Communication method and communication apparatus

Abstract

The present application provides a communication method and a communication apparatus, which are applied to a sensing scenario, and for example, can support an IEEE 802.11be / Wi-Fi 7 / EHT protocol, an IEEE 802.11bn / UHR / Wi-Fi 8 protocol, an IEEE 802.15 / UWB protocol, or an IEEE 802.11bf / sensing / sensing protocol. The method comprises: a first AP generates a sensing measurement request message and sends same to a second AP, wherein the sensing measurement request message indicates a sensing measurement interaction mode in which the second AP participates in sensing measurement as a sensing responder and which is allocated by the first AP to the second AP. In the solution, the first AP serves as a sensing initiator and allocates to the second AP the sensing measurement interaction mode in which the second AP participates in the sensing measurement as the sensing responder; and on the basis of the sensing measurement interaction mode allocated by the first AP, the second AP performs the sensing measurement as the sensing responder.

Description

Communication method and communication device

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office on March 29, 2024, with application number 202410379066.X and application 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 communications, and more particularly, to a communication method and a communication device. Background Art

[0003] Wireless local area network (WLAN) sensing (also referred to as wireless sensing) technology is a radar-based sensing technology. The current protocol defines a wireless sensing process, one of the phases of which is the sensing measurement interaction. The sensing measurement interaction phase defines two types of sensing measurements: trigger-based (TB) sensing measurements and non-trigger-based (TB) sensing measurements. Trigger-based sensing measurements: An access point (AP) initiates a sensing measurement process as the sensing initiator, and one or more non-access point stations (non-AP STAs, hereinafter referred to as STAs) participate in the sensing measurement process as sensing responders. Non-trigger-based sensing measurements: An STA initiates a sensing measurement process as the sensing initiator, and an AP participates in the sensing measurement process as the sensing responder. In other words, the sensing process specified in the current protocol relies on the participation of at least one STA to complete the sensing measurement, and does not consider how sensing measurements can be implemented between two or more APs without STA participation. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The present application provides a communication method and a communication device, which can realize wireless perception between APs by supporting APs as perception responders to perform perception measurements.

[0005] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be executed by a first AP, or by a component of the first AP (e.g., a processor, chip, or chip system), or by a logic module or software that implements all or part of the first AP's functions. For ease of description, the following description uses execution by the first AP as an example.

[0006] The method includes: generating a perception measurement request message and sending the perception measurement request message to the second AP, wherein the perception measurement request message instructs the second AP allocated by the first AP to participate in a perception measurement interaction mode as a perception responder for perception measurement.

[0007] According to the communication method provided in this application, a first AP can initiate a perception process by sending a perception measurement request message, a second AP can act as a perception responder, and the first AP can assign the second AP to participate in the perception measurement as a perception responder in a perception measurement interaction mode, so that the second AP can perform perception measurement as a perception responder according to the perception measurement interaction mode assigned by the first AP. This solution enables wireless perception between APs by supporting APs to perform perception measurements as perception responders.

[0008] In one possible implementation, a perception measurement interaction mode in which a second AP assigned by a first AP to a second AP participates in perception measurement as a perception responder is a first perception measurement interaction mode or a second perception measurement interaction mode. In the first perception measurement interaction mode, the second AP participates as a perception responder in at least one of the following phases of the perception measurement initiated by the first AP: a null data packet announcement (NDPA) frame sounding phase or a trigger frame (TF) sounding phase.

[0009] Among them, if the second AP is a sensing receiver, the second AP will participate in the NDPA frame detection phase of the sensing measurement initiated by the first AP. During the NDPA frame detection phase, the first AP sends an NDPA frame and a null data packet (NDP) to the second AP. The second AP receives the NDPA frame and NDP sent by the first AP and performs channel measurement based on the NDP. Exemplarily, the NDP is a sensing initiator to sensing responder (SI2SR) NDP.

[0010] If the second AP is the sensing transmitter, the second AP will participate in the trigger frame detection phase of the sensing measurement initiated by the first AP. In the trigger frame detection phase, the first AP sends a sensing detection trigger frame to the second AP, the second AP receives the sensing detection trigger frame sent by the first AP, and sends an NDP to the first AP based on the received sensing detection trigger frame. The first AP will perform channel measurement based on the received NDP. Exemplarily, the sensing detection trigger frame can be a sensing (Sensing) sensing responder to sensing initiator (SR2SI) sounding trigger (Sounding Trigger) frame. Exemplarily, the NDP can be an SR2SI NDP.

[0011] Optionally, in the first perception measurement interaction mode, the second AP, as a perception responder, may also participate in the polling phase and / or reporting phase of the perception measurement initiated by the first AP. In the polling phase, the first AP may send a trigger frame to the second AP. If the second AP determines to participate in this perception measurement interaction, it may respond to the trigger frame. For example, the second AP may send a CTS-to-self frame to the first AP. Exemplarily, the trigger frame may be a Sensing Polling Trigger frame. If the second AP is a perception receiver, the first AP may send a Sensing Reporting Trigger frame to the second AP. After receiving the perception reporting trigger frame, the second AP may send a Sensing Measurement Report frame to the first AP to feedback the perception measurement results.

[0012] In the second perception measurement interaction mode, the second AP's participation in the perception measurement as a perception responder includes: sending an NDP to the first AP in response to an NDPA frame and a null data packet (NDP) sent by the first AP. Exemplarily, the NDP sent by the first AP may be an SI2SR NDP. Exemplarily, the NDP sent by the second AP may be an SR2SI NDP.

[0013] Optionally, in the second perception measurement interaction mode, the behavior of the second AP participating in the perception measurement as a perception responder may further include: sending a perception measurement report frame to the first AP.

[0014] Specifically, if the second AP is a perception receiving end, after sending the NDP to the first AP, the second AP may send a perception measurement report frame to the first AP to feed back the perception measurement result.

[0015] In one possible implementation, before generating the perception measurement request message, the method further includes: receiving perception capability information from the second AP, the perception capability information indicating a perception measurement interaction mode supported by the second AP as a perception responder for participating in perception measurement. Generating the perception measurement request message includes: generating the perception measurement request message based on the perception capability information.

[0016] Exemplarily, the perception measurement interaction mode supported by the second AP as a perception responder for participating in the perception measurement may be the first perception measurement interaction mode and / or the second perception measurement interaction mode.

[0017] In a possible implementation, the perception measurement request message includes a first perception-specific sub-element or a second perception-specific sub-element, the first perception-specific sub-element indicates a first perception measurement interaction mode, and the second perception-specific sub-element indicates a second perception measurement interaction mode.

[0018] Exemplarily, the first sensing specific sub-element and / or the second sensing specific sub-element can reuse existing sub-elements. The sub-element after the available window (Availability Window) of the TB sensing specific sub-element (TB Sensing Specific subelement) is modified to indicate the minimum time interval between two adjacent measurements when the second AP participates in the sensing measurement initiated by the first AP is the first sensing specific sub-element. The second sensing specific sub-element can reuse the Non-TB sensing specific sub-element in the sensing measurement request frame. By reusing existing sub-elements, on the one hand, the modification of the existing frame format can be reduced, and on the other hand, since there is no need to add additional fields to indicate the sensing measurement interaction mode and sensing measurement parameters allocated by the first AP, bit overhead can be saved.

[0019] Exemplarily, the first perception-specific sub-element and / or the second perception-specific sub-element may be newly added sub-elements.

[0020] In one possible implementation, the first perception-specific sub-element further indicates a perception measurement parameter corresponding to the first perception measurement interaction mode, and the second perception-specific sub-element further indicates a perception measurement parameter corresponding to the second perception measurement interaction mode. For example, the perception measurement parameter includes a minimum time interval between two adjacent measurements when the second AP participates in a perception measurement initiated by the first AP.

[0021] In one possible implementation, before receiving the perception capability information from the second AP, the method also includes: sending a first request frame to the second AP, the first request frame being used to request the perception capability information; wherein, receiving the perception capability information from the second AP includes: receiving a first response frame from the second AP, the first response frame including the perception capability information.

[0022] Based on this solution, the first AP can request the second AP's sensing capability information according to the sensing requirement, which helps to subsequently establish a sensing measurement session between the APs.

[0023] In a possible implementation, the first request frame is a probe request frame, and the first response frame is a probe response frame; or, the first request frame is a multilink probe request frame, and the first response frame is a multilink probe response frame.

[0024] In a possible implementation, the first request frame further includes sensing capability information of the first AP, where the sensing capability information of the first AP indicates a sensing measurement interaction mode supported by the first AP as a sensing responder for participating in sensing measurement.

[0025] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: sending a second frame to at least one AP including a second AP. The second frame includes resource indication information for each of the at least one AP, the resource indication information indicating a spatial stream configuration or a resource unit (RU) configuration. The resource indication information of any of the at least one AP is used by the AP to perform one or more of the following: receiving an NDP from the first AP, sending an NDP to the first AP in response to an NDPA frame and an NDP from the first AP, or sending a perception measurement report frame to the first AP.

[0026] Based on this solution, the first AP can allocate transmission resources (ie, spatial stream configuration or RU configuration) to different APs, thereby supporting multiple APs to perform perception measurements simultaneously.

[0027] In one possible implementation, the second frame is an NDPA frame. This solution enables NDPA to have the ability to allocate RUs or spatial streams, making it easier for the first AP to flexibly call multiple APs to participate in sensing measurements.

[0028] Optionally, the resource indication information of any AP among the at least one AP is carried in a site information (STA Info) field corresponding to the AP in the NDPA frame.

[0029] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided. This method can be executed by a second AP, or by a component of the second AP (e.g., a processor, chip, or chip system), or by a logic module or software that implements all or part of the second AP's functionality. For ease of description, the following description uses execution by the second AP as an example.

[0030] The method includes: receiving a perception measurement request message, where the perception measurement request message instructs a first AP to allocate a second AP to a second AP, and the second AP serves as a perception responder to participate in a perception measurement interaction mode.

[0031] According to the communication method provided in this application, a first AP can initiate a perception process by sending a perception measurement request message, a second AP can act as a perception responder, and the first AP can assign the second AP to participate in the perception measurement as a perception responder in a perception measurement interaction mode, so that the second AP can perform perception measurement as a perception responder according to the perception measurement interaction mode assigned by the first AP. This solution enables wireless perception between APs by supporting APs to perform perception measurements as perception responders.

[0032] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: sending a perception measurement response message to the first AP according to the perception measurement request message, where the perception measurement response message is used to instruct the second AP to accept or reject the perception measurement request indicated by the perception measurement request message.

[0033] It should be understood that when the second AP accepts the perception measurement request indicated by the perception measurement request message, the second AP may perform perception measurement as a perception responder according to the perception measurement interaction mode assigned by the first AP.

[0034] In one possible implementation, before receiving the perception measurement request message, the method further includes: sending perception capability information to the first AP, the perception capability information indicating the perception measurement interaction mode supported by the second AP as a perception responder for participating in the perception measurement, wherein the perception measurement request message is generated based on the perception capability information.

[0035] Exemplarily, the perception measurement interaction mode supported by the second AP as a perception responder for participating in the perception measurement may be the first perception measurement interaction mode and / or the second perception measurement interaction mode.

[0036] In a possible implementation, in a possible implementation, the perception measurement interaction mode in which the second AP assigned by the first AP to the second AP participates in the perception measurement as a perception responder is the first perception measurement interaction mode or the second perception measurement interaction mode. In the first perception measurement interaction mode, the second AP participates in at least one of the following phases of the perception measurement initiated by the first AP as a perception responder: the NDPA frame detection phase or the trigger frame detection phase. In the second perception measurement interaction mode, the behavior of the second AP participating in the perception measurement as a perception responder includes: sending an NDP to the first AP in response to the NDPA frame and the null data packet NDP sent by the first AP.

[0037] Optionally, in the first perception measurement interaction mode, the second AP as a perception responder may also participate in the polling phase and / or reporting phase of the perception measurement initiated by the first AP.

[0038] Optionally, in the second perception measurement interaction mode, the behavior of the second AP participating in the perception measurement as a perception responder further includes: sending a perception measurement report frame to the first AP.

[0039] In a possible implementation, the perception measurement request message includes a first perception-specific sub-element or a second perception-specific sub-element, the first perception-specific sub-element indicates a first perception measurement interaction mode, and the second perception-specific sub-element indicates a second perception measurement interaction mode.

[0040] In one possible implementation, the first perception-specific sub-element further indicates a perception measurement parameter corresponding to the first perception measurement interaction mode, and the second perception-specific sub-element further indicates a perception measurement parameter corresponding to the second perception measurement interaction mode. For example, the perception measurement parameter includes a minimum time interval between two adjacent measurements when the second AP participates in a perception measurement initiated by the first AP.

[0041] In one possible implementation, before sending the perception capability information to the first AP, the method also includes: receiving a first request frame from the first AP, the first request frame being used to request the perception capability information; wherein, sending the perception capability information to the first AP includes: sending a first response frame to the first AP, the first response frame including the perception capability information.

[0042] In a possible implementation, the first request frame is a probe request frame, and the first response frame is a probe response frame; or, the first request frame is a multilink probe request frame, and the first response frame is a multilink probe response frame.

[0043] In a possible implementation, the first request frame further includes sensing capability information of the first AP, where the sensing capability information of the first AP indicates a sensing measurement interaction mode supported by the first AP as a sensing responder for participating in sensing measurement.

[0044] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: receiving a second frame from the first AP, the second frame including resource indication information for each of the at least one AP. The second frame includes the resource indication information for each of the at least one AP, the resource indication information indicating a spatial stream configuration or an RU configuration. The resource indication information of any of the at least one AP is used by the AP to perform one or more of the following: receiving an NDP from the first AP, sending an NDP to the first AP in response to an NDPA frame and an NDP from the first AP, or sending a perception measurement report frame to the first AP.

[0045] In a possible implementation, the second frame is an NDPA frame. Optionally, the resource indication information of any AP among the at least one AP is carried in a station information (STA Info) field corresponding to the AP in the NDPA frame.

[0046] Regarding the beneficial effects of the second aspect, reference may be made to the beneficial effects of the corresponding solution of the first aspect, which will not be described in detail in the second aspect.

[0047] According to a third aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a module or unit for executing the method according to the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect.

[0048] In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a module or unit for executing the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect.

[0049] In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a processor, which, when executing a computer program (also referred to as code, or instruction) or instruction stored in a memory, causes the device to execute the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, or causes the device to execute the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0050] In a possible implementation manner, the device further includes the memory.

[0051] In a possible implementation, there are one or more processors and / or one or more memories.

[0052] In a possible implementation, the memory may be integrated with the processor, or the memory may be provided separately from the processor.

[0053] In a possible implementation, the device further includes a communication interface, and the processor is coupled to the communication interface.

[0054] In one implementation, the device is an AP (eg, a first AP or a second AP). Exemplarily, the communication interface may be a transceiver, or an input / output interface.

[0055] In another implementation, the device is a chip in an AP (eg, the first AP or the second AP). Exemplarily, the communication interface may be an input / output interface.

[0056] In a sixth aspect, a processor is provided, comprising: an input circuit, an output circuit, and a processing circuit. The processing circuit is configured to receive a signal through the input circuit and transmit a signal through the output circuit, so that the processor executes the method of any of the above aspects or any possible implementation of any of the above aspects.

[0057] In a specific implementation, the processor may be a chip, the input circuit may be an input pin, the output circuit may be an output pin, and the processing circuit may be a transistor, a gate circuit, a trigger, or various logic circuits. The input signal received by the input circuit may be, for example, but not limited to, received and input by a receiver, and the signal output by the output circuit may be, for example, but not limited to, output to and transmitted by a transmitter. The input circuit and the output circuit may be the same circuit, which functions as an input circuit and an output circuit at different times. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific implementation of the processor and various circuits.

[0058] In the seventh aspect, a communication system is provided, comprising an apparatus for executing the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, and / or an apparatus for executing the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0059] In an eighth aspect, a computer program product is provided, comprising: a computer program, which, when run, enables the method in any one of the above aspects or any possible implementation of any one of the aspects to be executed.

[0060] In the ninth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores a computer program (also referred to as code, or instructions). When the computer program runs on a computer, the method in any one of the above aspects or any possible implementation of any one of the aspects is executed.

[0061] In a tenth aspect, a chip is provided, comprising a processor for calling and running a computer program from a memory, wherein when the computer program is running, the method in any one of the above aspects or any one of the possible implementations of any one of the aspects is executed.

[0062] In an eleventh aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising an interface and a processor, wherein the interface is used to send and / or receive signals, so that the processor executes the method in any one of the above aspects or any possible implementation of any one of the aspects. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0063] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a system architecture provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0064] FIG2 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0065] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of a first perception measurement interaction mode provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0066] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of a second perception measurement interaction mode provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0067] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a format of a perception measurement request frame provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0068] FIG6 is a format diagram of a TB perception-specific sub-element and a first perception-specific sub-element provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0069] FIG7 is a format diagram of a second perception-specific sub-element provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0070] FIG8 is another format intention of the first perception-specific sub-element provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0071] FIG9 is a method for obtaining perception capability information provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0072] FIG10 is another method for obtaining perception capability information provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0073] FIG11 is another schematic diagram of a second perception measurement interaction mode provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0074] FIG12 is a schematic diagram of the format of the STA Info field in the NDPA frame provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0075] FIG13 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0076] FIG14 is a schematic block diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0077] FIG15 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0078] FIG16 is a schematic structural diagram of a network device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0079] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application.

[0080] In the description of this application, unless otherwise specified, " / " indicates that the objects associated with each other are in an "or" relationship. For example, A / B can mean A or B. "And / or" in this application is merely a description of the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. A and B can be singular or plural. In addition, in the description of this application, unless otherwise specified, "multiple" means two or more than two. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can mean: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, or abc, where a, b, and c can be single or multiple. In addition, to facilitate the clear description of the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, in the embodiments of this application, words such as "first" and "second" are used to distinguish between identical or similar items with substantially the same functions and effects. Those skilled in the art can understand that words such as "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity and execution order, and words such as "first" and "second" do not necessarily limit them to be different.

[0081] In the various method embodiments of the present application, the size of the serial number does not mean the order of execution. The order of execution 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.

[0082] It is understood that, in this application, expressions such as "under...", "if...", "when...", "if...", and similar expressions may be used interchangeably. Furthermore, these expressions all imply that corresponding actions will be taken under certain objective circumstances, and do not limit the timeframe, require no judgment in implementation, or imply any other limitations.

[0083] It can be understood that in the present application, “greater than or equal to” can be replaced by “greater than”, and correspondingly, “less than” can be replaced by “less than or equal to”.

[0084] It is understood that some optional features in the embodiments of the present application may, in certain scenarios, be implemented independently of other features, such as the solution on which they are currently based, to solve corresponding technical problems and achieve corresponding effects. They may also be combined with other features in certain scenarios as needed. Accordingly, the devices provided in the embodiments of the present application may also implement these features or functions accordingly, which will not be described in detail here.

[0085] In this application, unless otherwise specified, the same or similar parts between the various embodiments can refer to each other. In the various embodiments in this application, and the various implementation methods / implementation methods / implementation methods in each embodiment, if there is no special explanation and logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments and the various implementation methods / implementation methods / implementation methods in each embodiment are consistent and can be referenced to each other. The technical features in different embodiments and the various implementation methods / implementation methods / implementation methods in each embodiment can be combined to form new embodiments, implementation methods, implementation methods, or implementation methods according to their inherent logical relationships. The implementation methods of this application described below do not constitute a limitation on the scope of protection of this application.

[0086] The technical solution provided in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to a wireless local area network (WLAN). Exemplarily, the WLAN can support the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) protocol, such as 802.11ax, 802.11ax next-generation Wi-Fi protocols (such as 802.11be, Wi-Fi 7, extremely high throughput (EHT)), 802.11ad, 802.11ay, 802.11bf, 802.11be next-generation Wi-Fi protocols (such as Wi-Fi 8, ultra-high reliability (UHR)), 802.11bn, 802.15, ultra-wide band (UWB), and sensing protocols. Exemplarily, the WLAN can also support Wi-Fi artificial intelligence (AI) or millimeter wave (mmWave).

[0087] Although the embodiments of the present application are primarily described using the deployment of a WLAN network, particularly a network using the IEEE 802.11 protocol, as an example, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the various aspects of the embodiments of the present application can be extended to other networks using various standards or protocols, such as a high-performance wireless local area network (HIPERLAN), a wireless wide area network (WWAN), a wireless personal area network (WPAN), or other networks now known or developed in the future. Therefore, regardless of the coverage area and wireless access protocol used, the various aspects provided in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to any suitable wireless network.

[0088] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to various communication systems, such as: WLAN communication system, wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) system, long term evolution (LTE) system, universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), world-wide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication system, fifth generation (5G) system or new radio (NR), future sixth generation (6G) system, Internet of Things (IoT) network or vehicle to x (V2X), etc. It should be understood that the above-mentioned communication systems applicable to the present application are only examples, and the communication systems applicable to the present application are not limited thereto. They are uniformly described here and will not be repeated below.

[0089] The embodiments of this application involve access point stations (AP STAs) and non-access point stations (non-AP STAs). Unless otherwise specified, AP STAs are referred to as APs in this application, and non-AP STAs are referred to as STAs in this application.

[0090] Among them, AP is used to provide wireless access services. By accessing the AP, STA can connect to an existing wired or wireless network. For example, the AP can be a router, base station, relay station, gateway, communication server, switch, bridge, or various terminals (such as mobile phones, vehicle-mounted devices, or wearable devices, etc.) with a Wi-Fi chip. Exemplarily, the AP can support IEEE protocols, such as the various 802.11 protocols described above. Exemplarily, the AP in this application can be a high-efficiency (HE) AP, an extremely high throughput (EHT) AP, or a directional multi-gigabit (DMG) AP.

[0091] STAs can access existing wired or wireless network connections by connecting to an AP. For example, a STA can be a computer equipped with a wireless network card, a smartphone, tablet computer, or IoT terminal device with a wireless module, or a terminal such as a handheld device, vehicle-mounted device, wearable device, or computing device with wireless communication capabilities. For example, a STA can be a mobile phone that supports Wi-Fi communication, a tablet computer that supports Wi-Fi communication, a set-top box that supports Wi-Fi communication, a smart TV that supports Wi-Fi communication, a smart wearable device that supports Wi-Fi communication, a vehicle-mounted communication device that supports Wi-Fi communication, a computer that supports Wi-Fi communication, an IoT (Internet of Things) node or sensor that supports Wi-Fi communication, or a smart home that supports Wi-Fi communication, such as a smart camera, smart remote control, smart water and electricity meter, and sensors in a smart city. For example, an AP can support IEEE protocols, such as the various 802.11 protocols described above. For example, a STA in this application can be a HE STA, an EHT STA, or a DMG STA.

[0092] Wireless WLAN sensing technology is a sensing technology based on radar. A radar consists of a transmitting antenna and a receiving antenna. The transmitting antenna sends electromagnetic waves, which are reflected by the target and then picked up by the receiving antenna. Based on the changes in the transmitted and received waves, the radar system uses signal processing to analyze target characteristics, such as location, shape, motion characteristics, and movement path. Radar sensing offers many unique advantages. For example, radar is unaffected by light levels and can penetrate obstructions, thus better protecting personal privacy. Radar sensing also has a longer range and is harmless to humans and animals. The primary advantage of using radar technology for sensing lies in motion detection. The Doppler effect on the target's echo can be used to observe and interpret the target's motion, such as direction and speed.

[0093] The introduction of sensing technology into WLANs holds great commercial promise. Wireless sensing technology can be applied in a variety of scenarios. For example, in sports, it can detect the movement and trajectory of people and balls. In the home, it can also detect falls to prevent them for the elderly. By processing channel state information (CSI), it can interpret human movement and trajectory. Wireless sensing technology can fully utilize existing WLAN network resources without significant cost. In future densely deployed WLANs, a single AP will cover many STAs. The AP can optimize resource scheduling for each STA to improve system throughput and robustness.

[0094] Currently, wireless sensing technology mainly has the following roles:

[0095] (1) Perception initiator: A HE STA or EHT STA that initiates the perception process by sending a perception measurement request frame, or a DMG STA that initiates the DMG perception process by sending a DMG perception measurement request frame.

[0096] sensing initiator:A high-efficiency(HE)station(STA)or extremely high throughput(EHT)STA that initiates a sensing procedure by transmitting a Sensing Measurement Request frame,or a DMG STA that initiates a DMG sensing procedure by transmitting a DMG Sensing Measurement Request frame.

[0097] (2) Perception responder: A HE STA or EHT STA that participates in the perception process by responding to the perception initiator, or a DMG STA that participates in the DMG perception process by responding to the perception initiator.

[0098] sensing responder:A high-efficiency(HE)station(STA)or extremely high throughput(EHT)STA that participates in a sensing procedure by responding to a sensing initiator,or a DMG STA that participates in a DMG sensing procedure by responding to a sensing initiator.

[0099] (3) Perception sender: The STA that sends the physical protocol data unit (PPDU) for measurement in the perception process or DMG perception process.

[0100] sensing transmitter:A station(STA)that transmits PPDUs used for measurements in a sensing procedure or a directional multi-gigabit(DMG)sensing procedure.

[0101] (4) Perception receiver: The STA that is the intended recipient of the perception transmitter that sends the PPDU and is used to obtain the perception measurement results in the perception process or DMG perception process.

[0102] sensing receiver:A station(STA)that is the intended recipient of PPDUs sent by a sensing transmitter to obtain sensing measurements in either a sensing procedure or a directional multi-gigabit(DMG)sensing procedure.

[0103] It should be noted that the STA in the above role can be an AP STA or a non-AP STA. It should also be noted that, for the convenience of description, the perception process and DMG perception process described here are collectively referred to as the perception process, and the perception measurement request frame and DMG perception measurement request frame are collectively referred to as the perception measurement request frame, and the others are similar.

[0104] The perception process can be used to describe how perception is performed. The perception process can include the following four stages:

[0105] 1) Sensing capabilities exchange: The sensing initiator and the sensing responder exchange their respective sensing capabilities information.

[0106] 2) Sensing measurement session establishment: The sensing initiator and sensing responder negotiate the configuration parameters for sensing measurement, such as the role of the sensing responder (i.e., sensing sender or sensing receiver), the bandwidth of the null data packet (NDP), the availability window and period for sensing measurement, etc.

[0107] 3) Sensing measurement exchange: During a sensing measurement, the sensing transmitter sends an NDP to the sensing receiver. The sensing receiver performs measurements and calculates channel state information (CSI) based on the NDP. The sensing measurement results are fed back to the sensing initiator. At this stage, the protocol defines two types of sensing measurements: trigger-based and non-trigger-based.

[0108] a) Trigger-based (TB): The AP, as the perception initiator, initiates a perception measurement process, and one or more STAs, as perception responders, participate in the perception measurement process.

[0109] b) Non-trigger-based (non-TB): STA initiates a perception measurement process as the perception initiator, and AP participates in the perception measurement process as the perception responder.

[0110] 4) Sensing measurement session termination: The sensing initiator or the sensing responder terminates one or more sensing measurement sessions.

[0111] In the aforementioned perception process, the perception signal (NDP in the 11bf protocol) is used to measure the CSI between the AP and the STA, or between two STAs. This means that the perception process in the 11bf protocol relies on the participation of at least one STA to complete the perception measurement. It does not consider how perception measurements can be implemented between two or more APs without STA participation, or how an AP can participate in a perception measurement process initiated by another AP as a perception responder. If perception between APs is possible, it can support many real-world scenarios. For example, in a warehouse or factory, multiple routers (which can be considered APs) are deployed in fixed locations. By sending and receiving perception signals, the routers can sense the behavior of automated equipment and personnel in the warehouse or factory, and thus implement security monitoring.

[0112] In view of this, the present application provides a communication method in which one AP can act as a perception initiator and another AP can act as a perception responder. The AP acting as the perception initiator can assign the perception measurement process for the AP acting as the perception responder to participate in the perception measurement. This method enables wireless perception between APs by supporting the AP acting as the perception responder to perform perception measurements.

[0113] For example, FIG1 is an exemplary schematic diagram of a system architecture applicable to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG1 , the communication method provided in the present application is applicable to a sensing process between at least two access points (APs). For example, AP2 can act as a sensing responder and participate in sensing measurements initiated by AP1. For another example, AP3 can act as a sensing responder and participate in sensing measurements initiated by AP1.

[0114] The method provided in this application is described in detail below.

[0115] Figure 2 is a schematic flow chart of a communication method provided by the present application. The method 200 may include S210 and S220, and each step is described below.

[0116] S210: The first AP generates a perception measurement request message.

[0117] Exemplarily, the sensing measurement request message may be a sensing measurement request (Sensing Measurement Request) frame. The sensing measurement request (Sensing Measurement Request) frame may be a sensing measurement request frame action frame.

[0118] S220: The first AP sends a perception measurement request message to the second AP. Correspondingly, the second AP receives the perception measurement request message from the first AP.

[0119] The perception measurement request message indicates a perception measurement interaction mode in which the second AP allocated by the first AP to the second AP participates in the perception measurement as a perception responder. That is, the perception measurement request message indicates a perception measurement interaction mode allocated by the first AP to the second AP, and the perception measurement interaction mode is a perception measurement interaction mode in which the second AP participates in the perception measurement as a perception responder.

[0120] It should be noted that the second AP can be any potential sensing response end.

[0121] Optionally, in one example, the method 200 may further include:

[0122] S230: The second AP sends a perception measurement response message to the first AP. Correspondingly, the first AP receives the perception measurement response message from the second AP.

[0123] The sensing measurement response message is used to instruct the second AP to accept or reject the sensing measurement request initiated by the first AP through the sensing measurement request message. Exemplarily, the sensing measurement response message may be a sensing measurement response (Sensing Measurement Response) frame.

[0124] It should be noted that, in another example, if the second AP accepts the perception measurement request initiated by the first AP, it replies with a perception measurement response frame; otherwise, it may not make any reply.

[0125] It can be understood that if the second AP accepts the perception measurement request initiated by the first AP, the first AP and the second AP can perform perception measurement interaction based on the perception measurement interaction mode allocated by the first AP to the second AP.

[0126] It should be understood that steps S210 - S230 may occur during the perception measurement session establishment phase described above.

[0127] According to the communication method provided in this application, a first AP can initiate a perception process by sending a perception measurement request message, a second AP can act as a perception responder, and the first AP can assign the second AP to participate in the perception measurement as a perception responder in a perception measurement interaction mode, so that the second AP can perform perception measurement as a perception responder according to the perception measurement interaction mode assigned by the first AP. This solution enables wireless perception between APs by supporting APs to perform perception measurements as perception responders.

[0128] In an implementation manner, the perception measurement interaction mode allocated by the first AP may be the first perception measurement interaction mode or the second perception measurement interaction mode.

[0129] For example, a schematic diagram of the first sensing measurement interaction mode is shown in Figure 3. Referring to Figure 3, AP1 is a sensing initiator, and AP2-AP6 are all sensing responders.

[0130] The first perception measurement interaction mode may include four stages, and the fourth stage is described below.

[0131] (1) Polling phase: After AP1 obtains a transmit opportunity (TXOP), if AP2-AP6 participate in the polling phase, AP1 sends a trigger frame to AP2-AP6 to confirm whether AP2-AP6 can participate in this sensing measurement interaction. Exemplarily, the trigger frame in this step can be a Sensing Polling Trigger frame defined in the 802.11bf protocol. AP2-AP5 responds to the trigger frame to indicate that it can participate in this sensing measurement interaction, or AP6 does not respond to the trigger frame to indicate that it does not participate in this sensing measurement interaction. Exemplarily, if any AP among AP2-AP6 responds to the trigger frame, it can reply with a CTS-to-self frame, which can be carried in the HE / EHT TB PPDU.

[0132] (2) NDPA sounding phase: If an AP among AP2-AP6 (e.g., AP4 and AP5) is a sensing receiver, then AP1 can send an NDPA (e.g., Sensing NDP Announcement) frame and an NDP (e.g., SI2SR NDP) to the AP, and the AP performs channel measurement based on the received NDP.

[0133] (3) TF sounding phase: If an AP among AP2-AP6 (e.g., AP2 and AP3) is a sensing transmitter, then AP1 can send a sensing detection trigger frame (e.g., SR2SI Sounding Trigger frame) to the AP to trigger the AP to send an NDP (e.g., SR2SI NDP). AP1 then performs channel measurement based on the received NDP.

[0134] (4) Reporting phase: If the reporting phase exists, then when an AP among AP2-AP6 (e.g., AP4 and AP5) is a sensing receiver, AP1 can send a Sensing Reporting Trigger frame to that AP to allocate spectrum resources for transmitting sensing measurement report frames. The AP then uses the allocated spectrum resources to send a Sensing Measurement Report frame to AP1 to feedback the sensing measurement results. The Sensing Measurement Report frame can be carried in the HE / EHT TB PPDU.

[0135] It should be understood that the first AP may be AP1 in FIG. 3 , and the second AP may be any one of AP2 to AP6 in FIG. 3 , such as AP3.

[0136] It can be understood that in the first perception measurement interaction mode, the second AP participates in the NDPA detection phase or the trigger frame detection phase of the perception measurement initiated by the first AP as a perception response end. That is, in the first perception measurement interaction mode, the second AP receives the NDPA (e.g., Sensing NDP Announcement) frame and NDP (e.g., SI2SR NDP) sent by the first AP, and performs channel measurement based on the received NDP. Alternatively, in the first perception process, the second AP receives the perception detection trigger frame (e.g., SR2SI Sounding Trigger frame) sent by the first AP, and sends an NDP (e.g., SR2SI NDP) to the first AP based on the received perception detection trigger frame. Optionally, the second AP, as a perception response end, can also participate in the polling phase and / or reporting phase of the perception measurement initiated by the first AP.

[0137] For example, FIG4 shows a schematic diagram of the second perception measurement interaction mode. Referring to FIG4, AP1 is a perception initiator, and AP2 is a perception responder. The second perception measurement interaction mode may include:

[0138] (1) Measurement sounding phase: After obtaining a TXOP, AP1 sends an NDPA frame (e.g., a Sensing NDP Announcement frame) and an NDP (e.g., a SI2SR NDP) to AP2, and AP2 replies with an NDP (e.g., a SR2SI NDP). If AP2 is a sensing transmitter, AP1 performs channel measurement based on the received NDP (e.g., a SR2SI NDP). If AP2 is a sensing receiver, AP2 performs channel measurement based on the received NDP (e.g., a SI2SR NDP).

[0139] (2) Reporting phase: If the reporting phase exists, then when AP2 is the sensing receiver, after sending NDP (e.g., SR2SI NDP), AP2 will continue to send Sensing Measurement Report frames to AP1 to feedback the measurement results.

[0140] It should be understood that the first AP may be AP1 in Figure 4, and the second AP may be AP2 in Figure 4. In addition, it should be noted that the reporting phase (sending of the perception measurement report frame) and the measurement detection phase may belong to the same TXOP, or AP2 may send the perception measurement report frame to AP1 after obtaining a new TXOP.

[0141] It can be understood that in the second perception measurement interaction mode, the behavior of the second AP participating in the perception measurement as a perception responder includes: in response to the NDPA (e.g., Sensing NDP Announcement) and NDP (e.g., SI2SR NDP) sent by the first AP, sending an NDP (e.g., SR2SI NDP) to the first AP. Optionally, in the second perception measurement interaction mode, the behavior of the second AP participating in the perception measurement as a perception responder also includes: after sending the NDP (e.g., SR2SI NDP), the second AP sends a perception measurement report frame to the first AP.

[0142] It should be understood that this application only uses the example of the second AP supporting at most one or two of the first perception measurement interaction mode and the second perception measurement interaction mode. This application does not exclude that the second AP can also support other perception measurement interaction modes in addition to the first perception measurement interaction mode and the second perception measurement interaction mode.

[0143] The manner in which the perception measurement request message indicates the first perception measurement interaction mode or the second perception measurement interaction mode is described below.

[0144] Method 1

[0145] The sensing measurement request message includes a sensing measurement parameter element (Sensing Measurement Parameters Element), where a field in the sensing measurement parameter element may indicate a sensing measurement interaction mode allocated by the first AP.

[0146] For example, a new field can be added to the current sensing measurement parameter element, and the newly added field can indicate the sensing measurement interaction mode assigned by the first AP. For example, Figure 5 shows a format diagram of a sensing measurement request frame (i.e., an example of a sensing measurement request message), wherein the sensing measurement request frame includes a sensing measurement parameter element, and the sensing measurement parameter element includes the newly added field. In Figure 5, the newly added field can be recorded as: sensing measurement exchange mode. The sensing measurement request frame includes the following fields: Category, Public Action / Protected Dual of Public Action, Dialog Token, Measurement Session ID Indication, and Sensing Measurement Parameters Element. The sensing measurement parameters element includes the following fields: Element ID, Length, Element ID Extension, Sensing Measurement Paremeters, and Sensing Subelements.The sensing measurement parameter field includes the following fields: sensing transmitter (Sensing Transmitter), sensing receiver (Sensing Receiver), sensing measurement report request (Sensing Measurement Report Requested), measurement session expiry index (Measurement Session Expiry Exponent), bandwidth (BW), transmit high efficiency long training field (TX HE-LTF) repetition, receive high efficiency long training field (RX HE-LTF) repetition, transmit space time stream (TX STS), receive space time stream (RX STS), number of RX antennas (Number of RX Antennas), report timestamp (Report Timestamp), INg, basic service set (BSS) color information (BSS Color Information), sensing measurement exchange mode (Sensing measurement exchange mode), reserved (Reserved). Other fields in Figure 5 except the perception measurement interaction mode field can refer to the existing technology. For example, the perception transmitter field can be used to set whether the second AP is a perception transmitter, the perception receiver field can be used to set whether the second AP is a perception receiver, and the perception measurement report request field can be used to set whether the second AP sends a perception measurement report frame.

[0147] In the example shown in FIG5 , the newly added field (i.e., the perception measurement interaction mode field) may be 1 bit, which may indicate the first perception measurement interaction mode or the second perception measurement interaction mode. For example, the correspondence between the value of the 1 bit and the perception measurement interaction mode is shown in Table 1.

[0148] Table 1

[0149] It should be understood that the position of the perception measurement interaction mode field shown in FIG5 is merely an example, and the position of the perception measurement interaction mode field may also be different from the position shown in FIG5. In addition, the number of octets or bits occupied by each field shown in FIG5 is merely an example and does not constitute any limitation to the present application.

[0150] It should be noted that while Method 1 describes that the perception measurement interaction mode field can be located within the perception measurement parameter element, in some embodiments, the perception measurement interaction mode field can also be located outside the perception measurement parameter element. For example, a new field can be added after the perception measurement parameter element in Figure 5, and this field can be set as the perception measurement interaction mode field. In addition, in the embodiments of the present application, the naming of the field indicating the perception measurement interaction mode assigned by the first AP as "Perception Measurement Interaction Mode" is merely an example, and the present application does not limit the name of the field indicating the perception measurement interaction mode assigned by the first AP.

[0151] Method 2

[0152] The perception measurement request message includes a first perception-specific sub-element or a second perception-specific sub-element, the first perception-specific sub-element indicates a first perception measurement interaction mode, and the second perception-specific sub-element indicates a second perception measurement interaction mode.

[0153] That is, when the perception measurement request message includes the first perception-specific sub-element, the perception measurement request message indicates that the perception measurement interaction mode assigned by the first AP is the first perception measurement interaction mode, or in other words, when the perception measurement interaction mode assigned by the first AP is the first perception measurement interaction mode, the perception measurement request message includes the first perception-specific sub-element. When the perception measurement request message includes the second perception-specific sub-element, the perception measurement request message indicates that the perception measurement interaction mode assigned by the first AP is the second perception measurement interaction mode, or in other words, when the perception measurement interaction mode assigned by the first AP is the second perception measurement interaction mode, the perception measurement request message includes the second perception-specific sub-element. It should be understood that the first perception-specific sub-element or the second perception-specific sub-element is a sub-element of the perception measurement parameter element, and the first perception-specific sub-element is different from the second perception-specific sub-element, for example, the structures of the two are different.

[0154] Optionally, the first perception-dedicated sub-element may further indicate a perception measurement parameter corresponding to the first perception measurement interaction mode, and the second perception-dedicated sub-element may further indicate a perception measurement parameter corresponding to the second perception measurement interaction mode. For example, the first perception-dedicated sub-element or the second perception-dedicated sub-element may include a minimum time interval between two adjacent measurements when the second AP participates in a perception measurement initiated by the first AP.

[0155] For example, in one design, the first sensing-specific subelement and / or the second sensing-specific subelement can reuse existing subelements. For example, (a) in Figure 6 shows the TB sensing-specific subelement in the existing sensing measurement parameter element. The last field of the TB sensing-specific subelement is the availability window, which is used to coordinate STAs to participate in the measurement and is not applicable to the AP. In one example, (b) in Figure 6 is a possible format of the first sensing-specific subelement. In (b) in Figure 6, the availability window field in (a) in Figure 6 is replaced with a field used to indicate the minimum time interval between two adjacent measurements when the second AP participates in the sensing measurement initiated by the first AP. For example, the replaced field is recorded as: minimum measurement interval (Min Measurement Interval). In another example, (c) in Figure 6 is another possible format of the first sensing-specific subelement. In (c) in Figure 6, it is equivalent to changing the last two fields of (a) in Figure 6. It should be understood that the other fields shown in Figure 6, namely, subelement ID (Subelement ID), length (Length), association identifier (AID) AID / unassociated STA identifier (USID), polling allocation (Poll Assigned), CSI variation threshold (CSI Variation Threshold), sensing responder to sensing responder (SR2SR), and reserved (Reserved) field can refer to the prior art. It should be understood that when the first AP sends a sensing measurement request frame to the STA, the STA parses the field following the reserved field in the TB sensing specific subelement in the sensing measurement request frame as the available window field; if the first sensing dedicated subelement adopts the format shown in (b) of Figure 6, when the first AP sends a sensing measurement request frame to other APs (for example, the second AP), the other AP parses the field following the reserved field in the TB sensing specific subelement in the sensing measurement request frame as the minimum measurement interval field.If the first sensing specific subelement adopts the format shown in (c) in Figure 6, when the first AP sends a sensing measurement request frame to other APs (for example, the second AP), the other AP parses the penultimate field segment in the TB sensing specific subelement in the sensing measurement request frame as the minimum measurement interval field. Figure 7 shows a format diagram of the second sensing specific subelement. The second sensing specific subelement shown in Figure 7 reuses the Non-TB Sensing Specific subelement in the existing sensing measurement request frame. The minimum measurement interval (Min Measurement Interval) field in Figure 7 represents the minimum time interval between two adjacent measurements when the second AP participates in the sensing measurement initiated by the first AP. It should be understood that the other fields shown in Figure 7, namely the subelement ID (Subelement ID), length (Length) and reserved (Reserved) field, can refer to the prior art.

[0156] The above design can reduce the modification of the existing frame format by reusing existing sub-elements. On the other hand, it can save bit overhead because there is no need to add additional fields to indicate the perception measurement interaction mode and perception measurement parameters allocated by the first AP.

[0157] In another design, the first sensing-specific subelement and / or the second sensing-specific subelement may be newly added subelement. For example, if the first AP assigns the first sensing measurement interaction mode to the second AP, a new subelement (for example, recorded as: Multi-AP TB sensing subelement or Inter-AP TB sensing subelement) may be added to the existing sensing measurement parameter element, thereby obtaining the sensing measurement request message in the present application. For example, the format of the subelement may be as shown in (b) or (c) in Figure 6 , or the format of the subelement may be as shown in Figure 8 . The subelement ID (Subelement ID) in Figure 8 is a new subelement ID, that is, different from the subelement ID of the TB / non-TB dedicated subelement. The last field, Min Measurement Interval, in Figure 8 indicates the minimum time interval between two adjacent measurements when the second AP participates in the sensing measurement initiated by the first AP. The other fields in Figure 8 are all shown in Figure 6 , and their specific meanings can be referred to the description of the TB Sensing Specific subelement in the prior art. If the first AP assigns a second sensing measurement interaction mode to the second AP, a new subelement (for example, denoted as: Multi-AP non-TB sensing subelement or Inter-AP non-TB sensing subelement) may be added to the sensing measurement parameter element, thereby obtaining the sensing measurement request message in the present application. For example, the format of the subelement may be the format shown in FIG7 , or the subelement may include more parameters based on FIG7 . However, it should be understood that for the newly added subelement, its subelement ID is a new subelement ID, that is, different from the subelement ID of the TB / non-TB dedicated subelement.

[0158] It should be understood that the number of bits occupied by each field shown in Figures 6-8 is only an example and does not constitute any limitation to the present application. The position of the minimum measurement interval field shown in Figures 6-8 is only an example, and the position of the minimum measurement interval field may also be different from the position shown in Figures 6-8. In addition, in the embodiment of the present application, the name of the field indicating the minimum time interval between two adjacent measurements when the second AP participates in the perception measurement initiated by the first AP is named "Perception Measurement Interaction Mode" for example only, and the present application does not limit the name of the field indicating the minimum time interval between two adjacent measurements when the second AP participates in the perception measurement initiated by the first AP.

[0159] It should be noted that the above mainly describes indicating the perception measurement parameters in the first perception-dedicated sub-element or the second perception-dedicated sub-element, but it should be understood that the perception measurement parameters can also be indicated in other fields in the perception measurement request message, and this application does not limit this.

[0160] Based on the above-mentioned method 1 and method 2, the first AP can flexibly set the perception measurement interaction mode in which the second AP participates in the perception measurement, which facilitates the first AP to manage the perception measurement session and improves the perception measurement efficiency.

[0161] In some embodiments, before S210, the method 200 may further include:

[0162] S202: The second AP sends sensing capability information of the second AP to the first AP.

[0163] Correspondingly, the first AP receives the perception capability information of the second AP. The perception capability information of the second AP indicates the perception measurement interaction mode supported by the second AP as a perception responder for participating in perception measurement interaction. For example, the perception measurement interaction mode indicated by the perception capability information of the second AP may be one or both of the first perception measurement interaction mode and the second perception measurement interaction mode. For ease of description below, the perception measurement interaction mode supported by the second AP as a perception responder for participating in perception measurement is referred to as the perception measurement interaction mode supported by the second AP.

[0164] In S210, the first AP may generate the aforementioned perception measurement request message based on the perception capability information of the second AP. For example, after obtaining the perception capability information of the second AP, the first AP may assign a perception measurement interaction mode supported by the second AP to the second AP, so that the second AP can perform perception measurement based on the assigned perception measurement interaction mode.

[0165] In one implementation, the sensing capability information of the second AP may be carried in a sensing capabilities element, that is, the second AP may send a sensing capabilities element to the first AP, and the sensing capabilities element may include the sensing capability information of the second AP. For example, a new field may be added to an existing sensing capability element (for example, a sensing capability element in the 802.11bf protocol), and the sensing capability information of the second AP may be carried in the field. For example, a new field may be added to the sensing field in the existing sensing capability element, recorded as: sensing measurement exchange mode support, and the sensing measurement exchange mode support field indicates the sensing measurement interaction mode supported by the second AP. It should be understood that a new sensing measurement exchange mode support field may also be added to other locations of the existing sensing capability element.

[0166] For the above implementation, in one design, it may be assumed that the second AP supports the second perception measurement interaction mode (for example, the second AP already supports the 802.11bf protocol). In this case, for example, a single bit may be used to indicate the perception measurement interaction mode supported by the second AP. For example, Table 2 shows the corresponding relationship between the value of this single bit and the perception measurement interaction mode.

[0167] Table 2

[0168] In another design, it is also possible that the second AP does not support the second perception measurement interaction mode by default, and 2 bits are used to indicate the perception measurement interaction mode supported by the second AP. For example, Table 3 shows the correspondence between the values ​​of the 2 bits and the perception measurement interaction mode.

[0169] Table 3

[0170] As shown in Table 3, these two bits have four possible values: 00, 01, 10, and 11. In one example, it is assumed that an AP must support at least one perception measurement interaction mode to participate in perception measurement. Therefore, "00" is invalid, and the second AP cannot set the value of these two bits to "00."

[0171] Optionally, in the above two designs, the field indicating the perception measurement interaction mode supported by the second AP is only valid for the AP. When the perception capability element is sent by a STA, the value of this field is set to a reserved value.

[0172] In some embodiments, before S202, the method 200 may further include:

[0173] S201: A first AP sends a first request frame to a second AP.

[0174] Correspondingly, the second AP receives a first request frame from the first AP, wherein the first request frame is used to request the sensing capability information of the second AP.

[0175] In S202, the second AP may send a first response frame to the first AP in response to the first request frame based on the first request frame, wherein the first response frame includes the sensing capability information of the second AP. That is, after receiving the request from the first AP, the second AP may send the sensing capability information of the second AP to the first AP.

[0176] In this solution, the first AP can request the second AP's sensing capability information according to the sensing requirement, which helps to subsequently establish a sensing measurement session between the APs.

[0177] It should be noted that the second AP sending its perception capability information to the first AP based on the first AP's request is only one way for the first AP to obtain the second AP's perception capability information. In another way, the second AP can proactively send its perception capability information to the first AP periodically or irregularly. For ease of description below, the perception measurement interaction mode in which the second AP participates in perception measurement as a perception responder is referred to as the perception measurement interaction mode supported by the second AP.

[0178] Optionally, the first request frame may further include perception capability information of the first AP, where the perception capability information of the first AP indicates a perception measurement interaction mode supported by the first AP as a perception responder for participating in perception measurement. For ease of description below, the perception measurement interaction mode supported by the first AP as a perception responder for participating in perception measurement is referred to as the perception measurement interaction mode supported by the first AP.

[0179] The following describes how to implement the first request frame and the first response frame.

[0180] Method 1

[0181] Both the first request frame and the first response frame are newly defined frames. The first request frame is specifically used to obtain sensing capability information (e.g., the sensing capability information of the second AP), for example, by obtaining the sensing capability information by obtaining the sensing capabilities element. The first response frame is a frame specifically used to respond to the first request frame and carries the sensing capability information requested by the first request frame.

[0182] For example, the first request frame can be recorded as: multi-AP sensing capability request (Multi-AP Sensing Capability Request) frame, the first response frame can be recorded as: multi-AP sensing capability response (Multi-AP Sensing Capability Response) frame. Referring to Figure 9, the first AP sends a Multi-AP Sensing Capability Request frame, and the second AP will reply to the Multi-AP Sensing Capability Response frame.

[0183] In one design, the first request frame and the first response frame may adopt the format shown in Table 4. That is, the first request frame and the first response frame may include one or more of the following fields: Category, Public Action, Sensing Capabilities element, and Request element. Among them, the Category field indicates the category of the frame, and the Public Action field indicates the public action. In the first request frame, the Sensing Capabilities element field may carry the sensing capability information of the first AP, and this field is optional. In the first request frame, the Request element field carries the information element ID of the first AP that is interested in, and this field is also optional. The Sensing Capabilities element field in the first response frame carries the sensing capability information of the second AP. If the Request element field exists in the first request frame, then the Request element field also exists in the first response frame, and the Request element field in the first response frame carries the information element corresponding to the information element ID carried by the Request element field in the first request frame.

[0184] Table 4

[0185] It should be understood that the number of bytes occupied by each field recorded in Table 4 is only an example and should not constitute any limitation to this application.

[0186] Method 2

[0187] The first request frame can be obtained by modifying the existing probe request frame, and the first response frame can be obtained by modifying the existing probe response frame. For example, in mode 2, the first request frame can be recorded as: Multi-AP Sensing Probe Request frame, and the first response frame can be recorded as: Multi-AP Sensing Probe Request frame.

[0188] In the existing protocol, before the AP and STA associate, the STA sends a probe request frame to the AP to obtain relevant information about the AP. The AP will reply with a probe response frame to provide the information requested by the STA. The STA can decide whether to associate with the AP (join the WLAN managed by the AP) based on the AP's information. In the embodiment of the present application, referring to Figure 10, the first AP sends a Multi-AP Sensing Probe Request frame to the second AP, and the second AP replies with a Multi-AP Sensing Probe Response frame. The difference from the prior art is that the Multi-AP Sensing Probe Request is sent by the AP, not the STA.

[0189] Multi-AP Sensing Probe Request frame and Multi-AP Sensing Probe Response frame is essentially a probe request and probe response frame, therefore, Multi-AP Sensing Probe Request frame and Multi-AP Sensing Probe Response frame itself will carry some mandatory information, based on this information, Multi-AP Sensing Probe Request frame and Multi-AP Sensing Probe Response frame may also include the following fields: sensing capability element (Sensing Capabilities element) field and / or request element (Request element field). About Sensing Capabilities element and Request element can refer to the above description of Table 4.

[0190] Method 3

[0191] The first request frame can be obtained by modifying an existing Multi-Link Probe Request frame, and the first response frame can be obtained by modifying an existing Multi-Link Probe Response frame. Specifically, in the prior art, a Multi-Link Probe Request is sent by a STA to an AP, while in the embodiment of the present application, a Multi-Link Probe Request is sent by an AP (e.g., a first AP) to another AP (e.g., a second AP), and the first AP and the second AP can support the new multi-link feature of Wi-Fi 7. Similar to the Multi-AP Sensing Probe Request frame and the Multi-AP Sensing Probe Response frame, the Multi-Link Probe Request frame and the Multi-Link Probe Response frame are essentially probe request and probe response frames. Therefore, the Multi-Link Probe Request frame and the Multi-Link Probe Response frame themselves carry some mandatory information. Based on this information, the Multi-Link Probe Request frame and the Multi-Link Probe Response frame may also include the following fields: Sensing Capabilities element field and / or request element field. For the Sensing Capabilities and Request element, please refer to the relevant description of Table 4 above.

[0192] In summary, based on the above three implementation methods, the interaction of AP perception capability information can be achieved, filling the gap in the existing protocol for the interaction of perception capability information between APs.

[0193] In some embodiments, the method may further include:

[0194] The first AP sends a second frame to at least one AP including the second AP. Correspondingly, the at least one AP receives the second frame from the first AP.

[0195] The second frame includes resource indication information for each AP in the at least one AP, where the resource indication information indicates a spatial stream configuration or an RU configuration. The spatial stream configuration and the RU configuration of any AP in the at least one AP are used by the AP to perform one or more of the following: receiving an NDP from a first AP, sending an NDP to the first AP in response to an NDPA and an NDP of the first AP, or sending a perception measurement report frame to the first AP.

[0196] Based on this solution, the first AP can allocate transmission resources (ie, spatial stream configuration or RU configuration) to different APs, thereby supporting multiple APs to perform perception measurements simultaneously.

[0197] In one implementation, the second frame is an NDPA frame.

[0198] Specifically, the first AP can send a second frame in the perception measurement interaction, for example, the second frame is a perception NDPA frame. This solution can enable NDPA to have the ability to allocate RUs or spatial streams, making it easier for the first AP to flexibly call multiple APs to participate in the perception measurement.

[0199] For example, Figure 11 shows a flow chart of the second AP and the third AP participating in the perception measurement as perception responders in the second perception measurement interaction mode. If the first AP assigns the second AP and the third AP to receive the NDP (e.g., SI2SR NDP) in a spatial stream manner, the first AP can indicate the spatial stream configuration of the second AP and the third AP through the perception NDPA frame, and the second AP and the third AP can receive the NDP (e.g., SI2SR NDP) from the first AP based on their spatial stream configuration. If the first AP assigns the second AP and the third AP to receive the NDP (e.g., SI2SR NDP) in an RU manner, the first AP can indicate the RU configuration of the second AP and the third AP through the perception NDPA frame. The second AP and the third AP can receive the NDP (e.g., SI2SR NDP) from the first AP based on their RU configuration. The first AP can also indicate the spatial stream configuration or RU configuration of the second AP and the third AP to send the NDP (e.g., SR2SI NDP) through the perception NDPA frame, and the second AP and the third AP can send the NDP (e.g., SR2SI NDP) to the first AP based on the spatial stream configuration or RU configuration. If the sensing responder is a sensing receiver, the sensing responder (e.g., the second AP or the third AP) may also send a sensing measurement report frame to the first AP based on the spatial stream configuration or RU configuration of the NDP it sends. For example, the SI2SR NDP uses the same transmission configuration as the SR2SI NDP. That is, if the second and third APs send the SR2SI NDP using spatial streams, the first AP also sends the SI2SR NDP using spatial streams. If the second and third APs send the SR2SI NDP using RUs, the first AP also sends the SI2SR NDP using RUs.

[0200] In one design, resource indication information of any AP among the at least one AP is carried in the STA Info field corresponding to the AP in the second frame.

[0201] For example, Figure 12 shows a schematic diagram of the format of the STA Info field in the NDPA frame. Referring to Figure 12, the STA Info field includes the following fields:

[0202] (1) AP Identifier (ID): This field indicates the identifier of the AP that receives the NDPA. This field is used by the AP that receives the NDPA to determine whether the STA Info field is its own information. For example, the AP ID can be an identifier assigned by the first AP during the establishment of the perception measurement session, used to identify each second AP. Alternatively, in some embodiments, this field can directly carry the MAC address of the second AP. The number of bits in this field is not limited.

[0203] (2) SI2SR repetition number (Repetition, Rep): indicates the number of times the training symbol in the SI2SR NDP is repeated.

[0204] (3) SI2SR RU Allocation: indicates the RU configuration of SI2SR NDP.

[0205] (4) SI2SR spatial stream (SS) allocation (Allocation) / random access-resource unit (RA-RU) information (Information): Indicates the spatial stream configuration of SI2SR NDP.

[0206] (5)SR2SI Rep: indicates the number of training symbol repetitions in the SR2SI NDP.

[0207] (6)SR2SI Rep RU Allocation: indicates the RU configuration of SR2SI NDP.

[0208] (7) SR2SI Rep SS Allocation / RA-RU Information: indicates the spatial stream configuration of SR2SI Rep.

[0209] (8) Reserved: Reserved field.

[0210] Specifically, if the first AP assigns the second AP to receive the SI2SR NDP using the spatial stream method, the first AP sets the SI2SR Rep field and the SI2SR SS Allocation / RA-RU Information field in the STA Info field of the second AP to inform the second AP of the number of training symbol repetitions in the SI2SR NDP and the spatial stream configuration for receiving the SI2SR NDP. And at this time, the SI2SR RU Allocation field is a reserved value. If the first AP assigns the second AP to receive the SI2SR NDP using the RU method, the first AP sets the SI2SR Rep field and the SI2SR RU Allocation field in the STA Info field of the second AP to inform the second AP of the number of training symbol repetitions in the SI2SR NDP and the RU configuration for receiving the SI2SR NDP. And at this time, the SI2SR SS Allocation / RA-RU Information field is a reserved value. If the first AP assigns the second AP to send the SR2SI NDP using spatial streams, the first AP sets the values ​​of the SR2SI Rep field and the SR2SI SS Allocation / RA-RU Information field in the STA Info field of the second AP to inform the second AP of the number of training symbol repetitions in the SR2SI NDP and the spatial stream configuration used to send the SR2SI NDP. In this case, the SR2SI RU Allocation field is a reserved value. If the first AP assigns the second AP to send the SR2SI NDP using RUs, the first AP sets the values ​​of the SR2SI Rep field and the SR2SI RU Allocation field in the STA Info field of the second AP to inform the second AP of the number of training symbol repetitions in the SR2SI NDP and the RU configuration used to send the SR2SI NDP. In this case, the SR2SI SS Allocation / RA-RU Information field is a reserved value. If the second AP is a sensing receiver, the second AP will use the spatial stream configuration or RU configuration assigned by the first AP to send a sensing measurement report frame to the first AP. It should be noted that the naming of the fields, the number of bits occupied, and the relative positions of the fields shown in FIG12 are merely examples and should not constitute any limitation to this application.

[0211] It should be noted that this application does not exclude the possibility that the first AP allocates RUs and spatial streams simultaneously. For example, the SI2SR RU Allocation and SI2SR SS Allocation fields are both set to valid values. For example, the SR2SI RU Allocation and SR2SI SS Allocation fields are both set to valid values.

[0212] It should be understood that Figure 12 shows only one STA Info field, and the format of the STA Info field corresponding to different APs can be the same. After receiving the NDPA frame, the AP can determine whether the STA Info field corresponding to the AID 11 is its own based on the AID 11 field.

[0213] It should be noted that, while the above description describes that the first AP can send the second frame, in one method, the STA can also send the second frame to at least one AP. This method enables multiple APs to simultaneously participate in a non-TB perception measurement.

[0214] The above describes the method provided by the present application, and the following describes a device that can implement the method.

[0215] Figure 13 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 13, the communication device 2000 may include at least one of a communication unit 2100 and a processing unit 2200. The communication unit 2100 can implement corresponding communication functions, and the communication can be internal communication of the communication device 2000 or communication between the communication device 2000 and other devices; the processing unit 2200 can implement corresponding processing functions. The communication unit 2100 can also be referred to as a communication interface or a transceiver unit. Optionally, the communication device 2000 may also include a storage unit, which can be used to store instructions and / or data, and the processing unit 2200 can read the instructions and / or data in the storage unit, so that the communication device 2000 implements the aforementioned method embodiment.

[0216] In one possible design, the communication device 2000 may be the first AP in the above method embodiment, or may be a module or chip applied to the first AP in the above method embodiment. The communication device 2000 may be used to execute the steps or processes executed by the first AP in the above method embodiment.

[0217] Specifically, the processing unit 2200 is used to generate a perception measurement request message, wherein the perception measurement request message indicates that the second AP assigned by the first access point AP to the second AP participates in the perception measurement interaction mode as a perception responder; the communication unit 2100 is used to send the perception measurement request message to the second AP.

[0218] Optionally, the communication unit 2100 is also used to receive perception capability information from the second AP, and the perception capability information indicates the perception measurement interaction mode supported by the second AP for participating in perception measurement when acting as a perception responder; wherein the processing unit 2200 is specifically used to: generate the perception measurement request message based on the perception capability information.

[0219] Optionally, the perception measurement interaction mode in which the second AP assigned by the communication device 2000 to the second AP participates in the perception measurement as a perception responder is a first perception measurement interaction mode or a second perception measurement interaction mode, wherein, in the first perception measurement interaction mode, the second AP participates as a perception responder in at least one of the following stages of the perception measurement initiated by the communication device 2000: an empty data packet declaration NDPA frame detection stage, or a trigger frame detection stage; in the second perception measurement interaction mode, the behavior of the second AP participating in the perception measurement as a perception responder includes: sending an NDP to the communication device 2000 in response to the NDPA frame and empty data packet NDP sent by the communication device 2000.

[0220] Optionally, in the second perception measurement interaction mode, the behavior of the second AP participating in the perception measurement as a perception responder further includes: sending a perception measurement report frame to the communication device 2000 .

[0221] Optionally, the perception measurement request message includes a first perception-dedicated sub-element or a second perception-dedicated sub-element, the first perception-dedicated sub-element indicates the first perception measurement interaction mode, and the second perception-dedicated sub-element indicates the second perception measurement interaction mode.

[0222] Optionally, the first perception-dedicated sub-element further indicates a perception measurement parameter corresponding to the first perception measurement interaction mode, and the second perception-dedicated sub-element further indicates a perception measurement parameter corresponding to the second perception measurement interaction mode.

[0223] Optionally, the perception measurement parameter includes a minimum time interval between two adjacent measurements when the second AP participates in the perception measurement initiated by the communication device 2000 .

[0224] Optionally, the communication unit 2100 is also used to: send a first request frame to the second AP, the first request frame is used to request the perception capability information; wherein, the communication unit 2100 is used to receive the perception capability information from the second AP, specifically including: the communication unit 2100 receives a first response frame from the second AP, the first response frame includes the perception capability information.

[0225] Optionally, the first request frame is a probe request frame, and the first response frame is a probe response frame; or, the first request frame is a multi-link probe request frame, and the first response frame is a multi-link probe response frame.

[0226] Optionally, the first request frame further includes perception capability information of the communication device 2000, where the perception capability information of the communication device 2000 indicates a perception measurement interaction mode for participating in perception measurement supported by the communication device 2000 as a perception responder.

[0227] Optionally, the communication unit 2100 is also used to: send a second frame to at least one AP including the second AP, the second frame including resource indication information of each AP in the at least one AP, the resource indication information indicating the spatial stream configuration or the resource unit RU configuration, and the resource indication information of any AP in the at least one AP is used for the AP to perform one or more of the following: receiving a null data packet NDP from the communication device 2000, sending a null data packet NDP to the communication device 2000 in response to the null data packet declaration NDPA frame and NDP of the communication device 2000, or sending a perception measurement report frame to the communication device 2000.

[0228] Optionally, the second frame is an NDPA frame.

[0229] Optionally, the resource indication information of any AP among the at least one AP is carried in a site information field corresponding to the AP in the second frame.

[0230] In another possible design, the communication device 2000 may be the second AP in the above method embodiment, or may be a module or chip applied to the second AP in the above method embodiment. The communication device 2000 may be used to execute the steps or processes executed by the second AP in the above method embodiment.

[0231] Specifically, the communication unit 2100 is configured to receive a perception measurement request message, where the perception measurement request message indicates a perception measurement interaction mode allocated by the first access point AP to the communication device 2000 for the communication device 2000 to participate in perception measurement as a perception responder.

[0232] Optionally, the communication unit 2100 is also used to: send perception capability information to the first AP, the perception capability information indicating the perception measurement interaction mode supported by the communication device 2000 as a perception responder for participating in perception measurement, wherein the perception measurement request message is generated based on the perception capability information.

[0233] Optionally, the communication unit 2100 is further configured to: send a perception measurement response message to the first AP according to the perception measurement request message, where the perception measurement response message is used to instruct the communication device 2000 to accept or reject the perception measurement request indicated by the perception measurement request message.

[0234] Optionally, the perception measurement interaction mode assigned by the first AP to the communication device 2000, in which the communication device 2000 participates in the perception measurement as a perception responder, is a first perception measurement interaction mode or a second perception measurement interaction mode, wherein, in the first perception measurement interaction mode, the communication device 2000 participates as a perception responder in at least one of the following stages of the perception measurement initiated by the first AP: the empty data packet declaration NDPA frame detection stage, or the trigger frame detection stage; in the second perception measurement interaction mode, the behavior of the communication device 2000 participating in the perception measurement as a perception responder includes: sending an NDP to the first AP in response to the NDPA frame and empty data packet NDP sent by the first AP.

[0235] Optionally, in the second perception measurement interaction mode, the behavior of the communication device 2000 participating in the perception measurement as a perception responder further includes: sending a perception measurement report frame to the first AP.

[0236] Optionally, the perception measurement request message includes a first perception-dedicated sub-element or a second perception-dedicated sub-element, the first perception-dedicated sub-element indicates the first perception measurement interaction mode, and the second perception-dedicated sub-element indicates the second perception measurement interaction mode.

[0237] Optionally, the first perception-dedicated sub-element further indicates a perception measurement parameter corresponding to the first perception measurement interaction mode, and the second perception-dedicated sub-element further indicates a perception measurement parameter corresponding to the second perception measurement interaction mode.

[0238] Optionally, the perception measurement parameter includes a minimum time interval between two adjacent measurements when the communication device 2000 participates in the perception measurement initiated by the first AP.

[0239] Optionally, the communication unit 2100 is also used to: receive a first request frame from the first AP, the first request frame being used to request the perception capability information; wherein the communication unit 2100 is used to send perception capability information to the first AP, including: the communication unit 2100 is used to send a first response frame to the first AP, the first response frame including the perception capability information.

[0240] Optionally, the first request frame is a probe request frame, and the first response frame is a probe response frame; or, the first request frame is a multi-link probe request frame, and the first response frame is a multi-link probe response frame.

[0241] Optionally, the first request frame further includes perception capability information of the first AP, where the perception capability information of the first AP indicates a perception measurement interaction mode supported by the first AP as a perception responder.

[0242] Optionally, the communication unit 2100 is also used to: receive a second frame from the first AP, the second frame including resource indication information of each AP in at least one AP, the at least one AP including the communication device 2000, the resource indication information indicating a spatial stream configuration or a resource unit RU configuration, and the resource indication information of any AP in the at least one AP is used for the AP to perform one or more of the following: receive a null data packet NDP from the first AP, send a null data packet NDP to the first AP in response to a null data packet declaration NDPA frame and NDP of the first AP, or send a perception measurement report frame to the first AP.

[0243] Optionally, the second frame is NDPA.

[0244] Optionally, the resource indication information of any AP among the at least one AP is carried in a site information field corresponding to the AP in the second frame.

[0245] Regarding the steps or processes executed by each unit in the communication device 2000, please refer to the corresponding method embodiments above, which will not be described in detail here.

[0246] It should be understood that the "unit" in the communication device 2000 can be implemented by hardware, can be implemented by software, and can also be implemented by hardware executing the corresponding software implementation. For example, the "unit" can refer to an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (such as a shared processor, a dedicated processor or a group processor, etc.) and a memory for executing one or more software or firmware programs, a combined logic circuit and / or other suitable components that support the described functions. For another example, the communication unit 2100 can be replaced by a transceiver transceiver circuit (for example, a receiving circuit and a transmitting circuit), and the processing unit 2200 can be replaced by a processor or a processing circuit.

[0247] Figure 14 shows a schematic block diagram of another communication device 3000 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 3000 can be an AP (e.g., a first AP or a second AP), or can be a chip, a chip system, or a processor that supports the AP in implementing the above-mentioned method. The communication device 3000 can be used to implement the method described in the above-mentioned method embodiment. For details, please refer to the description of the above-mentioned method embodiment.

[0248] The communication device 3000 may include one or more processors 3100, which may also be referred to as processing units, and may implement certain control functions. The processor 3100 may be a general-purpose processor or a dedicated processor, etc. For example, it may be a baseband processor or a central processing unit. The baseband processor may be used to process communication protocols and communication data, and the central processing unit may be used to control a communication device (such as a base station, a baseband chip, a user chip, a distributed unit (DU) or a centralized unit (CU), etc.), execute software programs, and process data of the software programs.

[0249] In an optional design, the processor 3100 may also store instructions and / or data, which can be executed by the processor 3100 so that the communication device 3000 executes the method described in the above method embodiment.

[0250] In another optional design, the communication device 3000 may include a communication interface 3200 for implementing receiving and transmitting functions. For example, the communication interface 3200 may be a transceiver circuit, an interface, an interface circuit, or a transceiver. The transceiver circuit, interface, interface circuit, or transceiver for implementing the receiving and transmitting functions may be separate or integrated. The transceiver circuit, interface, interface circuit, or transceiver may be used for reading and writing code / data, or the transceiver circuit, interface, interface circuit, or transceiver may be used for transmitting or delivering signals.

[0251] Optionally, the communication device 3000 may include one or more memories 3300, which may store instructions. The instructions may be executed on the processor 3100, causing the communication device 3000 to perform the method described in the above method embodiment. Optionally, the memory 3300 may also store data. Optionally, the processor 3100 may also store instructions and / or data. The processor 3100 and memory 3300 may be provided separately or integrated together.

[0252] Figure 15 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a terminal 4000 provided in this application. The above-mentioned communication device 2000 or communication device 3000 can be configured in the terminal 4000. Alternatively, the communication device 2000 or communication device 3000 itself can be the terminal 4000. In other words, the terminal 4000 can perform the actions performed by the first AP or the second AP in the above-mentioned method embodiment. For ease of explanation, Figure 15 only shows the main components of the terminal. As shown in Figure 15, the terminal 4000 includes a processor, memory, control circuitry, an antenna, and input / output devices.

[0253] The processor is primarily used to process communication protocols and communication data, control the entire terminal, execute software programs, and process software program data, for example, to support the terminal in performing the actions described in the above method embodiments. The memory is primarily used to store software programs and data. The control circuit is primarily used to convert baseband signals into radio frequency signals and process radio frequency signals. The control circuit and antenna together are also called a transceiver, which is primarily used to transmit and receive radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. Input and output devices, such as touch screens, displays, and keyboards, are primarily used to receive user input and output data to the user.

[0254] When the terminal is powered on, the processor reads the software program stored in the storage unit, interprets and executes the program's instructions, and processes the program's data. When data needs to be transmitted wirelessly, the processor performs baseband processing on the data to be transmitted and outputs the baseband signal to the RF circuit. The RF circuit then performs RF processing on the baseband signal and transmits it via the antenna as electromagnetic waves. When data is sent to the terminal, the RF circuit receives the RF signal via the antenna, converts it into a baseband signal, and outputs the baseband signal to the processor, which converts the baseband signal into data and processes it.

[0255] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that, for ease of explanation, FIG15 shows only one memory and processor. In an actual terminal, multiple processors and memories may exist. The memory may also be referred to as a storage medium or storage device, etc., which is not limited in the present embodiment.

[0256] For example, a processor may include a baseband processor and a central processing unit (CPU). The baseband processor is primarily responsible for processing communication protocols and communication data, while the CPU is primarily responsible for controlling the entire terminal, executing software programs, and processing data from software programs. The processor in Figure 15 integrates the functions of both a baseband processor and a CPU. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the baseband processor and the CPU may also be independent processors interconnected via a bus or other technology. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that a terminal may include multiple baseband processors to accommodate different network standards, multiple CPUs to enhance its processing capabilities, and that the various components of the terminal may be connected via various buses. The baseband processor may also be referred to as a baseband processing circuit or a baseband processing chip. The CPU may also be referred to as a central processing circuit or a central processing chip. The functionality for processing communication protocols and communication data may be built into the processor or stored as a software program in a storage unit, with the processor executing the software program to implement the baseband processing functionality.

[0257] For example, in the embodiment of the present application, the antenna and control circuit with transceiver functions can be regarded as the transceiver unit 4100 of the terminal 4000, and the processor with processing function can be regarded as the processing unit 4200 of the terminal 4000. As shown in Figure 15, the terminal 4000 includes a transceiver unit 4100 and a processing unit 4200. The transceiver unit can also be referred to as a transceiver, a transceiver, a transceiver device, etc. Optionally, the device used to implement the receiving function in the transceiver unit 4100 can be regarded as a receiving unit, and the device used to implement the transmitting function in the transceiver unit 4100 can be regarded as a transmitting unit, that is, the transceiver unit 4100 includes a receiving unit and a transmitting unit. For example, the receiving unit can also be referred to as a receiver, a receiver, a receiving circuit, etc., and the transmitting unit can be referred to as a transmitter, a transmitter, or a transmitting circuit, etc.

[0258] Figure 16 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a network device 5000 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned communication device 2000 or communication device 3000 can be configured in the network device 5000. Alternatively, the communication device 2000 or communication device 3000 itself can be the network device 5000. Alternatively, the network device 5000 can perform the actions performed by the first AP or the second AP in the aforementioned method embodiment.

[0259] As shown in Figure 16, the network device 5000 may include one or more DUs 5010 and one or more CUs 5020. The CU 5020 can communicate with the NG core (Next Generation Core Network, NC). The DU 5010 may include at least one antenna 5011, at least one radio frequency unit 5012, at least one processor 5013, and at least one memory 5014. The DU 5010 is primarily used for transmitting and receiving radio frequency signals, converting radio frequency signals into baseband signals, and performing some baseband processing. The CU 5020 may include at least one processor 5022 and at least one memory 5021. The CU 5020 and the DU 5010 may communicate via interfaces, wherein the control plane (CP) interface may be an Fs-C, such as F1-C, and the user plane (UP) interface may be an Fs-U, such as F1-U.

[0260] The CU 5020 is primarily used for baseband processing and controlling the network device 5000. The DU 5010 and CU 5020 can be physically located together or separately, i.e., as a distributed base station. The CU 5020 is the control center of the network device 5000, also known as a processing unit, and is primarily used to perform baseband processing functions. For example, the CU 5020 can be used to control the network device 5000 to execute the network device operation procedures described in the above-described method embodiments.

[0261] Specifically, baseband processing on the CU and DU can be divided according to the protocol layers of the wireless network. For example, the functions of the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer and above are set in the CU, while the functions of the protocol layers below the PDCP, such as the radio link control (RLC) layer and the medium access control (MAC) layer, are set in the DU. For another example, the CU implements the functions of the RRC layer and the PDCP layer, while the DU implements the functions of the RLC layer, the MAC layer, and the PHY layer.

[0262] In addition, the network device 5000 may optionally include one or more radio frequency units (RUs), one or more DUs, and one or more CUs. The DU may include at least one processor 5013 and at least one memory 5014, the RU may include at least one antenna 5011 and at least one radio frequency unit 5012, and the CU may include at least one processor 5022 and at least one memory 5021.

[0263] In one example, the CU 5020 can be composed of one or more single boards, and multiple single boards can jointly support a wireless access network with a single access indication (such as a 5G network), or can respectively support wireless access networks with different access standards (such as an LTE network, a 5G network, or other networks). The memory 5021 and the processor 5022 can serve one or more single boards. That is, a memory and a processor can be set separately on each single board. It is also possible that multiple single boards share the same memory and processor. In addition, necessary circuits can be set on each single board. The DU 5010 can be composed of one or more single boards, and multiple single boards can jointly support a wireless access network with a single access indication (such as a 5G network), or can respectively support wireless access networks with different access standards (such as an LTE network, a 5G network, or other networks). The memory 5014 and the processor 5013 can serve one or more single boards. That is, a memory and a processor can be set separately on each single board. It is also possible that multiple single boards share the same memory and processor. In addition, necessary circuits can be set on each single board.

[0264] It should be understood that the network device 5000 shown in Figure 16 is capable of implementing the various processes involved in the actions performed by the first AP or the second AP in the aforementioned method embodiments. The operations and / or functions of the various modules within network device 5000 are intended to implement the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments. For details, please refer to the description of the aforementioned method embodiments; to avoid repetition, detailed descriptions are omitted here.

[0265] It should be understood that the network device 5000 shown in FIG16 is only one possible architecture of a network device and does not constitute any limitation to this application. The method provided in this application is applicable to network devices with other architectures. For example, a network device including a CU, DU, and AAU, or a network device that does not adopt a CU-DU separation architecture. This application does not limit the specific architecture of the network device.

[0266] It should be understood that, in one possible design, each step in the method embodiment provided in the present application can be completed by an integrated logic circuit of the hardware in the processor or by instructions in the form of software. The steps of the method disclosed in conjunction with the embodiments of the present application can be directly embodied as being executed by a hardware processor, or can be executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor. The software module can be located in a storage medium mature in the art, such as a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory or an electrically erasable programmable memory, a register, etc. The storage medium is located in the memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory and completes the steps of the above method in combination with its hardware. To avoid repetition, it will not be described in detail here.

[0267] It should be noted that the processor in the embodiment of the present application can be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. During implementation, each step of the above method embodiment can be completed by an integrated logic circuit of the hardware in the processor or an instruction in the form of software. The above processor can be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, a discrete hardware component. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or the processor can also be any conventional processor, etc. The steps of the method disclosed in conjunction with the embodiment of the present application can be directly embodied as a hardware decoding processor for execution, or can be completed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module can be located in a mature storage medium in the art such as random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory or electrically erasable programmable memory, registers, etc. The storage medium is located in the memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory and completes the steps of the above method in combination with its hardware.

[0268] It is understood that the memory in the embodiments of the present application may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchronous link DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct RAM bus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0269] The present application also provides a computer program product, which includes: computer program code, which, when running on a computer, enables each step or process performed by the first AP or the second AP in any of the above method embodiments to be executed.

[0270] The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing program code. When the program code runs on a computer, the steps or processes performed by the first AP or the second AP in any of the above method embodiments are executed.

[0271] The present application also provides a communication device, including a processor and an interface, wherein the interface is used to send and / or receive signals, so that the processor executes the various steps or processes executed by the first AP or the second AP in any of the above method embodiments.

[0272] The present application also provides a chip, including a processor, for calling and running a computer program from a memory. When the computer program runs, the various steps or processes performed by the first AP or the second AP in any of the above method embodiments are executed.

[0273] The present application also provides a communication system, which includes at least one of a first AP and a second AP.

[0274] The above-mentioned device embodiments and method embodiments are completely corresponding, and the corresponding steps are performed by the corresponding modules or units. For example, the communication unit or communication interface performs the receiving or sending steps in the method embodiment. Other steps except sending and receiving can be performed by the processing unit or processor.

[0275] In the embodiments of this application, each term and English abbreviation is provided for convenience of description and shall not constitute any limitation to this application. This application does not exclude the possibility of defining other terms that can achieve the same or similar functions in existing or future agreements.

[0276] As used in this specification, the terms "component," "module," "system," and the like are used to represent computer-related entities, hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. For example, a component can be, but is not limited to, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable file, an execution thread, a program, and / or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a computing device and a computing device can be a component. One or more components can reside in a process and / or an execution thread, and a component can be located on one computer and / or distributed between two or more computers. In addition, these components can be executed from various computer-readable storage media having various data structures stored thereon. Components can communicate, for example, via local and / or remote processes based on signals having one or more data packets (e.g., data from two components interacting with another component between a local system, a distributed system, and / or a network, such as the Internet interacting with other systems via signals).

[0277] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks and steps described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented using electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professionals and technicians may use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0278] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can be based on the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0279] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of the units is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that 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.

[0280] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0281] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0282] In the above embodiments, the functions of each functional unit can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When software is used for implementation, 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 (programs). When the computer program instructions (programs) 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 devices. 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 a website, computer, server or data center to another website, computer, server or data center by wired (such as coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). 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 (eg, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (eg, a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (eg, a solid state disk (SSD)).

[0283] If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or the part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk.

[0284] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application should be included in the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Generate a perception measurement request message, where the perception measurement request message instructs the first access point AP to allocate the second AP to the second AP as a perception responder to participate in a perception measurement interaction mode; Send the perception measurement request message to the second AP.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein Before generating the perception measurement request message, the method further includes: receiving sensing capability information from the second AP, where the sensing capability information indicates a sensing measurement interaction mode supported by the second AP for participating in sensing measurement when the second AP acts as a sensing responder; The generating of the perception measurement request message includes: The perception measurement request message is generated according to the perception capability information.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The perception measurement interaction mode in which the second AP assigned by the first AP to the second AP participates in the perception measurement as a perception responder is the first perception measurement interaction mode or the second perception measurement interaction mode, wherein, in the first perception measurement interaction mode, the second AP participates as a perception responder in at least one of the following stages of the perception measurement initiated by the first AP: the empty data packet declaration NDPA frame detection stage, or the trigger frame detection stage; in the second perception measurement interaction mode, the behavior of the second AP participating in the perception measurement as a perception responder includes: sending an NDP to the first AP in response to the NDPA frame and empty data packet NDP sent by the first AP.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein The perception measurement request message includes a first perception-dedicated sub-element or a second perception-dedicated sub-element, the first perception-dedicated sub-element indicates the first perception measurement interaction mode, and the second perception-dedicated sub-element indicates the second perception measurement interaction mode.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein The first perception-dedicated sub-element further indicates a perception measurement parameter corresponding to the first perception measurement interaction mode, and the second perception-dedicated sub-element further indicates a perception measurement parameter corresponding to the second perception measurement interaction mode.

6. The method according to claim 2, wherein Before receiving the sensing capability information from the second AP, the method further includes: Sending a first request frame to the second AP, where the first request frame is used to request the sensing capability information; The receiving the sensing capability information from the second AP includes: A first response frame is received from the second AP, where the first response frame includes the sensing capability information.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein The first request frame is a probe request frame, and the first response frame is a probe response frame; or, the first request frame is a multi-link probe request frame, and the first response frame is a multi-link probe response frame.

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein: The first request frame further includes sensing capability information of the first AP, where the sensing capability information of the first AP indicates a sensing measurement interaction mode supported by the first AP as a sensing responder for participating in sensing measurement.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein The method further comprises: A second frame is sent to at least one AP including the second AP, the second frame including resource indication information of each AP in the at least one AP, the resource indication information indicating a spatial stream configuration or a resource unit RU configuration, and the resource indication information of any AP in the at least one AP is used by the AP to perform one or more of the following: receiving a null data packet NDP from the first AP, sending a null data packet NDP to the first AP in response to a null data packet declaration NDPA frame and NDP of the first AP, or sending a perception measurement report frame to the first AP.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein The second frame is an NDPA frame.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein The resource indication information of any AP among the at least one AP is carried in a site information field corresponding to the AP in the second frame.

12. A communication method, characterized in that: include: A perception measurement request message is received, where the perception measurement request message instructs the first access point AP to allocate the second AP to the second AP as a perception responder to participate in a perception measurement interaction mode.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein: Before receiving the perception measurement request message, the method further includes: Sending sensing capability information to the first AP, where the sensing capability information indicates a sensing measurement interaction mode supported by the second AP as a sensing responder for participating in sensing measurement, wherein the sensing measurement request message is generated according to the sensing capability information.

14. The method according to claim 12 or 13, wherein: The method further comprises: According to the perception measurement request message, a perception measurement response message is sent to the first AP, where the perception measurement response message is used to instruct the second AP to accept or reject the perception measurement request indicated by the perception measurement request message.

15. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 14, wherein: The perception measurement interaction mode in which the second AP assigned by the first AP to the second AP participates in the perception measurement as a perception responder is the first perception measurement interaction mode or the second perception measurement interaction mode, wherein, in the first perception measurement interaction mode, the second AP participates as a perception responder in at least one of the following stages of the perception measurement initiated by the first AP: the empty data packet declaration NDPA frame detection stage, or the trigger frame detection stage; in the second perception measurement interaction mode, the behavior of the second AP participating in the perception measurement as a perception responder includes: sending an NDP to the first AP in response to the NDPA frame and empty data packet NDP sent by the first AP.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein The perception measurement request message includes a first perception-dedicated sub-element or a second perception-dedicated sub-element, the first perception-dedicated sub-element indicates the first perception measurement interaction mode, and the second perception-dedicated sub-element indicates the second perception measurement interaction mode.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein The first perception-dedicated sub-element further indicates a perception measurement parameter corresponding to the first perception measurement interaction mode, and the second perception-dedicated sub-element further indicates a perception measurement parameter corresponding to the second perception measurement interaction mode.

18. The method according to claim 13, wherein Before sending the sensing capability information to the first AP, the method further includes: receiving a first request frame from the first AP, where the first request frame is used to request the sensing capability information; The sending the sensing capability information to the first AP includes: A first response frame is sent to the first AP, where the first response frame includes the sensing capability information.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein The first request frame is a probe request frame, and the first response frame is a probe response frame; or, the first request frame is a multi-link probe request frame, and the first response frame is a multi-link probe response frame.

20. The method according to claim 18 or 19, wherein The first request frame also includes perception capability information of the first AP, where the perception capability information of the first AP indicates a perception measurement interaction mode supported by the first AP as a perception responder.

21. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 20, wherein The method further comprises: Receive a second frame from the first AP, the second frame including resource indication information of each AP in at least one AP, the at least one AP including the second AP, the resource indication information indicating a spatial stream configuration or a resource unit RU configuration, and the resource indication information of any AP in the at least one AP is used by the AP to perform one or more of the following: receive a null data packet NDP from the first AP, send a null data packet NDP to the first AP in response to a null data packet declaration NDPA frame and NDP of the first AP, or send a perception measurement report frame to the first AP.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein The second frame is NDPA.

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein The resource indication information of any AP among the at least one AP is carried in a site information field corresponding to the AP in the second frame.

24. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises means for executing the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

25. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises means for performing the steps of the method according to any one of claims 12 to 23.

26. A communication device, characterized in that: The device comprises a processor, and when the processor executes a program or instruction stored in the memory, the device performs the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11 or any one of claims 12 to 23.

27. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a processor and an interface, wherein the interface is used to send and / or receive signals, so that the processor executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11 or any one of claims 12 to 23.

28. A readable storage medium having a computer program or instruction stored thereon, characterized in that: When the computer program or instructions are executed, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11 or any one of claims 12 to 23 is performed.

29. A computer program product, characterized in that The method comprises computer program instructions, which, when executed, cause the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11 or any one of claims 12 to 23 to be performed.

30. A chip, characterized in that: The device comprises a processor configured to call and run a computer program from a memory, wherein when the computer program is run, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11 or any one of claims 12 to 23 is executed.

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