Communication device and communication method

Abstract

The present invention improves the efficiency of transmission control in wireless communication. According to the present invention, an access point comprises: a control circuit that, in a control signal including common information common to a plurality of terminals and individual information corresponding to each of the plurality of terminals, sets a format of the individual information on the basis of first information related to a resource allocation method for an uplink signal and second information different from the first information, the first information and the second information being included in the common information; and a transmission circuit that transmits the control signal.

Description

Communication device and communication method

[0007]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a communication device and a communication method.

[0002] In the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), standardization of wireless communication standards such as wireless LAN (Local Area Network; also referred to as WLAN) is in progress.

[0003] IEEE P802.11be / D7.0IEEE 802.11-24 / 0209r6, “Specification Framework for TGbn”IEEE 802.11-24 / 0243r2, “Protocol Design for UL Beamforming”IEEE 802.11-24 / 1507r3, “UHR Trigger Frame Design”IEEE 802.11-24 / 1833r4, “Trigger Frame Design for UHR”

[0004] However, in wireless communication such as wireless LAN, a method for transmitting an uplink multi-antenna transmission signal in response to an instruction of a control signal received by a terminal from an access point (AP) has not been sufficiently studied.

[0005] A non-limiting example of the present disclosure contributes to providing a communication device and a communication method that can improve the efficiency of transmission control in wireless communication.

[0006] A communication device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a control circuit that sets a format of the individual information based on first information regarding a resource allocation method of an uplink signal, which is included in the common information, and second information different from the first information, in a control signal including common information common to a plurality of terminals and individual information unique to each of the plurality of terminals, and a transmission circuit that transmits the control signal.

[0007] These comprehensive or specific embodiments may be implemented as systems, devices, methods, integrated circuits, computer programs, or recording media, or as any combination of systems, devices, methods, integrated circuits, computer programs, and recording media.

[0008] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, for example, the efficiency of transmission control in wireless communication can be improved.

[0009] Further advantages and effects of one embodiment of this disclosure will be made apparent from the specification and drawings. Such advantages and / or effects are provided by several embodiments and features described in the specification and drawings, but not all of them are necessarily provided in order to obtain one or more identical features.

[0010] Figures showing example formats for trigger frames, Common Info field for IEEE 802.11be, Special User Info field for IEEE 802.11be, User Info field for IEEE 802.11be, Block diagram showing a partial configuration example of an access point (AP), Block diagram showing a partial configuration example of a terminal, Block diagram showing an AP configuration example, Figure showing an example format for terminal common information, Block diagram showing a terminal configuration example, Figures showing example formats for User Info field, Figures showing example formats for User Info field, Figures showing example formats for terminal common information, Figures showing example formats for User Info field, Figures showing example formats for User Info field, Figures showing example formats for User Info field, Figures showing example formats for User Info field, Figures showing example procedures for upward beamforming (BF), Figures showing example procedures for upward BF, Figures showing example formats for User Info field

[0011] Each embodiment of this disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

[0012] Within the IEEE, the Task Group (TG) is working on the technical specifications for IEEE 802.11bn (hereinafter referred to as "11bn") as a successor standard (one of the modified standards of the IEEE 802.11 standard) that is backward compatible with IEEE 802.11be (hereinafter referred to as "11be"), which is the standard for IEEE 802.11 (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 2). Note that 11be is also called "Extremely High Throughput (EHT)" and 11bn is also called "Ultra High Reliability (UHR)".

[0013] 11be supports uplink OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access) and multi-antenna transmission technology (e.g., MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple Output)). An access point (AP, also called a "base station") sends control signals (e.g., called "trigger frames") that instruct the transmission of uplink signals (e.g., uplink OFDMA signals, uplink MIMO signals) to multiple terminals (STAs, also called "non-AP STAs") that it serves.

[0014] In 11bn, it is possible to reuse the 11be trigger frame as a control signal to instruct multiple terminals to send OFDMA signals.

[0015] The control signal may be issued to one or more terminals. Furthermore, one or more terminals may transmit a response signal based on the control signal.

[0016] [About the 11be Trigger frame] For example, as shown in Figure 1, the Trigger frame includes a "Common Info field," a "Special User Info field," and a "User Info List" (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 1). The Common Info field contains information common to multiple terminals (common terminal information) for multiple terminals multiplexed by OFDMA and MIMO. The Special User Info field contains information common to multiple terminals (common terminal information), similar to the Common Info field. The User Info List contains, for example, multiple individual "User Info fields" (individual terminal information) for each of the multiple terminals multiplexed by OFDMA and MIMO.

[0017] Figure 2 shows an example of the format for the Common Info field for 11be (EHT), Figure 3 shows an example of the format for the Special User Info field for 11be, and Figure 4 shows an example of the format for the User Info field for 11be.

[0018] The Special User Info field shown in Figure 3 contains common information for terminals, similar to the Common Info field shown in Figure 2. For example, the Special User Info field may contain common information for terminals compatible with 11bn (or UHR) (for example, also called "11bn terminals" or "UHR terminals"). The Special User Info field is a field in which a special AID (Association ID, for example, AID=2007) is set in the User Info field.

[0019] The User Info field shown in Figure 4 contains information unique to each terminal. For example, the User Info field notifies scheduling information for the uplink signal that the terminal transmits in response to a Trigger frame from the AP. The uplink signal is also known as TB PPDU (Trigger-Based (TB) Physical Layer Protocol Data Unit (PPDU)).

[0020] As shown in Figure 4, the User Info field notifies the spatial stream (SS) information of the TB PPDU in the "SS Allocation subfield". As shown in Figure 4, the SS Allocation subfield consists of, for example, the "Starting Spatial Stream subfield" and the "Number Of Spatial Streams subfield".

[0021] The Starting Spatial Stream subfield indicates the spatial stream (SS) start number. The SS start number is used to orthogonalize reference signals between terminals (e.g., EHT-STF (Short Training Field), EHT-LTF (Long Training Field)) when applying uplink MU-MIMO (Multi-User Multiple Input Multiple Output) where multiple different terminals transmit TB PPDU using the same frequency resource. In 11be, the Starting Spatial Stream subfield is defined with 4 bits. Also in 11be, up to 8 MU multiplexing counts are supported, and SS start numbers 1 through 8 can be advertised. In other words, in 11be, the size used to advertise the SS start number in the Starting Spatial Stream subfield is 3 bits.

[0022] Additionally, the Number of Spatial Streams subfield indicates the number of spatial streams (SS) per device. In 11be, the Starting Spatial Stream subfield is defined by 2 bits. 11be supports up to 4 uplink SS per device, and SS numbers from 1 to 4 can be notified.

[0023] [Regarding 11bn Trigger frames] In 11bn, extensions to the Trigger frame are being considered to support the features introduced in 11bn (see, for example, Non-Patent Documents 2-5).

[0024] For example, in 11bn, to improve uplink throughput, a "Distributed-tone RU (Resource Unit)" (hereinafter referred to as DRU) is introduced for resource allocation of TB PPDUs transmitted by terminals in response to trigger frames. A DRU refers to an RU composed of Tones that are discretely (or distributed, spread) spread across a specific bandwidth. For example, in standards prior to 11be, an RU composed of multiple consecutive Tones (hereinafter also called a "Regular RU (RRU)") was allocated to each terminal as a resource for the TB PPDU. In 11bn, for example, it has been agreed to notify information (for example, the "DRU indication subfield" described later) that indicates whether the uplink signal resource allocation is a DRU or an RRU, using a part of the EHT reserved subfield of the Common Info field (see, for example, Figure 2). For example, it has been agreed to notify information of 4-bitmap information with 1 bit per 80MHz in order to indicate whether the resource allocation is a DRU or an RRU every 80MHz (see, for example, Non-Patent Literature 2).

[0025] Furthermore, in 11bn, in order to improve uplink throughput, it is being considered to add information regarding the application of uplink beamforming (hereinafter referred to as "uplink BF") to the Special User Info field (for example, the "Beamformed subfield" described later) in order to support uplink beamforming (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 3).

[0026] Furthermore, 11bn is also considering expanding the User Info field (see, for example, Non-Patent Documents 2, 4-5).

[0027] For example, in 11bn, regarding DRU, it is being considered that when DRU is indicated (notified), uplink MU-MIMO will not be applied, the SS start number will not be notified by the Starting Spatial Stream subfield, the maximum number of SSs will be set to 2 (e.g., limited), and the Number Of Spatial Streams subfield will be set to 1 bit (e.g., reduced).

[0028] Furthermore, when a DRU is specified, it is agreed that two bits from the SS Allocation subfield of the User Info field (for example, some or all of the bits not used for the SS start number or maximum number of SSs) are reused to provide information indicating the DRU's distributed bandwidth (e.g., also called "distribution bandwidth (DBW)") and location (e.g., also called "distribution BW (DBW) pattern") (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 2).

[0029] Furthermore, in 11bn, it has been agreed to add new MCS (Modulation and Coding Scheme) patterns (increase the number of MCS patterns) (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 2). For example, if four new MCS patterns are added for TB PPDUs for 11bn (e.g., UHR TB PPDUs), the UL EHT-MCS subfield in the User Info field can be expanded from 4 bits (see, for example, Figure 4) to 5 bits.

[0030] Furthermore, in 11bn, it has been agreed to introduce an LDPC (Low Density Parity Check) codeword length that is twice the size of the LDPC corresponding to 11be (also known as "2x1944") (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 2). For UHR TB PPDU, for example, it is considered effective to add a 1-bit "2xLDPC" subfield that instructs the AP to dynamically switch between the existing LDPC codeword length (1944) and the 2x1944 LDPC codeword length depending on the packet size of the transmitted data.

[0031] Furthermore, in 11bn, it has been agreed to apply UEQM (unequal modulation), a modulation method in which the modulation scheme (e.g., QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM, etc.) is individually set (changed) for each of the multiple SSs, to UHR MU PPDU (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 2). Applying UEQM to UHR TB PPDU is also considered effective for improving uplink throughput.

[0032] However, 11bn does not adequately address the notification of information related to uplink multi-antenna transmission via trigger frames. For example, the notification of RRUs and DRUs when applying UEQM to UHR TB PPDUs or when applying beamforming is not discussed.

[0033] In non-limiting embodiments of this disclosure, an example of a method for notifying information related to uplink multi-antenna transmission via a trigger frame is described.

[0034] [Configuration of the Wireless Communication System] The wireless communication system according to this embodiment may include, for example, an AP 100 (corresponding to, for example, a wireless transmitter and a communication device), and a terminal 200 (corresponding to, for example, a wireless receiver and a communication device). In the wireless communication system, there may be, for example, two or more terminals 200.

[0035] AP100 sends a trigger frame to terminal 200, for example, instructing it to transmit an uplink signal (e.g., TB PPDU), and terminal 200 receives the trigger frame. Terminal 200 transmits the TB PPDU to AP100 using the frequency resources indicated by the trigger frame (e.g., frequency resources for DRU or RRU). Note that the TB PPDU can be any TB PPDU from 11bn onwards, and the TB PPDU for 11bn is also called "UHR TB PPDU".

[0036] Figure 5 is a block diagram showing a partial configuration example of AP100 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. In the AP100 shown in Figure 5, the control unit (corresponding to, for example, a control circuit) sets the format of the terminal-specific information in a control signal (e.g., Trigger frame) that includes terminal common information common to a plurality of terminals 200 (e.g., Common Info field and Special User Info field) and terminal-specific information individual to each of the plurality of terminals 200 (e.g., User Info field), based on first information (e.g., DRU indication subfield) and second information different from the first information (e.g., information on whether or not uplink BF is applied, or information on whether or not uplink MU-MIMO is applied), which are included in the terminal common information. The communication unit (corresponding to, for example, a transmission circuit) transmits the control signal.

[0037] Figure 6 is a block diagram showing a partial configuration example of a terminal 200 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. In the terminal 200 shown in Figure 6, the communication unit (e.g., corresponding to a receiving circuit) receives a control signal (e.g., a trigger frame) which includes terminal common information common to multiple terminals 200 (e.g., Common Info field and Special User Info field) and terminal individual information specific to each of the multiple terminals 200 (e.g., User Info field). The control unit (e.g., corresponding to a control circuit) identifies the format of the terminal individual information based on first information (e.g., DRU indication subfield) relating to the uplink signal resource allocation method and second information different from the first information (e.g., information on whether uplink BF is applied or whether uplink MU-MIMO is applied), which are included in the terminal common information.

[0038] (Embodiment 1) This embodiment describes an example of a trigger frame that can notify DRU and UEQM while maintaining a bit size equivalent to existing standards (e.g., 11be). For example, a method for setting (or determining, changing, or specifying) the format of the User Info field, which is terminal-specific information, according to terminal-common information such as DRU-related information (e.g., DRU indication subfield) and information on whether or not uplink BF is applied (e.g., Beamformed subfield).

[0039] [Example of AP100 configuration] Figure 7 is a block diagram showing an example of the AP100 configuration.

[0040] AP100 generates a trigger frame that instructs terminal 200 to send a TB PPDU (a response signal from terminal 200 to the trigger frame), and then sends the trigger frame to terminal 200.

[0041] The AP100 shown in Figure 7 may include, for example, a scheduling unit 101, a User Info generation unit 102, a Common Info generation unit 103, a Trigger frame generation unit 104, an error correction coding unit 105, a modulation unit 106, a wireless transmission / reception unit 107, an OFDM demodulation unit 108, a Tone demapping unit 109, a demodulation unit 110, and an error correction decoding unit 111.

[0042] Furthermore, at least one of the scheduling unit 101, User Info generation unit 102, Common Info generation unit 103, Trigger frame generation unit 104, error correction coding unit 105, modulation unit 106, OFDM demodulation unit 108, Tone demapping unit 109, demodulation unit 110, and error correction decoding unit 111 shown in Figure 7 may be included in the control unit shown in Figure 5, and the wireless transmission / reception unit 107 shown in Figure 7 may be included in the communication unit shown in Figure 5.

[0043] In Figure 7, the scheduling unit 101 may, for example, perform scheduling for terminals 200. For example, the scheduling unit 101 determines scheduling information such as the AID (Associated Identification) of one or more terminals 200 that instruct TB PPDU transmission, frequency resource information for transmitting TB PPDU (uplink signals transmitted by terminals 200) to each terminal 200, whether or not uplink BF is applied, the number of SS for each terminal 200, information regarding UEQM, whether or not uplink MU-MIMO is applied, or MCS, and outputs it to the User Info generation unit 102 and the Common Info generation unit 103. The scheduling unit 101 also holds scheduling information regarding TB PPDU from terminals 200 and outputs it to the Tone demapping unit 109, demodulation unit 110, and error correction decoding unit 111 for reception processing.

[0044] The frequency resource information of the terminal 200 (e.g., RU allocation information) may include, for example, the RU type for each band (e.g., 80 MHz) within the TB PPDU transmission band (information indicating either DRU or RRU, also referred to as the "DRU indication subfield"), or the Tone arrangement information, etc. For example, when the RU type is DRU, the frequency resource information may include information indicating the dispersion bandwidth of the DRU (also referred to as the "DBW indication subfield"). Note that the frequency resource information of the terminal may be used as the frequency resource for transmitting the Short Training Field (STF) and Long Training Field (LTF) in addition to the data of the terminal 200.

[0045] Also, for example, the DRU indication subfield may be included in the Common Info field as terminal common information. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, in the Common Info field of the version after UHR, a part of the bits unused in EHT (11be) (EHT Reserved in FIG. 2) is used as the DRU indication subfield, and information regarding DRU may be notified.

[0046] Furthermore, information regarding the application of uplink BF (for example, referred to as the "Beamformed subfield") indicates whether terminal 200 applies a Beamforming steering matrix (also called a precoding matrix) to the TB PPDU. For example, the Beamformed subfield, like the DRU indication subfield, may be included in the Common Info field or Special User Info field as information for each bandwidth (e.g., 80 MHz) within the TB PPDU transmission bandwidth and notified to terminal 200. For example, as shown in Figure 8, if a version later than UHR (e.g., PHY Version=UHR) is indicated in the PHY Version Identifier subfield, the Beamformed subfield may be included in the Special User Info field. For example, in the Special User Info field, at least one bit from the bits unused in EHT and the bits used as other subfields may be used as the Beamformed subfield. For example, as shown in Figure 8, in the Special User Info field, bits that were not used in the EHT (Reserved subfield in Figure 3) and some bits that were used as other subfields (one bit of the U-SIG Disregard And Validate subfield in Figure 3) may be used as the Beamformed subfield.

[0047] Note that the Beamformed subfield is not limited to being included in the Special User Info field and may be included in other fields (e.g., the Common Info field or the User Info field). For example, when the Beamformed subfield is included in the User Info field, bits that are unused in EHT (Reserved in FIG. 4) may be used as the Beamformed subfield. Or, in the User Info field corresponding to EHT shown in FIG. 4, by reducing the UL Target Receive Power subfield (7 bits) to 6 bits, some or all of the bits that were used as other subfields in the format for EHT shown in FIG. 4 may be used as some or all of the Beamformed subfield.

[0048] Also, the AP 100 may transmit information for the terminal 200 to obtain the Beamforming steering matrix used for uplink BF application before transmitting the Trigger frame (e.g., immediately before or within a predetermined period). An example of the uplink BF procedure will be described later.

[0049] The User Info generation unit 102 converts the scheduling information input from the scheduling unit 101 into bit information based on the format of the User Info field. The format of the User Info field is uniquely determined, for example, based on some of the information in the terminal common information (e.g., Common Info field or Special User Info field). For example, the User Info generation unit 102 uniquely determines (sets) the format of the User Info field based on the RU type (DRU or RRU) (e.g., DRU indication subfield) and information indicating whether or not uplink BF is applied (e.g., Beamformed subfield) from the terminal common information. An example of the format of the User Info field will be described later. In addition, if the User Info generation unit 102 instructs terminal 200 to send a TB PPDU, for example, it includes the AID, which is the identification number assigned to terminal 200, in the AID 12 subfield of the User Info subfield. The User Info generation unit 102 then generates a User Info field containing the converted bit information and outputs it to the Trigger frame generation unit 104.

[0050] The Common Info generation unit 103 converts the scheduling information input from the scheduling unit 101 into bit information based on the format of the Common Info field and the Special User Info field. The format of the Common Info field and the Special User Info field may be, for example, a format for versions UHR and later, and may include information indicating the RU type (DRU indication subfield) and information on whether or not uplink BF is applied (Beamformed subfield), as shown in Figure 8. The Common Info generation unit 103 generates the Common Info field and the Special User Info field containing the converted bit information and outputs them to the Trigger frame generation unit 104.

[0051] The Trigger frame generation unit 104 combines the Common Info field and Special User Info field input from the Common Info generation unit 103 with the User Info List, which consists of User Info fields for multiple terminals 200 input from the User Info generation unit 102, to generate a Trigger frame. In addition to the Common Info field, Special User Info field, and User Info List, the generated Trigger frame may also include other fields, such as the MAC header (a general term for the Frame Control field to TA field shown in Figure 1), Padding field, and FCS (frame check sequence) field. The Trigger frame generation unit 104 outputs the generated Trigger frame to the error correction encoding unit 105.

[0052] The error correction coding unit 105 receives the transmission data signal including the trigger frame input from the trigger frame generation unit 104, performs error correction coding on the input signal, and outputs the coded signal to the modulation unit 106.

[0053] The modulation unit 106 performs modulation processing on the signal input from the error correction coding unit 105 and outputs the modulated data signal to the wireless transmission / reception unit 107.

[0054] Furthermore, if the modulated data signal is an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signal, AP 100 may perform OFDM-related transmission signal processing. For example, AP 100 (e.g., modulation unit 106) may map the modulated signal to a predetermined frequency resource, perform an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to convert it into a time waveform, and add a cyclic prefix (CP) to form an OFDM signal.

[0055] The wireless transceiver 107 performs predetermined wireless transmission processing, such as D / A (digital-to-analog) conversion and upconversion to the carrier frequency, on the modulated signal input from the modulation unit 106, and transmits the processed signal to the terminal 200 via the antenna. The wireless transceiver 107 also receives the signal transmitted from the terminal 200 via the antenna, performs predetermined wireless reception processing, such as downconversion to baseband and A / D (analog-to-digital) conversion, on the received signal, and outputs the processed signal to the OFDM demodulation unit 108.

[0056] The OFDM demodulation unit 108 performs demodulation processing on the signal input from the wireless transceiver unit 107, and then performs OFDM-related received signal processing on the resulting received signal (TB PPDU from the terminal 200). For example, the OFDM demodulation unit 108 performs CP rejection processing and Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) processing, and outputs the processed signal to the Tone demapping unit 109.

[0057] The Tone demapping unit 109 acquires the received signal at a predetermined tone position from the received signal input from the OFDM demodulation unit 108 based on the frequency resource information for RRU or DRU input from the scheduling unit 101, and outputs it to the demodulation unit 110. For example, if DRU is applied to the received signal, the Tone demapping unit 109 acquires the received signal at discrete tone positions.

[0058] The demodulation unit 110 performs the corresponding demodulation process on the received signal input from the Tone demapping unit 109 based on the modulation scheme information (QPSK, 16QAM, etc.) of the receiving terminal input from the scheduling unit 101, and outputs the result of the demodulation process to the error correction decoding unit 111. For example, when UEQM is applied to the received signal, the demodulation unit 110 performs the demodulation process considering the modulation scheme for each SS.

[0059] The error correction and decoding unit 111 performs error correction and decoding on the received signal input from the demodulation unit 110 based on information (for example, MCS) input from the scheduling unit 101, and outputs the decoded signal as a received data signal.

[0060] [Example of Terminal 200 Configuration] Figure 9 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of terminal 200.

[0061] The terminal 200 shown in Figure 9 may include, for example, a wireless transceiver 201, a demodulation unit 202, an error correction decoding unit 203, a Common Info decoding unit 204, a User Info decoding unit 205, an error correction coding unit 206, a modulation unit 207, an uplink BF application unit 208, a Tone mapping unit 209, and an OFDM modulation unit 210.

[0062] Furthermore, at least one of the demodulation unit 202, error correction decoding unit 203, Common Info decoding unit 204, User Info decoding unit 205, error correction coding unit 206, modulation unit 207, uplink BF application unit 208, Tone mapping unit 209, and OFDM modulation unit 210 shown in Figure 9 may be included in the control unit shown in Figure 6, and the wireless transmission / reception unit 201 shown in Figure 9 may be included in the communication unit shown in Figure 6.

[0063] In Figure 9, the wireless transceiver 201 receives a signal via the antenna, performs wireless reception processing such as down-conversion and A / D conversion on the received signal, and outputs the resulting received signal to the demodulation unit 202. The wireless transceiver 201 also performs wireless transmission processing such as up-conversion and D / A conversion on the input signal from the OFDM modulation unit 210, and transmits the signal after wireless transmission processing from the antenna.

[0064] The demodulation unit 202 performs demodulation processing on the received signal (received data) input from the wireless transceiver unit 201 and outputs the demodulated signal to the error correction decoding unit 203.

[0065] Furthermore, if the input signal is an OFDM signal, terminal 200 may perform received signal processing related to OFDM. For example, terminal 200 (e.g., demodulation unit 202) may perform CP removal processing and FFT processing.

[0066] The error correction decoding unit 203 decodes the demodulated signal input from the demodulation unit 202 and outputs the decoded signal as a received data signal. The error correction decoding unit 203 also outputs the Common Info field and Special User Info field, which contain terminal common information of the Trigger frame, from the received data signal to the Common Info decoding unit 204, and outputs the User Info List (one or more User Info fields), which contains terminal-specific information, to the User Info decoding unit 205.

[0067] The Common Info decoding unit 204 decodes the terminal common information contained in the Common Info field and Special User Info field input from the error correction decoding unit 203 and outputs the terminal common information to the User Info decoding unit 205. For example, the Common Info decoding unit 204 outputs the RU type (e.g., DRU indication subfield) and information on whether or not uplink BF is applied (e.g., Beamformed subfield) to the User Info decoding unit 205.

[0068] The User Info decoding unit 205 obtains the AID 12 subfield of the User Info field input from the error correction decoding unit 203. If the obtained AID matches the AID of the terminal 200 previously assigned by AP 100, the unit recognizes that the User Info field is a control signal for terminal 200 and decodes the User Info field including the AID 12 subfield.

[0069] In the decryption process of the User Info subfield, the User Info decryption unit 205 determines the format of the User Info field based on some of the terminal common information input from the Common Info decryption unit 204, and decrypts the User Info field. For example, the User Info decryption unit 205 identifies the format of the User Info field based on the RU type (DRU or RRU) and whether or not uplink BF is applied.

[0070] The User Info decoding unit 205 decodes the User Info field and obtains scheduling information for TB PPDU transmission (e.g., frequency resource information, whether or not uplink BF is applied, number of SS per terminal, UEQM information, whether or not uplink MU-MIMO is applied, MCS, etc.), and outputs it to the error correction coding unit 206, modulation unit 207, uplink BF application unit 208, and tone mapping unit 209.

[0071] The error correction coding unit 206, based on the scheduling information for TB PPDU transmission input from the User Info decoding unit 205 (for example, the number of SSs per terminal 200, MCS, etc.), error-corrects and encodes the transmission signals corresponding to the number of SSs at a predetermined coding rate and outputs them to the modulation unit 207.

[0072] The modulation unit 207 modulates the signal encoded in the error correction coding unit 206 using a predetermined modulation scheme based on scheduling information for TB PPDU transmission input from the User Info decoding unit 205 (e.g., the number of SSs per terminal 200, UEQM information, MCS, etc.), and outputs the processed signal to the uplink BF application unit 208. For example, when applying UEQM, the modulation unit 207 applies a modulation scheme corresponding to the SS number to the transmission signal for each SS based on UEQM information (e.g., UEQM pattern information).

[0073] The uplink BF application unit 208 multiplies the modulated transmission signal for each SS by a beamforming steering matrix (applying uplink BF) based on the scheduling information for TB PPDU transmission input from the User Info decoding unit 205 (for example, whether or not uplink BF is applied), calculates the number of transmission signals equal to the number of transmitting antennas, and outputs it to the Tone mapping unit 209.

[0074] The Tone mapping unit 209 places the modulated signal input from the modulation unit 207 at predetermined tone positions based on scheduling information for TB PPDU transmission (e.g., frequency resource information) input from the User Info decoding unit 205, and outputs it to the OFDM modulation unit 210. For example, when DRU is applied, the Tone mapping unit 209 places the transmitted signal at predetermined discrete tone positions.

[0075] The OFDM modulation unit 210 performs IFFT processing on the modulation signal after mapping from the tone mapping unit 209 and adds CP to form an OFDM signal, which is then output to the wireless transceiver unit 201.

[0076] The above describes an example configuration of AP100 and terminal 200.

[0077] [Examples of operation of AP100 and terminal 200] Next, we will explain examples of operation of AP100 and terminal 200.

[0078] [Example of User Info field format] This section describes an example of the format of the User Info subfield, which AP100 generates and transmits, and terminal 200 receives and decodes.

[0079] The format of the User Info field may be uniquely determined, for example, based on some of the information in the terminal common information (e.g., Common Info field and Special User Info field).

[0080] <Method 1> In Method 1, AP 100 and terminal 200 determine (or change) the size of the UEQM information contained in the User Info field (e.g., presence or absence of a subfield or the number of bits in the subfield) based on information regarding the RU type (uplink resource allocation method) (e.g., DRU indication subfield) and information regarding the application of uplink BF (e.g., Beamformed subfield).

[0081] For example, as shown in Figure 10, the format of the User Info field may be uniquely determined according to the terminal common information, namely the RU type (DRU or RRU; for example, the value of the DRU indication subfield) and whether or not uplink BF is applied (Beamformed=0 or 1; for example, the value of the Beamformed subfield).

[0082] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 10, the format of the User Info field, which is uniquely set (or changed) based on the RU type and whether or not uplink BF is applied, which are common terminal information, may be the format of a part of the User Info field (the SS Allocation subfield in Figure 10).

[0083] Figure 10A) shows an example of the User Info field format when the RU type is RRU and there is no upstream BF (Beamformed=0).

[0084] In Figure 10A), the SS Allocation subfield (5 bits) enclosed in a thick border consists of a Starting Spatial Stream subfield (e.g., 3 bits) indicating the SS start number (e.g., the SS start number used by terminal 200) and a Number Of Spatial Streams subfield (e.g., 2 bits) indicating the number of SSs per terminal. This allows for a maximum of 8 MU multiplexing counts for uplink MU-MIMO and notification of a maximum of 4 SSs per terminal.

[0085] As shown in Figure 10A), when RRU is applied and there is no uplink BF (when the Beamformed subfield indicates that uplink BF is not applied), the User Info field is formatted to not include information related to UEQM (no notification of information related to UEQM). In this case, terminal 200 generates the TB PPDU using Equal modulation (EQM) (for example, a modulation method that uses a common (identical) modulation scheme for all SSs). In this way, by not applying UEQM when there is no uplink BF, AP 100 does not need to notify information related to UEQM, and thus the increase in the signaling amount of the trigger frame can be suppressed.

[0086] Furthermore, in the absence of uplink BF, the quality difference between signal streams (SS) tends to be smaller, so even if UEQM, which changes the modulation method according to the quality difference between SS, is not applied, the impact on performance is considered to be small.

[0087] Figure 10B) shows an example of the format of the User Info field when the RU type is RRU and there is an upstream BF (Beamformed=1).

[0088] In Figure 10B), the SS Allocation subfield (5 bits) enclosed in a thick border consists of a "UEQM flag subfield" (e.g., 1 bit) indicating whether or not UEQM is applied, a "UEQM pattern subfield" (e.g., 2 bits) indicating the modulation scheme pattern for each SS of UEQM, and a "Number of Spatial Streams subfield" (e.g., 2 bits) indicating the number of SSs per terminal. This makes it possible to notify whether or not UEQM is applied, and the application pattern of the modulation scheme for each SS up to a maximum of 4 SSs when UEQM is applied, and to notify up to a maximum of 4 SSs per terminal.

[0089] As shown in Figure 10B), when RRU is applied and upstream BF is present (when the Beamformed subfield indicates the application of upstream BF), the format of the User Info field, which includes information related to UEQM, is set. Here, when upstream BF is present, the quality difference between SSs tends to be large, so upstream throughput can be improved by applying UEQM according to the quality difference between SSs. Also, in Figure 10B), by not notifying the Starting Spatial Stream subfield, which indicates the SS start number, the increase in the amount of signaling for trigger frames can be suppressed.

[0090] In the case of Figure 10B), the Starting Spatial Stream subfield is not notified, and uplink MU-MIMO is not applied. When UEQM is applied, the number of SSs will be 2 or more per terminal. For example, if uplink MU-MIMO with an even larger number of SSs is applied in addition to UEQM, the implementation becomes more complex, while the performance improvement effect of uplink MU-MIMO is considered to be small. Therefore, even if uplink MU-MIMO is not applied in the case of Figure 10B), the impact on performance is considered to be small.

[0091] Figure 10C) shows an example of the format of the User Info field when the RU type is DRU and there is no upstream BF (Beamformed=0).

[0092] In Figure 10C), the SS Allocation subfield (5 bits) enclosed in a thick border consists of a "DBW pattern subfield" (e.g., 2 bits) indicating the position relative to the DRU's distributed bandwidth, a Reserved subfield (e.g., 2 bits) for future expansion, and a Number of Spatial Streams subfield (e.g., 1 bit) indicating the number of SSs per terminal. This enables notification of the DRU's distributed bandwidth and location, and allows notification of up to 2 SSs per terminal.

[0093] As shown in Figure 10C), when DRU is applied and there is no uplink BF (when the Beamformed subfield indicates that uplink BF is not applied), the User Info field is formatted to not include information related to UEQM. In Figure 10C), similar to Figure 10A), by not applying UEQM when there is no uplink BF, AP100 does not need to notify information related to UEQM, thus suppressing the increase in the amount of signaling in the trigger frame. Also, in the case of Figure 10C), by notifying (or applying) DRU, the transmit power can be increased while meeting the specified value for transmit power density, thereby improving uplink throughput.

[0094] Furthermore, DRU is primarily intended for use in areas where the distance between AP100 and terminal 200 is relatively large (e.g., cell boundaries) or in areas with low reception quality, where the transmitted power is near the specified value of the transmitted power density. For this reason, when DRU is applied, disabling uplink MU-MIMO, which can cause inter-terminal interference, and setting the number of SSs per terminal to a maximum of 2 (e.g., limiting it) is expected to have little impact on performance.

[0095] Figure 10D) shows an example of the format of the User Info field when the RU type is DRU and there is upstream BF (Beamformed=1).

[0096] In Figure 10D), the SS Allocation subfield (5 bits) enclosed in a thick border consists of a DBW pattern subfield (e.g., 2 bits) indicating the distributed bandwidth and location of the DRU, a UEQM flag subfield (e.g., 1 bit) indicating whether or not UEQM is applied, a UEQM pattern subfield (e.g., 1 bit) indicating the modulation scheme pattern for each SS of UEQM, and a Number Of Spatial Streams subfield (e.g., 1 bit) indicating the number of SSs per terminal. This makes it possible to notify the distributed bandwidth and location of the DRU, whether or not UEQM is applied, and the modulation scheme for each SS when UEQM is applied, and it is possible to notify up to 2 SSs per terminal.

[0097] As mentioned above, in 11be, it is being considered that the maximum number of SSs will be set to 2 when DRU is instructed (notified). Therefore, as shown in Figure 10D), when DRU application is instructed, the maximum number of SSs per terminal supported in UEQM may be set based on the maximum number of SSs per terminal supported when DRU is applied (e.g., 2). For example, by setting (e.g. limiting) the notification to a maximum of 2 SSs per terminal, the UEQM pattern subfield can be reduced to 1 bit. For example, two patterns may be set for the modulation levels of SS number 1 and SS number 2: one with M and M-1, and the other with M and M-2, and one of the two patterns may be notified by the UEQM pattern subfield.

[0098] Furthermore, for example, when uplink BF is present, the quality difference between service stations (SSs) tends to be large. Therefore, applying a UEQM (Universal Quality Measurement) that corresponds to the quality difference between SSs can improve uplink throughput. In addition, by notifying (or applying) a DRU (Distributed Unit of Transmission), it is possible to increase transmit power while meeting the specified value for transmit power density, thus further improvement in uplink throughput can be expected.

[0099] Furthermore, in Figure 10D), similar to Figure 10C), it is considered that disabling uplink MU-MIMO and setting the number of SS per terminal to a maximum of 2 (for example, limiting it) will have little impact on performance.

[0100] The above explains an example format for the User Info field.

[0101] As described above, in this embodiment, AP 100 and terminal 200 set the format of the User Info field in the Trigger frame based on the RU type information included in the terminal common information and the information on whether or not uplink BF is applied. For example, the format of the User Info subfield (e.g., notification size of UEQM-related information) is dynamically changed depending on the RU type (DRU or RRU) and whether or not uplink BF is applied (Beamformed=0 or 1).

[0102] This allows the AP 100 to instruct the terminal 200 to apply the RU type (RRU / DRU) and UEQM to the TB PPDU (e.g., UHR TB PPDU) via a trigger frame, while maintaining a bit size equivalent to 11be. Therefore, according to this embodiment, the efficiency of transmission control in wireless communication can be improved.

[0103] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 10, the format of some bit areas within the terminal-specific information (User Info field) (for example, within the SS allocation subfield) is changed depending on the RU type and whether or not uplink BF is applied, while the format of other areas remains unchanged, thus simplifying implementation.

[0104] (Variation of Embodiment 1) In the format of the User Info field shown in Figure 10B), where the RU type is RRU and there is an upstream BF, the Starting Spatial Stream subfield indicating the SS start number is not notified, and therefore upstream MU-MIMO is not applied.

[0105] This variation describes an example format for the User Info field where upstream MU-MIMO can be applied even when the RU type is RRU and upstream BF is present.

[0106] For example, as shown in Figure 11, if the RU type is RRU and uplink BF is enabled, a UEQM flag subfield (e.g., 1 bit) indicating whether or not UEQM is applied is defined at the bit position of the SS Allocation subfield (5 bits) enclosed in a thick border. Terminal 200 may determine the format of the User Info field according to the value of the UEQM flag subfield, which is terminal-specific information, in addition to the RU type (DRU indication subfield) and whether or not uplink BF is applied (Beamformed subfield), which are terminal-common information.

[0107] For example, if the RU type is RRU, uplink BF is enabled (Beamformed=1), and the value of the UEQM flag subfield is 0 (UEQM is not applied, and EQM is applied), the format of the User Info field shown in B2) of Figure 11 may be set. As shown in B2) of Figure 11, in the SS Allocation subfield, the remaining 4 bits other than the 1 bit in which the UEQM flag subfield is defined may consist of a Starting Spatial Stream subfield (e.g., 2 bits) indicating the SS start number and a Number Of Spatial Streams subfield (e.g., 2 bits) indicating the number of SSs per terminal. The format shown in B2) of Figure 11 is the format of the User Info field including the SS start number (information about the SS used by each terminal 200). As a result, even with uplink BF enabled, when EQM is applied, the number of MU multiplexing for uplink MU-MIMO can be supported up to a maximum of 4, and the number of SSs per terminal can be notified up to a maximum of 4.

[0108] Furthermore, for example, if the RU type is RRU, uplink BF is enabled (Beamformed=1), and the value of the UEQM flag subfield is 1 (when UEQM is applied), the format of the User Info field shown in B1) of Figure 11 may be set. The format shown in B1) of Figure 11 is the same as the format shown in B) of Figure 10, and is a User Info field format that does not include the SS start number (information about the SS used by each terminal 200). As mentioned above, UEQM and uplink MU-MIMO cannot be applied simultaneously, but the impact on performance is considered to be small.

[0109] Furthermore, if the RU type is RRU, uplink BF is enabled (Beamformed=1), and the value of the UEQM flag subfield is 0 (when EQM is applied), the format of the User Info field shown in B2') of Figure 12 may be set. As shown in B2') of Figure 12, in the SS Allocation subfield, the remaining 4 bits other than the 1 bit in which the UEQM flag subfield is defined may consist of a Starting Spatial Stream subfield (e.g., 3 bits) indicating the SS start number and a Number Of Spatial Streams subfield (e.g., 1 bit) indicating the number of SSs per terminal. This allows for a maximum of 8 MU multiplexing counts for uplink MU-MIMO to be supported, and a maximum of 2 SSs per terminal to be notified, even when uplink BF is enabled.

[0110] For example, if there are many terminals 200 connected to AP 100 that have 2 or fewer antennas (2 or fewer SSs per terminal), setting the format shown in B2') in Figure 12) rather than the format shown in B2) in Figure 11) makes it easier to apply SS multiplexing by uplink MU-MIMO, and performance improvements can be expected.

[0111] Thus, in this variation, by using the User Info field format shown in Figures 11 and 12, upstream MU-MIMO can be applied even with upstream BF enabled, thereby improving upstream throughput.

[0112] (Embodiment 2) This embodiment describes an example of a trigger frame that can notify DRU and UEQM while maintaining a bit size equivalent to existing standards (e.g., 11be). For example, a method for setting (or determining, changing, or specifying) the format of the User Info field, which is terminal-specific information, according to terminal-common information such as DRU-related information (e.g., DRU indication subfield) and information on whether or not uplink MU-MIMO is applied (e.g., referred to as the "UL MU-MIMO flag subfield").

[0113] [Example of AP100 Configuration] The configuration of AP100 according to this embodiment may be the same as the configuration of AP100 according to Embodiment 1 (for example, Figure 7). In this embodiment, the operation of the User Info generation unit 102 and the Common Info generation unit 103 differs from that of Embodiment 1.

[0114] The User Info generation unit 102 converts the scheduling information input from the scheduling unit 101 into predetermined bit information based on the format of the User Info field. For example, the User Info generation unit 102 uniquely determines (sets) the format of the User Info field based on the RU type (DRU or RRU) (e.g., DRU indication subfield) and information indicating whether or not uplink MU-MIMO is applied (e.g., UL MU-MIMO flag subfield) from the terminal common information. Other operations of the User Info generation unit 102 may be the same as in Embodiment 1. An example of the format of the User Info field will be described later.

[0115] The Common Info generation unit 103 converts the scheduling information input from the scheduling unit 101 into bit information based on the format of the Common Info field and the Special User Info field. The format of the Common Info field and the Special User Info field may be, for example, a format for versions UHR and later, and may include information indicating the RU type (DRU indication subfield) and information on whether or not uplink MU-MIMO is applied (referred to as the UL MU-MIMO flag subfield), as shown in Figure 13. Other operations of the Common Info generation unit 103 may be the same as in Embodiment 1.

[0116] Here, information regarding the application of uplink MU-MIMO (e.g., the UL MU-MIMO flag subfield) indicates whether or not uplink MU-MIMO is applied to the uplink signal (e.g., TB PPDU) transmitted by terminal 200. For example, the UL MU-MIMO flag subfield, like the DRU indication subfield, may be included in the Common Info field or Special User Info field as information for each bandwidth (e.g., 80 MHz) within the TB PPDU transmission bandwidth. For example, as shown in Figure 13, if a version later than UHR (e.g., PHY Version = UHR) is indicated in the PHY Version Identifier subfield, the UL MU-MIMO flag subfield may be included in the Special User Info field. For example, in the Special User Info field, at least one bit from the bits unused in EHT and the bits used as other subfields may be used as the UL MU-MIMO flag subfield. For example, as shown in Figure 13, in the Special User Info field, unused bits in the EHT (Reserved subfield in Figure 3) and some bits that were used as other subfields (one bit in the U-SIG Disregard And Validate subfield in Figure 3) may be used as the UL MU-MIMO flag subfield.

[0117] Note that the UL MU-MIMO flag subfield is not limited to being included in the Special User Info field, but may also be included in other fields (e.g., the Common Info field or the User Info field). For example, if the UL MU-MIMO flag subfield is included in the User Info field, the EHT may use an unused bit (Reserved in Figure 4) as the UL MU-MIMO flag subfield. Alternatively, for example, some subfields of the User Info field for EHT shown in Figure 4 may be reused to notify the UL MU-MIMO flag subfield. For example, the UL Target Receive Power subfield (7 bits) in the User Info field shown in Figure 4 may be reduced to 6 bits, and the remaining 1 bit may be used for the UL MU-MIMO flag subfield.

[0118] [Example of Terminal 200 Configuration] The configuration of terminal 200 according to this embodiment may be the same as the configuration of terminal 200 according to Embodiment 1 (for example, Figure 9). In this embodiment, the operation of the Common Info decoding unit 204 and the User Info decoding unit 205 differs from that of Embodiment 1.

[0119] The Common Info decoding unit 204 decodes the terminal common information contained in the Common Info field and Special User Info field input from the error correction decoding unit 203 and outputs the terminal common information to the User Info decoding unit 205. For example, the Common Info decoding unit 204 outputs the RU type (e.g., DRU indication subfield) and information on whether or not uplink MU-MIMO is applied (e.g., UL MU-MIMO flag subfield) to the User Info decoding unit 205. Other processing of the Common Info decoding unit 204 is the same as in Embodiment 1.

[0120] The User Info decoding unit 205 determines the format of the User Info field based on some of the terminal common information input from the Common Info decoding unit 204, and decodes the User Info field. For example, the User Info decoding unit 205 determines (specifies) the format of the User Info field based on the RU type (DRU or RRU) and whether or not uplink MU-MIMO is applied. Other processing of the User Info decoding unit 205 is the same as in Embodiment 1. An example of the User Info field format will be described later.

[0121] [Examples of operation of AP100 and terminal 200] Next, we will explain examples of operation of AP100 and terminal 200.

[0122] [Example of User Info field format] This section describes an example of the format of the User Info subfield, which AP100 generates and transmits, and terminal 200 receives and decodes.

[0123] The format of the User Info field may be uniquely determined, for example, based on some of the information in the terminal common information (e.g., Common Info field and Special User Info field).

[0124] <Method 2> In Method 2, AP 100 and terminal 200 determine (or change) the size of the UEQM information included in the User Info field (e.g., presence or absence of a subfield or the number of bits in the subfield) based on information regarding the RU type (uplink resource allocation method) (e.g., DRU indication subfield) and information regarding the application of uplink MU-MIMO (e.g., UL MU-MIMO flag subfield).

[0125] For example, as shown in Figure 14, the format of the User Info field may be uniquely determined according to the terminal common information, namely the RU type (DRU or RRU; for example, the value of the DRU indication subfield) and whether or not uplink MU-MIMO is applied (MU-MIMO flag=0 or 1; for example, the value of the UL MU-MIMO flag subfield).

[0126] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 14, the format of the User Info field, which is uniquely set (or changed) based on the RU type and whether or not uplink MU-MIMO is applied, which are common terminal information, can be the format of a part of the User Info field (the SS Allocation subfield in Figure 14).

[0127] Figure 14A) shows an example of the format of the User Info field when the RU type is RRU and upstream MU-MIMO is enabled (MU-MIMO flag=1).

[0128] The format of the User Info field (e.g., SS Allocation subfield) shown in Figure 14A) is the same as the format in Figure 10A). This allows for a maximum of 8 MU multiplexing counts for uplink MU-MIMO and enables notification of up to 4 SS counts per terminal.

[0129] As shown in Figure 14A), when RRU is applied and uplink MU-MIMO is enabled (when the UL MU-MIMO flag subfield indicates the application of uplink MU-MIMO), the User Info field is formatted to not include information related to UEQM (no notification of information related to UEQM). In this way, when uplink MU-MIMO is enabled, by not applying UEQM, AP100 does not need to notify information related to UEQM, thus suppressing the increase in signaling volume. Also, when uplink MU-MIMO is enabled, since SS is allocated to multiple terminals 200, the number of SS per terminal tends to be small, so even if UEQM, which uses 2 or more SS per terminal, is not applied, the impact on performance is considered to be small.

[0130] Figure 14B) shows an example of the format of the User Info field when the RU type is RRU and there is no upstream MU-MIMO (MU-MIMO flag=0).

[0131] The format of the User Info field (e.g., SS Allocation subfield) shown in Figure 14B) is the same as the format in Figure 10B). As shown in Figure 14B), when RRU is applied and uplink MU-MIMO is not applied (when the UL MU-MIMO flag subfield indicates that uplink MU-MIMO is not applied), the format of the User Info field containing information related to UEQM is set. This makes it possible to notify whether UEQM is applied and the application pattern of the modulation scheme for each SS up to a maximum of SS=4 when UEQM is applied, and the number of SSs per terminal can be notified up to a maximum of 4.

[0132] Figure 14C) shows an example of the User Info field format when the RU type is DRU. Note that when DRU is applied, uplink MU-MIMO is not applied regardless of the value of the UL MU-MIMO flag subfield. The format of the User Info field shown in Figure 14C) (for example, the SS Allocation subfield) is the same as the format in Figure 10D). This makes it possible to notify the distributed bandwidth and location of the DRU, whether or not UEQM is applied, and the modulation scheme for each SS when UEQM is applied, and it is possible to notify up to 2 SSs per terminal.

[0133] The above explains an example format for the User Info field.

[0134] As described above, in this embodiment, AP 100 and terminal 200 set the format of the User Info field in the Trigger frame based on the RU type information included in the terminal common information and the information on whether or not uplink MU-MIMO is applied. For example, the format of the User Info subfield (e.g., notification size of UEQM-related information) is dynamically changed according to the RU type (DRU or RRU) and whether or not uplink MU-MIMO is applied (UL MU-MIMO flag=0 or 1), which are terminal common information.

[0135] This allows the AP 100 to instruct the terminal 200 to apply the RU type (RRU / DRU) and UEQM to the TB PPDU (e.g., UHR TB PPDU) via a trigger frame, while maintaining a bit size equivalent to 11be. Therefore, according to this embodiment, the efficiency of transmission control in wireless communication can be improved.

[0136] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 14, depending on the RU type and whether or not uplink MU-MIMO is applied, the format is changed in some bit areas within the terminal-specific information (User Info field) (for example, within the SS allocation subfield), while the format of other areas remains unchanged, thus simplifying implementation.

[0137] In this embodiment, the application of uplink BF is not explicitly notified. For example, terminal 200 may individually determine whether or not uplink BF is applied. For example, terminal 200 may apply uplink BF if it is notified of the beamforming steering matrix from AP 100 in advance (for example, immediately before receiving a trigger frame or within a predetermined time), and decide not to apply uplink BF if it is not notified of the beamforming steering matrix.

[0138] Furthermore, for example, a common terminal information or a part of the terminal-specific information may be associated with whether or not uplink BF is applied. For example, if UEQM is applied (for example, if the value of the UEQM flag subfield is 1), uplink BF may be applied, and if UEQM is not applied (for example, if the value of the UEQM flag subfield is 0), uplink BF may not be applied.

[0139] (Variation of Embodiment 2) In this variation, AP 100 may explicitly notify terminal 200 whether or not uplink BF is applied.

[0140] For example, as shown in Figure 15, a User Info field format may be applied that includes a Beamformed subfield in the terminal-specific information (User Info field) indicating whether or not uplink BF is applied.

[0141] In the example format of the User Info field shown in Figure 15, the number of bits used to notify the uplink target received power is reduced by increasing the control unit (e.g., granularity) of the uplink target received power notified in the UL Target Receive Power subfield, and the reduced number of bits is used to notify the Beamformed flag. For example, if the control unit of the uplink target received power is changed from 1 dB to 2 dB, the size of the UL Target Receive Power subfield can be reduced from 7 bits to 6 bits. Then, as shown in Figure 15, the remaining 1 bit can be used to notify the Beamformed flag for individual terminals.

[0142] For example, Figure 15A) shows an example of the User Info field format when the RU type is RRU and uplink MU-MIMO is enabled. This makes it possible to apply uplink BF when uplink MU-MIMO is enabled.

[0143] Furthermore, Figure 15B) shows an example of the User Info field format when the RU type is RRU and there is no upstream MU-MIMO. This makes it possible to apply upstream BF when UEQM is applied.

[0144] Furthermore, Figure 15C) shows an example of the User Info field format when the RU type is DRU. This enables the application of upstream BF when DRU and UEQM are applied.

[0145] Thus, the size of the UL Target Receive Power subfield (information regarding the target received power of the uplink signal) included in the User Info field, which is terminal-specific information, may be changed. For example, even when applying uplink MU-MIMO, UEQM, or DRU, uplink BF can be applied to terminal 200.

[0146] Furthermore, by explicitly notifying whether or not uplink BF is applied, the AP 100 and terminal 200 can synchronize their understanding of whether or not uplink BF is applied, improving the accuracy of MCS selection based on the reception quality estimate by AP 100, thereby improving uplink throughput.

[0147] The embodiments of this disclosure have been described above.

[0148] In the above embodiment, an example was described in which the Beamformed subfield and the UL MU-MIMO subfield are 4-bitmap information with 1 bit per 80 MHz, but the embodiment is not limited to this. For example, at least one of the Beamformed subfield and the UL MU-MIMO subfield may be notified as 1 bit as common information within the transmission bandwidth.

[0149] Furthermore, while Embodiment 1 (not shown) and Embodiment 2 (for example, Figure 15) describe an example in which the number of bits in the UL Target Receive Power subfield is reduced by one bit and the reduced bit is used to notify the Beamformed flag, the invention is not limited to this. The amount of bits reduced in the UL Target Receive Power subfield may be two bits or more. Also, the reduced bits are not limited to notifying information on the application of uplink BF, but may be used to notify other information such as SS-related information or UEQM-related information. For example, AP 100 and terminal 200 may set the size (for example, one bit reduction or two or more reductions) of the UL Target Receive Power subfield (information on the target received power of the uplink signal) included in the User Info field, which is terminal-specific information, based on terminal common information (for example, RU type, information on whether or not uplink BF is applied, or information on whether or not uplink MU-MIMO is applied).

[0150] As an example, Figure 16 shows an example format of the User Info field when the RU type is RRU and uplink BF is enabled. In Figure 16, the control unit for uplink target received power is changed from 1dB to 3dB, and the number of bits in the UL Target Receive Power subfield is reduced from 7 bits to 5 bits. As shown in Figure 16, the remaining 2 bits are used to notify the SS start number (Starting Spatial Stream subfield). This allows AP100 to control whether or not UEQM, uplink BF, and uplink MU-MIMO are applied.

[0151] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the uplink BF procedure before sending the trigger frame may be, for example, the procedure shown in Figure 17 or Figure 18.

[0152] Figure 17 shows an example of an uplink BF procedure for a single terminal. In Figure 17, terminal 200 (Non-AP STA1 in Figure 17) sends a Null Data Packet Announcement (NDPA) signal, which indicates the transmission of a Null Data Packet (NDP) signal, and an NDP signal to AP 100 (AP in Figure 17). AP 100 obtains channel quality information (for example, also called CSI: Channel State Information) from the received NDP signal and calculates the Beamforming steering matrix (also called Precoder matrix) that terminal 200 should apply when uplinking. AP 100 then reports the calculated Beamforming steering matrix to terminal 200 using the Uplink Beamforming Compressed Beamforming Feedback (ULBF CBF) signal. Subsequently, AP 100 uses a trigger frame (e.g., Beamformed subfield) to notify terminal 200 whether or not uplink BF is applied to the TB PPDU transmitted by terminal 200 (e.g., Beamformed=0 or 1). If terminal 200 is instructed to apply uplink BF, it uses the Beamforming steering matrix that was notified immediately before (within a predetermined time).

[0153] Figure 18 shows an example of an uplink BF procedure for one or more terminals. In Figure 18, AP 100 (AP in Figure 18) sends a Trigger frame (NDP Trigger in Figure 18) to multiple terminals 200 (Non-AP STA1 to Non-AP STA3 in Figure 18) prompting them to perform NDP transmission to measure channel quality. Here, the NDP Trigger may include resource information (e.g., orthogonal code number, frequency resource, etc.) for orthogonal NDP between terminals 200. Each terminal 200 generates an NDP signal (TB Sounding NDP in Figure 18) and transmits it to AP 100. AP 100 obtains channel quality information from the NDP signals received from each terminal 200 and calculates the Beamforming steering matrix that the terminals 200 should apply when uplinking. For example, AP 100 may calculate a Beamforming steering matrix that reduces interference between terminals 200, assuming uplink MU-MIMO TB PPDU transmission. Alternatively, AP 100 may calculate a Beamforming steering matrix that maximizes reception quality for each terminal 200, assuming uplink SU-MIMO transmission of TB PPDU. Alternatively, AP 100 may calculate separate Beamforming steering matrices for uplink MU and uplink SU (hereinafter also referred to as uplink MU / SU). AP 100 then reports the calculated Beamforming steering matrix to terminal 200 using the ULBF CBF signal. Subsequently, AP 100 uses a Trigger frame (e.g., Beamformed subfield) to notify terminal 200 whether or not uplink BF is applied to the TB PPDU it transmits (e.g., Beamformed=0 or 1). If terminal 200 is instructed to apply uplink BF, it uses the Beamforming steering matrix that was notified immediately before (within a predetermined time).

[0154] In the procedure assuming uplink MU-MIMO as shown in Figure 18, the ULBF CBF signal may also include the SS start number (Starting Spatial Stream) in addition to the Beamforming steering matrix, which may be communicated to terminal 200. In this case, AP 100 schedules uplink MU-MIMO among multiple terminals 200 that simultaneously transmit Sounding NDP.

[0155] As a result, for example, in the User Info field format shown in Figure 10B) where the RU type is RRU and there is an uplink BF, each terminal 200 can apply uplink MU-MIMO by using the SS start number that was notified in advance (or immediately before, within a predetermined time).

[0156] Furthermore, the format of the terminal-specific information (User Info field) may be set (changed) depending on whether or not the SS start number is notified in advance. For example, if the SS start number is notified in advance, UEQM and uplink MU-MIMO can be applied by setting the format shown in Figure 10B) as described above. If the SS start number is not notified in advance, for example, by setting the format shown in Figure 11, uplink MU-MIMO can be applied when UEQM is not applied (UEQM flag=0), and uplink MU-MIMO may not be applied when UEQM is applied (UEQM flag=1).

[0157] Furthermore, as described above, when notifying the Beamforming steering matrix for uplink MU / SU using the ULBF CBF signal in the procedure shown in Figure 18, for example, as shown in Figure 19, information indicating whether the Beamforming steering matrix applied to the TB PPDU is for MU or SU (for example, called the "BF matrix type" subfield) may be added to the format of the terminal-specific information (User Info field) when uplink BF is present (Beamformed=1). For example, as shown in Figure 18, the UL Target Receive Power subfield may be reduced from 7 bits to 6 bits, and the reduced 1 bit may be used as the BF matrix type subfield. Note that the area (bits) used for the BF matrix type subfield is not limited to the example shown in Figure 19, and other areas may also be used.

[0158] Furthermore, the format of the terminal-specific information (User Info field) may be set (or changed) depending on whether the Beamforming steering matrix to be used for uplink BF has been notified to terminal 200 in advance, and the information of the RU type. For example, if the Beamforming steering matrix has been notified to terminal 200 in advance by the ULBF CBF signal, terminal 200 may apply uplink BF to TB PPDU. In this case, the format of the terminal common information (Common Info field or Special User Info field) may be a format (not shown) that does not have a Beamformed subfield indicating the presence or absence of uplink BF, as shown in Figure 8. Also, the format of the terminal-specific information (User Info field) may be the format shown in Figure 10. On the other hand, for example, if the Beamforming steering matrix has not been notified to terminal 200 in advance by the ULBF CBF signal, and RRU or DRU is indicated, terminal 200 may use the format of Figure 10A) or Figure 10C). Furthermore, if a beamforming steering matrix is ​​provided in advance and an RRU or DRU is specified, terminal 200 may use the format shown in Figure 10B) or Figure 10D).

[0159] Furthermore, the format of the TB PPDU (UHR TB PPDU in the case of 11bn), which is the response signal when this embodiment is applied, may be the same as the format of the EHT TB PPDU. The Trigger frame described in the above embodiment notifies control information for the application of uplink BF or uplink MU-MIMO, but this control information does not need to be added to the UHR TB PPDU, which is its response signal. AP 100 can determine whether or not uplink BF or uplink MU-MIMO is applied to the UHR TB PPDU transmitted by terminal 200 by holding scheduling information to be included in the Trigger frame. For this reason, terminal 200 does not need to add control information for the application of uplink BF or uplink MU-MIMO as control information (e.g., U-SIG field) to the UHR TB PPDU.

[0160] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the SS Allocation subfield or the UL Target Receive Power subfield were described as some areas within the terminal-specific information (User Info field) whose format can be changed, but the embodiment is not limited to these. Some areas within the terminal-specific information (User Info field) may be other subfields.

[0161] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, we have described a case where the RU type (DRU indication subfield), information on whether or not uplink BF is applied (Beamformed subfield), and information on whether or not uplink MU-MIMO is applied (UL MU-MIMO flag subfield) are used as terminal common information that serves as the basis for setting the format of terminal-specific information (User Info field), but we are not limited to this. Other information may also be used as terminal common information that serves as the basis for setting the format of terminal-specific information.

[0162] Furthermore, in the above embodiments, the uplink signal is not limited to TB PPDU. For example, the above embodiments may be applied to PPDUs that are not responses to the trigger frame (such as UHR MU PPDU).

[0163] Furthermore, the above embodiment is not limited to the transmission and reception of uplink signals (e.g., uplink PPDU), but may also be applied to the transmission and reception of downlink signals (e.g., downlink PPDU).

[0164] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the control signal is not limited to a trigger frame, but may also be, for example, a MAC header (e.g., defining a new field) or a preamble.

[0165] Furthermore, in the embodiments described above, the field (or subfield) used for notifying control information is merely an example, and other fields or subfields may be used. Also, the number of bits used for notifying control information in each field or subfield is merely an example, and other numbers of bits may be used.

[0166] Furthermore, the signal format described in the above-described embodiment is merely an example, and other configurations may be used in which at least one of the following is performed: the addition of other fields or the deletion of some fields. In addition, other configurations may be used in which at least one of the following is performed: the addition of other subfields or the deletion of some subfields in each of the above-described fields.

[0167] Furthermore, in the embodiments described above, the values ​​of parameters such as the SS start number, the number of SSs per terminal, the number of MU multiplexers, and the bandwidth of the TB PPDU (e.g., 80 MHz) are examples only, and other values ​​may be used.

[0168] Furthermore, although the above embodiment describes application to a specific version of the IEEE 802.11 standard (e.g., 11bn), the above embodiment is not limited to application to a specific version of the IEEE 802.11 standard, but can be applied to various versions of the IEEE 802.11 standard. In addition, the above embodiment is not limited to application to the IEEE 802.11 standard, but may be applied to other communication standards or other communication technologies.

[0169] Furthermore, while the above embodiment describes, as an example, a case based on the format specified in IEEE 802.11, the format to which one embodiment of this disclosure is applied is not limited to the IEEE 802.11 format.

[0170] This disclosure can be implemented in software, hardware, or software in conjunction with hardware. Each functional block used in the description of the above embodiments may be implemented in part or in whole as an integrated circuit (LSI), and each process described in the above embodiments may be controlled in part or in whole by a single LSI or a combination of LSIs. An LSI may consist of individual chips, or it may consist of a single chip that includes some or all of the functional blocks. An LSI may have data inputs and outputs. Depending on the degree of integration, LSIs may be referred to as ICs, system LSIs, super LSIs, or ultra LSIs.

[0171] The integrated circuit implementation method is not limited to LSIs; it may also be implemented using dedicated circuits, general-purpose processors, or dedicated processors. Furthermore, a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) that can be programmed after LSI manufacturing, or a reconfigurable processor that allows for the reconfiguration of the connections and settings of circuit cells within the LSI, may also be used. This disclosure may be implemented as digital or analog processing.

[0172] Furthermore, if advancements in semiconductor technology or other derived technologies lead to the emergence of integrated circuit technologies that can replace LSIs, then naturally, it would be possible to use those technologies to integrate functional blocks. The application of biotechnology, for example, is a possibility.

[0173] This disclosure is applicable to all types of devices, systems, and equipment having communication capabilities (collectively referred to as communication equipment). Communication equipment may include a radio transceiver and a processing / control circuit. The radio transceiver may include a receiver and a transmitter, or both as functions. The radio transceiver (transmitter, receiver) may include an RF (Radio Frequency) module and one or more antennas. The RF module may include an amplifier, an RF modulator / demodulator, or similar. Non-exclusive examples of communication devices include telephones (mobile phones, smartphones, etc.), tablets, personal computers (PCs) (laptops, desktops, notebooks, etc.), cameras (digital still / video cameras, etc.), digital players (digital audio / video players, etc.), wearable devices (wearable cameras, smartwatches, tracking devices, etc.), game consoles, digital book readers, telehealth / telemedicine devices, vehicles or mobile transport with communication capabilities (cars, airplanes, ships, etc.), and combinations of the above-mentioned devices.

[0174] Communication devices are not limited to portable or movable devices, but also include all kinds of non-portable or fixed devices, devices, and systems, such as smart home devices (appliances, lighting fixtures, smart meters or measuring instruments, control panels, etc.), vending machines, and any other "things" that may exist on an IoT (Internet of Things) network.

[0175] Communication includes data communication via cellular systems, wireless LAN systems, and communication satellite systems, as well as data communication using combinations of these.

[0176] Furthermore, the communication device also includes devices such as controllers and sensors that are connected to or linked to a communication device that performs the communication functions described in this disclosure. For example, this includes controllers and sensors that generate control signals and data signals used by the communication device that performs the communication functions of the communication device.

[0177] Furthermore, communication equipment includes infrastructure facilities such as base stations, access points, and any other devices, devices, and systems that communicate with or control the aforementioned non-limited types of equipment.

[0178] A communication device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes a control circuit that sets the format of the individual information based on first information relating to an uplink resource allocation method and second information different from the first information, in a control signal that includes common information common to a plurality of terminals and individual information specific to each of the plurality of terminals, and a transmission circuit that transmits the control signal.

[0179] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the control circuit sets the size of the information relating to a modulation method that sets a modulation scheme individually for each of the multiple spatial streams included in the individual information, based on the first information and the second information.

[0180] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the second information is information relating to the application of beamforming to the uplink signal, or information relating to the application of MU-MIMO (Multi-User Multiple Input Multiple Output) to the uplink signal.

[0181] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, if the second information indicates that beamforming is not applicable, the control circuit sets the format of the individual information which does not include information about the modulation method.

[0182] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, if the second information indicates the application of MU-MIMO, the control circuit sets the format of the individual information which does not include information about the modulation method.

[0183] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the resource allocation method is either a first allocation method in which the frequency resources to which the uplink signal is allocated are discretely arranged, or a second allocation method in which the frequency resources to which the uplink signal is allocated are continuously arranged, and if the first information indicates the first allocation method, the control circuit sets the maximum number of the plurality of spatial streams supported in the modulation method based on the maximum number of spatial streams supported when the first allocation method is applied.

[0184] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the individual information includes third information regarding whether or not the modulation method is applied, and the control circuit sets the format of the individual information based on the first information, the second information and the third information.

[0185] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the control circuit sets a format for the individual information that does not include information about the spatial stream used by each of the plurality of terminals when the third information indicates that the modulation method is applied, and sets a format for the individual information that includes information about the spatial stream used by each of the plurality of terminals when the third information indicates that the modulation method is not applied.

[0186] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the control circuit modifies the format of a portion of the individual information based on the first information and the second information.

[0187] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the aforementioned region is a Spatial Stream (SS) Allocation subfield.

[0188] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the control circuit sets the size of the information relating to the target received power of the uplink signal included in the individual information, based on the first information and the second information.

[0189] A communication device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure is a communication device comprising one or more processors and one or more memories coupled to the one or more processors for storing instructions, wherein the instructions are executable by the one or more processors to cause the communication device to set the format of the individual information based on first information relating to an uplink resource allocation method and second information different from the first information, in a control signal that includes common information common to a plurality of terminals and individual information specific to each of the plurality of terminals, and to transmit the control signal.

[0190] In a communication method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the communication device sets the format of the individual information based on first information relating to an uplink resource allocation method and second information different from the first information, which are included in the common information, in a control signal that includes common information common to a plurality of terminals and individual information specific to each of the plurality of terminals, and transmits the control signal.

[0191] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the method is controlled by an integrated circuit.

[0192] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a communication method controlled by an integrated circuit, wherein the communication device sets the format of the individual information based on first information relating to an uplink resource allocation method and second information different from the first information, in a control signal that includes common information common to a plurality of terminals and individual information specific to each of the plurality of terminals, and transmits the control signal.

[0193] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, an integrated circuit comprising a circuit, wherein the circuit transmits the control signal, which includes common information common to a plurality of terminals and individual information specific to each of the plurality of terminals, and which sets the format of the individual information based on first information relating to a method for allocating uplink resources and second information different from the first information included in the common information.

[0194] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the integrated circuit comprises at least one input coupled to the circuit for inputting data, and at least one output coupled to the circuit for outputting data.

[0195] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the circuit comprises a control circuit that sets the format of the individual information based on first information relating to an uplink resource allocation method and second information different from the first information, which are included in the common information, and a transmission circuit that transmits the control circuit. The control signal includes common information common to a plurality of terminals and individual information specific to each of the plurality of terminals.

[0196] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a non-temporary computer-readable recording medium having content that causes a processing circuit to execute a method, wherein the method involves a communication device setting the format of the individual information based on a control signal that includes common information common to a plurality of terminals and individual information specific to each of the plurality of terminals, and including first information relating to an uplink resource allocation method and second information different from the first information in the common information, and transmitting the control signal.

[0197] In the non-temporary computer-readable recording medium according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the contents include configuration settings.

[0198] A communication device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure comprises a receiving circuit that receives a control signal including common information common to a plurality of terminals and individual information specific to each of the plurality of terminals, and a control circuit that identifies the format of the individual information based on first information relating to a method for allocating uplink signals, and second information different from the first information, which are included in the common information.

[0199] A communication device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure is a communication device comprising one or more processors and one or more memories coupled to the one or more processors for storing instructions, wherein the instructions are executable by the one or more processors to cause the communication device to receive a control signal that includes common information common to a plurality of terminals and individual information specific to each of the plurality of terminals, and to cause the communication device to specify the format of the individual information based on first information relating to a method for allocating uplink resources and second information different from the first information, which are included in the common information.

[0200] In a communication method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the communication device receives a control signal that includes common information common to a plurality of terminals and individual information specific to each of the plurality of terminals, and determines the format of the individual information based on first information relating to an uplink signal resource allocation method and second information different from the first information, which are included in the common information.

[0201] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the method is controlled by an integrated circuit.

[0202] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a communication method controlled by an integrated circuit, wherein the communication device receives a control signal that includes common information common to a plurality of terminals and individual information specific to each of the plurality of terminals, and determines the format of the individual information based on first information relating to an uplink resource allocation method and second information different from the first information, which are included in the common information.

[0203] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, an integrated circuit comprising a circuit receives a control signal that includes common information common to a plurality of terminals and individual information specific to each of the plurality of terminals, and determines the format of the individual information based on first information relating to an uplink resource allocation method and second information different from the first information, which are included in the common information.

[0204] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the integrated circuit comprises at least one input coupled to the circuit for inputting data, and at least one output coupled to the circuit for outputting data.

[0205] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the circuit comprises a receiving circuit that receives a control signal including common information common to a plurality of terminals and individual information specific to each of the plurality of terminals, and a control circuit that identifies the format of the individual information based on first information relating to a method for allocating uplink signals, and second information different from the first information, which are included in the common information.

[0206] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a non-temporary computer-readable recording medium having content that causes a processing circuit to execute a method, wherein the method involves a communication device receiving a control signal that includes common information common to a plurality of terminals and individual information specific to each of the plurality of terminals, and determining the format of the individual information based on first information relating to an uplink resource allocation method and second information different from the first information, which are included in the common information.

[0207] In the non-temporary computer-readable recording medium according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the contents include configuration settings.

[0208] All disclosures in the specification, drawings, and abstract contained in the Japanese application No. 2024-226134, filed on December 23, 2024, are incorporated herein by reference.

[0209] One embodiment of this disclosure is useful for wireless communication systems.

[0210] 100 AP 101 Scheduling Unit 102 User Info Generation Unit 103 Common Info Generation Unit 104 Trigger Frame Generation Unit 105, 206 Error Correction Encoding Unit 106, 207 Modulation Unit 107, 201 Wireless Transceiver Unit 108 OFDM Demodulation Unit 109 Tone Demapping Unit 110, 202 Demodulation Unit 111, 203 Error Correction Decoding Unit 200 Terminal 204 Common Info Decoding Unit 205 User Info Decoding Unit 208 Uplink BF Application Unit 209 Tone Mapping Unit 210 OFDM Modulation Unit

Claims

1. A communication device comprising: a control circuit that sets the format of the individual information based on first information relating to an uplink resource allocation method and second information different from the first information, which are included in the common information, in a control signal that includes common information common to multiple terminals and individual information specific to each of the multiple terminals; and a transmission circuit that transmits the control signal.

2. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the control circuit sets the size of the information relating to a modulation method that sets a modulation scheme individually for each of the multiple spatial streams included in the individual information, based on the first information and the second information.

3. The communication device according to claim 2, wherein the second information is information relating to the application of beamforming to the uplink signal, or information relating to the application of MU-MIMO (Multi-User Multiple Input Multiple Output) to the uplink signal.

4. If the second information indicates that beamforming is not applicable, the control circuit sets a format for the individual information that does not include information about the modulation method, according to claim 3.

5. The communication device according to claim 3, wherein, if the second information indicates the application of MU-MIMO, the control circuit sets a format for the individual information that does not include information regarding the modulation method.

6. The resource allocation method is either a first allocation method in which the frequency resources to which the uplink signal is allocated are discretely arranged, or a second allocation method in which the frequency resources to which the uplink signal is allocated are continuously arranged, and when the first information indicates the first allocation method, the control circuit sets the maximum number of the plurality of spatial streams supported in the modulation method based on the maximum number of spatial streams supported when the first allocation method is applied, the communication device according to claim 2.

7. The communication device according to claim 2, wherein the individual information includes third information regarding whether or not the modulation method is applied, and the control circuit sets the format of the individual information based on the first information, the second information and the third information.

8. The communication device according to claim 7, wherein the control circuit sets a format for the individual information that does not include information about the spatial stream used by each of the plurality of terminals when the third information indicates the application of the modulation method, and sets a format for the individual information that includes information about the spatial stream used by each of the plurality of terminals when the third information indicates that the modulation method is not applied.

9. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the control circuit changes the format of a portion of the individual information based on the first information and the second information.

10. The communication device according to claim 9, wherein the portion of the region is a Spatial Stream (SS) Allocation subfield.

11. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the control circuit sets the size of the information relating to the target received power of the uplink signal included in the individual information based on the first information and the second information.

12. A communication device comprising one or more processors, and one or more memories coupled to the one or more processors for storing instructions, wherein the instructions are executable by the one or more processors to cause the communication device to set the format of the individual information based on first information relating to an uplink resource allocation method and second information different from the first information, in a control signal that includes common information common to a plurality of terminals and individual information specific to each of the plurality of terminals, and to transmit the control signal.

13. A communication method comprising a communication device that transmits a control signal containing common information common to multiple terminals and individual information specific to each of the multiple terminals, wherein the control signal contains first information relating to a method for allocating uplink resources, and second information different from the first information, and sets the format of the individual information.

14. A communication device comprising: a receiving circuit that receives control signals containing common information shared by multiple terminals and individual information specific to each of the multiple terminals; and a control circuit that identifies the format of the individual information based on first information relating to a method for allocating uplink signals, and second information different from the first information, which are included in the common information.

15. A communication device comprising one or more processors, and one or more memories coupled to the one or more processors for storing instructions, wherein the instructions are executable by the one or more processors to cause the communication device to receive a control signal including common information common to a plurality of terminals and individual information specific to each of the plurality of terminals, and to cause the communication device to specify the format of the individual information based on first information relating to a method of allocating uplink resources included in the common information, and second information different from the first information.

16. A communication method comprising: a communication device receiving a control signal that includes common information shared by multiple terminals and individual information specific to each of the multiple terminals; and determining the format of the individual information based on first information relating to a method for allocating uplink resources, and second information different from the first information, which are included in the common information.

Images