Link method for wireless network, and AP device and storage medium

Abstract

Provided in the present application are a link method for a wireless network, and a device and a storage medium. The method comprises: determining a problematic link in a wireless access point (AP) device; changing a normally configured original traffic identifier value of the problematic link into a specially configured target traffic identifier value, wherein the target traffic identifier value is used for denoting, in a traffic identifier-to-link mapping (TID-To-Link Mapping), that a link is unavailable; and sending, to a terminal device corresponding to the AP device, information of the problematic link configuring the target traffic identifier value, so as to prohibit, by means of the TID-To-Link Mapping, the terminal device from selecting the problematic link as an uplink.

Description

A wireless network link method, AP device and storage medium

[0001] Cross-references

[0002] This application claims priority to a Chinese patent application filed with the Patent Office of China on January 15, 2024, with application number 202410057675.3 and invention name “A link method, AP device and storage medium for a wireless network”. The entire contents of the application are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0003] The present application relates to the field of wireless network technology, and in particular to a link method, device, and storage medium for a wireless network. Background Art

[0004] Multi-Link Operation (MLO) is a new feature of Wireless Fidelity 7 (Wi-Fi 7). It allows a message to be sent simultaneously through multiple links, which can be any frequency band, such as 2.4G, 5G, and 6G.

[0005] Currently, wireless local area network (WLAN) devices can proactively select a link with better channel quality as the downlink to send messages based on the link status. However, downstream terminals may not accurately perceive the link status of wireless access points (APs), causing them to select a problematic link on the AP as the uplink to send messages. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The purpose of this application is to provide a link method, device and storage medium for a wireless network.

[0007] In a first aspect, a link control method for a wireless network is provided, comprising: determining a problem link in a wireless access point (AP) device; changing an original service identification value normally configured for the problem link to a specially configured target service identification value; wherein the target service identification value is used in a service identification to link mapping (TID-To-Link Mapping) to indicate that the link is unavailable; and sending information configuring the target service identification value for the problem link to a terminal device corresponding to the AP device, so as to prohibit the terminal device from selecting the problem link as an uplink through the TID-To-Link Mapping.

[0008] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an AP device, comprising: a processor; and a memory configured to store computer-executable instructions, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed, cause the processor to execute the method described in the first aspect.

[0009] According to a third aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, wherein the computer-readable storage medium is used to store computer-executable instructions, and the computer-executable instructions implement the method described in the first aspect when executed by a processor. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application or the technical solutions in the prior art, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments recorded in the embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying any creative work.

[0011] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a scenario in which a terminal device cannot normally sense the link status of an AP device.

[0012] FIG2 is a flow chart of a link control method for a wireless network according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0013] FIG3 is a flow chart of a link control method for a wireless network according to an embodiment of the present application for configuring a TID value for a link.

[0014] FIG4 is a schematic structural diagram of a link control device for a wireless network according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0015] FIG5 is a schematic structural diagram of an AP device according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0016] As mentioned above, terminal devices are currently unable to accurately perceive the link status of AP devices. Referring to Figure 1, the main reasons for this problem are: 1) The terminal is too far away from the AP device, and its own radio frequency function cannot effectively detect the AP device, that is, the detection range of the terminal in Figure 1 does not enter the coverage range of the AP device; 2) The detection range of the terminal is just outside the interference range of the interference source, and it is unable to perceive the interference caused by the interference source to the AP device. That is, the interference range of the interference source in Figure 1 covers the AP device, but the detection range of the terminal does not enter the interference range of the interference source.

[0017] Under MLO, packets can be sent simultaneously over multiple links. Even if WLAN devices are capable of selecting a link with better channel quality as the downlink, if a terminal selects a problematic link in the AP as the uplink, it will still significantly impact overall interaction performance.

[0018] For example, a mobile phone and an access point (AP) are simultaneously transmitting data over channels in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. Suppose that the phone and AP initially communicate over the 5 GHz channel. Then, an interfering device within the AP's receiver range transmits a large amount of data over the 2.4 GHz channel. If the phone cannot detect the interfering device's signal on the 2.4 GHz channel, it will mistakenly assume that the 2.4 GHz band is idle when it sends data to the AP. Therefore, it will select the 2.4 GHz channel. In this case, due to the presence of the interfering device, the AP cannot properly receive the data sent by the phone over the 2.4 GHz channel.

[0019] To this end, the present application aims to propose a technical solution that can prevent a terminal from selecting a problematic link in an AP device as an uplink without introducing a new mechanism.

[0020] In order to enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solutions in this specification, the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of this application. Obviously, the embodiments described are only part of the embodiments of this specification, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in this specification, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative efforts should fall within the scope of protection of this specification.

[0021] On the one hand, the embodiment of the present application provides a link control method for a wireless network, which can be applied to an AP device. FIG2 is a flow chart of the link control method according to the embodiment of the present application, which includes the following steps.

[0022] S202: Determine a problematic link in a wireless access point (AP) device.

[0023] In this embodiment, when the preset dynamic mechanism is triggered, the AP device actively updates the link status of each local link and determines a link whose link status does not meet a certain standard as a problem link.

[0024] For example, the AP device can determine and update the link status of each link every time T based on the indicator information of each link, such as busy time, air interface sending time, air interface receiving time, and air interface occupied time.

[0025] The link status is determined by using a threshold direct comparison method and / or a machine learning method.

[0026] The threshold direct comparison method pre-sets a corresponding threshold value τ for each indicator information. When the indicator information of any target link exceeds the corresponding threshold τ, the target link is determined to be in a busy link state. In this case, the target link can be identified as a problem link.

[0027] The machine learning approach uses metrics from past problem links as features to train a deep learning model. Once trained, the current metrics of any target link can be fed into the deep learning model, which then predicts whether the target link is a problem link.

[0028] In practical applications, a problem link typically refers to a link whose link status is busy. Based on the dynamic link status update mechanism described above, this embodiment can determine a link whose current updated link status in the AP device indicates busy and whose last updated link status was idle as a problem link. Conversely, if a problem link's current updated link status indicates idle and whose last updated link status indicates busy, it can be determined to have recovered.

[0029] S204: Change the original service identifier value of the normally configured problem link to a specially configured target service identifier value; wherein the target service identifier value is used in the service identifier to link mapping TID-To-Link Mapping to indicate that the link is unavailable.

[0030] Transaction Identifier-to-Link Mapping (TTLM) is a mechanism in the Wi-Fi 7 protocol that uses the transaction identifier (TID) to prioritize links. TID values ​​range from 0 to 7, with higher values ​​indicating higher priority. In a wireless network, the AP sends the TID values ​​of each link to the terminal device, which then selects the link with the best priority to send data packets.

[0031] In this embodiment, "0" may be used as a specially configured target TID value. In TID-to-Link Mapping, "0" indicates that a link has the lowest priority and is considered to be in an unavailable state.

[0032] Correspondingly, after determining the problematic link, the AP device may change the original TID value of the problematic link that is normally configured to the target TID value "0".

[0033] For example, if the original TID value of a 5G link is 7 and the AP detects that a nearby interfering device is sending a large amount of data via the 5G channel, the TID value of the 5G link can be forcibly changed from 7 to 0 to indicate that it is unavailable.

[0034] S206: Send information about the target service identifier value configured for the problematic link to the terminal device corresponding to the AP device, so as to prohibit the terminal device from selecting the problematic link as an uplink through TID-To-Link Mapping.

[0035] In traditional TID-to-Link Mapping, the AP periodically sends TTLM elements to associated end devices using beacon frames. The Link Mapping of TID 0-7 field of the TTLM element indicates the current TID value of the link.

[0036] The AP device in this embodiment can reuse the delivery mechanism of the TTLM Element and write the target service identifier value of the problematic link configuration into the Link Mapping Of TID 0-7 field to provide it to the terminal device.

[0037] Correspondingly, after receiving the TTLM Element, the terminal device updates the original TID value of the problem link to the target TID value "0" according to the Link Mapping Of TID 0-7 field.

[0038] For a terminal device, a link with a TID value of "0" will not be selected as its own uplink.

[0039] In the method of this embodiment, after the AP device detects the local problem link by itself, it changes the original service identifier value of the problem link normally configured in the TID-To-Link Mapping mechanism to a specially configured target service identifier value indicating that the link is unavailable, and sends the information of the target service identifier value configured for the problem link to the terminal device, thereby reusing the TID-To-Link Mapping mechanism to prohibit the terminal device from selecting the problem link as the uplink. The entire solution is that the AP device actively influences the link selection of the downstream terminal device based on the link status of its own link, avoiding the problem that the terminal device mistakenly selects the problem link as the uplink due to the inability to accurately perceive the link status of the AP device. At the same time, the solution is implemented by reusing the TID-To-Link Mapping mechanism and does not bring about additional changes.

[0040] In addition, if the problem link returns to normal later, the AP device can also change the target TID value of the problem link's special configuration back to the original TID value of the normal configuration, and send the information of the original TID value of the problem link configuration to the terminal device, so as to unlock the terminal device to select the problem link as the uplink through TID-To-Link Mapping.

[0041] In this embodiment, the original TID value of the problematic link configuration may be sent to the terminal device according to the TTLM Element sending mechanism described above, which will not be described in detail here.

[0042] It should be understood that any link on the AP device may switch back and forth between a problematic link and a normal link over a period of time. To prevent the AP device from frequently sending TTLM elements to terminal devices to change the link's TID value, this embodiment can set an interval. Only when the interval between the problematic link's last TID value modification and the preset time requirement is met will the problematic link's normally configured original TID value be modified to the specially configured target TID value, or the specially configured target TID value of the problematic link be changed back to the normally configured original TID value.

[0043] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of a process of configuring a TID value for a local link by an AP device, which includes the following steps.

[0044] S1: The AP device determines whether to trigger the local preset dynamic mechanism.

[0045] The dynamic mechanism described here may not be limited to a cycle-based dynamic mechanism, a condition-triggered dynamic mechanism, etc., and this document does not make any specific limitations on this.

[0046] S2: The AP device collects statistics on the indicators of each local link.

[0047] As mentioned above, the indicator information may include: time, air interface sending time, air interface receiving time, air interface occupied time, etc.

[0048] S3: The AP device determines whether there is a target link with a link change based on the indicator information of each local link; if yes, it executes S4; if not, it returns to S1.

[0049] The link change mentioned here may refer to: a change from busy to idle, that is, the target link is judged to be a problem link from a normal link; or a change from idle to busy, that is, the target link is restored to a normal link from a problem link.

[0050] As mentioned above, the AP device can determine whether there is a target link with a link change based on the threshold direct comparison method and / or machine learning method, combined with the indicator information of each local link. This will not be repeated here.

[0051] S4, the AP device determines whether the time since the last link status change of the target link reaches the interval length; if yes, execute S5 or S5'; if not, return to S1.

[0052] The interval duration can be set according to actual needs and is not specifically limited in this article.

[0053] In S5, if the link status of the target link changes from idle to busy, the AP device configures the TID value to disable the target link; then, the process returns to S1.

[0054] That is, the target link is transformed from a normal link to a problem link, and the AP device changes the TID value being configured for the target link to a specially configured target TID value.

[0055] S5': If the link status of the target link changes from busy to idle, the AP device configures the TID value to enable the target link and then returns to S1.

[0056] That is, the target link is restored from a problem link to a normal link, and the AP device changes the TID value currently configured for the target link to a specially configured target TID value.

[0057] On the other hand, an embodiment of the present application further provides a link control device for a wireless network. FIG4 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the link control device according to an embodiment of the present application, which includes the following modules.

[0058] The determining module 410 is configured to determine a problematic link in a wireless access point (AP) device.

[0059] The configuration module 420 is configured to change the original service identifier value of the problem link in normal configuration to a target service identifier value of special configuration; wherein the target service identifier value is used to indicate that the link is unavailable in the service identifier to link mapping TID-To-Link Mapping.

[0060] The sending module 430 is configured to send information about configuring the target service identifier value for the problematic link to a terminal device corresponding to the AP device, so as to prohibit the terminal device from selecting the problematic link as an uplink through the TID-To-Link Mapping.

[0061] Based on the apparatus of the embodiment of the present application, after the AP device detects the local problem link by itself, it changes the original service identifier value of the problem link normally configured in the TID-To-Link Mapping mechanism to a specially configured target service identifier value indicating that the link is unavailable, and sends the information of the target service identifier value configured for the problem link to the terminal device, thereby reusing the TID-To-Link Mapping mechanism to prohibit the terminal device from selecting the problem link as the uplink. The entire solution is that the AP device actively influences the link selection of the downstream terminal device based on the link status of its own link, avoiding the problem that the terminal device mistakenly selects the problem link as the uplink due to the inability to accurately perceive the link status of the AP device. At the same time, the solution is implemented by reusing the TID-To-Link Mapping mechanism and does not bring about additional changes.

[0062] Optionally, the determination module 410 is specifically used to: update the link status of each link in the AP device when the preset dynamic mechanism is triggered; and determine the link whose currently updated link status in the AP device is indicated as busy and whose last updated link status is indicated as idle as the problem link.

[0063] Optionally, the configuration module 420 changes the original service identification value of the normal configuration of the problem link to the target service identification value of the special configuration, including: when the interval between the problem link and the last modification of the service identification value reaches a preset time requirement, changing the original service identification value of the normal configuration of the problem link to the target service identification value of the special configuration.

[0064] Optionally, the configuration module 420 is also used to: after the sending module 430 sends the information of the target service identification value configured for the problem link to the terminal device corresponding to the AP device, when the problem link returns to normal, change the target service identification value specially configured for the problem link back to the original service identification value configured normally; and send the information of the original service identification value configured for the problem link to the terminal device, so as to unblock the terminal device from selecting the problem link as the uplink through the TID-To-Link Mapping.

[0065] Optionally, the problematic link is determined to be restored to normal when the currently updated link status indication is idle and the last updated link status indication is busy.

[0066] Optionally, the configuration module 420 changes the target service identification value of the special configuration of the problem link back to the original service identification value of the normal configuration, including: when the interval between the problem link and the last modification of the service identification value reaches a preset time requirement, changing the target service identification value of the special configuration of the problem link back to the original service identification value of the normal configuration.

[0067] Optionally, the determination module 410 updates the link status of each link in the AP device, including: determining and updating the link status of each link based on at least one of the busy time, air interface sending time, air interface receiving time, and air interface occupied time of each link in the AP device.

[0068] Optionally, the information of the target service identification value configured on the problem link, and / or the information of the original service identification value configured on the problem link, are sent to the terminal device via a beacon frame under a wireless local area network standard.

[0069] It should be understood that the link control device of this embodiment can serve as the execution subject of the method shown in FIG. 2 , and thus can implement the steps and functions in the method shown in FIG. 2 .

[0070] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of the structure of an AP device according to an embodiment of this specification. Referring to Figure 5 , at the hardware level, the AP device includes a processor and, optionally, an internal bus, a network interface, and memory. The memory may include internal memory, such as high-speed random-access memory (RAM), and may also include non-volatile memory, such as at least one disk storage device. Of course, the AP device may also include hardware required for other services.

[0071] The processor, network interface, and memory can be interconnected via an internal bus, such as an ISA (Industry Standard Architecture) bus, a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus, or an EISA (Extended Industry Standard Architecture) bus. These buses can be categorized as address buses, data buses, and control buses. For ease of illustration, FIG5 shows only one bidirectional arrow, but this does not imply that there is only one bus or only one type of bus.

[0072] A memory for storing programs. Specifically, the program may include a program code, and the program code includes computer operating instructions. The memory may include a memory and a non-volatile memory, and provide instructions and data to the processor. The processor reads the corresponding computer program from the non-volatile memory into the memory and then runs the following operations: determining the problem link in the wireless access point AP device. Changing the original service identifier value of the normal configuration of the problem link to a specially configured target service identifier value; wherein the target service identifier value is used in the service identifier to link mapping TID-To-Link Mapping to indicate that the link is unavailable. Sending the information of the target service identifier value configured for the problem link to the terminal device corresponding to the AP device, so as to prohibit the terminal device from selecting the problem link as the uplink through the TID-To-Link Mapping.

[0073] After the AP device based on this embodiment detects the local problem link by itself, it changes the original service identifier value of the problem link normally configured in the TID-To-Link Mapping mechanism to a specially configured target service identifier value indicating that the link is unavailable, and sends the information of the target service identifier value configured for the problem link to the terminal device, thereby reusing the TID-To-Link Mapping mechanism to prohibit the terminal device from selecting the problem link as the uplink. The entire solution is that the AP device actively influences the link selection of the downstream terminal device based on the link status of its own link, avoiding the problem that the terminal device mistakenly selects the problem link as the uplink due to the inability to accurately perceive the link status of the AP device. At the same time, the solution is implemented by reusing the TID-To-Link Mapping mechanism and does not bring about additional changes.

[0074] The wireless network link control method disclosed in the embodiments shown in this specification can be applied to and implemented by a processor. The processor may be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. During implementation, each step of the above method can be completed by hardware integrated logic circuits in the processor or software instructions. The above processor can be a general-purpose processor, including a central processing unit (CPU), a network processor (NP), etc.; it can also be a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, or discrete hardware components. The various methods, steps, and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of this application can be implemented or executed. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor. The steps of the method disclosed in conjunction with the embodiments of this application can be directly embodied as being executed by a hardware decoding processor, or can be executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software module can be located in a storage medium well-known in the art, such as random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable memory, registers, etc. The storage medium is located in the memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory and, in conjunction with its hardware, completes the steps of the above method.

[0075] Of course, in addition to software implementation, the AP device in this specification does not exclude other implementation methods, such as logic devices or a combination of software and hardware, etc. That is to say, the execution subject of the following processing flow is not limited to each logic unit, but can also be hardware or logic devices.

[0076] In addition, an embodiment of the present application also proposes a computer-readable storage medium, which stores one or more programs, and the one or more programs include instructions. When the above instructions are executed by a portable AP device including multiple applications, the portable AP device can execute the steps of the method shown in Figure 2, including: determining the problem link in the wireless access point AP device. Changing the original service identification value of the normal configuration of the problem link to a specially configured target service identification value; wherein, the target service identification value is used in the service identifier to link mapping TID-To-Link Mapping to indicate that the link is unavailable. Sending information about the target service identification value configured for the problem link to the terminal device corresponding to the AP device, so as to prohibit the terminal device from selecting the problem link as the uplink through the TID-To-Link Mapping.

[0077] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the embodiments of this specification may be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Thus, this specification may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware. Furthermore, this specification may take the form of a computer program product implemented on one or more computer-usable storage media (including but not limited to magnetic disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) containing computer-usable program code.

[0078] The foregoing description of this specification describes specific embodiments. Other embodiments are within the scope of the appended claims. In some cases, the actions or steps recited in the claims can be performed in an order different from that described in the embodiments and still achieve the desired results. Furthermore, the processes depicted in the accompanying drawings do not necessarily require the specific order shown or the sequential order to achieve the desired results. In certain embodiments, multitasking and parallel processing are also possible or may be advantageous.

[0079] The above are merely examples of the present invention and are not intended to limit this specification. For those skilled in the art, various modifications and variations of this specification are possible. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principles of this specification shall be included within the scope of the claims of this specification. In addition, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative effort shall fall within the scope of protection of this document.

Claims

1. A link control method for a wireless network, comprising: Determining a problematic link in an access point (AP) device; Changing the original service identification value of the normal configuration of the problematic link to a target service identification value of a special configuration; wherein the target service identification value is used to indicate that the link is unavailable in a service identification to link mapping (TID-To-Link Mapping); Sending information about configuring the target service identification value for the problematic link to a terminal device corresponding to the AP device, so as to prohibit the terminal device from selecting the problematic link as an uplink through the TID-To-Link Mapping.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, Further comprising: Updating the link status of each link in the AP device when a preset dynamic mechanism is triggered; The determining of the problematic link in the AP device includes: Determining as the problematic link a link whose currently updated link status in the AP device indicates busy and whose previously updated link status indicates idle.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein The changing of the original service identification value of the normal configuration of the problematic link to the target service identification value of the special configuration includes: Changing the original service identification value of the normal configuration of the problematic link to the target service identification value of the special configuration when the interval duration since the last modification of the service identification value of the problematic link reaches a preset time requirement.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein After sending the information about configuring the target service identification value for the problematic link to the terminal device corresponding to the AP device, the method further includes: When the problematic link returns to normal, changing the target service identification value of the special configuration of the problematic link back to the original service identification value of the normal configuration; Sending information about configuring the original service identification value for the problematic link to the terminal device, so as to lift the prohibition for the terminal device to select the problematic link as an uplink through the TID-To-Link Mapping.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein The problematic link is determined to have returned to normal when its currently updated link status indicates idle and its previously updated link status indicates busy.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein The changing of the target service identification value of the special configuration of the problematic link back to the original service identification value of the normal configuration includes: Changing the target service identification value of the special configuration of the problematic link back to the original service identification value of the normal configuration when the interval duration since the last modification of the service identification value of the problematic link reaches a preset time requirement.

7. The method according to claim 2, wherein The updating of the link status of each link in the AP device includes: Determining and updating the link status of each link based on at least one of the busy time, air interface transmission time, air interface reception time, and air interface occupancy time of each link in the AP device.

8. The method according to any one of claims 4 to 7, wherein The information of the target service identification value configured by the problem link, and / or the information of the original service identification value configured by the problem link, is sent to the terminal device through a beacon frame under the wireless local area network standard.

9. An AP device, comprising a processor; and a memory configured to store computer-executable instructions, characterized in that, When the computer-executable instructions are executed, the processor executes the method according to any one of claims 1-8.

10. A computer-readable storage medium for storing computer-executable instructions, characterized in that, When the computer-executable instructions are executed by the processor, the method according to any one of claims 1-8 is implemented.

Images