Communication method and apparatus

Abstract

A communication method and apparatus, which are used for learning about the compliance of a terminal device with a network instruction. In the present application, the method comprises: a management and control device receiving roaming compliance information of a first terminal device from a serving access device, wherein the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device is used for indicating whether a target access device indicated by a roaming handover instruction is consistent with a target access device to which the first terminal device is handed over during a roaming process corresponding to the roaming handover instruction, or the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device comprises information of the target access device indicated by the roaming handover instruction and information of the target access device to which the first terminal device is handed over during the roaming process corresponding to the roaming handover instruction; and on the basis of the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device, the management and control device determining the compliance of the first terminal device with a network instruction. As an example, the network instruction is specifically a roaming handover instruction.

Description

Communication method and device

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China on January 31, 2024, with application number 202410142234.3 and application name "A Communication Method and Device", the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0003] The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of wireless communications, and in particular to a communication method and apparatus. Background Art

[0004] In an optical network, a terminal device (such as a station (STA)) can access an access device (such as an access point (AP)) to enable communication between the terminal devices. When there are multiple access devices in one place, the terminal device can switch from the currently serving access device (i.e., the serving access device) to another access device. This process can be called the roaming process of the terminal device. Specifically, when the serving access device detects that the received signal strength indication (RSSI) of the terminal device is less than a threshold, the serving access device sends the medium access control (MAC) address of the alternative access device to the terminal device. The terminal device can measure the signal strength of the alternative access device based on the received MAC address of the alternative access device, and send the measured signal strength of the alternative access device to the serving access device. Furthermore, the serving access device selects a target access device from the alternative access devices based on the signal strength of the alternative access device, and instructs the terminal device to switch to the target access device.

[0005] However, during the roaming process, some of the multiple terminal devices connected to the service access device obey the network instructions from the service access device, while others do not. Whether a terminal device obeys the network instructions determines whether the service access device can successfully hand over the terminal device to the target access device.

[0006] How to understand the obedience of terminal devices to network instructions is a technical problem that needs to be solved urgently.

[0007] Summary of the Invention

[0008] The present application provides a communication method and apparatus for understanding the compliance of a terminal device with network instructions.

[0009] In the first aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a management and control device. The management and control device can specifically be a management and control device or a module (such as a chip) in the management and control device. The management and control device is, for example, an access controller (AC), an optical line terminal (OLT), an access network (AN) controller, an end-to-end orchestrator (E2EOrchestrator), a gateway, a primary-ONU (P-ONU) in a fiber to room (FTTR) scenario, etc.

[0010] For ease of description, the following takes the execution of a control device as an example.

[0011] The control device receives roaming compliance information of the first terminal device from the service access device. The roaming compliance information of the first terminal device is used to indicate whether the target access device indicated by the roaming switching instruction and the target access device to which the first terminal device switches during the roaming process corresponding to the roaming switching instruction are consistent, or the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device includes information about the target access device indicated by the roaming switching instruction and information about the target access device to which the first terminal device switches during the roaming process corresponding to the roaming switching instruction. Further, the control device determines the compliance of the first terminal device to the network instruction based on the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device. Exemplarily, the network instruction is specifically a roaming switching instruction, and the compliance of the first terminal device to the network instruction is specifically the compliance of the first terminal device to the roaming switching instruction.

[0012] In the above technical solution, the service access device determines the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device and sends the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device to the control device. Correspondingly, the control device determines the compliance of the first terminal device to the network instruction based on the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device. As above, a method for obtaining the compliance of the terminal device to the network instruction is provided. Furthermore, the compliance of the first terminal device to the network instruction can be used by the service access device to schedule the roaming switching of the terminal device connected to the service access device, which helps to achieve load balancing of the service access device. And for terminal devices that do not obey the network instruction or have relatively low compliance with the network instruction, the service access device may not schedule the terminal device, avoiding unnecessary signaling interaction between the network side and the air interface side, and the terminal device does not need to measure the signal strength of the alternative access device, reducing unnecessary channel measurements of the terminal device and saving power of the terminal device.

[0013] In one possible implementation, the management and control device also sends a roaming policy to the service access device based on the first terminal device's obedience to network instructions. The roaming policy is used for switching the second terminal device during roaming. The first terminal device and the second terminal device are the same or different.

[0014] Exemplarily, the second terminal device includes N terminal devices, where N is a positive integer, and the roaming strategy includes one or more of the following: the device identifier of the target access device to which the N terminal devices switch during the roaming process, the device identifier of the N terminal devices, the value of N, the ratio of N to the number of terminal devices accessed to the service access device, the device type of the N terminal devices, the device model of the N terminal devices, the device brand of the N terminal devices, the wireless local area network protocol (protocol of wireless local area network, protocol of WLAN) followed by the N terminal devices, the priority of the N terminal devices, or the obedience of the first terminal device to network instructions.

[0015] Among them, the device types of the N terminal devices can be one or more, and exemplarily, multiple terminal devices among the N terminal devices correspond to the same device type; the device models of the N terminal devices can be one or more, and exemplarily, multiple terminal devices among the N terminal devices correspond to the same device model; the device brands of the N terminal devices can be one or more, and exemplarily, multiple terminal devices among the N terminal devices correspond to the same device brand; the wireless local area network protocols followed by the N terminal devices can be one or more, and exemplarily, multiple terminal devices among the N terminal devices follow the same wireless local area network protocol.

[0016] In the above technical solution, the control device sends a roaming policy to the service access device based on the first terminal device's compliance with network instructions. The service access device can then schedule roaming handover for the second terminal device based on the roaming policy, helping to achieve load balancing for the service access device. This also avoids unnecessary signaling exchanges between the network and air interfaces, and conserves power in the terminal device.

[0017] In one possible implementation, when the control device sends a roaming policy to the service access device based on the first terminal device's obedience to network instructions, the control device may specifically receive a load balancing target from the service access device, and send the roaming policy to the service access device based on the load balancing target of the service access device and the first terminal device's obedience to network instructions.

[0018] In the above technical solution, the management and control device sends a roaming policy to the service access device based on the load balancing target of the service access device and the obedience of the first terminal device to network instructions. The roaming policy helps the load of the service access device reach the load balancing target.

[0019] In one possible implementation, when the control device determines the compliance of the first terminal device to the network instruction based on the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device, it may specifically determine the compliance of the first terminal device to the network instruction based on the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device and the analysis strategy. The analysis strategy is used to indicate the dimensions of the control device when analyzing the compliance of the first terminal device, and the dimensions may specifically be the device identification, device type, device brand, device model, and the wireless local area network protocol followed. Example (1), the analysis strategy is used to indicate the control device to analyze the compliance of the first terminal device based on the device identification. Example (2), the analysis strategy is used to indicate the control device to analyze the compliance of the first terminal device based on any one or more dimensions of the device type, device brand, device model, and the wireless local area network protocol followed.

[0020] In the above technical solution, the management and control device analyzes the compliance of the first terminal device according to different dimensions indicated by different analysis strategies, which helps to achieve comprehensive compliance analysis and meet the analysis requirements of different service access devices in different dimensions.

[0021] In one possible implementation, the network instruction includes not only a roaming switching instruction, but also a beacon request, and the beacon request includes the device identifier of the alternative access device indicated by the service access device. Accordingly, the service access device can also obtain the device identifier of the alternative access device measured by the first terminal device in the measurement process corresponding to the beacon request, and send the device identifier of the alternative access device measured by the first terminal device to the control device. The control device receives the device identifier of the alternative access device measured by the first terminal device from the service access device. Exemplarily, the device identifier of the alternative access device measured by the first terminal device and the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device are included in the same or different messages.

[0022] In the above technical solution, the management and control device can also determine the first terminal device's obedience to the beacon request based on the device identification of the alternative access device measured by the first terminal device, and then determine the first terminal device's obedience to the network instruction based on the first terminal device's obedience to the roaming switching instruction and the beacon request, which helps to achieve comprehensive analysis.

[0023] In one possible implementation, the control device is specifically a first control device, and the first control device is controlled by a second control device. Based on this architecture, the following two implementations are provided to help achieve architectural flexibility.

[0024] Implementation method one: when the first control device determines the obedience of the first terminal device to the network instruction based on the roaming obedience information of the first terminal device, specifically, the first control device determines the first obedience of the first terminal device to the network instruction based on the roaming obedience information of the first terminal device. The first control device also sends the first obedience of the first terminal device to the network instruction to the second control device, and the second control device determines the second obedience of the first terminal device to the network instruction based on the first obedience of the first terminal device to the network instruction. Correspondingly, the first control device receives the second obedience of the first terminal device to the network instruction from the second control device. When the first control device sends a roaming policy to the service access device based on the obedience of the first terminal device to the network instruction, specifically, it sends the roaming policy to the service access device based on the second obedience of the first terminal device to the network instruction.

[0025] In a second implementation, when the first control device determines the first terminal device's compliance with a network instruction based on the first terminal device's roaming compliance information, the first control device may send the first terminal device's roaming compliance information to a second control device, and the second control device determines the first terminal device's compliance with the network instruction based on the first terminal device's roaming compliance information. Accordingly, the first control device receives the first terminal device's compliance with the network instruction from the second control device.

[0026] In a second aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a service access device. The service access device can specifically be a service access device or a module (such as a chip) in the service access device. The service access device is, for example, an AP in an optical network.

[0027] For ease of description, the following description is made using the service access device as an example.

[0028] The service access device obtains roaming compliance information of the first terminal device. The roaming compliance information of the first terminal device is used to indicate whether the target access device indicated by the first roaming switching instruction and the target access device to which the first terminal device switches during the roaming process corresponding to the first roaming switching instruction are consistent. Alternatively, the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device includes information about the target access device indicated by the first roaming switching instruction and information about the target access device to which the first terminal device switches during the roaming process corresponding to the first roaming switching instruction. The service access device sends the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device to the control device.

[0029] In a possible implementation, the service access device further determines whether the target access device indicated by the first roaming switching instruction is consistent with the target access device to which the first terminal device switches during the roaming process corresponding to the first roaming switching instruction.

[0030] In one possible implementation, the service access device also receives a roaming policy from the control device; according to the roaming policy, a second roaming switching instruction is sent to the second terminal device, the second roaming switching instruction is used for switching the second terminal device during the roaming process, and the first terminal device and the second terminal device are the same or different. Exemplarily, the second terminal device includes N terminal devices, N is a positive integer, and the roaming policy includes one or more of the following: the device identifier of the target access device to which the N terminal devices switch during the roaming process, the device identifier of the N terminal devices, the value of N, the ratio of N to the number of terminal devices connected to the service access device, the device type of the N terminal devices, the device model of the N terminal devices, the device brand of the N terminal devices, the wireless local area network protocol followed by the N terminal devices, the priority of the N terminal devices, or the compliance of the first terminal device with the network instruction.

[0031] In a possible implementation, the service access device further sends a load balancing target of the service access device to the management and control device.

[0032] In a possible implementation, the service access device further sends the device identifier of the candidate access device measured by the first terminal device to the management and control device.

[0033] On the third aspect, the present application provides a communication method, which can be executed by a terminal device. The terminal device can specifically be a terminal device or a module (such as a chip) in the terminal device. The terminal device is, for example, a STA in an optical network.

[0034] For the convenience of description, the following is explained by taking the execution of a terminal device (specifically the first terminal device) as an example.

[0035] The first terminal device obtains the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device, where the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device is used to indicate whether the target access device indicated by the first roaming switching instruction and the target access device to which the first terminal device switches during the roaming process corresponding to the first roaming switching instruction are consistent, or the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device includes information about the target access device indicated by the first roaming switching instruction and information about the target access device to which the first terminal device switches during the roaming process corresponding to the first roaming switching instruction; the first terminal device sends the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device to the service access device.

[0036] In a possible implementation, the first terminal device further determines whether the target access device indicated by the first roaming switching instruction is consistent with the target access device to which the first terminal device switches during the roaming process corresponding to the first roaming switching instruction.

[0037] In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication device.

[0038] The device has the function of implementing the control device in the above-mentioned first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect.

[0039] Alternatively, the device has the function of implementing the service access device in the above-mentioned second aspect or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect.

[0040] Alternatively, the device has the function of implementing the terminal device in the above-mentioned third aspect or any possible implementation manner of the third aspect.

[0041] The functions of the above-mentioned communication device can be implemented by hardware, or by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more modules, units or means corresponding to the above-mentioned functions.

[0042] In one possible implementation, the structure of the device includes a processing module and a transceiver module, wherein the processing module is configured to support the device in performing the corresponding functions of the control device in the first aspect or any one of the implementations of the first aspect, or in performing the corresponding functions of the service access device in the second aspect or any one of the implementations of the second aspect, or in performing the corresponding functions of the terminal device in the third aspect or any one of the implementations of the third aspect. The transceiver module is used to support communication between the device and other communication devices. For example, when the device is a control device, it can receive roaming compliance information of a first terminal device from the service access device. The communication device may also include a storage module, which is coupled to the processing module and stores program instructions and data necessary for the device. As an example, the processing module may be a processor, the communication module may be a transceiver, and the storage module may be a memory. The memory may be integrated with the processor or may be provided separately from the processor.

[0043] In another possible implementation, the structure of the device includes a processor and may also include a memory. The processor is coupled to the memory and can be used to execute computer program instructions stored in the memory, so that the device performs the corresponding functions of the control device in the first aspect or any one of the implementations of the first aspect, or performs the corresponding functions of the service access device in the second aspect or any one of the implementations of the second aspect, or performs the corresponding functions of the terminal device in the third aspect or any one of the implementations of the third aspect. Optionally, the device also includes a communication interface, and the processor is coupled to the communication interface. When the device is a network device or a terminal device, the communication interface can be a transceiver or an input / output interface; when the device is a chip included in the network device or a chip included in the terminal device, the communication interface can be the input / output interface of the chip. Optionally, the transceiver can be a transceiver circuit, and the input / output interface can be an input / output circuit.

[0044] In the fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip system, comprising: a processor and a memory, the processor being coupled to the memory, the memory being used to store programs or instructions, and when the programs or instructions are executed by the processor, the chip system executes the corresponding functions of the control device in the above-mentioned first aspect or any implementation of the first aspect, or executes the corresponding functions of the service access device in the above-mentioned second aspect or any implementation of the second aspect, or executes the corresponding functions of the terminal device in the above-mentioned third aspect or any implementation of the third aspect.

[0045] Optionally, the chip system further includes an interface circuit for transmitting interactive code instructions to the processor.

[0046] Optionally, there may be one or more processors in the chip system, and the processor may be implemented in hardware or software. When implemented in hardware, the processor may be a logic circuit, an integrated circuit, etc. When implemented in software, the processor may be a general-purpose processor implemented by reading software code stored in a memory.

[0047] Optionally, the memory in the chip system may be one or more. The memory may be integrated with the processor or provided separately from the processor. Exemplarily, the memory may be a non-transient processor, such as a read-only memory (ROM), which may be integrated with the processor on the same chip or provided on different chips.

[0048] In the sixth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program or instruction. When the computer program or instruction is executed by a communication device, the communication device performs the corresponding function of the control device in the above-mentioned first aspect or any implementation of the first aspect, or performs the corresponding function of the service access device in the above-mentioned second aspect or any implementation of the second aspect, or performs the corresponding function of the terminal device in the above-mentioned third aspect or any implementation of the third aspect.

[0049] In the seventh aspect, the present application provides a computer program product, which includes a computer program or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are executed by a communication device, the communication device performs the corresponding functions of the control device in the above-mentioned first aspect or any implementation of the first aspect, or performs the corresponding functions of the service access device in the above-mentioned second aspect or any implementation of the second aspect, or performs the corresponding functions of the terminal device in the above-mentioned third aspect or any implementation of the third aspect.

[0050] In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, the communication system including one or more of the following devices:

[0051] The control device in the above-mentioned first aspect or any implementation of the first aspect, the service access device in the above-mentioned second aspect or any implementation of the second aspect, or the terminal device in the above-mentioned third aspect or any implementation of the third aspect.

[0052] The technical effects that can be achieved in any of the second to eighth aspects mentioned above can refer to the description of the beneficial effects in the first aspect mentioned above, and will not be repeated here. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0053] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of an end-to-end domain of a fixed network based on the F5G protocol;

[0054] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a passive optical network;

[0055] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of an FTTH system architecture;

[0056] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of a FTTR system architecture;

[0057] FIG5 is a roaming flow chart of a terminal device provided by the prior art;

[0058] FIG6 is a flow chart of the first communication method provided by this application;

[0059] FIG7 is a flow chart of a second communication method provided in this application;

[0060] FIG8 is a flow chart of a third communication method provided by this application;

[0061] FIG9 is a schematic diagram of a flow chart of a fourth communication method provided in this application;

[0062] FIG10 is a structure of a first communication device provided by this application;

[0063] FIG11 shows the structure of the second communication device provided in this application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0064] The embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0065] The fifth-generation fixed network (F5G) is based on fiber-optic communication technology. Featuring ultra-large bandwidth, all-optical connectivity, low latency, and robust security, F5G empowers a wide range of industries to experience high-quality networks. It is particularly suitable for infrastructure applications such as enterprise campuses, data center interconnection, and power and transportation data transport.

[0066] A domain is used to indicate a physical or logical entity consisting of network devices within the same management scope. Examples of domains include the end-to-end mobile network domain, the end-to-end fixed network domain, the customer premises network (CPN) domain, the access network (AN) domain, the aggregation network (AggN) domain, and the core network (CN) domain.

[0067] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a fixed network end-to-end domain based on the F5G protocol. As shown in Figure 1, the fixed network end-to-end domain includes the CPN domain, AN domain, AggN domain and CN domain.

[0068] Each domain includes its own domain controller, which is used to control other network devices in its domain. For example, the domain controller is used to monitor the operation of other network devices in its domain and perform fault management on other network devices in its domain.

[0069] Illustratively, a CPN domain includes a CPN controller, terminal equipment, and a residential gateway (RG), wherein the terminal equipment is connected to the RG. The CPN controller is used to control the terminal equipment and the RG.

[0070] An AN domain includes an AN controller, optical network units (ONUs), and optical line terminations (OLTs). An OLT is connected to one or more ONUs, and the AN controller controls the ONUs and OLTs. ONUs and RGs in the CPN domain can be deployed separately or together.

[0071] The AggN domain includes the AggN controller, AggN edge devices, and a broadband network gateway (BNG). The BNG is connected to the OLT in the AN domain. The AggN controller controls the AggN edge devices and BNG.

[0072] The CN domain includes the CN controller, core provider edge (core PE), data center gateway (DC GW), core network, and cloud / on-premises data center (DC). The core PE and DC GW can connect to the AggN edge devices in the AggN domain. The CN controller controls the core PE, DC GW, core network, and cloud / on-premises DC.

[0073] The domain controller may be controlled by a unified controller, such as an end-to-end orchestrator (E2E Orchestrator).

[0074] It can be understood that the domain controller is equivalent to the network management system (NMS) in the 3GPP protocol, and the unified controller is equivalent to the element management system (EMS) in the 3GPP protocol.

[0075] In conjunction with the AN domain shown in Figure 1, Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a passive optical network (PON). Each network device in the PON can be controlled by an AN controller.

[0076] The network equipment in a PON includes at least an optical line terminal (OLT) and optical network units (ONUs). Data distribution between the ONU and the OLT can be achieved through an optical distribution network (ODN). For example, the ODN includes an optical splitter for optical power distribution, a trunk optical fiber connected between the optical splitter and the OLT, and branch optical fibers connected between the optical splitter and the ONU. Typically, there is a distance between the ONU and the terminal device or another access network. For example, the ONU receives downstream data from the OLT via the ODN and forwards the downstream data to the terminal device. Furthermore, the ONU can receive upstream data from the terminal device and forward the upstream data to the OLT via the ODN.

[0077] Terminal devices can also be called end users (terminal users), user terminals, etc. Terminal devices include mobile phones, tablet computers, computers with wireless transceiver functions, wearable devices, robots, robotic arms, smart home devices, etc.

[0078] The following six examples are provided based on different ONU placement locations:

[0079] In Example 1, the ONU is placed in the central computer room of a cell. This placement is called fiber to the curb (FTTC).

[0080] Example 2: The ONU is placed in an equipment box in a building. This placement is called fiber to the building (FTTB).

[0081] Example 3: The ONU is placed at a node (such as a cable junction box). This placement is called fiber to the node (FTTN).

[0082] Example 4: The ONU is placed in the service area. This placement method can be called fiber to the service area (FTTSA).

[0083] Example 5: The ONU is placed in a household. This placement is called fiber to the home (FTTH).

[0084] In Example 6, the ONU is placed in a room. This placement is called fiber to the room (FTTR). Furthermore, in this placement, the ONUs are divided into primary-ONUs (P-ONUs) and edge-ONUs (E-ONUs). The P-ONU can be used to control one or more E-ONUs and can also communicate with other P-ONUs. It should be noted that in FTTR, the OLT can also be called an "optical gateway" or "gateway," and the ONU can also be called an "optical modem" or "edge ONU."

[0085] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of an FTTH system architecture. The upper layer of the OLT is connected to a switch, which is located in a central computer room. The lower layer of the OLT is connected to one or more ONUs via the ODN (specifically, the switch and the optical fiber connecting the switch to the OLT or ONU). For example, when an ONU also provides user port functions, such as an Ethernet user port or a plain old telephone service (POTS) user port, the ONU can also be referred to as an optical network termination (ONT).

[0086] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the system architecture of an FTTR. The FTTR network and the FTTH network can be considered a two-level PON system. The OLT in the first-level PON system (FTTH network) is deployed in the central computer room, and the ONU is deployed in the home's information box. The OLT in the second-level PON system (FTTR network) can replace the ONU in the FTTH and be deployed in the home's information box. The OLT in the FTTR scenario has similar functions to the OLT in the FTTH scenario, and the OLT can also have similar functions to the ONU in the FTTH scenario. The ONU in the FTTR can be deployed in each room of the home to connect to terminal devices. Furthermore, the ONU in the FTTR can also have the function of an AP, which can directly connect to the terminal device for a wireless LAN connection; while in the FTTH, the ONU and the terminal device are usually separated by an access point (AP), and the AP connects to the terminal device for a wireless LAN connection.

[0087] When there are multiple access devices in one place (such as ONU in FTTR or AP in FTTH), the terminal device can switch from the current serving access device (i.e., the serving access device) to another access device. This process can be called the roaming process of the terminal device.

[0088] FIG5 is a roaming flow chart of a terminal device in the prior art:

[0089] Step 501: The service access device periodically obtains the received signal strength indication (RSSI) of the terminal device.

[0090] In step 502, after determining that the RSSI is below a threshold, the service access device sends a query message to the gateway. The gateway receives the query message from the service access device. The query message is used to query the gateway for information about candidate access devices, which may be one or more.

[0091] Step 503: The gateway sends the information of the candidate access device to the serving access device, and the serving access device receives the information of the candidate access device from the gateway. The information of the candidate access device includes the device identification and channel parameters of the candidate access device.

[0092] In step 504, the service access device sends a beacon request to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the beacon request from the service access device. The beacon request includes information about the candidate access device.

[0093] In step 505, the terminal device sends a probe request to the candidate access device based on the candidate access device information. Accordingly, the candidate access device receives the probe request from the terminal device. Specifically, the terminal device sends the probe request to the candidate access device based on the device identifier of the candidate access device.

[0094] Step 506: The candidate access device sends a probe response to the terminal device. Correspondingly, the terminal device receives the probe response from the candidate access device.

[0095] In step 507, the terminal device determines the signal strength of the candidate access device based on the probe response of the candidate access device. Specifically, the terminal device measures the probe response from the candidate access device based on the channel parameters of the candidate access device to obtain the signal strength of the candidate access device.

[0096] In step 508, the terminal device sends a beacon response to the service access device. In response, the service access device receives the beacon response from the terminal device. The beacon response includes the signal strength of the candidate access device, which may be one or more candidate access devices.

[0097] Step 509: The service access device sends the signal strength of the candidate access device to the gateway.

[0098] In step 510, the gateway selects a target access device from the candidate access devices based on the signal strength and load of the candidate access devices. Here, the target access device can be considered as the target access device determined by the gateway for the terminal device to access during roaming.

[0099] In step 511, the gateway sends a user migration request to the service access device. Correspondingly, the service access device receives the user migration request from the gateway. The user migration request includes the device identifier of the target access device.

[0100] In step 512, the service access device sends a roaming handover instruction to the terminal device. The terminal device receives the roaming handover instruction from the service access device. The roaming handover instruction includes the device identifier of the target access device and indicates the target access device to which the terminal device should connect during roaming. Specifically, the roaming handover instruction is a basic service set (BSS) handover instruction.

[0101] Step 513: The terminal device sends a roaming handover response to the service access device, and the service access device receives the roaming handover response from the terminal device. The roaming handover response is specifically a BSS handover response.

[0102] It should be noted that, in the switching process of the terminal device shown in FIG5 , although the terminal device receives the roaming switching instruction of the access device and the roaming switching instruction carries the device identifier of the target access device, the terminal device may not serve the roaming switching instruction. Exemplarily, the terminal device can select the target access device for access based on the signal strength of the alternative access device determined by itself in step 507. For example, the alternative access devices are access device 1 and access device 2, the target access device indicated by the roaming switching instruction is access device 1, and the terminal device selects access device 2 for access in the roaming switching process corresponding to the roaming switching instruction. Of course, the terminal device may also serve the roaming switching instruction and access the target access device indicated by the roaming switching instruction in the roaming switching process corresponding to the roaming switching instruction.

[0103] In other words, among the multiple terminal devices connected to the service access device, some terminal devices may obey the network instructions of the service access device (such as roaming switching instructions), while some terminal devices do not obey the network instructions of the service access device. Whether the terminal device obeys the network instructions determines whether the service access device can successfully switch the terminal device to the target access device.

[0104] How to understand the obedience of terminal devices to network instructions is a technical problem that needs to be solved urgently.

[0105] To understand the terminal device's compliance with network instructions, this application provides an exemplary communication method. This communication method can be performed by a service access device and a control device. The service access device can specifically be a service access device or a module (such as a chip) in the service access device, and the control device can specifically be a control device or a module (such as a chip) in the control device. For ease of description, the service access device and the control device can be used as an example.

[0106] In conjunction with the architecture shown in any of Figures 1 to 4, the control device is, for example, an access controller (AC), an OLT, an AN controller, an end-to-end orchestrator, a gateway, a P-ONU of an FTTR, and the service access device is, for example, an AP. The communication method in this application can also be applied to the network architecture of 3GPP, the control device is, for example, an access and mobility management function (AMF), an EMS, an NMS, and the service access device is, for example, a radio access node (RAN).

[0107] See FIG6 , which is a flow chart of a first communication method.

[0108] Step 601: The service access device sends roaming compliance information of the first terminal device to the management and control device.

[0109] Correspondingly, the management and control device receives the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device from the service access device.

[0110] The first terminal device may include at least one terminal device (denoted as terminal device 1 ). For example, the first terminal device may include M terminal devices 1 , where M is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0111] When M is greater than 1, the service access device sends the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device to the control device. Alternatively, the service access device sends M pieces of roaming compliance information corresponding to the M terminal devices 1 in the first terminal device to the control device. Alternatively, the service access device sends M pieces of roaming compliance information to the control device, and the M pieces of roaming compliance information correspond one-to-one to the M terminal devices 1 in the first terminal device.

[0112] When M is greater than 1, each terminal device 1 in the first terminal device may correspond to a device identification (identity), a device model (also known as a device category (category), a device product name (product name), a device version number (version)), a device type (type), a device brand (brand), a wireless local area network protocol (protocol of wireless local area network, protocol of WLAN) followed, etc.

[0113] The device identifier may be a MAC address, a universally unique identifier (UUID), or the like.

[0114] Among them, device types may include computer device types, mobile phone device types, wearable device types, etc.

[0115] The device brands include device brand A, device brand B, etc. The device models include device model A1 of device brand A, device model A2 of device brand A, device model B1 of device brand B, device model B2 of device brand B, etc.

[0116] Among them, the wireless LAN protocol followed can also be called the wireless LAN generation, including the 5th generation wireless LAN protocol, the 6th generation wireless LAN protocol, etc.

[0117] Furthermore, any two terminal devices 1 in the first terminal device may have one or more of the following: device type, device brand, device model, and wireless local area network protocol, except for different device identifiers, and this application does not limit this. For example, the two terminal devices may have the same device type but different device brands, device models, and wireless local area network protocols; or another example, the two terminal devices may have the same device type and device brand but different device models and wireless local area network protocols.

[0118] For the convenience of description, the following description is made by taking an example where the first terminal device includes a terminal device 1 .

[0119] The roaming compliance information of the first terminal device includes the roaming compliance information of the terminal device 1. The roaming compliance information of the first terminal device can be used to determine the compliance of the first terminal device to the network instruction.

[0120] Specifically, the roaming compliance information of the terminal device 1 may include the following examples a and b:

[0121] For the convenience of description, the target access device indicated by the roaming switching instruction can be referred to as the first target access device, that is, the target access device that the service access device instructs the terminal device 1 to switch to during the roaming process is the first target access device. The target access device that the terminal device 1 accesses (or actually accesses) during the roaming process corresponding to the roaming switching instruction is called the second target access device, that is, the target access device that the terminal device 1 chooses to switch to during the roaming process is the second target access device. The first target access device and the second target access device are collectively referred to as target access devices. Furthermore, in this application, the roaming switching instruction and the roaming process corresponding to the roaming switching instruction appear in pairs. For the convenience of description, the roaming process corresponding to the roaming switching instruction can be referred to as the roaming process.

[0122] Example a: The roaming compliance information of the terminal device 1 is used to indicate whether the first target access device and the second target access device are consistent.

[0123] The roaming compliance information of the terminal device 1 may be indicated by one bit. For example, when the bit is 1, it indicates that the first target access device and the second target access device are the same, that is, the first target access device and the second target access device are the same access device; when the bit is 0, it indicates that the first target access device and the second target access device are inconsistent, that is, the first target access device and the second target access device are not the same access device.

[0124] Example b: the roaming compliance information of the terminal device 1 includes information of the first target access device and information of the second target access device.

[0125] The information of the target access device may be a device identifier of the target access device.

[0126] For example, if the first target access device and the second target access device are both access device 1, then the information of the first target access device and the information of the second target access device included in the roaming compliance information of the terminal device 1 are both information of access device 1; for another example, if the first target access device is access device 1 and the second target access device is access device 2, then the information of the first target access device included in the roaming compliance information of the terminal device 1 is information of access device 1, and the information of the second target access device is information of access device 2.

[0127] Optionally, before the service access device sends the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device to the control device, the service access device may obtain the roaming compliance information of terminal device 1 in the first terminal device. For details, please refer to the following acquisition method 1 and acquisition method 2.

[0128] Acquisition method 1: After roaming handover, terminal device 1 sends the information of the second target access device to the serving access device. In response, the serving access device receives the information of the second target access device from terminal device 1 and determines the roaming compliance information of terminal device 1 based on the information of the second target access device and the information of the first target access device.

[0129] In conjunction with Example a above, the service access device may first determine whether the first target access device and the second target access device are consistent, and then, based on whether the two are consistent, determine the roaming compliance information of terminal device 1. In conjunction with the above example of one bit occupied by the roaming compliance information of terminal device 1, if the first target access device and the second target access device are consistent, the service access device determines that the value of the bit occupied by the roaming compliance information of terminal device 1 is 1; if the first target access device and the second target access device are inconsistent, the service access device determines that the value of the bit occupied by the roaming compliance information of terminal device 1 is 0.

[0130] Acquisition method 2: The service access device receives the roaming compliance information of terminal device 1 from terminal device 1.

[0131] Specifically, after roaming switching, terminal device 1 determines the roaming compliance information of terminal device 1 based on the information of the first target access device and the information of the second target access device, and sends the roaming compliance information of terminal device 1 to the service access device.

[0132] In conjunction with Example a above, terminal device 1 may first determine whether the first target access device and the second target access device are consistent, and then, based on whether the two are consistent, determine the roaming compliance information of terminal device 1. In conjunction with the above example of one bit occupied by the roaming compliance information of terminal device 1, if the first target access device and the second target access device are consistent, terminal device 1 determines that the value of the bit occupied by the roaming compliance information of terminal device 1 is 1; if the first target access device and the second target access device are inconsistent, terminal device 1 determines that the value of the bit occupied by the roaming compliance information of terminal device 1 is 0.

[0133] It should be noted that the above acquisition method is only an example and does not constitute a limitation of this application. The service access device can also obtain the roaming compliance information of the terminal device 1 in other ways, such as obtaining the roaming compliance information of the terminal device 1 from other access devices.

[0134] It should be noted that the service access device may send the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device to the control device in the following multiple implementation methods.

[0135] Implementation method a: The service access device sends the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device to the management and control device according to a preset period.

[0136] For example, when the service access device determines that the interval between the current moment and the first moment reaches a preset period, the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device collected in the current period is sent to the management and control device.

[0137] The first moment is the moment when the service access device last sends the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device. The preset period is, for example, 1 hour, 1 day, etc., which is not limited in this application.

[0138] Implementation b: When the service access device obtains the roaming compliance information of a preset number of terminal devices 1, it sends the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device to the control device. The roaming compliance information of the first terminal device includes the roaming compliance information of the preset number of terminal devices 1.

[0139] Furthermore, upon determining that a preset number of terminal devices 1 of a certain device type (or device brand, or device model, or compliant wireless local area network protocol, or any combination of multiple dimensions) have been obtained, the service access device sends the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device to the control device. The preset number may be, for example, 10, 50, 100, etc., and is not limited in this application.

[0140] It should be noted that the combination of any multiple dimensions specifically refers to a combination of any multiple dimensions among device type, device brand, device model, and compliant wireless local area network protocol, for example, a combination of device type and device brand, a combination of device type and device model, a combination of device type and compliant wireless local area network protocol, etc. This description is also applicable to other examples of the present application.

[0141] Implementation method c: when the load of the service access device reaches a first preset load value, the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device is sent to the management and control device.

[0142] Among them, the load of the service access device can be determined based on one or more of the following parameters: the number of terminal devices K (K is a positive integer) accessed to the service access device, the uplink traffic of the service access device, the ratio of the uplink bandwidth occupied by the uplink traffic of the service access device, the downlink traffic of the service access device, the ratio of the downlink bandwidth occupied by the downlink traffic of the service access device, etc.

[0143] It is understood that the service access device can send the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device to the control device multiple times, and the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device sent each time is the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device collected during the current sending process. In combination with the above-mentioned implementation method b, the service access device determines the roaming compliance information of a preset number of terminal devices 1 in a first time period, and sends the roaming compliance information of the preset number of terminal devices 1 corresponding to the first time period to the control device; the service access device re-determines the roaming compliance information of the preset number of terminal devices 1 in a second time period, and sends the roaming compliance information of the preset number of terminal devices 1 corresponding to the second time period to the control device.

[0144] Optionally, the service access device may further send a load balancing target to the control device. The load balancing target is used by the control device to generate a roaming policy. For details, see the description in step 603 below.

[0145] Step 602: The control device determines the compliance of the first terminal device to the network instruction based on the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device.

[0146] The compliance of the first terminal device to the network instruction can be understood as whether the first terminal device obeys (or follows) the network instruction, or the percentage of terminal devices 1 that obey the network instruction among the M terminal devices 1 included in the first terminal device, or whether the first terminal device executes the action indicated by the network instruction, or the percentage of terminal devices 1 that execute the action indicated by the network instruction among the M terminal devices 1 included in the first terminal device. Please refer to the description of the following embodiments for the manifestation of the compliance of the first terminal device to the network instruction.

[0147] The network instruction may be a roaming handover instruction, and the first terminal device's compliance with the network instruction may be the first terminal device's compliance with the roaming handover instruction. For ease of description, the first terminal device's compliance with the network instruction may also be referred to as the first terminal device's compliance or the first terminal device's corresponding compliance.

[0148] Among them, compliance can also be called roaming compliance, network compliance, switching compliance, etc., and is not restricted.

[0149] In one possible approach, the control device determines the compliance of the first terminal device based on an analysis of the policy and the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device. Exemplarily, the control device determines the compliance of the first terminal device based on the analysis of the policy, the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device, and historical roaming compliance information. The historical roaming compliance information specifically refers to the roaming compliance information of the terminal device received by the control device from one or more access devices before step 601. The content of this historical roaming compliance information is similar to the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device. The control device determines the compliance of the first terminal device based on the analysis of the policy, the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device, and historical roaming compliance information. This method is similar to the method of determining the compliance of the first terminal device based on the analysis of the policy and the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device, except that the control device analyzes a larger amount of roaming compliance information. For ease of description, the following example illustrates the control device determining the compliance of the first terminal device based on the analysis of the policy and the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device.

[0150] The analysis strategy is used to indicate the dimensions that the control device uses when analyzing the compliance of the first terminal device. The dimensions can specifically be the device identifier, device type, device brand, device model, and the wireless local area network protocol followed. This is illustrated with reference to the following examples (1) and (2):

[0151] Example (1): The analysis strategy is used to instruct the control device to analyze the compliance of the first terminal device based on the device identification.

[0152] The device identification of the terminal device and the terminal device are one-to-one corresponding. The control device analyzes the compliance of the first terminal device based on the device identification. Specifically, the control device determines the compliance of each terminal device 1 for the M terminal devices 1 in the first terminal device, and then determines the compliance of the first terminal device based on the compliance of each terminal device 1.

[0153] In a specific implementation, the management and control device determines whether the first target access device and the second target access device corresponding to the terminal device 1 are consistent based on the roaming compliance information of the terminal device 1, and then determines the compliance of the terminal device 1 based on whether the first target access device and the second target access device corresponding to the terminal device 1 are consistent.

[0154] It can be understood that when the first target access device and the second target access device are the same, it indicates that terminal device 1 obeys network instructions; when the first target access device and the second target access device are different, it indicates that terminal device 1 does not obey network instructions. For example, terminal device A and terminal device B are both terminal device 1. The roaming compliance information of terminal device A indicates that the first target access device and the second target access device corresponding to terminal device A are the same, while the roaming compliance information of terminal device B indicates that the first target access device and the second target access device corresponding to terminal device B are different. In this case, the control device may determine that the compliance of terminal device A is higher than that of terminal device B.

[0155] In a specific example, the control device obtains roaming compliance information of terminal device 1. Based on the roaming compliance information of terminal device 1, the control device determines the compliance of terminal device 1. This compliance can be expressed as "compliant" or "discompliant." For example, if the control device determines, based on the roaming compliance information of terminal device 1, that the first target access device and the second target access device are the same, the control device determines the compliance of terminal device 1 to be "compliant." If the control device determines, based on the roaming compliance information of terminal device 1, that the first target access device and the second target access device are different, the control device determines the compliance of terminal device 1 to be "discompliant."

[0156] In another specific example, the same terminal device 1 roams and switches between multiple access devices. Accordingly, each of the multiple access devices can obtain the roaming compliance information of the terminal device 1, and the multiple access devices respectively send the roaming compliance information of the terminal device 1 to the control device. The control device receives the roaming compliance information of the terminal device 1 from multiple access devices, that is, the control device obtains multiple roaming compliance information of the terminal device 1. The control device determines the compliance of the terminal device 1 based on the multiple roaming compliance information of the terminal device 1. The compliance can be expressed as "compliance ratio" and / or "non-compliance ratio". For example, the compliance is expressed as "70% compliance" and "30% non-compliance", indicating that the terminal device 1 obeys the network instructions 70% of the time and disobeys the network instructions 30% of the time.

[0157] For example, the same terminal device 1 roams between access device 1, access device 2, and access device 3. Access device 1, access device 2, and access device 3 each obtain the roaming compliance information of terminal device 1 and send it to the control device. Accordingly, the control device receives the roaming compliance information of terminal device 1 from access device 1, access device 2, and access device 3. For example, if the roaming compliance information of terminal device 1 from access device 1 indicates that the first target access device and the second target access device are the same, the roaming compliance information of terminal device 1 from access device 2 indicates that the first target access device and the second target access device are the same, and the roaming compliance information of terminal device 1 from access device 3 indicates that the first target access device and the second target access device are different, then the control device determines that the compliance of terminal device 1 is "66.67% compliant" and "33.33% non-compliant."

[0158] In another specific example, the same terminal device 1 roams and switches between multiple access devices. Accordingly, the multiple access devices can obtain the roaming compliance information of the terminal device 1, and the multiple access devices can respectively send the roaming compliance information of the terminal device 1 to the control device. The control device receives the roaming compliance information of the terminal device 1 from multiple access devices, that is, the control device obtains multiple roaming compliance information of the terminal device 1. The control device determines the proportion of the number of times the terminal device 1 obeys the network instruction based on the multiple roaming compliance information of the terminal device 1. When the control device determines that the proportion of the number of times is higher than the first preset proportion, it determines that the compliance of the terminal device 1 is "high compliance"; when the control device determines that the proportion of the number of times is not higher than the first preset proportion, it determines that the compliance of the terminal device 1 is "low compliance". The first preset proportion is, for example, 60%, 70%, 80%, etc., and the specific value is not limited in this application.

[0159] Example (2): The analysis strategy is used to instruct the management and control device to analyze the compliance of the first terminal device based on any one or more dimensions of device type, device brand, device model, and wireless local area network protocol followed.

[0160] When the analysis policy is used to instruct the control device to analyze the compliance of the first terminal device based on the device type:

[0161] The control device categorizes the M terminal devices 1 in the first terminal device by device type, obtaining terminal devices 1 belonging to one or more device types. Furthermore, the control device analyzes the compliance of the terminal devices 1 belonging to each device type (hereinafter referred to as the compliance of the device type), thereby determining the compliance of the one or more device types. It is understood that the control device can also determine the compliance of the first terminal device based on the compliance of the one or more device types.

[0162] In a specific example, the compliance of the device type can be expressed as "compliance percentage" and / or "non-compliance percentage", for example, as "70% compliance" and / or "30% non-compliance", that is, 70% of the terminal devices 1 under this device type obey the network instructions, while 30% of the terminal devices 1 under this device type do not obey the network instructions.

[0163] In another specific example, if the control device determines that the proportion of terminal devices 1 under the device type that comply with network instructions is higher than a second preset proportion, the control device determines that the compliance of the device type is "high." If the control device determines that the proportion of terminal devices 1 under the device type that comply with network instructions is not higher than the second preset proportion, the control device determines that the compliance of the device type is "low." The second preset proportion can be, for example, 60%, 70%, 80%, etc., and the specific value is not limited in this application.

[0164] For example, the M terminal devices in terminal device 1 are specifically computer 1, computer 2, computer 3, computer 4, mobile phone 1, mobile phone 2, mobile phone 3, and mobile phone 4, where M is 8. The control device determines that computer 1, computer 2, computer 3, and computer 4 are computer device types, and that mobile phone 1, mobile phone 2, mobile phone 3, and mobile phone 4 are mobile phone device types. The control device determines the compliance of the computer device type. Specifically, based on the roaming compliance information corresponding to computer 1, computer 2, computer 3, and computer 4, the control device determines the compliance of the computer device type to be "75% compliant" and "25% non-compliant." The control device also determines the compliance of the mobile device type to be "50% compliant" and "50% non-compliant" based on the roaming compliance information corresponding to mobile phone 1, mobile phone 2, mobile phone 3, and mobile phone 4. For another example, if the second preset ratio is 60%, the control device further determines the compliance of the computer device type to be "high compliance" and the compliance of the mobile device type to be "low compliance."

[0165] It should be noted that in example (2), for the same terminal device 1, the control device can also receive roaming compliance information of the terminal device 1 from multiple access devices. The control device can first determine the compliance of each terminal device 1, and then determine the compliance of a certain device type based on the compliance of each terminal device 1 and the device type of each terminal device 1.

[0166] Similarly, when the control device determines the compliance of the terminal device 1 based on any other dimension (such as device brand, device model or wireless LAN protocol followed), or when the control device determines the compliance of the terminal device 1 based on any multiple dimensions of device type, device brand, device model, and wireless LAN protocol followed, reference may be made to the description in the above example (2).

[0167] It is understood that expressing obedience as "high obedience" or "low obedience" is essentially similar to expressing obedience as "obedience percentage" and / or "disobedience percentage." Expressing obedience as "obedience percentage" and "disobedience percentage," as well as expressing obedience as "obedience percentage," and expressing obedience as "disobedience percentage" are also essentially similar. For ease of description, the following example using obedience expressed as "obedience percentage" is used as an example; other examples are similar and will not be repeated here.

[0168] Optionally, the method shown in FIG6 further includes:

[0169] Step 603: The control device sends a roaming policy to the service access device based on the first terminal device's compliance with the network instruction.

[0170] Correspondingly, the service access device receives the roaming policy from the control device.

[0171] The roaming policy is used for switching of the second terminal device during the roaming process.

[0172] Specifically, the control device generates a roaming policy according to the compliance of the first terminal device, and sends the roaming policy to the service access device.

[0173] The roaming policy may be used by the service access device to determine the terminal device that needs or is to perform roaming switching, as well as the device identifier of the target access device for roaming switching.

[0174] Among them, the roaming strategy can be used by the service access device to perform roaming switching on the terminal device connected to the service access device. Exemplarily, there are K terminal devices connected to the service access device, and the terminal devices that need to perform roaming switching are part or all of the K terminal devices, and the source access device of the terminal devices that need to perform roaming switching when performing roaming switching is the service access device. Here, there are N terminal devices that need to perform roaming switching, and N is a positive integer. The terminal devices that need to perform roaming switching can be collectively referred to as second terminal devices, that is, the second terminal device can include at least one terminal device (recorded as terminal device 2). For example, the second terminal device can include N terminal devices 2, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 1. The following is described with respect to terminal device 2.

[0175] The roaming policy may include one or more of the following parameters:

[0176] The device identification of terminal device 2, the value of the number N of terminal devices 2, the ratio of the number N of terminal devices 2 to the number K of terminal devices connected to the service access device (or the proportion of terminal devices 2), the device type of terminal device 2, the device model of terminal device 2, the device brand of terminal device 2, the wireless local area network protocol followed by terminal device 2, the priority of the device, the priority of the device type, the priority of the device model, the priority of the device brand, the priority of the wireless local area network protocol, the compliance of the first terminal device, and the device identification of the target access device for roaming switching (that is, the device identification of the target access device to which the terminal device 2 switches during the roaming process).

[0177] Illustratively, the roaming policy may be any one of the following roaming policies 1 to 3.

[0178] Of course, the following roaming strategy is merely an example and does not constitute a limitation on the present application. It can be considered that any parameter combination that can be used by the service access device to schedule the second terminal device for roaming switching can be used as a roaming strategy.

[0179] Roaming policy 1 includes the device identifier of terminal device 2 and the device identifier of the target access device for roaming switching.

[0180] It is understood that when there are multiple terminal devices 2, roaming policy 1 may also include device priorities. The device identification and priority of each terminal device 2 may be in a one-to-one relationship and / or a many-to-one relationship. In Example 1, roaming policy 1 includes the device identification and priority of each terminal device A through C. In Example 2, roaming policy 1 includes the device identification of each terminal device D through F, as well as priority 1 for terminal devices D and E, and priority 2 for terminal device F. In Example 3, roaming policy 1 includes the device identification of each terminal device A through F. The priorities of each terminal device can be found in Examples 1 and 2 above.

[0181] Roaming policy 2 includes the device identifier of the target access device for roaming switching and the compliance of the first terminal device.

[0182] Roaming policy 3 includes the device type of terminal device 2 and the device identifier of the target access device for roaming switching.

[0183] It will be appreciated that when there are multiple terminal devices 2, the multiple terminal devices 2 may correspond to one or more device types. When the multiple terminal devices 2 correspond to multiple device types, roaming policy 3 may further include device type priorities. The device type and priority may have a one-to-one relationship and / or a many-to-one relationship. For specific examples, see the description of device identification and priority in roaming policy 1.

[0184] In addition, the above-mentioned roaming policy 1 or roaming policy 3 may also include the compliance of the first terminal device. When the service access device fails to determine the number of terminal devices 2 that meet the load balancing target of the service access device based on roaming policy 1 or the above-mentioned roaming policy 3, the service access device may also determine more terminal devices 2 based on the compliance of the first terminal device. Alternatively, the service access device may also choose not to use the terminal device 2 indicated in roaming policy 1, or not to use the device type of the terminal device 2 indicated in roaming policy 3, but directly determine the terminal device 2 based on the compliance of the first terminal device. Here, the terminal device 2 indicated by the roaming policy may also be considered as the terminal device that the control device recommends the service access device to roam. Alternatively, the above-mentioned "device type" may be replaced with "device brand", "device model", "wireless LAN protocol followed", or any combination of multiple dimensions.

[0185] The compliance of the first terminal device included in roaming policies 1 to 3 is specifically the compliance of the first terminal device determined by the control device in step 602. Furthermore, "compliance of the first terminal device" can be replaced by "partial content of the compliance of the first terminal device." For example, the compliance of the first terminal device includes "75% compliance" for computer device types and "50% compliance" for mobile device types, and partial content includes "75% compliance" for computer device types or "50% compliance" for mobile device types.

[0186] The following example provides a method for controlling the device to obtain other parameters in the roaming policy:

[0187] Method (1): When the control device determines the number N of terminal devices 2:

[0188] The control device determines the number N of terminal devices 2 (or determines the value of N) based on one or more of the following: the load of the service access device, the load balancing target of the service access device, the load of the adjacent access device, and the load balancing target of the adjacent access device. Exemplarily, the control device determines the number N of terminal devices 2 based on the load of the service access device and the load balancing target of the service access device; more exemplarily, the control device determines the number N of terminal devices 2 based on the load of the service access device, the load of the adjacent access device, and the load balancing target of the service access device. Exemplarily, the adjacent access device is an access device whose coverage area overlaps with the coverage area of ​​the service access device, or an access device whose minimum distance between the edge of the coverage area and the edge of the coverage area of ​​the service access device is less than a preset distance, etc.

[0189] Method (2): When the control device determines the device ID of the target access device:

[0190] The control device obtains network information of multiple alternative access devices, and selects a target access device from the multiple alternative access devices based on the network information of the multiple alternative access devices. Exemplarily, the alternative access device is the adjacent access device in method (1). Exemplarily, the network information of the alternative access device includes the load of the alternative access device, the bandwidth of the alternative access device, the transmission delay, the jitter, the software operation status, the hardware operation status, etc. Exemplarily, the control device requests the network information of the alternative access device from the alternative access device, and then receives the network information from the alternative access device. Optionally, the target access device can be one or more.

[0191] Method (3): When the control device determines the device type of terminal device 2:

[0192] In the first possible scenario, the control device determines the compliance of each device type, and then selects a device type with relatively high compliance as the device type of terminal device 2. Specifically, the control device sorts the device types from high to low based on the compliance of each device type. The control device selects the device type of terminal device 2 from the sorting result, and the device type of terminal device 2 can be used for the service access device to select terminal device 2. The device type of terminal device 2 can be one or more. For example, the sorting results are, from high to low, wearable device type, computer device type, and mobile phone device type, that is, the compliance of the wearable device type is higher than that of the computer device type, and the compliance of the computer device type is higher than that of the mobile phone device type. The control device can determine that the wearable device type is the device type of terminal device 2, or determine that the wearable device type and the computer device type are the device types of terminal device 2.

[0193] In the second possible scenario, the control device determines the compliance of each device type, excludes device types with low compliance, and then selects the device type of terminal device 2 from the remaining device types. Specifically, the control device may include a device type set, which may include the device types of M terminal devices 1 in the first terminal device. Optionally, the device type set also includes the device type of the terminal device corresponding to the historical roaming compliance information. The control device may exclude the device type whose corresponding "compliance ratio" is less than the first preset value from the device type set, and then select the device type of terminal device 2 from the remaining device types in the device type set. Exemplarily, the control device uses the remaining device types in the device type set as the device type of terminal device 2.

[0194] Similarly, when the control device determines the device model of terminal device 2, the control device may select the device model of terminal device 2 based on the compliance of terminal device 1 under each device model. For details, please refer to the descriptions in the two possible scenarios above, and "device type" can be replaced with "device model". When the control device determines the device brand of terminal device 2, the control device may select the device brand of terminal device 2 based on the compliance of terminal device 1 under each device brand. For details, please refer to the descriptions in the two possible scenarios above, and "device type" can be replaced with "device brand". When the control device determines the wireless LAN protocol of terminal device 2, the control device may select the wireless LAN protocol of terminal device 2 based on the compliance of terminal device 1 under each wireless LAN protocol. For details, please refer to the descriptions in the two possible scenarios above, and "device type" can be replaced with "wireless LAN protocol".

[0195] Method (4): When the control device determines the device identification of terminal device 2:

[0196] The control device may include the device identifiers of K terminal devices connected to the service access device. Exemplarily, the service access device sends the device identifiers of the K terminal devices connected to the service access device to the control device. In this application, the K terminal devices connected to the service access device may be referred to as K terminal devices, where K is an integer greater than 1.

[0197] After the control device determines the compliance of each device type, it may select N terminal devices 2 in the following two possible scenarios:

[0198] In the first possible scenario, the control device selects a terminal device of a device type with higher compliance from the K terminal devices as the terminal device 2 according to the compliance of each device type.

[0199] Specifically, the control device sorts the device types from high to low based on the compliance of each device type. Based on the sorting result, the control device selects N terminal devices with higher compliance (i.e., terminal device 2) from the K terminal devices. Exemplarily, the control device may first determine the number N of terminal devices 2 (the determination method can be found in the above method (1)), and then select N terminal devices with higher compliance from the K terminal devices based on the number N. For example, the sorting result is wearable device type, computer device type, and mobile phone device type. The K terminal devices include wearable devices 1 to wearable devices 3, computers 1 to computer 3, and mobile phones 1 to mobile phones 2. The control device determines that the number N of terminal devices 2 is 5, so wearable devices 1 to wearable devices 3 and computers 1 to computer 2 are selected as terminal devices 2. It can be understood that the control device can select any two computers from computers 1 to computer 3 as terminal devices 2. As another example, the control device selects terminal devices of the device type with higher compliance from the K terminal devices as terminal devices 2. In this case, the number of terminal devices 2 selected is N. Still combining with the above example, the control device can determine that the compliance of the wearable device type and the computer device type is higher, so wearable device 1 to wearable device 3 and computer 1 to computer 3 are selected as terminal devices 2. At this time, the number of terminal devices 2 is 6.

[0200] In the second possible scenario, the control device excludes device types with lower compliance from the device types of the K terminal devices based on the compliance of each device type, and selects terminal device 2 from the terminal devices of the remaining device types.

[0201] Specifically, based on the compliance of each device type, the control device excludes device types with a "compliance ratio" less than a first preset value from the K terminal device types, and then selects terminal device 2 from the remaining device types. Exemplarily, the control device first determines the number N of terminal devices 2, and then selects terminal device 2 from the remaining device types based on the number N. In another exemplary embodiment, the control device selects a terminal device of the remaining device type as terminal device 2. For a specific example, see the description of the first possible scenario above.

[0202] Similarly, when the control device determines the compliance of the terminal device 1 under each device brand, it selects N terminal devices 2 from the K terminal devices based on the compliance of the terminal device 1 under each device brand. For details, please refer to the above description, and "device type" can be replaced with "device brand". Alternatively, when the control device determines the compliance of the terminal device 1 under each device model, it selects N terminal devices 2 from the K terminal devices based on the compliance of the terminal device 1 under each device model. For details, please refer to the above description, and "device type" can be replaced with "device model". Alternatively, when the control device determines the compliance of the terminal device 1 under each wireless LAN protocol, it selects N terminal devices 2 from the K terminal devices based on the compliance of the terminal device 1 under each wireless LAN protocol. For details, please refer to the above description, and "device type" can be replaced with "wireless LAN protocol".

[0203] Method (5): When determining the priority of a device, the control device:

[0204] The control device may determine the priorities of the N terminal devices 2 based on the compliance of the N terminal devices 2, where N is greater than 1. The higher the compliance of a terminal device 2, the higher the priority of the terminal device 2.

[0205] For example, the compliance of terminal device 2 may be the compliance of the device type (or device brand, or device model, or the wireless local area network protocol followed) to which terminal device 2 belongs. For example, if terminal device 2 belongs to the computer device type and the compliance of the computer device type is "75% compliance," then the compliance of terminal device 2 is "75% compliance." For another example, if terminal device 2 belongs to device brand A and the compliance of device brand A is "65% compliance," then the compliance of terminal device 2 is "65% compliance."

[0206] Method (VI): When determining the priority of device types, the control device:

[0207] When the N terminal devices 2 correspond to multiple device types, the control device may further determine the priority of the multiple device types based on the compliance of the multiple device types. The higher the compliance of a device type, the higher the priority of the device type.

[0208] It can be understood that the first terminal device and the second terminal device can be different. Specifically, there is an intersection or no intersection between the M terminal devices 1 and the N terminal devices 2. For example, the M terminal devices 1 are terminal device A to terminal device C (i.e., M=3), and the N terminal devices 2 are terminal device C to terminal device E (i.e., N=3). Then, there is an intersection between the M terminal devices 1 and the N terminal devices 2, and the intersection of the two is terminal device C. For another example, the M terminal devices 1 are terminal device A to terminal device C (i.e., M=3), and the N terminal devices 2 are terminal device D and terminal device E (i.e., N=2). Then, there is no intersection between the M terminal devices 1 and the N terminal devices 2. Optionally, the terminal device 2 can be a terminal device that is connected to the service access device after step 601.

[0209] It should be added that the above-mentioned scheme involving the control device determining the number N of terminal devices 2 included in the second terminal device based on the load balancing target of the service access device can also be understood as the control device sending a roaming policy to the service access device based on the load balancing target of the service access device and the compliance of the first terminal device. Exemplarily, the service access device may send a scheduling request to the control device when it determines that its load has reached the second preset load value, and the scheduling request includes the load balancing target of the service access device. Exemplarily, the first preset load value is equal to the second preset load value. Exemplarily, the scheduling request may also include roaming compliance information of the first terminal device. Exemplarily, the scheduling request may also include device identifiers of K terminal devices connected to the service access device.

[0210] It should also be noted that the control device generates a roaming policy based on the first terminal device's compliance with network instructions. Specifically, the control device may include an artificial intelligence (AI) model, the input of the AI ​​model includes the first terminal device's compliance with network instructions, and the output of the AI ​​model is the roaming policy. Optionally, the input of the AI ​​model also includes the load balancing target of the service access device.

[0211] In addition, in another possible manner, it can also be defined that the first terminal device includes a terminal device 1, the second terminal device includes a terminal device 2, and the first terminal device and the second terminal device are the same terminal device. This solution can be considered as that the control device generates a roaming policy for a terminal device based on the compliance of a terminal device, and the roaming policy is used for the switching of the terminal device during the roaming process. Exemplarily, when the "compliance ratio" of the terminal device is higher than a first preset ratio, the control device generates a roaming policy for the terminal device; otherwise, the control device does not generate a roaming policy for the terminal device. The roaming policy may include the device identifier of the target access device to which the terminal device switches during the roaming process. The method for determining the target access device can refer to the above description.

[0212] In addition, the service access device may also send a beacon request to the terminal device 1, and the beacon request includes the device identification of the alternative access device. The terminal device 1 may receive the beacon request and measure the signal strength of the alternative access device based on the device identification of the alternative access device in the beacon request. The beacon request may include the device identifications of X alternative access devices, and the terminal device 1 may measure the signal strength of Y alternative access devices, and send the device identifications and signal strengths of the Y alternative access devices to the service access device through a beacon response. The Y alternative access devices are all or part of the X alternative access devices. The service access device may also determine the measurement compliance information of the first terminal device based on the device identifications of the X alternative access devices and the device identifications of the Y alternative access devices in the beacon response, and send the measurement compliance information of the first terminal device to the control device. The control device determines the compliance of the first terminal device with the beacon request based on the measurement compliance information of the first terminal device. The beacon request can also be considered as a network instruction. In this way, the compliance of the first terminal device not only includes the compliance of the first terminal device to the roaming switching instruction, but also includes the compliance to the beacon request. In this way, the management and control device can determine the compliance of the first terminal device more comprehensively.

[0213] Optionally, the method shown in FIG6 further includes:

[0214] Step 604: The service access device schedules the second terminal device to perform roaming switching according to the roaming policy.

[0215] Specifically, the service access device determines, based on the roaming policy, the terminal device (i.e., the second terminal device) that needs or is to perform roaming switching, as well as the target access device to which the second terminal device switches during the roaming process, and sends a roaming switching instruction to the second terminal device, wherein the roaming switching instruction includes a device identifier of the target access device.

[0216] In this application, the roaming switching instruction sent by the service access device to the first terminal device can also be recorded as the first roaming switching instruction, and the roaming switching instruction sent by the service access device to the second terminal device can be recorded as the second roaming switching instruction.

[0217] Based on the above different roaming strategies, the service access device can schedule the second terminal device to perform roaming switching through the following scheduling method, wherein the second terminal device includes N terminal devices 2, and N is a positive integer.

[0218] Scheduling mode 1 corresponds to the above-mentioned roaming strategy 1.

[0219] The service access device obtains the device identifiers of N terminal devices 2 and the device identifier of the target access device for roaming handover from roaming policy 1. When the service access device schedules terminal device 2, there are two specific examples as follows:

[0220] In an example, the service access device sends roaming switching instructions to the N terminal devices 2 respectively according to the device identifications of the N terminal devices 2, and the roaming switching instructions include the device identification of the target access device.

[0221] In another example, the service access device selects some terminal devices 2 from N terminal devices 2 and sends roaming handover instructions to each of these terminal devices 2. The roaming handover instructions include the device identifiers of the target access devices. For example, roaming policy 1 also includes the priorities of the N terminal devices 2. The service access device selects some terminal devices 2 with higher priorities from the N terminal devices 2 based on the priorities of the N terminal devices 2. For another example, roaming policy 1 also includes the compliance of the first terminal device. The service access device selects some terminal devices 2 with higher priorities from the N terminal devices 2 based on the compliance of the first terminal device.

[0222] When there are multiple target access devices, the roaming switching instruction sent by the service access device to each terminal device 2 includes the device identification of the multiple target access devices; or, the service access device assigns a target access device corresponding to each terminal device 2, and the roaming switching instruction sent to each terminal device 2 includes the device identification of the target access device corresponding to the terminal device 2.

[0223] Scheduling mode 2 corresponds to the above-mentioned roaming strategy 2.

[0224] The service access device can obtain the device identification of the target access device and the compliance of the first terminal device from roaming policy 2. Based on the compliance of the first terminal device, the service access device selects N terminal devices 2 from K terminal devices and sends a roaming switching instruction to the N terminal devices 2. The roaming switching instruction includes the device identification of the target access device. The number N of terminal devices 2 can be determined by the service access device based on the load balancing target, or can be obtained by the service access device based on roaming policy 2 (for example, the number N of terminal devices 2 can also be included in the roaming policy 2; for another example, the roaming policy 2 can also include the proportion of terminal devices 2, and the service access device determines the number N of terminal devices 2 based on the proportion of terminal devices 2 and the number K of terminal devices connected to the service access device).

[0225] How the service access device determines the number N of terminal devices 2 and how the service access device selects N terminal devices 2 can also be understood by referring to the description of step 603 above, replacing "control device" with "service access device." When there are multiple target access devices, the manner in which the service access device sends roaming handover instructions to N terminal devices 2 can be understood by referring to the above-mentioned scheduling method 1.

[0226] Scheduling mode 3 corresponds to the above-mentioned roaming strategy 3.

[0227] The service access device can obtain the device type of the terminal device 2 and the device identification of the target access device for roaming switching from the roaming policy 3. The service access device determines the terminal device belonging to the device type from the K terminal devices based on the device type of the terminal device 2, and then selects N terminal devices 2 from the terminal devices belonging to the device type. Subsequently, the service access device can send a roaming switching instruction to the N terminal devices 2, and the roaming switching instruction includes the device identification of the target access device. The number N of terminal devices 2 can be determined by the service access device based on the load balancing target, or it can be determined by the service access device based on the roaming policy 3 (for example, the roaming policy 3 can also include the number N of terminal devices 2; for another example, the roaming policy 3 can also include the proportion of terminal devices 2, and the service access device determines the number N of terminal devices 2 based on the proportion of terminal devices 2 and the number K of terminal devices connected to the service access device).

[0228] When the roaming strategy 3 also includes the priority of the device type, the service access device can also prioritize the device types corresponding to the K terminal devices according to the priority of the device type, and then select N terminal devices 2 from the K terminal devices according to the priority ranking.

[0229] Among them, the way in which the service access device sends roaming switching instructions to N terminal devices 2 can refer to scheduling method 1.

[0230] Of course, the above scheduling methods are merely exemplary and do not limit the present application. The service access device may determine other scheduling methods according to the roaming policy, and then schedule the second terminal device to perform roaming switching.

[0231] In the above technical solution, the service access device determines the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device and sends it to the control device. Based on the roaming compliance information, the control device determines the first terminal device's compliance with network instructions. Based on the first terminal device's compliance with network instructions, the control device sends a roaming policy to the service access device. The roaming policy is used by the service access device to schedule roaming handover for the second terminal device, thereby helping to achieve load balancing for the service access device.

[0232] Furthermore, for terminal devices that do not comply with network instructions or have relatively low compliance with network instructions, the service access device may not schedule the terminal device. In other words, the service access device does not need to send beacon requests and / or roaming switching instructions to the terminal device, helping to avoid unnecessary signaling interactions between the network and the air interface. Furthermore, the terminal device does not need to measure the signal strength of the alternative access device based on the beacon request, reducing unnecessary channel measurements for the terminal device and saving power for the terminal device.

[0233] In the embodiment shown in Figure 6 , the control device can specifically be a first control device, which is controlled by a second control device. Alternatively, the second control device can be used to control multiple first control devices, and the first control device mentioned in Figure 6 is one of the multiple first control devices. Exemplarily, the first control device is an AC, OLT, AN controller, gateway, or P-ONU of an FTTR, and the second control device is an end-to-end orchestrator. In another exemplary embodiment, the first control device is an AMF, and the second control device is an EMS or NMS.

[0234] In conjunction with the embodiment shown in FIG6 and the relationship between the first control device and the second control device, implementation method 1 and implementation method 2 are provided:

[0235] Implementation method 1: The first control device determines the first compliance of the first terminal device based on the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device, and sends the first compliance of the first terminal device to the second control device. The second control device determines the second compliance of the first terminal device based on the first compliance of the first terminal device from multiple first control devices.

[0236] For details, please refer to the flowchart of the second communication method shown in FIG7 :

[0237] In step 701, the service access device sends roaming compliance information of the first terminal device to the first control device. In response, the first control device receives the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device from the service access device. For detailed implementation, refer to the description of step 601. Replace "control device" in step 601 with "first control device."

[0238] In step 702, the first control device determines a first compliance of the first terminal device based on the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device. For a specific implementation, refer to the description of step 602. Replace "control device" in step 602 with "first control device" and replace "compliance" in step 602 with "first compliance."

[0239] Step 703: The first control device sends the first compliance of the first terminal device to the second control device. Correspondingly, the second control device receives the first compliance of the first terminal device from the first control device.

[0240] Step 704: The second control device determines the second compliance of the first terminal device according to the first compliance of the first terminal device.

[0241] It can be understood that other first control devices also perform the steps performed by the first control device in steps 701 to 703 above. Accordingly, the second control device determines the second compliance of the first terminal device based on the first compliance of the first terminal devices from multiple first control devices. Exemplarily, the first compliance is specifically "compliance ratio". Optionally, each first control device can also report to the second control device the number of roaming compliance information corresponding to the first control device for determining the first compliance of the first terminal device. Of course, each first control device can also report other information to the second control device, such as any one or more of the device brand, device model, and wireless local area network protocol followed by terminal device 1 in the first terminal device. Therefore, the second control device can determine the second compliance of the first terminal device based on this information.

[0242] For example, if the first control device 1 determines that the first compliance of the computer device type is 70% based on the roaming compliance information of 100 terminal devices 1 belonging to the computer device type, the first control device 2 determines that the first compliance of the computer device type is 80% based on the roaming compliance information of the 100 terminal devices 1 belonging to the computer device type, and the first control device 3 determines that the first compliance of the computer device type is 60% based on the roaming compliance information of the 100 terminal devices 1 belonging to the computer device type. Then, the second control device can determine that the second compliance of the computer device type is 70% based on the "70% compliance rate and 100 roaming compliance information of the computer device type" from the first control device 1, the "80% compliance rate and 100 roaming compliance information of the computer device type" from the first control device 2, and the "60% compliance rate and 100 roaming compliance information of the computer device type" from the first control device 3.

[0243] Step 705: The second control device sends the second compliance of the first terminal device to the first control device.

[0244] In step 706, the first control device sends a roaming policy to the service access device based on the second compliance of the first terminal device. In response, the service access device receives the roaming policy from the first control device. For a detailed implementation, refer to the description of step 603. Replace "control device" in step 603 with "first control device" and "compliance" in step 603 with "second compliance."

[0245] In step 707 , the service access device schedules the second terminal device to perform roaming handover according to the roaming policy. For specific implementation, please refer to the description in step 604 .

[0246] Implementation method 2: The first control device sends the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device to the second control device. The second control device collects the roaming compliance information of the first terminal devices from multiple first control devices, determines the compliance of the first terminal device based on the roaming compliance information of the first terminal devices from multiple first control devices, and sends the compliance of the first terminal device to each first control device.

[0247] For details, please refer to the flowchart of the third communication method shown in FIG8 :

[0248] In step 801, the service access device sends roaming compliance information of the first terminal device to the first control device. In response, the first control device receives the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device from the service access device. For detailed implementation, refer to the description of step 601. Replace "control device" in step 601 with "first control device."

[0249] Step 802: The first control device sends roaming compliance information of the first terminal device to the second control device. Correspondingly, the second control device receives the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device from the first control device.

[0250] Step 803: The second management and control device determines the compliance of the first terminal device according to the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device.

[0251] It is understood that other first control devices similarly perform the steps performed by the first control device in steps 801 and 802. The second control device determines the compliance of the first terminal device based on the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device from multiple first control devices. The manner in which the second control device determines the compliance of the first terminal device can be found in the description of step 602 above, with the difference being that the second control device can obtain roaming compliance information of more first terminal devices and then analyze the roaming compliance information of more first terminal devices.

[0252] Step 804: The second control device sends the compliance of the first terminal device to the first control device.

[0253] In step 805, the first control device sends a roaming policy to the service access device based on the compliance of the first terminal device. In response, the service access device receives the roaming policy from the first control device. For details on this implementation, refer to the description of step 603; replace "control device" in step 603 with "first control device."

[0254] In step 806 , the service access device schedules the second terminal device to perform roaming handover according to the roaming policy. For details on implementation, please refer to the description in step 604 .

[0255] In addition, the present application also provides a communication method, which is executed by a first control device and a second control device. The description of the first control device and the second control device can be found in the description of the relevant embodiments of Figure 7 or Figure 8 above.

[0256] Specifically, the first control device sends the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device to the second control device. Accordingly, the second control device determines the compliance of the first terminal device based on the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device from multiple first control devices, and then sends the first roaming policy to the first control device based on the compliance of the first terminal device. The first control device sends the second roaming policy to the service access device based on the first roaming policy. The first roaming policy and the second roaming policy are the same or different.

[0257] For details, please refer to the schematic diagram of the fourth communication method shown in FIG9 :

[0258] In step 901, the service access device sends roaming compliance information of the first terminal device to the first control device. In response, the first control device receives the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device from the service access device. For specific implementation, refer to the description of step 601. Replace "control device" in step 601 with "first control device."

[0259] Step 902: The first control device sends roaming compliance information of the first terminal device to the second control device. Correspondingly, the second control device receives the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device from the first control device.

[0260] Step 903: The second management and control device determines the compliance of the first terminal device according to the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device.

[0261] It is understood that other first control devices similarly perform the steps performed by the first control device in steps 901 and 902. The second control device determines the compliance of the first terminal device based on the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device from multiple first control devices. The manner in which the second control device determines the compliance of the first terminal device can be found in the description of step 602 above, with the difference being that the second control device can obtain roaming compliance information of more first terminal devices and then analyze the roaming compliance information of more first terminal devices.

[0262] In step 904, the second control device sends a first roaming policy to the first control device based on the compliance of the first terminal device. Specifically, the second control device generates a first roaming policy based on the compliance of the first terminal device and sends the first roaming policy to the first control device.

[0263] In this application, the second terminal device involved in the first roaming policy can be considered as the terminal device that the second control device recommends roaming switching. The second terminal device includes one or more terminal devices 2.

[0264] The first roaming policy may include one or more of the following parameters: device type of terminal device 2, device model of terminal device 2, device brand of terminal device 2, wireless local area network protocol followed by terminal device 2, and compliance of the first terminal device.

[0265] Optionally, when there are multiple device types of the terminal device 2, the first roaming policy also includes the priority of the device type; when there are multiple device models of the terminal device 2, the first roaming policy also includes the priority of the device model; when there are multiple device brands of the terminal device 2, the first roaming policy also includes the priority of the device brand; when there are multiple wireless LAN protocols followed by the terminal device 2, the first roaming policy also includes the priority of the wireless LAN protocols followed.

[0266] The manner in which the second control device obtains the parameters in the first roaming policy may be referred to the description in step 603 .

[0267] In one possible example, the second control device sends the same first roaming policy to each first control device. That is, the second control device generates a first roaming policy applicable to each first control device based on the compliance of the first terminal device.

[0268] In another possible example, the second control device obtains information about the terminal devices in each access device under each first control device (such as device type, device model, device brand, wireless local area network protocol followed, etc.) for each first control device, and then determines the first roaming policy (i.e., the first roaming policy corresponding to the first control device) based on the information about the terminal devices in each access device under the first control device and the compliance of the first terminal device, and sends the first roaming policy to the first control device.

[0269] For example, the second control device is used to control the first control device 1 and the first control device 2. Among them, the first control device 1 is used to control the access device 1 and the access device 2, the device types connected to the access device 1 are wearable device types and computer device types, the device type connected to the access device 2 is a computer device type, and the first control device 2 is used to control the access device 3, and the device type connected to the access device 3 is a computer device type. When the second control device generates a first roaming policy corresponding to the first control device 1, it can carry the wearable device type and the computer device type in the first roaming policy (without carrying other device types that are not connected to the access device 1 and the access device 2). When the second control device generates a first roaming policy corresponding to the first control device 2, it can carry the computer device type in the first roaming policy (without carrying other device types that are not connected to the access device 3).

[0270] Step 905: The first management and control device sends a second roaming policy to the service access device according to the first roaming policy.

[0271] In one possible example, the first roaming policy is the same as the second roaming policy, that is, the first control device sends the first roaming policy to the service access device.

[0272] In another possible example, the first roaming policy is different from the second roaming policy. That is, the first control device generates the second roaming policy based on the first roaming policy and sends the second roaming policy to the service access device.

[0273] Exemplarily, the first control device further obtains network information of multiple candidate access devices and, based on the network information of the multiple candidate access devices, selects a target access device from the multiple candidate access devices. The target access device is the device to be accessed when the second terminal device needs to perform roaming switching. Exemplarily, the first control device further determines, based on the first roaming policy, the device identifier of terminal device 2, the number of terminal devices 2, the proportion of terminal devices 2, and the like among the second terminal devices.

[0274] The following example provides the expression form of the second roaming policy:

[0275] Example A: The second roaming policy includes the device identifier of the terminal device 2 and the device identifier of the target access device for roaming switching.

[0276] Example B: The second roaming policy includes the device identifier of the target access device for roaming switching and the compliance of the first terminal device.

[0277] Example C, the second roaming policy includes the device type of terminal device 2 (or the device model, device brand, wireless local area network protocol followed, or any combination of multiple dimensions of terminal device 2) and the device identifier of the target access device for roaming switching.

[0278] Furthermore, the first control device can obtain the device type of the terminal device under the service access device for the service access device, and determine the device type of the terminal device 2 included in the second roaming policy based on the device type of the terminal device under the service access device and the first roaming policy. For example, the device types accessed in the service access device are wearable device types and computer device types, and the first roaming policy carries the wearable device type and the mobile phone device type. The first control device can determine that the second roaming policy sent to the service access device includes the wearable device type (without carrying other device types that are not accessed in the service access device). Based on a similar approach, the first control device can also determine the device model, device brand, and wireless local area network protocol followed by the terminal device 2 included in the second roaming policy for the service access device.

[0279] For details not described in step 905 , please refer to the description in step 603 .

[0280] In step 906, the service access device schedules the second terminal device to perform roaming handover according to the second roaming policy. For specific implementation, please refer to the description in step 604, and the "roaming policy" in step 604 can be replaced with "second roaming policy".

[0281] In the above technical solution, the service access device determines the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device and sends the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device to the first control device. The first control device then sends the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device to the second control device. The second control device determines the first terminal device's compliance with network instructions based on the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device, and then sends a first roaming policy to the first control device based on the first terminal device's compliance with network instructions. The first control device then sends a second roaming policy to the service access device based on the first roaming policy. The second roaming policy is used by the service access device to schedule roaming switching for the second terminal device, thereby helping to achieve load balancing for the service access device.

[0282] Furthermore, for terminal devices that do not comply with network instructions or have relatively low compliance with network instructions, the service access device may not schedule the terminal device. In other words, the service access device does not need to send beacon requests and / or roaming handover instructions to the terminal device, helping to avoid unnecessary signaling interactions between the network and the air interface. Furthermore, the terminal device does not need to measure the signal strength of the alternative access device based on the beacon request, reducing unnecessary channel measurements for the terminal device and saving power.

[0283] Based on the above content and the same concept, Figures 10 and 11 are schematic diagrams of the structures of possible communication devices provided by this application. These communication devices can be used to implement the functions of the service access device, management and control device, or terminal device in the above method embodiments, thereby also achieving the beneficial effects of the above method embodiments. As shown in Figure 10, the communication device 1000 includes a processing module 1001 and a transceiver module 1002.

[0284] When the communication device 1000 is used to implement the functions of the control device in the method embodiments shown in FIG6 to FIG8:

[0285] The transceiver module 1002 is used to receive roaming compliance information of a first terminal device from a service access device, where the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device is used to indicate whether the target access device indicated by the roaming switching instruction and the target access device to which the first terminal device switches during the roaming process corresponding to the roaming switching instruction are consistent, or the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device includes information about the target access device indicated by the roaming switching instruction and information about the target access device to which the first terminal device switches during the roaming process corresponding to the roaming switching instruction; the processing module 1001 is used to determine the compliance of the first terminal device with the network instruction based on the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device.

[0286] In one possible implementation, the processing module 1001 is also used to control the transceiver module 1002 to send a roaming policy to the service access device based on the first terminal device's obedience to network instructions, wherein the roaming policy is used for switching of the second terminal device during the roaming process, and the first terminal device and the second terminal device are the same or different.

[0287] In one possible implementation, when the processing module 1001 controls the transceiver module 1002 to send a roaming policy to a service access device based on the first terminal device's obedience to network instructions, the processing module 1001 is specifically used to control the transceiver module 1002 to send a roaming policy to a service access device based on the load balancing target of the service access device and the first terminal device's obedience to network instructions.

[0288] In one possible implementation, when the processing module 1001 determines the compliance of the first terminal device to the network instruction based on the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device, it is specifically used to determine the compliance of the first terminal device to the network instruction based on the roaming compliance information and analysis strategy of the first terminal device.

[0289] In a possible implementation, the transceiver module 1002 is further configured to receive a device identifier of a candidate access device measured by the first terminal device from the serving access device.

[0290] In one possible implementation, the communication device 1000 is a first control device, and the first control device is controlled by a second control device. When the processing module 1001 determines the compliance of the first terminal device to the network instruction based on the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device, it is specifically used to determine the first compliance of the first terminal device to the network instruction based on the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device. The transceiver module 1002 is also used to send the first compliance of the first terminal device to the network instruction to the second control device; and receive the second compliance of the first terminal device to the network instruction from the second control device. When the processing module 1001 controls the transceiver module 1002 to send a roaming policy to the service access device based on the compliance of the first terminal device to the network instruction, it is specifically used to control the transceiver module 1002 to send a roaming policy to the service access device based on the second compliance of the first terminal device to the network instruction.

[0291] In one possible implementation, communication device 1000 is a first control device, which is controlled by a second control device. When determining the compliance of the first terminal device to a network instruction based on the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device, processing module 1001 is specifically configured to control transceiver module 1002 to send the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device to the second control device; and control transceiver module 1002 to receive the compliance information of the first terminal device to the network instruction from the second control device.

[0292] When the communication device 1000 is used to implement the functions of the control device in the method embodiment shown in FIG9 , the communication device 1000 is a second control device, and the first control device is controlled by the second control device. The transceiver module 1002 is configured to receive roaming compliance information of a first terminal device from a serving access device, forwarded by the first control device. The roaming compliance information of the first terminal device indicates whether the target access device indicated by the roaming handover instruction and the target access device to which the first terminal device switches during the roaming process corresponding to the roaming handover instruction are consistent. Alternatively, the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device includes information about the target access device indicated by the roaming handover instruction and information about the target access device to which the first terminal device switches during the roaming process corresponding to the roaming handover instruction. The processing module 1001 is configured to determine the first terminal device's compliance with network instructions based on the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device. In one possible implementation, the processing module 1001 is further configured to control the transceiver module 1002 to send a first roaming policy to the first control device based on the first terminal device's compliance with network instructions.

[0293] When the communication device 1000 is used to implement the functions of the service access device in the method embodiments shown in FIG6 to FIG9:

[0294] The processing module 1001 is used to obtain roaming compliance information of the first terminal device, where the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device is used to indicate whether the target access device indicated by the first roaming switching instruction and the target access device to which the first terminal device switches during the roaming process corresponding to the first roaming switching instruction are consistent, or the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device includes information of the target access device indicated by the first roaming switching instruction and information of the target access device to which the first terminal device switches during the roaming process corresponding to the first roaming switching instruction; the transceiver module 1002 is used to send the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device.

[0295] In a possible implementation, the processing module 1001 is further configured to determine whether the target access device indicated by the first roaming switching instruction is consistent with the target access device to which the first terminal device switches during the roaming process corresponding to the first roaming switching instruction.

[0296] In one possible implementation, the transceiver module 1002 is also used to receive a roaming policy from the management and control device; the processing module 1001 is also used to send a second roaming switching instruction to the second terminal device according to the roaming policy, and the second roaming switching instruction is used for switching the second terminal device during the roaming process. The first terminal device and the second terminal device are the same or different.

[0297] In a possible implementation, the transceiver module 1002 is further configured to send the load balancing target of the service access device to the management and control device.

[0298] In a possible implementation, the transceiver module 1002 is further configured to send the device identifier of the candidate access device measured by the first terminal device to the control device.

[0299] When the communication device 1000 is used to implement the functions of the terminal device in the method embodiments shown in FIG6 to FIG9 :

[0300] The processing module 1001 is used to obtain roaming compliance information of the first terminal device, where the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device is used to indicate whether the target access device indicated by the first roaming switching instruction and the target access device to which the first terminal device switches during the roaming process corresponding to the first roaming switching instruction are consistent, or the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device includes information of the target access device indicated by the first roaming switching instruction and information of the target access device to which the first terminal device switches during the roaming process corresponding to the first roaming switching instruction; the transceiver module 1002 is used to send the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device.

[0301] In a possible implementation, the processing module 1001 is further configured to determine whether the target access device indicated by the first roaming switching instruction is consistent with the target access device to which the first terminal device switches during the roaming process corresponding to the first roaming switching instruction.

[0302] A more detailed description of the processing module 1001 and the transceiver module 1002 can be directly obtained by referring to the relevant descriptions in the method embodiments shown in Figures 6 to 9, and will not be repeated here.

[0303] FIG11 shows an apparatus 1100 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The apparatus shown in FIG11 may be a hardware circuit implementation of the apparatus shown in FIG10 . The apparatus may be applied to the flowcharts shown above to perform the functions of the control apparatus, service access apparatus, or terminal apparatus in the above-described method embodiments. For ease of illustration, FIG11 only illustrates the main components of the apparatus.

[0304] The apparatus 1100 shown in FIG11 includes a processor 1120 and a memory 1130, wherein the memory 1130 is configured to store program instructions and / or data. The processor 1120 may operate in conjunction with the memory 1130. The processor 1120 may execute program instructions stored in the memory 1130. When the instructions or program stored in the memory 1130 are executed, the processor 1120 is configured to perform the functions or methods of each network element or device in the above-described method embodiments.

[0305] Memory 1130 is coupled to processor 1120. In the embodiments of the present application, coupling refers to an indirect coupling or communication connection between devices, units, or modules, and can be electrical, mechanical, or other forms, for information exchange between the devices, units, or modules. At least one of memory 1130 may be included in processor 1120.

[0306] In the embodiment of the present application, the apparatus 1100 may further include a communication interface 1110. The communication interface may be a transceiver, circuit, bus, module, or other type of communication interface. In the embodiment of the present application, when the communication interface is a transceiver, the transceiver may include an independent receiver or an independent transmitter; or it may be a transceiver that integrates transceiver functions, or a communication interface.

[0307] Device 1100 may also include a communication line 1140. Communication interface 1110, processor 1120, and memory 1130 may be interconnected via communication line 1140; communication line 1140 may be a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus or an Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus, for example. Communication line 1140 may be classified as an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, and the like. For ease of illustration, FIG11 shows only one thick line, but this does not imply that there is only one bus or only one type of bus.

[0308] It is understood that the processor in the embodiments of the present application may be a central processing unit (CPU), or may be other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor.

[0309] The method steps in the embodiments of the present application can be implemented by hardware or by a processor executing software instructions. The software instructions can be composed of corresponding software modules, and the software modules can be stored in random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, erasable programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, registers, hard disks, mobile hard disks, CD-ROMs or any other form of storage medium well known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. Of course, the storage medium can also be an integral part of the processor. The processor and the storage medium can be located in an ASIC. In addition, the ASIC can be located in a control device, a service access device or a terminal device. Of course, the processor and the storage medium can also exist as discrete components in a control device, a service access device or a terminal device.

[0310] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented using software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented in the form of a computer program product. A computer program product includes one or more computer programs or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions of the embodiments of the present application are performed in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, a network device, a user device, or other programmable device. The computer program or instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transferred from one computer-readable storage medium to another. For example, the computer program or instructions may be transferred from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wired or wireless means. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that integrates one or more available media. The available media may be magnetic media, such as floppy disks, hard disks, or magnetic tapes; optical media, such as digital video disks; or semiconductor media, such as solid-state drives. The computer-readable storage medium may be a volatile or non-volatile storage medium, or may include both volatile and non-volatile storage media. Exemplarily, when the computer program or instruction is executed by a computer (or a communication device), the computer performs the corresponding functions of the control device in the method embodiments shown in Figures 6 to 9 above, or performs the corresponding functions of the service access device in the method embodiments shown in Figures 6 to 9 above, or performs the corresponding functions of the terminal device in the method embodiments shown in Figures 6 to 9 above.

[0311] Based on the above content and the same concept, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, which includes one or more of the following devices:

[0312] The control device in the method embodiments shown in Figures 6 to 9 above, the service access device in the method embodiments shown in Figures 6 to 9, or the terminal device in the method embodiments shown in Figures 6 to 9.

[0313] In the various embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified or there is a logical conflict, the terms and / or descriptions between different embodiments are consistent and can be referenced by each other. The technical features in different embodiments can be combined to form new embodiments according to their inherent logical relationships.

[0314] In this application, "at least one" means one or more, and "more" means two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In the text description of this application, the character " / " generally indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in an "or" relationship; in the formula of this application, the character " / " indicates that the previous and next associated objects are in a "division" relationship. "Including at least one of A, B and C" can mean: including A; including B; including C; including A and B; including A and C; including B and C; including A, B and C.

[0315] It is understood that the various numbers used in the embodiments of this application are merely for ease of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of this application. The order of the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not necessarily imply a specific order of execution; the order of execution of the processes should be determined by their functions and inherent logic.

Claims

1. A communication method, characterized in that: include: receiving roaming compliance information of a first terminal device from a serving access device, where the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device is used to indicate whether a target access device indicated by a roaming switching instruction and a target access device to which the first terminal device switches during a roaming process corresponding to the roaming switching instruction are consistent, or the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device includes information of the target access device indicated by the roaming switching instruction and information of the target access device to which the first terminal device switches during a roaming process corresponding to the roaming switching instruction; The compliance of the first terminal device to the network instruction is determined according to the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein Also includes: According to the compliance of the first terminal device with the network instruction, a roaming policy is sent to the service access device, where the roaming policy is used for switching of the second terminal device during roaming, and the first terminal device and the second terminal device are the same or different.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein The second terminal device includes N terminal devices, where N is a positive integer; The roaming strategy includes one or more of the following: The device identification of the target access device to which the N terminal devices switch during roaming, the device identification of the N terminal devices, the value of N, the ratio of N to the number of terminal devices connected to the service access device, the device type of the N terminal devices, the device model of the N terminal devices, the device brand of the N terminal devices, the wireless local area network protocol followed by the N terminal devices, the priority of the N terminal devices, or the obedience of the first terminal device to network instructions.

4. The method according to claim 2 or 3, wherein: The sending of the roaming policy to the service access device according to the compliance of the first terminal device with the network instruction includes: The roaming policy is sent to the service access device according to the load balancing target of the service access device and the compliance of the first terminal device to network instructions.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein The determining, based on the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device, whether the first terminal device complies with the network instruction includes: The compliance of the first terminal device with the network instruction is determined based on the roaming compliance information and analysis strategy of the first terminal device.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein Also includes: Receive a device identifier of a candidate access device measured by the first terminal device from the service access device.

7. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 6, wherein The method is performed by a first control device, and the first control device is controlled by a second control device; The determining, based on the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device, the compliance of the first terminal device to the network instruction includes: determining, based on the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device, a first compliance of the first terminal device to the network instruction; The method further includes: sending a first compliance of the first terminal device to the network instruction to the second control device; and receiving a second compliance of the first terminal device to the network instruction from the second control device; The sending of the roaming policy to the service access device according to the compliance of the first terminal device to the network instruction includes: sending the roaming policy to the service access device according to the second compliance of the first terminal device to the network instruction.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein The method is performed by a first control device, and the first control device is controlled by a second control device; The determining, based on the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device, whether the first terminal device complies with the network instruction includes: Sending roaming compliance information of the first terminal device to the second control device; Receive the first terminal device's compliance with the network instruction from the second control device.

9. A communication method, characterized in that: include: Obtaining roaming compliance information of the first terminal device, where the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device is used to indicate whether a target access device indicated by a first roaming switching instruction and a target access device to which the first terminal device switches during a roaming process corresponding to the first roaming switching instruction are consistent, or the roaming compliance information of the first terminal device includes information of the target access device indicated by the first roaming switching instruction and information of the target access device to which the first terminal device switches during a roaming process corresponding to the first roaming switching instruction; Sending roaming compliance information of the first terminal device.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein Also includes: Determine whether the target access device indicated by the first roaming switching instruction and the target access device switched by the first terminal device during the roaming process corresponding to the first roaming switching instruction are consistent.

11. The method according to claim 9 or 10, wherein: Also includes: Receive roaming policies from the control device; According to the roaming policy, a second roaming switching instruction is sent to the second terminal device, where the second roaming switching instruction is used for switching the second terminal device during roaming, and the first terminal device and the second terminal device are the same or different.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein The second terminal device includes N terminal devices, where N is a positive integer; The roaming strategy includes one or more of the following: The device identification of the target access device to which the N terminal devices switch during roaming, the device identification of the N terminal devices, the value of N, the ratio of N to the number of terminal devices connected to the service access device, the device type of the N terminal devices, the device model of the N terminal devices, the device brand of the N terminal devices, the wireless local area network protocol followed by the N terminal devices, the priority of the N terminal devices, or the obedience of the first terminal device to network instructions.

13. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 12, wherein: Also includes: Send the load balancing target of the service access device to the control device.

14. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 13, wherein: Also includes: Send the device identifier of the candidate access device measured by the first terminal device to the management and control device.

15. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a module for executing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, or a module for executing the method according to any one of claims 9 to 14.

16. A communication device, characterized in that: The method comprises a processor and an interface circuit, wherein the interface circuit is used to receive signals from other communication devices outside the communication device and transmit them to the processor or send signals from the processor to other communication devices outside the communication device, and the processor is used to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8 through a logic circuit or by executing code instructions, or the processor is used to implement the method according to any one of claims 9 to 14 through a logic circuit or by executing code instructions.

17. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The storage medium stores a computer program or instruction. When the computer program or instruction is executed by the communication device, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8 is implemented, or the method according to any one of claims 9 to 14 is implemented.

18. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product includes a computer program or instructions. When the computer program or instructions are executed by a communication device, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8 and the method according to any one of claims 9 to 14 are implemented.

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