CN108566442B

CN108566442B - Method and equipment for providing network connection

Info

Publication number: CN108566442B
Application number: CN201810697813.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 程翰
Original assignee: Shanghai Shangxiang Network Technology Co ltd
Current assignee: Shanghai Shangxiang Network Technology Co.,Ltd.
Priority date: 2018-06-29
Filing date: 2018-06-29
Publication date: 2021-12-07
Anticipated expiration: 2038-06-29
Also published as: CN108566442A

Abstract

The application aims to provide a method and equipment for providing network connection, wherein the method comprises the following steps: obtaining one or more routing devices surrounding a first routing device, wherein the first routing device lacks available network connectivity; determining a second routing device from the one or more routing devices based on routing device sharing information, the second routing device having available network connections, wherein the routing device sharing information includes information for at least one routing device configured in a sharable state, and the at least one routing device has available network connections; and establishing a shared network connection between the first routing equipment and the second routing equipment. Compared with the prior art, the method and the device have the advantages that the available network coverage is wider through the shared network connection provided by the routing device, and meanwhile, the method and the device have stronger data transmission capacity so that the user equipment can access the network, and the user experience is improved.

Description

Method and equipment for providing network connection

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications, and more particularly, to a technique for providing network connectivity.

Background

With the development of the times, network propagation promotes people to transmit, exchange and utilize information, routing devices serve as devices for connecting local area networks and wide area networks in the internet and play a role of a hub in the internet, and realize data transmission from one subnet to another subnet.

Disclosure of Invention

It is an object of the present application to provide a method and apparatus for providing network connectivity.

According to an aspect of the present application, there is provided a method at a first routing device side for providing a network connection, the method comprising: obtaining one or more routing devices surrounding a first routing device, wherein the first routing device lacks available network connectivity; determining a second routing device from the one or more routing devices based on routing device sharing information, the second routing device having available network connections, wherein the routing device sharing information includes information for at least one routing device configured in a sharable state, and the at least one routing device has available network connections; and establishing a shared network connection between the first routing equipment and the second routing equipment.

According to another aspect of the present application, there is provided a method at a second routing device for providing a network connection, the method comprising: setting shared state information of a second routing device to a shareable state, wherein the second routing device has an available network connection; establishing a shared network connection between a first routing device and the second routing device, wherein the first routing device lacks an available network connection.

According to another aspect of the present application, there is provided a method for providing network connection at a network device, the method comprising: receiving shared state update information of a second routing device, wherein the second routing device has an available network connection; and establishing or updating routing device sharing information according to the sharing state updating information of the second routing device, wherein the routing device sharing information comprises information of at least one routing device configured to be in a sharable state, and the at least one routing device has available network connection.

According to an aspect of the present application, there is provided a method for providing network connectivity, the method comprising: the second routing equipment sets the sharing state information of the second routing equipment to be a shareable state, wherein the second routing equipment has available network connection; a first routing device obtaining one or more routing devices surrounding the first routing device, wherein the first routing device lacks available network connectivity; the first routing device determining the second routing device from the one or more routing devices according to routing device sharing information, wherein the routing device sharing information comprises information of at least one routing device configured to be in a sharable state, and the at least one routing device has an available network connection; and the first routing equipment establishes a shared network connection with the second routing equipment.

According to one aspect of the present application, there is provided an apparatus for providing network connectivity, the apparatus comprising a processor; and a memory arranged to store computer executable instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to perform: the second routing equipment sets the sharing state information of the second routing equipment to be a shareable state, wherein the second routing equipment has available network connection; a first routing device obtaining one or more routing devices surrounding the first routing device, wherein the first routing device lacks available network connectivity; the first routing device determining the second routing device from the one or more routing devices according to routing device sharing information, wherein the routing device sharing information comprises information of at least one routing device configured to be in a sharable state, and the at least one routing device has an available network connection; and the first routing equipment establishes a shared network connection with the second routing equipment.

According to an aspect of the application, there is provided a computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause a system to: the second routing equipment sets the sharing state information of the second routing equipment to be a shareable state, wherein the second routing equipment has available network connection; a first routing device obtaining one or more routing devices surrounding the first routing device, wherein the first routing device lacks available network connectivity; the first routing device determining the second routing device from the one or more routing devices according to routing device sharing information, wherein the routing device sharing information comprises information of at least one routing device configured to be in a sharable state, and the at least one routing device has an available network connection; and the first routing equipment establishes a shared network connection with the second routing equipment.

Compared with the prior art, the method and the device have the advantages that the first routing device acquires other routing devices around the first routing device, and after the second routing device which is networked is determined, the first routing device is in network connection with the second routing device, so that available network connection of the second routing device is shared with the first routing device, and the first routing device can support the user equipment to access the network; the shared network connection provided by the routing equipment enables the coverage range of the available network to be wider, and meanwhile, the routing equipment has stronger data transmission capacity so that the user equipment can access the network, and the user experience is improved.

Drawings

Other features, objects and advantages of the present application will become more apparent upon reading of the following detailed description of non-limiting embodiments thereof, made with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a system topology for providing network connectivity according to one embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 shows a flow chart of a method for providing a network connection at a first routing device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 shows a flowchart of a method for providing network connectivity at a second routing device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 shows a flow chart of a method for providing network connectivity at a network device according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 illustrates a diagram of a method for providing network connectivity according to one embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 shows a schematic diagram of a device for providing network connectivity at a first routing device end according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of an apparatus for providing network connectivity at a second routing device in accordance with one embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 shows a schematic diagram of a device for providing network connectivity at a network device side according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 9 shows a schematic diagram of an apparatus for providing a network connectivity system according to one embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary system that can be used to implement the various embodiments described in this application.

The same or similar reference numbers in the drawings identify the same or similar elements.

Detailed Description

The present application is described in further detail below with reference to the attached figures.

In a typical configuration of the present application, the terminal, the device serving the network, and the trusted party each include one or more processors (e.g., Central Processing Units (CPUs)), input/output interfaces, network interfaces, and memory.

The Memory may include volatile Memory in a computer-readable medium, Random Access Memory (RAM), and/or nonvolatile Memory such as Read-Only Memory (ROM) or flash Memory (flash RAM). Memory is an example of a computer-readable medium.

Computer-readable media, including both non-transitory and non-transitory, removable and non-removable media, may implement information storage by any method or technology. The information may be computer readable instructions, data structures, modules of a program, or other data. Examples of computer storage media include, but are not limited to, phase change Memory (PRAM), Static Random-Access Memory (SRAM), Dynamic Random-Access Memory (DRAM), other types of Random-Access Memory (RAM), Read-Only Memory (ROM), electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM), flash Memory or other Memory technology, Compact Disc Read-only Memory (CD-ROM), Digital Versatile Discs (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other non-transmission medium, which can be used to store information that can be accessed by a computing device.

The device referred to in this application includes, but is not limited to, a user device, a network device, or a device formed by integrating a user device and a network device through a network. The user equipment includes, but is not limited to, any mobile electronic product, such as a smart phone, a tablet computer, etc., capable of performing human-computer interaction with a user (e.g., human-computer interaction through a touch panel), and the mobile electronic product may employ any operating system, such as an android operating system, an iOS operating system, etc. The network Device includes an electronic Device capable of automatically performing numerical calculation and information Processing according to a preset or stored instruction, and the hardware includes, but is not limited to, a microprocessor, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Programmable Logic Device (PLD), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an embedded Device, and the like. The network device includes but is not limited to a computer, a network host, a single network server, a plurality of network server sets or a cloud of a plurality of servers; here, the Cloud is composed of a large number of computers or web servers based on Cloud Computing (Cloud Computing), which is a kind of distributed Computing, one virtual supercomputer consisting of a collection of loosely coupled computers. The Network includes, but is not limited to, the internet, a wide area Network, a metropolitan area Network, a local area Network, a Virtual Private Network (VPN), a wireless Ad Hoc Network (Ad Hoc Network), etc. Preferably, the device may also be a program running on the user device, the network device, or a device formed by integrating the user device and the network device, the touch terminal, or the network device and the touch terminal through a network.

Of course, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the foregoing is by way of example only, and that other existing or future devices, which may be suitable for use in the present application, are also encompassed within the scope of the present application and are hereby incorporated by reference.

In the description of the present application, "a plurality" means two or more unless specifically limited otherwise.

Fig. 1 illustrates a typical scenario in which a first routing device acquires other routing devices around, and after determining a second routing device that has been networked, the first routing device performs network connection with the second routing device, so that the available network connection of the second routing device is shared with the first routing device, and the first routing device provides network connection for a user equipment.

Fig. 2 is a flow chart of a method for providing network connection at a first routing device according to an embodiment of the present application. The method comprises steps S11, S12, and S13, wherein in step S11, a first routing device obtains one or more routing devices surrounding the first routing device, wherein the first routing device lacks available network connectivity; in step S12, the first routing device determining a second routing device from the one or more routing devices according to routing device sharing information, the second routing device having available network connections, wherein the routing device sharing information includes information of at least one routing device configured in a sharable state, and the at least one routing device has available network connections; in step S13, the first routing device establishes a shared network connection between the first routing device and the second routing device.

Specifically, in step S11, the first routing device acquires one or more routing devices around the first routing device, where in some embodiments, the first routing device itself has no available network connection or the available network connection of the first routing device itself is very weak, for example, the user equipment sends a network access request to the first routing device, so that the user equipment cannot access audio, video or image information due to the narrow bandwidth of the available network connection of the first routing device itself. In some embodiments, a first routing device actively sends a probe request frame, and if a probe response frame returned by other surrounding routing devices is obtained, the surrounding routing devices are obtained; or the first routing equipment receives the detection request frame sent by other routing equipment, and then acquires the surrounding routing equipment. In step S12, the first routing device determines a second routing device from the one or more routing devices according to the routing device sharing information, wherein the second routing device has an available network connection; wherein the routing device sharing information comprises information of at least one routing device configured in a sharable state, and the at least one routing device has an available network connection. Here, the routing device sharing information records one or more shared routing devices having available network connections; in some embodiments, the routing device sharing information is preset in the first routing device, or the routing device sharing information is written into the first routing device through a mobile phone, a PC (Personal Computer) that manages the first routing device, or the routing device sharing information is stored in a memory card or a usb disk that can be inserted into the first routing device. In step S13, the first routing device establishes a shared network connection with the second routing device, so that the available network connection of the second routing device is shared to the first routing device for the first routing device to support the user equipment to access the network. Here, the first routing device and the second routing device may establish a shared network connection through wired/wireless.

For example, the routing device a actively sends a probe request frame to obtain probe response frames returned by the routing device B and the routing device C, and then the routing device a obtains two routing devices around the routing device a, the routing device B and the routing device C; where routing device a itself has no available network connection. The routing device A learns that the routing device B is a shared routing device with available network connection by reading preset routing device shared information, and then determines that the second routing device is the routing device B from two routing devices, namely the routing device B and the routing device C. The routing device A and the routing device B establish shared network connection wirelessly, so that the available network connection of the routing device B is shared to the routing device A, and the routing device A provides network connection for the user equipment.

As another example, the routing device a obtains the routing devices B and C around the routing device a, where the routing device a itself has no available network connection. In some embodiments, the routing device a reads the routing device sharing information from a usb disk (e.g., FANXI _ F361 dual-purpose usb disk for mobile phone and computer) that can be inserted into the routing device a, wherein the routing device sharing information is pre-stored in the FANXI _ F361 dual-purpose usb disk for mobile phone and computer. The routing device a reads the shared information of the routing device or learns that the routing device B is a shared routing device with available network connection, and then determines that the second routing device is the routing device B from the two routing devices, namely the routing device B and the routing device C. The routing device A and the routing device B establish shared network connection wirelessly, so that the available network connection of the routing device B is shared to the routing device A, and the routing device A provides network connection for the user equipment.

It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the above-mentioned content of sharing information by the routing device is only an example, and other content of sharing information by the routing device that may exist or may appear in the future, such as content that can be applied to the present application, should also be included in the scope of protection of the present application, and is included herein by reference.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises step S14 (not shown), in step S14, the first routing device receiving a network access request sent by a user device connected to the first routing device; sending the network access request to the second routing device over the shared network connection.

As for the above example, the routing device a and the routing device B establish a shared network connection wirelessly, the routing device a is connected with the user equipment, and the routing device a receives a network access request sent by the user equipment; routing device a, in turn, sends the network access request to routing device B over the shared network connection with routing device B.

In some embodiments, wherein the routing device sharing information further comprises connection sharing configuration information of the second routing device regarding sharing of available network connections; in step S13, the first routing device establishes a shared network connection between the first routing device and the second routing device according to the connection sharing configuration information.

Specifically, the routing device sharing information further includes connection sharing configuration information of the second routing device regarding sharing of the available network connection, where the connection sharing configuration information includes an account, a password, and IP address information of the second routing device sharing the available network connection, and further includes shared authentication information of the second routing device. And the first routing equipment establishes a shared network connection between the first routing equipment and the second routing equipment according to the connection sharing configuration information.

For example, the routing device sharing information further includes connection sharing configuration information of the second routing device (e.g., routing device B) regarding sharing of the available network connection, such as the connection sharing configuration information of the routing device B includes an account LS _2.4, a password 111111, and an IP address 192.168.1.1 of the available network connection. The first routing device A establishes a shared network connection with the routing device B through a wired connection according to the connection sharing configuration information, so that the available network connection of the routing device B is shared to the first routing device A, and the first routing device A supports the user equipment to access the network. In some embodiments, the routing device B performs a shared Network connection with the first routing device a through a WAN (Wide Area Network) port, or the routing device B performs a bridge shared Network connection with the first routing device a through a LAN (Local Area Network) port.

It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the contents of the above connection sharing configuration information are only examples, and other existing or future contents of the connection sharing configuration information, such as the contents of the connection sharing configuration information, which can be applied to the present application, are also included in the protection scope of the present application and are included herein by reference.

In some embodiments, in the step S13, the first routing device sends a connection sharing authentication request to the second routing device according to the connection sharing configuration information; and if the connection sharing authentication request passes the authentication, the first routing equipment establishes a sharing network connection between the first routing equipment and the second routing equipment. In some embodiments, the second routing device is configured as an authentication mode of a wired internet access, for example, an authentication mode of a pppoe (Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet) account password; in other embodiments, the second routing device authenticates by setting a password.

For example, the connection sharing configuration information obtained by the routing device a, such as the account SH _5G, is authenticated by using the set password 111111, the routing device a sends the password 111111 to the routing device B, the connection sharing authentication request is authenticated, and the routing device a establishes a shared network connection with the routing device B, so that the available network connection of the routing device B is shared to the routing device a, so that the routing device a supports the user equipment to access the network.

For another example, the connection sharing configuration information obtained by the routing device a, such as the account SH _5G and the password 111111, is authenticated by using the account SH _5G and the password 111111, the routing device a sends the account SH _5G and the password 111111 to the routing device B, the connection sharing authentication request passes the authentication, and the routing device a establishes a shared network connection with the routing device B, so that the available network connection of the routing device B is shared to the routing device a, so that the routing device a supports the user equipment to access the network.

In some embodiments, the method further includes step S15 (not shown), in step S15, the first routing device receives update information sent by the network device through the shared network connection, the update information being used to update the routing device shared information; updating the routing device sharing information based on the update information. Here, the update information updates the routing device sharing information, such as recording an increased/decreased shared routing device with available network connections, an increased shared routing device B, or a decreased shared routing device C (i.e., the routing device C is updated from a sharable state to a not-shared state).

For example, the routing device a establishes a shared network connection with the routing device B, and the routing device a receives, through the shared network connection, update information sent by the network device, where the route update information includes adding the sharable routing device C, D, decreasing the sharable routing device E, and the like; the routing device a updates the routing device sharing information based on the update information (increase sharable routing device C, D, decrease sharable routing device E).

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the above-mentioned contents of the update information are merely examples, and other contents of the update information that are currently available or that may later appear, such as being applicable to the present application, are also included within the scope of the present application and are hereby incorporated by reference.

Fig. 3 is a flowchart of a method for providing network connection at the second routing device according to an embodiment of the present application. The method comprises steps S21 and S22, wherein in step S21 the second routing device sets the shared state information of the second routing device to a sharable state, wherein the second routing device has an available network connection; in step S22, the second routing device establishes a shared network connection between the first routing device and the second routing device, wherein the first routing device lacks an available network connection.

For example, routing device B sets its shared state information to a shareable state, where routing device B has an available network connection. The routing device B and the routing device A establish a shared network connection through a wired connection, so that the available network connection of the routing device B is shared to the routing device A, and the routing device A supports the user equipment to access the network. Where the available network connection for routing device a is extremely weak (channel bandwidth is only 56 kbps).

In some embodiments, the method further comprises step S23 (not shown), in step S23, the second routing device receiving a network access request of a user device sent by the first routing device over the shared network connection, wherein the user device is connected to the first routing device; forwarding the network access request over an available network connection of the second routing device.

For example, the routing device B receives a network access request of the user equipment sent by the routing device a, where the routing device a establishes a shared network connection with the routing device B, and the routing device a sends the network access request of the user equipment through the shared network connection, for example, requests to open the video XXX; the network access request of the user equipment is forwarded through the available network connection of routing device B.

In some embodiments, before the step S22, a step S220 (not shown) is further included, and in the step S220, the connection sharing configuration information of the second routing device is configured; in step S22, the method includes establishing a shared network connection between the first routing device and the second routing device according to the connection sharing configuration information of the second routing device.

For example, the routing device B configures connection sharing configuration information of the routing device B, such as an account TQ _841 and a password 000000; and the routing device A sends the account TQ _841 and the password 000000 to the routing device B, and the routing device B establishes shared network connection with the routing device A according to the connection sharing configuration information so that the available network connection of the routing device B is shared to the routing device A, so that the routing device A supports the user equipment to access the network.

In some embodiments, in the step S22, the second routing device receives the connection sharing authentication request sent by the first routing device; performing authentication processing on the connection sharing authentication request according to the connection sharing configuration information; and if the connection sharing authentication request passes the authentication, establishing a sharing network connection between the first routing equipment and the second routing equipment.

For example, the routing device B configures connection sharing configuration information of the routing device B, such as an account TQ _841 and a password 000000, and authenticates with the password 000000, and the routing device B receives a connection sharing authentication request sent by the routing device a, where the connection sharing authentication request includes the password 000000; the routing device B executes authentication processing on the connection sharing authentication request according to the connection sharing configuration information and the password 000000, judges that the connection sharing authentication request passes authentication, and further establishes sharing network connection with the routing device A, so that the available network connection of the routing device B is shared to the routing device A, and the routing device A supports the user equipment to access the network.

In some embodiments, the method further includes step S24 (not shown), in step S24, if the shared state information of the second routing device is updated, uploading the updated shared state information of the second routing device to the network device.

For example, the shared state information of the routing device B is updated from the sharable state to the unshared state, and the routing device B uploads the updated shared state information to the network device.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for providing network connection at a network device according to an embodiment of the present application. The method comprises steps S31 and S32, in step S31, the network device receiving shared state update information for a second routing device, wherein the second routing device has an available network connection; in step S32, the network device establishes or updates routing device sharing information according to the sharing status update information of the second routing device, wherein the routing device sharing information includes information of at least one routing device configured to be in a sharable status, and the at least one routing device has an available network connection.

For example, the shared state information of the routing device B is updated from the sharable state to the unshared state, where the routing device B has an available network connection and uploads the updated shared state information to the network device. The network device receives the sharing state information, and establishes or updates routing device sharing information, wherein the routing device sharing information comprises information of at least one routing device configured to be in a sharable state, and the at least one routing device has an available network connection. The information shared by the routing devices before updating shown in table 1 includes routing device C, routing device D, etc., and the information shared by the routing devices after updating shown in table 2 includes routing device C, routing device E, etc.

TABLE 1

Serial number	Shared routing device
		1	Routing device C
2	Routing device D
		……	……

TABLE 2

Serial number	Shared routing device
		1	Routing device C
……	……
		5	Routing equipment E
……	……

In some embodiments, the method further comprises step S33 (not shown), in step S33, the network device sending the routing device sharing information or an updated portion of the routing device sharing information to a first routing device, wherein the first routing device lacks an available network connection.

For example, the network device sends the routing device sharing information (the shared routing device shown in table 2 in the above example includes routing device C and routing device D) or sends an updated portion of the routing device sharing information (such as routing device E in the above example) to routing device a, where routing device a itself has no available network connection. In some embodiments, the network device sends the routing device sharing information or the updated portion of the routing device sharing information to the routing device a at the request of the routing device a; in other embodiments, the network device actively pushes and sends the routing device shared information or the updated part of the routing device shared information to the routing device a.

Fig. 5 illustrates a flow chart of a method for providing network connectivity according to one embodiment of the present application. The method comprises step S41 (same step S21), step S42 (same step S11), step S43 (same step S12) and step S44 (same step S13/step S22), wherein in step S41, the second routing device sets the sharing state information of the second routing device to a sharable state, wherein the second routing device has an available network connection; in step S42, a first routing device acquires one or more routing devices surrounding the first routing device, wherein the first routing device lacks available network connectivity; in step S43, the first routing device determining the second routing device from the one or more routing devices according to routing device sharing information, wherein the routing device sharing information includes information of at least one routing device configured in a sharable state, and the at least one routing device has an available network connection; in step S44, the first/routing device establishes a shared network connection with the second/routing device.

For example, routing device B sets its shared state information to a shareable state, where routing device B has an available network connection. The routing device a acquires other routing devices around the routing device a, such as the routing device B and the routing device E. Where routing device a itself has no available network connection. The routing device a determines, according to preset routing device sharing information (that is, the shared routing device includes the routing device B), that the second routing device is the routing device B from the routing device B and the routing device E. The routing device B establishes a shared network connection with the routing device A, so that the available network connection of the routing device B is shared to the routing device A, and the routing device A supports the user equipment to access the network.

Fig. 6 shows a schematic diagram of a device for providing network connection at a first routing device according to an embodiment of the present application. The device comprises a first module 61, a second module 62 and a third module 63, wherein the first module 61 is configured to obtain, by a first routing device, one or more routing devices around the first routing device, wherein the first routing device lacks an available network connection; the second module 62, configured to determine, by the first routing device, a second routing device from the one or more routing devices according to routing device sharing information, the second routing device having an available network connection, wherein the routing device sharing information includes information of at least one routing device configured in a sharable state, and the at least one routing device has an available network connection; the third module 63 is configured to establish, by the first routing device, a shared network connection between the first routing device and the second routing device.

In particular, the first module 61 is configured to obtain, by a first routing device, one or more routing devices in the vicinity of the first routing device, where, in some embodiments, the first routing device has no available network connection or the available network connection of the first routing device is very weak, for example, a user equipment sends a network access request to the first routing device, so that the user equipment cannot access audio, video or image information due to the narrow bandwidth of the available network connection of the first routing device. In some embodiments, a first routing device actively sends a probe request frame, and if a probe response frame returned by other surrounding routing devices is obtained, the surrounding routing devices are obtained; or the first routing equipment receives the detection request frame sent by other routing equipment, and then acquires the surrounding routing equipment. A second module 62, configured to determine, by the first routing device, a second routing device from the one or more routing devices according to routing device sharing information, the second routing device having an available network connection, wherein the routing device sharing information includes information of at least one routing device configured in a sharable state, and the at least one routing device has an available network connection. Here, the routing device sharing information records one or more shared routing devices having available network connections; in some embodiments, the routing device sharing information is preset in the first routing device, or the routing device sharing information is written into the first routing device through a mobile phone or a PC (Personal computer) that manages the first routing device, or the routing device sharing information is stored in a memory card or a usb disk that is insertable into the first routing device. A third module 63, configured to establish, by the first routing device, a shared network connection with the second routing device, so that the available network connection of the second routing device is shared to the first routing device, so that the first routing device supports the user equipment to access the network. Here, the first routing device and the second routing device may establish a shared network connection through wired/wireless.

In some embodiments, the apparatus further comprises a fourth module (not shown) for the first routing device to receive a network access request sent by a user equipment connected to the first routing device; sending the network access request to the second routing device over the shared network connection.

In some embodiments, wherein the routing device sharing information further comprises connection sharing configuration information of the second routing device regarding sharing of available network connections; the third module is configured to establish, by the first routing device, a shared network connection between the first routing device and the second routing device according to the connection sharing configuration information.

In some embodiments, the third module is configured to send, by the first routing device, a connection sharing authentication request to the second routing device according to the connection sharing configuration information; and if the connection sharing authentication request passes the authentication, the first routing equipment establishes a sharing network connection between the first routing equipment and the second routing equipment. In some embodiments, the second routing device is configured as an authentication mode of a wired internet access, for example, an authentication mode of a pppoe (Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet) account password; in other embodiments, the second routing device authenticates by setting a password.

In some embodiments, the device further includes a fifth module, where the fifth module is configured to receive, by the first routing device, update information sent by the network device through the shared network connection, where the update information is used to update the routing device shared information; updating the routing device sharing information based on the update information. Here, the update information records the added/subtracted shared routing devices with available network connections, such as the added shared routing device B or the subtracted shared routing device C (i.e., the routing device C is updated from the sharable state to the unshared state).

For example, the routing device a establishes a shared network connection with the routing device B, and the routing device a receives, through the shared network connection, update information sent by the network device, where the update information includes adding the sharable routing device C, D, reducing the sharable routing device E, and so on; the routing device a updates the routing device sharing information based on the update information (increase sharable routing device C, D, decrease sharable routing device E).

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a device for providing network connection at a second routing device according to an embodiment of the present application. The apparatus comprises a sixth module 71 and a seventh module 72, wherein the sixth module is configured to set the shared state information of the second routing device to a sharable state by the second routing device, wherein the second routing device has an available network connection; the seventh module is configured to establish, by the second routing device, a shared network connection between the first routing device and the second routing device, where the first routing device lacks an available network connection.

In some embodiments, the apparatus further includes an eighth module (not shown) for receiving, by the second routing device, a network access request of a user equipment sent by the first routing device over the shared network connection, wherein the user equipment is connected to the first routing device; forwarding the network access request over an available network connection of the second routing device.

In some embodiments, before the seventh module, a seventh zero module (not shown) is further included, configured to configure the connection sharing configuration information of the second routing device; the seventh module is configured to establish a shared network connection between the first routing device and the second routing device according to the connection sharing configuration information of the second routing device.

In some embodiments, the seventh module is configured to receive, by the second routing device, a connection sharing authentication request sent by the first routing device; performing authentication processing on the connection sharing authentication request according to the connection sharing configuration information; and if the connection sharing authentication request passes the authentication, establishing a sharing network connection between the first routing equipment and the second routing equipment.

In some embodiments, the device further includes a ninth module (not shown), where the ninth module is configured to, if the shared state information of the second routing device is updated, upload the updated shared state information of the second routing device to a network device.

Fig. 8 shows a schematic diagram of a device for providing network connection at a network device according to an embodiment of the present application. The apparatus comprises a tenth module 81 and an eleventh module 82, the tenth module for a network device to receive shared state update information for a second routing device, wherein the second routing device has an available network connection; the eleventh module is configured to establish or update, by a network device, routing device sharing information according to the sharing state update information of the second routing device, where the routing device sharing information includes information of at least one routing device configured in a sharable state, and the at least one routing device has an available network connection. For example, the shared state information of the routing device B is updated from the sharable state to the unshared state, where the routing device B has an available network connection and uploads the updated shared state information to the network device. The network device receives the sharing state information, and establishes or updates routing device sharing information, wherein the routing device sharing information comprises information of at least one routing device configured to be in a sharable state, and the at least one routing device has an available network connection. The information shared by the routing devices before updating shown in table 1 includes routing device C, routing device D, etc., and the information shared by the routing devices after updating shown in table 2 includes routing device C, routing device E, etc.

TABLE 1

TABLE 2

In some embodiments, the apparatus further includes a thirteenth module (not shown) for the network device to send the routing device sharing information or the updated portion of the routing device sharing information to the first routing device, wherein the first routing device lacks an available network connection.

Fig. 9 shows a schematic diagram of an apparatus for providing network connectivity according to an embodiment of the present application. The device comprises a first module 61, a second module 62, a third module 63, a sixth module 71 and a seventh module 72, wherein the sixth module 71 is configured to set the shared state information of the second routing device to a sharable state by the second routing device, and the second routing device has an available network connection; the first module 61, configured to obtain, by a first routing device, one or more routing devices around the first routing device, where the first routing device lacks available network connectivity; the second module 62, configured to determine, by the first routing device, the second routing device from the one or more routing devices according to routing device sharing information, where the routing device sharing information includes information of at least one routing device configured in a sharable state, and the at least one routing device has an available network connection; the third module 63/seventh module 72 is configured to establish a shared network connection between the first/routing device and the second/routing device.

The present application also provides a computer readable storage medium having stored thereon computer code which, when executed, performs a method as in any one of the preceding.

The present application also provides a computer program product, which when executed by a computer device, performs the method of any of the preceding claims.

The present application further provides a computer device, comprising:

one or more processors;

a memory for storing one or more computer programs;

the one or more computer programs, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to implement the method of any preceding claim.

FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary system that can be used to implement the various embodiments described herein; in some embodiments, as shown in fig. 10, the system 1000 can be used as any of the described embodiments for maintaining a wireless connection for a user device. In some embodiments, system 1000 may include one or more computer-readable media (e.g., system Memory or Non-volatile Memory)/storage 1020 having instructions and one or more processors (e.g., processor(s) 1005) coupled with the one or more computer-readable media and configured to execute the instructions to implement modules to perform the actions described herein.

For one embodiment, system control module 1010 may include any suitable interface controllers to provide any suitable interface to at least one of the processor(s) 1005 and/or to any suitable device or component in communication with system control module 1010.

The system control module 1010 may include a memory controller module 1030 to provide an interface to the system memory 1015. Memory controller module 1030 may be a hardware module, a software module, and/or a firmware module.

System memory 1015 may be used to load and store data and/or instructions, for example, for system 1000. For one embodiment, system memory 1015 may include any suitable volatile memory, such as suitable DRAM. In some embodiments, system Memory 1015 may include Double-Data-Rate type quad Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (DDR 4 SDRAM).

For one embodiment, system control module 1010 may include one or more input/output (I/O) controllers to provide an interface to NVM/storage 1020 and communication interface(s) 1025.

For example, NVM/storage 1020 may be used to store data and/or instructions. NVM/storage 1020 may include any suitable non-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory) and/or may include any suitable non-volatile storage device(s) (e.g., one or more Hard Disk Drive(s) (HDD (s)), one or more Compact Disc (CD) Drive(s), and/or one or more Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) Drive (s)).

NVM/storage 1020 may include storage resources that are physically part of a device on which system 1000 is installed or may be accessed by the device and not necessarily part of the device. For example, NVM/storage 1020 may be accessed over a network via communication interface(s) 825.

Communication interface(s) 1025 may provide an interface for system 1000 to communicate over one or more networks and/or with any other suitable device. System 1000 may communicate wirelessly with one or more components of a wireless network according to any of one or more wireless network standards and/or protocols.

For one embodiment, at least one of the processor(s) 1005 may be packaged together with logic for one or more controller(s) of the system control module 1010, e.g., memory controller module 1030. For one embodiment, at least one of the processor(s) 1005 may be packaged together with logic for one or more controller(s) of the system control module 1010 to form a system in package (e.g., a Session Initiation Protocol, SiP). For one embodiment, at least one of the processor(s) 1005 may be integrated on the same die with logic for one or more controller(s) of the system control module 1010. For one embodiment, at least one of the processor(s) 1005 may be integrated on the same die with logic of one or more controllers of the System control module 1010 to form a System on a Chip (e.g., a System on Chip, SoC).

In various embodiments, system 1000 may be, but is not limited to being: a server, a workstation, a desktop computing device, or a mobile computing device (e.g., a laptop computing device, a handheld computing device, a tablet, a netbook, etc.). In various embodiments, system 1000 may have more or fewer components and/or different architectures. For example, in some embodiments, the system 1000 includes one or more cameras, a keyboard, a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) screen (including a touch screen display), a non-volatile memory port, a plurality of antennas, a graphics chip, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), and a speaker.

It should be noted that the present application may be implemented in software and/or a combination of software and hardware, for example, implemented using Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), general purpose computers or any other similar hardware devices. In one embodiment, the software programs of the present application may be executed by a processor to implement the steps or functions described above. Likewise, the software programs (including associated data structures) of the present application may be stored in a computer readable recording medium, such as RAM memory, magnetic or optical drive or diskette and the like. Additionally, some of the steps or functions of the present application may be implemented in hardware, for example, as circuitry that cooperates with the processor to perform various steps or functions.

In addition, some of the present application may be implemented as a computer program product, such as computer program instructions, which when executed by a computer, may invoke or provide methods and/or techniques in accordance with the present application through the operation of the computer. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the form in which the computer program instructions reside on a computer-readable medium includes, but is not limited to, source files, executable files, installation package files, and the like, and that the manner in which the computer program instructions are executed by a computer includes, but is not limited to: the computer directly executes the instruction, or the computer compiles the instruction and then executes the corresponding compiled program, or the computer reads and executes the instruction, or the computer reads and installs the instruction and then executes the corresponding installed program. Computer-readable media herein can be any available computer-readable storage media or communication media that can be accessed by a computer.

Communication media includes media by which communication signals, including, for example, computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data, are transmitted from one system to another. Communication media may include conductive transmission media such as cables and wires (e.g., fiber optic, coaxial, etc.) and wireless (non-conductive transmission) media capable of propagating energy waves such as acoustic, electromagnetic, RF (i.e., Radio Freqency), microwave, and infrared. Computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data may be embodied in a modulated data signal, for example, in a wireless medium such as a carrier wave or similar mechanism such as is embodied as part of spread spectrum techniques. The term "modulated data signal" means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. The modulation may be analog, digital or hybrid modulation techniques.

By way of example, and not limitation, computer-readable storage media may include volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. For example, computer-readable storage media include, but are not limited to, volatile memory such as random access memory (RAM, DRAM, SRAM); and nonvolatile memories such as flash memories, various read-only memories (ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM), Magnetic and ferromagnetic/Ferroelectric memories (e.g., Magnetic Random Access Memory (MRAM), Ferroelectric Random Access Memory (FeRAM)); and magnetic and optical storage devices (hard disk, tape, CD, DVD); or other now known media or later developed that can store computer-readable information/data for use by a computer system.

An embodiment according to the present application comprises an apparatus comprising a memory for storing computer program instructions and a processor for executing the program instructions, wherein the computer program instructions, when executed by the processor, trigger the apparatus to perform a method and/or a solution according to the aforementioned embodiments of the present application.

It will be evident to those skilled in the art that the present application is not limited to the details of the foregoing illustrative embodiments, and that the present application may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof. The present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the application being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein. Any reference sign in a claim should not be construed as limiting the claim concerned. Furthermore, it is obvious that the word "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps, and the singular does not exclude the plural. A plurality of units or means recited in the apparatus claims may also be implemented by one unit or means in software or hardware. The terms first, second, etc. are used to denote names, but not any particular order.

Claims

1. A method at a first routing device for providing network connectivity, the method comprising:

acquiring one or more routing devices around a first routing device, wherein the first routing device lacks available network connection, and acquiring the one or more routing devices by actively sending a probe request frame to acquire probe response frames returned by other surrounding routing devices, or acquiring the one or more routing devices by receiving probe request frames sent by other surrounding routing devices, and the first routing device is a wireless routing device;

determining a second routing device from the one or more routing devices according to routing device sharing information, wherein the second routing device is provided with available network connection, the routing device sharing information comprises information of at least one routing device configured to be in a sharable state, the at least one routing device is provided with available network connection, the second routing device is a wireless routing device, and the first routing device is located in a wireless signal coverage range of the second routing device;

after the second routing equipment is determined, establishing a shared network connection between the first routing equipment and the second routing equipment in a wireless mode;

receiving a network access request sent by user equipment connected to the first routing equipment;

and sending the network access request to the second routing equipment through the shared network connection, so that the second routing equipment forwards the network access request through the available network connection of the second routing equipment, and the first routing equipment provides network connection for the user equipment.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the routing device sharing information further comprises connection sharing configuration information for the second routing device regarding sharing of available network connections;

the establishing of the shared network connection between the first routing device and the second routing device includes:

and establishing a shared network connection between the first routing equipment and the second routing equipment according to the connection sharing configuration information.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the establishing a shared network connection between the first routing device and the second routing device according to the connection sharing configuration information includes:

sending a connection sharing authentication request to the second routing equipment according to the connection sharing configuration information;

and if the connection sharing authentication request passes the authentication, establishing a sharing network connection between the first routing equipment and the second routing equipment.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising:

receiving update information sent by network equipment through the shared network connection, wherein the update information is used for updating the shared information of the routing equipment;

updating the routing device sharing information based on the update information.

5. A method at a second routing device for providing network connectivity, the method comprising:

setting shared state information of a second routing device to a shareable state, wherein the second routing device has an available network connection;

establishing a shared network connection between a first routing device and a second routing device in a wireless mode, wherein the first routing device lacks available network connection, the first routing device determines the second routing device from one or more routing devices around the first routing device according to routing device sharing information, the first routing device acquires the one or more routing devices by actively sending a probe request frame to acquire probe response frames returned by other surrounding routing devices, or acquires the one or more routing devices by receiving probe request frames sent by other surrounding routing devices, the first routing device is a wireless routing device, the second routing device is a wireless routing device, and the first routing device is located in a wireless signal coverage range of the second routing device;

receiving a network access request of a user equipment sent by the first routing equipment through the shared network connection, wherein the user equipment is connected to the first routing equipment;

forwarding the network access request through an available network connection of the second routing device, so that the first routing device provides the network connection for the user equipment.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein before establishing the shared network connection between the first routing device and the second routing device, further comprising:

configuring connection sharing configuration information of the second routing device;

the establishing a shared network connection between a first routing device and a second routing device, wherein the first routing device lacks an available network connection, comprises:

and establishing a shared network connection between the first routing equipment and the second routing equipment according to the connection sharing configuration information of the second routing equipment.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the establishing the shared network connection between the first routing device and the second routing device according to the connection sharing configuration information of the second routing device comprises:

receiving a connection sharing authentication request sent by the first routing equipment;

performing authentication processing on the connection sharing authentication request according to the connection sharing configuration information;

8. The method according to any one of claims 5 to 7, further comprising:

and if the shared state information of the second routing equipment is updated, uploading the updated shared state information of the second routing equipment to network equipment.

9. A method at a network device for providing network connectivity, the method comprising:

receiving shared state update information of a second routing device, wherein the second routing device has an available network connection;

establishing or updating routing device shared information according to shared state update information of the second routing device, wherein the routing device shared information includes information of at least one routing device configured to be in a sharable state, and the at least one routing device has an available network connection, the first routing device determines the second routing device from one or more routing devices around the first routing device according to the routing device shared information, and establishes a shared network connection between the first routing device and the second routing device in a wireless manner after determining the second routing device, the first routing device acquires the one or more routing devices by actively sending a probe request frame to acquire probe response frames returned by other surrounding routing devices, or acquires the one or more routing devices by receiving probe request frames sent by other surrounding routing devices, the first routing equipment is wireless routing equipment, the second routing equipment is wireless routing equipment, and the first routing equipment is positioned in a wireless signal coverage range of the second routing equipment;

receiving a network access request of the user equipment forwarded by the second routing equipment through an available network connection of the second routing equipment, wherein the network access request is sent to the second routing equipment by the first routing equipment through the shared network connection, and the user equipment is connected to the first routing equipment so that the first routing equipment provides network connection for the user equipment.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

sending the routing device sharing information or an updated portion of the routing device sharing information to a first routing device, wherein the first routing device lacks available network connectivity.

11. A method for providing network connectivity, the method comprising:

the second routing equipment sets the sharing state information of the second routing equipment to be a shareable state, wherein the second routing equipment has available network connection;

the method comprises the steps that a first routing device acquires one or more routing devices around the first routing device, wherein the first routing device lacks available network connection, the one or more routing devices are acquired by actively sending a probe request frame to acquire probe response frames returned by other surrounding routing devices, or the one or more routing devices are acquired by receiving probe request frames sent by other surrounding routing devices, and the first routing device is a wireless routing device;

the first routing device determining a second routing device from the one or more routing devices according to routing device sharing information, wherein the routing device sharing information comprises information of at least one routing device configured to be in a sharable state, the at least one routing device has available network connection, the second routing device is a wireless routing device, and the first routing device is located within wireless signal coverage of the second routing device;

after determining the second routing equipment, the first routing equipment establishes a shared network connection with the second routing equipment in a wireless mode;

the first routing equipment receives a network access request sent by user equipment connected to the first routing equipment, and sends the network access request to the second routing equipment through the shared network connection;

and the second routing equipment receives the network access request and forwards the network access request through the available network connection of the second routing equipment so as to enable the first routing equipment to provide network connection for the user equipment.

12. An apparatus for providing network connectivity, the apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

a memory arranged to store computer executable instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to perform the operations of the method of any of claims 1 to 10.

13. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause a computer to perform the operations of any of the methods of claims 1-10.