Communication system, method and wireless network device for improving network joining method

Abstract

The present application belongs to the field of communication technology, and provides a communication system, method and wireless network device for improving the network joining method, wherein the communication system includes a wireless network device having a first communication module, and at least one wireless network coordinator having a second communication module. The second communication module includes the same communication protocol as the first communication module, and a personal area network identifier (PAN-ID) determined according to the communication protocol. When the wireless network device switches to the network access mode, the first communication module sorts all signal channels according to the interference strength of each signal channel, and searches for the personal area network identifier from the signal channels with the smallest to the largest interference strength among the sorted signal channels, and after searching for the first personal area network identifier, starts the joining procedure to enter the local area network corresponding to the first personal area network identifier. The present application can effectively improve the efficiency of joining the network.

Description

[0001] This application claims priority to Taiwan Patent No. 109146315, entitled "Communication system, method, and wireless network device for improved network joining process", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0002] The present application belongs to the field of communication technology, and provides a communication system, method and wireless network device for improving a network joining method, and more particularly, refers to an improved communication system, method and wireless network device capable of quickly joining a network. Background Art

[0003] Wireless personal area network (WPAN) is mainly a wireless communication method centered on individuals in a small range. The current mainstream method is to establish a low-speed wireless personal network via ZigBee (IEEE 802.15.4) protocol or Bluetooth (IEEE 802.15) protocol.

[0004] With the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT), wireless personal area network technology is in a period of rapid development. The commonly used operating frequency band of wireless personal networks is 2.4GHz, and the goal is to promote seamless operation between devices and systems in a single communication system. As long as the devices are within the coverage of the wireless personal network (under the same communication protocol), a mesh network distribution can be established. Summary of the invention

[0005] The present application improves the networking specification of the IEEE 802.15.4 protocol, thereby reducing the networking time of devices with low computing power.

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, the present application provides a communication system with an improved network joining method, comprising a wireless network device and at least one wireless network coordinator. The wireless network device has a first communication module, and the first communication module includes a communication protocol. The wireless network coordinator has a second communication module, and the second communication module includes the same communication protocol as the first communication module, and a personal area network identifier (PAN-ID) determined according to the communication protocol. Wherein, when the wireless network device switches to the network joining mode, the first communication module sorts all signal channels according to the interference strength of each signal channel, and searches for the personal area network identifier from the signal channels with the smallest to the largest interference strength among the sorted signal channels, and starts the joining procedure after searching for the first personal area network identifier to enter the local area network corresponding to the first personal area network identifier.

[0007] The present application also provides a wireless network device, comprising: a communication module, the communication module comprising a storage unit, the storage unit comprising a control program and a communication protocol; wherein, when the communication module loads the communication protocol of the storage unit and switches to a network access mode, the communication module further loads the control program of the storage unit and sorts all signal channels according to the interference strength of each signal channel, and searches for a personal local area network identifier from the sorted signal channels from the signal channels with the smallest interference strength to the largest interference strength, and after searching for the first personal local area network identifier, starts a joining program to enter a local area network corresponding to the first personal local area network identifier.

[0008] The present application also provides an improved network joining method comprising: sorting all signal channels according to the interference strength of each signal channel; searching for the personal local area network identifier from the signal channels with the smallest interference strength to the largest interference strength among the sorted signal channels; and starting a joining procedure after searching for the first personal local area network identifier to enter the local area network corresponding to the first personal local area network identifier.

[0009] The present application also provides a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium for storing a program. When the communication chip of the main communication device loads the program, the aforementioned method can be executed.

[0010] Compared to the prior art, the wireless network device of the present application can effectively improve the efficiency of joining the network and reduce the time required to join the network. Even low-performance devices can quickly connect to the network. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a module of a wireless network device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0012] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the modules of the improved mesh network joining system provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0013] Figure 3 A communication protocol architecture diagram of the first communication module provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0014] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of a first implementation flow of the improved mesh network joining method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0015] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of a second implementation flow of the improved mesh network joining method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0016] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of a first module for a wireless network device to join a network provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0017] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of a signal channel strength sequence provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0018] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of a second module for a wireless network device to join a network provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0019] 100: Communication system with improved network joining method; 10: Wireless network device; 12: Communication module; 122: Control program; 124: Communication protocol; 20: Wireless network device; 22: First communication module; 30: Wireless network coordinator; 32: Second communication module; 30A: Wireless network coordinator; PAN-ID1: Personal area network identifier; 30B: Wireless network coordinator; PAN-ID2: Personal area network identifier; 30C: Wireless network coordinator; PAN-ID3: Personal area network identifier; CSL: Signal channel strength sequence; CS1-CSN: Signal channel. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] The detailed description and technical content of this application are described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In addition, for the convenience of explanation, the proportions of the drawings in this application may not be drawn according to the actual proportions. These drawings and their proportions are not used to limit the scope of this application, which is explained in advance.

[0021] The modules, devices, units, apparatuses or their combinations and their corresponding functions described in the communication system 100 of the improved network joining method of the present application can be collaboratively executed by a single chip or a combination of multiple chips, and the number of these chip configurations is not limited in this application. In addition, the chip can be, but is not limited to, a processor, a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor (Microprocessor), a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), and other similar devices or combinations of these devices that can process, convert or have special purposes for information or signals, which are not limited in this application.

[0022] This embodiment mainly provides a communication system 100 with an improved network joining method, which is applied to a wireless network device 10. Figure 1The wireless network device 10 may be a computer, a server, a mobile device, an Internet of Things device (e.g., a monitor, a television, a cloud hard drive, a lamp, a sensor, etc.), a large number of manufacturing equipment or machines, etc., and is not limited in this application. In one embodiment, in order to establish a local area network or network, each wireless network device 10 includes at least a communication module 12. The communication module 12 may be a processor, a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, or other similar devices that can process information or signals, convert purposes or special purposes, or a combination of these devices, and is a device based on the IEEE 802.15.4 specification as a communication protocol interface.

[0023] After the communication module 12 loads a storage unit (e.g., a non-temporary storage medium), it executes the control program 122 and the communication protocol 124 in the storage unit to complete the corresponding networking program. Here, the control program 122 may refer to a program not defined in the protocol specification. The execution of the control program other than the communication protocol can improve the system performance by programming the control program. Here, the communication protocol 124 refers to a communication program based on the current specification, such as IEEE 802.15.4.

[0024] See also Figure 2 In the present application, a wireless network device 20 that needs to join a local area network and a wireless network coordinator 30 that joins the local area network and has a repeater function or a local area network establishment function are included.

[0025] The wireless network device 20 has a first communication module 22. The communication protocol of the first communication module 22 is Zigbee in this embodiment. In other embodiments, the communication protocol may also be Thread communication protocol or any other communication protocol, which is not limited in this application. In one embodiment, when the communication protocol of this application is Zigbee, the wireless network device 20 may be a personal area network terminal device (ZigBee EndDevice) or a personal area network router (ZigBee Router).

[0026] The wireless network coordinator 30 has a second communication module 32, and the second communication module 32 includes the same communication protocol as the first communication module 32. In one embodiment, when the communication protocol of the present application is ZigBee, the wireless network coordinator 30 is a personal area network coordinator (ZigBee Coordinator) or a personal area network router (ZigBee Router). There may be multiple wireless network coordinators 30 within the same area, which is not limited in the present application.

[0027] In this embodiment, the communication protocol of the first communication module 22 adopts the network architecture of IEEE 802.15.4. Figure 3 As shown, the first communication module 22 includes an application layer (Application Layer, APL), a media access control layer (Media Access Control layer, MAC), a network layer (Network layer, NWK), and a physical layer (PHY) in sequence. The Zigbee wireless communication protocol stack diagram is only an embodiment, and the present application may also include an application interface layer, a security layer, and other variations of the functions of the aforementioned layers.

[0028] The above is a description of a specific embodiment of the hardware architecture of the present application. The workflow of the present application will be further described below. Please refer to Figure 4 , is a schematic diagram of the first implementation flow of the communication method for improving the network joining method of the present application, as shown in the figure:

[0029] All signal channels are sorted according to the interference strength of each signal channel (step S101).

[0030] The PAN identifier is searched from the sorted signal channels from the signal channels with the smallest interference strength to the signal channels with the largest interference strength (step S102).

[0031] After the first PAN identifier is found, a joining procedure is initiated to enter the LAN corresponding to the first PAN identifier (step S103).

[0032] For the above steps, a specific embodiment is given below for illustration. Figure 5 , is a second implementation flow diagram of the communication method for improving the network joining method of the present application, as shown in the figure:

[0033] First, in step S201, the first communication module 22 triggers networking via the startup conditions set by the control program 22; wherein the startup conditions may be, for example, device power on, device offline, networking failure, or timed triggering, etc., which are merely examples of the startup conditions and do not constitute a limitation on the scope of protection of the present application.

[0034] Following the above step S201 , in step S202 , the first communication module 22 performs channel scanning. In this step, the first communication module 22 scans all channels respectively to obtain the interference strength of the signal channel.

[0035] Following the above step S202 , in step S203 , the first communication module 22 sorts all the signal channels according to the interference strength of the signal channels.

[0036] Following the above step S203 , in step S204 , after all signal channels are sorted, the first communication module 22 selects a signal channel with the lowest interference intensity.

[0037] Following the above step S204 , in step S205 , the first communication module 22 uses a signal channel to start parsing the PAN-ID; the signal channel used here may specifically be the signal channel with the lowest interference intensity selected in step S204 or the next signal channel selected in step S211 .

[0038] Following the above step S205, in step S206, the first communication module 22 performs a decision step to confirm whether a PAN-ID is found. If a PAN-ID is found, step S207 is performed, and if no PAN-ID is found, step S210 is performed.

[0039] Following the above step S206, in step S207, the first communication module 22 performs a decision step to confirm whether the PAN-ID can be used to connect to the network successfully. If the network connection is successful, step S208 is executed to confirm the network connection is successful and the process ends; if the network connection fails, step S209 is executed to parse the next PAN-ID and step S206 is repeated to try all possible PAN-IDs in the signal channel.

[0040] If the PAN-ID is not found in step S206, the first communication module 22 will use the next signal channel to further search for other possible networks that can be connected; as shown in step S210, if the PAN-ID is not found in step S206, the first communication module 22 performs a decision step to confirm whether the current channel is the last signal channel; if it is the last signal channel, step S212 is performed to confirm that the first communication module 22 has failed to join the network; if it is not the last signal channel, step S211 is performed, and the first communication module 22 uses the next signal channel. Specifically, the next signal channel refers to the signal channel with the lowest interference intensity in the above step S203.

[0041] In a feasible embodiment, in step S212, if joining the network fails, the first communication module 22 will execute step S213, and request to reconnect to the network after waiting for a period of time according to a preset clock.

[0042] The following is an actual example for illustration. Please refer to the above steps and Figure 6 , Figure 7 ,and Figure 8 Read together, as shown in the figure:

[0043] In one embodiment, a wireless network device 20 is provided in a closed area or an open area, and a wireless network coordinator 30A (connected to a first personal area network and including a personal area network identifier PAN-ID1), a wireless network coordinator 30B (connected to a second personal area network and including a personal area network identifier PAN-ID2), and a wireless network coordinator 30C (connected to a third personal area network and including a personal area network identifier PAN-ID3) are provided within the communication range of the wireless network device 20. Although the number of wireless network coordinators is 3, the number of wireless network coordinators is only one embodiment for convenience of description, and the present application does not limit the number of wireless network coordinators. The wireless network device 20 may be any node device wireless network coordinator, such as a gateway, a router, a terminal device, etc., which is not limited in the present application. In the present embodiment, although the wireless network coordinators 30A, 30B, and 30C are all located at the lowest interference channel, it can be understood that the second lowest interference channel (signal channel CS2) or other channels (signal channels CS3-CSN) may include other wireless network coordinators, which are explained here first.

[0044] When the wireless network device 20 switches to the network access mode, the first communication module 22 sorts all signal channels according to the interference strength of each signal channel (according to the smallest to the largest interference strength). The interference strength is obtained by the first communication module 22 performing energy detection (Energy Detection) on each signal channel. Specifically, the physical layer of the first communication module 22 will perform energy detection on all signal channels; the media access control layer and / or application layer of the first communication module 22 will sort the signal channels according to the interference strength obtained by energy detection, and will sort the signal channel strength sequence CSL in order from the smallest to the largest interference strength, wherein signal channel CS1 is the signal channel with the smallest interference strength, followed by signal channel CS2, followed by signal channel CS3, and so on, and the signal channel CSN has the largest interference strength.

[0045] In one embodiment, the first communication module 22 searches for the personal area network identifier from the sorted signal channels from the signal channels with the smallest interference intensity to the largest interference intensity. Generally speaking, the local area network identifier is obtained by the first communication module 22 parsing the signal packets received in the signal channel with the smallest interference intensity. If the first communication module 22 does not parse the signal packets received in the signal channel with the smallest interference intensity to obtain the personal area network identifier, the first communication module 22 will sequentially receive signal packets from the sorted signal channels with greater than the smallest interference intensity and parse them. Specifically, the media access control layer and / or application layer of the first communication module 22 selects the signal channels from the smallest interference intensity to the largest interference intensity in sequence, and then the media access control layer of the first communication module 22 performs the parsing. In this embodiment, the first communication module 22 first receives and parses the signal packet from the signal channel CS1. m PAN-IDs may be parsed out in a single signal channel. The first communication module 22 randomly selects one of the PAN-IDs to start the joining procedure. If the joining fails, the next PAN-ID is replaced and the joining procedure is restarted until the m PAN-IDs are used up and all fail. If the personal area network identifier is not parsed out, the signal packet will continue to be received and parsed from the signal channel CS2. If the personal area network identifier is not parsed out in the same way as the above steps, the signal packet will continue to be received and parsed from the signal channel CS3. And so on, the signal packet is received and parsed from the channel CSN in sequence. If one PAN-ID in any signal channel can be joined successfully, the control program 122 is terminated and the communication protocol 124 is started to officially join the network to which the PAN-ID belongs, and the subsequent network data exchange is immediately started.

[0046] In one embodiment, if the MAC layer of the first communication module 22 finds the first PAN identifier after parsing, it will start the association procedure and join the local area network of the first PAN identifier through the network layer. In this embodiment, if the MAC layer of the first communication module 22 finds the first PAN identifier PAN-ID1 after parsing, it will start the association procedure and join the local area network of the wireless network coordinator 30A.

[0047] The method of the present application may also be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, the term computer-readable recording medium includes (but is not limited to) portable or non-portable storage devices, optical storage devices, and various other media and devices capable of storing, containing or carrying instructions and / or data. Computer-readable recording media may include non-transitory media in which data may be stored and does not include carrier waves and / or temporary electronic signals transmitted wirelessly or via wired connections.

[0048] Examples of non-transitory media may include, but are not limited to, magnetic disks or tapes, optical storage media such as compact discs (CDs) or digital versatile discs (DVDs), flash memory, memory, or a memory device.

[0049] The computer-readable recording medium may have stored thereon code and / or machine-executable instructions, which may represent a program, function, subroutine, procedure, routine, subroutine, module, software suite, class, or any combination of instructions, data structures, or program statements. A code segment may be coupled to another code segment or hardware circuit by passing and / or receiving information, data, arguments, parameters, or memory contents. Information, arguments, parameters, data, etc. may be passed, transferred, or transmitted via any suitable means including memory sharing, message passing, token passing, network transmission, or the like.

[0050] Furthermore, embodiments may be implemented by hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, firmware, middleware, or microcode, program codes or code segments (such as computer program products) for performing necessary tasks may be stored in a computer-readable or machine-readable medium. A processor may perform necessary tasks.

[0051] In summary, compared to the prior art, the present application can make the volume adjustment process smoother and faster, thus avoiding the discomfort caused by adjusting the volume.

[0052] The present application has been described in detail above. However, the above-described contents are only preferred embodiments of the present application and should not be used to limit the scope of implementation of the present application. That is, all equivalent changes and modifications made according to the patent scope of the present application should still fall within the scope of the patent coverage of the present application.

Claims

1. A communication system with an improved network joining method, characterized in that: Include: A wireless network device having a first communication module, wherein the first communication module includes a communication protocol; and at least one wireless network coordinator having a second communication module, wherein the second communication module includes the same communication protocol as the first communication module and a personal area network identifier determined according to the communication protocol; Among them, the first communication module includes an application layer, a media access control layer, a network layer, and a physical layer in sequence; when the wireless network device switches to the network access mode, the first communication module sorts all signal channels according to the interference strength of each signal channel, and searches for the personal area network identifier from the signal channels with the smallest interference strength to the largest interference strength among the sorted signal channels, and starts the joining procedure after searching for the first personal area network identifier. If the joining fails, the next personal area network identifier is replaced and the joining procedure is restarted until all personal area network identifiers are used up and fail. If the personal area network identifier is not parsed out, the signal packet is received and parsed on the next signal channel. If there is a personal area network identifier in any signal channel that can join successfully, the communication protocol is started to join the network to which the corresponding personal area network identifier that can join successfully belongs.

2. The communication system with improved network joining method as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The first communication module performs energy detection on each of the signal channels to obtain the interference intensity.

3. The communication system with improved network joining method as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The first communication module parses the signal packet received in the signal channel with minimum interference strength to obtain the personal area network identifier.

4. The communication system with improved network joining method as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: There are multiple wireless network coordinators, and the personal area network identifiers of at least two of the wireless network coordinators are different.

5. The communication system with improved network joining method as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The wireless network device is a personal area network terminal device or a personal area network router.

6. The communication system with improved network joining method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The communication protocol is the ZigBee communication protocol or the Thread communication protocol.

7. A wireless network device, characterized in that: include: A communication module, the communication module comprising a storage unit, the storage unit comprising a control program and a communication protocol; The communication module sequentially comprises an application layer, a media access control layer, a network layer, and a physical layer; when the communication module loads the communication protocol of the storage unit and switches to the network access mode, the communication module further loads the control program of the storage unit and sorts all the signal channels according to the interference strength of each signal channel, and searches for the personal area network identifier from the signal channels with the smallest interference strength to the largest one among the sorted signal channels, and starts the joining procedure after searching for the first personal area network identifier. If the joining fails, the next personal area network identifier is replaced and the joining procedure is restarted until all personal area network identifiers are used up and fail. If the personal area network identifier is not parsed out, the signal packet is received and parsed on the next signal channel. If there is a personal area network identifier in any signal channel that can join successfully, the communication protocol is started to join the network to which the corresponding personal area network identifier that can join successfully belongs.

8. The wireless network device according to claim 7, wherein: The communication module performs energy detection on each of the signal channels to obtain the interference intensity.

9. The wireless network device according to claim 7, wherein: The communication module parses the signal packet received in the signal channel with the minimum interference strength to obtain the personal area network identifier.

10. The wireless network device according to any one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that: The communication protocol is IEEE802.15.

4.

11. An improved network joining method, characterized in that: include: Sort all signal channels according to the interference strength of each signal channel; Searching for a personal area network identifier from the sorted signal channels from the signal channels with the smallest interference strength to the signal channels with the largest interference strength; as well as After searching for the first personal area network identifier, the joining procedure is started. If the joining fails, the next personal area network identifier is replaced and the joining procedure is restarted until all personal area network identifiers are used up and all fail. If the personal area network identifier is not parsed, the signal packet is received on the next signal channel and parsed. If there is a personal area network identifier in any signal channel that can join successfully, the communication protocol is started to join the network to which the corresponding personal area network identifier that can join successfully belongs.

12. The improved network joining method as claimed in claim 11, characterized in that: The interference strength is obtained by performing energy detection on each of the signal channels.

13. The improved network joining method as claimed in claim 12, characterized in that: The PAN identifier is obtained by parsing the signal packets received in the signal channel with the minimum interference strength.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium for storing a program, characterized in that: After the device is loaded with the program, the steps of the method as claimed in any one of claims 11 to 13 can be executed.

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