Communication method, device and readable storage medium

Abstract

The present application relates to the field of communications, and specifically to a communication method, device, and readable storage medium. The method negotiates decisions with STA devices before the AP device providing Wi-Fi network access service guides the STA device to switch access points of different frequency bands, such as negotiating the AP information of the target frequency band and whether the frequency band switching conditions for switching to the target frequency band are met. Then, when it is determined that the STA device meets the frequency band switching conditions, the STA device switches from the currently accessed frequency band to the target frequency band for data transmission. In this way, the problem of STA devices repeatedly switching between the current frequency band and the target frequency band can be avoided.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communications, and in particular to a communication method, device and readable storage medium. Background Art

[0002] Wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) technology is a general term for technologies that support local wireless network communications based on the IEEE 802.11 protocol family. The system mainly includes stations (STA) and access points (AP). STAs and APs communicate through the air interface (referred to as air interface), that is, wireless transmission. AP connects STAs to the local area network of the Internet, so that STAs can access the Internet.

[0003] Currently, devices that can provide dual-band APs (hereinafter referred to as AP devices) are becoming increasingly popular, such as routers or CPE (customer premises equipment). Based on dual-band AP devices, they can work in the 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequency bands at the same time. STAs that support dual-band access can switch to the target frequency band with stronger signal strength according to the guidance of the current frequency band. For example, STAs can switch from accessing the 5GHz frequency band to accessing the 2.4GHz frequency band. In this way, STAs can use the 2.4GHz frequency band with stronger signal strength for data transmission, thereby providing users with a better Internet experience.

[0004] However, when the AP device guides the STA to switch to another frequency band based on the detected signal strength of the STA, the Wi-Fi chip of some station devices (hereinafter referred to as STA devices) will directly decide whether to switch. The conditions for the Wi-Fi chip to decide on switching are often relatively simple. For example, only the signal strength is considered, but the delay and rate corresponding to the execution of upper-layer services such as accessing the network by the program running on the STA device are not considered. Instead, the network condition may become worse after the STA device switches to another frequency band. Summary of the invention

[0005] The present application provides a communication method, a device, and a readable storage medium, which can avoid the problem of STA devices repeatedly switching networks between a current frequency band and a target frequency band.

[0006] A first aspect provides a communication method, the method comprising: a first device accessing an access point of a first frequency band provided by a second device, wherein the second device also provides an access point of a second frequency band; the first device receiving a first message sent by the second device, wherein the first message carries channel information of the second frequency band and identifier information of the second frequency band; the first device determines that a frequency band switching condition is met, wherein the frequency band switching condition is related to a network delay or a transmission rate for data transmission by the first device through the access point of the first frequency band provided by the second device; the first device accesses the access point of the second frequency band provided by the second device based on the channel information of the second frequency band and the identifier information of the second frequency band.

[0007] For example, the second device is an access point (AP) device, and the first device is a station (STA) device. The first frequency band is different from the second frequency band, and can be any one of the 2.4 GHz frequency band, 5 GHz frequency band, and 6 GHz frequency band supported by the second device. For example, the first frequency band is 5 GHz, and the second frequency band corresponds to 2.4 GHz, which is not limited here. The second frequency band is the target frequency band that the STA device may switch to.

[0008] The first message may be, for example, an action message, and the channel information of the second frequency band carried by the first message may be, for example, a channel number corresponding to a channel under the target frequency band. The identifier information of the second frequency band may include any one of the following: a service set identifier (SSID), a basic service set identifier (BSSID), and an extended service set identifier (ESSID), which is not limited here.

[0009] When the STA device receives the message (such as the first message) sent by the AP device to guide the switching of the frequency band, it can combine the network delay or transmission rate of the access point currently transmitting data through the first frequency band (i.e. the current frequency band, such as the 5GHz frequency band) to decide whether to switch to the access point of the second frequency band (i.e. the target frequency band, such as the 2.4GHz frequency band) provided by the AP device for data transmission. In this way, the problem of the STA device repeatedly switching between the current frequency band and the target frequency band can be avoided.

[0010] In a possible implementation of the first aspect above, the first device determines that the frequency band switching condition is met, including: the first device determines that the network delay for data transmission through the access point of the first frequency band provided by the second device is greater than the first delay threshold; the first device determines that the transmission rate for data transmission through the access point of the first frequency band provided by the second device is less than the first rate threshold.

[0011] That is, when the STA device determines that the network delay for data transmission through the access point of the first frequency band (e.g., 5 GHz frequency band) is large or the transmission rate is low, it can be determined that the above-mentioned frequency band switching condition is met. At this time, the STA device can make a decision result of agreeing to switch the frequency band. In some embodiments, the STA device can send the decision result of agreeing to switch the frequency band to the AP device via a message, which is not limited here.

[0012] In a possible implementation of the first aspect above, a first device receives a first message sent by a second device, including: the first device receives the first message based on a first transmission channel established between the first device and the second device, wherein the first transmission channel is established in the following manner: the first device sends a second message based on a first protocol to the second device; and the first device receives a third message based on the first protocol sent by the second device, wherein the third message is a response message to the second message, and the second message carries capability information corresponding to the collaborative switching capability, and the third message carries capability information corresponding to the collaborative switching capability; the first device establishes a first transmission channel with the second device based on the message transmission channel of the first protocol.

[0013] For example, the first transmission channel is a message transmission channel for transmitting the second message and the third message. In the following specific implementation, the first transmission channel is an information transmission channel for transmitting AP information and decision information, which will not be described in detail.

[0014] The STA device may send the first message carrying the channel information of the target frequency band and the identifier information of the target frequency band through an information transmission channel for transmitting messages with the AP device.

[0015] In a possible implementation of the first aspect above, the first device accesses an access point of a second frequency band provided by a second device, including: the first device sends an access request to the access point of the second frequency band provided by the second device based on the identifier information of the second frequency band; or, the first device sends a fourth message to the second device based on the identifier information of the second frequency band, wherein the fourth message carries a decision result corresponding to the frequency band switching condition determined by the first device; the first device receives a fifth message sent by the second device, wherein the fifth message is a response message to the fourth message, and the fifth message carries the identifier information of the second frequency band.

[0016] For example, the first protocol is one of the Wi-Fi series protocols, and the Wi-Fi series protocols include the 802.11v protocol and / or the 802.11h protocol, etc.

[0017] In a possible implementation of the first aspect above, the method also includes: the first device receives a sixth message sent by the second device, wherein the sixth message carries a first received signal strength indication (RSSI) of an access point of a first frequency band provided by the second device and a second RSSI of an access point of a second frequency band, and the value of the first RSSI is less than a first strength threshold, and the value of the second RSSI is less than a second strength threshold; the first device determines that the network switching conditions are met and uses a mobile cellular network.

[0018] For example, the AP device (i.e., the second device) may send a sixth message to the STA device when it is detected that the received signal strength indicator (i.e., the first RSSI) value of the access point of the first frequency band currently accessed by the STA device (i.e., the first device) is low, or the received signal strength indicator (i.e., the second RSSI value of the access point of the second frequency band currently accessed by the STA device is low. The sixth message may be, for example, an action message for notifying a weak signal event, which is not limited here.

[0019] In a possible implementation of the first aspect above, the network switching condition is related to the network delay or transmission rate of data transmission by the first device through the access point of the first frequency band or the access point of the second frequency band provided by the second device, and the first device determines that the network switching condition is met, including: the first device determines that the network delay for data transmission through the access point of the first frequency band or the access point of the second frequency band provided by the second device is greater than the second delay threshold; the first device determines that the transmission rate for data transmission through the access point of the first frequency band or the access point of the second frequency band provided by the second device is less than the second rate threshold.

[0020] That is, when the STA device determines that the network delay for data transmission of the access point of the current 5GHz frequency band (ie, the current frequency band) is large or the transmission speed is low, it can switch to other available networks in time, such as using the above-mentioned mobile cellular network.

[0021] In a possible implementation of the first aspect above, the first device receives the sixth message sent by the second device, including: the first device receives the sixth message based on the second transmission channel established between the first device and the second device, wherein the second transmission channel is established in the following manner: the first device receives the seventh message based on the first protocol sent by the second device; and the first device sends an eighth message based on the first protocol to the second device, wherein the eighth message is a response message to the seventh message, and the seventh message carries capability information corresponding to weak signal event subscription and notification capability, and the eighth message carries capability information corresponding to weak signal event subscription and notification capability, or the seventh message carries capability information corresponding to low-rate event subscription and notification capability, and the eighth message carries capability information corresponding to low-rate event subscription and notification capability; the first device establishes a second transmission channel with the second device based on the message transmission channel of the first protocol.

[0022] The second aspect provides a communication method, in which a second device sends a first message to a first device, including: the second device determines that a value of a first RSSI in a first frequency band provided by the second device is lower than a first strength threshold, or a value of a second RSSI in a second frequency band provided by the second device is higher than a second strength threshold, and sends the first message to the first device.

[0023] For example, the access point of the first frequency band provided by the second device is an access point of the 5 GHz frequency band, that is, an access point of the current frequency band; the access point of the second frequency band is an access point of the 2.4 GHz frequency band, that is, an access point of the target frequency band. The first message carries the channel information of the target frequency band and the identifier information of the target frequency band.

[0024] In a possible implementation of the second aspect above, the second device sends a first message to the first device, including: the second device sends the first message to the first device based on a first transmission channel established between the second device and the first device, wherein the first transmission channel is established in the following manner: the second device sends a second message based on the first protocol to the first device; and the second device receives a third message based on the first protocol sent by the first device, wherein the third message is a response message to the second message, and the second message carries capability information corresponding to the collaborative switching capability, and the third message carries capability information corresponding to the collaborative switching capability; the second device establishes a first transmission channel with the first device based on the message transmission channel of the first protocol.

[0025] In a possible implementation of the second aspect above, the method also includes: the second device receives an access request sent by the first device, wherein the access request is used to request access to an access point of a second frequency band provided by the second device; or, the second device receives a fourth message sent by the first device, wherein the fourth message carries a decision result corresponding to the frequency band switching condition determined by the first device; the second device sends a fifth message to the first device, wherein the fifth message is a response message to the fourth message, and the fifth message carries identifier information of the second frequency band.

[0026] In a possible implementation of the second aspect above, the method also includes: the second device sends a sixth message to the first device, wherein the sixth message carries a first RSSI of an access point of a first frequency band and a second RSSI of an access point of a second frequency band provided by the second device, and the value of the first RSSI is less than a first strength threshold, and the value of the second RSSI is less than a second strength threshold.

[0027] In a possible implementation of the second aspect, the second device sends the sixth message to the first device, including: the second device sends the sixth message to the first device based on a second transmission channel established between the second device and the first device, where the second transmission channel is established in the following manner:

[0028] The second device sends a seventh message based on the first protocol to the first device; and the second device receives an eighth message based on the first protocol sent by the first device, wherein the eighth message is a response message to the seventh message, and the seventh message carries capability information corresponding to the weak signal event subscription and notification capability, and the eighth message carries capability information corresponding to the weak signal event subscription and notification capability, or the seventh message carries capability information corresponding to the low-rate event subscription and notification capability, and the eighth message carries capability information corresponding to the low-rate event subscription and notification capability; the second device establishes a second transmission channel with the first device based on the message transmission channel of the first protocol.

[0029] The third aspect provides a device, characterized in that it includes: one or more processors; one or more memories; one or more memories storing one or more programs, when one or more programs are executed by one or more processors, the device executes the communication method provided in the above-mentioned first aspect and various possible implementations of the first aspect, or executes the above-mentioned second aspect and various possible implementations of the second aspect.

[0030] For example, when executing the communication method provided in the first aspect and various possible implementations of the first aspect, the device is a first device, that is, a STA device. When executing the communication method provided in the second aspect and various possible implementations of the second aspect, the device is a second device, that is, an AP device.

[0031] The fourth aspect provides a system, which includes: a first device for executing the communication method provided in the above-mentioned first aspect and various possible implementations of the first aspect, and a second device for executing the communication method provided in the above-mentioned first aspect and various possible implementations of the first aspect.

[0032] The fifth aspect provides a readable storage medium, on which one or more programs are stored. When the one or more programs are executed on a device, the device executes the communication method provided in the first aspect and various possible implementations of the first aspect, or executes the communication method provided in the second aspect and various possible implementations of the second aspect.

[0033] The sixth aspect provides a program product, including a program / instruction, which, when executed by a processor, implements the communication method provided in the above-mentioned first aspect and various possible implementations of the first aspect, or the communication method provided in the above-mentioned second aspect and various possible implementations of the second aspect.

[0034] The beneficial effects of the second to sixth aspects mentioned above can be referred to the relevant descriptions in the first aspect mentioned above and various possible implementations of the first aspect, and will not be elaborated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0035] Figure 1 The figure is a schematic diagram of an application scenario in which a STA device is located within the coverage of different frequency band signals provided by an AP device and triggers switching of frequency bands or networks accordingly.

[0036] Figure 2 The figure shows a schematic diagram of a byte group structure corresponding to a capability module encoded in TLV format provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0037] Figure 3 The figure is a schematic block diagram of the system architecture of a device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0038] Figure 4 The figure is a schematic diagram of an implementation process of a communication method provided by an embodiment of the present application. It can be understood that the process involves an interaction process between an AP device and a STA device as execution entities.

[0039] Figure 5 The figure is a schematic diagram of an application scenario in which a STA device switches frequency bands between different frequency bands provided in Example 1 of the present application.

[0040] Figure 6a The figure is a schematic diagram of the implementation process of a communication method provided in Example 1 of the present application.

[0041] Figure 6b Shown is a schematic diagram of the implementation process of another communication method provided in Example 1 of the present application.

[0042] Figure 7a The figure shows a schematic diagram of an interactive process for negotiating collaborative switching capabilities through beacon messages provided in Example 1 of the present application.

[0043] Figure 7b The figure shows a schematic diagram of an interactive process for negotiating collaborative switching capabilities through an assoiation message provided in Example 1 of the present application.

[0044] Figure 8 The figure shows a schematic diagram of an interactive process for negotiating collaborative switching capabilities through action messages after a STA device and an AP device establish a connection, provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0045] Fig. 9 The figure is a schematic diagram of an application scenario in which a STA device needs to switch networks when entering a weak signal environment, as provided in Example 2 of the present application.

[0046] Fig.10 Shown is a schematic diagram of the implementation process of a communication method provided in Example 2 of the present application.

[0047] Fig.11 Shown is a schematic diagram of the structure of a device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0048] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present application clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific implementation methods.

[0049] Figure 1 The present invention shows a schematic diagram of an application scenario in which a STA device is located within the coverage of different frequency band signals provided by an AP device, and triggers switching of frequency bands or networks accordingly.

[0050] like Figure 1 As shown, when a STA device (such as a mobile phone 100) is within the coverage of a Wi-Fi signal in the 5GHz band provided by an AP device (such as a router 200), the STA device can access the 5GHz band and use the channel of the band for communication. It can be understood that the Wi-Fi signal in the 5GHz band has a higher bandwidth and stronger anti-interference ability than the Wi-Fi signal in the 2.4GHz band. However, the signal coverage range of the 2.4GHz band is generally larger than that of the 5GHz band, that is, the 2.4GHz band signal is stronger when the 5GHz band signal is weaker.

[0051] When the mobile phone 100 leaves the coverage of the Wi-Fi signal in the 5GHz band, if the router 200 detects that the Wi-Fi signal in the 2.4GHz band is stronger, the mobile phone 100 can be guided to switch to the 2.4GHz band with a stronger signal for data transmission. The switching process can be triggered, for example, by the router 200 sending a message to guide the switching of the frequency band. The Wi-Fi chip of the mobile phone 100 directly decides whether to respond to the guidance of the router 200 to switch the frequency band based on the received message. As mentioned above, the conditions for the decision-making switching of the Wi-Fi chip of the mobile phone 100 are often relatively simple, such as only considering the signal strength, without considering the delay and rate corresponding to the execution of the upper-layer business by the program running on the mobile phone 100 when accessing the network. At this time, the Wi-Fi chip of the mobile phone 100 may decide to switch from the 5GHz band to the 2.4GHz band for data transmission based only on the signal strength.

[0052] The Wi-Fi chip of the mobile phone 100 switches to the 2.4GHz band in response to the guidance of the router 200, which may cause problems such as poor Internet access speed and greater latency for the mobile phone 100. For example, the transmission rate of the mobile phone 100 currently using the 2.4GHz band Wi-Fi signal with a stronger signal strength for data transmission is lower than the transmission rate of the 5GHz band Wi-Fi signal with a weaker signal strength for data transmission before the switch, or the mobile phone 100 currently uses the 2.4GHz band Wi-Fi signal with a stronger signal strength for data transmission. The latency is greater. At this time, in order to increase the data transmission rate, the mobile phone 100 may switch back to the 5GHz band for data transmission again. Then, the mobile phone 100 may repeatedly switch between the 5GHz band and the 2.4GHz band under the guidance of the router 200, resulting in unstable data transmission.

[0053] In order to solve the above problems, the present application provides a communication method. Specifically, the method negotiates with the STA device before the AP device providing Wi-Fi network access service guides the STA device to switch to different frequency bands, such as negotiating the AP information of the target frequency band and whether the frequency band switching conditions for switching to the target frequency band are met. Then, when it is determined that the STA device determines that the frequency band switching conditions are met, the STA device switches the currently accessed frequency band to the target frequency band for data transmission. For example, during the period when the STA device uses the 5GHz frequency band for data transmission, if the AP device detects that the signal strength of the 5GHz frequency band currently used by the STA device is weak, such as the corresponding RSSI value is lower than the corresponding lower limit threshold, the channel information of the target frequency band (such as the 2.4GHz frequency band) and the identifier information of the target frequency band can be sent to the STA device to prompt the STA to switch to the target frequency band for data transmission. At this time, the STA device can determine whether it is suitable to switch to the target frequency band (such as 2.4GHz) for data transmission, such as continuing to surf the Internet, downloading and other tasks, based on the current business situation of itself, such as whether the application interface of the Internet service is stuck, the interface refresh delay and other aspects of the detection results.

[0054] If the STA device determines that the current service has a higher transmission rate when using the 2.4GHz frequency band for data transmission, or that the network latency when using the 2.4GHz frequency band for data transmission is lower, it can decide to switch from the current frequency band to the target frequency band. At this time, the STA device can initiate an access request to the target frequency band to switch from the current frequency band to the target frequency band. The STA device can also send the decision result of determining the channel switching to the AP device, and then the AP device can guide the STA device to switch to the target frequency band based on the decision result. Conversely, if the STA device determines that the transmission rate of using the current weaker 5GHz frequency band for data transmission is faster, the frequency band may not be switched. At this time, the STA device can also send the decision result of not switching the frequency band to the AP device, and the AP device can not guide the STA device to switch the frequency band at this time.

[0055] In this way, the problem of the STA device repeatedly switching between the current frequency band and the target frequency band can be avoided.

[0056] In other embodiments, when the AP device detects that the signal strength of the frequency band currently accessed by the STA device is weak, it can also trigger the STA device to execute the decision in other ways. For example, the AP device can estimate the RSSI of another frequency band signal based on the RSSI mapping relationship table of signals in different frequency bands and the RSSI corresponding to the current frequency band signal currently detected, and then send the RSSI corresponding to the different frequency band signals or other data transmission signal strength information to the STA device, so that the STA device can decide whether to switch the frequency band it is connected to, which is not limited here.

[0057] It is understood that the above-mentioned method of the AP device guiding the STA device to switch to the target frequency band, for example, by sending an 802.11v protocol message in the 802.11 protocol family for guiding the switching of the frequency band to the STA device, is not limited here. Among them, the 802.11 protocol family can also be called Wi-Fi series protocols in some embodiments.

[0058] The AP information of the above-mentioned target frequency band includes the identifier information of the target frequency band provided by the AP device and the channel information of the target frequency band, for example, the identifier information of the target frequency band is any one of the service set identifier (SSID), the basic service set identifier (BSSID), and the extended service set identifier (ESSID), and the channel information of the target frequency band is the channel number, etc., which is not limited here.

[0059] In other embodiments, the STA device may also switch to the target frequency band automatically when it determines that the frequency band switching condition is met based on the AP information of the target frequency band sent by the AP device through the information transmission channel corresponding to the above decision negotiation.

[0060] In addition, refer to the above Figure 1 In the scenario shown, when the mobile phone 100 is far away from the signal coverage of the AP device such as the router 200 (for example, located 10m away) or is affected by an obstruction (such as a door or wall, etc.) between the mobile phone 100 and the AP device, for example, when the user leaves home or takes an elevator, the mobile phone 100 may not receive the Wi-Fi signal or the received Wi-Fi signal is weak, and the transmission rate of the mobile phone 100 for data transmission via the Wi-Fi signal may be low or data transmission may not be possible. At this time, if the mobile phone 100 cannot switch to the mobile cellular network or other available network in time, problems such as poor Internet access speed and large latency may also occur.

[0061] In this regard, based on the above communication method provided by the present application, the STA device can also subscribe to weak signal events or register listeners to the AP device through an information transmission channel to request the AP device to promptly notify the STA device when the Wi-Fi signal strength is detected to be weak. Among them, the ability provided by the AP device to support subscription to weak signal events and notification of weak signal events may be referred to as weak signal event subscription and notification capabilities. In other embodiments, the STA device may also subscribe to low-rate events to the AP device through an information transmission channel to request the AP device to promptly notify the STA device when the data transmission rate of the Wi-Fi frequency band of the currently connected STA device is reduced. Among them, the ability provided by the AP device to support subscription to low-rate events and notification of low-rate events may be referred to as low-rate event subscription and notification capabilities. In this way, the STA device can switch to other available networks in a timely manner based on the received weak signal events or monitoring results when the corresponding frequency band signal provided by the AP device becomes weak, such as switching to access a mobile communication network through a base station, and the base station can support 2G / 3G / 4G / 5G / 5.5G and other network standards, which are not limited here.

[0062] In an embodiment of the present application, the manner in which the above-mentioned AP device and the STA device conduct decision-making negotiation and establish an information transmission channel for negotiation can be achieved by adding corresponding capability modules to the Wi-Fi drivers of the AP device and the STA device. For example, developers can add one or more of the following program codes that support collaborative switching capabilities, program codes that support weak signal event subscription and notification capabilities, and program codes that support low-rate event subscription and notification capabilities to the Wi-Fi driver code in the AP device operating system. Among them, the program codes corresponding to the above-mentioned capabilities can be encoded in a coding format such as TLV to become corresponding capability modules, which may also be referred to as capability elements hereinafter.

[0063] refer to Figure 2 As shown, in the octets corresponding to the capability module encoded in the TLV format, "Element ID" represents the function tag number corresponding to the corresponding capability module, which can also be called the element serial number, and the value can be a currently unused value in the interval [0,255], such as 230 or other values; "Length" represents the length of the capabilities info field, such as 1; "Capabilities Info" represents the capability type indicated by the bit values ​​at different positions in the (binary) bit stream corresponding to the capabilities info field.

[0064] Specifically, refer to the following examples:

[0065] If the bit stream corresponding to the "Capabilities Info" field with "Length" being 1 is "0000 0001", it means that the value of "bit0", i.e. the "0th" bit, is 1, which indicates that the corresponding capability module supports the collaborative switching capability;

[0066] If the bit stream corresponding to the "Capabilities Info" field is "0000 0010", it means that the value of "bit1", i.e. the "1st" bit, is 1, which can indicate that the corresponding capability module supports weak signal event subscription and notification capabilities;

[0067] If the bit stream corresponding to the "Capabilities Info" field is "0000 0100", it means that the value of "bit2", i.e. the "2nd" bit, is 1, which indicates that the corresponding capability module supports low-rate event subscription and notification capabilities;

[0068] Similarly, when the values ​​of bits at different positions are set to 1, it can indicate different capability types that the corresponding capability module can support. In addition, if the bit stream corresponding to the "Capabilities Info" field is "0000 0111", it can indicate that the corresponding capability module supports collaborative switching capability, weak signal event subscription and notification capability, and low rate event subscription and notification capability at the same time, without limitation here.

[0069] It can be understood that the developer can add the program code for generating the corresponding capability negotiation message to the program code corresponding to the above-mentioned Wi-Fi driver, so that the AP device generates a message for sending to the STA device based on the running Wi-Fi driver to notify the STA device of its own capability information. Correspondingly, the STA device can parse the above-mentioned capability negotiation message sent by the AP device based on the running Wi-Fi driver, and return its own capability information to the AP device, such as the above-mentioned collaborative switching capability. Furthermore, the STA device can establish an information transmission channel for transmitting decision-related information (i.e., conducting decision negotiations) with the AP device based on the collaborative switching capability. The specific implementation process will be described in detail below in conjunction with the relevant drawings and will not be repeated here.

[0070] In other embodiments, the AP device and the STA device may perform decision negotiation and establish an information transmission channel for negotiation in other ways, such as adding a driver for executing the decision negotiation process in the kernel layer of the system or adding a system service for executing the decision negotiation process in the system service layer, etc., which are not limited here.

[0071] It can be understood that the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application may be applicable to STA devices including but not limited to mobile phones, tablet computers, desktops, laptops, portable computers, and augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) devices, smart TVs, smart watches, etc., servers, mobile email devices, car devices, portable game consoles, portable music players, reader devices, TVs with one or more processors, or other devices capable of accessing the network.

[0072] Correspondingly, the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application may be applicable to AP devices including but not limited to routers, mobile Wi-Fi, and CPE, etc., which are not limited here.

[0073] The following first introduces the communication method provided in the embodiment of the present application in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and a schematic diagram of the operating system architecture of the applicable STA device or AP device.

[0074] Figure 3 According to an embodiment of the present application, a schematic block diagram of a system architecture of a device is shown.

[0075] As mentioned earlier, Figure 3 The device 300 shown can be the above-mentioned STA device, such as the mobile phone 100; or it can be the above-mentioned AP device, such as the router 200, which is not limited here.

[0076] It is understood that the operating system of the device can adopt a layered architecture, an event-driven architecture, a micro-core architecture, a micro-service architecture, or a cloud architecture. The embodiment of the present application takes the Android system of the layered architecture as an example to exemplify the software structure of the operating system of the device 300.

[0077] The layered architecture divides the software into several layers, each with a clear role and division of labor. The layers communicate with each other through software interfaces. In some embodiments, the system can be divided into four layers, from top to bottom: application layer, hardware abstract layer (HAL layer for short), kernel layer (or kernel layer), and hardware layer (hardware layer).

[0078] like Figure 3 As shown, the application layer may include a series of application packages or run a series of applications, including WLAN and settings, etc. Among them, WLAN can provide a function of connecting to an AP to access a corresponding frequency band.

[0079] The HAL layer is an abstraction of hardware devices and an encapsulation of kernel drivers. The HAL layer specifies a unified interface for the application layer to read, write and configure the hardware layer. That is, the HAL layer can provide a unified interface for upper-layer software (such as applications), and then access specific hardware through an abstract interface to unify the way upper-layer applications call device drivers.

[0080] The kernel layer is the layer between hardware and software. The kernel layer contains at least the Wi-Fi driver and kernel drivers or device drivers corresponding to other hardware, such as the Wi-Fi driver. Among them, the device running the program code corresponding to the Wi-Fi driver can use the Wi-Fi chip to send or receive Wi-Fi messages, and the corresponding message can carry information to be transmitted, which may include channel information of the target frequency band and identifier information of the target frequency band. For AP devices, the information carried by the above message may also include request data for requesting access to the target frequency band and response data sent in response to the access request.

[0081] In an embodiment of the present application, the Wi-Fi driver at the Kernel layer may include one or more of a collaborative switching capability module, a weak signal event subscription and notification capability module, and a low rate event subscription and notification capability module. Among them, the collaborative switching capability module can be used to support the transmission of AP information and decision information between different devices to achieve collaborative switching functions. The weak signal event subscription and notification capability module and the low rate event subscription and notification capability module can support the subscription function and notification function of the corresponding event.

[0082] In the embodiment of the present application, the program code corresponding to each capability module can be added to the program code corresponding to the Wi-Fi driver. Each capability module can adopt TLV encoding format, etc. Correspondingly, when different devices transmit messages based on the Wi-Fi network protocol, the capability module related information in the TLV encoding format can be added to the corresponding message by using the corresponding message generation method to implement the capability negotiation process between different devices.

[0083] The hardware layer includes various hardware devices (devices) called by the kernel driver. In the embodiment of the present application, the hardware device may include a Wi-Fi chip, a radio frequency chip, etc. In other embodiments, the hardware device may also include a camera, a microphone, a speaker, etc. These hardware devices may expose a calling interface to the corresponding driver for calling, which will not be described in detail here.

[0084] Based on the above Figure 3 The operating system software structure of the device shown in the figure is described in detail below in conjunction with relevant drawings and specific embodiments. The implementation process of the communication method provided by the present application is described in detail.

[0085] Figure 4 According to an embodiment of the present application, a schematic diagram of an implementation process of a communication method is shown. It can be understood that the process involves an interaction process in which an AP device and a STA device are the execution subjects.

[0086] like Figure 4 As shown, the implementation process can include the following stages:

[0087] S1: Capability negotiation phase.

[0088] It can be understood that the capability negotiation phase may involve the exchange and transmission of information related to capability modules such as the collaborative switching capability, weak signal event subscription and notification capability, and low rate event subscription and notification capability of the AP device and the STA device, respectively. At this time, an information transmission channel for decision negotiation may be established between the AP device and the STA device. The information transmission channel may be, for example, a transmission channel established based on messages transmitted between the AP device and the STA device, and is not limited here.

[0089] For the specific execution process of the capability negotiation between the AP device and the STA device, reference may be made to the relevant description in the specific embodiments below, which will not be described in detail here.

[0090] S2: AP information and decision information interaction stage.

[0091] In some embodiments, the AP device can monitor the RSSI of the Wi-Fi signal of the corresponding frequency band currently accessed by the STA device. If the AP device finds that the RSSI corresponding to a certain STA device in the current frequency band is low, for example, lower than the corresponding preset RSSI threshold, it can send a message containing the channel information of the target frequency band and the identifier information of the target frequency band to the STA device for the STA to decide whether to switch the frequency band. Accordingly, the STA device can determine the decision result of switching or not switching the frequency band based on the channel information of the target frequency band and the identifier information of the target frequency band, etc., combined with the network conditions corresponding to data transmission on the current frequency band, such as whether there is a freeze problem in the application interface, and the decision result can be sent to the AP device as decision information.

[0092] In other embodiments, the AP may also estimate the RSSI corresponding to another frequency band signal based on the RSSI mapping relationship table corresponding to Wi-Fi signals of different frequency bands recorded in the history and the RSSI detection value corresponding to the current frequency band, and provide it to the STA device as a basis for judging the strength of signals in different frequency bands, without limitation here.

[0093] It can be understood that compared with the current communication scheme in which the STA device directly switches to the target frequency band according to the guidance of the AP device, the STA device in the embodiment of the present application can decide whether to switch the frequency band according to the actual network status under the current frequency band, and can feed back the decision result to the AP device to trigger the AP device to further guide the STA device to switch the frequency band. In this way, the problem of the Wi-Fi chip of the STA device directly deciding to switch the frequency band, resulting in poor network communication quality, can be avoided.

[0094] In other embodiments, after the above-mentioned information transmission channel for negotiation and decision-making is established between the AP device and the STA device, the STA device can send a relevant event subscription request to the AP device through the information transmission channel to request the AP device to notify the STA device of a weak signal event when it detects that the Wi-Fi signal corresponding to the corresponding frequency band is weak, or request the AP device to notify the STA device of a low-rate event when it detects that the rate at which the STA device uses the Wi-Fi signal for data transmission is low. The above-mentioned weak signal event or low-rate event can be sent as part of the AP information. Furthermore, the STA device can decide whether to switch to other available networks based on the weak signal event or low-rate event notified by the AP device, and in combination with the duration corresponding to the weak signal event or low-rate event received.

[0095] In this way, when the STA device is far away from the AP device or when the Wi-Fi signal is shielded by an obstruction between the STA device and the AP device, it can switch to the mobile cellular network or other available network in time to continue communication, thereby achieving the purpose of optimizing network communication quality.

[0096] For the specific execution process of exchanging AP information and decision information between the AP device and the STA device, reference may be made to the relevant description in the specific embodiments below, which will not be described in detail here.

[0097] S3: Collaborative processing stage based on decision results.

[0098] It can be understood that the above-mentioned collaborative processing stage may involve the process of AP device and STA collaboratively implementing network switching, including the AP device determining whether to send a message to the STA device to guide switching to the target frequency band or switching to other available networks based on the decision results, and the STA device determining whether to switch to the target frequency band or other available networks based on the decision results.

[0099] For the specific execution process of the collaborative processing between the AP device and the STA device, reference may be made to the relevant description in the specific embodiments below, which will not be described in detail here.

[0100] The following is a detailed introduction to the specific implementation process of the communication method provided by the present application in different network switching scenarios in combination with different embodiments. The following first introduces the specific implementation process of the communication method provided by the present application in this scenario in combination with the frequency band switching scenario of different frequency bands provided in Example 1.

[0101] Example 1

[0102] Figure 5 According to an embodiment of the present application, a schematic diagram of an application scenario in which a STA device switches frequency bands between different frequency bands is shown.

[0103] like Figure 5 As shown, the AP device in this scenario can be a router 200, and the STA device can be a mobile phone 100. In this scenario, the mobile phone 100 can move away from the router 200. When the mobile phone 100 moves to an area where the Wi-Fi signal in the 5GHz band is weak, such as at the edge of the coverage range of the Wi-Fi signal in the 5GHz band, the mobile phone 100 may be in an area where the Wi-Fi signal in the 2.4GHz band is strong. At this time, the router 200 can guide the mobile phone 100 to switch to the 2.4GHz band.

[0104] After the switch, if the mobile phone 100 detects that the transmission rate of data transmission using the 2.4 GHz band is lower than the transmission rate of data transmission using the 5 GHz band, it may continue to switch from the switched 2.4 GHz band back to the 5 GHz band. This may cause the mobile phone 100 to repeatedly switch between the 2.4 GHz band and the 5 GHz band.

[0105] The phenomenon that the mobile phone 100 repeatedly switches between the 5 GHz frequency band and the 2.4 GHz frequency band may also be referred to as "ping-pong switching" in some embodiments. Figure 5 In the scenario shown, the router 200 may also guide the mobile phone 100 to switch from 2.4 GHz to 5 GHz or other frequency bands for data transmission according to the detected Wi-Fi signal strength. After the mobile phone 100 switches to another frequency band, it may also switch back to 2.4 GHz or other initially accessed frequency bands for data transmission based on the currently executed business conditions, that is, the above-mentioned "ping-pong switching" phenomenon exists.

[0106] As mentioned above, the communication method provided by this application can avoid the above Figure 5 The "ping-pong switching" phenomenon that may exist in the mobile phone 100 in the illustrated scenario ensures that the mobile phone 100 is stably in a frequency band with better communication quality for data transmission, thereby improving the network communication quality of the mobile phone 100.

[0107] Figure 6aAccording to an embodiment of the present application, a schematic diagram of an implementation flow of a communication method is shown.

[0108] In the embodiment of the present application, the implementation process mainly involves the interaction between the mobile phone 100 and the router 200. Among them, the mobile phone 100 can be a STA device that supports dual-band (for example, 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands) transmission of service data, and the router 200 can be a device that provides dual-band (for example, 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands) AP. In other embodiments, the above-mentioned router 200 can also be a device that provides multi-band (for example, 2.4GHz, 5GHz and 6GHz bands) AP. Alternatively, in some application scenarios, AP devices that support different frequency bands can provide 2.4GHz band Wi-Fi signals and 5GHz band Wi-Fi signals, etc., respectively, and interact with STA devices to implement the communication method provided in this application, which is not limited here.

[0109] It should also be noted that the steps in the methods and processes in the embodiments of the present application are numbered for ease of reference, rather than to limit the order of precedence. If there is an order between the steps, the text description shall prevail.

[0110] Specifically, Figure 6a As shown, the implementation process may include the following steps:

[0111] 611: The mobile phone 100 and the router 200 negotiate the cooperative switching capability.

[0112] Exemplarily, the above process of performing coordinated switching capability negotiation may include the following steps:

[0113] 611a: The router 200 sends capability information corresponding to the supported cooperative switching capability to the mobile phone 100.

[0114] 611b: The mobile phone 100 sends capability information corresponding to the supported cooperative switching capability to the router 200.

[0115] 611c: The mobile phone 100 and the router 200 establish an information transmission channel based on the cooperative switching capability.

[0116] The above-mentioned mobile phone 100 or router 200 can send capability information based on the data transmission channel corresponding to the corresponding layer provided by the transmission control protocol / internet protocol (TCP / IP) network protocol or the open system interconnection (OSI) network protocol, such as the management frame (such as beacon, probe request / response, association request / response, action), data frame and other message transmission channels provided by the data link layer, or based on the HTTP, MQTT and other protocol message transmission channels provided by the application layer. Among them, the above-mentioned management frame or data frame can call the Wi-Fi air interface for transmission, which will not be repeated here.

[0117] It can be understood that in some examples, the above OSI network protocol model can generally include seven layers: application layer, presentation layer, session layer, transport layer, network layer, data link layer, and physical layer. The above TCP / IP network protocol model can generally include four layers: application layer, transport layer, network layer, and physical link layer (or network interface layer). Among them, the content supported by each layer in the TCP / IP network protocol model and the transmission function provided by each layer correspond to the content supported by each layer in the OSI network protocol model and the transmission function provided by each layer in the OSI network protocol model as follows: the "application layer" in the TCP / IP network protocol model can correspond to the application layer, presentation layer, and session layer in the OSI network protocol model; the "transport layer" in the TCP / IP network protocol model can correspond to the transport layer in the OSI network protocol model; the "network layer" in the TCP / IP network protocol model can correspond to the network layer in the OSI network protocol model; the "physical link layer" in the TCP / IP network protocol model can correspond to the data link layer and physical layer in the OSI network protocol model.

[0118] It can be understood that in other embodiments, the negotiation of the coordinated switching capability performed by the mobile phone 100 and the router 200 in step 611 may also include more or fewer steps than the steps 611a to 611c described above. The coordinated switching capability negotiation process described in step 611 may correspond to the above Figure 4 The S1 phase shown is the capability negotiation phase. The above-mentioned collaborative switching capability can be provided by a corresponding capability module, and the corresponding capability module can also be set in the above-mentioned Figure 3In the program code corresponding to the Wi-Fi driver shown.

[0119] The specific process of realizing capability negotiation between the mobile phone 100 and the router 200 by sending messages can be referred to as follows. Figure 7a , Figure 7b as well as Figure 8 The illustrations and related descriptions are not limiting.

[0120] 612: The router 200 determines that there is a target frequency band suitable for switching.

[0121] Exemplarily, the router 200 may determine that there is a target frequency band suitable for switching when it is detected that the signal strength of the current frequency band is weak and the signal coverage of the frequency band is generally smaller than the signal coverage of the target frequency band.

[0122] Refer to the above Figure 5 In the scenario shown, for example, the router 200 detects that the signal RSSI of the 5 GHz frequency band currently accessed by the mobile phone 100 is lower than the corresponding preset lower threshold, then it can be determined that the target frequency band suitable for switching is the 2.4 GHz frequency band with a wider signal coverage range.

[0123] In other embodiments, the router 200 may also determine that another 5GHz frequency band signal with a smaller signal coverage range is also strong when it detects that the signal strength of the 2.4GHz frequency band currently accessed by the mobile phone 100 is very strong, for example, when the RSSI of the frequency band signal is higher than the corresponding set upper limit threshold. At this time, the router 200 may determine that there is a 5GHz frequency band with higher bandwidth and greater stability as a target frequency band suitable for switching, and no limitation is made here.

[0124] 613: The router 200 sends a message carrying the channel information of the target frequency band and the target frequency band identifier information to the mobile phone 100.

[0125] Exemplarily, the message includes at least AP information such as channel information of the target frequency band and identifier information of the target frequency band. The target frequency band may be, for example, a 2.4 GHz frequency band or a 5 GHz frequency band provided by the router 200. In other embodiments, the target frequency band may also be a 6 GHz frequency band, etc., which is not limited here.

[0126] The channel information of the target frequency band may be, for example, the channel number corresponding to a certain channel among the multiple channels under the target frequency band; the identifier information of the target frequency band may be, for example, at least one of the SSID, BSSID and ESSID, which is not limited here.

[0127] In some embodiments, the above message may be a management frame (action frame) provided by the data link layer. In other embodiments, the router 200 may also send the above message based on a protocol message transmission channel such as HTTP, MQTT, etc. provided by the application layer, which is not limited here.

[0128] It can be understood that the above message sent by the router 200 can be used to instruct the mobile phone 100 to switch to the target frequency band. Correspondingly, the mobile phone 100 can continue to perform the decision process of the following step 614 based on the channel information of the target frequency band and the AP information of the target frequency band identifier information carried in the received message.

[0129] 614: Mobile phone 100 makes a switching decision.

[0130] For example, the mobile phone 100 can make a switching decision based on the received AP information and the network delay and rate detected corresponding to its own business. The switching decision process is whether the mobile phone 100 agrees with the above message sent by the router 200 to switch to a target frequency band that is more suitable for the current business.

[0131] For the above example, after receiving the channel information and target frequency band identifier information of the target frequency band carried by the router 200 in the above message, the mobile phone 100 can detect the data transmission rate or network delay of the current frequency band to determine that the signal of the 2.4GHz frequency band is stronger. At the same time, for example, if the mobile phone 100 detects that the transmission rate of the current data transmission using the weaker 5GHz frequency band Wi-Fi signal is low, such as the application interface currently displayed by the mobile phone 100 is stuck, the refresh delay is high, etc., it can agree to switch to the 2.4GHz frequency band and use the 2.4GHz frequency band signal with a stronger signal for data transmission. For another example, if the mobile phone 100 detects that the currently executed business uses the running application to use the weaker 5GHz frequency band signal to still achieve a higher transmission rate, it can stay in a channel of the current 5GHz frequency band to continue data transmission, and there is no restriction here.

[0132] In other embodiments, the above-mentioned switching decision process can also be described as a process of determining whether to switch to the target frequency band. Correspondingly, if the judgment result is yes, the mobile phone 100 can initiate the process of switching to the target frequency band; on the contrary, if the judgment result is no, the mobile phone 100 can determine not to switch the frequency band and continue to reside in the current frequency band to continue data transmission. In other embodiments, the mobile phone 100 can also initiate the process of canceling the switching of frequency bands after switching frequency bands based on AP information and the network latency and rate detected corresponding to its own business, which is not limited here.

[0133] It can be understood that the process of transmitting AP information and making negotiation decisions by the mobile phone 100 and the router 200 in executing the above steps 612 to 614 can correspond to the above Figure 4 The S2 stage shown is the stage of interaction between AP information and decision information.

[0134] 615: Mobile phone 100 executes the decision result.

[0135] For example, the above decision result may include that the mobile phone 100 agrees to switch, that is, agrees to switch the current frequency band to the target frequency band. The above decision result may also include that the mobile phone 100 refuses to switch and does not switch the frequency band.

[0136] For the above example, when the mobile phone 100 agrees to switch, the mobile phone 100 can switch the currently connected 5GHz band to the 2.4GHz band to continue data transmission. When the mobile phone 100 refuses to switch, the mobile phone 100 may not switch the band, that is, stay in the current 5GHz band to continue data transmission.

[0137] It can be understood that the process of the mobile phone 100 executing the decision result can be used as the above Figure 4 An execution method of the S3 stage shown is an execution method of the collaborative processing stage based on the decision result.

[0138] In some embodiments of the present application, after determining the decision result, the mobile phone 100 can directly execute the corresponding decision result, including controlling the current frequency band to be accessed to be switched to the target frequency band. In other embodiments of the present application, after determining the decision result, the mobile phone 100 can also transmit the decision result to the AP, and the AP guides the process of switching the frequency band, which is not limited here. For details, please refer to the following Figure 6b The description of the relevant steps in the process shown is not repeated here.

[0139] Figure 6b According to an embodiment of the present application, a schematic diagram of an implementation flow of another communication method is shown.

[0140] Specifically, Figure 6b As shown, the implementation process may include the following steps:

[0141] 621: The mobile phone 100 and the router 200 negotiate the cooperative switching capability.

[0142] 622: The router 200 determines that there is a target frequency band suitable for switching.

[0143] 623: The router 200 sends a message carrying the channel information of the target frequency band and the target frequency band identifier information to the mobile phone 100.

[0144] Exemplarily, the message includes at least AP information such as channel information of the target frequency band and identifier information of the target frequency band. The target frequency band may be, for example, a 2.4 GHz frequency band or a 5 GHz frequency band provided by the router 200. In other embodiments, the target frequency band may also be a 6 GHz frequency band, etc., which is not limited here.

[0145] The channel information of the target frequency band may be, for example, the channel number corresponding to a certain channel among the multiple channels under the target frequency band; the identifier information of the target frequency band may be, for example, at least one of the SSID, BSSID and ESSID, which is not limited here.

[0146] In some embodiments, the above message may be a management frame (action frame) provided by the data link layer. The specific message content may refer to the relevant description below, which will not be repeated here. In other embodiments, the router 200 may also send the above message based on the HTTP, MQTT and other protocol message transmission channels provided by the application layer, which is not limited here.

[0147] 624: Mobile phone 100 makes a switching decision.

[0148] It can be understood that the execution process of the above steps 621 to 624 is similar to the above Figure 6a The execution process of step 611 to step 614 in the illustrated implementation flow is the same. The specific execution process can refer to the relevant description of the above step 611 to step 614, which will not be repeated here.

[0149] 625: The mobile phone 100 sends a message carrying decision information to the router 200.

[0150] Exemplarily, different from the content executed in the above step 615, after the mobile phone 100 completes the switching decision, it can generate decision information to be sent to the router 200 based on the decision result. The decision information can be added to the corresponding message and sent to the router 200 through the information transmission channel corresponding to the negotiation process executed in the above step 611.

[0151] 626: Router 200 executes the decision result based on the received message.

[0152] Exemplarily, when receiving a message sent by the mobile phone 100, the router 200 can parse and obtain the decision information therein, and execute the decision result indicated by the decision information. For example, when the decision result is that the mobile phone 100 agrees to switch to the target frequency band to continue data transmission, the router 200 can send an 802.11v protocol message to the mobile phone 100 to guide the mobile phone 100 to switch to the target frequency band. For another example, when the decision result is that the mobile phone 100 refuses to switch to the target frequency band, but continues to stay in the current frequency band for data transmission.

[0153] It can be understood that the mobile phone 100 interacts with the router 200 to execute the process of executing the decision result described in the above steps 625 to 626, which can be used as the above Figure 4 Another execution method of the S3 stage shown is another execution method of the collaborative processing stage based on the decision result.

[0154] The implementation process of the coordinated switching capability negotiation involved in the above steps 611 and 621 is described in detail below with reference to the relevant drawings.

[0155] Figure 7a According to an embodiment of the present application, a schematic diagram of an interaction process for negotiating collaborative switching capabilities through beacon messages is shown.

[0156] Specifically, Figure 7a As shown, the interaction process may include:

[0157] 701: The router 200 sends a beacon message carrying capability information to the mobile phone 100.

[0158] For example, an AP device (such as router 200) may add the above-mentioned Figure 2 The capability module related parameters encoded in the TLV format shown are used as capability information corresponding to the collaborative capability possessed by the device. The receiver of the beacon message or one of the receivers may be the above-mentioned STA device (eg, mobile phone 100).

[0159] As an example, the AP device may add a capability information field to the beacon message content in the following example to negotiate the coordinated switching capability:

[0160]

[0161] Among them, "IEEE 802.11Beacon Frame" is used to indicate the above-mentioned beacon message; "IEEE802.11Wireless Management" is used to indicate the Wi-Fi management frame, that is, the type of beacon frame; "Tagged parameters" is used to indicate the detailed information of the Wi-Fi management frame; X01 in "Tag: X01 Capabilities" can be used to indicate the function tag corresponding to the capability module negotiated corresponding to the above-mentioned beacon message; "Tag Number: 230" is used to indicate the number of the function tag corresponding to the X01 capability module, for example, 230, that is, the above-mentioned "Element ID"; "Tag Length: 1" is used to indicate that the function information length of the capability module is 1 byte; "X01 Capabilities Info: 0000 0001" is used to indicate that the value of the "0th" bit, that is, "bit 0" in the binary bit stream corresponding to the function information field is 1, indicating that the AP device supports collaborative switching capability.

[0162] Correspondingly, the STA device receives and parses the beacon message sent by the AP device, and if it is determined that the message carries the capability information field, it is determined that the AP device supports the collaborative switching capability.

[0163] 702: The mobile phone 100 sends a probe request message carrying capability information to the router 200.

[0164] For example, after receiving the beacon message sent by the router 200 to confirm that the router 200 supports the coordinated switching capability, the mobile phone 100 can also feedback the router 200 with information related to its own coordinated switching capability through a message. For example, the STA device can add the above-mentioned "probe request" in the response frame "probe request" replied to the AP device. Figure 2 The capability module related parameters encoded in the TLV format shown are used as capability information corresponding to the collaborative capability possessed by the capability module.

[0165] As an example, the mobile phone 100 may add a capability information field to the probe request message content in the following example to negotiate the coordinated switching capability:

[0166]

[0167] Among them, "IEEE 802.11Probe Request" is used to indicate the above-mentioned Probe Request message; "IEEE802.11Wireless Management" is used to indicate the Wi-Fi management frame, that is, the type of the probe request frame; "TagNumber: 230" is used to indicate the number of the function tag corresponding to the capability module, that is, the "Element ID" is 230; "X01Capabilities Info: 0000 0001" is used to indicate that the value of the "0th" bit, that is, "bit 0" in the binary bit stream corresponding to the function information field is 1, indicating that the STA device also supports collaborative switching capability.

[0168] 703: Router 200 sends a probe response message carrying capability information to mobile phone 100.

[0169] Exemplarily, the probe response message can be used to support the setting of network access parameters. In the embodiment of the present application, the probe response message can carry relevant parameters of capability module related information (i.e., the above-mentioned capability information) encoded in TLV format as a response to the probe request message sent by the mobile phone 100. The STA device receiving the probe response message can determine the capability type supported by the corresponding AP device according to the capability information related parameters in the probe response message.

[0170] 704: The mobile phone 100 sends an authentication message for identity authentication to the router 200.

[0171] 705: The router 200 sends an authentication message for identity authentication to the mobile phone 100.

[0172] Based on the above steps 704 and 705, the mobile phone 100 and the router 200 can complete the network access authentication, and then the mobile phone 100 can continue to execute the following step 706 to request access to the AP in the router 200 that provides a Wi-Fi signal of the corresponding frequency band.

[0173] 706 : The mobile phone 100 sends an association request message to the router 200 .

[0174] 707: The router 200 sends an association response message to the mobile phone 100.

[0175] Based on the above steps 706 and 707, the mobile phone 100 and the router 200 can complete the network access request and response process, and then the mobile phone 100 can access the AP in the router 200 that provides the corresponding frequency band Wi-Fi signal and use the Wi-Fi signal of the frequency band for data transmission.

[0176] 708: The mobile phone 100 and the router 200 transmit EAPol messages.

[0177] It can be understood that the above EAPol message can transmit the EAP protocol (extensible authentication protocol) between the STA device and the AP device to allow the EAP protocol message to be transmitted on the local area network (LAN).

[0178] 709: Protocol data is transmitted between the mobile phone 100 and the router 200. The protocol data may be, for example, service data based on the EAP protocol, etc., which is not limited here.

[0179] It can be understood that the above steps 703 to 709 correspond to the process of STA devices such as mobile phone 100 accessing AP devices for data transmission and transmitting related protocol data to each other. For details, please refer to the current description of the Wi-Fi network and will not be repeated here.

[0180] Figure 7b According to an embodiment of the present application, a schematic diagram of an interaction process for performing collaborative switching capability negotiation through an association message is shown.

[0181] Specifically, Figure 7b As shown, the interaction process may include:

[0182] 711: Router 200 sends a beacon message to mobile phone 100.

[0183] 712: The mobile phone 100 sends a probe request message to the router 200.

[0184] It can be understood that the router 200 executes the above step 711 to send a beacon frame, which can be used to declare to STA devices such as the mobile phone 100 the existence of Wi-Fi networks of different frequency bands supported by the router 200, such as the above-mentioned 2.4 GHz frequency band network and 5 GHz frequency band network.

[0185] The STA device (eg, mobile phone 100 ) can scan surrounding networks by sending probe request frames, for example, it can scan networks in the 2.4 GHz band and the 5 GHz band declared by the router 200 .

[0186] 713: The router 200 sends a probe response message to the mobile phone 100 for supporting setting of network access parameters.

[0187] 714: The mobile phone 100 sends an authentication message for identity authentication to the router 200.

[0188] 715: The router 200 sends an authentication message for identity authentication to the mobile phone 100.

[0189] The process of transmitting relevant messages between the mobile phone 100 and the router 200 in the above steps 713 to 715 can refer to the relevant description in the above steps 703 to 705, which will not be repeated here.

[0190] 716: The mobile phone 100 sends an association request message associationrequest carrying capability information to the router 200.

[0191] Exemplarily, the mobile phone 100 may carry capability information corresponding to the cooperative switching capability in the network access request message associationrequest sent to the router 200 .

[0192] As an example, a STA device (such as mobile phone 100) may add a capability information field to the association request message associationrequest content in the following example to negotiate the collaborative switching capability:

[0193]

[0194] Among them, "IEEE 802.11Association Request" is used to indicate the above-mentioned association request message; "IEEE 802.11Wireless Management" is used to indicate the Wi-Fi management frame, that is, the type of the association request frame; "Tag Number: 230" is used to indicate the number of the function tag corresponding to the capability module, that is, the "Element ID" is 230; "X01 Capabilities Info: 00000001" is used to indicate that the value of the "0th" bit, that is, "bit 0" in the binary bit stream corresponding to the function information field is 1, indicating that the STA device also supports collaborative switching capability.

[0195] 717: The router 200 sends an association response message carrying capability information to the mobile phone 100.

[0196] Similarly, the router 200 may carry capability information corresponding to the collaborative switching capability in the network access request response message associationresponse sent to the mobile phone 100 .

[0197] As an example, an AP device (eg, router 200) may add a capability information field in the associationresponse of the following network access request message to negotiate the collaborative switching capability:

[0198]

[0199] Among them, "IEEE 802.11Association Response" is used to indicate the above-mentioned association response message; "IEEE 802.11Wireless Management" is used to indicate the Wi-Fi management frame, that is, the type of the association response frame.

[0200] Based on the above steps 716 and 717, the mobile phone 100 and the router 200 can complete the network access request and response process, and then the mobile phone 100 can access the AP in the router 200 that provides the corresponding frequency band Wi-Fi signal and use the Wi-Fi signal of the frequency band for data transmission.

[0201] 718: The mobile phone 100 and the router 200 transmit EAPol messages.

[0202] It can be understood that the above EAPol message can transmit the EAP protocol between the STA device and the AP device to allow the EAP protocol message to be transmitted on the local area network (LAN).

[0203] 719: Protocol data is transmitted between the mobile phone 100 and the router 200. The protocol data may be, for example, service data based on the EAP protocol, etc., which is not limited here.

[0204] It can be understood that the above steps 718 to 719 correspond to the process of STA devices such as mobile phone 100 transmitting relevant protocol data to each other after accessing the AP device. For details, please refer to the relevant description of the current Wi-Fi network, which will not be repeated here.

[0205] It is understandable that the above Figure 7a , Figure 7b The timing for implementing the process shown is when the STA device establishes a connection with the AP device, that is, when the STA device accesses the corresponding frequency band provided by the AP device.

[0206] The following describes the specific implementation method of the collaborative capability negotiation between the STA device and the AP device after the connection is established.

[0207] Refer to the above Figure 7b As shown, after the STA device establishes a connection with the AP device, the mobile phone 100 and the router 200 can also add capability information corresponding to the cooperative switching capability in the data frame to achieve capability negotiation between the mobile phone 100 and the router 200 during the process of mutually transmitting protocol data in the above step 719. The data frame corresponding to the protocol data can be a message sent by the application layer in the network protocol model.

[0208] For example, after the STA device accesses the AP device, the STA device can send "http: / / 192.168.3.1 / get_capabilites?capabilities_info=xxx,AP" to send its own collaborative switching capabilities to the AP device with the address of 192.168.3.1. Correspondingly, after the AP device receives the above data frame sent through the http get interface, it can return the information related to the collaborative switching capability of the AP device to the STA device to complete the capability negotiation. I will not go into details here.

[0209] Next, continue to combine Figure 8 This section describes another way to implement collaboration capability negotiation between a STA and an AP after they establish a connection.

[0210] Figure 8 According to an embodiment of the present application, a schematic diagram of an interaction process for negotiating collaborative switching capabilities through action messages after a STA device establishes a connection with an AP device is shown.

[0211] Specifically, Figure 8 As shown, the interaction process may include:

[0212] 801: Router 200 sends a beacon message to mobile phone 100.

[0213] 802: Mobile phone 100 sends a probe request message to router 200.

[0214] It can be understood that the router 200 executes the above step 801 to send a beacon frame, which can be used to declare to STA devices such as the mobile phone 100 the existence of Wi-Fi networks of different frequency bands supported by the router 200, such as the above-mentioned 2.4 GHz frequency band network and 5 GHz frequency band network.

[0215] The STA device (eg, mobile phone 10) 0 can scan surrounding networks by sending probe request frames, for example, it can scan networks in the 2.4 GHz frequency band and the 5 GHz frequency band declared by the router 200.

[0216] 803: The router 200 sends a probe response message to the mobile phone 100 for supporting setting of network access parameters.

[0217] 804: The mobile phone 100 sends an authentication message for identity authentication to the router 200.

[0218] 805: The router 200 sends an authentication message for identity authentication to the mobile phone 100.

[0219] 806: The mobile phone 100 sends an association request message to the router 200.

[0220] 807: The router 200 sends an association response message to the mobile phone 100.

[0221] 808: EAPol messages are transmitted between the mobile phone 100 and the router 200.

[0222] It can be understood that the above EAPol message can transmit the EAP protocol between the STA device and the AP device to allow the EAP protocol message to be transmitted on the local area network (LAN).

[0223] 809: Protocol data is transmitted between the mobile phone 100 and the router 200. The protocol data may be, for example, service data based on the EAP protocol, etc., which is not limited here.

[0224] The process of transmitting relevant messages between the mobile phone 100 and the router 200 in the above steps 803 to 809 can refer to the relevant description in the above steps 703 to 709, which will not be repeated here.

[0225] 810: The mobile phone 100 sends an action message carrying capability information to the router 200.

[0226] For example, the action frame format added to the 802.11h protocol in the Wi-Fi series of protocols is usually used to trigger measurement actions. In an embodiment of the present application, a new action frame can be added based on the action frame format provided by the 802.11h protocol, so that the message under the frame format can carry different types of capability information, such as the above-mentioned collaborative switching capability and the weak signal subscription and notification capability, low rate subscription and notification capability, etc. described in another embodiment below.

[0227] In an embodiment of the present application, the action message that the mobile phone 100 can send to the router 200 can carry the capability information corresponding to the above-mentioned collaborative switching capability.

[0228] As an example, a STA device such as a mobile phone 100 may add a capability information field to the action message content in the following example to negotiate the coordinated switching capability:

[0229]

[0230] Among them, "IEEE 802.11Action" is used to indicate the action message used to trigger the measurement action; "IEEE 802.11Wireless Management" is used to indicate the Wi-Fi management frame, that is, the type of action frame; "Fixed parameters" is used to indicate the fixed parameters in the action frame; "Category code: 130" is used to indicate the function type of the action frame, and the value can also be other undefined values ​​in the range of [0, 255], which is not limited here.

[0231] In addition, "Action code: 0" is used to indicate the sub-function type of "Category code", where "0" can indicate the capability information of the collaborative switching capability, indicating support for the collaborative switching function. In other steps, when the value of "Action code" is other numerical values, different sub-functions can be indicated. For example, "Action code: 1" can indicate support for weak signal event subscription and notification functions, and "Action code: 2" can indicate low-rate event subscription and notification functions, etc. For details, please refer to the relevant descriptions in the corresponding steps below.

[0232] "Tag Number: 230" indicates the function number executed based on the corresponding capability, where the value "230" can be used to indicate that the above-mentioned action message is used for capability negotiation and is applied to the capability negotiation stage; "X01 CapabilitiesInfo: 0000 0001" indicates that the STA device also supports collaborative switching capabilities, which will not be repeated here.

[0233] 811: The router 200 sends an action message carrying capability information to the mobile phone 100.

[0234] Similarly, the router 200 may carry capability information corresponding to the coordinated switching capability in the response message action of the triggering measurement message sent to the mobile phone 100 .

[0235] As an example, an AP device such as router 200 may add the following capability information field in the action message to negotiate the coordinated switching capability:

[0236]

[0237]

[0238] Among them, "IEEE 802.11Action" is used to indicate the action message used to trigger the measurement action.

[0239] It can be understood that the action messages sent in the above steps 810 and 811 can be sent through the data link layer in the above network protocol model, that is, the above action frame is a management frame transmitted in the data link layer, which will not be described in detail here.

[0240] Based on the above Figure 7a , Figure 7b as well as Figure 8 As shown in the figure and in the various capability negotiation implementations described in the above related descriptions, the STA device and the AP device can exchange information related to the collaborative switching capability with each other before or after the connection is established. It can be understood that in the above capability negotiation process, an information transmission channel for transmitting AP information and decision information can be established between the STA device (such as mobile phone 100) and the AP device (such as router 200). Based on the above various different capability negotiation implementations, the information transmission channel established between the STA device and the AP device can be transmitted through the application layer of the network protocol model, or through the data link layer of the network protocol model, etc., and no limitation is made here.

[0241] The message sent by the router 200 to the mobile phone 100 in the above steps 613 and 623 may be an action message. The message may be an action message, and may carry the channel information of the target frequency band and the identifier information of the target frequency band, such as the channel number corresponding to a channel under the target frequency band and the BSSID parameter of the target frequency band.

[0242] As an example, the action message for sending the channel information and target frequency band identifier information of the target frequency band may refer to the following example content:

[0243]

[0244] Among them, "IEEE 802.11Action" is used to indicate the action message used to send the channel information and target frequency band identifier information of the target frequency band; "Tag: Y01 Report" is used to indicate the functional tag of the action message that can send the channel information and target frequency band identifier information of the target frequency band; "Tag Number: 231" is used to indicate the functional tag number of the action message that can send the channel information and target frequency band identifier information of the target frequency band; "TagLength: 7" is used to indicate that the byte length of the BSSID and channel information sent in the action message is 7 bytes; "BSSID: 11:22:33:44:55:66" is used to indicate the BSSID parameters of the target frequency band, and "Channel Num: 6" is used to indicate the channel number under the target frequency band, that is, the channel information.

[0245] The decision information of whether to switch determined by the mobile phone 100 in response to the message sent by the router 200 in step 625 may also be sent using the action message. The action message carrying the decision information may carry the channel information of the target frequency band and the identifier information of the target frequency band, such as the channel number corresponding to a channel under the target frequency band and the BSSID parameters of the target frequency band.

[0246] As an example, the action message used to send the above decision information can refer to the following example content:

[0247]

[0248]

[0249] Among them, "IEEE 802.11Action" is used to indicate the above-mentioned action message for sending decision information; "Tag: Y01 Report Result" is used to indicate the functional tag of the above-mentioned action message that can send the message response result (that is, the above-mentioned decision information); "Tag Number: 232" is used to indicate the functional tag number of the above-mentioned action message that can send the above-mentioned decision information; "Tag Length: 1" is used to indicate that the byte length of the decision information sent in the above-mentioned action message is 1 byte; "Result: 1" is used to indicate the decision result carried by the decision information, wherein the value "1" indicates that the switching is agreed, and if the value is "0", that is, "Result: 0" indicates that the switching is not agreed.

[0250] In conjunction with another embodiment 2, in which a STA device enters a weak signal environment and needs to switch networks, the specific implementation process of the communication method provided by the present application in this scenario is introduced below.

[0251] Example 2

[0252] Fig. 9 According to an embodiment of the present application, a schematic diagram of an application scenario in which a STA device needs to switch networks when entering a weak signal environment is shown.

[0253] like Fig. 9 As shown, the AP device in this scenario continues to take the router 200 as an example, and the STA device continues to take the mobile phone 100 as an example. In this scenario, when the mobile phone 100 moves from the location A with a strong Wi-Fi signal strength to the location B with a weak Wi-Fi signal strength, the weak Wi-Fi signal may cause the mobile phone 100 to use the Wi-Fi signal for data transmission at a low transmission rate or even fail to transmit normally. At this time, if the mobile phone 100 cannot switch to other available networks in time, the user experience will be deteriorated.

[0254] Fig.10 According to an embodiment of the present application, a schematic diagram of an implementation flow of a communication method is shown.

[0255] In the embodiment of the present application, the implementation process mainly involves the interaction between the mobile phone 100 and the router 200. Among them, the mobile phone 100 can be a STA device that supports dual-band (for example, 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands) signal transmission business data, and the router 200 can be a device including dual-band (for example, 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands) AP components. In other embodiments, the above-mentioned router 200 can also be a device including multi-band (for example, 2.4GHz, 5GHz and 6GHz bands) AP components. Alternatively, in some application scenarios, AP devices supporting different frequency bands can provide 2.4GHz band Wi-Fi signals and 5GHz band Wi-Fi signals, etc., respectively, and interact with STA devices to implement the communication method provided in this application, which is not limited here.

[0256] It should also be stated that the steps in the methods and processes in the embodiments of the present application are numbered for ease of reference, rather than to limit the order of precedence. If there is an order between the steps, the text description shall prevail.

[0257] Specifically, Fig.10 As shown, the implementation process may include the following steps:

[0258] 1001: The mobile phone 100 and the router 200 negotiate weak signal event subscription and notification capabilities.

[0259] Exemplarily, the negotiation of the weak signal event subscription and notification capabilities is also a capability negotiation process. As mentioned above, the program code corresponding to the weak signal event subscription and notification capabilities is added to the program code corresponding to the Wi-Fi driver to execute the weak signal event subscription and notification capabilities when the Wi-Fi driver code is executed.

[0260] In other embodiments, low-rate event subscription and notification capabilities may also be negotiated between the mobile phone 100 and the router 200. The low-rate event subscription and notification capabilities may perform subscription functions and notification functions similar to the above-mentioned weak signal event subscription and notification capabilities, etc., and are not limited here.

[0261] It can be understood that the above-mentioned process of negotiating weak signal event subscription and notification capabilities is similar to the process of negotiating coordinated switching capabilities in the above-mentioned embodiment 1. The specific negotiation method can refer to the above-mentioned embodiment 1. Figure 7a , Figure 7b as well as Figure 8 The above and related descriptions will not be repeated here.

[0262] 1002: The mobile phone 100 sends a message carrying a subscription request to the router 200.

[0263] Exemplarily, the mobile phone 100 can subscribe to weak signal events from the router based on the weak signal event subscription and notification capability module in the Wi-Fi driver. The subscription process can be completed by sending the above-mentioned message carrying the subscription request. The above-mentioned message carrying the subscription request may carry a weak signal threshold, duration, etc. The weak signal threshold may be, for example, an RSSI threshold, which may correspond to the lower limit threshold of the Wi-Fi signal receiving strength that can normally transmit data, and is not limited here. The above-mentioned weak signal event may correspond to an event that is triggered and reported when the RSSI or other indication signal strength of the Wi-Fi signal received by the router 200 for the STA device such as the mobile phone 100 is low.

[0264] As an example, the message carrying the subscription request may also be the action message. The action message used by the mobile phone 100 to send the subscription request corresponding to the weak signal event may refer to the following example content:

[0265]

[0266]

[0267] Among them, "IEEE 802.11Action" is used to indicate the action message used to send the subscription request; "IEEE 802.11Wireless Management" is used to indicate the Wi-Fi management frame, that is, the type of action frame; "Fixed parameters" is used to indicate the fixed parameters in the action frame; "Action code: 1" can indicate that the weak signal event subscription and notification functions are supported; "Tag: Z01Subcribe" is used to indicate the function tag used by the action message to send the subscription request; "Tag Number: 235" is used to indicate the function tag number used by the action message to send the subscription request; "Tag Length: 2" is used to indicate that the signal strength threshold and duration sent in the action message occupy 2 bytes; "RSSI: -79" is used to indicate the signal strength threshold, that is, the RSSI size is -79, usually in dBm; "Time: 3" indicates the duration, in seconds.

[0268] In other embodiments, the mobile phone 100 may also send a subscription request corresponding to a low-rate event to the router, and the low-rate event may correspond to an event triggered and reported when the transmission rate of the STA device such as the mobile phone 100 using the Wi-Fi signal to transmit service data is low. Correspondingly, the subscription request corresponding to the low-rate event sent by the mobile phone 100 may carry parameters such as rate threshold and duration, which are not limited here.

[0269] 1003: The router 200 sends a message carrying a subscription request response result to the mobile phone 100.

[0270] Exemplarily, based on the weak signal event subscription and notification capability module in the Wi-Fi driver, the router 200 can respond to the subscription request sent by the mobile phone 100 through a message, set the conditions for triggering notification corresponding to the detection of the Wi-Fi signal reception strength, such as RSSI, for example, setting the corresponding RSSI threshold according to the weak signal threshold in the subscription request. The router 200 can send the setting result corresponding to the above response process to the mobile phone 100 through a message. The message can carry the above subscription request response result.

[0271] As an example, the router 200 may send a subscription request response result to the mobile phone 100 by using the above-mentioned action message.

[0272] Router 200 sends the above action message carrying the subscription request response result, which can refer to the following example:

[0273]

[0274] Among them, "Tag: Z01 Subcribe Result" is used to indicate the function tag used by the above action message to send the subscription request response result; "Tag Number: 236" is used to indicate the function tag number used by the above action message to send the subscription request response result; "Tag Length: 1" is used to indicate that the byte length of the response result sent in the above action message is 1 byte; "Result: 1" is used to indicate the subscription request response result received by the AP device, where the value "1" indicates that the subscription is approved, and if the value is "0", that is, "Result: 0" indicates that the subscription is not approved or the subscription is rejected.

[0275] It can be understood that the sending of the subscription request executed in step 1002 and the sending of the subscription request response result executed in step 1003 can be transmitted through the information transmission channel established by the mobile phone 100 and the router 200 during the capability negotiation process of step 1001.

[0276] 1004: The router 200 detects that the signal strength meets the condition for sending a notification of a weak signal event.

[0277] For example, after the router 200 completes the setting of the RSSI threshold and other conditions for triggering notification (also called notification conditions) in response to the subscription request sent by the mobile phone 100, it can determine that the notification conditions for sending a weak signal event are met when the RSSI value corresponding to the Wi-Fi signal is detected to be lower than the above RSSI threshold. At this time, the router 200 can continue to perform the following step 1005 to send notification information corresponding to the weak signal event.

[0278] 1005: The router 200 sends a message for notifying the mobile phone 100 of a weak signal event.

[0279] Exemplarily, the router 200 sends a message for notifying the mobile phone 100 of a weak signal event, and the message may be, for example, the above-mentioned action message. The content of the action message corresponding to the weak signal event notified by the router 200 may refer to the following example:

[0280]

[0281] Among them, "Tag: Z01 Notify" is used to indicate that the above action message is used to notify the function tag of the weak signal event; "Tag Number: 237" is used to indicate the function tag number of the above action message used to notify the weak signal event; "Tag Length: 1" is used to indicate that the byte length of the signal strength corresponding to the weak signal event notified in the above action message is 1 byte; "RSSI: -83" is used to indicate the detected Wi-Fi signal strength corresponding to the above weak signal event, for example -83dBm.

[0282] 1006: In response to the weak signal event, the mobile phone 100 switches the network if it is determined that there are other available networks.

[0283] For example, when the mobile phone 100 receives a weak signal event notified by the router 200, it can trigger a switching process to other available networks. For example, if the mobile cellular network currently supported by the mobile phone 100 is available and has no traffic restrictions, the mobile phone 100 can switch the network to the mobile cellular network for data transmission in response to the weak signal event.

[0284] In this way, the mobile phone 100 can switch networks more timely when entering a weak signal environment, achieving a better Internet experience. For example, applications running on the mobile phone 100 or other services that require Internet access can be transmitted in time through the switched mobile cellular network, so there will be no problems such as service interruption caused by network anomalies, and the user experience can also be better.

[0285] It can be understood that AP devices such as router 200 detect and notify corresponding events based on the subscription of STA devices, which can avoid the problem of increased power consumption of AP devices caused by AP devices continuously executing detection-related programs. In addition, since the power of the mobile phone Wi-Fi chip is usually lower than that of the router Wi-Fi chip, the mobile phone can often receive the message sent by the router, but the router often cannot receive the message sent by the mobile phone. This phenomenon can be described as the "long and short hands" phenomenon in some embodiments. The communication method provided in this application can solve the communication problems caused by the above-mentioned "long and short hands" phenomenon.

[0286] It can be understood that in some smart home environments, the STA devices connected to the AP device may also be smart home devices with fixed locations. For these devices, the AP device does not need to guide them to switch frequency bands or networks.

[0287] Fig.11 A schematic structural diagram of a device is shown according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0288] As mentioned earlier, Fig.11 The device 300 shown can be the above-mentioned STA device, such as the mobile phone 100; or it can be the above-mentioned AP device, such as the router 200, which is not limited here.

[0289] like Fig.11 As shown, device 300 includes a processor 110 , a memory 120 , a communication interface 130 , and a bus 140 .

[0290] The processor 110 may include one or more processing units, for example, the processor 110 includes a central processing unit, a modem processor, a baseband processor, etc. In some embodiments, different processing units may be independent devices or may be integrated into one or more processors.

[0291] In some embodiments, the processor 110 may be configured to execute one or more programs to implement the communication methods provided in the aforementioned embodiments.

[0292] For example, when the device 300 is an AP device, the processor 110 can be used to execute relevant instructions for capability negotiation with the STA device, and the negotiation process may involve one or more of negotiation collaborative switching capability, weak signal event subscription and notification capability, and low-rate practice subscription and notification capability. The processor 110 is also used to execute relevant instructions for transmitting the detected Wi-Fi signal strength related data such as RSSI to the STA device as AP information, and related instructions such as guiding the STA device to switch to the target frequency band based on the decision result sent by the STA device. The specific execution process can refer to the relevant description in the above embodiment 1, which will not be repeated here.

[0293] In other embodiments, the processor 110 is further used to execute relevant instructions for detecting Wi-Fi signal strength according to STA device subscription and determining whether notification conditions of relevant events are met, including notification conditions corresponding to weak signal events or notification conditions corresponding to low rate events, etc. And when the above notification conditions are met, the processor 110 is used to execute relevant instructions for sending relevant events to the STA device. The specific execution process can refer to the relevant description in the above embodiment 2, which will not be repeated here.

[0294] For another example, when the device 300 is a STA device, the processor 110 can be used to execute relevant instructions for capability negotiation with the AP device, and to decide whether to switch to the target frequency band based on AP information such as the Wi-Fi signal strength sent by the AP device and its own service transmission requirements. The specific execution process can refer to the relevant description in the above embodiment 1, which will not be repeated here.

[0295] In other embodiments, the processor 110 is further configured to execute instructions for deciding whether to switch to other available networks according to weak signal events or low rate events notified by the AP device. The specific execution process can refer to the relevant description in the above embodiment 2, which will not be repeated here.

[0296] The memory 120 may include one or more memories for storing data or program codes. For example, in some embodiments, the memory 120 may be used to store data sent by other devices, etc. For another example, in some embodiments, the memory 120 may be used to store instructions of the communication methods provided in the foregoing embodiments.

[0297] In some embodiments, the memory 120 may include a hard disk drive, a solid state drive, or a flash memory.

[0298] In some embodiments, memory 120 may include removable or non-removable or fixed media.

[0299] In some embodiments, memory 120 may be internal or external to device 300 .

[0300] The communication interface 130 is used to implement communication between the device 300 and other devices. The communication interface 130 may include a wired or wireless communication interface (such as a Wi-Fi air interface, etc.), so that the device 300 can communicate with other devices through a wired or wireless network.

[0301] The bus 140 is used to connect the processor 110 , the memory 120 , the communication interface 130 , and other possible modules or circuits.

[0302] It should be understood that Fig.11The structure of the device 300 is only an example. In other embodiments, the device 300 may include more or fewer modules, which is not limited here.

[0303] The embodiment of the present application also provides a program product, which, when executed on a device, can enable the device to implement the communication methods provided in the aforementioned embodiments.

[0304] An embodiment of the present application also provides a readable storage medium, in which one or more programs are stored. When the one or more programs are executed by a device, the device implements the communication method provided by the aforementioned embodiments.

[0305] An embodiment of the present application also provides a system, which includes the AP device and the STA device provided by the aforementioned embodiments.

[0306] In the accompanying drawings, some structural or method features may be shown in a specific arrangement and / or order. However, it should be understood that such a specific arrangement and / or order may not be required. Instead, in some embodiments, these features may be arranged in a manner and / or order different from that shown in the illustrative drawings. In addition, the inclusion of structural or method features in a particular figure does not mean that such features are required in all embodiments, and in some embodiments, these features may not be included or may be combined with other features.

[0307] It should be noted that in the examples and description of this patent, relational terms such as first and second, etc. are only used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Moreover, the term "includes" or any other variant thereof is intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device including a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. In the absence of further restrictions, the elements defined by the sentence "includes one" do not exclude the existence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or device including the elements.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: include: The first device accesses an access point of a first frequency band provided by a second device, wherein the second device also provides an access point of a second frequency band; The first device receives a first message sent by the second device, wherein the first message carries channel information of the second frequency band and identifier information of the second frequency band; The first device determines that a frequency band switching condition is satisfied, wherein the frequency band switching condition is related to a network delay or a transmission rate of data transmission by the first device through an access point of a first frequency band provided by the second device; The first device accesses an access point of the second frequency band provided by the second device based on the channel information of the second frequency band and the identifier information of the second frequency band.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The first device determines that a frequency band switching condition is met, including: The first device determines that a network delay for data transmission through the access point of the first frequency band provided by the second device is greater than a first delay threshold; The first device determines that a transmission rate of data transmission performed through the access point of the first frequency band provided by the second device is less than a first rate threshold.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The first device receiving a first message sent by the second device includes: The first device receives the first message based on a first transmission channel established between the first device and the second device, wherein the first transmission channel is established in the following manner: The first device sends a second message based on the first protocol to the second device; and The first device receives a third message based on the first protocol sent by the second device, wherein the third message is a response message to the second message, and the second message carries capability information corresponding to the collaborative switching capability, and the third message carries capability information corresponding to the collaborative switching capability; The first device establishes the first transmission channel with the second device based on the message transmission channel of the first protocol.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The first device accessing an access point of the second frequency band provided by the second device includes: The first device sends an access request to an access point of the second frequency band provided by the second device based on the identifier information of the second frequency band; or, The first device sends a fourth message to the second device based on the identifier information of the second frequency band, wherein the fourth message carries a decision result corresponding to the frequency band switching condition determined by the first device; The first device receives a fifth message sent by the second device, wherein the fifth message is a response message to the fourth message, and the fifth message carries identifier information of the second frequency band.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that Also includes: The first device receives a sixth message sent by the second device, wherein the sixth message carries a first RSSI of an access point in the first frequency band and a second RSSI of an access point in the second frequency band provided by the second device, and a value of the first RSSI is less than a first strength threshold, and a value of the second RSSI is less than a second strength threshold; The first device determines that a network switching condition is met and uses a mobile cellular network.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The network switching condition is related to a network delay or a transmission rate of data transmission by the first device through an access point of the first frequency band or an access point of the second frequency band provided by the second device, and, The first device determines that a network switching condition is met, including: The first device determines that a network delay for data transmission through an access point of the first frequency band or an access point of the second frequency band provided by the second device is greater than a second delay threshold; The first device determines that a transmission rate of data transmission through the access point of the first frequency band or the access point of the second frequency band provided by the second device is less than a second rate threshold.

7. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The first device receiving a sixth message sent by the second device includes: The first device receives the sixth message based on a second transmission channel established between the first device and the second device, wherein the second transmission channel is established in the following manner: The first device receives a seventh message based on the first protocol sent by the second device; and, The first device sends an eighth message based on the first protocol to the second device, wherein the eighth message is a response message to the seventh message, and the seventh message carries capability information corresponding to weak signal event subscription and notification capability, and the eighth message carries capability information corresponding to weak signal event subscription and notification capability, or the seventh message carries capability information corresponding to low-rate event subscription and notification capability, and the eighth message carries capability information corresponding to low-rate event subscription and notification capability; The first device establishes the second transmission channel with the second device based on the message transmission channel of the first protocol.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that The identifier information of the second frequency band includes any one of the following: Service Set Identifier; Basic Service Set Identifier; Extended Service Set Identifier.

9. A device, characterized in that: include: one or more processors; One or more memories; the one or more memories store one or more programs, and when the one or more programs are executed by the one or more processors, the device executes the communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. A readable storage medium, characterized in that: The readable storage medium stores one or more programs, and when the one or more programs are executed on a device, the device executes the communication method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

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