Electronic device and control method therefor

Abstract

An electronic device is disclosed. The electronic device comprises: a communication device for communicating with an access point; a memory, which stores password information for establishing a connection with the access point; and at least one processor, which controls the communication device to establish a connection with the access point by using the stored password information, wherein the at least one processor generates profile information that includes channel information about a channel currently used by the access point and the password information.

Description

Electronic device and method of controlling the same

[0001] Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to an electronic device and a control method thereof, and more particularly, to an electronic device and a control method thereof capable of establishing a faster Wi-Fi connection by providing Wi-Fi channel information together with Wi-Fi password information.

[0002] Electronic devices typically connect to access points via Wi-Fi, connecting to the network through the access point. To connect to these access points, you select the SSID corresponding to the access point you wish to connect to and enter the password for that SSID.

[0003] Meanwhile, various password sharing methods have recently been proposed to facilitate password sharing for access points. These methods allow users to connect to access points using the provided information without having to manually enter a password.

[0004] An electronic device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes a communication device for performing communication with an access point, a memory for storing password information for connection with the access point, and at least one processor for controlling the communication device to establish a connection with the access point using the stored password information.

[0005] The at least one processor generates profile information including the password information and channel information about a channel currently used by the access point.

[0006] The above profile information may include the SSID (ServiceSetIdentifier) ​​of the access point, security setting information of the access point, password information corresponding to the security setting, and channel information currently used by the access point.

[0007] The at least one processor may generate profile information including password information and channel information corresponding to each of the plurality of SSIDs when the access point uses multiple SSIDs.

[0008] The at least one processor may generate profile information including a plurality of SSIDs corresponding to each of a plurality of access points connectable to the electronic device, a plurality of password information corresponding to each of the plurality of SSIDs, and a plurality of channel information corresponding to each of the plurality of SSIDs.

[0009] The communication device includes a first communication device that performs communication with the access point, and a second communication device that performs two-way communication with another electronic device, and the at least one processor can control the second communication device so that the profile information is provided to the other electronic device.

[0010] The first communication device operates in a WIFI communication manner, and the second communication device can perform two-way communication with another electronic device in at least one of BLE, Bluetooth, and WIFI Direct.

[0011] The electronic device further includes a display, and the at least one processor can generate a digital code image including the profile information and control the display to display the generated digital code image.

[0012] Meanwhile, the electronic device of the present disclosure includes a communication device, at least one memory, and at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor obtains profile information including password information for establishing a connection with an access point and channel information of the access point, and provides the password information through a channel corresponding to the obtained channel information to establish a connection with the access point.

[0013] The at least one processor may omit the procedure of transmitting a probe request when the profile information is acquired and establish a connection with the access point by providing the password information through a channel corresponding to the acquired channel information.

[0014] The at least one processor may control the communication device to perform channel scanning to search for a channel used by the access point if response information is not received from the access point within a preset time after providing the password information using the acquired channel information.

[0015] The at least one processor may control the communication device to perform channel scanning within channels within a frequency range corresponding to the acquired channel information among a plurality of frequency ranges available in the electronic device.

[0016] The at least one processor may control the communication device to perform channel scanning within channels whose frequencies do not overlap with each other among the plurality of channels.

[0017] The at least one processor controls the communication device to transmit a probe request to a channel corresponding to the acquired channel information, and when a probe response is received from the access point in response to the probe request, the communication device can establish a connection with the access point by providing the password information.

[0018] The at least one processor may control the communication device to perform channel scanning to determine a channel used by the access point if a probe response is not received from the access point within a preset time period.

[0019] The electronic device further includes a display, and the at least one processor controls the display to display a user interface window requesting selection of one of the included multiple SSIDs when the profile information includes multiple SSIDs, and controls the communication device to establish a connection with an access point based on password information and channel information corresponding to the selected SSID.

[0020] If the profile information includes a plurality of SSIDs, the at least one processor may select an SSID to be used in the electronic device based on at least one of whether the electronic device supports a channel corresponding to the channel information and the signal strength of the channel based on channel information corresponding to each of the plurality of SSIDs included in the electronic device, and establish a connection with an access point based on password information and channel information corresponding to the selected SSID.

[0021] The communication device includes a first communication device that performs communication with the access point, and a second communication device that performs two-way communication with another electronic device, and the at least one processor can control the first communication device to obtain the profile information from the other electronic device through the second communication device and establish a connection with the access point using the profile information.

[0022] The electronic device further includes a camera, and the at least one processor can obtain the profile information using the digital code image if the image captured by the camera includes a digital code image.

[0023] Meanwhile, a method for controlling an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a step of storing password information for connection with an access point, a step of establishing a connection with the access point using the password information, a step of generating profile information including the password information and channel information for a channel currently used by the access point, and a step of providing the generated profile information to another electronic device.

[0024] Meanwhile, a method for controlling an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a step of obtaining profile information including password information for establishing a connection with an access point and channel information of the access point from another electronic device, and a step of establishing a connection with the access point by providing the password information through a channel corresponding to the obtained channel information.

[0025] The above-described and other aspects, features, and advantages of the embodiments of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the accompanying drawings:

[0026] FIG. 1 is a drawing for explaining an electronic system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0027] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the operation of providing a Wi-Fi profile according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0028] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0029] FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0030] FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating the operation of providing a Wi-Fi profile according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0031] FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating the operation of providing a Wi-Fi profile according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0032] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a user interface window that can be displayed on an electronic device of the present disclosure;

[0033] FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram for explaining a sharing operation of a Wi-Fi profile according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0034] FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a channel scanning operation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0035] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a channel scanning operation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0036] FIG. 11 is a drawing for explaining a control method of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0037] FIG. 12 is a drawing for explaining a control method of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0038] FIG. 13 is a drawing for explaining a Wi-Fi connection establishment operation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and

[0039] FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining a Wi-Fi connection establishment operation according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0040] It should be understood that the various embodiments and terms used in this document are not intended to limit the technical features described in this document to specific embodiments, but rather to include various modifications, equivalents, or substitutes of the embodiments.

[0041] In connection with the description of the drawings, similar reference numerals may be used for similar or related components.

[0042] The singular form of a noun corresponding to an item may include one or more items, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

[0043]

[0044] In this document, each of the phrases "A or B", "at least one of A and B", "at least one of A or B", "A, B, or C", "at least one of A, B, and C", and "at least one of A, B, or C" may include any one of the items listed together in that phrase, or all possible combinations thereof.

[0045] Terms such as "first," "second," or "first" or "second" may be used simply to distinguish one component from another and do not qualify the components in any other respect (e.g., importance or order).

[0046] When a component (e.g., a first component) is referred to as being “coupled” or “connected” to another component (e.g., a second component), with or without the terms “functionally” or “communicatively,” it means that the component can be connected to the other component directly (e.g., wired), wirelessly, or through a third component.

[0047] The terms “include” or “have” are intended to specify the presence of a feature, number, step, operation, component, part or combination thereof described in this document, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts or combinations thereof.

[0048] When a component is said to be “connected,” “coupled,” “supported,” or “in contact with” another component, this includes not only cases where the components are directly connected, coupled, supported, or in contact, but also cases where the components are indirectly connected, coupled, supported, or in contact through a third component.

[0049] When we say that a component is "on" another component, this includes not only cases where the component is in contact with the other component, but also cases where there is another component between the two components.

[0050] The term “and / or” includes any combination of a plurality of related described elements or any one of a plurality of related described elements.

[0051] The expression "configured to" as used in the present disclosure may be used interchangeably with, for example, "suitable for," "having the capacity to," "designed to," "adapted to," "made to," or "capable of." The term "configured to" may not necessarily mean only "specifically designed to" in terms of hardware.

[0052] Instead, in some contexts, the phrase "a device configured to" may mean that the device, in conjunction with other devices or components, is "capable of" performing A, B, and C. For example, the phrase "a processor configured (or set) to perform A, B, and C" may refer to a dedicated processor (e.g., an embedded processor) for performing those operations, or a general-purpose processor (e.g., a CPU or application processor) that can perform those operations by executing one or more software programs stored in a memory device.

[0053] In the embodiments, a 'module' or 'part' performs at least one function or operation, and may be implemented as hardware or software, or as a combination of hardware and software. Furthermore, a plurality of 'modules' or 'parts' may be integrated into at least one module and implemented as at least one processor, except for a 'module' or 'part' that needs to be implemented as a specific hardware.

[0054] According to various embodiments, operations performed by a module, program or other component may be executed sequentially, in parallel, iteratively or heuristically, or at least some operations may be executed in a different order, omitted, or other operations may be added.

[0055] Meanwhile, the various elements and areas in the drawings are schematically drawn. Therefore, the technical concept of the present invention is not limited by the relative sizes or spacing depicted in the attached drawings.

[0056] The operating principle and embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings below.

[0057] FIG. 1 is a drawing for explaining an electronic system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0058] Referring to FIG. 1, a home appliance (10) may include a communication module capable of communicating with another home appliance, a user device (2), or a server (3), a user interface for receiving user input or outputting information to a user, at least one processor for controlling the operation of the home appliance (10), and at least one memory in which a program for controlling the operation of the home appliance (10) is stored.

[0059] The home appliance (10) may be at least one of various types of home appliances. For example, the home appliance (10) may include, but is not limited to, at least one of a refrigerator (11), a dishwasher (12), an electric range (13), an electric oven (14), an air conditioner (15), a clothes manager (16), a washing machine (17), a dryer (18), and a microwave oven (19) as illustrated, and may include, for example, various types of home appliances such as a cleaning robot, a vacuum cleaner, and a television, which are not illustrated in the drawing. In addition, the home appliances mentioned above are merely examples, and in addition to the home appliances mentioned above, a device that is connected to another home appliance, a user device (2), or a server (3) and can perform the operations described below may be included in the home appliance (10) according to one embodiment.

[0060] The server (3) may include a communication module capable of communicating with another server, a home appliance (10), or a user device (2), at least one processor capable of processing data received from another server, a home appliance (10), or a user device (2), and at least one memory capable of storing a program for processing data or processed data. The server (3) may be implemented as various computing devices such as a workstation, a cloud, a data drive, or a data station. The server (3) may be implemented as one or more servers that are physically or logically separated based on function, detailed configuration of function, or data, and may transmit and receive data through communication between each server and process the transmitted and received data.

[0061] The server (3) can perform functions such as managing user accounts, registering home appliances (10) by linking them to user accounts, and managing or controlling registered home appliances (10). For example, a user can access the server (3) through a user device (2) and create a user account. The user account can be identified by an ID and password set by the user. The server (3) can register home appliances (10) to the user account according to a set procedure. For example, the server (3) can link identification information (e.g., serial number or MAC address) of the home appliance (10) to the user account, thereby registering, managing, and controlling the home appliance (10). The user device (2) can include a communication module capable of communicating with the home appliance (10) or the server (3), a user interface for receiving user input or outputting information to the user, at least one processor for controlling the operation of the user device (2), and at least one memory storing a program for controlling the operation of the user device (2).

[0062] The user device (2) may be carried by the user or placed in the user's home or office, etc. The user device (2) may include, but is not limited to, a personal computer, a terminal, a portable telephone, a smart phone, a handheld device, a wearable device, etc.

[0063] A program for controlling a home appliance (10), i.e., an application, may be stored in the memory of the user device (2). The application may be sold installed in the user device (2) or downloaded and installed from an external server.

[0064] A user can access a server (3) by executing an application installed on a user device (2), create a user account, and communicate with the server (3) based on the logged-in user account to register a home appliance (10).

[0065] For example, when the home appliance (10) is operated so that the home appliance (10) can be connected to the server (3) according to the procedure guided by the application installed on the user device (2), the home appliance (10) can be registered in the user account by registering the identification information (e.g., serial number or MAC address) of the home appliance (10) in the corresponding user account on the server (3).

[0066] A user can control a home appliance (10) using an application installed on the user device (2). For example, when a user logs into a user account using an application installed on the user device (2), a home appliance (10) registered to the user account appears, and when a control command for the home appliance (10) is input, the control command can be transmitted to the home appliance (10) via the server (3).

[0067] A network can include both wired and wireless networks. Wired networks include cable networks or telephone networks, while wireless networks can include any network that transmits and receives signals via radio waves. Wired and wireless networks can be interconnected.

[0068] A network may include a wide area network (WAN) such as the Internet, a local area network (LAN) formed around an access point (AP) (access relay), and a short-range wireless network that does not use an access point (AP). Short-range wireless networks may include, but are not limited to, Bluetooth (IEEE 802.15.1), Zigbee (IEEE 802.15.4), Wi-Fi Direct, Near Field Communication (NFC), Z-Wave, etc.

[0069] An access point (AP) can connect a home appliance (10) or a user device (2) to a wide area network (WAN) to which a server (3) is connected. The home appliance (10) or the user device (2) can be connected to the server (3) via the wide area network (WAN).

[0070] An access point (AP) can communicate with a home appliance (10) or user device (2) using wireless communication such as Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11), Bluetooth (IEEE 802.15.1), or Zigbee (IEEE 802.15.4), and can connect to a wide area network (WAN) using wired communication, but is not limited thereto.

[0071] According to various embodiments, the home appliance (10) may be directly connected to the user device (2) or server (3) without going through an access point (AP).

[0072] The home appliance (10) can be connected to a user device (2) or a server (3) via a long-distance wireless network or a short-distance wireless network.

[0073] For example, the home appliance (10) can be connected to the user device (2) via a short-range wireless network (e.g., Wi-Fi Direct).

[0074] As another example, the home appliance (10) may be connected to a user device (2) or a server (3) via a wide area network (WAN) using a long-distance wireless network (e.g., a cellular communication module).

[0075] As another example, a home appliance (10) can connect to a wide area network (WAN) using wired communication and be connected to a user device (2) or a server (3) through the wide area network (WAN).

[0076] If the home appliance (10) can access a wide area network (WAN) using wired communication, it can also function as an access point. Accordingly, the home appliance (10) can connect other home appliances to the wide area network (WAN) to which the server (3) is connected. In addition, other home appliances can connect the home appliance (10) to the wide area network (WAN) to which the server (3) is connected.

[0077] A home appliance (10) can transmit information about its operation or status to another home appliance, a user device (2), or a server (3) via a network. For example, the home appliance (10) can transmit information about its operation or status to another home appliance, a user device (2), or a server (3) when a request is received from a server (3), when a specific event occurs in the home appliance (10), or periodically or in real time. When information about its operation or status is received from the home appliance (10), the server (3) can update the information about the operation or status of the home appliance (10) that has been stored therein, and transmit the updated information about the operation and status of the home appliance (10) to the user device (2) via a network. Here, updating information can include various operations that change existing information, such as an operation of adding new information to existing information, an operation of replacing existing information with new information, etc.

[0078] The home appliance (10) can obtain various information from other home appliances, user devices (2), or servers (3), and provide the obtained information to the user. For example, the home appliance (10) can obtain information related to the functions of the home appliance (10) (e.g., cooking methods, washing instructions, etc.) and various environmental information (e.g., weather, temperature, humidity, etc.) from the server (3), and output the obtained information through a user interface.

[0079] The home appliance (10) can operate according to a control command received from another home appliance, a user device (2), or a server (3). For example, if the home appliance (10) has obtained prior approval from the user to operate according to a control command from the server (3) even without user input, the home appliance (10) can operate according to a control command received from the server (3). Here, the control command received from the server (3) may include, but is not limited to, a control command input by the user through the user device (2) or a control command based on preset conditions.

[0080] The user device (2) can transmit information about the user to the home appliance (10) or the server (3) via the communication module. For example, the user device (2) can transmit information about the user's location, the user's health status, the user's preferences, the user's schedule, etc. to the server (3). The user device (2) can transmit information about the user to the server (3) with the user's prior consent.

[0081] The home appliance (10), user device (2), or server (3) may determine a control command using technology such as artificial intelligence. For example, the server (3) may receive information regarding the operation or status of the home appliance (10) or information regarding the user of the user device (2), process the information using technology such as artificial intelligence, and transmit the processing result or control command to the home appliance (10) or user device (2) based on the processing result.

[0082] Meanwhile, since the user device (2) or home appliance (10) is connected to an access point, it has the access point's password and channel information used by the access point. Accordingly, the user device (2) or home appliance (10) described above may be a first electronic device that provides the password and / or channel information of the access point described below.

[0083] Such a first electronic device can generate profile information using known access point and channel information and provide the generated profile information to a new electronic device (100).

[0084] The new electronic device (100) can establish a connection with an access point using the provided profile information. In particular, in the present disclosure, not only password information but also channel information of the access point is provided, so the new electronic device (100) can proceed with a connection directly without performing channel scanning to find the channel of the corresponding access point. Therefore, the connection with the access point can be established more quickly. The operation of providing such profile information will be described below with reference to FIG. 2.

[0085] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an operation of providing a Wi-Fi profile according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0086] Referring to FIG. 2, the electronic system includes an access point (20), a first electronic device (100-1), and a second electronic device (100-2).

[0087] The first electronic device (100-1) may be a user device (2) or a home appliance (10) illustrated in FIG. 1 that has a history of being connected to an access point (20), or may be a device connected to an access point (20).

[0088] The second electronic device (100-2) is a device that has no history of being connected to an access point (20). In this way, in order for the second electronic device (100-2) to newly connect to the access point (20), password information used by the access point (20) is required.

[0089] Previously, a user of a second electronic device (100-2) could establish a connection with an access point (20) by finding out the password of the access point, selecting the access point through a Wi-Fi search of the second electronic device (100-2), and entering the password for the selected access point.

[0090] However, this process was quite complicated and inconvenient in that it required asking someone else for the access point password or requiring the user to remember it.

[0091] Accordingly, the first electronic device (100-1) transmits profile information having a password of an established access point to the second electronic device (100-2), i.e., through a password sharing operation, the second electronic device (100-2) can easily connect to the access point (20) using the provided profile information.

[0092] However, although this operation has the convenience of not having to enter the password every time on a new electronic device (100-2), there was a problem that it took a lot of time to connect to the access point.

[0093] Specifically, the existing sharing method only provides the SSID and password to another device, and the second electronic device (100-2) that received the password could not know the channel on which the current access point was operating.

[0094] For example, to determine the channel on which an access point operates, channel scanning must be performed, which takes approximately 4 to 5 seconds. The channel scanning operation is described later in Fig. 9.

[0095] To address this issue, the present disclosure provides channel information along with the password described above. Specifically, the first electronic device (100-1) can generate profile information including an SSID, a password (or a security setting and a password corresponding to the security setting), and channel information.

[0096] Such profile information may be identical to the profile format of the existing password sharing method, and the channel information described above may be included in the additional information in the format. Here, the channel information may be a channel number such as 1-14, 36-165, or frequency information corresponding to the channel (e.g., 2.410 GHz). Information about the operating frequency band (e.g., 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz) may also be provided along with the channel information described above. Although only 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz have been described above, the implementation is not limited thereto. If the bands supported by WiFi are changed or added in the future, they may be applied corresponding to the corresponding band / frequency / channel number.

[0097] In this way, profile information is created according to the form (format) of existing profile information, so that not only devices to which the present disclosure is applied but also devices to which the present disclosure is not applied can utilize the profile information.

[0098] That is, a device to which the present disclosure is applied can obtain a password in accordance with the existing form, secure channel information contained in the additional information, and perform the operations described above. If a device to which the present disclosure is not applied receives profile information as described in the present disclosure, it will not be able to utilize the channel information, but can instead obtain a password using the acquired profile information and perform a connection operation.

[0099] Meanwhile, although the above description illustrates and describes the direct transmission of profile information from the first electronic device (100-1) to the second electronic device (100-2), profile information may also be provided in an indirect manner. An example of such an embodiment is described later in FIG. 5.

[0100] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0101] Referring to FIG. 3, the electronic device (100) may include a communication device (110), a memory (120), and a processor (130). The electronic device (100) of FIG. 3 may operate as the first electronic device illustrated in FIG. 2, and may also operate as the second electronic device illustrated in FIG. 3.

[0102] The communication device (110) is a component that performs communication with an external device. The communication device (110) may include a Wi-Fi module. Here, the communication module may be implemented in the form of at least one hardware chip.

[0103] A communication device (110) can establish a wireless connection with an access point. Through this operation, the communication device (110) can check channel information of the access point.

[0104] And the communication device (110) can communicate with other electronic devices. For example, the communication device (110) can establish a wireless connection with other electronic devices via Wi-Fi Direct, etc.

[0105] Once such a wireless connection is established, the communication device (110) can provide profile information about the access point to other electronic devices. While the connection to the access point and the connection to other electronic devices have been described and illustrated above as being performed by a single communication device, the communication device (110) may, upon implementation, have multiple different communication modules. Such an embodiment is described below in FIG. 4.

[0106] And if the electronic device (100) operates as the second electronic device (100-2) of FIG. 2, the communication device (110) can receive profile information from another electronic device.

[0107] Here, the profile information may include the SSID (ServiceSetIdentifier) ​​of the access point, the security setting information of the access point, the password information corresponding to the security setting, and the channel information currently used by the access point.

[0108] Here, the security setting information may be a supplementary method used by the access point, such as WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy), WPA (WiFi Protected Access), WPA-PSK, EAP, 802.1x, etc. In addition, the type (format) of the password required for each security setting may be different, and the password information described above may have a format that fits the security setting. In addition, the channel information is information on the channel currently used by the access point, and may be a number or frequency value indicating a specific channel.

[0109] The memory (120) may be implemented as an internal memory such as a ROM (e.g., an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM)) or RAM included in the processor (130), or may be implemented as a separate memory from the processor (130). In this case, the memory (120) may be implemented as a memory embedded in the electronic device (100) or as a memory that can be detachably attached to the electronic device (100) depending on the purpose of data storage. For example, data for driving the electronic device (100) may be stored in a memory embedded in the electronic device (100), and data for expanding the functions of the electronic device (100) may be stored in a memory that can be detachably attached to the electronic device (100).

[0110] The memory (120) stores information about connected access points or information about access points with a connection history. Here, the information about the access point may include SSID, security method, password information, channel information, etc., as described above.

[0111] The memory (120) can store profile information generated in the process described below. The profile information may be generated and temporarily stored when sharing of the profile information is required, or may be created in advance and stored, and the pre-stored profile information may be provided to another electronic device when sharing is required.

[0112] The memory (120) may include a series of instructions necessary for driving the electronic device. Here, one of the instructions may be an instruction (or application) for an operation of the present disclosure (i.e., password sharing).

[0113] Meanwhile, in the case of memory embedded in the electronic device (100), it may be implemented as at least one of volatile memory (e.g., dynamic RAM (DRAM), static RAM (SRAM), or synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM)), non-volatile memory (e.g., one time programmable ROM (OTPROM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable and programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable and programmable ROM (EEPROM), mask ROM, flash ROM, flash memory (e.g., NAND flash or NOR flash), hard drive, or solid state drive (SSD)), and in the case of memory that can be attached or detached to the electronic device (100), it may be implemented as a memory card (e.g., compact flash (CF), secure digital (SD), micro secure digital (Micro-SD), mini secure digital (Mini-SD), extreme digital (xD), multi-media card (MMC), etc.), external memory that can be connected to a USB port (e.g., USB memory), etc. there is.

[0114] The processor (130) can perform overall control operations of the electronic device (100). Specifically, the processor (130) has a function of controlling the overall operations of the electronic device (100).

[0115] The processor (130) may be implemented as a digital signal processor (DSP), a microprocessor, or a time controller (TCON) that processes digital signals. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and may include one or more of a central processing unit (CPU), a micro controller unit (MCU), a micro processing unit (MPU), a controller, an application processor (AP), a graphics-processing unit (GPU), a communication processor (CP), or an ARM processor, or may be defined by the relevant terminology. In addition, the processor (130) may be implemented as a system on chip (SoC) or large scale integration (LSI) having a built-in processing algorithm, or may be implemented in the form of a field programmable gate array (FPGA). In addition, the processor (130) may perform various functions by executing computer executable instructions stored in a memory. Meanwhile, in FIG. 2, only one processor is illustrated in the electronic device (100). The implementation may include multiple processors (e.g., CPU + GPU, CPU + DSP).

[0116] First, the electronic device (100) of the present disclosure can operate as both a device that provides a password and a device that receives a password and operates. Therefore, the operation of the processor (130) as a device that provides a password will first be described.

[0117] The processor (130) can control the communication device (110) to establish a connection with an access point. For example, if there is a connection history with the access point (or a password for the access point is stored), the processor (130) can establish a connection with the access point using the pre-stored password.

[0118] The processor (130) can generate profile information including password information and channel information regarding the channel currently used by the access point. In this case, if the access point uses multiple SSIDs, the processor (130) can generate profile information including password information and channel information corresponding to each of the multiple SSIDs.

[0119] In the above, it has been described that profile information is generated after a wireless connection between an electronic device (100) and an access point is established. However, when implemented, if the processor (130) knows the password and channel information for the access point, even if the wireless connection is not established, it can generate profile information even when the connection is not established.

[0120] Alternatively, the processor (130) may generate profile information including multiple SSIDs, passwords for each SSID, and channel information corresponding to each of multiple access points connectable to the electronic device. At this time, the channel information of the currently connected access point among the multiple SSIDs may be included in the profile information, but the channel information of the unconnected access point may be included if the electronic device knows it, and may not be included if the electronic device (100) does not know it.

[0121] The processor (130) can provide the generated profile information to another device. Specifically, the processor (130) can control the communication device (110) so that the generated profile information can be provided to another electronic device using a wireless communication method. Meanwhile, the processor (130) can generate a digital code image corresponding to the corresponding profile information and display or print the generated digital code image.

[0122] Below, the operation of the processor (130) in the case of a device that receives profile information is described.

[0123] The processor (130) can obtain profile information including password information and access point information for establishing a connection with an access point. For example, the processor (130) can obtain the profile information through a communication device (110).

[0124] Meanwhile, if the acquired profile information includes multiple SSIDs, the processor (130) may display a user interface window requesting selection of one of the multiple SSIDs included, and perform subsequent connection operations using channel information and password information corresponding to the SSID selected in the displayed interface window.

[0125] Alternatively, the processor (130) may (automatically) select one of the plurality of SSIDs based on channel information corresponding to each of the plurality of SSIDs included, based on whether the electronic device (100) (specifically, the communication device (110)) can use the corresponding channel, based on at least one of the signal strengths of the corresponding channel, and perform subsequent connection operations using the channel information and password information corresponding to the selected SSID.

[0126] The processor (130) can control the communication device (110) to provide password information through a channel corresponding to the acquired channel information using the password information and access point information included in the acquired profile information, thereby establishing a connection with the access point. Specifically, when the profile information is acquired, the processor (130) can omit the procedure of transmitting a probe request (or omit the channel scanning operation) and provide password information through a channel corresponding to the acquired channel information, thereby establishing a connection with the access point.

[0127] If the processor (130) does not receive response information from the access point within a preset time after providing password information using the acquired channel information, the processor (130) may perform channel scanning to search for a channel used by the access point.

[0128] Here, channel scanning may be an operation of checking all channels that can be used by the communication device of the electronic device (100) one by one as illustrated in FIG. 9, an operation of performing channel scanning within channels within a frequency range corresponding to acquired channel information among a plurality of frequency ranges available to the electronic device, or an operation of performing channel scanning only for channels whose frequencies do not overlap with each other among a plurality of channels as illustrated in FIG. 10.

[0129] Alternatively, the processor (130) may perform verification on the acquired channel before directly transmitting the password information through the acquired channel. Specifically, the processor (130) controls the communication device (110) to transmit a probe request through the acquired channel, and upon receiving a probe response from the access point in response to the probe request, the processor (130) may provide password information through the channel to establish a connection with the access point.

[0130] Meanwhile, if a probe response is not received within a preset time through the above-described operation, or if the SSID information in the probe response and the SSID information in the profile information are different, an operation of finding the channel of the corresponding access point can be performed through the above-described channel scanning.

[0131] As described above, the electronic device (100) according to the present embodiment provides channel information along with a password to another electronic device, so that the other electronic device does not need to perform a channel scanning operation to search for the channel of the access point, and thus can perform connection to the access point more quickly.

[0132] Meanwhile, while only a simple configuration of the electronic device (100) has been illustrated and described above, various additional configurations may be provided during implementation. This will be described below with reference to FIG. 4.

[0133] FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0134] Referring to FIG. 4, the electronic device (200) may include a communication device (210), a memory (220), a processor (260), a display (230), an operating device (240), a camera (250), and a processor (260).

[0135] The electronic device (200) can operate as the first electronic device illustrated in FIG. 2, and can also operate as the second electronic device illustrated in FIG. 2. Compared with FIG. 3, the electronic device (200) has additional configurations compared to the electronic device (100) illustrated in FIG. 3, but the profile creation and profile utilization operations are the same as in FIG. 3. Therefore, the following description will focus on only the configurations and operations that are different from those in FIG. 2.

[0136] The communication device (210) is a configuration that performs communication with various types of external devices according to various types of communication methods. The communication device (210) may include a first communication device (211) and a second communication device (215).

[0137] The first communication device (211) communicates with an access point and may utilize a Wi-Fi module. The communication device (211) can establish a wireless connection with the access point. Through this operation, the communication device (2110) can check the channel information of the access point.

[0138] The second communication device (215) is a device that performs two-way communication with another electronic device, and may include at least one communication chip that performs communication according to various wireless communication standards such as a Bluetooth module, Zigbee, 3G (3rd Generation), 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE-A (LTE Advanced), 4G (4th Generation), 5G (5th Generation), etc.

[0139] The second communication device (215) can communicate with other electronic devices. Once such a wireless connection is established, the second communication device (215) can provide profile information about the access point to the other electronic devices.

[0140] And if the electronic device (200) operates as the second electronic device (100-2) of FIG. 2, the second communication device (215) can receive profile information from another electronic device.

[0141] The communication device (210) may further include a wired communication module that performs communication using a LAN (Local Area Network) module, an Ethernet module, a pair cable, a coaxial cable, an optical fiber cable, or a UWB (Ultra Wide-Band) module.

[0142] The memory (220) stores information about connected access points or information about access points with a connection history. Here, the information about the access point may include SSID, security method, password information, channel information, etc., as described above.

[0143] The memory (220) can store profile information generated in the process described below. The profile information may be generated and temporarily stored when sharing of the profile information is required, or may be created in advance and stored, and the pre-stored profile information may be provided to another electronic device when sharing is required.

[0144] The display (230) displays a user interface window for selecting a function supported by the electronic device (200). Specifically, the display (230) may display a user interface window for selecting various functions provided by the electronic device (200). This display (430) may be a monitor such as an LCD (liquid crystal display), an OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diodes), etc., and may also be implemented as a touch screen capable of simultaneously performing some functions of the operating device (240) described below.

[0145] The display (230) may display a user interface window for selecting one of multiple SSIDs. Alternatively, the display (230) may display a digital code image.

[0146] The operating device (240) can receive input from the user for selecting a function of the electronic device (200) and a control command for the function. The operating device (240) may be a keyboard, mouse, touch pad, etc., and may also include a microphone for receiving the user's voice input.

[0147] The camera (250) can generate an image through a capturing operation. Such an image may contain a digital code.

[0148] The processor (260) can perform overall control operations of the electronic device (100). Specifically, the processor (260) can control the first communication device (211) to establish a connection with an access point. For example, if there is a connection history with the access point (or if a password for the access point is stored), the processor (260) can establish a connection with the access point using the password.

[0149] Thereafter, the processor (260) may generate profile information including password information and channel information for the channel currently used by the access point. At this time, if the access point uses multiple SSIDs, the processor (260) may generate profile information including password information and channel information corresponding to each of the multiple SSIDs.

[0150] Alternatively, the processor (260) may generate profile information including multiple SSIDs, passwords for each SSID, and channel information corresponding to each of multiple access points connectable to the electronic device. At this time, the channel information of the currently connected access point among the multiple SSIDs is included in the profile information, but the channel information of the unconnected access point may be included if the electronic device knows the SSID, but may not be included if the electronic device does not know the SSID.

[0151] The processor (260) can provide the generated profile information to another device. Specifically, the processor (260) can control the second communication device (215) so that the generated profile information can be provided to another electronic device using a wireless communication method. Meanwhile, the processor (260) can generate a digital code image corresponding to the corresponding profile information and control the display (230) to display the generated digital code image.

[0152] The processor (260) can obtain profile information including password information and access point information for establishing a connection with an access point. For example, the processor (260) can obtain profile information through a second communication device (215), or control a camera (250) to capture a digital code image and obtain profile information through the digital code image within the image generated by the camera.

[0153] Meanwhile, if the acquired profile information includes multiple SSIDs, the processor (260) controls the display (230) to display a user interface window requesting selection of one of the multiple SSIDs included, and controls the first communication device (211) to perform subsequent connection operations using channel information and password information corresponding to the SSID selected through the operating device (240).

[0154] Meanwhile, in illustrating and explaining FIG. 4, various configurations are illustrated as being included in the electronic device (200), but some configurations may be implemented in an omitted form during implementation. In addition, additional configurations may be included in addition to the configurations illustrated.

[0155] FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating the operation of providing a Wi-Fi profile according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. Specifically, FIG. 5 illustrates a method using a digital code image.

[0156] Specifically, the electronic device (100) can establish a connection with an access point (20) (S510), generate a digital code image (or QR image) including the password and channel information of the access point to which the connection is established, and display the generated digital code image (S520).

[0157] When another electronic device captures a digital code image in this manner (S530), the password and channel information can be obtained through the digital code image. Once the password and channel information are obtained, the other electronic device can connect directly to the access point without performing channel scanning by transmitting the password to the obtained channel (S540).

[0158] While the illustrated example illustrates generating and displaying a digital code image containing profile information, the aforementioned profile information may also be displayed during implementation. When profile information is displayed in this manner, another electronic device can capture the displayed profile information and obtain password and channel information through OCR operations on the captured image.

[0159] In addition, although the illustrated example shows a digital code image displayed on a display, the electronic device (100) may be a printing device when implemented and may print a digital code image (or profile information) on a printing medium (e.g., paper).

[0160] Meanwhile, in the illustrated example, the first electronic device is shown to display a digital code image corresponding to the profile information when connected to the access point. However, when implemented, the first electronic device may display a digital code image corresponding to the password and channel information for the access point (200) even when not connected to the access point (20).

[0161] FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an operation of providing a Wi-Fi profile according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0162] Referring to FIG. 6, the first electronic device is capable of connecting to multiple access points (20-1, 20-2). In such an environment, the first electronic device can establish a connection with the first access point (20-1) based on a user's selection or existing history (S610).

[0163] However, it may be better for the first electronic device to be connected to the first access point (20-1), but it may be better for the second electronic device to be connected to the second access point (20-2).

[0164] Accordingly, the first electronic device can generate profile information having information about two access points (20-1, 20-2), rather than generating profile information having only information about the currently connected access point (20-1).

[0165] At this time, since a connection has been established with the first access point (20-1), that is, since the channel of the first access point (20-1) is used in the communication process with the first access point (20-1), the channel information of the first access point (20-1) is already known.

[0166] Accordingly, the first electronic device (100) can generate profile information to have both password information and channel information for the first access point (20-1).

[0167] However, since the second access point (20-2) is not currently connected, it can generate profile information that only contains the SSID and password for that device. If the first electronic device has a history of performing channel scanning and knows the channel information of the second access point during this process, the first electronic device can generate profile information that also includes the channel information for the second access point (20-2).

[0168] When profile information including password and channel information for each of multiple SSIDs is provided to a second electronic device, the second electronic device can selectively connect to one access point. Manual selection is described later in FIG. 7.

[0169] Meanwhile, although the above described the use of SSIDs of different access points, it is also possible to use multiple SSIDs of one access point during implementation.

[0170] For example, Wi-Fi supports two frequency bands: 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. Modern electronic devices can utilize both bands, but in some cases, only one band is used. Furthermore, if an access point supports both bands, it may use a single SSID for both bands, or it may use a different SSID for each band. If a single access point uses different SSIDs for different bands, the electronic device can generate profile information containing information for each of the multiple SSIDs.

[0171] For example, if a first electronic device has an established connection with an access point at 5Ghz, but a second electronic device only supports 2.4Ghz, or if the second electronic device supports both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz, but in its current state (or location) it is advantageous to connect at 2.4Ghz, it may be better for the second electronic device to provide SSIDs for both bands to the second electronic device rather than providing only an SSID for the 5Ghz band.

[0172] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a user interface window that can be displayed on an electronic device of the present disclosure.

[0173] Referring to FIG. 7, the electronic device (100) can display information about multiple SSIDs included in the provided profile information.

[0174] The user interface window (700) may include an area (710) that displays information about multiple SSIDs (711, 713).

[0175] The user can select one of the displayed multiple SSIDs, and the electronic device (100) can proceed with connection to an access point having the corresponding SSID using the password and channel information corresponding to the selected SSID.

[0176] In this case, when multiple SSIDs are available, the electronic device (100) can recommend one of the multiple SSIDs to the user. Such recommendation criteria may be determined based on criteria such as communication speed and stability.

[0177] Meanwhile, in the illustrated example, the user is asked to select one of multiple SSIDs, and the connection is ultimately made in response to the user's selection. However, when implemented, the user may not be asked to select one, and the connection may be automatically made with an access point having an SSID that meets the above-described recommendation criteria.

[0178] FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram illustrating a sharing operation of a Wi-Fi profile according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0179] The first electronic device (100-1) is a device that shares a Wi-Fi password, and the second electronic device (100-1) is a device that attempts to connect to an access point using the shared password.

[0180] First, the first electronic device (100-1) can perform channel scanning for Wi-Fi connection (S801). Specifically, channel scanning can be divided into passive scanning and active scanning. Passive scanning involves listening to beacon frames to update a list of scanning-related information. Active scanning involves actively searching for access points by transmitting probe request frames to find networks with specific names.

[0181] If the first electronic device (100-1) has a history of connecting to the access point (20), active scanning can be used, and if there is no history of connecting, passive scanning can be used.

[0182] When a scanning operation is performed, the first electronic device (100-1) can perform a probe request for each channel (S803) and perform a probe response in response thereto (S805). Although the illustration shows a single probe request and probe response, the scanning operation can be performed for multiple channels, as described later in FIG. 9 or FIG. 10.

[0183] Once the access point and channel to be connected are identified through such channel scanning, WiFi authentication can be performed, transmitting a password through the identified channel. Upon receiving such a request, the access point (20) verifies the received password, and if the received password is verified, transmits a WiFi Association to the first electronic device (100-1). This operation may be referred to as a WiFi Connection or Mac layer connection.

[0184] Thereafter, the first electronic device (100-1) requests an IP address from the access point (S813) and, in response, receives an IP address (S815). Once the IP address is provided, the connection between the first electronic device (100-1) and the access point (20) can be considered established. Operations subsequent to this MAC layer connection can be referred to as an IP layer connection.

[0185] While the above definition of connection establishment refers to a connection being established at both the MAC and IP layers, implementations may view this as establishing a connection only up to the MAC layer. For example, since a connection to a typical access point is intended for external Internet access, securing an IP address is considered a connection. However, in special cases where only connection to the access point is required, the MAC layer connection alone may be considered a connection establishment.

[0186] Afterwards, when an event such as a request to share a password occurs (S825), the first electronic device (100-1) can generate profile information including password information and channel information of the currently used access point (20) (S830).

[0187] Meanwhile, the first electronic device (100-1) can generate profile information not only with one SSID, but also with information on multiple SSIDs. For example, if the current access point (20) provides both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz and has a separate SSID for each band, profile information with an SSID for each band, a password for each SSID, and channel information can be generated.

[0188] By utilizing profile information having multiple SSID information in this way, a device receiving the profile information can perform a smoother connection. For example, let's assume that a first electronic device (100-1) and an access point (20) are connected in the 5 GHz band and provide profile information having only channel information for a specific 5 GHz channel. If the second electronic device (100-2) can operate in the 5 GHz band, it can proceed with connection to the access point (20) using the provided channel information. However, if the second electronic device (100-2) can only operate in the 2.4 GHz band, connection to the access point (20) is not possible using the provided channel information. However, if the first electronic device (100-1) provides profile information having multiple SSIDs as described above, the second electronic device (100-2) can more easily connect to the access point (20).

[0189] In addition to the above-mentioned reasons, if the first electronic device and the second electronic device each have different distances from the access point, and the first electronic device uses 2.4Ghz for better wireless connection, and the second electronic device uses 5Ghz for better wireless connection, it can be more useful to provide profile information for multiple SSIDs.

[0190] Additionally, the provision of the above-described multiple SSID information may be SSID information for multiple access points, rather than multiple SSIDs for one access point.

[0191] For example, in an environment such as a company, multiple access points may be used, and let's assume that the first electronic device (100-1) has selected and connected to the access point (20) that is currently most suitable for it. However, it may be more advantageous for the second electronic device (100-2) to use an access point other than the access point (20). In such a case, if the first electronic device (100-1) provides profile information having information such as a password for each of the multiple access points to which it can connect, the second electronic device (100-2) can select an access point that is more advantageous for it and proceed with the connection.

[0192] In this case, although not shown, an operation may be performed to preemptively check the communication status for each channel (or SSID) included in the provided profile information, and a connection may be made by selecting one SSID based on the communication status.

[0193] When the first electronic device (100-1) provides profile information having password and channel information for one or more SSIDs to the second electronic device (100-2) (S835), the second electronic device (100-2) can perform a connection operation using the provided password and channel information. The method for providing the profile information has been described in FIGS. 2 and 5, and thus, a duplicate description will be omitted.

[0194] Specifically, since the second electronic device (100-2) knows the channel information on which the connected access point operates, it can transmit Wifi Authentication directly to the corresponding channel without performing a channel scanning operation (S840). In response, it receives a WiFi Association to establish a MAY layer connection, and then establishes an IP layer connection through an operation of requesting an IP and receiving IP information (S850, S855), thereby establishing a final connection.

[0195] FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a channel scanning operation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0196] Specifically, FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating general operations for a channel scanning operation. While the illustrated example only illustrates the 2.4 GHz band, scanning can be performed for that band if the electronic device supports the 5 GHz band, and if it supports both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, scanning can be performed for both bands.

[0197] Specifically, the illustrated example depicts the 2.4 GHz band, where WiFi channels are divided into 5 MHz units. As shown, each channel overlaps with a certain area.

[0198] A typical channel scan involves transmitting a probe request to each channel in 5MHz increments (or channel-by-channel), and the access point receiving the probe request transmits a probe response signal. The probe request, referred to here as a probe request frame, may be one of the 802.11 management frames transmitted on each given frequency channel to allow electronic devices to actively search for nearby APs (802.11 scanning).

[0199] And the probe response may be referred to as a probe response frame, and is a signal that responds to a probe request frame requested by a wireless terminal from the corresponding AP.

[0200] At this time, the probe request can request responses only from devices with a specific SSID, including the SSID, or can request responses from all access points in a broadcast SSID manner. In the present disclosure, since the SSID to be connected is known through profile information, a probe request including the known SSID can be made to identify the channel of the access point corresponding to the SSID.

[0201] Accordingly, the electronic device transmits a probe request on the first channel, waits for a certain period of time, receives a probe response, moves to the next channel, transmits a probe request, waits for a certain period of time, and receives a probe response. This operation is performed in the order 1->2->3->… . 14 to identify the channel of the access point to which it wishes to connect.

[0202] However, since it takes approximately 110ms to receive a probe response and approximately 20-50ms to change the channel of an electronic device, performing the above-described operation for all channels would take approximately 4-5 seconds.

[0203] Previously, it was possible to connect to WiFi by obtaining a password through WiFi sharing, but since the channel scanning operation described above had to be performed before the connection, there was a delay of at least 4 to 5 seconds in the connection operation.

[0204] However, in the present disclosure, as described above, by providing (or obtaining) information on the current channel during the process of sharing a Wi-Fi password, the channel of the access point to be connected can be known without performing the channel scanning operation described above, thereby preventing time delay due to the channel scanning described above.

[0205] Meanwhile, as shown, each channel is divided into 5 MHz units, but since each channel overlaps with each other, it is possible to receive responses from access points operating on different channels when a probe request is made through one channel.

[0206] For example, when transmitting a probe request on channel 6 as shown, it is possible to receive responses from access points operating on channels 2 to 10.

[0207] Since each channel overlaps with the others, scanning can be performed only on the mutually separated channels, rather than scanning all channels. This operation is described below with reference to Fig. 10.

[0208] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a channel scanning operation according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0209] Referring to FIG. 10, the electronic device performs scanning only on mutually separated channels (1, 6, 11, 14). Although these mutually separated channels operate in different frequency ranges, they are capable of transmitting probe signals to all channels on which WiFi operates, thereby reducing the time required for channel scanning.

[0210] Meanwhile, although the illustrated example shows channel scanning performed in the order of 1->6->11->14, an order other than the illustrated order, such as 6->11->14->1, may be used during implementation, and an order with a narrower channel spacing than the above-described order, for example, 1->4->7->11->14, using 5 channels, or 6 or more channels, may also be used.

[0211] Additionally, although the illustrated example only shows 2.4Ghz, if the electronic device supports both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz, channel scanning can perform similar operations as described above for the 5Ghz band as well as the 2.4Ghz.

[0212] However, if you perform channel scanning for both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, the scanning will take a long time. If your current access point operates on 2.4 GHz, you can further reduce the channel scanning time by performing channel scanning only for the 2.4 GHz band. If your current access point operates on 5 GHz, you can further reduce the channel scanning time by performing channel scanning only for the 5 GHz band.

[0213] To this end, the present disclosure may utilize channel information included in the profile information. Specifically, if the received channel information has a value between 1 and 14, it can be confirmed that the corresponding access point is a device operating at 2.4 GHz. Alternatively, if the received channel information has a value of 36 or higher (for example, channel numbers in the 5 GHz band are approximately 36-165), it can be confirmed that the corresponding access point is a device operating at 5 GHz.

[0214] Accordingly, the electronic device can use the received channel information to determine the frequency range (or the operating frequency of the corresponding access point) over which to perform channel scanning, and perform a full scan as in FIG. 9 or a scan as in FIG. 10 only within the corresponding frequency range, thereby reducing the time required to check the channel.

[0215] FIG. 11 is a drawing for explaining a control method of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0216] Referring to Figure 11, password information for connection to an access point is stored (S1110). Specifically, password information acquired during the process of connecting to the current access point or a previous connection to the access point may be stored in advance.

[0217] If password information is stored in this manner, a connection with the access point can be established using the password information. The aforementioned storage step may be password information entered by the user during the connection confirmation process. Additionally, during this connection establishment process, a channel scanning operation may be performed to confirm the channel information of the current access point, which may be stored in the electronic device. This channel information may be used to communicate with the aforementioned access point.

[0218] Profile information, including password information and channel information about the channel currently being used by the access point, is generated (S1120). For example, this operation can generate profile information when a user requests it (e.g., a command to share a Wi-Fi password with another device). Alternatively, it can be generated in advance when establishing a connection with the aforementioned access point.

[0219] Here, the profile information may include the SSID (ServiceSetIdentifier) ​​of the access point, security setting information of the access point, password information corresponding to the security setting, and channel information currently used by the access point. In addition, if the electronic device is currently capable of connecting to multiple access points, it is also possible to provide password information and channel information of other connectable access points. Alternatively, if the access point has multiple SSIDs (for example, 2.4Ghz SSID and 5Ghz SSID separately), profile information including password information and channel information for each of the multiple SSIDs may be generated.

[0220] And the generated profile information is provided to another electronic device (S1130). For example, if the electronic device supports multiple different communication methods (e.g., WiFi, BLE), a connection can be established with another electronic device using a communication method such as BLE or WiFi Direct, and the generated profile information can be provided to the electronic device using the connected communication method.

[0221] Alternatively, if the electronic device includes a display, a digital code image containing profile information can be generated and the generated digital image can be displayed on the display. When such a display operation is performed, other electronic devices can obtain the profile information by recognizing the digital code image displayed on the display. Meanwhile, although the profile information was described above as being converted into a digital code image and used, text information can also be displayed during implementation, in which case the other electronic devices can obtain the profile information through an OCR function.

[0222] Alternatively, if the electronic device is a device such as a printer, it can generate a digital code image containing profile information and print the generated digital code image. This allows other electronic devices to obtain the profile information through the digital code image printed on paper (or other printed media).

[0223] As described above, the electronic device according to the present embodiment can provide not only a password but also channel information to another electronic device, so that the other electronic device can establish a connection with the access point more quickly.

[0224] FIG. 12 is a drawing for explaining a control method of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0225] Referring to FIG. 12, profile information including password information for establishing a connection with an access point and channel information of the access point is obtained from another electronic device (S1210).

[0226] Then, a connection with the access point is established by providing password information through a channel corresponding to the acquired channel information. Specifically, since the profile information includes channel information, a connection operation can be performed by transmitting WiFi Authentication (providing a password) through the channel included in the channel information without performing a channel scanning operation. Afterwards, when a WiFi Association is provided by the access point, a connection can be established by requesting an IP address from the access point and obtaining the IP address information.

[0227] In this way, the electronic device according to the present embodiment receives not only password information but also channel information from another electronic device, and thus can omit the channel scanning operation to determine the channel of the corresponding access point, thereby establishing a connection more quickly.

[0228] Meanwhile, the access point may automatically change channels depending on the communication environment, or a channel change may occur at the request of the access point administrator. If the access point's channel changes after providing the aforementioned profile information, the operation will be described below with reference to Figure 13.

[0229] FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining a Wi-Fi connection establishment operation according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0230] Referring to FIG. 13, a Wi-Fi Authentication operation can be performed to provide password information to an acquired channel using channel and password information included in profile information.

[0231] If the access point is operating on the acquired channel, it will send a WiFi Association response (S1320-Y), and in this case, a series of operations for IP acquisition as shown in Fig. 12 can be performed to finally establish a connection with the access point.

[0232] If the access point is not operating on the acquired channel, a WiFi Association response will not be received (S1330-N). This behavior can be considered as a non-response if a response is not received within a preset time (e.g., 110 ms) after transmitting a signal for Wi-Fi Authentication. Alternatively, a non-response can be considered if the SSID in the response information is different from the requested access point, or if a response such as "connection failure" is received.

[0233] If no response is received, the electronic device can perform channel scanning to determine the channel of the corresponding access point (S1330). At this time, the channel scanning can be performed in the same manner as before, checking all channels, or a channel scanning operation that checks only some channels, as described in FIG. 10, can be used.

[0234] Once a channel is confirmed through channel scanning, a connection operation can be performed by providing password information to the confirmed channel.

[0235] Meanwhile, if the provided SSID cannot be found even through the above-described channel scanning, the electronic device may provide the user with an indication that the WIFI connection has failed.

[0236] FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining a Wi-Fi connection establishment operation according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0237] Figures 12 and 13 illustrate that, once profile information is acquired, a connection operation is performed directly on the channel included in the profile information. Figure 13 adds an operation to first determine whether the access point is operating on the corresponding channel. This operation is optional and may be omitted during implementation, as shown in Figures 12 and 13.

[0238] First, a probe request is performed using a channel included in the profile information (S1410).

[0239] When a probe is received from the corresponding channel according to such a request (S1420), the SSID included in the received probe can be checked and checked to see if it matches the SSID included in the profile information (S1430).

[0240] If it is confirmed that the access point is operating with the channel information included in the profile information (S1430-Y), a connection operation can be performed by transmitting password information to the corresponding channel (S1450, S1460).

[0241] However, if the SSID included in the received probe is different from the SSID included in the profile information, channel scanning may be performed (S1440). At this time, channel scanning may be performed by scanning the entire channel or by scanning only some channels.

[0242] And by checking the channel on which the access point operates through channel scanning, connection operations can be performed using the confirmed channel.

[0243] Meanwhile, the methods according to at least some of the various embodiments of the present disclosure described above may be implemented in the form of an application that can be installed on an existing electronic device.

[0244] Additionally, the methods according to at least some of the various embodiments of the present disclosure described above can be implemented with only a software upgrade or a hardware upgrade for an existing electronic device.

[0245] Additionally, the methods according to at least some of the various embodiments of the present disclosure described above may also be performed through an embedded server provided in an electronic device, or an external server of at least one of the electronic devices.

[0246] Meanwhile, according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the various embodiments described above can be implemented as software including instructions stored in a machine-readable storage medium that can be read by a machine (e.g., a computer). The machine is a device that can call instructions stored from the storage medium and operate according to the called instructions, and may include an electronic device (e.g., electronic device (A)) according to the disclosed embodiments. When an instruction is executed by a processor, the processor can perform a function corresponding to the instruction directly or by using other components under the control of the processor. The instruction may include code generated or executed by a compiler or an interpreter. The machine-readable storage medium may be provided in the form of a non-transitory storage medium. Here, the 'non-transitory storage medium' only means that it is a tangible device and does not include a signal (e.g., electromagnetic wave), and this term does not distinguish between cases where data is stored semi-permanently and cases where it is temporarily stored in the storage medium. For example, a 'non-transitory storage medium' may include a buffer in which data is temporarily stored. According to one embodiment, the method according to various embodiments disclosed in the present document may be provided as a computer program product. The computer program product may be traded between sellers and buyers as a commodity. The computer program product may be distributed in the form of a machine-readable storage medium (e.g., compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM)), or may be distributed online (e.g., downloaded or uploaded) through an application store (e.g., Play Store™) or directly between two user devices (e.g., smartphones).In the case of online distribution, at least a portion of the computer program product (e.g., a downloadable app) may be temporarily stored or temporarily created in a device-readable storage medium, such as the memory of a manufacturer's server, an application store's server, or an intermediary server.

[0247] Various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented as software including instructions stored in a machine-readable storage medium that can be read by a machine (e.g., a computer). The device may include an electronic device (e.g., an electronic device (100)) according to the disclosed embodiments, which is a device capable of calling instructions stored in the storage medium and operating according to the called instructions.

[0248] When the above instruction is executed by the processor, the processor may perform the function corresponding to the instruction directly or by using other components under the control of the processor. The instruction may include code generated or executed by a compiler or interpreter.

[0249] Although the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure have been illustrated and described above, the present disclosure is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, and various modifications may be made by a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure pertains without departing from the gist of the present disclosure as claimed in the claims, and such modifications should not be understood individually from the technical idea or prospect of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. In electronic devices, A communication device that communicates with an access point; A memory for storing password information for connection to the above access point; At least one processor for controlling the communication device to establish a connection with the access point using the stored password information; At least one processor of the above, An electronic device that generates profile information including the password information and channel information about the channel currently used by the access point.

2. In paragraph 1, The above profile information is, An electronic device including the SSID (ServiceSetIdentifier) ​​of the access point, security setting information of the access point, password information corresponding to the security setting, and channel information currently used by the access point.

3. In paragraph 1, At least one processor of the above, An electronic device that generates profile information including password information and channel information corresponding to each of the plurality of SSIDs when the above access point uses multiple SSIDs.

4. In paragraph 1, At least one processor of the above, An electronic device that generates profile information including a plurality of SSIDs corresponding to each of a plurality of access points connectable from the electronic device, a plurality of password information corresponding to each of the plurality of SSIDs, and a plurality of channel information corresponding to each of the plurality of SSIDs.

5. In paragraph 1, The above communication device, A first communication device that performs communication with the above access point; and A second communication device for performing two-way communication with another electronic device; At least one processor of the above, An electronic device controlling the second communication device so that the profile information is provided to the other electronic device.

6. In paragraph 5, The above first communication device, It operates via WIFI communication, The second communication device, An electronic device that performs bidirectional communication with another electronic device by at least one of BLE, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi Direct.

7. In paragraph 1, display; including more; At least one processor of the above, An electronic device that generates a digital code image including the above profile information and controls the display to display the generated digital code image.

8. In electronic devices, communication device; at least one memory; and comprising at least one processor; At least one processor of the above, Obtaining profile information including password information for establishing a connection with an access point and channel information of the access point, An electronic device that establishes a connection with the access point by providing the password information through a channel corresponding to the acquired channel information.

9. In paragraph 8, At least one processor of the above, An electronic device that establishes a connection with the access point by providing the password information through a channel corresponding to the acquired channel information, omitting the procedure of transmitting a probe request when the above profile information is acquired.

10. In paragraph 9, At least one processor of the above, An electronic device that controls the communication device to perform channel scanning to search for a channel used by the access point if response information is not received from the access point within a preset time after providing the password information using the acquired channel information.

11. In paragraph 9, At least one processor of the above, An electronic device that controls the communication device to perform channel scanning within channels within a frequency range corresponding to the acquired channel information among a plurality of frequency ranges available in the electronic device.

12. In paragraph 9, At least one processor of the above, An electronic device that controls the communication device to perform channel scanning within channels whose frequencies do not overlap with each other among a plurality of channels.

13. In paragraph 8, At least one processor of the above, An electronic device that controls the communication device to transmit a probe request to a channel corresponding to the acquired channel information, and, when receiving a probe response from the access point in response to the probe request, provides the password information to establish a connection with the access point.

14. In paragraph 13, At least one processor of the above, An electronic device that controls the communication device to perform channel scanning to determine a channel used by the access point if a probe response is not received from the access point within a preset time.

15. In a method for controlling an electronic device, Step for storing password information for connection to an access point; A step of establishing a connection with the access point using the above password information; A step of generating profile information including the password information and channel information about the channel currently used by the access point; and A method for controlling an electronic device, comprising: providing the generated profile information to another electronic device.

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