Link abnormality recovery method, apparatus, and access point device

Abstract

The application provides a link abnormality recovery method and device and an access point device, and relates to the technical field of communication.The application realizes active cooperative wake-up across links by sending a target beacon frame for setting all link DTIM fields, creates a prerequisite for recovery of abnormal links, and after invalid wake-up, realizes timing isolation of abnormal links by introducing an IDLE freezing mechanism, immediately stops invalid data scheduling, and avoids waste of air interface resources from the root cause; a listening window is set during freezing, and once a data frame is received, scheduling is restarted, a light and fast tentative soft recovery is realized.Compared with the prior art, the application sinks the recovery action and finely manages the link layer state, quickly and automatically repairs the abnormal link without obvious perception of the user, recovers the throughput capacity of the abnormal link, and guarantees stability of the MLO aggregation performance.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a method, apparatus and access point device for link anomaly recovery. Background Technology

[0002] With the development of wireless LAN technology, Multi-Link Operation (MLO) technology, represented by the Wi-Fi 7 standard, has become mainstream. This technology allows access points (APs) and stations (STAs) to transmit data simultaneously through multiple links (LINKs, such as 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz bands) to aggregate bandwidth, reduce latency, and improve network reliability.

[0003] In the actual operation of the MLO architecture, when multiple links work together, a single link may fail due to signal interference, a sudden drop in channel quality, or abnormal switching of device power-saving states. Existing technologies for handling single-link failures in Wi-Fi 7 MLO typically rely on the timeout retransmission mechanism of the upper-layer transport protocol, causing network congestion and long latency; or they directly disconnect and re-establish the link connection, resulting in significant communication interruptions, high control signaling overhead, and wasted air interface resources. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of this invention is to provide a link anomaly recovery method, apparatus, and access point device to alleviate the problems of sluggishness, interruption, and resource waste in MLO link anomaly recovery in the prior art.

[0005] In a first aspect, the present invention provides a link anomaly recovery method, applied to an access point (AP), wherein multiple links are established between the AP and a site (STA); the link anomaly recovery method includes: When an anomaly is detected in a target link among multiple links, a target beacon frame is sent to the STA; in the target beacon frame, the Delivery Traffic Indicator (DTIM) field of all links is set to trigger a coordinated wake-up of the STA; If no recovery of the target link is detected within a preset first time period after the coordinated wake-up is triggered, the target link will be frozen into an idle state for a preset second time period. When a data frame is received from the target link during the target link's freeze period, the scheduling of the target link is restarted to restore the target link's normal operation.

[0006] In an optional implementation, the link anomaly recovery method further includes: After multiple links are established, the link status of each link is obtained in real time; When the target link's status is detected to meet preset conditions, it is determined that the target link has an anomaly. The preset conditions include: the amount of cached data on the target link reaches a preset first threshold; or, the load on the target link reaches a preset second threshold, and its data transmission success rate within a preset statistical period is zero.

[0007] In an optional implementation, after sending the target beacon frame to the STA, the link anomaly recovery method further includes: If no valid data frame is received from the STA on the target link within a preset first time period, it is determined that the target link recovery has not been detected.

[0008] In an optional implementation, the preset second duration is determined based on the product of the listening interval negotiated when establishing a connection with the STA and the DTIM period.

[0009] In an optional implementation, the target link is subjected to an idle state freeze of a preset second duration, including: Within a preset second duration, air interface resource scheduling for the target link is stopped, and non-data management frames received on the target link are ignored.

[0010] In an optional implementation, after initiating a preset second-duration idle state (IDLE) freeze on the target link, the link anomaly recovery method further includes: If no data frames are received from the target link during the target link freeze period, initiate a link reconfiguration process with the STA to re-establish the target link.

[0011] In an optional implementation, before sending a target beacon frame to the STA when an anomaly is detected in a target link among multiple links, the link anomaly recovery method further includes: After multiple links are established, the main link is determined based on the load status and transmission quality of each link. The main link is used as a channel to send target beacon frames to the STA when the target link is abnormal, and / or to maintain management signaling transmission with the STA during the freeze and recovery process of the target link.

[0012] Secondly, the present invention provides a link anomaly recovery device, applied to an AP, wherein multiple links are established between the AP and the STA; the link anomaly recovery device includes: The STA wake-up module is used to send a target beacon frame to the STA when an anomaly is detected in the target link among multiple links. In the target beacon frame, the DTIM field of all links is set to trigger the coordinated wake-up of the STA. The link freezing module is used to initiate a preset second-term IDLE freeze on the target link when no recovery of the target link is detected within a preset first time period after triggering coordinated wake-up. The link restart module is used to restart the scheduling of the target link when a data frame is received during the target link's freeze period, so as to restore the normal operation of the target link.

[0013] Thirdly, the present invention provides an access point device, including a memory and a processor. The memory stores a computer program that can run on the processor. When the processor executes the computer program, it implements the link anomaly recovery method of any of the foregoing embodiments.

[0014] Fourthly, the present invention provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, wherein the computer program, when executed by a processor, performs the link anomaly recovery method of any of the foregoing embodiments.

[0015] The link anomaly recovery method, apparatus, and access point device provided by this invention are applied to an AP, where multiple links are established between the AP and a STA. The method includes: when an anomaly is detected in a target link among the multiple links, a target beacon frame is sent to the STA; wherein, in the target beacon frame, the DTIM field of all links is set to trigger coordinated wake-up of the STA; if no recovery of the target link is detected within a preset first time period after triggering coordinated wake-up, an IDLE freeze of a preset second time period is initiated on the target link; when a data frame of the target link is received during the freeze period of the target link, the scheduling of the target link is restarted to restore the normal operation of the target link.

[0016] By sending target beacon frames that set the DTIM field on all links, proactive collaborative wake-up across links is achieved, creating a prerequisite for the recovery of abnormal links. If wake-up fails, an IDLE freezing mechanism is introduced to periodically isolate the abnormal link, immediately stopping invalid data scheduling and preventing waste of air interface resources at the source. During the freezing period, a listening window is set, and scheduling is restarted as soon as a data frame is received, achieving a lightweight and fast tentative soft recovery. Compared to existing technologies, this invention decentralizes the recovery action and refines it into link-layer state management, quickly and automatically repairing abnormal links without the user's noticeable awareness, restoring their throughput capacity, and ensuring the stability of MLO aggregation performance. Attached Figure Description

[0017] To more clearly illustrate the specific embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the specific embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained from these drawings without creative effort.

[0018] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a multi-link system topology provided in an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 This is a timing interaction diagram of a multi-link operation provided in an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the timing interaction of another multi-link operation provided in an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the timing interaction of another multi-link operation provided in an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 5 This is a flowchart illustrating a link anomaly recovery method provided in an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 6 A flowchart illustrating another link anomaly recovery method provided in an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 7 A timing interaction diagram illustrating a progressive recovery process after a single link fails in a multi-link operation, provided as an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of a link anomaly recovery device provided in an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of an access point device provided in an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0019] The technical solution of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the embodiments. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0020] In the implementation of the Wi-Fi 7 protocol, multi-link malfunction is a core technical pain point, mainly focusing on the following three categories of problems: multi-link cross-operation synchronization problems, link state management problems, and link anomaly recovery problems. Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a typical system topology for Wi-Fi 7 multi-link is shown, such as... Figure 1As shown, this multi-link operating system includes an access point (MLO AP) supporting multi-link operation and multiple STAs (such as STA1, STA2, and STA3). The MLO AP establishes connections with each STA through multiple independent physical links (such as LINK A, LINK B, etc.), enabling parallel data transmission and link aggregation, thereby improving throughput and reducing latency. The following sections will provide a detailed introduction to the three main categories of issues mentioned above.

[0021] 1. Synchronization issues in multi-link cross-operation.

[0022] In practical applications, synchronization issues during multi-link cross-operation are a common cause of connection failures. This problem mainly manifests as insufficient synchronization among multiple links during collaborative work, leading to disordered data transmission and status interaction. Specifically, when multiple links establish connections and interact simultaneously, cross-interference between the links and delays in the synchronous update of connection-related information (such as link parameters and connection status) can cause link coordination failures.

[0023] like Figure 2 and Figure 3 As shown, a typical scenario is: the MLO STA initiates a connection on LINK A, and the MLO AP also replies on LINK A. However, under extreme conditions such as air interface interference, the AP may experience processing delays or transmission failures when replying with the authentication response frame (AUTH RSP). Figure 2 This is the situation described in step ①). In this case, the MLO STA will exit the current link's state machine due to a timeout, but the MLO AP will remain in the association process of LINK A. At this point, the MLO STA may re-initiate a connection attempt on another link (LINK B). Figure 3 (Steps ② and ③). This behavior will cause the MLO AP to become abnormal: it may continue to try to respond on the failed LINK A, or it may become confused due to state machine conflicts between multiple links, ultimately causing the entire multi-link association process to fail.

[0024] 2. Issues related to multi-link status management and anomaly recovery.

[0025] In Wi-Fi 7 multi-link operation, abnormal link state synchronization is a core cause of communication failures. This problem directly leads to communication breakdowns between the AP and STA. Specifically, for example... Figure 4As shown, after the AP and STA successfully establish multi-link association, data interaction should normally follow the following link correspondence: AP's LINK A interacts with STA's LINK A; AP's LINK B interacts with STA's LINK B. However, in actual operation, due to severe degradation of air interface quality, or extreme scenarios such as STA directly entering an IDLE state on LINK A or even shutting down the link's radio frequency due to energy-saving needs, the STA's communication capability on LINK A may actually be lost or suspended. In this case, if the AP fails to detect the STA's state change on LINK A in a timely and accurate manner (i.e., state synchronization anomaly), its scheduler will still continue to schedule and send data to the STA on LINK A. This will lead to a large amount of abnormal data transmission on the air interface, with invalid data occupying air interface resources, resulting in a significant reduction in air interface utilization and seriously affecting the throughput performance and transmission stability of the Wi-Fi 7 protocol.

[0026] To address the aforementioned multi-link malfunction issues, this invention proposes a targeted optimization scheme based on multi-link state management logic and the interaction characteristics between the AP and STA. This scheme can resolve core issues such as state synchronization, abnormal wake-up, and link recovery, while also ensuring compatibility with STA power consumption management.

[0027] To facilitate understanding of this embodiment, a link anomaly recovery method disclosed in this embodiment of the invention will first be described in detail.

[0028] This invention provides a link anomaly recovery method, applicable to an Access Point (AP) where multiple links are established between the AP and a STA. See also... Figure 5 The diagram shows a flowchart of a link anomaly recovery method, which mainly includes the following steps S510 to S530: Step S510: When an anomaly is detected in the target link among multiple links, a target beacon frame is sent to the STA; wherein, in the target beacon frame, the DTIM field of all links is set to trigger the coordinated wake-up of the STA.

[0029] In this embodiment of the invention, when a link anomaly is detected, a first-level recovery action, namely coordinated wake-up, is initiated. When an anomaly is detected in a link (referred to here as the target link), the AP immediately constructs and sends a special target beacon frame. The key to this target beacon frame is that its DTIM (Delivery Traffic Indication Map) field is set, and this setting applies to all established links. This operation utilizes the DTIM pending information notification mechanism in the Wi-Fi protocol, but innovatively applies this mechanism to a multi-link scenario. Its purpose is to trigger a cross-link, coordinated wake-up signal, forcibly waking up STAs that may have entered deep power-saving mode due to target link anomalies, thereby restoring basic communication capabilities with STAs.

[0030] For example, an access point (AP) is connected to a mobile phone (a type of STA device) via both a 5GHz link and a 6GHz link. When the AP detects an anomaly on the 5GHz link (i.e., the target link), it immediately sends a beacon frame to the mobile phone on the still-functioning 6GHz link. The DTIM field of this beacon frame indicates that data is pending on the 6GHz link and also sets the DTIM field of the 5GHz link. Regardless of which link the mobile phone is currently primarily listening on, upon receiving this beacon frame, the protocol will force it to fully wake up from power-saving mode and prepare to receive data.

[0031] Step S520: If the target link is not detected to recover within a preset first time period after the triggering of collaborative wake-up, the target link is frozen for a preset second time period.

[0032] After sending a target beacon frame to trigger coordinated wake-up, the AP will initiate a preset evaluation window, i.e., a preset first duration. If the AP detects that the target link has resumed communication within the preset first duration, the process ends and the recovery is successful. Conversely, if the target link is not detected to have resumed communication after the preset first duration ends, it is determined that the coordinated wake-up has failed to restore the target link, and a further IDLE (idle state) freeze needs to be initiated.

[0033] IDLE freezing refers to a control mechanism applied to the AP's own scheduler: for a preset second duration, the target link is logically placed in an idle state for the AP. During this period, the AP's central scheduler will stop allocating any air interface resources to the target link for data transmission and can selectively ignore non-data management frames (such as certain probe requests) received on the target link, thereby immediately preventing the waste of air interface resources caused by continuously scheduling data to abnormal links.

[0034] Both the preset first duration and the preset second duration can be set according to actual needs, and there is no limitation on them here. For example, the preset first duration is 100 milliseconds and the preset second duration is 2 seconds: After sending the target beacon frame, the AP starts timing and continuously listens to the target link for 100 milliseconds; if no valid signal indicating link recovery is received within 100 milliseconds, the wake-up is determined to have failed, and then the target link is put into IDLE freeze for 2 seconds; during these 2 seconds, the AP will not schedule any downlink data on the target link.

[0035] In some possible embodiments, the determination method for not detecting target link recovery can be as follows: if no valid data frame is received from the STA on the target link within a preset first time period, it is determined that the target link recovery has not been detected. Specifically, the AP uses whether a data frame carrying valid service or signaling is received from the woken-up STA on the target link as the criterion for determining whether the target link has recovered. This method is direct and easy to implement.

[0036] Step S530: When a data frame of the target link is received during the freezing period of the target link, the scheduling of the target link is restarted to restore the normal operation of the target link.

[0037] While the target link is in an IDLE state, the AP does not completely disable radio frequency monitoring of that link. If, at any time during the IDLE period, the AP receives a data frame from the STA on that target link, it immediately triggers a restart scheduling operation. Restart scheduling means that the AP immediately lifts the IDLE state on the target link, reinstates it into the normal air interface resource scheduling queue, and restores its full functionality as an available service link. This is a tentative soft recovery mechanism: after the STA is woken up, it may attempt to send data again on the previously abnormal link due to user operations, upper-layer application retransmissions, or other reasons; once a signal that the link has regained communication capability is detected, service is immediately restored, thereby minimizing recovery latency.

[0038] For example, 500 milliseconds after initiating a 2-second freeze on an abnormal 5GHz link, the AP receives a TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) acknowledgment data frame from a mobile phone on that 5GHz link. The AP immediately responds: the freeze on the 5GHz link is lifted, the scheduler begins to allocate resources to it normally, and the 5GHz link quickly resumes normal operation without the user noticing, effectively improving the user experience.

[0039] In this embodiment of the invention, the method achieves proactive collaborative wake-up across links by sending target beacon frames that set the DTIM field of all links, creating a prerequisite for the recovery of abnormal links. After a failed wake-up, an IDLE freezing mechanism is introduced to periodically isolate the abnormal link, immediately stopping invalid data scheduling and preventing waste of air interface resources at the source. During the freezing period, a listening window is set, and scheduling is restarted as soon as a data frame is received, achieving a lightweight and fast tentative soft recovery. Compared to existing technologies, this method decentralizes the recovery action and refines it to link-layer state management, quickly and automatically repairing abnormal links without the user's noticeable awareness, restoring their throughput capacity, and ensuring the stability of MLO aggregation performance.

[0040] In some possible embodiments, detecting an anomaly in the target link can be achieved by: acquiring the link status of each link in real time after multiple links are established; and determining that the target link has an anomaly when the link status of the target link meets preset conditions. These preset conditions include: the amount of cached data on the target link reaching a preset first threshold; or, the load on the target link reaching a preset second threshold, and its data transmission success rate being zero within a preset statistical period.

[0041] Specifically, the AP maintains real-time status monitoring for each link. Link status includes metrics such as buffer queue depth, instantaneous load, and historical transmission success rate. The preset conditions for anomaly detection include two typical anomaly scenarios: Buffer overflow anomaly: When data packets destined for a STA and requiring transmission through the target link accumulate in the AP's buffer queue and reach a preset first threshold (e.g., 100% of the buffer capacity limit), it indicates that data can no longer be sent normally, and the link may be dead.

[0042] High-load zero-throughput anomaly: When the target link exhibits a very high scheduling load (e.g., attempting to send 99% of the time), but the transmission success rate remains 0 for a relatively long statistical duration (e.g., 1 second), this indicates that despite the AP's continuous scheduling attempts, no data is successfully received, representing a severe waste of air interface resources.

[0043] For example, if the AP detects that the 5GHz link to mobile phone A has accumulated more than 1,500 data packets in its downlink buffer (reaching a preset first threshold), and all sending attempts fail within 1 second, then the AP immediately determines that the 5GHz link is an abnormal target link and triggers the recovery process in step S510.

[0044] It should be noted that both the preset first threshold and the preset second threshold can be set according to actual needs, and no limitation is made here.

[0045] In some possible embodiments, the aforementioned preset second duration can be determined based on the product of the listening interval negotiated when establishing a connection with the STA and the DTIM period. Specifically, the freeze duration can be associated with Wi-Fi power-saving protocol parameters. The listening interval is the maximum interval between two wake-up listening beacons declared by the STA, and the DTIM period is a multiple of the beacon interval including the DTIM beacon.

[0046] In one possible implementation, the product of the listening interval and the DTIM period can be directly used as the freeze duration, thus linking the freeze period to the possible sleep rhythm of the STA. This provides a sufficient cooling-off period while avoiding excessive length that could negatively impact the user experience. For example, if the listening interval is 5 and the DTIM period is 3, the preset second duration can be set to 5 × 3 = 15 beacon intervals (approximately 1.5 seconds).

[0047] In another possible implementation, the aforementioned preset second duration can be determined as follows: the product of the monitoring interval and the DTIM period is used as the base duration; the base duration is dynamically adjusted based on the link health parameters of the target link to obtain the preset second duration; wherein, the link health parameters of the target link can be obtained by real-time collection of the target link after multiple links are established; the link health parameters can include at least one of the following: historical anomaly frequency, signal-to-noise ratio fluctuation amplitude, and abnormal status of adjacent links; the higher the historical anomaly frequency, and / or the greater the signal-to-noise ratio fluctuation amplitude, and / or the higher the probability of anomalies in adjacent links, the longer the preset second duration.

[0048] In practical implementation, to overcome the limitations of fixed freeze time in complex wireless environments, this embodiment maintains a lightweight link health model for each link on the AP side. This link health model collects and updates the following parameters in real time: Historical anomaly frequency: The number of times the target link has been identified as abnormal within a preset time period (e.g., 1 hour); Channel quality fluctuation: Records the standard deviation or fluctuation range of the signal-to-noise ratio within the target link over the most recent preset time period; Neighbor link infectivity: Monitor whether other links used by the same STA (i.e., adjacent links) are also in an abnormal or high-load state at the current moment.

[0049] The preset second duration can be calculated using the following formula: T freeze = base T ×(1+ α × abnormal freq + β × snr instability + γ × neighbor failure_ratio ).in, abnormal freq For normalized historical anomaly frequencies, snr instability For normalized signal-to-noise ratio instability, neighbor failure_ratio The percentage of abnormal adjacent links; α , β , γ The weighting coefficients are configurable (e.g., empirical values ​​are set to 0.3, 0.2, and 0.4 respectively).

[0050] In some possible embodiments, the step S520 above, which initiates an idle state (IDLE) freeze for a preset second duration on the target link, may include: stopping air interface resource scheduling on the target link and ignoring non-data management frames received on the target link within the preset second duration.

[0051] Specifically, stopping air interface resource scheduling means that the AP's scheduler removes the target link from the available transmission queue, preventing it from participating in any downlink transmission time slot contention and allocation, thereby completely eliminating the transmission of invalid data over the air interface on that target link. Ignoring non-data class management frames (such as certain broadcast probe requests) avoids the overhead of processing irrelevant signaling, but retains the ability to listen for data frames, creating conditions for the soft recovery in step S530.

[0052] In some possible embodiments, if soft recovery fails to be triggered after step S530, the above method further includes: when no data frame of the target link is received during the freeze of the target link, initiating a link reconfiguration process with the STA to re-establish the target link.

[0053] Specifically, if the AP fails to receive any data frames on the target link during the entire freeze period, it will proactively initiate a standard Wi-Fi 7 MLO link reconfiguration procedure, negotiating with the STA to delete and re-establish the abnormal link. This method can repair underlying link problems that soft recovery cannot resolve.

[0054] In some possible embodiments, before sending the target beacon frame to the STA, the method further includes: after multiple links are established, determining a primary link based on the load status and transmission quality of each link, the primary link being used as a channel to send the target beacon frame to the STA when the target link is abnormal, and / or being used to maintain management signaling transmission with the STA during the freeze and recovery process of the target link.

[0055] Specifically, this is an optimization preparation before the recovery process begins. In MLO, the best-performing link among multiple healthy links is selected as the primary link. Its core function is to provide a stable control plane for the entire recovery process: First, when a wake-up beacon (target beacon frame) needs to be sent, it is sent through this reliable primary link to ensure the wake-up command is reachable; second, during complex processes such as the target link being frozen or even reconfigured, the primary link serves as a backup communication channel to ensure that necessary coordination signaling (such as reconfiguration signaling) between the AP and STA can be exchanged normally, preventing a complete communication interruption due to target link anomalies. This enhances the reliability and coordination of the entire recovery scheme.

[0056] For ease of understanding, this embodiment of the invention also provides a specific implementation step of the above method, as follows: Step 1: Link Establishment and Arbitration: The STA and AP negotiate to establish multiple links. Upon successful establishment, the optimal transmission link is determined through arbitration using a scheduling algorithm based on the real-time load and transmission success rate of each link; this link becomes the primary link. If link establishment fails, the process proceeds directly to Step 4 to reconstruct the link.

[0057] Step 2, DTIM Negotiation and Active Wake-up: Following Wi-Fi 7 protocol requirements, complete DTIM time negotiation on the established links; monitor the status of each link in real time, and actively set the DTIM field of all links to actively wake up the STA when any of the following conditions are met (even if not all links are currently declared to be in low-power state by the STA): When a link enters PS (Power Saving Mode), its cached data exceeds a set threshold (e.g., 100% of the total cache capacity set when establishing a connection for that STA). The load on a certain link increases to a preset threshold (e.g., 99%), but its data transmission success rate remains at 0, with no effective data interaction.

[0058] Step 3, Link IDLE Freeze and Restart Scheduling: If the active wake-up in Step 2 fails to restore the abnormal link, an IDLE freeze operation is immediately performed on the abnormal link; the freeze duration (i.e., the preset second duration) is set to the product of the listen interval negotiated when the STA established the connection and the DTIM Period (DTIM); during the freeze period, if any valid data frame from the STA is received on the abnormal link, the scheduling of the link is immediately restarted to restore its normal operation.

[0059] Step 4, Link Re-awareness and Reactivation: If the freeze restart mechanism in Step 3 is still ineffective, the abnormal link will be re-awarenessed and reactivated between the AP and STA through the Reconfigure Link protocol, thereby completely repairing the link, restoring its transmission capacity, and improving the overall network throughput performance.

[0060] In multi-link transmission, cross-link association conflicts (Scenario 1) and multi-link random data interaction failures leading to IDLE (Scenario 2) are two typical anomalies. Both are caused by random factors such as air interface environment and system stress, resulting in loss of control over multi-link management. Therefore, this solution introduces its recovery mechanism from two aspects: cross-link status monitoring and link IDLE problem detection and repair. 1. Cross-link status monitoring.

[0061] By monitoring the association status and data interaction quality of multiple links in real time, the risk of cross-link conflicts can be identified.

[0062] 2. Solution for detecting and repairing link IDLE issues, such as... Figure 6 As shown.

[0063] 2.1 Abnormal Link Detection. Abnormal links are confirmed through the following two methods: 2.1.1 Within the first time window (i.e., the preset statistical duration), if the data transmission success rate of the link approaches 0 and the number of received packets on the link is 0 (or if it continuously receives retransmitted data packets from the other party), it is preliminarily determined that the link is abnormal. 2.1.2 Within the second time window (i.e., the preset first duration), the TIM field of the BEACON frame (i.e., the beacon frame) is set (to wake up the link using the DTIM mechanism). At the same time, the Multi-link Traffic Indication frame in the protocol is used to notify all other established links that there are cached packets on the link and attempt to wake up the link.

[0064] 2.2 If the two methods described in 2.1 confirm that this link is an abnormal link, then a freeze period will begin, which includes the following two stages: 2.2.1 Entering the link freeze period: Stop data scheduling on the abnormal link and only periodically send QoS (Quality of Service) NULL frames (the frame body is very short and has little impact on air interface overhead) to try to wake up. The freeze period time window can be the sum of the first time window and the second time window in the abnormal link listening. 2.2.2 Exit the link freeze period. After the freeze period ends, depending on whether the system supports the configuration for link repair and the amount of business data (when there is back pressure on the system data plane, it is necessary to consider the pressure situation of other links), decide whether to enter the link repair phase.

[0065] 2.3 Link repair includes the following two methods: 2.3.1 Using the Reconfigure mechanism in the protocol, attempt to reconfigure the abnormal link; specifically, using the Reconfigure frame that implements the "link start / stop" function in the protocol, first remove the abnormal link from the association information, and then send a Reconfigure frame through the surviving link to re-add the link, thus completing the abnormal repair. 2.3.2 If the above-mentioned protocol-based repair still fails and the system data plane backpressure is severe, the user can configure whether to perform link break repair—the AP sends a BTM (BSS Transition Management) frame to request the STA to switch links to achieve repair.

[0066] See Figure 7 The diagram illustrates the timing interaction of a progressive recovery process after a single link failure in a multi-link operation. It comprises four stages: In stage 1, the AP and STA establish normal dual-link communication via LINK A and LINK B. In stage 2, when LINK A communication fails, a low-power protocol is used to set the dual-link DTIM flag to attempt to wake up the STA and restore LINK A. If the restoration is successful, the system returns to normal dual-link communication; if restoration fails, it proceeds to stage 3. In stage 3, after DTIM restoration fails, a cooling-off period is initiated, air interface resource scheduling is stopped, and data frames are monitored to determine if LINK A can be restored. If the cooling-off period exceeds the window, the process jumps to stage 4. In stage 4, the AP uses a BEACON frame to carry a Multi-Link Reconfigure notification that the LINK has been re-added, triggering the STA to renegotiate. Then, an Add Link operation is performed, ultimately completing the link failure recovery and service assurance.

[0067] In summary, this invention detects and records the LINK status in extreme scenarios such as associativity, cross-association, and duplicate association, triggering LINK repair logic in case of anomalies to achieve seamless network access for users. Furthermore, in extreme scenarios such as LINK anomalies during normal communication after association or forced LINK IDLE by the STA, a series of measures are implemented to attempt repair and wake-up, thereby improving the smoothness of audio and video communication for users. Generally, with a 2×2 (2 antennas) stream configuration, the theoretical rate of 2G 20MHz for an MLO AP and MLO STA is approximately 344 Mbps, and the theoretical rate of 5G 160MHz is approximately 2.88 Gbps. If the LINK IDLE situation occurs, the repair mechanism can improve the rate by at least 344 Mbps.

[0068] Corresponding to the link anomaly recovery method described above, this embodiment of the invention also provides a link anomaly recovery device. This device is applied to an AP, where multiple links are established between the AP and STA. See also Figure 8 The diagram shows a structural schematic of a link anomaly recovery device, which includes: The STA wake-up module 801 is used to send a target beacon frame to the STA when an anomaly is detected in the target link among multiple links; wherein, the DTIM field of all links is set in the target beacon frame to trigger the coordinated wake-up of the STA; The link freezing module 802 is used to initiate a preset second-term IDLE freeze on the target link when no recovery of the target link is detected within a preset first time period after triggering collaborative wake-up; The link restart module 803 is used to restart the scheduling of the target link when a data frame of the target link is received during the freezing period of the target link, so as to restore the normal operation of the target link.

[0069] In this embodiment of the invention, the device achieves proactive collaborative wake-up across links by sending target beacon frames that set the DTIM field of all links, creating a prerequisite for the recovery of abnormal links. After a failed wake-up, an IDLE freezing mechanism is introduced to periodically isolate the abnormal link, immediately stopping invalid data scheduling and preventing waste of air interface resources at the source. During the freezing period, a listening window is set, and scheduling is restarted as soon as a data frame is received, achieving a lightweight and fast tentative soft recovery. Compared to existing technologies, this device decentralizes the recovery action and refines it to link-layer state management, quickly and automatically repairing abnormal links without the user's noticeable awareness, restoring their throughput capacity, and ensuring the stability of MLO aggregation performance.

[0070] Furthermore, the above-mentioned device also includes an anomaly detection module, which is used to: acquire the link status of each link in real time after multiple links are established; and determine that the target link has an anomaly when the link status of the target link meets preset conditions. The preset conditions include: the amount of cached data of the target link reaches a preset first threshold; or, the load of the target link reaches a preset second threshold, and its data transmission success rate within a preset statistical time is zero.

[0071] Furthermore, the above-mentioned device also includes a recovery detection module, which is used to determine that the target link recovery has not been detected when no valid data frame is received from the STA on the target link within a preset first time period.

[0072] Furthermore, the aforementioned preset second duration is determined based on the product of the listening interval negotiated when establishing a connection with the STA and the DTIM period.

[0073] Furthermore, the aforementioned link freezing module 802 is specifically used to: stop air interface resource scheduling of the target link within a preset second duration, and ignore non-data management frames received on the target link.

[0074] Furthermore, the above-mentioned device also includes a reconfiguration module, which is used to initiate a link reconfiguration process with the STA to re-establish the target link when no data frame is received during the freezing period of the target link.

[0075] Furthermore, the above-mentioned device also includes a main link determination module, which is used to: determine the main link based on the load status and transmission quality of each link after multiple links are established; the main link is used as a channel to send target beacon frames to the STA when the target link is abnormal, and / or to maintain management signaling transmission with the STA during the freeze period and recovery process of the target link.

[0076] The link anomaly recovery device provided in this embodiment has the same implementation principle and technical effect as the aforementioned link anomaly recovery method embodiment. For the sake of brevity, any parts not mentioned in the link anomaly recovery device embodiment can be referred to the corresponding content in the aforementioned link anomaly recovery method embodiment.

[0077] like Figure 9 As shown, an access point device 900 provided in this embodiment of the invention includes: a processor 901, a memory 902 and a bus. The memory 902 stores a computer program that can run on the processor 901. When the access point device 900 is running, the processor 901 and the memory 902 communicate through the bus, and the processor 901 executes the computer program to implement the above-mentioned link anomaly recovery method.

[0078] Specifically, the memory 902 and processor 901 mentioned above can be general-purpose memory and processor, without any specific limitations.

[0079] This invention also provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, which, when executed by a processor, performs the link anomaly recovery method described in the preceding method embodiments. The computer-readable storage medium includes various media capable of storing program code, such as a USB flash drive, external hard drive, read-only memory (ROM), RAM, magnetic disk, or optical disk.

[0080] In this document, the term "and / or" is merely a description of the relationship between related objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can represent three cases: A alone, A and B simultaneously, and B alone. Furthermore, the term "at least one" in this document means any combination of at least two of any one or more elements. For example, including at least one of A, B, and C can mean including any one or more elements selected from the set consisting of A, B, and C.

[0081] In all examples shown and described herein, any specific values ​​should be interpreted as merely exemplary and not as limitations; therefore, other examples of exemplary embodiments may have different values.

[0082] The flowcharts and block diagrams in the accompanying drawings illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of apparatus, methods, and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in a flowchart or block diagram may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which contains one or more executable instructions for implementing a specified logical function. It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions marked in the blocks may occur in a different order than those shown in the drawings. For example, two consecutive blocks may actually be executed substantially in parallel, and they may sometimes be executed in reverse order, depending on the functions involved. It should also be noted that each block in the block diagrams and / or flowcharts, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and / or flowcharts, may be implemented using a dedicated hardware-based system that performs the specified function or action, or using a combination of dedicated hardware and computer instructions.

[0083] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed apparatus and methods can be implemented in other ways. The apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative. For example, the division of modules is only a logical functional division, and there may be other division methods in actual implementation. Furthermore, multiple modules or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not executed. Additionally, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be through some communication interface; the indirect coupling or communication connection between apparatuses or modules may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0084] The modules described as separate components may or may not be physically separate. Similarly, the components shown as modules may or may not be physical modules; they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network modules. Some or all of the modules can be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment, depending on actual needs.

[0085] In addition, the functional modules in the various embodiments of the present invention can be integrated into one processing module, or each module can exist physically separately, or two or more modules can be integrated into one module.

[0086] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, and not to limit them; although the present invention 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 or all of the technical features; and these 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 the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for recovering from link anomalies, characterized in that, This method is applied to access points (APs), where multiple links are established between the AP and station sites (STAs); the link anomaly recovery method includes: When an anomaly is detected in a target link among the multiple links, a target beacon frame is sent to the STA; wherein, in the target beacon frame, the Delivery Traffic Indicator (DTIM) field of all the links is set to trigger a coordinated wake-up of the STA; If the target link is not detected to recover within a preset first time period after the coordinated wake-up is triggered, the target link is put into an idle state (IDLE) freeze for a preset second time period. When a data frame is received from the target link during the freeze period of the target link, the scheduling of the target link is restarted to restore the normal operation of the target link.

2. The link anomaly recovery method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The link anomaly recovery method further includes: After the multiple links are established, the link status of each link is obtained in real time; When the link status of the target link is detected to meet a preset condition, it is determined that the target link has an anomaly; wherein, the preset condition includes: the amount of cached data of the target link reaches a preset first threshold; or, the load of the target link reaches a preset second threshold, and its data transmission success rate within a preset statistical period is zero.

3. The link anomaly recovery method according to claim 1, characterized in that, After sending the target beacon frame to the STA, the link anomaly recovery method further includes: If no valid data frame is received from the STA on the target link within the preset first time period, it is determined that the target link recovery has not been detected.

4. The link anomaly recovery method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The preset second duration is determined based on the product of the listening interval negotiated when establishing a connection with the STA and the DTIM period.

5. The link anomaly recovery method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The step of initiating an idle state (IDLE) freeze for a preset second duration on the target link includes: Within the preset second time period, air interface resource scheduling for the target link is stopped, and non-data management frames received on the target link are ignored.

6. The link anomaly recovery method according to claim 1, characterized in that, After initiating a preset second-duration idle state (IDLE) freeze on the target link, the link anomaly recovery method further includes: If no data frames are received from the target link during the freeze period of the target link, a link reconfiguration procedure with the STA is initiated to re-establish the target link.

7. The link anomaly recovery method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Before sending a target beacon frame to the STA when an anomaly is detected in the target link among the multiple links, the link anomaly recovery method further includes: After the multiple links are established, a primary link is determined based on the load status and transmission quality of each link. The primary link is used as a channel to send the target beacon frame to the STA when the target link is abnormal, and / or to maintain management signaling transmission with the STA during the freeze and recovery process of the target link.

8. A link anomaly recovery device, characterized in that, Applied to an AP, where multiple links are established between the AP and STA; the link failure recovery device includes: The STA wake-up module is used to send a target beacon frame to the STA when an anomaly is detected in the target link among the multiple links; wherein, the DTIM field of all the links is set in the target beacon frame to trigger the coordinated wake-up of the STA; The link freezing module is used to initiate a preset second-term IDLE freeze on the target link when the target link is not detected to recover within a preset first time period after triggering coordinated wake-up; The link restart module is used to restart the scheduling of the target link when a data frame of the target link is received during the freezing period of the target link, so as to restore the normal operation of the target link.

9. An access point device, comprising a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program executable on the processor, characterized in that, When the processor executes the computer program, it implements the link anomaly recovery method according to any one of claims 1-7.

10. A computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program thereon, characterized in that, The computer program is executed by the processor to perform the link anomaly recovery method according to any one of claims 1-7.

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