Communication method and communication apparatus

Abstract

A communication method and a communication apparatus. The method can be applied to WLAN systems supporting IEEE 802.11ax next-generation Wi-Fi protocols, such as 802.11be, Wi-Fi 7 or EHT, or 802.11 series protocols, such as 802.11be next generation and Wi-Fi 8, and can also be applied to UWB-based wireless personal area network systems and sensing systems. The method comprises: a second access point indicates, on a second channel, by means of first information, that the second access point supports OBSS prioritization, and sends a first PPDU on a first part of the second channel, thereby reducing the sending bandwidth, so that an OBSS station of the second access point, for example, a first access point or a first station, can perform non-primary channel access on a second part of the channel that does not overlap the first part of the channel. In this way, prioritization outside a BSS can be implemented, the transmission requirements of the OBSS station can be satisfied, and the transmission efficiency can be improved.

Description

Method and communication device

[0001] The present application claims priority to the Russian Federation patent application No. 2024118626, filed on July 4, 2024, and entitled “Method and communication device of communication”, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present application relates to the field of communication, and more particularly, to a method and communication device of communication. BACKGROUND

[0003] With the development of wireless local area network (WLAN) technology, the amount of low-latency traffic (LLT) is increasing. LLT requires the system to successfully transmit a packet in a shorter time, however, the data packet of LLT usually has a limited load. In order to meet the latency requirement of LLT, a preemption mechanism can be used. Specifically, when a station is not a transmission opportunity (TXOP) holder but has a LLT transmission requirement, the station sends a preemption requirement (e.g. without channel contention), and then the TXOP holder can allocate transmission resources for the station so that it can successfully transmit the LLT in time. The existing preemption process is inefficient. SUMMARY

[0004] The present application provides a method and communication device of communication, which can support preemption outside the BSS and improve communication efficiency.

[0005] In a first aspect, a method of communication is provided. The method can be applied to a first access point or a first station, and the first station is a non-access point station. The method can be performed by the first access point or the first station, or by a component (e.g. a chip or a circuit or a chip system) of the first access point or the first station.

[0006] The method comprises: receiving first information from a second access point on a first channel, the first information being used to indicate that the second access point supports overlapped basic service set (OBSS) preemption, the first channel comprising a primary channel of the second access point, a basic service set (BSS) to which the first access point or first station belongs and a BSS to which the second access point belongs being OBSSs of each other; receiving part or all of a first physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) from the second access point on a first part of the first channel, the first part of the first channel comprising the primary channel; and performing non-primary channel access on a second part of the first channel, the second part of the first channel being non-overlapping with the first part of the first channel.

[0007] In the foregoing solution, the second access point can indicate, through the first information on the second channel, that it supports OBSS preemption, and further, the second access point can send part or all of the first PPDU on a first part of the second channel, that is, the transmission bandwidth is reduced, so that an OBSS station of the second access point, for example, the first access point or first station, can perform non-primary channel access on a second part of the second channel that is non-overlapping with the first part of the second channel, thereby realizing preemption outside the BSS, meeting the transmission requirement of the OBSS station, and improving transmission efficiency.

[0008] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations, the non-primary channel access on the second part of the first channel comprises: sending a data packet of a low-latency service on the second part of the first channel; or receiving a data packet of a low-latency service on the second part of the first channel.

[0009] Based on the foregoing solution, the second part of the channel can be used to transmit a data packet of a low-latency service, thereby meeting the transmission requirement of the low-latency service and improving user experience.

[0010] Exemplarily, the non-primary channel access on the second part of the first channel comprises: determining that a duration in which the second part of the first channel is in an idle state is greater than or equal to a first time interval, and performing transmission on the second part of the first channel, the first time interval being a short interframe space (SIFS), a distributed inter-frame spacing (DIFS), a point coordination function interframe space (PIFS), or an arbitration interframe space (AIFS).

[0011] Based on the above scheme, the first access point or the first station can perform inter-frame spacing idle detection on the second part of the channel, so as to avoid accessing the channel by contention, reduce communication delay, and improve communication efficiency.

[0012] In a possible implementation, performing non-primary channel access on the second part of the channel comprises performing channel contention including random backoff on a first sub-channel in the second part of the channel.

[0013] Based on the above scheme, the first access point or the first station can have stronger flexibility in accessing the channel by contention.

[0014] In a possible implementation, performing non-primary channel access on the second part of the channel comprises performing preamble detection on a first sub-channel in the second part of the channel.

[0015] For example, the first sub-channel is a preamble detection sub-channel used by the first access point or the first station to perform non-primary channel access, and the method further comprises determining that the second part of the channel comprises the first sub-channel.

[0016] With reference to the first aspect, in an implementation, the method is applied to the second access point, and the method further comprises sending, to the second access point, a preemption requirement according to the first information.

[0017] Based on the above scheme, the first access point or the first station can send a preemption requirement to the second access point when the second access point supports OBSS preemption, so as to avoid delay and resource waste caused by blind sending of the preemption requirement.

[0018] The preemption requirement is used to request a transmission opportunity of preemption of the second access point, and / or the preemption requirement is used to request the second access point to reduce a bandwidth of sending a PPDU.

[0019] In a possible implementation, the method further comprises receiving, on the first channel, a preemption requirement response from the second access point, the preemption requirement response being in response to the preemption requirement, and the preemption requirement response comprising first indication information, the first indication information being used to indicate that the second part of the channel becomes idle after transmission of the preemption requirement response is completed.

[0020] Based on the above scheme, the second access point can send a preemption requirement response to an OBSS station, so as to indicate a change in the channel state in a timely manner, so that the first access point or the first station can access a non-primary channel in a timely manner, thereby meeting a transmission requirement and reducing communication delay.

[0021] For example, the preemption requirement response further comprises second indication information, the second indication information being used to indicate a location of the second part of the channel, or being used to indicate an identity of a BSS allowed to be preempted.

[0022] In some implementations, before receiving the first PPDU, the method further includes: receiving a third PPDU on the first channel; and wherein receiving the part or all of the first PPDU on the first part of the channel includes receiving all of the first PPDU on the first part of the channel.

[0023] In a possible implementation, the third PPDU includes third indication information, the third indication information being used to indicate that the second part of the channel becomes idle after the third PPDU is transmitted; or the first PPDU includes fourth indication information, the fourth indication information being used to indicate that the second part of the channel is idle.

[0024] Based on the above scheme, the second access point can indicate the bandwidth change or the channel state change, so as to facilitate the first access point or the first station to access the non-primary channel in time, thereby meeting the transmission requirement and reducing the communication latency.

[0025] For example, the third indication information is carried in an ultra high reliability-signal (UHR-SIG) field of the third PPDU, or the fourth indication information is carried in the UHR-SIG field of the first PPDU.

[0026] In some implementations, the method further includes: receiving a first part of the first PPDU on the first channel; and wherein receiving the part or all of the first PPDU on the first part of the channel includes receiving a part of the first PPDU other than the first part on the first part of the channel.

[0027] In a possible implementation, the first part includes fifth indication information, the fifth indication information being used to indicate that the bandwidth will change during transmission of the first PPDU.

[0028] For example, the fifth indication information is carried in a UHR-SIG field of the first PPDU or a midamble part of the first PPDU.

[0029] The midamble part can be located at the end of the first part.

[0030] Based on the above scheme, the second access point can indicate the bandwidth change or the channel state change by means of the bandwidth change of the same PPDU, so as to facilitate the first access point or the first station to access the non-primary channel in time, thereby meeting the transmission requirement and reducing the communication latency.

[0031] In some implementations, the first information is carried in a physical layer header, a beacon frame, or a transmission opportunity initial frame of the second PPDU.

[0032] In some implementations of the first aspect, the first information includes second indication information, the second indication information being used to indicate a location of the second part of the channel or an identity of the BSS allowed to have the preemption.

[0033] In some examples, the first part of the channel has a bandwidth of 20MHz; and / or, the second part of the channel has a bandwidth of 20MHz; and / or, the primary channel is a primary 20MHz channel.

[0034] In a second aspect, a method of communication is provided, which can be applied to a second access point. The method can be executed by the second access point, or by a component (e.g., a chip or a circuit or a chip system) of the second access point.

[0035] The method includes: transmitting first information on a second channel, the first information being used to indicate that the second access point supports OBSS preemption, the second channel including a primary channel; and transmitting part or all of a first PPDU on a first part of the channel, the first part of the channel including the primary channel, the second channel further including a second part of the channel, the second part of the channel being non-overlapping with the first part of the channel, the second part of the channel being used for non-primary channel access by a station of a second access point or a non-access point.

[0036] In the above solution, the second access point can indicate, through the first information on the second channel, that it supports OBSS preemption. Further, the second access point can transmit part or all of the first PPDU on the first part of the channel of the second channel, i.e., the transmission bandwidth is reduced. Thus, the OBSS station of the second access point, e.g., the first access point or the first station, can perform non-primary channel access on the second part of the channel which is non-overlapping with the first part of the channel. In this way, the preemption outside the BSS can be realized, the transmission requirement of the OBSS station can be met, and the transmission efficiency can be improved.

[0037] In a possible implementation, the non-primary channel access includes performing preamble detection on a first sub-channel in the second part of the channel.

[0038] In some implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: receiving a preemption requirement from the second access point or the first station, the BSS to which the second access point or the first station belongs and the BSS to which the second access point belongs being OBSSs of each other; and transmitting part or all of the first PPDU on the first part of the channel, including: transmitting part or all of the first PPDU on the first part of the channel according to the preemption requirement.

[0039] In some examples, the preemption requirement is used to request a transmission opportunity of the second access point, and / or the preemption requirement is used to request the second access point to reduce the bandwidth of the PPDU.

[0040] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: sending, to the second access point or the first station, a preemption demand response on the second channel, the preemption demand response being in response to the preemption demand, and the preemption demand response including first indication information, the first indication information being used to indicate that the second part of the channel becomes idle after transmission of the preemption demand response is completed.

[0041] Exemplarily, the preemption demand response includes second indication information, the second indication information being used to indicate a location of the second part of the channel or being used to indicate an identity of the BSS that allows preemption.

[0042] With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations, before the first PPDU is sent, the method further includes: sending a third PPDU on the second channel; and wherein the sending of the part or all of the first PPDU on the first part of the channel includes: sending all of the first PPDU on the first part of the channel.

[0043] In a possible implementation, the third PPDU includes third indication information, the third indication information being used to indicate that the second part of the channel becomes idle after transmission of the third PPDU is completed; or the first PPDU includes fourth indication information, the fourth indication information being used to indicate that the second part of the channel is idle.

[0044] Exemplarily, the third indication information is carried in a UHR-SIG field of the third PPDU, or the fourth indication information is carried in a UHR-SIG field of the first PPDU.

[0045] With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations, the method further includes: sending a first part of the first PPDU on the second channel; and wherein the sending of the part or all of the first PPDU on the first part of the channel includes: sending a part of the first PPDU other than the first part on the first part of the channel.

[0046] In a possible implementation, the first part includes fifth indication information, the fifth indication information being used to indicate that a transmission bandwidth of the first PPDU will change.

[0047] Exemplarily, the fifth indication information is carried in a UHR-SIG field of the first PPDU or in a mid-amble part of the first PPDU.

[0048] The mid-amble part can be located at a tail of the first part.

[0049] With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations, the first information includes second indication information, the second indication information being used to indicate a location of the second part of the channel or being used to indicate an identity of the BSS that allows preemption.

[0050] In some implementations, the first information is carried in a physical layer header of the second PPDU, a beacon frame, or a transmission opportunity initial frame.

[0051] For example, the bandwidth of the first part of the channel is 20MHz, or the bandwidth of the first part of the channel is half of the bandwidth of the second channel; and / or, the bandwidth of the second part of the channel is 20MHz; and / or, the primary channel is a primary 20MHz channel.

[0052] In a third aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which can be a first access point or a first station, or a component (e.g., a chip or circuit or chip system) of the first access point or the first station. The apparatus has the function of implementing the first aspect. For example, the apparatus includes a module or unit or means corresponding to the operations of the first aspect, which can be implemented by software, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware.

[0053] For example, the apparatus includes a transceiver configured to receive, from a second access point, first information on a first channel, the first information indicating that the second access point supports OBSS preemption, the first channel including a primary channel of the second access point, a BSS to which the first access point or the first station belongs and a BSS to which the second access point belongs being OBSSs of each other; and the transceiver is further configured to receive, from the second access point, part or all of a first PPDU on a first part of the first channel, the first part of the first channel including the primary channel. The apparatus further includes a processing unit configured to perform non-primary channel access on a second part of the first channel, the second part of the first channel being non-overlapping with the first part of the first channel.

[0054] In some implementations of the third aspect, the processing unit is specifically configured to: transmit a data packet of a low-latency service on the second part of the channel; or receive a data packet of a low-latency service on the second part of the channel.

[0055] For example, the processing unit is specifically configured to: determine that a duration for which the second part of the channel is in an idle state is greater than or equal to a first time interval, and perform transmission on the second part of the channel, the first time interval being SIFS, DIFS, PIFS, or AIFS.

[0056] In a possible implementation, the processing unit is specifically configured to: perform channel contention including random backoff on a first sub-channel of the second part of the channel.

[0057] In a possible implementation, performing non-primary channel access on the second part of the channel includes performing preamble detection on a first sub-channel of the second part of the channel.

[0058] Exemplarily, the first sub-channel is a preamble detection sub-channel used for non-primary channel access of the first access point or the first station, and the processing unit is further configured to determine that the second part of the channel comprises the first sub-channel.

[0059] With reference to the third aspect, in an implementation form, the transceiver is further configured to send, to the second access point, a pre-emption requirement according to the first information.

[0060] The pre-emption requirement is used to request a transmission opportunity pre-empted by the second access point, and / or the pre-emption requirement is used to request the second access point to reduce a bandwidth of the PPDU sent.

[0061] In a possible implementation form, the transceiver is further configured to receive, from the second access point, a pre-emption requirement response on the first channel, the pre-emption requirement response being in response to the pre-emption requirement, and the pre-emption requirement response comprising first indication information indicating that the second part of the channel becomes idle after transmission of the pre-emption requirement response is completed.

[0062] Exemplarily, the pre-emption requirement response further comprises second indication information indicating a location of the second part of the channel, or indicating an identity of a BSS allowed to pre-empt.

[0063] With reference to the third aspect, in some implementation forms, the transceiver is further configured to receive a third PPDU on the first channel; and wherein receiving the part or the whole of the first PPDU on the first part of the channel comprises receiving the whole of the first PPDU on the first part of the channel.

[0064] In a possible implementation form, the third PPDU comprises third indication information indicating that the second part of the channel becomes idle after transmission of the third PPDU is completed, or the first PPDU comprises fourth indication information indicating that the second part of the channel is idle.

[0065] Exemplarily, the third indication information is carried in a UHR-SIG field of the third PPDU, or the fourth indication information is carried in a UHR-SIG field of the first PPDU.

[0066] With reference to the third aspect, in some implementation forms, the transceiver is further configured to receive a first part of the first PPDU on the first channel; and wherein receiving the part or the whole of the first PPDU on the first part of the channel comprises receiving a part of the first PPDU other than the first part on the first part of the channel.

[0067] In a possible implementation form, the first part comprises fifth indication information indicating that a bandwidth will change during transmission of the first PPDU.

[0068] Exemplarily, the fifth indication information is carried in a UHR-SIG field of the first PPDU or a midamble part of the first PPDU.

[0069] The midamble part can be located at the end of the first part.

[0070] With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations, the first information is carried in a physical layer header of the second PPDU, a beacon frame or a transmission opportunity initial frame.

[0071] With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations, the first information includes second indication information, the second indication information being used for indicating a location of the second part channel or an identity of a BSS allowed to have the priority.

[0072] Exemplarily, the bandwidth of the first part channel is 20MHz; and / or, the bandwidth of the second part channel is 20MHz; and / or, the primary channel is a primary 20MHz channel.

[0073] The fourth aspect provides a communication apparatus, which can be a second access point or a component (for example, a chip or a circuit or a chip system) of the second access point. The apparatus has the function of implementing the second aspect, for example, the apparatus includes a module or a unit or a means corresponding to the operations of the second aspect. The module or the unit or the means can be implemented by software, or by hardware, or by a combination of software and hardware.

[0074] Exemplarily, the apparatus includes a transceiver configured to transmit first information on a second channel, the first information being used for indicating that the second access point supports OBSS priority, and the second channel including a primary channel; and the transceiver is further configured to transmit part or all of a first PPDU on a first part channel of the second channel, the first part channel including the primary channel, and the second channel further including a second part channel, the second part channel and the first part channel being non-overlapping, and the second part channel being used for non-primary channel access of a station of the second access point or a non-access point.

[0075] In a possible implementation, the non-primary channel access includes performing preamble detection on a first sub-channel of the second part channel.

[0076] With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations, the transceiver is further configured to receive a priority requirement from the second access point or the first station, the BSS to which the second access point or the first station belongs and the BSS to which the second access point belongs being OBSSs of each other; and transmit part or all of the first PPDU on the first part channel, including transmitting part or all of the first PPDU on the first part channel according to the priority requirement.

[0077] Exemplarily, the preemption requirement is used to request a transmission opportunity preempting the second access point, and / or the preemption requirement is used to request the second access point to reduce a bandwidth of the PPDU.

[0078] In a possible implementation, the transceiver is further configured to: send, to the second access point or the first station, a preemption requirement response on the second channel, the preemption requirement response being in response to the preemption requirement, the preemption requirement response comprising first indication information, the first indication information being used to indicate that the second part of the channel becomes idle after transmission of the preemption requirement response is completed.

[0079] Exemplarily, the preemption requirement response comprises second indication information, the second indication information being used to indicate a location of the second part of the channel, or being used to indicate an identity of the BSS allowed to preempt.

[0080] With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations, the transceiver is further configured to: send, on the second channel, a third PPDU; and wherein the sending, on the first part of the channel, of the part or the whole of the first PPDU comprises: sending, on the first part of the channel, the whole of the first PPDU.

[0081] In a possible implementation, the third PPDU comprises third indication information, the third indication information being used to indicate that the second part of the channel becomes idle after transmission of the third PPDU is completed; or the first PPDU comprises fourth indication information, the fourth indication information being used to indicate that the second part of the channel is idle.

[0082] Exemplarily, the third indication information is carried in a UHR-SIG field of the third PPDU, or the fourth indication information is carried in a UHR-SIG field of the first PPDU.

[0083] With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations, the transceiver is further configured to: send, on the second channel, a first part of the first PPDU; and wherein the sending, on the first part of the channel, of the part or the whole of the first PPDU comprises: sending, on the first part of the channel, a part of the first PPDU other than the first part.

[0084] In a possible implementation, the first part comprises fifth indication information, the fifth indication information being used to indicate that a transmission bandwidth of the first PPDU is to be changed.

[0085] Exemplarily, the fifth indication information is carried in a UHR-SIG field of the first PPDU or a midamble part of the first PPDU.

[0086] The midamble part can be located at a tail of the first part.

[0087] In some implementations of the fourth aspect, the first information includes second indication information, the second indication information being used for a location of the second part of the channel or for an identification of the BSS allowed to preempt.

[0088] In some implementations of the fourth aspect, the first information is carried in a physical layer header of the second PPDU, a beacon frame, or a transmission opportunity initial frame.

[0089] For example, the first part of the channel has a bandwidth of 20MHz, or the first part of the channel has a bandwidth of half of the bandwidth of the second channel; and / or, the second part of the channel has a bandwidth of 20MHz; and / or, the primary channel is a primary 20MHz channel.

[0090] In the fifth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which includes a memory configured to store a computer program or instructions, and at least one processor configured to execute the computer program or instructions stored in the memory to perform the method in any one of the aspects or the implementations thereof.

[0091] In one implementation, the apparatus is a first access point, or a first station, or a second access point.

[0092] In another implementation, the apparatus is a chip, a chip system, or a circuit used in the first access point, or the first station, or the second access point.

[0093] In the sixth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which includes at least one processor and a communication interface, the at least one processor configured to acquire a computer program or instructions stored in a memory through the communication interface to perform the method in any one of the aspects or the implementations thereof. The communication interface can be implemented by hardware or software.

[0094] In one implementation, the apparatus further includes the memory.

[0095] In the seventh aspect, a processor is provided, which is configured to perform the method in any one of the aspects or the implementations thereof.

[0096] For the sending and acquiring / receiving operations of the processor, if no special description is provided, or if it does not contradict the actual role or inherent logic in the related description, it can be understood as the output and receiving, input operations of the processor, or the sending and receiving operations performed by the radio frequency circuit and the antenna, which are not limited in the present application.

[0097] In the eighth aspect, a computer readable storage medium is provided, which stores program codes for execution by an apparatus, and the program codes include codes for performing the method in any one of the aspects or the implementations thereof.

[0098] In a ninth aspect, a computer program product including instructions, which when executed on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any one of the aspects or implementation forms thereof.

[0099] In a tenth aspect, a chip is provided, which includes a processor and a communication interface. The processor reads instructions stored on a memory through the communication interface and executes the method of any one of the aspects or implementation forms thereof. The communication interface can be implemented by hardware or software.

[0100] As an implementation form, the chip further includes a memory, which stores a computer program or instructions. The processor is configured to execute the computer program or instructions stored on the memory, and when the computer program or instructions are executed, the processor is configured to execute the method of any one of the aspects or implementation forms thereof.

[0101] When the method provided by the present application is executed by a chip, the present application does not limit the number of chips that implement the method of the present application, for example, the method can be executed by one chip, or two or more chips. When the number of chips that implement the method of the present application is two or more, the chips can be from the same manufacturer or different manufacturers.

[0102] In an eleventh aspect, a computer program is provided, which when executed on a computer, causes the method of any one of the aspects or implementation forms thereof to be executed.

[0103] In a twelfth aspect, a communication system is provided, which includes the communication device of the third aspect and the communication device of the fourth aspect.

[0104] It should be understood that the beneficial effects of the second aspect to the twelfth aspect and any implementation form thereof can refer to the first aspect to the second aspect and any implementation form thereof. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0105] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture suitable for embodiments of the present application.

[0106] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of several commonly used interframe spaces.

[0107] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an example of application of TXOP.

[0108] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an example of application of a network allocation vector.

[0109] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of division and use of a primary channel.

[0110] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a non-primary channel access mechanism.

[0111] FIG. 7 is a schematic flow chart of a method 200 of communication provided in the present application.

[0112] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of the positions of a first channel and a second channel in the present application.

[0113] FIGS. 9-12 are schematic flow charts of methods of communication provided in the present application.

[0114] FIGS. 13 and 14 are schematic diagrams of structures of communication apparatus provided in embodiments of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0115] The technical solutions in the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0116] Embodiments of the present application can be applied to a wireless local area network (WLAN), for example, a wireless local area network supporting institute of electrical and electronics engineers (IEEE) 802.11 related standards, such as 802.11a / b / g standards, 802.11n standards, 802.11ac standards, 802.11ax standards, 802.11be standards (i.e., Wi-Fi 7, also known as extremely high throughput (EHT) standards), 802.11bn standards (i.e., Wi-Fi 8, also known as ultra high reliability (UHR) standards), or Wi-Fi 8 next generation standards, etc., including 802.11ad, 802.11ay standards, etc. Embodiments of the present application can also be applied to a wireless local area network system supporting integrated millimeter wave (IMMW), can also be applied to a wireless local area network system supporting ultra wide band (UWB), such as 802.15 series standards, can also be applied to a sensing system, such as 802.11bf series standards, or can be applied to wireless positioning, such as 802.11az, and the present application can also support spark link, near link, etc. standard protocols.

[0117] A WLAN can include a plurality of basic service sets (BSSs), and the network nodes in a BSS are collectively referred to as stations (STAs). A BSS is a basic module of an IEEE 802.11 local area network, and can be divided into an infrastructure BSS and an independent BSS (IBSS) according to different topologies and functions.

[0118] In the infrastructure BSS, there is a special station for accessing a distribution system (DS) according to the topology of the station, and this station is referred to as an access point (AP). Other stations are referred to as non-AP stations (non-AP STAs) or non-AP stations, and the non-AP STAs need to access the DS through the AP. Therefore, the STAs in the infrastructure BSS can be specifically divided into APs and non-AP stations, and each BSS can include an AP and a plurality of non-AP stations associated with the AP. In a BSS, the AP and each non-AP station can transmit data, and the non-AP stations cannot communicate directly by default. In the independent BSS, the STAs are equal, and there is no distinction between APs and non-AP stations, and the STAs can transmit data. In the absence of special instructions, the BSS refers to the infrastructure BSS, and the station can be an AP or a non-AP STA.

[0119] The AP in the embodiment of the present application can also be referred to as a wireless access access point or a hotspot. The AP is an access point for mobile users to enter a wired network, and is mainly deployed in homes, buildings, and campuses, with a typical coverage radius of tens of meters to hundreds of meters. Of course, the AP can also be deployed outdoors. The AP is equivalent to a bridge connecting the wired network and the wireless network, and its main function is to connect various wireless network clients together and then access the Ethernet network. Specifically, the AP can be a device supporting the 802.11 series standard, for example, the AP can be a device supporting one or more WLAN standards such as 802.11ac, 802.11ax, 802.11be, 802.11bn, or subsequent versions.

[0120] The non-AP station in the embodiments of the present application can be a wireless communication chip, a wireless sensor or a wireless communication terminal. For example, a mobile phone supporting WiFi communication function, a tablet computer supporting WiFi communication function, a set-top box supporting WiFi communication function, a smart television supporting WiFi communication function, a smart wearable device supporting WiFi communication function, a vehicle-mounted communication device supporting WiFi communication function and a computer supporting WiFi communication function. Among them, the non-AP station can be a device supporting 802.11 series standards, for example, the non-AP station is a device supporting one or more WLAN standards such as 802.11ac, 802.11ax, 802.11be, 802.11bn or subsequent versions.

[0121] In the embodiments of the present application, the non-AP station or the AP includes a hardware layer, an operating system layer running on the hardware layer, and an application layer running on the operating system layer. The hardware layer includes hardware such as a central processing unit (CPU), a memory management unit (MMU) and a memory (also known as main memory). The operating system can be any one or more computer operating systems that implement business processing through processes, such as Linux operating system, Unix operating system, Android operating system, iOS operating system or windows operating system, etc. The application layer includes applications such as browsers, address books, word processing software, instant messaging software, etc. Moreover, the embodiments of the present application do not particularly limit the specific structure of the execution subject of the method provided by the embodiments of the present application, as long as it can communicate according to the method provided by the embodiments of the present application by running the program in which the code of the method provided by the embodiments of the present application is recorded. For example, the execution subject of the method provided by the embodiments of the present application can be a non-AP station or an AP, or a functional module in the non-AP station or the AP that can call and execute the program.

[0122] In addition, various aspects or features of the disclosure can be realized using one or more computer-program products, i.e., one or more modules of computer program instructions encoded on a computer-readable medium for execution by, or to control the operation of, one or more processors. Each computer-program

[0123] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network architecture of a wireless local area network suitable for embodiments of the present disclosure, which includes FIG. 1(a) and FIG. 1(b).

[0124] As shown in FIG. 1(a), one BSS can include one AP and one or more non-AP stations associated with the AP. The network architecture of the wireless local area network can also include multiple BSSs, for example, as shown in FIG. 1(b), BSS#1, BSS#2 and BSS#3 are three structural BSSs of an access DS, in which AP#1, AP#2 and AP#3 are used for the access DS, and AP#1, AP#2 and AP#3 can also communicate with each other. Non-AP station 11, non-AP station 12 and non-AP station 13 in BSS#1 access the DS through AP#1, non-AP station 21, non-AP station 22 and non-AP station 23 in BSS#2 access the DS through AP#2, and non-AP station 31 and non-AP station 32 in BSS#3 access the DS through AP#3. BSS#1 and BSS#2 partially overlap, i.e., the two BSSs are overlapped basic service sets (OBSSs), and non-AP station 11, non-AP station 12 and non-AP station 23 are the partially overlapped part of the two BSSs. There is no overlap between BSS#3 and BSS#1, and there is no overlap between BSS#3 and BSS#2. The non-AP stations can communicate through the AP.

[0125] In this application, OBSS refers to BSSs with overlapping coverage and using overlapping channels. Specifically, to reduce signal coverage dead angle, when deploying APs, the coverage of the APs can be overlapped. However, the frequency spectrum is limited, and the same channel can be repeatedly used by multiple BSSs. Thus, there can be a case that BSSs with overlapping coverage use overlapping channels. Therefore, OBSSs can communicate with each other, but also interfere with each other. An OBSS station refers to a station in a BSS that is an OBSS of the BSS to which the station belongs. For example, in (b) of FIG. 1, BSS#1 and BSS#2 are OBSSs of each other. Therefore, for any one of AP#1, non-AP station 11, non-AP station 12, and non-AP station 13, any one of AP#2, non-AP station 21, non-AP station 22, and non-AP station 23 is an OBSS station. For any one of AP#2, non-AP station 21, non-AP station 22, and non-AP station 23, any one of AP#1, non-AP station 11, non-AP station 12, and non-AP station 13 is an OBSS station.

[0126] It should be understood that FIG. 1 is only exemplary and should not limit the network architecture of the wireless local area network to which the present application is applicable. For example, the network architecture can further include more BSSs, each of which can further include more non-AP stations, or some of the BSSs can not include APs. The area in which multiple BSSs overlap each other can further include more non-AP stations, and the like, which are not limited by the embodiments of the present application.

[0127] In order to facilitate understanding of the present application, some terms that can be involved in the present application are first introduced.

[0128] 1. Carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA / CA)

[0129] There can be multiple stations in the same space that have communication needs. If these stations transmit at the same time, it can cause multiple signals to superimpose at the receiving end and thus no signal can be received. In view of the characteristics of the 802.11 wireless medium, the 802.11 protocol provides that the CSMA / CA mechanism is used to solve the interference problem caused by multiple stations using the medium at the same time.

[0130] Specifically, the CSMA / CA mechanism requires that a station perform medium sensing before transmitting: if it is detected that there is a packet (i.e., PPDU) being transmitted in the current medium, it needs to wait until the current packet is completely transmitted, then perform the corresponding backoff action, and then transmit after the backoff is completed. Only when the station detects that the air interface (wireless medium) is idle for a length of time that meets the specified length can it transmit.

[0131] Note that when the station senses a packet on the channel, it senses any packet on the channel, not just packets of the BSS.

[0132] 2. Interframe Space (IFS)

[0133] 802.11 series standards stipulate that after a station finishes transmitting, it must wait for a time interval before transmitting the next frame, which is referred to as an interframe space (IFS).

[0134] FIG. 2 is a diagram of several commonly used interframe spaces. As shown in FIG. 2, the interframe spaces can include an arbitration interframe space (AIFS), a distributed inter-frame spacing (DIFS), a point coordination function interframe space (PIFS), a short interframe space (SIFS), and the like.

[0135] The SIFS is a relatively short interframe space, which is used to separate different frames belonging to one transmission opportunity. A station should be able to switch from a transmitting mode to a receiving mode or vice versa within the SIFS. The PIFS is one slot longer than the SIFS, which is used for a station to access the medium in a point coordination function (PCF) mode. The DIFS is the shortest interframe space used by a station using a distributed coordination function (DCF) to access the channel. The AIFS is the shortest interframe space used by a quality of service (QoS) station using an enhanced distributed channel access function (EDCAF) to access the channel. The value of the AIFS is related to the access category (AC) of the frame to be transmitted. AIFS[AC] and AIFS[AC'] in FIG. 2 represent different AIFSs for different ACs. The specific duration of each interframe space is related to the frequency band in which the station operates. The specific meaning of each interframe space can be referred to the 802.11 series standards.

[0136] In this application, xIFS represents the general term of IFS, i.e., without specifying which interframe interval.

[0137] 3. Transmission opportunity (TXOP)

[0138] In IEEE 802.11 protocol, information is transmitted in units of PPDU. The longer the PPDU is, the more information it carries; but at the same time, the lower the reliability is, and the greater the possibility of not being accurately received is. Specifically, due to the uncertainty of channel environment, the bits of PPDU can be wrong in transmission, the more the bits transmitted at one time, the more the bits wrong, and the more difficult the correct unpacking is. When correct unpacking is not possible, the longer the PPDU is, the more air interface resources are wasted. Therefore, in order to balance the information amount and the reliability, the length of PPDU is limited. Currently, the standard also has a provision for the maximum length of PPDU.

[0139] Generally, a station needs to transmit multiple PPDUs to complete a service interaction. If each transmission of PPDU needs to be preceded by backoff, the transmission efficiency is not high. Therefore, the protocol introduces TXOP to allow the station that has completed backoff to efficiently transmit multiple PPDUs. When a station has a transmission demand, it performs backoff, and after the backoff is completed, it can obtain a period of time, i.e., TXOP, in which time the time interval between adjacent successfully transmitted PPDUs (referring to the PPDUs received by the station and the PPDUs sent by the station, or the PPDUs sent by the station and the PPDUs received by the station) is only SIFS, without the need for backoff. The station will declare the length of this period of time at the beginning, and other stations will parse the length and avoid competing for the channel in this period of time.

[0140] The station that obtains TXOP through backoff competition is referred to as the TXOP holder of this TXOP, and the station that communicates with the TXOP holder in the TXOP is referred to as the TXOP responder of this TXOP.

[0141] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an example of application of TXOP.

[0142] As shown in FIG. 3, STA 1 is the TXOP holder and STA 2 is the TXOP responder. In the TXOP, STA 1 sends PPDU 1 to STA 2, STA 2 sends PPDU 2 to STA 1, STA 1 sends PPDU 3 and PPDU 4 to STA 2, and STA 2 sends PPDU 5 to STA 1. The time interval between adjacent PPDUs is SIFS. During the TXOP of STA 1, other STAs (e.g., STA 3 or STA 4) do not participate in the TXOP, i.e., do not send PPDUs to avoid interference with the TXOP of STA 1.

[0143] 4. Network allocation vector (NAV)

[0144] As mentioned above, a station needs to determine the duration of a TXOP in the air interface (wireless medium). The process is roughly as follows: after a station detects a Wi-Fi packet, it first parses the physical layer (PHY) header, and then parses the medium access control (MAC) layer header. Some PPDUs have a TXOP field in the PHY header and a duration field in the MAC header, both of which can indicate the remaining duration of the TXOP after the PPDU ends.

[0145] A station protects the TXOP of the current air interface by setting a network allocation vector (NAV) timer. Specifically, the station sets the initial value of the NAV timer according to the value of the TXOP field or the duration field parsed, and starts counting down. Before the NAV timer is cleared, the station will not compete for the channel.

[0146] It should be understood that regardless of the destination of a PPDU, stations in the network will parse the PPDU to some extent, for example, parsing the PHY header of the PPDU, or parsing the PHY header and the MAC header of the PPDU, to determine whether the PPDU is a packet intended for itself. For example, referring to FIG. 3, during the TXOP of STA 1, STA 3 and STA 4 do not participate in the TXOP, but STA 3 and STA 4 will parse at least one of the PPDUs in the TXOP, such as PPDUs 1-5, to determine the end time of the TXOP.

[0147] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the application of the NAV.

[0148] As shown in FIG. 4, after the source (i.e., TXOP holder) contends for the channel, it sends a request to send (RTS) frame. After the destination (i.e., TXOP responder) receives the RTS frame, it sends a clear to send (CTS) frame after a short interframe space (SIFS). After the source receives the CTS frame, it sends data after a SIFS. After the destination receives the data, it sends an acknowledgement (ACK) after a SIFS. The start time of the RTS is the start time of the TXOP, and the end time of the ACK is the end time of the TXOP. The RTS, CTS, data, and ACK are the first, second, third, and fourth frames in the TXOP, respectively. It can be seen that the interframe space in the TXOP is SIFS. After other stations detect the RTS frame, they set the value of the NAV according to the duration field in the RTS frame, i.e., to time length #1. After detecting the CTS frame, they set the value of the NAV according to the duration field in the CTS frame, i.e., to time length #2. When the TXOP ends (i.e., the value of the NAV is cleared), other stations enter a contention window after a DIFS and start contending for the channel. That is, other stations defer access to the channel when detecting the RTS frame, and enter the contention window after the deferring. Backoff is performed after the deferring.

[0149] 5. Primary channel access

[0150] For the sake of convenience, a large bandwidth is divided into a plurality of sub-channels in units of 20 MHz. For example, an 80 MHz channel has four 20 MHz sub-channels, and a 160 MHz channel has eight 20 MHz sub-channels. Of these sub-channels, one is a primary channel, and the others are non-primary channels. In this application, a non-primary channel is also referred to as a secondary channel.

[0151] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of division and use of a primary channel, and includes FIG. 5(a) and FIG. 5(b). FIG. 5(a) is an example of channel division in a certain 160 MHz large bandwidth. As shown in FIG. 5(a), the 160 MHz is divided into eight sub-channels, each having a bandwidth of 20 MHz. One of the sub-channels is a primary channel, and the other seven sub-channels are non-primary channels, i.e., non-primary channels 1 to 7.

[0152] The primary channel plays an important role in 802.11 protocol communication. In the aforementioned CSMA / CA mechanism, the station determines whether the medium is idle based on the state of the primary channel. Specifically, the station performs energy detection (ED) on each subchannel and performs preamble detection (PD) on the primary channel. In the ED detection, if the energy is greater than or equal to a threshold, it is considered that there is a Wi-Fi signal. In the PD detection, if a preamble is detected, it is considered that there is a Wi-Fi signal. The ED detection has a lower requirement for hardware but a lower accuracy, and the PD detection has a higher accuracy but a higher requirement for hardware. Considering the complexity of the PD implementation, the protocol does not require the station to perform PD on a channel other than the primary channel or a channel outside the operating bandwidth. The PD performed on the primary channel can also be referred to as primary channel access.

[0153] FIG. 5(b) is a schematic diagram of primary channel access. As shown in FIG. 5(b), at time 1, the station has a transmission requirement, but the station detects that the primary channel is busy and the remaining subchannels are idle. According to the primary channel access mechanism, the station cannot use any channel and can only back off. The station continues to detect that the primary channel is busy and continues to back off. At time 2, the station detects that the primary channel is idle and the non-primary channel 4 is busy, that is, the station competes for the primary channel. The station can punch the non-primary channel 4 and use the primary channel, the non-primary channels 1-3, and the non-primary channels 5-7 for transmission.

[0154] 6. Non-primary channel access (NPCA)

[0155] The primary channel access mechanism is that only when the primary channel is idle can the channel be successfully competed for. If the primary channel is busy, even if the other channels are idle, they cannot be used. The primary channel access mechanism is logically neat and simple to operate, but as the device deployment becomes more and more dense and the device bandwidth becomes larger and larger, the spectrum use efficiency caused by the primary channel access is also decreasing. For example, a 160MHz station has only the primary 20MHz channel detected as busy, and the remaining subchannels are all idle. According to the primary channel access mechanism, the device cannot use any channel and can only back off. However, in fact, the remaining subchannels are all idle and can be used in theory. Therefore, the standard will discuss the non-primary channel access mechanism, that is, when the primary channel is busy, the station does not back off on the primary channel, for example, it can transmit through an idle non-primary channel. At this time, the station performs PD on the non-primary channel and performs channel access.

[0156] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a non-primary channel access mechanism. As shown in FIG. 6, at time 1, a station has a transmission demand, but the primary channel air interface is busy, e.g., the primary channel is occupied by a TXOP of an OBSS station. The station can jump to a non-primary channel, do backoff on the non-primary channel, and then transmit on the non-primary channel, e.g., transmit intra-BSS traffic. When the TXOP of the OBSS station ends, e.g., when the NAV of the station expires or is cleared, at time 2, the station can jump back to the primary channel to continue communication.

[0157] It should be understood that the non-primary channel access mechanism shown in FIG. 6 can be referred to as a regular non-primary channel access, which means that the non-primary channel is accessed through channel contention, and the channel contention process includes random backoff.

[0158] 7. Preemption

[0159] With the development of WLAN technology, the amount of low-latency traffic (LLT) is increasing. LLT requires the system to successfully transmit a packet in a shorter time, however, the data packet of LLT usually has a limited load. In order to meet the latency requirement of LLT, a preemption mechanism can be used. Specifically, when a station is not a TXOP holder but has a LLT transmission demand, the station sends a preemption demand in the fastest way (e.g., without channel contention), and then the TXOP holder or the AP allocates resources for the preemption station so that it can successfully transmit the LLT in time.

[0160] In the current discussion, the preemption process is only within a BSS, i.e., only the stations of the BSS can preempt the TXOP of the BSS, which is less efficient. Specifically, since there is a certain proportion of OBSS TXOP in the air interface, without considering preemption of the OBSS TXOP, the latency benefit brought by preemption will be greatly discounted.

[0161] In view of this, the present application provides a communication method and a communication device, which can implement OBSS preemption and improve the efficiency of communication.

[0162] It should be understood that the embodiments shown below take the first access point and the second access point as the execution subject of the interaction to illustrate the method, but the present application does not limit the execution subject, as long as the program running the code of the method provided by the embodiments of the present application can communicate according to the method provided by the embodiments of the present application. The execution subject of the method provided by the embodiments of the present application can be the first access point and the second access point, or the functional module of the first access point and the second access point that can call the program and execute the program. For example, the first access point in FIG. 7 can also be a chip, a chip system, or a processor supporting the method that the first access point can implement, and can also be a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the function of the first access point; the second access point in FIG. 7 can also be a chip, a chip system, or a processor supporting the method that the second access point can implement, and can also be a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the function of the second access point.

[0163] FIG. 7 is a schematic flowchart of a method 200 of communication provided by the present application. As shown in FIG. 7, the method 200 includes the following steps.

[0164] S210, the second access point sends first information on a second channel, and correspondingly, a station of a first non-access point (hereinafter referred to as a first station), a first access point, a station of a second non-access point (hereinafter referred to as a second station), and the like receive the first information.

[0165] In the present application, the second station is a non-AP STA associated with the second access point, the second access point is a TXOP holder, and the first station is a non-AP STA associated with the first access point. The second station and the second access point belong to one BSS, and the first station and the first access point belong to another BSS, and the two BSSs are OBSSs of each other. The description of the first station or the second station can refer to the description of the non-AP STA in FIG. 1, and the description of the first access point or the second access point can refer to the description of the AP in FIG. 1, which will not be repeated here.

[0166] The first information is used to indicate that the second access point supports OBSS preemption.

[0167] In the present application, OBSS preemption represents a function, support of OBSS preemption represents having the function, and non-support of OBSS preemption represents not having the function. The second access point supporting OBSS preemption means that the second access point allows being preempted by an OBSS station for its TXOP, or in other words, allows the OBSS station (which can be an AP or a non-AP STA of the OBSS) to transmit within its TXOP. Support of OBSS preemption can also be referred to as allowing OBSS preemption, allowing being preempted by OBSS, being able to be preempted by OBSS, and the like.

[0168] It should be understood that the preemption includes two types, regular preemption and irregular preemption, wherein the regular preemption refers to the preemption within a BSS, i.e., a station of the BSS can preempt a TXOP of the BSS. Correspondingly, the OBSS preemption refers to the preemption of an OBSS station to a TXOP of the BSS. The irregular preemption refers to any preemption other than the regular preemption, and the OBSS preemption can be regarded as one of the irregular preemptions.

[0169] Exemplarily, a station supporting a certain function can be expressed as "xx-bit set station" or "xx-field set station". For example, the first information can be 1 bit, wherein the bit set to 1 indicates that the OBSS preemption is supported, and the bit set to 0 indicates that the OBSS preemption is not supported.

[0170] Exemplarily, the first information can be carried in a physical layer header of the second PPDU, a beacon frame or a TXOP initial frame.

[0171] It should be understood that the frame is a concept of the MAC layer, which includes the MAC layer header but does not include the physical layer information. When transmitted on the air interface, the frame is added with the physical layer header and encapsulated into a PPDU.

[0172] Specifically, the first information can be carried in the beacon frame, for indicating that the second access point always supports the OBSS preemption, or for indicating that the second access point supports the OBSS preemption in the current beacon period, or for indicating that the second access point supports the OBSS preemption in a preset time period, which can be indicated in the beacon frame.

[0173] Exemplarily, the first information can also be carried in the TXOP initial frame, for indicating that the second access point supports the OBSS preemption in the TXOP. Compared with the first information carried in the TXOP initial frame, the first information carried in the beacon frame can be used to indicate that the OBSS preemption is supported in a larger time range.

[0174] The TXOP initial frame refers to the first frame sent during the TXOP, which can be an RTS frame or other frames.

[0175] Exemplarily, the first information can also be carried in a certain PPDU, for example, the second PPDU, for indicating that the second access point supports the OBSS preemption from the second PPDU to the transmission of the next PPDU (or from the ACK of the second PPDU to the transmission of the next PPDU). In this case, the first information is not added to any frame but added to the header (for example, the physical layer header) or the tail of the PPDU, that is, the first information is in the additional encapsulation information.

[0176] The TXOP initial frame can be the first frame sent by the second access point to the second station in the TXOP, and the second PPDU can be a downlink (DL) PPDU sent by the second access point to the second station. It should be understood that in the present application, in the communication between the AP and the non-AP STA, the downlink can mean that the AP sends and the non-AP STA receives. The uplink can mean that the non-AP STA sends and the AP receives.

[0177] It should be understood that the first information is carried in the beacon frame or the TXOP initial frame, which can be understood as being carried in the MAC layer header or the frame body. Therefore, the first information is carried in the physical layer header of the second PPDU, the beacon frame or the TXOP initial frame, and other stations in the network, such as the first access point and the first station, can have different degrees of parsing, for example, parsing the physical layer header, or parsing the physical layer header and the MAC layer header, or parsing the physical layer header and the MAC layer frame, so as to obtain the first information.

[0178] When the first information is carried in the physical layer header of the second PPDU, the beacon frame or the TXOP initial frame, it can be understood that the second access point sends the second PPDU, the beacon frame or the TXOP initial frame on the second channel, and the first information is included in the physical layer header of the second PPDU, the beacon frame or the TXOP initial frame.

[0179] In the present application, the second channel is the operating channel of the second access point, and the bandwidth (denoted as the second bandwidth) occupied by the second channel is the operating bandwidth of the second access point. The transmission of information on the second channel can mean that the information is transmitted on the second channel using the second bandwidth.

[0180] Similarly, the reception of information by the first station, the first access point or the second station can mean that they receive the first information on their respective operating channels. For example, the operating channel of the first access point or the first station is the first channel, and they can receive the first information on the first channel. The reception bandwidth of the first station, the first access point or the second station can be greater than, less than or equal to the second bandwidth, which is not limited.

[0181] It should be understood that the reception bandwidth of the receiving end is determined by itself and has no direct relationship with the bandwidth used by the transmitting end when transmitting information.

[0182] In an implementation, the first channel and the second channel are the same.

[0183] In this implementation, the position of the first channel and the position of the second channel are the same, and the bandwidth occupied by the first channel and the bandwidth occupied by the second channel are also the same.

[0184] In this implementation, the information sent by the second access point, such as the first information, and the first indication information, the second indication information, the third indication information, the fourth indication information, the fifth indication information, and the like mentioned later, can be sent through the entire bandwidth of the first channel, can be repeatedly carried every 20 MHz or every 80 MHz, or can be sent through the primary channel of the second access point, so that the first station, the first access point, or the second station, and the like can successfully receive the information.

[0185] In yet another implementation, the second channel includes the first channel.

[0186] In this implementation, the first channel and the second channel have an overlap, the first channel is a part of the second channel, and thus the bandwidth occupied by the first channel is smaller than the bandwidth occupied by the second channel. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the second channel includes the primary channel, the non-primary channel 1, the non-primary channel 2, the non-primary channel 3, the non-primary channel 4, the non-primary channel 5, the non-primary channel 6, and the non-primary channel 7, and the bandwidth of the second channel is 160 MHz. The first channel includes the primary channel, the non-primary channel 1, the non-primary channel 2, and the non-primary channel 3, and the bandwidth of the first channel is 80 MHz. The first part channel includes the primary channel, and the bandwidth thereof is 20 MHz. The second part channel includes the non-primary channel 1, the non-primary channel 2, and the non-primary channel 3, and the bandwidth thereof is 60 MHz. In this application, the “part channel” can refer to a channel after puncturing, for example, in FIG. 8, the second part channel is a channel after puncturing. In this embodiment, the second access point is the TXOP holder, and thus the primary channel in FIG. 8 refers to the primary channel of the second access point. In this embodiment, the first channel and the second channel both include the first part channel and the second part channel. It should be understood that the first part channel and the second part channel are specifically described in S220 and S230.

[0187] In addition, in this implementation, the information sent by the second access point, such as the first information, and the third indication information, the fourth indication information, the first indication information, the second indication information, the fifth indication information, and the like mentioned later, is repeatedly carried every 20 MHz or every 80 MHz, or the above information is sent through the primary channel of the second access point, so as to ensure that the first station, the first access point, or the second station, and the like can successfully receive the information.

[0188] In this application, the primary channel refers to a subchannel including a primary 20 MHz, which can be a primary 20 MHz channel, a primary 40 MHz channel, or a primary 80 MHz channel, or the primary channel can only refer to a primary 20 MHz channel, which is not limited.

[0189] In this embodiment, the second channel includes the primary channel, and the first channel also includes the primary channel of the second access point. In this embodiment, the second channel includes the primary channel, and the first channel also includes the primary channel of the second access point.

[0190] It should be understood that each BSS has a unique primary channel and does not change easily, and in addition, the primary channel of all stations within one BSS is the same. The primary channels of different BSSs can be the same or different. In this application, the primary channels in which the first access point and the second access point work can be the same. Therefore, the primary channel in the second channel is the same as the primary channel in the first channel, and it can also be understood that the first channel includes the primary channel of the second access point.

[0191] S220, the second access point sends part or all of the first PPDU on the first part channel of the second channel, and the first station, the second access point, the second station, etc. receive part or all of the first PPDU accordingly.

[0192] Similarly, the first PPDU can be a DL PPDU sent by the second access point to the second station.

[0193] The first part channel includes the primary channel, and the first part channel is part of the second channel, and in addition, the second channel can also include a second part channel, and the first part channel and the second part channel do not overlap. The second access point sends part or all of the first PPDU on the first part channel, that is, does not send information on the second part channel, and the second part channel can be understood as a vacated secondary channel. In this application, the second channel can also include parts other than the first part channel and the second part channel, or the second channel only includes the first part channel and the second part channel, which is not limited.

[0194] Exemplarily, the bandwidth of the first part channel is defined by the standard, for example, 20MHz, 40MHz, 60MHz, 80MHz, etc. Or, the standard can define the bandwidth of the first part channel as half of the bandwidth of the second channel.

[0195] Specifically, the standard can stipulate that when receiving the preemption request of the OBSS station, if the second access point supports OBSS preemption, it must reduce the bandwidth to a fixed size, for example, 20MHz, 40MHz, 60MHz, 80MHz, etc., or half of the bandwidth of the second channel.

[0196] Exemplarily, the bandwidth of the second part channel is defined by the standard, for example, 20MHz, 40MHz, 60MHz, 80MHz, etc.

[0197] In this application, in the presence of puncturing, the bandwidth of the second part channel can refer to the sum of the bandwidths of the subchannels actually used during transmission after puncturing, for example, as shown in FIG. 8, the first channel is 80MHz, and the first part channel is 20MHz. The bandwidth of the second part channel is 60MHz.

[0198] In particular, the standard can specify that the size of the vacated secondary channel needs to satisfy a fixed size, e.g., 20MHz, 40MHz, 60MHz, 80MHz, etc., or half of the bandwidth of the second channel.

[0199] In the present application, after the second access point transmits the first information on the second channel, the second access point transmits part or all of the first PPDU on the first part channel of the second channel. It can be understood that when the second access point transmits part or all of the first PPDU, the second access point reduces the transmission bandwidth, and the bandwidth occupied by the first channel is reduced to the bandwidth occupied by the first part channel.

[0200] S230, the first access point or the first station performs non-primary channel access on the second part channel.

[0201] In particular, when the second access point transmits part or all of the first PPDU on the first part channel of the second channel, the OBSS station of the first access point, such as the first access point or the first station, can perform non-primary channel access on the second part channel which does not overlap with the first part channel.

[0202] In a possible implementation, the non-primary channel access on the second part channel includes a process of accessing the non-primary channel, which specifically can include performing preamble detection on a first subchannel in the second part channel. The first subchannel refers to a subchannel on the second part channel. When the second part channel includes only one subchannel, the second part channel is the subchannel. When the second part channel is composed of multiple subchannels, the first subchannel is one of the subchannels.

[0203] It should be understood that a subchannel generally represents a minimum unit of a channel. A large channel can be divided into multiple small channels, and each small channel can be referred to as a subchannel. In the present application, according to the bandwidth size of the divided channel, the subchannel can be a 20MHz channel, a 40MHz channel, or an 80MHz channel, etc., or can only refer to a 20MHz channel, which is not limited.

[0204] In addition, in the present application, since the first part channel and the second part channel do not overlap, and the primary channel is located in the first part channel, the first subchannel is a secondary channel.

[0205] Exemplarily, the primary channel in the present application is a primary 20MHz channel, and the interval between the first subchannel and the primary 20MHz channel is half of the bandwidth of the second channel.

[0206] In particular, the standard can define the relationship between the position of the first subchannel and the bandwidth of the first channel, such as the first subchannel being spaced apart from the primary channel by half of the BSS bandwidth, i.e., by half of the bandwidth of the second channel.

[0207] The process of accessing the non-primary channel can include two manners as follows:

[0208] Manner one: through channel contention.

[0209] As shown in FIG. 6, the process of accessing the non-primary channel through channel contention includes random backoff on the non-primary channel. This manner can also be referred to as a regular non-primary channel access.

[0210] In the manner one, S230, the first access point or the first station performs the non-primary channel access on the second partial channel, including that the first access point or the first station performs channel contention including random backoff on a first sub-channel in the second partial channel.

[0211] Exemplarily, in the manner one, the first sub-channel is a preamble detection secondary channel used for regular non-primary channel access, and before the first access point or the first station performs preamble detection on the first sub-channel, the first access point or the first station can also determine whether the first sub-channel is covered by the second partial channel, and when it is determined that the first sub-channel is covered, the process of accessing the non-primary channel is performed, otherwise, the process of accessing the non-primary channel is not performed.

[0212] It should be understood that for the AP or the non-AP STA, the preamble detection secondary channel used for regular non-primary channel access is a specific channel, and the position of the specific channel can be set by a protocol or specified by the AP.

[0213] Manner two: without channel contention.

[0214] The process of accessing the non-primary channel without channel contention includes that random backoff is not performed on the non-primary channel.

[0215] In the manner two, S230, the first access point or the first station performs the non-primary channel access on the second partial channel, including that the first access point or the first station can perform idle detection on the second partial channel (for example, the first sub-channel).

[0216] The idle detection can mean that whether a duration that the second partial channel is in an idle state is greater than or equal to a first time interval, and when the duration that the second partial channel is in the idle state is greater than or equal to the first time interval, it is indicated that the second partial channel is in the idle state, that is, the idle detection is passed.

[0217] Exemplarily, the first time interval can be SIFS, DIFS, PIFS or AIFS. At this time, the idle detection can also be referred to as xIFS idle detection.

[0218] Exemplarily, in any of the above manners, the OBSS station of the first access point, e.g., the first access point or the first station, can perform non-primary channel access on the second part of the channel before the end of the transmission opportunity of the first station.

[0219] In a possible implementation, the non-primary channel access on the second part of the channel comprises: performing transmission on the second part of the channel.

[0220] For example, in the first manner, when the channel is successfully competed for, the transmission is performed on the second part of the channel. For another example, in the second manner, when the detection passes, the transmission is performed on the second part of the channel.

[0221] Specifically, the transmission on the second part of the channel can refer to transmitting or receiving a data packet of low-latency traffic on the second part of the channel. For example, for the first access point, it can transmit a data packet of low-latency traffic on the second part of the channel, and for the first station, it can receive a data packet of low-latency traffic on the second part of the channel.

[0222] For example, the first access point or the first station accesses the non-primary channel through any of the above manners (i.e., the first manner or the second manner), and after accessing the non-primary channel, the first access point or the first station can perform transmission through the second part of the channel.

[0223] It should be understood that the non-primary channel access in the present application can include both the process of accessing the non-primary channel in any of the above manners and the transmission on the second part of the channel. Alternatively, the non-primary channel access in the present application includes the process of accessing the non-primary channel in any of the above manners but does not include the transmission on the second part of the channel. Alternatively, the non-primary channel access in the present application does not include the process of accessing the non-primary channel in any of the above manners but includes the transmission on the second part of the channel.

[0224] In the above scheme, the second access point can indicate, through the first information on the second channel, that it supports OBSS preemption, and further, the second access point can send part or all of the first PPDU on the first part of the second channel, i.e., the transmission bandwidth is reduced, so that the OBSS station of the second access point, e.g., the first access point or the first station, can perform non-primary channel access on the second part of the channel that does not overlap with the first part of the channel, so as to realize the preemption outside the BSS, meet the transmission demand of the OBSS station, and improve the transmission efficiency.

[0225] In a possible implementation, before S220, the method 200 can further include: S240, the first access point sends a preemption request (PR) to the second access point, and correspondingly, the second access point receives the preemption request.

[0226] Specifically, the preemption requirement is used to request a transmission opportunity that preempts the second access point, or the preemption requirement is used to request the second access point to reduce bandwidth of the PPDU.

[0227] In this implementation, S220, the second access point transmits part or all of the first PPDU on the first part of the second channel, which can mean that the second access point transmits part or all of the first PPDU on the first part of the second channel according to the preemption requirement. S230, the first access point or the first station performs non-primary channel access on the second part of the channel, which can mean that the first access point or the first station performs non-primary channel access on the second part of the channel that does not overlap with the first part of the channel based on part or all of the first PPDU.

[0228] It should be understood that the preemption requirement can be an event that triggers the second access point to reduce bandwidth. In addition, the second access point can also need to reduce bandwidth spontaneously, i.e., “spontaneously” vacate the secondary channel.

[0229] In this application, the preemption requirement can also be referred to as a preemption request, which can be a field of a PHY header or a MAC header, or an independent frame.

[0230] The preemption requirement in this application can specifically refer to an OBSS preemption requirement, i.e., the frame format of the preemption requirement for BSS internal preemption and OBSS preemption is different. Alternatively, the preemption requirement can be a preemption requirement applicable to BSS and OBSS, i.e., the frame format of the preemption requirement for BSS internal preemption and OBSS preemption is the same.

[0231] Specifically, this application takes one OBSS as an example, but there can be multiple OBSS stations of different OBSSs simultaneously transmitting OBSS PRs. To avoid collision, the OBSS PRs transmitted by different OBSSs can be completely consistent. In addition, the OBSS PR can be the same as or different from the PR of the conventional preemption (i.e., BSS internal preemption) process. When they are the same, the second access point can first confirm whether the preemption type it allows is conventional preemption (i.e., BSS internal preemption) or OBSS preemption when it receives the preemption requirement, so as to determine whether the PR it receives is from the current BSS or the OBSS to confirm the subsequent preemption process.

[0232] In this application, the first access point can transmit the preemption requirement to the second access point through the air interface, or transmit the preemption requirement through a wired backhaul.

[0233] The backhaul line is also referred to as a signal tunnel, which represents a transmission mode. The connection of the backhaul can be wired or wireless, including optical fiber, copper wire, microwave link, satellite link and the like. The backhaul usually has the characteristics of high bandwidth, low latency, high reliability and high capacity. The backhaul through wired media such as optical fiber and copper wire is referred to as wired backhaul. The backhaul through wireless media such as wired microwave link and satellite link is referred to as wireless backhaul. The air interface can include wireless backhaul. It should be understood that the wired backhaul transmission mode is not discussed in the 802.11 series standard, so when the second station sends the preemption request through the wired backhaul, the first station can receive the preemption request, but the process of sending and receiving the preemption request is not included in the standard process.

[0234] In a possible implementation, after the second access point sends part or all of the first PPDU on the first part of the channel, that is, after the second access point reduces the bandwidth, the second access point can no longer allow OBSS preemption. Specifically, this can be specified in the standard, or it can be indicated by the second access point through signaling. For example, the second access point can set OBSS preemption disable in the physical layer header of the first PPDU to indicate that it does not allow OBSS preemption.

[0235] Based on the above scheme, the second access point can send part or all of the first PPDU on the first part of the second channel according to the preemption request of the OBSS station, so that the transmission demand of the OBSS can be met in time, and the transmission efficiency is improved.

[0236] In a possible implementation, after S240, the method 200 can further include: S250, the second access point sends a preemption request response (RPR) to the first access point, and correspondingly, the first access point receives the preemption request response.

[0237] Specifically, the preemption request response is in response to the preemption request. Exemplarily, the preemption request response can indicate whether the second access point agrees to the preemption request.

[0238] In this application, the preemption request response can also be referred to as a preemption response or a preemption request response. It can be a field of a PHY header or a MAC header, or an independent frame.

[0239] For example, the pre-emption demand response is a separate frame, when the first access point identifies that the received frame is a pre-emption demand response frame, it can determine that the second access point agrees to its pre-emption demand. Illustratively, whether a frame is a pre-emption demand response frame can be defined by a frame type related field.

[0240] In a possible implementation, the pre-emption demand response can include first indication information, the first indication information being used to indicate that the second part of the channel will become idle after the pre-emption demand response transmission is completed. The first indication information can be understood as channel state change indication information.

[0241] Illustratively, the first indication information can be 1 bit, different values of which are used to indicate whether the second access point will make the channel idle, or in other words, whether the second access point will vacate the secondary channel.

[0242] In a possible implementation, the pre-emption demand response can include second indication information, the second indication information being used to indicate the location of the second part of the channel, i.e. the location of the vacated secondary channel, or the second indication information being used to indicate the identity or identity list of the BSS allowed to pre-empt, i.e. indicating which BSS or BSSs are allowed to pre-empt the transmission opportunity of the second access point.

[0243] Illustratively, when the second indication information is used to indicate the location of the second part of the channel, the second indication information can be a bitmap. The second part of the channel indicated in the second indication information can be all the 20MHz secondary channels that can be vacated, or the 20MHz secondary channels that can be detected by the preamble.

[0244] Illustratively, when the second access point sends the second indication information to the first access point, and the second indication information is used to indicate the identity of the BSS allowed to pre-empt, the first access point or the first station can determine whether the BSS to which it belongs belongs to the BSS allowed to pre-empt by the second access point, and when it does, the first access point or the first station can not access the channel through channel contention, for example, it can perform idle detection, and when the detection is passed, it can perform transmission through the second part of the channel.

[0245] In this application, the second access point can send the pre-emption demand response to the first access point through the air interface, or send the pre-emption demand response through the wired backhaul line.

[0246] Based on the above scheme, the second access point can send the pre-emption demand response to the OBSS station, so that the channel state change can be indicated in time, so that the first access point or the first station can access the non-primary channel in time, thereby meeting its transmission demand and reducing the communication delay.

[0247] In a possible implementation, in the method 200, the first information can also include the second indication information.

[0248] As an implementation, S220, the second access point transmits part or all of the first PPDU on the first part of the second channel, including: the second access point transmits all of the first PPDU on the first part of the second channel. Correspondingly, the first station, the second access point, the second station, etc. receive part or all of the first PPDU, including, it receives all of the first PPDU.

[0249] In this implementation, before S220, the method 200 can further include: the second access point transmits a third PPDU on the second channel.

[0250] Similarly, the third PPDU can be a DL PPDU transmitted by the second access point to the second station.

[0251] Exemplarily, the third PPDU can include third indication information, which is used to indicate that the second part of the channel becomes idle after the third PPDU transmission is completed; or, the first PPDU can include fourth indication information, which is used to indicate that the second part of the channel is in an idle state. The third indication information and the fourth indication information can be understood as channel state change indication information.

[0252] Specifically, according to the size of the relative bandwidth of the PPDU, the third PPDU can be understood as a large-bandwidth PPDU, and correspondingly, the first PPDU can be understood as a small-bandwidth PPDU. The second access point can add an indication that the next channel will be vacated after the end of the current transmission large-bandwidth PPDU (i.e., the third PPDU) (which is an example of the third indication information), or carry an indication that the next channel has been vacated in the small-bandwidth PPDU (i.e., the first PPDU) after the large-bandwidth PPDU (i.e., the third PPDU) vacating the next channel (which is an example of the fourth indication information).

[0253] Exemplarily, the third indication information can be carried in the physical layer header of the third PPDU, for example, the UHR-SIG field, or the fourth indication information can be carried in the physical layer header of the first PPDU, for example, the UHR-SIG field.

[0254] In a possible implementation, the third PPDU does not include the third indication information, and the first PPDU does not include the fourth indication information, and the second access point can send the third indication information, i.e., an indication that the secondary channel will be vacated after the current large-bandwidth PPDU ends, to the OBSS station through the wired backhaul during the sending of the third PPDU. Exemplarily, the second access point can also send the second indication information when sending the third indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate the location of the second part of the bandwidth, i.e., the location of the vacated secondary channel, or the second indication information is used to indicate the identity or identity list of the BSS allowed to preempt, i.e., to indicate which BSS is allowed to preempt the transmission opportunity of the second access point.

[0255] In a possible implementation, the second access point does not explicitly indicate the bandwidth change through signaling, i.e., the second access point does not send the third indication information and the fourth indication information, and the OBSS station, e.g., the first access point or the first station, can perform idle detection, and when the detection passes, it can perform transmission through the second part of the channel.

[0256] Based on the above scheme, the second access point can indicate the bandwidth change or channel state change, so that the first access point or the first station can access the non-primary channel in time, thereby meeting the transmission requirement and reducing the communication delay.

[0257] As another implementation, S220, the second access point sends part or all of the first PPDU on the first part of the second channel, including: the second access point sends part of the first PPDU on the first part of the second channel. Correspondingly, the first station, the second access point, the second station, etc. receive part or all of the first PPDU, including that it receives part of the first PPDU.

[0258] In this implementation, before S220, the method 200 can further include: the second access point sends the first part of the first PPDU on the second channel. At this time, S220 can be understood as that the second access point sends the remaining part of the first PPDU on the first part of the second channel, i.e., sends the remaining part except the first part on the first part of the channel.

[0259] Specifically, during the sending of the first PPDU, the bandwidth can change, e.g., the first part of the first PPDU is sent through the first channel, and the remaining part of the first PPDU is sent through the first part of the channel in the first channel.

[0260] In the implementation, the first part of the first PPDU can include fifth indication information, which is used to indicate that the bandwidth will change during the transmission of the first PPDU, i.e., "the bandwidth can be reduced during the transmission of the PPDU to vacate the secondary channel". The fifth indication information can be understood as channel state change indication information.

[0261] Exemplarily, the fifth indication information can be 1 bit, and different values of the 1 bit are used to indicate whether there is bandwidth change during the transmission of the PPDU, or in other words, whether the bandwidth will be reduced in the PPDU.

[0262] Exemplarily, the fifth indication information is carried in a physical layer header of the first PPDU, for example, a UHR-SIG field. Alternatively, the fifth indication information is carried in a non-header position of the first PPDU, for example, before the bandwidth change of the first PPDU, i.e., at the end of the first part of the first PPDU, for example, a midamble part. When the fifth indication information is detected in the non-header position of the first PPDU, it can be understood that the bandwidth of the PPDU will change immediately after the indication information, so that the second part of the channel will be vacated.

[0263] It should be understood that the midamble can be referred to as a midamble or a training sequence, which can generally be located at the boundary of the bandwidth change of the signaling. When the information is detected, it indicates that the bandwidth will change soon.

[0264] Based on the above scheme, the second access point can indicate the bandwidth change or channel state change by the bandwidth change of the same PPDU, so as to facilitate the first access point or the first station to access the non-primary channel in time, thereby meeting the transmission requirement of the first station and reducing the communication delay.

[0265] FIGS. 9-12 are schematic flowcharts of the method of communication provided by the present application, and the method shown in FIGS. 9-12 can be respectively regarded as a specific implementation of the method 200.

[0266] It should be understood that in FIGS. 9-12, the non-AP STA1 (an example of the first station, not shown in the figure) is associated with the AP1 (an example of the first access point), the non-AP STA2 (an example of the second station) is associated with the AP2 (an example of the second access point), the BSS1 in which the AP1 is located and the BSS2 in which the AP2 (an example of the first access point) is located are OBSSs of each other, and the AP2 is a TXOP holder. When the AP2 transmits a PPDU to the associated station inside the TXOP, the interframe spacing used by the AP2 conforms to the existing standard.

[0267] As shown in FIG. 9, the method 300 includes the following steps.

[0268] S301, AP2 sends an RTS frame to non-AP STA2.

[0269] Exemplarily, the RTS frame includes an indication (an example of the first information) that the current TXOP can be preempted by OBSS, indicating that AP2 supports OBSS preemption in the TXOP.

[0270] S302, non-AP STA2 replies with a CTS frame.

[0271] Exemplarily, the inter-frame interval between the CTS and the RTS is SIFS.

[0272] S303, AP2 sends a DL PPDU 1 (an example of the second PPDU, which can also be regarded as an example of the third PPDU) to non-AP STA2.

[0273] Exemplarily, the inter-frame interval between the DL PPDU 1 and the CTS is SIFS.

[0274] S304, AP2 sends a DL PPDU 2 (an example of the second PPDU, which can also be regarded as an example of the third PPDU) to non-AP STA2.

[0275] Exemplarily, the DL PPDU 1 and the DL PPDU 2 include an indication (an example of the first information) that the current PPDU can be preempted by OBSS, indicating that AP2 supports OBSS preemption after the current PPDU to the next PPDU transmission (or after the ACK of the current PPDU to the next PPDU transmission).

[0276] It should be understood that, in this application, AP2 can declare that AP2 supports OBSS preemption at the beginning of the TXOP, i.e., in the RTS frame of S301, or can declare that AP2 supports OBSS preemption in the DL PPDU, i.e., in S303 and S304, without limitation.

[0277] Exemplarily, if AP2 declares in the RTS frame that AP2 supports OBSS preemption, the inter-frame interval between the downlink PPDUs (such as PPDU1, PPDU2, etc. in FIG. 9) of the TXOP conforms to the regular preemption rule. If AP2 declares in the DL PPDU that AP2 supports OBSS preemption, the inter-frame interval between the PPDU and the PPDU after it (such as PPDU1, PPDU2, etc. in FIG. 9) conforms to the regular preemption rule.

[0278] The regular preemption rule can be "xIFS between DL PPDUs without ACK / immediate block ack (immediate BA)", or / and "xIFS between the ACK / immediate BA of a DL PPDU and the next DL PPDU", or / and "xIFS between a DL PPDU and its ACK / immediate BA". The xIFS can be PIFS, as shown in FIG. 9, where the interframe space between PPDU 1 and PPDU 2 is PIFS. In the flow shown in FIG. 9, both DL PPDU 1 and DL PPDU 2 are DL PPDUs without ACK / immediate BA.

[0279] S305, AP 1 sends a PR.

[0280] Specifically, the OBSS station with preemption demand, such as AP 1, can send a PR at the SIFS time point of the xIFS interframe space period in the regular preemption flow after receiving the indication that AP 2 supports OBSS preemption. For example, as shown in FIG. 9, the interframe space between DL PPDU 1 and DL PPDU 2 is PIFS, and AP 1 sends an OBSS PR at SIFS after the DL PPDU 2 carrying the indication that AP 2 supports OBSS preemption.

[0281] It should be understood that FIG. 9 takes AP sending an OBSS PR as an example, and in a possible implementation, the OBSS PR can also be sent by a non-AP STA of the OBSS.

[0282] In S301-S305, the bandwidth used by the station when sending a PPDU or a frame can be the working bandwidth thereof. For example, the bandwidths of the RTS frame, DL PPDU 1, and DL PPDU 2 are all the working bandwidth of AP 2, and the bandwidths of the CTS frame and the PR are both the working bandwidth of AP 1.

[0283] S306, AP 2 sends a DL PPDU 3 (an example of a first PPDU) to non-AP STA 2, where the bandwidth of the DL PPDU 3 is smaller than the bandwidth of PPDU 2.

[0284] Specifically, after receiving the OBSS PR, AP X can reduce the bandwidth to a preset value, in other words, AP X can vacate part of the secondary channel for the OBSS station to use, and the vacated secondary channel and the channel occupied by the subsequent TXOP (i.e., the channel occupied by PPDU 3) can be used independently, i.e., without the need to align the length of the PPDU.

[0285] S307, AP1 sends a DL PPDU 4 to non-AP STA1, wherein the sub-channels occupied by PPDU 4 and the sub-channels occupied by PPDU 3 are non-overlapped.

[0286] Specifically, after sending PR, AP1 and its associated non-AP STA can use regular NPCA to perform channel access, for example, performing channel contention including random backoff and preamble detection on a secondary channel (an example of the first sub-channel), after successful channel access, AP1 can send a DL PPDU 4 to non-AP STA1 on the channel, and correspondingly, non-AP STA1 can receive the DL PPDU 4 on the channel, wherein the channel is part or all of the channel vacated by AP2, and thus the sub-channels occupied by PPDU 4 and the sub-channels occupied by PPDU 3 are non-overlapped.

[0287] It should be understood that when using regular NPCA to perform channel access, the rules related to regular NPCA should be followed, for example, "only when the available duration on the secondary channel is greater than or equal to a certain threshold, the station will use the secondary channel to perform channel access", and / or "when the pre-defined secondary channel for PD is occupied, the station will not use NPCA / secondary channel to perform channel access", and / or "it is required to switch back to the primary channel for PD when the OBSS TXOP on the primary channel ends", etc.

[0288] Exemplarily, PPDU 4 transmits LLT.

[0289] As shown in FIG. 10, the method 400 includes the following steps.

[0290] S401, AP2 sends an RTS frame to non-AP STA2.

[0291] S402, non-AP STA2 replies with a CTS frame.

[0292] S403, AP2 sends a DL PPDU 1 to non-AP STA2.

[0293] S404, AP2 sends a DL PPDU 2 (an example of the third PPDU) to non-AP STA2.

[0294] Specifically, S401-S404 can refer to S301-S304, which will not be described here.

[0295] After S404, an OBSS station with preemption requirement, such as AP1, can send a PR to AP2 through a wired backhaul line. Since this transmission mode is not discussed in the 802.11 series standards, this step is not shown in FIG. 10.

[0296] S405, AP2 sends a DL PPDU 3 (an example of the first PPDU) to non-AP STA2, wherein the bandwidth of the DL PPDU 3 is smaller than the bandwidth of the PPDU 2.

[0297] S406, AP1 sends a DL PPDU 4 to non-AP STA1, wherein the subchannel occupied by the PPDU 4 does not overlap with the subchannel occupied by the PPDU 3.

[0298] Specifically, S405-S406 can refer to S306-S307.

[0299] In a possible implementation, in the method 400, the PPDU 2 can carry an indication (an example of the third indication information) that the subchannel will be vacated after the PPDU, indicating that the AP2 will reduce the bandwidth or vacate the subchannel after the PPDU, and at this time, the AP1 uses the vacated subchannel for transmission, i.e., sends the PPDU 4, after receiving the PPDU 2 with an interval of SIFS. Alternatively, the PPDU 3 can carry an indication (an example of the fourth indication information) that the subchannel has been vacated, indicating that the AP2 has reduced the bandwidth of the PPDU or has vacated the subchannel when sending the PPDU, and at this time, the AP1 can use the vacated subchannel for transmission, i.e., sends the PPDU 4, after detecting the indication.

[0300] In a possible implementation, the PPDU 2 and the PPDU 3 can also not carry the above-mentioned indication, and before S406, the AP2 can inform the AP1 that the subchannel will be vacated after the PPDU through a wired backhaul, and the AP2 can also exemplarily indicate the position information of the vacated subchannel. The AP1 uses the vacated subchannel for transmission with an interval of SIFS after the current large-bandwidth PPDU ends.

[0301] It should be understood that the above-mentioned manner can also be understood as an explicit indication.

[0302] In a possible implementation, the PPDU 2 and the PPDU 3 can also not carry the above-mentioned indication, and the AP1, the non-AP 1 and the AP2 take the bandwidth change of the PPDU 2 to the PPDU 3 as an implicit indication, and the AP1 or the non-AP STA1 performs xIFS idle detection on the subchannel (another example of the first subchannel), and when the detection is passed, the AP1 can perform transmission through the subchannel, wherein the xIFS can be PIFS, i.e., the AP1 uses the idle subchannel for transmission with an interval of PIFS after the large-bandwidth PPDU ends.

[0303] As shown in FIG. 11, the method 500 includes the following steps.

[0304] S501, AP2 sends an RTS frame to non-AP STA2.

[0305] S502, non-AP STA2 replies with a CTS frame.

[0306] S503, AP2 sends a DL PPDU 1 to non-AP STA2.

[0307] S504, AP2 sends a DL PPDU 2 to non-AP STA2.

[0308] Specifically, S501-S504 can refer to S301-S304, which are not repeated here.

[0309] After S504, an OBSS station with the need of preemption, such as AP1, can send a PR to AP2 through a wired backhaul link. Since this transmission mode is not discussed in the 802.11 series standards, this step is not shown in FIG. 11.

[0310] S505, AP2 sends a RPR to AP1.

[0311] Specifically, AP2 sends a RPR to AP1 through the air interface after receiving the preemption need of AP1. Exemplarily, the RPR can carry scheduling signaling, which can be the BSSID of the allowed BSS (such as AP1), the location of the secondary channel to be vacated (an example of the second indication information), etc.

[0312] S506, AP2 sends a DL PPDU 3 (an example of the first PPDU) to non-AP STA2, wherein the bandwidth of the DL PPDU 3 is smaller than the bandwidth of the PPDU 2.

[0313] S507, AP1 sends a DL PPDU 4 to non-AP STA1, wherein the sub-channels occupied by the PPDU 4 and the sub-channels occupied by the PPDU 3 do not overlap.

[0314] Specifically, AP1 can use the vacated secondary channel for transmission, i.e., sending PPDU 4, after receiving the RPR and after a SIFS.

[0315] Exemplarily, PPDU 4 transmits LLT.

[0316] As shown in FIG. 12, the method 600 includes the following steps.

[0317] S601, AP2 sends an RTS frame to non-AP STA2.

[0318] S602, non-AP STA2 replies with a CTS frame.

[0319] S603, AP2 sends DL PPDU 1 to non-AP STA2.

[0320] Specifically, S601-S603 can refer to S301-S303, which are not described here.

[0321] After S603, the OBSS station with the preemption requirement, such as AP1, can send PR to AP2 through a wired backhaul line. Since this transmission mode is not discussed in the 802.11 series standards, this step is not shown in FIG. 12.

[0322] S604, AP2 sends DL PPDU 2 (an example of the first PPDU) to non-AP STA2.

[0323] In response to the preemption request of the OBSS station, AP2 reduces the bandwidth of the current PPDU. Specifically, the bandwidth of PPDU2 changes. AP2 can add an indication in the PHY header before the bandwidth change of PPDU2, indicating that "the bandwidth of the PPDU may be reduced during transmission, and the secondary channel is vacated for OBSS use" (an example of the fifth indication information); or AP2 can add the indication, such as midamble, just before the bandwidth change of PPDU2, indicating that "the bandwidth of the PPDU is reduced after the midamble, and the vacated secondary channel is for OBSS use". Exemplarily, the midamble can add the position indication information of the vacated secondary channel.

[0324] S605, AP1 sends PPDU3 to non-AP STA1.

[0325] The subchannel occupied by PPDU 3 and the subchannel occupied by the second half of PPDU 2 do not overlap.

[0326] Exemplarily, PPDU 3 transmits LLT.

[0327] In a possible implementation, PPDU 2 can also not carry the above-mentioned indication. The secondary channel (another example of the first subchannel) is detected by AP1 or non-AP STA1. When the detection is passed, AP1 can transmit through the secondary channel. The xIFS can be PIFS, that is, AP1 uses the idle secondary channel for transmission after an interval of PIFS after the end of the large bandwidth PPDU.

[0328] In the method 300, the method 400, the method 500, and the method 600, the AP2 declares that the current TXOP or PPDU can be preempted by the OBSS, the OBSS station with preemption demand, i.e., the AP1 sends the OBSS PR in the TXOP, and after receiving the OBSS PR, the AP2 reduces the bandwidth, and the AP1 or the non-AP STA 1 can use the free secondary channel (i.e., the released secondary channel) for LLT transmission, so as to improve the transmission efficiency.

[0329] It should be understood that the interframe interval in the method 300, the method 400, the method 500, and the method 600 is only an example, as long as the hardware requirements of the device and the logical relationship of the scheme are met.

[0330] It can be understood that, in order to implement the functions in the above embodiments, the base station and the terminal include the corresponding hardware structure and / or software module for executing each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, in combination with the units and method steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed in the present application, the present application can be realized in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a certain function is executed in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application scenario and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0331] FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 are structural schematic diagrams of a communication apparatus provided by the embodiments of the present application. The communication apparatus can be used to implement the functions of the first access point, or the first station, or the second access point in the above method embodiments, and thus can also achieve the beneficial effects possessed by the above method embodiments. In the embodiments of the present application, the communication apparatus can be the first access point, or the first station, or the second access point, and can also be a module (such as a chip) applied to the first access point, or the first station, or the second access point.

[0332] As shown in FIG. 13, the communication apparatus 2000 includes a transceiver unit 2020. The communication apparatus 2000 is used to implement the functions of the first access point, or the first station, or the second access point in the above method embodiments shown in FIG. 7. Exemplarily, the communication apparatus 2000 can also include a processing unit 2010.

[0333] When the communication apparatus 2000 is configured to implement the function of the first access point or the first station in the method embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the transceiver 2020 is configured to receive first information from the second access point on a first channel, the first information being configured to indicate that the second access point supports OBSS preemption, the first channel comprising a primary channel of the second access point, and the BSS to which the first access point or the first station belongs and the BSS to which the second access point belongs being OBSSs of each other; the transceiver 2020 is also configured to receive part or all of a first PPDU from the second access point on a first part of the first channel, the first part of the first channel comprising the primary channel; the apparatus further comprises a processing unit 2010 configured to perform non-primary channel access on a second part of the first channel, the second part of the first channel being non-overlapping with the first part of the first channel.

[0334] When the communication apparatus 2000 is configured to implement the function of the second access point in the method embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the transceiver 2020 is configured to transmit first information on a second channel, the first information being configured to indicate that the second access point supports OBSS preemption, the second channel comprising a primary channel; the transceiver 2020 is also configured to transmit part or all of a first PPDU on a first part of the second channel, the first part of the second channel comprising the primary channel, the second channel further comprising a second part of the second channel, the second part of the second channel being non-overlapping with the first part of the second channel, and the second part of the second channel being configured for non-primary channel access by a station of the second access point or a non-access point.

[0335] For detailed description of the functions performed by the processing unit 2010 and the transceiver 2020, reference can be made to the related description in the method 200 shown in FIG. 7.

[0336] As shown in FIG. 14, the communication apparatus 3000 comprises a processor 3010 and an interface circuit 3020. The processor 3010 and the interface circuit 3020 are coupled to each other. It can be understood that the interface circuit 3020 can be a transceiver or an input / output interface. Optionally, the communication apparatus 3000 can further comprise a memory 3030 configured to store instructions executed by the processor 3010 or store input data required by the processor 3010 to execute instructions or store data generated after the processor 3010 executes instructions. Sometimes, the interface circuit 3020 can also be understood as a part of the processor 3010, and the communication apparatus 3000 comprises the processor 3010 at this time.

[0337] When the communication apparatus 3000 is configured to implement the method shown in FIG. 7, the processor 3010 is configured to implement the functions of the processing unit 2010, and the interface circuit 3020 is configured to implement the functions of the transceiver 2020.

[0338] When the communication device is a chip applied to the first access point or the first station, the chip implements the functions of the first access point or the first station in the method embodiments. The chip receives information from the second access point, which can be understood as the information being received by other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the first access point or the first station first, and then being sent to the chip by the modules. The chip sends information to the second access point, which can be understood as the information being sent to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the first access point or the first station first, and then being sent to the second access point by the modules.

[0339] When the communication device is a chip applied to the second access point, the chip implements the functions of the second access point in the method embodiments. The chip receives information from the first access point or the first station, which can be understood as the information being received by other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the second access point first, and then being sent to the chip by the modules. The chip sends information to the first access point or the first station, which can be understood as the information being sent to other modules (such as a radio frequency module or an antenna) in the second access point first, and then being sent to the first access point or the first station by the modules.

[0340] It can be understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application can be a central processing unit (CPU), and can also be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0341] The method steps in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in hardware or in software instructions executable by a processor. The software instructions can be composed of corresponding software modules, which can be stored in a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory, an erasable programmable read-only memory, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, a register, a hard disk, a mobile hard disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium well known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor, so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. The storage medium can also be an integral part of the processor. The processor and the storage medium can be located in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC can be located in a base station or a terminal. The processor and the storage medium can also exist as discrete components in the base station or the terminal.

[0342] In the above embodiments, the implementation can be entirely or partially achieved by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented by software, the implementation can be entirely or partially in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer programs or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are entirely or partially performed. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user equipment, or other programmable devices. The computer programs or instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another, for example, the computer programs or instructions can be transferred from one website, computer, server, or data center to another by wired or wireless means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium accessible by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. integrated with one or more available media. The available media can be a magnetic medium, such as a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape; an optical medium, such as a digital video disc; and a semiconductor medium, such as a solid-state disk. The computer-readable storage medium can be a volatile or non-volatile storage medium, or can include both volatile and non-volatile storage media.

[0343] In various embodiments of the present application, the terms and / or descriptions of different embodiments are consistent and can be mutually referred to if there is no special description and no logical conflict. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationship.

[0344] In the present application, "at least one" means one or more, and "multiple" means two or more. The "and / or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, which means that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B can represent the following three cases: A exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In the textual description of the present application, the character " / " generally represents an "or" relationship between the front and rear associated objects. "Including at least one of A, B and C" can represent: including A; including B; including C; including A and B; including A and C; including B and C; including A, B and C.

[0345] It should be understood that in various embodiments of the present application, the first, second and various numerical numbers are only for the convenience of differentiation in description, and do not limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application. The size of the serial number of the above processes does not mean the order of execution, and the execution order of the processes should be determined by its function and inherent logic.

[0346] Those of ordinary skill in the art can realize that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in combination with the embodiments disclosed herein can be realized in electronic hardware or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether the functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. A person skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of the present application.

[0347] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working process of the above-described system, device and unit can refer to the corresponding process in the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0348] In several embodiments provided by the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, device and method can be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described device embodiments are only schematic, and the division of the units is only a logical function division, and actual implementation can have another division manner, for example, a plurality of units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection between the shown or discussed mutual objects can be indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, and can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0349] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components displayed as units may or may not be physical units, that is, may be located in one place, or may be distributed to multiple network units. Part or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the embodiment scheme.

[0350] In addition, the functional units in each embodiment of the present application can be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically, or two or more units can be integrated in one unit.

[0351] The functions, if realized in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, can be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solutions of the present application or the parts of the present application that essentially contribute to the prior art or the parts of the technical solutions can be embodied in the form of software products. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes a plurality of instructions for causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The foregoing storage medium includes: a U disk, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and various media that can store program codes.

Claims

1. A method of communication, comprising: The method is applied to a station of a first access point or a non-access point, and the method comprises: receiving first information from a second access point on a first channel, the first information being used to indicate that the second access point supports an overlapping basic service set (OBSS) preemption, the first channel comprising a primary channel of the second access point, a basic service set (BSS) to which the first access point or the station belongs and a BSS to which the second access point belongs being OBSSs of each other; receiving part or all of a first physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) from the second access point on a first part of the first channel, the first part of the first channel comprising the primary channel; performing non-primary channel access on a second part of the first channel, the second part of the first channel being non-overlapping with the first part of the first channel.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The non-primary channel access on the second part of the first channel comprises: sending a data packet of low-latency traffic on the second part of the first channel; or receiving a data packet of low-latency traffic on the second part of the first channel.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The non-primary channel access on the second part of the first channel comprises: determining that the second part of the first channel is in an idle state for a time duration greater than or equal to a first time interval, and performing transmission on the second part of the first channel, the first time interval being a short interframe space (SIFS), a distributed interframe space (DIFS), a point coordination function interframe space (PIFS) or an arbitration interframe space (AIFS).

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The non-primary channel access comprises performing preamble detection on a first sub-channel in the second part of the first channel.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein, The first sub-channel is a preamble detection secondary channel used by the first access point or the station for non-primary channel access.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, The method is applied to the second access point, and the method further comprises: sending a preemption requirement to the second access point according to the first information.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein, The method further comprises: receiving a preemption requirement response from the second access point on the first channel, the preemption requirement response being in response to the preemption requirement, the preemption requirement response comprising first indication information, the first indication information being used to indicate that the second part of the first channel becomes in an idle state after transmission of the preemption requirement response is completed.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein, The preemption requirement response further comprises second indication information, the second indication information being used to indicate a location of the second part of the first channel or an identity of a BSS allowed to preempt.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that, Before receiving the first PPDU, the method further comprises: receiving a third PPDU on the first channel; wherein the receiving part or all of the first PPDU on the first part of the first channel comprises: receiving all of the first PPDU on the first part of the first channel.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein, The third PPDU comprises third indication information, the third indication information being used to indicate that the second part of the first channel becomes in an idle state after transmission of the third PPDU is completed; or The first PPDU comprises fourth indication information, the fourth indication information being used to indicate that the second part of the first channel is in an idle state.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that, The method further comprises: receiving a first part of a first PPDU on the first channel; wherein the transmitting the part or all of the first PPDU on the first part of the channel comprises: transmitting a part of the first PPDU other than the first part on the first part of the channel.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein, the first part comprises fifth indication information, the fifth indication information being used to indicate that bandwidth will change in the transmission of the first PPDU.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that, the first information comprises second indication information, the second indication information being used to indicate a location of the second part of the channel or an identity of a BSS allowed to pre-empt.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that, the first information is carried in a physical layer header of a second PPDU, a beacon frame or a transmission opportunity initial frame.

15. The method of any of claims 1-14, wherein: the first part of the channel has a bandwidth of 20 MHz; and / or the second part of the channel has a bandwidth of 20 MHz; and / or the primary channel is a primary 20 MHz channel.

16. A method of communication, comprising: applicable to a second access point, the method comprising: transmitting first information on a second channel, the first information being used to indicate that the second access point supports OBSS pre-emption, the second channel comprising a primary channel; transmitting a part or all of a first PPDU on a first part of the channel, the first part of the channel comprising the primary channel, the second channel further comprising a second part of the channel, the second part of the channel being non-overlapping with the first part of the channel, the second part of the channel being used for non-primary channel access by a station of a second access point or a non-access point.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein, the method further comprising: receiving a pre-emption requirement from the second access point or the station, a BSS to which the second access point or the station belongs and a BSS to which the second access point belongs being OBSSs to each other; the transmitting the part or all of the first PPDU on the first part of the channel comprises: transmitting the part or all of the first PPDU on the first part of the channel according to the pre-emption requirement.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein, the method further comprising: transmitting a pre-emption requirement response to the second access point or the station on the second channel, the pre-emption requirement response being responsive to the pre-emption requirement, the pre-emption requirement response comprising first indication information, the first indication information being used to indicate that the second part of the channel becomes idle after transmission of the pre-emption requirement response is completed.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein, the pre-emption requirement response comprises second indication information, the second indication information being used to indicate a location of the second part of the channel or an identity of a BSS allowed to pre-empt.

20. The method of any one of claims 16-19, wherein, the method further comprising, before the transmitting the first PPDU: transmitting a third PPDU on the second channel; wherein the transmitting the part or all of the first PPDU on the first part of the channel comprises: transmitting all of the first PPDU on the first part of the channel.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein: the third PPDU comprises third indication information, the third indication information being used to indicate that the second part of the channel becomes idle after transmission of the third PPDU is completed; or the third PPDU comprises third indication information, the third indication information being used to indicate that the second part of the channel becomes idle after transmission of the third PPDU is completed. The first PPDU comprises fourth indication information, which is used to indicate that the second part channel is in an idle state.

22. The method of any one of claims 16-19, wherein, The method further comprises: transmitting a first part of the first PPDU on the second channel; wherein transmitting part or all of the first PPDU on the first part channel comprises: transmitting part of the first PPDU other than the first part on the first part channel.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein, The first part comprises fifth indication information, which is used to indicate that the transmission bandwidth of the first PPDU will change.

24. The method of any one of claims 16-23, wherein, The first information comprises second indication information, which is used to indicate the position of the second part channel, or is used to indicate the identity of the BSS allowed to preempt.

25. The method of any one of claims 16-24, wherein, The first information is carried in a physical layer header of a second PPDU, a beacon frame or a transmission opportunity initial frame.

26. The method of any one of claims 16-25, wherein, The bandwidth of the first part channel is 20MHz, or the bandwidth of the first part channel is half of the bandwidth of the second channel; and / or, The bandwidth of the second part channel is 20MHz; and / or, The primary channel is a primary 20MHz channel.

27. A communications device, characterized by comprises: means for performing the method of any one of claims 1-15, or means for performing the method of any one of claims 16-26.

28. A communications device, characterized by comprises: a processor coupled to the memory, the memory storing a computer program, and the processor configured to execute the computer program stored in the memory to cause the apparatus to perform the method of any one of claims 1-15, or to cause the apparatus to perform the method of any one of claims 16-26.

29. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The storage medium stores a computer program or instructions, which, when executed by a communication apparatus, implement the method of any one of claims 1-15, or implement the method of any one of claims 16-26.

30. A computer program product, characterised in that, The computer program, when executed, implements the method of any one of claims 1-15, or implements the method of any one of claims 16-26.

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