Wireless access system and wireless access device

Abstract

To provide a wireless access system with improved availability.SOLUTION: A wireless access system according to an embodiment includes a first device that functions as an active system by default, a second device that functions as the standby system for the first device, and a switching unit. The switching unit executes operation switching to make the second device the active system and the first device the standby system. The first device includes a first wireless communication unit. The first wireless communication unit forms a wireless zone in an active system state and accommodates wireless terminals present in the wireless zone via wireless channels. The second device includes a second wireless communication unit. The second wireless communication unit forms a wireless zone in the switched active system state and accommodates the wireless terminals that were present in the wireless zone of the first wireless communication unit via the wireless channels.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention relates to a wireless access system and a wireless access device. [Background technology]

[0002] A wireless access point (AP) is a key device for constructing a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) environment in a home or office. In recent years, products that comply with the latest IEEE 802.11be standard are being developed. In designing wireless networks, various ideas have been devised to provide stable services, and the following examples are well known.

[0003] (1) The PoE (Power of Ethernet (registered trademark)) switch, which is directly connected to the AP and handles data exchange and power supply, is made redundant. By distributing the connected PoE switches, even if one PoE switch breaks down, the AP connected to the other PoE switch can maintain wireless services. (2) In order to prevent connections from concentrating on a specific AP and causing communication conditions to become unstable, the wireless LAN controller prompts clients to change their connection destination, thereby distributing the load. (3) By arranging the coverage areas of APs so that they overlap with shifted radio channels, even if one AP fails, the other APs can maintain wireless service, including the area of ​​the failed AP. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 3576931 [Patent Document 2] Patent No. 4422089 [Patent Document 3] JP 2009-267815 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In all of the above examples, the idea is to operate multiple APs to cover each other in a place of a certain size such as an office, or in a situation where a certain number of clients is expected. Based on this idea, as long as wireless service is maintained in the area, the operating rate of each AP is not a big issue. However, when installing only one AP in a small space or using multiple APs in a high-density environment, the impact of even one AP failing can be significant. In such use cases, it is important to ensure that one AP operates stably in the first place. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a wireless access system and a wireless access device with improved availability. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] According to an embodiment, a wireless access system includes a first device that functions as an active system by default, a second device that functions as a standby system for the first device, and a switching unit. The switching unit executes operation switching to make the second device the active system and the first device the standby system. The first device includes a first wireless communication unit. The first wireless communication unit forms a wireless zone in an active system state and accommodates wireless terminals present in the wireless zone via wireless channels. The second device includes a second wireless communication unit. The second wireless communication unit forms a wireless zone in a switched active system state and accommodates wireless terminals that were present in the wireless zone of the first wireless communication unit via wireless channels. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a system diagram showing an example of a wireless access system according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the APs 201 and 202 shown in FIG. [Diagram 3]FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation state of the wireless access system illustrated in FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a trigger for operation switching. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating another example of the trigger for operation switching. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0008] FIG. 1 is a system diagram showing an example of a wireless access system according to an embodiment. In FIG. 1, a notebook computer 11, a smartphone 12, and an IoT device 13 are accommodated in a wireless zone of an access point (AP) 201 or an AP 202. The notebook computer 11, the smartphone 12, and the IoT device 13 are all wireless terminals equipped with wireless communication functions. The AP 201 and the AP 202 are connected to a PoE (Power of Ethernet (registered trademark)) switch 30, and the PoE switch 30 is connected to a router 40. The PoE switch 30 supplies power to the AP 201 and the AP 202 via a LAN (Local Area Network) cable. The router 40 is connected to an IP (Internet Protocol) network NW as a wide area network.

[0009] In the embodiment, the AP itself is duplicated, with one AP operating as an active system and the other as a standby system. When the active AP goes down, operation is switched and the standby AP starts operating as the active system. In FIG. 1, AP 201, which is a first device, functions as the active system by default. AP 202 is a second device that functions as a standby system for AP 201.

[0010] Fig. 2 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the APs 201 and 202 shown in Fig. 1. The APs 201 and 202 are computers, and include a processor 21, a wireless communication unit 22, and a flash memory 23.

[0011] The wireless communication unit 22 includes an antenna 24, and performs processing for accommodating wireless terminals present within a wireless zone, such as the notebook computer 11, the smartphone 12, and the IoT device 13. That is, the wireless communication unit 22 forms a wireless zone when its own device (access point) is in operation, and accommodates wireless terminals present in the wireless zone via wireless channels.

[0012] In addition, when switching from the standby system to the active system, the wireless communication unit 22 immediately forms a wireless zone and accommodates, via a wireless channel, wireless terminals that were present in the wireless zone of the wireless communication unit 22 of the AP that was the active system until just before.

[0013] In particular, the wireless communication unit 22 of the standby system stands by on a wireless channel of a band different from the band assigned to the wireless channel in use by the active system. In other words, the internal digital oscillator, filter, etc. are operated with settings that do not overlap with the band of the active system, and the unit waits for operation switching without transmitting radio waves.

[0014] The flash memory 23 stores a program 23a. The program 23a is read into an internal memory or the like of the processor 21 and executed, thereby implementing various functions according to the embodiment.

[0015] The processor 21 includes a switching unit 21a and a mutual communication unit 21b. The switching unit 21a executes operation switching. That is, when the AP of the working system goes down while the switching unit 21a is in the standby system, or when the switching unit 21a receives a switching control signal, the switching unit 21a switches itself to the working system. In particular, the switching unit 21a switches the standby AP to the active AP based on the state of communication between the active AP and the standby AP.

[0016] The intercommunication unit 21b realizes mutual communication with the other AP via the PoE switch 30. In other words, the intercommunication unit 21b is a first communication unit that communicates with the standby AP when it is in the active system, and is also a second communication unit that communicates with the active AP when it is in the standby system.

[0017] Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an operation state of the wireless access system shown in Fig. 1. In the embodiment, it is assumed that an IP address (192.168.1.2) is assigned to AP 201, and an IP address (192.168.1.3) is assigned to AP 202. Furthermore, a virtual address (192.168.1.1) is assigned to the active AP. This virtual address is used in common by AP 201 and AP 202. When switching the operation, the switching units 21a of AP 201 and AP 202 perform a process of transferring this virtual address from the active system to the standby system.

[0018] Figure 4 is a diagram showing an example of an operation switch trigger. AP201 and AP202 continuously check each other's health periodically, for example. If the active system (AP201) goes down due to a malfunction or thermal runaway, communication with the standby system (AP202) will be cut off. When AP202 detects this, it immediately performs an operation switch and starts operating as the active system. Once the operation switch is complete, AP202 forms a wireless zone using the standby band and wireless channel, and accommodates IoT devices in the zone.

[0019] 5 is a diagram showing another example of a trigger for operation switching. When the working AP 201 is unable to provide wireless services, the AP 201 may transmit a sign (dotted line in the figure) to the standby AP 202 to prompt the AP 202 to switch operations more directly.

[0020] As described above, in the embodiment, the access points are duplicated and each access point monitors the other's status to switch operations, thereby providing stable wireless services. The access points themselves are computers equipped with processors, and such an operation mode is possible by using redundancy software used in server operations, for example.

[0021] In this embodiment, the standby AP is on standby using a wireless channel with a different band from that of the active AP, and when switching between operations, the band can be changed to instantly form a wireless zone. For example, radar waves from a weather radar may arrive, causing radio interference or other effects on wireless channels in the same band. Even if the active AP is unable to continue wireless services due to such circumstances, the standby AP can maintain wireless services in a different band in place of the active AP.

[0022] When a specific band becomes unavailable, if the active system itself switches the frequency band, a certain amount of time lag will occur. Therefore, APs communicate with each other to notify each other of the band and wireless channel they are using, and an AP that transmits radio waves in a different frequency band is put on standby in advance as a standby system. In this way, it is possible to shorten the time that wireless service is interrupted, for example, by only taking the time required to turn on the standby system's wireless transmission amplifier.

[0023] Of course, there is no problem if the frequency band of the standby AP is the same as that of the active AP. In the case of standby on the same frequency band, it is possible to smoothly restore wireless services when they go down due to device failure rather than radio interference. The setting of whether to use a different band or the same band for the wireless channel band during standby can be flexibly determined according to the system installation environment, or either setting can be selected by external control. Alternatively, either setting can be automatically selected according to the time of day, day of the week, date, etc.

[0024] In this way, according to the embodiment, it is possible to provide stable wireless services in various environments. As an application example, by duplicating APs that require particularly stable operation, such as a parent AP in a mesh Wi-Fi (registered trademark), using the technology of the embodiment, the availability of the wireless network can be improved.

[0025] In addition, in preparation for a situation in which a specific frequency band becomes unusable due to radio interference or the like, APs that use different frequency bands can be duplicated using the technology of the embodiment, enabling rapid switching of frequency bands and shortening the time required for recovery.

[0026] From these, according to the embodiment, it is possible to provide a wireless access system and a wireless access device with improved availability. It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, instead of the PoE (Power of Ethernet (registered trademark)) switch 30, an L2 switch or the like that does not have a power supply function may be used without any problems.

[0027] Although the embodiment has been described, this embodiment is presented as an example and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention. This novel embodiment can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. This embodiment and its modifications are included in the scope and spirit of the invention, and are included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents described in the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0028] 11...notebook computer, 12...smartphone, 13...IoT device 13, 21...processor, 21a...switching unit, 21b...intercommunication unit, 22...wireless communication unit, 23...flash memory, 23a...program, 24...antenna, 30...PoE switch, 40...router, 50...database, 60...management server, 201...access point.

Claims

1. A first device that functions as an active device by default; a second device that functions as a standby system for the first device; a switching unit that executes operation switching so that the second device is an active system and the first device is a standby system, The first device is a first wireless communication unit that forms a wireless zone in the active system state and accommodates wireless terminals present in the wireless zone via wireless channels; The second device is A wireless access system comprising a second wireless communication unit that forms a wireless zone when switched to the operating system and accommodates wireless terminals that have been present in the wireless zone of the first wireless communication unit via wireless channels.

2. The first device is a first communication unit that communicates with the second device; The second device is a second communication unit that communicates with the first device; The wireless access system according to claim 1 , wherein the switching unit switches the second device to the active system based on a state of communication between the first device and the second device.

3. A router connected to a wide area network; a switch that accommodates the first device and the second device and connects them to the router; The wireless access system according to claim 2 , wherein the first communication unit and the second communication unit communicate with each other via the switch.

4. The wireless access system according to claim 1 , wherein the switching unit transfers a virtual address used in common by the first device and the second device from the active system to the standby system when switching the operation.

5. The wireless access system according to claim 1 , wherein the second wireless communication unit is on standby using a wireless channel of a band different from a band assigned to a wireless channel of the first wireless communication unit.

6. a switching unit that switches the wireless access device functioning as a standby system to an active system and switches the wireless access device functioning as the active system to a standby system; and a wireless communication unit that forms a wireless zone when switched to the active system and accommodates, via a wireless channel, a wireless terminal that was present in the wireless zone of the wireless access device that was functioning as the active system.

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