Bandwidth mode indication method and apparatus, and channel indication method and apparatus

1. A method, comprising:

generating, by a second device, a frame, wherein:

when a first device is an extremely high throughput (EHT) site, the second device generates the frame to be in a first non-high throughput (non-HT) format or in a first non-high throughput duplicated (non-HT duplicated) format, wherein at least three bits in a first seven bits of a scrambling sequence of the frame in the first non-HT format indicate a bandwidth mode of a channel, or at least three bits in a first seven bits of a scrambling sequence of the frame in the first non-HT duplicated format indicate a bandwidth mode of a channel, and the channel is between the first device and the second device; or

when the first device is a very high throughput (VHT) site or a high efficiency (HE) site that does not support EHT, the second device generates the frame to be in a second non-HT format or in a second non-HT duplicated format, wherein two bits in a first seven bits of a scrambling sequence of the frame in the second non-HT format indicate a bandwidth mode of the channel, or two bits in a first seven bits of a scrambling sequence of the frame in the second non-HT duplicated format indicate the bandwidth mode of the channel; and

sending, by the second device to the first device, the frame, wherein sending the frame comprises:

sending, to the first device, the frame in the first non-HT format or the frame in the first non-HT duplicated format; or

sending, to the first device, the frame in the second non-HT format or the frame in the second non-HT duplicated format; and

wherein when the first device is the EHT site, and the frame is in the first non-HT format or in the first non-HT duplicated format, the channel comprises one primary 20 MHz subchannel and M secondary 20 MHz subchannels, M is greater than or equal to 3, each bit of the at least three bits corresponds to at least one secondary 20 MHz subchannel, and, for each bit of the at least three bits, a value of the respective bit indicates whether the corresponding 20 MHz secondary subchannel is available, and for each bit of the at least three bits, when the value of the respective bit is zero (0), the respective bit indicates that the corresponding secondary subchannel is available, and when the value of the respective bit is 1, the respective bit indicates that the corresponding secondary subchannel is unavailable.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein when the first device is the EHT site, and the frame is in the first non-HT format or in the first non-HT duplicated format, and when three bits of the at least three bits in the first seven bits of the scrambling sequence of the frame in the first non-HT format indicate the bandwidth mode of the channel, or three bits of the at least three bits in the first seven bits of the scrambling sequence of the frame in the first non-HT duplicated format indicate the bandwidth mode of the channel, the three bits are the second bit, the third bit, and the fourth bit in the first seven bits of the scrambling sequence.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein when the first device is the EHT site, and the frame is in the first non-HT format or in the first non-HT duplicated format, and when three bits of the at least three bits in the first seven bits of the scrambling sequence of the frame in the first non-HT format indicate the bandwidth mode of the channel, or three bits of the at least three bits in the first seven bits of the scrambling sequence of the frame in the first non-HT duplicated format indicate the bandwidth mode of the channel, the three bits are the fourth bit, the sixth bit, and the seventh bit in the first seven bits of the scrambling sequence.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein when the first device is the EHT site, and the frame is in the first non-HT format, the frame in the first non-HT format comprises first indication information, and the first indication information indicates whether the at least three bits in the first seven bits of a scrambling sequence of the frame in the first non-HT format indicate the bandwidth mode.

5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the first indication information is:

a to distributed system (ToDS) field, a from distributed system (FromDS) field, or a retry field in a frame control field of the frame in the first non-HT format.

6. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the first indication information is:

a globally unique/locally executed bit in a transmitter address field of the frame in the first non-HT format.

7. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the first indication information is:

a unicast/broadcast bit in a receiver address field of the frame in the first non-HT format.

8. A method, comprising:

generating, by a second device, a frame in a first non-high throughput (non-HT) format or a frame in a first non-high throughput duplicated (non-HT duplicated) format, wherein:

the frame in the first non-HT format comprises first indication information, and the first indication information indicates whether to use at least three bits in a first seven bits of a scrambling sequence of the frame in the first non-HT format to indicate a bandwidth mode; or

the frame in the first non-HT duplicated format comprises first indication information, and the first indication information indicates whether to use at least three bits in a first seven bits of a scrambling sequence of the frame in the first non-HT duplicated format to indicate a bandwidth mode; and

sending, by the second device to the first device, the frame in the first non-HT format or the frame in the first non-HT duplicated format; and

wherein when the channel comprises one primary 20 MHz subchannel and M secondary 20 MHz subchannels, and M is greater than or equal to 3, each bit of the at least three bits corresponds to at least one secondary subchannel, and, for each bit of the at least three bits, a value of the respective bit indicates whether the corresponding secondary subchannel is available, and wherein, for each bit of the at least three bits, when the value of the respective bit is zero (0), the respective bit indicates that the corresponding secondary subchannel is available, and when the value of the respective bit is 1, the respective bit indicates that the secondary subchannel is unavailable.

9. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the first indication information is:

a globally unique/locally executed bit in a transmitter address field of the frame in the first non-HT format.

10. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the first indication information is:

a unicast/broadcast bit in a receiver address field of the frame in the first non-HT format.

11. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the first indication information is:

a to distributed system (ToDS) field, a from distributed system (FromDS) field, or a retry field in a frame control field of the frame in the first non-HT format.

12. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the first indication information is:

a globally unique/locally executed bit in a transmitter address field of the frame in the first non-HT duplicated format;

a unicast/broadcast bit in a receiver address field of the frame in the first non-HT duplicated format; or

a ToDS field, a FromDS field, or a Retry field in a Frame Control field of the frame in the first non-HT duplicated format.

13. The method according to claim 8 , wherein when three bits of the at least three bits in the first seven bits of the scrambling sequence of the frame in the first non-HT format indicate the bandwidth mode of a channel, or three bits of the at least three bits in the first seven bits of the scrambling sequence of the frame in the first non-HT duplicated format indicate the bandwidth mode of the channel, the three bits are the second bit, the third bit, and the fourth bit in the first seven bits of the scrambling sequence, or the three bits are the fourth bit, the sixth bit, and the seventh bit in the first seven bits of the scrambling sequence.

14. An apparatus, comprising:

a processor; and

a transceiver coupled to the processor;

wherein the processor is configured to:

generate a frame, wherein:

when a first device is an extremely high throughput (EHT) site, the frame is generated in a first non-high throughput (non-HT) format or in a first non-high throughput duplicated (non-HT duplicated) format, wherein at least three bits in a first seven bits of a scrambling sequence of the frame in the first non-HT format indicate a bandwidth mode of a channel, or at least three bits in a first seven bits of a scrambling sequence of the frame in the first non-HT duplicated format indicate a bandwidth mode of a channel, and the channel is between the first device and the apparatus; or

when a first device is a very high throughput (VHT) site or a high efficiency (HE) site that does not support an EHT, the frame is generated in a second non-HT format or a in a second non-HT duplicated format, wherein two bits in a first seven bits of a scrambling sequence of the frame in the second non-HT format indicate the bandwidth mode of the channel, or two bits in a first seven bits of a scrambling sequence of the frame in the second non-HT duplicated format indicate the bandwidth mode of the channel; and

wherein the transceiver is configured to:

send, to the first device, the frame in the first non-HT format or the frame in the first non-HT duplicated format; or

send, to the first device, the frame in the second non-HT format or the frame in the second non-HT duplicated format; and

wherein when the channel comprises one primary 20 MHz subchannel and M secondary 20 MHz subchannels, M is greater than or equal to 3, and wherein when the first device is the EHT site, and the frame is in the first non-HT format or in the first non-HT duplicated format, each bit of the at least three bits corresponds to at least one secondary 20 MHz subchannel, and, for each bit of the at least three bits, a value of the respective bit indicates whether the corresponding secondary subchannel is available, and wherein for each bit of the at least three bits, when the value of the respective bit is zero (0), the respective bit indicates that the corresponding secondary subchannel is available, and when the value of the respective bit is 1, the respective bit indicates that the corresponding secondary subchannel is unavailable.

15. The apparatus according to claim 14 , wherein when the first device is the EHT site, and the frame is in the first non-HT format or in the first non-HT duplicated format, and when three bits of the at least three bits in the first seven bits of the scrambling sequence of the frame in the first non-HT format indicate the bandwidth mode of the channel, or three bits in the first seven bits of the scrambling sequence of the frame in the first non-HT duplicated format indicate the bandwidth mode of the channel, the three bits are the second bit, the third bit, and the fourth bit in the first seven bits of the scrambling sequence.

16. The apparatus according to claim 14 , wherein when the first device is the EHT site, and the frame is in the first non-HT format or in the first non-HT duplicated format, and when three bits of the at least three bits in the first seven bits of the scrambling sequence of the frame in the first non-HT format indicate the bandwidth mode of the channel, or three bits in the first seven bits of the scrambling sequence of the frame in the first non-HT duplicated format indicate the bandwidth mode of the channel the three bits are the fourth bit, the sixth bit, and the seventh bit in the first seven bits of the scrambling sequence.

17. The apparatus according to claim 14 , wherein when the first device is the EHT site, and the frame is in the first non-HT format, the frame in the first non-HT format comprises first indication information, and the first indication information indicates whether the at least three bits in the first seven bits of a scrambling sequence of the frame in the first non-HT format indicate the bandwidth mode.

18. The apparatus according to claim 17 , wherein the first indication information is:

a to distributed system (ToDS) field, a from distributed system (FromDS) field, or a retry field in a frame control field of the frame in the first non-HT format.

19. The apparatus according to claim 17 , wherein the first indication information is:

a globally unique/locally executed bit in a transmitter address field of the frame in the first non-HT format.

20. The apparatus according to claim 17 , wherein the first indication information is:

a unicast/broadcast bit in a receiver address field of the frame in the first non-HT format.