Communication method and communication apparatus

Abstract

The present application supports IEEE protocols, such as the IEEE 802.11be / WiFi7 / EHT protocol, the IEEE 802.11bn / UHR / WiFi8 protocol, the Integrated mmWave / integrated millimeter-wave / IMMW protocol, the IEEE 802.15 / UWB protocol, or the IEEE 802.11bf / sensing protocol. The present application provides a communication method and a communication apparatus. The communication method comprises: a transmitting end device sends a first control frame, wherein the first control frame is used to instruct a first receiving end device to perform bandwidth size and / or channel location switching; the transmitting end device sends a second control frame; and the transmitting end device receives from the first receiving end device a first response frame for the second control frame. The technical solution can avoid collision between response frames of a plurality of receiving end devices.

Description

Communication methods and communication devices

[0001] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202410911586.0, filed on July 8, 2024, entitled "Communication Method and Communication Device", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0002] This application relates to the field of communications, and more specifically, to communication methods and communication apparatus. Background Technology

[0003] Currently, to reduce latency while saving power, a listening mode has been proposed. In listening mode, a device is in a special wake-up state, possessing limited signal transmission and reception capabilities, or only limited reception capabilities. Listening mode typically limits the number of spatial streams, bandwidth, MCS, and communication PPDU format transmitted or received between devices to achieve low power consumption. When the transmitting device has data to send to the receiving device, it generally sends an initial control frame. Upon receiving the initial control frame, the receiving device replies with an initial control response frame to inform the transmitting device that it has exited listening mode (i.e., switched to a wake-up state with full transmission and reception capabilities). Subsequently, the receiving device can communicate with the transmitting device using stronger capabilities (such as more spatial streams, greater bandwidth, higher MCS, and more advanced PPDU formats).

[0004] However, when the transmitting device uses the same initial control frame to trigger multiple receiving devices to reply with initial control response frames, the receiving devices, after bandwidth switching or channel location switching, lose their original frequency and time synchronization information and need to re-determine the frequency and synchronization information. Therefore, they cannot achieve accurate frequency and time synchronization with the transmitting device. Consequently, the multiple receiving devices reply with multiple initial control response frames based on the newly determined frequency and time synchronization information, which may cause collisions between these multiple initial control response frames due to the potentially identical re-determined frequency and time synchronization information. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This application provides a communication method and a communication device that can avoid collisions between multiple response frames sent back by multiple receiving devices.

[0006] In a first aspect, embodiments of this application provide a communication method, which can be executed by a transmitting device such as an access point (AP), an access point multi-link device (AP MLD), or an AP in an AP MLD; or it can be executed by a module in the transmitting device such as a chip system or circuit; or it can be executed by a logical node, logical module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the transmitting device. This application does not limit this.

[0007] The method includes: a transmitting device sending a first control frame, the first control frame being used to instruct a first receiving device to switch bandwidth size and / or channel position; the transmitting device sending a second control frame; and the transmitting device receiving a first response frame from the first receiving device in response to the second control frame, the first response frame being used to indicate that the first receiving device has switched to a target bandwidth and / or target channel position.

[0008] It should be understood that after the first receiving device performs a bandwidth switch and / or channel position switch, it will lose its original frequency and time synchronization information. This is because, after the first receiving device performs a bandwidth switch or channel position switch, it needs to recalibrate the phase-locked loops (PLLs) and radio frequency (RF) devices. Consequently, the first receiving device redetermines its frequency and time information, and this newly determined frequency and time information is independent of the frequency and time information before the bandwidth switch and / or channel position switch. At this time, if multiple receiving devices are simultaneously scheduled by the transmitting device, these multiple receiving devices cannot send response frames based on the original frequency and time information. This can cause multiple response frames sent by these multiple receiving devices to collide with each other due to the redefined identical frequency and time synchronization information.

[0009] Therefore, in the technical solution of this application, the first receiving device has already completed bandwidth switching and / or channel position switching before receiving the second control frame, that is, it has completed the calibration of the PLL and RF devices. Furthermore, the first receiving device can synchronize the frequency and time of the second control frame and the first response frame based on the second control frame, and reply to the transmitting device based on the second control frame to inform it that bandwidth switching and / or channel position switching has been completed.

[0010] Furthermore, if multiple receiving devices are simultaneously scheduled by the sending device, they can reply with a first response frame based on a second control frame. The frequency and time information of the first response frame sent by each receiving device are aligned with the frequency and time information of the second control frame received by each receiving device, meaning that there will be no identical frequency and time information. This eliminates interference between the multiple receiving devices and collisions between the multiple first response frames.

[0011] Optionally, the first control frame and the second control frame can be of the same type. For example, the first control frame and the second control frame can be a multiple user request to send (MU-RTS) frame or a buffer status report poll (BSRP) frame. When the second control frame is an MU-RTS frame, the first response frame can be a clear to send (CTS) frame; when the second control frame is a BSRP frame, the first response frame can be a buffer state report (BSR) frame.

[0012] Optionally, the first control frame and the second control frame can also be of different types. For example, the first control frame can be the aforementioned MU-RTS frame, BSRP frame, or other possible trigger frame (TF), and the second control frame can be a request to send (RTS) frame or a clear to send-to-self (CTS-to-self) frame.

[0013] Optionally, the first control frame can be a broadcast frame. That is, the first control frame may include user information of multiple receiving devices. After a receiving device receives the first control frame, if the first control frame includes its user information, then the receiving device can be determined as the target receiving station of the first control frame.

[0014] Optionally, the first control frame can also be used to instruct the first receiving device to switch to more spatial streams, higher MCS, more advanced PPDU formats, etc. In other words, the first control frame can also be used to instruct the first receiving device to switch from listen mode to a wake-up state with full transmit and receive capabilities.

[0015] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first control frame includes user information of the first receiving device, a first frame check sequence (FCS) field, and padding data, wherein the user information of the first receiving device is located before the first FCS field, and the first FCS field is located before the padding data.

[0016] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first control frame further includes user information of the second receiving device, which is located after the first FCS field. Before the sending device sends the second control frame, the method further includes: the sending device receiving a second response frame from the second receiving device in response to the first control frame.

[0017] In the above technical solution, the receiving device whose user information is before the first FCS field needs to reply with a first response frame for the second control frame but not with the first control frame itself. The receiving device whose user information is between the first and second FCS fields needs to reply with a second response frame for the first control frame. This solves the problem that the receiving device cannot know which control frame to reply with; that is, the receiving device can determine whether to reply with a response for the first or second control frame based on the positional relationship between its user information and the first FCS field.

[0018] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first control frame includes user information of the first receiving device, the user information of the first receiving device includes a first field, a first value of the first field in the user information of the first receiving device is used to indicate that the first receiving device does not need to reply to the first control frame, the first control frame also includes user information of a second receiving device, the user information of the second receiving device includes the first field, a second value of the first field in the user information of the second receiving device is used to indicate that the second receiving device needs to reply to the first control frame, and before the sending device sends the second control frame, the method further includes: the sending device receiving a second response frame from the second receiving device in response to the first control frame.

[0019] In the above technical solution, a bit of the user information field of the receiving device in the first control frame can be used as a field to indicate whether the receiving device needs to reply with a second response frame in response to the first control frame. This solves the problem that the receiving device cannot know which control frame to reply with a response frame; that is, the receiving device can determine whether to reply with a response to the first or second control frame based on the value of a field in its user information.

[0020] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first control frame is a predefined first type of control frame, which is used to indicate that the receiving device that receives the first control frame does not need to reply with a response frame.

[0021] In the above technical solution, a new type of control frame is defined to indicate that the receiving device does not need to reply with a response frame for that type of control frame. This rule is relatively simple, and the scheduling process between the access point and the site is straightforward.

[0022] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first control frame includes identification information and resource unit allocation information of the first receiving device, the resource unit allocation information including the target bandwidth and / or the target channel location; the second control frame includes the identification information and the resource unit allocation information, or the second control frame includes the identification information but does not include the resource unit allocation information, or the second control frame does not include the identification information and the resource unit allocation information.

[0023] In the above technical solution, both the second control frame and the first control frame can carry complete information required for data communication, such as indication information of the first receiving device and resource allocation information (such as the aforementioned target bandwidth and / or target channel location). In this way, the design of the second control frame is simple, and the frame structure of the existing frame can be reused without modifying the frame structure.

[0024] Furthermore, in the above technical solution, the design of the second control frame can be simplified to save the signaling overhead of the second control frame. As mentioned above, the second control frame can carry only the identification information of multiple receiving devices, or it can not carry the identification information of multiple receiving devices and resource unit allocation information.

[0025] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, before the transmitting device sends the first control frame, the method further includes: when the first control frame is specifically used to instruct the first receiving device to perform a channel position switch, the transmitting device sends first resource unit allocation information to the first receiving device, the first resource unit allocation information including the target channel position, and the first control frame including the identification information of the first receiving device but not including the first resource unit allocation information; and / or, when the first control frame is specifically used to instruct the first receiving device to perform a bandwidth size switch, the transmitting device receives first information from the first receiving device, the first information indicating the target bandwidth, and the first control frame including the identification information of the first receiving device but not including the first information.

[0026] In the above technical solution, the design of the first control frame can be further simplified to further save signaling overhead. Since the target bandwidth or target channel to be switched is unique and has been predetermined, the first control frame does not need to carry resource unit allocation information indicating the location of the target bandwidth and / or target channel; it can only carry site indication information of the target receiving station.

[0027] In conjunction with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the second control frame is a CTS-to-self frame or an RTS frame, wherein the second control frame includes a receive address (RA) field, which includes the broadcast media access control (MAC) address of the transmitting device.

[0028] In the above technical solution, the second control frame can carry the broadcast media access control (MAC) address of the transmitting device in the receiver address (RA) field of the CTS-to-self frame or RTS frame. Thus, the multiple receiving devices can identify the second control frame based on the RA field, so that the second control frame does not need to carry the identification information of the multiple receiving devices.

[0029] Secondly, embodiments of this application provide a communication method, which can be executed by a first receiving device such as a station STA, or a non-access point multi-link device (non-AP MLD), or a STA in a non-AP MLD; or it can be executed by a module in the first receiving device such as a chip system or circuit; or it can be executed by a logic node, logic module, or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first receiving device. This application does not limit this.

[0030] The method includes: a first receiving device receiving a first control frame from a transmitting device, the first control frame being used to instruct the first receiving device to switch bandwidth size and / or channel position; the first receiving device receiving a second control frame from the transmitting device; and the first receiving device sending a first response frame to the transmitting device in response to the second control frame, the first response frame being used to indicate that the first receiving device has switched to a target bandwidth and / or target channel position.

[0031] In the technical solution of this application, the first receiving device has already completed bandwidth switching and / or channel position switching before receiving the second control frame, that is, it has completed the calibration of the PLL and RF devices. Therefore, the first receiving device can synchronize the frequency and time of the second control frame and the first response frame based on the second control frame, and reply to the transmitting device based on the second control frame to inform it that the bandwidth switching and / or channel position switching has been completed.

[0032] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the first control frame includes user information of the first receiving device, a first frame check sequence (FCS) field, and padding data, wherein the user information of the first receiving device is located before the first FCS field, and the first FCS field is located before the padding data.

[0033] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the first control frame also includes user information of the second receiving device, which is located after the first FCS field.

[0034] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the first control frame includes user information of the first receiving device, the user information of the first receiving device includes a first field, and a first value of the first field in the user information of the first receiving device is used to indicate that the first receiving device does not need to reply to the first control frame. The first control frame also includes user information of a second receiving device, the user information of the second receiving device includes the first field, and a second value of the first field in the user information of the second receiving device is used to indicate that the second receiving device needs to reply to the first control frame.

[0035] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the first control frame is a predefined first type of control frame, which is used to indicate that the receiving device that receives the first control frame does not need to reply with a response frame.

[0036] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the first control frame includes identification information and resource unit allocation information of the first receiving device, the resource unit allocation information including the target bandwidth and / or the target channel location; the second control frame includes the identification information and the resource unit allocation information, or the second control frame includes the identification information but does not include the resource unit allocation information, or the second control frame does not include the identification information and the resource unit allocation information.

[0037] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, before the first receiving device receives the first control frame, the method further includes: when the first control frame is specifically used to instruct the first receiving device to perform a channel position switch, the first receiving device receives first resource unit allocation information from the transmitting device, the first resource unit allocation information including the target channel position, and the first control frame including the identification information of the first receiving device but not including the first resource unit allocation information; and / or, when the first control frame is specifically used to instruct the first receiving device to perform a bandwidth size switch, the first receiving device sends first information to the transmitting device, the first information indicating the target bandwidth, and the first control frame including the identification information of the first receiving device but not including the first information.

[0038] In conjunction with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the second control frame is a CTS-to-self frame or an RTS frame, wherein the second control frame includes a receive address (RA) field, which includes the broadcast media access control (MAC) address of the transmitting device.

[0039] The explanations and beneficial effects of the communication method provided in the second aspect can be found in the communication method described in the first aspect, and will not be repeated here.

[0040] Thirdly, embodiments of this application provide a communication device. The communication device includes a transceiver unit configured to: transmit a first control frame, the first control frame being used to instruct a first receiving device to switch bandwidth and / or channel position; transmit a second control frame; and receive a first response frame from the first receiving device in response to the second control frame, the first response frame being used to indicate that the first receiving device has switched to a target bandwidth and / or target channel position.

[0041] In conjunction with the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the first control frame includes user information of the first receiving device, a first frame check sequence (FCS) field, and padding data, wherein the user information of the first receiving device is located before the first FCS field, and the first FCS field is located before the padding data.

[0042] In conjunction with the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the first control frame also includes user information of the second receiving device, which is located after the first FCS field. Before sending the second control frame, the transceiver unit is also configured to: receive a second response frame from the second receiving device in response to the first control frame.

[0043] In conjunction with the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the first control frame includes user information of the first receiving device, the user information of the first receiving device includes a first field, and a first value of the first field in the user information of the first receiving device is used to indicate that the first receiving device does not need to reply to the first control frame. The first control frame also includes user information of a second receiving device, the user information of the second receiving device includes the first field, and a second value of the first field in the user information of the second receiving device is used to indicate that the second receiving device needs to reply to the first control frame. Before sending the second control frame, the transceiver unit is further configured to: receive a second response frame from the second receiving device in response to the first control frame.

[0044] In conjunction with the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the first control frame is a predefined first type of control frame, which is used to indicate that the receiving device that receives the first control frame does not need to reply with a response frame.

[0045] In conjunction with the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the first control frame includes identification information and resource unit allocation information of the first receiving device, the resource unit allocation information including the target bandwidth and / or the target channel location; the second control frame includes the identification information and the resource unit allocation information, or the second control frame includes the identification information but does not include the resource unit allocation information, or the second control frame does not include the identification information and the resource unit allocation information.

[0046] In conjunction with the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, before sending the first control frame, the transceiver unit is further configured to: send first resource unit allocation information to the first receiving device when the first control frame is specifically used to instruct the first receiving device to perform a channel position switch, the first resource unit allocation information including the target channel position, the first control frame including the identification information of the first receiving device but not including the first resource unit allocation information; and / or, when the first control frame is specifically used to instruct the first receiving device to perform a bandwidth size switch, receive first information from the first receiving device, the first information indicating the target bandwidth, the first control frame including the identification information of the first receiving device but not including the first information.

[0047] In conjunction with the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the second control frame is a CTS-to-self frame or an RTS frame, wherein the second control frame includes a receive address (RA) field, which includes the broadcast media access control (MAC) address of the transmitting device.

[0048] In one implementation, the communication device is a transmitting device (AP or AP MLD).

[0049] In another implementation, the communication device is a chip, chip system, or circuit used in a transmitting device (AP or AP MLD).

[0050] The explanations and beneficial effects of the communication device provided in the third aspect can be found in the communication method described in the first aspect, and will not be repeated here.

[0051] Fourthly, embodiments of this application provide a communication device. The communication device includes a transceiver unit configured to: receive a first control frame from a transmitting device, the first control frame instructing a first receiving device to switch bandwidth and / or channel position; receive a second control frame from the transmitting device; and send a first response frame to the transmitting device in response to the second control frame, the first response frame instructing the first receiving device that it has switched to a target bandwidth and / or target channel position.

[0052] In conjunction with the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the first control frame includes user information of the first receiving device, a first frame check sequence (FCS) field, and padding data, wherein the user information of the first receiving device is located before the first FCS field, and the first FCS field is located before the padding data.

[0053] In conjunction with the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the first control frame also includes user information of the second receiving device, which is located after the first FCS field.

[0054] In conjunction with the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the first control frame includes user information of the first receiving device, the user information of the first receiving device includes a first field, and a first value of the first field in the user information of the first receiving device is used to indicate that the first receiving device does not need to reply to the first control frame. The first control frame also includes user information of the second receiving device, the user information of the second receiving device includes the first field, and a second value of the first field in the user information of the second receiving device is used to indicate that the second receiving device needs to reply to the first control frame.

[0055] In conjunction with the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the first control frame is a predefined first type of control frame, which is used to indicate that the receiving device that receives the first control frame does not need to reply with a response frame.

[0056] In conjunction with the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the first control frame includes identification information and resource unit allocation information of the first receiving device, the resource unit allocation information including the target bandwidth and / or the target channel location; the second control frame includes the identification information and the resource unit allocation information, or the second control frame includes the identification information but does not include the resource unit allocation information, or the second control frame does not include the identification information and the resource unit allocation information.

[0057] In conjunction with the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, before receiving the first control frame, the transceiver unit is further configured to: receive first resource unit allocation information from the transmitting device when the first control frame is specifically used to instruct the first receiving device to perform a channel position switch, the first resource unit allocation information including the target channel position, the first control frame including the identification information of the first receiving device but not including the first resource unit allocation information; and / or, when the first control frame is specifically used to instruct the first receiving device to perform a bandwidth size switch, send first information to the transmitting device, the first information indicating the target bandwidth, the first control frame including the identification information of the first receiving device but not including the first information.

[0058] In conjunction with the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the second control frame is a CTS-to-self frame or an RTS frame, wherein the second control frame includes a receive address (RA) field, which includes the broadcast media access control (MAC) address of the transmitting device.

[0059] In one implementation, the communication device is a receiving device (STA or non-AP MLD).

[0060] In another implementation, the communication device is a chip, chip system, or circuit used in a receiving device (STA or non-AP MLD).

[0061] The explanation of the communication device provided in the fourth aspect and its beneficial effects can be found in the communication method shown in the second aspect, and will not be repeated here.

[0062] Fifthly, a communication device is provided, comprising: a memory for storing a program; and at least one processor for executing the computer program or instructions stored in the memory to perform the method provided in the first aspect or any of the above-described implementations of the first aspect.

[0063] In one implementation, the communication device is a transmitting device (AP or AP MLD).

[0064] In another implementation, the device is a chip, chip system, or circuit used in a transmitting device (AP or AP MLD).

[0065] A sixth aspect provides a communication device comprising: a memory for storing a program; and at least one processor for executing the computer program or instructions stored in the memory to perform the method provided in the second aspect or any of the above implementations of the second aspect.

[0066] In one implementation, the communication device is a receiving device (STA or non-AP MLD).

[0067] In another implementation, the device is a chip, chip system, or circuit used in a receiving device (STA or non-AP MLD).

[0068] In a seventh aspect, this application provides a processor for performing the methods provided in the foregoing aspects.

[0069] Unless otherwise specified, or if it does not contradict its actual function or internal logic in the relevant description, the transmission and acquisition / reception operations involved in the processor can be understood as processor output and reception, input and other operations, or as transmission and reception operations performed by radio frequency circuits and antennas. This application does not limit them in this regard.

[0070] Eighthly, a computer-readable storage medium is provided that stores program code for execution by a device, the program code including instructions for performing the method provided by the first aspect or any of the above-described implementations of the first aspect, or including instructions for performing the method provided by the second aspect or any of the above-described implementations of the second aspect.

[0071] Ninth aspect, a computer program product containing instructions is provided, which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method provided by the first aspect or any of the above-described implementations of the first aspect, or causes the computer to perform the method provided by the second aspect or any of the above-described implementations of the second aspect.

[0072] In a tenth aspect, a chip system is provided, the chip system including a processor and a communication interface, the processor reading instructions stored in a memory through the communication interface, executing the method provided by the first aspect or any of the above-described implementations of the first aspect, or executing the method provided by the second aspect or any of the above-described implementations of the second aspect.

[0073] Optionally, as one implementation, the chip system further includes a memory storing computer programs or instructions. The processor is used to execute the computer programs or instructions stored in the memory. When the computer programs or instructions are executed, the processor is used to execute the method provided by the first aspect or any of the above implementations of the first aspect, or to execute the method provided by the second aspect or any of the above implementations of the second aspect.

[0074] Eleventhly, a communication system is provided, comprising at least one communication device as described in at least one third aspect above and at least one notification device as described in at least one fourth aspect.

[0075] For a description of the beneficial effects of aspects five through eleven, please refer to the descriptions of aspects one through four. Attached Figure Description

[0076] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0077] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of another communication system provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0078] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the initial control frame provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0079] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the initial control frame and the initial control response frame provided in the embodiments of this application.

[0080] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a non-HT PPDU frame format provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0081] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the frame structure of a CTS frame provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0082] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of the frame format of a QoS-Null frame provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0083] Figure 8 is a schematic flowchart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0084] Figure 9 is a schematic flowchart of another communication method provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0085] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of the frame format of the second control frame provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0086] Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of an improved frame format for a first control frame provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0087] Figure 12 is a schematic structural block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0088] Figure 13 is a schematic structural block diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0089] Figure 14 is a schematic structural block diagram of another communication device provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0090] Figure 15 is a schematic diagram of a chip system provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0091] The technical solutions in this application will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0092] First, with reference to the accompanying drawings, the communication system and network architecture applicable to the embodiments of this application will be described.

[0093] The technical solutions provided in this application can be applied to wireless local area network (WLAN) scenarios. For example, they support IEEE 802.11 related standards, such as 802.11a / b / g, 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11ax, and IEEE 802.11ax next-generation Wi-Fi protocols, such as 802.11be, Wi-Fi 7, Extremely High Throughput (EHT), 802.11ad, 802.11ay, or 802.11bf, as well as 802.11be next-generation and Wi-Fi 8. They can also be applied to ultra-wideband (UWB) based wireless personal area network systems, such as the 802.15 series standards, and to sensing systems, such as the 802.11bf series standards. Furthermore, they can be applied to integrated... mmWave / Integrated Millimeter Wave / IMMW protocol. Among them, the 802.11n standard is called high throughput (HT), the 802.11ac standard is called very high throughput (VHT), the 802.11ax standard is called high efficient (HE), and the 802.11be standard is called extremely high throughput (EHT). 802.11bf includes two main categories: low-frequency (e.g., sub7GHz) and high-frequency (e.g., 60GHz) standards. The sub7GHz implementation mainly relies on 802.11ac, 802.11ax, 802.11be, and next-generation standards, while the 60GHz implementation mainly relies on 802.11ad, 802.11ay, and next-generation standards. Among them, 802.11ad can also be called the directional multi-gigabit (DMG) standard, and 802.11ay can also be called the enhanced directional multi-gigabit (EDMG) standard.

[0094] Although the embodiments of this application are mainly illustrated with the deployment of WLAN networks, especially networks using the IEEE 802.11 system standard, those skilled in the art will readily understand that the various aspects involved in the embodiments of this application can be extended to other networks using various standards or protocols, such as high performance radio local area networks (HIPERLAN), wireless wide area networks (WWAN), wireless personal area networks (WPAN), or other networks that are now known or will be developed in the future.

[0095] Alternatively, the technical solutions of this application can be applied to Internet of Things (IoT) networks, vehicle-to-X (V2X) networks, and other networks, etc., without specific limitation. For example, the application scenarios of this application can be IoT networks based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, V2X networks based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, or other networks based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards. The IEEE 802.11 family of standards can be IEEE 802.11ax, IEEE 802.11be, the next-generation IEEE 802.11 standard of IEEE 802.11be, etc. The technical solutions of this application can also be applied to other WLAN networks with future standard protocols. Therefore, regardless of the coverage area and wireless access protocol used, the various aspects provided in the embodiments of this application can be applied to any suitable wireless network.

[0096] The technical solutions of this application embodiment can also be applied to various communication systems, such as: WLAN communication systems, Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) systems, Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) systems, LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD) systems, Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) communication systems, and 5G (5G) communication systems. thGeneration (5G) systems or new radio (NR), future communication systems, Internet of Things (IoT) networks, or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) networks, etc.

[0097] The communication systems described above that are applicable to this application are merely illustrative examples, and the communication systems applicable to this application are not limited to these. They will be uniformly described here and will not be repeated below.

[0098] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the applicable scenario of an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 1, the communication method provided by this application is applicable to data communication between stations (STAs). A station can be an access point (AP) type station or a non-access point station (non-AP STA), referred to as AP and non-AP stations respectively. An AP can connect to a communication network such as the Internet and can be associated with one or more non-AP stations, which can access the network through the AP.

[0099] Specifically, the scenario shown in Figure 1 applies to data communication between an AP and one or more non-AP sites (e.g., data communication between AP1 and non-AP STA1, non-AP STA2), data communication between APs (e.g., data communication between AP1 and AP2), and data communication between non-AP STAs (e.g., data communication between non-AP STA2 and non-AP STA3).

[0100] An access point (AP) is a node that allows terminals (such as mobile phones) to access a wired (or wireless) network. It is primarily deployed in homes, buildings, and campuses, with a typical coverage radius of tens to hundreds of meters. It can also be deployed outdoors. An access point acts as a bridge connecting wired and wireless networks, its main function being to connect various wireless network clients together and then connect the wireless network to the Ethernet.

[0101] Specifically, an access point (AP) can be a terminal or network device with a Wi-Fi chip, or it can be a terminal or network device including a chip for accessing wired (wireless) networks. This network device can be a server, router, switch, bridge, computer, mobile phone, relay station, vehicle-mounted equipment, wearable device, network equipment in 5G networks, network equipment in future communication networks, or network equipment in public land mobile networks (PLMNs), etc., without limitation. The access point can be a device that supports Wi-Fi standards. For example, the access point can also support one or more standards from the IEEE 802.11 series, such as 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11ax, 802.11be, 802.11bn, 802.11ad, and 802.11ay.

[0102] Non-AP sites can be wireless communication chips, wireless sensors, or wireless communication terminals, and may also be referred to as users, user equipment (UE), access terminals, user units, user stations, mobile stations, mobile stations, remote stations, remote terminals, mobile devices, user terminals, terminals, wireless communication equipment, user agents, or user devices. Non-AP sites can be cellular phones, cordless phones, session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loop (WLL) stations, personal digital assistants (PDAs), handheld devices with wireless communication capabilities, computing devices or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem, in-vehicle devices, IoT devices, wearable devices, terminal devices in 5G networks, terminal devices in future communication networks, or terminal devices in PLMNs, etc., without limitation. Non-AP sites can be devices that support WLAN standards. For example, non-AP sites can support one or more standards in the IEEE 802.11 series, such as 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11ax, 802.11be, 802.11bn, 802.11ad, and 802.11ay.

[0103] For example, non-AP sites can be mobile phones, tablets, set-top boxes, smart TVs, smart wearable devices, vehicle communication devices, computers, IoT nodes, sensors, smart home devices such as smart cameras, smart remote controls, smart water and electricity meters, and sensors in smart cities.

[0104] The aforementioned AP or non-AP sites may include transmitters, receivers, memory, processors, etc., wherein the transmitter and receiver are used for transmitting and receiving packet structures, respectively, the memory is used for storing signaling information and pre-agreed preset values, etc., and the processor is used for parsing signaling information and processing related data, etc.

[0105] Alternatively, the non-AP site shown in Figure 1 can also be a non-AP MLD that supports multiple links, and the AP in Figure 1 can also be an AP MLD that supports multiple links.

[0106] A multi-link device (MLD) is a wireless communication device that supports parallel transmission across multiple links. Compared to communication devices that only support single-link transmission, multi-link devices offer higher transmission efficiency and throughput. Multi-link devices can also be called multi-band devices. A multi-link device can include one or more affiliated stations (STAs), which are logical stations that can operate on a single link. The affiliated station can be an access point (AP) or a non-AP STA. For ease of description, this application refers to a multi-link device with an affiliated station as an AP as an AP multi-link device (AP MLD), and a multi-link device with an affiliated station as a non-AP STA as a non-AP multi-link device (non-AP MLD).

[0107] It is worth noting that an AP MLD can be associated not only with a non-AP MLD, but also with a non-MLD non-AP STA (i.e., a non-AP STA that is not attached to any MLD). When an AP MLD's associated AP is associated with a non-MLD non-AP STA, the functionality and use of the associated AP are completely consistent with that of the non-MLD non-AP STA.

[0108] Figure 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of a communication system involving multi-link device association according to an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 2, AP MLD 1 is associated with non-AP MLD 1, non-MLD non-AP STA 3 (hereinafter referred to as non-AP STA 3), and non-AP MLD 2, or communicates through links. Assume that AP MLD 1 includes four subordinate sites, namely AP 1 to AP 4; non-AP MLD 1 includes two subordinate sites, namely non-AP STA 1 and non-AP STA 2; non-AP STA 3 is a single-link device; and non-AP MLD 2 includes two subordinate sites, namely non-AP STA 4 and non-AP STA 5. AP MLD 1 is associated with non-AP MLD 1 using both Link 1 and Link 3. In other words, Link 1 is used to associate AP 1 with non-AP STA 1 and Link 3 is used to associate AP 3 with non-AP STA 2. AP MLD 1 is associated with non-AP MLD 3 using Link 3. In other words, Link 3 is used to associate AP 3 with non-AP STA 3. AP MLD 1 is associated with non-AP MLD 2 using both Link 3 and Link 4. In other words, Link 3 is used to associate AP 3 with non-AP STA 4 and Link 4 is used to associate AP 4 with non-AP STA 5.

[0109] Before introducing the embodiments, the terminology involved in this application will be described in detail.

[0110] 1. Listening Mode

[0111] Power saving is a crucial feature for terminal devices. To achieve this, the WLAN standard introduces two states: doze and wake. In doze mode, the terminal device has no ability to send or receive data, while in wake mode, it can send and receive data. Power saving is achieved by keeping the terminal device in a doze state as much as possible. However, this approach has a drawback: the transition from doze to wake can introduce significant latency.

[0112] To reduce latency while conserving power, a listening mode is proposed. Specifically, in listening mode, the terminal device is in a special wake-up state, possessing limited data transmission and reception capabilities, or only limited data reception capabilities. In listening mode, the terminal device can operate in a low-power state, significantly reducing power consumption compared to the wake-up state when no data is being transmitted or received.

[0113] Listening mode typically restricts the number of spatial streams, bandwidth, modulation and coding scheme (MCS), and physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) format that a terminal device sends or receives to achieve low power consumption. For example, in listening mode, a terminal device may only support a single spatial stream, 20MHz bandwidth, MCS0, and non-high-throughput (non-HT) PPDUs. When the terminal device has data to send, it can automatically exit listening mode (i.e., switch to a wake-up state with full transmission and reception capabilities) and then send data. Alternatively, when a communication peer station has data to send to the terminal device, the peer station first sends an initial control frame to the terminal device to instruct it to exit listening mode to receive data, or in other words, to switch to a wake-up state with full transmission and reception capabilities, such as switching to a larger bandwidth and a higher MCS. After receiving the initial control frame, the terminal device typically replies to the peer station with an initial control response frame to inform the peer station that it has exited the listening mode (i.e., switched to a wake-up state with full transmission and reception capabilities). This allows the terminal device to communicate with the peer station using more powerful capabilities (such as more spatial streams, greater bandwidth, higher MCS, and more advanced PPDU formats).

[0114] After introducing the listen-in mode, the terminal device can operate at low power consumption while still being promptly notified of data reception via the initial control frame, thus maintaining lower transmission latency. Furthermore, the listen-in mode is also highly beneficial for non-mobile devices. The aforementioned listen-in mode can also be applied to the interaction between the AP and STA; that is, the listen-in mode can also be applied to the STA in Figure 1 and the non-AP MLD or the STA within the non-AP MLD in Figure 2. Specifically, the AP (or AP MLD) can send the aforementioned initial control frame to the STA (or non-AP MLD) to instruct the STA (or non-AP MLD) to exit the listen-in mode.

[0115] 2. Initial control frame

[0116] As mentioned above, after receiving the initial control frame, the terminal device or STA is instructed to exit the listening mode or switch to a wake-up state with full transmission and reception capabilities to receive data sent by the communication peer. Subsequently, the terminal device typically replies to the communication peer with an initial control response frame to inform them that it has exited the listening mode. The interval between the end of the initial control frame and the start of the initial control response frame can be only the SIFS time interval.

[0117] Generally, the types of initial control frames and initial control response frames are in one-to-one correspondence; that is, one type of initial control frame corresponds to a fixed type of initial control response frame. For example, when the initial control frame is an RTS frame, the initial control response frame must be a CTS frame, in which case the initial control response frame can also be used for channel protection; when the initial control frame is a BSRP frame, the initial control response frame must be a BSR frame, in which case the initial control response frame can also be used to adjust the feedback buffer size. Furthermore, in some special scenarios, existing frames may be borrowed to function as initial control frames or initial control response frames. That is, the borrowed existing frame loses its original function and instead functions as an initial control frame or initial control response frame. This scenario will not be discussed further in this paper.

[0118] The following describes the possible choices for the initial control frame and the initial control response frame.

[0119] For example, an MU-RTS frame can be used as the initial control frame. The MU-RTS frame is a type of trigger frame; when the trigger type value in the trigger frame is 3, it indicates that the trigger frame is an MU-RTS frame. Figure 3 shows a schematic diagram of an MU-RTS frame provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 3(a), the MU-RTS frame may include the following fields: frame control, duration, receiving address (RA), transmitting address (TA), common information, user information list, and frame check sequence (FCS). The common information field may include multiple fields; the user information list field may include user information for one or more STAs.

[0120] For example, the public information field may include the following fields: uplink length (UL length), guard interval and long training field type (GI and LTF type), multi-user multiple-input multiple-output long training field mode (MU-MIMO LTF mode), number of HE-LTF symbols and midamble periodicity, uplink space-time block code (UL STBC), low-density parity-check code extra symbol segment (LDPC extra symbol segment), access point transmit power (AP TX power), pre-FEC padding factor, packet disambiguation (PE disambiguity), uplink spatial reuse (UL spatial reuse), Doppler, and uplink high-efficiency signaling field A2 reserved (UL HE-SIG-A2 reserved). These fields are reserved in the MU-RTS frame, meaning they are not used for MU-RTS.

[0121] For example, as shown in Figure 3(a), the user information field may include the following fields: Uplink High Efficiency Modulation and Coding Strategy (UL HE-MCS), Uplink FEC coding type (UL FEC coding type), Uplink Last Carrier Modulation (UL DCM), Synchronization Offset Allocation / Random Access RU information (SS allocation / RA-RU information), and Uplink Target Received Signal Strength Indicator (UL target RSSI). These fields are reserved in the MU-RTS frame, meaning they are not used for MU-RTS.

[0122] As mentioned above, the interval between the end of the initial control frame and the start of the initial control response frame can be only a short interframe space (SIFS). However, if the STA's transition from listen mode to wake-up mode involves changes in bandwidth or communication frequency, the STA requires a longer transition time. In this case, the SIFS time between the initial control frame and the initial control response frame is insufficient. To allow the STA more transition time, as shown in Figure 3(b), MAC padding is typically added to the MAC layer of the initial control frame. However, this is not enough to solve the problem because MAC padding occurs before the Frame Check Sequence (FCS). The STA can only adjust the bandwidth or communication channel after verifying that the FCS field is correct. This means that MAC padding does not effectively provide the STA with sufficient transition time.

[0123] To address the aforementioned issues, as shown in Figure 3(c), a new FCS field is proposed to be added between the STA user information and padding in the initial control frame. For ease of explanation, the newly added FCS field will be referred to as the first FCS field in the following description, and the corresponding FCS field at the end of the frame will be referred to as the second FCS field. The following section, in conjunction with Figure 4, will explain how adding the first FCS field increases the reserved transition time.

[0124] Figure 4 illustrates an interaction diagram of an initial control frame and an initial control response frame provided in an embodiment of this application. The initial control frame used in the interaction process shown in Figure 4 is the initial control frame shown in Figure 3(c). That is, Figure 4 is an interaction diagram of an initial control frame and an initial control response frame for the initial control frame structure shown in Figure 3(c). As shown in Figure 4, the AP can transmit the initial control frame using a non-HT duplicated PPDU format on a large bandwidth (80MHz as shown in Figure 4), while the STA receives the initial control frame using a 20MHz bandwidth. During the time between verifying the first FCS field and receiving the initial control frame, the STA switches the bandwidth from 20MHz to 80MHz, and finally transmits the initial control response frame on the 80MHz bandwidth. After introducing the first FCS, the STA can immediately switch states after receiving and verifying the first FCS field of the initial control frame, for example, switching the bandwidth size as shown in Figure 4, i.e., switching from a 20MHz bandwidth to an 80MHz bandwidth. Therefore, the STA no longer needs to wait to receive and verify the second FCS field. In other words, the STA has ample time to perform state switching between the end of the first FCS and the transmission of the initial control response frame.

[0125] In addition to saving power, the aforementioned first FCS can also be applied to other scenarios. For example, in dynamic sub-channel operation (DSO), if an AP obtains a large bandwidth transmission opportunity (TXOP), it may schedule STAs supporting smaller bandwidths to a new channel for communication to increase the efficiency of the sub-channel. For instance, when an AP obtains a 160MHz bandwidth TXOP, STA1 and STA2, which can communicate with the AP, only support 80MHz bandwidth. Therefore, without the DSO mechanism, the AP can only use the primary 80MHz channel to communicate with STA1 and STA2 via time-division or frequency-division; with the DSO mechanism, the AP can schedule STA1 to the secondary 80MHz channel via the initial control frame, thus enabling communication with STA2 via the primary 80MHz channel while simultaneously communicating with STA1 via the secondary 80MHz channel. Sufficient switching delay is required during the STA1 operating channel switching from the primary 80MHz to the secondary 80MHz. Therefore, the first FCS field needs to be introduced in the initial control frame to reserve enough channel switching time for STA1.

[0126] It is worth noting that this application does not limit the application scenarios of the first FCS field. The aforementioned first FCS field can be used in any scenario where the receiving station is instructed to change bandwidth or switch channels through the initial control frame, resulting in handover delay.

[0127] When the initial control frame is a MU-RTS frame, the initial control response frame is a CTS frame. The main function of the CTS frame is to perform channel reservation and channel protection. The format of the CTS frame can be non-HT or non-HT duplicate format. Figure 5 shows a schematic diagram of the frame format of a non-HT PPDU provided in an embodiment of this application. The CTS frame includes the following fields: physical layer preamble, signal, and data. The transmission of the physical layer preamble and signal fields requires 20μs. The data field includes a 16-bit service field, a 112-bit (i.e., 14-byte) physical layer service data unit (PSDU) field, and a 6-bit tail field. Figure 6 shows a schematic diagram of the frame structure of a CTS frame provided in an embodiment of this application. As shown in Figure 6, the Physical Layer Service Data Unit (PSDU) fields shown in Figure 5 include frame control, duration, receiving address (RA), and FCS fields. These four fields can occupy 2 bytes, 2 bytes, 6 bytes, and 4 bytes respectively, for a total of 14 bytes.

[0128] The above describes examples where the initial control frame is a MU-RTS frame and the initial control response frame is a CTS frame. Further exemplarily, in some other embodiments of this application, the initial control frame can be a BSRP frame, and the initial control response frame can be a BSR frame. This BSR frame can be carried in the "High Throughput Control" field of a QoS-Null frame, and its function can be to provide feedback on the buffer size. The frame structure of the BSRP frame is the same as that of the MU-RTS frame, as shown in Figure 3(c). However, fields reserved in the MU-RTS frame are used in the BSRP frame and are no longer reserved. Figure 7 shows a schematic diagram of the frame format of a QoS-Null frame provided in an embodiment of this application, which includes the following fields: frame control, duration, address 1, address 2, address 3, sequence control, address 4, QoS control, high throughput control (HT control), and frame check sequence (FCS). QoS-Null frames can be sent in HE trigger-based PPDU or EHT TB PPDU format.

[0129] It is worth noting that the MT-RTS frame and BSRP frame mentioned above are only examples. The initial control frame can also be other frames such as other types of trigger frames. This application does not limit the type of the initial control frame.

[0130] As shown in Figure 4, after the AP sends an initial control frame to the STA, it needs to receive an initial control response frame from the STA to determine that the STA has exited the listening mode, or that the STA has switched to a wake-up state with full transmission and reception capabilities, and then communicate with the STA for data. If multiple STAs need to communicate with the AP, the AP needs to use the same initial control frame shown in Figure 4 (which includes user information of the multiple STAs that need to communicate with the AP), such as by sending a broadcast frame, to trigger the multiple STAs to reply with an initial control response frame.

[0131] However, after a bandwidth switch and / or channel relocation, the STA loses its original frequency and time synchronization information. This is because after the STA receives the initial control frame from the AP, which includes its own user information, and performs a bandwidth switch according to a dynamic power save procedure or a channel relocation switch according to a dynamic subband operation procedure, it needs to recalibrate the phase-locked loops (PLLs) and radio frequency (RF) devices. After the PLL and RF devices are calibrated, the STA will lose its original frequency and time synchronization information, that is, the frequency and time information previously synchronized with the AP. In other words, the STA redetermines its frequency and time information, and this newly determined frequency and time information is unrelated to the frequency and time information before the bandwidth switch and / or channel relocation.

[0132] Therefore, in the above situation, the STA cannot align the frequency and timing information of the initial control response frame it needs to send with the frequency and timing information of the initial control frame. For example, if the AP schedules the STA at a specific time and frequency, after the STA is corrected by the PLL and RF devices, it will lose the original frequency and timing information when the AP scheduled the STA, and thus the frequency and timing information of the initial control response frame sent by the STA cannot be aligned with the initial control frame. In this case, the frequency information of the initial control response frame may be different from the frequency information of the initial control frame, and the interval between the transmission time of the initial control response frame and the transmission time of the initial control frame may not be the aforementioned SIFS.

[0133] Furthermore, if multiple STAs and the AP need to communicate, and the AP uses the same initial control frame to trigger multiple STAs to reply with initial control response frames, these STAs will lose frequency and time synchronization information, resulting in a failure to achieve accurate frequency and time synchronization with the AP. For example, if the AP schedules these multiple STAs using methods such as OFDMA, the frequency and time information of the initial control frames sent by these STAs will not be aligned with the frequency and time information used by the AP when scheduling them. This will make it difficult to distinguish the frequency and time information of multiple initial control response frames, meaning that there may be two initial control response frames with the same time and frequency information, leading to collisions between the initial control response frames.

[0134] Of the two initial control frames mentioned above, if MU-RTS is used as the initial control frame, the corresponding initial control response frame (CTS) can be transmitted in non-HT duplicated PPDU mode. The subcarrier spacing of the non-HT duplicated PPDU is larger, thus requiring slightly lower frequency synchronization accuracy. If a trigger frame other than MU-RTS, such as the BSRP frame, is used as the initial control frame, the STA can respond using TB PPDU. The subcarrier spacing of the TB PPDU is 1 / 4 that of the non-HT duplicated PPDU, therefore requiring higher frequency synchronization accuracy. However, regardless of the type of initial control frame, the aforementioned problem of frequency and time alignment between the initial control response frame and the initial control frame persists; the only difference lies in the required frequency synchronization accuracy.

[0135] To address the aforementioned technical problems, this application proposes a communication method 800 to avoid collisions between multiple response frames returned by multiple receiving devices, such as multiple STAs. Figure 8 shows a schematic flowchart of the communication method 800. As shown in Figure 8, the communication method 800 may include steps S810, S830, and S840.

[0136] S810: The sending device sends the first control frame.

[0137] Correspondingly, the first receiving device receives a first control frame from the transmitting device. Specifically, the first control frame is used to instruct the first receiving device to switch the bandwidth size and / or channel position.

[0138] Optionally, the transmitting device can be an AP or an AP MLD, or an AP within an AP MLD, and the first receiving device can be a STA or a non-AP MLD, or a STA within a non-AP MLD.

[0139] Optionally, the first control frame can be the initial control frame described above, that is, the type of the first control frame can be a trigger frame such as a MU-RTS frame or a BSRP frame as described above. For the possible frame structures of the first control frame, please refer to the previous introduction of trigger frames such as MU-RTS frames or BSRP frames, which will not be repeated here.

[0140] Optionally, the first control frame can be a broadcast frame. The frame format of the first control frame can be as shown in Figure 3, meaning that the first control frame can include user information from multiple receiving devices. After a first receiving device receives the first control frame, if the first control frame includes its user information, then the first receiving device can be determined as the target receiving station for the first control frame.

[0141] Optionally, the first control frame can also be used to instruct the first receiving device to switch to more spatial streams, higher MCS, more advanced PPDU formats, etc. In other words, the first control frame is also used to instruct the first receiving device to switch from listen mode to a wake-up state with full transmit and receive capabilities. However, as mentioned above, when the first receiving device switches bandwidth and / or channel position, there is a problem of losing frequency and time information.

[0142] S830: The transmitting device sends a second control frame.

[0143] Correspondingly, the first receiving device receives the second control frame from the sending device.

[0144] S840: The transmitting device receives a first response frame from the first receiving device in response to the second control frame.

[0145] Correspondingly, the first receiving device sends a first response frame to the sending device in response to the second control frame. Specifically, the first response frame is used to indicate that the first receiving device has switched to the target bandwidth and / or target channel location.

[0146] Optionally, the first control frame and the second control frame can be of the same type. For example, the first control frame and the second control frame can both be multiple user request to send (MU-RTS) frames or buffer status report poll (BSRP) frames. When the second control frame is an MU-RTS frame, the first response frame can be a clear to send (CTS) frame; when the second control frame is a BSRP frame, the first response frame can be a buffer state report (BSR) frame. The description of the first response frame can be found in the description of the initial control response frame above, and will not be repeated here.

[0147] Optionally, the first control frame and the second control frame can also be of different types. For example, the first control frame can be the aforementioned MU-RTS frame, BSRP frame, or other possible trigger frames (TF), and the second control frame can be a request to send (RTS) frame or a clear to send-to-self (CTS-to-self) frame. Embodiments where the second control frame is an RTS frame or a CTS-to-self frame will be described below.

[0148] As shown in Figure 4, after the first receiving device (e.g., STA) receives the first control frame, it has sufficient time to complete bandwidth switching and / or channel position switching. If the transmitting device then sends a second control frame to the first receiving device, the first receiving device has already completed bandwidth switching and / or channel position switching before receiving the second control frame, thus completing the calibration of the PLL and RF devices. Furthermore, the first receiving device can synchronize the frequency and time information of the second control frame and the first response frame based on the second control frame, and reply to the transmitting device to inform it that bandwidth switching and / or channel position switching has been completed.

[0149] In this way, when multiple receiving devices are simultaneously scheduled by the sending device, they can reply with the first response frame based on the second control frame. Furthermore, the frequency and time information of the first response frame sent by each receiving device are aligned with the frequency and time information of the second control frame received by each receiving device, thereby eliminating the collision between the multiple response frames of the multiple receiving devices.

[0150] It is worth noting that when the transmitting device sends the second control frame, the frame structure of the first control frame still needs to be set to the frame structure shown in Figure 3(c), that is, including the first FCS field, the padding field, and the second FCS field. This is because without the first FCS field, the first receiving device can only begin bandwidth switching and / or channel position switching after the second FCS field of the first control frame has been verified accurately. However, the time between the transmission of the second control frame and the end time of the first control frame may only be SIFS time, which does not provide sufficient time for the first receiving device to perform bandwidth switching and / or channel position switching.

[0151] Optionally, a SIFS interval may be spaced between every two steps in steps S810 to S840. Specifically, after the sending device sends the first control frame, it sends the second control frame after the SIFS. After the sending device sends the second control frame, it receives the first response frame after the SIFS.

[0152] Optionally, if a second receiving device needs to communicate with a sending device but does not require bandwidth or channel position switching, the second receiving device needs to reply with a second response frame for the first control frame, rather than replying with a first response frame for the second control frame. Figure 9 shows a schematic flowchart of the communication method between the second receiving device and the sending device.

[0153] As shown in Figure 9, after step S810 and before step S830, there is also step S820, in which the second receiving device sends a second response frame to the sending device in response to the first control frame.

[0154] Correspondingly, the transmitting device receives a second response frame from the second receiving device in response to the first control frame. Optionally, the second response frame can be either the aforementioned CTS frame or a BSR frame. For example, when the second response frame is a CTS frame, channel reservation and channel protection can be performed; when the second response frame is a BSR frame, it can be used to provide feedback on the buffer size.

[0155] Optionally, SIFS can be spaced between each pair of steps shown in Figure 9. Specifically, after the transmitting device sends the first control frame, it receives the second response frame from the second receiving device after SIFS. Then, after SIFS, the transmitting device sends the second control frame, and after SIFS again, the transmitting device receives the first response frame from the first receiving device.

[0156] Since the first and second control frames are for the same group of receiving stations, their indication information may overlap. Therefore, it is necessary to consider removing redundant information to save signaling overhead. The joint design of the first and second control frames in this application, as well as possible selections for the second control frame, are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0157] The second control frame is a frame following the first control frame. Therefore, after receiving the second control frame, the first receiving device can reply with a first response frame based on the information in the first control frame, such as the site identification information and resource allocation information in the first control frame.

[0158] In the embodiments of this application, since the first control frame and the second control frame can be for the same group of receiving devices, optionally, both the second control frame and the first control frame can carry complete information required for data communication, such as indication information of the first receiving device (and the second receiving device) and resource allocation information (such as the aforementioned target bandwidth and / or target channel location). In this way, the design of the second control frame is simple, and the frame structure of existing frames can be reused without modifying the frame structure.

[0159] Optionally, the first control frame and the second control frame can also be designed together, that is, the first control frame and the second control frame do not need to carry complete information such as the indication information and resource allocation information of the receiving end device mentioned above, thereby saving the signaling overhead.

[0160] For example, in embodiments of this application, the design of the second control frame can be simplified to save signaling overhead. The first control frame may carry identification information of multiple receiving devices and resource unit allocation information for each receiving device (such as the target bandwidth and / or target channel location to which the receiving device needs to switch), while the second control frame may only carry the identification information of the multiple receiving devices, so that the multiple receiving devices can recognize the second control frame. Subsequently, the receiving devices can reply with a first response frame based on the resource unit allocation information in the first control frame.

[0161] Alternatively, in some other embodiments of this application, the second control frame may not carry the identification information of the aforementioned plurality of receiving devices and the resource unit allocation information of each receiving device. Figure 10 shows a schematic diagram of the frame format of the second control frame provided in the embodiment of this application under the above-described case.

[0162] For example, when the first control frame is a MU-RTS frame, the first receiving device can reply with a CTS frame (first response frame) in response to the second control frame based on the MU-RTS frame. In this case, as shown in Figure 10(a), the second control frame can be an RTS frame, which may include frame control, duration, receiving address (RA), transmission address (TA), and FCS fields. The RA field in this second control frame can be set to the AP's broadcast MAC address, so that multiple receiving devices can identify the second control frame based on the RA field, thus eliminating the need for the second control frame to carry identification information for these multiple receiving devices.

[0163] For example, the second control frame can also be a CTS-to-self frame. As shown in Figure 10(b), the frame structure of a CTS-to-self frame can include frame control, duration, receiving address (RA), and FCS field. The RA address can be set to the MAC address of the AP so that multiple receiving devices can identify the second control frame based on the RA field, thus eliminating the need for the second control frame to carry the identification information of these multiple receiving devices.

[0164] Optionally, in some other embodiments of this application, the design of the first control frame can be further simplified to further save signaling overhead. This approach can be applied when the target bandwidth or target channel location of the receiving device is predetermined. For example, the first receiving device can only switch from a fixed 20MHz bandwidth to an 80MHz bandwidth, or can only switch from a primary 80MHz bandwidth to a secondary 80MHz bandwidth, or can only switch to a fixed target channel.

[0165] Since the target bandwidth or target channel to be switched is unique and predetermined, the first control frame does not need to carry resource element allocation information indicating the location of the target bandwidth and / or target channel; it only needs to carry site indication information of the target receiving station. The types of information carried in the second control frame can be referred to the previous description and will not be repeated here.

[0166] For example, if the first receiving device needs to switch bandwidth, before the sending device sends the first control frame, for energy-saving reasons, the first receiving device may send first information to the sending device. This first information can be used to indicate the target bandwidth to which the first receiving device needs to switch. In this case, the first control frame may not include resource unit allocation information related to the target bandwidth. That is, before the sending device sends the first control frame, the sending device and the first receiving device can negotiate a fixed target bandwidth through the first information, thus the sending device does not need to indicate the target bandwidth in the first control frame.

[0167] For another example, if the first receiving device needs to switch channel positions, the transmitting device can send first resource element configuration information to the first receiving device before sending the first control frame. This first resource element configuration information can be used to indicate the target channel position to which the first receiving device needs to switch. For instance, when the transmitting device schedules the first receiving device using OFDMA or similar methods, it can inform the first receiving device of the channel resources to be scheduled beforehand. In this case, the first control frame may not include resource element allocation information related to the target channel position. That is, before the transmitting device sends the first control frame, the transmitting device and the first receiving device can negotiate the target channel position through the first resource element configuration information, thus the transmitting device does not need to indicate the target channel position in the first control frame.

[0168] Regarding the first receiving device being able to reply to the first response frame based on the second control frame without needing to reply to the first control frame, the following will describe possible improvements to the first control frame compared to the aforementioned initial control frame, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0169] First, let's introduce Method 1 with reference to Figure 11.

[0170] As shown in Figure 4, the first control frame includes a first FCS field and a second FCS field. The padding data following the first FCS field can be used to reserve time for the first receiving device to perform bandwidth switching and / or channel position switching. Therefore, in the embodiments of this application, it can be stipulated that: receiving devices whose user information is before the first FCS field shown in Figure 4 need to reply with a first response frame for the second control frame but do not need to reply with the first control frame; receiving devices whose user information is between the first and second FCS fields need to reply with a second response frame for the first control frame. Figure 11 shows a schematic diagram of one embodiment of this application.

[0171] For example, the receiving device whose user information precedes the first FCS field verifies the accuracy of the first control frame by checking the first FCS field and needs to utilize the time length of the padding data following the first FCS field for bandwidth switching and / or channel location switching. As mentioned above, these receiving devices may experience the problem of losing frequency and time information, thus requiring synchronization of frequency and time information based on the second control frame. For example, as shown in Figure 11(a), the user information of STA1 and STA2 precedes the first FCS field. Therefore, as shown in Figure 11(b), after sending the first control frame, the AP will also send a second control frame. STA1 and STA2 reply to the AP with a first response frame for the second control frame, thereby synchronizing the frequency and time information of the first response frame with the frequency and time information of the second control frame.

[0172] The receiving device whose user information is located between the first FCS field and the second FCS field verifies the accuracy of the first control frame by checking the second FCS field. Therefore, it does not use padding data and does not need to perform bandwidth switching and / or channel position switching (the SIFS time length between the first control frame and the second response frame is also insufficient for bandwidth switching and / or channel position switching). Alternatively, these receiving devices may not have a need for bandwidth switching and channel position switching. Consequently, these receiving devices need to reply with a second response frame in response to the first control frame. For example, as shown in Figure 11(a), the user information of STA3 is located between the first FCS field and the second FCS field. Therefore, as shown in Figure 11(b), after the AP sends the first control frame, STA3 replies with a second response frame in response to the first control frame to the AP, and then the AP sends the second control frame.

[0173] Optionally, the user information of the aforementioned second receiving device, as shown in Figure 11 for STA3, can be positioned before, after, or within the data filling field in the first FCS field and the second FCS field. This application does not limit the position of the user information, as long as it is located between the first and second FCS fields.

[0174] Method two will be introduced below.

[0175] In embodiments of this application, a bit of the user information field of the receiving device in the first control frame can be used as a field indicating whether the receiving device needs to reply with a second response frame in response to the first control frame. For example, when the value of this field is set to 0, the receiving device needs to reply with a second response frame in response to the first control frame; when the value of this field is set to 1, the receiving device does not need to reply with a second response frame in response to the first control frame, but instead needs to reply with a first response frame in response to the second control frame.

[0176] For example, since the reserved bits of the aforementioned MU-RTS frames and other trigger frames are set to 0 by default, the aforementioned value setting method can be used to ensure compatibility with legacy sites. However, this application does not impose any restrictions on the value of this bit field; the value of this bit can also be either 0 or 1. That is, a value of 0 indicates that no second response frame is needed, and a value of 1 indicates that a second response frame is needed.

[0177] Taking the MU-RTS frame shown in Figure 3 as an example, its user information field contains multiple reserved fields, such as B20 to B39. Therefore, one of these bit fields can be used to indicate whether the receiving device corresponding to the user information needs to reply with a second response frame. Taking the scenario shown in Figure 11(b) as an example, the value of this field in the user information of STA1 and STA2 can be set to 1, indicating that STA1 and STA2 do not need to reply with a second response frame for the first control frame, but need to reply with a first response frame for the second control frame. The value of this field in the user information of STA3 can be set to 0, indicating that STA3 needs to reply with a second response frame for the first control frame. Then, after STA3 replies with a second response frame to the AP, the AP sends the second control frame.

[0178] Method three will be introduced below.

[0179] In Method 3, embodiments of this application may define a first type of control frame as the first control frame, and stipulate that the first type of control frame does not require a response frame. That is, after receiving the first type of control frame, the receiving device does not need to reply with a response frame for the first type of control frame.

[0180] Taking STA1 to STA3 in Figure 11 as an example, in mode three, after receiving the first control frame of the first type, STA1 and STA2 determine that they do not need to reply with a response frame. Therefore, after receiving the second control frame, they reply with a first response frame for the second control frame. Unlike the scenario shown in Figure 11(b), after receiving the first control frame of the first type, STA3 also does not need to reply with a response frame. That is, STA3 also needs to reply with a first response frame for the second control frame after receiving the second control frame.

[0181] In the above technical solutions, the rules of Method 3 are relatively simple, and the scheduling process between AP and STA is simple. However, AP cannot use the first control frame of the first type to schedule legacy stations. That is, legacy stations cannot recognize the first control frame of the first type and therefore do not know that they do not need to reply with a response frame.

[0182] Finally, the device embodiments of this application will be described.

[0183] To implement the functions of the methods provided in this application, communication devices such as APs or STAs may include hardware structures and / or software modules, implementing the above functions in the form of hardware structures, software modules, or a combination of hardware structures and software modules. Whether a particular function is implemented in the form of hardware structures, software modules, or a combination of hardware structures and software modules depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0184] Figure 12 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 1200 according to an embodiment of this application. The communication device 1200 can be a transmitting device, such as an AP or AP MLD, or it can be a receiving device, such as a STA or non-AP MLD. Furthermore, the communication device 1200 can also be a chip or module within a transmitting or receiving device, used to implement the methods described in the above embodiments. The communication device 1200 includes a transceiver unit 1210. The transceiver unit 1210 will be described exemplarily below.

[0185] The transceiver unit 1210 may include a transmitting unit and a receiving unit. The transmitting unit is used to perform the transmitting action of the communication device, and the receiving unit is used to perform the receiving action of the communication device. For ease of description, the transmitting unit and the receiving unit are combined into one transceiver unit in this embodiment. This will be explained uniformly here and will not be repeated later.

[0186] In some embodiments of this application, the transceiver unit 1210 may also be referred to as a transceiver or transceiver device, etc., and may include an antenna and a radio frequency (RF) circuit. The RF circuit can be used for the conversion between baseband signals and RF signals and for processing RF signals, and the antenna can be used for transmitting and receiving RF signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. The aforementioned RF circuit and the aforementioned antenna can be set up independently of the processor that performs baseband processing, that is, as a separately set module. For example, in a distributed scenario, the RF circuit and the antenna can be arranged in a remote radio unit (RRU) independently of the communication device.

[0187] In some other embodiments of this application, the transceiver unit 1210 may also be implemented as an input / output interface consisting only of input / output circuits.

[0188] When the communication device 1200 is a transmitting device, for example, the transceiver unit 1210 is used to transmit a first control frame; transmit a second control frame; and receive a first response frame from a first receiving device in response to the second control frame.

[0189] When the communication device 1200 is a receiving device, exemplarily, the transceiver unit 1210 is used to receive a first control frame from the sending device; receive a second control frame from the sending device; and send a first response frame to the sending device in response to the second control frame.

[0190] The above description is for illustrative purposes only. When the communication device 1200 is a transmitting device or a receiving device, it will be responsible for executing the methods or steps related to the transmitting device or the receiving device in the foregoing method embodiments.

[0191] Optionally, the communication device 1200 further includes a processing unit 1220, which is used to generate the aforementioned first control frame, second control frame, or first response frame.

[0192] Optionally, the communication device 1200 further includes a storage unit (not shown in the figure) for storing programs or code for performing the aforementioned methods.

[0193] Figure 13 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 1300 according to an embodiment of this application. The communication device 1300 includes a processor 1310 and a communication interface 1320, which can be interconnected via a bus 1330. The communication device 1300 may be a transmitting end device or a receiving end device that executes the communication method 800, etc.

[0194] Optionally, the communication device 1300 may also include a memory 1340. The memory 1340 includes, but is not limited to, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), or compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), which is used to store related instructions and data.

[0195] Processor 1310 can be one or more central processing units (CPUs). When processor 1310 is a CPU, the CPU can be a single-core CPU or a multi-core CPU.

[0196] The communication interface 1320 may include the aforementioned antenna and the aforementioned radio frequency (RF) circuit. The RF circuit can be used for converting baseband signals to RF signals and processing RF signals, while the antenna can be used for transmitting and receiving RF signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. The aforementioned RF circuit and the aforementioned antenna can be set up independently of the processor that performs baseband processing, that is, as a separately set module. For example, in a distributed scenario, the RF circuit and antenna can be arranged in a remote radio unit (RRU) independently of the communication device.

[0197] When the communication device 1300 is a transmitting device, for example, the communication interface 1320 is used to transmit a first control frame; transmit a second control frame; and receive a first response frame from a first receiving device in response to the second control frame.

[0198] When the communication device 1300 is a receiving device, exemplarily, the communication interface 1320 is used to receive a first control frame from the sending device; receive a second control frame from the sending device; and send a first response frame to the sending device in response to the second control frame.

[0199] The above description is for illustrative purposes only. When the communication device 1300 is a transmitting device or a receiving device, it will be responsible for executing the methods or steps related to the transmitting device or the receiving device in the foregoing method embodiments.

[0200] The above description is merely exemplary. For specific details, please refer to the methods illustrated in the above embodiments. The implementation of each operation in Figure 13 can also be found in the corresponding descriptions of the methods illustrated in Figures 8 and 9.

[0201] The apparatus embodiments shown in Figures 12 and 13 are used to implement the contents described in Figures 8 to 9. The specific execution steps and methods of the apparatus shown in Figures 12 and 13 can be found in the foregoing method embodiments.

[0202] Figure 14 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 1400 according to an embodiment of this application. The communication device 1400 is used to implement the functions of a transmitting device or a receiving device. The communication device 1400 may be a chip in the transmitting device or the receiving device.

[0203] The communication device 1400 includes an input / output interface 1420 and a processor 1410. The input / output interface 1420 may be an input / output circuit. The processor 1410 may be a signal processor, a chip, or other integrated circuit capable of implementing the methods of this application. The input / output interface 1420 is used for inputting or outputting signals or data.

[0204] For example, when the communication device 1400 is a transmitting device, the input / output interface 1420 is configured to transmit a first control frame; transmit a second control frame; and receive a first response frame from a first receiving device in response to the second control frame.

[0205] For example, the communication device 1400 is a receiving device. Exemplarily, the input / output interface 1420 is used to receive a first control frame from the sending device; receive a second control frame from the sending device; and send a first response frame to the sending device in response to the second control frame.

[0206] In one possible implementation, the processor 1410 executes instructions stored in memory to implement the functions of the transmitting or receiving device.

[0207] Optionally, the communication device 1400 may also include a memory.

[0208] Optionally, the processor and memory are integrated together.

[0209] Optionally, the memory is located outside the communication device 1400.

[0210] In one possible implementation, processor 1410 can be a logic circuit, which inputs / outputs messages or signaling through input / output interface 1420. The logic circuit can be a signal processor, a chip, or other integrated circuit that can implement the methods of the embodiments of this application.

[0211] The above description of the communication device 1400 is merely an exemplary description. The communication device 1400 can be used to execute the methods described in the foregoing embodiments. For details, please refer to the description of the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0212] Optionally, the memory is located outside the communication device 1400.

[0213] In one possible implementation, device 1400 can be chip system 1500.

[0214] Figure 15 is a schematic diagram of a chip system 1500 provided in an embodiment of this application. The chip system 1500 (or may also be called a processing system) includes logic circuitry 1510 (i.e., processor 1410) and input / output interface 1520.

[0215] The logic circuit 1510 can be a processing circuit in the chip system 1500. The logic circuit 1510 can be coupled to a memory unit, calling instructions from the memory unit, enabling the chip system 1500 to implement the methods and functions of the embodiments of this application. The input / output interface 1520 can be an input / output circuit in the chip system 1500, outputting processed information from the chip system 1500, or inputting data or signaling information to be processed into the chip system 1500 for processing.

[0216] As one option, the chip system 1500 is used to implement the operations performed by the transmitting or receiving device in the various method embodiments described above.

[0217] For example, input / output interface 1520 is used to implement the sending and / or receiving related operations performed by the sending device or the receiving device in the above method embodiments.

[0218] The above description of the communication device is merely an exemplary description. The communication device can be used to perform the methods described in the foregoing embodiments. For details, please refer to the description of the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0219] This application also provides a chip, including a processor, for calling and executing instructions stored in a memory, causing a communication device on which the chip is installed to perform the methods in the examples above.

[0220] This application also provides a chip, including: an input interface, an output interface, and a processor. The input interface, the output interface, and the processor are connected via an internal connection path. The processor is used to execute code in a memory. When the code is executed, the processor is used to perform the methods described in the examples above. Optionally, the chip further includes a memory for storing computer programs or code.

[0221] This application also provides a processor for coupling with a memory for performing the methods and functions related to a transmitting or receiving device in any of the above embodiments.

[0222] This application provides a computer program product containing instructions that, when run on a computer, enable the implementation of the methods described in the foregoing embodiments.

[0223] This application also provides a computer program that, when run on a computer, enables the implementation of the methods described in the foregoing embodiments.

[0224] This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program that, when executed by a computer, implements the methods described in the foregoing embodiments.

[0225] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the units and algorithm steps of the various examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those 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 this application.

[0226] Those skilled in the art will understand that, for the sake of convenience and brevity, the specific working processes of the systems, devices, and units described above can be referred to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0227] In the several embodiments provided in this application, the disclosed systems, apparatuses, and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative; for instance, the division of units is only a logical functional division, and in actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not executed. Furthermore, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be through some interfaces; the indirect coupling or communication connection between apparatuses or units may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0228] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate. The components shown as units may or may not be physical units; that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected to achieve the technical objectives of the embodiments of this application, depending on actual needs.

[0229] In addition, the functional units in the various embodiments of this application can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit.

[0230] If a function is implemented as a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, or the parts that contribute to the prior art, or parts of the technical solutions, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the various method embodiments of this application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as USB flash drives, portable hard drives, ROM, RAM, magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0231] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of this application, but the protection scope of this application is not limited thereto. Any variations or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the embodiments of this application should be included within the protection scope of the embodiments of this application. Therefore, the protection scope of this application should be determined by the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that, include: The transmitting device sends a first control frame, which is used to instruct the first receiving device to switch the bandwidth size and / or channel position; The transmitting device sends a second control frame; The transmitting device receives a first response frame from the first receiving device in response to the second control frame. The first response frame is used to indicate that the first receiving device has switched to the target bandwidth and / or target channel location.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first control frame includes user information of the first receiving device, a first frame verification sequence (FCS) field, and padding data. The user information of the first receiving device is located before the first FCS field, and the first FCS field is located before the padding data.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, The first control frame also includes user information of the second receiving device, which is located after the first FCS field. Before the sending device sends the second control frame, the method further includes: The transmitting device receives a second response frame from the second receiving device in response to the first control frame.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first control frame includes user information of the first receiving device, which includes a first field. A first value of the first field in the user information of the first receiving device is used to indicate that the first receiving device does not need to reply to the first control frame. The first control frame also includes user information of a second receiving device, which includes the first field. A second value of the first field in the user information of the second receiving device is used to indicate that the second receiving device needs to reply to the first control frame. Before the sending device sends the second control frame, the method further includes: The transmitting device receives a second response frame from the second receiving device in response to the first control frame.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The first control frame is a predefined first type of control frame, which is used to indicate that the receiving device that receives the first control frame does not need to reply with a response frame.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, The first control frame includes identification information and resource unit allocation information of the first receiving device, wherein the resource unit allocation information includes the target bandwidth and / or the target channel location; The second control frame includes the identification information and the resource unit allocation information; or, the second control frame includes the identification information but does not include the resource unit allocation information; or, the second control frame does not include the identification information and the resource unit allocation information.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that, Before the sending device sends the first control frame, the method further includes: When the first control frame is specifically used to instruct the first receiving device to perform a channel position switch, the transmitting device sends first resource unit allocation information to the first receiving device. The first resource unit allocation information includes the target channel position, and the first control frame includes the identification information of the first receiving device but does not include the first resource unit allocation information; and / or When the first control frame is specifically used to instruct the first receiving device to switch bandwidth size, the sending device receives first information from the first receiving device. The first information is used to indicate the target bandwidth. The first control frame includes the identification information of the first receiving device but does not include the first information.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that, The second control frame is a CTS-to-self frame or an RTS frame, wherein the second control frame includes a receive address (RA) field, and the RA field includes the broadcast media access control (MAC) address of the transmitting device.

9. A communication method, characterized in that, include: The first receiving device receives a first control frame from the transmitting device, the first control frame being used to instruct the first receiving device to switch the bandwidth size and / or channel position; The first receiving device receives a second control frame from the sending device; The first receiving device sends a first response frame to the sending device in response to the second control frame. The first response frame is used to indicate that the first receiving device has switched to the target bandwidth and / or target channel location.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that, The first control frame includes user information of the first receiving device, a first frame verification sequence (FCS) field, and padding data. The user information of the first receiving device is located before the first FCS field, and the first FCS field is located before the padding data.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that, The first control frame also includes user information of the second receiving device, which is located after the first FCS field.

12. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that, The first control frame includes user information of the first receiving device. The user information of the first receiving device includes a first field. A first value of the first field in the user information of the first receiving device is used to indicate that the first receiving device does not need to reply to the first control frame. The first control frame also includes user information of the second receiving device. The user information of the second receiving device includes the first field. A second value of the first field in the user information of the second receiving device is used to indicate that the second receiving device needs to reply to the first control frame.

13. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that, The first control frame is a predefined first type of control frame, which is used to indicate that the receiving device that receives the first control frame does not need to reply with a response frame.

14. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 13, characterized in that, The first control frame includes identification information and resource unit allocation information of the first receiving device, wherein the resource unit allocation information includes the target bandwidth and / or the target channel location; The second control frame includes the identification information and the resource unit allocation information; or, the second control frame includes the identification information but does not include the resource unit allocation information; or, the second control frame does not include the identification information and the resource unit allocation information.

15. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 13, characterized in that, Before the first receiving device receives the first control frame, the method further includes: When the first control frame is specifically used to instruct the first receiving device to perform a channel position switch, the first receiving device receives first resource unit allocation information from the transmitting device. The first resource unit allocation information includes the target channel position, and the first control frame includes the identification information of the first receiving device but does not include the first resource unit allocation information; and / or When the first control frame is specifically used to instruct the first receiving device to switch bandwidth size, the first receiving device sends first information to the sending device. The first information is used to indicate the target bandwidth. The first control frame includes the identification information of the first receiving device but does not include the first information.

16. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 15, characterized in that, The second control frame is a CTS-to-self frame or an RTS frame, wherein the second control frame includes a receive address (RA) field, and the RA field includes the broadcast media access control (MAC) address of the transmitting device.

17. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device includes a unit for implementing the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 8.

18. A communication device, characterized in that, The communication device includes a unit for implementing the method as described in any one of claims 9 to 16.

19. A communication device, characterized in that, include: A processor configured to be coupled to a memory, read and execute instructions and / or program code in the memory to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 8.

20. A communication device, characterized in that, include: A processor configured to be coupled to a memory, read and execute instructions and / or program code in the memory to perform the method as described in any one of claims 9 to 16.

21. A communication system, characterized in that, It includes at least one communication device as described in claim 17 and at least one communication device as described in claim 18.

22. A chip system, characterized in that, include: A logic circuit for coupling with an input / output interface, through which data is transmitted to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 8, or to perform the method as described in any one of claims 9 to 16.

23. A computer-readable medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable medium stores program code that, when executed on a communication device, causes the communication device to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 8, or the method as described in any one of claims 9 to 16.

24. A computer program product, characterized in that, It includes computer program code that, when run, implements the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 8, or implements the method as described in any one of claims 9 to 16.

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