A method for improving the streaming media playback smoothness of a playback device

Abstract

The present invention relates to the technical field of streaming media playback, and discloses a method for improving the streaming media playback fluency of a playback device, which solves the problems of cumbersome operation and high functional usage threshold existing in the prior art solution of restricting the bandwidth occupation of other terminals through the speed limit setting function of the router itself to avoid network bandwidth preemption and affect the playback fluency. For the scenario of multiple device terminals connected to the same wireless router, when it is necessary to preempt bandwidth resources, the present invention sends a disassociation request to other terminals by simulating the wireless router, thereby disconnecting the connection between other terminals and the wireless router, and sends a reassociation request to the wireless router by simulating other terminals, so that other terminals are temporarily unable to connect to the wireless router, realizing the exclusive use of bandwidth resources by the local terminal; after ending the preemption of bandwidth resources, send a disassociation request to the wireless router by simulating other terminals again, and other terminals can connect to the wireless router again.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of streaming media playback, and in particular to a method for improving the playback fluency of streaming media on a playback device. Background Art

[0002] With the rapid development of the Internet era, watching video programs through the Internet has become a very popular application scenario, and the most common topology for playback devices (such as smart TVs, smart projectors, laser TVs, network set-top boxes, etc.) to access the Internet is that the playback device is connected to the router via wireless WiFi, and then connected to the Internet through the router. The WAN export bandwidth of each router is usually fixed. Each router is generally connected to multiple terminal devices at the same time. When multiple terminal devices have Internet access requirements, they will share the router export bandwidth. When multiple devices use network traffic concurrently, different terminal devices connected to the same router begin to compete for bandwidth resources. If a terminal device is playing a network video, the download buffer may be stuck due to the competition for network bandwidth resources, affecting the user's viewing experience.

[0003] In order to solve the problem of bandwidth grabbing by multiple access terminals on a router causing mutual interference, in the prior art, the speed limit setting function of the device router is generally used. Users need to use a computer or mobile device to log in to the router setting page and manually set the speed limit of the terminal device in the router setting interface. However, such operation is complicated and cumbersome, and the operation threshold is obviously relatively high for ordinary users.

[0004] Therefore, users need a more convenient method to limit the bandwidth usage of other devices connected to the same router, to ensure the smooth online video playback experience of the current device, and to allow the current device to occupy the router export bandwidth resources to the maximum extent, so as to ensure the smoothness of the network video playback experience of the current device to the greatest extent. Summary of the invention

[0005] The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to propose a method for improving the smoothness of streaming media playback of a playback device, thereby solving the problems of cumbersome operation and high threshold for function use in the prior art of limiting the bandwidth occupancy of other terminals by the speed limit setting function of the router itself to avoid network bandwidth preemption and affecting the smoothness of playback.

[0006] The technical solution adopted by the present invention to solve the above technical problems is:

[0007] A method for improving the smoothness of streaming media playback of a playback device is applied to a playback device that accesses the Internet through a wireless router, wherein the playback device is provided with two independent wireless WiFi network cards, one of which is used as a wireless main card to connect to the Internet through the wireless router to achieve an Internet access function, and the other wireless WiFi network card is used as a wireless auxiliary card to seize bandwidth resources;

[0008] The method comprises the following steps:

[0009] S1. The playback device sets the wireless main card to STA mode and connects to the wireless router;

[0010] S2. When the playback device determines that it needs to seize bandwidth resources, it starts the wireless auxiliary card and sets it to monitoring mode, and sets the working channel to the working channel of the wireless router;

[0011] S3. The wireless auxiliary card records information of all terminals connected to the wireless router through a client list;

[0012] S4, the wireless auxiliary card simulates the wireless router, constructs and sends a disassociation request to each terminal in the client list except the wireless main card;

[0013] S5. Each terminal in the wireless auxiliary card simulation client list except the wireless main card constructs and sends a re-association request to the wireless router;

[0014] S6. When the playback device determines that it is necessary to stop grabbing bandwidth resources, the wireless auxiliary card simulates each terminal in the client list except the wireless main card and sends a disassociation request to the wireless router.

[0015] Furthermore, the configuration of the wireless auxiliary card includes:

[0016] The device is installed on the mainboard of the playback device or a USB interface is reserved on the mainboard, and the device is inserted into the playback device through the reserved USB interface in a plug-and-play manner.

[0017] Furthermore, in step S2, the playback device determines that it needs to seize bandwidth resources in the following manner:

[0018] When it is detected that the streaming media starts playing, it is determined that the bandwidth resources need to be seized;

[0019] Alternatively, when the wireless auxiliary card is inserted into the playback device and the wireless auxiliary card is identified, it is determined that bandwidth resources need to be seized currently.

[0020] Furthermore, in step S4, the disassociation request uses the BSSID information of the wireless router as the source MAC address and uses the MAC address of the terminal other than the wireless main card in the client list as the destination MAC address.

[0021] Furthermore, in step S5, the re-association request uses the MAC address of the terminal other than the wireless main card in the client list as the source MAC address and uses the BSSID information of the wireless router as the destination MAC address.

[0022] Furthermore, in step S6, the disassociation request uses the MAC address of the terminal other than the wireless main card in the client list as the source MAC address and uses the BSSID information of the wireless router as the destination MAC address.

[0023] Further, in step S6, the playback device determines that it is currently necessary to end the preemption of bandwidth resources in the following manner:

[0024] The timing starts when the streaming media playback is exited. When the timing reaches a certain time interval, it is determined that the bandwidth resource grabbing needs to be stopped.

[0025] Furthermore, step S6 also includes: turning off the monitoring mode of the wireless auxiliary card and stopping the operation of the wireless auxiliary card.

[0026] The beneficial effects of the present invention are:

[0027] For the scenario of multiple device terminals connected to the same wireless router, when it is necessary to seize bandwidth resources, the wireless router is simulated to send a disassociation request to other terminals, thereby disconnecting other terminals from the wireless router, and the other terminals are simulated to send a reassociation request to the wireless router, so that other terminals are temporarily unable to connect to the wireless router, thereby realizing the exclusive use of bandwidth resources by the local terminal; after the bandwidth resources are seized, other terminals are simulated again to send a disassociation request to the wireless router, and other terminals can connect to the wireless router again.

[0028] The above solution can automatically and effectively limit the bandwidth resource usage of other terminal equipment connected to the same wireless router, ensuring the smooth playback of local network videos without the need for tedious user operations and without any usage threshold. It is particularly suitable for scenarios such as home TV network video playback, store network video playback demonstration, and test laboratory network laboratory network video playback stress test. On the other hand, it can effectively prevent other devices such as TVs or mobile phones from illegally logging into the wireless router through WiFi login software tools. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] Figure 1 It is a structural schematic diagram of the playback device in the present invention;

[0030] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of limiting the bandwidth resource occupation by other devices in the present invention;

[0031] Figure 3 This is a specific interactive flow chart of limiting the bandwidth resource occupation by other devices in the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] The present invention aims to propose a method for improving the smoothness of streaming media playback of a playback device, so as to solve the problems of cumbersome operation and high threshold for function use in the prior art of limiting the bandwidth occupation of other terminals by the speed limit setting function of a router to avoid network bandwidth occupation and affecting the smoothness of playback.

[0033] In the present invention, the playback device has dual wireless WiFi network cards, one is the main card and the other is the auxiliary card. The main card is set to run in STA mode and is used to connect to a wireless router (hereinafter referred to as AP) to connect to the Internet. When it is necessary to seize bandwidth resources, the auxiliary card is started and set to run in monitoring mode. The auxiliary card receives all data packets in the spatial range, parses and filters out the MAC of all other terminal devices under the AP to which the main card is connected. The auxiliary card constructs and sends a first disassociation request data packet to each other terminal to which the main card is connected to the AP, so that the other terminals are disconnected from the AP; then, the auxiliary card simulates the construction of other terminals and sends a re-association request data packet to the AP to which the main card is connected, that is, the auxiliary card virtualizes other terminals to establish a connection with the AP, so that other terminals no longer occupy the AP export bandwidth resources. When it is necessary to end the seizure of bandwidth resources, the auxiliary card simulates the construction of each other terminal and sends a second disassociation request data packet to the AP to which the main card is connected. The AP to which the main card is connected disconnects all connections simulated by the auxiliary card as other terminals, and then the other terminals initiate a connection request to the AP again to restore normal connection.

[0034] Example:

[0035] In this embodiment, the playback device has two wireless network cards, such as Figure 1 As shown, a wireless network card is used as a wireless main card, and its main function is to connect to the hotspot and access the Internet. The performance indicators are selected according to the product positioning. In this embodiment, Realtek Semiconductor wireless network card, model RTL8188GTVU, is selected as the wireless main card. Usually, the wireless main card is mounted on board.

[0036] Another wireless network card is used as a wireless auxiliary card, which is dedicated to grabbing bandwidth resources, that is, limiting other devices from connecting to the AP. The wireless auxiliary card has a wider range of choices and does not need to consider large throughput performance indicators. As long as the wireless network card supports monitor mode, the function can meet the needs. When the monitor mode is supported, a low-cost wireless network card can be selected. There are two physical forms of wireless auxiliary cards: one is onboard, and the other is USB external plug-and-play. The external plug-and-play method is more flexible. When the device needs to grab bandwidth, just insert the USB wireless auxiliary card. When the user does not need to grab bandwidth, there is no need to plug in the wireless auxiliary card. This can also save the cost of the onboard motherboard, and the motherboard has more cost advantages.

[0037] Based on the above playback devices, the principle of limiting the bandwidth resource usage of other devices is as follows: Figure 2 As shown, the wireless main card of the playback device is connected to the AP as a STA to meet the needs of Internet access. When exclusive bandwidth is required, the wireless auxiliary card is started, and the list of terminal devices connected to the AP to which the wireless main card is connected is scanned. The BSSID of the AP is used as the source MAC address to send a directed disassociation request to other terminals that need to limit traffic, so that other terminals believe that the AP actively disconnects them; then, the wireless auxiliary card uses the MAC address of other terminals as the source address to send a reassociation request to the AP. The wireless auxiliary card will establish an association connection with the wireless router, so that even if other terminals re-initiate an association connection request to the AP, it will fail; when the playback device exits the network video playback, the wireless auxiliary card uses the MAC address of other terminals as the source address to send a disassociation request to the AP, so that the AP believes that other terminals actively disconnect, thereby lifting the connection restrictions on other terminals, and other terminals can reconnect to the wireless line normally to access the Internet.

[0038] Taking the playback device as a television as an example, assuming that playing a network video is a scenario that requires occupying network bandwidth, this embodiment specifically includes the following steps:

[0039] S1, the wireless main card of the TV is connected to the AP as a STA;

[0040] After the wireless main card is connected to the AP, the BSSID information of the connected AP is extracted and recorded in the connected network information for use in subsequent steps.

[0041] S2. When the playback device determines that it needs to seize bandwidth resources, it starts the wireless auxiliary card and sets it to monitoring mode, and sets the working channel to the working channel of the wireless router;

[0042] In specific implementation, there are two trigger points for the judgment of the need to preempt bandwidth resources currently: one is when the network video starts playing. In this method, it is necessary to set a breakpoint when the network video starts playing and implant a probe that can detect the starting point of the TV starting to play the network video; the other is when the wireless secondary card is hot-plugged. That is, in the USB plug-and-play mode of the wireless secondary card, when the TV does not have a wireless secondary card externally connected, during the playback process of the TV network video, directly connect the wireless secondary card through the TV external USB port. The TV dynamically recognizes the USB wireless secondary card and recognizes the access of the second wireless network card. The above lists two typical trigger points for users to preempt bandwidth resources, but it is not limited to this. Users can also configure according to their own scenarios, such as the time node when the network video has buffering and lags, etc.

[0043] After it is judged that bandwidth resources need to be preempted, the wireless secondary card is started. For the plug-and-play wireless secondary card, its driver needs to be pre-loaded onto the TV device memory for later use. After the physical device of the wireless secondary card is ready, the main board program identifies the chip model of the wireless secondary card according to the VID and PID of the inserted wireless secondary card, matches the corresponding wireless network card driver according to the chip model, loads the wireless network card driver of the corresponding model wireless secondary card, and activates the wireless secondary card after the loading is completed.

[0044] Then, set the working mode and working channel of the wireless secondary card: The working mode of the wireless secondary card can be set to the monitoring mode using a command tool. Its mode is marked as Monitor, indicating that the wireless secondary card has been set to the monitoring mode; and set the working channel of the wireless secondary card to the working channel of the AP to which the wireless primary card is connected.

[0045] S3. The wireless secondary card records the information of all terminals connected to the wireless router through the client list;

[0046] The wireless secondary card receives all network data packets within the spatial range, filters out the device information of all devices that have been connected to the AP to which the wireless primary card is connected according to the BSSID information of the AP to which the wireless primary card is connected, and records and saves this device information (including the MAC address of the device) through the client list.

[0047] After the above steps, the wireless secondary card of the TV is ready, and the steps to preempt bandwidth resources are as Figure 3 shown.

[0048] S4. The wireless secondary card simulates the wireless router, constructs and sends a disassociation request to each terminal in the client list except the wireless primary card;

[0049] The wireless secondary card constructs a disassociation request data packet. The data packet type is set to a management frame. The Subtype field of the management frame subtype is set to the Disassociation type. The MAC address of the receiver in the address field is set to the wireless MAC address of other terminals under the AP to which the wireless primary card is connected, that is, one of the terminals other than the wireless primary card is selected from the client list in step S3 as the target device, denoted as STA2. The MAC address of the sender in the address field is set to the BSSID information of the AP. The other fields of the data packet content are set according to the conventional standard method.

[0050] When STA2 receives the disassociation request data packet sent by the wireless secondary card, it will think that the AP actively disconnects from it, so STA2 disconnects from the AP.

[0051] In the above manner, the wireless secondary card constructs and sends a disassociation request to each terminal other than the wireless primary card in the client list by simulating the AP to which the wireless primary card is connected, so that each terminal can disconnect from the AP.

[0052] S5. The wireless secondary card simulates each terminal other than the wireless primary card in the client list, constructs and sends a reassociation request to the wireless router;

[0053] The wireless secondary card constructs a reassociation request data packet. The data packet type is set to a management frame. The Subtype field of the management frame subtype is set to the Reassociation Request type. The receiver address in the address field is set to the BSSID of the AP, and the sender address in the address field is set to the MAC address of STA2.

[0054] The wireless secondary card sends the above reassociation request data packet to the AP to which the wireless primary card is connected. After receiving the reassociation request data packet, the AP will return a reassociation request response packet, so that the wireless secondary card establishes a connection through an association handshake with the AP, and makes the AP think that a connection has been established with STA2. In this way, when STA2 sends a connection request to the AP again, the AP will reject it, and STA2 will not be able to connect to the AP.

[0055] In the above manner, the wireless secondary card simulates each terminal other than the wireless primary card in the client list, constructs and sends a reassociation request to the AP, so that other terminals cannot occupy the bandwidth resources during the process of playing network videos on the TV.

[0056] S6. When the playback device determines that it is necessary to end preempting the bandwidth resources currently, it sends a disassociation request to the wireless router by simulating each terminal other than the wireless primary card in the client list through the wireless secondary card.

[0057] When the TV device does not need to monopolize network bandwidth resources, it exits the bandwidth resource monopoly mode. The timing when the TV device does not need to monopolize network bandwidth resources can usually be set to a certain time interval after the network video playback is exited, such as 1 minute after the network video stops playing, so that the bandwidth monopoly can be released. The time interval setting is helpful to avoid frequent entry and exit of the network bandwidth monopoly mode caused by the user switching network videos in a short time.

[0058] The wireless auxiliary card constructs a disassociation request packet, with the packet type set to management frame, the management frame subtype field set to Disassociation type, the receiver's MAC address in the address field set to the AP's BSSID, and the sender's MAC address in the address field set to the MAC address of STA2. This allows the AP to believe that STA2 actively disconnects from it.

[0059] According to the above manner, the wireless auxiliary card simulates each terminal in the client list except the wireless main card, and sends a disassociation request to the wireless router, thereby removing the restriction on these terminals connecting to the AP.

[0060] Next, turn off the wireless auxiliary card monitoring mode and stop the wireless auxiliary card from working. All terminals under the wireless main card that have been connected to the AP can initiate a connection request to the AP again to restore normal connection.

[0061] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only preferred implementations and are not intended to limit the present invention. It should be pointed out that for those skilled in the art, several modifications, equivalent replacements, improvements, etc. can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention and the scope of protection of the claims, and all of these should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for improving the smoothness of streaming media playback of a playback device, which is applied to a playback device accessing the Internet through a wireless router, characterized in that The playback device is provided with two independent wireless WiFi network cards, one of which is used as a wireless main card to connect to the Internet through a wireless router to achieve Internet access, and the other wireless WiFi network card is used as a wireless auxiliary card to seize bandwidth resources; The method comprises the following steps: S1. The playback device sets the wireless main card to STA mode and connects to the wireless router; S2. When the playback device determines that it needs to seize bandwidth resources, it starts the wireless auxiliary card and sets it to monitoring mode, and sets the working channel to the working channel of the wireless router; S3. The wireless auxiliary card records information of all terminals connected to the wireless router through a client list; S4, the wireless auxiliary card simulates the wireless router, constructs and sends a disassociation request to each terminal in the client list except the wireless main card; S5. Each terminal in the wireless auxiliary card simulation client list except the wireless main card constructs and sends a re-association request to the wireless router; S6. When the playback device determines that it is necessary to stop grabbing bandwidth resources, the wireless auxiliary card simulates each terminal in the client list except the wireless main card, and sends a disassociation request to the wireless router.

2. A method for improving the smoothness of streaming media playback of a playback device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The wireless auxiliary card is configured as follows: The device is installed on the mainboard of the playback device or a USB interface is reserved on the mainboard, and the device is inserted into the playback device through the reserved USB interface in a plug-and-play manner.

3. A method for improving the smoothness of streaming media playback of a playback device as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that: In step S2, the playback device determines that it needs to seize bandwidth resources in the following manner: When it is detected that the streaming media starts playing, it is determined that the bandwidth resources need to be seized; Alternatively, when the wireless auxiliary card is inserted into the playback device and the wireless auxiliary card is identified, it is determined that bandwidth resources need to be seized currently.

4. A method for improving the smoothness of streaming media playback of a playback device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: In step S4, the disassociation request uses the BSSID information of the wireless router as the source MAC address and uses the MAC address of the terminal other than the wireless main card in the client list as the destination MAC address.

5. A method for improving the smoothness of streaming media playback of a playback device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: In step S5, the re-association request uses the MAC address of the terminal other than the wireless main card in the client list as the source MAC address and uses the BSSID information of the wireless router as the destination MAC address.

6. A method for improving the smoothness of streaming media playback of a playback device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: In step S6, the disassociation request uses the MAC address of the terminal other than the wireless main card in the client list as the source MAC address and uses the BSSID information of the wireless router as the destination MAC address.

7. A method for improving the smoothness of streaming media playback of a playback device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: In step S6, the way for the playback device to determine that it is necessary to end bandwidth resource preemption currently is as follows: Start timing when exiting the streaming media playback. When the timing reaches a certain time interval, it is determined that it is necessary to end bandwidth resource preemption currently.

8. A method for improving the streaming playback smoothness of a playback device according to any one of claims 1-7, characterized in that, Step S6 further includes: turning off the listening mode of the wireless secondary card and stopping the operation of the wireless secondary card.

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