CN106535293B - Active scanning processing method and related device and communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

The embodiment of the present invention discloses an active scanning processing method, a related device and a communication system. An active scan processing method includes: an access point receives a probe request frame sent by a station on a first available channel; the access point sends the probe request on one of a plurality of subchannels of the first available channel A probe response frame corresponding to the frame; the access point receives, on the first available channel, an acknowledgment frame sent by the station for the probe response frame. The technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present invention are beneficial to reduce the number of times of contention and collision between access points, thereby reducing the contention overhead and waste of communication resources, thereby improving the overall performance of the system.

Description

Active scanning processing method and related device and communication system

technical field

The present invention relates to the technical field of wireless networks, and in particular to an active scanning processing method, a related device, and a communication system.

Background technique

For a station (STA) to become a member of a Wi-Fi wireless network, the STA needs to scan for the Wi-Fi wireless network. Under the framework of the existing Wi-Fi standard IEEE802.11, there are two modes of passive scanning and active scanning for the STA to choose to scan the Wi-Fi wireless network.

In the passive scanning mode, the STA needs to scan a beacon frame (Beacon frame) in each channel, and the Beacon frame contains the information of the wireless network for the STA to access. In the active scanning mode, the STA actively sends a probe request (Probe Request) frame. When the access point (AP, Access Point) receives the request from the STA, the AP can agree to the STA's request if the conditions are met, and the AP can A Probe Response frame is returned to the STA. Specifically, the AP monitors the channel state, and when the duration of the channel remaining in the idle state exceeds the Distributed Inter-frame Space (DIFS, Distributed Inter-frame Space) duration, it starts to back off until the channel idle time is greater than the total back-off duration, that is, the back-off timing When it reaches 0, the AP successfully competes for the channel. The AP sends a Probe Response frame to the STA, and the STA that receives the Probe Response frame replies to the AP with an acknowledgment frame (ACK frame).

The inventor of the present invention found in the process of research and practice that the existing Wi-Fi technology adopts the Carrier Sense Multiple Access (CSMA, Carrier Sense Multiple Access) mechanism, and in the active scanning mode, the AP needs to compete for the entire channel for Send a Probe Response frame. However, in the dense deployment scenario, the number of adjacent APs and STAs is large. Since the number of APs participating in competition may be large, the number of competition collisions between APs may increase, which in turn increases competition overhead and waste of communication resources, which may make the system as a whole. Reduced performance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention provide an active scan processing method, a related device, and a communication system, so as to reduce the number of contention collisions between APs, thereby reducing contention overhead and waste of communication resources, and improving overall system performance.

A first aspect of the embodiments of the present invention provides an active scanning processing method, including:

The access point receives the probe request frame sent by the station on the first available channel;

sending, by the access point, a probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame on one of the multiple subchannels of the first available channel;

The access point receives, on the first available channel, an acknowledgment frame sent by the station for the probe response frame.

With reference to the first aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the access point sends a probe response corresponding to the probe request frame on one sub-channel of a plurality of sub-channels of the first available channel The frame includes: the access point randomly selects one of the subchannels of the first available channel to send a probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame.

With reference to the first aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the probe request frame carries a subchannel division indication;

Before the access point sends a probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame on one of the multiple subchannels of the first available channel, the method further includes: the access point based on the subchannel The channel division indicates that the first available channel is divided into a plurality of sub-channels.

With reference to the first aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the access point is in 1 of the multiple sub-channels of the first available channel Before sending the probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame on the subchannels, the method further includes: dividing, by the access point, the first available channel into a plurality of subchannels based on the protocol configuration information.

With reference to the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first to third possible implementation manners of the first aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the probe request frame carries the The value of the color field of the basic service unit is set to a wildcard or a specified color value, and the color field of the basic service unit is used to indicate the basic service unit.

With reference to the fourth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in the fifth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the basic service unit color field is carried in the high-efficiency information of the high-efficiency preamble of the probe request frame. Let-A field or Efficient Signaling-B field.

With reference to the fourth possible implementation manner of the first aspect or the fifth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in the sixth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, if the basic service unit color of the probe request frame If the value of the field is set to the specified color value, the access point is the access point corresponding to the specified color value.

With reference to the first aspect or any one of the possible implementation manners of the first to sixth possible implementation manners of the first aspect, in the seventh possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the access point is The receiving, on the first available channel, the acknowledgment frame sent by the station for the probe response frame includes: receiving, by the access point on the first available channel, the station on the first available channel at an orthogonal frequency division An acknowledgment frame for the probe response frame sent in a multiple access mode, a multicast mode or a broadcast mode.

With reference to the first aspect or any one possible implementation manner of the first to seventh possible implementation manners of the first aspect, in the eighth possible implementation manner of the first aspect,

The method also includes:

receiving, by the access point, the probe request frame sent by the station on a second available channel;

sending, by the access point, a probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame on one of the multiple subchannels of the second available channel;

The access point receives, on the second available channel, an acknowledgment frame sent by the station for the probe response frame.

A second aspect of the embodiments of the present invention provides an active scan processing method, including:

The station sends a probe request frame on the first available channel;

receiving, by the station on the first available channel, a probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame sent by the access point on one of the multiple subchannels of the first available channel;

The station sends an acknowledgement frame for the probe response frame on the first available channel.

With reference to the second aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the receiving, on the first available channel, the information sent by the access point on one of the multiple sub-channels of the first available channel The probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame includes: the probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame sent by the access point on the first available channel is randomly selected from a subchannel of the first available channel. Probe response frame.

With reference to the second aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the second aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the probe request frame carries a subchannel division indication, wherein the subchannel division The indication is used to instruct the access point to divide the first available channel into a plurality of sub-channels.

With reference to the second aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the second aspect or the second possible implementation manner of the second aspect, in the third possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the probe request frame carries the The value of the color field of the basic service unit is set to a wildcard or a specified color value, and the color field of the basic service unit is used to indicate the basic service unit.

With reference to the third possible implementation manner of the second aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the basic service unit color field is carried in the high-efficiency signal of the high-efficiency preamble of the probe request frame. Let-A field or Efficient Signaling-B field.

With reference to the third possible implementation manner of the second aspect or the fourth possible implementation manner of the second aspect, in the fifth possible implementation manner of the second aspect, if the basic service unit color of the probe request frame is If the value of the field is set to the specified color value, the access point is the access point corresponding to the specified color value.

With reference to the second aspect or any one of the possible implementation manners of the first to fifth possible implementation manners of the second aspect, in the sixth possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the site is in the first possible implementation manner of the second aspect. Sending an acknowledgment frame for the probe response frame on an available channel, including: sending the probe response frame by the station in an orthogonal frequency division multiple access mode, a multicast mode or a broadcast mode on the first available channel acknowledgment frame.

With reference to the second aspect or any one possible implementation manner of the first to sixth possible implementation manners of the second aspect, in the seventh possible implementation manner of the second aspect,

The method also includes:

The station sends the probe request frame on the second available channel; the station receives on the second available channel the probe sent by the access point on one of the sub-channels of the second available channel A probe response frame corresponding to the request frame; the station sends an acknowledgment frame for the probe response frame on the second available channel.

A third aspect of the present invention provides an access point, including:

a receiving unit, configured to receive the probe request frame sent by the station on the first available channel;

a sending unit, configured to send a probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame on one of the multiple subchannels of the first available channel;

The receiving unit is further configured to receive, on the first available channel, an acknowledgment frame sent by the station for the probe response frame.

With reference to the third aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the sending unit is specifically configured to randomly select one of the sub-channels of the multiple sub-channels of the first available channel to send the probe request frame The corresponding probe response frame.

With reference to the third aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the third aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the probe request frame carries a sub-channel division indication; the access point further includes A channel determination unit, configured to divide the first available channel into a plurality of sub-channels based on the sub-channel division instruction.

With reference to the third aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the third aspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the access point further includes a channel determination unit, configured to The first available channel is divided into a plurality of sub-channels.

With reference to the third aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first to third possible implementation manners of the third aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the probe request frame carries the The value of the color field of the basic service unit is set to a wildcard or a specified color value, and the color field of the basic service unit is used to indicate the basic service unit.

With reference to the fourth possible implementation manner of the third aspect, in a fifth possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the basic service unit color field is carried in the high-efficiency signal of the high-efficiency preamble of the probe request frame. Let-A field or Efficient Signaling-B field.

With reference to the fourth possible implementation manner of the third aspect or the fifth possible implementation manner of the third aspect, in the sixth possible implementation manner of the third aspect, if the basic service unit color of the probe request frame If the value of the field is set to the specified color value, the access point is the access point corresponding to the specified color value.

With reference to the third aspect or any one possible implementation manner of the first to sixth possible implementation manners of the third aspect, in the seventh possible implementation manner of the third aspect, in the first available channel In the aspect of receiving the acknowledgment frame sent by the station for the probe response frame, the receiving unit is specifically configured to receive, on the first available channel, the station's orthogonal frequency division multiplexing on the first available channel The acknowledgment frame for the probe response frame sent in address mode, multicast mode or broadcast mode.

With reference to the third aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first to seventh possible implementation manners of the third aspect, in the eighth possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the receiving unit further uses to receive the probe request frame sent by the station on a second available channel;

The sending unit is configured to send a probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame on one of the multiple subchannels of the second available channel;

The receiving unit is further configured to receive, on the second available channel, an acknowledgment frame sent by the station for the probe response frame.

A fourth aspect of the present invention provides a site, comprising:

a sending unit, configured to send a probe request frame on the first available channel;

a receiving unit, configured to receive, on the first available channel, a probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame sent by an access point on one of the multiple subchannels of the first available channel;

The sending unit is further configured to send an acknowledgment frame for the probe response frame on the first available channel.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the receiving, on the first available channel, the information sent by the access point on one of the multiple sub-channels of the first available channel The probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame includes: the probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame sent by the access point on the first available channel is randomly selected from a subchannel of the first available channel. Probe response frame.

With reference to the fourth aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the probe request frame carries a subchannel division indication, wherein the subchannel division The indication is used to instruct the access point to divide the first available channel into a plurality of sub-channels.

With reference to the fourth aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect or the second possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, in the third possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the probe request frame carries the The value of the color field of the basic service unit is set to a wildcard or a specified color value, and the color field of the basic service unit is used to indicate the basic service unit.

With reference to the third possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, in the fourth possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the basic service unit color field is carried in the high-efficiency information of the high-efficiency preamble of the probe request frame. Let-A field or Efficient Signaling-B field.

With reference to the third possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect or the fourth possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, in the fifth possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, if the basic service unit color of the probe request frame If the value of the field is set to the specified color value, the access point is the access point corresponding to the specified color value.

With reference to the fourth aspect or any one possible implementation manner of the first to fifth possible implementation manners of the fourth aspect, in a sixth possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the above-mentioned first The aspect of sending the acknowledgment frame for the probe response frame on the available channel: the sending unit is specifically configured to send the probe response to the probe response in an orthogonal frequency division multiple access mode, a multicast mode or a broadcast mode on the first available channel frame acknowledgment frame.

With reference to the fourth aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first to sixth possible implementation manners of the fourth aspect, in the seventh possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the sending unit is further configured to sending the probe request frame on a second available channel;

The receiving unit is further configured to receive, on the second available channel, a probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame sent by the access point on one of the multiple subchannels of the second available channel;

The sending unit is further configured to send an acknowledgment frame for the probe response frame on the second available channel.

A fifth aspect of the present invention provides an access point, including:

processor, memory and antenna;

Wherein, by calling the instructions or codes stored in the memory, the processor is configured to perform the following steps:

Receive the probe request frame sent by the station on the first available channel through the antenna; send the probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame on one of the multiple subchannels of the first available channel through the antenna; The antenna receives an acknowledgment frame sent by the station for the probe response frame on the first available channel.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, the processor is specifically configured to randomly select one of the sub-channels in the multiple sub-channels of the first available channel to send the probe request frame The corresponding probe response frame.

With reference to the fifth aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, the probe request frame carries a sub-channel division indication; the processor is further configured to The first available channel is divided into a plurality of sub-channels based on the sub-channel division indication.

With reference to the fifth aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, the access point further includes a channel determination unit, configured to The first available channel is divided into a plurality of sub-channels.

With reference to the fifth aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first to third possible implementation manners of the fifth aspect, in the fourth possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, the probe request frame carries the The value of the color field of the basic service unit is set to a wildcard or a specified color value, and the color field of the basic service unit is used to indicate the basic service unit.

With reference to the fourth possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, in the fifth possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, the basic service unit color field is carried in the high-efficiency information of the high-efficiency preamble of the probe request frame. Let-A field or Efficient Signaling-B field.

With reference to the fourth possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect or the fifth possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, in the sixth possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, if the basic service unit color of the probe request frame If the value of the field is set to the specified color value, the access point is the access point corresponding to the specified color value.

With reference to the fifth aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first to sixth possible implementation manners of the fifth aspect, in the seventh possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, the processor specifically uses and receiving, by using the antenna on the first available channel, an acknowledgment for the probe response frame sent by the station on the first available channel in an orthogonal frequency division multiple access manner, a multicast manner, or a broadcast manner frame.

With reference to the fifth aspect or any one of the possible implementation manners of the first to seventh possible implementation manners of the fifth aspect, in the eighth possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, the processor further uses for receiving the probe request frame sent by the station on the second available channel through the antenna; sending the probe request frame corresponding to the probe request frame on one of the multiple subchannels of the second available channel through the antenna A probe response frame; receiving an acknowledgment frame sent by the station for the probe response frame on the second available channel through the antenna.

A sixth aspect of the present invention provides a site, comprising:

processor, memory and antenna;

Wherein, by invoking the instructions or codes stored in the memory, the processor is configured to perform the following steps: sending a probe request frame on the first available channel through the antenna; receiving a receiving frame on the first available channel through the antenna The in-point sends a probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame on one of the multiple subchannels of the first available channel; and sends a probe response frame corresponding to the probe response frame on the first available channel through the antenna. Confirmation frame.

With reference to the sixth aspect, in a first possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, the processor is configured to receive, through the antenna, on the first available channel, multiple sub-channels of the access point on the first available channel The probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame sent by the randomly selected 1 subchannel.

With reference to the sixth aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, in a second possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, the probe request frame carries a subchannel division indication, wherein the subchannel division The indication is used to instruct the access point to divide the first available channel into a plurality of sub-channels.

With reference to the sixth aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect or the second possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, in the third possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, the probe request frame carries the The value of the color field of the basic service unit is set to a wildcard or a specified color value, and the color field of the basic service unit is used to indicate the basic service unit.

With reference to the third possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, the basic service unit color field is carried in the high-efficiency information of the high-efficiency preamble of the probe request frame. Let-A field or Efficient Signaling-B field.

With reference to the third possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect or the fourth possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, in the fifth possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, if the basic service unit color of the probe request frame If the value of the field is set to the specified color value, the access point is the access point corresponding to the specified color value.

With reference to the sixth aspect or any one of the possible implementation manners of the first to fifth possible implementation manners of the sixth aspect, in the sixth possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, the processor is configured to an acknowledgment frame for the probe response frame sent by the antenna on the first available channel in an orthogonal frequency division multiple access mode, a multicast mode or a broadcast mode.

With reference to the sixth aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first to sixth possible implementation manners of the sixth aspect, in the seventh possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, the processor is further configured to Send the probe request frame on the second available channel through the antenna; A probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame; and an acknowledgement frame for the probe response frame is sent on the second available channel through the antenna.

A seventh aspect of the present invention provides a communication system, characterized in that it includes:

Any access point provided by the embodiment of the present invention also includes any station provided by the embodiment of the present invention.

It can be seen that, in the solution of the embodiment of the present invention, since the available channel (such as the first available channel) can be logically divided into multiple sub-channels, after the AP receives the Probe Request frame sent by the STA on the first available channel, the first available channel One of the multiple sub-channels sends the Probe Response frame corresponding to the Probe Request frame, so even if there are multiple APs sending the Probe Response frame on the same available channel in a certain scenario, if multiple APs in the same time period are in the same The Probe Response frame can be sent on different sub-channels of the available channel, which is beneficial to avoid the contention and collision of these multiple APs. It can be seen that the above solution in this embodiment introduces an innovative mechanism in which the AP can reply to the corresponding Probe Response frame on one of the sub-channels of the available channels for receiving the Probe Request frame. This innovative mechanism can be regarded as a similar asymmetric Probe Response frame reply This mechanism is relative to the traditional symmetric Probe Response frame reply mechanism (wherein, in the traditional symmetric Probe Response frame reply mechanism, the AP receives the Probe Request frame on the entire available channel and replies the corresponding Probe Response frame on the entire available channel. The transmission and reception frames are symmetrical in terms of bandwidth), which is beneficial to reduce the number of contention collisions between APs, thereby reducing competition overhead and waste of communication resources, and further improving the overall performance of the wireless system.

Description of drawings

In order to explain the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention more clearly, the following briefly introduces the accompanying drawings that are used in the description of the embodiments and the prior art. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some implementations of the present invention. For example, for those of ordinary skill in the art, other drawings can also be obtained based on these drawings without any creative effort.

1-a is a schematic diagram of a wireless network deployment architecture provided by an example of an embodiment of the present invention;

1-b is a schematic diagram of another wireless network deployment architecture provided by an example of an embodiment of the present invention;

1-c is a schematic diagram of another wireless network deployment architecture provided by an example of an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a schematic flowchart of an active scan processing method provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a schematic flowchart of another active scan processing method provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

4-a is a schematic flowchart of another active scanning processing method provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

4-b is a schematic structural diagram of a Probe Request frame and a physical layer frame header provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

4-c is a schematic diagram of a frame interaction provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

5-a is a schematic flowchart of another active scan processing method provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

5-b is a schematic diagram of another frame interaction provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

5-c is a schematic diagram of another frame interaction provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

6-a is a schematic flowchart of another active scanning processing method provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

6-b is a schematic diagram of another frame interaction provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

6-c is a schematic diagram of another frame interaction provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of an access point provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of another access point provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

9 is a schematic diagram of a site provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

10 is a schematic diagram of another site provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a communication system provided by an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed ways

Embodiments of the present invention provide an active scan processing method, a related device, and a communication system, so as to reduce the number of contention collisions between APs, thereby reducing contention overhead and waste of communication resources, and improving overall system performance.

In order to make the purpose, features and advantages of the present invention more obvious and understandable, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the following The described embodiments are only some, but not all, embodiments of the present invention. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

The terms "first", "second", "third" and "fourth" in the description and claims of the present invention and the above drawings are used to distinguish different objects, rather than to describe a specific order. Furthermore, the terms "comprising" and "having", and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product or device that includes a series of steps or units is not limited to the listed steps or units, but optionally also includes unlisted steps or units, or optionally also includes For other steps or units inherent to these processes, methods, products or devices.

Please refer to FIG. 1-a, FIG. 1-b, and FIG. 1-c. Referring to FIG. 1-a to FIG. 1-c, FIG. Figure 1-a illustrates that there are multiple STAs within the signal coverage of multiple APs, and Figure 1-b shows that there are multiple STAs within the signal coverage of a single AP. A single STA exists within the signal coverage. The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention may be specifically implemented based on the wireless network deployment architecture shown as an example in FIG. 1-a or FIG. 1-b or FIG. 1-c or a modified architecture thereof.

Among them, since the signal coverage areas of multiple APs in Figure 1-a and Figure 1-c have overlapping areas, when STAs in the overlapping areas perform active scanning, a contention collision may occur between APs. The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention strive to reduce the number of contention collisions between APs, thereby reducing competition overhead and waste of communication resources, thereby improving overall system performance.

The following first describes the solution from the perspective of the AP.

Referring to FIG. 2, FIG. 2 is a schematic flowchart of an active scan processing method provided by an embodiment of the present invention. Wherein, as shown in FIG. 2 as an example, an active scanning processing method provided by an embodiment of the present invention may include:

S201. The AP receives the Probe Request frame sent by the STA on the first available channel.

The product form of the STA mentioned in each embodiment of the present invention may be, for example, a product form of a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a mobile Internet device, a palmtop computer, a desktop computer, a mobile phone, or other user terminals.

For example, the STA may send the Probe Request frame on the first available channel, eg, the STA may send the Probe Request frame on the entire bandwidth of the first available channel. Correspondingly, the AP may receive, on the first available channel, the Probe Request frame sent by the STA on the first available channel. For example, the AP may receive the Probe Request frame on the entire bandwidth of the first available channel.

The number of available channels for communication and interaction provided to the AP and the STA may be N, and the first available channel is one of the N available channels. For example, the available channels provided to the AP and the STA for communication interaction may include only the first available channel, or the available channels provided to the AP and the STA for communication interaction may include the first available channel and the second channel, and so on. Of course, the number of available channels for communication interaction provided to APs and STAs may be greater.

Wherein, the bandwidths of the N available channels may be equal or partially equal or unequal to each other. For example, the bandwidth of the first available channel may be equal to 20M and so on.

Wherein, the N can be an integer greater than or equal to 1.

For example, the N may be equal to, for example, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or other values.

S202. The AP sends a Probe Response frame corresponding to the ProbeRequest frame on one of the multiple sub-channels of the first available channel.

Wherein, the AP sends the Probe Response frame corresponding to the ProbeRequest frame on one of the multiple sub-channels of the first available channel, which can be regarded as the AP sending on the first available channel in an orthogonal frequency division multiple access manner The Probe Response frame corresponding to the Probe Request frame, that is, the AP does not send the Probe Response frame corresponding to the Probe Request frame in the entire bandwidth of the first available channel, but sends the Probe Response frame corresponding to the ProbeRequest frame in the partial bandwidth of the first available channel.

Wherein, the available channel (eg, the first available channel) may be logically divided into multiple sub-channels (which may be represented as K sub-channels). The K may be an integer greater than or equal to 2. Wherein, the bandwidths of the K sub-channels may be equal or partially equal or mutually unequal, that is, the distances between the K sub-channels may be equal or partially equal or mutually unequal.

For example, one subchannel may be equivalent to one or more resource units.

For example, the K may be equal to 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15, 29, 36 or other values.

In practical applications, the AP may determine how to divide the available channel (eg, the first available channel) into multiple (K) sub-channels based on various manners.

For example, before the AP sends a Probe Response frame corresponding to the Probe Request frame on one of the sub-channels of the first available channel, the method may further include: the AP divides the first available channel based on the protocol configuration information is a plurality (K) of sub-channels, wherein the K is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2. That is, the relevant protocol may specify how to divide the available channel (eg, the first available channel) into K sub-channels, and the AP may divide the first available channel into multiple (K sub-channels) based on the specification of the relevant protocol ) subchannel.

For another example, the Probe Request frame carries a sub-channel division indication, and before the AP sends a Probe Response frame corresponding to the Probe Request frame on one of the sub-channels of the first available channel, the method may further include: The AP divides the first available channel into multiple (K) sub-channels based on the sub-channel division instruction. For example, the sub-channel division indication may indicate the value of K, that is, the sub-channel division indication may indicate the number of sub-channels available to the AP, and may even indicate the bandwidth or resource location of each sub-channel in the K sub-channels.

Optionally, in some possible implementations of the present invention, the sub-channel division indication may be carried in the AP Configuration (AP Configuration) information field carried in the ProbeRequest frame. For example, the AP Configuration information field may be carried in the HE-SIG-B (High Efficiency) Signaling-B) field or carried in other positions in the Probe Request frame.

S203. The AP receives, on the first available channel, an acknowledgment frame sent by the STA for the Probe Response frame.

The STA may send the acknowledgment frame sent for the Probe Response frame on the first available channel, for example, the STA may send the acknowledgment frame sent for the Probe Response frame on the entire bandwidth of the first available channel. Correspondingly, the AP may receive, on the first available channel, the acknowledgment frame sent by the STA on the first available channel for the Probe Response frame. For example, the AP may receive the Probe Response frame on the entire bandwidth of the first available channel. Acknowledgment frame sent.

It can be seen that in the technical solution of this embodiment, since the available channel (such as the first available channel) can be logically divided into multiple sub-channels, after the AP receives the Probe Request frame sent by the STA on the first available channel, the first available channel One of the multiple subchannels of the channel sends the Probe Response frame corresponding to the Probe Request frame. Therefore, even if there are multiple APs sending the Probe Response frame on the same available channel in a certain scenario, if multiple APs in the same period are Sending Probe Response frames on different sub-channels of the same available channel is beneficial to avoid the contention and collision of these multiple APs. It can be seen that the above solution in this embodiment introduces an innovative mechanism in which the AP can reply to the corresponding Probe Response frame on one of the sub-channels of the available channels for receiving the Probe Request frame. Symmetric) Probe Response frame reply mechanism, this mechanism is relative to the traditional symmetric Probe Response frame reply mechanism (wherein, in the traditional symmetric Probe Response frame reply mechanism, the AP receives the Probe Request frame on the entire available channel and The channel replies to the corresponding Probe Response frame, and the sending and receiving frames are symmetrical in terms of bandwidth), which is conducive to reducing the number of competition collisions between APs, reducing competition overhead and waste of communication resources, and improving the overall performance of the wireless system.

Optionally, in some possible embodiments of the present invention, sending the Probe Response frame corresponding to the Probe Request frame by the AP on one of the multiple sub-channels of the first available channel may include: Randomly select one of the sub-channels of the first available channel to send the Probe Response frame corresponding to the Probe Request frame, or the AP may send the Probe Response frame on one of the multiple sub-channels of the first available channel. In the Probe Response frame corresponding to the Probe Request frame, the designated subchannel for sending the Probe Response frame corresponding to the Probe Request frame may be designated by the STA.

Optionally, in some possible implementations of the present invention, the value of the color field (BSS_color field) of the basic service unit (BSS, Basic Service Set) of the Probe Request frame may be set to a wildcard (such as Wildcard) or Specify the color value. The BSS_color field is used to indicate the basic service unit. For example, different color values can be used to specify different basic service units. For example, the value of the BSS_color field is 1 and the value of the BSS_color field is 2, indicating that different BSSs are specified.

Therefore, using the color value can be used to define the AP. For example, when the value of the BSS_color field is set to the specified color value, it may indicate that the AP belonging to the BSS specified by the specified color value is required to have the right to reply to the corresponding Probe Response frame. For example, when the Probe Request frame The value of the BSS_color field is set to the specified color value, then the AP is the AP corresponding to the specified color value, that is, the AP belongs to the BSS specified by the specified color value. For another example, when the value of the BSS_color field is set to a wildcard, it can indicate that there is no requirement for the BSS to which the AP that replies to the ProbeResponse frame belongs, that is, the AP belonging to any BSS has the right to reply to the Probe Response corresponding to the ProbeRequest frame. frame.

Optionally, in some possible embodiments of the present invention, the BSS_color field may be carried in the High Efficiency Preamble (High Efficiency Preamble) of the Probe Request frame High Efficiency Signaling-A (HE-SIG-A) field or In the High Efficiency Signaling-B (HE-SIG-B) field, for example, the BSS_color field may be carried in the common part field of the HE-SIG-B field. Of course, the BSS_color field can also be carried in other fields of the HE Preamble of the Probe Request frame.

Optionally, in some possible embodiments of the present invention, the receiving, by the AP, the acknowledgment frame sent by the STA for the Probe Response frame on the first available channel includes: the AP receiving the confirmation frame on the first available channel. the acknowledgment frame (ACK frame) for the Probe Response frame sent by the STA on the first available channel in a multicast manner, a broadcast manner, or an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) manner. The acknowledgment frame may be, for example, in the form of block acknowledgment (BA, BlockACK)/multi-user block acknowledgment (M-BA, Multi-STABlockACK).

Optionally, in some possible embodiments of the present invention, the STA may also declare the capability information of the STA itself in the HE Capability field or other fields carried in the MAC payload of the Probe Request frame, wherein the capability of the STA itself The information may indicate that the STA is capable of receiving OFDMA packets. After the AP obtains the capability information, it can learn the capabilities of the STA sending the Probe Request frame, and then can reply the corresponding ProbeResponse frame in OFDMA mode. Correspondingly, the STA can receive the corresponding ProbeResponse frame replied by the AP in OFDMA mode on the first available channel, and An acknowledgment frame (ACK frame) for the Probe Response frame, which may be sent in an OFDMA manner (or a multicast manner or a broadcast manner) on the first available channel.

Optionally, in some possible embodiments of the present invention, the method may further include:

The AP receives the Probe Request frame sent by the STA on a second available channel; the AP sends a ProbeResponse frame corresponding to the Probe Request frame on one of the multiple sub-channels of the second available channel; The AP receives, on the second available channel, an acknowledgment frame sent by the STA for the Probe Response frame.

The STA may send the Probe Request frame on the second available channel, and correspondingly, the AP may receive the Probe Request frame sent by the STA on the second available channel on the second available channel. Specifically, for example, the STA may send the Probe Request frame on the first available channel and the second available channel respectively at the same time period or at the same time, and the AP may receive the Probe Request frame sent by the STA on the second available channel and the first available channel, respectively .

That is to say, the STA can send Probe Request frames on multiple available channels respectively, and the AP can reply corresponding Probe Response frames on multiple available channels respectively, which is beneficial to improve the success rate of the STA's active scanning.

The solution is described below from the perspective of the STA.

Referring to FIG. 3 , FIG. 3 is a schematic flowchart of another active scanning processing method provided by another embodiment of the present invention. Wherein, as shown in FIG. 3 as an example, another active scanning processing method provided by another embodiment of the present invention may include:

S301. The STA sends a Probe Request frame on the first available channel.

The product form of the STA mentioned in the embodiments of the present invention may be, for example, a product form of a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a mobile Internet device, a palmtop computer, a desktop computer, a mobile phone, or other user terminals.

For example, the STA may send a Probe Request frame on the entire bandwidth of the first available channel. The AP may receive the Probe Request frame sent by the STA on the first available channel on the first available channel. For example, the AP may receive the Probe Request frame on the entire bandwidth of the first available channel.

S302. The STA may receive, on the first available channel, a Probe Response frame corresponding to the Probe Request frame sent by the AP on one of the multiple sub-channels of the first available channel.

Wherein, the AP sends the Probe Response frame corresponding to the ProbeRequest frame on one of the multiple sub-channels of the first available channel, which can be regarded as the AP sending on the first available channel in an orthogonal frequency division multiple access manner The Probe Response frame corresponding to the Probe Request frame, that is, the AP does not send the Probe Response frame corresponding to the Probe Request frame in the entire bandwidth of the first available channel, but sends the Probe Response frame corresponding to the ProbeRequest frame in the partial bandwidth of the first available channel. Therefore, the STA specifically receives, on the first available channel, a ProbeResponse frame corresponding to the Probe Request frame sent by the AP on the first available channel in an OFDM manner.

For example, the STA may receive, on the first available channel, a Probe Response frame corresponding to the Probe Request frame and sent by the AP on one sub-channel randomly selected from multiple sub-channels of the first available channel. Alternatively, the STA may receive, on the first available channel, a Probe Response frame corresponding to the Probe Request frame sent by the AP on one designated sub-channel among the multiple sub-channels of the first available channel.

S303. The STA sends an acknowledgment frame for the Probe Response frame on the first available channel.

For example, the STA may send the acknowledgment frame sent for the Probe Response frame on the entire bandwidth of the first available channel, or the STA may send the acknowledgment frame sent for the Probe Response frame in OFDMA on the first available channel. Correspondingly, the AP may receive, on the first available channel, the acknowledgment frame sent by the STA for the ProbeResponse frame on the first available channel. For example, the AP may receive the confirmation frame sent for the ProbeResponse frame on the entire bandwidth of the first available channel. Confirmation frame.

It can be seen that, in the technical solution of this embodiment, since the available channel (such as the first available channel) can be logically divided into multiple sub-channels, after the AP receives the Probe Request frame sent by the STA on the first available channel, the One of the multiple subchannels of the available channel sends the Probe Response frame corresponding to the Probe Request frame. Therefore, even if there are multiple APs sending the Probe Response frame on the same available channel in a certain scenario, if multiple APs send the Probe Response frame in the same time period The Probe Response frame is sent on different sub-channels of the same available channel, which is beneficial to avoid the contention and collision of these multiple APs. It can be seen that the above solution in this embodiment introduces an innovative mechanism in which the AP can reply to the corresponding Probe Response frame on one of the sub-channels of the available channels for receiving the Probe Request frame. This innovative mechanism can be regarded as a similar asymmetric Probe Response frame reply Compared with the traditional symmetric Probe Response frame reply mechanism (wherein, in the traditional symmetric Probe Response frame reply mechanism, the AP replies to the corresponding Probe Response frame on the entire available channel receiving the Probe Request frame), there are It is beneficial to reduce the number of contention collisions between APs, to reduce competition overhead and waste of communication resources, and to improve the overall performance of the wireless system.

Optionally, in some possible embodiments of the present invention, the Probe Request frame may carry a sub-channel division indication, where the sub-channel division indication is used to instruct the AP to divide the first available channel into Multiple (K) sub-channels.

Optionally, in some possible implementations of the present invention, the value of the color field of the basic service unit of the Probe Request frame is set to a wildcard or a specified color value.

Optionally, in some possible implementations of the present invention, the basic service unit color field is carried in the high-efficiency signaling-A field or the high-efficiency signaling-B field of the high-efficiency preamble carried in the Probe Request frame. .

Optionally, in some possible embodiments of the present invention, if the value of the color field of the basic service unit of the Probe Request frame is set to the specified color value, the AP is the AP corresponding to the specified color value. .

Optionally, in some possible implementations of the present invention, the STA sends an acknowledgement frame for the Probe Response frame on the first available channel, including: the STA sends an OFDMA format on the first available channel or an acknowledgment frame for the Probe Response frame sent in a multicast mode or a broadcast mode.

Optionally, in some possible embodiments of the present invention, the method further includes:

The STA sends the Probe Request frame on the second available channel; the STA receives, on the second available channel, the Probe Request frame sent by the AP on one of the multiple sub-channels of the second available channel A corresponding Probe Response frame; the STA sends an acknowledgment frame for the Probe Response frame on the second available channel.

Correspondingly, the AP may receive, on the second available channel, the Probe Request frame sent by the STA on the second available channel. Specifically, for example, the STA may send the Probe Request frame on the first available channel and the second available channel respectively at the same time period or at the same time, and the AP may receive the Probe Request frame sent by the STA on the second available channel and the first available channel, respectively .

That is to say, the STA can send Probe Request frames on multiple available channels respectively, and the AP can reply corresponding Probe Response frames on multiple available channels respectively, which is beneficial to improve the success rate of the STA's active scanning.

In order to facilitate better understanding and implementation of the foregoing technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the following describes in detail with reference to some application scenarios of the embodiments of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4-a, FIG. 4-a is a schematic flowchart of another active scan processing method provided by another embodiment of the present invention. The active scan processing method illustrated in FIG. 4-a may be implemented in the wireless network deployment architecture illustrated in FIG. 1-a or FIG. 1-b or FIG. 1-c.

As shown in FIG. 4-a as an example, another active scan processing method provided by another embodiment of the present invention may include:

S401. STA#1 sends Probe Request frame #1 on available channel #1.

Among them, a possible structure of the Probe Request frame #1 and the frame header of the physical layer may be shown as an example in Figure 4-b.

Wherein, as shown in Figure 4-b as an example, the physical layer frame header carried in the Probe Request frame #1 includes a legacy preamble (Legacy Preamble) and a high efficiency preamble (High Efficiency Preamble). The high-efficiency preamble carried by the Probe Request frame #1 may carry the HE-SIG-A field, and may carry or not carry the HE-SIG-B field.

In this embodiment, it is assumed that the value of the BSS_color field carried in the Probe Request frame #1 is set to the specified color value.

Optionally, in some possible embodiments of the present invention, the BSS_color field may be carried in the HE-SIG-A field or the HE-SIG-B field of the HighEfficiency Preamble carried in the Probe Request frame. For example, The BSS_color field may be carried in the common part field of the HE-SIG-B field. Of course, the BSS_color field may also be carried in other positions of the HE Preamble carried in the Probe Request frame.

Wherein, the bandwidth of the available channel #1 may be 20M or other bandwidths.

S402, AP#1 receives the Probe Request frame #1 sent by STA#1 on the available channel #1, and AP#1 determines whether AP#1 belongs to the BSS specified by the color value carried in the BSS_color field carried in the Probe Request frame #1.

If so (indicating that AP#1 has the right to reply to the corresponding Probe Response frame), step S403 is executed.

If not (indicating that AP#1 has no right to reply to the corresponding Probe Response frame), AP#1 can ignore the received ProbeRequest frame #1, that is, AP#1 does not reply to the Probe Response frame corresponding to the Probe Request frame #1.

S403. AP#1 randomly selects one subchannel from the multiple subchannels of available channel #1 to send the Probe Response frame #p1 corresponding to the ProbeRequest frame #1.

Optionally, in some possible implementations of the present invention, if AP#1 receives the Probe Request frame #1 on the available channel #1, AP#1 may, after an interval of xIFS (xIFS<DIFS(where xIFS The value is x, for example xIFS=SIFS=16us, DIFS=34us, xIFS<DIFS)), send Legacy Preamble and HighEfficiency Preamble on the above-mentioned available channel #1, and can use multiple sub-channels of available channel #1 (such as 9 sub-channels Channel) randomly selects one of them to send Probe Response frame #p1 corresponding to Probe Request frame #1.

Among them, AP#1 randomly selects 1 subchannel from the multiple subchannels of available channel #1 to send the Probe Response frame #p1 corresponding to the ProbeRequest frame #1, which can be regarded as AP#1 sending the available channel #1 in OFDMA mode The Probe Response frame #p1 corresponding to the Probe Request frame #1.

The situation in which multiple APs send Probe Response frames in the OFDMA mode on the available channel #1 may be shown as an example in Figure 4-c. The example shown in Fig. 4-c mainly takes the case where multiple APs send ProbeResponse frames on different sub-channels of the available channel #1 as an example.

S404. STA#1 receives, on the available channel #1, the Probe Response frame #p1 sent by AP#1 in one sub-channel randomly selected from the multiple sub-channels of the available channel #1, wherein, if STA#1 correctly receives the Probe Response frame #p1, then STA#1 sends an acknowledgment frame #a1 for the Probe Response frame #p1 on the available channel #1. Correspondingly, AP#1 may receive the acknowledgment frame #a1 sent by STA#1 on the available channel #1.

It can be understood that when STA#1 is still in the signal coverage of other APs, the interaction between other APs and STA#1 can be similar to the interaction between AP#1 and STA#1. analogy.

It should be noted that, in the case where AP#1 sends Probe Response frame #p1 without collision with other APs, then Probe Response frame #p1 can usually be correctly received by STA#1, while in AP#1 In the case of random collision between sending Probe Response frame #p1 and other AP #1 (a contention collision occurs, that is, other APs use the same subchannel at the same time period or at the same time to also send the ProbeResponse frame corresponding to the Probe Request frame #1) , the Probe Response frame #p1 is usually not correctly received by STA#1.

It can be seen that in the technical solution of this embodiment, since the available channel #1 can be logically divided into multiple sub-channels, after AP #1 receives the Probe Request frame sent by STA #1 on the available channel #1, the available channel #1 1 randomly selects 1 sub-channel to send the Probe Response frame corresponding to the Probe Request frame, that is, AP #1 can send the Probe Response frame corresponding to the Probe Request frame on the available channel #1 in OFDMA mode, so even in a certain scenario There are multiple APs including AP#1 that send Probe Response frames on the same available channel. If multiple APs send Probe Response frames on different sub-channels of the same available channel during the same period, it is beneficial to avoid this problem. Contention collision between APs. It can be seen that the above solution in this embodiment introduces an innovative mechanism in which the AP can randomly select 1 sub-channel to reply to the corresponding Probe Response frame in multiple sub-channels of the available channels for receiving the Probe Request frame. This innovative mechanism can be regarded as a similar asymmetric type. Probe Response frame reply mechanism. Compared with the traditional symmetrical Probe Response frame reply mechanism, this mechanism is conducive to reducing the number of collisions between APs, reducing competition overhead and waste of communication resources, and thus improving the overall performance of the wireless system. .

Referring to FIG. 5-a, FIG. 5-a is a schematic flowchart of another active scan processing method provided by another embodiment of the present invention. The active scan processing method illustrated in FIG. 5-a may be implemented in the wireless network deployment architecture illustrated in FIG. 1-a or 1-c. As shown in FIG. 5-a as an example, another active scan processing method provided by another embodiment of the present invention may include:

S501. STA#1 sends Probe Request frame #1 on available channel #1.

Among them, a possible structure of the Probe Request frame #1 and the frame header of the physical layer may be shown as an example in Figure 4-c.

Wherein, the bandwidth of the available channel #1 may be 20M or other bandwidths.

S502. AP#1 receives the Probe Request frame #1 sent by STA#1 on the available channel #1, and AP#1 randomly selects 1 subchannel from the multiple subchannels of the available channel #1 to send the corresponding Probe Request frame #1 Probe Response frame #p1.

Optionally, in some possible implementations of the present invention, if AP#1 receives the Probe Request frame #1 on the available channel #1, AP#1 may, after an interval of xIFS (xIFS<DIFS(where xIFS The value is x, for example xIFS=SIFS=16us, DIFS=34us, xIFS<DIFS)), send Legacy Preamble and HighEfficiency Preamble on the above-mentioned available channel #1, and can use multiple sub-channels of available channel #1 (such as 9 sub-channels Channel) randomly selects one of them to send Probe Response frame #p1 corresponding to Probe Request frame #1. That is to say, AP #1 may send the Probe Response frame #p1 corresponding to the Probe Request frame #1 on the available channel #1 in an OFDMA manner.

S503. STA#1 receives, on available channel #1, a Probe Response frame #p1 sent by AP#1 on a sub-channel randomly selected from multiple sub-channels of available channel #1, and STA#1 sends, on available channel #1, a Probe Response frame #p1 for the Acknowledgment frame #a1 of Probe Response frame #p1. Correspondingly, AP#1 can receive the acknowledgment frame #a1 sent by STA#1 on the available channel #1.

S504. AP#2 receives the Probe Request frame #1 sent by STA#1 on the available channel #1, and AP#2 randomly selects 1 subchannel from the multiple subchannels of the available channel #1 to send the corresponding Probe Request frame #1 Probe Response frame #p2.

Optionally, in some possible implementations of the present invention, if AP#2 receives the Probe Request frame #1 on the available channel #1, AP#2 may, after a time interval of xIFS (xIFS<DIFS(the value of xIFS is x, for example xIFS=SIFS=16us, DIFS=34us, xIFS<DIFS)), send Legacy Preamble and HighEfficiency Preamble on the above available channel #1, and can use multiple sub-channels of available channel #1 (eg 9 sub-channels) Randomly select one of them to send the Probe Response frame #p2 corresponding to the Probe Request frame #1. That is to say, AP #2 can send the Probe Response frame #p2 corresponding to the Probe Request frame #1 in the OFDMA manner on the available channel #1.

S505. STA#1 receives, on available channel #1, a Probe Response frame #p2 sent by AP#2 on a sub-channel randomly selected from multiple sub-channels of available channel #1, and STA#1 sends, on available channel #1, a Probe Response frame #p2 for the Acknowledgment frame #a2 of Probe Response frame #p2. Correspondingly, AP#2 can receive the acknowledgment frame #a2 sent by STA#1 on the available channel #1.

It can be understood that if the sub-channel used by AP#1 to send the Probe Response frame #p1 is different from the sub-channel used by AP#2 to send the Probe Response frame #p2, then there will be no collision between AP#1 and AP#2. ). Conversely, if the sub-channel used by AP#1 to send the Probe Response frame #p1 is the same as the sub-channel used by AP#2 to send the ProbeResponse frame #p2, then a contention collision occurs between AP#1 and AP#2.

It can be understood that there is no necessary execution sequence between steps S502 to S503 and steps S504 to S505. For example, steps S502 to S503 and steps S504 to S505 may be performed within the same time period.

Of course, in addition to AP#1 and AP#2, there may be one or more other APs that can receive the Probe Request frame #1 on the available channel #1, and these APs respond to the Probe Request frame #1 in the same way as AP#1. Similar to AP#2.

For example, referring to FIG. 5-b, APs such as AP#1, AP#2, AP#3, AP#4, AP#5, and AP#6 can reply to corresponding Probe Response frames in a similar manner. Figure 5-c shows that AP#1, AP#2, AP#3, and AP#6 select different sub-channels of available channel #1 to send corresponding Probe Response frames, while AP#4 and AP#5 are available due to the selection. The same sub-channel of channel #1 is used to send the corresponding Probe Response frame, so random collision occurs, which will cause STA#1 to not correctly receive the corresponding Probe Response frames sent by AP#4 and AP#5.

For example, in a dense scenario, the number of APs that can receive (hear) the STA's Probe Request frame may be much larger than the number of available sub-channels of the available channel, so when the AP randomly selects a sub-channel to reply to the corresponding Probe Response frame, it is inevitable Some sub-channels may be selected by multiple APs, resulting in contention and collision of Probe Response frames. In the case of contention collision, when the STA is ready to receive a Probe Response frame on an available channel, the STA can usually detect the signal energy of the corresponding sub-channel but cannot interpret it correctly (that is, cannot receive the corresponding Probe Response frame correctly). If such a result exists, the STA can consider the current scenario as a densely deployed scenario with a large number of APs. Therefore, the AP randomly selects sub-channels to send the corresponding Probe Response frames, and there may be many contention collisions, so a scan is very difficult. It may not be enough to complete all valid identification of the currently available wireless network. After the STA replies with an ACK frame to the AP, the STA can trigger the Probe Request frame again to continuously perform active scanning, as shown in the example in Figure 5-c. APs that have responded to the corresponding Probe Response frame in the previous scan and successfully received the corresponding ACK frame replied by the STA will no longer participate in this scan, and only the APs that have not received the corresponding ACK frame participate in this scan. Select random sub-channels and send them The flow of the Probe Response frame.

For example, in the scenario shown in Figure 5-c, during the first active scanning process of the STA, AP#4, AP#5, AP#6, AP#7, AP#8, and AP#9 are included. When several APs responded to the corresponding Probe Response frame, a contention collision occurred, and several APs including AP#1, AP#2, AP#3, and AP#10 did not have a contention collision. The STA finds that there are many collisions, so it initiates a second active scan. AP#1, AP#2, AP#3, and AP#10 that were successfully identified in the first active scan process are not in the second active scan process. In the scenario shown in Figure 5-c, the second active scanning process includes AP#4, AP#5, AP#6, AP#7, AP#8 and AP# Several APs including 9 were also successfully identified by the STA.

When the STA actively scans and sends the Probe Request frame for the second time, it can maintain the relevant parameter configuration of the previous round, or reconfigure the new parameters and indicate it in the Probe Request frame. For example, the STA can increase the number of sub-channels of the available channels. large, in order to further reduce the probability of random collisions. Of course, if the number of competing collisions exceeding the set threshold occurs during the second active scan, the SAT can initiate an active scan again.

It can be seen that, in the technical solution of this embodiment, since the available channel #1 can be logically divided into multiple sub-channels, multiple APs including AP #1 and AP #2 receive that STA #1 is on the available channel # 1 After sending the Probe Request frame, you can randomly select 1 sub-channel from the multiple sub-channels of the available channel #1 to send the Probe Response frame corresponding to the Probe Request frame, that is, each AP can send the Probe on the available channel #1 in OFDMA mode. The Request frame corresponds to the Probe Response frame. Therefore, if multiple APs send Probe Response frames on different sub-channels of the same available channel within the same time period, it is beneficial to avoid contention and collision among the multiple APs. It can be seen that the above solution in this embodiment introduces an innovative mechanism in which the AP can randomly select 1 sub-channel to reply to the corresponding Probe Response frame in multiple sub-channels of the available channels for receiving the Probe Request frame. This innovative mechanism can be regarded as a similar asymmetric type. The ProbeResponse frame reply mechanism, compared with the traditional symmetric Probe Response frame reply mechanism, is conducive to reducing the number of competition collisions between APs, reducing competition overhead and waste of communication resources, and thus improving the overall performance of the wireless system.

Referring to FIG. 6-a, FIG. 6-a is a schematic flowchart of another active scan processing method provided by another embodiment of the present invention. The active scan processing method illustrated in FIG. 6-a may be implemented in the wireless network deployment architecture illustrated in FIG. 1-a or FIG. 1-c. As shown in FIG. 6-a as an example, another active scan processing method provided by another embodiment of the present invention may include:

S601, STA#1 sends ProbeRequest frame #1 on available channel #1, available channel #2, available channel #3, and available channel #4, respectively.

Among them, in this embodiment, it is assumed that the value of the BSS_color field carried in the Probe Request frame #1 is set to a wildcard, that is, it means that there is no requirement for the BSS to which the AP that replies the Probe Response frame belongs, that is, it belongs to any All APs of the BSS have the right to reply to the Probe Response frame corresponding to the Probe Request frame #1.

For example, the bandwidth of available channel #1 may be 20M or other bandwidth, and the bandwidths of available channel #2, available channel #3, and available channel #4 may be the same as or different from the bandwidth of available channel #1. The bandwidths of the available channel #1, the available channel #2, the available channel #3, and the available channel #4 may be partially the same, completely the same, or different from each other.

S602. For example, AP#1 receives the ProbeRequest frame #1 sent by STA#1 on the available channel #1 and the available channel #2 respectively. AP#1 finds that the color value wildcard carried in the BSS_color field carried by the Probe Request frame #1, and therefore determines AP#1 has the right to reply to the corresponding Probe Response frame. AP#1 randomly selects 1 subchannel from the multiple subchannels of the available channel #1 to send the Probe Response frame #p1 corresponding to the Probe Request frame #1, and AP#1 can also use multiple subchannels of the available channel #2 Randomly select 1 sub-channel to send the Probe Response frame #p1 corresponding to the Probe Request frame #1.

S603. STA#1 receives, on available channel #1, a Probe Response frame #p1 sent by AP#1 in one sub-channel randomly selected from multiple sub-channels of available channel #1, wherein, if STA#1 is correct from the available channel # 1 Receives the ProbeResponse frame #p1, then STA#1 sends an acknowledgment frame #a1 for the Probe Response frame #p1 on the available channel #1.

And, STA#1 can receive the Probe Response frame #p1 sent by AP#1 in one sub-channel randomly selected from the multiple sub-channels of the available channel #2 on the available channel #2. #2 receives the ProbeResponse frame #p1, then STA#1 sends an acknowledgment frame #a1 for the Probe Response frame #p1 on the available channel #2.

S604. For example, AP#2 receives the ProbeRequest frame #1 sent by STA#1 on the available channel #1 and the available channel #3 respectively. AP#2 finds that the color value wildcard carried in the BSS_color field carried by the Probe Request frame #1, and therefore determines AP#2 has the right to reply to the corresponding Probe Response frame. AP#2 randomly selects 1 subchannel from the multiple subchannels of the available channel #1 to send the Probe Response frame #p2 corresponding to the Probe Request frame #1, and AP#2 can also use multiple subchannels of the available channel #3 Randomly select 1 sub-channel to send the Probe Response frame #p2 corresponding to the Probe Request frame #1.

S605. STA#1 receives, on available channel #1, the Probe Response frame #p2 sent by AP#2 in one sub-channel randomly selected from the multiple sub-channels of available channel #1, wherein, if STA#1 is correct from the available channel # 1 Receives the ProbeResponse frame #p2, then STA#1 sends an acknowledgment frame #a2 for the Probe Response frame #p2 on the available channel #1.

And, STA#1 can receive the Probe Response frame #p2 sent by AP#2 in one sub-channel randomly selected from the multiple sub-channels of the available channel #3 on the available channel #3. #3 receives the ProbeResponse frame #p2, then STA#1 sends an acknowledgment frame #a2 for the Probe Response frame #p2 on the available channel #3.

S606. For example, AP#3 receives the ProbeRequest frame #1 sent by STA#1 on the available channel #2 and the available channel #4 respectively. AP#3 finds that the color value wildcard carried in the BSS_color field carried by the Probe Request frame #1, and therefore determines AP#3 has the right to reply to the corresponding Probe Response frame. AP#3 randomly selects 1 subchannel from the multiple subchannels of available channel #2 to send the Probe Response frame #p3 corresponding to the Probe Request frame #1, and AP#3 can also use multiple subchannels of available channel #4 Randomly select 1 subchannel to send the Probe Response frame #p3 corresponding to the Probe Request frame #1.

S607. STA#1 receives, on available channel #2, a Probe Response frame #p3 sent by AP#3 in one sub-channel randomly selected from the multiple sub-channels of available channel #2, wherein, if STA#1 is correct from the available channel # 2. Received the ProbeResponse frame #p3, then STA#1 sends an acknowledgment frame #a3 for the Probe Response frame #p3 on the available channel #2.

And, STA#1 can receive the Probe Response frame #p3 sent by AP#3 in one sub-channel randomly selected from the multiple sub-channels of the available channel #4 on the available channel #4. #4 receives the ProbeResponse frame #p3, then STA#1 sends an acknowledgment frame #a3 for the Probe Response frame #p3 on the available channel #4.

S608. For example, AP#4 receives the ProbeRequest frame #1 sent by STA#1 on the available channel #3 and the available channel #4 respectively. AP#4 finds the color value wildcard carried in the BSS_color field carried by the Probe Request frame #1, and therefore determines AP#4 has the right to reply to the corresponding Probe Response frame. AP#4 randomly selects 1 subchannel from the multiple subchannels of the available channel #3 to send the Probe Response frame #p4 corresponding to the Probe Request frame #1, and AP#4 can also use multiple subchannels of the available channel #4 Randomly select 1 subchannel to send the Probe Response frame #p4 corresponding to the Probe Request frame #1.

S609: STA#1 receives, on available channel #3, the Probe Response frame #p4 sent by AP#4 on one sub-channel randomly selected from the multiple sub-channels of available channel #3, where STA#1, if correct, selects from the available channel # 3. Received the ProbeResponse frame #p4, then STA#1 sends an acknowledgment frame #a4 for the Probe Response frame #p4 on the available channel #3.

And, STA#1 can receive the Probe Response frame #p4 sent by AP#4 in one sub-channel randomly selected from the multiple sub-channels of the available channel #4 on the available channel #4. #4 receives the ProbeResponse frame #p4, then STA#1 sends an acknowledgment frame #a4 for the Probe Response frame #p4 on the available channel #4.

It can be understood that there is no necessary order of execution between steps S602 to S603, steps S604 to S605, steps S606 to S607, and steps S608 to S609. For example, steps S602 to S603, steps S604 to S605, steps S606 to S607, and steps S608 to S609 may be performed within the same time period.

It can be understood that, as shown in the example of FIG. 6-b, in this embodiment, the STA can transmit and receive frames on four available channels, including available channel #1, available channel #2, available channel #3, and available channel #4, at the same time. The description is given as an example. Of course, the STA can also send and receive frames on more or less available channels at the same time, and the processing methods of the STA and the AP in the corresponding scenario can be deduced by analogy. In this embodiment, it is mainly described that the STA can transmit and receive frames with four APs, including AP#1, AP#2, AP#3, and AP#4, as an example. The AP performs frame transmission and reception, and the processing methods of the STA and AP in the corresponding scenario can be deduced by analogy.

Figure 6-c shows an example of a general scenario in which a STA transmits and receives frames with multiple APs on multiple available channels at the same time.

Similarly, the STA can still trigger the active scan again according to the actual situation of the system, for example, the STA can trigger the active scan again according to the number of contention collisions of the probe response frame replied by the AP, and the main process is similar to the above example process.

It can be seen that in the technical solution of this embodiment, since the available channels can be logically divided into multiple sub-channels, the AP can respectively receive the STA and send the Probe Request frame on the multiple available channels, and then the APs can separate the available channels on multiple sub-channels of the corresponding available channels. Randomly select 1 sub-channel to send the Probe Response frame corresponding to the Probe Request frame. Therefore, even if there are multiple APs sending the Probe Response frame on the same available channel in some scenarios, if multiple APs are on the same available channel in the same period of time. Sending Probe Response frames on different sub-channels is beneficial to avoid the contention and collision of these multiple APs. It can be seen that the above solution in this embodiment introduces an innovative mechanism in which the AP can randomly select one sub-channel to reply to the corresponding Probe Response frame in multiple sub-channels of the available channels for receiving the Probe Request frame. This innovative mechanism can be regarded as a similar asymmetric Probe Response frame reply mechanism. Compared with the traditional symmetric Probe Response frame reply mechanism, this mechanism is conducive to reducing the number of competition collisions between APs, reducing competition overhead and waste of communication resources, and thus improving the overall performance of the wireless system.

In order to facilitate better understanding and implementation of the foregoing technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, related devices for implementing the foregoing solutions are also provided below.

Referring to FIG. 7 , an embodiment of the present invention further provides an access point 700 , which may include: a receiving unit 710 and a sending unit 720 .

The receiving unit 710 is configured to receive the probe request frame sent by the station on the first available channel.

The sending unit 720 is configured to send a probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame on one of the multiple subchannels of the first available channel.

For example, one subchannel may be equivalent to one or more resource units.

The receiving unit 710 is further configured to receive, on the first available channel, an acknowledgment frame sent by the station for the probe response frame.

Optionally, in some possible implementations of the present invention, the sending unit is specifically configured to randomly select one of the sub-channels of the plurality of sub-channels of the first available channel to send the probe response corresponding to the probe request frame. frame.

Optionally, in some possible embodiments of the present invention, the probe request frame carries a sub-channel division indication; the access point further includes a channel determination unit 730, configured to The first available channel is divided into a plurality of sub-channels.

Optionally, in some possible implementations of the present invention, the sub-channel division indication may be carried in the AP Configuration (AP Configuration) information field carried in the ProbeRequest frame. For example, the AP Configuration information field may be carried in the HE-SIG-B (High Efficiency) Signaling-B) field or carried in other positions in the Probe Request frame.

Optionally, in some possible implementations of the present invention, the access point further includes a channel determination unit 730, configured to divide the first available channel into multiple sub-channels based on the protocol configuration information.

Optionally, in some possible implementations of the present invention, the value of the basic service unit color field carried in the probe request frame is set to a wildcard or a specified color value, and the basic service unit color field is used to indicate the basic service unit color field. service unit.

Optionally, in some possible implementations of the present invention, the basic service unit color field is carried in the high-efficiency signaling-A field or the high-efficiency signaling-B field of the high-efficiency preamble of the probe request frame. .

Optionally, in some possible implementations of the present invention, if the value of the color field of the basic service unit of the probe request frame is set to a specified color value, the access point is the same as the specified color value. the corresponding access point.

Optionally, in some possible embodiments of the present invention,

In the aspect that the first available channel receives the acknowledgment frame sent by the station for the probe response frame, the receiving unit is specifically configured to receive, on the first available channel, the station on the first available channel The acknowledgment frame for the probe response frame is sent in the orthogonal frequency division multiple access mode, multicast mode or broadcast mode.

Optionally, in some possible embodiments of the present invention, the receiving unit 710 is further configured to receive the probe request frame sent by the station on a second available channel;

The sending unit 720 is further configured to send a probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame on one of the multiple subchannels of the second available channel;

The receiving unit 710 is further configured to receive, on the second available channel, an acknowledgment frame sent by the station for the probe response frame.

It can be understood that the functions of the access point 700 in this embodiment may be specifically implemented according to the methods in the foregoing method embodiments, and the specific implementation process may refer to the relevant descriptions of the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

It can be seen that, in the solution of the embodiment of the present invention, since the available channel (such as the first available channel) can be logically divided into multiple sub-channels, after the AP 700 receives the Probe Request frame sent by the STA on the first available channel, the first available channel One of the multiple sub-channels of the channel sends the Probe Response frame corresponding to the Probe Request frame, so even if there are multiple APs sending the Probe Response frame on the same available channel in a certain scenario, if multiple APs are Sending Probe Response frames on different sub-channels of the same available channel is beneficial to avoid the contention and collision of these multiple APs. It can be seen that the above solution in this embodiment introduces an innovative mechanism in which the AP can reply to the corresponding Probe Response frame on one of the sub-channels of the available channels for receiving the Probe Request frame. This innovative mechanism can be regarded as a similar asymmetric Probe Response frame reply Compared with the traditional symmetric Probe Response frame reply mechanism, this mechanism is conducive to reducing the number of competition collisions between APs, thereby reducing competition overhead and waste of communication resources, and thus improving the overall performance of the wireless system.

Referring to FIG. 8 , an embodiment of the present invention further provides an access point 800 including: a processor 810 , a memory 820 and an antenna 830 .

Wherein, by calling the instructions or codes stored in the memory 820, the processor 810 is configured to perform the following steps:

Receive a probe request frame sent by a station on a first available channel through the antenna 830; send a probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame on one of the multiple subchannels of the first available channel through the antenna; An acknowledgment frame sent by the station for the probe response frame is received on the first available channel through the antenna.

For example, one subchannel may be equivalent to one or more resource units.

Optionally, in some possible implementations of the present invention, the processor is specifically configured to randomly select one of the sub-channels of the first available channel to send the probe response corresponding to the probe request frame. frame.

Optionally, in some possible implementations of the present invention, the probe request frame carries a sub-channel division indication; the processor is further configured to divide the first available channel into two based on the sub-channel division indication. multiple subchannels.

Optionally, in some possible implementations of the present invention, the access point further includes a channel determination unit, configured to divide the first available channel into multiple sub-channels based on the protocol configuration information.

Optionally, in some possible implementations of the present invention, the value of the basic service unit color field carried in the probe request frame is set to a wildcard or a specified color value, and the basic service unit color field is used to indicate the basic service unit color field. service unit.

Optionally, in some possible implementations of the present invention, the basic service unit color field is carried in the high-efficiency signaling-A field or the high-efficiency signaling-B field of the high-efficiency preamble of the probe request frame. .

Optionally, in some possible implementations of the present invention, if the value of the color field of the basic service unit of the probe request frame is set to a specified color value, the access point is the same as the specified color value. the corresponding access point.

Optionally, in some possible implementations of the present invention, the processor is specifically configured to receive, through the antenna, on the first available channel, the station on the first available channel in an orthogonal frequency The acknowledgment frame for the probe response frame sent in the multiple access mode, the multicast mode or the broadcast mode.

Optionally, in some possible implementations of the present invention, the processor is further configured to receive the probe request frame sent by the station on the second available channel through the antenna; One of the multiple subchannels of the second available channel sends a probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame; and receives an acknowledgment frame sent by the station for the probe response frame on the second available channel through the antenna .

It can be understood that the functions of the access point 800 in this embodiment may be specifically implemented according to the methods in the foregoing method embodiments, and the specific implementation process may refer to the relevant descriptions of the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

It can be seen that, in the solution of the embodiment of the present invention, since an available channel (such as the first available channel) can be logically divided into multiple sub-channels, after the AP 800 receives the Probe Request frame sent by the STA on the first available channel, the first available channel One of the multiple sub-channels of the channel sends the Probe Response frame corresponding to the Probe Request frame, so even if there are multiple APs sending the Probe Response frame on the same available channel in a certain scenario, if multiple APs are Sending Probe Response frames on different sub-channels of the same available channel is beneficial to avoid the contention and collision of these multiple APs. It can be seen that the above solution in this embodiment introduces an innovative mechanism in which the AP can reply to the corresponding Probe Response frame on one of the sub-channels of the available channels for receiving the Probe Request frame. This innovative mechanism can be regarded as a similar asymmetric Probe Response frame reply Compared with the traditional symmetric Probe Response frame reply mechanism, this mechanism is conducive to reducing the number of competition collisions between APs, thereby reducing competition overhead and waste of communication resources, and thus improving the overall performance of the wireless system.

Referring to FIG. 9, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a site 900, including:

a sending unit 910, configured to send a probe request frame on the first available channel;

A receiving unit 920, configured to receive, on the first available channel, a probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame sent by an access point on one of the multiple subchannels of the first available channel;

The sending unit 930 is further configured to send an acknowledgment frame for the probe response frame on the first available channel.

Optionally, in some possible implementations of the present invention, the receiving, on the first available channel, the probe request sent by the access point on one of the multiple sub-channels of the first available channel The probe response frame corresponding to the frame includes: receiving on the first available channel a probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame sent by the access point on a subchannel randomly selected from a plurality of subchannels of the first available channel.

Optionally, in some possible implementations of the present invention, the probe request frame carries a sub-channel division indication, where the sub-channel division indication is used to instruct the access point to use the first available channel Divided into multiple sub-channels.

For example, one subchannel may be equivalent to one or more resource units.

Optionally, in some possible implementations of the present invention, the value of the basic service unit color field carried in the probe request frame is set to a wildcard or a specified color value, and the basic service unit color field is used to indicate the basic service unit color field. service unit.

Optionally, in some possible implementations of the present invention, the basic service unit color field is carried in the high-efficiency signaling-A field or the high-efficiency signaling-B field of the high-efficiency preamble of the probe request frame. .

Optionally, in some possible implementations of the present invention, if the value of the color field of the basic service unit of the probe request frame is set to a specified color value, the access point is the same as the specified color value. the corresponding access point.

Optionally, in some possible implementation manners of the present invention, in the aspect of sending an acknowledgment frame for the probe response frame on the first available channel: the sending unit is specifically configured to send an acknowledgment frame on the first available channel An acknowledgment frame for the probe response frame sent in an orthogonal frequency division multiple access mode, a multicast mode or a broadcast mode.

Optionally, in some possible implementations of the present invention, the sending unit is further configured to send the probe request frame on a second available channel;

The receiving unit is further configured to receive, on the second available channel, a probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame sent by the access point on one of the multiple subchannels of the second available channel;

The sending unit is further configured to send an acknowledgment frame for the probe response frame on the second available channel.

It can be understood that the product form of the site 900 in this embodiment may be, for example, the product form of a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a mobile Internet device, a palmtop computer, a desktop computer, a mobile phone or other user terminals.

It can be understood that the functions of the site 900 in this embodiment may be specifically implemented according to the methods in the foregoing method embodiments, and the specific implementation process may refer to the relevant descriptions of the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

It can be seen that, in the solution of the embodiment of the present invention, since the available channel (such as the first available channel) can be logically divided into multiple sub-channels, after the AP receives the Probe Request frame sent by the STA900 on the first available channel, the first available channel One of the multiple sub-channels sends the Probe Response frame corresponding to the Probe Request frame, so even if there are multiple APs sending the Probe Response frame on the same available channel in a certain scenario, if multiple APs in the same time period are in the same The Probe Response frame can be sent on different sub-channels of the available channel, which is beneficial to avoid the contention and collision of these multiple APs. It can be seen that the above solution in this embodiment introduces an innovative mechanism in which the AP can reply to the corresponding Probe Response frame on one of the sub-channels of the available channels for receiving the Probe Request frame. This innovative mechanism can be regarded as a similar asymmetric Probe Response frame reply Compared with the traditional symmetric Probe Response frame reply mechanism, this mechanism is conducive to reducing the number of competition collisions between APs, thereby reducing competition overhead and waste of communication resources, and thus improving the overall performance of the wireless system.

Referring to FIG. 10, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a site site 1000, including:

The processor 1010, the memory 1020 and the antenna 1030.

Wherein, by calling the instructions or codes stored in the memory 1020, the processor 1010 is configured to perform the following steps: send a probe request frame on the first available channel through the antenna 1030; send a probe request frame on the first available channel through the antenna; The available channel receives a probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame sent by the access point on one of the multiple subchannels of the first available channel; The acknowledgment frame of the probe response frame.

Optionally, in some possible implementations of the present invention, the processor is configured to receive, on the first available channel, through the antenna, an access point randomly selected from multiple sub-channels of the first available channel. A probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame sent by one subchannel.

For example, one subchannel may be equivalent to one or more resource units.

Optionally, in some possible implementations of the present invention, the probe request frame carries a sub-channel division indication, where the sub-channel division indication is used to instruct the access point to use the first available channel Divided into multiple sub-channels.

Optionally, in some possible implementations of the present invention, the value of the basic service unit color field carried in the probe request frame is set to a wildcard or a specified color value, and the basic service unit color field is used to indicate the basic service unit color field. service unit.

Optionally, in some possible implementations of the present invention, the basic service unit color field is carried in the high-efficiency signaling-A field or the high-efficiency signaling-B field of the high-efficiency preamble of the probe request frame. .

Optionally, in some possible implementations of the present invention, if the value of the color field of the basic service unit of the probe request frame is set to a specified color value, the access point is the same as the specified color value. the corresponding access point.

Optionally, in some possible implementation manners of the present invention, the processor is configured to send the target data in an orthogonal frequency division multiple access manner, a multicast manner, or a broadcast manner on the first available channel through the antenna. The acknowledgment frame of the probe response frame.

Optionally, in some possible implementations of the present invention, the processor is further configured to send the probe request frame on a second available channel through the antenna; receive the probe request frame on the second available channel through the antenna sending a probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame on one of the multiple subchannels of the second available channel by the access point; sending the probe response frame corresponding to the probe response frame on the second available channel through the antenna acknowledgment frame.

It can be understood that the product form of the site 1000 in this embodiment may be, for example, the product form of a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a mobile Internet device, a palmtop computer, a desktop computer, a mobile phone or other user terminals.

It can be understood that the functions of the site 1000 in this embodiment may be specifically implemented according to the methods in the foregoing method embodiments, and the specific implementation process may refer to the relevant descriptions of the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

It can be seen that, in the solution of the embodiment of the present invention, since the available channel (such as the first available channel) can be logically divided into multiple sub-channels, after the AP receives the Probe Request frame sent by the STA 1000 on the first available channel, the first available channel One of the multiple sub-channels of the channel sends the Probe Response frame corresponding to the Probe Request frame, so even if there are multiple APs sending the Probe Response frame on the same available channel in a certain scenario, if multiple APs are Sending Probe Response frames on different sub-channels of the same available channel is beneficial to avoid the contention and collision of these multiple APs. It can be seen that the above solution in this embodiment introduces an innovative mechanism in which the AP can reply to the corresponding Probe Response frame on one of the sub-channels of the available channels for receiving the Probe Request frame. This innovative mechanism can be regarded as a similar asymmetric Probe Response frame reply Compared with the traditional symmetric Probe Response frame reply mechanism, this mechanism is conducive to reducing the number of competition collisions between APs, thereby reducing competition overhead and waste of communication resources, and thus improving the overall performance of the wireless system.

Referring to FIG. 11 , an embodiment of the present invention further provides a communication system, including:

Access point 1110 and station 1120. The access point 1110 may be any one of the access points provided in the embodiments of the present invention. The site 1120 may be any site provided by the embodiment of the present invention.

Embodiments of the present invention further provide a computer storage medium, wherein the computer storage medium may store a program, and when the program is executed, the program includes part or all of the steps of any one of the active scanning processing methods described in the above method embodiments.

In the above-mentioned embodiments, the description of each embodiment has its own emphasis. For parts that are not described in detail in a certain embodiment, reference may be made to the relevant descriptions of other embodiments.

It should be noted that, for the sake of simple description, the foregoing method embodiments are all expressed as a series of action combinations, but those skilled in the art should know that the present invention is not limited by the described action sequence. As in accordance with the present invention, certain steps may be performed in other orders or simultaneously. Secondly, those skilled in the art should also know that the embodiments described in the specification are all preferred embodiments, and the actions and modules involved are not necessarily required by the present invention.

In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus may be implemented in other manners. For example, the device embodiments described above are only illustrative. For example, the division of the above-mentioned units is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated. to another system, or some features can be ignored, or not implemented. On the other hand, the shown or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, and may be in electrical or other forms.

The units described above as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, may be located in one place, or may be distributed to multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution in this embodiment.

In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present invention may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically alone, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit. The above-mentioned integrated units may be implemented in the form of hardware, or may be implemented in the form of software functional units.

If the above-mentioned integrated units are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present invention is essentially or the part that contributes to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product is stored in a storage medium , including several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc., specifically a processor in the computer device) to execute all or part of the steps of the above methods in various embodiments of the present invention. Wherein, the aforementioned storage medium may include: U disk, mobile hard disk, magnetic disk, optical disk, read-only memory (ROM, Read-Only Memory) or random access memory (RAM, RandomAccess Memory) and other various programs that can store program codes medium.

As mentioned above, the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, but not to limit them; although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand: The technical solutions described in the embodiments are modified, or some technical features thereof are equivalently replaced; and these modifications or replacements do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions depart from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims (52)

1. an active scanning processing method, is characterized in that, comprises: The access point receives a probe request frame sent by the station over the entire bandwidth of the first available channel, where the probe request frame carries a sub-channel division indication, and the channel division indication is used to instruct the access point to divide the sub-channel based on the sub-channel division. indicating that the first available channel is divided into a plurality of sub-channels; sending, by the access point, a probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame on one of the multiple subchannels of the first available channel; The access point receives, on the first available channel, an acknowledgment frame sent by the station for the probe response frame. 2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the access point sending the probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame on one of the multiple sub-channels of the first available channel by the access point comprises: The access point randomly selects one of the sub-channels of the first available channel to send the probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the probe request frame carries a sub-channel division indication; Before the access point sends a probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame on one of the multiple subchannels of the first available channel, the method further includes: the access point based on the subchannel The channel division indicates that the first available channel is divided into a plurality of sub-channels. The method according to claim 1, wherein, before the access point sends a probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame on one of the multiple subchannels of the first available channel, the The method further includes: dividing, by the access point, the first available channel into a plurality of sub-channels based on the protocol configuration information. 5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the value of the basic service unit color field carried by the probe request frame is set to a wildcard or a specified color value, and the basic service unit color Fields are used to identify basic service units. 6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the basic service unit color field is carried in the high-efficiency signaling-A field or the high-efficiency signaling-B field of the high-efficiency preamble of the probe request frame . 7. The method according to claim 5, wherein if the value of the basic service unit color field of the probe request frame is set to a specified color value, the access point is the same as the specified color value. the corresponding access point. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein receiving, by the access point on the first available channel, an acknowledgment frame sent by the station for the probe response frame comprises: the The access point receives, on the first available channel, an acknowledgment frame for the probe response frame that is sent by the station on the first available channel in an orthogonal frequency division multiple access manner, a multicast manner, or a broadcast manner. 9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein The method also includes: receiving, by the access point, the probe request frame sent by the station on a second available channel; sending, by the access point, a probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame on one of the multiple subchannels of the second available channel; The access point receives, on the second available channel, an acknowledgment frame sent by the station for the probe response frame. 10. An active scanning processing method, characterized in that, comprising: The station sends a probe request frame over the entire bandwidth of the first available channel, where the probe request frame carries a subchannel division indication, and the channel division indication is used to instruct the access point to assign the first available channel based on the subchannel division indication. The channel is divided into multiple sub-channels; receiving, by the station on the first available channel, a probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame sent by the access point on one of the multiple subchannels of the first available channel; The station sends an acknowledgement frame for the probe response frame on the first available channel. 11 . The method according to claim 10 , wherein the probe request sent by an access point on one subchannel of a plurality of subchannels of the first available channel is received on the first available channel. 11 . The probe response frame corresponding to the frame includes: receiving on the first available channel a probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame sent by the access point on a subchannel randomly selected from a plurality of subchannels of the first available channel. 12. The method according to claim 10, wherein the probe request frame carries a sub-channel division indication, wherein the sub-channel division indication is used to instruct the access point to use the first available channel Divided into multiple sub-channels. 13. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein the value of the basic service unit color field carried by the probe request frame is set to a wildcard or a specified color value, and the basic service unit color field Used to identify basic service units. 14 . The method according to claim 13 , wherein the basic service unit color field is carried in the high-efficiency signaling-A field or the high-efficiency signaling-B field of the high-efficiency preamble of the probe request frame. 14 . . 15. The method according to claim 13, wherein if the value of the color field of the basic service unit of the probe request frame is set to a specified color value, the access point is the same as the specified color value. the corresponding access point. 16. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein sending, by the station on the first available channel, an acknowledgment frame for the probe response frame, comprises: the station sends an acknowledgement frame on the first available channel. An acknowledgment frame for the probe response frame sent on an available channel in an orthogonal frequency division multiple access mode, a multicast mode or a broadcast mode. 17. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein, The method also includes: The station sends the probe request frame on the second available channel; the station receives on the second available channel the probe sent by the access point on one of the sub-channels of the second available channel A probe response frame corresponding to the request frame; the station sends an acknowledgment frame for the probe response frame on the second available channel. 18. An access point, comprising: a receiving unit, configured to receive a probe request frame sent by the station in the entire bandwidth of the first available channel, where the probe request frame carries a sub-channel division indication, and the channel division indication is used to instruct the access point to base on the sub-channel a channel division instruction to divide the first available channel into a plurality of sub-channels; a sending unit, configured to send a probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame on one of the multiple subchannels of the first available channel; The receiving unit is further configured to receive, on the first available channel, an acknowledgment frame sent by the station for the probe response frame. 19 . The access point according to claim 18 , wherein the sending unit is specifically configured to randomly select one of the sub-channels of the multiple sub-channels of the first available channel to send the corresponding probe request frame. 19 . Probe response frame. 20 . The access point according to claim 18 , wherein the probe request frame carries a sub-channel division indication; the access point further comprises a channel determination unit, which is configured to, based on the sub-channel division indication, The first available channel is divided into a plurality of sub-channels. 21. The access point of claim 18, wherein The access point further includes a channel determination unit for dividing the first available channel into a plurality of sub-channels based on the protocol configuration information. 22. The access point according to any one of claims 18 to 21, wherein, The value of the basic service unit color field carried in the probe request frame is set to a wildcard or a specified color value, and the basic service unit color field is used to indicate the basic service unit. 23 . The access point according to claim 22 , wherein the basic service unit color field is carried in the high-efficiency signaling-A field or the high-efficiency signaling-B of the high-efficiency preamble of the probe request frame. 23 . in the field. 24. The access point according to claim 22, wherein if the value of the color field of the basic service unit of the probe request frame is set to a specified color value, the access point is the same as the specified color value. The access point corresponding to the color value. 25. The access point according to any one of claims 18 to 21, wherein, In the aspect that the first available channel receives the acknowledgment frame sent by the station for the probe response frame, the receiving unit is specifically configured to receive, on the first available channel, the station on the first available channel The acknowledgment frame for the probe response frame is sent in the orthogonal frequency division multiple access mode, multicast mode or broadcast mode. 26. The access point according to any one of claims 18 to 21, wherein the receiving unit is further configured to receive the probe request frame sent by the station on a second available channel; The sending unit is configured to send a probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame on one of the multiple subchannels of the second available channel; The receiving unit is further configured to receive, on the second available channel, an acknowledgment frame sent by the station for the probe response frame. 27. A site comprising: A sending unit, configured to send a probe request frame in the entire bandwidth of the first available channel, where the probe request frame carries a sub-channel division indication, and the channel division indication is used to instruct the access point to divide the The first available channel is divided into a plurality of sub-channels; a receiving unit, configured to receive, on the first available channel, a probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame sent by an access point on one of the multiple subchannels of the first available channel; The sending unit is further configured to send an acknowledgment frame for the probe response frame on the first available channel. 28 . The station according to claim 27 , wherein the probe request sent by an access point on one subchannel of a plurality of subchannels of the first available channel is received on the first available channel. 28 . The probe response frame corresponding to the frame includes: receiving on the first available channel a probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame sent by the access point on a subchannel randomly selected from a plurality of subchannels of the first available channel. 29. The station according to claim 27, wherein the probe request frame carries a sub-channel division indication, wherein the sub-channel division indication is used to instruct the access point to use the first available channel Divided into multiple sub-channels. 30. The site according to any one of claims 27 to 29, wherein the value of the basic service unit color field carried by the probe request frame is set to a wildcard or a specified color value, and the basic service unit color Fields are used to identify basic service units. 31. The station according to claim 30, wherein the basic service unit color field is carried in the high-efficiency signaling-A field or the high-efficiency signaling-B field of the high-efficiency preamble of the probe request frame . 32. The site according to claim 30, wherein, if the value of the basic service unit color field of the probe request frame is set to a specified color value, the access point is the same as the specified color value. the corresponding access point. 33. The station according to any one of claims 27 to 29, wherein, in the aspect of sending an acknowledgment frame for the probe response frame on the first available channel: the sending unit is specifically configured to send an acknowledgment frame on the first available channel. An acknowledgment frame for the probe response frame sent on the first available channel in an orthogonal frequency division multiple access mode, a multicast mode or a broadcast mode. 34. The station according to any one of claims 27 to 29, wherein the sending unit is further configured to send the probe request frame on a second available channel; The receiving unit is further configured to receive, on the second available channel, a probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame sent by the access point on one of the multiple subchannels of the second available channel; The sending unit is further configured to send an acknowledgment frame for the probe response frame on the second available channel. 35. An access point, comprising: processor, memory and antenna; Wherein, by calling the instructions or codes stored in the memory, the processor is configured to perform the following steps: The probe request frame sent by the station is received over the entire bandwidth of the first available channel through the antenna, where the probe request frame carries a sub-channel division indication, and the channel division indication is used to instruct the access point to use the sub-channel The division instruction divides the first available channel into multiple sub-channels; sends a probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame on one of the multiple sub-channels of the first available channel through the antenna; An acknowledgment frame sent by the station for the probe response frame is received by the antenna on the first available channel. 36 . The access point according to claim 35 , wherein the processor is specifically configured to randomly select one of the sub-channels of the first available channel to send the corresponding probe request frame. 36 . Probe response frame. 37. The access point according to claim 35, wherein the probe request frame carries a sub-channel division indication; the processor is further configured to assign the first available channel based on the sub-channel division indication Divided into multiple sub-channels. 38. The access point of claim 35, wherein The access point further includes a channel determination unit for dividing the first available channel into a plurality of sub-channels based on the protocol configuration information. 39. The access point according to any one of claims 35 to 38, wherein the value of the basic service unit color field carried in the probe request frame is set to a wildcard or a specified color value, and the basic service The unit color field is used to identify the basic service unit. 40. The access point according to claim 39, wherein the basic service unit color field is carried in the high-efficiency signaling-A field or the high-efficiency signaling-B of the high-efficiency preamble of the probe request frame in the field. 41. The access point according to claim 39, wherein if the value of the color field of the basic service unit of the probe request frame is set to a specified color value, the access point is the same as the specified color value. The access point corresponding to the color value. 42. The access point of any one of claims 35 to 38, wherein The processor is specifically configured to receive, through the antenna, on the first available channel, the data sent by the station on the first available channel in an orthogonal frequency division multiple access manner, a multicast manner or a broadcast manner The acknowledgment frame of the probe response frame. 43. The access point of any one of claims 35 to 38, wherein The processor is further configured to receive the probe request frame sent by the station on the second available channel through the antenna; send the probe request frame sent by the station on one of the multiple subchannels of the second available channel through the antenna. The probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame is received; the acknowledgment frame sent by the station for the probe response frame is received on the second available channel through the antenna. 44. A site, characterized in that it comprises: processor, memory and antenna; Wherein, by invoking the instructions or codes stored in the memory, the processor is configured to perform the following steps: send a probe request frame over the entire bandwidth of the first available channel through the antenna, where the probe request frame carries the sub-channel division indicating that the channel division indication is used to instruct the access point to divide the first available channel into a plurality of sub-channels based on the sub-channel division indication; sending a probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame sent by one of the multiple subchannels of the first available channel; sending an acknowledgement frame for the probe response frame on the first available channel through the antenna. 45. The station of claim 44, wherein the processor is configured to receive, through the antenna, on the first available channel, an access point randomly selected among a plurality of sub-channels of the first available channel A probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame sent by one subchannel. 46. The station according to claim 44, wherein the probe request frame carries a sub-channel division indication, wherein the sub-channel division indication is used to instruct the access point to use the first available channel Divided into multiple sub-channels. 47. The site according to any one of claims 44 to 46, wherein the value of the basic service unit color field carried by the probe request frame is set to a wildcard or a specified color value, and the basic service unit color field Used to identify basic service units. 48. The station according to claim 47, wherein the basic service unit color field is carried in the high-efficiency signaling-A field or the high-efficiency signaling-B field of the high-efficiency preamble of the probe request frame . 49. The site according to claim 47, wherein, if the value of the basic service unit color field of the probe request frame is set to a specified color value, the access point is the same as the specified color value. the corresponding access point. 50. The station according to any one of claims 44 to 46, wherein the processor is configured to use an orthogonal frequency division multiple access mode or a multicast mode or a multicast mode on the first available channel through the antenna. The acknowledgment frame for the probe response frame sent in a broadcast manner. 51. The station according to any one of claims 44 to 46, wherein the processor is further configured to send the probe request frame on a second available channel through the antenna; The second available channel receives a probe response frame corresponding to the probe request frame sent by the access point on one of the multiple subchannels of the second available channel; The acknowledgment frame of the probe response frame. 52. A communication system, characterized in that it comprises: The access point according to any one of claims 18-26 or 35-43, further comprising the station according to any one of claims 27-34 or 44-51.

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