Smart home networking method based on power line carrier communication and WiFi, smart home system and storage medium

Abstract

The invention provides a smart home networking method based on power line carrier communication and Wi F i, a smart home system and a storage medium, and the method comprises the steps: a master device scans all slave devices connected in a power line, and confirms the networking states of the slave devices; if the current slave equipment is networked with the router through the Wi-Fi module, judging whether a Wi-Fi connection signal of the current slave equipment meets a preset good communication condition or not; if the Wi-Fi connection signal of the current slave device satisfies a preset good communication condition, maintaining the current networking state; and if the Wi-Fi connection signal of the current slave device does not meet the preset good communication condition, starting a power carrier communication module of the current slave device to perform networking. By applying the smart home networking method based on the power line carrier communication and the Wi-Fi, the Wi-Fi coverage range can be expanded, and network instability caused by network coverage dead angles and too many devices is avoided.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of smart home control technology, and more specifically, to a smart home networking method based on power line carrier communication and WiFi, a smart home system applying the smart home networking method based on power line carrier communication and WiFi, and a computer-readable storage medium applying the smart home networking method based on power line carrier communication and WiFi. Background Art

[0002] Nowadays, WiFi functions are increasingly used in our lives. In the existing smart home system, full WiFi coverage is required to effectively ensure the normal operation of smart home devices. Smart home devices installed in places with no WiFi signal or weak signal cannot be connected to the Internet to use smart home functions. In addition, most smart home devices are installed in fixed locations. After installation, it is difficult to improve the networking problem by moving the device.

[0003] In order to realize the networking of smart home devices, one existing method is to achieve full indoor coverage by extending WiFi through wireless bridging, so that smart home devices can be connected to the Internet in any corner of the room. However, in actual use, it has great limitations and is easily affected by obstacles, resulting in a small expansion range. In addition, there is another method to enable smart home devices and routers to communicate through power communication carriers. This method of using power lines for communication can effectively solve the problem of wireless signal coverage dead spots. However, when there are too many smart home devices on the power lines, it is easy to cause slow communication speeds and unstable networks.

[0004] Therefore, it is necessary to consider more optimized smart home networking methods. Summary of the invention

[0005] The first object of the present invention is to provide a smart home networking method based on power line carrier communication and WiFi that can combine WiFi and power line carrier communication functions to avoid network coverage dead spots and network instability caused by too many device connections.

[0006] The second object of the present invention is to provide a smart home system that can combine WiFi and power carrier communication functions to avoid network coverage blind spots and network instability caused by too many devices.

[0007] The third object of the present invention is to provide a computer-readable storage medium that can combine WiFi and power carrier communication functions to avoid network coverage blind spots and network instability caused by too many devices.

[0008] In order to achieve the above-mentioned first purpose, the smart home networking method based on power carrier communication and WiFi provided by the present invention includes: the master device scans all slave devices connected in the power line to confirm the networking status of the slave devices; if the current slave device is connected to the router through the WiFi module, it is determined whether the WiFi connection signal of the current slave device meets the preset good communication conditions; if the WiFi connection signal of the current slave device meets the preset good communication conditions, the current networking status is maintained; if the WiFi connection signal of the current slave device does not meet the preset good communication conditions, the power carrier communication module of the current slave device is turned on to connect to the network.

[0009] It can be seen from the above scheme that the smart home networking method based on power carrier communication and WiFi of the present invention scans the networking status of the slave device through the master device when networking. When the current slave device is connected to the router through the WiFi module, if the WiFi connection signal of the current slave device meets the preset good communication conditions, the current networking status is maintained. If the preset good communication conditions cannot be met, the power carrier communication module of the current slave device is turned on for networking, so that the current slave device only uses WiFi communication when the WiFi connection signal is good, reducing the occupancy of the power carrier communication module to avoid network instability caused by too many devices. At the same time, when the WiFi signal is not good, the power carrier communication module is used for communication to avoid signal coverage dead spots.

[0010] In a further solution, when the router is connected to the main device via a WiFi module, the next-level slave device connected to the main device is connected to the main device using a power line carrier communication module.

[0011] It can be seen that when the main device is connected to the Internet through the WiFi module, the next-level slave device connected to the main device adopts the power carrier communication module to connect to the main device, which can reduce the interference between multiple WiFi signal connections and improve stability.

[0012] In a further solution, after the power line carrier communication module of the current slave device is turned on to connect to the Internet, it also includes: turning on the WiFi hotspot function of the current slave device.

[0013] It can be seen that after turning on the power carrier communication module of the current slave device to connect to the Internet, further turning on the WiFi hotspot function of the current slave device can increase the coverage range of the WiFi network, which is beneficial to the networking of other devices such as smart homes.

[0014] In a further solution, after the power carrier communication module of the current slave device is turned on to connect to the Internet, before the WiFi hotspot function of the current slave device is turned on, it also includes: confirming that the communication signal of the current slave device connected to the Internet through the power carrier communication module meets the preset communication conditions.

[0015] It can be seen that before turning on the WiFi hotspot function of the current slave device, it is necessary to ensure that the communication signal of the power carrier communication module connected to the network meets the preset communication conditions to avoid affecting the communication quality of the WiFi hotspot.

[0016] In a further scheme, after the master device scans all slave devices connected to the power line, it also includes: if the current slave device uses the power carrier communication module to connect to the Internet, a WiFi networking test is performed on the current slave device; when the WiFi connection signal of the WiFi networking test meets the preset good communication conditions, the WiFi module of the current slave device is used to connect to the Internet, and the power carrier communication module of the current slave device is turned off.

[0017] It can be seen from this that if the current slave device uses the power carrier communication module to connect to the Internet, a WiFi networking test is performed on the current slave device so that when the WiFi connection signal is good, it can switch to the WiFi module to connect to the Internet, reducing the burden on the power carrier communication module.

[0018] In a further solution, the step of performing a WiFi networking test on the current slave device includes: the current slave device obtains all connectable WiFi hotspots connected to the router, and performs connection tests on all connectable WiFi hotspots one by one.

[0019] It can be seen that when the WiFi networking test is performed on the current slave device, by testing the connection of all connectable WiFi hotspots one by one, it can ensure connection to the best WiFi hotspot and improve communication quality.

[0020] In a further scheme, after the master device scans all slave devices connected to the power line and confirms the networking status of the slave devices, it also includes: if there is a non-networked slave device initiating a networking request, obtaining WiFi network quality data of the non-networked slave device connected to the network through the WiFi module and obtaining power carrier communication network quality data of the non-networked slave device connected to the network through the power carrier communication module; selecting the networking method corresponding to the one with the highest communication quality between the WiFi network quality data and the power carrier communication network quality data to connect the non-networked slave device to the network.

[0021] It can be seen from this that when a slave device that is not connected to the Internet needs to be connected to the Internet, the networking method corresponding to the one with the highest communication quality between the WiFi network quality data and the power carrier communication network quality data can be selected to connect the slave device to the Internet, thereby ensuring the best communication quality.

[0022] In a further embodiment, the smart home system is an air conditioning system.

[0023] In order to achieve the second purpose of the present invention, the present invention provides a smart home system including a processor and a memory, the memory stores a computer program, and when the computer program is executed by the processor, the steps of the above-mentioned smart home networking method based on power line carrier communication and WiFi are implemented.

[0024] In order to achieve the third purpose of the present invention, the present invention provides a computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored. When the computer program is executed by a controller, the steps of the above-mentioned smart home networking method based on power line carrier communication and WiFi are implemented. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] Figure 1 It is a system block diagram of a smart home system that applies the smart home networking method based on power line carrier communication and WiFi of the present invention.

[0026] Figure 2 It is a flow chart of an embodiment of a smart home networking method based on power line carrier communication and WiFi of the present invention.

[0027] Figure 3 It is a flow chart of an embodiment of a smart home networking method based on power line carrier communication and WiFi of the present invention.

[0028] Figure 4 It is a flow chart of an embodiment of a smart home networking method based on power line carrier communication and WiFi of the present invention.

[0029] The present invention is further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] The smart home networking method based on power line carrier communication and WiFi of the present invention is a computer program applied to a smart home system, and is used to perform networking operations on smart home devices in the smart home system.

[0031] In this embodiment, see Figure 1 The smart home system includes a router 1 with WiFi function, a master device 2 connected to the router 1, and a slave device 3 connected to the master device 2. The master device 2 and the slave device 3 are both provided with WiFi modules and power carrier communication modules, and any two power carrier communication modules are connected to each other through power lines. The master device 2 and the slave device 3 can be smart home devices such as air conditioners, washing machines, televisions, and smart fans.

[0032] The router 1 and the main device 2 can be connected via a WiFi module and can also be connected via a power line carrier communication module.

[0033] In a preferred embodiment, the smart home system is an air conditioning system, and the master device 2 and the slave device 3 are both air conditioners.

[0034] Embodiment of smart home networking method based on power line carrier communication and WiFi:

[0035] like Figure 2 As shown, in this embodiment, when the smart home networking method based on power carrier communication and WiFi is working, step S1 is first executed, and the master device scans all slave devices connected to the power line to confirm the networking status of the slave devices. In order to confirm the networking status of each smart home device in the smart home system, the master device needs to scan all slave devices connected to the power line. After receiving the instruction of the scanning device, the master device first uses the power carrier module to send a roll call frame to scan all slave devices in the neutral and live wires. After receiving the roll call frame, the slave device sends a reply frame to the master device, and the master device confirms the networking status of each slave device according to the reply information.

[0036] After confirming the networking status of the slave device, step S2 is executed to determine whether the slave device is currently connected to the router via the WiFi module.

[0037] If the current slave device is not connected to the router via the WiFi module, then continue to execute step S1 to further confirm the connection status. If the current slave device is connected to the router via the WiFi module, then execute step S3 to determine whether the WiFi connection signal of the current slave device meets the preset good communication condition. The preset good communication condition can be pre-set according to experimental data, and can be set according to parameters such as WiFi signal strength, network connection speed, and network delay.

[0038] If the current WiFi connection signal of the slave device meets the preset good communication condition, step S4 is executed to maintain the current networking state. If the WiFi connection signal meets the preset good communication condition, it means that the current signal of the slave device connected to the network through the WiFi module is good and the current networking state can be maintained.

[0039] If the WiFi connection signal of the current slave device does not meet the preset good communication conditions, step S5 is executed to turn on the power carrier communication module of the current slave device for networking. If the WiFi connection signal does not meet the preset good communication conditions, it means that the signal of the current slave device connected to the Internet through the WiFi module is poor, and the power carrier communication module needs to be turned on for networking and the WiFi module of the current slave device needs to be turned off to ensure the stability of communication and prevent the WiFi module from interfering with the signals of other WiFi modules when it is in working state.

[0040] After the power carrier communication module of the current slave device is turned on for networking, step S6 is executed to confirm that the communication signal of the current slave device connected to the network through the power carrier communication module meets the preset communication conditions. The preset communication conditions can be pre-set according to experimental data. Before turning on the WiFi hotspot function of the current slave device, it is necessary to ensure that the communication signal of the power carrier communication module connected to the network meets the preset communication conditions, so that the WiFi hotspot has sufficient stability to avoid affecting the communication quality of the WiFi hotspot.

[0041] When the communication signal of the current slave device connected to the network through the power carrier communication module meets the preset communication conditions, step S7 is executed to turn on the WiFi hotspot function of the current slave device. After turning on the power carrier communication module of the current slave device for networking, further turning on the WiFi hotspot function of the current slave device can increase the coverage of the WiFi network, which is conducive to the networking of smart home devices.

[0042] In this embodiment, see Figure 3 In step S1, the master device scans all slave devices connected to the power line, and after confirming the networking status of the slave device, step S20 is further executed to determine whether the current slave device uses the power carrier communication module for networking.

[0043] If the current slave device is not connected to the Internet using the power carrier communication module, continue to execute step S1. If the current slave device is connected to the Internet using the power carrier communication module, execute step S30 to perform a WiFi networking test on the current slave device. If the current slave device is connected to the Internet using the power carrier communication module, perform a WiFi networking test on the current slave device so that when the WiFi connection signal is good, it can switch to the WiFi module to connect to the Internet, reducing the burden on the power carrier communication module.

[0044] In this embodiment, the step of performing a WiFi networking test on the current slave device includes: the current slave device obtains all connectable WiFi hotspots connected to the router, and performs connection tests on all connectable WiFi hotspots one by one. By performing connection tests on all connectable WiFi hotspots one by one, it is possible to ensure that the best WiFi hotspot is connected and improve the communication quality. During the test, the master device can send a test packet to the slave device and obtain a communication quality feedback signal. The connectable WiFi hotspot can be a WiFi hotspot of a router, a master device, or a slave device.

[0045] After performing the WiFi networking test on the current slave device, step S40 is executed to determine whether the WiFi connection signal of the WiFi networking test meets the preset good communication conditions. After obtaining the communication quality feedback signal, it can be confirmed whether the WiFi connection signal of the WiFi networking test meets the preset good communication conditions according to parameters such as WiFi signal strength, network connection speed and network delay.

[0046] When the WiFi connection signal of the WiFi networking test meets the preset good communication conditions, step S50 is executed to use the WiFi module of the current slave device to connect to the network, and the power carrier communication module of the current slave device is turned off. If the WiFi connection signal is good, it means that the WiFi module can be switched to connect to the network, thereby reducing the number of power carrier communication modules in the power line and improving the stability of the network.

[0047] In this embodiment, see Figure 4 In step S1, the master device scans all slave devices connected to the power line, and after confirming the networking status of the slave devices, step S200 is further executed to determine whether there is a non-networked slave device initiating a networking request.

[0048] If there is no connection request initiated by a slave device not connected to the network, then continue to execute step S1. If there is a connection request initiated by a slave device not connected to the network, then execute step S300 to obtain WiFi network quality data of the slave device not connected to the network connected to the network through the WiFi module and obtain power carrier communication network quality data of the slave device not connected to the network connected to the network through the power carrier communication module. When obtaining WiFi network quality data and power carrier communication network quality data, the master device sends a network test packet to the slave device not connected to the network through the corresponding network, thereby obtaining WiFi network quality data and power carrier communication network quality data fed back by the slave device not connected to the network.

[0049] After obtaining the WiFi network quality data and the power carrier communication network quality data, step S400 is executed to select the networking method corresponding to the one with the highest communication quality between the WiFi network quality data and the power carrier communication network quality data to connect the slave device that is not connected to the network. Selecting the networking method corresponding to the one with the highest communication quality between the WiFi network quality data and the power carrier communication network quality data to connect the slave device that is not connected to the network to the network can ensure the best communication quality.

[0050] From the above, it can be seen that when the smart home networking method based on power carrier communication and WiFi of the present invention is connected to the network, the master device scans the networking status of the slave device. When the current slave device is connected to the router through the WiFi module, if the WiFi connection signal of the current slave device meets the preset good communication conditions, the current networking status is maintained. If the preset good communication conditions cannot be met, the power carrier communication module of the current slave device is turned on for networking, so that the current slave device only uses WiFi communication when the WiFi connection signal is good, reducing the occupancy of the power carrier communication module to avoid network instability caused by too many devices. At the same time, when the WiFi signal is poor, the power carrier communication module is used for communication to avoid signal coverage dead spots.

[0051] Smart home system implementation example:

[0052] The smart home system of this embodiment includes a controller, and when the controller executes a computer program, the steps in the above-mentioned smart home networking method embodiment based on power line carrier communication and WiFi are implemented.

[0053] For example, a computer program may be divided into one or more modules, one or more modules are stored in a memory and executed by a controller to implement the present invention. One or more modules may be a series of computer program instruction segments capable of completing specific functions, and the instruction segments are used to describe the execution process of the computer program in the smart home system.

[0054] The smart home system may include, but is not limited to, a controller and a memory. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the smart home system may include more or fewer components, or a combination of certain components, or different components. For example, the smart home system may also include input and output devices, network access devices, buses, etc.

[0055] For example, the controller may be a central processing unit (CPU), other general controllers, 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. The general controller may be a microcontroller or any conventional controller. The controller is the control center of the smart home system, and uses various interfaces and lines to connect the various parts of the entire smart home system.

[0056] The memory can be used to store computer programs and / or modules. The controller implements various functions of the smart home system by running or executing the computer programs and / or modules stored in the memory, and calling the data stored in the memory. For example, the memory may mainly include a program storage area and a data storage area, wherein the program storage area may store an operating system, at least one application required for a function, etc. In addition, the memory may include a high-speed random access memory, and may also include a non-volatile memory, such as a hard disk, a memory, a plug-in hard disk, a smart memory card (Smart Media Card, SMC), a secure digital (Secure Digital, SD) card, a flash card (FlashCard), at least one disk storage device, a flash memory device, or other volatile solid-state storage devices.

[0057] Computer readable storage medium embodiment:

[0058] If the module integrated in the smart home system of the above embodiment is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the implementation of all or part of the process in the above embodiment of the smart home networking method based on power carrier communication and WiFi can also be completed by instructing the relevant hardware through a computer program. The computer program can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. When the computer program is executed by the controller, it can implement the steps of the above embodiment of the smart home networking method based on power carrier communication and WiFi. Among them, the computer program includes computer program code, and the computer program code can be in source code form, object code form, executable file or some intermediate form. The storage medium may include: any entity or device capable of carrying computer program code, recording medium, U disk, mobile hard disk, disk, optical disk, computer memory, read-only memory (ROM, Read-Only Memory), random access memory (RAM, Random Access Memory), electric carrier signal, telecommunication signal and software distribution medium, etc. It should be noted that the content contained in the computer-readable medium can be appropriately increased or decreased according to the requirements of legislation and patent practice in the jurisdiction. For example, in some jurisdictions, according to legislation and patent practice, computer-readable media does not include electrical carrier signals and telecommunications signals.

[0059] It should be noted that the above are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, but the design concept of the invention is not limited thereto, and any non-substantial modifications made to the present invention using this concept also fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A smart home networking method based on power line carrier communication and WiFi, wherein the smart home system comprises a router with WiFi function, a master device connected to the router for communication, and a slave device connected to the master device for communication, wherein both the master device and the slave device are provided with a WiFi module and a power line carrier communication module, and any two power line carrier communication modules are connected to each other through a power line; characterized in that: The method comprises: The master device scans all the slave devices connected to the power line to confirm the networking status of the slave devices; If the current slave device is connected to the router via a WiFi module, determining whether the WiFi connection signal of the current slave device meets a preset good communication condition; If the WiFi connection signal of the current slave device meets the preset good communication condition, maintain the current networking state; If the WiFi connection signal of the current slave device does not meet the preset good communication condition, the power line carrier communication module of the current slave device is turned on to connect to the network.

2. The smart home networking method based on power line carrier communication and WiFi according to claim 1, characterized in that: When the router is connected to the master device via the WiFi module, the next-level slave device connected to the master device is connected to the master device via the power line carrier communication module.

3. The smart home networking method based on power line carrier communication and WiFi according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: After the power line carrier communication module of the current slave device is turned on for networking, the method further includes: Enable the WiFi hotspot function of the current slave device.

4. The smart home networking method based on power line carrier communication and WiFi according to claim 3 is characterized in that: After the power line carrier communication module of the current slave device is turned on for networking, before the WiFi hotspot function of the current slave device is turned on, the method further includes: Confirm that the communication signal of the current slave device connected to the network through the power line carrier communication module meets the preset communication condition.

5. The smart home networking method based on power line carrier communication and WiFi according to claim 3 is characterized in that: After the master device scans all the slave devices connected to the power line and confirms the networking status of the slave devices, the method further includes: If the current slave device uses the power carrier communication module to connect to the Internet, a WiFi networking test is performed on the current slave device; When the WiFi connection signal of the WiFi networking test meets the preset good communication condition, the WiFi module of the current slave device is used to connect to the network, and the power carrier communication module of the current slave device is turned off.

6. The smart home networking method based on power line carrier communication and WiFi according to claim 4, characterized in that: The steps of performing a WiFi networking test on the current slave device include: The currently connected slave device obtains all connectable WiFi hotspots connected to the router, and performs connection tests on all the connectable WiFi hotspots one by one.

7. The smart home networking method based on power line carrier communication and WiFi according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: After the master device scans all the slave devices connected to the power line and confirms the networking status of the slave devices, the method further includes: If there is a non-networked slave device initiating a networking request, obtaining WiFi network quality data of the non-networked slave device connected to the network through the WiFi module and obtaining power carrier communication network quality data of the non-networked slave device connected to the network through the power carrier communication module; The networking mode corresponding to the one with the highest communication quality between the WiFi network quality data and the power carrier communication network quality data is selected to connect the non-networked slave device to the network.

8. The smart home networking method based on power line carrier communication and WiFi according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The smart home system is an air conditioning system.

9. A smart home system, comprising a processor and a memory, characterized in that: The memory stores a computer program, and when the computer program is executed by the processor, the steps of the smart home networking method based on power line carrier communication and WiFi as described in any one of claims 1 to 8 are implemented.

10. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that: When the computer program is executed by the controller, the steps of the smart home networking method based on power line carrier communication and WiFi are implemented as described in any one of claims 1 to 8.

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