Networking control method and system, control device, and readable storage medium

Abstract

The present application provides a networking control method and system, a control device, and a readable storage medium. According to the present application, a master device and slave device to be networked are connected by means of a control device; a first networking instruction and a connection identifier of the corresponding slave device are sent to the master device, such that, in response to the first networking instruction, the master device enters a state of waiting to connect, and, on the basis of the received connection identifier, connects to the corresponding slave device; and a second networking instruction is sent to the slave device, such that, in response to the second networking instruction, the slave device enters a state of waiting to connect, and carries out communication connection with the corresponding master device to establish a control network, thus enabling the process of control network establishment to be more flexible. Moreover, the control network can be used for further monitoring the master device and / or the slave device, thus facilitating the process of networking control.

Description

Network control method, system, control device and readable storage medium

[0001] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on December 21, 2023, with application number CN2023117789748 and application name “Networking control method, system, control device and readable storage medium”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0002] The present application relates to the field of wireless communication technology, and in particular to a networking control method, system, control device, and readable storage medium. Background Art

[0003] With the development of wireless communication technology, various IoT networking solutions such as WiFi AP networking, Zigbee networking, Thread networking based on 802.15.4, and Bluetooth mesh networking are becoming increasingly mature and widely used, making various system applications more coordinated, simple, and efficient.

[0004] However, some networking solutions have high overall costs, limited use in certain application scenarios, and inconvenient re-networking operations. Some existing applications, such as Bluetooth Auracast, LE-audio, and UWB (ultra-wideband) one-to-many audio transmission technologies, only offer one-way audio transmission without a control link.

[0005] Among the aforementioned networking solutions, WiFi APs and Zigbee networks have routing limitations and cannot be used in areas without WiFi or routing. Bluetooth mesh networks also have issues such as high costs, susceptibility to interference, and slower message processing as more networks are created. Disrupting and re-networking multiple groups of networked devices requires traditional, manual, device-by-device operation, a complex and error-prone process. This demonstrates the limitations of traditional network control processes.

[0006] Summary of the Invention

[0007] In view of this, the present application provides a networking control method, system, control device and readable storage medium to solve the problem of limitations in traditional networking control processes.

[0008] This application provides a networking control method, including:

[0009] Connecting a master device to be networked and a slave device corresponding to the master device;

[0010] A first networking instruction and a connection identifier of the corresponding slave device are sent to the master device, so that the master device responds to the first networking instruction and enters a waiting state for connection, connects to the corresponding slave device according to the received connection identifier, and sends a second networking instruction to the slave device, so that the slave device responds to the second networking instruction and enters a waiting state for connection, communicates with the corresponding master device, and establishes a control network.

[0011] Optionally, the networking control method further includes: sending a first reorganization instruction and a connection flag of a slave device to be reconnected to the master device of the network to be reorganized, so that the master device responds to the first reorganization instruction and re-enters the waiting-to-connect state; sending a second reorganization instruction to the slave device of the network to be reorganized, so that the slave device responds to the second reorganization instruction, erases the device flag of the currently connected master device, re-enters the waiting-to-connect state, and re-establishes a control network with the corresponding master device.

[0012] Optionally, the master device and the slave device are equipped with a built-in communication module; the master device responds to the first networking instruction and / or the first reorganization instruction through the communication module; the slave device responds to the second networking instruction and / or the second reorganization instruction through the communication module.

[0013] Optionally, the communication module includes a Bluetooth chip and / or a UWB chip.

[0014] Optionally, the networking control method further includes: sending audio networking instructions to the master device and the corresponding slave device respectively through the control network, so that the master device and the corresponding slave device respond to the audio networking instructions and establish an audio transmission network.

[0015] Optionally, the networking control method also includes: sending audio network reorganization instructions to the master device and the corresponding slave device respectively through the control network, so that the slave device responds to the audio network reorganization instruction, erases the connection record of the master device currently performing audio connection, and enters pairing mode, so that the master device responds to the audio network reorganization instruction to enter pairing mode, searches for broadcast information of slave devices in pairing mode, and connects each slave device to be audio network reorganized in turn.

[0016] Optionally, the networking control method also includes at least one of the following: sending a slave device control instruction to the master device, so that the master device responds to the slave device control instruction and controls the corresponding slave device; sending a status query instruction to the master device and the slave device, so that the master device and the slave device respond to the status query instruction and upload status information corresponding to the status query instruction.

[0017] The present application also provides a network control system, which includes:

[0018] A connection module, used to connect a master device to be networked and a slave device corresponding to the master device;

[0019] The sending module is used to send a first networking instruction and a connection identifier of the corresponding slave device to the master device, so that the master device responds to the first networking instruction and enters a waiting state for connection, and sends a second networking instruction to the slave device, so that the slave device responds to the second networking instruction and enters a waiting state for connection, communicates with the corresponding master device, and establishes a control network.

[0020] The present application also provides a control device, which includes: a memory and a processor, wherein a networking control program is stored in the memory, and when the networking control program is executed by the processor, the steps of any of the above networking control methods are implemented.

[0021] The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored. When the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of any of the above networking control methods are implemented.

[0022] The networking control method, system, control device and readable storage medium of the present application connect the master device and the slave device to be networked through the control device, send a first networking instruction and a connection identifier of the corresponding slave device to the master device, so that the master device responds to the first networking instruction and enters a waiting state, connects to the corresponding slave device according to the received connection identifier, and sends a second networking instruction to the slave device, so that the slave device responds to the second networking instruction and enters a waiting state, communicates and connects with the corresponding master device, and establishes a control network, making the control network establishment process more flexible. Other monitoring of the master device and / or slave device can also be performed through the control network, making the networking control process more convenient. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] FIG1 is a flow chart of a networking control method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0024] Figures 2a, 2b, and 2c are schematic diagrams of a topological network according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0025] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of multiple network groups according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0026] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of multiple network groups according to another embodiment of the present application;

[0027] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a network control system according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] The following, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, clearly and completely describes the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in this application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without making creative work are within the scope of protection of this application. In the absence of conflict, the following embodiments and their technical features can be combined with each other.

[0029] In a first aspect, the present application provides a networking control method, which can be executed on a control device such as a mobile phone, or by an APP (application) running on the control device. Referring to FIG1 , the networking control method includes S110 to S120.

[0030] S110, connect the master device to be networked and the slave device corresponding to the master device; optionally, the control device can be connected to the communication modules of the master device and the slave device respectively to establish a control communication link between the control device and the communication modules of the connected devices (master device and slave device).

[0031] S120, sending a first networking instruction and a connection identifier of the corresponding slave device to the master device, so that the master device responds to the first networking instruction and enters a waiting state, connects to the corresponding slave device according to the received connection identifier, and sends a second networking instruction to the slave device, so that the slave device responds to the second networking instruction and enters a waiting state, communicates with the corresponding master device, and establishes a control network.

[0032] Specifically, the control device (or the corresponding APP running on the control device) can connect to at least one master device and at least one slave device corresponding to each master device, for example, simultaneously connect multiple master devices to be networked and the slave devices corresponding to each master device, so as to establish at least one control network between the multiple master devices and the slave devices. Specifically, when the control device is connected to multiple master devices to be networked at the same time, it can simultaneously send the corresponding first networking instruction and the connection identifier of the slave device to be networked to the multiple master devices to be networked, so that each master device responds to the first networking instruction and enters the waiting state, connects to the corresponding slave device according to the connection identifier of the slave device, and establishes the control network corresponding to each master device. The above-mentioned control network includes various topological networks composed of various master devices, slave devices and related relay endpoints; for example, the control network may include at least one network as shown in Figure 2a, and the topological network of Figure 2a includes a master device (also called a host), various endpoints connected to the master device, and various endpoints connected to the master device through a relay terminal; for another example, the control network may include at least one network as shown in Figure 2b, and the topological network of Figure 2b includes a master device, various endpoints connected to the master device, and the master device is connected to the APP provided in the control device. The APP can receive and issue control instructions such as the first networking instruction. Furthermore, as shown in Figure 2c, the APP can also be connected to various endpoints, where the endpoints can include slave devices (also called slaves) and can also include other terminals connected to the master device.

[0033] Alternatively, the connection identifier may be determined based on the type of communication module provided in the master device and the slave device. If the master device and the slave device are connected via a Bluetooth chip, the connection identifier may include address information for Bluetooth pairing or connection, and the like. In this case, the pending connection state may be a pairing state. Alternatively, the first networking instruction and the second networking instruction may be the same or corresponding networking instructions, which may be networking instructions input by a user through an app or client to control the device.

[0034] In the above networking control method, the master device and the slave device to be networked are connected through the control device (or the corresponding APP running on the control device), and a first networking instruction and a connection identifier of the corresponding slave device are sent to the master device, so that the master device responds to the first networking instruction and enters the waiting state, connects the corresponding slave device according to the received connection identifier, and sends a second networking instruction to the slave device, so that the slave device responds to the second networking instruction and enters the waiting state, communicates with the corresponding master device, and establishes a control network, making the control network establishment process more flexible. Other monitoring of the master device and / or slave device can also be performed through the control network, making the networking control process more convenient.

[0035] In one embodiment, if it is necessary to reorganize the network between the master device and the slave device, the user can input relevant reorganization instructions to the control device through the APP or client. The reorganization instructions may include a first reorganization instruction sent to the master device and a second reorganization instruction sent to the slave device; the first reorganization instruction and the second reorganization instruction can be the same or corresponding reorganization instructions.

[0036] Accordingly, the network control method further includes: sending a first reorganization instruction and a connection identifier of a slave device to be reconnected to the master device of the network to be reorganized, so that the master device responds to the first reorganization instruction and re-enters the waiting-to-connect state. At this time, the master device can connect to the slave device in the waiting-to-connect state based on the connection identifier; and sending a second reorganization instruction to the slave device of the network to be reorganized, so that the slave device responds to the second reorganization instruction, erases the device identifier of the currently connected master device, re-enters the waiting-to-connect state, and re-establishes the control network with the corresponding master device. Optionally, the device identifier of the master device may include information representing the identity of the master device, such as the communication address of the master device.

[0037] In one example, the master device and the slave device have built-in communication modules. Optionally, the communication modules include a Bluetooth chip and / or a UWB chip. The Bluetooth chip may include a BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) unit. The master device and the slave device respectively establish a control network through the BLE unit and / or the UWB chip, and receive or send various command data transmitted through the control network.

[0038] The master device responds to the first networking instruction and / or the first reassembly instruction via the communication module. The slave device responds to the second networking instruction and / or the second reassembly instruction via the communication module. Optionally, the master device and slave device may also respond to other instructions, such as slave device control instructions and / or status query instructions, via the communication module.

[0039] Optionally, the networking control method further includes: sending a slave device control instruction to the master device, so that the master device responds to the slave device control instruction and controls the corresponding slave device. The above-mentioned slave device control instruction may include a switch instruction and / or adjustment instruction corresponding to at least one slave device. For example, the slave device control instruction may include a volume reduction instruction corresponding to each slave device. After the master device receives the volume reduction instruction, it responds to the volume reduction instruction and reduces the volume of each slave device. For another example, if the slave device control instruction may include an indicator light off instruction corresponding to some slave devices, after the master device receives these indicator light off instructions, it responds to the indicator light off instruction and turns off the indicator lights of the corresponding slave devices.

[0040] Optionally, the networking control method further includes: sending a status query instruction to the master device and the slave device, so that the master device and the slave device respond to the status query instruction and upload status information corresponding to the status query instruction, so that the control device can promptly obtain the status information of the master and slave devices and monitor the corresponding status of the master and slave devices in real time. The status query instruction may include a master control temperature acquisition instruction, a memory space query instruction, and other instructions for querying the relevant status of the master and slave devices.

[0041] In one example, as shown in FIG3 , the control device connects the communication modules of each master device (including master devices M1 and M2) and each slave device (S1 to S10). For example, the APP therein sequentially connects to each slave device to be connected via BLE / UWB, uses the APP to connect to the master device, and then sends a first networking instruction to the master device to control the master device to connect to other slave devices, thereby forming a BLE / UWB mesh network, so that the mesh network includes control network A and control network B. Control network A includes master device M1 and slave devices S1 to S5 connected to master device M1, and control network B includes master device M2 and slave devices S6 to S10 connected to master device M2. After the master and slave devices form a mesh network, the APP and the master and slave devices can communicate with each other, and the slave devices can also communicate with each other (if necessary, the slave devices can be connected to each other), thereby realizing direct control and monitoring of each slave device through the APP or the master device.

[0042] Furthermore, when control network A and control network B need to be re-networked (for example, M1 needs to be re-networked with s1-s5, s6, and s10, and M2 needs to be re-networked with s7-s9 in Figure 3), the APP on the control device sends a command to M1 and M2, such as sending a first reorganization instruction to M1 and M2 respectively, so that M1 and M2 disband their respective groups and clear all connection information, but keep the mobile phone APP connected to M1 and M2. The APP can also send a second reorganization instruction to the corresponding slave device, so that the corresponding slave device erases the device flag of the currently connected master device and re-enters the waiting state. The APP searches for and connects the disbanded slave device, selects the slave device and master device to be re-reorganized, confirms the networking, and sends the information of the slave device that needs to be networked to the master device M1 / M2. The M1 / M2 device completes the connection with the slave device that needs to be networked to achieve re-networking.

[0043] In one embodiment, the networking control method further includes: sending an audio networking instruction to the master device and the corresponding slave device through the control network, so that the master device and the corresponding slave device respond to the audio networking instruction and establish an audio transmission network. Specifically, the master device and the slave device are respectively provided with an audio transmission processing module, and the audio transmission processing module can be provided in a BT / UWB SoC (system-on-chip) for processing audio transmission, etc. in the corresponding device. The master device and the slave device receive the audio networking instruction, respond to the audio networking instruction through the audio transmission processing module, and establish an audio transmission network, and transmit audio data through the audio transmission network.

[0044] In one example, the networking control method also includes: sending audio network reorganization instructions to the master device and the corresponding slave device through the control network, so that the slave device responds to the audio network reorganization instruction, erases the connection record of the master device currently performing audio connection, and enters pairing mode, so that the master device responds to the audio network reorganization instruction to enter pairing mode, searches for broadcast information of the slave device in pairing mode, and connects each slave device to be audio network reorganized in turn to achieve the purpose of reorganizing the audio transmission network.

[0045] In one example, the above-mentioned audio transmission network formation and / or reorganization scheme is applicable to one-to-many audio transmission networks such as classic Bluetooth Auracast, LE-audio, or UWB. Figure 4 can illustrate the classic Bluetooth broadcast audio connection and network reorganization process. The communication module of the master-slave device described in Figure 4 includes units such as soc1 and soc2. Soc2 uses classic Bluetooth Auracast for communication, and soc1 uses ble / UWB to form a control link to control classic Bluetooth Auracast for audio link networking. For the control network, the APP of the control device can connect to each control link slave device and the control link master device to be connected in sequence through ble / UWB to realize communication between the APP and each device, or use the APP to connect to the control link master device and then the APP controls the control link master device to connect to other control link slave devices. When establishing an audio transmission network, the APP background can send commands (such as audio networking instructions) to the audio link master device and each audio link slave device through the method of transparently transmitting commands from the networked control link master and slave devices to the corresponding audio link master and slave devices, so that the audio link master device and slave devices to be networked enter the pairing state. The audio link master device connects to each audio link slave device in turn, and the audio link slave device will remember the pairing information of the paired audio link master device to complete the audio link networking. When the audio transmission network needs to be re-networked (as shown in Figure 4, M1 needs to be re-networked with s1-s5, s6 and s10, and M2 needs to be re-networked with s7-s9), the APP sends a command (such as an audio network re-networking command) to the control link master device M1 / M2, and the control link M1 / M2 forwards the command to each control slave device. Then, each audio link master and slave device transparently transmits the command through the corresponding master / slave control device through the UART (hardware serial port) and other interfaces. After receiving the command and parsing the content, the audio link groups that exist in each device are disbanded and all connection information is cleared. The APP selects the audio link slave device and the audio link master device M1 / M2 that it intends to re-network, confirms the networking, and enables the audio link master devices M1 and M2 to be re-networked with each audio link slave device in turn.

[0046] The above-mentioned control network formation and reorganization process, as well as the audio transmission network formation and reorganization process, can use the APP on the control device side. The APP side has the option of one-click networking, which can effectively solve the problems of inconvenience in some usage scenarios and complex operations of traditional wireless mesh networking. It has the advantage of simplicity and clarity, and can make wireless networking faster, more stable and efficient.

[0047] The above networking control method controls the master device and the slave device to form a control network through the control device, making the control network formation process more flexible. The control device can also be used to control the master device and / or the slave device, perform other monitoring operations such as status query and / or reorganization, making the network monitoring process more convenient. The control device can also be used to form or reorganize an audio transmission network between the master device and the slave device, which can effectively solve the problems of inconvenience in some usage scenarios and complex operation of traditional wireless mesh networking. It has the advantage of simplicity and clarity, and can make wireless networking faster, more stable and more efficient.

[0048] The second aspect of the present application provides a network control system, which can be provided in a control device. Referring to FIG5 , the network control system includes:

[0049] A connection module 110 is configured to connect a master device to be networked and a slave device corresponding to the master device;

[0050] The sending module 120 is used to send a first networking instruction and a connection identifier of the corresponding slave device to the master device, so that the master device responds to the first networking instruction and enters a waiting state for connection, and sends a second networking instruction to the slave device, so that the slave device responds to the second networking instruction and enters a waiting state for connection, communicates with the corresponding master device, and establishes a control network.

[0051] For the specific definition of the networked control system, please refer to the definition of the networked control method above and will not be repeated here. Each module in the above-mentioned networked control system can be implemented in whole or in part through software, hardware, or a combination thereof. Each of the above-mentioned modules can be embedded in or independent of the computing module in the relevant control device in hardware form, or can be stored in the memory of the control device in software form, so that the computing module can call and execute the corresponding operations of each of the above-mentioned units.

[0052] The present application also provides a control device, which can be a terminal device such as a hearing aid. The control device may include: a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a networking control program, and when the networking control program is executed by the processor, the steps of the networking control method described in any of the above embodiments are implemented.

[0053] The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored. When the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of the networking control method described in any of the above embodiments are implemented.

[0054] Although the present application has been shown and described with respect to one or more implementations, equivalent variations and modifications will occur to those skilled in the art based on reading and understanding this specification and the accompanying drawings. The present application includes all such modifications and variations and is limited only by the scope of the appended claims. In particular, with respect to the various functions performed by the above-mentioned components, the terms used to describe such components are intended to correspond to any component (unless otherwise indicated) that performs the specified function of the component (e.g., it is functionally equivalent), even if it is not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure that performs the function in the exemplary implementation of this specification shown herein.

[0055] That is, the above description is merely an embodiment of the present application and does not limit the patent scope of the present application. Any equivalent structural or equivalent process transformations made using the contents of the description and drawings of this application, such as the mutual combination of technical features between the various embodiments, or direct or indirect application in other related technical fields, are also included in the patent protection scope of the present application.

[0056] In addition, in the description of the present application, it should be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "length", "width", "thickness", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside" and the like indicate positions or positional relationships based on the positions or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as limiting the present application. In addition, for structural elements with the same or similar characteristics, the present application may use the same or different reference numerals to identify them. In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Therefore, the features defined as "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more features. In the description of the present application, "multiple" means two or more, unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

[0057] In this application, the word "exemplary" is used to mean "serving as an example, illustration or description". Any embodiment described in this application as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as being more preferred or more advantageous than other embodiments. The above description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to implement and use the present application. In the above description, various details are listed for the purpose of explanation. It should be understood that a person of ordinary skill in the art can recognize that the present application can be implemented without using these specific details. In other embodiments, well-known structures and processes will not be elaborated in detail to avoid obscuring the description of the present application with unnecessary details. Therefore, the present application is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is consistent with the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed in this application.

Claims

1. A networking control method, wherein, The network formation control method includes: Connect the master device to be networked and the slave device corresponding to the master device; Send a first network formation instruction and the connection identifier of the corresponding slave device to the master device, so that the master device responds to the first network formation instruction and enters the pending connection state, connects to the corresponding slave device according to the received connection identifier, and sends a second network formation instruction to the slave device, so that the slave device responds to the second network formation instruction and enters the pending connection state, and communicates with the corresponding master device to form a control network.

2. The networking control method according to claim 1, wherein, The network formation control method further includes: Send a first reorganization instruction and the connection flag of the slave device to be reconnected to the master device of the network to be reorganized, so that the master device responds to the first reorganization instruction and re-enters the pending connection state; Send a second reorganization instruction to the slave device of the network to be reorganized, so that the slave device responds to the second reorganization instruction, erases the device flag of the currently connected master device, re-enters the pending connection state, and reorganizes the control network with the corresponding master device.

3. The networking control method according to claim 2, wherein, The master device and the slave device are built-in with communication modules; The master device responds to the first network formation instruction and / or the first reorganization instruction through the communication module; The slave device responds to the second network formation instruction and / or the second reorganization instruction through the communication module.

4. The networking control method according to claim 3, wherein, The communication module includes a Bluetooth chip and / or a UWB chip.

5. The networking control method according to claim 1, wherein, The network formation control method further includes: Send an audio network formation instruction to the master device and the corresponding slave device respectively through the control network, so that the master device and the corresponding slave device respond to the audio network formation instruction to form an audio transmission network.

6. The networking control method according to claim 5, wherein, The network formation control method further includes: Send an audio network reorganization instruction to the master device and the corresponding slave device respectively through the control network, so that the slave device responds to the audio network reorganization instruction, erases the master Device connection record, enter the pairing mode, make the master device respond to the audio network reorganization instruction and enter the pairing mode, search for the broadcast information of the slave device in the pairing mode, and connect to each slave device to be reorganized for the audio network in turn.

7. The networking control method according to claim 1, wherein, The network formation control method further includes at least one of the following: Send a slave device control instruction to the master device, so that the master device responds to the slave device control instruction and controls the corresponding slave device; Send a status query instruction to the master device and the slave device, so that the master device and the slave device respond to the status query instruction and upload the status information corresponding to the status query instruction.

8. A networking control system, wherein, The network formation control system includes: A connection module for connecting the master device to be networked and the slave device corresponding to the master device; A sending module for sending a first network formation instruction and the connection identifier of the corresponding slave device to the master device, so that the master device responds to the first network formation instruction and enters the pending connection state, and sends a second network formation instruction to the slave device, so that the slave device responds to the second network formation instruction and enters the pending connection state, and communicates with the corresponding master device to form a control network.

9. A control device, wherein, The control device includes: a memory and a processor. A networking control program is stored on the memory. When the networking control program is executed by the processor, the steps of the networking control method according to any one of claims 1 to 7 above are implemented.

10. A computer-readable storage medium, wherein, A computer program is stored on the storage medium. When the computer program is executed by the processor, the steps of the networking control method according to any one of claims 1 to 7 above are implemented.

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