Channel allocation method, communication method and communication network

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides a channel allocation method, a communication method and a communication network. The channel allocation method is applied to a target communication network, the target communication network comprises a server, at least one LoRa gateway and a plurality of LoRa terminal device groups, and each LoRa terminal device group comprises at least one LoRa terminal device; the channel allocation method comprises the following steps: for at least one sub-frequency band in a target LoRa communication frequency band, dividing a plurality of channels in each sub-frequency band; a plurality of channels corresponding to each sub-frequency band respectively occupy independent frequency ranges; and configuring a corresponding target channel for each LoRa terminal device group in a plurality of channels corresponding to the at least one sub-band, so that each LoRa terminal device in the LoRa terminal device group communicates with a correspondingly configured LoRa gateway. According to the technical scheme, the communication quality between the gateway and the terminal equipment can be effectively guaranteed, and the communication network can meet more communication requirements at the same time.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a channel allocation method, a communication method, a communication network, an electronic device and a storage medium. Background Art

[0002] As an emerging information technology, the Internet of Things has been widely used in many fields such as smart cities, agricultural monitoring, and industrial production. The communication network of the Internet of Things system usually includes servers, gateways, and terminal devices. The gateway, as a relay device, is responsible for uploading the data collected by the terminal device to the server and sending the server's instructions to the terminal device. The terminal device, as the perception layer in the Internet of Things system, is mainly used to collect environmental parameters or execute specific control instructions.

[0003] In many application scenarios of the Internet of Things, a large number of terminal devices are often configured in the communication network, and these terminal devices are distributed in a relatively large working area. In this case, the communication quality between the gateway and the terminal device may be reduced due to the influence of various factors. For example, the channel may be congested due to the excessive number of terminal devices, thereby reducing the communication quality. For another example, the communication distance between the gateway and the terminal device may be too long, resulting in serious signal attenuation, making the communication quality unstable. In addition, mutual interference between different channels in the same frequency band may also reduce the communication quality. The reduction in the communication quality between the gateway and the terminal device often affects the real-time, reliability and stability of the data exchange between the server and the terminal device, thereby affecting the performance and effect of the entire Internet of Things system, and may even cause the system to fail to operate normally or meet actual application requirements.

[0004] Therefore, how to ensure the communication quality between the gateway and the terminal equipment has always been a technical problem that must be faced in the application of IoT technology. Summary of the invention

[0005] Embodiments of the present application provide a channel allocation method, a communication method, a communication network, an electronic device, and a storage medium to solve one or more of the above-mentioned technical problems.

[0006] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a channel allocation method, which is applied to a target communication network, wherein the target communication network includes a server, at least one LoRa gateway, and a plurality of LoRa terminal device groups, each LoRa terminal device group includes at least one LoRa terminal device; the method includes:

[0007] In a possible implementation manner, the channel allocation method further includes:

[0008] Among the available LoRa communication frequency bands, select the target LoRa communication frequency band according to the set communication requirements;

[0009] Divide the target LoRa communication frequency band into at least one sub-frequency band.

[0010] In a possible implementation, for at least one sub-band in the target LoRa communication frequency band, dividing a plurality of channels in each sub-band includes:

[0011] Get the preset channel width;

[0012] According to the channel width, multiple independent frequency ranges are continuously divided in each sub-frequency band, and multiple channels corresponding to each sub-frequency band are defined by using the multiple frequency ranges.

[0013] In a possible implementation, at least one sub-frequency band includes multiple sub-frequency bands; among the multiple channels corresponding to each of the at least one sub-frequency bands, configuring a corresponding target channel for each LoRa terminal device group includes:

[0014] Perform at least one round of channel allocation iteration until multiple LoRa terminal device groups are respectively allocated to corresponding candidate channels; the process of each round of channel allocation iteration is as follows: select a target sub-frequency band that has not been subjected to channel quality evaluation from multiple sub-frequency bands, and perform channel quality evaluation on the target sub-frequency band to obtain the channel quality of each channel corresponding to the target sub-frequency band; select some channels from the multiple channels corresponding to the target sub-frequency band according to the channel quality, and allocate them to at least some of the LoRa terminal device groups in the multiple LoRa terminal device groups as corresponding candidate channels;

[0015] At the end of at least one round of channel allocation iteration, determining whether there are any remaining sub-frequency bands in the plurality of sub-frequency bands for which channel quality assessment has not been performed;

[0016] When there are no remaining sub-frequency bands, the candidate channels corresponding to each LoRa terminal device group are used as the target channels.

[0017] In a possible implementation manner, when there are remaining sub-frequency bands, the method further includes:

[0018] Perform at least one round of channel optimization iteration until multiple sub-bands have been subjected to channel quality evaluation respectively; the process of each round of channel optimization iteration is as follows: select a target sub-band from the remaining sub-bands, and perform channel quality evaluation on the target sub-band to obtain the channel quality of each channel corresponding to the target sub-band; when there is an available channel with better channel quality than the alternative channel among the multiple channels corresponding to the target sub-band, use the available channel to update the alternative channel corresponding to the LoRa terminal device group;

[0019] At the end of at least one round of channel optimization iteration, the candidate channel corresponding to each LoRa terminal device group is used as the target channel.

[0020] In a possible implementation, based on channel quality, selecting some channels from a plurality of channels corresponding to a target sub-band, and respectively allocating them to at least some of the LoRa terminal device groups in a plurality of LoRa terminal device groups as corresponding candidate channels includes:

[0021] Obtaining a preset channel quality standard;

[0022] Screening out multiple candidate channels whose channel quality is better than a channel quality standard from multiple channels corresponding to the target sub-frequency band;

[0023] When the first number does not exceed the second number, the multiple candidate channels are respectively allocated to at least part of the LoRa terminal device groups in the LoRa terminal device groups that are not allocated to the alternative channels as corresponding alternative channels; the first number is the number of the multiple candidate channels, and the second number is the number of the LoRa terminal device groups that are not allocated to the alternative channels.

[0024] In a possible implementation manner, during the second and subsequent rounds of channel allocation iterations, when the first number exceeds the second number, the method further includes:

[0025] Sorting multiple candidate channels according to channel quality to obtain a corresponding first sorting result;

[0026] According to the first sorting result, some candidate channels are selected from multiple candidate channels and allocated to the LoRa terminal device groups that are not allocated to the alternative channels as corresponding alternative channels;

[0027] Determine the remaining candidate channels among the multiple candidate channels, and when there are available channels with better channel quality than the alternative channels among the remaining candidate channels, use the available channels to update the alternative channels corresponding to the LoRa terminal device group.

[0028] In a possible implementation manner, performing channel quality evaluation on a target sub-frequency band to obtain channel quality of each channel corresponding to the target sub-frequency band includes:

[0029] The server controls the LoRa gateway to send test signals to the LoRa terminal device using each channel corresponding to the target sub-band;

[0030] Perform signal measurement on each received signal of the LoRa terminal device to obtain the corresponding signal measurement result;

[0031] The signal measurement results are used to identify the channel quality.

[0032] In a possible implementation manner, the signal measurement result includes at least one of a signal strength corresponding to the received signal and a signal-to-noise ratio corresponding to the received signal.

[0033] In a possible implementation, among the multiple channels corresponding to at least one sub-frequency band, configuring a corresponding target channel for each LoRa terminal device group includes:

[0034] For at least one sub-frequency band, respectively perform channel quality assessment on each sub-frequency band to obtain channel quality of multiple channels corresponding to each of the at least one sub-frequency band;

[0035] Sort multiple channels corresponding to at least one sub-frequency band according to the channel quality to obtain a corresponding second sorting result;

[0036] According to the second sorting result, a target channel is screened out from the multiple channels corresponding to at least one sub-frequency band.

[0037] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which is applied to a target communication network, wherein the target communication network includes a server, at least one LoRa gateway, and a plurality of intelligent robot groups, each intelligent robot group includes at least one intelligent robot, and each intelligent robot is configured with a LoRa communication module; the method includes:

[0038] For at least one sub-band in the target LoRa communication frequency band, a plurality of channels are divided in each sub-band; the plurality of channels corresponding to each sub-band occupy an independent frequency range respectively;

[0039] Among the multiple channels corresponding to at least one sub-frequency band, a corresponding target channel is configured for each intelligent robot group;

[0040] At least one LoRa terminal device in each LoRa terminal device group and a correspondingly configured LoRa gateway communicate using a target channel.

[0041] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication network, including a server, at least one LoRa gateway, and a plurality of LoRa terminal device groups, each LoRa terminal device group including at least one LoRa terminal device;

[0042] At least one LoRa terminal device in each LoRa terminal device group communicates with a correspondingly configured LoRa gateway through a target channel; the target channel is allocated by the method of any one of claims 1-10.

[0043] In a possible implementation, the network topology of the sub-communication network between the LoRa terminal device and the LoRa gateway includes: a star topology, a mesh topology, or a hybrid topology.

[0044] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an electronic device, including a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory, and the processor implements the method provided in any embodiment of the present application when executing the computer program.

[0045] In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program is stored. When the computer program is executed by a processor, the method provided in any embodiment of the present application is implemented.

[0046] Compared with the prior art, this application has the following advantages:

[0047] The technical solution of the present application configures a corresponding target channel for each LoRa terminal device group in a plurality of LoRa terminal device groups in a plurality of channels corresponding to at least one sub-band, so that each LoRa terminal device in the LoRa terminal device group communicates with the corresponding configured LoRa gateway. In this way, when a communication network is configured with a plurality of LoRa terminal devices, the plurality of LoRa terminal devices can be reasonably divided into a plurality of LoRa terminal device groups, and then a plurality of LoRa terminal device groups are respectively assigned exclusive target channels, so that one or more LoRa terminal devices in each LoRa terminal device group can communicate with the corresponding LoRa gateway through the exclusive target channel of the device group. In this case, channels will not be shared between different LoRa terminal device groups, and the exclusive target channels assigned to each LoRa terminal device group do not need to carry the communication needs of other LoRa terminal devices that do not have affiliation with the LoRa terminal device group. In this way, each target channel can effectively avoid facing the channel congestion problem caused by too many LoRa terminal devices.

[0048] Therefore, the technical solution of the present application can effectively avoid the channel congestion problem caused by too many LoRa terminal devices and insufficient channel resources, thereby effectively ensuring the communication quality between the gateway and the terminal device. Even when a large number of LoRa terminal devices are configured in the communication network, the technical solution of the present application is used to allocate channels, which can effectively avoid the channel congestion problem caused by too many LoRa terminal devices and insufficient channel resources, thereby effectively ensuring the communication quality between the gateway and the terminal device.

[0049] At the same time, when exclusive target channels are allocated to multiple LoRa terminal device groups, and each target channel can support multiple LoRa terminal devices to communicate with the LoRa gateway, multiple LoRa terminal devices can communicate with the correspondingly configured LoRa gateways concurrently. Through parallel communication, the communication network can meet more communication needs at the same time and significantly improve the overall communication efficiency of the communication network.

[0050] In addition, since multiple channels in each sub-band occupy independent frequency ranges, communication signals between different channels are isolated from each other, which can effectively avoid mutual interference between different channels and further ensure the communication quality between the gateway and the terminal device.

[0051] In addition, LoRa communication technology has the advantages of low power consumption and long-distance transmission. The use of LoRa communication technology can not only reduce the power consumption of LoRa terminal devices, but also ensure the long-distance communication between LoRa terminal devices and LoRa gateways, thereby effectively avoiding the problem of serious signal attenuation between LoRa terminal devices and LoRa gateways due to long communication distances, thereby ensuring the stability of communication quality. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0052] In the accompanying drawings, unless otherwise specified, the same reference numerals throughout the multiple drawings represent the same or similar parts or elements. These drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. It should be understood that these drawings only depict some embodiments disclosed in the present application and should not be regarded as limiting the scope of the present application.

[0053] Figure 1 A flow chart of a channel allocation method provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0054] Figure 2 A flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0055] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of a communication network provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0056] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of a channel allocation device provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown;

[0057] Figure 5 A schematic diagram showing a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown; and

[0058] Figure 6 A block diagram of an electronic device used to implement an embodiment of the present application is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0059] Many specific details are described in the following description to facilitate a full understanding of the present application. However, the present application can be implemented in many other forms different from those described herein, and those skilled in the art can make similar generalizations without violating the connotation of the present application. Therefore, the present application is not limited to the specific implementation disclosed below.

[0060] To facilitate understanding of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the following describes the related technologies of the embodiments of the present application. The following related technologies can be combined with the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application as optional solutions, and they all belong to the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application.

[0061] In the communication network of common IoT systems, Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) communication technology is usually used to support the communication between the gateway and the terminal device. However, Wi-Fi communication technology often encounters the following problems in application:

[0062] 1. The power consumption of communication equipment is high. Specifically, in order to maintain a high data transmission quality, Wi-Fi communication technology will continue to maintain a strong signal strength. This continuous high-intensity signal transmission will lead to increased power consumption of communication equipment.

[0063] 2. The coverage of Wi-Fi signals is limited. Specifically, Wi-Fi signals are easily blocked by physical obstacles during transmission, resulting in signal attenuation. At the same time, as the communication distance increases, the signal strength will gradually weaken. Therefore, the coverage of Wi-Fi signals is limited.

[0064] 3. Available channel resources are very limited. Specifically, the frequency bands available for Wi-Fi communication technology are usually 2.4GHz (Gigahertz) and 5GHz, and the number of available channels in these two bands is limited and fixed. Especially in the 2.4GHz band, there are fewer available channels and the interval between adjacent channels is narrow.

[0065] 4. Some channels overlap. Specifically, some adjacent channels in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequency bands overlap.

[0066] 5. Affected by the multipath effect: Wi-Fi signals are affected by the multipath effect during propagation.

[0067] Due to the above-mentioned problems in the application of Wi-Fi communication technology, if Wi-Fi communication technology is used to support the communication between the gateway and the terminal devices, when a large number of terminal devices need to be configured in the communication network and these terminal devices are distributed in a relatively large working area, there will often be a problem that the communication quality between the gateway and the terminal devices cannot be guaranteed.

[0068] Specifically, at least some channels will be congested due to the excessive number of terminal devices, which will reduce the communication quality between the gateway and some terminal devices. At the same time, when the communication distance between the gateway and the terminal devices is long, the signal attenuation will be more serious, which will make the communication quality between the gateway and some terminal devices unstable. In addition, channel overlap and multipath effects will cause mutual interference between communication signals, which will also reduce the communication quality between the gateway and some terminal devices.

[0069] For example, a large number of intelligent robots are often deployed in the logistics Internet of Things communication network (in this case, the intelligent robots are the terminal devices in the logistics Internet of Things communication network), and these intelligent robots are often distributed in a large logistics park to perform their respective tasks. In this case, if Wi-Fi communication technology is used to support the communication between the gateway and the intelligent robots, the logistics Internet of Things communication network will face the problem of channel congestion due to the excessive number of terminal devices, which in turn causes the communication quality to decline, the problem of serious signal attenuation due to the long communication distance between the gateway and the terminal device, and the problem of unstable communication quality, and the problem of mutual interference between different channels in the same frequency band, which causes the communication quality to decline.

[0070] In addition to the problem that the communication quality between the gateway and the terminal device cannot be guaranteed, if Wi-Fi communication technology is used to support the communication between the gateway and the terminal device, there will also be problems such as high power consumption of the terminal device.

[0071] It should be noted that even if Wi-Fi communication technology is not used to support the communication between the gateway and the terminal device, if there is still a channel congestion problem caused by too many terminal devices, a serious signal attenuation problem caused by the long communication distance between the gateway and the terminal device, or a mutual interference problem between different channels, the communication quality between the gateway and the terminal device will also be reduced. Therefore, how to ensure the communication quality between the gateway and the terminal device has always been a technical problem that must be faced in the application of IoT technology.

[0072] In order to solve one or more of the above technical problems, a channel allocation scheme is provided in an embodiment of the present application. The channel allocation scheme is applied to a target communication network, and the target communication network includes a server, at least one LoRa (Long Rang, long-distance) gateway and multiple LoRa terminal device groups, and each LoRa terminal device group includes at least one LoRa terminal device. The channel allocation scheme may specifically include: first, for at least one sub-band in the target LoRa communication frequency band, a plurality of channels are divided in each sub-band, and the plurality of channels corresponding to each sub-band occupy independent frequency ranges respectively. Then, in the plurality of channels corresponding to at least one sub-band, a corresponding target channel is configured for each LoRa terminal device group, so that each LoRa terminal device in the LoRa terminal device group communicates with the correspondingly configured LoRa gateway.

[0073] In the embodiment of the present application, the target communication network belongs to the communication network of the Internet of Things system, which may specifically refer to: logistics Internet of Things communication network, industrial Internet of Things communication network, smart home Internet of Things communication network, smart city communication network, agricultural Internet of Things communication network, and intelligent transportation Internet of Things communication network, etc.

[0074] The target communication network includes at least a server, at least one LoRa gateway and multiple LoRa terminal device groups. Each LoRa terminal device group includes at least one LoRa terminal device. Specifically, a LoRa gateway refers to a gateway that uses LoRa communication technology for data transmission. A LoRa terminal device refers to a terminal device equipped with a LoRa communication module. The LoRa communication module is a wireless communication hardware component that communicates based on the LoRa communication technology. The communication (i.e., data transmission) between the LoRa terminal device and the LoRa gateway is achieved through the LoRa communication module.

[0075] Specifically, in the target communication network, the LoRa terminal device and the LoRa gateway are wirelessly connected through the LoRa communication technology. The server and the LoRa gateway are usually connected through wired communication, such as Ethernet connection, to ensure stable data transmission and low latency. However, according to actual needs, the server and the LoRa gateway can also be connected through wireless communication, such as Wi-Fi or cellular network, to achieve flexible deployment and a larger communication coverage.

[0076] When the target communication network specifically refers to a logistics IoT communication network, the LoRa terminal device may refer to an intelligent robot equipped with a LoRa communication module, wherein the intelligent robot includes but is not limited to AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle), a palletizing robot, and a sorting robot.

[0077] When the target communication network specifically refers to an industrial Internet of Things communication network, the LoRa terminal device may refer to industrial automation equipment and sensors equipped with a LoRa communication module. These industrial automation equipment and sensors include but are not limited to intelligent manufacturing equipment, production line monitoring devices, industrial robots, and environmental monitoring sensors.

[0078] When the target communication network specifically refers to the agricultural Internet of Things communication network, the LoRa terminal device may refer to agricultural intelligent devices and sensors equipped with LoRa communication modules. These agricultural intelligent devices and sensors include but are not limited to automatic irrigation equipment, soil moisture sensors, weather station equipment, and crop monitoring equipment.

[0079] In the embodiment of the present application, the LoRa terminal device is configured according to the specific requirements and application scenarios of the target communication network, and the specific form and function of the LoRa terminal device are not limited here.

[0080] The target LoRa communication frequency band refers to: a frequency band selected according to the set communication requirements in the available LoRa communication frequency band. That is to say, in the embodiment of the present application, the target LoRa communication frequency band will be selected according to the set communication requirements in the available LoRa communication frequency band. Specifically, the available LoRa communication frequency band refers to a frequency band suitable for LoRa communication technology that complies with the laws and regulations of the region and relevant international standards such as ITU (International Telecommunication Union). The available LoRa communication frequency bands generally include unlicensed ISM (Industrial Scientific Medical) frequency bands, such as the 868 MHz (Megahertz) band used in Europe and the 915 MHz band used in North America.

[0081] Communication requirements refer to the specific requirements for the performance and functions of the communication network in a specific application scenario.

[0082] These requirements may include but are not limited to the following:

[0083] 1. Number of LoRa terminal devices: The division of the target LoRa communication frequency band needs to meet the parallel communication requirements of all LoRa terminal devices. The more LoRa terminal devices there are, the more channels are required. Therefore, when screening the target LoRa communication frequency band, a sufficiently wide frequency band should be selected to ensure that a sufficient number of channels can be divided to support the communication of all LoRa terminal devices.

[0084] 2. Data transmission rate requirements: If the target communication network requires a higher data transmission rate, a wider channel bandwidth may be required when dividing the channels. When a certain number of channels need to be guaranteed, the data transmission rate requirements will also affect the selection of the target LoRa communication frequency band.

[0085] 3. Communication coverage: LoRa communication bands of different frequencies have different transmission distances and the ability to penetrate obstacles. If the application scenario requires a larger communication coverage, you may need to select a lower frequency target LoRa communication band to enhance the signal propagation performance.

[0086] 4. Channel interference: When selecting the target LoRa communication frequency band, you also need to consider the channel interference in the existing environment. Through testing and analysis, you can select a frequency band with less interference as the target LoRa communication frequency band to ensure the stability and quality of communication.

[0087] When the target LoRa communication frequency band is selected, in order to more accurately and effectively manage and allocate channel resources, the target LoRa communication frequency band can be divided into at least one sub-band, and multiple channels can be further divided in each sub-band. Such frequency band and channel division can not only meet the parallel communication requirements of multiple LoRa terminal devices in the target communication system, but also reduce the mutual interference between the communication signals of multiple LoRa terminal devices, thereby improving the communication quality.

[0088] Generally, the target LoRa communication frequency band is divided into two or more sub-bands, but the target LoRa communication frequency band can be divided into only one sub-band in certain circumstances. When the target LoRa communication frequency band is divided into only one sub-band, the sub-band is the target LoRa communication frequency band, that is, the target LoRa communication frequency band is directly used as the only sub-band.

[0089] Specifically, assuming that the selected target LoRa communication frequency band is 902MHz to 926MHz, in this case, the target LoRa communication frequency band can be divided into four sub-bands, and the frequency ranges corresponding to each sub-band are: sub-band 1: 902MHz-908MHz; sub-band 2: 908MHz-914MHz; sub-band 3: 914MHz-920MHz; sub-band 4: 920MHz-926MHz.

[0090] When the target LoRa communication frequency band is divided into the above four sub-bands, a plurality of independent frequency ranges can be continuously divided in each sub-band with a preset channel width of 1 MHz, and a plurality of channels corresponding to each sub-band can be defined using these frequency ranges.

[0091] For example, in the first sub-band (902MHz-908MHz) of the four sub-bands, six channels with a channel width of 1MHz are divided, and the frequency ranges corresponding to the channels in the first sub-band are: Channel 1: 902MHz-903MHz; Channel 2: 903MHz-904MHz; Channel 3: 904MHz-905MHz; Channel 4: 905MHz-906MHz; Channel 5: 906MHz-907MHz; Channel 6: 907MHz-908MHz.

[0092] Similarly, other sub-bands can also be divided into channels in the same way. For example, the frequency range corresponding to the fourth sub-band of the four sub-bands is 920MHz-926MHz, and the frequency ranges corresponding to the six channels with a channel width of 1MHz are: channel 19: 920MHz-921MHz; channel 20: 921MHz-922MHz; channel 21: 922MHz-923MHz; channel 22: 923MHz-924MHz; channel 23: 924MHz-925MHz; channel 24: 925MHz-926MHz.

[0093] It should be noted that in order to improve the utilization rate of the target LoRa communication frequency band, multiple independent frequency ranges can be continuously divided in each sub-frequency band, and these frequency ranges can be used to define multiple channels corresponding to each sub-frequency band. Of course, a non-continuous method can also be used to divide multiple independent frequency ranges in each sub-frequency band, and these frequency ranges can be used to define multiple channels corresponding to each sub-frequency band.

[0094] In addition, the channel width is determined based on the number of LoRa terminal devices in the LoRa terminal device group, the demand for data transmission rate, and the demand for channel anti-interference ability. By reasonably determining the channel width, the best performance and balance can be achieved in the communication system to ensure that the requirements of specific application scenarios are met.

[0095] The channel allocation scheme involved in the present application will configure corresponding target channels for each LoRa terminal device group in multiple LoRa terminal device groups in multiple channels corresponding to at least one sub-band, so that each LoRa terminal device in the LoRa terminal device group can communicate with the corresponding configured LoRa gateway. In this way, when a communication network is configured with multiple LoRa terminal devices, multiple LoRa terminal devices can be reasonably divided into multiple LoRa terminal device groups, and then exclusive target channels can be allocated to multiple LoRa terminal device groups respectively, so that one or more LoRa terminal devices in each LoRa terminal device group can communicate with the corresponding LoRa gateway through the exclusive target channel of the device group. In this case, channels will not be shared between different LoRa terminal device groups, and the exclusive target channels allocated to each LoRa terminal device group do not need to carry the communication needs of other LoRa terminal devices that do not have affiliation with the LoRa terminal device group. In this way, each target channel can effectively avoid facing the channel congestion problem caused by too many LoRa terminal devices.

[0096] Therefore, the channel allocation scheme involved in this application can effectively avoid the channel congestion problem caused by too many LoRa terminal devices and insufficient channel resources, thereby effectively ensuring the communication quality between the gateway and the terminal device. Even when a large number of LoRa terminal devices are configured in the communication network, the channel allocation scheme involved in this application is used for channel allocation, which can effectively avoid the channel congestion problem caused by too many LoRa terminal devices and insufficient channel resources, thereby effectively ensuring the communication quality between the gateway and the terminal device.

[0097] At the same time, when exclusive target channels are allocated to multiple LoRa terminal device groups, and each target channel can support multiple LoRa terminal devices to communicate with the LoRa gateway, multiple LoRa terminal devices can communicate with the correspondingly configured LoRa gateways concurrently. Through parallel communication, the communication network can meet more communication needs at the same time and significantly improve the overall communication efficiency of the communication network.

[0098] In addition, since multiple channels in each sub-band occupy independent frequency ranges, communication signals between different channels are isolated from each other, which can effectively avoid mutual interference between different channels and further ensure the communication quality between the gateway and the terminal device.

[0099] In addition, LoRa communication technology has the advantages of low power consumption and long-distance transmission. The use of LoRa communication technology can not only reduce the power consumption of LoRa terminal devices, but also ensure the long-distance communication between LoRa terminal devices and LoRa gateways, thereby effectively avoiding the problem of serious signal attenuation between LoRa terminal devices and LoRa gateways due to long communication distances, thereby ensuring the stability of communication quality.

[0100] It should be noted that the execution entity of the channel allocation scheme involved in the present application can be a server, or it can be an electronic device with a channel allocation function that is independently configured outside the server.

[0101] In addition, the user information and data involved in this application are all information and data authorized by the user or fully authorized by all parties, and the collection, use and processing of relevant data must comply with the relevant laws, regulations and standards of relevant countries and regions, and provide corresponding operation entrances for users to choose or edit authorization or rejection.

[0102] The following specific embodiments are used to describe in detail the technical solution of the present application and how the technical solution of the present application solves the above technical problems. The following related technologies can be combined arbitrarily with the technical solution of the embodiments of the present application as optional solutions, and they all belong to the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application. The same or similar concepts or processes may not be repeated in some embodiments.

[0103] Figure 1 A flow chart of a channel allocation method 100 provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown. The method is applied to a target communication network, the target communication network includes a server, at least one LoRa gateway and multiple LoRa terminal device groups, each LoRa terminal device group includes at least one LoRa terminal device. Specifically, the channel allocation method may include steps S101-S102.

[0104] In step S101, for at least one sub-band in the target LoRa communication frequency band, multiple channels are divided in each sub-band; the multiple channels corresponding to each sub-band occupy an independent frequency range respectively.

[0105] The target communication network belongs to the communication network of the Internet of Things system. Specifically, it can refer to: logistics Internet of Things communication network, industrial Internet of Things communication network, smart home Internet of Things communication network, smart city communication network, agricultural Internet of Things communication network, and intelligent transportation Internet of Things communication network, etc.

[0106] LoRa gateway refers to a gateway that uses LoRa communication technology for data transmission. LoRa terminal device refers to a terminal device equipped with a LoRa communication module. LoRa communication module is a wireless communication hardware component that communicates based on LoRa communication technology. The communication (i.e. data transmission) between LoRa terminal device and LoRa gateway is achieved through LoRa communication module.

[0107] In one example, the target communication network specifically refers to a logistics IoT communication network, and the LoRa terminal device may refer to an intelligent robot equipped with a LoRa communication module, wherein the intelligent robot includes but is not limited to AGV, a palletizing robot, and a sorting robot.

[0108] The target LoRa communication frequency band refers to: a frequency band selected according to a set communication requirement in the available LoRa communication frequency band. The channel allocation method provided in the embodiment of the present application generally selects the target LoRa communication frequency band in the available LoRa communication frequency band according to the set communication requirement before performing channel division. Then, the target LoRa communication frequency band is divided into at least one sub-frequency band.

[0109] Available LoRa communication frequency bands refer to frequency bands that comply with local laws and regulations and relevant international standards such as ITU and are suitable for LoRa communication technology.

[0110] Communication requirements refer to the specific requirements for the performance and functions of the communication network in a specific application scenario.

[0111] These requirements may include but are not limited to the following:

[0112] 1. Number of LoRa terminal devices: The division of the target LoRa communication frequency band needs to meet the parallel communication requirements of all LoRa terminal devices. The more LoRa terminal devices there are, the more channels are required. Therefore, when screening the target LoRa communication frequency band, a sufficiently wide frequency band should be selected to ensure that a sufficient number of channels can be divided to support the communication of all LoRa terminal devices.

[0113] 2. Data transmission rate requirements: If the target communication network requires a higher data transmission rate, a wider channel bandwidth may be required when dividing the channels. When a certain number of channels need to be guaranteed, the data transmission rate requirements will also affect the selection of the target LoRa communication frequency band.

[0114] 3. Communication coverage: LoRa communication bands of different frequencies have different transmission distances and the ability to penetrate obstacles. If the application scenario requires a larger communication coverage, you may need to select a lower frequency target LoRa communication band to enhance the signal propagation performance.

[0115] 4. Channel interference: When selecting the target LoRa communication frequency band, you also need to consider the channel interference in the existing environment. Through testing and analysis, you can select a frequency band with less interference as the target LoRa communication frequency band to ensure the stability and quality of communication.

[0116] When the target LoRa communication frequency band is selected, in order to more accurately and effectively manage and allocate channel resources, the target LoRa communication frequency band can be divided into at least one sub-band, and multiple channels can be further divided in each sub-band. Such frequency band and channel division can not only meet the parallel communication requirements of multiple LoRa terminal devices in the target communication system, but also reduce the mutual interference between the communication signals of multiple LoRa terminal devices, thereby improving the communication quality.

[0117] Generally, the target LoRa communication frequency band is divided into two or more sub-bands, but the target LoRa communication frequency band can be divided into only one sub-band in certain circumstances. When the target LoRa communication frequency band is divided into only one sub-band, the sub-band is the target LoRa communication frequency band, that is, the target LoRa communication frequency band is directly used as the only sub-band.

[0118] It should be noted that in order to improve the utilization rate of the target LoRa communication frequency band, when dividing multiple channels in each sub-frequency band for at least one sub-frequency band in the target LoRa communication frequency band, multiple independent frequency ranges can be continuously divided in each sub-frequency band, and these frequency ranges are used to define multiple channels corresponding to each sub-frequency band. Of course, a non-continuous method can also be used to divide multiple independent frequency ranges in each sub-frequency band, and these frequency ranges are used to define multiple channels corresponding to each sub-frequency band.

[0119] In the embodiment of the present application, multiple channels are divided in each sub-frequency band, and step S102 can be further performed. In step S102, a corresponding target channel is configured for each LoRa terminal device group among the multiple channels corresponding to at least one sub-frequency band, so that each LoRa terminal device in the LoRa terminal device group communicates with the correspondingly configured LoRa gateway.

[0120] Among the multiple channels corresponding to at least one sub-frequency band, the corresponding target channel is configured for each LoRa terminal device group in order to enable the multiple LoRa terminal device groups to be respectively allocated to exclusive target channels, so that one or more LoRa terminal devices in each LoRa terminal device group can communicate with the corresponding LoRa gateway through the exclusive target channel of the device group.

[0121] In order to filter out channels with better (or even the best) channel quality as much as possible and allocate them to each LoRa terminal device group as the target channel, the following two specific channel allocation schemes can be used for channel allocation.

[0122] When the target LoRa communication frequency band is divided into multiple sub-frequency bands, the first specific channel allocation scheme can be used to perform channel allocation.

[0123] In the first specific channel allocation scheme, at least one round of channel allocation iteration (accessing sub-frequency bands in sequence) can be performed first until multiple LoRa terminal device groups are respectively allocated corresponding alternative channels. Then, at the end of at least one round of channel allocation iteration, determine whether there are any remaining sub-frequency bands that have not been visited in the multiple sub-frequency bands (such as the remaining sub-frequency bands described below that have not been subjected to channel quality assessment). Afterwards, if there are no remaining sub-frequency bands, the alternative channels corresponding to each LoRa terminal device group can be used as the target channel. If there are remaining sub-frequency bands, at least one round of channel optimization iteration can be further performed until multiple sub-frequency bands have been subjected to channel quality assessment respectively, and at the end of at least one round of channel optimization iteration, the alternative channels corresponding to each LoRa terminal device group are used as the target channel.

[0124] Specifically, the process of each round of channel allocation iteration is as follows: Step 1, select a target sub-frequency band that has not been subjected to channel quality evaluation from multiple sub-frequency bands, and perform channel quality evaluation on the target sub-frequency band to obtain the channel quality of each channel corresponding to the target sub-frequency band. Step 2, based on the channel quality, select some channels from the multiple channels corresponding to the target sub-frequency band, and allocate them to at least some of the LoRa terminal device groups in the multiple LoRa terminal device groups as corresponding candidate channels.

[0125] The process of each round of channel optimization iteration is as follows: Step 1, select the target sub-band from the remaining sub-bands, and perform channel quality evaluation on the target sub-band to obtain the channel quality of each channel corresponding to the target sub-band. Step 2, when there is an available channel with better channel quality than the alternative channel among the multiple channels corresponding to the target sub-band, use the available channel to update the alternative channel corresponding to the LoRa terminal device group.

[0126] It should be noted that in order to ensure that the target channel allocated to each LoRa terminal device group is a channel with higher (or even the highest) quality among all channels, when there are available channels with better channel quality than the alternative channels among the multiple channels corresponding to the target sub-band, using the available channels to update the alternative channels corresponding to the LoRa terminal device group generally means using the available channels to update the alternative channels with lower channel quality. That is, alternative channels with poor channel quality are replaced first.

[0127] The idea of ​​the first specific channel allocation scheme is to perform channel quality assessment on multiple sub-bands in turn, and after each sub-band is assessed for channel quality, the corresponding alternative channels are preferentially configured for each LoRa terminal device group. In this process, if there are still LoRa terminal device groups that have not been allocated alternative channels after the channel quality assessment and alternative channel allocation for a sub-band, the channel quality assessment will continue to be performed on the next sub-band, and according to the quality assessment, the alternative channels will continue to be allocated to the LoRa terminal device groups that have not been allocated to the alternative channels, until multiple LoRa terminal devices are respectively allocated corresponding alternative channels.

[0128] When multiple LoRa terminal devices are respectively assigned to corresponding alternative channels, it is possible to first determine whether there are any remaining sub-frequency bands in the multiple sub-frequency bands for which channel quality assessment has not been performed. If there are no remaining sub-frequency bands (that is, there are no sub-frequency bands for which channel quality assessment has not been performed), the alternative channel corresponding to each LoRa terminal device group can be used as the target channel.

[0129] If there are remaining sub-bands (i.e., there are still sub-bands that have not been evaluated for channel quality), the remaining sub-bands will be evaluated for channel quality in turn, and after each sub-band is evaluated for channel quality, the sub-band will be screened for channels with higher channel quality than the candidate channels, and when there are channels with higher channel quality than the candidate channels in the sub-band, the channels with higher channel quality than the candidate channels in the sub-band will be used to replace the candidate channels as new candidate channels. In this way, by continuously replacing the original candidate channels with channels with higher channel quality as new candidate channels, each LoRa terminal device group can be allocated a channel with higher (even the highest) channel quality as the candidate channel. Under this continuous replacement, if the candidate channel finally allocated to each LoRa terminal device group is used as the target channel, the target channel allocated to each LoRa terminal device group can be a channel with higher (even the highest) quality among all channels.

[0130] Based on the above description, it can be seen that the first specific channel allocation scheme is used to perform channel allocation, which can screen out channels with better (or even the best) channel quality and allocate them to each LoRa terminal device group as the target channel.

[0131] In one example, the multiple sub-bands are four sub-bands, each sub-band is divided into 10 channels, and the multiple LoRa terminal device groups are five LoRa terminal device groups. If the first sub-band of the four sub-bands is subjected to channel quality evaluation, according to the channel quality of each channel corresponding to the first sub-band, only 3 channels can be selected from the 10 channels to be allocated to 3 LoRa terminal device groups in the 5 LoRa terminal device groups as alternative channels. At this time, there are still 2 LoRa terminal device groups in the 5 LoRa terminal device groups that are not allocated to alternative channels. In this case, the second sub-band of the four sub-bands is subjected to channel quality evaluation, and after the second sub-band is subjected to channel quality evaluation, according to the channel quality of each channel corresponding to the second sub-band, 2 channels are preferentially selected and allocated to the 2 LoRa terminal device groups that are not allocated with alternative channels as alternative channels. Of course, in addition to these two channels, if there are available channels with better channel quality than the alternative channels, the available channels can be used to update the alternative channels corresponding to the LoRa terminal device groups. After performing channel quality assessment on the first sub-band and the second sub-band, 5 LoRa terminal device groups are assigned to corresponding alternative channels. Then, the remaining sub-bands can continue to be evaluated in sequence, and after each sub-band is evaluated, the sub-band is screened to see whether there is a channel with a higher channel quality than the alternative channel, and when there is a channel with a higher channel quality than the alternative channel in the sub-band, the channel with a higher channel quality than the alternative channel in the sub-band is used to replace the alternative channel as a new alternative channel. Specifically, if there is a channel with a higher channel quality than the alternative channel in the third sub-band, the channel with a higher channel quality than the alternative channel in the third sub-band is used to replace the alternative channel as a new alternative channel. Similarly, if there is a channel with a higher channel quality than the alternative channel in the fourth sub-band, the channel with a higher channel quality than the alternative channel in the fourth sub-band is used to replace the alternative channel as a new alternative channel.

[0132] In an embodiment of the present application, when selecting some channels from a plurality of channels corresponding to a target sub-band based on channel quality and respectively allocating them to at least some of the LoRa terminal device groups in a plurality of LoRa terminal device groups as corresponding alternative channels, a preset channel quality standard can be first obtained. Then, in the plurality of channels corresponding to the target sub-band, a plurality of candidate channels whose channel quality is better than the channel quality standard are screened out. Afterwards, when the first number does not exceed the second number, the plurality of candidate channels are respectively allocated to at least some of the LoRa terminal device groups in the LoRa terminal device groups that are not allocated to the alternative channels as corresponding alternative channels. Among them, the first number is the number of the plurality of candidate channels, and the second number is the number of the LoRa terminal device groups that are not allocated to the alternative channels.

[0133] That is to say, in an embodiment of the present application, multiple candidate channels whose channel quality is better than the channel quality standard can be screened out from the multiple channels corresponding to each sub-frequency band, and then at least some of the channels can be further selected from the multiple candidate channels to be allocated to the LoRa terminal device group that is not allocated to the alternative channel as an alternative channel.

[0134] Specifically, after screening out multiple candidate channels, if the number of LoRa terminal device groups that are not allocated to alternative channels is equal to or greater than the number of multiple candidate channels, the multiple candidate channels can be directly allocated to at least part of the LoRa terminal device groups in the LoRa terminal device groups that are not allocated to alternative channels as corresponding alternative channels.

[0135] When the number of LoRa terminal device groups that are not allocated to alternative channels is less than the number of multiple candidate channels, if it is the first time to perform channel quality assessment (i.e., during the first round of channel allocation iteration), the multiple candidate channels can be sorted according to the channel quality to obtain the corresponding first sorting result. Then, according to the first sorting result, some candidate channels are selected from the multiple candidate channels and respectively allocated to multiple LoRa terminal device groups as corresponding alternative channels. Since in the first round of channel allocation iteration, before the channel is allocated according to the first sorting result, there is no alternative channel that has been allocated, therefore, there is no need to optimize the alternative channels.

[0136] If the number of LoRa terminal device groups that are not allocated to alternative channels is less than the number of multiple candidate channels during the second or subsequent rounds of channel allocation iterations, the multiple candidate channels can be sorted according to the channel quality to obtain the corresponding first sorting result. Then, according to the first sorting result, some candidate channels are selected from the multiple candidate channels and respectively allocated to the LoRa terminal device groups that are not allocated to alternative channels as corresponding alternative channels. After that, the remaining candidate channels in the multiple candidate channels are determined, and when there are available channels with better channel quality than the alternative channels in the remaining candidate channels, the alternative channels corresponding to the LoRa terminal device groups are updated using the available channels.

[0137] It should be noted that in order to ensure that the target channel allocated to each LoRa terminal device group is a channel with higher (or even the highest) quality among all channels, when selecting some candidate channels from multiple candidate channels according to the first sorting result and respectively allocating them to the LoRa terminal device groups that are not allocated to the alternative channels as corresponding alternative channels, generally, according to the number of LoRa terminal device groups that are not allocated to the alternative channels and the first sorting result, some candidate channels with higher channel quality are selected from multiple candidate channels and respectively allocated to the LoRa terminal device groups that are not allocated to the alternative channels as corresponding alternative channels. When there are available channels with better channel quality than the alternative channels among the remaining candidate channels, using the available channels to update the alternative channels corresponding to the LoRa terminal device group generally means using the available channels to update the alternative channels with lower channel quality. That is, alternative channels with poor channel quality are replaced first.

[0138] When the target LoRa communication frequency band is divided into one sub-band or multiple sub-bands, the second specific channel allocation scheme can be used to perform channel allocation.

[0139] In the second specific channel allocation scheme, the channel quality of each sub-frequency band may be evaluated for at least one sub-frequency band to obtain the channel quality of multiple channels corresponding to each of the at least one sub-frequency bands. Then, the multiple channels corresponding to each of the at least one sub-frequency bands are sorted according to the channel quality to obtain a corresponding second sorting result. Thereafter, the target channel is screened out from the multiple channels corresponding to each of the at least one sub-frequency bands according to the second sorting result.

[0140] According to the second sorting result, among the multiple channels corresponding to at least one sub-frequency band, screening out the target channel generally means that according to the second sorting result, among the multiple channels corresponding to at least one sub-frequency band, screening out multiple channels with higher channel quality and respectively allocating them to multiple LoRa terminal device groups as target channels.

[0141] The second specific channel allocation scheme is used for channel allocation, which can screen out channels with better (or even the best) channel quality and allocate them to each LoRa terminal device group as the target channel.

[0142] In addition, when the second specific channel allocation scheme is used for channel allocation, channel quality evaluation can be performed on multiple sub-frequency bands in parallel to improve the efficiency of channel quality evaluation, thereby improving the efficiency of channel allocation.

[0143] In an embodiment of the present application, the channel quality may be identified by using a signal measurement result, where the signal measurement result includes at least one of an RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indication) corresponding to the received signal and an SNR (Signal-to-Noise Ratio) corresponding to the received signal.

[0144] In order to obtain the signal measurement results, the server can first control the LoRa gateway to use each channel to send test signals to the LoRa terminal device. Then, the LoRa terminal device receives each received signal and performs signal measurement to obtain the corresponding signal measurement results.

[0145] In this case, the channel quality assessment of the target sub-band is performed to obtain the channel quality of each channel corresponding to the target sub-band. Specifically, the server controls the LoRa gateway to send test signals to the LoRa terminal device using each channel corresponding to the target sub-band. Then, the signal measurement is performed on each received signal received by the LoRa terminal device to obtain the corresponding signal measurement result. After that, the signal measurement result is used to identify the channel quality.

[0146] In an embodiment of the present application, if the signal measurement result only includes RSSI or SNR, an RSSI threshold or an SNR threshold may be pre-set as a channel quality standard. At this time, among the multiple channels corresponding to the target sub-band, screening out multiple candidate channels whose channel quality is better than the channel quality standard may mean: among the multiple channels corresponding to the target sub-band, screening out channels whose RSSI or SNR reaches the corresponding threshold as candidate channels.

[0147] If the signal measurement result includes both RSSI and SNR, the RSSI threshold and the SNR threshold may be pre-set as the channel quality standard. At this time, among the multiple channels corresponding to the target sub-band, screening out multiple candidate channels whose channel quality is better than the channel quality standard may mean: among the multiple channels corresponding to the target sub-band, screening out channels whose RSSI reaches the RSSI threshold and whose SNR reaches the SNR threshold as candidate channels.

[0148] When sorting multiple candidate channels, or sorting multiple channels corresponding to at least one sub-frequency band, if the signal measurement result only includes RSSI or SNR, the multiple candidate channels can be sorted according to RSSI or SNR, or the multiple channels corresponding to at least one sub-frequency band can be sorted.

[0149] When sorting multiple candidate channels, or sorting multiple channels corresponding to at least one sub-band, if the signal measurement results include both RSSI and SNR, it can be pre-set according to demand: for channels whose RSSI reaches the RSSI threshold and whose SNR reaches the SNR threshold, if the RSSI is higher, the channel quality is higher; or for channels whose RSSI reaches the RSSI threshold and whose SNR reaches the SNR threshold, if the SNR is higher, the channel quality is higher. It should be noted that in an embodiment of the present application, when the signal measurement results include both RSSI and SNR, for channels whose RSSI reaches the RSSI threshold and whose SNR reaches the SNR threshold, the channel quality can be compared according to demand.

[0150] In an embodiment of the present application, after configuring a corresponding target channel for each LoRa terminal device group, communication can be further performed using the target channel between at least one LoRa terminal device in each LoRa terminal device group and a correspondingly configured LoRa gateway.

[0151] The channel allocation method provided in the embodiment of the present application will configure corresponding target channels for each LoRa terminal device group in multiple LoRa terminal device groups in multiple channels corresponding to each of at least one sub-band, so that each LoRa terminal device in the LoRa terminal device group can communicate with the corresponding configured LoRa gateway. In this way, when the communication network is configured with multiple LoRa terminal devices, it is possible to first divide multiple LoRa terminal devices into multiple LoRa terminal device groups reasonably, and then allocate exclusive target channels to multiple LoRa terminal device groups respectively, so that one or more LoRa terminal devices in each LoRa terminal device group can communicate with the corresponding LoRa gateway through the exclusive target channel of the device group. In this case, channels will not be shared between different LoRa terminal device groups, and the exclusive target channels allocated to each LoRa terminal device group do not need to bear the communication needs of other LoRa terminal devices that do not have affiliation with the LoRa terminal device group. In this way, each target channel can effectively avoid facing the channel congestion problem caused by too many LoRa terminal devices.

[0152] Therefore, the channel allocation method provided in the embodiment of the present application can effectively avoid the channel congestion problem caused by too many LoRa terminal devices and insufficient channel resources, thereby effectively ensuring the communication quality between the gateway and the terminal device. Even when a large number of LoRa terminal devices are configured in the communication network, the channel allocation method provided in the embodiment of the present application is used to allocate channels, which can effectively avoid the channel congestion problem caused by too many LoRa terminal devices and insufficient channel resources, thereby effectively ensuring the communication quality between the gateway and the terminal device.

[0153] At the same time, when exclusive target channels are allocated to multiple LoRa terminal device groups, and each target channel can support multiple LoRa terminal devices to communicate with the LoRa gateway, multiple LoRa terminal devices can communicate with the correspondingly configured LoRa gateways concurrently. Through parallel communication, the communication network can meet more communication needs at the same time and significantly improve the overall communication efficiency of the communication network.

[0154] In addition, since multiple channels in each sub-band occupy independent frequency ranges, communication signals between different channels are isolated from each other, which can effectively avoid mutual interference between different channels and further ensure the communication quality between the gateway and the terminal device.

[0155] In addition, LoRa communication technology has the advantages of low power consumption and long-distance transmission. The use of LoRa communication technology can not only reduce the power consumption of LoRa terminal devices, but also ensure the long-distance communication between LoRa terminal devices and LoRa gateways, thereby effectively avoiding the problem of serious signal attenuation between LoRa terminal devices and LoRa gateways due to long communication distances, thereby ensuring the stability of communication quality.

[0156] Corresponding to the channel allocation method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the embodiment of the present application also provides a communication method. The communication method is applied to a target communication network, which includes a server, at least one LoRa gateway, and multiple intelligent robot groups, each of which includes at least one intelligent robot, and each intelligent robot is equipped with a LoRa communication module. Figure 2 As shown, the communication method 200 may specifically include steps S201-S103.

[0157] In step S201, for at least one sub-frequency band in the target LoRa communication frequency band, multiple channels are divided in each sub-frequency band; the multiple channels corresponding to each sub-frequency band respectively occupy an independent frequency range.

[0158] In step S202, a corresponding target channel is configured for each intelligent robot group among the multiple channels corresponding to at least one sub-frequency band.

[0159] In step S203, at least one LoRa terminal device in each LoRa terminal device group communicates with a correspondingly configured LoRa gateway using a target channel.

[0160] The communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application configures a corresponding target channel for each LoRa terminal device group in a plurality of LoRa terminal device groups in a plurality of channels corresponding to each of at least one sub-band, so as to be used for each LoRa terminal device in the LoRa terminal device group to communicate with the corresponding configured LoRa gateway. In this way, when a communication network is configured with a plurality of LoRa terminal devices, the plurality of LoRa terminal devices can be reasonably divided into a plurality of LoRa terminal device groups, and then a plurality of LoRa terminal device groups are respectively assigned exclusive target channels, so that one or more LoRa terminal devices in each LoRa terminal device group can communicate with the corresponding LoRa gateway through the exclusive target channel of the device group. In this case, channels will not be shared between different LoRa terminal device groups, and the exclusive target channels assigned to each LoRa terminal device group do not need to bear the communication needs of other LoRa terminal devices that do not have affiliation with the LoRa terminal device group. In this way, each target channel can effectively avoid facing the channel congestion problem caused by too many LoRa terminal devices.

[0161] Therefore, the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application can effectively avoid the channel congestion problem caused by too many LoRa terminal devices and insufficient channel resources, thereby effectively ensuring the communication quality between the gateway and the terminal device. Even when a large number of LoRa terminal devices are configured in the communication network, the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application is used to allocate channels, which can effectively avoid the channel congestion problem caused by too many LoRa terminal devices and insufficient channel resources, thereby effectively ensuring the communication quality between the gateway and the terminal device.

[0162] At the same time, when exclusive target channels are allocated to multiple LoRa terminal device groups, and each target channel can support multiple LoRa terminal devices to communicate with the LoRa gateway, multiple LoRa terminal devices can communicate with the correspondingly configured LoRa gateways concurrently. Through parallel communication, the communication network can meet more communication needs at the same time and significantly improve the overall communication efficiency of the communication network.

[0163] In addition, since multiple channels in each sub-band occupy independent frequency ranges, communication signals between different channels are isolated from each other, which can effectively avoid mutual interference between different channels and further ensure the communication quality between the gateway and the terminal device.

[0164] In addition, LoRa communication technology has the advantages of low power consumption and long-distance transmission. The use of LoRa communication technology can not only reduce the power consumption of LoRa terminal devices, but also ensure the long-distance communication between LoRa terminal devices and LoRa gateways, thereby effectively avoiding the problem of serious signal attenuation between LoRa terminal devices and LoRa gateways due to long communication distances, thereby ensuring the stability of communication quality.

[0165] Corresponding to the channel allocation method and communication method provided in the embodiments of the present application, the embodiments of the present application also provide a communication system. Figure 3 As shown, the communication system 300 may include a server 301, at least one LoRa gateway 302, and a plurality of LoRa terminal device groups 303, each LoRa terminal device group 303 includes at least one LoRa terminal device 303-1.

[0166] Specifically, at least one LoRa terminal device in each LoRa terminal device group communicates with the corresponding configured LoRa gateway through a target channel, wherein the target channel is allocated by the channel allocation method provided in the embodiment of the present application.

[0167] In a possible implementation, the network topology of the sub-communication network between the LoRa terminal device and the LoRa gateway includes: a star topology, a mesh topology, or a hybrid topology.

[0168] In this way, the appropriate network architecture can be flexibly selected according to different application scenarios and requirements to optimize the coverage, reliability and scalability of communications.

[0169] Corresponding to the channel allocation method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the embodiment of the present application also provides a channel allocation device. The device is applied to a target communication network, the target communication network includes a server, at least one LoRa gateway and multiple LoRa terminal device groups, each LoRa terminal device group includes at least one LoRa terminal device. Figure 4 As shown, the apparatus 400 may include:

[0170] The channel division module 401 is used to divide multiple channels in each sub-frequency band for at least one sub-frequency band in the target LoRa communication frequency band; the multiple channels corresponding to each sub-frequency band occupy independent frequency ranges respectively;

[0171] The channel allocation module 402 is used to configure a corresponding target channel for each LoRa terminal device group among the multiple channels corresponding to at least one sub-frequency band, so that each LoRa terminal device in the LoRa terminal device group communicates with the correspondingly configured LoRa gateway.

[0172] In a possible implementation, the device further includes:

[0173] The target communication frequency band screening module is used to screen out the target LoRa communication frequency band from the available LoRa communication frequency bands according to the set communication requirements;

[0174] The sub-band division module is used to divide the target LoRa communication frequency band into at least one sub-band.

[0175] In a possible implementation, the channel division module 401 includes:

[0176] A channel width acquisition module, used to acquire a preset channel width;

[0177] The channel division submodule is used to continuously divide a plurality of independent frequency ranges in each sub-frequency band according to the channel width, and define a plurality of channels corresponding to each sub-frequency band by using the plurality of frequency ranges.

[0178] In a possible implementation, the channel allocation module 402 includes:

[0179] The first iterative execution submodule is used to perform at least one round of channel allocation iteration under the condition that at least one sub-frequency band includes multiple sub-frequency bands, until multiple LoRa terminal device groups are respectively allocated to corresponding candidate channels; the process of each round of channel allocation iteration is as follows: selecting a target sub-frequency band that has not been subjected to channel quality evaluation from multiple sub-frequency bands, and performing channel quality evaluation on the target sub-frequency band to obtain the channel quality of each channel corresponding to the target sub-frequency band; according to the channel quality, selecting some channels from the multiple channels corresponding to the target sub-frequency band, and respectively allocating them to at least some of the LoRa terminal device groups in the multiple LoRa terminal device groups as corresponding candidate channels;

[0180] A remaining sub-frequency band determination submodule, used to determine whether there are remaining sub-frequency bands in the plurality of sub-frequency bands for which channel quality assessment has not been performed at the end of at least one round of channel allocation iteration;

[0181] The first target channel submodule is used to use the alternative channel corresponding to each LoRa terminal device group as the target channel when there is no remaining sub-frequency band.

[0182] In a possible implementation, the channel allocation module 402 further includes:

[0183] The second iteration execution submodule is used to execute at least one round of channel optimization iteration until multiple sub-frequency bands have respectively undergone channel quality evaluation; the process of each round of channel optimization iteration is as follows: select a target sub-frequency band from the remaining sub-frequency bands, and perform channel quality evaluation on the target sub-frequency band to obtain the channel quality of each channel corresponding to the target sub-frequency band; when there is an available channel with better channel quality than the alternative channel among the multiple channels corresponding to the target sub-frequency band, use the available channel to update the alternative channel corresponding to the LoRa terminal device group;

[0184] The second target channel submodule is used to use the candidate channel corresponding to each LoRa terminal device group as the target channel at the end of at least one round of channel optimization iteration.

[0185] In a possible implementation, the first iteration execution submodule includes:

[0186] A channel quality standard acquisition submodule, used to acquire a preset channel quality standard;

[0187] A channel screening submodule, used for screening out multiple candidate channels whose channel quality is better than the channel quality standard from multiple channels corresponding to the target sub-frequency band;

[0188] The first alternative channel optimization submodule is used to allocate multiple candidate channels to at least some of the LoRa terminal device groups in the multiple LoRa terminal device groups as corresponding alternative channels when the first number does not exceed the second number; the first number is the number of multiple candidate channels, and the second number is the number of LoRa terminal device groups that are not allocated to the alternative channels.

[0189] In a possible implementation, the first iteration execution submodule further includes:

[0190] A first sorting result acquisition submodule, used to sort multiple candidate channels according to channel quality to obtain a corresponding first sorting result;

[0191] The candidate channel allocation submodule is used to select some candidate channels from multiple candidate channels according to the first sorting result and allocate them to the LoRa terminal device groups that are not allocated to the candidate channels as corresponding candidate channels;

[0192] The second candidate channel optimization submodule is used to determine the remaining candidate channels among the multiple candidate channels, and when there are available channels with better channel quality than the alternative channels among the remaining candidate channels, use the available channels to update the alternative channels corresponding to the LoRa terminal device group.

[0193] In a possible implementation, the channel allocation module 402 further includes:

[0194] The server control module is used to control the LoRa gateway through the server to send test signals to the LoRa terminal device using each channel corresponding to the target sub-frequency band;

[0195] The signal measurement result acquisition module is used to measure the signals received by the LoRa terminal device and obtain the corresponding signal measurement results;

[0196] The channel quality identification module is used to identify the channel quality using the signal measurement result.

[0197] In a possible implementation manner, the signal measurement result includes at least one of a signal strength corresponding to the received signal and a signal-to-noise ratio corresponding to the received signal.

[0198] In a possible implementation, the channel allocation module 402 includes:

[0199] A channel quality acquisition submodule, configured to perform channel quality evaluation on each sub-frequency band for at least one sub-frequency band, and obtain channel quality of a plurality of channels corresponding to each of the at least one sub-frequency band;

[0200] A second sorting result acquisition submodule, used to sort the multiple channels corresponding to at least one sub-frequency band according to the channel quality, and obtain a corresponding second sorting result;

[0201] The target channel screening submodule is used to screen out a target channel from a plurality of channels corresponding to at least one sub-frequency band according to the second sorting result.

[0202] The functions of each module in each device in the embodiments of the present application can be found in the corresponding description in the above method, and have corresponding beneficial effects, which will not be repeated here.

[0203] Corresponding to the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the embodiment of the present application also provides a communication device. The device is applied to a target communication network, which includes a server, at least one LoRa gateway, and multiple intelligent robot groups, each of which includes at least one intelligent robot, and each intelligent robot is equipped with a LoRa communication module. Figure 5 As shown, the apparatus 500 may include:

[0204] The channel division module 501 is used to divide multiple channels in each sub-band for at least one sub-band in the target LoRa communication frequency band; the multiple channels corresponding to each sub-band occupy independent frequency ranges respectively;

[0205] A channel allocation module 502, configured to configure a corresponding target channel for each intelligent robot group among a plurality of channels corresponding to at least one sub-frequency band;

[0206] The communication control module 503 is used to communicate between at least one LoRa terminal device in each LoRa terminal device group and the correspondingly configured LoRa gateway using the target channel.

[0207] The functions of each module in each device in the embodiments of the present application can be found in the corresponding description in the above method, and have corresponding beneficial effects, which will not be repeated here.

[0208] Figure 6 FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an electronic device used to implement an embodiment of the present application. Figure 6 As shown, the electronic device includes: a memory 601 and a processor 602. The memory 601 stores a computer program that can be run on the processor 602. When the processor 602 executes the computer program, the method in the above embodiment is implemented. The number of the memory 601 and the processor 602 can be one or more.

[0209] The electronic device also includes:

[0210] The communication interface 603 is used to communicate with external devices and perform data exchange transmission.

[0211] If the memory 601, the processor 602 and the communication interface 603 are implemented independently, the memory 601, the processor 602 and the communication interface 603 can be connected to each other through a bus and communicate with each other. The bus can be an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus or an Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus. The bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of representation, Figure 6 Only one thick line is used in the diagram, but this does not mean that there is only one bus or only one type of bus.

[0212] Optionally, in a specific implementation, if the memory 601, the processor 602 and the communication interface 603 are integrated on a chip, the memory 601, the processor 602 and the communication interface 603 can communicate with each other through an internal interface.

[0213] An embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, which implements the method provided in the embodiment of the present application when the program is executed by a processor.

[0214] An embodiment of the present application also provides a chip, which includes a processor for calling and executing instructions stored in the memory from the memory, so that a communication device equipped with the chip executes the method provided by the embodiment of the present application.

[0215] An embodiment of the present application also provides a chip, including: an input interface, an output interface, a processor and a memory, wherein the input interface, the output interface, the processor and the memory are connected via an internal connection path, and the processor is used to execute the code in the memory. When the code is executed, the processor is used to execute the method provided in the embodiment of the application.

[0216] It should be understood that the processor 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 any conventional processor, etc. It is worth noting that the processor may be a processor supporting the Advanced RISC Machines (ARM) architecture.

[0217] Further, optionally, the above-mentioned memory may include a read-only memory and a random access memory, and may also include a non-volatile random access memory. The memory 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 include 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 include a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of exemplary but not limiting description, many forms of RAM are available. For example, 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 memory bus random access memory (DR RAM).

[0218] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function according to the present application is generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium.

[0219] In the description of this specification, the description with reference to the terms "one embodiment", "some embodiments", "example", "specific example", or "some examples" means that the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described in conjunction with the embodiment or example are included in at least one embodiment or example of the present application. Moreover, the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described may be combined in any one or more embodiments or examples in a suitable manner. In addition, those skilled in the art may combine and combine different embodiments or examples described in this specification and the features of different embodiments or examples, unless they are contradictory.

[0220] In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Therefore, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of the features. In the description of this application, the meaning of "plurality" is two or more, unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

[0221] Any process or method description in the flow chart or otherwise described herein can be understood to represent a module, fragment or portion of a code including one or more executable instructions for implementing the steps of a specific logical function or process. And the scope of the preferred embodiment of the present application includes other implementations, in which the functions may not be performed in the order shown or discussed, including in a substantially simultaneous manner or in a reverse order according to the functions involved.

[0222] The logic and / or steps represented in the flowchart or otherwise described herein, for example, can be considered as an ordered list of executable instructions for implementing logical functions, which can be embodied in any computer-readable medium for use by an instruction execution system, apparatus or device (such as a computer-based system, a system including a processor or other system that can fetch instructions from an instruction execution system, apparatus or device and execute instructions), or used in combination with these instruction execution systems, apparatuses or devices.

[0223] It should be understood that the various parts of the present application can be implemented with hardware, software, firmware or a combination thereof. In the above embodiments, multiple steps or methods can be implemented with software or firmware stored in a memory and executed by a suitable instruction execution system. All or part of the steps of the above embodiment method can be completed by instructing the relevant hardware through a program, which can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, and when the program is executed, it includes one of the steps of the method embodiment or a combination thereof.

[0224] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application can be integrated into a processing module, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one module. The above-mentioned integrated module can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of a software functional module. If the above-mentioned integrated module is implemented in the form of a software functional module and sold or used as an independent product, it can also be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. The storage medium can be a read-only memory, a disk or an optical disk, etc.

[0225] The above are only specific implementations of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any technician familiar with the technical field can easily think of various changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, which should be included in the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A channel allocation method, applied to a target communication network, wherein the target communication network includes a server, at least one LoRa gateway and a plurality of LoRa terminal device groups, each LoRa terminal device group includes at least one LoRa terminal device; the method comprises: For at least one sub-band in the target LoRa communication frequency band, a plurality of channels are divided in each sub-band; the plurality of channels corresponding to each sub-band occupy an independent frequency range respectively; Among the multiple channels corresponding to each of the at least one sub-frequency bands, a corresponding target channel is configured for each LoRa terminal device group, so that each LoRa terminal device in the LoRa terminal device group communicates with the correspondingly configured LoRa gateway.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The method further comprises: In the available LoRa communication frequency bands, according to the set communication requirements, the target LoRa communication frequency band is selected; The target LoRa communication frequency band is divided into the at least one sub-frequency band.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The step of dividing at least one sub-frequency band in the target LoRa communication frequency band into a plurality of channels in each sub-frequency band includes: Get the preset channel width; According to the channel width, a plurality of independent frequency ranges are continuously divided in each sub-frequency band, and a plurality of channels corresponding to each sub-frequency band are defined by using the plurality of frequency ranges.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The at least one sub-frequency band includes a plurality of sub-frequency bands; and configuring a corresponding target channel for each LoRa terminal device group among the plurality of channels corresponding to each of the at least one sub-frequency bands includes: Perform at least one round of channel allocation iteration until the multiple LoRa terminal device groups are respectively allocated to corresponding candidate channels; the process of each round of channel allocation iteration is as follows: select a target sub-frequency band that has not been subjected to channel quality evaluation from the multiple sub-frequency bands, and perform channel quality evaluation on the target sub-frequency band to obtain the channel quality of each channel corresponding to the target sub-frequency band; according to the channel quality, select some channels from the multiple channels corresponding to the target sub-frequency band, and respectively allocate them to at least some of the LoRa terminal device groups in the multiple LoRa terminal device groups as corresponding candidate channels; At the end of at least one round of channel allocation iteration, determining whether there are any remaining sub-frequency bands in the plurality of sub-frequency bands for which channel quality assessment has not been performed; When the remaining sub-frequency band does not exist, the alternative channel corresponding to each LoRa terminal device group is used as the target channel.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein: When the remaining sub-frequency band exists, the method further includes: Perform at least one round of channel optimization iteration until the multiple sub-frequency bands have respectively undergone channel quality evaluation; the process of each round of channel optimization iteration is as follows: select the target sub-frequency band from the remaining sub-frequency bands, and perform channel quality evaluation on the target sub-frequency band to obtain the channel quality of each channel corresponding to the target sub-frequency band; when there is an available channel whose channel quality is better than the alternative channel among the multiple channels corresponding to the target sub-frequency band, use the available channel to update the alternative channel corresponding to the LoRa terminal device group; At the end of at least one round of channel optimization iteration, the candidate channel corresponding to each LoRa terminal device group is used as the target channel.

6. The method according to claim 4, wherein: The selecting, according to the channel quality, some channels from the multiple channels corresponding to the target sub-frequency band, and respectively allocating them to at least some of the multiple LoRa terminal device groups as corresponding candidate channels comprises: Obtaining a preset channel quality standard; Screening out, from among the multiple channels corresponding to the target sub-frequency band, multiple candidate channels whose channel quality is better than the channel quality standard; When the first number does not exceed the second number, the multiple candidate channels are respectively allocated to at least part of the LoRa terminal device groups in the LoRa terminal device groups that are not allocated to the alternative channels as corresponding alternative channels; the first number is the number of the multiple candidate channels, and the second number is the number of the LoRa terminal device groups that are not allocated to the alternative channels.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein: During the second and subsequent rounds of channel allocation iterations, when the first number exceeds the second number, the method further includes: sorting the plurality of candidate channels according to the channel qualities to obtain a corresponding first sorting result; According to the first sorting result, some candidate channels are selected from the multiple candidate channels and are respectively allocated to the LoRa terminal device groups that are not allocated to the alternative channels as corresponding alternative channels; Determine the remaining candidate channels among the multiple candidate channels, and when there is an available channel whose channel quality is better than the alternative channel among the remaining candidate channels, use the available channel to update the alternative channel corresponding to the LoRa terminal device group.

8. The method according to claim 4 or 5, wherein: The performing channel quality evaluation on the target sub-frequency band to obtain the channel quality of each channel corresponding to the target sub-frequency band includes: Controlling the LoRa gateway by the server to send test signals to the LoRa terminal device respectively using each channel corresponding to the target sub-frequency band; Perform signal measurement on each received signal received by the LoRa terminal device to obtain corresponding signal measurement results; The channel quality is identified using the signal measurement result.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein: The signal measurement result includes at least one of a signal strength corresponding to the received signal and a signal-to-noise ratio corresponding to the received signal.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The configuring a corresponding target channel for each LoRa terminal device group among the multiple channels corresponding to each of the at least one sub-frequency bands includes: For the at least one sub-frequency band, respectively perform channel quality assessment on each sub-frequency band to obtain channel quality of multiple channels corresponding to each of the at least one sub-frequency band; sorting, according to the channel quality, a plurality of channels corresponding to each of the at least one sub-frequency bands to obtain a corresponding second sorting result; According to the second sorting result, the target channel is screened out from a plurality of channels corresponding to each of the at least one sub-frequency bands.

11. A communication method, applied to a target communication network, the target communication network comprising a server, at least one LoRa gateway and a plurality of intelligent robot groups, each intelligent robot group comprising at least one intelligent robot, each intelligent robot being equipped with a LoRa communication module; the method comprising: For at least one sub-band in the target LoRa communication frequency band, a plurality of channels are divided in each sub-band; the plurality of channels corresponding to each sub-band occupy an independent frequency range respectively; Among the multiple channels corresponding to each of the at least one sub-frequency bands, configure a corresponding target channel for each intelligent robot group; The target channel is used for communication between at least one LoRa terminal device in each LoRa terminal device group and a correspondingly configured LoRa gateway.

12. A communication network comprising a server, at least one LoRa gateway and a plurality of LoRa terminal device groups, each LoRa terminal device group comprising at least one LoRa terminal device; At least one LoRa terminal device in each LoRa terminal device group communicates with a correspondingly configured LoRa gateway through a target channel; the target channel is allocated by the method described in any one of claims 1-10.

13. The communication network according to claim 12, wherein: The network topology of the sub-communication network between the LoRa terminal device and the LoRa gateway includes: star topology, mesh topology or hybrid topology.

14. An electronic device comprising a memory, a processor and a computer program stored in the memory, wherein the processor implements the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11 when executing the computer program.

15. A computer-readable storage medium, wherein a computer program is stored in the computer-readable storage medium, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11 is implemented.

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