CN116939845A

CN116939845A - Multilink communication method and device

Info

Publication number: CN116939845A
Application number: CN202210344393.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李云波; 郭宇宸; 淦明; 李伊青
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-04-02
Filing date: 2022-04-02
Publication date: 2023-10-24
Also published as: TW202341796A; WO2023185759A1

Abstract

A method and apparatus for multilink communication, the method comprising: the first communication device generates a beacon frame and transmits the beacon frame; correspondingly, the second communication device receives the beacon frame, and receives downlink data on the link with the buffer data according to the beacon frame. The description for the beacon frame is as follows: the multi-link traffic indication control field includes a first subfield including one or more bit-map subfields per link traffic indication list, the first subfield being used to indicate a correspondence between each bit in the bit-map subfields per link traffic indication bit and a link, each bit in the bit-map subfields per link traffic indication bit being used to indicate whether there is buffered data on the corresponding link, e.g., the first subfield may include a link offset subfield, or a link bit-map subfield, etc. The method effectively saves signaling overhead.

Description

Multilink communication method and device

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a method and an apparatus for multilink communication.

Background

In the 802.11 protocol, a station (station) of a non-access point (non-AP) has 2 operation modes, and one is a non-energy-saving mode, and is in an active state regardless of whether there is data transmission or not; the other is a power saving mode, and when the station needs to transmit data with an AP station (hereinafter referred to as an access point AP), the station can be in an active state; when no data transmission with the AP is required, the station may be in a sleep state (doze state) for saving power consumption. The station may tell the AP whether it is in power save mode by sending a frame to it, in particular by informing the station that it is in power save mode through the power save bit 1 in the frame control field (frame control field) in the medium access control (medium access control, MAC) header in the frame, or else in non-power save mode. In order to save power consumption of the station as much as possible, the AP may buffer downlink data of the station, wait for the station to wake up, and then send the downlink data to the station. But because of the limited buffer space of the AP, the AP may periodically send beacon frames informing its associated stations whether there is downlink data to be received through the traffic indication map (traffic indication map, TIM) TIM element in the beacon frame. The station in energy saving will wake up periodically to receive the beacon frame sent by the AP, if not, the station can switch to sleep state; otherwise, the station may choose a point in time to wake up to send an energy saving probe (PS-Poll) frame to the AP informing it of its wake up, which point in time is after the beacon frame reception point in time.

In multilink communication, an Access Point (AP) multilink device (AP MLD) may assign a unique association identifier (association identifier, AID) to a non-access point multilink device (non-AP MLD) as an identifier, so That All Stations (STAs) to which the non-AP MLD is attached may use the same AID. In case the non-AP MLD indicates a mapping of traffic identities to links (TID-to-link mapping), traffic of different TIDs is transmitted through different link sets. Since only 1 bit in the traffic indication bitmap (traffic indication map, TIM) element indicates the non-AP MLD, it is not possible to distinguish which links in the non-AP MLD the buffered data needs to be transmitted over, and thus it is unclear on which links the non-AP MLD needs to wake up to be ready to receive data. To address this problem, it is possible to indicate over which links data and MAC management protocol data units (MAC management protocol data unit, MMPDU) are buffered by a multi-link traffic indication element (multi-link traffic indication element).

However, the cost of the multi-link service indication element is larger at present, and the signaling cost can be further reduced.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a multilink communication method and a device, which can save signaling overhead of multilink service indication elements, in particular signaling overhead of bit map subfields of per-link service indication.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for multi-link communication, where the method may be applied to an AP or an AP MLD or a chip, and the chip may be disposed in the AP or the AP MLD, and the method includes:

generating a beacon frame, wherein the beacon frame comprises a multi-link service indication element, the multi-link service indication element comprises a multi-link service indication control field and a per-link service indication list field, the multi-link service indication control field comprises a first subfield, the per-link service indication list field comprises one or more per-link service indication bit bitmap subfields, the first subfield is used for indicating the corresponding relation between each bit in the per-link service indication bit bitmap subfields and a link, each bit in the per-link service indication bit bitmap subfields is used for indicating whether cache data exists on the corresponding link, and the bit length of the per-link service indication bit bitmap subfields is equal to the sum of the number of bits with a value of 1 in the first subfields; and transmitting the beacon frame.

In general, bits in the bitmap subfield of each link traffic indication bit sequentially correspond to the case of link identification (link ID) =0 to link id=m, where m is an integer greater than or equal to 0, and m is determined according to the bitmap size subfield. However, in the embodiment of the present application, each link traffic indication bit bitmap subfield only needs to indicate whether there is buffered data on the link corresponding to the bit with the value of 1 in the first subfield, so that the link indication information of the link with link id=0 and the link indication information of the link with link id=m, which are sequentially corresponding to the bit in each link traffic indication bit bitmap subfield, are effectively improved, and thus signaling overhead is effectively saved.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a multi-link communication method, where the method may be applied to an STA or a non-AP MLD or a chip, and the chip may be disposed in the STA or the non-AP MLD, and the method includes:

receiving a beacon frame, wherein the beacon frame comprises a multi-link service indication element, the multi-link service indication element comprises a multi-link service indication control field and a per-link service indication list field, the multi-link service indication control field comprises a first subfield, the per-link service indication list field comprises one or more per-link service indication bit bitmap subfields, the first subfield is used for indicating the corresponding relation between each bit in the per-link service indication bit bitmap subfields and a link, each bit in the per-link service indication bit bitmap subfields is used for indicating whether cache data exists on the corresponding link, and the bit length of the per-link service indication bit bitmap subfields is equal to the sum of the number of bits with a value of 1 in the first subfields; and receiving downlink data on a link with the buffer data according to the beacon frame.

With reference to the first aspect or the second aspect, in one possible implementation manner, the first subfield includes a link bit map subfield, an ith bit in the link bit map subfield is used to indicate whether link indication information with a link identifier equal to i-1 is included in the per-link traffic indication bit map subfield, the link indication information is used to indicate whether there is buffered data on a corresponding link, and the i is a positive integer.

With reference to the first aspect or the second aspect, in one possible implementation manner, when a value of an ith bit in the link bitmap subfield is 1, the per-link traffic indication bitmap subfield includes link indication information with a link identifier equal to i-1.

With reference to the first aspect or the second aspect, in one possible implementation manner, the first subfield includes a link bit map subfield, and the link corresponding to each bit in the bit map subfield of each link service instruction bit is sequentially the same as the link corresponding to the bit with a value of 1 in the bit map subfield of each link.

With reference to the first aspect or the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the beacon frame further includes a traffic indication map TIM element, the TIM element includes a partial virtual bit map field, and the multilink traffic indication control field further includes an association identification AID offset subfield; the AID offset sub-field and the partial virtual bit map field are used for indicating the AID corresponding to each of the one or more bit map sub-fields of the service indication bit map of each link included in the service indication list field of each link.

In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the receiving downlink data on the link with the buffered data according to the beacon frame includes: determining a link corresponding to each bit in the bit map subfield of each link service instruction according to the first subfield; and determining whether the link corresponding to the bit has cache data according to the value of each bit in the bit map subfield of the per-link service indication bit.

In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the receiving downlink data on the link with the buffered data according to the beacon frame includes: the multi-link device receiving the beacon frame determines the AID respectively corresponding to each of one or more sub-fields of the bit map of the service indication bit per link in the sub-fields of the bit map of the service indication per link in the list of service indication per link according to the AID offset sub-field and the partial virtual bit map field; determining a link corresponding to each bit in the bit map subfield of each link service instruction according to the first subfield; if the determined AID is the same as the AID of the multi-link device, the multi-link device determines whether the link corresponding to the bit has cache data of the multi-link device according to the bit in the bit map subfield of each link service indication bit corresponding to the AID of the multi-link device; the multi-link device receives downlink data over a link with buffered data.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a multi-link communication method, where the method may be applied to an AP or an AP MLD or a chip, and the chip may be disposed in the AP or the AP MLD, and the method includes:

generating a beacon frame, wherein the beacon frame comprises a multi-link service indication element, the multi-link service indication element comprises a multi-link service indication control field and a per-link service indication list field, the multi-link service indication control field comprises a first subfield, the per-link service indication list field comprises one or more per-link service indication bit bitmap subfields, the first subfield is used for indicating the corresponding relation between each bit in the per-link service indication bit bitmap subfields and a link, each bit in the per-link service indication bit bitmap subfields is used for indicating whether cache data exists on the corresponding link, and the first subfield is used for indicating a link identifier corresponding to the first bit in the per-link service indication bit bitmap subfields; and transmitting the beacon frame.

In the embodiment of the application, if all non-AP MLDs contained in the multi-link service indication element do not use one or more links with smaller link identifiers, the one or more links do not need to appear in the bitmap subfield of each link service indication bit, thereby effectively saving signaling overhead.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a multi-link communication method, which may be applied to an STA or a non-AP MLD or a chip, etc., where the chip may be disposed in the STA or the non-AP MLD, and the method includes:

receiving a beacon frame, wherein the beacon frame comprises a multi-link service indication element, the multi-link service indication element comprises a multi-link service indication control field and a per-link service indication list field, the multi-link service indication control field comprises a first subfield, the per-link service indication list field comprises one or more per-link service indication bit bitmap subfields, the first subfield is used for indicating the corresponding relation between each bit in the per-link service indication bit bitmap subfields and a link, each bit in the per-link service indication bit bitmap subfields is used for indicating whether cache data exists on the corresponding link, and the first subfield is used for indicating a link identifier corresponding to the first bit in the per-link service indication bit bitmap subfields; and receiving downlink data on a link with the buffer data according to the beacon frame.

With reference to the third aspect or the fourth aspect, in one possible implementation manner, the first subfield includes a link offset subfield, and a value of the link offset subfield is equal to a link identifier corresponding to a first bit in the bitmap subfield of each link traffic indication bit.

With reference to the third aspect or the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the multi-link traffic indication control field further includes a bit map size subfield, where the bit map size subfield is used to indicate a bit length of the per-link traffic indication bit map subfield.

With reference to the third aspect or the fourth aspect, in one possible implementation manner, the bit map size subfield and the first subfield are used to determine a correspondence between each bit in the per-link traffic indication bit map subfield and a link.

With reference to the third aspect or the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the beacon frame further includes a traffic indication map TIM element, the TIM element includes a partial virtual bit map field, and the multilink traffic indication control field further includes an association identification AID offset subfield; the AID offset sub-field and the partial virtual bit map field are used for indicating the AID corresponding to each of the multiple bit map sub-fields of the service indication bit map of each link included in the service indication list field of each link.

In a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the receiving downlink data on the link with the buffered data according to the beacon frame includes: determining a link corresponding to each bit in the bit map subfield of each link service instruction according to the first subfield; and determining whether the link corresponding to the bit has cache data according to the value of each bit in the bit map subfield of the per-link service indication bit.

In a possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the receiving downlink data on the link with the buffered data according to the beacon frame includes: the multi-link device receiving the beacon frame determines the AID respectively corresponding to each of one or more sub-fields of the bit map of the service indication bit per link in the sub-fields of the bit map of the service indication per link in the list of service indication per link according to the AID offset sub-field and the partial virtual bit map field; determining a link corresponding to each bit in the bit map subfield of each link service instruction according to the first subfield; if the determined AID is the same as the AID of the multi-link device, the multi-link device determines whether the link corresponding to the bit has cache data of the multi-link device according to the bit in the bit map subfield of each link service indication bit corresponding to the AID of the multi-link device; the multi-link device receives downlink data over a link with buffered data.

In a fifth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communications apparatus for performing the method of the first aspect, the third aspect or any possible implementation manner. The communication device comprises a device having means for performing the method of the first aspect, the third aspect or any possible implementation.

In a sixth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communications apparatus for performing the method of the second aspect, the fourth aspect or any possible implementation manner. The communication device comprises means with means for performing the method of the second aspect, the fourth aspect or any possible implementation.

In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communications device, including a processor, configured to perform a method as shown in the first aspect, the third aspect, or any possible implementation manner. Alternatively, the processor may be configured to execute a program stored in the memory, which when executed, performs the method of the first aspect, the third aspect or any possible implementation manner.

In one possible implementation, the memory is located outside the communication device.

In one possible implementation, the memory is located within the communication device.

In the embodiment of the application, the processor and the memory may also be integrated in one device, i.e. the processor and the memory may also be integrated together.

In one possible implementation, the communication device further comprises a transceiver for receiving signals or transmitting signals.

In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communications device, including a processor configured to perform the method shown in the second aspect, the fourth aspect, or any possible implementation manner. Alternatively, the processor may be configured to execute a program stored in the memory, which when executed, performs the method of the second aspect, the fourth aspect or any possible implementation.

In embodiments of the present application, the processor and the memory may also be integrated in one device, i.e. the processor and the memory may also be integrated together.

In a ninth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication device comprising logic circuitry and an interface, the logic circuitry and the interface being coupled; logic circuitry to generate a beacon frame; and an interface for inputting the beacon frame.

It will be appreciated that the description of the beacon frame may refer to the method of the first or third aspect and will not be described in detail here.

In a tenth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication device comprising logic circuitry and an interface, the logic circuitry and the interface being coupled; an interface for inputting a beacon frame; logic circuitry to input downstream data on the link with the buffered data based on the beacon frame.

In an eleventh aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer readable storage medium for storing a computer program which, when run on a computer, causes the method shown in the first, third or any possible implementation manner described above to be performed.

In a twelfth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer readable storage medium for storing a computer program which, when run on a computer, causes the method of the second, fourth or any possible implementation described above to be performed.

In a thirteenth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer program product comprising a computer program or computer code which, when run on a computer, causes the method shown in the first, third or any possible implementation manner described above to be performed.

In a fourteenth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer program product comprising a computer program or computer code which, when run on a computer, causes the method of the second, fourth or any possible implementation described above to be performed.

In a fifteenth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer program which, when run on a computer, performs the method of the first aspect, the third aspect or any possible implementation manner described above.

In a sixteenth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer program which, when run on a computer, performs the method of the second aspect, the fourth aspect or any possible implementation manner described above.

In a seventeenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a wireless communication system including a first communication device and a second communication device. Illustratively, the first communication device is configured to perform the method according to the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect, and the second communication device is configured to perform the method according to the second aspect or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect. Illustratively, the first communication device is configured to perform the method shown in the third aspect or any possible implementation manner of the third aspect, and the second communication device is configured to perform the method shown in the fourth aspect or any possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect.

Drawings

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

FIG. 1b is a schematic diagram of another communication system according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2a is a schematic structural diagram of a multi-link service indication element according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2b is a schematic diagram of a relationship between a multi-link traffic indication element and a TIM element according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2c is a schematic structural diagram of a TIM element according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a schematic flow chart of a multi-link communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4a is a schematic structural diagram of a multi-link service indication element according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4b is a schematic structural diagram of a multi-link service indication element according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a flow chart of another method of multi-link communication according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present application more apparent, the present application will be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The terms first and second and the like in the description, the claims and the drawings of the present application are used for distinguishing between different objects and not for describing a particular sequential order. Furthermore, the terms "comprising," "including," and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. Such as a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not limited to the list of steps or elements but may include other steps or elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

Reference herein to "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment of the application. The appearances of such phrases in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. Those of skill in the art will explicitly and implicitly understand that the embodiments described herein may be combined with other embodiments.

In the present application, "at least one (item)" means one or more, "a plurality" means two or more, "at least two (items)" means two or three and more, "and/or" for describing an association relationship of an association object, and three kinds of relationships may exist, for example, "a and/or B" may represent: only a, only B and both a and B are present, wherein a, B may be singular or plural. The character "/" generally indicates that the context-dependent object is an "or" relationship. "at least one of (a) or a similar expression thereof means any combination of these items. For example, at least one (one) of a, b or c may represent: a, b, c, "a and b", "a and c", "b and c", or "a and b and c".

The method provided by the application can be applied to wireless local area network (wireless local area network, WLAN) systems, such as Wi-Fi and the like. The method provided by the application can be applied to the 802.11 series of protocols of the institute of electrical and electronics engineers (institute of electrical and electronics engineers, IEEE), such as 802.11a/b/g protocol, 802.11n protocol, 802.11ac protocol, 802.11ax protocol, 802.11be protocol or next generation protocol, etc., which are not listed here. The method provided by the application can be applied to various communication systems, such as an internet of things (internet of things, ioT) system, a vehicle to X (V2X), a narrowband internet of things (narrow band internet of things, NB-IoT) system, devices in the internet of vehicles, internet of things nodes, sensors and the like in the internet of things (IoT, internet of things), intelligent cameras in smart homes, intelligent remote controllers, intelligent water meter meters, sensors and the like in smart cities. It is also applicable to long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) systems, fifth generation (5G) communication systems, and new communication systems (e.g., 6G) that are developed in future communication developments.

Although the embodiments of the present application will be described mainly by taking WLAN as an example, especially a network applied to IEEE 802.11 series standards. Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the various aspects of the present application are amenable to extension to other networks employing a variety of standards or protocols. Such as bluetooth (blue), high performance wireless LANs (high performance radio LAN, HIPERLAN), a wireless standard similar to the IEEE 802.11 standard and used principally in europe, and Wide Area Networks (WANs) or other now known or later developed networks. Accordingly, the various aspects provided by the present application may be applicable to any suitable wireless network, regardless of the coverage area and wireless access protocol used.

The following describes in detail the communication system and apparatus according to the present application.

The communication system provided by the application can be a WLAN or a cellular network, and the method provided by the application can be implemented by a communication device in a wireless communication system or a chip or a processor in the communication device, wherein the communication device can be a wireless communication device supporting parallel transmission of one or more links, for example, a multi-link device (MLD). A multi-link device has higher transmission efficiency and higher throughput than a device that supports only a single link transmission.

The multilink device comprises one or more affiliated stations, which are logical stations and can work on one link or one frequency band or one channel, etc. The affiliated station may be an Access Point (AP) or a non-AP station (non-access point station, non-AP STA). For convenience of description, the present application may refer to a multi-link device affiliated with a site as an AP as a multi-link AP or a multi-link AP device or an AP multi-link device (AP MLD). The multi-link device whose affiliated station is a non-AP STA is called a multi-link STA or multi-link STA device or STA multi-link device (STA multi-link device), or the multi-link device whose affiliated station is a non-AP STA is called a multi-link non-AP or multi-link non-AP device or non-AP multi-link device (non-AP MLD), or the like. The multi-link device with the affiliated station being an AP will hereinafter be referred to as an AP MLD, and the multi-link device with the affiliated station being a non-AP STA will hereinafter be referred to as a non-AP MLD. One or more APs belonging to the AP MLD are provided; the STA affiliated to the STA MLD is one or more.

A multi-link device (here, either a non-AP MLD or an AP MLD) is a communication apparatus having a wireless communication function. The communication device can be the equipment of a whole machine, a chip or a processing system arranged in the equipment of the whole machine, and the equipment provided with the chip or the processing system can realize the method and the function of the embodiment of the application under the control of the chip or the processing system. For example, the non-APMLD in the embodiment of the present application has a wireless transceiver function, can support an 802.11 series protocol, and can communicate with APMLD or other non-APMLD. For example, non-APMLD is any user communication device that allows a user to communicate with an AP and thus with a WLAN. For example, the non-APMLD may be a tablet computer, a desktop, a laptop, a notebook, an ultra-mobile personal computer (ultra-mobile personal computer, UMPC), a handheld computer, a netbook, a personal digital assistant (personal digital assistant, PDA), a mobile phone, or other user equipment that can be networked, or an internet of things node in the internet of things, or an in-vehicle communication device in the internet of vehicles, or the like. The non-AP multilink device may also be a chip and processing system in these terminals. The APMLD may be a device that provides services for non-APMLD and may support the 802.11 family of protocols. For example, the APMLD may be a communication entity such as a communication server, a router, a switch, a bridge, or the like, or the APMLD may include various forms of macro base stations, micro base stations, relay stations, and the like, and of course, the APMLD may also be chips and processing systems in these various forms of devices. The 802.11 protocol may include a protocol supporting 802.11be or compatible with 802.11be, and so on, and is not listed here.

It can be appreciated that the multi-link device can support high-rate low-delay transmission, and as the wireless lan application scenario continuously evolves, the multi-link device can also be applied to more scenarios, such as sensor nodes (e.g., smart water meters, smart electric meters, smart air detection nodes) in smart cities, smart devices (e.g., smart cameras, projectors, display screens, televisions, speakers, refrigerators, washing machines, etc.) in smart homes, nodes in the internet of things, entertainment terminals (e.g., wearable devices such as AR, VR, etc.), smart devices (e.g., printers, projectors, etc.), internet of vehicles in the internet of vehicles, some infrastructures (e.g., vending machines, super self-service navigation stations, self-service cashing devices, self-service ordering machines, etc.) in daily life scenarios. The embodiments of the present application are not limited to the specific form of the multi-link device, but are merely illustrative.

In connection with the multi-link device shown above, fig. 1a is a schematic architecture diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 1a, the AP MLD includes AP1, AP2, …, APn, and the non-AP MLD includes STA1, STA2, …, STAn. N is shown here as a positive integer. The AP MLD and non-AP MLD may communicate in parallel using link 1, link 2, …, link n. STA1 in the non-AP MLD establishes an association with AP1 in the AP MLD, STA2 in the non-AP MLD establishes an association with AP2 in the AP MLD, STA n in the non-AP MLD establishes an association with APn in the AP MLD, and so on. Thus, communication may be performed after an association is established between one or more STAs in the non-AP MLD and one or more APs in the AP MLD.

The frequency bands in which the multi-link device (including the AP MLD and the non-AP MLD) operates may include, but are not limited to: sub 1GHz,2.4GHz,5GHz,6GHz and high frequency 60GHz.

By way of example, FIG. 1b shows a scenario where an AP MLD101 communicates with Non-AP MLD102, non-AP MLD103 and STA104, the AP MLD101 comprising affiliated APs 101-1 through 101-3; the Non-AP MLD102 includes three STAs 102-1, 102-2 and 102-3 affiliated to each other; the Non-AP MLD103 includes 2 subordinate STAs 103-1, STAs 103-2; STA104-1, STA104 is a single link device. The AP MLD101 may communicate with the Non-AP MLD102 using link 1, link 2, and link 3, respectively; using link 2 and link 3 to communicate with Non-AP MLD 103; link 1 is employed to communicate with STA 104. In one example, STA104 operates in the 2.4GHz band; in the Non-AP MLD103, the STA103-1 works in the 5GHz band, and the STA103-2 works in the 6GHz band; in Non-AP MLD102, STA102-1 operates in the 2.4GHz band, STA102-2 operates in the 5GHz band, and STA102-3 operates in the 6GHz band. An AP101-1 operating in the 2.4GHz band in the AP MLD101 may transmit uplink or downlink data between the STA104 and the STA102-1 in the Non-AP MLD102 over link 1. The AP101-2 in the AP MLD101 operating in the 5GHz band can transmit uplink or downlink data between the link 2 and the STA103-1 in the Non-AP MLD103 operating in the 5GHz band, and can also transmit uplink or downlink data between the link 2 and the STA102-2 in the Non-AP MLD102 operating in the 5GHz band. The AP101-3 of the AP MLD101 operating in the 6GHz band can transmit uplink or downlink data between the STA102-3 of the Non-AP MLD102 operating in the 6GHz band through the link 3, and can also transmit uplink or downlink data between the STA103-2 of the Non-AP MLD through the link 3.

Fig. 1b only illustrates an example in which the AP MLD101 supports three frequency bands (2.4 ghz,5ghz,6 ghz), each corresponding to one link, and the AP MLD101 may operate in one or more of the links 1, 2, or 3. In practical applications, the AP MLD and the Non-AP MLD may also support more or fewer frequency bands, i.e., the AP MLD and the Non-AP MLD may operate on more links or fewer links, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application. That is, the method provided by the embodiment of the application can be applied to not only multi-link communication but also single-link communication.

The method provided by the application can be applied to but is not limited to: single user up/down transmission, multi-user up/down transmission, vehicle-to-anything (V2X, X may represent anything), device-to-device (D2D). For example, the V2X may include: vehicle-to-vehicle (vehicle to vehicle, V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (vehicle to infrastructure, V2I), vehicle-to-pedestrian communication (vehicle to pedestrian, V2P), or vehicle-to-network (vehicle to network, V2N), etc.

In a method of multilink communication, a beacon frame may include a multilink traffic indication element (multi-link traffic indication element), which may be structured as shown in fig. 2 a. As shown in fig. 2a, the multilink traffic indication element includes at least one of the following fields: an element identification (element identification), a length (length) field, an element ID extension (element ID extension) field, a multi-link traffic indication control (multi-link traffic indication control) field, and a per-link traffic indication list (per-link traffic indication list) field. The multi-link traffic indication control field includes a bit bitmap size (bitmap size) subfield, an AID offset (AID offset) subfield, and a reserved subfield. The per-link traffic indication list field includes l per-link traffic indication bit bitmap (per-link traffic indication bitmap) subfields and possibly padding (padding) subfields. It will be appreciated that the byte (octets) length occupied by each field and the bit (bits) length occupied by each subfield as described above may be as shown in fig. 2a and will not be described in detail here.

In the multi-link traffic indication element, each non-AP MLD with downlink buffered data corresponds to a bit map subfield per link traffic indication bit. And the size of all the bitmap subfields of the traffic indication bit per link is the same, for example, m+1, and the bits in the bitmap subfields of the traffic indication bit per link sequentially correspond to m+1 links from link identification (link ID) =0 to link id=m. Wherein m is the identification of the link with the largest link identification in all the links which need to be indicated in the non-AP MLD with the cache data, and m is an integer which is more than or equal to 0.

The length of the bitmap subfield per link traffic indication bit can be indicated by the bitmap size subfield, for example. For example, if the value of the bitmap size subfield is m, the length of the bitmap size subfield is m+1. That is, the maximum link identifier in the link corresponding to the bit with the value of 1 in the bit map sub-field of the per-link service indication bit included in the per-link service indication list is the value of the bit map size sub-field. Alternatively, it can be understood that: the value of the bitmap size subfield is set to the maximum value of the link identifications in the link set to 1 in the bitmap size subfield per link traffic indication bitmap of the non-AP MLD contained in the multi-link traffic indication element.

The value of the AID offset sub-field is the same as the AID of the non-AP MLD corresponding to the first bit map sub-field of the service indication bit per link in the service indication list field per link.

It will be appreciated that for the description of l above, reference may be made to fig. 2b. The first row in fig. 2b shows part of the content in the partial virtual bit map (partial virtual bitmap) field in the TIM element in the beacon frame. The value of l is equal to the sum of the numbers of bits with the value of 1 from all bits in the bits corresponding to AID > =k in the partial virtual bit map field. Thus, the AID corresponding to the per-link traffic indication bit bitmap shown in fig. 2a starts from the AID indicated by the AID offset quantum field, and sequentially corresponds to the AID with a bit value of 1 in the virtual bit bitmap field.

The description of the TIM element may be referred to fig. 2c. In general, both the traffic indication bitmap (traffic indication map, TIM) beacon frame and the transmit traffic indication bitmap (delivery traffic indication map, DTIM) beacon frame carry traffic indication bitmap (traffic indication map, TIM) elements. As shown in fig. 2c, the frame format of the TIM element field includes: an element Identifier (ID) field, a length field, a DTIM count field, a DTIM period field, a bitmap control field, and a partial virtual bitmap (partial virtual bitmap) field. Illustratively, the element ID is used to identify the element shown in FIG. 2c as a TIM element. The length field is used for indicating the length of the TIM element, and counting the total length after the field, namely the total length of the DTIM count field, the DTIM period field, the bit bitmap control field and the partial virtual bit bitmap field, wherein the unit is bytes. The DTIM count field is used to indicate how many TIM beacon frames are present for the current beacon frame carrying the TIM element before the arrival of the next DTIM beacon frame. I.e. the DTIM count field is a count value that is variable. When the value of the DTIM count field is 0, it indicates that the current beacon frame is a DTIM beacon frame; when the value of the DTIM technical field is not 0 or is not 0, it indicates that the current beacon frame is a TIM beacon frame. The DTIM period field is used to indicate the period duration of the DTIM beacon frame, i.e., the inter-arrival, in TIM beacon frame periods. For example, if the DTIM period is set to 1, then the DTIM count in each TIM element field is equal to 0, i.e., each beacon frame is a DTIM beacon frame. Bit 0 in the bitmap control field is used to indicate whether multicast data traffic is transmitted after the AP transmits the DTIM beacon frame, or, if bit 0 in the bitmap control field in the DTIM beacon frame indicates whether the AP buffers the multicast traffic, and bits 1 to 7 in the bitmap control field, which is not transmitted by the multicast AID, are used to indicate an offset of a part of the virtual bitmap, the offset being in bytes (i.e., 8 bits). Each bit in the partial virtual bitmap field corresponds to an association identifier (association identifier, AID) for indicating whether the station corresponding to the AID has unicast traffic. Or each bit in the partial virtual bit map field corresponds to a multicast AID, and is used for indicating whether a group of stations corresponding to the multicast AID have downlink traffic. The partial virtual bitmap field is a partial bit of a traffic indication virtual bitmap (traffic indication virtual bitmap) field, where the traffic indication virtual bitmap field is 251 bytes, and is used to indicate whether the stations or the non-AP MLDs corresponding to the AID 0 to the AID 2007 have downlink traffic. Wherein the element ID field, the length field, the DTIM count field, the DTIM period field, and the bit map control field occupy 1 byte, respectively.

Based on the multi-link traffic indication element shown in fig. 2a, it can be seen that the signaling overhead of the above method is large when the number of non-AP MLDs is large or the number of links associated with different non-AP MLDs is different. For example, only one link (or a small number of links such as two links) of a link associated with a certain non-AP MLD buffers downlink data, where the bitmap subfield of each link traffic indication bit corresponding to the non-AP MLD still needs to indicate whether downlink data is buffered on each link of m+1 links. For another example, only the link with the largest link identifier and the link with the smallest link identifier in the link associated with a certain non-AP MLD may be cached with downlink data, where the bitmap subfield of each link traffic indication bit corresponding to the non-AP MLD still needs to indicate whether downlink data is cached on each link in m+1 links. And are not listed here.

Therefore, how to reduce the signaling overhead is urgently needed on the basis of accurately indicating to the non-AP MLD the links on which it has buffered data (i.e., accurately indicating on which links the non-AP MLD wakes up).

In view of this, embodiments of the present application provide a method and an apparatus for multilink communication, which can further reduce signaling overhead of a multilink traffic indication element. The method provided by the embodiment of the application can be applied to the communication system shown in fig. 1a and 1 b. Alternatively, the method may be applied to a first communication device, which may include an AP or an AP MLD, a chip, or the like, which may be provided to the AP or the AP MLD, and a second communication device, which may include a non-AP MLD, an STA, or a chip, or the like, which may be provided to the non-AP MLD or the STA. The description of the first communication device and the second communication device may be referred to above, and will not be described in detail here.

Fig. 3 is a flow chart of a method for multi-link communication according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 3, the method includes:

301. the first communication device generates a beacon frame comprising a multi-link traffic indication element comprising a multi-link traffic indication control field and a per-link traffic indication list field, the multi-link traffic indication control field comprising a first subfield comprising one or more per-link traffic indication bit bitmap subfields for indicating a correspondence between each bit in the per-link traffic indication bit bitmap subfields and a link, each bit in the per-link traffic indication bit bitmap subfields for indicating whether there is buffered data on the corresponding link.

The per-link traffic indication list field may include a plurality of per-link traffic indication bit bitmap subfields, each of which may correspond to one AID, or may be understood that each bit bitmap corresponds to one non-AP MLD (or STA), or each bit bitmap corresponds to link indication information of a plurality of links in one non-AP MLD (or each bit bitmap corresponds to link indication information of one link in one STA). For example, the per-link traffic indication bit bitmap may also have other names, such as a link indication bit bitmap based on each non-AP MLD, or a link traffic indication bit bitmap of a single non-AP MLD, or simply referred to as a bit bitmap, etc., where the name of the bit bitmap included in the per-link traffic indication list field is not limited in the application embodiment.

Each bit in the per-link traffic indication bit map subfield is used to indicate whether there is buffered data on the corresponding link, and can be further understood as: each bit in the per-link traffic indication bit map subfield is used to indicate whether there is an MMPDU on the corresponding link or whether it is recommended to use the corresponding link to receive buffered data or MMPDU. It may be understood that, in the embodiment of the present application, each bit bitmap subfield of per-link traffic indication corresponds to an AID from the perspective of the first communication device (e.g., from the AP end), where the AID may correspond to any of the conventional STA (legacy STA), single link MLD (e.g., STA), or multi-link MLD (e.g., non-AP MLD). However, from the second communication device (e.g., from the STA side), the legacy STA will not read the corresponding bitmap subfield of the traffic indication bit per link, and the single link MLD may or may not read the bitmap subfield of the traffic indication bit per link, but the multi-link MLD (e.g., non-AP MLD) will necessarily read the bitmap subfield of the traffic indication bit per link.

It will be appreciated that other descriptions in relation to beacon frames may be referred to in fig. 2a to 2c and will not be described in detail here. Illustratively, the beacon frame further includes a TIM element including a partial virtual bit map field, and the multi-link traffic indication control field further includes an AID offset subfield, the AID offset subfield and the partial virtual bit map field being operable to determine an AID corresponding to each of a plurality of bit maps included in the per-link traffic indication list field. It is understood that the beacon frame shown in the embodiment of the present application is only an example, and if other similar frames also have the functions of the related elements (such as the multi-link traffic indication element and the TIM element) carried in the beacon frame shown in the present application (or the functions of the related fields (such as the multi-link traffic indication control field and the per-link traffic indication list field) carried in the other similar frames), it is also within the scope of the present application.

The following describes in detail the first subfield provided by the embodiment of the present application, and regarding the first subfield, the embodiment of the present application has three implementation manners as follows:

one implementation way,

The first subfield includes a link bitmap (link bitmap) subfield that may satisfy one or more of the following conditions: condition 1, the bit length of the per-link traffic indication bitmap subfield is equal to the sum of the number of bits for which the link bitmap subfield has a value of 1 (or the sum of the number of bits for which the link bitmap subfield has a value of 0). And (2) the ith bit in the link bit map subfield is used for indicating whether link indication information with the link identification equal to i-1 is included in the per-link service indication bit map subfield, the link indication information is used for indicating whether cache data exists on a corresponding link, and the i is a positive integer. The link corresponding to each bit in the bitmap subfield of the traffic indication bit per link is in turn the same as the link corresponding to the bit with the value of 1 in the bitmap subfield of the traffic indication bit per link (or the link corresponding to each bit in the bitmap subfield of the traffic indication bit per link is in turn the same as the link corresponding to the bit with the value of 0 in the bitmap subfield of the traffic indication bit per link).

For example, if the value of the ith bit in the link bitmap subfield is 1, the bitmap subfield includes link indication information with a link identifier equal to i-1. That is, if the value of the i-th bit in the link bitmap subfield is 1, there is one bit in the per-link traffic indication bitmap subfield for indicating whether there is buffered data on the link with the link identification equal to i-1. Of course, the relationship between the link bitmap subfield and the per-link traffic indication bitmap subfield may also be: when the value of the ith bit in the link bit bitmap subfield is 0, the per-link service indication bit bitmap subfield comprises link indication information with the link identification equal to i-1. For convenience of description, the multi-link traffic indication element provided by the embodiment of the present application will be described below by taking the example that the bit of the i-th bit in the bit map subfield of the link bit map has a value of 1, and the bit map subfield of each link traffic indication bit includes link indication information with a link identifier equal to i-1.

Fig. 4a is a schematic structural diagram of a multilink service indication element according to an embodiment of the present application. Fig. 4a differs from fig. 2a in that: the bit map size subfield in fig. 2a is replaced with the link bit map subfield in fig. 4 a. Illustratively, the length of the link bitmap subfield is 16 bits or 8 bits, and the ith bit in the link bitmap subfield corresponds to a link id=i-1. For example, when a certain bit in the link bitmap subfield is set to 1, it indicates that the per-link traffic indication bitmap subfield includes an indication of the corresponding link (i.e., corresponds to the bit having the value of 1 in the link bitmap subfield) (i.e., includes link indication information of the corresponding link). Conversely, when a certain bit in the link bitmap subfield is set to 0, it indicates that the per-link traffic indication bitmap subfield does not include an indication of the corresponding link (i.e., does not include link indication information of the corresponding link).

It will be appreciated that the length of the link bitmap subfield shown above is only an example, and the length of the link bitmap subfield is not limited by the embodiments of the present application. For example, the length of the link bitmap subfield may also be 10 bits or 12 bits or 15 bits, etc., which are not listed here.

In the multi-link traffic indication element shown in fig. 2a, the number of links indicated by the bit map subfield is equal to the bit length of the bit map subfield per link traffic indication. For example, the number of links indicated by the bitmap subfield is 15 (e.g., 1110 in binary), and the bit length of the bitmap subfield is 15 bits per link traffic indication. Meanwhile, the bit length of each link service indication bit map subfield corresponding to each non-AP MLD with cache data is 15 bits.

However, in the multi-link traffic indication element of fig. 4a, when the value of one or more bits in the link bitmap subfield is 0, then the per-link traffic indication bitmap subfield does not include an indication of the corresponding link. Further, each per-link traffic indication bit map subfield in the per-link traffic indication list field does not include an indication of the corresponding link. Therefore, the signaling overhead is effectively saved. For example, the value of the link bit bitmap subfield is 0101 1001 1110 0110 (i.e. the number of indicated links is 16), and as shown in fig. 4a, the length of each of the per-link traffic indication bit bitmap subfields in the per-link traffic indication list field may be 9 bits, and the link identifiers of the links indicated by each of the per-link traffic indication bit bitmap subfields are in turn: 1. 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14. For example, the first bitmap subfield per link traffic indication bit carries the following values: 0110 1101, the IDs of the links indicating that aid=k of the non-AP MLD has buffered data are in order: 3. 4, 8, 9, 13, 14. It will be appreciated that the description of the bitmap subfields is not repeated here for other per-link traffic indications.

The signalling overhead is effectively saved compared to the multilink traffic indication element shown in fig. 2 a. The above is illustrated by the order from left to right (i.e. the order from left to right in the link bitmap subfield) that sequentially corresponds to the order from small to large, and of course, the correspondence between the bits in the link bitmap subfield and the link identifiers may also be: the link bit map subfields sequentially correspond to the order of the link identifiers from the right to the left from the small to the large, and are not listed here.

Further, the multi-link traffic indication element shown in fig. 4a may achieve the effect of further saving signaling overhead in the following scenario.

All non-AP MLDs corresponding to scenario 1, the multilink traffic indication element, are not used for one or more links. Scene 2, AP MLD does not establish a link corresponding to a certain link ID, or AP MLD does not establish links corresponding to multiple link IDs. Scene 3, AP MLD removes (or deletes) the link corresponding to a certain link ID, or AP MLD removes the links corresponding to multiple link IDs.

It should be noted that, when the value of only one bit in the link bitmap subfield is 1, there may be two methods for indicating the bitmap subfield per link service: in the first method, the bit length of the bit map subfield of each link service indication bit is 1 bit, and the value of the 1 bit is 1. In the second method, the per-link service indication list does not include the per-link service indication bit bitmap subfield, i.e., the per-link service indication bit bitmap subfield may not appear. For the second method, since only one bit in the link bit bitmap subfield has a value of 1, the non-AP MLD may consider that there is buffered data on the link corresponding to the bit having the value of 1 in the link bit bitmap. By the method II, the signaling overhead of the per-link service indication list field can be further reduced by optimizing the multi-link service indication element. It is understood that the second method may also be applied to the multilink traffic indication element shown in fig. 2 a. For example, when the value of the bit map size subfield is 0, the signaling overhead can be saved by the optimization method provided by the second method.

For the first implementation manner, the bit in the bit map subfield of each link service indication bit only needs to indicate whether the buffer data exists on the link corresponding to the bit with the value of 1 in the bit map subfield of the link, so that signaling overhead is effectively saved.

The second implementation mode,

The first subfield includes a link offset (link offset) subfield for indicating a link corresponding to a first bit in the bitmap subfield per link traffic indication bit (which may also be understood as a link identifier corresponding to the first bit). Illustratively, the correspondence between each bit in the per-link traffic indication bit map subfield and the link may be determined based on the link offset subfield and the bit map size subfield (it may also be understood that the bit map size subfield and the link offset subfield are used to determine the correspondence between each bit in the per-link traffic indication bit map subfield and the link). For example, the link corresponding to the first bit in the bitmap subfield of the traffic indication bit per link may be determined by the link offset subfield, and the bit length of the bitmap subfield of the traffic indication bit per link may be determined by the bitmap size subfield. For example, the value of the link offset subfield is equal to the link corresponding to the first bit in the bitmap subfield of each link traffic indication bit.

Fig. 4b is a schematic structural diagram of a multilink service indication element according to an embodiment of the present application. Fig. 4b differs from fig. 2a in that: the multilink traffic indication control field in fig. 4b has been augmented with a link offset quantum field. The link offset sub-field is used for indicating the link ID of the link corresponding to the first bit in the bit map sub-field of each link service indication bit. For example, as shown in fig. 4b, the value of the link offset quantum field is 0110 (for example, the corresponding link id=6), the value of the bitmap size subfield is 0011 (for example, the corresponding link number is 4), the bit length of the bitmap subfield is 4, and the link identifier corresponding to the first bit in the bitmap subfield is 6, that is, the bitmap subfield includes link indication information of link id=6 (referring to whether there is cache data on the link of link id=6), link indication information of link id=7, link indication information of link id=8, and link indication information of link id=9. If the first bit bitmap subfield of per link traffic indication carries the following values: 1101, the IDs of links indicating that aid=k of non-AP MLD has buffered data are in order: 6. 7, 9. It will be appreciated that the description of the bitmap subfields is not repeated here for other per-link traffic indications.

The value of the link offset subfield is typically the minimum value of the link identification in the link set to 1 in the per-link traffic indication bit map subfield of the non-AP MLD contained in the multi-link traffic indication element. Of course, the value of the link offset subfield is typically the minimum value-1 of the link identification in the link set to 1 in the per-link traffic indication bit map subfield of the non-AP MLD contained in the multi-link traffic indication element. That is, the value of the link offset quantum field may be floating (e.g., 1 value, 2 values, etc.) around the minimum value described above, which is not limited by embodiments of the present application. In practice, the value of the link offset subfield is also allowed to be smaller than the minimum value of the link identification in the link set to 1 in the per-link traffic indication bit map subfield of the non-AP MLD contained in the multi-link traffic indication element, for example.

It will be appreciated that the length occupied by each field or sub-field shown in fig. 4b is merely an example, and the bit length of the link offset sub-field may be adjusted according to the specific situation, which is not limited by the embodiment of the present application.

In the second implementation manner, after the link offset subfield is introduced, if all non-AP MLDs included in the multi-link traffic indication element do not use one or more links with smaller link identifiers, the one or more links do not need to appear in the bitmap subfield of each link traffic indication bit, thereby effectively saving signaling overhead.

It should be noted that, when the bit map size subfield in the multilink traffic indication control field in the multilink traffic indication element is set to 0, there may be two methods for indicating the bit map subfield per link traffic: in the first method, the bit length of the bit map subfield of each link service indication bit is 1 bit, and the value of the 1 bit is 1. In the second method, the per-link service indication list does not include the per-link service indication bit bitmap subfield, i.e., the per-link service indication bit bitmap subfield may not appear. For method two, since the bit map size subfield takes a value of 0, the non-AP MLD may consider that there is buffered data on the link indicated by the link offset subfield. By the method II, the signaling overhead of the per-link service indication list field can be further reduced by optimizing the multi-link service indication element.

For implementation two, the bits in the bitmap subfield of each link traffic indication bit only need to indicate whether there is buffered data on the corresponding link from the link indicated by the link offset subfield, and when all non-AP MLDs included in the multi-link traffic indication element do not use one or more links with smaller link identifiers, signaling overhead can be effectively saved.

The third implementation mode,

Each bit in the per-link traffic indication bit map subfield is used to indicate whether there is buffered data on the corresponding link, including: each bit in the per-link traffic indication bit map subfield sequentially corresponds to an associated link of the non-AP MLD corresponding to the per-link traffic indication bit map subfield, and each bit is used to indicate whether there is buffered data on the corresponding associated link.

Reference may be made to fig. 2a for a multilink traffic indication element referred to in implementation three. As for implementation three, the first subfield may include a bit bitmap size subfield, and the bit length of the per-link traffic indication bit bitmap subfield may be equal to the number of links indicated by the bit bitmap size subfield. However, the links corresponding to the bits in the bit map subfield per link traffic indication bit may not be arranged in the order from the link identification equal to 0 to the link identification equal to m, but may be arranged according to the link identification associated with the non-AP MLD. In other words, each bit in the per-link traffic indication bit map subfield may not correspond in sequence to a link of link id=0 to a link of link id=m, but to one associated link of non-AP MLD (non-AP MLD corresponding to the per-link traffic indication bit map subfield).

For example, the AP MLD establishes 8 links, link IDs of 0 to 7, respectively. Each associated non-AP MLD has only 2 links, and the associated links selected according to the load situation are evenly distributed among the 8 links (e.g., each associated non-AP MLD has 2 links). When the multi-link traffic indication element shown in fig. 2a is adopted, since both links of link id=0 and link id=7 have non-AP MLD in use, the bit length of the bitmap subfield per link traffic indication bit may be 8 bits, and the bits in the bitmap per link traffic indication bit sequentially correspond to links of link id=0 to link id=7.

However, with the multi-link traffic indication element shown in implementation three, the correspondence between each link traffic indication bit bitmap subfield and the non-AP MLD remains unchanged (i.e., the determination manner of the non-AP MLD corresponding to each link traffic indication bit bitmap subfield may be determined based on the method shown in fig. 2 a), and each bit in each link traffic indication bit bitmap subfield corresponding to a certain non-AP MLD sequentially corresponds to one associated link (e.g., in order of link ID from small to large) of the corresponding non-AP MLD. Thus, the bit length of the bitmap subfield of the per-link traffic indication bit may be 2 bits, and the number of links indicated by the bitmap size subfield may be 2 (e.g., 0001). The first and second bits in the bit map subfield of each link traffic indication bit map of each non-AP MLD correspond to the smaller and larger link ID links, respectively, of the link associated with that non-AP MLD.

It will be appreciated that if one non-AP MLD has only x associated links, x being a positive integer, and the bit length of the corresponding bit-per-link traffic-indication-bit-map subfield is greater than x bits (if the number of associated links of another non-AP MLD is greater than x, the bit length of the bit-per-link traffic-indication-bit-map-word field is greater than x bits), then the non-AP MLD may use the first x bits as a wake-up indication for its associated links, with the remaining bits as reservations.

It should be noted that, the association link shown in the embodiment of the present application may be replaced by an enabled (enabled) link. The description about enabled links may be as follows: if at least one TID is mapped on a certain associated link, the associated link is an enabled link, otherwise the link is a disabled link. It is to be appreciated that the enabled link may also be referred to as an enabled link, an activated link, etc., and the name of embodiments of the present application is not limited.

The third implementation is applicable to a scenario where the number of links established by the AP MLDs is large, but there are fewer links associated with each non-AP MLD, and/or a scenario where the associated links selected by different non-AP MLDs are different. In the above scenario, by the method shown in the third implementation manner, the bit overhead of the bitmap subfield of each link service indication bit can be effectively saved. It is to be understood that the method shown in the third embodiment may also be combined with the first embodiment or the second embodiment, and will not be described in detail here.

302. The first communication device transmits a beacon frame, and the second communication device receives the beacon frame.

303. The second communication device receives the downstream data over the buffered data link based on the beacon frame.

Illustratively, step 303 may be as follows: the second communication device determines a link corresponding to each bit in the bitmap subfield of each link traffic indication bit according to the first subfield (also can be understood as a link identifier corresponding to each bit); and determining whether cached data exists on the link corresponding to the bit according to the value of each bit in the bit map subfield of each link service indication bit.

It can be understood that the embodiment of the present application is not limited to determining the link corresponding to each bit in the bitmap subfield of each link service indication bit, and determining whether there is a sequence of buffering data on the link corresponding to the bit.

Illustratively, step 303 may be as follows: the second communication device determines the AID corresponding to each of one or more bit map sub-fields of each link service indication bit map included in each link service indication list field according to the AID offset sub-field and the partial virtual bit map field; determining a link corresponding to each bit in each link service indication bit map subfield according to the first subfield; if the determined AID is the same as the AID of the second communication device, the second communication device determines whether the buffer data of the second communication device exists on the link corresponding to the bit according to the bit in the bit map subfield of the per-link service indication bit corresponding to the AID of the second communication device; the second communication device receives the downstream data over a link having buffered data.

It will be appreciated that embodiments of the application are not limited in terms of the order in which the particular steps shown in step 303 occur. For example, the non-AP MLD may first determine the bitmap subfield of the traffic indication bit per link corresponding to its AID, and then determine the link corresponding to the bit with a value of 1 in the bitmap subfield of the traffic indication bit per link corresponding to it, so as to receive downlink data on the link with buffered data. For another example, the non-AP MLD may determine an AID corresponding to each of the bitmap subfields for each of the traffic indication bits per link, and determine, according to the first subfield, a link identifier corresponding to each of the bits in the bitmap subfields for each of the traffic indication bits per link; then combining the AID of the self to determine the business per link corresponding to the AID of the self link indication information corresponding to each bit in the indication bit map subfield, thereby obtaining a link with buffered data.

The method provided by the embodiment of the application effectively improves the situation that the bits in the bitmap subfield of each link service indication bit sequentially correspond to link ID=0 to link ID=m, and effectively saves the signaling overhead of the bitmap subfield of each link service indication bit through the implementation mode one to the implementation mode three, thereby saving the signaling overhead of the bitmap field of each link service indication list and the signaling overhead of the beacon frame.

Fig. 5 is a flow chart of another method for multi-link communication according to an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 5, where the method includes:

501. the first communication device generating a beacon frame comprising a multi-link traffic indication element comprising a multi-link traffic indication control field and a per-link traffic indication list field, the multi-link traffic indication control field comprising a bit bitmap size subfield comprising one or more per-link traffic indication bit bitmap subfields for indicating a correspondence between each bit in the per-link traffic indication bit bitmap subfield for indicating whether there is buffered data on the corresponding link and the link indication information for the link with a link identification equal to m+1 being determined from the link indication information for the link indicated by the bit bitmap size subfield, the maximum value of the link identification indicated by the bit bitmap size subfield being equal to m (or alternatively, the link identification being equal to L _min Is determined according to the link indication information of the link indicated by the bit map size subfield, and the minimum value of the link identification indicated by the bit map size subfield is equal to L _min +1，L _min An integer greater than or equal to 0).

That is, in the multilink communication method, link id=m+1 or link id=l may be indicated implicitly _min Link indication information of the link of (c) thereby saving signaling overhead. In other words, the per-link traffic indication bit map subfield may not include link indication information corresponding to the link of link id=m+1, or may not include link id=l _min Link indication information corresponding to the link of the mobile terminal. In other words, the method shown in fig. 7 may implicitly indicate the link indication information of the link with the largest link ID and the link indication information of the link with the smallest link ID, where the link with the largest link ID and the link with the smallest link ID refer to id+1 with the largest ID and ID-1 with the smallest ID in the links indicated by the bit map size subfield. For example, the bit map size subfield has a value of 0110, i.e. the indicated link IDs are link ID 0 to link ID 6. By the method shown in fig. 5, even if the bit map does not indicate link id=7The link indication information of link id=7 may still be determined according to the link indication information of link id=0 to link id=6.

In general, each of the multiple link traffic indication bit bitmap subfields in the multiple link traffic indication element corresponds to one STA or non-AP MLD set to 1 in the partial virtual bit bitmap field in one TIM element. That is, at least one bit in the bitmap subfield is set to 1 per link traffic indication bit, thereby indicating that the non-AP MLD has buffered data on the corresponding link (i.e., wakes up on the corresponding link to receive downlink data). For convenience of description, the link with the largest link ID will be described as an example, and the same principle applies to the link with the smallest link ID. The method for implicitly indicating the link indication information with the maximum link ID provided by the embodiment of the application is described in detail below.

Firstly, the appointed non-AP MLD interprets the indication state of the link with the largest link ID in the bitmap subfield of each link service indication bit according to the following rule:

if the link with the largest link ID has explicit indication in the bitmap subfield of each link service indication bit, correspondingly reading the value of the explicit indication;

if the link with the largest link ID has no explicit indication in the bitmap subfield of each link traffic indication bit, and at least one link of other explicit indications has a value of 1, the link with the largest link ID has a value of 0;

if the link with the largest link ID has no explicit indication in the bitmap subfield of each link traffic indication bit, and the corresponding values in the links with other explicit indications are all 0, the corresponding value of the link with the largest link ID is 1.

When the rule is satisfied, the method for implicitly indicating the link indication information with the maximum link ID according to the embodiment of the present application may be used. The method provided by the embodiment of the present application is described in conjunction with the following two specific examples. In the following scenarios of tables 1 to 3, the blank cell representation takes a value of 0 for ease of reading. In the scenario shown in table 1, the non-AP MLD can accurately infer the value of the link with link id=3 in the bitmap subfield of each link service indication bit according to the rule described above from the indication information of links 0 to 2, so the method provided by the embodiment of the present application can be applied to the scenario. Namely, the maximum value of the link identifier indicated by the bit map size subfield is 2 (the numerical value carried by the bit map size subfield is 0010), and the bit length of the bit map subfield indicated by each link service is 3 bits, which are respectively used for indicating whether the three links link0 to link2 have cache data.

TABLE 1

	AID0	AID1	AID2	AID3	AID4	AID5	AID6	AID7
									Link ID＝0	1		1
Link ID＝1		1	1		1			1
									Link ID＝2		1		1
Link ID＝3				1		1

In the scenario shown in table 2, the non-AP MLD corresponding to AID2 cannot accurately infer the value of link id=3 in the bitmap subfield of each link traffic indication bit from the indication information of links 0 to 2 according to the above rule, so the embodiment of the present application is not applicable to this scenario. Since the AP MLD is also aware of the above preset rules, the method of the present embodiment will not be applicable. For example, the AP MLD may still set the length of the bitmap subfield of the traffic indication bit per link to 4 bits, which are used to indicate four links from link0 to link3, respectively.

TABLE 2

	AID0	AID1	AID2	AID3	AID4	AID5	AID6	AID7
									Link ID＝0	1	1
Link ID＝1		1	1		1			1
									Link ID＝2			1
Link ID＝3			1	1		1

TABLE 3 Table 3

	AID0	AID1	AID2	AID3	AID4	AID5	AID6	AID7
									Link ID＝0
Link ID＝1	1	1	1		1		1	1
									Link ID＝2	1	1
Link ID＝3				1		1

It should be noted that the method provided by the embodiment of the present application may also be used in combination with the implementation one to the implementation three shown in fig. 3. In the scenario shown in table 3, all non-AP MLDs do not use links with link id=0, and at this time, the indication of links with link id=0 does not occur in the bitmap subfield of each link traffic indication bit through the method of the first implementation manner or the second implementation manner, and at the same time, the indication of links with link id=3 does not occur in the bitmap subfield of each link traffic indication bit through the method provided by the embodiment of the present application. Thereby further saving signaling overhead.

For example, when the method shown in fig. 5 is combined with the implementation shown in fig. 3, the values carried by the link bitmap subfields may be: 01100000 0000 0000 (or 0110 0000) the bit length of the bitmap subfield is 2 bits per link traffic indication bit. Since link ID 1 (may also be expressed as link id=1) to link ID3 satisfy the above-described method of implicitly indicating link ID-maximum link indication information, link indication information of link id=3 may not be included in the bitmap subfield per link traffic indication bit.

For example, when the method shown in fig. 5 is combined with the implementation two shown in fig. 3, the link id=1 indicated by the link offset subfield, and the value carried by the bitmap size subfield is 0001, that is, the link id=1 corresponding to the first bit in the bitmap size subfield is indicated per link service. Since link ID 1 (may also be expressed as link id=1) to link ID3 satisfy the above-described method of implicitly indicating link ID-maximum link indication information, link indication information of link id=3 may not be included in the bitmap subfield per link traffic indication bit. I.e. the per link traffic indication bit map subfield comprises link indication information with link id=1 and link indication information with link id=2.

It can be appreciated that when link id=l is implicitly indicated _min The link indication information of the link of (c) may refer to the mapping relationship shown in table 4. Illustratively, in connection with the implementation one shown in fig. 3, the link bitmap subfields carry values of: 0011 0000 0000 0000 (or 0011 0000, etc.), i.e. the per-link traffic indication bit bitmap subfield includes link indication information of link id=2 and link indication information of link id=3, the link indication information of link id=1 being indicated implicitly. It will be appreciated that link id=l as shown herein _min Refers to the minimum link identification-1 indicated based on the link bit map subfield. Illustratively, in combination with the implementation II shown in FIG. 3, AIDs are offset by the quantum fieldsThe indicated link id=2, that is, the link indication information of link id=2 and the link indication information of link id=3, are indicated by the link indication information of link id=1 in an implicit manner. It will be appreciated that link id=l as shown herein _min Refers to the link identification-1 indicated by the AID offset subfield. Of course, link id=l is indicated implicitly _min The manner in which the link indication information of the links of (a) may also be combined with the three implementations shown in fig. 3, which will not be described in detail here.

TABLE 4 Table 4

	AID0	AID1	AID2	AID3	AID4	AID5	AID6	AID7
									Link ID＝0
Link ID＝1		1			1
									Link ID＝2	1	1	1	1
Link ID＝3			1	1		1

By introducing the parsing rule of the link with the largest (or smallest) link ID, the link with the largest (or smallest) link ID is implicitly indicated, so that the link indication information of the link with the largest (or smallest) link ID value is not required to be explicitly indicated, and the signaling overhead is effectively saved.

502. The first communication device transmits a beacon frame, and the second communication device receives the beacon frame.

503. The second communication device receives downlink data on the link with the buffered data based on the beacon frame.

It will be appreciated that the description of step 503 may refer to step 303 shown in fig. 3, and will not be described in detail here.

In the embodiment of the application, under the condition that the link with the largest (or smallest) link identifier meets a certain rule (as shown in table 1), the link indication information of the link with the largest link identifier is not required to be indicated in the per-link service indication bit bitmap, and the signaling overhead is effectively saved on the basis of ensuring that the non-AP MLD can effectively acquire the link indication information of the link with the largest link identifier.

It will be appreciated that in the various embodiments shown above, implementations in which one embodiment is not described in detail may also refer to other embodiments. Meanwhile, the above-described embodiments may be combined with each other, and will not be described in detail.

The following describes a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application.

According to the method embodiment of the application, the communication device is divided into the functional modules, for example, each functional module can be divided corresponding to each function, and two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module. The integrated modules may be implemented in hardware or in software functional modules. It should be noted that, the division of the modules in the present application is illustrative, and is merely a logic function division, and other division manners may be implemented in practice. The communication device according to the embodiment of the present application will be described in detail with reference to fig. 6 to 8.

Fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 6, the communication device includes a processing unit 601 and a transceiver unit 602.

In some embodiments of the application, the communication device may be an AP or AP MLD or chip as shown above, which may be applied to an AP or AP MLD, etc. I.e. the communication device may be adapted to perform the steps or functions etc. performed by the first communication device in the above method embodiments.

A processing unit 601, configured to generate a beacon frame; a transceiver 602 for outputting the beacon frame.

It should be understood that the specific descriptions of the transceiver unit and the processing unit shown in the embodiments of the present application are only examples, and reference may be made to the above method embodiments for specific functions or steps performed by the transceiver unit and the processing unit, which are not described in detail herein. Illustratively, the processing unit 601 may be configured to perform the step 301 shown in fig. 3, and the transceiver unit 602 may be configured to perform the transmitting step of the step 302 shown in fig. 3. Illustratively, the processing unit 601 may be further configured to perform the step 501 shown in fig. 5, and the transceiver unit 602 may be further configured to perform the transmitting step of the step 502 shown in fig. 5.

Multiplexing fig. 6, in other embodiments of the present application, the communication device may be the STA or non-APMLD MLD or chip shown above, which may be applied to the STA or non-AP MLD. I.e. the communication device may be adapted to perform the steps or functions etc. performed by the second communication device in the above method embodiments.

Such as a transceiver 602, for inputting beacon frames; the processing unit 601 is configured to input downlink data on a link with buffered data according to the beacon frame.

Illustratively, the processing unit 601 is further configured to determine a link with buffered data based on the beacon frame.

The processing unit 601 is specifically configured to determine, according to the first subfield, a link corresponding to each bit in the bitmap subfield of the traffic indication bit per link; and determining whether cached data exists on the link corresponding to the bit according to the value of each bit in the bit map subfield of each link service indication bit.

The processing unit 601 is specifically configured to determine, according to the AID offset quantum field and the partial virtual bitmap field, an AID corresponding to each of one or more per-link traffic indication bitmap subfields included in the per-link traffic indication list field; determining a link corresponding to each bit in each link service indication bit map subfield according to the first subfield; if the determined AID is the same as the AID of the communication device, determining whether the buffer data of the communication device exists on the link corresponding to the bit according to the bit in the bit map subfield of the per-link service indication bit corresponding to the AID of the communication device; downlink data is received over a link with buffered data.

It should be understood that the specific descriptions of the transceiver unit and the processing unit shown in the embodiments of the present application are only examples, and reference may be made to the above method embodiments for specific functions or steps performed by the transceiver unit and the processing unit, which are not described in detail herein. Illustratively, the transceiver unit 602 may be further configured to perform the receiving step of step 302 shown in fig. 3, and the processing unit 601 may be further configured to perform step 303 shown in fig. 3. Illustratively, the transceiver unit 602 may be further configured to perform the receiving step of step 502 shown in fig. 5, and the processing unit 601 may be further configured to perform step 503 shown in fig. 5.

In the above embodiments, the description of the multi-link traffic indication element, the TIM element, the multi-link traffic indication control field, the per-link traffic indication list field, the first subfield, the per-link traffic indication bit map subfield, the partial virtual bit map field, and the like, which are referred to in the beacon frame, may also refer to the description in the above method embodiments (e.g., fig. 2a to 2c, fig. 4a and 4b, etc.), which are not described in detail herein.

The first communication device and the second communication device according to the embodiments of the present application are described above, and possible product forms of the first communication device and the second communication device are described below. It should be understood that any product having the function of the first communication device described in fig. 6, or any product having the function of the second communication device described in fig. 6 falls within the scope of the embodiments of the present application. It should also be understood that the following description is only exemplary, and not limiting the product forms of the first communication device and the second communication device according to the embodiments of the present application.

In a possible implementation, in the communication apparatus shown in fig. 6, the processing unit 601 may be one or more processors, the transceiver unit 602 may be a transceiver, or the transceiver unit 602 may also be a transmitting unit and a receiving unit, the transmitting unit may be a transmitter, and the receiving unit may be a receiver, where the transmitting unit and the receiving unit are integrated into one device, such as a transceiver. In the embodiment of the present application, the processor and the transceiver may be coupled, etc., and the embodiment of the present application is not limited to the connection manner of the processor and the transceiver. In performing the above method, the process of transmitting information (e.g., transmitting a beacon frame) in the above method may be understood as a process of outputting the above information by a processor. When outputting the information, the processor outputs the information to the transceiver for transmission by the transceiver. This information, after being output by the processor, may also require additional processing before reaching the transceiver. Similarly, the process of receiving information (e.g., receiving a beacon frame) in the above method may be understood as a process in which a processor receives the input of the above information. When the processor receives the input information, the transceiver receives the information and inputs it to the processor. Further, after the transceiver receives the information, the information may need to be further processed before being input to the processor.

As shown in fig. 7, the communication device 70 includes one or more processors 720 and a transceiver 710.

Illustratively, the processor 720, when the communication device is configured to perform the steps or methods or functions performed by the first communication device described above, is configured to generate a beacon frame; a transceiver 710 for transmitting the beacon frame to the second communication device.

Illustratively, when the communication device is configured to perform the steps or methods or functions performed by the second communication device described above, the transceiver 710 is configured to receive a beacon frame from the first communication device; a processor 720 for receiving downlink data on the link with the buffered data according to the beacon frame.

In various implementations of the communication device shown in fig. 7, the transceiver may include a receiver to perform the functions (or operations) of receiving and a transmitter to perform the functions (or operations) of transmitting. And transceivers are used to communicate with other devices/means via transmission media.

Optionally, the communication device 70 may also include one or more memories 730 for storing program instructions and/or data, etc. Memory 730 is coupled to processor 720. The coupling in the embodiments of the present application is an indirect coupling or communication connection between devices, units, or modules, which may be in electrical, mechanical, or other forms for information interaction between the devices, units, or modules. Processor 720 may operate in conjunction with memory 730. Processor 720 may execute program instructions stored in memory 730. In the alternative, at least one of the one or more memories may be included in the processor.

The specific connection medium between the transceiver 710, the processor 720, and the memory 730 is not limited in the embodiment of the present application. In the embodiment of the present application, the memory 730, the processor 720 and the transceiver 710 are connected through the bus 740 in fig. 7, and the bus is shown by a thick line in fig. 7, and the connection manner between other components is only schematically illustrated, but not limited thereto. The buses may be classified as address buses, data buses, control buses, etc. For ease of illustration, only one thick line is shown in fig. 7, but not only one bus or one type of bus.

In the embodiment of the present application, the processor may be a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, a discrete hardware component, or the like, and may implement or execute the methods, steps, and logic blocks disclosed in the embodiment of the present application. The general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor or the like. The steps of the method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be embodied directly in a hardware processor for execution, or in a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor for execution, etc.

In an embodiment of the present application, the Memory may include, but is not limited to, nonvolatile Memory such as Hard Disk Drive (HDD) or Solid State Drive (SSD), random access Memory (Random Access Memory, RAM), erasable programmable Read-Only Memory (Erasable Programmable ROM, EPROM), read-Only Memory (ROM), portable Read-Only Memory (Compact Disc Read-Only Memory, CD-ROM), etc. The memory is any storage medium that can be used to carry or store program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be read and/or written by a computer (e.g., a communication device, etc., as illustrated by the present application), but is not limited thereto. The memory in embodiments of the present application may also be circuitry or any other device capable of performing memory functions for storing program instructions and/or data.

The processor 720 is mainly used for processing communication protocols and communication data, controlling the whole communication device, executing software programs and processing data of the software programs. Memory 730 is primarily used to store software programs and data. The transceiver 710 may include control circuitry for primarily converting baseband signals to radio frequency signals and processing the radio frequency signals, and an antenna. The antenna is mainly used for receiving and transmitting radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. Input and output devices, such as touch screens, display screens, keyboards, etc., are mainly used for receiving data input by a user and outputting data to the user.

When the communication device is powered on, the processor 720 may read the software program in the memory 730, interpret and execute instructions of the software program, and process data of the software program. When data is required to be transmitted wirelessly, the processor 720 performs baseband processing on the data to be transmitted, and then outputs a baseband signal to the radio frequency circuit, and the radio frequency circuit performs radio frequency processing on the baseband signal and then transmits the radio frequency signal outwards in the form of electromagnetic waves through the antenna. When data is transmitted to the communication device, the radio frequency circuit receives a radio frequency signal through the antenna, converts the radio frequency signal into a baseband signal, and outputs the baseband signal to the processor 720, and the processor 720 converts the baseband signal into data and processes the data.

In another implementation, the radio frequency circuitry and antenna may be provided separately from the processor performing the baseband processing, e.g., in a distributed scenario, the radio frequency circuitry and antenna may be in a remote arrangement from the communication device.

It will be appreciated that the communication device shown in the embodiment of the present application may also have more components than those shown in fig. 7, and the embodiment of the present application is not limited thereto. The methods performed by the processors and transceivers shown above are merely examples, and reference is made to the methods described above for specific steps performed by the processors and transceivers.

In another possible implementation, in the communications apparatus shown in fig. 6, the processing unit 601 may be one or more logic circuits, and the transceiver unit 602 may be an input-output interface, which is also referred to as a communications interface, or an interface circuit, or an interface, or the like. Alternatively, the transceiver unit 602 may be a transmitting unit and a receiving unit, where the transmitting unit may be an output interface and the receiving unit may be an input interface, and the transmitting unit and the receiving unit are integrated into one unit, for example, the input/output interface. As shown in fig. 8, the communication apparatus shown in fig. 8 includes a logic circuit 801 and an interface 802. That is, the processing unit 601 may be implemented by the logic circuit 801, and the transceiver unit 602 may be implemented by the interface 802. The logic circuit 801 may be a chip, a processing circuit, an integrated circuit, or a system on chip (SoC) chip, and the interface 802 may be a communication interface, an input/output interface, a pin, or the like. Fig. 8 exemplifies the communication device described above as a chip including a logic circuit 801 and an interface 802.

In the embodiment of the application, the logic circuit and the interface can be coupled with each other. The embodiment of the present application is not limited to the specific connection manner of the logic circuit and the interface.

Illustratively, when the communication device is configured to perform a method or function or step performed by the first communication device described above, the logic 801 is configured to generate a beacon frame; an interface 802 for outputting the beacon frame.

Illustratively, when the communication device is configured to perform a method or function or step performed by the second communication device described above, the interface 802 is configured to input a beacon frame; logic 801 for receiving downstream data on a link with buffered data according to a beacon frame. It will be appreciated that logic 801 is also operative to determine a link with buffered data from the beacon frame.

It may be understood that the communication device shown in the embodiment of the present application may implement the method provided in the embodiment of the present application in a hardware manner, or may implement the method provided in the embodiment of the present application in a software manner, which is not limited to this embodiment of the present application.

Reference may also be made to the above embodiments for a specific implementation of the embodiments shown in fig. 8, which are not described in detail herein.

The embodiment of the application also provides a wireless communication system, which comprises a first communication device and a second communication device, wherein the first communication device and the second communication device can be used for executing the method in any of the previous embodiments (such as fig. 3 and 5).

Furthermore, the present application provides a computer program for implementing the operations and/or processes performed by the first communication device in the method provided by the present application.

The present application also provides a computer program for implementing the operations and/or processes performed by the second communication device in the method provided by the present application.

The present application also provides a computer readable storage medium having computer code stored therein which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the operations and/or processes performed by the first communication device in the method provided by the present application.

The present application also provides a computer readable storage medium having computer code stored therein which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the operations and/or processes performed by the second communication device in the method provided by the present application.

The present application also provides a computer program product comprising computer code or a computer program which, when run on a computer, causes the operations and/or processes performed by the first communication device in the method provided by the present application to be performed.

The present application also provides a computer program product comprising computer code or a computer program which, when run on a computer, causes the operations and/or processes performed by the second communication device in the method provided by the present application to be performed.

In the several embodiments provided by the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices, and methods may be implemented in other manners. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative, e.g., the division of the units is merely a logical function division, and there may be additional divisions when actually implemented, e.g., multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted or not performed. In addition, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed with each other may be an indirect coupling or communication connection via some interfaces, devices, or elements, or may be an electrical, mechanical, or other form of connection.

The units described as separate units may or may not be physically separate, and units shown as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the technical effects of the scheme provided by the embodiment of the application.

In addition, each functional unit in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units may be integrated in one unit. The integrated units may be implemented in hardware or in software functional units.

The integrated units, if implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as stand-alone products, may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present application is essentially or a part contributing to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution may be embodied in the form of a software product stored in a readable storage medium, comprising several instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the method according to the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned readable storage medium includes: a U-disk, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (random access memory, RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk, or other various media capable of storing program codes.

The foregoing is merely illustrative of the present application, and the present application is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art will readily recognize that variations or substitutions are within the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method of multilink communication, the method comprising:

generating a beacon frame, wherein the beacon frame comprises a multi-link service indication element, the multi-link service indication element comprises a multi-link service indication control field and a per-link service indication list field, the multi-link service indication control field comprises a first subfield, the per-link service indication list field comprises one or more per-link service indication bit bitmap subfields, the first subfield is used for indicating the corresponding relation between each bit in the per-link service indication bit bitmap subfields and a link, each bit in the per-link service indication bit bitmap subfields is used for indicating whether cache data exists on the corresponding link, and the bit length of the per-link service indication bit bitmap subfields is equal to the sum of the number of bits with a value of 1 in the first subfields;

And transmitting the beacon frame.

2. A method of multilink communication, the method comprising:

receiving a beacon frame, wherein the beacon frame comprises a multi-link service indication element, the multi-link service indication element comprises a multi-link service indication control field and a per-link service indication list field, the multi-link service indication control field comprises a first subfield, the per-link service indication list field comprises one or more per-link service indication bit bitmap subfields, the first subfield is used for indicating the corresponding relation between each bit in the per-link service indication bit bitmap subfields and a link, each bit in the per-link service indication bit bitmap subfields is used for indicating whether cache data exists on the corresponding link, and the bit length of the per-link service indication bit bitmap subfields is equal to the sum of the number of bits with a value of 1 in the first subfields;

and receiving downlink data on a link with the buffer data according to the beacon frame.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first subfield includes a link bitmap subfield, an i-th bit in the link bitmap subfield is used to indicate whether the per-link traffic indication bitmap subfield includes link indication information with a link identifier equal to i-1, the link indication information is used to indicate whether there is buffered data on a corresponding link, and the i is a positive integer.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the per-link traffic indication bit bitmap subfield includes link indication information having a link identification equal to i-1 when a value of an i-th bit in the link bit bitmap subfield is 1.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein the first subfield includes a link bitmap subfield, and the link corresponding to each bit in the per-link traffic indication bitmap subfield is sequentially the same as the link corresponding to the bit with a value of 1 in the link bitmap subfield.

6. The method of any of claims 1-5, wherein the beacon frame further comprises a traffic indication map, TIM, element, the TIM element comprising a partial virtual bit map field, the multilink traffic indication control field further comprising an association identification, AID, offset, sub-field; the AID offset sub-field and the partial virtual bit map field are used for indicating the AID corresponding to each of the one or more bit map sub-fields of the service indication bit map of each link included in the service indication list field of each link.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the receiving downlink data over the link with the buffered data according to the beacon frame comprises:

determining a link corresponding to each bit in the bit map subfield of each link service instruction according to the first subfield;

and determining whether the link corresponding to the bit has cache data according to the value of each bit in the bit map subfield of the per-link service indication bit.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the receiving downlink data over the link with the buffered data according to the beacon frame comprises:

the multi-link device receiving the beacon frame determines the AID respectively corresponding to each of one or more sub-fields of the bit map of the service indication bit per link in the sub-fields of the bit map of the service indication per link in the list of service indication per link according to the AID offset sub-field and the partial virtual bit map field;

if the determined AID is the same as the AID of the multi-link device, the multi-link device determines whether the link corresponding to the bit has cache data of the multi-link device according to the bit in the bit map subfield of each link service indication bit corresponding to the AID of the multi-link device;

The multi-link device receives downlink data over a link with buffered data.

9. A method of multilink communication, the method comprising:

generating a beacon frame, wherein the beacon frame comprises a multi-link service indication element, the multi-link service indication element comprises a multi-link service indication control field and a per-link service indication list field, the multi-link service indication control field comprises a first subfield, the per-link service indication list field comprises one or more per-link service indication bit bitmap subfields, the first subfield is used for indicating the corresponding relation between each bit in the per-link service indication bit bitmap subfields and a link, each bit in the per-link service indication bit bitmap subfields is used for indicating whether cache data exists on the corresponding link, and the first subfield is used for indicating a link identifier corresponding to the first bit in the per-link service indication bit bitmap subfields;

and transmitting the beacon frame.

10. A method of multilink communication, the method comprising:

receiving a beacon frame, wherein the beacon frame comprises a multi-link service indication element, the multi-link service indication element comprises a multi-link service indication control field and a per-link service indication list field, the multi-link service indication control field comprises a first subfield, the per-link service indication list field comprises one or more per-link service indication bit bitmap subfields, the first subfield is used for indicating the corresponding relation between each bit in the per-link service indication bit bitmap subfields and a link, each bit in the per-link service indication bit bitmap subfields is used for indicating whether cache data exists on the corresponding link, and the first subfield is used for indicating a link identifier corresponding to the first bit in the per-link service indication bit bitmap subfields;

11. The method according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the first subfield comprises a link offset subfield having a value equal to a link identification corresponding to a first bit in the bitmap subfield for per-link traffic indication.

12. The method according to any of claims 9-11, wherein the multi-link traffic indication control field further comprises a bit map size subfield for indicating a bit length of the per-link traffic indication bit map subfield.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the bit map size subfield and the first subfield are used to indicate a correspondence between each bit in the per-link traffic indication bit map subfield and a link.

14. The method of any of claims 9-13, wherein the beacon frame further comprises a traffic indication map, TIM, element, the TIM element comprising a partial virtual bit map field, the multilink traffic indication control field further comprising an association identification, AID, offset, sub-field; the AID offset sub-field and the partial virtual bit map field are used for indicating the AID corresponding to each of the one or more bit map sub-fields of the service indication bit map of each link included in the service indication list field of each link.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the receiving downlink data over the link with the buffered data according to the beacon frame comprises:

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the receiving downlink data over the link with the buffered data according to the beacon frame comprises:

The multi-link device receives downlink data over a link with buffered data.

17. A communication device, the device comprising:

a processing unit, configured to generate a beacon frame, where the beacon frame includes a multi-link traffic indication element, where the multi-link traffic indication element includes a multi-link traffic indication control field and a per-link traffic indication list field, where the multi-link traffic indication control field includes a first subfield, where the per-link traffic indication list field includes one or more per-link traffic indication bit bitmap subfields, where the first subfield is configured to indicate a correspondence between each bit in the per-link traffic indication bit bitmap subfields and a link, where each bit in the per-link traffic indication bit bitmap subfields is configured to indicate whether there is buffered data on the corresponding link, and where a bit length of the per-link traffic indication bit bitmap subfields is equal to a sum of numbers of bits that are valued as 1 in the first subfield;

and the receiving and transmitting unit is used for transmitting the beacon frame.

18. A communication device, the device comprising:

a transceiver unit, configured to receive a beacon frame, where the beacon frame includes a multi-link traffic indication element, where the multi-link traffic indication element includes a multi-link traffic indication control field and a per-link traffic indication list field, where the multi-link traffic indication control field includes a first subfield, where the per-link traffic indication list field includes one or more per-link traffic indication bit bitmap subfields, where the first subfield is configured to indicate a correspondence between each bit in the per-link traffic indication bit bitmap subfields and a link, where each bit in the per-link traffic indication bit bitmap subfields is configured to indicate whether there is buffered data on the corresponding link, and where a bit length of the per-link traffic indication bit bitmap subfields is equal to a sum of numbers of bits that are valued as 1 in the first subfield;

And the processing unit is used for receiving downlink data on the link with the buffer data according to the beacon frame.

19. The apparatus according to claim 17 or 18, wherein the first subfield comprises a link bit map subfield, an i-th bit in the link bit map subfield is used to indicate whether the per-link traffic indication bit map subfield includes link indication information with a link identification equal to i-1, the link indication information is used to indicate whether there is buffered data on a corresponding link, and the i is a positive integer.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the per-link traffic indication bit bitmap subfield includes link indication information having a link identification equal to i-1 when a value of an i-th bit in the link bit bitmap subfield is 1.

21. The apparatus according to any one of claims 17-20, wherein the first subfield includes a link bitmap subfield, and the link corresponding to each bit in the per-link traffic indication bitmap subfield is sequentially the same as the link corresponding to the bit with a value of 1 in the link bitmap subfield.

22. The apparatus of any of claims 17-21, wherein the beacon frame further comprises a traffic indication map, TIM, element, the TIM element comprising a partial virtual bit map field, the multilink traffic indication control field further comprising an association identification, AID, offset, quantum field; the AID offset sub-field and the partial virtual bit map field are used for indicating the AID corresponding to each of the one or more bit map sub-fields of the service indication bit map of each link included in the service indication list field of each link.

23. The apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the processing unit is specifically configured to determine, according to the first subfield, a link corresponding to each bit in the bitmap subfield of traffic per link; and determining whether the link corresponding to the bit has cache data according to the value of each bit in the bit map subfield of the per-link service indication bit.

24. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the processing unit is specifically configured to determine, according to the AID offset subfield and the partial virtual bitmap field, an AID corresponding to each of one or more bitmap subfields for per-link traffic indication included in the list of per-link traffic indications field; determining a link corresponding to each bit in the bit map subfield of each link service instruction according to the first subfield; if the determined AID is the same as the AID of the communication device, determining whether cache data of the communication device exists on a link corresponding to the bit according to the bit in the bit map subfield of the per-link service indication bit corresponding to the AID of the communication device; downlink data is received over a link with buffered data.

25. A communication device, the device comprising:

a processing unit, configured to generate a beacon frame, where the beacon frame includes a multi-link traffic indication element, where the multi-link traffic indication element includes a multi-link traffic indication control field and a per-link traffic indication list field, where the multi-link traffic indication control field includes a first subfield, where the per-link traffic indication list field includes one or more per-link traffic indication bit bitmap subfields, where the first subfield is configured to indicate a correspondence between each bit in the per-link traffic indication bit bitmap subfields and a link, where each bit in the per-link traffic indication bit bitmap subfields is configured to indicate whether there is buffered data on the corresponding link, and where the first subfield is configured to indicate a link identifier corresponding to a first bit in the per-link traffic indication bit bitmap subfields;

26. A communication device, the device comprising:

a transceiver unit, configured to receive a beacon frame, where the beacon frame includes a multi-link traffic indication element, where the multi-link traffic indication element includes a multi-link traffic indication control field and a per-link traffic indication list field, where the multi-link traffic indication control field includes a first subfield, where the per-link traffic indication list field includes one or more per-link traffic indication bit bitmap subfields, where the first subfield is configured to indicate a correspondence between each bit in the per-link traffic indication bit bitmap subfields and a link, where each bit in the per-link traffic indication bit bitmap subfields is configured to indicate whether there is buffered data on the corresponding link, and where the first subfield is configured to indicate a link identifier corresponding to a first bit in the per-link traffic indication bit bitmap subfields;

27. The apparatus according to claim 25 or 26, wherein the first subfield comprises a link offset subfield having a value equal to a link corresponding to a first bit in the bitmap subfield per link traffic indication bit.

28. The apparatus according to any of claims 25-27, wherein the multi-link traffic indication control field further comprises a bit map size subfield for indicating a bit length of the per-link traffic indication bit map subfield.

29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the bitmap size subfield and the first subfield are configured to determine a correspondence between each bit in the bitmap subfield and a link for per-link traffic indication.

30. The apparatus of any of claims 25-29, wherein the beacon frame further comprises a traffic indication map, TIM, element, the TIM element comprising a partial virtual bit map field, the multilink traffic indication control field further comprising an association identification, AID, offset, quantum field; the AID offset sub-field and the partial virtual bit map field are used for indicating the AID corresponding to each of the one or more bit map sub-fields of the service indication bit map of each link included in the service indication list field of each link.

31. The apparatus according to claim 26, wherein the processing unit is specifically configured to determine, according to the first subfield, a link corresponding to each bit in the bitmap subfield of traffic per link; and determining whether the link corresponding to the bit has cache data according to the value of each bit in the bit map subfield of the per-link service indication bit.

32. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the processing unit is specifically configured to determine, according to the AID offset quantum field and the partial virtual bitmap field, an AID corresponding to each of one or more bitmap subfields for per-link traffic indication included in the list of per-link traffic indications field; determining a link corresponding to each bit in the bit map subfield of each link service instruction according to the first subfield; if the determined AID is the same as the AID of the communication device, determining whether cache data of the communication device exists on a link corresponding to the bit according to the bit in the bit map subfield of the per-link service indication bit corresponding to the AID of the communication device; downlink data is received over a link with buffered data.

33. A communication device comprising a processor and a memory;

the memory is used for storing instructions;

the processor is configured to execute the instructions to cause the method of any one of claims 1 to 16 to be performed.

34. A communication device comprising logic circuitry and an interface, the logic circuitry and interface coupled;

the interface being for inputting and/or outputting code instructions, the logic circuitry being for executing the code instructions to cause the method of any of claims 1 to 16 to be performed.

35. A computer readable storage medium, characterized in that the computer readable storage medium is for storing a computer program which, when executed, is adapted to carry out the method of any one of claims 1 to 16.