Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

A communication method and apparatus, which relate to the technical field of communications, and are used for solving the problem of different terminal devices colliding with each other before accessing a network when there are a plurality of terminal devices within the coverage of an access device. The method comprises: receiving at least one beacon frame in a radio frame, wherein the radio frame comprises a plurality of beacon frames, the at least one beacon frame is one of the plurality of beacon frames, and each beacon frame is used for indicating information of the same BSS; for any one of the at least one beacon frame, sending at least one first network-access communication frame within a target time period after the beacon frame, wherein the interval between the start moment of the target time period and the end moment of the beacon frame are equal to a first duration, and the first network-access communication frame is used for requesting the access to the BSS; and receiving at least one second network-access communication frame, wherein the at least one second network-access communication frame is used for responding to the first network-access communication frame.

Description

A communication method and apparatus

[0001] The present application claims priority from the Chinese patent application No. 202411012913.5 filed on July 25, 2024, and entitled "A communication method and apparatus", the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, in particular to a communication method and apparatus. BACKGROUND

[0003] The frequency range used by ultra-wide band (UWB) technology is 7163-8812MHz, which can also be referred to as the UWB frequency band. The relevant regulations have certain requirements for the transmit signal bandwidth, equivalent isotropically radiated power spectral density limit, and out-of-band transmit power limit when communicating in the UWB frequency band. For example, the equivalent isotropically radiated power spectral density limit is not greater than -41dBm / MHz.

[0004] Currently, to meet the transmission requirements of future terminal devices for low latency and large connectivity, the operating frequency band of the current wireless communication device can be extended to the UWB frequency band. However, if the operating frequency band of the wireless communication device is extended to the UWB frequency band, the power spectral density when communicating in the UWB frequency band needs to meet the requirements of the relevant regulations, which will greatly reduce the communication coverage range of the wireless communication device, thereby causing a series of communication problems. SUMMARY

[0005] The present application provides a communication method and apparatus to solve the problem of collision between different terminal devices before entering the network when there are multiple terminal devices in the coverage range of the access device.

[0006] To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the embodiments of the present application adopt the following technical solutions:

[0007] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided, which is applied in a wireless communication device, the wireless communication device is an access device or a terminal device, and the method comprises: generating a target message, the target message comprising a retransmission granularity indication, the retransmission granularity indication being used to indicate a retransmission granularity of a target signal, the target signal being a Wi-Fi signal in a UWB frequency band signal, the UWB frequency band signal being a signal that can be transmitted in the UWB frequency band, i.e., the UWB frequency band signal meets the requirements of the relevant regulations for the transmit signal in the UWB frequency band; and transmitting the target message. Optionally, the target message further comprises a repeated transmission indication, the repeated transmission indication being used to indicate that the target signal is a repeated transmission.

[0008] In the technical solution, the wireless communication device generates and transmits a target message, and the target message includes a retransmission granularity indication used to indicate a retransmission granularity of a target signal, and the target signal is a Wi-Fi signal in a UWB frequency band signal. In this way, by selecting different retransmission granularities, the wireless communication device can perform repeated transmission of different granularities on the UWB frequency band, and the receiving side can improve the demodulation performance by combining and demodulating the received target signal or part of the target signal, thereby improving the coverage range of the UWB frequency band signal and avoiding a significant decrease in throughput. In addition, the communication frame is transmitted in a repeated transmission manner, and the second device combines and receives to significantly improve the received signal strength, thereby facilitating the improvement of the time synchronization accuracy between different devices.

[0009] Optionally, the target message is a signaling or a communication frame, and the UWB frequency band signal is a frame signal corresponding to the communication frame. When the target message is a signaling, the retransmission granularity of the target signal in the frame signal corresponding to the communication frame can be indicated by the signaling. When the target message is a communication frame, the retransmission granularity of the target signal in the frame signal corresponding to the communication frame itself or the retransmission granularity of the target signal in the frame signal corresponding to other communication frames can be indicated by the communication frame. The type of the communication frame can include, but is not limited to, a management frame, a control frame, and a data frame. For example, the management frame can include a beacon frame, a probe request frame, a probe response frame, an authentication request frame, an authentication response frame, an association request frame, and an association response frame.

[0010] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the retransmission granularity is less than or equal to a minimum bandwidth of a Wi-Fi signal supported by the terminal device. In the possible implementation, the access device can flexibly configure the retransmission granularity according to the minimum bandwidth of the Wi-Fi signal supported by the terminal device in the network, so that different terminal devices can receive at least one signal of the retransmission granularity.

[0011] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided, which can be applied to a terminal device, and the method comprises: receiving at least one beacon frame in a wireless frame, the wireless frame comprising a plurality of beacon frames, the plurality of beacon frames being transmitted in a repeated transmission mode, the at least one beacon frame belonging to the plurality of beacon frames, each of the plurality of beacon frames being used to indicate information of a same basic service set (BSS); for any one of the at least one beacon frame, transmitting at least one first network access communication frame in a target time period after the beacon frame, a time length between a starting moment of the target time period and an ending moment of the beacon frame being equal to a first time length, any one of the at least one first network access communication frame being used to request access to the BSS, the first network access communication frame also being referred to as an uplink network access communication frame, and comprising a probe request frame, an authentication request frame or an association request frame; and receiving at least one second network access communication frame, the at least one second network access communication frame being used to respond to the first network access communication frame, the second network access communication frame also being referred to as a downlink network access communication frame, and comprising a probe response frame, an authentication response frame or an association response frame.

[0012] In the above technical solution, when the beacon frame is transmitted in the repeated transmission mode, the coverage range of the beacon frame can be improved, and terminal devices with different bandwidth capabilities in the network can receive at least one beacon frame in the wireless frame, and transmit at least one first network access communication frame in a target time period after the beacon frame, a time length between a starting moment of the target time period and an ending moment of the beacon frame being equal to a first time length, the at least one first network access communication frame being used to request access to the BSS, and when the terminal device detects the second network access communication frame, the terminal device can successfully access the network in the target time period, thereby avoiding the problem of collision of different terminal devices before network access.

[0013] In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the at least one beacon frame and / or the at least one second network access communication frame are received in a UWB frequency band; or the at least one first network access communication frame is transmitted in the UWB frequency band. In the above possible implementation manner, by transmitting the beacon frame, the first network access communication frame or the second network access communication frame in the UWB frequency band, the current device can communicate by using the UWB frequency band, thereby greatly improving the product competitiveness of the terminal device.

[0014] In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, a transmission bandwidth of any one of the plurality of beacon frames is determined by a first retransmission granularity, and the first retransmission granularity is determined according to a minimum bandwidth capability of a terminal device supported by the BSS. In the above possible implementation manner, the first retransmission granularity can be flexibly configured according to the minimum bandwidth of the Wi-Fi signal supported by the terminal device in the network, thereby ensuring that different terminal devices can receive at least one beacon frame.

[0015] In a possible implementation of the second aspect, any of the plurality of beacon frames comprises a first message, the first message being used to indicate the first retransmission granularity, or the first message being used to indicate a transmission bandwidth of any of the beacon frames in the wireless frame. In the possible implementation, the first retransmission granularity or the transmission bandwidth of the beacon frame can be indicated by the first message, so that the terminal device can correctly receive and demodulate the beacon frame when receiving at least one beacon, and can perform combined reception and demodulation when receiving two or more beacon frames, so as to improve the received signal strength.

[0016] In a possible implementation of the second aspect, the first time length and / or the time length of the target time period is preset. In the possible implementation, the target time period after the beacon frame can be quickly and accurately determined by using the preset first time length and / or the time length of the target time period, and the first time length and / or the time length of the target time period is fixed during use, so that the overhead of indicating the first time length and / or the time length of the target time period can be saved.

[0017] In a possible implementation of the second aspect, the beacon frame is used to indicate the first time length and / or the time length of the target time period. In the possible implementation, the first time length and / or the time length of the target time period can be indicated by the beacon frame according to actual needs, so that the flexibility of configuring the first time length and / or the time length of the target time period can be improved.

[0018] In a possible implementation of the second aspect, two beacon frames belonging to different wireless frames indicate different first time lengths. In the possible implementation, different first time lengths can be indicated by different beacon frames, so that the flexibility of configuring the first time length can be improved.

[0019] In a possible implementation of the second aspect, different terminal devices in the BSS use different code division sequences to send the at least one first network access communication frame; and / or, different terminal devices in the BSS use different code division sequences to receive the at least one second network access communication frame. In the possible implementation, different terminal devices can use different code division sequences to send the at least one first network access communication frame or receive the at least one second network access communication frame, so that the different terminal devices can simultaneously access the network in the target time period after the beacon frame, so as to avoid the problem of collision of the different terminal devices before network access, and improve the efficiency and success rate of network access.

[0020] In a possible implementation of the second aspect, any of the first network access communication frame or the second network access communication frame comprises a second message, the second message is used to indicate a transmission bandwidth of the network access communication frame, and the network access communication frame is a signal meeting a Wi-Fi protocol. In the possible implementation, when the first network access communication frame or the second network access communication frame is transmitted in a repeated transmission mode, terminal devices with different bandwidth capabilities can receive signals in different bandwidth ranges, so that it can be ensured that terminal devices in the network can detect a channel busy state, and signal collision between devices can be reduced.

[0021] In a possible implementation of the second aspect, the first time length is equal to N times of a time unit, and the method further includes: generating a random number in a preset numerical range; and transmitting the at least one first network access communication frame in the target time period includes: when the random number is equal to the N, transmitting the at least one first network access communication frame in the target time period after the received beacon frame. In the possible implementation, different terminal devices in the network can transmit the at least one first network access communication frame in the target time period after the received beacon frame when the generated random number is equal to the N, so that the problem of collision between different terminal devices before network access can be avoided, and the success rate of network access can be improved.

[0022] In a possible implementation of the second aspect, the method further includes: generating a random number in a preset numerical range, and reducing the random number by one each time a beacon frame in a wireless frame is received; and transmitting the first network access communication frame in the target time period after the beacon frame includes: when the value of the random number after being reduced by one in response to the received beacon frame is equal to a target value, transmitting the at least one first network access communication frame in the target time period after the beacon frame. In the possible implementation, different terminal devices in the network can generate a random number, and reduce the random number by one each time a beacon frame in a wireless frame is received, and transmit the first network access communication frame in the target time period after the beacon frame when the value of the random number after being reduced by one in response to the received beacon frame is equal to a target value, so that the problem of collision between different terminal devices before network access can be avoided, and the success rate of network access can be improved.

[0023] In a possible implementation of the second aspect, the method further includes: when the access fails, reducing the preset numerical range. In the possible implementation, when the terminal device fails to access, the preset numerical range is reduced, and then the random number is regenerated and the network is accessed again based on the random number, so that the problem of too long waiting time of the terminal device for network access can be avoided.

[0024] In one possible implementation of the second aspect, the method further includes: when the number of access failures exceeds a preset number, sending a first network access communication frame within a second duration before the start time of the target time period following the beacon frame, wherein the second duration is shorter than the first duration. In the above possible implementation, by sending the first network access communication frame within a second duration before the start time of the target time period following the beacon frame, the terminal device can avoid the problem of excessively long network access waiting time.

[0025] In one possible implementation of the second aspect, different terminal devices within the BSS correspond to different second durations. In the above possible implementations, configuring different second durations for different terminal devices can avoid collisions between different terminal devices before network access, thereby improving the success rate of network access.

[0026] Thirdly, a communication method is provided, the method comprising: transmitting a radio frame including a plurality of beacon frames, each of the plurality of beacon frames indicating information of the same BSS; receiving at least one first network access communication frame within a target time period following any one of the plurality of beacon frames, the duration between the start time of the target time period and the end time of the beacon frame being equal to a first duration, any one of the at least one first network access communication frames being used to request access to the BSS; and transmitting at least one second network access communication frame in response to the at least one first network access communication frame.

[0027] In one possible implementation of the third aspect, the plurality of beacon frames and / or the at least one second network access communication frame are transmitted on the UWB band; or, the at least one first network access communication frame is received on the UWB band.

[0028] In one possible implementation of the third aspect, the transmission bandwidth of any one of the plurality of beacon frames is determined by a first retransmission granularity, which is determined by the minimum bandwidth capability of the terminal devices supported by the BSS.

[0029] In one possible implementation of the third aspect, any one of the plurality of beacon frames includes a first message indicating a first retransmission granularity, or the first message indicating the transmission bandwidth of any beacon frame in the radio frame.

[0030] In one possible implementation of the third aspect, the first duration and / or the target time period are preset.

[0031] In one possible implementation of the third aspect, the beacon frame is used to indicate the first duration and / or the duration of the target time period.

[0032] In a possible implementation form of the third aspect, the at least one first onboarding communication frame comprises first onboarding communication frames from a plurality of terminal devices received by using different code division sequences.

[0033] In a possible implementation form of the third aspect, the at least one second onboarding communication frame comprises second onboarding communication frames sent to a plurality of terminal devices by using a multi-user transmission manner, or the at least one second onboarding communication frame comprises second onboarding communication frames sent to a plurality of terminal devices by using a time division manner.

[0034] In a possible implementation form of the third aspect, each of the at least one first onboarding communication frame comprises device onboarding indication information, the device onboarding indication information being used to determine the target terminal device.

[0035] In a possible implementation form of the third aspect, any of the at least one first onboarding communication frame or the at least one second onboarding communication frame comprises a second message, the second message being used to indicate a transmission bandwidth of the onboarding communication frame, and the onboarding communication frame being a signal satisfying a Wi-Fi protocol.

[0036] In a possible implementation form of the third aspect, the method further comprises: receiving the at least one first onboarding communication frame within a preset time period before a starting moment of the target time period after the beacon frame, the preset time period being less than the first time period.

[0037] In a fourth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which is an access device or a chip applied to an access device, and can implement functions performed by the access device in the above method. The functions can be implemented by hardware, or by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software comprises one or more modules corresponding to the above functions.

[0038] In a possible implementation form of the fourth aspect, the apparatus comprises a processing unit, a sending unit and a receiving unit; the processing unit is configured to support the apparatus to perform corresponding functions in the above method; and the sending unit and the receiving unit are used to support the apparatus to communicate with terminal devices.

[0039] In another possible implementation form of the fourth aspect, the apparatus comprises a processor and a transceiver; the processor is configured to support the apparatus to perform corresponding functions in the above method; and the transceiver is used to support the apparatus to communicate with terminal devices. Optionally, the apparatus further comprises a memory coupled to the processor, which stores necessary program instructions and data of the apparatus.

[0040] In a fifth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which can be a terminal device or a chip applied to a terminal device, and can implement the functions performed by the terminal device in the above method. The functions can be implemented by hardware, or by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions.

[0041] In a possible implementation of the fifth aspect, the apparatus includes a receiving unit, a processing unit, and a sending unit; the processing unit is configured to support the apparatus to perform the corresponding functions in the above method; and the sending unit and the receiving unit are used to support the apparatus to communicate with the terminal device.

[0042] In another possible implementation of the fifth aspect, the apparatus includes a processor and a transceiver; the processor is configured to support the apparatus to perform the corresponding functions in the above method; and the transceiver is used to support the apparatus to communicate with the access device. Optionally, the apparatus further includes a memory used to be coupled with the processor, which stores the necessary program instructions and data of the apparatus.

[0043] In yet another aspect of the present application, a chip is provided, which includes: processing circuitry and a transceiver, the processing circuitry and the transceiver being used to support the chip to perform the method provided by the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, or the processing circuitry and the transceiver being used to support the chip to perform the method provided by the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect, or the processing circuitry and the transceiver being used to support the chip to perform the method provided by the third aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect.

[0044] In yet another aspect of the present application, a wireless communication system is provided, which includes an access device and a terminal device; wherein the access device is used to perform the method provided by the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, or perform the method provided by the third aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect; and the terminal device is used to perform the method provided by the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, or perform the method provided by the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0045] In yet another aspect of the present application, a readable storage medium is provided, which stores a computer program or instructions, when a device runs the computer program or instructions, the device is caused to perform the method provided by the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, or perform the method provided by the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0046] In a further aspect of the present application, a readable storage medium is provided, which stores a computer program or instructions, when the computer program or instructions are executed by a device, the device is caused to perform the method provided by the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, or perform the method provided by the third aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect.

[0047] In a further aspect of the present application, a computer program product is provided, which comprises a computer program (also referred to as code or instructions), when the computer program is executed by a device, the device is caused to perform the method provided by the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, or perform the method provided by the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0048] In a further aspect of the present application, a computer program product is provided, which comprises a computer program (also referred to as code or instructions), when the computer program is executed by a device, the device is caused to perform the method provided by the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, or perform the method provided by the third aspect or any possible implementation of the third aspect.

[0049] It can be understood that the beneficial effects of the other aspects described above can correspond to the beneficial effects of the first aspect, the possible implementation of the first aspect, the second aspect, or the possible implementation of the second aspect, which will not be described here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0050] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication coverage range of a wireless communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0051] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a repeated transmission mode according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0052] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of another repeated transmission mode according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0053] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0054] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a wireless communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0055] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a flow of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0056] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a target signal in a UWB frequency band signal according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0057] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a signal received by different terminal devices and a target signal according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0058] FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating another method of communication, according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0059] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of communication between an access device and a terminal device, according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0060] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating another example of communication between an access device and a terminal device, according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0061] FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating yet another example of communication between an access device and a terminal device, according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0062] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of an access device, according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0063] FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating another example of an access device, according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0064] FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of a terminal device, according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0065] FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating another example of a terminal device, according to embodiments of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0066] The making and using of various embodiments are discussed in detail below. It should be appreciated that the specific embodiments discussed are merely illustrative of specific ways to make and use the application and this technology and that this application should not be limited to such specific embodiments.

[0067] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art.

[0068] Circuits or other components can be described as or said to be "configured to" perform one or more tasks. In this context, "configured to" is used to mean that the circuit / component includes structure (e.g., circuitry) that performs the task(s) during operation. As such, the circuit / component can be referred to as being configured to perform the task(s) even when the specified circuit / component is not currently operational (e.g., is not on). The circuit / component used in the "configured to" language includes hardware, such as, for example, circuitry, that is specifically designed to carry out the task at hand. The "configured to" language may

[0069] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. In the present application, "at least one" means one or more, and "multiple" means two or more. The association relationship of the associated objects is described by "and / or", which means that there can be three kinds of relationships, for example, A and / or B can represent the following three cases: A exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally represents an "or" relationship between the front and rear associated objects. "At least one of the following" or similar expressions means any combination of these items, including any combination of single item or multiple items. For example, at least one of a, b or c can represent a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c, a, b and c; where a, b and c can be single or multiple.

[0070] The embodiments of the present application use "first" and "second" and the like to distinguish objects with similar names or functions or roles. Those skilled in the art can understand that "first" and "second" and the like do not limit the quantity and execution order. The word "coupled" is used to represent electrical connection, including direct connection through wires or connection terminals or indirect connection through other devices. Therefore, "coupled" should be regarded as a general electronic communication connection.

[0071] It should be noted that in the present application, the words "exemplary" or "for example" are used to mean serving as an example, instance or illustration. Any embodiment or design solution described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the present application should not be interpreted as more preferred or more advantageous than other embodiments or design solutions. Rather, the use of "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concept in a specific manner.

[0072] Before introducing the embodiments of the present application, first, the related technologies and scenarios involved in the present application are introduced and described.

[0073] Ultra-wide band (UWB) technology is a wireless carrier communication technology that can transmit data using nanosecond-level non-sine wave narrow pulses, so the occupied frequency spectrum range is very wide. UWB technology has the characteristics of low system complexity, low transmit signal power spectrum density, insensitivity to channel fading, low interception ability, and high positioning accuracy, and can be applied to short-distance high-speed wireless data communication, positioning, ranging, sensing and other fields.

[0074] The aforementioned UWB technology uses a frequency range of 7163-8812MHz, which can also be referred to as the 8GHz UWB band or the UWB band. Currently, relevant regulations impose certain requirements on the transmit signal bandwidth, equivalent isotropic radiated power spectral density (PSD) limits, and out-of-band transmit power limits for UWB band communication. For example, a power spectral density decrease of -10dB corresponds to a transmit signal bandwidth of no less than 500MB, and the equivalent isotropic radiated power spectral density limit is no greater than -41dBm / MHz. The out-of-band transmit power limits for different frequency ranges are shown in Table 1 below. Table 1 below uses root mean square (RMS) detection as an example for illustration.

[0075] Table 1

[0076] To meet the low latency and high connectivity requirements of future terminal devices, the operating frequency bands of current wireless communication devices can be extended to the UWB band. For example, the operating frequency band of Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) devices can be extended to the UWB band, in which case the Wi-Fi device can be called an extended Wi-Fi device, and the UWB band can be called an extended Wi-Fi band. However, if the operating frequency band of wireless communication devices is extended to the UWB band, the power spectral density during communication in the UWB band must meet the requirements of relevant regulations, namely, the equivalent isotropic radiation limit is no greater than -41 dBm / MHz. This will significantly reduce the communication coverage of wireless communication devices, thereby causing a series of communication problems.

[0077] The following example illustrates the communication problems caused by the reduced communication coverage of this wireless communication device. This wireless communication device can include access devices and terminal devices. For example, the access device can be an access point (AP) device, and the terminal device can be a station (STA) device. The AP device can also be simply referred to as AP, and the STA device as STA. For instance, for an AP, when the power spectral density decreases during AP communication, the AP's coverage range will also be significantly reduced. For example, taking the AP shown in Figure 1 as an example, after the power spectral density decreases during AP communication, the corresponding coverage range decreases from S1 to S2. STAs located outside this coverage range S2 (e.g., STA1 to STA3) cannot detect beacon frames carrying the AP's basic service set (BSS), thus encountering difficulties in network access. For STAs, a lower power spectral density will cause multiple STAs within the same coverage area to be unable to detect each other's channel occupancy, leading to collisions between different STAs before network access. For example, STA1 to STA4 shown in Figure 1 will experience collisions before network access.

[0078] In one possible embodiment, when the coverage of a wireless communication device decreases, its coverage can be improved through a repetitive transmission mode. For example, as shown in Figure 2, when the channel bandwidth of the wireless communication device is 80MHz, 160MHz, or 320MHz, this can be achieved by using a repetitive transmission granularity of half the channel bandwidth. Specifically, this can be achieved by using a direct current (DC) subcarrier as the center and performing repetitive transmissions on both sides of that DC subcarrier. Alternatively, as shown in Figure 3, when the channel bandwidth of the wireless communication device is 40MHz, 80MHz, 160MHz, or 320MHz, this can be achieved by using a repetitive transmission granularity of 20MHz. However, the above two repetitive transmission methods have poor flexibility and cannot achieve flexible configuration of the repetitive transmission granularity.

[0079] Based on this, embodiments of this application provide a communication method that can be used to support repeated transmissions of different granularities by wireless communication devices. For example, it can support extended Wi-Fi devices to perform repeated transmissions of different granularities such as 20MHz, 40MHz, 80MHz, and 160MHz in the UWB band, thereby improving the coverage of wireless communication devices and avoiding a significant decrease in throughput. Another embodiment of this application also provides a communication method that can be used to support terminal devices to access the network in extended frequency bands through contention-based or non-contention-based methods. For example, it can support extended Wi-Fi devices to access the network in the UWB band through contention-based or non-contention-based methods, thereby solving the problem of collisions between different terminal devices before network access.

[0080] The technical solutions provided in this application can be applied to various wireless communication systems. For example, these wireless communication systems may include, but are not limited to: Wi-Fi communication systems, Long Time Evolution (LTE) systems, Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) systems, Time Division Duplex (TDD) systems, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) communication systems, Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) systems, 5G communication systems, hybrid networking communication systems, or future communication systems. The technical solutions in this application can include various application scenarios, such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable and low-latency communication (uRLLC), and massive machine-type communication (mMTC).

[0081] The wireless communication systems and application scenarios described in this application are intended to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of this application and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided in this application. As those skilled in the art will know, with the evolution of communication systems and the emergence of new application scenarios, the technical solutions provided in this application are also applicable to similar technical problems.

[0082] It should be understood that in this wireless communication system, devices can be divided into devices that provide wireless network services and devices that use wireless network services. The devices providing wireless network services can also be called network equipment or network units; for example, these network devices include access devices, which can also be called access nodes. The devices using wireless network services are typically located at the network edge and can be called terminal devices or simply terminals. Terminal devices can establish connections with network equipment and provide wireless communication services to users based on the services offered by the network equipment. The following example, using access devices and terminal devices, illustrates the structure of this wireless communication system.

[0083] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system provided in an embodiment of this application. The wireless communication system may include an access device 10 and a terminal device 20, and the terminal device 20 and the access device 10 can communicate wirelessly. In this wireless communication system, the access device 10 can provide communication coverage for a specific geographical area through an integrated or external antenna device. The terminal device 20 located within the communication coverage area of ​​the access device 10 can access the access device 10 and communicate with it.

[0084] Optionally, the access device 10 may include a base station, which may also be referred to as a radio access point or a transmission reception point (TRP). In one possible example, the base station may be a generation Node B (gNB) in a 5G new radio (NR) system, an evolutionary Node B (eNB) in a 4G long term evolution (LTE) system, etc. Depending on the physical form or transmit power of the base station, it may be classified as a macro base station or a micro base station, which may also be referred to as a small base station or a small cell.

[0085] Optionally, the terminal device 20 may include, but is not limited to: mobile phones, tablets, laptops, desktop computers, handheld computers, ultra-mobile personal computers (umPCs), mobile internet devices (MIDs), netbooks, cameras, camcorders, wearable devices (such as smartwatches and smart bracelets), in-vehicle devices (such as cars, bicycles, electric vehicles, airplanes, ships, trains, high-speed trains, etc.), virtual reality (VR) devices, augmented reality (AR) devices, wireless terminals in industrial control, smart home devices (such as refrigerators, televisions, air conditioners, electricity meters, etc.), smart robots, workshop equipment, wireless terminals in self-driving, wireless terminals in remote medical surgery, wireless terminals in smart grids, wireless terminals in transportation safety, wireless terminals in smart cities, or wireless terminals in smart homes, and flying devices (such as smart robots, hot air balloons, drones, airplanes, etc.).

[0086] In this embodiment, both the access device 10 and the terminal device 20 can be referred to as wireless communication devices. The structure of the wireless communication device will be illustrated below using a mobile phone as an example.

[0087] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a wireless communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. The wireless communication device may include components such as a radio frequency (RF) circuit 110, a memory 120, an input unit 130, a display unit 140, a sensor 150, an audio circuit 160, a processor 170, and a power supply 180.

[0088] The RF circuit 110 can be used to transmit and receive information, or to receive or send signals during a call. Specifically, it receives downlink information from the base station and processes it in the processor 170; additionally, it transmits uplink data to the base station. Typically, the RF circuit 110 includes, but is not limited to, an antenna, at least one amplifier, a transceiver, a coupler, a low-noise amplifier (LNA), a duplexer, etc. Furthermore, the RF circuit 110 can also communicate wirelessly with networks and other devices.

[0089] The memory 120 can be used to store data, software programs, and modules; it includes a program storage area and a data storage area. The program storage area can store the operating system and applications required for at least one function, such as sound playback and image playback functions. The data storage area can store data created based on the use of the wireless communication device, such as audio data, image data, and a phone book. Furthermore, the wireless communication device may include high-speed random access memory and non-volatile memory, such as at least one disk storage device, flash memory device, or other volatile solid-state storage device. In this embodiment, the memory may include multiple memories, including a first memory and a second memory.

[0090] Input unit 130 can be used to receive input digital or character information, and to generate key signal inputs related to user settings and function control of the wireless communication device. Input unit 130 may include touch screen 131 and other input devices 132. Touch screen 131 can collect touch operations on or near the user and drive corresponding connection devices according to a pre-set program. For example, touch operations may include operations performed by the user using a finger, stylus, or any suitable object or accessory on or near the touch screen. Optionally, other input devices 132 may include, but are not limited to, one or more of physical keyboards, function keys, mice, joysticks, etc., such as volume control buttons, power switch buttons, etc.

[0091] Display unit 140 can be used to display information input by the user or information provided to the user, as well as various menus of the wireless communication device. In one example, display unit 140 may include display screen 141, which may be configured as a liquid crystal display (LCD), organic light-emitting diode (OLED), or similar form. Further, touchscreen 131 may cover display screen 141. When touchscreen 131 detects a touch operation on or near it, it transmits the information to processor 170 to determine the type of touch event. Subsequently, processor 170 provides corresponding visual output on display screen 141 based on the type of touch event. Although in the figures, touchscreen 131 and display screen 141 are shown as two separate components to implement the input and output functions of the wireless communication device, in some embodiments, touchscreen 131 and display screen 141 can be integrated to implement the input and output functions of the wireless communication device.

[0092] Sensor 150 may include one or more sensors for providing status assessments of various aspects of the wireless communication device. Sensor 150 may include a light sensor, which can be used in imaging applications, i.e., as a component of a camera or video camera. Furthermore, sensor 150 may also include an accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, pressure sensor, or temperature sensor. Sensor 150 can detect acceleration / deceleration, orientation, on / off state, relative positioning of components, or temperature changes of the wireless communication device, etc.

[0093] Audio circuitry 160, a speaker, and a microphone provide an audio interface between the user and the wireless communication device. Audio circuitry 160 converts received audio data into electrical signals, transmits them to the speaker, and the speaker converts them into sound signals for output. On the other hand, the microphone converts collected sound signals into electrical signals, which are received by audio circuitry 160, converted into audio data, and then output to RF circuitry 110 for transmission to, for example, another mobile phone, or to memory 120 for further processing.

[0094] The processor 170 is the control center of the wireless communication device. It connects various parts of the device via various interfaces and lines, and performs overall control by running or executing software programs and / or modules stored in the memory 120, and by calling data stored in the memory 120, thereby executing various functions and processing data. Optionally, the processor 170 may include one or more processing units, which may include, but are not limited to: a central processing unit (CPU), a network processing unit (NPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), an image signal processor (ISP), a tensor processing unit (TPU), a data processing unit (DPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), a microcontroller, or a microprocessor. Furthermore, the processor 170 may also include other hardware circuits or accelerators, such as application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. Alternatively, the processor 170 may also be a combination of functions that implement computing, such as a combination of one or more microprocessors, a combination of a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, etc.

[0095] The wireless communication device may also include a power supply 180 (e.g., a battery) to power various components. The power supply 180 can be logically connected to the processor 170 via a power management system, thereby enabling functions such as charging, discharging, and power consumption management. Optionally, the power management system can simultaneously support fast charging and non-fast charging technologies. In practical applications, the power management system can charge the battery in the power supply 180 using either fast charging or non-fast charging technologies.

[0096] Optionally, the wireless communication device may also include a Wi-Fi module, a Bluetooth module, etc., which will not be described in detail in the embodiments of this application. Those skilled in the art will understand that the structure of the wireless communication device shown in the figure does not constitute a limitation on the wireless communication device, and may include more or fewer components than shown, or combine certain components, or have different component arrangements.

[0097] Figure 6 is a flowchart illustrating a communication method provided in an embodiment of this application. The method can be applied to a wireless communication system, which includes a first device and a second device. The method includes the following steps.

[0098] S201: The first device generates a target message, which includes a retransmission granularity indication, which is used to indicate the retransmission granularity of the target signal, which is a Wi-Fi signal in the UWB band.

[0099] In this configuration, the first device can be an access device and the second device can be a terminal device; or, the first device can be a terminal device and the second device can be an access device. That is, the first device can be either an access device or a terminal device, and the second device can be either an access device or a terminal device.

[0100] In addition, the UWB band signal can be a signal that can be transmitted in the UWB band. Specifically, it can be understood that the UWB band signal meets the relevant regulatory requirements for transmitted signals in the UWB band, such as meeting the requirements for transmitted signal bandwidth, equivalent isotropic radiated power spectral density limits, and out-of-band transmitted power limits.

[0101] Furthermore, the UWB band signal includes the target signal, which comprises multiple identical sub-signals, meaning the target signal includes multiple repeatedly transmitted sub-signals. These sub-signals can be signals that satisfy the Wi-Fi protocol, and the data within them can be valid data. The retransmission granularity indicator is used to indicate the retransmission granularity of the target signal, and can also be understood as indicating the bandwidth of a single sub-signal within the target signal. Optionally, the UWB band signal may also include a redundant signal. This redundant signal can be a whole located on one side of the target signal, or it can consist of two parts located on opposite sides of the target signal. For example, the bandwidth of the UWB band signal is equal to the sum of the bandwidth of the target signal and the bandwidth of the redundant signal.

[0102] In this application, the bandwidth of the UWB band signal is greater than the bandwidth of the target signal. Optionally, the bandwidth of the UWB band signal is close to 500MHz, or the bandwidth of the UWB band signal is greater than or equal to 500MHz, and the bandwidth of the target signal is 320MHz, 160MHz, 80MHz, 40MHz, or 20MHz, etc. Optionally, the retransmission granularity of the target signal indicated by the retransmission granularity indicator can be 20MHz, 40MHz, 80MHz, or 160MHz, etc. In practical applications, the retransmission granularity indicator can be carried through reserved bits in certain fields or bits in newly added fields. The specific number of bits occupied can be set according to actual needs. For example, the retransmission granularity indicator occupies 2 bits, and different values ​​of these 2 bits are used to indicate different retransmission granularities.

[0103] Optionally, the target message may also include a retransmission indication, which indicates that the target signal is being transmitted repeatedly. In practical applications, the retransmission indication can also be carried through reserved bits in certain fields or bits in newly added fields. The specific number of bits occupied can be set according to actual needs. For example, the retransmission granularity indication occupies 1 bit, and when the value of this 1 bit is 1, it is used to indicate that the target signal is being transmitted repeatedly.

[0104] In one example, as shown in Figure 7, when the bandwidth of the UWB band signal is 500MHz and the bandwidth of the target signal is 320MHz, then: when the retransmission granularity of the target signal is 20MHz, the target signal includes 16 repeated transmissions of 20MHz; when the retransmission granularity of the target signal is 40MHz, the target signal includes 8 repeated transmissions of 40MHz; when the retransmission granularity of the target signal is 80MHz, the target signal includes 4 repeated transmissions of 80MHz; and when the retransmission granularity of the target signal is 160MHz, the target signal includes 2 repeated transmissions of 160MHz. Figure 7 illustrates this using the example of the UWB band signal also including redundant signals, and these redundant signals being located on both sides of the target signal.

[0105] Specifically, the smaller the retransmission granularity, the more sub-signals the target signal includes, resulting in a longer transmission time for the UWB band signal while maintaining the same amount of transmitted data. Conversely, the larger the retransmission granularity, the fewer sub-signals the target signal includes, resulting in a shorter transmission time for the UWB band signal while maintaining the same amount of transmitted data.

[0106] Optionally, the target message can be signaling, and the UWB band signal can be the frame signal of a radio frame. The transmission of the signaling and the UWB band signal are independent of each other. For example, the signaling and the UWB band signal are transmitted separately. In this way, the retransmission granularity of the target signal in the UWB band signal can be indicated by the signaling.

[0107] Optionally, the UWB band signal can be a frame signal corresponding to a radio frame. The radio frame includes multiple communication frames, each corresponding one-to-one with a sub-signal included in the target signal within the UWB band signal. The target message can be carried within a sub-signal of the target signal, or the target message can be carried within the communication frame. The type of the communication frame can include, but is not limited to, management frames, control frames, and data frames. For example, the management frame can include beacon frames, probe request frames, probe response frames, authentication request frames, authentication response frames, association request frames, and association response frames, etc.

[0108] In one possible embodiment, the first device is an access device, and the radio frame includes multiple beacon frames, multiple probe response frames, multiple authentication response frames, multiple association response frames, or multiple data frames, etc. The retransmission granularity indicator in the target message sent by the access device can be used to indicate the retransmission granularity of the multiple beacon frames, multiple probe response frames, multiple authentication response frames, multiple association response frames, or multiple data frames. In another possible embodiment, the first device is a terminal device, and the radio frame includes multiple probe request frames, multiple authentication request frames, multiple association request frames, or multiple data frames, etc. The retransmission granularity indicator in the target message sent by the terminal device can be used to indicate the retransmission granularity of the multiple probe request frames, multiple authentication request frames, multiple association request frames, or multiple data frames.

[0109] Optionally, when the first device is an access device serving one or more terminal devices in the network, the retransmission granularity indicated by the retransmission granularity indicator can be less than or equal to the minimum bandwidth of the Wi-Fi signal supported by the one or more terminals. That is, the maximum retransmission granularity for repeated transmissions by the access device can be determined based on the minimum bandwidth capability of the Wi-Fi signal supported by the terminal devices in the network.

[0110] S202: The first device sends the target message to the second device.

[0111] In one possible embodiment, when the first device is a terminal device and the second device is an access device, the terminal device can send the target message to the access device. For example, the target message can be carried in a probe request frame, authentication request frame, association request frame, or data frame. In another possible embodiment, when the first device is an access device and the second device is a terminal device, the access device can send the target message to multiple terminal devices. For example, the target message can be carried in a beacon frame; or, when the first device is an access device and the second device is a terminal device, the access device can send the target message to a single terminal device. For example, the target message can be carried in a probe response frame, authentication response frame, association response frame, or data frame.

[0112] S203: When the second device receives the target message, it determines the retransmission granularity of the target signal according to the retransmission granularity indication in the target message.

[0113] In one possible embodiment, when the first device is a terminal device and the second device is an access device, the terminal device can merge and demodulate the received target signal according to the retransmission granularity indicated by the retransmission granularity indicator.

[0114] In another possible embodiment, when the first device is an access device and the second device is a terminal device, if the signal bandwidth supported by the terminal device is greater than or equal to the bandwidth of the target signal, the terminal device can combine and demodulate the received target signal according to the retransmission granularity indicated by the retransmission granularity indicator; if the signal bandwidth supported by the terminal device is less than the bandwidth of the target signal, that is, the terminal device supports receiving a portion of the target signal, the portion of the signal including at least one sub-signal of the target signal, the terminal device can combine and demodulate the received portion of the signal according to the retransmission granularity indicated by the retransmission granularity indicator.

[0115] For example, as shown in Figure 8, assuming the bandwidth of the target signal is 320MHz and the retransmission granularity indicated by the retransmission granularity indicator is 20MHz, then: when the terminal device supports receiving a signal bandwidth of 80MHz, a portion of the target signal received by the terminal device includes four 20MHz signals, and the terminal device can combine and demodulate these four 20MHz signals. For example, the terminal device can be STA1 in Figure 8; when the terminal device supports receiving a signal bandwidth of 160MHz, a portion of the target signal received by the terminal device includes eight 20MHz signals, and the terminal device can combine and demodulate these eight 20MHz signals. For example, the terminal device can be STA2 or STA3 in Figure 8.

[0116] Optionally, when the second device is a terminal device, the signal bandwidth supported by different terminal devices may be the same or different, and the center frequency of the signals supported by different terminal devices may be the same or different. For example, in Figure 8, STA1 and STA2 (or STA3) support different signal bandwidths, STA2 and STA3 support the same signal bandwidth, STA1 and STA2 support the same center frequency of the signals they receive, and STA and STA3 support different center frequencies of the signals they receive.

[0117] In this embodiment, a first device generates and sends a target message, which includes a retransmission granularity indication. This indication specifies the retransmission granularity of the target signal, which is a Wi-Fi signal in the UWB band. By selecting different retransmission granularities, the first device can perform repeated transmissions of different granularities within the UWB band. Simultaneously, the second device can improve demodulation performance by combining and demodulating the received target signal or a portion thereof, thereby increasing the coverage of the UWB band signal and preventing a significant decrease in throughput. In one example, when the access device sends beacon frames using repeated transmission, terminal devices with different bandwidth capabilities can combine and receive signals within different bandwidth ranges. For instance, when the bandwidth capability of a terminal device is less than that of the access device, the terminal device can receive at least one beacon frame within its operating frequency band, thus eliminating the need for frequency scanning to detect beacon frames. Furthermore, using repeated transmission to transmit communication frames allows the second device to combine and receive at least one communication frame, significantly improving the received signal strength and thus enhancing the time synchronization accuracy between different devices.

[0118] Figure 9 is a flowchart illustrating another communication method provided in an embodiment of this application. This method can be applied to a wireless communication system, which includes an access device and a terminal device. The method includes the following steps.

[0119] S301a: The access device sends a radio frame that includes multiple beacon frames, each of which is used to indicate information about the same BSS.

[0120] This radio frame can also be referred to as the first radio frame. The multiple beacon frames can be the same beacon frame, specifically multiple beacon frames that are repeatedly transmitted in the frequency domain. The BSS information in these multiple beacon frames can be used to identify the same network; that is, each of the multiple beacon frames can be used to indicate the network.

[0121] Optionally, the transmission bandwidth of any one of the plurality of beacon frames is determined by a first retransmission granularity, which is determined by the minimum bandwidth capability of the terminal devices supported by the BSS. For example, any one of the plurality of beacon frames includes a first message indicating the first retransmission granularity, or the first message indicating the transmission bandwidth of any beacon frame in the radio frame.

[0122] In one possible embodiment, the access device may periodically send a first radio frame comprising multiple beacon frames to notify of the network's presence via the beacon frames in the first radio frame. For example, the access device may periodically send the first radio frame.

[0123] S301b: The terminal device receives at least one beacon frame in the radio frame, the radio frame including multiple beacon frames, and the at least one beacon frame belonging to the multiple beacon frames.

[0124] In one possible embodiment, when the access device sends a first radio frame including multiple beacon frames, a terminal device located in the network can receive at least one of the multiple beacon frames, and the terminal device can also determine the BSS of the network based on the at least one beacon frame.

[0125] The at least one beacon frame may be some or all of the plurality of beacon frames. If the transmission bandwidth supported by the terminal device is greater than or equal to the transmission bandwidth of the plurality of beacon frames in the radio frame, the terminal device can receive the plurality of beacon frames; if the transmission bandwidth supported by the terminal device is less than the transmission bandwidth of the plurality of beacon frames in the radio frame, the terminal device can receive some of the plurality of beacon frames.

[0126] S302a: For any beacon frame in the at least one beacon frame, the terminal device sends at least one first network access communication frame within a target time period after the beacon frame, the duration between the start time of the target time period and the end time of the beacon frame is equal to a first duration, and the first network access communication frame is used to request access to the BSS.

[0127] In one possible embodiment, when the terminal device receives the at least one beacon frame, for any one of the at least one beacon frame, the terminal device can determine the target time period based on the end time and first duration of the beacon frame, and send at least one first network access communication frame to the access device within the target time period. Optionally, the first network access communication frame, also referred to as an uplink network access communication frame, may include uplink network access-related communication frames, such as probe request frames, authentication request frames, or association request frames.

[0128] Optionally, the first duration is preset, and / or the duration of the target time period is preset. For example, the target time period can be specified by the protocol after the first duration elapses from the end time of the beacon frame transmission, and this specified duration is the duration of the target time period. Alternatively, the beacon frame can be used to indicate the first duration and / or the duration of the target time period. For example, the beacon frame can be used to indicate the first duration and the duration of the target time period, or to indicate the start and end times of the target time period, or to indicate the start and duration of the target time period. The duration between the start and end times of the target time period is the duration of the target time period.

[0129] In one example, when the beacon frame is used to indicate a first duration, two beacon frames belonging to different first radio frames indicate different first durations. For example, the two beacon frames belonging to different first radio frames include beacon frame a and beacon frame b, where the first duration indicated by beacon frame a is greater than the first duration indicated by beacon frame b.

[0130] In another example, when the beacon frame is used to indicate the duration of the target time period, the first duration indicated by two beacon frames belonging to different first radio frames is different. For example, the two beacon frames belonging to different first radio frames include beacon frame c and beacon frame d, where the duration of the target time period indicated by beacon frame c is shorter than the duration of the target time period indicated by beacon frame d.

[0131] Furthermore, when multiple terminal devices in the network receive a beacon frame from the same first radio frame, these multiple terminal devices can also join the network in a non-contention-based or contention-based manner within a target time period following the beacon frame. The following describes the network entry methods for these multiple terminal devices.

[0132] In a first possible embodiment, if the multiple terminal devices access the network in a non-contention-based manner, when the multiple terminal devices receive a beacon frame in the same first radio frame, they can transmit at least one first network access communication frame using code division multiplexing (CDM). For example, the multiple terminal devices can transmit their respective at least one first network access communication frame using different CDM sequences within a target time period after the beacon frame. That is, different terminal devices in the network can transmit their respective first network access communication frames using different CDM sequences.

[0133] In a second possible embodiment, if the multiple terminal devices join the network through a contention-based approach, when the multiple terminal devices receive a beacon frame in the same first radio frame, each terminal device can generate a random number within a preset value range. When the random number generated by a terminal device equals N, that terminal device can send at least one first network entry communication frame within a target time period after the beacon frame, meaning that the terminal device has successfully competed. The first duration is equal to N times the time unit. The duration of this time unit can be fixed, thus the first duration can be set by a preset value of N, or indicated by the value of N indicated by the beacon frame, where N is a positive integer. For example, if the time unit is ts, the first duration is equal to N*ts.

[0134] In a third possible embodiment, if the multiple terminal devices access the network through a contention-based method, each terminal device can generate a random number within a preset value range. When each terminal device receives a beacon frame in a first radio frame, it decrements its random number by one. When a terminal device, in response to receiving the beacon frame, decrements its random number to a value equal to a target value, that terminal device can send at least one first network access communication frame within a target time period following the beacon frame, indicating that the terminal device has successfully competed for access. Optionally, if one of the terminal devices fails to access the network, it can further reduce the preset value range and continue to access the network in a similar manner as described above based on the reduced preset value range. The target value can be preset, for example, it can be 0.

[0135] In the second and third possible embodiments described above, when a terminal device fails to access the network more than a preset number of times, upon receiving a beacon frame in the next first wireless line, the terminal device may send a first network access communication frame within a second duration before the start time of the target time period following the beacon frame. This second duration is shorter than the first duration. That is, when a terminal device fails to access the network more than the preset number of times, it may access the channel a second duration earlier upon receiving a beacon frame in the next first wireless line, thereby preemptively seizing the target time period following the beacon frame. Optionally, different terminal devices within the network may correspond to different second durations; for example, different second durations may be configured for different terminal devices within the network.

[0136] Optionally, when the terminal device is an energy-saving terminal device, if the energy-saving terminal device fails to access the network within the target time period after the beacon frame in a certain first radio frame, for example, if the energy-saving terminal device does not receive at least one second network access communication frame in S303a below, the energy-saving terminal device can enter a sleep mode and wait for the beacon frame in the next first radio frame to arrive before waking up.

[0137] Furthermore, in the above possible embodiments, if a terminal device fails to access the network within a target time period after a beacon frame in a first radio frame, the terminal device can continue to detect before the arrival of the beacon frame in the next first radio frame, and continue to request network access again in the manner described above after the arrival of the beacon frame in the next first radio frame.

[0138] S302b: For any one of the plurality of beacon frames, the access device receives at least one first network access communication frame within a target time period following the beacon frame.

[0139] Optionally, for any one of the multiple beacon frames, the access device can determine the target time period based on the end time and the first duration of the beacon frame, and receive at least one first network access communication frame within the target time period.

[0140] In one possible embodiment, when multiple terminal devices access the network in a non-contention manner and receive a beacon frame in the same first radio frame, the multiple terminal devices send at least one first network access communication frame of their own in a code division manner within a target time period after the beacon frame. Then the access device can receive the first network access communication frames from the multiple terminal devices within the target time period, and can receive at least one first network access communication frame from each terminal device.

[0141] In another possible embodiment, when multiple terminal devices access the network through a contention-based approach and receive a beacon frame in the same first radio frame, if one of the multiple terminal devices sends at least one first network access communication frame within a target time period after the beacon frame, then the access device can receive at least one first network access communication frame from the terminal device within the target time period.

[0142] S303a: The access device sends at least one second network access communication frame, the at least one second network access communication frame being used in response to the at least one first network access communication frame.

[0143] Optionally, the second network access communication frame, also known as a downlink network access communication frame, may include downlink network access-related communication frames. For example, the second network access communication frame may include a probe response frame, an authentication response frame, or an association response frame. For instance, when the first network access communication frame includes a probe request frame, the second network access communication frame includes a probe response frame; when the first network access communication frame includes an authentication request frame, the second network access communication frame includes an authentication response frame; and when the first network access communication frame includes an association request frame, the second network access communication frame includes an association response frame.

[0144] In one possible embodiment, when the access device receives multiple first network access communication frames from multiple terminal devices, the access device can send multiple second network access communication frames to the multiple terminal devices using a multi-user transmission method, such as sending at least one second network access communication frame to each of the multiple terminal devices. Optionally, the multiple first network access communication frames can be sent by the multiple terminal devices using a code division method, with each terminal device sending at least one first network access communication frame. Optionally, the multi-user transmission method can include, but is not limited to, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO), etc.

[0145] For example, as shown in Figure 10, taking the access device as an AP and the multiple terminal devices including STA1 and STA2 as an example: the AP sends beacon frame 1; when STA1 and STA2 receive beacon frame 1, they send probe request frames in code division during the target time period after beacon frame 1; when the AP detects probe request frames sent from STA1 and STA2, it sends probe response frames to STA1 and STA2 using multi-user transmission mode. Furthermore, the AP, as well as STA1 and STA2, can subsequently send subsequent authentication request frames, authentication response frames, association request frames, and association response frames in a similar manner to complete the network access for STA1 and STA2.

[0146] In another possible embodiment, when the access device receives multiple first network access communication frames from multiple terminal devices, the access device can send multiple second network access communication frames to the multiple terminal devices in a time-division manner. For example, it can send at least one second network access communication frame to each of the multiple terminal devices, and the second network access communication frames sent to different terminal devices can be independently addressed. Optionally, the multiple first network access communication frames can be sent by the multiple terminal devices in a code-division manner, and each terminal device can send at least one first network access communication frame.

[0147] Optionally, each of the plurality of first network access communication frames may include device network access indication information. This device network access indication information is used to determine the target terminal device. For example, the device network access indication information may include one or more of the following: device priority, device capability information, or service priority. Thus, when the access device receives first communication frames from multiple terminal devices and sends second network access communication frames in a time-division multiplexing manner, the access device can sequentially determine the target terminal device based on the device network access indication information in the plurality of first network access communication frames. That is, the access device can determine the network access order of different terminal devices based on the device network access indication information of different terminal devices, sequentially select the target terminal device, and send the corresponding second network access communication frame to the target terminal device.

[0148] For example, as shown in Figure 11, taking the access device as an AP and the multiple terminal devices including STA1 and STA2 as an example: the AP sends beacon frame 1; when STA1 and STA2 receive beacon frame 1, STA1 and STA2 send probe request frames in code division during the target time period after beacon frame 1; when the AP detects probe request frames sent from STA1 and STA2, the AP first sends a probe response frame to STA1, and the AP and STA1 can subsequently exchange and send subsequent authentication request frames, authentication response frames, association request frames, and association response frames to complete the network access of STA1; then, the AP sends a probe response frame to STA2, and the AP and STA2 can also exchange and send subsequent authentication request frames, authentication response frames, association request frames, and association response frames to complete the network access of STA2.

[0149] In another possible embodiment, when the access device receives at least one first network access communication frame from a terminal device, the access device may send at least one second network access communication frame to the terminal device. Optionally, the at least one first network access communication frame may be at least one first network access communication frame sent by the terminal device that successfully competes for network access when multiple terminal devices compete for network access. For example, the multiple terminal devices may compete for network access in accordance with the competition method described in the second or third possible embodiment of step S302 above.

[0150] For example, as shown in Figure 12, taking the access device as an AP, the multiple terminal devices including STA1 and STA2, STA1 generating a random number of 3, STA2 generating a random number of 1, and the target value equal to 0 as an example, then: the AP sends beacon frame 1, which is used to indicate a first duration of IFS1; when STA1 and STA2 receive beacon frame 1, STA1 subtracts one from random number 3 to obtain random number 2, and STA2 subtracts one from random number 1 to obtain random number 0, which is equal to the target value 0; STA2 sends a probe request frame after the end time of beacon frame 1 at an interval of the first duration IFS1; when the AP detects the probe request frame from STA2, the AP sends a probe response frame to STA2, and the AP and STA2 can also interactively send subsequent authentication request frames, authentication response frames, and association request frames. The AP sends beacon frame 2 and an association response frame to complete STA2's network access. When STA1 receives beacon frame 2, it subtracts one from random number 2 to obtain random number 1, which is not equal to the target value 0. The AP sends beacon frame 3, which indicates a first duration of IFS2, where IFS2 < IFS1. When STA1 receives beacon frame 3, it subtracts one from random number 1 to obtain random number 0, which is equal to the target value 0. STA1 sends a probe request frame after the end of beacon frame 3, at an interval of the first duration IFS2. When the AP detects the probe request frame from STA1, it sends a probe response frame to STA1. The AP and STA1 can also interactively send subsequent authentication request frames, authentication response frames, association request frames, and association response frames to complete STA1's network access. Beacon frames 1, 2, and 3 represent beacon frames of different radio frames sent by the AP.

[0151] S303b: The terminal device receives at least one second network access communication frame, which is used in response to the first network access communication frame.

[0152] In one possible embodiment, when the access device sends multiple second network access communication frames to multiple terminal devices via a multi-user transmission method, different terminal devices among the multiple terminal devices can use different code division sequences to receive at least one second network access communication frame. That is, for any one of the multiple terminal devices, the terminal device can receive at least one second network access communication frame using its own code division sequence.

[0153] In another possible embodiment, when the access device sequentially sends at least one second network access communication frame to the selected target terminal device in a time-division manner, the target terminal device can receive at least one second network access communication frame. When a terminal device fails to receive the corresponding second network access communication frame, it indicates that a collision has occurred, and thus the terminal device fails to access the network.

[0154] When a terminal device receives at least one second network access communication frame, the terminal device and the access device can complete the network access process through subsequent interactions, that is, the terminal device successfully accesses the network.

[0155] Furthermore, any one of the first network access communication frames and the second network access communication frames involved in S302a to S303b above can be transmitted using a repetitive transmission mode.

[0156] In one possible embodiment, either the first network access communication frame or the second network access communication frame includes a second message, which indicates the transmission bandwidth of the network access communication frame, and the network access communication frame is a signal that satisfies the Wi-Fi protocol.

[0157] Optionally, the transmission bandwidth of any one of the plurality of beacon frames is determined by a first retransmission granularity, which is determined by the minimum bandwidth capability of the terminal devices supported by the BSS. For example, any one of the plurality of beacon frames includes a first message indicating the first retransmission granularity, or the first message indicating the transmission bandwidth of any beacon frame in the radio frame.

[0158] In one example, taking a first network access communication frame as an example, the terminal device sending at least one first network access communication frame may include: the terminal device sending a second radio frame, the second radio frame including multiple first network access communication frames; wherein, the transmission bandwidth of any one of the multiple first network access communication frames is determined by a second retransmission granularity, the second retransmission granularity being determined by the minimum bandwidth capability of the terminal device supported by the BSS. For example, any one of the multiple first network access communication frames includes a second message, the second message being used to indicate the second retransmission granularity, or the second message being used to indicate the transmission bandwidth of any one of the multiple first network access communication frames.

[0159] In another example, taking a second network access communication frame as an example, the access device sending at least one second network access communication frame may include: the access device sending a second radio frame, the second radio frame including multiple second network access communication frames; wherein, the transmission bandwidth of any one of the multiple second network access communication frames is determined by a third retransmission granularity, the third retransmission granularity being determined by the minimum bandwidth capability of the terminal devices supported by the BSS. For example, any one of the multiple second network access communication frames includes a third message, the third message being used to indicate the third retransmission granularity, or the third message being used to indicate the transmission bandwidth of any one of the multiple second network access communication frames.

[0160] It is understood that the relevant descriptions regarding the repeated transmission mode of the beacon frame, the first network access communication frame and the second network access communication frame can be found in the descriptions of the method embodiments shown in Figures 6-8 above. All content in the method embodiments shown in Figures 6-8 above can be referenced in this method embodiment, and will not be repeated here.

[0161] In this embodiment, when a terminal device receives a beacon frame from a radio frame sent by the access node, if the received signal strength corresponding to the beacon frame is less than a preset strength, the terminal device can send a first network access communication frame to the access device using a repetitive transmission mode. This ensures that the access device can receive the first network access communication frame from the terminal device. Furthermore, the access device sends the beacon frame and the second network access communication frame using the repetitive transmission mode, while the terminal devices in the network send the first network access communication frame using the repetitive transmission mode. That is, both the access device and the terminal devices in the network use the repetitive transmission mode to send communication frames. This ensures that the terminal devices in the network can detect a busy channel state and reduces signal collisions between devices.

[0162] The above primarily describes the solutions provided in this application from the perspective of the interaction between the access device and the terminal device. It is understood that, in order to achieve the above functions, the access device and the terminal device include corresponding hardware structures and / or software modules for executing each function. Those skilled in the art should readily recognize that, based on the units and algorithm steps of the examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein, this application can be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in hardware or by computer software driving hardware 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.

[0163] This application embodiment can divide the access device and terminal device into functional modules according to the above method example. For example, each function can be divided into a separate functional module, or two or more functions can be integrated into one module. The integrated module can be implemented in hardware or as a software functional module. It should be noted that the module division in this application embodiment is illustrative and only represents one logical functional division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods. The following description uses the division of functional modules according to each function as an example.

[0164] Figure 13 shows a schematic diagram of a communication device according to the above embodiments, using an integrated unit. The device can be an access device or a chip applied to an access device, and includes a processing unit 401, a transmitting unit 402, and a receiving unit 403. In one possible embodiment, the processing unit 401 supports the device in executing S201 of the above method embodiments, and the transmitting unit 402 supports the device in executing S202 of the above method embodiments. In another possible embodiment, the receiving unit 403 supports the device in receiving the target message transmitted in S202 of the above method embodiments, and the processing unit 401 supports the device in executing S203 of the above method embodiments. In yet another possible embodiment, the transmitting unit 402 supports the device in executing S301a and S303a of the above method embodiments, and the receiving unit 403 supports the device in executing S302b of the above method embodiments.

[0165] All relevant content of each step involved in the above method embodiments can be referenced from the functional description of the corresponding functional module, and will not be repeated here in the embodiments of this application.

[0166] Based on hardware implementation, the processing unit 401 in this application embodiment can be the processor of the device, the sending unit 402 can be the transmitter of the device, and the receiving unit 403 can be the receiver of the device. The transmitter can usually be integrated with the receiver as a transceiver. The specific transceiver can also be called a communication interface or interface circuit.

[0167] Figure 14 shows a schematic diagram of another communication device involved in the above embodiments provided in this application. The device can be used as an access device or a chip applied to an access device. The device includes a processor 412 and a transceiver 413. Further, the device also includes a memory 411 and a bus 414. The processor 412, the memory 411 and the transceiver 413 are connected through the bus 414.

[0168] The processor 412 is used to control and manage the operation of the device. In one possible embodiment, the processor 412 is used to support the device in executing S201 of the above method embodiment, and / or other technical processes described herein. In another possible embodiment, the processor 412 is used to support the device in generating the radio frame including multiple beacon frames sent in S301a of the above method embodiment, and the second network access communication frame sent in S303a, and / or other technical processes described herein. The transceiver 413 is used to support the device in communication, such as supporting the device in communicating with a terminal device.

[0169] In this embodiment, processor 412 may be a central processing unit, a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. It can implement or execute various exemplary logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the disclosure of this application. The processor may also be a combination that implements computing functions, such as a combination of one or more microprocessors, a combination of a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, etc. The bus 414 may include an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc.

[0170] Figure 15 shows a schematic diagram of a communication device according to the above embodiments, using an integrated unit. The device can be a terminal device or a chip applied to a terminal device, and includes a receiving unit 501, a processing unit 502, and a transmitting unit 503. In one possible embodiment, the receiving unit 501 supports the device in receiving the target message transmitted in S202 of the above method embodiment, and the processing unit 502 supports the device in executing S203 of the above method embodiment. In another possible embodiment, the processing unit 502 supports the device in executing S201 of the above method embodiment, and the transmitting unit 503 supports the device in executing S202 of the above method embodiment. In yet another possible embodiment, the receiving unit 501 supports the device in executing S301b and S303b of the above method embodiment, and the transmitting unit 503 supports the device in executing S302a of the above method embodiment.

[0171] All relevant content of each step involved in the above method embodiments can be referenced from the functional description of the corresponding functional module, and will not be repeated here in the embodiments of this application.

[0172] Based on hardware implementation, the processing unit 502 in this application embodiment can be the processor of the device, the receiving unit 501 can be the receiver of the device, and the sending unit 503 can be the transmitter of the device. The transmitter can usually be integrated with the receiver as a transceiver. The specific transceiver can also be called a communication interface or interface circuit.

[0173] Figure 16 shows a schematic diagram of another communication device involved in the above embodiments provided in this application. The device can be used as a terminal device or a chip applied to a terminal device. The device includes a processor 512 and a transceiver 513. Further, the device also includes a memory 511 and a bus 514. The processor 512, the memory 511 and the transceiver 513 are connected through the bus 514.

[0174] The processor 512 is used to control and manage the operation of the device. In one possible embodiment, the processor 512 is used to support the device in executing S201 of the above method embodiment, and / or other technical processes described herein. In another possible embodiment, the processor 512 is used to support the device in generating the first network access communication frame sent in S301b of the above method embodiment, and / or other technical processes described herein. The transceiver 513 is used to support the device in communication, such as supporting the device in communicating with a terminal device.

[0175] In this embodiment, the processor 512 may be a central processing unit, a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. It can implement or execute various exemplary logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the disclosure of this application. The processor may also be a combination that implements computing functions, such as a combination of one or more microprocessors, a combination of a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, etc. The bus 514 may include an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc.

[0176] In another embodiment of this application, a wireless communication system is provided, which includes an access device and a terminal device; wherein the access device may be or include the apparatus provided in FIG13 or FIG14 above, for performing the steps of the access device in the method embodiment provided above; the terminal device may be or include the apparatus provided in FIG15 or FIG16 above, for performing the steps of the terminal device in the method embodiment provided above.

[0177] It is understood that all relevant content of each step involved in the above method embodiments can be referenced in the embodiments of the communication device and the embodiments of the wireless communication system, and will not be repeated here.

[0178] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative. For instance, the division of modules or units is merely 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 apparatus, or some features may be ignored or not executed.

[0179] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate. A component shown as a unit can be one or more physical units; that is, it can be located in one place or distributed in multiple different locations. Some or all of the units can be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0180] If the integrated unit is implemented as a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a readable storage medium. This readable storage medium may include various media capable of storing program code, such as a USB flash drive, external hard drive, read-only memory, random access memory, magnetic disk, or optical disk. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the embodiments of this application, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product.

[0181] In another embodiment of this application, a readable storage medium is also provided, which stores a computer program or instructions that, when a device runs the computer program or instructions, cause the device to perform the steps of accessing the device described in the above method embodiments.

[0182] In another embodiment of this application, a readable storage medium is also provided, which stores a computer program or instructions that, when a device runs the computer program or instructions, cause the device to perform the steps of the terminal device in the above method embodiment.

[0183] In another embodiment of this application, a computer program product is also provided, which includes a computer program that, when executed by a device, causes the device to access the device in the above method embodiment.

[0184] In another embodiment of this application, a computer program product is also provided, which includes a computer program that, when executed by a device, causes the device to perform the steps of the terminal device in the above method embodiments.

[0185] Finally, it should be noted that the above description is merely a specific embodiment of this application, but the scope of protection of this application is not limited thereto. Any variations or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in this application should be included within the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the scope of protection of this application should be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication method characterized by comprising: The method comprises: receiving at least one beacon frame in a wireless frame, the wireless frame comprising a plurality of beacon frames, the at least one beacon frame belonging to the plurality of beacon frames, each of the plurality of beacon frames being used to indicate information of a same basic service set (BSS); for any of the at least one beacon frame, sending at least one first network access communication frame in a target time period after the beacon frame, a length of a starting moment of the target time period to an ending moment of the beacon frame being equal to a first length, any of the at least one first network access communication frame being used to request access to the BSS; receiving at least one second network access communication frame, the at least one second network access communication frame being used to respond to the first network access communication frame.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The at least one beacon frame and / or the at least one second network access communication frame are received on a UWB frequency band; or the at least one first network access communication frame is sent on a UWB frequency band.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, A transmission bandwidth of any of the plurality of beacon frames is determined by a first retransmission granularity, the first retransmission granularity being determined by a minimum bandwidth capability of a terminal device supported by the BSS.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein, Any of the plurality of beacon frames comprises a first message, the first message being used to indicate the first retransmission granularity, or the first message being used to indicate a transmission bandwidth of any of the beacon frames in the wireless frame.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, The first length and / or a length of the target time period is preset.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that, The beacon frame is used to indicate the first length and / or the length of the target time period.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein, The first lengths indicated by two beacon frames belonging to different wireless frames are different.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that, Different terminal devices in the BSS send the at least one first network access communication frame by using different code division sequences; and / or, different terminal devices in the BSS receive the at least one second network access communication frame by using different code division sequences.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that, Any of the at least one first network access communication frame or the at least one second network access communication frame comprises a second message, the second message being used to indicate a transmission bandwidth of the network access communication frame, and the network access communication frame being a signal satisfying a Wi-Fi protocol.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that, The first length is equal to N times of a time unit, and the method further comprises: generating a random number located in a preset numerical range; The sending of the at least one first network access communication frame in the target time period comprises: when the random number is equal to the N, sending the at least one first network access communication frame in the target time period.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that, The method further comprises: generating a random number located in a preset numerical range, and reducing the random number by one each time a beacon frame in the wireless frame is received; The sending of the at least one first network access communication frame in the target time period after the beacon frame comprises: when the value of the random number after being reduced by one in response to the reception of the beacon frame is equal to a target value, sending the at least one first network access communication frame in the target time period after the beacon frame.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein, The method further comprises: when the access fails, reducing the preset numerical range.

13. The method according to any one of claims 10-12, characterized in that, Before the receiving of the at least one beacon frame in the wireless frame, the method further comprises: When the number of access failures is greater than a preset number, the at least one first network access communication frame is transmitted within a second time length before a starting moment of a target time period after the beacon frame, and the second time length is less than the first time length.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein, Different second time lengths correspond to different terminal devices in the BSS.

15. A method of communication, comprising: The method comprises: transmitting a wireless frame, the wireless frame comprising a plurality of beacon frames, each of the plurality of beacon frames being used for information of a same basic service set (BSS); for any one of the at least one beacon frame, receiving at least one first network access communication frame within a target time period after the beacon frame, a time length between a starting moment of the target time period and an ending moment of the beacon frame being equal to a first time length, any one of the at least one first network access communication frame being used for requesting access to the BSS; transmitting at least one second network access communication frame, the at least one second network access communication frame being used for responding to the first network access communication frame.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein, The plurality of beacon frames and / or the at least one second network access communication frame are transmitted on a UWB frequency band; or the at least one first network access communication frame is received on a UWB frequency band.

17. The method according to claim 15 or 16, characterized in that, A transmission bandwidth of any one of the plurality of beacon frames is determined by a first retransmission granularity, the first retransmission granularity being determined by a minimum bandwidth capability of a terminal device supported by the BSS.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein, Any one of the plurality of beacon frames comprises a first message, the first message being used for indicating the first retransmission granularity, or the first message being used for indicating the transmission bandwidth of any one of the beacon frames in the wireless frame.

19. The method according to any one of claims 15-18, characterized in that, The first time length and / or the target time period are preset.

20. The method according to any one of claims 15-18, characterized by, The beacon frame is used for indicating the time length of the first time length and / or the target time period.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein, Two beacon frames belonging to different wireless frames indicate different first time lengths.

22. The method according to any one of claims 15-21, characterized by, The at least one first network access communication frame comprises first network access communication frames from a plurality of terminal devices received by using different code division sequences.

23. The method according to any one of claims 15-22, characterized in that, The at least one second network access communication frame comprises second network access communication frames transmitted to a plurality of terminal devices by using a multi-user transmission manner, or the at least one second network access communication frame comprises second network access communication frames transmitted to a plurality of terminal devices by using a time division manner.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein, Each of the at least one first network access communication frame comprises device network access indication information, the device network access indication information being used for determining a target terminal device.

25. The method according to any one of claims 15-24, characterized by, Any one of the at least one first network access communication frame or the at least one second network access communication frame comprises a second message, the second message being used for indicating a transmission bandwidth of the network access communication frame, and the network access communication frame being a signal satisfying a Wi-Fi protocol.

26. The method of any one of claims 15-25, wherein, The method further comprises: receiving at least one first network access communication frame within a preset time length before a starting moment of a target time period after the beacon frame, the preset time length being less than the first time length.

27. A communications device, characterized by The apparatus comprises a processor and a transceiver, the processor and the transceiver being used for supporting the apparatus to perform the communication method according to any one of claims 1-14.

28. A communications device, characterized by The apparatus includes a processor and a transceiver to support the apparatus to perform the communication method as claimed in any of claims 15-26.

29. A readable storage medium, characterized by, The readable storage medium has instructions stored therein, which when executed by a device, cause the device to perform the communication method as claimed in any of claims 1-26.

30. A computer program product, characterised in that, The computer program product includes a computer program, which when executed by a device, cause the device to perform the method as claimed in any of claims 1-26.

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