Granted Patent B2

US 12,543,230 · App. 17/976,256 · Granted Feb 3, 2026

Inventors: Li Yi (Shenzhen, CN); Kexiong Yu (Shenzhen, CN)

Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

H04W76/14H04W72/04H04W74/0808H04W84/12

Abstract

Claims (51)

1 . A method applied to a Wi-Fi communications system, the Wi-Fi communications system comprising a first device and a second device, and the method comprising:

sending, by the first device, a first action frame to the second device through a first channel, the first action frame indicating switching to a second channel, wherein the first action frame carries a channel switching parameter, and the channel switching parameter comprises one or a combination of following: channel information of the second channel, switching mode information, or dual band adaptive concurrent (DBAC) mode information, and wherein the first action frame is encrypted using a prestored key corresponding to the second device;

receiving, by the second device, the first action frame, parsing the first action frame based on the prestored key corresponding to the second device, to determine the channel switching parameter, and switching to the second channel based on the channel switching parameter comprised in the first action frame;

sending, by the second device, an acknowledgement (ACK) to the first device, wherein the ACK is a response to the first action frame, and the ACK indicates that the second device has successfully received and obtained the first action frame;

receiving, by the first device, the ACK sent by the second device;

switching, by the first device, to the second channel based on the channel switching parameter and the ACK; and

performing, by the first device, Wi-Fi peer-to-peer service communication with the second device through the second channel.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the Wi-Fi communications system further comprises an access point (AP), and the AP, the first device, and the second device communicate with each other through the first channel.

3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the channel switching parameter comprises an immediate switching mode, and the immediate switching mode indicates the second device to switch to the second channel in response to the first action frame.

4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the channel switching parameter comprises a delayed switching mode and an extension time corresponding to the delayed switching mode, and the delayed switching mode and the extension time indicate the second device to switch to the second channel after a delay of the extension time.

5 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the channel switching parameter comprises a permanent switching mode, and the permanent switching mode indicates the second device to continuously listen to the second channel and the first channel; and

the method further comprises:

sending, by the first device, a second action frame to the second device through the second channel, wherein the second action frame indicates the second device to switch back to the first channel; and

receiving, by the second device, the second action frame, and switching to the first channel based on the second action frame.

6 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the channel switching parameter comprises a fixed-duration switching mode and switching duration corresponding to the fixed-duration switching mode, and the fixed-duration switching mode and the switching duration indicate the second device to switch back to the first channel after the switching duration starting from the second device switching to the second channel.

7 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the channel switching parameter comprises a DBAC slot allocation ratio and a scheduling periodicity, the DBAC slot allocation ratio indicates a ratio of first duration in which the second device listens to the first channel to second duration in which the second device listens to the second channel in the scheduling periodicity, and the scheduling periodicity indicates a sum of the first duration and the second duration that are consecutive; and

the method further comprises:

listening to, by the second device, the first channel and the second channel based on the DBAC slot allocation ratio and the scheduling periodicity.

8 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the channel information of the second channel comprises a channel identifier and a frequency bandwidth of the second channel, and the frequency bandwidth is less than 20 MHz.

9 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein sending, by the first device, the first action frame to the second device through the first channel comprises:

broadcasting, by the first device, the first action frame on the first channel.

10 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the channel switching parameter comprises a channel identifier and a frequency bandwidth of the second channel, and the method further comprises:

determining, by the first device, used communication channels in an environment in which the first device is currently located; and

determining, by the first device, the channel identifier and the frequency bandwidth of the second channel based on the used communication channels, wherein there is no overlapping frequency band between the second channel and the used communication channels.

11 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the channel switching parameter comprises a channel identifier and a frequency bandwidth of the second channel, and the method further comprises:

determining, by the first device, used communication channels in an environment in which the first device is currently located; and

determining, by the first device, the channel identifier and the frequency bandwidth of the second channel based on the used communication channels, wherein the second channel is a least loaded channel in the used communication channels.

12 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the channel switching parameter comprises a channel identifier and a frequency bandwidth of the second channel, and the method further comprises:

determining, by the first device, used communication channels in an environment in which the first device is currently located; and

determining, by the first device, the channel identifier and the frequency bandwidth of the second channel based on the used communication channels, wherein the second channel is a channel with best communication quality in the used communication channels.

13 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the channel switching parameter comprises the switching mode information and the DBAC mode information, the switching mode information comprises a switching manner or switching duration for the second device to switch to the second channel, and the DBAC mode information comprises a DBAC slot allocation ratio or a scheduling periodicity, the DBAC slot allocation ratio indicating a ratio of first duration in which the second device listens to the first channel to second duration in which the second device listens to the second channel in the scheduling periodicity; and

the method further comprises:

determining, by the first device, the switching mode information and the DBAC mode information based on a requirement of a Wi-Fi peer-to-peer service.

14 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein before sending, by the first device, the first action frame to the second device through the first channel, the method further comprises:

determining, by the first device, used communication channels in an environment in which the first device is currently located; and

when the first device determines that there is a third channel in the used communication channels, sending, by the first device, a self-clear to send (CTS) packet through the third channel, the third channel and the second channel having an overlapping frequency band, and the self-CTS packet indicating a receiving device that receives the self-CTS packet to remain silent within a channel occupancy time declared by the self-CTS packet.

15 . The method according to claim 14 , wherein before sending, by the first device, the self-CTS packet through the third channel, the method further comprises:

determining, by the first device, that a Wi-Fi peer-to-peer service implemented by the method is a high-priority service.

16 . The method according to claim 14 , wherein the first device stores historical information of access points (APs) that have been successfully accessed by the first device, and information about an AP that provides the third channel is comprised in the historical information.

17 . A method comprising:

receiving, by a second device through a first channel, a first action frame sent by a first device, the first action frame indicating switching to a second channel, wherein the first action frame carries a channel switching parameter, and the channel switching parameter comprises one or a combination of following: channel information of the second channel, switching mode information, or dual band adaptive concurrent (DBAC) mode information, and the first action frame is encrypted using a key corresponding to the second device that is prestored in the first device before the first action frame is encrypted;

parsing, by the second device, the first action frame based on the key corresponding to the second device, to determine the channel switching parameter;

sending, by the second device, an acknowledgement (ACK) to the first device, wherein the ACK is a response to the first action frame, and the ACK indicates that the second device has successfully received and obtained the first action frame;

switching, by the second device, to the second channel based on the channel switching parameter; and

performing, by the second device, Wi-Fi peer-to-peer service communication with the first device through the second channel.

18 . A communications device, wherein the communications device comprises one or more processors and a non-transitory memory, the memory is coupled to the one or more processors, the memory stores a program code, and the one or more processors invoke the program code to cause the communications device to perform following operations:

receiving, through a first channel, a first action frame sent by a first device, the first action frame indicating switching to a second channel, wherein the first action frame carries a channel switching parameter, and the channel switching parameter comprises one or a combination of following: channel information of the second channel, switching mode information, or dual band adaptive concurrent (DBAC) mode information, and the first action frame is encrypted using a key corresponding to the communications device that is prestored in the first device before the first action frame is encrypted;

parsing the first action frame based on the key corresponding to the communication device, to determine the channel switching parameter;

sending an acknowledgement (ACK) to the first device, wherein the ACK is a response to the first action frame, and the ACK indicates that the communications device has successfully received and obtained the first action frame;

switching to the second channel based on the channel switching parameter; and

performing Wi-Fi peer-to-peer service communication with the first device through the second channel.

Assignments (2)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (38)