Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

A communication method and apparatus, which can allow a station device to determine an access point device during roaming and handover, and can improve the communication performance between the station device and the access point device. The method comprises: a first station device acquires a transmission rate between the first station device and a first access point device; acquiring service information of the first access point device; on the basis of the transmission rate, service information of the first station device, and the service information of the first access point device, determining first time proportion information and second time proportion information of each service of the first station device, wherein the first time proportion information is information about the proportion of time which is expected by the first station device and during which the first access point device provides service for the service, and the second time proportion information is information about the proportion of time which is estimated by the first station device and during which the first access point device provides service for the service; and on the basis of the first time proportion information and second time proportion information of each service, determining whether to access the first access point device.

Description

Communication method and apparatus

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese Patent Application No. 202410439507.0, filed on April 11, 2024, and entitled "Communication method and apparatus", the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, in particular to a communication method and apparatus. BACKGROUND

[0003] In a communication system, a station (STA) device in motion can perform roaming handover between multiple access point (AP) devices. For example, a roaming handover indicator can be a received signal strength indicator (RSSI), i.e., the STA device can determine that a channel link quality corresponding to a first AP device is better according to an RSSI sent by the first AP device and a second AP device (i.e., an AP device currently accessed by the STA device), and then perform roaming handover to access the first AP device.

[0004] Although the above method can achieve roaming handover, it cannot determine whether the first AP device after roaming handover can provide better service quality for the STA device.

[0005] Therefore, how to select an AP device in the roaming handover process so that the AP device can provide better service quality for the STA device becomes a problem to be solved. SUMMARY

[0006] Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus, which can enable a station device to determine an access point device in a roaming handover process, and can improve communication performance between the station device and the access point device.

[0007] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be performed by a first station device. The first station device can refer to the first station device itself, a component (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system) in the first station device, or a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the first station device. The method includes: obtaining a transmission rate between the first station device and a first access point device; obtaining service information of the first access point device; determining first time proportion information and second time proportion information of each service of the first station device according to the transmission rate, the service information of the first station device, and the service information of the first access point device; and determining whether to access the first access point device according to the first time proportion information and the second time proportion information of each service. The first time proportion information is time proportion information that the first station device expects the first access point device to provide service for the service, and the second time proportion information is time proportion information that the first station device estimates the first access point device to provide service for the service.

[0008] Based on the scheme, on one hand, the first station device can obtain the transmission rate between the first station device and the first access point device, and can directly use the obtained transmission rate to communicate with the first access point device when the first station device accesses the first access point device, so as to avoid the situation that the transmission rate expected by the first station device and the transmission rate provided by the first access point device do not match as much as possible, and to improve the effectiveness of communication. On the other hand, the first station device can estimate the time proportion of the first access point device to provide service for different services of the first station device, to determine whether the time proportion of the service provided by the first access point device meets the expectation of the first station device, and to improve the reliability of communication, thereby improving the communication performance.

[0009] In a possible implementation, the transmission rate includes one or more of the following: a first downlink transmission rate or a first uplink transmission rate.

[0010] Based on the possible implementation, the first station device can obtain the first downlink transmission rate to determine the rate at which the first access point device sends downlink data, or the first station device can obtain the first uplink transmission rate to determine the rate at which the first access point device sends uplink data, or the first station device can obtain the first downlink transmission rate and the first uplink transmission rate to determine the rate at which the first access point device and the first station device exchange data.

[0011] When the first station device accesses the first access point device, the first station device can directly use the obtained transmission rate to communicate with the first access point device, so that the situation that the transmission rate expected by the first station device and provided by the first access point device does not match the transmission rate provided by the first access point device can be avoided as much as possible, and the effectiveness of communication can be improved.

[0012] In a possible implementation, the first station device receives a first frame from the first access point device, and determines the first downlink transmission rate according to the second downlink transmission rate and a packet error ratio (PER) corresponding to the second downlink transmission rate. The first frame includes a first rate parameter field and a first PER field. The first rate parameter field is used to indicate the second downlink transmission rate, and the first PER field is used to indicate the PER corresponding to the second downlink transmission rate.

[0013] In a possible implementation, the first downlink transmission rate is determined according to a product of the second downlink transmission rate and a first difference value. The first difference value is a difference between 1 and the PER corresponding to the second downlink transmission rate.

[0014] Based on the above two possible implementations, the first station device can determine the first downlink transmission rate according to the first frame, that is, the first station device can determine the first downlink transmission rate according to the second downlink transmission rate indicated by the first frame and the PER corresponding to the second downlink transmission rate, thereby providing a feasible solution for the first station device to obtain the first downlink transmission rate.

[0015] In a possible implementation, the first rate parameter field includes one or more of the following: a first protocol subfield, a first modulation and coding scheme (MCS) subfield, a first number of spatial stream (NSS) subfield, a first bandwidth subfield, or a first guard interval (GI) subfield. The first protocol subfield is used to indicate a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) version protocol corresponding to the second downlink transmission rate.

[0016] Based on this possible implementation, the first station device can determine the second downlink transmission rate according to the one or more subfields, and in addition, the first access point device can dynamically indicate the second downlink transmission rate through the one or more subfields, thereby improving the flexibility of indicating the second downlink transmission rate.

[0017] In a possible implementation, the first station device receives one or more first aggregated frames from the first access point device; and sends one or more first response frames to the first access point device; wherein the first aggregated frame comprises a plurality of first measurement frames; different first aggregated frames correspond to different third downlink transmission rates; the first response frame corresponds to the first aggregated frame in one-to-one manner; and the first response frame comprises a first field; and the first field is used to indicate the number of first measurement frames in the first aggregated frame that are checked to be correct.

[0018] Based on the possible implementation, the first access point device can send a plurality of measurement frames to the first station device at different third downlink transmission rates, the first station device can return a response frame for each measurement frame, so that the first access point device determines the packet error rate corresponding to the third downlink transmission rate according to a plurality of response frames at the same third downlink transmission rate, and further, the first access point device can determine a second downlink transmission rate with a higher throughput according to different third downlink transmission rates and the packet error rates corresponding to the third downlink transmission rates.

[0019] In addition, different from the first station device returning a response frame for each measurement frame, in the present application, the first station device can return a first response frame for one first aggregated frame (i.e., since the first aggregated frame comprises a plurality of first measurement frames, the first station device can return a first response frame for a plurality of first measurement frames), which can effectively improve the air interface occupancy rate, and at the same time, since the time for returning the response frame is reduced, the time delay can be effectively reduced, so that the real-time performance of the communication can be improved.

[0020] In a possible implementation, the first measurement frame comprises one or more of the following: a first service field or a transmission power field; wherein the first service field is used to indicate one or more of the following: service parameters of one or more services of the first access point device, the number of station devices accessing the first access point device, the idle time ratio, the time ratio at which the first access point device receives a second frame from the station device, or the time ratio at which the first access point device receives an interference signal; and the second frame is associated with another access point device.

[0021] Based on the possible implementation, a feasible scheme is provided for the implementation of the first measurement frame. For the first service field, the first station device can determine the service information of the first access point device according to the first service field, and further, can determine the first time ratio information and the second time ratio information of each service of the first station device according to the service information of the first access point device and the service information of the first station device, i.e., the first station device can estimate the time ratio at which the first access point device provides services for different services of the first station device, to determine whether the time ratio of the services provided by the first access point device meets the expectation of the first station device, so that the reliability of the communication can be improved, and thus the communication performance can be improved.

[0022] In a possible implementation, the first response frame further comprises one or more of: a second service field, or a second field; wherein the second service field is used to indicate service information of the first station device; and the second field is used to indicate one or more of: a received signal strength, or an error vector magnitude.

[0023] Based on the possible implementation, a feasible scheme is provided for the implementation of the first response frame. For the second service field, the first access point device can be caused to determine the service information of the first station device, so that the first access point device can be caused to determine a quality of service provided for the first station device.

[0024] In a possible implementation, the first station device sends one or more second aggregated frames to the first access point device; receives one or more second response frames from the first access point device; determines a third uplink transmission rate and a packet error rate corresponding to the third uplink transmission rate according to one or more third fields and one or more second uplink transmission rates; and determines the first uplink transmission rate according to the third uplink transmission rate and the packet error rate corresponding to the third uplink transmission rate. The second aggregated frame comprises a plurality of second measurement frames; different second aggregated frames correspond to different second uplink transmission rates; the second response frame corresponds to the second aggregated frame in one-to-one manner; the second response frame comprises the third field; and the third field is used to indicate a number of second measurement frames that are correctly checked in the one or more frames in the second aggregated frame.

[0025] Based on the possible implementation, the first station device can determine the first uplink transmission rate according to the one or more second aggregated frames sent by the first access point device, that is, the first station device can determine a packet error rate of the one or more second uplink transmission rates according to the second uplink transmission rates corresponding to the one or more second aggregated frames, and then can determine a second uplink transmission rate with higher throughput from the plurality of second uplink transmission rates as the third uplink transmission rate according to the different second uplink transmission rates and the packet error rates of the second uplink transmission rates. Further, the first station device can determine the first uplink transmission rate according to the third uplink transmission rate and the packet error rate corresponding to the third uplink transmission rate.

[0026] The first uplink transmission rate determined by the above method can have higher throughput, and can improve the effectiveness of communication. In addition, unlike the first access point device returning a response frame for each measurement frame, in the present application, the first access point device can return a second response frame for one second aggregated frame (the second aggregated frame comprising a plurality of second measurement frames) (that is, the first access point device can return a second response frame for a plurality of second measurement frames), which can effectively improve the air interface occupancy rate, and at the same time, can effectively reduce the time delay due to the reduction of the time for returning the response frame, thereby improving the real-time performance of the communication.

[0027] In a possible implementation, the first uplink transmission rate is determined according to a product of a third uplink transmission rate and a second difference value; and the second difference value is a difference between 1 and a packet error rate corresponding to the third uplink transmission rate.

[0028] Based on the possible implementation, a feasible scheme is provided for determining the first uplink transmission rate.

[0029] In a possible implementation, the second measurement frame includes one or more of the following: a second traffic field or a transmission power field; and the second traffic field is used to indicate traffic information of the first station device.

[0030] Based on the possible implementation, a feasible scheme is provided for implementing the second measurement frame. For the second traffic field, the first access point device can be enabled to determine the traffic information of the first station device, so that the first access point device can be enabled to determine a quality of service provided by the first access point device for the first station device.

[0031] In a possible implementation, the second response frame further includes one or more of the following: a first traffic field or a second field; the first traffic field is used to indicate one or more of the following: a traffic parameter of one or more traffics of the first access point device, a number of station devices accessing the first access point device, a proportion of idle time, a proportion of time during which the first access point device receives a second frame from a station device, or a proportion of time during which the first access point device receives an interference signal; and the second frame is associated with another access point device; and the second field is used to indicate one or more of the following: a received signal strength or an error vector magnitude.

[0032] Based on the possible implementation, a feasible scheme is provided for implementing the second response frame. For the first traffic field, the first station device can be enabled to determine the traffic information of the first access point device according to the first traffic field, and further enabled to determine the first proportion information and the second proportion information of each traffic of the first station device according to the traffic information of the first access point device and the traffic information of the first station device, that is, the first station device can be enabled to estimate the proportion of time during which the first access point device provides services for different traffics of the first station device, to determine whether the proportion of time during which the first access point device provides services meets an expectation of the first station device, and to improve reliability of communication, thereby improving communication performance.

[0033] In a possible implementation, a second uplink transmission rate corresponding to a first second aggregate frame of the one or more second aggregate frames is less than or equal to a first threshold value.

[0034] Based on the possible implementation, for determining the second uplink transmission rate corresponding to the first second aggregated frame, a feasible scheme is provided, that is, the second uplink transmission rate corresponding to the first second aggregated frame can be small, and on this basis, the second uplink transmission rate can be gradually increased, so as to determine the second uplink transmission rate with high throughput.

[0035] A possible implementation, the second uplink transmission rate corresponding to the i+1th second aggregated frame in the plurality of second aggregated frames is determined according to the second response frame corresponding to the ith second aggregated frame in the plurality of second aggregated frames; wherein, i is a positive integer greater than 1.

[0036] Based on the possible implementation, for determining the second uplink transmission rate corresponding to the second aggregated frame, a feasible scheme is provided, which can determine the packet error rate corresponding to the second uplink transmission rate through the second response frame, when the packet error rate corresponding to the second uplink transmission rate is large, the second uplink transmission rate can be appropriately reduced; when the packet error rate corresponding to the second uplink transmission rate is small, the second uplink transmission rate can be appropriately increased, the second uplink transmission rate with high throughput can be determined more quickly, the calculation complexity can be reduced, and the working efficiency of the first station device can be improved.

[0037] A possible implementation, the first station device determines the first time proportion information of each service of the first station device according to the transmission rate and the service information of the first station device; and determines the second time proportion information of each service according to the first time proportion information of each service and the service information of the first access point device.

[0038] Based on the possible implementation, a feasible scheme is provided for determining the first time proportion information and the second time proportion information; the first station device can estimate the time proportion of the first access point device providing services for different services of the first station device, so as to determine whether the time proportion of the services provided by the first access point device meets the expectation of the first station device, and the communication reliability can be improved, so as to improve the communication performance.

[0039] A possible implementation, the service information of the first access point device is time proportion information of the first access point device providing services for one or more services; wherein, the one or more services are associated with one or more second station devices.

[0040] In a possible implementation, when the first time proportion information of the first service of the first station device is less than or equal to the third time proportion information, the second time proportion information of the first service of the first station device is the first time proportion information of the first service of the first station device, where the third time proportion information is time proportion information of the first access point device providing service for one or more second services, or when the first time proportion information of the first service of the first station device is greater than the third time proportion information, the second time proportion information of the first service of the first station device is the fourth time proportion information of the first service of the first station device, where the fourth time proportion information is determined according to the time proportion information of the first service of the first access point device, the third time proportion, and the first time proportion information of the first service of the first station device, and the priority of the first service is greater than the priority of the second service.

[0041] Based on the possible implementation, a feasible solution is provided for the first station device to estimate the time proportion of the first access point device providing service for different services of the first station device, and the first station device can estimate the time proportion of the first access point device providing service for services of different priorities.

[0042] It can be understood that the first access point device also provides service for different services according to the priorities of the services, and the first station device can determine the time proportion of the first access point device providing service for services of higher priorities based on the above method, so as to ensure that the services of higher priorities obtain better service quality as much as possible.

[0043] In a possible implementation, the first station device determines a first index according to the first time proportion information and the second time proportion information of each service, and determines whether to access the first access point device according to the first index, where the first index is used to indicate a quality of service (QoS) index of the first station device estimating service quality of the first access point device providing service for one or more services of the first station device.

[0044] In a possible implementation, the first index is a first product, or the first index is a sum of a plurality of first products, where the first product is a product of a first ratio and a weight of the first ratio, and the first ratio is a ratio of the second time proportion information of each service of the first station device to the first time proportion information corresponding to each service of the first station device.

[0045] Based on the above two possible implementations, the first station device can determine the service quality of the first access point device providing service for the first station device according to the first index, thereby providing a feasible solution for determining the first index.

[0046] In a possible implementation, the first station device sends a third frame to the first access point device; wherein the third frame comprises a second rate parameter field and a second packet error rate field; the second rate parameter field is used to indicate the third uplink transmission rate, and the second packet error rate field is used to indicate a packet error rate corresponding to the third uplink transmission rate.

[0047] Based on the possible implementation, the first access point device can determine the first uplink transmission rate according to the third frame, that is, the first access point device can determine the first uplink transmission rate according to the third uplink transmission rate and the packet error rate corresponding to the third uplink transmission rate.

[0048] In a possible implementation, the second packet error rate field is determined according to a third field; wherein the third field is used to indicate a number of second measurement frames in the second aggregation frame that are checked to be correct.

[0049] Based on the possible implementation, a feasible solution is provided for determining the second packet error rate field.

[0050] In a possible implementation, the second rate parameter field comprises one or more of the following: a second protocol subfield, a second MCS subfield, a second spatial stream number subfield, a second bandwidth subfield, or a second guard interval subfield; wherein the second protocol subfield is used to indicate a wireless fidelity version protocol corresponding to the third uplink transmission rate.

[0051] Based on the possible implementation, the first access point device can determine the third uplink transmission rate according to the one or more subfields; in addition, the first station device can dynamically indicate the third uplink transmission rate through the one or more subfields, and the flexibility of indicating the third uplink transmission rate can be improved.

[0052] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be performed by a first access point device. The first access point device can refer to the first access point device itself, a component (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system) in the first access point device, or a logic module or software capable of implementing all or part of the functions of the first access point device. The method includes: sending, by the first access point device, one or more first aggregated frames to a first station device; receiving, by the first access point device, one or more first response frames from the first station device; the first response frame corresponds to the first aggregated frame; the first response frame includes a first field; the first field is used to indicate the number of first measurement frames that are correct in the one or more frames in the first aggregated frame; and sending, by the first access point device, a first frame to the station device according to the one or more first response frames; the first frame is used to indicate a second downlink transmission rate, and the second downlink transmission rate is determined according to one or more third downlink transmission rates and the first field. The first aggregated frame includes a plurality of first measurement frames; different first aggregated frames correspond to different third downlink transmission rates.

[0053] Based on the present solution, the first access point device can send a plurality of measurement frames to the first station device at different third downlink transmission rates, the first station device can return a response frame for each measurement frame, so that the first access point device determines the packet error rate corresponding to the third downlink transmission rate according to a plurality of response frames at the same third downlink transmission rate, and further, the first access point device can determine a second downlink transmission rate with a higher throughput according to different third downlink transmission rates and the packet error rates corresponding to the third downlink transmission rates.

[0054] Different from the first station device returning a response frame for each measurement frame, in the present solution, the first station device can return a first response frame for one first aggregated frame (i.e., since the first aggregated frame includes a plurality of first measurement frames, the first station device can return a first response frame for a plurality of first measurement frames), which can effectively improve the air interface occupancy rate, and at the same time, since the time for returning the response frame is reduced, the time delay can be effectively reduced, so that the real-time performance of the communication can be improved.

[0055] In addition, the first access point device can send a first frame to the first station device, so that the first station device determines the first downlink transmission rate according to the first frame, i.e., the first station device can determine the first downlink transmission rate according to the second downlink transmission rate indicated by the first frame and the packet error rate corresponding to the second downlink transmission rate, which provides a feasible solution for the terminal device to obtain the first downlink transmission rate.

[0056] In a possible implementation, the first response frame further includes one or more of: a second service field, or a second field; the second service field is used to indicate service information of the first station device; and the second field is used to indicate one or more of: a received signal strength, or an error vector magnitude.

[0057] Based on the possible implementation, a feasibility scheme is provided for the implementation of the first response frame. For the second service field, the first access point device can determine the service information of the first station device according to the second service field, and further, the first access point device can determine a quality of service provided for the first station device.

[0058] In a possible implementation, the first measurement frame includes one or more of: a first service field, or a transmit power field; the first service field is used to indicate one or more of: a service parameter of one or more services of the first access point device, a number of station devices accessing the first access point device, a proportion of idle time, a proportion of time during which the first access point device receives a second frame from a station device, or a proportion of time during which the first access point device receives an interference signal; and the second frame is associated with another access point device.

[0059] Based on the possible implementation, a feasibility scheme is provided for the implementation of the first measurement frame. For the first service field, the first station device can be caused to determine the service information of the first access point device according to the first service field, and further, the first station device can be caused to determine, according to the service information of the first access point device and service information of the first station device, first time proportion information and second time proportion information of each service of the first station device, that is, the first station device can be caused to estimate time proportions during which the first access point device provides services for different services of the first station device, to determine whether the time proportions of the services provided by the first access point device meet expectations of the first station device, to improve reliability of communication, and thereby to improve communication performance.

[0060] In a possible implementation, a third downlink transmission rate corresponding to a first first aggregated frame of the one or more first aggregated frames is less than or equal to a second threshold.

[0061] Based on the possible implementation, a feasibility scheme is provided for determining the third downlink transmission rate corresponding to the first first aggregated frame, that is, the third downlink transmission rate corresponding to the first first aggregated frame can be made small, and on this basis, the third downlink transmission rate can be gradually increased, so as to determine a third downlink transmission rate with a higher throughput.

[0062] In a possible implementation, a third downlink transmission rate corresponding to an (i+1)th first aggregated frame of the plurality of first aggregated frames is determined according to a first response frame corresponding to an ith first aggregated frame of the plurality of first aggregated frames; i is a positive integer greater than 1.

[0063] Based on the possible implementation, to determine the third downlink transmission rate corresponding to the first aggregated frame, a feasible scheme is provided, the third downlink transmission rate corresponding error packet rate can be determined through the first response frame, when the third downlink transmission rate corresponding error packet rate is larger, the third downlink transmission rate can be appropriately reduced, when the third downlink transmission rate corresponding error packet rate is smaller, the third downlink transmission rate can be appropriately improved, the third downlink transmission rate with higher throughput can be determined faster, the calculation complexity can be reduced, and the working efficiency of the first access point device can be improved.

[0064] A possible implementation, the first access point device receives one or more second aggregated frames from the first station device; one or more second response frames are sent to the first station device; wherein the second aggregated frame includes a plurality of second measurement frames; different second aggregated frames correspond to different second uplink transmission rates; the second response frame corresponds to the second aggregated frame one by one; the second response frame includes a third field; the third field is used to indicate the number of one or more frame check correct second measurement frames in the second aggregated frame.

[0065] Based on the possible implementation, the first station device can determine the first uplink transmission rate according to one or more second aggregated frames sent by the first access point device, that is, the first station device can determine the error packet rate of one or more second uplink transmission rates according to the second uplink transmission rate corresponding to one or more second aggregated frames, and then determine the second uplink transmission rate with higher throughput in a plurality of second uplink transmission rates as the third uplink transmission rate according to different second uplink transmission rates and the error packet rate of the second uplink transmission rate, and further, the first station device can determine the first uplink transmission rate according to the third uplink transmission rate and the error packet rate of the third uplink transmission rate.

[0066] A possible implementation, the first access point device receives a third frame from the first station device; the first uplink transmission rate information is determined according to the third uplink transmission rate and the error packet rate corresponding to the third uplink transmission rate. Wherein, the third frame includes a second rate parameter field and a second error packet rate field; the second rate parameter field is used to indicate the third uplink transmission rate, and the second error packet rate field is used to indicate the error packet rate corresponding to the third uplink transmission rate.

[0067] Based on the possible implementation, the first access point device can determine the first uplink transmission rate according to the third frame, that is, the first access point device can determine the first uplink transmission rate according to the third uplink transmission rate and the error packet rate corresponding to the third uplink transmission rate.

[0068] In a third aspect, a communication apparatus is provided for implementing the method in the first aspect. The communication apparatus can be the first station device in the first aspect, or a part of the first station device, such as a chip.

[0069] The communication apparatus includes corresponding modules, units, or means for implementing the method. The modules, units, or means can be implemented in hardware, or by software with the hardware, or any combination of them. The hardware or the software includes one or more modules or units corresponding to the functions described above.

[0070] In some possible implementation, the communication apparatus can include a processing module and a transceiver module. The transceiver module can include a transmitting module and a receiving module, which are configured to implement the transmitting and receiving functions in the first aspect and any possible implementation of the first aspect. The processing module can be configured to implement the processing functions in the first aspect and any possible implementation of the first aspect. For example, the processing module is configured to obtain the transmission rate between the first station device and the first access point device; the processing module is further configured to obtain the traffic information of the first access point device; the processing module is further configured to determine the first time proportion information and the second time proportion information of each traffic of the first station device according to the transmission rate, the traffic information of the first station device, and the traffic information of the first access point device; the first time proportion information is the time proportion information that the first station device expects the first access point device to provide service for the traffic; the second time proportion information is the time proportion information that the first station device estimates the first access point device to provide service for the traffic; and the processing module is further configured to determine whether to access the first access point device according to the first time proportion information and the second time proportion information of each traffic.

[0071] Optionally, the transceiver module and the processing module of the communication apparatus in the third aspect can also perform the corresponding functions in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect. For details, refer to the description of the method examples. The communication apparatus can achieve the beneficial effects as described above.

[0072] In a fourth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided for implementing the method in the second aspect. The communication apparatus can be the first access point device in the second aspect, or a part of the first access point device, such as a chip.

[0073] The communication apparatus includes corresponding modules, units, or means for implementing the method. The modules, units, or means can be implemented in hardware, or by software with the hardware, or any combination of them. The hardware or the software includes one or more modules or units corresponding to the functions described above.

[0074] In some possible implementations, the communication apparatus can include a processing module and a transceiver module. The transceiver module can include a sending module and a receiving module to implement the sending and receiving functions in the second aspect and any possible implementation thereof. The processing module can be configured to implement the processing functions in the second aspect and any possible implementation thereof. For example, the transceiver module is configured to send one or more first aggregated frames to the first station device, wherein the first aggregated frames include a plurality of first measurement frames, different first aggregated frames correspond to different third downlink transmission rates; the transceiver module is further configured to receive one or more first response frames from the first station device, wherein the first response frames correspond to the first aggregated frames one by one, the first response frames include a first field, and the first field is used to indicate the number of first measurement frames that are correctly checked in the one or more frames in the first aggregated frames; and the transceiver module is further configured to send a first frame to the station device according to the one or more first response frames, wherein the first frame is used to indicate a second downlink transmission rate, and the second downlink transmission rate is determined according to the one or more third downlink transmission rates and the first field.

[0075] Optionally, the transceiver module and the processing module of the communication apparatus in the fourth aspect can also perform the corresponding functions in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect, and the details are described in the method examples, and the beneficial effects can be seen from the foregoing related content.

[0076] In the fifth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, including at least one processor configured to cause the communication apparatus to perform the method in any one of the aspects or possible implementations of the aspects by executing computer instructions stored in a memory or by a logic circuit. The communication apparatus can be the first station device in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, or an apparatus or component included in the first station device, such as a chip; or the communication apparatus can be the first access point device in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect, or an apparatus or component included in the first access point device, such as a chip.

[0077] In some possible implementations, the communication apparatus further includes a memory configured to store computer instructions and / or configuration files of the logic circuit. Optionally, the memory and the processor are integrated together, or the memory is independent of the processor.

[0078] In a sixth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which comprises: a processor and a communication interface; the communication interface is configured to input and / or output signals; the processor is configured to execute computer programs or instructions, so that the communication apparatus performs the method in any of the preceding aspects. The communication apparatus can be the first station device in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, or an apparatus or component (e.g., a chip) included in the first station device; or the communication apparatus can be the first access point device in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect, or an apparatus or component (e.g., a chip) included in the first access point device.

[0079] In some possible implementations, the communication interface is an interface circuit configured to read and write computer instructions, for example, the interface circuit is configured to receive computer execution instructions (the computer execution instructions are stored in a memory, which can be read directly from the memory or can pass through other devices) and transmit to the processor.

[0080] In some possible implementations, the communication interface is configured to communicate with modules outside the communication apparatus.

[0081] In some possible implementations, the communication apparatus can be a chip or a chip system. When the apparatus is a chip system, the chip system can include a chip, or include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0082] In a seventh aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which comprises: a logic circuit and an interface circuit; the interface circuit is configured to input and / or output information; the logic circuit is configured to execute the method in any of the preceding aspects, and process the input information and / or generate the output information. The communication apparatus can be the first station device in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, or an apparatus or component (e.g., a chip) included in the first station device; or the communication apparatus can be the first access point device in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect, or an apparatus or component (e.g., a chip) included in the first access point device.

[0083] In an eighth aspect, a computer readable storage medium is provided, which stores computer programs or instructions, when the computer programs or instructions are executed by a processor, the method in any of the preceding aspects is executed.

[0084] In a ninth aspect, a computer program product is provided, when the computer program product is executed by a processor, the method in any of the preceding aspects is executed.

[0085] It can be understood that, when the communication apparatus in any of the third aspect to the seventh aspect is a chip, the sending action / functionality can be understood as outputting information, and the receiving action / functionality can be understood as inputting information.

[0086] The technical effects brought by any possible implementation of the third aspect to the ninth aspect can refer to the technical effects brought by the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, or refer to the technical effects brought by the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect, which will not be repeated here.

[0087] In a tenth aspect, a communication system is provided, which includes the first station device of the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, and the first access point device of the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0088] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a roaming handover provided by the present application;

[0089] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a transmission rate provided by the present application;

[0090] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a transmission rate provided by the present application;

[0091] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a communication system provided by the present application;

[0092] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a communication device provided by the present application;

[0093] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a flow of a communication method provided by the present application;

[0094] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a flow of a communication method provided by the present application;

[0095] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of service information of a first access point device provided by the present application;

[0096] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a flow of a communication method provided by the present application;

[0097] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of first time scale information and second time scale information provided by the present application;

[0098] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of an interaction of a communication method provided by the present application;

[0099] FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a first frame provided by the present application;

[0100] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of an interaction of a communication method provided by the present application;

[0101] FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of a first measurement frame provided by the present application;

[0102] FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram of a first service field provided by the present application;

[0103] Fig. 16 is a schematic diagram of a first response frame provided by the present application;

[0104] Fig. 17 is a schematic diagram of a second service field provided by the present application;

[0105] Fig. 18 is a schematic diagram of a second field provided by the present application;

[0106] Fig. 19 is a schematic diagram of a first aggregation frame and a first response frame provided by the present application;

[0107] Fig. 20 is a schematic diagram of a first request frame provided by the present application;

[0108] Fig. 21 is a schematic diagram of an interaction of a communication method provided by the present application;

[0109] Fig. 22 is a schematic diagram of a second response frame provided by the present application;

[0110] Fig. 23 is a schematic diagram of a third frame provided by the present application;

[0111] Fig. 24 is a schematic diagram of a transmission rate provided by the present application;

[0112] Fig. 25 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a first station device provided by the present application;

[0113] Fig. 26 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a first access point device provided by the present application;

[0114] Fig. 27 is a schematic diagram of a structure of another communication apparatus provided by the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0115] The embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0116] In the description of the present application, unless otherwise specified, " / " represents that the objects before and after the " / " are in an "or" relationship, for example, A / B can represent A or B; "and / or" in the present application is only a description of the association relationship of the associated objects, which means that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B, which can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural.

[0117] In the description of the present application, unless otherwise specified, "multiple" means two or more than two. "At least one of the following" or the like means any combination of the items, including any combination of single item or multiple items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can represent: a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, or a-b-c, where a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0118] In addition, in order to clearly describe the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, the terms "first", "second", etc. are used to distinguish the same or similar items with basically the same function and role. Those skilled in the art can understand that the terms "first", "second", etc. do not limit the quantity and execution order, and the terms "first", "second", etc. also do not necessarily mean different.

[0119] In the embodiments of the present application, the words "exemplary" or "for example" are used to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any embodiment or design presented as "exemplary" or "for example" in the embodiments of the present application should not be construed as being more preferred or advantageous than other embodiments or design solutions. Rather, the use of the words "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present concepts in a concrete manner, facilitating understanding.

[0120] It can be understood that the "embodiments" mentioned throughout the specification mean that the specific features, structures or characteristics related to the embodiments are included in at least one embodiment of the present application. Therefore, the various embodiments throughout the specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. In addition, these specific features, structures or characteristics can be combined in one or more embodiments in any suitable manner. It can be understood that in various embodiments of the present application, the size of the sequence number of each process does not mean the execution order, and the execution order of each process should be determined according to its function and inherent logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0121] It can be understood that some optional features in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented independently in some scenarios without relying on other features, such as the scheme currently based on, to solve the corresponding technical problems and achieve the corresponding effects. Also, in some scenarios, they can be combined with other features according to needs. Correspondingly, the devices given in the embodiments of the present application can also realize these features or functions, which will not be described here.

[0122] In the present application, except for special description, the same or similar parts of each embodiment can be mutually referred. In the embodiments of the present application, if there is no special description and no logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions of different embodiments are consistent and can be mutually referred. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship. The implementation modes of the present application described below do not constitute a limitation on the protection scope of the present application.

[0123] In order to facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, first, a brief introduction of the related technologies of the present application is given as follows.

[0124] In a communication system, a station device in movement can perform roaming handover between multiple access point devices.

[0125] For example, as shown in FIG. 1, a station device can access a second access point device in a coverage range of the second access point device, and the station device in movement can receive RSSI from a first access point device and RSSI from a third access point device, while the terminal device can also receive RSSI from the second access point device. Since the RSSI of the first access point device is greater than the RSSI of the third access point device, and the RSSI of the first access point device is greater than the RSSI of the second access point device, the terminal device can perform roaming handover from the second access point device to the first access point device to ensure the quality of the communication link as much as possible.

[0126] However, the above method can have the following problems:

[0127] 1) The roaming handover decision is mainly based on the RSSI threshold, and the RSSI cannot accurately measure the pros and cons of the link quality between the access point device and the station device. For example, even if the RSSI of the first access point device is high, the transmission rate of the first access point device is low when the condition number of the first access point device is large.

[0128] 2) After the station device switches to the first access point device, the initial transmission rate in the initial stage can not be optimal, which has a certain impact on the communication performance of the station device. For example, when the initial transmission rate of the station device is too high, it will cause retransmission packet loss; when the initial transmission rate of the station device is too low, it will cause low air interface efficiency.

[0129] For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the horizontal axis can represent time, and the vertical axis can represent transmission rate. After the station device performs roaming handover, the transmission rate is low (lower than before roaming handover), and it takes a period of time to stabilize the transmission rate.

[0130] 3) The station device can hardly predict the scheduling opportunity available after switching to the first access point device, so as to ensure the service quality after roaming handover to the first access point device. For example, even if the RSSI of the first access point device is greater than the RSSI of the second access point device, the number of other station devices of the first access point device is large, resulting in less scheduling opportunity obtained by the station device after accessing the first access point device.

[0131] Optionally, the following two technical solutions can be used to solve the problems in roaming handover:

[0132] The first technical solution is that the station device can determine whether to perform roaming switching by estimating the transmission rate between the station device and the first access point device based on the RSSI of the first access point device. Before switching to the first access point device, the station device can send a plurality of QoS Null frames to the first access point device and receive an acknowledge (ACK) frame from the first access point device to approximately determine the uplink transmission rate between the station device and the first access point device. Similarly, the station device can receive a plurality of QoS Null frames from the first access point device and feed back an ACK to the first access point device, so that the first access point device can approximately determine the downlink transmission rate between the station device and the first access point device. Further, the first access point device can send the downlink transmission rate to the station device, and the station device can determine the downlink transmission rate between the station device and the first access point device.

[0133] For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the station device can send a plurality of QoS Null frames corresponding to the transmission rate 1 to the first access point device. The first access point device can perform frame checking on each QoS Null frame respectively and feed back the checking result of each QoS Null frame to the station device through an ACK frame. The station device can determine the equivalent transmission rate of the transmission rate 1 according to the plurality of fed back ACK frames (for example, when the terminal device sends 10 QoS Null frames at the transmission rate 1 of 100 bit / s, but two frames are transmitted with errors (i.e., the packet error rate (PER) is 20%), the equivalent transmission rate of the transmission rate 1 is 80 bit / s). The station device can determine the transmission rate 2 according to the equivalent transmission rate of the transmission rate 1 (for example, when the equivalent transmission rate of the transmission rate 1 is higher than a certain threshold, the transmission rate 2 can be greater than the transmission rate 1; when the equivalent transmission rate of the transmission rate 1 is lower than a certain threshold, the transmission rate 2 can be less than the transmission rate 1), and the station device can send a plurality of QoS Null frames corresponding to the transmission rate 2 and determine the equivalent transmission rate of the transmission rate 2. The station device can determine a larger value from the plurality of equivalent transmission rates by comparing the equivalent transmission rates of the plurality of transmission rates, and the transmission rate corresponding to the larger value is the uplink transmission rate between the station device and the first access point device.

[0134] It can be understood that the downlink transmission rate can be determined by referring to the method for determining the uplink transmission rate, which is not described herein.

[0135] However, in order to count the PER at different rates, the station device and the first access point device need to send a plurality of QoS Null frames, which leads to a low air interface occupation rate and affects the real-time performance of the switching decision.

[0136] The second technical solution is that the station device can determine the channel load information of the first access point device on the basis of the RSSI of the first access point device, estimate the service quality provided by the first access point device for the station device, and then determine whether to perform roaming switching. That is, the station device can determine the channel load information of the first access point device through the measurement frame sent by the first access point device before switching to the first access point device. For example, the station device can send a channel load request frame to the first access point device, and the first access point device can send a channel load report frame (the channel load report frame is the measurement frame) to the terminal device.

[0137] The channel load report frame is used to indicate the channel load information of the first access point.

[0138] For example, the channel load report frame can include a measurement interval field and a channel busy time field, and the terminal device can determine the channel load information of the first access point according to the measurement interval field and the channel busy time field. For example, the channel load information of the first access point can satisfy the following formula: channel load information of the first access point = integer ((channel busy time / (measurement interval*1024))*255).

[0139] The integer represents rounding up or rounding down.

[0140] However, the above technical solution can only provide the station device with the time proportion of the channel busy measured by the first access point device, and cannot obtain the time proportion of the different priority services currently scheduled by the first access point device, so that the station device is difficult to estimate the quality of service (QoS) of different services. For example, if the air interface time occupied by the service scheduled by the first access point device is 95%, the station device can determine that the service quality provided by the first access point device is poor and does not perform roaming switching. However, in fact, if the priority of the service of the station device is higher than the priority of the service currently scheduled by the first access point device, the first access point device can provide better service quality for the station device.

[0141] Therefore, how to select an access point device in the roaming switching process so that the access point device can provide better service quality for the station device has become a problem to be solved.

[0142] The application provides a communication method, which comprises the following steps: a first station device acquires a transmission rate between the first station device and a first access point device; acquires service information of the first access point device; according to the transmission rate, the service information of the first station device and the service information of the first access point device, determines first time proportion information and second time proportion information of each service of the first station device; the first time proportion information is time proportion information that the first station device expects the first access point device to provide service for each service of the first station device; the second time proportion information is time proportion information that the first station device estimates the first access point device to provide service for each service of the first station device; and according to the first time proportion information and the second time proportion information of each service of the first station device, determines whether to access the first access point device.

[0143] In the embodiments of the application, on the one hand, the first station device can acquire the transmission rate between the first station device and the first access point device, and can directly use the acquired transmission rate to communicate with the first access point device when the first station device accesses the first access point device, so that the situation that the transmission rate expected by the first station device and the transmission rate provided by the first access point device do not match can be avoided as much as possible, and the effectiveness of communication can be improved; on the other hand, the first station device can estimate the time proportion of the first access point device to provide service for different services of the first station device, so as to determine whether the time proportion of the service provided by the first access point device meets the expectation of the first station device, and the reliability of communication can be improved, so that the communication performance can be improved.

[0144] The communication method provided by the embodiments of the application is applicable to a wireless local area network (WLAN) supporting institute of electrical and electronics engineers (IEEE) related standards, and the IEEE related standards include, but are not limited to, 802.11a / b / g standards, 802.11n standards, 802.11ac standards, 802.11ax standards, 802.11be standards, 802.11bn standards / ultra high resolution (UHR) standards / wireless-fidelity (Wi-Fi) 8 standards, 802.11ad standards, 802.11ay standards, 802.11bf standards / sensing standards, ultra wideband (UWB) standards / 802.15 standards, etc.

[0145] Exemplarily, as shown in FIG. 4, a structural schematic diagram of a communication system provided by the present application is shown. The communication system can include an access point device and a station device.

[0146] The access point device can be a device supporting a plurality of WLAN standards such as the 802.11be standard or a future Wi-Fi standard, or a device supporting the 802.11a / b / g standard, the 802.11n standard, the 802.11ac standard, the 802.11ax standard, the 802.11be standard, the 802.11bn standard / UHR standard / WiFi8 standard, without limitation.

[0147] The access point device can be described as an AP device, or as an AP, without limitation.

[0148] For example, the access point device can be a terminal device, a network device, a communication server, a router, a switch, a bridge, a computer, etc. with a Wi-Fi chip. The access point device can also be an access point for mobile users to enter a wired network, and is mainly deployed in homes, buildings, and parks, with a typical coverage radius of tens of meters to hundreds of meters. Of course, the access point device can also be deployed outdoors. The access point device is equivalent to a bridge connecting wired and wireless networks, and mainly functions to connect various wireless network clients together and then access the Ethernet network.

[0149] The station device can be a device supporting a plurality of WLAN standards such as the 802.11be standard or a future Wi-Fi standard, or a device supporting the 802.11a / b / g standard, the 802.11n standard, the 802.11ac standard, the 802.11ax standard, the 802.11be standard, the 802.11bn standard / UHR standard / WiFi8 standard, without limitation.

[0150] For example, the station device can be a wireless communication chip, a wireless sensor, a wireless communication terminal, a communication server, a router, a switch, a bridge, a computer, etc. For example, the station device can be a mobile phone supporting Wi-Fi communication, a tablet computer supporting Wi-Fi communication, a set-top box supporting Wi-Fi communication, a smart television supporting Wi-Fi communication, a smart wearable device supporting Wi-Fi communication, a vehicle-mounted communication device supporting Wi-Fi communication, and a computer supporting Wi-Fi communication, without limitation.

[0151] The station device can be described as an STA device, or as an STA, without limitation.

[0152] It should be noted that the communication system described in the embodiments of the present application is for more clearly illustrating the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and does not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application. Those skilled in the art can know that, with the evolution of network architecture and the appearance of new business scenarios, the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0153] In a specific implementation, the first station device and the first access point device shown in FIG. 4 can both adopt the component structure shown in FIG. 5, or include the components shown in FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a component diagram of a communication apparatus 50 provided by an embodiment of the present application. The communication apparatus 50 can be the first station device or a chip or system on chip in the first station device, or can be the first access point device or a chip or system on chip in the first access point device.

[0154] As shown in FIG. 5, the communication apparatus 50 includes one or more processors 501. Further, the communication apparatus 50 can also include a communication bus 502, and at least one communication interface (only exemplary in FIG. 5, for example, the communication apparatus 50 includes a communication interface 504, and one processor 501 is taken as an example for description). Optionally, the communication apparatus 50 can also include a memory 503.

[0155] The processor 501 can be a general central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits for controlling program execution of the solutions of the present application, or a processing core for processing data (for example, computer program instructions). The processor can be a single-CPU processor or a multi-CPU processor.

[0156] In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the processor 501 can include one or more CPUs, for example, CPU0 and CPU1 in FIG. 5.

[0157] The communication bus 502 can be a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus or an extended industry standard architecture (EISA) bus, etc. The bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of representation, only one thick line is shown in FIG. 5, but it does not mean that there is only one bus or only one type of bus. The communication bus 502 is used to connect different components in the communication device 50, so that different components in the communication device 50 can communicate with each other.

[0158] The communication interface 504 can be a transceiver module for communicating with other devices or communication networks, which can be an Ethernet, a radio access network (RAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), etc. For example, the communication interface 504 can be a transceiver or a transceiver-like device. Alternatively, the communication interface 504 can be a transceiver circuit within the processor 501 to realize the signal input and output of the processor.

[0159] The memory 503 can be a device with a storage function. For example, it can be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a random access memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and instructions, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disk storage, a magnetic disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited to this. The memory can exist independently and be connected to the processor through the communication bus 502. The memory can also be integrated with the processor.

[0160] The memory 503 is configured to store computer-executable instructions for implementing the solutions of the present application, and the processor 501 is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 503. The processor 501 is configured to execute the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 503, so as to implement the method provided in the embodiments of the present application.

[0161] Alternatively, the processor 501 can execute the processing related functions in the method provided in the embodiments of the present application, and the communication interface 504 is responsible for communication with other devices or communication networks, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0162] Optionally, the computer-executable instructions in the embodiments of the present application can also be referred to as application program codes, which are not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0163] In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the communication apparatus 50 can further include an output device 505 and an input device 506. The output device 505 communicates with the processor 501, and can display information in various ways. For example, the output device 505 can be a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light emitting diode (LED) display device, a cathode ray tube (CRT) display device, or a projector, etc. The input device 506 communicates with the processor 501, and can receive user input in various ways. For example, the input device 506 can be a mouse, a keyboard, a touch screen device, a sensor device, etc.

[0164] It should be noted that the constituent structure shown in FIG. 5 does not constitute a limitation on the communication apparatus, and the communication apparatus can include more or fewer components than those shown in FIG. 5, or combine certain components, or different component arrangements.

[0165] The communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It can be understood that, in the embodiments of the present application, the first station device or the first access point device can execute part or all of the steps in the embodiments of the present application, and these steps or operations are only examples, and the embodiments of the present application can also execute other operations or various modifications of the operations. In addition, each step can be executed in a different order presented in the embodiments of the present application, and it is possible that not all operations in the embodiments of the present application are executed.

[0166] As shown in FIG. 6, an interaction diagram of a communication method provided in the present application is shown. The communication method is illustrated by taking the interaction between a first station device and a first access point device as an example. Of course, the subject performing the action of the first station device in the method can also be a device / module in the first station device, such as a chip, processor, processing unit, etc. in the first station device; and the subject performing the action of the first access point device in the method can also be a device / module in the first access point device, such as a chip, processor, processing unit, etc. in the first access point device, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. The steps performed by a single subject (e.g. the first station device or the first access point device) in the embodiments of the present application can also be divided into steps performed by multiple subjects, which can be logically and / or physically separated. For example, referring to FIG. 6, the communication method comprises the following steps:

[0167] S601, the first station device acquires a transmission rate between the first station device and the first access point device.

[0168] The first access point device can be understood as an access point device adjacent to a second access point device (which can be understood as an access point device currently accessed by the first station device).

[0169] Optionally, the transmission rate can be one or more of the following: a first downlink transmission rate, or a first uplink transmission rate.

[0170] For example, the first station device can send a measurement frame (e.g. a second aggregate frame or a second measurement frame in FIG. 21, which can be seen from the description of the second aggregate frame or the second measurement frame in FIG. 21, which is not repeated here) to the first access point device according to different uplink transmission rates, and then determine the first uplink transmission rate according to a response frame (e.g. a second response frame in FIG. 21, which can be seen from the description of the second response frame in FIG. 21, which is not repeated here) corresponding to the measurement frame; or the first access point device can send a measurement frame (e.g. a first aggregate frame or a first measurement frame in FIG. 13, which can be seen from the description of the first aggregate frame or the first measurement frame in FIG. 13, which is not repeated here) to the first station device according to different downlink transmission rates, and then determine the first downlink transmission rate according to a response frame (e.g. a first response frame in FIG. 13, which can be seen from the description of the first response frame in FIG. 13, which is not repeated here) corresponding to the measurement frame, and further, the first access point device can indicate the first downlink transmission rate to the first station device through any information (e.g. a first frame in FIG. 11, which can be seen from the description of the first frame in FIG. 11, which is not repeated here), so that the first station device determines the first downlink transmission rate.

[0171] S602, the first station device acquires service information of the first access point device.

[0172] The service information of the first access point device can be understood as time proportion information of the first access point device providing service for one or more services.

[0173] The time proportion information can be understood as time proportion, or time length occupied in a period, which is not limited.

[0174] For example, the service provided by the first access point device can be one or more of the following: voice (VO) service, video (VI) service, best effort (BE) service, or background (BK) service, which is not limited.

[0175] Optionally, the first access point device can send the service information of the first access point device to the first station device; correspondingly, the first station device can receive the service information from the first access point device, which is not limited.

[0176] S603, the first station device determines first time proportion information and second time proportion information of each service of the first station device according to the transmission rate, the service information of the first station device, and the service information of the first access point device.

[0177] The service information of the first station device can be understood as service volume of each service of the first station device.

[0178] For example, the service of the first station device can be one or more of the following: VO service, VI service, BE service, or BK service, which is not limited.

[0179] For example, the service information of the first station device can include one or more of the following: service volume of VO service, service volume of VI service, service volume of BE service, or service volume of BK service.

[0180] The first time proportion information is time proportion information of the first station device expecting the first access point device to provide service for each service of the first station device.

[0181] For example, taking the service of the first station device as VO service, VI service, BE service, or BK service, the first time proportion information can indicate that the first station device expects the first access point device to provide service for VO service for 40%, the first station device expects the first access point device to provide service for VI service for 30%, the first station device expects the first access point device to provide service for BE service for 20%, and the first station device expects the first access point device to provide service for BK service for 10%.

[0182] The second time proportion information is time proportion information estimated by the first station device for the first access point device to provide service for each service of the first station device.

[0183] S604, the first station device determines whether to access the first access point device according to the first time proportion information and the second time proportion information of each service.

[0184] It can be understood that the first station device can determine a service quality index according to the first time proportion information and the second time proportion information of each service, and can determine service quality indexes of multiple access point devices (including the second access point device) by the same method. The first station device can select an access point device corresponding to a maximum service quality index by comparing the sizes of the multiple service quality indexes, and access the access point device. For example, when the service quality index of the first access point device is the maximum, the first station device can access the first access point device.

[0185] Alternatively, the first station device can also select an access point device corresponding to a service quality index greater than a certain threshold to access.

[0186] Optionally, the first station device can determine a first index according to the first time proportion information and the second time proportion information of each service, and further, the first station device can determine whether to access the first access point device according to the first index.

[0187] The first index is used to indicate a QoS index estimated by the first station device for the first access point device to provide service for one or more services of the first station device.

[0188] For example, the first index can satisfy the following formula:

[0189] Wherein, k represents the type of the downlink service, k is included in a downlink service set (for example, the downlink service set can include downlink VO services, downlink VI services, downlink BE services, and downlink BK services), U k is the second time proportion information of the kth downlink service, D k is the first time proportion information of the kth downlink service, ω i j represents the type of the uplink service, j is included in an uplink service set (for example, the uplink service set can include uplink VO services, uplink VI services, uplink BE services, and uplink BK services), U j is the second time proportion information of the jth uplink service, D j is the first time proportion information of the jth uplink service, ω j j represents the type of the uplink service, j is included in an uplink service set (for example, the uplink service set can include uplink VO services, uplink VI services, uplink BE services, and uplink BK services), U

[0190] The weight corresponding to the service can be predefined, or can be determined according to an actual communication scenario or a communication situation, which is not described herein.

[0191] Based on the communication method shown in FIG. 6, on one hand, the first station device can obtain a transmission rate between the first station device and the first access point device, and when the first station device accesses the first access point device, the first station device can directly use the obtained transmission rate to communicate with the first access point device, so that a situation that the transmission rate expected by the first station device and provided by the first access point device does not match the transmission rate provided by the first access point device itself can be avoided as much as possible, and the effectiveness of communication can be improved. On the other hand, the first station device can estimate a time proportion of the first access point device providing services for different services of the first station device, to determine whether the time proportion of the services provided by the first access point device meets the expectation of the first station device, so that the reliability of communication can be improved, and thus the communication performance can be improved.

[0192] Optionally, the specific steps in which the first station device determines the first time proportion information and the second time proportion information can be as shown in FIG. 7:

[0193] S701. The first station device determines first time proportion information of each service of the first station device according to the transmission rate and service information of the first station device.

[0194] It can be understood that each service of the first station device can be divided into an uplink service and a downlink service, and the first time proportion information of each uplink service can be determined according to an uplink transmission rate, and the first time proportion information of each downlink service can be determined according to a downlink transmission rate.

[0195] In an example, the first time proportion information of each downlink service can be determined according to a ratio of a service amount of each downlink service to a downlink transmission rate.

[0196] For example, when the downlink transmission rate is a first downlink transmission rate, the first time proportion information of each downlink service corresponding to the first downlink transmission rate can satisfy the following formula:

[0197] wherein k is a positive integer, which can represent a kth downlink service of the first station device; D k represents the first time proportion information of the kth downlink service corresponding to the first downlink transmission rate; V k represents a service amount of the k downlink services; and v 11 represents the first downlink transmission rate.

[0198] In another example, the first time proportion information of each uplink service can be determined according to a ratio of a service amount and an uplink transmission rate of each uplink service.

[0199] For example, when the uplink transmission rate is a first uplink transmission rate, the first time proportion information of each downlink service corresponding to the first uplink transmission rate can satisfy the following formula:

[0200] wherein j can represent a jth uplink service of the first station device; D j may represent the first time proportion information of the jth uplink service corresponding to the first uplink transmission rate; V j may represent a service amount of the jth uplink service; v 21 may represent the first uplink transmission rate.

[0201] S702, the first station device determines second time proportion information of each service according to the first time proportion information of each service and service information of the first access point device.

[0202] It can be understood that the first station device can determine time proportion information of the first access point device providing service for each service according to the service information of the first access point device.

[0203] For example, the time proportion of the first access point device providing service for each service can be as shown in FIG. 8, VODL can represent time proportion of the first access point device providing service for downlink VO service, VOUL can represent time proportion of the first access point device providing service for uplink VO service, VIDL can represent time proportion of the first access point device providing service for downlink VI service, VIUL can represent time proportion of the first access point device providing service for uplink VI service, BEDL can represent time proportion of the first access point device providing service for downlink BE service, BEUL can represent time proportion of the first access point device providing service for uplink BE service, BKDL can represent time proportion of the first access point device providing service for downlink BK service, BKUL can represent time proportion of the first access point device providing service for uplink BK service, idle can represent idle time proportion, non-direct can represent time proportion of the first access point device receiving information from the station device, and interference can represent time proportion of the first access point device receiving interference signal.

[0204] In the figure, the numbers in the figure 8 can represent the number of second station devices that the first access point device provides services based on the services associated with the numbers (the second station devices can be understood as other station devices than the first station device accessing the first access point device, and at this time the first station device has not accessed the first access point device), for example, the first access point device can provide services for the downlink VO services of two second station devices, and the total time proportion of providing services for the downlink VO services of two second station devices is the time proportion indicated by VO DL.

[0205] For determining the second time proportion information of each service of the first station device, the present application proposes a possible implementation, and the specific steps can be as shown in the following figure 9:

[0206] S901, the first station device determines the first time proportion information of the first service.

[0207] The first time proportion information of the first service can refer to the determination of the first time proportion information of each service of the first station device in S701, and will not be repeated here.

[0208] The first service can be understood as the service with the highest priority among the services of the first station device.

[0209] It can be understood that the first service can be divided into the first uplink service and the first downlink service, the first time proportion information of the first downlink service can be determined first, and then the second time proportion information of the first downlink service is determined according to the first time proportion of the first downlink service; secondly, the first time proportion information of the first uplink service can be determined, and then the second time proportion information of the first uplink service is determined according to the first time proportion of the first uplink service. Or, the first time proportion information of the first uplink service can be determined first, and then the second time proportion information of the first uplink service is determined according to the first time proportion of the first uplink service; secondly, the first time proportion information of the first downlink service can be determined, and then the second time proportion information of the first downlink service is determined according to the first time proportion of the first downlink service.

[0210] S902, the first station device determines whether the first time proportion information of the first service is greater than the third time proportion information.

[0211] The third time proportion information is the time proportion information that the first access point device provides services for one or more second services, that is, the third time proportion information is the time proportion information that the first access point device provides services for one or more second services of one or more second station devices.

[0212] The priority of the first service is greater than the priority of the second service.

[0213] For example, taking the first service as a VO service as an example, the third time proportion information can be time proportion information of the first access point device providing services for VI services, BE services, and BK services, and the third time proportion information can further include idle time proportion information of the first access point device.

[0214] Optionally, when the first time proportion information of the first service is less than or equal to the third time proportion information, the second time proportion information of the first service can be the first time proportion information of the first service (as shown in S903); or when the first time proportion information of the first service is greater than the third time proportion information, the second time proportion information of the first service can be the fourth time proportion information of the first service (as shown in S904-S909).

[0215] The fourth time proportion information is determined according to the time proportion information of the first service of the first access point device, the third time proportion information, and the first time proportion information of the first service of the first station device.

[0216] The time proportion information of the first service of the first access point device can be understood as time proportion information of the first access point device providing services for the first service of one or more second station devices.

[0217] S903, the first station device determines the second time proportion information of the first service as the first time proportion information of the first service.

[0218] S904, the first station device determines a third difference value.

[0219] The third difference value is a difference value between the first time proportion information of the first service and the third time proportion information.

[0220] S905, the first station device determines a first average value.

[0221] The first average value is a ratio of the time proportion information of the first access point device providing services for the first service of one or more second station devices to a first numerical value.

[0222] The first numerical value is a sum of the number of second station devices based on which the first access point device provides services for the first service and 1.

[0223] S904 and S905 have no execution sequence, that is, S904 can be executed before S905, or S905 can be executed before S904, or S904 and S905 can be executed simultaneously.

[0224] S906, the first station device determines whether the third difference value is greater than the first average value.

[0225] Optionally, when the third difference is less than or equal to the first average value, the second time proportion information of the first service can be a sum of the third difference and the first time proportion information of the first service (as shown in S907) (the fourth time proportion information of the first service described above is a sum of the third difference and the first time proportion information of the first service); or, when the third difference is greater than the first average value, the second time proportion information of the first service can be a sum of the first average value and the first time proportion information of the first service (as shown in S908) (the fourth time proportion information of the first service described above is a sum of the first average value and the first time proportion information of the first service).

[0226] Based on the communication method shown in FIG. 9 described above, the first station device can estimate the service information of the first access point device to provide the time proportion information of each service, for example, the time proportion information originally provided by the first access point device for one or more second services can be estimated as the second time proportion information of the first service, or a part (i.e. the third difference or the first average value) of the time proportion information originally provided by the first access point device for one or more second services and the time proportion information originally provided for the first service can be estimated as the second time proportion information of the first service.

[0227] Further, the first access point device can determine the second time proportion information of other services of the first station device according to the estimated time proportion information of each service provided by the first access point device.

[0228] When determining the second time proportion information of other services of the first station device, the second time proportion information of other services can be determined in order of priority, for example, a service with a lower priority than the first service can be regarded as the first service, and the second time proportion information of the first service can be determined according to the communication method shown in FIG. 9, which is not described herein.

[0229] It can be understood that the communication method shown in FIG. 9 described above is also applicable to the estimation of the first access point device to provide the time proportion information of each service.

[0230] It can be understood that the first access point device provides services for different services through the priority of the services, and therefore, the first station device can determine the time proportion of the first access point device to provide services for services with a higher priority based on the method described above, so as to ensure that services with a higher priority obtain better service quality as much as possible.

[0231] Based on the communication method shown in FIG. 9, the present application proposes a possible embodiment, as shown in the following FIG. 10, where (a) is the time proportion information of the service information of the first access point device for each service. Taking the first service as the VO service for example, when the first time proportion information of the VO service is less than or equal to the third time proportion information, the second time proportion information of the first service is the first time proportion information of the first service, and the service information of the first access point device can be estimated according to the second time proportion information of the first service (as shown in (b) of FIG. 10); when the first time proportion information of the VO service is greater than the third time proportion information, the second time proportion information of the first service is the sum of the first time proportion information of the first service and the third difference (or the first average value), and the service information of the first access point device can be estimated according to the second time proportion information of the first service (for example, as shown in (c) of FIG. 10).

[0232] Based on the transmission rate shown in S601, the transmission rate can be the first downlink transmission rate, or the transmission rate can be the first uplink transmission rate, or the transmission rate can be the first downlink transmission rate and the first uplink transmission rate.

[0233] Wherein, the first station device can determine the first downlink transmission rate by referring to the communication method shown in the following FIG. 11, or can determine the first uplink transmission rate by referring to the communication method shown in the following FIG. 21, or can determine the first downlink transmission rate and the first uplink transmission rate by referring to the communication methods shown in FIG. 11 and FIG. 21.

[0234] Specifically, the way of determining the first downlink transmission rate of the first station device can be described in detail by referring to FIG. 11:

[0235] S1101, the first access point device sends a first frame to the first station device; correspondingly, the first station device receives the first frame from the first access point device.

[0236] Wherein, the first frame can be referred to as a downlink measurement end announcement frame.

[0237] Wherein, the first frame includes a first rate parameter field and a first packet loss rate field.

[0238] Wherein, the first rate parameter field is used to indicate the second downlink transmission rate.

[0239] Wherein, the first rate parameter field can be referred to as a downlink (DL) rate parameter field.

[0240] Optionally, the first rate parameter field can include one or more of: a first protocol subfield, a first MCS subfield, a first number of spatial streams subfield, a first bandwidth subfield, or a first guard interval subfield.

[0241] The first protocol subfield can be referred to as a DL protocol subfield, and the first protocol subfield can be used to indicate a wireless fidelity version protocol corresponding to the second downlink transmission rate. For example, the wireless fidelity version protocol can be one or more of: 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11a, 802.11n (wifi4), 802.11ac (wifi5), 802.11ax (wifi6), or 802.11be (wifi7).

[0242] The first MCS subfield can be referred to as a DL MCS subfield, and the first MCS subfield can be used to indicate a downlink modulation and coding scheme. For example, the downlink modulation and coding scheme can be one or more of: MCS0, MCS1, …, or MCS13.

[0243] The first number of spatial streams subfield can be referred to as a DL NSS subfield. For example, the first number of spatial streams subfield can indicate one or more of: 1 stream, 2 streams, …, or 8 streams.

[0244] The first bandwidth subfield can be referred to as a DL bandwidth subfield. For example, the first bandwidth subfield can indicate one or more of: 20MHz, 40MHz, 80MHz, or 160MHz.

[0245] The first guard interval subfield can be referred to as a DL GI subfield. For example, the first guard interval subfield can indicate one or more of: 0.8us, 1.6us, or 3.2us.

[0246] Based on the description of the first rate parameter field, the first station device can determine the second downlink transmission rate according to the first rate parameter field.

[0247] For example, the first station device can determine the second downlink transmission rate according to the first protocol subfield, the first MCS subfield, the first number of spatial streams subfield, and the first guard interval subfield. For example, when the first protocol subfield indicates 802.11ax, the first MCS subfield indicates MCS7, the first number of spatial streams subfield indicates 1 stream, and the first guard interval subfield indicates 0.8us, the second downlink transmission rate can be 360.3Mbps.

[0248] The first packet error rate field can be used to indicate a packet error rate corresponding to the second downlink transmission rate.

[0249] It can be understood that the value indicated by the first packet error rate field is in percentage.

[0250] Based on the above description of the first frame, the present application proposes a possible embodiment. The first frame can be as shown in FIG. 12. The first frame can include a frame header, a Category field, a first rate parameter field, a first packet error rate field, and a frame correct sequence (FCS) field. The frame header can occupy 24 bytes. The frame header can include the frame header information of the 802.11 control frame (i.e., complying with the 802.11 protocol). The subtype of the control frame can be a value not used in the protocol, such as 13. The Category field can occupy 1 byte. The Category field is used to indicate the category of the Action frame, which can take a value not used in the protocol, such as 24. The first rate parameter field can occupy 2 bytes. The first protocol subfield can occupy 4 bits. The first MCS subfield can occupy 4 bits. The first number of spatial streams subfield can occupy 3 bits. The first bandwidth subfield can occupy 3 bits. The first guard interval subfield can occupy 2 bits. The first packet error rate field can occupy 1 byte. The FCS field can occupy 4 bytes.

[0251] S1102, the first station device determines the first downlink transmission rate according to the second downlink transmission rate and the packet error rate corresponding to the second downlink transmission rate.

[0252] For example, the first downlink transmission rate can be determined according to the product of the second downlink transmission rate and the first difference value.

[0253] The first difference value is the difference between 1 and the packet error rate corresponding to the second downlink transmission rate.

[0254] For example, the first downlink transmission rate can satisfy the following formula: v 11 = v 12 × (1 - P 12 ).

[0255] Wherein, v 11 may represent the first downlink transmission rate, v 12 may represent the second downlink transmission rate, and P 12 may represent the packet error rate corresponding to the second downlink transmission rate.

[0256] Based on the communication method shown in FIG. 11, the first station device can determine the second downlink transmission rate according to one or more subfields in the above-mentioned first rate parameter field. In addition, the first access point device can dynamically indicate the second downlink transmission rate through the above-mentioned one or more subfields, which can improve the flexibility of indicating the second downlink transmission rate.

[0257] Optionally, before the first access point device sends the first frame to the first station device, the first frame can be determined by referring to the method shown in FIG. 13 as follows:

[0258] S1301, the first access point device sends one or more first aggregation frames to the first station device; correspondingly, the first station device receives the one or more first aggregation frames from the first access point device.

[0259] The first aggregation frame includes a plurality of first measurement frames.

[0260] The first measurement frame can be referred to as a downlink quality measurement (LQ-MEAS) frame.

[0261] Optionally, the first measurement frame can include one or more of the following: a first traffic field or a transmission power field.

[0262] For example, the structure of the first measurement frame can be as shown in FIG. 14. The first measurement frame can include a frame header, a type field, a transmission power field, a first traffic field, and a FCS field. In addition, the first measurement frame can also include a custom length reserved field. The frame header can occupy 24 bytes. The frame header can include the frame header information of the 802.11 management frame (i.e., in compliance with the 802.11 protocol). The Subtype of the management frame can be a value not used in the protocol, such as 13 (which can indicate that the frame is an Action frame subtype in the management frame). The type field can occupy 1 byte. The type field is used to indicate the category of the Action frame, which can take a value not used in the protocol, such as 22. The transmission power field can occupy 1 byte, which is used to indicate the size of the transmission power of the first measurement frame, and the unit can be dBm. The first traffic field can occupy 20 bytes or 16 bytes. The FCS field can occupy 4 bytes.

[0263] The first traffic field can be referred to as an AP traffic information field.

[0264] The first traffic field is used to indicate one or more of the following: the traffic parameters of one or more traffics of the first access point device, the number of station devices accessing the first access point device, the idle time ratio, the time ratio of the first access point device receiving the second frame from the station device, or the time ratio of the first access point device receiving the interference signal; the second frame is associated with other access point devices.

[0265] For example, the first service field can include a VO service downlink time radio subfield, a VO service uplink time radio subfield, a VO downlink traffic number subfield, a VO uplink traffic number subfield, a VI service downlink time radio subfield, a VI service uplink time radio subfield, a VI downlink traffic number subfield, a VI uplink traffic number subfield, a BE service downlink time radio subfield, a BE service uplink time radio subfield, a BE downlink traffic number subfield, a BE uplink traffic number subfield, a BK service downlink time radio subfield, a BK service uplink time radio subfield, a BK downlink traffic number subfield, a BK uplink traffic number subfield, an idle time ratio subfield, a total associated user number subfield, a received non-direct time ratio subfield (i.e., a time ratio of the first access point device receiving a second frame from a station device), and a received interference time ratio subfield. Each of the above subfields occupies one byte.

[0266] It can be understood that the first station device can determine service information of the first access point device according to the first service field, or the first station device can determine time ratio information of the first access point device providing service for one or more services according to the first service field.

[0267] It can be understood that the first access point device can send the plurality of first measurement frames to the first station device in an aggregate media access control (MAC) protocol data unit (AMPDU) aggregation manner, that is, one first measurement frame can be carried on each of a plurality of MAC protocol data units (MPDUs) which are aggregated by the AMPDU aggregation manner.

[0268] Different third downlink transmission rates correspond to different first aggregated frames.

[0269] Optionally, the third downlink transmission rate corresponding to the first first aggregated frame in the one or more first aggregated frames is less than or equal to a second threshold.

[0270] The second threshold can be predefined or determined according to an actual communication scenario or communication condition, and is not limited.

[0271] It can be understood that the third downlink transmission rate corresponding to the first first aggregated frame can be relatively small, and the third downlink transmission rate can be gradually increased on this basis, so as to determine the second downlink transmission rate with a higher throughput.

[0272] S1302, the first station device sends one or more first response frames to the first access point device; correspondingly, the first access point device receives the one or more first response frames from the first station device.

[0273] The first response frame corresponds to the first aggregated frame one by one.

[0274] The first response frame includes a first field.

[0275] The first field is used to indicate the number of first measurement frames with correct frame check in the one or more frames in the first aggregated frame; or the first field can indicate the number of MPDUs with correct FCS check in the first aggregated frame.

[0276] The first response frame can be referred to as a link quality acknowledge (LQ-ACK) frame.

[0277] Optionally, the first response frame can further include one or more of the following: a second service field or a second field.

[0278] For example, the structure of the first response frame can be as shown in FIG. 16. The first response frame can include a frame header, a first field, a second traffic field, a second field, and a FCS field. The frame header can occupy 16 bytes, and can include frame header information of an 802.11 control frame (in compliance with the 802.11 protocol). The Subtype of the control frame can take a value not used by the protocol, such as 6. The first field can occupy 2 bytes. The second traffic field can occupy 16 bytes or 20 bytes. The second field can occupy 8 bytes. The FCS field can occupy 4 bytes.

[0279] The second traffic field is used to indicate traffic information of the first station device.

[0280] The second traffic field can be referred to as a STA traffic information field.

[0281] For example, the structure of the second traffic field can be as shown in FIG. 17. The second traffic field can include a VO downlink traffic volume (VO DL traffic volume) subfield, a VO uplink traffic volume (VO UL traffic volume) subfield, a VI downlink traffic volume (VI DL traffic volume) subfield, a VI uplink traffic volume (VI UL traffic volume) subfield, a BE downlink traffic volume (BE DL traffic volume) subfield, a BE uplink traffic volume (BE UL traffic volume) subfield, a BK downlink traffic volume (BK DL traffic volume) subfield, and a BK uplink traffic volume (BK UL traffic volume) subfield. Each of the above subfields occupies 2 bytes.

[0282] The second field is used to indicate one or more of the following: a received signal strength, or an error vector magnitude.

[0283] The second field can be referred to as a Rx statistics field.

[0284] For example, the structure of the second field can be shown in FIG. 18. The second field can include: an antenna 0 received signal strength (Ant0 RSSI) subfield, an antenna 1 received signal strength (Ant1 RSSI) subfield, an antenna 2 received signal strength (Ant2 RSSI) subfield, an antenna 3 received signal strength (Ant3 RSSI) subfield, a spatial stream 0 error vector magnitude (SS0 EVM) subfield, a spatial stream 1 error vector magnitude (SS1 EVM) subfield, a spatial stream 2 error vector magnitude (SS2 EVM) subfield, and a spatial stream 3 error vector magnitude (SS3 EVM) subfield. Each of the above subfields occupies 1 byte.

[0285] Based on the content shown in S1301 and S1302, the present application proposes a possible embodiment. As shown in FIG. 19, the first access point device can send a first aggregated frame (for example, the first aggregated frame can include ten first measurement frames) to the first station device through a third downlink transmission rate. After the first station device receives the first aggregated frame, the first station device returns a first response frame to the first access point device within a short inter frame space (SIFS).

[0286] In the first response frame, a first field can indicate the number of MPDUs with correct FCS check in the first aggregated frame. For example, the first field indicates 8, which can determine that the error rate corresponding to the third downlink transmission rate is 80%.

[0287] Based on the content shown in S1301 and S1302, optionally, the third downlink transmission rate corresponding to the (i+1)th first aggregated frame in the plurality of first aggregated frames can be determined according to the first response frame corresponding to the ith first aggregated frame in the plurality of first aggregated frames.

[0288] Wherein, i is a positive integer greater than 1.

[0289] Wherein, based on the first response frame corresponding to the ith first aggregated frame, the present application proposes two possible implementations for determining the third downlink transmission rate corresponding to the (i+1)th first aggregated frame.

[0290] In a first possible implementation, the first AP device can determine the third downlink transmission rate corresponding to the (i+1)th first aggregated frame according to the first field in the first response frame corresponding to the ith first aggregated frame. That is, whether the third downlink transmission rate corresponding to the (i+1)th first aggregated frame is greater than the third downlink transmission rate corresponding to the ith first aggregated frame can be determined according to the third downlink transmission rate corresponding to the ith first aggregated frame and the first field in the first response frame corresponding to the ith first aggregated frame.

[0291] For example, taking the third downlink transmission rate corresponding to the first first aggregated frame as R0, the first AP device can send the first aggregated frame at R0, and correspondingly, the first station device can send the first response frame (which includes the first field) to the first AP device according to R0. The first AP device can determine the packet error rate (denoted as PER0) corresponding to R0 according to the first response frame corresponding to R0.

[0292] Further, the first AP device can determine R1 (i.e., the third downlink transmission rate corresponding to the second first aggregated frame) according to the product of R0 and the first difference (i.e., the difference between 1 and PER0). For example, when the product of R0 and the first difference is large, R1 can be greater than R0; when the product of R1 and the first difference is small, R1 can be less than R0.

[0293] Further, the first AP device can send the first aggregated frame at R1, and correspondingly, the first station device can send the first response frame to the first AP device according to the first aggregated frame corresponding to R1; the first AP device can determine the packet error rate (denoted as PER1) corresponding to R1 according to the first field in the first response frame corresponding to R1, and can determine the third downlink transmission rate corresponding to the second second aggregated frame (i.e., R2) according to R1 and PER1 (the determination manner of R2 can refer to the determination manner of R1, which is not described herein).

[0294] Further, the first AP device can send the first aggregated frame at R2, and correspondingly, the first station device can send the first response frame to the first AP device according to the first aggregated frame corresponding to R2; the first AP device can determine the packet error rate (denoted as PER2) corresponding to R2 according to the first field in the first response frame corresponding to R2.

[0295] By analogy, the plurality of third downlink transmission rates and the packet error rates corresponding to the third downlink transmission rates can be determined based on the above manners.

[0296] In a second possible implementation, the first AP device can determine the third downlink transmission rate corresponding to the (i+1)th first aggregated frame according to the first field and the second field in the first response frame corresponding to the ith first aggregated frame.

[0297] For example, taking the third downlink transmission rate corresponding to the first first aggregation frame as R0, the first access point device can send the first aggregation frame through R0, and correspondingly, the first station device can send the first response frame to the first access point device according to R0 (the first response frame can include the first field and the second field). The first access point device can determine the RSSI / EVM of the first first aggregation frame according to the first response frame corresponding to R0. When the RSSI / EVM of the first first aggregation frame is large, R1 (i.e., the third downlink transmission rate corresponding to the second first aggregation frame) can be greater than R0. When the RSSI / EVM of the first first aggregation frame is small, R1 can be less than R0.

[0298] Further, the first access point device can send the first aggregation frame through R1, and correspondingly, the first station device can send the first response frame to the first access point device according to the first aggregation frame corresponding to R1. The first access point device can determine the packet error rate (which can be denoted as PER1) corresponding to R1 according to the first field in the first response frame corresponding to R1, and can determine the third downlink transmission rate (i.e., R2) corresponding to the second second aggregation frame according to R1 and PER1. That is, the first access point device can determine R2 through the product of R1 and the first difference (i.e., the difference between 1 and PER1). When the product of R1 and the first difference is large, R2 can be greater than R1. When the product of R1 and the first difference is large, R2 can be less than R1.

[0299] Further, the first access point device can send the first aggregation frame through R2, and correspondingly, the first station device can determine to send the first response frame to the first access point device according to the first aggregation frame corresponding to R2. The first access point device can determine the packet error rate (which can be denoted as PER2) corresponding to R2 according to the first field in the first response frame corresponding to R2.

[0300] By analogy, the first access point device can determine the subsequent multiple third downlink transmission rates and the packet error rates corresponding to the third downlink transmission rates according to the manner of determining R2.

[0301] Based on the above two possible implementations, the first access point device can determine the packet error rate corresponding to the third downlink transmission rate through the first response frame. When the packet error rate corresponding to the third downlink transmission rate is large, the third downlink transmission rate can be appropriately reduced. When the packet error rate corresponding to the third downlink transmission rate is small, the third downlink transmission rate can be appropriately improved. The third downlink transmission rate with higher throughput can be determined faster, the calculation complexity can be reduced, and the working efficiency of the first access point device can be improved.

[0302] S1303, the first access point device sends the first frame to the first station device according to the one or more first response frames; correspondingly, the first station device receives the first frame from the first access point device.

[0303] The first frame is used to indicate a second downlink transmission rate, and the second downlink transmission rate is determined according to the one or more third downlink transmission rates and the first field.

[0304] It can be understood that, by performing S1301 and S1302, the first access point device can determine the one or more third downlink transmission rates and the packet error rate corresponding to the third downlink transmission rate (the packet error rate corresponding to the third downlink transmission rate is indicated by the first field), further, the first access point device can determine the equivalent downlink transmission rate corresponding to each third downlink transmission rate, and then can determine a maximum value from the plurality of equivalent downlink transmission rates, and the third downlink transmission rate corresponding to the maximum value is the second downlink transmission rate.

[0305] For example, the equivalent downlink transmission rate corresponding to each third downlink transmission rate can be determined according to the product of each third downlink transmission rate and the first difference value.

[0306] The first difference value is the difference between 1 and the packet error rate corresponding to each third downlink transmission rate.

[0307] For example, the equivalent transmission rate corresponding to each third downlink transmission rate can satisfy the following formula: v 13 ′=v 13 ×(1-PER 13 ).

[0308] v 13 ′ can represent the equivalent downlink transmission rate corresponding to each third downlink transmission rate, v 13 may represent each third downlink transmission rate, PER 13 may represent the packet error rate corresponding to each third downlink transmission rate.

[0309] Based on the communication method shown in FIG. 13, the first access point device can send a plurality of measurement frames to the first station device through different third downlink transmission rates, and the first station device can return a response frame for each measurement frame, so that the first access point device determines the packet error rate corresponding to the third downlink transmission rate according to a plurality of response frames of the same third downlink transmission rate, and further, the first access point device can determine a second downlink transmission rate with a higher throughput according to different third downlink transmission rates and the packet error rate corresponding to the third downlink transmission rate.

[0310] In addition, different from the first station device returning one response frame for each measurement frame, in the present application, the first station device can return one first response frame for one first aggregation frame (i.e. since the first aggregation frame includes multiple first measurement frames, the first station device can return one first response frame for multiple first measurement frames), which can effectively improve the air interface occupancy rate, and at the same time, since the time of returning the response frame is reduced, the delay can be effectively reduced, so that the real-time performance of the communication can be improved.

[0311] Based on the communication method shown in FIG. 13, optionally, after receiving the first frame, the first station device can return a response frame to the first access point device, which is specifically as follows:

[0312] S1304, the first station device sends a response frame to the first access point device; correspondingly, the first access point device receives the response frame from the first station device.

[0313] The response frame can indicate that the first station device receives the first frame, or the response frame can indicate that the first station device does not receive the first frame.

[0314] Based on the communication method shown in FIG. 13, optionally, the first access point device can refer to S1300 to execute S1301 after the first station device sends the first request frame, which can be specifically as follows:

[0315] S1300, the first station device sends a first request frame to the first access point device; correspondingly, the first access point device receives the first request frame from the first station device.

[0316] The first request frame is used to request to start the downlink measurement.

[0317] The first request frame can be referred to as a downlink measurement start request frame.

[0318] The first request frame can adopt a standard Action frame format, and the frame type can be indicated by a type field.

[0319] Exemplarily, the structure of the first request frame can be as shown in FIG. 20, and the first request frame can include a frame header, a type field, and a FCS field. The frame header can occupy 24 bytes, and the frame header can include the frame header information of the 802.11 control frame (i.e. complying with the 802.11 protocol), and the sub-type of the action frame can be a value not used in the protocol, such as 13; the type field can occupy 1 byte, and the type field is used to indicate the category of the Action frame, and can take a value not used in the protocol, such as 23; the FCS field can occupy 4 bytes.

[0320] Further, the first access point device can directly perform S1301, or the first access point device can return an acknowledgement frame to the first station device, and then perform S1301.

[0321] Different from determining the first uplink transmission rate in FIG. 11, the way of determining the first downlink transmission rate for the first station device can be described in detail with reference to FIG. 21.

[0322] S2101, the first station device sends one or more second aggregate frames to the first access point device; correspondingly, the first access point device receives the one or more second aggregate frames from the first station device.

[0323] The second aggregate frame includes a plurality of second measurement frames; different second aggregate frames correspond to different second uplink transmission rates.

[0324] The second aggregate frame can be referred to as an LQ-MEA frame.

[0325] Optionally, the second measurement frame can include one or more of the following: a second service field or a transmission power field.

[0326] The second service field can refer to the description of the second service field above, and will not be described here.

[0327] The transmission power field is used to indicate the transmission power of the second aggregate frame.

[0328] It can be understood that, as shown in FIG. 14, if the first service field in FIG. 14 is replaced by the second service field, the first measurement frame shown in FIG. 14 is the second measurement frame.

[0329] Optionally, the first second aggregate frame in the one or more second aggregate frames corresponds to a second uplink transmission rate less than or equal to a first threshold.

[0330] It can be understood that the second uplink transmission rate corresponding to the first second aggregate frame can be relatively small, and on this basis, the second uplink transmission rate can be gradually increased to determine a second uplink transmission rate with a higher throughput.

[0331] S2102, the first access point device sends one or more second acknowledgement frames to the first station device; correspondingly, the first station device receives the one or more second acknowledgement frames from the first access point device.

[0332] The second acknowledgement frame can be referred to as an LQ-ACK frame.

[0333] The second acknowledgement frame corresponds to the second aggregate frame one by one.

[0334] The second acknowledgement frame includes a third field.

[0335] The third field is used to indicate the number of second measurement frames in the second aggregated frame that are checked correct by one or more frames; or the first service field can indicate the number of MPDUs in the second aggregated frame that are checked correct by FCS.

[0336] Optionally, the second response frame can further comprise one or more of the following: the first service field, or the second field.

[0337] The first service field can refer to the description of the first service field above, and will not be described here.

[0338] The second field can refer to the description of the second field above, and will not be described here.

[0339] For example, the structure of the second response frame can be as shown in FIG. 22. The second response frame can comprise a frame header, a third field, a first service field, a second field, and a FCS field. The frame header can occupy 24 bytes and can comprise the frame header information of the 802.11 control frame (complying with the 802.11 protocol). The Subtype of the control frame can take a value not used by the protocol, such as 6. The third field can occupy 2 bytes. The first service field can occupy 16 bytes or 20 bytes. The second field can occupy 8 bytes. The FCS field can occupy 4 bytes.

[0340] Based on S2101 and S2102, optionally, the second uplink transmission rate corresponding to the i+1th second aggregated frame in the plurality of second aggregated frames is determined according to the second response frame corresponding to the ith second aggregated frame in the plurality of second aggregated frames.

[0341] Wherein, i is a positive integer greater than 1.

[0342] The method for determining the second uplink transmission rate corresponding to different second aggregated frames can refer to the method for determining the third downlink transmission rate corresponding to the plurality of first aggregated frames in FIG. 13 above, and will not be described here.

[0343] S2103, the first station device determines a third uplink transmission rate and a packet error rate corresponding to the third uplink transmission rate according to one or more third fields and one or more second uplink transmission rates.

[0344] It can be understood that by performing S2101 and S2102, the first station device can determine one or more second uplink transmission rates and packet error rates corresponding to the second uplink transmission rates. Further, the first station device can determine an equivalent uplink transmission rate corresponding to each second uplink transmission rate, and can determine a maximum value from the plurality of equivalent uplink transmission rates. The second uplink transmission rate corresponding to the maximum value is the third uplink transmission rate.

[0345] For example, the equivalent uplink transmission rate corresponding to each second uplink transmission rate can be determined according to the product of each second uplink transmission rate and a second difference value.

[0346] The second difference value is the difference between 1 and the packet error rate corresponding to each second uplink transmission rate.

[0347] For example, the equivalent transmission rate corresponding to each second uplink transmission rate can satisfy the following formula: v 22 ′=v 22 ×(1-PER 22 )。

[0348] The v 22 ′ can represent the equivalent uplink transmission rate corresponding to each second uplink transmission rate, the v 22 can represent each second uplink transmission rate, the PER 22 can represent the packet error rate corresponding to each second uplink transmission rate.

[0349] S2104, the first station device determines the first uplink transmission rate according to the third uplink transmission rate and the packet error rate corresponding to the third uplink transmission rate.

[0350] For example, the first uplink transmission rate can satisfy the following formula: v 21 =v 23 ×(1-P 23 )。

[0351] The v 21 can represent the first uplink transmission rate, the v 23 can represent the third uplink transmission rate, and the P 23 can represent the packet error rate corresponding to the third uplink transmission rate.

[0352] Based on the communication method shown in FIG. 21, the first station device can determine the first uplink transmission rate according to one or more second aggregate frames sent by the first access point device, that is, the first station device can determine the packet error rate of one or more second uplink transmission rates according to the second uplink transmission rates corresponding to one or more second aggregate frames, and then can determine the second uplink transmission rate with higher throughput in the plurality of second uplink transmission rates as the third uplink transmission rate according to different second uplink transmission rates and the packet error rates of the second uplink transmission rates. Further, the first station device can determine the first uplink transmission rate according to the third uplink transmission rate and the packet error rate of the third uplink transmission rate.

[0353] The first uplink transmission rate determined by the method can have a high throughput, and can improve the effectiveness of communication. In addition, unlike the first access point device returning one response frame for each measurement frame, in this application, the first access point device can return one second response frame for one second aggregation frame (the second aggregation frame includes a plurality of second measurement frames), which can effectively improve the air interface occupancy rate, and at the same time, can effectively reduce the time delay by reducing the time of returning the response frame, thereby improving the real-time performance of communication.

[0354] Based on the communication method shown in FIG. 21, the first station device can also send a third frame to the first access point device; correspondingly, the first access point device can receive the third frame from the first station device, and the first access point device can determine the first uplink transmission rate according to the third frame.

[0355] The third frame includes a second rate parameter field and a second packet loss rate field.

[0356] The second rate parameter field is used to indicate the third uplink transmission rate.

[0357] Optionally, the second rate parameter field can include one or more of the following: a second protocol subfield, a second MCS subfield, a second number of spatial stream subfield, a second bandwidth subfield, or a second guard interval subfield.

[0358] The second protocol subfield can be referred to as an uplink (UL) protocol subfield, and the second protocol subfield is used to indicate the wireless fidelity version protocol corresponding to the third uplink transmission rate. For example, the wireless fidelity version protocol can be one or more of the following: 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11a, 802.11n (wifi4), 802.11ac (wifi5), 802.11ax (wifi6), or 802.11be (wifi7).

[0359] The second MCS subfield can be referred to as an UL MCS subfield, and the second MCS field is used to indicate an uplink modulation and coding scheme. For example, the uplink modulation and coding scheme can be one or more of the following: MCS0, MCS1, …, or MCS13.

[0360] The second number of spatial stream subfield can be referred to as an UL NSS subfield. For example, the second number of spatial stream subfield can indicate one or more of the following: 1 stream, 2 streams, …, or 8 streams.

[0361] The second bandwidth subfield can be referred to as an UL bandwidth subfield. For example, the second bandwidth subfield can indicate one or more of the following: 20MHz, 40MHz, 80MHz, or 160MHz.

[0362] The second guard interval subfield can be referred to as an UL GI subfield. For example, the second guard interval subfield can indicate one or more of the following: 0.8us, 1.6us, or 3.2us.

[0363] For example, the first access point device can determine the third uplink transmission rate according to the second protocol subfield, the second MCS subfield, the second number of spatial streams subfield, and the second guard interval subfield. For example, when the second protocol subfield indicates 802.11ax, the second MCS subfield indicates MCS7, the second number of spatial streams subfield indicates 1 stream, and the second guard interval subfield indicates 0.8us, the third uplink transmission rate can be 360.3Mbps.

[0364] The second packet error rate field is used to indicate a packet error rate corresponding to the third uplink transmission rate.

[0365] It can be understood that the second packet error rate field can be determined according to a third field.

[0366] The third field is used to indicate a number of second measurement frames in which one or more frames in the second aggregated frame are checked to be correct.

[0367] In a possible embodiment, the third frame can be as shown in FIG. 23. The third frame can include a frame header, a type field, a second rate parameter field, a second packet error rate field, and a frame check sequence (FCS) field. The frame header can occupy 24 bytes. The frame header can include frame header information of an 802.11 control frame (i.e., in compliance with the 802.11 protocol). The subtype of the control frame can be a value not used in the protocol, such as 13. The type field can occupy 1 byte. The type field is used to indicate the category of an Action frame, which can take a value not used in the protocol, such as 26. The second rate parameter field can occupy 2 bytes. The second protocol subfield can occupy 4 bits. The second MCS subfield can occupy 4 bits. The second number of spatial streams subfield can occupy 3 bits. The second bandwidth subfield can occupy 3 bits. The second guard interval subfield can occupy 2 bits. The second packet error rate field can occupy 1 byte. The FCS field can occupy 4 bytes.

[0368] Further, after the first access point device receives the third frame, the first access point device can return an acknowledgement frame to the first station device.

[0369] It can be understood that the first access point device can determine the first uplink transmission rate according to the third frame.

[0370] Based on the communication method shown in FIG. 21, optionally, after the first station device sends the first request frame to the first access point device, the first station device can perform S2101, which can be as follows:

[0371] S2100, the first station device sends a second request frame to the first access point device; correspondingly, the first access point device receives the second request frame from the first station device.

[0372] The second request frame is used to request to start uplink measurement.

[0373] The second request frame can also be referred to as an uplink measurement start request frame.

[0374] The second request frame can adopt a standard Action frame format, and the frame type can be indicated by a type field. For example, the structure of the second request frame can be as shown in FIG. 20, and the difference lies in the value of the type field. For example, the value of the type field in the second request frame can be 25.

[0375] Further, the first station device can directly perform S2101, or the first station device can perform S2101 after receiving the response frame returned by the first access point device.

[0376] It can be understood that the first station device can obtain the first downlink transmission rate and the first uplink transmission rate between the first station device and the first access point device according to the above-mentioned contents shown in FIGS. 11-23, which will not be repeated here.

[0377] It can be understood that the first station device can determine the service information of the first access point device according to the first service field in the first aggregate frame, or the first station device can determine the service information of the first access point device according to the first service field in the second response frame. Similarly, the first access point device can determine the service information of the first station device according to the second service field in the second aggregate frame, or the first access point device can determine the service information of the first station device according to the second service field in the first response frame.

[0378] Based on the content shown in FIG. 11-FIG. 23, the first station device can determine the transmission rate (such as the first uplink transmission rate, the first downlink transmission rate), when the first station device accesses the first access point device, the first station device can directly use the obtained transmission rate to communicate with the first access point device, as shown in FIG. 24, compared with FIG. 2, after the first station device performs the roaming switching, the first station device can communicate with the first access point device at a stable transmission rate, and the situation that the transmission rate expected by the first station device and provided by the first access point device does not match the transmission rate provided by the first access point device itself can be avoided as much as possible, and the effectiveness of the communication can be improved.

[0379] It should be noted that each of the embodiments of the present application can be independently implemented or combined for implementation, and is not limited. If there is no special description and no logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions provided in different embodiments of the present application are consistent and can be mutually referred to, and the technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship.

[0380] It can be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the execution subject can execute part or all of the steps in the embodiments of the present application, and these steps or operations are only examples, and the embodiments of the present application can also execute other operations or various modifications of the operations. In addition, each step can be executed in a different order as presented in the embodiments of the present application, and it is possible that not all the operations in the embodiments of the present application are executed.

[0381] The above mainly introduces the scheme provided by the present application from the perspective of interaction between devices. Correspondingly, the present application also provides a communication device for implementing the above various methods. The communication device can be the first station device in the above method embodiment, or a device containing the above first station device, or a component that can be used for the first station device; or the communication device can be the first access point device involved in the above method embodiment, or a device containing the first access point device, or a component that can be used for the first access point device.

[0382] It can be understood that in order to realize the above functions, the communication device contains the corresponding hardware structure and / or software module for executing each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, in combination with the units and algorithm steps of the examples described in the embodiments disclosed in the present application, the present application can be realized in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a certain function is driven by hardware or computer software to drive hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional technicians can use different methods for each specific application to realize the described functions, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of the present application.

[0383] The embodiments of the present application can divide the function modules of the communication device according to the above-mentioned method embodiments. For example, each function module can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The integrated module can be realized in the form of hardware or in the form of a software function module. It should be noted that the division of the modules in the embodiments of the present application is illustrative, and is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, another division manner can be used.

[0384] In one implementation scenario, taking the communication device as the first station device in the above-mentioned method embodiments, FIG. 25 shows a structural schematic diagram of a first station device 250. The first station device 250 includes a processing module 2501 and a transceiver module 2502.

[0385] In some embodiments, the first station device 250 can further include a storage module (not shown in FIG. 25) for storing program instructions and data.

[0386] In some embodiments, the transceiver module 2502, which can also be referred to as a transceiver unit, is used to realize the sending and / or receiving functions. The transceiver module 2502 can be constituted by a transceiver circuit, a transceiver, a transceiver, or a communication interface.

[0387] In some embodiments, the transceiver module 2502 can include a receiving module and a sending module, which are respectively used to perform the receiving and sending steps of the first station device in the above-mentioned method embodiments, and / or are used to support other processes of the technologies described herein; the processing module 2501 can be used to perform the processing steps (such as determination, generation, etc.) of the first station device in the above-mentioned method embodiments, and / or is used to support other processes of the technologies described herein.

[0388] For example, the processing module 2501 is configured to acquire a transmission rate between the first station device and the first access point device; the processing module 2501 is further configured to acquire service information of the first access point device; the processing module 2501 is further configured to determine first time proportion information and second time proportion information of each service of the first station device according to the transmission rate, the service information of the first station device, and the service information of the first access point device; the first time proportion information is time proportion information in which the first station device expects the first access point device to provide service for the service; the second time proportion information is time proportion information in which the first station device estimates the first access point device to provide service for the service; and the processing module 2501 is further configured to determine whether to access the first access point device according to the first time proportion information and the second time proportion information of each service.

[0389] In a possible implementation, the transmission rate includes one or more of: a first downlink transmission rate, or a first uplink transmission rate.

[0390] In a possible implementation, the transceiver 2502 is configured to receive a first frame from the first access point device; the first frame includes a first rate parameter field and a first packet error rate field; the first rate parameter field is used to indicate a second downlink transmission rate, and the first packet error rate field is used to indicate a packet error rate corresponding to the second downlink transmission rate; and the processor 2501 is further configured to determine the first downlink transmission rate according to the second downlink transmission rate and the packet error rate corresponding to the second downlink transmission rate.

[0391] In a possible implementation, the transceiver 2502 is further configured to receive one or more first aggregated frames from the first access point device; the first aggregated frames include a plurality of first measurement frames; different first aggregated frames correspond to different third downlink transmission rates; the transceiver 2502 is further configured to send one or more first response frames to the first access point device; the first response frames correspond to the first aggregated frames one by one; and the first response frames include a first field; the first field is used to indicate a number of first measurement frames that are correctly checked in one or more frames of the first aggregated frames.

[0392] In a possible implementation, the transceiver 2502 is further configured to send one or more second aggregated frames to the first access point device; the second aggregated frames include a plurality of second measurement frames; different second aggregated frames correspond to different second uplink transmission rates; the transceiver 2502 is further configured to receive one or more second response frames from the first access point device; the second response frames correspond to the second aggregated frames one by one; the second response frames include a third field; and the third field is used to indicate a number of second measurement frames that are correctly checked in one or more frames of the second aggregated frames; the processor 2501 is further configured to determine a third uplink transmission rate and a packet error rate corresponding to the third uplink transmission rate according to one or more third fields and one or more second uplink transmission rates; and the processor 2501 is further configured to determine the first uplink transmission rate according to the third uplink transmission rate and the packet error rate corresponding to the third uplink transmission rate.

[0393] In a possible implementation, the first uplink transmission rate is determined according to a product of the third uplink transmission rate and a second difference value; and the second difference value is a difference between 1 and the packet error rate corresponding to the third uplink transmission rate.

[0394] In a possible implementation, the processing module 2501 is further configured to determine first time proportion information of each service of the first station device according to the transmission rate and service information of the first station device; and the processing module 2501 is further configured to determine second time proportion information of the each service according to the first time proportion information of the each service and service information of the first access point device.

[0395] In a possible implementation, the processing module 2501 is further configured to determine a first index according to the first time proportion information and the second time proportion information of the each service, where the first index is used to indicate a QoS index estimated by the first station device for service provided by the first access point device for one or more services of the first station device; and the processing module 2501 is further configured to determine whether to access the first access point device according to the first index.

[0396] In a possible implementation, the transceiver module 2502 is further configured to send a third frame to the first access point device, where the third frame includes a second rate parameter field and a second packet error rate field; the second rate parameter field is used to indicate a third uplink transmission rate, and the second packet error rate field is used to indicate a packet error rate corresponding to the third uplink transmission rate.

[0397] In this application, the first station device 250 is presented in the form of dividing various functional modules in an integrated manner. The "module" here can refer to a specific application-specific integrated circuit (access point deviceplication-specific integrated circuit, ASIC), a circuit, a processor and a memory executing one or more software or firmware programs, an integrated logic circuit, and / or other devices that can provide the above functions.

[0398] In some embodiments, in a hardware implementation, those skilled in the art can conceive that the first station device 250 can take the form of the communication apparatus 50 shown in FIG. 5.

[0399] As an example, the functions / implementation processes of the processing module 2501 in FIG. 25 can be implemented by invoking computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 503 by the processor 501 in the communication apparatus 50 shown in FIG. 5. The functions / implementation processes of the transceiver module 2502 in FIG. 25 can be implemented by the communication interface 504 in the communication apparatus 50 shown in FIG. 5.

[0400] In some embodiments, when the first station device 250 in FIG. 25 is a chip or a chip system, the function / implementation process of the transceiver module 2502 can be implemented through the input / output interface (or the communication interface) of the chip or the chip system, and the function / implementation process of the processing module 2501 can be implemented through the processor (or the processing circuit) of the chip or the chip system.

[0401] Since the first station device 250 provided by the embodiment can execute the above method, the technical effects that can be obtained thereby can refer to the above method embodiments, which will not be described here again.

[0402] In another implementation scenario, taking the communication apparatus as the first access point device in the above method embodiments, FIG. 26 shows a structural schematic diagram of a first access point device 260. The first access point device 260 includes a processing module 2601 and a transceiver module 2602.

[0403] In some embodiments, the first access point device 260 can further include a storage module (not shown in FIG. 26) for storing program instructions and data.

[0404] In some embodiments, the transceiver module 2602, which can also be referred to as a transceiver unit, is used to implement the sending and / or receiving functions. The transceiver module 2602 can be composed of a transceiver circuit, a transceiver, a transceiver, or a communication interface.

[0405] In some embodiments, the transceiver module 2602 can include a receiving module and a sending module, which are respectively used to execute the receiving and sending steps of the first access point device in the above method embodiments, and / or are used to support other processes of the technology described herein; the processing module 2601 can be used to execute the processing steps (such as determination, generation, etc.) of the first access point device in the above method embodiments, and / or is used to support other processes of the technology described herein.

[0406] For example, the transceiver module 2602 is configured to send one or more first aggregation frames to the first station device; wherein the first aggregation frame includes a plurality of first measurement frames; different first aggregation frames correspond to different third downlink transmission rates; the transceiver module 2602 is further configured to receive one or more first response frames from the first station device; wherein the first response frame corresponds to the first aggregation frame one by one; the first response frame includes a first field; the first field is used to indicate the number of first measurement frames with correct frame check in the first aggregation frame; the transceiver module 2602 is further configured to send a first frame to the first station device according to the one or more first response frames; wherein the first frame is used to indicate a second downlink transmission rate, and the second downlink transmission rate is determined according to the one or more third downlink transmission rates and the first field.

[0407] In a possible implementation, the transceiver 2602 is further configured to receive one or more second aggregated frames from the first station device; the second aggregated frames comprise a plurality of second measurement frames; different second aggregated frames correspond to different second uplink transmission rates; the transceiver 2602 is further configured to send one or more second response frames to the first station device; the second response frames correspond to the second aggregated frames one by one; the second response frames comprise a third field; the third field is used to indicate the number of second measurement frames that are correctly checked in the one or more frames of the second aggregated frames.

[0408] In a possible implementation, the transceiver 2602 is further configured to receive a third frame from the first station device; the third frame comprises a second rate parameter field and a second packet error rate field; the second rate parameter field is used to indicate a third uplink transmission rate, and the second packet error rate field is used to indicate a packet error rate corresponding to the third uplink transmission rate. The processing module 2601 is configured to determine the first uplink transmission rate information according to the third uplink transmission rate and the packet error rate corresponding to the third uplink transmission rate.

[0409] In this application, the first access point device 260 is presented in the form of dividing various functional modules in an integrated manner. The "module" here can refer to a specific application-specific integrated circuit (access point deviceplication-specific integrated circuit, ASIC), a circuit, a processor and a memory executing one or more software or firmware programs, an integrated logic circuit, and / or other devices that can provide the above functions.

[0410] In some embodiments, in a hardware implementation, those skilled in the art can conceive that the first access point device 260 can take the form of the communication apparatus 50 shown in FIG. 5.

[0411] As an example, the functions / implementation processes of the processing module 2601 in FIG. 26 can be implemented by invoking computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 503 by the processor 501 in the communication apparatus 50 shown in FIG. 5. The functions / implementation processes of the transceiver 2602 in FIG. 26 can be implemented by the communication interface 504 in the communication apparatus 50 shown in FIG. 5.

[0412] In some embodiments, when the first access point device 260 in FIG. 26 is a chip or a chip system, the functions / implementation processes of the transceiver 2602 can be implemented by the input / output interface (or the communication interface) of the chip or the chip system, and the functions / implementation processes of the processing module 2601 can be implemented by the processor (or the processing circuit) of the chip or the chip system.

[0413] Since the first access point device 260 provided in this embodiment can execute the method described above, the technical effects that can be achieved by the first access point device 260 can refer to the method embodiments described above, which will not be repeated here.

[0414] As a possible product form, the first station device or the first access point device described in the embodiments of this application can also be implemented using one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), controllers, state machines, gate logic, discrete hardware components, any other suitable circuit, or any combination of circuits capable of performing the various functions described throughout this application.

[0415] As another possible product form, the first station device or the first access point device described in the embodiments of this application can be implemented by a general bus architecture. For ease of illustration, refer to FIG. 27, which is a structural schematic diagram of a communication apparatus 270 provided in the embodiments of this application, the communication apparatus 270 including a processor 2701 and a transceiver 2702. The communication apparatus 270 can be a first station device, or a chip or module therein; or the communication apparatus 270 can be a first access point device, or a chip or module therein. FIG. 27 only shows the main components of the communication apparatus 270. In addition to the processor 2701 and the transceiver 2702, the communication apparatus can further include a memory 2703, which can be integrated with the processor.

[0416] Optionally, the processor 2701 is mainly used for processing communication protocols and communication data, and controlling the entire communication apparatus, executing software programs, and processing data of the software programs. The memory 2703 is mainly used for storing software programs and data. The transceiver 2702 can include radio frequency circuitry and an antenna, the radio frequency circuitry being mainly used for conversion between baseband signals and radio frequency signals and processing of the radio frequency signals. The antenna is mainly used for transceiving radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves.

[0417] Optionally, the processor 2701, the transceiver 2702, and the memory 2703 can be connected through a communication bus.

[0418] When the communication apparatus is powered on, the processor 2701 can read a software program in the memory 2703, interpret and execute instructions of the software program, and process data of the software program. When data needs to be transmitted wirelessly, the processor 2701 performs baseband processing on the data to be transmitted, and outputs a baseband signal to the radio frequency circuit. The radio frequency circuit performs radio frequency processing on the baseband signal, and transmits the radio frequency signal in the form of an electromagnetic wave through an antenna. When data is transmitted to the communication apparatus, the radio frequency circuit receives a radio frequency signal through the antenna, converts the radio frequency signal into a baseband signal, and outputs the baseband signal to the processor 2701. The processor 2701 converts the baseband signal into data and processes the data.

[0419] In another implementation, the radio frequency circuit and the antenna can be arranged independently of the processor that performs baseband processing, for example, in a distributed scenario, the radio frequency circuit and the antenna can be arranged remotely from the communication apparatus.

[0420] In some embodiments, the embodiments of the present application further provide a communication apparatus, which includes a processor configured to implement the method in any of the above method embodiments. The communication apparatus can be the first station device or the first access point device in the above method embodiments.

[0421] As a possible implementation, the communication apparatus further includes a memory. The memory is configured to store necessary computer programs and data. The computer programs can include instructions, and the processor can invoke the instructions in the computer programs stored in the memory to instruct the communication apparatus to perform the method in any of the above method embodiments. Of course, the memory can also not be in the communication apparatus.

[0422] As another possible implementation, the communication apparatus further includes an interface circuit, which is a code / data read / write interface circuit. The interface circuit is configured to receive computer execution instructions (the computer execution instructions are stored in the memory, and can be directly read from the memory or can pass through other devices) and transmit the computer execution instructions to the processor.

[0423] As yet another possible implementation, the communication apparatus further includes a communication interface, which is configured to communicate with modules outside the communication apparatus.

[0424] It can be understood that the communication apparatus can be a chip or a chip system. When the communication apparatus is a chip system, the communication apparatus can be composed of a chip or can include a chip and other discrete devices. The embodiments of the present application do not make a specific limitation in this regard.

[0425] The present application further provides a computer readable storage medium, which stores a computer program or instructions. The computer program or instructions are executed by a computer to realize the functions of any of the above method embodiments.

[0426] The application also provides a computer program product, which, when executed by a computer, implements the functions of any of the method embodiments described above.

[0427] It can be understood that the systems, apparatuses and methods described in the present application can also be implemented in other manners. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative, and the division of the units is merely a logical function division, and there can be another division manner in actual implementation. For example, a plurality of units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the displayed or discussed mutual couplings or direct couplings or communication connections can be indirect couplings or communication connections through some interfaces, apparatuses or units, and can be in electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0428] The units described as separated components can or can not be physically separated, and can be located in one place, or can be distributed on a plurality of network units. The components displayed as units can or can not be physical units. According to actual needs, some or all of the units can be selected to achieve the purposes of the embodiments of the present application.

[0429] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application can be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically, or two or more units can be integrated in one unit.

[0430] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented by software, all or part of the embodiments can be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes (or functions) described in the embodiments of the present application are implemented. The computer can be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable apparatus. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another computer readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server or data center to another website, computer, server or data center through wired (such as coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) manner. The computer readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or data storage device including one or more servers, data centers, etc. integrated with the medium. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (such as a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (such as a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (such as a solid state drive (SSD)), etc. In the embodiments of the present application, the computer can include the device described above.

[0431] Although the present application is described herein in conjunction with various embodiments, other variations and modifications of the disclosed embodiments can be understood and implemented by those skilled in the art through reading the foregoing description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other components or steps, and "a" or "one" does not exclude a plurality. A single processor or other unit can implement several functions listed in the claims. Measures described in mutually different dependent claims can be combined and can produce beneficial results.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Obtaining a transmission rate between the first station device and the first access point device; Acquire service information of the first access point device; determining first time ratio information and second time ratio information of each service of the first site device according to the transmission rate, the service information of the first site device, and the service information of the first access point device; The first time proportion information is time proportion information that the first site device expects the first access point device to provide services for the service; The second time proportion information is information about a time proportion in which the first access point device provides services for the service, as estimated by the first site device; Determine whether to access the first access point device according to the first time ratio information and the second time ratio information of each service.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The transmission rate includes one or more of the following: a first downlink transmission rate, or a first uplink transmission rate.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that Obtaining the first downlink transmission rate includes: receiving a first frame from the first access point device; wherein the first frame includes a first rate parameter field and a first packet error rate field; the first rate parameter field is used to indicate a second downlink transmission rate, and the first packet error rate field is used to indicate a packet error rate corresponding to the second downlink transmission rate; The first downlink transmission rate is determined according to the second downlink transmission rate and a packet error rate corresponding to the second downlink transmission rate.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The first downlink transmission rate is determined according to the product of the second downlink transmission rate and the first difference; The first difference is the difference between 1 and the packet error rate corresponding to the second downlink transmission rate.

5. The method according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that The first rate parameter field includes one or more of the following: a first protocol subfield, a first modulation and coding scheme MCS subfield, a first number of spatial streams subfield, a first bandwidth subfield, or a first guard interval subfield; The first protocol subfield is used to indicate the Wireless Fidelity version protocol corresponding to the second downlink transmission rate.

6. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that: Before receiving the first frame from the first access point device, the method further includes: receiving one or more first aggregated frames from the first access point device; wherein the first aggregated frames include multiple first measurement frames; different first aggregated frames correspond to different third downlink transmission rates; One or more first response frames are sent to the first access point device; wherein the first response frames correspond one-to-one to the first aggregated frames; the first response frame includes a first field; the first field is used to indicate the number of first measurement frames in which one or more frames in the first aggregated frame have correct verification.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The first measurement frame includes one or more of the following: a first service field, or a transmit power field; The first service field is used to indicate one or more of the following: service parameters of one or more services of the first access point device, the number of site devices accessing the first access point device, an idle time ratio, a time ratio of the first access point device receiving a second frame from a site device, or a time ratio of the first access point device receiving an interference signal; and the second frame is associated with other access point devices.

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that The first response frame further includes one or more of the following: a second service field, or a second field; The second service field is used to indicate service information of the first site device; the second field is used to indicate one or more of the following: received signal strength, or error vector magnitude.

9. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 8, characterized in that: Obtaining the first uplink transmission rate includes: Sending one or more second aggregate frames to the first access point device; wherein the second aggregate frames include multiple second measurement frames; different second aggregate frames correspond to different second uplink transmission rates; receiving one or more second response frames from the first access point device, wherein the second response frames correspond one-to-one to the second aggregate frame; the second response frame includes a third field; the third field is used to indicate the number of second measurement frames in the second aggregate frame where one or more frame checks are correct; determining, based on the one or more third fields and the one or more second uplink transmission rates, a third uplink transmission rate and a packet error rate corresponding to the third uplink transmission rate; The first uplink transmission rate is determined according to the third uplink transmission rate and a packet error rate corresponding to the third uplink transmission rate.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that The first uplink transmission rate is determined according to the product of the third uplink transmission rate and a second difference; wherein the second difference is the difference between 1 and a packet error rate corresponding to the third uplink transmission rate.

11. The method according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that The second measurement frame includes one or more of the following: the second service field, or a transmit power field; The second service field is used to indicate service information of the first site device.

12. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 11, characterized in that: The second response frame further includes one or more of the following: a first service field, or a second field; The first service field is used to indicate one or more of the following: service parameters of one or more services of the first access point device, the number of station devices accessing the first access point device, an idle time ratio, a time ratio of the first access point device receiving a second frame from a station device, or a time ratio of the first access point device receiving an interference signal; the second frame is associated with other access point devices; The second field is used to indicate one or more of the following: received signal strength, or error vector magnitude.

13. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 12, characterized in that: A second uplink transmission rate corresponding to a first second aggregated frame among the one or more second aggregated frames is less than or equal to a first threshold.

14. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 13, characterized in that: The second uplink transmission rate corresponding to the (i+1)th second aggregated frame among the multiple second aggregated frames is determined according to the second response frame corresponding to the (i)th second aggregated frame among the multiple second aggregated frames; wherein, i is a positive integer greater than 1.

15. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that The determining, according to the transmission rate, the service information of the first station device, and the service information of the first access point device, first time ratio information and second time ratio information of each service of the first station device includes: determining first time proportion information of each service of the first site device according to the transmission rate and the service information of the first site device; The second time ratio information of each service is determined according to the first time ratio information of each service and the service information of the first access point device.

16. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, characterized in that The service information of the first access point device is information about a time proportion in which the first access point device provides services for one or more services; The one or more services are associated with one or more second site devices.

17. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 16, characterized in that When the first time ratio information of the first service of the first site device is less than or equal to the third time ratio information, the second time ratio information of the first service of the first site device is the first time ratio information of the first service of the first site device; wherein the third time ratio information is the time ratio information of the first access point device providing services for one or more second services, or When the first time ratio information of the first service of the first site device is greater than the third time ratio information, the second time ratio information of the first service of the first site device is used as the fourth time ratio information of the first service of the first site device; wherein the fourth time ratio information is determined based on the time ratio information of the first service of the first access point device, the third time ratio information, and the first time ratio information of the first service of the first site device; The priority of the first service is greater than the priority of the second service.

18. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 17, characterized in that The determining, according to the first time ratio information and the second time ratio information of each service, whether to access the first access point device includes: Determining a first indicator based on the first time ratio information and the second time ratio information of each service; wherein the first indicator is used to indicate the first site device to estimate a quality of service (QoS) indicator of the service provided by the first access point device to one or more services of the first site device; Determine whether to access the first access point device according to the first indicator.

19. The method according to claim 18, characterized in that The first indicator is a first product; or The first indicator is the sum of multiple first products; The first product is the product of the first ratio and the weight of the first ratio; the first ratio is the ratio of the second time ratio information of each service of the first site device to the first time ratio information corresponding to each service of the first site device.

20. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 19, characterized in that The method further comprises: Sending a third frame to the first access point device; The third frame includes a second rate parameter field and a second packet error rate field; The second rate parameter field is used to indicate a third uplink transmission rate, and the second packet error rate field is used to indicate a packet error rate corresponding to the third uplink transmission rate.

21. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that The second packet error rate field is determined according to the third field; The third field is used to indicate the number of second measurement frames in which one or more frames in the second aggregate frame are correctly checked.

22. The method according to claim 20 or 21, characterized in that The second rate parameter field includes one or more of the following: a second protocol subfield, a second MCS subfield, a second number of spatial streams subfield, a second bandwidth subfield, or a second guard interval subfield; The second protocol subfield is used to indicate the Wi-Fi version protocol corresponding to the third uplink transmission rate.

23. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Sending one or more first aggregate frames to the first site device; wherein the first aggregate frames include multiple first measurement frames; different first aggregate frames correspond to different third downlink transmission rates; receiving one or more first response frames from the first station device, wherein the first response frames correspond one-to-one to the first aggregated frame; the first response frame includes a first field; the first field is used to indicate the number of first measurement frames in the first aggregated frame where one or more frames have correct frame checks; According to the one or more first response frames, a first frame is sent to the first site device; wherein the first frame is used to indicate a second downlink transmission rate, and the second downlink transmission rate is determined according to one or more third downlink transmission rates and the first field.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein A third downlink transmission rate corresponding to a first first aggregated frame among the one or more first aggregated frames is less than or equal to a second threshold.

25. The method according to claim 23 or 24, characterized in that The third downlink transmission rate corresponding to the i+1th first aggregate frame among the multiple first aggregate frames is determined according to the first response frame corresponding to the i-th first aggregate frame among the multiple first aggregate frames; wherein i is a positive integer greater than 1.

26. The method according to any one of claims 23 to 25, characterized in that The method further comprises: receiving one or more second aggregated frames from the first site device; wherein the second aggregated frames include multiple second measurement frames; different second aggregated frames correspond to different second uplink transmission rates; One or more second response frames are sent to the first site device; wherein the second response frames correspond one-to-one to the second aggregate frame; the second response frame includes a third field; the third field is used to indicate the number of second measurement frames in which one or more frames in the second aggregate frame have correct verification.

27. The method according to any one of claims 23 to 26, characterized in that The method further comprises: receiving a third frame from the first station device; wherein the third frame includes a second rate parameter field and a second packet error rate field; the second rate parameter field is used to indicate a third uplink transmission rate, and the second packet error rate field is used to indicate a packet error rate corresponding to the third uplink transmission rate; First uplink transmission rate information is determined according to the third uplink transmission rate and a packet error rate corresponding to the third uplink transmission rate.

28. A communication device, characterized in that: The communication device includes a processor; the processor is used to run a computer program or instruction, or to use a logic circuit to enable the communication device to execute the communication method as described in any one of claims 1 to 22, or to enable the communication device to execute the communication method as described in any one of claims 23 to 27.

29. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The computer-readable storage medium stores computer instructions or programs, which, when executed on a computer, enable the communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 22, or enable the communication device to execute the communication method according to any one of claims 23 to 27.

30. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product includes computer instructions; when part or all of the computer instructions are executed, the communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 22 is executed, or the communication method according to any one of claims 23 to 27 is executed.

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