink data and / or uplink data, it is necessary to carry the sequence number corresponding to each MSDU and an end marker (EndMarker) in the data frame. The end marker can be used to indicate the end of the downlink data transmission and / or the end of the uplink data transmission.

[0242] In another possible implementation, the request frame #1 may further include a third field, which is used to indicate whether to transfer the security association between the non-APMLD and the first APMLD. Exemplarily, the third field may be used to indicate whether to perform a pairwise transient key security association (PTKSA). Specifically, when the third field is set to 1, the third field may be used to indicate that the PTKSA context needs to be transferred to the second APMLD; when the third field is set to 0, the third field may be used to indicate that the PTKSA context does not need to be transferred to the second APMLD.

[0243] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific content of the PTKSA context. Exemplarily, the PTKSA context may include parameters such as PTK, Packet Number Counter (PNCounter) or Replay Counter (ReplayCounter).

[0244] It can be understood that when the third field indicates to transfer a security association, the one or more contexts of the non-APMLD at least include a security association context.

[0245] In the embodiment of the present application, the third bit is always set to 0, indicating that the security association context transfer is not performed. For non-co-located APMLD or seamless mobility domain architecture, the third bit can be set to 1, indicating that the security association context transfer is performed.

[0246] In another possible implementation, the request frame #1 may further carry a seventh field, where the seventh field is used to indicate that the link between the non-APMLD and the second APMLD is switched from a Power Save (PS) mode to an active mode.

[0247] Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of the frame structure of a request frame #1 provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 9, the request frame #1 includes an MLD MAC Address field, a non-default transfer field, a data transmission indication field, and a security association transfer field. It should be noted that the frame structure shown in Figure 9 is only an example, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit the number of fields included in the request frame #1, the order of the fields, or the length of the fields.

[0248] In a possible implementation, the request frame #1 may further carry a field #2, where the field #2 is used to indicate that the first APMLD or the second APMLD is expected to reply with a response frame to the request frame #1.

[0249] In one possible implementation, the request frame #1 may further carry field #3, which is used to indicate whether to remove the link between the non-APMLD and the first APMLD. Exemplarily, field #3 may indicate whether to remove all links between the non-APMLD and the first APMLD using one bit.

[0250] In one possible implementation, the request frame #1 needs to be encrypted or protected, thereby improving the security of the communication method 200. However, the embodiment of the present application does not limit the encryption method or protection method of the request frame #1.

[0251] It should be understood that the non-APMLD can send the request frame #1 through any link between it and the second APMLD, and this embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0252] In an embodiment of the present application, the request frame #1 can activate the hot-standby association of the second APMLD, and after receiving the request frame #1, the second APMLD can initiate the transfer of one or more contexts of the non-APMLD based on the information carried by the request frame #1.

[0253] S220: The second APMLD sends a request frame #2 to the first APMLD, and the first APMLD receives the request frame #2. The request frame #2 is used to request to transfer one or more contexts of the non-APMLD to the second APMLD.

[0254] It should be understood that the request frame #2 can be an example of the first frame, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific naming of the request frame #2. Exemplarily, the request frame #2 can be a context transfer request (ContextTransferRequest) frame.

[0255] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific information carried in the request frame #2, and the specific information carried in the request frame #2 can be referred to the relevant description in step S210, which will not be repeated here.

[0256] It should be noted that the fifth field carried in the request frame #2 is set to the MAC address of the non-APMLD.

[0257] It should be understood that the first APMLD can send the request frame #2 to the second APMLD through a distributed system (DS). Specifically, the distributed system includes an upper-layer access device and / or a network controller, that is, the first APMLD can send the request frame #2 to the second APMLD through the upper-layer access device, or the first APMLD can send the request frame #2 to the second APMLD through the network controller, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0258] S230: Switch the data path of the non-AP MLD to the second AP MLD.

[0259] The following describes two specific methods for switching the data path of the non-AP MLD to the second AP MLD.

[0260] Method 1

[0261] The first APMLD sends a request frame #3 to the distributed system, and the distributed system receives the request frame #3. The request frame #3 is used to transfer the data path of the non-APMLD to the second APMLD.

[0262] It should be understood that the request frame #2 can be an example of the second frame, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific naming of the request frame #2. As an example and not a limitation, the request frame #3 can be a DS-STA-Notifyrequest primitive for indicating a transfer (MOVE), so that the distributed system transfers the data path of the non-APMLD to the second APMLD.

[0263] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific content carried by the request frame #3. Exemplarily, the request frame #3 may include the MAC address of the non-APMLD and the MAC address of the second APMLD.

[0264] Correspondingly, after receiving the request frame #3, the distributed system will transfer the data path of the non-APMLD to the second APMLD.

[0265] In a possible implementation, after step S230, the first APMLD can also receive an acknowledgment frame ACK for the request frame #3.

[0266] Method 2

[0267] The second APMLD sends a request frame #4 to the distributed system, and the distributed system receives the request frame #4. The request frame #4 is used to request that the data path of the non-APMLD be transferred to the second APMLD.

[0268] It should be understood that the request frame #4 can be an example of the third frame, and as an example rather than a limitation, the request frame #4 can be a DS-STA-Notifyrequest primitive for indicating a transfer (MOVE), so that the distributed system transfers the data path of the non-APMLD to the second APMLD.

[0269] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the triggering conditions for the second APMLD to send the request frame #4.

[0270] By way of example and not limitation, before the second APMLD sends request frame #4 to the distributed system, the first APMLD sends request frame #5 to the second APMLD, and the second APMLD receives request frame #5. Request frame #5 requests that the data path of the non-APMLD be transferred to the second APMLD. Alternatively, request frame #4 requests that the second APMLD send request frame #4 to the distributed system. Request frame #5 may be another example of a second frame.

[0271] As an example and not a limitation, the second APMLD may automatically send the request frame #4 to the distributed system after a specific time period after executing step S220. The specific time period may be pre-configured, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0272] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific content carried by the request frame #4. Exemplarily, the request frame #3 may include the MAC address of the non-APMLD.

[0273] Through step S230 , the first APMLD can transfer the data path of the non-APMLD to the second APMLD before completing the transfer of one or more contexts of the non-APMLD, thereby reducing the amount of data that needs to be transmitted by the first APMLD.

[0274] Optionally, before step S230, the method 200 may further include the following steps:

[0275] S225 : After receiving the request frame # 2 , the first AP MLD stops sending uplink data to the distributed system.

[0276] It can be understood that the first AP MLD immediately stops sending uplink data to the distributed system in response to the request frame #2, which can reduce the amount of subsequent uplink data transmission.

[0277] Furthermore, after transferring the data path of the non-APMLD to the second APMLD, the first APMLD transfers one or more contexts of the non-APMLD to the second APMLD through the following steps.

[0278] S240: The first APMLD sends a response frame #1 to the second APMLD, and the second APMLD receives the response frame #1. The response frame #1 includes information about one or more contexts of the non-APMLD.

[0279] It should be understood that the response frame #1 can be an example of the fourth frame, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific naming of the response frame #1. Exemplarily, the response frame #1 can be a context transfer response (ContextTransferResponse) frame.

[0280] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific content of the context information carried in the response frame #1.

[0281] By way of example and not limitation, the uplink TID context information carried by the response frame #1 may include at least one of the following: a MAC address of a non-APMLD, a DL TID service identifier, a block acknowledgment policy, whether MSDU aggregation is allowed, whether fragmentation operation is allowed, whether HE fragmentation operation is supported, WinStart_O (window start position) and WinSize_O (window size) of the send buffer, or the transmission success status and retransmission count of each MPDU in the window.

[0282] By way of example and not limitation, the uplink TID context information carried by the response frame #1 may include at least one of the following: a MAC address of a non-APMLD, a UL TID service identifier, a block acknowledgment policy, whether MSDU aggregation is allowed, whether fragmentation operation is allowed, whether HE fragmentation operation is supported, a bitmap of a receiving end scoreboard, WinStart_R (window start position) and WinSize_R (window size), WinStart_B (window start position) and WinSize_B (window size) of a receive reordering buffer, or a replay counter.

[0283] It should be understood that the response frame #1 may carry a status code to indicate whether one or more context transfers of the non-APMLD are successful.

[0284] It should be understood that after receiving the response frame #1, the second APMLD can use the one or more contexts to transmit uplink data and / or downlink data with the non-APMLD according to the content carried in the response frame #1.

[0285] Optionally, after the above step S240, the first APMLD can also receive an acknowledgment frame ACK of the response frame #1.

[0286] S250: The second APMLD sends a response frame #2 to the non-APMLD, and the non-APMLD receives the response frame #2. The response frame #2 indicates that one or more contexts of the non-APMLD have been successfully transferred.

[0287] It should be understood that the response frame #2 may be an example of the fifth frame, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific naming of the response frame #2. Exemplarily, the response frame #2 may be a Seamless Roaming Response frame.

[0288] It should be understood that the response frame #2 may carry a status code to indicate whether one or more contexts of the non-APMLD are successfully transferred.

[0289] Optionally, when the request frame #1 in step S210 includes the above-mentioned field #2, and the field #2 indicates that the first APMLD expects to reply to the response frame of the request frame #1, the above-mentioned step S250 can be replaced by (not shown in the figure):

[0290] S250b: The first APMLD sends a response frame #2 to the non-APMLD. Correspondingly, the non-APMLD receives the response frame #2.

[0291] It should be understood that for the specific description of the response frame #2, reference can be made to the relevant content of S240, which will not be repeated here.

[0292] Based on the above solution, in a roaming scenario, the non-APMLD can send a request frame #1 to the second APMLD, so that the second APMLD initiates a transfer of one or more contexts between the non-APMLDs to the first APMLD, and the first APMLD can transfer the data path of the non-APMLD to the second APMLD before completing the transfer of one or more contexts between the non-APMLDs, thereby reducing the amount of data transmission that the first APMLD needs to perform subsequently.

[0293] Optionally, after completing step S250, the method 200 may further include the following steps (not shown):

[0294] S260 : After the first APMLD completes transmission of the cached data, remove all or part of the links between the first APMLD and the non-APMLD.

[0295] In one possible implementation, after determining that the first APMLD's cached data (or all data packets in the buffer) has been transmitted, the non-APMLD sends a request frame #6 to the first APMLD, and the first APMLD receives the request frame #6. The request frame #6 is used to remove all or part of the link between the non-APMLD and the first APMLD.

[0296] It should be understood that the request frame #6 may be an example of the sixth frame, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific naming of the request frame #6.

[0297] It should be understood that the embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific method by which the non-APMLD determines whether the first APMLD's cached data has been transmitted. For example, the first APMLD may notify the non-APMLD that it has completed the transmission of its own cached data. Specifically, the first APMLD may send a downlink buffer report (bufferreport) frame to indicate that the downlink buffer is empty.

[0298] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific manner in which the request frame #6 indicates to remove all or part of the link between the non-APMLD and the first APMLD.

[0299] As an example and not a limitation, the request frame #6 may indicate whether to remove all links between the non-APMLD and the first APMLD through the 1-bit field #4. Specifically, when the field #4 is set to 0, it indicates that all links between the non-APMLD and the first APMLD are not removed; when the field #4 is set to 1, it indicates that all links between the non-APMLD and the first APMLD are removed.

[0300] As an example and not limitation, the request frame #6 can indicate whether to remove all or part of the links between the non-APMLD and the first APMLD through the multi-bit field #4, and when part of the links need to be removed, the request frame #6 indicates that a specific link between the non-APMLD and the first APMLD needs to be removed.

[0301] It should be understood that the non-APMLD can reuse existing frames, such as the Link Reconfiguration Request / Response frame as the above-mentioned request frame #6, or the non-APMLD can use an additionally designed frame as the above-mentioned request frame #6. This embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0302] In another possible implementation, after completing the transmission of the cached data, the first APMLD sends a request frame #7 to the non-APMLD, and the non-APMLD receives the request frame #7. The request frame #7 is used to request the removal of all or part of the link between the non-APMLD and the first APMLD.

[0303] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific method by which the request frame #7 indicates the removal of all or part of the link between the non-APMLD and the first APMLD. The specific method can be referred to the relevant content of the request frame #4 and will not be repeated here.

[0304] It should be understood that the non-APMLD can reuse an existing frame, such as a Link Reconfiguration Response frame, as the request frame #7, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0305] In this implementation, after the first APMLD completes the transmission of the cached data, the first APMLD may proactively remove all or part of the links with the non-APMLD, thereby reducing the interaction process and saving signaling overhead.

[0306] FIG10 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 300 provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG10 , the method 300 includes the following steps:

[0307] S310: The non-APMLD sends a request frame #8 to the first APMLD, and the first APMLD receives the request frame #8. The request frame #8 is used to request to transfer one or more contexts of the non-APMLD to the second APMLD.

[0308] It should be understood that the request frame #8 may be an example of the first frame, and for a detailed description of the request frame #8, reference may be made to the relevant content of the request frame #1 in step S210, which will not be repeated here.

[0309] It should be noted that, when the request frame #8 is sent to the first APMLD, the fifth field carried in the request frame #8 is set to the MAC address of the second APMLD.

[0310] In the embodiment of the present application, the request frame #8 may trigger the first APMLD to perform subsequent steps to implement the transfer of one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD.

[0311] S320: Switch the data path of the non-AP MLD to the second AP MLD.

[0312] It should be understood that the specific method of switching the data path of the non-AP MLD to the second AP MLD can be referred to the relevant content of step S230, which is not described in detail here.

[0313] In a possible implementation, before step S320, the method 300 may further include the following steps:

[0314] S315: After receiving the request frame #8, the first AP MLD stops sending uplink data to the distributed system.

[0315] Furthermore, after transferring the data path of the non-APMLD to the second APMLD, the first APMLD transfers one or more contexts of the non-APMLD to the second APMLD through the following steps.

[0316] S330: The first APMLD sends a response frame #3 to the second APMLD, and the second APMLD receives the response frame #3. The response frame #3 includes information about one or more contexts of the non-APMLD.

[0317] It should be understood that the response frame #3 can be an example of the fourth frame, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific naming of the response frame #3. For example, the response frame #1 can be a context transfer response (ContextTransferResponse) frame.

[0318] It should be understood that for the specific information carried by the response frame #3, reference may be made to the relevant content of the response frame #1 in step S240, which will not be repeated here.

[0319] It should be understood that after receiving the above-mentioned response frame #3, the second APMLD can use the one or more contexts to transmit uplink data and / or downlink data with the non-APMLD according to the information carried in the response frame #3.

[0320] Optionally, after the above step S330, the first APMLD may also receive an acknowledgment frame ACK of the response frame #3.

[0321] S340: The first APMLD sends a response frame #4 (another example of the second frame) to the non-APMLD, and the non-APMLD receives the response frame #4. The response frame #4 indicates that one or more contexts of the non-APMLD have been successfully transferred.

[0322] It should be understood that the response frame #4 may be an example of the fifth frame, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific naming of the response frame #4. Exemplarily, the response frame #4 may be a Seamless Roaming Response frame.

[0323] It should be understood that for the specific information carried by the response frame #4, reference may be made to the relevant content of the response frame #2 in step S250, which will not be repeated here.

[0324] Optionally, when the request frame #1 in step S310 includes the above field #2, and the field #2 indicates that the second APMLD is expected to reply with a response frame to the request frame #1, the above step S340 may be replaced by (not shown in the figure):

[0325] S340b: The second APMLD sends a response frame #4 to the non-APMLD. Correspondingly, the non-APMLD receives the response frame #4.

[0326] It is easy to understand that when the response frame #4 is sent from the second APMLD to the non-APMLD, the response frame #3 in the above step S330 may be an example of the second frame.

[0327] Based on the above solution, in a roaming scenario, the non-APMLD can send a request frame #8 to the first APMLD, so that the first APMLD can transfer the data path of the non-APMLD to the second APMLD before completing the transfer of one or more contexts between the non-APMLDs, thereby reducing the amount of data transmission that the first APMLD needs to perform subsequently.

[0328] Optionally, after completing step S340, the method 300 may further include the following steps (not shown):

[0329] S350: After the first APMLD completes data transmission, all or part of the link between the first APMLD and the non-APMLD is removed. It should be understood that the specific implementation of the above step S350 can refer to the relevant content of step S260 and will not be repeated here.

[0330] In a fast transition (FT) scenario, when a non-APMLD roams from its current APMLD to a target APMLD, it must create a new PTKSA with the target APMLD. Based on this, an embodiment of the present application also proposes a communication method 400 that prevents the non-APMLD from deleting its PTKSA with the current APMLD before successfully reassociating with the target APMLD, thereby ensuring successful handover between APMLDs.

[0331] FIG11 is a schematic diagram of a communication method 400 provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in the figure, the method 400 includes the following steps:

[0332] S410: The non-APMLD sends a request frame #9 to the first APMLD, and the first APMLD receives the request frame #9. The request frame #9 is used to request generation of a pairwise transient key (PTK) between the non-APMLD and the second APMLD.

[0333] In an embodiment of the present application, the request frame #9 may be a fast handover request (FTRequest) frame. Specifically, the FTRequest frame includes a frame header and a frame body. The frame header includes a category field, a fast transition (FT) action field, a transmitter address (TA) field, and a receiver address (RA) field. The definition and explanation of each field in the fast roaming request frame can be found in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11r protocol and will not be repeated in this embodiment of the present application.

[0334] It should be understood that the request frame #9 includes the MAC address of the second APMLD. Exemplarily, the MAC address of the second APMLD may be carried in the frame body of the request frame #9.

[0335] S420: The first APMLD sends a request frame #10 to the second APMLD, and the second APMLD receives the request frame #10. The request frame #10 is used to request generation of a PTK between the non-APMLD and the second APMLD.

[0336] It should be understood that the request frame #10 may be an FTRequest frame, or the request frame #10 may be a frame generated based on the FTRequest frame, such as a RemoteRequest frame, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

[0337] S430: The second APMLD replies with a response frame #5 to the first APMLD, and the first APMLD receives the response frame #5. The response frame #5 indicates whether the second APMLD successfully authenticates the non-APMLD.

[0338] It should be understood that after receiving the request frame #10, the second APMLD will authenticate the terminal according to the IEEE 802.11r protocol. The embodiment of the present application will not elaborate on the authentication process.

[0339] As an example but not limitation, the response frame #5 may be a RemoteResponse frame.

[0340] S440: The first APMLD sends a response frame #6 to the non-APMLD, and the non-APMLD receives the response frame #6. The response frame #6 indicates whether the second APMLD successfully authenticates the non-APMLD.

[0341] As an example but not limitation, the response frame #6 may be a fast handover response (FTResponse) frame.

[0342] Furthermore, when the response frame #6 indicates that the second APMLD has successfully authenticated the non-APMLD, the non-APMLD performs the following steps.

[0343] S450: The non-APMLD sends a request frame #11 to the second APMLD. Correspondingly, the second APMLD receives the request frame #11. The request frame #11 is used to request the establishment of a security association between the non-APMLD and the second APMLD.

[0344] It should be understood that the non-APMLD may reuse an existing frame as the request frame #11, or the non-APMLD may use an additionally designed frame as the request frame #11, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0345] As an example and not a limitation, the non-APMLD may reuse a reassociation request frame as the request frame #11. Specifically, the frame format of the reassociation request frame is shown in Table 1 below.

[0346] Table 1 Reassociation Request Frame Format

[0347] In a possible implementation, the non-APMLD may further add an additional field to the request frame #11, so that the request frame #11 is used to request the transfer of one or more contexts of the non-APMLD.

[0348] As an example and not a limitation, the request frame #11 further includes field #5, which may be a non-default transfer field. For a detailed description of the non-default transfer field, reference may be made to the related content of the first field, which is not limited here.

[0349] As an example and not a limitation, the request frame #11 further includes a field #6, which is used to indicate whether data transmission is to be performed. A detailed description of the field #6 may refer to the related content of the aforementioned second field and is not limited here.

[0350] It should be understood that when the request frame #11 includes the field #6, to enable data transmission, the first APMLD can delete the data in the buffer (eg, the sending buffer and / or the reordering buffer) only after the MSDU is successfully transmitted.

[0351] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the length and order of field #5 or field #6 in request frame #11.

[0352] In a possible implementation, after sending the request frame #11, the method 400 further includes the following steps (not shown):

[0353] S455: The non-APMLD stops sending uplink data to the first APMLD.

[0354] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific manner in which the non-APMLD stops sending uplink data to the first APMLD.

[0355] As an example but not a limitation, the non-APMLD may stop sending uplink data to the first APMLD after receiving the acknowledgment frame of the request frame #11.

[0356] As an example and not a limitation, the non-APMLD may stop sending uplink data to the first APMLD after a specific time period of sending the request frame #11. However, the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific time period.

[0357] S460: The second APMLD sends a request frame #12 to the first APMLD. Correspondingly, the first APMLD receives the request frame #12.

[0358] It should be understood that for the specific description of the request frame #12, reference can be made to the relevant content of the aforementioned request frame #2, which will not be repeated here.

[0359] S470: The first APMLD sends a response frame #7 to the second APMLD. Correspondingly, the second APMLD receives the response frame #7.

[0360] It should be understood that for the specific description of the response frame #7, reference can be made to the relevant content of the aforementioned response frame #1, which will not be repeated here.

[0361] In the embodiment of the present application, before sending the response frame #7, the first APMLD stops sending uplink data to the distributed system, or in other words, the first APMLD stops sending MSDU to the distributed system.

[0362] Optionally, before sending the response frame #7, the first APMLD further stops transmitting downlink data to the non-APMLD.

[0363] S480: The second APMLD sends a response frame #8 to the non-APMLD, and the non-APMLD receives the response frame #8. The response frame #8 indicates that the security association between the non-APMLD and the second APMLD is successfully established.

[0364] It should be understood that the successful transfer of one or more contexts of the non-APMLD can be considered as the successful creation of a new PTKSA between the non-APMLD and the second APMLD. Based on this, the non-APMLD can delete the PTKSA between it and the first APMLD after confirming that the transfer of one or more contexts of the non-APMLD has been successful.

[0365] It should be understood that the second APMLD may reuse an existing frame as the response frame #8, or the second APMLD may use an additionally designed frame as the response frame #8, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0366] As an example but not a limitation, the second APMLD may multiplex a reassociation response (Reassociation Response) frame as the response frame # 8. Specifically, the frame format of the reassociation response frame may be as shown in Table 2 below.

[0367] Table 2 Reassociation Response Frame Format

[0368] It should be understood that when the request frame #11 is also used to request the transfer of one or more contexts of a non-APMLD, the response frame #8 may also indicate whether the transfer of one or more contexts of the non-APMLD is successful.

[0369] Furthermore, the second APMLD may also indicate in response frame #8 whether the corresponding context transfer is successful for each TID. As an example and not a limitation, the second APMLD may carry multiple TIDs and multiple status codes in response frame #8 to indicate whether the context transfer corresponding to each TID is successful.

[0370] S490: Transfer the data path of the non-APMLD to the second APMLD.

[0371] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific method of transferring the data path of the non-APMLD to the second APMLD. For detailed description, please refer to the relevant content of step S230, which is not repeated here.

[0372] Based on the above scheme, the non-APMLD can delete the PTKSA between the non-APMLD and the first APMLD after determining that one or more contexts of the non-APMLD are successfully transferred through the response frame #8, thereby ensuring the successful switching of the non-APMLD between APMLDs.

[0373] It can be understood that after the non-APMLD roams to the second APMLD, in the scenario where the second APMLD expects to modify the parameters of one or more block confirmation sessions (for example, due to inconsistent capabilities between the second AP MLD and the first APMLD), if the relevant parameters are updated by deleting and re-establishing the session, all block confirmation session resources will be released at both the sending and receiving ends, which will lead to packet loss, and the negative impact on transmission will be too great.

[0374] In view of this, an embodiment of the present application further proposes a method for APMLD to update parameters related to a block confirmation session, which can avoid packet loss caused by deleting a block confirmation session, thereby maintaining normal transmission.

[0375] Illustratively, after the context transfer is completed using method 200 or method 300, i.e., after one or more contexts of the non-APMLD are transferred to the second APMLD (i.e., after step S250 or step S340), the second APMLD may send a request frame #13 to the non-APMLD, and the non-APMLD receives the request frame #13. The request frame #13 is used to request an update of one or more parameters of the corresponding session.

[0376] It should be understood that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the specific timing when the second APMLD sends the request frame #13.

[0377] As an example but not a limitation, the second APMLD may send the request frame #13 to the non-APMLD after receiving the aforementioned response frame #2 or response frame #4.

[0378] As an example and not a limitation, the second APMLD may send the request frame #13 to the non-APMLD after a specific time period in which the one or more contexts are used for data transmission. However, the specific time period is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0379] It should be understood that the second APMLD may reuse an existing frame as the request frame #13, or the second APMLD may use an additionally designed frame as the request frame #13, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

[0380] As an example but not limitation, the request frame #13 may be a Multi-link Operation Update Response frame, wherein the dialog token field in the request frame #13 is set to 0.

[0381] As an example but not limitation, the request frame #13 may be an Unsolicited ADDBA Request frame.

[0382] As an example but not limitation, the request frame #13 may be a Link Reconfiguration Response frame, wherein the Dialogue Token field in the request frame #13 is set to 0.

[0383] The following description uses the request frame #13 as a multi-link operation update response as an example. Specifically, the request frame #13 may add a corresponding field in the reconfiguration multi-link information element, as shown in FIG12 . The block session operations (BAOperations) in the common information field may include at least one of the following:

[0384] Field #7 is used to indicate the service identifier of the block acknowledgement session, so as to indicate that the parameters of the block acknowledgement session are expected to be updated. Field #7 may be 4 bits. Field #7 may be a service identifier field.

[0385] The eighth field is used to indicate the buffer size, and the eighth field may be 10 bits. The eighth field may be a buffer size field.

[0386] The ninth field is used to indicate whether A-MSDU is supported, or whether the transmitter is allowed to send A-MSDU. The ninth field can be 1 bit. The ninth field can be the aggregated A-MSDU support field

[0387] The tenth field is used to indicate a block confirmation policy, and the tenth field may be 1 bit. The tenth field may be a block confirmation field.

[0388] The eleventh field is used to indicate whether fragmentation is supported, and the eleventh field may be 1 bit. The eleventh field may be a fragmentation support field.

[0389] The twelfth field is used to indicate whether HE slicing is supported. The twelfth field may be 2 bits. The twelfth field may be an efficient slicing operation field.

[0390] The thirteenth field is used to indicate a block confirmation timeout value, or in other words, the thirteenth field is used to negotiate a block confirmation timeout value with a non-APMLD. The thirteenth field may be 16 bits. The thirteenth field may be a block confirmation timeout value field.

[0391] Field #8: This field is used to indicate the presence of a block acknowledgement timeout value. Field #5 may be 1 bit. Field #8 may be a block acknowledgement timeout value presence field.

[0392] Field #9 is a timer field used to indicate the effective time of the parameters in the request frame #13, thereby providing preparation time for the receiving and sending ends to avoid affecting data transmission. Field #9 can be a timer field.

[0393] Optionally, the request frame #13 may further include a reserved field to improve the flexibility of updating the block confirmation session through the request frame #13.

[0394] Based on the above solution, APMLD can proactively send request frame #13, thereby completing the update of specific parameters without deleting the block confirmation session, maintaining normal transmission of APMLD and non-APMLD.

[0395] It should be understood that the specific examples shown in Figures 8 to 12 of the embodiments of the present application are intended only to help those skilled in the art better understand the embodiments of the present application, and do not limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. It should also be understood that the order of the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not necessarily indicate the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0396] It should also be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified or there is a logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced to each other, and the technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their internal logical relationships.

[0397] It should also be understood that in some of the above embodiments, devices in existing network architectures are mainly used as examples for illustrative purposes, and it should be understood that the embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific form of the devices. For example, devices that can achieve the same functions in the future are applicable to the embodiments of the present application.

[0398] It is understandable that in the above-mentioned various method embodiments, the methods and operations implemented by devices (such as access point multi-link devices and non-access point multi-link devices) may also be implemented by components applicable to the devices (such as chips or circuits).

[0399] The communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application is described in detail above, in conjunction with Figures 8 to 12 . The communication method is primarily described from the perspective of interaction between an access point multi-link device and a non-access point multi-link device. It will be appreciated that, to implement the aforementioned functions, the access point multi-link device and the non-access point multi-link device include hardware structures and / or software modules corresponding to each function.

[0400] Those skilled in the art should be aware that, in combination with the units and algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed herein, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is performed in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.

[0401] The following describes in detail the multi-link device provided by the embodiment of the present application in conjunction with Figures 13 and 14. It should be understood that the description of the apparatus embodiment corresponds to the description of the method embodiment. Therefore, for matters not described in detail, reference can be made to the method embodiment above. For the sake of brevity, some contents are not repeated here.

[0402] In the embodiment of the present application, the functional modules of the transmitting device or the receiving device can be divided according to the above method example. For example, each functional module can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The above integrated modules can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional modules. It should be noted that the division of modules in the embodiment of the present application is schematic and is only a logical functional division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation. The following is an example of dividing each functional module according to each function.

[0403] Figure 13 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 1000 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The apparatus 1000 includes a transceiver unit 1010 and a processing unit 1020. The transceiver unit 1010 can implement corresponding communication functions, and the processing unit 1020 is used to process data. The transceiver unit 1010 can also be referred to as a communication interface or a communication unit.

[0404] Optionally, the device 1000 may further include a storage unit, which may be used to store instructions and / or data. The processing unit 1020 may read the instructions and / or data in the storage unit so that the device implements the aforementioned method embodiment.

[0405] The apparatus 1000 can be used to execute the actions executed by a multi-link device (such as an access point multi-link device and a non-access point multi-link device) in the above method embodiments. In this case, the apparatus 1000 can be a multi-link device or a component that can be configured in a multi-link device. The transceiver unit 1010 is used to execute the transceiver-related operations on the multi-link device side in the above method embodiments, and the processing unit 1020 is used to execute the processing-related operations on the multi-link device side in the above method embodiments.

[0406] As a design, the apparatus 1000 is used to execute the actions executed by the first APMLD in the above method embodiment.

[0407] In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1010 is configured to receive a first frame, where the first frame is used to request that one or more contexts of a non-access point multi-link device (non-APMLD) be transferred to a second APMLD, where the non-APMLD is associated with the first APMLD; the processing unit 1020 is configured to transfer the data path of the non-APMLD to the second APMLD based on the first frame; and the processing unit 1020 is further configured to transfer the one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD to the second AP MLD based on the first frame after the data path of the non-AP MLD is transferred to the second AP MLD.

[0408] As another design, the apparatus 1000 is used to execute the actions executed by the second APMLD in the above method embodiment.

[0409] In one possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1010 is configured to receive a seventh frame from a non-access point multi-link device (non-AP MLD), where the seventh frame is used to request that one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD be transferred to the second AP MLD, where the non-AP MLD is associated with the first AP MLD. The processing unit 1020 is configured to send a first frame to the first AP MLD based on the first frame, where the first frame is used to request that one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD be transferred to the second AP MLD. The transceiver unit 1010 is further configured to receive a fourth frame after the data path of the non-AP MLD is transferred to the second AP MLD, where the fourth frame includes information about the one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD.

[0410] In another possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1010 is configured to receive a third frame from the first AP MLD, where the third frame is used to request that a data path of a non-AP MLD be transferred to the second AP MLD, where the non-AP MLD is associated with the first AP MLD; the processing unit 1020 is configured to transfer the data path of the non-AP MLD to the second AP MLD based on the third frame; and the transceiver unit 1010 is further configured to receive a fourth frame after the data path of the non-AP MLD is transferred to the second AP MLD, where the fourth frame includes information about one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD.

[0411] The apparatus 1000 can implement steps or processes performed by an access point multi-link device (first APMLD or second APMLD) in a method embodiment according to an embodiment of the present application. The apparatus 1000 may include units for executing the method performed by the access point multi-link device in the method embodiment. Furthermore, each unit in the apparatus 1000 and the other operations and / or functions described above are for implementing corresponding processes of the method embodiment in the access point multi-link device in the method embodiment.

[0412] It should be understood that the specific process of each unit executing the above corresponding steps has been described in detail in the above method embodiment, and for the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

[0413] As a design, the apparatus 1000 is used to execute the actions performed by the non-APMLD in the above method embodiment.

[0414] In a possible implementation, the transceiver unit 1010 is configured to send a first frame, where the first frame is used to request transfer of one or more contexts of a non-AP MLD to a second AP MLD, where the non-AP MLD is associated with the first AP MLD.

[0415] The apparatus 1000 can implement the steps or processes performed by the non-access point multi-link device in the method embodiment according to the embodiment of the present application. The apparatus 1000 may include units for executing the method performed by the non-access point multi-link device in the method embodiment. Furthermore, each unit in the apparatus 1000 and the other operations and / or functions described above are for implementing the corresponding processes of the method embodiment in the non-access point multi-link device in the method embodiment.

[0416] It should be understood that the specific process of each unit executing the above corresponding steps has been described in detail in the above method embodiment, and for the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

[0417] As shown in Figure 14, an embodiment of the present application further provides an apparatus 2000. The apparatus 2000 includes a processor 2010 and may further include one or more memories 2020. The processor 2010 is coupled to the memory 2020. The memory 2020 is configured to store computer programs, instructions, and / or data. The processor 2010 is configured to execute the computer programs, instructions, and / or data stored in the memory 2020, thereby executing the method in the above method embodiment. Optionally, the apparatus 2000 may include one or more processors 2010.

[0418] Optionally, the memory 2020 may be integrated with the processor 2010 or provided separately.

[0419] Optionally, as shown in Figure 14, the apparatus 2000 may further include a transceiver 2030, which is configured to receive and / or transmit signals. For example, the processor 2010 is configured to control the transceiver 2030 to receive and / or transmit signals.

[0420] As a solution, the apparatus 2000 is used to implement the operations performed by the multi-link device (such as the access point multi-link device and the non-access point multi-link device) in the above method embodiment.

[0421] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions for implementing the method executed by a multi-link device (such as the access point multi-link device and the non-access point multi-link device) in the above method embodiment.

[0422] For example, when the computer program is executed by a computer, the computer can implement the method performed by the multi-link device (such as the access point multi-link device and the non-access point multi-link device) in the above method embodiment.

[0423] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed by a computer, enables the computer to implement the method performed by a multi-link device (such as the access point multi-link device and the non-access point multi-link device) in the above method embodiment.

[0424] An embodiment of the present application further provides a communication system, which includes the access point multi-link device and the non-access point multi-link device in the above embodiment.

[0425] The explanation of the relevant contents and beneficial effects of any of the above-mentioned devices can be referred to the corresponding method embodiments provided above, which will not be repeated here.

[0426] It should be understood that the processor mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), or may be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc.

[0427] It should also be understood that the memory mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be a volatile memory and / or a non-volatile memory. Among them, the non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM). For example, RAM can be used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, RAM may include the following forms: static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM).

[0428] It should be noted that when the processor is a general-purpose processor, DSP, ASIC, FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware component, the memory (storage module) can be integrated into the processor.

[0429] It should also be noted that the memory described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0430] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the units and steps of the various examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel may use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to exceed the scope of protection of this application.

[0431] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0432] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected according to actual needs to implement the solutions provided in this application.

[0433] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one unit, each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0434] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function described in the embodiment of the present application is generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. For example, the computer can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server or data center to another website, computer, server or data center by wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) mode. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available media integrations. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a solid state disk (SSD)). For example, the available medium may include, but is not limited to, various media that can store program code, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: include: A first access point multi-link device APMLD receives a first frame, the first frame being used to request transfer of one or more contexts of a non-APMLD to a second APMLD, the non-APMLD being associated with the first APMLD; The first APMLD transfers the data path of the non-APMLD to the second APMLD according to the first frame; After the data path of the non-AP MLD is transferred to the second APMLD, the first APMLD transfers one or more contexts of the non-APMLD to the second APMLD according to the first frame.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The first APMLD transfers the data path of the non-APMLD to the second APMLD according to the first frame, including: The first APMLD sends a second frame to the distributed system, where the second frame is used to transfer the data path of the non-APMLD to the second APMLD, or The first APMLD sends a second frame to the second APMLD, where the second frame is used to request the second APMLD to send a third frame to the distributed system, where the third frame is used to transfer the data path of the non-APMLD to the second APMLD.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that Before the first APMLD transfers the data path of the non-APMLD to the second APMLD according to the first frame, the method further includes: The first APMLD stops sending uplink data to the distributed system.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The first APMLD transferring one or more contexts of the non-APMLD to the second APMLD according to the first frame includes: The first APMLD sends a fourth frame to the second APMLD, where the fourth frame includes information about one or more contexts of the non-APMLD.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that The first frame includes at least one of the following: A first field, where the first field is used to indicate transferring all or part of the context of the non-APMLD; A second field, where the second field is used to indicate whether to perform data transmission of uplink data and / or downlink data; or The third field is used to indicate whether to transfer the context of the security association to the second APMLD.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that When the first frame includes the first field, and the first field is used to indicate the transfer of part of the context of the non-APMLD, the first frame also includes a fourth field, and the fourth field includes multiple bits, each bit corresponding to a service type, wherein each bit is used to indicate whether the context of the corresponding service type needs to be transferred.

7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that When the first frame includes the third field, and the third field is used to indicate that the security-associated context is transferred to the second APMLD, the one or more contexts of the non-APMLD include the security-associated context.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that The first APMLD receiving the first frame includes: The first APMLD receives the first frame from the non-APMLD; or The first APMLD receives the first frame from the second APMLD.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The first frame includes a fifth field, wherein The first frame comes from the non-APMLD, and the fifth field is used to indicate an address of a second APMLD; or The first frame comes from the second APMLD, and the fifth field is used to indicate the address of the non-APMLD.

10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that The first frame is from the non-APMLD, and the method further includes: The first APMLD sends a fifth frame to the non-APMLD, where the fifth frame is used to indicate that the transfer of one or more contexts of the non-APMLD is successful.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The fifth frame includes a sixth field, where the sixth field is used to indicate removal of one or more links between the first AP MLD and the non-AP MLD.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that The first frame further includes a seventh field, where the seventh field is used to indicate that one or more links between the second APMLD and the non-APMLD are switched to an active mode.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that The method further comprises: The first APMLD sends a sixth frame to the non-APMLD, where the sixth frame is used to indicate that the cached data of the first APMLD has been transmitted, or the sixth frame is used to request deletion of one or more links between the first APMLD and the non-APMLD.

14. A communication method, characterized in that: include: The second access point multi-link device APMLD receives a seventh frame from a non-APMLD, wherein the seventh frame is used to request transfer of one or more contexts of the non-APMLD to the second APMLD, the non-APMLD being associated with the first APMLD; The second APMLD sends a first frame to the first APMLD based on the seventh frame, where the first frame is used to request that one or more contexts of the non-APMLD be transferred to the second APMLD; After the data path of the non-AP MLD is transferred to the second AP MLD, the second AP MLD receives a fourth frame, where the fourth frame includes information of one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that The method further comprises: The second APMLD sends a fifth frame to the non-APMLD, where the fifth frame is used to indicate that the transfer of one or more contexts of the non-APMLD is successful.

16. The method according to claim 14 or 15, characterized in that The first frame includes at least one of the following: A first field, where the first field is used to indicate transferring all or part of the context of the non-APMLD; A second field, where the second field is used to indicate whether to perform data transmission of uplink data and / or downlink data; or The third field is used to indicate whether to transfer the context of the security association to the second APMLD.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that When the first frame includes the first field, and the first field is used to indicate the transfer of part of the context of the non-APMLD, the first frame also includes a fourth field, and the fourth field includes multiple bits, each bit corresponding to a service type, wherein each bit is used to indicate whether the context of the corresponding service type needs to be transferred.

18. The method according to claim 16 or 17, characterized in that When the first frame includes the third field, and the third field is used to indicate that the security-associated context is transferred to the second APMLD, the one or more contexts of the non-APMLD include the security-associated context.

19. The method according to any one of claims 16 to 18, characterized in that The fifth frame includes a sixth field, where the sixth field is used to indicate removal of one or more links between the first AP MLD and the non-AP MLD.

20. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 19, characterized in that The first frame further includes a seventh field, where the seventh field is used to indicate that one or more links between the first APMLD and the second APMLD are switched to an active mode.

21. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 20, characterized in that The method further comprises: The second APMLD sends an eighth frame to the non-APMLD, where the eighth frame is used to request an update of a block acknowledgement context in the one or more contexts.

22. The method according to claim 21, characterized in that The eighth frame includes at least one of the following fields: An eighth field, where the eighth field is used to indicate a buffer size of a corresponding block confirmation session; A ninth field, the ninth field being used to indicate whether the transmitting end is allowed to send an aggregated MAC layer service data unit; A tenth field, the tenth field is used to indicate a block confirmation policy of a corresponding block confirmation session; An eleventh field, the eleventh field is used to indicate whether a fragmentation operation is allowed; A twelfth field, the twelfth field is used to indicate whether a high-efficiency sharding operation is supported; The thirteenth field is used to indicate the timeout value of the corresponding block confirmation session.

23. The method according to claim 22, characterized in that The eighth frame further includes a timer, and the timer is used to indicate the validity time of the at least one field.

24. A communication method, characterized in that: include: A second access point multi-link device APMLD receives a second frame from the first APMLD, wherein the second frame is used to request that a data path of a non-APMLD be transferred to the second APMLD, the non-APMLD being associated with the first APMLD; The second AP MLD transfers the data path of the non-AP MLD to the second AP MLD according to the second frame; After the data path of the non-AP MLD is transferred to the second AP MLD, the second AP MLD receives a fourth frame, where the fourth frame includes information of one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD.

25. The method according to claim 24, characterized in that Before the second AP MLD receives the third frame from the first AP MLD, the method further includes: The second APMLD receives a seventh frame from the non-APMLD, where the seventh frame is used to request transfer of one or more contexts of the non-APMLD to the second APMLD; The second APMLD sends a first frame to the first APMLD based on the seventh frame, where the seventh frame is used to request to transfer one or more contexts of the non-APMLD to the second APMLD.

26. The method according to claim 24 or 25, characterized in that The method further comprises: The second APMLD sends a fifth frame to the non-APMLD, where the fifth frame is used to indicate that the transfer of one or more contexts of the non-APMLD is successful.

27. The method according to any one of claims 24 to 26, characterized in that The first frame includes at least one of the following: A first field, where the first field is used to indicate transferring all or part of the context of the non-APMLD; A second field, where the second field is used to indicate whether to perform data transmission of uplink data and / or downlink data; or The third field is used to indicate whether to transfer the context of the security association to the second APMLD.

28. The method according to claim 27, characterized in that When the first frame includes the first field, and the first field is used to indicate the transfer of part of the context of the non-APMLD, the first frame also includes a fourth field, and the fourth field includes multiple bits, each bit corresponding to a service type, wherein each bit is used to indicate whether the context of the corresponding service type needs to be transferred.

29. The method according to claim 27 or 28, characterized in that When the first frame includes the third field, and the third field is used to indicate that the security-associated context is transferred to the second APMLD, the one or more contexts of the non-APMLD include the security-associated context.

30. The method according to any one of claims 26 to 29, characterized in that The fifth frame includes a sixth field, where the sixth field is used to indicate removal of one or more links between the first AP MLD and the non-AP MLD.

31. The method according to any one of claims 24 to 30, characterized in that The first frame further includes a seventh field, where the seventh field is used to indicate that one or more links between the first APMLD and the second APMLD are switched to an active mode.

32. The method according to any one of claims 24 to 31, characterized in that The method further comprises: The second APMLD sends an eighth frame to the non-APMLD, where the eighth frame is used to request an update of a block acknowledgement context in the one or more contexts.

33. The method according to claim 32, characterized in that The eighth frame includes at least one of the following fields: An eighth field, where the eighth field is used to indicate a buffer size of a corresponding block confirmation session; A ninth field, the ninth field being used to indicate whether the transmitting end is allowed to send an aggregated MAC layer service data unit; A tenth field, the tenth field is used to indicate a block confirmation policy of a corresponding block confirmation session; An eleventh field, the eleventh field is used to indicate whether a fragmentation operation is allowed; A twelfth field, the twelfth field is used to indicate whether a high-efficiency sharding operation is supported; The thirteenth field is used to indicate the timeout value of the corresponding block confirmation session.

34. The method according to claim 33, wherein The eighth frame further includes a timer, and the timer is used to indicate the validity time of the at least one field.

35. A communication method, characterized in that: include: A non-AP MLD device sends a first frame, where the first frame is used to request that one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD be transferred to a second AP MLD device. The non-APMLD receives a fifth frame, where the fifth frame is used to indicate that the transfer of one or more contexts of the non-APMLD is successful.

36. A communication method, characterized in that: include: The non-AP MLD sends a ninth frame to the second AP MLD, wherein the ninth frame is used to request establishment of a security association between the non-AP MLD and the second AP MLD, wherein the first AP MLD is associated with the non-AP MLD; The non-APMLD receives a tenth frame from the second APMLD, where the tenth frame indicates that a security association between the non-AP MLD and the second APMLD is successfully established. The non-APMLD deletes the security association between the non-APMLD and the first APMLD according to the tenth frame.

37. The method according to claim 36, wherein The ninth frame is further used to request that one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD be transferred to the second AP MLD, wherein the ninth frame includes a first field and / or a second field, the first field is used to indicate the transfer of all or part of the context of the non-AP MLD, and the second field is used to indicate whether to transmit uplink data and / or downlink data.

38. The method according to claim 36 or 37, characterized in that The method further comprises: After sending the ninth frame, the non-APMLD stops sending uplink data to the first APMLD.

39. The method according to claim 36, wherein The tenth frame is further used to indicate whether the transfer of one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD is successful.

40. A communication method, characterized in that: include: The second access point multi-link device AP MLD receives a ninth frame, wherein the ninth frame is used to request establishment of a security association between the non-APMLD and the second APMLD, wherein the first APMLD is associated with the non-APMLD; The second APMLD establishes a security association with the non-APMLD according to the ninth frame; The second APMLD sends a tenth frame to the non-APMLD, where the tenth frame is used to indicate that a security association between the non-APMLD and the second APMLD is successfully established.

41. The method according to claim 40, wherein The ninth frame is further used to request the transfer of one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD from the first AP MLD to the second AP MLD, wherein the ninth frame includes a first field and / or a second field, the first field is used to indicate the transfer of all or part of the context of the non-AP MLD, and the second field is used to indicate whether to transmit uplink data and / or downlink data.

42. The method according to claim 40, wherein The tenth frame is further used to indicate whether the transfer of one or more contexts of the non-AP MLD is successful.

43. A communication device, characterized in that Comprising means for performing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 42.

44. A communication device, characterized in that including processor and memory; The memory is used to store computer program instructions; The processor is configured to execute the instructions so that the method according to any one of claims 1 to 42 is performed.

45. A communication device, characterized in that comprising a logic circuit and an interface, wherein the logic circuit and the interface are coupled; The interface is used to input and / or output code instructions, and the logic circuit is used to execute the code instructions so that the method according to any one of claims 1 to 42 is performed.

46. ​​A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The computer-readable storage medium is used to store a computer program. When the computer program is executed, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 42 is performed.

47. A computer program, characterized in that When the computer program is executed, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 42 is performed.

48. A communication system, characterized in that The communication system includes a first communication device and a second communication device, wherein the first communication device is used to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, and the second communication device is used to perform the method according to any one of claims 14 to 23, or any one of claims 24 to 34, or any one of claims 40 to 42.

49. A communication system, characterized in that The communication system includes a first access point multi-link device APMLD and a second APMLD, the first APMLD is used to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, and the second APMLD is used to perform the method according to any one of claims 14 to 25, or any one of claims 24 to 34, or any one of claims 40 to 42.

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