Communication method, apparatus and device, medium, and program product

Abstract

The present application relates to the field of wireless communications, and discloses a communication method, apparatus and device, a medium, and a program product. The method is executed by an AP. The method comprises: transmitting a first frame on the basis of channel state information of one or more channels, wherein the first frame is used for instructing a non-AP STA to switch to a specified channel. The method can instruct, in a flexible and timely mode, the non-AP STA to switch to an appropriate channel, so as to ensure that communication between the AP and the non-AP STA has high reliability.

Description

Communication method, apparatus, device, medium and program product TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the field of wireless communication, and in particular to a communication method, apparatus, device, medium and program product. BACKGROUND

[0002] In some scenarios, Basic Service Sets (BSSs) are set relatively densely, and the coverage of some BSSs may overlap, forming Overlapping Basic Service Sets (OBSSs). Stations located in the coverage of OBSSs will face fluctuating interference problems.

[0003] In order to guarantee the transmission reliability in a communication system, the interference problem of OBSSs should be solved. However, the common solution at present has limitations in use scenarios, and may also reduce the resource utilization and communication efficiency in the communication system.

[0004] SUMMARY

[0005] The present application provides a communication method, apparatus, device, medium and program product, which at least includes:

[0006] According to an aspect of an embodiment of the present application, a communication method is provided, the method is performed by an Access Point (AP), and the method includes:

[0007] sending a first frame based on channel state information of one or more channels, the first frame being used to instruct a non-AP STA to switch to a specified channel.

[0008] According to another aspect of an embodiment of the present application, a communication method is provided, the method is performed by a non-AP STA, and the method includes:

[0009] receiving a first frame, the first frame being sent based on channel state information of one or more channels, the first frame being used to instruct the non-AP STA to switch to a specified channel.

[0010] According to an aspect of an embodiment of the present application, a communication apparatus is provided, the apparatus includes:

[0011] a sending module configured to send a first frame based on channel state information of one or more channels, the first frame being used to instruct a non-AP STA to switch to a specified channel.

[0012] According to another aspect of an embodiment of the present application, a communication apparatus is provided, the apparatus includes:

[0013] receiving a first frame, the first frame being sent based on channel state information of one or more channels, the first frame being used to instruct the apparatus to switch to a specified channel.

[0014] According to an aspect of the embodiments of the present application, a communication device is provided, which comprises a processor, a transceiver connected to the processor, and a memory for storing executable instructions of the processor, wherein the processor is configured to load and execute the executable instructions to implement the communication method according to the above aspects.

[0015] According to an aspect of the embodiments of the present application, a computer readable storage medium is provided, which stores at least one program, and the at least one program is loaded and executed by a processor to implement the communication method according to the above aspects.

[0016] According to an aspect of the embodiments of the present application, a computer program product or a computer program is provided, which comprises computer instructions stored in a computer readable storage medium, and a processor acquires the computer instructions from the computer readable storage medium, and the processor executes the computer instructions to implement the communication method according to the above aspects.

[0017] According to an aspect of the embodiments of the present application, a chip is provided, which comprises a programmable logic circuit and / or at least one program, and the chip is used to implement the communication method according to the above aspects based on the programmable logic circuit and / or the at least one program.

[0018] The technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application can have the following beneficial effects:

[0019] The AP sends the first frame based on the channel state information of one or more channels. Since the channel state information of one or more channels can reflect the signal strength, interference condition and the like of the channels, the AP can determine the transmission quality of the one or more channels, and the AP can instruct the non-AP STA to switch to a suitable channel in a timely and flexible manner, so as to ensure that the communication between the AP and the non-AP STA has high reliability. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0020] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, the drawings needed in the embodiment description will be briefly introduced. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present application, and other drawings can be obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort.

[0021] FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0022] FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of a communication avoiding OBSS interference according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0023] FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of a communication avoiding OBSS interference according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0024] FIG. 4 shows a flow diagram of sub-band switching according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0025] FIG. 5 shows a flow diagram of sub-band switching according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0026] FIG. 6 shows a flow diagram of a communication method according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0027] FIG. 7 shows a flow diagram of a communication method according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0028] FIG. 8 shows a flow diagram of a communication method according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0029] FIG. 9 shows a flow diagram of a communication method according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0030] FIG. 10 shows a flow diagram of a communication method according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0031] FIG. 11 shows a format diagram of a beacon frame according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0032] FIG. 12 shows a format diagram of a trigger frame according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0033] FIG. 13 shows a format diagram of a location report frame according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0034] FIG. 14 shows a format diagram of a second frame according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0035] FIG. 15 shows a format diagram of a second frame according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0036] FIG. 16 shows a format diagram of a channel information trigger frame according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0037] FIG. 17 shows a format diagram of a frame carrying channel state information according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0038] Figure 18 shows a frame format diagram carrying channel state information according to an example embodiment of the application;

[0039] Figure 19 shows a BQR frame format diagram carrying channel state information according to an example embodiment of the application;

[0040] Figure 20 shows a frame format diagram of a data frame carrying first information according to an example embodiment of the application;

[0041] Figure 21 shows a frame format diagram of a data transmission request frame according to an example embodiment of the application;

[0042] Figure 22 shows a frame format diagram of a BA frame carrying second information according to an example embodiment of the application;

[0043] Figure 23 shows a frame format diagram of a data transmission response frame according to an example embodiment of the application;

[0044] Figure 24 shows a communication method according to an example embodiment of the application;

[0045] Figure 25 shows a communication method according to an example embodiment of the application;

[0046] Figure 26 shows a communication method according to an example embodiment of the application;

[0047] Figure 27 shows a communication method according to an example embodiment of the application;

[0048] Figure 28 shows a communication method according to an example embodiment of the application;

[0049] Figure 29 shows a communication method according to an example embodiment of the application;

[0050] Figure 30 shows a communication method according to an example embodiment of the application;

[0051] Figure 31 shows a communication method according to an example embodiment of the application;

[0052] Figure 32 shows a communication method according to an example embodiment of the application;

[0053] Figure 33 shows a communication method according to an example embodiment of the application;

[0054] Figure 34 shows a communication method according to an example embodiment of the application;

[0055] FIG. 35 shows a schematic diagram of a communication method according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0056] FIG. 36 shows a structural block diagram of a communication apparatus according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0057] FIG. 37 shows a structural block diagram of a communication apparatus according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0058] FIG. 38 shows a structural diagram of a communication device according to an example embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0059] For the purpose of the present application, the technical solutions and advantages will be more clearly understood, the following will be further described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Here will be described in detail, the example embodiments, which example is shown in the drawings. The following description relates to the drawings, unless otherwise indicated, the same in different figures of the same or similar elements. The following example embodiments described in the embodiments are not representative of all embodiments consistent with the present application. Rather, they are merely examples of devices and methods consistent with some aspects of the present application, as detailed in the appended claims.

[0060] The terminology used in the present application is merely for the purpose of describing particular embodiments and is not intended to limit the present application. As used in the present application and the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "and / or," as used herein, refer to and encompass any or all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

[0061] It should be understood that, although the terms first, second, third, etc. can be employed in this application to describe various information, such information should not be limited to these terms. These terms are only used to differentiate one piece of information from another piece of information of the same type. For example, a first information can also be referred to as a second information without departing from the scope of the present application, and similarly, a second information can also be referred to as a first information. Depending on the context, the word "if" as used herein can be interpreted as "when" or "upon" or "in response to determining". In the present specification, when expressing the meaning of Boolean Value, it is expressed as "0" representing "first meaning", "1" representing "second meaning", without loss of generality, those skilled in the art can understand that the representative meaning can be reversed, i.e. "1" represents "first meaning" and "0" represents "second meaning".

[0062] It should be understood that the format, name and value of the frame / element / field involved in each embodiment of the present application are only examples and do not mean to limit the format, name and value of the frame / element / field. In different embodiments or different designs, one or more of the name of the element / field, the position in the frame, the arrangement order between the element / field and other elements / fields, the number of bytes occupied, the number of bits occupied can be changed. In different embodiments or different designs, one or more of the name of the frame, the element / field contained, the number of bytes occupied, the number of bits occupied can be changed.

[0063] FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system 100 provided by an example embodiment of the present application. The wireless communication system 100 includes stations (STAs) and stations. In the present application, the STA includes an access point station (Access Point STA, AP STA) and / or a non-access point station (non-AP STA), wherein the AP STA can be referred to as an AP. The communication between the STAs can be implemented as the communication between the AP and the non-AP STA, or the communication between the non-AP STAs, or the communication between the STA and a peer STA. The peer STA refers to a device communicating with the STA, and the peer STA can be an AP or a non-AP STA. FIG. 1 takes the wireless communication system 100 including an AP 110 and a non-AP STA 120 as an example for illustration.

[0064] The AP 110 is a device deployed in a wireless local area network (WLAN) / wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) system to provide wireless communication functions for STAs. The AP 110 is equivalent to a bridge connecting wired and wireless networks, and mainly functions to connect various wireless network clients together and then access the wireless network to the Ethernet. The AP 110 can be a terminal device or a network device (such as a router) with a WLAN / Wi-Fi chip.

[0065] In some embodiments, the AP 110 can be a device that supports WLAN standards of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 family, such as 802.11be, 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b, and 802.11a. The AP 110 can also be applied in a network environment that supports next-generation WLAN systems / next-generation Wi-Fi communication.

[0066] The non-AP STA 120 can be a wireless communication device that supports WLAN / Wi-Fi technology, such as a terminal device with a WLAN / Wi-Fi chip.

[0067] In some embodiments, the non-AP STA 120 can be a device that supports WLAN standards of the IEEE 802.11 family, such as 802.11be, 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b, and 802.11a. The non-AP STA 120 can also be applied in a network environment that supports next-generation WLAN systems / next-generation Wi-Fi communication.

[0068] In embodiments of the present application, the terminal device can also be referred to as a user equipment (User Equipment, UE), including but not limited to: a mobile phone, a tablet computer, an electronic book reader, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a television, a virtual reality (Virtual Reality, VR) device, an augmented reality (Augmented Reality, AR) device, a mediated reality (Mediated Reality, MR) device, an extended reality (Extended Reality, XR) device, a remote terminal, a set-top box, a vehicle-mounted communication device, a handheld device, a wearable device, a wireless device in industrial control, a wireless device in self-driving, a wireless device in remote medical treatment, a wireless device in smart grid, a wireless device in transportation safety, a wireless device in smart city, a wireless device in smart home (such as a smart camera, a smart remote controller, a smart water meter, an electric meter, etc.), a wireless communication chip, an application specific integrated circuit (Application Specific Integrated Circuit, ASIC), a system on chip (System on Chip, SoC), an internet of things (Internet of Things, IoT) node, an internet of vehicles (Internet of Vehicles, IoV) node, a sensor, etc. It can also be a computing device with wireless communication function or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem, etc. This list is not exhaustive.

[0069] In embodiments of the present application, the next-generation WLAN system is a WLAN system evolved from the 802.11be system and can meet the backward compatibility with the 802.11be system. The next-generation Wi-Fi communication is any new generation of Wi-Fi communication after Wi-Fi 7 based on the 802.11be specification, such as ultra high reliability (Ultra High Reliability, UHR) communication, etc.

[0070] In some embodiments, the AP 110 and the non-AP STA 120 both support the IEEE 802.11 protocol, but are not limited to the IEEE 802.11 protocol.

[0071] It can be understood that the role of the STA in wireless communication is not absolute. For example, when mobile phone A connects to a router, mobile phone A is a non-AP STA, and when mobile phone A acts as a hotspot for mobile phone B, mobile phone A acts as an AP.

[0072] In some embodiments, the frequency bands that the wireless communication system 100 can support include, but are not limited to, millimeter wave (mmWave) frequency bands (such as 45 GHz, 60 GHz, etc., which belong to the frequency bands in the range of 30-300 GHz), low frequency bands. Among them, the low frequency bands include Sub-7 GHz frequency bands (such as 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz, etc., which belong to the frequency bands in the range of 1-7.25 GHz).

[0073] In some embodiments, there is one or more links between the AP 110 and the non-AP STA 120.

[0074] In some embodiments, multi-band communication is supported between the AP 110 and the non-AP STA 120. For example, communication is simultaneously performed on one or more of the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz, 45 GHz, 60 GHz, etc. frequency bands. For another example, communication is simultaneously performed on different channels of the same frequency band or different channels of different frequency bands. Multi-band communication can improve the communication throughput and / or reliability between devices. Such a device supporting multi-band communication can be considered to have multi-link operation (MLO) capability, and is usually referred to as a multi-band device or a multi-link device (MLD), and is sometimes also referred to as a multi-band entity or a multi-link entity. In other words, the MLD is an entity or device that supports communication with other MLD entities using multiple wireless links.

[0075] The MLD can include one or more APs, that is, the affiliated STAs of the MLD are one or more APs, and such an MLD can be referred to as an AP MLD. The MLD can also include one or more non-AP STAs, that is, the affiliated STAs of the MLD are one or more non-AP STAs, and such an MLD can be referred to as a non-AP MLD. A plurality of links can be formed between the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD, and each AP affiliated to the AP MLD and each non-AP STA affiliated to the non-AP MLD can communicate through the corresponding link.

[0076] The basic service set (BSS) is the basic topology structure in WLAN / Wi-Fi communication. The communication devices constituting the BSS include one AP and a plurality of non-AP STAs. After joining the wireless domain of the AP, each non-AP STA establishes association with the AP, and the associated non-AP STA and the AP can perform data transmission, and the non-AP STAs in the same BSS can exchange data through the AP.

[0077] In some scenarios, BSSs are set relatively densely, and each BSS can even be in the same frequency band (for example, the 2.4 GHz frequency band, for example, the 5 GHz frequency band, for example, the 6 GHz frequency band, and the like), and the working channels of different BSSs can partially overlap or even completely overlap, that is, the coverage ranges of different BSSs overlap. The BSSs with overlapping coverage ranges are referred to as overlapping basic service sets (OBSSs). Obviously, the STA in the overlapping area of the coverage ranges of multiple BSSs will be interfered by more interference, such as co-channel interference (CCI), adjacent channel interference (ACI), and the like. Moreover, the interference is not continuously stable at a fixed level, but fluctuates, and the interference levels on different sub-channels also differ.

[0078] In order to avoid the interference problem caused by OBSS, the following two solutions exist at present:

[0079] 1. Target wake time (TWT) technology is used to avoid OBSS interference.

[0080] The TWT technology is an energy-saving mechanism, which aims to reduce the energy consumption of a device in a low traffic state by managing and scheduling the wake-up and sleep cycles of the device, thereby prolonging the battery life of the device. In the TWT technology, a non-AP STA and an associated AP negotiate and establish a schedule, which is composed of TWT time periods, as a TWT service period (SP). When the TWT service period negotiated by the non-AP STA and the associated AP arrives, the non-AP STA wakes up and waits for the AP to send a trigger frame. After the non-AP STA receives the trigger frame, the non-AP STA exchanges data with the AP. After the data exchange is completed, the non-AP STA enters the sleep state again until the next TWT service period arrives. The TWT mechanism can be dynamically adjusted and optimized according to the actual use of the device and the change of the environment. At the same time, the TWT mechanism can be used to reduce the CCI problem, and multiple devices can negotiate with each other to determine their wake-up times and wake-up frequencies, so as to stagger the wake-up time intervals of different devices, thereby avoiding multiple devices working in the same frequency band at the same time, and achieving the effect of reducing co-channel interference. Therefore, the TWT technology supports adjusting the TWT time periods of each AP by negotiating the schedule of each AP, to avoid OBSS interference.

[0081] Restricted Target Wake Time (R-TWT) technology is derived from TWT technology and is used to solve the problem of low-delay traffic and real-time application traffic. R-TWT enables STAs in a BSS to use an enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) and resource reservation mechanism to transmit low-latency traffic. R-TWT technology supports sharing of R-TWT scheduling information through inter-AP cooperation, so that when the R-TWT SP of a certain BSS arrives, other BSSs enter a sleep state to reduce OBSS interference. For example, referring to FIG. 2, there is an overlap between the coverage ranges of AP1 and AP2, and STA12 is in the overlap region of the coverage ranges of AP1 and AP2. AP1 and AP2 exchange R-TWT SP schedules of each other. AP1 announces the R-TWT time of AP2 in its own BSS1, and the BSS1 and BSS2 can still perform non-interfering transmission, and STA12 ends its transmission opportunity (TXOP) at or before the start time of the SP of BSS2 to avoid OBSS interference.

[0082] In short, TWT technology or R-TWT technology requires a STA to end its TXOP before the start of the SP of another BSS according to the SP schedule of the BSS in which the STA is located, and to remain silent after the start of the SP of another BSS to avoid OBSS interference. Although the STA itself has transmission requirements or transmission capabilities, the STA cannot fully utilize the communication resources to meet its own communication requirements due to the constraints of the SP schedule. Therefore, the solution of using TWT technology or R-TWT technology to solve OBSS interference significantly reduces the resource utilization and communication efficiency in the communication system.

[0083] 2. Use of Non-Primary Channel Access (NPCA) technology to avoid OBSS interference.

[0084] In the NPCA technology, a device is allowed to switch from a primary channel to a secondary channel for access when the primary channel is busy. The secondary channel can also be referred to as a non-primary channel or an auxiliary channel or an auxiliary primary channel. The secondary channel, as a backup channel of the primary channel, can carry data transmission tasks as important as the primary channel, and usually has similar bandwidth and transmission capacity as the primary channel. Specifically, when a STA listens to a Request to Send (RTS) / Clear to Send (CTS) frame exchange on the primary channel, it indicates that the channel will be occupied. In order to avoid interference and effectively utilize the idle spectrum resources, the non-AP STA switches to the secondary channel for data transmission. The secondary channel is announced by the AP through a management frame.

[0085] However, the scheme of avoiding OBSS interference by using the NPCA technology is only applicable to the case that the interference to the AP and the associated STA comes from the same interference source. For example, referring to FIG. 3, AP1 is associated with STA1 and STA2, AP2 is associated with STA3, and AP3 is associated with STA4. AP1 and STA2 are located in the coverage overlap area of AP1 and AP2, and STA1 is located in the coverage overlap area of AP1 and AP3. Assuming that the interference to the AP and the associated STA comes from the same interference source, for example, AP1 and STA2 are both interfered by the BSS in which AP2 is located, when AP1 and STA2 listen to the frame sent or received by AP2 on the primary channel, AP1 and STA2 both switch to the secondary channel to avoid OBSS interference. Assuming that the interference to the AP and the associated STA does not come from the same interference source, for example, AP1 is interfered by the BSS in which AP2 is located, and STA1 is interfered by the BSS in which AP3 is located, when STA1 listens to the frame sent or received by AP3 on the primary channel, STA1 switches to the secondary channel. However, AP1 will still reside in the primary channel because AP1 does not listen to the frame sent or received by AP3 on the primary channel, resulting in the problem that STA1 and AP1 cannot directly interact with each other because they are in different channels. In short, although the NPCA technology can ensure that the communication within one BSS is free from OBSS interference, it can cause the AP and the associated STA in another BSS to be unable to communicate because they switch to different channels. Therefore, the scheme of avoiding OBSS interference by using the NPCA technology has serious limitations and can only reduce OBSS interference in specific interference scenarios.

[0086] The way in which the AP and the associated STA confirm whether the interference is from the same interference source is as follows: The AP and the associated STA both listen to the primary channel and respectively establish an OBSS AP list. The OBSS AP list on the AP side includes all APs that the AP can listen to on the primary channel, and the OBSS AP list on the associated STA side includes all APs that the associated STA can listen to on the primary channel. The AP notifies the associated STA of the OBSS AP list established by the AP, and each associated STA compares the OBSS AP list sent by the AP with the actual OBSS AP list detected by the associated STA to determine whether the interference is from the same interference source.

[0087] It can be seen that the above two solutions for solving OBSS interference both have limitations and cannot effectively reduce OBSS interference while guaranteeing the communication efficiency and reliability in the system. Therefore, the present application proposes a communication method based on dynamic sub-band / sub-channel operation (DSO), which can realize dynamic interference detection in the OBSS interference scenario and help to reduce the negative impact of OBSS interference on data transmission and communication resources.

[0088] The DSO technology involved in the present application supports two switching processes, as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5.

[0089] In the sub-band / sub-channel switching procedure shown in FIG. 4, the AP sends a sub-channel switching control frame (or sub-band switching control frame) on the primary channel (for example, the primary channel bandwidth is 160 MHz in the figure, referred to as P160 or 160P, and the primary channel bandwidth can also be of other sizes, which are not limited in the present application) and the secondary channel (for example, the secondary channel bandwidth is 160 MHz in the figure, referred to as S160 or 160S, and the secondary channel bandwidth can also be of other sizes, which are not limited in the present application) to instruct STA1 to switch to the secondary channel, but at this time STA1 will not respond to the sub-channel switching control frame. After a short interframe space (SIFS), the AP sends a second control frame, which can be a normal multi-user request to send (MU-RTS) frame or a buffer status report poll (BSRP) frame. STA1 receiving the DSO switching instruction responds in 160S, and STA2 without the DSO switching instruction responds in 160P. STA1 receiving the DSO switching instruction obtains a transmission period DSO TXOP after sub-channel switching. In the DSO TXOP, STA1 and the AP can perform multiple data transmissions, including uplink (UL) transmission and / or downlink (DL) transmission. SIFS is provided between each frame interaction to ensure compliance with the minimum frame interval required by the wireless communication specification. When the DSO TXOP ends, STA1 switches back to 160P and continues to communicate on the primary channel.

[0090] In the sub-band / sub-channel switching procedure shown in FIG. 5, the DSO initial control frame has a similar function to the sub-channel switching control frame and can be used to trigger sub-channel switching of the STA supporting DSO. However, unlike FIG. 4, STA1 in FIG. 5 receives the DSO initial control frame sent by the AP, directly switches to the secondary channel and responds to the DSO initial control frame on the secondary channel immediately, and STA2 without the DSO switching instruction responds to the DSO initial control frame on the primary channel.

[0091] FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of a communication method provided by an example embodiment of the present application, which is performed by an AP and includes at least the following steps:

[0092] Step 620: Send a first frame based on the channel state information of one or more channels, and the first frame is used to instruct a non-AP STA to switch to a specified channel.

[0093] The non-AP STA indicated by the first frame is an associated STA of the AP. The non-AP STA and the AP belong to the same BSS. If combined with the OBSS scenario, it can be further considered that the non-AP STA and the AP belong to the same OBSS.

[0094] The first frame is used to instruct the non-AP STA to switch to the specified channel. It can also be understood that the first frame is used to instruct the non-AP STA to switch to the specified sub-channel. It can also be understood that the first frame is used to instruct the non-AP STA to switch to the specified sub-band. For example, the first frame is used to instruct the non-AP STA to switch from the primary channel to the secondary channel. For example, the first frame is used to instruct the non-AP STA to switch from a sub-channel within the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA to a sub-channel outside the operating bandwidth.

[0095] The specified channel can also be referred to as a target channel, and is at least one channel of one or more channels.

[0096] In some embodiments, the first frame is implemented based on the DSO technology, and it can be considered that the transmission principle of the first frame is the same as or similar to the basic principle of the DSO technology.

[0097] In summary, the method provided by the embodiments of the present application supports the AP to send the first frame through the channel state information of one or more channels. Since the channel state information of one or more channels can reflect the signal strength, interference condition, etc. of the channel, the AP can clearly indicate the transmission quality of one or more channels, and the AP can timely and flexibly instruct the non-AP STA to switch to a suitable channel to ensure that the communication between the AP and the non-AP STA has high reliability. Moreover, compared with the TWT technology, the method provided by the embodiments of the present application does not require the non-AP STA to remain silent, and does not reduce the communication efficiency and resource utilization rate in the system. Compared with the NPCA technology, the channel switching process provided by the embodiments of the present application is instructed by the first frame sent by the AP, which avoids the non-AP STA from switching to any channel without the permission of the AP, and avoids the situation that the AP and the non-AP STA cannot communicate because they are in different channels. Therefore, the method provided by the embodiments of the present application is not limited to a specific use scenario like the NPCA technology.

[0098] In some embodiments, on the basis of the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, step 620 can be further implemented as step 740, as shown in FIG. 7. Optionally, in addition to step 740, the AP can also perform one or more of the following optional steps: step 720, step 760.

[0099] FIG. 7 shows a flow diagram of a communication method according to an example embodiment of the present application, which is performed by an AP, and includes at least the following steps:

[0100] Step 720: transmitting a second frame, the second frame being used to instruct the first non-AP STA to switch channel and perform channel detection.

[0101] In some embodiments, the second frame is transmitted in a case where at least one non-AP STA within a BSS where the AP is located is in an OBSS coverage range.

[0102] In some embodiments, the second frame carries sub-band switching information, and the sub-band switching information includes one or more of the following fields: a mode field, used to indicate a sub-band switching mode; a STA number field, used to indicate a number of non-AP STAs that need to switch channel; and a STA information field, used to indicate information of the non-AP STAs that need to switch channel.

[0103] In some embodiments, the non-AP STAs that need to switch channel are determined by the AP according to the channel state information of the one or more channels.

[0104] In some embodiments, the received signal strength of the primary channel of the non-AP STAs that need to switch channel is higher than or equal to a first threshold and less than a second threshold.

[0105] In some embodiments, the first non-AP STA is one or more non-AP STAs that are in the OBSS coverage range and associated with the AP, that is, the first non-AP STA is one or more non-AP STAs in the OBSS coverage range. Alternatively, the first non-AP STA is any one or more non-AP STAs associated with the AP, which does not necessarily need to be in the OBSS coverage range.

[0106] In some embodiments, the STA information field includes one or more of the following sub-fields: STA identification, switching channel bit map, channel identification, channel bandwidth, switching time, and waiting time. The switching time is used to indicate a time for staying in the channel for channel detection or data transmission, and the waiting time is used to indicate a time for staying in the secondary channel after the channel detection ends. The switching channel bit map sub-field indicates channels that are within the working bandwidth of the non-AP STA and / or channels that are outside the working bandwidth of the non-AP STA.

[0107] In some embodiments, before transmitting the second frame, the AP also transmits and / or receives one or more of the following frames: a beacon frame, a trigger frame, a location reporting frame, and the like.

[0108] Exemplarily, before sending the second frame, the AP sends a beacon frame, the beacon frame comprising one or more fields: OBSS information, OBSS identification list, second threshold, first threshold, link quantity, link information; wherein the OBSS information field is used to indicate whether the AP is in the OBSS coverage range.

[0109] In some embodiments, the link information field comprises one or more subfields: link identification, channel quantity, channel identification, OBSS detection result, received signal strength; wherein the OBSS detection result is used to indicate whether there is OBSS interference in the channel.

[0110] Exemplarily, before sending the second frame, the AP sends a trigger frame, the trigger frame being used to trigger the AP-associated non-AP STA to report whether it is in the OBSS coverage range.

[0111] In some embodiments, the trigger frame at least comprises a position OBSS information field, the position OBSS information field being used to indicate whether the AP-associated non-AP STA reports itself in the OBSS coverage range.

[0112] In some embodiments, the trigger frame is a position report trigger frame, or a bandwidth query report poll (BQRP) trigger frame.

[0113] Exemplarily, before sending the second frame, the AP receives a position report frame, the position report frame being used to report whether the AP-associated non-AP STA is in the OBSS coverage range.

[0114] In some embodiments, the position report frame at least comprises a position report element, the position report element comprising one or more fields: OBSS detection result, OBSS identification list; wherein the OBSS detection result field is used to indicate whether the non-AP STA is in the OBSS coverage range; and the OBSS identification list field is used to indicate the BSSs overheard by the non-AP STA.

[0115] Step 740: sending a first frame based on the channel state information of one or more channels, the first frame being used to instruct the non-AP STA to switch to a specified channel and perform data transmission.

[0116] The data transmission performed by the non-AP STA after switching the channel comprises uplink data transmission and / or downlink data transmission. That is, the first frame is used to instruct the non-AP STA to switch to a specified channel and send and / or receive data.

[0117] In some embodiments, the channel state information of the one or more channels is detected by the non-AP STA and reported; or, the channel state information of the one or more channels is detected by the AP; or, the channel state information of a part of the plurality of channels is detected by the non-AP STA and reported, and the channel state information of another part of the plurality of channels is detected by the AP.

[0118] In some embodiments, the one or more channels include at least one of: a channel within the operating bandwidth of the BSS where the AP is located; a channel within the operating bandwidth of a non-AP STA associated with the AP; a channel outside the operating bandwidth of a non-AP STA associated with the AP.

[0119] In some embodiments, the channel state information includes one or more of: a channel state information field, an OBSS identification list field. The channel state information field includes one or more of: a first bit map field, a second bit map field, a third bit map field, a channel OBSS interference information field. The OBSS identification list field includes one or more BSS identification subfields.

[0120] In some embodiments, the first bit map field is used to indicate channels with a received signal strength lower than a first threshold, the second bit map field is used to indicate channels with a received signal strength higher than or equal to the first threshold but lower than a second threshold, and the third bit map field is used to indicate channels with a received signal strength lower than a third threshold. The third threshold is higher than the second threshold, and the second threshold is higher than the first threshold.

[0121] In some embodiments, the channels indicated by the first bit map field include: a channel within the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA, and / or, a channel outside the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA. The channels indicated by the second bit map field include: a channel within the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA, and / or, a channel outside the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA. The channels indicated by the third bit map field include: a channel within the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA, and / or, a channel outside the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA.

[0122] In some embodiments, the channel state information comprises one or more of: a third bitmap field, a reserved field. The third bitmap field is used to indicate channels whose received signal strength is lower than a third threshold. The channels indicated by the third bitmap field include: channels located within the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA, and / or, channels located outside the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA and within the operating bandwidth of the BSS in which the non-AP STA is located, and / or, channels outside the operating bandwidth of the BSS in which the non-AP STA is located.

[0123] In some embodiments, the received signal strength comprises received signal strength of an OBSS Physical Layer Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) or an inter-BSS PPDU. Optionally, the received signal strength is represented by a Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) value, or a received signal strength level, or a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), or a Reference Signal Receiving Quality (RSRQ), or a Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio (SINR), or a Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR).

[0124] In some embodiments, the channel OBSS interference information subfield comprises one or more of: a channel identification subfield, an interference status subfield, a received signal strength subfield, a Network Allocation Vector (NAV) subfield.

[0125] In some embodiments, the channel state information is carried in a channel information reporting frame, or in a Bandwidth Query Report (BQR) frame, or in a control field in a data frame.

[0126] In some embodiments, the channel state information is reported by the first non-AP STA actively; or, the channel state information is reported by the first non-AP STA based on the second frame. In other words, if step 720 is performed, the channel state information is reported by the first non-AP STA based on the second frame; if step 720 is not performed, the channel state information is reported by the first non-AP STA actively.

[0127] In some embodiments, the channel state information is reported by the first non-AP STA actively after the end of the NAV time. The end of the NAV time can be understood as the NAV value being 0, or the NAV timer being 0. For example, after the first non-AP STA listens to the frames transmitted and received by other non-AP STAs, the first non-AP STA enters the NAV time, and after the end of the NAV time, the first non-AP STA actively reports the channel state information.

[0128] In some embodiments, the first frame carries sub-band switching information, and the sub-band switching information includes one or more of the following fields: a mode field, used to indicate a sub-band switching mode; a STA number field, used to indicate the number of non-AP STAs that need to perform channel switching; and a STA information field, used to indicate the information of the non-AP STAs that need to perform channel switching.

[0129] In some embodiments, the non-AP STAs that need to perform channel switching are determined by the AP based on the channel state information of the one or more channels.

[0130] In some embodiments, the received signal strength of the primary channel of the non-AP STA that needs to perform channel switching is higher than or equal to a first threshold and less than a second threshold.

[0131] In some embodiments, the STA information field includes one or more of the following subfields: STA identification, switching channel bit map, channel identification, channel bandwidth, switching time, and waiting time. The switching time is used to indicate the time for staying in the channel for channel detection or data transmission after switching to the channel, and the waiting time is used to indicate the time for staying in the secondary channel after the end of data transmission. The switching channel bit map subfield indicates the channels, including the channels within the working bandwidth of the non-AP STA and / or the channels outside the working bandwidth of the non-AP STA.

[0132] In some embodiments, step 740 can be implemented as step 740a:

[0133] Step 740a: The AP sends a first frame according to the channel state information reported by the second non-AP STA, the first frame being used to instruct the second non-AP STA to switch to a first channel and send or receive data; wherein the first channel is at least one sub-channel in one or more sub-channels.

[0134] In some embodiments, the channel state information reported by the second non-AP STA indicates that the received signal strength of the primary channel of the second non-AP STA is higher than a first threshold and lower than a second threshold.

[0135] In some embodiments, the channel state information reported by the second non-AP STA includes a second bit bitmap field, and the AP sends the first frame in a case where the second bit bitmap field indicates that the received signal strength of the primary channel of the second non-AP STA is higher than or equal to the first threshold but lower than the second threshold.

[0136] In some embodiments, the first channel is located outside the operating bandwidth of the second non-AP STA.

[0137] In some embodiments, the first channel is a sub-channel in one or more sub-channels whose received signal strength is less than or equal to a first threshold.

[0138] In some embodiments, the second non-AP STA is in the OBSS coverage. Optionally, the second non-AP STA is the same as or different from the first non-AP STA. Optionally, the second non-AP STA belongs to or does not belong to the first non-AP STA. Optionally, the second non-AP STA is self-reporting channel state information, or is reporting channel state information based on the second frame.

[0139] In some embodiments, step 740 can be implemented as step 740b:

[0140] Step 740b: The AP sends a first frame in a case where the received signal strength of the primary channel of the AP is higher than or equal to a first threshold and lower than a second threshold, the first frame being used to instruct the AP and a third non-AP STA to switch to a first channel and instruct the third non-AP STA to send or receive data; wherein the first channel is at least one sub-channel in one or more sub-channels.

[0141] In some embodiments, the first channel is located outside the operating bandwidth of the third non-AP STA.

[0142] In some embodiments, the AP is in the OBSS coverage.

[0143] In some embodiments, the first channel is a sub-channel with a received signal strength less than or equal to a first threshold among the one or more sub-channels.

[0144] In some embodiments, the step 740 can be implemented as step 740c:

[0145] Step 740c: In a case that the received signal strength of the primary channel of the AP is higher than or equal to a first threshold and lower than a second threshold, the AP transmits a first frame, the first frame being used to instruct a third non-AP STA to switch to a first channel and transmit or receive data; wherein the first channel is at least one sub-channel among the one or more sub-channels.

[0146] In some embodiments, the first channel is located outside the operating bandwidth of the third non-AP STA.

[0147] In some embodiments, the first channel is a sub-channel with a received signal strength less than or equal to a first threshold among the one or more sub-channels.

[0148] In some embodiments, the AP is in an OBSS coverage.

[0149] In some embodiments, before transmitting the first frame, the AP further transmits and / or receives other frames, such as a frame carrying the first information and / or a frame carrying the second information.

[0150] The first information is used to request data transmission; the second information is used to respond to the first information, or alternatively, the second information is used to respond to the data transmission request. Optionally, the first information includes one or more of the following fields: link identification, channel identification, channel bandwidth, transmission time. Optionally, the second information includes one or more of the following fields: a field used to indicate whether to agree to data transmission, link identification, channel identification, channel bandwidth.

[0151] For example, before transmitting the first frame, the AP transmits the first information and receives the second information. Alternatively, before transmitting the first frame, the AP receives the first information and transmits the second information.

[0152] In some embodiments, the first information is carried in a data frame, or alternatively, the first information is carried in a data transmission request frame.

[0153] In some embodiments, the second information is carried in a Block Acknowledgement (BA) frame, or alternatively, the second information is carried in a data transmission response frame.

[0154] In some embodiments, the AP maintains a channel status table according to the channel state information of one or more channels. The channel status table includes one or more of the following information: link number, channel number, channel bandwidth, whether interfered by OBSS, whether in OBSS coverage, RSSI, OBSSID, STA ID, etc. It is emphasized that the channel status table contains channel state information of all sub-channels detected by the AP and / or non-AP STA, not only the channel state information of the primary channel. Alternatively, the channel status table is also called channel information status table, or OBSS coverage STA information table.

[0155] Step 760: In the case that the received signal strength of the first channel is lower than the first threshold, transmitting or receiving data on the first channel.

[0156] In this application, the first threshold can be considered as a data frame transmission condition. If the received signal strength of a channel is lower than or equal to the first threshold, it indicates that the data transmission on the channel has higher reliability. If the received signal strength of a channel is higher than or equal to the first threshold, it indicates that the channel is not suitable for data transmission, or that the data transmission on the channel has lower reliability. The second threshold can be considered as a control frame / management frame transmission condition, and the second threshold is higher than the first threshold. If the received signal strength of a channel is lower than or equal to the second threshold, it indicates that the control frame / management frame on the channel has higher reliability. If the received signal strength of a channel is higher than or equal to the second threshold, it indicates that the channel is not suitable for control frame / management frame transmission, or that the control frame / management frame transmission on the channel has lower reliability. If the received signal strength of a channel is higher than or equal to the first threshold and lower than or equal to the second threshold, it indicates that the channel is suitable for control frame / management frame transmission, but not suitable for data frame transmission.

[0157] The different transmission conditions are designed for data frames and control frames / management frames because data frames and non-data frames (including control frames and / or management frames) have significant differences in transmission requirements and priorities. In order to ensure transmission reliability, control frames / management frames generally use low-order modulation, such as a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) with a lower index, so that the control frames / management frames have higher tolerance to interference, and data frames generally use higher-order modulation and have lower tolerance to interference. In some interference scenarios, the interference strength may not be conducive to the transmission of data frames, but it will not have a significant negative impact on the transmission of control frames / management frames. Therefore, the present application separately designs transmission conditions for data frames and control frames / management frames, determines the relationship between the received signal strength of the channel and the first threshold and the second threshold, and performs appropriate frame transmission on the channel, so as to make full use of the channel that is not conducive to the transmission of data frames but supports the transmission of control frames / management frames, which helps to improve the communication efficiency and resource utilization in the system and provides a more flexible frame transmission scheme.

[0158] In some embodiments, the first threshold is agreed by a communication protocol, or indicated by an AP, or reported by a non-AP STA.

[0159] In some embodiments, the first threshold is a passive detection clear channel assessment (PD CCA) threshold. The CCA mechanism ensures the reliability of data transmission by detecting whether the wireless channel is idle. Before transmitting data, the wireless device ensures that there is no other device transmitting on the wireless channel based on the CCA mechanism, so as to avoid conflicts and packet loss. Here, several possible CCA threshold values are listed, such as -82 dBm, -62 dBm, -72 dBm, -75 dBm, -78 dBm or lower. In fact, the CCA threshold value can also be other values lower than 0, and all possibilities are not listed here.

[0160] In some embodiments, the second threshold is agreed by a communication protocol, or indicated by an AP, or reported by a non-AP STA.

[0161] In some embodiments, the second threshold is referred to as a passive detection level (PD Level) value, or an OBSS control frame PD Level value. The second threshold is higher than the first threshold and can be any value greater than the first threshold and less than 0.

[0162] In some embodiments, the third threshold is agreed by a communication protocol, or indicated by an AP, or reported by a non-AP STA.

[0163] In some embodiments, the third threshold is referred to as an Energy Detection Clear Channel Assessment (ED CCA) threshold. The third threshold is higher than the second threshold, and can be any value greater than the second threshold and less than 0.

[0164] It is emphasized that both the step 720 and the step 760 are optional steps. The AP can only perform the step 740, or perform the step 720 and the step 740, or perform the step 740 and the step 760, or perform the step 720, the step 740 and the step 760.

[0165] In summary, the method provided by the embodiments of the present application supports the AP to send the first frame based on the channel state information of one or more channels. Since the channel state information of one or more channels can reflect the received signal strength, interference condition and the like of the channel, the AP can determine the transmission quality of the one or more channels, and when the data transmission demand is generated, the AP can timely and flexibly instruct the non-AP STA to switch to a suitable channel to receive and / or send data, so as to ensure that the data transmission between the AP and the non-AP STA has high reliability. In addition, the non-AP STA actively reports the channel state information, or reports the channel state information based on the second frame sent by the AP, which improves the flexibility of obtaining the channel state information.

[0166] FIG. 8 shows a flow diagram of a communication method provided by an example embodiment of the present application, which is performed by a non-AP STA, and includes at least part of the following steps:

[0167] Step 820: receiving a first frame, the first frame being sent based on channel state information of one or more channels, and the first frame being used to instruct the non-AP STA to switch to a specified channel.

[0168] The non-AP STA indicated by the first frame is an associated STA of the AP. The non-AP STA and the AP belong to the same BSS. If combined with the OBSS scenario, it can be further considered that the non-AP STA and the AP belong to the same OBSS.

[0169] The first frame is used to instruct the non-AP STA to switch to the specified channel, which can also be understood as that the first frame is used to instruct the non-AP STA to switch to a specified subchannel, and can also be understood as that the first frame is used to instruct the non-AP STA to switch to a specified subband. For example, the first frame is used to instruct the non-AP STA to switch from a primary channel to a secondary channel. For example, the first frame is used to instruct the non-AP STA to switch from a subchannel within the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA to a subchannel outside the operating bandwidth.

[0170] The designated channel can also be referred to as a target channel, and is at least one of the one or more channels.

[0171] In some embodiments, the first frame is implemented based on the DSO technology, and it can be considered that the sending principle of the first frame is the same as or similar to the basic principle of the DSO technology.

[0172] In summary, the method provided by the embodiments of the present application supports the non-AP STA to switch channels and transceive data based on the first frame. Since the first frame is sent based on the channel state information of the one or more channels, and the channel state information can reflect the signal strength and interference of the channel, it can be considered that the indication of the first frame conforms to the current channel state, and the first frame can timely and flexibly instruct the non-AP STA to switch to a suitable channel, so as to ensure that the communication between the AP and the non-AP STA has high reliability. Moreover, compared with the TWT technology, the method provided by the embodiments of the present application does not require the non-AP STA to remain silent, and does not reduce the communication efficiency and resource utilization in the system. Compared with the NPCA technology, the channel switching process provided by the embodiments of the present application is instructed by the first frame sent by the AP, which avoids that the non-AP STA autonomously switches to any channel without the permission of the AP, and avoids that the AP and the non-AP STA cannot communicate because they are in different channels. Therefore, the method provided by the embodiments of the present application is not limited to a specific use scenario like the NPCA technology.

[0173] In some embodiments, on the basis of the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, step 820 can be further implemented as step 940, as shown in FIG. 9. Optionally, in addition to step 940, the non-AP STA can also perform one or more of the following optional steps: step 920, step 960.

[0174] FIG. 9 shows a flow diagram of a communication method provided by an example embodiment of the present application, which is performed by a non-AP STA, and includes at least part of the following steps:

[0175] Step 920: receiving a second frame, the second frame being used to instruct the first non-AP STA to switch channels and perform channel detection.

[0176] In some embodiments, the second frame is sent in a case where at least one non-AP STA in the BSS of the AP is in the OBSS coverage range.

[0177] In some embodiments, before receiving the second frame, the non-AP STA also sends and / or receives other frames, such as one or more of a beacon frame, a trigger frame, a location reporting frame, etc.

[0178] Exemplarily, before receiving the second frame, the non-AP STA receives a beacon frame, the beacon frame comprising one or more of the following fields: OBSS information, a list of OBSS identifiers, the second threshold, the first threshold, a number of links, link information; wherein the OBSS information field is used to indicate whether the AP is in the OBSS coverage range.

[0179] Exemplarily, before receiving the second frame, the non-AP STA receives a trigger frame, the trigger frame being used to trigger the AP-associated non-AP STA to report whether it is in the OBSS coverage range.

[0180] Exemplarily, before receiving the second frame, the non-AP STA sends a location report frame, the location report frame being used to report whether the AP-associated non-AP STA is in the OBSS coverage range.

[0181] Other related content can refer to step 720, which will not be described here.

[0182] Step 940: receiving a first frame, the first frame being sent based on channel state information of one or more channels, the first frame being used to instruct the non-AP STA to switch to a specified channel and perform data transmission.

[0183] The data transmission performed by the non-AP STA after switching the channel includes uplink data transmission and / or downlink data transmission. That is, the first frame is used to instruct the non-AP STA to switch to a specified channel and send and / or receive data.

[0184] In some embodiments, step 940 can be implemented as step 940a:

[0185] Step 940a: receiving a first frame, the first frame being used to instruct the second non-AP STA to switch to a first channel and send or receive data; wherein the first channel is at least one sub-channel of the one or more sub-channels.

[0186] In some embodiments, the first frame is sent by the AP according to the channel state information reported by the second non-AP STA.

[0187] In some embodiments, the channel state information reported by the second non-AP STA indicates that the received signal strength of the primary channel of the second non-AP STA is higher than the first threshold and lower than the second threshold.

[0188] In some embodiments, the first frame is a channel state information report frame, and the second bit map field of the channel state information field indicates a case where the received signal strength of the primary channel of the second non-AP STA is higher than or equal to a first threshold but lower than a second threshold.

[0189] In some embodiments, the first channel is located outside the operating bandwidth of the second non-AP STA.

[0190] In some embodiments, the first channel is a secondary channel of the one or more sub-channels whose received signal strength is less than or equal to a first threshold.

[0191] In some embodiments, the second non-AP STA is in an OBSS coverage. Optionally, the second non-AP STA is the same as or different from the first non-AP STA. Optionally, the second non-AP STA belongs to or does not belong to the first non-AP STA. Optionally, the second non-AP STA is self-reporting channel state information, or is reporting channel state information based on the second frame.

[0192] In some embodiments, the step 940 can be implemented as a step 940b:

[0193] The step 940b: receiving a first frame, the first frame being used to indicate that the AP and the third non-AP STA are both switched to a first channel and indicate the third non-AP STA to transmit or receive data; wherein the first channel is at least one secondary channel of the one or more sub-channels.

[0194] In some embodiments, the first frame is sent by the AP in a case where the received signal strength of the primary channel of the AP is higher than or equal to a first threshold but lower than a second threshold.

[0195] In some embodiments, the first channel is located outside the operating bandwidth of the third non-AP STA.

[0196] In some embodiments, the AP is in an OBSS coverage.

[0197] In some embodiments, the first channel is a secondary channel of the one or more sub-channels whose received signal strength is less than or equal to a first threshold.

[0198] In some embodiments, the step 940 can be implemented as a step 940c:

[0199] The step 940c: receiving a first frame, the first frame being used to indicate the third non-AP STA to switch to a first channel and transmit or receive data; wherein the first channel is at least one secondary channel of the one or more sub-channels.

[0200] In some embodiments, the first frame is transmitted by the AP when the received signal strength of the primary channel of the AP is higher than or equal to a first threshold and lower than a second threshold.

[0201] In some embodiments, the first channel is outside the operating bandwidth of the third non-AP STA.

[0202] In some embodiments, the first channel is a secondary channel of the one or more sub-channels whose received signal strength is less than or equal to a first threshold.

[0203] In some embodiments, the AP is in the OBSS coverage.

[0204] In some embodiments, before receiving the first frame, the non-AP STA also transmits and / or receives other frames, such as the frame carrying the first information and / or the frame carrying the second information.

[0205] For example, before receiving the first frame, the non-AP STA transmits the first information and receives the second information. Alternatively, before receiving the first frame, the non-AP STA receives the first information and transmits the second information.

[0206] For more details, please refer to step 740.

[0207] Step 960: Transmit or receive data on the first channel when the received signal strength of the first channel is lower than the first threshold.

[0208] For more details of the first threshold, the second threshold, and the third threshold, please refer to step 760.

[0209] It should be emphasized that both step 920 and step 960 are optional steps. The non-AP STA can only perform step 940, or perform step 920 and step 940, or perform step 940 and step 960, or perform step 920, step 940, and step 960.

[0210] In summary, the method provided by the embodiments of the present application supports the non-AP STA to switch channels and transceive data based on the first frame. Since the first frame is sent based on the channel state information of one or more channels, and the channel state information can reflect the received signal strength, interference condition and the like of the channel, it can be considered that the indication of the first frame conforms to the current channel state. The first frame can timely and flexibly instruct the non-AP STA to switch to a suitable channel to receive and / or send data, so as to ensure that the data transmission between the AP and the non-AP STA has high reliability. In addition, the non-AP STA actively reports the channel state information, or reports the channel state information based on the second frame sent by the AP, which improves the flexibility of obtaining the channel state information.

[0211] Further, on the basis of the embodiments shown in FIG. 7 and / or FIG. 9, the present application further provides a flowchart of a communication method, which is executed by the AP and the non-AP STA, as shown in FIG. 10. The method further includes at least part of the following steps:

[0212] Step 1001: The AP sends a beacon frame, and the beacon frame carries indication information of whether the AP is in the OBSS coverage range.

[0213] In some embodiments, the beacon frame is broadcasted by the AP.

[0214] In some embodiments, the beacon frame includes one or more of the following fields: OBSS information, an OBSS identifier list, a second threshold value, a first threshold value, a link quantity, and link information; wherein the OBSS information field is used to indicate whether the AP is in the OBSS coverage range.

[0215] In some embodiments, the link information field includes one or more of the following subfields: a link identifier, a channel quantity, a channel identifier, an OBSS detection result, and a received signal strength; wherein the OBSS detection result is used to indicate whether there is OBSS interference in the channel.

[0216] Figure 11 shows a format of a beacon frame according to an example embodiment of the present application. The numbers below the fields represent the number of bytes or bits that the fields can occupy. The beacon frame includes one or more of the following fields: Frame Control, Duration, Destination Address (DA), Source Address (SA), BSS Identifier (BSSID), Sequence Control (Seqctl), Frame Body, Frame Check Sequence (FCS). The Frame Control field, the Duration field, and the Seqctl field can each occupy 2 bytes (octets), the DA field, the SA field, and the BSSID field can each occupy 6 bytes, the FCS field can occupy 4 bytes, and the Frame Body field can occupy a variable number of bytes.

[0217] The Frame Body field includes one or more of the following fields: Timestamp, Beacon Interval, Capability Information (Capability Info), Service Set Identifier (SSID), Supported Rates, Interference Info. The Timestamp field can occupy 8 bytes, the Beacon Interval field and the Capability Info field can each occupy 2 bytes, the SSID field, the Supported Rates field, and the Interference Info field can each occupy a variable number of bytes.

[0218] The Interference Info field includes one or more of the following subfields: OBSS Info, OBSS ID List, second threshold, first threshold, Number of Link, Link Info. Optionally, the second threshold can be referred to as OBSS Control frame PD level, and the first threshold can be referred to as CCA threshold. Of course, the second threshold and the first threshold can also be referred to as other names, which are not limited in the present application. The OBSS Info field can occupy 1 bit, the second threshold and the first threshold can each occupy 8 bits, the Number of Link field can occupy 4 bits, and the OBSSID List field and the Link Info field can each occupy a variable number of bits.

[0219] The OBSS Info subfield indicates whether the AP is located in the OBSS coverage. When the OBSS Info subfield is a first value, it indicates that the AP is located in the OBSS coverage, and when the OBSS Info subfield is a second value, it indicates that the AP is not located in the OBSS coverage. The first value is different from the second value. For example, the first value is 0, and the second value is 1; or the first value is 1, and the second value is 0. Of course, the first value and the second value can also be other values other than 0 or 1, which are not limited in the present application.

[0220] The OBSSID List subfield indicates a list of BSSIDs detected by the AP through the BSS coloring mechanism. Since the number of OBSSs in the environment where the AP is located is different, the length of the BSSID list is variable. The OBSSID List subfield includes n BSSID subfields, and n is an integer greater than or equal to 1. Each BSSID subfield occupies 48 bits.

[0221] The second threshold subfield and the first threshold subfield are respectively used to indicate the second threshold and the first threshold. The AP informs the associated non-AP STA of the second threshold and the first threshold through the two subfields, so that the associated non-AP STA sets the first threshold and the second threshold in the device.

[0222] The link number subfield indicates the number of links. The interference information field includes one or more Link Info subfields, and each Link Info subfield is used to indicate the information of each link. The Link Info subfield includes one or more of the following subfields: link identification (Link ID), number of channels (Number of Channel), and channel information (Channel Info). The Link ID occupies 4 bits, the number of channels occupies 3 bits, and the Channel Info occupies 12 bits.

[0223] The Link ID subfield is used to indicate the link number or link index. When the value of the Link ID subfield is 0, it indicates a single link; when the value of the Link ID subfield is an integer greater than 0, it indicates multiple links. For example, the value of the Link ID subfield is 1-15, which can be used to indicate the link number or link index of 1-15 links. Of course, the value of the Link ID subfield can also be an integer greater than 15, which is not limited in the present application.

[0224] The channel number subfield indicates the number of channels included in the link indicated by the Link ID subfield. The Link Info subfield includes one or more Channel Info subfields, each of which is used to indicate information of a respective channel. The Channel Info subfield includes one or more of the following subfields: Channel ID, OBSS detection result, received signal strength. The Channel ID occupies 3 bits, the OBSS detection result occupies 1 bit, and the received signal strength occupies 8 bits.

[0225] The Channel ID subfield is used to indicate the subchannel number under the link. The OBSS detection result subfield is used to indicate the OBSS detection result of the channel indicated by the Channel ID subfield by the AP. When the OBSS detection result subfield is a first value, it indicates that there is OBSS interference on the channel. When the OBSS detection result subfield is a second value, it indicates that there is no OBSS interference on the channel. The first value is different from the second value. For example, the first value is 0 and the second value is 1; or the first value is 1 and the second value is 0. Of course, the first value and the second value can also be other values other than 0 or 1, which are not limited in the present application. The received signal strength subfield is used to indicate the received signal strength of the channel indicated by the Channel ID subfield detected by the AP, which can be represented by RSSI, or received signal strength level, or RSRP, or RSRQ, or SINR, or SNR, etc.

[0226] Step 1002: The AP sends a trigger frame, which is used to trigger the non-AP STA associated with the AP to report whether it is in the OBSS coverage range.

[0227] In some embodiments, the trigger frame at least includes a position OBSS information field, which is used to indicate whether the non-AP STA associated with the AP reports itself in the OBSS coverage range.

[0228] In some embodiments, the trigger frame is a location reporting trigger frame (Location Reporting Trigger Frame) or a BQRP trigger frame.

[0229] Fig. 12 shows a format of a trigger frame according to an example embodiment of the present application, where the numbers below the fields represent the number of bytes or bits that the field can occupy. The trigger frame includes one or more of the following fields: Frame Control, Duration, Receiver Address (RA), Transmitter Address (TA), Common Info, User Info List, Padding, FCS. The Frame Control field and the Duration field each occupy 2 octets, the RA field and the TA field each occupy 6 octets, the FCS field occupies 4 octets, the Common Info field occupies 8 or more octets, and the User Info List field and the Padding field each occupy a variable number of octets.

[0230] The User Info List field includes one or more of the following subfields: Association Identifier (AID) 12, Resourece Unit (RU) Allocation, Uplink Forward Error Correction Coding Type (UL FEC Coding Type), Uplink High Efficiency MCS (UL HE-MCS), Uplink Dual Carrier Modulation (UL DCM), Service Set Allocation (SS Allocation) / Radom Access-RU Information (RA-RU Information), Uplink Target Receive Power, Location OBSS Info. The AID 12 occupies 12 bits, the RU Allocation occupies 8 bits, the UL Target Receive Power occupies 7 bits, the SS Allocation / RA-RU Information occupies 6 bits, the UL HE-MCS occupies 4 bits, and the UL FEC Coding Type, the UL DCM, the Location OBSS Info each occupies 1 bit.

[0231] The Location OBSS Info subfield is used to indicate whether the AP-associated non-AP STA reports the OBSS information of the location where the non-AP STA is located. If the value of the Location OBSS Info subfield is a first value, it indicates that the AP-associated non-AP STA is required to report the OBSS information of the location where the non-AP STA is located. If the value of the Location OBSS Info subfield is a value other than the first value, the subfield is meaningless. The first value is 0 or 1 or any other positive integer. For example, when the value of the Location OBSS Info subfield is 1, it indicates that the AP-associated non-AP STA reports the OBSS information of the location where the non-AP STA is located, and when the value of the Location OBSS Info subfield is 0, the subfield is meaningless.

[0232] Step 1003: The AP-associated non-AP STA sends a location reporting frame, and the location reporting frame is used to report whether the AP-associated non-AP STA is in the OBSS coverage range.

[0233] In some embodiments, the location reporting frame includes at least a location reporting element, and the location reporting element includes one or more of the following fields: an OBSS detection result, an OBSS identifier list; wherein the OBSS detection result field is used to indicate whether the non-AP STA is in the OBSS coverage range; and the OBSS identifier list field is used to indicate the BSSs listened to by the non-AP STA.

[0234] FIG. 13 shows a format diagram of a location reporting frame according to an example embodiment of the present application, and the numbers below each field represent the number of bytes or bits that the field may occupy. The location reporting frame includes one or more of the following fields: a media access control (MAC) header, a frame body, and a FCS. The frame body includes one or more of the following fields: a category, an action, a dialog token, and a location reporting element, and each field included in the frame body occupies 1 octet.

[0235] The location reporting element includes the location information of the non-AP STA. The location reporting element includes one or more of the following fields: an OBSS detection result and an OBSS identifier list.

[0236] The OBSS detection result subfield occupies 1 bit. The OBSS detection result subfield is used to indicate the OBSS result detected by the non-AP STA according to the BSS Coloring mechanism. When the OBSS detection result subfield is a first value, it indicates that the non-AP STA is in the OBSS coverage range. When the OBSS detection result subfield is a second value, it indicates that the non-AP STA is not in the OBSS coverage range. The first value is different from the second value. For example, the first value is 0, and the second value is 1; or the first value is 1, and the second value is 0. Of course, the first value and the second value can also be other values other than 0 or 1, which are not limited in the present application.

[0237] The number of bits occupied by the OBSSID List subfield is variable. The OBSSID List subfield is used to indicate the BSS list detected by the non-AP STA according to the BSS Coloring mechanism. The OBSSID List subfield includes n BSSID subfields, referred to as BSS1 ID to BSSn ID, and n is an integer greater than or equal to 1. Each BSSID subfield occupies 48 bits.

[0238] Step 1004a: The AP sends a second frame, and the second frame is used to instruct the non-AP STA to switch channels and perform channel detection.

[0239] In some embodiments, the second frame is sent in a case where at least one non-AP STA in the BSS where the AP is located is in the OBSS coverage range.

[0240] In some embodiments, the second frame carries sub-band switching information, and the sub-band switching information includes one or more of the following fields: a mode field, used to indicate a sub-band switching mode; a STA number field, used to indicate the number of non-AP STAs that need to switch channels; and a STA information field, used to indicate the information of the non-AP STAs that need to switch channels.

[0241] In some embodiments, the STA information field includes one or more of the following subfields: STA identification, link number, link identification, switching channel bit map, channel identification, channel bandwidth, switching time, and waiting time. The switching time is used to indicate the time of staying in the channel for channel detection or data transmission after switching to the channel. The waiting time is used to indicate the time of staying in the secondary channel after the channel detection ends.

[0242] In some embodiments, the second frame is referred to as a subband switch control frame, or a sub-channel switch control frame, or a DSO control frame, or a DSO mode notification frame. Of course, the second frame can also be referred to as other names, and the specific name is not limited in the present application.

[0243] FIG. 14 shows a format of the second frame according to an example embodiment of the present application. The numbers below the fields represent the number of bytes or bits that can be occupied. The second frame includes one or more of the following fields: frame control, duration, RA, TA, subband switch info, FCS. The frame control field and the duration field each occupy 2 octets, the RA field and the TA field each occupy 6 octets, and the subband switch info field occupies a variable number of bytes.

[0244] The subband switch info field includes information required by the AP to instruct the non-AP STA to switch channels and perform channel detection. The subband switch info field includes one or more of the following subfields: mode, number of STA, STA info.

[0245] The mode subfield occupies 2 bits and is used to indicate the subband switching mode / sub-channel switching mode. Different values of the mode subfield represent different subband switching modes: if the value of the mode subfield is a third value, it represents subband switching mode 1; if the value of the mode subfield is a fourth value, it represents subband switching mode 2; if the value of the mode subfield is a fifth value, it represents subband switching mode 3. Since the second frame is used to instruct switching channels and detecting channels, the mode subfield included in the second frame should be the third value, representing subband switching mode 1.

[0246] The third value, the fourth value, and the fifth value are different. For example, the third value is 00, the fourth value is 01, and the fifth value is 11; or the third value is 01, the fourth value is 10, and the fifth value is 11; or the third value is 01, the fourth value is 10, and the fifth value is 00; or the third value is 00, the fourth value is 10, and the fifth value is 11; or the third value is 00, the fourth value is 10, and the fifth value is 11; and so on. This list is not exhaustive, and the third value, the fourth value, and the fifth value can be any two-bit value that is different from each other.

[0247] In the embodiments of the present application, the sub-band switching mode 1 indicates that the non-AP STA switches the channel and performs channel detection, the sub-band switching mode 2 indicates that the non-AP STA switches the channel and performs data transmission, and the sub-band switching mode 3 indicates that the AP and the non-AP STA both switch to the same channel and perform data transmission. The content related to the sub-band switching mode is described below, and reference can be made to the description herein.

[0248] The STA number sub-field indicates the number of non-AP STAs that need to switch the channel, and occupies 4 bits.

[0249] The STA information sub-field contains the information of the non-AP STA that needs to switch the channel, and the number of bits occupied is variable. The STA information sub-field includes one or more of the following sub-fields: STA ID, number of links, and link information.

[0250] The STA ID sub-field occupies 4 bits and is used to indicate the identification or number of the STA. The STA is numbered based on the order of association with the AP, for example, the first associated STA is numbered 0, the second associated STA is numbered 1, and so on. The number of links sub-field indicates the number of all to-be-switched links, and occupies 4 bits. If the value of the number of links sub-field is 0, it indicates a single link, and the number of to-be-switched links is 0. If the value of the number of links sub-field is greater than 0, it indicates the number of to-be-switched links in a multi-link scenario, for example, the value of the number of links sub-field is x (x>1), which indicates a multi-link scenario and the number of to-be-switched links is x.

[0251] The STA information sub-field can include one or more link information sub-fields. The link information sub-field indicates the specific information of each to-be-switched link, and includes one or more of the following sub-fields: Link ID, switch channel bitmap, and switch channel information.

[0252] The Link ID sub-field indicates the switching link number, and occupies 4 bits. When the value of the Link ID sub-field is 0-15, it can be used to indicate the link number or link index of 1 to 16 links. Of course, the value of the Link ID sub-field can also be an integer greater than 15, which is not limited in the present application.

[0253] Switch Channel Bitmap subfield indicates the channels that need to be switched, occupying 8 bits. Each bit corresponds to a 20MHz subchannel in the operating channel bandwidth of the BSS where the STA is located, and the LSB corresponds to the lowest numbered subchannel in the BSS. When the X bit is set to 1, it indicates that the subchannel X+1 needs to be switched, otherwise, when the X bit is set to 0, it indicates that the subchannel X+1 does not need to be switched. The channels indicated by the Switch Channel Bitmap subfield include: channels within the operating channel bandwidth of the target STA, and / or channels outside the operating channel bandwidth of the target STA.

[0254] The Switch Channel Info subfield provides all relevant information of a subchannel to be switched, occupying 38 bits. The Channel ID subfield is the channel number of a 20MHz subchannel in the operating channel bandwidth of the BSS where the STA is located, which corresponds to the Switch Channel Bitmap, and the value X corresponds to the X bit of the Switch Channel Bitmap. The Bandwidth subfield is the bandwidth of the switched channel. The Switch Time subfield indicates the time for switching to the channel to stay for channel detection or data transmission, in units of microseconds. The Wait Time subfield indicates whether the non-AP STA directly switches back to the main channel after transmission, in units of microseconds. If the value of the Wait Time subfield is 0, it indicates that the non-AP STA returns to the main channel immediately after transmission, and if the value of the Wait Time subfield is greater than 0, it indicates that the non-AP STA waits for the corresponding time before returning to the main channel after transmission.

[0255] FIG. 15 shows a format diagram of a second frame according to an example embodiment of the present application. The numbers below each field represent the number of bytes or bits that can be occupied. The second frame includes one or more of the following fields: frame control, duration, RA, TA, subband switch information (Subband Switch Info), and FCS. The frame control field and the duration field each occupy 2 octets, the RA field and the TA field each occupy 6 octets, and the Subband Switch Info field occupies a variable number of bytes.

[0256] The Subband Switch Info field includes information that the AP indicates to the non-AP STA for channel switching and channel detection. The Subband Switch Info field includes one or more of the following subfields: mode (Mode), number of STAs (Number of STA), and STA information (STA Info).

[0257] The mode subfield occupies 2 bits, and is used to indicate the subband switching mode / subchannel switching mode. Different values of the mode subfield represent different subband switching modes: if the value of the mode subfield is a third value, it represents subband switching mode 1; if the value of the mode subfield is a fourth value, it represents subband switching mode 2; if the value of the mode subfield is a fifth value, it represents subband switching mode 3. Since the second frame is used to indicate the switched channel and detect the channel, the mode subfield contained in the second frame should be the third value, representing subband switching mode 1.

[0258] The third value, the fourth value and the fifth value are different. For example, the third value is 00, the fourth value is 01, and the fifth value is 11; or the third value is 01, the fourth value is 10, and the fifth value is 11; or the third value is 01, the fourth value is 10, and the fifth value is 00; or the third value is 00, the fourth value is 10, and the fifth value is 11; or the third value is 00, the fourth value is 10, and the fifth value is 11; and so on. All possible values are not listed here. The third value, the fourth value and the fifth value can be any two-bit value different from each other.

[0259] The STA number subfield represents the number of non-AP STAs that need to switch channels, and occupies 4 bits.

[0260] The STA information subfield contains the information of the non-AP STAs that need to switch channels, and the number of bits occupied is variable. The STA information subfield includes one or more of the following subfields: STA ID, Switch Channel Bitmap, and Switch Channel Info.

[0261] The STA ID subfield occupies 4 bits, and is used to indicate the identification or number of the STA. The STAs are numbered based on the order of association with the AP, for example, the first associated STA is numbered 0, the second associated STA is numbered 1, and so on. The number of links subfield represents the number of all links to be switched, and occupies 4 bits. If the value of the number of links subfield is 0, it represents a single link, and the number of links to be switched is 0. If the value of the number of links subfield is greater than 0, it represents the number of links to be switched in a multi-link scenario, for example, the value of the number of links subfield is x (x>1), which represents a multi-link scenario, and the number of links to be switched is x.

[0262] Switch Channel Bitmap subfield indicates the channels to be switched, occupying 8 bits. Each bit corresponds to a 20MHz subchannel in the operating channel bandwidth of the BSS where the STA is located, and the LSB corresponds to the lowest numbered subchannel in the BSS. When the X bit is set to 1, it indicates that the subchannel X+1 needs to be switched; otherwise, when the X bit is set to 0, it indicates that the subchannel X+1 does not need to be switched. The channels indicated by the Switch Channel Bitmap subfield include: channels within the operating channel bandwidth of the target STA, and / or channels outside the operating channel bandwidth of the target STA.

[0263] The Switch Channel Info subfield provides all relevant information of a subchannel to be switched, occupying 38 bits. The Channel ID subfield is the channel number of a 20MHz subchannel in the operating channel bandwidth of the BSS where the STA is located, which corresponds to the Switch Channel Bitmap, and the value X corresponds to the X bit of the Switch Channel Bitmap. The Bandwidth subfield is the bandwidth of the switched channel. The Switch Time subfield indicates the time to switch to the channel to stay for channel detection or data transmission, in units of microseconds. The Wait Time subfield indicates whether the non-AP STA directly switches back to the main channel after transmission, in units of microseconds. If the value of the Wait Time subfield is 0, it indicates that the non-AP STA returns to the main channel immediately after transmission; if the value of the Wait Time subfield is greater than 0, it indicates that the non-AP STA waits for the corresponding time before returning to the main channel after transmission.

[0264] Step 1005a: The non-AP STA associated with the AP sends an ACK frame.

[0265] Optionally, after receiving the second frame, the non-AP STA feeds back an ACK frame to the AP, indicating that the non-AP STA successfully receives the second frame.

[0266] Step 1004b: The AP sends a channel information trigger frame.

[0267] The channel information trigger frame (Channel Information Trigger Frame) is used to trigger the non-AP STA to report the channel state information of the subchannels detected by the non-AP STA.

[0268] Fig. 16 shows a format of a channel information trigger frame according to an example embodiment of the present application, wherein the numbers below the respective fields represent the number of bytes or bits that can be occupied by the fields. The channel information trigger frame includes one or more of the following fields: Frame Control, Duration, RA, TA, Common Info, User Info List, Padding, FCS. The Frame Control field and the Duration field each occupy 2 octets, the RA field and the TA field each occupy 6 octets, the FCS field occupies 4 octets, the Common Info field occupies 8 or more octets, and the User Info List field and the Padding field each occupy a variable number of octets.

[0269] The User Info List field includes one or more of the following subfields: Association Identifier (AID) 12, Resourece Unit (RU) Allocation, Uplink Forward Error Correction Coding Type (UL FEC Coding Type), Uplink High Efficiency MCS (UL HE-MCS), Uplink Dual Carrier Modulation (UL DCM), Service Set Allocation (SS Allocation) / Radom Access-RU Information (RA-RU Information), Uplink Target Receive Power, Channel State Info. The AID 12 occupies 12 bits, the RU Allocation occupies 8 bits, the UL Target Receive Power occupies 7 bits, the SS Allocation / RA-RU Information occupies 6 bits, the UL HE-MCS occupies 4 bits, and the UL FEC Coding Type, the UL DCM, and the Channel State Info each occupies 1 bit.

[0270] The Channel State Info subfield is used to indicate whether the AP-associated non-AP STA reports the channel state information detected by the non-AP STA. If the value of the Channel State Info subfield is a first value, it indicates that the AP-associated non-AP STA is required to report the channel state information detected by the non-AP STA. If the value of the Channel State Info subfield is a value other than the first value, the subfield is meaningless. The first value is 0 or 1 or any other positive integer. For example, when the value of the Channel State Info subfield is 1, it indicates that the AP-associated non-AP STA reports the channel state information detected by the non-AP STA, and when the value of the Channel State Info subfield is 0, the subfield is meaningless.

[0271] Step 1005b: The non-AP STA located in the OBSS coverage range actively switches channels and performs channel detection.

[0272] In some embodiments, without the indication or trigger of the AP, the non-AP STA actively switches channels and performs channel detection.

[0273] Step 1006: The non-AP STA sends the channel state information of one or more channels.

[0274] In some embodiments, after step 1004a is performed, step 1006 is performed. Alternatively, after step 1004a is performed, step 1005a is performed, and then step 1006 is performed. Alternatively, after step 1004b is performed, step 1006 is performed. Alternatively, after step 1004b is performed, step 1005b is performed, and then step 1006 is performed. That is, the channel state information of one or more channels is actively detected and reported by the non-AP STA; or the channel state information of one or more channels is indicated / triggered by the AP for the non-AP STA to detect and report.

[0275] In some embodiments, the channel state information of one or more channels is carried in a Channel Information Reporting Frame, or in a BQR frame, or in a control field in a data frame.

[0276] Figure 17 shows a frame format carrying channel state information according to an example embodiment of the present application. The numbers below the fields represent the number of bytes or bits that the fields can occupy. The frame body includes one or more of the following fields: Category, Action, Dialog Token, Channel State Info, OBSSID List, Channel State Info and OBSS ID List. The number of bytes occupied by Channel State Info and OBSS ID List is variable, and the rest of the fields each occupy 1 octet. In addition to the frame body, a MAC Header and / or FCS can also be included.

[0277] The Channel State Info field carries channel state information of the channels contained in the single link, and includes one or more of the following subfields: first bit bitmap, second bit bitmap, third bit bitmap, Channel OBSS Interence Info.

[0278] In some embodiments, the first bit bitmap field is used to indicate channels with a received signal strength lower than a first threshold, and the second bit bitmap field is used to indicate channels with a received signal strength higher than or equal to the first threshold but lower than a second threshold. The third threshold is higher than the second threshold, and the second threshold is higher than the first threshold.

[0279] The first bitmap field occupies 8 bits, and is used to indicate the channels whose received signal strength is lower than the first threshold, i.e., to indicate the channels that meet the data frame transmission condition, i.e., to indicate the channels that can be used for data transmission. Each bit in the first bitmap field respectively corresponds to one subchannel within the operating channel bandwidth of the BSS to which the non-AP STA is associated, and can include subchannels within the operating channel bandwidth of the non-AP STA or subchannels outside the operating channel bandwidth of the non-AP STA. The bandwidths of the subchannels corresponding to the respective bits can be the same or different. Embodiments of the present application take as an example that the bandwidths of the subchannels corresponding to the respective bits are all 20 MHz. In fact, the bandwidths can also be other sizes, such as 40 MHz, 60 MHz, 80 MHz, etc. The least significant bit (LSB) in the first bitmap field corresponds to the lowest-numbered 20 MHz subchannel in the BSS, and the most significant bit (MSB) corresponds to the highest-numbered 20 MHz subchannel in the BSS. If the value of the Xth bit in the first bitmap field is a first value, it indicates that the subchannel corresponding to the Xth bit (such as subchannel number X or X+1) can be used for data transmission, i.e., the received signal strength of the subchannel corresponding to the Xth bit is lower than the first threshold. If the value of the Xth bit in the first bitmap field is a second value, it indicates that the subchannel corresponding to the Xth bit cannot be used for data transmission, i.e., the received signal strength of the subchannel corresponding to the Xth bit is higher than or equal to the first threshold. The first value and the second value are different. For example, the first value is 0 and the second value is 1; or the first value is 1 and the second value is 0. Of course, the first value and the second value can also be other values than 0 or 1, which are not limited in the present application.

[0280] Optionally, the first bitmap field is also referred to as a data transmission channel bitmap (Data Transmission Channel Bitmap) field or a data channel bitmap (Data Channel Bitmap) field. The specific name of the first bitmap field is not limited in the present application.

[0281] The second bitmap field occupies 8 bits, and is used to indicate the channel whose received signal strength is higher than or equal to the first threshold but lower than the second threshold, that is, to indicate the channel satisfying the control frame / management frame transmission condition, that is, to indicate the channel available for control frame / management frame transmission. Each bit in the second bitmap field respectively corresponds to one subchannel within the operating channel bandwidth of the BSS associated with the non-AP STA, and can include the subchannel within the operating channel bandwidth of the non-AP STA or the subchannel outside the operating channel bandwidth of the non-AP STA. The bandwidth of the subchannel corresponding to each bit can be the same or different. The embodiments of the present application take the bandwidth of the subchannel corresponding to each bit as 20MHz for example. In fact, it can also be other bandwidth sizes, such as 40MHz, 60MHz, 80MHz, etc. The LSB in the second bitmap field corresponds to the lowest numbered 20MHz subchannel in the BSS, and the MSB corresponds to the highest numbered 20MHz subchannel in the BSS. If the value of the X bit in the second bitmap field is the first value, it indicates that the subchannel (such as subchannel number X or X+1) corresponding to the X bit is available for control frame / management frame transmission, that is, the received signal strength of the subchannel corresponding to the X bit is lower than the second threshold. If the value of the X bit in the second bitmap field is the second value, it indicates that the subchannel corresponding to the X bit is not available for control frame / management frame transmission, that is, the received signal strength of the subchannel corresponding to the X bit is higher than or equal to the second threshold. The first value and the second value are different. For example, the first value is 0 and the second value is 1; or the first value is 1 and the second value is 0. Of course, the first value and the second value can also be other values than 0 or 1, which are not limited in the present application.

[0282] Optionally, the second bitmap field is also called Channel Low OBSS PD Level Bitmap subfield, or Control / Management Channel Bitmap subfield, or Control / Management Frame Transmission Channel Bitmap subfield. The specific name of the second bitmap field is not limited in the present application.

[0283] The third bitmap field occupies 8 bits, and is used to indicate the channel whose received signal strength is lower than the third threshold. Each bit in the third bitmap corresponds to a 20MHz subchannel in the operating channel bandwidth of the BSS associated with the non-AP STA respectively, and the LSB corresponds to the lowest numbered subchannel of the BSS. When the Xth bit is set to 1, it indicates that the subchannel X+1 is idle, otherwise, when the Xth bit is set to 0, it indicates that the subchannel X+1 is unavailable. Alternatively, when the Xth bit is set to 0, it indicates that the subchannel X+1 is idle, otherwise, when the Xth bit is set to 1, it indicates that the subchannel X+1 is unavailable. The availability of the channel is determined based on the third threshold, and the channel includes the channel within the operating channel bandwidth of the corresponding STA and the channel outside the operating channel bandwidth of the corresponding STA. In addition, the third bitmap can include the subchannel within the operating channel bandwidth of the non-AP STA or the subchannel outside the operating channel bandwidth of the non-AP STA.

[0284] Optionally, the third bitmap field is also referred to as an available channel bitmap field. The specific name of the third bitmap field is not limited in the present application.

[0285] The Channel State Info field includes one or more Channel OBSS Interference Info subfields. One Channel OBSS Interference Info subfield occupies 32 bits, and is used to indicate the OBSS interference information of a channel in the BSS, including one or more of the following subfields: Channel ID, interference situation, RSSI, and NAV.

[0286] The Channel ID subfield occupies 3 bits, and is used to indicate the channel number of a 20MHz subchannel in the operating channel bandwidth of the BSS associated with the STA. The channel number indicated by the Channel ID subfield corresponds to the channel and bit in the first bitmap field, the second bitmap field, and the third bitmap field, for example, when the value of the Channel ID subfield is X, it corresponds to the Xth bit in the first bitmap field / the second bitmap field / the third bitmap field, or when the value of the Channel ID subfield is X, it corresponds to the X+1th bit in the first bitmap field / the second bitmap field / the third bitmap field.

[0287] The interference status subfield occupies 1 bit, and is used to indicate whether there is OBSS interference in the channel. If the value of the interference status subfield is a first value, it indicates that there is OBSS interference in the channel; if the value of the interference status subfield is a second value, it indicates that there is no OBSS interference in the channel. The first value is different from the second value. For example, the first value is 0, and the second value is 1; or the first value is 1, and the second value is 0. Of course, the first value and the second value can also be other values other than 0 or 1, which are not limited in the present application.

[0288] The RSSI subfield reports the received signal strength detected by the non-AP STA on the channel, and occupies 8 bits.

[0289] The NAV subfield occupies 20 bits, and is used to indicate the time currently needed to wait for the channel. If the value of the NAV subfield is 0, it indicates that the channel is idle and can be occupied for transmission; if the value of the NAV subfield is not 0, it indicates that the channel is busy and cannot be occupied for transmission.

[0290] The OBSSID List indicates the BSSID list detected by the non-AP STA on the channel through the BSS Coloring mechanism, and includes n BSS ID subfields, each of which occupies 48 bits.

[0291] FIG. 18 shows a frame format carrying channel state information according to an example embodiment of the present application. The numbers below each field represent the number of bytes or bits that can be occupied. The frame body includes one or more of the following fields: Category, Action, Dialog Token, Link State Info, and the Link State Info occupies a variable number of bytes. The remaining fields each occupy 1 octet. In addition to the frame body, a MAC Header and / or FCS can also be included.

[0292] The Link State Info field carries channel state information of all channels detected by the non-AP STA in a multi-link scenario. It includes one or more of the following subfields: Number of Link, Link Info.

[0293] The Number of Link subfield occupies 4 bits, and is used to indicate the number of links detected by the non-AP STA. For example, when the value of the Number of Link subfield is 0-15, it can represent 1-16 links.

[0294] The Link State Info field includes one or more Link Info subfields. Each Link Info subfield is used to indicate information of a link, including one or more of the following subfields: Link ID, Channel State Info, OBSSID List.

[0295] The Channel State Info subfield carries information of the channel indicated by the Link ID, including one or more of the following subfields: first bit map, second bit map, third bit map, Channel OBSS Interence Info.

[0296] The first bit map field occupies 8 bits, and is used to indicate channels whose received signal strength is lower than a first threshold, i.e., to indicate channels that satisfy the data frame transmission condition, i.e., to indicate channels that can be used for data transmission. Each bit in the first bit map field corresponds to a subchannel within the operating channel bandwidth of the BSS to which the non-AP STA is associated, and can include subchannels within the operating channel bandwidth of the non-AP STA or subchannels outside the operating channel bandwidth of the non-AP STA. The bandwidths of the subchannels corresponding to the bits can be the same or different. In the embodiments of the present application, the bandwidths of the subchannels corresponding to the bits are all 20 MHz, and in practice, can also be other bandwidth sizes, such as 40 MHz, 60 MHz, 80 MHz, etc. The least significant bit (LSB) in the first bit map field corresponds to the lowest-numbered 20 MHz subchannel in the BSS, and the most significant bit (MSB) corresponds to the highest-numbered 20 MHz subchannel in the BSS. If the value of the Xth bit in the first bit map field is a first value, it indicates that the subchannel corresponding to the Xth bit (such as subchannel number X or X+1) can be used for data transmission, i.e., the received signal strength of the subchannel corresponding to the Xth bit is lower than the first threshold; if the value of the Xth bit in the first bit map field is a second value, it indicates that the subchannel corresponding to the Xth bit cannot be used for data transmission, i.e., the received signal strength of the subchannel corresponding to the Xth bit is higher than or equal to the first threshold. The first value and the second value are different. For example, the first value is 0 and the second value is 1; or the first value is 1 and the second value is 0. Of course, the first value and the second value can also be other values than 0 or 1, which are not limited in the present application.

[0297] Optionally, the first bitmap field is also referred to as a data transmission channel bitmap (Data Transmission Channel Bitmap) field, or a data channel bitmap (Data Channel Bitmap) field. The specific name of the first bitmap field is not limited in the present application.

[0298] The second bitmap field occupies 8 bits, and is used to indicate a channel whose received signal strength is higher than or equal to a first threshold but lower than a second threshold, i.e., to indicate a channel satisfying a control frame / management frame transmission condition, i.e., to indicate a channel available for control frame / management frame transmission. Each bit in the second bitmap field corresponds to a subchannel within the operating channel bandwidth of the BSS associated with the non-AP STA, and can include a subchannel within the operating channel bandwidth of the non-AP STA or a subchannel outside the operating channel bandwidth of the non-AP STA. The bandwidths of the subchannels corresponding to the respective bits can be the same or different. In the embodiments of the present application, the bandwidths of the subchannels corresponding to the respective bits are all 20 MHz. In fact, the bandwidths can also be other sizes, such as 40 MHz, 60 MHz, 80 MHz, etc. The LSB in the second bitmap field corresponds to a 20 MHz subchannel with the lowest number in the BSS, and the MSB corresponds to a 20 MHz subchannel with the highest number in the BSS. If the value of the Xth bit in the second bitmap field is a first value, it indicates that the subchannel corresponding to the Xth bit (such as a subchannel with number X or X+1) is available for control frame / management frame transmission, i.e., the received signal strength of the subchannel corresponding to the Xth bit is lower than the second threshold. If the value of the Xth bit in the second bitmap field is a second value, it indicates that the subchannel corresponding to the Xth bit is not available for control frame / management frame transmission, i.e., the received signal strength of the subchannel corresponding to the Xth bit is higher than or equal to the second threshold. The first value and the second value are different. For example, the first value is 0 and the second value is 1, or the first value is 1 and the second value is 0. Of course, the first value and the second value can also be other values than 0 or 1, which are not limited in the present application.

[0299] Optionally, the second bitmap field is also referred to as a Channel Low OBSS PD Level Bitmap subfield, or a control / management channel bitmap (Control / Management Channel Bitmap) subfield, or a control / management frame transmission channel bitmap (Control / Management Frame Transmission Channel Bitmap) subfield. The specific name of the second bitmap field is not limited in the present application.

[0300] The third bitmap field occupies 8 bits, and is used to indicate the channels whose received signal strength is lower than the third threshold. Each bit in the third bitmap corresponds to a 20MHz subchannel in the operating channel bandwidth of the BSS to which the non-AP STA is associated, and the LSB corresponds to the lowest-numbered subchannel of the BSS. When the Xth bit is set to 1, it indicates that the subchannel X+1 is idle; otherwise, when the Xth bit is set to 0, it indicates that the subchannel X+1 is unavailable. Alternatively, when the Xth bit is set to 0, it indicates that the subchannel X+1 is idle; otherwise, when the Xth bit is set to 1, it indicates that the subchannel X+1 is unavailable. The availability of the channel is determined based on the third threshold, and the channel includes the channels within the operating channel bandwidth of the corresponding STA and the channels outside the operating channel bandwidth of the corresponding STA. In addition, the third bitmap can include the subchannels within the operating channel bandwidth of the non-AP STA or the subchannels outside the operating channel bandwidth of the non-AP STA.

[0301] Optionally, the third bitmap field is also referred to as an available channel bitmap field. The specific name of the third bitmap field is not limited in the present application.

[0302] The Channel State Info field includes one or more Channel OBSS Interference Info subfields. One Channel OBSS Interference Info subfield occupies 32 bits, and is used to indicate the OBSS interference information of a channel in the BSS, including one or more of the following subfields: Channel ID, interference situation, RSSI, and NAV.

[0303] The Channel ID subfield occupies 3 bits, and is used to indicate the channel number of a 20MHz subchannel in the operating channel bandwidth of the BSS to which the STA is associated. The channel number indicated by the Channel ID subfield corresponds to the channel and bit in the first bitmap field, the second bitmap field, and the third bitmap field, for example, when the value of the Channel ID subfield is X, it corresponds to the Xth bit in the first bitmap field / the second bitmap field / the third bitmap field; or when the value of the Channel ID subfield is X, it corresponds to the X+1th bit in the first bitmap field / the second bitmap field / the third bitmap field.

[0304] The interference status subfield occupies 1 bit, and is used to indicate whether there is OBSS interference in the channel. If the value of the interference status subfield is a first value, it indicates that there is OBSS interference in the channel; if the value of the interference status subfield is a second value, it indicates that there is no OBSS interference in the channel. The first value is different from the second value. For example, the first value is 0, and the second value is 1; or the first value is 1, and the second value is 0. Of course, the first value and the second value can also be other values other than 0 or 1, which are not limited in the present application.

[0305] The RSSI subfield reports the received signal strength detected by the non-AP STA on the channel, and occupies 8 bits.

[0306] The NAV subfield occupies 20 bits, and is used to indicate the time currently needed to wait for the channel. If the value of the NAV subfield is 0, it indicates that the channel is idle and can be occupied for transmission. If the value of the NAV subfield is not 0, it indicates that the channel is busy and cannot be occupied for transmission.

[0307] The OBSSID List indicates the BSSID list detected by the non-AP STA on the channel through the BSS Coloring mechanism, and includes n BSS ID subfields, each of which occupies 48 bits.

[0308] FIG. 19 shows a BQR frame format carrying channel state information according to an example embodiment of the present application. The numbers below each field represent the number of bytes or bits that can be occupied. The control subfield of the BQR frame includes a third bitmap field (occupying 8 bits) and a reserved field (occupying 2 bits).

[0309] The third bitmap field indicates the sub-channels available in the STA transmitting the BQR, each bit in the bitmap corresponds to a 20MHz sub-channel within the operating channel bandwidth of the BSS associated with the STA, and the LSB corresponds to the lowest numbered operating sub-channel within the BSS. When the X bit in the bitmap is set to 1, it indicates that the sub-channel X+1 is idle, otherwise, when the X bit is set to 0, it indicates that the sub-channel X+1 is busy or unavailable. The availability of each 20MHz sub-channel is determined based on the third threshold. The sub-channels indicated by the bitmap include the channels within the operating bandwidth of the STA, and also include the channels outside the operating bandwidth of the STA. For example, the operating channel bandwidth of the BSS associated with the STA is 80MHz, and the operating channel bandwidth of the STA is 20MHz, the sub-channels in the bitmap include all the 20MHz sub-channels within the operating channel bandwidth of the BSS associated with the STA. If the bitmap is 1101 in binary, then starting from the lowest numbered sub-channel, the 1st and 2nd sub-channels are idle, the 3rd sub-channel is unavailable, and the 4th sub-channel is idle again, where the lowest numbered sub-channel is the first 20MHz sub-channel in a given bandwidth, ordered from low to high in frequency. Optionally, the BQR frame includes other information such as RSSI, NAV, etc.

[0310] Optionally, the third bitmap field is also referred to as an Available Channel Bitmap field. The specific name of the third bitmap field is not limited in the present application.

[0311] Step 1007: The AP sends an ACK frame.

[0312] Optionally, after receiving the channel state information reported by the non-AP STA, the AP feeds back an ACK frame to the non-AP STA, indicating that the channel state information is successfully received.

[0313] Step 1008a: The AP sends first information, the first information being used to request data transmission.

[0314] Optionally, the first information includes one or more of the following fields: link identification, channel identification, channel bandwidth, transmission time.

[0315] Optionally, the first information is carried in a Data Frame, or the first information is carried in a Data Transmission Request Frame.

[0316] Figure 20 shows a frame format of a data frame carrying first information according to an example embodiment of the present application, wherein the numbers below each field represent the number of bytes or bits that the field can occupy. The data frame includes one or more of the following fields: MAC Header, Frame Body, Transmission Request Info, FCS. The Transmission Request Info field includes one or more of the following subfields: Link ID, Channel ID, Bandwidth, Transmission Time.

[0317] The Link ID subfield occupies 4 bits, and is used to indicate the link where the channel for data transmission is located. For example, when the Link ID subfield has a value of 0, it indicates a single link; when the Link ID subfield has a value greater than 0, it indicates a multi-link; and when the Link ID subfield has a value of 1 to 15, it can be used to indicate the link number or link index of 1 to 15 links. The Channel ID subfield occupies 3 bits, and is used to indicate the channel for data transmission. The Bandwidth subfield occupies 3 bits, and is used to indicate the bandwidth of the channel for data transmission. The Transmission Time subfield occupies 14 bits, and is used to indicate the time required for data transmission, in units of microseconds (μs).

[0318] Accordingly, the control field of the data frame includes a 1-bit Request indication bit. When the Request indication bit has a first value, it indicates that the data frame does not carry transmission request information, i.e., the data frame is not used to request data transmission; when the Request indication bit has a second value, it indicates that the data frame carries transmission request information, i.e., the data frame carries both data information and is used to request data transmission. The first value is different from the second value. For example, the first value is 0 and the second value is 1; or the first value is 1 and the second value is 0. Of course, the first value and the second value can also be other values than 0 or 1, and the present application does not limit this.

[0319] Figure 21 shows a frame format of a data transmission request frame according to an example embodiment of the present application, wherein the numbers below each field represent the number of bytes or bits that the field can occupy. The data transmission request frame includes one or more of the following fields: MAC Header, Frame Body, FCS. The Frame Body includes one or more of the following subfields: Category, Action, Dialog Token, Transmission Info, wherein the Transmission Info subfield occupies 3 octets, and the other subfields each occupy 1 octet.

[0320] The transmission information subfield includes one or more of the following subfields: Link ID, Channel ID, Bandwidth, Transmission Time.

[0321] The Link ID subfield occupies 4 bits and is used to indicate the link in which the channel requesting data transmission is located. For example, when the value of the Link ID subfield is 0, it indicates a single link; when the value of the Link ID subfield is greater than 0, it indicates a multi-link; and when the value of the Link ID subfield is 1-15, it can be used to indicate the link number or link index of 1-15 links. The Channel ID subfield occupies 3 bits and is used to indicate the channel requesting data transmission. The Bandwidth subfield occupies 3 bits and is used to indicate the bandwidth of the channel requesting data transmission. The Transmission Time subfield occupies 14 bits and is used to indicate the time required for data transmission, in units of microseconds (μs).

[0322] Step 1009a: The non-AP STA sends second information, the second information being used to respond to the first information.

[0323] The second information is used to respond to the first information, or in other words, the second information is used to respond to the data transmission request. Optionally, the second information includes one or more of the following fields: a field used to indicate whether to agree to data transmission, a link identifier, a channel identifier, and a channel bandwidth. Optionally, the second information is carried in a BA frame, or the second information is carried in a data transmission response frame.

[0324] FIG. 22 shows a frame format diagram of a BA frame carrying second information according to an example embodiment of the present application, and the numbers below each field represent the number of bytes or bits that the field can occupy. The BA frame includes one or more of the following fields: MAC Header, frame body, transmission response information (Transmission Response Info), and FCS. The transmission response information field includes one or more of the following subfields: Response, Link ID, Channel ID, Bandwidth, RSSI, and Reserved.

[0325] The Response subfield occupies 1 bit and is used to indicate whether to agree to the data transmission request. If the value of the Response subfield is a first value, it indicates agreement to the data transmission request or permission for data transmission; if the value of the Response subfield is a second value, it indicates disagreement to the data transmission request or rejection of data transmission. The first value is different from the second value. For example, the first value is 0 and the second value is 1; or the first value is 1 and the second value is 0. Of course, the first value and the second value can also be other values than 0 or 1, and the present application does not limit this.

[0326] The Link ID subfield occupies 4 bits, used to indicate the link where the channel agrees to transmit data. For example, the value of the Link ID subfield is 0, indicating a single link; the value of the Link ID subfield is greater than 0, indicating a multi-link; the value of the Link ID subfield is 1-15, which can be used to indicate the link number or link index of 1-15 links. The Channel ID subfield occupies 3 bits, used to indicate the channel that agrees to transmit data. The Bandwidth subfield occupies 3 bits, indicating the bandwidth of the channel that agrees to transmit data. The RSSI subfield occupies 8 bits, used to indicate the received signal strength of the channel that agrees to transmit data. 5 bits are reserved in the transmission response information field.

[0327] FIG. 23 shows a frame format diagram of a data transmission response frame according to an example embodiment of the present application. The numbers below each field represent the number of bytes or bits that can be occupied. The data transmission response frame includes one or more of the following fields: MAC Header, frame body, FCS. The frame body includes one or more of the following subfields: Category, Action, Conversation Tag, Response Info, wherein the Response Info subfield occupies 2 octets, and the other subfields each occupy 1 octet.

[0328] The Response Info subfield includes one or more of the following subfields: Response, Link ID, Channel ID, Bandwidth, and reserved.

[0329] The Response subfield occupies 1 bit, indicating whether to agree to the data transmission request. If the value of the Response subfield is a first value, it indicates agreeing to the data transmission request or allowing data transmission; if the value of the Response subfield is a second value, it indicates disagreeing to the data transmission request or refusing data transmission. The first value is different from the second value. For example, the first value is 0 and the second value is 1; or the first value is 1 and the second value is 0. Of course, the first value and the second value can also be other values than 0 or 1, which are not limited in the present application.

[0330] The Link ID subfield occupies 4 bits, used to indicate the link where the channel agrees to transmit data. For example, the value of the Link ID subfield is 0, indicating a single link; the value of the Link ID subfield is greater than 0, indicating a multi-link; the value of the Link ID subfield is 1-15, which can be used to indicate the link number or link index of 1-15 links. The Channel ID subfield occupies 3 bits, used to indicate the channel that agrees to transmit data. The Bandwidth subfield occupies 3 bits, indicating the bandwidth of the channel that agrees to transmit data. 5 bits are reserved in the Response Info subfield.

[0331] Step 1008b: The non-AP STA sends first information, the first information being used for requesting data transmission.

[0332] Optionally, the first information comprises one or more of the following fields: link identification, channel identification, channel bandwidth, transmission time.

[0333] Optionally, the first information is carried in a data frame (Data Frame), or the first information is carried in a data transmission request frame (Data Transmission Request Frame). The frame format of the data frame carrying the first information is shown in FIG. 20, and the frame format of the data transmission request frame is shown in FIG. 21.

[0334] Step 1009b: The AP sends second information, the second information being used for responding to the first information.

[0335] The second information is used for responding to the first information, or is understood as being used for responding to the data transmission request. Optionally, the second information comprises one or more of the following fields: a field used for indicating whether to agree to the data transmission, link identification, channel identification, channel bandwidth. Optionally, the second information is carried in a BA frame, or the second information is carried in a data transmission response frame (Data Transmission Response Frame). The frame format of the BA frame carrying the second information is shown in FIG. 22, and the frame format of the data transmission response frame is shown in FIG. 23.

[0336] Step 1010: The AP sends a first frame, which is used for instructing the non-AP STA to switch channels and perform data transmission.

[0337] The AP sends the first frame based on the channel state information of one or more channels.

[0338] In some embodiments, the AP sends a first frame according to the channel state information reported by a second non-AP STA, the first frame being used for instructing the second non-AP STA to switch to a first channel and send or receive data; wherein the first channel is at least one sub-channel in one or more sub-channels. The channel state information reported by the second non-AP STA indicates that the received signal strength of the primary channel of the second non-AP STA is higher than a first threshold and lower than a second threshold. Optionally, the second non-AP STA is in the OBSS coverage range. Optionally, the second non-AP STA autonomously reports the channel state information, or reports the channel state information based on a second frame.

[0339] In some embodiments, the AP transmits the first frame in a case that the received signal strength of the primary channel of the AP is higher than a first threshold and lower than a second threshold, the first frame being used to instruct the AP and the third non-AP STA to switch to the first channel and instruct the third non-AP STA to transmit data; wherein the first channel is at least one sub-channel in the one or more sub-channels. Optionally, the AP is in the OBSS coverage.

[0340] In some embodiments, the first frame carries sub-band switching information, the sub-band switching information comprising one or more of the following fields: a mode field, used to indicate a sub-band switching mode; a STA number field, used to indicate a number of non-AP STAs that need to switch channels; and a STA information field, used to indicate information of the non-AP STAs that need to switch channels.

[0341] In some embodiments, the first frame is referred to as a sub-band switching control frame, or a sub-channel switching control frame, or a DSO control frame, or a DSO mode notification frame. Of course, the first frame can also be referred to as other names, and the specific name of the first frame is not limited in the present application.

[0342] In some embodiments, the format of the first frame can refer to FIG. 14 or FIG. 15, which will not be repeated here.

[0343] Since the first frame is used to instruct to switch channels and transmit data, the mode subfield contained in the first frame should be the fourth value or the fifth value, indicating sub-band switching mode 2 or sub-band switching mode 3.

[0344] For example, the AP transmits the first frame according to the channel state information reported by the second non-AP STA, the first frame being used to instruct the second non-AP STA to switch to the first channel and transmit or receive data, the mode subfield contained in the first frame being the fourth value, indicating sub-band switching mode 2.

[0345] For example, the AP transmits the first frame in a case that the received signal strength of the primary channel of the AP is higher than or equal to a first threshold and lower than a second threshold, the first frame being used to instruct the AP and the third non-AP STA to switch to the first channel and instruct the third non-AP STA to transmit or receive data, the mode subfield contained in the first frame being the fifth value, indicating sub-band switching mode 3.

[0346] Exemplarily, the AP sends the first frame in a case that the received signal strength of the primary channel of the AP is higher than or equal to the first threshold and lower than the second threshold, the first frame is used to instruct the third non-AP STA to switch to the first channel and instruct the third non-AP STA to send or receive data, and the mode subfield included in the first frame is of the fifth value, indicating the sub-band switching mode 3.

[0347] In a case that the received signal strength of the first channel is lower than the first threshold, the AP and the non-AP STA perform data interaction on the first channel.

[0348] The first channel is a channel to which the non-AP STA switches according to the first frame, or a channel to which the AP and the non-AP STA switch according to the first frame.

[0349] Optionally, the AP sends data on the first channel, and the non-AP STA receives data on the first channel. Optionally, after receiving the first frame and before transmitting data, the non-AP STA further feeds back a CTS frame to indicate that the data packet can be received. Optionally, the non-AP STA feeds back a BA frame after receiving the data, and immediately switches back to the primary channel or switches back to the primary channel after waiting for a period of time (whether to wait for a period of time is determined according to the Wait Time subfield of the first frame).

[0350] Optionally, the non-AP STA sends data on the first channel, and the AP receives data on the first channel. Optionally, the non-AP STA sends data after receiving the first frame. Optionally, the AP feeds back a BA frame after receiving the data. Optionally, the non-AP STA immediately switches back to the primary channel or switches back to the primary channel after waiting for a period of time after completing data transmission (whether to wait for a period of time is determined according to the Wait Time subfield of the first frame).

[0351] In summary, the method provided by the embodiments of the present application supports the AP to obtain the channel state information of one or more channels, and based on the channel state information, the non-AP STA is timely and flexibly instructed to switch to a suitable channel to perform data transmission, so as to guarantee that the data transmission between the AP and the non-AP STA has high reliability. In addition, the possible frame interaction process and frame format design between the AP and the non-AP STA are provided, the frame interaction process and frame format are flexibly adjusted in various scenarios, and the frame interaction requirements in different scenarios are met.

[0352] Further, in combination with the single-link scenario and the multi-link scenario, the application further provides a schematic diagram of the communication method, the communication flow in the single-link scenario is shown in FIG. 24 to FIG. 32, and the communication flow in the multi-link scenario is shown in FIG. 33 to FIG. 35. The multi-link scenario refers to a communication scenario using the MLO technology, and there are multiple links between the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD. The AP MLD includes one or more affiliated APs, and the non-AP MLD includes one or more affiliated non-AP STAs. In contrast, the single-link scenario refers to a scenario in which the AP communicates with the non-AP STA through one link without using the MLO technology.

[0353] FIG. 24 to FIG. 29 show a schematic diagram of the communication method in the single-link scenario, in which the AP sends a second frame (implemented as a sub-band switching control frame) to instruct the non-AP STA to switch channels and detect the channels. Since the main purpose of detecting the channels is to obtain the OBSS interference condition, it can also be considered that FIG. 24 to FIG. 29 show six interference detection flows in the single-link scenario. The various types of frames involved are described with reference to the embodiment shown in FIG. 10. Moreover, a 40MHz main channel bandwidth is taken as an example, referred to as 40p, and the bandwidths of the two secondary channels are both 20MHz, referred to as 20s1 and 20s2.

[0354] FIG. 24 shows a schematic diagram of the communication method provided by an example embodiment of the application. The sub-band switching control frame indicates sub-band switching mode 1. The beacon frame, the location reporting trigger frame, and the sub-band switching control frame all use the 20MHz Non-HT duplicate transmission mode.

[0355] First, the AP1 determines whether it is in the OBSS coverage range through the BSS Coloring mechanism, and then broadcasts the beacon frame. The beacon frame carries information about whether the AP1 is in the OBSS coverage range, and the STAs 1, 2, and 3 associated with the AP1 learn from the beacon frame whether the AP1 is in the OBSS coverage range. Then, the AP1 detects the main channel. If the received signal strength of the main channel is lower than a second threshold (such as the OBSS Control frame PD level), the AP1 sends a location reporting trigger frame (which contains information instructing the STA to report whether it is in the OBSS coverage range) to the associated STA, requesting or triggering or instructing the STA to report whether it is in the OBSS coverage range. After receiving the location reporting trigger frame, the STA sends a location reporting frame (which contains information about whether the STA is in the OBSS coverage range) to the AP1, informing the AP1 whether it is in the OBSS coverage range.

[0356] Optionally, AP1 maintains a channel status table. The channel status table includes one or more of the following information: link number, channel number, channel bandwidth, whether it is interfered by OBSS, whether it is in the coverage of OBSS, RSSI, OBSSID, STA ID, etc. It is emphasized that the channel status table contains channel status information of all sub-channels detected by the AP and / or non-AP STAs, not limited to the channel status information of the primary channel. Optionally, the channel status table is also called channel information status table, or OBSS coverage STA information table.

[0357] If a STA reports that it is in the coverage of OBSS, the AP adds or updates the information reported by the STA to the channel status table. If the channel status table maintained by AP1 indicates that there is at least one non-AP STA in the BSS in the coverage of OBSS, for example, the channel status table is not empty, which indicates that there is at least one non-AP STA in the BSS in the coverage of OBSS, AP1 detects the primary channel. If the received signal strength of the primary channel is lower than a second threshold (such as OBSS Control frame PD level), a sub-band switching control frame is sent, which includes a mode field, a STA number field, and a STA information field. The mode field here indicates sub-band switching mode 1, which instructs the non-AP STAs in the coverage of OBSS to switch channels and perform channel detection. The STA number field and the STA information field are described with reference to the embodiment shown in FIG. 14.

[0358] Each non-AP STA receiving the sub-band switching control frame replies with an ACK frame after a SIFS, indicating that the sub-band switching control frame is successfully received. The STAs 1 and 2 in the coverage of OBSS switch channels and perform detection in order according to the Link ID / Channel ID indicated in the OBSS coverage STA information field, to obtain the channel status information of each channel. After the channel detection is completed, the STAs 1 and 2 in the coverage of OBSS send a channel information reporting frame to AP1 on an idle sub-channel, which contains the channel status information of all sub-channels detected by the STAs 1 and 2 (including whether it is interfered by OBSS, RSSI, etc.).

[0359] The AP maintains a channel state table according to the channel state information reported by the STA1 and the STA2. After receiving the channel information reporting frame, the AP replies an ACK frame to the STA1 and the STA2 after a SIFS interval, indicating that the channel information reporting frame is received. After receiving the ACK frame replied by the AP, the STA1 and the STA2 perform the operation of switching back to the primary channel according to the Wait Time field in the sub-band switching control frame. If the value of the Wait Time field in the sub-band switching control frame is greater than 0, the non-AP STA waits for the corresponding time on the secondary channel after receiving the ACK frame and then switches back to the primary channel; if the value of the Wait Time field in the sub-band switching control frame is equal to 0, the non-AP STA switches back to the primary channel immediately after receiving the ACK frame.

[0360] Optionally, the non-AP STA located in the OBSS coverage range periodically reports the channel state information. Optionally, the AP periodically sends the sub-band switching control frame, so that the non-AP STA located in the OBSS coverage range periodically switches the channel and detects the channel.

[0361] FIG. 25 shows a schematic diagram of a communication method according to an example embodiment of the present application. The sub-band switching control frame indicates the sub-band switching mode 1. Different from the embodiment shown in FIG. 22, in FIG. 23, after receiving the sub-band switching control frame, the STA1 and the STA2 located in the OBSS coverage range switch to the secondary channel and directly send the channel information reporting frame to the AP1 on the switched secondary channel after a SIFS interval, without first feeding back the ACK frame. After receiving the sub-band switching control frame, the STA3 not located in the OBSS coverage range replies the CTS frame on the primary channel after a SIFS interval. Subsequently, the AP1 can perform data transmission with each non-AP STA on the sub-channel where the non-AP STA is located, and the non-AP STA can further reply the BA frame after receiving the data sent by the AP1. The AP1 and the associated STA perform data transmission in the OFDMA mode.

[0362] FIG. 26 shows a schematic diagram of a communication method according to an example embodiment of the present application. The beacon frame, the location reporting trigger frame and the sub-band switching control frame all adopt the 20MHz Non-HT duplicate transmission mode. The AP1 and the associated STA perform data transmission in the OFDMA mode.

[0363] AP1 sends a sub-channel switching control frame to the associated STAs, here mode 1 indicates the STAs to switch channels for interference detection. After a SIFS, STAs 1 and 2 in the OBSS coverage range send channel information report frames to AP1 on 20s1 and 20s2 channels respectively, the frames contain information such as whether the detected channel is available for data transmission, whether the detected channel is available for control frame transmission, and the list of BSSIDs that the STA can detect on the channel. STA 3, which is not in the OBSS coverage range, sends a channel information report frame to AP1 on the primary channel, the frame contains information such as whether the detected channel is available, and the availability is determined based on the ED CCA threshold. AP1 sends a second sub-channel switching control frame to the associated STAs according to the channel state information reported by the STAs, here mode 2 indicates the STAs to switch channels for data transmission, and AP1 uses OFDMA to perform downlink data transmission with the associated STAs. STAs 1 and 2 perform data transmission with AP1 on 20s1 and 20s2 channels respectively, and then switch back to the primary channel after the data transmission is completed.

[0364] FIG. 27 shows a schematic diagram of a communication method according to an example embodiment of the present application. Moreover, the interaction of the position report trigger frame, the sub-channel switching control frame, and the channel information report frame all occur within the same TXOP. The beacon frame, the position report trigger frame, and the sub-channel switching control frame all use the 20MHz Non-HT duplicate transmission mode. AP1 uses OFDMA to perform data transmission with the associated STAs.

[0365] AP1 is the TXOP Holder of the primary and secondary channels. AP1 sends a position report trigger frame to the associated STAs to let the associated STAs report their respective position information. After receiving the position report trigger frame, the associated STAs send a position report frame to AP1 after a SIFS, the frame contains information such as whether the STA is in the OBSS overlap region and the list of BSSIDs that the STA can detect according to the BSS Coloring mechanism. AP1 maintains a channel state table according to the content reported by the STAs. AP1 sends a sub-channel switching control frame to the associated STAs, here mode 1 indicates STA 1 to switch channels for channel detection. After STA 1 completes the channel detection, STA 1 sends a channel information report frame to AP1, the frame contains information such as whether the detected channel is available for data transmission, whether the detected channel is available for control frame transmission, and the list of BSSIDs that the STA can detect on the channel. AP1 maintains a channel information state table according to the information reported by STA 1. AP1 schedules the associated STAs to perform data transmission on different channels according to the channel information state table. AP1 sends a sub-channel switching control frame to the associated STAs, here mode 2 indicates the STAs to switch channels for data transmission. STA 1 performs data transmission on 20s1 channel, and STA 2 performs data transmission on 40p channel. After the data transmission is completed, STA 1 switches back to the primary channel.

[0366] FIG. 28 shows a diagram of a communication method according to an example embodiment of the present application. In this example, the STA actively switches channels and performs channel detection. The beacon frame and the location reporting trigger frame are transmitted in 20MHz Non-HT duplicate transmission mode.

[0367] Suppose AP1 is communicating with STA2 which is not in the coverage of OBSS on the primary channel. STA1 overhears the RTS frame sent by AP1 to STA2 on the primary channel and enters NAV time.

[0368] During the NAV time, STA1 switches to the secondary channel and performs channel detection. After the NAV time, STA1 sends a channel information reporting frame to AP1 on the primary channel. The channel information reporting frame contains the channel state information of all channels detected by STA1.

[0369] During the NAV time, AP1 transmits data to STA2 on the primary channel. STA2 can send a BA frame to AP1 after receiving the data.

[0370] FIG. 29 shows a diagram of a communication method according to an example embodiment of the present application. In this example, the STA actively switches channels and performs channel detection. The beacon frame, the location reporting trigger frame and the channel information trigger frame are transmitted in 20MHz Non-HT duplicate transmission mode.

[0371] Suppose AP1 is communicating with STA2 which is not in the coverage of OBSS on the primary channel. STA1 overhears the RTS frame sent by AP1 to STA2 on the primary channel and enters NAV time.

[0372] During the NAV time, STA1 switches to the secondary channel and performs channel detection. After the channel detection, STA1 switches back to the primary channel. When the primary channel is idle, AP1 sends a trigger frame to STA1 to trigger STA1 to report the channel state information detected by STA1. STA1 sends a channel information reporting frame to AP1 after receiving the trigger frame. The channel information reporting frame contains the channel state information of all channels detected by STA1.

[0373] During the NAV time, AP1 transmits data to STA2 on the primary channel. STA2 can send a BA frame to AP1 after receiving the data.

[0374] FIGS. 30-32 show schematic diagrams of the communication method in the single-link scenario, in which the AP sends a first frame (implemented as a subband switching control frame) to instruct the non-AP STA to switch channels and detect the channels. Since the main purpose of sending the first frame is to instruct the non-AP STA to switch to a suitable channel for data transmission, FIGS. 30-32 can also be considered to show three data transmission processes in the single-link scenario. The various types of frames involved and the related descriptions can refer to the embodiment shown in FIG. 10. Moreover, the main channel bandwidth is 40 MHz, referred to as 40p, and the bandwidths of the two secondary channels are both 20 MHz, referred to as 20s1 and 20s2, for illustrative purposes.

[0375] FIG. 30 shows a schematic diagram of the communication method provided in an example embodiment of the present application. In this example, the subband switching control frame indicates subband switching mode 2, and the first information is carried in the data transmission request frame. Both the data transmission request frame and the subband switching control frame use the 20 MHz Non-HT duplicate transmission mode. The AP 1 and the associated STA perform downlink data transmission in the OFDMA manner.

[0376] Suppose the AP 1 needs to send downlink data to the STA 1 located in the OBSS coverage range. The AP 1 first detects the main channel. If the received signal strength of the main channel is lower than a second threshold (such as the OBSS Control frame PD level), the AP 1 sends a data transmission request frame to the STA 1, which includes information such as the channel number, channel bandwidth, and data transmission time of the requested data transmission. After receiving the data transmission request frame, the STA 1 detects the channel indicated in the data transmission request frame (i.e., the channel for which the AP 1 requests data transmission, such as the main channel), and sends a data transmission response frame to the AP 1, which includes information such as whether to agree to the data transmission, channel number, channel bandwidth, and received signal strength. The STA 1 informs the AP 1 of whether to agree to the transmission request.

[0377] If the received signal strength detected by the STA 1 is lower than a first threshold (such as the CCA threshold), the STA 1 agrees to the data transmission request of the AP 1, and the AP 1 can perform data transmission on the channel indicated in the data transmission request frame according to the provisions of the communication standard.

[0378] If the received signal strength detected by the STA 1 is higher than the first threshold value and lower than the second threshold value, or the received signal strength detected by the STA 1 is higher than or equal to the second threshold value, the STA 1 does not agree to the data transmission request of the AP 1. The AP 1 can find a channel not interfered by OBSS or a channel with relatively good RSSI in the channel status table, assuming that the channel is 20s1, and then the AP 1 sends a sub-band switching control frame to the STA 1, at this time, the sub-band switching control frame indicates the sub-band switching mode 2. The sub-band switching control frame includes the sub-band switching mode, the channel number (indicating the channel 20s1), the channel bandwidth (the bandwidth of the channel 20s1, i.e. 20MHz), the switching time (the time for the STA 1 to switch to the channel 20s1 and perform data transmission), the waiting time and other information. After receiving the sub-band switching control frame, the STA 1 replies a CTS frame on 20s1 to inform the AP 1 that the channel switching is completed. Before transmitting data on 20s1, the AP 1 listens to 20s1 again, and when the received signal strength of 20s1 is lower than the first threshold value, the AP 1 transmits data to the STA 1 on 20s1 to ensure the reliability of data transmission. After receiving the downlink data, the STA 1 can reply a BA frame, and immediately switches back to the primary channel after feeding back the BA frame or switches back to the primary channel after waiting for a period of time (whether to wait for a period of time is determined according to the Wait Time subfield).

[0379] FIG. 31 shows a schematic diagram of a communication method provided by an example embodiment of the present application. At this time, the sub-band switching control frame indicates the sub-band switching mode 3, and the first information is carried in the data transmission request frame. The data transmission request frame and the sub-band switching control frame are both transmitted in the 20MHz Non-HT duplicate transmission mode. At this time, the AP and the STA of other OBSS perform downlink communication on the primary channel, and the AP 1 keeps silent after detecting the communication, so there is no data transmission on the primary channel in the BSS of the AP 1.

[0380] Suppose that the STA 1 needs to transmit uplink data to the AP 1 located in the coverage range of the OBSS. The STA 1 first detects the primary channel, and if the received signal strength of the primary channel is lower than the second threshold value (such as the OBSS Control frame PD level), the STA 1 sends a data transmission request frame to the AP 1, which includes the channel number (such as indicating the channel 20s1) of the requested data transmission, the channel bandwidth, the data transmission time and other information.

[0381] After receiving the data transmission request of the STA 1, the AP 1 first judges the relationship between the received signal strength of the primary channel and the CCA threshold value. Then, the AP 1 sends a data transmission response frame to the STA 1, which includes whether to agree to the data transmission, the channel number, the channel bandwidth, the received signal strength and other information, and informs the STA 1 whether the AP 1 agrees to the data transmission request.

[0382] If the received signal strength detected by the AP1 is lower than the first threshold value (such as the CCA threshold value), the AP1 agrees to the data transmission request of the STA1, and the STA1 can perform data transmission on the channel indicated in the data transmission request frame according to the communication standard. Before transmitting data, the STA1 can again listen to the channel, and when the received signal strength is lower than the first threshold value, the STA1 transmits data to the AP1 to ensure the reliability of data transmission. After receiving the uplink data, the AP1 can reply with a BA frame.

[0383] If the received signal strength detected by the AP1 is higher than the first threshold value and lower than the second threshold value, or the received signal strength detected by the AP1 is higher than or equal to the second threshold value, the AP1 does not agree to the data transmission request of the STA1. The AP1 looks up a channel without OBSS interference or a channel with relatively good RSSI according to the channel state table, and sends a sub-channel switching control frame to the STA1. Here, it is mode 3, and the AP1 and the STA1 switch to the same sub-channel (without OBSS interference or with relatively good RSSI) to perform data transmission. After switching channels, the STA1 replies with a CTS frame to the AP1 to indicate that the channel switching is complete. Before transmitting uplink data, the STA1 again listens to the switched channel, and when the received signal strength is lower than the first threshold value, the STA1 transmits uplink data to ensure reliable data transmission. After receiving the uplink data, the AP1 can reply with a BA frame, and after feeding back the BA frame, the AP1 and the STA1 immediately switch back to the main channel or wait for a period of time before switching back to the main channel (whether to wait for a period of time is determined according to the Wait Time subfield).

[0384] FIG. 32 shows a schematic diagram of a communication method according to an example embodiment of the present application. Here, the sub-band switching control frame indicates sub-band switching mode 2, and the first information is carried in a data frame. The AP1 and the associated STA perform data transmission in the OFDMA mode.

[0385] The AP1 sends a data frame to the STA1, where the data frame includes information such as the channel number for requesting data transmission, the channel bandwidth, the data transmission time, and the like, in addition to data information. Optionally, the data frame is modulated at a low order.

[0386] After receiving the data frame, the STA1 replies with a BA frame to the AP1 after a SIFS, where the BA frame includes information such as whether to agree to the data transmission request, the channel number, the channel bandwidth, the received signal strength, and the like, to inform the AP1 of whether the STA1 agrees to the data transmission request.

[0387] If the received signal strength of the primary channel is lower than the CCA threshold, the subsequent data can still be transmitted on the channel using high order modulation. If the received signal strength of the channel is higher than the first threshold but lower than the second threshold, or the received signal strength of the channel is higher than or equal to the second threshold, the AP 1 sends a sub-band switching control frame to instruct the STA 1 to switch the channel (no OBSS interference or relatively good RSSI) and transmit data (optionally using high order modulation).

[0388] Before transmitting data, the AP 1 still needs to listen to the channel again and transmit data only when the received signal strength is lower than the first threshold to ensure reliable transmission of data. After receiving the downlink data, the STA 1 can reply to the AP 1 with a BA frame. After feeding back the BA frame, the STA 1 immediately switches back to the primary channel or waits for a period of time before switching back to the primary channel (whether to wait for a period of time is determined according to the Wait Time subfield).

[0389] Similarly, in the case of sub-band switching mode 3 indicated by the sub-band switching control frame, the first information can also be carried in the data frame.

[0390] FIG. 33 shows a schematic diagram of a communication method in a multi-link scenario, in which the AP sends a second frame (implemented as a sub-band switching control frame) to instruct the non-AP STA to switch the channel and detect the channel. Since the main purpose of detecting the channel is to obtain the OBSS interference condition, it can also be considered that FIG. 33 shows an interference detection process in a multi-link scenario. The various types of frames involved are described with reference to the embodiment shown in FIG. 10. Moreover, a 2.4 GHz link and a 5 GHz link are taken as an example for illustrative description, and the primary channel bandwidth of the 5 GHz link is 40 MHz, which is referred to as 40p, and the bandwidth of each of the two secondary channels is 20 MHz, which is referred to as 20s1 and 20s2.

[0391] The AP 1 informs the STA 1 through a Beacon frame whether the AP is located in the OBSS coverage, the first threshold, the second threshold, and the like.

[0392] The AP 1 detects that the received signal strength of the primary channel of the 5 GHz link is higher than the second threshold (such as the OBSS Control frame PD level), and the received signal strength of the channel of the 2.4 GHz link is lower than the second threshold. The AP 1 sends a position reporting trigger frame to the associated non-AP STA on the 2.4 GHz link to request the non-AP STA to report whether it is located in the OBSS coverage.

[0393] After receiving the position reporting trigger frame, the STA 1 and the STA 2 reply to the AP 1 with a position reporting frame to inform the AP 1 whether they are located in the OBSS coverage. The AP 1 maintains a channel status table according to the position reporting frame.

[0394] If the channel state table is not empty, it means that at least one non-AP STA in the AP-associated non-AP STAs is located in the OBSS coverage. AP1 detects the received signal strength of the two links, and if the received signal strength of the 5GHz link main channel is higher than the second threshold value, and the received signal strength of the 2.4GHz link channel is lower than the second threshold value, AP1 sends a sub-band switching control frame on the 2.4GHz link to instruct STA1 located in the OBSS coverage to switch the channel on the 5GHz link for channel detection.

[0395] After STA1 and STA2 receive the sub-band switching control frame, they perform primitive interaction inside the device, and the 2.4GHz link instructs the 5GHz link to switch to the secondary channel. At this time, the sub-band switching control frame instructs sub-band switching mode 1 (indicating that STA1 switches the channel and performs channel detection), and the sub-band switching control frame also carries information such as the OBSS coverage STA list, the link number, the switching time (the time for STA1 to switch to each channel for channel detection), the waiting time (the time for STA1 to wait in the secondary channel after the channel detection is completed), and the like.

[0396] STA1 switches to the secondary channel 20s1 of the 5GHz link according to the sub-band switching control frame, and then replies to AP1 with a CTS frame on 20s1 to inform AP1 that the channel switching is completed. After the channel detection is completed, STA1 sends a channel information reporting frame on the idle sub-channel, which includes the channel state information of all the sub-channels detected by STA1. For a multi-link scenario, the format of the channel information reporting frame can refer to the embodiment shown in FIG. 17.

[0397] FIGS. 34-35 show schematic diagrams of a communication method in a multi-link scenario, in which an AP sends a first frame (implemented as a sub-band switching control frame) to instruct a non-AP STA to switch the channel and detect the channel. Since the main purpose of sending the first frame is to instruct the non-AP STA to switch to a suitable channel for data transmission, it can also be considered that FIGS. 34-35 show two data transmission processes in a multi-link scenario. The various types of frames involved are described with reference to the embodiment shown in FIG. 10. Moreover, a 2.4GHz link and a 5GHz link are taken as an example for illustrative description, and the main channel bandwidth of the 5GHz link is 40MHz, which is referred to as 40p, and the bandwidth of the two secondary channels is 20MHz, which is referred to as 20s1 and 20s2.

[0398] FIG. 34 shows a schematic diagram of a communication method provided by an example embodiment of the present application. In this embodiment, the sub-band switching control frame instructs sub-band switching mode 2. AP1 and the associated STA perform data transmission in an OFDMA manner.

[0399] AP1 detects that the received signal strength of the primary channel of the 5GHz link is higher than a second threshold (such as OBSS Control frame PD level), and the received signal strength of the 2.4GHz link is lower than the second threshold, AP1 sends a sub-band switching control frame on the 2.4GHz link to instruct STA1 to switch to the secondary channel of the 5GHz link for data transmission.

[0400] After receiving the sub-band switching control frame on the 2.4GHz link, STA1 performs internal primitive interaction to instruct the 5GHz link to switch to the secondary channel. The sub-band switching control frame indicates sub-band switching mode 2 (instructing STA1 to switch the channel and perform data transmission), and further carries information such as link number, channel number, channel bandwidth, switching time, waiting time, etc.

[0401] STA1 switches to the secondary channel 20s1 of the 5GHz link according to the sub-band switching control frame, and sends a CTS frame to AP1 on 20s1 to inform AP1 that the channel switching is completed.

[0402] Before sending data, AP1 detects the received signal strength of 20s1 again, and only when the received signal strength of 20s1 is lower than a first threshold (such as CCA threshold) does AP1 send data. Optionally, STA1 sends a BA frame. After the data transmission is completed, STA1 immediately switches back to the primary channel of the 5GHz link or waits for a period of time and then switches back to the primary channel of the 5GHz link according to the waiting time indicated by the sub-band switching control frame.

[0403] STA2 receives data sent by AP1 on the primary channel of the 5GHz link. Optionally, STA2 also sends a BA frame.

[0404] FIG. 35 shows a schematic diagram of a communication method provided by an example embodiment of the present application. In this example, the sub-band switching control frame indicates sub-band switching mode 3.

[0405] Before sending uplink data to AP1, STA1 detects the received signal strength of the two links. If the received signal strength of the primary channel of the 5GHz link is higher than a second threshold (such as OBSS Control frame PD level), and the received signal strength of the 2.4GHz link is lower than the second threshold, STA1 sends first information (for example, carried in a data transmission request frame, which can also be carried in a data frame) to AP1 on the 2.4GHz link to request data transmission.

[0406] AP1 receives the data transmission request frame, detects the 5GHz link primary channel, at this time, AP2 and its associated STA3 occupy the 5GHz link primary channel to perform data transmission, which causes the received signal strength of the 5GHz link primary channel to be higher than the second threshold value, and the received signal strength of the 2.4GHz link channel to be lower than the second threshold value, then AP1 replies the data transmission response frame on the 2.4GHz link to indicate disapproval of the transmission request of STA1. After that, AP1 sends the sub-band switching control frame on the 2.4GHz link, at this time, the sub-band switching control frame indicates the sub-band switching mode 3 (AP1 and STA1 both switch to the 5GHz link secondary channel 20s1 and perform data transmission).

[0407] After STA1 receives the sub-band switching control frame on the 2.4GHz link, the device internally performs primitive interaction, and indicates the 5GHz link to switch from the primary channel to the secondary channel 20s1 by the 2.4GHz link. In addition to indicating the sub-band switching mode 3, the sub-band switching control frame also carries the link number, channel number (indicating 20s1), channel bandwidth, switching time, waiting time and other information.

[0408] After switching the channel, STA1 replies the CTS frame to AP1 on the 5GHz link secondary channel 20s1 to inform AP1 that the channel switching is completed. Before data transmission, STA1 detects the current secondary channel 20s1 again, and only when the received signal strength of 20s1 is lower than the first threshold value (such as CCA threshold value), STA1 sends data. After data transmission is completed, AP1 and STA1 immediately switch back to the 5GHz link primary channel.

[0409] FIG. 36 shows a structural block diagram of a communication device according to an example embodiment of the present application, which can be implemented as the AP or a part of the AP described above. The device comprises a sending module 3410. Optionally, the device further comprises a processing module 3430 and / or a receiving module 3450.

[0410] The sending module 3410 is configured to send a first frame based on channel state information of one or more channels, wherein the first frame is used to instruct a non-AP station (non-AP STA) to switch channels and perform data transmission.

[0411] In some embodiments, the receiving module 3450 is configured to receive the channel state information of the one or more channels.

[0412] In some embodiments, the channel state information of the one or more channels is carried in a channel information reporting frame, or in a BQR frame, or in a control field in a data frame.

[0413] In some embodiments, the channel state information comprises one or more of: a channel state information field, an OBSS identification list field; the channel state information field comprises one or more of: a first bitmap field, a second bitmap field, a third bitmap field, a channel OBSS interference information field; the OBSS identification list field comprises one or more BSS identification subfields; wherein the first bitmap field is used to indicate channels with received signal strength lower than a first threshold, the second bitmap field is used to indicate channels with received signal strength higher than or equal to the first threshold but lower than a second threshold, the third bitmap field is used to indicate channels with received signal strength lower than a third threshold, the third threshold is higher than the second threshold, and the second threshold is higher than the first threshold.

[0414] In some embodiments, the channels indicated by the first bitmap field comprise: channels within the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA, and / or channels outside the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA; the channels indicated by the second bitmap field comprise: channels within the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA, and / or channels outside the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA; the channels indicated by the third bitmap field comprise: channels within the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA, and / or channels outside the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA and within the operating bandwidth of the BSS in which the non-AP STA is located, and / or channels outside the operating bandwidth of the BSS in which the non-AP STA is located.

[0415] In some embodiments, the channel OBSS interference information subfield comprises one or more of: a channel identification subfield, an interference status subfield, a received signal strength subfield, a NAV subfield.

[0416] In some embodiments, the channel state information comprises one or more of: a third bitmap field, a reserved field; wherein the third bitmap field is used to indicate channels with received signal strength lower than a third threshold.

[0417] In some embodiments, the channels indicated by the third bitmap field comprise: channels within the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA, and / or channels outside the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA and within the operating bandwidth of the BSS in which the non-AP STA is located, and / or channels outside the operating bandwidth of the BSS in which the non-AP STA is located.

[0418] In some embodiments, the received signal strength includes a received signal strength of an overlapping basic service set (OBSS) physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU), or a received signal strength of an inter-BSS PPDU.

[0419] In some embodiments, the sending module 3410 is further configured to send a second frame, the second frame being used to instruct a first non-AP STA to switch a channel and perform channel detection.

[0420] In some embodiments, the sending module 3410 is further configured to send the second frame in a case that at least one non-AP STA within a BSS where the AP is located is in an OBSS coverage range.

[0421] In some embodiments, the sending module 3410 is further configured to send the first frame according to channel state information reported by a second non-AP STA, the first frame being used to instruct the second non-AP STA to switch to a first channel and send or receive data, wherein the first channel is at least one secondary channel of the one or more sub-channels.

[0422] In some embodiments, the sending module 3410 is further configured to send the first frame in a case that a received signal strength of a primary channel of the AP is higher than a first threshold and lower than a second threshold, the first frame being used to instruct the AP and a third non-AP STA to switch to a first channel and instruct the third non-AP STA to send or receive data, or the first frame being used to instruct a third non-AP STA to switch to a first channel and send or receive data, wherein the first channel is at least one secondary channel of the one or more sub-channels.

[0423] In some embodiments, the sending module 3410 is further configured to send data on the first channel in a case that a received signal strength of the first channel is lower than a first threshold.

[0424] In some embodiments, the receiving module 3450 is further configured to receive data on the first channel in a case that a received signal strength of the first channel is lower than a first threshold.

[0425] In some embodiments, the sending module 3410 is further configured to send first information, the first information being used to request data transmission, the first information including one or more fields of a link identifier, a channel identifier, a channel bandwidth, a transmission time.

[0426] In some embodiments, the receiving module 3450 is further configured to receive first information, the first information being used for requesting data transmission, the first information comprising one or more of the following fields: link identification, channel identification, channel bandwidth, transmission time.

[0427] In some embodiments, the first information is carried in a data frame, or the first information is carried in a data transmission request frame.

[0428] In some embodiments, the receiving module 3450 is further configured to receive second information, the second information being used for responding to the first information, the second information comprising one or more of the following fields: a field used for indicating whether to agree to data transmission, link identification, channel identification, channel bandwidth.

[0429] In some embodiments, the sending module 3410 is further configured to send second information, the second information being used for responding to the first information, the second information comprising one or more of the following fields: a field used for indicating whether to agree to data transmission, link identification, channel identification, channel bandwidth.

[0430] In some embodiments, the second information is carried in a BA frame, or the second information is carried in a data transmission response frame.

[0431] In some embodiments, the sending module 3410 is further configured to send a beacon frame, the beacon frame comprising one or more of the following fields: OBSS information, OBSS identification list, second threshold value, first threshold value, link quantity, link information; wherein the OBSS information field is used for indicating whether the AP is in an OBSS coverage range.

[0432] In some embodiments, the sending module 3410 is further configured to send a trigger frame, the trigger frame being used for triggering a non-AP STA associated with the AP to report whether the non-AP STA is in an OBSS coverage range.

[0433] In some embodiments, the receiving module 3450 is further configured to receive a position report frame, the position report frame being used for reporting whether a non-AP STA associated with the AP is in an OBSS coverage range.

[0434] In some embodiments, the processing module 3430 is configured to determine whether the AP is in an OBSS coverage range. Optionally, the processing module 3430 is configured to determine whether the AP is in an OBSS coverage range based on a BSS Coloring mechanism.

[0435] In some embodiments, the processing module 3430 is configured to maintain a channel state table.

[0436] In some embodiments, the processing module 3430 is configured to determine the magnitude relationship between the received signal strength and the first threshold value, the second threshold value, and the third threshold value.

[0437] In some embodiments, the processing module 3430 is configured to detect and acquire the received signal strength of the channel.

[0438] In some embodiments, the sending module 3410 is configured to perform one or more of the following steps: step 620, step 720, step 740, step 760, step 1001, step 1002, step 1004a, step 1004b, step 1007, step 1008a, step 1009b, step 1010, and step 1011.

[0439] In some embodiments, the sending module 3410 is configured to send one or more of the following: a beacon frame, a trigger frame, a second frame, a first frame, a channel information trigger frame, an ACK frame, an RTS frame, first information, a data frame, a data transmission request frame, second information, a BA frame, and a data transmission response frame.

[0440] In some embodiments, the receiving module 3450 is configured to receive one or more of the following: channel state information of one or more channels, a location reporting frame, an ACK frame, first information, a data frame, a data transmission request frame, second information, a BA frame, a data transmission response frame, a CTS frame, and a BQR frame.

[0441] In some embodiments, the apparatus is a single-link device or a multi-link device.

[0442] The steps performed by the sending module 3410, the processing module 3430, and the receiving module 3450 can refer to one or more steps performed by an AP in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 6-33, and the related content (such as frame interaction processes and frame formats) described in the foregoing embodiments also apply to the apparatus shown in FIG. 34, which will not be repeated here.

[0443] In summary, the apparatus provided by the embodiments of the present application supports sending a first frame through channel state information of one or more channels. Since the channel state information of one or more channels can reflect the received signal strength and interference of the channel, when a data transmission requirement is generated, the non-AP STA can be instructed to switch to a suitable channel for data reception and / or transmission in a timely and flexible manner, so as to ensure that the data transmission has high reliability.

[0444] Figure 37 illustrates a structural block diagram of a communication apparatus provided by an example embodiment of the present application, which can be implemented as the non-AP STA described above or as a part of the non-AP STA described above. The apparatus includes a receiving module 3510. Optionally, the apparatus further includes a processing module 3530 and / or a sending module 3550.

[0445] The receiving module 3510 is configured to receive a first frame, the first frame being sent based on channel state information of one or more channels, the first frame being used to instruct the apparatus to switch channels and perform data transmission.

[0446] In some embodiments, the sending module 3550 is configured to send the channel state information of the one or more channels.

[0447] In some embodiments, the channel state information of the one or more channels is carried in a channel information reporting frame, or in a BQR frame, or in a control field in a data frame.

[0448] In some embodiments, the channel state information includes one or more of: a channel state information field, an OBSS identification list field; the channel state information field includes one or more of: a first bit bitmap field, a second bit bitmap field, a third bit bitmap field, a channel OBSS interference information field; the OBSS identification list field includes one or more BSS identification subfields; wherein the first bit bitmap field is used to indicate channels with a received signal strength lower than a first threshold, the second bit bitmap field is used to indicate channels with a received signal strength higher than or equal to the first threshold but lower than a second threshold, the third bit bitmap field is used to indicate channels with a received signal strength lower than a third threshold, the third threshold being higher than the second threshold, and the second threshold being higher than the first threshold.

[0449] In some embodiments, the channels indicated by the first bit bitmap field include: channels within an operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA, and / or channels outside the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA; the channels indicated by the second bit bitmap field include: channels within the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA, and / or channels outside the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA; the channels indicated by the third bit bitmap field include: channels within the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA, and / or channels outside the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA and within an operating bandwidth of a BSS to which the non-AP STA belongs, and / or channels outside the operating bandwidth of the BSS to which the non-AP STA belongs.

[0450] In some embodiments, the channel OBSS interference information subfield comprises one or more of: a channel identification subfield, an interference status subfield, a received signal strength subfield, a NAV subfield.

[0451] In some embodiments, the channel state information comprises one or more of: a third bitmap field, a reserved field; wherein the third bitmap field is used to indicate channels whose received signal strength is lower than a third threshold value.

[0452] In some embodiments, the channels indicated by the third bitmap field comprise: channels within the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA, and / or channels within the operating bandwidth of the BSS to which the non-AP STA belongs, and / or channels outside the operating bandwidth of the BSS to which the non-AP STA belongs.

[0453] In some embodiments, the received signal strength comprises a received signal strength of an overlapping basic service set (OBSS) physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU), or a received signal strength of an inter-BSS PPDU.

[0454] In some embodiments, the receiving module 3510 is further configured to receive a second frame, the second frame being used to instruct the first non-AP STA to switch channels and perform channel detection.

[0455] In some embodiments, the receiving module 3510 is further configured to receive data on the first channel if the received signal strength of the first channel is lower than a first threshold value.

[0456] In some embodiments, the sending module 3550 is configured to send data on the first channel if the received signal strength of the first channel is lower than a first threshold value.

[0457] In some embodiments, the sending module 3550 is further configured to send first information, the first information being used to request data transmission, the first information comprising one or more of the following fields: a link identification, a channel identification, a channel bandwidth, a transmission time.

[0458] In some embodiments, the receiving module 3510 is further configured to receive first information, the first information being used to request data transmission, the first information comprising one or more of the following fields: a link identification, a channel identification, a channel bandwidth, a transmission time.

[0459] In some embodiments, the first information is carried in a data frame, or the first information is carried in a data transmission request frame.

[0460] In some embodiments, the receiving module 3510 is further configured to receive second information, the second information being used in response to the first information, the second information comprising one or more of the following fields: a field used to indicate whether to agree to data transmission, a link identifier, a channel identifier, a channel bandwidth.

[0461] In some embodiments, the sending module 3550 is further configured to send second information, the second information being used in response to the first information, the second information comprising one or more of the following fields: a field used to indicate whether to agree to data transmission, a link identifier, a channel identifier, a channel bandwidth.

[0462] In some embodiments, the second information is carried in a BA frame, or the second information is carried in a data transmission response frame.

[0463] In some embodiments, the receiving module 3510 is further configured to receive a beacon frame, the beacon frame comprising one or more of the following fields: OBSS information, an OBSS identifier list, a second threshold value, a first threshold value, a link quantity, link information; wherein the OBSS information field is used to indicate whether the AP associated with the device is in the OBSS coverage range.

[0464] In some embodiments, the receiving module 3510 is further configured to receive a trigger frame, the trigger frame being used to trigger the device to report whether it is in the OBSS coverage range.

[0465] In some embodiments, the sending module 3550 is further configured to send a location reporting frame, the location reporting frame being used to report whether the device is in the OBSS coverage range.

[0466] In some embodiments, the device is a single-link device or a multi-link device.

[0467] In some embodiments, the processing module 3530 is configured to determine whether it is in the OBSS coverage range. Optionally, the processing module 3530 is configured to determine whether it is in the OBSS coverage range based on the BSS Coloring mechanism.

[0468] In some embodiments, the processing module 3530 is configured to determine the size relationship between the received signal strength and the first threshold value and the second threshold value.

[0469] In some embodiments, the processing module 3530 is configured to detect and obtain the received signal strength of the channel.

[0470] In some embodiments, the processing module 3530 is configured to actively switch channels and perform channel detection, or to switch channels and perform channel detection based on the trigger or indication of the AP.

[0471] In some embodiments, the receiving module 3510 is configured to perform one or more of the following steps: step 820, step 920, step 940, step 960, step 1011.

[0472] In some embodiments, the sending module 3550 is configured to perform one or more of the following steps: step 960, step 1003, step 1005a, step 1006, step 1009a, step 1008b, step 1011.

[0473] In some embodiments, the receiving module 3510 is configured to receive one or more of the following: a beacon frame, a trigger frame, a second frame, a first frame, a channel information trigger frame, an ACK frame, an RTS frame, first information, a data frame, a data transmission request frame, second information, a BA frame, a data transmission response frame.

[0474] In some embodiments, the sending module 3550 is configured to send one or more of the following: channel state information of one or more channels, a location report frame, an ACK frame, first information, a data frame, a data transmission request frame, second information, a BA frame, a data transmission response frame, a CTS frame, a BQR frame.

[0475] In some embodiments, the apparatus is a single-link device or a multi-link device.

[0476] The steps performed by the sending module 3550, the processing module 3530, and the receiving module 3510 can refer to one or more steps performed by a non-AP STA in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 6-33, and the related content (such as frame interaction processes, frame formats, etc.) described in the foregoing embodiments also apply to the apparatus shown in FIG. 35, which will not be repeated here.

[0477] In summary, the apparatus provided by the embodiments of the present application supports switching channels and performing data transmission according to a first frame. Since the first frame is sent based on channel state information of one or more channels, and the channel state information can reflect the received signal strength, interference condition, etc. of the channel, when a data transmission requirement is generated, the apparatus can timely and flexibly switch to a suitable channel to receive and / or send data, so as to ensure that the data transmission has high reliability.

[0478] It should be noted that: the apparatus provided by the above embodiments in implementing its functions, only above-mentioned each functional module is divided and takes an example of explaining, actual application can be needed and is completed by different functional module, namely the internal structure of communication device is divided into different functional module, in order to complete above described all or partial functions. In addition, the apparatus and method embodiments provided by the above embodiments belong to the same concept.

[0479] FIG. 38 shows a structural diagram of a communication device according to an example embodiment of the present application, which includes at least one of a receiver 3601, a transmitter 3602, a processor 3603, a memory 3604, and a bus (not shown in the figure). Optionally, the communication device 3600 is configured to perform some or all of the steps performed by the AP described above. Optionally, the communication device 3600 is configured to perform some or all of the steps performed by the non-AP STA described above.

[0480] The receiver 3601 is configured to implement the receiving function, and the transmitter 3602 is configured to implement the transmitting function. Optionally, the receiver 3601 and the transmitter 3602 can be implemented as a communication component, which can be a communication chip. The communication component can also be referred to as a transceiver. Optionally, the receiver 3601 and the transmitter 3602 can be implemented as a wireless communication component and / or a wired communication component. Optionally, the wireless communication component includes a wireless communication chip and / or a radio frequency antenna. Optionally, the wired communication component includes a wired communication chip and / or a wired interface.

[0481] In some embodiments, the receiver 3601 can be configured to implement the functions and steps of the receiving module 3450 described above, and the transmitter 3602 can be configured to implement the functions and steps of the transmitting module 3410 described above.

[0482] In some embodiments, the receiver 3601 can be configured to implement the functions and steps of the receiving module 3510 described above, and the transmitter 3602 can be configured to implement the functions and steps of the transmitting module 3550 described above.

[0483] The processor 3603 includes one or more processing cores. The processor 3603 is configured to execute various functional applications and information processing by running software programs and modules. In some embodiments, the processor 3603 can be configured to implement the functions and steps of the processing module 3430 or the processing module 3530 described above.

[0484] The memory 3604 can be configured to store computer programs executed by the processor 3603, and the processor 3603 is configured to execute the computer programs to implement various steps in the method embodiments described above.

[0485] In addition, the memory 3604 can be implemented by any type of volatile or nonvolatile storage devices or a combination thereof, including but not limited to a magnetic disk or a optical disk, an Electrically-Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM), an Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM), a Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a magnetic memory, a flash memory, a Programmable Read-Only Memory (PROM).

[0486] In some embodiments, the memory 3604 can be connected with the processor 3603, and the receiver 3601 and the transmitter 3602.

[0487] In some embodiments, the receiver 3601 receives signals / data independently, or the processor 3603 controls the receiver 3601 to receive signals / data, or the processor 3603 requests the receiver 3601 to receive signals / data, or the processor 3603 cooperates with the receiver 3601 to receive signals / data.

[0488] In some embodiments, the transmitter 3602 transmits signals / data independently, or the processor 3603 controls the transmitter 3602 to transmit signals / data, or the processor 3603 requests the transmitter 3602 to transmit signals / data, or the processor 3603 cooperates with the transmitter 3602 to transmit signals / data.

[0489] For details not described in the present embodiments, refer to the foregoing embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0490] In one example embodiment of the present application, a chip is also provided, which includes a programmable logic circuit and / or program instructions, and when the chip is running on a communication device, is used to implement the communication method provided by each method embodiment.

[0491] In some embodiments, the chip includes a sending module 3410. Optionally, the chip further includes a processing module 3430 and / or a receiving module 3450. For related content, refer to the foregoing description, which will not be repeated here. Optionally, each module can be implemented as a circuit structure.

[0492] In some embodiments, the chip comprises the receiving module 3510. Optionally, the chip further comprises the processing module 3530 and / or the sending module 3550. Details can be referred to the foregoing description, and will not be repeated here. Optionally, each module can be implemented as a circuit structure.

[0493] In an example embodiment of the present application, a computer readable storage medium is also provided, and the computer readable storage medium stores at least one program, and the at least one program is loaded and executed by a processor to implement the communication method provided by each method embodiment.

[0494] In an example embodiment of the present application, a computer program product is also provided, and the computer program product comprises computer instructions, the computer instructions are stored in a computer readable storage medium, a processor acquires the computer instructions from the computer readable storage medium, and the processor executes the computer instructions to implement the communication method provided by each method embodiment.

[0495] In an example embodiment of the present application, a computer program is also provided, and the computer program comprises computer instructions, the computer instructions are stored in a computer readable storage medium, a processor acquires the computer instructions from the computer readable storage medium, and the processor executes the computer instructions to implement the communication method provided by each method embodiment.

[0496] Those skilled in the art can understand that all or part of the steps of the above embodiments can be completed by hardware, or by program instructing relevant hardware to complete, and the program can be stored in a computer readable storage medium. The storage medium mentioned above can be a read-only memory, a magnetic disk or an optical disk.

[0497] The above is only an optional embodiment of the present application, and is not used to limit the present application. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present application shall be included in the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method is performed by an access point (AP), and the method comprises: sending a first frame based on channel state information of one or more channels, the first frame being used to instruct a non-AP station (non-AP STA) to switch to a specified channel.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The one or more channels comprise at least one of the following: a channel within an operating bandwidth of a basic service set (BSS) where the AP is located; a channel within an operating bandwidth of a non-AP STA associated with the AP; a channel outside the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA associated with the AP.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The channel state information of the one or more channels is detected by the AP; or the channel state information of the one or more channels is detected by the non-AP STA associated with the AP and reported to the AP. Alternatively, the channel state information of a part of the plurality of channels is detected by the AP, and the channel state information of another part of the plurality of channels is detected by the non-AP STA associated with the AP and reported to the AP.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein, The channel state information is actively reported by a first non-AP STA; or The channel state information is reported by the first non-AP STA based on a second frame, the second frame being used to instruct the first non-AP STA to switch channels and perform channel detection; wherein the first non-AP STA comprises one or more non-AP STAs associated with the AP.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, The channel state information is carried in a channel information reporting frame, or in a BQR frame, or in a control field in a data frame.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, The channel state information comprises one or more of the following: a channel state information field, an OBSS identifier list field. The channel state information field comprises one or more of the following: a first bit bitmap field, a second bit bitmap field, a third bit bitmap field, a channel OBSS interference information field. The OBSS identifier list field comprises one or more BSS identifier subfields. The first bit bitmap field is used to indicate channels with a received signal strength lower than a first threshold, the second bit bitmap field is used to indicate channels with a received signal strength higher than or equal to the first threshold but lower than a second threshold, and the third bit bitmap field is used to indicate channels with a received signal strength lower than a third threshold, the third threshold being higher than the second threshold, and the second threshold being higher than the first threshold.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein: The channels indicated by the first bit bitmap field comprise channels within an operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA and / or channels outside the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA. The channels indicated by the second bit bitmap field comprise channels within the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA and / or channels outside the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA. The channel indicated by the third bitmap field includes a channel within the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA, and / or a channel outside the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA and within the operating bandwidth of the BSS to which the non-AP STA belongs, and / or a channel outside the operating bandwidth of the BSS to which the non-AP STA belongs.

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that, The channel OBSS interference information subfield includes one or more of a channel identification subfield, an interference state subfield, a received signal strength subfield, and a NAV subfield.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, The channel state information includes one or more of a third bitmap field and a reserved field, wherein the third bitmap field is used to indicate a channel with a received signal strength lower than a third threshold. The channel indicated by the third bitmap field includes a channel within the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA, and / or a channel outside the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA and within the operating bandwidth of the BSS to which the non-AP STA belongs, and / or a channel outside the operating bandwidth of the BSS to which the non-AP STA belongs.

10. The method according to any one of claims 6 to 9, characterized in that, The received signal strength includes a received signal strength of an overlapping basic service set (OBSS) physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) or a received signal strength of an inter-BSS PPDU.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that, Before the first frame is sent, the method further includes sending a second frame, the second frame being used to instruct a first non-AP STA to switch channels and perform channel detection.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein, The sending of the second frame includes: The second frame is sent in a case where at least one non-AP STA within the BSS of the AP is in an OBSS coverage range.

13. The method according to claim 4 or 11 or 12, characterized in that, The second frame carries sub-band or sub-channel switching information, and the sub-band switching information includes one or more of a mode field used to indicate a sub-band switching mode, a STA number field used to indicate a number of non-AP STAs that need to perform channel switching, and a STA information field used to indicate information of non-AP STAs that need to perform channel switching.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that, The first frame is used to instruct a non-access point station (non-AP STA) to switch to a specified channel and perform data transmission.

15. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that, The sending of the first frame based on the channel state information of one or more channels includes: The first frame is sent according to channel state information reported by a second non-AP STA, the first frame being used to instruct the second non-AP STA to switch to a first channel and send or receive data. The first channel is at least one sub-channel of the one or more sub-channels.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein, The sending of the first frame according to the channel state information reported by the second non-AP STA includes: The sending of the first frame according to the channel state information reported by the second non-AP STA includes: The channel state information reported by the second non-AP STA comprises a second bit map field, and the second bit map field indicates that the first frame is sent in a case where the received signal strength of the primary channel of the second non-AP STA is higher than or equal to a first threshold but lower than a second threshold.

17. The method according to claim 15 or 16, characterized in that, The first channel is located outside the operating bandwidth of the second non-AP STA.

18. The method of any one of claims 15 to 17, wherein, The second non-AP STA is in an OBSS coverage range.

19. The method of any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein, The first frame is sent based on the channel state information of one or more channels, comprising: The first frame is sent in a case where the received signal strength of the primary channel of the AP is higher than a first threshold and lower than a second threshold, the first frame being used to instruct the AP and a third non-AP STA to switch to a first channel and instruct the third non-AP STA to send or receive data, or the first frame being used to instruct the third non-AP STA to switch to the first channel and send or receive data. The first channel is at least one secondary channel of the one or more sub-channels.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein, The first channel is located outside the operating bandwidth of the third non-AP STA.

21. The method of claim 19 or 20, wherein, The AP is in an OBSS coverage range.

22. The method of any one of claims 15 to 21, wherein, The first channel is a secondary channel of the one or more sub-channels, the received signal strength of which is less than or equal to a first threshold.

23. The method of any one of claims 15 to 22, wherein, The method further comprises: In a case where the received signal strength of the first channel is lower than a first threshold, data is sent or received on the first channel.

24. The method of any one of claims 1 to 23, wherein, The first frame carries sub-band switching information, the sub-band switching information comprising one or more of the following fields: a mode field, used to indicate a sub-band switching mode; a STA number field, used to indicate the number of non-AP STAs that need to switch channels; and a STA information field, used to indicate the information of the non-AP STAs that need to switch channels.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein, The non-AP STAs that need to switch channels are determined by the AP based on the channel state information of the one or more channels.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein, The received signal strength of the primary channel of the non-AP STA that needs to switch channels is higher than or equal to a first threshold and less than a second threshold.

27. The method of claim 13 or 24, wherein, The STA information field comprises one or more of the following sub-fields: an STA identifier, a switching channel bit map, a channel identifier, a channel bandwidth, a switching time, and a waiting time.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein, The channel indicated by the switching channel bit map sub-field comprises a channel located within the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA and / or a channel located outside the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA.

29. The method of any one of claims 1 to 28, wherein, Before the first frame is sent, the method further comprises: First information is sent or received, the first information being used to request data transmission, the first information comprising one or more of the following fields: a link identifier, a channel identifier, a channel bandwidth, and a transmission time.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein, The first information is carried in a data frame, or the first information is carried in a data transmission request frame.

31. The method of claim 29 or 30, wherein, The method further comprises: receiving or sending second information, the second information being used for responding to the first information, the second information including one or more fields: a field for indicating whether to agree to data transmission, a link identifier, a channel identifier, a channel bandwidth.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein, The second information is carried in a block acknowledgement (BA) frame, or the second information is carried in a data transmission response frame.

33. The method of any one of claims 1 to 32, wherein, The method further includes: sending a beacon frame, the beacon frame including one or more fields: OBSS information, an OBSS identifier list, a second threshold, a first threshold, a number of links, link information; wherein the OBSS information field is used to indicate whether the AP is in an OBSS coverage range.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein, The link information field includes one or more subfields: a link identifier, a number of channels, a channel identifier, an OBSS detection result, a received signal strength; wherein the OBSS detection result is used to indicate whether there is OBSS interference in the channel.

35. The method of any one of claims 1 to 34, wherein, The method further includes: sending a trigger frame, the trigger frame being used to trigger the non-AP STA associated with the AP to report whether it is in an OBSS coverage range.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein, The trigger frame includes at least a position OBSS information field, the position OBSS information field being used to indicate whether the non-AP STA associated with the AP reports itself to be in an OBSS coverage range.

37. The method of claim 35 or 36, wherein, The trigger frame is a position report trigger frame, or a bandwidth query report polling (BQRP) trigger frame.

38. The method of any one of claims 1 to 37, wherein, The method further includes: receiving a position report frame, the position report frame being used to report whether the non-AP STA associated with the AP is in an OBSS coverage range.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein, The position report frame includes at least a position report element, the position report element including one or more fields: an OBSS detection result, an OBSS identifier list; wherein the OBSS detection result field is used to indicate whether the non-AP STA is in the OBSS coverage range; and the OBSS identifier list field is used to indicate the BSSs overheard by the non-AP STA.

40. The method of any one of claims 1 to 39, wherein, The AP is a single-link device or a multi-link device.

41. A method of communication, comprising: The method is performed by a non-access point station (non-AP STA), and includes: receiving a first frame, the first frame being sent based on channel state information of one or more channels, the first frame being used to instruct the non-AP STA to switch to a specified channel.

42. The method of claim 36, wherein, The one or more channels include at least one of: a channel located within the operating bandwidth of the basic service set (BSS) where the AP is located; a channel located within the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA associated with the AP; a channel located outside the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA associated with the AP; wherein the AP is associated with the non-AP STA.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein, The channel state information of the one or more channels is detected by the AP; or the channel state information of the one or more channels is detected by the non-AP STA associated with the AP and reported. Alternatively, channel state information of a part of the plurality of channels is detected by the AP, and channel state information of another part of the plurality of channels is detected by a non-AP STA associated with the AP and reported to the AP.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein, The channel state information is actively reported by a first non-AP STA; or the channel state information is reported by the first non-AP STA based on a second frame, the second frame being used to instruct the first non-AP STA to switch channels and perform channel detection; wherein the first non-AP STA comprises one or more non-AP STAs associated with the AP.

45. The method of any one of claims 41 to 44, wherein, The channel state information is carried in a channel information reporting frame, or in a BQR frame, or in a control field in a data frame.

46. The method of any one of claims 41 to 45, wherein, The channel state information comprises one or more of: a channel state information field, an OBSS identifier list field; The channel state information field comprises one or more of: a first bit bitmap field, a second bit bitmap field, a third bit bitmap field, a channel OBSS interference information subfield; The OBSS identifier list field comprises one or more BSS identifier subfields; The first bit bitmap field is used to indicate channels with received signal strength lower than a first threshold, the second bit bitmap field is used to indicate channels with received signal strength higher than or equal to the first threshold but lower than a second threshold, and the third bit bitmap field is used to indicate channels with received signal strength lower than a third threshold, the third threshold being higher than the second threshold, and the second threshold being higher than the first threshold.

47. The method of claim 46, wherein, The channels indicated by the first bit bitmap field include: channels within the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA, and / or channels outside the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA; The channels indicated by the second bit bitmap field include: channels within the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA, and / or channels outside the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA; The channels indicated by the third bit bitmap field include: channels within the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA, and / or channels outside the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA and within the operating bandwidth of the BSS to which the non-AP STA belongs, and / or channels outside the operating bandwidth of the BSS to which the non-AP STA belongs.

48. The method of claim 46 or 47, wherein, The channel OBSS interference information subfield comprises one or more of: a channel identifier subfield, an interference state subfield, a received signal strength subfield, and a NAV subfield.

49. The method of any one of claims 41 to 45, wherein, The channel state information comprises one or more of: a third bit bitmap field, and a reserved field; The third bit bitmap field is used to indicate channels with received signal strength lower than a third threshold. The channel indicated by the third bitmap field includes a channel within the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA, and / or a channel within the operating bandwidth of the BSS in which the non-AP STA is located, and / or a channel outside the operating bandwidth of the BSS in which the non-AP STA is located.

50. The method of any one of claims 46 to 49, wherein, The received signal strength includes a received signal strength of an overlapping basic service set (OBSS) physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) or a received signal strength of an inter-BSS PPDU.

51. The method of any one of claims 41 to 50, wherein, The method further includes: receiving a second frame, the second frame being used to instruct a first non-AP STA to switch a channel and perform channel detection.

52. The method of claim 51, wherein, The second frame is sent in a case where at least one non-AP STA in a BSS in which an AP is located is in an OBSS coverage range.

53. The method of claim 44 or 51 or 52, wherein, The second frame carries sub-band or sub-channel switching information, and the sub-band switching information includes one or more of the following fields: a mode field, used to indicate a sub-band switching mode; a STA number field, used to indicate a number of non-AP STAs that need to perform channel switching; and a STA information field, used to indicate information of the non-AP STAs that need to perform channel switching.

54. The method of any one of claims 41 to 53, wherein, The first frame is used to instruct the non-AP STA to switch to a specified channel and perform data transmission.

55. The method of any one of claims 41 to 54, wherein, The first frame is sent according to channel state information reported by a second non-AP STA, and the first frame is used to instruct the second non-AP STA to switch to a first channel and send or receive data; wherein the first channel is at least one secondary channel of the one or more sub-channels.

56. The method of claim 55, wherein, The first frame is sent in a case where the channel state information reported by the second non-AP STA includes a second bitmap field, and the second bitmap field indicates that a received signal strength of a primary channel of the second non-AP STA is higher than or equal to a first threshold but lower than a second threshold.

57. The method of claim 55 or 56, wherein, The first channel is located outside an operating bandwidth of the second non-AP STA.

58. The method of any one of claims 55 to 57, wherein, The second non-AP STA is in an OBSS coverage range.

59. The method of any one of claims 41 to 54, wherein, The first frame is sent in a case where a received signal strength of a primary channel of an AP is higher than a first threshold and lower than a second threshold, and the first frame is used to instruct an AP to which the non-AP STA is associated and a third non-AP STA to switch to a first channel and instruct the third non-AP STA to send or receive data, or the first frame is used to instruct the third non-AP STA to switch to the first channel and send or receive data; wherein the first channel is at least one secondary channel of the one or more sub-channels.

60. The method of claim 59, wherein, The first channel is located outside an operating bandwidth of the third non-AP STA.

61. The method of claim 59 or 60, wherein, The AP is in an OBSS coverage range.

62. The method of any one of claims 55 to 61, wherein, The first channel is a secondary channel of the one or more sub-channels, and a received signal strength of the first channel is less than or equal to a first threshold.

63. The method of any one of claims 55 to 62, wherein, The method further includes: In a case that the received signal strength of the first channel is lower than a first threshold, data is transmitted or received on the first channel.

64. The method of any one of claims 41 to 63, wherein, The first frame carries sub-band switching information, and the sub-band switching information includes one or more of the following fields: a mode field, used to indicate a sub-band switching mode; a STA number field, used to indicate a number of non-AP STAs that need to perform channel switching; and a STA information field, used to indicate information of the non-AP STAs that need to perform channel switching.

65. The method of claim 64, wherein, The non-AP STAs that need to perform channel switching are determined by the AP according to channel state information of the one or more channels.

66. The method of claim 65, wherein, The received signal strength of the primary channel of the non-AP STA that needs to perform channel switching is higher than or equal to a first threshold and less than a second threshold.

67. The method of claim 53 or 64, wherein, The STA information field includes one or more of the following subfields: an STA identifier, a switching channel bitmap, a channel identifier, a channel bandwidth, a switching time, and a waiting time.

68. The method of claim 67, wherein, The channel indicated by the switching channel bitmap subfield includes a channel within the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA and / or a channel outside the operating bandwidth of the non-AP STA.

69. The method of any one of claims 41 to 68, wherein, The method further includes: transmitting or receiving first information used to request data transmission, the first information including one or more of the following fields: a link identifier, a channel identifier, a channel bandwidth, and a transmission time.

70. The method of claim 69, wherein, The first information is carried in a data frame, or the first information is carried in a data transmission request frame.

71. The method of claim 69 or 70, wherein, The method further includes: receiving or transmitting second information used to respond to the first information, the second information including one or more of the following fields: a field used to indicate whether to agree to data transmission, a link identifier, a channel identifier, and a channel bandwidth.

72. The method of claim 71, wherein, The second information is carried in a block acknowledgement (BA) frame, or the second information is carried in a data transmission response frame.

73. The method of any one of claims 41 to 72, wherein, The method further includes: receiving a beacon frame, the beacon frame including one or more of the following fields: OBSS information, an OBSS identifier list, a second threshold, a first threshold, a number of links, and link information; wherein the OBSS information field is used to indicate whether the AP to which the non-AP STA is associated is in an OBSS coverage range.

74. The method of claim 73, wherein, The link information field includes one or more of the following subfields: a link identifier, a number of channels, a channel identifier, an OBSS detection result, and a received signal strength; wherein the OBSS detection result is used to indicate whether there is OBSS interference on the channel.

75. The method of any one of claims 41 to 74, wherein, The method further includes: receiving a trigger frame, the trigger frame being used to trigger the non-AP STA to report whether it is in an OBSS coverage range.

76. The method of claim 75, wherein, The trigger frame includes at least a position OBSS information field, which is used to indicate whether the non-AP STA reports that it is in an OBSS coverage range.

77. The method of claim 75 or 76, wherein, The trigger frame is a position report trigger frame or a bandwidth query report poll (BQRP) trigger frame.

78. The method of any one of claims 41 to 77, wherein, The method further includes: The sending position report frame is used for reporting whether the non-AP STA is in the OBSS coverage range.

79. The method of claim 78, wherein, The position report frame at least includes a position report element, and the position report element includes one or more fields of an OBSS detection result and an OBSS identifier list; the OBSS detection result field is used for indicating whether the non-AP STA is in the OBSS coverage range; and the OBSS identifier list field is used for indicating the BSSs listened to by the non-AP STA.

80. The method of any one of claims 41 to 79, wherein, The non-AP STA is a single-link device or a multi-link device.

81. A communications device, characterized by The device comprises: The sending module is configured to send a first frame based on the channel state information of one or more channels, and the first frame is used for instructing a non-access point station (non-AP STA) to switch to a specified channel.

82. A communications device, characterized by The device comprises: The receiving module is configured to receive a first frame, and the first frame is sent based on the channel state information of one or more channels, and the first frame is used for instructing a non-access point station (non-AP STA) to switch to a specified channel.

83. A communications device, characterized by The communication device comprises a processor, a transceiver connected to the processor, a memory for storing executable instructions of the processor, wherein the processor is configured to load and execute the executable instructions to implement the communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 40, or implement the communication method according to any one of claims 41 to 80.

84. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer readable storage medium stores at least one program, and the at least one program is loaded and executed by the processor to implement the communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 40, or implement the communication method according to any one of claims 41 to 80.

85. A computer program product, characterised in that, The computer program product comprises computer instructions stored in a computer readable storage medium, and the processor obtains the computer instructions from the computer readable storage medium, and executes the computer instructions to implement the communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 40, or implement the communication method according to any one of claims 41 to 80.

86. A computer program characterised in that, The computer program comprises computer instructions stored in a computer readable storage medium, and the processor obtains the computer instructions from the computer readable storage medium, and executes the computer instructions to implement the communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 40, or implement the communication method according to any one of claims 41 to 80.

87. A chip, comprising: The chip comprises a programmable logic circuit and / or at least one program, and the chip is used for implementing the communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 40, or implementing the communication method according to any one of claims 41 to 80 based on the programmable logic circuit and / or the at least one program.

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