Roaming method and apparatus, and electronic device and storage medium
By sniffing device identifiers in the access point chip to determine location relationships, and combined with guidance from the access controller, the problem of unsuccessful roaming detection of mobile devices was solved, achieving an efficient and low-cost roaming process.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- WO · WO
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- RUIJIE NETWORKS CO LTD
- Filing Date
- 2025-09-29
- Publication Date
- 2026-07-16
Smart Images
Figure CN2025125490_16072026_PF_FP_ABST
Abstract
Description
Roaming methods, devices, electronic devices and storage media
[0001] Cross-references to related applications
[0002] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202510030983.1, filed on January 8, 2025, with the title “Roaming Method, Apparatus, System, Electronic Device and Storage Medium”, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field
[0003] This application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a roaming method, apparatus, electronic device and storage medium. Background Technology
[0004] Wireless roaming allows mobile devices to maintain network connectivity and communication without interruption while moving. The roaming process mainly includes roaming triggering and the wireless access point (AP) guiding the mobile device to roam.
[0005] To enable the access point (AP) to guide mobile device roaming, the AP needs to detect the relative positional relationship with the mobile device. Related technologies employ either the 802.11K / V protocol for guidance, or a third radio frequency (RF) and 802.11V protocol for guidance. Summary of the Invention
[0006] This application provides a roaming method, apparatus, electronic device, and storage medium, and provides a scheme for detecting the relative positional relationship between a mobile device and a mobile device.
[0007] In a first aspect, embodiments of this application provide a roaming method, including:
[0008] The first access point receives a monitoring instruction sent by the access controller (AC), the monitoring instruction containing the device identifier of the mobile device;
[0009] The chip at the first access point determines the relative position representation information between the first access point and the mobile device based on the device identifier; and
[0010] The relative location representation information is sent to the access controller, wherein the relative location representation information is used by the access controller to guide the mobile device to roam.
[0011] In this way, by using the chip of the first access point itself, the relative positional relationship with the mobile device can be determined through the underlying hardware sniffing method. This can be done regardless of whether the mobile device supports roaming protocols. The detection success rate is relatively high, and there is no need to add an additional third radio frequency, so the hardware cost is also relatively low.
[0012] In some embodiments, the monitoring indication includes a plurality of device identifiers, the plurality of device identifiers including the device identifier, and the step of writing the device identifier into the chip includes:
[0013] The plurality of device identifiers are polled according to the upper limit of the chip, where the upper limit of the chip represents the maximum number of device identifiers that can be stored and is determined based on the hardware information of the chip.
[0014] When the device identifier is polled, the device identifier is written into the chip, and the chip determines the relative position representation information of the first access point and the mobile device corresponding to the device identifier.
[0015] In this way, by using a polling method to write a batch of device identifiers into the chip at a time for information acquisition, the chip's ability to acquire relative position representation information can be improved.
[0016] In some embodiments, it also includes:
[0017] When the access controller receives an access denial indication message, it will deny the access of the mobile device when it receives the access request from the mobile device. The access denial indication message contains the device identifier of the mobile device.
[0018] This allows mobile devices to connect to access points with better signal quality, thereby improving roaming quality.
[0019] In some embodiments, it also includes:
[0020] When the preset conditions are met, the access denial indication information is determined to be invalid.
[0021] This allows access rejection instructions to be invalidated when necessary, preparing for subsequent access by the mobile device.
[0022] In some embodiments, the invalid condition includes one or more of the following conditions:
[0023] The number of times the mobile device's access has been denied has reached a preset number; the access controller has sent an indication that the mobile device has accessed a third access point, which is the access point that guides the mobile device to roam; the access denial indication has expired.
[0024] In this way, there are many different invalidation conditions, and the settings are quite flexible.
[0025] In some embodiments, the chip is a baseband chip or a radio frequency chip.
[0026] After receiving the monitoring indication sent by the access controller at the first access point, the method further includes:
[0027] Write the device identifier into the chip of the first access point.
[0028] This provides good flexibility in obtaining relative position representation information.
[0029] In some embodiments, writing the device identifier into the chip of the first access point includes:
[0030] The device identifier is written into the hardware register of the chip.
[0031] In some embodiments, the monitoring indication is sent by the access controller after determining that the mobile device meets the roaming triggering conditions.
[0032] In this way, once the mobile device meets the roaming triggering conditions, the system begins to monitor the relative position representation information between the first access point and the mobile device, which can better prepare for roaming guidance.
[0033] In some embodiments, the method further includes:
[0034] When the mobile device connects to the first access point, it sends relative position representation information between the first access point and the mobile device to the access controller.
[0035] Secondly, embodiments of this application provide a roaming method, including:
[0036] The access controller sends a monitoring instruction, which includes the device identifier of the mobile device. The first access point that receives the monitoring instruction writes the device identifier into the chip of the first access point. The chip determines the relative position representation information between the first access point and the mobile device based on the device identifier.
[0037] Receive relative position representation information between the first access point and the mobile device sent by the first access point;
[0038] Based on the relative positional information between the first access point and the mobile device, the mobile device is guided to roam.
[0039] In this way, by using the chip of the first access point itself, the relative positional relationship between the first access point and the mobile device can be determined through low-level hardware sniffing. This can be done regardless of whether the mobile device supports roaming protocols, with a relatively high success rate. It also does not require an additional third radio frequency, so the hardware cost is relatively low.
[0040] In some embodiments, before the access controller sends a monitoring indication, the method further includes:
[0041] The access controller determines the relative positional relationship between the second access point and the mobile device based on the received relative positional representation information between the second access point and the mobile device; and
[0042] Based on the relative positional relationship, it is determined whether the mobile device meets the roaming triggering conditions.
[0043] In some embodiments, the access controller sends a monitoring indication, including:
[0044] When the mobile terminal meets the roaming triggering condition, it sends the monitoring instruction.
[0045] In some embodiments, when the relative position representation information is the Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI) of the mobile device, determining whether the mobile device meets the roaming trigger condition based on the relative position relationship includes:
[0046] When the mobile terminal is in motion and the relative distance between the second AP and the mobile device exceeds a preset distance, it is determined that the mobile device meets the roaming trigger condition; or
[0047] When the mobile device is in motion and the RSSI is less than a preset threshold, the mobile device is determined to meet the roaming trigger condition.
[0048] In some embodiments, before determining whether the mobile device meets the roaming trigger condition based on the relative positional relationship, the method further includes:
[0049] The access controller determines whether the mobile device is in a moving state based on the relative position representation information of the access point and the mobile device received periodically; and
[0050] Determining whether the mobile device is in a moving state includes:
[0051] The relative position between the access point and the mobile device is determined based on the relative position representation information; the position of the mobile device is periodically determined based on the relative position between the access point and the mobile terminal and pre-configured access point position information; and the mobile device is determined to be in a moving state based on the periodically determined position of the mobile device.
[0052] When the periodically received access point relative position information of the mobile device matches the information characteristics of the mobile device when it is moving, it is determined that the mobile terminal is in a moving state.
[0053] In some embodiments, guiding the mobile device to roam based on the relative position representation information between the first access point and the mobile device includes:
[0054] Based on the relative position representation information between the first access point and the mobile device, and the relative position representation information between the second access point and the mobile device sent by the second access point, when it is determined that the mobile device meets the roaming guidance conditions, a third access point is determined from the first access points, where the second access point is the access point currently accessed by the mobile device; and
[0055] Based on the roaming capability information of the mobile device, different guidance methods are used to guide the mobile device to access the third access point.
[0056] In this way, when it is determined that the mobile device meets the roaming guidance conditions, different guidance methods are used for roaming guidance based on the roaming capability information of the mobile device. The roaming guidance methods are more flexible and make it easier to improve the roaming success rate.
[0057] In some embodiments, guiding the mobile device to access the third access point based on the mobile device's roaming capability information includes:
[0058] If the roaming capability information indicates that the mobile device supports the roaming protocol, then the access information of the third access point is sent to the second access point, and the second access point guides the mobile device to access the third access point based on the access information of the third access point and the roaming protocol;
[0059] If the roaming capability information indicates that the mobile device does not support the roaming protocol, then an offline indication for the mobile device is sent to the second access point, which guides the mobile device to go offline. The second access point also sends access denial indication information to other access points besides the third access point to guide the mobile device to access the third access point. The access denial indication information includes the device identifier.
[0060] In this way, for mobile devices that support roaming protocols, the roaming protocol is used to guide the mobile devices to roam, and for mobile devices that do not support roaming protocols, multiple access points work together to guide the mobile devices to roam, resulting in a relatively high roaming success rate.
[0061] In some embodiments, when the first access point includes multiple access points, determining the third access point from the first access point includes:
[0062] The access point closest to the mobile device among the plurality of access points is determined as the first alternative access point, and the access point in the direction of movement of the mobile device among the plurality of access points is determined as the second alternative access point.
[0063] When the first candidate access point is the same as the second candidate access point, the first candidate access point is determined as the third access point; and
[0064] When the first alternative access point is different from the second alternative access point, the third access point is determined from the first alternative access point and the second alternative access point based on the difference between the relative position representation information corresponding to the first alternative access point and the second alternative access point.
[0065] By combining distance and direction of movement to select the third access point to be roamed into, a more reasonable roaming access point can be determined, the number of roaming trips can be reduced, and the situation of service quality deterioration due to roaming can be reduced.
[0066] In some embodiments, any relative location representation information is a Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI). Determining the third access point from the first and second candidate access points based on the difference between their respective relative location representation information, including:
[0067] Determine the absolute value of the difference between the RSSI corresponding to the first candidate access point and the RSSI corresponding to the second candidate access point;
[0068] If the absolute value of the difference is less than a preset value, the second alternative access point is determined as the third access point; if the absolute value of the difference is not less than the preset value, the first alternative access point is determined as the third access point.
[0069] This allows for the identification of more suitable roaming access points, ensuring the quality of network services for mobile devices during roaming.
[0070] Thirdly, embodiments of this application provide a roaming device applied to a first access point, comprising:
[0071] A receiving module is used to receive a monitoring instruction sent by the access controller, wherein the monitoring instruction contains the device identifier of the mobile device;
[0072] A writing module is configured to write the device identifier into the chip of the first access point, and the chip determines the relative position representation information between the first access point and the mobile device based on the device identifier; and
[0073] The sending module is used to send the relative position representation information obtained from the chip to the access controller, and the access controller guides the mobile device to roam based on the relative position representation information.
[0074] Fourthly, embodiments of this application also provide a roaming device applied to an access controller, comprising:
[0075] A sending module is used to send a monitoring instruction, the monitoring instruction containing a device identifier of a mobile device. A first access point that receives the monitoring instruction writes the device identifier into a chip, and the chip determines the relative position representation information between the first access point and the mobile device based on the device identifier.
[0076] The receiving module is configured to receive relative position representation information between the first access point and the mobile device sent by the first access point; and
[0077] The roaming guidance module is used to guide the mobile device to roam based on the relative position representation information between the first access point and the mobile device.
[0078] Fifthly, embodiments of this application provide a roaming system, including:
[0079] An access controller is used to send a monitoring instruction, the monitoring instruction containing the device identifier of the mobile device, receive relative position representation information between the first access point and the mobile device sent by the first access point, and guide the mobile device to roam based on the relative position representation information between the first access point and the mobile device.
[0080] The first access point is configured to, upon receiving the monitoring instruction, write the device identifier in the monitoring instruction into the chip of the first access point, and the chip determines the relative position representation information between the first access point and the mobile device based on the device identifier, and sends the relative position representation information obtained from the chip to the access controller.
[0081] Sixthly, embodiments of this application provide an electronic device, including: at least one processor, and a memory communicatively connected to the at least one processor, wherein:
[0082] The memory stores a computer program that can be executed by at least one processor, which enables the at least one processor to perform any of the above-described roaming methods.
[0083] In a seventh aspect, embodiments of this application provide a computer-readable storage medium, wherein when a computer program in the storage medium is executed by a processor of an electronic device, the electronic device is capable of performing any of the above-described roaming methods.
[0084] Eighthly, embodiments of this application provide a computer program product, including a computer program that, when executed by a processor, implements any of the above-described roaming methods. Attached Figure Description
[0085] The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of this application and form part of this application, illustrate exemplary embodiments and are used to explain this application, but do not constitute an undue limitation of this application. In the drawings:
[0086] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a roaming network architecture provided in an embodiment of this application;
[0087] Figure 2 is an interactive flowchart of a roaming method provided in an embodiment of this application;
[0088] Figure 3 is a flowchart illustrating how to guide a mobile device to roam according to an embodiment of this application;
[0089] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a roaming method provided in an embodiment of this application;
[0090] Figure 5 is an interactive flowchart of another roaming method provided in an embodiment of this application;
[0091] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a roaming device provided in an embodiment of this application;
[0092] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of another roaming device provided in an embodiment of this application;
[0093] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of the hardware structure of an electronic device for implementing a roaming method according to an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation
[0094] The technical solutions of the embodiments of this application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of this application, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of this application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this application.
[0095] The terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of technical features indicated. Therefore, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of that feature. In the description of this application, unless otherwise stated, "a plurality of" means two or more.
[0096] This application provides a roaming method, apparatus, system, electronic device, and storage medium.
[0097] The preferred embodiments of this application are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the preferred embodiments described herein are for illustration and explanation only and are not intended to limit this application. Furthermore, the embodiments and features in the embodiments of this application can be combined with each other without conflict.
[0098] Wireless roaming allows mobile devices to maintain network connectivity and communication without interruption when moving between different wireless networks. The roaming process mainly includes: roaming triggering and AP-guided roaming of mobile devices.
[0099] To enable access points (APs) to guide mobile device roaming, related technologies employ either the 802.11K / V protocol or a third radio frequency (RF) combined with the 802.11V protocol for detection. However, due to the diverse types and capabilities of mobile devices, some do not support the 802.11K / V protocol. Therefore, the 802.11K / V protocol-based detection method suffers from detection failures, preventing the AP from guiding mobile device roaming. The third radio frequency combined with the 802.11V protocol requires an additional RF unit, consuming significant air interface resources and incurring high hardware costs.
[0100] This application provides an implementation scheme with high detection success rate and low hardware cost. Referring to Figure 1, which is a schematic diagram of a roaming network architecture provided by this application embodiment, it includes an AC and multiple APs, with multiple APs connected to the AC. APs can use the same Service Set Identifier (SSID), as well as the same encryption method and access key, thereby enabling mobile devices to roam better between APs.
[0101] In practical applications, the AC can first control all APs in the network (including APs connected to the AC) to switch to the same channel for a full-channel scan, obtaining scan results. These results may include channel utilization information, bandwidth utilization information, and AP coverage area information. The APs then send the scan results to the AC. The AC combines the channel utilization and bandwidth utilization information scanned by each AP, selects a channel and bandwidth (i.e., operating frequency), and switches all APs in the network to this channel and bandwidth for operation. Additionally, the AC can determine the overlap in coverage between APs based on their coverage area information and adjust the AP's management frame power for mobile devices (i.e., adjust roaming sensitivity) to improve the success rate of AP roaming guidance for mobile devices. The AC can also adjust the transmit power of each AP to reduce signal interference between APs and improve the overall utilization of the wireless air interface for the entire network of APs.
[0102] The roaming method provided by the embodiments of this application will be described below with reference to Figure 1. Referring to Figure 2, Figure 2 is an interactive flowchart of a roaming method provided by an embodiment of this application, including the following steps.
[0103] In step 201, the AC sends a monitoring instruction to the first AP connected to the AC, the monitoring instruction containing the device identifier of the mobile device.
[0104] The first AP can be any AP connected to the AC, or any AP connected to the AC. It can also be any AP connected to the AC but not to which the mobile device is connected, or any AP connected to the AC located near the mobile device. The mobile device is the user device connected to the second AP (an AP connected to the AC), such as a smartphone, Internet of Things (IoT) device, personal digital assistant (PDA), or automated guided vehicle (AGV). The device identifier can be the mobile device's Media Access Control (MAC) address.
[0105] In some embodiments, after a mobile device connects to the second AP, the second AP can periodically acquire relative position representation information between itself and the mobile device, and send this information to the AC. The relative position representation information is used to characterize the relative positional relationship between the second AP and the mobile device. Generally, the farther the mobile device is from the second AP, the weaker the RSSI of the mobile device acquired by the second AP; conversely, the closer the mobile device is to the second AP, the stronger the RSSI of the mobile device acquired by the second AP. Therefore, the relative position representation information can be the RSSI of the mobile device.
[0106] Subsequently, the AC can determine the relative positional relationship between the second AP and the mobile device based on the relative positional representation information periodically sent by the second AP. If it is determined that the mobile device is in motion and the relative distance between the second AP and the mobile device exceeds a preset distance, it can be determined that the mobile device meets the roaming trigger condition. At this time, a monitoring instruction can be sent to the first AP. The preset distance can be determined by technicians based on experience or according to the AP deployment situation, and will not be elaborated here.
[0107] Taking the relative position representation information of the mobile device as an example, the AC can determine the relative positional relationship between the second AP and the mobile device based on the RSSI periodically sent by the second AP. After determining that the mobile device is in a moving state and the RSSI is less than a preset threshold, the AC can determine that the mobile device meets the roaming trigger condition. The preset threshold can be the RSSI of the mobile device when the relative distance between the second AP and the mobile device is a preset distance.
[0108] In some embodiments, the first AP may send monitoring instructions periodically or upon receiving a monitoring instruction input by the user. It should be understood that the first AC may also send monitoring instructions periodically or upon receiving a monitoring instruction input by the user.
[0109] In step 202, the first AP writes the device identifier into the chip, and the chip determines the relative position representation information between the first AP and the mobile device based on the device identifier.
[0110] The device identifier can be written into the chip's hardware register, and the chip can be either a baseband chip or an RF chip.
[0111] In practical applications, after the first AP writes the device identifier into its own chip, the chip can sniff to obtain the relative position representation information between the first AP and the mobile device. Sniffing refers to the chip filtering out the messages sent by the mobile device corresponding to the device identifier from all received messages based on the device identifier, and determining the relative position representation information between the first AP and the mobile device based on these messages.
[0112] In this way, obtaining the relative position information between the first AP and the mobile device through the chip is a low-level hardware sniffing method. It does not increase hardware costs, does not affect mobile devices already connected to the second AP, and does not affect other mobile devices connecting to the second AP. It can effectively solve the compatibility problem of APs around roaming mobile devices detecting mobile devices, thereby better guiding mobile devices to roam and ensuring the wireless experience of mobile devices during movement.
[0113] In some embodiments, the first AP can monitor multiple mobile devices simultaneously. That is, the first AP needs to store multiple device identifiers in the chip at the same time. It can poll the multiple device identifiers according to the chip's upper limit (or device identifier storage limit, referring to the maximum number of device identifiers the chip can store), writing the device identifier obtained in each poll into the chip. The chip then captures the relative position representation information between the first AP and the corresponding mobile device. The chip's upper limit is determined based on the chip's hardware information, which may include, for example, the number of hardware registers and the size of the bytes that each hardware register can store.
[0114] In this way, by polling, the number of relative position representation information captured by the chip can be increased, that is, the number of mobile devices that the first AP can monitor within a certain period of time can be increased, making it possible for the entire network of APs to support more mobile device roaming at the same time.
[0115] In step 203, the first AP sends the relative position representation information between itself and the mobile device obtained from the chip to the AC.
[0116] For example, the first AP can periodically obtain the relative position representation information between itself and the mobile device from the chip, and send the relative position representation information to the AC.
[0117] In step 204, the AC guides the mobile device to roam based on the relative position representation information between itself and the mobile device sent by the first AP.
[0118] In practice, the mobile device can be guided to roam according to the process shown in Figure 3, including the following steps.
[0119] In step 2041, based on the relative position representation information between the first AP and the mobile device periodically sent by the first AP, and the relative position representation information between the second AP and the mobile device periodically sent by the second AP, the AC determines that the mobile device meets the roaming guidance conditions, and then selects a third AP from the first AP. The second AP is the AP currently accessed by the mobile terminal.
[0120] Generally, the AC (Access Controller) determines the relative position of each AP to the mobile device based on the relative position representation information reported by each AP. Combining the relative positions of each AP to the mobile device with the pre-known locations of each AP, the AC can then determine the location of the mobile device. Since each AP periodically reports its relative position representation information to the mobile device, the AC can monitor the location of the mobile device and determine its direction of movement based on this information.
[0121] In practical applications, roaming guidance conditions such as the RSSI reported by the first AP being greater than that reported by the second AP indicate that the mobile device has entered the coverage area of the first AP and is closer to the first AP than to the second AP. The first AP can provide better network services for the mobile device.
[0122] The process of selecting the third AP is described below.
[0123] In some embodiments, the first AP includes multiple APs. The AP closest to the mobile device among these APs can be determined as the first candidate AP, and the AP in the direction of movement of the mobile device among these APs can be determined as the second candidate AP. If the first candidate AP and the second candidate AP are the same, the first candidate AP can be determined as the third AP. If the first candidate AP and the second candidate AP are different, the third AP can be determined from the first candidate AP and the second candidate AP based on the difference between the relative position representation information corresponding to the first candidate AP and the second candidate AP respectively.
[0124] Taking the relative position representation information of the mobile device as an example, the absolute value of the difference between the RSSI of the first candidate AP and the second candidate AP can be determined. If the absolute value of the difference is less than a preset value, the second candidate AP can be determined as the third AP. If the absolute value of the difference is not less than the preset value, the first candidate AP can be determined as the third AP.
[0125] In other words, if the RSSI of the mobile device detected by the two access points (APs) is similar, the AP in the direction of movement can be selected as the third AP. If the RSSI of the mobile device detected by the two APs differs significantly, the AP closest to the mobile device can be selected as the third AP. This avoids mobile devices frequently switching between access points in a short period of time, reducing the potential degradation of network service quality caused by roaming.
[0126] In step 2042, the AC guides the mobile device to connect to the third AP based on the roaming capability information of the mobile device.
[0127] Roaming capability information is used to characterize the roaming capabilities of mobile devices, and may include, for example, whether roaming protocols are supported, and what types of roaming protocols are supported. This roaming capability information can be reported to the AC by the second AP currently connected to the mobile terminal.
[0128] Scenario 1: The mobile device supports roaming protocols.
[0129] The AC can send access information of mobile devices roaming into the third AP to the second AP. The second AP then guides the mobile devices to access the third AP based on the access information and roaming protocol.
[0130] Scenario 2: The mobile device does not support the roaming protocol.
[0131] The AC can send an offline indication to the second AP, which will guide the mobile device offline. After the mobile device goes offline, it will try to access the AP. The AC can also send an access denial indication to other APs other than the third AP. In this way, if the AP that the mobile device tries to access is another AP other than the third AP, the other AP will refuse the mobile device's access according to the access denial indication when it receives the access request, thereby cooperating to guide the mobile device to access the third AP.
[0132] In other words, for other APs that are not the third AP, they will receive an access denial indication message sent by the access controller. The access denial indication message will contain the device identifier of the mobile device. Subsequently, if other APs that are not the third AP receive an access request from the mobile device, they will deny the mobile device access.
[0133] In addition, to avoid affecting the normal access of subsequent mobile devices to the first AP (which is not the third AP), a preset invalidation condition can be established. This preset invalidation condition indicates whether the access rejection indication information is valid. The preset invalidation condition can be one or more of the following: the number of times the mobile device access has been rejected reaches a preset number, an indication information from the AC indicating that the mobile device has already accessed the third AP is received, or the access rejection indication information has expired. After determining that the invalidation condition is met, the access rejection indication information is determined to be invalid. When the access rejection indication information is invalid, if the first AP receives an access request from the mobile device, it can allow the mobile device to access.
[0134] In this way, roaming guidance can be differentiated between mobile devices that support roaming protocols and those that do not, which can significantly improve the success rate of roaming and ensure that mobile devices can still work normally while in motion.
[0135] The following uses the relative position representation information of a mobile device, RSSI, as an example, and describes the scheme of the embodiments of this application with specific examples. In the following embodiments, AP1 is the second AP mentioned above, AP2 and AP3 are the first AP mentioned above, and the target AP is the third AP mentioned above.
[0136] Referring to Figure 4, which is a schematic diagram of a roaming method provided in an embodiment of this application, AP1, AP2, and AP3 are all connected to the AC. All APs use the same SSID, the same encryption method, and the same access key, and all APs operate at the same operating frequency, i.e., all APs operate on the same channel and the same frequency band. In this way, during the roaming of the mobile device, the APs around the mobile device do not need to perform radio frequency switching and can directly sniff the relative position representation information between themselves and the mobile device through their own chips, resulting in faster detection speed.
[0137] Initially, the mobile device connects to AP1. AP1 can identify the roaming capability of the mobile device and report the identification result (i.e., roaming capability information) to AC.
[0138] The roaming process is described below.
[0139] 1. AP1 periodically acquires the RSSI of the mobile device and sends it to AC.
[0140] 2. If the AC determines that the mobile device is in a mobile state based on the RSSI sent by AP1 multiple times, and the RSSI is less than a preset threshold such as -65dB, then the mobile device meets the roaming trigger condition. Then, the AC can send a monitoring instruction to the APs (AP2 and AP3) around the mobile device. The monitoring instruction contains the MAC address of the mobile device.
[0141] 3. After receiving the monitoring instruction, each other AP writes the MAC address in the monitoring instruction into its own chip. The chip then filters out the messages sent by the mobile device from the received messages based on the MAC address, and determines the RSSI of the mobile device based on these messages.
[0142] 4. Each other AP periodically obtains the RSSI of the mobile device from its own chip and sends the RSSI to the AC.
[0143] 5. If the AC determines that there is another AP whose RSSI is greater than that sent by AP1, then the roaming guidance conditions are met, and the target AP to be roamed into is determined from the other APs.
[0144] Assuming AP2 is the AP located in the direction of movement of the mobile device, and AP3 is the AP closest to the mobile device, and the RSSI corresponding to AP2 is -75dB, the RSSI corresponding to AP3 is -77dB, the absolute value of the difference between the two is 2dB, which is less than a preset value such as 5dB, then AP2 located in the direction of movement of the mobile device can be selected as the target AP.
[0145] In this way, when the RSSI of the AP located in the direction of the mobile device's movement and the AP closest to the mobile device are similar (i.e., the absolute value of the difference between the two is less than a preset value), selecting the AP located in the direction of the mobile device's movement as the target AP to be roamed can reduce the number of roaming times of the mobile device during movement, thereby reducing the problem of reduced service quality of the mobile device due to movement.
[0146] 6. The AC uses different guidance methods to guide the mobile device to connect to the target AP, depending on whether the mobile device supports roaming protocols.
[0147] 7. Mobile devices roam and access the target AP.
[0148] The above process will be described in detail below with reference to the interaction flowchart. Referring to Figure 5, Figure 5 is an interaction flowchart of another roaming method provided by an embodiment of this application, which includes the following steps.
[0149] In step 501, the mobile device accesses AP1.
[0150] In step 502, AP1 periodically sends the RSSI of the mobile device to AC.
[0151] In step 503, when the mobile device is in a mobile state and the mobile device's RSSI is less than a preset value, the AC determines that the roaming trigger condition is met and sends a monitoring instruction to AP2 and AP3. The monitoring instruction contains the MAC address of the mobile device.
[0152] In practical applications, the AC can analyze the RSSI periodically sent by AP1. If the RSSI meets the characteristics of movement, such as continuous change or the change range exceeding the preset range, it can be determined that the mobile device is in a moving state.
[0153] In step 504, each AP in AP2 and AP3 writes its MAC address into its own chip, and the chip generates the RSSI of the mobile device based on the MAC address.
[0154] In step 505, each of APs in AP2 and AP3 periodically sends the RSSI of the mobile device obtained from the chip to the AC.
[0155] In step 506, if the AC determines that the RSSI sent by AP2 or AP3 is greater than the RSSI sent by AP1, it determines that the roaming guidance conditions are met and selects the target AP to be roamed into from AP2 and AP3.
[0156] If AP2 is the AP in the direction of the mobile device's movement, and AP3 is the AP closest to the mobile device, and the absolute value of the difference between the RSSI sent by the two is less than a preset value, then AP2 can be selected as the target AP.
[0157] When the mobile device does not support the roaming protocol, perform the following steps 507-516.
[0158] In step 507, AC sends an offline indication of the mobile device to AP1.
[0159] In step 508, the AC sends access denial indication information to the mobile device to all APs except the target AP.
[0160] In step 509, AP1 guides the mobile device offline.
[0161] In step 510, after the mobile device goes offline, it sends an access request to AP3.
[0162] In step 511, AP3 denies access to the mobile device based on the access denial indication.
[0163] In step 512, after the mobile device goes offline, it sends an access request to AP1.
[0164] In step 513, AP1 denies access to the mobile device based on the access denial indication.
[0165] In step 514, after the mobile device goes offline, it sends an access request to AP2.
[0166] In step 515, AP2 accesses the mobile device.
[0167] In step 516, if the invalidity condition is met, the access denial indication information is determined to be invalid.
[0168] It should be understood that steps 510, 512, and 514 above do not necessarily have a specific order. Alternatively, the mobile terminal may simultaneously send an access request to multiple access points (APs), for example, by broadcasting or multicasting an access request.
[0169] Among them, invalid conditions include one or more of the following: the number of times the mobile device's access has been denied reaches a preset number, the AC has received an indication that the mobile device has been connected to the target AP, or the access denial indication has expired.
[0170] After that, mobile devices can connect to AP2 normally.
[0171] It should be noted that after a mobile device goes offline, it will attempt to connect to any of AP1, AP2, or AP3. If the connection fails, it will try the next one until a successful connection is established. Therefore, the order of steps 510-516 can be adjusted. Furthermore, there is no strict order between steps 507-509.
[0172] When the mobile device supports the roaming protocol, perform the following steps 507'-509'.
[0173] In step 507', the AC sends the access information of the target AP to AP1.
[0174] The access information can be, for example, the Basic Service Set Identifier (BSSID).
[0175] In step 508', AP1 sends a handover instruction to the mobile device, which carries the access information of the target AP.
[0176] In step 509', the mobile device accesses the target AP based on the roaming protocol according to the target AP's access information.
[0177] Based on the same technical concept, this application also provides two roaming devices. The principle of solving the problem by the two roaming devices is similar to that of the two roaming methods described above. Therefore, the implementation of the roaming devices can refer to the implementation of the roaming methods, and the repeated parts will not be described again.
[0178] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of a roaming device provided in an embodiment of this application. The device is applied to a first access point and includes:
[0179] The receiving module 601 is used to receive a monitoring instruction sent by the access controller, wherein the monitoring instruction includes the device identifier of the mobile device;
[0180] The writing module 602 is used to write the device identifier into the chip, and the chip determines the relative position representation information between the first access point and the mobile device based on the device identifier.
[0181] The sending module 603 is used to send the relative position representation information obtained from the chip to the access controller, and the access controller guides the mobile device to roam based on the relative position representation information.
[0182] In some embodiments, the first access point corresponds to multiple device identifiers, and the writing module 602 is specifically used for:
[0183] The plurality of device identifiers are polled according to the upper limit of the chip, wherein the upper limit of the chip is determined based on the hardware information of the chip;
[0184] The polled device identifier is written into the chip, and the chip determines the relative position representation information between the first access point and the corresponding mobile device.
[0185] In some embodiments, it also includes:
[0186] The access control module 604 is configured to refuse access to the mobile device upon receiving an access request from the mobile device if it receives an access denial indication message sent by the access controller, wherein the access denial indication message contains the device identifier of the mobile device.
[0187] In some embodiments, the access control module 604 is further configured to determine that the access denial indication information is invalid when the invalidity condition is met.
[0188] In some embodiments, the invalid condition includes one or more of the following conditions:
[0189] The number of times the mobile device's access has been denied has reached a preset number; the access controller has sent an indication that the mobile device has connected to a third access point, which is the access point that guides the mobile device to roam; the access denial indication has expired.
[0190] In some embodiments, the chip is a baseband chip or a radio frequency chip.
[0191] In some embodiments, the monitoring indication is sent by the access controller after determining that the mobile device meets the roaming triggering conditions.
[0192] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of another roaming device provided in an embodiment of this application. This device is applied to an access controller and includes:
[0193] The sending module 701 is used to send a monitoring instruction, the monitoring instruction containing a device identifier of a mobile device. The first access point that receives the monitoring instruction writes the device identifier into a chip, and the chip determines the relative position representation information between the first access point and the mobile device based on the device identifier.
[0194] The receiving module 702 is used to receive the relative position representation information between the first access point and the mobile device sent by the first access point;
[0195] The roaming guidance module 703 is used to guide the mobile device to roam based on the relative position representation information between the first access point and the mobile device.
[0196] In some embodiments, the roaming guidance module 703 is specifically used for:
[0197] When it is determined that the mobile device meets the roaming guidance conditions based on the relative position representation information between the first access point and the mobile device, and the relative position representation information between the second access point and the mobile device sent by the second access point, a third access point is selected from the first access point, where the second access point is the access point currently accessed by the mobile device.
[0198] Based on the roaming capability information of the mobile device, the mobile device is guided to access the third access point.
[0199] In some embodiments, the roaming guidance module 703 is specifically used for:
[0200] If the roaming capability information indicates that the mobile device supports the roaming protocol, then the access information of the third access point is sent to the second access point, and the second access point guides the mobile device to access the third access point based on the access information of the third access point and the roaming protocol;
[0201] If the roaming capability information indicates that the mobile device does not support the roaming protocol, then an offline indication for the mobile device is sent to the second access point, which guides the mobile device to go offline. The second access point also sends access denial indication information to other access points besides the third access point to guide the mobile device to access the third access point. The access denial indication information includes the device identifier.
[0202] In some embodiments, when the first access point includes multiple access points, the roaming guidance module 703 is specifically used for:
[0203] The access point closest to the mobile device among the plurality of access points is determined as the first alternative access point, and the access point in the direction of movement of the mobile device among the plurality of access points is determined as the second alternative access point.
[0204] If the first candidate access point is the same as the second candidate access point, then the corresponding access point is determined as the third access point;
[0205] If the first candidate access point is different from the second candidate access point, then the third access point is determined from the first candidate access point and the second candidate access point based on the difference between the relative position representation information corresponding to the first candidate access point and the second candidate access point.
[0206] In some embodiments, any relative position characterization information is a Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), and the roaming guidance module 703 is specifically used for:
[0207] Determine the absolute value of the difference between the RSSI corresponding to the first candidate access point and the second candidate access point respectively;
[0208] If the absolute value of the difference is less than a preset value, the second alternative access point is determined as the third access point; if the absolute value of the difference is not less than the preset value, the first alternative access point is determined as the third access point.
[0209] The module division in this application embodiment is illustrative and only represents one logical functional division. In actual implementation, other division methods are possible. Furthermore, the functional modules in each embodiment of this application can be integrated into a single processor, exist as separate physical entities, or be integrated into a single module. Coupling between modules can be achieved through interfaces, typically electrical communication interfaces, but mechanical interfaces or other types of interfaces are also possible. Therefore, modules described as separate components may or may not be physically separate; they can be located in one place or distributed across different locations on the same or different devices. The integrated modules described above can be implemented in hardware or as software functional modules.
[0210] Having described the roaming methods and apparatus according to exemplary embodiments of this application, we will now describe an electronic device according to another exemplary embodiment of this application.
[0211] The electronic device 130 implemented according to this embodiment of the present application will now be described with reference to FIG8. The electronic device 130 shown in FIG8 is merely an example and should not be construed as limiting the functionality and scope of the embodiments of the present application.
[0212] As shown in Figure 8, the electronic device 130 is presented in the form of a general-purpose electronic device. The components of the electronic device 130 may include, but are not limited to: at least one processor 131, at least one memory 132, and a bus 133 connecting different system components (including memory 132 and processor 131).
[0213] Bus 133 represents one or more of several bus structures, including a memory bus or memory controller, peripheral bus, processor, or local bus using any of the various bus structures.
[0214] The memory 132 may include a readable medium in the form of volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM) 1321 and / or cache memory 1322, and may further include read-only memory (ROM) 1323.
[0215] The memory 132 may also include a program / utility 1325 having a set (at least one) of program modules 1324, including but not limited to: an operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules, and program data, each or some combination of these examples may include an implementation of a network environment.
[0216] Electronic device 130 can also communicate with one or more external devices 134 (e.g., keyboard, pointing device, etc.), and with one or more devices that enable a user to interact with electronic device 130, and / or with any device that enables electronic device 130 to communicate with one or more other electronic devices (e.g., router, modem, etc.). This communication can be performed via input / output (I / O) interface 135. Furthermore, electronic device 130 can also communicate with one or more networks (e.g., local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), and / or public networks, such as the Internet) via network adapter 136. As shown, network adapter 136 communicates with other modules used in electronic device 130 via bus 133. It should be understood that, although not shown in the figures, other hardware and / or software modules can be used in conjunction with electronic device 130, including but not limited to: microcode, device drivers, redundant processors, external disk drive arrays, RAID systems, tape drives, and data backup storage systems.
[0217] In an exemplary embodiment, the electronic device of this application may include at least one processor and a memory communicatively connected to the at least one processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program executable by the at least one processor, and when the computer program is executed by the at least one processor, it enables the at least one processor to perform the steps of any roaming method provided in the embodiments of this application.
[0218] In an exemplary embodiment, this application also provides a roaming system, including:
[0219] An access controller is used to send a monitoring instruction, the monitoring instruction containing the device identifier of the mobile device, receive relative position representation information between the first access point and the mobile device sent by the first access point, and guide the mobile device to roam based on the relative position representation information between the first access point and the mobile device.
[0220] The first access point is configured to, upon receiving the monitoring instruction, write the device identifier in the monitoring instruction into a chip, and the chip determines the relative position representation information between the first access point and the mobile device based on the device identifier, and sends the relative position representation information obtained from the chip to the access controller.
[0221] In an exemplary embodiment, this application also provides a storage medium that, when a computer program in the storage medium is executed by a processor of an electronic device, enables the electronic device to perform any of the above-described roaming methods. Optionally, the storage medium may be a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, such as a ROM, random access memory (RAM), CD-ROM, magnetic tape, floppy disk, and optical data storage device.
[0222] In an exemplary embodiment, this application also provides a computer program product, which, when executed by an electronic device, enables the electronic device to implement any of the exemplary methods provided in this application.
[0223] It should be noted that although several modules or sub-modules of the device have been mentioned in the detailed description above, this division is merely exemplary and not mandatory. In fact, according to embodiments of this application, the features and functions of two or more modules described above can be embodied in one module. Conversely, the features and functions of one module described above can be further divided and embodied by multiple modules.
[0224] Furthermore, although the operations of the method of this application are described in a specific order in the accompanying drawings, this does not require or imply that these operations must be performed in that specific order, or that all the operations shown must be performed to achieve the desired result. Additionally or alternatively, certain steps may be omitted, multiple steps may be combined into one step, and / or one step may be broken down into multiple steps.
[0225] Those skilled in the art will understand that embodiments of this application can be provided as methods, apparatus, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, this application can take the form of a completely hardware embodiment, a completely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, this application can take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including but not limited to disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) or non-volatile storage media or volatile storage media containing computer-usable program code.
[0226] Although preferred embodiments of this application have been described, those skilled in the art, upon learning the basic inventive concept, can make other changes and modifications to these embodiments. Therefore, the appended claims are intended to be interpreted as including the preferred embodiments as well as all changes and modifications falling within the scope of this application.
[0227] Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various modifications and variations to this application without departing from the spirit and scope of this application. Therefore, if such modifications and variations fall within the scope of the claims of this application and their equivalents, then this application also includes such modifications and variations.
Claims
1. A roaming method, comprising: The first access point receives a monitoring instruction sent by the access controller, the monitoring instruction including the device identifier of the mobile device; The chip at the first access point determines the relative position representation information between the first access point and the mobile device based on the device identifier; as well as The relative location representation information will be sent to the access controller, wherein the relative location representation information is used by the access controller to guide the roaming of the mobile device.
2. The method as described in claim 1, wherein, The monitoring indication includes multiple device identifiers, the multiple device identifiers including the device identifier, and the step of writing the device identifier into the chip includes: The plurality of device identifiers are polled according to the upper limit of the chip, where the upper limit of the chip represents the maximum number of device identifiers that can be stored and is determined based on the hardware information of the chip; and When the device identifier is polled, the device identifier is written into the chip, and the chip determines the relative position representation information of the first access point and the mobile device corresponding to the device identifier.
3. The method as described in claim 1, wherein, The method further includes: When the access controller receives an access denial indication, it will refuse the access of the mobile device when it receives the access request from the mobile device. The access denial indication includes the device identifier of the mobile device.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein, The method further includes: When the preset conditions meet the preset invalidity criteria, the access denial indication information is determined to be invalid.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein, The invalid conditions include one or more of the following conditions: The number of times the mobile device's access is denied reaches a preset number; the access controller sends an indication that the mobile device has accessed a third access point, which is the access point that guides the mobile device to roam; or the access denial indication has expired.
6. The method as described in any one of claims 1-5, wherein, The chip is a baseband chip or a radio frequency chip; After receiving the monitoring indication sent by the access controller at the first access point, the method further includes: Write the device identifier into the chip of the first access point.
7. The method as described in any one of claims 1-5, wherein, The method further includes: When the mobile device connects to the first access point, it sends relative position representation information between the first access point and the mobile device to the access controller.
8. A roaming method, comprising: The access controller sends a monitoring instruction, which includes the device identifier of the mobile device. The first access point that receives the monitoring instruction writes the device identifier into the chip of the first access point. The chip determines the relative position representation information between the first access point and the mobile device based on the device identifier. Receive relative position representation information between the first access point and the mobile device sent by the first access point; as well as Based on the relative positional information between the first access point and the mobile device, the mobile device is guided to roam.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein, Before the access controller sends the monitoring indication, the method further includes: The access controller determines the relative positional relationship between the second access point and the mobile device based on the received relative positional representation information between the second access point and the mobile device; and Based on the relative positional relationship, it is determined whether the mobile device meets the roaming triggering conditions.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein, The access controller sends monitoring instructions, including: When the mobile terminal meets the roaming triggering condition, it sends the monitoring instruction.
11. The method of claim 9 or 10, wherein, When the relative position representation information is the Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI) of the mobile device, determining whether the mobile device meets the roaming trigger condition based on the relative position relationship includes: When the mobile terminal is in motion and the relative distance between the second AP and the mobile device exceeds a preset distance, it is determined that the mobile device meets the roaming trigger condition; or When the mobile device is in motion and the RSSI is less than a preset threshold, the mobile device is determined to meet the roaming trigger condition.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein, Before determining whether the mobile device meets the roaming trigger condition based on the relative positional relationship, the method further includes: The access controller determines whether the mobile device is in a moving state based on the relative position representation information of the access point and the mobile device received periodically; and Determining whether the mobile device is in a moving state includes: The relative position of the access point and the mobile device is determined based on the relative position representation information; the position of the mobile device is periodically determined based on the relative position of the access point and the mobile terminal and the pre-configured access point position information; the mobile device is determined to be in a moving state based on the periodically determined position of the mobile device; or the mobile terminal is determined to be in a moving state when the periodically received relative position representation information of the access point and the mobile device matches the information characteristics of the mobile device when it is moving.
13. The method as claimed in any one of claims 8 to 12, wherein, Based on the relative position representation information between the first access point and the mobile device, guide the mobile device to roam, including: Based on the relative position representation information between the first access point and the mobile device, and the relative position representation information between the second access point and the mobile device sent by the second access point, when it is determined that the mobile device meets the roaming guidance conditions, a third access point is determined from the first access points, where the second access point is the access point currently accessed by the mobile device; and Based on the roaming capability information of the mobile device, the mobile device is guided to access the third access point.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein, Based on the roaming capability information of the mobile device, guiding the mobile device to access the third access point includes: If the roaming capability information indicates that the mobile device supports a roaming protocol, then the access information of the third access point is sent to the second access point. The second access point, based on the access information of the third access point and the roaming protocol, guides the mobile device to access the third access point; and / or If the roaming capability information indicates that the mobile device does not support the roaming protocol, then an offline indication for the mobile device is sent to the second access point, which guides the mobile device to go offline. The second access point also sends access denial indication information to other access points besides the third access point to guide the mobile device to access the third access point. The access denial indication information includes the device identifier.
15. The method of claim 13, wherein, When the first access point includes multiple access points, determining the third access point from the first access points includes: The access point closest to the mobile device among the plurality of access points is determined as the first alternative access point, and the access point in the direction of movement of the mobile device among the plurality of access points is determined as the second alternative access point. When the first candidate access point is the same as the second candidate access point, the first candidate access point is determined as the third access point; and When the first alternative access point is different from the second alternative access point, the third access point is determined from the first alternative access point and the second alternative access point based on the difference between the relative position representation information corresponding to the first alternative access point and the second alternative access point.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein, The relative position representation information is the Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI). Based on the difference between the relative position representation information corresponding to the first and second candidate access points, the third access point is determined from the first and second candidate access points, including: Determine the absolute value of the difference between the RSSI corresponding to the first candidate access point and the RSSI corresponding to the second candidate access point; When the absolute value of the difference is less than a preset value, the second alternative access point is determined as the third access point; and If the absolute value of the difference is not less than the preset value, then the first alternative access point is determined as the third access point.
17. A roaming device applied to a first access point, comprising: A receiving module is used to receive a monitoring instruction sent by the access controller, wherein the monitoring instruction contains the device identifier of the mobile device; The writing module is used to write the device identifier into the chip of the first access point, and the chip determines the relative position representation information between the first access point and the mobile device based on the device identifier. as well as The sending module is used to send the relative position representation information obtained from the chip to the access controller, and the access controller guides the mobile device to roam based on the relative position representation information.
18. A roaming device applied to an access controller, comprising: A sending module is used to send a monitoring instruction, which includes a device identifier of a mobile device. A first access point that receives the monitoring instruction writes the device identifier into the chip of the first access point, and the chip determines the relative position representation information between the first access point and the mobile device based on the device identifier. The receiving module is used to receive the relative position representation information between the first access point and the mobile device sent by the first access point; as well as The roaming guidance module is used to guide the mobile device to roam based on the relative position representation information between the first access point and the mobile device.
19. An electronic device comprising: At least one processor, and a memory communicatively connected to said at least one processor, wherein: The memory stores a computer program that can be executed by the at least one processor to enable the at least one processor to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1-16.
20. A computer-readable storage medium, wherein when a computer program in the storage medium is executed by a processor of an electronic device, the electronic device is capable of performing the method as described in any one of claims 1-16.