CN101772112A

CN101772112A - Migration method, access point equipment, terminal equipment and wireless system

Info

Publication number: CN101772112A
Application number: CN200910001517A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 树贵明
Original assignee: Huawei Device Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Device Co Ltd
Priority date: 2009-01-05
Filing date: 2009-01-05
Publication date: 2010-07-07

Abstract

The invention discloses a migration method, access point equipment, terminal equipment and a wireless system. The method comprises the following steps: determining two terminals between which a straight-through link can be established; and migrating the two terminals to the straight-through link through a communication link of an access point (AP). Migration of a terminal link can be realized by establishing the straight-through link between the terminals in the embodiment of the invention without an alternate AP so as to relieve the load of the current AP.

Description

Migration method, access point equipment, terminal equipment and wireless system

Technical Field

The present invention relates to wireless communication technologies, and in particular, to a migration method, an access point device, a terminal device, and a wireless system.

Background

A Basic Service Set (BSS) is a local network formed by an Access Point (AP) and a plurality of mobile Stations (STAs) connected to each other. The STA refers to terminal equipment with a wireless local area network interface; the AP corresponds to a base station of a mobile network, and may enable one STA to communicate with other STAs or related devices of a wired network. When the load of the first access point is overlarge, the terminal is transferred to the second access point with relatively small load, so that the load of the first access point is reduced, the load in the wireless local area network is balanced, and the efficiency of the wireless local area network is improved. Currently, the STA may query the currently accessed AP for available AP information in the periphery when certain events (e.g., too many frames lost, too much delay, insufficient quality of service capability) occur, so as to select an AP capable of providing better access capability; or, the AP may also send a BSS handover request message to the STA when the load is too large, where the BSS handover request message carries candidate neighboring AP information for the STA to perform handover so as to reduce the load of the AP.

The inventor finds that the prior art has at least the following problems in the process of implementing the invention: no matter whether STA initiates migration or AP initiates migration, the prior art needs to acquire information of an AP that can be migrated, but if there is no AP available for migration around the current AP, the prior art cannot implement link migration.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides a migration method, access point equipment, terminal equipment and a wireless system, which solve the problem of link migration of a terminal when no AP for migration exists around.

The embodiment of the invention provides a migration method, which comprises the following steps:

determining two terminals capable of establishing a direct connection link;

and migrating the two terminals to the direct link through a communication link of the access point.

An embodiment of the present invention provides an access point device, including:

the determining module is used for determining two terminals capable of establishing a direct connection link;

and the migration module is used for migrating the two terminals to the direct connection link through the communication link of the access point.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a terminal device, including:

the receiving module is used for receiving a direct connection migration request sent by the access point equipment, wherein the direct connection migration request carries a terminal identifier of a direct connection link to be established;

and the establishing module is used for establishing a direct link with the terminal equipment indicated by the terminal identification which is different from the self identification in the terminal identification.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a wireless system, including:

the access point equipment is used for determining terminal equipment which is used for carrying out communication and has direct connection capability under self service, and sending direct connection migration information to the terminal equipment after acquiring the migration information;

the terminal device is used for receiving the direct connection migration information sent by the access point device, establishing a direct connection link according to the direct connection migration information, and sending information of successful establishment of the direct connection link to the access point device after the direct connection link is established successfully;

and the access point equipment is also used for migrating the link of the terminal communicating through the AP to the direct link of the terminal equipment after receiving the message of successful establishment of the direct link.

According to the technical scheme, the terminal with the direct connection capability is determined, the direct connection link is established between the terminals with the direct connection capability, the link of the terminal for communicating through the AP is switched to the direct connection link, and the terminal link can be migrated even if no migratable AP exists around.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network structure according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic flow chart of a method according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic flow chart of a method according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of an access point device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a wireless system according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The technical solution of the present invention is further described in detail by the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a network structure according to a first embodiment of the present invention, where a BSS includes an AP15 and at least one STA under the service of the AP15, for example, includes a first STA11, a second STA12, a third STA13 and a fourth STA 14. Among them, the first STA11 and the second STA12 are two terminals that are communicating through the AP15, and the first STA11 and the second STA12 have direct connection capability. In the case of normal communication through the AP, the first STA11 and the second STA12 are communicating through respective links (shown by thin solid lines) with the AP 15. Since the first STA11 and the second STA12 have direct connection capability, they may also establish a direct link (shown in bold solid lines).

The embodiment of the invention provides a migration method, which comprises the following steps: the AP determines two terminals capable of establishing a direct link; and the AP migrates the two terminals to the direct connection link through the communication link of the AP. The embodiment of the invention can establish the direct connection link between the terminals with the direct connection capability, so that the terminals can still realize link migration under the condition of no switchable AP.

Fig. 2 is a schematic flow chart of a method according to a second embodiment of the present invention, which includes:

step 201: the AP acquires migration trigger information.

The migration trigger information may be that the AP learns that its own load is overloaded; or the AP receives the migration information sent by the terminal, or when the AP is going to be powered off and there is no available AP around the AP. For example, the migration information may be sent to the AP when the terminal finds that there are too many events such as frame loss, too much delay, insufficient quality of service capability, etc.

Step 202: and the AP determines the terminal with the direct connection capability for communication under the service of the AP.

For example, referring to fig. 1, a first STA11 and a second STA12 are determined.

Step 203: and the AP transfers the link of the terminal communicating through the AP to the direct link of the terminal.

For example, referring to fig. 1, the AP migrates the communication link of the first STA11 and the second STA12 from a link through the AP onto a direct link.

In this embodiment, since the communication link is not migrated to another AP, the migration of the terminal link can be realized even if there is no migratable AP in the periphery, and the load of the current AP is reduced or the communication link is migrated to a more appropriate link.

The following describes the above procedure in more detail, taking the case where the AP needs to migrate the link of the terminal when its own load is overloaded.

Fig. 3 is a schematic flow chart of a method according to a third embodiment of the present invention, which includes:

step 301: initially, the first STA and the second STA establish a link with the AP respectively, so that the first STA and the second STA establish a communication link (first link) through the AP.

Step 302: the AP learns that it is overloaded.

Step 303-304: the AP sends direct connection capability query requests to the first STA and the second STA respectively.

Step 305-306: and the first STA and the second STA respectively return direct connection capability inquiry responses to the AP.

And when both have the direct connection capability, the subsequent direct connection link can be established, so that when the direct connection capability query response indicates that any one of the first STA and the second STA does not have the direct connection capability, the operation is ended. When the first STA and the second STA both have direct connection capability, the next step is executed.

The

above steps

303 and 304 have no timing restriction relationship, the

steps

305 and 306 have no timing restriction relationship, the

steps

303 and 306 have no timing restriction relationship, and the

steps

304 and 305 have no timing restriction relationship.

Step 307: determining that the first STA and the second STA have direct connection capability.

Step 308-309: the AP sends a direct connection migration request to one of the first STA and the second STA or to the first STA and the second STA simultaneously.

The direct connection migration Request may be a BSS migration management Request (BSS TransitionManagement Request).

A parameter "dot 11 mgmtopbsstransition enabled" exists in a Management Information Base (MIB) of the STA, and a value of the parameter may indicate whether the STA supports BSS Transition Management (BTM), for example, when "dot 11 mgmtopbsstransition enabled" is 1, it indicates that the STA supports BSS Transition Management, and when "dot 11 mgmtopbsstransition enabled" is 0, it indicates that the STA does not support Transition Management. Three message frames are defined in BSS migration Management, which are a BTM Query Frame (BSSTransition Management Query Frame), a BTM Request Frame (BSS Transition Management Request Frame), and a BTM response Frame (BSS Transition Management response Frame). When certain events (such as too many frame losses, too much delay, insufficient service quality capability and the like) occur, the STA can query the AP accessed by the STA for other currently available AP information in the periphery through the BTM query frame so as to select an AP capable of providing better access capability; after receiving the BTM query frame sent by the STA, or when the AP is overloaded, the AP may actively send a BSS migration management request message (BTM request frame) to the STA, where the message carries AP information for STA candidates. If the STA receives the migration request, the BSS identification of the selected AP is fed back to the current AP in a BSS migration management response message (BTM response frame) to realize the link migration.

The format of the BTM request frame is shown in table 1:

TABLE 1

Category

Action

Dialog Token

Status code

Target BSSID (optional)

Wherein the Status code field includes two parameters "Accept" and "Reject", currently, "Accept" indicates preparation for handover, and "Reject" indicates rejection for handover.

Since the direct link migration response in this embodiment may be a BSS migration management response (BTM response frame), it is necessary to indicate the establishment result of the direct link. Therefore, in this embodiment, after receiving a BSS migration management request indicating a direct connection migration, the "Accept" in the "Status code" field in the BSS migration management response indicates accepting the direct connection migration, and the "Reject" indicates rejecting the direct connection migration.

The process of the AP sending and receiving direct migration requests to and responses from both the first STA and the second STA is shown in fig. 3. Or may send a direct connection migration request to only one of the STAs and receive a direct connection migration response sent by the STA that receives the direct connection migration request. I.e. only steps 308, 310, 311 or only steps 309, 310, 312.

Step 313: and the AP determines that the first STA and the second STA successfully establish the direct connection link according to the direct connection migration response. The AP is realized to transfer the communication link of the first STA and the second STA from the first link to the direct link between the first STA and the second STA.

The AP may then tear down the link with the first STA and the second STA, which may cause the AP to release more resources to better serve other terminals accessing the AP. Or, links between the first STA and the AP and between the second STA and the AP may also be maintained, so that the first STA and the second STA may be migrated back to the first link when needed subsequently, and at this time, when a terminal sends a data packet to another terminal, the destination identifier may be directly set as an identifier of another terminal instead of the identifier of the AP, thereby implementing communication on the direct link.

Step 314: the first STA and the second STA communicate over a direct link.

Although this embodiment takes the trigger condition that the AP is overloaded as an example, the method of this embodiment is also applicable to a scenario that the trigger condition is that the terminal sends the migration information.

In this embodiment, the direct link is established through the terminal, so that the terminal can be migrated to the direct link between the terminals through the communication link of the AP when the AP is heavily loaded or the AP is about to be powered off and there is an available AP in the periphery or after receiving a migration request message from the terminal, so as to reduce the load of the AP or better serve the terminal.

Although the foregoing embodiment takes the case where there is no AP available for switching in the periphery as an example, the method of the embodiment of the present invention may still be adopted when there is an AP available for switching in the periphery.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that: all or part of the steps for implementing the method embodiments may be implemented by hardware related to program instructions, and the program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, and when executed, the program performs the steps including the method embodiments; and the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media that can store program codes, such as ROM, RAM, magnetic or optical disks.

Fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of an access point device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention, which includes a determining module 41 and a migrating module 42. The determining module 41 is configured to determine two terminals that can establish a direct connection link; the migration module 42 is configured to migrate the two terminals obtained by the determination module 41 to the direct link through the communication link of the access point. Meanwhile, the embodiment may further include an obtaining module, configured to obtain migration trigger information, where the migration trigger information may be information that the AP detects that the AP is overloaded, or the AP is powered off, or the AP receives an instruction of the terminal to migrate.

In the embodiment, when the link migration is required, the direct connection migration request is sent to the terminal to indicate the terminal to establish the direct connection link, so that the link migration can be realized when no migratable AP exists, the load of the current AP is reduced, and the service quality of the AP is improved.

Fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention, which includes a receiving module 51 and a establishing module 52. The receiving module 51 is configured to receive a direct connection migration request sent by an AP, where the direct connection migration request carries a terminal identifier of a direct connection link to be established; the establishing module 52 is configured to establish a direct connection link with a terminal device indicated by a terminal identifier different from the self identifier in the terminal identifier obtained by the receiving module 51.

In this embodiment, a direct link may be directly established with another terminal by receiving a direct connection migration request sent by an AP, and when there is no migratable AP, migration of the link may be implemented, so as to reduce a load of the current AP and improve service quality of the AP.

Fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a wireless system according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention, which includes an access point device 61 and a terminal device 62. In fig. 6, one access point device 61 is provided, and two terminals are provided for communication by the terminal device 62. The above combinations may be extended to one access point device and multiple pairs of terminal devices, or multiple access point devices and multiple pairs of terminal devices corresponding to each access point device. The access point device 61 is configured to determine a terminal device with direct connection capability for performing communication under its own service, and send direct connection migration information to the terminal device after acquiring the migration information; the terminal device 62 is configured to receive the direct connection migration information sent by the access point device 61, establish a direct connection link according to the direct connection migration information, and send information of successful establishment of the direct connection link to the access point device 61 after the direct connection link is successfully established; the access point device 61 is further configured to migrate the link where the terminal device communicates through the AP to the direct link of the terminal device 62 after receiving the message that the direct link is successfully established.

In this embodiment, a direct connection migration request is sent to a terminal through an AP, a direct connection link between terminals can be established, and when there is no migratable AP, the migration of the link can be realized, the burden of the current AP is reduced, and the service quality of the AP is improved.

Finally, it should be noted that: the above embodiments are only for illustrating the technical solutions of the present invention and not for limiting the same, and although the present invention is described in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that: modifications and equivalents may be made to the invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A migration method, comprising:

determining two terminals capable of establishing a direct connection link;

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining that two terminals capable of establishing a direct link comprise: the two terminals belong to the same access point service area, and both the two terminals have the capability of supporting direct connection.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: and acquiring migration trigger information.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the obtaining migration trigger information comprises:

acquiring load information of an access point, wherein the load information indicates that the access point is overloaded; or,

receiving indication information sent by a terminal, wherein the indication information indicates that a link between terminals needs to be migrated to a direct link; or,

the access point is powered off.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the determining that two terminals capable of establishing a direct link comprise:

sending a direct connection capability query request to a terminal which is under the AP service and is in communication; receiving a direct connection capability query response sent by a terminal performing communication under the AP service, wherein the response carries a request that the terminal performing communication has direct connection capability; or,

and determining the terminals with the direct connection capability for communication under the AP service according to the direct connection capability information reported when each terminal under the AP service is associated with the AP.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein migrating the two terminals to the direct link via a communication link of an access point comprises:

sending a direct connection migration request to one or more of the two terminals, wherein the direct connection migration request comprises an identifier of a terminal needing to establish a direct connection link;

and receiving a direct connection migration response corresponding to the direct connection migration request, which is sent by one or more of the two terminals, wherein the direct connection migration response carries a request indicating that the terminal needing to establish the direct connection link has already established the direct connection link.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein: the direct connection migration request is a BSS migration management request, a request mode domain of the BSS migration management request carries information indicating a terminal to establish a direct connection link, and a migration candidate list domain of the BSS migration management request carries an identifier of the terminal.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein: the direct connection migration response is a BSS migration management response, and the state code domain of the BSS migration management response carries information indicating whether the terminal receives the direct connection migration request.

9. An access point device, comprising:

10. A terminal device, comprising:

11. A wireless system, comprising:

and the access point equipment is also used for migrating the link which is communicated by the terminal equipment through the AP to the direct link of the terminal after receiving the message of successful establishment of the direct link.