WO2021196299A1

WO2021196299A1 - Beam determination method and related apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2021196299A1
Application number: PCT/CN2020/085476
Authority: WO
Inventors: 李帅; 李振宇; 吴毅凌; 李铮
Original assignee: 华为技术有限公司
Priority date: 2020-03-31
Filing date: 2020-04-18
Publication date: 2021-10-07
Also published as: WO2021196053A1; CN115152297A

Abstract

Disclosed are a beam determination method and a related apparatus. The method comprises: an AP sending a beacon frame by means of beam polling, and carrying, in the beacon frame, a beam identifier of a narrow sending beam for sending the beacon frame; and an STA selecting, for the AP, an STA-oriented optimal sending beam according to the quality of received signals corresponding to different narrow sending beams, and notifying the AP of the optimal sending beam by means of an authentication frame, thereby improving the signal quality during communication between the AP and the STA, and achieving remote coverage and uplink reception interference suppression. The AP sends at least one beacon frame, and sends at least M trigger frames, wherein each beacon frame comprises time information of the trigger frames; and the STA determines a target trigger frame from the M trigger frames, and sends the authentication frame to the AP within a target access time window corresponding to the target trigger frame, thereby matching different STAs with different access time windows, and reducing the number of access failures and the access delay of remote STAs.

Description

Beam determination method and related device

Technical field

This application relates to the field of communication technologies, and in particular to a beam determination method and related devices.

Background technique

In a point-to-multipoint (PMP) network, an access point (AP) can simultaneously access multiple stations (stations, STAs). The AP can be a central point, and multiple STAs can It is a remote point, and each STA can be distributed in different locations. During the initial access process, the AP can use a wide beam to send a downlink beacon (Beacon) message to each STA; after each STA receives the Beacon message, it needs to initiate an authentication request to the AP; in turn, the AP can receive these authentication messages through the wide beam. Right request to determine whether these STAs can access.

However, the AP uses a wide beam to send a Beacon message, which will cause the STA far away from the AP to be unable to receive the Beacon message due to insufficient wide beam gain, that is, the initial access process has a problem of long-distance coverage. In addition, the AP uses a wide beam to receive the authentication request, which will cause the AP to receive the interference signal when receiving the authentication frame, and the received beam gain corresponding to the authentication frame is close to the receiving beam gain corresponding to the interference signal, which will cause the authentication The right frame is affected by the interference signal, which causes the authentication frame reception to fail, that is, there is a problem of uplink reception interference in the initial access process.

Therefore, in the initial access process, how to achieve long-distance coverage and uplink reception interference suppression becomes an urgent problem to be solved.

Summary of the invention

The embodiments of the present application provide a beam determination method and related devices, which can achieve long-distance coverage and uplink reception interference suppression.

The following describes the application from different aspects. It should be understood that the following embodiments and beneficial effects of different aspects can be referred to each other.

In the first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a beam determination method, which is applicable to an STA. The method includes: the STA receives multiple Beacon frames from the AP, and each Beacon frame includes a narrow transmission beam used by the AP to transmit the Beacon frame The beam identifier; the STA determines the first transmission beam from the narrow transmission beams that send the multiple Beacon frames; the STA sends initial access information to the AP, and the initial access information can be used to instruct the AP to use the first transmission beam and the STA To communicate.

Optionally, the STA determines the first transmission beam from the multiple narrow transmission beams for transmitting multiple Beacon frames, which specifically includes: the STA sends the corresponding narrow transmission beam of each Beacon frame according to the measurement of each received Beacon frame Receive signal quality (such as SINR or RSRP), and determine the first transmission beam from the multiple narrow transmission beams according to the received signal quality corresponding to the multiple narrow transmission beams.

In this embodiment of the application, the Beacon frame carries the beam identifier of the narrow transmit beam used to transmit the Beacon frame, so that the STA selects the optimal transmit beam for the STA according to the received signal quality corresponding to different narrow transmit beams for the AP, and The optimal transmit beam is notified to the AP through the authentication frame, which is beneficial to improve the signal quality in the communication between the AP and the STA, and the optimal transmit beam is a narrow beam, which is beneficial to provide 3 to 5dB of receive beam gain, and 13dB The interference sidelobe suppression, thereby improving the access performance of long-distance STAs, achieving long-distance coverage and uplink reception interference suppression.

Wherein, the initial access information may carry the beam identifier of the first transmission beam to instruct the AP to use the first transmission beam to communicate with the STA. Specifically, the initial access information may be an authentication frame, the physical layer structure of the authentication frame may be a single user physical protocol data unit (SU PPDU), and the authentication frame may include the beam identifier of the first transmission beam .

Optionally, a beam identifier is included in a Beacon frame. The multiple Beacon frames are respectively transmitted by different narrow transmission beams, and one Beacon frame may be transmitted by one narrow transmission beam.

Optionally, the optimal transmission beam may refer to a narrow transmission beam with the best received signal quality among different narrow transmission beams.

With reference to the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner, each of the foregoing Beacon frames may further include at least one of the following information: a beam polling time period, the total number of beams polled by the beam in the beam polling time period, or The remaining number of beams in the beam polling time period. The beam polling time period and/or the remaining beam number are used to determine whether the number of Beacon frames received by the STA is equal to the number of Beacon frames sent by the AP in the beam polling time period.

The embodiment of this application uses the beam polling time period, the total number of beams, or the number of remaining beams carried in the Beacon frame to determine whether the AP polling is completed. If the polling is completed, it is beneficial to determine the optimal transmission from multiple narrow beams. The beam can more accurately determine the narrow transmit beam with better signal quality as the optimal transmit beam.

With reference to the first aspect, in a possible implementation manner, each of the foregoing Beacon frames may further include a beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame and time information of the Trigger frame. Before the STA sends the initial access information to the AP, the method further includes: the STA receives multiple Trigger frames from the AP; the STA sends the initial access information to the AP, specifically: the STA sends the initial access information to the AP within the target access time window The initial access information is used to instruct the AP to use the first transmission beam corresponding to the target access time window to communicate with the STA. Wherein, the beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame is used to determine the target Trigger frame corresponding to the first transmission beam from the plurality of Trigger frames, and the time information of the Trigger frame and the target Trigger frame are used to determine that the target Trigger frame corresponds to The target access time window.

Optionally, after receiving multiple Trigger frames, the STA may determine the target corresponding to the first transmission beam from the received multiple Trigger frames according to the beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame included in any of the received Beacon frames Trigger frame. The STA may determine the sending start time of the target Trigger frame according to the time information of the Trigger frame included in any received Beacon frame and the receiving time of the target Trigger frame. The STA determines the target access time window corresponding to the target Trigger frame according to the target Trigger frame and the sending start time of the target Trigger frame. Wherein, the time starting point of the target access time window is the sum of the sending start time of the target Trigger frame, the frame length of the target Trigger frame and the short inter-frame interval, and the duration (ie size) of the target time window is equal to the target Trigger The size of the access time window included in the frame.

In this embodiment of the application, the Beacon frame carries the beam identifier of the transmission beam used to transmit the Beacon frame, so that the STA selects the optimal transmission beam for the STA for the AP according to the received signal quality corresponding to different narrow transmission beams. The embodiment of the application also carries the beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame (or UORA time window, or random access resource) in the Beacon frame, so that the STA selects the optimal transmitting beam corresponding to the optimal transmitting beam based on the above-mentioned selection. Random access resources (here refers to the access time window) for access, the AP learns the beam selection result of the STA through the access time window corresponding to the time when the uplink access message (here refers to the authentication frame) is received, so that there is no need A new field is added to the authentication frame to indicate the beam selection result of the STA. Because the beam selection results of different STAs are different, and different beams correspond to different random access resources, different STAs can be adapted to different random access resources to improve uplink access messages (such as authentication frames) The probability of successful reception reduces the collision probability of STA access. In addition, because the optimal transmit beam of the above beam selection result is the narrow transmit beam with the best received signal quality, it is beneficial to improve the signal quality in the communication between the AP and the STA, and the beam is a narrow beam, which is beneficial to provide 3~5dB The receiving beam gain and 13dB interference sidelobe suppression can improve the access performance of long-distance STAs, and achieve long-distance uplink coverage and uplink reception interference suppression.

Wherein, the multiple Trigger frames are sent by at least 2 different narrow beams of the AP. Each Trigger frame in the plurality of Trigger frames includes information about the size (immediate length) of an access time window and the frame length of each Trigger frame.

Optionally, the time information of the Trigger frame may include the time offset between the sending time of the first Trigger frame and the sending time of the Beacon frame, and the sending time interval of two adjacent Trigger frames. The beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame may include the start beam identifier and the end beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame.

Optionally, the initial access information may be an authentication frame, and the physical layer structure of the authentication frame may be a Trigger-based physical protocol data unit (TB PPDU).

In the second aspect, the embodiments of the present application provide another beam determination method, which is applicable to an AP. The method includes: the AP uses beam polling to send multiple Beacon frames; the AP receives initial access information from the STA; The received initial access information uses the first transmission beam to communicate with the STA.

Optionally, the AP uses the first transmission beam to communicate with the STA according to the received initial access information, specifically: the AP parses the initial access information to obtain the information of the first transmission beam carried in the initial access information The beam identifier, and the first transmission beam is used to communicate with the STA.

In this embodiment of the application, the Beacon frame carries the beam identifier of the narrow transmit beam used to transmit the Beacon frame, so that the STA selects the optimal transmit beam for the STA according to the received signal quality corresponding to different narrow transmit beams for the AP, and The optimal transmission beam is notified to the AP through the authentication frame, which is beneficial to improve the signal quality in the communication between the AP and the STA, and the beam is a narrow beam, which is beneficial to provide 3~5dB of receiving beam gain and 13dB of interference. Lobe suppression, thereby improving the access performance of long-distance STAs, achieving long-distance uplink coverage and uplink reception interference suppression.

Wherein, each Beacon frame in the multiple Beacon frames includes a beam identifier of a narrow transmission beam used for transmitting the Beacon frame, and one Beacon frame includes a beam identifier. The multiple Beacon frames are used to determine the first transmission beam from the multiple narrow transmission beams for transmitting the multiple Beacons.

Optionally, the initial access information may be an authentication frame, the physical layer structure of the authentication frame may be a SU PPDU, and the authentication frame may include the beam identifier of the first transmission beam.

With reference to the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, each of the above-mentioned Beacon frames may further include at least one of the following information: a beam polling time period, the total number of beams polled in the beam polling time period, or The remaining number of beams in the beam polling time period. The beam polling time period and/or the remaining beam number are used to determine whether the number of Beacon frames received by the STA is equal to the number of Beacon frames sent by the AP in the beam polling time period.

In the embodiment of the application, the beam polling time period, the total number of beams, or the number of remaining beams carried in the Beacon frame is used to determine whether the AP polling is completed. If the polling is completed, it is beneficial to determine the optimal transmission beam from multiple transmission beams (First transmit beam), the transmit beam with better signal quality can be determined more accurately as the optimal transmit beam.

With reference to the second aspect, in a possible implementation manner, each of the foregoing Beacon frames may further include a beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame and time information of the Trigger frame. Before the AP receives the initial access information from the STA, the method further includes: the AP uses at least 2 different narrow transmit beams to transmit multiple Trigger frames, and each narrow transmit beam transmits at least one Trigger frame; the AP receives the initial access information from the STA Specifically, the AP receives the initial access information sent by the STA within the target access time window; the AP uses the first transmit beam to communicate with the STA according to the received initial access information, specifically: the AP determines the initial access The target access time window corresponding to the receiving time of the incoming information uses the first transmission beam corresponding to the target access time window to communicate with the STA. Wherein, the beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame is used by the STA to determine the target Trigger frame corresponding to the first transmission beam from the multiple received Trigger frames, and the time information of the Trigger frame and the target Trigger frame are used by the STA. Determine the target access time window corresponding to the target Trigger frame.

Wherein, each Trigger frame in the plurality of Trigger frames includes information about the size (immediate length) of an access time window and the frame length of each Trigger frame.

Optionally, the initial access information may be an authentication frame, and the physical layer structure of the authentication frame may be a TB PPDU.

In the third aspect, the embodiments of the present application provide yet another beam determination method. The method is applicable to the STA. The method includes: the STA receives a Beacon frame from the AP, and the Beacon frame may include the time information of the Trigger frame; and the STA receives the M from the AP. Trigger frames; the STA determines the target Trigger frame from the M Trigger frames; if the current time does not exceed the target access time window corresponding to the target Trigger frame, the STA sends the initial access to the AP within the target access time window The initial access information is used to instruct the AP to use the first transmission beam corresponding to the target access time window to communicate with the STA. Wherein, the target Trigger frame and the time information of the Trigger frame are used to determine the target access time window corresponding to the target Trigger frame.

Optionally, the STA may measure the received signal quality (such as RSRP) corresponding to each Trigger frame according to each Trigger frame received. The STA determines the target Trigger frame from the M Trigger frames according to the received signal quality corresponding to the M Trigger frames. Wherein, the target Trigger frame may be the Trigger frame with the highest received signal quality among the M Trigger frames.

In the embodiment of the application, the time information of the Trigger frame is carried in the Beacon frame, so that the STA selects a random access resource (herein referred to as the access time window) corresponding to the Trigger frame from the multiple Trigger frames received for access. Since the random access resources selected by STAs in different locations may be different, STAs in different locations can be adapted to different random access resources, and the authentication frames sent on different random access resources can be used to implicitly Notify the AP of the optimal transmit beam for the STA. Not only is it helpful to improve the signal quality in the communication between the AP and the STA, and the optimal transmit beam is a narrow beam, which is beneficial to provide 3 to 5dB of receive beam gain and 13dB of interference sidelobe suppression, thereby improving the connection of long-distance STAs. Incoming performance, to achieve long-distance coverage and uplink reception interference suppression; it can also reduce the number of access failures and access delays of long-distance STAs, and improve the overall access efficiency of STAs in the cell.

Wherein, each Trigger frame in the M Trigger frames may include information about the size (immediate length) of the access time window.

Optionally, the time information of the Trigger frame may include the time offset between the sending time of the first Trigger frame (here, the sending start time) and the sending time of the Beacon frame (here, the sending start time), and two adjacent ones. The sending time interval of a Trigger frame (here refers to the sending start time interval).

With reference to the third aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the above-mentioned Beacon frame may further include a signal quality threshold, and the M Trigger frames may be transmitted by the wide transmit beam of the AP. The STA determines the target Trigger frame from the M Trigger frames, specifically: if the received signal quality corresponding to at least one Trigger frame in the M Trigger frames is greater than or equal to the signal quality threshold, the STA will determine the target Trigger frame from the M Trigger frames. Any Trigger frame in the Trigger frame is determined as the target Trigger frame.

With reference to the third aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the above-mentioned Beacon frame may also include a signal quality threshold. The M Trigger frames include MN first Trigger frames and N second Trigger frames, and the MN The first Trigger frame is transmitted by the wide transmission beam of the AP, and the N second Trigger frames are transmitted by at least 2 different narrow transmission beams of the AP. The STA determines the target Trigger frame from the M Trigger frames, specifically: if the received signal quality corresponding to each first Trigger frame in the MN first Trigger frames is less than the signal quality threshold, then the STA will start from the The target Trigger frame is determined in the N second Trigger frames, and the target Trigger frame is the second Trigger frame with the highest received signal quality among the N second Trigger frames.

The above-mentioned signal quality threshold can be used to distinguish long-distance STAs from short-distance STAs. It is understandable that the distance here refers to the distance between AP and STA. Long-distance STA and short-distance STA are relative concepts. For example, STAs with received signal quality greater than or equal to the signal quality threshold are considered as short-distance STAs; Otherwise, it is considered a long-distance STA.

In this embodiment of the application, short-distance STAs are adapted to a wide beam for access, and long-distance STAs are adapted to a narrow beam for access, which can reduce the access collision probability of STAs in different locations and improve the efficiency of STA access. In addition, when the AP in the embodiment of the present application communicates with a long-distance STA, it can provide 3 to 5dB of receiving beam gain and 13dB of interference sidelobe suppression through a narrow beam, thereby improving the access performance of the long-distance STA and realizing the long-distance STA. Range coverage and uplink reception interference suppression.

With reference to the third aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the above-mentioned Beacon frame may also include information about the number of Trigger frames, and the information about the number of Trigger frames is used to determine MN first Triggers from the M Trigger frames Frames and N second Trigger frames.

Optionally, the foregoing information about the number of Trigger frames includes the number of Trigger frames sent using a wide transmission beam and the number of Trigger frames sent using a narrow transmission beam. MN may be less than or equal to the number of Trigger frames sent using a wide transmission beam, and N may be less than or Equal to the number of Trigger frames sent with a narrow beam.

The embodiment of the application carries the information of the number of Trigger frames in the Beacon frame to inform the STA whether the Trigger frames received at different times are sent by a wide beam or a narrow beam, so that the STA can select different beams according to its position relative to the AP. (Here refers to broadband or narrowwave) corresponding random access resources for access. Since the random access resources selected by long-distance STAs and short-distance STAs are not the same, it can reduce the access collision probability of STAs in different locations and improve STAs. Access efficiency.

With reference to the third aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the above-mentioned Beacon frame may further include a beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame, and the beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame may be used to determine the first transmission beam corresponding to the target Trigger frame. The method further includes: if the current time has exceeded the target access time window corresponding to the target Trigger frame, the STA receives a third Trigger frame sent by the AP through the first transmission beam; Send initial access information to the AP within the access time window, where the initial access information is used to instruct the AP to use the first transmission beam corresponding to the first access time window to communicate with the STA. Wherein, the time information of the third Trigger frame and the third Trigger frame is used to determine the first access time window corresponding to the third Trigger frame.

In this embodiment of the application, the beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame is carried in the Beacon frame, so that the STA can determine that the first transmission beam corresponding to the target Trigger frame has exceeded the target access time window corresponding to the target Trigger frame at the current time Next, the STA re-receives the third Trigger frame sent on the first transmission beam corresponding to the target Trigger frame, and returns the authentication frame to the AP within the first access time window corresponding to the third Trigger frame. A processing method in possible situations is provided, which enriches the beam determination methods provided in the embodiments of the present application.

In a fourth aspect, the embodiments of the present application provide yet another beam determination method, which is applicable to an AP. The method includes: the AP sends at least one Beacon frame, and each Beacon frame may include the time information of the Trigger frame; and the AP sends at least one Beacon frame. M Trigger frames; when the current time does not exceed the target access time window corresponding to the target Trigger frame, the AP receives the initial access information sent by the STA within the target access time window; the AP determines the receiving time of the initial access information For the corresponding target access time window, the first transmission beam corresponding to the target access time window is used to communicate with the STA. The at least M Trigger frames are used by the STA to determine the target Trigger frame, and the target Trigger frame and the time information of the Trigger frame are used by the STA to determine the target access time window corresponding to the target Trigger frame.

Wherein, each Trigger frame in the at least M Trigger frames includes information about the size (immediate length) of the access time window.

Optionally, the at least one Beacon frame is sent using beam polling, so that STAs in different locations can all receive the at least one Beacon frame.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the above-mentioned Beacon frame may further include a signal quality threshold, and the at least M Trigger frames may include M Trigger frames transmitted by the AP's wide transmit beam. When the received signal quality corresponding to at least one Trigger frame in the M Trigger frames is greater than or equal to the signal quality threshold, the target Trigger frame is any Trigger frame in the M Trigger frames.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the above-mentioned Beacon frame may further include a signal quality threshold, and the at least M Trigger frames include MN first Trigger frames and N second Trigger frames, and the MN The first Trigger frames are transmitted by the wide transmission beam of the AP, and the N second Trigger frames are transmitted by at least 2 different narrow transmission beams of the AP. When the received signal quality corresponding to each first Trigger frame in the MN first Trigger frames is less than the signal quality threshold, the target Trigger frame is the second with the highest received signal quality among the N second Trigger frames Trigger frame.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the above-mentioned Beacon frame may further include information about the number of Trigger frames, and the information about the number of Trigger frames is used to determine MN first Trigger frames from the at least M Trigger frames And N second Trigger frames.

Optionally, the foregoing information about the number of Trigger frames includes the number of Trigger frames sent using a wide transmission beam and the number of Trigger frames sent using a narrow transmission beam. MN may be less than or equal to the number of Trigger frames sent using a wide transmission beam, and N may be less than Or equal to the number of Trigger frames sent using the narrow beam.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in a possible implementation manner, the above-mentioned Beacon frame may further include a beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame, and the beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame may be used to determine the first transmission beam corresponding to the target Trigger frame. The method further includes: when the current time has exceeded the target access time window corresponding to the target Trigger frame, the AP sends a third Trigger frame on the first transmission beam; and the AP receives the first trigger frame corresponding to the third Trigger frame by the STA. The initial access information sent within the access time window; the AP determines the first access time window corresponding to the receiving time of the initial access information, and uses the first transmission beam and STA corresponding to the first access time window To communicate.

Wherein, the time information of the third Trigger frame and the third Trigger frame is used to determine the first access time window corresponding to the third Trigger frame.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a device, which may be an STA or a chip or circuit that can be installed in the STA, and the device includes any one of the first aspect and/or the first aspect described above. The unit and/or module of the beam determination method provided by the possible implementation manners can therefore also achieve the beneficial effects (or advantages) of the beam determination method provided in the first aspect.

In the sixth aspect, the embodiments of the present application provide another device. The device may be an AP or a chip or circuit that can be installed in the AP. The device includes any one of the second aspect and/or the second aspect described above. The unit and/or module of the beam determination method provided by this possible implementation manner can also achieve the beneficial effects (or advantages) of the beam determination method provided in the second aspect.

In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides yet another device. The device may be an STA or a chip or circuit that can be installed in the STA. The device includes any one of the third aspect and/or the third aspect. The unit and/or module of the beam determination method provided by this possible implementation manner can also achieve the beneficial effects (or advantages) of the beam determination method provided by the third aspect.

In an eighth aspect, the embodiments of the present application provide yet another device. The device may be an AP or a chip or a circuit that can be installed in the AP. The device includes any of the foregoing fourth aspect and/or fourth aspect. The unit and/or module of the beam determination method provided by a possible implementation manner can therefore also achieve the beneficial effects (or advantages) of the beam determination method provided by the fourth aspect.

In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an STA. The STA may include a processor, a transceiver, and a memory, where the memory is used to store a computer program, and the transceiver is used to send and receive various information and data frames (such as trigger frames). ) Or a control frame (such as a beacon frame). The computer program includes program instructions. When the processor runs the program instructions, the terminal device executes the beam of the first aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect. Determine the method. The transceiver may be a radio frequency module in the STA, or a combination of a radio frequency module and an antenna, or an input/output interface of a chip or circuit.

In a tenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an AP. The AP may include a processor, a transceiver, and a memory, where the memory is used to store a computer program, and the transceiver is used to send and receive various information and data frames (such as trigger frames). ) Or a control frame (such as a beacon frame), the computer program includes program instructions, and when the processor runs the program instructions, the terminal device executes the beam of the second aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect Determine the method. Among them, the transceiver may be a radio frequency module in the AP, or a combination of a radio frequency module and an antenna, or an input/output interface of a chip or circuit.

In an eleventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides another STA. The STA may include a processor, a transceiver, and a memory, where the memory is used to store a computer program, and the transceiver is used to send and receive various information and data frames (such as trigger frame) or control frame (such as a beacon frame), the computer program includes program instructions, when the processor runs the program instructions, the terminal device executes the third aspect or any one of the possible implementation manners of the third aspect Beam determination method. The transceiver may be a radio frequency module in the STA, or a combination of a radio frequency module and an antenna, or an input/output interface of a chip or circuit.

In the twelfth aspect, the embodiments of the present application provide another AP. The AP may include a processor, a transceiver, and a memory, where the memory is used to store a computer program, and the transceiver is used to send and receive various information and data frames (such as trigger frame) or control frame (such as beacon frame), the computer program includes program instructions, when the processor runs the program instructions, the terminal device is made to execute the fourth aspect or any one of the possible implementation manners of the fourth aspect Beam determination method. Among them, the transceiver may be a radio frequency module in the AP, or a combination of a radio frequency module and an antenna, or an input/output interface of a chip or circuit.

In a thirteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system including an STA and an AP, where: the STA is the device described in the fifth aspect or the STA described in the ninth aspect, and the AP is the device described in the sixth aspect. The device or the AP described in the tenth aspect above.

In a fourteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides another communication system, including an STA and an AP, where: the STA is the device described in the seventh aspect or the STA described in the eleventh aspect, and the AP is the eighth aspect. The device described or the AP described in the twelfth aspect above.

In a fifteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium that stores computer program instructions in the computer-readable storage medium, and when the computer program instructions are executed on the computer, the computer executes the first aspect described above. The beam determination method in.

In a sixteenth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer-readable storage medium that stores computer program instructions in the computer-readable storage medium, and when the computer program instructions run on the computer, the computer executes the second aspect described above. The beam determination method in.

In a seventeenth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer-readable storage medium that stores computer program instructions in the computer-readable storage medium, and when the computer program instructions run on the computer, the computer executes the third aspect described above. The beam determination method in.

In an eighteenth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium that stores computer program instructions in the computer-readable storage medium, and when the computer program instructions are executed on the computer, the computer executes the fourth aspect described above. The beam determination method in.

In a nineteenth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer program product. The computer program product includes computer program code. When the computer program code runs on a computer, the computer executes the beam determination method of the first aspect.

In a twentieth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product, the computer program product including computer program code, when the computer program code runs on a computer, the computer executes the beam determination method of the second aspect.

In the twenty-first aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer program product, the computer program product including computer program code, when the computer program code runs on a computer, the computer executes the beam determination method of the third aspect.

In the twenty-second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product, the computer program product including computer program code, when the computer program code runs on a computer, the computer executes the beam determination method of the fourth aspect.

In the twenty-third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip including a processor. The processor is configured to read and execute a computer program stored in the memory to execute the communication method in any possible implementation manner of the above-mentioned first aspect or the above-mentioned second aspect. Optionally, the chip further includes a memory, and the memory and the processor are connected through a circuit or a wire. Further optionally, the chip further includes a communication interface, and the processor is connected to the communication interface. The communication interface is used to receive data and/or information that needs to be processed, and the processor obtains the data and/or information from the communication interface, processes the data and/or information, and outputs the processing result through the communication interface. The communication interface can be an input and output interface.

Optionally, the foregoing processor and memory may be physically independent units, or the memory may also be integrated with the processor.

The implementation of the embodiments of this application can achieve long-distance coverage in video backhaul scenarios and suppress uplink reception interference on the one hand, and on the other hand, it can improve the access efficiency of users (ie STAs) in the cell during the initial access process and avoid User (ie STA) access collision during the initial access process.

Description of the drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a WIFI wireless communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 2a is a schematic diagram of data exchange in the access process in passive mode provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2b is a schematic diagram of data exchange in an access process in active mode provided by an embodiment of the present application; FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic flowchart of a beam determination method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4a is a schematic diagram of fields carried in a Beacon frame provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4b is another schematic diagram of fields carried in a Beacon frame provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of fields carried in an authentication frame provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is another schematic flowchart of a beam determination method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is another schematic diagram of fields carried in a Beacon frame provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 is another schematic flowchart of a beam determination method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 9 is still another schematic diagram of fields carried in a Beacon frame provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 11 is another schematic structural diagram of a device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 12 is another schematic structural diagram of the device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 13 is still another schematic diagram of the structure of the device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 14 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed ways

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application.

In order to facilitate a better understanding of the beam determination method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the system architecture of the beam determination method provided in the embodiment of the present application will be described below.

The beam determination method provided in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to a WIFI (wireless-fidelity) wireless communication system. Referring to FIG. 1, FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a WIFI wireless communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 1, the WIFI wireless communication system may include at least one AP and at least one STA (STA1 and STA2 in FIG. 1). Among them, the AP in the WIFI wireless communication system has beamforming capability; the STA is equipped with a directional antenna, which can send and receive signals in a specific beam direction, and the STA can also be equipped with an omnidirectional antenna, which can send and receive signals in multiple specific beam directions. But STA does not have beamforming capability. Optionally, the AP may use different beams to communicate with the STA. APs and STAs can be connected wirelessly, one AP can be connected to one or more STAs, and one STA can be connected to one AP. The STA can be a fixed location, or it can be mobile. The AP in the embodiment of the present application may include wireless routers, base stations, etc.; the STA may include terminals with shooting functions such as mobile phones, computers, IPADs, and cameras. This embodiment of the application does not limit the number of APs and STAs included in the WIFI wireless communication system.

In some feasible implementation manners, the WIFI wireless communication system provided in the embodiments of the present application may support two access technologies. One is an access technology based on beacon frames or probe request frames; the other is an access technology based on trigger frames.

Among them, the access technology based on the Beacon frame or the probe request frame mainly includes three steps: (1) Scan stage, STA searches for nearby APs through scanning; (2) Authentication stage, STA After selecting a certain AP, initiate identity authentication to this AP; (3) Association (association), after passing identity authentication, the STA initiates an association process to this AP. The STA can establish a communication link with the AP through the above three steps, that is, the STA accesses the AP through the above three steps. After the communication link between the STA and the AP is established, the STA and the AP can send and receive data messages to each other.

Optionally, there are two scanning modes in the scanning phase, namely, an active mode and a passive mode. In the active mode, the STA sends a probe request frame on each channel in turn, and the probe request frame carries service set identifier (SSID) information related to the STA to find APs with the same SSID. When the STA finds an AP with the same SSID, it will enter the authentication phase, and only the STA that has passed the identity authentication can perform wireless access. In the passive mode, the STA discovers the network by listening to the Beacon frames periodically sent by the AP. The Beacon identifies the basic service set (BSS) information related to the AP. The STA selects one based on the BSS information identified by the Beacon frame. The AP enters the authentication phase.

Refer to Fig. 2a, which is a schematic diagram of data interaction in the access process in the passive mode provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 2a, the access process in passive mode includes step a-step e. Step a, AP periodically sends Beacon frames; Step b, STA sends an authentication request (authentication request) to AP; Step c, AP returns an authentication response (authentication response) to STA; Step d, STA sends an association request (association request) to AP ); Step e, AP returns an association response (association response) to the STA. Referring to Figure 2b, Figure 2b is a schematic diagram of data interaction in the access process in the active mode provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 2b, the access process in the active mode includes step f-step k. Step f, the STA sends a probe request; step g, the AP returns a probe response to the STA; step h, the STA sends an authentication request (authentication request) to the AP; step i, the AP returns an authentication response to the STA (authentication response); step j, the STA sends an association request (association request) to the AP; step k, the AP returns an association response (association response) to the STA.

The access technology based on Trigger frames can also be referred to as uplink (UL) based on orthogonal frequency division multiple access (orthogonal frequency division multiple access, OFDMA) random access (UL OFDMA-based random access, UORA). When the AP performs uplink scheduling, random access resources can be allocated, and STAs can compete to send uplink data under the bandwidth where the random access resources are located. The AP can perform uplink scheduling by sending a Trigger frame, and the Trigger frame can carry random access resources allocated by the AP. After receiving the Trigger frame, the STA performs contention access according to its internal OFDMA backoff (OFDMA backoff, OBO) counter. When the OBO counter inside a certain STA decreases to 0 and the channel is detected to be idle through the physical and virtual carriers, the STA sends an authentication frame on the random access resource carried in the Trigger frame.

Among the two access technologies supported by the WIFI wireless communication system, on the one hand, the STA cannot obtain the beam information corresponding to the Beacon frames received at different times, and thus cannot determine the optimal beam for communication between the AP and the STA. Even if the STA determines the optimal beam for communication between the AP and the STA, the message reported by the STA during the access process does not carry the corresponding beam information, so the AP cannot determine the optimal beam corresponding to the STA. On the other hand, because the WIFI wireless communication system is accessed based on a competitive approach, the signal of a long-distance STA has a large signal attenuation when it reaches the AP, so it is difficult for a long-distance STA to preempt access resources for access. In addition, because STAs of different beam directions or different distances compete for access resources in the same beam direction at the same time, short-distance STAs may preempt the access opportunities of long-distance STAs, causing long-distance STAs to fail to access for a long time. Entry is extended.

Therefore, the embodiment of the present application provides a beam determination method, which can determine the optimal beam for communication between the AP and each STA, so as to meet the long-distance coverage requirements and the uplink reception interference suppression requirements.

It is understandable that the beam width of a signal refers to the angle between the two maximum radiation directions when the radiation power drops by 3 decibels (dB) on both sides of the maximum radiation direction. The beam width can be divided into horizontal beam width and vertical beam width. The horizontal beam width refers to the angle between the two maximum radiation directions at which the radiation power drops by 3dB on both sides of the maximum radiation direction in the horizontal direction. The vertical beam width refers to the angle between the two maximum radiation directions at which the radiation power drops by 3dB on both sides of the maximum radiation direction in the vertical direction.

The wide beam mentioned in the embodiment of the present application refers to a beam with a wider horizontal beam width, for example, the horizontal beam width is 45 to 120 degrees. The wide beam has a wider coverage area and is usually used for wide coverage of broadcast signals. In comparison, the narrow beam mentioned in the embodiment of the present application refers to a beam with a narrow horizontal beam width, for example, the horizontal beam width is 10-20 degrees. Compared with the wide beam, the narrow beam has higher beam gain and better side-lobe interference suppression capability, but the coverage area is narrower. Narrow beams are usually used for point-to-point communications.

In some feasible implementation manners, the AP in the embodiments of this application can be equipped with a large-scale multi-input and multi-output (MIMO) antenna for beamforming; the STA can be equipped with a directional antenna or an omnidirectional antenna, Does not have beamforming capability. In the embodiment of this application, one AP can access multiple STAs at the same time. For the same STA, the transmit beam and receive beam of the AP can be the same beam or different beams. In the embodiments of this application, the transmitting beam and receiving beam used by the AP to communicate with the STA can be multiplexed, that is, for a certain STA, the transmitting beam used by the AP to send information/data to this STA is the same as the one used to receive information/data from this STA. The receiving beam used is the same beam. It is understandable that the transmitting beam refers to the beam used to transmit information/data, and the receiving beam refers to the beam used to receive information/data. It is also understandable that the wide transmission beam mentioned in the embodiments of the present application refers to the wide beam used when sending information/data, and the narrow transmission beam refers to the narrow beam used when sending information/data.

In some feasible implementation manners, the received signal quality involved in the embodiments of this application can be reflected by the signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), or it can be reflected by reference signal receiving power, RSRP) reflect. Among them, SINR may refer to the ratio of the strength of the received useful signal to the strength of the received interference signal (including noise and interference). RSRP may refer to the average value of signal power received on all resource elements (resource elements, RE) that carry a reference signal in a certain symbol. It is understandable that the larger the SINR or RSRP, the higher the received signal quality. Conversely, the smaller the SINR or RSRP, the lower the received signal quality.

It is understandable that the broadcast frame in the WIFI wireless communication system does not require a receiver acknowledgement (ACK), while a unicast frame usually requires a receiver acknowledgement (ACK). Therefore, since the Beacon frame in the embodiment of this application is a broadcast frame, the receiving end does not need to feed back the ACK frame after receiving the Beacon frame; since the authentication frame in the embodiment of this application is a unicast frame, the receiving end receives the Beacon frame After that, the corresponding ACK frame needs to be fed back.

The beam determination method provided by the embodiment of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to FIG. 3 to FIG. 9.

Referring to FIG. 3, FIG. 3 is a schematic flowchart of a beam determination method provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 3, the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application includes but is not limited to the following steps:

S301. The AP uses beam polling to send multiple beacon frames. Accordingly, the STA receives multiple Beacon frames from the AP.

In some feasible implementation manners, the Beacon frame sent by the AP may carry beam-related indications. Specifically, each Beacon frame sent by the AP may include a beam identification (identity, ID) of the sending beam used for sending the Beacon frame. Among them, a Beacon frame includes a beam identifier. For example, if the AP sends a Beacon frame on beam1, the beam identifier included in this Beacon frame is beam1; when the AP sends another Beacon frame on beam2, the beam identifier included in this other Beacon frame is beam2. Optionally, each Beacon frame may also include at least one of the following information: beam polling time period, the number of beams polled in the current beam polling time period, or the beam polling information in the current beam polling time period The total number of beams. Among them, all beams polled by AP beams are narrow beams, and the total number of polled beams is greater than or equal to 2.

It should be noted that the beam polling time period in the embodiment of the present application is also referred to as the Beacon beam polling period T_BM (Beacon beam pattern cycle), which refers to the time required for the AP to complete one beam polling to send the Beacon frame. It is understandable that the Beacon frame in the embodiment of the present application may be sent periodically, that is, one Beacon frame is sent at regular intervals (a period of time here refers to a Beacon interval). For example, the AP has a total of 8 narrow beams beam1-beam8, and the AP polls and sends beacon frames in order on the 8 narrow beams beam1-beam8. That is, the AP sends the first Beacon frame on beam1, and then sends the second Beacon frame on beam2 after an interval of 1 Beacon cycle, and sends the third Beacon frame on beam3 after an interval of 1 Beacon cycle, and so on, After the AP sends the 7th Beacon frame on beam7, it sends the 8th Beacon frame on beam8 after an interval of 1 Beacon period. It can be seen that the beam polling time period (ie Beacon beam polling period T_BM) starts from the AP sending the first Beacon frame on beam1 until the AP sends the eighth Beacon frame on beam8, with an interval of 1 Beacon cycle The time required.

In some feasible implementation manners, the embodiments of the present application may indicate various beam-related information through fields carried in the Beacon frame. Specifically, a field carried by the Beacon frame may indicate a type of beam-related information. For example, the beam identifier of the transmitting beam used by the AP to send the Beacon frame can be indicated by a field in the Beacon frame; the total number of beams polled by the beam in the current beam polling time period or the remaining beam number can be determined by another field in the Beacon frame. Field indication; the beam polling time period can be indicated by another field in the Beacon frame.

It is understandable that a field carried by the Beacon frame may also indicate various beam-related information (such as beam identification, total number of beams, remaining number of beams, or beam polling time period, etc.). It is also understandable that the fields of beam-related information included in the Beacon frame may be newly added fields. It is also understandable that the field lengths (units of bits) of multiple fields of various beam-related information included in the Beacon frame may be the same or different. It is also understandable that the multiple fields of various beam-related information included in the Beacon frame may be adjacent fields or non-adjacent fields.

Referring to FIG. 4a, FIG. 4a is a schematic diagram of fields carried in a Beacon frame provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 4a, the CurrentBeamID (current beam ID) field carried in the Beacon frame indicates the beam ID of the transmission beam used by the AP to send this Beacon frame, and the Total Beam Num field carried in the Beacon frame indicates the current beam polling. The total number of beams polled by the beam in the time period; or the Remaining Beam Num field carried in the Beacon frame indicates the number of beams polled in the current beam polling time period. The length of the CurrentBeamID field in Figure 4a is 3 bits, and the length of the Total Beam Num field or the Remaining Beam Num field is also 3 bits.

Referring to FIG. 4b, FIG. 4b is another schematic diagram of the fields carried in the Beacon frame provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 4b, the CurrentBeamID field carried in the Beacon frame indicates the beam identification of the transmission beam used by the AP to send this Beacon frame, and the Beacon Beam Pattern Cycle (Beacon beam polling period) field carried in the Beacon frame indicates the beam polling time period. In Figure 4b, the length of the CurrentBeamID field is 3 bits, and the length of the Beam Pattern Cycle field is 14 bits.

It is understandable that FIGS. 4a and 4b are only schematic diagrams. In practical applications, other fields may be added to the Beacon frame to indicate various information related to the beam. It is also understandable that the length of the newly added field in the Beacon frame can also be set according to actual application scenarios. The embodiment of the application does not limit this.

In some feasible implementation manners, the AP uses beam polling to send multiple Beacon frames, and within one beam polling time period, the AP sends one Beacon frame on a narrow transmission beam. Assuming that the AP has K different narrow transmission beams, the AP transmits a total of K Beacon frames in one beam polling time period, and each Beacon frame of the K Beacon frames is transmitted by a different narrow transmission beam of the AP. Accordingly, the STA receives multiple Beacon frames from the AP. Since the AP uses multiple different narrow transmit beams to poll and transmit Beacon frames, and the horizontal beam width of the narrow transmit beam is narrow (for example, the horizontal beam width is 10-20 degrees), the coverage area is limited (that is, the coverage area is narrow), Therefore, the number of Beacon frames received by STAs in different locations (where the location refers to geographic location) or at different distances (where the distance refers to the distance between the STA and the AP) may be different. Wherein, each Beacon frame includes the beam identifier of the transmitting beam used by the AP to transmit the Beacon frame. Optionally, each Beacon frame may further include at least one of the beam polling time period, the total number of beams polled by the beam in the current beam polling time period, or the number of remaining beams.

In this embodiment of the application, beam polling is used to send Beacon frames to ensure that STAs in different geographic locations or at different distances can receive one or more Beacon frames.

For example, K is equal to 8, and the AP has 8 different narrow transmit beams, such as beam1-beam8. The AP sends Beacon frames on the eight narrow transmission beams of beam1-beam8 in sequence, and the AP sends a total of 8 Beacon frames in the beam polling time period. Taking three STAs as an example, the three STAs (such as STA1, STA2, and STA3) are located in different geographic locations or have different distances from the AP. STA1 receives the Beacon frames sent on beam1, beam2, and beam3 from AP, STA1 receives a total of 3 Beacon frames; STA2 receives the Beacon frames sent on beam3 and beam4 from AP, and STA2 receives a total of 2 Beacon frames; AP receives the Beacon frames sent on beam1-beam8, and STA3 receives a total of 8 Beacon frames. It is understandable that, for ease of description, an STA is taken as an example below for description.

S302. The STA determines a first transmission beam from multiple transmission beams identified by multiple beam identifiers included in multiple Beacon frames.

In some feasible implementation manners, since each of the foregoing Beacon frames includes the beam identifier of the narrow transmit beam used by the AP to transmit the Beacon frame, the STA can measure the information included in each Beacon frame according to each received Beacon frame. The received signal quality (such as SINR or RSRP) corresponding to the narrow transmit beam identified by the beam identifier. Because the STA measures the received signal quality corresponding to a narrow transmit beam according to one received Beacon frame, the STA can measure the received signal quality corresponding to multiple narrow transmit beams according to multiple received Beacon frames. The STA determines the first transmission beam (that is, the optimal transmission beam) from the multiple narrow transmission beams according to the received signal quality corresponding to the multiple narrow transmission beams identified by the multiple beam identifiers included in the multiple received Beacon frames . Optionally, the STA may determine the narrow transmission beam with the largest received signal quality among the received signal quality corresponding to the multiple narrow transmission beams as the first transmission beam.

In this embodiment of the application, the Beacon frame includes the beam identifier of the narrow transmit beam used to transmit the Beacon frame, so that when the STA receives the Beacon frame at different times, it can know the beam information corresponding to the Beacon frame at different times. The received signal quality corresponding to the sending beam determines the optimal sending beam (that is, the first sending beam) for communication between the AP and the STA.

For example, assuming that the STA receives 3 Beacon frames, the beam identifier included in the first Beacon frame is beam1, the beam identifier included in the second Beacon frame is beam2, and the beam identifier included in the third Beacon frame is beam3. The STA measures the SINR corresponding to beam1 according to the first beacon frame received, measures the SINR corresponding to beam2 according to the second beacon frame received, and measures the SINR corresponding to beam3 according to the third beacon frame received. The STA compares the magnitude relationship between the SINRs corresponding to beam1, beam2, and beam3. If the SINR corresponding to beam2 is the largest, the STA uses beam2 as the optimal transmission beam for the AP to communicate with the STA (that is, the first transmission beam).

Optionally, each time a Beacon frame is received, the STA may measure the received signal quality corresponding to the narrow transmit beam identified by the beam identifier included in the Beacon frame based on the Beacon frame. For example, each Beacon frame received by the STA includes the beam identifier of the narrow transmission beam used to transmit the Beacon frame. Therefore, when the STA receives the first Beacon frame, it measures the received signal quality corresponding to the transmit beam beam1 of the first Beacon frame according to the first Beacon frame; when the STA receives the second Beacon frame, it measures the quality of the received signal corresponding to the beam1. The second Beacon frame measures the quality of the received signal corresponding to the transmit beam beam2 that sends the second Beacon frame. Therefore, the STA does not need to wait for all Beacon frames to be received, and then measure the received signal quality corresponding to the transmitted beam according to each Beacon frame received.

In some feasible implementation manners, each of the foregoing Beacon frames not only includes the beam identification of the narrow transmit beam used by the AP to transmit each Beacon frame, but also includes the total number of beams polled by the beam in the current beam polling time period or the remaining beams. The number of beams. The STA can detect whether the number of Beacon frames corresponding to different beams currently received is equal to the total number of beams included in any Beacon frame. If the number of Beacon frames corresponding to different beams currently received is equal to the total number of beams, the STA determines that all narrow transmit beams of the AP complete beam polling. In the case of determining that all narrow transmission beams of the AP complete the beam polling, the STA determines the narrow transmission beam with the highest received signal quality among the received signal qualities corresponding to the multiple narrow transmission beams as the first transmission beam. If the number of Beacon frames corresponding to different beams currently received is less than the total number of beams, the STA determines that all narrow transmit beams of the AP have not completed beam polling. When it is determined that all the narrow transmission beams of the AP have not completed the beam polling, the STA continues to receive the Beacon frames sent by the AP using the beam polling until the number of Beacon frames corresponding to different beams received by the STA is equal to the total number of beams.

Optionally, the STA detects whether the number of remaining beams included in the currently received Beacon frame is zero. If the number of remaining beams included in the currently received Beacon frame is 0, the STA determines that all narrow transmit beams of the AP complete beam polling. In the case of determining that all narrow transmission beams of the AP complete the beam polling, the STA determines the narrow transmission beam with the highest received signal quality among the received signal qualities corresponding to the multiple narrow transmission beams as the first transmission beam. If the number of remaining beams included in the currently received Beacon frame is greater than 0, the STA determines that all narrow transmit beams of the AP have not completed beam polling. In the case where it is determined that all the narrow transmission beams of the AP have not completed the beam polling, the STA continues to receive the Beacon frame sent by the AP using the beam polling until the number of remaining beams included in the Beacon frame received by the STA is 0.

In other feasible implementation manners, each of the foregoing Beacon frames not only includes the beam identification of the narrow transmission beam used by the AP to transmit the each Beacon frame, but also includes the beam polling time period. Because the Beacon frame is sent periodically, and the Beacon frame includes the Beacon interval, the STA can according to the beam polling time period and the Beacon period included in the Beacon frame (here refers to the transmission time interval of two adjacent Beacon frames) ) To calculate the total number of beams polled by the beam in the current beam polling time period. The STA can determine whether all transmission beams of the AP have completed beam polling according to the number of currently received Beacon frames and the total number of beams.

Optionally, the STA can also start timing after receiving the first Beacon frame. When the timing is greater than or equal to the beam polling time period included in any Beacon frame, the STA can determine that all narrow transmit beams of the AP have completed the beam polling. When the timed duration is less than the beam polling time period included in any Beacon frame, the STA may determine that all narrow transmit beams of the AP have not completed beam polling. If it is determined that all narrow transmission beams of the AP have completed beam polling, the STA may determine the narrow transmission beam with the highest received signal quality among the received signal qualities corresponding to the multiple narrow transmission beams as the first transmission beam. If it is determined that all narrow transmit beams of the AP have not completed beam polling, the STA continues to receive the Beacon frame sent by the AP using beam polling until all the narrow transmit beams of the AP complete beam polling.

The total number of beams may be equal to the value obtained by rounding the quotient of the beam polling time period and the Beacon period. For example, if the beam polling time period is 20ms and the Beacon period is 5ms, the total number of beams is [20/5]=4. For another example, if the beam polling time period is 20ms and the Beacon period is 3ms, the total number of beams is [20/3]=6, and [x] means rounding x.

In some feasible implementation manners, each time the STA receives a Beacon frame, it measures the received signal quality (such as SINR or RSRP) corresponding to the narrow transmit beam corresponding to the Beacon frame according to the received Beacon frame, and compares the Beacon frame. The magnitude relationship between the received signal quality corresponding to the narrow transmit beam corresponding to the frame and the quality threshold. If the received signal quality corresponding to the narrow transmit beam is greater than or equal to the quality threshold, the STA determines the narrow transmit beam corresponding to this Beacon frame as the first transmit beam. Optionally, after determining the first transmission beam, the STA may no longer receive Beacon frames from the AP, or discard subsequent received Beacon frames. Among them, the quality threshold can be set according to actual business requirements. The quality threshold can also be carried in a Beacon frame, and notified to the STA by the AP. The quality threshold can be used to reflect whether the measured received signal quality meets the service requirements, that is, if the measured received signal quality is greater than or equal to the quality threshold, the measured received signal quality is considered to meet the service requirements; if If the measured received signal quality is less than the quality threshold, it is considered that the measured received signal quality does not meet the service requirements.

For example, suppose that the AP sends Beacon frames on the eight narrow beams of beam1-beam8 in sequence. Each Beacon frame includes the beam identifier of the transmitting beam that transmits the Beacon frame. After receiving the first Beacon frame, the STA measures the SINR corresponding to the transmit beam beam1 of the first Beacon frame according to the first Beacon frame. Assuming that the SINR corresponding to beam1 is less than the preset quality threshold, the STA waits to receive the second Beacon frame. After the STA receives the second Beacon frame, the STA measures the SINR corresponding to the transmission beam beam2 of the second Beacon frame according to the second Beacon frame. Assuming that the SINR corresponding to beam2 is still less than the preset quality threshold, the STA waits to receive the third Beacon frame. After the STA receives the third Beacon frame, the STA measures the SINR corresponding to the transmission beam beam3 of the third Beacon frame according to the third Beacon frame. Assuming that the SINR corresponding to beam3 is greater than or equal to the preset quality threshold, the STA will transmit beam3 of the third Beacon frame as the optimal transmission beam (ie, the first transmission beam) for the AP to communicate with the STA, and No longer waiting to receive the Beacon frame, or discard the subsequently received Beacon frame (such as the 4th and 5th Beacon frame), or do not process the subsequently received Beacon frame.

S303: The STA sends initial access information to the AP. Accordingly, the AP receives initial access information from the STA.

In some feasible implementation manners, the foregoing initial access information may be an authentication frame, and the physical layer structure of the authentication frame may be a single user physical protocol data unit (SU PPDU). The initial access information may include the beam identifier of the first transmission beam, that is, the authentication frame includes the beam identifier of the first transmission beam.

In some feasible implementation manners, the embodiment of the present application may indicate the beam identifier of the above-mentioned first transmission beam through a field carried in the authentication frame. Referring to FIG. 5, FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the fields carried in the authentication frame provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 5, the BestBeamID (best beam ID) field carried in the authentication frame indicates the beam ID of the first transmission beam. The length of the BestBeamID field in Figure 5 is 3 bits. It is understandable that FIG. 5 is only a schematic diagram. In practical applications, other fields may be added to the authentication frame to indicate the beam identifier of the first transmission beam. It is also understandable that the length of the newly added field in the authentication frame can also be set according to actual application scenarios. The embodiment of the application does not limit this.

In some feasible implementation manners, the STA may send an authentication frame (that is, initial access information) to the STA after the first transmission beam is determined. Correspondingly, the AP receives the authentication frame from the STA. The embodiment of the application informs the AP of the determined optimal transmission beam (ie, the first transmission beam) through an authentication frame, so that the AP can determine the optimal transmission beam (ie, the first transmission beam) corresponding to the STA, thereby ensuring The optimal transmit beam (ie, the first transmit beam) is used to communicate with the received signal quality of the STA, thereby achieving long-distance coverage and suppressing uplink reception interference.

In some feasible implementation manners, since the authentication frame is a unicast frame, after the AP receives the authentication frame, it may return an ACK frame to the STA. The ACK frame is used to confirm that the AP has received the authentication frame. Optionally, the AP may use a default cell-level beam (such as a wide transmit beam) to send the ACK frame corresponding to the authentication frame.

S304: The AP parses the initial access information to obtain the beam identifier of the first transmission beam carried in the initial access information.

S305. The AP uses the first transmission beam to communicate with the STA.

In some feasible implementation manners, after the AP receives the authentication frame (that is, the initial access information), the authentication frame may be parsed to obtain the beam identifier of the first transmission beam carried by the authentication frame. It is understandable that the authentication frame sent by the STA may also be referred to as an authentication request, so the AP can use the first transmission beam to return an authentication response to the STA. Optionally, after receiving the authentication response, the STA may send an association request to the STA. After receiving the association request, the AP may use the first transmission beam to return an association response. At this time, the establishment of the communication link between the AP and the STA is complete. After the establishment of the communication link between the STA and the AP is completed, the AP can use the first transmission beam to send a data message to the STA.

In some feasible implementation manners, if the geographic location of a certain STA changes or the distance between a certain STA and the AP changes, the STA re-executes the above steps S302-S304, that is, the STA re-executes the above steps S302-S304, that is, the STA re-executes the received Beacon The frame determines the optimal transmit beam, and re-reports the optimal transmit beam to the AP. The AP uses the latest optimal transmit beam reported by the STA as the transmit beam for subsequent scheduling of the STA, that is, the AP uses the optimal transmit beam most recently reported by the STA to communicate with the STA.

As an optional embodiment, the AP uses beam polling to send multiple Beacon frames. Due to the geographic location of the STA, the STA may only receive one Beacon frame. If the foregoing STA receives only one Beacon frame from the AP, the STA may determine the narrow transmission beam identified by the beam identifier included in the received Beacon frame as the first transmission beam (that is, the optimal transmission beam). The STA may carry the beam identifier of the first transmission beam in the authentication frame and send it to the AP. After receiving the authentication frame, the AP can parse the authentication frame to obtain the beam identifier of the first transmission beam carried in the authentication frame, and can use the first transmission beam to communicate with the STA, that is, the The first transmission beam is used as a transmission beam for subsequent scheduling of the STA.

In the embodiment of this application, the AP uses beam polling to send multiple Beacon frames, and each Beacon frame carries the narrow beam used to send the Beacon frame; the STA receives multiple Beacon frames from the AP, and according to the received Each Beacon frame measures the received signal quality corresponding to the narrow transmit beam, and determines the optimal transmit beam (that is, the first transmit beam) from the multiple narrow transmit beams according to the received signal quality corresponding to the multiple narrow transmit beams; The beam identifier of the optimal transmit beam (i.e., the first transmit beam) is carried in the authentication frame and sent to the AP; the AP parses the authentication frame received from the STA and determines the optimal transmit beam (i.e., the first transmit beam) for subsequent scheduling of the STA. One transmit beam). In this embodiment of the application, the Beacon frame carries the beam identifier of the narrow transmit beam used to transmit the Beacon frame, so that the STA selects the optimal transmit beam for the STA according to the received signal quality corresponding to different narrow transmit beams for the AP, and The optimal transmit beam is notified to the AP through the authentication frame, which is beneficial to improve the signal quality in the communication between the AP and the STA, and the optimal transmit beam is a narrow beam, which is beneficial to provide 3 to 5dB of receive beam gain, and 13dB The interference sidelobe suppression, thereby improving the access performance of long-distance STAs, achieving long-distance coverage and uplink reception interference suppression.

As an optional embodiment, the beam determination method provided in the embodiment of the present application may also be applicable to an access technology based on Trigger frames. Referring to FIG. 6, FIG. 6 is another schematic flowchart of a beam determination method provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 6, the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application includes but is not limited to the following steps:

S401: The AP uses beam polling to send multiple beacon frames. Accordingly, the STA receives multiple Beacon frames from the AP.

In some feasible implementation manners, the implementation manner of step S401 in the embodiment of the present application may refer to the implementation manner of step S301 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, and details are not described herein again.

S402: The AP uses at least two different narrow transmit beams to send multiple trigger Trigger frames. Accordingly, the STA receives multiple Trigger frames from the AP.

In some feasible implementation manners, each of the foregoing Beacon frames may not only include the beam identification of the narrow transmission beam used by the AP to transmit the each Beacon frame, but may also include the time information of the Trigger frame and the beam identification corresponding to the Trigger frame. One of the Beacon frames includes a beam identifier. The time information of the Trigger frame can include the time offset between the sending time of the first Trigger frame (here, the sending start time) and the sending time of the Beacon frame (here, the sending start time), and the time offset of two adjacent Trigger frames. Sending time interval (here refers to the interval of sending start time). For example, the time information of the Trigger frame included in the first Beacon frame sent by the AP is: the time offset between the sending start time of the first Trigger frame and the sending start time of the first Beacon frame, and two adjacent ones. The interval between the start time of sending Trigger frames. Similarly, the time information of the Trigger frame included in the second Beacon frame sent by the AP is: the time offset between the sending start time of the first Trigger frame and the sending start time of the second Beacon frame, and adjacent The interval between the start time of sending two Trigger frames. The beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame may include the start beam identifier and the end beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame.

For example, assuming that the start beam ID corresponding to the Trigger frame is beam3 and the end beam ID is beam8, the beam ID corresponding to the first Trigger frame is beam3, the beam ID corresponding to the second Trigger frame is beam4, and the beam ID corresponding to the third Trigger frame is beam4. The corresponding beam identifier is beam5, and so on, the beam identifier corresponding to the sixth Trigger frame is beam8.

Optionally, the time information of the Trigger frame may directly include the transmission time of each Trigger frame (here, the transmission start time). It is understandable that because the Beacon frame carries a complete broadcast message, the frame length in the time domain is about 400us (microseconds), so the Beacon frame includes the time offset and time interval of the Trigger frame, as opposed to directly including each The sending time of the Trigger frame can reduce the frame length of the Beacon frame.

Optionally, each of the foregoing Beacon frames may carry a beam identifier corresponding to an access time window (that is, a UORA time window) to equivalently indicate the beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame. Since the information of an access time window (referring to UORA time window) is carried in a Trigger frame, that is, the access time window and the Trigger frame have a one-to-one correspondence, the Beacon frame carries the access time window (ie UORA time window) corresponding The beam identifier of is equivalent to the beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame. Optionally, the beam identifier corresponding to the access time window (that is, the UORA time window) may include the start beam identifier and the end beam identifier corresponding to the access time window (that is, the UORA time window).

For example, suppose that the start beam identifier corresponding to the access time window is beam3, and the end beam identifier is beam8. Then the beam identifier corresponding to the first access time window is beam3, which means that the beam identifier corresponding to the first Trigger frame is also beam3; the beam identifier corresponding to the second access time window is beam4, which means that the second Trigger frame corresponds to The beam identifier of is also beam4; the beam identifier corresponding to the third access time window is beam5, indicating that the beam identifier corresponding to the third Trigger frame is also beam5, and so on, the beam identifier corresponding to the sixth access time window It is beam8, which means that the beam identifier corresponding to the sixth Trigger frame is also beam8.

In some feasible implementation manners, the embodiment of the present application may indicate the time information of the Trigger frame and the beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame (or the beam identifier corresponding to the UORA time window) through the field carried by the Beacon frame. Specifically, the time information of the Trigger frame can be indicated by one or more fields carried by the Beacon frame, and the beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame (or the beam identifier corresponding to the UORA time window) can also be indicated by one or more other fields carried by the Beacon frame. Field to indicate.

It is understandable that the field lengths of multiple fields used to indicate the time information of the Trigger frame and the beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame (or the beam identifier corresponding to the UORA time window) in the Beacon frame may be the same or different. It can also be understood that one or more fields in the Beacon frame indicating the time information of the Trigger frame and indicating the beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame (or the beam identifier corresponding to the UORA time window) may be newly added fields. It is also understandable that the field indicating the time information of the Trigger frame in the Beacon frame and the field indicating the beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame (or the beam identifier corresponding to the UORA time window) may be adjacent fields or non-adjacent. Field. It can also be understood that, in the Beacon frame, one or more fields indicating the time information of the Trigger frame and one or more fields indicating the beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame are not limited in the sequence of the Beacon frame.

Referring to FIG. 7, FIG. 7 is another schematic diagram of the fields carried in the Beacon frame provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 7, the Trigger Uora Offset field carried by the Beacon frame indicates the time offset between the sending time of the first Trigger frame and the sending time of the Beacon frame; the Trigger Uora Interval( The trigger UORA interval) field indicates the transmission time interval of two adjacent Trigger frames. The UORA Start Beam Index (UORA start beam number) field carried in the Beacon frame indicates the start beam identifier corresponding to the UORA time window, and the UORA End Beam Index (UORA end beam index) field carried in the Beacon frame indicates the end beam corresponding to the UORA time window Logo. In Figure 7, the length of the Trigger Uora Offset field and the Trigger Uora Interval field are both 14 bits; the length of the UORA Start Beam Index field and the UORA End Beam Index field are both 6 bits.

It is understandable that FIG. 7 is only a schematic diagram. In practical applications, other fields can be added to the Beacon frame to indicate the time information of the Trigger frame and the beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame (or the beam identifier corresponding to the UORA time window). It is also understandable that the length of the newly added field in the Beacon frame can also be set according to actual application scenarios. The embodiment of the application does not limit this.

In some feasible implementation manners, the AP may use the narrow transmit beam corresponding to the Trigger frame (or UORA time window) configured in the Beacon frame to transmit the Trigger frame. The narrow transmission beam corresponding to the Trigger frame (or UORA time window) configured in the Beacon frame includes at least two different narrow transmission beams, and at least one Trigger frame is transmitted on each narrow transmission beam. Specifically, assuming that the narrow transmit beam corresponding to the Trigger frame configured by the AP is beam3-beam8, the AP uses beam3 to send the first Trigger frame, beam4 to send the second Trigger frame, beam5 to send the third Trigger frame, and beam6. Send the 4th Trigger frame, use beam7 to send the 5th Trigger frame, and use beam8 to send the 6th Trigger frame. The AP sends a total of 6 Trigger frames.

It is understandable that when the AP sends Trigger frames, it can also be sent periodically, that is, after the AP sends a Trigger frame, another Trigger frame is sent at a certain interval, that is, the transmission completion time of the previous Trigger frame and the time of the next Trigger frame. There can be a time interval between the sending start time. Wherein, the time interval may be the size of the access time window corresponding to the previous Trigger frame.

Correspondingly, the STA can receive multiple Trigger frames from the AP, and can record the reception time of each Trigger frame. Because the AP uses a narrow transmit beam to transmit Trigger frames, and the horizontal beam width of the narrow transmit beam is narrow (for example, the horizontal beam width is 10-20 degrees), the coverage area is limited (that is, the coverage area is narrow), so different positions (here The number of Trigger frames received by STAs at different distances (where the distance refers to the distance between the STA and the AP) may be different. Among them, each Trigger frame can carry the frame length of the Trigger frame and the duration (that is, the size) of the access time window (or UORA time window).

S403. The STA determines a first transmission beam from multiple transmission beams identified by multiple beam identifiers included in multiple Beacon frames.

In some feasible implementation manners, the implementation manner of step S403 in the embodiment of the present application may refer to the implementation manner of step S302 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, and details are not described herein again.

In some feasible implementation manners, in the embodiment of the present application, step S402 may be executed before step S403, step S402 may also be executed after step S403, step S402 may also be executed simultaneously at step S403, and so on. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the execution sequence between step S402 and step S403.

S404: The STA determines the target Trigger frame corresponding to the first transmission beam from among the received multiple Trigger frames according to the beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame included in the Beacon frame.

In some feasible implementation manners, the STA determines the expected receiving time of each Trigger frame according to the time information of the Trigger frame included in any received Beacon frame. The STA determines the target Trigger frame corresponding to the first transmission beam from the received multiple Trigger frames according to the expected receiving time of each Trigger frame and the beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame included in any received Beacon frame.

For example, assuming that the beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame is beam3-beam8, the beam identifier corresponding to the first Trigger frame is beam3, the beam identifier corresponding to the second Trigger frame is beam4, and the beam identifier corresponding to the third Trigger frame is beam5. , And so on, the beam identifier corresponding to the sixth Trigger frame is beam8. Assume that the time information of the Trigger frame included in the Beacon frame i is: the time offset between the sending time of the first Trigger frame and the sending time of the Beacon frame i is 10ms, and the sending time interval of two adjacent Trigger frames is 2ms . Assume that the time when the STA receives the Beacon frame i is the 15th ms. Therefore, the expected reception time of the first Trigger frame is the sum of the time when the STA receives the Beacon frame i and the time offset, that is, 15+10=25ms. The expected receiving time of the second Trigger frame is the sum of the expected receiving time of the first Trigger frame and the sending time interval, that is, 25+2=27ms. The expected receiving time of the third Trigger frame is the sum of the expected receiving time of the second Trigger frame and the sending time interval, that is, 27+2=29ms. By analogy, the expected receiving time of the 6th Trigger frame is the sum of the expected receiving time of the 5th Trigger frame and the sending time interval, that is, 33+2=35ms. Assuming that the first transmission beam is beam5, the target Trigger frame corresponding to the first transmission beam is the third Trigger frame, that is, the target Trigger frame corresponding to the first transmission beam is the Trigger frame received by the STA between the 29th and 31st ms.

S405. The STA determines the sending start time of the target Trigger frame according to the time information of the Trigger frame included in the Beacon frame and the receiving time of the target Trigger frame.

S406: The STA determines the target access time window corresponding to the target Trigger frame according to the target Trigger frame and the sending start time of the target Trigger frame.

In some feasible implementation manners, each time the STA receives a Trigger frame, the reception time of the Trigger frame can be recorded (the reception time here is the time when the STA actually receives the Trigger frame). The STA may determine the sending start time of the target Trigger frame according to the receiving time of the target Trigger frame and the time information of the Trigger frame included in any received Beacon frame.

For example, suppose that the time information of the Trigger frame included in the Beacon frame i is: the time offset between the sending time of the first Trigger frame and the sending time of the Beacon frame i is 10 ms, and the sending time interval of two adjacent Trigger frames Is 2ms. Assume that the time when the STA receives the Beacon frame i is the 15th ms. Therefore, the expected reception time of the first Trigger frame may be the sum of the time when the STA receives the Beacon frame i and the time offset, that is, 15+10=25ms. The expected receiving time of the second Trigger frame is the sum of the expected receiving time of the first Trigger frame and the sending time interval, that is, 25+2=27ms. The expected receiving time of the third Trigger frame is the sum of the expected receiving time of the second Trigger frame and the sending time interval, that is, 27+2=29ms. By analogy, the expected receiving time of the 6th Trigger frame sent by the AP is the sum of the expected receiving time of the 5th Trigger frame and the sending time interval, that is, 33+2=35ms. Assuming that the actual receiving time of the target Trigger frame is the 30th ms, the STA matches the expected receiving time of each Trigger frame according to the actual receiving time of the target Trigger frame, and finds the sending start time of the target Trigger frame. Since the 30th ms of the actual receiving time of the target Trigger frame is between the 29th ms of the expected receiving time and the 31st ms of the expected receiving time, the sending start time of the target Trigger frame is the 29th ms.

Optionally, if the actual receiving time of the target Trigger frame is the same as a certain expected receiving time, the sending start time of the target Trigger frame is the expected receiving time. For example, if the actual receiving time of the target Trigger frame is the 25th ms, then the sending start time of the target Trigger frame is the 25th ms.

After the STA determines the sending start time of the target Trigger frame, it can send the start time of the target Trigger frame and the frame length included in the target Trigger frame (here refers to the frame length in the time domain, and the unit is a time unit, such as us, The sum of ms, etc.) is determined as the transmission completion time of the target Trigger frame. The STA can obtain the preset short interframe space (SIFS), and can use the sum of the transmission completion time of the target Trigger frame and the SIFS as the target access time window (or target UORA) corresponding to the target Trigger frame. The starting point of the time window) (the starting point here refers to the time starting point of the access time window). The STA may determine the target access time window according to the start position of the target access time window and the size (immediate length) of the target access time window included in the target Trigger frame.

Wherein, the end position of the target access time window (the end position here refers to the time end of the access time window) can be the start position of the target access time window and the size (immediate length) of the target access time window. with. For example, if the starting position of the target access time window is the 4th ms, and the size (instant length) of the target access time window is 200 us, the target access time window is 4 ms-4.2 ms. SIFS can be used to separate frames belonging to a conversation. The frame types that use SIFS include: ACK frame, Clear To Send (CTS) frame, data frame fragmented by too long MAC frame, and all frames that answer AP inquiries.

It should be noted that the length of the physical layer signal carried by the Trigger frame in this embodiment of the application (the length of the physical layer signal carried by the Trigger frame is equal to the frame length of the Trigger frame) is indicated by the L-SIG. The size (immediate length) of the access time window included in the Trigger frame may be indicated by the uplink length subfield (UL Length subfield of the common field) of the common information field.

S407: The STA sends initial access information to the AP within the target access time window. Correspondingly, the AP receives the initial access information sent by the STA within the target access time window.

In some feasible implementation manners, the foregoing initial access information may be an authentication frame, and the physical layer structure of the authentication frame may be a Trigger-based physical protocol data unit (TB PPDU).

In some feasible implementation manners, after determining the aforementioned target access time window, the STA may send an authentication frame (that is, initial access information) to the AP within the target access time window. Correspondingly, the AP receives the authentication frame sent by the STA within the target access time window.

The embodiment of the application implicitly informs the AP and STA of the optimal transmission beam (that is, the first transmission beam) determined by the AP and STA by returning an authentication frame to the AP within the target access time window, and there is no need to add a new field in the authentication frame to indicate The optimal transmission beam determined by the STA can adapt different STAs to different random access resources (here, access time windows), thereby increasing the success probability of receiving uplink access messages (such as authentication frames) and reducing The collision probability of STA access.

S408: The AP determines a target access time window corresponding to the receiving time of the initial access information.

S409: The AP uses the first transmission beam corresponding to the target access time window to communicate with the STA.

In some feasible implementation manners, the AP may record the time when the authentication frame (that is, the initial access information) is received. Since the AP knows the time information of the Trigger frame configured by itself and the size (instant length) of the access time window configured for each Trigger frame, the AP can determine the access time window corresponding to each Trigger frame. Therefore, the AP may use the access time window including the receiving time of the authentication frame among the access time windows corresponding to the multiple Trigger frames as the target access time window. Because the AP knows the transmission beam used to transmit each Trigger frame, it also knows the transmission beam corresponding to each access time window (or UORA time window), so the AP can determine the transmission beam corresponding to the target access time window (I.e. the first transmit beam). The AP can communicate with the STA by using the first transmission beam.

The embodiment of this application directly determines the optimal transmission beam for communication between the AP and the STA by the time when the AP receives the authentication frame, which can ensure the quality of the received signal for communicating with the STA using the optimal transmission beam, thereby achieving long-distance coverage and inhibiting uplink Receive interference.

For example, suppose that the AP uses beam3-beam5 to send Trigger frames, each beam sends 1 Trigger frame, and a total of 3 Trigger frames are sent. Assume that the access time window corresponding to the first Trigger frame is 25ms-26ms, the access time window corresponding to the second Trigger frame is 27ms-28ms, and the access time window corresponding to the third Trigger frame is 29ms-30ms. Assuming that the time when the AP receives the authentication frame is the 25.1ms, the AP determines that the access time window including the 25.1ms is 25ms-26ms, that is, the target access time window is 25ms-26ms. Since the AP used to send the first Trigger frame is beam3, it means that the access time window (that is, the access time window corresponding to the first Trigger frame) 25ms-26ms corresponds to beam3, so the target connection The transmit beam (ie, the first transmit beam) corresponding to the incoming time window of 25ms-26ms is beam3. The AP uses beam3 as the transmit beam for subsequent scheduling of the STA, that is, the AP uses beam3 to communicate with the STA.

In the embodiment of this application, the AP uses beam polling to send multiple Beacon frames, and uses at least 2 different sending beams to continuously send multiple Trigger frames, and each Beacon frame carries the sending beam used to send the Beacon frame; Each received Beacon frame measures the received signal quality on the transmit beam, and determines the optimal transmit beam (that is, the first transmit beam) from the multiple transmit beams according to the received signal quality on the multiple transmit beams; The beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame included in the Beacon frame is determined, the target Trigger frame corresponding to the first transmission beam is determined from the received multiple Trigger frames, and the target Trigger frame is determined according to the receiving time of the target Trigger frame and the Trigger frame included in any Beacon frame. Time information, determine the start time of the target Trigger frame; STA calculates the target access time window corresponding to the target Trigger frame according to the target Trigger frame, SIFS and the start time of the target Trigger frame; STA sends to the AP within the target access time window Authentication frame: The AP directly determines the optimal transmission beam for communication between the AP and the STA based on the time when the authentication frame is received. In the embodiment of this application, the transmission beam used to transmit the Beacon frame and the transmission beam corresponding to the Trigger frame (or UORA time window, or random access resource) are carried in the Beacon frame, and the STA selects the corresponding random access based on the beam selection result. Into the resource (here refers to the access time window) for access, there is no need to add a new field in the authentication frame to indicate the beam selection result of the STA. Not only can different STAs be adapted to different random access resources, the success probability of receiving uplink access messages (such as authentication frames) can be improved, and the collision probability of STA access can be reduced; it can also ensure that the best beam selection results are used. Optimize the received signal quality of transmitting beam and STA communication, and provide 3~5dB of receiving beam gain through narrow beam, and 13dB of interference sidelobe suppression, improve the access performance of long-distance STA, enhance uplink coverage, and realize long-distance coverage And suppress the uplink reception interference.

As another optional embodiment, the beam determination method provided in the embodiments of the present application can not only determine the optimal beam for communication between the AP and each STA, so as to meet the requirements of long-distance coverage and uplink reception interference suppression; STAs in beam directions or different distances are adapted to different access resources, thereby reducing the number of access failures and access delays of long-distance STAs, and improving the overall access efficiency of STAs in the cell.

Referring to FIG. 8, FIG. 8 is another schematic flowchart of the beam determination method provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 8, the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present application includes but is not limited to the following steps:

S501: The AP uses beam polling to send a beacon frame. Accordingly, the STA receives at least one Beacon frame from the AP.

In some feasible implementation manners, each of the foregoing Beacon frames may carry an indication related to the Trigger frame. Specifically, the above-mentioned Beacon frame may include time information of Trigger frames and quantity information of Trigger frames. Among them, the time information of the Trigger frame may include the time offset between the sending time of the first Trigger frame (here, the sending start time) and the sending time of the Beacon frame (here, the sending start time), and two adjacent Triggers The transmission time interval of the frame (here refers to the interval of the transmission start time). The information about the number of Trigger frames includes the number of Trigger frames transmitted by using a wide transmission beam and the number of Trigger frames transmitted by using a narrow transmission beam.

Optionally, each of the foregoing Beacon frames may also include a signal quality threshold (ie RSRPthres). The signal quality threshold can be used to distinguish between long-distance STAs and short-distance STAs. It is understandable that the distance here refers to the distance between AP and STA. Long-distance STA and short-distance STA are relative concepts. For example, STAs with received signal quality greater than or equal to the signal quality threshold are considered as short-distance STAs; Otherwise, it is considered a long-distance STA.

Optionally, each of the foregoing Beacon frames may carry information about the number of access time windows (i.e., UORA time windows) to equivalently indicate the number information of Trigger frames. Since the information of one access time window (referring to UORA time window) is carried in one Trigger frame, the quantity information of the access time window (ie UORA time window) is the same as the quantity information of Trigger frames. Optionally, the information about the number of access time windows (ie UORA time windows) may include the number of access time windows (ie UORA time windows) sent using a wide transmission beam, and the number of access time windows sent using a narrow transmission beam (ie UORA time windows). UORA time window) number.

For example, assuming that the number of access time windows for transmission using a wide transmission beam is 4, and the number of access time windows for transmission using a narrow transmission beam is 5, it means that the number of Trigger frames transmitted using a wide transmission beam is 4, and the number of Trigger frames transmitted using a narrow transmission beam is 4. The number of Trigger frames is 5.

In some feasible implementation manners, the embodiment of the present application may indicate the information related to the Trigger frame and the signal quality threshold through the field carried by the Beacon frame. Specifically, the time information of the Trigger frame can be indicated by one or more fields carried by the Beacon frame, and the number information of the Trigger frame (or the number information of the UORA time window) can also be indicated by another one or more fields carried by the Beacon frame. instruct. The signal quality threshold can be indicated by another field carried by the Beacon frame.

It is understandable that the field lengths of multiple fields used to indicate information related to the Trigger frame and the signal quality threshold in the Beacon frame may be the same or different. It is also understandable that multiple fields in the Beacon frame indicating the information related to the Trigger frame and the signal quality threshold may be newly added fields. It is also understandable that the field indicating the time information of the Trigger frame, the field indicating the quantity information of the Trigger frame, and the field indicating the signal quality threshold in the Beacon frame may be adjacent fields or non-adjacent fields. It can also be understood that, in the Beacon frame, the field indicating the time information of the Trigger frame, the field indicating the quantity information of the Trigger frame, and the field indicating the signal quality threshold are not limited in the sequence of the Beacon frame.

Referring to FIG. 9, FIG. 9 is another schematic diagram of the fields carried in the Beacon frame provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 9, the Trigger Uora Offset field carried in the Beacon frame indicates the time offset between the sending time of the first Trigger frame and the sending time of the Beacon frame; the Trigger Uora Interval( The trigger UORA interval) field indicates the transmission time interval of two adjacent Trigger frames. The WbeamRecvWindowNum (wide beam receiving window number) field carried in the Beacon frame indicates the number of UORA time windows sent using the wide transmission beam; the NbeamRecvWindowNum (narrow beam receiving window number) field carried in the Beacon frame indicates the number of UORA time windows sent using the narrow sending beam. The RSRPthres (RSRP threshold) field carried in the Beacon frame indicates the signal quality threshold. The length of the Trigger Uora Offset field and the Trigger Uora Interval field in Fig. 9 are both 14 bits; the length of the WbeamRecvWindowNum field and the NbeamRecvWindowNum field are both 3 bits; the length of the RSRPthres field is 7 bits.

It is understandable that FIG. 9 is only a schematic diagram. In practical applications, other fields can be added to the Beacon frame to indicate information related to the Trigger frame and the signal quality threshold. It is also understandable that the length of the newly added field in the Beacon frame can also be set according to actual application scenarios. The embodiment of the application does not limit this.

In some feasible implementation manners, the AP uses beam polling to send a Beacon frame, and within a beam polling time period (ie, a Beacon beam polling period T_BM), the AP sends a Beacon frame on a narrow transmission beam. Assuming that the AP has K different narrow transmission beams, the AP transmits a total of K Beacon frames in one beam polling time period, and each Beacon frame of the K Beacon frames is transmitted by a different narrow transmission beam of the AP. Accordingly, the STA receives at least one Beacon frame from the AP. Because the AP uses multiple different narrow transmit beams to poll and transmit Beacon frames, and because the horizontal beam width of the narrow transmit beam is narrow (for example, the horizontal beam width is 10-20 degrees), the coverage area is limited (that is, the coverage area is narrow). ), so the number of Beacon frames received by STAs at different locations (where the location refers to geographic location) or at different distances (where the distance refers to the distance between the STA and the AP) may be different. In this embodiment of the application, beam polling is used to send Beacon frames to ensure that STAs in different geographic locations or at different distances can receive at least one Beacon frame.

S502: The AP uses a wide transmission beam to send one or more trigger Trigger frames, and uses beam polling to send one or more Trigger frames. Correspondingly, the STA receives M Trigger frames from the AP.

In some feasible implementation manners, after the above beam polling is completed, the AP can use the wide beam to send the number of Trigger frames configured in the Beacon frame using the wide beam to send Trigger frames, and can use beam polling to send The number of Trigger frames sent by narrow beams configured in the Beacon frame. Among them, all beams polled by the AP beam are narrow transmission beams, and the number of Trigger frames transmitted by the narrow transmission beam is greater than or equal to 2, that is, the total number of polled beams is greater than or equal to 2. One Trigger frame is transmitted on each narrow transmit beam.

For example, suppose that the AP configures in the Beacon frame the number of Trigger frames sent by the wide beam is 4, and the number of Trigger frames sent by the narrow beam is 5. Assume that the AP has 5 different narrow transmit beams, beam1-beam5. Because an AP has only one wide transmit beam, the AP repeatedly uses the same wide transmit beam to transmit 4 Trigger frames, and the AP uses the wide transmit beam to transmit 1 Trigger frame each time, using the same wide transmit beam 4 times in total. After the AP uses the wide transmit beam to send 4 Trigger frames, the AP then sends 1 Trigger frame on beam1, 1 Trigger frame on beam2, 1 Trigger frame on beam3, and 1 Trigger frame on beam4. , Send 1 Trigger frame on beam5, and use beam polling to send a total of 5 Trigger frames.

Correspondingly, the STA can receive M Trigger frames from the AP, and can record the reception time of each Trigger frame received. Among them, M may be less than or equal to the number of Trigger frames actually sent by the AP. Since an AP has only one wide transmit beam, the AP repeatedly uses this wide transmit beam to transmit Trigger frames, and the AP uses the wide transmit beam to transmit one Trigger frame at a time. And because the horizontal beam width of the wide transmission beam is wider (the horizontal beam width is 45-120 degrees), the coverage area is wider, but the coverage distance is relatively short; while the horizontal beam width of the narrow transmission beam is narrow (for example, the horizontal beam width is 10 ～20 degrees), the coverage area is narrow, but the coverage distance is longer; therefore, Trigger frames received by STAs in different locations (where the location refers to geographic location) or at different distances (here, the distance refers to the distance between the STA and the AP) The number may be different. Among them, each Trigger frame can carry the frame length of the Trigger frame and the duration (ie size) of the access time window (or UORA time window). M can be a natural number greater than or equal to 1.

Optionally, the total number of beams polled by the AP beam may be equal to the number of Trigger frames that are included in the Beacon frame and transmitted using the narrow transmission beam.

S503: The STA determines a target Trigger frame from the received M Trigger frames.

In some feasible implementation manners, the STA may determine the expected reception time of each Trigger frame according to the time information of the Trigger frame included in any received Beacon frame. According to the expected receiving time of each Trigger frame and the number of Trigger frames included in any received Beacon frame, the STA determines whether there are Trigger frames sent by a wide beam in the received M Trigger frames. If it is determined that there is a Trigger frame transmitted by a wide transmit beam in the received M Trigger frames, the STA may use the Trigger frame transmitted by the wide transmit beam among the M Trigger frames as the first Trigger frame, and may use the M Trigger frames. The Trigger frame sent by the narrow beam in the frame is used as the second Trigger frame. For ease of description, the following takes an example in which at least one Trigger frame received by the STA includes M first Trigger frames and N second Trigger frames. If it is determined that there is no Trigger frame transmitted by a wide transmission beam in the received M Trigger frames, it means that the M Trigger frames received by the STA are all transmitted by a narrow transmission beam. Wherein, M-N may be less than or equal to the number of Trigger frames included in the Beacon frame that are transmitted using a wide transmission beam, and N may be less than or equal to the number of Trigger frames included in the Beacon frame that are transmitted using a narrow transmit beam.

For example, it is assumed that the number of Trigger frames transmitted using a wide transmission beam included in the Beacon frame is 2, and the number of Trigger frames transmitted using a narrow transmission beam is 3. Assume that the time information of the Trigger frame included in the Beacon frame i is: the time offset between the sending time of the first Trigger frame and the sending time of the Beacon frame i is 10ms, and the sending time interval of two adjacent Trigger frames is 2ms . Assume that the time when the STA receives the Beacon frame i is the 15th ms. Therefore, the expected reception time of the first Trigger frame is the sum of the time when the STA receives the Beacon frame i and the time offset, that is, 15+10=25ms. The expected receiving time of the second Trigger frame is the sum of the expected receiving time of the first Trigger frame and the sending time interval, that is, 25+2=27ms. The expected receiving time of the third Trigger frame is the sum of the expected receiving time of the second Trigger frame and the sending time interval, that is, 27+2=29ms. By analogy, the expected receiving time of the 4th Trigger frame is 31ms, and the expected receiving time of the 5th Trigger frame is 33ms. From the information about the number of Trigger frames included in the Beacon frame, it can be seen that the first and second Trigger frames are sent by a wide beam, and the 3-5 Trigger frames are sent by a narrow beam.

Therefore, the STA detects whether there is a reception time (here refers to the actual reception time when the STA receives the Trigger frame) in the received M Trigger frames after the expected reception time of the first Trigger frame and the expected reception time of the third Trigger frame Before, the Trigger frame between 25ms-29ms. If there are Trigger frames with a receiving time between 25ms-29ms in the expected receiving time in the M Trigger frames, it means that there are Trigger frames sent by the wide beam in the M Trigger frames received by the STA, and the STA will place the Trigger frames in the M Trigger frames. The Trigger frame whose receiving time is between 25ms-29ms of expected receiving time is regarded as the first Trigger frame. Since the Trigger frame received by the STA has only two Trigger frames sent using a wide transmission beam and Trigger frames sent using a narrow transmission beam, the STA will receive Trigger frames other than the first Trigger frame among the M Trigger frames received As the second Trigger frame. If there is no Trigger frame with a receiving time between 25ms-29ms in the expected receiving time in the M Trigger frames received by the STA, it means that there is no Trigger frame sent by the wide beam in the M Trigger frames received by the STA, then the STA determines The received M Trigger frames are all transmitted by the narrow transmission beam.

In some feasible implementation manners, when the M Trigger frames received by the STA are all transmitted by a narrow transmit beam, the STA can measure the received signal quality corresponding to each Trigger frame according to each Trigger frame received (such as RSRP). The STA determines the target Trigger frame from the M Trigger frames according to the received signal quality corresponding to the M Trigger frames. Specifically, the STA may use the Trigger frame with the largest received signal quality (for example, the largest RSRP) among the received M Trigger frames as the target Trigger frame. Optionally, the STA may use any Trigger frame with a received signal quality (such as RSRP) greater than or equal to a preset threshold among the received M Trigger frames as the target Trigger frame. Wherein, the preset threshold can be set according to actual business requirements. The preset threshold may also be carried in the Beacon frame, and notified to the STA by the AP. The preset threshold can be used to reflect whether the measured received signal quality meets service requirements, that is, if the measured received signal quality is greater than or equal to the preset threshold, the measured received signal quality is considered to meet the service requirements; If the received signal quality is less than the preset threshold, it is considered that the measured received signal quality does not meet the service requirements.

In some feasible implementation manners, when there are Trigger frames sent by a wide beam in the M Trigger frames received by the STA, the M Trigger frames include the MN (M is a natural number greater than or equal to 1). One Trigger frame, and the MN first Trigger frames are sent by the AP's wide sending beam. The STA may measure the received signal quality corresponding to each first Trigger frame according to each first Trigger frame. The STA can compare the magnitude relationship between the received signal quality corresponding to each first Trigger frame and the signal quality threshold included in any received Beacon frame. If the received signal quality corresponding to at least one of the first Trigger frames in the MN first Trigger frame is greater than or equal to the signal quality threshold, it means that the STA is a short-distance STA relative to the AP. Choose one of the first Trigger frames in the Trigger frame as the target Trigger frame.

Optionally, the M Trigger frames received by the STA further include N (N is a natural number greater than or equal to 1) second Trigger frames, and the N second Trigger frames are composed of at least 2 different narrow transmit beams of the AP. send. If the received signal quality corresponding to each first Trigger frame is less than the above-mentioned signal quality threshold, indicating that the STA is a long-distance STA relative to the AP, the STA measures the corresponding to each second Trigger frame according to each second Trigger frame The received signal quality (such as RSRP). The STA may use the second Trigger frame with the largest received signal quality (for example, the largest RSRP) among the N second Trigger frames as the target Trigger frame. Optionally, the STA may use any second Trigger frame in the N second Trigger frames whose received signal quality (such as RSRP) is greater than or equal to a preset threshold value as the target Trigger frame.

S504: The STA determines the sending start time of the target Trigger frame according to the time information of the Trigger frame included in the Beacon frame and the receiving time of the target Trigger frame.

S505: The STA determines an access time window corresponding to the target Trigger frame according to the target Trigger frame and the sending start time of the target Trigger frame.

In some feasible implementation manners, the implementation manner of step S504 to step S505 in the embodiment of the present application may refer to the implementation manner of step S405 to step S406 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, and details are not described herein again.

S506: If the current time does not exceed the target access time window corresponding to the target Trigger frame, the STA sends initial access information to the AP within the target access time window. Accordingly, the AP receives initial access information from the STA.

In some feasible implementation manners, after determining the target access time window corresponding to the target Trigger frame, the STA can detect whether the current time exceeds the target access time window corresponding to the target Trigger frame. If the current time does not exceed the target access time window corresponding to the target Trigger frame, the STA may send an authentication frame (that is, initial access information) to the AP within the target access time window. Correspondingly, the AP receives the authentication frame sent by the STA within the target access time window.

For example, the target access time window corresponding to the target Trigger frame is 25ms-28ms. Assuming that the current time is the 24th ms, the current time 24ms does not exceed the target access time window 25ms-28ms corresponding to the target Trigger frame. For another example, assuming that the current time is the 27th ms, the 27th ms of the current time does not exceed the target access time window of 25ms-28ms corresponding to the target Trigger frame. As another example, assuming that the current time is the 30th ms, the 30th ms of the current time has exceeded the target access time window of 25ms-28ms corresponding to the target Trigger frame.

In some feasible implementation manners, if the current time has exceeded the target access time window corresponding to the target Trigger frame, the STA can determine the target Trigger frame from the received M Trigger frames again, and then can detect whether the current time exceeds The access time window corresponding to the newly determined target Trigger frame. If the current time does not exceed the access time window corresponding to the re-determined target Trigger frame, the STA authenticates the frame (that is, the initial access information) within the access time window corresponding to the re-determined target Trigger frame. Correspondingly, the AP receives the authentication frame sent by the STA within the access time window corresponding to the newly determined target Trigger frame.

Optionally, the STA re-determines the target Trigger frame from the received M Trigger frames, including: STA slave (MN)-1 first Trigger frame (here (MN)-1 first Trigger frame refers to slave MN) Any one of the first Trigger frames (excluding the aforementioned target Trigger frame) from the first Trigger frames is used as the re-determined target Trigger frame. Or, the STA selects the second Trigger frame with the highest received signal quality from N-1 second Trigger frames (here N-1 second Trigger frame refers to removing the above-mentioned target Trigger frame from N second Trigger frames) as The re-determined target Trigger frame. Optionally, if the current time has exceeded the access time window corresponding to the newly determined target Trigger frame, the STA may again determine the target Trigger frame from the received M Trigger frames.

S507: The AP determines a target access time window corresponding to the receiving time of the initial access information.

S508: The AP uses the first transmission beam corresponding to the target access time window to communicate with the STA.

In some feasible implementation manners, in some feasible implementation manners, the implementation manner of step S507-step S508 in the embodiment of this application can refer to the implementation manner of step S408-step S409 in the embodiment shown in FIG. Go into details again.

In the embodiment of this application, the AP configures the random access resources of the wide beam and the narrow beam (herein refers to the access time window or UORA time window), and indicates the number of random access resources and the signal in the broadcast message (such as Beacon frame). Quality threshold: The STA judges the location of the STA relative to the AP according to the signal quality threshold, and selects a corresponding random access resource for access. In this embodiment of the application, short-distance STAs are adapted to a wide beam for access, and long-distance STAs are adapted to a narrow beam for access, which can reduce the collision probability of STA access and improve the efficiency of STA access. The embodiment of the application also provides 3~5dB of receiving beam gain and 13dB of interference sidelobe suppression through narrow beams, which improves the access performance of long-distance STAs and enhances uplink coverage, thereby meeting the requirements of long-distance coverage and uplink reception interference suppression. need.

As an optional embodiment, the above-mentioned Beacon frame may also include a beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame (or a beam identifier corresponding to a UORA time window). If the current time has exceeded the target access time window corresponding to the target Trigger frame, the STA can determine the target according to the beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame (or the beam identifier corresponding to the UORA time window) included in any Beacon frame received The first transmit beam corresponding to the Trigger frame. The AP re-uses the wide transmission beam to send one or more Trigger frames, and re-uses the beam polling to send one or more Trigger frames. The STA re-receives at least one Trigger frame from the AP. According to the beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame included in any Re-received Beacon frame, the STA will re-receive the Trigger frame sent by the first transmission beam in the at least one Trigger frame as the third Trigger frame. The STA determines the transmission start time of the third Trigger frame according to the time information of the Trigger frame included in any Beacon frame received again and the receiving time of the third Trigger frame. The STA determines the first access time window corresponding to the third Trigger frame according to the frame length included in the third Trigger frame, the duration (ie size) of the access time window, SIFS, and the transmission start time of the third Trigger frame . If the current time does not exceed the first access time window corresponding to the third Trigger frame, the STA sends an authentication frame to the AP within the first access time window (the physical layer structure of the authentication frame is TB PPDU). The AP determines the first access time window corresponding to the receiving time of the authentication frame, and uses the first transmission beam corresponding to the first access time window to communicate with the STA.

The foregoing content describes in detail the beam determination method of the embodiment of the present application. In order to facilitate better implementation of the foregoing solution of the embodiment of the present application, the embodiment of the present application also provides a corresponding device.

Refer to FIG. 10, which is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present application. The device may be an STA or a chip or circuit set in the STA. As shown in Fig. 10, the device 1 may include:

The transceiving unit 11 is configured to receive multiple beacon frames from the access point AP, and each Beacon frame of the multiple Beacon frames includes the beam identifier of the transmission beam of each Beacon frame; the determining unit 12 receives the multiple beacon frames from the multiple Beacon frames A first transmission beam is determined from multiple transmission beams identified by multiple beam identifiers included in a Beacon frame; the transceiver unit 11 is configured to send initial access information to the AP, and the initial access information is used to indicate the AP Use the first transmit beam to communicate with the STA.

In some feasible implementation manners, each of the foregoing Beacon frames further includes at least one of the following information: a beam polling time period, or the number of beams polled in the beam polling time period. The beam polling time period and/or the remaining beam number are used to determine whether the number of Beacon frames received by the STA is equal to the number of Beacon frames sent by the AP in the beam polling time period.

In some feasible implementation manners, each of the foregoing Beacon frames further includes a beam identifier corresponding to the trigger Trigger frame and time information of the Trigger frame. The above-mentioned transceiver unit 11 is further configured to receive multiple Trigger frames from the AP, the multiple Trigger frames are sent by at least 2 different transmit beams of the AP, and each Trigger frame of the multiple Trigger frames includes an access time window. Size information, the beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame is used to determine the target Trigger frame corresponding to the first transmission beam from the multiple Trigger frames, and the time information of the Trigger frame and the target Trigger frame are used to determine the target Trigger frame Corresponding target access time window; the foregoing transceiver unit 11 is specifically configured to send initial access information to the AP within the target access time window, and the initial access information is used to instruct the AP to use the target access time window corresponding To communicate with the STA in the first transmit beam.

Wherein, the aforementioned determining unit 12 may be a processing unit.

In the specific implementation, the implementation of each module or unit can also refer to the corresponding description of the STA in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 or FIG. 6 to execute the methods and functions performed by the STA in the foregoing embodiment.

The device 1 (STA) of the embodiment of the present application indicates in the Beacon frame the transmission beam used for transmitting the current Beacon frame, and notifies the AP of the determined optimal transmission beam (ie, the first transmission beam) through the authentication frame, It can ensure the quality of the received signal for communicating with the STA using the optimal transmit beam (that is, the first transmit beam), and provide 3~5dB of receive beam gain through narrow beams, and 13dB of interference sidelobe suppression, which improves the access of long-distance STAs. Incoming performance, enhance uplink coverage, achieve long-distance coverage and suppress uplink reception interference.

Referring to FIG. 11, FIG. 11 is another schematic structural diagram of the apparatus provided by an embodiment of the present application. The device can be an AP or a chip or circuit that can be installed in the AP. As shown in Fig. 11, the device 2 may include:

The transceiver unit 21 is configured to send multiple Beacon frames using beam polling, each Beacon frame of the multiple Beacon frames includes the beam identifier of the transmission beam of each Beacon frame, and the multiple Beacon frames are used to send the multiple Beacon frames from the multiple Beacon frames. The first transmission beam is determined from the multiple transmission beams identified by multiple beam identities included in a Beacon frame; the transceiver unit 21 is also used for the AP to receive initial access information from the STA; the communication unit 22 is used for receiving The initial access information of using the first transmission beam to communicate with the STA.

In some feasible implementation manners, each of the foregoing Beacon frames further includes a beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame and time information of the Trigger frame. The above-mentioned transceiver unit 21 is further configured to use at least 2 different transmitting beams to transmit multiple Trigger frames, and each Trigger frame in the multiple Trigger frames includes information about the size of the access time window; wherein, the beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame is used for After determining the target Trigger frame corresponding to the first transmission beam from the plurality of Trigger frames, the time information of the Trigger frame and the target Trigger frame are used to determine the target access time window corresponding to the target Trigger frame; the above-mentioned transceiver unit 21. Specifically used for the AP to receive the initial access information sent by the STA within the target access time window; the aforementioned communication unit 22 is specifically used for determining the target access time window corresponding to the receiving time of the initial access information Communicate with the STA using the first transmission beam corresponding to the target access time window.

Wherein, the aforementioned communication unit 22 may be a processing unit.

In specific implementation, the implementation of each module or unit may also refer to the corresponding description of the AP in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 or FIG. 6 to execute the methods and functions performed by the AP in the foregoing embodiment.

Refer to FIG. 12, which is another schematic structural diagram of the device provided by an embodiment of the present application. The device may be an STA or a chip or circuit set in the STA. As shown in Fig. 12, the device 3 may include:

The transceiver unit 31 is configured to receive a Beacon frame from the AP, and the Beacon frame includes the time information of the Trigger frame; the transceiver unit 31 is also configured to receive M Trigger frames from the AP, and each Trigger frame of the M Trigger frames includes Information about the size of the access time window; the determining unit 32 is configured to determine the target Trigger frame from the M Trigger frames, and the time information of the target Trigger frame and the Trigger frame is used to determine the target access corresponding to the target Trigger frame Time window; the transceiver unit 31 is also used to send initial access information to the AP within the target access time window when the current time does not exceed the target access time window corresponding to the target Trigger frame, the initial access information It is used to instruct the AP to use the first transmission beam corresponding to the target access time window to communicate with the STA.

In some feasible implementation manners, the above-mentioned Beacon frame further includes a signal quality threshold, and the M Trigger frames are sent by the wide sending beam of the AP. The above determining unit 32 is specifically configured to determine whether the received signal quality corresponding to at least one Trigger frame in the M Trigger frames is greater than or equal to the signal quality threshold value, and any Trigger frame from the M Trigger frames is determined to be The target Trigger frame.

In some feasible implementation manners, the above-mentioned Beacon frame further includes a signal quality threshold. The M Trigger frames include MN first Trigger frames and N second Trigger frames. The MN first Trigger frames are used by the AP. The N second Trigger frames are sent by at least 2 different sending beams of the AP. The above determining unit 32 is further specifically configured to determine from the N second Trigger frames when the received signal quality corresponding to each first Trigger frame in the MN first Trigger frames is less than the signal quality threshold A target Trigger frame, where the target Trigger frame is the second Trigger frame with the highest received signal quality among the N second Trigger frames.

In some feasible implementation manners, the above-mentioned Beacon frame further includes quantity information of Trigger frames, and the quantity information of Trigger frames is used to determine M-N first Trigger frames and N second Trigger frames from the M Trigger frames.

In some feasible implementation manners, the foregoing information about the number of Trigger frames includes the number of Trigger frames sent using a wide beam and the number of Trigger frames sent using a narrow beam. MN is less than or equal to the number of Trigger frames sent using a wide beam, and N It is less than or equal to the number of Trigger frames sent with a narrow beam.

In some feasible implementation manners, the above-mentioned Beacon frame further includes a beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame, and the beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame is used to determine the first transmission beam corresponding to the target Trigger frame. The foregoing transceiver unit 31 is further configured to receive a third Trigger frame sent by the AP through the first transmission beam when the current time has exceeded the target access time window corresponding to the target Trigger frame. The time information of the third Trigger frame is used to determine the first access time window corresponding to the third Trigger frame; the foregoing transceiver unit 31 is also used to send initial access information to the AP within the first access time window, and the initial The access information is used to instruct the AP to use the first transmission beam corresponding to the first access time window to communicate with the STA.

Wherein, the aforementioned determining unit 32 may be a processing unit.

In the specific implementation, the implementation of each module or unit can also refer to the corresponding description of the STA in the embodiment shown in FIG. 8 to execute the methods and functions performed by the STA in the foregoing embodiment.

The device 3 (STA) of the embodiment of the present application adapts short-distance STAs to wide beams for access, and long-distance STAs adapts to narrow beams for access, which can reduce the collision probability of STA access and improve the efficiency of STA access. . The device 3 (STA) of the embodiment of the present application also provides 3 to 5dB of receiving beam gain and 13dB of interference sidelobe suppression through a narrow beam, which improves the access performance of long-distance STAs and enhances uplink coverage, thereby satisfying long-distance coverage. Demand and uplink reception interference suppression demand.

Referring to FIG. 13, FIG. 13 is still another schematic structural diagram of the device provided by an embodiment of the present application. The device can be an AP or a chip or circuit that can be installed in the AP. As shown in Fig. 13, the device 4 may include:

The transceiver unit 41 is configured to send at least one Beacon frame, and each Beacon frame in the at least one Beacon frame includes time information of the Trigger frame; the transceiver unit 41 is also configured to send at least M Trigger frames, and the at least M Each Trigger frame in the three Trigger frames includes information about the size of the access time window, the at least M Trigger frames are used to determine the target Trigger frame, and the time information of the Trigger frame and the target Trigger frame are used to determine the The target access time window corresponding to the target Trigger frame; the transceiver unit 41 is further configured to receive the STA in the target access time window when the current time does not exceed the target access time window corresponding to the target Trigger frame The initial access information sent within; the determining unit 42 is configured to determine the target access time window corresponding to the receiving time of the initial access information; the communication unit 43 is configured to adopt the target access time window corresponding to The first transmission beam of, communicates with the STA.

In some feasible implementation manners, the above-mentioned Beacon frame further includes a signal quality threshold, and the at least M Trigger frames include M Trigger frames sent by the AP's wide transmit beam; when there is at least one of the M Trigger frames When the received signal quality corresponding to the Trigger frame is greater than or equal to the signal quality threshold, the target Trigger frame is any Trigger frame among the M Trigger frames.

In some feasible implementation manners, the above-mentioned Beacon frame further includes a signal quality threshold, and the at least M Trigger frames include MN first Trigger frames and N second Trigger frames, and the MN first Trigger frames are controlled by the MN first Trigger frames. The AP's wide transmit beam is sent, and the N second Trigger frames are sent by at least 2 different transmit beams of the AP; when the received signal quality corresponding to each first Trigger frame in the MN first Trigger frames is less than the signal When the quality threshold is used, the target Trigger frame is the second Trigger frame with the highest received signal quality among the N second Trigger frames.

In some feasible implementation manners, the above-mentioned Beacon frame further includes information about the number of Trigger frames, and the information about the number of Trigger frames is used to determine MN first Trigger frames and N second Trigger frames from the at least M Trigger frames .

In some feasible implementation manners, the foregoing information about the quantity of Trigger frames includes the number of Trigger frames sent using a wide transmission beam and the number of Trigger frames sent using a narrow transmission beam. MN is less than or equal to the number of Trigger frames sent using the wide transmission beam. N is less than or equal to the number of Trigger frames to be transmitted using the narrow transmission beam.

In some feasible implementation manners, the above-mentioned Beacon frame further includes a beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame, and the beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame is used to determine the first transmission beam corresponding to the target Trigger frame. The foregoing transceiver unit 41 is further configured to send a third Trigger frame on the first transmission beam when the current time has exceeded the target access time window corresponding to the target Trigger frame, the third Trigger frame and the third Trigger frame Is used to determine the first access time window corresponding to the third Trigger frame; the determining unit 42 is specifically configured to determine the first access time window corresponding to the receiving time of the initial access information; The unit 43 is specifically configured to use the first transmission beam corresponding to the first access time window to communicate with the STA.

Wherein, the determination unit 42 and the communication unit 43 may be one unit, such as a processing unit.

In specific implementation, the implementation of each module or unit can also refer to the corresponding description of the AP in the embodiment shown in FIG. 8 to execute the methods and functions performed by the AP in the foregoing embodiment.

Refer to FIG. 14, which is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 14, the communication device 1000 provided by the embodiment of the present application includes a processor 1001, a memory 1002, a transceiver 1003, and a bus system 1004. The communication device provided in the embodiment of the present application may be a STA or an AP.

Wherein, the aforementioned processor 1001, memory 1002, and transceiver 1003 are connected through a bus system 1004.

The aforementioned memory 1002 is used to store programs. Specifically, the program may include program code, and the program code includes computer operation instructions. The memory 1002 includes, but is not limited to, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), or Portable read-only memory (compact disc read-only memory, CD-ROM). Only one memory is shown in FIG. 14. Of course, the memory can also be set to multiple as required. The memory 1002 may also be a memory in the processor 1001, which is not limited here.

The memory 1002 stores the following elements, executable units or data structures, or their subsets, or their extended sets:

Operating instructions: including various operating instructions, used to implement various operations.

Operating system: Including various system programs, used to implement various basic services and process hardware-based tasks.

The aforementioned processor 1001 controls the operation of the communication device 1000. The processor 1001 may be one or more central processing units (CPU). In the case where the processor 1001 is a CPU, the CPU may be a single-core CPU. It can also be a multi-core CPU.

In a specific application, the various components of the communication device 1000 are coupled together through a bus system 1004, where the bus system 1004 may include a power bus, a control bus, and a status signal bus in addition to a data bus. However, for the sake of clear description, various buses are marked as the bus system 1004 in FIG. 14. For ease of presentation, FIG. 14 is only schematically drawn.

Any one of FIG. 3, FIG. 6 or FIG. 8 provided by the foregoing embodiment of the present application, or the STA method disclosed in each of the foregoing embodiments; or any one of FIG. 3, FIG. 6, or FIG. 8 provided by the foregoing embodiment of the present application, Or the AP method in each of the foregoing embodiments may be applied to the processor 1001 or implemented by the processor 1001. The processor 1001 may be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. In the implementation process, the steps of the foregoing method can be completed by an integrated logic circuit of hardware in the processor 1001 or instructions in the form of software. The foregoing processor 1001 may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processing (digital signal processing, DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or Other programmable logic devices, discrete gates or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components. The methods, steps, and logical block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented or executed. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may also be any conventional processor or the like. The steps of the method disclosed in the embodiments of the present application may be directly embodied as being executed and completed by a hardware decoding processor, or executed and completed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module can be located in a mature storage medium in the field, such as random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, or electrically erasable programmable memory, registers. The storage medium is located in the memory 1002, and the processor 1001 reads the information in the memory 1002, and executes the method steps of the STA described in any one of FIG. 3, FIG. 6 or FIG. 8 in combination with its hardware; or executes FIG. 3 and FIG. 6 or any of the method steps of the AP described in FIG. 8.

The embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product, the computer program product includes computer program code, when the computer program code runs on a computer, the computer executes the STA method described in FIG. 3, FIG. 6 or FIG. 8 Steps; or when the computer program code runs on a computer, the computer executes the steps of the AP method described in FIG. 3, FIG. 6 or FIG. 8.

The embodiment of the present application also provides a device, which may be a chip. The chip includes a processor. The processor is used to read and execute a computer program stored in the memory to execute the beam determination method in any possible implementation manner of FIG. 3, FIG. 6 or FIG. 8. Optionally, the chip further includes a memory, and the memory and the processor are connected through a circuit or a wire. Further optionally, the chip further includes a communication interface, and the processor is connected to the communication interface. The communication interface is used to receive data and/or information that needs to be processed, and the processor obtains the data and/or information from the communication interface, processes the data and/or information, and outputs the processing result through the communication interface. The communication interface can be an input and output interface.

In another embodiment of the present application, a communication system is also provided. The communication system includes an STA and an AP. Exemplarily, the STA may be the STA in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, FIG. 6 or FIG. 8, and the AP may be the AP in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, FIG. 6 or FIG. 8.

A person of ordinary skill in the art can understand that all or part of the process in the above-mentioned embodiment method can be realized. The process can be completed by a computer program instructing relevant hardware. The program can be stored in a computer readable storage medium. , May include the processes of the above-mentioned method embodiments. The aforementioned storage media include: ROM or random storage RAM, magnetic disks or optical disks and other media that can store program codes.

The above are only specific implementations of this application, but the protection scope of this application is not limited to this. Any person skilled in the art can easily think of changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in this application. Should be covered within the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the protection scope of this application should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

A beam determination method, characterized in that it comprises:

The station STA receives multiple beacon frames from the access point AP, and each Beacon frame in the multiple Beacon frames includes the beam identifier of the transmission beam of each Beacon frame;

The STA determines the first transmission beam from the multiple transmission beams identified by the multiple beam identifiers included in the multiple Beacon frames;

The STA sends initial access information to the AP, where the initial access information is used to instruct the AP to use the first transmission beam to communicate with the STA.
The method according to claim 1, wherein each Beacon frame further includes at least one of the following information: a beam polling time period, or the number of beams polling remaining in the beam polling time period;

The beam polling time period and/or the remaining beam number are used to determine whether the number of Beacon frames received by the STA is equal to the number of Beacon frames sent by the AP in the beam polling time period.
The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein each Beacon frame further includes a beam identifier corresponding to the trigger Trigger frame and time information of the Trigger frame;

Before the STA sends initial access information to the AP, the method further includes:

The STA receives multiple Trigger frames from the AP, the multiple Trigger frames are sent by at least 2 different transmit beams of the AP, and each Trigger frame in the multiple Trigger frames includes the size of an access time window Information, the beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame is used to determine the target Trigger frame corresponding to the first transmission beam from the multiple Trigger frames, and the time information of the Trigger frame and the target Trigger frame are used to determine The target access time window corresponding to the target Trigger frame;

The sending of initial access information by the STA to the AP includes:

The STA sends initial access information to the AP within the target access time window, where the initial access information is used to instruct the AP to use the first transmission beam corresponding to the target access time window and The STA communicates.
A beam determination method, characterized in that it comprises:

The STA receives a Beacon frame from the AP, where the Beacon frame includes time information of the Trigger frame;

The STA receives M Trigger frames from the AP, and each Trigger frame in the M Trigger frames includes size information of an access time window;

The STA determines a target Trigger frame from the M Trigger frames, and the time information of the target Trigger frame and the Trigger frame is used to determine a target access time window corresponding to the target Trigger frame;

If the current time does not exceed the target access time window corresponding to the target Trigger frame, the STA sends initial access information to the AP within the target access time window, and the initial access information is used to indicate all The AP uses the first transmission beam corresponding to the target access time window to communicate with the STA.
The method according to claim 4, wherein the Beacon frame further comprises a signal quality threshold, and the M Trigger frames are sent by the wide sending beam of the AP;

The STA determining the target Trigger frame from the M Trigger frames includes:

If the received signal quality corresponding to at least one Trigger frame in the M Trigger frames is greater than or equal to the signal quality threshold, the STA determines any Trigger frame from the M Trigger frames as the target Trigger frame.
The method according to claim 4, wherein the Beacon frame further includes a signal quality threshold, the M Trigger frames include MN first Trigger frames and N second Trigger frames, and the MN The first Trigger frames are transmitted by the wide transmission beam of the AP, and the N second Trigger frames are transmitted by at least 2 different transmission beams of the AP;

The STA determining the target Trigger frame from the M Trigger frames includes:

If the received signal quality corresponding to each first Trigger frame in the MN first Trigger frames is less than the signal quality threshold, the STA determines the target Trigger frame from the N second Trigger frames The target Trigger frame is the second Trigger frame with the highest received signal quality among the N second Trigger frames.
The method according to claim 6, wherein the Beacon frame further includes information about the number of Trigger frames, and the information about the number of Trigger frames is used to determine MN first Trigger frames from the M Trigger frames And N second Trigger frames.
The method according to claim 7, wherein the information about the number of Trigger frames includes the number of Trigger frames sent using a wide transmission beam and the number of Trigger frames sent using a narrow transmission beam, and the MN is less than or equal to the number of Trigger frames sent using the wide transmission beam. The number of Trigger frames sent by the beam, N is less than or equal to the number of Trigger frames sent by the narrow beam.
The method according to claim 4, wherein the Beacon frame further includes a beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame, and the beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame is used to determine the first transmission beam corresponding to the target Trigger frame;

The method also includes:

If the current time has exceeded the target access time window corresponding to the target Trigger frame, the STA receives a third Trigger frame sent by the AP through the first transmission beam, and the third Trigger frame is connected to the first transmission beam. 3. The time information of the Trigger frame is used to determine the first access time window corresponding to the third Trigger frame;

The STA sends initial access information to the AP within the first access time window, where the initial access information is used to instruct the AP to use the first transmission beam corresponding to the first access time window and The STA communicates.
A beam determination method, characterized in that it comprises:

The AP uses beam polling to transmit multiple Beacon frames, each Beacon frame of the multiple Beacon frames includes the beam identifier of the transmission beam of each Beacon frame, and the multiple Beacon frames are used to send data from the multiple Beacon frames. The first transmission beam is determined from the multiple transmission beams identified by the multiple beam identifiers included in the Beacon frame;

The AP receives initial access information from the STA;

The AP uses the first transmission beam to communicate with the STA according to the received initial access information.
The method according to claim 10, wherein each Beacon frame further includes at least one of the following information: a beam polling time period, or the remaining beam polling number of beams in the beam polling time period;

The beam polling time period and/or the remaining beam number are used to determine whether the number of Beacon frames received by the STA is equal to the number of Beacon frames sent by the AP in the beam polling time period.
The method according to claim 10 or 11, wherein each Beacon frame further includes a beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame and time information of the Trigger frame;

Before the AP receives the initial access information from the STA, the method further includes:

The AP uses at least 2 different transmitting beams to transmit multiple Trigger frames, and each Trigger frame in the multiple Trigger frames includes size information of an access time window;

Wherein, the beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame is used to determine the target Trigger frame corresponding to the first transmission beam from the multiple Trigger frames, and the time information of the Trigger frame and the target Trigger frame are used to determine The target access time window corresponding to the target Trigger frame;

The AP receiving initial access information from the STA includes:

Receiving, by the AP, initial access information sent by the STA within the target access time window;

The AP using the first transmission beam to communicate with the STA according to the received initial access information includes:

The AP determines the target access time window corresponding to the receiving time of the initial access information, and uses the first transmission beam corresponding to the target access time window to communicate with the STA.
A beam determination method, characterized in that it comprises:

The AP sends at least one Beacon frame, and each Beacon frame in the at least one Beacon frame includes time information of the Trigger frame;

The AP sends at least M Trigger frames, and each Trigger frame in the at least M Trigger frames includes size information of an access time window, and the at least M Trigger frames are used to determine a target Trigger frame, and the Trigger frame The time information of and the target Trigger frame are used to determine the target access time window corresponding to the target Trigger frame;

When the current time does not exceed the target access time window corresponding to the target Trigger frame, the AP receives the initial access information sent by the STA within the target access time window;

The AP determines the target access time window corresponding to the receiving time of the initial access information, and uses the first transmission beam corresponding to the target access time window to communicate with the STA.
The method according to claim 13, wherein the Beacon frame further includes a signal quality threshold, and the at least M Trigger frames include M Trigger frames transmitted by the AP's wide transmit beam;

When the received signal quality corresponding to at least one Trigger frame in the M Trigger frames is greater than or equal to the signal quality threshold, the target Trigger frame is any Trigger frame in the M Trigger frames.
The method according to claim 13, wherein the Beacon frame further includes a signal quality threshold, the at least M Trigger frames include MN first Trigger frames and N second Trigger frames, and The MN first Trigger frames are transmitted by the wide transmission beam of the AP, and the N second Trigger frames are transmitted by at least 2 different transmission beams of the AP;

When the received signal quality corresponding to each first Trigger frame in the MN first Trigger frames is less than the signal quality threshold, the target Trigger frame is the received signal quality of the N second Trigger frames The second largest Trigger frame.
The method according to claim 15, wherein the Beacon frame further includes information about the number of Trigger frames, and the information about the number of Trigger frames is used to determine MN first Triggers from the at least M Trigger frames. Frames and N second Trigger frames.
The method according to claim 16, wherein the information about the number of Trigger frames includes the number of Trigger frames sent using a wide transmission beam and the number of Trigger frames sent using a narrow transmission beam, and the MN is less than or equal to the number of Trigger frames sent using the wide transmission beam. The number of Trigger frames sent by the beam, N is less than or equal to the number of Trigger frames sent by the narrow beam.
The method according to claim 13, wherein the Beacon frame further comprises a beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame, and the beam identifier corresponding to the Trigger frame is used to determine the first transmission beam corresponding to the target Trigger frame;

The method also includes:

When the current time has exceeded the target access time window corresponding to the target Trigger frame, the AP sends a third Trigger frame on the first transmission beam. The time information is used to determine the first access time window corresponding to the third Trigger frame;

Receiving, by the AP, initial access information sent by the STA within the first access time window;

The AP determines the first access time window corresponding to the receiving time of the initial access information, and uses the first transmission beam corresponding to the first access time window to communicate with the STA.
A device, the device is an STA or a chip or a circuit set in the STA, and the device includes a unit or module for executing the method according to any one of claims 1-3.
A device, the device is an STA or a chip or a circuit set in the STA, and the device includes a unit or module for executing the method according to any one of claims 4-9.
A device, the device is an AP or a chip or a circuit set in the AP, and the device includes a unit or module for executing the method according to any one of claims 10-12.
A device, the device is an AP or a chip or a circuit set in the AP, and the device includes a unit or module for executing the method according to any one of claims 13-18.
An STA is characterized by comprising a processor, a transceiver, and a memory, wherein the memory is used to store a computer program, the transceiver is used to send and receive information or messages, and the computer program includes program instructions. When the program instruction is executed by the device, the terminal device is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 1-3 or any one of claims 4-9.
An AP, characterized by comprising a processor, a transceiver, and a memory, wherein the memory is used to store a computer program, the transceiver is used to send and receive information or messages, and the computer program includes program instructions. When the program instruction is executed by the device, the network device is caused to execute the method according to any one of claims 10-12 or any one of claims 13-18.
A communication system, characterized in that it includes STA and AP, wherein:

The STA is the device according to claim 19 or 20;

The AP is the device according to claim 21 or 22.
A readable storage medium, characterized in that program instructions are stored in the readable storage medium, and when the program instructions are executed, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 3 is executed.
A readable storage medium, characterized in that program instructions are stored in the readable storage medium, and when the program instructions are executed, the method according to any one of claims 4-9 is executed.
A readable storage medium, wherein the readable storage medium stores program instructions, and when the program instructions are executed, the method according to any one of claims 10-12 is executed.
A readable storage medium, wherein the readable storage medium stores program instructions, and when the program instructions are executed, the method according to any one of claims 13-18 is executed.