CN115720386A

CN115720386A - Method, device and equipment for establishing direct link and storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN115720386A
Application number: CN202211365219.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 吴昊; 尹蕾
Original assignee: Yibin Jimi Photoelectric Co Ltd
Current assignee: Yibin Jimi Photoelectric Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-11-03
Filing date: 2022-11-03
Publication date: 2023-02-28

Abstract

The invention discloses a method, a device, equipment and a storage medium for establishing a direct connection link. The method comprises the following steps: the method comprises the steps that a first multilink device sends a direct connection link discovery request message to a second multilink device, and the message indicates that the first multilink device can establish a link of a direct connection link; the second multilink equipment sends a direct link discovery response message to the first multilink equipment, and the message indicates that the second multilink equipment selects a link which can establish a direct link from links which can establish the direct link by the first multilink equipment; the method comprises the steps that a first multilink device sends a direct connection link establishment request message to a second multilink device, and the message indicates a link which requests to establish a direct connection link; and the second multi-link equipment sends a direct link establishment response message to the first multi-link equipment, and the message indicates the second multi-link equipment to confirm the establishment of the link of the direct link. The invention can reduce the consumption of the battery power and improve the endurance time of the multilink equipment while ensuring the service quality.

Description

Method, device and equipment for establishing direct link and storage medium

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of wireless communications, and in particular, to a method, an apparatus, a device, and a storage medium for establishing a direct link.

Background

The 802.11be system, also called an Extra High Throughput (EHT) system, enhances functionality through a series of system features and a variety of mechanisms to achieve extra High Throughput. As the use of Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) continues to grow, it becomes increasingly important to provide wireless data services in many environments, such as homes, businesses, and hot spots. In particular, video traffic will continue to be the dominant type of traffic in many WLAN deployments. With the advent of 4k and 8k video (uncompressed rates of 20 Gbps), the throughput requirements for these applications are constantly evolving. New high throughput, low latency applications such as virtual reality or augmented reality, gaming, remote offices, and cloud computing will proliferate (e.g., latency for real-time gaming is less than 5 milliseconds).

In view of the high throughput and stringent real-time latency requirements of these applications, users expect higher throughput, higher reliability, less latency and jitter, and higher power efficiency when supporting their applications over a WLAN. The 802.11be system is intended to ensure the competitiveness of WLAN by further increasing the overall throughput and reducing latency, while ensuring backward compatibility and coexistence with legacy technology standards. 802.11 compatible devices operating in the 2.4GHz,5GHz and 6GHz bands.

Disclosure of Invention

When a multi-link terminal device connects to a multi-link access point device, it usually establishes connections on multiple links and performs listening or data transmission on the multiple links. Many links enable simultaneously, can cause the consumption of the great electric quantity of equipment, and terminal equipment is mostly the equipment of battery powered, consequently uses the multilink to carry out data transmission for a long time and can lead to battery electric quantity to consume too fast. In view of the above, the present invention provides a method, an apparatus, a device and a storage medium for establishing a direct link, which can establish the direct link in a power saving mode.

In a first aspect, the present invention provides a method for establishing a direct link, including:

the method comprises the steps that a first multilink device sends a direct connection link discovery request message to a second multilink device, and when the first multilink device is in a power saving mode, if the first multilink device accepts to switch a main link, the direct connection link discovery request message indicates that the first multilink device can establish a direct connection link on the main link and an auxiliary link; if the first multilink device does not accept to switch the main link, indicating that the first multilink device can only establish the direct link on the main link in the direct link discovery request message, and selecting a link capable of establishing the direct link from links which can be established by the first multilink device and are indicated in the direct link discovery request message by a second multilink device;

the method comprises the steps that a first multi-link device receives a direct connection link discovery response message from a second multi-link device, and the direct connection link discovery response message indicates that the second multi-link device can establish a link of a direct connection link;

the method comprises the steps that a first multilink device selects links for requesting to establish a direct link from links which can be established by a second multilink device and sends a direct link establishment request message to the second multilink device, wherein the direct link establishment request message indicates links for requesting to establish the direct link;

the first multilink device receives a direct connection link establishment response message from the second multilink device, and the direct connection link establishment response message indicates the second multilink device to confirm establishment of a link of the direct connection link.

In a possible implementation manner, the selecting, by the first multi-link device, a link that requests establishment of a direct link from among links that can be established by the second multi-link device, includes one or more of:

if the link which can establish the direct connection link by the second multi-link device only comprises the main link of the first multi-link device, the first multi-link device selects the main link of the first multi-link device which can establish the link of the direct connection link by the second multi-link device as the link for requesting to establish the direct connection link;

if the link which can establish the direct connection link by the second multi-link device only comprises the auxiliary link of the first multi-link device, the first multi-link device selects the auxiliary link of the first multi-link device which can establish the link of the direct connection link by the second multi-link device as a link for requesting to establish the direct connection link, and switches the main link to the auxiliary link of the first multi-link device which can establish the link of the direct connection link by the second multi-link device;

if the link which can be used for establishing the direct connection link by the second multi-link device comprises the main link and the auxiliary link of the first multi-link device, the first multi-link device selects the main link of the first multi-link device which can be used for establishing the link of the direct connection link by the second multi-link device as a link for requesting to establish the direct connection link; or the first multilink device selects an auxiliary link of the first multilink device, which is included in the link where the second multilink device can establish the direct connection link, as a link for requesting to establish the direct connection link, and switches the main link to the auxiliary link of the first multilink device, which is included in the link where the second multilink device can establish the direct connection link.

In a possible implementation manner, the direct connection link discovery request message further includes an indication of a link property, which is used to indicate that the second multi-link device preferentially selects the primary link indicated in the direct connection link discovery request message as a link that can establish the direct connection link, where the link property includes a primary link and a secondary link.

In a possible implementation manner, the switching the primary link to the secondary link of the first multi-link device that is included in the link that can be used by the second multi-link device to establish the direct link includes:

sending a main link switching request message to an access point, wherein the main link switching request message indicates a main link to be switched and a time length required by switching, the main link to be switched is an auxiliary link of first multi-link equipment, which is included in a link where a direct link can be established by second multi-link equipment, and the access point is connected with the first multi-link equipment and the second multi-link equipment;

and receiving a main link switching response message sent by an access point, wherein the main link switching response message indicates whether to approve switching.

In a second aspect, the present invention provides a method for establishing a direct link, including:

the method comprises the steps that a second multilink device receives a direct connection link discovery request message from a first multilink device, wherein the direct connection link discovery request message indicates that the first multilink device can establish a link of a direct connection link;

the method comprises the steps that a second multilink device selects links capable of establishing direct links from links capable of establishing direct links by a first multilink device, and sends direct link discovery response messages to the first multilink device, wherein the direct link discovery response messages indicate that the second multilink device can establish the links capable of establishing the direct links, and the direct link discovery response messages are used for the first multilink device to select the links capable of requesting the establishment of the direct links from the links capable of establishing the direct links by the second multilink device;

the method comprises the steps that a second multilink device receives a direct connection link establishment request message from a first multilink device, and the direct connection link establishment request message indicates a link which requests to establish a direct connection link;

when the second multi-link device is in a power saving mode, if the link requesting to establish the direct link is the same as the main link of the second multi-link device, the second multi-link device sends a direct link establishment response message to the first multi-link device; and if the link requesting to establish the direct link is different from the main link of the second multi-link device, the second multi-link device switches the main link to the link requesting to establish the direct link, and sends a direct link establishment response message to the first multi-link device, wherein the direct link establishment response message indicates to confirm establishment of the direct link on the link requesting to establish the direct link.

In one possible implementation, when a second multi-link device is in a power saving mode, the second multi-link device selects, from among links that the first multi-link device can establish a direct link, a link that can establish the direct link, where the link includes one or more of:

if the link which can establish the direct link by the first multi-link device includes the primary link and the secondary link of the second multi-link device, and the second multi-link device does not accept to switch the primary link, or the link which can establish the direct link by the first multi-link device includes only the primary link of the second multi-link device, the second multi-link device selects the primary link of the second multi-link device which can establish the link of the direct link by the first multi-link device as the link which can establish the direct link;

if the link which can be used for establishing the direct link by the first multi-link device comprises the main link and the auxiliary link of the second multi-link device, and the second multi-link device accepts to switch the main link, the second multi-link device selects the main link and the auxiliary link of the second multi-link device which can be used for establishing the link of the direct link by the first multi-link device as the link which can be used for establishing the direct link;

and if the link which can establish the direct link by the first multi-link device only comprises the secondary link of the second multi-link device and the second multi-link device accepts to switch the primary link, the second multi-link device selects the secondary link of the second multi-link device which can establish the link of the direct link by the first multi-link device as the link which can establish the direct link.

In a possible implementation manner, the direct link discovery request message further includes an indication of link properties, where the link properties include a primary link and a secondary link;

the second multi-link device selects a link capable of establishing a direct link from among links capable of establishing direct links by the first multi-link device, wherein the link capable of establishing direct links comprises one or more of the following items:

when a second multi-link device is in a power saving mode, if a link which can be used for establishing a direct link by the first multi-link device comprises a main link and an auxiliary link of the second multi-link device, and if the second multi-link device accepts to switch the main link, the second multi-link device selects the main link indicated in the direct link discovery request message as the link which can be used for establishing the direct link; if the second multi-link equipment does not accept to switch the main link, the second multi-link equipment selects the main link of the second multi-link equipment included in the link which can be established by the first multi-link equipment to be used as the link which can be established by the direct link;

when the second multi-link device does not use the power saving mode, the second multi-link device selects the primary link indicated in the direct link discovery request message as a link that can establish a direct link.

In a possible implementation manner, the switching, by the second multi-link device, the main link to the link requesting establishment of the direct link includes:

the method comprises the steps that a second multi-link device sends a main link switching request message to an access point, wherein the main link switching request message indicates a main link to be switched and a time length required by switching, the main link to be switched establishes a link of a direct link for a request, and the access point is connected with a first multi-link device and a second multi-link device;

and the second multilink equipment receives a main link switching response message sent by the access point, wherein the main link switching response message indicates whether switching is approved or not.

In a third aspect, the present invention provides a device for establishing a direct link, including a direct link module, where the direct link module is configured to execute the following steps:

sending a direct link discovery request message to a second multilink device through a first multilink device, wherein when the first multilink device is in a power saving mode, if the first multilink device accepts to switch a main link, the direct link discovery request message indicates that the first multilink device can establish a direct link on the main link and an auxiliary link; if the first multilink device does not accept to switch the main link, indicating that the first multilink device can only establish the direct link on the main link in the direct link discovery request message, and selecting a link capable of establishing the direct link from links which can be established by the first multilink device and are indicated in the direct link discovery request message by a second multilink device;

receiving, by a first multilink device, a direct link discovery response message from a second multilink device, where the direct link discovery response message indicates that the second multilink device can establish a link of a direct link;

selecting a link requesting to establish a direct link from links which can be established by the second multilink device and are directly connected to the link through the first multilink device, and sending a direct link establishment request message to the second multilink device, wherein the direct link establishment request message indicates a link requesting to establish the direct link;

receiving, by a first multilink device, a direct connection link establishment response message from a second multilink device, where the direct connection link establishment response message indicates the second multilink device to confirm establishment of a link of a direct connection link.

In a fourth aspect, the present invention provides a device for establishing a direct link, including a direct link module, where the direct link module is configured to perform the following steps:

receiving, by a second multilink device, a direct link discovery request message from a first multilink device, where the direct link discovery request message indicates that the first multilink device can establish a link of a direct link;

selecting a link capable of establishing a direct link from links capable of establishing the direct link by a first multilink device through a first multilink device, and sending a direct link discovery response message to the first multilink device, wherein the direct link discovery response message indicates that the first multilink device can establish the link of the direct link, and is used for the first multilink device to select a link requesting establishment of the direct link from links capable of establishing the direct link by the first multilink device;

receiving a direct connection link establishment request message from a first multilink device through a second multilink device, wherein the direct connection link establishment request message indicates a link requesting establishment of a direct connection link;

when the second multi-link device is in a power saving mode, if the link requesting to establish the direct link is the same as the main link of the second multi-link device, sending a direct link establishment response message to the first multi-link device through the second multi-link device; and if the link requesting to establish the direct link is different from the main link of the second multi-link device, switching the main link to the link requesting to establish the direct link through the second multi-link device, and sending a direct link establishment response message to the first multi-link device, wherein the direct link establishment response message indicates to confirm establishment of the direct link on the link requesting to establish the direct link.

In a fifth aspect, the invention provides an electronic device comprising a memory, a processor and a computer program stored on the memory, the processor executing the computer program to implement the method of the first or second aspect.

In a sixth aspect, the invention provides a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program which, when executed by a processor, implements the method of the first or second aspect.

In a seventh aspect, the present invention provides a computer program product comprising computer readable code, or a non-transitory computer readable storage medium carrying computer readable code, which when run in an electronic device, a processor in the electronic device performs the method of the first or second aspect.

It should be noted that the apparatus according to the third aspect is configured to execute the method provided by the first aspect, the apparatus according to the fourth aspect is configured to execute the method provided by the second aspect, and the electronic device according to the fifth aspect, the storage medium according to the sixth aspect, and the computer program product according to the seventh aspect are configured to execute the method provided by the first aspect or the second aspect, so that the same beneficial effects as the method provided by the first aspect or the second aspect can be achieved, and the description of the present invention is omitted.

According to the method and the device, the link for establishing the direct link is determined through negotiation between the direct link requesting party and the direct link responding party, the establishment of the direct link on the main link of at least one of the direct link requesting party and the direct link responding party is preferentially ensured, the service quality is guaranteed, meanwhile, the consumption of the battery power is reduced, and the endurance time of the multi-link terminal device is prolonged.

Drawings

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

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a method for establishing a direct link according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

In order to make those skilled in the art better understand the technical solutions of the present invention, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and are not intended to limit the invention. While the present disclosure has been described in terms of one or more exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that each aspect of the disclosure can be implemented as a separate entity, or entity. The embodiments and features of the embodiments described below can be combined with each other without conflict.

In the embodiments of the present invention, "at least one" means one or more, and "a plurality" means two or more. For the convenience of clearly describing the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, in the embodiments of the present invention, the words "first", "second", and the like are used for distinguishing the same items or similar items with basically the same functions and actions, and those skilled in the art can understand that the words "first", "second", and the like do not limit the quantity and execution order, are used for illustrating and distinguishing the description objects, do not divide the order, do not represent the special limitation on the quantity of the devices or the messages in the embodiments of the present invention, and do not constitute any limitation on the embodiments of the present invention. The term "comprising" is used to indicate the presence of the features stated hereinafter, but does not exclude the addition of further features.

First, briefly explaining the multilink technology related to the present invention, in a multilink scenario, generally, one physical device may include a plurality of logical entities, where the physical device may refer to devices such as a mobile phone, a television, a projector, and the like, and the logical entity may refer to a logical unit in the physical device, and belongs to a virtual function module. Each logical entity can independently manage data transmission and reception, and each logical entity independently operates on one link, and such a physical device is called a Multi-link device (MLD).

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 1, the communication system includes a multi-link terminal device STA MLD1, a multi-link access point device AP MLD, and a multi-link terminal device STA MLD2, where the multi-link terminal device STA MLD1 includes two logical entities STA1 and STA2, and the multi-link terminal device STA MLD2 includes two logical entities STA3 and STA4; the multi-link access point device AP MLD comprises two logical entities AP1 and AP2.STA1 and STA3 are connected to AP1, STA2 and STA4 are connected to AP2, wherein AP1 operates on a 2.4GHz link, the link identifier is set to link1, AP2 operates on a 5GHz link, and the link identifier is set to link2.

It should be understood that fig. 1 is only an architecture diagram of a communication system, and the number, types, and the like of devices in the communication system are not limited in the embodiment of the present invention, for example, more terminals or access points may be included, a multilink access point device and a multilink terminal device may include other numbers of logical entities, the number of logical entities included in each multilink device may be different, and the like. Further, those skilled in the art will understand that the term "Access Point (AP)" according to the present application may also be used to describe an access port or any other access point capable of receiving and transmitting wireless signals within a network architecture in accordance with the principles and functions described herein, and thus, the use of an access point is merely exemplary.

With continued reference to fig. 1, the STA MLD1 and the STA MLD2 may or may not use the power saving mode as needed, and when the power saving mode is used, the STA MLD1 and the STA MLD2 only perform monitoring or data transmission on their respective main links, and the secondary link is in a sleep state and may be woken up for data transmission. The manner of entering the power saving mode by the STA MLD1 and the STA MLD2 can refer to the prior art, and a method of enabling the power saving mode is exemplarily given below by taking the STA MLD1 as an example.

S1001 and AP MLD send broadcast messages through AP1, wherein the broadcast messages comprise link identifications of AP1 and AP2, indication MLpowersavingsupport of whether multi-link power saving mode capability is supported, and processing timeout duration of the power saving mode. In the embodiment of the invention, the MLpowersavingsupport is set to 1, which indicates that a multilink power saving mode is supported; the power saving mode processing timeout duration is used for indicating the longest processing duration required by the APMLD after receiving a power saving request of the terminal equipment.

It should be noted that the indication of whether the multi-link power saving mode capability is supported may be included in the broadcast message, or may be included in other messages, such as a probe response message (e.g., mlprobersponse message) or a connection response message (e.g., association response message).

S1002, the STA1 reads the broadcast message sent by the AP1 and obtains the link identifications of the AP1 and the AP2.

S1003, STA1 sends a probe request message (e.g. ML probe request message) to AP1, where the message includes link identifiers link1 and link2.

S1004, after receiving the probe request message, the AP1 sends a probe response message (e.g. MLproberesponse message) to the STA1, where the message includes system parameters of the AP1 and the AP2 corresponding to the link identifiers link1 and link2.

S1005, the STA1 sends a connection request message (e.g., association request message) to the AP1, where the message includes operation parameters of the STA1 and the STA2 and a corresponding operation link, and the embodiment of the present invention sets that the STA1 operates on the link1 and the STA2 operates on the link2.

S1006, the AP1 sends a connection response message (e.g., association response message) to the STA1, where the message indicates the link that is successfully established, includes link1 and link2, and includes the operation parameters on each link, and the connection identifier AID allocated to the STA MLD1.

If the STA MLD1 needs to save power consumption, and the capability parameter MLpowersavingsupport of the connected APMLD indicates support of a multilink power saving mode, a main logic terminal may be determined according to information such as power, signal strength, and the like, other logic terminals serve as auxiliary logic terminals, the main logic terminal is used for normal communication with the APMLD, including monitoring broadcast messages, receiving data, and transmitting data, the auxiliary logic terminals are in a sleep mode normally, and when there is large data to be transmitted or received, the STA MLD1 may wake up the auxiliary logic terminals to transmit or receive data autonomously or under the indication of the APMLD. The embodiment of the invention assumes that the signal intensity of the AP1 measured by the STA1 is maximum, the link operated by the STA1 is in a 2.4GHz frequency band, the power is lower, the STA1 is selected as a main logic terminal, and meanwhile, the link1 in which the main logic terminal is positioned is used as a main link.

S1007, the STA MLD1 sends a multilink power saving request message (e.g. a Multi-link Powersaving request message) to the APMLD through the STA1 on the link1, where the message includes the following parameters:

primary link: the identifier of the link operated by the main logic terminal is set as link1 in the embodiment;

MLPS mode enabled: an indication of whether the multilink power saving mode is enabled, e.g., set to 1, indicating enablement; set to 0, indicating deactivation, the present embodiment is set to 1;

DL wake enabled (optional): whether the auxiliary logic terminal is supported to be awakened in a downlink manner is judged, if the auxiliary logic terminal is set to be 1, the identifier is started; set to 0, indicating deactivation.

S1008, the APMLD receives the multilink power saving request message on the link1 through the AP1, and sends a multilink power saving response message (such as a Multi-link Power saving response message) to the STA MLD1 on the link1 through the AP1, wherein the message contains a state parameter Status, and if the APMLD approves the request of the STA MLD1, the value of the state parameter Status is set to SUCCESS and represents the request approval; if APMLD does not agree with STA MLD 1's request, the value of the Status parameter Status is set to REJECT, indicating that the request is not agreed.

S1009, the STA MLD1 receives the multilink power saving response message on the link1 through the STA1, and if the state parameter value contained in the multilink power saving response message is SUCCESS, power saving operation is carried out according to the requested power saving parameter; if the status parameter value contained therein is REJECT, the current mode is kept for operation, i.e., normal operation is maintained without performing power-saving operation.

If the STA MLD1 does not receive the multilink power saving response message within the power saving mode processing timeout duration after sending the multilink power saving request message, the multilink power saving request message is not repeatedly sent; if the multilink power saving response message is not received after the power saving mode processing timeout duration after the multilink power saving request message is transmitted, the current mode is maintained for operation or the multilink power saving request message is transmitted to the APMLD again.

In the multilink power saving mode, the STAMLD1 reads the broadcast message of the AP1 on the link1 only through a logic terminal STA1 which belongs to the STAMLD1, only sends data to the AP1 on the link1 through the STA1, and only receives the data sent by the AP1 on the link1 through the STA1; the STAMLD1 may set a threshold T1, and when the data buffer size is greater than the threshold T1, wake up the auxiliary logical terminal STA2 to send data on the auxiliary link2.

After the STAMLD1 enters a multi-link power saving mode, the APMLD only sends data to the STA1 through the AP1 on a link indicated by a Primary link, namely the link1; if the parameter DLwakeenabled value is 1, the APMLD may set a threshold value T2 according to the parameter DLwakebufferThreshold, and when the data cache size is greater than the threshold value DLwakebufferThreshold or T2, send a start message to the STAMLD1, where the start message indicates a link that needs to be woken up; after receiving the starting message, the STA MLD1 sends a response message to the APMLD on the main link and other links needing to be awakened according to the link indicated in the starting message; the APMLD sends data to the STAMLD1 on the link on which the response message was received.

In some embodiments, the STA MLD1 may actively request termination of the power saving mode according to its own policy. Illustratively, the STA MLD1 sends a Multi-link power saving notification message (e.g., multi-link powersave notification message) to the AP MLD, where the message includes the following parameters:

MLPS mode enabled: an indication of whether the multilink power saving mode is enabled, set to 0 in this embodiment, indicating deactivation;

MLPS mode transition delay: the mode transition delay indicates a delay due to a processing time of a processor or an adjustment of a transceiver, etc. when transitioning between two modes.

The STAMLD1 waits for the time length indicated by the parameter MLPS mode transition delay after sending the multilink power saving notification message, terminates the power saving mode, and the main logic terminal and the auxiliary logic terminal are all in the activated state, can read the broadcast message, and receive data sent by the APMLD and send the data to the APMLD.

The operation of the STA MLD2 to enable and terminate the power saving mode is similar to the STA MLD1 and will not be described in detail here.

In the embodiment of the invention, the multilink terminal equipment STA MLD1 is assumed to be an initiator for establishing the direct connection link, and the multilink terminal equipment STA MLD2 is assumed to be a responder for establishing the direct connection link. After the STA MLD1 enters a power saving mode, a link1 is used as a main link, and a link2 is used as an auxiliary link.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a method for establishing a direct link according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 2, the method for establishing a direct link includes the following steps:

s201, the STAMLD1 sends a direct link discovery request message (e.g., a TDLSdiscoveryrequest message) to the APMLD, and if the STAMLD1 only wants to establish a direct link on the primary link1, if the STAMLD1 does not accept to switch the primary link, the direct link discovery request message indicates that the direct link can only be established on the primary link1 of the STAMLD1, and for example, the direct link discovery request message includes the following parameters:

STA info 1: the equipment information comprises link identification link1 and the characteristic parameters of the STA1, and indicates that a direct connection link can be established on the link1; optionally, an indication of the primary link may also be included.

If the direct link can be established on both the primary link1 and the secondary link2 of the STAMLD1, the direct link discovery request message indicates that the direct link can be established on both the primary link1 and the secondary link2 of the STAMLD1, and for example, the direct link discovery request message includes the following parameters:

STA info 1: the equipment information comprises link identification link1 and the characteristic parameters of the STA1, and indicates that a direct connection link can be established on the link1; optionally, an indication of the primary link may also be included, which indicates the STA MLD2 to preferentially select the link as a link that can establish a direct link;

STA info 2: the equipment information comprises link identification link2 and the characteristic parameters of the STA2, and indicates that a direct connection link can be established on the link2; optionally, an indication of the secondary link may also be included.

It should be understood that the direct Link discovery request message may also indicate the STA MLD1 to be able to establish a Link of the direct Link in other manners, for example, the request message includes a parameter TDLS Link, where the parameter includes multiple bit positions, and a bit corresponds to a Link, and when a value on a bit is set to 1, it indicates that the Link corresponding to the bit position may establish the direct Link; when the value of a bit is set to 0, it indicates that the link corresponding to the bit cannot establish a direct link. For example, the parameter TDLS Link includes two bits, and when the value of the parameter is set to 01, it indicates that the STA MLD1 can only establish a direct Link on the Link1; when the value of this parameter is set to 11, it indicates that the STA MLD1 can establish a direct link on the links link1 and link2.

S202, the APMLD receives the direct link discovery request message sent by the STAMLD1, and sends the direct link discovery request message to the STAMLD2, and a payload of the direct link discovery request message received by the APMLD from the STAMLD1 is the same as a payload of the direct link discovery request message sent to the STAMLD2, if both include the device information STA info 1, or both include the device information STA info 1 and STA info 2.

S203, the STAMLD2 receives the direct link discovery request message, selects a link that can establish the direct link from the links indicated by the direct link discovery request message, and sends a direct link discovery response message (for example, a tdlscoververyresponse message) to the STAMLD1, where the response message indicates that the STAMLD2 can establish the link of the direct link. Examples are as follows:

1) If the STAMLD2 is in the power saving mode and the link1 is the main link of the STAMLD2, sending a direct link discovery response message to the STAMLD1, wherein the message comprises the following parameters:

STA info 3: the equipment information comprises link identification link1 and the characteristic parameters of STA3, and indicates that a direct connection link can be established on the link1; optionally, an indication of the primary link may also be included.

2) If the STAMLD2 is in the power saving mode, the link2 is a main link of the STAMLD2 and does not accept to replace the main link, if the direct connection link discovery request message only contains STAinfo 1, and the link identification link1 in the direct connection link discovery request message indicates that the STA MLD1 can only establish the direct connection link on the link1, the direct connection link discovery request message is not responded.

If the direct link discovery request message contains STAinfo 1 and STAinfo 2, and it is known through the link identifications link1 and link2 that the STA MLD1 can establish a direct link on the link1 and link2, sending a direct link discovery response message to the STA MLD1, where the message contains the following parameters:

STA info 4: the device information comprises link identification link2 and the characteristic parameters of the STA4, and indicates that a direct connection link can be established on the link2; optionally, an indication of the primary link may also be included.

3) If the STAMLD2 is in the power saving mode, the link2 is a main link of the STAMLD2 and receives the replacement of the main link, if the direct-connection link discovery request message only contains STAinfo 1, a direct-connection link discovery response message is sent to the STAMLD1, and the message contains the following parameters:

STA info 3: the equipment information comprises link1 identification and STA3 characteristic parameters and indicates that a direct link can be established on the link1; optionally, an indication of the secondary link may also be included.

If the direct connection link discovery request message contains STAinfo 1 and STAinfo 2, sending a direct connection link discovery response message to STA MLD1, wherein the message contains the following parameters:

STA info 3: the equipment information comprises link identification link1 and the characteristic parameters of STA3, and indicates that a direct connection link can be established on the link1; optionally, an indication of a secondary link may also be included;

STA info 4: the equipment information comprises link identification link2 and the characteristic parameters of STA4, and indicates that a direct link can be established on the link2; optionally, an indication of the primary link may also be included, instructing the STA MLD1 to preferentially select the establishment of the direct link on this link.

Further, if the STAinfo 1 and STAinfo 2 included in the direct link discovery request message further include an indication of the primary and secondary links, the STA MLD2 preferentially selects the indicated primary link1 as a link that can establish the direct link, that is, the direct link discovery response message sent by the STA MLD2 to the STA MLD1 includes the following parameters:

4) If the STAMLD2 does not use the power saving mode, if the direct link discovery request message only contains STAinfo 1, sending a direct link discovery response message to the STAMLD1, wherein the message contains the following parameters:

STA info 3: the equipment information comprises link identification link1 and the characteristic parameters of STA3, and indicates that a direct connection link can be established on the link1; optionally, an indication of a normal link may also be included, for example, a specific parameter may be included for indication, or the primary link and the secondary link may not be indicated, that is, the normal link is indicated.

If the direct link discovery request message contains STAinfo 1 and STAinfo 2, sending a direct link discovery response message to the STA MLD1, wherein the message contains the following parameters:

STA info 3: the equipment information comprises link1 identification and STA3 characteristic parameters and indicates that a direct link can be established on the link1; optionally, an indication of a normal link may also be included, for example, a specific parameter may be included for indication, or the primary link and the secondary link may not be indicated, that is, the normal link is indicated;

STA info 4: the equipment information comprises link identification link2 and the characteristic parameters of STA4, and indicates that a direct link can be established on the link2; optionally, an indication of a normal link may also be included, for example, a specific parameter may be included for indication, or the primary link and the secondary link may not be indicated, that is, the normal link is indicated.

STA info 3: the equipment information comprises link identification link1 and the characteristic parameters of STA3, and indicates that a direct connection link can be established on the link1; optionally, an indication of a normal link may also be included.

It should be noted that the STA MLD2 may directly send the direct link discovery response message to the STA MLD1, or may send the direct link discovery response message to the STA MLD1 through the AP MLD, that is, first send the direct link discovery response message to the AP MLD, and then the AP MLD sends the direct link discovery response message to the STA MLD1.

S204, the STAMLD1 receives the direct link discovery response message, selects a link requesting establishment of the direct link from the links indicated by the direct link discovery response message, and sends a direct link establishment request message (such as a tdlssetuppress message) to the STAMLD2, where the request message indicates a request for establishment of the link of the direct link. Examples are as follows:

1) If the direct connection link discovery response message only contains the STAinfo 3 corresponding to the link1, sending a direct connection link establishment request message to the STAMLD2 through the AP MLD, wherein the message contains the following parameters:

STA info 1: the equipment information comprises a link identifier link1 and the characteristic parameters of the STA1, and indicates that a direct connection link is requested to be established on the link1; optionally, an indication of the primary link may also be included.

2) If the direct link discovery response message only contains the STAinfo 4 corresponding to the link2, a main link switching request message (such as a primarylnkswatch request message) is sent to the AP MLD, and the message contains the following parameters:

target primary link: the main link to be switched to is set as link2 in this embodiment, which means that the main link needs to be switched to link2;

transition delay: the length of time required for handover.

After receiving a Primary link switch response message (such as a Primary link switch response message) sent by the AP MLD, the STAMLD1 sends a direct link establishment request message to the STAMLD2 through the AP MLD, where the message includes the following parameters:

STA info 2: the equipment information comprises a link identification link2 and the characteristic parameters of the STA2, and indicates that a direct connection link is requested to be established on the link2; optionally, an indication of the primary link may also be included.

3) If the direct connection link discovery response message contains STAinfo 3 corresponding to link1 and STAinfo 4 corresponding to link2, the STAMLD1 directly selects the main link1 as a link for requesting to establish the direct connection link, and sends a direct connection link establishment request message to the STAMLD2 through the AP MLD, wherein the message contains the following parameters:

Optionally, if the direct link discovery response message includes STAinfo 3 corresponding to link1 and STAinfo 4 corresponding to link2, and the stamldd 1 may also select its auxiliary link2 as a link requesting to establish the direct link according to its own policy, or select the main link indicated in the direct link discovery response message as a link requesting to establish the direct link according to an indication of the main link in STAinfo 3 and STAinfo 4, if the main link indicated in the direct link discovery response message in this embodiment is the link2, select the link2 as a link requesting to establish the direct link, and send a primary link handover request message (e.g., primalinkwitchrequest message) to the AP MLD, where the message includes the following parameters:

target primary link: the main link to be switched is set as link2 in this embodiment, which indicates that the main link needs to be switched to link2;

transition delay: the length of time required for handover.

S205, the STA MLD2 receives the direct link establishment request message, and sends a direct link establishment response message (e.g., a tdlssetuppersponse message) to the STA MLD1 according to the link that requests establishment of the direct link indicated in the direct link establishment request message, where the response message indicates whether to approve the request. The present embodiment assumes that STA MLD2 approves the request, as exemplified below:

1) If the STAMLD2 does not use the power saving mode and the received direct connection link establishment request message indicates that the direct connection link establishment request is requested to establish the direct connection link on the link1, sending a direct connection link establishment response message to the STAMLD1, wherein the message comprises the following parameters:

STA info 3: the equipment information comprises link identification link1 and the characteristic parameters of STA3, and indicates that the direct connection link is established on the link1; optionally, an indication of a normal link may also be included.

2) If the STAMLD2 does not use the power saving mode and the received direct connection link establishment request message indicates that the direct connection link establishment request is requested to be established on the link2, sending a direct connection link establishment response message to the STA MLD1, wherein the message comprises the following parameters:

STA info 4: the equipment information comprises link identification link2 and the characteristic parameters of the STA4, and indicates that the direct connection link is established on the link2; optionally, an indication of a normal link may also be included.

3) If the STAMLD2 is in a power saving mode and the main link is the link1, sending a direct connection link establishment response message to the STAMLD1, wherein the message comprises the following parameters:

STA info 3: the equipment information comprises link identification link1 and the characteristic parameters of STA3, and indicates that the direct connection link is established on the link1; optionally, an indication of the primary link may also be included.

4) If the STAMLD2 is in a power saving mode, the main link is a link2, and the received direct connection link establishment request message indicates that the direct connection link establishment on the link2 is requested, sending a direct connection link establishment response message to the STAMLD1, wherein the message comprises the following parameters:

STA info 4: the equipment information comprises link identification link2 and the characteristic parameters of the STA4, and indicates that the direct connection link is established on the link2; optionally, an indication of the primary link may also be included.

5) If the STAMLD2 is in the power saving mode, and the main link is the link2, and the received direct link establishment request message indicates that the direct link establishment request is requested on the link1, the method sends a main link handover request message (such as a primarylnkswatch request message) to the AP MLD, where the message includes the following parameters:

target primary link: the main link to be switched to is set as link1 in this embodiment, which means that the main link needs to be switched to link1;

transition delay: the length of time required for handover.

After receiving a Primary link switch response message (such as a Primary link switch response message) sent by the AP MLD, the STAMLD2 sends a direct link establishment response message to the STAMLD1, where the message includes the following parameters:

It should be noted that the STA MLD2 may directly send the direct link establishment response message to the STA MLD1, or may send the direct link establishment response message to the STA MLD1 through the AP MLD, that is, first send the direct link establishment response message to the AP MLD, and then the AP MLD sends the direct link establishment response message to the STA MLD1.

S206, the STAMLD1 receives the direct connection link establishment response message, and if the direct connection link establishment response message indicates that the request is agreed, the STAMLD1 and the STAMLD2 perform data communication on the established direct connection link; and if the direct connection link establishment response message indicates that the request is not agreed, the direct connection link establishment fails.

The embodiment of the invention also provides a device for establishing the direct link, which comprises a direct link module and is used for executing the following steps:

receiving, by a first multilink device, a direct link setup response message from a second multilink device, where the direct link setup response message indicates that the second multilink device confirms to set up a link of a direct link.

In an optional example, it may be understood by those skilled in the art that the apparatus may be embodied as the STA MLD1 in the foregoing embodiment, and the apparatus may be configured to perform each procedure and/or step corresponding to the STA MLD1 in the foregoing method, and details are not described here to avoid repetition.

receiving, by a second multilink device, a direct link discovery request message from a first multilink device, the direct link discovery request message indicating that the first multilink device can establish a link of a direct link;

receiving a direct link establishment request message from a first multilink device through a second multilink device, wherein the direct link establishment request message indicates a link requesting establishment of a direct link;

In an optional example, it may be understood by those skilled in the art that the apparatus may be embodied as the STA MLD2 in the foregoing embodiment, and the apparatus may be configured to perform each procedure and/or step corresponding to the STA MLD2 in the foregoing method, and details are not described herein again to avoid repetition.

It should be understood that the means herein are embodied in the form of functional modules. The term module herein may refer to an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (e.g., a shared, dedicated, or group processor) and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable components that support the described functionality. The device has the functions of realizing the corresponding steps in the method; the above functions may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the functions described above. In an embodiment of the present invention, an apparatus may also be a chip or a system of chips, for example: system on chip (SoC). The invention is not limited thereto.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides an electronic device, and fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of the electronic device provided in the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 3, the device 300 comprises a processor 301, a memory 302 and a communication interface 303, wherein the processor 301, the memory 302 and the communication interface 303 communicate with each other via a bus 304, and the memory 302 stores instructions executable by the processor 301, and the instructions are loaded and executed by the processor 301 to control the communication interface 303 to send and/or receive signals.

It should be understood that the apparatus 300 may be embodied as the STAMLD1 or STAMLD2 in the above embodiments, or the functions of the STAMLD1 or STAMLD2 in the above embodiments may be integrated in the apparatus 300, and the apparatus 300 may be configured to perform each step and/or flow corresponding to the STAMLD1 or STAMLD2 in the above embodiments. The memory 302 may optionally include both read-only memory and random access memory, and provides instructions and data to the processor 301. A portion of the memory 302 may also include non-volatile random access memory. For example, the memory 302 may also store device type information. The processor 301 may be configured to execute the instructions stored in the memory 301, and when the processor 301 executes the instructions, the processor 301 may perform the corresponding steps and/or processes in the above-described method embodiments.

It should be understood that in the embodiments of the present invention, the processor may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), and the processor may also be other general purpose processors, digital Signal Processors (DSPs), application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like.

In implementation, the steps of the above method may be performed by integrated logic circuits of hardware in a processor or by instructions in the form of software. The steps of a method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present invention may be directly implemented by a hardware processor, or may be implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor. The software module may be located in ram, flash memory, rom, prom, or eprom, registers, etc. storage media as is well known in the art. The storage medium is located in a memory, and a processor executes instructions in the memory, in combination with hardware thereof, to perform the steps of the above-described method. To avoid repetition, it is not described in detail here.

The above embodiments may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, the above-described embodiments may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product comprises one or more computer instructions or computer programs. The procedures or functions according to the embodiments of the present invention are wholly or partially generated when the computer instructions or the computer program are loaded or executed on a computer. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a network of computers, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored on a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another computer readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center by wire (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. that contains one or more collections of available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., DVD), or a semiconductor medium. The semiconductor medium may be a solid state disk.

It should be understood that, in various embodiments of the present invention, the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes do not mean the execution sequence, and the execution sequence of each process should be determined by its function and inherent logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present invention. The modules described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as modules may or may not be physical modules, that is, may be located in one place, or may also be distributed on a plurality of network modules, and some or all of the modules may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the embodiments of the present invention.

In the embodiments provided by the present invention, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus, device and method can be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described apparatus embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, the division of the modules is only one logical division, and there may be other divisions in actual implementation, for example, one module or component may be divided into a plurality of modules or components, or a plurality of modules or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not executed. In addition, the shown or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or modules, and may be in an electrical, mechanical or other form.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative modules and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the technical solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention.

The above description is only for the specific embodiments of the present invention, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of the changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present invention, and all the changes or substitutions should be covered within the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall be subject to the protection scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for establishing a direct link is characterized by comprising the following steps:

the method comprises the steps that a first multi-link device sends a direct connection link discovery request message to a second multi-link device, and when the first multi-link device is in a power saving mode, if the first multi-link device accepts switching of a main link, the direct connection link discovery request message indicates that the first multi-link device can establish a direct connection link on the main link and an auxiliary link of the first multi-link device; if the first multi-link device does not accept to switch the main link, the direct link discovery request message indicates that the first multi-link device can only establish the direct link on the main link, and the direct link discovery request message is used for the second multi-link device to select a link capable of establishing the direct link from links which are indicated in the direct link discovery request message and can be used for establishing the direct link;

the method comprises the steps that a first multilink device receives a direct link discovery response message from a second multilink device, wherein the direct link discovery response message indicates that the second multilink device can establish a link of a direct link;

the method comprises the steps that a first multilink device selects a link requesting to establish a direct link from links which can be established by a second multilink device and sends a direct link establishment request message to the second multilink device, wherein the direct link establishment request message indicates a link requesting to establish the direct link;

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first multilink device selects a link requesting establishment of a direct link among links which the second multilink device can establish a direct link, and the method comprises one or more of the following steps:

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the direct link discovery request message further includes an indication of link properties, which is used to instruct a second multilink device to preferentially select a primary link indicated in the direct link discovery request message as a link that can establish a direct link, and the link properties include a primary link and a secondary link.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein said switching the primary link to the secondary link of the first multi-link device that the second multi-link device can establish the link of the direct link comprises:

sending a main link switching request message to an access point, wherein the main link switching request message indicates a main link to be switched and time required by switching, the main link to be switched is an auxiliary link of first multi-link equipment, the second multi-link equipment can establish a link of a direct link, and the access point is connected with the first multi-link equipment and the second multi-link equipment;

5. A method for establishing a direct link is characterized by comprising the following steps:

the second multi-link device selects links capable of establishing the direct link from the links capable of establishing the direct link by the first multi-link device, and sends a direct link discovery response message to the first multi-link device, wherein the direct link discovery response message indicates that the second multi-link device can establish the links capable of establishing the direct link, and is used for the first multi-link device to select the link capable of requesting to establish the direct link from the links capable of establishing the direct link by the second multi-link device;

the method comprises the steps that a second multilink device receives a direct connection link establishment request message from a first multilink device, wherein the direct connection link establishment request message indicates a link which requests to establish a direct connection link;

6. The method of claim 5, wherein when a second multi-link device is in a power saving mode, the second multi-link device selects, from among the links that the first multi-link device can establish a direct link, a link that can establish a direct link, and the method comprises one or more of the following:

if the link which can be established by the first multi-link device and is directly connected with the link comprises a main link and an auxiliary link of the second multi-link device, and the second multi-link device does not accept to switch the main link, or the link which can be established by the first multi-link device and is directly connected with the link comprises only the main link of the second multi-link device, the second multi-link device selects the main link of the second multi-link device which can be established by the first multi-link device and is directly connected with the link as the link which can be established with the direct link;

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the direct link discovery request message further comprises an indication of link properties, the link properties comprising a primary link and a secondary link;

when a second multi-link device is in a power saving mode, if a link of a direct link that can be established by the first multi-link device includes a primary link and a secondary link of the second multi-link device, and if the second multi-link device accepts to switch the primary link, the second multi-link device selects the primary link indicated in the direct link discovery request message as the link that can establish the direct link; if the second multi-link equipment does not accept the switching of the main link, the second multi-link equipment selects the main link of the second multi-link equipment, which is included in the link which can be established by the first multi-link equipment to be the link which can be established by the direct link, as the link which can be established by the direct link;

and when the second multi-link device does not use the power saving mode, the second multi-link device selects the main link indicated in the direct connection link discovery request message as a link capable of establishing the direct connection link.

8. The method according to claim 5, wherein said second multi-link device switching the primary link to the link requesting establishment of a direct link comprises:

9. A direct link establishment device, comprising a direct link module configured to perform the following steps:

selecting, by a first multilink device, a link requesting establishment of a direct link from among links that can be established by a second multilink device for the direct link, and sending a direct link establishment request message to the second multilink device, where the direct link establishment request message indicates a request for establishment of a link for the direct link;

10. A direct link establishing device, comprising a direct link module, wherein the direct link module is configured to perform the following steps:

11. An electronic device comprising a memory, a processor and a computer program stored on the memory, characterized in that the processor executes the computer program to implement the method of any of claims 1-8.

12. A computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, which, when being executed by a processor, carries out the method of any one of claims 1-8.