Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

The present application relates to a communication method and apparatus. The method comprises: receiving first information of a second network device, wherein the first information is used for indicating the number of proxy terminals required by a first terminal during WLAN sensing and communication state information respectively corresponding to a plurality of terminals associated with the second network device, the plurality of terminals include a first terminal and at least one second terminal, and each piece of communication state information is used for determining the WLAN sensing capability of the corresponding terminal; and sending second information to the second network device, wherein the second information is used for indicating a terminal identifier of at least one target terminal, the at least one target terminal is a proxy terminal of the first terminal during WLAN sensing, the at least one target terminal is selected from among a plurality of third terminals on the basis of said number and the communication state information respectively corresponding to the plurality of terminals, and the plurality of third terminals include at least one second terminal. In this way, a proxy terminal having a good sensing effect can be determined, thereby improving the WLAN sensing effect.

Description

Communication method and apparatus

[0001] Cross-reference to Related Applications

[0002] This application claims priority to the Chinese Patent Application No. 202410543512.6, filed on April 28, 2024, and entitled “A communication method and apparatus”, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a communication method and apparatus. BACKGROUND

[0004] Currently, an initiating device (for example, a non-access point station (Non-AP STA)) can request multiple proxy devices (for example, proxy STAs) to participate in wireless local area network (WLAN) sensing through an access device (for example, an AP or an AP STA) to expand the sensing range. The access device can determine the proxy devices according to the order of receiving the coordination frame.

[0005] However, the WLAN sensing effect of the proxy devices determined in the above manner can be poor. Therefore, in order to improve the WLAN sensing effect, how to determine the proxy devices with better sensing effect is a problem to be solved at present.

[0006] SUMMARY

[0007] Embodiments of the present application provide a communication method and apparatus for determining proxy devices with better sensing effect to improve the WLAN sensing effect.

[0008] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be performed by a first network device (e.g., a network management device such as a domain controller in a wireless fidelity (WiFi) network) or a chip system (or chip) or other functional module capable of implementing the functions of the first network device, which is disposed in the first network device. In the following description, the method is taken as an example of being performed by the first network device. The method comprises: receiving first information of a second network device, the first information being used to indicate a number of proxy terminals required by a first terminal when performing WLAN sensing, and communication state information respectively corresponding to a plurality of terminals associated with the second network device, the plurality of terminals can include the first terminal and at least one second terminal, and each communication state information can be used to determine the WLAN sensing capability of the corresponding terminal; and sending second information to the second network device, the second information being used to indicate terminal identifiers of at least one target terminal, the at least one target terminal can be a proxy terminal of the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing, and the at least one target terminal can be selected from a plurality of third terminals based on the number and the communication state information respectively corresponding to the plurality of terminals, the plurality of third terminals can include the at least one second terminal.

[0009] In the embodiments of the present application, according to the number of proxy terminals required by the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing and the communication state information respectively corresponding to the plurality of terminals associated with the second network device and used to determine the WLAN sensing capability of the terminal, the first network device can select a more suitable at least one target terminal from the plurality of terminals associated with the second network device or further from a plurality of terminals associated with other network devices as a proxy terminal of the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing; in this way, the first network device can select a proxy terminal for the first terminal in a larger WLAN sensing range, thereby improving the WLAN sensing effect.

[0010] In an optional implementation, the communication state information can include a terminal identifier (e.g., a medium access control (MAC) address) and channel state information (CSI) of the terminal. The terminal identifier can be used to accurately determine or identify the terminal, and the CSI of the terminal can be used to determine the WLAN sensing quality of the terminal and the vector relied on in WLAN sensing, thereby determining the WLAN sensing capability of the terminal. In this way, after the first network device obtains the communication state information corresponding to each of the plurality of terminals, the first network device can accurately identify each terminal according to the terminal identifier included in each of the plurality of communication state information, and determine the WLAN sensing capability corresponding to each of the plurality of terminals according to the CSI included in each of the plurality of communication state information, to ensure that a target terminal with better WLAN sensing effect can be selected subsequently.

[0011] In another optional implementation, the communication state information can further include a working frequency band (or can be referred to as a data transmission frequency band, i.e., a frequency range used for terminal communication) of the terminal and / or a signal reception quality (e.g., a received signal strength indication (RSSI) or the like). The working frequency band of the terminal can be used to determine the interference condition (e.g., the strength or size of the interference) of the terminal, and the signal reception quality of the terminal can be used to determine the location of the terminal. In this implementation, when the first network device subsequently selects a proxy terminal, the first network device not only considers the WLAN sensing capability of the terminal, but also considers the location of the terminal and / or the interference condition of the terminal, thereby improving the problem that the gain of WLAN sensing is small or even no gain due to the selected proxy terminal being too close, and the problem that the WLAN sensing effect of the selected proxy terminal is poor due to the strong interference on the proxy terminal.

[0012] In an optional implementation, the at least one target terminal can be selected by the first network device from at least one candidate terminal according to the working frequency bands and / or the signal reception quality of the plurality of terminals. The at least one candidate terminal can be selected by the first network device from the plurality of third terminals according to the quantity and the terminal identifiers and the CSIs of the plurality of terminals. In this implementation, the first network device selects at least one candidate terminal from the plurality of third terminals according to the quantity and the terminal identifiers and the CSIs of the plurality of terminals. The plurality of third terminals can include the plurality of terminals associated with the second network device, and can further include the plurality of terminals associated with other network devices. The first network device then selects at least one target terminal from the at least one candidate terminal according to the working frequency bands and / or the signal reception quality of the at least one candidate terminal. In other words, when selecting the target terminal (or the proxy terminal), the first network device not only considers the WLAN sensing capability of the terminal, but also considers the location of the terminal and / or the interference condition of the terminal, so as to ensure that a target terminal with a better WLAN sensing effect can be selected, thereby improving the WLAN sensing effect.

[0013] In an optional implementation, the first information can further be used to indicate a first parameter, the first parameter being used to determine a sensing area required by the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing. The first parameter can be used to indicate whether the first network device needs to determine whether at least one third network device needs to assist in selecting the target terminal from the plurality of third terminals, the at least one third network device being associated with at least one fourth terminal, the at least one fourth terminal being a terminal other than the at least one second terminal in the plurality of third terminals. The method can further include: when the number of the first part of target terminals selected by the first network device from the at least one second terminal according to the quantity and the communication state information of the plurality of terminals is less than the number of proxy terminals required by the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing, determining the at least one third network device according to the sensing area determined by the first parameter; sending fourth information to the at least one third network device, the fourth information being used to instruct the at least one third network device to determine a second part of target terminals from the at least one fourth terminal; and receiving fifth information sent by the at least one third network device, the fifth information being used to indicate the terminal identifiers of the second part of target terminals.

[0014] In this implementation, since the WLAN sensing range (assuming as the first sensing range) of the at least one second terminal associated with the second network device is limited, when the first parameter is used to determine the sensing area (assuming as the second sensing range) required by the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing, the first network device can determine whether the at least one third network device is required to assist in selecting the target terminal from the plurality of third terminals according to the indication of the first parameter. For example, if the second sensing range is completely contained in the first sensing range, the first network device can determine that the at least one third network device is not required to assist in selecting the target terminal from the plurality of third terminals. At this time, the plurality of third terminals can only include the at least one second terminal associated with the second network device. Conversely, if the second sensing range is not completely contained in the first sensing range, the first network device can determine that the at least one third network device is required to assist in selecting the target terminal from the plurality of third terminals. At this time, the plurality of third terminals not only includes the at least one second terminal associated with the second network device, but also includes the at least one fourth terminal associated with the at least one third network device, so as to ensure that a suitable proxy terminal can be selected in a larger sensing range to meet the WLAN sensing requirement of the first terminal, i.e., to meet the number of proxy terminals and the required sensing area required by the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing.

[0015] In an optional implementation, the number of the second part of target terminals is greater than or equal to the difference between the number of proxy terminals required by the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing and the number of the first part of target terminals. In this way, a sufficient number of target terminals can be selected to ensure that the WLAN sensing requirement of the first terminal can be met.

[0016] In an optional implementation, the method can further include: receiving third information sent by any one of the at least one third network device, the third information being used to indicate the WLAN sensing result of the at least one fourth terminal in the second part of target terminals; and sending the third information to the second network device. In this implementation, the first network device can receive the WLAN sensing result of the at least one fourth terminal in the second part of target terminals, and send the WLAN sensing result of the at least one fourth terminal in the second part of target terminals to the first terminal through the second network device.

[0017] In an alternative implementation, before the receiving the third information sent by any one of the at least one third network device, the method further includes: sending sixth information to any one of the third network device, the sixth information being used to instruct at least one fourth terminal in the second part of target terminals to respectively perform WLAN sensing. In this way, at least one fourth terminal in the second part of target terminals can respectively perform WLAN sensing, so as to obtain a WLAN sensing result, and further obtain the third information.

[0018] In an alternative implementation, the number of the at least one target terminal can be greater than or equal to the number of proxy terminals required by the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing. If the number of the at least one target terminal is equal to the number of proxy terminals required by the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing, the WLAN sensing requirement of the first terminal can be met. If the number of the at least one target terminal is greater than the number of proxy terminals required by the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing, the situation that any terminal in the at least one target terminal may not respond or may be abnormal when performing WLAN sensing in the future can be avoided, so that the problem that the number of proxy terminals in the at least one target terminal that can normally respond to WLAN sensing is less than the number of proxy terminals required by the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing can be avoided.

[0019] In a second aspect, another communication method is provided. The method can be performed by a second network device (for example, an AP in a WiFi network), or a chip system (or, a chip) or other functional module capable of implementing the functions of the second network device, for example, provided in the second network device. In the following introduction, the method is taken as an example performed by the second network device. The method includes: receiving a sensing proxy request of a first terminal, the sensing proxy request being used to indicate a number of proxy terminals required by the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing; sending first information to a first network device, the first information being used to indicate the number and communication state information respectively corresponding to a plurality of terminals associated with the second network device, the plurality of terminals including the first terminal and at least one second terminal, each communication state information being used to determine a WLAN sensing capability of the corresponding terminal; receiving second information of the first network device, the second information being used to indicate terminal identifiers of at least one target terminal, the at least one target terminal being a proxy terminal of the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing, the at least one target terminal being selected from a plurality of third terminals based on the number and the communication state information respectively corresponding to the plurality of terminals, the plurality of third terminals including the at least one second terminal.

[0020] In an alternative implementation, the communication status information can include a terminal identifier and a CSI of the terminal. In another alternative implementation, the communication status information can further include a working frequency band of the terminal and / or a signal reception quality of the terminal.

[0021] In an alternative implementation, the first information can further indicate a first parameter used to determine a sensing area required by the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing, and the first parameter can be used to indicate whether the first network device needs assistance from at least one third network device to select the target terminal from the plurality of third terminals, the at least one third network device being associated with at least one fourth terminal, the at least one fourth terminal being a terminal other than the at least one second terminal from the plurality of third terminals.

[0022] In an alternative implementation, the method can further include: receiving third information sent by the first network device, the third information being used to indicate a WLAN sensing result of at least one fourth terminal, the third information being sent by any one of the at least one third network device to the first network device, and the at least one fourth terminal being the target terminal selected by the any one third network device from the plurality of third terminals; and sending the WLAN sensing result of the at least one fourth terminal to the first terminal.

[0023] In an alternative implementation, the number of the at least one target terminal can be greater than or equal to the number of proxy terminals required by the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing.

[0024] In a third aspect, a communication apparatus is provided. The communication apparatus can be the first network device in the first aspect. The communication apparatus can be a chip system (or chip) or other function module, which can implement the function of the first network device, for example, be arranged in the first network device. In an optional implementation, the communication apparatus includes a radio frequency device and a baseband device. In another optional implementation, the communication apparatus includes a transceiver (also referred to as a transceiver module) and a processor (also referred to as a processor module). The transceiver can implement a transmitting function and a receiving function. When the transceiver implements the transmitting function, it can be referred to as a transmitter (also referred to as a transmitter module). When the transceiver implements the receiving function, it can be referred to as a receiver (also referred to as a receiver module). The transmitter and the receiver can be the same function module, which is referred to as a transceiver, and can implement the transmitting function and the receiving function. Or the transmitter and the receiver can be different function modules, and the transceiver refers to the two function modules. For ease of description and understanding, the communication apparatus including the transceiver and the processor is described below.

[0025] In an optional implementation, the transceiver is configured to receive first information of the second network device, where the first information is used to indicate a number of proxy terminals required by the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing, and communication state information corresponding to a plurality of terminals associated with the second network device, the plurality of terminals can include the first terminal and at least one second terminal, and each communication state information can be used by the processor to determine a WLAN sensing capability of the corresponding terminal; and the transceiver is configured to send second information to the second network device, where the second information is used to indicate terminal identifiers of at least one target terminal, the at least one target terminal can be a proxy terminal of the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing, and the at least one target terminal can be selected by the processor from a plurality of third terminals based on the number and the communication state information corresponding to the plurality of terminals.

[0026] In an optional implementation, the at least one target terminal can be selected by the processor from at least one candidate terminal according to the operating frequency bands and / or the signal reception quality corresponding to the plurality of terminals, and the at least one candidate terminal can be selected by the processor from the plurality of third terminals according to the number, the terminal identifiers, and the CSI corresponding to the plurality of terminals.

[0027] In an optional implementation, the first information can further be used to indicate a first parameter, the first parameter being used by the processing unit to determine a sensing area required by the first terminal in WLAN sensing, the first parameter being used by the processing unit to determine whether assistance of at least one third network device is required to select the target terminal from the plurality of third terminals, the at least one third network device being associated with at least one fourth terminal, the at least one fourth terminal being a terminal other than the at least one second terminal from the plurality of third terminals; when the number of the first part of target terminals selected by the processing unit from the at least one second terminal according to the number and the communication state information corresponding to the plurality of terminals is less than the number of proxy terminals required by the first terminal in WLAN sensing, the processing unit determines the at least one third network device according to the sensing area determined according to the first parameter; the transceiver is configured to send fourth information to the at least one third network device, the fourth information being used to instruct the at least one third network device to determine a second part of target terminals from the at least one fourth terminal; and the transceiver is configured to receive fifth information sent by the at least one third network device, the fifth information being used to indicate terminal identifiers corresponding to the second part of target terminals respectively.

[0028] In an optional implementation, the transceiver is configured to receive third information sent by any one of the third network devices from the at least one third network device, the third information being used to indicate a WLAN sensing result of at least one fourth terminal from the second part of target terminals; and the transceiver is configured to send the third information to the second network device.

[0029] In an optional implementation, the transceiver is configured to send sixth information to any one of the third network devices, the sixth information being used to instruct at least one fourth terminal from the second part of target terminals to perform WLAN sensing, and then receive third information sent by any one of the third network devices from the at least one third network device.

[0030] In an optional implementation, the communication apparatus further includes a storage unit (also referred to as a storage module), and the processing unit is coupled to the storage unit and executes programs or instructions in the storage unit, so that the processing unit can control or perform the method of the first aspect by using the transceiver.

[0031] In a fourth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided. The communication apparatus can be the second network device of the second aspect. The communication apparatus can be a chip system (or, a chip) or other functional module, which is capable of implementing the functions of the second network device, e.g., arranged in the second network device. In an optional implementation, the communication apparatus includes a baseband apparatus and a radio frequency apparatus. In another optional implementation, the communication apparatus includes a processing unit (also referred to as a processing module) and a transceiver unit (also referred to as a transceiver module). The implementation of the transceiver unit can refer to the third aspect, and for ease of description and understanding, the following description also takes the communication apparatus including the transceiver unit and the processing unit as an example.

[0032] In an optional implementation, the transceiver unit is configured to receive a perception agent request of the first terminal, the perception agent request being configured to indicate a number of agent terminals required by the first terminal when performing WLAN perception; the transceiver unit is configured to send first information to the first network device, the first information being configured to indicate the number and communication state information corresponding to a plurality of terminals associated with the second network device, the plurality of terminals can include the first terminal and at least one second terminal, each communication state information being configured to enable the processing unit to determine a WLAN perception capability of the corresponding terminal; and the transceiver unit is configured to receive second information of the first network device, the second information being configured to indicate terminal identifiers of at least one target terminal, the at least one target terminal can be an agent terminal of the first terminal when performing WLAN perception, and the at least one target terminal can be selected by the processing unit from a plurality of third terminals based on the number and the communication state information corresponding to the plurality of terminals, the plurality of third terminals can include the at least one second terminal.

[0033] In an optional implementation, the first information can further be configured to indicate a first parameter, the first parameter being configured to enable the processing unit to determine a perception area required by the first terminal when performing WLAN perception, and the first parameter being configured to enable the first network device to determine whether at least one third network device is required to assist in selecting the target terminal from the plurality of third terminals, the at least one third network device being associated with at least one fourth terminal, and the at least one fourth terminal being a terminal in the plurality of third terminals other than the at least one second terminal.

[0034] In an alternative implementation, the transceiver is configured to receive third information sent by the first network device, the third information being indicative of WLAN awareness results of at least one fourth terminal, the third information being sent by any one of the at least one third network device to the first network device, the at least one fourth terminal being the target terminal selected by the any one third network device from the plurality of third terminals; and the transceiver is configured to send the WLAN awareness results of the at least one fourth terminal to the first terminal.

[0035] In an alternative implementation, the communication apparatus further includes a storage unit (also referred to as a storage module), and the processing unit is coupled to the storage unit and executes programs or instructions in the storage unit, so that the processing unit can control or perform the method of the second aspect via the transceiver.

[0036] In a fifth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which can be a first network device, or a chip or chip system in the first network device. The communication apparatus includes a communication interface and a processor, and optionally, a memory. The memory is configured to store computer programs, and the processor is coupled to the memory and the communication interface. When the processor reads the computer programs or instructions via the communication interface, the communication apparatus performs the method of the first aspect executed by the first network device.

[0037] In a sixth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which can be a second network device, or a chip or chip system in the second network device. The communication apparatus includes a communication interface and a processor, and optionally, a memory. The memory is configured to store computer programs, and the processor is coupled to the memory and the communication interface. When the processor reads the computer programs or instructions via the communication interface, the communication apparatus performs the method of the second aspect executed by the second network device.

[0038] In a seventh aspect, a computer readable storage medium is provided, which is configured to store computer programs or instructions, when the computer programs or instructions are executed, the method of the first aspect or the second aspect and various possible implementations in each aspect is implemented.

[0039] In an eighth aspect, a computer program product including instructions is provided, when the computer programs or instructions are executed on a computer, the method of the first aspect or the second aspect and various possible implementations in each aspect is implemented.

[0040] In a ninth aspect, a chip system is provided, comprising a processor and an interface, the processor is configured to invoke and run instructions from the interface, so that the chip system implements the method in the first aspect or the second aspect and various possible implementation manners in the aspects.

[0041] In a tenth aspect, a communication system is provided, comprising a first network device configured to perform the method in the first aspect and various possible implementation manners, and a second network device configured to perform the method in the second aspect and various possible implementation manners, and further comprising at least one terminal, wherein the at least one terminal has WLAN awareness capability respectively.

[0042] The technical effects achieved by the various aspects in the second aspect to the tenth aspect and various possible implementation manners in the aspects can be described with reference to the effects achieved by the corresponding various possible design manners in the first aspect, and the repeated parts will not be discussed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0043] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an optical network networking structure provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0044] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario in which the WLAN awareness effect of a proxy STA is poor, provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0045] FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0046] FIG. 4 is a flowchart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0047] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario based on WLAN awareness provided by FIG. 4, provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0048] FIG. 6 is a flowchart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0049] FIG. 7 is a flowchart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0050] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a communication apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0051] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of another apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0052] The technical scheme provided by the embodiments of the present application can be applied to optical network networking. Referring to FIG. 1, it is a schematic diagram of a possible optical network networking structure. The current optical network networking can generally include four domains, for example, a customer premises network (CPN) domain, an access network (AN) domain, an aggregation network (AggN) domain and a core network (CN) domain. The aforementioned four domains can correspond to different devices or entities, that is, the aforementioned four domains can indicate physical or logical entities composed of devices in the same management category, and these devices or entities can be used to implement optical network networking.

[0053] The CPN can be used to implement network access of a terminal. As shown in FIG. 1, the terminal can access the network through devices such as edge optical network units (E-ONUs), room gateways (RGs), wide area network gateways (WGs), customer edges (CEs) or industrial edges (IEs) in the CPN.

[0054] The AN can refer to a set of access connections that adopt or partially adopt optical transmission between service nodes or remote modules and terminals and share the same network side interface. As shown in FIG. 1, the AN can include entities or devices such as optical network units (ONUs) and / or customer premise equipment (CPEs), and can be used to provide network access to terminals to form WiFi network networking. For example, in fiber to the remote (FTTR) technology, the ONU can include a primary ONU (P-ONU), and the P-ONU is connected with the E-ONU.

[0055] As shown in FIG. 1, as an implementation of AN, AN can be composed of an optical line terminal (OLT), an optical distribution network (ODN) and an ONU, wherein the ODN mainly includes optical fibers and passive devices such as optical splitters, which are not shown in FIG. 1. For example, the ODN can be used to connect the OLT and the ONU. The OLT provides an interface between the optical access network and a service node or a remote module on the network side, and communicates with the ONU on the terminal side (or user side) through the ODN. The ODN provides an optical transmission means between the OLT and the ONU, and mainly plays a role of optical signal power distribution. The ONU provides a user side interface on the remote side of the optical access network. As another implementation of AN, the AN can also include an optical transport network (OTN) edge device for processing private line services.

[0056] The AggN, also known as OTN, has a network aggregation function, and can be used for long-distance transmission. For example, the AggN can access the CN through the AggN edge device. As an implementation of AggN, the AggN can include a broadband network gateway (BNG) for connecting the OLT and the AggN edge device to implement an optical transport network (IP / Eth AggN) based on an internet protocol (IP) or an Ethernet (Eth) protocol. As another implementation of AggN, the AggN can also include an OTN, which can be connected with an OTN edge device and an AggN edge device respectively, and the OTN edge device and the AggN can be used to transmit private line services of the terminal.

[0057] The CN can be used for data storage and service support. For example, the AggN edge device can access the CN through a provider edge (PE) device to support transmission of data of the CN. Alternatively, the AggN edge device can access a cloud / local data center through a data center network element to support transmission of data of the cloud / local data center.

[0058] The above four domains are managed by respective domain controllers. As shown in FIG. 1, a CPN controller can be used to manage the CPN, an AN controller can be used to manage the AN, an AggN controller can be used to manage the AggN, and a CN controller can be used to manage the CN.

[0059] In addition, each domain controller can be configured to control other network devices in the domain in which the domain controller is located. For example, the domain controller can be configured to monitor the operation of other network devices in the domain in which the domain controller is located, and / or perform fault management on other network devices in the domain in which the domain controller is located. It should be noted that, in the embodiments of the present application, the management of the domain by each domain controller includes, but is not limited to, the management of network devices in the domain.

[0060] Taking the AN controller as an example, the AN controller can be configured to manage access devices. The AN controller can communicate with the access devices through an OLT or the like. The AN controller is, for example, an optical network management module or an optical network management system. In addition, the AN controller can also be considered to be configured to manage devices in the CPN, such as an E-ONU, a P-ONU, an RG, a WG, a CE, or an IE.

[0061] In some implementations other than the example of FIG. 1, the ONU and the CPE can also be considered to belong to the CPN. In this case, the ONU and the CPE can still be managed by the AN controller, or can be managed by a CPN controller or other management device, which is not limited in the present application.

[0062] In addition, the four domain controllers described above can be controlled by a unified controller, which is, for example, the end-to-end orchestration management device shown in FIG. 1. The end-to-end orchestration management device can be a network management system or a network server.

[0063] For ease of description and understanding, in the embodiments of the present application, devices configured to implement network access functions are referred to as access devices (or access points (APs)), and terminals can access a network through the access devices. The access devices can be the E-ONU, the P-ONU, the RG, the WG, the CE, or the IE shown in FIG. 1, or other devices configured to implement wireless network access functions that are not shown in FIG. 1, or devices configured to implement wireless network access functions in other scenarios other than optical network networking structures, which are not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In some scenarios, terminals can also be connected to ONUs or CPEs, and therefore the access devices can also be ONUs or CPEs.

[0064] In the following, the access devices are taken as APs for example, that is, the APs in the following can be replaced by other names such as access devices, or can be replaced by device names such as ONUs, CPEs, RGs, WGs, CEs, or IEs.

[0065] The network device in the embodiments of the present application, which can also be referred to as a radio access network device, an access network device, an access network entity or an access node, etc., is used to help terminals to realize wireless access. All or part of the functions of the network device in the present application can also be implemented by software functions running on hardware, or by virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (such as a cloud platform). In addition, the network device in the present application can also be a logical node, a logical module or software capable of realizing all or part of the functions of the network device.

[0066] In a possible application scenario, the network device can be a base station, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), an AP, a transmission reception point (TRP), a next generation NodeB (gNB), a gNB in a 6th generation (6G) system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system, etc. The network device can be a macro base station, a micro base station or an indoor station, a relay node or a donor node, or a wireless controller in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario. Alternatively, the network device can also be a server, a wearable device, a vehicle or a vehicle-mounted device, etc. For example, the network device in vehicle to everything (V2X) technology can be a road side unit (RSU). In another possible application scenario, the network device can be a module or unit that completes part of the functions of a base station; or a plurality of network devices cooperate to assist a terminal to implement wireless access, and different network devices respectively implement part of the functions of a base station. For example, the network device can be a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), or a radio unit (RU), etc. The functions of the CU can be implemented by one entity, or can also be implemented by different entities. For example, the functions of the CU can be further divided, that is, the control plane and the user plane are separated and implemented by different entities, which are a control plane CU entity (namely, a CU-control plane (CP) entity) and a user plane CU entity (namely, a CU-user plane (UP) entity) respectively. The CU-CP entity and the CU-UP entity can be coupled with the DU to jointly complete the functions of the network device. The CU and the DU can be separately arranged, or can also be included in the same network element, such as a baseband unit (BBU). The RU can be included in a radio frequency device or a radio frequency unit, such as a radio frequency remote unit (RRU), an active antenna processing unit (AAU), or a remote radio head (RRH).

[0067] In the embodiments of the present application, the apparatus for implementing the function of the network device can be the network device itself, or can be an apparatus capable of supporting the network device to implement the function, such as a chip system or a combination device or component that can implement the function of the network device, which can be installed in the network device. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the network device.

[0068] In the embodiments of the present application, the terminal can also be referred to as a user equipment (UE), a terminal device, an access station, a UE station, a remote station, a STA subscriber station, a wireless communication device, or a user apparatus, etc. It is a device with wireless transceiving function (i.e. the terminal can send signals to the network device and can also receive signals from the network device), which can be a fixed device, a mobile device, a handheld device (such as a mobile phone), a wearable device, a vehicle-mounted device, or a wireless device built-in the above devices (such as a communication module, a modem, or a chip system, etc.). The terminal can be used to connect people, things, machines, etc., and can be widely used in various scenarios, such as but not limited to the following scenarios: perception scenarios, cellular communication, device-to-device (D2D) communication, V2X, machine-to-machine (M2M) network / machine type communication (MTC), internet of things (IoT), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), industrial control, self driving, remote medical, smart grid, smart furniture, smart office, smart wear, smart transportation, smart city, unmanned aerial vehicle, robot, indoor commercial scenario (such as mobile phone screen projection, file sharing, mobile phone to VR glasses video transmission) and other scenarios.

[0069] The terminal can also be referred to as a V2X device when it is applied to V2X, for example, a smart car, a digital car, an unmanned car, an automatic car, a pure EV, a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), a range extended EV (REEV), a plug-in HEV (PHEV), a new energy vehicle, and an RSU.

[0070] Of course, the terminal can also be a device in D2D communication, such as a smart meter, a smart water meter, and the like. In addition, in the embodiments of the present application, the terminal can also be a terminal in an IoT system. IoT is an important part of future information technology development, and its main technical feature is to connect objects to the network through communication technology, thereby realizing a human-machine interconnected and intelligent network.

[0071] As introduced above, various terminals can be considered as vehicle-mounted terminals if they are located on a vehicle (for example, placed in or installed in a vehicle), and the vehicle-mounted terminal is also referred to as an on-board unit (OBU). The terminal of the present application can also be an on-board module, an on-board module group, an on-board component, an on-board chip, or an OBU, which is built-in as one or more components or units in a vehicle, and the vehicle can implement the method of the present application through the built-in on-board module, on-board module group, on-board component, on-board chip, or OBU.

[0072] In the embodiments of the present application, the device for implementing the function of the terminal can be the terminal itself, or a device capable of supporting the terminal to implement the function, such as a chip system or a combination device or component that can implement the function of the terminal, which can be installed in the terminal. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technology and specific device form adopted by the terminal.

[0073] In the above optical network networking, a terminal (e.g., Non-AP STA) with WLAN awareness capability can request one or more proxy devices (e.g., proxy STA) to participate in WLAN awareness through an AP to expand the awareness range. Wherein, WLAN awareness refers to determining the characteristics of an expected target (e.g., a car or an airplane) in a specified environment (e.g., a parking lot or an airport) according to the wireless signals received by the terminal with WLAN awareness capability, such as the posture or movement of the expected target.

[0074] For example, assuming that the above terminal with WLAN awareness capability is a requesting STA, the requesting STA can send a proxy awareness request to the AP, wherein the proxy awareness request can be used to indicate the number of proxy STAs required by the requesting STA. After receiving the proxy awareness request, the AP can select at least one proxy STA from a plurality of STAs associated with the AP according to the number. Optionally, the AP can also instruct the at least one proxy STA to perform WLAN awareness respectively. Further, the at least one proxy STA can send the respective WLAN awareness results to the requesting STA via the AP after performing WLAN awareness respectively.

[0075] Currently, the AP can usually determine the proxy STA from the above plurality of STAs according to the order in which the coordination frames are received, that is, the selection of the proxy STA depends on the order in which the AP receives the coordination frames. For example, if the number of proxy STAs required by the requesting STA is 3, and the AP receives 5 coordination frames sent by the respective STAs, then the AP can select 3 STAs from the above 5 STAs according to the order of receiving the coordination frames from early to late, as the proxy STAs of the requesting STA, according to the coordination frame receiving time corresponding to the 5 coordination frames.

[0076] However, the WLAN awareness effect of the proxy STA determined in the above manner can be poor. For example, referring to FIG. 2, if the positions of the two selected proxy STAs are close, the two proxy STAs with close positions have small or even no gain for WLAN awareness; in addition, if the selected proxy STA is subject to strong interference, this will also result in poor WLAN awareness effect of the proxy STA.

[0077] Therefore, in order to improve the WLAN sensing effect, the application provides a communication method, device and system. The communication method provided by the application selects a proxy terminal with better sensing effect for the first terminal from the selectable terminals according to the number of proxy terminals (such as proxy STAs) required by the first terminal (such as a request STA) when performing WLAN sensing, and the WLAN sensing capabilities corresponding to the first terminal and the plurality of candidate terminals. It should be noted that the selectable terminals can include at least one terminal associated with the network device (such as the first AP) corresponding to the first terminal, and of course, can also include at least one terminal associated with other network devices (such as the second AP), and the embodiments of the application do not limit this. The method, device and system are based on the same technical concept, and since the principles of the method, device and system for solving problems are similar, the implementation of the method, device and system can be mutually referred to, and the repeated parts will not be described.

[0078] It should be understood that, in the embodiments of the application, the number of nouns, unless otherwise specified, represents "a singular noun or a plural noun", that is, "one or more". "At least one" means one or more, and "multiple" means two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, which means that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally represents an "or" relationship between the associated objects. For example, A / B means A or B. "At least one of the following" or the like means any combination of these items, including any combination of single item or multiple items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c means a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c, or a and b and c, where a, b, and c can be single or multiple.

[0079] The ordinal numbers "first", "second", and the like mentioned in the embodiments of the application are used to distinguish a plurality of objects, and are not used to limit the size, content, order, time sequence, priority, or importance of the plurality of objects. For example, the first information and the second information can be the same information or different information, and such names do not represent the difference in the sending / receiving end, format, content, size, application scenario, priority, or importance of the two information. In addition, the numbering of steps in each embodiment introduced in the application is only used to distinguish different steps in some cases, and is not used to limit the order between the steps.

[0080] In the embodiments of the present application, the descriptions such as "when", "in the case of", "if", and "whether" all refer to the objective situation in which the device will make corresponding processing, and are not limited in time, and do not require the device (such as a terminal or network device) to have a judgment action when implemented, nor does it mean that there are other limitations. It should be noted that in the embodiments of the present application, "for indicating" can include for directly indicating (or directly indicating) and for indirectly indicating (or implicitly indicating). When describing that certain information is used to indicate A, it can include that the information directly indicates A or indirectly indicates A, and does not mean that A must be carried in the information. For example, the first information is used to indicate the first content, the first information can include the first content, or can include part of the first content or an identifier, index, etc. of the first content, or can include an algorithm for determining the first content, a calculation parameter, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the manner of "indicating".

[0081] Referring to FIG. 3, a flowchart of a communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application is shown, and in the following introduction, the method is applied to the network architecture shown in FIG. 1 as an example. In the following method flow, the first network device can be a network management, the second network device can be an access device such as an AP, or a device or chip provided in the network device, and the present application does not limit this.

[0082] S301, the first network device receives the first information of the second network device. Correspondingly, the second network device receives the first information sent by the first network device. The first information is used to indicate the number of proxy terminals required by the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing, and the communication state information corresponding to each terminal associated with the second network device, wherein each communication state information can be used to determine the WLAN sensing capability of the corresponding terminal. For example, assuming that the first information can be used to indicate the communication state information corresponding to each of the five terminals (such as STA1-STAs) associated with the second network device, the communication state information corresponding to STA2 can be used to determine the WLAN sensing capability of STA2.

[0083] Optionally, the above-mentioned multiple terminals can include the first terminal and at least one second terminal, in other words, the above-mentioned multiple terminals can be all or part of the terminals associated with the second network device; in this way, after obtaining the communication state information corresponding to each of the multiple terminals associated with the second network device, the first network device can determine and select the proxy terminal with better sensing effect according to the multiple communication state information; in this way, the first network device can select the proxy terminal for the first terminal in a larger WLAN sensing range, thereby improving the WLAN sensing effect.

[0084] In order to ensure that the first network device can select a proxy terminal with good WLAN sensing effect, the communication state information can include a terminal identifier and a CSI of the terminal. The terminal identifier can be used to accurately determine or identify the terminal, i.e., the first network device and / or the second network device can determine or identify the terminal according to the terminal identifier, and the CSI of the terminal can be used to determine the WLAN sensing quality of the terminal and the vector relied on in WLAN sensing, thereby determining the WLAN sensing capability of the terminal. In this way, after the first network device obtains the communication state information corresponding to the plurality of terminals respectively, the first network device can accurately identify each terminal according to the terminal identifier included in each of the plurality of communication state information, and determine the WLAN sensing capability corresponding to each of the identified plurality of terminals according to the CSI included in the communication state information of the plurality of terminals respectively.

[0085] Optionally, the first network device can also determine the vector similarity between the vector relied on in WLAN sensing of the at least one second terminal and the vector relied on in WLAN sensing of the first terminal according to the CSI included in the communication state information of the plurality of terminals respectively, thereby determining the similarity between the WLAN sensing capability of the at least one second terminal and the WLAN sensing capability of the first terminal.

[0086] In addition, the terminal identifier can be a MAC address of the terminal, and of course can also be other unique identifiers, as long as the terminal can be accurately identified, and the specific type of the terminal identifier is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0087] In an optional implementation, in order to further ensure that the obtained proxy terminal has good WLAN sensing effect, the communication state information can also include a working frequency band of the terminal and / or a signal reception quality of the terminal, i.e., the communication state information can include a terminal identifier, a CSI of the terminal, and a working frequency band of the terminal and / or a signal reception quality of the terminal. The working frequency band of the terminal can be understood as a frequency range used for communication of the terminal, and can be used to determine the interference condition (such as the strength or size of the interference) of the terminal. The working frequency band of the terminal can be referred to as a data transmission frequency band of the terminal, or can also have other names, which are not limited in the embodiments of the present application. The signal reception quality of the terminal can be RSSI, and can be used to determine the position of the terminal. Of course, the signal reception quality of the terminal can also be other parameters that can represent the signal reception quality of the terminal or be used to determine the position of the terminal, which are not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0088] In the foregoing manner, when the first network device subsequently selects a proxy terminal, the position of the terminal and / or the interference condition of the terminal are considered in addition to the WLAN sensing capability of the terminal, thereby improving the WLAN sensing effect and further improving the WLAN sensing effect.

[0089] S302, the first network device can select at least one target terminal from the plurality of target candidate terminals according to the number of proxy terminals required by the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing and the communication state information corresponding to each of the plurality of terminals. In other words, the at least one target terminal can be a proxy terminal selected by the first network device from the plurality of target candidate terminals based on the number and the communication state information corresponding to each of the plurality of terminals. The plurality of target candidate terminals can include a plurality of terminals associated with the second network device, for example, at least one second terminal associated with the second network device. The plurality of target candidate terminals can also include a plurality of terminals associated with the second network device and a plurality of terminals associated with other network devices (such as the third network device). In addition, the plurality of target candidate terminals can also be referred to as a plurality of third terminals, and of course can also have other names, which are not limited by the embodiments of the present application.

[0090] The number of the at least one target terminal can be equal to the number of proxy terminals required by the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing, so as to meet the WLAN sensing requirement of the first terminal. Alternatively, in order to avoid the problem that any terminal in the at least one target terminal may subsequently appear abnormal or unresponsive when performing WLAN sensing, thereby causing the number of proxy terminals that can normally respond to WLAN sensing to be less than the number of proxy terminals required by the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing, the number of the at least one target terminal can be greater than the number of proxy terminals required by the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing.

[0091] For example, if the communication state information includes a terminal identifier and a CSI of the terminal, the first network device can select at least one target terminal from the plurality of target candidate terminals according to the number of proxy terminals required by the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing and the terminal identifier and the CSI corresponding to each of the plurality of target candidate terminals.

[0092] For another example, if the communication state information comprises the terminal identifier, the CSI of the terminal, the operating frequency band of the terminal and / or the signal reception quality of the terminal, the first network device can select at least one target terminal from the plurality of target candidate terminals according to the number of proxy terminals required by the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing, and the terminal identifier, the CSI, the operating frequency band and / or the signal reception quality corresponding to the plurality of terminals respectively. In an optional implementation, the first network device can select at least one candidate terminal from the plurality of target candidate terminals according to the number and the terminal identifier and the CSI corresponding to the plurality of terminals respectively, and then select at least one target terminal from the at least one candidate terminal according to the operating frequency band and / or the signal reception quality corresponding to the at least one candidate terminal respectively.

[0093] In another optional implementation, the first network device can comprehensively consider the CSI, the operating frequency band and / or the signal reception quality corresponding to the plurality of target candidate terminals respectively, compare and analyze the plurality of target candidate terminals, for example, determine the WLAN sensing capability of the plurality of target candidate terminals by using a weighted scoring mechanism or by using reinforcement learning, etc.; then, after determining the WLAN sensing capability of the plurality of target candidate terminals, select at least one target terminal from the plurality of target candidate terminals in combination with the number of proxy terminals required by the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing.

[0094] S303, the first network device sends second information to the second network device. Correspondingly, the second network device receives the second information sent by the first network device, and the second information is used to indicate the terminal identifier of the at least one target terminal.

[0095] Based on the communication method described in S301-S303, after receiving the first information of the second network device, the first network device can select at least one target terminal with better WLAN sensing effect from the plurality of terminals associated with the second network device or further from the plurality of terminals associated with other network devices according to the number of proxy terminals required by the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing indicated by the first information, and the communication state information used to determine the WLAN sensing capability of the terminal corresponding to the plurality of terminals associated with the second network device. In this way, the first network device can select proxy terminals for the first terminal in a larger WLAN sensing range, thereby improving the WLAN sensing effect.

[0096] Referring to FIG. 4, a flowchart of another communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application is shown. The terminal shown in FIG. 4 can be a terminal that directly communicates with a ground base station, for example, the first terminal can be a STA, and the first terminal can also be referred to as a requesting STA, or can be a terminal that directly communicates with a non-ground base station (for example, a satellite), or can be a device or a chip provided in the terminal, and the network device can be an access device such as an AP, for example, the second network device and the at least one third network device are both APs, or can be a network management, for example, the first network device is a network management, or can be a device or a chip provided in the network device. In the following description, in order to facilitate understanding and description, the information interaction between the first terminal, the first network device, the second network device, and the at least one third network device is described, wherein the dashed part represents an optional step, that is, a step that can be selected for further (or better) technical effect. In the following description, the numbering of the steps is only used to distinguish different steps, and is not used to strictly limit the order of the steps.

[0097] S401, the first terminal sends a sensing agent request to the second network device. Correspondingly, the second network device receives the sensing agent request sent by the first terminal, and the sensing agent request is used to indicate the number of agent terminals required by the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing.

[0098] S402, after the second network device determines the number of agent terminals required by the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing according to the sensing agent request, the second network device can send first information to the first network device. The first information can not only indicate the number of agent terminals required by the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing and the communication state information corresponding to the plurality of terminals associated with the second network device, but also be used to indicate whether the first network device needs other network devices (for example, the at least one third network device) to assist in selecting the target terminal.

[0099] In an alternative implementation, since the WLAN awareness range (assuming as the first awareness range) of the at least one second terminal associated with the second network device is limited, the first information can also be used to indicate a first parameter, and when the first parameter is used to determine the awareness area (assuming as the second awareness range) required by the first terminal when performing WLAN awareness, the first network device can further determine whether assistance of the at least one third network device is required for selecting the target terminal according to the indication of the first parameter. For example, if the second awareness range is completely contained in the first awareness range, the first network device can determine that assistance of the at least one third network device is not required for selecting the target terminal, and in this case, the plurality of target candidate terminals described in the foregoing FIG. 3 can only include the at least one second terminal associated with the second network device; on the contrary, if the second awareness range is not completely contained in the first awareness range, the first network device can determine that assistance of the at least one third network device is required for selecting the target terminal, and in this case, the plurality of target candidate terminals described in the foregoing FIG. 3 can include not only the at least one second terminal associated with the second network device, but also a plurality of terminals (for example, a plurality of fourth terminals) respectively associated with the at least one third network device, so as to ensure that a suitable proxy terminal can be selected in a larger awareness range to meet the WLAN awareness requirement of the first terminal, i.e., to meet the number of proxy terminals required by the first terminal when performing WLAN awareness and the awareness area required by the first terminal.

[0100] It should be understood that the determination of the first network device that assistance of the at least one third network device is required for selecting the target terminal can also be understood as that cross-domain proxy awareness is required by the first terminal when performing WLAN awareness, i.e., one or more terminals respectively associated with other network devices in addition to the second network device need to be used as proxy terminals to perform WLAN awareness in order to meet the WLAN awareness requirement of the first terminal.

[0101] S403, when the number of the first part of target terminals selected by the first network device from the at least one second terminal according to the number of proxy terminals required by the first terminal when performing WLAN awareness and the communication state information of the plurality of terminals respectively associated with the second network device is less than the number of proxy terminals required by the first terminal when performing WLAN awareness, the first network device can further determine the at least one third network device according to the awareness area determined by the first parameter.

[0102] For example, when S403 is performed, the first network device can select at least one third network device from the plurality of third network devices according to the awareness area determined by the first parameter, i.e., there is a terminal in one or more fourth terminals respectively associated with any one of the at least one third network device, and the awareness range of the terminal is in the awareness area.

[0103] For example, in order to expand the WLAN sensing range, the first network device can further select, from the plurality of third network devices, a third network device that is adjacent to the sensing area determined according to the first parameter or has no overlap with the sensing range, i.e., there is no terminal in one or more fourth terminals associated with the third network device that has a terminal in the sensing range in the sensing area. Of course, when the first network device determines that the number of the first part of target terminals selected from the at least one second terminal is less than the number of proxy terminals required by the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing, the first network device can also select a third network device according to the sensing area determined according to the first parameter in other manners, which is not limited in the present application.

[0104] S404, after determining the at least one third network device in the sensing area determined according to the first parameter, the first network device can further send fourth information to the at least one third network device. Correspondingly, the at least one third network device receives the fourth information sent by the first network device, and the fourth information is used to instruct the at least one third network device to determine a second part of target terminals from at least one fourth terminal (i.e., a terminal associated with the at least one third network device); it can be seen that the at least one target terminal can include the first part of target terminals and the second part of target terminals.

[0105] S405, the at least one third network device determines the second part of target terminals from the at least one fourth terminal.

[0106] Specifically, when performing S405, the at least one third network device can determine the second part of target terminals from the at least one fourth terminal in the same manner as the first network device determines the first part of target terminals, or can determine the second part of target terminals from the at least one fourth terminal in combination with the sensing area determined according to the first parameter, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0107] Optionally, in order to ensure that the WLAN sensing requirement of the first terminal can be met, i.e., a sufficient number of target terminals can be selected, the number of the second part of target terminals can be greater than or equal to the difference between the number of proxy terminals required by the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing and the number of the first part of target terminals.

[0108] S406, the at least one third network device sends fifth information to the first network device. Correspondingly, the first network device receives the fifth information of the at least one third network device, and the fifth information is used to indicate the terminal identifier corresponding to the second part of target terminals; in this way, the first network device can determine the second part of target terminals determined by the at least one third network device from the at least one fourth terminal.

[0109] S407, the first network device sends sixth information to any one of the at least one third network device. Correspondingly, the any one of the at least one third network device receives the sixth information of the first network device, and the sixth information is used to instruct at least one fourth terminal in the second part of target terminals to respectively perform WLAN sensing. In this way, the any one of the at least one third network device sends the sixth information to each terminal in the second part of target terminals, so that the at least one fourth terminal in the second part of target terminals can respectively perform WLAN sensing after receiving the sixth information, and can send respective WLAN sensing results to the any one of the at least one third network device, so as to obtain third information mentioned in S408 below.

[0110] S408, any one of the at least one third network device sends third information to the first network device. Correspondingly, the first network device receives the third information sent by any one of the at least one third network device. The third information is used to instruct WLAN sensing results of the at least one fourth terminal in the second part of target terminals.

[0111] S409, the first network device sends the third information to the second network device. Correspondingly, the second network device receives the third information sent by the first network device.

[0112] S410, the second network device sends WLAN sensing results of the at least one fourth terminal in the second part of target terminals to the first terminal according to the third information. Correspondingly, the first terminal receives the WLAN sensing results of the at least one fourth terminal in the second part of target terminals sent by the second network device; in this way, the first terminal can obtain WLAN sensing results of the cross-domain proxy terminal (i.e., the at least one fourth terminal in the second part of target terminals).

[0113] S411, the first network device can further send seventh information to the second network device after determining the first part of target terminals from at least one second terminal associated with the second network device. Correspondingly, the second network device receives the seventh information sent by the first network device, and the seventh information is used to instruct the at least one second terminal in the first part of target terminals to respectively perform WLAN sensing. In this way, the second network device notifies all or part of terminals in the first part of target terminals to respectively perform WLAN sensing according to the seventh information, and all or part of terminals in the first part of target terminals can send respective WLAN sensing results to the second network device.

[0114] S412, the second network device sends WLAN sensing results of the at least one second terminal in the first part of target terminals to the first terminal. Correspondingly, the first terminal receives the WLAN sensing results of the at least one second terminal in the first part of target terminals sent by the second network device.

[0115] Obviously, based on S410 and S412 above, the first terminal can not only obtain the WLAN awareness result of the at least one second terminal (i.e., at least one second terminal in the first part of target terminals) as a proxy terminal in the plurality of terminals associated with the second network device (i.e., the network device in the same domain) when performing WLAN awareness, but also obtain the WLAN awareness result of the at least one fourth terminal (i.e., at least one fourth terminal in the second part of target terminals) as a proxy terminal in the plurality of terminals associated with the at least one third network device (i.e., the network device in the different domain) when performing WLAN awareness, thereby improving the WLAN awareness effect.

[0116] For example, referring to FIG. 5, which is a schematic diagram of a WLAN awareness scenario provided by an embodiment of the present application, it is assumed that the first terminal in FIG. 4 is taken as a request Non-AP STA, the second network device in FIG. 4 is taken as an AP STA, the first network device in FIG. 4 is taken as a network management, and the at least one third network device in FIG. 4 is taken as a cross-domain AP STA.

[0117] It is assumed that the AP STA is associated with 5 STAs, i.e., the request Non-AP STA and STA1-ST A4, and the cross-domain AP STA is associated with 5 STAs, i.e., STA5-ST A9, and the following process is described.

[0118] 1. The request Non-AP STA can send an awareness proxy request to the AP STA, the awareness proxy request being used to indicate the number (e.g., 5) of proxy STAs required by the request Non-AP STA when performing WLAN awareness.

[0119] 2. After receiving the awareness proxy request, the AP STA can send the number of proxy STAs required by the request Non-AP STA when performing WLAN awareness and the communication state information (i.e., the first information) corresponding to the 5 STAs associated with the AP STA to the network management.

[0120] 3. The network management selects the first part of target STAs (e.g., STA1, STA2, and STA4) from the 5 STAs associated with the AP STA according to the number of proxy STAs required by the request Non-AP STA when performing WLAN awareness and the communication state information corresponding to the 5 STAs associated with the AP STA, and selects the second part of target STAs (e.g., STA7 and STA9) from the 5 STAs associated with the cross-domain AP STA through the cross-domain AP STA.

[0121] 4. After determining the first part of target STAs and the second part of target STAs, the network management can send first indication information indicating that the first part of target STAs perform WLAN awareness to the AP STA.

[0122] 5、AP STA notifies 3 STAs (i.e. STA1, STA2 and STA4) in the first part of target STAs to respectively perform WLAN sensing according to the first indication information.

[0123] 6、STA1, STA2 and STA4 can respectively perform WLAN sensing after receiving the notification of the AP STA in 5 above, and STA1, STA2 and STA4 can send their respective WLAN sensing results to the AP STA.

[0124] 7、The network management can also send the second indication information indicating the second part of target STAs to perform WLAN sensing to the cross-domain AP STA after determining the first part of target STAs and the second part of target STAs.

[0125] 8、The cross-domain AP STA notifies 2 STAs (i.e. STA7 and STA9) in the second part of target STAs to respectively perform WLAN sensing according to the second indication information.

[0126] 9、STA7 and STA9 can respectively perform WLAN sensing after receiving the notification of the cross-domain AP STA in 8 above, and STA7 and STA9 can send their respective WLAN sensing results to the cross-domain AP STA.

[0127] 10、The cross-domain AP STA sends the respective WLAN sensing results of STA7 and STA9 to the network management.

[0128] 11、The network management can further send the respective WLAN sensing results of STA7 and STA9 to the AP STA.

[0129] 12、The AP STA can send the WLAN sensing results of the first part of target STAs and the WLAN sensing results of the second part of target STAs to the requesting Non-AP STA. That is, the AP STA can send the respective WLAN sensing results of STA1, STA2, STA4, STA7 and STA9 to the requesting Non-AP STA to meet the WLAN sensing demand of the requesting Non-AP STA.

[0130] Referring to FIG. 6, a flowchart of another communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application is shown, taking the first terminal as a Non-AP STA or a first STA, the second network device as an AP STA and a first ONU, and the first network device as an AN controller, and taking the third network device as a cross-domain ONU as an example. The dashed part represents optional steps, i.e., steps that can be selected to obtain further (or better) technical effects. In the following process, the numbering of steps is only used to distinguish different steps, and does not strictly limit the order of the steps.

[0131] S601a, the first STA sends a sensing agent request to the AP STA. The sensing agent request is used to indicate the STA requirement quantity of the first STA when performing WLAN sensing, i.e., the quantity of agent STAs required by the first STA when performing WLAN sensing.

[0132] S601b, the AP STA sends the sensing agent request to the first ONU. Correspondingly, the AP STA receives the sensing agent request sent by the first ONU.

[0133] S602, the first ONU sends the STA requirement quantity of the first STA when performing WLAN sensing and the communication state information corresponding to the plurality of STAs associated with the AP STA to the AN controller.

[0134] The communication state information can include the STA identifier (such as the MAC address) of the STA, the working frequency band of the STA, the STA signal reception quality (such as RSSI), the CSI of the STA, and a first parameter. The first parameter can be used to determine the sensing area required by the first STA when performing WLAN sensing, and can also be used to indicate whether the cross-domain ONU is required to perform WLAN agent sensing, i.e., the first ONU can determine whether the cross-domain ONU is required to assist in selecting the agent STA according to the first parameter.

[0135] Optionally, if the AP STA has the function of the first ONU, the AP STA can directly send the STA requirement quantity and the communication state information corresponding to the plurality of STAs associated with the AP STA to the AN controller.

[0136] S603, the AN controller can select at least one target STA from the plurality of target candidate STAs according to the STA demand quantity and the communication state information of the plurality of STAs associated with the AP STA. The plurality of STAs associated with the AP STA can include the first STA and at least one second STA, i.e., the plurality of STAs associated with the AP STA can be all or part of the STAs associated with the AP STA. The plurality of target candidate STAs can include the plurality of STAs associated with the AP STA, for example, at least one second STA associated with the AP STA, or the plurality of STAs associated with the cross-domain ONU, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application. In addition, the plurality of target candidate STAs can also be referred to as a plurality of third STAs, and of course, can also have other names, which are not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

[0137] It should be noted that the manner in which the AN controller selects at least one target STA is the same as the manner in which the first network device selects at least one target terminal in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 or FIG. 4, which will not be described herein again.

[0138] S604a, if the AN controller determines that WLAN proxy sensing needs to be performed by the cross-domain ONU according to the indication of the first parameter, the AN controller can determine a first part of target STAs from the at least one second STA associated with the AP STA, and then send first indication information to the first ONU. Correspondingly, the first ONU receives the first indication information sent by the AN controller, and the first indication information is used to indicate that at least one target STA in the first part of target STAs performs WLAN sensing respectively. In this way, the first ONU can notify all or part of the STAs in the first part of target STAs to perform WLAN sensing according to the first indication information, and the all or part of the STAs in the first part of target STAs can send respective WLAN sensing results to the first ONU (not shown in FIG. 6).

[0139] S604b, if the AN controller determines that WLAN proxy sensing needs to be performed by the cross-domain ONU according to the indication of the first parameter, the AN controller can receive the STA identifier of at least one fourth STA in the second part of target STAs sent by the cross-domain ONU.

[0140] Optionally, after receiving the STA identifier of at least one fourth STA in the second part of target STAs, the cross-domain ONU can further instruct the at least one fourth STA in the second part of target STAs to perform WLAN sensing respectively, receive the WLAN sensing results obtained by the at least one fourth STA in the second part of target STAs performing WLAN sensing respectively, and then send the WLAN sensing results of the at least one fourth STA in the second part of target STAs to the AN controller (not shown in FIG. 6).

[0141] As can be known from S604a and S604b, the AN controller needs the assistance of the cross-domain ONU to select target STAs from a plurality of target candidate STAs, and the plurality of target candidate STAs may, for example, include at least one second STA associated with the AP STA and a plurality of fourth STAs associated with the cross-domain ONU. The at least one target STA selected by the AN controller from the plurality of target candidate STAs can include at least one second STA in the first part of target STAs and at least one fourth STA in the second part of target STAs.

[0142] S605, the AN controller sends the WLAN sensing results of the at least one fourth STA in the second part of target STAs to the first ONU.

[0143] S606, the first ONU sends the WLAN sensing results of the at least one target STA to the first STA. Correspondingly, the first STA receives the WLAN sensing results of the at least one target STA sent by the first ONU. Specifically, the WLAN sensing results of the at least one target STA can include the WLAN sensing results of at least one second STA in the first part of target STAs and the WLAN sensing results of at least one fourth STA in the second part of target STAs.

[0144] Referring to FIG. 7, a flowchart of another communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application is shown. The communication method is applied to the FTTR scenario in FIG. 1, and specifically, the first terminal is taken as the first STA, the second network device is taken as the E-ONU, and the first network device is taken as the P-ONU.

[0145] S701, the first STA sends a sensing agent request to the E-ONU. The sensing agent request is used to indicate the number of STA required by the first STA when performing WLAN sensing, i.e., the number of agent STAs required by the first STA when performing WLAN sensing.

[0146] S702, the E-ONU sends the STA demand quantity and the communication state information corresponding to each of the plurality of STAs associated with the E-ONU to the P-ONU. The communication state information can include the STA identifier (e.g., MAC address) of the STA, the operating frequency band of the STA, the signal reception quality (e.g., RSSI) of the STA, the CSI of the STA, and a first parameter, which can be used to determine the sensing area required by the first STA when performing WLAN sensing.

[0147] S703, the P-ONU selects at least one target STA from the plurality of target candidate STAs according to the STA demand quantity and the communication state information corresponding to each of the plurality of STAs associated with the E-ONU. The plurality of STAs associated with the E-ONU can include the first STA and at least one second STA, and the plurality of target candidate STAs can include the at least one second STA.

[0148] It should be noted that the manner in which the P-ONU selects the at least one target STA is the same as the manner in which the first network device selects the at least one target terminal in the embodiments shown in FIG. 3 or FIG. 4, which will not be described here.

[0149] S704, the P-ONU sends first indication information to the E-ONU. Correspondingly, the E-ONU receives the first indication information sent by the P-ONU, and the first indication information is used to instruct the at least one target STA to perform WLAN sensing respectively. In this way, the E-ONU can notify all or part of the at least one target STA to perform WLAN sensing according to the first indication information, and all or part of the at least one target STA can send the respective WLAN sensing results to the E-ONU.

[0150] S705, the E-ONU sends the WLAN sensing results of the at least one target STA to the first STA. Correspondingly, the first STA receives the WLAN sensing results of the at least one target STA sent by the E-ONU.

[0151] In summary, based on the above-described communication method, the first network device can select at least one target terminal that is more appropriate (i.e., has a better WLAN sensing effect) from the plurality of terminals associated with the second network device or further from the plurality of terminals associated with other network devices as the proxy terminal of the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing according to the number of proxy terminals required by the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing and the communication state information corresponding to the plurality of terminals associated with the second network device. In this way, since the communication state information can be used to determine the WLAN sensing capability of the terminal, the target terminal selected by the first network device has a better WLAN sensing effect, and the proxy terminal of the first terminal can also be selected within a larger WLAN sensing range, thereby improving the WLAN sensing effect.

[0152] Referring to FIG. 8, which is a structural schematic diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application. The communication device 800 can be the system architecture of the first network device in the embodiments shown in FIG. 3 or FIG. 4, and is used to implement the method corresponding to the first network device in the above method embodiments. Alternatively, the communication device 800 can be the system architecture of the second network device in the embodiments shown in FIG. 3 or FIG. 4, and is used to implement the method corresponding to the second network device in the above method embodiments.

[0153] The communication device 800 includes at least one processor 801. The processor 801 can be used for internal processing of the device and implement certain control processing functions. Optionally, the processor 801 includes instructions. Optionally, the processor 801 can store data. Optionally, different processors can be independent devices, can be located in different physical positions, and can be located on different integrated circuits. Alternatively, different processors can be integrated in one or more processors, for example, integrated on one or more integrated circuits.

[0154] Optionally, the communication device 800 can include one or more memories 803 to store instructions. The memory 803 can also store data. The processor 801 and the memory 803 can be separately provided or integrated together. The communication device 800 further includes a communication line 802 and at least one communication interface 804. Since the memory 803, the communication line 802, and the communication interface 804 are optional, they are all represented by dashed lines in FIG. 8.

[0155] Optionally, the communication device 800 can further include a transceiver and / or an antenna. The transceiver can be used to send information to other devices or receive information from other devices. The transceiver can be referred to as a transceiver, a transceiver circuit, an input / output interface, etc., and is used to realize the transceiving function of the communication device 800 through the antenna. Optionally, the transceiver includes a transmitter and a receiver. For example, the transmitter can be used to generate a radio frequency signal from a baseband signal, and the receiver can be used to convert a radio frequency signal into a baseband signal.

[0156] The processor 801 can include a general central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of programs of the solutions of the present application.

[0157] The communication line 802 can include a path for transmitting information between the above-mentioned components.

[0158] The communication interface 804 can be a device such as a transceiver for communicating with other devices or communication networks, such as an Ethernet, a radio access network (RAN), a WLAN, a wired access network, etc.

[0159] The memory 803 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 or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium capable of carrying or storing 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 803 can exist independently and be connected to the processor 801 through the communication line 802. Alternatively, the memory 803 can be integrated with the processor 801.

[0160] The memory 803 is configured to store computer-executed instructions for implementing the solutions of the present application, and the processor 801 is configured to execute the computer-executed instructions stored in the memory 803. The processor 801 is configured to execute the computer-executed instructions stored in the memory 803, so as to implement the steps performed by the first network device or the second network device in the embodiments shown in FIG. 3 or FIG. 4.

[0161] Optionally, the computer-executed instructions in the embodiments of the present application can also be referred to as application codes, which are not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0162] In specific implementation, as an embodiment, the processor 801 can include one or more CPUs, for example, CPU0 and CPU1 in FIG. 8. In specific implementation, as an embodiment, the communication device 800 can include multiple processors, for example, the processor 801 and the processor 805 in FIG. 8. Each of the processors can be a single-CPU processor or a multi-CPU processor. The processor herein can refer to one or more devices, circuits, and / or processing cores for processing data (for example, computer program instructions).

[0163] When the device shown in FIG. 8 is a chip, for example, a chip of the first network device or a chip of the second network device, the chip includes the processor 801 (and can also include the processor 805), the communication line 802, and the communication interface 804, and optionally, the memory 803. Specifically, the communication interface 804 can be an input interface, a pin, or a circuit, etc. The memory 803 can be a register, a cache, etc. The processor 801 and the processor 805 can be a general-purpose CPU, a microprocessor, an ASIC, or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of the programs of the communication method of any of the above embodiments.

[0164] The embodiments of the present application can divide the functions of the device according to the above method examples, for example, each function module can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated in one processing module. The above 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. When actually implemented, another division mode can be used.

[0165] For example, in the case of dividing each function module according to each function, referring to FIG. 9, which is a schematic diagram of a device, the device 900 can be the first network device or the second network device involved in each of the above method embodiments, or a chip in the first network device or a chip in the second network device. The device 900 includes a processing unit 902 and a transceiver unit 901.

[0166] It should be understood that the apparatus 900 can be used to implement the steps performed by the first network device or the second network device in the communication method of the embodiments of the present application. The related procedures can refer to the embodiments shown by the steps performed by the first network device or the steps performed by the second network device in FIG. 3 or FIG. 4, which will not be described herein.

[0167] Optionally, the functions / implementation procedures of the processing unit 902 in FIG. 9 can be implemented by the processor 801 in FIG. 8 invoking the computer-executed instructions stored in the memory 803. Alternatively, the functions / implementation procedures of the processing unit 902 in FIG. 9 can be implemented by the processor 801 in FIG. 8 invoking the computer-executed instructions stored in the memory 803, and the functions / implementation procedures of the transceiver unit 901 in FIG. 9 can be implemented by the communication interface 804 in FIG. 8.

[0168] When the apparatus 900 is a chip or a circuit, the functions / implementation procedures of the transceiver unit 901 can also be implemented by pins or circuits, etc. Optionally, the transceiver unit 901 can include a sending unit and / or a receiving unit, the sending unit is used to implement the sending function, and the receiving unit is used to implement the receiving function; or the transceiver unit 901 can be an integral module, which can implement the sending function and / or the receiving function. Optionally, the transceiver unit 901 can be implemented by a transceiver.

[0169] The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program or instructions, when the computer program or instructions are executed, the method performed by the first network device or the second network device in the foregoing method embodiments is implemented. Thus, the functions described in the above embodiments can be implemented in the form of software function units and sold or used as independent products. Based on such understanding, the technical solutions of the present application can be embodied in the form of software product, and the computer software product is stored in a storage medium, and includes a plurality of instructions for causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the communication method described in the embodiments of the present application. The storage medium includes a U disk, a mobile hard disk, a ROM, a RAM, a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and various storage medium that can store program codes.

[0170] The embodiments of the present application also provide a processing apparatus, which includes a processor and an interface; the processor is used to execute the method performed by the first network device or the second network device involved in any of the method embodiments.

[0171] The application further provides a communication system which can be used to implement the method embodiments described above, the method performed by the first network device or the second network device in any possible implementation manner of the method embodiments, i.e., the system at least includes the first network device and the second network device for performing the method embodiments described above, and in addition, the communication system can further include at least one terminal, and each terminal has WLAN awareness capability. For example, the communication system can have the architecture as shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 5.

[0172] The application further provides a chip or a chip system which is coupled with a transceiver, and is used to implement the method performed by the first network device or the second network device in the method embodiments described above, or in any possible implementation manner of the method embodiments. Wherein, “coupled” means that two components are directly or indirectly combined with each other, and the combination can be fixed or movable, and the combination can allow flowing liquid, electricity, electrical signals or other types of signals to communicate between the two components. The chip system can include the chip. Specifically, the chip or the chip system can be used to perform the method performed by the first network device or the second network device involved in any of the method embodiments described above.

[0173] In the embodiments described above, 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 application are generated. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from 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.) mode. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. which includes one or more available media sets. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (for example, a digital video disc (DVD), or a semiconductor medium (for example, a solid state disk (SSD)) and the like.

[0174] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor can be a microprocessor, but, in the alternative, the general purpose processor can be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor can also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a digital signal processor core, or any other such configuration.

[0175] The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein can be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module can reside in RAM, flash memory, ROM, erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), EEPROM, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium can be coupled to the processor, such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium can be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium can reside in an ASIC, which can reside in a first network device or a second network device. In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium can also reside in different components of the first network device or the second network device.

[0176] The computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks.

[0177] The content of each of the various embodiments of the present application can be mutually referred to, and the terms and / or descriptions of different embodiments are consistent and can be mutually referred to if there is no special description and logical conflict. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship.

[0178] It can be understood that, in the embodiments of the present application, the first network device and / or the second network device can perform part or all of the steps in the embodiments of the present application, and these steps or operations are only examples, and other operations or variations of various operations can also be performed in the embodiments of the present application. In addition, each step can be performed in a different order from that presented in the embodiments of the present application, and it is possible that not all operations in the embodiments of the present application are performed.

Claims

1. A communication method characterized by comprising: The application is applied to a first network device, comprising: receiving first information of a second network device, the first information being used to indicate a number of proxy terminals required by a first terminal when performing wireless local area network (WLAN) sensing, and communication state information corresponding to a plurality of terminals associated with the second network device, the plurality of terminals including the first terminal and at least one second terminal, each communication state information being used to determine a WLAN sensing capability of a corresponding terminal; sending second information to the second network device, the second information being used to indicate terminal identities of at least one target terminal, the at least one target terminal being a proxy terminal of the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing, the at least one target terminal being selected from a plurality of third terminals based on the number and the communication state information corresponding to the plurality of terminals, the plurality of third terminals including the at least one second terminal.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The communication state information includes terminal identities and channel state information (CSI) of terminals.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein, The communication state information further includes operating frequency bands of terminals and / or signal reception quality of terminals.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein, The at least one target terminal is selected by the first network device from at least one candidate terminal according to the operating frequency bands and / or the signal reception quality of the plurality of terminals, the at least one candidate terminal being selected by the first network device from the plurality of third terminals according to the number, the terminal identities and the CSI of the plurality of terminals.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, The first information is further used to indicate a first parameter, the first parameter being used to determine a sensing area required by the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing, the first parameter being used to indicate whether at least one third network device associated with at least one fourth terminal needs to assist in selecting the target terminal from the plurality of third terminals, the at least one fourth terminal being a terminal in the plurality of third terminals other than the at least one second terminal; The method further comprises: when a number of a first part of target terminals selected by the first network device from the at least one second terminal according to the number and the communication state information corresponding to the plurality of terminals is less than the number of proxy terminals required by the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing, determining the at least one third network device according to a sensing area determined according to the first parameter; sending fourth information to the at least one third network device, the fourth information being used to instruct the at least one third network device to determine a second part of target terminals from the at least one fourth terminal; receiving fifth information sent by the at least one third network device, the fifth information being used to indicate terminal identities corresponding to the second part of target terminals respectively; The at least one target terminal includes the first part of target terminals and the second part of target terminals.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein, The number of the second part of target terminals is greater than or equal to a difference between the number of proxy terminals required by the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing and the number of the first part of target terminals.

7. The method of claim 5 or 6, wherein, The method further comprises: receiving third information sent by any one of the at least one third network device, the third information being used for indicating a WLAN sensing result of at least one fourth terminal in the second part of target terminals; sending the third information to the second network device.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein, Before the receiving third information sent by any one of the at least one third network device, the method further comprises: sending sixth information to any one of the third network devices, the sixth information being used for indicating that at least one fourth terminal in the second part of target terminals respectively performs WLAN sensing.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that, The number of the at least one target terminal is greater than or equal to the number of proxy terminals required by the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing.

10. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method is applied to a second network device, and the second network device comprises: receiving a sensing proxy request of a first terminal, the sensing proxy request being used for indicating a number of proxy terminals required by the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing; sending first information to a first network device, the first information being used for indicating the number and communication state information respectively corresponding to a plurality of terminals associated with the second network device, the plurality of terminals comprising the first terminal and at least one second terminal, and each communication state information being used for determining a WLAN sensing capability of a corresponding terminal; receiving second information of the first network device, the second information being used for indicating terminal identifiers of at least one target terminal, the at least one target terminal being a proxy terminal of the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing, and the at least one target terminal being selected from a plurality of third terminals based on the number and the communication state information respectively corresponding to the plurality of terminals, the plurality of third terminals comprising the at least one second terminal.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein, The communication state information comprises terminal identifiers and channel state information (CSI) of terminals.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein, The communication state information further comprises operating frequency bands of terminals and / or signal reception quality of terminals.

13. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 12, characterized in that, The first information is further used for indicating a first parameter, the first parameter being used for determining a sensing area required by the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing, and the first parameter being used for indicating whether the first network device needs assistance of at least one third network device to select the target terminal from the plurality of third terminals, the at least one third network device being associated with at least one fourth terminal, the at least one fourth terminal being a terminal in the plurality of third terminals other than the at least one second terminal.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein, The method further comprises: receiving third information sent by the first network device, the third information being used for indicating a WLAN sensing result of at least one fourth terminal, the third information being sent by any one of the at least one third network device to the first network device, and the at least one fourth terminal being the target terminal selected by the any one third network device from the plurality of third terminals; sending the WLAN sensing result of the at least one fourth terminal to the first terminal.

15. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 14, characterized in that, The number of the at least one target terminal is greater than or equal to the number of proxy terminals required by the first terminal when performing WLAN sensing.

16. A communications device, characterized by The communication apparatus comprises a processing unit and a transceiver unit; The transceiver unit is configured to transceive information; The processing unit is configured to perform the method of any one of claims 1-9 or the method of any one of claims 10-15 via the transceiver unit.

17. A communications device, characterized by The communication apparatus comprises a processor and a memory, the memory storing a computer program, and the processor is configured to execute the computer program stored in the memory, so that the communication apparatus performs the method of any one of claims 1-9 or the method of any one of claims 10-15.

18. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer readable storage medium stores a computer program, when the computer program runs on a computer, so that the computer performs the method of any one of claims 1-9 or the method of any one of claims 10-15.

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