Networking method and apparatus, communication device, and computer-readable storage medium

Abstract

The application is suitable for the field of communication technology, and provides a networking method, device, communication equipment and computer readable storage medium, comprising: obtaining link information broadcast by a second Mesh device; determining a target uplink of the first Mesh device according to the link information, the target uplink of the first Mesh device has only one, one end of the target uplink is connected to the first Mesh device, and the other end of the target uplink is connected to a target Mesh device; and sending a logical link establishment request to the target Mesh device to establish a logical link with the target Mesh device. Through the above method, broadcast storm caused by loopback can be avoided.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application belongs to the field of communication technology, and in particular relates to networking methods, apparatus, communication equipment and computer-readable storage media. Background Technology

[0002] Mesh networks, also known as multi-hop networks, are dynamic and scalable network architectures. In practice, a mesh network can be constructed using a hybrid of wired and wireless connections. For example, users might build a mesh network to establish redundant links. Figure 1 The topology shown.

[0003] exist Figure 1 The mesh network includes a core AP (Central Wireless Access Point, CAP) and two range extenders (REs): RE1 and RE2. RE1 is connected to CAP via a wired connection, while RE2 is connected to CAP wirelessly. For example... Figure 1 The topology shown, due to the presence of loops, will cause broadcast storms without additional handling, preventing the mesh network from communicating properly. Existing loop avoidance schemes, such as the Spanning Tree Protocol (STP), are inadequate for handling loops in such situations. Figure 1 Even with the topology shown, broadcast storms may still occur. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This application provides a networking method, apparatus, communication equipment, and computer-readable storage medium that can solve the problem of broadcast storms caused by loopbacks.

[0005] In a first aspect, embodiments of this application provide a networking method applied to a first Mesh device in a Mesh network, wherein the Mesh network is a hybrid link network, and the control of the connection of each link in the hybrid link network is configured as logical connection control, the networking method comprising:

[0006] Obtain the link information broadcast by the second Mesh device;

[0007] The target uplink of the first Mesh device is determined based on the link information. The first Mesh device has only one target uplink. One end of the target uplink is connected to the first Mesh device, and the other end of the target uplink is connected to the target Mesh device. The target Mesh device is the upstream device of the first Mesh device.

[0008] Send a logical link establishment request to the target Mesh device to establish a logical link with the target Mesh device.

[0009] Secondly, embodiments of this application provide a networking device, a first Mesh device applied to a Mesh network, wherein the Mesh network is a hybrid link network, and the control of the connection of each link in the hybrid link network is configured as logical connection control. The networking device includes:

[0010] The link information acquisition module is used to acquire the link information broadcast by the second Mesh device;

[0011] The target uplink determination module is used to determine the target uplink of the first Mesh device based on the link information. The first Mesh device has only one target uplink. One end of the target uplink is connected to the first Mesh device, and the other end of the target uplink is connected to the target Mesh device. The target Mesh device is the upstream device of the first Mesh device.

[0012] The logical link establishment request sending module is used to send a logical link establishment request to the target Mesh device in order to establish a logical link with the target Mesh device.

[0013] Thirdly, embodiments of this application provide a communication device, including a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the processor executes the computer program to implement the method described in the first aspect.

[0014] Fourthly, embodiments of this application provide a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program that, when executed by a processor, implements the method described in the first aspect.

[0015] Fifthly, embodiments of this application provide a computer program product that, when run on a communication device, causes the communication device to execute the method described in the first aspect above.

[0016] The beneficial effects of the embodiments in this application compared with the prior art are:

[0017] In this embodiment, after obtaining the link information broadcast by the second mesh device, the first mesh device determines its target uplink based on the link information and sends a logical link establishment request to the target mesh device at the other end of the target uplink connection. Since the first mesh device has only one target uplink, and the first mesh device is a device in the mesh network, when each device in the mesh network has only one target uplink, loopbacks in the mesh network can be avoided, thereby preventing broadcast storms caused by loopbacks. Attached Figure Description

[0018] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application, the accompanying drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below.

[0019] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a mesh network structure provided by existing technology;

[0020] Figure 2 This is a schematic flowchart of a networking method provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0021] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of a target uplink of a first Mesh device provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0022] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of an uplink including a wired link provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0023] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the throughput of the entire link and the throughput of a portion of the link according to an embodiment of this application;

[0024] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the interaction between CAP and RE1 according to an embodiment of this application;

[0025] Figure 7 This is a structural block diagram of a networking device provided in another embodiment of this application;

[0026] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0027] In the following description, specific details such as particular system architectures and techniques are set forth for illustrative purposes and not for limitation, in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments of this application. However, those skilled in the art will understand that this application may also be implemented in other embodiments without these specific details. In other instances, detailed descriptions of well-known systems, apparatuses, circuits, and methods have been omitted so as not to obscure the description of this application with unnecessary detail.

[0028] It should be understood that, when used in this application specification and the appended claims, the term "comprising" indicates the presence of the described features, integrals, steps, operations, elements and / or components, but does not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integrals, steps, operations, elements, components and / or a collection thereof.

[0029] It should also be understood that the term “and / or” as used in this application specification and the appended claims means any combination of one or more of the associated listed items and all possible combinations, and includes such combinations.

[0030] Furthermore, in the description of this application and the appended claims, the terms "first," "second," "third," etc., are used only to distinguish descriptions and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0031] References to "one embodiment" or "some embodiments" in this specification mean that one or more embodiments of this application include a specific feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with that embodiment. Therefore, the phrases "in one embodiment," "in some embodiments," "in other embodiments," "in still other embodiments," etc., appearing in different parts of this specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, but rather mean "one or more, but not all, embodiments," unless otherwise specifically emphasized.

[0032] Example 1:

[0033] In practice, Mesh network links are usually mixed links that include backhaul networks. If the STP protocol is used to avoid loopbacks, it is difficult to effectively avoid loopbacks because the STP protocol has poor compatibility with mixed links, which may still cause broadcast storms.

[0034] Considering that wired links (such as links connected via Ethernet or Power Line Communication (PLC) links) are characterized by "communication as soon as they are connected" due to their physical nature, it is difficult to effectively control wired links.

[0035] To effectively reduce the probability of broadcast storms, this application provides a networking method. In this method, logical control is added to communication between ports of wired links. Communication between corresponding ports is only allowed after the software-controlled logical link is established. Because the control of physical connections is transformed into the control of logical connections, software controllability of the topology connection relationship is achieved. By controlling the establishment of logical links in software, the generation of backhaul links can be effectively prevented, thereby avoiding the possibility of physical topology loops caused by users physically plugging and unplugging network ports. The networking method provided by this application embodiment is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0036] Figure 2 This illustration shows a flowchart of a networking method provided in an embodiment of this application. This networking method is applied to a first mesh device in the backhaul network of a mesh network. The mesh network is a hybrid link network, and the control of each link connection in the hybrid link is set as logical connection control. For example, the control of the physical connection of a wired link is set as logical connection control. In the logical connection control, communication between corresponding ports is only allowed after the software-controlled logical link is established. The uplink and downlink directions of the wired ports are defined in Table 1 below:

[0037]

[0038] In addition, a Layer 2 protocol was designed for wired links. This Layer 2 protocol supports services such as scanning, information broadcasting, association, keep-alive, and aging, thereby providing functions such as discovery, authentication, and link state keep-alive between wired devices, and thus realizing unified abstraction and management of links of different media.

[0039] The Layer 2 protocol message types designed in this application embodiment include:

[0040] Link information broadcast: This is periodically sent to the backhaul port to transmit its uplink information, which downstream devices can use as a reference when selecting a target uplink (such as the best uplink). Simultaneously, downstream devices can also determine whether the upstream device still exists based on the timeout period of the received link information broadcast messages, and trigger an aging mechanism if the upstream device is determined to no longer exist.

[0041] Logical link establishment request: Sent by the backend device to establish logical link relationships.

[0042] Logical link establishment response: Sent by the front-end device, used by the front-end device to reply with an acknowledgment message to the back-end device after confirming that the logical link is valid.

[0043] Data communication is only permitted after the logical link establishment request-response interaction is completed and the logical link is established.

[0044] Link Destruction Request: Sent by the backend device, used to destroy the logical link association of a wired link. The backend device also sends this message when aging up the current logical link.

[0045] Link destruction reply: Sent by the front-end device, used to reply to the back-end device with an acknowledgment message after destroying the logical connection.

[0046] After a logical link is destroyed, data communication is no longer permitted on the physical link where the original logical link was located.

[0047] Based on the defined uplink and downlink directions of the wired ports and the designed Layer 2 protocol, the networking method provided in this application includes:

[0048] Step S21: Obtain the link information broadcast by the second Mesh device.

[0049] The link information here mainly includes various information that helps downstream devices accurately evaluate and select their target uplink (such as the optimal uplink). This link information can include the physical uplink quality of the upstream device itself, such as medium type, hop count, negotiation rate, and packet loss rate, or it can reflect the current usage of the link, such as actual data throughput and channel occupancy.

[0050] In this embodiment, the first Mesh device and the second Mesh device both belong to the same Mesh network, which is a hybrid link network, for example, including at least two of the following: Ethernet links, PLC links, and wireless links.

[0051] In this embodiment, when the second mesh device broadcasts link information to the backhaul port, the first mesh device in the backhaul network will obtain the corresponding link information. Of course, if the second mesh device broadcasts link information at fixed intervals, the first mesh device will also obtain the corresponding link information at those fixed intervals. In this embodiment, the second mesh device can be a front-end device (or upstream device, such as a CAP), and the first mesh device is a back-end device (or downstream device), which can be a RE. In some embodiments, the second mesh device may also be a newly joined device in the network. When the second mesh device joins the mesh network, it will broadcast its link information so that other mesh devices in the mesh network can trigger uplink selection. In other embodiments, the second mesh device may also be an existing mesh device in the network, which will not be elaborated here.

[0052] It should be noted that there may be multiple second mesh devices in this application embodiment, that is, the first mesh device can obtain the link information broadcast by multiple second mesh devices.

[0053] Step S22: Determine the target uplink of the first Mesh device based on the above link information. The first Mesh device has only one target uplink. One end of the target uplink is connected to the first Mesh device, and the other end of the target uplink is connected to the target Mesh device. The target Mesh device is the upstream device of the first Mesh device.

[0054] In this configuration, the two ends of the target uplink of the first mesh device are connected to the first mesh device and the target mesh device, respectively, and the node corresponding to the target mesh device is the upstream node of the node corresponding to the first mesh device. For example... Figure 3 As shown, assuming node 1 is the node corresponding to the first Mesh device in the Mesh network, and node 5 is the node corresponding to the CAP of the Mesh network (i.e., the upstream node of the node corresponding to the first Mesh device in the Mesh network), then the target uplink of the first Mesh device in this embodiment of the application can be: the uplink formed by the links between node 1 and node 5.

[0055] Since the control of each link connection in a mesh network (such as the backhaul network in a mesh network) is configured as logical connection control, all possible links including the first mesh device can be determined based on the configured logical connection information. Then, the target uplink of the first mesh device can be determined from all possible links including the first mesh device. For example, suppose "①" represents the first mesh device, and "②" and "③" represent other mesh devices. The first mesh device has established logical links with other mesh devices, i.e., "①→②→③". If the first mesh device receives link information broadcast by the second mesh device, it will trigger uplink selection. Suppose the second mesh device is represented by "④", and based on the configured logical connection information, the two possible links "①→②→③" and "①→④→③" are determined from "①, ②, ③, ④". Then, the target uplink of the first mesh device needs to be determined from the two possible links "①→②" and "①→④". That is, the first Mesh device has only one target uplink. In other words, if the first Mesh device has multiple uplinks, it needs to select one uplink from the multiple uplinks as the target uplink of the first Mesh device.

[0056] Step S23: Send a logical link establishment request to the target Mesh device to establish a logical link with the target Mesh device.

[0057] The target mesh device can be a second mesh device or other mesh devices. This application embodiment mainly uses the second mesh device as the target mesh device for illustration.

[0058] Specifically, such as Figure 3 As shown, assuming the first Mesh device is node 1 and the second Mesh device (i.e. the target Mesh device) is node 5, the target uplink of the first Mesh device is the uplink formed by the links between node 1 and node 5. Then the first Mesh device sends a logical link establishment request to the second Mesh device (i.e. the direct upstream node of the first Mesh device).

[0059] In this embodiment, after the first mesh device sends a logical link establishment request to the second mesh device, if the second mesh device agrees to establish the link, it replies with an acknowledgment message to the first mesh device, thereby establishing a logical link with the first mesh device. Alternatively, the second mesh device can first verify the validity of the first mesh device's logical link establishment request before replying with an acknowledgment message to improve the security of the established logical link. After the first mesh device and the second mesh device establish a logical link, they can communicate using ordinary messages.

[0060] In this embodiment, after obtaining the link information broadcast by the second mesh device, the first mesh device determines its target uplink based on the link information and sends a logical link establishment request to the target mesh device at the other end of the target uplink connection. Since the first mesh device has only one target uplink, and the first mesh device is a device in the mesh network, when each device in the mesh network has only one target uplink, loopbacks in the mesh network can be avoided, thereby preventing broadcast storms caused by loopbacks.

[0061] In some embodiments, considering that after uplink selection is triggered, the first Mesh device needs to re-evaluate the upstream devices adjacent to it, and the re-evaluation process requires certain resources, therefore, step S22 above includes:

[0062] Based on the above link information, it is selected whether to trigger uplink selection. After the above uplink selection is triggered, the target uplink of the first Mesh device is determined based on the above link information.

[0063] In this embodiment, the target uplink selected from the logical connections including the first Mesh device is equivalent to selecting the unique uplink of the first Mesh device from all the links including the first Mesh device, which ensures that the first Mesh device necessarily has a unique uplink, thus preventing the emergence of a single device island.

[0064] In some embodiments, the link information includes the identifier of the second Mesh device, and the step of selecting whether to trigger uplink selection based on the link information includes:

[0065] A1. Identify the identifier of the second Mesh device from the above link information.

[0066] In this embodiment of the application, the identifier of the second Mesh device can be preset in the field of the broadcast information. In this way, when the first Mesh device obtains the link information, it will use the information read from this field as the identifier of the second Mesh device.

[0067] A2. If the identification of the second Mesh device indicates that the second Mesh device is a new Mesh device requesting to join the Mesh network, then uplink selection is triggered.

[0068] Specifically, after the first Mesh device obtains the link information, it stores the device identifier parsed from the link information. In this embodiment, the first Mesh device compares the obtained identifier of the second Mesh device with the identifiers of each of the stored devices. If the identifier of the second Mesh device is different from the identifiers of each of the stored devices, then the second Mesh device is determined to be a new Mesh device requesting to join the Mesh network.

[0069] In this embodiment, after the first Mesh device determines that the second Mesh device is a new Mesh device, it triggers uplink selection. Since the link between the new Mesh device requesting to join the Mesh network and the first Mesh device may be a better uplink, triggering uplink selection at this time can update the obtained target uplink in a timely manner so that the target uplink is optimal.

[0070] In some embodiments, considering that the link quality of Mesh devices may change, when a change in the link information of a Mesh device is detected, uplink selection is also triggered to update the target uplink in a timely manner. In this case, the above networking method further includes:

[0071] If the link information of the second Mesh device is determined to be stored based on the identifier of the second Mesh device, and it is determined that the performance information in the link information of the second Mesh device obtained this time is different from the performance information in the link information of the second Mesh device that has been stored, then uplink selection is triggered.

[0072] The link information in this embodiment of the application also includes performance information used to determine the link quality of the second Mesh device.

[0073] Specifically, after the first mesh device acquires the link information, it determines that the second mesh device is already part of the network based on the identifier of the second mesh device in the acquired link information. The first mesh device then compares the performance information in the acquired link information with the performance information in the stored link information of the second mesh device. If they differ, it is considered that the target uplink needs to be re-determined. Since determining that the link information of a mesh device has changed also triggers uplink selection, the obtained target uplink can be updated in a timely manner.

[0074] In some embodiments, considering that the link quality of the networked Mesh devices may not change, uplink selection will not be triggered when it is found that the link information of the Mesh devices has not changed. In this case, the networking method provided in this application embodiment further includes:

[0075] If the link information of the second Mesh device is determined to be stored based on the identifier of the second Mesh device, and the performance information in the link information of the second Mesh device obtained this time is the same as the performance information in the link information of the second Mesh device that has been stored, then uplink selection will not be triggered.

[0076] In this embodiment, since the link information of the second Mesh device has not changed, it indicates that the link information of the second Mesh device is still the same as the link information when the target uplink of the first Mesh device is obtained. Therefore, even if uplink selection is triggered again, the target uplink obtained will still be the same. That is, in this embodiment, since uplink selection is not triggered, the waste of resources caused by triggering uplink selection again can be avoided.

[0077] In some embodiments, the link information includes performance information for determining the link quality of the corresponding link. In this case, step A2 above, triggering uplink selection, includes:

[0078] A21. If the number of uplinks of the first Mesh device is equal to 1, then the uplink of the first Mesh device is determined as the target uplink of the first Mesh device.

[0079] In this embodiment of the application, since a target uplink will be determined after the uplink selection is triggered, if the first Mesh device has only one uplink, the uplink can be directly used as the target uplink of the first Mesh device.

[0080] A22. If the number of uplinks of the first Mesh device is greater than 1, then for each uplink, the following calculation is performed: calculate the link quality of the link from the first Mesh device to the target upstream device in the uplink based on the performance information of the target upstream device, wherein the target upstream device is: the upstream device adjacent to the first Mesh device in the uplink; when uplink selection is triggered, the link quality of the complete uplink in which the target uplink is located is optimal.

[0081] Among them, the transmission speed and / or bit error rate of a link are optimal when the link quality is optimal.

[0082] In this embodiment of the application, it is considered that a complete uplink consists of at least one uplink segment, such as Figure 3The link shown, in the complete uplink from node 2 through node 1 to node 5, consists of the uplink segments from node 2 to node 1 and from node 1 to node 5. Therefore, the link quality of the uplink segments from node 2 to node 1 and from node 1 to node 5 will affect the link quality of the complete uplink from node 2 to node 5. This ensures a more accurate final link quality determination when the link quality of the complete uplink is determined based on the performance information of each segment. In other words, each node calculates the link quality from itself to its adjacent upstream node and sends the calculated link quality information to its adjacent downstream nodes. In this way, the link quality of the complete uplink from the target node to the egress device can be effectively evaluated. Based on the evaluation results, the complete uplink with the best link quality can be determined. The uplink of the first mesh device included in the complete uplink with the best link quality can be used as the target uplink of the first mesh device. This will enable the first mesh device to achieve better transmission performance (such as faster transmission speed and / or lower bit error rate) when transmitting information through the target uplink.

[0083] In some embodiments, to improve the speed of a determined target uplink, the following selection strategy may be combined when uplink selection is triggered:

[0084] Determine whether there is a wired link in the uplink of the first Mesh device. If so, select a wired link as the target uplink of the first Mesh device. If not, execute step A21 or step A22.

[0085] Specifically, in the backhaul network of a mesh network, such as Figure 4 As shown, if the upstream devices of Mesh device A are Mesh device B and Mesh device C, and Mesh device A is connected to Mesh device B via a wired connection while Mesh device A is connected to Mesh device C via a wireless connection, such as a 2.4G (or 5G) wireless network, then the link between Mesh device A and Mesh device B is preferentially selected as the target uplink of Mesh device A. That is, in this embodiment, if among the multiple uplinks of the first Mesh device, there are both wired and wireless uplinks, then the wired uplink is selected as the target uplink of the first Mesh device.

[0086] Compared to wireless links, wired links offer a significant advantage in latency (wireless links inevitably experience contention and retransmissions, while wired links almost never do), and their throughput isn't significantly different (wired links, even without considering optical ports, can guarantee 1Gbps speeds, while Wi-Fi 6 only reaches a few Gbps, a negligible difference). Therefore, when a wired link is available, prioritizing it improves the speed of target uplink selection and ensures the quality of the selected uplink. Furthermore, when no wired link is available, the target uplink is determined based on the quality of each wireless link, which helps ensure that the target uplink meets the required quality. In other words, this method allows for the rapid determination of the target uplink for the first Mesh device with the required link quality.

[0087] In some embodiments, the link quality described above includes throughput, that is, throughput is used as an evaluation metric for link quality.

[0088] In some embodiments, the uplink throughput of the wireless link (i.e., the throughput of a single-hop wireless link) can be calculated using the following formula, where the link performance parameters include the wireless negotiation rate, local available channel occupancy, bit error rate, and transport layer protocol overhead:

[0089] Wireless negotiation rate * Local available channel occupancy rate * (1 - Bit error rate) * (1 - Transport layer protocol overhead)

[0090] In this embodiment, considering the inability to reasonably calculate the bit error rate of unused links, and given the small communication radius of home wireless devices, for a given device, the channel quality and usable coding methods will not differ significantly when different uplink neighbors are selected. Therefore, it can be assumed that the bit error rate has no impact on throughput during uplink selection. Furthermore, after the user specifies the service protocol, the proportion of transport layer protocol overhead remains constant and does not change due to link selection or hop count increases. Therefore, this impact can be disregarded when selecting the target uplink. In summary, throughput estimation can be determined based on the wireless negotiation rate and the maximum channel occupancy rate achievable by the device (i.e., the available channel occupancy rate).

[0091] Of course, if the link's bit error rate can be determined, the uplink throughput can be determined based on the radio negotiation rate, the maximum channel occupancy rate achievable by the device, and the bit error rate. Furthermore, if different links use different service protocols, the uplink throughput can also be determined based on the radio negotiation rate, the maximum channel occupancy rate achievable by the device, the bit error rate, and the transport layer protocol overhead.

[0092] The following describes how to estimate the wireless negotiation rate and available channel occupancy.

[0093] 1. Wireless negotiation rate estimation:

[0094] a) Estimation based on channel parameters

[0095] This mainly includes signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), number of radio protocol subcarriers, bandwidth, and number of spatial streams. Among these, the radio negotiation rate is directly proportional to the number of subcarriers, bandwidth, and number of spatial streams.

[0096] By fitting the data through actual measurements, a mapping table between SNR and the optimal modulation and coding scheme (MCS) can be obtained. Finally, the wireless negotiation rate can be estimated based on the channel parameters and the wireless specifications of the equipment.

[0097] b) Detect the negotiation rate based on the actual communication situation.

[0098] Before selecting a front-end, candidate front-ends are probed. A dedicated probe wireless interface is used to temporarily associate with the candidate front-end, construct data packets, and send them for probe transmission, training to obtain a reasonable negotiation rate. During this process, user data communication on the wireless interface used by the service is not affected.

[0099] 2. Estimation of available channel occupancy

[0100] Overall, channel competition among WiFi devices is relatively fair; a WiFi device cannot claim a higher priority and completely monopolize the channel. Because wireless chips do not process wireless packets that are not their own, it is difficult to perform detailed statistics on the proportion of packets with different priorities from other devices. To simplify the process, without considering the WiFi devices' own traffic rate limits, it can be simply assumed that each WiFi device will equally share the remaining channel time after removing non-WiFi interference, rather than being limited to occupying only the currently idle channel time.

[0101] For wireless links, multi-hop links may interfere with each other and cause collisions due to channel overlap. In addition to sharing channel time, additional channel time overhead will also be generated due to collision backoff and other reasons. Therefore, we introduce the attenuation coefficient ρ(n) of multi-hop links.

[0102] Assuming a complete wireless link is as follows: Figure 5 As shown, for data that has traversed the entire link, it is clear that the same frequency n hops ( Figure 5 (where n is 2) The link should meet the following constraints:

[0103]

[0104] Among them, the attenuation coefficient ρ(n) of the multi-hop link is only related to the total number of hops n. When the topology is determined, ρ(n) is a constant, and R i Let be the throughput of the i-th hop. At this point, the equivalent throughput of the entire wireless link is:

[0105]

[0106] In actual experiments, the throughput of each segment and the throughput of the entire link can be accurately obtained. Through data fitting, the loss coefficient ρ(n) of the multi-hop wireless link on the same frequency can be obtained as 0.9. n In this embodiment, for each complete uplink of the first Mesh device, after determining the throughput of each segment of the complete uplink, the total throughput of the complete uplink is determined based on the throughput of each segment, and the link quality of the complete uplink is determined based on the total throughput of the complete uplink. Finally, the complete uplink with the best link quality is determined based on the link quality of each complete uplink, and the uplinks of the first Mesh device included in the complete uplink with the best link quality are the target uplinks of the first Mesh device.

[0107] Of course, if the wireless multi-hop links use different channels and do not cause collisions, then the equivalent throughput is the minimum of the throughputs of each hop.

[0108] The above describes how to calculate the throughput of a wireless link. However, for connection methods such as Ethernet and PLC, since multi-hop links do not affect each other, multi-hop conversion is not necessary when calculating the throughput of a wired link. Furthermore, these channels do not have the concept of "channel occupancy," so the wired negotiation rate can be directly used as the throughput of the wired link.

[0109] For wired multi-hop links, the hop with the lowest throughput becomes the bottleneck of the entire link's throughput. Therefore, the throughput of the entire wired link is:

[0110] R = min(R) i ).

[0111] In some embodiments, prior to step S21 described above, the networking method of this application embodiment further includes:

[0112] Probe the backhaul network.

[0113] Correspondingly, step S21 above includes:

[0114] After detecting the backhaul network, obtain the link information broadcast by the second Mesh device.

[0115] In this embodiment, the first mesh device can probe the backhaul network using a preset protocol, such as probing the mesh communication link using the IEEE 1905 protocol. It should be noted that the mesh communication link probe is performed between two mesh devices; for example, both the first and second mesh devices may probe each other's mesh communication links.

[0116] In this embodiment, after detecting a backhaul network, both the first and second mesh devices need to initialize their own port directions and obtain link information through these initialized ports. For example, when the second mesh device is a front-end device and the first mesh device is a back-end device, the port direction for communication between the second and first mesh devices is initialized to downlink, while the port direction for the first mesh device is initialized to downlink or unknown (i.e., direction uncertain). Since multiple uplinks can only exist when a backhaul network is present, the second mesh device broadcasts link information only after detecting a backhaul network, avoiding uplink selection when multiple uplinks are not present, thereby reducing resource consumption.

[0117] In some embodiments, after the first Mesh device determines its target uplink, the first Mesh device will inform its adjacent downstream devices of its link information. In this case, after step S23 above, the method further includes:

[0118] The link information of the first Mesh device is sent to the target downstream device, which is the downstream device adjacent to the first Mesh device in the target uplink.

[0119] In this embodiment, since the first Mesh device sends its link information to the target downstream device, and the link information typically includes parameters, link rate, uplink connection method, etc., the target downstream device can quickly establish a logical connection with the first Mesh device based on the received link information and communicate with the first Mesh device.

[0120] In some embodiments, the networking method provided in this application further includes:

[0121] If no link information broadcast by the second mesh device is received within a preset reception period, an aging mechanism is triggered. Specifically, when the aging mechanism is triggered, the first mesh device destroys the logical link to the second mesh device and sends a link destruction request to the second mesh device. Upon receiving the link destruction request, the second mesh device destroys its logical link to the first mesh device. Furthermore, when the aging mechanism is triggered, data communication between the first and second mesh devices is also disabled.

[0122] Since the first mesh device does not receive the link information broadcast by the second mesh device for a long time, it indicates that the logical link established between the first mesh device and the second mesh device is aging. Therefore, destroying the logical link and no longer allowing data communication on the physical link where the original logical link is located can avoid communication delays and other problems caused by data communication on the aging logical link.

[0123] To more clearly describe the networking method of the embodiments of this application, a specific application example is described below.

[0124] Figure 6 A schematic diagram illustrating the interaction between CAP and RE1 is shown. Figure 6 In this embodiment, CAP corresponds to the second Mesh device, and RE1 corresponds to the first Mesh device. CAP and RE1 perform Mesh communication link detection. If they detect each other, since CAP is the upstream device, it initializes its port direction as downlink, while RE1 initializes its port direction as downlink or unknown. After port initialization, CAP broadcasts link information (i.e., uplink information in the figure) at preset intervals (e.g., one second). After RE1 obtains this link information, it performs Best AP selection (i.e., triggers uplink selection) to select the best front-end as the effective link for CAP. After Best AP selection, RE1 sets other backhaul network links to downlink to ensure a unique uplink. Subsequently, RE1 initiates a wired uplink confirmation interaction on the port of its selected target uplink to send a logical link establishment request to CAP. CAP performs validity verification based on the received logical link establishment request, and after successful verification, sends a logical link establishment reply to RE1 to establish a logical link with RE1. RE1 then transmits messages with CAP based on the established logical link.

[0125] It should be understood that the sequence number of each step in the above embodiments does not imply 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 this application.

[0126] Example 2:

[0127] Corresponding to the networking method in Embodiment 1 above, Figure 7 A structural block diagram of the networking device provided in the embodiments of this application is shown. For ease of explanation, only the parts related to the embodiments of this application are shown.

[0128] Reference Figure 7 The networking device 7 is applied to the first mesh device in a mesh network, wherein the mesh network is a hybrid link network, and the control of the connection of each link in the hybrid link network is configured as logical connection control. The networking device 7 includes:

[0129] The link information acquisition module 71 is used to acquire the link information broadcast by the second Mesh device.

[0130] The target uplink determination module 72 is used to determine the target uplink of the first Mesh device based on the link information. The first Mesh device has only one target uplink. One end of the target uplink is connected to the first Mesh device, and the other end of the target uplink is connected to the target Mesh device. The target Mesh device is the upstream device of the first Mesh device.

[0131] The logical link establishment request sending module 73 is used to send a logical link establishment request to the target Mesh device in order to establish a logical link with the target Mesh device.

[0132] In this embodiment, after obtaining the link information broadcast by the second mesh device, the first mesh device determines its target uplink based on the link information and sends a logical link establishment request to the target mesh device at the other end of the target uplink connection. Since the first mesh device has only one target uplink, and the first mesh device is a device in the mesh network, when each device in the mesh network has only one target uplink, loopbacks in the mesh network can be avoided, thereby preventing broadcast storms caused by loopbacks.

[0133] In some embodiments, the target uplink determination module 72 includes:

[0134] Based on the above link information, it is selected whether to trigger uplink selection. After the above uplink selection is triggered, the target uplink of the first Mesh device is determined based on the above link information.

[0135] In some embodiments, the link information includes the identifier of the second Mesh device, and the target uplink determination module 72 includes:

[0136] The identification unit of the second Mesh device is used to identify the identifier of the second Mesh device from the link information.

[0137] The first uplink selection triggering unit is used to trigger uplink selection if the identifier of the second Mesh device determines that the second Mesh device is a new Mesh device requesting to join the Mesh network.

[0138] In some embodiments, the link information further includes performance information for determining the link quality of the second Mesh device. In this case, the networking device 7 further includes:

[0139] The second uplink selection triggering unit is used to trigger uplink selection if it is determined from the identifier of the second Mesh device that the link information of the second Mesh device has been stored, and it is determined that the performance information in the link information of the second Mesh device obtained this time is different from the performance information in the link information of the second Mesh device that has been stored, then the uplink selection is triggered.

[0140] In some embodiments, the networking device 7 further includes:

[0141] The uplink selection non-triggering unit is used to determine that the link information of the second Mesh device has been stored based on the identifier of the second Mesh device, and to determine that the performance information in the link information of the second Mesh device obtained this time is the same as the performance information in the link information of the second Mesh device that has been stored, and then not to trigger uplink selection.

[0142] In some embodiments, the link information includes performance information for determining the link quality of the corresponding link, and the triggering of uplink selection is specifically used for:

[0143] If the number of uplinks of the first Mesh device is equal to 1, then the uplink of the first Mesh device is determined as the target uplink of the first Mesh device.

[0144] If the number of uplinks of the first Mesh device is greater than 1, then for each uplink, the following calculation is performed: the link quality of the link from the first Mesh device to the target upstream device in the uplink is calculated based on the performance information of the target upstream device, wherein the target upstream device is the upstream device adjacent to the first Mesh device in the uplink; when uplink selection is triggered, the link quality of the complete uplink in which the target uplink is located is optimal.

[0145] In some embodiments, the networking device 7 further includes:

[0146] The link information sending module of the first Mesh device is used to send the link information of the first Mesh device to the target downstream device, wherein the target downstream device is the downstream device adjacent to the first Mesh device in the target uplink.

[0147] In some embodiments, the networking device 7 provided in this application further includes:

[0148] The backhaul network detection module is used to detect the backhaul network.

[0149] Correspondingly, the link information acquisition module 71 mentioned above is specifically used for:

[0150] After detecting the backhaul network, obtain the link information broadcast by the second Mesh device.

[0151] In some embodiments, the networking device 7 provided in this application further includes:

[0152] The aging mechanism trigger module is used to trigger the aging mechanism if no link information broadcast by the second Mesh device is received within a preset reception time. Specifically, when the aging mechanism is triggered, the first Mesh device destroys the logical link to the second Mesh device and sends a link destruction request to the second Mesh device. Upon receiving the link destruction request, the second Mesh device destroys its logical link to the first Mesh device.

[0153] It should be noted that the information interaction and execution process between the above-mentioned devices / units are based on the same concept as the method embodiments of this application. For details on their specific functions and technical effects, please refer to the method embodiments section, and they will not be repeated here.

[0154] Example 3:

[0155] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of this application. Figure 8As shown, the communication device 8 in this embodiment includes: at least one processor 80 ( Figure 8 The diagram shows only one processor, a memory 81, and a computer program 82 stored in the memory 81 and executable on at least one processor 80. When the processor 80 executes the computer program 82, it implements the steps in any of the above method embodiments.

[0156] The aforementioned communication device 8 can be a router, desktop computer, laptop, handheld computer, cloud server, or other computing device. This communication device may include, but is not limited to, a processor 80 and a memory 81. Those skilled in the art will understand that... Figure 8 This is merely an example of communication device 8 and does not constitute a limitation on communication device 8. It may include more or fewer components than shown, or combine certain components, or different components, such as input / output devices, network access devices, etc.

[0157] The processor 80 may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), or it may be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0158] In some embodiments, the aforementioned memory 81 may be an internal storage unit of the communication device 8, such as a hard disk or memory of the communication device 8. In other embodiments, the aforementioned memory 81 may be an external storage device of the communication device 8, such as a plug-in hard disk, smart media card (SMC), secure digital (SD) card, flash card, etc., equipped on the communication device 8. Furthermore, the aforementioned memory 81 may include both internal storage units and external storage devices of the communication device 8. The aforementioned memory 81 is used to store operating systems, applications, bootloaders, data, and other programs, such as the program code of the aforementioned computer programs. The aforementioned memory 81 may also be used to temporarily store data that has been output or will be output.

[0159] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the sake of convenience and brevity, the above-described division of functional units and modules is merely an example. In practical applications, the above functions can be assigned to different functional units and modules as needed, that is, the internal structure of the above device can be divided into different functional units or modules to complete all or part of the functions described above. The functional units and modules in the embodiments can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit. The integrated unit can be implemented in hardware or as a software functional unit. Furthermore, the specific names of the functional units and modules are only for easy differentiation and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of this application. The specific working process of the units and modules in the above system can be referred to the corresponding process in the foregoing method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0160] This application also provides a network device, which includes: at least one processor, a memory, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the at least one processor. When the processor executes the computer program, it implements the steps in any of the above method embodiments.

[0161] This application also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program that, when executed by a processor, implements the steps in the various method embodiments described above.

[0162] This application provides a computer program product that, when run on a mobile terminal, enables the mobile terminal to implement the steps described in the above-described method embodiments.

[0163] If the integrated units described above are implemented as software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, all or part of the processes in the methods of the above embodiments can be implemented by a computer program instructing related hardware. The computer program can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, and when executed by a processor, it can implement the steps of the various method embodiments described above. The computer program includes computer program code, which can be in the form of source code, object code, executable files, or certain intermediate forms. The computer-readable medium can include at least: any entity or device capable of carrying computer program code to a photographic device / communication device, a recording medium, a computer memory, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), an electrical carrier signal, a telecommunication signal, and a software distribution medium. Examples include USB flash drives, portable hard drives, magnetic disks, or optical disks. In some jurisdictions, according to legislation and patent practice, computer-readable media cannot be electrical carrier signals or telecommunication signals.

[0164] In the above embodiments, the descriptions of each embodiment have different focuses. For parts that are not described in detail or recorded in a certain embodiment, please refer to the relevant descriptions of other embodiments.

[0165] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the units and algorithm steps of the various examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0166] In the embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus / network devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus / network device embodiments described above are merely illustrative. For instance, the division of modules or units described above is only a logical functional division, and in actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not executed. Furthermore, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be through some interfaces; the indirect coupling or communication connection between devices or units may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0167] The units described above as separate components may or may not be physically separate. The components shown as units may or may not be physical units; that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0168] The above embodiments are merely illustrative of the technical solutions of this application and are not intended to limit it. Although this application has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that modifications can still be made to the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments, or equivalent substitutions can be made to some of the technical features. These modifications or substitutions do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, and should all be included within the protection scope of this application.

Claims

1. A networking method, applied to a first mesh device of a mesh network, characterized in that, The Mesh network is a hybrid link network, and the control of the connection of each link in the hybrid link network is set as the control of logical connection, and the networking method comprises: obtaining link information broadcast by a second Mesh device, wherein the second Mesh device comprises a device newly joining the Mesh network, and the link information comprises an identifier of the second Mesh device; identifying the identifier of the second Mesh device from the link information; comparing the obtained identifier of the second Mesh device with identifiers of stored devices, and if the identifier of the second Mesh device is different from the identifiers of the stored devices, determining that the second Mesh device is a new Mesh device requesting to join the Mesh network, and triggering uplink selection, wherein after the uplink selection is triggered, a target uplink of the first Mesh device is determined according to the link information, the target uplink of the first Mesh device has only one, one end of the target uplink is connected to the first Mesh device, the other end of the target uplink is connected to a target Mesh device, and the target Mesh device is an upstream device of the first Mesh device; sending a logical link establishment request to the target Mesh device to establish a logical link with the target Mesh device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The link information further comprises performance information for determining the link quality of the second Mesh device, and the networking method further comprises: if it is determined according to the identifier of the second Mesh device that the link information of the second Mesh device has been stored, and it is determined that the performance information in the link information of the second Mesh device obtained this time is different from the performance information in the stored link information of the second Mesh device, triggering the uplink selection.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein, The networking method further comprises: if it is determined according to the identifier of the second Mesh device that the link information of the second Mesh device has been stored, and it is determined that the performance information in the link information of the second Mesh device obtained this time is the same as the performance information in the stored link information of the second Mesh device, not triggering the uplink selection.

4. The method of networking of any of claims 1 to 3, wherein, The link information comprises performance information for determining the link quality of the corresponding link, and the triggering of the uplink selection comprises: if the number of uplinks of the first Mesh device is equal to 1, determining the uplink of the first Mesh device as the target uplink of the first Mesh device; if the number of uplinks of the first Mesh device is greater than 1, for each of the uplinks, performing the following calculation: calculating the link quality of the link from the first Mesh device to a target upstream device in the uplink according to the performance information of the target upstream device, wherein the target upstream device is an upstream device adjacent to the first Mesh device in the uplink; and when the uplink selection is triggered, the link quality of the complete uplink where the target uplink is located is optimal.

5. The method of networking of any of claims 1 to 3, wherein, After the sending of the logical link establishment request to the target Mesh device, the method further comprises: sending link information of the first Mesh device to a target downstream device, the target downstream device being a downstream device adjacent to the first Mesh device in the target uplink.

6. The method of networking of any of claims 1 to 3, wherein, After the sending of the logical link establishment request to the target Mesh device, the method comprises: if the link information broadcast by the second Mesh device is not received within a preset receiving time length, triggering an aging mechanism; wherein, after the aging mechanism is triggered, the first Mesh device destroys the logical link to the second Mesh device, and sends a link destruction request to the second Mesh device.

7. The method of networking of any of claims 1 to 3, wherein, Before the obtaining of the link information broadcast by the second Mesh device, the method further comprises: detecting a backhaul network; Correspondingly, the obtaining of the link information broadcast by the second Mesh device comprises: after the detection of the backhaul network, obtaining the link information broadcast by the second Mesh device.

8. A networking device, applied to a first mesh device of a Mesh network, characterized in that, The Mesh network is a hybrid link network, and the control of the connection of each link in the hybrid link network is set as the control of logical connection, and the networking device comprises: a link information obtaining module, configured to obtain link information broadcast by a second Mesh device, wherein the second Mesh device comprises a device newly joining the Mesh network, and the link information comprises an identifier of the second Mesh device; an identifier identifying unit of the second Mesh device, configured to identify the identifier of the second Mesh device from the link information; a first uplink selection triggering unit, configured to compare the obtained identifier of the second Mesh device with identifiers of stored devices, and if the identifier of the second Mesh device is different from the identifiers of the stored devices, determine that the second Mesh device is a new Mesh device requesting to join the Mesh network, and trigger uplink selection, wherein, after the uplink selection is triggered, a target uplink of the first Mesh device is determined according to the link information, the target uplink of the first Mesh device has only one, one end of the target uplink is connected to the first Mesh device, the other end of the target uplink is connected to a target Mesh device, and the target Mesh device is an upstream device of the first Mesh device; a logical link establishment request sending module, configured to send a logical link establishment request to the target Mesh device, so as to establish a logical link with the target Mesh device.

9. A communication device comprising a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, characterized in that, The processor executes the computer program to realize the method of any one of claims 1 to 7.

10. A computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, the computer program comprising instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 9. The computer program is executed by the processor to realize the method of any one of claims 1 to 7.

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