Channel sounding result indication method, electronic device, storage medium and program product

Abstract

The present application belongs to the technical field of communications. Disclosed are a channel sounding result indication method, an electronic device, a storage medium and a program product. The channel sounding result indication method comprises: a first access point determines a first channel sounding result, the first channel sounding result being used for indicating whether the first access point has successfully received first channel state information sent by a target terminal for a first channel sounding procedure; and the first access point sends the first channel sounding result to a second access point, the first access point and the second access point being different access points among a plurality of access points involved in multi-access point coordinated transmission.

Description

Methods for indicating channel detection results, electronic devices, storage media, and software products

[0001] Cross-references

[0002] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202510314127.9, filed on March 17, 2025, entitled “Method for Indicating Channel Detection Results, Electronic Device, Storage Medium and Program Product”, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] This application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a method for indicating channel detection results, an electronic device, a storage medium, and a program product. Background Technology

[0004] In wireless local area networks (WLANs), multi-access point (MAP) collaboration is an effective means of improving network performance and user experience. Through MAP collaboration, different access points (APs) can share resources and coordinate communication, thereby reducing interference and increasing network capacity. APs can obtain channel state information between the AP and its associated station (STA, also known as a terminal), as well as between the AP and the Overlapping Basic Service Set (OBSS) STA, through a channel sounding process.

[0005] As shown in Figure 1, AP1 (the primary access point or shared access point) is associated with STA1, and STA1 is the OBSS STA of AP2 (the secondary access point or the shared access point). AP1 can parse the Channel State Information (CSI) report frames sent by STA1 to obtain link information within the BSS; AP2 can receive the CSI report frames sent by STA1 in an overhearing manner to obtain interference link information between AP2 and STA1. Based on the CSI obtained during channel sounding, APs can use beamforming technology to focus the signal beam towards the serving user and align the radiation null point towards the interference direction, improving the user's received signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) and network throughput.

[0006] However, in practical applications, if the link quality between the shared access point and the site is poor, causing the shared access point to fail to receive the CSI report frame from the site, the associated shared access point will not be aware of this failure. In subsequent AP-to-AP cooperative transmissions, if the shared access point chooses the shared access point for cooperative transmission, the lack of a valid CSI from the shared access point may lead to a degraded performance of the MAP cooperative transmission. Summary of the Invention

[0007] This application provides a method for indicating channel detection results, an electronic device, a storage medium, and a program product.

[0008] In a first aspect, a method for indicating channel probe results is provided, comprising: a first access point determining a first channel probe result, wherein the first channel probe result is used to indicate whether the first access point has successfully received first channel state information sent by a target terminal for a first channel probe procedure; the first access point sending the first channel probe result to a second access point, wherein the first access point and the second access point are different access points among multiple access points in a multi-access point cooperative transmission.

[0009] Secondly, a method for obtaining channel detection results is provided, comprising: after the first channel detection process ends, a second access point receives a first channel detection result sent by a first access point, wherein the first channel detection result is used to indicate whether the first access point has successfully received the first channel status information sent by the target terminal for the first channel detection process, and the first access point and the second access point are different access points among multiple access points in a multi-access point cooperative transmission.

[0010] Thirdly, an electronic device is provided, the electronic device including a processor and a memory, the memory storing a program or instructions executable on the processor, the program or instructions, when executed by the processor, implementing the steps of the method described in the first or second aspect above.

[0011] Fourthly, a readable storage medium is provided, on which a program or instructions are stored, which, when executed by a processor, implement the steps of the method described in the first or second aspect above.

[0012] Fifthly, a computer program product is provided, the computer program product comprising a computer program stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, the computer program comprising program instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the steps of the method described in the first or second aspect above.

[0013] It should be understood that the above general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only, and do not limit this application. Attached Figure Description

[0014] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with this application and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of this application.

[0015] Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of a channel detection process in related technologies;

[0016] Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram of the architecture of a wireless communication network that can be applied to an embodiment of this application;

[0017] Figure 3 shows a flowchart illustrating a method for indicating channel detection results provided in an exemplary embodiment of this application;

[0018] Figure 4 shows a schematic diagram of the structure of the channel probe response strategy field in an exemplary embodiment of this application;

[0019] Figure 5 shows a schematic diagram of the structure of the channel sounding reception status field in an exemplary embodiment of this application;

[0020] Figure 6 illustrates a channel detection process of an exemplary embodiment of this application;

[0021] Figure 7 illustrates a channel detection process of another exemplary embodiment of this application;

[0022] Figure 8 shows a schematic diagram of a channel detection process in yet another exemplary embodiment of this application;

[0023] Figure 9 illustrates a channel detection process of yet another exemplary embodiment of this application;

[0024] Figure 10 illustrates a channel detection process in yet another exemplary embodiment of this application;

[0025] Figure 11 shows a schematic diagram of a channel detection process in yet another exemplary embodiment of this application;

[0026] Figure 12 illustrates a channel detection process of yet another exemplary embodiment of this application;

[0027] Figure 13 illustrates a channel detection process of yet another exemplary embodiment of this application;

[0028] Figure 14 illustrates a channel detection process according to yet another exemplary embodiment of this application;

[0029] Figure 15 shows a schematic diagram of a channel detection process in yet another exemplary embodiment of this application;

[0030] Figure 16 illustrates a channel detection process of yet another exemplary embodiment of this application;

[0031] Figure 17 illustrates a channel detection process of yet another exemplary embodiment of this application;

[0032] Figure 18 illustrates a channel detection process of yet another exemplary embodiment of this application;

[0033] Figure 19 illustrates a channel detection process of yet another exemplary embodiment of this application;

[0034] Figure 20 shows a flowchart illustrating a method for obtaining channel detection results provided in an exemplary embodiment of this application;

[0035] Figure 21 shows a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an exemplary embodiment of this application;

[0036] Figure 22 shows a schematic diagram of the structure of a network-side device provided in an exemplary embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0037] Exemplary embodiments will now be described in detail, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. When the following description relates to the drawings, unless otherwise indicated, the same numbers in different drawings denote the same or similar elements. The embodiments described in the following exemplary embodiments do not represent all embodiments consistent with this application. Rather, they are merely examples of apparatuses and methods consistent with some aspects of this application as detailed in the appended claims.

[0038] Figure 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of the architecture of a wireless communication network applicable to an embodiment of this application. It should be noted that Figure 2 represents only one possibility; the technical solutions provided in this application can be implemented through various systems and are not limited to the system shown in Figure 2. For example, the technical solutions provided in this application can be applied to various wireless devices. The wireless implementation schemes described in detail below are merely illustrative examples.

[0039] Error! Reference source not found. This illustrates a communication network consisting of one or more wireless communication devices, including an access point 102 (AP) and a wireless terminal device 104 (STA). In some examples, these devices are able to exchange data according to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802 series standards. The IEEE 802 standards cover communication specifications for a variety of network devices, from Local Area Networks (LANs) to Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs). In particular, the IEEE 802.11 standard sets clear guidelines for communication in Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs). In these networks, communication must adhere to at least one communication protocol to ensure communication between different devices. These communication protocols are dynamically evolving and are continuously updated with technological advancements to enhance communication stability and improve data transmission efficiency.

[0040] IEEE 802.11 wireless communication technology can also be referred to as WiFi technology. In this example, AP 102 and STA 104 transmit data via one or more protocols from the IEEE 802.11 protocol family. These protocols cover a range from early standards such as 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11a, to the Very High Throughput (VHT) of 802.11n (High Throughput, HT) and 802.11ac, to the High Efficiency (HE) of 802.11ax, and the Extremely High Throughput (EHT) of 802.11be. Furthermore, it includes next-generation IEEE 802.11 technologies such as the Ultra High Reliability (UHR) standard, as well as other developing IEEE 802.11 wireless communication specifications.

[0041] In other examples, AP102 and STA104 may communicate according to other standards, such as the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) standard developed by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Furthermore, wireless communication standards may include LTE-A, an enhanced version of LTE; next-generation 5G NR technology; Bluetooth; global navigation satellite systems (such as GPS or GLONASS); and mobile television broadcasting standards (such as ATSC-M / H). These technologies can be used individually or in combination. In some embodiments, STA 104 may be designed to support only a single wireless communication technology. The names of AP 102 and STA 104 may also differ depending on the technological context. For example, in an LTE network, AP 102 may be referred to as an Evolved NodeB (eNB), while STA 104 may be referred to as User Equipment (UE).

[0042] In some embodiments, the wireless terminal device, also referred to as a station (STA), may be more specifically defined as a non-access point STA (non-AP STA). These STAs 104 are capable of wirelessly connecting to nearby network devices, such as access points (APs 102). The wireless terminal device can be a mobile phone, handheld device, wearable device, computer or tablet, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), unmanned flight controller (UAC), vehicle, or virtually any type of wireless device. The STA may include a processor configured to execute program instructions stored in memory. The STA 104 can perform any of the methods described in this application by executing such stored instructions. Alternatively, the STA 104 may also include programmable hardware elements, such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), integrated circuits, or other hardware components configured to perform any part or all of the methods described herein.

[0043] In some implementations, AP 102 can be defined as a station (STA), and more specifically, as an access point STA (AP STA). AP 102 can be, but is not limited to, a router, a mobile terminal that has enabled a hotspot, a base station, etc., all of which have the hardware facilities to wirelessly communicate with STA 104. Furthermore, AP 102 can also be configured to communicate with network 106, which can be a telecommunications network, such as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), the Internet, or other possible networks. Therefore, AP 102 can enable communication not only between STA 104, but also between STA 104 and network 106. As will be further described later in this document, AP 102 includes the hardware required to achieve wireless communication with STA 104, and may also include hardware and software components for implementing or supporting the implementation of the features described herein.

[0044] The communication range of AP 102 is typically referred to as the Basic Service Set (BSS). AP 102 and STA 104 can communicate via various radio access technologies or wireless communication technologies, including but not limited to LTE, LTE Advanced (LTE A), 5G NR, WiFi, and Ultra Wideband (UWB). AP 102 can also be configured to provide STA 104 with a communication connection to network 106.

[0045] STA 104 can also be configured to communicate with other STA 104 devices. For example, STA 104 can be configured to support direct device-to-device communication, commonly referred to as peer-to-peer (P2P) communication. This communication method allows two devices to communicate directly without AP 102.

[0046] Multiple BSSs can be combined to form an Extended Service Set (ESS). In this example, AP 102 may not be a single access point, but one of multiple access points. A controller, not shown in the diagram, can be responsible for storing and managing shared information among multiple APs 102 and for controlling the BSSs, such as allocating parameters like the primary channel and BSS color.

[0047] The traditional STA 108 can operate according to one or more standards in the IEEE 802.11 standard family, which may include 802.11a / b / g / n / ac / ad / ah / ay / ax, etc. The AP 102 can communicate with the traditional STA 108 using traditional IEEE 802.11 communication technology.

[0048] The Media Access Control (MAC) layer and Physical (PHY) layer in AP 102 and STA 104 exchange Protocol Data Units (PDUs) and Service Data Units (SDUs) during the management of wireless communication traffic. The PHY layer is configured to receive SDUs from the MAC layer, encapsulating the MAC SDUs into Physical Layer Protocol Data Units (PPDUs) by adding a preamble. In some embodiments, different types of PPDUs may exist, such as single-user (SU) PPDUs, downlink (DL) PPDUs, multi-user (MU) PPDUs, extended range (ER) SUPPDUs, and / or trigger-based (TB) PPDUs. The PPDU preamble may include various training fields that the receiving AP 102 or STA 104 uses to perform synchronization, gain control, channel characteristic estimation, and signal equalization. AP 102 and STA 104 then exchange wireless communication signals in PPDU format.

[0049] Wireless communication channel bandwidths offer a variety of options, including but not limited to 20MHz, 40MHz, 80MHz, 160MHz, and combinations such as 80+80MHz. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the channel bandwidth may reach 320MHz, or appear in a combination of 160+160MHz. For narrower channels, bandwidth options may include subdivisions from 1MHz to 10MHz, or combinations thereof, or other bandwidths less than or equal to the available bandwidth may also be used. In some embodiments, the channel bandwidth may also be determined based on the number of subcarriers carrying data, which may be 26, 52, 106, 242, 484, 996, and 2x996. In some embodiments, the allocation of bandwidth, tone, or number of subcarriers may be referred to as resource unit (RU) allocation.

[0050] In some embodiments of IEEE 802.11, such as the ax / be embodiment, AP 102 gains control of the wireless channel through a contention mechanism to acquire a transmission window (TXOP). During the TXOP, AP 102 can transmit frames containing EHT / HE trigger information, which may be related to the synchronization of uplink and downlink data transmissions by STA 104. AP 102 can provide the duration of the TXOP and RU allocation information. STA 104 communicates with AP 102 using multiple access technologies such as OFDMA or MUMIMO. During the TXOP, AP 102 can send one or more PPDUs to exchange data with STA 104.

[0051] The basic procedure for channel detection in IEEE 802.11be is as follows:

[0052] (1) Triggering the Sounding process

[0053] In Wi-Fi networks, the Sounding process is typically initiated by the Access Point (AP) to obtain Channel State Information (CSI) between the AP and the STA. The AP initiates the Sounding process by sending an NDP frame or a Trigger Frame, notifying the STA to prepare for channel measurement.

[0054] (2) STA feedback channel information

[0055] After receiving the sounding request from the AP, the STA measures the channel and feeds back the measurement results to the AP via a CSI report frame. The CSI report frame contains key information such as the channel matrix and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), which is crucial for subsequent beamforming and multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) transmission.

[0056] (3) AP processes CSI information

[0057] After receiving the CSI report frame from the STA, the AP parses and stores this information. Based on the CSI, the AP can optimize beamforming weights and adjust transmission parameters, thereby improving the efficiency and reliability of data transmission.

[0058] In multi-AP cooperative transmission, the AP responsible for coordinating other APs can be called the sharing AP or the master AP. It acts as the coordinator, responsible for coordinating the transmission of other APs and ensuring their cooperation and interoperability. In multi-AP cooperative transmission, the AP whose shared resource allocation and resource status are managed and notified by the sharing AP can be called the shared AP or the slave AP. These APs receive notifications from the sharing AP and perform transmission operations on the shared resources. The shared AP coordinates shared resources to avoid collisions and improve transmission efficiency. When transmitting data, the shared AP may perform operations such as time slot allocation, power control, and transmission time adjustment based on the coordination of the sharing AP to ensure smooth cooperative transmission.

[0059] In practical applications, the shared access point cannot know the reception status of the CSI report frames sent by the shared access point to the target terminal. If the link quality between the shared access point and the target terminal is poor, causing the shared access point to fail to receive the CSI report frames fed back by the target terminal, and the shared access point still chooses the shared access point to cooperate with the target terminal for transmission, this may lead to a decrease in the performance of multi-access point cooperative transmission due to the lack of effective CSI from the shared access point. To address this technical problem, embodiments of this application provide an improved technical solution, which will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0060] Figure 3 shows a flowchart of a channel detection result indication method provided in an exemplary embodiment of this application. The method can be executed at a first access point, which can be one of the access points in a multi-access point cooperative transmission. As shown in Figure 3, the method mainly includes the following steps.

[0061] S310, the first access point determines the first channel detection result, wherein the first channel detection result is used to indicate whether the first access point has successfully received the first channel status information sent by the target terminal for the first channel detection procedure.

[0062] In this embodiment, the target terminal can be a terminal (also called a site STA) associated with a shared access point (also called a primary access point) in multi-access point cooperative transmission. The first access point can be the access point associated with the target terminal, or it can be the OBSS AP of the target terminal.

[0063] In this embodiment, APs can obtain channel state information between the AP and its associated station (STA), as well as between the AP and the Overlapping Basic Service Set (OBSS) STA, through a channel sounding process. The entire channel sounding process can consist of one or more In-Basic Service Set (In-BSS) sounding processes and Cross-Basic Service Set (Cross-BSS) sounding processes. In the In-BSS sounding process, the AP first sends a Null Data Packet Announcement (NDPA) frame, followed by a Short Inter-Frame Space (SIFS) interval, then sends a Null Data Packet (NDP) frame, followed by another SIFS interval, then sends a Beamforming Feedback Report Polling (BFRP) frame, and finally, after another SIFS interval, the AP's associated STA sends a Channel State Information (CSI) report frame. Cross-BSS sounding includes a cross-BSS frame interaction process. The AP first sends an NDPA frame, and after an interval of SIFS, the OBSS AP sends an NDP frame. At this time, the AP can also choose to send an NDP frame. After another interval of SIFS, the AP sends a BFRP frame, and after another interval of SIFS, the AP associates with the STA to send a CSI report frame.

[0064] In this embodiment, the first channel detection process can be either a channel detection process triggered by the second access point or a channel detection process triggered by the first access point. The first channel detection process includes, but is not limited to, at least one of the In-BSS channel detection process and the Cross-BSS channel detection process. The first access point and the second access point are different access points of multiple access points in multi-access point cooperative transmission. The second access point can be a shared access point in multi-access point cooperative transmission, and the target terminal can be a terminal associated with the second access point.

[0065] In this embodiment of the application, after the second access point triggers the first channel probing procedure, the first access point can determine the first channel probing result based on whether it receives a CSI report frame sent by the target terminal within a predetermined time. For example, if the first access point receives a CSI report frame sent by the target terminal within the predetermined time, the first channel probing result indicates that the first access point has successfully received the first channel status information sent by the target terminal for the first channel probing procedure.

[0066] The predetermined time can be determined by the time when the second access point triggers the first channel probing procedure. For example, if the first channel probing procedure is an In-BSS channel probing procedure, the predetermined time is the time elapsed from the trigger time of the first channel probing procedure, including the duration of SIFS, NDP frames, SIFS, BFRP frames, SIFS, and CSI report frames. If the first channel probing procedure is a Cross-BSS channel probing procedure, the predetermined time is the time elapsed from the trigger time of the second channel probing procedure, including the duration of SIFS, NDP frames, SIFS, BFRP frames, SIFS, and CSI report frames.

[0067] S320, the first access point sends the first channel probe result to the second access point, wherein the first access point and the second access point are different access points among multiple access points in the multi-access point cooperative transmission.

[0068] In this embodiment of the application, the APs perform a channel sounding process. During the In-BSS sounding and Cross-BSS sounding stages, the target terminal sends a CSI report frame. The associated AP and OBSS AP of the target terminal may receive the CSI report frame, thereby receiving the channel state information sent by the target terminal.

[0069] In this embodiment, the first access point sends the first channel detection result to the second access point, so that the second access point can know whether the first access point has successfully received the first channel status information sent by the target terminal for the first channel detection process. Thus, when the second access point acts as a shared access point for multi-access point cooperative transmission, it can determine whether to select the first access point as the cooperative transmission access point to perform cooperative transmission to the target terminal based on the first channel detection result, thereby ensuring that the cooperative transmission can proceed smoothly.

[0070] In the embodiments of this application, the response strategy of the first access point in response to the channel probe result (i.e., sending the channel probe result to the second access point) can be either an explicit request or an implicit request. Therefore, in some embodiments, before S320, the method may further include: the first access point selecting a channel probe response strategy, wherein the response strategy is used to instruct the first access point to send the first channel probe result to the second access point. Optionally, the response strategy may include an explicit request or an implicit request. Through these embodiments, the first access point can select a channel probe response strategy before sending the first channel probe result, thereby enabling the first access point and the second access point to synchronize their channel probe response strategies.

[0071] In some embodiments, the first access point's selection of a channel probe response strategy may include: the first access point selecting a channel probe response strategy negotiated with the second access point during the negotiation phase. In these embodiments, APs may choose to negotiate a channel probe response strategy during the negotiation phase. In these embodiments, the negotiation may include APs mutually informing each other of their capability information and one AP determining the specific response strategy, or an AP directly notifying its neighboring AP of the specific response strategy, or a predefined mechanism. In these embodiments, the first access point and the second access point may negotiate the channel probe response strategy, thereby enabling the first access point and the second access point to synchronize their channel probe response strategies.

[0072] In some embodiments, the first access point's selection of a channel probe response strategy may also include: the first access point selecting a channel probe response strategy indicated by a BFRP frame or NDPA during the first channel probe procedure. In these embodiments, the first channel probe procedure is performed between APs. During the In-BSS sounding and Cross-BSS sounding phases, the target terminal sends a CSI report frame. Both the associated AP and the OBSS AP of the target terminal can receive this CSI report frame. The second access point can select to indicate the OBSS AP's channel probe response strategy through a special STA Info field in the sent BFRP frame or NDPA frame. Through these embodiments, the channel probe response strategy indicated by the BFRP frame or NDPA during the channel probe procedure can be used without adding additional procedures, saving signaling overhead.

[0073] In some embodiments, APs indicate specific response policies during the negotiation or channel probing phases using a response policy field as shown in Figure 4. As shown in Figure 4, the response policy field can consist of one bit, with a value of 0 or 1. For example, 0 can represent an explicit request, and 1 represents an implicit request. However, this is not a limitation; 1 can also represent an explicit request, and 0 can represent an implicit request. The specific implementation in this application is not limited to this.

[0074] In some embodiments, when the first access point is a shared access point in multi-access point cooperative transmission, and the target terminal is an access point associated with the second access point, the method may further include, before S320: the first access point receiving a probe confirmation request from the second access point. In these embodiments, the first access point sends the aforementioned first channel probe result to the second access point at the request of the second access point. In these embodiments, S320 may include: the first access point sending a probe confirmation response to the second access point, wherein the probe confirmation response carries the aforementioned first channel probe result.

[0075] In the above embodiments, the first access point can send the first channel probe result to the second access point upon receiving the probe confirmation request from the second access point, i.e., respond on demand. For example, the second access point can send the probe confirmation request to the first access point before selecting the first access point as the cooperative transmission access point of the target terminal, thereby avoiding unnecessary command overhead and saving air interface resources.

[0076] In some embodiments, the aforementioned detection confirmation request may also carry the second channel detection result of the second access point, which is used to indicate whether the second access point has successfully received the second channel status information sent by the target terminal in response to the second channel detection procedure. Through these embodiments, the first access point can determine whether the second access point has successfully received the second channel status information of the target terminal.

[0077] In the above embodiments, the second channel detection process may include at least one of the In-BSS channel detection process and the Cross-BSS channel detection process. The second channel detection process and the first channel detection process may be the same channel detection process or different channel detection processes. The specific implementation of this application is not limited.

[0078] In some embodiments, when the first access point is a shared access point for multi-access point cooperative transmission, and the target terminal is an access point associated with the second access point, S320 may include: the first access point sending a probe confirmation request to the second access point, wherein the probe confirmation request carries the aforementioned first channel probe result. In these embodiments, since the first access point is a shared access point for multi-access point cooperative transmission, in S320, the first access point can send the first channel probe result to the second access point through the probe confirmation request, thereby enabling the second access point to know from the probe confirmation request whether the first access point has successfully received the CSI sent by the target terminal for the first channel probe procedure.

[0079] In some embodiments, the above-mentioned detection confirmation request is transmitted via a detection confirmation request frame, wherein the detection confirmation request frame includes the following fields:

[0080] 1) The Channel Probe Type field indicates whether the channel probe process associated with the probe confirmation request frame is a channel probe process within a basic service set or a channel probe process between basic service sets.

[0081] 2) Channel probe count field, used to indicate which channel probe process this probe confirmation request frame is associated with; for example, Cross-BSS Sounding can have a probe process with multiple BSS frame exchanges, and APs can identify which Cross-BSS Sounding is being indicated through the channel probe type field and the channel probe count field.

[0082] 3) Fragment identifier field, used to indicate the fragment number of the channel state information associated with the probe confirmation request frame; in these embodiments, the channel state information can be transmitted in fragments.

[0083] 4) Receive status field, used to indicate whether the channel status information associated with the probe confirmation request frame has been successfully received.

[0084] In some embodiments, the probe confirmation response is transmitted via a probe confirmation response frame, wherein the probe confirmation response frame includes the following fields:

[0085] 1) The channel detection type field is used to indicate whether the channel detection process associated with the detection confirmation response frame is a channel detection process within a basic service set or a channel detection process between basic service sets.

[0086] 2) Channel probe count field, used to indicate which channel probe process is associated with the probe confirmation response frame.

[0087] 3) Fragment identifier field, used to indicate the fragment number of the channel state information associated with the probe confirmation response frame.

[0088] 5) Receive status field, used to indicate whether the channel status information associated with the probe confirmation response frame has been successfully received.

[0089] Figure 5 illustrates the Channel Probe Reception Status (CSI) field of the probe confirmation request frame or probe confirmation response frame in this embodiment of the application. APs can use this frame to indicate whether they have successfully received CSI report frames from In-BSS and Cross-BSS. As shown in Figure 5, this frame mainly includes the following fields:

[0090] 1) Sounding Type field: Consists of one bit. 0 indicates that the Sounding Status indicates the In-BSS CSI reception status, and 1 indicates that the Sounding Status indicates the Cross-BSS CSI reception status. Of course, it is not limited to this, and the reverse is also possible.

[0091] 2) Sounding Dialog Token Num field: Consists of n bits, indicating the reception status of the specific In-BSS / Cross-BSS Sounding process.

[0092] 3) Segment Number field: Consists of m bits. The CSI report frame sent by the STA may have undergone fragmentation. This field indicates the specific fragment number. If it has not undergone fragmentation, the value of this field is 0.

[0093] 4) Receive Status field: Consists of one bit, 0 represents successful reception and 1 represents failed reception. Of course, it is not limited to this, and the reverse is also possible.

[0094] In some embodiments, the method may further include: in response to a second channel probe result indicating that the second access point has successfully received the second channel state information, the first access point deletes the cached second channel state information. In this embodiment, if the sharing AP or shared AP resolves that the peer has successfully received the information, the sharing AP or shared AP can delete the corresponding unnecessary In-BSS / Cross-BSS CSI information to release storage resources, thereby saving storage resources.

[0095] For example, in the embodiment shown in Figure 6, AP1 is associated with STA1, and AP2 is associated with STA2. The APs have negotiated a channel sounding response strategy of explicit request, and both AP1 and AP2 successfully receive the CSI report frame sent by STA1. After the Cross-BSS sounding phase ends, AP1 sends a sounding confirmation request frame to AP2, indicating that In-BSS CSI has been successfully acquired. AP2 replies to AP1 with a sounding confirmation response frame, indicating that Cross-BSS CSI has been successfully acquired. Therefore, AP1 and AP2 can clear their corresponding CSI caches.

[0096] For example, in the embodiment shown in Figure 7, AP1 is associated with STA1, and AP2 is associated with STA2. The APs have negotiated an explicit request channel probe response strategy. Both AP1 and AP2 successfully receive the In-BSS and Cross-BSS CSI report frames they require. After the entire channel probe process is completed, AP1 sends a probe acknowledgment request frame to AP2, indicating successful reception. AP2 replies to AP1 with a probe acknowledgment response frame, also indicating successful reception. AP1 and AP2 can then delete the corresponding Cross-BSS CSI information to release storage resources.

[0097] In some embodiments, the method may further include: in response to a second channel probe result indicating that the second access point has not successfully received the second channel state information, the first access point sends the cached second channel state information to the first access point. In these embodiments, if the sharing AP or shared AP resolves that the peer has failed to receive the information, the sharing AP or shared AP may forward the cached In-BSS / Cross-BSS CSI information to the peer, thereby enabling the peer to obtain the corresponding CSI information.

[0098] In some implementations, after the cached second channel state information is successfully sent to the first access point, the first access point can delete the corresponding unnecessary second channel state information to release storage resources.

[0099] For example, in the embodiment shown in Figure 8, AP1 is associated with STA1, and AP2 is associated with STA2. The APs have negotiated an explicit request channel sounding response strategy. During the Cross-BSS sounding phase, AP2 fails to receive the CSI report frame sent by STA1, while AP1 successfully receives the CSI report frame sent by STA1. After the Cross-BSS sounding phase ends, AP1 sends a sounding acknowledgment request frame to AP2. AP2 replies to AP1 with a sounding acknowledgment response frame and indicates that the Cross-BSS CSI reception failed. At this time, AP1 chooses to forward the cached Cross-BSS CSI to AP2.

[0100] For example, in the embodiment shown in Figure 9, AP1 is associated with STA1 and AP2 is associated with STA2. The APs have negotiated a channel probe response strategy of explicit request. AP2 successfully obtained the Cross-BSS CSI it needed, but AP1 did not obtain the Cross-BSS CSI it needed. After the entire channel probing process is completed, AP1 sends a probe acknowledgment request frame to AP2, indicating that the Cross-BSS CSI it requires has failed to be received (i.e., the fields with Sounding Type 1, Sounding Dialog Token Num 2, and Receive Status 1). AP2 replies to AP1 with a probe acknowledgment response frame, indicating that the Cross-BSS CSI it requires has been received successfully (i.e., the fields with Sounding Type 1, Sounding Dialog Token Num 1, and Receive Status 0). AP2 also has the Cross-BSS CSI required by AP1 cached in its cache (i.e., the CSI corresponding to Sounding Type 1, Sounding Dialog Token Num 2, and Receive Status 1). At this point, AP2 chooses to forward the cached Cross-BSS CSI information required by AP1 to AP1.

[0101] In some embodiments, the method may further include: in response to the second channel probe result indicating that the second access point has not successfully received the second channel status information, and the first access point has not cached the second channel status information, the first access point re-executes the second channel probe procedure. In these embodiments, if the second channel probe result indicates that the second access point has not successfully received the second channel status information, and the first access point has not cached the second channel status information, the first access point may re-execute the second channel probe procedure. Through these embodiments, since the second access point has not successfully received the second channel status information, and the first access point has not cached the second channel status information, the first access point may re-execute the second channel probe procedure to obtain the second channel status information. For example, if the sharing AP or shared AP resolves that the peer has failed to receive the information, and it has not cached the corresponding In-BSS / Cross-BSS CSI information, the sharing AP or shared AP may choose to re-execute the In-BSS / Cross-BSS sounding procedure.

[0102] For example, in the embodiment shown in Figure 10, AP1 is associated with STA1, and AP2 is associated with STA2. The APs have negotiated a channel sounding response strategy of explicit request. During the Cross-BSS sounding phase, AP1 and AP2 failed to successfully receive the CSI report frame sent by STA1. After the Cross-BSS sounding phase ends, AP1 sends a sounding acknowledgment request frame to AP2, and AP2 replies to AP1 with a sounding acknowledgment response frame indicating that the Cross-BSS CSI reception failed. At this point, AP1 chooses to re-execute the Cross-BSS sounding procedure.

[0103] For example, in the embodiment shown in Figure 11, AP1 is associated with STA1 and AP2 is associated with STA2. The APs have negotiated a channel probe response strategy of explicit request. AP2 successfully obtained the Cross-BSS CSI information it needed, but AP1 did not obtain the Cross-BSS CSI it needed. After the entire channel sounding process is completed, AP1 sends a sounding acknowledgment request frame to AP2, indicating that the Cross-BSS CSI it requires has failed to be received (i.e., the fields with Sounding Type 1, Sounding Dialog Token Num 2, and Receive Status 1). AP2 replies to AP1 with a sounding acknowledgment response frame, indicating that the Cross-BSS CSI it requires has been received successfully (i.e., the fields with Sounding Type 1, Sounding Dialog Token Num 1, and Receive Status 0). AP2 does not have the Cross-BSS CSI required by AP1 cached (i.e., the Cross-BSS CSI corresponding to Sounding Type 1, Sounding Dialog Token Num 2, and Receive Status 1). At this point, AP2 chooses to re-execute the Cross-BSS sounding process.

[0104] In some embodiments, APs can back up CSIs to each other. As shown in Figure 12, AP2 backs up the CSI during the In-BSS Sounding phase, and AP1 backs up the CSI during the Cross-BSS Sounding phase. AP1 is associated with STA1, and AP2 is associated with STA2. The APs have negotiated an explicit request channel probe response strategy. AP1 fails to receive the CSI report frame during the In-BSS Sounding phase, while AP2 successfully receives the CSI report frame. AP1 sends a probe acknowledgment request frame to AP2, indicating that it failed to acquire the In-BSS CSI. AP2 replies to AP1 with a probe acknowledgment response frame, indicating that the corresponding In-BSS CSI has been cached. At this point, AP2 chooses to forward the cached In-BSS CSI to AP1.

[0105] In some embodiments, the CSI sent by the target terminal may be fragmented. Figure 13 shows a flowchart of a channel probe result indication method according to an embodiment of this application when the CSI sent by the target terminal is fragmented. In Figure 13, AP1 is associated with STA1, and AP2 is associated with STA2. The APs have negotiated a channel probe response strategy of explicit request. AP2 fails to receive some CSI report frames during the Cross-BSS Sounding phase, while AP1 successfully receives the CSI report frames. After the Cross-BSS Sounding phase ends, AP1 sends a probe confirmation request frame to AP2. AP2 replies to AP1 with a probe confirmation response frame and indicates that some Cross-BSS CSI reception failed. At this time, AP1 chooses to forward the cached Cross-BSS CSI to AP2.

[0106] In some embodiments, APs can perform a joint channel sounding process. Figure 14 shows a flowchart of a channel sounding result indication method according to an embodiment of this application when APs perform a joint channel sounding process. In Figure 14, AP1 is associated with STA1, and AP2 is associated with STA2. The APs have negotiated a channel sounding response strategy of explicit request. During the second Cross-BSS sounding phase, AP2 fails to receive the CSI report frame sent by STA2, while AP1 successfully receives the CSI report frame sent by STA2. After the Cross-BSS sounding phase ends, AP1 sends a sounding confirmation request frame to AP2, and AP2 replies to AP1 with a sounding confirmation response frame indicating that the Cross-BSS CSI reception failed. If AP1 has cached the Cross-BSS CSI required by AP2, AP1 chooses to forward the cached Cross-BSS CSI to AP2.

[0107] Figure 15 illustrates a flowchart of another channel sounding result indication method according to an embodiment of this application in the case of joint channel sounding between APs. In Figure 15, AP1 is associated with STA1, and AP2 is associated with STA2. The APs have negotiated a channel sounding response strategy of explicit request. In the second Cross-BSS sounding phase, AP2 fails to receive the CSI report frame sent by STA2, while AP1 successfully receives the CSI report frame sent by STA2. After the Cross-BSS sounding phase ends, AP1 sends a sounding confirmation request frame to AP2, and AP2 replies to AP1 with a sounding confirmation response frame indicating that the Cross-BSS CSI reception failed. At this time, AP2 chooses to re-execute the Cross-BSS Sounding process. The difference between this embodiment and the embodiment shown in Figure 14 is that in this embodiment, after AP2 fails to receive, it re-initiates the channel sounding process. For example, if AP1 does not have the Cross-BSS CSI required by AP2 cached, or if AP2 does not receive the Cross-BSS CSI forwarded by AP1, then AP2 can re-initiate the channel sounding process.

[0108] Before cooperative transmission between APs, sounding information can also be exchanged via Initial Control Frame (ICF) frames and Initial Control Response (ICR) frames. Therefore, in one or more of the above embodiments, the first receiving point can receive a probe acknowledgment request sent by the second access point via the initial control frame; and / or, the first access point can send a probe acknowledgment response to the second access point via the initial control response frame. In these embodiments, the sharing AP can carry a channel sounding reception status field in the ICF frame, indicating the sharing AP's reception status of the Cross-BSS CSI report frame. Candidate shared APs can choose whether to reply with an ICR frame based on the information in the ICF frame. The candidate shared AP carries a channel sounding reception status field in the ICR frame, indicating the candidate shared AP's reception status of the Cross-BSS CSI report frame. The sharing AP selects a suitable shared AP from the candidate shared APs based on the information in the ICR frame.

[0109] For example, in the embodiment shown in Figure 16, sharing AP1 sends an ICF frame to the surrounding candidate shared APs, indicating that it has successfully received the channel sounding information corresponding to the BSS where AP2, AP3, and AP4 are located. AP2, having failed to successfully receive Cross-BSS sounding information, chooses not to reply with an ICR frame. AP3 successfully receives the Cross-BSS sounding information and replies with an ICR frame. AP4 only successfully receives a portion of the Cross-BSS sounding information and replies with an ICR frame. Based on the channel sounding results indicated by the ICR frame, sharing AP1 ultimately selects AP3 for cooperative transmission.

[0110] In some embodiments, an implicit request response strategy may also be adopted. In these embodiments, the first channel probing process includes: a channel probing process between basic service sets; association of the target terminal with the second access point; S320 may include: in response to the end of the first channel probing process, the first access point sends a probe confirmation response to the second access point, wherein the probe confirmation response carries the first channel probing result. In these embodiments, after the Cross-BSS sounding phase ends, if the OBSS AP successfully receives the Cross-BSS CSI report frame, the OBSS AP will proactively send a probe confirmation response frame to the AP, indicating whether the OBSS AP itself has successfully received the Cross-BSS CSI report frame, thereby enabling the AP to obtain this information.

[0111] The detection confirmation response in the above embodiments can also be sent through the detection confirmation response frame shown in Figure 5. For the specific structure, please refer to the above description of the detection confirmation response frame shown in Figure 5.

[0112] In some embodiments, the method may further include: in response to a first channel probe result indicating that the first access point has failed to receive the first channel state information, the first access point receives the first channel state information sent by the second access point. In this embodiment, if the first access point fails to receive the first channel state information, but the second access point successfully receives the first channel state information, the second access point may send the first channel state information to the first access point, thereby enabling the first access point to obtain the required first channel state information from the second access point.

[0113] In some embodiments, the second access point may send first channel state information to the first access point immediately after receiving a probe confirmation response. The first access point, after sending the probe confirmation response, receives the first channel state information sent by the second access point.

[0114] In other embodiments, the second access point may not receive the probe acknowledgment response sent by the first access point. In this case, the second access point may send the first channel state information to the first access point again after a certain period of time has passed since receiving the first channel state information sent by the target terminal. Therefore, in these embodiments, the first access point receives the first channel state information sent by the second access point after a predetermined time has elapsed since sending the probe acknowledgment response. For example, if the AP does not receive the probe acknowledgment response frame after the interval SIFS + probe acknowledgment response frame duration, the AP may choose to forward the cached Cross-BSS CSI information to the OBSS AP or choose to re-execute the Cross-BSS sounding procedure.

[0115] For example, in the embodiment shown in Figure 17, AP1 is associated with STA1, and AP2 is associated with STA2. The APs have negotiated an implicit request channel sounding response strategy. During the Cross-BSS sounding phase, AP2 fails to receive the CSI report frame sent by STA1. After the Cross-BSS sounding phase ends, AP2 actively sends a probe acknowledgment response frame to AP1, indicating that the reception of Cross-BSS CSI has failed. However, AP1 does not receive the probe acknowledgment response frame at this time. Therefore, after waiting for SIFS + probe acknowledgment response frame duration, AP1 chooses to forward the cached Cross-BSS CSI to AP2.

[0116] For example, in the embodiment shown in Figure 18, AP1 is associated with STA1, and AP2 is associated with STA2. The APs have negotiated an implicit request channel sounding response strategy. During the Cross-BSS sounding phase, AP1 and AP2 failed to successfully receive the CSI report frame sent by STA1. After the Cross-BSS sounding phase ends, AP2 actively sends a probe acknowledgment response frame to AP1, indicating that the reception of Cross-BSS CSI has failed. However, at this time, AP1 has not received the probe acknowledgment response frame and has not been able to cache the corresponding Cross-BSS CSI. Therefore, after waiting for SIFS + probe acknowledgment response frame duration, AP1 chooses to re-execute the Cross-BSS Sounding procedure.

[0117] In some embodiments, if the first channel probe result indicates that the first access point has successfully received the first channel state information, the second access point can delete the corresponding Cross-BSS CSI information to release storage resources after receiving the probe confirmation response sent by the first access point. In these embodiments, after the Cross-BSS sounding phase ends, if the OBSS AP successfully receives the Cross-BSS CSI report frame, the OBSS AP will proactively send a probe confirmation response frame to the AP, indicating that the OBSS AP itself has successfully received the Cross-BSS CSI report frame, and the AP can delete the corresponding Cross-BSS CSI information to release storage resources.

[0118] For example, in the embodiment shown in Figure 19, AP1 is associated with STA1, and AP2 is associated with STA2. The APs have negotiated an implicit request channel probe response strategy. During the Cross-BSS sounding phase, AP2 successfully obtains the Cross-BSS CSI information it needs. After the Cross-BSS sounding phase ends, AP2 actively sends a probe confirmation response frame to AP1, indicating successful reception. At this time, AP1 can clear the corresponding Cross-BSS CSI buffer.

[0119] In some embodiments, the aforementioned probe confirmation request frame may be a control frame, such as a trigger frame, a block acknowledgment request (BAR) frame, etc.

[0120] In some embodiments, the aforementioned probe confirmation response frame may be a control frame, such as an ACK frame, a Block Acknowledgment (BA) frame, etc.

[0121] In some embodiments, the probe confirmation request frame and probe confirmation response frame type may be management frames, such as Action frames.

[0122] In some embodiments, the forwarding of Cross-BSS CSI information can be transmitted via air interface or wired backhaul between APs.

[0123] Figure 20 shows a flowchart of a method for obtaining channel detection results according to an exemplary embodiment of this application. This method can be executed by a second access point. This method is an execution scheme on the second access point side corresponding to the method shown in Figure 3, and has the same or corresponding embodiments as the above method. To avoid repetitive limitations, only the relevant operations on the second access point side are described below. Other matters not covered can be referred to the description of the relevant embodiments above. As shown in Figure 20, the method for obtaining channel detection results mainly includes the following steps.

[0124] S2010, the second access point and the first access point perform the first channel detection procedure, wherein the first access point and the second access point are different access points among multiple access points in the multi-access point cooperative transmission.

[0125] S2020, after the first channel probing process ends, the first channel probing result sent by the first access point is received, wherein the first channel probing result is used to indicate whether the first access point has successfully received the first channel status information sent by the target terminal for the first channel probing process.

[0126] The first access point can send the first channel probe result in the manner described in the above embodiments, as detailed in the relevant descriptions above, which will not be repeated here.

[0127] In some embodiments, the second access point is a shared access point among multiple access points; before receiving the first channel probe result sent by the first access point, the method may further include: the second access point sending a probe acknowledgment request to the first access point; and receiving the first channel probe result sent by the first access point may include: the second access point receiving a probe acknowledgment response sent by the first access point, wherein the probe acknowledgment response carries the first channel probe result. In these embodiments, the second access point can send a probe acknowledgment request to the first access point when it needs to know whether the first access point has successfully received the aforementioned first channel state information, thereby saving signaling overhead.

[0128] In some embodiments, the aforementioned detection confirmation request may carry a second channel detection result from the second access point. This second channel detection result indicates whether the second access point has successfully received the second channel status information sent by the target terminal for the second channel detection procedure. Through these embodiments, the second access point can send the second channel detection result to the first access point, thereby enabling the first access point to know whether the second access point has successfully received the second channel status information sent by the target terminal for the second channel detection procedure.

[0129] In some embodiments, the second access point is a shared access point among a plurality of access points; receiving the first channel probe result sent by the first access point may include: the second access point receiving a probe confirmation request sent by the first access point, wherein the probe confirmation request carries the first channel probe result.

[0130] In some embodiments, after the second access point receives the probe confirmation request sent by the first access point, the method further includes: the second access point sending a probe confirmation response to the first access point, wherein the probe confirmation response carries a second channel probe result, the second channel probe result being used to indicate whether the second access point has successfully received the second channel status information sent by the target terminal for the second channel probe procedure.

[0131] In some embodiments, the second access point sending a probe confirmation request to the first access point may include: the second access point sending the probe confirmation request to the first access point via an initial control response frame; and / or, the second access point receiving a probe confirmation response sent by the first access point may include: the second access point receiving the probe confirmation response sent by the first access point via an initial control frame.

[0132] In some embodiments, the method may further include: in response to the first channel probe result indicating that the first access point has not successfully received the first channel state information and the second access point has not cached the first channel state information, the second access point re-executes the first channel probe procedure.

[0133] In some embodiments, the method may further include: in response to the first channel probe result indicating that the first access point has not successfully received the first channel state information, and the second access point caches the first channel state information, the second access point sends the first channel state to the first access point.

[0134] In some embodiments, the method may further include: in response to the first channel detection result indicating that the first access point has successfully received the first channel state information, and the second access point caches the first channel state information, the second access point deletes the cached first channel state information.

[0135] In some embodiments, the first channel detection process includes: a channel detection process between basic service sets; the target terminal is associated with the second access point; receiving the first channel detection result sent by the first access point may include: the second access point receiving a detection confirmation response sent by the first access point, wherein the detection confirmation response carries the first channel detection result.

[0136] In one or more of the above embodiments, the method may further include: in response to the first channel detection result indicating that the first access point has successfully received the first channel state information, the second access point deletes the cached first channel state information.

[0137] In one or more of the above embodiments, the method may further include one of the following:

[0138] In response to a probe confirmation response sent by the first access point indicating that the first access point has not successfully received the first channel state information, and the second access point has cached the first channel state information, the second access point sends the cached first channel state information back to the first access point; in response to not receiving a probe confirmation response sent by the first access point within a predetermined time period, and the second access point has cached the first channel state information, the second access point sends the cached first channel state information back to the first access point; in response to a probe confirmation response sent by the first access point indicating that the first access point has not successfully received the first channel state information or has not received a probe confirmation response sent by the first access point within a predetermined time period, and the second access point has not cached the first channel state information, the second access point initiates the first channel probe procedure.

[0139] In one or more of the above embodiments, before the second access point receives the first channel probe result sent by the first access point, the method may further include: the second access point selecting a response strategy for channel probe, wherein the response strategy is used to instruct the first access point to send the first channel probe result to the second access point.

[0140] In some embodiments, the response strategy for channel probe selection by the second access point may include: the second access point selecting a channel probe response strategy negotiated with the first access point during the negotiation phase; or, the second access point selecting a channel probe response strategy indicated by a BFRP frame or NDPA frame during the first channel probe procedure.

[0141] Through the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application, the first access point and the second access point can notify each other whether they have successfully received the required channel state information, so that the shared access point can select the shared access point that has successfully received the required channel state information when selecting the shared access point, thus ensuring the reliability of multi-access point cooperative transmission.

[0142] As shown in Figure 21, this application embodiment also provides a communication device 2100, including a processor 2101 and a memory 2102. The memory 2102 stores a program or instructions that can run on the processor 2101. For example, when the communication device 2100 is a first access point, the program or instructions, when executed by the processor 2101, implement the various steps of the above-mentioned channel detection result indication method embodiment, and can achieve the same technical effect. When the communication device 2100 is a second access point, such as a base station, the program or instructions, when executed by the processor 2101, implement the various steps of the above-mentioned channel detection result acquisition method embodiment, and can achieve the same technical effect. To avoid repetition, it will not be described again here.

[0143] As shown in Figure 22, an embodiment of this application also provides a network-side device, including a memory 2220, a processor 2200, a transceiver 2210, a bus interface, and a program stored in the memory 2220 and executable on the processor 2200. The processor 2200 is used to read the program from the memory 2220 and execute the following processes:

[0144] Determine the first channel detection result, wherein the first channel detection result is used to indicate whether the first access point has successfully received the first channel status information sent by the target terminal in response to the first channel detection procedure;

[0145] The first channel probe result is sent to the second access point, wherein the first access point and the second access point are different access points among multiple access points cooperating in transmission. Alternatively,

[0146] After the first channel probing process ends, the first channel probing result sent by the first access point is received. The first channel probing result is used to indicate whether the first access point has successfully received the first channel status information sent by the target terminal in response to the first channel probing process. The first access point and the second access point are different access points among multiple access points in a multi-access point cooperative transmission.

[0147] In Figure 22, the bus architecture may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, specifically linking various circuits of one or more processors represented by processor 2200 and memory represented by memory 2220. The bus architecture may also link various other circuits such as peripheral devices, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and therefore will not be further described in this embodiment. The bus interface provides an interface. Transceiver 2210 may be multiple elements, including transmitters and transceivers, providing a unit for communicating with various other devices over a transmission medium. Processor 2200 is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and memory 2220 may store data used by processor 1300 during operation.

[0148] Those skilled in the art will understand that the structure shown in FIG22 does not constitute a limitation on the network-side device 2200, and may include more or fewer components than shown, or combine certain components, or use different component arrangements.

[0149] In one exemplary embodiment, a readable storage medium is also provided, which stores a program or instructions. The stored program or instructions are processed by an initial processor to execute all or part of the steps in the method for instructing the channel detection results described above, or to execute all or part of the steps in the method for acquiring the channel detection results described above, and can achieve the same technical effect.

[0150] For example, the readable storage medium can be a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), magnetic tape, floppy disk, and optical data storage device, etc.

[0151] In one exemplary embodiment, a computer program product is also provided, the computer program product including a computer program stored on a non-transitory readable storage medium, the computer program including program instructions, which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform all or part of the steps in the above-described method for indicating channel detection results, or to implement all or part of the steps in the above-described method for obtaining channel detection results, and achieve the same technical effect.

[0152] Other embodiments of this application will readily occur to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. This application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of this application that follow the general principles of this application and include common knowledge or customary techniques in the art not disclosed herein. The specification and examples are to be considered exemplary only, and the true scope and spirit of this application are indicated by the claims.

[0153] It should be understood that this application is not limited to the precise structure described above and shown in the accompanying drawings, and various modifications and changes can be made without departing from its scope. The scope of this application is limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for indicating channel sounding results, comprising: The first access point sends a first channel probe result to the second access point, wherein the first channel probe result is used to indicate whether the first access point has successfully received the first channel status information sent by the target terminal in response to the first channel probe procedure.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The first access point is the shared access point among the plurality of access points; Before the first access point sends the first channel probe result to the second access point, the method further includes: the first access point receiving a probe confirmation request from the second access point; Sending the first channel detection result from the first access point to the second access point includes: the first access point sending a detection confirmation response to the second access point, wherein the detection confirmation response carries the first channel detection result.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein, The detection confirmation request carries the second channel detection result of the second access point, wherein the second channel detection result is used to indicate whether the second access point has successfully received the second channel status information sent by the target terminal in response to the second channel detection process.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein, The method further includes: In response to the second channel probe result indicating that the second access point has not successfully received the second channel status information, and the first access point has not cached the second channel status information, the first access point re-executes the second channel probe procedure.

5. The method according to claim 3, wherein, The method further includes: In response to the second channel probe result indicating that the second access point has successfully received the second channel state information, the first access point deletes the cached second channel state information; or... In response to the second channel probe result indicating that the second access point has not successfully received the second channel status information, the first access point sends the cached second channel status information back to the first access point.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The first access point is a shared access point among the plurality of access points; The first access point sends a first channel detection result to the second access point, including: the first access point sends a detection confirmation request to the second access point, wherein the detection confirmation request carries the first channel detection result.

7. The method according to claim 3, wherein, The first channel detection procedure and the second channel detection procedure include at least one of the following: a channel detection procedure within a basic service set, and a channel detection procedure between basic service sets.

8. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 6, wherein, The detection confirmation request is transmitted via a detection confirmation request frame, which includes the following fields: The channel detection type field is used to indicate whether the channel detection process associated with the detection confirmation request frame is a channel detection process within a basic service set or a channel detection process between basic service sets. The channel probe count field indicates which channel probe process the probe confirmation request frame is associated with; The fragment identifier field is used to indicate the fragment number of the channel state information associated with the probe confirmation request frame; The receive status field indicates whether the channel status information associated with the probe confirmation request frame has been successfully received.

9. The method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein, The first access point receiving the probe confirmation request from the second access point includes: the first access point receiving the probe confirmation request sent by the second access point via an initial control frame; and / or The first access point sends a probe confirmation response to the second access point, including: the first access point sends the probe confirmation response to the second access point through an initial control response frame.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The first channel detection procedure includes: a channel detection procedure between basic service sets; the target terminal is associated with the second access point; The first access point sends the first channel probe result to the second access point, including: In response to the end of the first channel probing process, the first access point sends a probing confirmation response to the second access point, wherein the probing confirmation response carries the first channel probing result.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein, After the first access point sends a probe confirmation response to the second access point, the method further includes: In response to the first channel detection result indicating that the first access point has not successfully received the first channel status information, the first access point receives the first channel status information sent by the second access point.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein, The first access point receives the first channel state information sent by the second access point, including: The first access point receives the first channel status information sent by the second access point after a predetermined time.

13. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 5, 10 to 12, wherein, The detection confirmation response is transmitted via a detection confirmation response frame, wherein the detection confirmation response frame includes the following fields: The channel detection type field is used to indicate whether the channel detection process associated with the detection confirmation response frame is a channel detection process within a basic service set or a channel detection process between basic service sets. The channel probe count field indicates which channel probe process the probe confirmation response frame is associated with; The fragment identifier field is used to indicate the fragment number of the channel state information associated with the probe confirmation response frame; The receive status field indicates whether the channel status information associated with the probe confirmation response frame has been successfully received.

14. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, 10 to 12, wherein, Before the first access point sends the first channel probe result to the second access point, the method further includes: The first access point selects a response strategy for channel probing, wherein the response strategy is used to instruct the first access point to send the first channel probing result to the second access point.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein, The first access point selects a response strategy for channel probing, including: The first access point selects the channel probe response strategy negotiated with the second access point during the negotiation phase; or, The first access point selects a response strategy for channel probing indicated by beamforming feedback report polling BFRP frames or empty data packet announcement NDPA frames during the first channel probing process.

16. A method for obtaining channel sounding results, comprising: After the first channel probing process ends, the second access point receives the first channel probing result sent by the first access point. The first channel probing result is used to indicate whether the first access point has successfully received the first channel status information sent by the target terminal in response to the first channel probing process. The first access point and the second access point are different access points among multiple access points in a multi-access point cooperative transmission.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein, The second access point is a shared access point among the plurality of access points; Before receiving the first channel probe result sent by the first access point, the method further includes: the second access point sending a probe confirmation request to the first access point; The receiving of the first channel probe result sent by the first access point includes: the second access point receiving a probe confirmation response sent by the first access point, wherein the probe confirmation response carries the first channel probe result.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein, The detection confirmation request carries the second channel detection result of the second access point, wherein the second channel detection result is used to indicate whether the second access point has successfully received the second channel status information sent by the target terminal in response to the second channel detection process.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein, The second access point is the shared access point among the plurality of access points; The receipt of the first channel probe result sent by the first access point includes: the second access point receiving a probe confirmation request sent by the first access point, wherein the probe confirmation request carries the first channel probe result.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein, After the second access point receives the probe confirmation request sent by the first access point, the method further includes: The second access point sends a probe confirmation response to the first access point, wherein the probe confirmation response carries a second channel probe result, which is used to indicate whether the second access point has successfully received the second channel status information sent by the target terminal in response to the second channel probe procedure.

21. The method according to claim 17 or 18, wherein, The second access point sends a probe confirmation request to the first access point, including: the second access point sends the probe confirmation request to the first access point through an initial control response frame; The second access point receives the probe confirmation response sent by the first access point, including: the second access point receives the probe confirmation response sent by the first access point through an initial control frame.

22. The method according to any one of claims 16 to 20, wherein, The method further includes: In response to the first channel probe result indicating that the first access point has not successfully received the first channel status information and the second access point has not cached the first channel status information, the second access point re-executes the first channel probe procedure.

23. The method according to claim 16, wherein, The first channel detection procedure includes: a channel detection procedure between basic service sets; the target terminal is associated with the second access point; The receiving of the first channel probe result sent by the first access point includes: the second access point receiving a probe confirmation response sent by the first access point, wherein the probe confirmation response carries the first channel probe result.

24. The method according to any one of claims 16 to 20, 23, wherein, The method further includes: In response to the first channel detection result indicating that the first access point has successfully received the first channel status information, the second access point deletes the cached first channel status information.

25. The method according to claim 24, wherein, The method also includes one of the following: In response to the probe confirmation response sent by the first access point indicating that the first access point has not successfully received the first channel state information, and the second access point has cached the first channel state information, the second access point sends the cached first channel state information back to the first access point. If no probe confirmation response is received from the first access point within a predetermined time period, and the second access point has the first channel state information cached, the second access point sends the cached first channel state information to the first access point. In response to a probe confirmation response sent by the first access point indicating that the first access point has not successfully received the first channel status information or has not received a probe confirmation response sent by the first access point within a predetermined time period, and the second access point has not cached the first channel status information, the second access point initiates the first channel probe process.

26. The method according to any one of claims 16 to 20, 23, wherein, Before the second access point receives the first channel probe result sent by the first access point, the method further includes: The second access point selects a response strategy for channel probing, wherein the response strategy is used to instruct the first access point to send the first channel probing result to the second access point.

27. The method according to claim 26, wherein, The response strategy for the second access point to select channel probe includes: The second access point selects the channel probe response strategy negotiated with the first access point during the negotiation phase; or, The second access point selects a response strategy for channel probing indicated by beamforming feedback reports polling BFRP frames or empty data packet announcement NDPA frames during the first channel probing process.

28. An electronic device comprising a processor and a memory, the memory storing a program or instructions executable on the processor, the program or instructions, when executed by the processor, implementing the steps of the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 27.

29. A readable storage medium on which a program or instructions are stored, wherein the program or instructions, when executed by a processor, implement the steps of the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 27.

30. A computer program product comprising a computer program stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, the computer program including program instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the steps of the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 27.

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