# US 12,010,741 B2 · Communication method, first station, second station, and access point > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,010,741 B2 - Document ID: US12010741B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/206,444 - Filed: 2018-11-30 - Published: 2019-03-28 - Granted: 2024-06-11 - Earliest claimed: 2016-06-08 - Assignees: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. - Applicants: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. - Inventors: Meilu Lin; Xun Zhou; Xiao Han; Yuchen Guo; Yunbo Li - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12010741B2 ## CPC - H04W 76/12: Setup of transport tunnels - H04W 72/0446: Resources in time domain, e.g. slots or frames - H04W 76/10: Connection setup - H04W 76/11: Allocation or use of connection identifiers - H04W 76/14: Direct-mode setup - H04W 80/02: Data link layer protocols - H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72) ## Abstract Embodiments of this application describe a communication method, a first station (STA), a second STA, and an access point (AP). The method includes: determining, by a first STA, a first basic service set (BSS) color; generating, by the first STA, a data frame when the first station STA and a second STA perform D2D transmission, where the data frame includes the first BSS color; and sending, by the first STA, the data frame to the second STA. The first BSS color is carried in the D2D data frame, so that when receiving the data frame, another receiving station in a BSS to which the first STA and the second STA belong can determine that the frame is a frame from a neighboring cell. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A communication method, comprising: setting, by a first station (STA), a basic service set (BSS) color to be used by a second STA in a device-to-device (D2D) transmission with the first STA, wherein the first STA sets the BSS color to be a first color that is preconfigured for D2D transmission, wherein the first color is different from a second color allocated by an access point (AP) associated with the first STA for transmission with the AP, and wherein the first color is used for D2D transmissions between the first STA and other STAs in addition to the first color being used for D2D transmission between the first STA and the second STA; and; generating, by the first STA, a data frame that comprises the BSS color that is the first color; and sending, by the first STA, the data frame to the second STA in the D2D transmission. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the data frame is a high efficiency physical layer convergence procedure protocol data unit (HE PPDU), and the BSS color is carried in a BSS color field of the HE PPDU. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein before the generating the data frame, the method further comprises: sending, by the first STA, by using the AP, a first frame to the second STA. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The method according to claim 3, wherein the method further comprises: receiving, by the first STA by using the AP, a TDLS setup response frame sent by the second STA, wherein the TDLS setup response frame comprises an acknowledgment message that acknowledges the BSS color. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the BSS color is used for an access point (AP) to determine whether spatial multiplexing can be performed, when a transmission frame including the BSS color is received. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method according to claim 1, wherein the BSS color of each pair of STAs of D2D transmission is same. ### Claim 7 A communication method, comprising: receiving, by a second station (STA), a basic service set (BSS) color that is sent by a first STA, wherein the BSS color is to be used by the second STA in a device-to-device (D2D) transmission with the first STA, and wherein the BSS color is set to be a first color that is preconfigured for D2D transmission, wherein the first color is different from a second color allocated by an access point (AP) associated with the first STA for transmission with the AP, and wherein the first color is used for D2D transmissions between the first STA and other STAs in addition to the first color being used for D2D transmission between the first STA and the second STA; receiving, by the second STA, a data frame sent by the first STA in the D2D transmission, wherein the data frame comprises the BSS color that is the first color; and determining, by the second STA, the BSS color to be used in the D2D transmission with the first STA. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The method according to claim 7, wherein the data frame is a high efficiency physical layer convergence procedure protocol data unit (HE PPDU), and the BSS color is carried in a BSS color field of the HE PPDU. ### Claim 9 (depends on 7) The method according to claim 7, wherein before the receiving the data frame sent by the first STA, the method further comprises: receiving, by the second STA, by using the AP, a first frame sent by the first STA. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The method according to claim 9, wherein the method further comprises: sending, by the second STA, by using the AP, a TDLS setup response frame to the first STA, wherein the TDLS setup response frame comprises an acknowledgment message that acknowledges the BSS color. ### Claim 11 (depends on 7) The method according to claim 7, wherein the BSS color is used for an access point (AP) to determine whether spatial multiplexing can be performed, when a transmission frame including the BSS color is received. ### Claim 12 (depends on 7) The method according to claim 7, wherein the BSS color of each pair of STAs of D2D transmission is same. ### Claim 13 A first station (STA), comprising: a non-transitory memory storage comprising instructions; one or more hardware processors in communication with the non-transitory memory storage, wherein the one or more hardware processors execute the instructions to: set, by the first STA, a basic service set (BSS) color to be used by a second STA in a device-to-device (D2D) transmission with the first STA, wherein the first STA sets the BSS color to be a first color that is preconfigured for D2D transmission, wherein the first color is different from a second color allocated by an access point (AP) associated with the first STA for transmission with the AP, and wherein the first color is used for D2D transmissions between the first STA and other STAs in addition to the first color being used for D2D transmission between the first STA and the second STA; and generate a data frame that comprises the BSS color that is the first color; and a transmitter, configured to send the data frame to the second STA in the D2D transmission. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The first STA according to claim 13, wherein the data frame is a high efficiency physical layer convergence procedure protocol data unit (HE PPDU), and the BSS color is carried in a BSS color field of the HE PPDU. ### Claim 15 (depends on 13) The first STA according to claim 13, wherein the transmitter is further configured to: send, by using the AP, a first request frame to the second STA. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The first STA according to claim 15, wherein the first STA further comprises: a receiver, configured to receive, by using the AP, a TDLS setup response frame sent by the second STA, wherein the TDLS setup response frame comprises an acknowledgment message that acknowledges the BSS color. ### Claim 17 (depends on 15) The first STA according to claim 15, wherein the first frame is a Tunneled Direct Link Setup (TDLS) setup request frame. ### Claim 18 (depends on 13) The first station according to claim 13, wherein the BSS color is used for an access point (AP) to determine whether spatial multiplexing can be performed, when a transmission frame including the BSS color is received. ### Claim 19 (depends on 13) The first station according to claim 13, wherein the BSS color of each pair of STAs of D2D transmission is same. ### Claim 20 A second station (STA), comprising: a receiver, configured to receive, a basic service set (BSS) color to be used by the second STA in a device-to-device (D2D) transmission with a first STA, wherein the BSS color is set to be a first color that is preconfigured for D2D transmission, wherein the first color is different from a second color allocated by an access point (AP) associated with the first STA for transmission with the AP, and wherein the first color is used for D2D transmissions between the first STA and other STAs in addition to the first color being used for D2D transmission between the first STA and the second STA; and receive a data frame sent by the first STA in the D2D transmission, wherein the data frame comprises the BSS color that is the first color; a non-transitory memory storage comprising instructions; and one or more hardware processors in communication with the non-transitory memory storage, wherein the one or more hardware processors execute the instructions to: determine the BSS color to be used in the D2D transmission with the first STA. ### Claim 21 (depends on 20) The second station according to claim 20, wherein the data frame is a high efficiency physical layer convergence procedure protocol data unit (HE PPDU), and the BSS color is carried in a BSS color field of the HE PPDU. ### Claim 22 (depends on 20) The second station according to claim 20, wherein the receiver is further configured to receive, by using the AP, a first frame sent by the first STA. ### Claim 23 (depends on 22) The second STA according to claim 22, wherein the second STA further comprises: a transmitter, configured to send a Tunneled Direct Link Setup (TDLS) setup response frame to the first STA by using the AP, wherein the TDLS setup response frame comprises an acknowledgment message that acknowledges the BSS color. ### Claim 24 (depends on 22) The second STA according to claim 22, wherein the first frame is a Tunneled Direct Link Setup (TDLS) setup request frame. ### Claim 25 (depends on 20) The second station according to claim 20, wherein the BSS color is used for an access point (AP) to determine whether spatial multiplexing can be performed, when a transmission frame including the BSS color is received. ### Claim 26 (depends on 20) The second station according to claim 20, wherein the BSS color of each pair of STAs of D2D transmission is same.