Electronic device for determining whether to activate BSS transition function, and operation method of electronic device

Abstract

In an electronic device and an operation method of the electronic device, according to an embodiment, the electronic device comprises: a communication circuit that supports short-range wireless communication; a memory storing a computer program comprising instructions; and at least one processor, wherein the instructions, when individually or collectively executed by the at least one processor, may cause the electronic device to: identify, during a first period, a first quality of the short-range wireless communication via a first access point (AP), in a state in which a basic service set (BSS) transition management (BTM) function is activated; transmit, to the first AP, a frame comprising information indicating that the electronic device does not support the BTM function, while performing a connection to the first AP after the connection to the first AP has been released; identify, during a second period, a second quality of the short-range wireless communication via the first AP, in a state in which the BTM function is deactivated; and determine, on the basis of a result of a comparison between the first quality and the second quality, whether to activate the BTM function when connected to the first AP via the short-range wireless communication after the comparison.

Description

Electronic device and method of operation of the electronic device for determining whether the BSS switching function is enabled

[0001] The present invention relates to an electronic device and a method of operating an electronic device, and more specifically, to an electronic device that determines whether a BSS switching function is activated.

[0002] With the proliferation of various electronic devices, speed improvements have been achieved for wireless communication that these devices can use. Among the wireless communications supported by recent electronic devices, IEEE 802.11 WLAN (or Wi-Fi) is a standard for implementing high-speed wireless connections on various electronic devices. While the first implemented Wi-Fi could support transmission speeds of up to 1 to 9 Mbps, Wi-Fi 6 technology (or IEEE 802.11ax) can support transmission speeds of up to approximately 10 Gbps.

[0003] The electronic device can support various services using relatively large data (e.g., UHD quality video streaming service, AR (augmented reality) service, VR (virtual reality) service, or MR (mixed reality) service) through wireless communication that supports high transmission speeds, and can also support various other services.

[0004] An electronic device can be connected via short-range wireless communication to an AP capable of providing short-range wireless communication in order to perform short-range wireless communication. An AP can manage a single basic service set (BSS), and electronic devices included in the BSS can transmit and / or receive data via the short-range wireless communication provided by the AP.

[0005] An AP managing a BSS can induce an electronic device to roam to another BSS, and the roaming of an electronic device to another BSS can be referred to as a basic service set transition (BSS transition). The function of managing BSS transitions can be referred to as BSS transition management (BTM). An AP can transmit a BSS management request frame to an electronic device to induce the electronic device that supports BSS transition to perform a BSS transition. Upon receiving the BSS management request frame, the electronic device can decide whether to perform a BSS transition. An AP that supports BSS transition can distribute traffic concentrated on the AP to other APs, thereby improving the speed (or performance, quality) of the short-range wireless communication provided by the AP.

[0006] An electronic device that receives a BSS transition management request frame can search for an AP to perform roaming based on information related to other BSSs included in the BSS transition management request frame, and can determine whether to perform a BSS transition to the discovered AP. For example, if the electronic device does not find an AP to perform roaming, it may decide not to perform a BSS transition.

[0007] However, the AP may terminate the connection via near-field communication between the AP and the electronic device even if it has determined that the electronic device will not perform BSS transition. To terminate the connection via near-field communication between the AP and the electronic device, the AP may transmit a disconnect frame or a deauthentication frame to the electronic device. If the electronic device does not support BSS transition, the AP does not transmit a BSS transition management request frame to the electronic device.

[0008] Although the electronic device has decided not to perform BSS switching, the connection via short-range wireless communication between the AP and the electronic device may be terminated by a uncombining frame or an authentication unauthentication frame transmitted by the AP. The situation in which the electronic device decides not to perform BSS switching may refer to a situation where no AP capable of connecting to the electronic device exists, or a situation where it is difficult to perform appropriate short-range wireless communication with another AP. Since the electronic device can support BSS switching, the connection with the AP that transmitted the BSS switching management request frame may be terminated, and the quality of the service using short-range wireless communication performed by the electronic device may be degraded.

[0009] To prevent the situation described above, the electronic device may transmit a signal (e.g., an association request frame) containing information indicating that it does not support BSS transition management functions to the AP. However, the AP may refuse association between the electronic device and the AP even after confirming that it does not support BSS transition management functions, and as a result, the connection between the electronic device and the AP may fail.

[0010] The technical problems to be solved in this document are not limited to those mentioned above, and other technical problems not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art to which this invention belongs from the description below.

[0011] An electronic device according to one example may include a communication circuit that supports short-range wireless communication. The electronic device may include a memory that stores a computer program including instructions. The electronic device may include at least one processor. When the instructions are executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor, the electronic device may check a first quality of the short-range wireless communication through an ESS that includes at least one AP having the same SSID, for a first period, while the basic service set transition management (BTM) function is enabled. When the instructions are executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor, the electronic device may transmit a frame containing information indicating that the electronic device does not support the BSS transition management function to at least one AP included in the ESS while performing a connection with the ESS after the connection with the ESS has been disconnected. When the above instructions are executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor, the electronic device may check the second quality of the short-range wireless communication through the ESS during a second period while the BSS switching management function is disabled. When the above instructions are executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor, the electronic device may determine whether to enable the BSS switching management function when connected to the ESS via the short-range wireless communication after the comparison, based on the result of comparing the first quality and the second quality.

[0012] In a recording medium storing at least one program comprising instructions that cause the electronic device to perform operations when executed individually or collectively by at least one processor of the electronic device, the instructions may, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the electronic device to verify a first quality of short-range wireless communication through an ESS including at least one AP having the same SSID for a first period while in a state where a basic service set transition management (BTM) function is enabled. The instructions may, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the electronic device to transmit a frame containing information indicating that the electronic device does not support the BSS transition management function while performing a connection with the ESS after the connection with the ESS has been disconnected to at least one AP included in the ESS. The above instructions may, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the electronic device to check the second quality of the short-range wireless communication through the ESS for a second period while the BSS switching management function is disabled. The above instructions may, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the electronic device to determine whether to enable the BSS switching management function when connected to the ESS via the short-range wireless communication after the comparison, based on the result of comparing the first quality and the second quality.

[0013] A method of operation of an electronic device according to one example may include an operation of checking a first quality of short-range wireless communication through an ESS that includes at least one AP having the same SSID, while the basic service set transition management (BTM) function is enabled, during a first period. A method of operation of the electronic device may include an operation of transmitting a frame containing information indicating that the electronic device does not support the BSS transition management function to at least one AP included in the ESS while performing a connection with the ESS after the connection with the ESS is disconnected. A method of operation of the electronic device may include an operation of checking a second quality of the short-range wireless communication through the ESS during a second period while the BSS transition management function is disabled. A method of operation of the electronic device may include an operation of determining whether to enable the BSS transition management function when connected to the ESS via the short-range wireless communication after the comparison, based on the result of comparing the first quality and the second quality.

[0014] According to one embodiment, an electronic device and a method of operation of the electronic device can check the first quality of short-range wireless communication through the first AP with the BSS switching management function enabled and the second quality of short-range wireless communication through the first AP with the BSS switching management function disabled when the disconnection between the electronic device and the first AP occurs frequently. Based on the comparison result of the first quality and the second quality, the electronic device can determine whether to enable the BSS switching management function when performing short-range wireless communication with the first AP after the comparison. Accordingly, the electronic device can determine whether to enable the BSS switching management function to have better quality and can implement a stable connection between the AP and the electronic device.

[0015] The effects obtainable from the present invention are not limited to those mentioned above, and other unmentioned effects will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art to which the present disclosure belongs from the description below.

[0016] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an electronic device according to one embodiment.

[0017] FIG. 2 shows an example of a wireless LAN system according to one embodiment.

[0018] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a link setup operation according to one embodiment.

[0019] FIG. 4a is a diagram illustrating an example in which an electronic device according to one embodiment performs roaming from a first AP to a second AP when it supports BSS switching.

[0020] FIG. 4b is a diagram illustrating an example in which an electronic device according to one embodiment is disconnected from a first AP prior to performing a BSS switch.

[0021] FIG. 4c is a diagram illustrating an example in which an electronic device according to one embodiment is disconnected from a second AP after performing a BSS switch.

[0022] FIG. 4d is a diagram illustrating an example in which an electronic device according to one embodiment fails to connect with the first AP after transmitting a frame indicating that it does not support the BSS switching management function to the first AP.

[0023] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an electronic device according to one embodiment.

[0024] FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a processor of an electronic device according to one embodiment.

[0025] FIG. 7 is an operation flowchart illustrating the operation method of an electronic device according to one embodiment.

[0026] FIG. 8 is an operation flowchart illustrating the operation method of an electronic device according to one embodiment.

[0027] FIG. 9 is an operation flowchart illustrating the operation method of an electronic device according to one embodiment.

[0028] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary electronic device (100) capable of performing the operations described in this document.

[0029] Referring to FIG. 1, the electronic device (100) may be one of various forms of electronic devices, such as a notebook (190), smartphones (191) having various form factors (e.g., a bar-type smartphone (191-1), a foldable-type smartphone (191-2), or a sliderable (or rollable)-type smartphone (191-3)), a tablet (192), a cellular phone (not shown), and other similar computing devices (not shown). The components, their relationships, and their functions illustrated in FIG. 1 are illustrative only and are not intended to limit the implementations described or claimed herein. The electronic device (100) may be referred to as a mobile device, a user device, a multifunction device, a portable device, or a server.

[0030] The electronic device (100) may include components comprising at least one processor (110) (hereinafter referred to as processor (110)), at least one memory (120) (hereinafter referred to as memory (120)), at least one display (140) (hereinafter referred to as display (140)), at least one image sensor (150) (hereinafter referred to as image sensor (150)), at least one communication circuit (160) (hereinafter referred to as communication circuit (160)), and / or at least one sensor (170) (hereinafter referred to as sensor (170)). The components are merely exemplary. For example, the electronic device (100) may include other components (e.g., power management integrated circuitry (PMIC), audio processing circuit, antenna, rechargeable battery, or input / output interface). For example, some components may be omitted from the electronic device (100). For example, some components may be integrated into a single component.

[0031] The processor (110) may be implemented as one or more IC (integrated circuit (or circuitry)) chips and may perform various data processing operations. The processor (110) may include at least one electrical circuit and may process instructions (or programs, data, etc.) stored in memory (120) individually or collectively in a distributed manner. The processor (110) may include a processor assembly comprising one or more processing circuits. The processor (110) may include any processing circuit that is operative to control the performance and operations of one or more components of the electronic device (100) (e.g., memory (120), display (140), image sensor (150), communication circuit (160), and / or sensor (170)). For example, the processor (110) (e.g., application processor (AP)) may be implemented as a system on chip (SoC) (e.g., a single chip or chipset). For example, the processor (110) may be implemented with a plurality of cores (or at least one core circuit), a plurality of chips, or a plurality of chipsets. For example, the processor (110) may include one or more processing circuits. For example, the processor (110) may include one or more processing circuits configured to perform the various functions of the present disclosure individually and / or collectively. As an example without limitation, at least a portion of the processor (110) may be included in a first chip of the electronic device (100), and at least another portion of the processor (110) may be included in a second chip of the electronic device (100) different from the first chip of the electronic device (100).

[0032] For example, the processor (110) may include a central processing unit (111), a graphics processing unit (112), a neural processing unit (113), an image signal processor (114), a display controller (115), a memory controller (116), a storage controller (117), a communication processor (118), and / or a sensor interface (119). These components of the processor (110) are merely exemplary. For example, the processor (110) may include other components. For example, some components of the processor (110) may be omitted from the processor (110). For example, some components of the processor (110) may be included as separate components of the electronic device (100) outside of the processor (110). For example, some components of the processor (110) (e.g., memory controller (116)) may be included in other components (e.g., at least part of memory (120), an interface (e.g. available for connection to at least one component of the electronic device (100)), a display (140) and / or an image sensor (150)).

[0033] The processor (110) may cause other components of the electronic device (100) to perform various operations by executing instructions stored in memory (120). The CPU (111) (or central processing circuit) may be configured to control the components of the processor (110) based on the execution of instructions stored in memory (120) (e.g., volatile memory (121) and / or non-volatile memory (122)). The GPU (112) (or graphics processing circuit) may be configured to execute parallel operations (e.g., rendering). The NPU (113) (or neural processing circuit, or AI (artificial intelligence) chip) may be configured to execute operations for an artificial intelligence model (e.g., convolution computation). An ISP (114) (or image signal processing circuit) may be configured to process a raw image acquired through an image sensor (150) into a format suitable for a component within the electronic device (100) or a component of the processor (110). A display controller (115) (or display control circuit, or DPU (display processing unit)) may be configured to process an image acquired from a CPU (111), GPU (112), ISP (114), or memory (120) (e.g., volatile memory (121)) into a format suitable for a display (140). A memory controller (116) (or memory control circuit) may be configured to control reading data from the volatile memory (121) and writing data to the volatile memory (121). A storage controller (117) (or storage control circuit) may be configured to control reading data from the non-volatile memory (122) and writing data to the non-volatile memory (122).The CP (118) (communication processing circuit) may be configured to process data obtained from a component of the processor (110) into a format suitable for transmitting to another electronic device via the communication circuit (160), or to process data obtained from another electronic device via the communication circuit (160) into a format suitable for processing by the component of the processor (110). For example, the communication circuit (160) may include one or more communication circuits. The sensor interface (119) (or sensing data processing circuit, sensor hub) may be configured to process data regarding the state of the electronic device (100) and / or the state around the electronic device (100), obtained through the sensor (170), into a format suitable for the component of the processor (110).

[0034] Memory (120) may include one or more storage media (or one or more storage devices). For example, memory (120) may include a memory assembly comprising one or more storage media. For example, the one or more storage media may include a hard drive, a permanent memory such as flash memory, read-only memory (ROM) (e.g., non-volatile memory (122)), a semi-permanent memory such as random access memory (RAM) (e.g., volatile memory (121)), any other suitable type of storage (or storage assembly), or any combination thereof. Memory (120) may include a cache memory, which is one or more different types of memory used to temporarily store data for a function or feature of the electronic device (100). As an example not limited to, the cache memory may be included within the processor (110). The memory (120) may be fixedly embedded within the electronic device (100) or incorporated into one or more suitable types of components (e.g., a SIM (subscriber identity module) card and / or an SD (secure digital) card) that can be repeatedly inserted into and removed from the electronic device (100).

[0035] For example, memory (120) may store one or more software applications, such as operating system (or system) software applications, firmware software applications, driver software applications, plugin (e.g., add-in, add-on, and / or applet) software applications, and / or any other suitable software applications. For example, the one or more software applications may include instructions executable by the processor (110). For example, memory (120) may store instructions that can be called by an application programming interface (API). For example, memory (120) may store instructions within a library.

[0036] FIG. 2 shows an example of a wireless LAN system according to one embodiment.

[0037] Referring to FIG. 2, according to one embodiment, a wireless LAN system (20) may represent an infrastructure mode in which at least one access point (AP) and a station (STA) communicating through the AP exist in the structure of a wireless LAN (WLAN (wireless local area network)) of the IEEE (institute of electrical and electronic engineers) 802.11 standard. The wireless LAN system (20) may include one or more basic service sets (BSS) (e.g., BSS1 (210) and / or BSS2 (220)). A BSS (e.g., BSS1 (210) and / or BSS2 (220)) may mean a set of APs and STAs (e.g., electronic device (100) of FIG. 1) that can communicate with each other by successfully synchronizing. For example, BSS1 (210) includes AP1 (251) and STA1 (231), and BSS2 (220) may include two or more STAs (e.g., STA2 (233) and STA3 (235)) that can be combined to one AP2 (253).

[0038] According to one embodiment, a wireless LAN system (20) may include at least one STA (e.g., STA1 (231), STA2 (233), and / or STA3 (235)), at least one AP (e.g., AP1 (251) and / or AP2 (253)) providing access to a distribution system service, and / or a distribution system (200) connecting multiple APs (e.g., AP1 (251) and AP2 (253)). The distribution system (200) may refer to a network to which the APs (e.g., AP1 (251), AP2 (253)) are connected, generally a wired infrastructure. The distribution system (200) may implement an extended service set (ESS) by connecting at least one BSS (e.g., BSS1 (210) and / or BSS2 (220)). ESS may be used as a term to refer to a network formed by connecting one or more APs (e.g., AP1 (251) and / or AP2 (253)) through a distributed system (200). Multiple APs included in one ESS (e.g., AP1 (251) and AP2 (253)) may have the same service set identification (SSID).

[0039] According to one embodiment, a STA (e.g., STA1 (231), STA2 (233), and / or STA3 (235)) may be a logical entity comprising a medium access control (MAC) and a physical layer interface to the wireless medium that conforms to the provisions of the IEEE 802.11 standard. The term STA may be used to include both AP-STA and non-AP STA (non-AP station). However, for convenience of explanation in this specification, STA may refer to a non-AP STA and AP may refer to an AP-STA. STA (e.g., STA1 (231), STA2 (233), and / or STA3 (235)) may also be referred to by various names such as electronic device, mobile terminal, wireless device, wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU), user equipment (UE), mobile station (MS), mobile subscriber unit, or simply user, and may be included in these devices.

[0040] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a link setup operation according to one embodiment.

[0041] Referring to FIG. 3, according to one embodiment, a link setup operation may be performed between devices (e.g., STA (301), AP (305)) to communicate with each other. For the link setup, network discovery, authentication, establishment of association, and security setup operations may be performed. The link setup operation may be referred to as a session initiation operation or a session setup operation. Additionally, the discovery, authentication, association, and security setup operations of the link setup operation may be collectively referred to as an association operation.

[0042] According to one embodiment, the network discovery operation may include operation 310 and operation 320. In operation 310, the STA (301) (e.g., the electronic device (100) of FIG. 1) may transmit a probe request frame to search for which AP exists and wait for a response to the probe request frame. The STA (301) may perform a scanning operation to access the network and find a network that can participate. For example, the probe request frame may include information of the STA (301) (e.g., the device name and / or address of the STA (301)). The scanning operation in operation 310 may mean an active scanning operation. In operation 320, the AP (305) may transmit a probe response frame to the STA (301) that transmitted the probe request frame as a response to the probe request frame. For example, the probe response frame may include information of the AP (305) (e.g., the device name and / or network information of the AP (305)). Although the network discovery operation in FIG. 3 is illustrated as being performed through active scanning, it is not necessarily limited thereto. For example, the network discovery operation may be performed through passive scanning. If the STA (301) performs passive scanning, the transmission operation of the probe request frame may be omitted. The STA (301) performing passive scanning may receive a beacon frame transmitted by the AP (305) and perform the following subsequent procedures. The beacon frame may be a frame that is periodically broadcast to announce the presence of the BSS managed by the AP (305). For example, the beacon frame may include information on at least one of a timestamp for the synchronization of at least one STA including the STA (301), a beacon interval and period, capability information, and an SSID.

[0043] According to one embodiment, after the STA (301) discovers a network, an authentication operation including operations 330 and 340 may be performed. In operation 330, the STA (301) may transmit an authentication request frame to the AP (301). In operation 340, the AP (305) may determine whether to allow authentication for the STA (301) based on the information contained in the authentication request frame. The AP (305) may provide the result of the authentication process to the STA (301) via an authentication response frame. The authentication frames used for the authentication request / response (e.g., authentication request frames and / or authentication response frames) may correspond to management frames.

[0044] According to one embodiment, the authentication frame may include information about an authentication algorithm number, an authentication transaction sequence number, a status code, a challenge text, a robust security network (RSN), and / or a finite cyclic group.

[0045] According to one embodiment, after the STA (301) is successfully authenticated, an association operation including operations 350 and 360 may be performed. In operation 350, the STA (301) may send an association request frame to the AP (305). In operation 360, the AP (305) may send an association response frame to the STA (301) in response to the association request frame.

[0046] According to one embodiment, the association request frame and / or association response frame may include information related to various capabilities. For example, the association request frame may include information related to various capabilities, a beacon listen interval, a service set identifier (SSID), supported rates, supported channels, an RSN, a mobility domain, supported operating classes, a traffic indication map broadcast request, and / or information regarding interworking service capabilities. For example, the association response frame may include information related to various capabilities, such as a status code, an association ID (AID), supported rates, an enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) parameter set, a received channel power indicator (RCPI), a received signal to noise indicator (RSNI), a mobility domain, a timeout interval (association comeback time), overlapping BSS scan parameters, a TIM broadcast response, and / or a QoS map.

[0047] According to one embodiment, after the STA (301) is successfully joined to the network, a security setup operation including operations 370 and 380 may be performed. The security setup operation may be performed via a robust security network association (RSNA) request / response. For example, the security setup operation may include a private key setup operation via a 4-way handshake through an extensible authentication protocol over LAN (EAPOL) frame. The security setup operation may also be performed according to a security method not defined in the IEEE 802.11 standard.

[0048] According to one embodiment, a secure session is established between the STA (301) and the AP (305) according to a security setup operation, and the STA (301) and the AP (305) can conduct secure data communication.

[0049] FIG. 4a is a diagram illustrating an example in which an electronic device according to one embodiment performs roaming from a first AP to a second AP when it supports BSS switching.

[0050] An electronic device (100) (e.g., electronic device (100) of FIG. 1, STA1 (231) of FIG. 2, STA (301) of FIG. 3)) can transmit a BSS switching management inquiry frame to a first AP (401) (e.g., AP1 (251) of FIG. 2, AP (305) of FIG. 3) in operation 411.

[0051] The electronic device (100) may be included in a BSS (e.g., BSS1 (210) of FIG. 2) that includes a first AP (401), and the electronic device (100) may perform the role of a STA as defined in IEEE 802.11. The electronic device (100) may transmit data to the outside and / or receive data from the outside via short-range wireless communication (e.g., Wi-Fi) provided by the first AP (401).

[0052] The electronic device (100) can discover the first AP (401) to perform short-range wireless communication provided by the first AP (401), perform authentication with the first AP (401), and perform coupling with the first AP (401).

[0053] After the electronic device (100) is combined with the first AP (401), it can transmit a BSS switching management inquiry frame to the first AP (401).

[0054] A basic service set transition (BSS transition) may refer to an electronic device (100) roaming (or moving) from a currently included BSS (e.g., BSS1 (210)) to another BSS (e.g., BSS2 (220) of FIG. 2). After performing the BSS transition, the electronic device (100) may disconnect from the first AP (401) and establish a connection with the second AP (402).

[0055] The BSS transition management inquiry frame may refer to a frame inquiring whether the first AP (401) supports the BSS transition management function, and may be transmitted to the first AP (401) when the electronic device (100) attempts a BSS transition. Transmission of the BSS transition management inquiry frame is not an essential configuration and may be omitted in this operation.

[0056] The first AP (401) can transmit a BSS transition management request frame to the electronic device (100) in operation 412. The first AP (401) can transmit the BSS transition management request frame to the electronic device (100) via short-range wireless communication, and the BSS transition management request frame may refer to a frame requesting a BSS transition of the electronic device (100).

[0057] The BSS transition management request frame may include at least one of the following: information related to another BSS obtained by the first AP (401), information indicating whether to disassociate the electronic device (100) through short-range wireless communication, or information indicating the time at which the disassociation is performed when the electronic device (100) is disassociated through short-range wireless communication.

[0058] According to one example, an electronic device (100) that receives a BSS transition management request frame can search for an AP to perform roaming (e.g., a second AP (402)) based on information related to another BSS included in the BSS transition management request frame, and can determine whether to perform a BSS transition.

[0059] According to another example, an electronic device (100) that has received a BSS transition management request frame can search for APs existing around the electronic device (100) regardless of the reception of information related to other BSSs, and can decide whether to perform a BSS transition based on the search results.

[0060] The electronic device (100) can transmit a BSS switching management response frame to the first AP (401) in operation 413.

[0061] A BSS transition management response frame may be transmitted upon receipt of a BSS transition request frame and may include information indicating whether to perform a BSS transition.

[0062] According to one example, if the electronic device (100) determines a BSS transition, it may transmit a BSS transition management response frame to the first AP (401) containing information indicating the BSS transition and / or information related to the BSS to be connected (or information of the second AP (402) constituting the BSS).

[0063] According to one example, if the electronic device (100) decides not to perform a BSS transition, it may transmit a BSS transition management response frame containing information instructing not to perform a BSS transition to the first AP (401).

[0064] Transmission of the BSS transition management response frame is not mandatory, and if the electronic device (100) decides to perform a BSS transition, it may transmit the BSS transition management response frame to the first AP (401). If the electronic device (100) decides not to perform a BSS transition, it may not transmit the BSS transition management response frame to the first AP (401).

[0065] The electronic device (100) can establish a connection with the second AP (402) in operation 414. The electronic device (100) can perform authentication with the second AP (402) and perform coupling with the second AP (402) in order to perform short-range wireless communication provided by the second AP (402).

[0066] The first AP (401) that supports the BSS switching management function through the method described above can distribute traffic concentrated on the first AP (401) to other APs (e.g., the second AP (402)), thereby improving the speed (or performance, quality) of the short-range wireless communication provided by the first AP (401).

[0067] FIG. 4b is a diagram illustrating an example in which an electronic device according to one embodiment is disconnected from a first AP prior to performing a BSS switch.

[0068] The first AP (401) (e.g., AP1 (251) of FIG. 2, AP (305) of FIG. 3) can transmit a BSS switching management request frame to an electronic device (100) (e.g., electronic device (100) of FIG. 1, STA1 (231) of FIG. 2, STA (301) of FIG. 3) in operation 421. The first AP (401) can transmit the BSS switching management request frame to the electronic device (100) via short-range wireless communication, and the BSS switching management request frame may refer to a frame requesting a BSS switching of the electronic device (100).

[0069] The BSS transition management request frame may include at least one of the following: information related to another BSS obtained by the first AP (401), information indicating whether to disassociate the electronic device (100) through short-range wireless communication, or information indicating the time at which the disassociation is performed when the electronic device (100) is disassociated through short-range wireless communication.

[0070] According to one example, an electronic device (100) that receives a BSS transition management request frame can search for an AP to perform roaming (e.g., a second AP (402)) based on information related to another BSS included in the BSS transition management request frame, and can determine whether to perform a BSS transition.

[0071] According to another example, an electronic device (100) that has received a BSS transition management request frame can search for APs existing around the electronic device (100) regardless of the reception of information related to other BSSs, and can decide whether to perform a BSS transition based on the search results.

[0072] The electronic device (100) can transmit a BSS switching management response frame to the first AP (401) in operation 422.

[0073] A BSS transition management response frame may be transmitted upon receipt of a BSS transition request frame and may include information indicating whether to perform a BSS transition.

[0074] According to one example, if the electronic device (100) determines a BSS transition, it may transmit a BSS transition management response frame to the first AP (401) containing information indicating the BSS transition and / or information related to the BSS to be connected (or information of the second AP (402) constituting the BSS).

[0075] According to one example, if the electronic device (100) decides not to perform a BSS transition, it may transmit a BSS transition management response frame containing information instructing not to perform a BSS transition to the first AP (401).

[0076] Transmission of the BSS transition management response frame is not mandatory, and if the electronic device (100) decides not to perform a BSS transition, it may not transmit the BSS transition management response frame to the first AP (401) (operation 422 may be omitted).

[0077] The first AP (401) can transmit a disassociation frame to the electronic device (100) in operation, 423.

[0078] The first AP (401) may disconnect the connection via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) due to various causes. According to one example, the first AP (401) may disconnect the connection via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) in a situation where the load of the first AP (401) (e.g., data that the first AP (401) must transmit to STAs included in the BSS containing the first AP (401) or data received from STAs included in the BSS containing the first AP (401)) is too great or the channel utilization of at least one link established by the first AP (401) is too great.

[0079] According to one example, the first AP (401) may disconnect the connection via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) if it does not receive a BSS switching management response frame. According to another example, the first AP (401) may disconnect the connection via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) even if it receives a BSS switching management response frame.

[0080] The first AP (401) transmitting a disengagement frame to the electronic device (100) may be for disconnecting the connection via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100). The first AP (401) may also disconnect the connection via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) by transmitting an authentication disengagement frame to the electronic device (100) instead of a disengagement frame.

[0081] The first AP (401) may transmit the uncombined frame or unauthenticated frame only to STAs that support BSS transition management functions (e.g., electronic device (100)). The first AP (401) may not transmit the uncombined frame or unauthenticated frame to STAs that do not support BSS transition management functions.

[0082] The electronic device (100) can disconnect the connection with the first AP (401) via short-range wireless communication upon receiving a disconnection frame in operation 424.

[0083] Referring to the example described above, the electronic device (100) has decided not to perform BSS switching, but the connection via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) may be disconnected by a disconnection frame or an authentication release frame transmitted by the first AP (401). The situation in which the electronic device (100) decides not to perform BSS switching may refer to a situation in which there is no AP capable of connecting to the electronic device (100) other than the first AP (401), or a situation in which it is difficult to perform appropriate short-range wireless communication with other APs. Since the electronic device (100) can support a BSS switching management function, the connection with the first AP (401) may be disconnected, and the quality of the service using short-range wireless communication performed by the electronic device (100) may be degraded.

[0084] FIG. 4c is a diagram illustrating an example in which an electronic device according to one embodiment is disconnected from a second AP after performing a BSS switch.

[0085] The first AP (e.g., the first AP (401) of FIG. 4a) can transmit a BSS switching management request frame to an electronic device (e.g., the electronic device (100) of FIG. 5) in operation 431.

[0086] The electronic device (100) can perform a connection procedure with the discovered first AP (401) via short-range wireless communication. As described in FIG. 3, the electronic device (100) can perform an authentication procedure with the discovered first AP (401), a coupling procedure with the first AP (401), and / or a security setup procedure with the first AP (401).

[0087] In a coupling procedure with the first AP (401) (or a procedure for connecting the electronic device (100) and the first AP (401)), the electronic device (100) may transmit information indicating whether the electronic device (100) supports a BSS switching management function to the first AP (401) via short-range wireless communication. The electronic device (100) may support a BSS switching management function and may transmit information indicating that it supports a BSS switching management function to the first AP (401).

[0088] A basic service set transition (BSS transition) may refer to an electronic device (100) roaming (or moving) from a currently included BSS (e.g., BSS1 (210)) to another BSS (e.g., BSS2 (220) of FIG. 2). After performing the BSS transition, the electronic device (100) may disconnect from the first AP (401) and establish a connection with the second AP (402).

[0089] The electronic device (100) can transmit a frame containing information indicating that it supports a BSS switching management function to the first AP (401), and the electronic device (100) can transmit an association request frame containing information indicating that it supports a BSS switching management function to the first AP (401).

[0090] The first AP (401) receives a frame containing information indicating that it supports a BSS switching management function in a procedure (or, combination procedure) for connecting the electronic device (100) and the first AP (401), and can confirm that the electronic device (100) supports a BSS switching management function.

[0091] The electronic device (100) can control a communication circuit (e.g., communication circuit (510) of FIG. 5) to transmit and / or receive data through short-range wireless communication provided by the first AP (401) as the connection between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) is completed.

[0092] The electronic device (100) can receive a BSS switching management request frame from the first AP (401) while the electronic device (100) is connected to the first AP (401).

[0093] The BSS transition management request frame may refer to a frame requesting a BSS transition of the electronic device (100).

[0094] The BSS transition management request frame may include at least one of the following: information related to another BSS obtained by the first AP (401), information indicating whether to disassociate the electronic device (100) through short-range wireless communication, or information indicating the time at which the disassociation is performed when the electronic device (100) is disassociated through short-range wireless communication.

[0095] The first AP (401) may transmit a BSS switching management request frame to the electronic device (100) for various reasons. According to one example, the first AP (401) may transmit a BSS switching management request frame to the electronic device (100) to disconnect the connection via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) in a situation where the load of the first AP (401) (e.g., data that the first AP (401) needs to transmit to STAs included in the BSS that includes the first AP (401) or data received from STAs included in the BSS that includes the first AP (401)) is too large or the channel utilization of at least one link established by the first AP (401) is too large. The first AP (401) can send a BSS transition management request frame to at least one STA among the STAs that support the BSS transition management function (e.g., electronic device (100)), and may not send a BSS transition management request frame to STAs that do not support the BSS transition management function.

[0096] The electronic device (100) can receive a BSS transition management request frame and determine whether to perform a BSS transition.

[0097] The electronic device (100) may decide to perform a BSS switch if it succeeds in finding a second AP (402) excluding the first AP, and if the performance of the short-range wireless communication provided by the other AP (e.g., the second AP (402)) satisfies specified conditions.

[0098] The electronic device (100) and the second AP (402) can perform a connection procedure between the electronic device (100) and the second AP (402) in operation 432.

[0099] The electronic device (100) can disconnect the connection via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) and establish a connection via short-range wireless communication between the second AP (402) and the electronic device (100) as it decides to switch from the BSS (210) containing the first AP (401) to the BSS (220) containing the second AP (402).

[0100] The electronic device (100) can perform a connection procedure with the second AP (402) via short-range wireless communication. As described in FIG. 3, the electronic device (100) can perform an authentication procedure with the second AP (402), a coupling procedure with the second AP (402), and / or a security setup procedure with the second AP (402). The electronic device (100) can complete the above procedures and be assigned an IP address from the second AP (402), and can perform short-range wireless communication using the IP address.

[0101] The electronic device (100) can detect that the connection between the electronic device (100) and the second AP (402) is disconnected in operation 433.

[0102] According to one example, the disconnection of the connection between the electronic device (100) and the second AP (204) may occur when the quality of the signal received by the electronic device (100) from the second AP (204) is less than or equal to a specified value.

[0103] The electronic device (100) completes the connection procedure with the second AP (402) via short-range wireless communication and can transmit and / or receive data via the short-range wireless communication provided by the second AP (402). However, the electronic device (100) may disconnect from the second AP (402) if the quality of the signal transmitted by the second AP (402) (e.g., RSSI, RSRP) is less than or equal to a specified value.

[0104] According to one example, the disconnection of the connection between the electronic device (100) and the second AP (204) may occur when the congestion of the established channel between the electronic device (100) and the second AP (402) is greater than (or exceeds) a specified value.

[0105] The electronic device (100) completes the connection procedure with the second AP (402) via short-range wireless communication and can transmit and / or receive data via the short-range wireless communication provided by the second AP (402). However, the electronic device (100) may disconnect from the second AP (402) if the channel utilization established by the second AP (402) is greater than (or exceeds) a specified value.

[0106] The electronic device (100) can receive information from the second AP (402) indicating that the connection via short-range wireless communication between the second AP (402) and the electronic device (100) is disconnected, and the electronic device (100) can detect the disconnection of the connection between the second AP (402) and the electronic device (100) upon receiving the information indicating that the connection via short-range wireless communication is disconnected.

[0107] The electronic device (100) can perform a connection procedure between the electronic device (100) and the first AP (401) in operation 434.

[0108] The electronic device (100) can perform a reconnection procedure with the first AP (401) as it disconnects from the second AP (402). The electronic device (100) can receive a BSS transition management request frame again from the first AP (401) in a situation where it can transmit and / or receive data via short-range wireless communication provided by the first AP (401). The electronic device (100) can perform a BSS transition again as it receives the BSS transition management request frame from the first AP (401). The situation described above can be performed repeatedly.

[0109] Referring to the example described above, the electronic device (100) has decided not to perform BSS switching, but the connection via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) may be disconnected by a disconnection frame or an authentication release frame transmitted by the first AP (401). The situation in which the electronic device (100) decides not to perform BSS switching may refer to a situation in which there is no AP capable of connecting to the electronic device (100) other than the first AP (401), or a situation in which it is difficult to perform appropriate short-range wireless communication with other APs. Although the electronic device (100) has decided not to perform BSS switching, the connection with the first AP (401) may be disconnected because it can support BSS switching, and the quality of the service using short-range wireless communication performed by the electronic device (100) may be degraded.

[0110] The situation described in FIGS. 4b and 4c may occur by transmitting a signal (or a BSS transition management response frame) indicating that the electronic device (100) supports the BSS transition management function. Accordingly, even if the electronic device (100) supports the BSS transition management function, the above problem can be resolved by transmitting a signal (or a BSS transition management response frame) indicating that it does not support the BSS transition management function to the first AP (401). However, the first AP (401) may refuse the electronic device (100) to combine with the first AP (401) through a method other than the BSS transition management function, and specific details will be described later in FIG. 4d.

[0111] FIG. 4d is a diagram illustrating an example in which an electronic device according to one embodiment fails to connect with the first AP after transmitting a frame (e.g., a connection request frame) indicating that it does not support the BSS switching management function to the first AP.

[0112] The first AP (401) (e.g., AP1 (251) of FIG. 2, AP (305) of FIG. 3) can transmit a BSS switching management request frame to an electronic device (100) (e.g., electronic device (100) of FIG. 1, STA1 (231) of FIG. 2, STA (301) of FIG. 3) in operation 441. The first AP (401) can transmit the BSS switching management request frame to the electronic device (100) via short-range wireless communication, and the BSS switching management request frame may refer to a frame requesting a BSS switching of the electronic device (100).

[0113] The BSS transition management request frame may include at least one of the following: information related to another BSS obtained by the first AP (401), information indicating whether to disassociate the electronic device (100) through short-range wireless communication, or information indicating the time at which the disassociation is performed when the electronic device (100) is disassociated through short-range wireless communication.

[0114] According to one example, an electronic device (100) that receives a BSS transition management request frame can search for an AP to perform roaming (e.g., a second AP (402)) based on information related to another BSS included in the BSS transition management request frame, and can determine whether to perform a BSS transition.

[0115] According to another example, an electronic device (100) that has received a BSS transition management request frame can search for APs existing around the electronic device (100) regardless of the reception of information related to other BSSs, and can decide whether to perform a BSS transition based on the search results.

[0116] The electronic device (100) can transmit a BSS switching management response frame to the first AP (401) in operation 442.

[0117] A BSS transition management response frame may be transmitted upon receipt of a BSS transition request frame and may include information indicating whether to perform a BSS transition.

[0118] According to one example, if the electronic device (100) determines a BSS transition, it may transmit a BSS transition management response frame to the first AP (401) containing information indicating the BSS transition and / or information related to the BSS to be connected (or information of the second AP (402) constituting the BSS).

[0119] According to one example, if the electronic device (100) decides not to perform a BSS transition, it may transmit a BSS transition management response frame containing information instructing not to perform a BSS transition to the first AP (401).

[0120] Transmission of the BSS transition management response frame is not mandatory, and if the electronic device (100) decides not to perform a BSS transition, it may not transmit the BSS transition management response frame to the first AP (401) (operation 442 may be omitted).

[0121] The first AP (401) can transmit a disassociation frame to the electronic device (100) in operation 443.

[0122] The first AP (401) may disconnect the connection via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) due to various causes. According to one example, the first AP (401) may disconnect the connection via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) in a situation where the load of the first AP (401) (e.g., data that the first AP (401) must transmit to STAs included in the BSS containing the first AP (401) or data received from STAs included in the BSS containing the first AP (401)) is too great or the channel utilization of at least one link established by the first AP (401) is too great.

[0123] According to one example, the first AP (401) may disconnect the connection via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) if it does not receive a BSS switching management response frame. According to another example, the first AP (401) may disconnect the connection via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) even if it receives a BSS switching management response frame.

[0124] The first AP (401) transmitting a disengagement frame to the electronic device (100) may be for disconnecting the connection via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100). The first AP (401) may also disconnect the connection via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) by transmitting an authentication disengagement frame to the electronic device (100) instead of a disengagement frame.

[0125] The first AP (401) may transmit the uncombined frame or unauthenticated frame only to STAs that support BSS transition management functions (e.g., electronic device (100)). The first AP (401) may not transmit the uncombined frame or unauthenticated frame to STAs that do not support BSS transition management functions.

[0126] The electronic device (100) can disconnect the connection with the first AP (401) via short-range wireless communication upon receiving a disconnection frame in operation 444.

[0127] In operation 445, the electronic device (100) can transmit an association request frame to the first AP (401) containing information indicating that it does not support BSS switching management in order to perform a connection with the first AP (401) via short-range wireless communication.

[0128] The electronic device (100) can support BSS switching management, but can send a combination request frame to the first AP (401) containing information indicating that it does not support BSS switching management in order to successfully connect with the first AP (401).

[0129] A specific AP may reject a connection from a STA (or electronic device (100)) depending on the performance of the AP. For example, the first AP (401) may reject a coupling request (or authentication request) transmitted by a STA, considering that it is difficult to perform short-range wireless communication if the occupancy of the channel established (or established) by the first AP (401) is greater than (or exceeds) a specified size. Preventing a STA from connecting with the specific AP by transmitting a coupling rejection frame and / or an authentication rejection frame without using the BSS switching management function may be defined as legacy band-steering.

[0130] According to one example, the first AP (401) may prohibit (or restrain) the electronic device (100) from connecting to the first AP (401) by confirming that certain conditions (e.g., the number of STAs connected to the first AP (401) is greater than a specified number, or the congestion of the channel established by the first AP (401) is greater than a specified size).

[0131] The first AP (401) can transmit a coupling response frame to the electronic device (100) in operation 446, indicating that coupling is rejected.

[0132] The electronic device (100) may fail to connect with the first AP (401) via short-range wireless communication. Referring to the example illustrated in FIG. 4d, the electronic device (100) may fail to connect with the first AP (401) even if it sends a coupling request frame to the first AP (401) indicating that it does not support BSS switching management functions. Rather, the electronic device (100) may successfully connect with the first AP (401) if it sends a coupling request frame to the first AP (401) indicating that it supports BSS switching management functions.

[0133] Below, an example of determining whether to enable the BSS switching management function so that the electronic device (100) can connect more smoothly with the first AP (401) is described.

[0134] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an electronic device according to one embodiment.

[0135] According to one embodiment, an electronic device (e.g., the electronic device (100) of FIG. 1) may include a communication circuit (510) (e.g., the communication circuit (160) of FIG. 1), a processor (520) (e.g., the processor (110) of FIG. 1) and / or a memory (530) (e.g., the memory (120) of FIG. 1).

[0136] The communication circuit (510) may be a communication circuit that supports short-range wireless communication. The short-range wireless communication may include various short-range wireless communications that the electronic device (100) can support. For example, the short-range wireless communication may be Wi-Fi.

[0137] The communication circuit (510) may include various circuit structures used for modulating and / or demodulating a signal within the electronic device (100). For example, the communication circuit (510) may modulate a baseband signal into a radio frequency (RF) band signal to output it through an antenna (not shown), or demodulate an RF band signal received through the antenna into a baseband signal and transmit it to a processor (520).

[0138] A processor (520) may be electrically or operationally connected to a communication circuit (510) to control the communication circuit (510). The processor (520) may include at least one processor, and at least one processor may perform the following operations individually or collectively. The processor (520) may be the processor (110) shown in FIG. 1. Alternatively, the processor (520) may be a processor implemented inside the communication circuit (510), and if the processor (520) is implemented inside the communication circuit (510), it may be referred to as a core.

[0139] The memory (530) can store instructions that can be executed by the processor (520). The operation of the processor (520) described below can be performed according to the execution of the instructions stored in the memory (530).

[0140] A processor (520) can control a communication circuit (510) to search for an AP capable of providing short-range wireless communication in order to perform short-range wireless communication. The processor (520) can search for at least one AP (e.g., a first AP (401)) included in a BSS to perform short-range wireless communication through a BSS that includes at least one AP having the same SSID (service set identifier). The processor (520) can control a communication circuit (510) to broadcast a probe request message in order to search for an AP. The probe request message may include information about an electronic device (100). According to one example, the probe request message may include various identification information (e.g., MAC address) that can distinguish the electronic device (100) from other electronic devices, and performance information related to the short-range wireless communication of the electronic device (100). When the first AP (e.g., the first AP (401) of FIG. 4a) receives a probe request message, it can transmit a probe response message corresponding to the probe request message to the electronic device (100). When the processor (520) receives the probe response message, it can successfully search for the first AP (401).

[0141] According to another example, the processor (520) can successfully locate the first AP (401) by receiving a beacon signal broadcast by the first AP (401).

[0142] The processor (520) can perform a connection procedure with the discovered first AP (401) via short-range wireless communication. As described in FIG. 3, the processor (520) can perform an authentication procedure with the discovered first AP (401), a coupling procedure with the first AP (401), and / or a security setup procedure with the first AP (401).

[0143] The processor (520) can transmit information indicating whether the electronic device (100) supports a BSS switching management function to the first AP (401) via short-range wireless communication during a coupling procedure with the first AP (401) (or a procedure for connecting the electronic device (100) and the first AP (401). The electronic device (100) can support a BSS switching management function and can transmit information indicating that it supports a BSS switching management function to the first AP (401).

[0144] A basic service set transition (BSS) may refer to an electronic device (100) roaming (or moving) from a currently included BSS (e.g., BSS1 (210)) to another BSS (e.g., BSS2 (220) of FIG. 2). A BSS transition management function may refer to various functions for managing the BSS transition (e.g., the timing of the BSS transition, or various functions related to the BSS transition including a function to select the AP to roam to when performing the BSS transition). The electronic device (100) that has performed the BSS transition may disconnect from the first AP (401) and connect to the second AP (402). The first AP (401) and the second AP (402) may be APs that have the same service set identifier (SSID). The fact that the first AP (401) and the second AP (402) are APs having the same SSID may indicate that the first AP (401) and the second AP (402) are APs included in the same ESS (extended service set).

[0145] The processor (520) may transmit a frame containing information indicating that the BSS transition management function is supported to the first AP (401), and the processor (520) may transmit an association request frame containing information indicating that the BSS transition management function is supported to the first AP (401). Alternatively, the processor (520) may transmit an association request frame containing information indicating that the BSS transition management function is not supported to the first AP (401).

[0146] In a procedure (or combination procedure) connecting the electronic device (100) and the first AP (401), the first AP (401) may receive a frame containing information indicating that it supports a BSS transition management function and confirm that the electronic device (100) supports a BSS transition management function. Alternatively, in a procedure (or combination procedure) connecting the electronic device (100) and the first AP (401), the first AP (401) may receive a frame containing information indicating that it does not support a BSS transition management function and confirm that the electronic device (100) does not support a BSS transition management function.

[0147] The processor (520) can perform short-range wireless communication through the ESS. According to one example, the processor (520) can control the communication circuit (510) to transmit and / or receive data through the short-range wireless communication provided by the first AP (401) as the connection between the first AP (401) included in the ESS and the electronic device (100) is completed.

[0148] The processor (520) can confirm (or determine, detect) that the connection between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) is disconnected.

[0149] According to one example, as described in FIG. 4b, the electronic device (100) may decide not to perform a BSS transition and transmit a BSS transition management response frame to the first AP (401) indicating that the BSS transition will not be performed. After transmitting the BSS transition management response frame, the processor (520) may confirm that the connection between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) is disconnected by receiving a disconnection frame from the first AP (401) within a specified time.

[0150] The processor (520) can check (or, monitor, detect) the number of times the connection between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) is disconnected during a specified period, and check whether the number of times the connection between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) is disconnected during a specified period is greater than (or exceeds) the specified number of times (e.g., 5 times).

[0151] According to one example, as described in FIG. 4c, the electronic device (100) may receive a BSS switching management request frame from the first AP (401), disconnect from the first AP (401), and perform roaming to the second AP (402). However, the processor (520) may detect that the connection between the second AP (402) and the electronic device (100) is disconnected within a specified time and attempt to reconnect with the first AP (401). The phenomenon described above may be performed repeatedly and may be referred to as a ping-pong phenomenon.

[0152] The electronic device (100) can check (or monitor, detect) the number of times the ping-pong phenomenon (or the number of times a connection to the first AP (401) is attempted) described above occurs during a specified time period, and check whether the number of times the ping-pong phenomenon (or the number of times a connection to the first AP (401)) described above occurs is greater than or exceeds a specified number (e.g., 4 times).

[0153] The processor (520) can perform a series of operations to determine whether to change (or maintain) the activation of the BSS switching management function as it confirms that the number of times the disconnection between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) occurs during a specified time is greater than (or exceeds) the specified number of times (e.g., 5 times) and / or the number of times the ping-pong phenomenon (or the number of times a connection to the first AP (401) is attempted) is greater than (or exceeds) the specified number of times (e.g., 4 times).

[0154] The processor (520) can verify the first quality of short-range wireless communication through the ESS during a first period while the BSS switching management function is enabled during short-range wireless communication through the ESS. According to one example, when an electronic device (100) is connected to a first AP (401), the processor (520) can verify the first quality of short-range wireless communication through the first AP (401) during a first period while the BSS switching management function is enabled during short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100).

[0155] The processor (520) can enable the BSS switching management function by transmitting a frame (e.g., a combination request frame) to the first AP (401) in the connection procedure between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) indicating that the electronic device (100) supports the BSS switching management function.

[0156] The first quality may refer to at least one parameter representing the quality of short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) has the BSS switching function enabled.

[0157] For example, the first quality may include information related to the time during which a connection is maintained via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) while the electronic device (100) has the BSS switching function enabled. The information related to the time during which the connection is maintained may include an average of the time during which the connection is maintained or a representative value of the time during which the connection is maintained.

[0158] The processor (520) can determine (or verify, calculate, estimate) the average time during which the connection is maintained via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) based on the sum of the connection times via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) and the number of times the connection via short-range wireless communication between the electronic device (100) and the first AP (401) is disconnected.

[0159] According to one example, the processor (520) can determine (or verify, calculate, estimate) the average time during which a connection is maintained via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) using the following mathematical formula 1.

[0160]

[0161] ( : Average time during which a connection is maintained via short-range wireless communication between the AP (401) and the electronic device (100), : The sum of the connection times via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100), : Number of times the connection via short-range wireless communication between the 1st AP (401) was disconnected)

[0162] For example, the first quality may include information regarding the time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via near-field wireless communication when the electronic device (100) performs roaming from the first AP (401) to another AP (e.g., the second AP (402)) while the electronic device (100) has the BSS switching function enabled. When the electronic device (100) performs roaming from the first AP (401) to another AP (e.g., the second AP (402)), the information regarding the time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via near-field wireless communication may include the average time of the time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via near-field wireless communication. According to one example, the processor (520) may transmit a frame to the second AP (402) containing information indicating that the BSS switching management function is supported when performing roaming from the first AP (401) to the second AP (402). The processor (520) can activate the BSS switching management function and verify the first quality in connection and verifying the first quality through short-range wireless communication with the second AP (402).

[0163] The processor (520) can determine (or verify, calculate, estimate) the average time that the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication based on the time that the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication (e.g., the sum of the time that the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) and the time that the electronic device (100) is disconnected via short-range wireless communication (e.g., the sum of the number of times the electronic device (100) performs roaming and the number of times the electronic device (100) is disconnected via short-range wireless communication).

[0164] According to one example, the processor (520) can determine (or verify, calculate, estimate) the average time that the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication using the following mathematical formula 2.

[0165]

[0166] ( : Average time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication, : The sum of the connection time via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) and the connection time via short-range wireless communication between the second AP (402) and the electronic device (100), : The number of times the connection via short-range wireless communication between the 1st AP (401) was disconnected, : Number of times the electronic device (100) performed roaming from the first AP (401) to the second AP (402)

[0167] The first AP (401) and the second AP (402) may refer to APs included in the same network (e.g., the ESS of FIG. 2). APs included in the same network may refer to APs that have at least some information (e.g., SSID (service set identifier), and / or security type) identical. The time during which the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication may refer to the time during which the connection between the ESS containing the first AP (401) and the second AP (402) and the electronic device (100) is maintained. The time during which the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication may refer to the sum of the times during which the electronic device (100) is connected to at least one AP (e.g., the first AP (401) and the second AP (402)) included in the same network. The processor (520) can determine the sum of the connected time between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100), the connected time between the second AP (402) and the electronic device (100), and the connected time between the other AP and the electronic device (100), as well as the connected time between the first AP (401) and the second AP (402) and the electronic device (100), and the connected time between the other AP and the electronic device (100), as the time the electronic device (100) maintains the connection via the short-range wireless communication.

[0168] The processor (520) can identify (or collect, monitor) various parameters that may indicate the quality of short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) in addition to the parameters described above.

[0169] The first quality may include the speed of short-range wireless communication using an ESS including a first AP (401) and a second AP (402) when the electronic device (100) has enabled the BSS switching function (e.g., transmission speed and / or reception speed). According to one example, the first quality may include the speed of short-range wireless communication using the first AP (401) when the electronic device (100) has enabled the BSS switching management function (e.g., transmission speed and / or reception speed). The processor (520) may check the speed of short-range wireless communication using the first AP (401) (e.g., transmission speed and / or reception speed) when the electronic device (100) has enabled the BSS switching management function.

[0170] The first quality may include channel utilization between the ESS and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) has enabled the BSS switching management function. According to one example, the first quality may include channel utilization between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) has enabled the BSS switching management function. The processor (520) can check the channel utilization between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) has enabled the BSS switching management function.

[0171] The first quality may include the number of times the electronic device (100) retransmits a packet as it fails to transmit a packet to at least one AP (e.g., the first AP (401) and the second AP (402)) included in the ESS while the electronic device (100) has enabled the BSS switching management function. According to one example, the first quality may include the number of times the electronic device (100) retransmits a packet as it fails to transmit a packet to the first AP (401) while the electronic device (100) has enabled the BSS switching management function. The processor (520) may check the number of times the packet is retransmitted. According to one example, the first quality may include the number of times the electronic device (100) retransmits a packet as it fails to transmit a packet to the second AP (402) while the electronic device (100) has enabled the BSS switching management function. The processor (520) can check the number of times packets are retransmitted. According to one example, the first quality may include the sum of the number of times packets are retransmitted as the electronic device (100) fails to transmit packets to the first AP (401) and the number of times packets are retransmitted as the electronic device (100) fails to transmit packets to the second AP (402), while the electronic device (100) has enabled the BSS switching management function. The processor (520) can check the number of times packets are retransmitted.

[0172] The first quality may include the quality of a signal received through at least one AP included in the ESS when the electronic device (100) has enabled the BSS switching management function. According to one example, the first quality may include the quality of a signal (e.g., RSSI) received from the first AP (401) when the electronic device (100) has enabled the BSS switching management function.

[0173] A first period (e.g., 1 day) is a period set to verify a first quality, which can be set by the processor (520) and can be pre-set at the time of manufacturing the electronic device (101). The processor (520) can continuously verify the first quality from the time it starts verifying the first quality until the first period expires.

[0174] The first period can be set differently depending on the form factor of the electronic device (100). If the electronic device (100) has a form factor with high mobility (e.g., wearable device, smartphone), the first period can be set longer considering that the time available to connect to a specific AP is short. If the electronic device (100) has a form factor with low mobility (e.g., tablet device, or home appliance), the first period can be set shorter considering that the time available to connect to a specific AP is long.

[0175] The first period may be set differently depending on the behavior history of the user of the electronic device (100). The electronic device (100) may set the first period long, considering that the time available to connect to a specific AP is short when the range of activity of the user of the electronic device (100) is relatively large. The electronic device (100) may set the first period short, considering that the time available to connect to a specific AP is long when the range of activity of the user of the electronic device (100) is relatively small.

[0176] The processor (520) may determine the time during which a connection is maintained between the electronic device (100) and the ESS while verifying the first quality. The time during which a connection is maintained between the electronic device (100) and the ESS may refer to the sum of the times during which a connection is maintained between each of at least one AP (e.g., the first AP (401) and / or the second AP (402)) included in the electronic device (100) and the ESS. The processor (520) may determine the time during which a connection is maintained between the electronic device (100) and the first AP (401) while verifying the first quality. The processor (520) may determine the first quality to be valid if the time during which a connection is maintained between the electronic device (100) and the first AP (401) is greater than (or exceeds) a specified size. According to one example, the processor (520) may increase the first period (e.g., increase from 1 day to 3 days, increase from 3 days to 5 days) if the time maintaining the connection between the electronic device (100) and the first AP (401) is less than (or less than) a specified size. The increase in the first period may lead to the time maintaining the connection between the electronic device (100) and the first AP (401) being greater than (or exceeding) a specified size, and may improve the validity (or accuracy, representativeness) of the first quality.

[0177] The processor (520) can check the first quality and, with the BSS switching function disabled, check the second quality of short-range wireless communication through the ESS. According to one example, the processor (520) can check the first quality and, with the BSS switching function disabled, check the second quality of short-range wireless communication through the first AP (401).

[0178] According to one example, the processor (520) may disconnect from the first AP (401) after confirming the first quality and as the performance of the short-range wireless communication ends (or as it confirms that the quality of the signal transmitted by the first AP (401) is low). The processor (420) may establish a connection with the first AP (401) after confirming that activation of the short-range wireless communication (or activation of a service using the short-range wireless communication) is required while the electronic device (100) is within the coverage of the first AP (401).

[0179] According to one example, the processor (520) may disable the BSS transition management function by sending a frame (e.g., a connection request frame) to the first AP (401) indicating that the electronic device (100) does not support the BSS transition management function in the connection procedure between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) when attempting to reconnect with the first AP (401) after verifying the first quality.

[0180] The second quality may refer to at least one parameter representing the quality of short-range wireless communication between the ESS and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching function. According to one example, the second quality may refer to at least one parameter representing the quality of short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching function.

[0181] For example, the second quality may include information regarding the time during which a connection via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) is maintained while the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching function. The information regarding the time during which a connection via short-range wireless communication is maintained may include an average of the time during which the connection is maintained or a representative value of the time during which the connection is maintained.

[0182] The processor (520) can determine (or verify, calculate, estimate) the average time during which the connection is maintained via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) based on the sum of the connection times via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) and the number of times the connection via short-range wireless communication between the electronic device (100) and the first AP (401) is disconnected.

[0183] For example, the second quality may include the average time that the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via near-field wireless communication when the electronic device (100) performs roaming from the first AP (401) to another AP (e.g., the second AP (402)) while the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching function. According to one example, the processor (520) may transmit a frame to the second AP (402) containing information indicating that the BSS switching management function is not supported when performing roaming from the first AP (401) to the second AP (402). The processor (520) may disable the BSS switching management function when verifying the connection and the second quality via near-field wireless communication with the second AP (402).

[0184] The processor (520) can determine (or verify, calculate, estimate) the average time that the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication based on the time that the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication (e.g., the sum of the time that the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) and the time that the electronic device (100) is disconnected via short-range wireless communication (e.g., the sum of the number of times the electronic device (100) performs roaming and the number of times the electronic device (100) is disconnected via short-range wireless communication).

[0185] The time during which the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication may refer to the sum of the times during which the electronic device (100) is connected to at least one AP (e.g., a first AP (401) and a second AP (402)) included in the same network. The processor (520) may determine the time during which the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication as the sum of the time during which the electronic device (100) is connected via short-range wireless communication to the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100), the time during which the electronic device (100) is connected via short-range wireless communication to other APs included in the same network (e.g., roaming following the reception of a BSS switching management frame), the time during which the electronic device (100) is connected via short-range wireless communication to the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100), the time during which the electronic device (100) is connected via short-range wireless communication to the second AP (402) and the electronic device (100), and the time during which the electronic device (100) is connected via short-range wireless communication to other APs included in the same network.

[0186] The processor (520) can identify (or collect, monitor) various parameters that may indicate the quality of short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) in addition to the parameters described above.

[0187] The second quality may include the speed of short-range wireless communication using the ESS (e.g., transmission speed and / or reception speed) when the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching management function. According to one example, the second quality may include the speed of short-range wireless communication using the first AP (401) (e.g., transmission speed and / or reception speed) when the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching management function. The processor (520) can check the speed of short-range wireless communication using the first AP (401) (e.g., transmission speed and / or reception speed) when the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching management function.

[0188] The second quality may include channel utilization between the ESS and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching management function. According to one example, the second quality may include channel utilization between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching management function. The processor (520) can check the channel utilization between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching management function.

[0189] The second quality may include the number of times the electronic device (100) retransmits a packet to at least one AP (e.g., a first AP (401) and / or a second AP (402)) included in the ESS while the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching management function. According to one example, the second quality may include the number of times the electronic device (100) retransmits a packet as it fails to transmit a packet to the first AP (401) while the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching management function. According to one example, the second quality may include the number of times the electronic device (100) retransmits a packet as it fails to transmit a packet to the second AP (402) while the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching management function. According to one example, the second quality may include the sum of the number of times the electronic device (100) retransmits a packet as it fails to transmit a packet to the first AP (401) and the number of times it retransmits a packet as it fails to transmit a packet to the second AP (402), while the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching management function. The processor (520) can check the number of times the packet is retransmitted.

[0190] A second period (e.g., 1 day) can be set by the processor (520) as a period set to check the second quality. The length of the second period can be set to be the same as the length of the first period. The processor (520) can continuously check the second quality from the time the check of the second quality begins until the second period expires.

[0191] The processor (520) can check the first quality and the second quality, and compare the first quality and the second quality.

[0192] The processor (520) can compare the average time during which a connection via short-range wireless communication is maintained between an ESS and an electronic device (100) included in the first quality and the average time during which a connection via short-range wireless communication is maintained between an ESS and an electronic device (100) included in the second quality. According to one example, the processor (520) can compare the average time during which a connection via short-range wireless communication is maintained between a first AP (401) and an electronic device (100) included in the first quality and the average time during which a connection via short-range wireless communication is maintained between a first AP (401) and an electronic device (100) included in the second quality.

[0193] The processor (520) can determine (or decide) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is enabled is better (or greater, higher) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is disabled, if the average time for which a connection is maintained via short-range wireless communication between the ESS and the electronic device (100) included in the first quality is greater than the average time for which a connection is maintained via short-range wireless communication between the ESS and the electronic device (100) included in the second quality.

[0194] The processor (520) can determine (or decide) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is enabled is better (or greater, higher) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is disabled, if the average time for which a connection is maintained via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) included in the first quality is greater than the average time for which a connection is maintained via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) included in the second quality.

[0195] The processor (520) can determine (or decide) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is enabled is worse (or smaller, lower) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is disabled, if the average time for maintaining a connection through short-range wireless communication between the ESS and the electronic device (100) included in the first quality is shorter than the average time for maintaining a connection through short-range wireless communication between the ESS and the electronic device (100) included in the second quality.

[0196] The processor (520) can determine (or decide) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is enabled is worse (or smaller, lower) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is disabled, if the average time for maintaining a connection through short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) included in the first quality is shorter than the average time for maintaining a connection through short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) included in the second quality.

[0197] According to one example, the processor (520) can compare the average time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication when the electronic device (100) in the first quality performs roaming from the first AP (401) to another AP (e.g., the second AP (402)) and the average time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication when the electronic device (100) in the second quality performs roaming from the first AP (401) to another AP (e.g., the second AP (402)).

[0198] The processor (520) can determine (or determine) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is enabled is better (or greater, higher) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is disabled, if the electronic device (100) that is included in the first quality performs roaming from the first AP (401) to another AP (e.g., the second AP (402)), and the average time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication is greater than the average time the electronic device (100) that is included in the second quality performs roaming from the first AP (401) to another AP (e.g., the second AP (402)).

[0199] The processor (520) can determine (or determine) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is enabled is worse (or smaller, lower) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is disabled, if the electronic device (100) that is included in the first quality performs roaming from the first AP (401) to another AP (e.g., the second AP (402)), and the average time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication is shorter than the average time the electronic device (100) that is included in the second quality performs roaming from the first AP (401) to another AP (e.g., the second AP (402)).

[0200] The processor (520) can compare the speed of short-range wireless communication using ESS (e.g., transmission speed and / or reception speed) when the electronic device (100) included in the first quality has the BSS switching management function enabled, and the speed of short-range wireless communication using ESS when the electronic device (100) included in the second quality has the BSS switching management function disabled.

[0201] The processor (520) can compare the speed of short-range wireless communication using the first AP (401) (e.g., transmission speed and / or reception speed) when the electronic device (100) included in the first quality has the BSS switching management function enabled, and the speed of short-range wireless communication using the first AP (401) when the electronic device (100) included in the second quality has the BSS switching management function disabled.

[0202] The processor (520) can confirm (or determine) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is enabled is better (or greater, higher) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is disabled, when the electronic device (100) included in the first quality has the BSS switching management function enabled and the speed of short-range wireless communication using the ESS is higher than the speed of short-range wireless communication using the ESS when the electronic device (100) included in the second quality has the BSS switching management function disabled.

[0203] According to one example, the processor (520) can confirm (or determine) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is enabled is better (or greater, higher) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is disabled, when the speed of short-range wireless communication using the first AP (401) is higher than the speed of short-range wireless communication using the first AP (401) when the electronic device (100) included in the first quality has the BSS switching management function enabled.

[0204] The processor (520) can confirm (or determine) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is enabled is worse (or smaller, lower) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is disabled, when the electronic device (100) included in the first quality has the BSS switching management function enabled and the speed of short-range wireless communication using the ESS is lower than the speed of short-range wireless communication using the ESS when the electronic device (100) included in the second quality has the BSS switching management function disabled.

[0205] The processor (520) can determine (or decide) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is enabled is worse (or smaller, lower) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is disabled, when the electronic device (100) included in the first quality has the BSS switching management function enabled and the speed of short-range wireless communication using the first AP (401) is lower than the speed of short-range wireless communication using the first AP (401) when the electronic device (100) included in the second quality has the BSS switching management function disabled.

[0206] The processor (520) can compare the channel utilization between the ESS and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) included in the first quality has the BSS switching management function enabled, and the channel utilization between the ESS and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) included in the second quality has the BSS switching management function disabled.

[0207] The processor (520) can compare the channel utilization between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) included in the first quality has the BSS switching management function enabled, and the channel utilization between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) included in the second quality has the BSS switching management function disabled.

[0208] The processor (520) can confirm (or determine) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is enabled is better (or greater, higher) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is disabled, if the channel utilization between the ESS and the electronic device (100) included in the first quality is smaller than the channel utilization between the ESS and the electronic device (100) when the BSS switching management function is disabled.

[0209] The processor (520) can confirm (or determine) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is enabled is better (or greater, higher) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is disabled, if the channel utilization between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) is smaller than the channel utilization between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) when the BSS switching function is disabled, while the electronic device (100) included in the first quality is enabled.

[0210] The processor (520) can determine (or decide) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is enabled is worse (or smaller, lower) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is disabled, if the channel utilization between the ESS and the electronic device (100) included in the first quality is greater than the channel utilization between the ESS and the electronic device (100) when the BSS switching management function is disabled.

[0211] The processor (520) can determine (or determine) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is enabled is worse (or smaller, lower) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is disabled, if the channel utilization between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) included in the first quality is enabled is greater than the channel utilization between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) when the BSS switching function is disabled.

[0212] The processor (520) can compare the number of times a packet is retransmitted as the electronic device (100) included in the first quality fails to transmit a packet to at least one AP (e.g., the first AP (401) and / or the second AP (402)) included in the ESS while the electronic device (100) included in the second quality has the BSS switching management function enabled, with the number of times a packet is retransmitted as the electronic device (100) fails to transmit a packet to at least one AP (e.g., the first AP (401) and / or the second AP (402)) included in the ESS while the electronic device (100) included in the second quality has the BSS switching management function disabled.

[0213] The processor (520) can compare the number of times the electronic device (100) included in the first quality retransmits packets when the electronic device (100) fails to transmit packets to the first AP (401) while the electronic device (100) included in the second quality has the BSS switching management function enabled, and the number of times the electronic device (100) fails to transmit packets to the first AP (401) while the electronic device (100) included in the second quality has the BSS switching management function disabled.

[0214] The processor (520) can confirm (or determine) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is enabled is better (or greater, higher) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is disabled, if the number of times the electronic device (100) in the first quality is retransmitted as the electronic device (100) fails to transmit a packet to at least one AP (e.g., first AP (401) and / or second AP (402)) in the ESS while the electronic device (100) in the second quality is disabled and the number of times the electronic device (100) fails to transmit a packet to at least one AP (e.g., first AP (401) and / or second AP (402)) in the ESS while the electronic device (100) in the second quality is disabled.

[0215] The processor (520) can confirm (or determine) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is enabled is better (or greater, higher) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is disabled, if the number of times the electronic device (100) in the first quality retransmits a packet as the electronic device (100) fails to transmit a packet to the first AP (401) while the electronic device (100) in the second quality has the BSS switching management function disabled.

[0216] The processor (520) can determine (or determine) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is enabled is worse (or smaller, lower) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is disabled, if the number of times the electronic device (100) in the first quality fails to transmit a packet to at least one AP (e.g., first AP (401) and / or second AP (402)) in the ESS while the electronic device (100) in the second quality has the BSS switching management function disabled and the number of times the electronic device (100) fails to transmit a packet to at least one AP (e.g., first AP (401) and / or second AP (402)) in the ESS is greater than the number of times the electronic device (100) in the second quality

[0217] The processor (520) can determine (or determine) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is enabled is worse (or smaller, lower) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is disabled, if the number of times the electronic device (100) in the first quality fails to transmit a packet to the first AP (401) while the electronic device (100) in the second quality has the BSS switching management function enabled is greater than the number of times the electronic device (100) in the second quality fails to transmit a packet to the first AP (401) while the electronic device (100) in the second quality has the BSS switching management function disabled.

[0218] The processor (520) can compare multiple parameters when there are multiple parameters included in the first quality and the second quality, and the multiple parameters can be prioritized according to various methods. The processor (520) can compare the first quality and the second quality by prioritizing the comparison results of parameters with high priority. According to one example, the processor (520) can set the time during which the connection between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) is maintained as the highest priority, and the channel congestion, the number of retransmissions, and the speed of short-range wireless communication can be set to have relatively low priority.

[0219] Alternatively, the processor (520) may set priorities by considering the services primarily used by the electronic device (100). For example, if the electronic device (100) primarily uses a service that transmits and / or receives large amounts of data (e.g., Quick-share), the speed of the short-range wireless communication may be set to have a higher priority than the channel congestion and the number of retransmissions.

[0220] Alternatively, the processor (520) may set different weights for each of the multiple parameters when comparing the first quality and the second quality. The weights set for the multiple parameters may be set differently considering the service primarily used by the electronic device (100). For example, if the electronic device (100) primarily uses a service that transmits and / or receives large amounts of data (e.g., Quick-share), the weight of the speed of short-range wireless communication may be set higher than the weight of the channel congestion and the number of retransmissions.

[0221] The processor (520) can determine whether to enable the BSS switching management function when connected to the ESS via short-range wireless communication after the comparison, based on the result of comparing the first quality and the second quality. According to one example, the processor (520) can determine whether to enable the BSS switching management function when connected to the first AP (401) via short-range wireless communication after the comparison, based on the result of comparing the first quality and the second quality.

[0222] The processor (520) may decide to activate the BSS switching management function when the first quality is higher than the second quality. This is because the situation where the first quality is higher than the second quality means that the quality of the short-range wireless communication corresponding to the case where the BSS switching management function is activated is better (or greater, higher) than the quality of the short-range wireless communication corresponding to the case where the BSS switching management function is deactivated.

[0223] The processor (520) can enable the BSS transition management function by transmitting a frame (e.g., a combination request frame) containing information indicating that the BSS transition management function is supported to the first AP (401) in the connection procedure with the ESS (e.g., the first AP (401)).

[0224] The processor (520) may decide to disable the BSS switching management function if the first quality is lower than the second quality. This is because the situation where the first quality is lower than the second quality means that the quality of the short-range wireless communication corresponding to the case where the BSS switching management function is enabled is worse (or smaller, lower) than the quality of the short-range wireless communication corresponding to the case where the BSS switching management function is disabled.

[0225] The processor (520) can disable the BSS transition management function by sending a frame (e.g., a combination request frame) containing information indicating that the BSS transition management function is not supported to the first AP (401) during the connection procedure with the ESS (e.g., the first AP (401)).

[0226] Through the method described above, the electronic device (100) can variably set the BSS switching management function to perform relatively better, thereby improving the performance of short-range wireless communication.

[0227] FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a processor of an electronic device according to one embodiment.

[0228] Referring to FIG. 6, the processor (e.g., the processor (520) of FIG. 5) may include a Wi-Fi framework module (610), a quality verification module (620), a BSS transition management policy manager (630), and / or a policy database (640).

[0229] The Wi-Fi framework module (610), quality verification module (620), BSS transition management policy manager (630) and / or policy database (640) may be implemented on a framework implemented on a processor (520). A framework may refer to a set of functions provided from one or more resources of an electronic device (e.g., the electronic device (100) of FIG. 5).

[0230] The Wi-Fi framework module (610) may be a module that controls functions related to a communication circuit (e.g., the communication circuit (510) of FIG. 5). According to one example, the Wi-Fi framework module (610) may be an entity that controls functions related to short-range wireless communication.

[0231] The Wi-Fi framework module (610) can control entities related to short-range wireless communication (e.g., quality verification module (620), BSS transition management policy manager (630) and / or policy database (640)) implemented on the framework.

[0232] The Wi-Fi framework module (610) can perform a series of operations to determine whether to change (or maintain) the activation of the BSS switching management function by confirming that the number of times the disconnection between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) occurs during a specified time is greater than (or exceeds) the specified number of times (e.g., 5 times) and / or the number of times the ping-pong phenomenon (or the number of times a connection to the first AP (401) is attempted) is greater than (or exceeds) the specified number of times (e.g., 4 times).

[0233] The Wi-Fi framework module (610) can control the quality verification module (620) to verify the first quality of the short-range wireless communication through the first AP (401) during the first period while the BSS switching management function is enabled during short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100).

[0234] The Wi-Fi framework module (610) can control the quality verification module (620) to verify the second quality of the short-range wireless communication through the first AP (401) during the second period while the BSS switching management function is disabled during short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100).

[0235] After verifying the first quality and the second quality, the Wi-Fi framework module (610) can control the quality verification module (620) to transmit the first quality and the second quality to the BSS transition management policy manager (630). The Wi-Fi framework module (610) can control the BSS transition management policy manager (630) to determine the BSS transition management policy based on the comparison of the first quality and the second quality and the comparison result.

[0236] The BSS transition management policy manager (630) can determine whether to enable the BSS transition management function when connected to the first AP (401) via short-range wireless communication after comparison.

[0237] The BSS transition management policy manager (630) may decide to activate the BSS transition management function when the first quality is higher than the second quality. This is because a situation where the first quality is better (or greater, higher) than the second quality means that the quality of the short-range wireless communication corresponding to the case where the BSS transition management function is activated is better than the quality of the short-range wireless communication corresponding to the case where the BSS transition management function is deactivated.

[0238] The BSS switching management policy manager (630) may decide to disable the BSS switching management function if the first quality is lower than the second quality. This is because a situation where the first quality is worse than the second quality means that the quality of the short-range wireless communication corresponding to when the BSS switching management function is enabled is worse than the quality of the short-range wireless communication corresponding to when the BSS switching management function is disabled.

[0239] The BSS transition management policy manager (630) can determine a policy on whether to activate the BSS transition management function based on the comparison results of the first quality and the second quality, and can store the determined policy in the policy database (640).

[0240] The BSS transition management policy manager (630) can enable the communication circuit (510) to perform short-range wireless communication according to an appropriate policy by transmitting a policy stored in the policy database (640) to the Wi-Fi framework module (610) as the Wi-Fi framework module (610) transmits a signal inquiring about the BSS transition management policy.

[0241] FIG. 7 is an operation flowchart (700) illustrating the operation method of an electronic device according to one embodiment.

[0242] An electronic device (e.g., the electronic device (100) of FIG. 5) can verify a first quality of short-range wireless communication through a first AP (e.g., the first AP (401) of FIG. 4a) during a first period, with the BSS switching management function enabled in operation 710.

[0243] The electronic device (100) can confirm (or determine, detect) that the connection between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) is disconnected.

[0244] According to one example, in the procedure for establishing a connection between the electronic device (100) and the first AP (401), the electronic device (100) may transmit a frame to the first AP (401) indicating support for BSS Transition Management (BTM). The electronic device (100) may activate the BSS Transition Management function and be connected to the first AP (401). However, the electronic device (100) may receive a BSS Transition Management request frame from the first AP (401) while the BSS Transition Management function is activated.

[0245] According to one example, as described in FIG. 4b, an electronic device (100) that has enabled the BSS transition management function can determine whether to perform a BSS transition upon receiving a BSS transition management request frame from the first AP (401). The electronic device (100) can decide not to perform a BSS transition and send a BSS transition management response frame to the first AP (401) indicating that it will not perform a BSS transition. After sending the BSS transition management response frame, the electronic device (100) can confirm that the connection between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) is disconnected upon receiving a disconnection frame from the first AP (401) within a specified time.

[0246] The electronic device (100) can check (or, monitor, detect) the number of times the connection between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) is disconnected during a specified period, and check whether the number of times the connection between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) is disconnected during a specified period is greater than (or exceeds) the specified number of times (e.g., 5 times).

[0247] According to one example, as described in FIG. 4c, the electronic device (100) may receive a BSS switching management request frame from the first AP (401), disconnect from the first AP (401), and perform roaming to the second AP (402). However, the electronic device (100) may detect that the connection between the second AP (402) and the electronic device (100) is disconnected within a specified time and attempt to reconnect with the first AP (401). The phenomenon described above may be performed repeatedly and may be referred to as a ping-pong phenomenon.

[0248] The electronic device (100) can check (or monitor, detect) the number of times the ping-pong phenomenon (or the number of times a connection to the first AP (401) is attempted) described above occurs during a specified time period, and check whether the number of times the ping-pong phenomenon (or the number of times a connection to the first AP (401)) described above occurs is greater than or exceeds a specified number (e.g., 4 times).

[0249] The electronic device (100) can perform a series of operations to determine whether to change (or maintain) the activation of the BSS switching management function by confirming that the number of times the disconnection between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) occurs during a specified time is greater than (or exceeds) the specified number of times (e.g., 5 times) and / or the number of times the ping-pong phenomenon (or the number of times a connection to the first AP (401) is attempted) is greater than (or exceeds) the specified number of times (e.g., 4 times).

[0250] The electronic device (100) can verify the first quality of short-range wireless communication through the first AP (401) during the first period while the BSS switching management function is enabled during short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100).

[0251] The electronic device (100) can enable the BSS transition management function by transmitting a frame (e.g., a combination request frame) to the first AP (401) in the connection procedure between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) indicating that the electronic device (100) supports the BSS transition management function.

[0252] The first quality may refer to at least one parameter representing the quality of short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) has the BSS switching function enabled.

[0253] For example, the first quality may include the average time during which a connection is maintained via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) while the electronic device (100) has the BSS switching function enabled.

[0254] The electronic device (100) can determine (or verify, calculate, estimate) the average time during which the connection is maintained via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) based on the sum of the connection times via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) and the number of times the connection via short-range wireless communication between the electronic device (100) and the first AP (401) is disconnected.

[0255] For example, the first quality may include the average time that the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication when the electronic device (100) performs roaming from the first AP (401) to another AP (e.g., the second AP (402)) while the electronic device (100) has the BSS switching function enabled.

[0256] The electronic device (100) can determine (or verify, calculate, estimate) the average time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication based on the time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication (e.g., the sum of the time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) and the time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication between the second AP (402) and the electronic device (100)) and the number of times the electronic device (100) is disconnected via short-range wireless communication (e.g., the sum of the number of times the electronic device (100) performs roaming and the number of times the electronic device (100) is disconnected via short-range wireless communication).

[0257] The first AP (401) and the second AP (402) may refer to APs included in the same network (e.g., ESS of FIG. 2). APs included in the same network may refer to APs that have at least some information (e.g., SSID (service set identifier), security settings (security type)) identical. The time during which the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication may refer to the sum of the times during which the electronic device (100) is connected to at least one AP (e.g., the first AP (401) and the second AP (402)) included in the same network. When the electronic device (100) is connected via short-range wireless communication with the first AP (401) and the second AP (402), as well as with another AP (e.g., STA3 (235) in FIG. 2) (e.g., roaming upon reception of a BSS switching management frame), the sum of the connected time between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100), the connected time between the second AP (402) and the electronic device (100), and the connected time between the other AP and the electronic device (100) can be determined as the time the electronic device (100) maintains the connection via short-range wireless communication.

[0258] The electronic device (100) can identify (or collect, monitor) various parameters that can indicate the quality of short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) in addition to the parameters described above.

[0259] According to one example, the first quality may include the speed of short-range wireless communication using the first AP (401) (e.g., transmission speed and / or reception speed) when the electronic device (100) has enabled the BSS switching management function. The electronic device (100) may check the speed of short-range wireless communication using the first AP (401) (e.g., transmission speed and / or reception speed) when the electronic device (100) has enabled the BSS switching management function.

[0260] According to one example, the first quality may include channel utilization between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) has enabled the BSS switching management function. The electronic device (100) can check the channel utilization between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) has enabled the BSS switching management function.

[0261] According to one example, the first quality may include the number of times the electronic device (100) retransmits packets as the electronic device (100) fails to transmit packets to the first AP (401) while the electronic device (100) has enabled the BSS switching management function. The electronic device (100) can check the number of times packets are retransmitted.

[0262] According to one example, the first quality may include the quality of a signal (e.g., RSSI) received from the first AP (401) when the electronic device (100) has enabled the BSS switching management function.

[0263] A first period (e.g., 1 day) is a period set to verify a first quality, which can be set by the electronic device (100) and can be pre-set at the time of manufacturing the electronic device (101). The electronic device (100) can continuously verify the first quality from the time it starts verifying the first quality until the first period expires.

[0264] The first period can be set differently depending on the form factor of the electronic device (100). If the electronic device (100) has a form factor with high mobility (e.g., wearable device, smartphone), the first period can be set longer considering that the time available to connect with a specific AP is short. If the electronic device (100) has a form factor with low mobility (e.g., tablet device, home appliance), the first period can be set shorter considering that the time available to connect with a specific AP is long.

[0265] The first period may be set differently depending on the behavior history of the user of the electronic device (100). The electronic device (100) may set the first period long, considering that the time available to connect to a specific AP is short when the range of activity of the user of the electronic device (100) is relatively large. The electronic device (100) may set the first period short, considering that the time available to connect to a specific AP is long when the range of activity of the user of the electronic device (100) is relatively small.

[0266] The electronic device (100) can check the time for maintaining a connection between the electronic device (100) and the first AP (401) while checking the first quality. The electronic device (100) can determine that the first quality is valid if the time for maintaining a connection between the electronic device (100) and the first AP (401) is greater than (or exceeds) a specified size. According to one example, if the time for maintaining a connection between the electronic device (100) and the first AP (401) is less than (or less than) a specified size, the electronic device (100) can increase the first period (e.g., increase from 1 day to 3 days, increase from 3 days to 5 days). Increasing the first period can make the time for maintaining a connection between the electronic device (100) and the first AP (401) greater than (or exceeds) a specified size, and can improve the validity of the first quality.

[0267] The electronic device (100) can transmit a frame to the first AP (401) indicating that the electronic device (100) does not support the BSS switching management function while performing a connection with the first AP (401) after the connection with the first AP (401) is disconnected in operation 720.

[0268] The electronic device (100) can check the first quality and, with the BSS switching function disabled, check the second quality of short-range wireless communication through the first AP (401).

[0269] According to one example, the electronic device (100) may disable the BSS transition management function by sending a frame (e.g., a connection request frame) to the first AP (401) indicating that the electronic device (100) does not support the BSS transition management function in the connection procedure between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) when attempting to reconnect with the first AP (401) after verifying the first quality.

[0270] The electronic device (100) can check the second quality of short-range wireless communication through the first AP (401) for a second period while the BSS switching management function is disabled in operation 730.

[0271] The second quality may refer to at least one parameter representing the quality of short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching function.

[0272] For example, the second quality may include the average time during which a connection is maintained via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) while the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching function.

[0273] The electronic device (100) can determine (or verify, calculate, estimate) the average time during which the connection is maintained via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) based on the sum of the connection times via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) and the number of times the connection via short-range wireless communication between the electronic device (100) and the first AP (401) is disconnected.

[0274] For example, the second quality may include the average time that the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication when the electronic device (100) performs roaming from the first AP (401) to another AP (e.g., the second AP (402)) while the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching function.

[0275] The electronic device (100) can determine (or verify, calculate, estimate) the average time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication based on the time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication (e.g., the sum of the time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) and the time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication between the second AP (402) and the electronic device (100)) and the number of times the electronic device (100) is disconnected via short-range wireless communication (e.g., the sum of the number of times the electronic device (100) performs roaming and the number of times the electronic device (100) is disconnected via short-range wireless communication).

[0276] The first AP (401) and the second AP (402) may refer to APs included in the same network (e.g., ESS of FIG. 2). APs included in the same network may refer to APs that have at least some information (e.g., SSID (service set identifier), security settings (security type)) identical. The time during which the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication may refer to the sum of the times during which the electronic device (100) is connected to at least one AP (e.g., the first AP (401) and the second AP (402)) included in the same network. When the electronic device (100) is connected via short-range wireless communication with the first AP (401) and the second AP (402), as well as with another AP (e.g., STA3 (235) in FIG. 2) (e.g., roaming upon reception of a BSS switching management frame), the sum of the connected time between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100), the connected time between the second AP (402) and the electronic device (100), and the connected time between the other AP and the electronic device (100) can be determined as the time the electronic device (100) maintains the connection via short-range wireless communication.

[0277] The electronic device (100) can identify (or collect, monitor) various parameters that can indicate the quality of short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) in addition to the parameters described above.

[0278] According to one example, the second quality may include the speed of short-range wireless communication using the first AP (401) (e.g., transmission speed and / or reception speed) when the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching management function. The electronic device (100) can check the speed of short-range wireless communication using the first AP (401) (e.g., transmission speed and / or reception speed) when the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching management function.

[0279] According to one example, the second quality may include channel utilization between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching management function. The electronic device (100) can check the channel utilization between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching management function.

[0280] According to one example, the second quality may include the number of times the electronic device (100) retransmits packets as the electronic device (100) fails to transmit packets to the first AP (401) while the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching management function. The electronic device (100) can check the number of times packets are retransmitted.

[0281] A second period (e.g., 1 day) can be set by the electronic device (100) as a period set to check the second quality. The length of the second period can be set to be the same as the length of the first period. The electronic device (100) can continuously check the second quality from the time the second quality check begins until the second period expires.

[0282] The electronic device (100) can determine whether to activate the BSS switching function when connected to the first AP (401) after the comparison, based on the result of comparing the first quality and the second quality in operation 740.

[0283] According to one example, the electronic device (100) can compare the average time during which a connection is maintained via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) included in the first quality and the electronic device (100) and the average time during which a connection is maintained via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) included in the second quality.

[0284] The electronic device (100) can confirm (or determine) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is enabled is better (or greater, higher) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is disabled, if the average time for which a connection is maintained via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) included in the first quality is greater than the average time for which a connection is maintained via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) included in the second quality.

[0285] The electronic device (100) can determine (or decide) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is enabled is worse (or smaller, lower) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is disabled, if the average time for maintaining a connection through short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) included in the first quality is shorter than the average time for maintaining a connection through short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) included in the second quality.

[0286] According to one example, an electronic device (100) can compare the average time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication when the electronic device (100) performs roaming from the first AP (401) to another AP (e.g., the second AP (402)) included in the first quality with the average time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication when the electronic device (100) performs roaming from the first AP (401) to another AP (e.g., the second AP (402)) included in the second quality.

[0287] When the electronic device (100) performs roaming from the first AP (401) to another AP (e.g., the second AP (402)), the average time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication is greater than the average time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication is included in the first quality, when the electronic device (100) performs roaming from the first AP (401) to another AP (e.g., the second AP (402)), when the electronic device (100) performs roaming from the first AP (401) to another AP (e.g., the second AP (402)), the electronic device (100) is included in the second quality, the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is enabled can be confirmed (or determined) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is enabled is better (or greater, higher) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is disabled.

[0288] When the electronic device (100) performs roaming from the first AP (401) to another AP (e.g., the second AP (402)), the average time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication is included in the first quality, when the electronic device (100) performs roaming from the first AP (401) to another AP (e.g., the second AP (402)), when the electronic device (100) performs roaming from the first AP (401) to another AP (e.g., the second AP (402)), the average time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication is shorter than the average time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication, the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is enabled is worse (or, smaller, lower) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is disabled.

[0289] The electronic device (100) can compare the speed of short-range wireless communication using the first AP (401) (e.g., transmission speed and / or reception speed) when the electronic device (100) included in the first quality has the BSS switching management function enabled, and the speed of short-range wireless communication using the first AP (401) when the electronic device (100) included in the second quality has the BSS switching management function disabled.

[0290] The electronic device (100) can confirm (or determine) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is activated is better (or greater, higher) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is deactivated, when the speed of short-range wireless communication using the first AP (401) is higher than the speed of short-range wireless communication using the first AP (401) when the electronic device (100) included in the first quality is activated and the BSS switching management function is deactivated.

[0291] The electronic device (100) can confirm (or determine) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is enabled is worse (or smaller, lower) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is disabled, when the speed of short-range wireless communication using the first AP (401) is lower than the speed of short-range wireless communication using the first AP (401) when the electronic device (100) included in the first quality has the BSS switching management function enabled.

[0292] The electronic device (100) can compare the channel utilization between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) included in the first quality has the BSS switching management function enabled, and the channel utilization between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) included in the second quality has the BSS switching management function disabled.

[0293] The electronic device (100) can confirm (or determine) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is enabled is better (or greater, higher) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is disabled, if the channel utilization between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) is smaller than the channel utilization between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) when the BSS switching management function is disabled.

[0294] The electronic device (100) can confirm (or determine) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is enabled is worse (or smaller, lower) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is disabled, if the channel utilization between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) included in the first quality is enabled is greater than the channel utilization between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) when the BSS switching function is disabled.

[0295] The electronic device (100) can compare the number of times the electronic device (100) included in the first quality retransmits packets when the electronic device (100) fails to transmit packets to the first AP (401) while the electronic device (100) included in the second quality has the BSS switching management function enabled, and the number of times the electronic device (100) fails to transmit packets to the first AP (401) while the electronic device (100) included in the second quality has the BSS switching management function disabled.

[0296] The electronic device (100) can confirm (or determine) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is enabled is better (or greater, higher) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is disabled, if the number of times the electronic device (100) in the first quality is in a state where the BSS switching management function is enabled and the number of times the electronic device (100) fails to transmit a packet to the first AP (401) is retransmitted and the number of times the electronic device (100) in the second quality is in a state where the BSS switching management function is disabled.

[0297] The electronic device (100) can confirm (or determine) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is enabled is worse (or smaller, lower) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is disabled, if the number of times the electronic device (100) in the first quality is in a state where the BSS switching management function is enabled and the number of times the electronic device (100) fails to transmit a packet to the first AP (401) is retransmitted and the number of times the electronic device (100) in the second quality is in a state where the BSS switching management function is disabled.

[0298] The electronic device (100) can compare multiple parameters when there are multiple parameters included in the first quality and the second quality, and the multiple parameters can be prioritized according to various methods. The electronic device (100) can compare the first quality and the second quality by prioritizing the comparison result of the parameter with the highest priority.

[0299] The electronic device (100) can determine whether to activate the BSS switching management function when connected via short-range wireless communication with the first AP (401) after the comparison, based on the result of comparing the first quality and the second quality.

[0300] The electronic device (100) may decide to activate the BSS switching management function when the first quality is better than the second quality. This is because the situation where the first quality is better than the second quality means that the quality of the short-range wireless communication corresponding to the case where the BSS switching management function is activated is better than the quality of the short-range wireless communication corresponding to the case where the BSS switching management function is deactivated.

[0301] The electronic device (100) can enable the BSS transition management function by transmitting a frame (e.g., a combination request frame) containing information indicating that the BSS transition management function is supported to the first AP (401) during the connection procedure with the first AP (401).

[0302] The electronic device (100) may decide to disable the BSS switching management function if the first quality is worse than the second quality. This is because the situation where the first quality is worse than the second quality means that the quality of the short-range wireless communication corresponding to the case where the BSS switching management function is enabled is worse than the quality of the short-range wireless communication corresponding to the case where the BSS switching management function is disabled.

[0303] The electronic device (100) can disable the BSS switching management function by transmitting a frame (e.g., a coupling request frame) containing information indicating that the BSS switching management function is not supported to the first AP (401) during the connection procedure with the first AP (401).

[0304] Through the method described above, the electronic device (100) can variably set the BSS switching management function to perform relatively better, thereby improving the performance of short-range wireless communication.

[0305] FIG. 8 is an operation flowchart illustrating the operation method of an electronic device according to one embodiment.

[0306] An electronic device (e.g., the electronic device (100) of FIG. 5) can detect frequent disconnections between the electronic device (100) and the ESS in operation 801.

[0307] The electronic device (100) can confirm (or determine, detect) that the connection between the ESS and the electronic device (100) is disconnected.

[0308] According to one example, in the procedure for establishing a connection between the electronic device (100) and the first AP (401), the electronic device (100) may transmit a frame indicating support for BSS transition management (BTM) to at least one AP included in the ESS (e.g., the first AP (401)). The electronic device (100) may activate the BSS transition management function and be connected to at least one AP included in the ESS (e.g., the first AP (401)). However, while the electronic device (100) has the BSS transition management function activated, it may receive a BSS transition management request frame from at least one AP included in the ESS (e.g., the first AP (401)).

[0309] According to one example, as described in FIG. 4b, the electronic device (100) may determine whether to perform a BSS transition upon receiving a BSS transition management request frame from at least one AP included in the ESS (e.g., the first AP (401)). The electronic device (100) may decide not to perform a BSS transition and transmit a BSS transition management response frame indicating not to perform a BSS transition to at least one AP included in the ESS (e.g., the first AP (401)). After transmitting the BSS transition management response frame, the electronic device (100) may confirm that the connection between the ESS and the electronic device (100) is disconnected upon receiving a disconnection frame from at least one AP included in the ESS (e.g., the first AP (401)) within a specified time.

[0310] The electronic device (100) can check (or monitor, detect) the number of times the connection between the ESS and the electronic device (100) is disconnected during a specified period, and check whether the number of times the connection between the ESS and the electronic device (100) is disconnected during a specified period is greater than (or exceeds) the specified number of times (e.g., 5 times).

[0311] According to one example, as described in FIG. 4c, the electronic device (100) receives a BSS switching management request frame from at least one AP (e.g., the first AP (401)) included in the ESS, disconnects from the at least one AP (e.g., the first AP (401)) included in the ESS, and can perform roaming to another AP (e.g., the second AP (402)) included in the ESS. However, the electronic device (100) can detect that the connection between the other AP (e.g., the second AP (402)) included in the ESS and the electronic device (100) is disconnected within a specified time and attempt to reconnect with at least one AP (e.g., the first AP (401)) included in the ESS. The phenomenon described above can be performed repeatedly and may be referred to as a ping-pong phenomenon.

[0312] The electronic device (100) can check (or monitor, detect) the number of times the ping-pong phenomenon (or the number of times a connection to the ESS is attempted) described above occurs during a specified time period, and check whether the number of times the ping-pong phenomenon (or the number of times a connection to the ESS is attempted) described above occurs is greater than (or exceeds) the specified number of times (e.g., 4 times).

[0313] The electronic device (100) can perform a series of operations to determine whether to change (or maintain) the activation of the BSS switching management function by confirming that the number of times the disconnection between the ESS and the electronic device (100) occurs during a specified time is greater than (or exceeds) the specified number of times (e.g., 5 times) and / or the number of times the ping-pong phenomenon (or the number of times attempting to connect to the ESS) occurs is greater than (or exceeds) the specified number of times (e.g., 4 times).

[0314] The electronic device (100) can verify the first quality of short-range wireless communication through the ESS during the first period, while the BSS switching management function is enabled in operation 802.

[0315] The electronic device (100) can enable the BSS transition management function by transmitting a frame (e.g., a combination request frame) indicating that the electronic device (100) supports the BSS transition management function to at least one AP (e.g., the first AP (401)) included in the ESS during the connection procedure between the ESS and the electronic device (100).

[0316] The first quality may refer to at least one parameter representing the quality of short-range wireless communication between the ESS and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) has activated the BSS switching function.

[0317] For example, the first quality may include the average time during which a connection is maintained via short-range wireless communication between the ESS and the electronic device (100) while the electronic device (100) has activated the BSS switching function.

[0318] The electronic device (100) can determine (or verify, calculate, estimate) the average time during which the connection between the ESS and the electronic device (100) is maintained through short-range wireless communication based on the sum of the connection times through short-range wireless communication between the ESS and the electronic device (100) and the number of times the connection through short-range wireless communication between the electronic device (100) and the ESS is disconnected.

[0319] For example, the first quality may include the average time that the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication when the electronic device (100) performs roaming from the first AP (401) to another AP (e.g., the second AP (402)) while the electronic device (100) has the BSS switching function enabled.

[0320] The electronic device (100) can determine (or verify, calculate, estimate) the average time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication based on the time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication (e.g., the sum of the time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) and the time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication between the second AP (402) and the electronic device (100)) and the number of times the electronic device (100) is disconnected via short-range wireless communication (e.g., the sum of the number of times the electronic device (100) performs roaming and the number of times the electronic device (100) is disconnected via short-range wireless communication).

[0321] The first AP (401) and the second AP (402) may refer to APs included in the same network (e.g., ESS of FIG. 2). APs included in the same network may refer to APs that have at least some information (e.g., SSID (service set identifier), and / or security type) the same. The time that the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication may refer to the sum of the time that the electronic device (100) is connected to at least one AP (e.g., the first AP (401) and the second AP (402)) included in the same network. When the electronic device (100) is connected via short-range wireless communication with the first AP (401) and the second AP (402), as well as with other APs included in the same network (e.g., roaming upon reception of a BSS switching management frame), the sum of the connected time between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100), the connected time between the second AP (402) and the electronic device (100), and the connected time between other APs and the electronic device (100) can be determined as the time the electronic device (100) maintains the connection via short-range wireless communication.

[0322] The electronic device (100) can identify (or collect, monitor) various parameters that can indicate the quality of short-range wireless communication between the ESS and the electronic device (100) in addition to the parameters described above.

[0323] The first quality may include the speed of short-range wireless communication using an ESS including a first AP (401) and a second AP (402) when the electronic device (100) has enabled the BSS switching function (e.g., transmission speed and / or reception speed). According to one example, the first quality may include the speed of short-range wireless communication using the first AP (401) when the electronic device (100) has enabled the BSS switching management function (e.g., transmission speed and / or reception speed). The electronic device (100) may check the speed of short-range wireless communication using the first AP (401) (e.g., transmission speed and / or reception speed) when the electronic device (100) has enabled the BSS switching management function.

[0324] The first quality may include channel utilization between the ESS and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) has activated the BSS switching management function. According to one example, the first quality may include channel utilization between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) has activated the BSS switching management function. The electronic device (100) can check the channel utilization between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) has activated the BSS switching management function.

[0325] The first quality may include the number of times the electronic device (100) retransmits packets as it fails to transmit packets to at least one AP (e.g., the first AP (401) and the second AP (402)) included in the ESS while the electronic device (100) has enabled the BSS switching management function. According to one example, the first quality may include the number of times the electronic device (100) retransmits packets as it fails to transmit packets to the first AP (401) while the electronic device (100) has enabled the BSS switching management function. The electronic device (100) may check the number of times packets are retransmitted. According to one example, the first quality may include the number of times the electronic device (100) retransmits packets as it fails to transmit packets to the second AP (402) while the electronic device (100) has enabled the BSS switching management function. The electronic device (100) can check the number of times packets are retransmitted. According to one example, the first quality may include the sum of the number of times packets are retransmitted as the electronic device (100) fails to transmit packets to the first AP (401) and the number of times packets are retransmitted as the electronic device (100) fails to transmit packets to the second AP (402), while the electronic device (100) has enabled the BSS switching management function. The electronic device (100) can check the number of times packets are retransmitted.

[0326] The first quality may include the quality of a signal received through at least one AP included in the ESS when the electronic device (100) has enabled the BSS switching management function. According to one example, the first quality may include the quality of a signal (e.g., RSSI) received from the first AP (401) when the electronic device (100) has enabled the BSS switching management function.

[0327] The electronic device (100) can check whether the first period has expired in operation 803.

[0328] A first period (e.g., 1 day) is a period set to verify a first quality, which can be set by the electronic device (100) and can be pre-set at the time of manufacturing the electronic device (101). The electronic device (100) can continuously verify the first quality from the time it starts verifying the first quality until the first period expires.

[0329] The first period can be set differently depending on the form factor of the electronic device (100). If the electronic device (100) has a form factor with high mobility (e.g., wearable device, smartphone), the first period can be set longer considering that the time available to connect with a specific AP is short. If the electronic device (100) has a form factor with low mobility (e.g., tablet device, home appliance), the first period can be set shorter considering that the time available to connect with a specific AP is long.

[0330] The first period may be set differently depending on the behavior history of the user of the electronic device (100). The electronic device (100) may set the first period long, considering that the time available to connect to a specific AP is short when the range of activity of the user of the electronic device (100) is relatively large. The electronic device (100) may set the first period short, considering that the time available to connect to a specific AP is long when the range of activity of the user of the electronic device (100) is relatively small.

[0331] The electronic device (100) can check the first quality until the first period expires, if the first period has not expired (operation 803-NO).

[0332] The electronic device (100) can determine whether the time the connection between the electronic device (100) and the ESS has been maintained is longer than the specified time as the first period expires in operation 804 (operation 803-YES).

[0333] The electronic device (100) can check the time that maintains the connection between the electronic device (100) and the ESS while checking the first quality. The electronic device (100) can determine that the first quality is valid if the time that maintains the connection between the electronic device (100) and the ESS is greater than (or exceeds) a specified size. According to one example, if the time that maintains the connection between the electronic device (100) and the ESS is less than (or less than) a specified size, the electronic device (100) can increase the first period (e.g., increase from 1 day to 3 days, increase from 3 days to 5 days). Increasing the first period can make the time that maintains the connection between the electronic device (100) and the ESS become greater than (or exceeds) a specified size, and can improve the validity of the first quality.

[0334] If the time during which the connection between the electronic device (100) and the ESS is maintained is less than a specified time (operation 804-NO), the electronic device (100) can check in operation 805 whether the first period is less than or equal to the settable maximum value of the first period (e.g., 7 days).

[0335] The electronic device (100) can increase the first period if, in operation 806, the first period is less than or equal to the settable maximum value of the first period (operation 805-YES).

[0336] If the time during which the connection between the electronic device (100) and the ESS is maintained is longer than a specified time (operation 804-YES), the electronic device (100) may, in operation 807, transmit a frame (e.g., a connection request frame) containing information indicating that the BSS transition management function is not supported while performing the connection with the ESS to at least one AP included in the ESS (e.g., the first AP (401)).

[0337] The electronic device (100) can check the first quality and, with the BSS switching function disabled, check the second quality of short-range wireless communication through the ESS.

[0338] According to one example, in a situation where the electronic device (100) attempts to reconnect with the ESS after verifying the first quality, in the connection procedure between the ESS and the electronic device (100), the electronic device (100) may disable the BSS transition management function by sending a frame (e.g., a connection request frame) indicating that the electronic device (100) does not support the BSS transition management function to at least one AP included in the ESS (e.g., the first AP (401)).

[0339] The electronic device (100) can check the second quality of short-range wireless communication through the ESS during the second period, with the BSS switching management function disabled in operation 808.

[0340] The second quality may refer to at least one parameter representing the quality of short-range wireless communication between the ESS and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching function. According to one example, the second quality may refer to at least one parameter representing the quality of short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching function.

[0341] The electronic device (100) can determine (or verify, calculate, estimate) the average time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication based on the time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication (e.g., the sum of the time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) and the time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication between the second AP (402) and the electronic device (100)) and the number of times the electronic device (100) is disconnected via short-range wireless communication (e.g., the sum of the number of times the electronic device (100) performs roaming and the number of times the electronic device (100) is disconnected via short-range wireless communication).

[0342] The time during which the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication may refer to the sum of the times during which the electronic device (100) is connected to at least one AP (e.g., a first AP (401) and a second AP (402)) included in the same network. When the electronic device (100) is connected via short-range wireless communication to other APs included in the same network as well as to the first AP (401) and the second AP (402) (e.g., roaming following the reception of a BSS switching management frame), the time during which the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication may be determined as the sum of the time during which the electronic device (100) is connected to the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100), the time during which the electronic device (100) is connected to the second AP (402) and the electronic device (100), and the time during which the electronic device (100) is connected to other APs included in the same network.

[0343] The electronic device (100) can identify (or collect, monitor) various parameters that can indicate the quality of short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) in addition to the parameters described above.

[0344] The second quality may include the speed of short-range wireless communication using the ESS (e.g., transmission speed and / or reception speed) when the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching management function. According to one example, the second quality may include the speed of short-range wireless communication using the first AP (401) (e.g., transmission speed and / or reception speed) when the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching management function. The electronic device (100) can check the speed of short-range wireless communication using the first AP (401) (e.g., transmission speed and / or reception speed) when the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching management function.

[0345] The second quality may include channel utilization between the ESS and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching management function. According to one example, the second quality may include channel utilization between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching management function. The electronic device (100) can check the channel utilization between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching management function.

[0346] The second quality may include the number of times the electronic device (100) retransmits a packet to at least one AP (e.g., a first AP (401) and / or a second AP (402)) included in the ESS while the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching management function. According to one example, the second quality may include the number of times the electronic device (100) retransmits a packet as it fails to transmit a packet to the first AP (401) while the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching management function. According to one example, the second quality may include the number of times the electronic device (100) retransmits a packet as it fails to transmit a packet to the second AP (402) while the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching management function. According to one example, the second quality may include the sum of the number of times the electronic device (100) retransmits a packet as it fails to transmit a packet to the first AP (401) and the number of times it retransmits a packet as it fails to transmit a packet to the second AP (402), while the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching management function. The electronic device (100) can check the number of times the packet is retransmitted.

[0347] The electronic device (100) can check whether the second period has expired in operation 809.

[0348] A second period (e.g., 1 day) can be set by the electronic device (100) as a period set to check the second quality. The length of the second period can be set to be the same as the length of the first period. The electronic device (100) can continuously check the second quality from the time the second quality check begins until the second period expires.

[0349] The electronic device (100) can check the second quality of short-range wireless communication through the first AP (401) until the second period expires, with the BSS switching management function disabled, as the second period has not expired (operation 809-NO).

[0350] The electronic device (100) can determine whether the time the connection between the electronic device (100) and the ESS has been maintained is longer than the specified time, as the second period expires in operation 810 (operation 809-YES).

[0351] The electronic device (100) may maintain the connection between the electronic device (100) and the ESS without changing whether the BSS switching management function is enabled in operation 811 if the time during which the connection is maintained is less than the specified time (operation 810-NO) or if the first period is not less than or equal to the settable maximum value of the first period (or, the first period is the maximum value) (operation 805-NO).

[0352] The electronic device (100) can compare the first quality and the second quality in operation 812 if the time during which the connection between the electronic device (100) and the ESS is maintained is longer than the specified time (operation 810-YES).

[0353] The electronic device (100) can compare the average time during which a connection is maintained via short-range wireless communication between the ESS included in the first quality and the electronic device (100) and the average time during which a connection is maintained via short-range wireless communication between the ESS included in the second quality.

[0354] The electronic device (100) can confirm (or determine) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is activated is better (or greater, higher) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is deactivated, if the average time for which a connection is maintained through short-range wireless communication between the ESS and the electronic device (100) included in the first quality is greater than the average time for which a connection is maintained through short-range wireless communication between the ESS and the electronic device (100) included in the second quality.

[0355] The electronic device (100) can confirm (or determine) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is activated is worse (or smaller, lower) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is deactivated, if the average time for which a connection is maintained through short-range wireless communication between the ESS and the electronic device (100) included in the first quality is shorter than the average time for which a connection is maintained through short-range wireless communication between the ESS and the electronic device (100) included in the second quality.

[0356] According to one example, an electronic device (100) can compare the average time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication when the electronic device (100) performs roaming from the first AP (401) to another AP (e.g., the second AP (402)) included in the first quality with the average time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication when the electronic device (100) performs roaming from the first AP (401) to another AP (e.g., the second AP (402)) included in the second quality.

[0357] When the electronic device (100) performs roaming from the first AP (401) to another AP (e.g., the second AP (402)), the average time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication is greater than the average time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication is included in the first quality, when the electronic device (100) performs roaming from the first AP (401) to another AP (e.g., the second AP (402)), when the electronic device (100) performs roaming from the first AP (401) to another AP (e.g., the second AP (402)), the electronic device (100) is included in the second quality, the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is enabled can be confirmed (or determined) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is enabled is better (or greater, higher) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is disabled.

[0358] When the electronic device (100) performs roaming from the first AP (401) to another AP (e.g., the second AP (402)), the average time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication is included in the first quality, when the electronic device (100) performs roaming from the first AP (401) to another AP (e.g., the second AP (402)), when the electronic device (100) performs roaming from the first AP (401) to another AP (e.g., the second AP (402)), the average time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication is shorter than the average time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication, the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is enabled is worse (or, smaller, lower) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is disabled.

[0359] The electronic device (100) can compare the speed of short-range wireless communication using ESS (e.g., transmission speed and / or reception speed) when the electronic device (100) included in the first quality has the BSS switching management function enabled, and the speed of short-range wireless communication using ESS when the electronic device (100) included in the second quality has the BSS switching management function disabled.

[0360] The electronic device (100) can confirm (or determine) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is activated is better (or greater, higher) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is deactivated, when the speed of short-range wireless communication using ESS is higher than the speed of short-range wireless communication using ESS when the electronic device (100) included in the first quality is activated and the BSS switching management function is deactivated.

[0361] The electronic device (100) can confirm (or determine) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is activated is worse (or smaller, lower) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is deactivated, when the speed of short-range wireless communication using ESS is lower than the speed of short-range wireless communication using ESS when the electronic device (100) included in the first quality is activated and the BSS switching management function is deactivated.

[0362] The electronic device (100) can compare the channel utilization between the ESS and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) included in the first quality has the BSS switching management function enabled, and the channel utilization between the ESS and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) included in the second quality has the BSS switching management function disabled.

[0363] The electronic device (100) can confirm (or determine) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is activated is better (or greater, higher) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is deactivated, when the channel utilization between the ESS and the electronic device (100) included in the first quality is less than the channel utilization between the ESS and the electronic device (100) when the BSS switching management function is deactivated.

[0364] The electronic device (100) can confirm (or determine) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is activated is worse (or smaller, lower) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is deactivated, when the channel utilization between the ESS and the electronic device (100) included in the first quality is greater than the channel utilization between the ESS and the electronic device (100) when the BSS switching management function is deactivated.

[0365] The electronic device (100) can compare the number of times the electronic device (100) included in the first quality retransmits packets as the electronic device (100) fails to transmit packets to at least one AP (e.g., the first AP (401) and / or the second AP (402)) included in the ESS while the electronic device (100) included in the second quality has the BSS switching management function enabled, with the number of times the electronic device (100) fails to transmit packets to at least one AP (e.g., the first AP (401) and / or the second AP (402)) included in the ESS while the electronic device (100) included in the second quality disables the BSS switching management function.

[0366] The electronic device (100) can confirm (or determine) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is enabled is better (or greater, higher) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is disabled, if the number of times the electronic device (100) in the first quality retransmits a packet as it fails to transmit a packet to at least one AP (e.g., first AP (401) and / or second AP (402)) in the ESS when the electronic device (100) in the second quality disables the BSS switching management function is less than the number of times the electronic device (100) in the second quality retransmits a packet as it fails to transmit a packet to at least one AP (e.g., first AP (401) and / or second AP (402)) in the ESS when the BSS switching function is disabled.

[0367] The electronic device (100) can confirm (or determine) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is enabled is worse (or smaller, lower) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is disabled, if the number of times the electronic device (100) in the first quality fails to transmit a packet to at least one AP (e.g., first AP (401) and / or second AP (402)) included in the ESS while the electronic device (100) in the second quality has the BSS switching management function disabled and the number of times the electronic device (100) fails to transmit a packet to at least one AP (e.g., first AP (401) and / or second AP (402)) included in the ESS is greater than the number of times the electronic device (100) in the second quality fails to transmit a packet to at least one AP (e.g., first AP (401) and / or second AP (402)) included in the ESS while the electronic device (100) in the second quality has the BSS switching function disabled.

[0368] The electronic device (100) can compare multiple parameters when there are multiple parameters included in the first quality and the second quality, and the multiple parameters can be prioritized according to various methods. The electronic device (100) can compare the first quality and the second quality by prioritizing the comparison results of parameters with high priority. According to one example, the electronic device (100) can set the time during which the connection between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) is maintained as the highest priority, and the channel congestion, the number of retransmissions, and the speed of short-range wireless communication can be set to have relatively low priority.

[0369] The electronic device (100) can determine whether the first quality is higher than the second quality in operation 813.

[0370] The electronic device (100) can determine whether to activate the BSS switching management function when connected via short-range wireless communication with the first AP (401) after the comparison, based on the result of comparing the first quality and the second quality.

[0371] The electronic device (100) can enable the BSS switching management function when, in operation 814, the first quality is higher than the second quality (operation 813-YES).

[0372] The electronic device (100) may decide to activate the BSS switching management function when the first quality is higher than the second quality. This is because the situation where the first quality is better than the second quality means that the quality of the short-range wireless communication corresponding to the case where the BSS switching management function is activated is better than the quality of the short-range wireless communication corresponding to the case where the BSS switching management function is deactivated.

[0373] The electronic device (100) can enable the BSS transition management function by transmitting a frame (e.g., a combination request frame) containing information indicating that the BSS transition management function is supported in the connection procedure with the ESS to the first AP (401).

[0374] The electronic device (100) can disable the BSS switching management function when, in operation 815, the first quality is lower than the second quality (operation 813-NO).

[0375] The electronic device (100) may decide to disable the BSS switching management function when the first quality is lower than the second quality. This is because a situation where the first quality is worse than the second quality means that the quality of the short-range wireless communication corresponding to the case where the BSS switching management function is enabled is worse than the quality of the short-range wireless communication corresponding to the case where the BSS switching management function is disabled.

[0376] The electronic device (100) can disable the BSS transition management function by transmitting a frame (e.g., a combination request frame) containing information indicating that the BSS transition management function is not supported in the connection procedure with the ESS to the first AP (401).

[0377] Through the method described above, the electronic device (100) can variably set the BSS switching management function to perform relatively better, thereby improving the performance of short-range wireless communication.

[0378] FIG. 9 is an operation flowchart illustrating the operation method of an electronic device according to one example.

[0379] An electronic device (e.g., the electronic device (100) of FIG. 5) can verify a first quality of short-range wireless communication through the ESS during a first period while the BSS switching management function is enabled in operation 910.

[0380] An electronic device (100) can control a communication circuit (510) to search for an AP capable of providing short-range wireless communication in order to perform short-range wireless communication. The electronic device (100) can search for at least one AP (e.g., a first AP (401)) included in a BSS to perform short-range wireless communication through a BSS that includes at least one AP having the same SSID (service set identifier). The electronic device (100) can control a communication circuit (510) to broadcast a probe request message in order to search for an AP. The probe request message may include information about the electronic device (100). According to one example, the probe request message may include various identification information (e.g., MAC address) that can distinguish the electronic device (100) from other electronic devices, and performance information related to the short-range wireless communication of the electronic device (100). When the first AP (e.g., the first AP (401) of FIG. 4a) receives a probe request message, it can transmit a probe response message corresponding to the probe request message to the electronic device (100). When the electronic device (100) receives the probe response message, it can successfully detect the first AP (401).

[0381] In a coupling procedure with the first AP (401) (or a procedure for connecting the electronic device (100) and the first AP (401)), the electronic device (100) may transmit information indicating whether the electronic device (100) supports a BSS switching management function to the first AP (401) via short-range wireless communication. The electronic device (100) may support a BSS switching management function and may transmit information indicating that it supports a BSS switching management function to the first AP (401).

[0382] A basic service set transition (BSS) may refer to an electronic device (100) roaming (or moving) from a currently included BSS (e.g., BSS1 (210)) to another BSS (e.g., BSS2 (220) of FIG. 2). A BSS transition management function may refer to various functions for managing the BSS transition (e.g., the timing of the BSS transition, or various functions related to the BSS transition including a function to select the AP to roam to when performing the BSS transition). The electronic device (100) that has performed the BSS transition may disconnect from the first AP (401) and connect to the second AP (402). The first AP (401) and the second AP (402) may be APs that have the same service set identifier (SSID). The fact that the first AP (401) and the second AP (402) are APs having the same SSID may indicate that the first AP (401) and the second AP (402) are APs included in the same ESS (extended service set).

[0383] The electronic device (100) may transmit a frame containing information indicating that it supports a BSS transition management function to the first AP (401), and the electronic device (100) may transmit an association request frame containing information indicating that it supports a BSS transition management function to the first AP (401). Alternatively, the electronic device (100) may transmit an association request frame containing information indicating that it does not support a BSS transition management function to the first AP (401).

[0384] In a procedure (or combination procedure) connecting the electronic device (100) and the first AP (401), the first AP (401) may receive a frame containing information indicating that it supports a BSS transition management function and confirm that the electronic device (100) supports a BSS transition management function. Alternatively, in a procedure (or combination procedure) connecting the electronic device (100) and the first AP (401), the first AP (401) may receive a frame containing information indicating that it does not support a BSS transition management function and confirm that the electronic device (100) does not support a BSS transition management function.

[0385] An electronic device (100) can perform short-range wireless communication through an ESS. According to one example, the electronic device (100) can control a communication circuit (510) to transmit and / or receive data through short-range wireless communication provided by the first AP (401) as the connection between the first AP (401) included in the ESS and the electronic device (100) is completed.

[0386] The electronic device (100) can confirm (or determine, detect) that the connection between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) is disconnected.

[0387] According to one example, as described in FIG. 4b, the electronic device (100) may decide not to perform a BSS transition and transmit a BSS transition management response frame to the first AP (401) indicating that the BSS transition will not be performed. After transmitting the BSS transition management response frame, the electronic device (100) may confirm that the connection between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) is disconnected by receiving a disconnection frame from the first AP (401) within a specified time.

[0388] The electronic device (100) can check (or, monitor, detect) the number of times the connection between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) is disconnected during a specified period, and check whether the number of times the connection between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) is disconnected during a specified period is greater than (or exceeds) the specified number of times (e.g., 5 times).

[0389] According to one example, as described in FIG. 4c, the electronic device (100) may receive a BSS switching management request frame from the first AP (401), disconnect from the first AP (401), and perform roaming to the second AP (402). However, the electronic device (100) may detect that the connection between the second AP (402) and the electronic device (100) is disconnected within a specified time and attempt to reconnect with the first AP (401). The phenomenon described above may be performed repeatedly and may be referred to as a ping-pong phenomenon.

[0390] The electronic device (100) can check (or monitor, detect) the number of times the ping-pong phenomenon (or the number of times a connection to the first AP (401) is attempted) described above occurs during a specified time period, and check whether the number of times the ping-pong phenomenon (or the number of times a connection to the first AP (401)) described above occurs is greater than or exceeds a specified number (e.g., 4 times).

[0391] The electronic device (100) can perform a series of operations to determine whether to change (or maintain) the activation of the BSS switching management function by confirming that the number of times the disconnection between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) occurs during a specified time is greater than (or exceeds) the specified number of times (e.g., 5 times) and / or the number of times the ping-pong phenomenon (or the number of times a connection to the first AP (401) is attempted) is greater than (or exceeds) the specified number of times (e.g., 4 times).

[0392] The electronic device (100) can verify the first quality of short-range wireless communication through the ESS during a first period while the BSS switching management function is enabled during short-range wireless communication through the ESS. According to one example, when the electronic device (100) is connected to the first AP (401), the electronic device (100) can verify the first quality of short-range wireless communication through the first AP (401) during a first period while the BSS switching management function is enabled during short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100). According to one example, when an electronic device (100) is connected to a second AP (402), the electronic device (100) can verify a first quality of short-range wireless communication through the second AP (402) for a first period while the BSS switching management function is enabled during short-range wireless communication between the second AP (402) and the electronic device (100).

[0393] The electronic device (100) can enable the BSS transition management function by transmitting a frame (e.g., a combination request frame) to the first AP (401) in the connection procedure between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) indicating that the electronic device (100) supports the BSS transition management function.

[0394] The first quality may refer to at least one parameter representing the quality of short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) has the BSS switching function enabled.

[0395] For example, the first quality may include information regarding the time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via near-field wireless communication when the electronic device (100) performs roaming from the first AP (401) to another AP (e.g., the second AP (402)) while the electronic device (100) has the BSS switching function enabled. When the electronic device (100) performs roaming from the first AP (401) to another AP (e.g., the second AP (402)), the information regarding the time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via near-field wireless communication may include the average time of the time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via near-field wireless communication. According to one example, the electronic device (100) may transmit a frame to the second AP (402) containing information indicating that it supports the BSS switching management function when performing roaming from the first AP (401) to the second AP (402). The electronic device (100) can activate the BSS switching management function and verify the first quality in connection and verifying the first quality through short-range wireless communication with the second AP (402).

[0396] The electronic device (100) can determine (or verify, calculate, estimate) the average time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication based on the time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication (e.g., the sum of the time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) and the time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication between the second AP (402) and the electronic device (100)) and the number of times the electronic device (100) is disconnected via short-range wireless communication (e.g., the sum of the number of times the electronic device (100) performs roaming and the number of times the electronic device (100) is disconnected via short-range wireless communication).

[0397] The first AP (401) and the second AP (402) may refer to APs included in the same network (e.g., the ESS of FIG. 2). APs included in the same network may refer to APs that have at least some information (e.g., SSID (service set identifier), and / or security type) identical. The time during which the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication may refer to the time during which the connection between the ESS containing the first AP (401) and the second AP (402) and the electronic device (100) is maintained. The time during which the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication may refer to the sum of the times during which the electronic device (100) is connected to at least one AP (e.g., the first AP (401) and the second AP (402)) included in the same network. When the electronic device (100) is connected via short-range wireless communication with the first AP (401) and the second AP (402), as well as with other APs included in the same network (e.g., roaming upon reception of a BSS switching management frame), the sum of the connected time between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100), the connected time between the second AP (402) and the electronic device (100), and the connected time between other APs and the electronic device (100) can be determined as the time the electronic device (100) maintains the connection via short-range wireless communication.

[0398] The electronic device (100) can identify (or collect, monitor) various parameters that can indicate the quality of short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) in addition to the parameters described above.

[0399] The first quality may include the speed of short-range wireless communication using an ESS including a first AP (401) and a second AP (402) when the electronic device (100) has enabled the BSS switching function (e.g., transmission speed and / or reception speed). According to one example, the first quality may include the speed of short-range wireless communication using the first AP (401) when the electronic device (100) has enabled the BSS switching management function (e.g., transmission speed and / or reception speed). The electronic device (100) may check the speed of short-range wireless communication using the first AP (401) (e.g., transmission speed and / or reception speed) when the electronic device (100) has enabled the BSS switching management function.

[0400] The first quality may include channel utilization between the ESS and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) has activated the BSS switching management function. According to one example, the first quality may include channel utilization between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) has activated the BSS switching management function. The electronic device (100) can check the channel utilization between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) has activated the BSS switching management function.

[0401] The first quality may include the number of times the electronic device (100) retransmits packets as it fails to transmit packets to at least one AP (e.g., the first AP (401) and the second AP (402)) included in the ESS while the electronic device (100) has enabled the BSS switching management function. According to one example, the first quality may include the number of times the electronic device (100) retransmits packets as it fails to transmit packets to the first AP (401) while the electronic device (100) has enabled the BSS switching management function. The electronic device (100) may check the number of times packets are retransmitted. According to one example, the first quality may include the number of times the electronic device (100) retransmits packets as it fails to transmit packets to the second AP (402) while the electronic device (100) has enabled the BSS switching management function. The electronic device (100) can check the number of times packets are retransmitted. According to one example, the first quality may include the sum of the number of times packets are retransmitted as the electronic device (100) fails to transmit packets to the first AP (401) and the number of times packets are retransmitted as the electronic device (100) fails to transmit packets to the second AP (402), while the electronic device (100) has enabled the BSS switching management function. The electronic device (100) can check the number of times packets are retransmitted.

[0402] The first quality may include the quality of a signal received through at least one AP included in the ESS when the electronic device (100) has enabled the BSS switching management function. According to one example, the first quality may include the quality of a signal (e.g., RSSI) received from the first AP (401) when the electronic device (100) has enabled the BSS switching management function.

[0403] A first period (e.g., 1 day) is a period set to verify a first quality, which can be set by the electronic device (100) and can be pre-set at the time of manufacturing the electronic device (101). The electronic device (100) can continuously verify the first quality from the time it starts verifying the first quality until the first period expires.

[0404] The first period can be set differently depending on the form factor of the electronic device (100). If the electronic device (100) has a form factor with high mobility (e.g., wearable device, smartphone), the first period can be set longer considering that the time available to connect to a specific AP is short. If the electronic device (100) has a form factor with low mobility (e.g., tablet device, or home appliance), the first period can be set shorter considering that the time available to connect to a specific AP is long.

[0405] The electronic device (100) can transmit a frame to at least one AP included in the ESS (e.g., the first AP (401)) indicating that the electronic device (100) does not support BSS switching management functions while performing a connection with at least one AP included in the ESS after the connection with the ESS is disconnected in operation 920.

[0406] The electronic device (100) can check the first quality and, with the BSS switching function disabled, check the second quality of short-range wireless communication through the ESS.

[0407] According to one example, in a situation where the electronic device (100) attempts to reconnect with the ESS after verifying the first quality, in the connection procedure between the electronic device (100) and at least one AP included in the ESS (e.g., the first AP (401)), the electronic device (100) may disable the BSS transition management function by sending a frame (e.g., a connection request frame) to at least one AP included in the ESS (e.g., the first AP (401)) indicating that the electronic device (100) does not support the BSS transition management function.

[0408] The electronic device (100) can check the second quality of short-range wireless communication through the ESS during the second period, with the BSS switching function disabled in operation 930.

[0409] The second quality may refer to at least one parameter representing the quality of short-range wireless communication between the ESS and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching function. According to one example, the second quality may refer to at least one parameter representing the quality of short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching function.

[0410] The electronic device (100) can determine (or verify, calculate, estimate) the average time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication based on the time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication (e.g., the sum of the time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) and the time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication between the second AP (402) and the electronic device (100)) and the number of times the electronic device (100) is disconnected via short-range wireless communication (e.g., the sum of the number of times the electronic device (100) performs roaming and the number of times the electronic device (100) is disconnected via short-range wireless communication).

[0411] The time during which the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication may refer to the sum of the times during which the electronic device (100) is connected to at least one AP (e.g., a first AP (401) and a second AP (402)) included in the same network. When the electronic device (100) is connected via short-range wireless communication to other APs included in the same network as well as to the first AP (401) and the second AP (402) (e.g., roaming following the reception of a BSS switching management frame), the time during which the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication may be determined as the sum of the time during which the electronic device (100) is connected to the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100), the time during which the electronic device (100) is connected to the second AP (402) and the electronic device (100), and the time during which the electronic device (100) is connected to other APs included in the same network.

[0412] The electronic device (100) can identify (or collect, monitor) various parameters that can indicate the quality of short-range wireless communication between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) in addition to the parameters described above.

[0413] The second quality may include the speed of short-range wireless communication using the ESS (e.g., transmission speed and / or reception speed) when the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching management function. According to one example, the second quality may include the speed of short-range wireless communication using the first AP (401) (e.g., transmission speed and / or reception speed) when the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching management function. The electronic device (100) can check the speed of short-range wireless communication using the first AP (401) (e.g., transmission speed and / or reception speed) when the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching management function.

[0414] The second quality may include channel utilization between the ESS and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching management function. According to one example, the second quality may include channel utilization between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching management function. The electronic device (100) can check the channel utilization between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching management function.

[0415] The second quality may include the number of times the electronic device (100) retransmits a packet to at least one AP (e.g., a first AP (401) and / or a second AP (402)) included in the ESS while the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching management function. According to one example, the second quality may include the number of times the electronic device (100) retransmits a packet as it fails to transmit a packet to the first AP (401) while the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching management function. According to one example, the second quality may include the number of times the electronic device (100) retransmits a packet as it fails to transmit a packet to the second AP (402) while the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching management function. According to one example, the second quality may include the sum of the number of times the electronic device (100) retransmits a packet as it fails to transmit a packet to the first AP (401) and the number of times it retransmits a packet as it fails to transmit a packet to the second AP (402), while the electronic device (100) has disabled the BSS switching management function. The electronic device (100) can check the number of times the packet is retransmitted.

[0416] A second period (e.g., 1 day) can be set by the electronic device (100) as a period set to check the second quality. The length of the second period can be set to be the same as the length of the first period. The electronic device (100) can continuously check the second quality from the time the second quality check begins until the second period expires.

[0417] The electronic device (100) can determine whether to activate the BSS switching function when connected to the ESS after the comparison, based on the result of comparing the first quality and the second quality in operation 940.

[0418] The electronic device (100) can verify the first quality and the second quality, and compare the first quality and the second quality.

[0419] The electronic device (100) can compare the average time during which a connection is maintained via short-range wireless communication between the ESS included in the first quality and the electronic device (100) and the average time during which a connection is maintained via short-range wireless communication between the ESS included in the second quality.

[0420] The electronic device (100) can confirm (or determine) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is activated is better (or greater, higher) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is deactivated, if the average time for which a connection is maintained through short-range wireless communication between the ESS and the electronic device (100) included in the first quality is greater than the average time for which a connection is maintained through short-range wireless communication between the ESS and the electronic device (100) included in the second quality.

[0421] The electronic device (100) can confirm (or determine) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is activated is worse (or smaller, lower) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is deactivated, if the average time for which a connection is maintained through short-range wireless communication between the ESS and the electronic device (100) included in the first quality is shorter than the average time for which a connection is maintained through short-range wireless communication between the ESS and the electronic device (100) included in the second quality.

[0422] According to one example, an electronic device (100) can compare the average time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication when the electronic device (100) performs roaming from the first AP (401) to another AP (e.g., the second AP (402)) included in the first quality with the average time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication when the electronic device (100) performs roaming from the first AP (401) to another AP (e.g., the second AP (402)) included in the second quality.

[0423] When the electronic device (100) performs roaming from the first AP (401) to another AP (e.g., the second AP (402)), the average time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication is greater than the average time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication is included in the first quality, when the electronic device (100) performs roaming from the first AP (401) to another AP (e.g., the second AP (402)), when the electronic device (100) performs roaming from the first AP (401) to another AP (e.g., the second AP (402)), the electronic device (100) is included in the second quality, the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is enabled can be confirmed (or determined) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is enabled is better (or greater, higher) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is disabled.

[0424] When the electronic device (100) performs roaming from the first AP (401) to another AP (e.g., the second AP (402)), the average time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication is included in the first quality, when the electronic device (100) performs roaming from the first AP (401) to another AP (e.g., the second AP (402)), when the electronic device (100) performs roaming from the first AP (401) to another AP (e.g., the second AP (402)), the average time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication is shorter than the average time the electronic device (100) maintains a connection via short-range wireless communication, the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is enabled is worse (or, smaller, lower) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is disabled.

[0425] The electronic device (100) can compare the speed of short-range wireless communication using ESS (e.g., transmission speed and / or reception speed) when the electronic device (100) included in the first quality has the BSS switching management function enabled, and the speed of short-range wireless communication using ESS when the electronic device (100) included in the second quality has the BSS switching management function disabled.

[0426] The electronic device (100) can confirm (or determine) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is activated is better (or greater, higher) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is deactivated, when the speed of short-range wireless communication using ESS is higher than the speed of short-range wireless communication using ESS when the electronic device (100) included in the first quality is activated and the BSS switching management function is deactivated.

[0427] The electronic device (100) can confirm (or determine) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is activated is worse (or smaller, lower) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is deactivated, when the speed of short-range wireless communication using ESS is lower than the speed of short-range wireless communication using ESS when the electronic device (100) included in the first quality is activated and the BSS switching management function is deactivated.

[0428] The electronic device (100) can compare the channel utilization between the ESS and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) included in the first quality has the BSS switching management function enabled, and the channel utilization between the ESS and the electronic device (100) when the electronic device (100) included in the second quality has the BSS switching management function disabled.

[0429] The electronic device (100) can confirm (or determine) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is activated is better (or greater, higher) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is deactivated, when the channel utilization between the ESS and the electronic device (100) included in the first quality is less than the channel utilization between the ESS and the electronic device (100) when the BSS switching management function is deactivated.

[0430] The electronic device (100) can confirm (or determine) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is activated is worse (or smaller, lower) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is deactivated, when the channel utilization between the ESS and the electronic device (100) included in the first quality is greater than the channel utilization between the ESS and the electronic device (100) when the BSS switching management function is deactivated.

[0431] The electronic device (100) can compare the number of times the electronic device (100) included in the first quality retransmits packets as the electronic device (100) fails to transmit packets to at least one AP (e.g., the first AP (401) and / or the second AP (402)) included in the ESS while the electronic device (100) included in the second quality has the BSS switching management function enabled, with the number of times the electronic device (100) fails to transmit packets to at least one AP (e.g., the first AP (401) and / or the second AP (402)) included in the ESS while the electronic device (100) included in the second quality disables the BSS switching management function.

[0432] The electronic device (100) can confirm (or determine) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is enabled is better (or greater, higher) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is disabled, if the number of times the electronic device (100) in the first quality retransmits a packet as it fails to transmit a packet to at least one AP (e.g., first AP (401) and / or second AP (402)) in the ESS when the electronic device (100) in the second quality disables the BSS switching management function is less than the number of times the electronic device (100) in the second quality retransmits a packet as it fails to transmit a packet to at least one AP (e.g., first AP (401) and / or second AP (402)) in the ESS when the BSS switching function is disabled.

[0433] The electronic device (100) can confirm (or determine) that the first quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is enabled is worse (or smaller, lower) than the second quality of short-range wireless communication when the BSS switching function is disabled, if the number of times the electronic device (100) in the first quality fails to transmit a packet to at least one AP (e.g., first AP (401) and / or second AP (402)) included in the ESS while the electronic device (100) in the second quality has the BSS switching management function disabled and the number of times the electronic device (100) fails to transmit a packet to at least one AP (e.g., first AP (401) and / or second AP (402)) included in the ESS is greater than the number of times the electronic device (100) in the second quality fails to transmit a packet to at least one AP (e.g., first AP (401) and / or second AP (402)) included in the ESS while the electronic device (100) in the second quality has the BSS switching function disabled.

[0434] The electronic device (100) can compare multiple parameters when there are multiple parameters included in the first quality and the second quality, and the multiple parameters can be prioritized according to various methods. The electronic device (100) can compare the first quality and the second quality by prioritizing the comparison results of parameters with high priority. According to one example, the electronic device (100) can set the time during which the connection between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) is maintained as the highest priority, and the channel congestion, the number of retransmissions, and the speed of short-range wireless communication can be set to have relatively low priority.

[0435] The electronic device (100) can determine whether to activate the BSS switching management function when connected to the ESS via short-range wireless communication after the comparison, based on the result of comparing the first quality and the second quality. According to one example, the electronic device (100) can determine whether to activate the BSS switching management function when connected to the first AP (401) via short-range wireless communication after the comparison, based on the result of comparing the first quality and the second quality.

[0436] The electronic device (100) may decide to activate the BSS switching management function when the first quality is higher than the second quality. This is because the situation where the first quality is higher than the second quality means that the quality of the short-range wireless communication corresponding to the case where the BSS switching management function is activated is better (or greater, higher) than the quality of the short-range wireless communication corresponding to the case where the BSS switching management function is deactivated.

[0437] The electronic device (100) can enable the BSS transition management function by transmitting a frame (e.g., a connection request frame) containing information indicating that the BSS transition management function is supported to the first AP (401) in a connection procedure with the ESS (e.g., the first AP (401)).

[0438] The electronic device (100) may decide to disable the BSS switching management function when the first quality is lower than the second quality. This is because the situation where the first quality is lower than the second quality means that the quality of the short-range wireless communication corresponding to the case where the BSS switching management function is enabled is worse (or smaller, lower) than the quality of the short-range wireless communication corresponding to the case where the BSS switching management function is disabled.

[0439] The electronic device (100) can disable the BSS switching management function by transmitting a frame (e.g., a coupling request frame) containing information indicating that the BSS switching management function is not supported to the first AP (401) during the connection procedure with the ESS (e.g., the first AP (401)).

[0440] An electronic device according to one example (e.g., the electronic device (100) of FIG. 5) may include a communication circuit (e.g., the communication circuit (510) of FIG. 5) that supports short-range wireless communication. The electronic device (100) may include a memory (e.g., the memory (530) of FIG. 5) that stores a computer program containing instructions. The electronic device (100) may include at least one processor (e.g., the processor (520) of FIG. 5). When the instructions are executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor (520), the electronic device (100) may verify a first quality of the short-range wireless communication through an ESS including at least one AP having the same SSID during a first period, with the basic service set transition management (BTM) function enabled. When the above instructions are executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor (520), the electronic device (100) may transmit a frame containing information indicating that the electronic device (100) does not support the BSS switching management function to at least one AP included in the ESS while performing a connection with the first AP (401) after the connection with the ESS has been disconnected. When the above instructions are executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor (520), the electronic device (100) may check the second quality of the short-range wireless communication through the ESS for a second period while the BSS switching management function is disabled.When the above instructions are executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor (520), the electronic device (100) may determine whether to activate the BSS switching management function when connected to the ESS via the short-range wireless communication after the comparison, based on the result of comparing the first quality and the second quality.

[0441] In an electronic device (100) according to one example, the first quality may include information related to the time during which the connection between the electronic device (100) and the ESS is maintained while the BSS switching management function is enabled. The second quality may include information related to the time during which the connection between the electronic device (100) and the ESS is maintained while the BSS switching management function is disabled.

[0442] In an electronic device (100) according to one example, when the instructions are executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor (520), the electronic device (100) may transmit a frame containing information indicating that the BSS switching management function is supported when the ESS is connected via the short-range wireless communication to at least one AP included in the ESS when the first quality is higher than the second quality.

[0443] In an electronic device (100) according to one example, when the instructions are executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor (520), the electronic device (100) may transmit a frame containing information indicating that the BSS switching management function is not supported when the ESS is connected via the short-range wireless communication when the second quality is higher than the first quality to at least one AP included in the ESS.

[0444] In an electronic device (100) according to one example, the instructions, when executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor (520), may cause the electronic device (100) to receive a BSS transition management request frame from a first AP (e.g., the first AP (401) of FIG. 4a) included in the ESS, transmit a response frame indicating that the BSS transition management function is not supported, and then check whether the connection between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) is disconnected within a specified time. The instructions, when executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor (520), may cause the electronic device (100) to check the first quality and the second quality if the disconnection of the connection between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) satisfies a specified condition.

[0445] In an electronic device (100) according to one example, the instructions, when executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor (520), may cause the electronic device (100) to disconnect the connection between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) upon receiving the BSS transition management request frame from the first AP (401). The instructions, when executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor (520), may cause the electronic device (100) to perform a connection between the second AP (e.g., the second AP (402) of FIG. 4a) and the electronic device (100). When the above instructions are executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor (520), the electronic device (100) may perform a connection with the first AP (401) upon detecting that the connection between the second AP (402) and the electronic device (100) is released within a specified time. When the above instructions are executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor (520), the electronic device (100) may check the first quality and the second quality if the number of disconnections between the electronic device (100) and the second AP (402) and the number of disconnections between the electronic device (100) and the first AP (401) satisfy specified conditions.

[0446] In an electronic device (100) according to one example, the length of the first time may be set to be the same as the length of the second time.

[0447] In an electronic device (100) according to one example, when the instructions are executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor (520), the electronic device (100) may be made to increase the first time and check the first quality if the connected time between the electronic device (100) and the ESS is less than or equal to a specified size while checking the first quality. When the instructions are executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor (520), the electronic device (100) may be made to check the second quality during the second time set to have a length equal to the length of the increased first time.

[0448] In an electronic device (100) according to one example, the length of the first time and the length of the second time may be set differently depending on the activity history of the user of the electronic device (100).

[0449] In a recording medium storing at least one program comprising instructions that cause the electronic device (100) to perform operations when executed individually or collectively by at least one processor (520) of the electronic device (100), the instructions may cause the electronic device (100) to verify, for a first period, a first quality of short-range wireless communication through an ESS including at least one AP having the same SSID while the basic service set transition management (BTM) function is enabled when executed by the at least one processor (520). The instructions may cause the electronic device (100) to transmit a frame containing information indicating that the electronic device (100) does not support the BSS transition management function while performing a connection with at least one AP included in the ESS after the connection with the ESS is disconnected, to at least one AP included in the ESS. The above instructions may, when executed by the at least one processor (520), cause the electronic device (100) to check the second quality of the short-range wireless communication through the ESS for a second period while the BSS switching management function is disabled. The above instructions may, when executed by the at least one processor (520), cause the electronic device (100) to determine whether to enable the BSS switching management function when connected to the ESS via the short-range wireless communication after the comparison, based on the result of comparing the first quality and the second quality.

[0450] In a recording medium according to one example, the first quality may include information related to the time during which the connection between the electronic device (100) and the ESS is maintained while the BSS switching management function is enabled. The second quality may include information related to the time during which the connection between the electronic device (100) and the ESS is maintained while the BSS switching management function is disabled.

[0451] In a recording medium according to one example, when the instructions are executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor (520), the electronic device (100) may transmit a frame containing information indicating that the BSS switching management function is supported when the ESS is connected via the short-range wireless communication to at least one AP included in the ESS.

[0452] In a recording medium according to one example, when the instructions are executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor (520), the electronic device (100) may transmit a frame containing information indicating that the BSS switching management function is not supported when the ESS is connected via the short-range wireless communication to at least one AP included in the ESS when the second quality is higher than the first quality.

[0453] In a recording medium according to one example, the instructions may, when executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor (520), cause the electronic device (100) to receive a BSS transition management request frame from the first AP included in the ESS, transmit a response frame indicating that the BSS transition management function is not supported, and then check whether the connection between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) is disconnected within a specified time. The instructions may, when executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor (520), cause the electronic device (100) to check the first quality and the second quality if the disconnection of the connection between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) satisfies a specified condition.

[0454] In a recording medium according to one example, the instructions may cause the electronic device (100) to disconnect the connection between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) as it receives the BSS transition management request frame from the AP when executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor (520). The instructions may cause the electronic device (100) to perform a connection between the second AP (402) included in the ESS and the electronic device (100) as it detects that the connection between the second AP (402) and the electronic device (100) is disconnected within a specified time when executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor (520). When the above instructions are executed individually or collectively by at least one processor (520), the electronic device (100) may check the first quality and the second quality if the number of disconnections between the electronic device (100) and the second AP (402) and the number of disconnections between the electronic device (100) and the first AP (401) satisfy specified conditions.

[0455] A method of operation of an electronic device (100) according to one example may include an operation of checking a first quality of short-range wireless communication through an ESS that includes at least one AP having the same SSID, while the basic service set transition management (BTM) function is enabled, during a first period. A method of operation of the electronic device (100) may include an operation of transmitting a frame containing information indicating that the electronic device (100) does not support the BSS transition management function to at least one AP included in the ESS while performing a connection with the ESS after the connection with the ESS is disconnected. A method of operation of the electronic device (100) may include an operation of checking a second quality of the short-range wireless communication through the ESS during a second period while the BSS transition management function is disabled. The method of operation of the electronic device (100) may include an operation to determine whether to activate the BSS switching management function when connected via the ESS and the short-range wireless communication after the comparison result of the first quality and the second quality.

[0456] In a method of operation of an electronic device (100) according to one example, the first quality may include information related to the time during which the connection between the electronic device (100) and the ESS is maintained while the BSS switching management function is enabled. The second quality may include information related to the time during which the connection between the electronic device (100) and the ESS is maintained while the BSS switching management function is disabled.

[0457] A method of operation of an electronic device (100) according to one example may further include the operation of transmitting a frame containing information indicating that the BSS switching management function is supported when the ESS is connected via the short-range wireless communication to at least one AP included in the ESS when the first quality is higher than the second quality.

[0458] A method of operation of an electronic device (100) according to one example may further include the operation of transmitting a frame containing information indicating that the BSS switching management function is not supported when the ESS is connected via the short-range wireless communication to at least one AP included in the ESS when the second quality is higher than the first quality.

[0459] A method of operation of an electronic device (100) according to one example may further include, upon receiving a BSS switching management request frame from a first AP (e.g., the first AP (401) of FIG. 4a) included in the ESS, transmitting a response frame indicating that the BSS switching management function is not supported, and then checking whether the connection between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) is disconnected within a specified time. A method of operation of the electronic device (100) may further include, if the disconnection of the connection between the first AP (401) and the electronic device (100) satisfies a specified condition, checking the first quality and the second quality.

Claims

1. In an electronic device, Communication circuit supporting short-range wireless communication; Memory for storing computer programs including instructions; and It includes at least one processor, When the above instructions are executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor, the electronic device, With the basic service set transition management (BTM) function enabled, a first quality of the short-range wireless communication through an extended service set (ESS) including at least one AP having the same service set identifier (SSID) is verified during a first period, and After the connection with the ESS is disconnected, while performing a connection with at least one AP included in the ESS, the electronic device transmits a frame containing information indicating that it does not support the BSS switching management function to the at least one AP, and With the above BSS switching management function disabled, the second quality of short-range wireless communication through the above ESS is verified during the second period, and An electronic device that determines whether to activate the BSS switching management function when connected via the ESS and the short-range wireless communication after the comparison result of the first quality and the second quality.

2. In Paragraph 1, The above first quality is With the above BSS switching management function enabled, it includes information related to the time during which the connection between the electronic device and the ESS is maintained, and The above second quality is An electronic device comprising information regarding the time during which the connection between the electronic device and the ESS is maintained while the above BSS switching management function is disabled.

3. In paragraphs 1 and 2, When the above instructions are executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor, the electronic device, An electronic device that transmits a frame containing information indicating that the BSS switching management function is supported when the ESS is connected via the short-range wireless communication to at least one AP included in the ESS when the first quality is higher than the second quality.

4. In paragraphs 1 through 3, When the above instructions are executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor, the electronic device, An electronic device that transmits a frame containing information indicating that the BSS switching management function is not supported when connected to the ESS via the short-range wireless communication, to at least one AP included in the ESS when the second quality is higher than the first quality.

5. In paragraphs 1 through 4, When the above instructions are executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor, the electronic device, Upon receiving a BSS transition management request frame from the first AP included in the ESS, after transmitting a response frame indicating that the BSS transition management function is not supported, check whether the connection between the first AP and the electronic device is disconnected within a specified time, and An electronic device that verifies the first quality and the second quality when the disconnection of the connection between the first AP and the electronic device satisfies a specified condition.

6. In paragraphs 1 through 5, When the above instructions are executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor, the electronic device, Upon receiving the above BSS switching management request frame from the first AP, the connection between the first AP and the electronic device is disconnected, and Performing a connection between the second AP included in the above ESS and the above electronic device, Upon detecting that the connection between the second AP and the electronic device is released within a specified time, a connection with the first AP is established, and An electronic device that checks the first quality and the second quality when the number of disconnections between the electronic device and the second AP and the number of disconnections between the electronic device and the first AP satisfy specified conditions.

7. In paragraphs 1 through 6, An electronic device in which the length of the first time is set to be the same as the length of the second time.

8. In paragraphs 1 through 7, When the above instructions are executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor, the electronic device, While checking the first quality, if the connected time between the electronic device and the ESS is less than or equal to a specified size, the first time is increased and the first quality is checked, An electronic device for verifying the second quality during the second time, which is set to have a length equal to the length of the first increased time.

9. In paragraphs 1 through 8, The length of the first time and the length of the second time are set differently according to the activity history of the user of the electronic device.

10. A recording medium storing at least one program comprising instructions that cause the electronic device to perform operations when executed individually or collectively by at least one processor of the electronic device, When the above instructions are executed by the at least one processor, the electronic device, With the basic service set transition management (BTM) function enabled, a first quality of short-range wireless communication through an extended service set (ESS) including at least one access point (AP) having the same service set identifier (SSID) is verified during a first period, and After the connection with the ESS is disconnected, while performing a connection with at least one AP included in the ESS, the electronic device transmits a frame containing information indicating that it does not support the BSS switching management function to the at least one AP, and With the above BSS switching management function disabled, verify the second quality of the above short-range wireless communication through the above ESS during a second period, and A recording medium for determining whether to activate the BSS switching management function when connected via the ESS and the short-range wireless communication after the comparison result of the first quality and the second quality.

11. In Paragraph 10, The above first quality is In a state where the above BSS switching management function is enabled, it includes information related to the time during which the connection between the electronic device and the ESS is maintained, and The above second quality is A recording medium containing information regarding the time during which the connection between the electronic device and the ESS is maintained while the above BSS switching management function is disabled.

12. In paragraphs 10 to 11, When the above instructions are executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor, the electronic device, A recording medium that transmits a frame containing information indicating that the BSS switching management function is supported when the ESS is connected via the short-range wireless communication, to at least one AP included in the ESS when the first quality is higher than the second quality.

13. In paragraphs 10 through 12, When the above instructions are executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor, the electronic device, A recording medium that transmits a frame containing information indicating that the BSS switching management function is not supported when the ESS is connected via the short-range wireless communication, to at least one AP included in the ESS when the second quality is higher than the first quality.

14. In paragraphs 10 through 13, When the above instructions are executed individually or collectively by the at least one processor, the electronic device, Upon receiving a BSS transition management request frame from the first AP included in the ESS, after transmitting a response frame indicating that the BSS transition management function is not supported, check whether the connection between the first AP and the electronic device is disconnected within a specified time, and A recording medium that verifies the first quality and the second quality when the disconnection of the connection between the first AP and the electronic device satisfies a specified condition.

15. In a method of operating an electronic device, An operation to verify, during a first period, a first quality of short-range wireless communication through an extended service set (ESS) including at least one access point (AP) having the same service set identifier (SSID), while the basic service set transition management (BTM) function is enabled; After the connection with the ESS is disconnected, while performing a connection with at least one AP included in the ESS, the operation of transmitting a frame to the at least one AP containing information indicating that the electronic device does not support the BSS switching management function; An operation to verify the second quality of the short-range wireless communication through the ESS during a second period while the above BSS switching management function is disabled; and A method of operation of an electronic device comprising an operation to determine whether to activate the BSS switching management function when connected to the ESS via the short-range wireless communication after the comparison result of the first quality and the second quality.

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