Method and apparatus for acquiring number of terminals

Abstract

The present application discloses a method and apparatus for acquiring the number of terminals. The apparatus receives first information sent by a first AP in an area, wherein the first information comprises spatio-temporal information that a first random MAC address is used. The apparatus also receives second information sent by a second AP in the area, wherein the second information comprises spatio-temporal information that a second random MAC address is used. Therefore, the apparatus acquires the number of terminals in the area on the basis of the received first information and second information. In the present application, without relying on a fixed MAC address, the number of terminals can be accurately acquired by means of spatio-temporal information that a random MAC address is used. Thus, the privacy and security of the communication process are ensured, and the present application is suitable for a scenario in which a fixed MAC address and a random MAC address coexist, is also suitable for a scenario in which only a random MAC address exists, and has strong applicability and flexibility.

Description

Method and device for obtaining terminal quantity

[0001] This application claims priority to Chinese patent application No. 202310809715.0, filed on June 30, 2023, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Obtaining Terminal Number,” the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0002] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a method and device for obtaining the number of terminals. Background Art

[0003] With the development of communication technology, the coverage of wireless access points (APs) in various areas is increasing. Terminals located in the area can access the communication network through APs and communicate over the communication network. During the communication process, the terminal needs to use a media access control (MAC) address, which can be a fixed MAC address or a random MAC address.

[0004] Compared to fixed MAC addresses, random MAC addresses improve the privacy and security of communications, leading to their increasing use. However, since random MAC addresses used by terminals may not correspond one-to-one, determining the number of terminals in an area when using random MAC addresses has become a significant concern.

[0005] Summary of the Invention

[0006] The present application provides a method and apparatus for obtaining the number of terminals, so as to determine the number of terminals in an area when the terminals use random MAC addresses. The technical solution provided by the present application includes the following aspects.

[0007] In a first aspect, a method for obtaining the number of terminals is provided. In this method, a controller receives first information sent by a first AP and second information sent by a second AP within an area. The first information includes time and space information when a first random MAC address is used, and the second information includes time and space information when a second random MAC address is used. The controller then obtains the number of terminals within the area based on the first and second information.

[0008] Among them, the area in the present application can be a physical area, such as a shopping mall, a school and the like, which includes at least two APs, namely a first AP and a second AP. The first information sent by the first AP to the controller includes the spatiotemporal information of the use of the first random MAC address, and the first random MAC address is a random MAC address used by the terminal connected to the first AP. The second information sent by the second AP to the controller includes the spatiotemporal information of the use of the second random MAC address, and the second random MAC address is a random MAC address used by the terminal connected to the second AP. Therefore, the controller can determine which spatiotemporal information corresponds to the random MAC addresses used by the same terminal based on the spatiotemporal information of the use of different random MAC addresses in the first information and the second information, and then obtain the number of terminals in the area.

[0009] This shows that the present application does not rely on fixed MAC addresses. The spatiotemporal information of random MAC addresses used can be used to accurately obtain the number of terminals, thereby improving the privacy and security of the communication process. Moreover, whether fixed MAC addresses and random MAC addresses are used together, or only random MAC addresses are used, the method provided by the present application can be used to obtain the number of terminals, making the method provided by the present application more flexible and highly applicable.

[0010] In one possible implementation, obtaining the number of terminals in an area based on first information and second information includes: obtaining a first parameter based on the first information and the second information, the first parameter being used to indicate the number of non-repeated random MAC addresses; and obtaining the number of terminals in the area based on the first parameter. The non-repeated random MAC addresses are random MAC addresses used by different terminals, and thus the number of terminals in the area can be obtained based on the first parameter, for example, by using the first parameter as the number of terminals in the area, or by modifying the first parameter to obtain the number of terminals in the area, the modification being intended to improve the accuracy of the obtained number of terminals.

[0011] Alternatively, in one possible implementation, obtaining the number of terminals in an area based on the first information and the second information includes: obtaining a second parameter based on the first information and the second information, the second parameter being used to indicate the number of repeated random MAC addresses; obtaining a third parameter based on the first information and the second information, the third parameter being used to indicate the total number of random MAC addresses; obtaining the number of terminals in an area based on the second parameter and the third parameter, the number of terminals being the difference between the second parameter and the third parameter, or in other words, the number of terminals being the difference obtained by subtracting the second parameter from the third parameter. The total number of random MAC addresses minus the number of repeated random MAC addresses (i.e., the difference) is the number of non-repeated random MAC addresses, and thus the number of terminals in an area can be obtained based on the difference, such as using the difference as the number of terminals in an area, or correcting the difference to obtain the number of terminals in an area, wherein the correction is intended to improve the accuracy of the obtained number of terminals.

[0012] In one possible implementation, the first information further includes a fourth parameter for identifying the type of the first terminal, the second information further includes a fifth parameter for identifying the type of the second terminal, and obtaining the second parameter based on the first information and the second information includes: obtaining a sixth parameter corresponding to the group to which the first information and the second information belong based on the first information and the second information, the sixth parameter being used to indicate the number of repeated random MAC addresses within the group to which the first information and the second information belong; and obtaining the second parameter based on the sixth parameter corresponding to the group to which the first information and the second information belong. The groups to which the first information and the second information belong include terminals of the same type.

[0013] Alternatively, in another possible implementation, the first information also includes spatiotemporal information about the use of the third random MAC address and a seventh parameter for identifying the type of the third terminal, and the second information also includes spatiotemporal information about the use of the fourth random MAC address and an eighth parameter for identifying the type of the fourth terminal. Obtaining the second parameter based on the first and second information includes: obtaining a ninth parameter corresponding to the first group and a tenth parameter corresponding to the second group based on the first and second information, the ninth parameter being used to indicate the number of repeated random MAC addresses in the first group, and the tenth parameter being used to indicate the number of repeated random MAC addresses in the second group; and obtaining the second parameter based on the ninth and tenth parameters. The first group includes terminals of the same type, the second group includes terminals of the same type, and the first and second groups include terminals of different types.

[0014] The above two implementations involve clustering terminals based on their types. This clustering process yields at least one group. The information included in the same group corresponds to the random MAC addresses used by terminals of the same type, while the information included in different groups corresponds to the random MAC addresses used by terminals of different types. Subsequently, corresponding parameters (i.e., the sixth parameter, the ninth parameter, or the tenth parameter) can be obtained for each group, and the second parameter can be obtained based on the parameters corresponding to each group, thereby improving the efficiency of obtaining the second parameter.

[0015] In one possible implementation, the fourth parameter includes at least one of throughput information, service set identifier (SSID) information, designated service provider information, and frame aggregation information; and the fifth parameter includes at least one of throughput information, SSID information, designated service provider information, and frame aggregation information. The fourth and fifth parameters are parameters of the same type. For example, when the fourth parameter includes throughput information, the fifth parameter also includes throughput information, thereby ensuring consistency between the fourth and fifth parameters and, in turn, ensuring accuracy of calculations based on the fourth and fifth parameters.

[0016] In one possible implementation, the seventh parameter includes at least one of throughput information, SSID information, designated service provider information, and frame aggregation information; the eighth parameter includes at least one of throughput information, SSID information, designated service provider information, and frame aggregation information; and the seventh and eighth parameters are parameters of the same type. For the meaning of the same type, refer to the description of the fourth and fifth parameters above.

[0017] It should be understood that the above throughput information, SSID information, designated service provider information and frame aggregation information are easy to obtain, have good universality, and are suitable for indicating the type of the terminal.

[0018] In one possible implementation, obtaining a sixth parameter corresponding to the group to which the first and second information belong based on the first and second information includes: determining the group to which the first and second information belong based on the fourth and fifth parameters; and obtaining the sixth parameter corresponding to the group to which the first and second information belong based on the matching spatiotemporal information of the time and space information when the first random MAC address was used and the time and space information when the second random MAC address was used. Because the fourth and fifth parameters indicate the type of terminal, clustering can be performed based on them to determine the group to which the first and second information belong. Subsequently, the sixth parameter corresponding to the group can be used as the second parameter, or the sixth parameter can be modified to obtain the second parameter.

[0019] In one possible implementation, obtaining a ninth parameter corresponding to the first group and a tenth parameter corresponding to the second group based on the first and second information includes: determining the first and second groups based on the seventh and eighth parameters; and obtaining the ninth parameter corresponding to the first group and the tenth parameter corresponding to the second group based on matching spatiotemporal information of the time and space information when the first random MAC address was used, the time and space information when the second random MAC address was used, the time and space information when the third random MAC address was used, and the time and space information when the fourth random MAC address was used. Because the seventh and eighth parameters indicate the type of terminal, they can be used as a basis for clustering to obtain the first and second groups. Subsequently, the sum of the ninth parameter corresponding to the first group and the tenth parameter corresponding to the second group can be used as the second parameter, or the sum can be modified to obtain the second parameter.

[0020] In one possible implementation, when the used spatiotemporal information includes a time point used to identify the moment of use, the difference between the time points indicated by the time points included in the matched spatiotemporal information is greater than a time threshold. This is because the same terminal will not continuously switch between random MAC addresses within a short period of time. Therefore, two random MAC addresses are likely to be used by the same terminal only when the difference between the time points used by the terminal is greater than the time threshold. When the used spatiotemporal information includes a signal strength used to identify the location of the terminal at the time of use, the relationship between the similarity between the locations indicated by the signal strength included in the matched spatiotemporal information and the similarity threshold satisfies the requirement. The relationship between the similarity and the similarity threshold satisfies the requirement, which can mean that the similarity is greater than or equal to the similarity threshold (i.e., the terminal's position changes slightly, which is applicable to scenarios where the terminal is not prone to movement), or that the similarity is less than the similarity threshold (i.e., the terminal's position changes significantly, which is applicable to scenarios where the terminal is prone to movement). This determination can be made based on the scenario and is not limited here.

[0021] In one possible implementation, the signal strength is in vector form, and the similarity between the locations indicated by the signal strength includes the vector distance between the vector signal strengths. Accordingly, the relationship between the similarity and the similarity threshold satisfies the requirement, including the relationship between the vector distance and the distance threshold satisfies the requirement. The process of calculating the vector distance is simple and easy, and has a wide range of applications.

[0022] In one possible implementation, obtaining a third parameter based on the first information and the second information includes: using the amount of used spatiotemporal information in the first information and the second information as the third parameter; or, if the first information and the second information also include a random MAC address, determining the third parameter based on the received random MAC address; or, if the first information also includes a first quantity and the second information also includes a second quantity, determining the sum of the first quantity and the second quantity as the third parameter, where the first quantity is used to identify the amount of used spatiotemporal information in the first information and the second quantity is used to identify the amount of used spatiotemporal information in the second information. It can be seen that the controller can obtain the third parameter indicating the total number of random MAC addresses in a variety of ways, and various ways can be flexibly selected according to actual needs.

[0023] In a possible implementation, the used spatiotemporal information includes at least one of a time point and a signal strength. The time point is used to identify the moment of use, and the signal strength is used to identify the location of the terminal when used.

[0024] In one possible implementation, the first information is determined based on a first probe request frame received by a first AP from a terminal, and the time point in the spatiotemporal information at which the first random MAC address is used is determined based on the generation time of the first probe request frame; the second information is determined based on a second probe request frame received by a second AP from a terminal, and the time point in the spatiotemporal information at which the second random MAC address is used is determined based on the generation time of the second probe request frame. Since the terminal triggers the generation and transmission of the first probe request frame in real time after starting to use the first random MAC address, the generation time of the first probe request frame can reflect the time when the terminal uses the first random MAC address, and the time point determined based on the generation time of the first probe request frame can be used to identify the time when the first random MAC address is used by the terminal. The principle of the second probe request frame is similar to that of the first probe request frame, and will not be elaborated here.

[0025] In one possible implementation, the signal strength includes a first signal strength and a second signal strength, where the first signal strength is the strength of the signal received by the terminal from the third AP when the random MAC address is used, and the second signal strength is the strength of the signal received by the terminal from the fourth AP when the random MAC address is used. Since the first signal strength reflects the first distance between the terminal and the third AP when the random MAC address is used by the terminal, and the second signal strength reflects the second distance between the terminal and the fourth AP when the random MAC address is used by the terminal, and the positions of the third AP and the fourth AP are fixed, the first distance and the second distance can reflect the location of the terminal when the random MAC address is used by the terminal. Therefore, the signal strengths including the first signal strength and the second signal strength can be used to identify the location of the terminal when the random MAC address is used by the terminal.

[0026] In a second aspect, a method for obtaining the number of terminals is provided. In this method, an AP sends information to a controller, including time and space information of when random MAC addresses are used, and the information is used by the controller to obtain the number of terminals in an area.

[0027] For example, a first AP sends first information to a controller, the first information including time and space information about the use of a first random MAC address. Another example is a second AP sends second information to the controller, the second information including time and space information about the use of a second random MAC address. The first AP and the second AP are different APs within the same area.

[0028] In a possible implementation, the information sent by the AP to the controller may further include at least one of the following: a parameter indicating the type of the terminal, a random MAC address, and a quantity, where the quantity is used to identify the amount of spatiotemporal information in which the random MAC address is used.

[0029] In a third aspect, a device for obtaining the number of terminals is provided, the device including:

[0030] A receiving module, configured to receive first information sent by a first AP and second information sent by a second AP in a region, the first information including time and space information when the first random MAC address is used, and the second information including time and space information when the second random MAC address is used;

[0031] The acquisition module is used to acquire the number of terminals in the area based on the first information and the second information.

[0032] In a possible implementation, the acquisition module is configured to acquire a first parameter based on the first information and the second information, where the first parameter indicates the number of non-repeated random MAC addresses; and acquire the number of terminals in the area based on the first parameter.

[0033] In one possible implementation, the acquisition module is used to obtain a second parameter based on the first information and the second information, where the second parameter is used to indicate the number of repeated random MAC addresses; obtain a third parameter based on the first information and the second information, where the third parameter is used to indicate the total number of random MAC addresses; and obtain the number of terminals in the area based on the second parameter and the third parameter, where the number of terminals is the difference between the second parameter and the third parameter.

[0034] In one possible implementation, the first information also includes a fourth parameter for identifying the type of the first terminal, and the second information also includes a fifth parameter for identifying the type of the second terminal. The acquisition module is used to obtain a sixth parameter corresponding to the group to which the first information and the second information belong based on the first information and the second information, and the sixth parameter is used to indicate the number of repeated random MAC addresses in the group to which the first information and the second information belong; and obtain the second parameter based on the sixth parameter corresponding to the group to which the first information and the second information belong.

[0035] In one possible implementation, the first information also includes time and space information when the third random MAC address is used and a seventh parameter for identifying the type of the third terminal. The second information also includes time and space information when the fourth random MAC address is used and an eighth parameter for identifying the type of the fourth terminal. The acquisition module is used to obtain a ninth parameter corresponding to the first group and a tenth parameter corresponding to the second group based on the first information and the second information. The terminals included in the first group are of the same type, and the terminals included in the second group are of the same type. The ninth parameter is used to indicate the number of repeated random MAC addresses in the first group, and the tenth parameter is used to indicate the number of repeated random MAC addresses in the second group. The second parameter is obtained based on the ninth parameter and the tenth parameter.

[0036] In one possible implementation, the fourth parameter includes at least one of throughput information, SSID information, designated service provider information, and frame aggregation information; the fifth parameter includes at least one of throughput information, SSID information, designated service provider information, and frame aggregation information; and the fourth parameter and the fifth parameter are parameters of the same type.

[0037] In one possible implementation, the seventh parameter includes at least one of throughput information, SSID information, designated service provider information, and frame aggregation information; the eighth parameter includes at least one of throughput information, SSID information, designated service provider information, and frame aggregation information; the seventh parameter and the eighth parameter are parameters of the same type.

[0038] In one possible implementation, the acquisition module is used to determine the group to which the first information and the second information belong based on the fourth parameter and the fifth parameter; and in the spatiotemporal information when the first random MAC address is used and the spatiotemporal information when the second random MAC address is used, obtain the sixth parameter corresponding to the group to which the first information and the second information belong based on the matching spatiotemporal information.

[0039] In one possible implementation, the acquisition module is used to determine the first group and the second group based on the seventh parameter and the eighth parameter; and obtain the ninth parameter corresponding to the first group and the tenth parameter corresponding to the second group based on the matching spatiotemporal information in the spatiotemporal information when the first random MAC address is used, the spatiotemporal information when the second random MAC address is used, the spatiotemporal information when the third random MAC address is used, and the spatiotemporal information when the fourth random MAC address is used.

[0040] In one possible implementation, when the used spatiotemporal information includes a time point for identifying the moment of use, the difference between the moments indicated by the time points included in the matching spatiotemporal information is greater than a time threshold; when the used spatiotemporal information includes a signal strength for identifying the location of the terminal when used, the relationship between the similarity between the positions indicated by the signal strength included in the matching spatiotemporal information and the similarity threshold meets the requirements.

[0041] In one possible implementation, the signal strength is in vector form, the similarity between the positions indicated by the signal strength includes the vector distance between the signal strengths in vector form, and the relationship between the similarity and the similarity threshold satisfies the requirements including the relationship between the vector distance and the distance threshold satisfies the requirements.

[0042] In a possible implementation manner, the acquisition module is configured to use the amount of used spatiotemporal information in the first information and the second information as the third parameter; or

[0043] The first information and the second information further include a random MAC address, and the obtaining module is configured to determine a third parameter based on the received random MAC address; or

[0044] The first information also includes a first quantity, and the second information also includes a second quantity. The acquisition module is used to determine the sum of the first quantity and the second quantity as a third parameter. The first quantity is used to identify the amount of used spatiotemporal information in the first information, and the second quantity is used to identify the amount of used spatiotemporal information in the second information.

[0045] In a possible implementation, the used spatiotemporal information includes at least one of a time point and a signal strength. The time point is used to identify the moment of use, and the signal strength is used to identify the location of the terminal when used.

[0046] In one possible implementation, the first information is determined based on a first probe request frame received by a first AP from a terminal, and the time point in the spatiotemporal information when the first random MAC address is used is determined based on the generation moment of the first probe request frame; the second information is determined based on a second probe request frame received by a second AP from a terminal, and the time point in the spatiotemporal information when the second random MAC address is used is determined based on the generation moment of the second probe request frame.

[0047] In one possible implementation, the signal strength includes a first signal strength and a second signal strength, the first signal strength being the strength of the signal received by the terminal from the third AP when in use, and the second signal strength being the strength of the signal received by the terminal from the fourth AP when in use.

[0048] In a fourth aspect, a device for obtaining the number of terminals is provided, the device including:

[0049] The sending module is used to send information to the controller, the information including the time and space information of the random MAC address being used, and the information is used by the controller to obtain the number of terminals in the area.

[0050] In a fifth aspect, a device for obtaining the number of terminals is provided, the device including a memory and a processor; at least one computer instruction is stored in the memory, and the at least one computer instruction is loaded and executed by the processor to enable the device to implement the method for obtaining the number of terminals provided in the above aspects.

[0051] Optionally, there are one or more processors and one or more memories.

[0052] Optionally, the memory may be integrated with the processor, or the memory may be provided separately from the processor.

[0053] In the sixth aspect, a system for obtaining the number of terminals is provided, the system including a controller, a first AP and a second AP, the controller is used to execute the method for obtaining the number of terminals provided by the first aspect, the first AP is used to execute the method for obtaining the number of terminals provided by the second aspect, and the second AP is used to execute the method for obtaining the number of terminals provided by the second aspect.

[0054] In a seventh aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, in which at least one computer instruction is stored. The computer instruction is loaded and executed by a processor to enable the computer to implement the method for obtaining the number of terminals provided in the above aspects.

[0055] In an eighth aspect, a computer program or computer program product is provided, wherein the computer program or computer program product includes computer instructions, and the computer instructions are executed by a processor to enable the computer to implement the method for obtaining the number of terminals provided in the above aspects.

[0056] In a ninth aspect, a chip is provided, comprising a processor, wherein the processor is configured to call and execute instructions stored in a memory, so that a computer equipped with the chip executes the method for obtaining the number of terminals provided in the above aspects.

[0057] In the tenth aspect, another chip is provided, including: an input interface, an output interface, a processor and a memory, the input interface, the output interface, the processor and the memory are connected through an internal connection path, the processor is used to execute the code in the memory, when the code is executed, the computer equipped with the chip implements the method for obtaining the number of terminals provided in the above aspects.

[0058] It should be understood that the technical effects achieved by the technical solutions provided in the third to tenth aspects of this application and the corresponding possible implementation methods can be referred to the above description of the technical effects achieved by the technical solutions provided in the first and second aspects and the corresponding possible implementation methods, and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0059] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of an implementation environment provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0060] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of another implementation environment provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0061] FIG3 is a flowchart of a method for obtaining the number of terminals provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0062] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of obtaining the number of terminals provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0063] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of the structure of an apparatus for obtaining the number of terminals provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0064] FIG6 is a schematic structural diagram of another apparatus for obtaining the number of terminals provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0065] FIG7 is a schematic structural diagram of a device for obtaining the number of terminals provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0066] With the advancement of communication technology, many areas (or locations) have achieved full AP coverage. In such areas, regardless of the terminal's location, it can access the communication network through the AP, making it easier for users to travel, work, and live. During communication, terminals use MAC addresses, which serve as their identifiers within the communication network.

[0067] A fixed MAC address (also known as a real MAC address) is a type of MAC address. A terminal is equipped with a network card, which has a unique fixed MAC address. There is often a one-to-one correspondence between the terminal and the fixed MAC address. To determine the number of terminals in an area, all the fixed MAC addresses are obtained from the APs in that area. After performing deduplication, the number of remaining fixed MAC addresses can be used as the number of terminals in the area. However, the fixed MAC address makes it easy to index the network card, and thus the terminal user's personal information, which reduces privacy and security.

[0068] Therefore, a MAC address randomization mechanism was proposed based on the fixed MAC address. This mechanism introduces another type of MAC address, namely a random MAC address (also known as a pseudo MAC address). A random MAC address is a MAC address that is randomly generated and assigned to the terminal. The same terminal can switch between multiple random MAC addresses during communication, so the terminal and the random MAC address are often not in a one-to-one correspondence. Because it is difficult to index the network card and query the terminal user's personal information based on the random MAC address, privacy and security can be guaranteed. However, the use of random MAC addresses by terminals also increases the difficulty of obtaining the number of terminals in the area.

[0069] In related technologies, the deduplication ratio of fixed MAC addresses is obtained, random MAC addresses are deduplicated based on this ratio, and the number of terminals in the area is calculated based on the number of remaining random MAC addresses. This method still relies on fixed MAC addresses, resulting in low privacy and security issues. Furthermore, this method is only applicable in scenarios where fixed MAC addresses can be obtained and the deduplication ratio can be determined, resulting in significant limitations and poor applicability.

[0070] To address the problems in related technologies, embodiments of the present application provide a method for obtaining the number of terminals. This method can be applied in the implementation environment shown in Figure 1. As shown in Figure 1, the implementation environment includes a controller and N APs (N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2). The controller is in communication with each of the N APs. Through this communication connection, the controller can receive information sent by each AP and, based on the received information, obtain the number of terminals within the area where the N APs are located.

[0071] Exemplarily, the controller is, for example, a network cloud engine (NCE) controller. The NCE controller can support multiple types of APs, such as APs provided by different manufacturers. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the form of the controller. For example, Figure 2 shows an exemplary controller, which includes a southbound interface, a processing device, and a northbound interface. The southbound interface is used to receive information sent by the AP, the processing device is used to determine the number of terminals based on the received information, and the northbound interface is used to output the determined number of terminals. The above-mentioned southbound interface and northbound interface are exemplary illustrations, and information sent by the AP or the determined number of terminals can also be received or output through other interfaces.

[0072] The AP is connected to a terminal (not shown in Figures 1 and 2). For example, a terminal may refer to an electronic product that interacts with a user through one or more methods, such as a keyboard, touchpad, touch screen, remote control, voice interaction, or handwriting device. For example, terminals include, but are not limited to, personal computers (PCs), mobile phones, smartphones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wearable devices, pocket PCs (PPCs), and tablet computers, and are not limited here.

[0073] This embodiment of the present application provides a method for obtaining the number of terminals, which can be applied in the implementation environment shown in Figure 1 or Figure 2. For example, this method can be implemented through interaction between a controller and at least two APs included in the implementation environment shown in Figure 1 or Figure 2. As shown in Figure 3, the method provided in this embodiment of the present application includes the following steps 301 to 304.

[0074] Step 301: A first AP in an area sends first information to a controller, where the first information includes time and space information of when a first random MAC address is used.

[0075] The area may be a physical area including at least two APs, namely a first AP and a second AP. The first AP and the second AP are different APs. Step 301 first describes the first AP, and the second AP is described in detail in step 302 below.

[0076] Exemplarily, the area may be an area divided according to regional functions, including but not limited to commercial areas, office areas, learning areas, residential areas, and transportation areas. The granularity of the division of these areas is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. For example, a commercial area may be a shopping mall, a store in a shopping mall, or a commercial street including multiple shopping malls; an office area may be an office building including multiple floors or a company occupying part of a floor; a learning area may be a teaching building or a school including multiple teaching buildings; a residential area may be a residential building, a house used by a family in a residential building, or a community including multiple residential buildings; a transportation area may be a subway station, etc. Of course, the physical area may also be an area covered by a certain number of APs, or an area with a certain shape or area. The area can be determined based on experience or actual needs.

[0077] The terminals in the area can connect to the first AP to access the communication network (such as the Internet, etc.) through the connected first AP, thereby communicating based on the communication network using random MAC addresses. For the first AP, the terminals connected to the first AP each correspond to at least one type of information. The first AP can obtain at least one type of information corresponding to the terminal so as to determine and send the first information to the controller based on the obtained information. For example, the first AP can receive a first probe request frame sent by the terminal connected to itself. The first probe request frame carries the type of information corresponding to the terminal (i.e., the terminal used to send the first probe request frame). The first AP parses the received first probe request frame to obtain the type of information corresponding to the terminal connected to itself. For ease of understanding, before explaining the first information, the types of information that the first AP can obtain from the terminal are explained.

[0078] Type 1, the temporal and spatial information of random MAC addresses being used.

[0079] Among them, the random MAC address used by the terminal corresponds to the time and space information of the random MAC address being used. The time and space information is used to indicate at least one of the time characteristics and spatial characteristics corresponding to the random MAC address. In an exemplary embodiment, the time and space information of the random MAC address used includes at least one of the time point (also called a timestamp) and the signal strength, the time point is used to identify the moment of use (i.e., the time characteristic), and the signal strength is used to identify the location of the terminal when it is used (i.e., the spatial characteristic). In other words, the time point when the random MAC address is used is used to identify the moment at which the random MAC address is used by the terminal, and the signal strength when the random MAC address is used is used to identify the location of the terminal when the random MAC address is used by the terminal.

[0080] In some embodiments, since the spatiotemporal information of the use of the random MAC address can be carried in the first probe request frame, the time point can be determined based on the generation time of the first probe request frame. For example, the time point is used to identify the generation time of the first probe request frame. For another example, there is a fixed difference between the time point used to identify and the generation time of the first probe request frame. Since the terminal will trigger the generation and transmission of the first probe request frame in real time after starting to use the random MAC address, the generation time of the first probe request frame can reflect the time when the terminal uses the random MAC address, and the time point determined based on the generation time of the first probe request frame can be used to identify the time when the random MAC address is used by the terminal. In other embodiments, the terminal may also record the time when the random MAC address is used, and use the recorded time as the time point.

[0081] Exemplarily, the aforementioned signal strength includes a first signal strength and a second signal strength. The first signal strength is the strength of the signal received by the terminal from the third AP when the random MAC address is used, and the second signal strength is the strength of the signal received by the terminal from the fourth AP when the random MAC address is used. The first signal strength reflects the first distance between the terminal and the third AP when the random MAC address is used by the terminal, and the second signal strength reflects the second distance between the terminal and the fourth AP when the random MAC address is used by the terminal. Taking the first signal strength as an example, since signal loss may occur during transmission from the third AP to the terminal, and a greater first distance results in greater loss and a smaller first signal strength, reverse reasoning dictates that a smaller first signal strength corresponds to a greater first distance. Therefore, the first signal strength can reflect the first distance. The reason why the second signal strength can reflect the second distance is similar and will not be further elaborated here. Furthermore, since the positions of the third and fourth APs are fixed, the first and second distances can reflect the terminal's location when the random MAC address is used by the terminal. The signal strengths of the first and second signal strengths can be used to identify the terminal's location when the random MAC address is used by the terminal. It should be understood that the third AP and the fourth AP are APs other than the first AP and the second AP included in the area. The third AP corresponds one-to-one with the first signal strength, and the fourth AP corresponds one-to-one with the second signal strength.

[0082] In some embodiments, the third AP and the fourth AP are all APs in the at least two APs. In this embodiment, the total number of the first signal strength and the second signal strength is relatively large, so that when the random MAC address identified by the signal strength is used by the terminal, the terminal's location is more accurate. Taking an area including four APs, namely AP 1, AP 2, AP 3, and AP 4, as an example, the first AP is AP 1, the second APs are AP 2, AP 3, and AP 4, the third AP includes AP 1 and AP 2, and the fourth AP includes AP 3 and AP 4. Accordingly, the first signal strength includes the strength S1 of the signal received by the terminal from AP 1 and the strength S2 of the signal received by the terminal from AP 2. The second signal strength includes the strength S3 of the signal received by the terminal from AP 3 and the strength S4 of the signal received by the terminal from AP 4. Therefore, the signal strengths include S1, S2, S3, and S4.

[0083] In other embodiments, the third and fourth APs are partial APs of at least two APs. In such embodiments, the total number of first signal strengths and second signal strengths is relatively small, resulting in a smaller amount of signal strength data, thereby saving the overhead of applying the signal strengths (e.g., transmitting the signal strengths, performing subsequent calculations based on the signal strengths, etc.). Still taking the example of an area containing four APs, namely AP 1, AP 2, AP 3, and AP 4, the first AP is AP 1, the second APs are AP 2, AP 3, and AP 4, the third AP is AP 2, and the fourth AP is AP 4. Accordingly, the first signal strength includes the strength S2 of the signal received by the terminal from AP 2, and the second signal strength includes the strength S4 of the signal received by the terminal from AP 4. Therefore, the signal strengths include S2 and S4.

[0084] It should be understood that the time points and signal strengths described above are examples only and are not intended to limit the temporal and spatial information of the use of random MAC addresses. For example, in addition to using the signal strength to indicate the location of the terminal when the random MAC address is used by the terminal, the longitude and latitude can also be used to indicate the location of the terminal when the random MAC address is used by the terminal. In the embodiments of the present application, the temporal and spatial information of the use of random MAC addresses can be set based on experience or actual needs.

[0085] Type 2: digital fingerprint information of the terminal.

[0086] The digital fingerprint information of a terminal is used to identify the terminal type. Different terminals may have the same or different types. Exemplarily, the digital fingerprint information of a terminal includes, but is not limited to, at least one of throughput information, SSID information, vendor-specific information, and frame aggregation information. The digital fingerprint information is described below.

[0087] (1) Throughput information is a characteristic of a terminal. Throughput information is used to indicate the terminal's ability to support throughput transmission. Exemplarily, the throughput information includes, but is not limited to, at least one of high throughput (HT) capabilities information, HT operations information, very high throughput (VHT) capabilities information, VHT operations information, extremely high throughput (EHT) capabilities information, and EHT operations information.

[0088] (2) SSID information. SSID information is used to indicate the communication network that the terminal can access. The SSID includes multiple tags. For example, the SSID information may include the content of the tag (e.g., the characters included in the tag), or the content of the tag and the length of the tag.

[0089] (3) Designated service provider information: The designated service provider information is used to indicate the service provider that can provide services to the terminal.

[0090] (4) Frame aggregation information. The frame aggregation information is used to indicate the frame aggregation technology that the terminal can support. In an exemplary embodiment, the frame aggregation information includes, but is not limited to, at least one of an aggregation MAC protocol data unit (A-MPDU) and an aggregation MAC service data unit (A-MSDU).

[0091] It should be understood that the digital fingerprint information described above is only an example and is not intended to limit the digital fingerprint information of the terminal. The embodiment of the present application can update the digital fingerprint information of the terminal based on experience or actual needs.

[0092] Type 3, random MAC address, is the random MAC address used by the terminal itself, which is not described here.

[0093] The above describes the types of information that the first AP can obtain from the terminal. Exemplarily, the information obtained by the first AP from the terminal is information of the same type. For example, the first AP is connected to terminal 1 and terminal 2. If the first AP obtains two types of information, type 1 and type 2, from terminal 1, then the first AP also obtains two types of information, type 1 and type 2, from terminal 2. Moreover, for type 1 information, if the first AP obtains the time point and signal strength from terminal 1, then the first AP also obtains the time point and signal strength from terminal 2. After the first AP obtains the type of information from the terminal, the first information can be determined based on the obtained information. Since the first AP can obtain information by parsing the first probe request frame, it can be considered that the first information is determined based on the first probe request frame received by the first AP from the terminal. Exemplarily, the first information includes but is not limited to the following situations A1 to A5.

[0094] In case A1, the first information includes information of type 1. For ease of explanation, the random MAC address in case A1 is taken as the first random MAC address, and the first information includes time and space information when the first random MAC address is used.

[0095] For example, in the first information, the first random MAC address corresponds to the information [time point, signal strength].

[0096] In Case A2, based on Case A1, the first information also includes Type 2 information, and this Type 2 information indicates the same terminal type. For ease of explanation, the terminal connected to the first AP in Case A2 is referred to as the first terminal, and the first terminal's digital fingerprint information (i.e., Type 2 information) is used as the fourth parameter for identifying the first terminal's type. The fourth parameter includes at least one of throughput information, SSID information, designated service provider information, and frame aggregation information. Therefore, the first information includes the spatiotemporal information of the use of the first random MAC address, as well as the fourth parameter for identifying the first terminal's type.

[0097] For example, in the first information, the first random MAC address corresponds to information [time point, HT capability, SSID information, signal strength].

[0098] In case A3, based on case A1, the first information also includes type 2 information, and the type 2 information indicates a different terminal type. For ease of explanation, the terminal connected to the first AP in case A3 is referred to as the third terminal, and the digital fingerprint information of the third terminal (i.e., type 2 information) is used as the seventh parameter for identifying the type of the third terminal. The seventh parameter includes at least one of throughput information, SSID information, designated service provider information, and frame aggregation information. Then, the first information includes the spatiotemporal information when the first random MAC address is used, the spatiotemporal information when the third random MAC address is used, and the seventh parameter for identifying the type of the third terminal. The first random MAC address and the third random MAC address are random MAC addresses used by third terminals of different types.

[0099] For example, in the first information, the first random MAC address corresponds to the information [time point, HT capability, SSID information, signal strength], and the third random MAC address also corresponds to the information [time point, HT capability, SSID information, signal strength].

[0100] Case A4: Based on Case A1, Case A2 or Case A3, the first information further includes type 3 information.

[0101] For example, for case A1, in the first information, the first random MAC address corresponds to the information [first random MAC address, time point, signal strength], for case A2, in the first information, the first random MAC address corresponds to the information [first random MAC address, time point, HT capability, SSID information, signal strength], for case A3, in the first information, the first random MAC address corresponds to the information [first random MAC address, time point, HT capability, SSID information, signal strength], and the third random MAC address corresponds to the information [third random MAC address, time point, HT capability, SSID information, signal strength].

[0102] Case A5: Based on Case A1, Case A2 or Case A3, the first information further includes a first quantity, and the first quantity is used to identify the quantity of used spatiotemporal information in the first information.

[0103] As previously described, the random MAC addresses used by the terminals correspond one-to-one to the number of spatiotemporal messages in which the random MAC addresses are used. Therefore, the first number identifies the number of random MAC addresses used by the terminals connected to the first AP. The first AP may calculate the first number by counting the number of messages received in scenario A1, scenario A2, scenario A3, or scenario A4.

[0104] Regardless of which of Cases A1 to A5 the first information determined by the first AP falls under, the first AP may send the first information to the controller after determining the first information. It should be understood that while Cases A1 to A5 above provide examples of the first information, these examples do not limit the order in which the first AP sends the first information. The first AP may send the first information in any order. This specified order may be manually configured or negotiated between the first AP and the controller, as long as the controller is able to identify the content of the first information after receiving it.

[0105] For example, the first information includes three pieces of information, each of which is [time point, signal strength]. The first AP can send the first information by sending each piece of information sequentially. When sending each piece of information, the time point can be sent first and then the signal strength, or the signal strength can be sent first and then the time point, or the time point and signal strength can be interleaved before sending. The first AP can also send the first information by sending three time points first and then three signal strengths, or by sending three signal strengths first and then three time points.

[0106] Step 302: A second AP in the area sends second information to the controller, where the second information includes time and space information of when the second random MAC address is used.

[0107] For the terminals in the area, in addition to connecting to the first AP, they can also connect to the second AP to access the communication network through the connected second AP, thereby communicating based on the communication network using a random MAC address. The terminal connected to the first AP and the terminal connected to the second AP can be exactly the same, partially the same, or completely different, which is not limited here. In the case of being exactly the same or partially the same, the same terminal may first connect to the first AP and then switch to connecting to the second AP, or may first connect to the second AP and then switch to connecting to the first AP. For example, the reason for switching the AP to which the terminal is connected includes but is not limited to a change in the location of the terminal, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application. For example, if the terminal moves from the range covered by the first AP to the range covered by the second AP, the terminal first connects to the first AP and then switches to connecting to the second AP.

[0108] For the second AP, each terminal connected to the second AP corresponds to at least one type of information. The second AP can obtain the at least one type of information corresponding to the terminal, so as to determine and send the second information to the controller based on the obtained information. For example, the second AP can receive a second probe request frame sent by the terminal connected to itself. The second probe request frame carries at least one type of information corresponding to the terminal (i.e., the terminal used to send the second probe request frame). The second AP parses the received second probe request frame to obtain the at least one type of information corresponding to the terminal connected to itself. For ease of understanding, before explaining the second information, the types of information that the second AP can obtain from the terminal are first explained.

[0109] Type 1: temporal and spatial information of the use of a random MAC address. Exemplarily, the temporal and spatial information of the use of a random MAC address includes at least one of a time point and a signal strength. The time point may be determined based on the generation moment of the second probe request frame.

[0110] Type 2: digital fingerprint information of the terminal.

[0111] Type 3, random MAC address.

[0112] Regarding the type of information that the second AP can obtain from the terminal, reference can be made to the type of information that the first AP can obtain from the terminal as described in step 301, and no further details will be given here. In an exemplary embodiment, the information obtained by the second AP from the terminal is of the same type, and the information obtained by the first AP and the second AP from the terminal is also of the same type. After the second AP obtains the type of information from the terminal, the second information can be determined based on the obtained information. Since the second AP can obtain information by parsing the second probe request frame, it can be considered that the second information is determined based on the second probe request frame received by the second AP from the terminal. Exemplarily, the second information includes but is not limited to the following cases B1 to B5.

[0113] In case B1, the second information includes information of type 1. For ease of explanation, the random MAC address in case B1 is used as the second random MAC address, and the second information includes time and space information when the second random MAC address is used.

[0114] In case B2, based on case B1, the second information also includes type 2 information, and the type 2 information indicates the same terminal type. For ease of explanation, the terminal connected to the second AP in case B2 is referred to as the second terminal, and the digital fingerprint information of the second terminal (i.e., type 2 information) is used as the fifth parameter for identifying the type of the second terminal. The fifth parameter includes at least one of throughput information, SSID information, designated service provider information, and frame aggregation information. In addition, the fifth parameter is the same type of parameter as the fourth parameter in the above-mentioned case A2. For example, both the fourth parameter and the fifth parameter include HT capability and SSID information. Other cases will not be given further examples. Then, the second information includes the spatiotemporal information of the use of the second random MAC address, and also includes the fifth parameter for identifying the type of the second terminal.

[0115] Case B3, based on Case B1, the second information also includes information of Type 2, and the type of terminal indicated by the information of Type 2 is different. For the sake of convenience, the terminal connected to the second AP in Case B3 is regarded as the fourth terminal, and the digital fingerprint information of the fourth terminal (i.e., information of Type 2) is used as the eighth parameter for identifying the type of the fourth terminal. The eighth parameter includes at least one of throughput information, SSID information, designated service provider information, and frame aggregation information. The eighth parameter is the same type of parameter as the seventh parameter in the above Case B3. Then, the second information includes the spatiotemporal information when the second random MAC address is used, the spatiotemporal information when the fourth random MAC address is used, and the eighth parameter for identifying the type of the fourth terminal. Among them, the second random MAC address and the fourth random MAC address are random MAC addresses used by fourth terminals of different types.

[0116] Case B4: Based on Case B1, Case B2 or Case B3, the second information further includes type 3 information.

[0117] Case B5: Based on Case B1, Case B2 or Case B3, the second information further includes a second quantity, and the second quantity is used to identify the quantity of used spatiotemporal information in the second information.

[0118] As previously described, the random MAC addresses used by the terminals correspond one-to-one to the number of spatiotemporal messages in which the random MAC addresses are used. Therefore, the second number identifies the number of random MAC addresses used by the terminals connected to the second AP. The second AP may count the number of messages received in scenario B1, scenario B2, scenario B3, or scenario B4 to obtain the second number.

[0119] It should be understood that case B1 corresponds to case A1, case B2 corresponds to case A2, case B3 corresponds to case A3, case B4 corresponds to case A4, and case B5 corresponds to case A5. The case to which the first information determined by the first AP belongs should correspond to the case to which the second information determined by the second AP belongs, or in other words, the first information and the second information are of the same type. In addition, regardless of which of cases B1 to B5 the second information determined by the second AP belongs, the second AP can send the second information to the controller after determining the second information. The manner in which the second AP sends the second information can refer to the manner in which the first AP sends the first information described in step 301 above, and will not be repeated here.

[0120] Step 303: The controller receives first information sent by a first AP and second information sent by a second AP in the area.

[0121] The first information and the second information can be found in the descriptions of steps 301 and 302 above and are not described in detail here. After the first AP sends the first information to the controller and the second AP sends the second information to the controller (the order in which the first information and the second information are sent is not limited in this embodiment of the application), the controller can correspondingly receive the first information sent by the first AP and the second information sent by the second AP in the area.

[0122] Step 304: The controller obtains the number of terminals in the area based on the first information and the second information.

[0123] In an embodiment of the present application, the controller can compare the spatiotemporal information of different random MAC addresses used in the first information and the second information to determine which random MAC addresses corresponding to the spatiotemporal information of the random MAC addresses used are random MAC addresses used by the same terminal, thereby obtaining the number of terminals in the area. In an exemplary embodiment, the controller obtains the number of terminals in the area based on the first information and the second information, including but not limited to the following two methods of obtaining the number of terminals.

[0124] Acquisition method one, acquiring the number of terminals in the area based on the first information and the second information, including: acquiring a second parameter based on the first information and the second information, the second parameter being used to indicate the number of repeated random MAC addresses; acquiring a third parameter based on the first information and the second information, the third parameter being used to indicate the total number of random MAC addresses; acquiring the number of terminals in the area based on the second parameter and the third parameter.

[0125] Exemplarily, the number of terminals is the difference between the second parameter and the third parameter, or in other words, the number of terminals is the difference obtained by subtracting the second parameter from the third parameter. Alternatively, the number of terminals is the number obtained by calculating the difference according to the first calculation method, which is equivalent to correcting the difference to obtain the number of terminals, thereby improving the accuracy of the number of terminals. This application does not limit the first calculation method.

[0126] In the embodiment of the present application, since there are multiple situations for the first information and the second information, the first acquisition method is described below for the first information and the second information in different situations.

[0127] Case C1 of the first acquisition method is for the first information in case A1 and the second information in case B1.

[0128] Exemplarily, obtaining the second parameter based on the first information and the second information includes: obtaining the second parameter based on matching spatiotemporal information of the time and space when the first random MAC address is used and the time and space when the second random MAC address is used, wherein the random MAC addresses corresponding to the matching spatiotemporal information are used by the same terminal.

[0129] As previously mentioned, the spatiotemporal information regarding the use of a random MAC address includes at least one of a time point and signal strength. For example, if the spatiotemporal information includes a time point identifying the moment of use, the difference between the time points indicated by the time points in the matching spatiotemporal information is greater than a time threshold. If the spatiotemporal information includes signal strength identifying the location of the terminal at the time of use, the relationship between the similarity between the locations indicated by the signal strengths in the matching spatiotemporal information and the similarity threshold satisfies the requirement.

[0130] In some implementations, if the spatiotemporal information only includes time points, then if the difference between the moments indicated by two time points is greater than a time threshold, the two time points are considered to match and the random MAC addresses corresponding to the two time points are considered to be used by the same terminal. This is because the same terminal will not continuously switch between random MAC addresses in a short period of time. Therefore, only when the difference between the moments (indicated by the time points) when two random MAC addresses are used by the terminals is greater than the time threshold, the two random MAC addresses are likely to be used by the same terminal.

[0131] In other embodiments, if the spatiotemporal information only includes signal strength, then if the relationship between the similarity between the locations of the terminals indicated by the two signal strengths and the similarity threshold meets the requirements, then the two signal strengths are considered to match and the random MAC addresses corresponding to the two signal strengths are considered to be used by the same terminal. In the embodiment of the present application, the relationship between the similarity and the similarity threshold meets the requirements, which can mean that the similarity is greater than or equal to the similarity threshold (i.e., the similarity is sufficiently large) or that the similarity is less than the similarity threshold (i.e., the similarity is sufficiently small), which can be determined based on the scenario and is not limited here.

[0132] For example, in a scenario where the terminal is not likely to move (for example, the area is a supermarket in a shopping mall, and the terminal user will stop in front of the shelves in the supermarket, making it difficult for the terminal to move), when the similarity between the positions of the terminals (indicated by signal strength) when the two random MAC addresses are used by the terminals is large enough (that is, the positions of the terminals change very little), the two random MAC addresses may be used by the same terminal. Therefore, in this scenario, the relationship between the similarity and the similarity threshold meets the requirements, which means that the similarity is greater than or equal to the similarity threshold.

[0133] For another example, in a scenario where a terminal is prone to movement (for example, the area is a subway, and the terminal user will take the subway, making the terminal prone to movement), when the similarity between the locations of the terminals (indicated by signal strength) when two random MAC addresses are used by the terminals is sufficiently small (that is, the locations of the terminals change greatly), the two random MAC addresses may be used by the same terminal. Therefore, in this scenario, the relationship between the similarity and the similarity threshold meets the requirements, which means that the similarity is less than the similarity threshold.

[0134] In some further embodiments, if the spatiotemporal information includes time points and signal strengths, then if the difference between the moments indicated by the time points in the two spatiotemporal information is greater than a time threshold, and the relationship between the similarity between the positions of the terminals indicated by the signal strengths in the two spatiotemporal information satisfies a requirement and a similarity threshold, then the two spatiotemporal information are considered to match, and the random MAC addresses corresponding to the two spatiotemporal information are considered to be used by the same terminal. This is not further described here.

[0135] In an exemplary embodiment, the signal strength in the embodiment of the present application is in vector form, and the similarity between the locations indicated by the signal strength includes the vector distance between the signal strengths in vector form. Then, the relationship between the similarity and the similarity threshold satisfies the requirement, including the relationship between the vector distance and the distance threshold satisfies the requirement. Exemplarily, the vector distance includes but is not limited to at least one of cosine distance, Manhattan distance, Euclidean distance (also known as Euclidean distance), and covariance distance. The embodiment of the present application does not limit the vector distance.

[0136] In addition, the embodiments of the present application do not limit the method for obtaining the time threshold and similarity threshold involved in these embodiments. For example, at least one of the time threshold and the similarity threshold can be set manually based on experience, or can be obtained through machine learning, big data mining, or mathematical modeling.

[0137] According to the above description, by comparing the time-space information, it can be determined whether different time-space information matches, so that the second parameter indicating the number of repeated random MAC addresses can be obtained based on the matched time-space information.

[0138] In some embodiments, all spatiotemporal information included in each piece of information in the first information and the second information is compared without replacement, and a second parameter is determined. For example, the initial value of the second parameter is set to 0, and two spatiotemporal information are first selected from all spatiotemporal information for comparison. If the two spatiotemporal information are matching, one of the spatiotemporal information is discarded (equivalent to not replacing), and the value of the second parameter is increased by 1 (from 0 to 1). The other spatiotemporal information that is not discarded is then compared with any remaining spatiotemporal information (any spatiotemporal information in all spatiotemporal information except the two selected spatiotemporal information), and the value of the second parameter is maintained based on the comparison result (whether they match) until all spatiotemporal information are compared, thereby obtaining a second parameter indicating the number of repeated random MAC addresses.

[0139] For example, there are three matching spatiotemporal information items: [time point 1, signal strength 1], [time point 2, signal strength 2], and [time point 3, signal strength 3]. In this embodiment, [time point 1, signal strength 1] and [time point 2, signal strength 2] are compared to determine that the two spatiotemporal information items match, and thus [time point 1, signal strength 1] is discarded, and the value of the second parameter is changed from 0 to 1. Subsequently, [time point 2, signal strength 2] and [time point 3, signal strength 3] are compared to determine that the two spatiotemporal information items match, and thus [time point 2, signal strength 2] is discarded, and the value of the second parameter is changed from 1 to 2. Thus, the comparison of all spatiotemporal information items is completed, and the second parameter is obtained as 2.

[0140] In other implementations, the matching spatiotemporal information is considered a set. For a set of matching spatiotemporal information (including at least two spatiotemporal information), the number of spatiotemporal information included in the set is subtracted by one to obtain the number of repeated random MAC addresses in the set. If there is only one set, the second parameter is equal to the number of repeated random MAC addresses in the set. If there are multiple sets, the second parameter is equal to the sum of the numbers of repeated random MAC addresses in the multiple sets.

[0141] For example, there are three matching spatiotemporal information [time point 1, signal strength 1], [time point 2, signal strength 2], and [time point 3, signal strength 3]. In this implementation, the set includes three spatiotemporal information, namely [time point 1, signal strength 1], [time point 2, signal strength 2], and [time point 3, signal strength 3]. Since 3-1=2, the second parameter is 2, which is the same as the result of the previous implementation.

[0142] The above describes a method for obtaining the second parameter. The following describes a method for obtaining the third parameter, which indicates the total number of random MAC addresses. Exemplarily, obtaining the third parameter based on the first information and the second information includes: taking the number of spatiotemporal information used in the first information and the second information as the third parameter. In other words, the sum of the number of pieces of information included in the first information and the number of pieces of information included in the second information is taken as the third parameter. For example, the first information includes [time point 1, signal strength 1] (a total of 1 piece of information), and the second information includes [time point 2, signal strength 2] and [time point 3, signal strength 3] (a total of 2 pieces of information), then the third parameter is 3.

[0143] Case C2 of the first acquisition method is for the first information in case A2 and the second information in case B2.

[0144] Exemplarily, obtaining the second parameter based on the first and second information includes: obtaining a sixth parameter corresponding to the group to which the first and second information belong based on the first and second information, the sixth parameter being used to indicate the number of repeated random MAC addresses within the group to which the first and second information belong. For example, obtaining the sixth parameter corresponding to the group to which the first and second information belong based on the first and second information includes: determining the group to which the first and second information belong based on the fourth and fifth parameters; and obtaining the sixth parameter corresponding to the group to which the first and second information belong based on the matching spatiotemporal information of the time and space information when the first random MAC address was used and the time and space information when the second random MAC address was used. After obtaining the sixth parameter corresponding to the group to which the first and second information belong, the second parameter can be obtained based on the sixth parameter.

[0145] In an embodiment of the present application, for each piece of information included in the first information and each piece of information included in the second information, each piece of information can be clustered to obtain a group according to the type of terminal indicated by the parameters in each piece of information. The type of terminal indicated by the parameters in each piece of information included in the same group is the same, while the type of terminal indicated by the parameters in each piece of information included in different groups is different.

[0146] In case C2, since the type of the first terminal is the same and the type of the second terminal is also the same, the type of the first terminal identified by the fourth parameter in each piece of information included in the first information is the same as the type of the second terminal identified by the fifth parameter in each piece of information included in the second information. Therefore, after the pieces of information are clustered according to the fourth parameter and the fifth parameter, the pieces of information are in the same group (i.e., the group to which the first information and the second information belong).

[0147] After clustering to obtain the group, since each piece of information in the group includes spatiotemporal information, it is possible to determine whether different spatiotemporal information matches by comparing the spatiotemporal information, thereby being able to obtain the sixth parameter corresponding to the group based on the matched spatiotemporal information, and the sixth parameter is used to indicate the number of repeated random MAC addresses in the group. Among them, the method for obtaining the sixth parameter corresponding to the group in case C2 can refer to the method for obtaining the second parameter in case C1 above, and will not be repeated here. In addition, in case C2, the sixth parameter corresponding to the group can be used as the second parameter, or the second parameter can be obtained by calculating the sixth parameter corresponding to the group according to the second calculation method (equivalent to correcting the sixth parameter to obtain the second parameter, thereby improving the accuracy of the second parameter). The embodiment of the present application does not limit the second calculation method.

[0148] For example, the first information includes [time point 1, HT capability 1, SSID information 1, signal strength 1], and the second information includes [time point 2, HT capability 1, SSID information 1, signal strength 2] and [time point 3, HT capability 1, SSID information 1, signal strength 3]. Since the HT capability in all three pieces of information is HT capability 1 and the SSID information is all SSID information 1, these three pieces of information correspond to the same type of terminal and are clustered together in the same group. For the spatiotemporal information included in the three pieces of information in this group, the sixth parameter corresponding to the group can be determined in the manner described in case C1 above, thereby enabling the second parameter to be derived based on the sixth parameter.

[0149] Exemplarily, obtaining the third parameter based on the first information and the second information includes: using the amount of spatiotemporal information used in the first information and the second information as the third parameter. The method for obtaining the third parameter in case C2 can refer to the method for obtaining the third parameter in case C1 above, and is not limited here.

[0150] Case C3 of the first acquisition method is for the first information in case A3 and the second information in case B3.

[0151] Exemplarily, obtaining the second parameter based on the first information and the second information includes: obtaining a ninth parameter corresponding to the first group and a tenth parameter corresponding to the second group based on the first information and the second information, wherein the first group includes terminals of the same type and the second group includes terminals of the same type, the ninth parameter is used to indicate the number of repeated random MAC addresses within the first group, and the tenth parameter is used to indicate the number of repeated random MAC addresses within the second group. For example, obtaining the ninth parameter corresponding to the first group and the tenth parameter corresponding to the second group based on the first information and the second information includes: determining the first group and the second group based on the seventh parameter and the eighth parameter; then, obtaining the ninth parameter corresponding to the first group and the tenth parameter corresponding to the second group based on the matching spatiotemporal information in the spatiotemporal information of the use of the first random MAC address, the spatiotemporal information of the use of the second random MAC address, the spatiotemporal information of the use of the third random MAC address, and the spatiotemporal information of the use of the fourth random MAC address. After obtaining the ninth and tenth parameters, the second parameter can be obtained based on the ninth and tenth parameters.

[0152] As described above, in an embodiment of the present application, for each piece of information included in the first information and each piece of information included in the second information, each piece of information can be clustered to obtain a group based on the type of terminal indicated by the parameters in each piece of information. The type of terminal indicated by the parameters in each piece of information included in the same group is the same, while the type of terminal indicated by the parameters in each piece of information included in different groups is different.

[0153] In case C3, since there are different types of terminals in the third terminal and different types of terminals in the fourth terminal, the type of the third terminal identified by the seventh parameter in each piece of information included in the first information is different from the type of the fourth terminal identified by the eighth parameter in each piece of information included in the second information. Therefore, after clustering the pieces of information according to the seventh parameter and the eighth parameter, the pieces of information are located in at least two groups (i.e., the first group and the second group, the embodiment of the present application does not limit the number of the first group and the number of the second group).

[0154] After clustering to obtain the first and second groups, for the first group, since each piece of information in the first group includes spatiotemporal information, it is possible to determine whether different spatiotemporal information matches by comparing the spatiotemporal information, thereby obtaining a ninth parameter corresponding to the first group based on the matched spatiotemporal information. The ninth parameter is used to indicate the number of repeated random MAC addresses within the first group. Similarly, it is also possible to determine whether different spatiotemporal information matches by comparing the spatiotemporal information included in each piece of information in the second group. The tenth parameter is used to indicate the number of repeated random MAC addresses within the second group based on the matched spatiotemporal information. The method for obtaining the ninth parameter corresponding to the first group in case C3 and the method for obtaining the tenth parameter corresponding to the second group can both refer to the method for obtaining the second parameter in case C1 above and are not further described here. In addition, in case C3, the sum of the ninth parameter corresponding to the first group and the tenth parameter corresponding to the second group can be used as the second parameter, or the sum of the ninth parameter corresponding to the first group and the tenth parameter corresponding to the second group can be calculated according to the third calculation method to obtain the second parameter (equivalent to correcting the sum to obtain the second parameter, thereby improving the accuracy of the second parameter). The embodiment of the present application is not limited to the third calculation method.

[0155] For example, the first information includes [time point 1, HT capability 1, SSID information 1, signal strength 1] and [time point 2, HT capability 2, SSID information 2, signal strength 2], and the second information includes [time point 3, HT capability 1, SSID information 1, signal strength 3] and [time point 4, HT capability 2, SSID information 2, signal strength 4]. After clustering, the two pieces of information including HT capability 1 and SSID information 1 are in the first group, and the two pieces of information including HT capability 2 and SSID information 2 are in the second group. Subsequently, the ninth parameter corresponding to the first group and the tenth parameter corresponding to the second group can be determined in the manner described in Case C1 above, thereby obtaining the second parameter based on the ninth and tenth parameters.

[0156] Exemplarily, obtaining the third parameter based on the first information and the second information includes: using the amount of spatiotemporal information used in the first information and the second information as the third parameter. The method for obtaining the third parameter in case C3 can refer to the method for obtaining the third parameter in case C1 above, and is not further described here.

[0157] Case C4 of the first acquisition method is for the first information in case A4 and the second information in case B4.

[0158] Among them, the method of obtaining the second parameter in case C4 can refer to the method of obtaining the second parameter in the above case C1, case C2 or case C3, and will not be repeated here.

[0159] Exemplarily, obtaining the third parameter based on the first information and the second information includes determining the third parameter based on the received random MAC addresses. That is, in case C4, since the first information and the second information include random MAC addresses, the third parameter can be determined based on the number of received random MAC addresses, for example, using the number of received random MAC addresses as the third parameter.

[0160] For example, the first information includes [MAC 1, time point 1, HT capability 1, SSID information 1, signal strength 1], and the second information includes [MAC 2, time point 2, HT capability 2, SSID information 2, signal strength 2] and [MAC 3, time point 3, HT capability 3, SSID information 3, signal strength 3]. Since there are three random MAC addresses, MAC 1, MAC 2, and MAC 3, the third parameter is 3.

[0161] Case C5 of the first acquisition method is for the first information in case A5 and the second information in case B5.

[0162] Among them, the method of obtaining the second parameter in case C5 can refer to the method of obtaining the second parameter in the above case C1, case C2 or case C3, and will not be repeated here.

[0163] Exemplarily, obtaining the third parameter based on the first information and the second information includes determining the sum of the first quantity and the second quantity as the third parameter. In case C5, since the first quantity included in the first information indicates the amount of spatiotemporal information used in the first information, and the second quantity included in the second information indicates the amount of spatiotemporal information used in the second information, the sum of the first quantity and the second quantity can be determined as the third parameter.

[0164] For example, the first information includes [time point 1, HT capability 1, SSID information 1, signal strength 1] and a first quantity 1, and the second information includes [time point 2, HT capability 2, SSID information 2, signal strength 2], [time point 3, HT capability 3, SSID information 3, signal strength 3], and a second quantity 2. Therefore, the sum of the first quantity and the second quantity is used as the third parameter, and the third parameter is 3.

[0165] The above describes Cases C1 to C5 corresponding to Acquisition Method 1. With respect to Acquisition Method 1, the method for obtaining the number of terminals provided in an embodiment of the present application is illustrated with reference to FIG4 . As shown in FIG4 , there are two APs (i.e., AP 1 and AP 2) and three terminals (i.e., Terminal A, Terminal B, and Terminal C) in an area. Terminals A and B are of the same type, while Terminal C is of a different type than Terminal A.

[0166] 1. AP 1 and AP 2 each send information to the controller.

[0167] At time 1, three terminals are within the coverage of AP 1. All three terminals access the communication network through AP 1, and:

[0168] Terminal A sends frame 1 to AP 1. AP 1 sends information 1 corresponding to terminal A to the controller based on frame 1 as follows:

[0169] [MAC a1, timestamp a1, (HT a1, SSID a1), signal strength a1];

[0170] Terminal B sends frame 2 to AP 1. AP 1 sends information 2 corresponding to terminal B to the controller based on frame 2. The following information is provided:

[0171] [MAC b1, timestamp b1, (HT b1, SSID b1), signal strength b1];

[0172] Terminal C sends frame 3 to AP 1. AP 1 sends information 3 corresponding to terminal C to the controller based on frame 3 as follows:

[0173] [MAC c1, timestamp c1, (HT c1, SSID c1), signal strength c1].

[0174] At time 2, the three terminals move to the coverage of AP 2. The three terminals then switch to accessing the communication network through AP 2, and:

[0175] Terminal A sends frame 4 to AP 2. AP 2 sends information 4 corresponding to terminal A to the controller based on frame 4 as follows:

[0176] [MAC a2, timestamp a2, (HT a2, SSID a2), signal strength a2];

[0177] Terminal B sends frame 5 to AP 2. AP 2 sends information 5 corresponding to terminal B to the controller based on frame 5 as follows:

[0178] [MAC b2, timestamp b2, (HT b2, SSID b2), signal strength b2];

[0179] Terminal C sends frame 6 to AP 2. AP 2 sends information 6 corresponding to terminal C to the controller based on frame 6 as follows:

[0180] [MAC c2, timestamp c2, (HT c2, SSID c2), signal strength c2].

[0181] 2. After receiving information 1 to information 3 at time 1 (ie, first information) and information 4 to information 6 at time 2 (ie, second information), the controller performs a filtering step.

[0182] Since information 1 to information 6 include 6 random MAC addresses, namely MAC a1, MAC b1, MAC c1, MAC a2, MAC b2 and MAC c2, the controller determines L=6 (ie, the third parameter is 6).

[0183] 3. The controller performs the clustering step to improve the efficiency of obtaining the number of terminals and save the overhead required for calculation.

[0184] The controller groups information with the same (HT, SSID) into the same group, and groups information with different (HT, SSID) into different groups. As can be seen from the above description, terminals A and B are of the same type. Therefore, (HT a1, SSID a1) and (HT a2, SSID a2) indicating terminal A's type and (HT b1, SSID b1) and (HT b2, SSID b2) indicating terminal B's type are identical. Therefore, the controller groups information 1, 2, 4, and 5 into the first group. Furthermore, as can be seen from the above description, terminals A and C are of different types. Therefore, only (HT c1, SSID c1) and (HT c2, SSID c2) indicating terminal C's type are identical. Therefore, the controller groups information 3 and 6 into the second group.

[0185] Fourth, the controller initializes the constant C=0 and defines the time threshold T and similarity D (equivalent to the deduplication condition) to facilitate the execution of the deduplication step.

[0186] For the first group, information 1 and information 4 meet the deduplication condition, C = 0 + 1 = 1;

[0187] For the first group, information 2 and information 5 also meet the deduplication condition, C = 1 + 1 = 2;

[0188] Therefore, the number of repeated random MAC addresses in the first group (i.e., the ninth parameter corresponding to the first group) is 2;

[0189] For the second group, information 3 and information 6 meet the deduplication condition, C = 0 + 1 = 1;

[0190] Therefore, the number of repeated random MAC addresses in the second group (i.e., the tenth parameter corresponding to the second group) is 1;

[0191] Thus, by adding 2 corresponding to the first group and 1 corresponding to the second group, the number of repeated random MAC addresses C=3 is obtained.

[0192] 5. The controller obtains the number of terminals in the area.

[0193] The controller calculates L-C=6-3, which is equal to 3, and thus the number of terminals in the area is 3.

[0194] Method 2 for obtaining the number of terminals in the area based on the first and second information includes: obtaining a first parameter based on the first and second information, the first parameter being used to indicate the number of non-repeated random MAC addresses; and obtaining the number of terminals in the area based on the first parameter. Since the first and second information may exist in various situations, Method 2 for obtaining the number of terminals in the area is described below for each of the first and second information situations.

[0195] Case D1 of the second acquisition method is for the first information in case A1 and the second information in case B1.

[0196] Among them, since the first information and the second information include the time and space information when the random MAC is used, it is possible to determine whether different time and space information match by comparing the time and space information (the judgment method is detailed in the description of case C1 above, which will not be repeated here), thereby obtaining the first parameter for indicating the number of non-repeated random MAC addresses based on the matching time and space information.

[0197] Exemplarily, the matching spatiotemporal information is considered a set, and the set includes at least two spatiotemporal information. The number of sets is the first parameter. For example, if there are three matching spatiotemporal information pieces: [time point 1, signal strength 1], [time point 2, signal strength 2], and [time point 3, signal strength 3], in this embodiment, the set includes three spatiotemporal information pieces: [time point 1, signal strength 1], [time point 2, signal strength 2], and [time point 3, signal strength 3]. Since there is only one set, the first parameter is 1.

[0198] Case D2 of the second acquisition method is for the first information in case A2 and the second information in case B2.

[0199] In case D2, the group to which the first information and the second information belong is first obtained by clustering (the clustering process is detailed in the description of case C2), and the parameter 1 corresponding to the group to which the first information and the second information belong is determined in accordance with the method described in case D1 (used to identify the number of non-repeated random MAC addresses in the group to which the first information and the second information belong), thereby obtaining the first parameter based on the parameter 1, such as using the parameter 1 as the first parameter, or correcting the parameter 1 to obtain a first parameter with higher accuracy.

[0200] Case D3 of the second acquisition method is for the first information in case A3 and the second information in case B3.

[0201] In case D3, the first group and the second group are first obtained by clustering (the clustering process is detailed in the description of case C3), and the parameter 2 corresponding to the first group (used to identify the number of non-repeated random MAC addresses in the first group) and the parameter 3 corresponding to the second group (used to identify the number of non-repeated random MAC addresses in the second group) are determined in accordance with the method described in case D1, so as to obtain the first parameter based on parameter 2 and parameter 3, for example, the sum of parameter 2 and parameter 3 is used as the first parameter, or the sum is modified to obtain the first parameter.

[0202] For case D4 of the second acquisition method, for the first information in case A4 and the second information in case B4, as well as for the first information in case A5 and the second information in case B5, refer to the methods of obtaining the first parameter in case D1, case D2 and case D3, which will not be repeated here.

[0203] In summary, the embodiments of the present application do not rely on fixed MAC addresses. Instead, they can obtain the number of terminals by using the spatiotemporal information of random MAC addresses in use. This not only improves privacy and security, but also achieves an accuracy of over 90% for the obtained number of terminals. Furthermore, whether a fixed MAC address and a random MAC address are used together, or only a random MAC address is used, the method provided in the embodiments of the present application can be used to obtain the number of terminals, making the method provided in the embodiments of the present application more flexible and highly applicable.

[0204] The above describes a method for obtaining the number of terminals provided in an embodiment of the present application. Corresponding to this method, an embodiment of the present application also provides a device for obtaining the number of terminals. This device is applied to a controller. This device is configured to execute the steps performed by the controller in the method shown in FIG. 3 above, using the modules shown in FIG. 5 . As shown in FIG. 5 , the device for obtaining the number of terminals provided in an embodiment of the present application includes the following modules.

[0205] A receiving module 501 is configured to receive first information sent by a first AP and second information sent by a second AP in a region, wherein the first information includes time and space information when the first random MAC address is used, and the second information includes time and space information when the second random MAC address is used;

[0206] The acquisition module 502 is configured to acquire the number of terminals in the area based on the first information and the second information.

[0207] In a possible implementation, the acquisition module 502 is configured to acquire a first parameter based on the first information and the second information, where the first parameter indicates the number of non-repeated random MAC addresses; and acquire the number of terminals in the area based on the first parameter.

[0208] In one possible implementation, the acquisition module 502 is used to obtain a second parameter based on the first information and the second information, where the second parameter is used to indicate the number of repeated random MAC addresses; obtain a third parameter based on the first information and the second information, where the third parameter is used to indicate the total number of random MAC addresses; and obtain the number of terminals in the area based on the second parameter and the third parameter, where the number of terminals is the difference between the second parameter and the third parameter.

[0209] In one possible implementation, the first information also includes a fourth parameter for identifying the type of the first terminal, and the second information also includes a fifth parameter for identifying the type of the second terminal. The acquisition module 502 is used to obtain a sixth parameter corresponding to the group to which the first information and the second information belong based on the first information and the second information, and the sixth parameter is used to indicate the number of repeated random MAC addresses in the group to which the first information and the second information belong; and obtain the second parameter based on the sixth parameter corresponding to the group to which the first information and the second information belong.

[0210] In one possible implementation, the first information also includes time and space information when the third random MAC address is used and a seventh parameter for identifying the type of the third terminal. The second information also includes time and space information when the fourth random MAC address is used and an eighth parameter for identifying the type of the fourth terminal. The acquisition module 502 is used to obtain a ninth parameter corresponding to the first group and a tenth parameter corresponding to the second group based on the first information and the second information. The terminals included in the first group are of the same type, and the terminals included in the second group are of the same type. The ninth parameter is used to indicate the number of repeated random MAC addresses in the first group, and the tenth parameter is used to indicate the number of repeated random MAC addresses in the second group. The second parameter is obtained based on the ninth parameter and the tenth parameter.

[0211] In one possible implementation, the fourth parameter includes at least one of throughput information, SSID information, designated service provider information, and frame aggregation information; the fifth parameter includes at least one of throughput information, SSID information, designated service provider information, and frame aggregation information; and the fourth parameter and the fifth parameter are parameters of the same type.

[0212] In one possible implementation, the seventh parameter includes at least one of throughput information, SSID information, designated service provider information, and frame aggregation information; the eighth parameter includes at least one of throughput information, SSID information, designated service provider information, and frame aggregation information; the seventh parameter and the eighth parameter are parameters of the same type.

[0213] In one possible implementation, the acquisition module 502 is used to determine the group to which the first information and the second information belong based on the fourth parameter and the fifth parameter; and in the spatiotemporal information when the first random MAC address is used and the spatiotemporal information when the second random MAC address is used, obtain the sixth parameter corresponding to the group to which the first information and the second information belong based on the matching spatiotemporal information.

[0214] In one possible implementation, the acquisition module 502 is used to determine the first group and the second group based on the seventh parameter and the eighth parameter; and obtain the ninth parameter corresponding to the first group and the tenth parameter corresponding to the second group based on the matching spatiotemporal information in the spatiotemporal information when the first random MAC address is used, the spatiotemporal information when the second random MAC address is used, the spatiotemporal information when the third random MAC address is used, and the spatiotemporal information when the fourth random MAC address is used.

[0215] In one possible implementation, when the used spatiotemporal information includes a time point for identifying the moment of use, the difference between the moments indicated by the time points included in the matching spatiotemporal information is greater than a time threshold; when the used spatiotemporal information includes a signal strength for identifying the location of the terminal when used, the relationship between the similarity between the positions indicated by the signal strength included in the matching spatiotemporal information and the similarity threshold meets the requirements.

[0216] In one possible implementation, the signal strength is in vector form, the similarity between the positions indicated by the signal strength includes the vector distance between the signal strengths in vector form, and the relationship between the similarity and the similarity threshold satisfies the requirements including the relationship between the vector distance and the distance threshold satisfies the requirements.

[0217] In a possible implementation, the acquisition module 502 is configured to use the amount of used spatiotemporal information in the first information and the second information as the third parameter; or

[0218] The first information and the second information further include a random MAC address, and the obtaining module 502 is configured to determine a third parameter based on the received random MAC address; or

[0219] The first information also includes a first quantity, and the second information also includes a second quantity. The acquisition module 502 is used to determine the sum of the first quantity and the second quantity as a third parameter. The first quantity is used to identify the amount of used spatiotemporal information in the first information, and the second quantity is used to identify the amount of used spatiotemporal information in the second information.

[0220] In a possible implementation, the used spatiotemporal information includes at least one of a time point and a signal strength. The time point is used to identify the moment of use, and the signal strength is used to identify the location of the terminal when used.

[0221] In one possible implementation, the first information is determined based on a first probe request frame received by a first AP from a terminal, and the time point in the spatiotemporal information when the first random MAC address is used is determined based on the generation moment of the first probe request frame; the second information is determined based on a second probe request frame received by a second AP from a terminal, and the time point in the spatiotemporal information when the second random MAC address is used is determined based on the generation moment of the second probe request frame.

[0222] In one possible implementation, the signal strength includes a first signal strength and a second signal strength, the first signal strength being the strength of the signal received by the terminal from the third AP when in use, and the second signal strength being the strength of the signal received by the terminal from the fourth AP when in use.

[0223] In addition, embodiments of the present application also provide another apparatus for obtaining the number of terminals. This apparatus is applied to a first AP or a second AP. This apparatus is configured to execute the steps performed by the first AP or the second AP in the method shown in FIG. 3 using the modules shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6 , the apparatus for obtaining the number of terminals provided in embodiments of the present application includes the following modules.

[0224] The sending module 601 is used to send information to the controller, where the information includes time and space information when the random MAC address is used. The information is used by the controller to obtain the number of terminals in the area.

[0225] Of course, the information sent by the sending module 601 is not limited to the time and space information of the random MAC address being used, but may also include other information. Please refer to the description in the above method embodiment for details, which will not be repeated here.

[0226] It should be understood that the beneficial effects of the device shown in Figure 5 or Figure 6 when implementing its function are the same as the beneficial effects of the method shown in Figure 3. When the device shown in Figure 5 or Figure 6 implements its function, it is only illustrated by the division of the above-mentioned functional modules. In actual applications, the above-mentioned functions can be assigned to different functional modules as needed, that is, the internal structure of the device can be divided into different functional modules to complete all or part of the functions described above. In addition, the device and method embodiments provided in the above embodiments belong to the same concept. The specific implementation process is detailed in the method embodiment and will not be repeated here.

[0227] Exemplarily, an embodiment of the present application provides a device for obtaining the number of terminals, the device including a memory and a processor; at least one computer instruction is stored in the memory, and the at least one computer instruction is loaded and executed by the processor so that the device implements the steps performed by the controller or AP (first AP or second AP) in the method shown in Figure 3.

[0228] 7 , which shows a schematic structural diagram of an exemplary device 700 for obtaining the number of terminals in the present application. The device 700 for obtaining the number of terminals includes at least one processor 701 , a memory 703 , and at least one network interface 704 .

[0229] The processor 701 is, for example, a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), a network processor (NP), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a neural-network processing unit (NPU), a data processing unit (DPU), a microprocessor or one or more integrated circuits or application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) for implementing the solution of the present application, a programmable logic device (PLD), other general-purpose processors or other programmable logic devices, discrete gates, transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components or any combination thereof. The PLD is, for example, a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a generic array logic (GAL) or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc. It is worth noting that the processor may be a processor that supports the advanced reduced instruction set machine (ARM) architecture. It can implement or execute various logic blocks, modules and circuits described in conjunction with the disclosure of this application. A processor can also be a combination that implements computing functions, such as a combination of one or more microprocessors, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, and the like.

[0230] Optionally, device 700 for obtaining the number of terminals also includes a bus 702. Bus 702 is used to transmit information between the various components of device 700 for obtaining the number of terminals. Bus 702 may be a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus or an Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus, for example. Bus 702 may be classified as an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, FIG7 shows only a single line, but this does not imply that there is only one bus or only one type of bus.

[0231] The memory 703 may be, for example, a volatile memory or a nonvolatile memory, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile memories. The nonvolatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache.

[0232] By way of example and not limitation, many forms of ROM and RAM are available. For example, ROM is a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM). RAM includes, but is not limited to, static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM), and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM).

[0233] The memory 703 may also be other types of storage devices that can store static information and instructions. Alternatively, it may be other types of dynamic storage devices that can store information and instructions. Alternatively, it may be other optical disk storage, optical disk storage (including compact disc, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc, Blu-ray disc, etc.), magnetic disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited thereto. The memory 703 is, for example, independent and connected to the processor 701 via the bus 702. The memory 703 may also be integrated with the processor 701.

[0234] The network interface 704 uses any transceiver-like device to communicate with other devices or communication networks. The communication network can be Ethernet, a radio access network (RAN), or a wireless local area network (WLAN). The network interface 704 can include a wired network interface or a wireless network interface. Specifically, the network interface 704 can be an Ethernet interface, such as a fast Ethernet (FE) interface, a gigabit Ethernet (GE) interface, an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) interface, a WLAN interface, a cellular network interface, or a combination thereof. The Ethernet interface can be an optical interface, an electrical interface, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments of the present application, the network interface 704 can be used for the device 700 that obtains the number of terminals to communicate with other devices.

[0235] In a specific implementation, as some embodiments, the processor 701 may include one or more CPUs, such as CPU0 and CPU1 shown in FIG7 . Each of these processors may be a single-core processor or a multi-core processor. The processor herein may refer to one or more devices, circuits, and / or processing cores for processing data (e.g., computer program instructions).

[0236] In a specific implementation, as some embodiments, the device 700 for obtaining the number of terminals may include multiple processors, such as processor 701 and processor 705 shown in Figure 7. Each of these processors may be a single-core processor or a multi-core processor. The processor herein may refer to one or more devices, circuits, and / or processing cores for processing data (such as computer program instructions).

[0237] In some embodiments, the memory 703 is used to store program instructions 710 for executing the solution of the present application, and the processor 701 can execute the program instructions 710 stored in the memory 703. That is, the device 700 for obtaining the number of terminals can implement the method provided in the method embodiment, i.e., the method shown in Figure 3, through the processor 701 and the program instructions 710 in the memory 703. The program instructions 710 may include one or more software modules. Optionally, the processor 701 itself may also store program instructions for executing the solution of the present application.

[0238] During the specific implementation process, the device 700 for obtaining the number of terminals in the present application may correspond to a controller, a first AP or a second AP for executing the above method. The processor 701 in the device 700 for obtaining the number of terminals reads the instructions in the memory 703, so that the device 700 for obtaining the number of terminals shown in Figure 7 can execute all or part of the steps in the method embodiment.

[0239] The device 700 for obtaining the number of terminals may also correspond to the apparatus shown in FIG. 5 or FIG. 6 , and each functional module in the apparatus shown in FIG. 5 or FIG. 6 is implemented using software of the device 700 for obtaining the number of terminals. In other words, the functional modules included in the apparatus shown in FIG. 5 or FIG. 6 are generated by the processor 701 of the device 700 for obtaining the number of terminals after reading the program instructions 710 stored in the memory 703.

[0240] Among them, each step of the method shown in Figure 3 is completed by hardware integrated logic circuits or software instructions in the processor of the device 700 for obtaining the number of terminals. The steps of the method embodiments disclosed in this application can be directly embodied as being executed by a hardware processor, or can be executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor. The software module can be located in a storage medium mature in the art, such as random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, or electrically erasable programmable memory, registers, etc. The storage medium is located in the memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory and, in combination with its hardware, completes the steps of the above method embodiments. To avoid repetition, they are not described in detail here.

[0241] Exemplarily, an embodiment of the present application provides a system for obtaining the number of terminals, the system including a controller, a first AP and a second AP, the controller being used to execute the steps executed by the controller in the method shown in Figure 3, the first AP being used to execute the steps executed by the first AP in the method shown in Figure 3, and the second AP being used to execute the steps executed by the second AP in the method shown in Figure 3.

[0242] Exemplarily, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which at least one computer instruction is stored. The computer instruction is loaded and executed by a processor so that the computer implements the steps performed by the controller or AP (first AP or second AP) in the method shown in Figure 3.

[0243] In an exemplary embodiment, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program or computer program product, which includes computer instructions, and the computer instructions are executed by a processor to enable the computer to implement the steps performed by the controller or AP (first AP or second AP) in the method shown in Figure 3.

[0244] Exemplarily, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip, including a processor, which is used to call and execute instructions stored in the memory from a memory, so that a computer equipped with the chip executes the steps performed by the controller or AP (first AP or second AP) in the method shown in Figure 3.

[0245] Exemplarily, an embodiment of the present application also provides another chip, including: an input interface, an output interface, a processor and a memory, the input interface, the output interface, the processor and the memory are connected through an internal connection path, the processor is used to execute the code in the memory, when the code is executed, the computer equipped with the chip implements the steps performed by the controller or AP (first AP or second AP) in the method shown in Figure 3.

[0246] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented using software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described herein are generated. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) method. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available media. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a solid-state drive).

[0247] In this application, the terms "first," "second," and the like are used to distinguish between identical or similar items with substantially the same purpose and function. It should be understood that "first," "second," and "nth" do not have a logical or temporal dependency, nor do they limit the quantity or order of execution. It should also be understood that although the following description uses the terms "first," "second," and the like to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are simply used to distinguish one element from another.

[0248] It should also be understood that in the various embodiments of the present application, the size of the serial number of each process does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0249] As used herein, the term "at least one" means one or more, and the term "plurality" means two or more. For example, "plurality of APs" means two or more APs. Furthermore, the terms "system" and "network" are used interchangeably herein.

[0250] It should be understood that the terminology used in the description of the various examples herein is for the purpose of describing particular examples only and is not intended to be limiting. As used in the description of the various examples and the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

[0251] It should also be understood that the term "and / or" as used herein refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations of one or more of the listed items. The term "and / or" describes an association between associated objects, indicating that three possible relationships exist. For example, "A and / or B" can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, or B exists alone. Furthermore, the character " / " in this application generally indicates that the associated objects are in an "or" relationship.

[0252] It should also be understood that the terms “if” and “if” may be interpreted to mean “when” or “upon” or “in response to determining” or “in response to detecting.” Similarly, the phrases “if it is determined that ” or “if [stated condition or event] is detected” may be interpreted to mean “upon determining ” or “in response to determining ” or “upon detecting [stated condition or event]” or “in response to detecting [stated condition or event],” depending on the context.

[0253] The above description is merely an embodiment of the present application and is not intended to limit the present application. Any modifications, equivalent replacements, improvements, etc. made within the principles of the present application shall be included in the scope of protection of the present application.

Claims

1. A method for obtaining the number of terminals, characterized in that: The method comprises: receiving first information sent by a first access point AP and second information sent by a second AP in a receiving area, wherein the first information includes time and space information when a first random media access control MAC address is used, and the second information includes time and space information when a second random MAC address is used; The number of terminals in the area is acquired based on the first information and the second information.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The acquiring the number of terminals in the area based on the first information and the second information includes: Acquire a first parameter based on the first information and the second information, where the first parameter is used to indicate the number of non-repeated random MAC addresses; The number of terminals in the area is obtained based on the first parameter.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The acquiring the number of terminals in the area based on the first information and the second information includes: Acquire a second parameter based on the first information and the second information, where the second parameter is used to indicate the number of repeated random MAC addresses; Acquire a third parameter based on the first information and the second information, where the third parameter is used to indicate the total number of random MAC addresses; The number of terminals in the area is obtained based on the second parameter and the third parameter, where the number of terminals is a difference between the second parameter and the third parameter.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The first information further includes a fourth parameter for identifying a type of the first terminal, the second information further includes a fifth parameter for identifying a type of the second terminal, and acquiring the second parameter based on the first information and the second information includes: Acquire, based on the first information and the second information, a sixth parameter corresponding to the group to which the first information and the second information belong, where the sixth parameter is used to indicate the number of repeated random MAC addresses in the group to which the first information and the second information belong; The second parameter is obtained based on a sixth parameter corresponding to the group to which the first information and the second information belong.

5. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that: The first information further includes time and space information when the third random MAC address is used and a seventh parameter for identifying the type of the third terminal, the second information further includes time and space information when the fourth random MAC address is used and an eighth parameter for identifying the type of the fourth terminal, and acquiring the second parameter based on the first information and the second information includes: acquiring, based on the first information and the second information, a ninth parameter corresponding to the first group and a tenth parameter corresponding to the second group, wherein the first group includes terminals of the same type, the second group includes terminals of the same type, the ninth parameter is used to indicate the number of repeated random MAC addresses in the first group, and the tenth parameter is used to indicate the number of repeated random MAC addresses in the second group; The second parameter is obtained based on the ninth parameter and the tenth parameter.

6. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The fourth parameter includes at least one of throughput information, service set identifier SSID information, designated service provider information and frame aggregation information; The fifth parameter includes at least one of throughput information, SSID information, designated service provider information, and frame aggregation information; The fourth parameter and the fifth parameter are parameters of the same type.

7. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The seventh parameter includes at least one of throughput information, service set identifier SSID information, designated service provider information and frame aggregation information; The eighth parameter includes at least one of throughput information, SSID information, designated service provider information, and frame aggregation information; The seventh parameter and the eighth parameter are parameters of the same type.

8. The method according to claim 4 or 6, characterized in that: The acquiring, based on the first information and the second information, a sixth parameter corresponding to the group to which the first information and the second information belong, includes: Based on the fourth parameter and the fifth parameter, determining the group to which the first information and the second information belong; In the time-space information when the first random MAC address is used and the time-space information when the second random MAC address is used, a sixth parameter corresponding to the group to which the first information and the second information belong is obtained based on the matched time-space information.

9. The method according to claim 5 or 7, characterized in that: The acquiring, based on the first information and the second information, a ninth parameter corresponding to the first group and a tenth parameter corresponding to the second group includes: Determining the first group and the second group based on the seventh parameter and the eighth parameter; In the space-time information when the first random MAC address is used, the space-time information when the second random MAC address is used, the space-time information when the third random MAC address is used, and the space-time information when the fourth random MAC address is used, the ninth parameter corresponding to the first group and the tenth parameter corresponding to the second group are obtained based on the matching space-time information.

10. The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that: In a case where the used spatiotemporal information includes a time point for identifying a used moment, a difference between moments indicated by the time points included in the matched spatiotemporal information is greater than a time threshold; In the case where the used spatiotemporal information includes a signal strength for identifying the location of the terminal when used, the relationship between the similarity between the locations indicated by the signal strength included in the matched spatiotemporal information and the similarity threshold meets the requirement.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The signal strength is in vector form, the similarity between the positions indicated by the signal strength includes the vector distance between the signal strengths in vector form, and the relationship between the similarity and the similarity threshold satisfies the requirement including the relationship between the vector distance and the distance threshold satisfies the requirement.

12. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 11, characterized in that: The acquiring a third parameter based on the first information and the second information includes: Taking the amount of used spatiotemporal information in the first information and the second information as the third parameter; Alternatively, the first information and the second information further include a random MAC address, and the third parameter is determined based on the received random MAC address; Alternatively, the first information also includes a first quantity, and the second information also includes a second quantity, and the sum of the first quantity and the second quantity is determined as the third parameter, the first quantity is used to identify the amount of used spatiotemporal information in the first information, and the second quantity is used to identify the amount of used spatiotemporal information in the second information.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that: The used spatiotemporal information includes at least one of a time point and a signal strength, wherein the time point is used to identify the moment of use, and the signal strength is used to identify the location of the terminal when used.

14. The method according to any one of claims 10, 11 and 13, characterized in that: The first information is determined according to a first probe request frame received by the first AP from a terminal, and a time point in the spatiotemporal information when the first random MAC address is used is determined based on a generation time of the first probe request frame; The second information is determined according to a second probe request frame received by the second AP from the terminal, and the time point in the spatiotemporal information at which the second random MAC address is used is determined based on a generation time of the second probe request frame.

15. The method according to any one of claims 10, 11, 13 and 14, characterized in that: The signal strength includes a first signal strength and a second signal strength, the first signal strength being the strength of a signal received by the terminal from the third AP when in use, and the second signal strength being the strength of a signal received by the terminal from the fourth AP when in use.

16. A device for obtaining the number of terminals, characterized in that: The device comprises: A receiving module, configured to receive first information sent by a first access point AP and second information sent by a second AP in a region, wherein the first information includes time and space information when a first random media access control MAC address is used, and the second information includes time and space information when a second random MAC address is used; An acquisition module is used to acquire the number of terminals in the area based on the first information and the second information.

17. The device according to claim 16, characterized in that The acquisition module is used to acquire a first parameter based on the first information and the second information, where the first parameter is used to indicate the number of non-repeated random MAC addresses; and acquire the number of terminals in the area based on the first parameter.

18. The device according to claim 16, characterized in that The acquisition module is used for: Acquire a second parameter based on the first information and the second information, where the second parameter is used to indicate the number of repeated random MAC addresses; Acquire a third parameter based on the first information and the second information, where the third parameter is used to indicate the total number of random MAC addresses; The number of terminals in the area is obtained based on the second parameter and the third parameter, where the number of terminals is a difference between the second parameter and the third parameter.

19. The device according to claim 18, characterized in that The first information further includes a fourth parameter for identifying a type of the first terminal, the second information further includes a fifth parameter for identifying a type of the second terminal, and the acquisition module is used to: Acquire, based on the first information and the second information, a sixth parameter corresponding to the group to which the first information and the second information belong, where the sixth parameter is used to indicate the number of repeated random MAC addresses in the group to which the first information and the second information belong; The second parameter is obtained based on a sixth parameter corresponding to the group to which the first information and the second information belong.

20. The device according to claim 18, characterized in that The first information further includes time and space information when the third random MAC address is used and a seventh parameter for identifying the type of the third terminal, the second information further includes time and space information when the fourth random MAC address is used and an eighth parameter for identifying the type of the fourth terminal, and the acquisition module is used to: acquiring, based on the first information and the second information, a ninth parameter corresponding to the first group and a tenth parameter corresponding to the second group, wherein the first group includes terminals of the same type, the second group includes terminals of the same type, the ninth parameter is used to indicate the number of repeated random MAC addresses in the first group, and the tenth parameter is used to indicate the number of repeated random MAC addresses in the second group; The second parameter is obtained based on the ninth parameter and the tenth parameter.

21. The device according to claim 19, characterized in that The fourth parameter includes at least one of throughput information, service set identifier SSID information, designated service provider information and frame aggregation information; the fifth parameter includes at least one of throughput information, SSID information, designated service provider information and frame aggregation information; the fourth parameter and the fifth parameter are parameters of the same type.

22. The device according to claim 20, characterized in that The seventh parameter includes at least one of throughput information, service set identifier SSID information, designated service provider information and frame aggregation information; the eighth parameter includes at least one of throughput information, SSID information, designated service provider information and frame aggregation information; the seventh parameter and the eighth parameter are parameters of the same type.

23. The device according to claim 19 or 21, characterized in that The acquisition module is used for: Based on the fourth parameter and the fifth parameter, determining the group to which the first information and the second information belong; In the time-space information when the first random MAC address is used and the time-space information when the second random MAC address is used, a sixth parameter corresponding to the group to which the first information and the second information belong is obtained based on the matched time-space information.

24. The device according to claim 20 or 22, characterized in that The acquisition module is used for: Determining the first group and the second group based on the seventh parameter and the eighth parameter; In the space-time information when the first random MAC address is used, the space-time information when the second random MAC address is used, the space-time information when the third random MAC address is used, and the space-time information when the fourth random MAC address is used, the ninth parameter corresponding to the first group and the tenth parameter corresponding to the second group are obtained based on the matching space-time information.

25. The device according to claim 23 or 24, characterized in that In the case where the used space-time information includes a time point for identifying the moment of use, the difference between the moments indicated by the time points included in the matched space-time information is greater than the time threshold; in the case where the used space-time information includes a signal strength for identifying the location of the terminal when it is used, the relationship between the similarity between the positions indicated by the signal strength included in the matched space-time information and the similarity threshold meets the requirements.

26. The device according to claim 25, characterized in that The signal strength is in vector form, the similarity between the positions indicated by the signal strength includes the vector distance between the signal strengths in vector form, and the relationship between the similarity and the similarity threshold satisfies the requirement including the relationship between the vector distance and the distance threshold satisfies the requirement.

27. The device according to any one of claims 18 to 26, characterized in that The acquisition module is used to use the amount of used spatiotemporal information in the first information and the second information as the third parameter; or The first information and the second information further include a random MAC address, and the acquisition module is used to determine the third parameter based on the received random MAC address; or The first information also includes a first quantity, and the second information also includes a second quantity. The acquisition module is used to determine the sum of the first quantity and the second quantity as the third parameter, the first quantity is used to identify the amount of used spatiotemporal information in the first information, and the second quantity is used to identify the amount of used spatiotemporal information in the second information.

28. The device according to any one of claims 16 to 24, characterized in that The used spatiotemporal information includes at least one of a time point and a signal strength, wherein the time point is used to identify the moment of use, and the signal strength is used to identify the location of the terminal when used.

29. The device according to any one of claims 25, 26 and 28, characterized in that The first information is determined according to a first probe request frame received by the first AP from a terminal, and a time point in the spatiotemporal information when the first random MAC address is used is determined based on a generation time of the first probe request frame; The second information is determined according to a second probe request frame received by the second AP from the terminal, and the time point in the spatiotemporal information at which the second random MAC address is used is determined based on a generation time of the second probe request frame.

30. The device according to any one of claims 25, 26, 28 and 29, characterized in that The signal strength includes a first signal strength and a second signal strength, the first signal strength being the strength of a signal received by the terminal from the third AP when in use, and the second signal strength being the strength of a signal received by the terminal from the fourth AP when in use.

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