Multi-network cooperative operation method and device, and storage medium

Abstract

This application provides a multi-network collaborative operation method, device, and storage medium. When the Wi-Fi network currently accessed by the first terminal device is insufficient to meet the service demands of multiple service flows that need to be processed in the first terminal device, the method simultaneously uses the Wi-Fi network and a hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device. High-priority service flows are assigned to the hotspot network for transmission and reception, while other service flows remain on the Wi-Fi network. This ensures that service flows are processed normally while reducing cellular data consumption.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application. The original application has the application number 202211470740.2 and the original application date is November 23, 2022. The entire contents of the original application are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0002] This application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a method, device and storage medium for multi-network collaborative operation. Background Technology

[0003] The development and widespread adoption of internet technology have brought convenience to people's daily lives, work, and entertainment. For example, users can conduct audio and video conferencing, live streaming, and gaming through terminal devices connected to wireless local area networks, such as Wi-Fi, or cellular networks (mobile networks).

[0004] However, for some terminal devices that only have WIFI communication capabilities and no cellular communication capabilities, when there is no usable WIFI network in the environment, or when the WIFI network is poor, services that rely on the network, such as audio and video conferencing, live streaming, and online games, will not be able to be carried out. Summary of the Invention

[0005] To address the aforementioned technical problems, this application provides a multi-network collaborative operation method, device, and storage medium, aiming to enable terminal devices without cellular communication capabilities to perform service processing by leveraging terminal devices with cellular communication capabilities, thereby achieving multi-network collaborative operation and ensuring the normal operation of services.

[0006] Firstly, this application provides a multi-network collaborative operation method applied to a first terminal device. The method includes: when there are first-priority and second-priority service flows that need to be processed, acquiring current Wi-Fi network information; determining a user experience QoE quality assessment result based on the Wi-Fi network information, the first-priority service flow, and the second-priority service flow, wherein the QoE quality assessment result indicates whether the Wi-Fi network can simultaneously process the first-priority service flow and the second-priority service flow, with the first priority being higher than the second priority; when the QoE quality assessment result indicates that the Wi-Fi network cannot simultaneously process the first-priority service flow and the second-priority service flow, scheduling the first-priority service flow to a hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device, and scheduling the second-priority service flow to the Wi-Fi network; wherein the second terminal device establishes a mobile connection with a base station via a cellular network and a wireless connection with the first terminal device via a hotspot network.

[0007] Therefore, when the WIFI network currently accessed by the first terminal device is insufficient to meet the service requirements of multiple service flows that need to be processed in the first terminal device, the WIFI network and the hotspot network opened by the second terminal device are used simultaneously. The high-priority service flows are sent and received by the hotspot network, while other service flows are sent and received by the WIFI network. This ensures that the service flows are processed normally and reduces the consumption of cellular traffic.

[0008] According to the first aspect, during the process of the first terminal device using the WIFI network, the method further includes: determining the application currently running on the first terminal device, the application including a first application with a first priority and a second application with a second priority; designating the service flow corresponding to the first application as a service flow with a first priority; and designating the service flow corresponding to the second application as a service flow with a second priority.

[0009] This enables concurrent processing of business flows between different applications. For details, please refer to the description of the application-level non-split mode below, which will not be repeated here.

[0010] According to the first aspect, or any implementation of the first aspect above, during the process of the first terminal device using a WIFI network, the method further includes: determining the application currently running on the first terminal device, the application including a first application with a first priority and a second application with a second priority; determining the source of the service flow corresponding to the first application; when the service flow corresponding to the first application comes from a service scenario, designating the service flow corresponding to the first application as a first-priority service flow; when the source of the service flow corresponding to the first application includes at least two service scenarios, determining the priority of each service scenario; designating the service flow corresponding to the service scenario with the higher priority in the first application as a first-priority service flow, and designating the service flow corresponding to the service scenario with the lower priority in the first application as a second-priority service flow; determining the source of the service flow corresponding to the second application; when the service flow corresponding to the second application comes from a service scenario, designating the service flow corresponding to the second application as a second-priority service flow; when the source of the service flow corresponding to the second application includes at least two service scenarios, determining the priority of each service scenario; designating the service flow corresponding to the service scenario with the higher priority in the second application as a first-priority service flow, and designating the service flow corresponding to the service scenario with the lower priority in the second application as a second-priority service flow.

[0011] This enables concurrent processing of business flows corresponding to different business scenarios within the same application. For details, please refer to the description of the concurrent flow splitting mode of different business flows within the same application below, which will not be repeated here.

[0012] According to the first aspect, or any implementation of the first aspect above, determining the source of the business flow corresponding to the first application includes: determining the number of business scenarios included in the first application based on the attribute information of the first application; when the number of business scenarios included in the first application is 1, determining that the business flow corresponding to the first application comes from a business scenario; when the number of business scenarios included in the first application is greater than 1, determining the application programming interface called when the first application provides the business flow; wherein, different application programming interfaces correspond to different business scenarios; deduplicating the called application programming interfaces to obtain the number of business scenarios of the business flow provided by the first application.

[0013] Therefore, by determining the number of business scenarios included in the first application, the source of the current business flow can be determined, making it more reasonable to subsequently determine the priority of the business flow based on its source and then perform concurrent traffic distribution, scheduling it to the WIFI network or hotspot network.

[0014] Based on the first aspect, or any implementation of the first aspect above, the source of the business flow corresponding to the second application is determined, including: determining the number of business scenarios included in the second application based on the attribute information of the second application; when the number of business scenarios included in the second application is 1, determining that the business flow corresponding to the second application comes from one business scenario; when the number of business scenarios included in the second application is greater than 1, determining the application programming interface called when the second application provides the business flow; wherein, different application programming interfaces correspond to different business scenarios; deduplicating the called application programming interfaces to obtain the number of business scenarios of the business flow provided by the second application.

[0015] Therefore, by determining the number of business scenarios included in the second application, the source of the current business flow can be determined, making it more reasonable to subsequently determine the priority of the business flow based on its source and then perform concurrent traffic distribution, scheduling it to the WIFI network or hotspot network.

[0016] According to the first aspect, or any implementation of the first aspect above, the method further includes: when the QoE quality assessment result indicates that the WIFI network cannot process the first priority service flow or the second priority service flow, scheduling both the first priority service flow and the second priority service flow to the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device.

[0017] Therefore, in the absence of available Wi-Fi, by routing the necessary service flows to a hotspot network, the primary terminal device can be guaranteed to perform its services normally, ensuring a good user experience. Specific implementation details can be found in the section below describing the two-way network mode where only a hotspot network link exists; these details will not be repeated here.

[0018] According to the first aspect, or any implementation of the first aspect above, after scheduling both the first priority service flow and the second priority service flow to the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device, the method further includes: when the QoE quality assessment result indicates that the WIFI network can simultaneously handle the first priority service flow and the second priority service flow, or when other accessible WIFI networks are found, stopping the scheduling of the first priority service flow and the second priority service flow to the hotspot network, and scheduling the first priority service flow and the second priority service flow to the WIFI network or searching for other accessible WIFI networks.

[0019] Therefore, when a Wi-Fi network is available, by stopping the dispatch of all or part of the service flow to the hotspot network and instead dispatching these service flows to the Wi-Fi network for processing, the consumption of cellular traffic on the second terminal device is reduced.

[0020] According to the first aspect, or any implementation of the first aspect above, the method further includes: when the QoE quality assessment result indicates that the WIFI network can simultaneously handle the first priority service flow and the second priority service flow, scheduling both the first priority service flow and the second priority service flow to the WIFI network.

[0021] Therefore, in the two-choice network mode, as long as there is an available Wi-Fi network, the service flow that the first terminal device needs to process will be scheduled to the Wi-Fi network, without relying on the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device, thereby reducing the consumption of cellular data traffic on the second terminal device. For specific implementation details, please refer to the description section below on the two-choice network mode where only a Wi-Fi network link exists; it will not be repeated here.

[0022] According to the first aspect, or any implementation of the first aspect above, the method further includes: determining whether the first terminal device has enabled the multi-network collaborative operation function; when the first terminal device has enabled the multi-network collaborative operation function, performing the step of scheduling the first priority service flow to the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device; when the first terminal device has not enabled the multi-network collaborative operation function, displaying the first entry point; in response to the operation on the first entry point, enabling the multi-network collaborative operation function, and performing the step of scheduling the first priority service flow to the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device.

[0023] Therefore, by providing a primary entry point, users can easily enable multi-network collaborative operation functions. This primary entry point could, for example, be integrated into the settings interface of the corresponding settings application. Figure 12 The space shown is 10b-1.

[0024] According to the first aspect, or any implementation of the first aspect above, before scheduling the first priority service flow to the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device, the method further includes: determining whether to access the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device; if accessing the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device, performing the step of scheduling the first priority service flow to the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device; if not accessing the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device, obtaining hotspot network information within the connection range, the hotspot network information including all hotspot networks enabled by third terminal devices with cellular communication capabilities within the connection range; selecting the third terminal device with the best network quality among the hotspot networks in the hotspot network information as the second terminal device; accessing the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device, and performing the step of scheduling the first priority service flow to the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device.

[0025] For example, the method for searching for hotspot networks is similar to the existing method for searching for Wi-Fi networks in the wireless LAN interface, and will not be described in detail here.

[0026] According to the first aspect, or any implementation of the first aspect above, after obtaining the hotspot network information within the connection range, the method further includes: displaying the hotspot network information in the interface of the first terminal device; in response to the user's selection operation of any hotspot network in the hotspot network information, using the third terminal device providing the hotspot network as the second terminal device, accessing the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device, and performing the step of scheduling the first priority service flow to the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device.

[0027] According to the first aspect, or any implementation of the first aspect above, before obtaining the hotspot network information within the connection range, the method further includes: determining whether a multi-screen collaborative connection has been established between the first terminal device and the second terminal device; when a multi-screen collaborative connection has been established between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, controlling the second terminal device to enable a hotspot network, accessing the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device, and executing the step of scheduling the first priority service flow to the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device; when a multi-screen collaborative connection has not been established between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, executing the step of obtaining the hotspot network information within the connection range.

[0028] According to the first aspect, or any implementation of the first aspect above, the same application in different first terminal devices has the same priority, and the same business scenario has the same priority.

[0029] According to the first aspect, or any implementation of the first aspect above, the same application in different first terminal devices has different priorities, and the same business scenario has different priorities.

[0030] Secondly, this application provides a multi-network collaborative operation method applied to a first terminal device. The method includes: during the display of a first icon and a second icon on the display interface of the first terminal device, when there is a service flow that needs to be processed, scheduling a service flow with a first priority to the hotspot network indicated by the second icon, and scheduling a service flow with a second priority to the WIFI network indicated by the first icon; wherein the first priority is higher than the second priority, and the hotspot network is provided by the second terminal device that has established a mobile connection with a base station.

[0031] For example, the style of the first icon is as follows: Figure 18 As shown in (a1) or (a2); the style of the second icon is as follows: Figure 18 As shown in (b1), or (b2), or (b3).

[0032] According to the second aspect, the method also includes: when the first icon displayed in the display interface disappears and the second icon is displayed, when there is a business flow that needs to be processed, the business flow is scheduled to the hotspot network indicated by the second icon.

[0033] According to the second aspect, or any implementation of the second aspect above, the method further includes: after redisplaying the first icon in the display interface, stopping the scheduling of service flows to the hotspot network and scheduling the service flows to the WIFI network indicated by the first icon; or, stopping the scheduling of second-priority service flows to the hotspot network and scheduling first-priority service flows to the hotspot network indicated by the second icon, and scheduling second-priority service flows to the WIFI network indicated by the first icon.

[0034] According to the second aspect, or any implementation of the second aspect above, the method further includes: the second icon displayed in the display interface disappears, and during the display of the first icon, when there is a business flow that needs to be processed, the business flow is scheduled to the WIFI network indicated by the first icon.

[0035] According to the second aspect, or any implementation of the second aspect above, the first priority business flow is the business flow generated in the foreground of an audio / video call / conference type application or business scenario, and the second priority business flow is the business flow generated in the background of an application or business scenario.

[0036] For example, the priority relationship of different business flows can be seen in Table 1 below, which will not be repeated here.

[0037] According to the second aspect, or any implementation of the second aspect above, the first priority business flow is the business flow generated in the game-type application or business scenario running in the foreground, and the second priority business flow is the business flow generated in the application or business scenario running in the background.

[0038] For example, the priority relationship of different business flows can be seen in Table 1 below, which will not be repeated here.

[0039] The second aspect and any implementation thereof correspond to the first aspect and any implementation thereof, respectively. The technical effects of the second aspect and any implementation thereof are similar to those of the first aspect and any implementation thereof, and will not be repeated here.

[0040] Thirdly, this application provides a multi-network collaborative operation system. The system includes: a first terminal device and a second terminal device. The second terminal device establishes a mobile connection with a base station via a cellular network and a wireless connection with the first terminal device via a hotspot network. The first terminal device is configured to: when there are first-priority and second-priority service flows that need to be processed, obtain current Wi-Fi network information; determine a user experience QoE quality assessment result based on the Wi-Fi network information, the first-priority service flow, and the second-priority service flow, the QoE quality assessment result indicating whether the Wi-Fi network can simultaneously process the first-priority and second-priority service flows, with the first priority being higher than the second priority; when the QoE quality assessment result indicates that the Wi-Fi network cannot simultaneously process the first-priority and second-priority service flows, schedule the first-priority service flow to the hotspot network activated by the second terminal device and schedule the second-priority service flow to the Wi-Fi network; the second terminal device is configured to: schedule the first-priority service flow transmitted by the first terminal device via the hotspot network to the base station for processing via the cellular network.

[0041] The third aspect and any implementation thereof correspond to the first aspect and any implementation thereof, or the second aspect and any implementation thereof. The technical effects corresponding to the third aspect and any implementation thereof can be found in the technical effects corresponding to the first aspect and any implementation thereof, or the technical effects corresponding to the second aspect and any implementation thereof, and will not be repeated here.

[0042] Fourthly, this application provides a terminal device. The terminal device includes: a memory and a processor, coupled together; the memory stores program instructions, which, when executed by the processor, cause the terminal device to perform instructions of the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof, or instructions of the method in the second aspect or any possible implementation thereof.

[0043] The fourth aspect and any implementation thereof correspond to the first aspect and any implementation thereof, or the second aspect and any implementation thereof. The technical effects corresponding to the fourth aspect and any implementation thereof can be found in the technical effects corresponding to the first aspect and any implementation thereof, or the technical effects corresponding to the second aspect and any implementation thereof, and will not be repeated here.

[0044] Fifthly, this application provides a computer-readable medium for storing a computer program including instructions for performing the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof, or the method in the second aspect and any possible implementation thereof.

[0045] The fifth aspect and any implementation thereof correspond to the first aspect and any implementation thereof, or the second aspect and any implementation thereof. The technical effects corresponding to the fifth aspect and any implementation thereof can be found in the technical effects corresponding to the first aspect and any implementation thereof, or the technical effects corresponding to the second aspect and any implementation thereof, and will not be repeated here.

[0046] Sixthly, this application provides a computer program including instructions for performing the method in the first aspect or any possible implementation thereof, or the method in the second aspect and any possible implementation thereof.

[0047] The sixth aspect and any implementation thereof correspond to the first aspect and any implementation thereof, or the second aspect and any implementation thereof. The technical effects corresponding to the sixth aspect and any implementation thereof can be found in the technical effects corresponding to the first aspect and any implementation thereof, or the technical effects corresponding to the second aspect and any implementation thereof, and will not be repeated here.

[0048] Seventhly, this application provides a chip including a processing circuit and transceiver pins. The transceiver pins and the processing circuit communicate with each other via an internal connection path. The processing circuit executes the methods of the first aspect or any possible implementation of the first aspect, or the methods of the second aspect and any possible implementation of the second aspect, to control the receiving pin to receive signals and to control the transmitting pin to transmit signals.

[0049] The seventh aspect and any implementation thereof correspond to the first aspect and any implementation thereof, or the second aspect and any implementation thereof. The technical effects corresponding to the seventh aspect and any implementation thereof can be found in the technical effects corresponding to the first aspect and any implementation thereof, or the technical effects corresponding to the second aspect and any implementation thereof, and will not be repeated here. Attached Figure Description

[0050] Figure 1 This is an illustrative diagram showing a terminal device without cellular communication capabilities accessing a Wi-Fi network via a router.

[0051] Figure 2 This is an example of a schematic diagram illustrating a business interface based on a WIFI network.

[0052] Figure 3 This is an illustrative diagram showing a terminal device without cellular communication capabilities disconnecting from a router.

[0053] Figure 4 This is an example of a terminal device without cellular communication capabilities performing business processing after disconnecting from the WIFI network.

[0054] Figure 5 This is an exemplary schematic diagram of another interface for a terminal device without cellular communication capabilities to perform business processing after disconnecting from the WIFI network.

[0055] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a terminal device as an example.

[0056] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the software structure of a terminal device operating system, as an example.

[0057] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the software structure of a terminal device using another operating system, as an example.

[0058] Figure 9 This is an example of a network selection mode in a multi-network collaborative operation method provided in an embodiment of this application.

[0059] Figure 10 In response to Figure 9 The flowchart of the multi-network collaborative operation method with network selection mode shown is illustrated.

[0060] Figure 11 This is one of the exemplary interface diagrams showing a user entry point to select a network selection mode;

[0061] Figure 12 This is a second illustrative diagram of an interface that provides a user entry point for selecting a network selection mode;

[0062] Figure 13 The third example is a schematic diagram of an interface that provides a user entry point for selecting a network selection mode;

[0063] Figure 14 This is yet another network selection mode in the multi-network collaborative operation method provided by the embodiments of this application, which are illustrated by way of example.

[0064] Figure 15 In response to Figure 14 The flowchart of the multi-network collaborative operation method with network selection mode shown is illustrated.

[0065] Figure 16 This is yet another network selection mode in the multi-network collaborative operation method provided by the embodiments of this application, which are illustrated by way of example.

[0066] Figure 17 In response to Figure 16 The flowchart of the multi-network collaborative operation method with network selection mode shown is illustrated.

[0067] Figure 18 A schematic diagram of the first and second icons shown as examples;

[0068] Figure 19 This is one of the exemplary interface diagrams shown in a non-network environment after enabling the multi-network collaborative operation function;

[0069] Figure 20 This is the second example of an interface diagram showing the multi-network collaborative operation function in a non-network environment after it is enabled;

[0070] Figure 21 This is the third example of an interface diagram showing the multi-network collaborative operation function in a non-network environment after it is enabled;

[0071] Figure 22 The fourth example shows the interface diagram under different network environments after enabling the multi-network collaborative operation function. Detailed Implementation

[0072] The technical solutions of the embodiments of this application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of this application, not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of this application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0073] In this article, the term "and / or" is merely a description of the relationship between related objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can represent three situations: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone.

[0074] The terms "first" and "second," etc., used in the specification and claims of this application are used to distinguish different objects, not to describe a specific order of objects. For example, "first target object" and "second target object," etc., are used to distinguish different target objects, not to describe a specific order of target objects.

[0075] In the embodiments of this application, the terms "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate that something is an example, illustration, or description. Any embodiment or design that is described as "exemplary" or "for example" in the embodiments of this application should not be construed as being more preferred or advantageous than other embodiments or design. Specifically, the use of the terms "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a specific manner.

[0076] In the description of the embodiments in this application, unless otherwise stated, "multiple" means two or more. For example, multiple processing units means two or more processing units; multiple systems means two or more systems.

[0077] To better understand the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application, before describing the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application, the applicable scenarios of the embodiments of this application will be described first in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0078] For example, for some terminal devices that only have Wi-Fi communication capabilities and no cellular communication capabilities, such as only having a wireless / wired network interface and no mobile network interface, or having a mobile network interface but not having a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) that can provide cellular network access, when they want to handle network-dependent services such as audio / video conferencing, live streaming, and online gaming, some possible implementations require them to first access the Wi-Fi network via a wireless / wired router before they can use the Wi-Fi network to process the service. Figure 1 As shown, when users are using tablets without cellular communication capabilities to conduct business, they can access the WIFI network through a wireless router.

[0079] For example, after a tablet computer connects to a Wi-Fi network via a wireless router, it can be used to watch online videos. Figure 2As shown, when watching online videos using a Wi-Fi network, if the user touches the current interface, in one feasible implementation, the playback progress bar of the online video will be displayed, a control for pausing the current online video will be provided, and the current network connection status of the tablet computer and the connected network will be displayed in area 10a.

[0080] See also Figure 2 For example, when the tablet computer is currently connected to a network, and the network is a Wi-Fi network, the word "Wi-Fi" will be displayed in area 10a to indicate that the tablet computer is currently connected to a Wi-Fi network.

[0081] For example, if a user takes their tablet outside the coverage area of ​​the wireless router (i.e., outside a location with Wi-Fi), or if the wireless router malfunctions, or the Wi-Fi network itself fails, causing the tablet to be unable to connect to the available Wi-Fi network, such as... Figure 3 As shown. In this case, Figure 2 In the interface of the tablet computer playing online videos, the word "WIFI" in area 10a will change to Figure 4 The word "No Network" appears in Zone 10a.

[0082] See Figure 4 For example, in one implementation, when the tablet is offline, the interface currently playing online video may display the content shown in area 10b. Once the tablet reconnects to the Wi-Fi network, it can automatically revert to the previous state. Figure 2 The interface shown.

[0083] See Figure 5 For example, in another implementation, when the tablet is in a state without network access, since no new data stream is obtained, the interface currently playing the network video may directly turn into a black screen, and the message "Video loading failed, please try again later" and the control 10c for the user to retry are displayed on the interface.

[0084] For example, if the tablet reconnects to the Wi-Fi network, when the user clicks control 10c, the tablet will resume the data stream from the time the video was interrupted and display it again, thus restoring the display to the point where the video was interrupted. Figure 2 As shown in the image, if the tablet computer is not connected to a Wi-Fi network, clicking control 10c may not change the interface.

[0085] It should be understood that the above description is merely an example provided to better understand the technical solution of this embodiment, and is not intended to be the only limitation of this embodiment.

[0086] In view of this, this application provides a multi-network collaborative operation method, applied to the aforementioned terminal device (for ease of distinction, this embodiment refers to it as the first terminal device, and the terminal device providing the hotspot network is referred to as the second terminal device). Specifically, based on the multi-network collaborative operation method provided by this application, for the first terminal device, when there are first-priority service flows and second-priority service flows that need to be processed, the current WIFI network information is obtained; based on the WIFI network information, the first-priority service flows, and the second-priority service flows, the user experience QoE quality assessment result is determined. The QoE quality assessment result is used to indicate whether the WIFI network can simultaneously process the first-priority service flows and the second-priority service flows, with the first priority being higher than the second priority; when the QoE quality assessment result indicates that the WIFI network cannot simultaneously process the first-priority service flows and the second-priority service flows, the first-priority service flows are scheduled to the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device, and the second-priority service flows are scheduled to the WIFI network.

[0087] Therefore, a first terminal device without cellular communication capabilities can use a second terminal device with cellular communication capabilities to perform business processing, realize multi-network collaborative operation, and thus ensure that the business can proceed normally.

[0088] To better understand the technical solution provided in this application, before describing the technical solution, the hardware structure of the terminal device to which the technical solution of this application is applicable will be described first in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0089] As can be seen from the above scenario description, in one possible implementation, the technical solution of this application is applicable to terminal devices that only have wireless / wired network interfaces and no mobile network interfaces, such as tablet computers, personal computers (PCs), laptops, large-screen devices (such as televisions), etc., which will not be listed here, and this application does not impose any restrictions on them.

[0090] For example, in another possible implementation, the technical solution of this application applies to terminal devices that have both wireless / wired network interfaces and mobile network interfaces, but do not have a SIM card that can provide cellular networks inserted, such as smartphones, wearable devices (smartwatches), etc., which will not be listed here, and this application does not limit them.

[0091] For example, in another implementation, the technical solution of this application applies to a terminal device that has a wireless / wired network interface, a mobile network interface, and a SIM card that can provide cellular network access.

[0092] It should be understood that the above description is merely an example provided to better understand the technical solution of this embodiment, and is not intended to be the only limitation of this embodiment.

[0093] Furthermore, as described above, in practical applications, as long as a terminal device has a wireless / wired network interface and is capable of WIFI communication, regardless of whether it has a mobile network interface or whether it can currently use the cellular network provided by its own SIM card, it can use the hotspot network opened by other terminal devices with cellular communication capabilities to process services when the WIFI network cannot support the current service.

[0094] See Figure 6 The diagram illustrates, for example, the hardware structure of a terminal device. It should be understood that... Figure 6 The terminal device 100 shown is only one example of a terminal device that can be applied to the above scenario, and the terminal device 100 may have more or fewer components than those shown in the figure, may combine two or more components, or may have different component configurations. Figure 6 The various components shown can be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software, including one or more signal processing and / or application-specific integrated circuits.

[0095] like Figure 6 As shown, the terminal device 100 may include: a central processing unit (CPU) 101, a memory 102, and a wired / wireless network interface 103, wherein the memory 102 stores one or more applications or data.

[0096] The central processing unit 101 can serve as the nerve center and command center of the terminal device 100. The central processing unit 101 can generate operation control signals based on the instruction opcode and timing signals to control instruction fetching and execution. The central processing unit 101 may also include a memory for storing instructions and data. In some implementations, the memory in the central processing unit 101 is a cache memory.

[0097] The memory 102 can be used to store computer executable program code, which includes instructions. The memory 102 can be volatile memory or persistent memory. The computer executable program code stored in the memory 102 can include one or more modules, each module including a series of instruction operations on the terminal device. The memory 102 can include a program storage area and a data storage area.

[0098] Furthermore, the central processing unit 101 can be configured to communicate with the memory 102 and execute a series of instructions stored in the memory 102 on the terminal device 100. Specifically, the central processing unit 101 executes various functions and data processing of the terminal device 100 by running computer program instructions stored in the memory 102, such as enabling the terminal device 100 to implement the multi-network collaborative operation method provided in this application embodiment.

[0099] Furthermore, it should be noted that in some implementations, the terminal device 100 may include one or more central processing units 101, one or more memory units 102, and one or more wired / wireless network interfaces. The specific implementation depends on the product type of the terminal device, customer requirements, etc., and this application does not impose any restrictions on this.

[0100] In addition, the terminal device 100 may also include one or more power supplies, sensors, displays, etc., which will not be listed here and this application does not impose any restrictions.

[0101] The terminal device 100 can perform the operations performed by the first terminal device (a terminal device without cellular communication capability) in the following embodiments, which will not be described in detail here.

[0102] The software system of terminal device 100 can adopt a layered architecture, event-driven architecture, microkernel architecture, microservice architecture, or cloud architecture. This application embodiment uses a layered architecture system as an example to exemplify the software structure of terminal device 100.

[0103] Regarding systems with different architectures, such as Android, Windows Server™ (Windows for short), Mac OSX™, Unix™, Linux™, FreeBSD™, etc., they will not be listed here, and this application does not impose any limitations on them. For ease of explanation, this embodiment uses the Windows system and the Android system as examples, and describes the architecture of these two operating systems with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0104] Figure 7 This is an exemplary software structure block diagram of a terminal device 100 running a Windows system.

[0105] like Figure 7 As shown, for a Windows system terminal device 100, its software structure can be divided into user mode (Windows User), kernel mode (Windows Kernel), and hardware.

[0106] The user space can include the application layer (application layer), framework layer / interface layer, modem (Modern), universal platform interface (UWP API), etc.

[0107] For example, the application layer may include applications such as settings, video, games, and downloads, which will not be listed here, and this application does not limit them.

[0108] For example, the framework layer / interface layer could be a Win32 API (Microsoft 32-bit Application Programming Interface). This could include various interfaces for application layer applications to call. Specifically, the technical solution provided in this application mainly relates to a perception module for sensing the access environment and current business flow.

[0109] Understandably, in some implementations, the two functions mentioned above can be integrated into one function or into different functions, such as... Figure 7 As shown, an access environment awareness submodule can be encapsulated separately to perceive the access environment, and a service flow awareness submodule can be encapsulated to perceive the current service flow. Therefore, by perceiving the above information, the specific concurrent scenarios during multi-network collaborative operations can be determined.

[0110] For example, the access environment awareness submodule is specifically used to sense the wireless network (Wi-Fi network) environment. In some implementations, the access environment awareness submodule can sense whether there is an available Wi-Fi network and the quality of the Wi-Fi network in the current location based on multiple parameters such as the current signal strength, signal-to-noise ratio, noise, load, transmission queue duration, transmission rate, reception rate, number of bytes sent, number of bytes received, number of data packets sent, and number of data packets received.

[0111] For example, the service flow awareness submodule is specifically used to perceive the following information about the current sending and receiving service flows, such as the number of data packets sent (TCP packets sent), the number of data packets received (TCP packets received), the number of bytes sent (TCP bytes sent), and the number of bytes received (TCP bytes received) based on the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), and the number of data packets sent (UDP packets sent), the number of data packets received (UDP packets received), the number of bytes sent (UDP bytes sent), and the number of bytes received (UDP bytes received) based on the User Datagram Protocol (UDP), as well as round-trip time, packet loss rate, retransmission rate, etc.

[0112] Therefore, after the two sub-modules in the perception module perceive the Wi-Fi network environment and the relevant information of the current transmitted and received service flows, they can hand over this information to the user interface framework (Windows Presentation Foundation, WPF) in the kernel-mode network driver layer. WPF then determines whether it is necessary to use the hotspot network enabled by a terminal device with cellular communication capabilities. Based on the network selection mode selected by the user, or automatically selecting an appropriate network selection mode based on the currently running application / service scenario, and then based on the determined network selection mode, combined with the access environment and service flow information provided by the perception module, all or part of the service flow is handed over to the hotspot network for transmission and reception, while the remainder continues to be transmitted and received on the Wi-Fi network.

[0113] For a description of network selection modes and details on the sending and receiving of service flows under different network selection modes, please refer to the following section. Figures 9 to 17 The description will not be repeated here.

[0114] In addition, it should be noted that due to the different operating systems of terminal devices, the parameters of access environment information and service flow information sensed by the sensing module may differ in actual applications, but they will basically include the parameters listed above. For other parameter information, reasonable selection can be made according to actual business needs and operating system, which will not be elaborated here.

[0115] Furthermore, regarding the determination of the currently running application / business scenario mentioned above, in some implementations, when an application is running in the foreground of the terminal device, the name of the currently running application can be determined based on the package name information in the data stream generated when the application is running. In this way, it can be known which application is currently running.

[0116] For example, in other implementations, such as when it is necessary to be specific to the specific business scenario of the current application, for applications with multiple business scenarios, such as instant messaging applications, which can implement audio and video calls / conferences, send files and chat messages, and browse social media content, it can be further determined which application programming interface (API) is being called to transmit the current data stream.

[0117] Understandably, since different business scenarios usually correspond to different APIs, the current business scenario of the terminal device can be determined by identifying the API being called.

[0118] For example, in some other implementations, when the currently running application and the business scenario cannot be determined from the API interface called based on the package name information, image recognition can be used to perform image recognition analysis on the currently generated data stream, and then the currently running application / business scenario can be determined based on the page content corresponding to the data stream.

[0119] It should be understood that the above description is merely an example provided to better understand the technical solution of this embodiment, and is not intended to be the only limitation of this embodiment.

[0120] In addition, it should be noted that, in order to facilitate WPF's subsequent reasonable allocation of network resources and to allocate different service flows to the appropriate network, some implementations can prioritize the applications running on the terminal devices or the business scenarios they are in. In this way, when allocating resources, the priority of the application / business scenario can be combined for reasonable allocation, thereby better meeting the user's needs and improving the user experience.

[0121] Table 1 Priority Matrix

[0122]

[0123] For example, Table 1 provides a priority matrix for different application / service scenarios. Referring to Table 1, the "Foreground" row indicates that the application / service scenario of this type is currently running in the foreground of the terminal device (currently has an active interface); the "Background" column indicates that the application / service scenario of this type is currently running in the background of the terminal device (currently has no active interface); the content in the cell where the "Foreground" and "Background" content intersects indicates the application / service scenario with the highest priority. That is, when processing services using a hotspot network enabled by a terminal device with cellular communication capabilities, the object indicated in the cell where the "Foreground" and "Background" content intersects is the application / service scenario that needs to be scheduled to the hotspot network.

[0124] Referring to Table 1, for example, at a certain moment, when the terminal device is running an audio / video call / conference type application or service scenario in the foreground, regardless of the type of application / service scenario running in the background, the priority of the audio / video call / conference type application or service scenario in the foreground is higher than that in the background. That is, the service flow corresponding to the audio / video call / conference type application or service scenario running in the foreground is scheduled to the hotspot network.

[0125] Referring to Table 1, for example, at a certain moment, when the application or business scenario of the game type (in this application, network games) is running in the foreground of the terminal device, regardless of the type of application / business scenario running in the background, the application or business scenario of the game type running in the foreground has a higher priority than that running in the background. That is, the business flow corresponding to the application or business scenario of the game type running in the foreground is scheduled to the hotspot network.

[0126] Referring to Table 1, for example, at a certain moment, when the terminal device is currently running a download, browser, or audio / video type application or business scenario, as long as there is an audio / video call / conference type application or business scenario running in the background, the priority of the background audio / video call / conference type application or business scenario is higher than that of the foreground. That is, the business flow corresponding to the background audio / video call / conference type application or business scenario that needs to be scheduled to the hotspot network is the business flow of the background audio / video call / conference type application or business scenario.

[0127] Referring to Table 1, for example, at a certain moment, when the terminal device is currently running a browser or an audio / video application or business scenario, as long as there is no audio / video call / conference application or business scenario in the background application or business scenario, the priority of the browser type and audio / video type application or business scenario in the foreground is higher than that in the background. That is, the business flow corresponding to the browser type and audio / video type application or business scenario running in the foreground is scheduled to the hotspot network.

[0128] Referring to Table 1, for example, when the terminal device is currently running a download-type application or service scenario, and there are no audio / video call / conference-type applications or service scenarios running in the background, but there are game-type applications or service scenarios, the priority of game-type applications or service scenarios running in the background is higher than that of those running in the foreground. That is, the service flow corresponding to the game-type application or service scenario running in the background is scheduled to the hotspot network. Conversely, the priority of download-type applications or service scenarios running in the foreground is higher than that of those running in the background. That is, the service flow corresponding to the download-type application or service scenario running in the foreground is scheduled to the hotspot network.

[0129] In addition, it should be noted that when limiting the network speed of background applications / business scenarios, i.e., setting them to low priority, it is also necessary to consider whether the application / business scenario is in the preset whitelist (e.g., if speed limiting is not allowed, it needs to be prioritized). Accordingly, if it is in the whitelist, it cannot be set to low priority.

[0130] In addition, it should be noted that when setting priorities for applications / business scenarios that are in the foreground or background, latency requirements can also be considered. For example, for latency-sensitive applications / business scenarios (high real-time requirements, low latency requirements), such as audio and video calls / conferences, live streaming, online education, etc., they can be set to high priority.

[0131] It should be understood that the above description is merely an example provided to better understand the technical solution of this embodiment, and is not intended to be the only limitation of this embodiment.

[0132] Therefore, by assigning different priorities to different types of application / business scenarios, WPF can schedule the business flows corresponding to high-priority application / business scenarios to networks with better network quality when allocating resources. For example, when the quality of the WIFI network is poor and cannot meet the needs of high-priority application / business scenarios, the business flows corresponding to high-priority application / business scenarios can be scheduled to hotspot networks, while the business flows corresponding to low-priority application / business scenarios will remain processed on the WIFI network.

[0133] See also Figure 7 For example, kernel mode may include system driver layer and network driver layer.

[0134] For example, the system driver layer may include various system drivers, such as the WIFI driver (NativeWiFiFilter), the auxiliary function driver (Ancillary Function Driver), the Winsock Kernel that supports multiple types of transmission protocols, etc., which will not be listed here, and this application does not limit them.

[0135] For example, the network driver layer, namely the Network Driver Interface Specification (NDIS) layer, may include various protocol drivers, various intermediate drivers, various miniport drivers, WPF, and the Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL).

[0136] Specifically, in the technical solutions provided in this application embodiment, when performing multi-network collaborative operations, the allocation of network resources in concurrent scenarios is implemented in WPF. The operations performed by the resource allocation module located in the kernel layer of the Android system are similar to those performed by WPF in this embodiment, and the resource allocation processing logic of other operating systems is also roughly the same.

[0137] In the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application, when performing multi-network collaborative operations, the allocation of network resources in concurrent scenarios can follow Table 2.

[0138] Table 2 Resource Allocation Rules

[0139]

[0140]

[0141] It should be understood that the above description is merely an example provided to better understand the technical solution of this embodiment, and is not intended to be the only limitation of this embodiment.

[0142] Furthermore, it should be noted that when allocating resources, i.e., using a hotspot network enabled by a terminal device with cellular communication capabilities (the second terminal device), it is necessary to first ensure that the second terminal device has its hotspot function enabled and provides the hotspot network. Simultaneously, the terminal device currently lacking cellular communication capabilities (the first terminal device) must be able to detect the hotspot network and automatically connect to it. Details regarding the second terminal device enabling its hotspot function and establishing a communication connection between the first and second terminal devices are provided below and will not be repeated here.

[0143] As described above, the technical solution provided in this application requires the following: application service startup; after application service startup, data streams (service streams) generated during application service communication can be collected; after obtaining the service streams, application / service scenarios can be identified; and the current WIFI network environment and current service streams can be perceived by the perception module (specifically, extracting the influencing factors of whether multi-network collaborative operation is triggered, such as the information included in the WIFI network and the information included in the service streams mentioned above). Then, based on these influencing factors, the current user experience / user perception (Quality of) can be determined. The QoE (Quality of Experience) assessment results are then used by WPF (or the resource allocation module below) to allocate resources based on the QoE assessment results, the information recorded in Tables 1 and 2, and the content perceived by the perception module.

[0144] See also Figure 7 For example, the hardware may include chips, graphics cards, sound cards, etc. provided by various chip manufacturers, which will not be listed here, and this application does not limit them.

[0145] Understandable, Figure 7 The layers in the illustrated software structure and the components contained in each layer do not constitute a specific limitation on the terminal device 100. In other embodiments of this application, the terminal device 100 may include more than Figure 7The application does not limit the number of layers shown, or the number of components that may be included in each layer.

[0146] Figure 8 This is an exemplary software structure block diagram of a terminal device 100 running an Android system.

[0147] like Figure 8 As shown, the layered architecture of terminal device 100 divides the software into several layers, each with a clear role and division of labor. Layers communicate with each other through software interfaces. In some implementations, the Android system is divided into four layers, from top to bottom: the application layer, the application framework layer, the Android runtime and system libraries, and the kernel layer.

[0148] The application layer can include a series of application packages. For example... Figure 8 As shown, the application package may include applications such as games, settings, wireless local area network (WLAN, used to access WIFI network), video, and downloads, etc., which will not be listed here, and this application does not limit them.

[0149] The application framework layer provides application programming interfaces (APIs) and programming frameworks for applications within the application layer. In some implementations, these APIs and frameworks can be described as functions. For example... Figure 8 As shown, the application framework layer may include functions such as the view system, resource manager, and awareness module, which will not be listed here, and this application does not impose any restrictions on them.

[0150] For example, in this embodiment, the perception module is used to perceive the access environment and the current service flow.

[0151] Understandably, in some implementations, the two functions mentioned above can be integrated into one function or into different functions, such as... Figure 8 As shown, an access environment awareness submodule can be separately encapsulated to perceive the access environment, and a service flow awareness submodule can be encapsulated to perceive the current service flow. Therefore, by perceiving the above information, the specific concurrent scenarios during multi-network collaborative operations can be determined. For details, please refer to the documentation for... Figure 7 The description of the sensing module will not be repeated here.

[0152] Furthermore, it should be noted that the view system described above, located in the application framework layer, includes visual controls, such as controls for displaying text and controls for displaying images. The view system can be used to build applications. A display interface can consist of one or more views. For example, a display interface including a text notification icon could include views for displaying text and views for displaying images.

[0153] In addition, it should be noted that the resource manager located in the application framework layer provides the application with various resources, such as localized strings, icons, images, layout files, video files, etc., which will not be listed here, and this application does not impose any restrictions on them.

[0154] The Android Runtime consists of core libraries and a virtual machine. The Android Runtime is responsible for the scheduling and management of the Android system.

[0155] The core library consists of two parts: one part is the functionalities that need to be called by the Java language, and the other part is the Android core library.

[0156] The application layer and application framework layer run in a virtual machine. The virtual machine executes the Java files of the application layer and application framework layer as binary files. The virtual machine is used to perform functions such as object lifecycle management, stack management, thread management, security and exception management, and garbage collection.

[0157] System libraries can include multiple functional modules. For example: surface manager, media libraries, 3D graphics processing libraries (e.g., OpenGL ES), 2D graphics engines (e.g., SGL), etc.

[0158] The Surface Manager is used to manage the display subsystem and provides the blending of 2D and 3D layers for multiple applications.

[0159] The media library supports playback and recording of various common audio and video formats, as well as still image files. It supports multiple audio and video encoding formats, such as MPEG4, H.264, MP3, AAC, AMR, JPG, and PNG.

[0160] The 3D graphics processing library is used to implement 3D graphics drawing, image rendering, compositing, and layer processing.

[0161] Understandably, the 2D graphics engine mentioned above is a 2D drawing engine.

[0162] Furthermore, it's understandable that the kernel layer in the Android system acts as the layer between hardware and software. The kernel layer includes at least the display driver, Bluetooth driver, Wi-Fi driver, camera driver, and a resource allocation module for network resources in concurrent scenarios during multi-network collaborative operations. For details on network resource allocation, please refer to the documentation for... Figure 7 The description of resource scheduling implemented in WPF will not be repeated here.

[0163] Understandable, Figure 8 The layers in the illustrated software structure and the components contained in each layer do not constitute a specific limitation on the terminal device 100. In other embodiments of this application, the terminal device 100 may include more than Figure 8 The application does not limit the number of layers shown, or the number of components that may be included in each layer.

[0164] See Figure 9 This example illustrates a network selection mode in the multi-network collaborative operation method provided in the embodiments of this application.

[0165] like Figure 9 As shown, a binary network selection mode is presented. In this binary network selection mode, only one network link is allowed to exist at any given time; for example, either one... Figure 9 As shown in (1), a hotspot network is selected for sending and receiving data packets, or... Figure 9 As shown in (2), select the WIFI network for sending and receiving data packets.

[0166] For example, for Figure 9 In the scenario shown in (1), when the first terminal device is located in a place without a WIFI network, such as when it cannot find an available WIFI network or when the link between it and the router connected to the WIFI network is interrupted, resulting in the inability to access the WIFI network, the first terminal device can automatically switch to the second terminal device with the hotspot network enabled based on the multi-network collaborative operation method provided in the embodiments of this application, and then use the hotspot network to send and receive data packets.

[0167] It should be noted that in practical applications, in order to ensure that the multi-network collaborative operation method provided in this application embodiment can be carried out smoothly, it is necessary to ensure that the first terminal device mentioned above can access the second terminal device and connect to the hotspot network opened by the second terminal device (for the first terminal device, the hotspot network is also a WIFI network).

[0168] For example, in some implementations, a multi-screen collaboration function is enabled for the first terminal device and the second terminal device. For instance, the interface content of the second terminal device is displayed on the display interface of the first terminal device, and the second terminal device is operated through the interface of the second terminal device displayed on the display interface of the first terminal device. As long as the hotspot function is enabled on the second terminal device, when the first terminal device needs to connect to the cellular communication capability of the second terminal device, it can automatically connect to the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device without performing hotspot search, password input, or other operations. Thus, it can use the cellular communication capability of the second terminal device to handle services that require network access.

[0169] For example, in some other implementations, when the first terminal device cannot access the WIFI network via a router (wireless or wired), such as... Figures 3 to 5 When the problem is as shown, a prompt message can be displayed on the interface of the first terminal device to guide the user to enable the hotspot function on the second terminal device. For example, the user can enable the hotspot function on the second terminal device (setting a hotspot name and password is optional), and then search for and connect to the hotspot network on the first terminal device. This way, when the first terminal device switches back to... Figure 4 When the interface shown is displayed, it can automatically switch to the hotspot network. Furthermore, even if the first terminal device can access the WIFI network through the router during the subsequent process of the second terminal device turning on the hotspot network, it can continue to use the hotspot network when it is necessary to use the WIFI network and the hotspot network to process business concurrently.

[0170] For example, in some other implementations, the first terminal device can be configured to send a hotspot request to a second terminal device that has registered and logged in using the same device account, so that the second terminal device, which is in a set area with the first terminal device, can automatically turn on the hotspot network in response to the request, thereby setting the first terminal device to automatically access the hotspot network.

[0171] Regarding the use of the same device account mentioned above, for example, if the first terminal device is registered and logged in with account A when it is activated, and there is a second terminal device in the vicinity using the same account A, then the second terminal device, which is within the same area as the first terminal device, will receive a hotspot request sent by the first terminal device.

[0172] For example, hotspot requests can be sent via broadcast or via Bluetooth, and this application does not limit this.

[0173] For example, in some other implementations, a first terminal device can be configured to send a hotspot request to a second terminal device that also has the currently used application installed, and the account used to log in to the application on the second terminal device is the same user account. This allows the second terminal device, which is within a set area as the first terminal device, to automatically turn on the hotspot network in response to the request, thereby enabling the first terminal device to automatically connect to the hotspot network.

[0174] It should be understood that the above description is merely an example provided to better understand the technical solution of this embodiment, and is not intended to be the only limitation of this embodiment.

[0175] For example, for Figure 9 In the scenario shown in (2), when the first terminal device reconnects to the WIFI network through the router, in order to reduce the consumption of cellular traffic on the second terminal device, it can automatically switch back from the hotspot network to the WIFI network, and the WIFI network can send and receive data packets.

[0176] See Figure 10 An example implementation is shown. Figure 9 When the two-choice network selection mode is shown, the specific implementation flow of the multi-network collaborative operation method provided in this application embodiment is as follows:

[0177] S101, determine the application currently running on the first terminal device, the application includes a first application with a first priority and a second application with a second priority, the first priority being higher than the second priority.

[0178] For example, in some implementations, the applications currently running on the first terminal device can all be foreground applications, such as using an audio / video application to watch audio / video content in a small window mode while using an instant messaging application to send files and messages.

[0179] For example, in some other implementations, the applications currently running on the first terminal device can all be corresponding programs running in the background, such as using a download application to download files, while using a music playback application to play music in the background.

[0180] For example, in some other implementations, the application currently running on the first terminal device may have a portion that runs in the foreground and another portion that runs in the background. For example, a download application may be used to download files in the background, while a video playback application may be used to watch videos in the foreground.

[0181] It should be understood that the above description is merely an example provided to better understand the technical solution of this embodiment, and is not intended to be the only limitation of this embodiment.

[0182] Regarding the determination of the application currently running on the first terminal device, for example, it can be done by extracting the package name information included in the currently acquired service flow, and then determining the application providing the service flow, i.e., the currently running application, based on the package name information.

[0183] In addition, the identification of whether the currently running program is running in the foreground or the background can be achieved by determining whether the application has an active window (interface) on the display interface of the first terminal device. If it does, the application is running in the foreground; otherwise, it is running in the background.

[0184] Accordingly, after identifying the corresponding program running in the first terminal device, its priority can be determined based on the application's attribute information (indicating which type the application belongs to) and whether it is in the foreground or background.

[0185] Understandably, the priority of each application can be determined, for example, according to Table 1 given above.

[0186] It should be understood that the above description is merely an example provided to better understand the technical solution of this embodiment, and is not intended to be the only limitation of this embodiment.

[0187] In this embodiment, the first terminal device is currently running at least two applications, and these two applications have different priorities, such as the first application with a first priority (higher priority) and the second application with a second priority (lower priority) as mentioned above.

[0188] Furthermore, it should be noted that in some implementations, the same application running on different first terminal devices can be assigned the same priority. For example, for the same application A, its priority is the same on terminal devices A, B, and C, which do not have cellular communication capabilities. In this way, the data table used to indicate application priorities, as shown in Table 1, can be centrally managed and maintained by the server and then distributed to the corresponding first terminal devices, or it can be stored on the server, and when a priority needs to be determined, the first terminal device requests the server to provide feedback on the corresponding priority by sending the name of the specified application and other information.

[0189] It should be understood that the above description is merely an example provided to better understand the technical solution of this embodiment, and is not intended to be the only limitation of this embodiment.

[0190] For example, in other implementations, the same application running on different first terminal devices can be assigned different priorities. For instance, for the same application A, its priority on terminal device A (which lacks cellular communication capabilities) is the first priority mentioned above, while its priority on terminal device B is the second priority mentioned above. In this way, the application priority can be set according to the needs of the users actually using the terminal devices, thereby achieving personalized settings.

[0191] In one implementation approach for this scenario, for example, when enabling multi-network collaborative operation, an entry point can be provided to set the priority of currently installed applications.

[0192] For example, in another implementation, a priority matrix table suitable for the user can be automatically generated based on the user's historical usage habits.

[0193] It should be understood that the above description is merely an example provided to better understand the technical solution of this embodiment, and is not intended to be the only limitation of this embodiment.

[0194] Similarly, for business scenarios included in the same application, the above logic can also be used to set the priority. That is, the priority of the same business scenario in different first terminal devices can be the same or different. The specific implementation method will not be elaborated here.

[0195] S102, based on the current WIFI network information, the service flow corresponding to the first application, and the service flow corresponding to the second application, determine the user experience QoE quality assessment result. The QoE quality assessment result is used to indicate whether the WIFI network can simultaneously process the service flow corresponding to the first application and the service flow corresponding to the second application.

[0196] The determination of the QoE quality assessment results needs to be based on the Wi-Fi network information perceived by the access environment awareness submodule and the service flow information perceived by the service flow awareness submodule. The specific parameters and judgment criteria used in the assessment can be set according to actual business needs, and are not limited here.

[0197] S103, when the QoE quality assessment result indicates that the WIFI network cannot process the service flow corresponding to the first application or the service flow corresponding to the second application, the service flow corresponding to the first application and the service flow corresponding to the second application are both scheduled to the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device.

[0198] Understandably, this scenario is, for example... Figure 9 The situation shown in (1) is as follows.

[0199] S104, when the QoE quality assessment result indicates that the WIFI network can simultaneously handle the service flow corresponding to the first application and the service flow corresponding to the second application, both the service flow corresponding to the first application and the service flow corresponding to the second application are scheduled to the WIFI network.

[0200] Understandably, this scenario is, for example... Figure 9 The situation shown in (2) is as follows.

[0201] Furthermore, as described above, in order to ensure that the first terminal device can schedule the service flow corresponding to the first application to the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device, before scheduling the service flow corresponding to the first application to the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device, the first terminal device can first determine whether the multi-network collaborative operation function is currently enabled. That is, based on the multi-network collaborative operation method provided in the embodiments of this application, the function of processing services with the help of a terminal device with cellular communication capabilities can be realized.

[0202] Accordingly, if this feature is enabled, when the QoE quality assessment indicates that the Wi-Fi network cannot handle the service flow corresponding to either the first or second application, the first terminal device can automatically route both service flows to the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device. Conversely, if this feature is not enabled, it will not be possible to route both service flows to the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device. In this case, to facilitate user operation, a pop-up window can be displayed on the current interface prompting the user to enable this feature.

[0203] For example, in some implementations, the pop-up window can directly provide an entry point (first entry point) to enable the function. This way, the user doesn't need to exit the current interface, find the entry point on a specific screen, and directly operate on the first entry point, such as by clicking, to enable the function. Correspondingly, after enabling the function, the first terminal device can automatically schedule the service flows corresponding to the first application and the second application to the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device.

[0204] In addition, it should be noted that when it is determined that the user has enabled this function (multi-network collaborative operation function), it is also possible to further determine whether the first terminal device is currently connected to an available hotspot network, such as the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device mentioned above.

[0205] Accordingly, if connected, the first terminal device can automatically schedule the service flows corresponding to the first application and the second application to the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device. Conversely, if not connected, the first terminal device must first connect to the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device before the service flows corresponding to the first application and the second application can be scheduled to the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device.

[0206] Regarding the method by which the first terminal device accesses the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device, for example, it can be by searching for hotspot network information within the connection range (hotspot networks enabled by all third terminal devices with cellular communication capabilities within the connection range), and then automatically selecting the hotspot network with the best network quality from the hotspot network information as the hotspot network to be accessed, that is, accessing the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device as mentioned above.

[0207] For example, in some implementations, to enhance user engagement and better meet user needs, the searched hotspot network information can be displayed on the first terminal device's screen. This allows the user to select a safe and available hotspot network.

[0208] Accordingly, when the user selects a hotspot network from the hotspot network information, the hotspot network provided by the user-selected third terminal device can be used as the hotspot network access for the aforementioned second terminal device.

[0209] It should be understood that the above description is merely an example provided to better understand the technical solution of this embodiment, and is not intended to be the only limitation of this embodiment.

[0210] Furthermore, as described above, when a multi-screen collaborative connection is established between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, for example, when the display interface of the first terminal device shows the current interface content of the second terminal device, and the user can perform operations through the interface of the second terminal device displayed on the first terminal device, thereby controlling the second terminal device to make corresponding responses, the first terminal device can directly control the second terminal device to turn on the hotspot network and thus access the hotspot network.

[0211] Therefore, the multi-network collaborative operation method provided in this embodiment can handle services by using the hotspot network opened by the second terminal device with cellular communication capability when the WIFI network currently accessed by the first terminal device is unavailable. This ensures that the first terminal device without cellular communication capability can also handle network-dependent services in scenarios where there is no available WIFI network, avoiding service interruption and thus ensuring the user experience.

[0212] Understandably, in order to improve user engagement, in practical applications, a user entry point can be provided, allowing users to select network selection modes as needed, such as the two-choice network selection mode mentioned above, as well as the application-level concurrent traffic splitting network selection mode and the network selection mode for concurrent traffic splitting of different business flows within the same application, as mentioned below.

[0213] For example, in some implementations, the user portal can be integrated into an application specifically for managing multi-network collaborative operations, or it can be integrated into a settings application. This embodiment takes integration into a settings application as an example and will be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0214] See Figure 11 For example, taking a tablet computer as the first terminal device discussed in this article, the display interface of the tablet computer shows the tablet's main page. The main page includes one or more controls, such as icons for installed applications, a battery icon, and a Wi-Fi icon. For example, when a user clicks the settings application icon displayed on the main page, the tablet computer responds to the user's action by launching the settings application and displaying the settings interface, such as... Figure 12 As shown.

[0215] See Figure 12 For example, for a tablet computer with a large screen area, its settings interface can be divided into area 10a and area 10b. Area 10a can display one or more settings options, such as "More Connections", "Desktop and Wallpaper", "Display and Brightness", "Multi-network Collaboration", "Sound and Vibration", "Notifications", "Battery", "Storage", and search controls for users to search for these settings options, etc., which will not be listed here, and this embodiment does not limit them.

[0216] It should be noted that in some implementations, the "multi-network collaboration" settings options can be as follows: Figure 12 The settings are displayed directly in area 10a. In this scenario, the user can directly select the "Multi-network Collaboration" function, and area 10b will display the settings for the Multi-network Collaboration function.

[0217] For example, in some other implementations, the "Multi-network Collaboration" setting option can also be located in the directory of other setting options displayed in area 10a. In this scenario, when the user selects this setting option, the "Multi-network Collaboration" setting entry will be displayed in the content displayed in area 10b. This embodiment uses... Figure 12 For example, the form shown is shown.

[0218] See also Figure 12 For example, in some implementations, the multi-network collaboration function can be enabled by default, meaning that the control 10b-1 used to enable the multi-network collaboration function is in a disabled state. Figure 12 The style shown.

[0219] For example, when the user clicks Figure 12 After the control 10b-1 is displayed, the tablet computer responds to the user's operation, enables the multi-network collaboration function, and the style of control 10b-1 switches to... Figure 13 The style shown.

[0220] For example, to facilitate user customization of the network selection mode followed by the tablet computer when performing multi-network collaborative work after enabling the multi-network collaboration function, the style of control 10b-1 is switched to... Figure 13 Following the style shown, area 10b can also display controls 10b-2 for selecting the network selection mode, such as... Figure 13 As shown.

[0221] See Figure 13 For example, the control 10b-2 for selecting the network selection mode can provide a control 10b-21 for selecting the "two-choice network selection mode", a control 10b-22 for selecting the "application-level concurrent classification mode", and a control 10b-23 for selecting the "concurrent splitting mode of different business flows in the same application".

[0222] For example, in some implementations, controls 10b-21, 10b-22, and 10b-23 can be assumed to be in an inactive state, i.e. Figure 13 The style shown is as follows. In this way, after enabling the multi-network collaboration function and displaying control 10b-2 in area 10b, users can choose to enable it according to their actual usage needs. Figure 13 Any one or more network selection modes shown in the figure.

[0223] For example, when a user only enables one of the network selection modes of controls 10b-21, 10b-22, and 10b-23, if an anomaly occurs in the WIFI network accessed by the tablet during the multi-network collaboration function, the operation will only be performed according to the currently enabled network selection mode. For example, when only the two-choice network selection mode is selected, only one network can be selected at the same time, and WIFI network and hotspot network are not allowed to operate simultaneously.

[0224] For example, when a user enables multiple network modes in controls 10b-21, 10b-22, and 10b-23, during the multi-network collaboration function, if the WIFI network accessed by the tablet computer encounters an anomaly, the appropriate network selection mode can be followed to process the business based on the current WIFI network conditions. For instance, when controls 10b-22 and 10b-23 are enabled simultaneously, concurrent traffic splitting can be performed on different business flows of each application while simultaneously performing application-level concurrent traffic splitting.

[0225] It should be understood that the above description is merely an example provided to better understand the technical solution of this embodiment, and is not intended to be the only limitation of this embodiment.

[0226] Furthermore, it should be noted that to reduce user operations, a control 10b-24 for selecting "Autonomous Mode" can be provided in control 10b-2. When "Autonomous Mode" is enabled, regardless of whether controls 10b-21, 10b-22, and 10b-23 are active, during the multi-network collaboration function, the tablet computer can autonomously switch between two network selection modes, application-level concurrent traffic splitting mode, and non-categorized mode for different services within the same application, based on the current Wi-Fi network conditions and the source of the service flow to be processed (application / service scenario). This results in better multi-network collaborative operation.

[0227] In addition, it should be understood that for terminal devices with smaller screen areas, such as mobile phones and smartwatches, when the user clicks the icon of the settings application to launch the settings application and enter the settings interface, the display interface may only show the content in area 10a mentioned above. When the user clicks the multi-network collaboration control, the terminal device responds to the user's operation and then jumps to the interface displaying the content in area 10b.

[0228] It should be understood that the above description is merely an example provided to better understand the technical solution of this embodiment, and is not intended to be the only limitation of this embodiment.

[0229] See Figure 14 This example illustrates another network selection mode in the multi-network collaborative operation method provided in the embodiments of this application.

[0230] like Figure 14 As shown, an application-level concurrent traffic splitting network selection mode is presented. For this mode, at any given moment, both network links exist, i.e. Figure 14 The first terminal device accesses a Wi-Fi network via a router, while the second terminal device accesses a hotspot network simultaneously. For details regarding the second terminal device enabling its hotspot function and the first terminal device accessing the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device, please refer to the above text; it will not be repeated here.

[0231] For example, when a user selects the application-level concurrent traffic splitting network selection mode, if multiple applications are running on the first terminal device (using the network to send and receive data packets), the first terminal device can sense the service flow (data packets) provided by different applications through the sensing module, as well as the network requirements of the current business scenario processed by each application. Then, it will send and receive data packets of applications with high network requirements (such as high latency and high bandwidth requirements) to the hotspot network, while sending and receiving data packets of applications with low network requirements (such as low latency and low bandwidth requirements) to the WIFI network, thereby achieving the effect of concurrent traffic splitting.

[0232] For example, applications with high network requirements (such as high latency and high bandwidth requirements), such as audio and video conferencing, audio and video playback, online education, and online games, will not be listed here, and this application does not limit them.

[0233] For example, applications with low network requirements (such as low latency and low bandwidth requirements) mentioned above, such as Sunset Instant Messaging and email, are not listed here, and this application does not limit them.

[0234] See Figure 15 An example implementation is shown. Figure 14 When the network selection mode for application-level concurrent traffic distribution is shown, the specific implementation flow of the multi-network collaborative operation method provided in this application embodiment is as follows:

[0235] S201, determine the application currently running on the first terminal device, the application includes a first application with a first priority and a second application with a second priority, the first priority being higher than the second priority.

[0236] S202, based on the current WIFI network information, the service flow corresponding to the first application, and the service flow corresponding to the second application, determine the user experience QoE quality assessment result. The QoE quality assessment result is used to indicate whether the WIFI network can simultaneously process the service flow corresponding to the first application and the service flow corresponding to the second application.

[0237] For details on the implementation of steps S201 and S202, please refer to steps S101 and S102 in the above embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0238] S203, when the QoE quality assessment result indicates that the WIFI network cannot simultaneously process the service flow corresponding to the first application and the service flow corresponding to the second application, the service flow corresponding to the first application is scheduled to the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device, and the service flow corresponding to the second application is scheduled to the WIFI network.

[0239] Therefore, the multi-network collaborative operation method provided in this embodiment can simultaneously use the WIFI network and the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device when the WIFI network currently accessed by the first terminal device is insufficient to meet the service needs of multiple applications running on the first terminal device. The data packets of applications with high latency requirements are sent and received by the hotspot network, while the data packets of other applications are sent and received by the WIFI network. This ensures that the services of multiple applications running are processed normally and reduces the consumption of cellular traffic.

[0240] See Figure 16 This example illustrates another network selection mode in the multi-network collaborative operation method provided in the embodiments of this application.

[0241] like Figure 16 As shown, a network selection mode for concurrent traffic splitting of different service flows within the same application is presented. For this network selection mode, at any given moment, both network links exist, i.e. Figure 16 The first terminal device accesses a Wi-Fi network via a router, while the second terminal device accesses a hotspot network simultaneously. For details regarding the second terminal device enabling its hotspot function and the first terminal device accessing the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device, please refer to the above text; it will not be repeated here.

[0242] For example, when a user selects a network selection mode for concurrent traffic splitting of different service flows, if the application currently running on the first terminal device includes multiple service scenarios—such as an application with audio / video call / conference service scenarios and a service scenario of simply sending instant messaging messages and files—the user may send or receive files to a contact while using the application for an audio / video call / conference. Furthermore, if the sensing module detects that the currently accessed Wi-Fi network is insufficient to simultaneously support the transmission and reception of data packets generated under these two service scenarios, the resource allocation module can distribute the data according to the network requirements of the different service scenarios detected by the sensing module, using different networks. For example, data packets for service scenarios with high network requirements (such as high latency and bandwidth requirements), such as audio / video call / conference, can be processed by a hotspot network, while data packets for service scenarios with low network requirements (such as low latency and bandwidth requirements), such as sending files and messages, can be processed by the Wi-Fi network, thereby achieving the effect of concurrent traffic splitting.

[0243] See Figure 17 An example implementation is shown. Figure 16 When the network selection mode for concurrent traffic splitting of different service flows of the same application is shown, the specific implementation flow of the multi-network collaborative operation method provided in this application embodiment is as follows:

[0244] S301, determine the application currently running on the first terminal device, the application includes a first application with a first priority and a second application with a second priority, the first priority being higher than the second priority.

[0245] S302, based on the current WIFI network information, the service flow corresponding to the first application, and the service flow corresponding to the second application, determine the user experience QoE quality assessment result. The QoE quality assessment result is used to indicate whether the WIFI network can simultaneously process the service flow corresponding to the first application and the service flow corresponding to the second application.

[0246] For details on the implementation of steps S301 and S302, please refer to steps S101 and S102 in the above embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0247] S303, when the QoE quality assessment result indicates that the WIFI network cannot simultaneously process the service flow corresponding to the first application and the service flow corresponding to the second application, the service flow corresponding to the high-priority service scenario in the first application is scheduled to the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device, and the service flow corresponding to the low-priority service scenario is scheduled to the WIFI network.

[0248] Specifically, for concurrent processing of different business flows within the same application, the implementation needs to determine the source of the business flow corresponding to that application. In this embodiment, for example, it is necessary to determine the source of the business flow corresponding to the first application and the source of the business flow corresponding to the second application. That is, the source of each business flow that needs to be processed.

[0249] For example, when a service flow originates from a single service scenario, network resources are allocated according to the priority of the application. For instance, if the service flow corresponding to the first application originates from a single service scenario, it is scheduled to the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device, following the priority of the first application (first priority). Similarly, if the service flow corresponding to the second application originates from a single service scenario, it is scheduled to the Wi-Fi network, following the priority of the second application (second priority).

[0250] For example, when the source of a service flow includes at least two service scenarios, network resources are allocated according to the priority of each service scenario. For instance, service flows corresponding to high-priority service scenarios in the first application are scheduled to the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device, while service flows corresponding to low-priority service scenarios are scheduled to the Wi-Fi network. Similarly, service flows corresponding to high-priority service scenarios in the second application are scheduled to the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device, while service flows corresponding to low-priority service scenarios are scheduled to the Wi-Fi network.

[0251] The method for determining the source of a business flow can be, for example, by determining the number of business scenarios included in the application that provides the business flow.

[0252] Accordingly, when there is only one business scenario, the business flow is determined to originate from one business scenario; when there is more than one business scenario, the application programming interface called by the application (first application, second application) when providing the business flow is determined.

[0253] Understandably, different application programming interfaces (APIs) typically correspond to different business scenarios. Therefore, when determining the APIs called to provide a business flow, the number of business scenarios providing the business flow can be determined by deduplicating the called APIs and based on the number of deduplicated API calls.

[0254] It should be understood that the above description is merely an example provided to better understand the technical solution of this embodiment, and is not intended to be the only limitation of this embodiment.

[0255] Therefore, the multi-network collaborative operation method provided in this embodiment, when the application currently running on the first terminal device has multiple service scenarios, and the WIFI network currently accessed by the first terminal device is insufficient to meet the transmission and reception of data packets generated in service scenarios with high bandwidth and latency requirements, simultaneously uses the WIFI network and a hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device. Data packets generated in service scenarios with high latency and bandwidth requirements are sent and received by the hotspot network, while data packets generated in other service scenarios are retained for transmission and reception on the WIFI network. This ensures that data packets from different service scenarios under the same application can be processed normally, while reducing the consumption of cellular traffic.

[0256] Furthermore, it is understood that, in order to achieve the aforementioned functions, the terminal device includes hardware and / or software modules corresponding to the execution of each function. Based on the algorithmic steps of the various examples described in the embodiments disclosed herein, this application can be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in hardware or by computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application in conjunction with the embodiments, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0257] Furthermore, it should be noted that in practical applications, the first terminal device can be configured to automatically switch between the three network selection modes mentioned above. That is, when this multi-network collaborative operation function is enabled, all three network modes are selected by default. During subsequent use of the first terminal device, the sensing module determines which network selection mode is suitable for the current business scenario. The resource allocation module then schedules different business flows to different networks, such as Wi-Fi or hotspot networks, based on the corresponding network selection mode. This makes the multi-network collaborative operation more closely aligned with actual scenarios, better meets user needs, and improves the user experience.

[0258] To better understand the changes in the interface of the first terminal device after enabling the multi-network collaborative operation function as described in the above embodiments, when there is a business flow to process, and the first terminal device performs multi-network collaborative operation according to the network selection mode set by the user or the network selection mode automatically selected by the system according to the network conditions, the following is combined with... Figures 18 to 22 Please provide a detailed explanation.

[0259] See Figure 18 The example illustrates the icon style displayed on a first terminal device, such as a tablet computer (referred to as the first icon in this embodiment), after connecting to a Wi-Fi network, and the icon style displayed on the first terminal device (referred to as the second icon in this embodiment) after connecting to a hotspot network enabled by a second terminal device. For example, the first icon can be as follows: Figure 18 As shown in (a1), it can also be as follows: Figure 18 As shown in (a2); for the second icon, it can be as follows Figure 18 As shown in (b1), it can also be as follows Figure 18 As described in (b2), it can also be as follows: Figure 18 As shown in (b3).

[0260] It should be understood that the above description is merely an example provided to better understand the technical solution of this embodiment, and is not intended to be the only limitation of this embodiment. For ease of explanation, this embodiment uses the first icon as... Figure 18 As shown in (a1), the second icon is Figure 18 For example, as shown in (b2).

[0261] See Figure 19 For example, when the first terminal device is a tablet computer, the user enables the multi-network collaborative operation function in the manner given in the above embodiment, and sets the network selection mode to application-level concurrent traffic splitting mode (control 10b-22 is selected and is in the open state, as shown in the style of control 10b-1) or automatic mode (control 10b-24 is selected and is in the open state, as shown in the style of control 10b-1). If there is an available WIFI network and hotspot network, the tablet computer will connect to the WIFI network and hotspot network, and the first icon and the second icon will be displayed on the display interface at the same time.

[0262] See also Figure 19 For example, when APP1 runs in the foreground of a tablet computer and the user uses it to watch audio and video content, network resources are needed to process the service flow 1 corresponding to the audio and video content of APP1. This includes retrieving the service flow corresponding to the audio and video content from the server corresponding to APP1 and displaying it on the tablet computer's screen. If, while watching audio and video content through APP1, the user is also using APP2 to download files in the background, a download icon will be displayed on the tablet computer's screen. Figure 19 As shown, the download icon indicates that APP2 is downloading files in the background. At this time, there will be a corresponding business flow 2 that needs to utilize network resources for processing. For multiple processes running simultaneously, such as... Figure 19 The scenario shown illustrates that the service flows corresponding to the two applications need to utilize network resources for processing. The service flow with higher priority in service flow 1 and service flow 2 can be scheduled to the hotspot network indicated by the second icon, while the service flow with lower priority can be scheduled to the WIFI network indicated by the first icon.

[0263] For example, as described in the priority matrix table shown in Table 1 in the above embodiments, the priority of service flows generated by audio / video type applications or service scenarios running in the foreground is higher than the priority of download type applications or service scenarios running in the background. Therefore, when service flow 1 is audio / video type and service flow 2 is download type, the priority of service flow 1 is higher than the priority of service flow 2. Thus, service flow 1 will be scheduled to the hotspot network indicated by the second icon, while service flow 2 will be scheduled to the WIFI network indicated by the first icon. This achieves concurrent traffic distribution for service flows corresponding to different applications.

[0264] See Figure 20For example, when the first terminal device is a tablet computer, the user enables the multi-network collaborative operation function in the manner given in the above embodiment, and sets the network selection mode to the concurrent traffic splitting mode of different business flows of the same application (control 10b-23 is selected and is in the open state, as shown in the style of control 10b-1) or the automatic mode (control 10b-24 is selected and is in the open state, as shown in the style of control 10b-1). If there is an available WIFI network and hotspot network, the tablet computer will connect to the WIFI network and hotspot network, and the first icon and the second icon will be displayed on the display interface at the same time.

[0265] See also Figure 20 For example, when APP1 runs in the foreground of a tablet computer and the user uses it to watch audio and video content, network resources are needed to process the service flow 1 corresponding to the audio and video content of APP1. This includes retrieving the service flow corresponding to the audio and video content from the server corresponding to APP1 and displaying it on the tablet computer's screen. If, while watching audio and video content through APP1, the user also uses APP1 to download files, such as other audio and video content, a download icon will be displayed on the tablet computer's screen. Figure 20 As shown, the download icon indicates that APP1 is downloading a file. At this time, there will be a corresponding business flow 3 that needs to utilize network resources for processing. For situations where multiple processes are running simultaneously, such as... Figure 20 The scenario shown illustrates different service flows corresponding to the same application that need to utilize network resources for processing. The service flow with higher priority in service flow 1 and service flow 3 can be scheduled to the hotspot network indicated by the second icon, while the service flow with lower priority can be scheduled to the WIFI network indicated by the first icon.

[0266] For example, as described in the priority matrix table shown in Table 1 in the above embodiments, the priority of service flows generated in the foreground of audio / video applications or business scenarios is higher than that of download applications or business scenarios running in the background. Therefore, when service flow 1 is audio / video and service flow 3 is download, service flow 1 has a higher priority than service flow 3. Thus, service flow 1 will be scheduled to the hotspot network indicated by the second icon, while service flow 3 will be scheduled to the WIFI network indicated by the first icon. This achieves concurrent traffic distribution of service flows corresponding to different business scenarios within the same application.

[0267] See Figure 21For example, when the first terminal device is a tablet computer, the user enables the multi-network collaborative operation function in the manner given in the above embodiment, and sets the network selection mode to a two-choice mode (control 10b-22 is selected and is in the open state, as shown in the style of control 10b-1) or an automatic mode (control 10b-24 is selected and is in the open state, as shown in the style of control 10b-1). If there is an available hotspot network but no available WIFI network, the tablet computer will connect to the hotspot network, and the second icon will be displayed on the display interface, while the first icon will not be displayed.

[0268] See also Figure 21 For example, when APP1 runs in the foreground of a tablet computer and the user uses it to watch audio and video content, network resources are needed to process the service flow 1 corresponding to the audio and video content of APP1. This includes retrieving the service flow corresponding to the audio and video content from the server corresponding to APP1 and displaying it on the tablet computer's screen. If, while watching audio and video content through APP1, the user also uses APP1 to download files, such as other audio and video content, a download icon will be displayed on the tablet computer's screen. Figure 21 As shown, the download icon indicates that APP1 is downloading a file. At this time, there will be a corresponding business flow 3 that needs to utilize network resources for processing. For situations where multiple processes are running simultaneously, such as... Figure 21 The illustration shows a scenario where different service flows corresponding to the same application need to utilize network resources for processing. Since only a hotspot network is currently available, both service flows 1 and 2 will be scheduled to the hotspot network indicated by the second icon. Therefore, in the absence of an available Wi-Fi network, by scheduling the service flows to the hotspot network, the tablet can ensure normal service processing and guarantee a good user experience.

[0269] See Figure 22 For example, when the first terminal device is a tablet computer, the user enables the multi-network collaborative operation function in the manner given in the above embodiment, and sets the network selection mode to a two-choice mode (control 10b-22 is selected and is in the open state, as shown in the style of control 10b-1) or an automatic mode (control 10b-24 is selected and is in the open state, as shown in the style of control 10b-1). If there is an available WIFI network but no available hotspot network, or if there is both an available WIFI network and a hotspot network, the tablet computer will connect to the WIFI network, and the first icon will be displayed on the display interface, while the second icon will not be displayed.

[0270] See also Figure 22For example, when APP1 runs in the foreground of a tablet computer and the user uses it to watch audio and video content, network resources are needed to process the service flow 1 corresponding to the audio and video content of APP1. This includes retrieving the service flow corresponding to the audio and video content from the server corresponding to APP1 and displaying it on the tablet computer's screen. If, while watching audio and video content through APP1, the user also uses APP1 to download files, such as other audio and video content, a download icon will be displayed on the tablet computer's screen. Figure 22 As shown, the download icon indicates that APP1 is downloading a file. At this time, there will be a corresponding business flow 3 that needs to utilize network resources for processing. For situations where multiple processes are running simultaneously, such as... Figure 22 The illustration shows a scenario where different service flows corresponding to the same application need to utilize network resources for processing. Since only a Wi-Fi network link exists, both service flow 1 and service flow 2 will be scheduled to the Wi-Fi network indicated by the first icon. Therefore, in the two-choice network mode, as long as there is an available Wi-Fi network, the service flow that the tablet needs to process will be scheduled to the Wi-Fi network, without relying on the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device, thereby reducing the consumption of cellular data traffic on the second terminal device.

[0271] For details regarding the second terminal device enabling a hotspot network, the first terminal device accessing the first hotspot network, and the first terminal device enabling the multi-network collaborative operation function, please refer to the above embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0272] Furthermore, it should be noted that in practical application scenarios, the multi-network collaborative operation methods provided in the above embodiments, implemented by the terminal device, can also be executed by a chip system included in the terminal device. This chip system may include a processor. The chip system can be coupled to a memory, enabling it to call computer programs stored in the memory during runtime to implement the steps executed by the terminal device. The processor in the chip system can be an application processor or a non-application processor.

[0273] In addition, this application embodiment also provides a multi-network collaborative operation system. For example, the system includes the aforementioned first terminal device and second terminal device. The second terminal device establishes a mobile connection with a base station via a cellular network and a wireless connection with the first terminal device via a hotspot network.

[0274] For example, in some implementations, the first terminal device is configured to perform the following operations:

[0275] When there are first-priority and second-priority service flows that need to be processed, the current WIFI network information is obtained; based on the WIFI network information, the first-priority and second-priority service flows, the user experience QoE quality assessment result is determined. The QoE quality assessment result is used to indicate whether the WIFI network can process the first-priority and second-priority service flows simultaneously, with the first priority being higher than the second priority; when the QoE quality assessment result indicates that the WIFI network cannot process the first-priority and second-priority service flows simultaneously, the first-priority service flow is scheduled to the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device, and the second-priority service flow is scheduled to the WIFI network.

[0276] Accordingly, the second terminal device is used to: schedule the first priority service flow transmitted by the first terminal device through the hotspot network to the base station for processing via the cellular network.

[0277] For details regarding the second terminal device enabling a hotspot network, the first terminal device accessing the first hotspot network, and the first terminal device enabling the multi-network collaborative operation function, please refer to the above embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

[0278] In addition, this application embodiment also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions. When the computer instructions are executed on a terminal device, the terminal device performs the above-mentioned related method steps to implement the multi-network collaborative operation method in the above embodiment.

[0279] In addition, this application also provides a computer program product that, when run on a terminal device, causes the terminal device to perform the above-mentioned related steps to realize the multi-network collaborative operation method in the above embodiments.

[0280] In addition, embodiments of this application also provide a chip (which may also be a component or module), which may include one or more processing circuits and one or more transceiver pins; wherein the transceiver pins and the processing circuits communicate with each other through internal connection paths, and the processing circuits execute the above-mentioned related method steps to implement the multi-network cooperative operation method in the above embodiments, so as to control the receiving pins to receive signals and control the transmitting pins to transmit signals.

[0281] Furthermore, as can be seen from the above description, the terminal device, computer-readable storage medium, computer program product, or chip provided in the embodiments of this application are all used to execute the corresponding methods provided above. Therefore, the beneficial effects they can achieve can be referred to the beneficial effects in the corresponding methods provided above, and will not be repeated here.

[0282] The above-described embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of this application, and are not intended to limit it. Although this application has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that modifications can still be made to the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments, or equivalent substitutions can be made to some of the technical features. Such modifications or substitutions do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application.

Claims

1. A method for multi-network cooperation, characterized in that, Applied to a first terminal device, the method includes: When there are multiple service flows that need to be processed, obtain the current WIFI network information; Based on the WIFI network information and the multiple service flows, it is determined whether the WIFI network can process the multiple service flows simultaneously, and the multiple service flows each have a matching priority. When the WIFI network cannot process the multiple service flows simultaneously, different service flows are scheduled to the WIFI network or the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device according to the matching priority. When the WIFI network can process the multiple service flows simultaneously, all the multiple service flows will be scheduled to the WIFI network; The second terminal device establishes a mobile connection with the base station through a cellular network and a wireless connection with the first terminal device through the hotspot network. When matching priorities to business flows, if the business scenario to which the business flow belongs is in the preset whitelist, it cannot be matched as a low priority.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, During the process of the first terminal device using the WIFI network, the method further includes: The application currently running on the first terminal device is determined, and the application includes a first application with a first priority and a second application with a second priority; the first priority is higher than the second priority. The business flow corresponding to the first application is taken as the business flow with the first priority. The business flow corresponding to the second application is designated as the business flow with the second priority.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein, During the process of the first terminal device using the WIFI network, the method further includes: Determine the application currently running on the first terminal device, the application including a first application with a first priority and a second application with a second priority; Determine the source of the business flow corresponding to the first application; When the business flow corresponding to the first application comes from a business scenario, the business flow corresponding to the first application is taken as the business flow with the first priority. When the source of the business flow corresponding to the first application includes at least two business scenarios, the priority corresponding to each business scenario is determined; The business flow corresponding to the high-priority business scenario in the first application is taken as the first priority business flow, and the business flow corresponding to the low-priority business scenario in the first application is taken as the second priority business flow. Determine the source of the business flow corresponding to the second application; When the business flow corresponding to the second application comes from a business scenario, the business flow corresponding to the second application is taken as the business flow with the second priority. When the source of the business flow corresponding to the second application includes at least two business scenarios, determine the priority of each business scenario; The business flows corresponding to high-priority business scenarios in the second application are designated as the first-priority business flows, and the business flows corresponding to low-priority business scenarios in the second application are designated as the second-priority business flows.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein, Determining the source of the business flow corresponding to the first application includes: Based on the attribute information of the first application, determine the number of business scenarios included in the first application; When the number of business scenarios included in the first application is 1, it is determined that the business flow corresponding to the first application comes from a business scenario. When the number of business scenarios included in the first application is greater than one, the application programming interface called by the first application when providing the business flow is determined; wherein, different application programming interfaces correspond to different business scenarios; The number of business scenarios for the business flow provided by the first application is obtained by deduplicating the called application programming interface.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein, Determining the source of the business flow corresponding to the second application includes: Based on the attribute information of the second application, determine the number of business scenarios included in the second application; When the number of business scenarios included in the second application is 1, it is determined that the business flow corresponding to the second application comes from a business scenario; When the number of business scenarios included in the second application is greater than one, the application programming interface called by the second application when providing the business flow is determined; wherein, different application programming interfaces correspond to different business scenarios; The number of business scenarios for the business flow provided by the second application is obtained by deduplicating the called application programming interface.

6. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, After scheduling both the first-priority service flow and the second-priority service flow to the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device, the method further includes: The QoE quality assessment result is determined based on the WIFI network information, the first priority service flow, and the second priority service flow. When the QoE quality assessment result indicates that the WIFI network can simultaneously process the first priority service flow and the second priority service flow, or when other accessible WIFI networks are found, the scheduling of the first priority service flow and the second priority service flow to the hotspot network is stopped, and the first priority service flow and the second priority service flow are scheduled to the WIFI network or other accessible WIFI networks are found.

7. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 6, characterized in that, The method further includes: Determine whether the first terminal device has enabled the multi-network collaborative operation function; When the first terminal device enables the multi-network collaborative operation function, the step of scheduling the first priority service flow to the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device is executed. When the first terminal device does not enable the multi-network collaborative operation function, the first entry point is displayed; In response to the operation on the first entry point, the multi-network collaborative operation function is enabled, and the step of scheduling the first priority service flow to the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device is executed.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein, Before scheduling the first priority service flow to the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device, the method further includes: Determine whether the device is connected to the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device; When accessing the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device, the step of scheduling the first priority service flow to the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device is executed; When not connected to the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device, hotspot network information within the connection range is obtained, including hotspot networks enabled by all third terminal devices with cellular communication capabilities within the connection range. The third terminal device with the best network quality in the hotspot network information is selected as the second terminal device. Access the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device, and perform the step of scheduling the first priority service flow to the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein, After obtaining the hotspot network information within the connection range, the method further includes: The hotspot network information is displayed on the interface of the first terminal device; In response to the user's selection of any hotspot network in the hotspot network information, the third terminal device providing the hotspot network is designated as the second terminal device, accesses the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device, and the step of scheduling the first priority service flow to the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device is executed.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein, Before obtaining the hotspot network information within the connection range, the method further includes: Determine whether a multi-screen collaborative connection has been established between the first terminal device and the second terminal device; When the multi-screen collaborative connection is established between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, the second terminal device is controlled to turn on the hotspot network, access the hotspot network turned on by the second terminal device, and the step of scheduling the first priority service flow to the hotspot network turned on by the second terminal device is executed. When the multi-screen collaboration connection is not established between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, the step of obtaining hotspot network information within the connection range is executed.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that, The same application has the same priority on different first terminal devices, and the same business scenario has the same priority.

12. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that, The same application may have different priorities on different first-terminal devices, and the same business scenario may have different priorities.

13. A method of multi-network cooperation, characterized by, Applied to a first terminal device, the method includes: During the process of displaying the first icon and the second icon in the display interface of the first terminal device, when there is a service flow that needs to be processed, if the WiFi network indicated by the first icon cannot process the first priority service flow and the second priority service flow at the same time, the first priority service flow is scheduled to the hotspot network indicated by the second icon, and the second priority service flow is scheduled to the WiFi network indicated by the first icon. If the WiFi network indicated by the first icon cannot handle the service flow of the first priority, nor can it handle the service flow of the second priority, both the service flow of the first priority and the service flow of the second priority will be scheduled to the hotspot network indicated by the second icon. If the WiFi network indicated by the first icon can handle both the first priority service flow and the second priority service flow at the same time, then schedule both the first priority service flow and the second priority service flow to the WiFi network indicated by the first icon. Wherein, the first priority is higher than the second priority, and the hotspot network is provided by a second terminal device that has established a mobile connection with the base station; When matching priorities to business flows, if the business scenario to which the business flow belongs is in the preset whitelist, it cannot be matched as a low priority.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein, The method further includes: When the first icon disappears and the second icon appears in the display interface, and there is a service flow that needs to be processed, the service flow will be scheduled to the hotspot network indicated by the second icon.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein, The method further includes: After redisplaying the first icon in the display interface, stop scheduling the service flow to the hotspot network and schedule the service flow to the WIFI network indicated by the first icon; or, Stop scheduling second-priority service flows to the hotspot network, schedule first-priority service flows to the hotspot network indicated by the second icon, and schedule second-priority service flows to the WIFI network indicated by the first icon.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein, The method further includes: When the second icon displayed in the display interface disappears, and when the first icon is displayed, when there is a service flow that needs to be processed, the service flow is scheduled to the WIFI network indicated by the first icon.

17. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 16, characterized in that, The first priority service flow is the service flow generated in the foreground of an audio / video call / conference application or business scenario, and the second priority service flow is the service flow generated in the background of an application or business scenario.

18. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 16, characterized in that, The first priority business flow is the business flow generated in a game-type application or business scenario running in the foreground, and the second priority business flow is the business flow generated in an application or business scenario running in the background.

19. A multi-network cooperative operation system, characterized by comprising: The system includes: a first terminal device and a second terminal device, wherein the second terminal device establishes a mobile connection with a base station through a cellular network, and the second terminal device establishes a wireless connection with the first terminal device through a hotspot network; The first terminal device is used for: When there are multiple service flows that need to be processed, obtain the current WIFI network information; Based on the WIFI network information and the multiple service flows, it is determined whether the WIFI network can process the multiple service flows simultaneously, and the multiple service flows each have a matching priority. When the WIFI network cannot process the multiple service flows simultaneously, different service flows are scheduled to the WIFI network or the hotspot network enabled by the second terminal device according to the matching priority. When the WIFI network can process the multiple service flows simultaneously, all the multiple service flows will be scheduled to the WIFI network; When matching priorities to business flows, if the business scenario to which the business flow belongs is in the preset whitelist, it cannot be matched as a low priority. The second terminal device is used for: Through the cellular network, the multiple service flows transmitted by the first terminal device through the hotspot network are scheduled to the base station for processing.

20. A terminal device, comprising: The terminal device includes: a memory and a processor, the memory and the processor being coupled; the memory stores program instructions, which, when executed by the processor, cause the terminal device to perform the multi-network collaborative operation method as described in any one of claims 1 to 12, or to perform the multi-network collaborative operation method as described in any one of claims 13 to 18.

21. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The method includes a computer program that, when run on a terminal device, causes the terminal device to perform the multi-network collaborative operation method as described in any one of claims 1 to 12, or to perform the multi-network collaborative operation method as described in any one of claims 13 to 18.

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