Method, device and system for allocating AID

Abstract

The present application provides a method, device and system for allocating AID, which belongs to the field of network communication technology. The method includes: a management device obtains the parameters of STA, the management device allocates AID to the STA based on the parameters of the STA, and determines a first AP among multiple APs managed by the management device, the first AP is used to send the AID to the STA, the BSSIDs of the multiple APs are the same, at least one AP among the multiple APs receives the authentication request sent by the STA, and the first AP belongs to the at least one AP. The management device sends the AID and the identifier of the STA to the first AP. By adopting the scheme of the present application, different STAs can correspond to different AIDs, so that when the STA sends a message carrying the AID to the AP without carrying the source MAC address, the AP can distinguish the STA.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application. The application number of the original application is 202210087389.2, and the original application date is January 25, 2022. The entire contents of the original application are incorporated into this application by reference. Technical Field

[0002] The present application relates to the field of network communication technology, and in particular to a method, device and system for allocating an AID. Background Art

[0003] In a wireless local area network (WLAN), when a station (STA) accesses the WLAN, the access point (AP) assigns an association identifier (AID) to the STA. The AID is used to identify that a corresponding relationship has been established between the STA and the AP, and the STA and the AP can communicate. Usually, when AP assigns AIDs to STAs, they are assigned to STAs in an ascending order starting from 1.

[0004] In traditional networking, each AP has an independent basic service set identifier (BSSID), and each AP manages the AID of its associated STA. Since the AID assigned by the AP to its associated STA is unique, in a BSSID-identified network architecture, the AID can also replace the media access control (MAC) address in some messages to identify the STA. For example, the AID is used to distinguish the scheduling information of the corresponding STA.

[0005] However, with the development of communication technology, a network architecture has emerged in which multiple APs share a BSSID. If the traditional allocation method is still used to allocate AIDs (for example, in this network architecture, multiple APs allocate AIDs to the APs that access them), it is possible that two APs allocate the same AID to different STAs. In this way, since there are STAs with the same AID in a network architecture identified by a BSSID, when the STA sends a message carrying the AID to the AP without carrying the source MAC address, the AP will be unable to distinguish the STAs. Summary of the invention

[0006] The present application provides a method, apparatus, system, device and storage medium for allocating AIDs, which solve the problem that an AP cannot distinguish STAs in a network architecture identified by a BSSID.

[0007] In a first aspect, the present application provides a method for allocating an AID, the method being performed by a management device, the method comprising:

[0008] The management device obtains the parameters of the STA; the management device allocates an AID to the STA based on the parameters of the STA, and determines a first AP among multiple APs managed by the management device, the first AP is used to send the AID to the STA, the BSSIDs of the multiple APs are the same, at least one AP among the multiple APs receives the authentication request sent by the STA, and the first AP belongs to the at least one AP; the management device sends the AID and the identifier of the STA to the first AP.

[0009] In the solution shown in this application, the management device uses the parameters of the STA to allocate an AID to the STA. The management device determines the first AP that sends the AID to the STA, and the management device sends the AID and the identifier of the STA to the first AP, so that the first AP sends the AID to the STA. In this way, in a network architecture where multiple APs share a BSSID, the management device uniformly allocates AIDs to the STAs, so that the AIDs allocated to each STA in the network architecture are different, and thus when the STA sends a message carrying the AID to the AP without carrying the source MAC address, the AID can also be used to distinguish the STA.

[0010] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: the management device sends the AID and the identifier of the STA to other APs among the multiple APs except the first AP. In this way, since the AID corresponding to the STA is also recorded in other APs, after the STA roams to other APs, it is not necessary to re-authenticate and associate, which can save the time of accessing the network.

[0011] In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the management device detecting that the STA is offline; and the management device sending a recovery message to each of the multiple APs, where the recovery message is used to indicate recovery of the AID.

[0012] In the solution shown in the present application, after the STA goes offline, the management device can notify each AP to reclaim the AID corresponding to the STA, so that the AID can be subsequently allocated to other STAs, saving AID resources.

[0013] In a possible implementation, the multiple APs and the management device form a fiber to the room (FTTR) network architecture, and the management device carries the AID and the STA identifier through an allocation message, the AID and the STA identifier are located in the payload field of the allocation message, and the destination address of the allocation message is the identifier of the AP that receives the allocation message. The identifier of each AP is used to uniquely identify the AP.

[0014] In a possible implementation, the multiple APs and the management device form an Ethernet architecture, and the management device carries the AID and the identifier of the STA through an Ethernet frame. The AID and the identifier of the STA are located in a payload field of the Ethernet frame.

[0015] In a possible implementation, the multiple APs and the management device form a passive optical network (PON) architecture, and the management device carries the AID and the STA identifier through an optical network unit management and control interface (OMCI) message, and the AID and the STA identifier are located in the message content field of the OMCI message.

[0016] In a possible implementation, the management device obtains the parameters of the STA, including: the management device receives an authentication report message sent by at least one of the multiple APs, the authentication report message including the parameters of the STA; the management device obtains the parameters of the STA from the authentication report message. In this way, the management device can obtain the parameters of the STA from the authentication report message.

[0017] In a possible implementation, the method also includes: the management device obtains characteristic information of the at least one AP, the characteristic information of each AP including at least one of load information, interference information received, and quality information of a signal sent by the STA; determining the first AP among the multiple APs managed by the management device includes: the management device determines the connection quality between the at least one AP and the STA respectively based on the characteristic information of the at least one AP, and determines the AP with the highest connection quality among the at least one AP as the first AP.

[0018] In the solution shown in the present application, the management device uses the characteristic information of at least one AP, and determines the AP with the highest connection quality among the at least one AP as the AP to be associated with the STA. In this way, at least one AP is the AP that sends the authentication report message to the management device, that is, at least one AP is the AP that receives the authentication request sent by the STA, then each of the at least one AP can communicate with the STA, and the AP with the highest connection quality is selected from these APs, so that the selected AP can communicate with the STA.

[0019] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: the management device detects that the STA moves from the coverage of the first AP to the coverage of the second AP among the multiple APs; the management device sends a notification message to the second AP, the notification message is used to instruct the second AP to connect with the STA. In this way, after the STA roams into the coverage of the second AP, the management device can notify the second AP to provide the STA with a message forwarding function, so that the STA does not perceive the switching of APs.

[0020] In a second aspect, the present application provides a method for allocating an AID, the method being performed by a first AP, the method comprising:

[0021] The first AP receives the AID and the identifier of the STA sent by the management device, where the AID is the AID allocated by the management device to the STA; the first AP stores the identifier of the STA and the AID in correspondence.

[0022] The solution shown in the present application is that in a network architecture where multiple APs share one BSSID, the management device uniformly allocates AIDs to STAs, so that the AIDs allocated to each STA in the network architecture are different, and further, when the STA sends a message carrying the AID to the AP without carrying the source MAC address, the AID can also be used to distinguish the STA.

[0023] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: when the first AP is an AP designated by the management device and associated with the STA, the first AP sends the AID to the STA. In this way, the AP designated by the management device sends the AID to the STA, which not only enables the STA to obtain the AID corresponding to itself, but also prevents the STA from receiving the AID repeatedly.

[0024] In a possible implementation, before the first AP receives the AID and the identifier of the STA sent by the management device, it also includes: the first AP receives an authentication request sent by the STA, the authentication request includes the parameters of the STA; the first AP sends an authentication report message to the management device, the authentication report message includes the parameters of the STA; after the first AP receives the AID and the identifier of the STA sent by the management device, it also includes: when the first AP is the AP designated by the management device to be associated with the STA, the first AP sends an authentication response message to the STA.

[0025] The solution shown in this application is that after the first AP receives the authentication request sent by the STA, it notifies the management device so that the management device allocates an AID to the STA, and when the first AP is designated as the AP associated with the STA, it sends an authentication response message to the STA so that the STA can continue to perform the process of accessing the network. In addition, only the AP associated with the STA sends the authentication response message to the STA, so that the STA will not receive the authentication response message repeatedly.

[0026] In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: the first AP receiving a reclaim message sent by the management device, where the reclaim message is used to indicate reclaiming the AID; and the first AP reclaiming the AID.

[0027] The solution shown in the present application recycles the AID after the first AP receives the AID recycle message, so that the AID can still be allocated to other STAs, saving AID resources.

[0028] In a third aspect, the present application provides a device for allocating an AID, the device having the function of implementing the first aspect or any optional method of the first aspect. The device includes at least one module, and the at least one module is used to implement the method for allocating an AID provided by the first aspect or any optional method of the first aspect.

[0029] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a device for allocating an AID, the device having the function of implementing the second aspect or any optional method of the second aspect. The device includes at least one module, and the at least one module is used to implement the method for allocating an AID provided by the second aspect or any optional method of the second aspect.

[0030] In a fifth aspect, the present application provides a management device, the management device comprising a network interface, a memory, and a processor connected to the memory;

[0031] The network interface is used to obtain the parameters of the STA and send the identifier and AID of the STA to the first AP;

[0032] The memory is used to store computer instructions;

[0033] The processor is used to execute the computer instructions so that the management device implements the method for allocating AIDs provided by the first aspect or any optional manner of the first aspect.

[0034] In a sixth aspect, the present application provides an AP, the AP comprising a network interface, a memory, and a processor connected to the memory;

[0035] The network interface is used to receive the STA identifier and AID sent by the management device;

[0036] The memory is used to store computer instructions;

[0037] The processor is used to execute the computer instructions to enable the AP to implement the method for allocating AIDs provided by the second aspect or any optional manner of the second aspect.

[0038] In a seventh aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores at least one computer instruction, and the computer instruction is read by a processor to enable a management device to execute the method for allocating AIDs provided in the first aspect or any optional manner of the first aspect.

[0039] In an eighth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores at least one computer instruction, and the computer instruction is read by a processor to enable an AP to execute the method for allocating an AID provided in the second aspect or any optional manner of the second aspect.

[0040] In a ninth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product, the computer program product comprising computer instructions, the computer instructions being stored in a computer-readable storage medium. A processor of a management device reads the computer instructions from the computer-readable storage medium, and the processor executes the computer instructions, so that the management device executes the method for allocating an AID provided in the first aspect or any optional manner of the first aspect.

[0041] In a tenth aspect, the present application provides a computer program product, the computer program product including computer instructions, the computer instructions stored in a computer-readable storage medium. The processor of the AP reads the computer instructions from the computer-readable storage medium, and the processor executes the computer instructions, so that the AP executes the method for allocating AIDs provided in the second aspect or any optional manner of the second aspect.

[0042] In the eleventh aspect, the present application provides a system for allocating AIDs, the system comprising a management device and an AP, the management device being used to execute the method for allocating AIDs provided in the first aspect or any optional manner of the first aspect, and the AP being used to execute the method for allocating AIDs provided in the second aspect or any optional manner of the second aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0043] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a traditional network provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0044] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of a plurality of APs sharing a BSSID provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0045] Figure 3is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a system for allocating AIDs provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0046] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a device provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0047] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of the structure of an AP provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0048] Figure 6 It is a flowchart of a method for allocating AIDs provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0049] Figure 7 is another flowchart of a method for allocating AIDs provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0050] Figure 8 It is another flowchart of a method for allocating AIDs provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0051] Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of an AID allocation field provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0052] Fig.10 is another schematic diagram of an AID allocation field provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0053] Fig.11 is a schematic diagram of an allocation message provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0054] Fig.12 is a schematic diagram of an Ethernet frame provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0055] Fig.13 It is a schematic diagram of an OMCI message provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0056] Fig.14 is a schematic diagram of STA roaming provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0057] Fig.15 is a schematic diagram of a process for recycling AID provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0058] Fig.16 is a schematic diagram of an AID allocation field and an AID recycling field provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0059] Fig.17 is a schematic diagram of a recycling message provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0060] Fig.18 It is a structural schematic diagram of a device for allocating AIDs provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application;

[0061] Fig.19 It is another structural diagram of a device for allocating AIDs provided by an exemplary embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0062] In order to make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the present application clearer, the implementation methods of the present application will be further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0063] A scheme of the related art is described below.

[0064] In the related art, in traditional networking, each BSSID identifies a network architecture, each network architecture includes an AP, and each AP in the network architecture manages the AID of the STA associated with itself. Since the AID assigned by the AP to its associated STA is unique, in a network architecture identified by a BSSID, the AID can also replace the MAC address to identify the STA in some messages. For example, Figure 1 As shown, the three network architectures include AP1, AP2 and AP3, AP1 allocates AID1 to STA1, AP1 allocates AID2 to STA2, AP2 allocates AID1 to STA3, AP3 allocates AID1 to STA4, and AP3 allocates AID2 to STA5. Since the BSSIDs of AP1 and AP2 are different, even if STA1 and STA3 only carry AID1 in the messages they send, there will be no confusion.

[0065] However, with the development of communication technology, a network architecture with multiple APs sharing one BSSID has emerged. If multiple APs in the network architecture assign AIDs to STAs that access them, it is possible that two APs assign the same AID to different STAs. In this way, since there are STAs with the same AID in a network architecture identified by one BSSID, when the STA sends a message carrying the AID to the AP without carrying the source MAC address, the AP will be unable to distinguish the STAs, and when the AP sends a message carrying the AID to the STA associated with itself, confusion will occur on the STA side. For example, Figure 2As shown, in a network architecture including AP4 and AP5, AP4 allocates AID1 to STA6, AP5 allocates AID1 to STA7, and AP5 allocates AID2 to STA8. Because the MAC addresses of each AP are the same in a network architecture identified by a BSSID, when STA6 sends a message with AID1 but without a source MAC address, both AP4 and AP5 will receive the message, and it is impossible to distinguish whether the message belongs to STA6 or STA7. AP4 sends a beacon frame to indicate that STA6 of AID1 has data to be transmitted, and STA6 will be awakened from sleep mode. At the same time, STA7 will mistakenly believe that it also has data to be transmitted, and will also be awakened from sleep mode, affecting energy saving efficiency.

[0066] In the present application, in a network architecture where multiple APs share one BSSID, the management device uniformly allocates AIDs to STAs, so that the AIDs allocated to each STA in the network architecture are different, and thus when the STA sends a message carrying the AID to the AP without carrying the source MAC address, the AID can also be used to distinguish the STA.

[0067] Below, the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application are specifically described from multiple perspectives in the order of a system for allocating AIDs, hardware structures of various devices in the system, and a method for allocating AIDs.

[0068] The following introduces a system for allocating AIDs provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0069] See also Figure 3 , an embodiment of the present application provides a system 300 for allocating AIDs. The system 300 includes multiple APs 301 and a management device 302. Multiple APs 301 form a network architecture, in which the BSSIDs of the APs 301 are the same, the MAC addresses of the APs 301 are the same, and the coverage ranges of two adjacent APs 301 may or may not overlap. For example, AP 301 may be a router, a switch, or an optical modem. The management device 302 is used to allocate AIDs, and the management device 302 may be an AP in the network architecture, which is called a central AP, such as the AP with the strongest capabilities in the network architecture, or an access controller responsible for managing multiple APs 301. Among them, the embodiment of the present application does not limit the number and type of APs.

[0070] The management device 302 can communicate with each AP301, such as through optical fiber communication, cable communication, or wireless communication. In one implementation, the management device 302 and multiple AP301 form a FTTR network architecture, the management device 302 is an optical gateway, and multiple AP301 are edge APs, which are used for STA access, and the optical gateway and edge APs are connected by optical fiber, wireless connection, or cable. In another implementation, the management device 302 and multiple AP301 form an Ethernet architecture. In another implementation, the management device 302 and multiple AP301 form a PON architecture, and the management device 302 and multiple AP301 are connected by optical fiber. The description here that the management device 302 and multiple AP301 form a PON architecture is to illustrate that the network architecture between the management device 302 and multiple AP301 is similar to PON.

[0071] The above introduces the system architecture provided by the embodiment of the present application. The following introduces the hardware structure of the device in the above system architecture.

[0072] See also Figure 4 , Figure 4 The device 400 shown is an example of the AP 301 and the management device 302 in the above system architecture. Optionally, the device 400 is configured as the AP 301 and the management device 302, etc.

[0073] The device 400 may be implemented by a general bus architecture. The device 400 includes at least one processor 401 , a communication bus 402 , a memory 403 , and at least one network interface 404 .

[0074] The processor 401 is, for example, a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a neural-network processing unit (NPU), a data processing unit (DPU), a microprocessor, or one or more integrated circuits for implementing the solution of the present application. For example, the processor 401 includes an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), or a combination thereof. The PLD is, for example, a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a generic array logic (GAL), or any combination thereof.

[0075] The communication bus 402 is used to transmit information between the above components. The communication bus 402 can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. Figure 4 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.

[0076] The memory 403 is, for example, a read-only memory (ROM) or other types of static storage devices that can store static information and instructions, or a random access memory (RAM) or other types of dynamic storage devices that can store information and instructions, or an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, optical disc storage (including compressed optical disc, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc, Blu-ray disc, etc.), a magnetic disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store the desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited thereto. The memory 403 is, for example, independent and connected to the processor 401 through the communication bus 402. The memory 403 can also be integrated with the processor 401.

[0077] Optionally, the memory 403 is used to store the AID etc. allocated by the device 400 to the SAT.

[0078] The network interface 404 uses any transceiver-like device for communicating with other devices or communication networks. The network interface 404 includes a wired network interface and may also include a wireless network interface. The wired network interface may be, for example, an Ethernet interface. The Ethernet interface may be an optical interface, an electrical interface, or a combination thereof. The wireless network interface may be a WLAN interface, a cellular network interface, or a combination thereof.

[0079] In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the processor 401 may include one or more CPUs.

[0080] In a specific implementation, as an embodiment, the device 400 may include multiple processors. Each of these processors may be a single-core processor (single-CPU) or a multi-core processor (multi-CPU). The processor here may refer to one or more devices, circuits, and / or processing cores for processing data (such as computer program instructions).

[0081] In some embodiments, the memory 403 is used to store a program code 4031 for executing the solution of the present application, the program code 4031 is a computer instruction, and the processor 401 can execute the program code 4031 stored in the memory 403. That is, the device 400 can implement the method for allocating AIDs provided in the method embodiment through the processor 401 and the program code 4031 in the memory 403.

[0082] In another implementation, Figure 5 The schematic diagram of the structure of AP301 is shown. AP301 includes a main control board 3011 and an interface board 3012. The main control board 3011 belongs to the control plane of AP301, and the interface board 3012 belongs to the data plane of AP301. The main control board 3011 includes a processor and a memory. The interface board 3012 includes a processor, a memory, and an interface card.

[0083] A communication connection is established between the main control board 3011 and the interface board 3012 .

[0084] The processor of the main control board 3011 may be a CPU or an ASIC, etc. The processor may include one or more chips. The memory of the main control board 3011 may be a ROM, a static storage device, a dynamic storage device or a RAM. The memory of the main control board 3011 may store computer instructions, and when the computer instructions stored in the memory are executed by the processor, the processor of the main control board 3011 executes the method for allocating AIDs.

[0085] The processor of the interface board 3012 may be a CPU, an ASIC, etc. The processor of the interface board 3012 may include one or more chips. The memory of the interface board 3012 may be a ROM, a static storage device, a dynamic storage device, or a RAM. The memory of the interface board 3012 may store computer instructions, and when the computer instructions stored in the memory are executed by the processor of the interface board 3012, the processor of the interface board 3012 executes the method for allocating AIDs. The interface card may implement the sending and receiving processing of messages.

[0086] The following describes the processing of the management device in the method flow of allocating AIDs in the embodiment of the present application. Figure 6 In the following text, the AP is AP301 and the management device is management device 302.

[0087] Step 601: The management device obtains the parameters of the STA.

[0088] Among them, STA is any device that requests to access the AP, such as a mobile phone, tablet, speaker or notebook.

[0089] In this embodiment, the management device determines that the STA requests authentication and obtains parameters of the STA, which include but are not limited to the capability level and model of the STA.

[0090] In step 602, the management device allocates an AID to the STA based on the parameters of the STA, and determines a first AP among multiple APs managed by the management device. The first AP is used to send the AID to the STA. The basic service set identifiers (BSSIDs) of the multiple APs are the same, and at least one of the multiple APs receives an authentication request sent by the STA.

[0091] In this embodiment, the management device verifies the parameters of the STA and determines whether the STA is allowed to go online. For example, the management device determines whether the model of the STA belongs to the model allowed to access, and determines whether the capability level of the STA meets the capability level required by the management device. If both meet, it is determined that the STA is allowed to go online, otherwise the STA is not allowed to go online. If the STA is allowed to go online, an AID is allocated to the STA. For the convenience of description, the AID is called the target AID. For example, the management device selects the AID with the smallest sequence number from the currently unallocated AIDs. If the STA is not allowed to go online, the management device sends an authentication failure message to an AP that receives the authentication request, so that the AP sends an authentication response message to the STA, and the authentication response message indicates that the authentication failed.

[0092] The management device determines a first AP among the multiple APs managed by the management device, and the first AP is used as the AP to be associated with the STA, and the first AP is used to send the target AID to the STA. When the management device is a central AP, if the central AP determines that it is the first AP, step 603 may not be performed.

[0093] Optionally, when the management device allocates AIDs, they may be allocated in ascending order according to the access order of the STAs. The range of AIDs is 1 to 2007. Each AID corresponds to an available mark bit, which is set to 1 by default. After the target AID is allocated to the STA, the mark bit of the target AID is 0. In this way, when the management device allocates AIDs to the STAs, it allocates AIDs with a mark bit of 1, so that there is no STA using the same AID at the same time.

[0094] It should be noted that the multiple APs are APs that the STA may access. In addition, since the first AP selected is for communicating with the STA, it should be able to communicate with the STA currently, so the first AP is the AP that receives the authentication request sent by the STA.

[0095] Step 603: The management device sends the AID and the identifier of the STA to the first AP.

[0096] In this embodiment, after determining the target AID and the first AP, the management device sends the target AID and the identifier of the STA to the first AP, wherein the identifier of the STA may be the MAC address of the STA or other identifier that uniquely indicates the STA.

[0097] The following describes the processing of the AP in the method flow of allocating AIDs in the embodiment of the present application, see Figure 7 In step 701 to step 702, the first AP is used as an example for explanation, and the first AP belongs to multiple APs managed by the management device.

[0098] Step 701: A first AP receives an AID and an identifier of a STA sent by a management device. The AID is an AID allocated by the management device to the STA.

[0099] Step 702: The first AP stores the STA identifier and the AID in correspondence.

[0100] In this embodiment, the first AP stores the STA's identifier and the target AID in correspondence, so that when the first AP receives a message including the target AID, it is determined that the message comes from the STA indicated by the STA's identifier, and the first AP can carry the AID when sending a message to the STA. In this way, the AID is generally 1 or 2 bytes, while the MAC address is 6 bytes. Carrying the AID can save the byte overhead of the message compared to carrying the MAC address.

[0101] Combination Figure 6 From step 701 to step 702, the process of interaction between the management device and the first AP is shown in Figure 7 .

[0102] based on Figure 7 In the process shown, in a network architecture where multiple APs share one BSSID, the management device uniformly allocates AIDs to STAs, so that the AIDs allocated to each STA in the network architecture are different, and then the AID can be carried when sending a message to identify the STA.

[0103] The following describes how to allocate AIDs from the perspective of both the management device and the AP. Figure 8 The process shown.

[0104] Step 801: STA sends an authentication request, which includes parameters of STA.

[0105] In this embodiment, the STA first scans the wireless network. After the scan is completed, the scanned wireless network is displayed on the screen. The user chooses to connect to a wireless network whose network architecture includes multiple APs (the network architecture corresponds to a BSSID). The STA generates an authentication request, which includes the parameters of the STA, including but not limited to the capability level and model of the STA. The STA sends the authentication request. This is only one possible way to trigger the STA to send an authentication request, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit this.

[0106] Step 802: The first AP receives an authentication request sent by a STA.

[0107] In this embodiment, all APs currently covering the STA can receive the authentication request sent by the STA. It is assumed here that the first AP receives the authentication request sent by the STA.

[0108] Step 803: The first AP sends an authentication reporting message to the management device, where the authentication reporting message includes parameters of the STA.

[0109] Steps 802 to 803 only show that the first AP receives the authentication request sent by the STA and sends an authentication report message to the management device. It is possible that other APs also receive the authentication request sent by the STA, and other APs will also send authentication report messages to the management device.

[0110] Step 804: The management device receives an authentication report message sent by at least one AP among the multiple APs, where the authentication report message includes parameters of the STA.

[0111] The authentication report message is used to indicate a request to perform an authentication operation for the STA.

[0112] In this embodiment, at least one AP will send an authentication reporting message to the management device, and the management device will receive the authentication reporting message sent by the at least one AP.

[0113] Step 805: The management device obtains the STA's parameters from the authentication report message.

[0114] In this embodiment, a certain field in the authentication report message is specifically used to store the parameters of the STA, and the management device can obtain the parameters of the STA from the field.

[0115] Step 806: The management device obtains characteristic information of at least one AP, where the characteristic information of each AP includes at least one of load information, interference information received, and quality information of a signal sent by a received STA.

[0116] The at least one AP is an AP among the multiple APs that receives the authentication request sent by the STA.

[0117] In one implementation, when the AP sends an authentication report message to the management device, the authentication report message includes characteristic information of the AP, and the characteristic information of the AP includes at least one of load information of the AP, interference information received, and quality information of a signal sent by a STA. The load information of the AP refers to the number of currently associated STAs or the number of remaining associable STAs. The interference information received by the AP refers to the interference value received by the AP from other APs. The quality information of a signal sent by a STA refers to the signal strength of an authentication request sent by the STA received by the AP, etc. The management device can obtain the characteristic information of the AP from the authentication report message.

[0118] In another implementation, the authentication report message does not include the feature information, the management device may send a request to obtain the feature information to the AP, and the AP reports the feature information to the management device.

[0119] In another implementation, the authentication report message does not include feature information. For quality information, the management device can send a request to obtain quality information to the AP, and the AP reports the quality information of the signal sent by the STA to the management device. For load information, the management device can determine the number of STAs currently communicating with the AP. For example, when the management device first specifies the STA to associate with the AP, it will record the communication between the AP and the STA. When the STA roams from the currently communicating AP to the coverage of another AP, the management device will update the STA communicating with the AP. For interference information, the management device obtains the interference information reported by the AP for the last time and determines it as the interference information received.

[0120] Step 807: The management device allocates a target AID to the STA based on the parameters of the STA, and determines the connection quality between the at least one AP and the STA based on the characteristic information of the at least one AP, and determines the AP with the highest connection quality among the at least one AP as the first AP.

[0121] Among them, at least one AP is an AP that receives the authentication request sent by the STA. Here, since the first AP selected is used to communicate with the STA, an AP that can currently receive the authentication request sent by the STA should be selected so that the STA can communicate with the first AP.

[0122] In this embodiment, the process of the management device allocating a target AID to the STA is described in step 602 and will not be described again here.

[0123] In the case where the characteristic information of at least one AP includes one, for any AP, if the content included in the characteristic information of the AP is negatively correlated with the connection quality, the reciprocal of the content included in the characteristic information is determined as the connection quality between the AP and the STA, and if the content included in the characteristic information of the AP is positively correlated with the connection quality, the content included in the characteristic information is determined as the connection quality between the AP and the STA. For example, the characteristic information includes load information, and the load information is the number of STAs communicating with the AP, and the reciprocal of the number of STAs is determined as the connection quality with the STA.

[0124] In the case where the characteristic information of at least one AP includes multiple types, for any AP, various contents of the characteristic information are weighted to obtain a weighted value, and the weighted value is determined as the connection quality. Here, when weighting, the content that is negatively correlated with the connection quality is taken inversely, and the content that takes the inverse is used for weighted processing. Specifically, the weights of various contents in the characteristic information can be set according to actual needs, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited.

[0125] After determining the connection quality between the AP and the STA, the management device determines the AP with the highest connection quality as the first AP.

[0126] It should be noted that the above is only an exemplary method of determining the connection quality based on the feature information, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto.

[0127] Step 808: The management device sends the target AID and the identifier of the STA to the first AP, and sends the target AID and the identifier of the STA to other APs among the multiple APs except the first AP.

[0128] In this embodiment, the management device has multiple ways to notify the target AID, and two feasible ways are provided below.

[0129] Method 1: The management device sends an allocation message to each AP. The allocation message includes an AID allocation field. The AID allocation field includes the STA identification field, the AID field, and the indication field of the response authentication request. The STA identification can be the STA's MAC address. The target AID is stored in the AID field. See Fig. 9 The AID allocation field shown. For the AID allocation field sent to the first AP, the content of the indication field in response to the authentication request is used to instruct the first AP to send the target AID to the STA. For the AID allocation field sent to other APs except the first AP among multiple APs, the content of the indication field in response to the authentication request is used to indicate that the target AID is not sent to the STA. For example, in the AID allocation field sent to the first AP, the content of the indication field in response to the authentication request is 1, and in the AID allocation field sent to other APs, the content of the indication field in response to the authentication request is 0.

[0130] Method 2: The management device sends an allocation message to each AP. The allocation message includes an AID allocation field. The AID allocation field includes an AP identification field, an STA identification field, and an AID field. The AP identification field stores the identification of the first AP, which uniquely indicates the first AP. The AID field stores the target AID. Fig.10 The AP that receives the AID allocation field determines whether its own identifier is the same as the identifier of the AP in the AID allocation field. If they are the same, it indicates that the AP is the first AP. If they are not the same, it indicates that the AP is another AP among the multiple APs except the first AP.

[0131] In method 1 and method 2, after the management device sends the STA's identifier and target AID to other APs among multiple APs except the first AP, the other APs store the target AID and the STA's identifier. In this way, when the STA roams from the coverage of the first AP to the coverage of other APs, even if the message carries the target AID but not the STA's identifier, the other APs can still identify the STA.

[0132] Optionally, in order to distinguish the allocation message from the recovery message mentioned later, the AID allocation field includes a message identifier, and the message identifier takes different values ​​to identify the allocation message and the recovery message respectively. For example, when the message identifier is 1, the message is an allocation message, and when the message identifier is 0, the message is a recovery message.

[0133] It should be noted that in Fig. 9 and Fig.10 The AID allocation field shown may be part of the content of the AID allocation field.

[0134] For example, in different network architectures, the message format carrying the AID allocation field may be different. For example, multiple APs and a management device form an FTTR network architecture, and the management device and multiple APs are connected via optical fiber or wireless connection. The message carrying the AID allocation field can be called an allocation message, see Fig.11The allocation message shown includes an AID allocation field, a destination address field, a source address field, a message type field, a payload length field and a payload field. The payload field may also be referred to as a payload field. For an allocation message sent to any AP, the destination address is the identifier of the AP. The identifier of the AP uniquely indicates the AP. Different APs have different identifiers. The identifier of the AP here may be any content that can uniquely identify the AP, such as an index number, etc. For example, the destination address of the allocation message sent to the first AP is the index number of the first AP. The source address is the identifier of the management device. The identifier of the management device may be the MAC address of the management device, or an index identifier that uniquely identifies the management device. It is worth noting that when the management device is a central AP, since the MAC address of the central AP is the same as that of other APs, the identifier of the management device is not a MAC address. The message type field identifies that the allocation message is a control message, not a data message.

[0135] Optionally, the allocation message also includes a reserved field.

[0136] Multiple APs and management devices form an Ethernet architecture, and the management device and multiple APs are connected through optical fibers or cables. The allocation message format that carries the AID allocation field is an Ethernet frame, see Fig.12 In the Ethernet frame shown in FIG. 1 , the AID allocation field is located in the payload field of the Ethernet frame. Fig.12 In the Ethernet frame shown, if the management device is not the central AP in the network architecture, the source address is the MAC address of the management device, and the destination address is the virtual MAC address of the AP that receives the Ethernet frame. If the management device is the central AP in the network architecture, the source address is the virtual MAC address of the management device, and the destination address is the virtual MAC address of the AP that receives the Ethernet frame. Here, in a network architecture identified by a BSSID, since the MAC address of each AP is the same, in order to distinguish different APs, a virtual MAC address is assigned to each AP to distinguish different APs. For example, after each AP goes online, the management device assigns a different virtual MAC address to each AP. In addition, the virtual MAC address of each AP is invisible to the STA. When the AP communicates with the STA, the MAC address of the AP is carried, not the virtual MAC address.

[0137] In addition, the Ethernet frame also includes a type field, a length field, and a frame check sequence (FCS) field.

[0138] Multiple APs and management devices form a PON architecture, and the management device and multiple APs are connected through an optical distribution network (ODN). The format of the allocation message that carries the AID allocation field is the format of the OMCI message. See the OMCI message shown in Figure 13. The AID allocation field is located in the MessageContents field of the OMCI message. Fig.13 In the OMCI message shown, the OMCI message also includes a Gigabit-Capable PON encapsulation mode (GEM) header field, a transaction correlation identifier (Transaction Correlation Identifier) ​​field, a message type (Message Type) field, a device identifier (Device Identifier) ​​field, a message identifier (Message Identifier) ​​field and an OMCI trailer field.

[0139] Among them, the GEM Header field includes the GEM payload length, GEM port identifier, payload type indicator (PTI) and header error check (HEC), etc. Different GEM port identifiers are used to identify different APs. After receiving the OMCI message, the AP can determine the OMCI message carrying its corresponding GEM port identifier as the OMCI message sent to itself.

[0140] The value of the Transaction Correlation Identifier field must be consistent in a set of corresponding request and response messages. The Message Type field is used to identify the specific type of the message. For example, the content of the Message Type field is 0x20. The Device Identifier field is used to identify the type of AP. The Message Identifier field is used to identify the total type of the message. The Message Type is one of the total types identified by the Message Identifier. The OMCI Trailer field is used for message verification.

[0141] Step 809: The first AP receives the target AID and the identifier of the STA sent by the management device.

[0142] Step 810: APs other than the first AP receive the target AID and the identifier of the STA sent by the management device.

[0143] In this embodiment, other APs except the first AP store the target AID and the STA identifier in correspondence. Figure 8 Only the second AP receives the target AID and the STA identifier.

[0144] Step 811: The first AP stores the STA identifier and the target AID in correspondence.

[0145] In this embodiment, the first AP stores the identifier of the STA and the target AID as a correspondence, and records the capability information of the STA in the correspondence.

[0146] Step 812: When the first AP is an AP designated by the management device to be associated with the STA, the first AP sends an authentication response message to the STA.

[0147] In this embodiment, when the first AP receives the target AID and the identifier of the STA, since the first AP is a device designated by the management device to respond to the STA, the first AP sends an authentication response message to the STA.

[0148] Step 813: The STA receives the authentication response message and sends an association request.

[0149] In this embodiment, after receiving the authentication response message sent by the first AP, the STA generates an association request, which includes but is not limited to the rate, channel, quality of service (QoS) capabilities supported by the STA, and the selected access authentication and encryption algorithms, and then the STA sends the association request. Here, since the MAC addresses of the APs with the same BSSID are the same, for the STA, it only sends the association request to the AP with the MAC address, and the APs covering the STA may receive the association request.

[0150] Step 814: The first AP receives an association request sent by the STA.

[0151] Step 815: When the first AP is the AP designated by the management device to be associated with the STA, the first AP sends an association response message to the STA, where the association response message includes a target AID.

[0152] In this embodiment, the first AP is a device designated by the management device to associate with the STA. The first AP sends an association response message to the STA, and the association response message includes a target AID.

[0153] In addition, other APs except the first AP may also receive the association request, but since other APs are not designated devices to be associated with the STA, they will not reply with an association response message to the STA.

[0154] It should be noted that, in the case where multiple APs and management devices form an FTTR network architecture, in step 803, the format of the authentication report message can be the same as Fig.11 In the case where multiple APs and management devices form an Ethernet architecture, in step 803, the format of the authentication report message can be the same as Fig.12 In the case where multiple APs and management devices form a PON architecture, in step 803, the format of the authentication report message can be the same as Fig.13 The format of the OMCI messages shown is the same.

[0155] It should also be noted that in Figure 8 In the process shown, the management device sends the target AID and the STA's identifier to the second AP. In step 808, the first AP may also send the target AID and the STA's identifier to the second AP after the first AP is associated with the STA. In addition, when the management device or the first AP sends the target AID and the STA's identifier to the second AP, it may also send the content negotiated when the first AP is associated with the STA, such as the rate, channel, QoS capabilities supported by the STA, and the selected access authentication and encryption algorithm, etc. In this way, after the STA roams into the coverage area of ​​the second AP, the second AP can directly communicate with the STA and provide the STA with the function of message forwarding.

[0156] In the embodiment of the present application, after the STA moves, the AP that provides forwarding processing for the STA's message may also be adjusted, and the processing process is as follows:

[0157] go through Figure 8 In the process shown, after the STA associates with the first AP, the first AP is responsible for forwarding the STA's messages (including messages sent to the STA and messages received from the STA), and considers that the STA is currently in the coverage of the first AP. The STA may move from the coverage of the first AP to the coverage of the second AP among multiple APs. For example, the company where the user is located includes multiple office areas. When the user moves from one office area to another, the user's STA may also move from the coverage of the first AP to the coverage of the second AP. See Fig.14 , the management device can send a notification message to the second AP. In order to distinguish it from the notification message in the following text, the notification message is called the first notification message, which instructs the second AP to connect with the STA. After the second AP receives the first notification message, it is responsible for forwarding the message after receiving the message from the STA. Here, the second AP has stored the STA's identifier and target AID, so the second AP can distinguish the STA based on the AID.

[0158] Optionally, the management device may send a second notification message to the first AP, the second notification message instructing the first AP to no longer forward STA messages. In this way, when the coverage of the first AP and the second AP overlap, only one AP is responsible for forwarding STA messages at the same time.

[0159] Exemplarily, the first notification message and the second notification message may also carry the same time indication identifier, which indicates that the first AP no longer forwards the STA's message after this time, and indicates that the second AP starts forwarding the STA's message after this time.

[0160] Exemplarily, the process by which the management device determines that the STA enters the coverage area of ​​the second AP is as follows:

[0161] Each time the AP receives a message sent by the STA, it records the signal strength of the received message and sends the signal strength and the STA identifier to the management device, or sends the signal strength and the target AID to the management device. After the management device receives the signal strength and the target AID, the signal strength of the message sent by the STA received by the first AP is the first strength, and the signal strength of the message sent by the STA received by the second AP is the second strength. If the first strength is lower than the second strength, it is determined that the STA roams from the coverage of the first AP to the coverage of the second AP. Here, the AP can also periodically obtain the signal strength of the message sent by the STA and send it to the management device.

[0162] Optionally, if the first intensity is continuously lower than the second intensity for a period of time, it is determined that the STA roams from the coverage area of ​​the first AP to the coverage area of ​​the second AP.

[0163] It should be noted that the first notification message may carry the STA identifier and an identifier indicating to forward the message, and the second notification message may carry the STA identifier and an identifier indicating to stop forwarding the message.

[0164] It should also be noted that when a STA sends a message, all APs covering the STA may receive the message. However, since the management device only specifies one AP to connect to the STA at a certain time, there will not be multiple APs processing the STA's message at the same time. In addition, since the MAC addresses of multiple APs are the same, from the perspective of the STA, the STA believes that it is always connected to one wireless network.

[0165] In the embodiment of the present application, in order to allow more STAs to access the wireless network, after the STA goes offline from the wireless network, the AID allocated to the STA is recovered, and the recovered AID can be allocated to other APs to access the wireless network. Fig.15 Step 1501 to step 1505.

[0166] Step 1501: The management device detects that the STA is offline.

[0167] In this embodiment, there are multiple ways for the management device to detect that the STA is offline. Here, two feasible ways are provided:

[0168] Method 1: Each time the AP receives a message sent by the STA, it records the signal strength of the received message and sends the signal strength and the STA identifier to the management device, or sends the signal strength and the target AID to the management device. If the management device does not receive the signal strength of the message sent by the AP to receive the STA within the first time period, it determines that the STA is offline. The first time period can be set according to actual needs.

[0169] Method 2: The AP associated with the STA detects that the STA is offline, and the AP sends a message to the management device that the STA is offline. After receiving the message, the management device determines that the STA is offline. Exemplarily, the AP detects that the STA is offline in the following way: the AP actively determines that the STA is offline. For example, after the STA has been associated with the AP, the administrator enters an access blacklist in the AP. If the STA is on the blacklist, the AP determines that the STA is offline. For another example, the AP associated with the STA will periodically send management frames to the AP. If the STA does not respond within the target number of cycles or the second time period, the STA is determined to be offline. The target number and the second time period can be set according to actual needs.

[0170] Alternatively, in some cases, the STA sends an offline message to the AP, and the AP determines that the STA is offline. For example, the STA switches wireless networks, and the STA sends an offline message to the AP, and the AP determines that the STA is offline.

[0171] Method 1 and Method 2 are merely two optional methods, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit them.

[0172] Step 1502: The management device sends a recovery message to each of the first APs. The recovery message is used to indicate the recovery target AID.

[0173] In this embodiment, after the management device determines that the STA is offline, it generates a reclaim message, and the reclaim message includes the identifier of the STA or the target AID. The management device sends the reclaim message to multiple allocations.

[0174] Exemplarily, the recovery message includes an AID recovery field, the AID recovery field includes an AID field, or the AID recovery field includes an AID field and an STA identification field. Alternatively, the AID recovery field includes an AID field, an STA identification field, and a message identifier field. The AID field is used to store the target AID, and the message identifier is used to indicate whether the message is a recovery message or an allocation message. When the message identifier value is 1, the message is an allocation message, and when the message identifier value is 0, the message is a recovery message. For example, see Fig.16 The AID Reclaim field and the AID Allocation field are shown.

[0175] For example, in different network architectures, the format of the recovery message carrying the AID recovery field may be different. For example, multiple APs and a management device form an FTTR network architecture, and the management device and multiple APs are connected via optical fiber or wireless connection. Fig.17 The recycling message shown includes an AID recycling field, a destination address field, a source address field, a message type field, a payload length field, and a payload field. For a recycling message sent to any AP, the destination address is the identifier of the AP, and the identifier of the AP uniquely indicates the AP, and different APs have different identifiers. The source address is the identifier of the management device, and the identifier of the management device can be the MAC address of the management device, or an index identifier that uniquely identifies the management device. The message type field identifies that the recycling message is a control message.

[0176] Optionally, the recycle message also includes a reserved field.

[0177] For another example, multiple APs and a management device form an Ethernet architecture, and the management device and multiple APs are connected via optical fibers or cables. The recovery message format that carries the AID recovery field is an Ethernet frame, and the AID recovery field is located in the payload field of the Ethernet frame. Fig.12 The source and destination addresses of the Ethernet frame are shown.

[0178] For another example, multiple APs and a management device form a PON architecture, and the management device and multiple APs are connected via an ODN. The format of the recovery message carrying the AID recovery field is the format of the OMCI message, and the AID recovery field is located in the message content field of the OMCI message. Here, the structure of the OMCI message is shown in Fig.13 .

[0179] Step 1503: Multiple APs respectively receive the recovery message sent by the management device.

[0180] Step 1504: Multiple APs recycle the target AID respectively.

[0181] In this embodiment, after receiving the reclaim message, each AP among the multiple APs deletes the target AID. For example, the first AP among the multiple APs deletes the corresponding relationship between the target AID and the identifier of the STA.

[0182] Step 1505: Multiple APs send recycling completion messages to the management device respectively.

[0183] In this embodiment, after the AP deletes the target AID, there is no corresponding relationship between the STA's identifier and the target AID. After the management device receives the recovery completion message sent by each of the multiple APs, the management device can allocate the target AID to another STA to be accessed. In this way, after the STA goes offline, the target AID can also be provided to other STAs for use, thereby improving the utilization rate of the AID.

[0184] Optionally, after the target AID is recycled, the management device sets the mark position of the target AID to 1, indicating that the target AID can be allocated to other STAs.

[0185] It should be noted that in Fig.15 Only the management device sends a recovery message to the first AP. For the process of sending the recovery message to other APs, see Fig.15 .

[0186] In another implementation, the management device only sends the AID and the identifier of the STA to the first AP, and the management device may only send a reclaim message to the first AP, so that the first AP deletes the AID.

[0187] In another implementation, the management device sends the AID and STA identifier to multiple APs managed by itself. The management device can send a recovery message to the first AP to cause the first AP to delete the AID, and cause the first AP to send a recovery message to other APs among the multiple APs except the first AP to cause the other APs to delete the AID.

[0188] In the embodiment of the present application, a process for the management device to detect the status of the AP is also provided, which is as follows: a heartbeat connection is established between the management device and each AP, and the management device periodically sends a heartbeat message to the AP. If the management device does not receive a heartbeat reply message sent by a certain AP within a target number of consecutive cycles, it is determined that the AP is faulty, and a prompt message can be sent to the management device so that the management can troubleshoot the AP in time. The target number here can be set according to actual needs.

[0189] In the embodiment of the present application, in a network architecture identified by a BSSID, the management device uniformly allocates AIDs, so that different STAs accessing the network architecture correspond to different AIDs, so that messages carrying AIDs between multiple APs and STAs will not be confused. Moreover, since an AID uniquely corresponds to one STA, the AID can be used instead of the MAC address to identify the STA, saving byte overhead. For example, the MAC address is 6 bytes, and the use of AID can be reduced to 1 byte or 2 bytes.

[0190] The device provided in the embodiments of the present application is introduced below.

[0191] Fig.18 1 is a structural diagram of the device for allocating AIDs provided in the embodiment of the present application. The device can be implemented as part or all of the device through software, hardware, or a combination of both, and the device is applied to manage equipment. The device provided in the embodiment of the present application can implement the embodiment of the present application. Figure 6 The process described above includes: an acquisition module 1810, a determination module 1820, and a sending module 1830:

[0192] The acquisition module 1810 is used to acquire the parameters of the STA, and can be specifically used to implement the acquisition function of step 601 and execute the implicit steps included in step 601;

[0193] The determination module 1820 is used to allocate an AID to the STA based on the parameters of the STA, and determine a first AP among the multiple APs managed by the management device, where the first AP is used to send the AID to the STA, the BSSIDs of the multiple APs are the same, at least one AP among the multiple APs receives the authentication request sent by the STA, and the first AP belongs to the at least one AP, which can be specifically used to implement the determination function of step 602 and execute the implicit steps included in step 602;

[0194] The sending module 1830 is used to send the AID and the identifier of the STA to the first AP, and can be specifically used to implement the sending function of step 603 and execute the implicit steps included in step 603.

[0195] In a possible implementation, the sending module 1830 is further configured to:

[0196] The AID and the identifier of the STA are sent to other APs among the multiple APs except the first AP.

[0197] In a possible implementation, the determining module 1820 is further configured to detect that the STA is offline;

[0198] The sending module 1830 is further configured to send a recovery message to each of the plurality of APs, wherein the recovery message is used to indicate recovery of the AID.

[0199] In one possible implementation, the multiple APs and the management device form a fiber-to-the-room FTTR network architecture, and the management device carries the AID and the STA identifier through an allocation message. The AID and the STA identifier are located in the payload field of the allocation message, and the destination address of the allocation message is the identifier of the AP that receives the allocation message.

[0200] In a possible implementation, the multiple APs and the management device form an Ethernet architecture, and the management device carries the AID and the identifier of the STA through an Ethernet frame, and the AID and the identifier of the STA are located in a payload field of the Ethernet frame.

[0201] In a possible implementation, the multiple APs and the management device form a PON architecture, and the management device carries the AID and the identifier of the STA through an OMCI message, and the AID and the identifier of the STA are located in a message content field of the OMCI message.

[0202] In a possible implementation, the acquisition module 1810 is used to:

[0203] receiving an authentication reporting message sent by at least one AP among the multiple APs, where the authentication reporting message includes parameters of the STA;

[0204] Obtain the parameters of the STA from the authentication report message.

[0205] In a possible implementation, the acquisition module 1810 is further configured to acquire characteristic information of the at least one AP, where the characteristic information of each AP includes at least one of load information, interference information received, and quality information of a signal sent by the STA;

[0206] The determination module 1820 is used to determine the connection quality between the at least one AP and the STA respectively based on the characteristic information of the at least one AP, and determine the AP with the highest connection quality among the at least one AP as the first AP.

[0207] In a possible implementation, the determining module 1820 is further configured to detect that the STA moves from a coverage area of ​​the first AP to a coverage area of ​​a second AP among the multiple APs;

[0208] The sending module 1830 is further used to send a notification message to the second AP, where the notification message is used to instruct the second AP to connect to the STA.

[0209] Fig.19 1 is a structural diagram of a device for allocating AIDs provided in an embodiment of the present application. The device can be implemented as part or all of a device through software, hardware, or a combination of both, and the device is applied to a first AP. The device provided in an embodiment of the present application can implement an embodiment of the present application. Figure 7 Partial processing in the process, the device includes: a receiving module 1910 and a processing module 1920:

[0210] The receiving module 1910 is used to receive the AID and the identifier of the STA sent by the management device, where the AID is the AID allocated by the management device to the STA, and can be specifically used to implement the receiving function of step 701 and execute the implicit steps included in step 701;

[0211] The processing module 1920 is used to store the STA identifier and the AID in correspondence with each other, and can be specifically used to implement the processing function of step 702 and execute the implicit steps included in step 702.

[0212] In a possible implementation manner, the apparatus further includes: a sending module, configured to send the AID to the STA when the first AP is an AP designated by the management device and associated with the STA.

[0213] In a possible implementation, the receiving module 1910 is further configured to receive an authentication request sent by the STA before receiving the AID and the STA identifier sent by the management device, where the authentication request includes parameters of the STA;

[0214] The apparatus further includes: a sending module, configured to send an authentication reporting message to the management device, wherein the authentication reporting message includes parameters of the STA;

[0215] After receiving the AID and the identifier of the STA sent by the management device, in the case where the first AP is the AP designated by the management device and associated with the STA, an authentication response message is sent to the STA.

[0216] In a possible implementation, the receiving module 1910 is further configured to receive a recovery message sent by the management device, where the recovery message is used to indicate recovery of the AID;

[0217] The processing module 1920 is further used to recycle the AID.

[0218] Fig.18 and Fig.19 For the detailed process of allocating AIDs by the illustrated apparatus for allocating AIDs, please refer to the descriptions in the previous embodiments, which will not be repeated here. Fig.18 The device for allocating AIDs shown is attached Figure 3 The management device 302 in Fig.19 The device for allocating AIDs shown is attached Figure 3 AP301 in.

[0219] In some embodiments, a computer program product is provided, the computer program product comprising computer instructions, the computer instructions being stored in a computer-readable storage medium. A processor of a management device reads the computer instructions from the computer-readable storage medium, and the processor executes the computer instructions, so that the management device executes Figure 6 The process shown.

[0220] In some embodiments, a computer program product is provided, the computer program product comprising computer instructions, the computer instructions being stored in a computer-readable storage medium. A processor of a first AP reads the computer instructions from the computer-readable storage medium, and the processor executes the computer instructions so that the first AP executes Figure 7 Part of the process shown.

[0221] Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various method steps and units described in the embodiments disclosed in this application can be implemented with electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of the two. In order to clearly illustrate the interchangeability of hardware and software, the steps and components of each embodiment have been generally described in terms of function in the above description. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those of ordinary skill in the art may use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.

[0222] In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system architecture, device and method can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic. For example, the division of the module is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation, such as multiple modules or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or modules, or it can be an electrical, mechanical or other form of connection.

[0223] The modules described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components displayed as modules may or may not be physical modules, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed on multiple network modules. Some or all of the modules may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the embodiments of the present application.

[0224] In addition, each module in each embodiment of the present application can be integrated into one processing module, or each module can exist physically separately, or two or more modules can be integrated into one module. The above integrated modules can be implemented in the form of hardware or software modules.

[0225] If the integrated module is implemented in the form of a software function module and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application is essentially or the part that contributes to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product is stored in a storage medium, including several instructions for a computer device (which can be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: various media that can store program codes, such as USB flash drives, mobile hard drives, ROM, RAM, magnetic disks or optical disks.

[0226] In this application, the terms "first", "second", etc. are used to distinguish between identical or similar items with substantially the same effects and functions. It should be understood that there is no logical or temporal dependency between "first" and "second", nor is the quantity and execution order limited. It should also be understood that although the following description uses the terms first, second, etc. to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by the terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the various examples, a first AP may be referred to as a second AP, and similarly, a second AP may be referred to as a first AP. The first AP and the second AP may both be APs, and in some cases, may be separate and different APs.

[0227] The term "at least one" in this application means one or more, and the term "plurality" in this application means two or more.

[0228] The above description is only a specific implementation 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 equivalent modifications or replacements within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, and these modifications or replacements 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 method for allocating association identifiers AIDs in a fiber-to-the-room FTTR network, characterized in that: The method comprises: When receiving an authentication report message sent by at least one access point among the multiple access points, the management device allocates an AID to the station STA, and determines a first access point among the multiple access points managed by the management device, where the first access point belongs to the at least one access point; The management device sends the AID and the identifier of the STA to the first access point.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The method further comprises: The management device sends the AID and the identifier of the STA to other access points among the multiple access points except the first access point.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that The method further comprises: The management device reclaims the AID after detecting that the STA is offline.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The multiple access points and the management device form a fiber-to-the-room FTTR network architecture.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The multiple access points are connected to the management device via optical fibers.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The authentication reporting message is sent by at least one access point among the multiple access points in response to receiving an authentication request sent by the STA.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The allocating an AID to the STA includes: The management device obtains the parameters of the STA, and allocates the AID to the STA based on the parameters of the STA.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The management device obtains the parameters of the STA, including: The management device obtains the parameters of the STA from the authentication report message.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The method further comprises: The management device acquires characteristic information of the at least one access point, where the characteristic information of each access point includes at least one of load information, interference information received, and quality information of a signal sent by the STA; The determining of a first access point among a plurality of access points managed by the management device includes: The management device determines, based on the characteristic information of the at least one access point, connection qualities between the at least one access point and the STA respectively, and determines an access point with the highest connection quality among the at least one access point as the first access point.

10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The method further comprises: The management device detects that the STA moves from a coverage area of ​​the first access point to a coverage area of ​​a second access point among the multiple access points; The management device sends a notification message to the second access point, where the notification message is used to instruct the second access point to connect to the STA.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The basic service set identifiers BSSID of the multiple access points are the same.

12. A method for allocating association identifiers (AIDs) in a fiber-to-the-room (FTTR) network, characterized in that: The method comprises: The first access point receives an authentication request sent by the station STA, and sends an authentication reporting message to the management device in response to the authentication request; The first access point receives the AID and the identifier of the STA sent by the management device, where the AID is the AID allocated by the management device to the STA; The first access point stores the identifier of the STA and the AID in correspondence.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The method further comprises: In a case where the first access point is an access point designated by the management device to be associated with the STA, the first access point sends the AID to the STA.

14. The method according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that The authentication request includes parameters of the STA, and the authentication reporting message includes parameters of the STA; After the first access point receives the AID and the STA identifier sent by the management device, the method further includes: In a case where the first access point is an access point designated by the management device to be associated with the STA, the first access point sends an authentication response message to the STA.

15. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that The first access point sending the AID to the STA includes: The first access point sends an association response message to the STA, where the association response message includes the AID.

16. A management device comprising a memory and a processor connected to the memory; The memory is used to store computer instructions; The processor is used to execute the computer instructions so that the management device implements the method for allocating AIDs provided in any one of claims 1 to 11.

17. An access point comprising a memory and a processor connected to the memory; The memory is used to store computer instructions; The processor is configured to execute the computer instructions so as to enable the access point to implement the method for allocating an AID provided in any one of claims 12 to 15.

18. A fiber-to-the-room FTTR network system, characterized in that: The system includes a management device and an access point; The management device is used to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11; The access point is used to perform the method according to any one of claims 12 to 15.

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