Communication device, communication method, and program

Abstract

A communication device for performing wireless communication communicates a frame including information for specifying a dRU to be used, between an access point device and a station device.

Description

Communication device, communication method, and program

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a mechanism for communicating the types and allocation of resource units used in wireless communication between an access point device and a station device.

[0002] With the recent increase in the amount of data being communicated, development of communication technologies such as wireless LANs (Local Area Networks) is progressing. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard series is known as a major communication standard for wireless LANs. The IEEE 802.11 standard series includes standards such as IEEE 802.11a / b / g / n / ac / ax / be. To further improve communication reliability, the IEEE 802.11bn standard is being developed as a successor to the IEEE 802.11be standard. In the IEEE 802.11 Working Group (WG), which develops the IEEE 802.11bn standard, the UHR SG will determine the goals and scope of the standard, and the TGbn will specify the detailed technical content to be included in the standard. UHR SG is an abbreviation for Ultra High Reliability Study Group. TGbn is an abbreviation for Task Group bn. The name UHR was established for convenience based on the goals to be achieved in the successor standard and the key features of the standard, and may be a different name once the standard is fully developed. Similarly, the name IEEE 802.11bn may be a different name once the standard is fully developed. However, this specification and the appended claims are applicable to essentially all successor standards to the 802.11be standard.

[0003] Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2023-47755 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 1) discloses communication using Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA). In OFDMA communication, an access point (AP) allocates a frequency domain (subchannel) to a station (STA) in units of RU (Resource Unit).

[0004] An RU is a division unit of a channel used for communication, and includes multiple subcarriers (also called tones). The method of division into RUs (RU size and range) is defined for channels with frequency bandwidths of 20 / 40 / 80 / 160 / 320 MHz. If the multiple subcarriers that make up one RU are contiguous in the frequency domain, they are also called rRU (regular RU).

[0005] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2024-516188 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 2) discloses a communication method using a distributed tone resource unit (dRU) that uses distributed subcarriers as subcarriers constituting a single RU.

[0006] JP 2023-47755 A JP 2024-516188 A

[0007] An object of the present disclosure is to provide a mechanism for communicating the types and allocation of resource units used in wireless communication between an access point device and a station device.

[0008] According to one aspect of the embodiment, a communication device performs wireless communication in accordance with the IEEE 802.11 series standard, and includes communication means for communicating a trigger frame including a field indicating a value corresponding to identification information of a Resource Unit (RU) that is a group of subcarriers that are allocated for the wireless communication, the trigger frame including a Common Info field and a User Info field, the Common Info field including a field indicating whether the RU used for communication is a regular RU (rRU) or a distributed tone RU (dRU) between a Special User Info Field Flag and a Trigger Dependent Common Info field, and the User Info field including an RU index for specifying an RU index of the dRU or the rRU. The range of values ​​that can be specified in the RU Allocation subfield as the RU index of an rRU and the range of values ​​that can be specified in the RU Allocation subfield as the RU index of a dRU at least partially overlap.

[0009] According to the above configuration, information indicating the type and allocation of resource units to be used in wireless communication can be communicated between the access point device and the station device. For example, the type of resource unit can be indicated as a dRU, and the dRU to be used can be indicated to the other device.

[0010] 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a wireless communication system in this embodiment. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of a communication device in this embodiment. 3 is a diagram showing the hardware configuration of a communication device in this embodiment. 4 is a conceptual diagram of OFDMA communication using a dRU. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a dRU in a 20 MHz bandwidth. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a dRU in a 40 MHz bandwidth. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a dRU in an 80 MHz bandwidth. 8 is a sequence diagram showing communication processing performed in the first embodiment. 9 is a diagram showing the configuration of a trigger frame format transmitted by an AP to an STA in the first embodiment. 10 is a diagram showing examples of values ​​of an RU Allocation subfield and corresponding RU indexes in the first embodiment. 11 is a flowchart showing processing performed by an AP in the first embodiment. 12 is a flowchart showing processing performed by an STA in the first embodiment. 13 is a diagram showing the configuration of a trigger frame format transmitted by an AP to an STA in the second embodiment. 14 is a diagram showing examples of values ​​of an RU type subfield and an RU Allocation subfield and corresponding RU indexes in the second embodiment. 10 is a diagram showing an example of values ​​of an RU type subfield and an RU Allocation subfield and corresponding RU indexes in a second embodiment. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a format of a Common info field included in a trigger frame four transmitted from an AP to a STA in a second embodiment. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a format of a Common info field included in a trigger frame four transmitted from an AP to a STA in a second embodiment.

[0011] Hereinafter, the embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the following embodiments do not limit the scope of the claimed invention. Although the embodiments describe multiple features, not all of these multiple features are necessarily essential to the invention, and multiple features may be combined in any desired manner.

[0012] (Network Configuration) Fig. 1 shows an example of a network configuration according to this embodiment. The communication device according to this embodiment performs wireless communication in accordance with the IEEE 802.11 series standard. Fig. 1 shows a configuration including one access point 102 and three stations 103-105 as a communication device performing wireless LAN communication in accordance with the IEEE 802.11bn standard. Hereinafter, the access point may be referred to as an AP. Furthermore, the stations 103 to 105 may be collectively referred to as STA.

[0013] 1, the AP 102 constitutes a network 101. The STAs 103-105 can transmit and receive signals transmitted and received by the AP 102. In this embodiment, an example will be described in which the AP 102 and the STAs 103-105 are communication devices that perform wireless LAN communication in accordance with the IEEE 802.11bn standard, but this is not limiting. The AP 102 and the STAs 103-105 may also be communication devices that comply with the IEEE 802.11 standard series, which is later than the IEEE 802.11bn standard.

[0014] Furthermore, other communication devices performing other wireless LAN communication may exist within or outside the network 101. The other communication devices may be communication devices performing wireless LAN communication in accordance with the IEEE 802.11bn standard, or may be so-called legacy devices that do not comply with the IEEE 802.11bn standard but comply with the IEEE 802.11a / b / g / n / ac / ax / be standard or the like.

[0015] The AP 102 and the STAs 103-105 can also be configured to support wireless communication based on other communication standards, such as Bluetooth (registered trademark), NFC, and Bluetooth (registered trademark) LE (Low Energy). NFC stands for Near Field Communication. The AP 102 and the STAs 103-105 can also be configured to support wired communication using an Ethernet cable or wired communication using optical fiber. The AP 102 and the STAs 103-105 can also be configured to support cellular wireless communication, such as 5G or LTE (Long Term Evolution). Specific examples of the AP 102 include, but are not limited to, a wireless LAN router and a personal computer (PC). The AP 102 and the STAs 103-105 may also be information processing devices, such as wireless chips, that support the transmission and reception of PPDUs. In this case, various controls can be performed by a hardware circuit inside the wireless chip. Note that various processes can also be performed by a processor such as an ASIP, memory, and hardware circuit inside the wireless chip working together. ASIP stands for Application-Specific Instruction Set Processor.

[0016] Examples of the STAs 103-105 include, but are not limited to, cameras, tablets, smartphones, PCs, mobile phones, video cameras, smart glasses, wearable devices such as HMDs (head-mounted displays), etc. In the following description, the AP 102 and the STAs 103-105 are used as examples.

[0017] 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the AP 102 and the STAs 103 to 105. Here, the AP 102 and the STAs 103 to 105 have a wireless LAN control unit 201, a wireless frame generation unit 202, a wireless frame processing unit 203, a UI control unit 204, and a storage unit 205.

[0018] The wireless LAN control unit 201 includes an antenna and circuitry for transmitting and receiving wireless signals with other communication devices, as well as a program for controlling them. The wireless LAN control unit 201 controls wireless LAN communications based on frames generated by the frame generation unit in accordance with the IEEE 802.11 standard series. The wireless frame generation unit 202 generates frames to be transmitted by the wireless LAN control unit 201. The UI control unit 204 includes hardware related to a user interface, such as a touch panel or buttons, for accepting AP operations by a user using the AP, and a program for controlling these hardware. The UI control unit 204 also has a function for presenting information to the user, such as displaying images or outputting audio. The memory control unit 205 controls the writing and reading of data to and from memory units, such as ROM and RAM, that store the programs and data running on the AP.

[0019] 3 shows the hardware configuration of the AP 102 and the STAs 103-105 according to this embodiment. The AP and the STA each have, as an example of their hardware configuration, a storage unit 301, a control unit 302, a function unit 303, an input unit 304, an output unit 305, a communication unit 306, and a wireless antenna 307.

[0020] The storage unit 301 is composed of one or more memories such as ROM and / or RAM, and stores various information such as programs for performing various operations described below and communication parameters for wireless communication.

[0021] ROM, RAM, etc. may be used as the storage unit 301. Other storage media such as a flexible disk, a hard disk, an SSD (Solid State Drive), an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a magnetic tape, a non-volatile memory card, and a DVD may also be used as the storage unit 301.

[0022] The control unit 302 is configured with, for example, one or more processors such as a CPU or MPU, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), etc. Here, CPU is an acronym for Central Processing Unit, and MPU is an acronym for Micro Processing Unit. The control unit 302 controls the entire device by executing a program stored in the storage unit 301. Note that the control unit 302 may control the device in cooperation with the program stored in the storage unit 301 and an OS (Operating System). The control unit 302 also controls the function unit 303 to perform predetermined processes such as imaging, printing, and projection.

[0023] The functional unit 303 is hardware that enables the AP or STA to execute predetermined processing. For example, if the AP or STA is a camera, the functional unit 303 is an imaging unit that performs imaging processing. Also, for example, if the AP or STA is a printer, the functional unit 303 is a printing unit that performs printing processing. Also, for example, if the AP or STA is a projector, the functional unit 303 is a projection unit that performs projection processing. The data processed by the functional unit 303 may be data stored in the storage unit 301, or may be data communicated with another communication device via the communication unit 306, which will be described later.

[0024] The input unit 304 receives various operations from the user. The output unit 305 outputs various types of information to the user. Here, the output by the output unit 305 includes at least one of display on a screen, audio output by a speaker, vibration output, and the like. Note that both the input unit 304 and the output unit 305 may be implemented by a single module, such as a touch panel. Furthermore, the input unit 304 and the output unit 305 may be integrated with the AP or STA, respectively, or may be separate units.

[0025] The communication unit 306 includes a so-called wireless LAN chip and controls wireless communication compliant with the IEEE 802.11 series of standards and IP communication. In this embodiment, the communication unit 306 can execute processing compliant with at least the IEEE 802.11bn standard. The communication unit 306 is a processing device that generates a UHR PPDU (physical layer (PHY) Protocol Data Unit) defined in the IEEE 802.11bn standard. The communication unit 306 may also have the function of generating PPDUs of types defined in earlier standards. The communication unit 306 also controls the wireless antenna 307 to transmit and receive wireless signals for wireless communication. The AP and STA communicate content such as image data, document data, and video data with other communication devices via the communication unit 306. The wireless antenna 307 may be physically configured with two or more antennas to achieve MIMO (Multi-Input and Multi-Output) transmission and reception. The wireless antenna 307 may be configured separately from the communication unit 306, or may be configured together with the communication unit 306 as a single module. The wireless antenna 307 is an antenna capable of communication in at least one of the 2.4 GHz band, 5 GHz band, 6 GHz band, 45 GHz band, and 60 GHz band. While FIG. 3 illustrates a communication device having one antenna, the communication device may have two or more antennas. Alternatively, the communication device may have a different antenna for each frequency band. While the example in FIG. 3 illustrates a configuration having only one communication unit 306, a separate communication unit may be provided for each of multiple wireless antennas. The AP 102 may be any communication device having the configurations of Figures 2 and 3, and may be a so-called AP-dedicated communication device such as a wireless LAN router, or may be a communication device having AP functionality such as a smartphone, camera, or printer.

[0026] (Processing Flow) Next, several embodiments will be described, including the processing flow executed by the AP and STA as described above, and the sequence in the wireless communication system.

[0027] 4 is a diagram showing how the AP 102 performs uplink multi-user OFDMA (UL MU OFDMA), which is multi-user communication using dRUs with the STAs 103-105. The STAs 103-105 transmit data to the AP at the same time through MU OFDMA communication. In other words, the STAs transmit data to the AP so that at least a portion of the time periods during which each STA transmits overlap.

[0028] In OFDMA communication, the AP allocates frequency domains (subchannels) to STAs in units of RUs (resource units). An RU is a group of subcarriers (also called tones or subcarriers) used for transmission. Subcarrier groups include RUs containing groups of 26, 52, 106, 242, 484, 996, or 2 x 996 subcarriers. In other words, an RU is a division unit of a channel used for communication and includes multiple subcarriers. The method of division into RUs (RU size and range) is defined for each of the frequency bandwidths of 20, 40, 80, 160, and 320 MHz.

[0029] In this embodiment, an RU in which a channel is divided so that subcarriers that are contiguous on the frequency axis among subcarriers that can be used for wireless communication between an AP and a STA are included in one RU is called an rRU (regular RU). Alternatively, this RU may be called a Consecutive Resource Unit (CRU). Hereinafter, an rRU may be referred to as a first type of RU. The subcarriers that make up one rRU are contiguous on the frequency axis. However, there are also rRUs that include a group of subcarriers that omit a specific unused frequency range so that the frequency range is not included. An rRU is an RU in which the frequency domain is divided so that contiguous subcarriers in the frequency domain among usable subcarriers are included in one RU.

[0030] Note that, subcarriers that are consecutive on the frequency axis may be subcarriers with consecutive subcarrier indices included in the OFDM symbols that make up the PPDU. Also, subcarriers that are consecutive on the frequency axis may be subcarriers with consecutive subcarrier indices, excluding subcarrier indices assigned as unused subcarriers. Note that, when information identifying each subcarrier, such as a subcarrier index, is not assigned, subcarriers that are consecutive on the frequency axis may be a set of subcarriers arranged at predetermined intervals from low to high frequencies or from high to low frequencies. Also, subcarriers that are consecutive on the frequency axis may be a set of subcarriers arranged from low to high frequencies or from high to low frequencies according to a predetermined rule. In the following description, an RU formed by a plurality of subcarriers arranged so as to be consecutive on the frequency axis may be referred to as an rRU, and an RU formed by a plurality of subcarriers arranged so that at least some of the subcarriers are discontinuous on the frequency axis may be referred to as a dRU.

[0031] A dRU is an RU consisting of subcarriers distributed over a certain bandwidth. A dRU is an RU in which a channel is divided so that at least a portion of the subcarriers that are contiguous in the frequency domain among the subcarriers available for wireless communication between an AP and a STA are distributed among multiple RUs. A dRU is an RU that is distributed over a bandwidth wider than the frequency bandwidth in which the subcarriers included in an rRU are distributed, while maintaining the number of subcarriers that constitute the RU, and is composed of subcarriers at least some of which are not contiguous on the frequency axis. This RU may also be called an Enhanced RU. Hereinafter, a dRU may be referred to as a second type of RU.

[0032] In the case of rRU, it is necessary to suppress transmission power in order to reduce the PSD, which leads to issues such as a reduced communication area and reduced communication speed. By using dRU, it is possible to increase the transmission power of each subcarrier at the same PSD compared to rRU, thereby widening the communication area and improving communication speed. In other words, when the RU size (number of subcarriers) and transmission power are the same, the dRU has a lower PSD than the rRU. Transmission power density is the transmission power per unit frequency and is sometimes referred to as power spectral density (PSD).

[0033] The subcarriers of a dRU may be arranged regularly within the band, or may be irregularly arranged with some contiguous subcarriers. It is sufficient that at least some of the subcarriers are arranged discontinuously, and when one RU includes the same number of subcarriers and the same transmission power is applied, the PSD is lower than that of transmission by an rRU. However, the subcarriers of a dRU are set so that the subcarriers constituting each dRU do not overlap on the frequency axis.

[0034] In this embodiment, an example will be described in which each of the STAs 103-105 transmits data using a dRU assigned in advance by the AP 102.

[0035] Spectrum 404 is the spectrum of the signal received by the AP 102. The horizontal axis represents the frequency axis. The solid and dotted lines extending vertically represent subcarriers. Subcarriers are sometimes called tones.

[0036] dRU spectrum 401-403 shows the spectrum of the dRU assigned to each STA. Contiguous subcarriers in spectrum 404, which is the spectrum of the signal received by the AP 102, are distributed to each dRU spectrum. In order to suppress PSD in a specific frequency region, the subcarriers are specified to be distributed within the communication band along the frequency axis.

[0037] The spectrum 404 of the signal received by the AP 102 represents the sum of the dRU spectra 401-403 of the STAs 103-105. Since the subcarriers of each dRU are configured so as not to overlap on the frequency axis, the transmitted signals are received by the AP 102 without interference. Note that the subcarrier pattern of the dRU shown in Figure 4 is shown for convenience, and the number of subcarriers and distribution pattern actually used may differ.

[0038] Before the STAs 103-105 transmit data to the AP, the AP 102 transmits a frame called a trigger frame, which includes data transmission timing and transmission parameters, to the STAs 103-105. This trigger frame includes a field for notifying the allocation of a dRU to be used for communication.

[0039] An index is assigned to each subcarrier allocation pattern of the dRU, and the index is shared in advance among wireless communication devices. The AP notifies each STA of the dRU it will use by including an index for allocating the dRU in the trigger frame it transmits.

[0040] 5 to 7 show examples of dRU configurations. The dRU configuration is specified for each band used. An index (RU index) is assigned to each dRU. The RU index is identification information for identifying each RU. The subcarriers included in the RU indicated by the RU index are specified based on the RU size and bandwidth used. The arrangement of the subcarriers included in each dRU is represented using a subcarrier index (also called a tone index). The subcarrier index is identification information in which consecutive integers are assigned to the subcarriers included in the band used, starting with the lowest frequency subcarrier.

[0041] In this embodiment, the dRU patterns include 26-tone dRU, 52-tone dRU, 106-tone dRU, 242-tone dRU, and 484-tone dRU. The number of subcarriers included in one dRU is 26, 52, 106, 242, or 484, respectively.

[0042] Figure 5 shows an example of a dRU configuration with a 20 MHz bandwidth. For example, if one dRU includes 26 subcarriers (26-tone dRU), subcarriers with subcarrier indices from -121 to 121 are divided into nine dRUs. However, it is not necessary to assign all subcarriers from -121 to 121 to an RU. In the example of Figure 5, an example using subcarriers from -120 to 120 is described. Each dRU is assigned an index of dRU1 to dRU9. For example, dRU1 includes subcarriers of -120, -111, -102, -93, -84, -75, -66, -57, -48, -39, -30, -21, -12, 6, 15, 24, 33, 42, 51, 60, 69, 78, 87, 96, 105, and 114. In the example table of Fig. 5, this is expressed as [-120:9:-12, 6:9:114], which means that subcarriers are selected at intervals of 9 from the subcarriers from -120 to -12, and subcarriers are selected at intervals of 9 from the subcarriers from 6 to 114.

[0043] For example, if one dRU includes 52 subcarriers (52-tone dRU), the subcarriers with subcarrier indices from -121 to 121 are divided into four dRUs. However, it is not necessary to assign all subcarriers from -121 to 121 to an RU. Each dRU is assigned an index of dRU1 to dRU4. In this embodiment, the 52-tone dRU is configured by combining 26-tone dRUs as a base. For example, dRU1 consists of 26-tone dRU1 and 26-tone dRU2. In other words, dRU1 includes 52 subcarriers with the following subcarrier indices: -120, -116, -111, -107, -102, -98, -93, -89, -84, -80, -75, and -71. -66. -62. -57. -53. -48. -44. -39. -35. -30. -26. -21. -17. -12. -8. 6. 10. 15. 19. 24. 28. 33. 37. 42. 46. 51. 55. 60. 64. 69. 73. 78. 82. 87. 91. 96. 100. 105. 109. 114. 118.

[0044] For example, if one dRU contains 106 subcarriers (106-tone dRU), the subcarriers with subcarrier indices from -121 to 121 are divided into two dRUs. However, it is not necessary to assign all subcarriers from -121 to 121 to an RU. Each dRU is assigned an index of dRU1 and dRU2. dRU1 includes the subcarriers shown in dRU1 to 4 in the 26-tone dRU1 row, as well as subcarriers with subcarrier indices -3 and 3.

[0045] Figure 6 shows the configuration of dRUs in a 40 MHz bandwidth. In a 40 MHz bandwidth, subcarriers from -244 to 244 are allocated to each dRU. Figure 7 shows the configuration of dRUs in an 80 MHz bandwidth. In an 80 MHz bandwidth, subcarriers from -500 to 500 are allocated to each dRU. Although not shown, subcarriers may be similarly allocated to each dRU in a 160 MHz bandwidth or a 320 MHz bandwidth. For example, in a 160 MHz bandwidth, subcarriers from -1012 to 1012 are allocated to each dRU.

[0046] In this embodiment, the dRU is configured in such a way that the same number of subcarriers as the rRU are regularly arranged across the entire band, but the number of subcarriers constituting the dRU is not limited to this. The dRU may be configured with fewer or more subcarriers than the subcarriers constituting the rRU, or the subcarriers may be irregularly arranged. However, it is sufficient that the subcarriers are distributed across the entire communication band and that the PSD is reduced more than that of a conventional rRU.

[0047] Furthermore, the dRU sizes supported in communication at each bandwidth are not limited to the examples shown in Figures 6 to 8. For example, a 26-tone dRU may be used for communication at an 80 MHz bandwidth, or a dRU may be used for communication at a 160 MHz bandwidth.

[0048] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, an example was shown in which subcarriers are arranged across the entire band to form a dRU, but a dRU may also be formed from subcarriers within a range of a portion of the communication bandwidth.

[0049] Alternatively, the bandwidth used for communication may be divided into two band regions, and a dRU may be configured with subcarriers within each band. For example, in the case of an 80 MHz bandwidth, the 80 MHz bandwidth may be divided into two 40 MHz band regions, and a dRU may be configured with subcarriers within each 40 MHz band.

[0050] Alternatively, the bandwidth used for communication may be divided into two regions, one of which may be used for rRU and the other for dRU, so that communication can be performed using both rRU and dRU.

[0051] The number of subcarriers constituting the dRU used in this embodiment and the arrangement pattern are not limited to those described above, and multiple arrangement patterns are possible. The AP and STAs share the arrangement patterns in advance, and the AP 102 can assign to each STA a dRU pattern appropriate for the communication to be performed.

[0052] The above has described a mechanism for identifying subcarriers included in a dRU from the dRU index. Similarly, for an rRU, by referring to a table (not shown), it is possible to identify subcarriers included in the RU index based on the bandwidth, tone size, and RU index to be used.

[0053] FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a process in which the AP 102 performs uplink multi-user OFDMA (UL MU OFDMA), which is multi-user communication using the STAs 103-105 and dRUs.

[0054] First, the AP 102 transmits a Buffer Status Report Poll (BSRP) 801 to the STAs 103-105. Next, the STAs 103-105 transmit a Buffer Status Report (BSR) 802 to the AP 102 to notify it of the amount of data buffered for transmission. The BSRP and BSR communications are steps performed by the AP to grasp the amount of data buffered for transmission by the STAs, and may not be performed if not necessary.

[0055] The AP 102 determines the RU to be allocated to each STA based on the amount of transmission data buffer of each STA. This RU may be composed of only dRUs, or a combination of rRUs and dRUs, or may be composed of only rRUs. An example of RU allocation is a method in which the ratio of the amount of transmission data buffer of each STA to the ratio of the number of subcarriers constituting the allocated RU of each STA is determined to be proportional. Furthermore, whether to use dRUs or rRUs for communication may be determined based on the distance between the AP and the STA and the capabilities of the STA. For example, a method may be used in which dRUs are used for STAs that are far from the AP and STAs, and rRUs are used for STAs that are close to the AP. If the number of STAs that are far from the AP is greater than a predetermined value, dRUs may be used for all STAs, and if the number of STAs that are close to the AP is greater than a predetermined value, rRUs may be used for all STAs. Furthermore, if there is even one STA that is far from the AP, dRUs may be used for all STAs. A possible method for determining whether the distance between an AP and a STA is long or short is to use the amount of radio wave attenuation based on the received power. The amount of radio wave attenuation, i.e., the distance between the AP and the STA, may be determined based on whether the received power at the AP exceeds a predetermined value. The AP may also determine whether the distance between the AP and the STA is long or short by acquiring the received power at the STA. Furthermore, if the AP has the function of acquiring location information of the STA, it may set a threshold value for the distance from the AP itself and use dRU and rRU based on this threshold. When using RUs based on the capabilities of the STA, a determination is made based on whether the STA is a standard that can support communication using dRU or a legacy standard that does not support communication using dRU. In an environment where the number of STAs that are only compatible with the legacy standard is greater than a predetermined value, or where there are many STAs that are only compatible with the legacy standard compared to STAs that can support communication using dRU, the following determination may be made. That is, a determination may be made to prioritize the use of rRU in order to achieve communication with a large number of STAs. In addition, whether to use the dRU or the rRU for communication may be determined based on the communication quality between the AP and the STA.For example, dRU may be used when the SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio) between the AP and the STA is lower than a predetermined value or when the communication error rate is higher than a predetermined value.

[0056] The AP 102 transmits a trigger frame 803 containing the determined dRU allocation information to the STAs 103-105. Fig. 9 shows an example of the frame format of a trigger frame containing dRU allocation information. This trigger frame format is based on the format defined in the IEEE 802.11 series of standards. The specific configuration of the trigger frame format will be described below.

[0057] The Frame control field 901 includes a Type subfield and a Subtype subfield that indicate the frame type. The STA indicates that the frame is a trigger frame by setting "01" in the Type subfield, indicating a Control frame, and "0010" in the Subtype subfield, indicating Trigger. The Duration field 902, RA field 903, and TA field 904 conform to the contents of the MAC header of a trigger frame, which is a control frame defined in the IEEE 802.11ax standard. MAC stands for Medium Access Control.

[0058] RA stands for Receiver Address, and the MAC address of the destination device is stored in the RA field. TA stands for Transmitter Address, and the MAC address of the source device is stored in the TA field. Note that the RA field of the trigger frame is assumed to store a broadcast address.

[0059] Next, the Common Info field 905 is a field that stores information common to each STA. The User Info List field 906 stores one Special User Info field (not shown) and one or more User Info fields 909. The Special User Info field is a field that stores information to be shared that does not fit into the Common Info field, and is not present if the relevant information does not exist. The User Info field 909 is a field that stores information that identifies the other party with which a TXOP (transmission opportunity) is shared, information indicating the period, information for specifying the shared bandwidth, etc. The Padding field 907 is a field that stores padding data. The FCS field 908 is a field that stores information used in an FCS (Frame Check Sequence) that checks whether a frame is corrupted during transmission.

[0060] The configuration of the User Info field 909 will be described in detail below. First, the AID12 subfield 910 stores information that identifies the destination of the corresponding User Info field. The AID is generally an ID assigned to a STA when the AP and STA connect to each other, and the AID uniquely identifies the STA.

[0061] The RU Allocation subfield 911 is a subfield indicating the RU allocated to the corresponding STA. The RU Allocation subfield is a field indicating a value for identifying a Resource Unit (RU) used in wireless communication. The RU Allocation subfield is a field indicating a value corresponding to an RU index, which is RU identification information. For example, the RU Allocation subfield indicates allocation information of the RU index used in communication in decimal notation. As described above with reference to Figures 5 to 7, the value expressed in the RU Allocation subfield and the corresponding RU index are shared in advance between communication devices. The STA can identify the allocation of the RU to be used for communication based on the value notified by the AP in the RU Allocation subfield and the bandwidth used. The bandwidth used is determined by the UL BW subfield in the Common Info field included in the trigger frame. In this embodiment, whether an rRU or a dRU is used, it is expressed by the same RU Allocation subfield. In this embodiment, the value of the RU Allocation subfield differs depending on whether the RU used in wireless communication is a regular RU (rRU) or a distributed tone RU (dRU), given the same bandwidth and the same RU size. Hereinafter, an rRU may be referred to as a first type RU, and a dRU may be referred to as a second type RU. The name of the RU Allocation subfield 911 is not limited to this. A different name may be used as the name of the field indicating the value for identifying the RU.

[0062] An example of a table of the values ​​of the RU Allocation subfield and the corresponding RU indexes is shown in Fig. 10. The values ​​of the RU Allocation subfield and the corresponding rRU or dRU indexes are defined. By referring to the RU index of the row corresponding to the value included in the RU Allocation subfield 911, it is possible to identify the RU size and RU index of the RU used in wireless communication.

[0063] In this embodiment, when the value of the RU Allocation subfield is any value from 0 to 68, communication is assumed to be performed using an rRU, indicating allocation of an rRU. Furthermore, when the value of the RU Allocation subfield is any value from 69 to 108, communication is assumed to be performed using a dRU, indicating allocation of a dRU. For example, when the value of the RU Allocation subfield is 0 and the UL BW subfield indicates a 20 MHz band, the RU to be used can be identified as 26-tone RU1 (rRU). Furthermore, when the value of the RU Allocation subfield is 69 and the UL BW subfield indicates a 20 MHz band, the RU to be used can be identified as 26-tone dRU1. The RU index here corresponds to the example of the RU subcarrier configuration described in FIG. 5.

[0064] In this way, when the value of the RU Allocation subfield is 68 or earlier, this value indicates that the RU used for communication is an rRU. Also, when the value of the RU Allocation subfield is 69 or later, this value indicates that the RU used for communication is a dRU. For the same bandwidth and the same RU size, different values ​​are used for the RU Allocation subfield when the RU used for wireless communication is an rRU or a dRU.

[0065] The RU Allocation subfield is followed by a UL FEC Coding Type subfield 912, a UL EHT-MCS subfield 913, and a Reserved field 914. Further, an SS Allocation subfield 915, a UL Target Receive Power subfield 916, and a PS 160 subfield 917 follow.

[0066] The User Info field may be an extended version of the EHT variant User Info field, or a newly defined UHR variant User Info field for UHR may be used.

[0067] The STAs 103-105 transmit TB PPDUs 804 to the AP 102 via UL MU OFDMA based on the RU allocation information included in the received trigger frame 803. The AP 102 transmits Multi-STA Block Ack 805 to the STAs 103-105, including acknowledgement information for receiving the TB PPDUs 804. The AP 102 may transmit the Block Ack frame to the STAs 103-105 via OFDMA communication.

[0068] 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing executed by the AP in this embodiment. For example, the control unit 302 of the AP executes a program stored in the storage unit 301 to execute the processing illustrated in FIG.

[0069] The flowchart shown in FIG. 11 illustrates the process executed when the STAs 103-105 communicate with the AP 102 using UL MU OFDMA.

[0070] In S1101, the AP transmits a BSRP to the STAs and collects information regarding the transmission data accumulation status of each STA. In S1102, the AP determines whether to perform UL MU OFDMA communication based on the transmission data accumulation status of each STA collected in S1101. In S1103, the AP determines the RU to be used by each STA. This determination is made in an appropriate manner depending on the STA and the communication environment, as described above, including the transmission data accumulation status of each STA, the distance from each STA, the number of STAs to communicate with, and the number of legacy STAs. In S1104, the AP broadcasts a trigger frame to each STA. In S1105, the AP sets physical layer reception parameters based on the RU allocation status so that the transmitted radio waves from the STAs can be properly received. In S1106, the AP receives and interprets the TB PPDU transmitted from each STA. In S1107, the AP transmits a Multi-STA Block Ack frame to each STA to notify each STA of whether or not it can receive the TB PPDU. If the AP determines in S1102 that it will not communicate, it proceeds to S1108, where it determines whether to stop communication. If it determines that communication will be stopped, it terminates the communication processing. If it determines that communication will not be stopped, communication other than UL MU OFDMA communication is performed in S1109. An example of communication other than UL MU OFDMA communication is UL (uplink) or DL ​​(downlink) SU (single user) communication.

[0071] 12 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing executed in the STA according to this embodiment. For example, the control unit 302 of the STA executes a program stored in the storage unit 301 to execute the processing illustrated in FIG.

[0072] The flowchart shown in FIG. 12 illustrates the processing executed when UL MU OFDMA communication is performed, starting from the point when the STAs 103-105 receive a BSRP from the AP 102. In S1201, the STA transmits a BSR including information regarding the transmission data accumulation status to the AP. In S1202, the STA receives a trigger frame from the AP. In S1203, the STA identifies the RU to use from the RU allocation information included in the trigger frame. In S1204, if the identified RU is a dRU, the STA performs the processing of S1205. If the identified RU is not a dRU (if it is an rRU), the STA performs the processing of step S1206. In S1205, if the RU to be used is a dRU, the STA sets physical layer transmission parameters corresponding to the dRU to be used. In S1206, if the RU to be used is an rRU, the STA sets physical layer transmission parameters corresponding to the rRU to be used. In S1207, the STA transmits a TB PPDU to the AP. In S1208, if the STA receives a Multi-STA Block Ack, the STA proceeds to S1209. The STA saves the transmitted data that the AP was unable to receive in a retransmission buffer and terminates the process. In S1208, if the STA was unable to receive a Multi-STA Block Ack, the STA terminates the process.

[0073] Through the series of processes described above, an AP such as AP 102 can perform multi-user communication with STAs such as STAs 103-105 using a dRU. STAs 103-105 can communicate with AP 102 via the assigned RUs. AP 102 can communicate with each STA via the RU assigned to each STA. AP 102 can communicate with STAs 103 to 105 in parallel using OFDMA communication. Parallel communication means that communication is performed so that at least a portion of the communication time zones between the AP and each STA overlap.

[0074] According to this embodiment, information indicating the type and allocation of resource units used in wireless communication can be communicated between an access point device and a station device. For example, the type of resource unit can be indicated as a dRU, and the dRU to be used can be indicated to the other device.

[0075] According to this embodiment, the communication devices (AP and STA) can identify the RU index from the information included in the RU allocation 911 of the trigger frame. Furthermore, the subcarriers included in the RU can be identified from the RU index and information on the bandwidth used for communication. In this way, the dRU allocation used for wireless communication can be communicated between the access point device and the station device.

[0076] Furthermore, according to this embodiment, it is possible to specify whether the RU to be used is an rRU or a dRU by referring to the value included in the RU allocation subfield 911. Therefore, in addition to the RU allocation subfield, there is no need to newly define a field that includes information for specifying whether the RU to be used is an rRU or a dRU.

[0077] In this embodiment, an example has been described in which rRUs and dRUs are identified as RU types, but this is not limiting. This embodiment can be applied to identifying the type of RU and the identification information of the RU to be used for communication from among multiple RUs of different types.

[0078] Second Embodiment In the above embodiment, an example has been described in which an AP allocates either an rRU or a dRU to a STA using only the RU Allocation subfield in the User info field included in a trigger frame transmitted by the AP to the STA.

[0079] In this embodiment, an example of notification of RU allocation is shown, which uses a field (second field) indicating which type of RU, rRU or dRU, to use, and an RU Allocation subfield (first field) in combination.

[0080] The trigger frame in this embodiment will be described below. The configuration of the trigger frame used in this embodiment is shown in Fig. 13. The description of each of the fields 1301 to 1308 described in the first embodiment will be omitted.

[0081] In this embodiment, the User info field 1309 has an RU type subfield 1311. The RU type subfield 1311 contains information indicating whether an rRU or a dRU will be used in ODFMA communication after the trigger frame is transmitted. In this embodiment, the RU allocation pattern indicated by the value of the RU Allocation subfield 1312 changes depending on the value of the RU type subfield 1311. For example, 0 indicates communication using only an rRU. Also, for example, 1 indicates communication using a dRU or communication using a combination of a dRU and an rRU. The correspondence between the values ​​and their meanings is merely an example, and a different correspondence may be used. For example, 1 may indicate communication using only an rRU, and 0 may indicate communication using a dRU or communication using a combination of a dRU and an rRU. Also, different values ​​may be associated with communication using a dRU and communication using a combination of a dRU and an rRU. For example, 0 may mean communication using only the rRU, 1 may mean communication using the dRU, and 2 may mean communication using a combination of the dRU and the rRU. The name of this field is not limited to RU type. Names such as dRU enable or dRU allocation may also be used. For convenience, this field may also be referred to as a predetermined subfield, a second field, etc.

[0082] If the value of the RU type subfield 1311 is 0, the RU is identified based on the value stored in the RU Allocation subfield 1312 and the information in the RU allocation table for rRU. The RU allocation table for rRU will be described later with reference to FIG. 14A.

[0083] When the value of the RU type subfield 1311 is 1, the RU is identified based on the value stored in the RU Allocation subfield 1312 and the information in the RU allocation table for dRU. The RU allocation table for dRU will be described later with reference to FIG. 14B.

[0084] In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 14A and 14B, a plurality of tables are used in which the RU index associated with the value of the RU Allocation subfield differs depending on the value of the RU type subfield.

[0085] 14A and 14B are tables used to identify the RU index of the RU to be used from the information included in the trigger frame.

[0086] The RU type subfield in Figures 14A and 14B is information for identifying whether the RU index indicated in the table is an RU index of an rRU or an RU index of a dRU. In this embodiment, when the value of the RU type subfield 1311 is 0, the table shown in Figure 14A (first table) is referenced. Also, when the value of the RU type subfield 1311 is 1, the table shown in Figure 14B (second table) is referenced.

[0087] The value of the RU Allocation subfield in Figures 14A and 14B corresponds to the value of the RU Allocation subfield 1312. Although Figures 14A and 14B show cases where the value of the RU type subfield is 0 or 1, this is not limiting. For example, in addition to the tables of Figures 14A and 14B, a table showing the allocation of RU indexes when rRUs and dRUs are used in combination may be provided. The RU type of this table may be, for example, 2. Alternatively, a table with an RU type subfield value of 1 may show the allocation of RU indexes when rRUs and dRUs are used in combination, in addition to when dRUs are used.

[0088] By referencing the RU index of the row corresponding to the value included in the RU Allocation subfield 1312, the RU size and RU index of the RU used for wireless communication can be identified.

[0089] The identification of the subcarriers included in the RU indicated by the RU index is the same as that described in the first embodiment using FIGS. 5 to 7, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted.

[0090] Furthermore, the flow of communication processing using a trigger frame between an AP and a STA is the same as that described in the first embodiment using Figures 11 and 12, and therefore description thereof will be omitted.

[0091] According to this embodiment, communication devices (AP and STA) can identify the RU index from information included in the RU type subfield 1311 and RU allocation 1312 of the trigger frame. Furthermore, they can identify the subcarriers included in the RU from the RU index and information on the bandwidth used for communication.

[0092] According to this embodiment, the number of bits in the RU Allocation subfield may be smaller than when the range of values ​​expressed by the RU Allocation subfield is expanded when dRU is used as in the first embodiment.

[0093] In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 13 , the RU type subfield 1311 can be included in the User info field 1309 and arranged before the RU allocation field 1312. By referencing the value included in the RU type subfield 1311, it is possible to identify which of the allocation tables shown in FIGS. 14A and 14B to refer to. Then, in the identified table, it is possible to identify the RU index by referencing the information of the row corresponding to the value included in the RU allocation field 1312. In this way, when the RU type subfield 1311 is arranged before the RU allocation field 1312, the following effect can be obtained. That is, after acquiring the value of the RU allocation field 1312, the STA can immediately identify the RU index by referring to the already identified allocation table. Furthermore, if a STA does not support communication using a dRU, the STA can discard the contents of the subsequent fields when the RU Type subfield 1311 indicates the use of a dRU. In such a case, the processing on the STA side can be reduced.

[0094] Alternatively, in this embodiment, the RU type subfield 1311 may be arranged after the UL EHT-MCS subfield 1314. For example, the RU type subfield 1311 may use the Reserved subfield 1315 in the User info field of the trigger frame as the RU type subfield. Alternatively, the RU type subfield 1311 may be arranged after the PS160 subfield 1318. For example, the Reserved subfield 1322 in the Trigger Dependent User info subfield may be used as the RU type subfield.

[0095] Here, the RU Allocation subfield specifies the location and size of the RU or MRU according to the UL BW subfield, UL BW Extension subfield, and PS160 subfield. The UL BW subfield is included in the Common Info field, and the UL BW Extension subfield is included in the Special User Info field. Furthermore, the mapping of the RU Allocation is specified according to the value of the RU Allocation subfield and the value of the PS160 subfield. Furthermore, the channel to which the RU allocation is applied is specified by the value set in PS160 and the RU size.

[0096] By placing the RU type subfield 1311 after the PS 160 subfield 1318, the STA can determine whether to communicate with an rRU or a dRU, with the channel to which the RU allocation applies specified.

[0097] When the channel width used for communication is changed, a delay (switching delay) may occur due to switching the operating state of the circuits and hardware used for communication. According to this modification, the RU type subfield 1311 is located after the PS160 subfield. Therefore, communication using the rRU or dRU can be started after the operating state of the circuits and hardware used for communication is set to a ready state in accordance with the specified channel width. In this way, communication using the rRU or dRU can be started without causing a switching delay.

[0098] Alternatively, the Common info field of the trigger frame may include a field indicating the type of RU to be used, and by referring to the value of this field, it is possible to identify which of the allocation tables shown in Figures 14A and 14B should be referenced.

[0099] 15 shows an example of a Common info field having a field indicating the use of either an rRU or a dRU. The Common info field includes the following fields: Trigger Type subfield 1501. UL Length subfield 1502. More TF subfield 1503. CS Required subfield 1504. UL BW subfield 1505. GI And HE / EHT / UHR-LTF Type / Triggered TXOP Sharing Mode subfield 1506. Reserved subfield 1507. Number Of HE / EHT / UHR-LTF Symbols subfield 1508. Reserved subfield 1509. LDPC Extra Symbol Segment subfield 1510. AP Tx Power subfield 1511. Pre-FEC Padding Factor subfield 1512. PE Disambiguity subfield 1513. UL Spatial Reuse subfield 1514. Reserved subfield 1515. HE / EHT / UHRP160 subfield 1516. Special User Info Field Flag subfield 1517. Reserved subfield 1518. And Trigger Dependent Common info subfield 1519. The Common Info field may be an extended version of the EHT variant Common Info field, or a newly defined UHR variant Common Info field for UHR may be used.

[0100] Table 1 shows the relationship between the value indicated by the Trigger Type subfield 1501 included in the Common info field and the type of trigger frame.

[0101]

[0102] When the value of the Trigger Type subfield is 9, this indicates that the trigger frame is a dRU trigger frame. The name of the Trigger Type subfield is not limited to this and may be another name. Furthermore, the name of the trigger frame variant corresponding to subfield value 9 in Table 1 is not limited to dRU and may be another name. For example, a name such as "dRU enable" may be used. Any name indicating the use of a dRU for communication may be used. Thus, according to this modification, the value of the Trigger Type field indicating the type of trigger frame can be set to a value indicating that communication will be performed using a distributed tone RU. By referencing the value of this subfield, it is possible to identify which of the allocation tables shown in Figures 14A and 14B should be referenced. That is, when the value of the Trigger Type subfield is 0, the first allocation table (rRU allocation table) shown in Figure 14A is referenced. When the value of the Trigger Type subfield is 9, the AP or STA refers to the second allocation table (dRU allocation table) shown in Fig. 14B. By referring to the allocation table, the AP or STA can identify the identification information (RU Index) of the RU to be used for communication.

[0103] When the AP transmits a dRU trigger frame to a STA, UL MU OFDMA communication using the dRU is then initiated. The dRU used by each STA is identified from the value of the RU Allocation subfield in the User info field corresponding to the STA and tables similar to those shown in Figures 14A and 14B. When the value of the Trigger Type subfield is set to 0, communication using the rRU is performed as in the current standard.

[0104] An example of the Common info field is shown in Figure 16. The fields included in the Common info field of the trigger frame shown in Figure 16 are listed below: Trigger Type subfield 1601. UL Length subfield 1602. More TF subfield 1603. CS Required subfield 1604. UL BW subfield 1605. GI And HE / EHT / UHR-LTF Type / Triggered TXOP Sharing Mode subfield 1606. Reserved subfield 1607. Number Of HE / EHT / UHR-LTF Symbols subfield 1608. Reserved subfield 1609. LDPC Extra Symbol Segment subfield 1610. AP Tx Power subfield 1611. Pre-FEC Padding Factor subfield 1612. PE Disambiguity subfield 1613. UL Spatial Reuse subfield 1614. Reserved subfield 1615. HE / EHT / UHR P160 subfield 1616. Special User Info Field Flag subfield 1617. dRU subfield 1618. Reserved subfield 1619. Trigger Dependent Common info subfield 1620.

[0105] When the value of the Trigger Type subfield is 0, it indicates that the trigger frame is a Basic Trigger frame. When the value indicated in the dRU subfield 1618 is 0, it indicates that the RU used for communication is an rRU, and when it is 1, it indicates that the RU used for communication is a dRU. After the AP transmits the trigger frame to the STA, UL MU OFDMA communication is performed, and the RU used by each STA at that time is indicated in the RU Allocation subfield indicated in the User info field corresponding to each STA. The STA can know the RU information allocated by the AP used for communication from the dRU subfield 1618 and the User info field, and can perform UL MU OFDMA communication.

[0106] In this embodiment, the sequence of UL MU OFDMA communication using a dRU and the processing executed by the AP and STA are the same as those described in the first embodiment using Figures 11 and 12, so description thereof will be omitted.

[0107] Through the series of processes described above, an AP such as the AP 102 can perform UL MU OFDMA communication with STAs such as the STAs 103-105 using a dRU.

[0108] According to this embodiment, information indicating the type and allocation of resource units used in wireless communication can be communicated between an access point device and a station device. For example, the type of resource unit can be indicated as a dRU, and the dRU to be used can be indicated to the other device.

[0109] According to this embodiment, the communication devices (AP and STA) can identify the RU type from the information included in the RU type subfield or the information included in the Trigger Type subfield. The communication devices can determine the RU allocation table to refer to based on the identified RU type. The communication devices can identify the RU index of the RU to be used from the determined RU allocation table and the value of RU allocation. The communication devices can then identify the subcarriers included in the RU from the RU index and information on the bandwidth used for communication. In this way, the dRU allocation to be used for wireless communication can be communicated between the access point device and the station device.

[0110] In this embodiment, an example has been described in which rRUs and dRUs are identified as RU types, but this is not limiting. This embodiment can be applied to identifying the type of RU and the identification information of the RU to be used for communication from among multiple RUs of different types.

[0111] (Other Embodiments) A recording medium on which program code for software that realizes the above-described functions is recorded may be supplied to a system or device, and a computer (CPU, MPU) of the system or device may read and execute the program code stored on the recording medium. In this case, the program code itself read from the recording medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the recording medium on which the program code is stored constitutes the above-described device.

[0112] Examples of storage media that can be used to supply the program code include flexible disks, hard disks, optical disks, magneto-optical disks, CD-ROMs, CD-Rs, magnetic tapes, non-volatile memory cards, ROMs, and DVDs.

[0113] In addition, not only can the above-mentioned functions be realized by the computer executing the program code it has read, but the OS running on the computer can also perform some or all of the actual processing based on the instructions of the program code to realize the above-mentioned functions.

[0114] Furthermore, the program code read from the storage medium may be written to a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into a computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, and a CPU provided in the function expansion board or function expansion unit may then perform some or all of the actual processing based on the instructions of the program code to realize the above-mentioned functions.

[0115] The present invention can also be realized by supplying a program that realizes one or more of the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or device via a network or a storage medium, and having one or more processors in the computer of the system or device read and execute the program.The present invention can also be realized by a circuit (e.g., an ASIC) that realizes one or more of the functions.

[0116] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the following claims are appended to apprise the public of the scope of the present invention.

[0117] This application claims priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2024-105404, filed on June 28, 2024, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0118] 101 Network 102 AP 103, 104, 105 STA

Claims

1. A communication device that performs wireless communication in accordance with the IEEE 802.11 series standard, comprising: communication means for communicating a trigger frame including a field indicating a value corresponding to identification information of a Resource Unit (RU), which is an allocation of a group of subcarriers for the wireless communication; the trigger frame including a Common Info field and a User Info field; the Common Info field including, between a Special User Info Field Flag and a Trigger Dependent Common Info field, a field indicating whether the RU used for communication is a regular RU (rRU) or a distributed tone RU (dRU); the User Info field including an RU Allocation subfield for specifying the RU index of the dRU or rRU; A communication device, wherein a range of values ​​that can be specified in the RU Allocation subfield as the RU index of an rRU and a range of values ​​that can be specified in the RU Allocation subfield as the RU index of a dRU at least partially overlap.

2. The communication device described in claim 1, characterized in that the rRU is an RU in which a channel is divided so that one RU contains consecutive subcarriers on the frequency axis among the available subcarriers, and the dRU is an RU containing subcarriers that are distributed over a bandwidth wider than the frequency bandwidth in which the subcarriers contained in the rRU are distributed.

3. The communication device according to claim 1, characterized in that the rRU is an RU whose frequency domain is divided so that contiguous subcarriers on the frequency axis among the available subcarriers are included in one RU, and the dRU is an RU whose frequency domain is divided so that at least a portion of the contiguous subcarriers on the frequency axis among the available subcarriers are distributed among multiple RUs, and is an RU configured to have a lower Power Spectral Density than communication by an rRU of the same size using the same transmission power.

4. The communication device according to claim 1, characterized in that the communication device is an access point device, the communication means transmits the frame to a station device, and the communication means receives information transmitted from the station device via the rRU or the dRU assigned to the station device in the frame.

5. The communication device according to claim 1, characterized in that the communication device is a station device, the communication means receives the frame from an access point device, and the communication means transmits information to the access point device via the rRU or the dRU assigned to the station device in the frame.

6. The communication device according to claim 1, characterized in that the RU index of the RU is identified by the value of the field, and the subcarriers included in the RU indicated by the RU index are specified based on the RU size and bandwidth to be used and the identified RU index.

7. The communication device described in claim 1, characterized in that the trigger frame can specify that an rRU is to be used in a first area among a plurality of areas into which the communication band is divided, and that a dRU is to be used in a second area among the plurality of areas.

8. A communication method in a communication device that performs wireless communication in accordance with the IEEE 802.11 series standard, comprising a communication step of communicating a trigger frame including a field indicating a value corresponding to identification information of a Resource Unit (RU), which is a group of subcarriers for the wireless communication, wherein the trigger frame includes a Common Info field and a User Info field, wherein the Common Info field includes, between a Special User Info Field Flag and a Trigger Dependent Common Info field, a field indicating whether the RU used for communication is a regular RU (rRU) or a distributed tone RU (dRU), and the User Info field includes an RU Allocation subfield for specifying the RU index of the dRU or rRU, A communication method, wherein a range of values ​​that can be specified in the RU Allocation subfield as the RU index of an rRU and a range of values ​​that can be specified in the RU Allocation subfield as the RU index of a dRU at least partially overlap.

9. A program for causing a computer to function as each means of the communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

Images