CN108055156B

CN108055156B - AP management method and device

Info

Publication number: CN108055156B
Application number: CN201711365695.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 丁满义
Original assignee: Maipu Communication Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Maipu Communication Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2017-12-18
Filing date: 2017-12-18
Publication date: 2021-11-16
Anticipated expiration: 2037-12-18
Also published as: CN108055156A

Abstract

The invention provides an AP management method and device. The method comprises the following steps: and the AC receives an online request message sent by the AP, wherein the online request message carries the switch identification information of the switch connected with the AP. And the AC adds the AP into a virtual AP created based on the switch identification information according to the switch identification information. Therefore, by automatically grouping a large amount of APs (automatically dividing APs connected to the same switch into one group), each group corresponds to one virtual AP, and centralized management is performed by adopting a presentation mode of a single virtual AP. The occupied storage space and processor resources of the AC can be greatly reduced, the management processing capacity of the AC is effectively improved, the AP capacity which can be borne by the AC is improved, the AC can manage more APs, and the user cost is reduced.

Description

AP management method and device

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of data communication, in particular to an AP (access point) management method and device.

Background

In wireless network applications, in the case of large-scale AP (Access Point, wireless Access Point) deployment, networking is generally performed in an AC (Access Controller) + FIT AP mode. The AP mainly undertakes a wireless access function, and the AC is mainly responsible for configuration management, running state recording and other operations of the AP.

In the prior art, the AC manages each AP individually, and needs to configure a corresponding function management structure and a corresponding state recording structure for each AP to record function information and state information of the AP. Under the condition of deploying mass APs, configuring a mass function management structure and a mass state recording structure will occupy too much storage space of the AC, and further limit the capacity of the APs that the AC can carry.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the invention provides an AP management method and device.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides an AP management method, including:

the method comprises the steps that an AC receives an online request message sent by an AP, wherein the online request message carries switch identification information of a switch connected with the AP;

and the AC adds the AP into a virtual AP created based on the switch identification information according to the switch identification information.

In the technical solution provided by the foregoing first aspect embodiment of the present application, each virtual AP includes a plurality of APs, and the plurality of APs are centrally managed by using a presentation manner of a single virtual AP. The occupied storage space and resources of the AC can be greatly reduced, the management processing capacity of the AC is effectively improved, the AP capacity which can be borne by the AC is improved, and the AC can manage more APs so as to reduce the user cost.

Optionally, with reference to the technical solution provided by the first aspect, in a possible design, the switch identification information includes a MAC address of the switch, and the adding, by the AC according to the switch identification information, the AP to a virtual AP created based on the switch identification information includes:

the AC detects whether the virtual AP is established according to the MAC address of the switch;

when the virtual AP is not created, the AC creates the virtual AP and adds the AP into the virtual AP;

when the virtual AP has been created, the AC adds the AP to the virtual AP.

Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, whether the virtual AP has been created can be quickly detected according to the switch identification information. Through the virtual AP, a plurality of APs connected to the switch can be managed in a centralized manner. The AC does not need to manage and control each AP one by one, and the processing speed of the AC can be effectively improved.

Optionally, with reference to the technical solution provided by the first aspect, in a possible design, the adding, by the AC, the AP to the virtual AP includes:

the AC stores the AP information in the virtual AP.

Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, the AC can quickly know the related functions and states of the AP through the information of the AP stored in the virtual AP.

Optionally, with reference to the technical solution provided by the first aspect, in a possible design, the switch identification information further includes a port number of the switch connected to the AP, and the adding, by the AC, the AP to the virtual AP includes:

the AC stores the AP information in the virtual AP, wherein the AP information comprises the MAC address of the AP and the port number of the switch connected with the AP.

Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, the AC may quickly determine the location of the AP by querying the MAC address of the AP. When topology display is carried out, the port number can facilitate a user to quickly search the AP and know the current state and function of the AP.

Optionally, with reference to the technical solution provided by the first aspect, in a possible design, after the AC adds the AP to a virtual AP created based on the switch identification information according to the switch identification information, the method further includes:

after the AP is successfully on-line, the AC transmits AP configuration information corresponding to the virtual AP to the AP through the switch; and/or

And when the AP configuration information corresponding to the virtual AP is updated, the AC transmits the updated AP configuration information corresponding to the virtual AP to the AP through the switch.

Therefore, in the embodiment of the invention, the AP configuration information is issued by the switch agent AC, and the switch performs configuration management and control on the AP, so that the configuration burden of the AC can be reduced, the configuration operation on the batch APs can be completed by one-time configuration interaction between the AC and the switch, and the error probability during the configuration of the batch APs can be effectively reduced.

Optionally, in combination with the technical solution provided by the first aspect, in a possible design, the method further includes:

the AC receives an announcement message which is sent by the switch and used for representing the offline behavior of the AP;

and the AC deletes the information corresponding to the AP from the virtual AP according to the notification message.

Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, the AC can quickly know which AP has an offline behavior by analyzing the notification message, so as to delete the state microstructure and the function microstructure corresponding to the offline AP. The AC does not need to perform off-line detection on each AP any more, so that the processing load of the AC is reduced.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides an AP management method, including:

the method comprises the steps that a switch receives an online request message sent by an AP connected with the switch and transmits the online request message to an AC, wherein the online request message carries switch identification information of the switch;

and the switch intercepts AP configuration information sent by the AC and distributes the AP configuration information to all APs connected with the switch.

In the technical solution provided by the foregoing second aspect embodiment of the present application, the switch performs configuration management and control on the AP through a part of processing operations of the switch proxy AC. The processing speed and the processing efficiency of the AC can be effectively improved, and the AC can bear more APs.

Optionally, in combination with the technical solution provided by the second aspect, in a possible design, the method further includes:

the switch intercepts a keep-alive message sent by the AP, responds, and generates an announcement message for indicating the offline behavior of the AP when detecting the offline behavior of the AP;

and the switch sends the notification message to the AC so that the AC deletes the information corresponding to the AP in the virtual AP to which the AP belongs.

Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, the switch carries the relevant information of the offline AP to the notification message and sends the notification message to the AC, and the AC can quickly know the location of the offline AP by analyzing the message.

and when the switch receives a WTP Event Request message reported by the alarm Event sent to the AC by the AP, the switch directly forwards the message to the AC.

Therefore, in the embodiment of the invention, the message between the AP and the AC is managed and controlled by the switch, so that the processing load of the AC can be effectively reduced, and the processing speed and the processing efficiency of the AC are improved.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides an AP management apparatus, where the AP management apparatus is applied to an AC, and the AP management apparatus includes:

a receiving module, configured to receive an online request packet sent by an AP, where the online request packet carries switch identification information of a switch connected to the AP;

and the virtual AP processing module is used for adding the AP into a virtual AP created based on the switch identification information according to the switch identification information.

In the technical solution provided by the foregoing third aspect of the present application, each virtual AP includes a plurality of APs, and the plurality of APs are centrally managed by using a presentation manner of a single virtual AP. The occupied storage space and resources of the AC can be greatly reduced, the management processing capacity of the AC is effectively improved, the AP capacity which can be borne by the AC is improved, and the AC can manage more APs so as to reduce the user cost.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides an AP management apparatus, where the AP management apparatus is applied to a switch, and the AP management apparatus includes:

the transmission module is used for transmitting a received online request message sent by the AP to the AC, wherein the online request message carries the switch identification information of the switch;

and the configuration distribution module is used for intercepting the AP configuration information sent by the AC and distributing the AP configuration information to all the APs connected with the switch.

In the technical solution provided by the fourth aspect of the present application, the switch performs configuration management and control on the AP through a part of processing operations of the switch proxy AC. The processing speed and the processing efficiency of the AC can be effectively improved, and the AC can bear more APs.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings needed to be used in the embodiments will be briefly described below, it should be understood that the following drawings only illustrate some embodiments of the present invention and therefore should not be considered as limiting the scope, and for those skilled in the art, other related drawings can be obtained according to the drawings without inventive efforts.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a network system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating steps of an AP management method according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating sub-steps of step S120 shown in fig. 2 according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart of sub-steps of the sub-step S121 shown in fig. 3 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart illustrating sub-steps of the sub-step S123 shown in fig. 3 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a second flowchart illustrating steps of an AP management method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a third flowchart illustrating steps of an AP management method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a flowchart illustrating steps of an AP management method according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 9 is a second flowchart illustrating steps of an AP management method according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 10 is a flowchart illustrating sub-steps of step S230 shown in fig. 9 according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 11 is a third flowchart illustrating steps of an AP management method according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 12 is a functional block diagram of a first AP management apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 13 is a functional block diagram of a second AP management apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

Icon: 10-a network system; 100-AC; 200-a first AP management device; 210-a receiving module; 220-virtual AP processing module; 230-configuring a sending module; 240-delete module; 300-a switch; 400-a second AP management device; 410-a transmission module; 420-configure distribution module; 430-keep alive detection module; 440-a sending module; 450-a forwarding module; 500-AP.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are some, not all, embodiments of the present invention. The components of embodiments of the present invention generally described and illustrated in the figures herein may be arranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations. Thus, the following detailed description of the embodiments of the present invention, presented in the figures, is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, as claimed, but is merely representative of selected embodiments of the invention. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

It should be noted that: like reference numbers and letters refer to like items in the following figures, and thus, once an item is defined in one figure, it need not be further defined and explained in subsequent figures.

In the process of implementing the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application, the inventor of the present application finds that, in the prior art, the configuration management of the AC for the AP mainly includes two configuration modes: one is that the AC performs separate configuration management for each AP; the other is that the AC configures a template and then applies the template to each AP. Regardless of the configuration method, the configuration operation process is relatively complicated, and particularly, errors are easily caused when a large number of APs are configured.

In addition, the AC needs to treat each AP equally, and the AC needs to configure a corresponding function management structure and a corresponding state recording structure for each AP so as to record the function information and the state information of the AP. Under the condition of deploying mass APs, configuring a large number of function management structures and state recording structures can occupy the storage space of the AC excessively, reduce the processing performance of the AC, and further limit the AP capacity which can be borne by the AC.

The above prior art solutions have shortcomings which are the results of practical and careful study of the inventor, and therefore, the discovery process of the above problems and the solutions proposed by the following embodiments of the present invention to the above problems should be the contribution of the inventor to the present invention in the course of the present invention.

In order to alleviate the above problem, embodiments of the present invention provide an AP management method and apparatus. The following embodiments are provided to describe the AP management method and apparatus of the present invention.

Referring to fig. 1, fig. 1 is a block diagram of a network system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The network system 10 includes: an AC100, at least one switch 300, and a plurality of APs 500 communicatively coupled to each other.

In the present embodiment, the AC100 is responsible for access control and configuration management of the AP 500. The AP500 accesses the AC100 through the Switch 300(SW, Switch) for providing a wireless access service to the user. The switch 300 is a network device for electrical (optical) signal forwarding, and can provide an exclusive electrical signal path for any two network nodes (e.g., the AC100 and the AP500) accessing the switch 300. And, when the AP500 is successfully on line with the AC100, the switch 300 may perform proxy management on the communication interaction process between the AP500 and the AC 100.

In this embodiment, a plurality of APs 500 are connected to each switch 300, and at least one virtual AP for centrally managing the plurality of APs 500 is provided in the AC 100. The AC100 sets a corresponding virtual AP for each switch 300, and the AC100 centrally manages a plurality of APs 500 connected to the switch 300 through the virtual APs.

In this embodiment, the AC100 includes: a processor and a readable storage medium, the readable storage medium storing machine executable instructions capable of being executed by the processor, the processor executing the machine executable instructions to implement the AP management method provided by the first embodiment in the following.

In this embodiment, the switch 300 includes: a processor and a readable storage medium, the readable storage medium storing machine executable instructions capable of being executed by the processor, the processor executing the machine executable instructions to implement the AP management method provided by the second embodiment in the following.

First embodiment

The embodiment of the invention provides an AP management method. Referring to fig. 2, fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a step of an AP management method according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The method is applied to the AC100 described above. The following describes the flow of the AP management method in detail.

Step S110, the AC100 receives an online request packet sent by the AP500, where the online request packet carries the switch identification information of the switch 300 connected to the AP 500.

In this embodiment, after the AP500 is powered on and started, the AP500 obtains the switch identification information from the connected switch 300, and carries the switch identification information to the online request message and sends the online request message to the AC 100. And the AC100 receives the online request message carrying the switch identification information and performs subsequent processing.

In this embodiment, after the AP500 is powered on and started, the switch probe component in the AP500 monitors a port where the AP500 is connected to the switch 300, and obtains a MAC address of the switch 300 and a port number of the port where the AP500 is connected to the switch 300, which are used as switch identification information.

In an implementation manner provided in this embodiment, after the AP500 is powered on and started, the switch 300 sends a spanning tree protocol packet carrying the MAC address information of the switch 300 and the port number information of the AP500 connection to a corresponding port, and the AP500 monitors the connected port to obtain the spanning tree protocol packet. The Spanning Tree Protocol message refers to an STP (Spanning Tree Protocol) BPDU (Bridge Protocol Data Unit) message. The principle of the STP protocol is to construct a network topology according to a tree structure, eliminate loops in a network, and avoid the problem of broadcast storm caused by the existence of the loops. BPDUs are hello packets of the spanning tree protocol used for information exchange between bridges of a network.

It should be noted that the STP protocol adopted by the switch 300 (STP is a basic function of the switch, and a general switch is default to turn on the function) is only one embodiment in which the AP500 can obtain the MAC address of the switch 300 and the port number to which the AP500 is connected through a monitoring port. In addition, the switch 300 may also achieve the same effect through other protocols (e.g., neighbor discovery protocol, custom protocol, etc.).

In another implementation manner provided in this embodiment, if an agent is running on the switch 300, the agent may obtain and send the MAC address information of the switch 300 and the port number information of the AP500 to the corresponding port, and the AP500 may obtain the MAC address of the switch 300 and the port number of the port to which the AP500 is connected, which are used as the switch identification information, by monitoring the connected port.

In this embodiment, after obtaining the MAC address of the switch 300 and the port number of the AP500 connection port, the AP500 generates an online request message for requesting an online to the AC100, and sends the online request message to the AC 100. The AP500 may carry the MAC address of the switch 300 And the port number of the AP500 connection port to the online request message through a Control And Provisioning of Wireless Access Protocol (CAPWAP) extension message field.

Step S120, the AC100 adds the AP500 to a virtual AP created based on the switch identification information according to the switch identification information.

Referring to fig. 3, fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating sub-steps of step S120 shown in fig. 2 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The step S120 includes a substep S121, a substep S122, and a substep S123.

In sub-step S121, the AC100 detects whether the virtual AP has been created according to the MAC address of the switch 300.

In this embodiment, the switch identification information includes: the MAC address of the switch 300 that uniquely identifies the switch 300.

Referring to fig. 4, fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the sub-step S121 shown in fig. 3 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The substep S121 includes substep S1211, substep S1212, substep S1213 and substep S1214.

In the substep S1211, the AC100 parses the switch identification information to obtain the MAC address of the switch 300.

In this embodiment, when the AC100 receives an online request message sent by the AP500, the AC100 analyzes switch identification information carried in the message to obtain an MAC address of the switch 300.

In sub-step S1212, the AC100 inquires whether the MAC address of the switch 300 has been recorded.

In this embodiment, a virtual AP corresponds to the switch 300, and after the virtual AP is created, the MAC address of the switch 300 corresponding to the virtual AP may be recorded in the AC100 as an internal identifier of the virtual AP. The AC100 may determine whether the virtual AP to which the AP500 requesting to go online belongs has been created by inquiring whether the MAC address of the switch 300 has been recorded.

When the MAC address of the switch 300 is recorded, substep S1213 is performed to determine that the virtual AP has been created.

When the MAC address of the switch 300 is not recorded, substep S1214 is performed to determine that the virtual AP is not created.

In this embodiment, since the MAC address of the switch 300 has uniqueness, the MAC address of the switch 300 is used as the internal identifier of the virtual AP, so that the virtual AP also has uniqueness. Thus, the AC100 can quickly determine whether a corresponding virtual AP has been created by detecting whether the MAC address of the switch 300 is recorded.

When the virtual AP is not created, substep S122 and substep S123 are performed.

Substep S122, the AC100 creates the virtual AP.

In this embodiment, when the virtual AP is not created, the AC100 creates a virtual AP for managing the AP500 for the AP500 requesting to go online. The AC100 uses the MAC address of the switch 300 to which the AP500 is connected as the internal identifier of the virtual AP, and records the MAC address in the AC 100. After which substep S123 is performed.

When the virtual AP has been created, the AC100 adds the AP500 to the virtual AP by directly performing substep S123.

In this embodiment, the manner in which the AC100 adds the AP500 to the virtual AP may include, but is not limited to, the AC100 storing the information of the AP500 in the virtual AP.

In this embodiment, the stored information of the AP500 may include, but is not limited to, a MAC address of the AP500 and a port number of the switch 300 connected to the AP 500. When the topology display is performed, the port number can help the user to quickly find the AP500 and know the current state and function of the AP 500.

In this embodiment, the manner of the AC100 storing the information of the AP500 in the virtual AP may include, but is not limited to, the AC100 creating a function management structure for recording AP function information and a state recording structure for recording AP state information for the virtual AP.

In this embodiment, after the virtual AP is created, the AC100 creates a function management structure for recording AP function information and a status recording structure for recording AP status information for the virtual AP. The function management structure and the state recording structure may record the AP function information and the AP state information in a form, but not limited to, a table, a file, a program code, and the like.

In this embodiment, the AP function information refers to function information externally provided by the AP500 to a user, and may include, but is not limited to, radio frequency parameter information (e.g., radio frequency, transmission rate, etc.) and channel parameter information (e.g., channel type: fixed channel, automatic channel selection, etc.) of the AP 500. The AP function information may be set by default by the AP500 or set by a user, so that different APs 500 have different functions.

In this embodiment, the AP state information refers to a state condition of the AP500 during operation, and may include, but is not limited to, a counted number of radio frequencies, a radio frequency state, and the like.

Referring to fig. 5, fig. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a sub-step of the sub-step S123 shown in fig. 3 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The substep S123 includes substeps S1231 and substep S1232.

In sub-step S1231, the AC100 creates a function microstructure in the function management structure for recording the function information of the AP500, and creates a state microstructure in the state recording structure for recording the state information of the AP 500.

In this embodiment, each created virtual AP is configured with a corresponding function management structure and a corresponding state record structure. When the virtual AP to which the AP500 requesting to go online belongs has been created, the AC100 may create a function microstructure for recording function information of the AP500 in a corresponding function management structure, and create a state microstructure for recording state information of the AP500 in a corresponding state recording structure.

In sub-step S1232, the AC100 stores the port number connected to the AP500 in the state micro-structure, and stores the function information of the AP500 in the function micro-structure.

In this embodiment, the switch identification information further includes: PORT number (PORT) to which the switch 300 is connected to the AP 500. The switch 300 is provided with a plurality of ports, and each port can access one AP 500. The AC100 may obtain the port number to which the AP500 is connected by analyzing the switch identification information. The AC100 stores the function information of the AP500 into the function micro-structure and stores the port number into the state micro-structure.

In this embodiment, the AC100 can quickly determine the location of the AP500 by querying the port number stored in the state microstructure and the MAC address of the switch 300 corresponding to the virtual AP, so as to know the current state of the AP 500; by querying the functional microstructure, the functions of the AP500 can be known.

Referring to fig. 6, fig. 6 is a second flowchart illustrating steps of an AP management method according to a first embodiment of the present invention. After the step S120, the method further includes: step S130 and/or step S140.

Step S130, after the AP500 is successfully on-line, the AC100 sends the AP configuration information corresponding to the virtual AP to the AP500 through the switch 300.

Step S140, when the AP configuration information corresponding to the virtual AP is updated, the AC100 issues the updated AP configuration information corresponding to the virtual AP to the AP500 through the switch 300.

In this embodiment, the switch 300 may proxy the AC100 to issue the AP configuration information, and the AP500 is configured and controlled through the switch 300, so that the configuration load of the AC100 may be reduced, and the configuration operation on the batch of APs 500 is completed through one configuration interaction between the AC100 and the switch 300, thereby effectively reducing the error probability when configuring the batch of APs 500.

Referring to fig. 7, fig. 7 is a third flowchart illustrating steps of an AP management method according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The method further comprises the following steps: step S150 and step S160.

Step S150, the AC100 receives an advertisement message sent by the switch 300 and used for indicating that the AP500 has an offline behavior.

In this embodiment, when the switch 300 detects that the AP500 has an offline behavior, the switch 300 generates an advertisement message for indicating that the AP500 has the offline behavior, and carries information corresponding to the offline AP500 (for example, the MAC address of the AP500, the connected port number, and the virtual AP information to which the AP500 belongs) in the advertisement message, and sends the information to the AC 100. And after receiving the notification message, the AC100 performs corresponding deletion processing.

Step S160, the AC100 deletes the information corresponding to the AP500 from the virtual AP according to the notification message.

In this embodiment, the deleted information corresponding to the AP500 may be a state microstructure and a functional microstructure of the AP 500. The notification packet carries the MAC address of the offline AP500, the connected port number, and the virtual AP information (for example, the MAC address of the corresponding switch 300) to which the offline AP500 belongs. The AC100 may obtain information carried in the notification message by analyzing the notification message, and further know which AP500 has the offline behavior. And the AC100 searches in the function management structure and the state record structure corresponding to the virtual AP, and deletes the state microstructure and the function microstructure corresponding to the offline AP 500.

In this embodiment, according to the present invention, a large number of APs 500 are automatically grouped (a plurality of APs 500 connected to the same switch 300 are automatically divided into a group), each group corresponds to a virtual AP, and centralized management is performed by using a presentation mode of a single virtual AP. The configuration management operation of the large-batch AP500 can be simplified, and the management complexity is reduced. And, adopt the management mode of single virtual AP, greatly reduced the occupied memory space of AC100 and resource, can effectively improve the management throughput of AC100, promote the AP500 capacity that AC100 can bear, make AC100 manageable more AP500, reduce user's cost.

Second embodiment

The embodiment of the invention provides an AP management method. Referring to fig. 8, fig. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a step of an AP management method according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The method is applied to the switch 300 described above. The following describes the flow of the AP management method in detail.

In step S210, the switch 300 receives the online request message sent by the AP500 connected thereto and transmits the online request message to the AC 100.

In this embodiment, the online request packet carries the switch identification information of the switch 300. The switch 300 transparently transmits the online request message carrying the switch identification information of the switch 300, which is sent by the AP500, to the AC 100. The transparent transmission refers to transparent transmission, that is, the switch 300 is only responsible for transmitting the service (e.g., an online request packet) to be transmitted to the destination node (e.g., the AC100), and meanwhile, the transmission quality is ensured without performing relevant processing (e.g., grouping, encoding, encrypting, etc.) on the transmitted service.

Step S220, the switch 300 intercepts the AP configuration information issued by the AC100, and distributes the AP configuration information to all the APs 500 connected to the switch 300.

In this embodiment, after the AP500 is successfully online on the AC100, the switch 300 may monitor the transmission packet between the AP500 and the AC100, intercept the transmission packet supporting the proxy, and perform proxy processing on the transmission interaction process of the transmission packet supporting the proxy.

In this embodiment, the transmission packet between the AP500 and the AC100 mainly includes the following three types: 1. KEEP-ALIVE messages (e.g., ECHO messages, DATA KEEP-ALIVE messages, etc.) for maintaining the online status of the AP500 on the AC 100. 2. A message (e.g., WTP EVENT message) for notifying an EVENT occurring during the interaction between the AP500 and the AC 100. Configuration messages (for example, configuration UPDATE messages for performing UPDATE configuration and WLAN configuration messages for performing network wireless configuration) issued when the AC100 performs configuration management on the AP 500.

In this embodiment, when the AC100 performs configuration management on the AP500, the issued configuration packet (configuration UPDATE packet, WLAN configuration packet) carrying the AP general configuration information belongs to the transmission packet that the switch 300 can support the agent. The switch 300 may intercept the configuration message sent by the AC100, and distribute the AP configuration information carried in the configuration message to all the APs 500 connected to the switch 300. The manner of sending the configuration packet by the switch 300 may include, but is not limited to, sending in a Unicast (Unicast), Multicast (Multicast) or Broadcast (Broadcast), wherein the sending is preferably in a Broadcast form.

Referring to fig. 9, fig. 9 is a second flowchart illustrating steps of an AP management method according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The method further comprises the following steps: step S230 and step S240.

Step S230, the switch 300 intercepts and captures the keep-alive message sent by the AP500, responds to the keep-alive message, and generates an announcement message indicating that the AP500 has an offline behavior when detecting that the AP500 has the offline behavior.

In this embodiment, the keep-alive messages belong to transport messages that the switch 300 can support agents. The switch 300 may perform proxy processing on the transmission interaction process of the keep-alive messages. The switch 300 may intercept the keep-ALIVE message (e.g., ECHO REQUEST message, datakey-ALIVE message) sent by the AP500 to the AC100 for proxy processing, and carry the processed reply message to the reply message to directly send to the AP 500.

In this embodiment, when the switch 300 detects that the AP500 has an offline behavior, the switch 300 generates an advertisement message for indicating that the AP500 has the offline behavior, and carries the MAC address of the AP500, the connected port number, and the corresponding virtual AP information in the advertisement message. The virtual AP information may include, but is not limited to, a MAC address of the switch 300 corresponding to the virtual AP to which the AP500 belongs.

Referring to fig. 10, fig. 10 is a flowchart illustrating sub-steps of step S230 shown in fig. 9 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In step S230, the intercepting and responding of the keep-alive message sent by the AP500 by the switch 300 includes: substep S231, substep S232, and substep S233.

In the substep S231, the switch 300 detects whether the keep-alive message sent by the AP500 is intercepted within a preset time.

In this embodiment, after the AP500 successfully comes online, the online status of the AP500 on the AC100 is maintained by sending a keep-alive message. The switch 300 may detect whether to intercept the keep-alive message sent by the AP500 within a preset time. The preset time can be set according to actual requirements.

And when the keep-alive message is not intercepted, executing a substep S232 and judging that the AP500 has an offline behavior.

In this embodiment, when the switch 300 does not intercept the keep-alive message within a preset time, the switch 300 may determine that the AP500 has an offline behavior.

And when the keep-alive message is intercepted, executing a substep S233, and performing proxy reply processing on the keep-alive message.

In this embodiment, when the switch 300 intercepts the keep-alive message within a preset time, the switch 300 performs proxy reply processing on the keep-alive message, that is, the switch 300 performs proxy AC100 on the intercepted keep-alive message, and carries the processed reply message to the reply message to directly send to the AP 500.

In this embodiment, the switch 300 can timely learn whether the AP500 is offline by monitoring the condition that the AP500 sends the keep-alive message, and timely notify the AC100 when the AP500 is offline. Therefore, the timely response is realized, the processing load of the AC100 can be reduced, and the AC100 does not need to monitor the online condition of the AP500 in real time.

Step S240, the switch 300 sends the notification message to the AC100, so that the AC100 deletes the information corresponding to the AP500 in the virtual AP to which the AP500 belongs.

In this embodiment, the switch 300 may carry the MAC address of the AP500, the connected port number, and the corresponding virtual AP information to the notification message through a CAPWAP extension message field, and the switch 300 sends the notification message to the AC100 to notify the AC100 that the AP500 performs an offline behavior.

Referring to fig. 11, fig. 11 is a third flowchart illustrating a step of an AP management method according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The method further comprises the following steps: step S250.

Step S250, when receiving the WTP Event Request message reported by the alarm Event sent by the AP500 to the AC100, the switch 300 directly forwards the WTP Event Request message to the AC 100.

In this embodiment, the alarm Event reporting WTP Event Request message belongs to a transmission message of an agent that the switch 300 cannot support. The switch 300 may perform transparent transmission forwarding processing on a WTP EVENT REQUEST message sent by the AP500 and/or a WTP EVENT RESPONSE reply message responded by the AC 100.

In this embodiment, the switch 300 performs proxy processing on the transmission packet supporting the proxy through the interception part, and can share part of the processing operation of the AC100, thereby effectively reducing the processing load of the AC100 and improving the processing speed and the processing efficiency of the AC 100.

Third embodiment

Referring to fig. 12, fig. 12 is a functional block diagram of a first AP management device 200 according to a third embodiment of the present invention. The apparatus is applied to the AC100 described above. The device comprises: a receiving module 210 and a virtual AP processing module 220.

A receiving module 210, configured to receive an online request packet sent by an AP500, where the online request packet carries switch identification information of a switch 300 connected to the AP 500.

A virtual AP processing module 220, configured to add the AP500 to a virtual AP created based on the switch identification information according to the switch identification information.

Referring to fig. 12 again, the apparatus further includes: a distribution module 230 and a deletion module 240 are configured.

The configuration issuing module 230 is configured to issue, through the switch 300, the AP configuration information corresponding to the virtual AP to the AP500 after the AP500 is successfully on-line. And/or

The configuration issuing module 230 is further configured to issue, through the switch 300, the updated AP configuration information corresponding to the virtual AP to the AP500 when the AP configuration information corresponding to the virtual AP is updated.

The receiving module 210 is further configured to receive an advertisement message sent by the switch 300 and used for indicating that the AP500 has an offline behavior.

A deleting module 240, configured to delete the information corresponding to the AP500 from the virtual AP according to the notification message.

Fourth embodiment

Referring to fig. 13, fig. 13 is a functional block diagram of a second AP management device 400 according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. The apparatus is applied to the switch 300 described above. The device comprises: a transmission module 410 and a configuration distribution module 420.

A transmission module 410, configured to transmit a received online request packet sent by the AP500 to the AC100, where the online request packet carries the switch identification information of the switch 300.

A configuration distribution module 420, configured to intercept the AP configuration information sent by the AC100, and distribute the AP configuration information to all APs 500 connected to the switch 300.

Referring to fig. 13 again, the apparatus further includes: keep-alive detection module 430, sending module 440, and forwarding module 450.

A keep-alive detection module 430, configured to intercept a keep-alive message sent by the AP500, perform a response, and generate an announcement message indicating that the AP500 has an offline behavior when it is detected that the AP500 has the offline behavior.

A sending module 440, configured to send the notification message to the AC100, so that the AC100 deletes the information corresponding to the AP500 in the virtual AP to which the AP500 belongs.

A forwarding module 450, configured to directly forward the alarm Event report WTP Event Request message sent by the AP500 to the AC100 when the WTP Event Request message is received.

In summary, the embodiments of the present invention provide an AP management method and apparatus. The AP management method comprises the following steps: and the AC receives an online request message sent by the AP, wherein the online request message carries the switch identification information of the switch connected with the AP. And the AC adds the AP into a virtual AP created based on the switch identification information according to the switch identification information.

Therefore, by automatically grouping a large amount of APs (automatically dividing APs connected to the same switch into one group), each group corresponds to one virtual AP, and centralized management is performed by adopting a presentation mode of a single virtual AP. The occupied storage space and resources of the AC can be greatly reduced, the management processing capacity of the AC is effectively improved, the AP capacity which can be borne by the AC is improved, the AC can manage more APs, and the user cost is reduced. And moreover, the management mode of the single virtual AP is adopted, so that the configuration management operation of the APs in large batch can be simplified, the management complexity is reduced, and the management and the maintenance of a user are facilitated. And secondly, the exchanger carries out proxy processing on the transmission message supporting the proxy through the interception part, can share part of processing operation of the AC, effectively reduces the processing load of the AC, and improves the processing speed and the processing efficiency of the AC.

The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention, and various modifications and changes may be made by those skilled in the art. Any modification, equivalent replacement, or improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An AP management method, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that an AC receives an online request message sent by an AP, wherein the online request message carries switch identification information of a switch connected with the AP, and the switch identification information comprises an MAC address of the switch and a port number of a port connected with the AP and the switch;

the AC adds the AP into a virtual AP created based on the switch identification information according to the switch identification information, and the method comprises the following steps: the AC detects whether the virtual AP is established according to the MAC address of the switch; when the virtual AP is not created, the AC creates the virtual AP and adds the AP into the virtual AP; when the virtual AP is created, the AC adds the AP to the virtual AP; wherein the AC adding the AP to the virtual AP comprises: creating a function management structure for recording AP function information and a state recording structure for recording AP state information in the virtual AP based on the AP information; storing the MAC address of the switch and the port number of the port of the AP connected with the switch into the state record structure; and storing the function information of the AP to the function management structure.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein after the AC joins the AP to a virtual AP created based on the switch identification information according to the switch identification information, the method further comprises:

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

4. An AP management method, comprising:

the switch receives an online request message sent by an AP connected with the switch and transmits the online request message to the AC, so that the AC detects whether a virtual AP corresponding to the switch identification information is established according to an MAC address of the switch; when the virtual AP is not created, the AC creates the virtual AP and adds the AP into the virtual AP; when the virtual AP is created, the AC adds the AP to the virtual AP; wherein the AC adding the AP to the virtual AP comprises: creating a function management structure for recording AP function information and a state recording structure for recording AP state information in the virtual AP based on the AP information; storing the MAC address of the switch and the port number of the port of the AP connected with the switch into the state record structure; storing the function information of the AP to the function management structure; the on-line request message carries switch identification information of the switch, wherein the switch identification information comprises an MAC address of the switch and a port number of a port where the AP is connected with the switch;

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

7. An AP management apparatus, applied to an AC, the apparatus comprising:

the system comprises a receiving module, a sending module and a receiving module, wherein the receiving module is used for receiving an online request message sent by an AP, the online request message carries switch identification information of a switch connected with the AP, and the switch identification information comprises an MAC address of the switch and a port number of a port connected with the AP and the switch;

the virtual AP processing module is used for adding the AP into a virtual AP created based on the switch identification information according to the switch identification information, and comprises a function management structure created in the virtual AP based on the AP information and used for recording AP function information and a state recording structure used for recording AP state information; storing the MAC address of the switch and the port number of the port of the AP connected with the switch into the state record structure; and storing the function information of the AP to the function management structure.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, further comprising:

the configuration issuing module is used for issuing the AP configuration information corresponding to the virtual AP to the AP through the switch after the AP is successfully on line; and/or

The configuration issuing module is further configured to issue, through the switch, the updated AP configuration information corresponding to the virtual AP to the AP when the AP configuration information corresponding to the virtual AP is updated.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 or 8, further comprising: a deletion module;

the receiving module is further configured to receive an announcement message sent by the switch and used for indicating that the AP has an offline behavior;

and the deleting module is used for deleting the information corresponding to the AP from the virtual AP according to the notification message.

10. An AP management apparatus, applied to a switch, the apparatus comprising:

the transmission module is used for transmitting a received online request message sent by the AP to the AC so that the AC can detect whether a virtual AP corresponding to the switch identification information is established according to the MAC address of the switch; when the virtual AP is not created, the AC creates the virtual AP and adds the AP into the virtual AP; when the virtual AP is created, the AC adds the AP to the virtual AP; wherein the AC adding the AP to the virtual AP comprises: creating a function management structure for recording AP function information and a state recording structure for recording AP state information in the virtual AP based on the AP information; storing the MAC address of the switch and the port number of the port of the AP connected with the switch into the state record structure; storing the function information of the AP to the function management structure; the on-line request message carries switch identification information of the switch, wherein the switch identification information comprises an MAC address of the switch and a port number of a port where the AP is connected with the switch;

11. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising:

the keep-alive detection module is used for intercepting and capturing a keep-alive message sent by the AP and responding to the keep-alive message, and when the offline behavior of the AP is detected, an announcement message used for indicating the offline behavior of the AP is generated;

and the sending module is used for sending the notification message to the AC so that the AC deletes the information corresponding to the AP in the virtual AP to which the AP belongs.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising:

and the forwarding module is used for directly forwarding the alarm Event report WTP Event Request message to the AC when the alarm Event report WTP Event Request message sent to the AC by the AP is received.