CN118509865A

CN118509865A - Method for sensing measurement and communication device

Info

Publication number: CN118509865A
Application number: CN202310144882.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 娜仁格日勒; 狐梦实; 杜瑞; 韩霄; 李云波
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2023-02-16
Filing date: 2023-02-16
Publication date: 2024-08-16
Also published as: WO2024169904A1

Abstract

The application discloses a sensing measurement method and a communication device, which can be applied to WLAN systems supporting the 802.11ax next generation Wi-Fi protocol, such as 802.11be, wi-Fi 7 or EHT, and 802.11 series protocols such as 802.11be next generation, wi-Fi 8 and the like, and can also be applied to wireless personal area network systems based on UWB and sensing systems, for example: 802.11bf protocol and 802.11bf next generation protocol. The method comprises the following steps: the AP receives a perception request based on an agent from the U-STA, wherein first indication information is used for indicating the AP to reserve a perception measurement result in an available window, the AP executes a perception measurement flow to obtain a first perception measurement result, and if the U-STA is in an unreachable state, the AP reserves the first perception measurement result. In this way, the situation that the U-STA cannot receive the sensing measurement result to cause the result loss can be avoided.

Description

Method for sensing measurement and communication device

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a sensing measurement method and a communication device.

Background

Wireless local area network (wireless local area network, WLAN) awareness is an awareness technology based on radar technology. The radar system consists of a transmitting antenna and a receiving antenna, wherein the transmitting antenna can transmit electromagnetic waves, the electromagnetic waves can be reflected when encountering a target, and the reflected waves can be received by the receiving antenna. The radar system analyzes characteristic information of the target, such as position, shape, motion characteristics, motion trajectories, and the like, through signal processing according to changes of the transmitted wave and the received wave.

In a WLAN, a WLAN device estimates Channel State Information (CSI) according to a received signal, and performs parameter estimation according to the CSI, so as to interpret a motion state and a trajectory of a target. WLAN awareness technologies include proxy based awareness (SBP) technologies, which refer to the process of an unassociated station (unassociated non-AP STA, U-STA) that is unassociated with an Access Point (AP) by requesting the AP to act as a proxy to initiate awareness measurements.

The U-STA acting as the source of SBP in current SBP technology often fails to receive the measurement result (e.g. CSI) sent by the AP for some reasons, reducing the performance of the perceived measurement.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a perception measurement method which is used for improving the performance of perception measurement. The application also provides a corresponding communication device, a communication system, a computer readable storage medium, a computer program product and the like.

A first aspect of the application provides a method of perceptual measurement, comprising: the method comprises the steps that an access point receives a perception request based on an agent from a non-associated site, the perception request based on the agent comprises first indication information, the first indication information is used for indicating the access point to reserve a perception measurement result in an available window, the non-associated site and the access point do not establish an association relationship, and the available window is a time range for the access point to execute a perception measurement flow; the access point executes a perception measurement flow at a first moment to obtain a first perception measurement result according to the perception request based on the agent, wherein the first moment is positioned in an available window; if the non-associated site is detected to be in an unreachable state, the access point reserves a first perception measurement result according to the first indication information, and the non-associated site cannot receive the first perception measurement result when the non-associated site is in the unreachable state.

The sensing measurement in the application can be applied to a wireless local area network (wireless local area network, WLAN). An Access Point (AP) may be a communication entity such as a communication server, router, switch, bridge, etc.; the APs may include various forms of macro base stations, micro base stations, relay stations, and the like. The non-associated site (unassociated non-AP STA, U-STA) refers to a site that does not establish an association with the AP, and the non-associated site may be a tablet computer, a desktop, a laptop, a notebook, an Ultra-mobile personal computer (UMPC), a handheld computer, a netbook, a personal digital assistant (personal DIGITAL ASSISTANT, PDA), a user equipment that can be networked such as a mobile phone, or an internet of things node in the internet of things, or a vehicle-mounted device in the internet of vehicles, or an entertainment device, a game device or system, a global positioning system device, or the like.

In the application, the U-STA requests the AP to initiate the perception measurement flow as the proxy, and the U-STA can send a proxy-based perception (SBP) request to the AP to initiate the perception measurement process.

In the present application, the first indication information in the SBP request may be an identification on one bit in the SBP request, such as: the perceived measurement within the access point reserved availability window is indicated by a "1" on this bit, although this is merely an example, and the perceived measurement within the access point reserved availability window may be indicated by other than a "1" identification. The available window (availability window) is a time range for the access point to execute the sensing measurement process, in the available window, the access point can execute one or more sensing measurement processes, sensing measurement results can be obtained when the sensing measurement process is executed each time, and the first indication information can indicate the AP to reserve the sensing measurement results of the sensing measurement process executed each time. The perceptual measurement may be Channel State Information (CSI).

In the application, the first moment can be any moment in the available window, and the sensing measurement results of different moments can be different.

In the application, the AP can detect the state of the U-STA after or before each time the AP obtains the sensing measurement result, if the U-STA is in a dormant state or the U-STA can not receive the sensing measurement result fed back by the AP when executing other services with higher priority, namely the U-STA is in an unreachable state, at this time, the AP can reserve the first sensing measurement result at the first moment according to the first indication information, thus, the sensing measurement result is not required to be fed back to the U-STA after each time the AP obtains the sensing measurement result, and the sensing measurement result is lost when the U-STA is in an unreachable state. The AP reserves the first sensing measurement result, and can send the first sensing measurement result to the U-STA when the subsequent U-STA is in an reachable state, so that the success rate of receiving the sensing measurement result is improved, and the performance of sensing measurement is improved.

In one possible implementation, the proxy-based awareness request further includes retention time information indicating a length of time that the unassociated station indicates to the access point to retain awareness measurements within the available window.

In this possible implementation manner, the U-STA may further instruct the AP to reserve the time length of the sensing measurement result in the SBP request, so that the AP may process the sensing measurement result in time according to the reserved time information, thereby improving the utilization rate of the storage space of the AP.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the access point transmits capability information including a maximum duration for which the access point retains perceived measurement results within an available window, the duration indicated by the retention time information being no greater than the maximum duration.

In this possible implementation manner, the AP may notify the U-STA of the maximum duration in which the measurement result can be reserved for the U-STA in advance during capability negotiation in a unicast or broadcast manner, so that the U-STA may configure the retention time information in the SBP request according to the maximum duration, and may avoid the situation that the U-STA blindly configures the retention time information and cannot acquire the sensing measurement result.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: within the available window, the access point transmits a first frame to the non-associated station, the first frame being used to determine whether the non-associated station is in an reachable state; if the access point receives a response of the non-associated station to the first frame in the first time period, determining that the non-associated station is in an reachable state; if the access point does not receive the response of the non-associated station to the first frame within the first time period, the non-associated station is determined to be in an unreachable state.

In this possible implementation, the first frame may be a sensing poll trigger frame (sensing poll TRIGGER FRAME), or may be another frame that can achieve the same function. Taking the first frame as a sensing poll trigger frame as an example, in the available window, the AP may send the sensing poll trigger frame to the U-STA to detect the state of the U-STA, if the U-STA replies a response allowed to send to itself (CTS-to-self) in a short frame gap (SIFS) after receiving the sensing poll trigger frame, it indicates that the U-STA is in a reachable state, and the AP may send the sensing result to the U-STA; otherwise, it indicates that the U-STA is in an unreachable state. In this manner, the AP determines the reachable state of the U-STA by transmitting the first frame after obtaining the channel resource or the transmission opportunity (transmit opportunity, TXOP), thereby improving the success rate at which the sensing measurement result can be received by the U-STA.

In a possible implementation manner, the first frame includes an indication bit, where the indication bit is set to a first value and is used to indicate whether the first frame is used to determine whether the non-associated site is reachable as a perception response end within the available window, and where the indication bit is set to a second value and is used to indicate whether the non-associated site is reachable as a perception initiation end based on the proxy within the available window.

In this possible implementation, the different functions may be implemented by setting different values for the indication bits in the first frame, where the indication bits may be reserved bits in the first frame or may be extension bits. The first value may be 0, and the second value may be 1, however, the first value and the second value may be other values, which are used to indicate the above functions, which are not limited in the present application.

In a possible implementation manner, the first indication information is further used to indicate that when the non-associated station is in an unreachable state, the sensing measurement procedure is continuously executed at a second moment, and the second moment is located after the first moment.

In this possible implementation manner, the first indication information may not only indicate the AP to reserve the sensing measurement result, but also indicate the AP to continue to perform the next sensing measurement procedure, so that the AP may learn the subsequent behavior when the U-STA is in the unreachable state, which is beneficial to improving the performance of sensing measurement.

In one possible implementation, the first indication information is configured on a first bit in an agent-based awareness parameter control field that is located in the agent-based awareness request.

In this possible implementation, the first bit may be a reserved bit in the perceptual parameter control field or may be an extension bit.

In one possible implementation, the retention time information is configured on a first field of an agent-based awareness parameter element that is located in the agent-based awareness request.

In this possible implementation, the first field may be a sensing measurement retention time (sensing measurement retention time) field, and the first field may be a retention field in a sensing parameter element or an extension field.

In a possible implementation, the retention time information is represented on the first field by at least one bit, where each bit represents N time units, N being a positive integer.

In this possible implementation, N may be 1, 10, 100, etc., and one bit may represent 1 Time Unit (TU) or 10TU or 100TU, etc.

In one possible implementation, the maximum duration of the perception measurements within the reserved window is located on the perception field, which is located in the perception element of the capability information.

In this possible implementation, the perception field includes a maximum perception measurement retention time (max sensing measurement retention time) field. The sense field is located in a sense element (SENSING ELEMENT) of the capability information.

In a possible implementation, the maximum duration is represented on the perception field by at least one bit, where each bit represents M time units, M being a positive integer.

In this possible implementation, M may be 1, 10, 100, etc., and one bit may represent 1 Time Unit (TU) or 10TU or 100TU, etc.

In a possible implementation manner, the proxy-based sensing request further includes information of alternative sensing response stations, and bitmap information, where the bitmap information is used to instruct the access point to keep sensing measurement results in an available window of some or all sensing response stations in the alternative sensing response stations; the access point reserves a first perception measurement result corresponding to the perception response site indicated by the bitmap information.

In this possible implementation, when the U-STA knows the perceived response site, the SBP request may also carry information of an alternative perceived response site, which may be an address or an identifier of the alternative perceived response site. When the SBP request carries the address or identification of the alternative perceived response site, the bitmap information in the SBP request may instruct the AP to retain the perceived measurement of some or all of the perceived response site. In this way, the AP may selectively reserve the perceived measurement results, thereby optimizing the storage space of the AP.

In one possible implementation, the bitmap information is located on a third field of the proxy-based awareness parameter element, which is located in the proxy-based awareness request.

In this possible implementation, the third field may be an extension field or a reserved field in the proxy-based awareness parameters element.

In a possible implementation manner, second indicating information is configured on a second bit of the proxy-based perception parameter control field in the proxy-based perception request, where the second indicating information is used to indicate that the proxy-based perception request has bitmap information.

In this possible implementation manner, the U-STA may indicate that bitmap information exists through the second indication information, and if bitmap information does not exist, the AP is not required to parse the bitmap information, which may improve the efficiency of the SBP request parsing.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: if the access point determines that the non-associated station is in the reachable state within the time length indicated by the reserved time information, the access point sends a first sensing measurement result to the non-associated station, or the access point sends the first sensing measurement result and a second sensing measurement result to the non-associated station, wherein the second sensing measurement result is a sensing measurement result obtained by executing a sensing measurement process at other moments after the first moment.

In the possible implementation manner, if the U-STA is in the unreachable state at the first moment, the AP reserves the first measurement result, and after the subsequent AP detects that the U-STA is in the reachable state, the first measurement result can be sent at any time, so that the performance of sensing measurement is improved.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: if the length of time indicated by the retention time information is exceeded, the access point discards the first perceptual measurement result.

In this possible implementation, if the duration indicated by the retention time information exceeds the duration indicated by the retention time information, the AP does not retain the first sensing measurement result any more, and discards the first sensing measurement result, so as to improve the utilization rate of the storage space.

A second aspect of the application provides a method of perceptual measurement, comprising: the method comprises the steps that a non-associated site sends a perception request based on an agent to an access point, wherein the perception request based on the agent comprises first indication information, the first indication information is used for indicating the access point to reserve a perception measurement result in an available window, the non-associated site does not establish an association relation with the access point, and the available window is a time range for the access point to execute a perception measurement flow; the non-associated station receives a first perceived measurement sent by the access point.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the non-associated station receives capability information sent by the access point, wherein the capability information comprises maximum duration of a perception measurement result in a reserved available window of the access point, and the duration indicated by the reserved time information is not more than the maximum duration.

In a possible implementation manner, the proxy-based sensing request further includes information of alternative sensing response stations, and bitmap information, where the bitmap information is used to instruct the access point to keep sensing measurement results in an available window of some or all sensing response stations in the alternative sensing response stations.

A third aspect of the present application provides a communication device comprising a transceiver module and a processing module, wherein:

the receiving and transmitting module is used for receiving a perception request based on the agent from a non-associated site, the perception request based on the agent comprises first indication information, the first indication information is used for indicating the access point to reserve a perception measurement result in an available window, the non-associated site and the access point do not establish an association relationship, and the available window is a time range for the access point to execute a perception measurement process.

The processing module is used for executing a perception measurement flow at a first moment to obtain a first perception measurement result according to the perception request based on the agent, and the first moment is positioned in the available window; if the non-associated site is detected to be in an unreachable state, the first perception measurement result is reserved according to the first indication information, and the non-associated site cannot receive the first perception measurement result when the non-associated site is in the unreachable state.

In a possible implementation manner, the transceiver module is further configured to send capability information, where the capability information includes a maximum duration of the access point for reserving the sensing measurement result in the available window, and a duration indicated by the reserved time information is not greater than the maximum duration.

In a possible implementation manner, the transceiver module is further configured to send, within the available window, a first frame to the non-associated station, where the first frame is used to determine whether the non-associated station is in a reachable state.

The processing module is used for determining that the non-associated site is in an reachable state if a response of the non-associated site for the first frame is received in the first time period; if a response of the non-associated station for the first frame is not received in the first time period, determining that the non-associated station is in an unreachable state.

In a possible implementation manner, the proxy-based sensing request further includes information of alternative sensing response stations, and bitmap information, where the bitmap information is used to instruct the access point to keep sensing measurement results in an available window of some or all sensing response stations in the alternative sensing response stations;

And the processing module is used for reserving a first perception measurement result corresponding to the perception response site indicated by the bitmap information.

In a possible implementation manner, the processing module is configured to, if the non-associated site is determined to be in the reachable state within the time length indicated by the reserved time information, send the first sensing measurement result to the non-associated site, or send the first sensing measurement result and the second sensing measurement result to the non-associated site, where the second sensing measurement result is a sensing measurement result obtained by executing the sensing measurement procedure at other time after the first time.

In a possible implementation, the processing module is configured to discard the first sensing measurement result if the length of time indicated by the retention time information is exceeded.

A fourth aspect of the present application provides a communication device comprising a transceiver module and a processing module; wherein,

The receiving and transmitting module is used for sending a perception request based on the agent to the access point, wherein the perception request based on the agent comprises first indication information, the first indication information is used for indicating the access point to reserve a perception measurement result in an available window, the non-associated site and the access point have no association relation, and the available window is a time range for executing a perception measurement flow for the access point; and receiving a first sensing measurement result sent by the access point.

In a possible implementation manner, the transceiver module is further configured to receive capability information sent by the access point, where the capability information includes a maximum duration of the access point for reserving the sensing measurement result in the available window, and a duration indicated by the reserved time information is not greater than the maximum duration.

A fifth aspect of the present application provides a communication apparatus comprising: a processor, a memory, and a transceiver. The memory has stored therein a computer program or computer instructions for invoking and running the computer program or computer instructions stored in the memory to cause the processor to perform the operations as handled in the first aspect or any of the possible implementations of the first aspect, the transceiver for receiving signals, such as: operations of receiving and transmitting as in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect are implemented.

A sixth aspect of the present application provides a communication apparatus comprising: a processor, a memory, and a transceiver. The memory has stored therein a computer program or computer instructions for invoking and running the computer program or computer instructions stored in the memory to cause the processor to perform the operations as handled in the second aspect or any of the possible implementations of the second aspect, the transceiver for receiving signals, such as: operations of receiving and transmitting as in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect are implemented.

A seventh aspect of the application provides a communication device comprising a processor for performing as in the first aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect.

An eighth aspect of the present application provides a communication device comprising a processor for performing any two possible implementations as in the first or second aspect.

In the third aspect, the fifth aspect, and the seventh aspect of the present application, the communication device may be an access point, or may be a chip in the access point. The communication device may include a processing module and a transceiver module. When the communication device is an access point, the processing module may be a processor and the transceiver module may be a transceiver; the access point may also include a memory module, which may be a memory. The storage module is configured to store instructions, and the processing module executes the instructions stored by the storage module to cause the access point to perform the method of the first aspect or any one of the possible implementation manners of the first aspect. When the communication device is a chip in an access point, the processing module may be a processor, and the transceiver module may be an input/output interface, a pin, or a circuit, etc.; the processing module executes instructions stored by a storage module, which may be a storage module (e.g., a register, a cache, etc.) within the chip, or may be a storage module (e.g., a read-only memory, a random access memory, etc.) within the access point that is external to the chip, to cause the access point to perform the method of the first aspect or any of the possible implementations of the first aspect.

In the fourth aspect, the sixth aspect, and the eighth aspect of the present application, the communication device may be a station, or may be a chip in the station. The communication device may include a processing module and a transceiver module. When the communication device is a station, the processing module may be a processor and the transceiver module may be a transceiver; the station may also include a memory module, which may be a memory. The storage module is configured to store instructions that the processing module executes to cause the station to perform the method of the second aspect or any one of the possible embodiments of the second aspect. When the communication device is a chip in a site, the processing module may be a processor, and the transceiver module may be an input/output interface, a pin, or a circuit, etc.; the processing module executes instructions stored by a storage module, which may be a storage module (e.g. a register, a cache, etc.) within the chip or a storage module (e.g. a read only memory, a random access memory, etc.) external to the chip within the site, to cause the site to perform the method of the second aspect or any of the possible implementations of the second aspect.

A ninth aspect of the application provides a computer program product comprising instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform any one of the possible implementations as in the first aspect or the first aspect.

A tenth aspect of the application provides a computer program product comprising instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform any one of the possible implementations as in the second aspect or the second aspect.

An eleventh aspect of the application provides a computer readable storage medium comprising computer instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform any one of the possible implementations as in the first aspect or the first aspect.

A twelfth aspect of the application provides a computer readable storage medium comprising computer instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect or the second aspect.

A thirteenth aspect of the application provides a chip device comprising a processor for invoking a computer program or computer instructions in the memory to cause the processor to perform any of the possible implementations of the first aspect or the first aspect.

Optionally, the processor is coupled to the memory through an interface.

A fourteenth aspect of the present application provides a chip apparatus comprising a processor for invoking a computer program or computer instructions in the memory to cause the processor to perform any of the possible implementations of the second aspect or the second aspect described above.

Optionally, the processor is coupled to the memory through an interface.

A fifteenth aspect of the present application provides a communication system comprising, for example, a station for performing the content related to the method of the first aspect or any of the possible implementations of the first aspect and an access point for performing the content related to the method of the second aspect or any of the possible implementations of the second aspect.

The advantages of the above second to fifteenth aspects and any of their possible implementations may be understood with reference to the corresponding description of the first aspect and any of its possible implementations, and the description is not repeated here.

Drawings

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

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a method for sensing measurements according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a method of sensing measurements provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4A is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a method of sensing measurements provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4B is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a method of sensing measurements provided by an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4C is a schematic diagram of a format of a user information field in a sensing poll trigger frame according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a format of a perception element according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6A is a diagram illustrating a format of an SBP request according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6B is an exemplary schematic diagram of retention times provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is another schematic diagram of a format of an SBP request provided by 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;

fig. 9 is another schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is another schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 11 is another schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 12 is another schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present application will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which it is evident that the embodiments described are only some, but not all embodiments of the present application. As one of ordinary skill in the art can know, with the development of technology and the appearance of new scenes, the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the application is also applicable to similar technical problems.

The terms first, second and the like in the description and in the claims and in the above-described figures, are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. It is to be understood that the data so used may be interchanged where appropriate such that the embodiments described herein may be implemented in other sequences than those illustrated or otherwise described herein. Furthermore, the terms "comprises," "comprising," and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not necessarily limited to those steps or elements expressly listed but may include other steps or elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

The embodiment of the application provides a perception measurement method which is used for improving the performance of perception measurement. The application also provides a corresponding communication device, a communication system, a computer readable storage medium, a computer program product and the like. The following will describe in detail.

The technical scheme provided by the application can be applied to various communication systems, such as a system adopting the 802.11 standard. Exemplary 802.11 standards include, but are not limited to: the 802.11be standard or the next generation 802.11 standard. A scenario to which the technical solution of the present application is applicable includes communication between an Access Point (AP) and one or more Stations (STAs). In embodiments of the present application, the term "communication" may also be described as "data transmission", "information transmission" or "transmission".

Wireless local area networks (wireless local area network, WLAN) have so far undergone multiple generations, such as 802.11a/b/g, 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11ax, and 802.11be, etc., as are now being discussed. Where the 802.11n standard may be referred to as High Throughput (HT), the 802.11ac standard may be referred to as very high throughput (very high throughput, VHT), the 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) may be referred to as high efficiency (HIGH EFFICIENCY, HE), the 802.11be (Wi-Fi 7) may be referred to as very high throughput (extremely high throughput, EHT), and for standards prior to HT, such as 802.11a/b/g, may be collectively referred to as Non-high throughput (Non-HT).

Referring to fig. 1, fig. 1 is a schematic architecture diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 1, the communication system may include one or more APs (e.g., AP101 in fig. 1) and one or more STAs (e.g., STA102, STA103 in fig. 1). The AP and STA support WLAN communication protocols, which may include 802.11be (or Wi-Fi 7, very high throughput (extremely high throughput, EHT) protocols), and may also include 802.11ax,802.11ac,802.11bf, etc. Of course, with the continuous evolution and development of communication technology, the communication protocol may also include the next generation protocol of 802.11be, and so on.

An access point (such as AP101 in fig. 1) in the embodiment of the present application may be a communication device with a wireless communication function, supporting communication using a WLAN protocol, and having a function of communicating with other devices (such as a station or other access points) in the WLAN, and of course, may also have a function of communicating with other devices. In a WLAN, an access point may be referred to as an access point station (access point station, AP STA). The communication device with the wireless communication function can be equipment of a whole machine, chips or processing systems arranged in the equipment of the whole machine, and the equipment provided with the chips or the processing systems can realize the method and the function of the embodiment of the application under the control of the chips or the processing systems. The AP in the embodiment of the present application is a communication device that provides services for STAs, and may support 802.11 series protocols. For example, the AP may be a communication entity such as a communication server, router, switch, bridge, etc.; the AP may include macro base stations, micro base stations, relay stations, etc. in various forms, and of course, the AP may also be a chip and a processing system in these various forms of devices, so as to implement the methods and functions of the embodiments of the present application.

A station (such as STA102 or STA103 in fig. 1) in the embodiment of the present application is a communication device with a wireless communication function, supporting communication using a WLAN protocol, and having a capability of communicating with other stations or access points in the WLAN. In a WLAN, a station may be referred to as a non-access point station (non-access point station, non-AP STA), which is a non-associated station (unassociated non-AP STA, U-STA) when the station does not establish an association with an AP. The STA is any user communication device that allows a user to communicate with the AP and further communicate with the WLAN, and the device with a wireless communication function may be a complete machine device, or may also be a chip or a processing system installed in the complete machine device, where the device on which the chip or the processing system is installed may implement the methods and functions of the embodiments of the present application under the control of the chip or the processing system. For example, the STA may be a tablet, desktop, laptop, notebook, ultra-mobile personal computer (UMPC), handheld computer, netbook, personal Digital Assistant (PDA), 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 device in the internet of things, or an entertainment device, game device or system, global positioning system device, or the like, and may also be a chip and a processing system in these terminals.

WLAN can provide high-rate low-delay transmission, and with the continuous evolution of WLAN application scenarios, WLAN will be applied in more scenarios or industries, such as in internet of things industry, in internet of vehicles industry or in banking industry, in enterprise offices, stadium stadiums, concert halls, hotel rooms, dormitories, wards, classrooms, super-business, squares, streets, production workshops, warehouses, and the like. Of course, the devices supporting WLAN communication (such as access points or sites) may be sensor nodes in a smart city (such as smart water meters, smart air detection nodes), smart devices in a smart home (such as smart cameras, projectors, display screens, televisions, stereos, refrigerators, washing machines, etc.), nodes in the internet of things, entertainment terminals (such as wearable devices of augmented reality (augmented reality, AR), virtual Reality (VR), etc.), smart devices in a smart office (such as printers, projectors, microphones, stereos, etc.), internet of vehicles in the internet of vehicles, infrastructure in everyday life scenarios (such as vending machines, super self-service navigation stations, self-service cashier devices, self-service ordering machines, etc.), and devices in large sports and music stadiums, etc. The specific forms of STA and AP in the embodiments of the present application are not limited, but are merely exemplary.

With the development of WLAN communication technology, WLAN devices such as APs and STAs in WLAN are widely deployed. Since signals from WLAN devices are typically received via reflection, diffraction, and scattering by various obstructions, by analyzing the wireless signals as affected by the various obstructions, the environment surrounding the WLAN device can be inferred or perceived, thereby deriving WLAN awareness (WLAN SENSING) techniques.

In WLAN SENSING technology, several roles are typically involved, including:

the perception initiating terminal: a site (Sensing initiator: A STA THAT INITIATES A WLAN SENSING process) that initiates a awareness process.

And (3) a perception response end: site participating in a perception process initiated by a perception initiator (Sensing responder:aSTA that participates in a WLAN sensing procedure initiated by a sensing initiator).

Sensing a transmitting end: station for transmitting PPDUs for sensing measurements in sensing procedure (Sensing transmitter:a STA that transmits PPDUs used for sensing measurements in a sensing procedure).

Sensing a receiving end: station for receiving PPDU sent by sensing sending end and performing sensing measurement in sensing process (Sensing receiver:a STA that receives PPDUs sent by a sensing transmitter and performs sensing measurements in a sensing procedure).

In proxy by proxy (SBP) technology, the following roles are involved:

the agent perceives the initiator: a site (SBP initiator: an non-AP STA THAT TRANSMITS AN SBP Request frame) that initiates a proxy-based awareness process. The station may be an association station or a non-association station (U-STA).

Agent perception response end: the site (SBP responder:A non-directional multi-gigabit(non-DMG)access point(AP)that is the intended recipient of an SBP Request frame). participating in a sensing process initiated by the proxy sensing initiator acts as the proxy sensing initiator in the sensing measurement process.

In a schematic design example of a sensing process, a sensing measurement flow is mainly divided into 5 links:

A. Aware session establishment (sensing session setup): indicating that a perceived session is established between sites, and that the respective capability information is interacted between sites.

Optionally: a aware session is a protocol between two sites that is achieved by a aware initiator and a aware responder. One sense initiator may maintain a sense session with multiple sense responders (but still need to be established one by one, such as by orthogonal frequency division multiple access (orthogonal frequency division multiple access, OFDMA) mode, multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) mode, etc.).

B. perception measurement setup (sensing measurement setup): the method is used for exchanging and unifying parameters, attributes and the like which are needed to be used in the sensing process between the sensing initiating terminal and the responding terminal, such as the roles of the sensing initiating terminal and the responding terminal (such as the sensing sending terminal and the sensing receiving terminal), the measurement feedback type and the like.

C. Perception measurement example (sensing measurement instance): the perceptual measurement takes place in a perceptual measurement instance, in which the joining of multiple perceptual respondents is allowed.

D. Perceptual measurement setup termination (sensing measurement setup termination): the perceptual measurement setup terminates Sensing measurement setup corresponding procedures for ending in a corresponding one of the perceptual respondents, and the respondent is not bound to the corresponding Sensing measurement setup, but may still be in the perceptual session.

E. aware session termination (sensing session termination): indicating termination of the awareness session, the station is no longer involved in awareness measurements, etc.

The SBP technology refers to a process that a non-AP STA initiates the above-mentioned sensing measurement through an AP, wherein the non-AP STA can be a U-STA. The sensing measurement process provided by the embodiments of the present application may be understood with reference to fig. 2.

As shown in fig. 2, an embodiment of a method for sensing measurement according to an embodiment of the present application includes:

201. the unassociated station (U-STA) sends a proxy-based awareness request to the Access Point (AP). Correspondingly, the access point receives a proxy-based awareness request from a non-associated station.

The proxy-based sensing request (SBP request) includes first indication information for indicating that the access point retains sensing measurement results within an available window, where the non-associated station does not establish an association with the access point, and the available window is a time range for the access point to perform a sensing measurement procedure.

In the present application, the first indication information in the SBP request may be an identification on one bit in the SBP request, such as: the perceived measurement within the access point reserved availability window is indicated by a "1" on this bit, although this is merely an example, and the perceived measurement within the access point reserved availability window may be indicated by other than a "1" identification.

The available window (availability window) is a time range for the access point to execute the sensing measurement process, in the available window, the access point can execute one or more sensing measurement processes, sensing measurement results can be obtained when the sensing measurement process is executed each time, and the first indication information can indicate the AP to reserve the sensing measurement results of the sensing measurement process executed each time. The perceptual measurement may be Channel State Information (CSI).

202. And the access point executes a perception measurement flow at a first moment according to the perception request based on the agent to obtain a first perception measurement result.

The first time is within the available window. The first time may be any time within the available window and the perceived measurement may be different at different times.

203. If the non-associated site is detected to be in an unreachable state, the access point reserves a first perception measurement result according to the first indication information, and the non-associated site cannot receive the first perception measurement result when the non-associated site is in the unreachable state.

204. If the non-associated site is detected to be in the reachable state, the access point sends a first perception measurement result to the non-associated site. Correspondingly, the unassociated station receives a first perceived measurement from the access point.

In the embodiment of the application, the AP can detect the state of the U-STA after or before each time the AP obtains the sensing measurement result, if the U-STA is in a dormant state or the U-STA can not receive the sensing measurement result fed back by the AP when executing other services with higher priority, namely the U-STA is in an unreachable state, at this time, the AP can keep the first sensing measurement result at the first moment according to the first indication information, thus, the sensing measurement result is not required to be fed back to the U-STA after each time the AP obtains the sensing measurement result, and the sensing measurement result is lost when the U-STA is in an unreachable state. The AP reserves the first sensing measurement result, and can send the first sensing measurement result to the U-STA when the subsequent U-STA is in an reachable state, so that the success rate of receiving the sensing measurement result is improved, and the performance of sensing measurement is improved.

The specific process of the above-described sensing measurement procedure can be understood with reference to fig. 3.

As shown in fig. 3, another embodiment of a method for sensing measurement provided by an embodiment of the present application includes:

301. The unassociated station (U-STA) sends a proxy-based awareness request to the Access Point (AP). Correspondingly, the access point receives a proxy-based awareness request from a non-associated station.

The agent-based perception request includes the first indication information.

302A. The access point sends a perceived measurement setup request to station 1. Correspondingly, station 1 receives a perceived measurement setup request from the access point.

302B. The access point sends a perceived measurement setup request to station 2. Correspondingly, station 2 receives a perceived measurement setup request from the access point.

303A. Station 1 sends a perceived measurement setup response to the access point. Correspondingly, the access point receives a perceived measurement setup response from station 1.

303B station 2 sends a perceived measurement setup response to the access point. Correspondingly, the access point receives a perceived measurement setup response from station 2.

304A. The access point performs a sensing measurement for station 1 to obtain a sensing measurement result for station 1.

304B. The access point performs a sensing measurement for station 2 to obtain a sensing measurement result for station 2.

305. If the non-associated station is in a reachable state, the access point sends the perceived measurement for station 1 and the perceived measurement for station 2 to the non-associated station.

306. If the non-associated station is in an unreachable state, the access point reserves the perception measurement result for the station 1 and the perception measurement result for the station 2 according to the first indication information.

In the sensing measurement process shown in fig. 3, the U-STA is used as an initiating terminal of the SBP procedure, the AP is a responding terminal of the SBP procedure or is an agent for sensing SBP, and meanwhile, the AP is also used as an initiating terminal of sensing measurement in the SBP procedure, and the station 1 and the station 2 are used as responding terminals of sensing measurement in the SBP procedure.

It should be noted that, within an available window, the access point may perform one or more sensing measurement procedures on the station 1 and the station 2 separately or simultaneously, and each time, may obtain sensing measurement results of the corresponding stations. The access point may decide to either reserve or send the perceived measurement based on whether the non-associated station is reachable at the time the perceived measurement was obtained.

In addition, in the above embodiment, only site 1 and site 2 are described as examples, there may be more sensing measurement response ends in the SBP procedure, and the access point may perform sensing measurement on each sensing measurement response end.

In the embodiment of the application, when determining whether the non-associated station is in the reachable state, the access point can send a first frame to the non-associated station to determine. The process may be:

Within the available window, the access point transmits a first frame to the non-associated station, the first frame being used to determine whether the non-associated station is in an reachable state; if the access point receives a response of the non-associated station to the first frame in the first time period, determining that the non-associated station is in an reachable state; if the access point does not receive the response of the non-associated station to the first frame within the first time period, the non-associated station is determined to be in an unreachable state.

The first frame may be a sensing poll trigger frame (sensing poll TRIGGER FRAME), or may be another frame capable of achieving the same function. Taking the first frame as a sensing poll trigger frame as an example, in the available window, the AP may send the sensing poll trigger frame to the U-STA to detect the state of the U-STA, if the U-STA replies a response allowed to send to itself (CTS-to-self) in a short frame gap (SIFS) after receiving the sensing poll trigger frame, it indicates that the U-STA is in a reachable state, and the AP may send the sensing result to the U-STA; otherwise, it indicates that the U-STA is in an unreachable state. This process may be understood with reference to fig. 4A and 4B.

As shown in fig. 4A, the scenario illustrated in fig. 4A includes a non-associated site, an access point, a site 1, and a site 2, where the non-associated site is an SBP initiator, and the site 1 and the site 2 are both SBP respondents, but where the site 1 is a Receiver (RX) and the site 2 is a Transmitter (TX).

Within an available window, when the AP seizes channel resources or gets a transmission opportunity (transmit opportunity, TXOP), the AP will send a sense poll trigger frame (serving polling TRIGGER FRAME) to the SBP initiator and to the station 1 to confirm whether the SBP initiator and the station 1 are reachable, as shown in part 401 in fig. 4A, the station 1 feeds back a response to the AP that is allowed to send to itself (CTS-to-self) during a short frame gap (SIFS), and the SBP initiator does not feed back a CTS-to-self response to the AP, and the AP can determine that the SBP initiator is in a unreachable state and the station 1 is in a reachable state at the current time.

When the SBP initiator is in an unreachable state, the AP may still perform a sensing measurement on the site 1 and the site 2, where the sensing measurement on the site 1 may be that the AP sends a sensing null data packet declaration (sensing null DATA PACKET announcement frame, SENSING NDPA FRAME) to the site 1 and a sensing initiator-to-sensing response null data packet (Sensing initiator to sensing responder null DATA PACKET, SI2SR NDP), the sensing measurement on the site 2 may be that the AP sends a sensing sounding trigger frame (sensing sounding TRIGGER FRAME) to the site 2, and then the AP sends a sensing report trigger frame (sensing report TRIGGER FRAME) to the site 1, and the site 1 sends a sensing measurement report frame to the AP (sensing measurement report frame).

As illustrated in part 402 of FIG. 4A, because the SBP initiator was previously detected to be in an unreachable state, the SBP cannot receive the sensing measurement report, i.e., the sensing measurement result, and therefore the AP will retain the sensing measurement result and will transmit the sensing measurement result when the SBP initiator is detected to be in an reachable state.

Of course, if the SBP initiator was previously detected to be in an reachable state, the AP need not keep the measurement results and can directly send to the SBP initiator. As shown in FIG. 4B, where part 403 illustrates that station 1 feeds back a CTS-to-self response to the AP within the SIFS, the SBP initiator also feeds back a CTS-to-self response to the AP, and the AP can determine that at the present time the SBP initiator is in an reachable state, and station 1 is also in a reachable state. In this way, the AP may send the perceived measurement directly to the SBP initiator after subsequent measurements.

In the embodiment of the present application, when the SBP initiator is in an unreachable state, the AP may skip the measurement in the current TXOP, and then the AP may send the perceived polling trigger frame to the SBP initiator again in the same TXOP or in a new TXOP, to detect whether the SBP is in the reachable state.

When the SBP initiator is in an unreachable state, the AP may continue the measurements within the current TXOP and then save the measurements for a time, e.g., a time period T, and feed back the measurements to the SBP initiator during and after the period of T.

In addition, in the embodiment of the present application, the AP may further set indication information in a user info field in a sensing polling trigger frame (sensing polling TRIGGER FRAME), where the indication information indicates whether the sensing responding end is reachable in the available window or not, or whether the SBP initiating end is reachable in the available window or not, by using the indication information to indicate that the sensing responding end TRIGGER FRAME is reachable in the available window. The indication information may be a value set on an indication bit, such as: the indication bit is set to a first value for indicating that the first frame is used for determining whether the non-associated site is reachable as a perception response end within the available window, and the indication bit is set to a second value for indicating whether the non-associated site is reachable as a proxy-based perception initiation end within the available window.

The format of the user information field in the sense poll trigger frame may be understood with reference to fig. 4C, and as shown in fig. 4C, includes bits B0 to B39, where B0-B11 corresponds to the identity of the receiving node (association identification AID/unassociated STA IDENTIFIER USID), and B12-B38 are configuration parameters that configure the node to transmit. Of B12-B38, B12-B19 allocate (resource unit allocation, RU allocation) bits of the parameter for the resource unit, and B20 is bits of the uplink forward error correction code type (uplink forward error correction coding type) parameter. B21-B24 are bits of uplink efficient modulation and coding scheme (UL HE-MCS) parameters, B25 is bits of return (comeback) parameters, B26-B31 is bits of spatial stream allocation/random access resource unit information (SPATIAL STREAM allocation/random access resource unit, SS allocation/RA-RU information) parameters, B32-38 is bits of uplink target received power (uplink TARGET RECEIVE power) parameters, and B39 is reserved bits.

In the embodiment of the present application, B39 may be used as an indication bit, when B39 is set to 0, the sense-poll frame may be indicated to confirm whether the sense-response end is reachable within the available window, and when B39 is set to 1, the sense-poll frame may be indicated to confirm whether the SBP initiator is reachable within the available window. Of course, B39 is set to 0/1, as an example, and the corresponding function of 0/1 may be indicated by other values.

When the SBP initiator may also participate in the sensing measurement procedure as a sensing response, the AP may set B39 to 0. When the SBP initiator is not involved in the aware measurement procedure, the AP may set B39 to 1 to confirm whether the SBP initiator is reachable within the available window.

In the embodiment of the present application, various indication functions in the present application may be indicated by modifying signaling, and are described below.

1. Modifying the capability information of the AP;

The AP may provide a maximum duration for the AP to save the sensing measurement, that is, a maximum duration for the AP to save the sensing measurement, representing a maximum validity period of each sensing measurement, when interacting with the SBP initiator.

The AP can inform the maximum duration capable of reserving the perception measurement result to the SBP initiating terminal in advance in a unicast or broadcast mode during capability negotiation, so that the SBP initiating terminal can configure the reservation time information in the SBP request within the maximum duration, and the situation that the SBP initiating terminal blindly configures the reservation time information to fail to acquire the perception measurement result can be avoided.

The maximum duration may be configured in a sense element (SENSING ELEMENT) of the SBP request, the format of which may be understood with reference to FIG. 5.

As shown in FIG. 5, the perception element may include an element identification (ELEMENT ID), a Length (Length), an element identification Extension (ELEMENT ID Extension), and a perception (sensing) field. The maximum duration may be configured on a sense field, which may include a plurality of bytes, which may be configured on reserved bytes or extended bytes in the sense field. The maximum duration may be configured on a maximum perception measurement retention time (max sensing measurement retention time) byte of the perception field.

The maximum duration is represented on the perception field by at least one bit, where each bit represents M time units, M being a positive integer. Where M may be 1, 10, 100, etc., and one bit may represent 1 Time Unit (TU) or 10TU or 100TU, etc.

It should be noted that, the configuration of the maximum sensing measurement retention time (max sensing measurement retention time) byte on the sensing field is just one implementation, and the maximum sensing measurement retention time (max sensing measurement retention time) byte may also be configured on other fields, which is not limited by the present application.

2. Modifying the format of the SBP request;

The format of the SBP request may be understood with reference to FIG. 6A. As shown in FIG. 6A, the format of the SBP request may include the following elements:

category (category), public action/doubly protected public action (public action/protected dual of public action), session token (dialog token), agent-based awareness parameters element (SBP PARAMETERS ELEMENT), awareness measurement parameters element (sensing measurement PARAMETERS ELEMENT), and initiating site availability window element (INITIATING STA availability window element).

The agent-based perception parameter element (SBP PARAMETERS ELEMENT) may include fields such as element identification (ELEMENT ID), length, element identification Extension (ELEMENT ID Extension), agent-based parameter control (SBP parameters control), perception response address (sensing responder addresses), perception response identification (sensing responder IDs), and the like, and may also include a perception measurement retention time (sensing measurement retention time) field. The perception measurement retention time (sensing measurement retention time) field may be a retention field in a perception parameter element or an extension field. Of course, the perception measurement retention time (sensing measurement retention time) field may also be absent.

Among other things, reserved (reserved) bits may be included in the agent-based parameter control (SBP parameters control), and one or more of the reserved bits may be included. The SBP initiator may configure the first indication information on a first bit therein, which may be any one of one or more reserved bits.

For example: configuring the measurement control sub-domain (measurement control subfield) on a first bit thereof, if measurement control subfield =1, i.e. the first indication information=1, may indicate that the access point reserves a sensing result within the available window, may also indicate that a sensing measurement reservation time (sensing measurement retention time) field exists in the proxy-based sensing parameter element (SBP PARAMETERS ELEMENT), and may also indicate that the subsequent sensing measurement procedure is continued while the SBP initiator is in an unreachable state.

If measurement control subfield =0, indicating that the perceived measurement retention time (sensing measurement retention time) does not exist, the AP may not perform subsequent measurement procedures.

It should be noted that measurement control subfield =1/0 is only an example, and the functions of the two values may be interchanged, and other values or symbols may be used to indicate corresponding functions, which is not limited by the present application.

When present, the perception measurement retention time (sensing measurement retention time) field in the agent-based perception parameter element (SBP PARAMETERS ELEMENT) may include at least one bit, where each bit represents N time units, N being a positive integer. Where N may be 1, 10, 100, etc., and one bit may represent 1 Time Unit (TU) or 10TU or 100TU, etc.

It should be noted that the configuration measurement control subfield (measurement control subfield) is configured on reserved bits of the agent-based parameter control (SBP parameters control) and the sensing measurement retention time (sensing measurement retention time) is configured on an extended field of the agent-based sensing parameter element (SBP PARAMETERS ELEMENT) is only one implementation, and the configuration measurement control subfield (measurement control subfield) and the sensing measurement retention time (sensing measurement retention time) may be configured on other bits or fields, which is not limited in this regard by the present application.

The SBP initiator generally configures a retention time not greater than the maximum perceived measurement retention time (max sensing measurement retention time) over the perceived measurement retention time (sensing measurement retention time) bytes described above.

In the embodiment of the application, if the access point determines that the non-associated station is in the reachable state within the time length indicated by the reserved time information, the access point sends the first sensing measurement result to the non-associated station, or the access point sends the first sensing measurement result and the second sensing measurement result to the non-associated station, wherein the second sensing measurement result is a sensing measurement result obtained by executing the sensing measurement process at other moments after the first moment.

If the length of time indicated by the retention time information is exceeded, the access point discards the first perceptual measurement result.

This process may be understood with reference to fig. 6B. As shown in fig. 6B, the to-be-sensed retention time (sensing measurement retention time) may be denoted by T, which may start from a known point in time at the SBP initiator, for example: the start time of T may be set to the time at which the SBP initiator and the AP start the available window determined in the SBP setup phase, which is the window corresponding to each of the values 1-10 in FIG. 6B. As shown in fig. 6B, 10 windows are illustrated, denoted by windows in fig. 6B, respectively, windows 1 through 10, each having a duration of 10TU, wherein windows 2, 3, 6,7, and 8 are available windows (windows 1, 4, 5, 9, and 10 are unavailable windows). The perceptual measurement must take place within the available window. If the SBP initiator sets the time length of T to the duration corresponding to 5 windows in the SBP request, in the window 2, if the AP does not receive the response from the SBP initiator within a certain obtained TXOP, that is, the SBP initiator does not reply to the perceived polling trigger frame sent by the AP, and the SBP initiator sets measurement control subfield to 1 in the SBP request, the AP saves the measurement result obtained in the window 2 to the time when the window 6 ends, and if the SBP initiator responds to the AP before the time when the window 6 ends, such as in the window3, the SBP initiator replies to the polling trigger frame sent by the AP, the AP may feed back the measurement result in the window 2 to the SBP initiator in the window3 together with the current measurement result. At the moment window 6 ends, the AP discards the measurement results obtained in window 2. If the SBP initiator responds to the AP for the first time in window 7, the AP cannot feed back the previous measurement results.

The duration of T may also be less than one available window, so that each sensing measurement only needs to be fed back in the current available window, and does not remain in the next available window.

In the embodiment of the application, in addition to the configuration of the measurement control subdomain (measurement control subfield) and the perception measurement retention time (sensing measurement retention time), bitmap information can be configured in the SBP request, and when the SBP request includes information of the alternative perception response end, the SBP request can include bitmap information, and the bitmap information is used for indicating the access point to retain the perception measurement results in the available window of part or all of the alternative perception response sites; the access point reserves a first perception measurement result corresponding to the perception response site indicated by the bitmap information.

In the case where the SBP initiator knows the perceived response site, the SBP request may also carry information of an alternative perceived response site, which may be an address or identification of the alternative perceived response site. When the SBP request carries the address or identification of the alternative perceived response site, the bitmap information in the SBP request may instruct the AP to retain the perceived measurement of some or all of the perceived response site. In this way, the AP may selectively reserve the perceived measurement results, thereby optimizing the storage space of the AP.

The SBP format when bitmap information is included in the SBP request may be understood with reference to FIG. 7. As shown in fig. 7, a perception response side measurement reservation bitmap (sensing responder measurement retention bitmap) field is added in the proxy-based perception parameter element (SBP PARAMETERS ELEMENT) on the basis of the one shown in fig. 6A. The field may be an extension field or a reserved field in the proxy-based awareness parameters element. This field may be in bytes with a number of bits equal to n, i.e., the number of addresses in the sensing responder addresses field. For example: n=4, the bitmap may be set to 0100, which indicates that the SBP initiator requires the AP to reserve the sensing measurement result corresponding to the second sensing response end (sensing responder), and the result of the other responser does not need to be reserved, and the setting of the reservation time of the sensing measurement result corresponding to the second sensing response end may be understood with reference to the configuration of the foregoing sensing measurement reservation time (sensing measurement retention time).

The sense-responsive end measurement reservation bitmap (sensing responder measurement retention bitmap) field may also indicate its presence by the second indication information, although it may also indicate its absence by other indication information, such as: the presence or absence of the sensory-response side measurement reservation bitmap (sensing responder measurement retention bitmap) may be indicated by a second bit. A second bit may be carried in the SBP parameters control field, which may be referred to as a sense-to-respond measurement reservation bitmap present (sensing responder measurement retention bitmap present) subfield, may indicate the presence of a sense-to-respond measurement reservation bitmap (sensing responder measurement retention bitmap) field if sensing responder measurement retention bitmap present =1, and may indicate the absence of a sense-to-respond measurement reservation bitmap (sensing responder measurement retention bitmap) field if sensing responder measurement retention bitmap present =0, again using one reserved bit.

It should be noted that sensing responder measurement retention bitmap present =1/0 is only an example, and the functions of the two values may be interchanged, and other values or symbols may be used to indicate corresponding functions, which is not limited by the present application.

The sensing measurement method is introduced above, and the communication device provided by the embodiment of the application is described below. Referring to fig. 8, fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the application. The communication device 800 may be used to perform the steps performed by the access point in the embodiments shown in fig. 2-7, and reference is made specifically to the relevant description in the method embodiments described above.

The communication device 800 comprises a transceiver module 801 and a processing module 802. The transceiver module 801 may implement a corresponding communication function, and the processing module 802 is configured to perform data processing. The transceiver module 801 may also be referred to as a communication interface or communication unit.

Optionally, the communication device 800 may further include a storage unit, where the storage unit may be used to store instructions and/or data, and the processing module 802 may read the instructions and/or data in the storage unit, so that the communication device implements the foregoing method embodiments.

The communications apparatus 800 can be configured to perform the actions performed by the access points in the method embodiments above. The communication device 800 may be an access point or a component configurable at an access point. The transceiver module 801 is configured to perform operations related to the reception of the access point side in the above method embodiment, and the processing module 802 is configured to perform operations related to the processing of the access point side in the above method embodiment.

Alternatively, the transceiver module 801 may include a transmitting module and a receiving module. The sending module is configured to perform the sending operation in the method embodiment. The receiving module is configured to perform the receiving operation in the above method embodiment.

It should be noted that, the communication apparatus 800 may include a transmitting module, and not include a receiving module. Or the communication device 800 may include a receiving module instead of a transmitting module. Specifically, it may be determined whether or not the above scheme executed by the communication apparatus 800 includes a transmission action and a reception action.

As an example, the communication device 800 is configured to perform the actions performed by the access point in the embodiment shown in fig. 2 above.

The transceiver module 801 is configured to receive a proxy-based sensing request from a non-associated station, where the proxy-based sensing request includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate an access point to reserve a sensing measurement result in an available window, and the non-associated station does not establish an association relationship with the access point, and the available window is a time range for the access point to execute a sensing measurement procedure.

A processing module 802, configured to execute a sensing measurement procedure at a first time to obtain a first sensing measurement result according to a sensing request based on an agent, where the first time is located in an available window; if the non-associated site is detected to be in an unreachable state, the first perception measurement result is reserved according to the first indication information, and the non-associated site cannot receive the first perception measurement result when the non-associated site is in the unreachable state.

It should be understood that the specific process of each module to perform the corresponding steps is described in detail in the above method embodiments, and is not described herein for brevity.

The processing module 802 in the above embodiments may be implemented by at least one processor or processor-related circuitry. Transceiver module 801 may be implemented by a transceiver or transceiver related circuitry. The transceiver module 801 may also be referred to as a communication unit or a communication interface. The memory unit may be implemented by at least one memory.

The following describes a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application. Referring to fig. 9, fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the application. The communications apparatus 900 can be configured to perform the steps performed by the non-associated stations in the embodiment shown in fig. 2, and reference is made specifically to the relevant description in the method embodiment described above.

The communication device 900 comprises a transceiver module 901. Optionally, the communication device 900 further comprises a processing module 902. The transceiver module 901 may implement a corresponding communication function, and the processing module 902 is configured to perform data processing. The transceiver module 901 may also be referred to as a communication interface or a communication unit.

The communications apparatus 900 can be configured to perform the actions performed by the access point in the method embodiments above. The communications apparatus 900 can be a non-associated site or a component configurable at a non-associated site. The transceiver module 901 is configured to perform the operations related to the reception on the non-associated site side in the above method embodiment.

Alternatively, the transceiver module 901 may include a transmitting module and a receiving module. The sending module is configured to perform the sending operation in the method embodiment. The receiving module is configured to perform the receiving operation in the above method embodiment.

It should be noted that, the communication apparatus 900 may include a transmitting module, and not include a receiving module. Or the communication device 900 may include a receiving module instead of a transmitting module. Specifically, it may be determined whether or not the above scheme executed by the communication apparatus 900 includes a transmission action and a reception action.

As an example, the communications apparatus 900 is configured to perform the actions performed by the non-associated stations in the embodiment illustrated in fig. 2 above.

The transceiver module 901 is configured to send a proxy-based sensing request to an access point, where the proxy-based sensing request includes first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate the access point to reserve a sensing measurement result in an available window, where a non-associated station does not establish an association relationship with the access point, and the available window is a time range in which the access point performs a sensing measurement procedure; and receiving a first sensing measurement result sent by the access point.

The processing module 902 in the above embodiments may be implemented by at least one processor or processor-related circuitry. Transceiver module 901 may be implemented by a transceiver or transceiver related circuitry. The transceiver module 901 may also be referred to as a communication unit or communication interface. The memory unit may be implemented by at least one memory.

The embodiment of the application also provides a communication device 1000. The communication device 1000 comprises a processor 1010, the processor 1010 being coupled to a memory 1020, the memory 1020 being for storing computer programs or instructions and/or data, the processor 1010 being for executing the computer programs or instructions and/or data stored by the memory 1020 such that the method in the above method embodiments is performed.

Optionally, the communications device 1000 includes one or more processors 1010.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 10, the communication device 1000 may further include a memory 1020.

Optionally, the communications device 1000 may include one or more memories 1020.

Alternatively, the memory 1020 may be integrated with the processor 1010 or provided separately.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 10, the communication device 1000 may further include a transceiver 1030, where the transceiver 1030 is configured to receive and/or transmit signals. For example, the processor 1010 is configured to control the transceiver 1030 to receive and/or transmit signals.

As an option, the communication device 1000 is configured to implement the operations performed by the access point in the above method embodiments.

For example, processor 1010 is configured to implement the operations related to processing performed by the access point in the above method embodiments, and transceiver 1030 is configured to implement the operations related to transceiving performed by the access point in the above method embodiments.

Alternatively, the communications apparatus 1000 is configured to implement the operations performed by the non-associated stations in the above method embodiments.

For example, processor 1010 is configured to implement the process-related operations performed by the non-associated stations in the above method embodiments, and transceiver 1030 is configured to implement the transceiver-related operations performed by the non-associated stations in the above method embodiments.

The embodiment of the application also provides a communication device 1100, where the communication device 1100 may be an access point or a chip. The communications apparatus 1100 can be configured to perform the operations performed by an access point in the method embodiments described above.

When the communication device 1100 is an access point, fig. 11 shows a simplified schematic diagram of the structure of the access point. As shown in fig. 11, the access point includes a processor, memory, and a transceiver, where the memory may store computer program code, the transceiver includes a transmitter 1131, a receiver 1132, radio frequency circuitry (not shown), an antenna 1133, and input and output devices (not shown). The processor is mainly used for processing communication protocols and communication data, controlling the access point, executing software programs, processing data of the software programs and the like. The memory is mainly used for storing software programs and data. The radio frequency circuit is mainly used for converting a baseband signal and a radio frequency signal and processing the radio frequency signal. 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. It should be noted that some kinds of access points may not have input/output devices.

When data need to be sent, the processor carries out baseband processing on the data to be sent and then outputs a baseband signal to the radio frequency circuit, and the radio frequency circuit carries out radio frequency processing on the baseband signal and then sends the radio frequency signal outwards in the form of electromagnetic waves through the antenna. When data is sent to the access point, 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, and the processor converts the baseband signal into data and processes the data. For ease of illustration, only one memory, processor, and transceiver are shown in fig. 11, and in an actual access point product, one or more processors and one or more memories may be present. The memory may also be referred to as a storage medium or storage device, etc. The memory may be provided separately from the processor or may be integrated with the processor, as the embodiments of the application are not limited in this respect.

In the embodiment of the application, the antenna with the transmitting and receiving function and the radio frequency circuit can be regarded as a transmitting and receiving unit of the access point, and the processor with the processing function can be regarded as a processing unit of the access point.

As shown in fig. 11, the access point includes a processor 1110, a memory 1120, and a transceiver 1130. Processor 1110 may also be referred to as a processing unit, processing board, processing module, processing device, etc., and transceiver 1130 may also be referred to as a transceiver unit, transceiver, transceiving device, etc.

Alternatively, the means for implementing the receiving function in the transceiver 1130 may be regarded as a receiving unit, and the means for implementing the transmitting function in the transceiver 1130 may be regarded as a transmitting unit, i.e. the transceiver 1130 includes a receiver and a transmitter. The transceiver may also be referred to as a transceiver, transceiver unit, transceiver circuit, or the like. The receiver may also be sometimes referred to as a receiver, a receiving unit, a receiving circuit, or the like. The transmitter may also sometimes be referred to as a transmitter, a transmitting unit, or a transmitting circuit, etc.

For example, in one implementation, processor 1110 is configured to perform the processing actions on the access point side in the embodiment shown in fig. 2, and transceiver 1130 is configured to perform the transceiving actions on the access point side in fig. 2. For example, transceiver 1130 is configured to perform the transceiving operations of step 201 in the embodiment shown in fig. 2. Processor 1110 is configured to perform the processing operations of step 202 and step 203 in the embodiment shown in fig. 2.

It should be understood that fig. 11 is only an example and not a limitation, and that the above-described access point including the transceiving unit and the processing unit may not depend on the structure shown in fig. 11.

When the communication device 1100 is a chip, the chip includes a processor, a memory, and a transceiver. Wherein the transceiver may be an input-output circuit or a communication interface; the processor may be an integrated processing unit or a microprocessor or an integrated circuit on the chip. The sending operation of the access point in the above method embodiment may be understood as the output of the chip, and the receiving operation of the access point in the above method embodiment may be understood as the input of the chip.

The embodiment of the application also provides a communication device 1200, and the communication device 1200 can be a non-associated site or a chip. The communications apparatus 1200 can be configured to perform the operations performed by the non-associated stations in the method embodiments described above.

When the communication device 1200 is a non-associated site, for example, a base station. Fig. 12 shows a simplified schematic of a base station architecture. The base station includes 1210, 1220 and 1230 parts. The 1210 part is mainly used for baseband processing, controlling a base station and the like; portion 1210 is typically a control center of the base station, and may be generally referred to as a processor, for controlling the base station to perform processing operations on the non-associated site side in the above-described method embodiment. Portion 1220 is mainly used for storing computer program code and data. The 1230 part is mainly used for receiving and transmitting radio frequency signals and converting the radio frequency signals and baseband signals; portion 1230 may generally be referred to as a transceiver unit, transceiver circuitry, or transceiver, etc. The transceiver unit of 1230, which may also be referred to as a transceiver or transceiver, includes an antenna 1233 and radio frequency circuitry (not shown) that is primarily configured to perform radio frequency processing. Alternatively, the means for implementing the receiving function in 1230 part may be regarded as a receiver and the means for implementing the transmitting function as a transmitter, i.e. the 1230 part comprises a receiver 1232 and a transmitter 1231. The receiver may also be referred to as a receiving unit, receiver, or receiving circuit, etc., and the transmitter may be referred to as a transmitting unit, transmitter, or transmitting circuit, etc.

Portions 1210 and 1220 may include one or more boards, each of which may include one or more processors and one or more memories. The processor is used for reading and executing the program in the memory to realize the baseband processing function and control of the base station. If there are multiple boards, the boards can be interconnected to enhance processing power. As an alternative implementation manner, the multiple boards may share one or more processors, or the multiple boards may share one or more memories, or the multiple boards may share one or more processors at the same time.

For example, in one implementation, the transceiver unit of 1230 is configured to perform the transceiver-related steps performed by the unassociated stations in the embodiment shown in fig. 2. The processor of portion 1210 is configured to perform the steps associated with the processing performed by the non-associated stations in the embodiment of fig. 2.

It should be understood that fig. 12 is merely an example and not a limitation, and that the non-associated sites including the processor, memory, and transceiver described above may not rely on the structure shown in fig. 12.

When the communication device 1200 is a chip, the chip includes a transceiver, a memory, and a processor. Wherein, the transceiver can be an input-output circuit and a communication interface; the processor is an integrated processor or microprocessor or integrated circuit on the chip. The sending operation of the non-associated site in the above method embodiment may be understood as the output of the chip, and the receiving operation of the non-associated site in the above method embodiment may be understood as the input of the chip.

The embodiment of the application also provides a computer readable storage medium, on which computer instructions for implementing the method executed by the access point in the above method embodiment, or the method executed by the non-associated station are stored.

For example, the computer program when executed by a computer, enables the computer to implement the method performed by an access point, or by a non-associated station, in the method embodiments described above.

Embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to implement the method performed by an access point, or by a non-associated station, in the method embodiments described above.

The embodiment of the application also provides a communication system which comprises the non-associated stations and the access points in the embodiment.

The embodiment of the application also provides a chip device, which comprises a processor, and the processor is used for calling the computer degree or the computer instruction stored in the memory, so that the processor executes the communication method of the embodiment shown in the above figures 2 to 7.

In a possible implementation, the input of the chip device corresponds to the receiving operation in the embodiment shown in fig. 2 to 7, and the output of the chip device corresponds to the transmitting operation in the embodiment shown in fig. 2 to 7.

Optionally, the processor is coupled to the memory through an interface.

Optionally, the chip device further comprises a memory, in which the computer degree or the computer instructions are stored.

The processor mentioned in any of the above may be a general purpose central processing unit, a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of the program of the communication method of the embodiment shown in fig. 2 to 7. The memory referred to in any of the above may be read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device, random access memory (random access memory, RAM), or the like, that may store static information and instructions.

It will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity, explanation and beneficial effects of the relevant content in any of the above-mentioned communication devices may refer to the corresponding method embodiments provided above, and are not repeated here.

In embodiments of the present application, an access point or unassociated site may include a hardware layer, an operating system layer running above the hardware layer, and an application layer running above the operating system layer. The hardware layer may include a central processing unit (central processing unit, CPU), a memory management unit (memory management unit, MMU), and a memory (also referred to as a main memory). The operating system of the operating system layer may be any one or more computer operating systems that implement business processing through processes (processes), for example, a Linux operating system, a Unix operating system, an Android operating system, an iOS operating system, or windows operating system, etc. The application layer may include applications such as a browser, address book, word processor, instant messaging software, and the like.

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

In the several embodiments provided in 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. Alternatively, 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 units, which may be in electrical, mechanical or other form.

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 may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

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, a substantial portion of the present application's technical solution, or all or part of the technical solution, may be embodied in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium, including instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a non-associated site, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the method described in the various embodiments of the application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media capable of storing program codes, such as a U disk, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory, a random access memory, a magnetic disk or an optical disk.

The above embodiments are only for illustrating the technical solution of the present application, and not for limiting the same; although the application has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: the technical scheme described in the foregoing embodiments can be modified or some technical features thereof can be replaced by equivalents; such modifications and substitutions do not depart from the spirit of the corresponding technical solutions from the technical scope of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A method of sensing measurements, comprising:

The method comprises the steps that an access point receives a perception request based on a proxy from a non-associated station, wherein the perception request based on the proxy comprises first indication information, the first indication information is used for indicating the access point to reserve a perception measurement result in an available window, the non-associated station and the access point do not establish an association relationship, and the available window is a time range for the access point to execute a perception measurement process;

the access point executes a perception measurement process at a first moment according to the perception request based on the agent to obtain a first perception measurement result, wherein the first moment is positioned in the available window;

If the non-associated site is detected to be in an unreachable state, the access point reserves the first perception measurement result according to the first indication information, and the non-associated site cannot receive the first perception measurement result when the non-associated site is in the unreachable state.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the proxy-based awareness request further comprises retention time information indicating a length of time the unassociated station indicates to the access point to retain awareness measurements within the available window.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the method further comprises:

The access point sends capability information, wherein the capability information comprises a maximum duration of the access point for reserving the perception measurement result in the available window, and the time length indicated by the reservation time information is not greater than the maximum duration.

4. A method according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the method further comprises:

within the available window, the access point sends a first frame to the non-associated station, wherein the first frame is used for determining whether the non-associated station is in a reachable state;

if the access point receives a response of the non-associated station for the first frame in a first time period, determining that the non-associated station is in an reachable state;

if the access point does not receive the response of the non-associated station to the first frame within the first time period, determining that the non-associated station is in an unreachable state.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first frame includes an indication bit, when the indication bit is set to a first value, for indicating whether the first frame is used to determine whether the non-associated site is reachable as a perception response within the available window, and when the indication bit is set to a second value, for indicating whether the non-associated site is reachable as a proxy-based perception initiator within the available window.

6. The method according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the first indication information is further used to indicate that, when the non-associated station is in an unreachable state, a sensing measurement procedure is continued at a second time, the second time being located after the first time.

7. The method of any of claims 1-6, wherein the first indication information is configured on a first bit in an agent-based perception parameter control field, the agent-based perception parameter control field being located in the agent-based perception request.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein the retention time information is configured on a first field of an agent-based awareness parameter element, the agent-based awareness parameter element being located in the agent-based awareness request.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the retention time information is represented on the first field by at least one bit, wherein each bit represents N time units, and wherein N is a positive integer.

10. A method according to claim 3, wherein the maximum duration of the perception measurements within the reserved window is located on a perception field, which is located in a perception element of the capability information.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the maximum duration is represented on the perception field by at least one bit, wherein each bit represents M time units, wherein M is a positive integer.

12. The method according to any of claims 1-11, wherein the proxy-based awareness request further includes information of alternative awareness response stations, and bitmap information for instructing the access point to reserve awareness measurements within the available window of some or all of the alternative awareness response stations;

And the access point reserves the first perception measurement result corresponding to the perception response site indicated by the bitmap information.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the bitmap information is located on a third field of an agent-based perception parameter element, the agent-based perception parameter element being located in the agent-based perception request.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein a second bit of a proxy-based perception parameter control field in the proxy-based perception request is configured with second indication information, the second indication information being used to indicate that the proxy-based perception request exists in the bitmap information.

15. The method according to any one of claims 2-14, further comprising:

If the access point determines that the non-associated station is in a reachable state within the time length indicated by the retention time information, the access point sends the first sensing measurement result to the non-associated station, or the access point sends the first sensing measurement result and a second sensing measurement result to the non-associated station, wherein the second sensing measurement result is a sensing measurement result obtained by executing a sensing measurement process at other moments after the first moment.

16. The method according to any one of claims 2-14, further comprising:

And if the time length indicated by the retention time information is exceeded, discarding the first perception measurement result by the access point.

17. A method of sensing measurements, comprising:

The method comprises the steps that a non-associated station sends a perception request based on an agent to an access point, wherein the perception request based on the agent comprises first indication information, the first indication information is used for indicating the access point to reserve a perception measurement result in an available window, the non-associated station does not establish an association relation with the access point, and the available window is a time range for the access point to execute a perception measurement process;

The non-associated station receives the first perception measurement result sent by the access point.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the proxy-based awareness request further comprises retention time information indicating a length of time the unassociated station indicates to the access point to retain awareness measurements within the available window.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the method further comprises:

the non-associated station receives capability information sent by the access point, wherein the capability information comprises a maximum duration of the access point for reserving the perception measurement result in the available window, and the duration indicated by the reservation time information is not more than the maximum duration.

20. The method according to any of claims 17-19, wherein the first indication information is further used to indicate that, when the non-associated station is in an unreachable state, a sensing measurement procedure is continued at a second time, the second time being after the first time.

21. The method according to any of claims 17-20, wherein the first indication information is configured on a first bit in an agent-based perception parameter control field, the agent-based perception parameter control field being located in the agent-based perception request.

22. The method of claim 18, wherein the retention time information is configured on a first field of an agent-based awareness parameter element, the agent-based awareness parameter element being located in the agent-based awareness request.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the retention time information is represented on the first field by at least one bit, wherein each bit represents N time units, and wherein N is a positive integer.

24. The method of claim 19, wherein the maximum duration of the perception measurements within the reserved window is located on a perception field, the perception field being located in a perception element of the capability information.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the maximum duration is represented on the perception field by at least one bit, wherein each bit represents M time units, and wherein M is a positive integer.

26. The method according to any of claims 17-25, wherein the proxy-based awareness request further comprises information of alternative awareness response stations, and bitmap information for instructing the access point to reserve awareness measurements within the available window of some or all of the alternative awareness response stations.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the bitmap information is located on a third field of an agent-based perception parameter element, the agent-based perception parameter element being located in the agent-based perception request.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein a second bit of a proxy-based perception parameter control field in the proxy-based perception request is configured with second indication information, the second indication information being used to indicate that the proxy-based perception request exists in the bitmap information.

29. A communication device comprising a transceiver module for performing the transceiving operations in the method of any of the preceding claims 1 to 16 and a processing module for performing the processing operations in the method of any of the preceding claims 1 to 16.

30. A communication device comprising a transceiver module for performing the transceiving operations in the method of any of the preceding claims 17 to 28 and a processing module for performing the processing operations in the method of any of the preceding claims 17 to 28.

31. A communication device, the communication device comprising:

A memory for storing computer instructions;

A processor for executing a computer program or computer instructions stored in the memory to cause the communication device to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 16.

32. A communication device, the communication device comprising:

A memory for storing computer instructions;

A processor for executing a computer program or computer instructions stored in the memory to cause the communication device to perform the method of any one of claims 17 to 28.

33. A computer readable storage medium, having stored thereon a computer program which, when executed by a communication device, causes the communication device to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 16, or of claims 17 to 28.

34. A computer program product containing instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 16 or 17 to 28.