KR101731996B1 - Automatic power switching device for lora and wifi mobile communication - Google Patents

Abstract

In the present invention, disclosed is a device for automatically switching Wi-Fi and long range (LoRa) communications. According to the present invention, the device comprises: a Wi-Fi module for performing a wireless communications with a terminal on the basis of a Wi-Fi communications protocol; a LoRa module for performing the wireless communications with the terminal on the basis of a Lora communications protocol; a network chipset for transferring network signals of a transceiving unit which executes a communications connection between the terminal and a communications server, and the terminal connected by the Wi-Fi module or the LoRa module to the communications server in accordance with a set rule; a switching MAC provided between the transceiving unit and the network chipset, and performing functions of IP address research and allocation on the basis of MAC address information; a protocol analysis module for analyzing a communications protocol of a signal received from the Wi-Fi module or the Lora Module; and a switching controller for controlling the network chipset to execute the networking in accordance with a communications protocol of a currently requested signal after recognizing a result of the protocol analysis module. Accordingly, the present invention has effects of enhancing stability and efficiency of the communications by combining LoRa and Wi-Fi technologies which are unauthorized technologies, and inducing efficiency of traffic reduction.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a wireless communication device,

The present invention relates to a communication switching device, and more particularly, to a communication switching device that connects a LoRa module and a WIFI module, which are unauthorized communication technologies, to a LaRa and WiFi module capable of automatically switching a LoRa module or a WIFI module based on a received communication protocol To a device for switching communication.

In recent years, wireless local area communication technologies such as Wi-Fi have been widely applied to the market, and devices are connected not only based on a local network but also through a direct connection between devices. One of the direct connections between devices using Wi-Fi is Wi-Fi Direct. Wi-Fi Direct is a network connectivity standard that describes the operation of the link layer.

Because there is no definition of a contract or standard for an application at a higher level, compatibility and operation inconsistency is not ensured when an application is run after connecting between Wi-Fi direct devices. Because of this problem, the WiFi Direct Services (WFDS), a standard technology that includes a high-level application technology content, is currently underway at the Wi-Fi Alliance (WFA).

WFA has announced a new specification for data transmission through a direct connection between mobile devices called Wi-Fi Direct, and active technology development activities are underway in the related industry to meet Wi-Fi Direct specifications. In a strict sense, Wi-Fi Direct corresponds to the brand name as a marketing term, and technical specifications for it are collectively referred to as Wi-Fi P2P (Peer to Peer).

In a conventional Wi-Fi network, a method of accessing an Internet network after accessing through an access point (AP) was a method of using a general Wi-Fi device. The data communication method through the direct connection between the devices has been used in some devices such as a mobile phone and a notebook PC equipped with a wireless communication technology such as Bluetooth and is used by some users. However, 10m or less. Especially, there are technical limitations on the performance of the mobile phone when it is used in an environment where there is a large amount of data transmission or a lot of Bluetooth devices exist.

Meanwhile, LoRa communication technology has been popular in recent years, and LoRa communication network technology has a much longer range (21 km in a visible distance environment) than other wireless protocols, so many repeaters and APs are not needed, And can provide greater scalability and cost-effectiveness for embedded applications compared to 3 / 4G cellular networks.

The LoRa tag is a device that utilizes the LoRa communication module and the sensor module. The state information on the environment and the device from the device is transmitted to the LoRa AP. The delivered information is stored and managed on the server, and provides real-time monitoring service in the web-based operator mode and the smartphone application-based user mode.

This new module implements Wireless Internet (IoT) and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) wireless communications with battery life lasting more than 10 years in a range of 10 miles (16.093 kilometers) You can connect to the technology gateway. The 433 / 868MHz RN2483 is a radio module certified by the European Telecommunications Directive (R & TTE Directive), reducing development time and development costs. The RN2483 combines a 17.8 x 26.3 x 3mm small module form factor with 14 GPIOs to provide high space availability and the flexibility to connect and control numerous sensors and actuators.

The RN2483 is bundled with the LoRaWAN ™ protocol stack, making it easy to connect to the rapidly expanding LoRa alliance infrastructure along with existing infrastructure, including both public and private LANs, as well as private networks operated by telecom operators. LPN (Low Power Wide Area Network) Scale.

This stack integration can be used with any microcontroller with a UART interface, including hundreds of microchip PIC® MCUs. In addition, the RN2483 provides Microchip's simple ASCII command interface for easy configuration and control.

This LoRa technology has several advantages over other wireless systems. First, the technique uses a spread-spectrum-based modulation scheme, which allows demodulation to noise levels of less than 20 dB. In addition, these capabilities build robust network links with high sensitivity, increase network efficiency, and eliminate interference. In addition, the star topology of the LoRaWAN protocol has less synchronization overhead and hops compared to a mesh network, reducing power consumption and allowing multiple applications to run simultaneously on the network.

Therefore, the LoRa technology has a much longer range than other wireless protocols, so it can operate the RN2483 without a repeater, thus lowering the total cost of ownership. LoRa technology provides higher scalability and cost-effectiveness for embedded applications compared to 3G and 4G cellular networks.

However, as described above, the LoRa technology and the WIFI technology can not be mutually connected through the respective evolutionary processes, and the mutual advantages can not be efficiently utilized. Therefore, the combination of LoRa technology and WIFI technology in unlicensed communication is very urgent in the times and it will be an efficient system in consumer aspect.

Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2012-0121817, published on November 06, 2012

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a wireless communication system and a wireless communication system, which are capable of enhancing the stability and efficiency of communication by combining LoRa technology and Wi-Fi technology, And an apparatus for switching communication.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a wireless communication system and a WIFI communication method which are capable of automatically connecting a LoRa module or a WIFI module based on a received communication protocol after combining LoRa module and WIFI module, And a device for switching between Laura and WiFi communication that can induce efficient operation of resources.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for transferring Laura and WiFi communications, the apparatus comprising: a Wi-Fi communication unit for performing wireless communication with a terminal based on a Wi- module; A Laura module for performing wireless communication with a terminal based on a LoRa communication protocol; A network chipset for transmitting a network signal of a terminal connected from the Wi-Fi module or Laura module to the communication server according to a prescribed rule; A switching MAC provided between the transceiver and the network chipset for performing an IP address search and assignment function based on MAC address information; In the application data format, application data format information to be exchanged between the device and the network server is determined as LoRa communication based on Fport = 0xDF data presence or absence. Based on the presence / absence of version information of the protocol, A protocol analyzing module for analyzing a communication protocol of a signal received from the Wi-Fi module or the Laura module by determining the communication protocol; And a switching controller for controlling the network chipset to perform networking according to a communication protocol of a currently requested signal after recognizing a result of the protocol analysis module.

The terminal according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention is a mobile terminal equipped with a wireless communication module and is any one of a mobile phone, MP3P, PMP, navigation, and various sensors, and the terminal supports Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) .

Meanwhile, the wireless communication module included in the terminal according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention is a communication unit based on a WiFi module or a LoRa protocol.

On the other hand, the protocol analysis module according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention analyzes the protocol information of the currently received protocol information based on any one of version information, type information, and subtype information of the FC protocol applied to the IEEE 802 protocol, Judges that the signal is applying the Wi-Fi communication protocol; And the switching controller executes networking according to the communication protocol of the currently detected signal from the protocol analysis module.

Meanwhile, the protocol analysis module according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention determines that the currently received signal is applying the Laura communication protocol based on data format information applied to the IEEE 802 protocol, which is a wireless communication protocol; And the switching controller executes networking according to the communication protocol of the currently detected signal from the protocol analysis module.

The Laura and WiFi communication switching devices proposed in the present invention combine LoRa technology, which is unauthorized technology, with Wi-Fi technology, thereby enhancing the stability and efficiency of communication and inducing traffic reduction efficiency. In addition, by connecting the LoRa module and the WIFI module to each other, the LoRa module or the WIFI module is automatically switched based on the received communication protocol, thereby enabling efficient operation of the communication resources at a time when the LoRa communication network base is insufficient Provides an effect.

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a main function of a device for switching Laura and Wi-Fi communication according to the present invention.
2 is a view for explaining the IEEE 802 protocol, which is a wireless communication protocol applied in the present invention.
3 is a diagram for explaining a data format applied to the Laura communication protocol.
4 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the present invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

 FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for performing switching between a WiFi communication module and a LoRa communication module according to the present invention. As shown in the figure, the mobile communication terminal includes a WiFi module 113 for performing wireless communication with a terminal based on a Wi-Fi communication protocol, a Laura module 115 for performing wireless communication with the terminal based on a LoRa communication protocol, A network chip for transmitting a network signal of a terminal connected from the WiFi module 113 or the Laura module 115 to the communication server according to a prescribed rule, A switching MAC 105 provided between the transmitting and receiving unit 107 and the network chipset 103 for performing an IP address search and allocation function based on MAC address information, A protocol analysis module 109 for analyzing a protocol of a signal received from the Laura module 115, and a protocol analyzing module 109 for recognizing a result of the protocol analysis module 109, And a switching controller 101 for controlling the network chipset 103 to execute networking in accordance with the communication protocol of the network.

Here, the terminal may be a mobile terminal equipped with a wireless communication module. For example, it may be a mobile phone, MP3P, PMP, navigation, various sensors, etc., and it is possible to form a network with other wireless communication devices through a terminal. And, the terminal can support UPnP (Universal Plug and Play).

The wireless communication module included in the terminal may be a communication module based on a WiFi module (113) or a LoRa module (115) that is not based on Internet Protocol (IP) It is means. That is, by performing WiFi communication or Laura communication according to the type of terminal, the switching controller 101 recognizes the type of the terminal and performs automatic switching for maintaining a section of Wi-Fi communication or Laura communication do.

The Wi-Fi module 113 generally refers to a technique of locating an access point in the vicinity and performing wireless communication based on the IP given from the access point. However, Wi- hoc mode), it is possible to communicate with devices belonging to the ad hoc network.

The switching controller 101 may include UPnP service software for Wi-Fi or Laura communication and controls the network chipset 103 to network the received data of the Wi-Fi module 113 or the Laura module 115 Real time control.

Meanwhile, the Laura module 115 is a low power long distance communication service (LPWA), and utilizes a license-free frequency band instead of an existing mobile communication network to construct an independent low-power internet communication network. A LoRaWAN (Long Range Wide Area Network) provided by the LoRa Alliance is applied to the Laura module 115, and a bandwidth of 1 GHz or less is generally utilized for ensuring a stable coverage with the Wi-Fi module 113.

The Wi-Fi module 113 and the Laura module 115 use the IEEE 802 protocol, which is a wireless communication protocol. As seen in FIG. 2, a FC having a 2-byte structure includes a protocol version, The D (Duration) area of the 2-byte structure includes information related to the transmission period used when setting the value of the NAV, Address 1, address 2, and address 3, each consisting of six bytes, provide MAC address information.

The SC (Sequence Control) area provides the sequence number of the frame used for the flow control. The address 4 of the 6-byte structure stores the system address information for the terminal, and then the frame body of 2 to 312 bytes, that is, . The 4-byte FCS includes a CRC-32 error detection sequence.

Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 3, the Laura module 115 modifies the data of the frame body to transmit an application message, and an application data format for network connection is defined. This is based on the FORT of the LoRa protocol. Since the Fport value can have 200 values, the application data format is divided into about 200 pieces. Here, the application data format transmitted between the device and the network server in the application data format is defined as Fport = 0xDF and processed in the Laura module 115 (modem protocol).

In addition, among the application data formats, the application data format to be exchanged between the device and the ThingPlug platform is defined as Fport = 0xDE and is performed by the upper application. The Laura module 115 receives the data of the Fport and the frame body in the device application and transfers the data to the transceiver unit 107 to perform networking.

The Laura module 115 uses Fport 0x00 (LoRa MAC 7 protocol) and 0xDF (Device-network server application protocol) among the data frames received from the network server. Handle it directly. The remaining 0x01 to 0xDE data frames have a structure for processing in the device application.

Accordingly, the protocol analysis module 109 determines whether the signal is a signal according to the Wi-Fi communication protocol or a signal according to the Laura communication protocol based on the currently received data structure. 4, in step S401, the protocol analysis module 109 receives the currently received signal, determines whether a protocol conforming to the communication protocol exists, and extracts the frame body from the received protocol.

The protocol analysis module 109 proceeds to step S403 and determines whether the content of the frame body is a protocol for Laura communication according to Laura's application data format. That is, it is determined whether the Fport value exists based on the Fport of the LoRa protocol. For example, when it is determined that Fport = 0xDF data exists as application data format information to be exchanged between the device and the network server in the application data format, (101).

The switching controller 101 proceeds to step S407 and receives the determination result of the protocol analysis module 109 to activate the network chipset 103 by recognizing that the currently received signal conforms to the Laura communication protocol. The network chipset 103 maintains a communication section with the transmission / reception unit 107 based on the MAC address stored in the switching MAC 105 so that Laura communication can be performed.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S403 that the application data format does not exist, the flow advances to step S405 and the FC having the 2-byte structure as described above determines whether the protocol version information exists.

As a result of the determination in step S405, if there is version information of the FC protocol, the protocol analysis module 109 provides the result to the switching controller 101. [ Therefore, the switching controller 101 proceeds to step S409 and recognizes that the determination result of the protocol analysis module 109 indicates that the currently received signal conforms to the Wi-Fi communication protocol. The switching controller 101 activates the network chipset 103 and the network chipset 103 communicates with the transmitting and receiving unit 107 based on the MAC address stored in the switching MAC 105 so that Wi- The communication section is maintained.

In this manner, the protocol analysis module 109 determines the communication protocol based on the currently received data structure and provides the result to the switching controller 101, thereby performing switching for Wi-Fi communication according to the currently received signal Or performs a transfer for Laura communication. This improves the efficiency of communication resources and improves the convenience of users, thereby providing an efficient communication infrastructure.

101: Switching controller 103: Network chipset
105: Switching MAC 107: Transmitting /
109: protocol analysis module 113: WiFi module
115: Laura module

Claims (5)

1. A switching device for a wireless module (115) that performs wireless communication with a terminal based on a LoRa communication protocol and a Wi-Fi module (113) that performs wireless communication with a terminal based on a Wi-Fi communication protocol,
A network chip for transmitting a network signal of a terminal connected from the WiFi module 113 or the Laura module 115 to the communication server according to a prescribed rule, (103);
A switching MAC 105 provided between the transmitting / receiving unit 107 and the network chipset 103 for performing an IP address search and allocation function based on MAC address information;
In the application data format, application data format information to be exchanged between the device and the network server is determined as LoRa communication based on Fport = 0xDF data presence or absence. Based on the presence / absence of version information of the protocol, A protocol analysis module 109 for analyzing a communication protocol of a signal received from the WiFi module 113 or the Laura module 115 by determining the communication protocol;
And a switching controller (101) for controlling the network chipset (103) to perform networking according to a communication protocol of a currently requested signal after recognizing a result of the protocol analysis module (109) Device for switching communication. The method according to claim 1,
The terminal is a mobile terminal equipped with a wireless communication module and is one of a mobile phone, MP3P, PMP, navigation, and various sensors, and the terminal supports UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) Device for transferring. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the wireless communication module included in the terminal is a communication unit based on a WiFi module (113) or a LoRa module (115). 4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The protocol analysis module 109 applies the WiFi communication protocol to the currently received signal based on any one of version information, type information, and subtype information of the FC protocol applied to the IEEE 802 protocol, which is a wireless communication protocol Judging that there is;
Wherein the switching controller (101) performs networking according to the communication protocol of the currently detected signal from the protocol analysis module (109). 4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The protocol analysis module 109 determines that the currently received signal is applying the Laura communication protocol based on the data format information applied to the IEEE 802 protocol, which is a wireless communication protocol;
Wherein the switching controller (101) performs networking according to the communication protocol of the currently detected signal from the protocol analysis module (109).

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