CN114698131A

CN114698131A - Uplink data scheduling method and device

Info

Publication number: CN114698131A
Application number: CN202011588147.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 赵望生
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-12-29
Filing date: 2020-12-29
Publication date: 2022-07-01

Abstract

The application relates to the field of communication, and discloses an uplink data scheduling method and device, which are used for solving the problem that uplink scheduling cannot be supported in wireless equipment existing before Wi-Fi6 is released in the prior art. The method comprises the following steps: an Access Point (AP) sends at least one piece of indication information to a plurality of Stations (STA) to schedule each STA to send uplink data in sequence, wherein at least one STA in the plurality of STAs does not support a sixth generation wireless network Wi-Fi 6; and the AP receives the uplink data sequentially sent by the STAs.

Description

Uplink data scheduling method and device

Technical Field

The embodiment of the application relates to the technical field of communication, in particular to an uplink data scheduling method and device.

Background

At present, a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) technology has been developed to a sixth generation wireless network technology (Wi-Fi 6), and from Wi-Fi6, compared with previous generations of wireless network technologies, uplink scheduling may be supported, for example, a wireless Access Point (AP) may implement a Station (STA) to send uplink data, so as to avoid a collision caused by multiple STAs sending uplink data at the same time. The Wi-Fi 6-supported uplink scheduling is realized by newly introducing a trigger frame mechanism (trigger frames) in the Wi-Fi6 standard, and scheduling the STA supporting the Wi-Fi6 standard by the AP by sending the trigger frame.

However, in practical applications, for wireless devices that do not support Wi-Fi6, there still exists a problem of air interface resource occupation conflict, because multiple wireless devices usually occupy air interface resources in a contention manner, so that the wireless devices participating in contention cannot ensure that themselves can acquire occupation opportunities, and further, a problem of uncontrollable delay is caused.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides an uplink data scheduling method and device, which are used for solving the problem that uplink scheduling cannot be supported in wireless equipment existing before Wi-Fi6 is released in the prior art.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an uplink data scheduling method, where the method includes: the method comprises the steps that an Access Point (AP) sends at least one piece of indication information to a plurality of Stations (STA) to schedule the STAs to sequentially send uplink data, wherein at least one STA in the STAs does not support a sixth generation wireless network Wi-Fi 6; and the AP receives the uplink data sequentially sent by the STAs.

In the method, compared with an implementation mode that a plurality of STAs occupy air interface resources in a contention mode in the prior art, in a scenario where uplink data transmission is mainly performed, the method and the device according to the embodiment of the present application can indicate, through the AP, a sequence in which the plurality of STAs transmit uplink data, thereby avoiding a collision problem caused by autonomous contention of the STAs and an uncontrollable delay problem caused by random contention. Therefore, the method provided by the embodiment of the application can provide more guaranteed service delay.

In one possible design, the AP sends first indication information to a first STA, where the first indication information is used to indicate the first STA to send uplink data; the AP receives uplink data sent by the first STA; the AP receives second indication information sent by the first STA, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating that the first STA finishes sending; the AP sends third indication information to a second STA so as to schedule the second STA to send uplink data; wherein the first STA does not support Wi-Fi 6.

In the design, the embodiment of the application provides an implementation mode that the AP instructs a plurality of STAs to transmit uplink data, the AP sequentially transmits instruction information to each STA, and the STA determines that the STA can transmit the uplink data after receiving the instruction information; and, after the first STA finishes transmitting the uplink data, the AP may continue to schedule the second STA to transmit the uplink data. Therefore, the AP instructs the STAs to transmit uplink data one by one in turn, so that a more guaranteed service delay can be provided.

In one possible design, the second STA supports Wi-Fi6, and the third indication information is a trigger frame; wherein the first STA does not support trigger frames.

In the design, in a scenario where multiple STAs exist simultaneously for devices supporting Wi-Fi6 and devices not supporting Wi-Fi6, for STAs supporting Wi-Fi6, a trigger frame mechanism disclosed in a Wi-Fi6 protocol may also be used to implement uplink scheduling, so that some STAs (i.e., STAs supporting Wi-Fi 6) implement uplink scheduling using trigger frames, and the remaining STAs (i.e., STAs not supporting Wi-Fi 6) implement uplink data transmission in sequence by using the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, thereby providing more guaranteed service delay.

In one possible design, the first indication information is further used to indicate a first transmission duration for the first STA to transmit uplink data; and if the AP does not receive the second indication information sent by the first STA and starts to time from the time when the first indication information is sent to the first STA to the first sending time, the AP sends third indication information to a second STA so as to schedule the second STA to send uplink data.

In this design, an embodiment of the present application further provides a timeout protection mechanism, so as to avoid a problem that uplink scheduling cannot be continuously performed due to the fact that the AP does not receive indication information indicating that the STA has finished sending uplink data, or the STA does not receive the indication information of the AP, and by setting a sending duration for each STA, it is achieved that scheduling of a next STA can be continuously performed even if the AP does not receive a reply from the STA, and therefore a more guaranteed service delay can be provided.

In one possible design, the information type of the first indication information is one of the following information types: management frames, control frames, data frames.

In the design, several possible information types of the indication information sent by the AP are given, and uplink scheduling of the STA is realized through the information types which are easily transmitted by the AP and the STA, so that the problem of uncontrollable time delay caused by the fact that a plurality of STAs autonomously compete for air interface sending opportunities in the prior art can be avoided.

In one possible design, the AP broadcasts fourth indication information to the STAs, where the fourth indication information includes device identifiers of the STAs and transmission time information corresponding to each device identifier; wherein the transmission time information corresponding to each device identifier is allocated to the plurality of STAs by the AP.

In this design, an embodiment of the present application provides that an AP instructs multiple STAs to transmit uplink data, and the AP may further instruct, in a broadcast manner, each STA to transmit transmission time information of the uplink data. Therefore, time is allocated for sending by the AP to the plurality of STAs, so that more guaranteed service delay can be provided.

In one possible design, the fourth indication information further includes a second sending duration for indicating an effective time of the fourth indication information, so that the plurality of STAs send uplink data according to the sending time information within the effective time.

In this design, a possible implementation manner is given in which the AP allocates time to multiple STAs by broadcasting, so that the effective time indicated by the broadcast message sent by the AP can be customized. For example, the AP may reallocate time for each polling of its associated STAs, or may allocate time for a period of time thereafter. By setting the effective time of the AP broadcast message, the AP can adjust the result of time allocation timely according to service requirements and the like, so that more guaranteed service delay can be provided, and the requirement of a plurality of STAs for sending uplink data can be met to the greatest extent.

In one possible design, the sending time information includes a sending start time and a third sending duration.

In this design, in the embodiment of the present application, the transmission time information allocated by the AP to the multiple STAs may be determined by the transmission start time and the transmission duration, so that the accuracy of the STA transmitting the uplink data may be ensured, and further, a more guaranteed service delay may be provided.

In a possible design, after receiving probe request frames sent by a plurality of STAs respectively, the AP carries fifth indication information in probe response frames returned to the plurality of STAs; wherein the fifth indication information is used to indicate that the STAs do not actively contend for an opportunity to transmit uplink data, and the probe request frame and the probe response frame are used to associate each STA with the AP.

In the design, in the association process of the AP and the STA, the negotiation is realized through information interaction, so that the problem of uncontrollable delay caused by autonomous contention of the STA is avoided.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an uplink data scheduling method, where the method includes: the method comprises the steps that a plurality of STAs receive at least one piece of indication information sent by an AP, the indication information is used for the AP to schedule each STA to send uplink data in sequence, and at least one STA in the STAs does not support Wi-Fi 6; and the plurality of STAs sequentially transmit uplink data according to the indication of the at least one piece of indication information.

In one possible design, a first STA receives first indication information sent by the AP, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the first STA sends uplink data; the first STA sends uplink data to the AP; the first STA sends second indication information to the AP, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating that the first STA finishes sending so that the AP sends third indication information to a second STA, and the third indication information is used for indicating the AP to schedule the second STA to send uplink data; wherein the first STA does not support Wi-Fi 6.

In one possible design, the first indication information is further used to indicate a first transmission duration for the first STA to transmit uplink data; and the first STA sends uplink data to the AP within the time less than the first sending time length.

In one possible design, the multiple STAs receive fourth indication information broadcast by the AP, where the fourth indication information includes device identifiers of the multiple STAs and transmission time information corresponding to each device identifier; sending time information corresponding to each device identifier to the AP for the plurality of STAs; the multiple STAs respectively search the sending time information corresponding to the equipment identification of each STA from the fourth indication information; and each STA sends uplink data to the AP according to the searched sending time information.

In a possible design, the fourth indication information further includes a second sending duration used for indicating the valid time of the fourth indication information; and each STA sends uplink data to the AP according to the found sending time information in the effective time.

In one possible design, the sending time information includes a sending start time and a third sending duration; and when the transmission starting time arrives, each STA starts to transmit uplink data to the AP, and transmits the uplink data to the AP within the third transmission time length.

In one possible design, the STAs may send probe request frames to the AP respectively; the plurality of STAs receive a probe response frame returned by the AP, wherein the probe response frame carries fifth indication information; wherein the fifth indication information is used to indicate that the STAs do not actively contend for an opportunity to transmit uplink data, and the probe request frame and the probe response frame are used to associate each STA with the AP.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an uplink data scheduling apparatus, which is disposed on an access point AP, and includes a sending unit and a receiving unit, where: the sending unit is used for sending at least one piece of indication information to a plurality of Stations (STA) to schedule each STA to send uplink data in sequence, and at least one STA in the plurality of STAs does not support a sixth generation wireless network Wi-Fi 6; the receiving unit is configured to receive uplink data sequentially sent by the plurality of STAs.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an uplink data scheduling apparatus, which is disposed on any STA of a plurality of stations, where the apparatus includes a sending unit and a receiving unit, where: the receiving unit is configured to receive at least one piece of indication information sent by an AP, where the indication information is used for the AP to schedule the STAs to sequentially send uplink data, and at least one STA of the STAs does not support Wi-Fi 6; and the sending unit is used for sequentially sending the uplink data according to the indication of the at least one piece of indication information.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, including: a processor and a memory; the memory for storing a computer program; the processor is configured to execute the computer program stored in the memory to cause the communication device to perform the method of any one of the possible designs of the first aspect or to perform the method of any one of the possible designs of the second aspect.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, including: a processor and an interface circuit; the interface circuit is used for receiving code instructions and transmitting the code instructions to the processor; the processor is configured to execute the code instructions to perform the method of any one of the possible designs of the first aspect or to perform the method of any one of the possible designs of the second aspect.

In a seventh aspect, this application provides a readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause a method in any one of the possible designs of the first aspect to be implemented, or cause a method in any one of the possible designs of the second aspect to be implemented.

In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product, including: computer program code which, when run by a processor of a communication apparatus, causes the communication apparatus to perform the method of any of the above possible designs of the first aspect or the method of any of the above possible designs of the second aspect.

In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, including the uplink data scheduling apparatus in the third aspect and the uplink data scheduling apparatus in the fourth aspect.

For the beneficial effects of the second aspect to the ninth aspect, please refer to the beneficial effects of the possible designs in the first aspect, which are not described herein again.

Drawings

Fig. 1a is a schematic structural diagram of a WLAN communication system architecture according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 1b is a schematic structural diagram of another WLAN communication system architecture according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 1c is a schematic structural diagram of air interface transmission in a DCF mode according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2a to fig. 2b are schematic views of a scene sent by an air interface;

fig. 3a is a schematic diagram of a network topology according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3b is a schematic flowchart of an uplink data scheduling method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4a is an interaction diagram of an uplink data scheduling method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4b is a schematic view of a scenario of an uplink data scheduling method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4c is a second scenario of a method for scheduling uplink data according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5a is a second schematic diagram illustrating an interaction of an uplink data scheduling method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5b is a third scenario diagram of a method for scheduling uplink data according to the present embodiment;

fig. 6a is a third interaction diagram of an uplink data scheduling method according to the present embodiment;

fig. 6b is a fourth scenario diagram of an uplink data scheduling method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a fifth scenario diagram of an uplink data scheduling method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of an uplink data scheduling apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a second schematic structural diagram of an uplink data scheduling apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of an uplink data scheduling apparatus further provided in this embodiment;

fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a chip provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present application clearer, the present application will be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present application, and not all embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.

The method provided by the embodiment of the application can be applied to a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) communication system, such as a Wi-Fi communication system.

Fig. 1a is a schematic diagram of a WLAN communication system architecture to which the method provided in the embodiment of the present application can be applied. The WLAN communication system includes a wireless Access Point (AP) 101 and a wireless Station (STA) 102. The WLAN communication system may also include a gateway 103. For example, the gateway 103 may be a switch. The AP 101 is a wireless device providing wireless access service and data access, and allows other wireless devices in the wlan communication system to access. The STA 102 is a wireless terminal accessing the AP 101, and examples of the wireless terminal include a mobile phone (mobile phone), a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a palmtop computer, a Mobile Internet Device (MID), a Virtual Reality (VR) device, an Augmented Reality (AR) device, and a wireless terminal in a smart home (smart home).

In a WLAN communication system, 1 AP may access multiple STAs. For example, another wlan communication system architecture illustrated in fig. 1b shows that the wlan communication system includes an AP, and STAs 1, … … and STA n are connected to the AP.

In the Wi-Fi technology, wireless devices such as STAs and APs transmit or receive signals and data over the air interface by occupying air interface resources. Wi-Fi technical standards defined by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands have been developed to 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6), and Wi-Fi6 starts to support uplink scheduling, i.e., uplink data can be scheduled by an AP, so that the AP schedules the STA when to send the uplink data, and the STA does not need a competition opportunity. For the sake of understanding, the Wi-Fi technology development process is briefly described in table 1 below, as follows:

TABLE 1 Wi-Fi technical development course

IEEE802.11 protocol	Year of year	New naming mode	Operating frequency band	Whether or not to support uplink scheduling
					802.11	1997		2.4GHz	Whether or not
802.11b	1999 year	Wi-Fi 1	2.4GHz	Whether or not
					802.11a	1999 year	Wi-Fi 2	5GHz	Whether or not
802.11g	2003	Wi-Fi 3	2.4GHz	Whether or not
					802.11n	2009 old	Wi-Fi 4	2.4GHz and 5GHz	Whether or not
802.11ac	2013	Wi-Fi 5	5GHz	Whether or not
					802.11ax	2019	Wi-Fi 6	2.4GHz and 5GHz	Is that

From the above table 1, it can be seen that uplink scheduling can be supported from Wi-Fi6, but uplink scheduling cannot be implemented before the Wi-Fi6 specification is released, so that a wireless device not supporting Wi-Fi6 cannot support uplink scheduling. In addition, a trigger frame mechanism is adopted in the Wi-Fi6 specification to implement uplink scheduling, that is, the AP sends a trigger frame to the STA to schedule the STA to send uplink data, but the requirements on data transmission time, frequency, power and the like of the STA are relatively strict, so that a chip capable of supporting Wi-Fi6 is required to support the STA, and a chip adopted by a wireless device which is not released Wi-Fi6 before cannot achieve the purpose of implementing uplink scheduling through the trigger frame mechanism. In this case, the STA needs to occupy the air interface resource in a contention manner to obtain the opportunity of air interface transmission, however, preemption collisions are more likely to occur between wireless devices in the contention-based manner, and the STA cannot ensure that it can obtain the occupied opportunity when the air interface is idle, which may cause uncertainty.

Currently, a plurality of STAs generally use a Distributed Coordination Function (DCF) based on carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) to compete for occupying air interface resources. In the DCF mode, before transmitting uplink data, the STA first monitors the channel state, and performs random backoff if the channel is continuously idle for a period of inter-frame interval. And if the air interface is kept idle all the time until the backoff is finished, starting to send the uplink data. For example, referring to fig. 1c, after the idle port is changed from a busy state to an idle state, the STA performs random backoff according to a time slot after waiting for a distributed inter-frame spacing (DIFS), and starts to transmit uplink data if the idle port is still idle.

Although the foregoing manner may reduce the probability of preempting a collision, there may still be a possibility of collision, for example, refer to fig. 2a, which is a schematic diagram of an air interface transmission scenario, in which random backoff of STA1 and STA 2 is just finished at the same time, and therefore uplink data is transmitted at the same time, thereby causing collision 1. Or, since the AP and each STA are visible, but the STA and the STA are not necessarily visible, in a process that the STA acquires an air interface transmission opportunity through a contention mode, there may be a hidden node, which may cause mutual interference, causing an air interface transmission failure and a low air interface utilization rate, for example, in fig. 2a, when STA 3 is transmitting uplink data, STA 4 considers that the air interface is idle due to invisibility between STA 4 and STA 3, and transmits the uplink data, thereby causing collision 2.

In the prior art, in order to reduce the preemption collision, there is a problem that the collision caused by the hidden node problem can be reduced by sending a request to send/clear to send (RTS/CTS) protocol message, but although the collision probability can be reduced, the collision still may exist. For example, referring to fig. 2b, when STA 2 sends an RTS message, STA 2 and STA 3 are not visible to each other, and thus STA 3 cannot detect that STA 2 is sending the RTS message and also sends the RTS message, which results in a collision between STA 2 and STA 3 sending the RTS message.

In view of this, embodiments of the present application provide an uplink data scheduling method and apparatus, which are applied to an application scenario in which a wireless device that does not support Wi-Fi6 exists, and can enable a plurality of wireless devices to occupy air interface resources in order, avoid preemption conflict, reduce uncertainty of occupation of the air interface resources by the wireless devices, and do not need extra waiting time, thereby facilitating service experience improvement. Because the principle of solving the problem of the method and the device is the same, the embodiments of the method part and the device part can be mutually referred, and repeated parts are not described again.

The embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the present application, the plurality of the present invention means two or more. "and/or" describes the association relationship of the associated objects, meaning that there may be three relationships, e.g., a and/or B, which may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. The character "/" generally indicates that the former and latter associated objects are in an "or" relationship. In addition, it should be understood that although the terms first, second, etc. may be used to describe various data in the embodiments of the present application, these data should not be limited to these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish the data from each other.

The method provided by the application is suitable for the uplink flow scene, namely, a plurality of STAs need to send uplink data to the AP. Referring to fig. 3a, a schematic diagram of a network topology according to an embodiment of the present application is assumed that a plurality of STAs sending uplink data are STA1, … …, and STA n, respectively. If at least one STA of the STAs 1 and … … does not support Wi-Fi6, the STA may contend for an opportunity to transmit uplink data by itself, which may cause a collision problem.

In order to solve the problem that the wireless equipment which does not support Wi-Fi6 generates preemption conflict when sending uplink data, the application provides an uplink data scheduling method to realize the uplink data transmission of a plurality of STAs, the plurality of STAs do not need to compete for sending opportunities by themselves, but schedule the plurality of STAs to send the uplink data in sequence through the AP, and therefore the AP can receive the uplink data sent by the plurality of STAs in sequence.

One possible design idea is that each STA is scheduled one by one in turn by the AP to achieve scheduling of multiple STAs to send uplink data in sequence; another possible design idea is that the scheduling of multiple STAs to sequentially transmit uplink data is implemented by broadcasting an indication message including transmission time information allocated to each STA by the AP; or, the transmission time information may also be fixedly configured for each STA, so that each STA transmits uplink data according to the configured transmission time information. According to the method, the plurality of STAs are scheduled through the AP, so that the problem of sending conflict when the uplink data are sent is avoided, and guaranteed service time delay can be provided.

Fig. 3b is a schematic flowchart of an uplink data scheduling method according to an embodiment of the present application. The implementation process of the method is specifically described in the following steps:

step S301: the AP sends at least one piece of indication information to a plurality of STAs to schedule each STA to send uplink data in sequence, wherein at least one STA in the STAs does not support Wi-Fi 6.

Step S302: and the AP receives the uplink data sequentially sent by the STAs.

Based on the design idea of the present application, the following specifically introduces an uplink data scheduling method provided by the present application through several embodiments.

Example one

Fig. 4a is an interactive schematic view of an uplink data scheduling method according to an embodiment of the present application. The implementation process of the method is specifically described in the following steps:

step 401: the AP sends first indication information to a first STA, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating the first STA to send uplink data.

In particular, the AP may first determine the first STA according to a predefined scheduling order. The predefined scheduling order is the sequence of transmitting uplink data allocated by the AP to the plurality of STAs. For example, assuming that there are 4 STAs STA1, STA 2, STA 3 and STA 4, one possible predefined scheduling order allocated for these 4 STAs may be: STA1 → STA 2 → STA 3 → STA 4, that is, when the AP starts to perform uplink scheduling, STA1 is scheduled first, and after STA1 uplink scheduling is completed, STA 2 … … is continuously scheduled, and so on; alternatively, if STA1 has a strong need for transmitting uplink data, another possible predefined scheduling order allocated to these 4 STAs may also be: STA1 → STA 2 → STA1 → STA 3 → STA1 → STA 4 → STA 1; the setting manner and the order of the predefined scheduling order are not limited in the present application.

In a possible application scenario, the STAs are all wireless devices that do not support Wi-Fi6, and in the prior art, the STAs compete for occupation opportunities of air interface resources in a contention manner, but an occupation conflict problem may occur. When the application is implemented, the multiple STAs do not need to acquire an air interface transmission opportunity through competition as in the prior art, but wait for the scheduling indication of the AP, so that the uplink data is orderly transmitted, and the collision problem is avoided.

Illustratively, the purpose of the AP sending the first indication information is to enable the first STA to send uplink data according to the scheduling indication of the AP, so after the first STA receives the first indication information of the AP, it may be determined that it may send uplink data at this time.

In one possible implementation, the first indication information may be implemented by corresponding management frames (management frames), control frames (control frames), or data frames (data frames) defined by the AP through the Wi-Fi technology standard, for example, may be Action frames in the management frames, or the like, or may also be data packets in the data frames.

Step 402: the first STA transmits uplink data to the AP.

Illustratively, after the first STA confirms that the first indication information sent by the AP is received, the first STA starts sending uplink data to the AP.

Step 403: and the first STA sends second indication information to the AP, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating that the first STA finishes sending.

For example, after sending the uplink data, the first STA may send second indication information to the AP, where the second indication information indicates that the AP schedules the next STA, and the second indication information may be, for example, an Action message.

Step 404: and the AP sends third indication information to the second STA so as to schedule the next STA to be scheduled.

In specific implementation, the AP may continue to determine the next STA to be scheduled according to the predefined scheduling order, assuming that the STA is the second STA, and then implement uplink scheduling for the second STA based on the implementation manners similar to the above steps 401 to 403, so that the second STA obtains an opportunity to send an empty slot, and further implement sending of uplink data.

Due to the uplink data transceiving process, there may be a message loss situation, for example, the first indication information sent by the AP to the first STA is lost, or the second indication information sent by the first STA to the AP is lost. In this case, in order to avoid the failure of uplink data transmission due to abnormal conditions such as information loss and the like, and even avoid affecting the condition that other STAs transmit uplink data, in the implementation process, the AP may further ensure that the transmission of uplink data of other STAs can be continued through a timeout protection mechanism.

Specifically, if the AP does not receive the second indication information sent by the first STA and the preset maximum transmission time length is reached from the time when the AP sends the first indication information, the AP may continue to schedule the second STA according to the predefined scheduling order. For example, when the AP schedules STA1, the AP transmits the first indication information to STA1 to start timing, assuming that the preset maximum transmission time is 1min, if the second indication information transmitted by STA1 is not received within 1min, the STA to be scheduled next continues scheduling even if the uplink data transmitted by STA1 is not received.

In order to more clearly understand the interaction flow of the method provided by the present application, as shown in fig. 4a, the implementation process is further described below with reference to the scene diagram shown in fig. 4 b. Referring to fig. 4b, assume that the STAs are: STA1, STA 2, STA 3. Wherein, the Beacon (Beacon) frame in fig. 4b is a management frame transmitted according to a fixed period in the IEEE802.11 wireless lan, and is usually transmitted by an access point device (for example, the AP in fig. 4 b) for announcing the existence of the WLAN provided by the AP; therefore, the STA can determine the AP through the acquired Beacon frame, request to be associated with the AP, and further receive and transmit data after the association is successful. In addition, in order to avoid that the STA acquires the transmission opportunity in a contention manner as in the prior art, in the implementation of the present application, in the process that the AP and the STA perform association through the probe request frame and the probe response frame, the AP carries indication information for indicating an opportunity that the STAs do not actively contend for transmitting uplink data in the probe response frames returned to the STAs, so that the STAs do not actively contend for the transmission opportunity but wait for the scheduling of the AP.

Taking the first indication information sent by the AP as an Action message as an example, assume that the predefined scheduling order is: STA1 → STA 2 → STA 3, as can be seen from the content shown in fig. 4b, the AP first sends an Action message to STA1, STA1 starts sending uplink DATA (DATA) after confirming the receipt of the Action message, and sends second indication information (assuming that it is also an Action message) to the AP after sending the DATA, and then continues sending the Action message to STA 2 after the AP confirms the receipt of the Action message. Then the AP continues to schedule STA 2, and after receiving the uplink data transmitted by STA 2 and receiving the second indication information transmitted by STA 2, the AP continues to schedule STA 3. The implementation process of the AP scheduling STA 3 to send uplink data is similar to the implementation process of the STA1 and the STA 2 to send uplink data, and is not described herein again. It should be noted that after receiving the Action message, the AP and the STA may acknowledge the Action message by replying an Acknowledgement (ACK), for example, after receiving the Action message, the AP or the STA in fig. 4b acknowledges the Action message by an ACK.

Referring to fig. 4c, another scenario diagram of the uplink data scheduling method provided in the embodiment of the present application is further illustrated, where on the basis of the scenario illustrated in fig. 4c, an implementation process of an AP implementing sending of uplink data of multiple different STAs according to a set timeout protection mechanism is further illustrated, and a process of the AP scheduling the STAs to send the uplink data is similar to that in fig. 4b, and is not described herein again. Different from fig. 4b, for example, the Action message sent by STA 2 to the AP in fig. 4c is lost, because the AP will continue to schedule STA 3 after receiving the Action message sent by STA 2 in general, at this time, if there is no timeout protection mechanism, the AP will wait for the Action message of STA 2 all the time, thereby causing waste of air interface resources. Therefore, by setting the timeout protection mechanism for the AP, when the AP determines that the maximum transmission duration preset by the timeout protection mechanism is reached after sending the Action message to the STA 2, the AP may continue to schedule the next STA (i.e., STA 3 in fig. 4 c) even though the AP does not receive the Action message of the STA 2.

In addition, in another possible application scenario of multiple STAs, there may be some STAs in the multiple STAs that are wireless devices not supporting Wi-Fi6, and another part of STAs that are wireless devices supporting Wi-Fi 6. In the application scenario, the AP may send the first indication information to the STA which does not support Wi-Fi6, and send the trigger frame to the STA which supports Wi-Fi 6. In the following embodiments, the first STA is used as an example to support Wi-Fi6, and the second STA is not used as an example to describe, an implementation flow of the method is specifically described as the following steps:

in implementation, after the AP determines the next STA to be scheduled according to the predefined scheduling order, the AP implements scheduling of the STA to be scheduled in different scheduling manners according to whether the STA to be scheduled supports Wi-Fi 6. Specifically, if the STA to be scheduled does not support Wi-Fi6, uplink scheduling is performed through the implementation process of steps 501-503; and if the STA to be scheduled supports Wi-Fi6, performing uplink scheduling through the implementation processes of the steps 504-505. It should be noted that, in fig. 5a, the steps 501 to 503 are executed first, and then the steps 504 to 505 are executed as an example, but the present application does not limit the execution sequence of the two sets of steps, and the execution sequence is determined by the AP according to the predefined scheduling sequence and scheduling manner for scheduling the plurality of STAs.

Step 501: the AP sends first indication information to a first STA, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating the STA to be scheduled to send uplink data.

Step 502: the first STA transmits uplink data to the AP.

Step 503: and the first STA sends second indication information to the AP, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating that the first STA finishes sending.

And the AP schedules the next STA according to the second indication information.

Step 504: the AP sends a trigger frame to the second STA.

The trigger frames (trigger frames) are a mechanism newly proposed when the Wi-Fi6 standard is released, the AP informs a wireless device (such as an STA) accessing the AP to send uplink data by sending the trigger frames, and the AP may also indicate the sending duration of the STA when sending the trigger frames.

Step 505: the second STA transmits uplink data to the AP.

In order to more clearly understand the interaction flow of the method provided by the present application, as shown in fig. 5a, the implementation process is further described below with reference to the scene diagram shown in fig. 5 b. Referring to fig. 5b, assume that the STAs are: STA1, STA 2 and STA 3, wherein the STA1 and the STA 2 do not support Wi-Fi6, and the STA 3 supports Wi-Fi 6. The implementation processes of STA1 and STA 2 are similar to the implementation process introduced in fig. 4b, and are not described herein again; the difference between STA 3 and the flow described in fig. 4b is that the AP in this embodiment schedules STA 3 to send a trigger frame (trigger) message.

It should be noted that, in addition to supporting the scheduling of the trigger frame mechanism issued by the Wi-Fi6 standard, the STA supporting Wi-Fi6 may also perform the scheduling by sending the first indication information through the AP. In specific implementation, the AP may not distinguish whether the STA supports Wi-Fi6, and when scheduling the STA, the AP implements uplink scheduling on the STA by sending the first indication information.

By the method provided by the first embodiment, the AP schedules the STAs one by one according to the predefined scheduling order, so that the STAs do not need to obtain the opportunity to send uplink data in a contention manner as in the prior art, thereby avoiding the occurrence of collision, ensuring the utilization rate of air interfaces, and providing guaranteed service delay.

Example two

Fig. 6a is an interactive schematic view of an uplink data scheduling method according to an embodiment of the present application. The implementation process of the method is specifically described in the following steps:

step 601: the AP generates a broadcast message broadcast to the plurality of STAs.

The broadcast message includes device identifiers of the STAs and transmission time information corresponding to each device identifier, where the transmission time information corresponding to each device identifier is allocated to each STA by the AP. For example, the broadcast message may include the relationship shown in table 2 below, as follows:

TABLE 2

STA identification	Sending time information
		STA
1	T1、L1
		STA
2	T2、L2
		……	……
STA n	Tn、Ln

According to the above table 1, the AP may allocate corresponding transmission time information to the STAs, and broadcast the transmission time information to the STAs through a broadcast message. An example of the allocated transmission time information may include a transmission start time Ti and a transmission duration Li as shown in table 1, so that the STA starts to transmit uplink data according to the transmission start time in the transmission time corresponding to the device identifier of the STA, and transmits the uplink data within the transmission duration; for another example, the allocated transmission time information may further include a transmission start time and a transmission end time, which is not limited in this application.

Steps 602a to 602 b: and broadcasting the broadcast message to each STA.

After generating the broadcast message according to step 601, the AP broadcasts the broadcast message to the STAs.

In a possible implementation manner, the broadcast message further includes a transmission duration used for indicating the validity time of the broadcast message, so that the plurality of STAs transmit uplink data according to the transmission time information within the transmission duration. Specifically, the AP may generate a broadcast message for a period of time, and when a preset available time is reached, generate a new broadcast message for the STAs again and broadcast the new broadcast message; or the AP may periodically generate the broadcast message, and if the effective transmission duration of the broadcast message generated each time is a fixed value, it is not necessary to allocate effective time each time; alternatively, the AP may also regenerate the broadcast message once for each polling of multiple STAs.

Step 603 a: and the STA1 sends uplink data to the AP according to the sending time indicated by the broadcast message.

It should be noted that, in fig. 6a, STA1 and STA 2 are taken as examples for description, but the present application is not limited to only two STAs, and if there are more STAs, reference is made to implementation processes of STA1 and STA 2, and details are not described herein again.

After receiving the broadcast message broadcast by the AP, the STA1 determines the transmission time information allocated by the AP from the broadcast message, and then transmits uplink data according to the transmission time information of the STA.

Step 604 a: and the AP receives the uplink data transmitted by the STA1 according to the transmission time information indicated by the broadcast message.

Step 603 b: and the STA 2 sends uplink data to the AP according to the sending time indicated by the broadcast message.

Step 604 b: and the AP receives the uplink data transmitted by the STA 2 according to the transmission time information indicated by the broadcast message.

It should be noted that, in the above embodiment, the transmission start time of the STA1 is before the transmission start time of the STA 2 as an example, and the transmission time information allocated by the AP to the multiple STAs may be determined according to actual situations, which is not limited in this application.

In order to more clearly understand the interaction flow of the method provided by the present application, as shown in fig. 6a, the implementation process is further described below with reference to the scene diagram shown in fig. 6 b. Referring to fig. 6b, assume that the STAs are: STA1, STA 2, STA 3.

Firstly, the AP allocates different transmission time information in a process of performing one polling to the STA1, the STA 2, and the STA 3, for example, the allocated time sequence is: STA1 → STA 2 → STA 3; the AP then broadcasts the allocated transmission time information to STA1, STA 2, and STA 3. After receiving the broadcast message, STA1, STA 2, and STA 3 determine corresponding transmission time information from the broadcast message according to their own device identifiers, and transmit uplink data according to the transmission time information.

After STA1, STA 2, and STA 3 all have sent the uplink data according to the sending time information allocated by the AP, the AP may reallocate the sending time information of the next time period for STA1, STA 2, and STA 3, so that STA1, STA 2, and STA 3 send the uplink data in the next time period according to the sending time information allocated by the AP this time.

By the method provided by the second embodiment of the present application, the AP allocates the transmission time information to the STAs and broadcasts the transmission time information to the STAs through the broadcast message, thereby implementing uplink scheduling for the STAs, so that the STAs transmit uplink data in order according to the allocation of the AP, and avoiding the occurrence of a collision problem due to the fact that the STAs occupy air interface resources in a contention manner as in the prior art.

Based on the design idea that the AP allocates the transmission time information to the STAs, in implementation, different transmission time information may be configured in advance for each STA, so that the STAs transmit uplink data at the pre-configured transmission time. Referring to fig. 7, a scene diagram of an uplink data scheduling method according to an embodiment of the present application is shown, where a plurality of STAs are assumed to be: STA1, STA 2, STA 3. Each STA has preset time configured in advance, and when the preset time arrives, uplink data is sent to the AP. For example, the preset time of the STA1 arrives first, and then the STA1 transmits uplink data to the AP; secondly, if the preset time of the STA 2 is up, the STA 2 starts to send uplink data to the AP; the transmission procedures of other STAs are similar and will not be described herein. It should be noted that the STA may have a plurality of preconfigured preset times, and the STA may send the uplink data to the AP when each preconfigured preset time arrives, for example, in fig. 7, the STA1, the STA 2, and the STA 3 are respectively preconfigured with two preset times.

EXAMPLE III

The uplink data scheduling method according to the embodiment of the present invention is described in detail with reference to fig. 3a to fig. 7, and based on the same technical concept as the uplink data scheduling method, an uplink data scheduling apparatus 800 is further provided in the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 8, the apparatus may be disposed on an AP, and the uplink data scheduling apparatus 800 includes: a transmitting unit 801, a receiving unit 802, and a processing unit 803, the apparatus 800 may be used to implement the methods described in the method embodiments of the AP described above. The optional sending unit 801, the receiving unit 802 and the processing unit 803 may be connected to each other through a communication line 804; the communication line 804 may be a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, an Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus, or the like. The communication lines 804 may be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, only one thick line is shown in FIG. 8, but this is not intended to represent only one bus or type of bus.

The sending unit 801 is configured to send at least one piece of indication information to multiple STAs to schedule the STAs to send uplink data in sequence, where at least one STA of the multiple STAs does not support a sixth-generation wireless network Wi-Fi 6; the receiving unit 802 is configured to receive uplink data sequentially sent by the multiple STAs.

In a possible design, the sending unit 801 is specifically configured to send first indication information to a first STA, where the first indication information is used to indicate the first STA to send uplink data; the receiving unit 802 is specifically configured to receive uplink data sent by the first STA; receiving second indication information sent by the first STA, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating that the first STA finishes sending; the sending unit 801 is specifically configured to send third indication information to a second STA, so as to schedule the second STA to send uplink data; wherein the first STA does not support Wi-Fi 6.

In a possible design, it may be determined, by the processing unit 803, whether the STA supports Wi-Fi6, and if it is determined that the second STA supports Wi-Fi6, the third indication information sent by the sending unit 801 is a trigger frame; wherein the first STA does not support trigger frames.

In a possible design, the first indication information is further used to indicate a first sending duration for the first STA to send uplink data; the processing unit 803 is further configured to, after sending the first indication information to the first STA, determine whether the second indication information sent by the first STA is not received, start timing from sending the first indication information to the first STA, and send, if it is determined that the timing reaches the first sending duration, third indication information to the second STA through the sending unit 801, so as to schedule the second STA to send uplink data.

In one possible design, the sending unit 801 is specifically configured to: broadcasting fourth indication information to the plurality of STAs, wherein the fourth indication information comprises device identifications of the plurality of STAs and sending time information corresponding to each device identification; and sending time information corresponding to each equipment identifier to the AP for the plurality of STAs.

In a possible design, the sending unit 801 is further configured to, after receiving probe request frames sent by multiple STAs, carry fifth indication information in probe response frames returned to the multiple STAs; wherein the fifth indication information is used to indicate that the STAs do not actively contend for an opportunity to transmit uplink data, and the probe request frame and the probe response frame are used to associate each STA with the AP.

The uplink data scheduling method according to the embodiment of the present invention is described in detail with reference to fig. 3a to fig. 7, and based on the same technical concept as the uplink data scheduling method, the embodiment of the present invention further provides an uplink data scheduling apparatus 900, which may be disposed on any STA of a plurality of STAs, as shown in fig. 9, the uplink data scheduling apparatus 900 includes: transmitting section 901, receiving section 902, and processing section 903. The optional transmitting unit 901, receiving unit 902 and processing unit 903 may be connected to each other via a communication line 904.

The receiving unit 902 is configured to receive at least one piece of indication information sent by an AP, where the indication information is used for the AP to schedule each STA to send uplink data in sequence, and at least one STA of the STAs does not support Wi-Fi 6; the sending unit 901 is configured to send uplink data in sequence according to the indication of the at least one piece of indication information.

In a possible design, the receiving unit 902 is specifically configured to receive first indication information sent by the AP, where the first indication information is used to indicate that the first STA sends uplink data; the sending unit 901 is specifically configured to send uplink data to the AP; sending second indication information to the AP, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating that the first STA finishes sending so that the AP sends third indication information to a second STA, and the third indication information is used for indicating the AP to schedule the second STA to send uplink data; wherein the first STA does not support Wi-Fi 6.

In one possible design, the first indication information is further used to indicate a first transmission duration for the first STA to transmit uplink data; the sending unit 901 is specifically configured to send uplink data to the AP within a time shorter than the first sending duration.

In a possible design, the receiving unit 902 is specifically configured to receive fourth indication information broadcast by an AP, where the fourth indication information includes device identifiers of the multiple STAs and transmission time information corresponding to each device identifier; sending time information corresponding to each device identifier to the AP for the plurality of STAs; the apparatus further includes a processing unit 903, where the processing unit 903 is configured to search, from the fourth indication information, transmission time information corresponding to the device identifier of each STA respectively; the sending unit 901 is specifically configured to send uplink data to the AP according to the found sending time information.

In a possible design, the fourth indication information further includes a second sending duration used for indicating the valid time of the fourth indication information; the sending unit 901 is specifically configured to send uplink data to the AP according to the found sending time information within the effective time.

In one possible design, the sending time information includes a sending start time and a third sending duration; the sending unit 901 is specifically configured to start sending uplink data to the AP when the sending start time arrives, and send uplink data to the AP within the third sending duration.

In a possible design, the sending unit 901 is further configured to send probe request frames to the APs respectively; the receiving unit 902 is further configured to receive a probe response frame returned by the AP, where the probe response frame carries fifth indication information; wherein the fifth indication information is used to indicate that the STAs do not actively contend for an opportunity to transmit uplink data, and the probe request frame and the probe response frame are used to associate each STA with the AP.

It should be noted that, the division of the modules in the embodiments of the present application is schematic, and is only a logical function division, and in actual implementation, there may be another division manner, and in addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated in one processing unit, or may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated in one unit. The integrated unit can be realized in a form of hardware, and can also be realized in a form of a software functional unit.

The integrated unit, if implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present application may be substantially implemented or contributed to by the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution may be embodied in a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, a network device, or the like) or a processor (processor) to execute all or part of the steps of the method of the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media capable of storing program codes, such as a usb disk, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

Based on the same concept as the above uplink data scheduling method, as shown in fig. 10, an embodiment of the present application further provides a schematic structural diagram of an uplink data scheduling apparatus 1000. The apparatus 1000 may be configured to implement the method described in the method embodiment applied to the AP or the STA, and refer to the description in the method embodiment. The apparatus 1000 may be in or be an AP or STA.

The apparatus 1000 includes one or more processors 1001. The processor 1001 may be a general-purpose processor or a special-purpose processor, etc. For example, a baseband processor, or a central processor. The baseband processor may be configured to process a communication protocol and communication data, and the central processor may be configured to control an uplink data scheduling device (e.g., a base station, a terminal, or a chip), execute a software program, and process data of the software program. The uplink data scheduling apparatus may include a transceiving unit to implement input (reception) and output (transmission) of signals. For example, the transceiver unit may be a transceiver, a radio frequency chip, or the like.

The apparatus 1000 includes one or more processors 1001, and the one or more processors 1001 may implement the method of the AP or the STA in the above illustrated embodiments.

Alternatively, the processor 1001 may also implement other functions than the method of the above-described illustrated embodiment.

Alternatively, in one design, the processor 1001 may execute instructions to cause the apparatus 1000 to perform the method described in the above method embodiment. The instructions may be stored in whole or in part within the processor, such as instructions 1003, or in whole or in part in a memory 1002 coupled to the processor, such as instructions 1004, or may collectively cause apparatus 1000 to perform the methods described in the above method embodiments, through

instructions

1003 and 1004.

In yet another possible design, the uplink data scheduling apparatus 1000 may also include a circuit, and the circuit may implement the functions of the AP or the STA in the foregoing method embodiments.

In yet another possible design, the apparatus 1000 may include one or more memories 1002 having instructions 1004 stored thereon, which may be executed on a processor, to cause the apparatus 1000 to perform the methods described in the above method embodiments. Optionally, the memory may also store data. Instructions and/or data may also be stored in the optional processor. For example, the one or more memories 1002 may store the correspondence described in the above embodiments, or related parameters or tables and the like referred to in the above embodiments. The processor and the memory may be provided separately or may be integrated together.

In yet another possible design, device 1000 may also include a transceiver 1005 and an antenna 1006. The processor 1001 may be referred to as a processing unit and controls a device (terminal or base station). The transceiver 1005, which may be referred to as a transceiver, a transceiver circuit, a transceiver unit, or the like, is used for performing transceiving functions of the apparatus through the antenna 1006.

It should be noted that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be an integrated circuit chip having signal processing capability. In implementation, the steps of the above method embodiments may be performed by integrated logic circuits of hardware in a processor or instructions in the form of software. The processor may be a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an off-the-shelf programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, or discrete hardware components. The various methods, steps, and logic blocks disclosed in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented or performed. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like. The steps of the method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be directly implemented by a hardware decoding processor, or implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software modules may be located in ram, flash, rom, prom, or eprom, registers, etc. as is well known in the art. The storage medium is located in a memory, and a processor reads information in the memory and completes the steps of the method in combination with hardware of the processor.

It will be appreciated that the memory in the embodiments of the subject application can be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or can include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an Electrically Erasable PROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. Volatile memory can be Random Access Memory (RAM), which acts as external cache memory. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM, enhanced SDRAM, SLDRAM, Synchronous Link DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable medium, on which a computer program is stored, where the computer program, when executed by a computer, implements the uplink data scheduling method applied to any method embodiment of the AP or the STA.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product, and when executed by a computer, the computer program product implements the uplink data scheduling method applied to any method embodiment of the AP or the STA.

In the above embodiments, the implementation may be wholly or partially realized by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. The processes or functions according to the embodiments of the present application are generated in whole or in part when the computer instructions are loaded and executed on a computer. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a network of computers, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored on a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another, for example, from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wire (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device, such as a server, a data center, etc., that incorporates one or more of the available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a Solid State Disk (SSD)), among others.

The embodiment of the application also provides a processing device, which comprises a processor and an interface; and the processor is used for executing the uplink data scheduling method applied to any method embodiment of the AP or the STA.

It should be understood that the processing device may be a chip, and the processor may be implemented by hardware or software, and when implemented by hardware, the processor may be a logic circuit, an integrated circuit, or the like; when implemented in software, the processor may be a general-purpose processor implemented by reading software code stored in a memory, which may be integrated with the processor, located external to the processor, or stand-alone.

As shown in fig. 11, an embodiment of the present application further provides a chip 1100, which includes an input/output interface 1101 and a logic circuit 1102, where the input/output interface 1101 is configured to receive/output a code instruction or information, and the logic circuit 1102 is configured to execute the code instruction or execute the code instruction according to the information to execute the uplink data scheduling method applied to any method embodiment of the AP or the STA.

The chip 1100 may implement the functions shown in the processing unit and/or the transceiving unit in the above embodiments.

For example, the input/output interface 1101 is configured to send at least one piece of indication information to a plurality of STAs to schedule each STA to send uplink data in sequence, where at least one STA of the plurality of STAs does not support a sixth-generation wireless network Wi-Fi 6; and receiving uplink data sequentially transmitted by the plurality of STAs.

For another example, the input/output interface 1101 is configured to receive at least one piece of indication information sent by an AP, where the indication information is used for the AP to schedule each STA to send uplink data in sequence, and at least one STA in the STAs does not support Wi-Fi 6; and sequentially sending uplink data according to the indication of the at least one piece of indication information.

An embodiment of the present application further provides an uplink data scheduling system, which includes an AP or an STA, where the AP is configured to execute the uplink data scheduling method applied to any method embodiment of the AP, and the STA is configured to execute the uplink data scheduling method applied to any method embodiment of the STA.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the elements and algorithm steps of the examples described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied in electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both, and that the components and steps of the examples have been described in a functional general in the foregoing description for the purpose of illustrating clearly the interchangeability of hardware and software. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the implementation. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

It is clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the above-described systems, apparatuses and units may refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and are not described herein again.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, apparatus and method may be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described apparatus embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, a division of a unit is merely a logical division, and an actual implementation may have another division, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not executed. In addition, the shown or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, and may also be an electric, mechanical or other form of connection.

Units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the elements may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiments of the present application.

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit. The integrated unit can be realized in a form of hardware, and can also be realized in a form of a software functional unit.

Through the above description of the embodiments, those skilled in the art will clearly understand that the present application can be implemented in hardware, firmware, or a combination thereof. When implemented in software, the functions described above may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. Taking this as an example but not limiting: computer-readable media can include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Furthermore, the method is simple. Any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if software is transmitted from a website, a server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, a fiber optic cable, a twisted pair, a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), or a wireless technology such as infrared, radio, and microwave, the coaxial cable, the fiber optic cable, the twisted pair, the DSL, or the wireless technology such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the fixation of the medium. Disk (Disk) and disc (disc), as used herein, includes Compact Disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, Digital Versatile Disc (DVD), floppy Disk and blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

In short, the above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Any modification, equivalent replacement, or improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present application shall be included in the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. An uplink data scheduling method, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that an Access Point (AP) sends at least one piece of indication information to a plurality of Stations (STA) to schedule the STAs to sequentially send uplink data, wherein at least one STA in the STAs does not support a sixth generation wireless network Wi-Fi 6;

and the AP receives the uplink data sequentially sent by the STAs.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the AP sends at least one piece of indication information to a plurality of STAs to schedule each STA to sequentially send uplink data, and the method comprises:

the AP sends first indication information to a first STA, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating the first STA to send uplink data;

the AP receives uplink data sent by the first STA;

the AP receives second indication information sent by the first STA, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating that the first STA finishes sending;

the AP sends third indication information to a second STA so as to schedule the second STA to send uplink data;

wherein the first STA does not support Wi-Fi 6.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the second STA supports Wi-Fi6, and wherein the third indication information is a trigger frame;

wherein the first STA does not support trigger frames.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the first indication information is further used for indicating a first transmission duration for the first STA to transmit uplink data;

after the AP sends the first indication information to the first STA, the method further includes:

and if the AP does not receive the second indication information sent by the first STA and starts to time from the time when the first indication information is sent to the first STA to the first sending time, the AP sends third indication information to a second STA so as to schedule the second STA to send uplink data.

5. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the information type of the first indication information belongs to one of the following information types: management frames, control frames, data frames.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the AP sends at least one piece of indication information to a plurality of STAs to schedule each STA to sequentially send uplink data, and wherein the method comprises:

the AP broadcasts fourth indication information to the STAs, wherein the fourth indication information comprises device identifications of the STAs and sending time information corresponding to each device identification;

wherein the transmission time information corresponding to each device identifier is allocated to the plurality of STAs by the AP.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the fourth indication information further includes a second transmission duration for indicating a valid time of the fourth indication information, so that the plurality of STAs transmit uplink data according to the transmission duration information within the valid time.

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the sending time information comprises a sending start time and a third sending duration.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the AP sends at least one piece of indication information to a plurality of STAs so as to schedule each STA to send uplink data in sequence, and the method further comprises:

after receiving the probe request frames sent by the multiple STAs, the AP carries fifth indication information in the probe response frames returned to the multiple STAs;

wherein the fifth indication information is used to indicate that the STAs do not actively contend for an opportunity to transmit uplink data, and the probe request frame and the probe response frame are used to associate each STA with the AP.

10. An uplink data scheduling method, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that a plurality of STAs receive at least one piece of indication information sent by an AP, the indication information is used for the AP to schedule each STA to sequentially send uplink data, and at least one STA which does not support Wi-Fi6 exists in the STAs;

and the plurality of STAs sequentially transmit uplink data according to the indication of the at least one piece of indication information.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the receiving, by the plurality of STAs, the at least one indication from the AP comprises:

a first STA receives first indication information sent by the AP, wherein the first indication information is used for indicating the first STA to send uplink data;

the first STA sends uplink data to the AP;

the first STA sends second indication information to the AP, wherein the second indication information is used for indicating that the first STA finishes sending so that the AP sends third indication information to a second STA, and the third indication information is used for indicating the AP to schedule the second STA to send uplink data;

wherein the first STA does not support Wi-Fi 6.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the second STA supports Wi-Fi6, and wherein the third indication information is a trigger frame;

wherein the first STA does not support trigger frames.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the first indication information is further used for indicating a first transmission duration for the first STA to transmit uplink data;

the first STA sending uplink data to the AP, including:

and the first STA sends uplink data to the AP within the time less than the first sending time length.

14. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 13, wherein the information type of the first indication information belongs to one of the following information types: management frames, control frames, data frames.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the receiving, by the plurality of STAs, the at least one indication from the AP comprises:

the multiple STAs receive fourth indication information broadcast and sent by the AP, wherein the fourth indication information comprises device identifications of the multiple STAs and sending time information corresponding to each device identification; sending time information corresponding to each device identifier to the AP for the plurality of STAs;

the multiple STAs respectively search the sending time information corresponding to the equipment identification of each STA from the fourth indication information;

the said multiple STAs send the upstream data according to the instruction of the said at least one piece of instruction information sequentially, including:

and each STA sends uplink data to the AP according to the searched sending time information.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the fourth indication information further includes a second transmission duration for indicating a valid time of the fourth indication information;

the sending, by each STA, uplink data to the AP according to the found sending time information includes:

and each STA sends uplink data to the AP according to the found sending time information in the effective time.

17. The method according to claim 15 or 16, wherein the sending time information comprises a sending start time and a third sending duration;

and when the sending starting time arrives, each STA starts to send uplink data to the AP, and sends the uplink data to the AP within the third sending time length.

18. The method according to any of claims 10 to 17, wherein before the plurality of STAs receive the at least one indication message sent by the AP, the method further comprises:

the plurality of STAs respectively send a probe request frame to the AP;

the plurality of STAs receive a probe response frame returned by the AP, wherein the probe response frame carries fifth indication information;

19. An uplink data scheduling apparatus, comprising a memory and one or more processors; wherein the memory stores computer program code comprising computer instructions; the computer instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 9 or cause the apparatus to perform the method of any of claims 10 to 18.

20. A computer storage medium, in which a computer program is stored which, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 9 or causes the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 10 to 18.