Operation method and apparatus in non-primary channel access, device, and medium

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of communications, and provides an operation method and apparatus in non-primary channel access (NPCA), a device, and a medium. The method is executed by a first STA supporting an NPCA operation, and comprises: in an NPCA unavailable state or an NPCA energy saving state, executing a first operation. In the solution, during an NPCA operation, NPCA availability management can be performed on an STA supporting an NPCA operation, and the STA supporting the NPCA operation is coordinated or allowed to be in an NPCA unavailable state or an NPCA energy saving state, thereby avoiding a large amount of power consumption caused by frequent invalid switching of the STA, so that the STA can achieve an energy saving effect within a specific time period, and the communication efficiency is improved.

Description

Operation method, apparatus, device and medium in non-primary channel access TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communication, in particular to an operation method, apparatus, device and medium in non-primary channel access. BACKGROUND

[0002] The Non-Primary Channel Access (NPCA) mechanism allows a Station (STA) to switch to a non-primary channel (or secondary channel) for data transmission in the case that the primary channel is busy due to Overlapping Basic Service Set (OBSS) traffic or other conditions.

[0003] When most STAs of a Basic Service Set (BSS) (such as BSS1) are also in the coverage of another BSS (such as BSS2), if the STAs in BSS2 initiate a Transmission Opportunity (TXOP) for data transmission. In some scenarios, it will cause most STAs in BSS1 to consume a large amount of power due to frequent invalid switching.

[0004] SUMMARY

[0005] The present application provides an operation method, apparatus, device and medium in non-primary channel access. The technical solution is as follows:

[0006] In one aspect, an operation method in non-primary channel access is provided, the method is executed by a first STA supporting NPCA operation, and the method comprises:

[0007] In the case of being in an NPCA unavailable state or an NPCA energy saving state, performing a first operation.

[0008] In another aspect, an operation method in non-primary channel access is provided, the method is executed by a second STA supporting NPCA operation, and the method comprises:

[0009] In the case of the first STA being in an NPCA unavailable state or an NPCA energy saving state, performing a second operation.

[0010] In another aspect, an operation apparatus in non-primary channel access is provided, the apparatus comprises:

[0011] A processing module configured to perform a first operation in the case of being in an NPCA unavailable state or an NPCA energy saving state.

[0012] In another aspect, an apparatus for operating in non-primary channel access is provided, the apparatus comprising:

[0013] a processing module configured to perform a second operation in a case that the first STA is in a NPCA unavailable state or a NPCA power saving state.

[0014] In another aspect, a communication device is provided, the device comprising:

[0015] a processor; a transceiver connected to the processor; a memory for storing executable instructions of the processor;

[0016] wherein the processor is configured to load the executable instructions to cause the communication device to implement the method for operating in non-primary channel access as described above.

[0017] In another aspect, a computer readable storage medium is provided, the computer readable storage medium having stored therein at least one segment of a program, the at least one segment of the program being loaded and executed by a processor to implement the method for operating in non-primary channel access as described above.

[0018] In another aspect, a computer program product or a computer program is provided, the computer program product or the computer program comprising computer instructions stored in a computer readable storage medium, the computer instructions being obtained by a processor from the computer readable storage medium, the processor executing the computer instructions to implement the method for operating in non-primary channel access as described above.

[0019] In another aspect, a chip is provided, the chip comprising programmable logic circuitry and / or at least one segment of a program, the chip being configured to implement the method for operating in non-primary channel access as described above based on the programmable logic circuitry and / or the at least one segment of the program.

[0020] The technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application have at least the following beneficial effects:

[0021] In the NPCA operation process, the STA supporting the NPCA operation can be managed in terms of NPCA availability, and the STA supporting the NPCA operation can be coordinated or allowed to be in a NPCA unavailable state or a NPCA power saving state, so that the STA is not switched or is switched to the NPCA operation channel for operation under the condition that a trigger condition is met, thereby avoiding a large amount of power consumption caused by frequent invalid switching of the STA, and enabling the STA to achieve energy saving effect in a specific period of time. Meanwhile, the communication efficiency is improved by the mode without frequent switching. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0022] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, the drawings needed to be used in the embodiments description will be briefly introduced. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present application, and other drawings can be obtained by those skilled in the art without any creative effort based on these drawings.

[0023] Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of channel transmission according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0024] Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a communication system according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0025] Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of non-primary channel operation according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0026] Fig. 4 is a flowchart of an operation method in non-primary channel access according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0027] Fig. 5 is a flowchart of an operation method in non-primary channel access according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0028] Fig. 6 is a flowchart of an operation method in non-primary channel access according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0029] Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of the format of a TIM element according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0030] Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of the format of a NPCA availability management element according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0031] Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of the format of a NPCA parameter set element according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0032] Fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of the format of a NPCA available AID information field according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0033] Fig. 11 is a schematic diagram of the format of a NPCA control field according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0034] Fig. 12 is a scenario diagram of an operation method in non-primary channel access according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0035] Fig. 13 is a scenario diagram of an operation method in non-primary channel access according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0036] Fig. 14 is a flowchart of an operation method in non-primary channel access according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0037] FIG. 15 is a format diagram of a TWT element according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0038] FIG. 16 is a scenario diagram of an operation method in non-primary channel access according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0039] FIG. 17 is a flowchart of an operation method in non-primary channel access according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0040] FIG. 18 is a format diagram of a NPCA availability management control field according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0041] FIG. 19 is a flowchart of an operation method in non-primary channel access according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0042] FIG. 20 is a scenario diagram of an operation method in non-primary channel access according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0043] FIG. 21 is a scenario diagram of an operation method in non-primary channel access according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0044] FIG. 22 is a block diagram of an operation apparatus in non-primary channel access according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0045] FIG. 23 is a block diagram of an operation apparatus in non-primary channel access according to an example embodiment of the present application;

[0046] FIG. 24 is a block diagram of a communication device according to an example embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0047] For the purpose of clarity, technical solution, and advantages of the present application, the following will make further detailed description to the embodiments of the present application in combination with the drawings. Here, the example embodiments will be described in detail, and the examples are shown in the drawings. The following description relates to the drawings, and the same numerals in different drawings represent the same or similar elements unless otherwise indicated. The embodiments described in the following example embodiments do not represent all the embodiments consistent with the present application. Rather, they are merely examples of apparatuses and methods consistent with some aspects of the present application as detailed in the appended claims. The terms used in the present application are merely for the purpose of describing particular embodiments and are not intended to limit the present application. The singular forms "a," "an," and "the" used in the present application are also intended to include the plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should also be understood that the term "and / or" as used herein refers to any or all possible combinations of one or more associated listed items.

[0048] It should be understood that, although the terms first, second, third, etc. can be adopted in the present application to describe various information, these information should not be limited to these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish the same type of information from each other. For example, the first information can also be referred to as the second information, and similarly, the second information can also be referred to as the first information, without departing from the scope of the present application. Depending on the context, the word "if" as used herein can be interpreted as "when" or "upon determining" or "in response to determining". In the present specification, when expressing the meaning expressed by the Boolean value, it is expressed as "0" representing "the first meaning" and "1" representing "the second meaning", without loss of generality, those skilled in the art can understand that the representative meaning can be reversed, i.e. "1" represents "the first meaning" and "0" represents "the second meaning".

[0049] It should be understood that the format, name and value of the frames / elements / fields involved in various embodiments of the present application are only examples and do not mean to limit the format, name and value of the frames / elements / fields. In different embodiments or different designs, one or more of the name of the above-mentioned elements / fields, the position in the frame, the arrangement order between other elements / fields, the number of occupied bytes, the number of occupied bits can be changed. In different embodiments or different designs, one or more of the name of the above-mentioned frame, the contained elements / fields, the number of occupied bytes, the number of occupied bits can be changed.

[0050] Firstly, the nouns involved in the embodiments of the present application are briefly introduced:

[0051] Primary channel: the common channel of operation for all stations (STAs) that are members of the basic service set (BSS). For example, in a 20MHz, 40MHz, 80MHz, 160MHz or 80+80MHz BSS the primary channel is a primary 20MHz channel.

[0052] Nonprimary Channel: In a 40MHz, 80MHz, 160MHz, or 80+80MHz basic service set (BSS), any 20MHz channel other than the primary 20MHz channel.

[0053] Primary 20MHz Channel: In a 20MHz, 40MHz, 80MHz, 160MHz, or 80+80MHz basic service set (BSS), the 20MHz channel that is used to transmit 20MHz physical layer (PHY) protocol data units (PPDUs).

[0054] Primary 40MHz Channel: In an 80MHz, 160MHz, or 80+80MHz basic service set (BSS), the 40MHz channel that is used to transmit 40MHz physical layer (PHY) protocol data units (PPDUs).

[0055] Primary 80MHz Channel: In a 160MHz or 80+80MHz basic service set (BSS), the 80MHz channel that is used to transmit 80MHz physical layer (PHY) protocol data units (PPDUs).

[0056] Primary 160MHz Channel: In a 320MHz basic service set (BSS), the 160MHz channel that contains the primary 20MHz channel.

[0057] The primary 20MHz channel, the primary 40MHz channel, the primary 80MHz channel, and the primary 160MHz channel are sometimes collectively referred to as the primary channel.

[0058] Secondary Channel: A channel associated with a primary channel used to create a channel wider than the primary channel. In a 40MHz, 80MHz, 160MHz or 80+80MHz basic service set (BSS) the secondary channel is a secondary 20MHz channel.

[0059] Secondary 20MHz Channel: In a 40MHz very high throughput (VHT) basic service set (BSS), the 20MHz channel adjacent to the primary 20MHz channel that together form the 40MHz channel of the 40MHz VHT BSS. In an 80MHz VHT BSS, the 20MHz channel adjacent to the primary 20MHz channel that together form the primary 40MHz channel of the 80MHz VHT BSS. In a 160MHz or 80+80MHz VHT BSS, the 20MHz channel adjacent to the primary 20MHz channel that together form the primary 40MHz channel of the 160MHz or 80+80MHz VHT BSS. In a VHT BSS, the secondary 20MHz channel is also the secondary channel.

[0060] Secondary 40MHz Channel: In an 80MHz very high throughput (VHT) basic service set (BSS), the 40MHz channel adjacent to the primary 40MHz channel that together form the 80MHz channel of the 80MHz VHT BSS. In a 160MHz or 80+80MHz VHT BSS, the 40MHz channel adjacent to the primary 40MHz channel that together form the primary 80MHz channel.

[0061] Secondary 80MHz Channel: In a 160MHz or 80+80MHz very high throughput (VHT) basic service set (BSS), the 80MHz channel not including the primary 20MHz channel, that together with the primary 80MHz channel form the 160MHz or 80+80MHz channel of the 160MHz or 80+80MHz VHT BSS.

[0062] Secondary 160MHz Channel: In a 320MHz basic service set (BSS), the 160MHz channel not including the primary 20MHz channel, which together with the primary 160MHz channel, forms the 320MHz channel of the 320MHz extremely high throughput (EHT) BSS.

[0063] The above-mentioned secondary 20MHz channel, secondary 40MHz channel, secondary 80MHz channel, and secondary 160MHz channel are collectively referred to as a secondary channel.

[0064] Sub-channel: In the embodiments of the present application, a sub-channel can be understood as a narrow-bandwidth channel in a wide-bandwidth channel. For example, assuming that an 80MHz channel corresponds to a wide-bandwidth channel. Optionally, the 80MHz channel can be divided into four 20MHz narrow-bandwidth channels, and each narrow-bandwidth channel is a sub-20MHz channel. The 80MHz channel can also be divided into two 40MHz narrow-bandwidth channels, and each narrow-bandwidth channel is a sub-40MHz channel.

[0065] Operating Channel: The channel in which beacons are transmitted. (The operating channel is the channel in which beacons are transmitted.) It can be a set of multiple channels used during operation. Specifically, for example, a 20MHz, 40MHz, 80MHz, 160MHz, or 320MHz operating channel. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the operating channel is the sum of the primary 80 (P80) MHz channel and the secondary 80 (S80) MHz channel.

[0066] Operating Channel Width: The channel width in which the station (STA) is currently able to receive. For example, 20MHz, 40MHz, 80MHz, 160MHz or 320MHz.

[0067] Anchor Channel: Also referred to as Second Primary Channel, or Temporary Primary Channel, or Target Subchannel. A subchannel within the current operating channel of the basic service set, which is used as the primary channel when the access point and associated STAs perform non-primary channel access. For example, assuming the current operating channel bandwidth of the access point is 160MHz, the subchannels include: primary 80MHz (P80, including primary 20MHz (P20), secondary 20MHz (S20), secondary 40MHz (S40, including S20-1, S20-2)), secondary 80MHz (S80, including S20-3, S20-4, S20-5, S20-6). Optionally, S20-3 is used as P20, S20-4 is used as S20, S20-5 and S20-6 are used as S40, and P80 is used as S80 when performing non-primary channel access.

[0068] NPCA Operating Channel: The operating channel used when the access point and associated STAs perform non-primary channel access. In the present embodiment, the NPCA operating channel can include the NPCA primary channel and / or the NPCA secondary channel, and the NPCA primary channel is also referred to as the NPCA anchor channel.

[0069] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a communication system 10 according to an example embodiment of the present application. The communication system 10 can include terminals and terminals, or terminals and network devices, or access points (APs) and stations (STAs), which are not limited in the present application. In the present application, the communication system 10 is taken as an example including an AP 110 and a STA 120 for illustration.

[0070] In some scenarios, the AP can also be referred to as an AP STA, that is, in a certain sense, the AP is also a kind of STA. In some scenarios, the STA can also be referred to as a non-AP STA (non-AP STA).

[0071] In some embodiments, the STA can include an AP STA and a non-AP STA. The communication in the communication system can be between an AP and a non-AP STA, between non-AP STAs, or between a STA and a peer STA, where the peer STA can refer to a device that communicates with the STA, for example, the peer STA can be an AP or a non-AP STA. For example, there are two communication scenarios between the STA and the AP: uplink communication scenario and downlink communication scenario. The uplink communication is that the STA sends a signal to the AP, and the downlink communication is that the AP sends a signal to the STA. The AP is equivalent to a bridge connecting the wired network and the wireless network, and mainly functions to connect various wireless network clients together and then access the wireless network to the Ethernet. The AP device can be a terminal device (such as a mobile phone) or a network device (such as a router) with a wireless fidelity (WiFi) chip.

[0072] In the embodiments of the present application, the STA in the embodiments of the present application can be a device with wireless transceiving function, for example, can support 802.11 series protocol, and can communicate with an AP or other STAs. For example, the STA is any user communication device that allows a user to communicate with an AP and then communicate with a WLAN. The STA is, for example, a user equipment (UE), a mobile station (MS), a mobile terminal (MT), an access terminal, a user unit, a user station, a mobile station, a mobile terminal, a remote station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent, or a user apparatus.

[0073] The STA in the embodiments of the present application can also be a device providing voice / data / image connectivity to a user, for example, a handheld device, a vehicle-mounted device, a home device, a household appliance, a game device, etc. with wireless connection function or equipped with a wireless communication module. For example, a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a palm computer, a mobile internet device (MID), a wearable device, a virtual reality (VR) device, an augmented reality (AR) device, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in self driving, a drone or a flight photography device, a wireless terminal in remote medical surgery, a wireless terminal in smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in smart city, a wireless terminal in smart home, a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication function, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a terminal device in a 5G network or a terminal device in a future evolved public land mobile network (PLMN), etc. with wireless connection function, and can also be a television, a refrigerator, a washing machine, a kitchen appliance, a door lock, a fish tank, a sweeping robot, a game machine, a camera / camcorder, etc. with wireless connection function, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto.

[0074] By way of example and not limitation, in the embodiments of the present application, the STA can also be a wearable device. The wearable device can also be referred to as a wearable smart device, which is a general term for devices that are designed and developed by applying wearable technology to daily wear, such as glasses, gloves, watches, clothing, and shoes. For example, a smart watch or smart glasses, etc., and only focus on a certain type of application function, need to be used with other devices such as a smart phone, such as various types of smart wristbands, smart jewelry, etc. for monitoring vital signs.

[0075] In addition, in the embodiments of the present application, the STA can also be a terminal device in an Internet of Things (IoT) system. The IoT is an important part of future information technology development, and its main technical feature is to connect objects through communication technology and network, so as to realize the intelligent network of man-machine interconnection and object-object interconnection. In the embodiments of the present application, the IoT technology can achieve massive connection, deep coverage and terminal power saving through, for example, narrow band (NB) technology.

[0076] In addition, in the embodiments of the present application, the STA can be a vehicle-mounted communication device or a vehicle itself in a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) system. The communication mode in the V2X system is collectively referred to as V2X (X represents anything). For example, the V2X communication includes vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication, vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) communication, or vehicle-to-network (V2N) communication, etc.

[0077] It should be understood that the role of the STA in the communication system is not absolute. For example, in some scenarios, when a mobile phone connects a route, the mobile phone is a non-AP STA, and when the mobile phone acts as a hotspot for other mobile phones, the mobile phone plays the role of an AP. The AP and the non-AP STA can be devices applied to the V2X system, Internet of Things (IoT) nodes, sensors, etc. in the IoT, smart cameras, smart remote controllers, smart water meters, etc. in smart home, and sensors, etc. in smart city.

[0078] In some embodiments, the non-AP STA can support, but is not limited to, the 802.11be standard. The non-AP STA can also support multiple current and future 802.11 family Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) standards such as 802.11bn, 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b, and 802.11a. In some embodiments, the AP can be a device supporting the 802.11be standard. The AP can also be a device supporting multiple current and future 802.11 family WLAN standards such as 802.11bn, 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b, and 802.11a.

[0079] In the embodiments of the present application, the STA can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a computer, a virtual reality (VR) device, an augmented reality (AR) device, a communication device in industrial control, a set-top box, a communication device in unmanned driving, a vehicle-mounted communication device, a communication device in remote medical treatment, a communication device in smart power grid, a communication device in transportation safety, a communication device in smart city, a communication device in smart home, a wireless communication chip, and the like supporting WLAN / Wi-Fi technology. The WLAN technology can support frequency bands including, but not limited to, low frequency bands (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz) and high frequency bands (60 GHz).

[0080] There is one or more links between the station and the access point, and in some embodiments, the station and the access point support multi-band communication, for example, simultaneously communicating on 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz and 60 GHz frequency bands, or simultaneously communicating on different channels of the same frequency band (or different frequency bands), to improve the communication throughput and / or reliability between devices. Such devices are often referred to as multi-band devices, and can also be referred to as multi-link devices (MLD), and sometimes referred to as multi-link entities or multi-band entities. The multi-link device can be an access point device or a station device. If the multi-link device is an access point device, the multi-link device contains one or more APs; if the multi-link device is a station device, the multi-link device contains one or more non-AP STAs. The multi-link device including one or more APs can also be referred to as an AP, and the multi-link device including one or more non-AP STAs can also be referred to as a Non-AP, which can be referred to as a STA in the embodiments of the present application.

[0081] In the embodiments of the present application, the APs can include a plurality of APs, the Non-APs can include a plurality of STAs, a plurality of links can be formed between the plurality of APs in the APs and the plurality of STAs in the Non-APs, and data communication can be performed between the APs in the APs and the corresponding STAs in the Non-APs through the corresponding links. The AP is a device deployed in a wireless local area network to provide wireless communication functions for the STAs, and the STA can include a user equipment (UE), an access terminal, a user unit, a user station, a mobile station, a mobile station, a remote station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a wireless communication device, a user agent or a user device. Alternatively, the STA can also be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication function, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto.

[0082] In the embodiments of the present application, the STA and the AP both support the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard, but are not limited to the IEEE 802.11 standard.

[0083] In different scenarios, the STA in the communication system plays different roles, and in some embodiments, the STA can also act as an AP.

[0084] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a non-primary channel access (NPCA) operation according to an example embodiment. The NPCA operation mode enables a STA to access a secondary channel when the primary channel is busy due to overlapping basic service set (OBSS) traffic or other conditions. In particular, the NPCA operation mode does not assume that a STA can simultaneously detect or decode frames and obtain network allocation vector (NAV) information on both the primary and secondary channels. Also, only one NPCA primary channel is allowed per BSS, and a STA can contend for the channel on the NPCA primary channel when the primary channel of the BSS is busy due to OBSS traffic or other conditions. Referring to FIG. 3, a STA has an 80 MHz operating bandwidth, and when the STA detects 20 MHz (or 40 MHz) inter-PPDU, it can contend for the channel on the other 60 MHz (or 40 MHz) secondary channel and transmit when it wins the transmission opportunity (TXOP). When the STA detects 20 MHz inter-PPDU, it can contend for the channel on the other 60 MHz secondary channel and transmit when it wins the TXOP.

[0085] The target wake time (TWT) mechanism first appeared in the 802.11ah "Wi-Fi HaLow" standard, which is used to support energy-saving work in a large-scale Internet of Things environment. In 802.11ax, the TWT mechanism extends the scope of TWT work by adding support for trigger-based uplink transmission on the basis of 11ah. In TWT, a schedule is established between the terminal and the AP (the schedule is agreed upon by the terminal and the AP), and the schedule is composed of TWT time periods. When the time period agreed upon by the terminal and the AP arrives, the terminal wakes up, waits for a trigger frame sent by the AP, and performs a data exchange. After this transmission is completed, the terminal returns to a sleep state. Each terminal can independently negotiate with the AP, and each terminal has a separate TWT time period.

[0086] TWT allows an AP to manage the behavior of the BSS to mitigate contention among STAs and reduce the time that STAs in power save mode are awake, by operating in non-overlapping time and / or frequency domains and focusing frame exchanges to predefined service periods. Therefore, to ensure the effectiveness of TWT, an AP generally requires all associated STAs in the BSS to join TWT for scheduling by the AP; according to the TWT protocol of 11ax, an HE (High-efficiency, referring to 11ax) AP requests all associated STAs that claim to support TWT to participate in TWT, and a non-AP STA should perform individual TWT protocol negotiation after receiving the indication of the AP to join TWT, or join broadcast TWT. Moreover, the service period (SP) of TWT includes trigger-enabled SP and non-trigger-enabled SP, and the TWT scheduling AP schedules in the trigger-enabled SP by sending a trigger frame. At the same time, 11ax stipulates that a TWT scheduled STA cannot transmit a frame to the TWT scheduling AP outside the broadcast TWT SP, and in the trigger-enabled broadcast TWT, the TWT scheduled STA cannot transmit a frame to the TWT scheduling AP that is not carried in the HE trigger-based PPDU (HE TB PPDU).

[0087] IEEE 802.11be proposes the operation of restricted TWT (R-TWT) to allow an AP to provide more predictable, lower worst-case latency and jitter, and higher reliability for the transmission of low-latency traffic, with enhanced medium access protection and resource reservation mechanisms. R-TWT is based on broadcast TWT, and in the broadcast TWT operation, the TWT scheduling AP (TWT scheduling AP) carries a broadcast TWT element in the broadcast beacon frame to indicate a broadcast TWT service period (broadcast TWT SP); in particular, when there is any R-TWT membership established, the AP will announce R-TWT scheduling information by carrying a broadcast TWT element containing an R-TWT parameter set field in the transmitted management frame.

[0088] Restricted TWT mainly adds two channel access rules in channel access: the non-AP STA of EHT as the TXOP owner, when the TXOP is acquired outside the restricted TWT SP, it should ensure that the TXOP ends before the start of any restricted TWT SP; the EHT AP will schedule a Quiet Interval that overlaps with the restricted TWT SP to shield the operation of the legacy STA supporting the Quiet Element in the TWT SP, but the shielding operation in the Quiet Interval is invalid for the Non-AP EHT STA.

[0089] In the related art, the NPCA mechanism allows the STA to switch to the non-primary channel (or secondary channel) to compete for the TXOP to perform the PPDU transmission when the primary channel of the STA is in a busy state due to the OBSS traffic or other conditions. When most of the STAs of one BSS (such as BSS1) are in the coverage of another BSS (supposed to be BSS2, which is the OBSS of BSS1), if the STA of BSS2 initiates the TXOP to perform the data transmission, if the NPCA operation of the STA in BSS1 is not constrained, all or most of the STAs of BSS1 trigger the NPCA operation condition after detecting the OBSS PPDU, and then switch to the NPCA operation channel and then compete for the channel for channel access, even if a certain STA of BSS1 competes for the channel, only another STA or a few STAs of BSS1 can perform the communication, and other STAs that do not perform the data transmission in the NPCA operation channel need to switch to the original operation channel again, at the same time, the STA also needs to solve the medium synchronization problem in the switching process, so that most of the STAs cause a large amount of power consumption due to the frequent switching, and the communication efficiency is also affected.

[0090] Based on this, the embodiment of the present application provides an operation method in the non-primary channel access, and provides a NPCA availability management mechanism.

[0091] (1) The state in which the STA can be in during the NPCA operation is provided: the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA energy saving state.

[0092] (2) The following NPCA availability management modes of the STA are provided:

[0093] Mode one: a mode based on the coordination of the AP is provided, and is a non-periodic mode.

[0094] Mode two: a mode based on the coordination of the AP is provided, and is a periodic mode.

[0095] The third mode provides a mode based on STA autonomous indication or notification.

[0096] (3) The NPCA availability management related fields or elements and frame formats are defined, including at least: NPCA availability management frame definition, NPCA parameter set element definition, TIM element definition update, and TWT element definition update.

[0097] The NPCA availability management and coordination scheme of the embodiments of the present application can be used in NPCA operation. The STA supporting NPCA operation can be coordinated or allowed to be in NPCA unavailable state or NPCA energy saving state, so that the STA can achieve energy saving effect in a specific period of time, and the communication efficiency can be improved.

[0098] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an operation method in non-primary channel access provided by an example embodiment of the present application, which is suitable for a STA and / or an AP supporting NPCA operation, and specifically can be a STA and / or a non-AP STA. For a first STA supporting NPCA operation, the method includes:

[0099] Step 10: The first STA performs a first operation in the case of being in NPCA unavailable state or NPCA energy saving state.

[0100] In some embodiments, the first STA includes a STA supporting NPCA operation, and / or a non-AP STA supporting NPCA operation, and / or an AP supporting NPCA operation.

[0101] In some embodiments, in the case of being in NPCA unavailable state, the first operation includes at least one of the following: not receiving a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) on an NPCA operation channel; not switching to the NPCA operation channel for PPDU transmission.

[0102] In some embodiments, the NPCA unavailable state includes that the first STA cannot receive a PPDU on an NPCA operation channel, and / or the first STA does not switch to the NPCA operation channel for PPDU transmission.

[0103] In some embodiments, in the case of being in NPCA energy saving state, the first operation includes at least one of the following: not receiving a PPDU on an NPCA operation channel; not switching to the NPCA operation channel for PPDU transmission; switching to the NPCA operation channel for PPDU transmission in the case of satisfying a trigger condition of NPCA operation.

[0104] In some embodiments, the NPCA power saving state comprises that the first STA is in a NPCA unavailable state, and / or, the first STA cannot receive a PPDU on the NPCA operating channel, and / or, the first STA does not switch to the NPCA operating channel for PPDU transmission, and / or, the first STA switches to the NPCA operating channel for PPDU transmission in case that a trigger condition of the NPCA operation is met.

[0105] Optionally, the NPCA operating channel comprises a NPCA primary channel and / or a NPCA secondary channel. In some embodiments, not switching to the NPCA operating channel for PPDU transmission comprises not switching to the NPCA primary channel for PPDU transmission.

[0106] In some embodiments, in case that the first STA is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state, the second STA does not allocate resource to the first STA on the NPCA operating channel for triggering PPDU transmission, and / or, does not initiate frame exchange with the first STA on the NPCA operating channel, and / or, does not send a unicast frame to the first STA when the second STA is a TXOP owner of the NPCA operating channel, and / or, does not send a trigger frame with a user info field addressed to the first STA to the first STA when the second STA is a TXOP owner of the NPCA operating channel.

[0107] In some embodiments, the second STA comprises a STA supporting the NPCA operation, and / or, a non-AP STA supporting the NPCA operation, and / or, an AP supporting the NPCA operation, and / or, the second STA is a peer associated STA of the first STA, and / or, the second STA is an AP associated with the first STA and supporting the NPCA operation.

[0108] In some embodiments, the unicast frame comprises a frame with a destination address being a STA address of the first STA.

[0109] In some embodiments, the trigger frame with the user info field addressed to the first STA comprises a trigger frame carrying a user info field with a STA identifier corresponding to the first STA.

[0110] In some embodiments, the trigger condition of the NPCA operation comprises that an OBSS PPDU is detected, and a duration of the OBSS PPDU is greater than or equal to a first threshold. The first threshold can be set according to actual needs, and / or, the first threshold is configured by an AP.

[0111] In some embodiments, the trigger condition of the NPCA operation comprises: detecting an OBSS PPDU, and a TXOP duration in which the OBSS PPDU is located is greater than or equal to a second threshold. The second threshold can be set according to actual needs, and / or the second threshold is configured by the AP.

[0112] In some embodiments, the trigger condition of the NPCA operation comprises: detecting an OBSS control frame interaction.

[0113] In some embodiments, the trigger condition of the NPCA operation comprises: detecting that the current primary channel is unavailable due to interference. In an example, the interference comprises In Device Coexistence (IDC) interference.

[0114] In summary, in the NPCA operation process, the NPCA availability of the STA supporting the NPCA operation can be managed, and the first operation of the STA supporting the NPCA operation in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state is coordinated or allowed, so as to avoid a large amount of power consumption caused by frequent invalid switching of the STA, so that the STA can achieve the power saving effect in a specific period of time, and the communication efficiency is also improved.

[0115] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an operation method in non-primary channel access according to an example embodiment of the present application, which is suitable for a STA and / or an AP supporting the NPCA operation, and specifically can be a STA and / or a non-AP STA. For a second STA supporting the NPCA operation, the method comprises:

[0116] Step 20: The second STA performs a second operation in the case that the first STA is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state.

[0117] In some embodiments, the second STA comprises a STA supporting the NPCA operation, and / or a non-AP STA supporting the NPCA operation, and / or an AP supporting the NPCA operation, and / or a peer STA associated with the first STA, and / or an AP supporting the NPCA operation associated with the first STA.

[0118] In some embodiments, the NPCA unavailable state comprises that the first STA cannot receive a PPDU on the NPCA operation channel, and / or the first STA does not switch to the NPCA operation channel for PPDU transmission.

[0119] In some embodiments, the NPCA power saving state comprises that the first STA is in a NPCA unavailable state, and / or, the first STA cannot receive a PPDU on the NPCA operating channel, and / or, the first STA does not switch to the NPCA operating channel for PPDU transmission, and / or, the first STA switches to the NPCA operating channel for PPDU transmission in case that a trigger condition of the NPCA operation is satisfied.

[0120] Optionally, the NPCA operating channel comprises a NPCA primary channel and / or a NPCA secondary channel. In some embodiments, not switching to the NPCA operating channel for PPDU transmission comprises not switching to the NPCA primary channel for PPDU transmission.

[0121] In some embodiments, in case that the first STA is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state, the second operation comprises at least one of the following: the second STA does not allocate resource on the NPCA operating channel to the first STA for triggering PPDU transmission; the second STA does not initiate frame exchange with the first STA on the NPCA operating channel; the second STA does not transmit a unicast frame to the first STA when the second STA is a TXOP owner on the NPCA operating channel; the second STA does not transmit a trigger frame with a user info field addressed to the first STA to the first STA when the second STA is a TXOP owner on the NPCA operating channel.

[0122] In some embodiments, the unicast frame comprises a frame with a destination address being a STA address of the first STA.

[0123] In some embodiments, the trigger frame with the user info field addressed to the first STA comprises a trigger frame carrying a user info field with a STA identifier corresponding to the first STA.

[0124] In some embodiments, the trigger condition of the NPCA operation comprises: detecting an OBSS PPDU, and a duration of the OBSS PPDU is greater than or equal to a first threshold. Wherein, the first threshold can be set according to actual needs, and / or, the first threshold is configured by an AP.

[0125] In some embodiments, the trigger condition of the NPCA operation comprises: detecting an OBSS PPDU, and a duration of a TXOP in which the OBSS PPDU is located is greater than or equal to a second threshold. Wherein, the second threshold can be set according to actual needs, and / or, the second threshold is configured by an AP.

[0126] In some embodiments, the trigger condition of the NPCA operation comprises: detecting an OBSS control frame interaction.

[0127] In some embodiments, the trigger condition of the NPCA operation includes: detecting that the current primary channel is unavailable due to interference. In an example, the interference includes In Device Coexistence (IDC) interference.

[0128] In some embodiments, the second STA can also be in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state.

[0129] In some embodiments, the second STA can also be in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state only for the third STA. Optionally, the third STA includes a STA supporting the NPCA operation, and / or a non-AP STA supporting the NPCA operation, and / or an AP supporting the NPCA operation, and / or a peer associated STA of the second STA, and / or an AP supporting the NPCA operation associated with the second STA.

[0130] In summary, in the NPCA operation process, the NPCA availability of the STA (AP) supporting the NPCA operation can be managed, and the STA supporting the NPCA operation can be coordinated or allowed to be in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state. The second operation can be performed in the case that the STA is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state, the large power consumption caused by frequent invalid switching of the STA is avoided, the STA can achieve the energy saving effect in a specific period of time, and the communication efficiency is improved.

[0131] For the first mode:

[0132] FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an operation method in a non-primary channel access according to an example embodiment of the present application, for implementing the AP-based non-periodic NPCA availability management. The method is jointly performed by the first STA and / or the second STA. In different scenarios, the first STA and the second STA play different roles. For example, the first STA includes a STA supporting the NPCA operation, or a non-AP STA supporting the NPCA operation, or an AP supporting the NPCA operation. The second STA includes a STA supporting the NPCA operation, or a non-AP STA supporting the NPCA operation, or an AP supporting the NPCA operation, or a peer associated STA of the first STA, or an AP supporting the NPCA operation associated with the first STA. The method includes at least part of the steps in step 21 and step 11.

[0133] Step 21: The second STA sends a first frame.

[0134] Step 11: The first STA receives the first frame sent by the second STA.

[0135] In some embodiments, the first frame is sent or received at an arbitrary time. Or, the first frame is sent or received at a specified time.

[0136] In some embodiments, the first frame is used to provide first scheduling information of all or part of STAs in an NPCA availability management period.

[0137] In some embodiments, all or part of STAs refer to all or part of STAs supporting NPCA operation.

[0138] In some embodiments, all or part of STAs include the first STA.

[0139] In some embodiments, the NPCA availability management period is non-periodic, or is interval.

[0140] In some embodiments, there is an interval between adjacent two NPCA availability management periods. Optionally, the intervals between different adjacent two NPCA availability management periods are the same, or different, or partially the same. Optionally, the lengths of different NPCA availability management periods are the same, or different, or partially the same.

[0141] In some embodiments, the first scheduling information is used to indicate that all or part of STAs are in NPCA unavailable state or NPCA power saving state in the NPCA availability management period. Wherein, all or part of STAs are in Active Mode or Power Save Mode.

[0142] In some embodiments, the first scheduling information is used to indicate that all or part of STAs in Active Mode are in NPCA unavailable state or NPCA power saving state in the NPCA availability management period. And / or, the first scheduling information is used to indicate that all or part of STAs in Power Save Mode are in NPCA power saving state in the NPCA availability management period. And / or, the first scheduling information is also used to indicate that all or part of STAs in Power Save Mode are in sleep state in the NPCA availability management period.

[0143] The first frame:

[0144] In some embodiments, in order to realize non-periodic NPCA availability management, the first frame includes at least one of the following fields: a first field used to indicate whether all or part of STAs need to enter NPCA unavailable state or NPCA power saving state; a second field used to indicate the NPCA availability management period of all or part of STAs or the duration of being in NPCA unavailable state or in NPCA power saving state.

[0145] In some embodiments, the first field is a first bitmap field. Optionally, n bits are included in the first bitmap field, and a value of an i-th bit of the n bits is used to indicate whether a STA identified by an Association Identifier (AID) associated with the i-th bit needs to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state. The AID is used to uniquely identify the STA. i is a positive integer.

[0146] Optionally, when the value of the i-th bit is a first value, it is used to indicate that the STA identified by the AID associated with the i-th bit needs to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state. When the value of the i-th bit is a second value, it is used to indicate that the STA identified by the AID associated with the i-th bit does not need to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state. In one example, the first value is 0, and the second value is 1. In another example, the first value can be 1, and the second value can be 0.

[0147] In some embodiments, a duration of the NPCA availability management period is also referred to as an NPCA availability management duration. A duration of the STA in the NPCA unavailable state is also referred to as an NPCA unavailable duration. A duration of the STA in the NPCA power save state is also referred to as an NPCA power save duration.

[0148] In some embodiments, a starting time of the NPCA availability management period or the duration of the STA in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state of all or part of the STAs is immediately after the first frame, or is a specified time after the first frame, or is a time after the first frame and an interval between the first frame and the time is a specified interval.

[0149] Type 1 of the first frame:

[0150] In some embodiments, the first frame includes an action frame, or the first frame is an action frame. In some embodiments, the first frame is a designated type of action frame. In some embodiments, the designated type includes Ultra High Reliability (UHR), and the first frame is a UHR action frame. In some embodiments, the first frame is an action frame without Acknowledgement Character (ACK). In some embodiments, the first frame is an action frame with ACK. In some embodiments, the first frame is an NPCA availability management frame.

[0151] In some embodiments, the first frame is an NPCA availability management frame, and the NPCA availability management frame is an action frame without ACK. Optionally, the action field of the NPCA availability management frame comprises at least one of the following fields: a category field, a specified type action field, a TIM element field, and an NPCA availability management element field. An example is shown in Table 1.

[0152] Table 1: Format of the action field of the NPCA availability management frame

[0153] In some embodiments, the category field in the action field of the NPCA availability management frame adopts the definition of the IEEE 802.11 standard.

[0154] In some embodiments, the specified type action field is also used to distinguish the format of the specified type action frame, and the specified type includes UHR. Optionally, the specified type action field comprises a value, a corresponding meaning, and a time priority. For example, the value of the specified type action field is a first value, the meaning is NPCA availability management, and there is a time priority. The first value is 0 or other. An example is shown in Table 2.

[0155] Table 2: Format of the specified type action field

[0156] In some embodiments, for the first field of the first frame, the first field is a first bitmap field, and the first bitmap field comprises a traffic indication virtual bitmap field carried by a partial virtual bitmap field in a traffic indication map (TIM) element.

[0157] In some embodiments, the TIM element is carried in the NPCA availability management frame, and is used for NPCA availability management, or is used for notifying or indicating the data or state availability of all or part of STAs and the time schedule thereof, or is used for notifying or indicating whether all or part of STAs are in an NPCA unavailable state or an NPCA energy saving state. It should be noted that the TIM element for NPCA availability management is defined based on the TIM element defined in the IEEE 802.11 specification.

[0158] In some embodiments, referring to FIG. 7, the TIM element format includes at least one of the following fields: an Element ID field occupying 1 byte; a Length field occupying 1 byte; a DTIM Count field occupying 1 byte; a DTIM period field occupying 1 byte; a Bitmap Control field occupying 1 or 0 byte; a Partial Virtual Bitmap field occupying 0 to 251 bytes.

[0159] In some embodiments, the Element ID field is used to uniquely identify the element, including at least one of a number, a character, and a letter. The Length field is used to indicate the element length. The Element ID field and the Length field adopt the IEEE 802.11 specification definition.

[0160] In some embodiments, the DTIM Count field in the TIM element is reserved. The DTIM period field in the TIM element is reserved.

[0161] In some embodiments, the Bitmap Control field in the TIM element includes a Stream Indication subfield, which contains a bit in the traffic indication virtual bitmap associated with the AID of 0.

[0162] In some embodiments, the Partial Virtual Bitmap field of the TIM element carries all or part of the information of the Stream Indication Virtual Bitmap field.

[0163] In some embodiments, the bit N in the Stream Indication Virtual Bitmap field for the STA supporting the NPCA operation or the non-AP STA:

[0164] Optionally, when the bit N takes a first value, it is used to indicate that, during the NPCA availability management period, the STA is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state, or, during the NPCA availability management period, a second STA supporting the NPCA operation does not intend to transmit a PPDU to the STA identified by the AID on the NPCA operation channel, or, during the NPCA availability management period, the second STA does not intend to trigger the STA for uplink transmission on the NPCA operation channel, or, during the NPCA availability management period, the second STA does not intend to send downlink data to the STA on the NPCA operation channel.

[0165] Optionally, when the value of bit N is the second value, it indicates that the second STA supporting NPCA operation intends to transmit a PPDU to the STA identified by the AID on the NPCA operation channel during the NPCA availability management period, or the second STA intends to trigger the STA for uplink transmission on the NPCA operation channel, or the second STA intends to send downlink data to the STA on the NPCA operation channel.

[0166] Optionally, the NPCA availability management period can be indicated by information such as the NPCA availability management duration field carried by the NPCA availability management frame. In an example, the first value can be 0. The second value can be 1. In another example, the first value can be 1, and the second value can be 0.

[0167] In an example, the value of bit N in the flow indication virtual bitmap field corresponding to the non-AP STA supporting NPCA operation (whose association identification AID is N) is set and the meaning is determined as follows: when the value of bit N in the flow indication virtual bitmap field is set to 0, it indicates that the AP supporting NPCA operation does not intend to transmit to the non-AP STA with AID N on the NPCA operation channel during the indicated NPCA availability management period, i.e. the AP does not intend to trigger the non-AP STA for uplink transmission on the NPCA operation channel, or the AP does not intend to send downlink data to the non-AP STA on the NPCA operation channel. Wherein the NPCA availability management period can be indicated by information such as the NPCA availability management duration field carried by the NPCA availability management frame. Otherwise, the value of bit N in the flow indication virtual bitmap corresponding to the non-AP STA supporting NPCA operation is set to 1.

[0168] In some embodiments, bit N in the flow indication virtual bitmap field for a STA or non-AP STA that does not support NPCA operation:

[0169] Optionally, when the value of bit N is the second value, it indicates that the second STA has buffered data frames to be sent to the STA.

[0170] Optionally, when the value of bit N is the first value, it indicates that the second STA does not have buffered data frames to be sent to the STA.

[0171] Optionally, the NPCA availability management period can be indicated by information such as the NPCA availability management duration field carried by the NPCA availability management frame. In an example, the first value can be 0. The second value can be 1. In another example, the first value can be 1, and the second value can be 0.

[0172] In an example, the value of bit N in the stream indication virtual bitmap field corresponding to a non-AP STA (with association identification AID N) that does not support the NPCA operation is set as follows: the value of bit N in the stream indication virtual bitmap field is set to 1, indicating that the AP has buffered data frames to send to the non-AP STA, otherwise set to 0.

[0173] In some embodiments, for the second field of the first frame, the second field comprises the NPCA availability management duration or the NPCA energy saving duration or the NPCA unavailable duration field in the NPCA availability management element.

[0174] In some embodiments, the NPCA availability management element is used to indicate the information of the NPCA availability management of all or part of the STAs in the NPCA operation, or, to provide the NPCA availability management duration or the NPCA energy saving duration or the NPCA unavailable duration of all or part of the STAs.

[0175] In some embodiments, the NPCA availability management duration is also referred to as the duration of the NPCA availability management period. The NPCA unavailable duration is also referred to as the duration of the NPCA unavailable state. The NPCA energy saving duration is also referred to as the duration of the NPCA energy saving state.

[0176] In some embodiments, referring to FIG. 8, the NPCA availability management element format comprises at least one of the following fields: an element identification (Element ID) field, occupying 1 byte; a length (Length) field, occupying 1 byte; an element identification extension (Element ID Extension) field, occupying 1 byte; an NPCA availability management duration field, occupying 1 byte.

[0177] In some embodiments, the element identification field is used to uniquely identify the element, comprising at least one of a number, a character, and a letter. The length field is used to indicate the length of the element. The element identification field, the element identification extension field, and the length field adopt the definition of IEEE 802.11 specification.

[0178] In some embodiments, the NPCA availability management duration field is also referred to as the NPCA energy saving duration field. The NPCA availability management duration field is also referred to as the NPCA unavailable duration field. The NPCA availability management duration field is encoded in units of milliseconds.

[0179] In some embodiments, when the NPCA availability management element is carried in the NPCA availability management frame, the NPCA availability management duration field is used to indicate the duration of the NPCA availability management period.

[0180] In some embodiments, during the NPCA availability management period, all or part of the STAs in the active mode supporting the NPCA operation are in the NPCA unavailable or NPCA power saving state, and / or all or part of the STAs in the power saving mode supporting the NPCA operation are in the sleep state or the NPCA unavailable state. The all or part of the STAs include the first STA.

[0181] In an example, when the NPCA availability management element is carried in the NPCA availability management frame, the NPCA availability management duration or NPCA power saving or NPCA unavailable duration field indicates the duration of the NPCA availability management period, wherein the specific STA in the active mode supporting the NPCA operation can be in the NPCA unavailable or NPCA power saving state during the NPCA availability management period, and / or the specific STA in the power saving mode supporting the NPCA operation can be in the sleep or NPCA unavailable state during the NPCA availability management period. In particular, the specific STA is indicated by the TIM element carried by the NPCA availability management frame, such as, for the specific STA, the value of the bit N corresponding to the specific STA in the flow indication virtual bitmap field carried by the part of the virtual bitmap field included in the TIM element is set to 0. The NPCA availability management duration or NPCA power saving or NPCA unavailable duration field is encoded in units of milliseconds.

[0182] The type 2 of the first frame:

[0183] In some embodiments, the first frame includes a beacon frame. Or, the first frame is a beacon frame. Or, the first frame can also be an association response frame.

[0184] In some embodiments, for the first field of the first frame, the first field is a first bitmap field, and the first bitmap field includes the NPCA available AID information field in the NPCA parameter set element.

[0185] In some embodiments, for the second field of the first frame, the second field includes the NPCA available expected duration field in the NPCA parameter set element.

[0186] In some embodiments, the NPCA parameter set element is used to provide information required by all or part of the STAs when performing the NPCA operation.

[0187] In some embodiments, referring to FIG. 9, the NPCA Parameter Set element format includes at least one of the following fields: an Element ID field, occupying 1 octet; a Length field, occupying 1 octet; an Element ID Extension field, occupying 1 octet; an NPCA Control field, occupying 1 octet; an NPCA BSS Color Bitmap field, occupying 0 or 8 octets; an NPCA Partial BSSID Bitmap field, occupying 0 or 8 octets; an NPCA Available AID Information field, occupying 0 or 8 octets; an NPCA Available Update Time field, occupying 0 or 2 octets; and an NPCA Available Expected Duration field, occupying 0 or 3 octets.

[0188] In some embodiments, the Element ID field is used to uniquely identify the element, including at least one of a number, a character, and a letter. The Length field is used to indicate the length of the element. The Element ID field, the Element ID Extension field, and the Length field are defined according to IEEE 802.11 specification.

[0189] In some embodiments, the NPCA BSS Color Bitmap field is a bitmap used to indicate the BSS color values used by the members of the NPCA group to which the STA belongs. Optionally, each bit of the bitmap corresponds to one of the 64 BSS color values, where the lowest numbered bit corresponds to BSS color value 0 and the highest numbered bit corresponds to BSS color value 63.

[0190] Optionally, when a bit of the bitmap is of a second value, then at least one BSS uses the BSS color value, and the BSS is a member of the same NPCA as the STA. When a bit of the bitmap is of a first value, then no BSS in the same NPCA group as the STA uses the corresponding BSS color value. The bit of the bitmap corresponding to BSS color value 0 is reserved. In an example, the first value can be 0 and the second value can be 1. In another example, the first value can be 1 and the second value can be 0.

[0191] In one example, the NPCA BSS color bitmap field is a bitmap indicating the BSS color values used by the members of the NPCA group to which the sending STA belongs. Each bit of the bitmap corresponds to one of the 64 BSS colors, with the lowest numbered bit corresponding to BSS color value 0 and the highest numbered bit corresponding to BSS color value 63. If the corresponding bit of the bitmap is 1, then at least one BSS uses the BSS color value, and the BSS is a member of the same NPCA as the sending STA. If a bit of the bitmap is 0, then no BSS in the same NPCA group as the sending STA uses the corresponding BSS color value. The bit of the bitmap corresponding to BSS color value 0 is reserved.

[0192] In some embodiments, the NPCA partial BSS identification bitmap field is a bitmap indicating the partial BSSID values used by the members of the NPCA group to which the STA belongs. Optionally, each bit of the bitmap corresponds to one of the 64 possible BSSID values [39:44], with the lowest numbered bit corresponding to partial BSSID value 0 and the highest numbered bit corresponding to partial BSSID value 63.

[0193] Optionally, when a bit of the bitmap is at a second value, then at least one BSSID value is used by a BSS that is a member of the same NPCA group as the STA. When a bit of the bitmap is at a first value, then no BSS in the same NPCA group as the STA uses the corresponding partial BSSID value. In one example, the first value can be 0 and the second value can be 1. In another example, the first value can be 1 and the second value can be 0.

[0194] In one example, the NPCA partial BSS identification bitmap field is a bitmap indicating the partial BSSID values used by the members of the NPCA group to which the STA belongs. Optionally, each bit of the bitmap corresponds to one of the 64 possible BSSID values [39:44], with the lowest numbered bit corresponding to partial BSSID value 0 and the highest numbered bit corresponding to partial BSSID value 63.

[0195] In some embodiments, the NPCA available update time field is used to indicate the starting time of the NPCA availability management period or the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state of all or part of the STAs. Optionally, the NPCA available update time field is in units of transmission unit (TU) and is used to indicate the starting time of the NPCA availability management period, using the TSF value corresponding to the BSS of the BSSID of the first frame containing the NPCA parameter set element as the time base, i.e., the 10th to 25th bits of the TSF.

[0196] In some embodiments, referring to FIG. 10, the NPCA available AID information field includes at least one of the following subfields: an NPCA available AID bitmap subfield, occupying 32 bits, corresponding to bits B12-B43; an NPCA available AID bitmap offset subfield, occupying 11 bits, corresponding to bits B1-B11; an other AID NPCA available subfield, occupying 1 bit, corresponding to bit B0; and a reserved subfield, occupying 4 bits, corresponding to bits B0.

[0197] In some embodiments, the NPCA available AID bitmap subfield is used to indicate whether the n consecutive AIDs identified by the STAs need to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state, or to provide the indication of whether the n consecutive AIDs identified by the STAs are NPCA available. Optionally, bits B12-B43 respectively represent the AID values in the range of (NPCA available AID bitmap offset x 4 + 1 to NPCA available AID bitmap offset x 4 + 32).

[0198] Optionally, for each bit in the NPCA available AID bitmap subfield, if the value of the bit is the second value, it indicates that the STA corresponding to the position of the bit is in the NPCA available state, and if the value of the bit is the first value, it indicates that the STA corresponding to the position of the bit is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state. For example, the first value includes 0 and the second value includes 1. In another example, the first value can be 1 and the second value can be 0.

[0199] In some embodiments, the n consecutive AIDs include 32 consecutive AIDs. In one example, the NPCA available AID information field includes a NPCA available AID bitmap subfield to provide indication of whether the 32 consecutive AIDs are available for NPCA. In particular, B12-B43 represent AID values in the range of (NPCA available AID bitmap offset x 4 + 1 to NPCA available AID bitmap offset x 4 + 32), respectively. Wherein for each bit in the NPCA available AID bitmap subfield, a value of 1 for the bit indicates that the station corresponding to the bit position is in NPCA available state, and a value of 0 indicates that the station is in NPCA unavailable state or NPCA power save state.

[0200] In some embodiments, the NPCA available AID bitmap offset subfield is used to indicate a first AID in the n consecutive AIDs, or, is used to indicate a starting AID value associated with bit 0 of the NPCA available AID bitmap subfield.

[0201] Optionally, the value of the NPCA available AID bitmap offset subfield is multiplied by 4 to find the starting AID value. For non-S1G STAs, it has a value from 0 to 494, or for S1G STAs, it has a value from 0 to 2040, matching the maximum AID value 2007 (for non-S1G STAs) and 8191 (for S1G STAs), respectively.

[0202] In one example, the NPCA available AID bitmap offset subfield in the NPCA available AID information field is used to indicate a starting AID value associated with bit 0 of the NPCA available AID bitmap subfield. Its value is multiplied by 4 to find the starting AID value, and for non-S1G STAs, it has a value from 0 to 494, or for S1G STAs, it has a value from 0 to 2040. These match the maximum AID value 2007 (for non-S1G STAs) and 8191 (for S1G STAs).

[0203] In some embodiments, the other AID NPCA available subfield is used to indicate whether STAs identified by other AIDs, other than the n consecutive AIDs, need to enter NPCA unavailable state or NPCA power save state, or, is used to provide NPCA available indication for STAs identified by AIDs outside the coverage of the NPCA available AID bitmap subfield.

[0204] Optionally, the Other AID NPCA Available subfield is set to a second value to indicate that the STA identified by the Other AID is in the NPCA available state, and the Other AID NPCA Available subfield is set to a first value to indicate that the STA identified by the Other AID is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state. For example, the first value is 0 and the second value is 1. In another example, the first value is 1 and the second value is 0.

[0205] In one example, the Other AID NPCA Available subfield in the NPCA Available AID information field provides the NPCA available indication for AIDs outside the coverage of the NPCA Available AID bitmap subfield. A value of 1 indicates the NPCA available state, and a value of 0 indicates the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state.

[0206] In some embodiments, the NPCA Control field in the NPCA Parameter Set element includes at least one of the following fields: NPCA Disallowed, occupying 1 bit, corresponding to bit B0; NPCA Primary Channel field, occupying 4 bits, corresponding to bits B1-B4; NPCA Operating Channel Bitmap field, occupying 16 bits, corresponding to bits B5-B20; NPCA BSS Information Present field, occupying 1 bit, corresponding to bit B21; NPCA Triggered Enable field, occupying 1 bit, corresponding to bit B22; NPCA Available Restriction Present field, occupying 1 bit, corresponding to bit B23; NPCA Available Update Time Present field, occupying 1 bit, corresponding to bit B24; NPCA Available Expected Duration Present field, occupying 1 bit, corresponding to bit B25; and Reserved field, occupying 6 bits, corresponding to bits B26-B31.

[0207] In some embodiments, the NPCA Disallowed field indicates whether NPCA operation is allowed for all or part of the STAs associated with the second STA that sends the NPCA Parameter Set element. Optionally, when the NPCA Disallowed subfield is set to a second value, NPCA operation or NPCA-based transmission is disallowed. When the NPCA Disallowed subfield is set to a first value, NPCA operation or NPCA-based transmission is allowed. For example, the second value is 0 and the first value is 1. In another example, the first value is 1 and the second value is 0. In some embodiments, the NPCA Disallowed field is also referred to as the NPCA Disallowed subfield.

[0208] In one example, the not-allowing NPCA subfield in the NPCA control field indicates whether the non-AP STA associated with the AP sending this element is allowed to perform NPCA operation. When the not-allowing NPCA subfield is 1, the non-AP STA is not allowed to perform NPCA operation or NPCA-based transmission. When the not-allowing NPCA subfield is 0, the non-AP STA is allowed to perform NPCA operation or NPCA-based transmission.

[0209] In some embodiments, the NPCA primary channel field is used to indicate which channel within the bandwidth occupied by the BSS is the NPCA primary channel. Optionally, the encoding value of the NPCA primary channel field can be taken as the subchannel number of the NPCA primary channel, where the encoding value of the 20MHz subchannel with the lowest frequency among the set of channels within the bandwidth occupied by the BSS is 0, and the encoding value is incremented for each next higher frequency 20MHz subchannel. In some embodiments, the NPCA primary channel field is also referred to as the NPCA primary channel subfield.

[0210] In one example, the NPCA primary channel subfield indicates which channel within the bandwidth occupied by the BSS is the NPCA primary channel, and the encoding value of the NPCA primary channel subfield can be taken as the subchannel number of the NPCA primary channel, where the encoding value of the 20MHz subchannel with the lowest frequency among the set of channels within the bandwidth occupied by the BSS is 0, and each next higher value corresponds to a next higher frequency 20MHz subchannel.

[0211] In some embodiments, the NPCA operation channel bitmap field is used to indicate which channels within the bandwidth occupied by the BSS are the NPCA operation channels. Optionally, the lowest numbered bit in the bitmap corresponds to the 20MHz subchannel with the lowest frequency among the set of all 20MHz subchannels within the BSS bandwidth, and each successive bit in the bitmap corresponds to a next higher frequency 20MHz subchannel. In some embodiments, the NPCA operation channel bitmap field is also referred to as the NPCA operation channel bitmap subfield.

[0212] Optionally, when a bit in the bitmap is set to a second value, the 20MHz channel corresponding to the position of the bit is an NPCA operation channel, and when a bit in the bitmap is set to a first value, the 20MHz channel corresponding to the position of the bit is not an NPCA operation channel. In one example, the second value can be 0 and the first value can be 1. In another example, the first value can be 1 and the second value can be 0.

[0213] In one example, the NPCA operating channel bitmap subfield indicates which channels within the bandwidth occupied by the BSS are operating channels for NPCA, with the lowest numbered bit corresponding to the 20MHz subchannel of lowest frequency in the set of all 20MHz subchannels within the BSS bandwidth, with each successive bit in the bitmap corresponding to the next higher frequency 20MHz subchannel. A bit set to 1 in the bitmap indicates that the 20MHz channel corresponding to that bit position is an operating subchannel for NPCA, and a bit set to 0 in the bitmap indicates that the 20MHz channel corresponding to that bit position is not an operating subchannel for NPCA.

[0214] In some embodiments, the NPCA trigger enable field is used to indicate whether all or part of the STAs switch to the NPCA operating channels for PPDU transmission if the trigger condition for NPCA operation is met, or is used to indicate whether the second STA (AP) sends a trigger frame for allocating resources for one or more TB PPDU transmission or for one or more non-TB PPDU PPDU transmission if the trigger condition for NPCA operation is met.

[0215] Optionally, the NPCA trigger enable field is of a first value to indicate that the second STA (AP) has sent at least one trigger frame in the NPCA operating channel if the trigger condition for NPCA operation is met, and the NPCA trigger enable field is of a second value to indicate that the second STA (AP) has not sent a trigger frame in the NPCA operating channel. Exemplarily, the second value can be 0 and the first value can be 1. In another example, the first value can be 1 and the second value can be 0.

[0216] In one example, the NPCA trigger enable field indicates whether the AP sends a trigger frame in the NPCA operating channel for allocating resources for one or more TB PPDU transmission or for one or more non-TB PPDU PPDU transmission if the trigger condition for NPCA operation is met. The trigger field is set to 1 to indicate that at least one trigger frame is sent in the NPCA operating channel if the trigger condition for NPCA operation is met, and is set to 0 otherwise.

[0217] In some embodiments, the NPCA available restriction field is used to indicate whether the NPCA available AID information field is present, or is used to indicate whether the NPCA availability of all or part of the STAs participating in the NPCA operation is restricted, wherein the all or part of the STAs participating in the NPCA operation are identified by AIDs.

[0218] Optionally, when the value of the NPCA available restriction present field is a first value, indicating that the NPCA availability of all or part of the STAs participating in the NPCA operation is restricted, at the same time, the NPCA available AID information field is also present, when the value of the NPCA available restriction present field is a second value, indicating that the NPCA availability of all or part of the STAs participating in the NPCA operation is not restricted, at the same time, the NPCA available AID information field is not present. For example, the second value can be 0, and the first value can be 1. In another example, the first value can be 1, and the second value can be 0.

[0219] In some embodiments, the NPCA available restriction present subfield indicates whether the NPCA availability of the STAs (identified by AID) participating in the NPCA operation is restricted, when the value of the NPCA available restriction present subfield is 1, indicating that the STAs (identified by AID) participating in the NPCA operation are restricted, at the same time, the NPCA available AID information field is present, when the value of the NPCA available restriction present subfield is 0, indicating that the STAs participating in the NPCA operation are not restricted, at the same time, the NPCA available AID information field is not present.

[0220] In some embodiments, the NPCA available update time present field is used to indicate whether the NPCA available update time field is present. Optionally, when the NPCA available update time present field is a second value, indicating that the NPCA available update time field is present, when the NPCA available update time present field is a first value, indicating that the NPCA available update time field is not present. For example, the second value can be 1, and the first value can be 0. In another example, the first value can be 1, and the second value can be 0.

[0221] In an example, the NPCA available update time present field indicates whether the NPCA available update time field is present, if the NPCA available update time present field is set to 1, indicating that the NPCA available update time field is present, otherwise, it is set to 0.

[0222] In some embodiments, the NPCA available expected duration present field is used to indicate whether the NPCA available expected duration field is present. Optionally, when the NPCA available expected duration present field is a second value, indicating that the NPCA available expected duration field is present, when the NPCA available expected duration present field is a first value, indicating that the NPCA available expected duration field is not present. For example, the second value can be 1, and the first value can be 0. In another example, the first value can be 1, and the second value can be 0.

[0223] In an example, the presence of the NPCA available expected duration field is indicated by the presence of the NPCA available expected duration field, which is set to 1 if the NPCA available expected duration field is present, and 0 otherwise.

[0224] In some embodiments, for the NPCA available expected duration field:

[0225] When the NPCA available update time field is present, the NPCA available expected duration field is used to indicate the expected duration of the NPCA availability management period or the remaining duration in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state for all or part of the STAs. The expected duration is in TU, starting from the start time of the NPCA availability management period indicated by the NPCA available update time field.

[0226] When the NPCA available update time field is not present, the NPCA available expected duration field is used to indicate the remaining duration of the NPCA availability management period or the remaining duration in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state for all or part of the STAs. The remaining duration is in TU, starting from the TBTT of the beacon frame when the frame carrying the NPCA parameter set element is a beacon frame, or starting from the most recent TBTT before the transmission of the frame when the frame carrying the NPCA parameter set element is not a beacon frame.

[0227] In some embodiments, the expected duration field is present if the AP associated with the AP MLD carries the NPCA parameter set element in a beacon, probe response, or (re)association response frame, and is not present otherwise.

[0228] In an example, when the NPCA available update time field is present, the NPCA available expected duration field indicates the expected duration of the NPCA availability management period in TU, starting from the start time of the NPCA availability management period indicated by the NPCA available update time field. When the NPCA available update time field is not present, the NPCA available expected duration field indicates the expected remaining duration of the NPCA availability management period in TU, starting from the TBTT of the beacon frame if the frame carrying the element is a beacon frame, or starting from the most recent TBTT before the transmission of the frame if the frame carrying the element is not a beacon frame. The expected duration field is present if the AP associated with the AP MLD carries the NPCA parameter set element in a beacon, probe response, or (re)association response frame, and is not present otherwise.

[0229] The fields, elements, byte numbers shown in Table 1, Table 2, Figure 7, Figure 8, Figure 9, Figure 10, Figure 11 are optional examples, and any adaptive modification is supported, such as adding fields, reducing part of fields, recombining part of fields, changing byte numbers, changing field names, etc. to the frame format of the first frame. The value of each field, the combination of values of at least two fields in each field is not limited.

[0230] Again, the frame format, element format, field format shown in each of the above embodiments are examples and not limitations. This application supports changing the format of each frame, element, field based on the format design described above, such as changing the order of fields / elements, changing the byte number of fields / elements, changing the bit number of fields / elements, changing the name of fields / elements / frames, etc. It is also supported to set part of the fields / elements as reserved fields.

[0231] It should be understood that the format, name and value of the frame / element / field involved in each of the above embodiments are only examples and do not mean to limit the format, name and value of the frame / element / field. In different embodiments or different designs, one or more of the following may change: the name of the element / field, the position in the frame, the arrangement order between other elements / fields, the byte number occupied, the bit number occupied. In different embodiments or different designs, one or more of the following may change: the name of the frame, the elements / fields contained, the byte number occupied, the bit number occupied.

[0232] Examples for the first mode:

[0233] Take the first frame as an action frame, specifically an NPCA availability management frame, and the NPCA availability management frame contains a TIM element and an NPCA availability management element as an example for illustration. Figure 12 is a scenario diagram of an operation method in non-primary channel access according to an example embodiment of the present application.

[0234] In some embodiments, one BSS (set as BSS1) has a working bandwidth of 80MHz, and the AP1 (AP) of the BSS1 and the associated STA1-1, STA1-2 support NPCA operation. STA1-1, STA1-2 are in active mode or energy saving mode. The NPCA primary channel is located in the third 20MHz subchannel, and the NPCA secondary channel can include the second 20MHz subchannel. Moreover, there is another BSS (set as BSS2), BSS2 is an OBSS of BSS1, and BSS2 also uses the same primary channel as BSS1.

[0235] AP1 of BSS1 can schedule transmission of a NPCA availability management frame containing a TIM element and a NPCA availability management element at any time to provide scheduling information of STAs that support NPCA operation in the NPCA availability period.

[0236] In some embodiments, to implement aperiodic NPCA availability management, AP1 should schedule transmission of a NPCA availability management frame containing a TIM element and a NPCA availability management element, set the RA field to broadcast address. The NPCA availability management duration field in the NPCA availability management element should be set to the duration of the NPCA availability period immediately following the transmitted NPCA availability management frame. The TIM element is used to indicate which STAs are subject to NPCA availability management or restriction and which STAs are not scheduled for NPCA availability management in the NPCA availability period.

[0237] When AP1 sets the value of the bit corresponding to STA1-2 in the stream indication virtual bitmap field carried in the partial virtual bitmap field in the TIM element contained in the NPCA availability management frame to 0, it indicates that AP1 does not transmit to STA1-2 a frame addressed to the STA address of STA1-2, i.e. a frame with the STA address of STA1-2 as the target receiving address, and AP1 does not transmit to STA1-2 a trigger frame with the user info field containing the STA identifier of STA1-2 in the NPCA availability period.

[0238] Through the scheduling information, STA1-2 that supports NPCA operation in active mode can be in NPCA unavailable state or NPCA power saving state in the NPCA availability period, and / or STA1-2 that supports NPCA operation in power saving mode can be in sleep state or NPCA unavailable state in the NPCA availability period. Wherein, AP1 does not intend to allocate resources to STA1-2 to trigger PPDU transmission in the NPCA operation channel, or does not intend to initiate frame exchange with STA1-2 in the NPCA operation channel in the NPCA availability period.

[0239] Optionally, STA1-2 can also switch to the NPCA operation channel (NPCA primary channel and / or NPCA secondary channel) to contend for the channel when the trigger condition of NPCA operation is met in the NPCA availability period, and initiate PPDU transmission with AP1 after contending for TXOP in the NPCA operation channel. Wherein, the trigger condition of NPCA operation required to be met can be: detecting an OBSS PPDU, and the duration of the OBSS PPDU or the TXOP duration is greater than or equal to a threshold.

[0240] In some embodiments, referring to FIG. 12, when the AP1 meets the trigger condition of the NPCA operation with the STA1-1 during the NPCA availability management period, the AP1 switches to the NPCA primary channel and / or the NPCA secondary channel. The AP1 performs frame exchange with the STA1-1 after winning the channel contention on the NPCA operation channel, and switches to the primary channel of the BSS1 with the STA1-1 after completing the frame exchange. During the NPCA availability management period, the AP1 does not initiate frame exchange with the STA1-2 even if the AP1 wins the TXOP on the NPCA operation channel, and the STA1-2 can be in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state during the NPCA availability management period.

[0241] It should be further noted that the embodiments of the present application only illustrate the NPCA availability management manner in the NPCA operation for one BSS scenario, and the NPCA availability management manner in the NPCA operation is also applicable to the multi-link operation scenario.

[0242] Examples of the first manner are as follows:

[0243] Taking the first frame as a beacon frame and the beacon frame containing the NPCA parameter set element as an example, FIG. 13 is a scenario diagram of a method of operation in non-primary channel access according to an example embodiment of the present application.

[0244] In some embodiments, one BSS (referred to as BSS1) has a working bandwidth of 80 MHz, and the AP1 (AP) of the BSS1 and the associated STA1-1 and STA1-2 support the NPCA operation. The STA1-1 and the STA1-2 are in the active mode or the power saving mode. The NPCA primary channel is located in the third 20 MHz subchannel, and the NPCA secondary channel can include the second 20 MHz subchannel. Moreover, there is another BSS (referred to as BSS2), and the BSS2 is an OBSS of the BSS1, and the BSS2 also uses the same primary channel as the BSS1.

[0245] The AP1 of the BSS1 can schedule a beacon frame containing the NPCA parameter set element at any time to provide scheduling information of all or part of the STAs supporting the NPCA operation during the NPCA availability management period.

[0246] In some embodiments, to implement the aperiodic NPCA availability management, the AP1 can carry the NPCA availability management information by including a NPCA parameter set element in the beacon frame. Optionally, the NPCA parameter set element can carry the following field information: the NPCA not allowed field is indicated as 0, indicating that the NPCA operation or NPCA based transmission is allowed in the BSS1; the NPCA available update time field and / or the NPCA available expected duration field to indicate the NPCA availability management period information; the value of the bit in the NPCA available AID bitmap subfield corresponding to the position of the STA1-2 is indicated as 0, indicating that the STA1-2 needs to enter the NPCA unavailable state or NPCA power saving state; the value of the bit in the NPCA available AID bitmap subfield corresponding to the position of the STA1-1 is indicated as 1, indicating that the STA1-1 enters the NPCA available state.

[0247] Through the scheduling information, the STA1-2 supporting the NPCA operation in the active mode can be in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state during the NPCA availability management period, and / or the STA1-2 supporting the NPCA operation in the power saving mode can be in the sleep or NPCA unavailable state during the NPCA availability management period. Wherein, the AP1 does not intend to allocate resources to the STA1-2 to trigger the PPDU transmission on the NPCA operation channel or does not intend to initiate the frame exchange with the STA1-2 on the NPCA operation channel during the NPCA availability management period.

[0248] Optionally, the STA1-2 can also switch to the NPCA operation channel (the NPCA primary channel and / or the NPCA secondary channel) to contend for the channel and initiate the PPDU transmission with the AP1 after contending for the TXOP on the NPCA operation channel during the NPCA availability management period when the trigger condition of the NPCA operation is met. Wherein, the trigger condition of the NPCA operation required to be met can be: detecting the OBSS PPDU, and the duration of the OBSS PPDU or the TXOP duration is greater than or equal to a threshold.

[0249] In some embodiments, referring to FIG. 13, the AP1 switches to the NPCA primary channel and / or the NPCA secondary channel when the STA1-1 meets the trigger condition of the NPCA operation during the NPCA availability management period. The AP1 performs the frame exchange with the STA1-1 after contending for the channel on the NPCA operation channel, and switches to the primary channel of the BSS1 with the STA1-1 after completing the frame exchange. The AP1 does not initiate the frame exchange with the STA1-2 even after contending for the TXOP on the NPCA operation channel during the NPCA availability management period, and the STA1-2 can be in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state during the NPCA availability management period.

[0250] It should be noted that the embodiments of the present application only illustrate the NPCA availability management manner in the NPCA operation for a BSS scenario, and the NPCA availability management manner in the NPCA operation for a multi-link operation scenario is also applicable.

[0251] In summary, a manner of coordinating based on an AP to implement the non-periodic NPCA availability management of a STA is provided, and a corresponding frame format is provided, so that the STA supporting the NPCA operation can be managed in the NPCA availability management in the NPCA operation process, and the STA supporting the NPCA operation is coordinated or allowed to be in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state, so as to avoid a large amount of power consumption caused by frequent invalid switching of the STA, so that the STA can achieve the power saving effect in a specific period of time, and the communication efficiency is also improved.

[0252] For the second manner:

[0253] FIG. 14 is a flowchart of an operation method in a non-primary channel access provided by an example embodiment of the present application, for implementing the periodic NPCA availability management based on an AP. The method is jointly performed by a first STA and / or a second STA. In different scenarios, the first STA and the second STA play different roles. For example, the first STA includes a STA supporting the NPCA operation, or includes a non-AP STA supporting the NPCA operation, or includes an AP supporting the NPCA operation. The second STA includes a STA supporting the NPCA operation, or includes a non-AP STA supporting the NPCA operation, or includes an AP supporting the NPCA operation, or includes an opposite end associated STA of the first STA, or includes an AP supporting the NPCA operation associated with the first STA. The method includes at least part of steps 22, 12, 23, and 13. In some embodiments, steps 22 and 12 can be implemented as an operation method in a non-primary channel access alone, steps 23 and 13 can be implemented as an operation method in a non-primary channel access alone, and steps 22, 12, 23, and 13 can be combined to be implemented as an operation method in a non-primary channel access.

[0254] Step 22: The second STA sends a third frame;

[0255] Step 12: The first STA receives the third frame sent by the second STA;

[0256] Step 23: The second STA sends a second frame;

[0257] Step 13: The first STA receives the second frame sent by the second STA.

[0258] For the third frame:

[0259] In some embodiments, the third frame is sent or received at any time, or, at a specified time.

[0260] In some embodiments, the third frame is used to indicate information of a broadcast TWT SP.

[0261] In some embodiments, the information of the broadcast TWT SP includes at least one of a number, a start time, an end time, a duration.

[0262] In some embodiments, the information of the broadcast TWT SP further includes a frame type that can be sent or received within the broadcast TWT SP.

[0263] In some embodiments, the broadcast TWT SP is used for NPCA availability management.

[0264] In some embodiments, the broadcast TWT SP is also referred to as NPCA availability management TWT SP.

[0265] In some embodiments, the broadcast TWT SP is periodic, or, is absent of interval.

[0266] In some embodiments, the broadcast TWT SP is based on beacon interval splitting.

[0267] In some embodiments, one beacon interval includes one or more broadcast TWT SPs.

[0268] In some embodiments, one beacon interval is split into one or more broadcast TWT SPs.

[0269] In some embodiments, the third frame can be sent or received only once when the two adjacent broadcast TWT SPs are unchanged.

[0270] In some embodiments, the third frame is re-sent or received after the end of the last broadcast TWT SP and before the start of the next broadcast TWT SP when the two adjacent broadcast TWT SPs need to be changed.

[0271] For the second frame:

[0272] In some embodiments, the second frame is sent or received after the third frame. Or, the second frame is sent or received immediately after the third frame, or, is sent or received at a specified time after the third frame. Or, the second frame is sent or received after the third frame at the start of each broadcast TWT SP indicated by the third frame.

[0273] In some embodiments, the second frame is used to provide second scheduling information of all or part of STAs within the broadcast TWT SP.

[0274] In some embodiments, the all or part of the STAs refer to all or part of the STAs that support the NPCA operation.

[0275] In some embodiments, the all or part of the STAs include the first STA.

[0276] In some embodiments, the second scheduling information is used to indicate that, within the broadcast TWT SP, the all or part of the STAs are in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state. Wherein, the all or part of the STAs are in the active mode or the power saving mode.

[0277] In some embodiments, the second scheduling information is used to indicate that, within the broadcast TWT SP, the all or part of the STAs in the active mode are in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state. And / or, the second scheduling information is used to indicate that, within the broadcast TWT SP, the all or part of the STAs in the power saving mode are in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state. And / or, the second scheduling information is further used to indicate that, within the broadcast TWT SP, the all or part of the STAs in the power saving mode are in the sleep state.

[0278] The second frame:

[0279] In some embodiments, in order to achieve the periodic NPCA availability management, the second frame includes: a third field used to indicate whether the all or part of the STAs need to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state.

[0280] In some embodiments, the third field is a second bitmap field. Optionally, the second bitmap field includes n bits, and the value of the i-th bit in the n bits is used to indicate whether the STA identified by the AID associated with the i-th bit needs to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state. Wherein, the AID is used to uniquely identify the STA. i is a positive integer.

[0281] Optionally, when the value of the i-th bit is a first value, it is used to indicate that the STA identified by the AID associated with the i-th bit needs to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state. When the value of the i-th bit is a second value, it is used to indicate that the STA identified by the AID associated with the i-th bit does not need to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state. For example, the first value is 0, and the second value is 1. In another example, the first value is 1, and the second value is 0.

[0282] In some embodiments, the second frame includes a TIM frame, or the second frame is a TIM frame.

[0283] In some embodiments, the second bitmap field comprises a stream indication virtual bitmap field carried by a partial virtual bitmap field in the TIM element.

[0284] In some embodiments, the TIM element is carried in a TIM frame for NPCA availability management, or for notifying or indicating data or status availability and its schedule for all or part of STAs, or for notifying or indicating whether all or part of STAs are in NPCA unavailable state or NPCA power save state. It is noted that the TIM element for NPCA availability management is defined based on the TIM element defined in IEEE 802.11 specification with enhancements.

[0285] In some embodiments, referring to FIG. 7, the TIM element format comprises at least one of the following fields: an Element ID field occupying 1 byte; a Length field occupying 1 byte; a DTIM Count field occupying 1 byte; a DTIM period field occupying 1 byte; a bitmap control field occupying 1 or 0 byte; a partial virtual bitmap field occupying 0 to 251 bytes.

[0286] In some embodiments, the Element ID field is used to uniquely identify the element, comprising at least one of a number, a character, and a letter. The Length field is used to indicate the length of the element. The Element ID field and the Length field are defined in IEEE 802.11 specification.

[0287] In some embodiments, the DTIM Count field in the TIM element is reserved. The DTIM period field in the TIM element is reserved.

[0288] In some embodiments, the bitmap control field in the TIM element comprises a stream indication subfield, which contains a bit in the traffic indication virtual bitmap associated with AID 0.

[0289] In some embodiments, the partial virtual bitmap field in the TIM element carries all or part of the information of the stream indication virtual bitmap field.

[0290] In some embodiments, the bit N in the stream indication virtual bitmap field for a STA or non-AP STA supporting NPCA operation:

[0291] Optionally, when the value of bit N is the first value, it is used to indicate that the STA is in NPCA unavailable state or NPCA power save state within the broadcast TWT SP, or, it is used to indicate that the second STA supporting NPCA operation does not intend to transmit PPDU to the STA identified by the AID on the NPCA operation channel within the broadcast TWT SP, or, it is used to indicate that the second STA does not intend to trigger the STA for uplink transmission on the NPCA operation channel within the broadcast TWT SP, or, it is used to indicate that the second STA does not intend to send downlink data to the STA on the NPCA operation channel within the broadcast TWT SP.

[0292] Optionally, when the value of bit N is the second value, it is used to indicate that the second STA supporting NPCA operation intends to transmit PPDU to the STA identified by the AID on the NPCA operation channel within the broadcast TWT SP, or, it is used to indicate that the second STA intends to trigger the STA for uplink transmission on the NPCA operation channel within the broadcast TWT SP, or, it is used to indicate that the second STA intends to send downlink data to the STA on the NPCA operation channel within the broadcast TWT SP.

[0293] In one example, the value of bit N in the stream indication virtual bitmap field corresponding to a non-AP STA supporting NPCA operation (with association identification AID N) is set as follows: when the value of bit N in the stream indication virtual bitmap field is set to 0, it indicates that the non-AP STA supporting NPCA operation does not intend to be transmitted on the NPCA operation channel by the AP supporting NPCA operation during the indicated broadcast TWT SP, i.e., the AP does not intend to trigger the non-AP STA for uplink transmission on the NPCA operation channel, or, the AP does not intend to send downlink data to the non-AP STA on the NPCA operation channel. Otherwise, the value of bit N in the stream indication virtual bitmap corresponding to the non-AP STA supporting NPCA operation is set to 1.

[0294] In some embodiments, bit N in the stream indication virtual bitmap field for a STA or non-AP STA not supporting NPCA operation:

[0295] Optionally, when the value of bit N is the second value, it is used to indicate that the second STA has buffered data frames to send to the STA.

[0296] Optionally, when the value of bit N is the first value, it is used to indicate that the second STA does not have buffered data frames to send to the STA.

[0297] For example, the first value can be 0. The second value can be 1. In another example, the first value is 1 and the second value is 0.

[0298] In an example, the value of bit N in the stream indication virtual bitmap field corresponding to a non-AP STA (with association identification AID N) that does not support the NPCA operation is set as follows: the value of bit N in the stream indication virtual bitmap field is set to 1, indicating that the AP has buffered data frames to send to the non-AP STA, or set to 0 otherwise.

[0299] The fields, elements, and byte numbers shown in FIG. 7 are examples, and the frame format of the second frame can be modified in any suitable manner, e.g., by adding fields, removing fields, recombining fields, changing byte numbers, changing field names, etc. The values of the fields, and the combinations of values of at least two of the fields, are not limited.

[0300] Again, the frame formats, element formats, and field formats shown in the various embodiments are examples and are not limiting. The application supports modifying the formats of the frames, elements, and fields in any suitable manner, e.g., changing the order of fields / elements, changing the byte numbers of fields / elements, changing the bit numbers of fields / elements, changing the names of fields / elements / frames, etc. The application also supports setting some fields / elements as reserved fields.

[0301] It should be understood that the formats, names, and values of the frames / elements / fields referred to in the various embodiments are examples and are not limiting. In different embodiments or different designs, one or more of the names of the elements / fields, the positions of the elements / fields in the frames, the orders of the elements / fields relative to each other, the byte numbers of the elements / fields, and the bit numbers of the elements / fields can be changed. In different embodiments or different designs, one or more of the names of the frames, the elements / fields included in the frames, the byte numbers of the frames, and the bit numbers of the frames can be changed.

[0302] The third frame:

[0303] In some embodiments, to implement periodic NPCA availability management, the third frame includes a fourth field for indicating a broadcast TWT SP for all or part of the STAs.

[0304] In some embodiments, the fourth field is for indicating information of the broadcast TWT SP for NPCA availability management. And / or, the fourth field is for indicating at least one of a start time, an end time, and a duration of the broadcast TWT SP for all or part of the STAs.

[0305] In some embodiments, the third frame is a beacon frame.

[0306] In some embodiments, the fourth field includes a broadcast TWT recommendation field in the TWT element.

[0307] In some embodiments, the TWT element is also referred to as a broadcast TWT element.

[0308] In some embodiments, the TWT element is carried in a beacon frame for indicating a broadcast TWT SP.

[0309] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 15, the TWT element format includes at least one of the following fields: an Element ID field occupying 1 byte; a Length field occupying 1 byte; a Control field occupying 1 byte; and a TWT Parameter Information occupying a variable number of bytes.

[0310] In some embodiments, the Element ID field is used to uniquely identify the element including at least one of a number, a character, and a letter. The Length field is used to indicate the element length. The Element ID field and the Length field are defined by IEEE 802.11 specification.

[0311] In some embodiments, the TWT Parameter Information field includes at least one of the following fields: a Request Type field occupying 2 bytes; a Target Wake Time field occupying 2 bytes; a Nominal Minimum TWT Wake Duration field occupying 1 byte; a Twt Wake Internal Mantissa field occupying 2 bytes; and a Broadcast TWT Info field occupying 2 bytes.

[0312] In some embodiments, the Request Type field includes at least one of the following: a TWT Request field, occupying 1 bit, corresponding to bit B0; a TWT Setup Command field, occupying 3 bits, corresponding to bits B1-B3; a Trigger field, occupying 1 bit, corresponding to bit B4; a Last Broadcast Parameter Set field, occupying 1 bit, corresponding to bit B5; a Flow Type field, occupying 1 bit, corresponding to bit B6; a Broadcast TWT Recommendation field, occupying 3 bits, corresponding to bits B7-B9; a TWT Wake Internal Exponent field, occupying 5 bits, corresponding to bits B10-B14; a Reserved field, occupying 1 bit, corresponding to bit B15.

[0313] In some embodiments, the Broadcast TWT Recommendation field is used to indicate a broadcast TWT SP for NPCA availability management.

[0314] In some embodiments, the Broadcast TWT Recommendation field contains a value that indicates the type of frame transmitted in the broadcast TWT SP, or, indicates the type of frame recommended to be transmitted by the TWT scheduled STA and the scheduling AP in the broadcast TWT SP. If the Broadcast TWT Recommendation field is sent by the TWT scheduled STA, the Broadcast TWT Recommendation field value is reserved.

[0315] In some embodiments, the Broadcast TWT Recommendation field contains a specified value that indicates the second STA transmits a TIM frame carrying a TIM element at the beginning of each broadcast TWT SP, and there is no restriction on the type of frame transmitted in the broadcast TWT SP. For example, the specified value can be 6 or other values reserved in the current specification. An example is shown in Table 3.

[0316] Table 3: Broadcast TWT Recommendation field

[0317] In some embodiments, the second STA schedules to transmit a TIM frame containing a TIM element at the beginning of each broadcast TWT SP, with the RA field set to the broadcast address. The second STA sets the value of the bit corresponding to a first STA supporting NPCA operation in the stream indication virtual bitmap field of the TIM element of the TIM frame to a first value, and then in the NPCA operation channel, the second STA does not transmit a frame addressed to the first STA and does not transmit a trigger frame with a user info field addressed to the first STA if the second STA is the TXOP holder until the end of the current broadcast TWT SP or until the next broadcast TWT SP with the broadcast TWT recommendation field value set to the specified value. For example, the specified value can be 3.

[0318] In an example, a new broadcast TWT recommendation field value of the broadcast TWT element is defined to indicate a broadcast TWT SP for NPCA availability management, as shown in Table 4. If the AP schedules to transmit a TIM frame containing a TIM element at the beginning of the broadcast TWT SP for NPCA availability management, with the RA field set to the broadcast address. If the AP sets the value of the bit corresponding to a non-AP STA supporting NPCA operation in the stream indication virtual bitmap field of the TIM element of the TIM frame to 0, then the AP does not transmit a frame addressed to the STA and does not transmit a trigger frame with a user info field corresponding to the STA during the TWT SP until the end of the current TWT SP or until the next TWT SP with the broadcast TWT recommendation field value set to 3. If the AP does not schedule to transmit a TIM frame containing a TIM element at the beginning of the broadcast TWT SP for NPCA availability management, then there is no restriction on the transmission of frames in the TWT SP.

[0319] The fields, elements, and byte numbers shown in Table 3 and FIG. 15 are optional examples, and the frame format of the third frame can include any suitable modification based on Table 3 and FIG. 15, such as adding fields, reducing some fields, recombining some fields, changing byte numbers, changing field names, etc. The values of the fields, and the combinations of values of at least two fields are not limited.

[0320] Again, it is emphasized that the frame format, element format, field format shown in the above various embodiments are examples and not limitation. Changes can be made to the format of each frame, element, field based on the format design described above, such as changing the order of fields / elements, changing the number of bytes of fields / elements, changing the number of bits of fields / elements, changing the name of fields / elements / frames, etc. It is also supported to set some fields / elements as reserved fields.

[0321] It should be understood that the format, name and value of the frame / element / field involved in the above various embodiments are only examples and do not mean to limit the format, name and value of the frame / element / field. In different embodiments or different designs, one or more of the name of the element / field, the position in the frame, the arrangement order between other elements / fields, the number of bytes occupied, the number of bits occupied can be changed. In different embodiments or different designs, one or more of the name of the frame, the contained element / field, the number of bytes occupied, the number of bits occupied can be changed.

[0322] For example of the second mode:

[0323] Taking the third frame as a beacon frame, the beacon frame containing a TWT element, and the second frame as a TIM frame, the TIM frame containing a TIM element as an example. FIG. 16 is a scenario diagram of an operation method in non-primary channel access according to an example embodiment of the present application.

[0324] In some embodiments, one BSS (set as BSS1) has a working bandwidth of 80MHz, and the AP1 (AP) of the BSS1 and the associated STA1-1 and STA1-2 support NPCA operation. The STA1-1 and STA1-2 are in an active mode or a power saving mode. The NPCA primary channel is located in the third 20MHz subchannel, and the NPCA secondary channel can include the second 20MHz subchannel. Moreover, there is another BSS (set as BSS2), which is an OBSS of the BSS1, and the BSS2 also uses the same primary channel as the BSS1.

[0325] AP1 of BSS1 splits (or contains) one beacon interval into one or more broadcast TWT SPs for NPCA availability management, can schedule transmission of a beacon frame containing TWT element to provide information of the broadcast TWT SPs at any time, schedules transmission of a TIM frame containing TIM element to provide scheduling information of STAs that support NPCA operation in whole or in part within each broadcast TWT SP at the beginning of each broadcast TWT SP, for example, schedules transmission of a TIM frame containing TIM element to provide scheduling information of STAs that support NPCA operation in whole or in part within broadcast TWT SP1 at the beginning of broadcast TWT SP1, schedules transmission of a TIM frame containing TIM element to provide scheduling information of STAs that support NPCA operation in whole or in part within broadcast TWT SP2 at the beginning of broadcast TWT SP2, and so on.

[0326] In some embodiments, to implement periodic NPCA availability management, AP1 should schedule transmission of a beacon frame containing broadcast TWT element to set periodic broadcast TWT SPs corresponding to the following information: set broadcast TWT recommended field to a specified value, such as 6, to provide information of broadcast TWT SPs for NPCA availability management, AP1 schedules transmission of a TIM frame containing TIM element at the beginning of broadcast TWT SP1 to indicate scheduling information of STAs that support NPCA operation in whole or in part within broadcast TWT SP1, with RA field set to broadcast address.

[0327] During broadcast TWT SP1, AP1 sets the value of the bit in the flow indication virtual bitmap field of the TIM element of the TIM frame corresponding to one STA1-2 that supports NPCA operation to 0, then during this broadcast TWT SP1, AP1 does not send to STA1-2, if it is the TXOP owner, individually addressed frames in the NPCA operation channel, i.e., frames with the STA address of this STA1-2 as the target receive address, nor trigger frames with the user info field addressed to the STA identity of STA1-2, until the end of the current broadcast TWT SP1 or until the next broadcast TWT SP with the broadcast TWT recommended field value set to a specified value.

[0328] Through the scheduling information, the STA1-2 supporting the NPCA operation in the active mode can be in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state within the broadcast TWT SP1, and / or the STA1-2 supporting the NPCA operation in the power saving mode can be in the sleep state or the NPCA unavailable state within the broadcast TWT SP1. During the broadcast TWT SP1, the AP1 and the STA1-1 can exchange frames on the NPCA operation channel when the trigger condition of the NPCA operation is met.

[0329] Next, the AP1 schedules to send a TIM frame containing a TIM element at the start of the broadcast TWT SP2, and sets the RA field as the broadcast address. The TIM frame is used to indicate the scheduling information of all or part of the STAs supporting the NPCA operation in the broadcast TWT SP2.

[0330] During the broadcast TWT SP2, the AP1 sets the value of the bit corresponding to the STA1-1 supporting the NPCA operation in the flow indication virtual bitmap field of the TIM element of the TIM frame to 0, and then during the broadcast TWT SP1, if the AP1 is the TXOP owner on the NPCA operation channel, the AP1 does not send a separately addressed frame to the STA1-1, that is, a frame with the STA address of the STA1-1 as the target receiving address, and does not send a trigger frame with the user information field addressed to the STA identifier of the STA1-1 to the STA1-1 until the current broadcast TWT SP2 ends or until the next broadcast TWT SP with the corresponding broadcast TWT recommendation field value set to the specified value.

[0331] Through the scheduling information, the STA1-1 supporting the NPCA operation in the active mode can be in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state within the broadcast TWT SP2, and / or the STA1-1 supporting the NPCA operation in the power saving mode can be in the sleep state or the NPCA unavailable state within the broadcast TWT SP2. During the broadcast TWT SP2, the AP1 and the STA1-2 can exchange frames on the NPCA operation channel when the trigger condition of the NPCA operation is met.

[0332] It should be further noted that the embodiments of the present application only exemplify the NPCA availability management manner in the NPCA operation for a BSS scenario, and the NPCA availability management in the NPCA operation for a multi-link operation scenario is also applicable.

[0333] In summary, a manner is provided for implementing periodic NPCA availability management of STAs based on AP coordination, and a corresponding frame format is provided, so that during NPCA operation, NPCA availability management of STAs supporting NPCA operation can be implemented, and STAs supporting NPCA operation are coordinated or allowed to be in NPCA unavailable state or NPCA power saving state, so as to avoid a large amount of power consumption caused by frequent invalid switching of STAs, so that STAs can achieve power saving effect in a specific period of time, and meanwhile, communication efficiency is improved.

[0334] For the third manner:

[0335] FIG. 17 is a flowchart of an operation method in non-primary channel access provided by an example embodiment of the present application, for implementing NPCA availability management based on STA autonomous indication. The method is jointly performed by a first STA and / or a second STA. In different scenarios, the first STA and the second STA play different roles. For example, the first STA includes a STA supporting NPCA operation, or a non-AP STA supporting NPCA operation, or an AP supporting NPCA operation. The second STA includes a STA supporting NPCA operation, or a non-AP STA supporting NPCA operation, or an AP supporting NPCA operation, or a peer STA associated with the first STA, or an AP supporting NPCA operation associated with the first STA. The method includes at least part of steps 14 and 24.

[0336] Step 14: The first STA sends a fourth frame.

[0337] Step 24: The second STA receives the fourth frame sent by the first STA.

[0338] In some embodiments, the fourth frame is sent or received at any time, or is sent or received at a specified time, or is sent or received when the first STA itself is in NPCA unavailable state or NPCA power saving state.

[0339] In some embodiments, the fourth frame is used to indicate that the first STA itself is in NPCA unavailable state or NPCA power saving state.

[0340] In some embodiments, the fourth frame is used to indicate at least one of the start time, the end time, or the duration, during which the first STA itself is in NPCA unavailable state or NPCA power saving state.

[0341] In some embodiments, the fourth frame carries duration information, and the duration information is used to indicate that the first STA automatically exits NPCA unavailable state or NPCA power saving state after the duration corresponding to the duration information expires.

[0342] In some embodiments, the fourth frame comprises at least one of the following fields: a fifth field for indicating whether the first STA itself is going to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state; a sixth field for indicating the duration that the first STA itself is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state.

[0343] In some embodiments, when the fifth field is of a first value, it indicates that the first STA is going to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state; and when the fifth field is of a second value, it indicates that the first STA is not going to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state. As an example, the first value can be 0 and the second value can be 1. In another example, the first value is 1 and the second value is 0.

[0344] In some embodiments, when the sixth field is of a first value, it indicates that the first STA itself is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state without time duration limit; and when the sixth field is of a second value, it indicates the duration that the first STA itself is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state. As an example, the first value can be 0 and the second value can be 1. In another example, the first value is 1 and the second value is 0.

[0345] In some embodiments, when the sixth field is of the first value, it indicates that the first STA itself is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state without time duration limit, and when the first STA itself needs to exit the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state, it needs to additionally send the fifth frame.

[0346] In some embodiments, the fourth frame comprises a NPCA availability management notification frame carrying the NPCA availability management information.

[0347] In some embodiments, the fourth frame comprises other frames that can carry the control field of the NPCA availability management information.

[0348] In some embodiments, the fourth frame comprises a quality of service (QoS) frame or a QoS null frame of the NPCA availability management control field.

[0349] In some embodiments, the NPCA availability management control field in the fourth frame can be an A-Control field.

[0350] In some embodiments, the NPCA availability management control field is also referred to as the control field of the NPCA availability management information.

[0351] In some embodiments, the fifth field comprises a NPCA available field in the NPCA availability management control field.

[0352] In some embodiments, the sixth field includes the NPCA power save or NPCA unavailable duration field in the NPCA availability management control field. Wherein, the NPCA power save or NPCA unavailable duration is also referred to as the duration of being in the NPCA power save state or the NPCA unavailable state.

[0353] In some embodiments, in the MAC frame format defined in the IEEE 802.11 specification, the HT control field can be carried in the QoS data, QoS null frame and management frame, control wrapper frame, determined by the +HTC subfield of the frame control field. The HT control field is 32 bits, when B0 and B1 in it are both set to 1, it indicates that the HT control field is the HE variant HT control field, and B2-B31 is the A-Control field. Optionally, the A-Control field contains a control list subfield and a padding subfield, and the control list subfield contains one or more control subfields. Each control subfield contains a 4-bit control ID subfield and a variable-length control information subfield, wherein the control ID subfield is used to indicate the type of information carried in the control information subfield.

[0354] In some embodiments, in order to facilitate the capability adaptation power saving operation, the capability adaptation power saving operation mode control subfield, the capability adaptation power saving operation mode parameter control subfield, and the capability adaptation power saving operation mode switching control subfield are defined. In some embodiments, for the control subfield in the A-Control field, when the control ID subfield is a preset value, at this time, the control information subfield is used to indicate the NPCA availability management control field, which is used for the STA (or AP or non-AP STA) to notify or indicate whether it will enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state. The preset value can be 9. An example is shown in Table 4:

[0355] Table 4: Control subfield variant of A-Control subfield (newly added)

[0356] In some embodiments, referring to FIG. 18, the NPCA availability management control field includes at least one of the following fields: the NPCA available field, occupying 1 bit, corresponding to bit B0; the NPCA power save or NPCA unavailable duration field, occupying 8 bits, corresponding to bits B1-B8; the reserved field, occupying 7 bits, corresponding to bits B9-B15. Optionally, the NPCA availability management control subfield is also referred to as the NPCA availability management control field. The NPCA power save or NPCA unavailable duration field is also referred to as the NPCA power save or NPCA unavailable duration subfield.

[0357] In some embodiments, the NPCA available field is used to indicate whether the first STA itself is going to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state. In some embodiments, the NPCA available field is also referred to as the NPCA available subfield.

[0358] Optionally, the NPCA available field is of a first value to indicate that the first STA is going to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state, and the NPCA available field is of a second value to indicate that the first STA is not going to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state. As an example, the first value can be 0 and the second value can be 1. In another example, the first value is 1 and the second value is 0.

[0359] In one example, the NPCA available subfield is used to indicate whether the STA sending the NPCA availability management control subfield is going to be in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state. In particular, the NPCA available subfield is set to 0 to indicate that the STA is going to be in the NPCA unavailable or NPCA power save state, and otherwise set to 1.

[0360] In some embodiments, when the NPCA available field is of a first value, then there is the NPCA power save or NPCA unavailable duration field.

[0361] In some embodiments, the NPCA power save or NPCA unavailable duration field is used to indicate the duration of time that the first STA itself is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state, encoded in units of milliseconds.

[0362] In some embodiments, when the NPCA availability management control field is sent over the primary channel of the BSS in which the first STA is located, then the NPCA power save or NPCA unavailable duration is from the time of receipt of the acknowledgement frame of the fourth frame carrying the NPCA availability management control field.

[0363] In some embodiments, when the NPCA availability management control field is sent over the NPCA primary channel of the BSS in which the first STA is located, then the NPCA power save or NPCA unavailable duration is from the time after receipt of the acknowledgement frame of the fourth frame carrying the NPCA availability management control field and the end of the TXOP or frame exchange sequence in which the frames are located.

[0364] In some embodiments, when the NPCA energy saving or NPCA unavailable duration field is of a first value, indicating no time duration limit, if the first STA needs to exit the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA energy saving state, it needs to additionally send a fifth frame carrying the NPCA availability management control field, and the NPCA available field in the NPCA availability management control field in the fifth frame is of a second value. As an example, the first value can be 0, and the second value can be 1. In another example, the first value is 1, and the second value is 0.

[0365] In an example, when the NPCA available subfield is indicated as 0, there is an NPCA energy saving or NPCA unavailable duration subfield. The NPCA energy saving or NPCA unavailable duration subfield is used to indicate the duration that the STA will be in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA energy saving state, which can be encoded in milliseconds as a unit. In particular, if the NPCA availability management control subfield is sent through the primary channel of the BSS where the STA is located, the NPCA energy saving or NPCA unavailable duration is from the time when the acknowledgement frame of the frame carrying the field is received. If the NPCA availability management control subfield is sent through the NPCA primary channel of the BSS where the STA is located, the NPCA energy saving or NPCA unavailable duration is from the time when the acknowledgement frame of the frame carrying the field is received and the end of the TXOP or frame exchange sequence where the frames are located. Optionally, if the NPCA energy saving or NPCA unavailable duration subfield is encoded as 0, indicating no time duration limit, if the STA needs to exit the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA energy saving state, it needs to additionally send the NPCA availability management control subfield carrying the NPCA available subfield value of 1.

[0366] The fields, elements, and byte numbers shown in Table 4 and FIG. 18 are optional examples, and any suitable modification to the frame format of the fourth frame is supported, such as adding fields, reducing some fields, recombining some fields, changing byte numbers, changing field names, etc. The values of the fields, and the value combinations of at least two fields in the fields are not limited.

[0367] Again, it is emphasized that the frame formats, element formats, and field formats shown in the various embodiments above are examples and are not limiting. Any suitable modification to the formats of the frames, elements, and fields described above is supported, such as changing the order of fields / elements, changing the byte numbers of fields / elements, changing the bit numbers of fields / elements, changing the names of fields / elements / frames, etc. It is also supported to set some fields / elements as reserved fields.

[0368] It should be understood that the format, name and value of the frames / elements / fields involved in the above various embodiments are only examples and do not mean to limit the format, name and value of the frames / elements / fields. In different embodiments or different designs, one or more of the name of the above elements / fields, the position in the frame, the arrangement order between other elements / fields, the number of bytes occupied, the number of bits occupied can be changed. In different embodiments or different designs, one or more of the name of the above frames, the elements / fields contained, the number of bytes occupied, the number of bits occupied can be changed.

[0369] FIG. 19 is a flow chart of a method of operation in non-primary channel access according to an example embodiment of the present application, for implementing the STA autonomous indication based NPCA availability management. The method is jointly performed by the first STA and / or the second STA. In different scenarios, the first STA and the second STA play different roles. For example, the first STA includes a STA supporting NPCA operation, or, includes a non-AP STA supporting NPCA operation, or, includes an AP supporting NPCA operation. The second STA includes a STA supporting NPCA operation, or, includes a non-AP STA supporting NPCA operation, or, includes an AP supporting NPCA operation, or, includes an opposite end associated STA of the first STA, or, includes an AP supporting NPCA operation associated with the first STA. The method includes at least part of the steps in steps 15 and 25. In some embodiments, steps 15 and 25 can be implemented as a method of operation in non-primary channel access alone, and steps 14, 24, 15 and 25 can be combined to implement a method of operation in non-primary channel access.

[0370] Step 15: The first STA sends a fifth frame.

[0371] Step 25: The second STA receives the fifth frame sent by the first STA.

[0372] In some embodiments, the fifth frame is sent or received at any time, or, is sent or received at a specified time. Or, the fifth frame is sent or received in the case that the first STA itself exits the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state. Or, the fifth frame is sent or received in the case that the fourth frame does not contain duration information. Or, the fifth frame is sent or received in the case that the fourth frame contains duration information and the duration indicated by the duration information is not expired. Or, the fifth frame is sent or received in the case that the fourth frame is used to indicate that the first STA is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state without time length limit.

[0373] In some embodiments, the fifth frame is used to indicate that the first STA itself exits the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state. And / or, the fifth frame is used to indicate an exit time at which the first STA itself exits the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state.

[0374] In some embodiments, the fifth frame comprises at least one of the following fields: a seventh field used to indicate whether the first STA itself is going to exit the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state; an eighth field used to indicate an exit time at which the first STA itself exits the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state.

[0375] In some embodiments, when the seventh field is of a first value, it is used to indicate that the first STA is going to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state, or, it is used to indicate that the first STA is not going to exit the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state; when the seventh field is of a second value, it is used to indicate that the first STA is not going to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state, or, it is used to indicate that the first STA is going to exit the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state. As an example, the first value can be 0, and the second value can be 1. In another example, the first value is 1, and the second value is 0.

[0376] In some embodiments, the frame type of the fifth frame is the same as the frame type of the fourth frame.

[0377] In some embodiments, the fifth frame comprises a NPCA availability management announcement frame carrying the NPCA availability management information.

[0378] In some embodiments, the fifth frame comprises other frames that can carry the NPCA availability management information.

[0379] In some embodiments, the fifth frame comprises a quality of service (QoS) frame or a QoS null frame of the NPCA availability management control field.

[0380] In some embodiments, the NPCA availability management control field in the fifth frame can be an A-Control field.

[0381] In some embodiments, the NPCA availability management control field is also referred to as a control field of the NPCA availability management information.

[0382] In some embodiments, the fifth frame comprises a QoS frame or a QoS null frame.

[0383] In some embodiments, the seventh field comprises a NPCA available field in the NPCA availability management control field.

[0384] In some embodiments, the eighth field includes the NPCA power save or NPCA unavailable duration field in the NPCA availability management control field. The NPCA power save or NPCA unavailable duration is also referred to as the duration of the NPCA power save state or the NPCA unavailable state. Optionally, after the duration expires, the first STA automatically exits the NPCA power save state or the NPCA unavailable state.

[0385] In some embodiments, when the NPCA power save or NPCA unavailable duration field in the fourth frame has a first value, indicating no duration limit, if the first STA needs to exit the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state, it needs to additionally send a fifth frame carrying the NPCA availability management control field, and the NPCA available field in the NPCA availability management control field in the fifth frame has a second value. As an example, the first value can be 0, and the second value can be 1. In another example, the first value is 1, and the second value is 0.

[0386] In some embodiments, the NPCA availability management control field refers to the aforementioned embodiment of FIG. 18, which will not be described here.

[0387] In some embodiments, the second STA also sends a sixth frame to the third STA, and the third STA receives the sixth frame sent by the second STA.

[0388] In some embodiments, the second STA enters the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state after the third STA confirms that the sixth frame is received.

[0389] In some embodiments, the second STA can still be in the active mode (Active Mode) and the NPCA enabled state.

[0390] In some embodiments, the second STA is also referred to as an AP, and the second STA and the third STA support NPCA operation.

[0391] In some embodiments, the receiving address of the sixth frame is the STA address of the third STA.

[0392] In some embodiments, the sixth frame is sent or received at any time, or is sent or received at a specified time. Alternatively, the sixth frame is sent or received when the second STA itself is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state.

[0393] In some embodiments, the sixth frame is used to indicate that the second STA itself is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state.

[0394] In some embodiments, the sixth frame is used to indicate that the second STA itself is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state with respect to the third STA. Optionally, the second STA can be in the NPCA available state, or in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state with respect to other STAs than the third STA.

[0395] In some embodiments, the sixth frame is used to indicate at least one of a start time, an end time, or a duration of the second STA itself being in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state.

[0396] In some embodiments, the sixth frame carries duration information, which is used to indicate that the second STA automatically exits the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state after the duration corresponding to the duration information expires.

[0397] In some embodiments, the sixth frame comprises a NPCA availability management announcement frame carrying the NPCA availability management information.

[0398] In some embodiments, the sixth frame comprises other frames whose control fields can carry the NPCA availability management information.

[0399] In some embodiments, the sixth frame comprises a quality of service (QoS) frame or a QoS null frame of the NPCA availability management control field.

[0400] In some embodiments, the NPCA availability management control field in the sixth frame can be an A-Control field.

[0401] In some embodiments, the NPCA availability management control field is also referred to as a control field of the NPCA availability management information.

[0402] In some embodiments, with respect to the third STA, the third STA does not send a separately addressed frame to the second STA on the NPCA operating channel if the third STA is a TXOP owner, or the third STA does not initiate a frame exchange with the second STA on the NPCA operating channel, in a case where the second STA is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state.

[0403] Optionally, during the second STA is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state, the second STA can also switch to the NPCA operating channel (the NPCA primary channel and / or the NPCA secondary channel) to contend for the channel and initiate PPDU transmission with other fourth STAs supporting the NPCA operation after contending for the TXOP of the NPCA operating channel, in a case where a trigger condition of the NPCA operation is met.

[0404] Optionally, when the sixth frame carries the duration information, the second STA automatically exits the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA energy saving state, i.e., enters the NPCA available state, after the duration indicated by the duration information expires, and then the third STA can initiate frame exchange with the second STA on the NPCA operating channel.

[0405] Optionally, when the sixth frame does not carry the duration information, the second STA sends an eighth frame to the third STA, to indicate that the second STA exits the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA energy saving state, i.e., enters the NPCA available state, and then the third STA can initiate frame exchange with the second STA on the NPCA operating channel. The eighth frame includes an NPCA availability management notification frame or a QoS frame carrying an NPCA availability management control field (such as an A-Control field) or a QoS null frame and other frames that can carry control fields.

[0406] The fields, elements, and byte numbers of the fifth frame and the sixth frame in the above embodiments are optional examples, and any adaptive modification such as adding fields, reducing some fields, recombining some fields, changing byte numbers, changing field names, etc. is supported on the basis of the frame formats of the fifth frame and the sixth frame in the above embodiments. The values of the fields, and the value combinations of at least two fields in the fields are not limited.

[0407] Again, the frame formats, element formats, and field formats shown in the above embodiments are examples and not limitations. This application supports changing the formats of the frames, elements, and fields on the basis of the format designs described above, such as changing the order of fields / elements, changing the byte numbers of fields / elements, changing the bit numbers of fields / elements, changing the names of fields / elements / frames, etc. It is also supported to set some fields / elements as reserved fields.

[0408] It should be understood that the formats, names, and values of the frames / elements / fields involved in the above embodiments are only examples and do not mean that the formats, names, and values of the frames / elements / fields are limited. In different embodiments or different designs, one or more of the following may change: the name of the element / field, the position in the frame, the arrangement order between other elements / fields, the occupied byte number, and the occupied bit number. In different embodiments or different designs, one or more of the following may change: the name of the frame, the contained elements / fields, the occupied byte number, and the occupied bit number.

[0409] Examples for the third mode:

[0410] Take the fourth frame is QoS frame or QoS null frame or other frame, QoS frame or QoS null frame or other frame carries NPCA availability management control field as an example for description. Fig. 20 is a scenario diagram of an operation method in non-primary channel access according to an example embodiment of the present application.

[0411] In some embodiments, one BSS (set as BSS1) whose operating bandwidth is 80MHz, the AP1 (AP) of the BSS1 and the associated STA1-1, STA1-2 support NPCA operation. The STA1-1, STA1-2 are in active mode or power saving mode. The NPCA primary channel is located in the third 20MHz subchannel, and the NPCA secondary channel can include the second 20MHz subchannel. Moreover, there is another BSS (set as BSS2), the BSS2 is the OBSS of the BSS1, and the BSS2 also uses the same primary channel as the BSS1.

[0412] AP1 carries the NPCA parameter set element in the beacon frame, and the NPCA not allowed field of the NPCA parameter set element is indicated as 0, indicating that the NPCA operation or NPCA-based transmission is allowed in BSS1. STA1-1 supporting the NPCA operation can send a QoS frame or a QoS null frame carrying the NPCA availability management control field and other frames carrying the NPCA availability management control field to AP1 associated therewith also supporting the NPCA operation, to indicate that the STA1-1 will be in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state, and to indicate the NPCA power saving or NPCA unavailable duration. After STA1-1 receives the confirmation frame indicating that AP1 receives the NPCA availability management control field, the STA1-1 enters the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state, wherein the STA1-1 can still be in the active mode in the power consumption management. During the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state of STA1-1, if AP1 is the TXOP owner, AP1 does not send a separately addressed frame to STA1-1, and does not send a trigger frame with a user information field addressed to STA1-1 to STA1-1. Alternatively, during the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state of STA1-1, after the trigger condition of the NPCA operation is met, STA1-1 can also switch to the NPCA operation channel (the NPCA primary channel and / or the NPCA secondary channel) to compete for the channel, and initiate the PPDU transmission with AP1 after the TXOP is competed for in the NPCA operation channel. Meanwhile, during the NPCA power saving state or the NPCA unavailable state of STA1-1, AP1 and another STA1-2 can exchange frames in the NPCA operation channel after the trigger condition of the NPCA operation is met. When the NPCA availability management control field carries the NPCA power saving or NPCA unavailable duration information, the STA1-1 can automatically exit the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state, i.e., enter the NPCA available state, after the duration indicated by the duration information expires, and AP1 can initiate the frame exchange with STA1-1 in the NPCA operation channel.

[0413] Taking the sixth frame as a QoS frame or a QoS null frame or other frames carrying the NPCA availability management control field as an example, FIG. 21 is a scenario diagram of an operation method in non-primary channel access according to an example embodiment of the present application.

[0414] In some embodiments, one BSS (denoted as BSS1) has a bandwidth of 80MHz, and the AP1 (AP) of the BSS1 and its associated STAs1-1, STAs1-2 support NPCA operation. The STAs1-1, STAs1-2 are in active mode or power save mode. The NPCA primary channel is located in the third 20MHz subchannel, and the NPCA secondary channel can include the second 20MHz subchannel. Moreover, there is another BSS (denoted as BSS2), which is an OBSS of the BSS1, and the BSS2 also uses the same primary channel as the BSS1.

[0415] The AP1 carries a NPCA parameter set element in the beacon frame, and the NPCA not allowed field of the NPCA parameter set element is set to 0, indicating that the NPCA operation or NPCA-based transmission is allowed in the BSS1. The AP1 supporting the NPCA operation can indicate to the STA1-1 associated therewith also supporting the NPCA operation that the AP1 will be in the NPCA unavailable state or NPCA power save state by sending a QoS frame or QoS null frame carrying the NPCA availability management control field with the receiving address of the STA1-1 and other frames that can carry the NPCA availability management control field. The AP1 enters the NPCA unavailable state or NPCA power save state after receiving the BA frame confirming that the STA1-1 receives the NPCA availability management control field, wherein the AP1 can still be in the active mode in the power consumption management and the NPCA enabled state. In this scenario, it can be considered that the AP1 is in the NPCA unavailable state or NPCA power save state for the specific STA (STA1-1), and the AP1 can be in the NPCA available state for other STAs. For the STA1-1, during the NPCA unavailable state or NPCA power save state of the AP1, the STA1-1 does not send a separately addressed frame to the AP1 in the NPCA operation channel if the STA1-1 is the TXOP owner, or the STA1-1 does not initiate the frame exchange with the AP1 in the NPCA operation channel. Alternatively, during the NPCA unavailable state or NPCA power save state of the AP1, the AP1 can also switch to the NPCA operation channel (the NPCA primary channel and / or the NPCA secondary channel) to contend for the channel after the trigger condition of the NPCA operation is met, and initiate the PPDU transmission with the other STA1-2 supporting the NPCA operation after contending for the TXOP in the NPCA operation channel. When the NPCA availability management control field carries the duration information of the NPCA power save or NPCA unavailable, the AP1 can automatically exit the NPCA unavailable state or NPCA power save state, i.e., enter the NPCA available state, after the indicated duration expires, and the STA1-1 can initiate the frame exchange with the AP1 in the NPCA operation channel.

[0416] It should be noted that the embodiments of the present application only illustrate the NPCA availability management manner in the NPCA operation for one BSS scenario, and the NPCA availability management manner in the NPCA operation for a multi-link operation scenario is also applicable.

[0417] In summary, the present application provides a manner of implementing the NPCA availability management of the STA based on the STA autonomous indication or notification, and provides a corresponding frame format, so that the STA supporting the NPCA operation can be managed in the NPCA availability during the NPCA operation, and the STA supporting the NPCA operation can be coordinated or allowed to be in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA energy saving state, so as to avoid a large amount of power consumption caused by frequent invalid switching of the STA, so that the STA can achieve the energy saving effect in a specific period of time, and the communication efficiency is also improved.

[0418] It should be noted that each of the above embodiments can be implemented alone or in combination with any two or more, and no limitation is made.

[0419] FIG. 22 is a structural block diagram of an operation apparatus in a non-primary channel access according to an example embodiment of the present application. The operation apparatus 100 in the non-primary channel access includes a processing module 110.

[0420] The processing module 110 is configured to perform a first operation in the case of being in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA energy saving state.

[0421] In some embodiments, in the case of being in the NPCA unavailable state, the first operation includes at least one of the following: not receiving a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) on an NPCA operation channel; not switching to the NPCA operation channel for PPDU transmission.

[0422] Or, in the case of being in the NPCA energy saving state, the first operation includes at least one of the following: not receiving a PPDU on an NPCA operation channel; not switching to the NPCA operation channel for PPDU transmission; switching to the NPCA operation channel for PPDU transmission in the case of satisfying a trigger condition of the NPCA operation.

[0423] In some embodiments, the second STA does not allocate resources to the first STA for PPDU transmission on the NPCA operating channel, and / or does not initiate frame exchange with the first STA on the NPCA operating channel, and / or does not send individually addressed frames to the first STA when the NPCA operating channel is a transmission opportunity (TXOP) owner, and / or does not send trigger frames with user info field addressed to the first STA to the first STA when the NPCA operating channel is a TXOP owner, in case the first STA is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state.

[0424] In some embodiments, the first STA comprises a STA supporting NPCA operation, and / or a non-AP STA supporting NPCA operation, and / or an AP supporting NPCA operation.

[0425] In some embodiments, in case the first STA is in the NPCA unavailable state, the first operation comprises at least one of: not receiving a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) on the NPCA operating channel; not switching to the NPCA operating channel for PPDU transmission.

[0426] In some embodiments, the NPCA unavailable state comprises that the first STA cannot receive a PPDU on the NPCA operating channel, and / or the first STA does not switch to the NPCA operating channel for PPDU transmission.

[0427] In some embodiments, the NPCA operating channel comprises a primary NPCA channel and / or a secondary NPCA channel.

[0428] In some embodiments, in case the first STA is in the NPCA power save state, the first operation comprises at least one of: not receiving a PPDU on the NPCA operating channel; not switching to the NPCA operating channel for PPDU transmission; switching to the NPCA operating channel for PPDU transmission in case a trigger condition for NPCA operation is satisfied.

[0429] In some embodiments, the NPCA power save state comprises that the first STA is in the NPCA unavailable state, and / or the first STA cannot receive a PPDU on the NPCA operating channel, and / or the first STA does not switch to the NPCA operating channel for PPDU transmission, and / or the first STA switches to the NPCA operating channel for PPDU transmission in case a trigger condition for NPCA operation is satisfied.

[0430] Optionally, the NPCA operating channel comprises a NPCA primary channel and / or a NPCA secondary channel. In some embodiments, not switching to the NPCA operating channel for PPDU transmission comprises not switching to the NPCA primary channel for PPDU transmission.

[0431] In some embodiments, in case that the first STA is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state, the second STA does not allocate resource to the first STA to trigger PPDU transmission on the NPCA operating channel, and / or, does not initiate frame exchange with the first STA on the NPCA operating channel, and / or, does not send individually addressed frames to the first STA when the NPCA operating channel is a transmission opportunity (TXOP) owner, and / or, does not send trigger frames with user info field addressed to the first STA to the first STA when the NPCA operating channel is a TXOP owner.

[0432] In some embodiments, the second STA comprises a STA supporting NPCA operation, and / or, a non-AP STA supporting NPCA operation, and / or, an AP supporting NPCA operation, and / or, the second STA is a peer associated STA of the first STA, and / or, the second STA is an AP associated with the first STA supporting NPCA operation.

[0433] In some embodiments, the individually addressed frames comprise frames with a destination address being a STA address of the first STA.

[0434] In some embodiments, the trigger frames with user info field addressed to the first STA comprise trigger frames carrying a user info field with a STA identification corresponding to the first STA.

[0435] In some embodiments, the trigger condition for NPCA operation comprises: detecting an OBSS PPDU, and a duration of the OBSS PPDU being greater than or equal to a first threshold. Wherein, the first threshold can be set according to actual needs, and / or, the first threshold is configured by the AP.

[0436] In some embodiments, the trigger condition for NPCA operation comprises: detecting an OBSS PPDU, and a duration of a TXOP in which the OBSS PPDU is located being greater than or equal to a second threshold. Wherein, the second threshold can be set according to actual needs, and / or, the second threshold is configured by the AP.

[0437] In some embodiments, the trigger condition for NPCA operation comprises: detecting an OBSS control frame interaction.

[0438] In some embodiments, the triggering condition of the NPCA operation comprises: detecting that the current primary channel is unavailable due to interference. In an example, the interference comprises In Device Coexistence (IDC) interference.

[0439] In some embodiments, the operation apparatus 100 in the non-primary channel access further comprises a receiving module 130;

[0440] The receiving module 130 is configured to receive a first frame sent by the second STA.

[0441] The first frame is used to provide first scheduling information of the first STA in a NPCA availability management period.

[0442] In some embodiments, the first scheduling information is used to indicate that the first STA is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state, wherein the first STA is in an active mode or a power saving mode.

[0443] In some embodiments, the first frame is sent or received at any time. Alternatively, the first frame is sent or received at a specified time.

[0444] In some embodiments, the first frame is used to provide first scheduling information of all or part of the STAs in a NPCA availability management period.

[0445] In some embodiments, all or part of the STAs refer to all or part of the STAs that support the NPCA operation.

[0446] In some embodiments, all or part of the STAs include the first STA.

[0447] In some embodiments, the NPCA availability management period is aperiodic, or is interval.

[0448] In some embodiments, there is an interval between two adjacent NPCA availability management periods. Alternatively, the intervals between different adjacent NPCA availability management periods are the same, or different, or partially the same. Alternatively, the lengths of different NPCA availability management periods are the same, or different, or partially the same.

[0449] In some embodiments, the first scheduling information is used to indicate that all or part of the STAs are in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state in the NPCA availability management period. Wherein all or part of the STAs are in an active mode or a power saving mode.

[0450] In some embodiments, the first scheduling information is used to indicate that all or part of the STAs in the active mode are in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state during the NPCA availability management period. And / or, the first scheduling information is used to indicate that all or part of the STAs in the power save mode are in the NPCA power save state during the NPCA availability management period. And / or, the first scheduling information is further used to indicate that all or part of the STAs in the power save mode are in the doze state during the NPCA availability management period.

[0451] The first frame can refer to the related description of the first frame in the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0452] In some embodiments, the operation apparatus 100 in non-primary channel access further includes a receiving module 130;

[0453] The receiving module 130 is configured to receive a second frame sent by the second STA; wherein the second frame is used to provide second scheduling information of the first STA within a broadcast target wake-up time (TWT) service period (SP).

[0454] In some embodiments, the second scheduling information is used to indicate that the first STA is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state, wherein the first STA is in the active mode or the power save mode.

[0455] In some embodiments, the operation apparatus 100 in non-primary channel access further includes a receiving module 130;

[0456] The receiving module 130 is configured to receive a third frame sent by the second STA; wherein the third frame is used to indicate the broadcast TWT SP, and the broadcast TWT SP is split based on a beacon interval, and the beacon interval includes one or more broadcast TWT SPs.

[0457] For the third frame:

[0458] In some embodiments, the third frame is sent or received at any time, or is sent or received at a specified time.

[0459] In some embodiments, the third frame is used to indicate information of the broadcast TWT SP.

[0460] In some embodiments, the information of the broadcast TWT SP includes at least one of a number, a start time, an end time, and a duration.

[0461] In some embodiments, the information of the broadcast TWT SP further includes a frame type that can be sent or received within the broadcast TWT SP.

[0462] In some embodiments, the broadcast TWT SP is for NPCA availability management.

[0463] In some embodiments, the broadcast TWT SP is also referred to as NPCA availability management TWT SP.

[0464] In some embodiments, the broadcast TWT SP is periodic, or, is absent of interval.

[0465] In some embodiments, the broadcast TWT SP is based on beacon interval splitting.

[0466] In some embodiments, one beacon interval comprises one or more broadcast TWT SPs.

[0467] In some embodiments, one beacon interval is split into one or more broadcast TWT SPs.

[0468] In some embodiments, the third frame can be transmitted or received only once when the two adjacent broadcast TWT SPs are unchanged.

[0469] In some embodiments, the third frame is retransmitted or received after the end of the last broadcast TWT SP and before the start of the next broadcast TWT SP when the two adjacent broadcast TWT SPs need to be changed.

[0470] For the second frame:

[0471] In some embodiments, the second frame is transmitted or received after the third frame. Or, the second frame is transmitted or received immediately after the third frame, or, is transmitted or received at a specified time after the third frame. Or, the second frame is transmitted or received after the third frame at the start of each broadcast TWT SP indicated by the third frame.

[0472] In some embodiments, the second frame is used to provide second scheduling information of all or part of the STAs within the broadcast TWT SP.

[0473] In some embodiments, all or part of the STAs refer to all or part of the STAs supporting NPCA operation.

[0474] In some embodiments, all or part of the STAs include the first STA.

[0475] In some embodiments, the second scheduling information is used to indicate that all or part of the STAs are in NPCA unavailable state or NPCA power saving state within the broadcast TWT SP. Wherein, all or part of the STAs are in active mode or power saving mode.

[0476] In some embodiments, the second scheduling information is used to indicate that all or part of the STAs in the active mode are in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state within the broadcast TWT SP. And / or, the second scheduling information is used to indicate that all or part of the STAs in the power saving mode are in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state within the broadcast TWT SP. And / or, the second scheduling information is also used to indicate that all or part of the STAs in the power saving mode are in the dormant state within the broadcast TWT SP.

[0477] The second frame and the third frame can refer to the related descriptions of the second frame and the third frame in the foregoing method embodiments, and will not be described here again.

[0478] In some embodiments, the operation apparatus 100 in the non-primary channel access further includes a sending module 120.

[0479] The sending module 120 is configured to send a fourth frame to the second STA; wherein the fourth frame is used to indicate that the first STA itself is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state.

[0480] In some embodiments, the fourth frame carries duration information, and the duration information is used to indicate that the first STA automatically exits the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state after the duration corresponding to the duration information expires.

[0481] In some embodiments, the fourth frame is sent or received at any time, or is sent or received at a specified time. Or, the fourth frame is sent or received in the case that the first STA itself is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state.

[0482] In some embodiments, the fourth frame is used to indicate that the first STA itself is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state.

[0483] In some embodiments, the fourth frame is used to indicate at least one of the start time, the end time, or the duration that the first STA itself is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state.

[0484] In some embodiments, the fourth frame carries duration information, and the duration information is used to indicate that the first STA automatically exits the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state after the duration corresponding to the duration information expires.

[0485] The fourth frame can refer to the related descriptions of the fourth frame in the foregoing method embodiments, and will not be described here again.

[0486] In some embodiments, the operation apparatus 100 in the non-primary channel access further includes a sending module 120.

[0487] The sending module 120 is configured to send a fifth frame to the second STA; wherein the fifth frame is used to indicate that the first STA itself exits the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state.

[0488] In some embodiments, the fifth frame is sent or received at any time, or at a specified time, or in the case that the first STA itself exits the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state, or in the case that the fourth frame does not contain the duration information, or in the case that the fourth frame contains the duration information and the duration indicated by the duration information is not expired, or in the case that the fourth frame is used to indicate that the first STA is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state without time length limit.

[0489] In some embodiments, the fifth frame is used to indicate that the first STA itself exits the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state, and / or, the fifth frame is used to indicate the exit time of the first STA itself exiting the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state.

[0490] The fifth frame can refer to the related description of the fifth frame in the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be described here again.

[0491] In some embodiments, the first frame comprises at least one of the following fields: a first field used to indicate whether all or part of the STAs need to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state; a second field used to indicate the NPCA availability management period of the all or part of the STAs or the duration of being in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state.

[0492] In some embodiments, the first field is a first bitmap field, and the first bitmap field comprises n bits, and the value of the i-th bit in the n bits is used to indicate whether the STA identified by the association identifier (AID) associated with the i-th bit needs to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state.

[0493] In some embodiments, the first frame comprises an action frame, and the first bitmap field comprises a stream indication virtual bitmap field carried in a partial virtual bitmap field in a TIM element.

[0494] In some embodiments, the second field comprises an NPCA availability management period or an NPCA power saving period or an NPCA unavailable period field in an NPCA availability management element.

[0495] In some embodiments, the first frame comprises a beacon frame, and the first bitmap field comprises an NPCA available AID information field in an NPCA parameter set element.

[0496] In some embodiments, the NPCA available AID information field comprises at least one subfield: an NPCA available AID bitmap subfield, used to indicate whether STAs identified by n consecutive AIDs need to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state; an NPCA available AID bitmap offset subfield, used to indicate a first AID in the n consecutive AIDs; and an other AID NPCA available subfield, used to indicate whether STAs identified by other AIDs other than the n consecutive AIDs need to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state.

[0497] In some embodiments, the NPCA parameter set element further comprises: an NPCA available restriction present field, used to indicate whether the NPCA available AID information field is present.

[0498] In some embodiments, the second field comprises an NPCA available expected duration field in the NPCA parameter set element.

[0499] In some embodiments, the NPCA parameter set element further comprises: an NPCA available expected duration present field, used to indicate whether the NPCA available expected duration field is present.

[0500] In some embodiments, the NPCA parameter set element further comprises: an NPCA available update time field, used to indicate a starting time of the NPCA availability management period or entering the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state for the all or part of STAs.

[0501] In some embodiments, the NPCA parameter set element further comprises: an NPCA available update time present field, used to indicate whether the NPCA available update time field is present.

[0502] In some embodiments, when the NPCA available update time field is present, the NPCA available expected duration field is used to indicate a predicted duration of the NPCA availability management period or entering the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state for the all or part of STAs.

[0503] In the absence of the NPCA available update time field, the NPCA available expected duration field is used to indicate the NPCA availability management period or the remaining duration of the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state of the all or part of STAs.

[0504] In some embodiments, the NPCA parameter set element further comprises: an NPCA trigger enable field, used to indicate whether the all or part of STAs switch to the NPCA operation channel for PPDU transmission in the case of meeting the trigger condition of the NPCA operation.

[0505] In some embodiments, the second frame comprises: a third field, used to indicate whether the all or part of STAs need to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state.

[0506] In some embodiments, the third field is a second bitmap field, which comprises n bits, and the value of the i-th bit in the n bits is used to indicate whether the STA identified by the AID associated with the i-th bit needs to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state.

[0507] In some embodiments, the second frame comprises a TIM frame, and the second bitmap field comprises a stream indication virtual bitmap field carried by a partial virtual bitmap field in a TIM element.

[0508] In some embodiments, the third frame comprises: a fourth field, used to indicate the broadcast TWT SP of the all or part of STAs.

[0509] In some embodiments, the fourth field is used to indicate at least one of the start time, the end time, or the duration of the broadcast TWT SP of the all or part of STAs.

[0510] In some embodiments, the third frame comprises a beacon frame, and the fourth field comprises a broadcast TWT recommendation field in a TWT element.

[0511] In some embodiments, the fourth frame comprises at least one of the following fields: a fifth field, used to indicate whether the first STA itself will enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state; and a sixth field, used to indicate the duration of the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state of the first STA itself.

[0512] In some embodiments, the fourth frame comprises a quality of service (QoS) frame or a QoS null frame, and the fifth field comprises an NPCA available field in an NPCA availability management control field.

[0513] In some embodiments, the sixth field comprises an NPCA power save or NPCA unavailable duration field in the NPCA availability management control field.

[0514] In some embodiments, the fifth frame comprises at least one of the following fields: a seventh field for indicating whether the STA itself is going to exit the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state; an eighth field for indicating an exit time of the STA itself exiting the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state.

[0515] In some embodiments, the fifth frame comprises a QoS frame or a QoS null frame, and the seventh field comprises an NPCA available field in the NPCA availability management control field.

[0516] In some embodiments, the eighth field comprises an NPCA power save or NPCA unavailable duration field in the NPCA availability management control field.

[0517] FIG. 23 is a structural block diagram of an operation apparatus in non-primary channel access according to an example embodiment of the present application. The operation apparatus 200 in non-primary channel access comprises a processing module 210.

[0518] The processing module 210 is configured to perform a second operation in a case that the first STA is in an NPCA unavailable state or an NPCA power save state.

[0519] In some embodiments, the second operation in the case that the first STA is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state comprises at least one of the following: not allocating resources to the first STA for triggering PPDU transmission on an NPCA operating channel; not initiating frame exchange with the first STA on the NPCA operating channel; not transmitting individually addressed frames to the first STA when the first STA is a TXOP owner on the NPCA operating channel; and not transmitting trigger frames with a user info field addressed to the first STA to the first STA when the first STA is a TXOP owner on the NPCA operating channel.

[0520] In some embodiments, the second STA comprises an NPCA operating STA, and / or an NPCA operating non-AP STA, and / or an NPCA operating AP, and / or a peer associated STA of the first STA, and / or an NPCA operating AP associated with the first STA.

[0521] In some embodiments, the NPCA unavailable state comprises that the first STA cannot receive a PPDU on the NPCA operating channel, and / or the first STA does not switch to the NPCA operating channel for PPDU transmission.

[0522] In some embodiments, the NPCA energy saving state comprises that the first STA is in the NPCA unavailable state, and / or the first STA cannot receive a PPDU on the NPCA operating channel, and / or the first STA does not switch to the NPCA operating channel for PPDU transmission, and / or the first STA switches to the NPCA operating channel for PPDU transmission in a case that a trigger condition of the NPCA operation is satisfied.

[0523] Optionally, the NPCA operating channel comprises a NPCA primary channel and / or a NPCA secondary channel. In some embodiments, the not switching to the NPCA operating channel for PPDU transmission comprises not switching to the NPCA primary channel for PPDU transmission.

[0524] In some embodiments, in a case that the first STA is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA energy saving state, the second operation comprises at least one of the following: the second STA does not allocate resource to the first STA on the NPCA operating channel for triggering PPDU transmission; the second STA does not initiate frame exchange with the first STA on the NPCA operating channel; the second STA does not transmit a separately addressed frame to the first STA when the second STA is a TXOP owner on the NPCA operating channel; the second STA does not transmit a trigger frame with a user info field addressed to the first STA to the first STA when the second STA is a TXOP owner on the NPCA operating channel.

[0525] In some embodiments, the separately addressed frame comprises a frame whose target receive address is a STA address of the first STA.

[0526] In some embodiments, the trigger frame with the user info field addressed to the first STA comprises a trigger frame carrying a user info field with a STA identifier corresponding to the first STA.

[0527] In some embodiments, the trigger condition of the NPCA operation comprises: detecting an OBSS PPDU, and a duration of the OBSS PPDU is greater than or equal to a first threshold. The first threshold can be set according to actual needs, and / or the first threshold is configured by an AP.

[0528] In some embodiments, the trigger condition of the NPCA operation comprises: detecting an OBSS PPDU, and a duration of a TXOP in which the OBSS PPDU is located is greater than or equal to a second threshold. The second threshold can be set according to actual needs, and / or the second threshold is configured by an AP.

[0529] In some embodiments, the trigger condition for the NPCA operation comprises detecting OBSS control frame interaction.

[0530] In some embodiments, the trigger condition for the NPCA operation comprises detecting that the current primary channel is unavailable due to interference. In one example, the interference comprises In Device Coexistence (IDC) interference.

[0531] In some embodiments, the second STA can also be in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state.

[0532] In some embodiments, the second STA can also be in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state only for the third STA. Optionally, the third STA comprises a STA supporting the NPCA operation, and / or a non-AP STA supporting the NPCA operation, and / or an AP supporting the NPCA operation, and / or a peer STA associated with the second STA, and / or an AP supporting the NPCA operation associated with the second STA.

[0533] In some embodiments, the apparatus 200 for operation in non-primary channel access further comprises a sending module 220;

[0534] The sending module 220 is configured to send a first frame; wherein the first frame is used to provide first scheduling information of all or part of STAs in a NPCA availability management period, the all or part of STAs comprising the first STA.

[0535] In some embodiments, the first scheduling information is used to indicate that the all or part of STAs are in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state, wherein the all or part of STAs are in an active mode or a power save mode.

[0536] In some embodiments, the first frame is sent or received at any time. Or, the first frame is sent or received at a specified time.

[0537] In some embodiments, the first frame is used to provide first scheduling information of all or part of STAs in a NPCA availability management period.

[0538] In some embodiments, the all or part of STAs refer to all or part of STAs supporting the NPCA operation.

[0539] In some embodiments, the all or part of STAs comprise the first STA.

[0540] In some embodiments, the NPCA availability management period is aperiodic, or is interval.

[0541] In some embodiments, there is an interval between two adjacent NPCA availability management periods. Optionally, the intervals between different adjacent NPCA availability management periods are the same, or different, or partially the same. Optionally, the lengths of different NPCA availability management periods are the same, or different, or partially the same.

[0542] In some embodiments, the first scheduling information is used to indicate that, in the NPCA availability management period, all or part of the STAs are in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state. Wherein, all or part of the STAs are in the Active Mode or the Power Saving Mode.

[0543] In some embodiments, the first scheduling information is used to indicate that, in the NPCA availability management period, all or part of the STAs in the Active Mode are in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state. And / or, the first scheduling information is used to indicate that, in the NPCA availability management period, all or part of the STAs in the Power Saving Mode are in the NPCA power saving state. And / or, the first scheduling information is also used to indicate that, in the NPCA availability management period, all or part of the STAs in the Power Saving Mode are in the sleep state.

[0544] The first frame can refer to the related description of the first frame in the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0545] In some embodiments, the operating apparatus 200 in the non-primary channel access further comprises a sending module 220;

[0546] The sending module 220 is configured to send a second frame; wherein the second frame is used to provide second scheduling information of all or part of the STAs in the broadcast TWT SP, the all or part of the STAs including the first STA.

[0547] In some embodiments, the second scheduling information is used to indicate that the all or part of the STAs are in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state, wherein the all or part of the STAs are in the Active Mode or the Power Saving Mode.

[0548] In some embodiments, the operating apparatus 200 in the non-primary channel access further comprises a sending module 220;

[0549] The sending module 220 is configured to send a third frame; wherein the third frame is used to indicate the broadcast TWT SP, the broadcast TWT SP being split based on a beacon interval, the beacon interval including one or more of the broadcast TWT SP.

[0550] For the third frame:

[0551] In some embodiments, the third frame is sent or received at any time, or, at a specified time.

[0552] In some embodiments, the third frame is used to indicate information of a broadcast TWT SP.

[0553] In some embodiments, the information of the broadcast TWT SP includes at least one of a number, a start time, an end time, a duration.

[0554] In some embodiments, the information of the broadcast TWT SP further includes a frame type that can be sent or received within the broadcast TWT SP.

[0555] In some embodiments, the broadcast TWT SP is used for NPCA availability management.

[0556] In some embodiments, the broadcast TWT SP is also referred to as NPCA availability management TWT SP.

[0557] In some embodiments, the broadcast TWT SP is periodic, or, there is no interval.

[0558] In some embodiments, the broadcast TWT SP is based on beacon interval splitting.

[0559] In some embodiments, one beacon interval includes one or more broadcast TWT SPs.

[0560] In some embodiments, one beacon interval is split into one or more broadcast TWT SPs.

[0561] In some embodiments, the third frame can be sent or received only once when the two adjacent broadcast TWT SPs are unchanged.

[0562] In some embodiments, the third frame is re-sent or received after the end of the last broadcast TWT SP and before the start of the next broadcast TWT SP when the two adjacent broadcast TWT SPs need to be changed.

[0563] For the second frame:

[0564] In some embodiments, the second frame is sent or received after the third frame. Or, the second frame is sent or received immediately after the third frame, or, at a specified time after the third frame. Or, the second frame is sent or received after the third frame at the start of each broadcast TWT SP indicated by the third frame.

[0565] In some embodiments, the second frame is used to provide second scheduling information of all or part of STAs within the broadcast TWT SP.

[0566] In some embodiments, the all or part of the STA refers to all or part of the STA supporting the NPCA operation.

[0567] In some embodiments, the all or part of the STA includes the first STA.

[0568] In some embodiments, the second scheduling information is used to indicate that the all or part of the STA is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state within the broadcast TWT SP. Wherein, the all or part of the STA is in the active mode or the power saving mode.

[0569] In some embodiments, the second scheduling information is used to indicate that the all or part of the STA in the active mode is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state within the broadcast TWT SP. And / or, the second scheduling information is used to indicate that the all or part of the STA in the power saving mode is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state within the broadcast TWT SP. And / or, the second scheduling information is also used to indicate that the all or part of the STA in the power saving mode is in the sleep state within the broadcast TWT SP.

[0570] The second frame and the third frame can refer to the related description of the second frame and the third frame in the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0571] In some embodiments, the operation device 200 in the non-primary channel access further includes a receiving module 230;

[0572] The receiving module 230 is configured to receive the fourth frame sent by the first STA; wherein, the fourth frame is used to indicate that the first STA itself is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state.

[0573] In some embodiments, the fourth frame carries duration information, and the duration information is used to indicate that after the duration information corresponding to the duration expires, the first STA automatically exits the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state.

[0574] In some embodiments, the fourth frame is sent or received at any time, or is sent or received at a specified time. Or, the fourth frame is sent or received in the case that the first STA itself is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state.

[0575] In some embodiments, the fourth frame is used to indicate that the first STA itself is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state.

[0576] In some embodiments, the fourth frame is used to indicate at least one of the start time, the end time, and the duration that the first STA itself is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state.

[0577] In some embodiments, the fourth frame carries duration information, and the duration information is used to indicate that the first STA automatically exits the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA energy saving state after the duration corresponding to the duration information expires.

[0578] The fourth frame can refer to the related description of the fourth frame in the foregoing method embodiments, and will not be described here again.

[0579] In some embodiments, the operation device 200 in the non-primary channel access further includes a receiving module 230;

[0580] The receiving module 230 is configured to receive a fifth frame sent by the first STA; wherein the fifth frame is used to indicate that the first STA itself exits the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA energy saving state.

[0581] In some embodiments, the fifth frame is sent or received at any time, or is sent or received at a specified time. Or, the fifth frame is sent or received in the case that the first STA itself exits the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA energy saving state. Or, the fifth frame is sent or received in the case that the fourth frame does not contain duration information. Or, the fifth frame is sent or received in the case that the fourth frame contains duration information, and the duration indicated by the duration information has not expired. Or, the fifth frame is sent or received in the case that the fourth frame is used to indicate that the first STA is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA energy saving state without time limit.

[0582] In some embodiments, the fifth frame is used to indicate that the first STA itself exits the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA energy saving state. And / or, the fifth frame is used to indicate the exit time of the first STA itself exiting the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA energy saving state.

[0583] The fifth frame can refer to the related description of the fifth frame in the foregoing method embodiments, and will not be described here again.

[0584] In some embodiments, the first frame includes at least one of the following fields: a first field used to indicate whether all or part of the STAs need to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA energy saving state; and a second field used to indicate the NPCA availability management period of the all or part of the STAs or the duration of being in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA energy saving state.

[0585] In some embodiments, the first field is a first bitmap field, n bits are included in the first bitmap field, and a value of an i-th bit of the n bits is used to indicate whether a STA identified by an AID associated with the i-th bit needs to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state.

[0586] In some embodiments, the first frame includes an action frame, and the first bitmap field includes a stream indication virtual bitmap field carried in a partial virtual bitmap field in a TIM element.

[0587] In some embodiments, the second field includes an NPCA availability management duration or an NPCA power saving duration or an NPCA unavailable duration field in an NPCA availability management element.

[0588] In some embodiments, the first frame includes a beacon frame, and the first bitmap field includes an NPCA available AID information field in an NPCA parameter set element.

[0589] In some embodiments, the NPCA available AID information field includes at least one of the following subfields: an NPCA available AID bitmap subfield used to indicate whether n consecutive AIDs identified by the n consecutive AIDs need to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state; an NPCA available AID bitmap offset subfield used to indicate a first AID of the n consecutive AIDs; and an other AID NPCA available subfield used to indicate whether a STA identified by an other AID other than the n consecutive AIDs needs to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state.

[0590] In some embodiments, the NPCA parameter set element further includes: an NPCA available limit present field used to indicate whether the NPCA available AID information field is present.

[0591] In some embodiments, the second field includes an NPCA available expected duration field in the NPCA parameter set element.

[0592] In some embodiments, the NPCA parameter set element further includes: an NPCA available expected duration present field used to indicate whether the NPCA available expected duration field is present.

[0593] In some embodiments, the NPCA parameter set element further includes: an NPCA available update time field used to indicate a start time of an NPCA availability management period of all or part of the STAs or in the NPCA unavailable state or in the NPCA power saving state.

[0594] In some embodiments, the NPCA parameter set element further comprises: a NPCA available update time field, used to indicate whether the NPCA available update time field exists.

[0595] In some embodiments, when the NPCA available update time field exists, the NPCA available expected duration field is used to indicate the NPCA availability management period or the expected duration of the STA in the NPCA unavailable state or in the NPCA power save state.

[0596] In some embodiments, when the NPCA available update time field does not exist, the NPCA available expected duration field is used to indicate the remaining duration of the STA in the NPCA availability management period or in the NPCA unavailable state or in the NPCA power save state.

[0597] In some embodiments, the NPCA parameter set element further comprises: a NPCA trigger enable field, used to indicate whether the STA switches to the NPCA operation channel for PPDU transmission when the trigger condition of the NPCA operation is met.

[0598] In some embodiments, the second frame comprises: a third field, used to indicate whether the STA needs to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state.

[0599] In some embodiments, the third field is a second bitmap field, and the second bitmap field comprises n bits, and the value of the i-th bit in the n bits is used to indicate whether the STA identified by the AID associated with the i-th bit needs to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state.

[0600] In some embodiments, the second frame comprises a TIM frame, and the second bitmap field comprises a stream indication virtual bitmap field carried by a partial virtual bitmap field in a TIM element.

[0601] In some embodiments, the third frame comprises: a fourth field, used to indicate the broadcast TWT SP of the STA.

[0602] In some embodiments, the fourth field is used to indicate at least one of the start time, the end time, or the duration of the broadcast TWT SP of the STA.

[0603] In some embodiments, the third frame comprises a beacon frame, and the fourth field comprises a broadcast TWT recommendation field in a TWT element.

[0604] In some embodiments, the fourth frame comprises at least one of: a fifth field for indicating whether the first STA itself is going to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state; a sixth field for indicating a duration that the first STA itself is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state.

[0605] In some embodiments, the fourth frame comprises a QoS frame or a QoS null frame, and the fifth field comprises an NPCA available field in an NPCA availability management control field.

[0606] In some embodiments, the sixth field comprises an NPCA power save or NPCA unavailable duration field in the NPCA availability management control field.

[0607] In some embodiments, the fifth frame comprises at least one of: a seventh field for indicating whether the STA itself is going to exit the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state; an eighth field for indicating an exit time that the STA itself exits the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state.

[0608] In some embodiments, the fifth frame comprises a QoS frame or a QoS null frame, and the seventh field comprises an NPCA available field in an NPCA availability management control field.

[0609] In some embodiments, the eighth field comprises an NPCA power save or NPCA unavailable duration field in the NPCA availability management control field.

[0610] It should be noted that the apparatuses 100 and 200 in the non-primary channel access provided by the above embodiments are only used as examples for the division of the functional modules, and in actual applications, the above functions can be completed by different functional modules according to the needs, that is, the internal structure of the communication device is divided into different functional modules to complete all or part of the functions described above. In addition, the apparatuses and method embodiments provided by the above embodiments belong to the same concept.

[0611] Again, it should be emphasized that the frame formats, element formats, and field formats shown in the above embodiments are examples and are not limiting. This application supports changes to the formats of various frames, elements, and fields based on the format designs described above, such as changing the order of fields / elements, changing the number of bytes of fields / elements, changing the number of bits of fields / elements, changing the names of fields / elements / frames, and the like. It is also supported to set part of the fields / elements as reserved fields.

[0612] It should be understood that the format, name and value of the frame / element / field involved in each embodiment of the present application are only examples and do not mean to limit the format, name and value of the frame / element / field. In different embodiments or different designs, one or more of the name of the element / field, the position in the frame, the arrangement order between other elements / fields, the number of bytes occupied, the number of bits occupied can be changed. In different embodiments or different designs, one or more of the name of the frame, the element / field contained, the number of bytes occupied, the number of bits occupied can be changed.

[0613] Fig. 24 is a structural schematic diagram of a communication device 1500 provided by an example embodiment of the present application, which includes at least one of the following: a receiver 1501, a transmitter 1502, a processor 1503, a memory 1504, and a bus (not shown in the figure).

[0614] Optionally, the communication device 1500 is configured to perform part or all of the steps performed by the first STA.

[0615] Optionally, the communication device 1500 is configured to perform part or all of the steps performed by the second STA.

[0616] Optionally, the communication device 1500 is configured to perform part or all of the steps performed by the third STA.

[0617] Optionally, the communication device 1500 is configured to perform part or all of the steps performed by the AP.

[0618] Optionally, the communication device 1500 is a wireless device / wireless communication device supporting WLAN / Wi-Fi protocol (such as 802.11 protocol).

[0619] The receiver 1501 is configured to implement the receiving function. Optionally, the receiver 1501 can be configured to implement the functions and steps of the receiving module 130 and / or the receiving module 230. The transmitter 1502 is configured to implement the sending function. Optionally, the transmitter 1502 can be configured to implement the functions and steps of the sending module 120 and / or the sending module 220.

[0620] Optionally, the receiver 1501 and the transmitter 1502 can be implemented as one communication component, which can be one communication chip, and the communication component can be referred to as a transceiver. Optionally, the receiver 1501 and the transmitter 1502 can be implemented as a wireless communication component and / or a wired communication component. Optionally, the wireless communication component includes a wireless communication chip and / or a radio frequency antenna. Optionally, the wired communication component includes a wired communication chip and / or a wired interface.

[0621] The processor 1503 includes one or more processing cores, and performs various function applications and information processing by running software programs and modules. In some embodiments, the processor 1503 can be configured to implement the functions and steps of the processing module 110 and / or the processing module 210 described above. The memory 1504 can be configured to store computer programs executed by the processor 1503 for implementing the various steps in the method embodiments described above.

[0622] In some embodiments, the memory 1504 can be connected to the processor 1503, the receiver 1501 and the transmitter 1502.

[0623] In addition, the memory 1504 can be implemented by any type of volatile or non-volatile storage devices or a combination thereof, including but not limited to at least one of the following: a magnetic or optical disk, an Electrically-Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM), an Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM), a Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a magnetic storage, a flash memory, a Programmable Read-Only Memory (PROM).

[0624] In some embodiments, the receiver 1501 receives signals / data independently, or the processor 1503 controls the receiver 1501 to receive signals / data, or the processor 1503 requests the receiver 1501 to receive signals / data, or the processor 1503 cooperates with the receiver 1501 to receive signals / data.

[0625] In some embodiments, the transmitter 1502 transmits signals / data independently, or the processor 1503 controls the transmitter 1502 to transmit signals / data, or the processor 1503 requests the transmitter 1502 to transmit signals / data, or the processor 1503 cooperates with the transmitter 1502 to transmit signals / data.

[0626] For details not described in the present embodiments, reference can be made to the above embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0627] In an example embodiment of the present application, a chip is also provided, which includes programmable logic circuit and / or program instructions, and when the chip is running on a communication device, is used to implement the operation method in the non-primary channel access provided by the above-mentioned various method embodiments.

[0628] In some embodiments, the chip includes the processing module 110. Optionally, the chip further includes the sending module 120 and / or the receiving module 130. Related content can be referred to the foregoing description, and will not be repeated here.

[0629] In some embodiments, the chip includes the processing module 210. Optionally, the chip further includes the sending module 220 and / or the receiving module 230. Related content can be referred to the foregoing description, and will not be repeated here.

[0630] In an example embodiment of the present application, a computer readable storage medium is also provided, and the computer readable storage medium stores at least one program, and the at least one program is loaded and executed by a processor to implement the operation method in the non-primary channel access provided by the above-mentioned various method embodiments.

[0631] In an example embodiment of the present application, a computer program product is also provided, and the computer program product includes computer instructions stored in a computer readable storage medium, and a processor acquires the computer instructions from the computer readable storage medium, and the processor executes the computer instructions to implement the operation method in the non-primary channel access provided by the above-mentioned various method embodiments.

[0632] In an example embodiment of the present application, a computer program is also provided, and the computer program includes computer instructions stored in a computer readable storage medium, and a processor acquires the computer instructions from the computer readable storage medium, and the processor executes the computer instructions to implement the operation method in the non-primary channel access provided by the above-mentioned various method embodiments.

[0633] Those skilled in the art can understand that all or part of the steps of the above-mentioned embodiments can be completed by hardware, or by program instructing related hardware to complete, and the program can be stored in a computer readable storage medium, and the above-mentioned storage medium can be a read-only memory, a magnetic disk or an optical disk, etc.

[0634] The above is only an optional embodiment of the present application, and does not limit the present application, and any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present application shall be included in the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A method for accessing an NPCA via a non-master channel, characterized in that, The method is performed by a first station STA supporting NPCA operation, and the method comprises: performing a first operation in a case of being in a NPCA unavailable state or a NPCA power saving state.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, in a case of being in the NPCA unavailable state, the first operation comprises at least one of: not receiving a physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) on a NPCA operation channel; not switching to the NPCA operation channel for PPDU transmission; or, in a case of being in the NPCA power saving state, the first operation comprises at least one of: not receiving a PPDU on a NPCA operation channel; not switching to the NPCA operation channel for PPDU transmission; switching to the NPCA operation channel for PPDU transmission in a case of satisfying a trigger condition of the NPCA operation.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, in a case of being in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state, a second STA does not allocate resources to the first STA for triggering PPDU transmission on the NPCA operation channel, and / or does not initiate frame exchange with the first STA on the NPCA operation channel, and / or does not send a separately addressed frame to the first STA when the NPCA operation channel is a transmission opportunity (TXOP) owner, and / or does not send a trigger frame with a user info field addressed to the first STA to the first STA when the NPCA operation channel is a TXOP owner.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The method further comprises: receiving a first frame sent by the second STA; wherein the first frame is used to provide first scheduling information of the first STA at a NPCA availability management period.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein, The first scheduling information is used to indicate that the first STA is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state, wherein the first STA is in an active mode or a power saving mode.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The method further comprises: receiving a second frame sent by the second STA; wherein the second frame is used to provide second scheduling information of the first STA within a broadcast target wake time (TWT) service period (SP).

7. The method of claim 6, wherein, The second scheduling information is used to indicate that the first STA is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state, wherein the first STA is in an active mode or a power saving mode.

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that, The method further comprises: receiving a third frame sent by the second STA; wherein the third frame is used to indicate the broadcast TWT SP, the broadcast TWT SP is split based on a beacon interval, and the beacon interval comprises one or more of the broadcast TWT SPs.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The method further comprises: sending a fourth frame to the second STA; wherein the fourth frame is used to indicate that the first STA itself is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein, The fourth frame carries duration information, and the duration information is used to indicate that the first STA automatically exits the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA energy saving state after a duration corresponding to the duration information expires.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein, The method further comprises: sending a fifth frame to the second STA; wherein the fifth frame is used to indicate that the first STA itself exits the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA energy saving state.

12. The method of claim 4, wherein, The first frame comprises at least one of the following fields: a first field used to indicate whether all or part of the STAs need to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA energy saving state; and a second field used to indicate a duration of the NPCA availability management period of the all or part of the STAs or a duration of being in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA energy saving state. The first field is a first bitmap field, and n bits are included in the first bitmap field, and a value of an i-th bit in the n bits is used to indicate whether a STA identified by an association identifier (AID) associated with the i-th bit needs to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA energy saving state.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein, The first frame comprises a beacon frame, and the first bitmap field comprises a stream indication virtual bitmap field carried in a partial virtual bitmap field in a traffic indication map (TIM) element.

14. The method according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that, The second field comprises an NPCA availability management duration or an NPCA energy saving duration or an NPCA unavailable duration field in an NPCA availability management element.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein, The first frame comprises a beacon frame, and the first bitmap field comprises an NPCA available AID information field in an NPCA parameter set element.

16. The method of claim 12 or 13, wherein, The NPCA available AID information field comprises at least one of the following subfields: an NPCA available AID bitmap subfield used to indicate whether n consecutive AIDs identified by the n consecutive AIDs need to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA energy saving state; an NPCA available AID bitmap offset subfield used to indicate a first AID in the n consecutive AIDs; and an other AID NPCA available subfield used to indicate whether a STA identified by an other AID other than the n consecutive AIDs needs to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA energy saving state.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein, The NPCA parameter set element further comprises:

18. The method of claim 16 or 17, wherein, an NPCA available restriction field used to indicate whether the NPCA available AID information field exists. The second field comprises an NPCA available expected duration field in the NPCA parameter set element.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein, The NPCA parameter set element further comprises:

20. The method of claim 19, wherein, an NPCA available expected duration field used to indicate whether the NPCA available expected duration field exists. The NPCA parameter set element further comprises:

21. The method of claim 19, wherein, an NPCA available update time field used to indicate a start time of the NPCA availability management period of the all or part of the STAs or being in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA energy saving state. The NPCA parameter set element further comprises:

22. The method of claim 21, wherein, ​ whether the NPCA available update time field exists, used to indicate whether the NPCA available update time field exists.

23. The method of any of claims 19-22, wherein, when the NPCA available update time field exists, the NPCA available expected duration field is used to indicate the NPCA availability management period or the expected duration of the STA in the NPCA unavailable state or in the NPCA power saving state of the all or part of STAs; when the NPCA available update time field does not exist, the NPCA available expected duration field is used to indicate the remaining duration of the NPCA availability management period or the STA in the NPCA unavailable state or in the NPCA power saving state of the all or part of STAs.

24. The method of any one of claims 19 to 22, wherein, The NPCA parameter set element further comprises: whether the NPCA trigger enable field is used to indicate whether the all or part of STAs switch to the NPCA operation channel for PPDU transmission when the trigger condition of the NPCA operation is met.

25. The method of claim 6, wherein, The second frame comprises a third field used to indicate whether the all or part of STAs need to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein, The third field is a second bitmap field, and n bits are included in the second bitmap field, and a value of an i-th bit in the n bits is used to indicate whether a STA identified by an AID associated with the i-th bit needs to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state.

27. The method of claim 25 or 26, wherein, The second frame comprises a TIM frame, and the second bitmap field comprises a stream indication virtual bitmap field carried by a partial virtual bitmap field in a TIM element.

28. The method of claim 8, wherein, The third frame comprises a fourth field used to indicate a broadcast TWT SP of the all or part of STAs.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein, The fourth field is used to indicate at least one of a start time, an end time, or a duration of the broadcast TWT SP of the all or part of STAs.

30. The method of claim 28 or 29, wherein, The third frame comprises a beacon frame, and the fourth field comprises a broadcast TWT recommendation field in a TWT element.

31. The method of claim 9, wherein, The fourth frame comprises at least one of the following fields: a fifth field used to indicate whether the first STA itself is about to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state; a sixth field used to indicate a duration that the first STA itself is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein, The fourth frame comprises a quality of service (QoS) frame or a QoS null frame, and the fifth field comprises an NPCA available field in an NPCA availability management control field.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein, The sixth field comprises an NPCA power saving or NPCA unavailable duration field in the NPCA availability management control field.

34. The method of claim 11, wherein, The fifth frame comprises at least one of the following fields: a seventh field used to indicate whether the STA itself is about to exit the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state; an eighth field used to indicate an exit time of the STA itself exiting the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein, The fifth frame includes a QoS frame or a QoS null frame, and the seventh field includes an NPCA available field in an NPCA availability management control field.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein, The eighth field includes an NPCA power saving or NPCA unavailable duration field in the NPCA availability management control field.

37. A method of operation in non-primary channel access, comprising: The method is performed by a second STA supporting NPCA operation, and the method includes: In a case where the first STA is in an NPCA unavailable state or an NPCA power saving state, performing a second operation.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein, The second operation in the case where the first STA is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state includes at least one of the following: not allocating resources to the first STA for triggering PPDU transmission on an NPCA operation channel; not initiating frame exchange with the first STA on the NPCA operation channel; and not sending a separately addressed frame to the first STA when the NPCA operation channel is a TXOP owner. Not sending a trigger frame with a user information field addressed to the first STA to the first STA when the NPCA operation channel is a TXOP owner.

39. The method of claim 37 or 38, wherein, The method further includes: sending a first frame; wherein the first frame is used to provide first scheduling information of all or part of STAs in an NPCA availability management period, the all or part of STAs including the first STA.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein, The first scheduling information is used to indicate that the all or part of STAs are in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state, wherein the all or part of STAs are in an active mode or a power saving mode.

41. The method of claim 37 or 38, wherein, The method further includes: sending a second frame; wherein the second frame is used to provide second scheduling information of all or part of STAs in a broadcast TWT SP, the all or part of STAs including the first STA.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein, The second scheduling information is used to indicate that the all or part of STAs are in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state, wherein the all or part of STAs are in an active mode or a power saving mode.

43. The method of claim 41 or 42, wherein, The method further includes: sending a third frame; wherein the third frame is used to indicate the broadcast TWT SP, the broadcast TWT SP being split based on a beacon interval, the beacon interval including one or more of the broadcast TWT SPs.

44. The method of claim 37 or 38, wherein, The method further includes: receiving a fourth frame sent by the first STA; wherein the fourth frame is used to indicate that the first STA itself is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein, The fourth frame carries duration information, the duration information being used to indicate that the first STA automatically exits the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state after a duration corresponding to the duration information expires.

46. The method of claim 44, wherein, The method further includes: receiving a fifth frame sent by the first STA; wherein the fifth frame is used to indicate that the first STA itself exits the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state.

47. The method of claim 39, wherein, The first frame comprises at least one of the following fields: a first field for indicating whether all or part of STAs need to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state; and a second field for indicating a duration of the NPCA availability management period of the all or part of STAs or in the NPCA unavailable state or in the NPCA power saving state. The first field is a first bitmap field, and n bits are included in the first bitmap field, and a value of an i-th bit of the n bits is used to indicate whether a STA identified by an AID associated with the i-th bit needs to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein, The first frame comprises an action frame, and the first bitmap field comprises a stream indication virtual bitmap field carried in a partial virtual bitmap field in a TIM element.

49. The method of claim 47 or 48, wherein, The second field comprises an NPCA availability management duration or an NPCA power saving duration or an NPCA unavailable duration field in an NPCA availability management element.

50. The method of claim 49, wherein, The first frame comprises a beacon frame, and the first bitmap field comprises an NPCA available AID information field in an NPCA parameter set element.

51. The method of claim 37 or 38, wherein, The NPCA available AID information field comprises at least one of the following subfields: an NPCA available AID bitmap subfield for indicating whether n consecutive AIDs identified by the n consecutive AIDs need to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state; an NPCA available AID bitmap offset subfield for indicating a first AID of the n consecutive AIDs; and an other AID NPCA available subfield for indicating whether a STA identified by an AID other than the n consecutive AIDs needs to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power saving state.

52. The method of claim 51, wherein, The NPCA parameter set element further comprises:

53. The method of claim 51 or 52, wherein, an NPCA available limit field for indicating whether the NPCA available AID information field exists. The second field comprises an NPCA available expected duration field in the NPCA parameter set element.

54. The method of claim 51, wherein, The NPCA parameter set element further comprises:

55. The method of claim 54, wherein, an NPCA available expected duration field for indicating whether the NPCA available expected duration field exists. The NPCA parameter set element further comprises:

56. The method of claim 54, wherein, an NPCA available update time field for indicating a start time of the NPCA availability management period of the all or part of STAs or in the NPCA unavailable state or in the NPCA power saving state. The NPCA parameter set element further comprises:

57. The method of claim 56, wherein, an NPCA available update time field for indicating whether the NPCA available update time field exists.

58. The method of any of claims 54 to 57, wherein: when the NPCA available update time field exists, the NPCA available expected duration field is used to indicate a predicted duration of the NPCA availability management period of the all or part of STAs or in the NPCA unavailable state or in the NPCA power saving state. ​ In the absence of the NPCA available update time field, the NPCA available expected duration field is used to indicate the NPCA availability management period or the remaining duration of the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state of the whole or part of the STAs.

59. The method of any one of claims 54 to 57, wherein, The NPCA parameter set element further comprises: An NPCA trigger enable field is used to indicate whether the whole or part of the STAs switches to the NPCA operation channel for PPDU transmission in the case of meeting the trigger condition of the NPCA operation.

60. The method of claim 41, wherein, The second frame comprises a third field used to indicate whether the whole or part of the STAs needs to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state.

61. The method of claim 60, wherein, The third field is a second bitmap field, and n bits are included in the second bitmap field, and a value of an i-th bit in the n bits is used to indicate whether a STA identified by an AID associated with the i-th bit needs to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state.

62. The method of claim 60 or 61, wherein, The second frame comprises a TIM frame, and the second bitmap field comprises a stream indication virtual bitmap field carried by a partial virtual bitmap field in a TIM element.

63. The method of claim 43, wherein, The third frame comprises a fourth field used to indicate a broadcast TWT SP of the whole or part of the STAs.

64. The method of claim 63, wherein, The fourth field is used to indicate at least one of a start time, an end time, and a duration of the broadcast TWT SP of the whole or part of the STAs.

65. The method of claim 63 or 64, wherein, The third frame comprises a beacon frame, and the fourth field comprises a broadcast TWT recommendation field in a TWT element.

66. The method of claim 44, wherein, The fourth frame comprises at least one of the following fields: a fifth field used to indicate whether the first STA itself is going to enter the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state; A sixth field used to indicate a duration in which the first STA itself is in the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state.

67. The method of claim 66, wherein, The fourth frame comprises a QoS frame or a QoS null frame, and the fifth field comprises an NPCA available field in an NPCA availability management control field.

68. The method of claim 67, wherein, The sixth field comprises an NPCA power save or NPCA unavailable duration field in the NPCA availability management control field.

69. The method of claim 46, wherein, The fifth frame comprises at least one of the following fields: a seventh field used to indicate whether the STA itself is going to exit the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state; An eighth field used to indicate an exit time of the STA itself exiting the NPCA unavailable state or the NPCA power save state.

70. The method of claim 69, wherein, The fifth frame comprises a QoS frame or a QoS null frame, and the seventh field comprises an NPCA available field in an NPCA availability management control field.

71. The method of claim 70, wherein, The eighth field comprises an NPCA power save or NPCA unavailable duration field in the NPCA availability management control field.

72. An operating device for non-master channel access, characterized in that, The apparatus comprises: A processing module configured to perform a first operation in the case of being in an NPCA unavailable state or an NPCA power save state.

73. An operating device for non-master channel access, characterized in that, The apparatus comprises: The processing module is configured to perform a second operation when the first STA is in a NPCA unavailable state or a NPCA power save state.

74. A communications device, characterized by The device comprises: a processor; a transceiver connected to the processor; a memory for storing executable instructions of the processor; wherein the processor is configured to load the executable instructions to enable the communication device to implement the operating method in the non-primary channel access as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 71.

75. A computer-readable storage medium, comprising: The computer readable storage medium stores at least one program, and the at least one program is loaded and executed by the processor to implement the operating method in the non-primary channel access as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 71.

76. A computer program product or computer program, characterised in that, The computer program product or the computer program comprises computer instructions stored in a computer readable storage medium, and the processor acquires the computer instructions from the computer readable storage medium, and the processor executes the computer instructions to implement the operating method in the non-primary channel access as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 71.

77. A chip, comprising: The chip comprises programmable logic circuit and / or at least one program, and the chip is used to implement the operating method in the non-primary channel access as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 71 based on the programmable logic circuit and / or the at least one program.

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