WO2023207223A1 - 多链路的重配置方法及装置 - Google Patents

多链路的重配置方法及装置 Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2023207223A1
WO2023207223A1 PCT/CN2023/071457 CN2023071457W WO2023207223A1 WO 2023207223 A1 WO2023207223 A1 WO 2023207223A1 CN 2023071457 W CN2023071457 W CN 2023071457W WO 2023207223 A1 WO2023207223 A1 WO 2023207223A1
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WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
link
status code
code field
mld
response frame
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PCT/CN2023/071457
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English (en)
French (fr)
Inventor
郭宇宸
黄国刚
李云波
淦明
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华为技术有限公司
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Publication date
Application filed by 华为技术有限公司 filed Critical 华为技术有限公司
Priority to JP2023541977A priority Critical patent/JP2024519636A/ja
Priority to AU2023203520A priority patent/AU2023203520B2/en
Priority to KR1020237022405A priority patent/KR20230153996A/ko
Priority to EP23728250.4A priority patent/EP4294112A1/en
Priority to US18/335,527 priority patent/US11956842B2/en
Publication of WO2023207223A1 publication Critical patent/WO2023207223A1/zh
Priority to AU2024202867A priority patent/AU2024202867A1/en

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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W76/00—Connection management
    • H04W76/10—Connection setup
    • H04W76/15—Setup of multiple wireless link connections
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W80/00—Wireless network protocols or protocol adaptations to wireless operation
    • H04W80/08—Upper layer protocols
    • H04W80/12—Application layer protocols, e.g. WAP [Wireless Application Protocol]
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W84/00—Network topologies
    • H04W84/02—Hierarchically pre-organised networks, e.g. paging networks, cellular networks, WLAN [Wireless Local Area Network] or WLL [Wireless Local Loop]
    • H04W84/10—Small scale networks; Flat hierarchical networks
    • H04W84/12—WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Definitions

  • the present application relates to the field of wireless communication technology, and in particular, to a method for establishing multi-link communication and related devices.
  • Multi-link (ML) communication such as communicating on 2.4GHz, 5GHz and 6GHz frequency bands at the same time, or on different frequency bands in the same frequency band at the same time. Communicate on the channel to increase the communication rate between devices.
  • This kind of device is often called a multi-link device (MLD).
  • Multilink equipment usually contains multiple stations, each station operating on a frequency band or a channel or a link. If all sites inside a certain MLD are access points (APs), they can be further called AP MLD; if all sites inside a certain MLD are non-access point stations (non-AP STA) ), it can be further called non-AP MLD.
  • Non-AP MLD and AP MLD can communicate after multi-link establishment (or multi-link association).
  • the non-AP MLD can send an association request frame to the AP MLD on one link (for ease of description, this link is recorded as the first link),
  • the association request frame carries a multi-link element (MLE), which is used to carry information about non-AP MLD and information about other links in the non-AP MLD.
  • MLE multi-link element
  • the association request frame is used to request to establish multi-link communication with the AP MLD.
  • the AP MLD can reply to the non-AP MLD with an association response frame on the first link.
  • the association response frame is used to tell the non-AP MLD that multi-link Whether communication is established successfully.
  • the association response frame can also carry MLE, which is used to carry information about the AP MLD and information about other links in the AP MLD.
  • the non-AP MLD does not know whether it can succeed in sending association request frames on other links to request to establish multi-link communication with this AP MLD, so the non-AP MLD only It is possible to send association request frames on each link to try to establish multi-link communication with this AP MLD, but this will lead to low efficiency in multi-link establishment.
  • Embodiments of the present application provide a multi-link communication establishment method and related devices, which can improve the efficiency of multi-link establishment (or multi-link association).
  • this application provides a method for establishing multi-link communication.
  • the method includes: the first station of the non-AP MLD sends a first association request frame on the first link, and sends a first association request frame on the first link. Receive the first association response frame.
  • the first association request frame includes a multi-link element
  • the multi-link element includes indication information
  • the indication information is used to indicate the second link.
  • the first association response frame includes a first status code field and a multi-link element
  • the multi-link element of the first association response frame includes a second status code field.
  • the value of the first status code field is not 0, which is used to indicate that the first link is not accepted; the value of the second status code field is set to a first value that is not 0, which is used to indicate that the second link is not accepted. The reason is that the first link was not accepted.
  • non-AP MLD has at least two links
  • AP MLD also has at least two links
  • the first site is any site in the non-AP MLD
  • the first link is the link where the first site works.
  • this application sets the first status code field in the association response frame to not 0, and sets the second status code field in the multi-link element of the association response frame to not 0.
  • the first value is used to indicate that the link corresponding to the second status code field is not accepted because the transmission link is not accepted, or to notify the non-AP MLD if the link corresponding to the second status code field is not accepted. If an association request frame is sent, the link can be accepted; so that non-AP MLD can send an association request frame on this link for multi-link establishment, thereby increasing the possibility of successful multi-link establishment; and no need Non-AP MLD attempts on each link, which can also reduce the number of attempts and improve the efficiency of multi-link establishment.
  • the method further includes: the second station of the non-AP MLD A second association request frame is sent on the second link, and a second association response frame is received on the second link.
  • This application sets the first status code field in the first association response frame to a first value that is not 0, and sets the second status code field in the multi-link element of the first association response frame to a first value that is not 0. , to notify the non-AP MLD that if an association request frame is sent on the link corresponding to this second status code field, the link can be accepted (or established successfully); thereby allowing the non-AP MLD to know on which links to send
  • the association request frame has a high probability of successfully establishing multi-link communication, which can increase the possibility of successful multi-link establishment, reduce the number of attempts, and improve the efficiency of multi-link establishment.
  • this application provides a method for establishing multi-link communication.
  • the method includes: the first access point of the AP MLD receives the first association request frame on the first link, and Send the first association response frame.
  • the first association request frame includes a multi-link element
  • the multi-link element includes indication information
  • the indication information is used to indicate the second link.
  • the first association response frame includes a first status code field and a multi-link element
  • the multi-link element of the first association response frame includes a second status code field.
  • the value of the first status code field is not 0, which is used to indicate that the first link is not accepted;
  • the value of the second status code field is set to a first value that is not 0, which is used to indicate that the second link is not accepted. The reason is that the first link was not accepted.
  • the first access point is the access point in the AP MLD that works on the first link.
  • the method further includes: the second access point of the AP MLD A second association request frame is received on the second link, and a second association response frame is sent on the second link.
  • the first value may be an unused or undefined value of the existing status code (Status Code) field, or the first value may be between 0 and (2 n -1) Any value other than the existing value.
  • n represents the length of the status code field.
  • Existing values include but are not limited to: 0 to 135, or 0 to 135 except reserved values (4, 8-9, 20-21, 26, 29, 36, 48, 66, 69-71, 90-91, 114-115, 127).
  • the first status code field is located in the frame body of the associated response frame.
  • the first status code field is located outside the multi-link element of the association response frame.
  • the Status Code field is not in the multi-link element of the Association Response frame.
  • the first status code field is in the core frame of the Association Response frame (the Status Code field in the core frame of the Association Response frame).
  • the second status code field is located in the multi-link element of the association response frame.
  • the second status code field is Per-STA Profile subelement (each STA profile subelement).
  • this application provides a communication device, which is specifically a non-AP MLD or a chip therein.
  • the communication device is used to perform the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect.
  • the communication device includes means for performing a method in the first aspect or in any possible implementation of the first aspect.
  • this application provides a communication device, which is specifically an AP MLD or a chip therein.
  • the communication device is used to perform the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect.
  • the communication device includes means for performing the method of the second aspect or any possible implementation of the second aspect.
  • the above-mentioned communication device may include a transceiver unit and a processing unit.
  • a transceiver unit and a processing unit For specific descriptions of the transceiver unit and the processing unit, reference may also be made to the device embodiments shown below.
  • the beneficial effects of the above third to fourth aspects reference can be made to the relevant descriptions of the foregoing first and second aspects, and will not be described again here.
  • this application provides a method for establishing multi-link communication.
  • the method includes: the first station of the non-AP MLD sends a first association request frame on the first link, and sends a first association request frame on the first link. Receive the first association response frame.
  • the first association request frame includes a multi-link element
  • the multi-link element includes indication information
  • the indication information is used to indicate the second link.
  • the first association response frame includes a first status code field and a multi-link element
  • the multi-link element of the first association response frame includes a second status code field.
  • the first status code field is set to a value indicating that the first link is not accepted or is set to a value indicating a reason why the first link is not accepted (for example, the value of the first status code field is not 0), and the first status code field is set to a value indicating that the first link is not accepted.
  • the second status code field is set to a value indicating that the second link is accepted (for example, the value of the second status code field is 0), which is used to jointly indicate that the reason why the second link is not accepted is that the first link has not been accepted. accept.
  • the first site is any site in the non-AP MLD
  • the first link is the link where the first site works.
  • the value of the first status code field is not 0, indicating that the first status code field does not indicate success (SUCCESS), that is, the first link is not accepted.
  • the value of the second status code field is 0, indicating that the second status code field indicates SUCCESS, that is, the second link can be accepted.
  • This application designs the setting rules and corresponding interpretation rules for the first status code field and the second status code field.
  • the first status code field indicates not SUCCESS but the second status code field indicates SUCCESS, it represents the second status.
  • the reason why the link corresponding to the code field is not accepted is that the first link is not accepted; so that the non-AP MLD knows the possibility of success if an association request frame is sent on this link for multi-link establishment. Large, which can increase the possibility of successful multi-link establishment, reduce the number of attempts, and improve the efficiency of multi-link establishment.
  • this application does not need to define new status code values, saving overhead.
  • the method further includes: the second station of the non-AP MLD A second association request frame is sent on the second link, and a second association response frame is received on the second link.
  • this application provides a method for establishing multi-link communication.
  • the method includes: the first access point of the AP MLD receives the first association request frame on the first link, and receives the first association request frame on the first link. Send the first association response frame.
  • the first association request frame includes a multi-link element
  • the multi-link element includes indication information
  • the indication information is used to indicate the second link.
  • the first association response frame includes a first status code field and a multi-link element
  • the multi-link element of the first association response frame includes a second status code field.
  • the first status code field is set to a value indicating that the first link is not accepted or is set to a value indicating a reason why the first link is not accepted (for example, the value of the first status code field is not 0), and the first status code field is set to a value indicating that the first link is not accepted.
  • the second status code field is set to a value indicating that the second link is accepted (for example, the value of the second status code field is 0), which is used to jointly indicate that the reason why the second link is not accepted is that the first link has not been accepted. accept.
  • the first access point is the access point in the AP MLD that works on the first link.
  • the method further includes: the second access point of the AP MLD A second association request frame is received on the second link, and a second association response frame is sent on the second link.
  • the first status code field is located in the frame body of the associated response frame.
  • the first status code field is located outside the multi-link element of the association response frame.
  • the first status code field is not in the multi-link element of the association response frame.
  • the first status code field is in the core frame of the association response frame.
  • the second status code field is located in the multi-link element of the associated response frame.
  • the second status code field is Per-STA Profile subelement (Per-STA Profile subelement).
  • this application provides a communication device, which is specifically a non-AP MLD or a chip therein.
  • the communication device is used to perform the method in the fifth aspect or any possible implementation of the fifth aspect.
  • the communication device includes a unit having a method for performing the fifth aspect or any possible implementation of the fifth aspect.
  • the present application provides a communication device, which is specifically an AP MLD or a chip thereof.
  • the communication device is used to perform the method in the sixth aspect or any possible implementation of the sixth aspect.
  • the communication device includes a unit having a method for performing the sixth aspect or any possible implementation of the sixth aspect.
  • the above-mentioned communication device may include a transceiver unit and a processing unit.
  • a transceiver unit and a processing unit For specific descriptions of the transceiver unit and the processing unit, reference may also be made to the device embodiments shown below.
  • the beneficial effects of the above-mentioned seventh to eighth aspects please refer to the relevant descriptions of the foregoing fifth and sixth aspects, and will not be repeated here.
  • this application provides a method for establishing multi-link communication.
  • the method includes: the first station of the non-AP MLD sends a first association request frame on the first link, and sends a first association request frame on the first link. Receive the first association response frame.
  • the first association request frame includes a multi-link element
  • the multi-link element includes indication information
  • the indication information is used to indicate the second link.
  • the first association response frame includes a first status code field and a multi-link element.
  • the first status code field is set to a second value that is not 0 and is used to indicate that the multi-link establishment failure of non-AP MLD and AP MLD has failed.
  • multi-link establishment may succeed if association request frames are transmitted on other requested links.
  • the multi-link element of the first association response frame includes a second status code field, which is used to indicate the reason why the second link is received or not accepted.
  • the first site is any site in the non-AP MLD
  • the first link is the link where the first site works.
  • the second value is an unused or undefined value of the existing status code (Status Code) field, or the second value is any value from 0 to (2 n -1) except the existing value. . n represents the length of the status code field.
  • Existing values include but are not limited to: 0 to 135, or 0 to 135 except reserved values (4, 8-9, 20-21, 26, 29, 36, 48, 66, 69-71, 90-91, 114-115, 127).
  • the embodiment of the present application sets the first status code field in the association response frame to a newly defined value (i.e., the second value) to indicate that the multi-link establishment fails but one link exists.
  • a newly defined value i.e., the second value
  • the multi-link establishment can be successful when transmitting the association request frame; so that the non-AP MLD knows whether there is a possibility of successful multi-link establishment with the AP MLD, thereby avoiding the possibility of the non-AP MLD successfully establishing multi-link communication. Constant attempts in smaller cases lead to the problem of high power consumption of non-AP MLD.
  • the method further includes: the second station of the non-AP MLD A second association request frame is sent on the second link, and a second association response frame is received on the second link.
  • this application provides a method for establishing multi-link communication.
  • the method includes: the first access point of the AP MLD receives the first association request frame on the first link, and Send the first association response frame.
  • the first association request frame includes a multi-link element
  • the multi-link element includes indication information
  • the indication information is used to indicate the second link.
  • the first association response frame includes a first status code field and a multi-link element.
  • the first status code field is set to a second value that is not 0 and is used to indicate that the multi-link establishment failure of non-AP MLD and AP MLD has failed.
  • multi-link establishment may succeed if association request frames are transmitted on other requested links.
  • the multi-link element of the first association response frame includes a second status code field, which is used to indicate the reason why the second link is received or not accepted.
  • the first access point is the access point in the AP MLD that works on the first link.
  • the second value is an unused or undefined value of the existing status code (Status Code) field, or the second value is any value from 0 to (2 n -1) except the existing value. . n represents the length of the status code field.
  • Existing values include but are not limited to: 0 to 135, or 0 to 135 except reserved values (4, 8-9, 20-21, 26, 29, 36, 48, 66, 69-71, 90-91, 114-115, 127).
  • the method further includes: the second access point of the AP MLD A second association request frame is received on the second link, and a second association response frame is sent on the second link.
  • the value of the above-mentioned second status code field is set to 0; when the first status code field is set to the second value and the second status code field is set to When 0, it is used to jointly indicate that the multi-link establishment fails and if the association request frame is transmitted on the link corresponding to the second status code field, the multi-link establishment may be successful, or indicates that the link corresponding to the second status code field The reason why the link is not accepted is that the first link is not accepted (or multi-link establishment fails).
  • This application sets the first status code field in the association response frame to a newly defined value (ie, the second value), and sets the second status code field in the multi-link element of the association response frame to 0 ( Or set to indicate SUCCESS) to jointly indicate that the multi-link establishment fails and if the association request frame is transmitted on the link corresponding to this second status code field, the multi-link establishment may be successful; thus the non-AP MLD can be informed that the Which links can be used to successfully establish multi-link communication by sending association request frames can increase the probability of successful multi-link establishment, reduce the number of attempts, and improve the efficiency of multi-link establishment.
  • the first status code field is located in the frame body of the associated response frame.
  • the first status code field is located outside the multi-link element of the association response frame.
  • the first status code field is not in the multi-link element of the association response frame.
  • the first status code field is in the core frame of the association response frame.
  • the second status code field is located in the multi-link element of the associated response frame.
  • the second status code field is Per-STA Profile subelement (Per-STA Profile subelement).
  • the present application provides a communication device, which is specifically a non-AP MLD or a chip thereof.
  • the communication device is used to perform the method in the ninth aspect or any possible implementation of the ninth aspect.
  • the communication device includes a unit having a method for performing the ninth aspect or any possible implementation of the ninth aspect.
  • this application provides a communication device, which is specifically an AP MLD or a chip thereof.
  • the communication device is used to perform the method in the tenth aspect or any possible implementation of the tenth aspect.
  • the communication device includes a unit having a method for performing the tenth aspect or any possible implementation of the tenth aspect.
  • the above-mentioned communication device may include a transceiver unit and a processing unit.
  • a transceiver unit and a processing unit For specific descriptions of the transceiver unit and the processing unit, reference may also be made to the device embodiments shown below.
  • the beneficial effects of the above eleventh to twelfth aspects reference can be made to the relevant descriptions of the foregoing ninth and tenth aspects, and will not be described again here.
  • the present application provides a communication device, which is a non-AP MLD.
  • the communication device includes a processor for executing the above-mentioned first aspect, the above-mentioned fifth aspect, the above-mentioned ninth aspect, or any one thereof. Any possible implementation of the method shown on the one hand.
  • the processor is used to execute a program stored in the memory. When the program is executed, the method shown in the above-mentioned first aspect, the above-mentioned fifth aspect, the above-mentioned ninth aspect, or any possible implementation of any one of the aspects be executed.
  • the memory is located outside the above-mentioned communication device.
  • the memory is located within the above-mentioned communication device.
  • processor and the memory can also be integrated into one device, that is, the processor and the memory can also be integrated together.
  • the communication device further includes a transceiver, and the transceiver is used to receive frames or send frames.
  • the present application provides a communication device, which is an AP MLD.
  • the communication device includes a processor for executing the above-mentioned second aspect, the above-mentioned sixth aspect, the above-mentioned tenth aspect, or any one of them. Any possible implementation of the method shown.
  • the processor is configured to execute a program stored in the memory. When the program is executed, the method shown in the above-mentioned second aspect, the above-mentioned sixth aspect, the above-mentioned tenth aspect, or any possible implementation manner of any one of the above aspects is executed. .
  • the memory is located outside the above-mentioned second communication device.
  • the memory is located within the above-mentioned second communication device.
  • processor and the memory can also be integrated into one device, that is, the processor and the memory can also be integrated together.
  • the communication device further includes a transceiver, and the transceiver is used to receive frames or send frames.
  • the present application provides a communication device.
  • the communication device includes a logic circuit and an interface, and the logic circuit is coupled to the interface.
  • the logic circuit is used to generate a first association request frame; the interface is used to output the first association request frame, the first association request frame includes a multi-link element, and the multi-link element includes indication information , the indication information is used to indicate the second link; the interface is also used to input a first association response frame.
  • the first association response frame includes a first status code field and a multi-link element.
  • the multi-link element of the first association response frame The link element includes a second status code field.
  • the value of the first status code field is not 0, which is used to indicate that the first link is not accepted; the second status code field is set to a first value that is not 0. , used to indicate that the reason why the second link is not accepted is that the first link is not accepted.
  • the logic circuit is used to generate a first association request frame; the interface is used to output the first association request frame, the first association request frame includes a multi-link element, and the multi-link element includes indication information , the indication information is used to indicate the second link; the interface is also used to input a first association response frame.
  • the first association response frame includes a first status code field and a multi-link element.
  • the multi-link element of the first association response frame The link element includes a second status code field, the value of the first status code field is not 0 and the value of the second status code field is 0, used to jointly indicate that the reason why the second link is not accepted is the The first link was not accepted.
  • the logic circuit is used to generate a first association request frame; the interface is used to output the first association request frame, the first association request frame includes a multi-link element, and the multi-link element includes indication information , the indication information is used to indicate the second link; the interface is also used to input the first association response frame.
  • the first association response frame includes a first status code field and a multi-link element.
  • the first status code field is set to The second value that is not 0 is used to indicate that the multi-link establishment of non-AP MLD and AP MLD failed and the multi-link establishment may succeed if the association request frame is transmitted on other requested links.
  • the multi-link element of the first association response frame includes a second status code field, which is used to indicate the reason why the second link is received or not accepted.
  • the present application provides another communication device.
  • the communication device includes a logic circuit and an interface, and the logic circuit is coupled to the interface.
  • the interface is used to input a first association request frame, the first association request frame includes a multi-link element, the multi-link element includes indication information, and the indication information is used to indicate the second link; a logic circuit for generating a first association response frame; an interface for outputting the first association response frame, the first association response frame including a first status code field and a multi-link element, the multi-link element of the first association response frame
  • the link element includes a second status code field.
  • the value of the first status code field is not 0, which is used to indicate that the first link is not accepted; the second status code field is set to a first value that is not 0. , used to indicate that the reason why the second link is not accepted is that the first link is not accepted.
  • the interface is used to input a first association request frame, the first association request frame includes a multi-link element, the multi-link element includes indication information, and the indication information is used to indicate the second link; a logic circuit for generating a first association response frame; an interface for outputting the first association response frame, the first association response frame including a first status code field and a multi-link element, the multi-link element of the first association response frame
  • the link element includes a second status code field, the value of the first status code field is not 0 and the value of the second status code field is 0, used to jointly indicate that the reason why the second link is not accepted is the The first link was not accepted.
  • the interface is used to input a first association request frame, the first association request frame includes a multi-link element, the multi-link element includes indication information, and the indication information is used to indicate the second link;
  • Logic circuit used to generate a first association response frame;
  • interface used to output the first association response frame, the first association response frame includes a first status code field and a multi-link element, the first status code field is set to The second value that is not 0 is used to indicate that the multi-link establishment of non-AP MLD and AP MLD failed and the multi-link establishment may succeed if the association request frame is transmitted on other requested links.
  • the multi-link element of the first association response frame includes a second status code field, which is used to indicate the reason why the second link is received or not accepted.
  • embodiments of the present application provide a computer-readable storage medium.
  • the computer-readable storage medium is used to store a computer program. When it is run on a computer, the above-mentioned first aspect, the above-mentioned fifth aspect, and the above-mentioned The method shown in the ninth aspect or any possible implementation of any of the aspects is executed.
  • embodiments of the present application provide a computer-readable storage medium.
  • the computer-readable storage medium is used to store a computer program. When it is run on a computer, the above-mentioned second aspect, the above-mentioned sixth aspect, and the above-mentioned The method shown in the tenth aspect or any possible implementation of any of the aspects is executed.
  • embodiments of the present application provide a computer program product.
  • the computer program product includes a computer program or computer code. When run on a computer, the computer program product enables the above-mentioned first aspect, the above-mentioned fifth aspect, and the above-mentioned ninth aspect. or any possible implementation of either aspect in which the method shown is performed.
  • embodiments of the present application provide a computer program product.
  • the computer program product includes a computer program or computer code.
  • the computer program product When run on a computer, the computer program product enables the above-mentioned second aspect, the above-mentioned sixth aspect, and the above-mentioned tenth aspect. or any possible implementation of either aspect in which the method shown is performed.
  • embodiments of the present application provide a computer program.
  • the computer program When the computer program is run on a computer, any possible implementation of the above-mentioned first aspect, the above-mentioned fifth aspect, the above-mentioned ninth aspect, or any one of them The method shown is executed.
  • embodiments of the present application provide a computer program.
  • the computer program is run on a computer, any possible implementation of the above-mentioned second aspect, the above-mentioned sixth aspect, the above-mentioned tenth aspect, or any one of them The method shown is executed.
  • inventions of the present application provide a wireless communication system.
  • the wireless communication system includes non-AP MLD and AP MLD.
  • the non-AP MLD is used to perform the above-mentioned first aspect, the above-mentioned fifth aspect, and the above-mentioned aspect.
  • the method shown in the ninth aspect, or any possible implementation of any one of the aspects the AP MLD is used to perform the above-mentioned second aspect, the above-mentioned sixth aspect, the above-mentioned tenth aspect, or any possibility of any one of the aspects.
  • the implementation method is shown.
  • the non-AP MLD there are one or more other links in the non-AP MLD that could have been accepted (or successfully established), but because the link transmitting the association request frame in the non-AP MLD is not accepted (or the establishment fails) ) and causes one or more other links to be unacceptable, the non-AP MLD is notified through the status code field in the association response frame that the reason for one or more other links to be unacceptable is the transmission of association request frames. The link was not accepted.
  • the embodiment of this application uses the status code field in the association response frame to notify the non-AP MLD that if the association request frame is sent on this one or more other links, this one or more other links can Accepted (or established successfully); so that non-AP MLD can send association request frames on this one or more other links for multi-link establishment, thereby increasing the possibility of successful multi-link establishment; and no need for non- -AP MLD attempts on each link, which can also reduce the number of attempts and improve the efficiency of multi-link establishment.
  • Figure 1 is a schematic architectural diagram of a wireless communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application.
  • Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of multi-link communication provided by an embodiment of the present application.
  • Figure 3a is a schematic structural diagram of a multi-link device provided by an embodiment of the present application.
  • Figure 3b is another schematic structural diagram of a multi-link device provided by an embodiment of the present application.
  • Figure 4 is a schematic flowchart of a multi-link communication establishment method provided by an embodiment of the present application.
  • FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the frame format of multi-link elements provided by the embodiment of the present application.
  • Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the frame format of the association response frame provided by the embodiment of the present application.
  • Figure 7 is another schematic flowchart of a multi-link communication establishment method provided by an embodiment of the present application.
  • Figure 8 is another schematic flowchart of a multi-link communication establishment method provided by an embodiment of the present application.
  • Figure 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application.
  • Figure 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 1000 provided by an embodiment of the present application.
  • Figure 11 is another schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application.
  • At least one of a, b, or c can represent: a, b, c; a and b; a and c; b and c; or a, b, and c.
  • a, b, c can be single or multiple.
  • words such as “first” and “second” do not limit the number and execution order, and words such as “first” and “second” do not limit the number and execution order.
  • a multi-link device can include multiple logical sites, each logical site working on a link (link), but multiple logical sites are allowed to work on the same link.
  • AP MLD and non-AP MLD can use link identifiers to identify a link or a station on a link during data transmission. Before communicating, AP MLD and non-AP MLD can first negotiate or communicate the corresponding relationship between the link identifier and a link or a station on a link. Therefore, during the data transmission process, there is no need to transmit a large amount of signaling information to indicate the link or the stations on the link. It only needs to carry the link identifier, which reduces signaling overhead and improves transmission efficiency.
  • multi-link devices can implement wireless communication by following the 802.11 series of protocols, for example, following extremely high throughput (EHT) sites, or following 802.11be-based or compatible sites that support 802.11be, to achieve integration with other device communication.
  • EHT extremely high throughput
  • other devices may or may not be multi-link devices.
  • the method provided by this application can be applied to wireless local area network (WLAN) systems, such as Wi-Fi, etc.
  • WLAN wireless local area network
  • the method provided in this application can be applied to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 series protocols, such as 802.11ax next-generation Wi-Fi protocols, such as 802.11be, Wi-Fi 7 or Extremely High Throughput rate (extremely high throughput, EHT), and the next generation of 802.11be, Wi-Fi 8, etc., which are not listed here.
  • IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
  • 802.11ax next-generation Wi-Fi protocols such as 802.11be, Wi-Fi 7 or Extremely High Throughput rate (extremely high throughput, EHT)
  • EHT Extremely High Throughput
  • the method provided by this application can also be applied to wireless personal area network systems and sensing systems based on ultra wide band (UWB).
  • UWB ultra wide band
  • radio LAN high performance wireless LAN
  • HIPERLAN a wireless standard similar to the IEEE 802.11 standard, mainly used in Europe
  • WAN wide area network
  • WLAN wireless LAN
  • PAN personal area network
  • Figure 1 is a schematic architectural diagram of a wireless communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application.
  • the wireless communication system includes at least one AP MLD (AP MLD100 and AP MLD200 in Figure 1) and at least one non-AP MLD (non-AP MLD300 in Figure 1).
  • Figure 1 can also include traditional sites that only support transmission on a single link (such as the single-link non-AP STA400 in Figure 1, also known as STA400).
  • AP MLD is a device that provides services for non-AP MLD. Non-AP MLD can communicate with AP MLD through multiple links, thereby improving the throughput rate.
  • a STA in a non-AP MLD can also communicate with an AP in an AP MLD over a link.
  • non-AP MLD is a mobile phone and AP MLD is a router as an example, which does not mean that the types of AP MLD and non-AP MLD in this application are limited.
  • the number of AP MLD and non-AP MLD in Figure 1 is only exemplary, and the number of AP MLD or non-AP MLD in the wireless communication system can be more or less. This application will No restrictions.
  • communication may also be described as “data transmission”, “information transmission” or “transmission”.
  • transmission can refer broadly to both sending and receiving.
  • FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of multi-link communication provided by an embodiment of the present application.
  • AP MLD includes n sites, namely AP1, AP2,...,APn; non-AP MLD also includes n sites, namely STA1, STA2,...,STAn.
  • the communication between MLDs is multi-link communication, and link 1 to link n in Figure 2 form a multi-link.
  • AP MLD and non-AP MLD can communicate in parallel using link 1, link 2,..., link n.
  • an AP in AP MLD can establish an association relationship with a STA in non-AP MLD.
  • STA1 in non-AP MLD is associated with AP1 in AP MLD
  • STA2 in non-AP MLD is associated with AP2 in AP MLD
  • STAn in non-AP MLD is associated with APn in AP MLD
  • Related relationships etc.
  • FIG 3a is a schematic structural diagram of a multi-link device provided by an embodiment of the present application.
  • the 802.11 standard focuses on the 802.11 physical layer (PHY) and medium access control (MAC) layers in multi-link devices.
  • PHY physical layer
  • MAC medium access control
  • multiple STAs included in a multi-link device are independent of each other at the low MAC (low MAC) layer and PHY layer, and are also independent of each other at the high MAC (high MAC) layer.
  • Figure 3b is another schematic structural diagram of a multi-link device provided by an embodiment of the present application.
  • non-AP MLD can adopt a structure with independent high MAC layer, while AP MLD can adopt a structure shared by high MAC layer; it can also be non-AP MLD adopting a structure shared by high MAC layer.
  • AP MLD adopts a structure in which the high MAC layer is independent of each other; it can also be that both non-AP MLD and AP MLD adopt a structure that shares the high MAC layer; it can also be that both non-AP MLD and AP MLD adopt a structure in which the high MAC layer is independent of each other.
  • the embodiment of the present application does not limit the schematic diagram of the internal structure of the multi-link device, and Figure 3a and Figure 3b are only exemplary illustrations.
  • the high MAC layer or the low MAC layer can be implemented by a processor in a chip system of a multi-link device, or can also be implemented by different processing modules in a chip system.
  • the frequency bands in which multi-link devices work can include one or more frequency bands in sub 1GHz, 2.4GHz, 5GHz, 6GHz and high frequency 60GHz.
  • the multi-link device in the embodiment of the present application may be a single-antenna device or a multi-antenna device.
  • it can be a device with more than two antennas.
  • This embodiment of the present application does not limit the number of antennas included in the multi-link device.
  • the multi-link device (here it can be either a non-AP MLD or an AP MLD) is a device with a wireless communication function.
  • the device can be a complete device, or can be installed on the complete device.
  • the chips or processing systems in the device, etc., and the devices equipped with these chips or processing systems can implement the methods and functions of the embodiments of the present application under the control of these chips or processing systems.
  • the non-AP MLD in the embodiment of this application has wireless transceiver functions, can support the 802.11 series protocols, and can communicate with AP MLD, single-link devices or other non-AP MLD.
  • a non-AP MLD is any user communications device that allows a user to communicate with an AP and thus with a WLAN.
  • non-AP MLD can be a tablet, desktop, laptop, notebook, ultra-mobile personal computer (UMPC), handheld computer, netbook, personal digital assistant (PDA) , mobile phones and other user equipment that can be connected to the Internet, or IoT nodes in the Internet of Things, or vehicle communication devices in the Internet of Vehicles, etc.; non-AP MLD can also be the chips and processing systems in these terminals.
  • AP MLD can provide services to non-AP MLD devices and can support the 802.11 series protocols.
  • AP MLD can be communication entities such as communication servers, routers, switches, and bridges, or AP MLD can include various forms of macro base stations, micro base stations, relay stations, etc. Of course, AP MLD can also be these various forms of equipment.
  • the chip and processing system in the system are used to implement the methods and functions of the embodiments of the present application.
  • the 802.11 protocol may be a protocol that supports 802.11be or is compatible with 802.11be.
  • multi-link devices can support high-speed and low-latency transmission.
  • multi-link devices can also be used in more scenarios, such as sensor nodes in smart cities ( For example, smart water meters, smart electricity meters, smart air detection nodes), smart devices in smart homes (such as smart cameras, projectors, displays, TVs, speakers, refrigerators, washing machines, etc.), nodes in the Internet of Things, entertainment Terminals (such as AR, VR and other wearable devices), smart devices in smart offices (such as printers, projectors, etc.), Internet of Vehicles devices in the Internet of Vehicles, and some infrastructure in daily life scenes (such as vending machines, shopping malls, etc.) Super self-service navigation desk, self-service cashier equipment, self-service ordering machine, etc.).
  • the specific forms of non-AP MLD and AP MLD are not limited, and are only illustrative.
  • the present application provides a multi-link communication establishment method and related devices, which can improve the efficiency of multi-link establishment (or multi-link association).
  • non-AP MLD can be associated with multiple links of AP MLD at the same time by performing a multi-link setup operation on one link.
  • the multi-link setup process is: non-AP MLD sends a link carrying a multi-link element (MLE) on one link (for ease of description, denoted as the first link).
  • MLE multi-link element
  • Association request frame the multi-link element carries information about other links, thereby requesting the establishment of multi-link communication with the AP MLD; after receiving the association request frame, the AP MLD sends a request to the non- AP MLD replies with an association response frame carrying a multi-link element to tell non-AP MLD whether multi-link communication is successfully established.
  • the link in the non-AP MLD that transmits the association request frame i.e., the first link mentioned above
  • the first link fails to be established
  • other links in the non-AP MLD will also It cannot be accepted (or other links have failed to be established).
  • the reasons for whether each link is accepted (or established successfully) may be different.
  • the load of different links may be different, and the load may be too heavy, which may cause the link not to be accepted (or established successfully). Failure); for example, the capability of non-AP MLD on different links may be different. Too weak capability may also be the reason why the link is not accepted (or fails to be established).
  • the link transmitting the association request frame in the non-AP MLD i.e., the first link mentioned above
  • the link transmitting the association request frame in the non-AP MLD i.e., the first link mentioned above
  • the link transmitting the association request frame in the non-AP MLD does not know whether it can communicate with the AP MLD if the association request frame is sent on other links. Multi-link communication is successfully established, so non-AP MLD can only try by sending association request frames on each link, which will lead to low efficiency in multi-link establishment.
  • the non-AP MLD there are one or more other links in the non-AP MLD that could have been accepted (or established successfully), but this occurs because the link transmitting the association request frame is not accepted (or established failed).
  • the non-AP MLD is notified through the status code field in the association response frame. The reason why one or more other links are not accepted is that the link transmitting the association request frame has not been accepted. been accepted.
  • the embodiment of this application uses the status code field in the association response frame to notify the non-AP MLD that if the association request frame is sent on this one or more other links, this one or more other links can Accepted (or established successfully); so that non-AP MLD can send association request frames on this one or more other links for multi-link establishment, thereby increasing the possibility of successful multi-link establishment; and no need for non- -AP MLD attempts on each link, which can also reduce the number of attempts and improve the efficiency of multi-link establishment.
  • Embodiment 1 of this application mainly introduces how to indicate a certain link of non-AP MLD (this link is not The link transmitting the association request frame) is not accepted because the link transmitting the association request frame in the non-AP MLD is not accepted.
  • Figure 4 is a schematic flowchart of a method for establishing multi-link communication provided by an embodiment of the present application.
  • the multi-link communication establishment method includes but is not limited to the following steps:
  • the first station of the non-AP MLD sends a first association request frame on the first link.
  • the first association request frame includes a multi-link element.
  • the multi-link element includes indication information.
  • the indication information is to indicate the second link.
  • the first access point of the AP MLD receives the first association request frame on the first link.
  • the non-AP MLD there are at least two links in the non-AP MLD, and there are also at least two links in the AP MLD. It can be understood that the number of links of non-AP MLD and the number of links of AP MLD may be equal or not equal, and are not limited in the embodiment of this application.
  • the above-mentioned first station is any station in the non-AP MLD, and the above-mentioned first link is the link where the first station works. That is to say, a station in the non-AP MLD (ie, the first station in the embodiment of the present application) can send an association request frame (ie, the first link in the embodiment of the present application) on one link (ie, the first link in the embodiment of the present application).
  • the first association request frame in the application embodiment) the association request frame carries a multi-link element (MLE), and the multi-link element carries information about other links (such as the second link below) information to request the establishment of multi-link communication with the AP MLD.
  • MLE multi-link element
  • the multi-link element carries information about other links (such as the second link below) information to request the establishment of multi-link communication with the AP MLD.
  • the specific frame format and function of the first association request frame can be found in the description of existing standards, and will not be described in detail in the embodiment of
  • the multi-link element contained in the first association request frame carries indication information, and the indication information is used to indicate the second link.
  • the second link is a link in the non-AP MLD other than the first link, that is, the other links mentioned above. It is understandable that the second link is a link other than the first link among the links that the non-AP MLD wants to establish multi-link with the AP MLD.
  • non-AP MLD has three links, namely link 1, link 2, and link 3; if non-AP MLD wants to establish multi-links with AP MLD on link 1 and link 3 (or Talk about establishing multi-link communication), and non-AP MLD sends an association request frame on link 1, then link 1 is the first link, and link 3 is the second link.
  • non-AP MLD has 3 links, namely link 1, link 2, and link 3; if non-AP MLD wants to perform multi-link with AP MLD on link 1, link 2, and link 3, The path is established (or multi-link communication is established), and the non-AP MLD sends an association request frame on link 1, then link 1 is the first link, and link 2 and link 3 are both the second links.
  • the above indication information is carried in the STA control (STA control) field of the Per-STA Profile subelement of the multi-link element.
  • the indication information may be the link ID subfield in the STA Control field. Understandably, a link ID subfield is used to identify a second link. It is also understandable that the value and meaning of the link ID subfield can be found in the meaning of existing standards, and will not be detailed here.
  • the multi-link element includes but is not limited to: a multi-link control (Multi-Link Control) field, a common information (Common Info) field, and a link information (Link Info) field.
  • the multi-link control field carries the type of the multi-link element and indication information of which fields in the public information field exist and which fields do not exist.
  • the public information field carries the information of the multi-link device itself (this is MLD-level information, that is, MLD-level info) and the common information of multiple sites in the multi-link device.
  • the link information field carries information about the stations on each link in the multi-link device.
  • each field in the multi-link element can be referred to the description of the existing standard, and will not be detailed here. It can also be understood that FIG. 5 only shows some fields in the multi-link element. For the specific frame format of the multi-link element, please refer to the description of the existing standard and will not be described again here.
  • the link information field includes one or more Per-STA Profile subelement (each STA profile subelement).
  • a Per-STA Profile sub-element carries information about sites on a link.
  • the Per-STA Profile sub-element includes an STA Control field, and the STA Control field includes a link ID sub-field.
  • the Link ID subfield specifies a value that uniquely identifies the link where the reported STA is operating on. That is, the link identification subfield is used to indicate a link. It can be understood that the STA reported here refers to the STA working on the second link in this application.
  • the multi-link element carried by the association request frame includes multiple Per-STA Profile subelement, then there will be multiple link identification subfields, that is to say, there will be multiple second links.
  • the first access point of the AP MLD sends a first association response frame on the first link.
  • the first association response frame includes a first status code field and a multi-link element.
  • the first association response frame includes The multi-link element includes a second status code field.
  • the value of the first status code field is not 0, which is used to indicate that the first link is not accepted; the second status code field is set to the first value that is not 0. Value used to indicate that the second link is not accepted because the first link is not accepted.
  • the first station of the non-AP MLD receives the first association response frame on the first link.
  • the first station of the non-AP MLD can learn whether the first link is accepted (or whether multi-link communication is established successfully) from the first status code field and the second status code field of the first association response frame, and then Or whether the multi-link establishment is successful) and whether the second link is accepted (including the reason why the second link is not accepted).
  • the above-mentioned first access point is an access point working on the first link in the AP MLD.
  • the first status code field can be used to indicate whether the first link (or the link transmitting the first association request frame) is accepted, or whether it is established successfully, or whether it becomes a link in multi-link communication. road. If the first link is accepted, the first Status Code field shall indicate success. If the first link is not accepted, the first Status Code field shall indicate the reason for failure. core frame or frame body or not in the multi-link element of the Association Response frame shall indicate SUCCESS if the link is accepted or the failure cause if the link is not accepted).
  • the first status code field When the first status code field is set to 0, it indicates success (SUCCESS), that is, the first link is received; in other words, when the value of the first status code field is not 0, it indicates that the first link is not Reasons for acceptance or non-acceptance.
  • the value and meaning of the first status code can refer to existing standards, and will not be explained here.
  • not accepted and not accepted in this application have the same meaning, for example, they both refer to the same meaning as not being accepted, or not being established successfully, or not becoming a link in multi-link communication, etc. or similar meaning.
  • the multi-link setup of non-AP MLD and AP MLD may succeed, or non-AP MLD and AP MLD Multi-link communication may be established successfully.
  • the multi-link setup between non-AP MLD and AP MLD fails, or in other words, non-AP MLD and AP MLD The establishment of multi-link communication failed.
  • the first status code field indicates that the first link is not accepted, or when the first status code field indicates the reason why the first link is not accepted; the first status code field also indicates the non-AP
  • the value of the first status code field when the value of the first status code field is not 0, it can not only indicate that the first link is not accepted or the reason why it is not accepted; it can also indicate the establishment of multi-links between non-AP MLD and AP MLD Failed, or the establishment of multi-link communication between non-AP MLD and AP MLD failed.
  • the second status code field may be used to indicate whether the second link is accepted, or whether it is established successfully, or whether it becomes a link in multi-link communication. If the second link is accepted, the second status code field shall indicate success. If the second link is not accepted, the second status code field shall indicate the reason for failure (the Status Code field included in the STA Profile subfield of the Per -STA Profile subelement shall indicate SUCCESS if the link is accepted or the failure cause if the link is not accepted). When the second status code field is set to 0, it indicates success (SUCCESS), that is, the second link is received; in other words, when the value of the second status code field is not 0, it indicates that the second link is not Reasons for acceptance or non-acceptance.
  • SUCCESS success
  • the embodiment of this application newly defines a first value that is not 0, as shown in Table 1 below; when the second status code field is set to this first value, it is used to indicate that the second link is not accepted.
  • the reason is that the first link is not accepted; or the reason used to indicate that the second link is not accepted is simply that the first link is not accepted.
  • the second status code field when the second status code field is set to the first value, it means that if the non-AP MLD sends an association request frame on the second link, the second link can be established successfully.
  • the value of the first status code field cannot be the first value in the embodiment of this application. In other words, only the second status code field can take the first value.
  • the first value may be an unused or undefined value of the existing status code (Status Code) field.
  • the first value may be any value from 0 to (2 n -1) except the existing value.
  • n equals 16.
  • the existing values here include: 0 to 135, or 0 to 135 except reserved values (4, 8-9, 20-21, 26, 29, 36, 48, 66, 69-71, 90-91, 114 -115,127).
  • the first value is any value from 0 to (2 16 -1) except 0 to 135, such as 136, or 137, or 138, or 139, etc.
  • the first value is any reserved value from 0 to 135, such as 4, 8-9, 20-21, 26, 29, 36, 48, 66, 69-71, 90-91, 114 Any value between -115 and 127.
  • the link used for exchange of association request/response frames in this application can be called a transmitted link, and correspondingly, other links are called non-transmitted links. ). Therefore, in the aforementioned steps S101 and S102, the first link is the transmission link, and the second link is the non-transmission link. Then, when the second status code field is set to the first value, the meaning can also be described as: the reason why the non-transmitted link (Non-transmitted link) is not accepted is that the transmission link (transmitted link) is not accepted.
  • the first status code field may be located in the frame body of the associated response frame.
  • the first status code field may be located outside the multi-link element of the association response frame.
  • the Status Code field is not in the multi-link element of the Association Response frame.
  • the first status code field is in the core frame of the Association Response frame (the Status Code field in the core frame of the Association Response frame).
  • the core frame here can be the Association Response frame except the multi-link element (MLE).
  • the second status code field may be located in the multi-link element of the association response frame.
  • the second status code field is the STA Profile field of the Per-STA Profile subelement (each STA profile subelement).
  • the association response frame includes but is not limited to: a status code field (ie, the first status code field) and a multi-link element (MLE).
  • the multi-link element includes, but is not limited to: a multi-link control (Multi-Link Control) field, a common information (Common Info) field, and a link information (Link Info) field.
  • the Link Info field includes one or more Per-STA Profile subelement.
  • the Per-STA Profile sub-element includes but is not limited to: STA Control field and STA Profile field.
  • the STA Control field includes a link ID subfield, which is used to indicate the second link (or non-transmission link).
  • the STA Profile field includes a Status Code field (that is, the second status code field), which is used to indicate whether the link indicated by the link ID subfield is accepted.
  • a Status Code field that is, the second status code field
  • FIG. 6 only shows some fields in the association response frame.
  • the specific frame format of the association response frame please refer to the description of the existing standards and will not be described again here. It is also understandable that the specific meaning of each field in the association response frame can also refer to the description of the existing standards, and will not be described in detail here.
  • the multi-link element of the first association response frame includes one or more second status code fields, and one second status code field is used to indicate whether a non-transmission link is accepted.
  • the AP MLD can set the second status code field corresponding to this non-transmission link to the first value to indicate that the reason why this non-transmission link is not accepted is that the transmission link has not been received, or to inform non- AP MLD If it sends an association request frame on this non-transmitting link, the non-transmitting link can be accepted (or established successfully). It can be understood that when the second status code field is set to the first value to indicate that the reason why the second link is not accepted is that the first link is not accepted, the value of the first status code field should be set to A value other than 0.
  • the value of the first status code field in the association response frame is not 0, by including the second status code field in the multi-link element of the association response frame (the Status Code field included in the STA Profile subfield of the Per-STA Profile subelement) is set to a newly defined value (i.e., the first value) to indicate that the reason why one or more non-transmission links are not accepted is that the transmission link is not accepted;
  • setting the second status code field to the first value notifies the non-AP MLD that if the association request frame is sent on the one or more non-transmitting links, the one or more non-transmitting links can be Accept (or establish successfully). Therefore, using the embodiments of the present application can improve the possibility of successful multi-link establishment; and there is no need
  • the value of at least one second status code field in the first association response frame in this embodiment of the present application is the first value, which is used to indicate that the reason why at least one second link is not received is the first link. rejected.
  • the embodiment of the present application is described by taking as an example that the value of a second status field in the first association response frame is the first value.
  • the multi-link communication establishment method may also include one or more of the following steps:
  • the second station of the non-AP MLD sends a second association request frame on the second link.
  • the second access point of the AP MLD receives the second association request frame on the second link.
  • a transmitted link the link for exchanging association request/response frames is called a transmission link
  • the aforementioned first link is no longer a transmission link. path becomes a non-transmission link
  • the second link here is a transmission link.
  • the second access point of the AP MLD sends a second association response frame on the second link.
  • the second station of the non-AP MLD receives the second association response frame on the second link.
  • the non-AP MLD can determine that the second link corresponding to the second status code field is not accepted. The reason is that the first link is not accepted, or it can be determined that the second link is not established successfully because the first link is not established successfully, or it can also be determined that if non-AP MLD is sent on this second link Association request frame, the second link can be established successfully.
  • the second station of the non-AP MLD can send a second association request frame on the second link corresponding to the second status code field, requesting to establish an association with the AP MLD at least on the second link.
  • the second access point of the AP MLD replies with a second association response frame on the second link to inform whether the association is established. success.
  • the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD exchange the second association request frame and the second association response frame, either to establish multiple links or to establish association only for the second link; the embodiment of this application is There is no restriction on this. In other words, whether the second association request frame and the second association response frame carry a multi-link element is not limited by the embodiment of the present application. It can also be understood that if the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD exchange the second association request frame and the second association response frame for multi-link establishment, multi-link communication may not be established on the first link at this time. In other words, if the second association request frame carries a multi-link element, the multi-link element may not carry the information of the first link.
  • the first link was not accepted (that is, the establishment was not successful); at this time, the second association request frame is sent on the second link.
  • the multi-link element of the second association request frame does not carry the first link (at this time the first link (path is a non-transmission link) information, which can improve the possibility of successful multi-link establishment this time.
  • the information of the first link can also be carried in the multi-link element of the second association request frame, because compared with the previous multi-link establishment (such as the aforementioned step S201 and step S202), the information on the first link situation, the situation of the first link may have changed at this time, so it may be accepted (that is, it may be established successfully).
  • the embodiment of this application notifies the non-AP MLD if the second status code field in the multi-link element of the association response frame is set to a newly defined value (i.e., the first value).
  • the association request frame is sent on the link, and the link can be accepted (or established successfully); thus allowing the non-AP MLD to know on which links to send the association request frame, there is a high possibility that multi-link communication can be successfully established.
  • Embodiment 2 of this application mainly introduces the status code field outside the multi-link element of the association response frame (i.e., the first status code field) and the status code field in this multi-link element (i.e., the second status code field), To jointly indicate that a link in the non-AP MLD is not accepted because the link in the non-AP MLD that transmits the association request frame is not accepted.
  • Figure 7 is another schematic flowchart of a method for establishing multi-link communication provided by an embodiment of the present application.
  • the multi-link communication establishment method includes but is not limited to the following steps:
  • the first station of the non-AP MLD sends a first association request frame on the first link.
  • the first association request frame includes a multi-link element.
  • the multi-link element includes indication information.
  • the indication information is to indicate the second link.
  • the first access point of the AP MLD receives the first association request frame on the first link.
  • step S201 in the embodiment of the present application refer to the implementation of step S101 in the first embodiment, and will not be described again here.
  • the first access point of the AP MLD sends a first association response frame on the first link.
  • the first association response frame includes a first status code field and a multi-link element.
  • the first association response frame includes The multi-link element includes a second status code field, the first status code field is set to a value indicating that the first link is not accepted or is set to a value indicating a reason why the first link is not accepted, and the second status code field
  • the status code field is set to a value indicating that the second link is accepted, and is used to jointly indicate that the reason why the second link is not accepted is that the first link is not accepted.
  • the first station of the non-AP MLD receives the first association response frame on the first link.
  • the first station of the non-AP MLD can determine that the reason why the second link is not accepted is that the first link is not accepted based on the values of the first status code field and the second status code field in the first association response frame. .
  • the above-mentioned first access point is an access point working on the first link in the AP MLD.
  • the first status code field can be used to indicate whether the first link (or the link transmitting the first association request frame) is accepted, or whether it is established successfully, or whether it becomes a link in multi-link communication. road. For example, when the first status code field is set to 0, it indicates success (SUCCESS), that is, the first link is received; in other words, when the value of the first status code field is not 0, it indicates that the first link is received. A link is not accepted or the reason why it is not accepted.
  • the second status code field may be used to indicate whether the second link is accepted, or whether it is established successfully, or whether it becomes a link in multi-link communication.
  • the second status code field when the second status code field is set to 0, it indicates success (SUCCESS), that is, the second link is received; in other words, when the value of the second status code field is not 0, it indicates that the second link is received.
  • the second link is not accepted or the reason why it is not accepted.
  • the above-mentioned first status code field is set to a value indicating that the first link is not accepted or is set to a value indicating a reason why the first link is not accepted
  • the above-mentioned second status code field is set to indicate that the second link
  • the accepted value is used to jointly indicate that the second link is not accepted because the first link is not accepted. It can also be described as: the value of the first status code field is not 0 and the value of the second status code field It is 0, used to jointly indicate that the reason why the second link is not accepted is that the first link is not accepted.
  • the first status code field may be located in the frame body of the associated response frame.
  • the first status code field may be located outside the multi-link element of the association response frame.
  • the first status code field is not in the multi-link element of the association response frame.
  • the first status code field is in the core frame of the association response frame, and the core frame here may be the content in the association response frame except the multi-link element (MLE).
  • the second status code field may be located in the multi-link element of the association response frame.
  • the second status code field is the STA Profile field of the Per-STA Profile subelement (each STA profile subelement).
  • the frame format of the association response frame is shown in the aforementioned Figure 6 and will not be described again here.
  • the multi-link element of the first association response frame includes one or more second status code fields, and one second status code field is used to indicate whether a non-transmission link is accepted.
  • the AP MLD can change the first state to The code field is set to a value other than 0 and the second status code field corresponding to this non-transmission link is set to 0, which is used to jointly indicate that the reason why this non-transmission link is not accepted (or is not successfully established) is The transport link is not accepted (or is not established successfully), or is used to jointly indicate that the reason why this non-transport link is not accepted is simply that the transport link is not accepted, or is used to inform the non-AP MLD if it is here If an association request frame is sent on a non-transmission link, the non-transmission link can be accepted (or established successfully).
  • the first status code field indicates not SUCCESS (that is, the first status code field indicates that the first link is not accepted or the reason why it is not accepted, or the value of the first status code field is not 0)
  • the second status code field indicates SUCCESS (that is, the second status code field indicates that the second link is accepted, or the value of the second status code field is 0); it means that the second link is not accepted.
  • the reason for acceptance is that the first link was not accepted.
  • the status code field (i.e. the second status code field) contained in the STA profile subfield of each STA profile sub-element should indicate success, if the non-transmitting link
  • the link is not accepted, indicating the cause of the failure, except in the following cases (the Status Code field included in the STA Profile subfield of the Per-STA Profile subelement shall indicate SUCCESS if the link is accepted or the failure cause if the link is not accepted with the exception below): If the reason why this link is not accepted is that the transmission link is not accepted, then the status code field of the STA Profile subfield in the Per-STA Profile subelement corresponding to this link (i.e. The Second Status Code field) shall indicate success (The Status Code field included in the STA Profile subfield of the Per-STA Profile subelement shall indicate SUCCESS if the link is not accepted only because the transmitting link is not accepted).
  • the status code field outside the multi-link element in the association response frame i.e., the first status code field
  • the status of the STA Profile subfield in the Per-STA Profile subelement corresponding to the second link Code field indicates success when the second link is not accepted, but if the association request frame is sent on the second link, the second link can be accepted
  • the Status Code field not in the multi-link element of the Association Response frame does not indicate SUCCESS
  • the Status Code field included in the STA Profile subfield of the Per-STA Profile subelement indicates SUCCESS
  • the corresponding link is not accepted, but can be accepted if the Association Request frame is transmitted on that link).
  • the embodiment of this application designs the setting rules and corresponding interpretation rules for the first status code field and the second status code field.
  • the first status code field indicates not SUCCESS but the second status code field indicates SUCCESS, it means that the first status code field indicates SUCCESS.
  • the reason why the link corresponding to the second status code field is not accepted is that the first link is not accepted; so that the non-AP MLD knows that if an association request frame is sent on this link for multi-link establishment, its success
  • the possibility is high, which can increase the possibility of successful multi-link establishment, reduce the number of attempts, and improve the efficiency of multi-link establishment.
  • the value of the first status code field in the first association response frame in this embodiment of the present application is not 0, and there is at least one second status code field with a value of 0, which is used to jointly indicate at least one second link.
  • the reason why the link is not accepted is that the first link is not accepted.
  • the embodiment of the present application is described by taking as an example that there is a second status field with a value of 0 in the first association response frame.
  • the multi-link communication establishment method may also include:
  • the second station of the non-AP MLD sends a second association request frame on the second link.
  • the second access point of the AP MLD receives the second association request frame on the second link.
  • a transmitted link the link for exchanging association request/response frames is called a transmission link
  • the aforementioned first link is no longer a transmission link. path becomes a non-transmission link
  • the second link here is a transmission link.
  • the second access point of the AP MLD sends a second association response frame on the second link.
  • the second station of the non-AP MLD receives the second association response frame on the second link.
  • step S203 to step S204 in the embodiment of the present application refers to the implementation of step S103 to step S104 in the first embodiment, which will not be described again here.
  • the non-transmission link there are one or more non-transmission links in the non-AP MLD that could have been accepted (or successfully established), but due to the fact that the transmission link is not accepted (or established failed), this one or more
  • the value of the first status code field in the association response frame is set to not equal to 0, and the second status code field in the multi-link element of the association response frame is set to 0 (or set to indicate SUCCESS), to jointly indicate that a certain non-transmission link is not accepted because the transmission link is not accepted, or to notify the non-AP MLD if an association request is sent on this non-transmission link frame, the non-transmission link can be accepted (or established successfully).
  • Embodiment 3 of this application mainly introduces how to indicate multi-link establishment failure by extending the value of the status code field (ie, the first status code field) located outside the multi-link element of the association response frame; further, you can also set The value of the status code field (ie, the second status code field) in the multi-link element jointly indicates that the link corresponding to the second status code field is not accepted because the transmission link is not accepted.
  • the status code field ie, the first status code field located outside the multi-link element of the association response frame
  • FIG 8 is another schematic flowchart of a multi-link communication establishment method provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 8, the multi-link communication establishment method includes but is not limited to the following steps:
  • the first station of the non-AP MLD sends a first association request frame on the first link.
  • the first association request frame includes a multi-link element.
  • the multi-link element includes indication information.
  • the indication information is to indicate the second link.
  • the first access point of the AP MLD receives the first association request frame on the first link.
  • step S301 in the embodiment of the present application refer to the implementation of step S101 in the first embodiment, which will not be described again here.
  • the first access point of the AP MLD sends a first association response frame on the first link.
  • the first association response frame includes a first status code field, and the first status code field is set to a third value that is not 0.
  • the first station of the non-AP MLD receives the first association response frame on the first link.
  • the above-mentioned first access point is an access point working on the first link in the AP MLD.
  • the first association response frame includes a first status code field and a multi-link element
  • the multi-link element of the first association response frame includes one or more second status code fields, a second status
  • the code field is used to indicate whether a link was accepted or not accepted or the reason why it was not accepted.
  • the second status code field please refer to the relevant description of Embodiment 1 above, and will not be described again here.
  • this embodiment of the present application newly defines a second value, which is an unused or undefined value of the existing status code (Status Code) field.
  • the second value may be any value from 0 to (2 n -1) except the existing value.
  • n equals 16.
  • Existing values here include but are not limited to: 0 to 135, or 0 to 135 except reserved values (4, 8-9, 20-21, 26, 29, 36, 48, 66, 69-71, 90- 91,114-115,127).
  • the second value is any value from 0 to (2 16 -1) except 0 to 135, such as 136, or 137, or 138, or 139, etc.
  • the first value is any reserved value from 0 to 135, such as 4, 8-9, 20-21, 26, 29, 36, 48, 66, 69-71, 90-91, 114 Any value between -115 and 127. It can be understood that the second value in the embodiment of the present application is different from the first value in the aforementioned embodiment one.
  • the first status code field when the first status code field is set to the second value, it is used to indicate that the multi-link establishment of non-AP MLD and AP MLD failed; or, it is used to indicate that non-AP MLD and AP MLD
  • the multi-link establishment fails and may succeed if the association request frame is transmitted on other requested links (referring to a link other than the first link).
  • the value of the second status code field cannot be the second value in the embodiment of this application. In other words, only the first status code field can take the second value.
  • the value of the first status code field is an existing value (such as 0 to 135), it is used to indicate whether the first link (or the link transmitting the first association request frame) is accepted, or whether The establishment is successful, or whether it becomes a link in multi-link communication; for details, please refer to the relevant description in Embodiment 1 above, which will not be described again here.
  • the value of the first status code field is the second value, it is used to indicate that the multi-link establishment has failed, or that the multi-link establishment has failed, but the association request can be successful if it is transmitted on other requested links.
  • the embodiment of the present application sets the first status code field in the association response frame to a newly defined value (i.e., the second value) to indicate that the multi-link establishment fails but one link exists.
  • a newly defined value i.e., the second value
  • the multi-link establishment can be successful when transmitting the association request frame; so that the non-AP MLD knows whether there is a possibility of successful multi-link establishment with the AP MLD, thereby avoiding the possibility of the non-AP MLD successfully establishing multi-link communication. Constant attempts in smaller cases lead to the problem of high power consumption of non-AP MLD.
  • the first status code field may be located in the frame body of the associated response frame.
  • the first status code field may be located outside the multi-link element of the association response frame.
  • the first status code field is not in the multi-link element of the association response frame.
  • the first status code field is in the core frame of the association response frame, and the core frame here may be the content in the association response frame except the multi-link element (MLE).
  • the second status code field may be located in the multi-link element of the association response frame.
  • the second status code field is the STA Profile field of the Per-STA Profile subelement (each STA profile subelement).
  • the frame format of the association response frame is shown in the aforementioned Figure 6 and will not be described again here.
  • the AP MLD can set the first status code field to the second value, and set the second status code field corresponding to this non-transmission link to 0, which is used to jointly indicate that the multi-link establishment fails and if on this non-transmission link If the association request frame is transmitted on the link, the multi-link establishment may be successful; or it may be used to jointly indicate that the reason why this non-transmission link is not accepted is that the transmission link is not accepted (or the multi-link establishment fails).
  • the first status code field is set to the second value and the second status code field indicates SUCCESS (that is, the second status code field indicates that the second link is accepted, or the value of the second status code field is value is 0)
  • the second status code field indicates that the second link is accepted, or the value of the second status code field is value is 0
  • the first status code field in the first association response frame in this embodiment of the present application is set to the second value, and there is at least one second status code field with a value of 0, which is used to jointly indicate multi-link establishment failure. And if the association request frame is transmitted on at least one second link corresponding to the at least one second status code field, the multi-link establishment may be successful.
  • the embodiment of the present application is described by taking as an example that there is a second status field with a value of 0 in the first association response frame.
  • the multi-link communication establishment method may also include:
  • the second station of the non-AP MLD sends a second association request frame on the second link.
  • the second access point of the AP MLD receives the second association request frame on the second link.
  • a transmitted link the link for exchanging association request/response frames is called a transmission link
  • the aforementioned first link is no longer a transmission link. path becomes a non-transmission link
  • the second link here is a transmission link.
  • the second access point of the AP MLD sends a second association response frame on the second link.
  • the second station of the non-AP MLD receives the second association response frame on the second link.
  • step S303 to step S304 in the embodiment of the present application refers to the implementation of step S303 to step S304 in the first embodiment, which will not be described again here.
  • the embodiment of the present application sets the first status code field in the association response frame to a newly defined value (ie, the second value), and sets the second status code field in the multi-link element of the association response frame to 0 (or set to indicate SUCCESS) to jointly indicate multi-link establishment failure and multi-link establishment may succeed if an association request frame is transmitted on the link corresponding to this second status code field; thus enabling non-AP MLD Knowing which links can successfully establish multi-link communication by sending association request frames can increase the probability of successful multi-link establishment, reduce the number of attempts, and improve the efficiency of multi-link establishment.
  • the above content elaborates the method provided by the present application in detail.
  • the embodiments of the present application also provide corresponding devices or equipment.
  • This application divides AP MLD and non-AP MLD into functional modules according to the above method embodiments.
  • each functional module can be divided corresponding to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing module.
  • the above integrated modules can be implemented in the form of hardware or software function modules. It should be noted that the division of modules in this application is schematic and is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods.
  • the AP MLD and non-AP MLD of the embodiment of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to Figures 9 to 11.
  • Figure 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application.
  • the communication device includes a transceiver unit 10 and a processing unit 20.
  • the communication device may be the non-AP MLD shown above. That is, the communication device shown in Figure 9 can be used to perform the steps or functions performed by the non-AP MLD in the above method embodiment.
  • the communication device may be a non-AP MLD or a chip, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.
  • the transceiver unit 10 is configured to send a first association request frame on the first link, and receive a first association response frame on the first link.
  • the first association request frame includes a multi-link element
  • the multi-link element includes indication information
  • the indication information is used to indicate the second link.
  • the first association response frame includes a first status code field and a multi-link element.
  • the multi-link element of the first association response frame includes a second status code field.
  • the value of the first status code field is not 0, for Indicates that the first link is not accepted; the second status code field is set to a first value other than 0, which is used to indicate that the reason why the second link is not accepted is that the first link is not accepted.
  • the processing unit 20 is configured to generate a first association request frame, and send the first association request frame through or control the transceiver unit 10.
  • the transceiver unit 10 is also configured to send a second association request frame on the second link, and receive a second association response frame on the second link.
  • the processing unit 20 is configured to generate a second association request frame, and send the second association request frame through or control the transceiver unit 10 .
  • transceiver unit and the processing unit shown in the embodiments of the present application are only examples.
  • specific functions or steps performed by the transceiver unit and the processing unit reference can be made to the above method embodiments (as shown in Figure 4), which are not included here. Elaborate further.
  • the transceiver unit 10 is configured to send a first association request frame on the first link, and receive a first association response frame on the first link.
  • the first association request frame includes a multi-link element
  • the multi-link element includes indication information
  • the indication information is used to indicate the second link.
  • the first association response frame includes a first status code field and a multi-link element.
  • the multi-link element of the first association response frame includes a second status code field.
  • the value of the first status code field is not 0 and the value of the first status code field is not 0.
  • the value of the second status code field is 0, which is used to jointly indicate that the reason why the second link is not accepted is that the first link is not accepted.
  • the processing unit 20 is configured to generate a first association request frame, and send the first association request frame through or control the transceiver unit 10.
  • the transceiver unit 10 is also configured to send a second association request frame on the second link, and receive a second association response frame on the second link.
  • the processing unit 20 is configured to generate a second association request frame, and send the second association request frame through or control the transceiver unit 10 .
  • transceiver unit and the processing unit shown in the embodiments of the present application are only examples.
  • specific functions or steps performed by the transceiver unit and the processing unit reference can be made to the above method embodiments (as shown in Figure 7), which are not included here. Elaborate further.
  • the transceiver unit 10 is configured to send a first association request frame on the first link, and receive a first association response frame on the first link.
  • the first association request frame includes a multi-link element
  • the multi-link element includes indication information
  • the indication information is used to indicate the second link.
  • the first association response frame includes a first status code field, the first status code field is set to a second value that is not 0, used to indicate that the multi-link establishment of non-AP MLD and AP MLD fails and if in other requests Multi-link establishment may be successful if the association request frame is transmitted on the link.
  • the processing unit 20 is configured to generate a first association request frame, and send the first association request frame through or control the transceiver unit 10.
  • the transceiver unit 10 is also configured to send a second association request frame on the second link, and receive a second association response frame on the second link.
  • the processing unit 20 is configured to generate a second association request frame, and send the second association request frame through or control the transceiver unit 10 .
  • transceiver unit and the processing unit shown in the embodiments of the present application are only examples.
  • specific functions or steps performed by the transceiver unit and the processing unit reference can be made to the above method embodiments (as shown in Figure 8), which are not discussed here. Elaborate further.
  • the communication device may be the AP MLD shown above. That is, the communication device shown in Figure 9 can be used to perform the steps or functions performed by the AP MLD in the above method embodiment.
  • the communication device may be an AP MLD or a chip, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.
  • the transceiver unit 10 is configured to receive a first association request frame on the first link, and send a first association response frame on the first link.
  • the first association request frame includes a multi-link element
  • the multi-link element includes indication information
  • the indication information is used to indicate the second link.
  • the first association response frame includes a first status code field and a multi-link element.
  • the multi-link element of the first association response frame includes a second status code field.
  • the value of the first status code field is not 0, for Indicates that the first link is not accepted; the second status code field is set to a first value other than 0, which is used to indicate that the reason why the second link is not accepted is that the first link is not accepted.
  • the processing unit 20 is configured to generate a first association response frame, and send the first association response frame through or control the transceiver unit 10 .
  • the transceiver unit 10 is also configured to receive a second association request frame on the second link, and send a second association response frame on the second link.
  • the processing unit 20 is configured to generate a second association response frame, and send the second association response frame through or control the transceiver unit 10 .
  • transceiver unit and the processing unit shown in the embodiments of the present application are only examples.
  • specific functions or steps performed by the transceiver unit and the processing unit reference can be made to the above method embodiments (as shown in Figure 4), which are not included here. Elaborate further.
  • the transceiver unit 10 is configured to receive a first association request frame on the first link, and send a first association response frame on the first link.
  • the first association request frame includes a multi-link element
  • the multi-link element includes indication information
  • the indication information is used to indicate the second link.
  • the first association response frame includes a first status code field and a multi-link element.
  • the multi-link element of the first association response frame includes a second status code field.
  • the value of the first status code field is not 0 and the value of the first status code field is not 0.
  • the value of the second status code field is 0, which is used to jointly indicate that the reason why the second link is not accepted is that the first link is not accepted.
  • the processing unit 20 is configured to generate a first association response frame, and send the first association response frame through or control the transceiver unit 10 .
  • the transceiver unit 10 is also configured to receive a second association request frame on the second link, and send a second association response frame on the second link.
  • the processing unit 20 is configured to generate a second association response frame, and send the second association response frame through or control the transceiver unit 10 .
  • transceiver unit and the processing unit shown in the embodiments of the present application are only examples.
  • specific functions or steps performed by the transceiver unit and the processing unit reference can be made to the above method embodiments (as shown in Figure 7), which are not included here. Elaborate further.
  • the transceiver unit 10 is configured to receive a first association request frame on the first link, and send a first association response frame on the first link.
  • the first association request frame includes a multi-link element
  • the multi-link element includes indication information
  • the indication information is used to indicate the second link.
  • the first association response frame includes a first status code field, the first status code field is set to a second value that is not 0, used to indicate that the multi-link establishment of non-AP MLD and AP MLD fails and if in other requests Multi-link establishment may be successful if the association request frame is transmitted on the link.
  • the processing unit 20 is configured to generate a first association response frame, and send the first association response frame through or control the transceiver unit 10 .
  • the transceiver unit 10 is also configured to receive a second association request frame on the second link, and send a second association response frame on the second link.
  • the processing unit 20 is configured to generate a second association response frame, and send the second association response frame through or control the transceiver unit 10 .
  • transceiver unit and the processing unit shown in the embodiments of the present application are only examples.
  • specific functions or steps performed by the transceiver unit and the processing unit reference can be made to the above method embodiments (as shown in Figure 8), which are not discussed here. Elaborate further.
  • non-AP MLD and AP MLD in the embodiments of the present application are introduced above.
  • the possible product forms of non-AP MLD and AP MLD are introduced below. It should be understood that any form of product that has the function of the non-AP MLD described in Figure 9 above, or any form of product that has the function of the AP MLD described in Figure 9 above, falls into the embodiments of the present application. scope of protection. It should also be understood that the following introduction is only an example, and does not limit the product forms of non-AP MLD and AP MLD in the embodiments of the present application.
  • the processing unit 20 may be one or more processors, and the transceiver unit 10 may be a transceiver, or the transceiver unit 10 may also be a sending unit and a receiving unit.
  • the sending unit may be a transmitter
  • the receiving unit may be a receiver
  • the sending unit and the receiving unit are integrated into one device, such as a transceiver.
  • the processor and the transceiver may be coupled, etc., and the embodiment of the present application does not limit the connection method between the processor and the transceiver.
  • the process of sending information (such as sending the first association request frame, the first association response frame, the second association request frame, the second association response frame, etc.) in the above method can be understood as processing The process by which the device outputs the above information.
  • the processor When outputting the above information, the processor outputs the above information to the transceiver for transmission by the transceiver. After the above information is output by the processor, it may also need to undergo other processing before reaching the transceiver.
  • the process of receiving information (such as receiving the first association request frame, the first association response frame, the second association request frame, the second association response frame, etc.) in the above method can be understood as the processor receiving the input information. the process of.
  • the transceiver receives the above information and inputs it into the processor. Furthermore, after the transceiver receives the above information, the above information may need to undergo other processing before being input to the processor.
  • Figure 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 1000 provided by an embodiment of the present application.
  • the communication device 1000 may be a first communication device or a second communication device, or a chip therein.
  • Figure 10 shows only the main components of the communication device 1000.
  • the communication device may further include a memory 1003 and an input and output device (not shown in the figure).
  • the processor 1001 is mainly used to process communication protocols and communication data, control the entire communication device, execute software programs, and process data of the software programs.
  • Memory 1003 is mainly used to store software programs and data.
  • the transceiver 1002 may include a control circuit and an antenna.
  • the control circuit is mainly used for conversion of baseband signals and radio frequency signals and processing of radio frequency signals.
  • Antennas are mainly used to send and receive radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves.
  • Input and output devices, such as touch screens, display screens, keyboards, etc., are mainly used to receive data input by users and output data to users.
  • the processor 1001 can read the software program in the memory 1003, interpret and execute the instructions of the software program, and process the data of the software program.
  • the processor 1001 performs baseband processing on the data to be sent, and then outputs the baseband signal to the radio frequency circuit.
  • the radio frequency circuit performs radio frequency processing on the baseband signal and then sends the radio frequency signal out in the form of electromagnetic waves through the antenna.
  • the radio frequency circuit receives the radio frequency signal through the antenna, converts the radio frequency signal into a baseband signal, and outputs the baseband signal to the processor 1001.
  • the processor 1001 converts the baseband signal into data and performs processing on the data. deal with.
  • the radio frequency circuit and antenna can be arranged independently of the processor that performs baseband processing.
  • the radio frequency circuit and antenna can be arranged remotely and independently of the communication device. .
  • the processor 1001, the transceiver 1002, and the memory 1003 can be connected through a communication bus.
  • the communication device 1000 can be used to perform the functions of the non-AP MLD in the first embodiment: the processor 1001 can be used to generate the first association request frame sent in step S101 in Figure 4 and the second association request frame sent in step S103. Association request frame, and/or other processes for performing the techniques described herein; the transceiver 1002 may be configured to perform steps S101, S103, etc. in FIG. 4, and/or other processes for the techniques described herein. .
  • the communication device 1000 can be used to perform the function of the AP MLD in the first embodiment: the processor 1001 can be used to generate the first association response frame sent in step S102 in Figure 4 and the second association sent in step S104. response frame, and/or other processes for performing the techniques described herein; the transceiver 1002 may be configured to perform steps S102 and S104 in FIG. 7 , and/or other processes for the techniques described herein.
  • the communication device 1000 can be used to perform the function of the non-AP MLD in the second embodiment: the processor 1001 can be used to generate the first association request frame sent in step S201 in Figure 7 and the second association request frame sent in step S203. Association request frame, and/or other processes for performing the techniques described herein; the transceiver 1002 may be configured to perform steps S201, S203, etc. in FIG. 7, and/or other processes for the techniques described herein. .
  • the communication device 1000 can be used to perform the function of the AP MLD in the second embodiment: the processor 1001 can be used to generate the first association response frame sent in step S202 in Figure 7 and the second association sent in step S204. response frame, and/or other processes for performing the techniques described herein; the transceiver 1002 may be configured to perform steps S202 and S204 in FIG. 7 , and/or other processes for the techniques described herein.
  • the communication device 1000 can be used to perform the function of the non-AP MLD in the third embodiment: the processor 1001 can be used to generate the first association request frame sent in step S301 in Figure 8 and the second association request frame sent in step S303. Association request frame, and/or other processes for performing the techniques described herein; the transceiver 1002 may be configured to perform steps S301, S303, etc. in FIG. 8, and/or other processes for the techniques described herein. .
  • the communication device 1000 can be used to perform the function of the AP MLD in the third embodiment: the processor 1001 can be used to generate the first association response frame sent in step S302 in Figure 8 and the second association sent in step S304. response frame, and/or other processes for performing the techniques described herein; the transceiver 1002 may be configured to perform steps S302 and S304 in FIG. 8 , and/or other processes for the techniques described herein.
  • the processor 1001 may include a transceiver for implementing receiving and transmitting functions.
  • the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit, an interface, or an interface circuit.
  • the transceiver circuits, interfaces or interface circuits used to implement the receiving and transmitting functions can be separate or integrated together.
  • the above-mentioned transceiver circuit, interface or interface circuit can be used for reading and writing code/data, or the above-mentioned transceiver circuit, interface or interface circuit can be used for signal transmission or transfer.
  • the processor 1001 may store instructions, which may be computer programs.
  • the computer programs run on the processor 1001 and may cause the communication device 1000 to execute the method described in the above method embodiments.
  • the computer program may be solidified in the processor 1001, in which case the processor 1001 may be implemented by hardware.
  • the communication device 1000 may include a circuit, and the circuit may implement the functions of sending or receiving or communicating in the foregoing method embodiments.
  • the processor and transceiver described in this application can be implemented in integrated circuits (ICs), analog ICs, radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs), mixed-signal ICs, application specific integrated circuits (application specific integrated circuits) , ASIC), printed circuit board (PCB), electronic equipment, etc.
  • the processor and transceiver can also be manufactured using various IC process technologies, such as complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS), n-type metal oxide-semiconductor (NMOS), P-type Metal oxide semiconductor (positive channel metal oxide semiconductor, PMOS), bipolar junction transistor (BJT), bipolar CMOS (BiCMOS), silicon germanium (SiGe), gallium arsenide (GaAs), etc.
  • CMOS complementary metal oxide semiconductor
  • NMOS n-type metal oxide-semiconductor
  • PMOS P-type Metal oxide semiconductor
  • BJT bipolar junction transistor
  • BiCMOS bipolar CMOS
  • SiGe silicon germanium
  • GaAs gallium arsenide
  • the scope of the communication device described in this application is not limited thereto, and the structure of the communication device may not be limited by FIG. 10 .
  • the communication device may be a stand-alone device or may be part of a larger device.
  • the communication device may be:
  • the IC collection may also include storage components for storing data and computer programs;
  • the processing unit 20 may be one or more logic circuits, and the transceiver unit 10 may be an input-output interface, also known as a communication interface, or an interface circuit. , or interface, etc.
  • the transceiver unit 10 may also be a sending unit and a receiving unit.
  • the sending unit may be an output interface
  • the receiving unit may be an input interface.
  • the sending unit and the receiving unit may be integrated into one unit, such as an input-output interface.
  • Figure 11 is another schematic structural diagram of a communication device provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 11 , the communication device shown in FIG. 11 includes a logic circuit 901 and an interface 902 .
  • the above-mentioned processing unit 20 can be implemented by the logic circuit 901, and the transceiver unit 10 can be implemented by the interface 902.
  • the logic circuit 901 can be a chip, a processing circuit, an integrated circuit or a system on chip (SoC) chip, etc.
  • the interface 902 can be a communication interface, an input/output interface, a pin, etc.
  • FIG. 11 shows that the above communication device is a chip.
  • the chip includes a logic circuit 901 and an interface 902 .
  • the logic circuit and the interface may also be coupled to each other.
  • the embodiments of this application do not limit the specific connection methods of the logic circuits and interfaces.
  • the logic circuit 901 is used to generate a first association request frame; interface 902, used to output the first association request frame; interface 902, also used to input the first association response frame.
  • the interface 902 is used to input the first association request frame; the logic circuit 901, Used to generate a first association response frame; the interface 902 is also used to output the first association response frame.
  • the communication device shown in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware to implement the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application, or can be implemented in the form of software to implement the methods provided in the embodiments of the present application. This is not limited by the embodiments of the present application.
  • the embodiment of the present application also provides a wireless communication system.
  • the wireless communication system includes a non-AP MLD and an AP MLD.
  • the non-AP MLD and the AP MLD can be used to perform the method in any of the foregoing embodiments.
  • this application also provides a computer program, which is used to implement the operations and/or processing performed by the non-AP MLD in the method provided by this application.
  • This application also provides a computer program, which is used to implement the operations and/or processing performed by AP MLD in the method provided by this application.
  • This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium.
  • Computer code is stored in the computer-readable storage medium. When the computer code is run on a computer, it causes the computer to perform the operations performed by the non-AP MLD in the method provided by this application. and/or processing.
  • This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores computer code.
  • the computer code When the computer code is run on a computer, it causes the computer to perform the operations performed by the AP MLD in the method provided by this application and/or or processing.
  • This application also provides a computer program product, which includes computer code or computer program.
  • the computer code or computer program When the computer code or computer program is run on a computer, it causes the operations performed by the non-AP MLD device in the method provided by this application. and/or processing is performed.
  • This application also provides a computer program product, which computer program product includes computer code or computer program.
  • computer program product includes computer code or computer program.
  • the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways.
  • the device embodiments described above are only illustrative.
  • the division of the units is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods.
  • multiple units or components may be combined or can be integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored, or not implemented.
  • the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection between each other shown or discussed may be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, or may be electrical, mechanical or other forms of connection.
  • the units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place, or they may be distributed to multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the technical effects of the solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application.
  • each functional unit in various embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically alone, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.
  • the above integrated units can be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional units.
  • the integrated unit is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium.
  • the technical solution of the present application is essentially or contributes to the existing technology, or all or part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product is stored in a readable
  • the storage medium includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in various embodiments of this application.
  • the aforementioned readable storage media include: U disk, mobile hard disk, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disk or optical disk, etc. that can store program code medium.

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Abstract

本申请涉及一种多链路通信的建立方法及相关装置，该方法包括：non-AP MLD在第一链路上发送关联请求帧，用于请求进行多链路建立；AP MLD在第一链路上回复关联响应帧，用于通知多链路建立是否成功；AP MLD将该关联响应帧的多链路元素中第二状态码字段设置为新定义的值，用于指示链路不被接受的原因是第一链路未被接受。采用本申请实施例，可以提高多链路建立的效率。本申请应用于支持802.11ax下一代Wi-Fi协议，如802.11be，Wi-Fi 7或EHT，再如802.11be下一代，Wi-Fi 8等802.11系列协议的WLAN系统，还可以应用于基于超带宽的无线个人局域网系统，感知系统。

Description

多链路的重配置方法及装置
本申请要求于2022年04月24日提交国家知识产权局、申请号为202210435613.2、申请名称为“多链路通信的建立方法及相关装置”的中国专利申请的优先权，其全部内容通过引用结合在本申请中。
技术领域
本申请涉及无线通信技术领域，尤其涉及一种多链路通信的建立方法及相关装置。
背景技术
随着无线通信技术的发展，越来越多的无线通信设备支持多链路(multi-link，ML)通信，例如同时在2.4GHz，5GHz以及6GHz频段上进行通信，或者同时在同一频段的不同信道上通信，从而提高设备之间的通信速率。这种设备通常称为多链路设备(multi-link device，MLD)。多链路设备通常包含多个站点，每个站点工作在一个频段或一个信道或一条链路上。如果某MLD内部的所有站点是接入点(access point，AP)，则可以进一步称其为AP MLD；如果某MLD内部的所有站点是非接入点站点(non-access point station，non-AP STA)，则可以进一步称其为non-AP MLD。non-AP MLD与AP MLD可以进行多链路建立(或称为多链路关联)后通信。
在多链路建立(或多链路关联)过程中，non-AP MLD可以在一条链路(为便于描述，将这条链路记为第一链路)上向AP MLD发送关联请求帧，该关联请求帧中携带多链路元素(multi-link element,MLE)，用于承载non-AP MLD的信息以及non-AP MLD中其他链路的信息。其中，该关联请求帧用于请求与AP MLD建立多链路通信。该AP MLD在第一链路上接收到关联请求帧后，可以在该第一链路上向该non-AP MLD回复关联响应帧，该关联响应帧用于告诉non-AP MLD，多链路通信是否建立成功。该关联响应帧中也可以携带MLE，用于承载AP MLD的信息以及AP MLD中其他链路的信息。
根据多链路建立的规则，如果第一链路不被接受(或者说第一链路建立失败)，则其他链路也不能被接受(或者说其他链路都不能建立成功)。那么，在第一链路不被接受的情况下，non-AP MLD不知道在其他链路上发送关联请求帧来请求与这个AP MLD建立多链路通信能否成功，所以non-AP MLD只能在每条链路上发送关联请求帧来尝试与这个AP MLD建立多链路通信，但这样会导致多链路建立的效率低。
发明内容
本申请实施例提供一种多链路通信的建立方法及相关装置，可以提高多链路建立(或多链路关联)的效率。
下面从不同的方面介绍本申请，应理解的是，下面的不同方面的实施方式和有益效果可以互相参考。
第一方面，本申请提供一种多链路通信的建立方法，该方法包括：non-AP MLD的第一站点在第一链路上发送第一关联请求帧，并在该第一链路上接收第一关联响应帧。其中，该第一关联请求帧中包括多链路元素，该多链路元素中包括指示信息，该指示信息用于指示第二链路。该第一关联响应帧中包括第一状态码字段和多链路元素，该第一关联响应帧的多链路元素中包括第二状态码字段。该第一状态码字段的值不为0，用于指示第一链路未被接受；该第二状态码字段设置为不为0的第一值，用于指示第二链路不被接受的原因是第一链路未被接受。
本申请中，non-AP MLD存在至少两条链路，AP MLD也存在至少两条链路。
可选的，第一站点是non-AP MLD中的任一站点，第一链路是第一站点工作的链路。
一般情况下，如果non-AP MLD中传输关联请求帧的链路不被接受，则其他链路也不能被接受。但是每条链路是否被接受的原因可能是不一样的。所以，在non-AP MLD中传输关联请求帧的链路不被接受的情况下，non-AP MLD也不知道，如果在其他链路上发送关联请求帧能否与AP MLD成功建立多链路通信，故non-AP MLD只能在每条链路上发送关联请求帧来进行尝试，从而会导致多链路建立的效率低。
而本申请在此种情况下，通过将关联响应帧中的第一状态码字段设置为不为0，并将关联响应帧的多链路元素中的第二状态码字段设置为不为0的第一值，来指示该第二状态码字段对应的链路不被接受的原因是传输链路未被接受，或者说来通知non-AP MLD如果在该第二状态码字段对应的链路上发送关联请求帧，则该链路可以被接受；以使non-AP MLD可以在这条链路上发送关联请求帧来进行多链路建立，从而提高多链路建立成功的可能性；并且无需non-AP MLD在每条链路上都进行尝试，从而还可以减少尝试次数，提高多链路建立的效率。
结合第一方面，在一种可能的实现方式中，non-AP MLD的第一站点在该第一链路上接收第一关联响应帧之后，该方法还包括：non-AP MLD的第二站点在该第二链路上发送第二关联请求帧，并在该第二链路上接收第二关联响应帧。
本申请通过将第一关联响应帧中的第一状态码字段设置为不为0，并将第一关联响应帧的多链路元素中的第二状态码字段设置为不为0的第一值，来通知non-AP MLD如果在这个第二状态码字段对应的链路上发送关联请求帧，该链路可以被接受(或建立成功)；从而使non-AP MLD获知在哪些链路上发送关联请求帧能够成功建立多链路通信的可能性大，可以提高多链路建立成功的可能性，减少尝试次数，提高多链路建立的效率。
第二方面，本申请提供一种多链路通信的建立方法，该方法包括：AP MLD的第一接入点在第一链路上接收第一关联请求帧，并在该第一链路上发送第一关联响应帧。其中，该第一关联请求帧中包括多链路元素，该多链路元素中包括指示信息，该指示信息用于指示第二链路。该第一关联响应帧中包括第一状态码字段和多链路元素，该第一关联响应帧的多链路元素中包括第二状态码字段。该第一状态码字段的值不为0，用于指示第一链路未被接受；该第二状态码字段设置为不为0的第一值，用于指示第二链路不被接受的原因是第一链路未被接受。
可选的，第一接入点是AP MLD中工作在该第一链路上的接入点。
结合第二方面，在一种可能的实现方式中，AP MLD的第一接入点在该第一链路上发送第一关联响应帧之后，该方法还包括：AP MLD的第二接入点在该第二链路上接收第二关联请求帧，并在该第二链路上发送第二关联响应帧。
上述任一方面的一种可能实现方式中，第一值可以是现有状态码(Status Code)字段未使用过或者未定义的值，或者说第一值是0到(2 n-1)中除现有值之外的任意值。n表示状态码字段的长度。现有值包括但不限于：0到135，或者0到135中除预留值(4，8-9，20-21，26，29，36，48，66，69-71，90-91，114-115，127)之外的值。
上述任一方面的一种可能实现方式中，第一状态码字段位于关联响应帧的帧体(frame body)中。示例性的，第一状态码字段位于关联响应帧的多链路元素之外。或者说第一状态码字段不在关联响应帧的多链路元素中(the Status Code field not in the multi-link element of the Association Response frame)。再或者说，第一状态码字段在关联响应帧的核心帧中(the Status Code field in the core frame of the Association Response frame)。
上述任一方面的一种可能实现方式中，第二状态码字段位于关联响应帧的多链路元素中，示例性的，第二状态码字段是Per-STA Profile subelement(每个STA配置文件子元素)的STA Profile(STA配置文件)字段中包含的状态码字段(the Status Code field included in the STA Profile subfield of the Per-STA Profile subelement)。
第三方面，本申请提供一种通信装置，该通信装置具体为non-AP MLD或其中的芯片，该通信装置用于执行第一方面或第一方面的任意可能的实现方式中的方法。该通信装置包括具有执行第一方面或第一方面的任意可能的实现方式中的方法的单元。
第四方面，本申请提供一种通信装置，该通信装置具体为AP MLD或其中的芯片，该通信装置用于执行第二方面或第二方面的任意可能的实现方式中的方法。该通信装置包括具有执行第二方面或第二方面的任意可能的实现方式中的方法的单元。
在第三方面或第四方面中，上述通信装置可以包括收发单元和处理单元。对于收发单元和处理单元的具体描述还可以参考下文示出的装置实施例。上述第三方面到第四方面的有益效果可以参考前述第一方面和第二方面的相关描述，这里不赘述。
第五方面，本申请提供一种多链路通信的建立方法，该方法包括：non-AP MLD的第一站点在第一链路上发送第一关联请求帧，并在该第一链路上接收第一关联响应帧。其中，该第一关联请求帧中包括多链路元素，该多链路元素中包括指示信息，该指示信息用于指示第二链路。该第一关联响应帧中包括第一状态码字段和多链路元素，该第一关联响应帧的多链路元素中包括第二状态码字段。该第一状态码字段设置为指示第一链路不被接受的值或设置为指示第一链路不被接受的原因的值(比如第一状态码字段的值不为0)，且该第二状态码字段设置为指示第二链路被接受的值(比如第二状态码字段的值为0)，用于联合指示该第二链路不被接受的原因是该第一链路未被接受。
可选的，第一站点是non-AP MLD中的任一站点，第一链路是第一站点工作的链路。
可理解，第一状态码字段的值不为0，说明第一状态码字段指示的不是成功 (SUCCESS)，也就是说第一链路不被接受。第二状态码字段的值为0，说明第二状态码字段指示的是SUCCESS，也就是说第二链路可以被接受。
本申请通过设计第一状态码字段和第二状态码字段的设置规则和相应的解读规则，当第一状态码字段指示的不是SUCCESS但第二状态码字段指示SUCCESS的时候，表示该第二状态码字段对应的链路不被接受的原因是第一链路不被接受；以使non-AP MLD获知如果在这条链路上发送关联请求帧来进行多链路建立，其成功的可能性大，从而可以提高多链路建立成功的可能性，减少尝试次数，提高多链路建立的效率。此外，本申请不需要定义新的状态码取值，节省了开销。
结合第五方面，在一种可能的实现方式中，non-AP MLD的第一站点在该第一链路上接收第一关联响应帧之后，该方法还包括：non-AP MLD的第二站点在该第二链路上发送第二关联请求帧，并在该第二链路上接收第二关联响应帧。
第六方面，本申请提供一种多链路通信的建立方法，该方法包括：AP MLD的第一接入点在第一链路上接收第一关联请求帧，并在该第一链路上发送第一关联响应帧。其中，该第一关联请求帧中包括多链路元素，该多链路元素中包括指示信息，该指示信息用于指示第二链路。该第一关联响应帧中包括第一状态码字段和多链路元素，该第一关联响应帧的多链路元素中包括第二状态码字段。该第一状态码字段设置为指示第一链路不被接受的值或设置为指示第一链路不被接受的原因的值(比如第一状态码字段的值不为0)，且该第二状态码字段设置为指示第二链路被接受的值(比如第二状态码字段的值为0)，用于联合指示该第二链路不被接受的原因是该第一链路未被接受。
可选的，第一接入点是AP MLD中工作在该第一链路上的接入点。
结合第六方面，在一种可能的实现方式中，AP MLD的第一接入点在该第一链路上发送第一关联响应帧之后，该方法还包括：AP MLD的第二接入点在该第二链路上接收第二关联请求帧，并在该第二链路上发送第二关联响应帧。
结合第五方面或第六方面，在一种可能的实现方式中，第一状态码字段位于关联响应帧的帧体(frame body)中。示例性的，第一状态码字段位于关联响应帧的多链路元素之外。或者说第一状态码字段不在关联响应帧的多链路元素中。再或者说，第一状态码字段在关联响应帧的核心帧中。
结合第五方面或第六方面，在一种可能实现方式中，第二状态码字段位于关联响应帧的多链路元素中，示例性的，第二状态码字段是Per-STA Profile subelement(每个STA配置文件子元素)的STA Profile(STA配置文件)字段中包含的状态码字段。
第七方面，本申请提供一种通信装置，该通信装置具体为non-AP MLD或其中的芯片，该通信装置用于执行第五方面或第五方面的任意可能的实现方式中的方法。该通信装置包括具有执行第五方面或第五方面的任意可能的实现方式中的方法的单元。
第八方面，本申请提供一种通信装置，该通信装置具体为AP MLD或其中的芯片，该通信装置用于执行第六方面或第六方面的任意可能的实现方式中的方法。该通信装置包括具有执行第六方面或第六方面的任意可能的实现方式中的方法的单元。
在第七方面或第八方面中，上述通信装置可以包括收发单元和处理单元。对于收发单元和处理单元的具体描述还可以参考下文示出的装置实施例。上述第七方面到第 八方面的有益效果可以参考前述第五方面和第六方面的相关描述，这里不赘述。
第九方面，本申请提供一种多链路通信的建立方法，该方法包括：non-AP MLD的第一站点在第一链路上发送第一关联请求帧，并在该第一链路上接收第一关联响应帧。其中，该第一关联请求帧中包括多链路元素，该多链路元素中包括指示信息，该指示信息用于指示第二链路。该第一关联响应帧包括第一状态码字段和多链路元素，该第一状态码字段设置为不为0的第二值，用于指示non-AP MLD与AP MLD的多链路建立失败且如果在其他请求的链路上传输关联请求帧则多链路建立可能成功。该第一关联响应帧的多链路元素中包括第二状态码字段，用于指示第二链路被接收或者不被接受的原因。
可选的，第一站点是non-AP MLD中的任一站点，第一链路是第一站点工作的链路。
可选的，第二值是现有状态码(Status Code)字段未使用过或者未定义的值，或者说第二值是0到(2 n-1)中除现有值之外的任意值。n表示状态码字段的长度。现有值包括但不限于：0到135，或者0到135中除预留值(4，8-9，20-21，26，29，36，48，66，69-71，90-91，114-115，127)之外的值。
本申请实施例通过将关联响应帧中的第一状态码字段设置为新定义的一个值(即第二值)，来指示多链路建立失败但存在一条链路，当在这条链路上传输关联请求帧时多链路建立可以成功；以使non-AP MLD获知与AP MLD的多链路建立是否存在成功的可能性，从而避免non-AP MLD在多链路通信建立成功的可能性较小的情况不断尝试，导致non-AP MLD的功耗大的问题。
结合第九方面，在一种可能的实现方式中，non-AP MLD的第一站点在该第一链路上接收第一关联响应帧之后，该方法还包括：non-AP MLD的第二站点在该第二链路上发送第二关联请求帧，并在该第二链路上接收第二关联响应帧。
第十方面，本申请提供一种多链路通信的建立方法，该方法包括：AP MLD的第一接入点在第一链路上接收第一关联请求帧，并在该第一链路上发送第一关联响应帧。其中，该第一关联请求帧中包括多链路元素，该多链路元素中包括指示信息，该指示信息用于指示第二链路。该第一关联响应帧包括第一状态码字段和多链路元素，该第一状态码字段设置为不为0的第二值，用于指示non-AP MLD与AP MLD的多链路建立失败且如果在其他请求的链路上传输关联请求帧则多链路建立可能成功。该第一关联响应帧的多链路元素中包括第二状态码字段，用于指示第二链路被接收或者不被接受的原因。
可选的，第一接入点是AP MLD中工作在该第一链路上的接入点。
可选的，第二值是现有状态码(Status Code)字段未使用过或者未定义的值，或者说第二值是0到(2 n-1)中除现有值之外的任意值。n表示状态码字段的长度。现有值包括但不限于：0到135，或者0到135中除预留值(4，8-9，20-21，26，29，36，48，66，69-71，90-91，114-115，127)之外的值。
结合第十方面，在一种可能的实现方式中，AP MLD的第一接入点在该第一链路上发送第一关联响应帧之后，该方法还包括：AP MLD的第二接入点在该第二链路上 接收第二关联请求帧，并在该第二链路上发送第二关联响应帧。
结合第九方面或第十方面，在一种可能的实现方式中，上述第二状态码字段的值设为0；当该第一状态码字段设为第二值且该第二状态码字段设为0时，用于联合指示多链路建立失败且如果在该第二状态码字段对应的链路上传输关联请求帧则多链路建立可能成功，或者表示该第二状态码字段对应的链路不被接受的原因是第一链路未被接受(或者多链路建立失败)。
本申请通过将关联响应帧中的第一状态码字段设置为新定义的一个值(即第二值)，并将该关联响应帧的多链路元素中的第二状态码字段设置为0(或设置为指示SUCCESS)，来联合指示多链路建立失败且如果在这个第二状态码字段对应的链路上传输关联请求帧则多链路建立可能成功；从而可以使non-AP MLD获知在哪些链路上发送关联请求帧能够成功建立多链路通信，可以提高多链路建立成功的可能性，减少尝试次数，提高多链路建立的效率。
结合第九方面或第十方面，在一种可能的实现方式中，第一状态码字段位于关联响应帧的帧体(frame body)中。示例性的，第一状态码字段位于关联响应帧的多链路元素之外。或者说第一状态码字段不在关联响应帧的多链路元素中。再或者说，第一状态码字段在关联响应帧的核心帧中。
结合第九方面或第十方面，在一种可能实现方式中，第二状态码字段位于关联响应帧的多链路元素中，示例性的，第二状态码字段是Per-STA Profile subelement(每个STA配置文件子元素)的STA Profile(STA配置文件)字段中包含的状态码字段。
第十一方面，本申请提供一种通信装置，该通信装置具体为non-AP MLD或其中的芯片，该通信装置用于执行第九方面或第九方面的任意可能的实现方式中的方法。该通信装置包括具有执行第九方面或第九方面的任意可能的实现方式中的方法的单元。
第十二方面，本申请提供一种通信装置，该通信装置具体为AP MLD或其中的芯片，该通信装置用于执行第十方面或第十方面的任意可能的实现方式中的方法。该通信装置包括具有执行第十方面或第十方面的任意可能的实现方式中的方法的单元。
在第十一方面或第十二方面中，上述通信装置可以包括收发单元和处理单元。对于收发单元和处理单元的具体描述还可以参考下文示出的装置实施例。上述第十一方面到第十二方面的有益效果可以参考前述第九方面和第十方面的相关描述，这里不赘述。
第十三方面，本申请提供一种通信装置，该通信装置为non-AP MLD，该通信装置包括处理器，用于执行上述第一方面、上述第五方面、上述第九方面、或其中任一方面的任意可能的实现方式所示的方法。或者，该处理器用于执行存储器中存储的程序，当该程序被执行时，上述第一方面、上述第五方面、上述第九方面、或其中任一方面的任意可能的实现方式所示的方法被执行。
结合第十三方面，在一种可能的实现方式中，存储器位于上述通信装置之外。
结合第十三方面，在一种可能的实现方式中，存储器位于上述通信装置之内。
本申请中，处理器和存储器还可以集成于一个器件中，即处理器和存储器还可以被集成在一起。
结合第十三方面，在一种可能的实现方式中，该通信装置还包括收发器，该收发 器，用于接收帧或发送帧。
第十四方面，本申请提供一种通信装置，该通信装置为AP MLD，该通信装置包括处理器，用于执行上述第二方面、上述第六方面、上述第十方面或其中任一方面的任意可能的实现方式所示的方法。或者，处理器用于执行存储器中存储的程序，当该程序被执行时，上述第二方面、上述第六方面、上述第十方面或其中任一方面的任意可能的实现方式所示的方法被执行。
结合第十四方面，在一种可能的实现方式中，存储器位于上述第二通信装置之外。
结合第十四方面，在一种可能的实现方式中，存储器位于上述第二通信装置之内。
在本申请中，处理器和存储器还可以集成于一个器件中，即处理器和存储器还可以被集成在一起。
结合第十四方面，在一种可能的实现方式中，该通信装置还包括收发器，该收发器，用于接收帧或发送帧。
第十五方面，本申请提供一种通信装置，该通信装置包括逻辑电路和接口，该逻辑电路和该接口耦合。
一种设计中，逻辑电路，用于生成第一关联请求帧；接口，用于输出该第一关联请求帧，第一关联请求帧中包括多链路元素，该多链路元素中包括指示信息，该指示信息用于指示第二链路；接口，还用于输入第一关联响应帧，该第一关联响应帧包括第一状态码字段和多链路元素，该第一关联响应帧的多链路元素中包括第二状态码字段，该第一状态码字段的值不为0，用于指示该第一链路未被接受；该第二状态码字段设置为不为0的第一值，用于指示该第二链路不被接受的原因是该第一链路未被接受。
一种设计中，逻辑电路，用于生成第一关联请求帧；接口，用于输出该第一关联请求帧，第一关联请求帧中包括多链路元素，该多链路元素中包括指示信息，该指示信息用于指示第二链路；接口，还用于输入第一关联响应帧，该第一关联响应帧包括第一状态码字段和多链路元素，该第一关联响应帧的多链路元素中包括第二状态码字段，该第一状态码字段的值不为0且该第二状态码字段的值为0，用于联合指示该第二链路不被接受的原因是该第一链路未被接受。
一种设计中，逻辑电路，用于生成第一关联请求帧；接口，用于输出该第一关联请求帧，第一关联请求帧中包括多链路元素，该多链路元素中包括指示信息，该指示信息用于指示第二链路；接口，还用于输入第一关联响应帧，该第一关联响应帧包括第一状态码字段和多链路元素，该第一状态码字段设置为不为0的第二值，用于指示non-AP MLD与AP MLD的多链路建立失败且如果在其他请求的链路上传输关联请求帧则多链路建立可能成功。该第一关联响应帧的多链路元素中包括第二状态码字段，用于指示第二链路被接收或者不被接受的原因。
第十六方面，本申请提供另一种通信装置，该通信装置包括逻辑电路和接口，该逻辑电路和该接口耦合。
一种设计中，接口，用于输入第一关联请求帧，该第一关联请求帧中包括多链路元素，该多链路元素中包括指示信息，该指示信息用于指示第二链路；逻辑电路，用 于生成第一关联响应帧；接口，用于输出该第一关联响应帧，该第一关联响应帧包括第一状态码字段和多链路元素，该第一关联响应帧的多链路元素中包括第二状态码字段，该第一状态码字段的值不为0，用于指示该第一链路未被接受；该第二状态码字段设置为不为0的第一值，用于指示该第二链路不被接受的原因是该第一链路未被接受。
一种设计中，接口，用于输入第一关联请求帧，该第一关联请求帧中包括多链路元素，该多链路元素中包括指示信息，该指示信息用于指示第二链路；逻辑电路，用于生成第一关联响应帧；接口，用于输出该第一关联响应帧，该第一关联响应帧包括第一状态码字段和多链路元素，该第一关联响应帧的多链路元素中包括第二状态码字段，该第一状态码字段的值不为0且该第二状态码字段的值为0，用于联合指示该第二链路不被接受的原因是该第一链路未被接受。
一种设计中，接口，用于输入第一关联请求帧，该第一关联请求帧中包括多链路元素，该多链路元素中包括指示信息，该指示信息用于指示第二链路；逻辑电路，用于生成第一关联响应帧；接口，用于输出该第一关联响应帧，该第一关联响应帧包括第一状态码字段和多链路元素，该第一状态码字段设置为不为0的第二值，用于指示non-AP MLD与AP MLD的多链路建立失败且如果在其他请求的链路上传输关联请求帧则多链路建立可能成功。该第一关联响应帧的多链路元素中包括第二状态码字段，用于指示第二链路被接收或者不被接受的原因。
第十七方面，本申请实施例提供一种计算机可读存储介质，该计算机可读存储介质用于存储计算机程序，当其在计算机上运行时，使得上述第一方面、上述第五方面、上述第九方面或其中任一方面的任意可能的实现方式所示的方法被执行。
第十八方面，本申请实施例提供一种计算机可读存储介质，该计算机可读存储介质用于存储计算机程序，当其在计算机上运行时，使得上述第二方面、上述第六方面、上述第十方面或其中任一方面的任意可能的实现方式所示的方法被执行。
第十九方面，本申请实施例提供一种计算机程序产品，该计算机程序产品包括计算机程序或计算机代码，当其在计算机上运行时，使得上述第一方面、上述第五方面、上述第九方面或其中任一方面的任意可能的实现方式所示的方法被执行。
第二十方面，本申请实施例提供一种计算机程序产品，该计算机程序产品包括计算机程序或计算机代码，当其在计算机上运行时，使得上述第二方面、上述第六方面、上述第十方面或其中任一方面的任意可能的实现方式所示的方法被执行。
第二十一方面，本申请实施例提供一种计算机程序，该计算机程序在计算机上运行时，上述第一方面、上述第五方面、上述第九方面或其中任一方面的任意可能的实现方式所示的方法被执行。
第二十二方面，本申请实施例提供一种计算机程序，该计算机程序在计算机上运行时，上述第二方面、上述第六方面、上述第十方面或其中任一方面的任意可能的实现方式所示的方法被执行。
第二十三方面，本申请实施例提供一种无线通信系统，该无线通信系统包括non-AP MLD和AP MLD，所述non-AP MLD用于执行上述第一方面、上述第五方面、 上述第九方面、或其中任一方面的任意可能的实现方式所示的方法，所述AP MLD用于执行上述第二方面、上述第六方面、上述第十方面、或其中任一方面的任意可能的实现方式所示的方法。
本申请实施例，在non-AP MLD中存在一条或多条其他链路本来可以被接受(或建立成功)，但因为non-AP MLD中传输关联请求帧的链路不被接受(或建立失败)而导致这一条或多条其他链路不能被接受的情况下，通过关联响应帧中状态码字段来通知non-AP MLD这一条或多条其他链路不被接受的原因是传输关联请求帧的链路未被接受。换句话说，本申请实施例通过关联响应帧中的状态码字段，来通知non-AP MLD如果在这一条或多条其他链路上发送关联请求帧，则这一条或多条其他链路可以被接受(或建立成功)；以使non-AP MLD可以在这一条或多条其他链路上发送关联请求帧来进行多链路建立，从而提高多链路建立成功的可能性；并且无需non-AP MLD在每条链路上都进行尝试，从而还可以减少尝试次数，提高多链路建立的效率。
附图说明
为了更清楚地说明本申请实施例的技术方案，下面将对实施例描述中所需要使用的附图作简单地介绍。
图1是本申请实施例提供的无线通信系统的架构示意图；
图2是本申请实施例提供的多链路通信的示意图；
图3a是本申请实施例提供的多链路设备的一结构示意图；
图3b是本申请实施例提供的多链路设备的另一结构示意图；
图4是本申请实施例提供的多链路通信的建立方法的一流程示意图；
图5是本申请实施例提供的多链路元素的帧格式示意图；
图6是本申请实施例提供的关联响应帧的帧格式示意图；
图7是本申请实施例提供的多链路通信的建立方法的另一流程示意图；
图8是本申请实施例提供的多链路通信的建立方法的又一流程示意图；
图9是本申请实施例提供的通信装置的一结构示意图；
图10是本申请实施例提供的通信装置1000的结构示意图；
图11是本申请实施例提供的通信装置的另一结构示意图。
具体实施方式
下面将结合本申请实施例中的附图，对本申请实施例中的技术方案进行清楚、完整地描述。
在本申请的描述中，除非另有说明，“/”表示“或”的意思，例如，A/B可以表示A或B。本文中的“和/或”仅仅是一种描述关联对象的关联关系，表示可以存在三种关系，例如，A和/或B，可以表示：单独存在A，同时存在A和B，单独存在B这三种情况。此外，“至少一个”是指一个或多个，“多个”是指两个或两个以上。“以下至少一项(个)”或其类似表达，是指的这些项中的任意组合，包括单项(个)或复数项(个)的任意组合。例如，a，b，或c中的至少一项(个)，可以表示：a，b，c；a和b；a和c；b和c；或a和b和c。其中a，b，c可以是单个，也可以是多个。
在本申请的描述中，“第一”、“第二”等字样并不对数量和执行次序进行限定，并且“第一”、“第二”等字样也并不限定一定不同。
本申请中，“示例性的”或者“例如”等词用于表示作例子、例证或说明。本申请中被描述为“示例性的”、“举例来说”或者“例如”的任何实施例或设计方案不应被解释为比其他实施例或设计方案更优选或更具优势。确切而言，使用“示例性的”、“举例来说”或者“例如”等词旨在以具体方式呈现相关概念。
本申请中对于使用单数表示的元素旨在用于表示“一个或多个”，而并非表示“一个且仅一个”，除非有特别说明。
一个多链路设备可包括多个逻辑站点，每个逻辑站点工作在一条链路(link)上，但允许多个逻辑站点工作在同一条链路上。AP MLD与non-AP MLD在数据传输时，可以采用链路标识来标识一条链路或一条链路上的站点。在通信之前，AP MLD与non-AP MLD可以先协商或沟通链路标识与一条链路或一条链路上的站点的对应关系。因此在数据传输的过程中，不需要传输大量的信令信息用来指示链路或链路上的站点，携带链路标识即可，降低了信令开销，提升了传输效率。
可选的，多链路设备可以遵循802.11系列协议实现无线通信，例如，遵循极高吞吐率(extremely high throughput，EHT)的站点，或遵循基于802.11be或兼容支持802.11be的站点，实现与其他设备的通信。当然，其他设备可以是多链路设备，也可以不是多链路设备。
本申请提供的方法可以应用于无线局域网(wireless local area network，WLAN)系统，如Wi-Fi等。如本申请提供的方法可以适用于电气及电子工程师学会(institute of electrical and electronics engineers，IEEE)802.11系列协议，例如802.11ax下一代Wi-Fi协议，如802.11be，Wi-Fi 7或极高吞吐率(extremely high throughput，EHT)，再如802.11be的下一代，Wi-Fi 8等，这里不一一列举。本申请提供的方法还可以应用于基于超带宽(ultra wide band，UWB)的无线个人局域网系统，感知sensing系统。
虽然本申请主要以部署IEEE 802.11的网络为例进行说明，本领域技术人员容易理解，本申请涉及的各个方面可以扩展到采用各种标准或协议的其它网络，例如，高性能无线LAN(high performance radio LAN，HIPERLAN)(一种与IEEE 802.11标准类似的无线标准，主要在欧洲使用)以及广域网(wide area network，WAN)、无线局域网(WLAN)、个人区域网(personal area network，PAN)或其它现在已知或以后发展起来的网络等。
参见图1，图1是本申请实施例提供的无线通信系统的架构示意图。如图1所示，该无线通信系统包括至少一个AP MLD(如图1中的AP MLD100和AP MLD200)和至少一个non-AP MLD(如图1中的non-AP MLD300)。可选的，图1中还可以包括仅支持在单链路上进行传输的传统站点(如图1中的单链路non-AP STA400，又称为STA400)。其中，AP MLD是为non-AP MLD提供服务的设备，non-AP MLD可以与AP MLD之间采用多条链路进行通信，从而达到提升吞吐率的效果。non-AP MLD中的一个STA也可以与AP MLD中的一个AP通过一条链路进行通信。可理解的，图1中以non-AP MLD为手机、AP MLD为路由器作为一种示例，并不表示对本申请中的 AP MLD、non-AP MLD的类型进行限定。还可理解的，图1中AP MLD和non-AP MLD的个数仅是示例性的，该无线通信系统中AP MLD或non-AP MLD的数量还可以更多或更少，本申请对此不做限定。
在本申请实施例中，术语“通信”还可以描述为“数据传输”、“信息传输”或“传输”。术语“传输”可以泛指发送和接收。
可选的，参见图2，图2是本申请实施例提供的多链路通信的示意图。如图2所示，AP MLD包括n个站点，分别是AP1,AP2,…,APn；non-AP MLD也包括n个站点，分别是STA1,STA2,…,STAn。MLD之间的通信为多链路通信，图2中的链路1～链路n组成了多链路。换句话说，AP MLD和non-AP MLD可以采用链路1,链路2,…,链路n并行进行通信。其中，AP MLD中的一个AP可以与non-AP MLD中的一个STA建立关联关系。比如，non-AP MLD中的STA1与AP MLD中的AP1建立关联关系，non-AP MLD中的STA2与AP MLD中的AP2建立关联关系，non-AP MLD中的STAn与AP MLD中的APn建立关联关系等。
可选的，参见图3a，图3a是本申请实施例提供的多链路设备的一结构示意图。802.11标准关注多链路设备中的802.11物理层(physical layer，PHY)和介质接入控制(medium access control，MAC)层部分。如图3a所示，多链路设备包括的多个STA在低MAC(low MAC)层和PHY层互相独立，在高MAC(high MAC)层也互相独立。参见图3b，图3b是本申请实施例提供的多链路设备的另一结构示意图。如图3b所示，多链路设备中包括的多个STA在低MAC(low MAC)层和PHY层互相独立，共用高MAC(high MAC)层。当然，在多链路通信过程中，non-AP MLD可以是采用高MAC层相互独立的结构，而AP MLD采用高MAC层共用的结构；也可以是non-AP MLD采用高MAC层共用的结构，AP MLD采用高MAC层相互独立的结构；还可以是non-AP MLD和AP MLD都采用高MAC层共用的结构；还可以是non-AP MLD和AP MLD都采用高MAC层相互独立的结构。本申请实施例对于多链路设备的内部结构示意图并不进行限定，图3a和图3b仅是示例性说明。示例性的，该高MAC层或低MAC层都可以由多链路设备的芯片系统中的一个处理器实现，还可以分别由一个芯片系统中的不同处理模块实现。
多链路设备工作的频段可以包括sub 1GHz、2.4GHz、5GHz、6GHz以及高频60GHz中的一个或多个频段。
示例性的，本申请实施例中的多链路设备可以是单个天线的设备，也可以是多天线的设备。例如，可以是两个以上天线的设备。本申请实施例对于多链路设备包括的天线数目不做限定。
示例性的，多链路设备(这里既可以是non-AP MLD，也可以是AP MLD)为具有无线通信功能的装置，该装置可以为一个整机的设备，还可以是安装在整机设备中的芯片或处理系统等，安装这些芯片或处理系统的设备可以在这些芯片或处理系统的控制下，实现本申请实施例的方法和功能。例如，本申请实施例中的non-AP MLD具有无线收发功能，可以支持802.11系列协议，可以与AP MLD，单链路设备或其他non-AP MLD进行通信。例如，non-AP MLD是允许用户与AP通信进而与WLAN通信的任何用户通信设备。例如，non-AP MLD可以为平板电脑、桌面型、膝上型、笔 记本电脑、超级移动个人计算机(ultra-mobile personal computer，UMPC)、手持计算机、上网本、个人数字助理(personal digital assistant，PDA)、手机等可以联网的用户设备，或物联网中的物联网节点，或车联网中的车载通信装置等；non-AP MLD还可以为上述这些终端中的芯片和处理系统。AP MLD可以为non-AP MLD提供服务的装置，可以支持802.11系列协议。例如，AP MLD可以为通信服务器、路由器、交换机、网桥等通信实体，或，AP MLD可以包括各种形式的宏基站，微基站，中继站等，当然AP MLD还可以为这些各种形式的设备中的芯片和处理系统，从而实现本申请实施例的方法和功能。其中，802.11协议可以为支持802.11be或兼容802.11be的协议。
可理解的，多链路设备可以支持高速率低时延的传输，随着无线局域网应用场景的不断演进，多链路设备还可以应用于更多场景中，比如为智慧城市中的传感器节点(比如，智能水表，智能电表，智能空气检测节点)，智慧家居中的智能设备(比如智能摄像头，投影仪，显示屏，电视机，音响，电冰箱，洗衣机等)，物联网中的节点，娱乐终端(比如AR，VR等可穿戴设备)，智能办公中智能设备(比如，打印机，投影仪等)，车联网中的车联网设备，日常生活场景中的一些基础设施(比如自动售货机，商超的自助导航台，自助收银设备，自助点餐机等)。本申请实施例中对于non-AP MLD和AP MLD的具体形式不做限定，在此仅是示例性说明。
本申请提供一种多链路通信的建立方法和相关装置，可以提高多链路建立(或多链路关联)的效率。
一般情况下，non-AP MLD可以通过在一条链路(link)上进行多链路建立(multi-link setup)操作来实现与AP MLD的多条链路同时建立关联。多链路建立(multi-link setup)过程为：non-AP MLD在一条链路(为便于描述，记为第一链路)上发送一个携带多链路元素(Multi-link element，MLE)的关联请求帧，该多链路元素中携带其他链路的信息，从而请求与AP MLD之间建立多链路通信；AP MLD接收到该关联请求帧后，在该第一链路上向non-AP MLD回复一个携带多链路元素的关联响应帧，来告诉non-AP MLD，多链路通信是否建立成功。
通常来说，如果non-AP MLD中传输关联请求帧的链路(即上述第一链路)不被接受(或者说第一链路建立失败)，则non-AP MLD中的其他链路也不能被接受(或者说其他链路都建立失败)。但是每条链路是否被接受(或者说是否建立成功)的原因可能是不一样的，例如，不同链路的负载可能不一样，负载太重可能会成为这条链路不被接受(或建立失败)的原因；又如non-AP MLD在不同链路上的能力强弱也可能不一样，能力太弱也可能会成为这条链路不被接受(或建立失败)的原因。因此可能出现以下情况：当non-AP MLD中传输关联请求帧的链路(即上述第一链路)不被接受(或建立失败)时，可能存在一条或多条其他链路本来可以被接受(或建立成功)，但由于第一链路不被接受(或建立失败)，而导致这一条或多条其他链路不能被接受(或建立失败)。所以，在non-AP MLD中传输关联请求帧的链路不被接受(或建立失败)的情况下，non-AP MLD也不知道，如果在其他链路上发送关联请求帧能否与AP MLD成功建立多链路通信，故non-AP MLD只能在每条链路上发送关联请求帧来进行尝试，从而会导致多链路建立的效率低。
而本申请实施例，在non-AP MLD中存在一条或多条其他链路本来可以被接受(或建立成功)，但因为传输关联请求帧的链路不被接受(或建立失败)而导致这一条或多条其他链路不能被接受的情况下，通过关联响应帧中状态码字段来通知non-AP MLD这一条或多条其他链路不被接受的原因是传输关联请求帧的链路未被接受。换句话说，本申请实施例通过关联响应帧中的状态码字段，来通知non-AP MLD如果在这一条或多条其他链路上发送关联请求帧，则这一条或多条其他链路可以被接受(或建立成功)；以使non-AP MLD可以在这一条或多条其他链路上发送关联请求帧来进行多链路建立，从而提高多链路建立成功的可能性；并且无需non-AP MLD在每条链路上都进行尝试，从而还可以减少尝试次数，提高多链路建立的效率。
可理解的，因为关联请求帧和关联响应帧在同一条链路上传输，所以本申请提及的“传输关联请求帧的链路”也是“传输关联响应帧的链路”。而本申请提及的“其他链路”是指non-AP MLD中除“传输关联请求帧的链路”外的链路。
下面将结合更多的附图对本申请提供的技术方案进行详细说明。
为便于清楚描述本申请的技术方案，本申请通过多个实施例进行阐述，具体参见下文。本申请中，除特殊说明外，各个实施例或实现方式之间相同或相似的部分可以互相参考。在本申请中各个实施例、以及各实施例中的各个实施方式/实施方法/实现方法中，如果没有特殊说明以及逻辑冲突，不同的实施例之间、以及各实施例中的各个实施方式/实施方法/实现方法之间的术语和/或描述具有一致性、且可以相互引用，不同的实施例、以及各实施例中的各个实施方式/实施方法/实现方法中的技术特征根据其内在的逻辑关系可以组合形成新的实施例、实施方式、实施方法、或实现方法。以下所述的本申请实施方式并不构成对本申请保护范围的限定。
实施例一
本申请实施例一主要介绍通过扩展多链路元素(multi-link element，MLE)中的状态码(Status Code)字段的取值来指示non-AP MLD的某条链路(这条链路不是传输关联请求帧的链路)不被接受的原因是non-AP MLD中传输关联请求帧的链路未被接受。
参见图4，图4是本申请实施例提供的多链路通信的建立方法的一流程示意图。如图4所示，该多链路通信的建立方法包括但不限于以下步骤：
S101，non-AP MLD的第一站点在第一链路上发送第一关联请求帧，该第一关联请求帧中包括多链路元素，该多链路元素中包括指示信息，该指示信息用于指示第二链路。
相应的，AP MLD的第一接入点在该第一链路上接收该第一关联请求帧。
本申请实施例中non-AP MLD存在至少两条链路，AP MLD也存在至少两条链路。可理解的，non-AP MLD的链路数量与AP MLD的链路数量可以相等，也可以不相等，本申请实施例不做限制。
可选的，上述第一站点是non-AP MLD中的任一站点，上述第一链路是第一站点工作的链路。也就是说，non-AP MLD中的一个站点(即本申请实施例中的第一站点)可以在一条链路(即本申请实施例中的第一链路)上发送关联请求帧(即本申请实施 例中的第一关联请求帧)，该关联请求帧中携带多链路元素(multi-link element，MLE)，该多链路元素中携带其他链路(如下文第二链路)的信息，从而请求与AP MLD建立多链路通信。其中，第一关联请求帧的具体帧格式及其功能可以参见现有标准的描述，本申请实施例不赘述。
可选的，上述第一关联请求帧包含的多链路元素中携带指示信息，该指示信息用于指示第二链路。该第二链路是non-AP MLD中除第一链路外的链路，也就是前述其他链路。可理解的，第二链路是non-AP MLD想要与AP MLD进行多链路建立的链路中除第一链路外的链路。举例来说，non-AP MLD存在3条链路，分别是link 1，link 2，以及link 3；如果non-AP MLD想要在link 1和link 3上与AP MLD进行多链路建立(或者说建立多链路通信)，并且non-AP MLD在link 1上发送关联请求帧，那么link 1就是第一链路，link 3就是第二链路。再举例来说，non-AP MLD存在3条链路，分别是link 1，link 2，以及link 3；如果non-AP MLD想要在link 1、link 2以及link 3上与AP MLD进行多链路建立(或者说建立多链路通信)，并且non-AP MLD在link 1上发送关联请求帧，那么link 1就是第一链路，link 2和link 3均是第二链路。
可选的，上述指示信息携带于多链路元素的Per-STA Profile subelement(每个STA配置文件子元素)的STA控制(STA control)字段中。举例来说，该指示信息可以是STA Control字段中的链路标识(link ID)子字段。可理解的，一个链路标识(link ID)子字段用于标识一条第二链路。还可理解的，链路标识(link ID)子字段的取值和含义可以参见现有标准的含义，这里不一一详述。
参见图5，图5是本申请实施例提供的多链路元素的帧格式示意图。如图5所示，该多链路元素包括但不限于：多链路控制(Multi-Link Control)字段、公共信息(Common Info)字段、以及链路信息(Link Info)字段。其中，多链路控制字段中携带这个多链路元素的类型以及公共信息字段中哪些字段存在和哪些字段不存在的指示信息。公共信息字段中携带多链路设备自身的信息(这是MLD级别的信息，即MLD-level info)以及这个多链路设备中多个站点的共同信息。链路信息字段中携带多链路设备中每条链路上的站点的信息。可理解的，多链路元素中各个字段的具体含义可以参考现有标准的描述，这里不一一详述。还可理解的，图5仅示出了多链路元素中的部分字段，该多链路元素的具体帧格式可参见现有标准的描述，这里不赘述。
如图5所示，链路信息字段包括一个或多个Per-STA Profile subelement(每个STA配置文件子元素)。一个Per-STA Profile子元素中携带一条链路上的站点的信息。Per-STA Profile子元素中包括STA控制(STA Control)字段，该STA控制字段中包括链路标识(link ID)子字段。链路标识子字段指定一个值，该值唯一地标识报告的STA工作的链路(The Link ID subfield specifies a value that uniquely identifies the link where the reported STA is operating on)。也就是说，链路标识子字段用于指示一条链路。可理解的，这里的报告的STA在本申请中是指工作在第二链路上的STA。
可理解的，如果关联请求帧携带的多链路元素中包括多个Per-STA Profile subelement，那么就存在多个链路标识子字段，也就是说存在多条第二链路。
S102，AP MLD的第一接入点在该第一链路上发送第一关联响应帧，该第一关联 响应帧中包括第一状态码字段和多链路元素，该第一关联响应帧的多链路元素中包括第二状态码字段，该第一状态码字段的值不为0，用于指示该第一链路未被接受；该第二状态码字段设置为不为0的第一值，用于指示该第二链路不被接受的原因是该第一链路未被接受。
相应的，non-AP MLD的第一站点在该第一链路上接收该第一关联响应帧。non-AP MLD的第一站点可以从该第一关联响应帧的第一状态码字段和第二状态码字段中获知该第一链路是否被接受(或者说多链路通信是否建立成功，再或者说多链路建立是否成功)和第二链路是否被接受的信息(包括第二链路不被接受的原因)。
可选的，上述第一接入点是AP MLD中工作在该第一链路上的接入点。
可选的，第一状态码字段可以用于指示第一链路(或者说传输第一关联请求帧的链路)是否被接受，或者是否建立成功，或者是否成为多链路通信中的一条链路。如果第一链路被接受(if the link is accepted)，则第一状态码字段应指示成功，如果第一链路不被接受，则第一状态码字段指示失败原因(the Status Code field in the core frame or frame body or not in the multi-link element of the Association Response frame shall indicate SUCCESS if the link is accepted or the failure cause if the link is not accepted)。当第一状态码字段设置为0时，指示成功(SUCCESS)，也就是第一链路被接收；换句话说，当第一状态码字段的取值不为0时，指示第一链路不被接受或者不被接受的原因。具体的，第一状态码的取值和含义可以参考现有标准，这里不展开说明。
可理解的，本申请中的“未被接受”和“不被接受”表示相同的含义，比如均是指没有被接受，或没有建立成功，或没有成为多链路通信中的链路等相同或类似含义。
可选的，如果第一链路被接受(if the link is accepted)，则non-AP MLD与AP MLD的多链路建立(multi-link setup)可能成功，或者说non-AP MLD与AP MLD的多链路通信可能建立成功。但如果第一链路不被接受(if the link is not accepted)，则non-AP MLD与AP MLD之间的多链路建立(multi-link setup)失败，或者说non-AP MLD与AP MLD之间的多链路通信建立失败。那么，当第一状态码字段指示第一链路不被接受时，或者说当第一状态码字段指示第一链路不被接受的原因时；该第一状态码字段也指示了non-AP MLD与AP MLD的多链路建立失败，或者说non-AP MLD与AP MLD之间的多链路通信建立失败。换句话说，当第一状态码字段的取值不为0时，不仅可以指示第一链路不被接受或者不被接受的原因；还可以指示non-AP MLD与AP MLD的多链路建立失败，或者说non-AP MLD与AP MLD的多链路通信建立失败。
可选的，第二状态码字段可以用于指示第二链路是否被接受，或者是否建立成功，或者是否成为多链路通信中的一条链路。如果第二链路被接受，则第二状态码字段应指示成功，如果第二链路不被接受，则第二状态码字段指示失败原因(the Status Code field included in the STA Profile subfield of the Per-STA Profile subelement shall indicate SUCCESS if the link is accepted or the failure cause if the link is not accepted)。当第二状态码字段设置为0时，指示成功(SUCCESS)，也就是第二链路被接收；换句话说，当第二状态码字段的取值不为0时，指示第二链路不被接受或者不被接受的原因。
可选的，本申请实施例新定义一个不为0的第一值，如下述表1所示；当第二状 态码字段设置为该第一值时，用于指示第二链路不被接受的原因是第一链路未被接受；或者用于指示第二链路不被接受的原因仅仅是第一链路未被接受。换句话说，当第二状态码字段设置为该第一值时，表示如果non-AP MLD在这个第二链路上发送关联请求帧，则该第二链路可以建立成功。其中，第一状态码字段的取值不能为本申请实施例的第一值。换句话说，该第一值只有第二状态码字段可以取。
该第一值可以是现有状态码(Status Code)字段未使用过或者未定义的值。示例性的，假设状态码字段的长度为n比特，第一值可以是0到(2 n-1)中除现有值之外的任意值。举例来说，n等于16。这里的现有值包括：0到135，或者0到135中除预留值(4，8-9，20-21，26，29，36，48，66，69-71，90-91，114-115，127)之外的值。举例来说，第一值是0到(2 16-1)中除0到135之外的任意值，如136，或137，或138，或139等。再举例来说，第一值是0到135中的任一预留值，如4，8-9，20-21，26，29，36，48，66，69-71，90-91，114-115，127中任一值。
表1
Figure PCTCN2023071457-appb-000001
应理解，本申请中进行关联请求/响应(association request/response)帧交换的链路可称为传输链路(transmitted link)，相应的，其他链路称为非传输链路(Non-transmitted link)。因此，在前述步骤S101和步骤S102中第一链路是传输链路，第二链路就是非传输链路。那么，当第二状态码字段设置为第一值时表示的含义还可以描述为：非传输链路(Non-transmitted link)不被接受的原因是传输链路(transmitted link)不被接受。
可选的，第一状态码字段可以位于关联响应帧的帧体(frame body)中。示例性的，第一状态码字段可以位于关联响应帧的多链路元素之外。或者说第一状态码字段不在关联响应帧的多链路元素中(the Status Code field not in the multi-link element of the Association Response frame)。再或者说，第一状态码字段在关联响应帧的核心帧中(the Status Code field in the core frame of the Association Response frame)，这里的核心帧可以是关联响应帧中除多链路元素(MLE)外的内容。第二状态码字段可以位于关联响应帧的多链路元素中，示例性的，第二状态码字段是Per-STA Profile subelement(每个STA配置文件子元素)的STA Profile(STA配置文件)字段中包含的状态码字段(the Status Code field included in the STA Profile subfield of the Per-STA Profile subelement)。
参见图6，图6是本申请实施例提供的关联响应帧的帧格式示意图。如图6所示，该关联响应帧包括但不限于：状态码(Status Code)字段(即第一状态码字段)和多链路元素(MLE)。该多链路元素包括但不限于：多链路控制(Multi-Link Control)字段、公共信息(Common Info)字段、以及链路信息(Link Info)字段。链路信息(Link Info)字段中包括一个或多个Per-STA Profile subelement(每个STA配置文件子元素)。Per-STA Profile子元素中包括但不限于：STA控制(STA Control)字段和STA配置文件(STA Profile)字段。STA Control字段中包括链路标识(link ID)子字段，该链路标识子字段用于指示第二链路(或者非传输链路)。STA Profile字段中包括状态码(Status Code)字段(即第二状态码字段)，用于指示link ID子字段所指示的链路是否被接受。可理解的，图6仅示出了关联响应帧中的部分字段，该关联响应帧的具体帧格式可参见现有标准的描述，这里不赘述。还可理解的，关联响应帧中各个字段的具体含义也可以参考现有标准的描述，这里不一一详述。
可选的，本申请实施例中，第一关联响应帧的多链路元素中包括一个或多个第二状态码字段，一个第二状态码字段用于指示一条非传输链路是否被接受。当non-AP MLD中的某条非传输链路本来可以被接受(或建立成功)，但因为传输链路不被接受(或建立失败)而导致这条非传输链路不能被接受时，AP MLD可以将这条非传输链路对应的第二状态码字段设置为第一值，用于指示这条非传输链路不被接受的原因是传输链路未被接收，或者用于告知non-AP MLD如果其在这条非传输链路上发送关联请求帧，则该非传输链路可以被接受(或建立成功)。可理解的，在第二状态码字段设置为第一值，用于指示第二链路不被接受的原因是第一链路不被接受的情况下，第一状态码字段的值应设置成不为0的值。
本申请实施例，在non-AP MLD中存在一条或多条非传输链路本来可以被接受(或建立成功)，但因为传输链路不被接受(或建立失败)而导致这一条或多条非传输链路不能被接受的情况下，关联响应帧中第一状态码字段的值不为0，通过将关联响应帧的多链路元素中的第二状态码字段(the Status Code field included in the STA Profile subfield of the Per-STA Profile subelement)设置为新定义的一个值(即第一值)，来指示这一条或多条非传输链路不被接受的原因是传输链路未被接受；换句话说，将第二状态码字段设为第一值来通知non-AP MLD如果在这一条或多条非传输链路上发送关联请求帧，则这一条或多条非传输链路可以被接受(或建立成功)。故采用本申请实施例，可以提高多链路建立成功的可能性；并且无需non-AP MLD在每条链路上都进行尝试，从而还可以减少尝试次数，提高多链路建立的效率。
可选的，本申请实施例的第一关联响应帧中存在至少一个第二状态码字段的取值为第一值，用于指示至少一条第二链路不被接收的原因是第一链路不被接受。为便于描述，本申请实施例以第一关联响应帧中存在一个第二状态字段的取值为第一值为例进行描述的。
可选的，步骤S102之后，该多链路通信的建立方法还可以包括以下一个或多个步骤：
S103，non-AP MLD的第二站点在第二链路上发送第二关联请求帧。
相应的，AP MLD的第二接入点在该第二链路上接收该第二关联请求帧。
可理解，按照传输链路(transmitted link)的定义(进行关联请求/响应帧交换的链路称为传输链路)，在步骤S103到步骤S104的过程中前述第一链路不再是传输链路，变为非传输链路，而这里的第二链路是传输链路。
S104，AP MLD的第二接入点在该第二链路上发送第二关联响应帧。
相应的，non-AP MLD的第二站点在该第二链路上接收该第二关联响应帧。
可选的，因为上述第一关联响应帧中存在一个第二状态码字段的取值为第一值，所以non-AP MLD可以确定这个第二状态码字段对应的第二链路不被接受的原因是第一链路未被接受，或者可以确定这个第二链路没有建立成功的原因仅仅是第一链路没有建立成功，或者还可以确定如果non-AP MLD在这个第二链路上发送关联请求帧，则这个第二链路可以建立成功。因此，在上述第一链路未被接受(即第一关联响应帧中第一状态码字段的值不为0)，且第一关联响应帧中某个第二状态码字段的取值为第一值的情况下，non-AP MLD的第二站点可以在这个第二状态码字段对应的第二链路上发送第二关联请求帧，请求至少在该第二链路与AP MLD建立关联。相应的，AP MLD的第二接入点在该第二链路上接收到该第二关联请求帧后，在该第二链路上回复第二关联响应帧，用于告知此次关联是否建立成功。
可理解的，non-AP MLD与AP MLD交换第二关联请求帧和第二关联响应帧，既可以是进行多链路建立，也可以是仅针对第二链路建立关联；本申请实施例对此不做限制。换句话说，第二关联请求帧和第二关联响应帧中是否携带多链路元素，本申请实施例不限定。还可理解的，如果non-AP MLD与AP MLD交换第二关联请求帧和第二关联响应帧是进行多链路建立，则此时可以不在第一链路上建立多链路通信。换句话说，如果第二关联请求帧中携带多链路元素，则该多链路元素中可以不携带第一链路的信息。这是因为上一次多链路建立(如前述步骤S201和步骤S202)过程中，第一链路未被接受(即没有建立成功)；此时在第二链路上发送第二关联请求帧来进行多链路建立，很可能第一链路仍然不会被接收(即不会建立成功)，所以在第二关联请求帧的多链路元素中不携带第一链路(此时第一链路是非传输链路)的信息，可以提高此次多链路建立成功的可能性。当然，也可以在第二关联请求帧的多链路元素中携带第一链路的信息，因为相比于上一次多链路建立(如前述步骤S201和步骤S202)时第一链路上的情况，此时第一链路的情况可能发生了变化，故它可能会被接受(即可能建立成功)。
本申请实施例通过将关联响应帧的多链路元素中的第二状态码字段设置为新定义的一个值(即第一值)，来通知non-AP MLD如果在这个第二状态码字段对应的链路上发送关联请求帧，该链路可以被接受(或建立成功)；从而使non-AP MLD获知在哪些链路上发送关联请求帧能够成功建立多链路通信的可能性大，可以提高多链路建立成功的可能性，减少尝试次数，提高多链路建立的效率。
实施例二
本申请实施例二主要介绍通过位于关联响应帧的多链路元素外的状态码字段(即第一状态码字段)和这个多链路元素中的状态码字段(即第二状态码字段)，来联合 指示non-AP MLD的某条链路不被接受的原因是non-AP MLD中传输关联请求帧的链路未被接受。
参见图7，图7是本申请实施例提供的多链路通信的建立方法的另一流程示意图。如图7所示，该多链路通信的建立方法包括但不限于以下步骤：
S201，non-AP MLD的第一站点在第一链路上发送第一关联请求帧，该第一关联请求帧中包括多链路元素，该多链路元素中包括指示信息，该指示信息用于指示第二链路。
相应的，AP MLD的第一接入点在该第一链路上接收该第一关联请求帧。
本申请实施例中步骤S201的实现方式参见前述实施例一中步骤S101的实现方式，这里不再赘述。
S202，AP MLD的第一接入点在该第一链路上发送第一关联响应帧，该第一关联响应帧中包括第一状态码字段和多链路元素，该第一关联响应帧的多链路元素中包括第二状态码字段，该第一状态码字段设置为指示第一链路不被接受的值或设置为指示第一链路不被接受的原因的值，且该第二状态码字段设置为指示第二链路被接受的值，用于联合指示第二链路不被接受的原因是第一链路未被接受。
相应的，non-AP MLD的第一站点在该第一链路上接收该第一关联响应帧。non-AP MLD的第一站点可以根据该第一关联响应帧中第一状态码字段和第二状态码字段的取值来确定第二链路不被接受的原因是第一链路未被接受。
可选的，上述第一接入点是AP MLD中工作在该第一链路上的接入点。
可选的，第一状态码字段可以用于指示第一链路(或者说传输第一关联请求帧的链路)是否被接受，或者是否建立成功，或者是否成为多链路通信中的一条链路。示例性的，当第一状态码字段设置为0时，指示成功(SUCCESS)，也就是第一链路被接收；换句话说，当第一状态码字段的取值不为0时，指示第一链路不被接受或者不被接受的原因。第二状态码字段可以用于指示第二链路是否被接受，或者是否建立成功，或者是否成为多链路通信中的一条链路。示例性的，当第二状态码字段设置为0时，指示成功(SUCCESS)，也就是第二链路被接收；换句话说，当第二状态码字段的取值不为0时，指示第二链路不被接受或者不被接受的原因。那么，上述第一状态码字段设置为指示第一链路不被接受的值或设置为指示第一链路不被接受的原因的值，且上述第二状态码字段设置为指示第二链路被接受的值，用于联合指示第二链路不被接受的原因是第一链路未被接受，还可以描述为：第一状态码字段的值不为0且第二状态码字段的值为0，用于联合指示第二链路不被接受的原因是第一链路未被接受。
可选的，第一链路是否被接受与多链路建立是否成功的关系参见前文实施例一的相关描述，这里不再赘述。
可选的，第一状态码字段可以位于关联响应帧的帧体(frame body)中。示例性的，第一状态码字段可以位于关联响应帧的多链路元素之外。或者说第一状态码字段不在关联响应帧的多链路元素中。再或者说，第一状态码字段在关联响应帧的核心帧中，这里的核心帧可以是关联响应帧中除多链路元素(MLE)外的内容。第二状态码字段可以位于关联响应帧的多链路元素中，示例性的，第二状态码字段是Per-STA Profile subelement(每个STA配置文件子元素)的STA Profile(STA配置文件)字段中包含 的状态码字段。其中，关联响应帧的帧格式参见前述图6所示，这里不赘述。
可选的，本申请实施例中，第一关联响应帧的多链路元素中包括一个或多个第二状态码字段，一个第二状态码字段用于指示一条非传输链路是否被接受。当某条非传输链路本来可以被接受(或建立成功)，但因为传输链路不被接受(或建立失败)而导致这条非传输链路不能被接受时，AP MLD可以将第一状态码字段设置为不为0的值且将这条非传输链路对应的第二状态码字段设置为0，用于联合指示这条非传输链路不被接受(或没有建立成功)的原因是传输链路未被接受(或没有建立成功)，或者用于联合指示这条非传输链路不被接受的原因仅仅是传输链路未被接受，或者用于告知non-AP MLD如果其在这条非传输链路上发送关联请求帧，则该非传输链路可以被接受(或建立成功)。
换句话说，如果第一状态码字段指示的不是SUCCESS(也就是说第一状态码字段指示第一链路不被接受或不被接受的原因，或者说第一状态码字段的取值不为0)，且第二状态码字段指示SUCCESS(也就是说第二状态码字段指示第二链路被接受，或者说第二状态码字段的取值为0)；则表示第二链路不被接受的原因是第一链路不被接受。
再换句话说，如果某条非传输链路被接受，则每个STA配置文件子元素的STA配置文件子字段中包含的状态码字段(即第二状态码字段)应指示成功，如果非传输链路不被接受，则指示故障原因，但以下情况除外(the Status Code field included in the STA Profile subfield of the Per-STA Profile subelement shall indicate SUCCESS if the link is accepted or the failure cause if the link is not accepted with the exception below)：如果这条链路不被接受的原因仅仅是传输链路没有被接受，则这条链路对应的Per-STA Profile子元素中STA Profile子字段的状态码字段(即第二状态码字段)应指示成功(The Status Code field included in the STA Profile subfield of the Per-STA Profile subelement shall indicate SUCCESS if the link is not accepted only because the transmitting link is not accepted)。
或者，当关联响应帧中的多链路元素之外的状态码字段(即第一状态码字段)没有指示成功，并且第二链路对应的Per-STA Profile子元素中STA Profile子字段的状态码字段(即第二状态码字段)指示成功的时候，该第二链路没有被接受，但是如果关联请求帧在该第二链路上发送，该第二链路可以被接受(When the Status Code field not in the multi-link element of the Association Response frame does not indicates SUCCESS,and the Status Code field included in the STA Profile subfield of the Per-STA Profile subelement indicates SUCCESS,the corresponding link is not accepted,but can be accepted if the Association Request frame is transmitted on that link)。
本申请实施例通过设计第一状态码字段和第二状态码字段的设置规则和相应的解读规则，当第一状态码字段指示的不是SUCCESS但第二状态码字段指示SUCCESS的时候，表示该第二状态码字段对应的链路不被接受的原因是第一链路不被接受；以使non-AP MLD获知如果在这条链路上发送关联请求帧来进行多链路建立，其成功的可能性大，从而可以提高多链路建立成功的可能性，减少尝试次数，提高多链路建立的效率。
可选的，本申请实施例的第一关联响应帧中第一状态码字段的值不为0，且存在至少一个第二状态码字段的取值为0，用于联合指示至少一条第二链路不被接收的原因是第一链路不被接受。为便于描述，本申请实施例以第一关联响应帧中存在一个第二状态字段的取值为0为例进行描述的。
可选的，步骤S202之后，该多链路通信的建立方法还可以包括：
S203，non-AP MLD的第二站点在第二链路上发送第二关联请求帧。
相应的，AP MLD的第二接入点在该第二链路上接收该第二关联请求帧。
可理解，按照传输链路(transmitted link)的定义(进行关联请求/响应帧交换的链路称为传输链路)，在步骤S103到步骤S104的过程中前述第一链路不再是传输链路，变为非传输链路，而这里的第二链路是传输链路。
S204，AP MLD的第二接入点在该第二链路上发送第二关联响应帧。
相应的，non-AP MLD的第二站点在该第二链路上接收该第二关联响应帧。
本申请实施例中步骤S203-步骤S204的实现方式参考前述实施例一中步骤S103-步骤S104的实现方式，这里不再赘述。
本申请实施例，在non-AP MLD中存在一条或多条非传输链路本来可以被接受(或建立成功)，但因为传输链路不被接受(或建立失败)而导致这一条或多条非传输链路不能被接受的情况下，通过将关联响应帧中第一状态码字段的值设置为不等于0，并将该关联响应帧的多链路元素中的第二状态码字段设置为0(或设置为指示SUCCESS)，来联合指示某条非传输链路不被接受的原因是传输链路未被接受，或者来通知non-AP MLD如果在这条非传输链路上发送关联请求帧，则这条非传输链路可以被接受(或建立成功)。不仅可以提高多链路建立成功的可能性，并且无需non-AP MLD在每条链路上都进行尝试，从而减少尝试次数，提高多链路建立的效率；还不需要定义新的状态码取值，节省了开销。
实施例三
本申请实施例三主要介绍通过扩展位于关联响应帧的多链路元素外的状态码字段(即第一状态码字段)的取值，来指示多链路建立失败；进一步的，还可以通过设置多链路元素中状态码字段(即第二状态码字段)的取值，来联合指示第二状态码字段对应的链路不被接受的原因是传输链路未被接受。
参见图8，图8是本申请实施例提供的多链路通信的建立方法的又一流程示意图。如图8所示，该多链路通信的建立方法包括但不限于以下步骤：
S301，non-AP MLD的第一站点在第一链路上发送第一关联请求帧，该第一关联请求帧中包括多链路元素，该多链路元素中包括指示信息，该指示信息用于指示第二链路。
相应的，AP MLD的第一接入点在该第一链路上接收该第一关联请求帧。
本申请实施例中步骤S301的实现方式参见前述实施例一中步骤S101的实现方式，这里不再赘述。
S302，AP MLD的第一接入点在该第一链路上发送第一关联响应帧，该第一关联 响应帧包括第一状态码字段，该第一状态码字段设置为不为0的第二值，用于指示non-AP MLD与AP MLD的多链路建立失败且如果在其他请求的链路上传输关联请求帧则多链路建立可能成功。
相应的，non-AP MLD的第一站点在该第一链路上接收该第一关联响应帧。
可选的，上述第一接入点是AP MLD中工作在该第一链路上的接入点。
可选的，上述第一关联响应帧中包括第一状态码字段和多链路元素，该第一关联响应帧的多链路元素中包括一个或多个第二状态码字段，一个第二状态码字段用于指示一条链路被接收或不被接受或不被接受的原因。其中，第二状态码字段的具体含义参见前文实施例一的相关描述，这里不再赘述。
可选的，本申请实施例新定义一个第二值，该第二值是现有状态码(Status Code)字段未使用过或者未定义的值。示例性的，假设状态码字段的长度为n比特，第二值可以是0到(2 n-1)中除现有值之外的任意值。举例来说，n等于16。这里的现有值包括但不限于：0到135，或者0到135中除预留值(4，8-9，20-21，26，29，36，48，66，69-71，90-91，114-115，127)之外的值。举例来说，第二值是0到(2 16-1)中除0到135之外的任意值，如136，或137，或138，或139等。再举例来说，第一值是0到135中的任一预留值，如4，8-9，20-21，26，29，36，48，66，69-71，90-91，114-115，127中任一值。可理解的，本申请实施例中的第二值与前述实施例一中的第一值不相同。
如下述表2所示，当第一状态码字段设置为该第二值时，用于指示non-AP MLD与AP MLD的多链路建立失败；或者，用于指示non-AP MLD与AP MLD的多链路建立失败且如果在其他请求的链路(指除第一链路外的某条链路)上传输关联请求帧则多链路建立可能成功。其中，第二状态码字段的取值不能为本申请实施例的第二值。换句话说，该第二值只有第一状态码字段可以取。
表2
Figure PCTCN2023071457-appb-000002
Figure PCTCN2023071457-appb-000003
应理解，当第一状态码字段的取值为现有值(如0到135)时，用于指示第一链路(或者说传输第一关联请求帧的链路)是否被接受，或者是否建立成功，或者是否成为多链路通信中的一条链路；具体参见前文实施例一中的相关描述，这里不赘述。而当第一状态码字段的取值为第二值时，用于指示多链路建立失败，或者指示多链路建立失败，但如果关联请求在其他请求的链路上传输则可以成功。
本申请实施例通过将关联响应帧中的第一状态码字段设置为新定义的一个值(即第二值)，来指示多链路建立失败但存在一条链路，当在这条链路上传输关联请求帧时多链路建立可以成功；以使non-AP MLD获知与AP MLD的多链路建立是否存在成功的可能性，从而避免non-AP MLD在多链路通信建立成功的可能性较小的情况不断尝试，导致non-AP MLD的功耗大的问题。
可选的，第一状态码字段可以位于关联响应帧的帧体(frame body)中。示例性的，第一状态码字段可以位于关联响应帧的多链路元素之外。或者说第一状态码字段不在关联响应帧的多链路元素中。再或者说，第一状态码字段在关联响应帧的核心帧中，这里的核心帧可以是关联响应帧中除多链路元素(MLE)外的内容。第二状态码字段可以位于关联响应帧的多链路元素中，示例性的，第二状态码字段是Per-STA Profile subelement(每个STA配置文件子元素)的STA Profile(STA配置文件)字段中包含的状态码字段。其中，关联响应帧的帧格式参见前述图6所示，这里不赘述。
可选的，当某条非传输链路本来可以被接受(或建立成功)，但因为多链路建立失败(比如传输链路不被接受)而导致这条非传输链路不能被接受时，AP MLD可以将第一状态码字段设置为第二值，且将这条非传输链路对应的第二状态码字段设置为0，用于联合指示多链路建立失败且如果在这条非传输链路上传输关联请求帧则多链路建立可能成功；或者用于联合指示这条非传输链路不被接受的原因是传输链路未被接受(或者多链路建立失败)。
换句话说，如果第一状态码字段设置为第二值，且第二状态码字段指示SUCCESS(也就是说第二状态码字段指示第二链路被接受，或者说第二状态码字段的取值为0)，则表示多链路建立失败且如果在第二链路上传输关联请求帧则多链路建立可能成功，或者表示第二链路不被接受的原因是第一链路未被接受(或者多链路建立失败)。
可选的，本申请实施例的第一关联响应帧中第一状态码字段设置为第二值，且存在至少一个第二状态码字段的取值为0，用于联合指示多链路建立失败且如果在这至少一个第二状态码字段对应的至少一条第二链路上传输关联请求帧则多链路建立可能成功。为便于描述，本申请实施例以第一关联响应帧中存在一个第二状态字段的取值为0为例进行描述的。
可选的，步骤S302之后，该多链路通信的建立方法还可以包括：
S303，non-AP MLD的第二站点在第二链路上发送第二关联请求帧。
相应的，AP MLD的第二接入点在该第二链路上接收该第二关联请求帧。
可理解，按照传输链路(transmitted link)的定义(进行关联请求/响应帧交换的链路称为传输链路)，在步骤S103到步骤S104的过程中前述第一链路不再是传输链 路，变为非传输链路，而这里的第二链路是传输链路。
S304，AP MLD的第二接入点在该第二链路上发送第二关联响应帧。
相应的，non-AP MLD的第二站点在该第二链路上接收该第二关联响应帧。
本申请实施例中步骤S303-步骤S304的实现方式参考前述实施例一中步骤S303-步骤S304的实现方式，这里不再赘述。
本申请实施例通过将关联响应帧中的第一状态码字段设置为新定义的一个值(即第二值)，并将该关联响应帧的多链路元素中的第二状态码字段设置为0(或设置为指示SUCCESS)，来联合指示多链路建立失败且如果在这个第二状态码字段对应的链路上传输关联请求帧则多链路建立可能成功；从而可以使non-AP MLD获知在哪些链路上发送关联请求帧能够成功建立多链路通信，可以提高多链路建立成功的可能性，减少尝试次数，提高多链路建立的效率。
上述内容详细阐述了本申请提供的方法，为了便于实施本申请实施例的上述方案，本申请实施例还提供了相应的装置或设备。
本申请根据上述方法实施例对AP MLD和non-AP MLD进行功能模块的划分，例如，可以对应各个功能划分各个功能模块，也可以将两个或两个以上的功能集成在一个处理模块中。上述集成的模块既可以采用硬件的形式实现，也可以采用软件功能模块的形式实现。需要说明的是，本申请中对模块的划分是示意性的，仅仅为一种逻辑功能划分，实际实现时可以有另外的划分方式。下面将结合图9至图11详细描述本申请实施例的AP MLD和non-AP MLD。
参见图9，图9是本申请实施例提供的通信装置的一结构示意图，如图9所示，该通信装置包括收发单元10和处理单元20。
在本申请的一些实施例中，该通信装置可以是上文示出的non-AP MLD。即图9所示的通信装置可以用于执行上文方法实施例中由non-AP MLD执行的步骤或功能等。示例性的，该通信装置可以是non-AP MLD或芯片等，本申请实施例对此不作限定。
一种设计中，收发单元10，用于在第一链路上发送第一关联请求帧，和在该第一链路上接收第一关联响应帧。其中，第一关联请求帧中包括多链路元素，该多链路元素中包括指示信息，该指示信息用于指示第二链路。第一关联响应帧包括第一状态码字段和多链路元素，该第一关联响应帧的多链路元素中包括第二状态码字段，该第一状态码字段的值不为0，用于指示该第一链路未被接受；该第二状态码字段设置为不为0的第一值，用于指示该第二链路不被接受的原因是该第一链路未被接受。
示例性的，处理单元20，用于生成第一关联请求帧，以及通过或控制收发单元10发送该第一关联请求帧。
在一种可能的实现方式中，收发单元10，还用于在第二链路上发送第二关联请求帧，和在该第二链路上接收第二关联响应帧。
示例性的，处理单元20，用于生成第二关联请求帧，以及通过或控制收发单元10发送该第二关联请求帧。
可理解，关于第一关联请求帧、第一关联响应帧、第二关联请求帧、以及第二关联响应帧等的具体说明可以参考上文所示的方法实施例，这里不再一一详述。
可理解，本申请实施例示出的收发单元和处理单元的具体说明仅为示例，对于收发单元和处理单元的具体功能或执行的步骤等，可以参考上述方法实施例(如图4)，这里不再详述。
另一种设计中，收发单元10，用于在第一链路上发送第一关联请求帧，和在该第一链路上接收第一关联响应帧。其中，第一关联请求帧中包括多链路元素，该多链路元素中包括指示信息，该指示信息用于指示第二链路。第一关联响应帧包括第一状态码字段和多链路元素，该第一关联响应帧的多链路元素中包括第二状态码字段，该第一状态码字段的值不为0且该第二状态码字段的值为0，用于联合指示该第二链路不被接受的原因是该第一链路未被接受。
示例性的，处理单元20，用于生成第一关联请求帧，以及通过或控制收发单元10发送该第一关联请求帧。
在一种可能的实现方式中，收发单元10，还用于在第二链路上发送第二关联请求帧，和在该第二链路上接收第二关联响应帧。
示例性的，处理单元20，用于生成第二关联请求帧，以及通过或控制收发单元10发送该第二关联请求帧。
可理解，关于第一关联请求帧、第一关联响应帧、第二关联请求帧、以及第二关联响应帧等的具体说明可以参考上文所示的方法实施例，这里不再一一详述。
可理解，本申请实施例示出的收发单元和处理单元的具体说明仅为示例，对于收发单元和处理单元的具体功能或执行的步骤等，可以参考上述方法实施例(如图7)，这里不再详述。
又一种设计中，收发单元10，用于在第一链路上发送第一关联请求帧，和在该第一链路上接收第一关联响应帧。其中，第一关联请求帧中包括多链路元素，该多链路元素中包括指示信息，该指示信息用于指示第二链路。第一关联响应帧包括第一状态码字段，该第一状态码字段设置为不为0的第二值，用于指示non-AP MLD与AP MLD的多链路建立失败且如果在其他请求的链路上传输关联请求帧则多链路建立可能成功。
示例性的，处理单元20，用于生成第一关联请求帧，以及通过或控制收发单元10发送该第一关联请求帧。
在一种可能的实现方式中，收发单元10，还用于在第二链路上发送第二关联请求帧，和在该第二链路上接收第二关联响应帧。
示例性的，处理单元20，用于生成第二关联请求帧，以及通过或控制收发单元10发送该第二关联请求帧。
可理解，关于第一关联请求帧、第一关联响应帧、第二关联请求帧、以及第二关联响应帧等的具体说明可以参考上文所示的方法实施例，这里不再一一详述。
可理解，本申请实施例示出的收发单元和处理单元的具体说明仅为示例，对于收发单元和处理单元的具体功能或执行的步骤等，可以参考上述方法实施例(如图8)，这里不再详述。
复用图9，在本申请的另一些实施例中，该通信装置可以是上文示出的AP MLD。即图9所示的通信装置可以用于执行上文方法实施例中由AP MLD执行的步骤或功能 等。示例性的，该通信装置可以是AP MLD或芯片等，本申请实施例对此不作限定。
一种设计中，收发单元10，用于在第一链路上接收第一关联请求帧，和在该第一链路上发送第一关联响应帧。其中，第一关联请求帧中包括多链路元素，该多链路元素中包括指示信息，该指示信息用于指示第二链路。第一关联响应帧包括第一状态码字段和多链路元素，该第一关联响应帧的多链路元素中包括第二状态码字段，该第一状态码字段的值不为0，用于指示该第一链路未被接受；该第二状态码字段设置为不为0的第一值，用于指示该第二链路不被接受的原因是该第一链路未被接受。
示例性的，处理单元20，用于生成第一关联响应帧，以及通过或控制收发单元10发送该第一关联响应帧。
在一种可能的实现方式中，收发单元10，还用于在第二链路上接收第二关联请求帧，和在该第二链路上发送第二关联响应帧。
示例性的，处理单元20，用于生成第二关联响应帧，以及通过或控制收发单元10发送该第二关联响应帧。
可理解，关于第一关联请求帧、第一关联响应帧、第二关联请求帧、以及第二关联响应帧等的具体说明可以参考上文所示的方法实施例，这里不再一一详述。
可理解，本申请实施例示出的收发单元和处理单元的具体说明仅为示例，对于收发单元和处理单元的具体功能或执行的步骤等，可以参考上述方法实施例(如图4)，这里不再详述。
另一种设计中，收发单元10，用于在第一链路上接收第一关联请求帧，和在该第一链路上发送第一关联响应帧。其中，第一关联请求帧中包括多链路元素，该多链路元素中包括指示信息，该指示信息用于指示第二链路。第一关联响应帧包括第一状态码字段和多链路元素，该第一关联响应帧的多链路元素中包括第二状态码字段，该第一状态码字段的值不为0且该第二状态码字段的值为0，用于联合指示该第二链路不被接受的原因是该第一链路未被接受。
示例性的，处理单元20，用于生成第一关联响应帧，以及通过或控制收发单元10发送该第一关联响应帧。
在一种可能的实现方式中，收发单元10，还用于在第二链路上接收第二关联请求帧，和在该第二链路上发送第二关联响应帧。
示例性的，处理单元20，用于生成第二关联响应帧，以及通过或控制收发单元10发送该第二关联响应帧。
可理解，关于第一关联请求帧、第一关联响应帧、第二关联请求帧、以及第二关联响应帧等的具体说明可以参考上文所示的方法实施例，这里不再一一详述。
可理解，本申请实施例示出的收发单元和处理单元的具体说明仅为示例，对于收发单元和处理单元的具体功能或执行的步骤等，可以参考上述方法实施例(如图7)，这里不再详述。
又一种设计中，收发单元10，用于在第一链路上接收第一关联请求帧，和在该第一链路上发送第一关联响应帧。其中，第一关联请求帧中包括多链路元素，该多链路元素中包括指示信息，该指示信息用于指示第二链路。第一关联响应帧包括第一状态码字段，该第一状态码字段设置为不为0的第二值，用于指示non-AP MLD与AP MLD 的多链路建立失败且如果在其他请求的链路上传输关联请求帧则多链路建立可能成功。
示例性的，处理单元20，用于生成第一关联响应帧，以及通过或控制收发单元10发送该第一关联响应帧。
在一种可能的实现方式中，收发单元10，还用于在第二链路上接收第二关联请求帧，和在该第二链路上发送第二关联响应帧。
示例性的，处理单元20，用于生成第二关联响应帧，以及通过或控制收发单元10发送该第二关联响应帧。
可理解，关于第一关联请求帧、第一关联响应帧、第二关联请求帧、以及第二关联响应帧等的具体说明可以参考上文所示的方法实施例，这里不再一一详述。
可理解，本申请实施例示出的收发单元和处理单元的具体说明仅为示例，对于收发单元和处理单元的具体功能或执行的步骤等，可以参考上述方法实施例(如图8)，这里不再详述。
以上介绍了本申请实施例的non-AP MLD和AP MLD，以下介绍non-AP MLD和AP MLD可能的产品形态。应理解，但凡具备上述图9所述的non-AP MLD的功能的任何形态的产品，或者，但凡具备上述图9所述的AP MLD的功能的任何形态的产品，都落入本申请实施例的保护范围。还应理解，以下介绍仅为举例，不限制本申请实施例的non-AP MLD和AP MLD的产品形态仅限于此。
在一种可能的实现方式中，图9所示的通信装置中，处理单元20可以是一个或多个处理器，收发单元10可以是收发器，或者收发单元10还可以是发送单元和接收单元，发送单元可以是发送器，接收单元可以是接收器，该发送单元和接收单元集成于一个器件，例如收发器。本申请实施例中，处理器和收发器可以被耦合等，对于处理器和收发器的连接方式，本申请实施例不作限定。在执行上述方法的过程中，上述方法中有关发送信息(如发送第一关联请求帧、第一关联响应帧、第二关联请求帧、第二关联响应帧等)的过程，可以理解为由处理器输出上述信息的过程。在输出上述信息时，处理器将该上述信息输出给收发器，以便由收发器进行发射。该上述信息在由处理器输出之后，还可能需要进行其他的处理，然后才到达收发器。类似的，上述方法中有关接收信息(如接收第一关联请求帧、第一关联响应帧、第二关联请求帧、第二关联响应帧等)的过程，可以理解为处理器接收输入的上述信息的过程。处理器接收输入的信息时，收发器接收该上述信息，并将其输入处理器。更进一步的，在收发器收到该上述信息之后，该上述信息可能需要进行其他的处理，然后才输入处理器。
参见图10，图10是本申请实施例提供的通信装置1000的结构示意图。该通信装置1000可以为第一通信装置或第二通信装置，或其中的芯片。图10仅示出了通信装置1000的主要部件。除处理器1001和收发器1002之外，所述通信装置还可以进一步包括存储器1003、以及输入输出装置(图未示意)。
处理器1001主要用于对通信协议以及通信数据进行处理，以及对整个通信装置进行控制，执行软件程序，处理软件程序的数据。存储器1003主要用于存储软件程序和数据。收发器1002可以包括控制电路和天线，控制电路主要用于基带信号与射频信号的转换以及对射频信号的处理。天线主要用于收发电磁波形式的射频信号。输入输出 装置，例如触摸屏、显示屏，键盘等主要用于接收用户输入的数据以及对用户输出数据。
当通信装置开机后，处理器1001可以读取存储器1003中的软件程序，解释并执行软件程序的指令，处理软件程序的数据。当需要通过无线发送数据时，处理器1001对待发送的数据进行基带处理后，输出基带信号至射频电路，射频电路将基带信号进行射频处理后将射频信号通过天线以电磁波的形式向外发送。当有数据发送到通信装置时，射频电路通过天线接收到射频信号，将射频信号转换为基带信号，并将基带信号输出至处理器1001，处理器1001将基带信号转换为数据并对该数据进行处理。
在另一种实现中，所述的射频电路和天线可以独立于进行基带处理的处理器而设置，例如在分布式场景中，射频电路和天线可以与独立于通信装置，呈拉远式的布置。
其中，处理器1001、收发器1002、以及存储器1003可以通过通信总线连接。
一种设计中，通信装置1000可以用于执行前述实施例一中non-AP MLD的功能：处理器1001可以用于生成图4中步骤S101发送的第一关联请求帧和步骤S103发送的第二关联请求帧，和/或用于执行本文所描述的技术的其它过程；收发器1002可以用于执行图4中的步骤S101和步骤S103等，和/或用于本文所描述的技术的其它过程。
另一种设计中，通信装置1000可以用于执行前述实施例一中AP MLD的功能：处理器1001可以用于生成图4中步骤S102发送的第一关联响应帧和步骤S104发送的第二关联响应帧，和/或用于执行本文所描述的技术的其它过程；收发器1002可以用于执行图7中的步骤S102和步骤S104，和/或用于本文所描述的技术的其它过程。
一种设计中，通信装置1000可以用于执行前述实施例二中non-AP MLD的功能：处理器1001可以用于生成图7中步骤S201发送的第一关联请求帧和步骤S203发送的第二关联请求帧，和/或用于执行本文所描述的技术的其它过程；收发器1002可以用于执行图7中的步骤S201和步骤S203等，和/或用于本文所描述的技术的其它过程。
另一种设计中，通信装置1000可以用于执行前述实施例二中AP MLD的功能：处理器1001可以用于生成图7中步骤S202发送的第一关联响应帧和步骤S204发送的第二关联响应帧，和/或用于执行本文所描述的技术的其它过程；收发器1002可以用于执行图7中的步骤S202和步骤S204，和/或用于本文所描述的技术的其它过程。
一种设计中，通信装置1000可以用于执行前述实施例三中non-AP MLD的功能：处理器1001可以用于生成图8中步骤S301发送的第一关联请求帧和步骤S303发送的第二关联请求帧，和/或用于执行本文所描述的技术的其它过程；收发器1002可以用于执行图8中的步骤S301和步骤S303等，和/或用于本文所描述的技术的其它过程。
另一种设计中，通信装置1000可以用于执行前述实施例三中AP MLD的功能：处理器1001可以用于生成图8中步骤S302发送的第一关联响应帧和步骤S304发送的第二关联响应帧，和/或用于执行本文所描述的技术的其它过程；收发器1002可以用于执行图8中的步骤S302和步骤S304，和/或用于本文所描述的技术的其它过程。
在上述任一种设计中，处理器1001中可以包括用于实现接收和发送功能的收发器。例如该收发器可以是收发电路，或者是接口，或者是接口电路。用于实现接收和发送功能的收发电路、接口或接口电路可以是分开的，也可以集成在一起。上述收发电路、接口或接口电路可以用于代码/数据的读写，或者，上述收发电路、接口或接口电路可 以用于信号的传输或传递。
在上述任一种设计中，处理器1001可以存有指令，该指令可为计算机程序，计算机程序在处理器1001上运行，可使得通信装置1000执行上述方法实施例中描述的方法。计算机程序可能固化在处理器1001中，该种情况下，处理器1001可能由硬件实现。
在一种实现方式中，通信装置1000可以包括电路，所述电路可以实现前述方法实施例中发送或接收或者通信的功能。本申请中描述的处理器和收发器可实现在集成电路(integrated circuit，IC)、模拟IC、无线射频集成电路(radio frequency integrated circuit，RFIC)、混合信号IC、专用集成电路(application specific integrated circuit，ASIC)、印刷电路板(printed circuit board，PCB)、电子设备等上。该处理器和收发器也可以用各种IC工艺技术来制造，例如互补金属氧化物半导体(complementary metal oxide semiconductor，CMOS)、N型金属氧化物半导体(nMetal-oxide-semiconductor，NMOS)、P型金属氧化物半导体(positive channel metal oxide semiconductor，PMOS)、双极结型晶体管(bipolar junction transistor，BJT)、双极CMOS(BiCMOS)、硅锗(SiGe)、砷化镓(GaAs)等。
本申请中描述的通信装置的范围并不限于此，而且通信装置的结构可以不受图10的限制。通信装置可以是独立的设备或者可以是较大设备的一部分。例如所述通信装置可以是：
(1)独立的集成电路IC，或芯片，或，芯片系统或子系统；
(2)具有一个或多个IC的集合，可选的，该IC集合也可以包括用于存储数据，计算机程序的存储部件；
(3)ASIC，例如调制解调器(Modem)；
(4)可嵌入在其他设备内的模块；
(5)接收机、终端、智能终端、蜂窝电话、无线设备、手持机、移动单元、车载设备、网络设备、云设备、人工智能设备等等；
(6)其他等等。
在另一种可能的实现方式中，图9所示的通信装置中，处理单元20可以是一个或多个逻辑电路，收发单元10可以是输入输出接口，又或者称为通信接口，或者接口电路，或接口等等。或者收发单元10还可以是发送单元和接收单元，发送单元可以是输出接口，接收单元可以是输入接口，该发送单元和接收单元集成于一个单元，例如输入输出接口。参见图11，图11是本申请实施例提供的通信装置的另一结构示意图。如图11所示，图11所示的通信装置包括逻辑电路901和接口902。即上述处理单元20可以用逻辑电路901实现，收发单元10可以用接口902实现。其中，该逻辑电路901可以为芯片、处理电路、集成电路或片上系统(system on chip，SoC)芯片等，接口902可以为通信接口、输入输出接口、管脚等。示例性的，图11是以上述通信装置为芯片为例示出的，该芯片包括逻辑电路901和接口902。
本申请实施例中，逻辑电路和接口还可以相互耦合。对于逻辑电路和接口的具体 连接方式，本申请实施例不作限定。
示例性的，当通信装置用于执行前述实施例一或实施例二或实施例三中non-AP MLD执行的方法或功能或步骤时，逻辑电路901，用于生成第一关联请求帧；接口902，用于输出该第一关联请求帧；接口902，还用于输入第一关联响应帧。
示例性的，当通信装置用于执行前述实施例一或实施例二或实施例三中AP MLD执行的方法或功能或步骤时，接口902，用于输入第一关联请求帧；逻辑电路901，用于生成第一关联响应帧；接口902，还用于输出第一关联响应帧。
可理解，关于第一关联请求帧、第一关联响应帧等的具体说明可以参考上文所示的方法实施例，这里不再一一详述。
可理解，本申请实施例示出的通信装置可以采用硬件的形式实现本申请实施例提供的方法，也可以采用软件的形式实现本申请实施例提供的方法等，本申请实施例对此不作限定。
对于图11所示的各个实施例的具体实现方式，还可以参考上述各个实施例，这里不再详述。
本申请实施例还提供了一种无线通信系统，该无线通信系统包括non-AP MLD和AP MLD，该non-AP MLD和该AP MLD可以用于执行前述任一实施例中的方法。
此外，本申请还提供一种计算机程序，该计算机程序用于实现本申请提供的方法中由non-AP MLD执行的操作和/或处理。
本申请还提供一种计算机程序，该计算机程序用于实现本申请提供的方法中由AP MLD执行的操作和/或处理。
本申请还提供一种计算机可读存储介质，该计算机可读存储介质中存储有计算机代码，当计算机代码在计算机上运行时，使得计算机执行本申请提供的方法中由non-AP MLD执行的操作和/或处理。
本申请还提供一种计算机可读存储介质，该计算机可读存储介质中存储有计算机代码，当计算机代码在计算机上运行时，使得计算机执行本申请提供的方法中由AP MLD执行的操作和/或处理。
本申请还提供一种计算机程序产品，该计算机程序产品包括计算机代码或计算机程序，当该计算机代码或计算机程序在计算机上运行时，使得本申请提供的方法中由non-AP MLD设备执行的操作和/或处理被执行。
本申请还提供一种计算机程序产品，该计算机程序产品包括计算机代码或计算机程序，当该计算机代码或计算机程序在计算机上运行时，使得本申请提供的方法中由AP MLD执行的操作和/或处理被执行。
在本申请所提供的几个实施例中，应该理解到，所揭露的系统、装置和方法，可以通过其它的方式实现。例如，以上所描述的装置实施例仅是示意性的，例如，所述单元的划分，仅仅为一种逻辑功能划分，实际实现时可以有另外的划分方式，例如多个单元或组件可以结合或者可以集成到另一个系统，或一些特征可以忽略，或不执行。另外，所显示或讨论的相互之间的耦合或直接耦合或通信连接可以是通过一些接口、装置或单元的间接耦合或通信连接，也可以是电的，机械的或其它的形式连接。
所述作为分离部件说明的单元可以是或者也可以不是物理上分开的，作为单元显示的部件可以是或者也可以不是物理单元，即可以位于一个地方，或者也可以分布到多个网络单元上。可以根据实际的需要选择其中的部分或者全部单元来实现本申请实施例提供的方案的技术效果。
另外，在本申请各个实施例中的各功能单元可以集成在一个处理单元中，也可以是各个单元单独物理存在，也可以是两个或两个以上单元集成在一个单元中。上述集成的单元既可以采用硬件的形式实现，也可以采用软件功能单元的形式实现。
所述集成的单元如果以软件功能单元的形式实现并作为独立的产品销售或使用时，可以存储在一个计算机可读取存储介质中。基于这样的理解，本申请的技术方案本质上或者说对现有技术做出贡献的部分，或者该技术方案的全部或部分可以以软件产品的形式体现出来，该计算机软件产品存储在一个可读存储介质中，包括若干指令用以使得一台计算机设备(可以是个人计算机，服务器，或者网络设备等)执行本申请各个实施例所述方法的全部或部分步骤。而前述的可读存储介质包括：U盘、移动硬盘、只读存储器(read-only memory,ROM)、随机存取存储器(random access memory,RAM)、磁碟或者光盘等各种可以存储程序代码的介质。
以上所述，仅为本申请的具体实施方式，但本申请的保护范围并不局限于此，任何熟悉本技术领域的技术人员在本申请揭露的技术范围内，可轻易想到变化或替换，都应涵盖在本申请的保护范围之内。因此，本申请的保护范围应以所述权利要求的保护范围为准。

Claims (23)

  1. 一种多链路通信的建立方法，其特征在于，包括：
    非接入点站点多链路设备non-AP MLD的第一站点在第一链路上发送第一关联请求帧，所述第一关联请求帧中包括多链路元素，所述多链路元素中包括指示信息，所述指示信息用于指示第二链路；
    所述non-AP MLD的所述第一站点在所述第一链路上接收第一关联响应帧，所述第一关联响应帧包括第一状态码字段和多链路元素，所述第一关联响应帧的多链路元素中包括第二状态码字段，所述第一状态码字段的值不为0，用于指示所述第一链路未被接受；所述第二状态码字段设置为不为0的第一值，用于指示所述第二链路不被接受的原因是所述第一链路未被接受。
  2. 一种多链路通信的建立方法，其特征在于，包括：
    接入点多链路设备AP MLD的第一接入点在第一链路上接收第一关联请求帧，所述第一关联请求帧中包括多链路元素，所述多链路元素中包括指示信息，所述指示信息用于指示第二链路；
    所述AP MLD的所述第一接入点在所述第一链路上发送第一关联响应帧，所述第一关联响应帧包括第一状态码字段和多链路元素，所述第一关联响应帧的多链路元素中包括第二状态码字段，所述第一状态码字段的值不为0，用于指示所述第一链路未被接受；所述第二状态码字段设置为不为0的第一值，用于指示所述第二链路不被接受的原因是所述第一链路未被接受。
  3. 根据权利要求1或2所述的方法，其特征在于，所述第一状态码字段为所述第一关联响应帧的多链路元素之外的状态码字段。
  4. 根据权利要求1-3中任一项所述的方法，其特征在于，所述第二状态码字段为每个STA配置文件子元素的STA配置文件子字段中包含的状态码字段。
  5. 根据权利要求1所述的方法，其特征在于，所述non-AP MLD的所述第一站点在所述第一链路上接收第一关联响应帧之后，所述方法还包括：
    所述non-AP MLD的第二站点在所述第二链路上发送第二关联请求帧；
    所述non-AP MLD的所述第二站点在所述第二链路上接收第二关联响应帧。
  6. 根据权利要求2所述的方法，其特征在于，所述AP MLD的所述第一接入点在所述第一链路上发送第一关联响应帧之后，所述方法还包括：
    所述AP MLD的第二接入点在所述第二链路上接收第二关联请求帧；
    所述AP MLD的所述第二接入点在所述第二链路上发送第二关联响应帧。
  7. 一种多链路通信的建立方法，其特征在于，包括：
    非接入点站点多链路设备non-AP MLD的第一站点在第一链路上发送第一关联请求帧，所述第一关联请求帧中包括多链路元素，所述多链路元素中包括指示信息，所述指示信息用于指示第二链路；
    所述non-AP MLD的所述第一站点在所述第一链路上接收第一关联响应帧，所述第一关联响应帧包括第一状态码字段和多链路元素，所述第一关联响应帧的多链路元素中包括第二状态码字段，所述第一状态码字段的值不为0且所述第二状态码字段的值为0，用于联合指示所述第二链路不被接受的原因是所述第一链路未被接受。
  8. 一种多链路通信的建立方法，其特征在于，包括：
    接入点多链路设备AP MLD的第一接入点在第一链路上接收第一关联请求帧，所述第一关联请求帧中包括多链路元素，所述多链路元素中包括指示信息，所述指示信息用于指示第二链路；
    所述AP MLD的所述第一接入点在所述第一链路上发送第一关联响应帧，所述第一关联响应帧包括第一状态码字段和多链路元素，所述第一关联响应帧的多链路元素中包括第二状态码字段，所述第一状态码字段的值不为0且所述第二状态码字段的值为0，用于联合指示所述第二链路不被接受的原因是所述第一链路未被接受。
  9. 根据权利要求7或8所述的方法，其特征在于，所述第一状态码字段为所述第一关联响应帧的多链路元素之外的状态码字段。
  10. 根据权利要求7-9中任一项所述的方法，其特征在于，所述第二状态码字段为每个STA配置文件子元素的STA配置文件子字段中包含的状态码字段。
  11. 根据权利要求7所述的方法，其特征在于，所述non-AP MLD的所述第一站点在所述第一链路上接收第一关联响应帧之后，所述方法还包括：
    所述non-AP MLD的第二站点在所述第二链路上发送第二关联请求帧；
    所述non-AP MLD的所述第二站点在所述第二链路上接收第二关联响应帧。
  12. 根据权利要求8所述的方法，其特征在于，所述AP MLD的所述第一接入点在所述第一链路上发送第一关联响应帧之后，所述方法还包括：
    所述AP MLD的第二接入点在所述第二链路上接收第二关联请求帧；
    所述AP MLD的所述第二接入点在所述第二链路上发送第二关联响应帧。
  13. 一种通信装置，其特征在于，所述通信装置包括处理单元和收发单元，所述处理单元，用于控制所述收发单元执行以下步骤：
    在第一链路上发送第一关联请求帧，所述第一关联请求帧中包括多链路元素，所述多链路元素中包括指示信息，所述指示信息用于指示第二链路；
    在所述第一链路上接收第一关联响应帧，所述第一关联响应帧包括第一状态码字段和多链路元素，所述第一关联响应帧的多链路元素中包括第二状态码字段，所述第 一状态码字段的值不为0，用于指示所述第一链路未被接受；所述第二状态码字段设置为不为0的第一值，用于指示所述第二链路不被接受的原因是所述第一链路未被接受。
  14. 根据权利要求13所述的通信装置，其特征在于，所述收发单元还用于执行：
    在所述第二链路上发送第二关联请求帧；
    在所述第二链路上接收第二关联响应帧。
  15. 一种通信装置，其特征在于，所述通信装置包括处理单元和收发单元，所述处理单元，用于控制所述收发单元执行以下步骤：
    在第一链路上接收第一关联请求帧，所述第一关联请求帧中包括多链路元素，所述多链路元素中包括指示信息，所述指示信息用于指示第二链路；
    在所述第一链路上发送第一关联响应帧，所述第一关联响应帧包括第一状态码字段和多链路元素，所述第一关联响应帧的多链路元素中包括第二状态码字段，所述第一状态码字段的值不为0，用于指示所述第一链路未被接受；所述第二状态码字段设置为不为0的第一值，用于指示所述第二链路不被接受的原因是所述第一链路未被接受。
  16. 根据权利要求15所述的通信装置，其特征在于，所述收发单元还用于执行：
    在所述第二链路上接收第二关联请求帧；
    在所述第二链路上发送第二关联响应帧。
  17. 一种通信装置，其特征在于，所述通信装置包括处理单元和收发单元，所述处理单元，用于控制所述收发单元执行以下步骤：
    在第一链路上发送第一关联请求帧，所述第一关联请求帧中包括多链路元素，所述多链路元素中包括指示信息，所述指示信息用于指示第二链路；
    在所述第一链路上接收第一关联响应帧，所述第一关联响应帧包括第一状态码字段和多链路元素，所述第一关联响应帧的多链路元素中包括第二状态码字段，所述第一状态码字段的值不为0且所述第二状态码字段的值为0，用于联合指示所述第二链路不被接受的原因是所述第一链路未被接受。
  18. 根据权利要求17所述的通信装置，其特征在于，所述收发单元还用于执行：
    在所述第二链路上发送第二关联请求帧；
    在所述第二链路上接收第二关联响应帧。
  19. 一种通信装置，其特征在于，所述通信装置包括处理单元和收发单元，所述处理单元，用于控制所述收发单元执行以下步骤：
    在第一链路上接收第一关联请求帧，所述第一关联请求帧中包括多链路元素，所述多链路元素中包括指示信息，所述指示信息用于指示第二链路；
    在所述第一链路上发送第一关联响应帧，所述第一关联响应帧包括第一状态码字段和多链路元素，所述第一关联响应帧的多链路元素中包括第二状态码字段，所述第一状态码字段的值不为0且所述第二状态码字段的值为0，用于联合指示所述第二链路不被接受的原因是所述第一链路未被接受。
  20. 根据权利要求19所述的通信装置，其特征在于，所述收发单元还用于执行：
    在所述第二链路上接收第二关联请求帧；
    在所述第二链路上发送第二关联响应帧。
  21. 一种通信装置，其特征在于，包括处理器和存储器；
    所述存储器用于存储指令；
    所述处理器用于执行所述指令，以使权利要求1至12任一项所述的方法被执行。
  22. 一种通信装置，其特征在于，包括逻辑电路和接口，所述逻辑电路和接口耦合；
    所述接口用于输入和/或输出代码指令，所述逻辑电路用于执行所述代码指令，以使权利要求1至12任一项所述的方法被执行。
  23. 一种计算机可读存储介质，其特征在于，所述计算机可读存储介质用于存储计算机程序，当所述计算机程序被执行时，权利要求1至12任一项所述的方法被执行。
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