A PLC method and device for power line communication

Abstract

The present application provides a power line communication (PLC) method and device, which can be applied to a first node in a PLC system including at least three nodes, at least three nodes are in full-duplex working mode, the method includes the first node receiving a first message from a second node, the second node is any node other than the first node among the at least three nodes; the first node determines whether to interrupt the transmission of the second message according to the priority of the second node and / or the priority of the first message, the second message is the information currently transmitted by the first node. The scheme of the present application can avoid conflicts in information of different nodes, realize fast communication between multiple nodes, and improve the communication efficiency of the PLC system.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of communication technology, and specifically to a power line communication (PLC) method and device. Background Art

[0002] Power line communication (PLC) is an electric power communication system that uses power transmission lines as carrier signal transmission media. A PCL system usually includes multiple nodes. In order to achieve fast communication between multiple nodes, it is usually possible to divide dedicated time slots on the time axis for transmitting low-latency data between multiple nodes. However, when the low-latency data of a node arrives after the dedicated time slot, the node can only wait until the next dedicated time slot to send data, which will cause data delays and make the PLC communication system slow. The Carrier Sense Multiple Access backoff preemption mechanism can also be used to achieve fast communication between multiple nodes, but there is a possibility of collision between two nodes sending data, resulting in data transmission delays or failures, making the PLC communication system slow. Summary of the invention

[0003] The embodiments of the present application provide a PLC method and device, which can be used to avoid information conflicts between different nodes in a PLC system, achieve fast communication between multiple nodes, and improve the communication efficiency of the PLC system.

[0004] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a PLC method, which can be applied to a first node in a PLC system comprising at least three nodes, wherein the at least three nodes are in a full-duplex working mode, and the method comprises: the first node receives first information from a second node, where the second node is any node among the at least three nodes except the first node; the first node determines whether to interrupt the sending of the second information based on the priority of the second node and / or the priority of the first information, where the second information is the information currently sent by the first node.

[0005] In the solution provided by the present application, multiple nodes in the PLC system can be in full-duplex working mode, that is, they can send and receive information at the same time. On this basis, the first node can determine whether to interrupt the transmission of the current information according to the priority of the second node and / or the priority of the first information from the second node. Interrupting the transmission of the current information can actively avoid channel resources, so that high-priority nodes and / or high-priority information interrupt the transmission of low-priority nodes or low-priority information, and preferentially occupy channel resources. It can solve the information conflict between multiple nodes in the PLC system, reduce the transmission delay of high-priority information, such as control instructions, and realize fast communication between multiple nodes, thereby improving the communication efficiency of the PLC system.

[0006] As a possible implementation, the first node determines whether to interrupt the sending of the second information according to the priority of the second node, including: when the priority of the second node is greater than the priority of the first node, the first node determines to interrupt the sending of the second information.

[0007] In the solution provided in the present application, the first node can only consider the priority of the node and determine whether to interrupt the sending of its current information according to the priority of the node. Interrupting the sending of the current information can actively avoid channel resources, so that high-priority nodes can occupy channel resources first, thereby realizing fast communication between multiple nodes and improving the communication efficiency of the PLC system.

[0008] As a possible implementation, the first node determines whether to interrupt the sending of the second information according to the priority of the first information, including: when the priority of the first information is greater than the priority of the second information, the first node determines to interrupt the sending of the second information.

[0009] In the solution provided in the present application, the first node can only consider the priority of the received information and the information it is currently sending, and determine whether to interrupt the sending of its current information based on the priority of the information. Interrupting the sending of the current information can actively avoid channel resources, and can enable high-priority information to occupy channel resources first, thereby achieving rapid communication between multiple nodes and improving the communication efficiency of the PLC system.

[0010] As a possible implementation mode, the first node determines whether to interrupt the sending of the second information based on the priority of the second node and the priority of the first information, including: when the priority of the second node is greater than the priority of the first node, and the priority of the first information is greater than the priority of the second information, the first node determines to interrupt the sending of the second information; or when the priority of the second node is equal to the priority of the first node, and the priority of the first information is greater than the priority of the second information, the first node determines to interrupt the sending of the second information; or when the priority of the second node is greater than the priority of the first node, and the priority of the first information is equal to the priority of the second information, the first node determines to interrupt the sending of the second information.

[0011] In the solution provided in the present application, the first node can consider the node priority and the information priority at the same time, and determine whether to interrupt the sending of its current information according to the node priority and the information priority. Interrupting the sending of the current information can actively avoid channel resources, and can enable high-priority nodes and high-priority information to occupy channel resources first, thereby achieving fast communication between multiple nodes and improving the communication efficiency of the PLC system.

[0012] As a possible implementation, the first node determines whether to interrupt the sending of the second information based on the priority of the second node and the priority of the first information, including: when the priority of the second node is lower than the priority of the first node, and the priority of the first information is higher than the priority of the second information and the first information is first type information, the first node determines to interrupt the sending of the second information.

[0013] In the solution provided in the present application, the first node can consider the node priority and the information priority at the same time, and can also consider the type of information, and determine whether to interrupt the sending of its current information based on the node priority, the priority size of the information and the type of information. Interrupting the sending of the current information can actively avoid channel resources, and can enable high-priority nodes and high-priority information to occupy channel resources first, thereby achieving fast communication between multiple nodes and improving the communication efficiency of the PLC system.

[0014] As a possible implementation, the first node determines whether to interrupt the sending of the second information based on the priority of the second node and the priority of the first information, including: when the priority of the second node is lower than the priority of the first node, the priority of the first information is higher than the priority of the second information, and the first information is second type information, the first node determines not to interrupt the sending of the second information.

[0015] In the solution provided in the present application, the first node can consider the node priority and the information priority at the same time, and can also consider the type of information, and determine whether to interrupt the sending of its current information based on the node priority, the priority size of the information and the type of information. Interrupting the sending of the current information can actively avoid channel resources, and can enable high-priority nodes and high-priority information to occupy channel resources first, thereby achieving fast communication between multiple nodes and improving the communication efficiency of the PLC system.

[0016] As a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: after a preset time, the first node resumes sending the second information.

[0017] As a possible implementation, the method further includes: the first node determining the priority of the second node according to any one of a media access control (MAC) address, an Internet Protocol (IP) address, and a network identifier of the second node.

[0018] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a PLC device, which may be a first node in a PLC system including at least three nodes, or may be a device (e.g., a chip, or a chip system, or a circuit) in the first node, wherein the at least three nodes are in full-duplex working mode. The communication device has the function of implementing the behavior in the method example of the first aspect. The function may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions.

[0019] As a possible implementation, the device includes:

[0020] A transceiver unit, configured to receive first information from a second node, where the second node is any node among the at least three nodes except the first node;

[0021] The processing unit is used to determine whether to interrupt the sending of the second information according to the priority of the second node and / or the priority of the first information, where the second information is the information currently sent by the first node.

[0022] As a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is specifically configured to: when the priority of the second node is greater than the priority of the first node, determine to interrupt the sending of the second information.

[0023] As a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is specifically configured to: when the priority of the first information is greater than the priority of the second information, determine to interrupt the sending of the second information.

[0024] As a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is specifically configured to:

[0025] In a case where the priority of the second node is greater than the priority of the first node, and the priority of the first information is greater than the priority of the second information, determining to interrupt the sending of the second information; or

[0026] When the priority of the second node is equal to the priority of the first node, and the priority of the first information is greater than the priority of the second information, determining to interrupt the sending of the second information; or

[0027] In the case that the priority of the second node is greater than the priority of the first node, and the priority of the first information is equal to the priority of the second information, it is determined to interrupt the sending of the second information.

[0028] As a possible implementation, the processing unit is specifically used to determine to interrupt the sending of the second information when the priority of the second node is lower than the priority of the first node, and the priority of the first information is higher than the priority of the second information and the first information is first type information.

[0029] As a possible implementation, the processing unit is specifically used to: determine not to interrupt the sending of the second information when the priority of the second node is lower than the priority of the first node, the priority of the first information is higher than the priority of the second information, and the first information is second type information.

[0030] As a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is further configured to: resume sending the second information after a preset time.

[0031] As a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is further configured to: determine the priority of the second node according to any one of a MAC address, an IP address, and a network identifier of the second node.

[0032] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a PLC device, which may be a first node in a PLC system including at least three nodes, or a device (e.g., a chip, or a chip system, or a circuit) in the first node, wherein the at least three nodes are in full-duplex working mode. The device includes a processor and a memory, wherein the processor is coupled to the memory, and the memory is used to store a program or instruction, and when the program or instruction is executed by the processor, the device executes the method provided in the first aspect or any embodiment of the first aspect.

[0033] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a PLC system, which includes the device provided in the second aspect or the third aspect.

[0034] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program or computer instructions are stored. When the computer program or computer instructions are executed, the method provided in the first aspect or any embodiment of the first aspect is implemented.

[0035] In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product, characterized in that the computer program product includes a computer program code, and when the computer program code is executed, it implements the method provided in the first aspect or any implementation method of the first aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0036] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of time slot division;

[0037] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of a system architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0038] Figure 3 It is a principle schematic diagram based on full-duplex PLC communication nodes;

[0039] Figure 4It is a flow chart of a PLC method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0040] Figures 5 to 10 It is a schematic diagram of a scenario for implementing a method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0041] Fig.11 is a structural schematic diagram of a PLC device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0042] Fig.12 It is a structural schematic diagram of a PLC device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0043] The embodiment of the present invention provides a PLC method and device, which can be used to avoid information conflicts between different nodes in the PLC system, realize fast communication between multiple nodes, and improve the communication efficiency of the PLC system. The technical solution in the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiment of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiment is only a part of the embodiment of the present invention, not all of the embodiments.

[0044] In order to facilitate the understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the technical problems to be specifically solved by the present application are further analyzed and proposed.

[0045] Full-duplex communication is a duplex technology widely used in wired and wireless communications. In wireless communication systems, full-duplex communication can be achieved through time division duplex (TDD), frequency division duplex (FDD) and in-band full-duplex communication (IBFD). Among them, TDD is that the communicating parties can use different time slots to distinguish uplink and downlink to achieve full-duplex communication. At this time, the communicating parties use the same frequency, that is, one party can only be in the sending or receiving state at a certain time, so the sending or receiving of the communication node is discontinuous and must be performed alternately. FDD uses different frequencies to distinguish uplink and downlink. The communicating parties can send and receive at the same time, but the frequencies used in the sending and receiving directions are different. In-band full-duplex communication (IBFD) is that the communicating parties send and receive signals at the same time and use the same frequency. On the one hand, IBFD can improve the utilization efficiency of the spectrum, and on the other hand, it can solve the problem of discontinuous sending and receiving of TDD communication.

[0046] Power line carrier communication is a power communication system that uses power transmission lines as a carrier signal transmission medium. Since power transmission lines have become an essential infrastructure for power transmission and power consumption in modern society, carrier communication based on existing power transmission lines does not require additional communication wiring costs, and also has many advantages such as wide coverage, economical and reliable. However, power transmission lines are not conducive to the propagation of all communication carrier signals. It is generally believed that the higher the carrier signal frequency, the greater the propagation loss of the signal after passing through the line. Therefore, common power line carrier communications use lower communication frequency bands. For example, the G3-PLC Alliance standard uses a communication frequency band below 500kHz, and the IEEE1901.1 international standard uses a communication frequency band below 12MHz. Limited available spectrum will lead to a decrease in communication rate. For example, the G3-PLC standard only supports a low rate of less than 100kbps. Low communication rate is not conducive to some applications that require low-latency fast control. Moreover, most current PLC communication systems use the time-division multiplexing (TDD) mechanism of power lines, which makes it difficult to achieve the goal of low latency.

[0047] To solve the problem of low PLC communication rate, full-duplex PLC communication with simultaneous transmission and reception can be realized based on the method of using analog domain echo cancellation and digital domain self-interference signal elimination. Simultaneous transmission and reception can improve the throughput rate of full-duplex PLC system. However, after the system throughput rate is improved, the problem of achieving fast control between multiple nodes is still not solved.

[0048] At present, there are two technical solutions for realizing PLC communication with fast control between multiple nodes, which are exemplified as follows:

[0049] Solution 1: Use fixed TDD time slots.

[0050] The P1901.1 protocol defines several types of time slots, such as Figure 1 As shown in the figure, each beacon period includes a beacon slot, a TDD slot and a carrier sense multiple access (CSMA) slot. A specific TDD slot in each beacon period can be used to send low-latency data or control instructions, that is, on the time axis, for each node, a series of dedicated TDD slots are divided, which are specifically used for nodes to send low-latency data or control instructions. For example, when a node needs to send a control instruction, it needs to wait until the special TDD slot allocated to it can send it.

[0051] Disadvantages of Solution 1: Although Solution 1 divides a dedicated TDD time slot on the time axis for transmitting fast control instructions or low-latency data, 1) the system needs to reserve a dedicated TDD time slot for the control instructions that may be sent. When the control instruction arrives after the TDD time slot, the communication node can only wait until the next TDD time slot to issue the control instruction, which will cause a delay in the control instruction. Moreover, the delay value depends on the length of the beacon period. When the beacon period length is longer, the delay value is larger. 2) When no control instruction is sent, the TDD time slot reserved in advance will be wasted, making the PLC communication system, which already has limited bandwidth resources, even slower.

[0052] Solution 2: Use different backoff delay values ​​to ensure that high-priority nodes seize the channel in advance.

[0053] In this scheme, control instructions do not need to be sent in a dedicated TDD time slot, but they need to preempt the use of channels with other service data frames according to the CSMA mechanism, that is, a node needs to monitor the channel before sending a control instruction, and when the channel is idle, it uses a mechanism to preempt the channel after a random backoff time to send the control instruction. For nodes sending control instructions, a smaller backoff time value can be selected so that they can use the channel first.

[0054] Disadvantages of Solution 2: Although Solution 2 improves some of the shortcomings of Solution 1, for example, Solution 2 no longer needs to waste TDD time slots and improves bandwidth utilization, however, since Solution 2 adopts a preemptive approach, that is, whichever node seizes the channel first, the other nodes have to wait for the channel to be idle. There are disadvantages: 1) When data is being sent on the channel, high-priority control instructions need to wait until the channel is idle before they can seize the channel with high priority, which will cause control delays. 2) The CSMA backoff preemption mechanism has the situation where two nodes send data and collide. When data and control instructions collide on the channel, the control instruction will fail to be sent, causing control delays, and in severe cases, control failure. In addition, the probability of this collision will increase with the increase in the number of nodes participating in communication in the network, which will lead to uncertainty in the transmission delay of control instructions.

[0055] Therefore, the technical problems to be solved by this application may include the following:

[0056] In a multi-node PLC communication system, based on full-duplex communication, each node can receive data from other nodes while sending data. Using this feature, priority control and interruption sending mechanism are implemented between multiple nodes to ensure that high-priority nodes and their low-latency data can occupy the channel first, avoid information conflicts between different nodes, achieve fast communication between multiple nodes, and improve the communication efficiency of the PLC system.

[0057] Based on the above, this application provides a PLC method and device. Figure 2 , Figure 2 Schematic diagram of a system architecture provided by an embodiment of the present application. Figure 2 As shown, the system architecture 200 may include at least three nodes (eg, node 1 to node N shown in the figure), and the at least three nodes communicate with each other using the same channel.

[0058] Each of the at least three nodes may be in full-duplex mode (eg, FDD mode or IBFD mode, i.e., each node may receive and send data simultaneously). Figure 3 , Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram based on the principle of full-duplex PLC communication nodes. Figure 3 As shown, the full-duplex PLC communication node may include PLC signal coupling, impedance matching, a first-level transceiver isolation module, a second-level offset and a third-level baseband offset module. Among them, the first-level transceiver isolation module can be implemented by a transformer or other similar circuits. When the impedance of the impedance matching end is equivalent to the impedance of the PLC signal coupling end, the isolation of the self-interference signal can be formed between Tx and Rx. After the first-level isolation, the residual self-interference signal will enter the Rx path. At this time, the analog domain second-level offset circuit is designed in the figure, that is, the original Tx signal generates a same-amplitude reverse RF signal that can offset the residual self-interference signal after passing through an adjustable shaping circuit, and the effect of offsetting the residual self-interference signal is generated after superposition with the signal of the Rx path. Finally, there is still a small amount of residual self-interference signal that cannot be completely offset and enters the baseband receiving channel. The residual sub-interference signal can be estimated in the digital domain through the baseband processing algorithm to perform three-level offset. After the three-level self-interference signal is offset, the transmission signal of the Tx channel will not interfere with the normal reception of the Rx channel signal, thereby realizing a full-duplex transceiver node that sends and receives at the same time.

[0059] Wherein, the at least three nodes include a first node and a second node, and the second node is any node other than the first node among the at least three nodes. Different nodes may have the same or different priorities. The first node and the second node may be nodes of various types in the PLC system. Exemplarily, in the G.hn standard related to the PLC network, the first node and the second node may be a domain master (DM) or an end point (EP) in the PLC system; in the IEEE1901.1 standard related to the PLC network, the first node and the second node may be a central coordinator (CCO) or a station (STA) in the PLC system. It should be noted that the first node and the second node may also be other types of nodes, which is not limited in this application. The types of the first node and the second node may be the same or different, for example, the first node is a DM and the second node is an EP, or the first node is a CCO and the second node is a STA, which is not limited in this application.

[0060] It should be noted that the embodiments of the present application are not only applicable to PLC communication systems, but also to any full-duplex communication system.

[0061] In combination with the above system architecture, a PLC method provided by an embodiment of the present application is described below. Figure 4 , Figure 4 : is a flow chart of a PLC method provided by an embodiment of the present application. The PLC method can be applied to a first node in a PLC system including at least three nodes, wherein the at least three nodes are in full-duplex working mode, for example, working in a simultaneous same-frequency IBFD mode or a simultaneous different-frequency FDD mode, that is, each node can send and receive information at the same time. Figure 4 As shown, the PLC method may include the following steps.

[0062] Step S401: the second node sends first information to the first node.

[0063] Accordingly, the first node receives the first information from the second node.

[0064] The second node is any node among the at least three nodes except the first node. The first information may be data or a control instruction. In the embodiment of the present application, the priority of the control instruction is greater than the priority of the data.

[0065] The second node may send the first information to the first node in a broadcast or unicast manner.

[0066] Step S402: the first node determines whether to interrupt the sending of the second information according to the priority of the second node and / or the priority of the first information, where the second information is the information currently sent by the first node.

[0067] After receiving the first information from the second node, the first node may determine whether to interrupt the sending of the second information according to the priority of the second node and / or the priority of the first information. The specific implementation method may be as follows:

[0068] Method 1: The first node determines whether to interrupt the sending of the second information according to the priority of the second node. Specifically, when the priority of the second node is greater than the priority of the first node, the first node determines to interrupt the sending of the second information. In this method, the priorities of different nodes may be different. In the IBFD mode, the first node and the second node both operate in the same frequency band. Since the priority of the second node is greater than that of the first node, after the first node receives the first information from the second node, it can interrupt the sending of its current information so that the second node can monopolize the power line channel. In the FDD mode, the first node and the second node operate in different frequency bands. The second information sent by the first node and the first information sent by the second node will not interfere with each other. The first node can determine not to interrupt the sending of its current information.

[0069] Optionally, the first node may determine the priority of the second node according to any one of the MAC address, IP address or network identifier of the second node. The network identifier may be a network identifier (ID) formed when the node is networked. These identification information may be carried in a packet header or a leading sequence of the first information message in some form, for example, the leading sequence may be shifted according to the priority, nodes of different priorities may use different leading sequences, or a priority flag may be carried in the packet header of the first information.

[0070] Method 2: The first node determines whether to interrupt the sending of the second information based on the priority of the first information. Specifically, when the priority of the first information is greater than the priority of the second information, the first node determines to interrupt the sending of the second information. In this method, the priorities of different information may be different. In the IBFD mode, the first node and the second node both operate in the same frequency band. Since the priority of the first information is greater than the second information, after the first node receives the first information from the second node, it can interrupt the sending of its own second information so that the first information can monopolize the power line channel for priority sending. In the FDD mode, the first node and the second node operate in different frequency bands. The second information sent by the first node and the first information sent by the second node will not interfere with each other. The first node can determine not to interrupt the sending of its current information.

[0071] Optionally, the first node may determine the priority of the first information according to any one of the service type, transmission mode or information type corresponding to the first information, and the identifier for indicating the service type may be carried in the packet header or leading sequence of the first information message, for example, the information priority of a real-time service is greater than the information priority of a non-real-time service. For another example, the first node may determine the priority of the first information according to the transmission mode of the first information, for example, the priority of the first information sent in a broadcast form is greater than the priority of the first information sent in a unicast form. For another example, the first information may be a control instruction or data, and the priority of the control instruction is greater than the priority of the data.

[0072] Mode three: the first node determines whether to interrupt the sending of the second information according to the priority of the second node and the priority of the first information.

[0073] In a possible implementation, when the priority of the second node is greater than the priority of the first node, and the priority of the first information is greater than the priority of the second information, the first node determines to interrupt the sending of the second information. Figure 5 As shown, the priority of the second node is greater than the priority of the first node. Taking the first information as a control instruction and the second information as ordinary data as an example, in the IBFD mode, when the first node receives a control instruction from the second node, it can be determined that the priority of the second node is greater than its own priority and the priority of the control instruction is greater than the ordinary data. Therefore, the transmission of its current ordinary data can be interrupted so that the second node can monopolize the power line channel to ensure that the control instruction issued by the second node is sent first. In one embodiment, the control instruction of the second node is broadcast to all nodes. When the second node interrupts the transmission of its current ordinary data, the second node can monopolize the power line channel to ensure that the control instruction issued by the second node is received by other nodes in the PLC system. In the FDD mode, the frequency bands are different, and the first node can send ordinary data normally without interrupting the transmission of its current ordinary data.

[0074] In a possible implementation, when the priority of the second node is equal to the priority of the first node, and the priority of the first information is greater than the priority of the second information, the first node determines to interrupt the sending of the second information. Figure 5 As shown, the priority of the second node is equal to that of the first node. Taking the first information as a control instruction and the second information as ordinary data as an example, in the IBFD mode, when the first node receives a control instruction from the second node, it can be determined that the priority of the control instruction is greater than that of ordinary data, so it can interrupt the transmission of its current ordinary data, so that the second node can monopolize the power line channel to ensure that the control instruction issued by the second node is sent first. In the FDD mode, the frequency bands are different, and the first node can continue to send its current ordinary data without interrupting it, and can still send ordinary data normally.

[0075] In a possible implementation, when the priority of the second node is greater than the priority of the first node, and the priority of the first information is equal to the priority of the second information, the first node determines to interrupt the sending of the second information. Figure 6 As shown, the priority of the second node is greater than the priority of the first node. Taking the first information as a control instruction and the second information as a control instruction as an example, in the IBFD mode, when the first node receives a control instruction from the second node, it can be determined that the priority of the second node is greater than its own priority, so it can interrupt the sending of its current control instruction, so that the second node can monopolize the power line channel to ensure that the control instruction issued by the second node is sent first. In the FDD mode, the frequency bands are different, and the first node can continue to send its current control instruction without interrupting it, and can still send the control instruction normally.

[0076] like Figure 7 As shown, for example, the PLC system includes three nodes, namely node x, node y and node z, where node x has the highest priority. Figure 7 The figure shows the competitive sending relationship of three nodes in three time segments. 1) In the first time segment, only node x needs to send control instructions. At this time, other nodes (node ​​y and node z) stop sending information. 2) In the second time segment, node x and node y send control instructions at the same time and a collision occurs. At this time, node y determines that its priority is lower than node x based on the frame header of the control instruction, and node y interrupts the continued sending of its own control instructions. 3) In the third time segment after node x sends the control instruction, since node x does not need to send, node y monopolizes the channel and can send control instructions.

[0077] In a possible implementation, when the priority of the second node is lower than the priority of the first node, and the priority of the first information is higher than the priority of the second information and the first information is of the first type, the first node determines to interrupt the sending of the second information. Figure 8 As shown, the priority of the second node is lower than the priority of the first node. Taking the first information as a control instruction and the second information as ordinary data as an example, in the IBFD mode, when the first node receives a control instruction from the second node, it can be determined that the priority of the second node is lower than its own priority and the priority of the control instruction is greater than the priority of the ordinary data, and the control instruction is broadcast (that is, all nodes need to receive the control instruction of the second node). The first node can interrupt the transmission of its current ordinary data so that the second node can monopolize the power line channel to ensure that the control instruction issued by the second node is received by all other nodes.

[0078] In a possible implementation, when the priority of the second node is lower than the priority of the first node, the priority of the first information is higher than the priority of the second information, and the first information is the second type of information, the first node determines not to interrupt the sending of the second information. Fig. 9 As shown, the priority of the second node is lower than that of the first node. Taking the first information as a control instruction and the second information as ordinary data as an example, in IBFD mode, when the first node receives a control instruction from the second node, it can be determined that the priority of the second node is lower than its own priority and the priority of the control instruction is higher than the priority of ordinary data, and the control instruction is unicast (that is, the second node only sends the control instruction to the first node), and the first node can send its current ordinary data without interruption. In FDD mode, the frequency bands are different, and the first node can send ordinary data at the same time as receiving the control instruction from the second node.

[0079] In a possible implementation, when the priority of the second node is lower than the priority of the first node, the priority of the first information is equal to the priority of the second information, and the first information is the second type of information, the first node determines not to interrupt the sending of the second information. Fig.10 As shown, the priority of the second node is lower than that of the first node. Taking the first information as a control instruction and the second information as a control instruction as an example, in IBFD mode, when the first node receives a control instruction from the second node, it can be determined that the priority of the second node is lower than its own priority and the control instruction is unicast (that is, the second node only sends the control instruction to the first node), and the first node can send the current control instruction without interrupting it. In FDD mode, the frequency bands are different, and the first node can send the control instruction at the same time as receiving the control instruction from the second node.

[0080] Further optionally, if the first node determines to interrupt the sending of the second information, the first node may resume the sending of the second information after a preset time.

[0081] In the embodiment of the present application, multiple nodes in the PLC system can be in full-duplex working mode, that is, they can send and receive information at the same time. On this basis, the first node can determine whether to interrupt the transmission of the current information according to the priority of the second node and / or the priority of the first information from the second node. Interrupting the transmission of the current information can actively avoid channel resources, so that high-priority nodes and / or high-priority information interrupt the transmission of low-priority nodes or low-priority information, and preferentially occupy channel resources, which can solve the information conflict between multiple nodes in the PLC system, reduce the transmission delay of high-priority information, realize fast communication between multiple nodes, and improve the communication efficiency of the PLC system.

[0082] The method embodiments provided by the embodiments of the present application are described above, and the device embodiments involved in the embodiments of the present application are described below. The devices and related products provided by the present application include but are not limited to communication servers, routers, switches, bridges, computers, mobile phones, watches, headphones, televisions, home appliances and other electronic devices.

[0083] See also Fig.11 , Fig.11 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a PLC device provided in an embodiment of the present application. The device may be the first node in a PLC system including at least three nodes, or may be a device in the first node (e.g., a chip, or a chip system, or a circuit), and the at least three nodes are in full-duplex working mode. The communication device has the function of implementing the behavior in the method example of the first aspect. The function may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above functions. Fig.11 As shown, the device 1100 at least includes: a transceiver unit 1101 and a processing unit 1102; wherein:

[0084] The transceiver unit 1101 is configured to receive first information from a second node, where the second node is any node among the at least three nodes except the first node;

[0085] The processing unit 1102 is used to determine whether to interrupt the sending of the second information according to the priority of the second node and / or the priority of the first information, where the second information is the information currently sent by the first node.

[0086] In one embodiment, the processing unit 1102 is specifically configured to: determine to interrupt the sending of the second information when the priority of the second node is greater than the priority of the first node.

[0087] In one embodiment, the processing unit 1102 is specifically configured to: determine to interrupt the sending of the second information when the priority of the first information is greater than the priority of the second information.

[0088] In one embodiment, the processing unit 1102 is specifically configured to:

[0089] In a case where the priority of the second node is greater than the priority of the first node, and the priority of the first information is greater than the priority of the second information, determining to interrupt the sending of the second information; or

[0090] When the priority of the second node is equal to the priority of the first node, and the priority of the first information is greater than the priority of the second information, determining to interrupt the sending of the second information; or

[0091] In the case that the priority of the second node is greater than the priority of the first node, and the priority of the first information is equal to the priority of the second information, it is determined to interrupt the sending of the second information.

[0092] In one embodiment, the processing unit 1102 is specifically used to determine to interrupt the sending of the second information when the priority of the second node is lower than the priority of the first node, and the priority of the first information is higher than the priority of the second information and the first information is first type information.

[0093] In one embodiment, the processing unit 1102 is specifically used to determine not to interrupt the sending of the second information when the priority of the second node is lower than the priority of the first node, the priority of the first information is higher than the priority of the second information, and the first information is second type information.

[0094] In one embodiment, the processing unit 1102 is further configured to: resume sending the second information after a preset time.

[0095] In one embodiment, the processing unit 1102 is further configured to determine the priority of the second node according to any one of a MAC address, an IP address, and a network identifier of the second node.

[0096] For a more detailed description of the transceiver unit 1101 and the processing unit 1102, please refer to the above Figure 4-Figure 10 The relevant description of the first node in the method embodiment shown is not repeated here.

[0097] See also Fig.12 , Fig.12 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a PLC device provided in an embodiment of the present application, such as Fig.12 As shown, the device 1200 may include a processor 1201, which may also be referred to as a processing unit, and may implement certain control functions. The processor 1201 may be a general-purpose processor or a dedicated processor.

[0098] In an optional design, the processor 1201 may also store instructions and / or data, which can be executed by the processor so that the device 1200 executes the method described in the above method embodiment.

[0099] In another optional design, the processor 1201 may include a transceiver unit for implementing the receiving and sending functions. For example, the transceiver unit may be a transceiver circuit, or an interface, or an interface circuit, or a communication interface. The transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit for implementing the receiving and sending functions may be separate or integrated. The above-mentioned transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit may be used for reading and writing code / data, or the above-mentioned transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit may be used for transmitting or delivering signals.

[0100] In yet another possible design, the apparatus 1200 may include a circuit that may implement the functions of sending, receiving, or communicating in the aforementioned method embodiments.

[0101] Optionally, the device 1200 may include one or more memories 1202, on which instructions may be stored, and the instructions may be executed on the processor 1201, so that the device 1200 performs the method described in the above method embodiment. Optionally, data may also be stored in the memory. Optionally, instructions and / or data may also be stored in the processor. The processor and memory may be provided separately or integrated together. For example, the corresponding relationship described in the above method embodiment may be stored in a memory or in a processor.

[0102] Optionally, the device 1200 may further include a transceiver 1203 and / or an antenna 1204. The transceiver 1203 may be referred to as a transceiver unit, a transceiver, a transceiver circuit, a transceiver device or a transceiver module, etc., for implementing a transceiver function. Optionally, the device 1200 may further include a bus 1205, and the processor 1201, the memory 1202 and the transceiver 1203 may be coupled via the bus.

[0103] The processor and transceiver described in the present application can be implemented in an integrated circuit (IC), an analog IC, a radio frequency interface chip (RFIC), a mixed signal IC, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a printed circuit board (PCB), an electronic device, 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.

[0104] The device described in the above embodiment may be a first node, but the scope of the device described in the present application is not limited thereto, and the structure of the device may not be limited thereto. Fig.12 The device may be a stand-alone device or may be part of a larger device. For example, the device may be:

[0105] (1) Independent integrated circuit IC, or chip, or chip system or subsystem;

[0106] (2) having a set of one or more ICs, and optionally, the IC set may also include a storage component for storing data and / or instructions;

[0107] (3) ASIC, such as modem (MSM);

[0108] (4) Modules that can be embedded in other devices;

[0109] (5)Others

[0110] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium on which a computer program is stored. When the program is executed by a processor, the PLC method provided by the above method embodiment can be implemented.

[0111] The embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product, which, when executed on a computer or processor, enables the computer or processor to execute one or more steps in any of the above-mentioned PLC methods. If the components of the above-mentioned devices are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in the computer-readable storage medium.

[0112] The embodiment of the present application also provides a chip system, including at least one processor and a communication interface, wherein the communication interface and the at least one processor are interconnected through a line, and the at least one processor is used to run a computer program or instruction to execute the above-mentioned Figure 4-Figure 10 Any part or all of the steps recorded in the corresponding method embodiment. The chip system can be composed of a chip, or can include a chip and other discrete devices.

[0113] The present application also discloses a PLC system, which includes a first node and a second node. For a detailed description, please refer to Figure 4-Figure 10 The PLC method shown.

[0114] It should be understood that the memory mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory may be a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid-state drive (SSD), a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of exemplary but not limiting explanation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM) and direct rambus RAM (DRRAM). Memory is any other medium that can be used to carry or store a desired program code in the form of an instruction or data structure and can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited thereto. The memory in the embodiment of the present application can also be a circuit or any other device that can realize a storage function, for storing program instructions and / or data.

[0115] It should also be understood that the processor mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may also be any conventional processor, etc.

[0116] It should be noted that when the processor is a general-purpose processor, DSP, ASIC, FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware component, the memory (storage module) is integrated in the processor.

[0117] It should be noted that the memory described herein is intended to include, but is not limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

[0118] It should be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, the size of the serial numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0119] Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments provided herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.

[0120] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0121] In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0122] 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 distributed on multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

[0123] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0124] If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application, or the part that contributes to the technology or the part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for a computer device (which can be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: various media that can store program codes, such as USB flash drives, mobile hard drives, ROM, RAM, magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0125] The steps in the method of the embodiment of the present application can be adjusted in order, combined and deleted according to actual needs.

[0126] The modules / units in the device of the embodiment of the present application can be combined, divided and deleted according to actual needs.

[0127] As described above, the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, rather than to limit them. Although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments, or make equivalent replacements for some of the technical features therein. However, these modifications or replacements do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application.

Claims

1. A power line communication PLC method, characterized in that: Applied to a first node in a PLC system comprising at least three nodes, wherein the at least three nodes are in a full-duplex working mode, the method comprises: The first node receives first information from a second node, where the second node is any node among the at least three nodes except the first node; The first node determines whether to interrupt the sending of the second information according to the priority of the second node, the priority of the first information and the type of the first information, where the second information is information currently sent by the first node, and the priority of the second node is determined according to any one of a media access control MAC address, an Internet Protocol IP address or a network identifier of the second node; The first node determines whether to interrupt the sending of the second information according to the priority of the second node, the priority of the first information, and the type of the first information, including: When the priority of the second node is lower than the priority of the first node, and the priority of the first information is higher than the priority of the second information and the first information is first type information, the first node determines to interrupt the sending of the second information; so that the first information is sent exclusively on the power line channel, and the second node exclusively occupies the power line channel.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The first node determines whether to interrupt the sending of the second information according to the priority of the second node, the priority of the first information, and the type of the first information, including: When the priority of the second node is lower than the priority of the first node, the priority of the first information is higher than the priority of the second information, and the first information is second type information, the first node determines not to interrupt the sending of the second information.

3. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 2, characterized in that: The method further comprises: After a preset time, the first node resumes sending the second information.

4. A power line communication PLC device, characterized in that: The device comprises: A transceiver unit, configured to receive first information from a second node, where the second node is any node among the at least three nodes except the first node; a processing unit, configured to determine whether to interrupt the sending of the second information according to the priority of the second node, the priority of the first information, and the type of the first information, wherein the second information is information currently sent by the first node, and the priority of the second node is determined according to any one of a media access control MAC address, an Internet protocol IP address, or a network identifier of the second node; The processing unit is specifically used for: In the case where the priority of the second node is lower than the priority of the first node, and the priority of the first information is higher than the priority of the second information and the first information is first type information, determine to interrupt the sending of the second information; so that the first information is preferentially sent through the power line channel exclusively, and the second node exclusively occupies the power line channel.

5. The device according to claim 4, characterized in that The processing unit is specifically used for: In the case that the priority of the second node is lower than the priority of the first node, the priority of the first information is higher than the priority of the second information, and the first information is second type information, it is determined not to interrupt the sending of the second information.

6. The device according to any one of claims 4 to 5, characterized in that: The processing unit is also used for: The sending of the second information is resumed after a preset time.

7. A power line communication PLC device, characterized in that: The device is applied to the first node in a PLC system including at least three nodes, and the at least three nodes are in full-duplex working mode. The device includes a processor and a memory, and the processor is coupled to the memory. The memory is used to store programs or instructions. When the program or instructions are executed by the processor, the device executes the method described in any one of claims 1 to 3.

8. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program or a computer instruction. When the computer program or the computer instruction is executed, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 3 is implemented.

9. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product comprises computer program codes, and when the computer program codes are executed, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 3 is implemented.

10. A power line communication PLC system, characterized in that: Comprising a PLC device as described in any one of claims 4-6.

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