CN117135738A

CN117135738A - WIFI communication method, device and network equipment

Info

Publication number: CN117135738A
Application number: CN202310488054.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 刘鹏
Original assignee: Honor Device Co Ltd
Current assignee: Honor Device Co Ltd
Priority date: 2023-04-28
Filing date: 2023-04-28
Publication date: 2023-11-28

Abstract

The application relates to the WIFI field and provides a WIFI communication method, device and network equipment. In the method, a network device acquires signal strengths of M terminal devices connected with the network device through a 2.4G WIFI network in a first period, and reduces the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network from a first transmission power to a second transmission power under the condition that at least part of the signal strengths of the M terminal devices in the first period are larger than a first strength threshold. Therefore, under the condition that the influence on the 2.4G WIFI network is avoided as much as possible, the signal intensity of the 5G WIFI network with as many coverage areas as possible is larger than that of the 2.4G WIFI network, and then in the coverage area that the signal intensity of the 5G WIFI network is larger than that of the 2.4G WIFI network, the terminal equipment can preferentially scan the 5G WIFI network, so that the terminal equipment is accessed to the 5G WIFI network, and the user experience is improved.

Description

WIFI communication method, device and network equipment

Technical Field

The application relates to the WIFI field, in particular to a WIFI communication method, device and network equipment in the WIFI field.

Background

At present, network equipment generally supports a 5G wireless-fidelity (WIFI) network and a 2.4G WIFI network, and compared with the 2.4G WIFI network, the 5G WIFI network is easier to attenuate and weaken, so that in many cases, signals of the 2.4G WIFI network at the same position are stronger, and when the terminal equipment is accessed to the WIFI network, the terminal equipment can be preferentially accessed to the 2.4G WIFI network with good signal strength generally, and is not accessed to the 5G WIFI network any more, so that user experience is poor.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a WIFI communication method, a WIFI communication device and network equipment, which can enable terminal equipment to access a 5G WIFI network preferentially as much as possible so as to improve user experience.

In a first aspect, a method for WIFI communication is provided, where the method is applied to a network device, and the network device supports a 2.4G WIFI network and a 5G WIFI network, and the method includes:

acquiring first signal information of M terminal devices connected with the network device through the 2.4G WIFI network in a first period, wherein the first signal information is used for indicating signal intensity of the M terminal devices in the first period, and M is an integer greater than or equal to 1;

and under the condition that at least part of the signal intensities of the M terminal devices in the first period is larger than a first intensity threshold, reducing the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network from a first transmission power to a second transmission power.

According to the WIFI communication method provided by the embodiment of the application, the network equipment acquires the signal intensities of M terminal equipment connected with the network equipment through the 2.4G WIFI network in the first period, and when at least part of the signal intensities of the M terminal equipment in the first period is larger than the first intensity threshold, the signal intensity of the current 2.4G WIFI network is better overall, so that the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network is reduced, and the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network is reduced from the first transmission power to the second transmission power. Therefore, under the condition that the influence on the 2.4G WIFI network is avoided as much as possible, the signal intensity of the 5G WIFI network with as many coverage areas as possible is larger than that of the 2.4G WIFI network, and then in the coverage area that the signal intensity of the 5G WIFI network is larger than that of the 2.4G WIFI network, the terminal equipment can preferentially scan the 5G WIFI network, so that the terminal equipment is accessed to the 5G WIFI network, and the user experience is improved.

In any possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the at least partial signal strength is all signal strengths of the M terminal devices in the first period.

According to the WIFI communication method provided by the embodiment of the application, the transmitting power of the 2.4G WIFI network is reduced under the condition that all signal intensities in the signal intensities of the M terminal devices in the first period are larger than the first intensity threshold value, so that the influence of the reducing of the transmitting power of the 2.4G WIFI network on the 2.4G service can be reduced to the minimum extent, and the communication stability is improved as a whole.

In any possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the reducing the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network from a first transmission power to a second transmission power includes:

determining the signal intensity with the worst signal intensity in the at least partial signal intensity as a target signal intensity;

determining an adjustment amplitude of the transmitting power of the 2.4G WIFI network according to an intensity difference value between the target signal intensity and a second intensity threshold value, wherein the second intensity threshold value is smaller than the first intensity threshold value;

and within the adjustment amplitude, reducing the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network from the first transmission power to the second transmission power.

According to the WIFI communication method provided by the embodiment of the application, the target signal strength is the lowest signal strength of at least part of signal strengths in the signal strengths of M terminal devices in the first period, the second strength threshold is the lowest value used for representing the signal strength capable of normal communication, the adjustment amplitude of the transmitting power of the 2.4G WIFI network is determined through the strength difference between the target signal strength and the second strength threshold, and the adjustment amplitude can represent the maximum value capable of adjusting the transmitting power, so that the transmitting power of the 2.4G WIFI network is reduced in the adjustment amplitude, the power change value of the transmitting power is not too large, the signal strength of the adjusted 2.4G WIFI network is not very poor, the influence on the 2.4G WIFI network is not large in the range capable of normal communication, and meanwhile, the signal strength of the 5G WIFI network in more coverage areas is larger than the signal strength of the 2.4G WIFI network, so that the terminal devices can access the 5G WIFI network preferentially, and the user experience is improved. In a word, the transmitting power of the 2.4G WIFI network is reduced within the adjustment range, and normal communication of the 2.4G WIFI network and preferential access of the 5G WIFI network can be better considered.

In any possible implementation manner of the first aspect, a power variation value between the first transmission power and the second transmission power is smaller than the adjustment amplitude.

According to the WIFI communication method provided by the embodiment of the application, when the transmitting power of the 2.4G WIFI network is reduced in the adjusting amplitude, the power change value between the first transmitting power and the second transmitting power is smaller than the adjusting amplitude, namely only a part of the adjusting amplitude is reduced, and a part of the allowance of the adjusting amplitude is reserved, so that dynamic changes of the network due to various anomalies can be better dealt with, the signal intensity of the adjusted 2.4G WIFI network is better prevented from being very poor, and the influence on the 2.4G WIFI network is further reduced.

In any possible implementation manner of the first aspect, after the reducing the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network from the first transmission power to the second transmission power, the method further includes:

acquiring second signal information of N terminal devices connected with the network device through the 2.4G WIFI network in a second period, wherein the second signal information is used for indicating signal intensity of the N terminal devices in the second period;

Determining whether to continuously reduce the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network according to the signal intensities of the N terminal devices in the second period and the first intensity threshold;

the duration of the second period is smaller than that of the first period, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

According to the WIFI communication method provided by the embodiment of the application, the network equipment can acquire the signal intensity of the terminal equipment connected with the network equipment at intervals to determine whether to reduce the signal intensity of the 2.4G WIFI network according to the signal intensity, after the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network is reduced from the first transmission power to the second transmission power according to the signal intensity of M terminal equipment in the first period, the network equipment can determine whether to continuously reduce the signal intensity of the 2.4G WIFI network according to the signal intensity of N terminal equipment in the second period after the acquired first period, and the signal intensity of the 2.4G WIFI network after the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network is reduced can be detected faster by setting the duration of the second period to be less than the duration of the first period so as to facilitate the network equipment to make adjustment in time.

In any one of possible implementation manners of the first aspect, the acquiring first signal information of M terminal devices connected to the network device through the 2.4G WIFI network in a first period includes;

Periodically acquiring signal intensity of terminal equipment connected with the network equipment through the 2.4G WIFI network according to a first time period in the first period to acquire the first signal information; the method comprises the steps of,

the obtaining second signal information of N terminal devices connected to the network device through the 2.4G WIFI network in the second period of time includes:

periodically acquiring the signal intensity of the terminal equipment connected with the network equipment through the 2.4G WIFI network according to a second duration in the second period to acquire the second signal information;

wherein the second duration is less than the first duration.

In order to avoid the situation that the number of signal intensities acquired in the second period of time is too small, the second period of time is set to be shorter, namely, the second period of time is smaller than the first period of time, so that a certain number of signal intensities can be acquired in the second period of time, the signal intensities of the reduced 2.4G WIFI network can be detected quickly, and network equipment can make adjustment in time.

In any possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the determining whether to continue to reduce the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network according to the signal strengths of the N terminal devices in the second period and the first strength threshold includes:

And under the condition that at least part of the signal intensities of the N terminal devices in the second period is smaller than the first intensity threshold, the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network is increased from the second transmission power to a third transmission power, and the third transmission power is smaller than the first transmission power.

According to the WIFI communication method provided by the embodiment of the application, the network equipment can acquire the signal intensity of the terminal equipment connected with the network equipment at intervals to determine whether to reduce the signal intensity of the 2.4G WIFI network or not according to the signal intensity, after the signal intensity of the M terminal equipment in the first period is reduced from the first transmission power to the second transmission power, the signal intensity of the N terminal equipment in the second period after the first period is acquired, the signal intensity of the 2.4G WIFI network is poor under the condition that at least part of the signal intensity of the N terminal equipment is smaller than the first intensity threshold, the signal intensity of the 2.4G WIFI network in the second period is indicated, and the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network is increased to the third transmission power from the second transmission power according to the signal intensity, so that the network equipment can dynamically adjust the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network in real time according to the condition of the signal intensity, the stability of the 2.4G WIFI network is kept as long as possible, and meanwhile, the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network is reduced to a certain extent, and the WIFI network is accessed to the WIFI network 5 by the user.

In any one of the possible implementation manners of the first aspect, the M terminal devices include a device stably connected to the network device and a device non-stably connected to the network device.

receiving a 5G detection request of the 5G WIFI network and a 2.4G detection request of the 2.4G WIFI network, which are sent by a first terminal device;

and sending a 5G detection response aiming at the 5G detection request to the first terminal equipment so as to access the first terminal equipment into the 5G WIFI network.

In a second aspect, a method for WIFI communication is provided, where the method is applied to a network device, and the network device supports a 5G WIFI network and a 2.4G WIFI network, and the method includes:

under the condition that a first 2.4G detection request of the 2.4G WIFI network sent by the terminal equipment is received and a first 5G detection request of the 5G WIFI network sent by the terminal equipment is not received, starting a timer;

and if the first 5G detection request is received within the duration of the timer, sending a first 5G detection response aiming at the first 5G detection request to the terminal equipment so as to access the terminal equipment into the 5G WIFI network.

Compared with the scheme that in the prior art, after the network equipment receives the first 2.4G detection request, the network equipment responds to the first 2.4G detection request so as to access the terminal equipment to the 2.4G WIFI network, in the embodiment of the application, the timer for waiting for the first 5G detection request is configured in the network equipment, after the network equipment receives the first 2.4G detection request sent by the terminal equipment, the network equipment does not respond to the first 2.4G detection request, but starts the timer, waits for the first 5G detection request within the duration of the timer, and if the first 5G detection request is received within the duration of the timer, responds to the detection request of the 5G WIFI network, so that the 5G WIFI network can be accessed preferentially, and the user experience is improved.

In any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes:

and if the first 5G detection request is not received within the duration of the timer, sending a first 2.4G detection response aiming at the first 2.4G detection request to the terminal equipment so as to access the terminal equipment into the 2.4G WIFI network.

According to the WIFI communication method provided by the embodiment of the application, after the network equipment receives the first 2.4G detection request sent by the terminal equipment, the network equipment does not respond to the first 2.4G detection request, but starts a timer, waits for the first 5G detection request within the duration of the timer, and if the first 5G detection request is not received within the duration of the timer, sends the first 2.4G detection response to the terminal equipment, so that the 2.4G WIFI network is accessed under the condition that the 5G WIFI network is unfavorable or can not be accessed within a short period of time, and the access of the terminal equipment to the WIFI network is preferentially ensured, so that the Internet surfing requirement of a user is not influenced.

In any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect, the terminal device does not support the 5G WIFI network; or alternatively, the first and second heat exchangers may be,

the terminal equipment supports the 5G WIFI network, and is in communication connection with the network equipment through the 2.4G WIFI network before the terminal equipment sends the first 2.4G detection request to the network equipment.

In any one of possible implementation manners of the second aspect, in a case that the first 5G probe request sent by the terminal device is received and the first 2.4G probe request sent by the terminal device is not received, the timer is not started, and the first 5G probe response is sent to the terminal device, so that the terminal device is accessed into the 5G WIFI network.

In any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect, the first 2.4G probe request and the first 5G probe request are sent by the terminal device in a unicast manner.

In any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect, before the starting the timer, the method further includes:

and sending the 2.4G beacon frame of the 2.4G WIFI network and the 5G beacon frame of the 5G WIFI network to the terminal equipment.

In any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect, the first 2.4G probe request and the first 5G probe request are sent by the terminal device in a broadcast manner; and after said sending a first 5G probe response to said first 5G probe request to said terminal device, the method further comprises:

receiving a second 5G detection request sent by the terminal equipment in a unicast mode;

and sending a second 5G detection response aiming at the second 5G detection request to the terminal equipment so as to access the terminal equipment into the 5G WIFI network.

In any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect, the duration of the timer is less than or equal to 2 seconds.

In a third aspect, a method for WIFI communication is provided and applied to a terminal device, where the terminal device supports a 5G WIFI network and a 2.4G WIFI network, and the method includes:

sending a first 2.4G detection request of the 2.4G WIFI network and a first 5G detection request of the 5G WIFI network to network equipment;

receiving a first 5G detection response sent by the network equipment and aiming at the first 5G detection request;

and accessing the 5G WIFI network.

In any possible implementation manner of the third aspect, before the sending the first 2.4G probe request of the 2.4G WIFI network and the first 5G probe request of the 5G WIFI network to the network device, the method further includes:

And receiving a 2.4G beacon frame of the 2.4G WIFI network and a 5G beacon frame of the 5G WIFI network, which are sent by the network equipment.

In a fourth aspect, a network device is provided, the network device being configured to perform the method provided in the first or second aspect. In particular, the network device may include means for performing any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect or the second aspect.

In a fifth aspect, a terminal device is provided, which is configured to perform the method provided in the third aspect. In particular, the terminal device may comprise means for performing any one of the possible implementations of the third aspect described above.

In a sixth aspect, a network device is provided that includes a processor. The processor is coupled to the memory and operable to execute instructions in the memory to implement the method of any one of the possible implementations of the first or second aspects. Optionally, the network device further comprises a memory. Optionally, the apparatus further comprises a communication interface, the processor being coupled to the communication interface.

In a seventh aspect, a terminal device is provided, comprising a processor. The processor is coupled to the memory and operable to execute instructions in the memory to implement the method of any one of the possible implementations of the third aspect. Optionally, the terminal device further comprises a memory. Optionally, the apparatus further comprises a communication interface, the processor being coupled to the communication interface.

In an eighth aspect, there is provided a computer readable storage medium having stored thereon a computer program which, when executed by an apparatus, causes the apparatus to implement a method as in any one of the possible implementations of the first, second or third aspects.

A ninth aspect provides a computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause an apparatus to carry out the method of any one of the possible implementations of the first, second or third aspects.

In a tenth aspect, there is provided a chip comprising: the device comprises an input interface, an output interface, a processor and a memory, wherein the input interface, the output interface, the processor and the memory are connected through an internal connection path, the processor is used for executing codes in the memory, and when the codes are executed, the processor is used for executing the method in any one of the possible implementation manners of the first aspect, the second aspect or the third aspect.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a wireless communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 2 is a schematic flowchart of a method for accessing a terminal device to a WIFI network according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 3a is an exemplary flowchart of a method for accessing a WIFI network by a terminal device when both the network device and the terminal device support a 2.4G WIFI network and a 5G WIFI network according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 3b is another exemplary flowchart of a method for accessing a WIFI network by a terminal device when both the network device and the terminal device support a 2.4G WIFI network and a 5G WIFI network according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 4 is a schematic flowchart of a method for WIFI communication provided by an embodiment of the application.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a state change in a coverage area of a network device before and after reducing a transmission power of a 2.G WIFI network according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 6a is a schematic flowchart of a procedure of accessing a terminal device to a WIFI network after reducing transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 6b is another schematic flowchart of a procedure of accessing a terminal device to a WIFI network after reducing transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network according to an embodiment of the application.

Fig. 7 is a schematic flowchart of a method for WIFI communication provided by an embodiment of the application.

Fig. 8a is a schematic interaction diagram of a method for WIFI communication provided by an embodiment of the application.

Fig. 8b is another schematic interaction diagram of a method for WIFI communication provided by an embodiment of the application.

Fig. 9 is an exemplary block diagram of a device for WIFI communication provided by an embodiment of the application.

Fig. 10 is a schematic block diagram of a WIFI communication device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical scheme of the application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a schematic architecture diagram of a wireless communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application.

It should be understood that the wireless communication system shown in fig. 1 is only schematically illustrated and should not be construed as limiting embodiments of the present application. For example, more or fewer network devices, terminal devices, etc. may also be included in the wireless communication system.

Referring to fig. 1, the wireless communication system includes a network device 110 and at least one terminal device, for example, the at least one terminal device includes a terminal device 121 (e.g., a mobile phone), a terminal device 122 (e.g., a notebook computer), and a terminal device 123 (e.g., a tablet computer), and the network device 110 is connected to the at least one terminal device through a WIFI network.

The network device and the terminal device can support a WIFI network of at least one frequency band.

For the network device, the network device can support a WIFI network with one frequency band, and the WIFI network can be a 2.4G WIFI network; the network device may also support WIFI networks of multiple frequency bands, for example, the WIFI networks of multiple frequency bands at least include a 2.4G WIFI network and a 5G WIFI network, and may further include WIFI networks of other frequency bands.

For the terminal equipment, the terminal equipment can support a WIFI network with a frequency band, and the WIFI network can be a 2.4G WIFI network; the terminal device may also support WIFI networks of multiple frequency bands, for example, the WIFI networks of multiple frequency bands at least include a 2.4G WIFI network and a 5G WIFI network, and may also include WIFI networks of other frequency bands.

It should be understood that the 2.4G WIFI network indicates that the operating frequency band of the WIFI network is 2.4Ghz, and the bandwidth range is about 2.4Ghz to 2.48Ghz. The 5G WIFI network indicates that the working frequency band of the WIFI network is 5Ghz, and the bandwidth range is about 4.9 Ghz-5.9 Ghz.

When the network device is connected with the plurality of terminal devices, the network device and the plurality of terminal devices can be connected through the WIFI network of the same frequency band, and also can be connected through the WIFI network of different frequency bands. Taking fig. 1 as an example, all 3 terminal devices are connected to the network device 110, and all are connected through a 2.4GWIFI network. For another example, network device 110 is connected to terminal device 121 and terminal device 122 via a 5G WIFI network, and network device 110 is connected to terminal device 123 via a 2.4G WIFI network.

The network device of the embodiment of the application can be called as a wireless Access Point (AP) for providing a WIFI network for the terminal device.

The wireless AP, also called a wireless access point, commonly referred to as a "hot spot" is the most commonly used device for building a small wireless lan. The AP acts as a bridge connecting the wired network and the wireless network, and is mainly used to connect clients of each wireless network together and then access the wireless network to the ethernet. Current wireless APs can be divided into two categories: simplex APs and extended APs.

The simplex AP is only responsible for the access of the wireless terminal, and is equivalent to a wireless switch, and only provides a function of wireless signal transmission. Typical distances of simplex APs cover tens of meters to hundreds of meters, and can be used for long-distance transmission, and the most distant of the APs can reach about 30km at present, and the main technology is the IEEE802.11 series. The simple AP is applied to a large-scale company, a large number of wireless access nodes are needed by the large-scale company to realize large-area network coverage, and all access terminals belong to the same network, so that a company network manager can conveniently and simply realize network control and management.

The extended AP is a wireless router which is commonly called by us, can be understood as a wireless AP with a routing function, is mainly applied to user surfing and wireless coverage, not only has all functions of a simple wireless AP, but also comprises a network address conversion function, and can support network connection sharing of local area network users. Through the routing function, internet connection sharing in the home wireless network can be realized, and wireless sharing access of an asymmetric digital subscriber loop (asymmetric digital subscriber line, ADSL) and a cell broadband can also be realized. In addition, both wireless and wired terminals can be assigned to one subnet through a wireless router, so that various devices within the subnet can exchange data conveniently. Wireless routers are typically used in home and office (SOHO) environment networks, where the coverage area and the user are typically not large and only one wireless AP is needed.

The terminal device of the embodiment of the present application may be referred to as a Station (STA). By way of example, the terminal device may be a variety of WIFI network enabled devices such as a cell phone, smart watch, smart bracelet, tablet, desktop computer, laptop computer, wireless handle, wireless sound box, wireless desk lamp, and the like.

Fig. 2 is a schematic flowchart of a method 200 for accessing a WIFI network by a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Step S210 is a scanning (scanning) procedure, in which the terminal device first needs to discover the network device before connecting to the network device, and it is simply understood that the scanning procedure is a procedure of searching for WIFI networks around the terminal device.

The scanning process can be performed by two scanning modes: active scanning (active scanning) including step S212 and step S213, and passive scanning (passive scanning) including step S211, step S212, and step S213. Hereinafter, the processes of the passive scanning and the active scanning are described in detail, respectively.

1. Passive scanning

In step S211, network device a broadcasts a beacon frame.

Correspondingly, terminal device a listens for beacon frames and buffers the received beacon frames for subsequent retrieval of relevant data of the basic service set (basic service set, BSS) transmitting the beacon frames. It will be appreciated that network device a will broadcast beacon frames on channels supported by network device a and that terminal device a will continually switch between the various channels listed by the channel list (channel list) to listen for beacon frames.

A BSS is a range covered by an AP, is a basic service unit of a wireless network, and is generally composed of an AP and at least one STA, and as shown in fig. 1, a BBS may be composed of one network device (AP) and 3 terminal devices (STAs).

The beacon frame includes a service set identifier (service set identity, SSID) of the WIFI network supported by the network device a, a basic service set identifier (basic serviceSet identifier, BSSID) of the WIFI network supported by the network device a, and other information for joining the BSS.

SSID is understood to be the identity or name of a wireless local area network, and is typically the name of WIFI that is displayed on an interface and searched by a terminal device, for example, airport, china _cmcc, office1, etc. BSSID can be understood as the medium access control (media access control, MAC) address of the WIFI network, also called physical address, for example: 0025.9e45.240.

By way of example, other information for joining the BBS may include information such as time stamp bits (timestamp), supported rates for wireless local area networks (supported rates), frequency hopping parameter set (PH parameter set), direct sequence parameter set (DS parameter set), contention free parameter set (CF parameter set), power constraint (power constraint), channel switch announcement (channel switch announcement), etc. It should be understood that the information for adding the BBS listed herein is only illustrative, and may further include other more information, and specific details may refer to the related art and will not be described again.

In implementation, for terminal device a, a beacon frame broadcast by a plurality of surrounding network devices including network device a is received, and when the wireless network of terminal device a is opened by the user, the network list displays the SSIDs of the plurality of network devices.

In step S212, the terminal device a transmits a probe request.

Illustratively, the probe request may include parameters such as an SSID of a WIFI network supported by the network device a, a BSSID of the WIFI network supported by the network device a, a supported rate (supported rate) of the wireless local area network, an extended supported rate (extended supported rate) of the wireless local area network, and the like.

In an exemplary implementation, the network list of the terminal device a displays SSID of WIFI supported by a plurality of network devices including the network device a, the user wants to access the WIFI network supported by the network device a, clicks a connection option of the WIFI network supported by the network device a, and the terminal device a responds to an operation of the user and sends a probe request.

In step S213, the network device a transmits a probe response.

The probe response may include an SSID of a WIFI network supported by the network device a, a BSSID of the WIFI network supported by the network device a, and other information for joining the BSS, where the other information for joining the BSS may refer to a description related to other information for joining the BBS carried in the beacon frame, which is not described herein.

After receiving the probe response, the terminal device a can determine that the terminal device a has successfully scanned the wireless local area network supported by the network device a.

2. Active scanning

The active scanning may have two scanning modes, an active scanning mode a and an active scanning mode B, which are described below.

Active scanning mode A

The active scanning mode A is suitable for a scene that the terminal equipment A is connected with the network equipment A for the first time.

In the active scanning mode a, step S211 is not included, step S212 and step S213 are included, and the scanning process may further include the following steps before step S212: the terminal equipment A broadcasts a detection request A to search surrounding available APs, wherein the detection request A does not comprise a specific SSID and BSSID; all network devices, including network device a, that receive probe request a typically respond to probe request a by sending probe response a for probe request a to terminal device a, where each network device's probe response a includes the SSID and BSSID of the WIFI network supported by that network device, and for network device a, network device a's probe response a includes the SSID and BSSID of the WIFI network supported by network device a. Further, in step S212, the network list of the terminal device a displays SSID including WIFI supported by a plurality of network devices including the network device a, the user clicks on a connection option of the WIFI network supported by the network device a, the terminal device a sends a probe request to the network device a by unicast in response to the user operation, and in step S213, the network device a sends a probe response to the terminal device a.

Active scanning mode B

The active scanning mode B is generally applicable to a scenario in which a user manually inputs an SSID on the terminal equipment a.

The active scanning method B does not include step S211, but includes step S212 and step S213. In step S212, the user manually inputs the SSID of the WIFI network supported by the network device a on the terminal device a, and the terminal device a broadcasts a probe request including the SSID but not the BSSID. In step S213, there are multiple network devices that receive the probe request, but since only the SSID of the WIFI network supported by the network device a is in the probe request, only the network device a will respond to the probe request, that is, the network device a sends a probe response for the probe request to the terminal device a, where the probe response includes the SSID and BSSID of the WIFI network supported by the network device a.

Step S220 is an authentication process for authenticating that a valid 802.11 device is between the devices that are to establish a connection. There are two authentication methods in the current authentication method: open system authentication and shared key authentication.

In the open system authentication method, the terminal device a sends an authentication request to the network device a for requesting authentication of the identity of the terminal device a, and the network device a sends an authentication response to the terminal device a to indicate that the authentication of the terminal device a is passed.

In the shared key authentication manner, the terminal device a sends an authentication request to the network device a for requesting authentication of the identity of the terminal device a; the network equipment A sends the plain text challenge information to the terminal equipment A through a first authentication response; the terminal equipment A encrypts the challenge information in the plaintext form and sends the encrypted challenge information to the network equipment A through a second authentication response; the network device a decrypts the encrypted challenge information in the second authentication response sent by the terminal device a, compares the encrypted challenge information with the plain text challenge information, if the decrypted challenge information is matched with the plain text challenge information, the network device a sends a third authentication response to the terminal device a to indicate authentication success, and if the decrypted challenge information is matched with the plain text challenge information, or the network device a cannot decrypt the challenge information, the network device a sends the third authentication response to indicate authentication failure.

The authentication process described above is only schematically illustrated, and specific description of the authentication process may refer to related description of the related art, and will not be repeated.

Step S230 is an association procedure in which terminal device a transmits an association request (associate request) to network device a to request joining the BSS, and network device a transmits an association response (associate response) to terminal device a to instruct permission or rejection of terminal device a to join the BSS.

Illustratively, the association request includes information of an SSID of a wireless local area network supported by the network device a, a BSSID of the network device a, a supported rate of the wireless local area network, and the like.

In the above-mentioned WIFI network access process, if one network device (for example, network device a) supports WIFI networks of multiple frequency bands, WIFI networks of different frequency bands may be distinguished by different SSID and BSSID. For example, the network device a supports a 2.4G WIFI network and a 5G WIFI network, an SSID and a BSSID of the 2.4G WIFI network may be SSID1 and BSSID1, respectively, and an SSID and a BSSID of the 5G WIFI network may be SSID2 and BSSID2, respectively.

In an implementation, multiple virtual network devices may be virtualized by a physical network device, where each virtual network device and the physical network device may perform the same function, each virtualized network device may be referred to as a virtual access point (virtual access point, VAP), and different VAPs may be configured with different SSIDs and BSSIDs. For the scenario that the same network device supports the WIFI networks of multiple frequency bands, the network device of one physical entity can virtualize multiple VAPs, and the WIFI network of one frequency band corresponds to at least one VAP. For example, in a home environment, a master VAP used by a family member and a guest VAP used by a guest may be WIFI networks in the same frequency band, where BSSDIs of the master VAP and the guest VAP are different.

Fig. 3a is an exemplary flowchart of a method 300 for accessing a WIFI network by a terminal device when both the network device and the terminal device support a 2.4G WIFI network and a 5G WIFI network according to an embodiment of the present application. Fig. 3b is another exemplary flowchart of a method 300 for accessing a WIFI network by a terminal device when both the network device and the terminal device support a 2.4G WIFI network and a 5G WIFI network according to an embodiment of the present application.

In the method 300, both the network device a and the terminal device a support the 2.4G WIFI network and the 5G WIFI network, and in most cases, the terminal device a scans the 2.4G WIFI network preferentially, and accesses the 2.4G WIFI network preferentially.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 3a, the terminal device accesses the WIFI network by a passive scanning method.

In step S311a, the network device a transmits a beacon frame of the 2.4G WIFI network (abbreviated as 2.4G beacon frame), and in step S311b, the network device a transmits a beacon frame of the 5G WIFI network (abbreviated as 5G beacon frame). It should be understood that the step S311a and the step S311b may be performed simultaneously, the step S311a may be performed first and then the step S311b may be performed first and then the step S311a may be performed after the step S311b, however, even if the step S311 and the step S311b are performed sequentially, the time interval therebetween is short.

And after receiving the 2.4G beacon frame and the 5G beacon frame, the terminal equipment A sends a detection request according to the signal intensity, namely, sends a detection request of the WIFI network with good signal intensity. In step S312a, since the signal strength of the 2.4G WIFI network is greater than the signal strength of the 5G WIFI network, the terminal device a preferentially transmits the 2.4G probe request.

For the network device a, the 2.4G probe request is preferentially received, so in step S313, the network device a preferentially sends a 2.4G probe response to the terminal device a, which means that the terminal device a preferentially scans the 2.4G WIFI network, and then accesses the 2.4G WIFI network through steps S320 and S330.

Optionally, in order to avoid that the network device a cannot respond to the 2.4G probe request due to the occurrence of an accident on the network, in step S312b, the terminal device a may further send a 5G probe request after sending the 2.4G probe request, so that the terminal device a can also respond to the 5G probe request after the network device a cannot respond to the 2.4G probe request, thereby ensuring that the terminal device a accesses the WIFI network as much as possible.

In an example, if the network device a has normally sent out a 2.4G probe response, the 5G probe response may not be responded to after receiving the 5G probe request. In another example, if the network device a has normally sent out a 2.4G probe response, the network device a may also respond to the 5G probe response after receiving the 5G probe request, and if the terminal device a receives the 2.4G probe response and subsequently also receives the 5G probe response, the subsequently received 5G probe request may be ignored.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 3b, the terminal device accesses the WIFI network through an active scanning manner. It should be appreciated that the active scanning mode may be the active scanning mode a or the main scanning mode B above.

In step S314a and step S315a, terminal device a transmits a 2.4G probe request and a 5G probe request, respectively.

In the active scanning mode a, the 2.4G probe request and the 5G probe request are both probe requests sent by the terminal device to the network device through a unicast mode, and in the active scanning mode B, the 2.4G probe request and the 5G probe request are both probe requests sent by the terminal device to the network device through a broadcast mode, and the detailed description can refer to the related description above and will not be repeated.

After receiving the 2.4G probe request and the 5G probe request, the network device a sends a probe response according to the signal strength, that is, sends a probe response of the WIFI network with good signal strength. In step S315, when the signal strength of the 2.4G WIFI network is greater than the signal strength of the 5G WIFI network, the network device a sends a 2.4G probe response, which means that the terminal device a scans the 2.4G WIFI network preferentially, and then accesses the 2.4G WIFI network through steps S320 and S330.

In summary, it can be seen that, in general, the terminal device will access the 2.4G WIFI network with good signal strength preferentially, and not access the 5G WIFI network. However, the theoretical negotiation rate of the 2.4G WIFI network is low, and the interference is serious, so the actual available rate of the 2.4G WIFI network is low, and the user experience is poor. For a 5G WIFI network, even if the signal strength of the 5G WIFI network is extremely weak or even about to be disconnected, the rate of the 5G WIFI network is generally greater than the rate of the 2.4G WIFI network at the location, so long-term use of the 2.4G WIFI network for communication results in poor user experience.

Based on the above, the embodiment of the application provides a WIFI communication method, a device and network equipment, and the network equipment can enable the terminal equipment to access to a 5G WIFI network preferentially as much as possible by executing the related method so as to improve user experience.

In the embodiment of the application, the technical scheme is mainly provided from two aspects to achieve the aim.

In a first aspect, a network device obtains signal strengths of all terminal devices connected to the network device through a 2.4G WIFI network within a period of time, and reduces transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network when the signal strengths of the terminal devices are stronger. In this way, in the coverage area of the network device, the signal intensity of the 5G WIFI network in as many coverage areas as possible is greater than the signal intensity of the 2.4G WIFI network, so that the terminal device located in the coverage area accesses the 5G WIFI network preferentially.

In a second aspect, after receiving a probe request of a 2.4G WIFI network sent by a terminal device, the network device temporarily does not respond to the probe request of the 2.4G WIFI network, waits for a period of time, and if the probe request of the 5G WIFI network is received within a preset period of time, responds to the probe request of the 5G WIFI network, thereby accessing the terminal device to the 5G WIFI network.

It should be noted that, the embodiment of the present application is described with WIFI networks of two frequency bands, namely 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz, and should not limit this configuration, and the embodiment of the present application may also be extended to WIFI networks of any two different frequency bands.

The following describes the contents of the first aspect in detail with reference to fig. 4 to 6b, and the contents of the second aspect in detail with reference to fig. 7 and 8 b.

Fig. 4 is a schematic flowchart of a method 400 for WIFI communication provided by an embodiment of the application.

The method 400 may be implemented by a network device, or may be implemented by a processor or a chip in the network device, where the method 400 is described by taking the network device as an example for convenience of description. The network equipment supports a 2.4G WIFI network and a 5G WIFI network.

In step S410, the network device obtains first signal information of M terminal devices connected to the network device through a 2.4G WIFI network in a first period, where the first signal information is used to indicate signal strengths of the M terminal devices in the first period, and M is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

M terminal devices represent terminal devices connected with the network device through the 2.4G WIFI network in the first period, and can be terminal devices connected with the network device through the 2.4G WIFI network in the first period all the time, or terminal devices connected with the network device through the 2.4G WIFI network in a certain duration in the first period, and the M terminal devices are not limited in any way.

In addition, the M terminal devices may include terminal devices stably connected to the network device, or may include terminal devices unstably connected to the network device, which is not limited herein. For an unstable connection of the terminal device, it should be understood that the network device obtains the signal strength before the terminal device goes offline.

In an example, the M terminal devices include a terminal device stably connected to the network device and a terminal device unstably connected.

In another example, the M terminal devices include only terminal devices that are stably connected to the network device.

Stable connection indicates that the terminal equipment is not frequently on-line and off-line and the change of signal intensity is smaller. In general, a stably connected terminal device may be used to characterize a device that is substantially unchanged in location.

Unstable connection indicates that the terminal equipment is more frequently brought on-line and off-line. In general, the terminal equipment with unstable connection can be used for representing the equipment such as a mobile phone, a tablet and the like with lower system version and the equipment with frequent position change; furthermore, most of the unstable connected terminal devices only support 2.4G WIFI networks.

In implementation, for example, in the first period, the network device may periodically collect signal strengths of terminal devices connected to the network device through the 2.4G WIFI network according to the first period, so as to finally obtain first signal information of M terminal devices in the first period.

It should be understood that the first duration is a duration of one period in which the network device collects signal strength, that is, the network device collects signal strength of all terminal devices connected to the network device through the 2.4G WIFI network once every first duration. Further, the duration of the first period is an integer multiple of the first duration, for example, the first duration is 10 minutes and the duration of the first period is 24 hours.

Due to the instability of connection of each terminal device and the different time of access of each terminal device to the 2.4G WIFI network, the network device may collect signal strengths of different terminal devices in different periods of the first period. For example, in the 1 st period of the first period, there are 2 terminal devices (terminal device 1 and terminal device 2) connected to the network device through a 2.4G WIFI network, the signal strengths of the 2 terminal devices may be collected at the end time of the 1 st period, in the 2 nd period, there are 3 terminal devices (terminal device 1, terminal device 2 and terminal device 3) connected to the network device through a 2.4G WIFI network, and the signal strengths of the 3 terminal devices may be collected at the end time of the 2 nd period. The acquisition of the signal strength of the terminal device 3 is increased in the 2 nd period compared to the acquisition of the signal strengths of the terminal device 1 and the terminal device 2 in the 1 st period.

Note that the first signal information indicates all signal strengths of the M terminal devices in the first period, including all signal strengths of each terminal device in the first period. Furthermore, all signal strengths of each terminal device in the first period include at least one signal strength, and the number of all signal strengths of the respective terminal devices in the first period may be the same or different. Assuming that there are 10 periods for collecting signal intensities in the first period, the terminal device 1 is stably connected with the network device all the time, then the number of signal intensities of the terminal device 1 acquired in the first period is the maximum and is 10, the terminal device 2 accesses the 2.4G WIFI network in the 2 nd period, then the number of signal intensities of the terminal device 2 acquired in the first period is the maximum and is 8, and if the terminal device 2 has a disconnection condition in some subsequent periods, then the number of signal intensities of the terminal device 2 acquired in the first period is less than 8.

It should be understood that the signal strength of the terminal device obtained by the network device indicates the signal strength of the signal received by the network device from the terminal device, and the signal strength of the signal received by the network device from the terminal device is proportional to the signal strength of the signal received by the terminal device from the network device, and both the signal strength of the signal received by the network device and the signal strength of the signal received by the terminal device are both characterized by the signal strength of the current WIFI network. In general, the signal strength of the signal received by the network device from the terminal device is substantially the same as the signal strength of the signal received by the terminal device from the network device, and in the through-wall mode, the signal strength of the signal received by the network device from the terminal device is slightly greater than the signal strength of the signal received by the terminal device from the network device.

In step S420, the network device reduces the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network from the first transmission power to the second transmission power in case at least part of the signal strengths of the M terminal devices in the first period of time is greater than the first strength threshold.

It should be understood that the first transmission power is the transmission power before the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network is reduced, and the second transmission power is the transmission power after the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network is reduced.

In the embodiment of the application, under the condition that at least part of signal strength does not meet the condition that the signal strength is larger than the first strength threshold, the network equipment does not reduce the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network, namely, the network equipment continues to transmit signals by adopting the first transmission power.

The first intensity threshold is used for judging the good and poor of the signal intensity, the signal intensity is larger than the first intensity threshold and indicates that the signal intensity is good, and the signal intensity is smaller than the first intensity threshold and indicates that the signal intensity is poor. It will be appreciated that at least some of the signal strengths are greater than the first strength threshold, meaning that each of the at least some signal strengths are greater than the first strength threshold.

In an embodiment of the application, at least part of the signal strength comprises the full signal strength and part of the signal strength.

In some embodiments, at least a portion of the signal strengths are part of the signal strengths of the M terminal devices within the first period.

Illustratively, a probability value may be used to define a portion of the signal strengths of the M terminal devices within the first period, the probability value being less than 1. Assuming that the probability value is 80%, the signal strength of 80% of the signal strengths of the M terminal devices in the first period is determined as the partial signal strength. For example, the probability value is 80%, m=3, and the number of signal intensities of the 3 acquired terminal devices in the first period is 10, so long as 10×80+=8 signal intensities are greater than the first intensity threshold, the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network can be reduced.

By judging that part of signal intensities of M terminal devices in the signal intensity in the first period is larger than a first intensity threshold value, the transmitting power of the 2.4G WIFI network is reduced, the condition of unstable signal intensity caused by the fault of the device or other small probability events can be avoided as much as possible, and the fault tolerance mechanism of the system is improved.

In other embodiments, at least a portion of the signal strengths are all of the signal strengths of the M terminal devices within the first period.

By determining that all signal intensities of the M terminal devices in the signal intensities in the first period are greater than the first intensity threshold, the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network is reduced, so that the influence of reducing the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network on the 2.4G service can be reduced to the minimum extent, and the stability of communication is improved as a whole.

In this step, if at least part of the signal intensities of the M terminal devices in the first period is greater than the first intensity threshold, this means that the signal intensity of the current 2.4G WIFI network is better, and there is basically enough capacity to transmit the service of the 2.4G WIFI network (abbreviated as 2.4G service), so that the transmit power of the 2.4G WIFI network is properly reduced, and no significant influence is caused on the 2.4G WIFI network. It should be understood that, when the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network is reduced, the signal strength of the signal of the 2.4G WIFI network received by the terminal device or the network device is also reduced.

As mentioned above, because the 5G WIFI network is easier to attenuate, in many cases, the signal of the 2.4G WIFI network at the same location is stronger, and the terminal device generally accesses the 2.4G WIFI network with good signal strength preferentially, and does not access the 5G WIFI network any more, so as to affect the user experience. However, after the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network is reduced, in the coverage area of the network device, the signal strength of the 5G WIFI network with as many coverage areas as possible will be greater than the signal strength of the 2.4G WIFI network, so that in the coverage area where the signal strength of the 5G WIFI network is greater than the signal strength of the 2.4G WIFI network, the terminal device may preferentially scan the 5G WIFI network to access the 5G WIFI network.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a state change in a coverage area of a network device before and after reducing a transmission power of a 2.G WIFI network according to an embodiment of the present application. From top to bottom, the first diagram in fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of signal strength and terminal equipment in the coverage area of the network device before the 2.G WIFI network is reduced, and the second diagram in fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of signal strength and terminal equipment in the coverage area of the network device after the 2.G WIFI network is reduced.

In the first diagram in fig. 5, the area 502 is all coverage areas of the network device 510, the area 501 is a partial coverage area of the network device 510, and in the area 501, the signal strength of the 2.4G WIFI network is greater than that of the 5G WIFI network, and the network device 510 is connected to the terminal device 521 and the terminal device 522 through the 2.4G WIFI network. The network device 510 obtains the signal strengths of the terminal device 521 and the terminal device 522 within a period of time, and discovers that the signal strengths are better, so that the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network is reduced. In the second diagram in fig. 5, the signal strength in the area 501 is changed, the signal strength of the 5G WIFI network is greater than the signal strength of the 2.4G WIFI network, and the terminal device 521 and the terminal device 522 may keep the communication connection with the network device 510 continuously for the 2.4G WIFI network, however, the terminal device 523 located in the area 501 wants to access the WIFI network, and because the signal strength of the 5G WIFI network in the area 501 is greater than the signal strength of the 2.4G WIFI network, the terminal device 523 preferentially accesses the 5G WIFI network, and is in communication connection with the network device through the 5G WIFI network.

It should be understood that, for a terminal device that has been connected to the network device through the 2.4G WIFI network before the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network is reduced (i.e., the network device uses the first transmission power to transmit a signal), after the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network is reduced (i.e., the network device uses the second transmission power to transmit a signal), if the signal strength of the 5G WIFI network in the area where the terminal device is located is greater than the signal strength of the 2.4G WIFI network, in an example, the terminal device may continue to maintain the previous connection of the 2.4G WIFI network, such as the terminal device 521 and the terminal device 522 in fig. 5, and in another example, the terminal device may also switch from the 2.4G WIFI network to the 5G WIFI network.

Fig. 6a is a schematic flowchart of a procedure of accessing a terminal device to a WIFI network after reducing transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network according to an embodiment of the present application. Fig. 6b is another schematic flowchart of a procedure of accessing a terminal device to a WIFI network after reducing transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network according to an embodiment of the application.

It should be understood that, after the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network is reduced, in the area where the terminal device a is located, the signal strength of the 5G WIFI network is greater than the signal strength of the 2.4G WIFI network, and the terminal device a may be the terminal device 523 in fig. 5.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 6a, the terminal device a accesses the 5G WIFI network by means of passive scanning. In step S431a and step S431b, the network device transmits a 2.4G beacon frame and a 5G beacon frame, respectively. It should be understood that the step S431a and the step S431b may be performed simultaneously, the step S431a may be performed first and then the step S431b may be performed first and then the step S431a may be performed after the step S431b is performed, however, even if the step S431 and the step S431b are performed sequentially, the time interval therebetween is short.

And after receiving the 2.4G beacon frame and the 5G beacon frame, the terminal equipment A sends a detection request according to the signal intensity, namely, sends a detection request of the WIFI network with good signal intensity. In step S441a, since the signal strength of the 5G WIFI network is greater than the signal strength of the 2.4G WIFI network, the terminal device a preferentially transmits the 5G probe request.

For the network device, the 5G probe request is preferentially received, so in step S450, the network device preferentially sends a 5G probe response to the terminal device a, which means that the terminal device a preferentially scans the 5G WIFI network, and then accesses the 5G WIFI network through steps S460 and S470.

Optionally, in order to avoid that the network device a cannot respond to the 5G probe request due to the occurrence of an accident on the network, in step S441b, the terminal device a may further send a 2.4G probe request after sending the 5G probe request, so that the network device may also respond to the 2.4G probe request after failing to respond to the 5G probe request, thereby ensuring that the terminal device a accesses the WIFI network as much as possible.

In an example, if the network device has normally sent out the 5G probe response, the 2.4G probe response may not be responded to after the 2.4G probe request is received. In another example, if the network device has normally sent out a 5G probe response, a 2.4G probe response may also be responded after receiving the 2.4G probe request, and if the terminal device a receives the 5G probe response and subsequently also receives the 2.4G probe response, the subsequently received 2.4G probe request may be ignored.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 6b, the terminal device accesses the WIFI network by means of active scanning.

In step S442a and step S442a, the terminal device a transmits a 5G probe request and a 2.4G probe request, respectively.

It should be understood that the step S442a and the step S442b may be performed simultaneously, the step S442a may be performed first and then the step S442b may be performed, or the step S442b may be performed first and then the step S442a may be performed, however, even if the step S442a and the step S442b are performed sequentially, the time interval therebetween is short.

After receiving the 2.4G probe request and the 5G probe request, the network equipment sends the probe request according to the signal strength, namely sends the probe request of the WIFI network with good signal strength. In step S450, if the signal strength of the 5G WIFI network is greater than the signal strength of the 2.4G WIFI network, the network device sends a 5G probe response, which means that the terminal device a scans the 5G WIFI network preferentially, and then accesses the 5G WIFI network through step S460 and step S470.

Because the network is dynamically changed, the terminal devices in different periods access the WIFI network in different situations, in implementation, the network device may execute the method 400 at intervals to determine whether to reduce the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network.

According to the WIFI communication method provided by the embodiment of the application, the network equipment acquires the signal intensities of M terminal equipment connected with the network equipment through the 2.4G WIFI network in the first period, and under the condition that at least part of the signal intensities of the M terminal equipment in the first period are larger than the first intensity threshold, the signal intensities of the current 2.4G WIFI network are better overall, so that the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network is reduced, the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network is reduced from the first transmission power to the second transmission power, and under the condition that the larger influence on the 2.4G WIFI network is avoided as much as possible, the signal intensities of 5G WIFI networks in coverage areas are larger than the signal intensities of the 2.4G WIFI network, so that in the area that the signal intensities of the 5G WIFI network are larger than the signal intensities of the 2.4G WIFI network, the terminal equipment can scan the 5G WIFI network preferentially, and access to the 5G WIFI network, so that the user experience is improved.

In step S420, the network device may reduce the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network in the following two ways (mode 1 and mode 2).

Mode 1

In some embodiments, the network device determines a signal strength with the worst signal strength among at least part of signal strengths of the M terminal devices in the first period as a target signal strength; the network equipment determines an adjustment range of the transmitting power of the 2.4G WIFI network according to the intensity difference value between the target signal intensity and a second intensity threshold value, wherein the second intensity threshold value is smaller than the first intensity threshold value; within the adjustment amplitude, the network device reduces the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network from the first transmission power to the second transmission power.

Wherein the signal strength with the worst signal strength is the signal strength with the smallest value in at least part of the signal strengths.

The second intensity threshold may be understood as the lowest value of the signal intensity at which normal communication is possible, and is smaller than the first intensity threshold used for judging that the signal intensity is good. For example, the second intensity threshold is-70 dBm and the first intensity threshold is-50 dBm.

In the implementation, the power change value of the transmitting power and the intensity change value of the signal intensity are in a direct proportion relation, namely, the power change value is large, the intensity change value is large, the power change value is small, and the intensity change value is small. If the power and signal strength are the same, e.g., dB or dBm, the power change value and the strength change value may be the same, and a power change value can be obtained by using an strength change value, e.g., 8dB for the strength change value and 8dB for the power change value. In this embodiment, the network device determines an intensity difference between the target signal intensity and the second intensity threshold, where the intensity difference may be understood as an intensity variation value, and determines an adjustment amplitude of the transmit power by the intensity difference, where the adjustment amplitude is a power variation value, for example, the intensity difference is 20dB, and the adjustment amplitude is also 20dB.

In the process of adjusting the transmission power, the network device reduces the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network within the adjustment range, and adjusts the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network from the first transmission power to the second transmission power. That is, the power variation value between the first transmission power and the second transmission power is within the adjustment amplitude, that is, the power variation value between the first transmission power and the second transmission power is less than or equal to the adjustment amplitude, for example, the adjustment amplitude is 20dB, and the power variation value between the first transmission power and the second transmission power is less than or equal to 20dB.

In this embodiment, since the target signal strength is the signal strength of at least a part of signal strengths of the M terminal devices in the first period, and the second strength threshold is the lowest value used for representing the signal strength capable of normal communication, the adjustment amplitude of the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network is determined by the strength difference between the target signal strength and the second strength threshold, and the adjustment amplitude may represent the maximum value capable of adjusting the transmission power, so that the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network is reduced in the adjustment amplitude, the power variation value of the transmission power is not too large, the signal strength of the adjusted 2.4G WIFI network is not very poor, but the influence on the 2.4G WIFI network is not large in the range capable of normal communication, and meanwhile, the signal strength of the 5G WIFI network in more coverage areas is greater than the signal strength of the 2.4G WIFI network, so that the terminal devices access the 5G WIFI network preferentially, and the user experience is improved. In a word, the transmitting power of the 2.4G WIFI network is reduced within the adjustment range, and normal communication of the 2.4G WIFI network and preferential access of the 5G WIFI network can be better considered.

Since the network is dynamically changed, even if the transmission power is reduced within the adjustment range, the normal communication of the 2.4G WIFI network may be greatly affected if the power change value between the first transmission power and the second transmission power is too large. Thus, in some embodiments, the power change value between the first transmit power and the second transmit power is less than the adjustment amplitude.

In an exemplary implementation, the power change value between the first transmit power and the second transmit power may be a product of the adjustment amplitude and a first coefficient, the first coefficient being less than 1. The first coefficient may be a preset value, for example. For example, the adjustment amplitude is 30, the first coefficient is 0.5, and the power variation value between the first transmission power and the second transmission power is 15.

When the transmitting power of the 2.4G WIFI network is reduced in the adjusting amplitude, the power change value between the first transmitting power and the second transmitting power is smaller than the adjusting amplitude, namely only a part of the adjusting amplitude is reduced, and a part of the allowance of the adjusting amplitude is reserved, so that dynamic changes of the network due to various anomalies can be better dealt with, the signal intensity of the adjusted 2.4G WIFI network is better kept not very bad, and the influence on the 2.4G WIFI network is further reduced.

In the embodiment of the application, the network equipment can gradually reduce the transmitting power of the 2.4G WIFI network according to the gradient. When the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network is reduced for the first time, the power change value is smaller than the adjustment amplitude, the power change value can be set to be larger, after a period of time, the embodiment of the application is continuously executed, whether the signal strength of the next 2.4G WIFI network is good is checked, and whether the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network can be continuously reduced is determined according to the signal strength. And under the condition that the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network can be reduced, the power change value can be set smaller, and under the condition that the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network cannot be reduced, the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network is not reduced.

Mode 2

In some embodiments, a power threshold may be set for the 2.4G WIFI network, which may represent a lowest value of transmit power of the 2.4G WIFI network. The adjustment amplitude is the difference between the second transmission power and the power threshold value of the reduced 2.4G WIFI network, and the power change value between the first transmission power and the second transmission power is smaller than or equal to the adjustment amplitude, namely, the second transmission power is larger than or equal to the power threshold value.

In an example, the power change value between the first transmit power and the second transmit power is less than the adjustment amplitude, i.e., the second transmit power is greater than the power threshold. Therefore, dynamic changes caused by various anomalies of the network can be well dealt with, and the signal strength of the adjusted 2.4G WIFI network is not very poor, so that the influence on the 2.4G WIFI network is further reduced.

In another example, the power change value between the first transmit power and the second transmit power is equal to the adjustment amplitude.

Similarly, the network device may gradually decrease the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network according to a gradient, and the specific description may refer to the related description of the mode 1, which is not repeated.

It should be noted that, in the case where the method 400 is performed multiple times to reduce the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network, the first transmission power and the second transmission power may be the transmission power before and after any reduction of the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network. For example, in the course of decreasing the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network in both of the two consecutive execution methods 400, the first transmission power may be the transmission power before the first execution of the method 400, the second transmission power may be the transmission power after the first execution of the method 400, or the first transmission power may be the transmission power before the second execution of the method 400, the second transmission power may be the transmission power after the second execution of the method 400, wherein the transmission power before the second execution of the method 400 is the decreased transmission power after the first execution of the method 400.

After the network device reduces the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network from the first transmission power to the second transmission power, the network device continues to acquire the signal strength of the terminal device in the next period of time to determine whether to continue to reduce the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network.

Specifically, the network device acquires second signal information of N terminal devices connected with the network device through a 2.4G WIFI network in a second period, wherein the second signal information is used for indicating signal intensity of the N terminal devices in the second period;

and the network equipment determines whether to continuously reduce the transmitting power of the 2.4G WIFI network according to the signal intensity of the N terminal equipment in the second period and the first intensity threshold.

It is understood that the second period is a period in which the signal strength of the terminal device is acquired for the first time after the first period.

The N terminal devices are terminal devices connected to the network device through the 2.4G WIFI network in the second period, may be terminal devices connected to the network device through the 2.4G WIFI network in the second period all the time, or may be terminal devices connected to the network device through the 2.4G WIFI network in a certain period in the second period, and are not limited in any way; in addition, the N terminal devices may include terminal devices stably connected to the network device, or may include terminal devices unstably connected to the network device, which is not limited herein. For the specific explanation about the N terminal devices, reference may be made to the above explanation about the M terminal devices, which is not repeated.

In the process that the network device determines whether to continuously reduce the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network according to the signal strengths of the N terminal devices in the second period and the first strength threshold, the following situation may exist.

In an example, the network device may continue to reduce the transmit power of the 2.4G WIFI network if at least some of the N terminal devices' signal strengths during the second period are greater than the first strength threshold. The process of the network device for reducing the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network may refer to the related description above, and will not be repeated.

At least part of the signal strengths include all signal strengths and part of the signal strengths, wherein all signal strengths are all signal strengths of the N terminal devices in the second period, and part of the signal strengths are part of the signal strengths of the N terminal devices in the second period, and specific explanation about part of the signal strengths may be referred to above about explanation about part of the signal strengths of the M terminal devices in the first period, which is not repeated.

In another example, the network device no longer reduces the transmit power of the 2.4G WIFI network if at least some of the signal strengths of the N terminal devices during the second period are less than greater than the first strength threshold.

In this example, since at least a portion of the signal strength is less than the first strength threshold, indicating that the at least a portion of the signal strength is poor, the transmit power of the 2.4G WIFI network may be increased, for example, appropriately, i.e., from the second transmit power to a third transmit power, where the third transmit power is less than the first transmit power.

In this way, the network device can dynamically adjust the transmitting power of the 2.4G WIFI network in real time according to the condition of the signal intensity so as to keep the stability of the 2.4G WIFI network as long as possible, and meanwhile, the transmitting power of the 2.4G WIFI network can be reduced to a certain extent, so that the terminal device can be accessed to the 5G WIFI network as far as possible, and the user experience can be improved.

In the embodiment of the application, after the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network is reduced, in order to facilitate the detection of the signal strength after the reduction of the transmission power as soon as possible, the duration of the network device for obtaining the signal strength of the terminal device in the second period may be set to be shorter, that is, the duration of the second period is smaller than the duration of the first period.

For example, the duration of the first period is 24 hours and the duration of the second period may be 3 hours.

According to the WIFI communication method provided by the embodiment of the application, the network equipment can acquire the signal intensity of the terminal equipment connected with the network equipment at intervals to determine whether to reduce the signal intensity of the 2.4G WIFI network according to the signal intensity, after the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network is reduced from the first transmission power to the second transmission power according to the signal intensity of M terminal equipment in the first period, the network equipment can determine whether to continuously reduce the signal intensity of the 2.4G WIFI network according to the signal intensity of N terminal equipment in the second period after the acquired first period, and the signal intensity of the 2.4G WIFI network after the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network is reduced can be detected faster by setting the duration of the second period to be smaller than the duration of the first period so that the network equipment can make adjustment in time.

As described above, in the first period, the network device periodically acquires the signal strength of the terminal device connected to the network device through the 2.4G WIFI network according to the first period to acquire the first signal information, and then the process of the network device acquiring the second signal information of the N terminal devices connected to the network device through the 2.4G WIFI network in the second period may be as follows:

and in a second period, the network equipment periodically acquires the signal intensity of the terminal equipment connected with the network equipment through the 2.4G WIFI network according to a second duration so as to acquire second signal information, wherein the second duration is smaller than the first duration.

For example, the first duration may be 10 minutes and the second duration may be 5 minutes.

It should be understood that the second duration is a duration of one period in which the network device collects the signal strength, that is, the network device collects the signal strength of the terminal device once every second duration. Further, the duration of the second period is an integer multiple of the second duration, for example, the second duration is 5 minutes and the duration of the second period is 3 hours.

The foregoing describes the first aspect of the embodiment of the present application in detail, and the following describes the second aspect of the embodiment of the present application in detail.

Fig. 7 is a schematic flowchart of a method 500 for WIFI communication provided by an embodiment of the application.

In step S520, the network device starts a timer when the first 2.4G probe request of the 2.4G WIFI network sent by the terminal device is received and the first 5G probe request of the 5G WIFI network is not received.

In an implementation, the terminal device sends a first 2.4G probe request on an operating frequency band of 2.4Ghz, and the network device receives the first 2.4G probe request on the operating frequency band of 2.4 Ghz.

The first 2.4G probe request may be a probe request sent by a terminal device in an active scanning mode through a broadcast mode or a terminal device in a passive scanning mode through a unicast mode, for example.

If the first 2.4G probe request is sent by the terminal device in the active scanning mode through a broadcast mode, in the active scanning mode a, the first 2.4G probe request does not include a specific SSID and BSSID; in the active scanning mode B, the first 2.4G probe request includes an SSID of a 2.4G WIFI network supported by the network device. For specific details, reference is made to the above description and related art, and no further description is given.

If the first 2.4G probe request is sent by the terminal device in the passive scanning manner through the unicast manner, the first 2.4G probe request includes parameters such as SSID, BSSID, supported rate (supported rate), extended supported rate (extended supported rate) of the 2.4G WIFI network supported by the network device, and the specific content may refer to the above and description of related technologies, which will not be repeated.

In the case that the network device receives the first 2.4G probe request and does not receive the first 5G probe request, the network device starts a timer, and in the duration of the timer, the network device does not respond to the first 2.4G probe response for the first 2.4G probe request temporarily, but waits for a period of time, and waits for whether the first 5G probe request sent by the terminal device is received or not.

The duration of the timer can be any predefined value, however, if the duration is too long, the response speed is affected, so that the user experience is poor, and if the duration is too short, the terminal equipment is not beneficial to accessing the 5G WIFI network preferentially. Therefore, the duration of the timer should be set appropriately, so that the terminal device accesses the 5G WIFI network preferentially under the condition that the response speed is not affected as much as possible and the condition is satisfied.

Illustratively, the timer has a duration of less than or equal to 2 seconds.

In step S541, if the first 5G probe request is received within the duration of the timer, the network device sends a first 5G probe response for the first 5G probe request to the terminal device, so as to access the terminal device to the 5G WIFI network.

Correspondingly, the terminal equipment receives the first 5G detection response so as to access to the 5G WIFI network.

In implementation, the network device sends a first 5G probe response to the terminal device in an operating frequency band of 5Ghz, and the terminal device receives the first 5G probe response in the operating frequency band of 5 Ghz.

It may be appreciated that, before step S541, the terminal device transmits a first 5G probe request to the network device, and the network device receives the first 5G probe request. In implementation, the terminal device sends a first 5G probe request on an operating frequency band of 5Ghz, and the network device receives the first 5G probe request on the operating frequency band of 5 Ghz.

It should be understood that the first 5G probe request is received within the duration of the timer, and may be received before or at the end time of the timer, which is not limited in any way by the embodiments of the present application.

In addition, the network device can send the first 5G detection response after receiving the first 5G detection request, and the first 5G detection response is not required to be sent after the duration of the timer is ended, so that the response speed can be improved.

The first 5G probe request may be a probe request sent by the terminal device in a broadcast mode of an active scanning mode or in a unicast mode of a passive scanning mode.

If the first 5G probe request is sent by the terminal device in the active scanning mode through a broadcast mode, in the active scanning mode a, the first 5G probe request does not include a specific SSID and BSSID; in the active scanning mode B, the first 5G probe request includes an SSID of a 5G WIFI network supported by the network device. For specific details, reference is made to the above description and related art, and no further description is given.

If the first 5G probe request is sent by the terminal device in the passive scanning manner through the unicast manner, the first 5G probe request includes parameters such as SSID, BSSID, supported rate (supported rate), extended supported rate (extended supported rate) of the 5G WIFI network supported by the network device, and the specific content may refer to the above and descriptions of related technologies, which are not repeated.

For example, the first 5G probe response may include an SSID, a BSSID, and other information for joining the BSS of the 5G WIFI network supported by the network device, and the details of the foregoing description and related technologies are not repeated.

The network device does not respond to the first 2.4G probe request before the duration of the timer is over, so as to wait for the first 5G probe request, when the network device receives the first 5G probe request within the duration of the timer, that is, receives the first 5G probe request within the preset waiting duration, which means that the terminal device has a requirement of accessing the 5G WIFI network, and the network device also wants the terminal device to access the 5G WIFI network, so that the network device sends a first 5G probe response to the terminal device.

It should be noted that, the sequence number of the steps does not mean that the execution sequence of the steps is determined by the functions and the internal logic of each process, and should not limit the implementation process of the embodiment of the present application.

For the terminal device, the terminal device may send the first 2.4G probe request and the first 5G probe request at the same time, or may send the first 2.4G probe request first and then send the first 5G probe request first, or may send the first 5G probe request first and then send the first 2.4G probe request first, however, even if the first 2.4G probe request and the first 5G probe request are sent sequentially, the time interval for sending the first 2.4G probe request and the first 5G probe request is short.

In general, in the case that the network has no emergency (for example, the opposite end of the signaling sent later is received first due to packet loss retransmission caused by poor signal quality or queue scheduling), the signaling sent earlier is received first by the opposite end, but in the case that the network has an emergency, there may be a case that the signaling sent earlier is received later by the opposite end or the signaling sent later is received first by the opposite end, so, regardless of the sequence of the first 2.4G probe request sent by the terminal device and the first 5G probe request sent by the terminal device, the situation that the network device receives the first 2.4G probe request after the first 2.4G probe request is received first, and especially, when the terminal device sends the first 2.4G probe request first, the situation that the network device receives the first 2.4G probe request first is more commonly seen.

Compared with the scheme that in the prior art, after the network equipment receives the first 2.4G detection request, the network equipment responds to the first 2.4G detection request to enable the terminal equipment to be connected to the 2.4G WIFI network, in the embodiment of the application, the timer for waiting for the 5G detection request is configured in the network equipment, after the network equipment receives the first 2.4G detection request sent by the terminal equipment, the network equipment temporarily does not respond to the first 2.4G detection request, but starts the timer, waits for the first 5G detection request in the duration of the timer, and if the first 5G detection request is received in the duration of the timer, responds to the first 5G detection request of the 5G WIFI network, so that the 5G WIFI network can be preferentially connected, and user experience is improved.

It should be understood that, in the passive scanning mode, the network device may also send a 2.4G beacon frame and a 5G beacon frame to the terminal device before step S520, and access the terminal device to the 5G WIFI network through the authentication procedure and the association procedure after step S541. In the active scanning mode a, after step S541, the terminal device further sends another 5G probe request (denoted as a second 5G probe request) to the network device through unicast, and the network device responds to the other 5G probe response (denoted as a second 5G probe request), and further accesses to the 5G WIFI network through an authentication process and an association process. In the active scanning mode B, after step S541, the method accesses to the 5G WIFI network through an authentication process and an association process.

The following describes, in detail, the process of accessing the terminal device to the 5G WIFI network in different scanning modes by using fig. 8a and fig. 8 b.

Fig. 8a is a schematic interaction diagram of a method 500 for WIFI communication according to an embodiment of the present application, where a terminal device accesses a 5G WIFI network through a passive scanning manner or the above active scanning manner B.

The process of scanning the WIFI network by the active scanning manner B to connect the WIFI network includes steps S511 to S572, excluding steps S501 to S504.

In step S511, the terminal device sends a first 2.4G probe request to the network device by broadcasting.

As previously described, the first 2.4G probe request includes the SSID of the 2.4G WIFI network supported by the network device, but does not include the BSSID.

In step S512, the network device receives the first 2.4G probe request.

In step S520, in the case that the first 2.4G probe request is received and the first 5G probe request is not received, the network device starts a timer.

In step S531, the terminal device sends a first 5G probe request to the network device by broadcasting.

As previously described, the first 5G probe request includes the SSID of the 5G WIFI network supported by the network device, but does not include the BSSID.

In step S532, the network device receives the first 5G probe request.

In step S541, if the first 5G probe request is received within the duration of the timer, the network device sends a first 5G probe response to the terminal device, so as to access the terminal device to the 5G WIFI network.

It should be understood that, in the case where the terminal device sends the first 2.4G probe request and the first 5G probe request by broadcasting, there may be a case where the plurality of network devices receive the first 2.4G probe request and the first 5G probe request, and in the case where only the first 5G probe request is sent back based on step S541, only the specific network device will respond to the first 5G probe request, that is, the specific network device sends a response to the first 5G probe to the terminal device, because only the SSID of the WIFI network supported by the specific network device in the first 5G probe request.

In step S542, the terminal device receives the first 5G probe response to access to the 5G WIFI network.

In step S571 and step S572, after the terminal device receives the first 5G probe response, the network device and the terminal device perform an authentication procedure and an association procedure.

Illustratively, the terminal device sends an authentication request to the network device, which ultimately sends an authentication response to the terminal device indicating that authentication was successful, to complete the authentication process.

The terminal device sends an association request to the network device, and the network device finally sends an association response to the terminal device to indicate that the terminal device is allowed or denied access to the 5G WIFI network. If the association response is used for indicating that the terminal equipment is allowed to access the 5G WIFI network, the terminal equipment is successfully accessed to the 5G WIFI network, and the subsequent terminal equipment and the network equipment can normally communicate through the 5G WIFI network to transmit data.

For a specific description of the authentication process and the association process, reference may be made to the above steps S220 and S230 and the related description of the related art, and the description thereof will not be repeated.

The process of scanning the WIFI network to connect to the WIFI network by the passive scanning method includes steps S501 to S572,

Prior to step S511, referring to fig. 8a, the method 500 further comprises:

in step S501, the network device transmits a 2.4G beacon frame of the 2.4G WIFI network to the terminal device.

In step S502, the terminal device receives the 2.4G beacon frame.

In step S503, the network device transmits a 5G beacon frame of the 5G WIFI network to the terminal device.

In step S504, the terminal device receives the 5G beacon frame.

It should be understood that the size of the sequence number of the steps does not mean the order of execution.

For the network device, the network device may send the 2.4G beacon frame and the 5G beacon frame simultaneously, may send the 2.4G beacon frame first and then send the 5G beacon frame, and may send the 5G beacon frame first and then send the 2.4G beacon frame, however, even if the 2.4G beacon frame and the 5G beacon frame are sent sequentially, the time interval for sending the 2.4G beacon frame and the 5G beacon frame is short.

For the terminal device, upon receiving the 2.4G beacon frame and the 5G beacon frame, different probe requests may be sent, illustratively, based on any of the following.

In case 1, the terminal device sends a probe request of a WIFI network with good signal strength based on the signal strength of the WIFI network, and then sends a probe request of a WIFI network with bad signal strength, and then, under the condition that the signal strength of the 2.4G WIFI network is greater than the signal strength of the 5G WIFI network, the terminal device sends a first 2.4G probe request and then sends a first 5G probe request.

In case 2, the terminal device transmits probe requests of any beacon frame, that is, as long as 2.4G beacon frames and 5G beacon frames are received, the first 2.4G probe request and the first 5G probe request are transmitted according to the principle of first receiving and first transmitting.

In case 3, the terminal device is once in communication connection with the network device through the 2.4G WIFI network (or the 5G WIFI network), information of the 2.4G WIFI network (or the 5G WIFI network) for connecting the network device is stored in the terminal device, and for convenience of connection, the system provides that only the first 2.4G probe request (or the first 5G probe request) is sent after the 2.4G beacon frame (or the 5G beacon frame) of the network device is monitored, so that the terminal device can be quickly accessed into the 2.4G WIFI network (or the 5G WIFI network) by using the existing information of the 2.4G WIFI network (or the 5G WIFI network) for connecting the network device.

In summary, after receiving the 2.4G beacon frame and the 5G beacon frame, the terminal device will first send a first 2.4G probe request to the network device in step S511, execute step S520 if the network device receives the first 2.4G probe request and does not receive the first 5G probe request, start a timer, and execute step S541 if the first 5G probe request sent by the terminal device is received during the duration of the timer, and send a first 5G probe response. In step S571 and step S572, after the terminal device receives the first 5G probe response, the network device and the terminal device perform an authentication procedure and an association procedure.

It should be understood that, in the passive scanning mode, the terminal device sends the first 2.4G probe request and the first 5G probe request in a unicast mode.

Fig. 8b is another schematic interaction diagram of a method 500 for WIFI communication according to an embodiment of the present application, where a terminal device accesses a 5G WIFI network through the active scanning mode a.

In step S511, the terminal device broadcasts a first 2.4G probe request to search for available WIFI networks around.

As previously described, the first 2.4G probe request does not include a specific SSID and BSSID.

In step S512, the network device receives the first 2.4G probe request.

As previously described, the first 5G probe request does not include a specific SSID and BSSID.

In step S532, the network device receives the first 5G probe request.

It should be understood that, in the case where the terminal device sends the first 2.4G probe request and the first 5G probe request by broadcasting, all network devices capable of receiving the first 2.4G probe request perform step S520, and all network devices that receive the first 5G probe request during the duration of the timer send the first 5G probe response.

In step S551, the terminal device sends a second 5G probe request to the network device through unicast.

In this step, the network list of the terminal device may display, for example, SSID of WIFI supported by all network devices that send the first 5G probe request, the user clicks a connection option of WIFI network supported by the network devices, and the terminal device sends the second 5G probe request to the one network device through unicast in response to the operation of the user.

In step S552, the network device receives a second 5G probe request.

In step S561, the network device transmits a second 5G probe response to the terminal device.

In step S562, the terminal device receives a second 5G probe response.

In step S571 and step S572, after the terminal device receives the second 5G probe response, the network device and the terminal device perform an authentication procedure and an association procedure. For a specific description of the authentication process and the association process, reference may be made to the above steps S220 and S230 and the related description of the related art, and the description thereof will not be repeated.

In some embodiments, if the first 5G probe request is not received within the duration of the timer, the network device sends a first 2.4G probe response for the first 2.4G probe request to the terminal device, so as to access the terminal device into the 2.4G WIFI network.

That is, if the first 5G probe request is not received within the duration of the timer, it means that the terminal device does not send the first 5G probe request or may send the first 5G probe request after the end time of the timer, the network device does not need to continue waiting for the first 5G probe request, but may respond to the probe request of the 2.4G WIFI network, that is, send the first 2.4G probe response, and perform an authentication procedure and an association procedure with the network device after the terminal device receives the first 2.4G probe response, so as to access the terminal device into the 2.4G WIFI network.

It should be understood that, in the passive scanning mode and the active scanning mode B, after receiving the first 2.4G probe response, the terminal device accesses to the 2.4G WIFI network through an authentication process and an association process.

In the active scanning manner a, in an example, the network device receives a second 2.4G probe request sent by the terminal device through a unicast manner, and sends a second 2.4G probe response for the second 2.4G probe request to the terminal device, and after receiving the second 2.4G probe response, the terminal device accesses to the 2.4G WIFI network through an authentication process and an association process.

In the active scanning manner a, in another example, when the network device receives the second 2.4G probe request sent by the terminal device through the unicast manner and does not receive the second 5G probe request sent by the terminal device through the unicast manner, the timer is started, if the second 5G probe request sent by the terminal device through the unicast manner is not received within the duration of the timer, a second 2.4G probe response is sent to the terminal device, and after the terminal device receives the second 2.4G probe response, the terminal device accesses to the 2.4G WIFI network through an authentication process and an association process.

That is, in this example, the network device starts a timer to wait for a 5G probe request for the duration of the timer, whether it receives a 2.4G probe request (first 2.4G probe request) sent by the terminal device in a broadcast manner or a 2.4G probe request (second 2.4G probe request) sent by the terminal device in a unicast manner. In this way, the system setting can be simplified and the implementation is convenient.

In the case where the terminal device does not send the first 5G probe request to the network device, so that the network device does not receive the first 5G probe request within the duration of the timer, there may be the following two cases. It should be understood that the following two cases are only illustrative and should not be construed as limiting the embodiments of the present application.

In an example, the terminal device does not support a 5G WIFI network. In this case, the terminal device will not naturally send the first 5G probe request, nor will the network device receive the first 5G probe request.

In another example, the terminal device supports a 5G WIFI network, and the terminal device is communicatively connected to the network device via the 2.4G WIFI network before the terminal device sends the first 2.4G probe request to the network device in step 511.

That is, in this example, although the terminal device supports the 5G WIFI network, the terminal device is connected to the network device through the 2.4G WIFI network before, and information of the 2.4G WIFI network for connecting the network device is stored in the terminal device, for convenience of connection, the system provides that, if a passive scanning mode is adopted, only the first 2.4G probe request is sent after the 2.4G beacon frame of the network device is monitored, and if an active scanning mode is adopted, only the first 2.4G probe request is sent to the network device, so that the terminal device can be quickly connected to the 2.4G WIFI network by using the existing information of the 2.4G WIFI network for connecting the network device.

In the embodiment of the present application, it may be understood that if the network device first receives the first 5G probe request, that is, the network device receives the first 5G probe request and does not receive the first 2.4 probe request, the network device does not start the timer, and directly sends the first 5G probe response to the terminal device, so as to access the terminal device into the 5G WIFI network.

It should be understood that "directly" herein means that the network device does not waste time performing other tasks after receiving the first 5G probe request, but generates the first 5G probe response as soon as possible and transmits the first 5G probe response.

It should also be understood that, in the passive scanning mode and the active scanning mode B, after receiving the first 5G probe response, the terminal device accesses to the 5G WIFI network through an authentication process and an association process.

In the active scanning mode a, after receiving the first 5G probe response, the terminal device only sends a second 5G probe request to the network device through a unicast mode, and then, the network device sends the second 5G probe response to the terminal device, and subsequently, the terminal device accesses to the 5G WIFI network through an authentication process and an association process.

It should be noted that, the sequence number of the steps in the above embodiments of the method does not mean the execution sequence, and the execution sequence of each process should be determined by the function and the internal logic of the process, and should not limit the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

The method for WIFI communication provided by the embodiment of the application is described in detail above with reference to fig. 1 to 8b, and the device for WIFI communication provided by the embodiment of the application will be described in detail below with reference to fig. 9 to 10.

Fig. 9 is an exemplary block diagram of an apparatus 600 for WIFI communication provided by an embodiment of the application. The apparatus 600 is a terminal device or a network device, and may also be a chip in the terminal device or the network device.

In one possible implementation, the apparatus 600 is configured to perform the respective flows and steps corresponding to the network devices in the method 400. The apparatus 600 includes: a processing unit 610 and a transceiving unit 620. The processing unit 610 is configured to perform the following steps:

Optionally, the at least part of the signal strengths are all signal strengths of the M terminal devices in the first period.

Optionally, the processing unit 610 is specifically configured to:

Optionally, a power variation value between the first transmit power and the second transmit power is smaller than the adjustment amplitude.

Optionally, the processing unit 610 is further configured to:

Optionally, the processing unit 610 is specifically configured to:

wherein the second duration is less than the first duration.

Optionally, the processing unit 610 is specifically configured to:

Optionally, the M terminal devices include a device stably connected to the network device and a device non-stably connected to the network device.

Optionally, the transceiver unit 620 is configured to:

It should be understood that the processing unit 610 may be configured to perform the steps performed by the network device in the method 400, and the detailed description may refer to the related description above, which is not repeated.

In another possible implementation manner, the apparatus 600 is configured to perform the respective flows and steps corresponding to the network devices in the method 500. The apparatus 600 includes: a processing unit 610 and a transceiving unit 620.

The processing unit 610 is configured to start a timer when a first 2.4G probe request of the 2.4G WIFI network sent by a terminal device is received and a first 5G probe request of the 5G WIFI network sent by the terminal device is not received;

the transceiver unit 620 is further configured to, if the first 5G probe request is received within the duration of the timer, send a first 5G probe response for the first 5G probe request to the terminal device, so as to access the terminal device to the 5G WIFI network.

Optionally, the transceiver unit 620 is further configured to send a first 2.4G probe response for the first 2.4G probe request to the terminal device to access the terminal device to the 2.4G WIFI network if the first 5G probe request is not received within the duration of the timer.

Optionally, the terminal device does not support the 5G WIFI network; or the terminal equipment supports the 5G WIFI network, and before the terminal equipment sends the first 2.4G detection request to the network equipment, the terminal equipment and the network equipment are in communication connection through the 2.4G WIFI network.

Optionally, the transceiver unit 620 is further configured to, when the first 5G probe request sent by the terminal device is received and the first 2.4G probe request sent by the terminal device is not received, not start the timer, and send the first 5G probe response to the terminal device, so as to access the terminal device into the 5G WIFI network.

Optionally, the first 2.4G probe request and the first 5G probe request are sent by the terminal device through unicast.

Optionally, the transceiver unit 620 is further configured to send a 2.4G beacon frame of the 2.4G WIFI network and a 5G beacon frame of the 5G WIFI network to the terminal device.

Optionally, the first 2.4G probe request and the first 5G probe request are sent by the terminal device through broadcasting; and, the transceiver unit 620 is further configured to:

Receiving a second 5G detection request sent by the terminal equipment in a unicast mode; and sending a second 5G detection response aiming at the second 5G detection request to the terminal equipment so as to access the terminal equipment into the 5G WIFI network.

Optionally, the duration of the timer is less than or equal to 2 seconds.

It should be understood that the processing unit 610 and the transceiver unit 620 may be configured to perform the steps performed by the network device in the method 500, and the detailed description may refer to the related description above, which is not repeated.

In another possible implementation manner, the apparatus 600 is configured to perform the respective processes and steps corresponding to the terminal device in the method 500. The apparatus 600 includes: a processing unit 610 and a transceiving unit 620.

The transceiver unit 620 is configured to send a first 2.4G probe request of the 2.4G WIFI network and a first 5G probe request of the 5G WIFI network to a network device;

the transceiver unit 620 is further configured to receive a first 5G probe response sent by the network device for the first 5G probe request;

the processing unit 610 is configured to access the 5G WIFI network.

It should be understood that the processing unit 610 and the transceiver unit 620 may be configured to perform the steps performed by the terminal device in the method 500, and the detailed description may refer to the related description above, which is not repeated.

It should be understood that the apparatus 600 herein is embodied in the form of functional units. The term "unit" herein may refer to an application specific integrated circuit (application specific integrated circuit, ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (e.g., a shared, dedicated, or group processor, etc.) and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable components that support the described functionality.

In an embodiment of the present application, the device in fig. 9 may also be a chip or a chip system, for example: system on chip (SoC).

Fig. 10 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 700 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The apparatus 700 is configured to perform the respective steps and/or processes corresponding to the method embodiments described above.

The apparatus 700 includes a processor 710, a transceiver 720, and a memory 730. Wherein the processor 710, the transceiver 720 and the memory 730 communicate with each other via internal connection paths, the processor 710 may implement the functions of the processing unit 710 in various possible implementations of the apparatus 700. The memory 730 is used for storing instructions, and the processor 710 is used for executing instructions stored in the memory 730, or the processor 710 may invoke the functions of the processing unit 710 in the device 700.

Alternatively, the memory 730 may include read-only memory and random access memory, and provide instructions and data to the processor. A portion of the memory may also include non-volatile random access memory. For example, the memory may also store information of the device type. The processor 710 may be configured to execute instructions stored in a memory, and when the processor 710 executes the instructions stored in the memory, the processor 710 is configured to perform the steps and/or processes of the method embodiments described above corresponding to the network device or the terminal device.

In one possible implementation, the apparatus 700 is configured to perform the respective flows and steps corresponding to the network devices in the method 400. The processor 710 is configured to perform the steps of:

Optionally, the processor 710 is specifically configured to:

Optionally, the processor 710 is further configured to:

Optionally, the processor 710 is specifically configured to:

wherein the second duration is less than the first duration.

Optionally, the processor 710 is specifically configured to:

Optionally, transceiver 720 is configured to:

In another possible implementation manner, the apparatus 700 is configured to perform the respective flows and steps corresponding to the network devices in the method 500.

The processor 710 is configured to start a timer when a first 2.4G probe request of the 2.4G WIFI network sent by a terminal device is received and a first 5G probe request of the 5G WIFI network sent by the terminal device is not received;

the transceiver 720 is further configured to, if the first 5G probe request is received within the duration of the timer, send a first 5G probe response for the first 5G probe request to the terminal device, so as to access the terminal device into the 5G WIFI network.

Optionally, the transceiver 720 is further configured to send a first 2.4G probe response for the first 2.4G probe request to the terminal device to access the terminal device into the 2.4G WIFI network if the first 5G probe request is not received within the duration of the timer.

Optionally, the transceiver 720 is further configured to, in a case where the first 5G probe request sent by the terminal device is received and the first 2.4G probe request sent by the terminal device is not received, not start the timer, and send the first 5G probe response to the terminal device, so as to access the terminal device into the 5G WIFI network.

Optionally, transceiver 720 is further configured to send a 2.4G beacon frame of the 2.4G WIFI network and a 5G beacon frame of the 5G WIFI network to the terminal device.

Optionally, the first 2.4G probe request and the first 5G probe request are sent by the terminal device through broadcasting; and, transceiver 720 is also to:

Optionally, the duration of the timer is less than or equal to 2 seconds.

In another possible implementation manner, the apparatus 700 is configured to perform the respective processes and steps corresponding to the terminal device in the method 500.

The transceiver 720 is configured to send a first 2.4G probe request of the 2.4G WIFI network and a first 5G probe request of the 5G WIFI network to a network device;

transceiver 720 is further configured to receive a first 5G probe response sent by the network device for the first 5G probe request;

the processor 710 is configured to access the 5G WIFI network.

It should be understood that, the specific process of each device performing the corresponding step in each method is described in detail in the above method embodiments, and for brevity, will not be described in detail herein.

It should be appreciated that in embodiments of the present application, the processor of the apparatus described above may be a central processing unit (central processing unit, CPU), which may also be other general purpose processors, digital Signal Processors (DSPs), application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like.

In implementation, the steps of the above method may be performed by integrated logic circuits of hardware in a processor or by instructions in the form of software. The steps of the method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be embodied directly in a hardware processor for execution, or in a combination of hardware and software elements in the processor for execution. The software elements may be located in a random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory or electrically erasable programmable memory, registers, etc. as well known in the art. The storage medium is located in a memory, and the processor executes instructions in the memory to perform the steps of the method described above in conjunction with its hardware. To avoid repetition, a detailed description is not provided herein.

An embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product, which when executed on a terminal device, causes the terminal device to execute the technical solution in the foregoing embodiment. The implementation principle and technical effects are similar to those of the related embodiments of the method, and are not repeated here.

An embodiment of the present application provides a readable storage medium, where the readable storage medium contains instructions, where the instructions, when executed by a terminal device, cause the terminal device to execute the technical solution of the foregoing embodiment. The implementation principle and technical effect are similar, and are not repeated here.

The embodiment of the application provides a chip for executing instructions, and when the chip runs, the technical scheme in the embodiment is executed. The implementation principle and technical effect are similar, and are not repeated here.

In the above embodiments, it may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the processes or functions described in accordance with embodiments of the present application are produced in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable apparatus. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center by a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, digital subscriber line (digital subscriber line, DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, data center, etc. that contains an integration of one or more available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., a high-density digital video disc (digital video disc, DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a Solid State Disk (SSD)), or the like.

It should be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present application. Thus, various embodiments are not necessarily referring to the same embodiments throughout the specification. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. It should be understood that, in various embodiments of the present application, the sequence numbers of the foregoing processes do not mean the order of execution, and the order of execution of the processes should be determined by the functions and internal logic thereof, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

It should also be understood that, in the present application, "when …," "if," and "if" all refer to that the UE or the base station will make a corresponding process under some objective condition, and are not limited in time, nor do they require that the UE or the base station must have a judgment action when it is implemented, nor are they meant to have other limitations.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that: the first, second, etc. numbers referred to in the present application are merely for convenience of description and are not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application, but also to indicate the sequence.

Elements referred to in the singular are intended to be used in the present disclosure as "one or more" rather than "one and only one" unless specifically stated otherwise. In the present application, "at least one" is intended to mean "one or more" and "a plurality" is intended to mean "two or more" unless specifically indicated.

The term "and/or" is herein merely an association relationship describing an associated object, meaning that there may be three relationships, e.g., a and/or B, may represent: there are three cases where a alone exists, where a may be singular or plural, and where B may be singular or plural, both a and B exist alone.

The term "at least one of … …" or "at least one of … …" herein means all or any combination of the listed items, e.g., "at least one of A, B and C," may mean: there are six cases where a alone, B alone, C alone, a and B together, B and C together, A, B and C together, where a may be singular or plural, B may be singular or plural, and C may be singular or plural.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

It will be clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, specific working procedures of the above-described systems, apparatuses and units may refer to corresponding procedures in the foregoing method embodiments, and are not repeated herein.

In the several embodiments provided by the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices, and methods may be implemented in other manners. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative, e.g., the division of the units is merely a logical function division, and there may be additional divisions when actually implemented, e.g., multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted or not performed. Alternatively, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed with each other may be an indirect coupling or communication connection via some interfaces, devices or units, which may be in electrical, mechanical or other form.

The units described as separate units may or may not be physically separate, and units shown as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

In addition, each functional unit in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units may be integrated in one unit.

The functions, if implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application may be embodied essentially or in a part contributing to the prior art or in a part of the technical solution, in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium, comprising several instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, a network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the method according to the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: a U-disk, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (random access memory, RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk, or other various media capable of storing program codes.

The same or similar parts may be referred to each other in the various embodiments of the application. In the embodiments of the present application, and the respective implementation/implementation methods in the embodiments, if there is no specific description and logic conflict, terms and/or descriptions between different embodiments, and between the respective implementation/implementation methods in the embodiments, may be consistent and may refer to each other, and technical features in the different embodiments, and the respective implementation/implementation methods in the embodiments, may be combined to form a new embodiment, implementation, or implementation method according to their inherent logic relationship. The embodiments of the present application described above do not limit the scope of the present application.

The foregoing is merely illustrative of the present application, and the present application is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art will readily recognize that variations or substitutions are within the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be defined by the claims, and the above description is only a preferred embodiment of the technical solution of the present application, and is not intended to limit the protection scope of the present application. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present application should be included in the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A method for WIFI communication, applied to a network device, where the network device supports a 2.4G WIFI network and a 5G WIFI network, the method comprising:

acquiring first signal information of M terminal devices connected with the network device through the 2.4GWIFI network in a first period, wherein the first signal information is used for indicating signal intensity of the M terminal devices in the first period, and M is an integer greater than or equal to 1;

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least some signal strengths are all of the signal strengths of the M terminal devices during the first period.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the reducing the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network from a first transmission power to a second transmission power comprises:

4. A method according to claim 3, characterized in that the power variation value between the first and the second transmission power is smaller than the adjustment amplitude.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein after said reducing the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network from a first transmission power to a second transmission power, the method further comprises:

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the obtaining first signal information of M terminal devices connected to the network device through the 2.4G WIFI network during the first period of time includes;

wherein the second duration is less than the first duration.

7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the determining whether to continue to reduce the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network according to the signal strengths of the N terminal devices in the second period and the first strength threshold value includes:

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the M terminal devices comprise a device stably connected to the network device and a device non-stably connected to the network device.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein after said reducing the transmission power of the 2.4G WIFI network from a first transmission power to a second transmission power, the method further comprises:

10. The WIFI communication method is applied to network equipment, and the network equipment supports a 5G WIFI network and a 2.4G WIFI network, and is characterized by comprising the following steps:

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the method further comprises:

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the step of determining the position of the probe is performed,

the terminal equipment does not support the 5G WIFI network; or alternatively, the first and second heat exchangers may be,

13. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 12, further comprising:

and under the condition that the first 5G detection request sent by the terminal equipment is received and the first 2.4G detection request sent by the terminal equipment is not received, the timer is not started, and the first 5G detection response is sent to the terminal equipment so as to access the terminal equipment into the 5G WIFI network.

14. The method according to any of claims 10 to 13, wherein the first 2.4G probe request and the first 5G probe request are sent by the terminal device in unicast.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein prior to the starting the timer, the method further comprises:

16. The method according to any of claims 10 to 13, wherein the first 2.4G probe request and the first 5G probe request are sent by the terminal device by broadcast; and after said sending a first 5G probe response to said first 5G probe request to said terminal device, the method further comprises:

17. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 16, wherein the timer has a duration of less than or equal to 2 seconds.

18. A network device, comprising:

a memory for storing computer instructions;

a processor for invoking computer instructions stored in the memory to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 9 or any of claims 10 to 17.

19. A computer readable storage medium storing computer instructions for implementing the method of any one of claims 1 to 9, or of claims 10 to 17.

20. A chip, the chip comprising:

a memory: for storing instructions;

a processor for invoking and executing the instructions from the memory to cause a communication device on which the chip system is mounted to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 9 or claims 10 to 17.