Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

Provided in the present application are a communication method and apparatus, which are applied to the technical field of communications. The technical solution of the present application can support IEEE protocols, such as the IEEE 802.11be / Wi-Fi 7 / EHT protocol, the IEEE 802.11bn / UHR / Wi-Fi 8 protocol, the integrated mmWave / integrated millimeter wave / IMMW protocol, the IEEE 802.15 / UWB protocol, the IEEE 802.11bf / sensing protocol, or the SparkLink / NearLink standard protocol. The method comprises: a first AP notifying, by means of a first frame, a second AP to perform cooperative transmission, and then receiving a second frame from the second AP, so as to confirm that the second AP performs cooperative transmission; and sending a third frame to a first station (STA) on the basis of the second frame, wherein the third frame instructs the enabling of data transmission with the first AP.

Description

A communication method and apparatus

[0001] The present application claims priority to the Chinese patent application No. 202411345859.6, filed on September 24, 2024, and entitled "A communication method and apparatus", the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

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

[0003] In a multi-access point (AP) cooperative transmission scenario, AP1 sends an initial control frame 1. The initial control frame 1 is used to inform AP2 to perform cooperative transmission, and is also used to inform STA1 to start data transmission with AP1. Then, AP2 sends an initial control frame 2. The initial control frame 2 is used to confirm that AP2 performs cooperative transmission with AP1, and is also used to inform STA2 to start data transmission with AP2. After AP1 receives a response frame from STA1 and AP2 receives a response frame from STA2, cooperative transmission is performed.

[0004] However, STA1 may switch back to the monitoring state before receiving the data frame, affecting the communication between the AP and the STA. SUMMARY

[0005] To solve the above technical problems, the present application provides a communication method and apparatus, which can enable the STA to receive the data frame in time and reduce the possibility of switching back to the monitoring state before the data frame arrives. To achieve the above purpose, the present application adopts the following technical solutions:

[0006] In a first aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be executed by a first access point (AP), a component (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) in the first AP, or a logic module or software capable of realizing all or part of the functions of the first AP. Hereinafter, the execution subject is taken as the first AP for example.

[0007] A first frame is sent to a second AP, the first frame being used to inform the second AP to perform cooperative transmission. A second frame is received from the second AP, the second frame being used to confirm that the second AP performs cooperative transmission. According to the second frame, a third frame is sent to a first station (STA), the third frame indicating to start data transmission with the first AP, and the first STA being associated with the first AP.

[0008] That is, based on the first frame and the second frame, it can be determined that the first AP and the second AP perform cooperative transmission. Then, based on the second frame, the first AP sends the third frame to indicate to open data transmission. That is, the first AP determines to perform cooperative transmission with the second AP first, and then instructs the first STA to open data transmission with the first AP, so as to reduce the time length of the first STA waiting to receive a downlink data frame, and reduce the possibility of switching back to a monitoring state before the downlink data frame arrives.

[0009] In a possible design, the third frame includes an identifier of the first STA, so that the first STA receives the third frame carrying the identifier of the first STA in time.

[0010] In a possible design, a media access control (MAC) header of the third frame includes a first sending address, and before sending the third frame to the first STA, the method further includes: sending the first sending address to the first STA, so that the first STA continues to receive when receiving a frame with the first sending address as the first sending address.

[0011] In a possible design, the first sending address is determined by negotiation between the first AP and the second AP.

[0012] In a possible design, the third frame further includes an identifier of a second STA, and the method further includes: sending the third frame to the second STA, where the second STA is associated with the second AP.

[0013] That is, the first AP sends the third frame to the first STA and the second STA respectively, thereby reducing signaling overhead.

[0014] In a possible design, the third frame is sent through a first beam, and the first beam is sent through beamforming, so as to improve the reception performance of the first STA as much as possible, and reduce interference on other STAs.

[0015] In a possible design, the third frame is sent at the same time as a fourth frame, and the fourth frame is a frame sent by the second AP to a second STA, where the fourth frame instructs the second STA to open data transmission with the second AP, and the second STA is associated with the second AP.

[0016] That is, the third frame and the fourth frame are sent at the same time, thereby reducing the time length of the first STA waiting to receive a downlink data frame, and reducing the possibility of switching back to a monitoring state before the downlink data frame arrives.

[0017] In one possible design, the first frame also indicates a first resource unit (RU), and part or all of the first RU is used for transmission of a response frame of a fourth frame, the fourth frame being a frame sent by the second AP to a second STA, the fourth frame indicating the second STA to turn on data transmission with the second AP, the second STA being associated with the second AP.

[0018] That is, the first RU is allocated by the first AP such that the third frame and the response frame of the fourth frame are transmitted on different RUs, thereby reducing interference between different response frames.

[0019] In one possible design, part or all of the first RU is also used for transmission of a response frame of a data frame, the data frame being a data frame transmitted by the second AP to the second STA.

[0020] That is, the first RU is allocated by the first AP such that the response frames sent by the first STA and the second STA are transmitted on different RUs, thereby reducing interference between different response frames.

[0021] In one possible design, the first frame also indicates a second RU, and part or all of the second RU is used for transmission of a response frame of a data frame, the data frame being a data frame transmitted by the second AP to a second STA, the second STA being associated with the second AP.

[0022] That is, the second RU is allocated by the first AP such that the response frames sent by the first STA and the second STA are transmitted on different RUs, thereby reducing interference between different response frames.

[0023] In a second aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be performed by a second access point (AP), by a component (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) in the second AP, or by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the second AP. Hereinafter, the method is described with the execution subject being the second AP.

[0024] receiving a first frame from a first AP, the first frame being used to inform the second AP to perform cooperative transmission; sending a second frame to the first AP, the second frame being used to confirm the second AP to perform cooperative transmission; and sending a fourth frame to a second station (STA) according to the second frame, the fourth frame indicating to turn on data transmission with the second AP, the second STA being associated with the second AP.

[0025] That is, based on the first frame and the second frame, it can be determined that the first AP and the second AP perform cooperative transmission. Then, based on the second frame, the second AP sends the fourth frame to indicate to open data transmission. That is, the second AP first determines to perform cooperative transmission with the first AP, and then instructs the second STA to open data transmission with the second AP, so as to reduce the time length of the STA waiting to receive a downlink data frame, and reduce the possibility of switching back to a monitoring state before the downlink data frame arrives.

[0026] In a possible design, the fourth frame includes an identifier of the second STA, so that the second STA receives the fourth frame carrying the identifier of the second STA in time.

[0027] In a possible design, a media access control (MAC) header of the fourth frame includes a first sending address, and before sending the fourth frame to the second STA, the method further includes: sending the first sending address to the second STA, so that the second STA continues to receive when receiving a frame with the first sending address as the sending address.

[0028] In a possible design, the first sending address is determined by negotiation between the first AP and the second AP.

[0029] In a possible design, the fourth frame further includes an identifier of a first STA, and the first STA is associated with the first AP. That is, the fourth frame is the same as the third frame.

[0030] In a possible design, the fourth frame is sent through a second beam, and the second beam is sent through beamforming, so as to improve the receiving performance of the second STA as much as possible, and reduce interference on other STAs.

[0031] In a possible design, the sending time of the fourth frame is the same as the sending time of a third frame, the third frame is a frame sent by the first AP to a first STA, the third frame instructs the first STA to open data transmission with the first AP, and the first STA is associated with the first AP.

[0032] That is, the third frame and the fourth frame are sent at the same time, so as to reduce the time length of the STA waiting to receive a downlink data frame, and reduce the possibility of switching back to a monitoring state before the downlink data frame arrives.

[0033] In a third aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be performed by a first access point (AP) and a second AP. The parts performed by the first AP can be performed by the first AP, by a component (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) in the first AP, or by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first AP. The parts performed by the second AP can be performed by the second AP, by a component (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) in the second AP, or by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the second AP. Hereinafter, the method is described by taking the first AP and the second AP as examples. The method includes:

[0034] The first AP sends a third frame to a first station (STA), the third frame indicating the first STA to start data transmission with the first AP, the first STA being associated with the first AP. The second AP sends a fourth frame to a second STA, the fourth frame indicating the second STA to start data transmission with the second AP, the second STA being associated with the second AP. The third frame is sent at the same time as the fourth frame.

[0035] That is, the third frame and the fourth frame are sent at the same time, so the first STA and the second STA are notified to start data transmission at the same time, and there is no case of notifying the first STA to start data transmission first and then notifying the second STA to start data transmission. Moreover, in the case where the first STA and the second STA are not notified to start data transmission at the same time, for the first STA, the time length of notifying the second STA to start data transmission belongs to the time length of the first STA waiting to receive a downlink data frame. In this application, the first STA and the second STA are notified to start data transmission at the same time, so the time length of the first STA waiting to receive a downlink data frame can be reduced, and the possibility of switching back to a monitoring state before a downlink data frame arrives can be reduced.

[0036] In a possible design, the third frame includes an identifier of the first STA, and the fourth frame includes an identifier of the second STA.

[0037] In a possible design, a media access control (MAC) header of the third frame and a MAC header of the fourth frame both include a first transmission address.

[0038] Before the first AP sends the third frame to the first STA, the method further includes: the first AP sends the first sending address to the first STA, so that the first STA continues to receive when it receives a frame with the first sending address as the sending address. And / or, before the second AP sends the fourth frame to the second STA, the method further includes: the second AP sends the first sending address to the second STA, so that the second STA continues to receive when it receives a frame with the first sending address as the sending address.

[0039] In a possible design, the first sending address is determined by the first AP and the second AP through negotiation.

[0040] In a possible design, the third frame further includes an identifier of the second STA, and the fourth frame includes an identifier of the first STA. That is, the third frame is the same as the fourth frame.

[0041] In a possible design, the third frame is sent through a first beam, and the first beam is sent through beamforming, so as to improve the receiving performance of the first STA as much as possible and reduce interference on other STAs. And / or, the fourth frame is sent through a second beam, and the second beam is sent through beamforming, so as to improve the receiving performance of the second STA as much as possible and reduce interference on other STAs.

[0042] In a possible design, the method further includes: the first AP sends a first frame to the second AP, and the second AP receives the first frame from the first AP, where the first frame is used to notify the second AP to perform cooperative transmission. The second AP sends a second frame to the first AP, and the first AP receives the second frame from the second AP, where the second frame is used to confirm that the second AP performs cooperative transmission.

[0043] The first AP sends the third frame to the first STA, including: the first AP sends the third frame to the first STA according to the second frame.

[0044] The second AP sends the fourth frame to the second STA, including: the second AP sends the fourth frame to the second STA according to the second frame.

[0045] That is, based on the first frame and the second frame, it can be determined that the first AP and the second AP perform cooperative transmission. Then, based on the second frame, the first AP sends the third frame, and the second AP sends the fourth frame, to indicate to start data transmission.

[0046] In a possible design of the second aspect or the third aspect, the first frame further indicates a first resource unit (RU), and part or all of the first RU is used to transmit a response frame of the fourth frame.

[0047] That is, the first RU is allocated by the first AP such that the third frame and the response frame of the fourth frame are transmitted on different RUs, thereby reducing interference between different response frames.

[0048] In a possible design of the second aspect or the third aspect, the fourth frame further indicates the first RU, so that the second STA feeds back the response frame of the fourth frame on the first RU, thereby reducing interference between different response frames.

[0049] In a possible design of the second aspect or the third aspect, part or all of the first RU is further used to transmit a response frame of a data frame, the data frame being a data frame transmitted by the second AP to the second STA.

[0050] That is, the first RU is allocated by the first AP such that the response frames sent by the first STA and the second STA are transmitted on different RUs, thereby reducing interference between different response frames.

[0051] In a possible design of the second aspect or the third aspect, the data frame further indicates the first RU, so that the second STA feeds back the response frame of the data frame on the first RU, thereby reducing interference between different response frames.

[0052] In a possible design of the second aspect or the third aspect, the first frame further indicates a second RU, and part or all of the second RU is used to transmit a response frame of a data frame, the data frame being a data frame transmitted by the second AP to the second STA.

[0053] That is, the second RU is allocated by the first AP such that the response frames sent by the first STA and the second STA are transmitted on different RUs, thereby reducing interference between different response frames.

[0054] In a possible design of the second aspect or the third aspect, the data frame further indicates the second RU, so that the second STA feeds back the response frame of the data frame on the second RU, thereby reducing interference between different response frames.

[0055] In a possible design of the first aspect, the second aspect, or the third aspect, the second frame indicates the second STA, so that the first AP reduces interference to the second STA when performing cooperative transmission.

[0056] In a possible design of the first aspect, the second aspect, or the third aspect, the first frame instructs the first STA to reduce interference to the first STA when the second AP performs cooperative transmission.

[0057] In a possible design of the first aspect, the second aspect, or the third aspect, the first frame is also used for frequency synchronization between the third frame and the fourth frame.

[0058] That is, when the third frame and the fourth frame are the same, frequency synchronization is also needed between the third frame and the fourth frame, so as to improve the likelihood that the third frame and the fourth frame are successfully received.

[0059] In a possible design of the first aspect, the second aspect, or the third aspect, the third frame is sent after the second frame, and a time interval between the second frame and the third frame is predefined.

[0060] In a possible design of the first aspect, the second aspect, or the third aspect, the fourth frame is sent after the second frame, and a time interval between the second frame and the fourth frame is predefined.

[0061] In a fourth aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be performed by a first access point (AP), by a component (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) in the first AP, or by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first AP. In the following, the method is described by taking the first AP as an example. The method includes:

[0062] generating a fifth frame, the fifth frame instructing to delay switching back to a monitoring state and to start data transmission between a first station (STA) and the first AP, the switching back to the monitoring state being performed after a first time period, a length of the first time period being greater than a sum of a short interframe space (SIFS), a time slot, and a physical layer receiving delay; and sending the fifth frame to the first STA.

[0063] That is, the first AP sends the fifth frame to the first STA, so that the first STA starts data transmission with the first AP in time, and the first STA can also perform delayed switching, i.e., delayed switching back to the monitoring state, so as to reduce the likelihood of switching back to the monitoring state before an arrival of a downlink data frame.

[0064] In a possible design, the instruction to delay switching back to the monitoring state is carried in a first field, and a first value of the first field indicates to delay switching back to the monitoring state. For example, the first field occupies one bit, thereby saving signaling overhead.

[0065] In one possible design, the indication of the delay switching back to the monitoring state is carried in a second field, which indicates the length of the first time period, thereby indicating both the length of the first time period and the delay switching, saving signaling overhead.

[0066] In one possible design, the method further includes receiving a sixth frame from the first STA, the sixth frame being a response frame to the fifth frame. The start time of the first time period is equal to the end time of the sixth frame.

[0067] In one possible design, the start time of the first time period is equal to the end time of the fifth frame.

[0068] In one possible design, the sending of the fifth frame to the first STA includes sending the fifth frame to the first STA in a first transmission opportunity (TXOP). The end time of the first time period is the end time of the first TXOP.

[0069] In a fifth aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be performed by a first station (STA), by a component (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) in the first STA, or by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first STA. Hereinafter, the method is described with the first STA as an example.

[0070] receiving a fifth frame from a first access point (AP), the fifth frame indicating to start data transmission with the first AP; in response to the fifth frame, starting data reception with the first AP, and switching back to a monitoring state after a first time period if no valid communication is performed in the first time period, the length of the first time period being greater than a sum of one short interframe space (SIFS), one time slot, and a physical layer reception delay.

[0071] In one possible design, no valid communication in the first time period includes at least one of the following:

[0072] first, no physical layer protocol data unit (PPDU) is received;

[0073] second, no unicast frame is received, and the value of a receiving address (RA) field of the unicast frame is the MAC address of the first STA;

[0074] third, no trigger frame is received, and the trigger frame contains a user info field sent to the first STA;

[0075] Fourth, no CTS-to-self frame with a RA field set to the MAC address of the first AP is received;

[0076] Fifth, no Multi-STA BlockAck frame is received, and the Multi-STA BlockAck frame contains a Per AID TID Info field sent to itself;

[0077] Sixth, no Null Data Packet Announcement (NDPA) frame is received, and the NDPA frame contains a Station Info field sent to itself;

[0078] Seventh, a frame requiring an immediate response is received, but no immediate response is sent.

[0079] That is, the first AP sends the fifth frame to the first STA to enable the first STA to timely start data transmission with the first AP. In addition, the first STA can also perform delayed switching, i.e., delayed switching back to the monitoring state, for example, switching back to the monitoring state after the first time period if no valid communication is performed in the first time period. Since the length of the first time period is greater than the sum of a Short Inter-Frame Space (SIFS), a time slot, and a physical layer receiving delay, the possibility of switching back to the monitoring state before a downlink data frame arrives is reduced.

[0080] In a possible design, the fifth frame also indicates delayed switching back to the monitoring state.

[0081] That is, the first STA performs delayed switching in response to the fifth frame, so that the first AP has more flexibility in controlling the first STA.

[0082] In a possible design, the indication of delayed switching back to the monitoring state is carried in a first field, and a first value of the first field is used to indicate delayed switching back to the monitoring state.

[0083] In a possible design, the indication of delayed switching back to the monitoring state is carried in a second field, and the second field indicates the length of the first time period.

[0084] In a possible design, the method further includes: sending, to the first AP, a sixth frame, where the sixth frame is a response frame of the fifth frame, and the start time of the first time period is equal to the end time of the sixth frame.

[0085] That is, the first STA determines the start time of the first time period based on the end time of the sixth frame, and then determines the time of switching back to the monitoring state based on the length of the first time period.

[0086] In one possible design, the starting time of the first time period is equal to the ending time of the fifth frame.

[0087] That is, the first STA determines the starting time of the first time period based on the ending time of the fifth frame, and then determines the time to switch back to the monitoring state based on the length of the first time period.

[0088] In one possible design, the receiving the fifth frame from the first AP includes receiving the fifth frame from the first AP in a first transmission opportunity (TXOP). The ending time of the first time period is the ending time of the first TXOP, such that the first STA timely switches back to the monitoring state.

[0089] In a sixth aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be performed by a first station (STA), by a component (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) in the first STA, or by a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first STA. Hereinafter, the first STA is taken as an example for description. The method includes:

[0090] receiving an eighth frame from a first access point (AP), the eighth frame indicating the first STA to start data transmission with the first AP, the first STA being associated with the first AP.

[0091] receiving a seventh frame from a second AP, the seventh frame indicating a second STA to start data transmission with the second AP, the second STA being associated with the second AP, the seventh frame including an identifier of the first STA, and the seventh frame being received later than an ending time of the eighth frame.

[0092] in response to the eighth frame, starting data reception with the first AP, the data reception being started later than an ending time of the seventh frame.

[0093] That is, for the first STA, the condition for the first STA to switch back to the monitoring state is updated. The updated condition includes that after the first STA receives the eighth frame, the first STA still needs to continue to receive a next frame, and if the next frame carrying the identifier of the first STA is not received, the first STA switches back to the monitoring state. Otherwise, if the next frame carrying the identifier of the first STA is received, the first STA does not switch back to the monitoring state. In this application, the first STA receives the seventh frame after receiving the eighth frame, and the seventh frame carries the identifier of the first STA, so the first STA does not switch back to the monitoring state, and can receive a downlink data frame from the first AP, thereby reducing the possibility of switching back to the monitoring state before the downlink data frame arrives.

[0094] In one possible design, before receiving the seventh frame from the second AP, the method further includes receiving first information from the first AP, where the first information indicates to continue receiving the seventh frame after receiving the eighth frame.

[0095] That is, the first STA continues to receive a frame carrying its own identifier after receiving the eighth frame in response to the first information, so that the first AP has more flexibility in controlling the first STA.

[0096] In one possible design, the first information is carried in the eighth frame.

[0097] In one possible design, the seventh frame further includes an address of the second AP. Before receiving the seventh frame from the second AP, the method further includes receiving second information from the first AP, where the second information indicates the address of the second AP so that the first STA continues to receive when it receives a frame with the address as a sending address.

[0098] In a seventh aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be performed by a first access point (AP), a component (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system, etc.) in the first AP, or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the first AP. Hereinafter, the method is described with the first AP as an example.

[0099] generating first information, where the first information indicates a first station (STA) to continue to receive a seventh frame after receiving an eighth frame, the eighth frame indicates the first STA to start data transmission with the first AP, the first STA is associated with the first AP, the seventh frame indicates a second STA to start data transmission with a second AP, the second STA is associated with the second AP, and the seventh frame includes an identifier of the first STA; and sending the first information.

[0100] That is, for the first STA, the condition for switching back to the monitoring state is updated. The updated condition includes that the first STA needs to continue to receive a next frame after receiving the eighth frame, and the next frame carries an identifier of the first STA. If the next frame is not received, the first STA switches back to the monitoring state. Otherwise, the first STA does not switch back to the monitoring state. In the present application, the first AP indicates, by the first information, that the first STA continues to receive the next frame after receiving the eighth frame, and the next frame carries the identifier of the first STA, so that the first STA does not switch back to the monitoring state, and can receive the downlink data frame from the first AP, thereby reducing the possibility of switching back to the monitoring state before the downlink data frame arrives.

[0101] In a possible design, the first information is carried in the eighth frame.

[0102] In a possible design, the seventh frame further includes an address of the second AP. The method further includes: sending, to the first STA, second information indicating the address of the second AP, so that the first STA continues to receive when receiving a frame with the address.

[0103] In an eighth aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be performed by a second access point (AP), a component (e.g., a processor, a chip, or a chip system) in the second AP, or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of the functions of the second AP. In the following, the method is described by taking the second AP as an example. The method includes:

[0104] generating a seventh frame, the seventh frame indicating that a second station (STA) starts data transmission with the second AP, the second STA being associated with the second AP, the seventh frame including an identifier of a first STA, the first STA being associated with a first AP; and sending the seventh frame.

[0105] That is, for the first STA, the condition for the first STA switching back to the monitoring state is updated. The updated condition includes that the first STA still needs to continue receiving a next frame after receiving the eighth frame, and the frame carries an identifier of the first STA. If the identifier is not received, the first STA switches back to the monitoring state. Conversely, if the identifier is received, the first STA does not switch back to the monitoring state temporarily. In this application, the seventh frame includes the identifier of the first STA, so that the first STA continues to receive the seventh frame after receiving the eighth frame, thereby causing the first STA to not switch back to the monitoring state temporarily, and thus being able to receive a downlink data frame from the first AP, thereby reducing the possibility of switching back to the monitoring state before the downlink data frame arrives.

[0106] In a possible design, before the seventh frame is generated, the method further includes receiving an eighth frame from the first AP, where the eighth frame includes the identifier of the first STA, so that the second AP knows which identifiers of STAs are carried in the seventh frame.

[0107] In a ninth aspect, a communication method is provided. The method can be performed by a first station STA, a component (for example, a processor, a chip, or a chip system) in the first STA, or a logic module or software that can implement all or part of functions of the first STA. Hereinafter, the first STA is taken as an example for description. The method includes the following steps.

[0108] receiving an eighth frame from a first access point AP, where the eighth frame indicates that the first STA starts data transmission with the first AP, and the first STA is associated with the first AP.

[0109] in response to the eighth frame, starting data reception with the first AP, and switching back to the monitoring state in a case where a seventh frame is not received after the eighth frame is received, where the seventh frame indicates that a second STA starts data transmission with a second AP, the second STA is associated with the second AP, and the seventh frame includes an identifier of the first STA.

[0110] That is, for the first STA, the condition for the first STA switching back to the monitoring state is updated. The updated condition includes that the first STA still needs to continue receiving a next frame after receiving the eighth frame, and the frame carries an identifier of the first STA. If the identifier is not received, the first STA switches back to the monitoring state. Conversely, if the identifier is received, the first STA does not switch back to the monitoring state temporarily. In this application, the seventh frame includes the identifier of the first STA, so that the first STA continues to receive the seventh frame after receiving the eighth frame, thereby causing the first STA to not switch back to the monitoring state temporarily, and thus being able to receive a downlink data frame from the first AP, thereby reducing the possibility of switching back to the monitoring state before the downlink data frame arrives.

[0111] In a tenth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided for implementing the various methods described above. The communication apparatus includes modules, units, or means for implementing the corresponding functions of the methods, which can be implemented by hardware, software, or by a combination of hardware and software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules or units corresponding to the functions.

[0112] In some possible design, the communication apparatus can include a processing module and a transceiver module. The processing module can be used to implement the processing functions in any of the above aspects and any possible implementation thereof. The transceiver module, which can also be referred to as a transceiver unit, can be used to implement the functions of transmitting and / or receiving in any of the above aspects and any possible implementation thereof. The transceiver module can be composed of a transceiver circuit, a transceiver, a transceiver chip, or a communication interface.

[0113] In some possible design, the transceiver module includes a transmitting module and / or a receiving module, which are used to implement the functions of transmitting or receiving in any of the above aspects and any possible implementation thereof, respectively.

[0114] In an eleventh aspect, a communication apparatus is provided for implementing the method in any of the above aspects or any possible implementation thereof.

[0115] In a twelfth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, which includes a processor, and the processor is configured to execute computer programs or instructions to cause the communication apparatus to perform the method in any of the above aspects or any possible implementation thereof. Optionally, the communication apparatus further includes a memory, which can be coupled with the processor, or the memory can exist independently of the processor, for example, the memory and the processor are two independent modules. The memory can be located outside the communication apparatus, or located inside the communication apparatus.

[0116] In a thirteenth aspect, a computer readable storage medium is provided. The computer readable storage medium stores computer programs or instructions, which, when executed, cause the method in any of the above aspects or any possible implementation thereof to be implemented.

[0117] In a fourteenth aspect, a computer program product is provided, which includes instructions, which, when executed, cause the method in any of the above aspects or any possible implementation thereof to be implemented.

[0118] The communication apparatus of any of the tenth aspect to the fourteenth aspect can be the first access point (AP) in the first aspect, the third aspect, the fourth aspect, or the seventh aspect, or a component (such as a chip or a chip system) included in the first AP; or can be the second AP in the second aspect, the third aspect, or the eighth aspect, or a component (such as a chip or a chip system) included in the second AP; or can be the first station (STA) in the fifth aspect, the sixth aspect, or the ninth aspect, or a component (such as a chip or a chip system) included in the first STA. When the apparatus is a chip system, the apparatus can be composed of a chip or can include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0119] It can be understood that, when the communication apparatus of any of the tenth aspect to the fourteenth aspect is a chip, the sending action / function of the communication apparatus can be understood as outputting information, and the receiving action / function of the communication apparatus can be understood as inputting information.

[0120] The technical effects brought by any of the tenth aspect to the fourteenth aspect can be referred to the technical effects brought by any of the first aspect to the ninth aspect, which will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0121] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an architecture of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0122] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of another architecture of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0123] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of still another architecture of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0124] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a principle of precoding according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0125] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a process of cooperative transmission according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0126] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a process of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0127] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of another process of cooperative transmission according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0128] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of another process of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0129] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of still another process of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0130] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of still another process of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0131] FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of another cooperative transmission according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0132] FIG. 12 is a flow diagram of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0133] FIG. 13 is a flow diagram of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0134] FIG. 14 is a flow diagram of another cooperative transmission according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0135] FIG. 15 is a flow diagram of another communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0136] FIG. 16 is a structural diagram of a communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0137] FIG. 17 is a structural diagram of another communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0138] The technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application can be applied to a wireless local area network (WLAN) supporting institute of electrical and electronics engineers (IEEE) related standards, including: IEEE 802.11be / WiFi 7 / extremely high throughput (EHT) protocol, IEEE 802.11bn / WiFi 8 / ultra high reliability (UHR) protocol, IEEE integrated millimeter wave (IMMW) protocol, IEEE 802.15 / ultra wideband (UWB) protocol, IEEE 802.11bf / sensing protocol. The technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application also support spark link / nearlink protocol.

[0139] In the following, the network architecture to which the embodiments of the present application are applicable is introduced taking WLAN as an example.

[0140] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application, as shown in FIG. 1, the communication system can include an access point device and a station device. Wherein, one or more access point devices can communicate with one or more station devices, the access point device can also communicate with one or more other access point devices, and the station device can also communicate with one or more other station devices.

[0141] Wherein, the access point device can be an access point (AP), as shown in FIG. 1.

[0142] Wherein, the station device can be a non-access point station (non-AP STA), as shown in FIG. 1. In addition, the non-AP STA can also be referred to as a station (STA).

[0143] Exemplarily, the AP can be a device supporting multiple WLAN standards such as 802.11be standard or future Wi-Fi standard; or a device supporting 802.11a / b / g standard, 802.11n standard, 802.11ac standard, 802.11ax standard, 802.11be standard, 802.11bn standard / UHR standard / Wi-Fi8 standard, without limitation.

[0144] For example, the AP can be a terminal device with a Wi-Fi chip, a network device, a communication server, a router, a switch, a bridge, a computer, etc. The AP can also be an access point for mobile users to enter a wired network, mainly deployed in homes, buildings and parks, with a typical coverage radius of tens of meters to hundreds of meters, of course, it can also be deployed outdoors. The AP is equivalent to a bridge connecting wired and wireless networks, and its main function is to connect various wireless network clients together and then access the wireless network to the Ethernet.

[0145] Exemplarily, the non-AP STA can be a device supporting multiple WLAN standards such as 802.11be standard or future Wi-Fi standard; or a device supporting 802.11a / b / g standard, 802.11n standard, 802.11ac standard, 802.11ax standard, 802.11be standard, 802.11bn standard / UHR standard / Wi-Fi8 standard, without limitation.

[0146] For example, the non-AP STA can be a wireless communication chip, a wireless sensor, a wireless communication terminal, a communication server, a router, a switch, a bridge, a computer, etc. For example, the non-AP STA can be a mobile phone supporting Wi-Fi communication function, a tablet computer supporting Wi-Fi communication function, a set-top box supporting Wi-Fi communication function, a smart television supporting Wi-Fi communication function, a smart wearable device supporting Wi-Fi communication function, a vehicle-mounted communication device supporting Wi-Fi communication function, and a computer supporting Wi-Fi communication function, etc., without limitation.

[0147] In some embodiments, a communication device in a wireless communication system can be a wireless communication device supporting parallel transmission of multiple links, for example, the communication device can be referred to as a multi-link device (MLD) or a multi-band device. Compared with a communication device supporting only single-link transmission, the multi-link device has higher transmission efficiency and larger throughput.

[0148] The multi-link device includes one or more affiliated stations (STAs), which are logical stations and can work on a link or a frequency band or a channel. The affiliated station can be an AP or a non-AP STA. 802.11be refers to a multi-link device with affiliated AP stations as an AP multi-link device (AP MLD), and a multi-link device with affiliated non-AP stations as a non-AP multi-link device (non-AP MLD).

[0149] Optionally, a multi-link device includes multiple logical stations, each of which works on a link, but multiple logical stations are allowed to work on the same link. The AP MLD and the non-AP MLD can use link identification to identify a link or a station on a link when transmitting data. Before communication, the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD can negotiate or communicate the correspondence between the link identification and a link or a station on a link. Therefore, during data transmission, a large amount of signaling information is not needed to indicate a link or a station on a link, and the link identification can be carried, reducing signaling overhead and improving transmission efficiency.

[0150] That is, the communication method provided by the embodiments of the present application can be applied to the following scenarios: a scenario in which an AP MLD communicates with a non-AP MLD, or a scenario in which a non-AP MLD communicates with a non-AP MLD, or a scenario in which an AP MLD communicates with an AP MLD, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0151] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of another communication system provided by the embodiments of the present application, which can include at least one AP MLD and at least one non-AP MLD. Among them, the at least one AP MLD can be as shown in FIG. 2, AP MLD1 and AP MLD2. The at least one non-AP MLD can be as shown in FIG. 2, non-AP MLD1 and non-AP MLD2. Among them, the AP MLD is a multi-link device that provides services for the non-AP MLD, and the non-AP MLD can communicate with the AP MLD using multiple links, thereby achieving the effect of improving the throughput. One AP in the AP MLD can communicate with one STA in the non-AP MLD through a link. Understandably, the number of AP MLDs and non-AP MLDs in FIG. 2 is only exemplary.

[0152] Optionally, the multi-link device in the embodiments of the present application can be a single-antenna device or a multi-antenna device. For example, it can be a device with more than two antennas. The number of antennas included in the multi-link device is not limited by the embodiments of the present application.

[0153] Optionally, FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a multi-link communication provided by the embodiments of the present application. As shown in FIG. 3, the AP MLD includes n stations, which are AP1, AP2, …, APn respectively; the non-AP MLD also includes n stations, which are STA1, STA2, …, STAn respectively. The AP MLD and the non-AP MLD can communicate in parallel using link1, link2, …, linkn. Among them, one AP in the AP MLD can establish an association relationship with one STA in the non-AP MLD. For example, STA1 in the non-AP MLD establishes an association relationship with AP1 in the AP MLD, STA2 in the non-AP MLD establishes an association relationship with AP2 in the AP MLD, and STAn in the non-AP MLD establishes an association relationship with APn in the AP MLD, and so on.

[0154] In order to facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the terms involved in the embodiments of the present application will be briefly described below. It should be understood that these descriptions are only for the purpose of facilitating understanding of the embodiments of the present application, and should not constitute any limitation on the present application.

[0155] 1. AP cooperation

[0156] With the development of wireless networks and the continuous popularization of WLAN technology, WLAN devices are becoming more and more dense. Due to the easy deployment of APs, the increasing density of APs also brings more inter-cell interference. How to reduce inter-cell interference through cooperation between APs to improve the service quality of users is a problem that needs to be considered in the next generation of Wi-Fi technology.

[0157] 2. Multi-AP coordinated beamforming (CBF)

[0158] For multiple APs, if each AP can obtain the channel state information (CSI) of the stations in its own cell and other cells, precoding can be performed when transmitting in parallel, and then the main lobe of the beam after precoding is aligned to the target station in the own cell, while the stations in other cells are processed by Nulling to reduce interference.

[0159] As shown in FIG. 4, it is assumed that STA1 is associated with AP1 and STA2 is associated with AP2. After AP1 obtains the downlink channel state information of STA1 and STA2, it can enhance the signal strength between itself and STA1 through precoding and reduce the interference to STA2, so that when AP2 transmits data to STA2, it is less interfered by AP1. Correspondingly, AP2 also performs similar operations, so that when AP1 and AP2 transmit in parallel, the interference between them is reduced or avoided.

[0160] 3. Enhanced multi-link single radio (eMLSR)

[0161] eMLSR is suitable for multi-link devices, such as non-AP MLD. In the eMLSR mode, the non-AP MLD can monitor multiple links, and after monitoring the initial control frame on a certain link, it can switch the receive chain on other links to the link, so as to receive data frames at a higher rate. Wherein, switching the receive chain on other links to the link can be understood as closing the monitoring state of each link in the above multiple links, and opening the data transmission of the link. After the end of data frame transmission, switch back to the initial multi-EMLSR link monitoring state.

[0162] The initial control frame can include a multi-user request to send (MU-RTS) frame or a buffer status report poll (BSRP) frame. The MU-RTS is commonly used and can also have a channel reservation function. The BSRP frame can enable the AP MLD to know exactly which user successfully replies.

[0163] Exemplarily, the opening and closing processes of the eMLSR mode are as follows:

[0164] Specifically, in the case of wanting to open the eMLSR mode, a multi-link device supporting EMLSR operation (such as a non-AP MLD) can send an EML Operating Mode Notification frame to the associated AP MLD. The EML Operating Mode Notification frame indicates the opening of the eMLSR mode. The EML Operating Mode Notification frame can be denoted as an enhanced multi-link operating mode notification frame, i.e., an enhanced multi-link operating mode notification frame. After the AP MLD replies to the non-AP MLD with the Operating Mode Notification frame, both parties switch to the eMLSR mode.

[0165] Similarly, in the case of wanting to close the eMLSR mode, a multi-link device supporting EMLSR operation (such as a non-AP MLD) can send an EML Operating Mode Notification frame to the associated AP MLD. The EML Operating Mode Notification frame indicates the closing of the eMLSR mode. Then, after the AP MLD replies to the non-AP MLD with the Operating Mode Notification frame, both parties close the eMLSR mode.

[0166] Exemplarily, the data frame transmission process in the eMLSR mode is as follows:

[0167] After winning the contention on a link, the AP MLD first sends an initial control frame to the non-AP MLD, and adds enough padding field in the initial control frame to give the non-AP MLD enough time to switch the radio link from other links to the current link. After the non-AP MLD responds to the initial control frame, it switches to multi spatial stream transmission on the current link, while it cannot transmit or receive on other links.

[0168] The non-AP MLD in multi spatial stream transmission state will switch back to the monitoring state after one of the following conditions is met:

[0169] Condition 1, a frame is received from the AP, which requires a response frame to be sent back, but the non-AP MLD is unable to send back the response frame;

[0170] Condition 2, after sending the response frame to the AP, no next PPDU is received from the AP within a period of time;

[0171] Condition 3, a frame is received from the AP, which does not require a response frame to be sent back, and no next PPDU is received from the AP within a period of time;

[0172] Condition 4, a frame is received from the AP, but the frame is not intended for itself.

[0173] Wherein, the length of the period of time is one of the following three: a SIFS, a slot time and a physical layer reception delay, which can be denoted as: aSIFSTime+aSlotTime+aRxPHYStartDelay. Wherein, the length of aRxPHYStartDelay is 20us, the typical value of aSIFSTime is 16us, and the typical value of aSlotTime is 9us. Therefore, the length of the period of time is typically 45us.

[0174] However, the above conditions may affect the performance of cooperative transmission. The specific analysis is as follows:

[0175] As shown in FIG. 5, it is assumed that non-AP STA1 is associated with AP1, and non-AP STA2 is associated with AP2.

[0176] Step 1, AP1 sends an initial control frame to non-AP STA1. Correspondingly, non-AP STA1 receives the initial control frame from AP1.

[0177] The initial control frame sent by the AP1 can be a MU-RTS or a BSRP. The initial control frame sent by the AP1 carries notification information for the AP2, which can be denoted as AP2 notification. The AP2 notification is used to notify the AP2 to perform CBF transmission with the AP1.

[0178] In step 2, the non-AP STA1 sends a response frame of the initial control frame to the AP1. Correspondingly, the AP1 receives the response frame of the initial control frame from the non-AP STA1.

[0179] In the case that the initial control frame is a MU-RTS, the response frame of the initial control frame is a CTS.

[0180] In the case that the initial control frame is a BSRP, the response frame of the initial control frame is a BSR.

[0181] In step 3, the AP2 sends an initial control frame to the non-AP STA2. Correspondingly, the non-AP STA2 receives the initial control frame from the AP2.

[0182] The initial control frame sent by the AP2 can be a MU-RTS or a BSRP. The initial control frame sent by the AP2 carries response information for the AP1, which can be denoted as AP1 response. The AP1 response is used to confirm that the AP2 performs CBF transmission with the AP1.

[0183] In step 4, the non-AP STA2 sends a response frame of the initial control frame to the AP2. Correspondingly, the AP2 receives the response frame of the initial control frame from the non-AP STA2.

[0184] The response frame of the initial control frame can be a CTS or a BSR.

[0185] Next, the AP1 and the AP2 perform CBF transmission together.

[0186] In the above process, after the non-AP STA1 replies to the AP1 with the response frame of the initial control frame, the non-AP STA1 does not immediately receive a data frame from the AP1, because the AP1 needs to wait for receiving the response information from the AP2. According to the condition for switching back to the monitoring state from the eMLSR state, the non-AP STA1 switches back to the monitoring state. In the monitoring state, the non-AP STA1 can receive the initial control frame, but cannot receive other frames, and thus cannot receive the CBF PPDU subsequently sent by the AP1.

[0187] Therefore, three communication methods are provided in the present application. Each method can be applied to the system shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 3.

[0188] First, the following describes the part involved in the present application:

[0189] First, a STA starts data transmission with an AP. It can be understood that there are at least two links between the STA and the AP, and after transmitting a control frame, data transmission can be performed through one of the at least two links. That is, data transmission of one link is started.

[0190] In addition, in the present application, data transmission can also be described as frame interaction. For example, a STA starting data transmission with an AP can also be described as a STA starting frame interaction with an AP. For another example, starting data transmission of one link can also be described as starting frame interaction of one link.

[0191] It should be understood that for a STA, if the STA is in a monitoring state, the STA can monitor control frames, such as monitoring whether there is a control frame from an AP through each of the at least two links described above. And the STA cannot transmit data frames. Wherein, the control frame can also be understood as an initial control frame, such as MU-RTS, BSRP, etc. The data frame can be a PPDU.

[0192] It should be understood that for a STA, if the STA starts data transmission with an AP, the STA is no longer in a monitoring state.

[0193] Second, two APs perform cooperative transmission. It can be understood that two APs communicate with their respective associated STAs through the same link. For example, AP1 is associated with STA1, and AP2 is associated with STA2. In the scenario where AP1 and AP2 perform cooperative transmission, AP1 communicates with STA1 through link 1, and AP2 communicates with STA2 through the link 1 described above.

[0194] In addition, cooperative transmission includes CBF or coordinated spatial reuse (CSR) and the like.

[0195] Next, the communication method 600 proposed by the embodiment of the present application is described in detail in combination with FIG. 6:

[0196] S601, the first AP sends a first frame to the second AP. Correspondingly, the second AP receives the first frame from the first AP.

[0197] Wherein, the first AP and the second AP are introduced as follows:

[0198] For example, referring to FIG. 1, the first AP and the second AP can be different APs.

[0199] For example, referring to FIG. 2, the first AP and the second AP can be different AP MLDs.

[0200] It should be understood that the present application can be applied to a scenario of transmitting an initial control frame. For example, the present application is applicable to an eMLSR scenario. In such a scenario, the first AP and the second AP belong to different AP MLDs. For another example, before an AP transmits data to a STA operating in a dynamic power save mode, an initial control frame also needs to be transmitted. In such a scenario, the first AP and the second AP can belong to different APs.

[0201] For example, the first AP can be a sharing AP, denoted as a sharing AP. The second AP can be a shared AP, denoted as a shared AP.

[0202] The first frame is used to notify the second AP to perform cooperative transmission. It can be understood that the first frame is used to notify the second AP to perform cooperative transmission with the first AP. For example, the first frame includes an identifier of the second AP. The identifier of the second AP includes a media access control (MAC) address of the second AP or an identifier (ID) of the second AP, to indicate that the second AP needs to receive the first frame. The first frame can be a coordinated beamforming initial control frame (CBF ICF), as shown in FIG. 7.

[0203] Optionally, the first frame also indicates a first STA, and the first STA is associated with the first AP. It can be understood that the first frame also indicates a receiving station for cooperative transmission, so as to reduce interference on the first STA when the second AP performs cooperative transmission.

[0204] For example, the first frame includes indication information 1. The indication information 1 indicates the first STA. For example, the indication information 1 includes an identifier of the first STA. The identifier of the first STA includes a MAC address of the first STA or an association identifier (AID) of the first STA. The first STA can be one or more STAs.

[0205] It should be understood that in the present application, the first frame can also have other names, such as a first wireless frame, or a CBF ICF, etc. In the present application, the first frame is taken as an example for introduction.

[0206] For the second AP, after the second AP receives the first frame, the second AP performs S602:

[0207] S602, the second AP sends a second frame to the first AP. Correspondingly, the first AP receives the second frame from the second AP.

[0208] The second frame is used to confirm that the second AP performs cooperative transmission. It can be understood that the second frame is a response frame of the first frame, and the second frame is used to respond to the first AP. The second frame is used to confirm that the second AP performs cooperative transmission with the first AP. For example, the second frame includes an identifier of the first AP. The identifier of the first AP includes a MAC address of the first AP or an ID of the first AP, to indicate that the first AP needs to receive the second frame. The second frame can be a coordinated beamforming initial control response frame (CBF ICR), as shown in FIG. 7.

[0209] Optionally, the second frame also indicates a second STA, and the second STA is associated with the second AP. It can be understood that the second frame also indicates a receiving station for cooperative transmission, so as to reduce interference on the second STA when the first AP performs cooperative transmission.

[0210] Exemplarily, the second frame includes indication information 2. The indication information 2 indicates the second STA. For example, the indication information 2 includes an identifier of the second STA. The identifier of the second STA includes a MAC address of the second STA or an AID of the second STA. The second STA can be one or more STAs.

[0211] It should be understood that in the present application, the second frame can also have other names, such as a second wireless frame, or a CBF ICR, etc. In the present application, the second frame is taken as an example for introduction.

[0212] For the first AP, after the first AP receives the second frame, the first AP performs S603. For the second AP, after the second AP sends the second frame, the second AP performs S604. The introductions of S603 and S604 are as follows:

[0213] S603, the first AP sends a third frame to the first STA. Correspondingly, the first STA receives the third frame from the first AP.

[0214] The third frame indicates to start data transmission with the first AP. It can be understood that the third frame indicates the first STA to start data transmission with the first AP. For example, the third frame includes an identifier of the first STA. The identifier of the first STA includes a MAC address of the first STA or an AID of the first STA, to indicate that the first STA needs to receive the third frame. The third frame can be a BSRP, as shown in FIG. 7. The third frame can also be a MU-RTS, which is not shown in FIG. 7.

[0215] S604, the second AP sends a fourth frame to the second STA. Correspondingly, the second STA receives the fourth frame from the second AP.

[0216] The fourth frame indicates to start data transmission with the second AP. It can be understood that the fourth frame indicates the second STA to start data transmission with the second AP. For example, the fourth frame can be a BSRP, as shown in FIG. 7. The fourth frame can also be a MU-RTS, which is not shown in FIG. 7.

[0217] Optionally, the sending time of the third frame is the same as the sending time of the fourth frame.

[0218] Specifically, the sending time of the third frame is determined according to the second frame. For example, the third frame is sent after the second frame, and the time interval between the second frame and the third frame is predefined. For example, the time interval between the second frame and the third frame is SIFS, such as one SIFS.

[0219] That is, S603 includes: the first AP sends the third frame to the first STA according to the second frame.

[0220] Similarly, the sending time of the fourth frame is determined according to the second frame. For example, the fourth frame is sent after the second frame, and the time interval between the second frame and the fourth frame is predefined. For example, the time interval between the second frame and the fourth frame is SIFS, such as one SIFS.

[0221] That is, S604 includes: the second AP sends the fourth frame to the second STA according to the second frame.

[0222] Taking FIG. 7 as an example, the second frame is a CBF ICR sent by the second AP, the third frame is a BSRP sent by the first AP, and the fourth frame is a BSRP sent by the second AP. The end time of the second frame and the start time of the third frame are separated by one SIFS, and the end time of the second frame and the start time of the fourth frame are separated by one SIFS.

[0223] Based on S601-S604, based on the first frame and the second frame, the first AP and the second AP can determine to perform cooperative transmission. Then, based on the second frame, the first AP transmits the third frame, and the second AP transmits the fourth frame, to indicate to open data transmission through the third frame and the fourth frame. Since the third frame and the fourth frame are transmitted based on the second frame, for example, the third frame and the fourth frame are transmitted at the same time, the time length of the first STA or the second STA waiting to receive the downlink data frame can be reduced, and the possibility of switching back to the monitoring state before the downlink data frame arrives can be reduced.

[0224] In some embodiments, S603 is introduced in two ways (way 1-way 2 as follows):

[0225] Way 1, the third frame is transmitted by beamforming.

[0226] Specifically, the third frame is transmitted by the first beam. Wherein, the first beam is transmitted by beamforming, so as to improve the reception performance of the first STA as much as possible and reduce the interference to other STAs. Specifically, the main lobe direction of the first beam is determined according to the channel state information of the first STA. For example, the main lobe of the first beam is aligned with (or directed to) the first STA, so as to improve the reception performance of the first STA.

[0227] Further, the null lobe direction of the first beam is determined according to the channel state information of the second STA. For example, the null lobe of the first beam is aligned with (or directed to) the second STA, so as to reduce the interference to the second STA.

[0228] Way 2, the third frame and the fourth frame are the same, so that the first STA and the second STA can correctly receive as much as possible.

[0229] Specifically, in way 2, on the one hand, the sending addresses in the media access control (MAC) headers of the third frame and the fourth frame are the same. For example, the MAC header of the third frame and the MAC header of the fourth frame both include the first sending address. Wherein, the first sending address can be determined by the first AP and the second AP. For example, the first sending address can be the MAC address of the first AP, or the MAC address of the second AP, or other MAC addresses. Alternatively, the first sending address is always the MAC address of the first AP.

[0230] Optionally, in way 2, before performing S603, the first AP further performs the following operation: the first AP sends the first sending address to the first STA. Correspondingly, the first STA receives the first sending address from the first AP, so that when the first STA receives a wireless frame (such as the third frame) with the sending address being the first sending address, the first STA will continue to receive.

[0231] Optionally, in the manner 2, before performing the S604, the first AP further performs the following operation: the second AP sends the first sending address to the second STA. Correspondingly, the second STA receives the first sending address from the second AP, so that the second STA continues to receive when receiving a wireless frame (such as the third frame) with the sending address being the first sending address.

[0232] Specifically, in the manner 2, in still another aspect, the frame body part of the third frame and the fourth frame each includes the following information: the identifier of the first STA and the identifier of the second STA.

[0233] Specifically, in the manner 2, in yet another aspect, the receiving address of the third frame and the fourth frame is the same.

[0234] In some embodiments, the S604 is introduced by two manners (manner 3-manner 4) as follows:

[0235] Manner 3, the fourth frame is sent by beamforming.

[0236] Specifically, the fourth frame is sent by a second beam. The second beam is sent by beamforming, so as to improve the receiving performance of the second STA as much as possible and reduce the interference to other STAs. Specifically, the main lobe direction of the second beam is determined according to the channel state information of the second STA. For example, the main lobe of the second beam is aligned with (or points to) the second STA, so as to improve the receiving performance of the second STA.

[0237] Further, the zero lobe direction of the second beam is determined according to the channel state information of the first STA. For example, the zero lobe of the second beam is aligned with (or points to) the first STA, so as to reduce the interference to the first STA.

[0238] Manner 4, the third frame and the fourth frame are the same, so that the first STA and the second STA can correctly receive as much as possible. For details, refer to the introduction of the manner 2, which will not be described herein again.

[0239] It is easy to understand that in the present application, the implementation manners of the S603 and the S604 are corresponding. For example, when the implementation manner of the S603 is the manner 1, the implementation manner of the S604 is the manner 3. For another example, when the implementation manner of the S603 is the manner 1, the implementation manner of the S604 is the manner 3. The implementation manners of the S603 and the S604 can be predefined or preconfigured.

[0240] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 8, for the first STA, after the first STA receives the third frame, the first STA performs the S605 and the S606:

[0241] S605, the first STA sends a first response frame to the first AP. Correspondingly, the first AP receives the first response frame from the first STA.

[0242] The first response frame is a response frame of the third frame. It can be understood that the first response frame indicates to confirm to start data transmission with the first AP, so that the first AP obtains the processing result of the first STA side, thereby sending a downlink data frame for the first STA in time. For example, the first response frame can be a BSR, as shown in FIG. 7.

[0243] S606, in response to the third frame, the first STA starts data transmission with the first AP.

[0244] Exemplarily, the first STA starts data transmission with the first AP, thereby receiving a data frame subsequently sent by the first AP.

[0245] It should be understood that the first STA can first perform S605 and then perform S606, or first perform S606 and then perform S605, or simultaneously perform S605 and S606.

[0246] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 8, for the second STA, after the second STA receives the fourth frame, the second STA performs S607 and S608:

[0247] S607, the second STA sends a second response frame to the second AP. Correspondingly, the second AP receives the second response frame from the second STA.

[0248] The second response frame is a response frame of the fourth frame. It can be understood that the second response frame indicates to confirm to start data transmission with the second AP, so that the second AP obtains the processing result of the second STA side, thereby sending a downlink data frame for the second STA in time. For example, the second response frame can be a BSR, as shown in FIG. 7.

[0249] S608, in response to the fourth frame, the second STA starts data transmission with the second AP.

[0250] Exemplarily, the second STA starts data transmission with the second AP, thereby receiving a data frame subsequently sent by the second AP.

[0251] It should be understood that the second STA can first perform S607 and then perform S608, or first perform S608 and then perform S607, or simultaneously perform S607 and S608.

[0252] In some embodiments, the first response frame and the second response frame are transmitted through different resource units (RUs) to reduce interference between the first response frame and the second response frame.

[0253] Specifically, S605 comprises: the first STA sending a first response frame to the first AP through the RU1. Correspondingly, the first AP receives the first response frame from the first STA through the RU1. For example, the first STA sends the first response frame to the first AP through part or all of the resources of the RU1.

[0254] S607 comprises: the second STA sending a second response frame to the second AP through the RU2. Correspondingly, the second AP receives the second response frame from the second STA through the RU2. For example, the second STA sends the second response frame to the second AP through part or all of the resources of the RU2.

[0255] Wherein, the RU1 is different from the RU2. For example, the RU1 is configured by the second AP, or the RU2 is configured by the first AP.

[0256] Next, taking the RU2 configured by the first AP as an example, the following is introduced:

[0257] The first frame indicates the RU2. For example, the first frame comprises an identifier of the RU2. That is, the first AP indicates the RU indicated in the fourth frame to the second AP through the first frame. Optionally, the fourth frame indicates the RU2. Or, the first AP indicates the RU allocated to the second STA to the second AP through the first frame.

[0258] Next, taking the RU1 configured by the second AP as an example, the following is introduced:

[0259] The second frame indicates the RU1. For example, the second frame comprises an identifier of the RU1. That is, the second AP indicates the RU indicated in the third frame to the first AP through the second frame. Optionally, the third frame indicates the RU1. Or, the second AP indicates the RU allocated to the first STA to the first AP through the second frame.

[0260] In some embodiments, the sending time of the first response frame and the sending time of the second response frame are the same.

[0261] Optionally, the sending time of the first response frame is determined according to the third frame. For example, the first response frame is sent after the third frame, and the time interval between the third frame and the first response frame is predefined.

[0262] That is, S605 comprises: the first STA sending the first response frame to the first AP according to the third frame.

[0263] Similarly, the sending time of the second response frame is determined according to the fourth frame. For example, the second response frame is sent after the fourth frame, and the time interval between the fourth frame and the second response frame is predefined.

[0264] That is, S607 comprises: the second STA sending the second response frame to the second AP according to the fourth frame.

[0265] Since the sending time of the third frame and the fourth frame is the same, the sending time of the first response frame and the second response frame is the same.

[0266] Taking FIG. 7 as an example, the third frame is a BSRP sent by the first AP, the fourth frame is a BSRP sent by the second AP, the first response frame is a BSR sent by the first STA, and the second response frame is a BSR sent by the second STA. The end time of the third frame and the start time of the first response frame are separated by one SIFS, and the end time of the fourth frame and the start time of the second response frame are separated by one SIFS.

[0267] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 8, for the first AP, after the first AP receives the first response frame, S609 is performed:

[0268] S609, the first AP sends a first data frame to the first STA. Correspondingly, the first STA receives the first data frame from the first AP.

[0269] The first data frame is a downlink data frame (DL Data Frame) sent by the first AP, as shown in FIG. 7.

[0270] Optionally, the first data frame is precoded. For example, the second frame instructs the second STA to enable the first AP to perform cooperative transmission, and when the first AP sends the first data frame, precoding is performed to reduce or eliminate interference to the second STA.

[0271] S610, the first STA sends a first acknowledgement frame to the first AP. Correspondingly, the first AP receives the first acknowledgement frame from the first STA.

[0272] The first acknowledgement frame is a response frame of the first data frame. It can be understood that the first acknowledgement frame is used to confirm that the first data frame is successfully received. For example, the first acknowledgement frame can be a block acknowledgement (BA) frame, as shown in FIG. 7.

[0273] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 8, for the second AP, after the second AP receives the first response frame, S611 is performed:

[0274] S611, the second AP sends a second data frame to the second STA. Correspondingly, the second STA receives the second data frame from the second AP.

[0275] The second data frame is a downlink data frame sent by the second AP, as shown in FIG. 7.

[0276] Optionally, the second data frame is precoded. For example, the first frame instructs the first STA to cause the second AP to perform cooperative transmission, and to reduce or eliminate interference to the first STA by precoding when transmitting the second data frame.

[0277] S612, the second STA sends a second acknowledgement frame to the second AP. Accordingly, the second AP receives the second acknowledgement frame from the second STA.

[0278] The second acknowledgement frame is a response frame of the second data frame. It can be understood that the second acknowledgement frame is used to confirm that the second data frame is successfully received. For example, the second acknowledgement frame can be a block acknowledgement (BA) frame, as shown in FIG. 7.

[0279] In some embodiments, the first acknowledgement frame and the second acknowledgement frame are transmitted through different RUs to reduce interference between the first acknowledgement frame and the second acknowledgement frame.

[0280] Specifically, S610 includes that the first STA sends a first acknowledgement frame to the first AP through RU3. Accordingly, the first AP receives the first acknowledgement frame from the first STA through RU3. For example, the first STA sends the first acknowledgement frame to the first AP through part or all of the resources of RU3.

[0281] S612 includes that the second STA sends a second acknowledgement frame to the second AP through RU4. Accordingly, the second AP receives the second acknowledgement frame from the second STA through RU4. For example, the second STA sends the second acknowledgement frame to the second AP through part or all of the resources of RU4.

[0282] The RU3 is different from the RU4. For example, the RU3 is configured by the second AP, or the RU4 is configured by the first AP.

[0283] Next, taking the case that RU4 is configured by the first AP as an example:

[0284] The first frame indicates the RU4. For example, the first frame includes an identifier of the RU4. That is, the first AP indicates the RU indicated in the second data frame to the second AP through the first frame. Optionally, the second data frame indicates the RU4. Alternatively, the first AP indicates the RU allocated to the second STA to the second AP through the first frame.

[0285] Next, taking the case that RU3 is configured by the second AP as an example:

[0286] The second frame and the first data frame both indicate the RU 3. For example, the second frame and the first data frame both include an identification of the RU 3. That is, the second AP indicates the RU indicated in the first data frame for the first AP through the second frame. Alternatively, the first data frame indicates the RU 3. Or, the second AP indicates the RU allocated to the first STA for the first AP through the second frame.

[0287] In some embodiments, the RU 1 can be the same as the RU 3, or can be different. Similarly, the RU 2 can be the same as the RU 4, or can be different.

[0288] In some embodiments, the first frame is also used for frequency synchronization, such as carrier frequency offset (CFO) synchronization, between the third frame and the fourth frame. Specifically, after receiving the first frame, the second AP performs CFO correction according to the first frame, thereby achieving CFO synchronization.

[0289] Next, the communication method 900 proposed in the embodiments of the present application will be described in detail in combination with FIG. 9.

[0290] S901, the first AP sends a first frame to the second AP. Correspondingly, the second AP receives the first frame from the first AP.

[0291] S902, the second AP sends a second frame to the first AP. Correspondingly, the first AP receives the second frame from the second AP.

[0292] S901-S902 can refer to the description of S601-S602, and will not be repeated here.

[0293] For the first AP, after receiving the second frame, the first AP performs S903. Or, for the second AP, after sending the second frame, the second AP performs S904. That is, only one of S903 and S904 is performed. The descriptions of S903 and S904 are as follows:

[0294] S903, the first AP sends a third frame to the first STA and the second STA. Correspondingly, the first STA receives the third frame from the first AP. The second STA receives the third frame from the first AP.

[0295] The third frame indicates to start data transmission. It is easy to understand that, for the first STA, the third frame indicates to start data transmission with the first AP. For the second STA, the third frame indicates to start data transmission with the second AP.

[0296] For example, the third frame includes the identifier of the first STA, to indicate that the first STA needs to receive the third frame. Also, the third frame includes the identifier of the second STA, to indicate that the second STA needs to receive the third frame. Exemplarily, the third frame can be a BSRP, which will be described in detail in the description of the mode 2 of S603, and thus will not be described herein.

[0297] S904, the second AP sends a fourth frame to the first STA and the second STA. Correspondingly, the first STA receives the fourth frame from the second AP. The second STA receives the fourth frame from the second AP.

[0298] For example, the fourth frame includes the identifier of the first STA, to indicate that the first STA needs to receive the fourth frame. Also, the fourth frame includes the identifier of the second STA, to indicate that the second STA needs to receive the fourth frame. Exemplarily, the fourth frame can be a BSRP, which will be described in detail in the description of the mode 4 of S604, and thus will not be described herein.

[0299] Based on S901-S904, based on the first frame and the second frame, the first AP and the second AP can determine to perform cooperative transmission. Then, based on the third frame or the fourth frame, the first STA and the second STA can be simultaneously notified to start data transmission, thereby reducing the time length of the first STA or the second STA waiting to receive a downlink data frame, and reducing the possibility of switching back to a monitoring state before the downlink data frame arrives.

[0300] In some embodiments, the first sending address in the MAC header of the third frame and the fourth frame is recorded as a first sending address. The first sending address is determined by the first AP and the second AP through negotiation, which will be described in detail in the description of the mode 2, and thus will not be described herein.

[0301] Optionally, for the first AP, before performing S903, the embodiments of the present application further include the following operations:

[0302] The first AP sends the first sending address to the first STA. Correspondingly, the first STA receives the first sending address from the first AP, so that the first STA will continue to receive when receiving a wireless frame (such as the third frame) with the first sending address as the sending address. Also,

[0303] The second AP sends the first sending address to the second STA. Correspondingly, the second STA receives the first sending address from the second AP, so that the second STA will continue to receive when receiving a wireless frame (such as the third frame) with the first sending address as the sending address.

[0304] Similarly, for the second AP, before performing S904, the embodiments of the present application further include the following operations:

[0305] The first AP sends the first transmit address to the first STA. Accordingly, the first STA receives the first transmit address from the first AP, so that the first STA continues to receive when receiving a wireless frame (e.g., the fourth frame) with the first transmit address.

[0306] The second AP sends the first transmit address to the second STA. Accordingly, the second STA receives the first transmit address from the second AP, so that the second STA continues to receive when receiving a wireless frame (e.g., the fourth frame) with the first transmit address.

[0307] Next, the communication method 1000 proposed in the embodiments of the present application is described in detail:

[0308] First, the concepts involved in the communication method 1000 of the present application are described:

[0309] First, the delay switching, i.e., the delay switching back to the monitoring state, refers to the delay of switching from the data receiving state to the monitoring state. It can be understood that if no wireless frame sent by the first AP to itself is received in the first period, the monitoring state is switched back after the first period. The length of the first period is greater than the sum of one SIFS, one time slot and the physical layer receiving delay. That is, the length of the first period is greater than aSIFSTime+aSlotTime+aRxPHYStartDelay.

[0310] For example, the length of the first period can be aSIFSTime+aSlotTime+aRxPHYStartDelay+2*aSIFSTime+the maximum length of the initial control frame+the maximum length of the initial control response frame.

[0311] For another example, the length of the first period can be aSIFSTime+aSlotTime+aRxPHYStartDelay+some absolute value, such as 500us, 512us, 600us, etc.

[0312] For another example, the end time of the first period is determined according to the transmit opportunity (TXOP), for example, the end time of the first period is the end time of a TXOP. The TXOP is used to transmit the initial control frame, which can be seen from the introduction of S1004.

[0313] For another example, the end time of the first period is determined according to the number of PPDU, for example, N PPDU are received, and none of the N PPDU contains a wireless frame sent by the first AP to itself, which is regarded as the end of the first period. Wherein, N is a positive integer, such as 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.

[0314] Second, normal switching, or regular switching, i.e., normal switching back to the monitoring state, refers to regular switching from the data receiving state to the monitoring state. It can be understood that the switching back to the monitoring state is at the end moment of the second period. The length of the second period is equal to the sum of one SIFS, one time slot and a physical layer receiving delay, which can be seen from the introduction of FIG. 5 and will not be repeated here.

[0315] Next, the communication method 1000 proposed by the embodiment of the application will be described in detail in combination with FIG. 10.

[0316] S1001, the first AP generates a fifth frame.

[0317] The first AP can be seen from the introduction of S601 and will not be repeated here.

[0318] The fifth frame indicates to start the data transmission between the first AP and the first STA.

[0319] Exemplarily, the fifth frame can be an initial control frame, such as MU-RTS or BSRP.

[0320] For the first AP, after the first AP generates the fifth frame, S1002 is executed:

[0321] S1002, the first AP sends the fifth frame to the first STA. Correspondingly, the first STA receives the fifth frame from the first AP.

[0322] The first STA is associated with the first AP, which can be seen from the introduction of S603 and will not be repeated here.

[0323] Optionally, the TXOP obtained by the first AP is recorded as the first TXOP. S1002 includes that the first AP sends the fifth frame to the first STA within the first TXOP.

[0324] For the first STA, after the first STA receives the fifth frame, S1003 and S1004 are executed:

[0325] S1003, in response to the fifth frame, the first STA starts the data transmission with the first AP.

[0326] S1003 can be seen from the introduction of S606 and will not be repeated here.

[0327] S1004, if the first STA does not perform effective communication within the first period, the first STA switches back to the monitoring state after the first period.

[0328] The first period can be seen from the introduction of the foregoing paragraphs and will not be repeated here.

[0329] wherein no valid communication is performed in the first time period, including at least one of:

[0330] first, no PPDU is received;

[0331] second, no unicast frame is received, and a value of a receiver address (RA) field of the unicast frame is a media access control (MAC) address of the first AP;

[0332] third, no trigger frame is received, and the trigger frame contains a user info field sent to the first AP;

[0333] fourth, no CTS-to-self frame is received, and a value of a RA field of the CTS-to-self frame is the MAC address of the first AP;

[0334] fifth, no Multi-STA BlockAck frame is received, and the Multi-STA BlockAck frame contains a Per AID TID info field sent to the first AP;

[0335] sixth, no null data packet announcement (NDPA) frame is received, and the NDPA frame contains a station info field sent to the first AP;

[0336] seventh, a frame requiring an immediate response is received, but no immediate response is sent.

[0337] Exemplarily, the S1004 is introduced by two manners (manner 1-manner 2) as follows:

[0338] Manner 1, the first STA is a UHR STA or a STA supporting CBF transmission.

[0339] The manner 1 can also be understood as that the first STA does not perform valid communication in the first time period by default, and switches back to the monitoring state after the first time period.

[0340] Manner 2, the first STA does not perform valid communication in the first time period according to the fifth frame, and switches back to the monitoring state after the first time period. The fifth frame also indicates to delay switching back to the monitoring state.

[0341] For example, the fifth frame includes a first field, and a first value of the first field is used to indicate to delay switching back to the monitoring state. The first field can occupy one bit. The first value can be ‘0’ or ‘1’.

[0342] For another example, the fifth frame includes a second field, and the second field indicates a length of the first time period. In a case where the second field indicates the length of the first time period, it means that the fifth frame indicates to delay switching back to the monitoring state. The second field can occupy a plurality of bits.

[0343] Exemplarily, the first field or the second field can be carried in a common info field of the fifth frame, or the first field or the second field can be carried in a user info field of the fifth frame.

[0344] Optionally, an ending moment of the first time period is determined according to a first TXOP, for example, the ending moment of the first time period is an ending moment of the first TXOP. The first TXOP is used for transmitting the fifth frame, which can be referred to the introduction of S1002 and will not be described herein.

[0345] In a case where the fifth frame indicates to delay switching back to the monitoring state, further, the fifth frame also indicates a time length of the first TXOP. For example, the fifth frame includes a MAC header. The time length of the first TXOP is indicated by a duration field of the MAC header of the fifth frame.

[0346] Optionally, the fifth frame also carries notification information for the second AP. The notification information is used to notify the second AP to perform cooperative transmission.

[0347] It should be understood that the first STA can perform S1003 first and then perform S1004, or perform S1004 first and then perform S1003, or perform S1003 and S1004 at the same time.

[0348] Based on S1001-S1004, the first AP sends the fifth frame to the first STA, so that the first STA timely starts data transmission with the first AP. In addition, the first STA can also perform delayed switching, that is, delay switching back to the monitoring state, for example, if no effective operation is performed in the first time period, switching back to the monitoring state after the first time period. Since the length of the first time period is greater than or equal to a sum of one SIFS, one time slot and a physical layer receiving delay, the possibility of switching back to the monitoring state before the downlink data frame arrives is reduced.

[0349] Optionally, the first STA does not perform effective communication in the first time period, and switches back to the monitoring state after the first time period. It can be understood that the first STA does not apply the condition of switching back to the monitoring state in the first time period, and only applies the condition of switching back to the monitoring state in the case of receiving the first data frame. For example, the first STA switches back to the monitoring state when the condition is met. The condition of switching back to the monitoring state can refer to the introduction of conditions 1-4, and will not be described in detail.

[0350] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 12, for the first STA, after the first STA receives the fifth frame, the first STA performs S1005:

[0351] S1005, the first STA sends a sixth frame to the first AP. Correspondingly, the first AP receives the sixth frame from the first STA.

[0352] The sixth frame is a response frame of the fifth frame. It can be understood that the sixth frame indicates to open data transmission with the first AP, so that the first AP obtains the processing result of the first STA side, thereby sending a downlink data frame for the first STA in time. For example, the sixth frame can be CTS or BSR, as shown in FIG. 11.

[0353] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 12, for the second STA, the second STA performs S1006 and S1007:

[0354] S1006, the second AP sends an initial control frame to the second STA. Correspondingly, the second STA receives the initial control frame from the second AP.

[0355] The initial control frame indicates to open data transmission with the second AP. For example, the initial control frame can be MU-RTS or BSRP, as shown in FIG. 11.

[0356] Optionally, the initial control frame further includes response information for the first AP. The response information is used to confirm that the second AP performs cooperative transmission. It can be understood that the response information is used to confirm that the second AP performs cooperative transmission, such as CBF transmission, with the first AP. For example, the response information can be denoted as CBF RESP.

[0357] S1007, the second STA sends a third response frame to the second AP. Correspondingly, the second AP receives the third response frame from the second STA.

[0358] The third response frame is a response frame of the initial control frame. It can be understood that the third response frame indicates to confirm to start data transmission with the second AP, so that the second AP obtains the processing result of the second STA side, thereby sending a downlink data frame for the second STA in time. For example, the third response frame can be CTS or BSR, as shown in FIG. 11.

[0359] S1008, in response to the initial control frame, the second STA starts data transmission with the second AP.

[0360] S1008 can refer to the introduction of S608, and will not be repeated.

[0361] It should be understood that the second STA can first perform S1007, and then perform S1008, or first perform S1008, and then perform S1007, or simultaneously perform S1007 and S1008.

[0362] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 12, for the first AP, after the first AP receives the information 5, S1009 is performed:

[0363] S1009, the first AP sends a first data frame to the first STA. Correspondingly, the first STA receives the first data frame from the first AP.

[0364] S1010, the first STA sends a first confirmation frame to the first AP. Correspondingly, the first AP receives the first confirmation frame from the first STA.

[0365] S1009-S1010 can refer to the introduction of S609-S610, and will not be repeated.

[0366] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 12, for the second AP, after the second AP receives the third response frame, S1011 is performed:

[0367] S1011, the second AP sends a second data frame to the second STA. Correspondingly, the second STA receives the second data frame from the second AP.

[0368] S1012, the second STA sends a second confirmation frame to the second AP. Correspondingly, the second AP receives the second confirmation frame from the second STA.

[0369] S1011-S1012 can refer to the introduction of S611-S612, and will not be repeated.

[0370] In some embodiments, the start time of the first time period is introduced as follows:

[0371] In case 1, the start time of the first time period is determined according to the sixth frame. For example, the start time of the first time period is equal to the end time of the sixth frame. Or, the start time of the first time period is later than the end time of the sixth frame, for example, there is a certain offset between the two. Wherein, the end time of the sixth frame includes the sending end time of the sixth frame, or the receiving end time of the sixth frame.

[0372] In case 2, the start time of the first time period is determined according to the fifth frame. For example, the start time of the first time period is equal to the end time of the fifth frame, as shown in FIG. 11. Or, the start time of the first time period is later than the end time of the fifth frame, for example, there is a certain offset between the two. Wherein, the end time of the fifth frame includes the sending end time of the fifth frame, or the receiving end time of the fifth frame.

[0373] In addition, in some embodiments, as a possible alternative, the fifth frame also indicates not to perform the delayed switching, that is, not to delay switching back to the monitoring state. It can be understood that the fifth frame also indicates to perform the normal switching back to the monitoring state. Wherein, the normal switching back to the monitoring state can be referred to the introduction in the foregoing paragraphs, and will not be described here.

[0374] For example, the fifth frame includes a first field, and a second value of the first field is used to indicate not to delay switching back to the monitoring state. Wherein, the first field can occupy one bit. In the case of the first value being '0', the second value is '1'. Conversely, in the case of the first value being '1', the second value is '0'.

[0375] For the first STA, after receiving the fifth frame, the first STA switches back to the monitoring state after the second time period according to the fifth frame, which can be referred to the introduction of FIG. 5, and will not be described here.

[0376] Next, in combination with FIG. 13, the communication method 1300 proposed in the embodiments of the present application is described in detail:

[0377] S1301, the first AP sends an eighth frame to the first STA and the second AP. Correspondingly, the first STA receives the eighth frame from the first AP. The second AP receives the eighth frame from the first AP.

[0378] Wherein, the eighth frame indicates the first STA to start data transmission with the first AP. The first STA is associated with the first AP. For example, the eighth frame includes an identifier of the first STA.

[0379] Wherein, the eighth frame is used to notify the second AP to perform the cooperative transmission. For example, the eighth frame includes an identifier of the second AP.

[0380] For example, the eighth frame is MU-RTS or BSRP. The eighth frame also carries notification information for the second AP to perform the cooperative transmission.

[0381] For the first STA, after the first STA receives the eighth frame, the first STA performs S1302 and S1303:

[0382] S1302, the first STA sends a response frame 1 to the first AP. Accordingly, the first AP receives the response frame 1 from the first STA.

[0383] The response frame 1 is a response frame of the eighth frame. The response frame 1 is used to confirm to open the data transmission with the first AP.

[0384] For example, in the case of the eighth frame being the MU-RTS, the response frame 1 is the CTS. In the case of the eighth frame being the BSRP, the response frame 1 is the BSR.

[0385] S1303, in response to the eighth frame, the first STA opens the data reception with the first AP.

[0386] The S1303 can refer to the description of S606, and will not be repeated here.

[0387] For the second AP, after the second AP receives the eighth frame, the second AP performs S1304:

[0388] S1304, the second AP sends a seventh frame to the second STA, the first STA and the first AP. Accordingly, the second STA receives the seventh frame from the second AP. The first STA receives the seventh frame from the second AP. The first AP receives the seventh frame from the second AP.

[0389] The seventh frame indicates the second STA to open the data transmission with the second AP. The second STA is associated with the second AP. For example, the seventh frame includes an identifier of the second STA.

[0390] The seventh frame is used to confirm the second AP to perform the cooperative transmission with the first AP. For example, the seventh frame includes an identifier of the first AP.

[0391] The seventh frame further includes an identifier of the first STA, so that the first STA receives the seventh frame carrying the identifier of the first STA.

[0392] It should be understood that, for the second AP, after the second AP receives the eighth frame, since the eighth frame includes the identifier of the first STA, the second AP can know which STA(s) identifier is carried in the seventh frame based on the eighth frame.

[0393] For example, in the case of the eighth frame being the MU-RTS or the BSRP, the seventh frame further carries the response information for the first AP to confirm the second AP to perform the cooperative transmission with the first AP. The seventh frame further includes the identifier of the first STA.

[0394] For the second STA, after the second STA receives the seventh frame, the second STA performs S1305 and S1306:

[0395] S1305, the second STA sends a response frame 2 to the second AP. Correspondingly, the second AP receives the response frame 2 from the second STA.

[0396] The response frame 2 is a response frame of the seventh frame. The response frame 2 is used to confirm to open the data transmission with the second AP.

[0397] For example, in FIG. 14, in the case that the seventh frame is a MU-RTS, the response frame 2 is a CTS. In the case that the seventh frame is a BSRP, the response frame 2 is a BSR.

[0398] S1306, in response to the seventh frame, the second STA opens the data reception with the second AP.

[0399] The S1306 can refer to the introduction of S608, and will not be repeated here.

[0400] Next, the first AP and the second AP perform cooperative transmission. Specifically, for the first STA, the first STA performs S1307:

[0401] S1307, the first AP sends a first data frame to the first STA. Correspondingly, the first STA receives the first data frame from the first AP.

[0402] For example, in FIG. 14, the first data frame is a CBF PPDU sent by the first AP.

[0403] That is, for the first STA, the first STA performs data transmission only after receiving the seventh frame. It can be understood that the time of data transmission of the first STA is later than the end time of the seventh frame.

[0404] For the second STA, the second STA includes S1308:

[0405] S1308, the second AP sends a second data frame to the second STA. Correspondingly, the second STA receives the second data frame from the second AP.

[0406] For example, in FIG. 14, the second data frame is a CBF PPDU sent by the second AP.

[0407] That is, for the first STA, the condition for the first STA switching back to the monitoring state is updated. The updated condition is that after the first STA receives the eighth frame, the first STA still needs to continue to receive the next frame, and the next frame carries the identifier of the first STA, and if the next frame is not received, the first STA switches back to the monitoring state. Conversely, if the next frame is received, the first STA does not switch back to the monitoring state temporarily. Based on S1301-S1308, after the first STA receives the eighth frame, the first STA receives the seventh frame, and the seventh frame carries the identifier of the first STA, so the first STA does not switch back to the monitoring state temporarily, and can receive the downlink data frame from the first AP, thereby reducing the possibility of switching back to the monitoring state before the downlink data frame arrives.

[0408] In some embodiments, for the first STA, after the first STA receives the eighth frame, S1304 is performed. Specifically, the following two cases (case 1-case 2) are included:

[0409] Case 1, the first STA is a UHR STA or a STA supporting CBF transmission.

[0410] Case 1 can also be understood as that the first STA continues to receive the next frame after receiving the eighth frame by default, and the next frame carries the identifier of the first STA.

[0411] Case 2, before the first STA receives the seventh frame, the following operations are included:

[0412] The first AP sends first information to the first STA. Correspondingly, the first STA receives the first information from the first AP. The first information indicates that the first STA continues to receive the next frame after receiving the eighth frame, and the next frame carries the identifier of the first STA. Based on the above S1301-S1306, the next frame of the eighth frame is the seventh frame. It can be understood that the first information indicates that the first STA continues to receive the seventh frame after receiving the eighth frame. In this case, S1304 includes that the first STA receives the seventh frame from the second AP in response to the first information, so that the first AP can more flexibly control the first STA, and the first STA can also receive the seventh frame in time, reducing the possibility of switching back to the monitoring state before the downlink data frame is received.

[0413] In case 2, the first information can be carried in the eighth frame or other frames, which is not limited.

[0414] It should be understood that the seventh frame is sent by the second AP, so the sending address of the seventh frame is the address of the second AP. In some embodiments, for the first STA, before the first STA receives the seventh frame, the following operations are included:

[0415] The first AP sends second information to the first STA. Correspondingly, the first STA receives the second information from the first AP. The second information indicates an address of the second AP, so that the first STA continues to receive when receiving a wireless frame with the address as the address of the second AP, thereby enabling the first STA to receive the seventh frame in time.

[0416] Exemplarily, the second information is carried in the eighth frame, and can also be carried in other frames, which are not limited.

[0417] The above is described by taking the first STA receiving the seventh frame as an example.

[0418] The following is described by taking the first STA not receiving the seventh frame as an example.

[0419] As shown in FIG. 15, the embodiment of the present application includes the following operations:

[0420] S1501, the first AP sends an eighth frame to the first STA. Correspondingly, the first STA receives the eighth frame from the first AP.

[0421] The eighth frame indicates the first STA to start data reception with the first AP.

[0422] S1502, in response to the eighth frame, the first STA starts data reception with the first AP.

[0423] S1502 can refer to the description of S606, and will not be repeated here.

[0424] S1503, in the case of not receiving the seventh frame after receiving the eighth frame, the first STA switches back to the monitoring state.

[0425] For example, in the case of not receiving the seventh frame in the first period, the first STA switches back to the monitoring state. The start time of the first period is equal to or later than the end time of the eighth frame. The first period can refer to the description of the first period in the foregoing paragraphs, and will not be repeated here.

[0426] That is, if the first STA does not continue to receive the next frame carrying its own identifier after receiving the eighth frame, it can switch back to the monitoring state based on the above conditions 1-4.

[0427] It should be understood that in the present application, the identifier of the AP can include the MAC address of the AP or the ID of the AP. For example, the identifier of the first AP can include the MAC address of the first AP or the ID of the first AP. For another example, the identifier of the second AP can include the MAC address of the second AP or the ID of the second AP.

[0428] Similarly, in this application, the identifier of a STA can include the MAC address of the STA or the AID of the STA. For example, the identifier of the first STA can include the MAC address of the first STA or the AID of the first STA. For another example, the identifier of the second STA can include the MAC address of the second STA or the AID of the second STA.

[0429] It should be understood that, in this application, the specific implementation form of the BSR is a quality of service (QoS) null frame, i.e., a QoS Null frame. The HT control field in the MAC header of the QoS Null frame carries an A-Control field. The A-Control field includes a Control ID and Control Information. When the value of the Control ID is 3, the BSR is carried by the Control Information.

[0430] The above mainly introduces the scheme provided by the embodiments of the application from the perspective of interaction between devices. It can be understood that, in order to implement the above functions, each device includes a hardware structure and / or a software module for executing each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, in combination with the algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed in the present application, the application can be realized in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a certain function is executed in the form of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional technicians can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of the application.

[0431] The embodiments of the application can divide the functions of each device into function modules according to the above method examples. For example, each function module can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The integrated module can be realized in the form of hardware or in the form of a software function module. It should be noted that the division of modules in the embodiments of the application is illustrative, and is only a logical function division. There can be another division manner when actually implemented.

[0432] In some embodiments, the application further provides a communication apparatus 1600, as shown in FIG. 16, which can include a processing module 1601 and a transceiver module 1602. The processing module 1601, which can also be referred to as a processing unit 1601, is configured to implement processing functions. The transceiver module 1602, which can also be referred to as a transceiver unit 1602, is configured to implement receiving and transmitting functions. Optionally, the communication apparatus 1600 can further include a storage module 1603.

[0433] In one possible design, the communication apparatus 1600 is configured to operate as the first AP in the above method embodiments.

[0434] The transceiver module 1602 is configured to send, to the second AP, a first frame, where the first frame is configured to inform the second AP to perform the cooperative transmission.

[0435] The transceiver module 1602 is further configured to receive, from the second AP, a second frame, where the second frame is configured to confirm that the second AP performs the cooperative transmission.

[0436] The processing module 1601 is configured to control the transceiver module 1602 to send, to a first station STA, a third frame based on the second frame, where the third frame is configured to instruct the first STA to turn on data transmission with the first AP, and the first STA is associated with the first AP.

[0437] In one possible design, the communication apparatus 1600 is configured to operate as the second AP in the above method embodiments.

[0438] The transceiver module 1602 is configured to receive, from the first AP, a first frame, where the first frame is configured to inform the second AP to perform the cooperative transmission.

[0439] The transceiver module 1602 is further configured to send, to the first AP, a second frame, where the second frame is configured to confirm that the second AP performs the cooperative transmission.

[0440] The processing module 1601 is configured to control the transceiver module 1602 to send, to a second station STA, a fourth frame based on the second frame, where the fourth frame is configured to instruct the second STA to turn on data transmission with the second AP, and the second STA is associated with the second AP.

[0441] In one possible design, the communication apparatus 1600 is configured to operate as the first AP in the above method embodiments.

[0442] The processing module 1601 is configured to generate a third frame, where the third frame is configured to instruct a first station STA to turn on data transmission with the first AP, and the first STA is associated with the first AP.

[0443] The transceiver module 1602 is configured to send, to the first STA, the third frame.

[0444] And, the communication apparatus 1600 is configured to operate as the second AP in the above method embodiments.

[0445] The processing module 1601 is configured to generate a fourth frame, the fourth frame indicating that the second STA starts data transmission with the second AP, and the second STA is associated with the second AP.

[0446] The transceiver module 1602 is configured to send the fourth frame to the second STA. The sending time of the third frame is the same as the sending time of the fourth frame.

[0447] In a possible design, taking the communication apparatus 1600 as the first AP in the foregoing method embodiment for example:

[0448] The processing module 1601 is configured to generate a fifth frame, the fifth frame indicating that the delay switching back to the monitoring state and starting data transmission between the first STA and the first AP, and the switching back to the monitoring state is performed after a first time period, and the length of the first time period is greater than the sum of a short interframe space (SIFS), a time slot and a physical layer receiving delay.

[0449] The transceiver module 1602 is configured to send the fifth frame to the first STA.

[0450] In a possible design, taking the communication apparatus 1600 as the first STA in the foregoing method embodiment for example:

[0451] The transceiver module 1602 is configured to receive the fifth frame from the first AP, the fifth frame indicating that the data transmission with the first AP is started.

[0452] The processing module 1601 is configured to start data reception with the first AP in response to the fifth frame, and switch back to the monitoring state after a first time period if no valid communication is performed in the first time period, and the length of the first time period is greater than or equal to the sum of a short interframe space (SIFS), a time slot and a physical layer receiving delay.

[0453] In a possible design, taking the communication apparatus 1600 as the first STA in the foregoing method embodiment for example:

[0454] The transceiver module 1602 is configured to receive the eighth frame from the first AP, the eighth frame indicating that the first STA starts data transmission with the first AP, and the first STA is associated with the first AP.

[0455] The transceiver module 1602 is further configured to receive the seventh frame from the second AP, the seventh frame indicating that the second STA starts data transmission with the second AP, and the second STA is associated with the second AP, the seventh frame including an identifier of the first STA, and the receiving time of the seventh frame is later than the ending time of the eighth frame.

[0456] The processing module 1601 is configured to start data reception with the first AP in response to the eighth frame, and the time point of the data reception is later than the end time point of the seventh frame.

[0457] In a possible design, the communication apparatus 1600 is taken as an example of the first AP in the foregoing method embodiment.

[0458] The processing module 1601 is configured to generate first information, where the first information indicates that the first station STA continues to receive the seventh frame after receiving the eighth frame, the eighth frame indicates that the first STA starts data transmission with the first AP, the first STA is associated with the first AP, the seventh frame indicates that the second STA starts data transmission with the second AP, the second STA is associated with the second AP, and the seventh frame comprises an identifier of the first STA.

[0459] The transceiver module 1602 is configured to send the first information.

[0460] In a possible design, the communication apparatus 1600 is taken as an example of the second AP in the foregoing method embodiment.

[0461] The processing module 1601 is configured to generate the seventh frame, where the seventh frame indicates that the second station STA starts data transmission with the second AP, the second STA is associated with the second AP, the seventh frame comprises an identifier of the first STA, and the first STA is associated with the first AP.

[0462] The transceiver module 1602 is configured to send the seventh frame.

[0463] All related content of each step in the foregoing method embodiments can be referred to the function description of the corresponding functional module, and will not be repeated here.

[0464] Optionally, in the communication apparatus shown in FIG. 16, the names of the modules can also be different from those shown in FIG. 16, for example, the transceiver module can also be referred to as a communication module or a communication unit.

[0465] The various modules in FIG. 16, if implemented in the form of software functional modules and sold or used as independent products, can be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application essentially or in other words, the part that contributes to the prior art or the whole or part of the technical solutions can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes a number of instructions for causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) or a processor to perform all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of the present application. The storage medium storing the computer software product includes a U disk, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and various media that can store program codes.

[0466] In some embodiments, the communication apparatus 1600 is presented in the form of dividing various functional modules in an integrated manner. The "module" here can refer to an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a circuit, a processor and a memory executing one or more software or firmware programs, an integrated logic circuit, and / or other devices that can provide the above functions.

[0467] The embodiments of the present application also provide a communication apparatus as shown in FIG. 17, the first AP, the first STA and the second AP can all adopt the constituent structure shown in FIG. 17, or include the components shown in FIG. 17. FIG. 17 is a constituent schematic diagram of a communication apparatus 1700 provided by the embodiments of the present application. The communication apparatus 1700 can be the first AP or a chip or system on chip in the first AP; can also be the first STA or a chip or system on chip in the first STA; and can also be the second AP or a chip or system on chip in the second AP. As shown in FIG. 17, the communication apparatus 1700 includes a processor 1701, a transceiver 1702 and a communication line 1703.

[0468] Further, the communication apparatus 1700 can also include a memory 1704. The processor 1701, the memory 1704 and the transceiver 1702 can be connected through the communication line 1703.

[0469] The processor 1701 can be a central processing unit (CPU), a general-purpose processor network processor (NP), a digital signal processing (DSP), a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a programmable logic device (PLD), or any combination thereof. The processor 1701 can also be other apparatuses with processing capabilities, such as a circuit, a device, or a software module, without limitation.

[0470] The transceiver 1702 is configured to communicate with other devices or other communication networks. The other communication networks can be an Ethernet, a radio access network (RAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), and the like. The transceiver 1702 can be a module, a circuit, a transceiver, or any apparatus capable of implementing communication.

[0471] The communication line 1703 is configured to transmit information between components included in the communication apparatus 1700.

[0472] The memory 1704 is configured to store instructions. The instructions can be a computer program.

[0473] The memory 1704 can be a ROM or other type of static storage device that can store static information and / or instructions, or can be a RAM or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and / or instructions, or can be an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disk storage, a magnetic disk storage medium, or other magnetic storage device, without limitation.

[0474] It should be noted that the memory 1704 can exist independently of the processor 1701, or can be integrated with the processor 1701. The memory 1704 can be configured to store instructions or program codes or some data, and the like. The memory 1704 can be located inside the communication apparatus 1700, or can be located outside the communication apparatus 1700, without limitation. The processor 1701 is configured to execute instructions stored in the memory 1704 to implement the communication method provided by the embodiments described below.

[0475] It should be noted that the communication apparatus 1700 can be a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a network server, a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a wireless terminal, an embedded device, a chip system, or a device having a similar structure as shown in FIG. 17. In addition, the constituent structure shown in FIG. 17 does not constitute a limitation on the communication apparatus, and the communication apparatus can include more or less components than those shown in the figure, or combine certain components, or have a different arrangement of components.

[0476] In the embodiments of the present application, the chip system can be composed of a chip, or can include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0477] In addition, the actions, terms, and the like involved among the embodiments of the present application can be mutually referred to and are not limited. The message names or parameter names in the messages exchanged between the various devices in the embodiments of the present application are only examples, and other names can also be used in the specific implementation, which are not limited.

[0478] The embodiments of the present application further provide a computer program product, which can realize the functions of any of the above method embodiments when executed by a computer.

[0479] The embodiments of the present application further provide a computer program, which can realize the functions of any of the above method embodiments when executed by a computer.

[0480] The embodiments of the present application further provide a computer readable storage medium. All or part of the processes of the above method embodiments can be instructed by a computer program to relevant hardware to complete, and the program can be stored in the above computer readable storage medium. When the program is executed, the processes of the above method embodiments can be included. The computer readable storage medium can be an internal storage unit of the terminal (including a data sending terminal and / or a data receiving terminal) of any of the above embodiments, such as a hard disk or a memory of the terminal. The above computer readable storage medium can also be an external storage device of the terminal, such as a plug-in hard disk, a smart media card (SMC), a secure digital (SD) card, a flash card, and the like. Further, the above computer readable storage medium can include both the internal storage unit and the external storage device of the terminal. The above computer readable storage medium is used to store the above computer program and other programs and data required by the terminal. The above computer readable storage medium can also be used to temporarily store data that has been output or will be output.

[0481] In the description of the present application, unless otherwise specified, " / " means that the objects before and after the " / " are in an "or" relationship. For example, A / B can mean A or B; "and / or" in the present application is only a description of the relationship between the associated objects, which means that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B, which can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone, where A, B can be singular or plural. And in the description of the present application, unless otherwise specified, "at least one" means one or more. "Multiple" means two or more than two. "At least two" means two or three and more than three. "At least one of the following" or the like means any combination of the items, including single or multiple items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can mean a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, or a-b-c, where a, b, c can be single or multiple. In addition, in order to clearly describe the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, "first", "second", etc. are used to distinguish the same items or similar items with basically the same function and role. The skilled in the art can understand that "first", "second", etc. do not limit the quantity and execution order, and "first", "second", etc. also do not necessarily mean different.

[0482] In the embodiments of the present application, the words "exemplarily" or "for example" are used to mean as an example, illustration or description. Any embodiment or design scheme described as "exemplarily" or "for example" in the embodiments of the present application should not be interpreted as more preferred or more advantageous than other embodiments or design schemes. Rather, the words "exemplarily" or "for example" are intended to present the relevant concept in a specific manner for easy understanding.

[0483] In addition, the terms "include" and "have" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product or device that includes a series of steps or units is not limited to the listed steps or units, but can optionally include steps or units not listed, or can optionally include other steps or units inherent to the process, method, product or device.

[0484] In the embodiments of the present application, the indication can include direct indication and indirect indication, and can also include explicit indication and implicit indication. The information indicated by certain information (such as the first indication information) is referred to as to-be-indicated information. In the implementation process, there are many ways to indicate the to-be-indicated information, for example, but not limited to, the to-be-indicated information can be directly indicated, such as the to-be-indicated information itself or the index of the to-be-indicated information. The to-be-indicated information can also be indirectly indicated by indicating other information, where the other information and the to-be-indicated information have an association relationship. The to-be-indicated information can also be indicated only by a part of the to-be-indicated information, and the other part of the to-be-indicated information is known or agreed in advance. For example, the indication of a specific information can also be achieved by means of the arrangement order of each information agreed in advance (for example, a protocol), thereby reducing the indication overhead to a certain extent. Meanwhile, the common part of each information can be identified and uniformly indicated, so as to reduce the indication overhead caused by separately indicating the same information.

[0485] In addition, the specific indication manner can also be various existing indication manners, for example, but not limited to, the above-mentioned indication manners and various combinations thereof. The specific details of various indication manners can refer to the prior art, and will not be described herein. As can be seen from the above, for example, when multiple information of the same type needs to be indicated, the indication manners of different information can be different. In the implementation process, the required indication manner can be selected according to the specific needs, and the selected indication manner is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. In this way, the indication manner involved in the embodiments of the present application should be understood as covering various methods that can enable the to-be-indicated party to know the to-be-indicated information.

[0486] It should be understood that the to-be-indicated information can be sent as a whole, or can be sent separately into multiple sub-information, and the sending period and / or sending occasion of the sub-information can be the same or different. The specific sending method is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. The sending period and / or sending occasion of the sub-information can be pre-defined, for example, pre-defined according to a protocol, or can be configured by the sending end device by sending configuration information to the receiving end device.

[0487] The "protocol" involved in the embodiments of the present application can refer to a protocol family in the communication field, a standard protocol similar to the protocol family frame structure, or a related protocol applied to a future communication system, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0488] In the embodiments of the present application, the descriptions such as "when", "in the case of", "if", and "whether" all refer to that the device will make corresponding processing under certain objective circumstances, and are not limited by time. Moreover, it is not required that the device has a judgment action when implemented, and it does not mean that there are other limitations.

[0489] In the embodiments of the present application, "sending information to (for example, the first STA) can be understood as that the destination of the information is the first STA. This can include directly or indirectly sending information to the first STA. "Receiving information from (for example, the first AP) can be understood as that the source of the information is the first AP, and can include directly or indirectly receiving information from the first AP. The information can be processed between the source and the destination of the information, for example, format change, etc., but the destination can understand the valid information from the source. Similar expressions in the present application can be understood similarly, and will not be described here.

[0490] Through the description of the above embodiments, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, only the above division of functional modules is taken as an example, and in actual application, the above functions can be completed by different functional modules according to needs, that is, the internal structure of the device is divided into different functional modules to complete all or part of the functions described above.

[0491] In several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic, for example, the division of the modules or units is only a logical function division, and actual implementation can have another division manner, for example, a plurality of units or components can be combined or integrated into another device, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection between the units shown or discussed can be indirect coupling or communication connection through some interface, device or unit, and can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0492] The units described as separate components can or can not be physically separated, and the components shown as units can be one physical unit or multiple physical units, that is, can be located in one place, or can be distributed to multiple different places. Part or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the embodiments.

[0493] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application can be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically, or two or more units can be integrated in one unit. The integrated unit can be realized in the form of hardware or in the form of a software functional unit.

[0494] The integrated unit, if in the form of a software function unit and sold or used as an independent product, can be stored in a readable storage medium. Based on such an understanding, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can essentially or partially be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium, includes several instructions to make an apparatus (which can be a single-chip microcomputer, a chip, etc.) or a processor execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: a U disk, a mobile hard disk, a ROM, a RAM, a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and various media that can store program codes.

Claims

1. A communication method characterized by comprising: Applied to a first access point AP, the method comprises: sending a first frame to a second AP, the first frame being used to inform the second AP to perform cooperative transmission; receiving a second frame from the second AP, the second frame being used to confirm that the second AP performs cooperative transmission; sending a third frame to a first station STA according to the second frame, the third frame indicating to open data transmission with the first AP, the first STA being associated with the first AP.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The third frame comprises an identifier of the first STA.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, A media access control MAC header of the third frame comprises a first sending address, and before sending the third frame to the first STA, the method further comprises: sending the first sending address to the first STA.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein, The first sending address is determined by negotiation between the first AP and the second AP.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that, The third frame further comprises an identifier of a second STA, and the method further comprises: sending the third frame to the second STA, the second STA being associated with the second AP.

6. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein, The third frame is sent through a first beam, and the first beam is sent through beamforming.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1-4 and 6, characterized in that, A sending time of the third frame is the same as a sending time of a fourth frame, the fourth frame being a frame sent by the second AP to a second STA, the fourth frame indicating the second STA to open data transmission with the second AP, the second STA being associated with the second AP.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1-7, characterized in that, The second frame indicates a second STA, the second STA being associated with the second AP.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1-8, characterized in that, The first frame indicates the first STA.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1-9, characterized in that, The first frame further indicates a first resource unit RU, and part or all of the first RU is used to transmit a response frame of a fourth frame, the fourth frame being a frame sent by the second AP to a second STA, the fourth frame indicating the second STA to open data transmission with the second AP, the second STA being associated with the second AP.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein, Part or all of the first RU is further used to transmit a response frame of a data frame, the data frame being a data frame transmitted by the second AP to the second STA.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1-10, characterized in that, The first frame further indicates a second RU, and part or all of the second RU is used to transmit a response frame of a data frame, the data frame being a data frame transmitted by the second AP to a second STA, the second STA being associated with the second AP.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1-12, characterized in that, The first frame is further used for frequency synchronization between the third frame and a fourth frame, the fourth frame being a frame sent by the second AP to a second STA, the fourth frame indicating the second STA to open data transmission with the second AP, the second STA being associated with the second AP.

14. The method of any one of claims 1-13, wherein, The third frame is sent after the second frame, and a time interval between the second frame and the third frame is predefined.

15. A method of communication, comprising: Applied to a second access point AP, the method comprises: receiving a first frame from a first AP, the first frame being used to inform the second AP to perform cooperative transmission; sending a second frame to the first AP, the second frame being used to confirm that the second AP performs cooperative transmission; According to the second frame, a fourth frame is sent to a second station STA, the fourth frame indicating to open data transmission with the second AP, the second STA being associated with the second AP.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein, The fourth frame comprises an identifier of the second STA.

17. The method according to claim 15 or 16, characterized in that, A media access control (MAC) header of the fourth frame comprises a first transmission address, and before the fourth frame is sent to the second STA, the method further comprises sending the first transmission address to the second STA.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein, The first transmission address is determined by the first AP and the second AP.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein, The fourth frame further comprises an identifier of the first STA, the first STA being associated with the first AP.

20. The method of claim 15 or 16, wherein, The fourth frame is sent through a second beam, and the second beam is sent through beamforming.

21. The method of any one of claims 15-20, wherein, The fourth frame is sent after the second frame, and a time interval between the second frame and the fourth frame is predefined.

22. A method of communication, comprising: The method is applied to a first access point (AP), and the method comprises: generating a fifth frame, the fifth frame indicating to delay switching back to a monitoring state and to open data transmission of a first station (STA) with the first AP, the switching back to the monitoring state being performed after a first time period, a length of the first time period being greater than a sum of a short interframe space (SIFS), a time slot, and a physical layer receiving delay; sending the fifth frame to the first STA.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein, The method further comprises: receiving a sixth frame from the first STA, the sixth frame being a response frame of the fifth frame; wherein a start time of the first time period is equal to an end time of the sixth frame.

24. The method of claim 22 or 23, wherein, The sending of the fifth frame to the first STA comprises sending the fifth frame to the first STA within a first transmission opportunity (TXOP). wherein an end time of the first time period is an end time of the first TXOP.

25. A method of communication, comprising: The method is applied to a first station (STA), and the method comprises: receiving a fifth frame from a first access point (AP), the fifth frame indicating to open data transmission with the first AP; in response to the fifth frame, opening data reception with the first AP, and in a first time period in which no valid communication is performed, switching back to a monitoring state after the first time period, a length of the first time period being greater than a sum of a short interframe space (SIFS), a time slot, and a physical layer receiving delay.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein, The fifth frame further indicates to delay switching back to the monitoring state.

27. The method of claim 25 or 26, wherein, The method further comprises: sending a sixth frame to the first AP, the sixth frame being a response frame of the fifth frame; wherein a start time of the first time period is equal to an end time of the sixth frame.

28. The method of any one of claims 25-27, wherein, The receiving of the fifth frame from the first AP comprises receiving the fifth frame from the first AP within a first transmission opportunity (TXOP). wherein an end time of the first time period is an end time of the first TXOP.

29. The method of any one of claims 22-24 and 26, wherein, The indication to delay switching back to the monitoring state is carried in a first field, and a first value of the first field is used to indicate to delay switching back to the monitoring state.

30. The method of any one of claims 22-24 and 26, wherein, The indication to delay switching back to the monitoring state is carried in a second field, and the second field indicates a length of the first time period.

31. The method of any one of claims 22-23 and 25-27, wherein, The starting time of the first time period is equal to the ending time of the fifth frame.

32. A communications device, characterized by The communication device comprises a processor; the processor is configured to run a computer program or instructions, so that the communication method in any one of claims 1-14 is executed, or so that the communication method in any one of claims 15-21 is executed, or so that the communication method in any one of claims 22-24 and 29-31 is executed, or so that the communication method in any one of claims 25-31 is executed.

33. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein, The communication device further comprises a memory, and the memory is configured to store the computer program or instructions.

34. A communications device, characterized by The communication device comprises an interface circuit and a logic circuit; the interface circuit is configured to input and / or output information; and the logic circuit is configured to execute the communication method in any one of claims 1-14, or to execute the communication method in any one of claims 15-21, or to execute the communication method in any one of claims 22-24 and 29-31, or to execute the communication method in any one of claims 25-31.

35. A computer readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer readable storage medium stores computer instructions or programs, and when the computer instructions or programs are run on a computer, the communication method in any one of claims 1-14 is executed, or the communication method in any one of claims 15-21 is executed, or the communication method in any one of claims 22-24 and 29-31 is executed, or the communication method in any one of claims 25-31 is executed.

36. A computer program product, characterised in that, The computer program product comprises computer instructions; when part or all of the computer instructions are run on a computer, the communication method in any one of claims 1-14 is executed, or the communication method in any one of claims 15-21 is executed, or the communication method in any one of claims 22-24 and 29-31 is executed, or the communication method in any one of claims 25-31 is executed.

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